To "Karma" or not to "Karma"

I'm a bit of a fatalist. I often think that life and the world itself is divinely "rigged", so to speak.

However, I don't subscribe to the notion that "whatever you mete out shall be meted out back to you in equal measure".
I don't think reality is quite that regimented in nature.

Frankly I think if God wants to "do you in" or "let you have it" He just will.
That it has nothing to do with whether-or-not you "did anything to deserve any kind of wrath"
---you can be perfectly innocent, but if it's "your time" you could, for instance, be walking down the street just minding your own business and still be shot on the street randomly for no reason
...or you might get involved in a minor altercation and end up getting arrested for a mere verbal insult or even just "looking at someone wrong".

But if it's a period when God's "favoring" you, you'll be reaping benefits without even having to make the slightest effort to "earn" them
---that if it's "not your time (yet)" you could probably (just about) commit murder or rape even and STILL get away with it.

I really believe that what you receive in life and what you put out is not always so proportional.
How else could one explain all the inequitableness of this world?

Infrastructure

We have networks and networks of roads, bridges, highways, underground pipes, and underground cables everywhere, all over the place.
Plus we have, over the years, build everything on top of---and in-and-around---all of these networks.

What started out as a dirt trail or a railroad line progressed into more trails and lines
...eventually replaced by concrete roads and freeways.

What started out as a water main supplying two or more villages eventually turned into multiple water mains supplying a whole region...

What started out as an underground gas pipe extended into multiple pipeline networks serving every section of the country.

Then there were later underground cable lines run from coast-to-coast, initially for phone lines
---but eventually there were also the additions of television cables---then internet cables added later on.

Do I need to mention the networks of sewer lines?
All underground as well.

And all the while we would keep building more and more on top of all this:
More buildings; more roads; more shopping centers; more freeway extensions; more houses...

But everything is like a small child
---they need constant nurturing and maintenance to stay in shape.

And everything is like possessions
---they'll wear out from age and overuse and need to be repaired...or even replaced.

Likewise all of these underground networks are pretty much the same way.

The problem is:
With everything having been built on top of all these underground utilities getting TO them to repair, replace, or enhance and modify them is bound to be a-hat-trick-and-a-half.

Everything in this society has been so overbuilt it'll never be possible for utility crews to access themselves to any of these underground networks without disrupting numerous lives at a time
---often for weeks or even months at a time.

And where do you put dozens upon dozens of displaced residents?
(It's bad enough having to answer that question after a natural disaster.)
What kind of "back-up plan" is there for those who can't stay where they live due to inability to continue performing their normal everyday functions?
Would the cities, towns, counties, or states be able or willing to move said people into some form of temporary shelter until the work is finally finished and everything is back up and functioning normally once again?
...Most likely---NO!

And, also, with all of these underground networks, is it possible for any one utility faction to work on their own lines, pipes, or cables without everyone else's lines, cables,and pipes being in their way?

We spent so many decades building up all of these service networks as well as building everything else on top of (and in-and-around) them
...with no thought of how we might go about dealing with the eventual reality of having to access ourselves to any one of them when age finally catches up to them
...or if/when they might experience damage from natural and man-made catastrophes and disasters
...as well as from the frequent shifts in the earth's ground surface, which is always the norm even in nonseismic regions.

Frankly, I think when it comes to this particular subject society has pretty much "painted itself into a corner"
...there's no easy way out of this dilemma.
...maybe no way out at all!

Corporations Are Not People!

This is true!
...Because they're a creation...an invention...
...not of the physical kind, of course---more the "conceptual" kind.

...But they're STILL something created...invented...
Okay, true, it took people to invent the concept
...but it's still a concept...a concoction...
...something invented by someone's mind...

If corporations are people, then any other invention can be as well...
---the automobile
---indoor plumbing
---microwave ovens
---the phonograph
---cameras/photography
---television
---works-of-art
---the light bulb
---the electric generator
---water heaters
---lawn mowers
---ships and boats
---elevators
---buses
---trains
---guns and weapons
---phonograph records, recording tapes, CDs, DVDs, or mp3s
---soaps, shampoos, and detergents
---bulldozers
---the printing press
---the telephone
---the telegraph
---the internet
---computers
---the Post Office/mail delivery
---radio
---the transistor
---audio equipment (a step or two above "the phonograph")
---dwelling places (houses, buildings, etc.)
---aircraft (planes, jets, helicopters, blimps)

...you get the idea.

More Musings

                                  On-line Illiteracy Revisited:
I get so tired of reading all these web sites and comments posted by people who can't spell (or even write a decent sentence to save their own lives).
Honestly now...
---"disfunctional"
---"missajinist" (someone who hates women who can't spell?)
---"imparitive"
---"hisstery"
---"winsical"
---"hole" (instead of "whole")
...for more on this subject simply view any "comments" section of any news sites or even blog sites.
...as a matter-of-fact sometimes the articles themselves yield enough such fodder on their own.



Have you ever noticed---when doing business with commercial establishments like restaurants, laundromats and the like---you can walk in when it's "dead"
...I mean you can be the only customer in the whole place when you walk in
---but, invariably, you won't be in there for even a half hour sometimes when all of a sudden there's this massive influx of other customers.
I mean, one person after another strolling in incrementally one-after-another
---and, soon, the place is way-overcrowded to the point where you can't do, say, or try anything without "being-in-someone's-way".
I wonder:
Where do all these people COME FROM?
I mean, are they ALL part of the same group or club?
---do they know each other or what?
Do they all, like, receive orders from some "higher-up" to infiltrate certain select establishments at a certain given time?
Who ARE all these people anyway?

Another Cyber-"Celebrity Birthday Card"

Herb Alpert turns 77 on Saturday.
Born on March 31 1935 in Los Angeles
Congratulations to a multi-talented musician, record producer, and successful record company CEO (who said all CEOs were "heartless money-grubbing scumbags"? When stereotyping always keep in mind those who are "outside the box"---the exceptions to the rule.
Yes, there can be dignity and integrity even in "owning a major company").

Another Annoying Adage

          Having a "bad reputation" DOES yield one advantage:
          It makes it impossible to be blackmailed...
          ...Like, what are they going to do?
          ---threaten to "expose you" if you don't pay up?

Happy Birthday...

to...


Aretha Franklin
Born March 25 1942 in Memphis
70 years old tomorrow


Reginald K. Dwight a.k.a. Elton John
Born March 25 1947 in Pinner Middlesex England
65 years old tomorrow



                             CONGRATULATIONS FOR MAKING IT THIS FAR
                                AND FOR HANGING AROUND THIS LONG!