This man left me staring at the screen, slack jawed, and unthinking.

At this very moment, I still can barely form complete thoughts.  This is so far from my day to day existence.  To engage in an act (e.g. war) that regularly has consequences of this nature and often much worse (If death is worse than this. I'm not sure,) really has no means of justification in the absence of preexisting, direct aggression by the opposition.  I think this gentleman must be of extraordinary character or something of that nature.  You'll see...

Kenneth and Charles

"Wow" kinda stuff, yeah?

Well Gun Control is Back in the Headlines... One more time:

Gun Control.  I'll be short and to the point; you know... like a handgun.  Gun control will keep guns out of the hands of ONE group of people - average, law-abiding citizens.
The issue is long over.  We bought into the gun thing LOOOONG ago.  Firearm distribution in the U.S. is so vast there's little reason to even discuss the issue.  The people who REALLY want guns AND are most likely to USE THEM ON PEOPLE (psychos and stupid criminals) will be able to easily obtain guns under the strictest of gun control policies, and they forever will.  There are too many guns out there already, so just fuckin' get over it.

Really??? You don't think BJ, the career drug dealer won't be able to carry his Glock 9mm because you can't buy them without an extensive, 2 month long background check?  If you're even considering arguing about this, go fuck yourself.

Furthermore, it contributes population control.

Lincoln, Kennedy, King, Lennon, etc. all would still have been killed by guns.  The powers that be will always be armed.  Don't just lie down for them; I don't care if they give you a doggy treat or not.

What kind of ignorant, selfish, retarded, ayehole people...

As I was saying...  What kind of ignorant, selfish, retarded, assholerized people shit all over a man who wants nothing more than to be a good Dad to his kids?  And however much he has been allowed, he's done exactly that - been a good Dad.
SO WHAT THE GODDAMN FLYING FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE POWER TRIPPING, PSYCHO, PARANOID, EVIL BITCHES?!?!?!
Ya know? What the fuck?
Why would anyone fuck with a father who actively, with no nudging or prodding whatsoever,  a father who wants to provide his children with love and attention and be involved in their lives?  Their complete lives.  Not playing with them for a couple 3 hour visits per week.
THAT'S NOT BEING A DAD YOU STUPID CUNTS!!!!!!
THAT'S NOT PROVIDING THE KIDS THE LOVE, SECURITY, AND GUIDANCE OF A FATHER!!!
ARE YOU PEOPLE FUCKING RETARDED?
DID YOUR DAD FUCK YOU WEARING A GARFIELD MASK OR SOMETHING?
WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!?!?!

I'm sure that's it.  They had shitty fathers.  And now they're like, "I had a shitty Dad, or basically no Dad and look at me.  I turned out fine."
NO! NO YOU DIDN'T! YOU'RE FUCKED UP...  AND FUCKED UP BAD.  You have massive control, power, and security issues.  You have no social skills to speak of.  Your relationships with men (and women for that matter) are ALL fucked up or non-existent.  And you are obsessed with ignorant, hard-line christianity which you wield like a sword and hide behind like a shield (more like a castle wall) in your daily battles with obvious truths that you are too insecure and fearful of to accept.  Did I mention the unfathomable control and power issues?  Holy fuck.  Do you even see some of this shit I'm talking about or are you just in complete denial?
Damn it.
Respect is earned, NOT enforced!
Fuckin' idiots...
Your family is blessed with a gifted father for your children and grandchildren and all  you do is disrespect and shit on him.  You are disgraceful.
God Damn It.
or Bless It.  Whatever will straighten these damaged bitches out.

I've Had It With Advertising On CNN!!!

O.K. so I see a tag line in my daily news list from CNN that interests me.  I click to it.  It's a video.  Great! Don't have to read!  So they run a short ad that I usually can partially skip after a countdown.  Fine, everyone has to make their money.  Then the next video in the series associated with the first begins.  And....  another ad.  And the ads generally SUCK!  Really?  Before EVERY video?  Really?  It's not like you're ALREADY a billion dollar corporation or anything.  Do you really need to make even more money by subjecting us to MORE advertising than we endure every second of every day? I mean, before the first video, sure.  When we switch to a new set of videos, o.k..  But every frikin' one?  Ooops, my bad, I almost forgot...  Money Over Everything... sorry bro.

Who Owns Your Home, For Real? I Think YOU Do And Here's Why...

Before someone from Chase Bank reads this and decides to screw me on my refi-, let me say that within the current system of mortgage lending, Chase has been a good lender to me and done a number of things to help me through these trying economic times.  That said, here's the truth...

I signed a stack of documents so I could provide my children a stable place to call home - as my parents did for me.  It could have been a suicide note and I would have signed.  $130,000 (now worth $80k): 4 tiny bedrooms, two mold filled bathrooms, a pool with much more mold than the bathrooms, and a "birthday-cake pink" front door.  It was and is my dream home.  I love it.

On three occasions last year, my home was 24 hours away from being auctioned off on the steps of some building downtown.  Apparently, if I fail to pay Chase $1k per month for the next 30 years, they'll kick me out of my home and let someone else have it.  Apparently, THEY own my home.

Yes, I understand the economics and legalities of the situation.  For a change of pace, how about we take a look at the REALITY of the situation? ...And henceforth, I rant:

If Chase owns my home, where were they when the shoddy aluminum wiring caught fire in the living room? Or a month later in my bedroom?
If Chase owns my home, where were they when it was raining in the entryway and kitchen due to sagging spots in the roof?
If Chase owns my home, where were they when raw sewage was filling up my shower and bathtub?  Or when the heat went out in December?  Or when the pool pump burned up? Or when the backyard flooded? 
Why didn't they help paint that god-awful front door? Or assist me with remodeling an entire bathroom on a $60 budget?  Do they even know what color my bathroom is?  Or what color the HOUSE is?  Has a single person associated with Chase ever even SET FOOT on this property?  Does one Chase associate have a single, honest care about this home?

Maybe I'm crazy, but to me, Chase does not appear to be the owner of this particular home.  How about yours?

This system is dysfunctional at its very core.   We don't need change.  We need a whole new system; or perhaps, no system at all.

Truisms to Keep Learning, Thinking, and Earning.

Your Net Worth is not a number.

A wise man once told me, "Life my friend, is like a box of donuts...   no, wait, no it's not."  Wise men acknowledge their mistakes.

The charge of Government is to PROTECT and UPHOLD the citizens' rights, NOT to RESTRICT them.

Pursuing adolescent dreams of making a difference isn't adolescent.  Giving up is.

Breaking the rules isn't dishonest.  Lying about it is.

Frailty of character can be gauged by the amount of difference between who a person is and who they want to be.

The purpose of government is to prevent one party from impinging upon the rights of another.

Do not hoard. There's enough for everyone.

We only want for that which is denied us.

Anarchy is the ultimate destination of any positively evolving society.

Mass is resistance to Motion.

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do!

The object of true love is not experienced as an opportunity, but a responsibility.

Genuine responsibility is a desired obligation.

Anything, physical or otherwise, is defined by its absence.

Substantive abandonment of convention is evidence of mastery.

Life is the dynamic, creative edge of reality.

Scale is the real life representation of variability within a set.

Dimensions are the stepping stones of the universe.

True dimensions occur at prime numbers.

Truth & Honesty are not the same. One can tell the truth while being dishonest.

Be honest & life will be easy.  ...No. Wait.  My bad.  Scratch that.  Not necessarily.

When one truly has something, it is given away without the need for self-consideration.

The notion of implied meaning is the most common root of misunderstanding.

Racism - The belief that the members of a race exhibit specific characteristics or abilities more frequently than another race or races; thereby distinguishing one race from another.
vs.
Racism - The belief that all members of a race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race; esp. so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.

Varying accent is an emerging means of conveying context & comprehension.

When presented with a choice, to elect 'not to choose' ensures a path devoid of creativity, which may be destructive by definition.

The absence of communication between necessarily linked parties ensures conflict.

If you discover an individual truly hating you, rest assured they have already done you wrong.

The commission of an injustice precedes the harboring of hatred.

After 15 (mostly good) years, today I filed for divorce from Verizon Wireless.

Oh god...  back to the cellular dating scene...  smokey bars, watered down drinks, fake laughs, bad breath, and sagging tits.  Maybe I should just...     NO!  I'm ending the abuse now! Here!

In a very short amount of time, two years?, Verizon Wireless has gone from being the model, premiere cellular service provider to the leading example of a corporation raping its loyal client base for every nickel they can suck out of 'em before... We'll just have to wait and see.  That's just how the future works.  Nothing I can do about it.

I was so bent out of shape and disappointed after becoming convinced that Verizon's plummet to the "AT&T Service Level" was not just a few incidents, but a calculated (incorrectly) change in Verizon's general business strategy, that I felt I had to express myself fully and honestly before I'd ever gain some closure on this shocking failed relationship.

I present for your contemplation, my "Dear John" to Verizon Wireless...

I have been a Verizon customer since what seems like the dawn of time (about 13yrs).  I currently have 3 lines, all of which are due for contract renewal/upgrades.  My primary line also has a $50 loyalty discount. I've been researching iPhones (4s&5).  I had the 1st with AT&T but the service downgrade from Verizon was so unbearable (& I needed a physical keyboard) that I had to abandon my iPhone dream (I still had 1 or 2 lines with Verizon).

I cough up around $250/mo. for my phones.  As a result of this plump monthly average, my long relationship with Verizon, and my eagerness to buy new products (until recent $ issues), Verizon has always gone the extra mile to give me special discounts and extra deals on my phone upgrades. While +/- $50 isn't going to break Verizon's or my bank, it's the gesture and "extra perk" that makes me feel valued and special.  From the beginning, it was this type of customer service that placed Verizon alongside customer service legends like Geico and Apple (well, the old Apple).

My experience of late has not followed in this tradition in a number of specific ways:

1. The discontinuance of the Unltd. Data package AND EVEN WORSE are the coercive means you are using to force people off the plan.  You even rub our nose in the raw deal being jammed down our throats when you place the old plan and the new plans side by side during the phone upgrade process.  To see Unltd. Data - 29.99 right alongside 2GB - $30, 5GB - $50, 10GB - $80 is really quite audacious and offensive.  It's even more so when considered in light of your competitors' pricing for Unlimited Everything.

2. Giving me discounts beyond those online and getting free phones every two years (usually sooner) have been two of the primary hooks that made me look the other way when it comes to Verizon's higher pricing.  The iPhone 4s is being offered to me for $50.  That tells me I can get it free if I ask for it and maybe get help from a Supervisor.  NO IT DOESN'T.  Not anymore.  Verizon would rather me not renew than give me a $50 break.  Fine.

3. The iPhone 4 is being offered free, maybe I should go that route instead...  NOPE.  There are no free phones with the "$30 upgrade fee" tacked on there at the bottom.  WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!?!  An upgrade fee?  Really?  For doing what?  Does the CEO's nephew need a new Porsche?  What happened to "free upgrades"?  Sugar coating your attempts to milk your customers for every last dollar doesn't veil your (not YOU, but Verizon's) ...doesn't veil your aggressive, greedy, money grabbing.  It's repugnant.  Oh yeah, isn't there some other five or ten dollar charge? I can't remember, but I think it puts the cost of a "Free Phone" up around $40. [...retch..]

4.  What's the big secret/problem with Pix Place?  Why is it next to impossible to get to the website? In fact, given the bright, creative minds there must be at Verizon,  why is the Verizon site so poorly organized/laid out?  Of course a good portion of it makes sense and can be efficiently navigated, but too much of it seems designed by a 'C' Student that types with just his index fingers.

5.  Thank you for continuing to insult me by offering your sophisticated "Account Analysis" tool (yes, this is dripping with sarcasm).  Analysis?  How can you offer a tool that looks at a client's 1400 minute psychic prediction but has a monthly average usage of 500 minutes and concludes that I am on the right plan and no change is necessary...  So the less expensive, 700 minute plan isn't a better fit based on my usage?  Really?  Moving on...

6.  The final issue isn't new, but it is in the spirit of Verizons new corporate attitude.  This has burned in my heart for quite some time and I'm dying to get an answer.  What purpose is served by having me make a psychic prediction each month about the coming month's usage amount?  I don't have to do that for a land line?  or my electricity? or natural gas & water?  Why? Why can't we be billed like any other utility (I know, but soon cel phones WILL be a utility).  Ah Ha!  That's what problem #1 is all about!  Getting the psychic prediction ripoff, I mean billing method, in place for data usage because someday, voice and text will be phased out by the internet and the sooner it's in place, the less likely consumers will make a stink about its ridiculous, unfair nature and simply accept it as normal.  ...Dirty...

Anyway, if you would like to hire me to fix ANY of these problems and create corporate structures to prevent such misdirection in the future,  feel free to submit an offer to my gmail account.   Regardless of that, I look forward to your response.

Thank you for your extended time and effort,

Eric Parslow

You owe it to your life to see this 10 second clip...

For Lisa (no, not my kids' mom):

Oh god. It's been how many years and this still brings giant tears to my eyes...

Aaak!  My side hurts...

WHOA! Is it me, or did I just get "Re-phuked" when I saved my home with a loan modification??? Take a look...

So, let's explore this example of what I'm talkin about:

My original mortgage was for 130,000. I was supposed to pay $1000 per month. Say of that $1000, $100 are spent on bills and the other $900 went everywhere except the mortgage co. This goes on for say 6 months, and I accrue a debt to the tune of $1000 for payment and $100 in fees (to keep it simple) each month for a total of $6600 owed. So my mortgage company and I agree to new terms and a plan to get me current. i.e. my interest rate is dropped very low, and my accrued debt is tacked onto my principle along with another $1400 in fees and penalties. Fair enough, at least I still have my home.

Whoaaaaaa! Um, I'm a horse's ass... Look at what just REALLY happened:
I now have a principle of 138,000. 6600 of that 8000 are payments on the original principle. Now those payments have been tacked onto my loan amount. You see? I now have to make those payments twice. Once I get the loan down to 130,000 (in 5 years lol) I am then paying the original loan payments... Wait! Didn't I just pay those?

But the Love Making doesn't stop there. By refinancing, I restart my amortization schedule as well. This means I go back to 90% of my payment going to interest and 10% going towards principle. That's the oldest, tried and true method of derrier pounding that lenders have been giving home buyers since the dawn of time, without any struggle or opposition I might add.

Go learn about amortization schedules and see what size balls it takes to charge a penalty for early payment on a loan. Corporate America, be it banks, or cellular companies, or paper plate manufacturers, or gas/oil companies, or the federal government, corporate America is slamming a giant, male, copulatory organ into every person's alimentary canal every minute of every day. And you know what? They have to. Because without massive profit margins, they couldn't keep their doors open for a week. People don't realize how expensive it is to run a business. I am amazed by mom & pop businesses that are still succeeding. Then you tack on massive executive salaries and bonuses. Of course they have to fuck the citizenry. Because ultimately, capitalism doesn't work. Eventually, the 1% suck the life blood completely out of the 99% and they're stuck standing there with no one to haul away their garbage. We have to work to save the group as a whole if we want to save ourselves. No one can go it alone.

A Final Message to Gerald W. Hardcastle, Clark County Family Court, Las Vegas, Nevada

WELL GERRY, YOUR RULING THAT IN EFFECT DESTROYED MY LIFE HAS BEEN RULED AS VIOLATING MY RIGHTS AND REVERSED. The victory is a bit hollow given the years of harm we endured while appealing. Once I've repaired your damage, I'll take on forgiveness. Until then I can only carry my anger with me, try to neutralize its negative effects on me and hope you fall painfully ill - I'll leave a possible terminal outcome to fate.
Dear Mr. Gerald W. Hardcastle,
    I want to apologize for the base name calling in my previous two letters.  I don't take it back, but I do recognize the counter-productive effects and inappropriate nature.  It was a way for me to release my pain from the injustice your ruling caused.  I haven't seen my children in 2 weeks.  I call everyday but have been allowed to speak to them once.

    Funny how when I have had custody (for 1 year when Leo was 2 - custody which ironically, you granted me - and the last four months) there are no visitation disputes or problems.  I go out of my way to maintain my kids' relationship with their Mom.  As questionable as she is, she's still their Mom and they need her.  When in their Mom's care, getting to see my kids is like pulling teeth.  If she could find any reason to deny me time with my children, I didn't see them.  And now, what do you know?  When under their Grandmother's care, on rare occasion I can contact them on the phone and I can forget about actually seeing them.  Hmmm... just like when their Mom had custody.  Isn't that strange?  You think Grandma might have anger management issues too? 

On that note, it's one thing if their Mom spanks them.  They're her kids.  I respect her right to make that choice.  But no other person has the right to hit my children -- as I already know their Grandma does.  But then again, I have no authority over her actions or her treatment of my children.

  Understand, that the removal from our home is with no transition period whatsoever, after living with me for a year and a half.  For the last four months I have been with Ahlia every waking hour she had.  Except for when in school, I was with Leo every moment that he was awake as well (also except Mom visitation.)  My nanny has the easiest job in the world - she does nothing!  Because I don't need one - at least not a court ordered one (I would have one regardless of any order).  Then, poof!  Their father and home are ripped out of their lives completely.  Wow.   My poor children.  This isn't the first time the court has done this to my son either.

    Imagine your feelings and reaction if, when your daughter's meth addiction was discovered, the parenting police came and said, "Ah ha! You have proven yourself to be a failure as a father!"  and then they took your daughter away from you and took your parental authority and left you with nothing.  You'd be pretty upset wouldn't you?  You'd cry out about the insane injustice right?  Well that's what you have done to me, except I don't even get to fail or try or even more likely, succeed.

    So, I suggest you find a way to fix your error before the damage to my children becomes serious.  I say this because I have to find a fairly large amount of money before I can fix your mistake for you.

Sincerely,

Eric C. Parslow