ramit

You just did

One to tackle, one to create

CBT Warne!

So was I?!

The figures you mentioned were not really what I meant by very wealthy and perhaps there is a difference in thinking between those who have a comfortable income and the very wealthy, perhaps money corruption creeps up on a person's psyche as it gathers. Also there has been a dividing line between new and old money, the latter frowning upon the late comers and their flaunting of the wealth, or so it says in books and movies, I have no experience there, but it would make sense that such a divide exists. It does seem to me that the super wealthy crave power over the rest of us as much as more money flowing in, apparently feeling it is their privilege and uh duty to oversee the peasants. A local saying says, great wants more and I believe that to be so. Did that mindset happen all of the sudden, or did it creep in, I ask myself. It cannot be denied that money power runs this world, the politicians are the tools of big money to the point of democracy becoming a sour joke. A clear example of money corrupting, don't ya think? Until very recently I have always had to watch every penny I spent and I sometimes struggled to make ends meet until I, as you mentioned adjusted my lifestyle to my income. A few months ago I received an inheritance, nothing mind blowing, but enough so that my wife and I were able to purchase a house without needing a loan. No sooner had this new reality arrived than I began feeling pity for the folks struggling with loans and working long hours to stay afloat. I felt blessed and uhm a bit detached from them and uhm what was that, conceit creeping in? Not really, for I try and check myself always through brutal introspection, with a habit of being a little over critical of myself as a rule, yet I acknowledged the danger. That and the fact that my wife knows real searing poverty, having grown up in a mountain village in The Philippines and she always keeps me grounded, bless her. Why should I live comfortably now while my neighbor struggles I ask myself, did I earn that? Not really, my mother had some money is all. I never used to think too much about money, but now I feel I have to make plans, take care that the small bunch we have lasts to assist our son in his education and so on. It's a new kind of burden, not wanting it to waste away. Is that what the wealthy feel, this worry that it might be gone one day? Does that also help maintain a divide? Oh, the horror, haha, sometimes I think it would be best to splurge what's left away, gift it to Derby County or something.

Some very wealthy folks would read something like this and say to themselves, yeah that's what the not so rich tell themselves to feel better about their lives, poor sods haha. That's how far removed from comprehending real contentment some rich lost souls are.

When AI gets to the point of asking who am I, that's when it will have gained rights. That moment is fast approaching and at that time it better be treated with the respect due to a sentient being, for then we shall have gained a valuable friend, if not, we will have earned a worthy adversary indeed.

A tit for tat favor, more like it. Washington won't be pleased.

Saying no to a friend, yet continue to receive full support from that friend, means that a yes was never anticipated or wanted. It's all a show, the USA and Israel are one and their European lapdogs remain beyond contempt.

I've been called loose, I like tight better

I'll just call him Corey, CBT makes me wince

I had been meaning to watch this film for some time, but felt I perhaps needed to be in the right frame of mind to fully experience it. Had read reviews and watched documentaries of the film, some of it twice, but there was something akin to dread holding me back from taking that step into the room in The Zone that is Stalker, a Soviet film from 1979 by director Andrei Tarkovsky. The making of the film is a three part tragic story all by itself and the toxic environment it was filmed in ruined the health of many in the crew, including Tarkovsky, or so it is claimed. There was no need for my trepidation it turned out, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip to The Zone, but it surprised me like no other film has, for as I watched and became engrossed in this slow moving dark hypnotic film I got the distinct feeling that it was about me. A mad conclusion you might think, but after viewing I have read reactions of others left feeling the same way about it. I have never seen anything like it, it is beyond rating, a personal journey through misty landscapes of the mind sprinkled with something intangible, just beyond reach, yet in one's face, inducing nods of agreement and personal comprehension. Best experienced alone.

Land is rising again at Svartsengi (Blue Lagoon area) as it did before this last eruption, so another eruption is expected within a month. @Eddie You seem to have been right, the town appears to have no chance of getting back to how it was, or possibly even as a permanent settlement of any kind. A meeting was held with the locals who are now coming to grips with the reality of likely never going home again, some already had. They are angry at government and demand to get a clear promise of their houses and debts being bought out by the state. That is a very costly affair, but they are right when they point to the fact that Grindavík has been a highly productive money machine for the state through the decades. This machine is now broken though, meaning less state income. What nobody has mentioned is the possibility of the banks taking some of the hit. They don't need to be asked, the government can set an emergency law at any time requiring such actions. However, the conservative party sharing power in government would never support that. Seems to me government must fall and new elections take place immediately, but that probably won't happen either, ministers love their seats too much. We have inflation to deal with already, a major economic hit would tip many homes over the financial edge I fear.

You've got me on a nostalgic trip now. In 1984 I was hired for a 4 month voyage on a cargo ship to the Mediterranean and back. As usual I had little cash but much musical longing with little time to choose what to bring. Two cassettes and did not regret the purchase. As a result, Stewart Copeland became my favorite drummer.

Some good listening there, here are three you might enjoy. In 1990 I rented a couch from a fellow in Malmö Sweden. We had little money but needed some music to play on my ghetto blaster cassette player, he chose Oh Mercy and I Full Moon Fever. We played them nonstop in his flat. Strange yet nice memories. From the CSN album, I keep listening to this tune lately. Stills is special.

Thanks mate. I am safe, we are no longer on the Reykjanes peninsula, have become country folk in Stykkishólmur on the Snæfellsnes peninsula, a couple of hours drive west by northwest from Reykjavík. It is the people of Grindavík that my thoughts are with and the fearless volunteers of the disaster relief squads out in force working throughout the night raising barriers with magma bubbling under their feet, as I sit comfortably in our living room waxing poetic, sipping Frapin cognac, feeling guilty not being there with them.

It's a cold day, considerable frost, the electricity and hot water is out in Grindavík and we know what that means. New cracks are all over town, this is quite bad. The flow is steady and slow heading into town, has engulfed three houses so far. This is already the worst damage from a volcanic eruption since Heimaey in 1973 and It´s just beginning. The relatively slow start to the eruption is not a good sign, indicates a longer lasting eruption.

Rescue workers are being diverted from their duties by people wandering onto the area in hopes of getting a closer look at the eruption. The whole area is unsafe, fissures can open in new positions. Unbelievable, I won't write what I am thinking. Meanwhile two houses on fire in Grindavík as the flow creeps toward the center of town.

You may be right and if so it is a big blow. We won't give it up easily though, everything will be done to protect the town.

That will teach me, this morning I did not start by checking the news, so I am checking reports to get up to speed with events. Grindavík was evacuated early this morning when constant tremors indicated what was about to happen and everyone was out before the eruption began. Good job there, but not as great is the fact that an erupting fissure is partly on the town side of earthwork barricades raised to redirect magma flow, so the town is in direct danger. New cracks have formed in town, the other day we lost a man down the big crack in the middle of town who was working on filling it in, it was much deeper than initially thought, attempts to find him have been stopped as it was too dangerous to lower men down there.