USA throws people in the garbage

After being indoctrinated for twelve years of Grade School and High School with the idea that USA America is the land of freedom and opportunity, that the USA has democracy, a constitution, and legal guarantees of human rights -- it is difficult to accept that USA America just throws people in the garbage and leaves them to die in the streets with no concern. 

However, just look at the homeless camps of the freeway off ramps or abandoned buildings and one can come to no other conclusion but this: human life is worthless in America.  USA throws people in the garbage.

There is no democracy, the constitution is worthless and most importantly there are NO human rights in USA America.  Sorry.  Get used to it.


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

839 saved my life

For the record... I have nothing against 839 or the members. 839 saved my life. I had a bicycle accident in 2002 and need reconstructive surgery on my knee. It took me two years to make arrangements for knee surgery, and I hobbled around on a broken knee while I figured out what to do. Finally I got surgery and the Animation Guild 839 paid for the entire bill of $10,000. and this was more than nine months after I got laid off from Warner Brothers. This was above and beyond the call of duty and I am forever indebted to the Animation Guild and the Union movement for workers. If I could get a Union job in VFX I would take a cut in pay, just to be a Union member again. Unfortunately those jobs do not exist in the USA any more. The USA has the lowest rate of Union membership of any industrialized country, or almost any country in the world. Only 15% of the civilian work force is Unionized, whereas in some European countries and Japan almost 60% of the work force is Unionized and Union Representatives sit on the board of directors of major corporations. Those countries ALL have a better standard of living than the USA. Vote Union. Go 839.

Everybody is obsolete after age 50

Here is what I am saying -- when you are my age, you run a great risk of being dead or having your life destroyed. Almost half of my college friends are now dead. I used to laugh when I heard that Television screenwriters are "obsolete" after age 50, because I had a skill and I knew a craft of VFX. Turns out that unless you OWN the company, EVERYBODY is obsolete after age 50. You were told that you have a forty year career. I am telling you that you only have a twenty year career of peak earning, UNLESS you are extremely lucky and are a very focused "one dimensional" person. You would be wise to listen to what I am telling you and prepare to meet your own demise in thirty years gracefully. I am extremely lucky and like a cat I seem to have many lives. A surprise to me...Don't smoke. Don't drink. Eat vegetarian. Be generous and kind;...

I left my cell phone in the refrigerator

I couldn't find my phone this morning.  I worked till almost 2 AM last night and I thought I lost my phone. I was sure I brought it home and could not find it anywhere in my apartment. I even went back and looked in the car. The phone was GONE.

And then, I finally found my phone -- in the refrigerator. When packing my car to go home, I threw the phone in the backpack and inside the "food bag" When I unpacked my backpack at 2 AM, I put the "food bag" in the refrigerator. Who cares about their phone at 2 AM?  Who needs to use their phone at 2 AM?

Life is too complicated.

 Who thinks to look for their cell phone in the refrigerator???



copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

Feel the LOVE

copyright (c) 2018

William Schaeffer

Alien Agriculture

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William Schaeffer

Beam it Down, Scotty

copyright (c) 2018

William Schaeffer

The Word of God and The Professor

1. "The Word of God"

     4 x 6 canvasboard assembly art with foam stickers framed

2. "The Professor"

     4 x 6 canvasboard assembly art with foam stickers framed

copyright (c) 2018

William Schaeffer

A clean sink...

A clean sink is a Happy sink.

copyright (c) 2018

William Schaeffer

Advice to the "Depressed"

"Life is it's own reward. There is no magic bullet. If life weren't difficult it wouldn't be worth living. Take a deep breath. Let it out slowly. One step at a time. Wait an hour and check again. Peace." - Dr. Bombay


"All you need is faith and trust.  And... Oh, I almost forgot -- just a little bit of Pixie Dust." - Peter Pan


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

Corporate Profitability and Fascism

If you look at the political theory called Fascism, you will read of a political ideal that holds "law and order" and :"corporate profitability" to be the paramount virtues. HOW is that different from the philosophy currently being espoused by the Federal Government of the United States?


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

American Evangelical Christian movement

It is curious to note that the American Evangelical Christian movement is of VERY recent origin.   It began in the tent revival meetings in the "old South" in the 1830's.   It was partially a reaction to the Transcendentalist movement in early America characterized by the writings of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.   Before that time, there were no people living in North America (or anywhere else in the world) that would characterize themselves as "Evangelical" or "Born Again."   To this day, the United States of America is almost the only country on Earth that has a sizable (or in most cases even "countable") population of people who would characterize themselves as "Evangelical" or "Born Again."


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

Average Work Week in the Kalahari is 15 hours

The Bushmen of the Kalahari desert only spend an average of fifteen hours a week on food and sustenance. The Bushmen of the Kalahari desert only work fifteen hours a week! AND they live in one of the most inhospitable deserts on earth and only use a stone age technology. WHY DO WE WORK up to FIFTY HOURS A WEEK in the USA? WHY?

Good question.


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

effective communication

Facebook Note to R.A.:

Well then... There certainly appears to be a critical lack of effective communication and understanding. I appreciate your frustration and irritation. It requires a tremendous amount of patience and clever problem solving to actually present an argument in a manner that can be universally understood. This is not a trivial endeavor and at times has puzzled even the most intelligent among us. Thanks anyway...


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

whatever...

There is no LOVE in America.

Crazy America

One sixth of the entire population of the United States of America is currently taking psychiatric medication. That is about 53,000,000 people that let the pharmaceutical industry change their thoughts on a daily basis.


And the most amazing thing is that there is no actual understanding HOW the drugs work, or what the mechanics of the underlying mechanism in the brain is that they hope to fix.  There is no measurable or observable component of the brain that can be identified as not working in a patient with "mental illness."  The entire "diagnosis" and "analysis" of treatment is ONLY a "Doctor's" personal opinion, and subjective  interpretation of answers to verbal questioning, and nothing else.   NOTHING ELSE.


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

Comments on forced detention of immigrant children

1.  Only NAZI police arrest children.

2.  Only NAZI police keep children in concentration camps

3.  Forced relocation is a form of genocide

And

4.  Reports are that the same types of abusive practices that were championed by the USA military forces on detainees in Iraq are being used on these children. These same types of soft torture are already being used on these children:   1. sleep deprivation,   2. constant music,   3. forced psychiatric drugs,   4, corporal punishment. Fortunately the USA hasn't started waterboarding infants.  (yet).

5.  Fortunately the USA hasn't started waterboarding infants.  (yet).



copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

The Function of Capitalism

The function of capitalism, and any "profit driven" enterprise, is to turn everything into garbage as fast as possible and to extract the greatest amount of gold from the process.


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

Parting thought

Good job
Good night
Good luck




copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

Thanks for nothing, Dad

Thanks for nothing, Dad

Thanks for the times you didn't beat me or hit me with a belt.

Thanks for the times you didn't ridicule me, or make fun of me in public.

Thanks for the times you didn't play catch with me, or listen to me talk.

Thanks for being smart, and funny, and clever, and behaving with consideration, so I could watch you at a distance and get an idea of how to dress and act.

Thanks for being dead.


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

William's Paradox

If you choose a code word that has high security -- it will be so complicated that you will have difficulty remembering it yourself.


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

Who's got the button?

Assembly art
4 x 6 canvas board framed


I found these buttons on a stairway at Barnsdall Park one night.  They seemed eerie and strange and still seem to possess and unpleasant aura.  One of them appears to be missing.


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

A Boy and his Dog

Assembly art - unframed - 6 x 8 canvasboard

Seed pod and google eyes, two half nuts

copyright (c) 2018

William Schaeffer

Two Assembly Art

1. The MGTOWN Army

4 x 6 canvas board framed

2. Evolution

4 x 6 canvas board framed

copyright (c) 2018

William Schaeffer

Father's Day books

If your father was too busy, absent, or disinterested:

"Find your guidance in life from books written by men you admire." - Mr. Atwater

Some suggestions:
"Tao Teh Ching" by Lao Tzu,
"Self Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson,
"Be Here Now" by Baba Ram Dass,
"Win friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie,
"I Ching" attributed to King Wen,
"Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill,
"Hagakure" by Yamamoto Tsunetomo,
"Book of Five Rings" by Miamoto Musashi,
"The Book of Proverbs",
"The Art of Shen Ku" by Zeek.

Also good is:
"The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment" by Thadeus Golas
and anything by Michel de Montaigne


copyright (C) 2018
William Schaeffer

Honest Abe and President Trump

I woke up this morning with the phrase "Honest Abe" going through my mind. His honesty was remarkable and celebrated at the time. Then I remembered the quote attributed to George Washington, "I cannot tell a lie..." and remember his reputation for honesty and truth. Then I read the news of how President Trump constantly misrepresents the facts, distorts the truth, openly contradicts himself and calls people names. I can only ask myself, "What has happened to the character and quality of the people in the United States?"


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

Temporary Art

I have no idea how to glue these together or fasten them together without ruining the "light" textural feel.  Any ideas?

paper plate, paper towel, coffee filter, pipe screens, gasket, pipe cleaner, whimsey

copyright (c) 2018

William Schaeffer

Anthropomorphic "Old Friends"

"Old Friends"
5 x 7 framed  $20 for the pair
Assembly art with foam stickers


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

The Great Train Robbery

Motion Picture film was invented in 1888 and for the first twenty years films were made imitating theatrical productions, where the camera was stationary and people walked onto the set and acted in front of the camera.  It was not until twenty years later, in 1909, that someone thought to have parallel story lines and different camera angles in the movie The Great Train Robbery.  It took another ten to twenty years to refine the basic techniques.  It took almost forty years for a true film aesthetic to develop.

Similarly, I contend, that the standard format for youtube videos is still being formed.  It is natural to imitate the Television and Film models that currently exist, but the environment of youtube is as different from film, as film is different from theater.

Since youtube was invented in 2005 it has been 13 years and the channel has seen a real evolution of content.  It will probably be another 25 years before there is a standard  youtube aesthetic that everyone accepts as being "natural."  It is exciting to be a part of the process.


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

Economic efficiency

"Economic efficiency is intolerant of diversity or individuality."

The most economically efficient, or profitable, business model treats the human workers as interchangeable functions that have no individual needs at all.  The goal of a maximally profitable business is to have people work full time with few individual needs or personal characteristics.  One's basic humanity is seen as an economic liability.   This is perhaps the most anti-human goal in the history of human civilization excepting the institution of slavery in the Antebellum Southern United States and the institution of Roman Slavery in the salt mines.


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

Good Governance?

Response to a facebook post demanding that people stop insulting President Trump:


Mr Trump brought this upon himself by incessant name calling, like "Lying Ted" and "Crooked Hillary", that totally debased the level of political discourse deemed acceptable in a public forum. Mr Trump brought his own mockery upon himself fair and square. Furthermore, he has forever debased the parliamentary process in the United States government by tweets that are inflammatory and dishonest and inaccurate. He has earned the "respect" that he gets both personally and professionally and I for one hope that he eventually gets paid in full.



copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

Flunking out at U of Illinois

Comment on a news article on the high rate of "flunking out" at Universities today.

"Flunking out" is a scam. This is designed and planned by the University system so they can make money off of unqualified Freshmen. For example. I went to the University of Illinois B.S. 1981, M.C.S. 1985.    I worked video for the graduation one year and got to thinking about the numbers. I did a little research. For every year from 1950 to 1990 (at least) the Freshman class at the University of Illinois School of Engineering was twice the size of the graduating class. This was a product of grading on a strict bell curve (15% flunked out each semester). The curious thing is that HALF the attending freshmen NEVER GOT A DEGREE. This was a systematic plan for year-after-year-after-year. Reason I suppose, it was easier to get a qualified class of Seniors if you just flunked out the problem students instead of trying to actually teach them. Problem, NOBODY TOLD THOSE FRESHMAN STUDENTS. They had just spent 12 years in public school being passed along and had no idea the "meat grinder" they were enrolling in. I did not know. My friend "Mark" was one of the students that flunked out. He was a bright, artistic, and enthusiastic guy. I lived with him during his final semester of failure. In many ways, it ruined his life. He married and had two children, but died of cancer almost twenty years ago. My friend "Ted" also flunked out and got lost.  I think he is now homeless, or institutionalized, if he is even still alive.  I have other friends that got "lost" after they were flunked out. For every life made better by the University of Illinois Engineering School, one life was "flunked out" and in many ways destroyed.  This is America.  For every person that "makes it" one other person gets "thrown in the garbage."


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

Voting in the Roman Republic

History Fact: In the Roman Republic the citizens voted in a specific order and by groups with the Patricians voting first and the Plebeians voting last. The Patricians and Plebeians generally favored the same candidates. However, in the cases where one candidate was favored by the Patricians and another candidate was favored by the Plebeians there was never a single instance, in the entire history of the Roman Republic, where the Plebeian-favored candidate won the election. The Patrician-favored candidate always won and it is suspected that this was a curious by product of the pre-arranged voting order. Or perhaps, it was by an intentional design?


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

The Anthropomorphic House

Idea for anthropomorphic modifications to the home:

Buy several bags of plastic google eyes and several tubes of super glue. Then, glue a pair of eyes (with artistic placement) on every single electrical appliance, and above every door knob and drawer handle and above every switch and button in your entire house. Glue a pair of eyes on every piece of furniture and every tool or implement. Then you will live in an anthropomorphic house.


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

Abundance 2

copyright (c) 2018

William Schaeffer

Suicide: "123 a day in the USA"

Every single day in the USA an average of 123 people kill themselves by suicide. This is more than the number than die by murder and automobile accidents combined. And yet we rarely hear about suicide. In every single month since 9-11-2001 more people died by suicide than were killed in that national tragedy. And yet we never hear about it. Think about that and remember this: "123 a day in the USA"


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

Five things not to do when you are depressed:

Five things not to do when you are depressed:

1. Don't clean and oil your firearms

2. Don't sharpen your knife collection

3. Don't clean out the gutters or fix the chimney

4. Don't clean out the medicine cabinet

5. Don't take a long distance overnight trip in your car.


Bonus Idea:

6. Don't go swimming in the ocean by yourself during an electrical storm.


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

"Break Two Legs and Fall off the Stage" - Mr. Atwater

There are several different theories on where the phrase "Break a leg" comes from. This phrase is a humorous adaption of the interpretation in the "contrarian" school of thought. (i.e say the opposite of what you mean). Additionally, the imagery of someone actually breaking both legs and then falling like deadwood off the stage into the orchestra pit is endlessly humorous. Probably however, the origin of the phrase refers to the manner in which gentlemen in the Elizabethan age "bowed," which required bending the back leg and extending the other leg forward at the same time you bowed your head.

copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

Abundance

copyright (c) 2018

William Schaeffer

Capitalism

Capitalism is a self-cannibalizing form of social organization that has no stability and no longevity.

 The only goal of Capitalism is to make money. It is not to build a stable company. It is not to build a stable society or a stable and long lasting metropolis. The goal of free market Capitalism is to destroy everything and turn it all into money as fast as possible. Capitalism builds nothing but products that are to be thrown in the garbage so you buy their replacements.

 In Capitalism a corporation is treated "like an individual" under the law and it is the corporation that is liable for the crimes of the corporation and not the board of directors or shareholders. Prior to 1850, this form of economic organization was illegal in the USA. The C.E.O. and the board or directors are not personally liable for any of the "losses" the corporation causes or the laws the corporation breaks. This encourages dishonesty, corruption and the kind of infrastructure decay that we see in East Cleveland and Detroit. The reason there is infrastructure decay and destruction in East Cleveland is because the businesses all left town and took the money with them. The money left town. This is what American corporations do, they move operations to a less expensive State, or country and just leave all their loyal rank and file employees behind. Sorry, too bad -- that is capitalism. You lose. We all lose in the long run.

copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

Mass Book Burning

From a facebook comment on book burning and objective truth:



Ironically, that has actually happened. At the end of the Roman Empire in 500 A.D. - 600 A.D. there was a mass book burning and purge of "Earthly Ideas" by the Catholic Christian Church. Every University was closed and every single book in the entire Roman Empire (that was not the Bible) was burned and destroyed. Every single book on art, architecture, music, history, literature, poetry, medicine, agriculture, mathematics, and animal husbandry was destroyed, except NOT the Bible. The ONLY REASON that any literature of any kind has survived, was because it was preserved outside the Roman Empire and outside the reach of the Catholic Christian Church. Fact.

This is similar to the mass burning of books by emperor Chin in 213 BC. He is reputed to have burned all books except the I Ching and four other books on agriculture. He burnt Confucian scholars alive, closed Universities and used conscripted labor to build the Great Wall.


I told a friend this and he said it reminded him of the burning of the library at Alexandria.  He thinks some ancient secrets might have been lost.  I mentioned that the library at Alexandria was actually burned three times: Once by Julius Caesar by accident, Once by the Christians on purpose, and Once by Islam again on purpose.


"Those who don't remember the past are doomed to repeat it." - Mr. Atwater


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

Time Travel

copyright (c) 2018

William Schaeffer

Ziplock, Snaptight, Wonderbread

copyright (C)2018

William Schaeffer

Tao Teh Ching #76

Tao Teh Ching #76

Men are born soft and supple;
Dead, they are stiff and hard.
Plants are born tender and pliant;
Dead, they are brittle and dry

Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible
Is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding
Is a disciple of life

The hard and stiff will be broken.
The soft and supple will prevail.

Trans.Stephen Mitchell
HarperPerennial Edition 1992

Do What you LOVE

Response to a facebook post that says "Don't search so much, just do what you love and let friends come to you."


 Me:    HAHA. I did that and I'm still alone after 60 years with no family and few real friends. Sorry. "America hates men."  I can play piano, paint from life, write an essay, and fix my car, but nobody in life really cares if I am alive or dead. This is my America.


 L. R. R:    I just can't believe that. I'm sure there is a special one for you somewhere


 Me:    I am 60 years old. And I don't really want to debate with a stranger. I am not alone. A great number of American Men and people worldwide are isolated and exploited. I have never had an employer that did not cheat me or lie to me about the terms of my employment, except maybe mowing lawns in high school.


 Me:    I broke my neck in an automobile accident on 11/25/2015 and experienced a miraculous almost total recovery. During the entire three months only FIVE people offered to help. Of the several hundred people living in the apartment complex and the several thousand people I worked with in my career, only five people could be cajoled into helping. I laid on my bed on Christmas Day 2015 absolutely alone and only got a phone call from my "girlfriend" telling me that she made other plans. I am indebted to these five people for my life, but none of them did very much. One bought me a five pound bag of potatoes every ten days. Another brought me a few gallons of water when he went shopping. another drove me to the Doctor. I lived on baked potatoes for two months. I survived. There is no LOVE in America.


 L. R. R.:    I didn't mean to offend you or mind what is not my business. I just thought that maybe you wanted to talk to someone. I am lonely too, I totally know what you say. I am sorry if you didn't like my comment.


 Me:    Sorry.  I'm 60 years old and tired of talking. The entire fabric of American society is broken with dishonesty and nobody wants to look at it. I am disappointed in life and people are just mean and insensitive and cruel. People delight in causing pain and hurting their neighbors. We all like to see people suffer and die and that is just that way it is. I am tired of this life and I have no friends and I am tired of talking about it. THERE IS NO LOVE IN AMERICA. You have been warned.


L. R. R.    Things are the same here in Brazil.


 Me:    Sorry. The one hope is that through communication and TRUTHFUL awareness (with the internet) we can start a grass roots human movement to:

 1. Abolish capitalism
 2. Abolish delusional and religious belief
 3. Abolish national boarders
 4. Build a holistic and humanistic society for all humans to participate it
 5. Build a holistic and humanistic science of nutrition and philosophy of behavior.

I actually am trying to do my part and I think those five points make a good road map that will last for millenia beyond our deaths.



copyright (c) 2018 
William Schaeffer

The Wall of my Kitchen

copyright (c) 2018

William Schaeffer

The Western gunfighter

Just a Thought:

The decline of the popularity of the Western is correlated with the decline of the average pay for a man's job. 

In the 1950's an average man's standard wages could support a family and buy a house.

Today, it is impossible for most men to support anyone besides themselves. To have a family and a house requires a job, a family nest egg, and a wife that works. Today it is virtually impossible for any man to have a job that will support a wife and family.


Theory:

The Western gunfighter is a stylistic drama that correlates with an individual man fighting against society to protect his family. When there was economic stability, men worked, and women stayed home to take care of the family, then the Western gunfighter story seemed relevant.

Today, when most men cannot support a family, and many cannot even find a decent job, when over 50% of marriages end in divorce, and 80% of divorce is initiated by women, and when suicide, drug addiction, ill health, and being overweight is common among men, THEN the gunfighter story is no longer relevant to the men of today.


William Schaeffer 
818 824-1042

Teasing causes Trouble

One curious phenomenon that I experience in professional situations and the workplace is being teased and mocked by female coworkers. There is no recourse for me. I cannot complain to management and I cannot respond in any productive way. This is a fairly common occurrence and it destroys my earning capacity. Society hates men.


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer