Spy vs Spy

A very interesting article over on MSNBC about the NYPD spying, or should I say “gathering intelligence” on Muslims in the NYC area. NYPD went so far as to place informants in mosques, cataloged license plate numbers of vehicles parked in or near mosques,  cataloged sermons and used surveillance cameras to record the traffic in and out of the mosques.

Sounds like the did a very thorough job. What is interesting though is  that folks are complaining that the NYPD overstepped their bounds. They went to far some are saying. I disagree. If these people were gang bangers and doing drive-bys and gange bangers are known to frequent Weight Watchers meetings you bet your rosy ass NYPD would have informants at a Weight Watchers meeting!

I really hate that we live in a world where stereotyping and profiling (which is what I would  consider this to be) are necessary. It is sad that things are this way but it is our reality. Muslims, at least here in the U.S. will constantly say that the Muslim terrorists are extremist. Much like the Christians who feel bombing doctors offices that perform abortions are extremist. I say investigate them too. What is their Church teaching them? If you believe that God is  the almighty then you should also be able to figure out that he does not need your dumb ass to right wrongs. God is a big boy and can handle his business by himself.

As the article mentions, “there is no universally agreed upon warning sign for terrorism.” The only thing the authorities have to go on is what they know these terrorist have in common. They are Muslim. Where do you find Muslims? In the Mosque. So what are they supposed to say, oh no it is a mosque we cannot gather information there. Fuck that! They did the right thing. NYPD did not stop or interfere with the worshipers. No one was harassed by “the man”. No reports of midnight abductions by uniformed men. Until the report came out these people probably did not even know that intelligence gathering was being done. In today’s climate law enforcement would be hell-pressed to assume that these Muslims were benevolent. The could not assume that there was not a sleeper cell embedded in one of these mosques.

One something that should normally bring delight and empowerment to you is corrupted and perverted it gets more scrutiny. It gets cast in a doubtful shadow. The police did what they needed to do. They did it thoroughly. I do not like the fact that it had to be done but I also do not like getting blown up so some horny dude can collect his virginal harem. Collecting information is not a crime. Collect and protect.

 

Burn This Mutha Sucka

Come’on son! This is some crazy shit. Are you going to tell me that to the followers of Islam, it makes
perfectly good sense to merk someone becasue they burned the Koran? Really? I am not here to dispute whether or not the Koran is the inspired word of Allah. Nor do I wish to entertain arguments about respecting things that are sacred. What I do want to point out though is that the Koran, Torah, Bible, the name of the Hindu text alludes me at the moment and any other religious holy text in of themselves have no special power.

The words contained within these texts were penned by men. Blokes, dudes, mates, homies and regular folk that
are just like you and I. There is no text in those books that is worth killing another human being for regardless
of how they express their contempt for the text. Those muthafuckas that killed those men need to be apologizing to the families of those men. So what that they burned your fucking book. It is nothing more than paper and ink. All your actions did was confirm what most people believe about your religion anyway. That it is an ass-backward, archaic, extremeist way of life.

Again let me reiterate this. The book only has as much value as you assign to it. The alleged source of the text
has nothing to do with its value. Your response was way over the top. Perhaps you need to read another book. A book that will help you with your anger management issues. Obviously the one you are defending is not working. Assalamu alaikum.

Let Go

A friend of mine was recently fired from her job. Her employer did not provide a reason for her termination other than, “it is not working out”. A rather flat and meaningless explanation.

The next day she asked me if it would be alright if she emailed everyone at her former job to provide them with her contact information. As with most terminations you are escorted off of the premises and are not allowed to speak to anyone as you are leaving, so she did not get a chance to say goodbye to any of her coworkers.

My answer to her was yes it is alright but I would not recommend it. She is not breaking any laws by doing so and her intention on the surface seems legitimate. The reasons I have for not recommending that she look to contact her previous coworkers are simple.

1. As she put it, she wants to give her friends there her contact information. Well if they are your friend then they would already have your contact information. I like the way a former manager of mine looked at relationships when it came to inviting people to her wedding. Being established and marrying later in life she and her husband to be paid for their wedding. It was a small dinner wedding held at a local restaurant. I think they had about 75 people. Her rationale was, if I have not had dinner with you more than once in a years time then you really are not a friend of mine. This did not apply to friends who lived out of town. Makes perfectly good sense to me. We will break bread with people we want to be around. The more meals we share together the closer we are. Many people fail to realize that some relationships are contextual. They are born out of and exist only for the circumstances that brought us together. Outside of that there is no relationship. Work is a perfect example. Often the bonds, alliances, and camaraderie we create in the work place just does not extend outside of the job.
2. Contacting coworkers after you have been terminated is like trying to contact your ex’s friends after you break up. It is not a good look. Perhaps you did hit off with some of them and you felt a bond with them but your relationship with them too was contextual. Depending on how you and the ex ended things it is probably better just for you to let those people go along with the ex. It makes you look desperate and clingy to try to keep those relationships going. As I mentioned before if any of them were your friends now, they will be there. You want have to reach out to them because they are already in your circle.

There are times when our walking away is going to be forced. We are not always going to have the benefit of having the last word, getting a valid explanation or being able to wrap things up neatly. It is at these times when we need the strength and determination not to hang on to that which does not want us. Letting go is difficult. Once you do though, both hands are free to embrace a new opportunity.

Editor in Chief

A manager recently complained about one of our coworkers and his editorializing when dealing with one of the vendors. By editorializing he was referring to our coworkers running sidebar commentary often with snide details, conjecture and opinion that seemed not to provide the constructive and objective feedback we were accustomed to.

However what I think my manager failed to realize is that with the proliferation of blogging, micro-blogging and social networking out the asshole we are editors in chief. Gen X, Y and Millenniums all have become accustomed to expressing themselves in a very uncensored and somewhat verbose manner. We publish our thoughts for the entire world to consume.

The world has changed in such away that we have come to expect immediate and abundant feedback on almost every aspect of our lives. To see this not extending into the business place is very naive. Instead of censoring the detail, filter it. Harness it and add value to it by incorporating it in the day to day dialog.

Data is king. Data is most useful when it becomes information. Even highly subjective data can be a gold mine when properly harvested, refined and presented in a manner that is accessible.

Gettin’ Busy In Public

I left yall hangin’, sorry about that. All is well. We still doing our thang. What can I say. I felt like I was coming down with something so we only hooked up twice last week and this  week I still was not

100% so I am doing a double. Hooked up yesterday and then again tonight. Yesterday was great. We went further than ever before. Really pushed the limits. It is great to have someone that likes to push and that can take it easy. Things do not have to be one way or the other. Truly a blessing in that regard. We are still learning our communication styles. Verbal and non-verbal. Making progress. So far we have not needed a safe word but ya never know. wink-wink. We always seem to have an audience though. Duh that what happens when your pounding it out in public! I mentioned before that I would throw up a pic so yall could see my new love. We discussed it and permission was granted. So here ya go…

Yep that’s her. Well kind of. Running is my new sweety. I really started late last summer then got side tracked with other things. At the same time I was reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. What an eye openner! After reading that book my appreciation for running really grew and I just wanted to run. So despite the cold, snow and darkness of AK that is exactly what I did. It would have been too easy to sit back and say I have to wait until the weather is nice. Fuck that! No excuses. Shit – there is always someone running, walking, skiing, skating or just chilling on the trails here. Hell – if they can do it so can I! And I have. Fuck the thermometer, fuck the ice and the snow. This is Alaska baby that shit is here from October until May. 8 months out of the year, what should it stay inside? Hells no. Not this dude. Anyway, it has not been easy. I’m still learning how to properly layer my clothes. Still investing in the right clothes to properly layer. Took a minute to get used to running on packed snow and ice. Still have not mastered the loose snow. I see other people doing it so I just need to be patient and I’m sure I will get the hang of it as well.

However despite all of that I’ve seen a tremendous increase in my stamina. When I first began this I would just run around my neighborhood. Ya know go out for like 20 minutes. It hurt like hell. Then 20 turned into 25. Next thing you know I’m out for an hour and doing 5 miles. That is terribly slow but the point is to get out and do it. My times will pick up. I know I am capable of doing a mile in about 8:30. That’s not crazy fast but it is still closer to the 4 to 5 minute mark that is considered the ideal time. Right now I am averaging a 12 minute mile. My goal is to have that down to 10 minutes by spring. There is still a lot for me to learn. Pacing, form, and training. Practice makes perfect. So far it has been a great experience. I’m really looking forward to growing with her and learning new things along the way. She kicks my ass and I keep coming back for more. Each time a little better than last. Yep – this is going to work out just fine.

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Perfectly Flawed

A friend on FB posted that she did not think she could forgive herself for not being the perfect mother, especially if one of her children became unhappy. WTF? Really? Are you fucking serious?

There is no such thing as the perfect parent. As long as we are all flawed we can not expect that our parenting will somehow miraculously be perfect. Being the perfect parent is a completely unreasonable expectation. The concept in of itself is so flawed that those who dare utter the words “perfect parent” need to be immediately sent to a North Korean work camp and re-education program.

The only thing you will get perfect as a parent are your fuck-ups. The sooner you understand this and can help your children understand this the better off all involved will be. Right out of the gate my kids will know, Daddy loves you but he makes mistakes. He owns them and learns from them and tries very hard not to repeat them. As they grow and look back hopefully they will know above all that they are loved. Should I have hurt their precious feelings, ooops my bad, I’m not perfect.

Quiet Time

Life always has lessons for us to learn. Yet at times it can be difficult to learn those lessons over the noise of our internal discourse. Those lessons can be more difficult when they are not electives which is more often the case.

By quieting our internal discourse we are opening ourselves to hear the instructions of life allowing them to resonate in our consciousness. It is in these quiet moments that we can meditate on and gain a deeper understanding of these lessons.

Hot and Wet

So we hooked up last night and it was FANTASTIC! Gawd damn! Good thing
I came prepared. Wink, wink. A gentleman is not supposed to kiss and tell; however this is not like I am bragging to my boys about a conquest. Perhaps if I say more about what it was like for me would that make me a little less douche-baggy? Come’on son! When was the last time you were totally open?

Normally I am pretty limber but for some reason yesterday all of the bones were cracking and popping. That’s all right though. Just had to start off a little slower. Let things
get nice and warm before smashing it out. Haha, sorry I could not resist throwing in a little bravado. Yeah man it is times like these when you need to pace yourself. Going all out is not the move. We wanted this to last – so we did our thing. We worked it out. Na’mean? (Know what I mean?) We truly are a good fit for each other – pause – laughter.
Seriously we are. Never have I been with someone who seemed to just want to stay with me. Not at the physical level but more on the spiritual level. Whoa, I am finding it difficult to find the words to explain this. When we are together it just seems to flow. We can usually find ways to adapt to each other that allows us to accomplish what we need to get done. What is amazing though that much of this is nonverbal. It literally just clicks.

Back to the fun! But you once I got acclimated and the joints loosened up I was good to go! I found the rhythm and was just jamming. Wiz Khalifa was playing, it was one of his slower mixtapes, I dunno, it just worked. It helped keep things moving. All I could hear was the sound of our steady smashing. Heavy breathing – light breathing. The smell of hard work in the air. LOL. The struggle for dominance. Mmmmm. Don’t you know, as soon as you are in the zone something happens that just totally breaks your concentration and interrupts the flow. Brings then to a sudden and unexpected halt. Son of a bitch! Muthafucka! Of course we pick up where we left off, it is still good but not quite the same. It was alright though I was still lov’in every minute of it. No doubt son. But I was petering out. Not going quite as strong. Especially after the interruption.

Just had to dig a little deeper and mash it out. Deep breathing and slowing things down helped a lot. We found our stride and finished strong. Hot and wet as hell. Panting and just looking all, well ya know the look. Wheeeew what a workout. We want get together today but I am almost certain that Friday we will definitely be hooking up. I cannot wait! Think I might go shopping, I want to look extra special. Stay tuned…