aliens, planet 9, and an accident

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_Nine

So there might be a planet out there, way beyond pluto, screwing with orbits.

Also

Keep in mind that one worry we have about sending probes to habitable worlds is we might accidently send life there via bacteria or other 'infectants'. In effect, the aliens would be us.

And

Our solar system is lean on earthen planets. Many other solar systems have a "superearth"

So

What if Planet 9 is full of folks who developed eons ago and moved their planet to a more convenient location.

However

On one of their earlier exploration missions to a developing rocky world devoid of life, they accidentally introduced bacterial life. When they realized it hundreds of millions of years later, the life had already spread to cover the oceans of this planet and was producing oxygen and starting to spread to the land.

This would put them in an interesting moral situation. What to do. Should they exterminate the life they infected on this planet; or, should they allow it to develop, and if so, what then?

They might decide to stand on guard and let this civilization develop naturally while hiding their own presence.

Maybe that civilization is us.

So you wanna buy me a gift for xmas

So you've decided to get teddy a gift for xmas. What does he want?

Well the #1 thing that will help me is pure hard cash. I live on social assistance so I don't exactly have a lot of money. Having money solves this.

A new chair. A desk/office chair to use with my computer.

A new desk. For my computer.

A better graphics card for my computer.

New shoes.

Booze. Lots of booze. I love booze.

Pot. It's legal now so why not. Something low in THC and high in CBD.

A bus pass.

Working computer printer. I have 2 broken ones already.

But. All of these are objects and items it is easier for you to get for me if you know me in person and can deliver the item physically. If that's the case, chances are you are not reading a blogpost but talking to me directly.

So what can you get for me online?

The answer is super simple:
https://store.steampowered.com/wishlist/id/pellaken/#sort=order

In particular, items above the $600 editing software.

I mean you could get me the software that'd be cool; but I only really added it as a marker. Items above it are what I want. Items below it are what maybe I buy one day when they are on 90% sale when I'm bored of all the games I already have. Please don't buy one items of these if an item above the marker costs less than that item.

These rules apply for 2018, but may also apply for future years. I've been using the same chair and desk since 2015 for example; but both have desperately needed replacing ever since I got them.

Internet breaks, internet addiction, others, me, and related thoughts

So, I stumbled across this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve37Bg4-hPc

titled "We Quit the Internet for a Month, Here's What Happened."

I also know CGP Grey is taking a big internet break. 

https://twitter.com/cgpgrey

I've also heard about this sort of idea from others.

I wanted to share my thoughts on this, and why I feel its both part nonsense, part "does not apply to me", and part "what I need to do".

Stealing Time

I feel this idea is nonsense. I understand the argument and actually agree with it, but the way in which its being interpreted by those going on these breaks - and there are far more than the two of them that I've linked here -  is hyperbole of the level of a conspiracy theory. Its not a conspiracy theory. It simply is presented as one. 

The basic idea is this: Twitter, Facebook, Youtube; the internet as a whole, is designed for a single purpose - attention. They want your attention, demand it, require it to do their job. And this is a job; twitter, facebook, youtube; all businesses, businesses that require your watch time and engagement to make cold hard cash and pay their employees and investors. 

This means they have a vested self interest in trying to draw in and keep your attention, and in trying to use psychological tricks to keep you watching and reading. Things like like ratios and retweets give you a high and make you feel important, its a score you can use to compare and compete with others. 

This is usually where it is implied that this is evil. Nefarious. Malicious. People usually point out all the bad things this can lead to and how to use of tricks, TRICKS, are very very bad.

Probably the most well used psychological trick is ending prices in $.99 and if you bought something today, it probably ended in a $.99 or something similar. Just because a "trick" like this is used does not mean its 'evil'. Implications that twitter is somehow more evil than your local grocery store because both want to use you to get rich are laughable to me. Sure you can point to other business practises Twitter has (such as who it bans, and who it does not) and say that it is evil; but in terms of these "tricks", saying Twitter is worse than your local grocery store is just not on for me.

Wasting Time

This tends to be, when/after people do it, one of the biggest things people comment on. This I feel is the key difference between me and the vast majority of the people who are making these "I need/took a break from the internet" comments. 

Most of these people, literally, have better things to do. They have families of their own, a large number of friends; they have houses that require upkeep, books they'd like to read, TV shows they'd like to watch, and so on. Quite simply; if they have better shit to do than to sit on twitter all day.

I don't.

I maintain a blog with a tiny readership base. I probably could clean my apartment more than I do now. That's about it. I don't really have 'friends' (likely due to the autism) and have no 'family' of my own (I'm unmarried, without children) still being attached to the one I was born into. I don't enjoy reading books (likely due to the autism) and keep up with a very small number of TV shows. If I'm not on twitter, then I'm probably playing video games, or gabbing away in a chat room.

Not because these are time wasters. Because this is all I have to fill my time with. Without them, I literally have nothing to do; and I know this, because when the internet goes down, I have a perfect sample of the things I can do and can't do. 

My time is, in large part, already spend efficiently.

Mindless Time

This is something I do feel applies to me. CGP Grey put it well when he referred to it as "looping". Using his words and my experience, I will explain what "looping" is.

This is a picture of my bookmarks bar (or at least part of it):

The red box with an arrow is Youtube. The blue bird is Twitter. The Green arrow on the right is Imgur. 

Sometimes I catch myself clicking Youtube, to see if there is anything new. There is not. Clicking Twitter to see if there is anything new. There is not. Clicking Imgur to see if there is anything new. There is not. and then.... clicking Youtube, to see if there is anything new. There is not. Then Twitter. Then Imgur. Then back to Youtube.

This is mindless time. I don't even 'know' what I'm clicking. I've had times where I've gotten mad at myself for being back on twitter for the 10th time in the past 30 mins. Not because I actually want to be on twitter right now but because I am bored and don't know what else to do.

Leaving the entire Internet will help me not do this; but will also be far more harmful to me than otherwise. 

Quite simply; to fix this problem I simply need to be mindful of when I start "looping". I need to watch out for those times I'm back on youtube checking for new videos when I just did that 5 mins ago, and just did it 5 mins before that. 

When that happens I need to tell myself that there's nothing here and I need to find something else to do. Perhaps make a map, play a game, or do something I've been meaning to do for some time like tidy up the apartment. 

In short; while all of this "taking a break from the internet" may be useful to some people; to me, it would only cause more harm than good. I only hope that others like me are able to look at their own lives and see where their faults are and not use someone else's method wholesale and then wonder why that other persons method did not fix their life. 

remaking the US, legally

A list of court decisions I'd over-rule. Many include constitutional amendments to prevent the court from simply ruling the same way again once I've over-ruled them. In these cases I've outlined a summary of what the amendment would state. These amendments would simply be passed by decree, as, if we assume I have the power to over-rule court decisions by decree, why not change amendments as well.




District of Columbia v. Heller
over-ruled in favor of the minority

McDonald v. Chicago
over-ruled outright

A 28th amendment will be drafted supporting the above. It will clarify an expectation of military service for anyone owning firearms. It will place all gun owners on conscription lists for when needed. It will allow states to place some restrictions on gun ownership, so long as they do not cause an "undue burden"



Reynolds_v._Sims
over-ruled for state senate districts within certain limits

Wesberry v. Sanders
clarified that 15% is an acceptable variance, but certain limits apply

A 29th amendment will be drafted supporting the above. the limits would be as follows:
state senate districts: districts may be drawn to match county boundaries, even if doing so would cause a variance of up to x.5 or x2, so long as the number of districts outside of a 25% variance is under 1/3th of the total number of districts.
federal and state house districts: the 15% variance can not be used to purposfully over or under represent an entire area; but also that states may, if they desire, keep districts to a reasonable size by counting 1 square km as 1 person for the purpose of calculating the equality of representation in district sizes.



Town of Greece v. Galloway
over-ruled in favour of the dissenting opinion

Rosenberger v. University of Virginia
over-ruled in favour of justice souter's opinion

Marsh v. Chambers
over-ruled in favour of the dissenting opinions

A 30th amendment will be drafted supporting the above. It will clarify that things such as prayer, or having the 10 commandments on display, are not permitted.



Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission
U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton
Oregon v. Mitchell

31st amendment will be drafted. It will clarify that limits can be placed on speech for the purpose of holding free and fair elections. It will clarify that states may may laws that impact any of their elected officials, even those holding federal office such as Representatives and Senators; but that procedures for any elected office that is national, such as President and Vice President, is totally outside of state control, and that Congress could, without the consent of the states, change how the electoral college is calculated; so that, for example, it is proportional within each state; but it may not abolish said electoral college, or have votes cast in one state impact another.


Wickard v. Filburn
United States v. Butler
National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation
Gonzales v. Raich (overturned)

32nd amendment will be drafted codifying the powers of the federal government as in use in modern times; no longer requiring it to rely on the commerce clause and court precedent.



Texas v. White
over-turned

33rd amendment will be drafted supporting the above. States are given the right to leave the union so long as a referendum is held, 50%+1 of all eligible voters have voted to leave, and the question being asked is clear, with Congress having the power to determine what is and is not a clear question.



Coker v. Georgia and Kennedy v. Louisiana
Simply over-ruled. Case may be re-tried.