Idea Blog

On Society and Capitalism

2012-03-29T09:53:00.002-07:00

Hermit Life dot net about page.

This is a self publishing site I am working on. I would also be willing to publish other peoples' work and also place ads. If anyone is interested please contact me at walterholstad@hotmail.com. For now this is one of the 4 websites I have published online with more on the way. They are www.walterholstad.com www.socialismworks.org www.hermitlife.net www.nonprofitactivities.net.

I believe that copyrights are actually holding us back rather than spurring innovation. More designs are blocked via copyright laws, more innovations held back and not developed, than are created with this incentive for large dollar profits. We as a society are working too much. That is what is destroying the planet. Work uses energy. We need a change of mindset and societal structure to make a healthier world, not some technological advance. One thing I don't understand is how people think the very system that is causing the problems in the world is going to suddenly do a 180 and save it.

This privatizition craze and constant trend to the right is also troubling. With no public land or entities left everything would be owned by the rich. The only free people would be the ones who conform to society. Spending 8 hours a day inside is too much and outside is destroyed mostly. We should be able to set up tents in the park if we want to. There should be alternatives to houses and apartment buildings. Monotony is coded into law. The lack of variety and options are difficult to reconcile with this popular conceived notion of a free society which people believe we live in.

On Freedom

2012-03-05T13:41:00.002-08:00

We live within a framework of laws and infrastructure, roads and buildings, a manicured, bulldozed, framework of society; to what extent we are free within that framework is arguable but there is a framework to which we must conform.

Is an ant free in an ant colony? Can the ant leave and join a bee hive? No, it must be an ant. It would never occur to the ant to leave the colony and venture off to independence because it exists within a boundary that it cannot experience the outside of.

So freedom is a relative concept most often tossed around in banter and rhetoric as opposed to any meaningful discourse on the human condition.

Positive Attitude Lack of Fear Key to Success

2012-02-17T12:12:00.000-08:00

It sounds cliche but having lived through depression, sense of helplessness, and negative attitude I know it is true from personal experience that in order to succeed you must believe you will succeed and have the attitude that you will succeed.

You are going to get through whatever it is you are going through. You will survive as you have always done in the past. Somehow, someway you will get through. It is the fear that is scary but we must rid ourselves of the fear and just comfort ourselves with the knowledge that someway or another we will still be sustaining ourselves.

We must approach each job or day for that matter with this deep seated knowledge that we will succeed and our attitude will show that with positivity and optimism. This will contribute to our success. For example when employers look at my blog and see this they will be much more likely to hire me than when they see my previous anti-wall street post although both reflect my personality and views of life, but this one is more likely to get me ahead professionally so to speak.

Just something to think about perhaps when we find ourselves in a negative mood.

Wall Street

2011-10-13T15:25:00.001-07:00

Wall Street

The stock market is basically a ways and means for people who have money to make more money without having to earn it. They invest in companies and money from those companies and their employees' labor then goes to the investor who actually did no work. He may have done some work in earning the money he has but likely he was massively overpaid in the first place as well. The rich get richer and the poor stay poor.

Wondering where your raises go? Probably to the share holders if not to the higher ups in the corporation.

The New Society Pt. 1

2011-09-23T16:53:00.001-07:00

The money people receive each week or month should not be dependent upon other people purchasing products or services. Sometimes there are not products or services available that need to be or should be purchased. If people need to be satisfied that all people are working and doing their part to contribute to society then we should create a system whereby people can volunteer and programs will be set up to provide work/community service/charity/food distribution and more so that they are benefiting society through their labor and therefor deserving of the stipend which they will get from the government and society regardless.

Who is going to pay for this? Well for one thing this artificial concept of wealth, money, and worth will be greatly altered. It is a fiction that each dollar carefully allotted to each person and company is exactly equal to some sort of service or work unit that they have contributed to society. The accounting structure will not be nearly so rigid and structured. This is a community, a co op, a society, a family; not some fight to the death corporate competition.

Datura Stramonium

2011-09-18T10:45:00.000-07:00

I dug these plants up out of my mom's horse pasture. They are pretty neat. It's hard to tell from these pictures how big they really are. I'll try to get a better shot at some point. I have read that the leaves, seeds, and flowers have many psychoactive components and other chemicals that can be dangerous, hallucinogenic, and cause fevers.

Castles of Sand youtube video

2011-09-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

Castles of Sand - An original song by me and recorded live in my apartment with my simple logitech webcam

http://www.youtube.com/madupp#p/u/0/etVjuFELcT0

The Parasites

2011-08-30T14:10:00.001-07:00

This is an allegory about how the politicians are controlled by corporations.

The Parasites

The leaders of our nation, the United States of America, are infected with parasites that were uncovered in mining operations in tropical countries around the world. The first direct infection occurred when survivors of a mine collapse were rescued and visited the president of the United States in ceremony and celebration. The entire Federal government was thereby infected through proximity over the ensuing months. Now the leaders are proposing and implementing harsher and harsher policies such as mandatory fifty hour work weeks and day camps for people to send their children to.

Research has shown that people who are healthy and not starving have fewer children. Humanity is starving itself purposely in a flawed belief of innate laziness in humanity. This causes them to create conditions where people are oppressed because enough jobs are not being produced for the people, there is not enough training to produce the proper skills, and the type of work available is destructive to the environment and the overall health of the planet. This entire process is exacerbating the problem of population growth and stress on environmental resources.

The parasites afflicting the planet are nature's answer to this dilemma. The only way to stop them is to create a different and healthier methodology. We must give up the norms and beliefs with which we have indoctrinated ourselves and create a more fair and equal society. We must go back to the lifestyles of those we once felt destined to civilize. We must realize that we are the brutes who paved over paradise and destroyed once beautiful habitats. We must lose our sense of ego and recognize the beauty in all human beings and create a communal and shared existence. Only then can we restore the health of the community and the parasites will fade away.

Open - a poem

2011-05-31T11:39:00.000-07:00

My schedule is open, my mind is open, my day is open
My door is closed but doors are open
I wear clothes but am not enclosed
Free but not outside
Priceless and not for sale
Bound and unbound
Saucy not salty
broke but unbroken
smart but not a tool
wild but not a fool
angry but not cruel
determined but not ambitious
driven but in no particular direction
my life is full of observation and reflection

Online Commiseration

2011-05-25T21:08:00.000-07:00

World is changing society changing
online gaming, procreation, generation, co-relation, meditation adaptation copulation masturbation deep sensation Can you have a real friend online? Yes. It is not the same relationship as face to face but there is a lot you can share in cyberspace. If hours and miles did not separate friends would abound and precipitate punctuate reciprocate commiserate.

Catch Me if You Can - Waukesha County Supreme Corruption

2011-04-11T15:46:00.000-07:00

We had an election here in Wisconsin on Tuesday April 5th 2011 for the next Supreme Court candidate who will serve Wisconsin for the next decade. The incumbent conservative David Prosser was down by 204 votes for nearly two days when a clerical error was claimed had turned the election in his favor by almost 7500 votes.

The Waukesha County clerk, a Republican conservative has a history of errors which she claims are human error in her defense everytime. She has been honing her cheating skills leading up to this enormously important election.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/07/david-prosser-wisconsin-supreme-court_n_846431.html

The Waukesha County Board also heavily criticized the clerk after she brushed aside their recommendations for improving election security. At one point during a hearing in January, board chairman Jim Dwyer grew exasperated with Nickolaus and said, "There really is nothing funny about this, Kathy. Don't sit there and grin when I'm explaining what this is about."

"Wisconsin deserves elections that are fair, clean and transparent," said Scot Ross, the executive director of the progressive advocacy group One Wisconsin Now. "There is a history of secrecy and partisanship surrounding the Waukesha County Clerk and there remain unanswered questions."

http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/119627189.html

"The Democrat on the Waukesha County Board of Canvassers who was widely quoted as endorsing Waukesha County's official ballot count that flipped the Supreme Court winner last week has more to say...Kathy didn't offer an explanation about why she didn't mention anything before Thursday afternoon's canvass completion, but showed us different tapes where numbers seemed to add up, though I have no idea where the numbers were coming from. I was not told of the magnitude of this error, just that she had made one. I was then instructed that I would not say anything at the news conference, and was actually surprised when I was asked questions by reporters."

As Kitzinger was talking at the news conference, Nickolaus could be seen gently trying to move her back from the microphone after her initial statements.

This is so blatant and obvious it is scary but yet it is hard to prove I am sure and it becomes a political game with lawyers involved trying to sway the outcome. By cheating in the election she puts the ball in law enforcement and the public's court. Catch me if you can otherwise the fraudulent election will stand. I for one am convinced Waukesha county cheated to get their candidate elected and will seriously consider not voting anymore in our obviously rigged elections if the crime is not found out.

Green Energy Machine - Makes fuel oil from garbage

2011-03-18T14:45:00.000-07:00

Cool new machine! A wave of the future!

pictures lakefront Cudahy 10232010 pt. 2

2010-10-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

Society and Responsibility pt. ii

2010-10-26T17:58:00.001-07:00

Society needs to have some responsibility for how it takes care of its members and how its members are doing. People do not exist in a vacuum. Those who have accumulated great wealth have done so because of society. Society has allowed them to achieve these goals. Now we say people should work for their money which is all well and good but the pay scale is another matter. The pay scale should be fair. The pay scale should be better regulated so that everybody gets a fair share for their labor. The owners, executives, and shareholders should not be allowed to receive unduly large quantities of money. At a certain point the money should be distributed back to employees, schools, other businesses, and society in general. That way we all may benefit from the products of society which we all contribute to.

People made their money with the coordination of society. Without society they would have nothing. Without the rules and laws that allowed them to gain great wealth they would have nothing. That is why we should change the laws so that we all may live healthy lives and prosper for if we allow a few people percentage-wise to take all the excess profit after making their payroll and what not we are leaving the rest of the population in a precarious position during crises and economic turmoil for there is nothing left for them to fall back on. In a worst case scenario only the wealthy elite would have any means for sustaining themselves while the masses were left to starvation.

Society Needs to Exhibit Personal Responsibility for its Members

2010-10-25T14:49:00.000-07:00

Society Needs To Exhibit Responsibility for its Members

Society does need to take responsibility for its members. There are many people who believe in personal responsibility meaning that people should take responsibility for their place in life and not blame anyone else or society in general. Personal responsibility in this sense is real however it should not be used as a scapegoat for any culpability of society.

Employers create jobs for people and while this is commendable, what kind of jobs they are creating for people is important too. Are these jobs ones that pay well enough for people to live off of or are they simply jobs that will provide a substandard of living for these employees? It is lucky that many things in the United States are generally cheap so that people with modest means can still get by while others with far more money than they need hang on to it for whatever reason. Corporations instead of investing in society and infrastructure save their wealth so that they can merge with competitors and thereby increase their value to shareholders and executives alike. All the while they have armies of employees working for $10 dollars an hour or less being led by employees making $20 to $30 dollars an hour or more, depending on the position.

As a society, instead of having a profit motivated, get rich, mentality we should really be providing healthy opportunities for all and sharing in the successes and failures of our society together as one country united. There is an over-emphasis on individualism in the current political and economic climate. We could do so much better as a team working for everybody's success instead of as individual competitors working for our own success and hoping to degrade others as failures and losers. Let's lose this culture of negativity and really work together as one people united with more of a together we stand divided we fall type of ideal.

We should have a more self-less ideal where we are really pulling for and rooting for everybody to succeed and do well. We should not have this competitive dog eat dog, achieve success on the backs of others mentality. Let's not fall for it. Sure there are smart people and leadership qualities are important but let's not believe that these leaders deserve all the respect and recognition while we get very little for what we do. Let's have some personal respect and faith in ourselves and demand what we deserve from our society, the government, and employers alike.

Society needs to have some responsibility for how it takes care of its members and how its members are doing. People do not exist in a vacuum. We are all in this together.

pictures lakefront Cudahy 10232010

2010-10-23T16:47:00.000-07:00

Tonight, the moon and the lake, outside.

2010-10-21T18:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight. 10/21/2010. Thursday.

The moon above the lake..and all the airplanes waiting their turn to land on the runway..like stars burning bright and moving around underneath the heavens.. The moon shines brightly on the water lighting up a vast expanse from the horizon outward. Closer on the water it sparkles like a firey glitter. The tree nearby gives me a sense of security and something to hold onto while it holds the ground together around the cliff. The air is cool and I think to myself I had better get some gloves soon.

The airplanes thunder overhead one after another with gaps of a couple minutes between each flight. Mostly smaller airplanes over here because Milwaukee is a smaller airport than say a Chicago. Being in touch with nature is the greatest feeling and a must to really keep on track in life and going in the right direction. I love being outside usually even in the winter. I am glad to be back in an area where I am close to the lake and there are some nice parks around with beautiful views. A five minute drive and I am there.

Castles of Sand

2010-10-19T16:01:00.000-07:00

Castles of Sand

Author J.S. Chancellor - Blog Book Tour

2010-10-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

J.S. Chancellor has a new book out:

Son of Ereubus - Guardians of Legend - Book One

J.S. Chancellor

J.S. Chancellor, whose personal motto is, “woe is the writer who mounts their merit on the masses,” started writing stories when she was still in grade school, and finished her first fantasy novella at the age of 14.

She drafted chapter one of the Guardians of Legend trilogy when she was a freshman in high school, sitting on a stool in front of a piano bench, in her parents’ den.

It wasn’t until she was 25 when a resident at the apartment complex where she worked lovingly made a casual remark about her procrastination that her passion for fantasy fiction took center stage.

Since then she’s focused all of her efforts on writing, to include leaving her full time job in September 2009 and actively maintaining a blog dedicated to the art of crafting fiction (www.welcometotheasylum.net). You can find her there, or her official website, www.jschancellor.com.

She currently resides in Georgia with her husband and two beloved dogs.

J.S. Chancellor gives me the great pleasure to be able to share her work and writing with my blog viewers. I have some prepared interview questions from the author which I would like to share.

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

Well, in the second grade I announced that I was going to be a stand-up comedian. No, I’m not kidding. Then, after growing infatuated with Batman around age 12, I announced to my best friend at the time that I was going to become Catwoman. So, I suppose I sort of compromised and became an author, where I can be any number of impossible, ridiculous things.

What do you think makes a good story?

I can only answer this for myself, since “good” is subjective. But, ironically what I quantify as a good read isn’t in the genre I typically write in at all — it’s horror. I love to read horror, but dark fantasy is as close as I’ll ever come to penning it. Reading it though, I want to follow a story that has me on the edge of my seat, horrified, with a little bit of romantic tension thrown in for good measure (however slight). It has to appeal to all of my senses. I read a lot of Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine as a child and never got over the need to eat books like that for dinner — all in one sitting. Love them!

What advice could you give to other authors wanting to start out?

Have fun. No, really, I mean this. Enjoy your time as an unpublished author. Revel in writing only for yourself. All of it changes when you begin to involve other people in your work; publishers, editors, reviewers, readers … it’s a good thing, I don’t mean to put you off from accomplishing your goals. But, don’t take for granted where you’re at now. Those earlier experiences are what shape you later on. Think of this time as your foundation. You’ll only build on it from here, but it will never be unimportant or wasted time.

WHolstad:

Spoken like a true writer. As a blogger and casual writer myself I can relate to wanting to get into the field of writing for a living. I am sure many bloggers and viewers of blogs can relate to that sentiment. Let's hope we all get there and wish for the prompt success of Mrs. Chancellor!

jschancellor@gmail.com

Sons of Ereubus at Barnes and Noble.

Excerpt:

Since time immemorial, Man has lived in fear of losing his soul to the darkness of Saint Ereubus. For generations, the Ereubinians have wielded that power and ruled like gods. Three thousand years ago, Man irresolutely placed his faith in a mythical world. That world, Adoria, now holds Man’s final hope.

As the last stronghold of Man is threatened, the fates of three strangers become forever intertwined and everything they once believed will be irrevocably changed as they discover...

Their time has run out.

The Story of my and my brother's original music.

2010-10-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.myspace.com/mistlethistle

MistleThistle Biography

I met my brother some time after I was born. He is seven years older than me. His name is Tim and I am Walter. Tim and Walter Holstad. We started working on music together probably some time in 2007 I would estimate, maybe 2006. I was living at my mom's in Muskego at the time so we would practice in her living room on occasion or I would go over to my brother's apartment around 80th and Oklahoma in Milwaukee.

My brother is a very prolific writer and very determined. He writes a lot and makes a point to work very hard at his music. He is one of those people that were told to work hard in life and took it to heart I think. I on the other hand like to enjoy things in life and treating the music too seriously takes the fun out of it in my opinion. There is room for both. Certainly without some effort songs will not be written and polished to a decent level but if there is no heart or joy in your music it will sound lifeless and boring. I have about 15 or 20 songs that I have written. My brother has a lot but we play probably around 20 of his.

Our first show together was at my brother's wife's uncle's house in Minocqua, Wisconsin. We played out on the deck at his house on a lake. It was pretty fun and for the most part people enjoyed it. At the end we played a blues jam and people wanted us to keep playing but I was a little nervous and putting my guitar away at the time so we stopped.

I played a Battle of the Bands show in June of 2009. I played this show with my friends Ian and George and Tim did not play. Tim and I were not playing together at this time. We separated after working with a new drummer because the new mix of tension and egos was too much of a burden to continue. The battle of the bands show was at the Rave in a smaller side bar area. I had a lot of fun at that show and it went pretty well. We did about 6 songs, 5 originals and a cover of Eddie Vedder's Society.

Recently Tim, Chris ( the new drummer I spoke of ), and I got back together to play at a fashion show at Crisp bar that I had been invited to play at. The show was September 26th, 2010 and was a lot of fun. We had about 3 practices in the 2 weeks before the show and that was it so it was kind of tough. The songs were not fully polished and ready so the show had its ups and downs. It was good practice and there were some good parts for sure. I did get some applause after a guitar solo and some of the songs were pretty solid. It was definitely a learning experience and hopefully we will have more shows in the future to build on the experience of this one.

Some pictures of bluffs near Milwaukee, WI

2010-10-12T08:54:00.000-07:00

Path to the edge.

Over the edge.

My car and fall tree.

Edge of cliff and beach below. On cliff's edge are shotgun shells I believe from trap shooting area.

Constantly Learning - Today and the Web

2010-10-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

Constantly Learning

School mimics life
I am learning about using the web for business
Social Networking tools to increase sales
Or to make sales
My homework for one of my classes is basically to do more of what I am already doing.
Can't beat that.
I already need to stay focused and be productive. I already know that.
Now when I do so it benefits myself twofold.
Generally and specifically.
Specifically being that it is homework for class.
Generally being that it creates content on the web for people to view and increase their awareness of what I am doing and what I can offer them.

This seems to “beg the question” of what exactly it is that I can offer them. I may be able to sell them some of my music or I may be able to play at their bar with my band. I may be able to teach them guitar. I may be able to write a product review for their business or I may be able to actually come in and work at the office in some type of clerical role.

This is all possible and can be catalyzed through using the world wide web to advertise and market my product which in my case is basically myself.

Reading on the web we are constantly learning. Here is a link.

http://www.geofflawrence.com/photography_tutorial_portraits.php

As I read this entertaining article about photography I am not only entertaining myself but increasing my skill set. Therefore I may be able to take an interesting photograph that has value just by chance or I may be hired by somebody to take pictures for them for an occasion or event.

Constantly Learning

What a beautiful tool is the Internet and the World Wide Web.

My Web site: Walter Holstad dot com

2010-09-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

http://www.walterholstad.com

A note on practicing scales.

2010-09-14T16:23:00.000-07:00

It is more important when practicing scales to develop an ear by playing them around chords than it is to simply do wrote, technical practice of the scales by themselves. Try playing a chord and then playing the accompanying scale for that chord and you will notice how the G major scale for instance sounds if you play it directly after strumming a G major chord. You can also try playing a g minor scale over the G major chord or try playing a g minor scale over the G minor chord for that matter. Definitely play the G minor scale after strumming the G minor chord.

In this way you will learn to understand how the scales fit with the chords and how the sounds work together which is much better practice than simply running through scale diagrams although there is a place for that as well. Running through scale diagrams will increase your dexterity and comfort level with the guitar and also give you practice with alternate picking.

http://musicouch.com/music-making/guitar-lesson-three-open-chords-bar-chords-and-some-scales/

http://musicouch.com/instruments/string/guitar/guitar-lesson-two-the-g-major-chord-scale-and-more/

Baby Blue bob dylan guitar vocal

2010-09-03T21:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.archive.org/details/BabyBlueBobDylanGuitarVocal