Tired feels different

when you're a kid.

Weekend Epiphany

I had an epiphany over the weekend. Yes, I'm only typing out the entry now because, well, I've just been that tied up.

The epiphany was that anything worth having will take some hardship getting. I.e. I may be going through a whole lot of shit right now (and the past oh, I don't know, 2 years?) but whatever is waiting for me at the end is going to be worth it.

I've always thought that anything worth having is worth fighting for, and that those people who say, "If it's meant to be, it'll happen" are idiots. Do you really think that things happen for a reason? That those kids starving in Africa are starving for a reason? The reason is because people think "things that are meant to be will be". I think it's easier for people to say, "If it's meant to be, it'll be" because then no one will expect them to actually grow a pair and fight for what they want.

But I digress. My point was that I'm not having the best time of my life right now, but that's alright because something better is meant to happen. I can't lose myself in this, and I can't depend on anyone else because obviously that didn't work out very well. Just wish whatever it is would hurry up already.

Drowning In Mediocrity

Has anyone ever wondered what happens to the average and the mediocre? Think about it: movies, songs, books, stories are told about those who are the incredible, the outstanding. The bards spin stories of heroes and seemingly average people who go above and beyond expectations, overcome all odds and achieve their goals. They even tell stories of those who are outstanding because they're so deviant - those who murder in seemingly inhumane ways, those who are cunning in their arts.

What about the average? Those people who may never be considered anything other than "well read". Those who, rather than being "detail-oriented" are "absent-minded" or "careless". Those who, while not lazy, aren't driven enough to be called "married to their job". What about those who live their lives in the middle class, who never date anyone extraordinary and end up marrying another average person, who pop out a couple of kids and live in an average sized family home in an average neighborhood driving average cars? What about those who only go on holidays in average places on average tour packages, those who dream of becoming a millionaire by age 30 but in reality never come close, those who never make it past middle management?

The average and the mediocre will never make headlines. They will never be exceptionally popular. They're never really good enough at anything to be called "great at xxx" and they'll never be too outside of the norm that people will say, "(s)he's so xxx".

When they die, their graves will be frequented every so often - probably once a year - by those who love them. But there will never be too many. Over the years, probably in less than ten, people will stop visiting and bit by bit nature will reclaim the grave, growing weeds in the place of artificially cut and placed flowers, leaving no trace of them but their names in high school yearbooks or in somewhat visited websites on the internet where their comments on articles blend in with hundreds of others.

Egad, it's no wonder so many people commit suicide.

OMG-Fact?

Found at OMG-Facts:

Lactose tolerance is a mutation. Lactose intolerance is the original form of the gene.

Scientists have looked into the human genome to find the precise genetic mutation that causes lactose tolerance. Lactose tolerance in humans always come from the same genetic mutation, regardless of whether they are of European, Asian, and African descent.

Most people in the world are lactose intolerant. People do not naturally have the ability to digest milk beyond infancy. The sugar, lactose, that is present in high levels in milk causes nausea and bloating in most adults. Europeans and Americans are much more likely to have the genetic mutation that allow them to digest lactose. Lactose intolerance is present in only 5% of Northern Europeans but nearly 100% of Southeast Asians.

Emailed to OMG-Facts:

OMG-Fact #2835:

Lactose tolerance is a mutation. Lactose intolerance is the original form of the gene.

Scientists have looked into the human genome to find the precise genetic mutation that causes lactose tolerance. Lactose tolerance in humans always come from the same genetic mutation, regardless of whether they are of European, Asian, and African descent.

Most people in the world are lactose intolerant. People do not naturally have the ability to digest milk beyond infancy. The sugar, lactose, that is present in high levels in milk causes nausea and bloating in most adults. Europeans and Americans are much more likely to have the genetic mutation that allow them to digest lactose. Lactose intolerance is present in only 5% of Northern Europeans but nearly 100% of Southeast Asians.

It's not true. I'm from Malaysia, i.e. Southeast Asia, and I can state for a fact that less than 1% of the people I know are lactose intolerant. Very few people I've met are lactose intolerant. Local food in this region frequently contains some dairy, such as curries and other types of food.

There is no source quoted in this so-called "fact". I request that either a source is quoted or the "fact" is taken down. It is in your best interests to maintain the credibility of your website.

Nuff said.

Why We Should Stop Drilling

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has caused a whole range of reactions, from rage to indifference. Some have even come to BP and the oil industry's defence, saying that the spill shouldn't prevent others from drilling. Apparently it was a "freak accident". BP did everything right and it could never happen again, so there's no reason to stop other drilling activities.

Has the world lost its mind?

The oil spill has caused unforeseen ecological impact that mere humans could never have predicted, try as they might - and they did. The reason the drilling was approved by the government was because by their estimates, even if a spill did occur, it would be containable. All predictions were wrong.

This tells us that there's too much going on in the environment that we don't understand, and we shouldn't play with fire if we don't know how it's going to react. According to a survivor of the explosion on the rig, all procedures were followed through and the valve shouldn't have failed. But it did. According to others in the industry, there shouldn't have been that much gas build up in the reservoir. But there was.

The result is an unmitigated disaster. To make matters worse, Hurricane Alex has arrived on the scene, and in what I can only call a measure to allay fears or BP bribing people to help them manage the backlash, people have already come out to say that the hurricane may actually help cleanup efforts. And let's not forget, that 2 months and 10 days later, the well is still spilling oil, spewing out millions of gallons of oil into the ocean every single day. That's not an exaggeration. Here's the website: BBC News - Q&A: Why estimates of the BP oil spill keeps changing.

Let's face it. We don't know enough to say that we properly understand what's going on when people drill that deep. We don't know enough to properly predict what would happen in the event of a failure. As a result, we don't know enough to properly react when a failure occurs, and we don't even come close to understanding the long-term impact of the spill on the environment.

And people are saying there's no reason to stop the drilling?

Wouldn't it be more logical to stop the drilling temporarily in order to conduct studies and understand why the disaster happened, exactly how the disaster happened, and what can be done if it happens again? Sure, some already rich oil companies will take a hit to their profits, but chances are they won't even come close to making losses. Sure, some people will have to suspend their work for a while, but chances are they'll find a job again just as easily because there's a shortage of skilled workers in the oil and gas industry.

What we do know is that the world cannot take another BP/Transocean spill. What will we do if it happens again?