A Woman’s Point of View – #1

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Professor Taboo

As part of the Alternative Lifestyles blog-posts migration over to the new blog The Professor’s Lifestyles Memoirs, this post has been moved there. To read this post please click the link to the blog.

Your patience is appreciated. Thank you!

What A Jerk!

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Professor Taboo

I’ve just finished riding my mountain bike through park trails, up and down hills, and return home out of breath and very thirsty. I grab my water bottle craving a quench to my thirst, so I gulp, and gulp as fast as I can… too fast. I completely mess up my body’s breathing rhythm and BAAM! I hiccup…hard! It’s not only uncomfortable, sometimes painful and embarrassing in public, but it takes perhaps 2-3 minutes or more to rid yourself of them, right!? What is this malfunction and why does it even exist?

I want to know!

Sargeant Carter’s briefing

Later in the evening relaxing on my couch from a fabulous day teaching little Energizer Bunnies followed by that wonderful strenuous bike-ride, with a purpose I’m reading Tolstoy’s War and Peace before bed. About the third paragraph, page 2 I believe, I slip into what I think was Never-never-Land and suddenly jump, snapping out of sinking pure relaxation into a VIOLENT jolt! Ouch! What is this malfunction and why does it even exist!?

I want to know!

Knowing is the First Step to Prevention, Right?

Not so fast. Turns out that what your parents explained or grade school proposed as the menacing ailment and proven cure, may not be the whole story.

The Hiccup — The police Sargeant opens up the Jerkiness File, pulls out a 4×10 magnet and throws it up on the “Open Cases” investigation board. It sticks and reads “Diaphragm, T.” Our first accomplice! The young rookie cop asks, “What’s the T for Sir?” Sargeant takes a pause, “Pyle,” he grunts “it’s so your penile brain doesn’t make its normal sexist associations!” Who is this and what’s its function? Diaphragm…first name Thoracic, is the shifty muscle behind all the business. He sits just below your chest working perfectly and secretly as you breath; the Accountant of the operation, if you will. His function? He pulls down when inhaling to bring in business (air), and he relaxes so business is released when your lungs exhale. It’s a regular respiratory black-market!

But there’s a nastier side to Diaphragm. The room of officers fall silent…what? What could be more sinister? The Sargeant’s voice deepens, “Sometimes Diaphragm gets irritated and when he gets irritated, nobody is happy!” Apparently when he’s pissed, he pulls down hard and fast sucking air down your throat! When that rushing air hits your voice box, your vocal chords slam shut giving that hiccup jerk! “Accounting” just closes business down and everything becomes very uncomfortable until Diaphragm returns to normal.

That’s the school version, maybe your parent’s version too. There is another one; the medical community’s version. Respiratory doctors, gastrointestinal doctors, and gastroenterology call the hiccup Synchronous diaphragmatic flutter, or SDF. It has another alias too: Singultus. The medical community says Singultus is somewhat unpredictable and an involuntary contraction of the diaphragm simultaneously with the contraction of the larynx and complete closure of the glottis…which basically is a shut-off valve for your air intake. Reasons for the “shut-off” are generally believed to be triggered by minor stomach upsets.

Then there is the Other more extensive version of Why the hiccup… the one I find fascinating. But first, all of you will meet our second fiendish criminal and crime-scene, street-name: the Never-never-Land jerk.

My Tolystoy-Leap or Hypnic-Jerk — Sargeant Carter reaches into the Jerkiness File again. He pulls out the second magnet slapping it onto the board. This one reads “Brain, M.” Hah! The scoundrel of sleeplessness! Before Pyle, G. can open his rookie mouth Sargeant Carter nips “Do you have one of those Pyle” he asks. “Why don’t you demonstrate for everyone what the M stands for.” Once again the room falls silent, all ears upon Pyle, G. and his lethargic expression. Seconds turn into longer seconds. “I’ll save you the pleasure Pyle.” Sargeant Carter writes on the board with the marker…Monkey. “Our second felon is Monkey Brain!” exclaims the Sargeant “I want all of you to help Pyle find his so we can close this damn case, preferably this decade!“

QUIET all of you! There’s more. Brain, M. is shifty too. The report is that Brain has a rather diverse personality and a huge creative ego; some say conflicted. He will not be easy to track down so listen up!

The medical experts say Brain’s most common shiftyness while asleep are rapid eye movement while the rest of the body and limbs stay still, making it difficult to know what’s going on in that head. If Brain is watching a fox chase a rabbit, the eyes will follow the chase (in his head) everywhere, but if he’s riding a bike or jogging, you would never know it. Stealthy S.O.B.! Fortunately, we’ve got a deep undercover mole inside the operation. They report that as Brain gives in to watching and listening to business inside and outside the “organization,” Brain begins to entertain himself and relaxation/sleep creeps in. That’s when things get weird. A struggle begins over control of the motor system between nocturnal operations and daytime operations; Brain splits into two different managers while the fight ensues. Both keep intruding on the other’s territory until the dreamy rest personality prevails. These are the preliminary reports from within and our ongoing investigation. However, as mentioned, there are Other developing versions and theories of why Diaphragm, T. and Brain, M. work this way.

Tadpoles and Diaphragm

“There are those” Sargeant Carter’s voice raises “who might feel Paleontology is bogus, even illegal or demonic.” Carter gets firm, clinching his fist, “But in the field of crime and solving cases NOTHING is ever ignored! If you or I slip-up and miss a clue, that could be the difference between life or death for someone! This is why we call in forensic scientists.” The Sargeant stops, glares at every officer, leans over toward them and says, “You WILL listen to every word, every syllable they utter… especially you Pyle!“

Carter turns on the overhead projector and begins.

Our first top forensic scientist and co-investigator, Neil Shubin of the University of Chicago and Natural History Magazine, says that Diaphragm and the hiccup are “a legacy of our “fishy” ancestry.” Pointing to the back of the room Sargeant Carter introduces, “Mr. Shubin, the floor and our undivided attention is yours.“

“Thank you Sargeant Carter.” Shubin clicks the image-changer, up pops a side-by-side comparison of a shark’s gill area and a human’s jaw area. “Due to 3.5 million years of genetic tweaking and re-engineering, our human flexible throat that has led to our highly developed speech and communication, has also made us susceptible to modern sleep apnea, snoring, choking, and hiccups.” Dr. Shubin continues as he explains a, b, c, and d in the image:

Both shark and human embryos (a, b) have similar gill arches (the brightly colored elements). In sharks, the cells in these arches become bones, nerves, arteries, and muscles that support the gills (c); in humans, they form the jaw, ears, larynx, and parts of the throat (d).

The annoyance of [Diaphragm and] hiccups also has its roots in our fish and amphibian past. If there is any consolation, we share that misery with others. Cats and dogs, like many other mammals, also get hiccups. A small patch of tissue in the brain stem is thought to be the center that controls that complicated reflex.

The hiccup reflex is a stereotyped twitch that involves a number of muscles in the body wall, diaphragm, neck, and throat. A reflexive firing of one or two of the major nerves that control breathing causes those various muscles to contract. This results in a very sharp inspiration of air. Then, about thirty-five milliseconds later, a flap of tissue in the back of the throat (the glottis) closes the top of the airway. The fast inhalation followed by a brief closure of the air tube produces the “hic.”

Our tendency to develop hiccups is another influence of our past. There are two issues to think about. One is what causes the reflexive firing of nerves that initiates the hiccup. The other is what controls that distinctive hic—the abrupt inhalation and the glottis closure. The nerve action is a product of our fish history, while the hic is an outcome of the history we share with tadpoles.

[The theoretical conclusion is this:] The genes that control all of this structure [and restructuring] were originally used to build the bodies of ancient worms, flies, and fish. Every part of us tells this story: our sense organs, our heads, even our entire body plan.

Dr. Shubin stops and turns off the overhead projector. “The rest of my studies, data research, and theories can be found in your individual packets placed in front of you. Sargeant Carter?” Click here for his article.

* * * * * * * * * *

Carter returns to the front, “Our second forensic co-investigator is Dr. Frederick Coolidge from the University of Colorado. He will enlighten all of you of more clues about Brain, M.” The Sargeant looks to the back of the room, “Dr. Coolidge, you have our undivided attention, including Pyle’s.“

Primates from Trees and Monkey Brain

“Thank you Sargeant” as Coolidge flips on the projector again to reveal an image of lemurs sleeping in a tree, he begins “Paleontology, more specifically Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, are suggesting that our ancient primate ancestors, following Dr. Shubin’s tadpoles of course, also had our hypnic jerk. They still do!” Dr. Coolidge changes the image to a fatigued woman asleep over laundry. “As Sargeant Carter spoke about earlier regarding the battle between Brain, his working fatigue, and nocturnal operations, the body slips into a limbo-like state and Brain doesn’t want to give up any control.” He flips to the next image, a man “falling” over his bed, but actually still lying in it.

Primates sleeping in trees also mimic this hypnic jerk which for them is an archaic reflex to the brain’s misinterpreting the muscle relaxation accompanying the onset of sleep as a signal that the sleeping primate is falling out of a tree. The reflex may also have had selective value by having the sleeper readjust or review his or her sleeping position in a nest or on a branch in order to assure that a fall did not occur.

Dr. Coolidge goes on to explain, “Sleep studies done at the University of Bologna in Italy have suggested the jerks are also associated with a rapid heartbeat, quickened breathing, sweat, and sometimes a peculiar sensory feeling of ‘shock’ or ‘falling into the void.’” Coolidge takes a moment, then paces back and forth staring at the floor. “Those behaviors and reactions are not unlike most primates, including ourselves. The behavior in the primate world is closely associated with what scientists call the Fight-or-Flight Response. As law enforcement agents, all of you are too familiar with this innate tendency.“

Sargeant Carter chimes in, “It is the reason society must always have law enforcement; some primate behaviors have changed or evolved little over millions of years.“

— The author of this post so desperately wants to go into why some primate behaviors don’t evolve, but due to the fact that this post is already approaching 2,000 words, feels it might be suitable for another later post. Very sad face follows. —

Dr. Coolidge turns off the projector and begins passing out packets of his and his colleague’s study and theory… “Inside these folders you will all find mine and Dr. Thomas Wynn’s alternative theory of Brain, M. and his hypnic jerk behavior. Examine it closely.” Click here for the study.

The Briefing Adjourns

Sargeant Carter returns to the front, “Agents, it would seem that Diaphragm, T and Brain, M. have been at large for a very long time, probably millions of years, causing rampant hiccups and hypnic jerking. That in no way implies we slack-up on the case and concede no arrests when there are obviously leads and clues galore! No, we will not; not on my watch!” The Sargeant walks over to the front board and points at the two names. “I want these two” he yells “understood like the back of your hands… that would be your free-hand Pyle… I want them identified, their accomplices identified, all cuffed and brought in!” He stares at his agents. They stare back. Three seconds later…

“NOW you grunts!” All but one launches out of their chairs immediately…”Pyle, Gomer… damn it, that sure as hell includes YOU!“

Live Well — Love Much — Laugh Often — Learn Always

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El Dorado – Part II

Posted on April 18, 2015 by Professor Taboo

Doha, Qatar

It is astonishing as well as alarming! Doha, Qatar, one of many “Emerald Cities” in the Persian Gulf springing up from hot sand into vast riches of oil and gas then spectacular skyscrapers is since the early 2000’s, mostly empty. That’s right, 90% empty! And the reasons are telling!

But before examining the reasons, let’s first review where we left off in El Dorado — Part I… since it has been almost two months and nine other posts since I published it.

* * * * * * * * * *

American workers between the age of 25-54 work an average 63 hours per week, 7 days a week, equating to almost 9-hours per day. Of all Western nations this work-rate is the highest among industrialized countries. This obsession to work looks like this: their 7-day work week earns them an average wage of $47,000 per year, or $14.35/hour and this wage often does not come with medical-health benefits from the employer — most American low-wage jobs don’t. Therefore, factor in that deduction from $14.35/hour and you only begin to see the real picture for much of the American workforce.

At the other end of the spectrum you have attorneys at-law, the highest wage-earners, making between $105,000 to $192,000 per year (in the 48 conjoined states) according to the American Bar Association 2011. This job-sector also has the nation’s highest rates of depression and suicide, along with American teachers, counselors, and executive assistants, respectively. What is more bewildering is that universities across the United States “report steady or increased enrollment into their law schools and medical schools, and not so surprising decreased enrollment into their schools of education and counseling.” The steady or increasing numbers to law schools and the declining numbers into teaching or counseling classrooms are directly related to their average salaries.

Fortunately, this subtle American tragic disunion has an upside… which I will get to momentarily.

Visions of World Grandeur

Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani – Emir of Qatar

Accounting history has shown over the last two decades that to host a FIFA World Cup is extremely stimulating for a country’s economy, employment, its leadership, and world image. The spectacle of the four-week tournament includes 32 different nations and their raving fans, unimaginable TV exposure and revenues, exceptionally high tourism revenue, fan sites and events at each game just outside of stadiums, all-encompassing millions upon billions of dollars. Glitz, glamour, and metaphorical-gold abound! Not surprising, the bidding war for the 2022 World Cup was fierce between the U.S., Japan, and Qatar, with Qatar coming out as the highly controversial winner. As mentioned, Doha, the capital of Qatar, will host several of the games. The Qatari ruling family (Emirs, Faisals or Kings), the house of Al-Thani, began in 2010-11 implementing very bold construction plans for a “New Qatar” as a whole, but in particular the FIFA game-venues throughout the eastern portion of the country as the chance to awe not only the sports world, but the entire modern world after the games. Qatar shipped in thousands of foreign workers and erected several “Emerald Cities” the world would envy!

Why then, as of October 2014, is the capital Doha 90% empty?

BQDoha.com (Business Qatar) explains three primary causes and symptoms to Doha’s emptiness. One — overcrowded cramped housing. The average person, mostly foreign construction workers, live with other families or individuals in “villas” — many semi-dilapidated buildings — partitioned into family-sections in order that landlords turnover a bigger profit. Two — a wait-and-watch holdout policy by landlords for the foreign corporate residents. Landlords can better gouge big corporations for higher rent and get the rent in one lump sum for a 3-year contract on average. And Three — a saturation of aggressive street peddlers disguised as “real estate brokers” but paid by landlords discreetly. Rents quoted by these illegal peddlers are high to pad their finder’s fee and compensation. From these three causes follow symptoms of a city and nation struggling with traditions, expatriates, and modernism heavily pushed by the Emir and extremely wealthy faisal families-business élite. A quick read of The New York Times Middle East beat-writer Anthony Shadid’s November 2011 article, shows how the capital city, its nation and upper-elite, versus its common people are sharply contrasted behind the imposing Emerald City façade. Visions of world notoriety and wealth come only from a tiny privileged percentage of Qataris.

The United States has its fair share of Emerald Cities too: Detroit, Michigan and Cleveland, Ohio are two most notable emptying facades out of several.

Getting Behind the Glittering Veil

In Part I of El Dorado I touched on the highly clever, complex marketing schemes (Ponzi Schemes?) America’s upper 10% and corporate executives promote to consumers — extensive details of the schemes were found in five previous posts. But rather than hunting and gutting the schemers, I want to delve into the ~~uneducated~~ gullible consumer’s mind; why do they/we swallow El Dorado hook, line, and sinker? Why does one incessantly chase Emerald City citizenship with big eyes and panting breath? Probably five reasons:

Values
Goals/Dreams
Respect of Peers
Learned Skills
Time and one’s concept of it

What do you value in life? What activities do you enjoy most? If you are unable to satisfy your value-systems, what goals or dreams do you have in order to work for and satisfy your values? Typically, we all value the respect of someone: our parents, spouse or intimate partner, coach or boss, a fan-base or maybe the approvals and recommendations of institutions or associations, like universities or writers guild. Everyone seeks some degree of respect from others. What skills or talents have you been taught? Are those skills considered excellent? Average? Evaluated by whom? Certainly everyone cannot be self-proclaimed tycoons, right? Therefore, respect and skills are irrevocably linked.

Perhaps the most significant reason one seeks El Dorado-Emerald City citizenship is their concept of time. In Western industrialized nations, the average lifespan is 78-years; for women 81-82 years. Depending on where you are born and to what parents may dictate how much time you have to obtain the coveted citizenship, march through the golden gates, and into worldly bliss. Then again, many believe existence does not end at 78 or 82 years. For them it might be eternal and as such feel much less pressure to pass through those gates — atheists and deists may not bother with citizenship-anxiety at all. Eat, drink, and be very merry might be all that matters to them — a lifestyle this Bohemian doesn’t scuff off but happily joins on several occasions!

These five above appetites that hungry consumers have are well-known and pandered to by the Kings and Queens of El Dorado and Emerald City. Their accompanying marketing departments probably know even better. Fortune 100 companies pay millions, maybe billions, to the élite Top marketing firms or internal departments to CREATE insatiable consumer appetites! For a population that doesn’t have easy access to alternative lifestyles’ skills or services (such as, living off-the-grid), or the matching business-marketing masters degrees or PhD’s, the consumer’s future is an increasing metaphorical obesity epidemic. The gourmet chefs of this buyer buffet — the Fortune 100 or 500 businesses and executives — won’t ever stop crowding your table and plates with “masterpieces” unless you break the trance and walk away by your own will-power!

The New Tiny Living Tiny House Movement

Click to enlarge – image courtesy of TheTinyLife.com

The Wall Street Crisis of 2007-08 and to an extent America’s metaphorical appetite for obesity, jump-started the Tiny Living Tiny House Nation and Movement as an alternative to high-debt living and mortgages which greatly limit owner’s freedoms and R&R in a hectic ultra-competitive free-market economy. From 1978 to 2007 the average size of new single-family American home grew from 1,780 sq. feet to almost 2,500 sq. feet. With that growth followed all accessory businesses such as landscaping and home-improvement. By the time President Ronald Reagan finished his last term in 1989 and put into law his Tax Reform Act of 1986, the make-it-bigger home market fly-wheel was at full-speed-ahead until it hit the granite wall in 2007.

Today, on top of the purchase-price, down payment, principle paid, interest after-tax, taxes and home insurance, maintenance, and major repairs and/or improvements, the final amount out-of-pocket for a typical single-family home reaches over $1-million for a 30-year term. If you are the 76% – 90% portion of the typical American family earning between $35k – $50k annually, where is the fiscal wisdom in living so far out of your means?

The fantastic people at TheTinyLife.com offer home-buyers interested in more freedom, more time, more environmentally conscious, more fiscally responsible, just more modesty and simplicity for hectic lives by liberating themselves from America’s bigger-is-better GAUDINESS! It’s just smarter.

For most Americans 1/3 to 1/2 of their income is dedicated to the roof over their heads; This translates to 15 years of working over your life time just to pay for it and because of it 76% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.
— TheTinyLife.com

Please stop by their website to learn the brilliance in unburdening yourself from the modern home-building, home-improvement marketing schemes that imprison and overload many nose-diving Americans. Wise up!

Labor of Survival, Status, or of Love?

It is perhaps the most introspective questions we ask ourselves: Am I working to survive? Am I working to gain status? Am I not “working” because I love my job? In which group do you fall? In which one would you rather be?

Finding our bearings through these questions and possibly changing our heading in today’s labor and social environment can seem daunting. Marketing impulse-triggering wizards with million-dollar Ivy League business degrees ~~wickedly~~ cleverly pull at our heart-strings. But the consequences of not checking your bearings and heading could prove to be much worse on one’s emotional, spiritual, and physical health. It would be wise to ask yourself at least twice a year, What am I laboring for and will it be worth it come retirement? For many Americans “retirement in luxury” is a distant fantasy due to a lifetime of survival mode and seemingly never-ending self-sacrifice. If this is the case, maybe a second and third question should be asked… Where is the majority of my paycheck(s) going? Are those credits bearing valuable fruit or evaporating, or padding a total stranger’s pocketbook?

Laboring for status is perhaps the greatest American trickster scheme. It can at first be mistaken for love. There’s no better example of this than in the top four U.S. sports markets. Coaches, General Managers, Athletic Directors, and finally the players (with the exception of NCAA collegiate athletes) face the very real possibility that their employment or their role will be terminated or replaced by another every year, sometimes less than a year! In the NFL (National Football League), the #1 most popular sport in America, a head coach lasts an average of 38-months. NFL General Managers last a bit longer at 44-months. In the MLB (Major League Baseball), the #2 sport in America, a Manager/Coach lasts about 24-months. And unless players in both the NFL or MLB are tagged franchise-players, they stay only 24-months on average with one team. Athletic Directors with NCAA Division I universities enjoy more stability and longevity at 7.5 years on campus, but over the last decade this average has steadily dropped due to collegiate sports (and revenues) becoming more widely competitive. There has also been increased mobility or transfers by NCAA football and baseball players for improved exposure to NFL and MLB scouts, especially in baseball given its now global appeal. In the NBA (National Basketball Association), the #4 most popular sport (along with auto-racing), staff and player positions and vacancies have become a near non-stop marry-go-round with replacements, no check that, scapegoats… with an average stay of only 9-months; the NBA season is only 6-months long.

What does all this mean? In the American sports culture it means one thing: winning championships or very least, consistent playoff births. Status. Nothing else matters; truly a What-have-you-done-for-me-lately intolerance. Just how much does the American sports world permeate American occupational and economic culture? Answer: Factor in all games and events, merchandise, and other incidental sports activities, and the dollar figure goes easily into the upper billions! Yes, 60.9% of American sports fans, i.e. the men, fantasize and live vicariously through their favorite pro and collegiate athletes and spend royally to feel and look like them.

According to Forbes.com and NSGA.org (National Sporting Goods Association), every year Americans spend around $43-billion on retail sporting goods such as gear and equipment, logo’d-apparel of their team(s), not counting game or season tickets. Sports gambling, e.g. fantasy leagues, rake in $20-billion from American sports fans in a $400-billion dollar sports gambling industry. Parents of little American athletes spend $300-million a year for various league registrations, uniform fees, etc, then the figure leaps to $900-million per year for goods, incidentals, and travel for their athletic kids. Let’s not forget how much companies spend on TV advertising, and fans on Pay-per-View events; that figure is in excess of $10-billion per year.

Those dollar figures beg many serious questions, not the least of which is why do American taxpayers bitch and whine about taxes and tax-levels, the national deficit, poorly run government programs, and struggling public infrastructure when clearly the private sector, i.e. businesses and individuals, spend over $474-billion dollars PER YEAR on sporting entertainment alone? Should I remind us of what those same entities spend on real estate, homes, home-improvement, home accessories, and automobiles to park in the two-car garages? No? Then at least remember $474+ billion dollars annually just on entertainment.

A laboring of love is generally accepted, or should be, as the way to live. Though by the time I reached my 30’s or 40’s, with a marriage or two, and then children — you know, after all the trials and tribulations getting through my teens and twenties — the light-bulb didn’t come on…I was halfway finished with my life! Time to get serious and ask myself those hard questions. I won’t bog you readers down with another convincing argument (wink) of why a life of experience, experience with others, with the ones you care for deeply and go through thick-n-thin with to come out singing and dancing… is the way to go. No, I hope all of you can grasp and understand what Albert Einstein profoundly distinguished:

“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”
— Albert Einstein

For those who might need a hint, Dr. Albert distinguished two opposite concepts in just those twelve simple words. The first-hand experience to love and be loved is the best labor in life, not status or success. I would add to Einstein’s point that modesty and moderation will limit, even save one from the dangers and risks of metaphorical and yes, literal obesity.

Hidden city and legend of El Dorado

These are very difficult concepts to execute for many Americans because we are surrounded and bombarded by remade patriotic 19th and 20th century cheers of Seek in earnest El Dorado and you will find and sit on its throne. But the more feasible reality involves your immediate and intermediate circles of influence and experience. Beyond those lines, beyond those outlands are the experiences and lives meant for others, not just you. Everyone has a “sandbox” to build and play inside, but the walls enclosing your sandbox should never be inflexible nor perpetually expanding or worse, imperializing. Am I saying humanity as a whole should not collaborate for an improved more healthy sustainable self and planet? Not in the least, no. However, if every single human is supposed to build their own El Dorado, then it seems to me we will all manifest Aristotle’s fabled King Midas of Phyrgia turning everything, including ourselves, into unsustainable useless gold with 7.4 billion King Midas’s running around atop 7.4 billion useless thrones ruling an unsustainable golden rock-planet of 7.4 billion useless Phyrgia kingdoms! One fashion color and one fashion color only! One texture and one texture only! One food group and one food group only! Eeeeek…

Is that the life on El Planedo you want to live?

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Live Well — Love Much — Laugh Often — Learn Always

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Ten and Counting

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Professor Taboo

Gun loaded, aim straight up, pull trigger…BANG! The loud hiss and white smoke follows the red-glaring shell. S.O.S. flare explodes, and begins its slow descent. Is anyone out there?

It’s been 10-days now and still no Likes or Comments on my previous post. Nothing. Zilch. This is a little peculiar, if I may humbly admit, given the controversial subject of sexism and the previous discussions. I’m surprised a little over the complete silence. But there’s a flip-side. Let me re-evaluate what happened when I clicked the “Publish” button, ironically on April Fools Day.

We are over 1,700 miles or 25-hours apart: WordPress headquarters in San Francisco, CA, myself in DFW, TX. Many things can go wrong within that distance and time. Electronics have proven time and time again — especially WiFi — they ARE NOT 100% reliable 100% of the time! Duh. While finishing my previous post “Do You Have A Condom?“, my laptop WiFi symbol bottom-right never indicated the signal was lost…even while clicking the Publish button. That doesn’t mean something didn’t happen somewhere between those 1,700 miles of which I was unaware. Then there is the possibility in WordPress’ constant monthly updating and “improving” of their product and features, of which it is impossible for most busy hard-working amateur bloggers to keep up with, and the problem was an HTML writing error between a status of Published or Pending. It might also be that within that status, the post was another Password Protected post, offering more complications. There is still a third or fourth possibility: the WordPress Notification system — during the publishing moments of April Fools Day — messed up as a result of any number of these noted possibilities. Can you say, “Wha-dee-wha-dee-wha-dee… What’s Up Folks!?“

Bottom-line, problems were present during publishing and now after 10-days and counting, there are still no Likes, no comments. I’m slightly perplexed and therefore writing this follow-up S.O.S. post. If everyone is simply disinterested, I completely accept that. It may be a suspended subject now. But if it was a WordPress issue, then I want everyone to receive at least another notification of this post and more importantly the previous Password Protected post: Do You Have A Condom? If you would like the password to read it, comment below with your request and private email address or send me your request to professor.taboo@gmail.com.