I'm gonna preface everything by saying that going door-knocking one time by no means makes me any sort of expert on the subject of campaigning, even though I'll be writing as if I know everything about it. It's just the way I am. For the sake of disclosure though, I wasn't even that good at it.
I'm not even sure if I was really doing what I truly believe in. When it comes to politics I believe in the same basic principles as I do regarding any other subject. I believe that people are due the facts and owed the responsibility of making their own decisions. It's one of the reasons I try to cite everything that I write on this blog in one way or another. It's an impossible task especially when I'm not setting aside as much time as I'd like to for this to begin with, but I think it's important that people have the facts and know the difference when they're hearing opinion. I don't think it's my right to tell anyone what to think about anything.
However when your out trying to hit as many houses as you can, trying to drum up support, you don't have time to give people all of the facts, and most of the time they're not really interested in what YOU think is important. You have to convince them that it's vitally important that your guy win, and you have to convince them that you believe that to your core. They seem to respond to sincerity and to empathy. You have to tell them why your guy will be better for the issues that they care about than anybody else that they're running against. And you have to do it in the span of 20 seconds before they zone out and think about the TV show they walked away from to come talk to you. So I may have said some things that day that I didn't believe myself. I may have said some things that I have always thought were ridiculous talking points and couldn't believe worked on the minds of sensible people. I may have caught myself saying the kinds of things that I always picture consultants telling candidates that the voters really want to hear more than the issues. But I didn't have an hour to spend talking with everyone, and they sure as hell didn't want to spend an hour with me. So I came away from the experience much like I knew I would. I wish people knew more, I wish they cared more. Hell Iowa is incredibly important in the primaries, you could argue that it's the biggest determining factor in nominating the democratic candidate, the person very likely to be the leader of the free world in 2009, and last time only about 120,000 people made that decision! Still so many people said they had better things to do that day. But I also felt that I helped, and I sincerely hope I helped make a difference, and feel guilty I can't do more to help. And I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Polite Conversation
I had a very interesting discussion recently about religion. I won't get into the details because that's not the point I want to relate. It struck me that the only reason I felt free to talk candidly about the subject was because it was with people that I don't see on a regular basis, and am not that close with. (Not that they're not lovely people, I just don't see them that often. Hi kev :) ) Now it's not like this is a very weird thing, it's a sensitive subject to some people, and it's something that people are very respective of others differences about, so it's not exactly something people are comfortable debating. In fact, one of my favorite parts of my last trip to Ireland was when my brother, trying to engage a random guy in conversation, asked him what he thought about George Bush. When the guy answered that he didn't much care, my brother said something along the lines of 'Why don't you care? It's pretty important, he's an asshole.' At that point the bartender came over and shouted at my brother "Hey! No politics and no religion!" Now it's certainly understandable that in a country like Ireland people will be wary of debates along those lines occurring in bars, or anywhere for that matter (see "the troubles"). Still, I really liked that line, and it happens to be a rule that I live by for casual conversation and casual relationships. In fact most everybody does. The problem is that I'm never able to broach the subject with people that I even suspect I have a disagreement with, even if I feel I'm pretty close to the person.
I have a close friend that is the complete opposite. He's told me about several occasions where he's argued with people very close to him about religion. And not because it was forced into conversation but just because he generally feels that these other people could be helped by what he has to tell them. It's weird, I always feel that kind of conversation would create a divide between people that I would never want to deal with, but it doesn't seem to for him. Either way, I'm almost positive that he's got the right idea.
I have a close friend that is the complete opposite. He's told me about several occasions where he's argued with people very close to him about religion. And not because it was forced into conversation but just because he generally feels that these other people could be helped by what he has to tell them. It's weird, I always feel that kind of conversation would create a divide between people that I would never want to deal with, but it doesn't seem to for him. Either way, I'm almost positive that he's got the right idea.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Irate
One more important post for the night, and then I'll either lapse into another week of inactivity or finish the WWIII series tomorrow. This just had to be written now because it's topical, it's fresh, and it will contain lots of cursing.
"Coalition forces have seized IEDs and components that were clearly produced in Iran... Such actions, along with Iran's support for terrorism and its pursuit of nuclear weapons, are increasingly isolating Iran, and America will continue to rally the world to confront these threats."
"So I’ve told people that if you’re interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
"This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table."
"It's a time of sorrow and sadness when we lose a loss of life"
-Collected GW quotes
Of course, recently there's been some HUGE revelations in the news.
It turns out, the US intelligence community knows that Iran doesn't have an active nuclear program and is many years away from possibly acquiring a bomb:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/03/world/middleeast/03cnd-iran.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
And what's worse, GW knew about it
http://www.trueblueliberal.com/2007/12/04/bush-dni-told-me-%E2%80%98we-have-some-new-information-he-didn%E2%80%99t-tell-me-what-the-information-was%E2%80%99/
http://www.theyoungturks.com/story/2007/12/5/111740/472/tytvideoclips/President-Bush-Reveals-How-He-was-Briefed-on-Iran-s-Nukes-
Even the faithful are in doubt, but they'll still dutifully spin it.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,315742,00.html
Strange, it seems that the rest of the world tried blowing the whistle on this long ago:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4178804.stm
But it's not the time for apologies, for reason, or for backing down:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071204/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush
And insult to injury, it makes our country look fucking STUPID:
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/12/05/iran.nuclear/index.html
It turns out that you can't keep the truth down for too long. Iran doesn't actually have that active nuclear weapons program that the president and his puppet master have been warning us about. Now that doesn't mean that they don't want one, and it doesn't mean that there aren't nuclear threats out there. Hell, Israel more than likely bombed a site in Syria that contained nuclear-related materials less than three months ago. But the recent revelation (to the American public at least) is that Iran does not currently have an active nuclear weapons program. There is good news to be gained from this revelation, but we'll save the cheery bit for the end.
Ever since Bush came into office he's been hyping threats. His three favorites were the axis of evil, and, fuck us all, he's managed to check two of them off of his list. Iraq: It sure doesn't look like a success story right now, but GW claims that history will vindicate him. Even if it does it will still probably recognize that he was an asshole, or at least that we all thought he was an asshole. North Korea: Amazing how little that pompadoured little napoleon complex of a dictator makes world news anymore. Unbelievably the administration seems to have brokered a deal to cool their nuclear ambitions. I believe this is the sole reason that Condolezza Rice is the only member of the administration that won't burn forever in eternal hellfire. (For the less politically intune, she's the secretary of state and mostly responsible for the deal. At least that's what I believe, it's debatable.) So that leaves us with the last item on Bush's list. The last of the axis of ill intent. Iran. And damn did they ever fear-monger that one. Iran, the nuclear-powered, jew-hating, irrational, crimson-eyed Persian threat. If you aren't familiar with the war hype, then Google "Iran". I'm pretty sure 50 of the first 100 results contain the word "threat" in the headline.
I've already "blogged" about the threat of war with Iran. Every single American knows how much this administration wanted to handle the Iran "situation" based on how they have talked about Iran. I won't get into the reasons for why they would want conflict with Iran (see "megalomania", "senility", and "GW has a tiny prick") What I will say though is that you have to admire the fucking cajones of these people. The truth is they lied us into Iraq. They knew people would die, they knew people would suffer, and while it's true that they didn't know how many that would be, it's equally true that they didn't FUCKING care. They weighed American life and Iraqi life against what they thought they could gain, and they decided it was worth it. And now, even when Iraq has turned into the shitstorm it has become, they have the fucking gall, the fucking self-deluded sense of righteousness to justify wanting war with Iran! That's not just stupid, that's not just evil, that's fucking inhuman. Once again, they knew they were lying, they knew the consequences of what they wrought, they had seen the effects of their incompetence, and they were willing to do it again. I can't think of anything more damning to say on the subject. The impression I want to leave with you though is this. These people, just like any other ruler, any other person in power, have their own ends. They will say and do whatever it takes to get to those ends, they will lie to you while staring you right in the eyes. But they are not like your boss who promised you that promotion the last three times only to give it to some other kiss-ass. They are not like your boyfriend who swears he will never cheat on you again. These people are willing to see you and four thousand of your countrymen DIE for that lie. They are willing to sacrifice the lives of countless of foreigners for that lie. And these people think you are so FUCKING STUPID that you will let them do it again.
"There's an old saying in Tennessee... I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee... that says, fool me once, shame on... shame on you. Fool me... you can't get fooled again."
You sure fucking can't get fooled again.
Well fuck me, I almost forgot about the cheery bit. Well it seems with the recent revelations that the forces of good may well have triumphed. Despite efforts to keep the NIE report under lock and key it has gotten out, and it has been revealed that the American intelligence community actually agrees with the rest of the world. The implications are that it is exceedingly unlikely that there will be any military conflict with Iran during shithead's term in office, and that there are still rational people in the US government. This doesn't mean the end of tensions with Iran. Ahmadinejad is still a very, very bad man. But hopefully now we can get back to spreading peace and democracy in what should be the American way. With hollywood movies and McDonalds.
"Coalition forces have seized IEDs and components that were clearly produced in Iran... Such actions, along with Iran's support for terrorism and its pursuit of nuclear weapons, are increasingly isolating Iran, and America will continue to rally the world to confront these threats."
"So I’ve told people that if you’re interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
"This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table."
"It's a time of sorrow and sadness when we lose a loss of life"
-Collected GW quotes
Of course, recently there's been some HUGE revelations in the news.
It turns out, the US intelligence community knows that Iran doesn't have an active nuclear program and is many years away from possibly acquiring a bomb:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/03/world/middleeast/03cnd-iran.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
And what's worse, GW knew about it
http://www.trueblueliberal.com/2007/12/04/bush-dni-told-me-%E2%80%98we-have-some-new-information-he-didn%E2%80%99t-tell-me-what-the-information-was%E2%80%99/
http://www.theyoungturks.com/story/2007/12/5/111740/472/tytvideoclips/President-Bush-Reveals-How-He-was-Briefed-on-Iran-s-Nukes-
Even the faithful are in doubt, but they'll still dutifully spin it.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,315742,00.html
Strange, it seems that the rest of the world tried blowing the whistle on this long ago:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4178804.stm
But it's not the time for apologies, for reason, or for backing down:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071204/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush
And insult to injury, it makes our country look fucking STUPID:
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/12/05/iran.nuclear/index.html
It turns out that you can't keep the truth down for too long. Iran doesn't actually have that active nuclear weapons program that the president and his puppet master have been warning us about. Now that doesn't mean that they don't want one, and it doesn't mean that there aren't nuclear threats out there. Hell, Israel more than likely bombed a site in Syria that contained nuclear-related materials less than three months ago. But the recent revelation (to the American public at least) is that Iran does not currently have an active nuclear weapons program. There is good news to be gained from this revelation, but we'll save the cheery bit for the end.
Ever since Bush came into office he's been hyping threats. His three favorites were the axis of evil, and, fuck us all, he's managed to check two of them off of his list. Iraq: It sure doesn't look like a success story right now, but GW claims that history will vindicate him. Even if it does it will still probably recognize that he was an asshole, or at least that we all thought he was an asshole. North Korea: Amazing how little that pompadoured little napoleon complex of a dictator makes world news anymore. Unbelievably the administration seems to have brokered a deal to cool their nuclear ambitions. I believe this is the sole reason that Condolezza Rice is the only member of the administration that won't burn forever in eternal hellfire. (For the less politically intune, she's the secretary of state and mostly responsible for the deal. At least that's what I believe, it's debatable.) So that leaves us with the last item on Bush's list. The last of the axis of ill intent. Iran. And damn did they ever fear-monger that one. Iran, the nuclear-powered, jew-hating, irrational, crimson-eyed Persian threat. If you aren't familiar with the war hype, then Google "Iran". I'm pretty sure 50 of the first 100 results contain the word "threat" in the headline.
I've already "blogged" about the threat of war with Iran. Every single American knows how much this administration wanted to handle the Iran "situation" based on how they have talked about Iran. I won't get into the reasons for why they would want conflict with Iran (see "megalomania", "senility", and "GW has a tiny prick") What I will say though is that you have to admire the fucking cajones of these people. The truth is they lied us into Iraq. They knew people would die, they knew people would suffer, and while it's true that they didn't know how many that would be, it's equally true that they didn't FUCKING care. They weighed American life and Iraqi life against what they thought they could gain, and they decided it was worth it. And now, even when Iraq has turned into the shitstorm it has become, they have the fucking gall, the fucking self-deluded sense of righteousness to justify wanting war with Iran! That's not just stupid, that's not just evil, that's fucking inhuman. Once again, they knew they were lying, they knew the consequences of what they wrought, they had seen the effects of their incompetence, and they were willing to do it again. I can't think of anything more damning to say on the subject. The impression I want to leave with you though is this. These people, just like any other ruler, any other person in power, have their own ends. They will say and do whatever it takes to get to those ends, they will lie to you while staring you right in the eyes. But they are not like your boss who promised you that promotion the last three times only to give it to some other kiss-ass. They are not like your boyfriend who swears he will never cheat on you again. These people are willing to see you and four thousand of your countrymen DIE for that lie. They are willing to sacrifice the lives of countless of foreigners for that lie. And these people think you are so FUCKING STUPID that you will let them do it again.
"There's an old saying in Tennessee... I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee... that says, fool me once, shame on... shame on you. Fool me... you can't get fooled again."
You sure fucking can't get fooled again.
Well fuck me, I almost forgot about the cheery bit. Well it seems with the recent revelations that the forces of good may well have triumphed. Despite efforts to keep the NIE report under lock and key it has gotten out, and it has been revealed that the American intelligence community actually agrees with the rest of the world. The implications are that it is exceedingly unlikely that there will be any military conflict with Iran during shithead's term in office, and that there are still rational people in the US government. This doesn't mean the end of tensions with Iran. Ahmadinejad is still a very, very bad man. But hopefully now we can get back to spreading peace and democracy in what should be the American way. With hollywood movies and McDonalds.
Task force meetings and Oil News
I just wanted to throw this link out there, it's in a response I wrote to one of Kevin's comments to the last WWIII post, but I wanted everyone to see it and thought it might not get attention where it was.
http://www.judicialwatch.org/iraqi-oil-maps.shtml
This was what was discussed in Cheney's energy task force meetings, which occured several months before Sept. 11th. Conspiracy theorists, take from this what you will. I for one will never believe that the US government had ANYTHING to do with that day other than extreme incompetence. However, the truth is always complicated.
What this DOES show though is that regime change in Iraq was a definite goal of the administration, and that 9/11 was just an excuse to justify a middle east policy that they would have enacted anyways. I personally believe that it was because the neocons wanted to be in control of middle east oil in fear of the peak oil theory. You can read all kinds of tin-foil hat stuff about peak oil here:
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/
Keep in mind though, that it is an entirely plausible scenario, and I definitely don't disbelieve it. I just happen to think that investing in alternate energy is an incredibly wiser strategy than starting a 2 trillion dollar war in the middle east. Of course, if you originally thought that you could win the war for 50 billion dollars, maybe it didn't seem like such a bad idea. Of course, in that scenario you would have to assume that you wouldn't take the loss of human life into account.
Still, it seems that a third option may have presented itself. It's equal parts good news and bad news, possibly leading to declining oil prices, the breakdown of some oil cartels, less american involvement in the middle east, and at the same time not a damned thing being done about global warming thanks to all the cheap-ass oil we just found.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/world/americas/19braziloil.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14678206/
There seem to be vast undiscovered reserves near Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico, and Japan. Add those to the reserves in the arctic that Russia is making a mad dash to claim (see Russia post), and there seems like there will be enough oil to go around for at least another 30ish years*. With the possible consequences and benefits of this news, it's hard to decide if this is a good or a bad thing.
*-estimates based not on any kind of science, but on gut feelings of author based on current rate of industrial and population growth, and the nice round-soundingness of the number 30.
http://www.judicialwatch.org/iraqi-oil-maps.shtml
This was what was discussed in Cheney's energy task force meetings, which occured several months before Sept. 11th. Conspiracy theorists, take from this what you will. I for one will never believe that the US government had ANYTHING to do with that day other than extreme incompetence. However, the truth is always complicated.
What this DOES show though is that regime change in Iraq was a definite goal of the administration, and that 9/11 was just an excuse to justify a middle east policy that they would have enacted anyways. I personally believe that it was because the neocons wanted to be in control of middle east oil in fear of the peak oil theory. You can read all kinds of tin-foil hat stuff about peak oil here:
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/
Keep in mind though, that it is an entirely plausible scenario, and I definitely don't disbelieve it. I just happen to think that investing in alternate energy is an incredibly wiser strategy than starting a 2 trillion dollar war in the middle east. Of course, if you originally thought that you could win the war for 50 billion dollars, maybe it didn't seem like such a bad idea. Of course, in that scenario you would have to assume that you wouldn't take the loss of human life into account.
Still, it seems that a third option may have presented itself. It's equal parts good news and bad news, possibly leading to declining oil prices, the breakdown of some oil cartels, less american involvement in the middle east, and at the same time not a damned thing being done about global warming thanks to all the cheap-ass oil we just found.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/world/americas/19braziloil.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14678206/
There seem to be vast undiscovered reserves near Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico, and Japan. Add those to the reserves in the arctic that Russia is making a mad dash to claim (see Russia post), and there seems like there will be enough oil to go around for at least another 30ish years*. With the possible consequences and benefits of this news, it's hard to decide if this is a good or a bad thing.
*-estimates based not on any kind of science, but on gut feelings of author based on current rate of industrial and population growth, and the nice round-soundingness of the number 30.
2008
Rumblings around the office lately suggest that we may be throwing a new years party. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it but with the things that have been discussed I'm absolutely sure that some questionable stuff will go down. Don't get me wrong, it will be a blast for the most part. The breakdown will probably be about 75% - one of the best parties of the year, and 25% - alternatingly akward, sticky, and violent.
Here's to a happy new year!
Here's to a happy new year!
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
TV Generation
The reason I don't blog more:
I was watching TV earlier tonight and had to go downstairs to take care of a few things, only took a few minutes. I took my iPod with me so I wouldn't get bored.
I was watching TV earlier tonight and had to go downstairs to take care of a few things, only took a few minutes. I took my iPod with me so I wouldn't get bored.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Continuity, not so much
The finale to the WWIII series is coming before the Pakistan episode, but I haven't finished writing the Pakistan one and I wanted to get something up tonight, so, here you go. Besides, this post is sure to be edited later anyways.
The influence behind just about everything that happens in this world is money. And the influence behind the possible WWIII is just a proxy for money. It's, of course, oil. Oil is the reason that the first gulf war happened, and it's the reason for the second as well. So how did we go and start a war centered on oil? Let's take a closer look at the events that led up to it.
Well remember Dick "The Blind Sheik" Cheney's Energy Taskforce meetings? No? Then go and look it up, I can't link everything for you. Well in these meetings it's been supposed that he was gathering information on remaining world-wide oil reserves and how much longer they would be producing. See Mr. Cheney had recently been quite convinced of the threat of the "peak oil" theory*, and was quite concerned with what it meant for the future of America. He knew that the future of America depended on securing energy sources, and his friends at Halliburton had told him that if we turn towards alternate or renewable energy sources, we would suffer the fate of all the rest of the granola-eating hippies. Less-than-extravagant lifestyles! God forbid any American should ever have to endure the indignity, so Dick knew he had to get to work. He had to secure the future of oil production for the United States. The world community won't let a country invade and seize another country's resources without a backlash that even the US couldn't survive, but if a strawman were set up then he could safely be taken out. And if the result of this action were that the country liberated were beholden to the US, AND was an oil-rich nation, then the stars would be too damned aligned not to start that war. Of course, Dick already knew exactly who this strawman was, he had had intimate dealings with him before as Secretary of Defense under H.W. Bush. And his close friend Rumsfeld had an even closer relationship with the man (http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/rumsfeld-hussein.jpg) So, as the Dick who said in 1992, "And the question in my mind is how many additional American casualties is Saddam worth? And the answer is not very damned many. So I think we got it right, both when we decided to expel him from Kuwait, but also when the president made the decision that we'd achieved our objectives and we were not going to go get bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and govern Iraq."(http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/192908_cheney29.html) turned into the Dick who will advocate the veracity of the Iraq war until his dying breath, the US was plunged into a war that in the end will benefit only those soulless enough to yearn to profit from it. And now that the eventual cost of the war will settle in at almost 2 trillion dollars, enough money to replace almost every car in the US with a hybrid car, we as a citizenry are left to wonder what else that money could have paid for. That money could maybe have made us energy independent. It may have been able to build enough solar, wind, geothermal, nuclear, etc. plants that we would never again have to give a fucking dime to another country for energy. It may have built for us the technology that would once again make us the world leader, so that other countries would once again be dependent on us for their salvation, and that our continued success as a nation would once again be in the interest in the world as a whole. Of course, all it did pay for was a few thousand dead American men and women, and countless dead Iraqis (some estimates are over a million, with more than 3 million displaced from their homes.)
I feel sometimes like an isolationist. History judged the isolationists wrong in the late 1930's. If America hadn't stepped in to aid the rest of the world against the insanities of Hitler, then the world would certainly have been such a dark place that few of us would like to contemplate. Still today, I feel right in being an isolationist. America is drowning in it's own problems and can hardly afford to try to be liberator to the world right now. The Euro is worth almost 2 dollars. The Canadian dollar is trading damned near even with the American dollar. Markets across the world are gearing up to no longer use the American dollar as their standard. Money is the bellwether that shows true influence, and ours is drying up. It won't be long until Columbian drug lords bury stashes of Euros instead of American dollars in order to safeguard their investments. Fuck, actually they probably were the first to switch. As much as GW likes to crow about how he's spreading freedom and democracy, the pendulum is swinging towards dictatorship across the globe. Oppressive China is quickly becoming one of the strongest world powers. Russia is racing backwards towards the days of Stalin with Putin at the helm, arresting or assassinating anyone who so much as glances at him on the subway. And the US, the shining beacon of freedom, is seeing it's citizens lose civil liberties at the pace of about one a week. Don't get me wrong, it's still better than Britain, which has the highest ration of "security cameras" per capita in the world. But it's a shadow of it's former self, and a disgrace to the men and women who gave their lives to ensure that it would remain the freest nation on the planet.
The question is, "what is there for us to do about it?" Well there are a million different things that you can do, and it's up to each one of us to decide what it is that we will do. Each of us needs to think about what it is that we want our country to be, and decide how best we are able to bring that about. If you've got the drive and the means to make a big difference, then god bless, go forward. If you only have the time or the desire to make a small change, then every little bit still helps. And I don't mean towards any certain ends, but towards any ends that you would like. The important bit is to stay attentive, to stay informed, and to fucking care! Everybody has heard the saying "Of course we must fear evil men, but there is another evil that we must fear more… and that is the indifference of good men.". But the nuance to that is that you aren't supposed to be outraged at the blatantly outrageous. Once it gets to the point that EVERYBODY realizes what is happening is unjust, it is too damned late. You have to get outraged at the steps that lead up to that point. Stand up and make your voice heard, in any way you can.
This will tie in nicely to what I hope will be my next post, a quick look at some of the presidential candidates. The election coming up is an excellent chance to make your voice heard :)
The influence behind just about everything that happens in this world is money. And the influence behind the possible WWIII is just a proxy for money. It's, of course, oil. Oil is the reason that the first gulf war happened, and it's the reason for the second as well. So how did we go and start a war centered on oil? Let's take a closer look at the events that led up to it.
Well remember Dick "The Blind Sheik" Cheney's Energy Taskforce meetings? No? Then go and look it up, I can't link everything for you. Well in these meetings it's been supposed that he was gathering information on remaining world-wide oil reserves and how much longer they would be producing. See Mr. Cheney had recently been quite convinced of the threat of the "peak oil" theory*, and was quite concerned with what it meant for the future of America. He knew that the future of America depended on securing energy sources, and his friends at Halliburton had told him that if we turn towards alternate or renewable energy sources, we would suffer the fate of all the rest of the granola-eating hippies. Less-than-extravagant lifestyles! God forbid any American should ever have to endure the indignity, so Dick knew he had to get to work. He had to secure the future of oil production for the United States. The world community won't let a country invade and seize another country's resources without a backlash that even the US couldn't survive, but if a strawman were set up then he could safely be taken out. And if the result of this action were that the country liberated were beholden to the US, AND was an oil-rich nation, then the stars would be too damned aligned not to start that war. Of course, Dick already knew exactly who this strawman was, he had had intimate dealings with him before as Secretary of Defense under H.W. Bush. And his close friend Rumsfeld had an even closer relationship with the man (http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/rumsfeld-hussein.jpg) So, as the Dick who said in 1992, "And the question in my mind is how many additional American casualties is Saddam worth? And the answer is not very damned many. So I think we got it right, both when we decided to expel him from Kuwait, but also when the president made the decision that we'd achieved our objectives and we were not going to go get bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and govern Iraq."(http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/192908_cheney29.html) turned into the Dick who will advocate the veracity of the Iraq war until his dying breath, the US was plunged into a war that in the end will benefit only those soulless enough to yearn to profit from it. And now that the eventual cost of the war will settle in at almost 2 trillion dollars, enough money to replace almost every car in the US with a hybrid car, we as a citizenry are left to wonder what else that money could have paid for. That money could maybe have made us energy independent. It may have been able to build enough solar, wind, geothermal, nuclear, etc. plants that we would never again have to give a fucking dime to another country for energy. It may have built for us the technology that would once again make us the world leader, so that other countries would once again be dependent on us for their salvation, and that our continued success as a nation would once again be in the interest in the world as a whole. Of course, all it did pay for was a few thousand dead American men and women, and countless dead Iraqis (some estimates are over a million, with more than 3 million displaced from their homes.)
I feel sometimes like an isolationist. History judged the isolationists wrong in the late 1930's. If America hadn't stepped in to aid the rest of the world against the insanities of Hitler, then the world would certainly have been such a dark place that few of us would like to contemplate. Still today, I feel right in being an isolationist. America is drowning in it's own problems and can hardly afford to try to be liberator to the world right now. The Euro is worth almost 2 dollars. The Canadian dollar is trading damned near even with the American dollar. Markets across the world are gearing up to no longer use the American dollar as their standard. Money is the bellwether that shows true influence, and ours is drying up. It won't be long until Columbian drug lords bury stashes of Euros instead of American dollars in order to safeguard their investments. Fuck, actually they probably were the first to switch. As much as GW likes to crow about how he's spreading freedom and democracy, the pendulum is swinging towards dictatorship across the globe. Oppressive China is quickly becoming one of the strongest world powers. Russia is racing backwards towards the days of Stalin with Putin at the helm, arresting or assassinating anyone who so much as glances at him on the subway. And the US, the shining beacon of freedom, is seeing it's citizens lose civil liberties at the pace of about one a week. Don't get me wrong, it's still better than Britain, which has the highest ration of "security cameras" per capita in the world. But it's a shadow of it's former self, and a disgrace to the men and women who gave their lives to ensure that it would remain the freest nation on the planet.
The question is, "what is there for us to do about it?" Well there are a million different things that you can do, and it's up to each one of us to decide what it is that we will do. Each of us needs to think about what it is that we want our country to be, and decide how best we are able to bring that about. If you've got the drive and the means to make a big difference, then god bless, go forward. If you only have the time or the desire to make a small change, then every little bit still helps. And I don't mean towards any certain ends, but towards any ends that you would like. The important bit is to stay attentive, to stay informed, and to fucking care! Everybody has heard the saying "Of course we must fear evil men, but there is another evil that we must fear more… and that is the indifference of good men.". But the nuance to that is that you aren't supposed to be outraged at the blatantly outrageous. Once it gets to the point that EVERYBODY realizes what is happening is unjust, it is too damned late. You have to get outraged at the steps that lead up to that point. Stand up and make your voice heard, in any way you can.
This will tie in nicely to what I hope will be my next post, a quick look at some of the presidential candidates. The election coming up is an excellent chance to make your voice heard :)
Monday, November 26, 2007
Life Update
It's been way too long since my last post, and alot of that has to do with the job that I'm working right now. But now it's time for an update, since as of this thursday I'll no longer be working at that job. I don't have enough space here to list all of the reasons that I hated working at that job, but the main reason that I knew I had to quit was that it was making me very, very unhappy. I've worked some crappy jobs before, but I've never felt so depressed by any other job. The stress of driving in rush hour traffic, having to park in places I'm not supposed to be and worrying about getting towed (which did happen once), the dirty looks I got from servers working at restaurants as if I was helping take away their customers, the FUCKING idiot pedestrians all over the city who don't know what the little flashing orange hand means, the people who tip two dollars on a hundred dollar order. It was all too much in itself without the fact that I was making steadily less money as the company hired more and more drivers for the "busy season". But soon that will all be behind me. It's true, I don't have another job lined up yet, but that didn't stop me last job I left, and I liked that job.
Plus, now that I won't be working 10-10 five days a week I'll have time to start writing some more! I've got a hundred things on my mind to write about. I think it's about time to start a dialog about the presidential candidates, especially from what I've been hearing from the few people I've talked to at all about it. It's time to set everybody straight about these people. I'll try to get two posts up in the next two days, and if I can manage I'll finish out the WWIII series while it's still relevant!
Plus, now that I won't be working 10-10 five days a week I'll have time to start writing some more! I've got a hundred things on my mind to write about. I think it's about time to start a dialog about the presidential candidates, especially from what I've been hearing from the few people I've talked to at all about it. It's time to set everybody straight about these people. I'll try to get two posts up in the next two days, and if I can manage I'll finish out the WWIII series while it's still relevant!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Another dalliance with less forethought
Man, when you're working 50 hours a week and constantly worried about thirteen different things it's harder to find time to do the things you love, like rant and rave about politics and current events. So until I finish my Pakistan post (which keeps changing as new news comes in), here is some random stuff that I think you'll find interesting:
Symbiont: noun An organism in a symbiotic relationship. In cases in which a distinction is made between two interacting organisms, the symbiont is the smaller of the two and is always a beneficiary in the relationship, while the larger organism is the host and may or may not derive a benefit. (dictionary.com)
In the human body, there are many other organisms that live in a symbiotic relationship with ourselves. Some are beneficial (microbes in our digestive tract that help break down food), and some are detrimental (germs and disease causing microbes).
In your body, in everyone's body, right now you are composed of around a hundred trillion cells. Of these cells, only 1 in 10 is human cells. (Breaking the Spell, Daniel Dennet) Sleep tight hypochondriacs!
Veteran's Day: There's a hundred different things I could say about veteran's day, which was yesterday. I'd like to relate to you though a story that some of you may have heard. Known in France as Armistice day, the day also marks the signing of the cease-fire between France and Germany that marked the end of the first world war. The treaty took effect on 11:00 am on Nov. 11. It's nice when things work out that way that the 11th hour would fall on the 11th at 11:00 am, and that's certainly what the drawers of the treaty were thinking. The unfortunate truth though is that the treaty was finalized at 5:00 am Paris time that morning. In the time between the finalization of the agreement and the enacting of said agreement, many soldiers were killed fighting a war that was already over.
My point in this is: Everyone who gives their life in service deserves to be honored. No one gets to choose the way they go out, but they all make the same sacrifice and take the same risks. Veterans day is supposed to be the day when we do that as a country, but each year it passes with less and less recognition than the year before. Veterans account for twice the amount of the homeless population than the rest of the populace. Clearly we are derelict in our duty to them. I ask of you, and of myself, what did you do to commemorate Veteran's day? Did you donate to your local VFW, to the USO, maybe even to a homeless shelter?
OK, I couldn't get through a post without a bit of an accusatory rant, but I'll end on a lighter note:
www.imagepoop.com/image/1377/Ribbon-Based-Economy.html?img
I don't know where this is from, but it's pretty damned apt, and pretty funny. And here I thought buying a yellow ribbon made in China would somehow help the US.
Symbiont: noun An organism in a symbiotic relationship. In cases in which a distinction is made between two interacting organisms, the symbiont is the smaller of the two and is always a beneficiary in the relationship, while the larger organism is the host and may or may not derive a benefit. (dictionary.com)
In the human body, there are many other organisms that live in a symbiotic relationship with ourselves. Some are beneficial (microbes in our digestive tract that help break down food), and some are detrimental (germs and disease causing microbes).
In your body, in everyone's body, right now you are composed of around a hundred trillion cells. Of these cells, only 1 in 10 is human cells. (Breaking the Spell, Daniel Dennet) Sleep tight hypochondriacs!
Veteran's Day: There's a hundred different things I could say about veteran's day, which was yesterday. I'd like to relate to you though a story that some of you may have heard. Known in France as Armistice day, the day also marks the signing of the cease-fire between France and Germany that marked the end of the first world war. The treaty took effect on 11:00 am on Nov. 11. It's nice when things work out that way that the 11th hour would fall on the 11th at 11:00 am, and that's certainly what the drawers of the treaty were thinking. The unfortunate truth though is that the treaty was finalized at 5:00 am Paris time that morning. In the time between the finalization of the agreement and the enacting of said agreement, many soldiers were killed fighting a war that was already over.
My point in this is: Everyone who gives their life in service deserves to be honored. No one gets to choose the way they go out, but they all make the same sacrifice and take the same risks. Veterans day is supposed to be the day when we do that as a country, but each year it passes with less and less recognition than the year before. Veterans account for twice the amount of the homeless population than the rest of the populace. Clearly we are derelict in our duty to them. I ask of you, and of myself, what did you do to commemorate Veteran's day? Did you donate to your local VFW, to the USO, maybe even to a homeless shelter?
OK, I couldn't get through a post without a bit of an accusatory rant, but I'll end on a lighter note:
www.imagepoop.com/image/1377/Ribbon-Based-Economy.html?img
I don't know where this is from, but it's pretty damned apt, and pretty funny. And here I thought buying a yellow ribbon made in China would somehow help the US.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Remember, remember the fifth of November
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/05/open-thread-623/
If you've seen "V for Vendetta", then you know what the movie is about but for those of you who haven't seen it I'll avoid going too much into the plot because it's an awesome movie that I don't want to ruin for you. Basically though it's about a masked superhero-like figure that wages war against a tyrannical, corrupt government. It makes sense that the movie would be a hit with anyone of a libertarian mindset, or anyone who happens to realize exactly how many rights they've lost under the current administration. The movie makes importance of the fifth of November as the date of "the gunpowder plot" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_plot) It was about as libertarian an ideal as you can get, the plan was to destroy the houses of parliament and kill all the government leaders in one fell swoop. Of course, it would also have been an insanely savage act of what we now call terrorism, and I don't mean to equate libertarianism with violence. Still, some people in the UK still celebrate the anniversary of the failed attempt, even though I can't imagine it still has the same significance.
Ok, so the point of the post isn't a history lesson, nor is it a movie review. (Seriously though, see that movie if you haven't) The 5th of November had current relevance here in America because it catapulted a republican candidate* from sideshow status into major contention (as far as the main-stream media is concerned). On Nov. 5th Ron Paul raised over 4.2 million dollars towards his presidential campaign. That's 4.2 million IN ONE DAY! Apparently "V for Vendetta" has been an insanely effective rallying cry for the libertarians here in the US. Personally though, I think that it's more indicative of the fact that Ron Paul is the only one in the Republican debates who is even talking any sense. He's the only one to advocate withdrawal from Iraq, to argue completely against the use of torture, and the only one who seems to understand what the republicans used to stand for: smaller government.
It's ironic that a republican administration has beset upon Americans the largest intrusions of government into our lives in the course of American history. It's also proven to be catastrophic to their party. The rise of Ron Paul is proof that the old republicans in this country are starting to wake up and attempt to take their party back. I don't know if they'll be able to, the party is already splintering among dozens of different fault lines. Still, I'm glad to see this happening, because these are the republicans I feel much more comfortable with. I'd much rather argue with a republican that we should increase the minimum wage or have universal health care than argue with them that it doesn't matter whether or not they've done anything wrong, the government shouldn't be allowed to investigate them without a warrant.
Don't get me wrong, I think Ron Paul is insane. He's in favor of eliminating taxes, the FBI, the EPA, you know, the government. Also I've always been suspicious of libertarians, and I have an inherent distrust of anyone who joins the local militia and stockpiles supplies in their bunker. I think that organized governments are the greatest tools we have as a species for managing what has become an unreasonable amount of individuals living on this planet. I think that a government that works for the people instead of it's own self interest is the only answer to a myriad of problems that face a country. Still even a raging liberal like me knows that there are limits.
Incidentally, there's one other thing I want to bring up quick. It's not really related to the rest of the post, but it reminded me of it. Fascism does not actually mean "like the nazis", which is the colloquial definition it seems to have attained. It actually means the marrying of corporations with government towards the ends of having a corporate state. Kind of like oil companies determining energy policy, or insurance firms lobbying for the privatization of social security, or pharmaceutical companies writing health care policy and determining prescription drug coverage. Yeah, just the sort of thing that has been happening in Washington lately, that's the stuff.
* - every time I write the word "candidate" I mis-spell it "cantidate" at first. It just seems weird to me that the etymological root of that word would be "candid". I'm such a hippy sometimes, it frustrates me.
If you've seen "V for Vendetta", then you know what the movie is about but for those of you who haven't seen it I'll avoid going too much into the plot because it's an awesome movie that I don't want to ruin for you. Basically though it's about a masked superhero-like figure that wages war against a tyrannical, corrupt government. It makes sense that the movie would be a hit with anyone of a libertarian mindset, or anyone who happens to realize exactly how many rights they've lost under the current administration. The movie makes importance of the fifth of November as the date of "the gunpowder plot" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_plot) It was about as libertarian an ideal as you can get, the plan was to destroy the houses of parliament and kill all the government leaders in one fell swoop. Of course, it would also have been an insanely savage act of what we now call terrorism, and I don't mean to equate libertarianism with violence. Still, some people in the UK still celebrate the anniversary of the failed attempt, even though I can't imagine it still has the same significance.
Ok, so the point of the post isn't a history lesson, nor is it a movie review. (Seriously though, see that movie if you haven't) The 5th of November had current relevance here in America because it catapulted a republican candidate* from sideshow status into major contention (as far as the main-stream media is concerned). On Nov. 5th Ron Paul raised over 4.2 million dollars towards his presidential campaign. That's 4.2 million IN ONE DAY! Apparently "V for Vendetta" has been an insanely effective rallying cry for the libertarians here in the US. Personally though, I think that it's more indicative of the fact that Ron Paul is the only one in the Republican debates who is even talking any sense. He's the only one to advocate withdrawal from Iraq, to argue completely against the use of torture, and the only one who seems to understand what the republicans used to stand for: smaller government.
It's ironic that a republican administration has beset upon Americans the largest intrusions of government into our lives in the course of American history. It's also proven to be catastrophic to their party. The rise of Ron Paul is proof that the old republicans in this country are starting to wake up and attempt to take their party back. I don't know if they'll be able to, the party is already splintering among dozens of different fault lines. Still, I'm glad to see this happening, because these are the republicans I feel much more comfortable with. I'd much rather argue with a republican that we should increase the minimum wage or have universal health care than argue with them that it doesn't matter whether or not they've done anything wrong, the government shouldn't be allowed to investigate them without a warrant.
Don't get me wrong, I think Ron Paul is insane. He's in favor of eliminating taxes, the FBI, the EPA, you know, the government. Also I've always been suspicious of libertarians, and I have an inherent distrust of anyone who joins the local militia and stockpiles supplies in their bunker. I think that organized governments are the greatest tools we have as a species for managing what has become an unreasonable amount of individuals living on this planet. I think that a government that works for the people instead of it's own self interest is the only answer to a myriad of problems that face a country. Still even a raging liberal like me knows that there are limits.
Incidentally, there's one other thing I want to bring up quick. It's not really related to the rest of the post, but it reminded me of it. Fascism does not actually mean "like the nazis", which is the colloquial definition it seems to have attained. It actually means the marrying of corporations with government towards the ends of having a corporate state. Kind of like oil companies determining energy policy, or insurance firms lobbying for the privatization of social security, or pharmaceutical companies writing health care policy and determining prescription drug coverage. Yeah, just the sort of thing that has been happening in Washington lately, that's the stuff.
* - every time I write the word "candidate" I mis-spell it "cantidate" at first. It just seems weird to me that the etymological root of that word would be "candid". I'm such a hippy sometimes, it frustrates me.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Russia - The second cold war
www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2202715,00.html - Russian democracy in action
nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2007/11/01/news0846.htm - Russia cozies with Iran
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article692157.ece - Russia arms Venezuela
www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070306201334.qse2sfab&show_article=1 - And they're keeping it quiet
www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=11796 - But the people still "love" Putin!
Not a middle eastern country, but probably the most important coming conflict is with Russia. Russia has been slipping further and further from a sane democratic super power under the authoritarian direction of Vladimir Putin. (Is anyone with the first name Vladimir not evil?) At the same time it's been allying itself with countries that have been on this administration's shit list since the beginning. Iran and Argentina have been it's biggest targets. Now what is it that Russia could possibly want from those two countries that it's willing to sign arms deals with them? Maybe the same reason that the US has been kissing the Saudi royal family's asses for years.
The lines are beginning to be drawn, between groups of countries, over oil rights. Russia is "claiming" Venezuela and Iran, as well as attempting to claim the arctic oil reserves as their own. The US maintains tenuous relationships with Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and has just about made Iraq into a US principality. Why else would we be building permanent bases there as well as the largest embassy complex ever constructed? The lines aren't necessarily being drawn because a war is imminent, or even that likely. We're too far away from oil running out to be worried about wars starting because of it. However, we are at the point where oil production can't keep up with the expansion of industrialism. China and India being added to the world's oil demand is straining this planet's capacity to keep our cars running.
The threat with Russia in the present though, is that they're turning back into the Russia that we were in the cold war with, and isolating them for dealing with the countries we've designated as evil will only strain relations even further. It's unlikely that the US and Russia will ever be very good allies, but it used to be that world opinion regarded Russia as the crazy ones, and the US was the good guys. After the last few years though, the world is starting to regard the US as crazy, and Russia as slightly less crazy. The terrible part about this is that if the US were still in good standing we could have some sort of influence on the state of affairs in Russia, but since we can't get any countries to follow our lead lately, what can be done? Someone needs to step in and keep Russia from becoming a de facto dictatorship again, for the sake of it's citizens and for the sake of the world. It's too bad we're STILL bogged down in Iraq.
nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2007/11/01/news0846.htm - Russia cozies with Iran
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article692157.ece - Russia arms Venezuela
www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070306201334.qse2sfab&show_article=1 - And they're keeping it quiet
www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=11796 - But the people still "love" Putin!
Not a middle eastern country, but probably the most important coming conflict is with Russia. Russia has been slipping further and further from a sane democratic super power under the authoritarian direction of Vladimir Putin. (Is anyone with the first name Vladimir not evil?) At the same time it's been allying itself with countries that have been on this administration's shit list since the beginning. Iran and Argentina have been it's biggest targets. Now what is it that Russia could possibly want from those two countries that it's willing to sign arms deals with them? Maybe the same reason that the US has been kissing the Saudi royal family's asses for years.
The lines are beginning to be drawn, between groups of countries, over oil rights. Russia is "claiming" Venezuela and Iran, as well as attempting to claim the arctic oil reserves as their own. The US maintains tenuous relationships with Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and has just about made Iraq into a US principality. Why else would we be building permanent bases there as well as the largest embassy complex ever constructed? The lines aren't necessarily being drawn because a war is imminent, or even that likely. We're too far away from oil running out to be worried about wars starting because of it. However, we are at the point where oil production can't keep up with the expansion of industrialism. China and India being added to the world's oil demand is straining this planet's capacity to keep our cars running.
The threat with Russia in the present though, is that they're turning back into the Russia that we were in the cold war with, and isolating them for dealing with the countries we've designated as evil will only strain relations even further. It's unlikely that the US and Russia will ever be very good allies, but it used to be that world opinion regarded Russia as the crazy ones, and the US was the good guys. After the last few years though, the world is starting to regard the US as crazy, and Russia as slightly less crazy. The terrible part about this is that if the US were still in good standing we could have some sort of influence on the state of affairs in Russia, but since we can't get any countries to follow our lead lately, what can be done? Someone needs to step in and keep Russia from becoming a de facto dictatorship again, for the sake of it's citizens and for the sake of the world. It's too bad we're STILL bogged down in Iraq.
Coming Tonight!
Part III of the world war series is gonna be posted tonight. It's been a while since I've had something to procrastinate from doing but now I have zoo internship applications to write, so the desire to do anything but has struck again!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Postponed
Yeah, I know, World War III, serious business. I just can't get into the mood tonight to tell everybody that they're under threat of being drafted after we go to war with Iran, Russia, and possibly China. What I am in the mood for though is some weird science and philosophy discussion. I've actually wanted to write about this for a while now, so I'm a bit excited. Forgive me if this post goes on a while.
First, let me explain the experiment:
If you want to listen to a great episode of WNYC's Radio Lab that discusses this experiment, go here: http://www.wnyc.org/stream/ram.py?file=/radiolab/radiolab030405.ra
It starts at about 38:30
The experiment was on finger-wiggling. If you've heard of the experiment you've probably already thought through a lot of what I am going to say, but bear with me as I detail it for those who have not heard of it. Starting in the 1960's, several times this experiment has been repeated. Scientists decided to take a look at decision making and free will. They hooked people up to a machine that measured their brain waves and then asked them to wiggle their finger. Of course the machines that read their brain waves found a peak of activity correlating to the brain telling the finger to wiggle, and a second peak making the finger wiggle. It would make sense that the procession of events would be: You decide to wiggle your finger, then the peak occurs telling your finger to wiggle, then your finger wiggles. However, what they found was that the order really went: A peak occurs telling your finger to wiggle, then you get the sensation of deciding to wiggle your finger, then your finger wiggles. That's right, the activity in your brain that tells your finger it is going to wiggle occurs not just before your finger wiggles, it occurs before you decide to wiggle your finger! At least, it occurs before you are consciously aware that you've decided to wiggle your finger. Philosophers had a field day with this study, and it seemed everyone had their own conclusions to make of it. Of course I can't get into all of their different theories and suppositions, but I will tell you the questions that this experiment poses, though they're not questions posed only by this experiment, and then I'll tell you how I think things go.
First of all, the immediate question that comes to mind is: Does this experiment disprove feel will? If this machine can tell what you are about to do before you are even aware that you are about to do it, then isn't it logical to conclude that your actions are not the result of your consciousness, but of activities within your brain that you have no awareness of? Maybe your consciousness is but one part of the myriad that composes your brain, and clearly not the decision-maker of the bunch. You can still have free will, but it resides in a part of your brain that is different from the feeling you have about what is you, namely your conscious thought, your inner monologue. Still, if that is the case then how does that change the issue? If it's a part of your brain other than your consciousness that is calling the shots, that doesn't solve the mystery of whether or not it's actions are pre-ordained. In fact, it makes the question harder to answer, because it puts the decision making in a part of the brain in which we have just by definition close off to our conscious, the answer-seeking portion of our minds. Maybe then our consciousness exists only to explain the events occurring within ourselves. Human beings evolved to the point where we are now mostly based on our ability to reason, to link cause and effect. It only makes sense that there should evolve a part of our brain that serves to find reason behind the actions of others, and after time, the actions of ourselves. It serves us well to know why other people do what they do, and as we developed more and more self-awareness, we came to apply those same principles to ourselves. However it wasn't the same as when we applied them to other people. We weren't trying to figure out what their motivations were, we knew our own motivations already. So rather than perceiving our actions as the natural reactions to our motivations, we perceived them as decisions that we made to satisfy our motivations. Our motivations and desires were things that we chose to satiate rather than the drive behind our actions. Think about it for a second, when a dog acts do you think that it has an inner monologue that justifies each action, that believes that it has planned each action out beforehand? We can't know exactly what goes on in the minds of other species, but it seems that they simply act rather than thinking about it beforehand. This doesn't mean that they are unable to plan ahead, just that this planning ahead occurs without the need for an active conscious. In fact, the absence of that internal monologue in animals that are capable of planning ahead may be evidence that it may not be the part of our brains that actually does the planning and decision making.
So which of these do I believe? Well, I just so happen to believe in the last one. Mainly because it's the one that I came up with. It's not that I'm the only one to have come up with it, I'm probably somewhere in the low twenty millions to have thought that since the experiment was done. However it's where I arrived after thinking about it on my own. Now what do I think that this means? Well, when I was younger I happened to think a lot about free will. To me the world seemed able to be broken down to cause and effect in any situation. Leaves moved because wind blew them, people ate because they felt hungry, chemical reactions proceeded because of the immutable laws of thermodynamics. I was certain that everything could be broken down into cause and effect on simple, even microscopic levels. After all, our brains are composed of cells, composed of compounds, composed of atoms that all behave the way they do based on the actions of the other atoms surrounding them. The extrapolation of this was that something as complex as someone deciding to and going for a walk could be explained by the set of atoms that comprised them following the natural cause and effect pathways that were effected on them. It's kind of like if you had a handful of marbles and dropped them, you could, given enough computational power, calculate exactly where each marble would land. I realize the analogy is thin (and I'm not a fan of analogies to begin with), but I hope it helps clarify my point. However, when you get down to subatomic levels, things stop becoming that simple. I've already rambled on quite a bit, so I won't get into quantum mechanics. One, because it's a subject that I know embarrassingly little about, and two, because it's incredibly complex and confusing, and there are few people that know the subject well enough to talk about it without being embarrassed at how little they understand it. Still, when you get to a quantum level, nothing exists in a set state. The quantum world is a world of possibilities. When you measure the path an electron takes between two points, you find that it doesn't actually chose a path UNTIL you try and measure it. Before that it exists as any possibility. (This is very cartoony, but explains pretty simply what I'm talking about: http://youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc) To me, this is where free-will lies. We have the ability to chose, to shape our own realities. In summation, just what the hell is it that I'm talking about?
Well, I do think that our consciousnesses evolved to make sense of the actions of other monkeys. And I do think that our sense of self, and our sense of active decision making came about as a result of our consciousnesses trying to make sense of the interplay of our own actions and motivations and becoming intensely confused. I believe that confusion manifests as our sense of self. But as I said, I do think that free will does exist. Our actions may not always be decided by our conscious selves, but our actions are guided by who we are. And who we are is a creation of our consciousness.
The interesting thing about this is: What I believe may be true for me, but it may also be true only for me. If our consciousness serves the purpose of making sense the events that precede it and compose it, then it makes sense that each person has the ability to construct their own reality, and that each persons reality is just as valid as the next. Of course, I don't believe that for a second. I'd love to hear what people think about this, and feel free to tell me that I'm full of shit. I quite expect that I am.
First, let me explain the experiment:
If you want to listen to a great episode of WNYC's Radio Lab that discusses this experiment, go here: http://www.wnyc.org/stream/ram.py?file=/radiolab/radiolab030405.ra
It starts at about 38:30
The experiment was on finger-wiggling. If you've heard of the experiment you've probably already thought through a lot of what I am going to say, but bear with me as I detail it for those who have not heard of it. Starting in the 1960's, several times this experiment has been repeated. Scientists decided to take a look at decision making and free will. They hooked people up to a machine that measured their brain waves and then asked them to wiggle their finger. Of course the machines that read their brain waves found a peak of activity correlating to the brain telling the finger to wiggle, and a second peak making the finger wiggle. It would make sense that the procession of events would be: You decide to wiggle your finger, then the peak occurs telling your finger to wiggle, then your finger wiggles. However, what they found was that the order really went: A peak occurs telling your finger to wiggle, then you get the sensation of deciding to wiggle your finger, then your finger wiggles. That's right, the activity in your brain that tells your finger it is going to wiggle occurs not just before your finger wiggles, it occurs before you decide to wiggle your finger! At least, it occurs before you are consciously aware that you've decided to wiggle your finger. Philosophers had a field day with this study, and it seemed everyone had their own conclusions to make of it. Of course I can't get into all of their different theories and suppositions, but I will tell you the questions that this experiment poses, though they're not questions posed only by this experiment, and then I'll tell you how I think things go.
First of all, the immediate question that comes to mind is: Does this experiment disprove feel will? If this machine can tell what you are about to do before you are even aware that you are about to do it, then isn't it logical to conclude that your actions are not the result of your consciousness, but of activities within your brain that you have no awareness of? Maybe your consciousness is but one part of the myriad that composes your brain, and clearly not the decision-maker of the bunch. You can still have free will, but it resides in a part of your brain that is different from the feeling you have about what is you, namely your conscious thought, your inner monologue. Still, if that is the case then how does that change the issue? If it's a part of your brain other than your consciousness that is calling the shots, that doesn't solve the mystery of whether or not it's actions are pre-ordained. In fact, it makes the question harder to answer, because it puts the decision making in a part of the brain in which we have just by definition close off to our conscious, the answer-seeking portion of our minds. Maybe then our consciousness exists only to explain the events occurring within ourselves. Human beings evolved to the point where we are now mostly based on our ability to reason, to link cause and effect. It only makes sense that there should evolve a part of our brain that serves to find reason behind the actions of others, and after time, the actions of ourselves. It serves us well to know why other people do what they do, and as we developed more and more self-awareness, we came to apply those same principles to ourselves. However it wasn't the same as when we applied them to other people. We weren't trying to figure out what their motivations were, we knew our own motivations already. So rather than perceiving our actions as the natural reactions to our motivations, we perceived them as decisions that we made to satisfy our motivations. Our motivations and desires were things that we chose to satiate rather than the drive behind our actions. Think about it for a second, when a dog acts do you think that it has an inner monologue that justifies each action, that believes that it has planned each action out beforehand? We can't know exactly what goes on in the minds of other species, but it seems that they simply act rather than thinking about it beforehand. This doesn't mean that they are unable to plan ahead, just that this planning ahead occurs without the need for an active conscious. In fact, the absence of that internal monologue in animals that are capable of planning ahead may be evidence that it may not be the part of our brains that actually does the planning and decision making.
So which of these do I believe? Well, I just so happen to believe in the last one. Mainly because it's the one that I came up with. It's not that I'm the only one to have come up with it, I'm probably somewhere in the low twenty millions to have thought that since the experiment was done. However it's where I arrived after thinking about it on my own. Now what do I think that this means? Well, when I was younger I happened to think a lot about free will. To me the world seemed able to be broken down to cause and effect in any situation. Leaves moved because wind blew them, people ate because they felt hungry, chemical reactions proceeded because of the immutable laws of thermodynamics. I was certain that everything could be broken down into cause and effect on simple, even microscopic levels. After all, our brains are composed of cells, composed of compounds, composed of atoms that all behave the way they do based on the actions of the other atoms surrounding them. The extrapolation of this was that something as complex as someone deciding to and going for a walk could be explained by the set of atoms that comprised them following the natural cause and effect pathways that were effected on them. It's kind of like if you had a handful of marbles and dropped them, you could, given enough computational power, calculate exactly where each marble would land. I realize the analogy is thin (and I'm not a fan of analogies to begin with), but I hope it helps clarify my point. However, when you get down to subatomic levels, things stop becoming that simple. I've already rambled on quite a bit, so I won't get into quantum mechanics. One, because it's a subject that I know embarrassingly little about, and two, because it's incredibly complex and confusing, and there are few people that know the subject well enough to talk about it without being embarrassed at how little they understand it. Still, when you get to a quantum level, nothing exists in a set state. The quantum world is a world of possibilities. When you measure the path an electron takes between two points, you find that it doesn't actually chose a path UNTIL you try and measure it. Before that it exists as any possibility. (This is very cartoony, but explains pretty simply what I'm talking about: http://youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc) To me, this is where free-will lies. We have the ability to chose, to shape our own realities. In summation, just what the hell is it that I'm talking about?
Well, I do think that our consciousnesses evolved to make sense of the actions of other monkeys. And I do think that our sense of self, and our sense of active decision making came about as a result of our consciousnesses trying to make sense of the interplay of our own actions and motivations and becoming intensely confused. I believe that confusion manifests as our sense of self. But as I said, I do think that free will does exist. Our actions may not always be decided by our conscious selves, but our actions are guided by who we are. And who we are is a creation of our consciousness.
The interesting thing about this is: What I believe may be true for me, but it may also be true only for me. If our consciousness serves the purpose of making sense the events that precede it and compose it, then it makes sense that each person has the ability to construct their own reality, and that each persons reality is just as valid as the next. Of course, I don't believe that for a second. I'd love to hear what people think about this, and feel free to tell me that I'm full of shit. I quite expect that I am.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
WWIII part II - Turkish incursions
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003958267_turkey18.html - The vote from a few days ago allowing Turkey to pursue Kurdish rebels into Iraq
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21399932/ - And things instantly get even worse
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=politics&id=5701106 - And also, this is happening.
Ok, so Turkey has been a pretty important US ally in recent history. Their support was pretty huge in the first Gulf War, and they were initially very supportive of what used to be called "Operation Iraqi Freedom". Or maybe it was "Operation Enduring Freedom". I don't remember what they called it then, I don't know what they call it now, but it doesn't make a difference. The point is Turkish support is a huge lynch pin to our strategic capabilities in the middle east. As such we have always rewarded the Turkish government generously, to the tune of several billion dollars.
The Iraq war changed everything though. The war brought our interests into conflict with Turkish interests regarding the ethnic minority in the north of Iraq, the Kurds. Kurdistan, the semi-independent in the north of Iraq, has been the most peaceful area of Iraq throughout the US occupation. The Kurds have worked with the US to fight insurgents and Al Qaeda, and Kurdistan is a pretty well functioning "country" of it's own. The only problem is that they fucking hate the Turkish. The Kurds aren't contained only to the north of Iraq, they are also a minority in parts of Turkey. The conflict between the Kurds and Turkey has been going on for a long, long time, and has a Northern Ireland feel to it, to put it in a context of something you're probably more familiar with. The largest group working against the Turkish government, the PKK, is worth reading up on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PKK
We've put ourselves into a situation where we are beholden to both sides of a conflict that predates our interests in the area, and which until recently had nothing to do with us. Man, that's a familiar feeling isn't it? And of course, rather than handle the situation delicately our congress is working on a resolution which would condemn the treatment of Armenians in Turkey during the first world war as genocide. Here's two obvious points: Yes, it was genocide. Secondly, how is this relevant enough to merit doing this now?
To sum up, we're in a position now where two important allies are basically in a war which has done nothing but escalate recently. Our efforts to soothe the conflict have so far been in vain, but how much diplomatic success can you really expect from this administration? If we lose Turkey, we lose a powerful ally in the middle east whose help could be invaluable if a larger conflict does break out. If we lose the Kurds, we lose our most successful area of Iraq, leading to a further destabilization that is probably beyond any hope. Of course, you could argue that it's already at that point, but I digress. I wish I could say that if we pulled out of Iraq we would be enough removed from this conflict that we wouldn't have to worry about it. In truth, the best we can do is pull out and hope that we can resolve the situation diplomatically. This specific conflict isn't something that is going to be affected much by our actions, but the results of how we handle this still has wide-ranging implications on the stability of the middle east, and the safety of our armed forces stationed there.
Ok, this post was late, but hopefully tomorrow will see part III, which will deal with deteriorating US relations with Russia, and what it means for our presence in the middle east. As always, stay informed!
EDIT - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21417605/ - thank God, it seems that for now, this might be avoided. I sincerely hope so.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21399932/ - And things instantly get even worse
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=politics&id=5701106 - And also, this is happening.
Ok, so Turkey has been a pretty important US ally in recent history. Their support was pretty huge in the first Gulf War, and they were initially very supportive of what used to be called "Operation Iraqi Freedom". Or maybe it was "Operation Enduring Freedom". I don't remember what they called it then, I don't know what they call it now, but it doesn't make a difference. The point is Turkish support is a huge lynch pin to our strategic capabilities in the middle east. As such we have always rewarded the Turkish government generously, to the tune of several billion dollars.
The Iraq war changed everything though. The war brought our interests into conflict with Turkish interests regarding the ethnic minority in the north of Iraq, the Kurds. Kurdistan, the semi-independent in the north of Iraq, has been the most peaceful area of Iraq throughout the US occupation. The Kurds have worked with the US to fight insurgents and Al Qaeda, and Kurdistan is a pretty well functioning "country" of it's own. The only problem is that they fucking hate the Turkish. The Kurds aren't contained only to the north of Iraq, they are also a minority in parts of Turkey. The conflict between the Kurds and Turkey has been going on for a long, long time, and has a Northern Ireland feel to it, to put it in a context of something you're probably more familiar with. The largest group working against the Turkish government, the PKK, is worth reading up on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PKK
We've put ourselves into a situation where we are beholden to both sides of a conflict that predates our interests in the area, and which until recently had nothing to do with us. Man, that's a familiar feeling isn't it? And of course, rather than handle the situation delicately our congress is working on a resolution which would condemn the treatment of Armenians in Turkey during the first world war as genocide. Here's two obvious points: Yes, it was genocide. Secondly, how is this relevant enough to merit doing this now?
To sum up, we're in a position now where two important allies are basically in a war which has done nothing but escalate recently. Our efforts to soothe the conflict have so far been in vain, but how much diplomatic success can you really expect from this administration? If we lose Turkey, we lose a powerful ally in the middle east whose help could be invaluable if a larger conflict does break out. If we lose the Kurds, we lose our most successful area of Iraq, leading to a further destabilization that is probably beyond any hope. Of course, you could argue that it's already at that point, but I digress. I wish I could say that if we pulled out of Iraq we would be enough removed from this conflict that we wouldn't have to worry about it. In truth, the best we can do is pull out and hope that we can resolve the situation diplomatically. This specific conflict isn't something that is going to be affected much by our actions, but the results of how we handle this still has wide-ranging implications on the stability of the middle east, and the safety of our armed forces stationed there.
Ok, this post was late, but hopefully tomorrow will see part III, which will deal with deteriorating US relations with Russia, and what it means for our presence in the middle east. As always, stay informed!
EDIT - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21417605/ - thank God, it seems that for now, this might be avoided. I sincerely hope so.
Friday, October 19, 2007
How to avoid world war III
"But this — we got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel. So I’ve told people that if you’re interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon…" - G.W.Bush - 10/17/07
“I think the rapid growth in Russian military spending definitely bears watching,” Rice said. “And frankly, some of the efforts - for instance, Bear flights in areas that we haven’t seen for a while - are really not helpful to security.” - Condolezza Rice - 10/16/07
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/18/europe/18turkey.php - Turkish parliament approves incursion into Iraq to deal with attacks from the PKK
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=464921&in_page_id=1811
- Russia lays claim to vast oil fields in the arctic near the north pole.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=154905 - Putin visits Iran
OK, so there are several threats here that need to be evaluated, and I'm gonna break them down into three separate conflicts: U.S. vs. Iran, U.S. vs. Russia, and U.S. vs. Turkey. Then we'll be able to see what is the central issue joining each conflict. (hint: it's oil!)
U.S. vs Iran
If you're not aware of the push to war with Iran from the Bush administration, then you've been living under a rock for at least a year. Do yourself a favor and watch the news tonight, I guarantee there will be a story on it. In short, Iran claims it wants to develop nuclear energy, but the U.S. asserts it is trying to develop nuclear weapons. The U.S. claims Iran is directly funding terrorist attacks on our soldiers in Iraq, and while Iran doesn't directly deny this, the truth is more money comes into Iraq to support Sunni terrorists from Saudi Arabia, a staunch "ally" of the U.S, than comes into Iraq from Iran to support the Shiites. Iran was involved in the detainment of British sailors, while the U.S. has on several occasions rounded up Iranian "diplomats" in Iraq. Both sides of course are wrong, neither side is being at all honest or forthcoming, both sides are doing things that are both illegal and immoral, but that's just international relations for you. The danger with Iran though is that things will escalate further for a JUSTIFIED REASON. The fact is, the longer we are in Iraq, the more likely it is that eventually something drastic will happen between the two countries. Two nations can only push each other for so long before one crosses the line and provokes a full out war. It could be the U.S. deciding to strategically bomb Iran's "nuclear sites", it could be as simple as Iranian border guards with itchy trigger fingers killing U.S. troops. The danger with the U.S. being in such a tense situation with Iran while in Iraq is that a situation may arise where we SHOULD go to war with Iran. At least that is how it will be presented to us when American soldiers end up dead by Iranian hands. I don't know if I'll be able to disagree with them. And it will be a damned shame too, because the populous of Iran is surprisingly pro-American. Most young Iranians crave better relations with the west, and don't like the old, islamist leaders of their nation who keep their country from advancing economically and technologically through their constant saber rattling. Of course, the quickest way we could possibly galvanize support for the failing leadership in Iran would be to go to war with them.
Ok, break for today, tomorrow I'll post U.S. vs Turkey, then on sunday U.S. vs Russia, and finally on Monday the conclusion.
“I think the rapid growth in Russian military spending definitely bears watching,” Rice said. “And frankly, some of the efforts - for instance, Bear flights in areas that we haven’t seen for a while - are really not helpful to security.” - Condolezza Rice - 10/16/07
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/18/europe/18turkey.php - Turkish parliament approves incursion into Iraq to deal with attacks from the PKK
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=464921&in_page_id=1811
- Russia lays claim to vast oil fields in the arctic near the north pole.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=154905 - Putin visits Iran
OK, so there are several threats here that need to be evaluated, and I'm gonna break them down into three separate conflicts: U.S. vs. Iran, U.S. vs. Russia, and U.S. vs. Turkey. Then we'll be able to see what is the central issue joining each conflict. (hint: it's oil!)
U.S. vs Iran
If you're not aware of the push to war with Iran from the Bush administration, then you've been living under a rock for at least a year. Do yourself a favor and watch the news tonight, I guarantee there will be a story on it. In short, Iran claims it wants to develop nuclear energy, but the U.S. asserts it is trying to develop nuclear weapons. The U.S. claims Iran is directly funding terrorist attacks on our soldiers in Iraq, and while Iran doesn't directly deny this, the truth is more money comes into Iraq to support Sunni terrorists from Saudi Arabia, a staunch "ally" of the U.S, than comes into Iraq from Iran to support the Shiites. Iran was involved in the detainment of British sailors, while the U.S. has on several occasions rounded up Iranian "diplomats" in Iraq. Both sides of course are wrong, neither side is being at all honest or forthcoming, both sides are doing things that are both illegal and immoral, but that's just international relations for you. The danger with Iran though is that things will escalate further for a JUSTIFIED REASON. The fact is, the longer we are in Iraq, the more likely it is that eventually something drastic will happen between the two countries. Two nations can only push each other for so long before one crosses the line and provokes a full out war. It could be the U.S. deciding to strategically bomb Iran's "nuclear sites", it could be as simple as Iranian border guards with itchy trigger fingers killing U.S. troops. The danger with the U.S. being in such a tense situation with Iran while in Iraq is that a situation may arise where we SHOULD go to war with Iran. At least that is how it will be presented to us when American soldiers end up dead by Iranian hands. I don't know if I'll be able to disagree with them. And it will be a damned shame too, because the populous of Iran is surprisingly pro-American. Most young Iranians crave better relations with the west, and don't like the old, islamist leaders of their nation who keep their country from advancing economically and technologically through their constant saber rattling. Of course, the quickest way we could possibly galvanize support for the failing leadership in Iran would be to go to war with them.
Ok, break for today, tomorrow I'll post U.S. vs Turkey, then on sunday U.S. vs Russia, and finally on Monday the conclusion.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Just wait...
Man, do I have a post for tomorrow. I'll lay out the most important reasons that the US should leave Iraq, and let you know who the candidates are who might actually understand that. Fun stuff!
For now, an update on my own life:
I've been working for DiningIn.com since Monday now, and while it's helping me pay the bills, the main benefit of the job is that it's motivated me quite a lot to take a big step in my life. Right now that's looking like vet school, but a career with a zoo is also on the table. I've been kind of shying away from jobs that would require a long-term commitment, and talked about possibly going back to graduate school, but working this dog-shit job has helped me focus on what I really want. I want to get back to working with animals, and I want a career I can be proud of. If you can't get up in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror and be proud of who you see, then something needs to change. All these revelations after just 3 and a half days! I should have done this years ago. Check back next week when I'll probably have changed my mind yet again :)
For now, an update on my own life:
I've been working for DiningIn.com since Monday now, and while it's helping me pay the bills, the main benefit of the job is that it's motivated me quite a lot to take a big step in my life. Right now that's looking like vet school, but a career with a zoo is also on the table. I've been kind of shying away from jobs that would require a long-term commitment, and talked about possibly going back to graduate school, but working this dog-shit job has helped me focus on what I really want. I want to get back to working with animals, and I want a career I can be proud of. If you can't get up in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror and be proud of who you see, then something needs to change. All these revelations after just 3 and a half days! I should have done this years ago. Check back next week when I'll probably have changed my mind yet again :)
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Bland and tasteless
How to blog, lesson #1: First, recall a personal anecdote of little to no actual importance, and then extrapolate on it to make a sweeping and simplistic generalization about the state of society.
So I had it in my head that I would go and buy Trivial Pursuit recently. I had just found out that all four of my roommates had been in quiz bowl together in high school, and there was a gauntlet that definitely needed to be thrown down. Plus I was sick of losing to Bill at chess, so any new board game would be a welcome relief. Now there's not a whole lot of places in this area I could think to go to for that kinda thing, but I figured Target was a decent starting place. Of course the problem with Target is that since they carry EVERYTHING, they don't carry a very wide selection of any particular item category. Apparently "Totally 80's!" trivial pursuit is the only one that sells well anymore because it was the only one they stocked. No worries, I figured, I'll just head to my back-up, Wal-Mart. Normally I wouldn't touch a Wal-Mart with a 10 foot fucking pole, but I really wanted that game and I've never been a man to stand too strongly on principle. Problem was, Wal-Mart had the EXACT same game selection as Target. I know this probably doesn't surprise many people, but I try to avoid big box stores whenever possible so it wasn't something I was prepared for. I decided it was time for my ace-in-the-hole, I would go to Toys-R-Us.(I wish I knew how to make the "R" backwards, it doesn't look right without it.) Of course I didn't go straight there. As I was driving there I saw a K-Mart and figured it was worth a shot. Man, I haven't been in one of those in years, and it'll be years before I make that mistake again. It was like visiting a sickly old man on his death bed. Sure you feel bad for him, but at the same time you're not about to touch him. I'm pretty sure even if they had the game I wouldn't have wanted to buy it, but as they had astoundingly less of a selection than the other stores I wasn't forced to make that choice. So on to Toys-R-Us (seriously, that just doesn't look right) and, I was sure, to a decent trivial pursuit game. It seems though that it just wasn't meant to be. Sure they had the trivial pursuit "Totally 80's!" edition, they even had the kid's version and something called the booklovers edition (which was full of the most obscure literature questions i've ever seen, seriously i couldn't come close to answering a single question), but they didn't have the normal fucking version. It seems if you want to play trivial pursuit you now have to choose between a version a five-year old can play, a version that no one could possibly play without a PhD in modern American literature, or a version that NO ONE FUCKING CARES ABOUT. Of course I must be wrong about that last bit, otherwise why would every damn store have stocked "Totally 80'!" trivial pursuit? Seriously, if you own "Totally 80's!" trivial pursuit, I hate you. One last bit before I finally get to the point. The other stores had also stocked this jeopardy game I looked at a bit. It seemed like a reasonable replacement, it even had electronic buzzers you could use and it plugged into the tv to read you the questions. Only thing was it was a bit pricey. At that point though I was frustrated enough to front the extra money for electronic jeopardy. The problem was when I looked at it again, the game was multiple choice. What the fuck is the point of multiple choice jeopardy? It might be a stupider fucking idea than "Totally 80's!" trivial pursuit. If real jeopardy was like that it would be...well I guess it would be Who Wants to be a Millionaire, but cheaper. Hell maybe it would work.
Ok, so that story went on a bit longer than I figured it would, but it brings me to my point. Big box stores suck. Specifically they operate under economic conditions that make it profitable only to stock the most highly purchased items in any one category so that they'll have room to stuff everything you could conceivably need to buy into one store. In the end you're often left with little to no choice when it comes to buying something. I guarantee that there are still some toy stores out there that I could have gone to, but thanks to having to compete with the larger stores, there are so many less than there were even fifteen years ago when I was a kid. It's the same for other goods too, when a national chain replaces all the smaller specialized stores, you're left with only what that chain chooses to provide. Putting aside a rant on how that leaves these stores with unfair amounts of power over manufacturers, you're still left with the fact that the selection just plain sucks.
Ok, maybe that's not a very original point, but I've got another unoriginal one, so bear with me. While desperately searching for a normal trivial pursuit game, I was struck too by the fact that there were no suitable replacements available to buy either. The trivia games were all simplistic and easy or about disney or pop culture. The "brain games" all involved making clay sculptures and singing. Other than the obligatory chess board, there were no games that weren't, for lack of a better word, dumb. And these games aren't here by chance, they're the games that sell the best. People love the dumb games, and anything intellectually challenging just can't compete with "Totally 80's!" trivial pursuit for shelf space. Now look at me, snobbish and superior because I want to play trivial pursuit, truly the past time of great minds. Still that's partly the point, 9 times out of 10 I prefer the dumb games too. I'm not trying to say it's a sign of the times, but I am saying that people in our country are pretty fucking dumb. We do much prefer Who Wants to be a Millionaire to Jeopardy. I'm not going for a Mike Wallace moment here, I don't think it's a condemnation of modern society that more people don't want to play more trivial pursuit, but at the same time it's a bit disappointing, and a bit depressing.
Anyways, to wrap the story up, I was able to find a new version of trivial pursuit online, and despite the steep price tag (70$ for a board game?!) I ordered it and once Vijay hits the rare lull between cramming for med school exams, the gauntlet can be properly thrown. Of course that didn't stop Bill from finding an older copy of trivial pursuit in his room and promptly beating me and robbie at it. I fucking hate that guy.
So I had it in my head that I would go and buy Trivial Pursuit recently. I had just found out that all four of my roommates had been in quiz bowl together in high school, and there was a gauntlet that definitely needed to be thrown down. Plus I was sick of losing to Bill at chess, so any new board game would be a welcome relief. Now there's not a whole lot of places in this area I could think to go to for that kinda thing, but I figured Target was a decent starting place. Of course the problem with Target is that since they carry EVERYTHING, they don't carry a very wide selection of any particular item category. Apparently "Totally 80's!" trivial pursuit is the only one that sells well anymore because it was the only one they stocked. No worries, I figured, I'll just head to my back-up, Wal-Mart. Normally I wouldn't touch a Wal-Mart with a 10 foot fucking pole, but I really wanted that game and I've never been a man to stand too strongly on principle. Problem was, Wal-Mart had the EXACT same game selection as Target. I know this probably doesn't surprise many people, but I try to avoid big box stores whenever possible so it wasn't something I was prepared for. I decided it was time for my ace-in-the-hole, I would go to Toys-R-Us.(I wish I knew how to make the "R" backwards, it doesn't look right without it.) Of course I didn't go straight there. As I was driving there I saw a K-Mart and figured it was worth a shot. Man, I haven't been in one of those in years, and it'll be years before I make that mistake again. It was like visiting a sickly old man on his death bed. Sure you feel bad for him, but at the same time you're not about to touch him. I'm pretty sure even if they had the game I wouldn't have wanted to buy it, but as they had astoundingly less of a selection than the other stores I wasn't forced to make that choice. So on to Toys-R-Us (seriously, that just doesn't look right) and, I was sure, to a decent trivial pursuit game. It seems though that it just wasn't meant to be. Sure they had the trivial pursuit "Totally 80's!" edition, they even had the kid's version and something called the booklovers edition (which was full of the most obscure literature questions i've ever seen, seriously i couldn't come close to answering a single question), but they didn't have the normal fucking version. It seems if you want to play trivial pursuit you now have to choose between a version a five-year old can play, a version that no one could possibly play without a PhD in modern American literature, or a version that NO ONE FUCKING CARES ABOUT. Of course I must be wrong about that last bit, otherwise why would every damn store have stocked "Totally 80'!" trivial pursuit? Seriously, if you own "Totally 80's!" trivial pursuit, I hate you. One last bit before I finally get to the point. The other stores had also stocked this jeopardy game I looked at a bit. It seemed like a reasonable replacement, it even had electronic buzzers you could use and it plugged into the tv to read you the questions. Only thing was it was a bit pricey. At that point though I was frustrated enough to front the extra money for electronic jeopardy. The problem was when I looked at it again, the game was multiple choice. What the fuck is the point of multiple choice jeopardy? It might be a stupider fucking idea than "Totally 80's!" trivial pursuit. If real jeopardy was like that it would be...well I guess it would be Who Wants to be a Millionaire, but cheaper. Hell maybe it would work.
Ok, so that story went on a bit longer than I figured it would, but it brings me to my point. Big box stores suck. Specifically they operate under economic conditions that make it profitable only to stock the most highly purchased items in any one category so that they'll have room to stuff everything you could conceivably need to buy into one store. In the end you're often left with little to no choice when it comes to buying something. I guarantee that there are still some toy stores out there that I could have gone to, but thanks to having to compete with the larger stores, there are so many less than there were even fifteen years ago when I was a kid. It's the same for other goods too, when a national chain replaces all the smaller specialized stores, you're left with only what that chain chooses to provide. Putting aside a rant on how that leaves these stores with unfair amounts of power over manufacturers, you're still left with the fact that the selection just plain sucks.
Ok, maybe that's not a very original point, but I've got another unoriginal one, so bear with me. While desperately searching for a normal trivial pursuit game, I was struck too by the fact that there were no suitable replacements available to buy either. The trivia games were all simplistic and easy or about disney or pop culture. The "brain games" all involved making clay sculptures and singing. Other than the obligatory chess board, there were no games that weren't, for lack of a better word, dumb. And these games aren't here by chance, they're the games that sell the best. People love the dumb games, and anything intellectually challenging just can't compete with "Totally 80's!" trivial pursuit for shelf space. Now look at me, snobbish and superior because I want to play trivial pursuit, truly the past time of great minds. Still that's partly the point, 9 times out of 10 I prefer the dumb games too. I'm not trying to say it's a sign of the times, but I am saying that people in our country are pretty fucking dumb. We do much prefer Who Wants to be a Millionaire to Jeopardy. I'm not going for a Mike Wallace moment here, I don't think it's a condemnation of modern society that more people don't want to play more trivial pursuit, but at the same time it's a bit disappointing, and a bit depressing.
Anyways, to wrap the story up, I was able to find a new version of trivial pursuit online, and despite the steep price tag (70$ for a board game?!) I ordered it and once Vijay hits the rare lull between cramming for med school exams, the gauntlet can be properly thrown. Of course that didn't stop Bill from finding an older copy of trivial pursuit in his room and promptly beating me and robbie at it. I fucking hate that guy.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
A Melodramatic Mea Culpa
First the positive stuff. Overall I enjoyed the season immensely. We really had a great group of guys, and it was a ton of fun playing and hanging out with everybody. A season like this is what makes me want to come back to this sport every year. We had stretches where we played really well too. CHC was about as much as I'll ever ask from a tournament, and even though the results weren't always there I always enjoyed hanging out with the team. It was great working with Tim and Jacob as captains too. They really cared a lot about the team and were willing to do whatever they could to make us better. I wish I had their work ethic. It was very exciting playing with the younger guys too. There were kids on the team that are going to be great ultimate players very soon, and I genuinely hope that we helped make them better this year, I only regret occasions where our goals as a team didn't favor their growth as players. Hopefully they all know how much we value their contributions. And the truth is I value immensely the contribution of everybody who played this season, I hope to see all you guys out next year.
Still the season ends bitterly. For the second time in six years I won't be at regionals, and this marks three years in a row I haven't qualified. I didn't care when I was with HogButcher, but the last two years the guys on our team really deserved to go. If regionals weren't in Tulsa I'm sure we would be there again filling in for whatever team bailed out, but it wouldn't change the fact that we couldn't make it there on our own. The last two years were easier to take not because I wasn't upset about not qualifying, but because there was no special guilt that accompanied it. This year as a captain, I can't help feel like I let the team down. There was too much talent and drive on our team not to have put forth a better showing, and I wish I could have been able to turn that into a better result. Additionally, I never felt like I contributed enough on the field this year. I can't remember a season when I've been less satisfied with my individual contribution to the team. And it's not just because I sat out most of Sunday at regionals with a shoulder injury, or that I almost choked to death during the game-to-to. (That's not a metaphor, I actually collapsed violently choking on a clump of grass during a point, it'll be funny in hindsight I'm sure.) It just wasn't there this year. I could have conditioned more, I could have thrown more, I damn sure could have put more time in as a captain. Still I think the biggest problem was I didn't want it enough. Sounds cliche sure, but when crunch time came I doubted whether the disc belonged in my hands. You can't have those thoughts in your head as a player, and you definitely can't as a leader. Plenty of stuff to think about in the off season I guess. Plenty of time to take a good hard look at why I play this game and what I want to get out of it. Hopefully the guilt I feel about letting my team mates down will get my ass out the door in the winter cold to stay in shape in the off season to better prepare for next year. We shall see.
Still the season ends bitterly. For the second time in six years I won't be at regionals, and this marks three years in a row I haven't qualified. I didn't care when I was with HogButcher, but the last two years the guys on our team really deserved to go. If regionals weren't in Tulsa I'm sure we would be there again filling in for whatever team bailed out, but it wouldn't change the fact that we couldn't make it there on our own. The last two years were easier to take not because I wasn't upset about not qualifying, but because there was no special guilt that accompanied it. This year as a captain, I can't help feel like I let the team down. There was too much talent and drive on our team not to have put forth a better showing, and I wish I could have been able to turn that into a better result. Additionally, I never felt like I contributed enough on the field this year. I can't remember a season when I've been less satisfied with my individual contribution to the team. And it's not just because I sat out most of Sunday at regionals with a shoulder injury, or that I almost choked to death during the game-to-to. (That's not a metaphor, I actually collapsed violently choking on a clump of grass during a point, it'll be funny in hindsight I'm sure.) It just wasn't there this year. I could have conditioned more, I could have thrown more, I damn sure could have put more time in as a captain. Still I think the biggest problem was I didn't want it enough. Sounds cliche sure, but when crunch time came I doubted whether the disc belonged in my hands. You can't have those thoughts in your head as a player, and you definitely can't as a leader. Plenty of stuff to think about in the off season I guess. Plenty of time to take a good hard look at why I play this game and what I want to get out of it. Hopefully the guilt I feel about letting my team mates down will get my ass out the door in the winter cold to stay in shape in the off season to better prepare for next year. We shall see.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
A meat eater's hypocritical defense
Ok, I've finally heard enough about the Vick case to piss me off that I had to comment on it. Not the case specifically, but the issues surrounding dog fighting that it brings up.
The Vick case has been talked about so much that I'm about as sick of it as most people, but I don't think people are thinking about the underlying crime in the right way. A lot of people compare dog fighting to hunting or dog racing or even slaughtering food animals. The proper comparison would be to cock-fighting or ultimate fighting. The purpose of dog fighting is to watch violence, to take enjoyment from the two animals maiming each other. Now food animals are sometimes raised in pretty bad conditions, and I agree that we should always strive to keep animals from suffering unnecessarily, but the purpose of the process is to provide food. Animals shot hunting certainly suffer when they're shot, but no more than an animal killed in the wild by a predator would have, and the hunter (hopefully) enjoys the hunt, and hunts for food rather than for the enjoyment of making an animal suffer. We walk a fine line between what types of violence or depictions of violence are acceptable, and of course hypocrisy abounds. In this case though, I find it hard to take when people compare the savage enjoyment of dog fighting to the meat industry.
The real reason that anti-cruelty legislation needs to be harshly enforced and taken seriously isn't as much to protect the animals as it is to curb violent behavior and sadism. Torturing animals early in life is a big indicator of psychological problems and can predict violent behavior towards people in adulthood. People who engage in these kinds of activities are almost always more prone to commit violent acts towards others, so to permit them legally or socially is irresponsible. Michael Vick may not have done enough to justify the punishment that he deserved, but too many people write dog fighting off as harmless when the issue needs to be taken seriously.
The Vick case has been talked about so much that I'm about as sick of it as most people, but I don't think people are thinking about the underlying crime in the right way. A lot of people compare dog fighting to hunting or dog racing or even slaughtering food animals. The proper comparison would be to cock-fighting or ultimate fighting. The purpose of dog fighting is to watch violence, to take enjoyment from the two animals maiming each other. Now food animals are sometimes raised in pretty bad conditions, and I agree that we should always strive to keep animals from suffering unnecessarily, but the purpose of the process is to provide food. Animals shot hunting certainly suffer when they're shot, but no more than an animal killed in the wild by a predator would have, and the hunter (hopefully) enjoys the hunt, and hunts for food rather than for the enjoyment of making an animal suffer. We walk a fine line between what types of violence or depictions of violence are acceptable, and of course hypocrisy abounds. In this case though, I find it hard to take when people compare the savage enjoyment of dog fighting to the meat industry.
The real reason that anti-cruelty legislation needs to be harshly enforced and taken seriously isn't as much to protect the animals as it is to curb violent behavior and sadism. Torturing animals early in life is a big indicator of psychological problems and can predict violent behavior towards people in adulthood. People who engage in these kinds of activities are almost always more prone to commit violent acts towards others, so to permit them legally or socially is irresponsible. Michael Vick may not have done enough to justify the punishment that he deserved, but too many people write dog fighting off as harmless when the issue needs to be taken seriously.
1.21 jigowatts!
Did you know that the writers of Back to the Future attended a symposium where the speaker constantly mispronounced the word "gigawatt", leading to the pronunciation Chris Lloyd used when he screamed my favorite movie quote ever?* Had they gotten the pronunciation right the line (spelled "jigowatt" in the script) would never have been as good.
You learn weird stuff on the internet.
I'll be in Charleston tonight for my brother's 21st birthday, and tomorrow is the bar crawl. If you're in the city you should definitely come out, it's gonna be a good time.
*http://imdb.com/title/tt0088763/trivia
You learn weird stuff on the internet.
I'll be in Charleston tonight for my brother's 21st birthday, and tomorrow is the bar crawl. If you're in the city you should definitely come out, it's gonna be a good time.
*http://imdb.com/title/tt0088763/trivia
2 years after Katrina
It's been 2 years since Katrina leveled New Orleans, and the devastation still remains. So much of it could have been prevented though, had proper maintenance been done on the levy system designed to protect the city. Government doesn't work unless it is funded well enough and led competently. I'll avoid a big government vs. small government discussion here to bring up one point. It was almost surprising to see how many people were trapped in New Orleans, many on their roofs. Alot of people asked why they hadn't simply evacuated, and suggestions have been made by many that these people were at fault for their own situation. Well, when the government claimed that the levys would hold, how do you expect people to prepare for what happened?
It's almost unbelievable how fast the situation went from a medium (Katrina was Cat 3 when it hit) hurricane to one of the biggest natural disasters ever to hit the US.
It's almost unbelievable how fast the situation went from a medium (Katrina was Cat 3 when it hit) hurricane to one of the biggest natural disasters ever to hit the US.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Fox attacks Iran
This is a short film from Brave New Films and Robert Greenwald that shows just how aggresive Fox News has been in pushing the Iran conflict agenda into the media. We can't afford to be as inattentive as we were as a nation in the lead-up to the war on Iraq.
Cubbies
The cubs are back in first! The last two games have featured amazing late inning rallies to win back to back in San Fransisco, giving cubs sole possesion of first a game ahead of the brewers. This is gonna be a hell of a fun race to watch over the last month of the season, a rare thing for both Cubs fans and Brewers fans.
I've got a few comments about the team currently:
-Soriano could be back as soon as next week, and from the sound of things, Lou plans to put him back lead-off. My man crush on Theriot might could my judgement here, but I think that's a terrible idea. Theriot has been amazing in the lead-off spot, and why would you put that extra pressure right back on Soriano coming back from an injury?
-Damn, did big Z get a fat contract. The thing is, if he had hit the free agent market he could have made even more, so big props to the cubs for FINALLY getting that settled. Does anyone think the contract was a bad idea?
-The Cubs seem finally to have answered all the critics who said they needed to go out and get another bat for the outfield by picking up Craig Monroe from the Tigers, who was a big part of their huge season last year. This year however he's hitting around .225 and was dropped from the Tigers line-up in favor of a rookie call-up. Hopefully he'll show the same improvement Kendall has since coming to the cubs.* I don't think this will end up making alot of difference though.
I've got a few comments about the team currently:
-Soriano could be back as soon as next week, and from the sound of things, Lou plans to put him back lead-off. My man crush on Theriot might could my judgement here, but I think that's a terrible idea. Theriot has been amazing in the lead-off spot, and why would you put that extra pressure right back on Soriano coming back from an injury?
-Damn, did big Z get a fat contract. The thing is, if he had hit the free agent market he could have made even more, so big props to the cubs for FINALLY getting that settled. Does anyone think the contract was a bad idea?
-The Cubs seem finally to have answered all the critics who said they needed to go out and get another bat for the outfield by picking up Craig Monroe from the Tigers, who was a big part of their huge season last year. This year however he's hitting around .225 and was dropped from the Tigers line-up in favor of a rookie call-up. Hopefully he'll show the same improvement Kendall has since coming to the cubs.* I don't think this will end up making alot of difference though.
Cooler recap
First, obligatory recap of cooler classic:
It sucked. The weather sucked, our team sucked, I sucked. Ok, that's a little harsh, but I'm just not in the greatest mood lately and there's so much about the weekend that could have gone better. From about noon on saturday until the weekend was over it rained CONSTANTLY, forcing me, Doug, Keith, and Baker to abandon camping and crash with the rest of the team in the hotel. We threw away the lead in three of our six losses, which is becoming a distressing theme for our team, against teams that we could have beaten. If not for a joke win against a bottom bracket team, and a good showing against the Van Buren Boys, the weekend would have been a total bust. As much as I didn't want to play that game going into it (it wasn't for anything, or two team's opponents had both bailed on our last games), it turned out to be for the best, since our team finally looked like we all hoped it could. There's still plenty of work to be done but it's an encouraging starting point. I just hope I'm capable of doing it. It turns out captaining a team is a difficult thing to do. It's more than just running practice (which Tim and Jacob do more of) and showing up on time (which isn't really my forte), you have to really lead the team. Hopefully we'll figure it all out.
Bright spot from the weekend though, was of course that it was overall alot of fun. That's because the team is full of fun guys who I genuinely like hanging out with. It of course helped that I was riding with Keith, Bake, and Doug, but overall it was a good time with the whole team. (And with some of the Briefcse people we were out with satuday night)
It sucked. The weather sucked, our team sucked, I sucked. Ok, that's a little harsh, but I'm just not in the greatest mood lately and there's so much about the weekend that could have gone better. From about noon on saturday until the weekend was over it rained CONSTANTLY, forcing me, Doug, Keith, and Baker to abandon camping and crash with the rest of the team in the hotel. We threw away the lead in three of our six losses, which is becoming a distressing theme for our team, against teams that we could have beaten. If not for a joke win against a bottom bracket team, and a good showing against the Van Buren Boys, the weekend would have been a total bust. As much as I didn't want to play that game going into it (it wasn't for anything, or two team's opponents had both bailed on our last games), it turned out to be for the best, since our team finally looked like we all hoped it could. There's still plenty of work to be done but it's an encouraging starting point. I just hope I'm capable of doing it. It turns out captaining a team is a difficult thing to do. It's more than just running practice (which Tim and Jacob do more of) and showing up on time (which isn't really my forte), you have to really lead the team. Hopefully we'll figure it all out.
Bright spot from the weekend though, was of course that it was overall alot of fun. That's because the team is full of fun guys who I genuinely like hanging out with. It of course helped that I was riding with Keith, Bake, and Doug, but overall it was a good time with the whole team. (And with some of the Briefcse people we were out with satuday night)
Friday, August 17, 2007
A Draft
There has been some increased talk lately about a possible draft in the news and the "blog-o-sphere". The reason is the administration (Cheney) has been ramping up the rhetoric against Iran, and it's getting to the point where it's down right frightening.
So, first point. WAKE THE FUCK UP! If you don't know why I'm worried, you're not paying attention. I'm not gonna save you the trouble of finding the information yourselves, I don't have the time right now (I'll probably do it in an edit though). We can't handle Iraq as it is, and we're going to invade a country that is about three times as large with about three times the population? The truth is if we do attack Iran, we probably won't actually put boots on the ground, rather we'll just bomb the crap out of stuff we think looks suspicious. Sounds like a good idea, hell it's worked everywhere else we've ever done it right? Seriously though, don't take the threats we're making against Iran lightly. Attacking them would only be about the 3rd craziest thing the administration has ever done.
So to my main point. If we do go to war with Iran, guess what, we're going to need a draft. It will become impossible to sustain a military presence over there without one. Now I personally think that it would be the dumbest thing in the world to get into a war with Iran, but I also think that a war with Iran could have terrible consequences for the US and it's allies, and that if we do get into that war, we SHOULD have a draft. Hell, part of me thinks we should have a draft now for Iraq, that we should have pissed or got off the fucking pot long ago with this war, instead of limping along half-assed accomplishing nothing while our troops get killed. If there's a cause that is ACTUALLY worth fighting for, then we should put that burden on our entire nation, not just on the poorest among us.(of course, Iraq isn't that cause, and Iran wouldn't be either.)
First, people in this country who think "well I don't see why I should have to go fight if there's a draft, I'll go to Canada!", or "why should I have to go when there are poor people willing to go?". Your missing an important point, without which you can reach those selfish conclusions. As a citizen of this country, you were born into a contract with this nation that they will provide for you all of the things a country provides its citizens with. Protection, education, health care, and most importantly, opportunity. How many people make it big in other countries compared with America? Being an American gives you an instant advantage over 95% of the rest of the world's population, and yet the moment people strike it big they all think that it's because of their inherent gifts, that they earned it all themselves. Your advantage being born in America is that you weren't born anywhere else! Compared to the rest of the world being born in America is like winning the fucking lottery. So when your country asks something of you in return, you better damned well be willing to give it. Think that isn't fair? You didn't choose to be born into a system where you might have to go off to war? Tough. Too damned bad. No one gets to choose how they start in this world, and if you don't feel lucky for where you're at, and are willing to fight to defend other people's opportunity for the same life then you're too spoiled selfish to consider yourself an American.
Ok, I'm gonna calm down a bit because I'm actually not that harsh, I just get worked up. And the truth is, I'm not walking my ass over to a recruitment office any time soon. That's the point though, you don't have to be willing to sacrifice your life for some misguided cause to be a patriot. I sure as shit don't want to go get shot in Iraq, because it would be for nothing. But the way that you avoid having to make that sacrifice is to keep your country from making those mistakes. You may find politics the most boring thing in the world, but it's part of that contract you signed by being born (or by becoming a citizen another way). You're not sitting in a desert in Iraq right now, so the least you could do is stay informed, vote, even donate your time. It's your duty as an American.
EDIT:
Here's links to some scary ass Iran related saber rattling
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1654188,00.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20343131/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19190994/
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293285,00.html
So, first point. WAKE THE FUCK UP! If you don't know why I'm worried, you're not paying attention. I'm not gonna save you the trouble of finding the information yourselves, I don't have the time right now (I'll probably do it in an edit though). We can't handle Iraq as it is, and we're going to invade a country that is about three times as large with about three times the population? The truth is if we do attack Iran, we probably won't actually put boots on the ground, rather we'll just bomb the crap out of stuff we think looks suspicious. Sounds like a good idea, hell it's worked everywhere else we've ever done it right? Seriously though, don't take the threats we're making against Iran lightly. Attacking them would only be about the 3rd craziest thing the administration has ever done.
So to my main point. If we do go to war with Iran, guess what, we're going to need a draft. It will become impossible to sustain a military presence over there without one. Now I personally think that it would be the dumbest thing in the world to get into a war with Iran, but I also think that a war with Iran could have terrible consequences for the US and it's allies, and that if we do get into that war, we SHOULD have a draft. Hell, part of me thinks we should have a draft now for Iraq, that we should have pissed or got off the fucking pot long ago with this war, instead of limping along half-assed accomplishing nothing while our troops get killed. If there's a cause that is ACTUALLY worth fighting for, then we should put that burden on our entire nation, not just on the poorest among us.(of course, Iraq isn't that cause, and Iran wouldn't be either.)
First, people in this country who think "well I don't see why I should have to go fight if there's a draft, I'll go to Canada!", or "why should I have to go when there are poor people willing to go?". Your missing an important point, without which you can reach those selfish conclusions. As a citizen of this country, you were born into a contract with this nation that they will provide for you all of the things a country provides its citizens with. Protection, education, health care, and most importantly, opportunity. How many people make it big in other countries compared with America? Being an American gives you an instant advantage over 95% of the rest of the world's population, and yet the moment people strike it big they all think that it's because of their inherent gifts, that they earned it all themselves. Your advantage being born in America is that you weren't born anywhere else! Compared to the rest of the world being born in America is like winning the fucking lottery. So when your country asks something of you in return, you better damned well be willing to give it. Think that isn't fair? You didn't choose to be born into a system where you might have to go off to war? Tough. Too damned bad. No one gets to choose how they start in this world, and if you don't feel lucky for where you're at, and are willing to fight to defend other people's opportunity for the same life then you're too spoiled selfish to consider yourself an American.
Ok, I'm gonna calm down a bit because I'm actually not that harsh, I just get worked up. And the truth is, I'm not walking my ass over to a recruitment office any time soon. That's the point though, you don't have to be willing to sacrifice your life for some misguided cause to be a patriot. I sure as shit don't want to go get shot in Iraq, because it would be for nothing. But the way that you avoid having to make that sacrifice is to keep your country from making those mistakes. You may find politics the most boring thing in the world, but it's part of that contract you signed by being born (or by becoming a citizen another way). You're not sitting in a desert in Iraq right now, so the least you could do is stay informed, vote, even donate your time. It's your duty as an American.
EDIT:
Here's links to some scary ass Iran related saber rattling
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1654188,00.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20343131/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19190994/
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293285,00.html
Cooler Classic
This weekend is Cooler Classic! If you don't know what it is, where have you been? So I'll be in Milwauke this weekend with Haymaker to take on teams like Machine, Sack Lunch, Madison, the Van Buren Boys, etc. If you don't know what Cooler Classic is, then you don't know who those teams are either, but they're teams I'm excited to play against. My legs feel alot better after having to be carried off the field at the summer league tournament due to cramping, and I can ALMOST make a fist with my right hand again, so I'm excited to get back to playing hard.
Our first game of the weekend is against Machine, a group of douchebags from the greater chicago area who have no respect for the game or for their opponents. Ok, so actually I happen to have friends and roommates on the team, but that doesn't change the fact that tommorow at 9am I want them all dead. Until the game is over, then we'll probably hang out and drink later that night. Regardless, it's our first game of the season against our "older brother" team and win or lose, I want to give them a HELL of a game. Can we beat them? It'll take us putting in everything we got, and probably a little help from lady luck and lady them-fucking-up, but it's gonna damned fun to try.
The rest of the weekend is against teams that we realistically have a chance to be better than come the end of the season (with the possible exception of the VB boys, haven't seen them enough yet). And I'm really excited to see how the team comes together this weekend too. Motown was dissapointing in the results, but the potential was THERE. The next step will come, hopefully soon, and the results will show themselves when we do. I love the progress the young guys have made, and it's fun to see how much better than me some of these kids are gonna be when they're my age. (I know, I'm not old, but it was a birthday today, and I feel old.)* Above all we seem to have a good group of guys, and I love hanging out with all of them. In my mind that's huge, it's gonna make people play together better, and want to go out and work at practice and outside of practice more.
Recap to come on monday, have a great weekend everybody!
Rich
Our first game of the weekend is against Machine, a group of douchebags from the greater chicago area who have no respect for the game or for their opponents. Ok, so actually I happen to have friends and roommates on the team, but that doesn't change the fact that tommorow at 9am I want them all dead. Until the game is over, then we'll probably hang out and drink later that night. Regardless, it's our first game of the season against our "older brother" team and win or lose, I want to give them a HELL of a game. Can we beat them? It'll take us putting in everything we got, and probably a little help from lady luck and lady them-fucking-up, but it's gonna damned fun to try.
The rest of the weekend is against teams that we realistically have a chance to be better than come the end of the season (with the possible exception of the VB boys, haven't seen them enough yet). And I'm really excited to see how the team comes together this weekend too. Motown was dissapointing in the results, but the potential was THERE. The next step will come, hopefully soon, and the results will show themselves when we do. I love the progress the young guys have made, and it's fun to see how much better than me some of these kids are gonna be when they're my age. (I know, I'm not old, but it was a birthday today, and I feel old.)* Above all we seem to have a good group of guys, and I love hanging out with all of them. In my mind that's huge, it's gonna make people play together better, and want to go out and work at practice and outside of practice more.
Recap to come on monday, have a great weekend everybody!
Rich
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Comments
By request I've made it so that you don't need to sign up for anything and can comment anonomously. I of course do whatever my fans want. Both of them.
Looks like I'm not the only one leaving on the 31st!
Yesterday giant douche Karl Rove announced that he would be leaving he white house on the 31st of August. The reason given was to spend more time with his family, which ALWAYS means there is something else going on. So what is the reason for him leaving? Possibly he's leaving a sinking ship, or he's leaving to help another republican campaign, or maybe his departure is a effort to keep him clear of the gonzales-related investigations. Time will hopefully tell why he chose this moment to resign, or if someone else chose this moment for him.
As happy as I would like to be about the news, is this really going to change anything? It's possible that this move is a reflection of increased pressure by democrats on the white house, but it certainly doesn't change Karl Rove's abilitly to advise the president. He was a political advisor to begin with, and didn't need to be in the white house to help Bush, he just needed a phone. Of course, this rights the obvious wrong of a solely political advisor being paid by taxpayers, but he isn't the first one to have been, nor will he be the last.
In the end, Karl Rove wasn't the guy who invaded Iraq, he wasn't the guy who ignored Katrina, he wasn't the guy who used 9/11 to erode our civil liberties, he wasn't the guy who threw people in Guantanamo and said "fuck you habeas corups". He was just the guy who enabled Bush and Cheney to do all of those things by convincing americans that gays getting married was what they should really be worrying about. There's no question that he is a contemptable human being, and that he's done this country about as much harm as any of the rest of the administration through his actions. But Bush doesn't need to be elected again, he's already got the idiot king. So this is incredibly unlikely to change one iota of the rest of the Bush presidency. It won't bring the troops home, it won't dissuade them from attacking Iran, and it won't convince the supreme court to allow "Bong hits for Jesus" banners. And it certainly won't help the economy or common sense, since Bush is once again pushing tax cuts for the rich. (Maybe that wasn't Karl Rove's idea after all?)
The one hope for this situation is that this is a reaction to threats of subpoena from democratic senate investigators. If the white house is scared, maybe the democrats really do have a chance of getting to the bottom of some of the bullshit these people have pulled and holding them acountable. Probably that's just hopeful dreaming. And there's always hope that this will end up being a sex scandal :)
So what do people think? Why is he leaving? More importantly does this even matter?
As happy as I would like to be about the news, is this really going to change anything? It's possible that this move is a reflection of increased pressure by democrats on the white house, but it certainly doesn't change Karl Rove's abilitly to advise the president. He was a political advisor to begin with, and didn't need to be in the white house to help Bush, he just needed a phone. Of course, this rights the obvious wrong of a solely political advisor being paid by taxpayers, but he isn't the first one to have been, nor will he be the last.
In the end, Karl Rove wasn't the guy who invaded Iraq, he wasn't the guy who ignored Katrina, he wasn't the guy who used 9/11 to erode our civil liberties, he wasn't the guy who threw people in Guantanamo and said "fuck you habeas corups". He was just the guy who enabled Bush and Cheney to do all of those things by convincing americans that gays getting married was what they should really be worrying about. There's no question that he is a contemptable human being, and that he's done this country about as much harm as any of the rest of the administration through his actions. But Bush doesn't need to be elected again, he's already got the idiot king. So this is incredibly unlikely to change one iota of the rest of the Bush presidency. It won't bring the troops home, it won't dissuade them from attacking Iran, and it won't convince the supreme court to allow "Bong hits for Jesus" banners. And it certainly won't help the economy or common sense, since Bush is once again pushing tax cuts for the rich. (Maybe that wasn't Karl Rove's idea after all?)
The one hope for this situation is that this is a reaction to threats of subpoena from democratic senate investigators. If the white house is scared, maybe the democrats really do have a chance of getting to the bottom of some of the bullshit these people have pulled and holding them acountable. Probably that's just hopeful dreaming. And there's always hope that this will end up being a sex scandal :)
So what do people think? Why is he leaving? More importantly does this even matter?
Friday, August 10, 2007
I can't say I've ever been quite THIS frightened
Before I leave work for the weekend and go without intranet for a while, I just wanted to share this story with anyone who hasn't heard it yet:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/08/09/jon-stewart-slams-mccains-racist-hypocritical-disgraceful-fl-campaign-chair/
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2007/08/homosexual-pani.html
The stuff in the second article about "homosexual panic" is just hilarious.
For the record, this guy very recently pushed forward legislation against sex in public places. It was of course already illegal, presumably he wanted to make it MORE illegal. From Bob Allen to Newt Gingrich* to Mark Foley*, it seems every time someone makes a big stink about something of a "sexually deviant" nature, they're guilty of it themselves. I'm not a psychologist, so I can't explain exactly what it is that makes people do this, but it's usually the person screaming the loudest against something that is the biggest deviant of the bunch.
*Mark Foley - I'm sure everyone remembers his scandal where he sexually harassed young male pages, mostly over AIM. What many people didn't know is that he had previously drafted legislation to protect children from online predators.
*Newt Gingrich - During the Clinton impeachment trial, where Newt was one of the loudest voices for impeaching Clinton for getting a hummer in the oval office and putting a cigar where it probably didn't belong, Mr. Gingrich was, of course, having an affair himself.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/08/09/jon-stewart-slams-mccains-racist-hypocritical-disgraceful-fl-campaign-chair/
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2007/08/homosexual-pani.html
The stuff in the second article about "homosexual panic" is just hilarious.
For the record, this guy very recently pushed forward legislation against sex in public places. It was of course already illegal, presumably he wanted to make it MORE illegal. From Bob Allen to Newt Gingrich* to Mark Foley*, it seems every time someone makes a big stink about something of a "sexually deviant" nature, they're guilty of it themselves. I'm not a psychologist, so I can't explain exactly what it is that makes people do this, but it's usually the person screaming the loudest against something that is the biggest deviant of the bunch.
*Mark Foley - I'm sure everyone remembers his scandal where he sexually harassed young male pages, mostly over AIM. What many people didn't know is that he had previously drafted legislation to protect children from online predators.
*Newt Gingrich - During the Clinton impeachment trial, where Newt was one of the loudest voices for impeaching Clinton for getting a hummer in the oval office and putting a cigar where it probably didn't belong, Mr. Gingrich was, of course, having an affair himself.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Seriously, check out theyoungturks.com
This is a picture from last thursday night at the Hyatt near McCormick Place during the YearlyKos Convention (dailykos.com). While I wasn't able to go to the convention - I don't have 500$ to spend even if most of the democratic cantidates were there speaking - I went with Lu and her boyfriend Jordan to meet up with Cenk Uygur from the young turks, who was meeting listners for drinks. If you've never heard of the show, you aren't alone, it's not on the radio here in Chicago, but it's on Air America which I've subscribed to ever since Al Franken used to do his radio show.* I would definitely reccomend checking out the show onlne. You can listen to the show streaming at theyoungturks.com, or podcast the first hour of the show for free. I listen to the whole show every day for a few reasons: I'm usually bored at work, it's a liberal political show, they talk about alot of stuff other than politics, and make it funny and fun to listen to.Now I haven't met many celebrities before, only Scottie Pippen, Freddy Adu, and Colin Quinn (I think, I don't remember if I've met anyone else). But it wasn't a big deal for me. I'm not trying to say that to be cool or anything, it just wasn't. (And I'm definitely not trying to be cool, because I'm telling you the next part) When I met this guy though, and actually got to talk with him for a bit, it was too awesome for words. I'm sure Lu and Jordan would tell you that I had a goofy-ass smile on my face the entire time, and I was definitely making some lame-ass jokes that I would be embarassed to be reminded of. The fact that I had been drinking a bit probably contributed to that as much as being star-struck did. It was so much different meeting him because he's someone that I don't just respect, but kinda idolize. How great a job is it to tell people what you think about politics and current events all day long? Still, I feel incredibly goofy that I was so excited to meet somebody that NO ONE else I know has ever heard of. Not goofy enough to not put this photo of me with him as my facebook profile picture though :)
Notes:
-Still no cable/internet at the apartment. Comcast sent someone out to uninstall cable from a house that had no cable to begin with, so now it looks like we have to wait until next monday. I would berate comcast more, but there's an equal chance the mix-up was my fault. I don't actually think it was, but with my track record of screwing things up....well, one shouldn't be too hypocritical.
-Soriano is hurt, Kerry Wood seems to have brough bad ju-ju back with him, the cubs are 0-19 with RISP in their last two games, and they have lost 4 of their last 5. If they lose tonight, assume it's not safe to talk to me about the cubs for the duration of the weekend. For now, go get 'em Z!
*I seriously miss Al Franken's radio show. It will be so much sweeter though if he can unseat Norm Coleman for a senate seat from Minnesota. You can check up on his campaign at AlFranken.com
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Incommunicado
There are apparantly still houses in this city that have never been wired for cable, and we've ended up in one. Don't get me wrong, I love the new place, but it'll be a little while until we get cable and internet installed, so I won't be updating much until then. As much as I want to do a tournament recap, rave about the cubs, and bitch about politics, it'll all have to wait.
note - I'll be going to a bar thursday night to meet The Young Turk's Cenk Uygur, who's radio show I listen to all the time. He's in town for the Daily Kos convention at McCormik place. If any body is interested in coming with lemme know.
note - I'll be going to a bar thursday night to meet The Young Turk's Cenk Uygur, who's radio show I listen to all the time. He's in town for the Daily Kos convention at McCormik place. If any body is interested in coming with lemme know.
Friday, July 27, 2007
30 Rock
A quick note about the blog title change. I've kinda fallen for the show 30 rock lately, and this is one of my favorite scenes from it:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NzCQQo1jbXo
It's possible it's only funny if you're into the show. It's also possible that it's just not that funny. Still, you should definitely give the show a chance. You can probably watch old episodes free at nbc.com
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NzCQQo1jbXo
It's possible it's only funny if you're into the show. It's also possible that it's just not that funny. Still, you should definitely give the show a chance. You can probably watch old episodes free at nbc.com
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Mo-Town - first HayMaker '07 tournament
Right now I'm feeling super psyched to play this weekend at mo-town throwdown in detroit. If anybody wants to follow along to see how we do:
http://upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=20&id=3954
I guarantee it won't update during the weekend, and quite possibly won't for a while afterwards either, but eventually it'll show how we did. The seedings are changed from what they started as (originally DingWop was ahead of us, which is absurd). Originally we were playing 5 games instead of just 4 with a by. Which is probably good since we're only bringing 18 guys out of 26, and yet even as I type that it sounds pretty weak. Two years ago playing with HogButcher I think we averaged 10 guys at a tournament. Sure, the team sucked, but it was alot tougher. I'm still not used to playing on big teams, I still want to be in every point. And yet, I think that's good too. I hope everybody on our team this year wants to be in every point, I hope they want it as bad as I do. And for the most part, I think everybody does. I really do think we ended up with a good group of guys, and for as much fun as I know this season is gonna be, I think that we'll do pretty damn well for ourselves too. First test is this weekend.
I'm probably gonna regret not being in town this weekend though, and having time to move in to the new place. As it stands I'm gonna be rushing around trying to get a LOT of stuff packed up and moved on monday and tuesday after work. Hey, if anybody wants to help out please gimme a call.
http://upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=20&id=3954
I guarantee it won't update during the weekend, and quite possibly won't for a while afterwards either, but eventually it'll show how we did. The seedings are changed from what they started as (originally DingWop was ahead of us, which is absurd). Originally we were playing 5 games instead of just 4 with a by. Which is probably good since we're only bringing 18 guys out of 26, and yet even as I type that it sounds pretty weak. Two years ago playing with HogButcher I think we averaged 10 guys at a tournament. Sure, the team sucked, but it was alot tougher. I'm still not used to playing on big teams, I still want to be in every point. And yet, I think that's good too. I hope everybody on our team this year wants to be in every point, I hope they want it as bad as I do. And for the most part, I think everybody does. I really do think we ended up with a good group of guys, and for as much fun as I know this season is gonna be, I think that we'll do pretty damn well for ourselves too. First test is this weekend.
I'm probably gonna regret not being in town this weekend though, and having time to move in to the new place. As it stands I'm gonna be rushing around trying to get a LOT of stuff packed up and moved on monday and tuesday after work. Hey, if anybody wants to help out please gimme a call.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Moving in
For anyone who hasn't heard, I'll be moving to the north side soon. The move is going to save me a good bit of money (assuming I get a job some time before I quit my current one Aug 31), so naturally, I'm looking for a way to blow it all. There's been serious talk of a trip to see the Cubs play the DiamondBacks in Arizona Aug. 25-27. If anyone's interested, lemme know.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
The Cubbies!
It's a weird thing to feel so happy about being 3.5 back, but from where we came, this is a great place to be. It's gonna be a dogfight the rest of the season, but we're in striking distance of the division lead, and even better off in the wild card race. I have just a few comments about some of the recent news from the cubs.
Kerry Wood - It's so nice not to need him anymore, or even be counting on him. Still, you have to hope he can get back and pitch again, even if it's not this season. Not only was he a tremendous talent, but he's a good guy too. True, he likes to party maybe a bit too much, but I'm not really in a position to criticize somebody for that. I've been very encouraged by the news from him lately, and how awesome would it be if we could get somebody to replace Eyre or Ohman without going outside the organization?
Cesar Izturis - It's good he's getting a chance to play every day now, at this stage in what has been a good career, he doesn't deserve to be sitting on the bench. And the truth is, if he had been getting regular time he probably would have been hitting better. (Case in point, JJ) Still, with Theriot and Fontenot as good as they've been, there's no way you can keep Izturis on the roster instead of another arm in the bullpen. Unfortunately, due to the injury to Daryle Ward, now Cedeno is likely to be recalled. This is probably gonna lead to more DeRosa playing in the outfield or at first base, which is fine. But I'd have preferred to see Murtono called up. None of this would have been an issue if they hadn't dealt Izturis, but after that grundle-lovin he gave Ramirez on national TV, it's probably best that he and the team parted ways.
Cliff Floyd - You're not a young guy anymore, you can't go diving all over the outfield. And when some skinny ass dude is standing in the middle of first base, don't hurt yourself trying to avoid him, just clear the way with your 250 pound frame. You're too good of a hitter to keep putting yourself on the bench for short stretches with avoidable injuries.
Derrek Lee - Please come back hot from your supension. It's been a great July and I'm not used to losing two games in a row anymore.
Ken Griffey Jr. - I'm incredibly skeptical that a deal would happen where he would come to the cubs. That said, it's about the only deal I would like to see involving another bat added to the lineup. Please, Jim Hendry, don't go after Adam Dunn. Between Sori and Ramirez, we don't need more free swinging strike-out artists.
Kerry Wood - It's so nice not to need him anymore, or even be counting on him. Still, you have to hope he can get back and pitch again, even if it's not this season. Not only was he a tremendous talent, but he's a good guy too. True, he likes to party maybe a bit too much, but I'm not really in a position to criticize somebody for that. I've been very encouraged by the news from him lately, and how awesome would it be if we could get somebody to replace Eyre or Ohman without going outside the organization?
Cesar Izturis - It's good he's getting a chance to play every day now, at this stage in what has been a good career, he doesn't deserve to be sitting on the bench. And the truth is, if he had been getting regular time he probably would have been hitting better. (Case in point, JJ) Still, with Theriot and Fontenot as good as they've been, there's no way you can keep Izturis on the roster instead of another arm in the bullpen. Unfortunately, due to the injury to Daryle Ward, now Cedeno is likely to be recalled. This is probably gonna lead to more DeRosa playing in the outfield or at first base, which is fine. But I'd have preferred to see Murtono called up. None of this would have been an issue if they hadn't dealt Izturis, but after that grundle-lovin he gave Ramirez on national TV, it's probably best that he and the team parted ways.
Cliff Floyd - You're not a young guy anymore, you can't go diving all over the outfield. And when some skinny ass dude is standing in the middle of first base, don't hurt yourself trying to avoid him, just clear the way with your 250 pound frame. You're too good of a hitter to keep putting yourself on the bench for short stretches with avoidable injuries.
Derrek Lee - Please come back hot from your supension. It's been a great July and I'm not used to losing two games in a row anymore.
Ken Griffey Jr. - I'm incredibly skeptical that a deal would happen where he would come to the cubs. That said, it's about the only deal I would like to see involving another bat added to the lineup. Please, Jim Hendry, don't go after Adam Dunn. Between Sori and Ramirez, we don't need more free swinging strike-out artists.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Heroes
There are so few true heroes in today's world....
Actually that's not true, and the word hero gets thrown around so much that it's lost much of it's meaning.
Nonetheless, I came across this article today:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07172007/gossip/pagesix/pagesix.htm
You should read the article before you keep reading, wouldn't want to spoil anything for you :)
I don't know how many people remember when Phil Hartman was shot and killed by his wife back in the late '90s. I happened to be a pretty big Hartman fan, and I remember how sad and shocked I was by his death. He was one of those guys where you said "Someone shot him? Who the hell would want to hurt him?" Still, for one reason or another I had never heard about the Andy Dick connection before. Now I already hated Andy Dick for a hundred other things (he's Gilbert Godfried without the talent, and with more cocaine and face-licking), but now he's creeping towards the top ten people I most hate.* So when I heard that Jon Lovitz, who is a fantastic comedian and actor, had kicked the living crap out of him I was thrilled. But after reading the above article, it's not just a sense of schadenfreude I feel, but I get a genuine sense that someone who severely needed an ass-kicking has finally received it. Hopefully this is just the start of a whole host of people kicking the crap out of Andy Dick. Maybe Tim Meadows, Will Farrell, or Dave Foley can step up to the plate next.
For repeatedly slamming Andy Dick's face into a bar, Jon Lovitz is my hero of the week.
*It's too late to try to come up with a top ten list right now, but maybe in the future. An important note though, Dennis Miller, who is definitely on the list, is singing "take me out to the ballgame" at Wrigley this Saturday. I'm looking into buying tickets under the press box so that I can go and boo him (and also catch a cubs game), so if anyone is interested, let me know.
Actually that's not true, and the word hero gets thrown around so much that it's lost much of it's meaning.
Nonetheless, I came across this article today:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07172007/gossip/pagesix/pagesix.htm
You should read the article before you keep reading, wouldn't want to spoil anything for you :)
I don't know how many people remember when Phil Hartman was shot and killed by his wife back in the late '90s. I happened to be a pretty big Hartman fan, and I remember how sad and shocked I was by his death. He was one of those guys where you said "Someone shot him? Who the hell would want to hurt him?" Still, for one reason or another I had never heard about the Andy Dick connection before. Now I already hated Andy Dick for a hundred other things (he's Gilbert Godfried without the talent, and with more cocaine and face-licking), but now he's creeping towards the top ten people I most hate.* So when I heard that Jon Lovitz, who is a fantastic comedian and actor, had kicked the living crap out of him I was thrilled. But after reading the above article, it's not just a sense of schadenfreude I feel, but I get a genuine sense that someone who severely needed an ass-kicking has finally received it. Hopefully this is just the start of a whole host of people kicking the crap out of Andy Dick. Maybe Tim Meadows, Will Farrell, or Dave Foley can step up to the plate next.
For repeatedly slamming Andy Dick's face into a bar, Jon Lovitz is my hero of the week.
*It's too late to try to come up with a top ten list right now, but maybe in the future. An important note though, Dennis Miller, who is definitely on the list, is singing "take me out to the ballgame" at Wrigley this Saturday. I'm looking into buying tickets under the press box so that I can go and boo him (and also catch a cubs game), so if anyone is interested, let me know.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Caveats
1) I overuse commas, all the time, so much so that 9 out of 10 sentences I write would drive an english teacher mad, especially my rhet teacher from college, so don't bring it up, I won't change, no matter what,
2) I don't write in a stream-of-conciousness way, I just have the attention span of a goldfish. Everything I write weaves in and out of the realm of having a point to it because that's the way my brain is.
3) If this is boring, shouldn't you be working anyways?
2) I don't write in a stream-of-conciousness way, I just have the attention span of a goldfish. Everything I write weaves in and out of the realm of having a point to it because that's the way my brain is.
3) If this is boring, shouldn't you be working anyways?
Friday, July 13, 2007
You are not special
I don’t know how many people have seen the “Little Deviants” commercials for the Toyota Scion, but they aggravate the living crap out of me. For those of you who haven’t seen it, little demons run around a city driving scions and decapitating “sheeple”, whose crime is apparently conformity by way of not buying a customizable scion. Let’s set aside the insulting nature of referring to people who think the scion is an ugly piece of crap, and the advocating of cutting their heads off, to focus on the issue of why this dumbass ad campaign is even being run.
Advertisers know that our generation is insanely self-centered, and most of their “generation-y” focused advertising is all about exploiting that. A side effect of being incredibly self-centered is the belief that you’re more important than everybody else, reinforced by all of our parents, educators, telletubbies telling us that we’re special for our entire childhoods. It sounded like a great idea, to boost all of our self-esteems, but it mostly contributed to our ability to justify acting like inconsiderate jerks.
When you’re more important than everyone else, you’re free to treat them however you’d like. Zoom around people in traffic on the shoulder, cut in front of people in line, toss garbage wherever the hell you feel like. It’s all justified because you’re special, who the hell are those other people anyways. Of course if anyone else does these things, it’s because they’re raging assholes. (If you want to know more about this kind of justification look up “fundamental attribution error”)
Ok, that was a bit of a different tangent, but it’s related to the problem. People in our generation feel this driving need to be better than other people. How could we possibly be special if we’re not better than others? Everyone has their own personal ways of feeling special, some are better at sports, some are better at school, and some buy scions. I guess the upside to owning a customizable scion is that you are instantly a daring, break-the-mold, little demon creature. At least this is the appeal of owning a scion that
Stupid as this ad is though, it works, and that what pisses me off the most. There are people out there who drive around in their damned scions looking down at other “sheeple” for their helpless conformity. And there are plenty of other people looking down on others for whatever product, viewpoint, and interest they aren’t a part of. God I really want to rant about so many other things that this ties into; selfish capitalism, more about attribution error, corporate personhood, advertising excess. But if this goes on too much longer it’ll just get more and more incoherent as my short attention span wanes, and there’s a good chance you’ve gotten to the point where your attention span is spent reading this, if you’ve even gotten this far. Besides, if I want to start ranting regularly I’ll need to leave some topics for later.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
First Post!
It's the first attempt at a blog post, so I'll start it light with something I overheard today:
TA - "I get a rash sometimes when I drink, but only with hard liquor, never with wine"
Student - "Well, wine is fermented, but hard liquor is distilled, so maybe it has something to do with that."
Seriously, if you don't understand alcohol, you shouldn't be allowed to drink it. I'm all for lowering the drinking age to 18 if it's accompanied by an alcohol competency test. Part of the test would be getting hammered with the administrator of the test (like the driving test at the dmv), and then you are driven to a random place 2 miles from home and have to get back by dawn.
TA - "I get a rash sometimes when I drink, but only with hard liquor, never with wine"
Student - "Well, wine is fermented, but hard liquor is distilled, so maybe it has something to do with that."
Seriously, if you don't understand alcohol, you shouldn't be allowed to drink it. I'm all for lowering the drinking age to 18 if it's accompanied by an alcohol competency test. Part of the test would be getting hammered with the administrator of the test (like the driving test at the dmv), and then you are driven to a random place 2 miles from home and have to get back by dawn.
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