Blogs - Signing Off

Blogging in general seems pretty cool; it provides a good way to keep people posted with what's happening in your life or in the realm of your interests or whatever. For this class, however, I have mixed feelings about using blogs. At first I thought the blogging idea was great, an easy grade. As the semester wore on, I found that it wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be. Coming up with things to blog about was occasionally challenging, but what was really a challenge was finding some way to comment (it took quite a lot of time reading all the blogs too). Many times I would want to comment, but would either not really know what to write, or decided I didn't want to point out the errors in word choice, punctuation, capitalization, or any other various issues, not wanting to be "that guy". I think the blogs would have been more beneficial if some of the errors were addressed instead of being repeated throughout the semester.
Blogging was an interesting way to share writings with the class though. Unlike a more traditional English class with nothing more than essay after essay, it provided a little variety to keep things interesting. Almost every week there was at least one blog that was fun to read (no, I’m not saying it was my blogs), and it was cool to see the different views people had on the Monday blogs when we all wrote about the same thing (more or less).

English Style

The language styles of the past and of the present are dramatically different. Compare today’s language with its various slang words with that of the 1600’s (Shakespeare’s’ time) and English is almost a completely different language. Even comparing the present “English’s” from England and the US, you can find some stark differences. A “subway” in England is an underpass, and “the tube” is a subway (if I am remembering it right). A “lift” and an “elevator” would be another example. Going back to Shakespeare’s time, one only needs to think of his plays. Thou’s and hath’s and thine’s; not words that you hear to often anymore, other than in the plays.

Die Dell, Die

I never really liked Dell, but I don't think I had an excuse before. I was convinced to get Dell's to replace both my lap top and my desktop, and now I have many reasons. First my desk top; it sarted out great, then it started to run slow and the mouse stopped working, then the keyboard. So I call Dell and manage to get it working again, but now once or wice a week the keyboard and mouse stop working (and always when I am in the middle of something). My laptop was crap from the get-go. I admit it might just be that it has Windows Vista (which is another story), but it is the slowest computer I have ever seen. I don't mean that in a comparison to other current day computers either. The first computer I ever had which took the big 5.25 inch disks ran better than my new laptop.
So far I have spent about 2.5 hours on the phone wih Dell and now I have to add to that time... again. If you have had good experience with Dell, I don't want to hear it. As far as I am concerned, Dell is evil, and probably funds terrorism.*

*There is no known actual data or investigation into ties between the Dell Corporation and terrorism to this writers knowledge.

Way To Go

I just read a short news article about a pilot from the Thai Air Force. He went out flying is helicopter and decided to land in the jungle, leave his aircraft, and go collect some mushrooms for his mother ( I suspect the food kind of mushrooms not the hallucinogenic kind). He probably would have got away with it too had some pesky villagers not came to see what was going on, and when they found no pilot called the police. The article said he was on suspension, but I can only imagine what would have happened had a member of the US forces done such a thing. It would probably start with a suspension and end the career. It is impressive how dumb people can be sometimes… it is even more amazing how dumb people can be all the time.

What A Dick

I recall what a great man once said; and by great I mean moron; and by man I mean politician (which is far less than man (usually)). It went something like this “you can go to college and get an education, or you can get sent to Iraq”*. I’m sure you all remember this, and as far as what I am writing about, I think it qualifies for many of the various fallacies. It is both a hasty and an unsupported generalization; there are a lot of people that are in the services that do not have any college education, but there are many (myself included) that were/are pulled from their education when their nation calls. There are also plenty that have Associates, Bachelors, Masters, and even Doctorate degrees, and they all volunteered (more or less). False Dichotomy comes into play as well; the previously mentioned rings true for this as well, as does the fact that some take online classes while they are deployed. I guess they aren’t literally GOING to college, but they are working their way toward a degree. Or, maybe they are just trying to keep their brain running smooth, let’s not create any more fallacies by saying anyone taking college courses must be after a degree.
You may say that I have committed a fallacy by the things I have said about this politician; but I assure you I have not, because time after time he has reinforced what I have said. Fallacy or not, what he said was just outright insulting, and if you ask me, un-American.

* I didn't qoute precisely and I should have checked and been accurate. Here is the qoute, as far as I can tell it is exact:
"You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

Let It Snow

There are a lot of things that I like about the winter season. First and foremost, as I am sure a lot of others would say, is snowboarding. There are very few things in the world that can make me feel so great and hurt me. Given, I haven’t been too seriously hurt yet, but falling rarely doesn’t hurt at all, especially when you’re going fast. The quiet and feeling of solitude is nice also, and the snow doesn’t do that in just the mountains; the mountains are often times quiet like that. I like when there is enough snow and it is soft enough that it absorbs nearly all the sound. Around here you have to get away from any major road, but in the smaller towns, where the speed limit is lower and there isn’t much traffic or other things making loud noises, the soft dull silence is bliss.

Winter also brings the cold weather and stabbing winds. When it is warm out you generally don’t feel like lying on the couch under blankets and watching a movie or reading a book, but the winter affords that opportunity.

Christmas and Thanksgiving are also in the season, and although it doesn’t happen much anymore, I like getting together with family.

However, I am not a fan of having to fly during the winter, and I don’t mean commercial airlines. When its 20 degrees or less out and I have to stand under the rotor wash of a helicopter, with winds that probably reach about 60 miles an hour, it just isn’t real comfortable. I can’t say that I care for the small chips of ice that pelt my already sensitive cold skin when I have to be near a hovering aircraft either. But, all in all, winter is a good season, and a trip south can get me away from the cold if I feel the need.

I Like It, Wait, No I Don't

I thought it was an interesting video. The main point, from what I can tell, is that the education system or the process used in the education system is out of date. I think it also shows that technology has changed the way students spend their time. Forty years ago a video like this could have been made and a lot of what they wrote on their notes would be different, but it would still include the same basic message. Books are expensive and not even used much, time spent doing other things outweighs time spent with school things, and so on and so forth. What I think should have been included was the fact the universities/colleges are businesses and businesses focus on making money. What you do after you spend your money is not usually a big concern of any business, as long as there will be more that spend money in the same way.
I really didn’t like the break down and add up of the hours used through a day. I am sure that all those people didn’t do only one task at a time. I know the next person said that they were a “multi-tasker”, but it is still retarded. Listening to music while doing homework is not multi-tasking; eating while you watch TV is not multi tasking; spending time on the internet while in class… maybe that is actually multi-tasking.
In the long run, though, you get out of school what you put in. If you don’t read the assignments, that’s a little less that you are learning. College classes aren’t really meant to educate you for the real world; some are general education, others are specific to an area.
The more I think about this video, the more I dislike it; it seems like nothing but complaints from a bunch of slackers.

Krystal Got Me Thinking About Fat People

Someone has to be pretty damn skinny for it to be unhealthy, and even then, depending how they got that way and are staying that way, it may not be unhealthy at all. Fat people, on the other hand, create all sorts of problems. EMS personnel get injured trying to lift them after they have their heart attack. Firefighters are exposed to more risk and for longer periods if they have to pull them out of a burning building and a sniper or police officer can't shoot the bad guy hiding behind the tub-o-lard. There are studies out now that prove obesity (being fat) can cause various cancers, it causes depression (in more ways than one), and then there are the obvious: high blood pressure, blocked arteries, stroke, etc, etc, etc. Don’t get me wrong here, I don’t hate fat people; my dad is pretty fat and I have good friends that are large to outright fat.

Some people say that it is not a persons’ fault and it is all genetic, but that is a load of crap; genetics are involved, but only to an extent. Eating right and exercise can take care of a lot of it. The Army has height/weight standards that everyone is expected to meet (more or less) and I use to think that it was pretty dumb when someone who could pass the physical fitness test without any problem had to meet the weight standard. Since then I have came to the realization that you can be very unhealthy, and still be able to do things that make it appear you are healthy. It is much like not saving money for the future, it all seems fine and dandy right now, but down the line it creates a lot of problems.

http://health.msn.com/centers/cancer/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100173476

http://health.msn.com/centers/depression/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100124161

http://health.msn.com/healthnews/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100167500

http://health.msn.com/encyclopedia/healthtopics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100068926

Sick Fuckers

Although she makes a pretty good point, the way she goes about making the point negates it in a way. Looking at every ad that involves a female and telling me how horrible it is and how it degrades women makes it difficult for me to really listen. If they are so incredibly bad, why do women try so hard to be in such ads? I guess to me it seemed over the top, I can agree with most of it, but even my favorite food becomes something else when someone tries to jam it down my throat. What she mentioned only briefly, but should have made an entire lecture about, is the child issues, whether it is child pornography or child beauty pageants (same thing as far as I am concerned). The pageants in particular will reinforce all the “problems” that she spoke of more than, I think, ads will. Starting at a young age and being judged on how you look, and how you dance, and how well you can look like a “sexy” adult is outright sick. Kids want to grow up fast enough as is, why make them dress and put make-up on and act like they are twenty years older than they are? Not only that, but they have to portray sexy; why the hell would anyone want their nine year old to be portrayed as sexy? I think the lecture we watched was worried about the right things, but she was focusing her worries solely on commercials when there are much worse things that should be focused on.

Wait A Tick

So I started looking at blogs so I could take care of my weekly comments and I came to a realization. If I can't think of any way to comment on the few blogs that someone has, and they don't add anymore blogs, how am I supposed to comment at all? I have read just about every blog, I comment when I can, but it gets tricky when there isn't anything new.
What thoughts does everyone have on this? This is a chance to get in an easy comment, everyone should be able to... that is except for me, which doesn't seem very fair, but what can you do? Comment! Then go write a blog of your own, that's what you can do!

Do Some Research of Your Own

http://www.slate.com/id/2176156?GT1=10538

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/gorehome.asp

http://www.slate.com/id/2142319/

So Gore is full of crap, which is no surprise. The Nobel prizes are no longer a true achievement and those that can win them is limited to those with the same frame of mind as those who give them away. That’s right; the Nobel Prizes have turned from a great achievement into an unrespectable joke. When this may have happened it is hard to say and some could argue that it has always been a little ridiculous. Even the winning by Mother Teresa seems absurd. A woman who claimed divorce should be banned and then turned around and said she was glad Princess Diana got divorced because it was an unhappy marriage. The list goes on for her, but I’m not writing specifically about her, now am I? Bush and Blaire were nominated for the peace prize right before the Iraq war in hopes that, having a chance to win, they (primarily Bush) would decide against an invasion. Some may think that this was only a joke, but that is only wishful thinking. Jimmy Carter won it that year and it seems like he won it as an opponent to the Bush’s then for other reasons. Arafat won the Nobel Peace Prize even though he was connected with terrorists. In his defense he did sign a peace agreement, not that he probably had any intention following it, but by golly he signed it. The Prize money that year was $7 Million between three people. For the past seven years the amount has been $10 million. I think I need to nominate myself or someone I know, who knows we might win; it is kind of like the lottery.

Finally, A Good iPod Commercial

http://www.koreus.com/video/pub-ipod-shuffle-blonde.html

It makes me laugh; which is more than I can say for other iPod commercials. Starting with the sound of a flushing toilet and then a girl looking at what is presumably a pregnancy test. Then the waiting game, but it doesn’t seem to be working. So the girl calls in her… whatever, and tells him it isn’t working; at which point he tries to point out that it isn’t a pregnancy test to no avail.

I like this commercial because it isn’t like all the other iPod commercials and ads. It’s different and that is a very good thing. The music fits the classic waiting type music, almost like you would find in an elevator, which fits perfectly with the waiting taking place in the ad. The concept behind it doesn’t really cater to the young audiences who wouldn’t necessarily know what was really going on, but in this day and age that age is far lower than what it was ten years ago.

Does it make me want an iPod? Not really, but someone who can make an awesome commercial is a little easier to respect.

Beatings Can Be A Good Thing

Recently I had the displeasure of a worm. No, not the living kind, the computer kind! I saw a link on a friend’s bulleting and didn’t even think that it might be a worm or virus. It was a link to get a gift certificate, I figured it wasn’t anything I would do, but thought I would check out to see if it was crap or worthwhile. After I clicked on it, unbeknownst to me, it sent itself out to everyone on my friends list (which isn’t a big list but still). So I start to get messages asking what it is, and others saying I have been hacked, and one that tells me they are pretty sure it is a worm. So I am annoyed and a little pissed… more embarrassed than pissed though at this point. Then a day or so later, all of a sudden, my mouse and keyboard stop working. Now I am pissed off. I try a few things to try and fix it and nothing is working, so I have to call Dell. Luck fully the computer is only a month old so I can still get help for free from Dell, but the fact that I have to call someone also pisses me off. After some issues with Dell (nothing too serious) I finally get my computer working and even learn a couple of extra things as well. All is well with the computer now (as far as I can tell) and I can get back to homework.

All this leads me into the real reason I wanted to blog about it, people/hackers that spend their time trying to get into or making programs to get into other peoples computers or websites to cause problems. I can somewhat understand trying to do that sort of thing to make money, it’s bullshit but lots of people always try to find ways to get money, legal or not. What I miss are the days that when someone did another person wrong, the wronged person could, without worry, knock the other person around. It was a deserved beating and everyone understood that, it kept people in line. Now-a-days there’s criminal charges, lawsuits, and the list goes on. I’m not saying violence solves everything, and perhaps it doesn’t solve anything, but the potential for it sure makes people think twice. I know the system that I speak of was abused, and in those cases there absolutely has to be consequences (charges, lawsuits, etc.), but otherwise, it seemed to work. I figure if I could somehow find the douche-bag/s that sent that worm out, throw them around a little bit, probably break their computer (maybe over their head?); they wouldn’t be willing to do that crap again. If they did, the process would be repeated, adding some more bodily harm, and eventually it could lead to death, but that would only improve the race be getting rid of someone who just doesn’t learn. Science shows the positive benefit of such things.

I’m not saying when there is a disagreement that this process starts, that is one way it was abused; the argument of “I’m bigger than you so I am right and you’re wrong” just doesn’t work. When a little turd is talking crap to someone bigger however, solely because there is no harm that will come to them, then the process should start. When it is the bigger person being the turd to the smaller one is when someone else needs to step in to dish out the smack down. I remember when I was younger; when someone said they were about to open a can of whoop-ass, people understood their wit wasn’t appreciated and would stop.

While I write this I think back to some of the dim-witted jocks I have came across, the ones that would fight each other, threaten others to get their way, or do the other things that made most people hate them. Those are the abusers of the beautiful system; they are the ones that wear society down. I hope everyone can understand that I am not a violent person and I don’t like fighting. There are times that call for it though and the way everyone thinks these days, it is often not used when it should be; come to think of about it though, it is often times used when it shouldn’t be. So tell me what you think, maybe I will make another blog in response to the comments, but don’t write anything retarded, OR ELSE, no I’m just joking… but seriously.

The First Day

So there I was, Kuwait City, no shit, true story. First though, let me back up. The Flight was long; I would be surprised if anyone reading this has ever been on such a long flight. It could have been worse; we had a chartered flight which means it was like a normal commercial flight, except we stayed with the same aircraft for the entire journey. There were flight attendants and as I recall decent food. I volunteered for the baggage detail because I was promised a seat in first class for the long ass flight. Turned out they gave the seats to some officers, even though they specifically said that wouldn’t happen; I still got a seat in business class so it wasn’t a complete loss. So we finally land in Kuwait, it’s hat enough as is, but then you have to add in the fact that we are on a tarmac so that adds 10 to 15 degrees, and then being on baggage detail makes it feel like another5 or so degrees. The bags had to go into a con-ex (it’s the big metal container you see on ships, trains, and trucks) and that means people had to be inside moving and stacking the bags and I was one of those people. The thing was like a damn oven, it just didn’t seem right to be sweating that much for as dry as it was but I found myself soaked quickly. Now generally the military is big on staying hydrated, people dying of heat stroke is frowned upon; so I figured there would be water somewhere and when I ask for some there is none around. So if I weren’t approaching a point of passing out I would have been more pissed off than I was but I was more concerned with staying conscious. Finally some water shows up from somewhere and I guzzle down a quart or so. If you know anything about being extremely dehydrated, you know that drinking real fast is not always the best plan, instead of trying to keep myself from passing out I was now trying to keep myself from puking all that life saving water onto the tarmac. Needless to say I survived that series of events and made it onto the bus to be taken to Camp Doha. I’m still dehydrated and I get a seat in the back of the bus, before we even get to the highway we are stopped for who knows why for about 30 minutes. Once again I find that other than bottles that someone else has already drank out of there isn’t any water available, but luckfully the A/C is working alright. We finally get on the road and, once we are out toward the middle of nowhere, the driver pulls over and gets out, next thing the bus is starting to fill with smoke. Everyone evacuates the bus, but they all leave there belongings, so there I am hanging out on the bus passing gear out the door. Turns out the bus wasn’t on fire (that much) but we have to squeeze onto the one and only other bus that pulled over with us. At this point I am feeling a little better and am seeing the humor of it all even though there are very few around me that had even had such a full experience as I. So I started in with the exaggerated story of my first day “in the shit”. Some people saw the humor in it others I think were either ignoring me or just lost in their thoughts of what there may be to come. My efforts to get a flight up to Baghdad where the unit I was joining was stationed proved almost as ridiculous as my first few hours in country, but that is another story.

Three Hours & $3,707.07 Later

So I finally started the classes to get certified in SCUBA Diving, and half tried to convince my wife that we should get all the gear. We decided that it really wasn't the time to make the big purchase. When I went for my cert dives though, my wife all of a sudden wanted to go on a dive trip and get the gear. So Monday we went to the dive shop and spent three or so hours looking at different parts dive equipment and finally settled on gear for each of us. The BCD (Buoyancy Control Device), the regulators (I got the more expensive one), wet suits, and some extra gear. So both of us are very ready for diving, and have various plans already set. A month ago we used some credit card points to get a discount on a cruise for spring break; the cruise has a port of call in Cabo San Lucas, so we’ll be diving there. The cruise starts in San Diego and we are planning on spending a couple of days checking out the sites there and one day diving. The same day we bought all our gear we arranged for flights, lodging, and diving in Cozumel for over Christmas. So even though we are now unable to go out while we are home, and won’t be spending anything on unnecessary items, we are both quite happy and excited.

So here I am, I’ve been wanting to get certified for as long as I can remember and now, not only am I certified, but I have all my own stuff. I almost expect to wake up from some wonderful dream; I know this is no dream though because if it were I wouldn’t be behind on all my homework nor would I be writing a blog entry about it.

It will be at least a year before we know if this was a poor decision in both regards to money spent instead of saved and the amount of use the gear gets. On the bright side the gear is supposed to last a lifetime pretty much so we should be able to get plenty of use out of it. I can’t believe that I will regret it, and I don’t imagine my wife will either. At any rate we can’t go back and change anything, so we are going to have to live with it, just like any other decision.

Think in Black & White

Can you really be nostalgic about a time that you didn’t live? The closest I can come to nostalgia is music from the 50’s such as: Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, and Tommy Dorsey. The music is so cheerful, reminiscent of better times when life was so much easier. It was a time when mental illness hardly existed, bacteria was nothing more than a thing of science, and it seemed like all the countries were getting along with each other. Sammy would sing, explaining why there’s nothing like a dame, Dean would tell you how to serenade you girl with Italian, and Frank telling us how it is “makin’ whoopee”. How could anyone argue against such songs that the times weren’t great, that everyone wasn’t happier back then than they are now?

Perhaps I’m nostalgic of a past life that has its ghost like memories floated in front of me when I listen to such music, or maybe the music simply does a profound job of portraying their feeling to the listener. I know that not everything was perfect back then, the great depression, world wars, Korea; but when I listen to the music all that disappears and there’s nothing but greatness.

McMansion

Houses being too big for the lots they are on and the families that are in them, how could anyone not agree with that? The article hits on a number of things that have changed the housing market, the biggest one probably being the industry wanting to profit. The neighborhood I grew-up in has around 60 feet between each other and most of the “older” style neighborhoods are the same. When the empty lots nearby started to fill-in in late 1990 the houses only had about 20 feet between them and some of them had even less than that. They looked bigger, but when you actually went inside it was easy to see that there was so much space that was unusable, the size was comparable to an older house like mine. As McGuigan mentioned the amount of energy used to heat or cool and the empty space is ludicrous, vaulted ceilings may look nice, but are such a waste in so many ways. The yards were tiny compared to what I grew-up with too; they could hardly be used to toss a ball or Frisbee around. These large houses take away what is good about home, the coziness, the usability, and the recreation outside.

There are a few things that I don’t agree with. She mentions what kids draw when they are asked to draw a house. I think that the large reason they draw what they do is because that is what they see in books as they grow older, and the basic shape of a house is square/rectangular with a more or less triangle roof. I don’t think that there is much correlation with what houses look like in real life. The other one, she says houses should reflect “who we are and the time we live in”. Maybe I am misreading it or not quite understanding what she is really trying to say, but that comment is outright stupid to me. Very few people will stay in on house for their entire life, how are they going to sell it when it is so personalized? Earlier in her article she talks about the climate and geographical area, so shouldn’t that shape what the house is like more than the personal “feeling”? There are reasons for flat and pitched roof tops, you don’t want it flat if you are expecting lots of precipitation, and it probably isn’t a good idea to have an A-frame when the temperature is going to be high.

The Learning Center

The Learning Center is wide open and has a vaulted ceiling to prevent it from giving the feeling of suppressing ideas or not allowing thoughts to grow. There are no dividers, it is like everyone’s thoughts are supposed to be free to swim around the room, and around each other, and around each person like many fish around a reef. The constant sound of keyboards typing and people discussing quietly amongst each other sharing thoughts, ideas, and knowledge can be heard. There are many windows allowing light in, and if it is dark outside enough lights, to keep people from having to use their ideas light for anything other than its' intended purpose. There are tables that allow seating for two and others that have space for twenty; with so many views there needs to be places for them to be shared. There are also both large and small pillars that seem to say there are no ideas that are too small or too great, and no matter the size they are still important.

If an idea is struggling to stay alive there are people that sit and wait or walk around to offer the aid it needs to continue on. There are also people and computers available to help encourage the production of new thoughts and the supply of knowledge that has come from those before. There is no one subject that dominates here, everything from philosophy to physiology, from maternity to mathematics; there are no boundaries or restrictions that try to keep the brain from growing. Instead the gates are wide open allowing anyone who comes in to take whatever information they want, and either share it or keep for themselves, in the long run it doesn’t matter because the information will always be available here regardless.

Art or Trauma

I do actually have a tattoo. It was something I had thought about for some time and when my wife went to get hers modified, I got mine. I didn't get it for fashion, I don't brag about it, I don't even show it very often, and when I do it is usually because my wife wants to show it to someone. I have joked that it was because I didn't have any other marks to identify my body or pieces of my body in case of incident, but it does somewhat have an identity for me. It shows that I am a flight medic, and that's about as much description as I will give. I put it on my right shoulder because that is where the flag on my uniform is, and my personal experiences made that location significant to me. It isn't one that all flight medics get, and I think it is safe to say that there is no other like it; so it doesn't include me into some brotherhood of people who get this tattoo. As I think about the reasons for it they seam somewhat foggy. My duty and training was something I was... am, very proud of, so I wanted something that when I looked down I would remember all that I had done to get it and what I had done with it.
So I guess Josie would say I shouldn't have got it; but I disagree about getting a tattoo for fashion. Fashion comes and goes, I think tattoos should portray what truly mattered to you at the time and what was of great importance. I don't think they should be used to make yourself feel better about something, and as far using them to "let go"... how can you let go of something that is permanently inked on your body? I try not to judge others alterations, but I agree with Josie that there are very wrong reasons to be pierced or inked.

You're killing me people!

I haven’t really wanted to come across as a jerk or an ass, which is why I am writing this here instead of in comments. I also have started to wonder if anyone looks at any of my blogs anyway, and I guess this might let me find out. English Composition 121 is in fact a college level class, and as anyone should be able to surmise, it requires writing. When I see writing that only has two upper case letters in the whole thing, I can’t help but wonder what the hell is going on in schools today. How about using “defiantly” in place of “definitely”? It can work, but it says something entirely different from what is supposed to be conveyed in the writing. There’s also “one” instead of “won”, and “by” in place of “buy”. Then there is the use of, or should I say lack of, punctuation; a paragraph that consists of two sentences when it should have four along with some more commas. I can admit I’m no master of writing skills and make mistakes as well, that is one of the two reasons I am taking this class.

As far as I am concerned, the education system has failed you, you are now walking around with a piece of paper that says “I know and understand at least the basics, if not more”. That piece of paper, in truth, was required for you to take this class and be in a “college level” institution. You may read the quotation marks on “college level” as me saying Red Rocks is not such an institution or its faculty could do better when looking for a job. That is not the case in any way, what I am trying to say is “college level” seems to have dropped a few levels. But, don’t think I’m letting you off so easy. I may have a couple years on many of you, but not that many. I don’t see how there is any way you could possibly not know how to form a sentence or use the shift key. I also can’t figure out why you wouldn’t use a word document to type it out, correct it, re-read it, fix what the spell check didn’t find and then copy and paste it into the blog. By that simple action alone you would start learning spelling and punctuation, it won’t always replace the wrong word you used with the correct one, but that’s why you look it over again!

If you see mistakes on what I write, please let me know. When I post something and there are misspelled words or grammatical errors, I feel embarrassed, and most of the posts I make are read by people who will never meet me or even see me. As I said, I’m not without fault, but I sure as hell try to better myself.

I know it isn’t really fair for me to point out all that is wrong and ask “why aren’t people doing better?” when in fact there are plenty who do well. A few of them I read and think that in future text books I am going to see that story as an example of what the times were like “back then”. I can tell pretty easily who takes pride in their work and who either doesn’t care or needs a lot of help. So to those of you who do well, keep up the good work; those of you who have a hard time with it all… you’re killing me here.

I'm suppose to write what?

After the first time Amy tried to explain what she wanted everyone to do, I sit here thinking to myself “as the cave man said in the Geico commercial ‘uh, what?” After a little further explanation though I think I understand, and if not I’ll write a few paragraphs and call it good anyway.

We are bombarded by media, and the only thing that comes close to a protective border is that which we put up ourselves and even that is extremely limited. By not watching TV and not bothering with the trendy magazines we can limit our exposure, but unless you become a hermit and never venture outside your home, don’t get mail, and never watch TV listen to the radio (to include music) or use a computer, exposure is imminent. Although someone might try to argue about auditory stimuli, think about what the brain does as you listen, as you make a mental image of what you are hearing. Just like text, there is really now getting away from it. Even in the supermarkets, when you go to the check out to legally acquire you subsistence, there’s Cosmo and People among others. Much like Bordo mentioned, there are either celebrities on new diets (whether they are actual diets or disorders), ways to please your man, or in the case of men’s magazines how to get a woman to please you.

I don't even know what I am trying to write here.

OK, so I tried this assignment the way I thought it was suppose to be done, and as you can see from above, and am giving up now. Instead, I'm just going to try rambling. I read a couple of the other posts and what I noticed the most is the mention, in one way or another, of censorship. By and large, censorship is usually not a good thing. Sure on TV nudity or profanity is hidden to an extent, but as time has gone on all those censors have eased to a point that, for anything other than comic effect, they seem to have no purpose. I realize that TV and radio is censored by the FCC, and I actually am not sure what censors reading material, and that both have different standards. If you go into a store, you can find just about everything but nudity in magazines. Cosmo talks about sex position, Maxim and FHM talks about ways to "hook up no strings attached" and so on and so forth. I admit that at times the editors and writers can make such things entertaining (in the humor way) and I think I am just about all for that; when it comes to humor I am pretty accepting of whatever it may be. What I want to know is when and why did it become so acceptable for such things to be public knowledge. I'm sure I would be called "old fashioned" but I say what happens in the bedroom should stay there, and when bedroom happenings happen elsewhere, there's really no need to share. Some wonder why the world is in such a poor state, but it seems obvious; what is expected to happen when the "do what makes you feel good" is promoted and the "do what is right" is not only hidden away, but also ignored when it does show up. I would also like to point out that even with all the super model images, obesity is rampant. Is it because the images say "this is what you need to look like" and some just say "well that will never happen so why try"? For some, that could be part of it, but I think there are other issues here.

You may ask, "What the hell does that have to do with any of this assignment"? Well, I was rambling, but I will tie it in now. Censorship and all these super model photos is not the real problem. Sure, it promotes some of what is wrong in the world, but if people took the time to educate and help each other out, the media would probably start using other imagery. I would say that this responsibility falls mostly on parents’ shoulders, but at this point, it is past that. It is now not just the kids that are growing up that are in such desperate need but the ones that have "grown up" and have no idea. It seems like common knowledge that much of the imagery is "enhanced" with computers. Why doesn't anyone acknowledge that when they are trying to look more like the "super" model? What I noticed on one post, was that the person (I am sure unintentionally) called the "much thinner image" perfect. That is how to industry wants people to view it as, if you can get people to think that whatever it is you're advertising is perfection, they have done their job well. That is what most of it really comes down to, convincing people that a product will make them pretty, better, perfect.

Frickin China

I wrote this response to an article written by Military.com about China hacking into the Pentagon. The site allows members to post comments on just about all their articles. People can be as ignorant or as informed as they want and still comment. This is what I had to say, I didn’t read the article and therefore didn’t comment until there were already fourteen pages of comments. Here is the link, and if you want to look at the comments, go to the bottom of the page and click on the “Join the discussion” link. There are a few things I would like to change in how and what I wrote, but since I can't change them on the site I posted them on, I won't change them here either.

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,148037,00.html?ESRC=dod-bz.nl

In the words of Homer J Simpson “We’re going to rule the world soon anyway… Wait… We’re China, right.”

In 1996 Clinton allowed China to launch US satellites (or try to at least). They blew up one satellite belonging to Loral Space & Communications Corp. Loral then taught the Chinese how to build rockets so they wouldn’t blow up and would get to where they were going. Meanwhile Clinton was meeting with Chinese Mafia, military, and Intel people; China was selling parts for nuclear weapons to Pakistan, and the PLA was putting funds into the Democratic Parties account. That was all in just the first six months of ’96.

I don’t know what, if anything, Bush has done. But, if it is anything like Clinton, I don’t see the big deal in China’s spying since we will probably just give them anything and everything they want in the long run. China has also been known for reporting a defense budget that is significantly lower than what they are actually spending. They have a larger military then what they report, and like Russia continue to sell arms and technology to the enemies of the US. I fully realize that they really have no obligation to be honest with most of what I have talked about, but why wouldn’t they unless they have something up their sleeve?

So, those of you who are saying “ah, it’s not a big deal, we do the same, blah blah blah’ and spew ignorance like it is going out of style; open your eyes and do a little investigating of your own.

Some other interesting things: Alaskan fishing companies sell their catches to China; China turns around, packages it and then sells it to the US for more than what they bought it for. While the US fights in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Chinese are studying our tactics (Sea, Air, Land, and Electronic), and finding ways to counter it all. Infantry tactics says a good ratio for battle is three (us) to one (them), with the size of the PLA (Peoples Libaeration Army) this wouldn’t be possible.

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/06/ap_pacechina_070604/

My Interaction with Text

Seeing how text can be just about anything, the interaction I have with it can vary greatly. Now that I am back in school my interactions are largely dealing with the text books; whether it's the actual type or the diagrams that improve the educational benefit. When I'm not busy with assignments, I like to read books and watch TV and movies. All of those interactions do not compare to the importance of this truly amazing interaction. "What interaction might he be talking about" you may ask yourself? I'm talking important names and types, the kinds that either make you salivate or make you stomach churn. Samuel Adams, Bitburger, and Dos Equis are some names; and vodka, scotch, and rum are some of the types. When I interact with these texts I learn so much; what I like and don't like, what tolerances I have, and how much joy can come from a simple bottle, but I digress. There's really no way to get away from text, even when you close your eyes your thoughts continue, you may dream and with that there is your text. Although, I must argue, I come across plenty of people that are actually able to get away from text, and even more that don't even notice it.