Classy

So, I'm upper-middle class. This is simply a matter of fact. My parents are both doctors, they both make good money. However, while writing my final, I realized something. I don't think about any class lower than me. They're simply below my notice. Their daily actions mean nothing to me. They're workers. They cook, they clean, they deliver, they labor. This is all I know of them. I thought it was interesting, as it seems to be the sort of thing that all upper-class people do, based on what I see and The Great Gatsby. How about you guys? Anyone else do this?

Drugs?

So this post is more about what you guys think rather than what I think. At least, that's what I'm going for.

Where do you guys draw the line for drugs? That is, what should be legal, what should be controlled, what should have an age limit, and what should be just outright illegal?

I really wanna see your guys' opinion on this one!

Are we all consumer whores?

So, we were talking about advertising and American Consumerism in AIS, and it got me thinking: "Have they gotten to me?" So I looked around my room and kept a running tally of everything that I had seen an ad for that I owned. Final tally: 52 that I had seen ads for out of 71 total, more than half. I found it kind of scary, especially after reading "The 6 Weapons of Influence." I think it would be interesting if perhaps everyone else in the class was to do the same. Let's see how good advertising really is!

Kane?

So we watched "Citizen Kane" in class the other day. Good movie, very deep. Lots of interesting angles and symbols.

But what does it have to do with "The Great Gatsby?" I mean, I understand the obvious connection between the crazy, declining millionaires, but beyond that, what is their connection? The two tales are of very different subject. "Gatsby" is a tale of longing for a person, of a relationship that Gatsby could never have. "Kane" was about a millionaire who was happily married not once, but twice. Kane longs for his childhood, which was taken from him. Gatsby longs for Daisy, with whom he screwed up his relationship.

I just don't really understand why the connection. We usually avoid the obvious and dive in to the subtle, but the only connection I see is obvious... any help B'Oconnolos?

NERD RAGE!

So it's not exactly breaking news, but darn it, I'm going to blog about it.

Apparently, Dungeons and Dragons (and by extension, most/all roleplaying games) has been banned in US prisons because it might lead to "gang behavior" and "escape fantasies." Well no friggin' duh! When one is in prison, what else is there for one to do than join a gang or think about getting out? I personally think that the ban is offensive, being an avid player myself, I know that surely, there's fantastical elements, but there's a huge line between the game and reality. How many times has a beholder disintegrated your parents? How often do you hear of four-man parties solving all of the world's problems in the span of a year? When was the last time you heard a gibbering mouther? I could go on, but you get the point.

Furthermore, the alternatives to that aren't really that great. Prisoners basically have the choice of exercise (because we really need our armed robbers more muscly), work (not too bad a choice, but still boring) or learn (better than D&D, but there's only so much you can take). What's the problem with a fantasy game? Any thoughts, fellow nerds (lookin' at you, Doc O'C)?

Huck Redux

Okay, so I got a faceful of owch from Doc O'c today about how my Huck Finn post was garbage. And he's right! That was garbage. So let me explain myself a little better. I, like our teachers, believe in the integration of current events into our American History course. But I take it a step further. See, books and such are on the "English" side of the history spectrum. And yes, I know we don't separate the two, but can Huck Finn really be called even mildly accurate history? So why then, do we mire ourselves in the past in the English department of our learning? I don't think we've read one book that was less than 15 years old, I can't remember when Reservation Blues was written. So my point is, why can't we read something current, either to our country or perhaps something relevant to the adults we've become? Maybe Speak, Night, or something else more current? I mean, I just think the book's a little outdated, and to be honest, that's one of my biggest pet peeves, outdated things. There ya go, Doc O'c, better?

The evolution of cartoons?

Whilst flipping channels, desperately looking for something to watch, I happened upon an episode of Tom and Jerry. For those of you that don't know, Tom and Jerry is an old (1950's) cartoon about a cat (Tom) and a mouse (Jerry), the plot of which is Tom constantly attempting to catch Jerry and failing. It's an old, silent slapstick cartoon. I decided to watch, as the show brings back nostalgic memories for me.

However, I was absolutely shocked by the amount of racism and imitable violence in the show. I haven't watched since I was like, 5, so I guess I didn't notice it then, but goddamn, that shit would not fly nowadays. It got me thinking about how cartoons have come since then. Nowadays, you can't actually show someone being hit, you have to show a *pow* blotch or simply imply it. Not only that, but words like "Crap" and "Hate" are considered right-out (I only know from personal experience.) I just thought it was interesting.

Reverse Racism?

So I was part of an interesting debate with Nick Steen (sp?) today, and it made me think "How much 'reverse racism/sexism' is there in the USA today?" For that matter, where does reverse racism start? Is um... well I can't remember the name but "that thing where persons of minority descent get into colleges more easily than white kids" racist? What about Equal Opportunity employment? How about "Sensitivity Training" for the workplace? What do you think? (This one was meant to be a big convo-starter)

Huck finn, who cares?

So, as you know, we're reading Huck Finn, the Great American Classic, a nice ol' slice o' Americana. Omnomnom, right? Naw, I say blech. This book is dry as a bone. I mean, I'm tryin' ta read this, right, and I can't hardly be un'standin' what they're sayin'. Sure, it's stood "the test of time" or whatever, but why does that mean that we have to read it? I say let's leave it to the old folks who yearn for this America, and let us read more current, interesting books, like David Wong's "John Dies at the End"

CRUNCH TIME! HOOAH!

As finals approach, I'm sure the majority of you, like me, are feeling the crunch. Projects loom, deadlines glare, and the tests themselves sit in a creaky rocking chair, giving you an odd look and holding a shotgun. I suppose what I'm wondering is this: Why the hell are these finals imposed on us? I mean, I understand the need for testing and benchmarking and whatnot, but why finish up with such a stresser? Wouldn't it make more sense to test us slightly harder throughout the year, rather than take a giant dump on us now? Just some food for thought.

Blocked?

Internet filters. We've all dealt with them. They have them in place at work, at school, and really anywhere professionalism is required.

Seems like a great idea; "Let's block all the porn and smut and hate and games from our computers." But how effective are they?

For one thing, filters often block required or helpful websites because of a stray word or previous abuse by someone ruining it for all of the other cats. Take, for example, youtube. Anyone who actually bothers to install a filter is probably blocking youtube. But what about when you need a video to help explain a point in a presentation? How about that important video project that you uploaded because Dad won't let you take his camera to school?

Furthermore, they're not hard to beat with a little bit of savvy. I'm not going to go into the details, but you should google "proxy" if you want to know more. Most students can, and do, circumvent the school blocks all of the time.

So why install them? They're just an obstruction. Maybe if they worked like they supposed to, people wouldn't hate them, but as of now, they suck.

A Christian Country?

Whilst watching The Colbert Report I gleaned an interesting idea from one of Colbert's patently ridiculous rants. Are we a Christian Nation? It seems pretty obvious when you look at our leaders. All of our presidents have followed some form of Christianity. Certainly, that should define us, right?

Wrong.

America is a melting-pot, where religious freedom is guaranteed. Other religions are practiced. Sure, Christianity has an overwhelming majority here, but that doesn't mean that they're in control, does it? I don't think that it does. What about you?

Why do we write?

Hey, kiddos, I was just thinking: Why do we write? By that I mean, why is it that, in every class, we construct essays and papers and expositions and write-ups? We all do it, even in classes that really shouldn't have writing in them (think math.)

I think it's because writing's good for the mind and soul. Think of it this way, there's two kinds of knowledge (as Bolos and O'Connor explained,) acquired knowledge and received knowledge. Received knowledge is basically facts that are given to you (Pythagorean theorem, History.) Acquired knowledge is when you figure out stuff for yourself. The latter is almost always better than the former for the brain. And guess what! Writing is one of the chief methods by which to acquire knowledge!

As far as writing being good for the soul, there's something magical about pouring your brains and heart and feelings onto a piece of paper or a computer screen. Kind of like the emotional release of suicide or crying, but without the messy cleanup.

That's what I think. What about you?

18? 21? Why not 16?

More RAAAAAAAAAAGE about being a teen!

Why's the age of alcohol purchase/cigarette purchase/consent so high in the USA? It's not in England or many other places for that matter? If I want to destroy my body for a mild and short-lived high, I should be allowed to whenever I want to.

Short one this time, kiddies.

Mmmmm... Sacrelicious....

Call me crazy, call me bigoted, call me stubborn, call me whatever you will, but I have a problem with religion, just like Freddy D. Well, not all religion, just judeo-christian religion, which, unfortunately, is dominant everywhere 'cept for eastern Asia.

Here's my problem. It's not so much with the religions themselves, but the people who follow them. Though the Bible, Torah, and Qur'an (sp?) preaches humility, meekness, peace, poverty, and fighting back against the rich and opressive. Yet those who promote and teach and preach their lessons for a living don't even abide by their most basic tenets.

For example, televangelists. You know them, they're on channel 3, publicly broadcasting, performing "miracles" and peddling their books. You ever watch them for a bit? I did, and it's what got me thinking. See, they have these HUUUUUGE crowds. I'm talking football stadium sized conference halls filled to the brim with their flock. And they're charging admission. Not only that, but they peddle books, potions, salves, tapes, tomes, and knick-knacks. Ever wonder how much they make? Take a look. Sickening, considering they preach POVERTY.

And what about holy wars? Just saying, all three holy books are based on the same Torah/Old Testament/Whatever moslims call the un-edited-by-mohammed part. They all have this one bit, it's called the Ten Commandments. I quote: "You shall not murder... You shall not steal." But, the Pope in the past and Moslim fanatics currently preach murder and theft of the possesions of "nonbelivers/infidels." Like, WTF? Seriously.

SEX! Now that I have your attention, let's talk about sex.

So, today I was feeling bored, so I'm gonna rant about sex. It's so damned taboo in this country, and in most Christian countries (yes, the US is a christian country, just look at our last president). But it's more than just sex being taboo. Bodies are taboo, too. Pardon my saying, but what's so secretive about breasts that movies even INVOLVING them require one to be 17 years old to see? I mean, they're just another body part, like an arm or a pancreas. Sure they're considered a sexual organ, but humans and pigs are the only animals that use them as such (Bonk, Mary Roach).

I suppose my rant is sort of about the state of American religion, as well. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, the big three that dominate America, all prohibit sexual desires. They say "NO" to masturbation, "NO" to being gay, and "NO" to divorce (read your damn bible), which, I believe, is why sex is so taboo here. Not to mention that current medical and psychological evidence shows that these three things are natural or even good for you.

So, I don't like that the US is so dominated by religion that sex is taboo.

Love or Obsession

Okay, so, today I was watching television, as usual, when random probability struck. I saw ten straight commercials for beauty products, weight-loss sorcery, and products being advertised by persons waaaaaaaay to hot to be real. It made me think: "Have we become a nation obsessed with beauty?" I mean, sure, it's nice to be beautiful and whatnot, but give it a rest already. We can't all be perfectly-chiseled guys or barbie-beauty girls. Unfortunately, some of us don't realize that, especially children. Some people eventually come to think that because they're not advertising-level beauty, they must be hideous. I myself have battled with that notion, before realizing that it was ridiculous. However, some of us never realize that we can't attain that level of beauty. So we strive for it. And sacrifice for it. Often, too much.

And what's wrong with being average, or even ugly? People have many other facets that determine their worth: Personality, Intelligence, Perseverance and Ingenuity, to name a few. I lost my train of thought right here when I was called away to do the dishes, so maybe someone else can help me pick it back up. COMMENTS! MOAR COMMENTS!

Um... can't think...

Um... yeah... can't think much this week... topics... eluding me...

Pumping evil into your schools.

It's 2:55 on friday, September 4th. I'm sitting in AIS class after listening to a long discussion about Obama's controversial speech that is going to be directed solely at schoolchildren. According to the media, America is throwing a shit-fit about it. Personally, I don't believe it. Being fairly liberal and entirely "go with the flow," I simply can't see why people would get so riled up about a president taking time to tell their kids to stay in school.

I think that the voice is coming entirely from the far right. People like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh who think Obama is a secret muslim with plans to kill our infrastructure and eat our babies. It's called the "tyranny of the few." Basically it's when a few people decide to throw a fit and have the power to back it up (in this case, threatening to sue the schools that decide to show the Obama speech).

But that's just my opinion.

We both knew it would go here.

Weed. Ganja. Dope. Marijuana. Whatever you want to call it, it's green, has five leaves, and it'll get you high. Oh, and it's illegal in the US. Or is it?

Being unable to think of anything good for this blog post, I decided to use an old debate standby. So I went over to google, my internet buddy, and asked him about marijuana's legality, and he told me something interesting. Apparently, medical marijuana is legal in 13 states. Unfortunately, state laws are trumped by federal laws, which prohibit marijuana.

But why is it only theoretically allowed anywhere? What's so bad about marijuana? It seems to be that marijuana is all-around better for you than alcohol, a legal drug. Why isn't it legal?

I think that it's kind of like prohibition. It was made criminal by special interest groups, it leads to lots of arrests, and it isn't so terrible. I believe that the reason that marijuana hasn't been, and alcohol has been decriminalized is because when alcohol was criminalized, there was nothing to get that level of high from, whereas now, with marijuana, there is an alternative.

I think the point is, people want to get high. People like loosening up and forgetting their troubles for a night. And without alcohol, we couldn't do that. So why booze over weed? Because people figured out how to make money from alcohol. Alcohol is a HUGE industry, because it was discovered that alcohol could be mass produced, cheaply. I'm sure we could do the same for marijuana, which would stimulate the no-longer-failing economy and perhaps, if it was government-controlled, pay off some of the massive government debt.

Just some pot for thought.