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The AZN Wolverine: July 2006

Monday, July 31, 2006

to critics of our president

Whenever informal talk of our government or our presidency arises, there always tends to be a particular line that comes up. Someone will typically make the offhand comment that "Bush is an idiot." Chances are if you haven't verbally announced this, the thought has gone through your head more than once. Yeah, Bush is portrayed as a fool by the media at times, but if you're a critic, tell me how often you watch the news. How often you keep up with world events. How many speeches you have actually watched Bush give. I doubt very many if any. Before you go about bashing him for a few sound bites, check yourself and read.

I find it both ironic and funny when it comes to you people who say "Bush is an idiot." What the fuck do you know? Tell me something about world politics, international diplomacy, globalization, foreign policy, energy crises, petropolitics, amnesty, humanitarian aid, terrorism, worldwide poverty, genocide, war, peace. Tell me about Hugo Chavez, Haniya, Ahmadinejad, Nasrallah. Tell me where the G8 Conference was recently held and just who the Group of Eight are. Name me someone in Al-Qaeda besides Osama and al-Zarqawi. And tell me something besides what you've seen on the news when you glanced over it for the 10 seconds you watched it, and besides the basic 101 shit you've learned in class that makes you think you're so intelligent and empowered. Unless you go to an Ivy League school, chances are very, extremely, definitively high that Bush is smarter than you, placing you several notches below that of your aforementioned "idiot", effectively making you a fucking retard, or a fucktard. I'd like to see you get into Yale and after that, get an MBA from Harvard. Yes, there's no doubt that it's hard to turn someone down when they have a powerful congressman and future President on their list of affiliations, but Bush still got in nonetheless and came out with a degree.

Above his political means and also his speaking troubles, people tend to criticize Bush for dodging the draft and Vietnam by joining the Coast Guard. Firstly, I'd like to see your asses join the military. But of course you critics wont because you're a bunch of pussy asses with big mouths and no balls. Not even the army; go ahead and join the "Bush was a pussy to join the" Coast Guard, then you can say something. Of course he wasn't going to fight in Vietnam, his father was the Congressman of Texas at the time. Even if GDub wanted to fight and volunteered as a point man for the worst hot spots of Vietnam (a point man's survivability rate in Vietnam was an average of something like eight minutes), the government would ensure that there was no way in hell he'd go over there. It's the way the government works, protecting our future assets and peacekeepers, while letting the young and uneducated die in foreign countries as peacemakers. It's the way our country has always been so don't go blaming Bush right away. At least he served our military in some form, which is probably more than you will ever be able to claim.

And for the ever-bitching Democrats: As my fellow blog michiganissuperiortoyourcollege/Tales of the Crypt points out, you can't complain about Bush being president in the slightest, because you chose a candidate who COULDN'T BEAT HIM. If Bush is an idiot, Kerry is, well, fucktarded.

People, especially college kids and to a lesser extent, high school kids, are quick to point the finger without any justification or reinforcement whatsoever toward their claims. Someone will say, "Bush is an idiot" but if you ask them why, they'll give you the same common, nonsensical answers that are recycled more than Red Dog cans on MSU's campus. "He talks stupid." "The War in Iraq." "Stem cell research." "Immigration." If these people would actually look into, research, and see what Bush is doing towards these issues they would shut the fuck up and be appeased. If these people would actually READ (or watch, or listen; basically any form of consuming information) something about the issues they would realize that the President is doing things about them, but no, ignorance is the dominant factor in their minds. This leads to stupidity and ignominious remarks that are oftentimes in truth are the complete opposite of what the dumbass speaker is trying to say. I commend Bush for his recent stands on immigration and stem cell research, both of which make compromises and thus create the best overall path for growth.

I am not saying that Bush is the perfect president. I am not claiming he's exceptional, excellent, or even great. Every president has their flaws, and Bush certainly has a good amount of them. But he's competent enough to handle a country who for the most part is ignorant and because so, go completely against whatever he does and says. For him it's damn if you do, damn if you don't, out of the frying pan, into the fire, because the hoi polloi can never be pleased and for the most part don't know what the fuck they're talking about. It's people like him, those who are able to persevere and create success under fire, that are required for America, and also the world, to exist. I'm not going to parade in the streets in support of George W. I'm not saying you're completely wrong to criticize him either; on the contrary, it is a citizen's duty to do so. But if you do, make sure you're actually criticizing him and not just making a simple insult, because it would be you seeming like an idiot instead of him.

michiganissuperiortoyourcollege.blogspot.com/Tales From The Crypt

Tales From The Crypt: Political Commentary for the College Freshman <- READ THIS

Friday, July 28, 2006

padre de familia

Have you ever tried listening to Family Guy in SAP? It's pretty damn trippy, the next time you've got the show tuned in, press the "Alternate Audio" button on your remote. You'll be in for some good laughs.

Now, a Family Guy mural para su diversión.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

just fyi

Salsa expires faster than I thought. Keep that in mind the next time you get some.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

good tv tonight

10PM on ESPN - The Contender Season Two - Two Hour Premiere

This is by far the best reality TV show on television. Last season was incredible and inspired me to take up boxing (to an extent). Hosted by Rocky himself, Sly Stallone, and Sugar Ray Leonard, the show features potential boxing stars fighting against each other in the ultimate battle for boxing supremacy.

12AM on Adult Swim - The Boondocks - Episode 1 - The Trial of R. Kelly
- When the trial of R&B star R. Kelly comes to town, Huey and Riley are on opposing sides of the hot-button "underage peeing" issue.

Make sure to catch both or else you're missing out on damn good television.

The Contender
The Boondocks

Monday, July 17, 2006

more boondocks

Adult Swim's website just released some Boondocks wallpapers to supplement the new interviews they had with Aaron McGruder and the cast of the show. Here's one that is now wallpapered on my desktop:



I hold The Boondocks in such high regard that this wallpaper replaced the one I had of the superultramegahot Catherine Bell (remember her from JAG):




If you haven't seen The Boondocks yet, you really should, because it's one of the best shows on television, and it's my fav right now. The show is so goddamn good that I nearly walked into a Hot Topic because they had Boondocks clothes on display and for sale. Nearly. If anything I'd order it from their website, but I'd never walk into one of those places. Don't discount the show either because it's a cartoon: it stands alone from the rest of Adult Swim's maniacal and hilarious shows in the sense that it's one of the smartest shows on television right now, and definitely the best show that displays America's racial and cultural identity and conflicts. The Boondocks is on Adult Swim every single night this week at 12AM, be sure to catch it.

Tonight's episode: Episode 4: Granddad's Fight
- Grandad and Colonel Stinkmeaner have a beef. One man's blind. One man's feeble. Both are really, really old. Let "The Slugfest in Woodcrest" commence!

[adult swim]
[adult swim] - The Boondocks
[adult swim] - The Boondocks Interviews
[adult swim] - The Boondocks Comic

the debate



I'm debating whether or not Pee Wee's Playhouse is worth watching sober. I'm leaning towards no. Adult Swim, in their crazyass technique of rereleasing abandonware TV shows, decided to start showing it starting last Monday. Me Mir and Razz watched the first four episodes completely stoned and I honestly felt a full body high, not something you'd typically get on grass, and similar to the sensation shrooms gives you. I lost my mind and screamed continuously at the television when I saw Pee Wee open his freezer, where twin popsicles and other such freezer items skated around on a frozen pond. I honestly don't know how the fuck the show was intended for kids. It probably really wasn't. If I were a parent I wouldn't just threaten to beat my kid's asses if they watched the show, I would probably try to assassinate Paul Ruebens.

Adult Swim also put the first aired episode first for one reason:


Yes. That's Morpheus. Laurence Fishburne's early career involved working on Pee Wee's Playhouse as "Cowboy Curtis". The episode involved him swinging an imaginary cartoon lasso around an imaginary cartoon animal, and asking Pee Wee in a country accent, "Can we get some horses Pee Wee?"

Other people who had roles in Pee Wee's Playhouse: Phil Hartman, Wanda Sykes, and that one chick from American Pie 2 who didn't have a big role.

Check out Pee Wee's Playhouse on Adult Swim, Mon-Thurs @ 11PM, but make sure you're fucked up when you watch it, it'll be a lot funnier that way.


Wish? Did somebody say wish?
Mekka Lekka Hi-Mekka Hiney Ho!
Mekka Lekka Hi-Mekka Chonny Ho!
Mola-Mekka Channa Mekka Hoola Molla Hey!

Everybody say it together!

[adult swim] - Pee-wee's Playhouse - Clips

YEAAAAAH

My English class tomorrow was cancelled. Fuck yes. It's not particularly hard or anything, and all we're supposed to do tomorrow is discuss a film we saw on Thursday, The Searchers with John Wayne (not bad). Still, it's the summer, and on top of that my class is two hours long. I'm fricking ecstatic at the fact that half my classes for this week are over and I have a break until Thursday.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

fuckin a

The "a" key on my keyboard is going bunk. Some strange substance, an amalgamic combination of pop/gatorade/candy/a pear/other random shit was stuck underneath it. I removed the keyboard on my laptop, and even though I should've shut the power off and grounded myself I definitely did not accomplish that. After removing the keyboard it turns out you can't just flip it over and clean off the keys so I had to pop off the key manually. Mirasaol lost his "M" key once and Brad lost an entire keyboard before so I was hesitant to do it at first, but it's pretty easy, you just have to slide the key up and off it pops. There was a lot of gunk underneath and I even popped off and cleaned underneath the "s" key too. But of course, as Murphy will always inevitably dictate, after I put all the wires back on and connected all the shit back together it turns out the "a" key still jams occasionally. Fuck.

Today's letter of the day is "a", which stands for "assholic".

eat your words

Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, declared an "open war" against Israel on Friday after his offices were bombed in Beirut. Israel responded by bombing the office again on Saturday.


(Not a photo of the actual event)

This has nothing to do with the event either, but can you imagine this happening over your home? Be glad we're fucking Americans and we're on the aerial end.


what is the difference between whites and asians?

Mirasol sent this to me a little while ago:


The funny parts are: 1. It's completely, absolutely, unequivocally true - another explanation for the "Less Chick" law which dictates why white guys always get Asian girls but Asian guys never get white girls, and 2. that me Mirasol and Zeke had just played SC and I had asked three Asian friends if they wanted to get together a big 4v4 PvP game going. One instance:

OneShot315: yo man would you play a 4v4 starcraft game
Chenny85: maybe
OneShot315: ok
OneShot315: just let me know
OneShot315: do you know anyone else who plays the game
Chenny85: hmm
Chenny85: my neighbors do
Chenny85: we should just have a lan party
Chenny85: LOL
OneShot315: yeah man come to my place
Chenny85: get like 10 people
Chenny85: we can have a huge lan party
Chenny85: damn thats soo asian
Chenny85: :P
OneShot315: yeah it is
OneShot315: so true but funny hahahah
Chenny85: can you get some girls to play
Chenny85: LOLLL
OneShot315: uh
OneShot315: not hot ones man
Chenny85: yea i know some ugly ones that play

I bet his neighbors are Asian. Some other funny pictures involving Zinedine Zidane, the infamous headbutter:


Saturday, July 15, 2006

easy money

Do you ever feel bad, or at least worried that out there in the world there are people twice your age, people who are supposed to carry the burdens of society, who are quite stupider than you? Take my motorcycle class today for instance. Consider the circumstances: last night after drinking I was up until 4:30 in the morning at Kensey's making sure Richard wasn't going to pass out and/or throw up on her bathroom floor. I got about three hours of sleep last night and rode motorcycles all today in the 90 degree heat. After 12 hours of class and not studying the riding handbook whatsoever, we're given a 50 question test. I finished it in two minutes, maybe two and a half, check it over, and I'm still the second person done. It takes other people up to 20 minutes to finish and after receiving the results it turns out I finished with a 98 on the test. I understand that some people may not be as mentally acute as I am, but I'm certainly not the smartest person out there.

In any case, motorcycle class is fucking sweet. After awhile you forget that you're even on a bike; it feels like you're flying. And I didn't even go past 20 mph. I cannot wait to pick up my crotch rocket and when I do I'll feel like a kid on Christmas morning.

Friday, July 14, 2006

this is how the world ends

OneShot315: yo man
erose33187: hey yo
OneShot315: man how many battles is israel going to fight
OneShot315: and does this happen all the time? because it seems like there's really no consequence to it at all
erose33187: i wouldnt say it happens all the time, but israel has been in either a constant state or threat of war since 1948
OneShot315: right
OneShot315: its so volatile but it seems like world war 3 is never an issue
erose33187: the last few days have definately been scary
erose33187 : there was an editorial in the newspaper arguing that for all intensive purposes, ww3 is essentially now
OneShot315: right thats what i'm worried about
OneShot315: all it takes is one shot and boom
erose33187: i know
OneShot315: israel doesn't seem like they're going to stop until those troops are returned and maybe not even then
OneShot315: and we're certainly not going to do anything about it
erose33187: i strongly dislike bush, but the one thing i like is that he is a pretty big israel supporter
erose33187: if shit really hits the fan, i imagine we would have israels back
erose33187: but yea--all the fundimentalist islams have every intention of starting a war

----------
"They say the heat makes people crazy."

- Huey Freeman, The Boondocks


Israeli forces expanded reprisals in Lebanon on July 13, a day after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight. Above, Israeli artillery firing into Lebanon. This and the next four photos are from the New York Times.


Israeli artillery firing across the border into southern Lebanon.


Fuel tanks burn at the Beirut International Airport after it was attacked by Israeli aircraft.


Lebanese citizens carry away the body of a victim, found under rubble, after Israeli warplanes targeted a house in the village of Zebqin, in the southern town of Tyre, Lebanon.


The attacks could strand thousands of visitors at the peak of the tourism season.







Israeli bombing of Lebanon and results on July 14, 2006.
Photos from Yahoo! News.

----------
Mistah Kurtz—he dead.

A penny for the Old Guy

I

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats’ feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar

Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death’s other Kingdom
Remember us—if at all—not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.

II

Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
In death’s dream kingdom
These do not appear:
There, the eyes are
Sunlight on a broken column
There, is a tree swinging
And voices are
In the wind’s singing
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star.

Let me be no nearer
In death’s dream kingdom
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises
Rat’s coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field
Behaving as the wind behaves
No nearer—

Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom

III

This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man’s hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.

Is it like this
In death’s other kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.

IV

The eyes are not here
There are no eyes here
In this valley of dying stars
In this hollow valley
This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms

In this last of meeting places
We grope together
And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river

Sightless, unless
The eyes reappear
As the perpetual star
Multifoliate rose
Of death’s twilight kingdom
The hope only
Of empty men.

V

Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o’clock in the morning.


Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long

Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom

For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
- T.S. Eliot, Hollow Men

----------
World War III is near. You can feel it. I used to think I was just over-worried because I'm a college student and this shit has relevance in my life for the first time. I used to think that every generation has its wars and conflicts and we've gotten through it all without mass destruction on a global scale. Except that now we're in the nuclear age, where a country can be wiped off a map with a single malicious thought and the press of a button. America is the Death Star come to life.

We've long been a war-mongering country. Someone has to police the world, and someone has to take out the garbage, regardless of how much opposition may occur. Seeing as how we are the world's (and therefore, all of life's) premiere superpower, it is our duty to make sure tyranny and oppression everywhere are banished. Of course, that is only if we have socioeconomic and/or political interest in the region. These events, mostly invasion and rebuilding projects, have really shown no long-term productivity. Panama, Somalia, Kosovo, Kuwait. We've "aided" all these countries by flexing our military force and none really have seemed to step into the limelight again. Now we're trying again with Iraq.

Iraq isn't the main issue. Terrorism is growing at slow rates throughout various countries, the US included. While these homemade cells may be small, all it takes is one crazed individual to walk into a landmark with a bomb strapped to his body. Aside from terrorism, you have a bleak outlook at the rest of the world. The UN has little confidence in the US, especially when it comes to requesting orders. Our main ally, England, is only held back by America's dog, Tony Blair. Israel's lobby has such a foothold in our Congress that Israel can invade countries unabated, such as their invasion of Lebanon to attack Hamas and into the Gaza Strip to rescue Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who is still captured. The world powers called for Israel to halt their progress, or at least do so in a relatively quiet fashion, but Bush keeps mum. Iran has long been an enemy, and is now developing nuclear technology. With the amount of nuclear missiles and powerplants America has, who are we to say another country can't do so? And now, North Korea recently test-fired missiles that are capable of hitting America's west coast. Israel is our next closest ally besides England, and Hezbollah has already begun firing rockets at them. Palestine has uncountable katyushas aimed at Israel from the mountains, ready to fire at a single command.

We could wait for Kim Jong-il and Castro and Osama to slowly expire and send hitmen to take out Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ismail Haniya. We've already dealt with al-Zarqawi, whose name no longer rings bells as loudly as it once did. But in the myth of a lernaean hydra, whose head is replaced by two more, as soon as these leaders are gone, someone will take their place. It's a recurring cycle that has continued throughout history and has yet to change its course.

Another problem presents itself in that the elder leaders of these "axis of evil" nations may be tyrannical fucks, but they're nevertheless wise and therefore hesitant to do anything stupid, i.e. launching a nuke. When they die, who knows what kind of hothead maverick young gun will take over? The worst possible thing that could happen in one of these countries (and even in the US) is having these revolutionary-type assholes take control. Nothing good can come out of that and you can't rule the world if there's nothing left to rule over.


Another small thing I've noticed: throughout history Christians have battled Muslims, and although it isn't glitzed up by the media because of ratings, it's happening again. Christian America and its Christian allies are going to war against the Moors. The Muslims have already called a jihad, but the Vatican isn't about to declare a holy war. Where are the Knights Templar? In the US military, that's where.

We've been building a long list of grievances, enemies, and allies who no longer confide in us. All it takes now is one shot from one country and the world will all go to hell. I don't think people realize how volatile the situation is; talk only gets you so far, and the mouths of politicans are definitely getting tired. In the sheltered environment of a college campus or anywhere else in America, the problems are only seen on the news and are dismissed along with whatever food is served at dinnertime. I just hope key people keep their calm and keep their trigger fingers in check.

what's wrong with young people today?

Courtesy of Adult Swim:
  • Who cares?
  • They need at least three energy drinks before they can be bothered to do anything.
  • They think the world is gay and none of it's their fault.
  • They're all pretentious pricks.
  • Microwaves.
  • They need instant gratification.
  • They prefer an easy day's reward to a hard day's work.
  • None of them have done anything worth a damn.
  • Being happy is expensive, because they're all consumer whores.

what's wrong with old people today?

Courtesy of Adult Swim:
  • Golf. It's the only sport they have left.
  • All of them think they single-handedly ended segregation and/or beat the Nazis.
  • Now they can't even work a remote, because they're technologically retarded.
  • Life is way too fast.
  • Everything was better back in the days that they're always complaining about.
  • Everyone's already heard everything they have to say.
  • Their best times happened when they were younger and they've already started to forget them.
  • No one appreciates how great their racist ass generation was.

gross

A squirrel is eating vomit outside of my window in the parking lot. Fucking sick. He knows I'm watching him too and occasionally glimpses at me, probably thinking, "Yeah, I got this food and you don't bitch." Keep hoping, asshole.

"don't blame MySpace for my generation's soul-searching"

- by Brad Stulberg, my former teammate and roommate

Read his op-ed article in it's entirety on the Detroit News website here.

Wayward Michigan girl reflects teens who seek meaning in world of affluence

Brad Stulberg

Katherine R. Lester's recent trip ended just shy of the West Bank when authorities intercepted her in Jordan. Yet the journey of soul-searching for the Lester family and for bewildered parents across the world has just begun.

Katherine, a then 16-year-old rural Michigan girl who is an exceptional student, met Abdullah Jinzawi of Jericho through My-Space -- an interactive global networking device that allows individuals of all ages from all places to forge cyber relationships.

Katherine seemed no different from any of her friends. She told her parents she was traveling to Canada and ended up in Amman, Jordan, trying to meet Abdullah.

But why?

I am a contemporary of Katherine's and the one thing we share in common may be the most important to understanding what went wrong: We are members of Generation Y.

Born into the age of abundance, our generation has grown up surrounded by infinite material pleasures. We are often told how lucky we are and how thankful we should be for our luxury cars and our LCD iPods.

While we may have endless material wealth, my generation lacks something far more important -- moral wealth. Moreover, we lack an overall sense of meaning.

Quite frankly, outside of deciding between Gap or Polo, my generation hasn't had to struggle for anything. In our lack of struggle, my generation is struggling to find meaning and self-worth.

We search all over. In yoga studios, we bend over backwards, longing to achieve peace of mind. When we walk the aisles of Whole Foods, we are really just hungry to find something wholesome about ourselves. Addicted to reality TV, we live vicariously, ignoring our own, often empty reality.

My generation's latest stop in our quest for meaning can be found on the cyber-highway. MySpace and similar online networks have become a refuge. For so long, we have been desperate for someone to listen, searching for something to verify our purpose and self-worth. We found MySpace. Katherine found Abdullah.

In reality, the recent MySpace fiasco should not be so surprising. MySpace is the perfect product for my generation. On My-Space, we think we are finding the meaningful intangibles we have sought for the better part of our lives. In Katherine's case, she was sure that she found love.

While it is hard to say if love has gone cyber, we can all agree that no 16-year-old girl (now 17) should be traveling to the West Bank to meet, for all intents and purposes, a stranger.

Somewhere along the line, there was a breakdown of responsibility and decision-making in the Lester household.

Still, none of this would have happened without MySpace.

Pundits have already suggested MySpace be regulated and that a new policy be created to prevent future incidents from ending in the Middle East. But perhaps the real underlying problem here isn't MySpace, but MyGeneration.

Brad Stulberg is a 19-year-old Farmington Hills resident who attends the University of Michigan. Fax letters to (313) 222-6417. E-mail letters to letters@detnews.com.

----------

I'll write an article about MySpace in the near future. It's no doubt one of today's greatest achievements and failures, all wrapped up in one cesspool of ignorance and immaturity. In any case Brad is right; MySpace is a portal to many whom after years upon years (and many of the members of MySpace are experiencing those years now) of peer pressures and living the popularity caste in school, can to a limited extent open up. MySpace isn't by any means a new concept; Friendster, Facebook (which is by far better), and even AsianAvenue back in the day had the "online get together meet random people" concept that MySpace completely duplicated. That's why I was surprised it even made it so far, but I guess it won the war of attrition. MySpace allows people to show off their individuality to the world, and lets people feel like they have their 15 minutes of fame because they're displayed to such an enormous community. That's one reason I think MySpace is, to put it lightly, idiotic, but I'll talk about that later.

I've done yoga with Brad and shopped Whole Foods with him as he mentions in the article, and it's made to me clear now that both of these events are trends. Yoga is already a annual billion-dollar market and Whole Foods is an ever-growing chain of "health" food stores that will more likely than not stick around. Our generation, Generation Y, easily succumbs, surrenders, and sucks off these types of trends, and goes further to show our key fault, which Adult Swim has loudly advertised before: Generation Y is a bunch of consumer whores.

It's how we've grown up and how we were raised, and is the only society and culture in which we know how to live. It's unimaginable to be put into a position in a foreign country, where money is scarce and instant gratification is beyond a second thought. No one hates money but no one realizes what it does either, because everyone is too blinded by its powers. In my opinion, America regards money greater than God, and that will be America's eventual downfall. We fight for our right to preserve our freedom of consumption while our enemies fight for their religious right to existence. The latter usually tends to fight with more ferocity and passion, although our side has the financial savvy to create better, more efficient killing technologies, which is why we're winning our wars.

A counterpoint to Brad's argument:

OneShot315: did you see stulberg's oped in the detroit news
Nggoodz7: yea its cool that he's in there but i totally disagree with the article
OneShot315: really why
Nggoodz7: because its all bullshit, first, he's not the spokesman for our generation, two, WE havent had anything to struggle for, but WE represent the bottom percentile of our generation, there's a world outside farmington hills where kids dont have their parents money
OneShot315: isn't that what he's trying to say
Nggoodz7: no
Nggoodz7: rich kids have always been rich kids
Nggoodz7: there's no generation disparity
OneShot315: yeah that is true
OneShot315: and most of them go on to lead rich successful lives
Nggoodz7: i think its an incredibly broad generalization
Nggoodz7: i dont think dante down in the atlanta ghetto is a 20=year old thinkin about his ipod and gap and polo, our families represent 5% of this country
Nggoodz7: i want to write an angry reply so it gets published, i mean im proud of him for writing something but im vehemently against it
Nggoodz7: i just dont think regular, middle class america can say how "we're always told to be thankful for our luxury cars and ipods"
Nggoodz7: i think those kids work their asses off to afford a crappy car and maybe save up enough money for an expensive toy
OneShot315: yeah i mean i guess it goes both ways there are some real rich kids and others who aren't so much
Nggoodz7: theres a lot more middle class and poor kids than there are rich kids
OneShot315: yeah
OneShot315: in our high school parking lot there were a lot of crappy cars but i'm sure there were a lot more nicer cars than at your average school
Nggoodz7: i mean yeah its farmington hills
Nggoodz7: but we are sheltered and well off
OneShot315: yes we are
Nggoodz7: and i like every minute of it
OneShot315: of course
Nggoodz7: although i feel if i were poor id be angry and better at sports

In this case Goods is right, we do have a certain work ethic instilled in us after seeing how successful our parents our with their six figure salaries, but nevertheless our expectations of living are much higher than those outside. I'm not in much of a position to say a lot considering I was born into, have grown up in, and still reside in one of the richest counties in America (word up to the real OC) and still have all of my necessities handed to me by my parents, but realizing the problem is the first step towards the solution.

Saturday, July 08, 2006

cycling

Did you know that the Tour de France was going on? The only reason I found this out was because I was boringly scanning through channels and ran into OLN, their official channel along with the occasional CBC showing which I don't get on DirecTV anyways. It seems like without Lance, America, and more importantly, ESPN, is certainly reluctant to put hype or even significant coverage on the sport. I haven't heard anything at all about the Tour de France starting, while the past few years have been all Lance all the time. There was that one reality show on the Discovery Channel where American cyclists tried to take over Lance's spot on the squad, but I bet that show gets less viewers than Wilmer Valderrama's "Yo Mamma" show on MTV (which I'm ashamed to say I've seen more than once). Being overshadowed by Wimbeldon and the World Cup doesn't help, but without a superstar to cash on, it looks like the Tour will be soon and long forgotten in America's minds for quite awhile now.

Official site of Tour de France

Official site of Fez's "Yo Mamma"

Friday, July 07, 2006

i also think it's ridiculously gay...

...that I have only had two class periods in this class and I already have a paper due. Also, there is a paper due every subsequent week (for a total of six 3-4 page papers), due Friday before noon, which means I can't go out on Thursday nights and have to wake up early on Friday, and walk all the way down to my Prof's office to deliver it before it's due. It's true that I could get the paper done early, but that would require getting the reading done early and spending more time doing things I'd rather not. So that's not in the realm of possibility.

I like to write obviously, but about things I'm interested in, not in doing a close reading analysis of a single paragraph in the Scarlet Letter. I guess it's what I get for taking truncated summer courses, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy it.

scribes are fools

Does anyone actually write stuff out by hand anymore? I'm referring specifically to essays. I was just looking over the requirements on my Intro to Lit class (not fun) and it said, as do probably all syllabi that have paper requirements, that papers have to be either printed or typed. Why the hell do teachers put this on there? Do people actually print out essays by hand? Is this still the 19th century? Do we not have superfast typing computers? Even if you type slow, it's more than likely faster than you can write, and most definitely a hell of a lot less painful on the hand. I can understand brainstorming a few lines or maybe up to a page, but writing a six-page essay by hand, even with double spacing, is honestly certifiably retarted. Do you know anyone who does this? I feel bad because I'm sure there's someone out there who does, but if you're on a college campus, it's not that hard to get onto a computer.