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And that's all for June - 30 June 2007
Jul. 1st, 2007 02:19 amThe month of June comes to an end without having found work - two months have now passed since graduation without success. There have been encouraging signs, however - interviews have occurred, and there have been rejection letters sent, which indicates that at least the application was looked at, even if it wasn’t selected. At some point, there will be a job. When it arrive, I don’t know.
Went to see a high school friend married today - which for uniqueness is more important, as well as the chance to catch up with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
laforce, but it might have been more raw fun to go have dinner with The Weirdo and co. My parents also wanted to do dinner tonight, so again the “everyone on the same day” rule seems to apply in my life. I acme home to watch... the CFL. The world does its very best to be strange, every day.
Anyway, onward to the links. There’s only so many days where you can say “Nothing new on this front” without either annoyance, aggravation, or depression setting in.
Another official has quit the Justice Department, with no reason given. This is the seventh since the Congressional investigation over the firing of nine federal prosecutors began. Seven members of the Justice Department, now. Makes you wonder what’s going on that this many people have left.
Iraq is strongly becoming even less of a nice place, and more sophisticated explosives and traps await the people who are there. The New York Times carries a story about a platoon's encounter with deep-buried bombs and houses wired to become explosive, with an apparent plan of exploding street bombs to make soldiers go into the explosive houses. London could have experienced another bombing attack today, but the vehicles that were laden with shrapnel and explosives were captured and neutralized.
The “Would You Kindly Stop Ripping Off Our Catchphrases?” department’s![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
dark_christian bureau deposits the plan for the "Summer of God's Love", intended to mimic the Summer of Love as we recall it, but instead of “drugs, casual sex and Eastern mysticism” and “the hippie lifestyle”, they want to make it a convergence of youth driving across America praising their version of God, and giving “healing” to the homosexual community, ending in San Francisco, a place they must consider in need of great “healing”. This seems to be a rather large problem in much of the conservative Christian community - the popular culture object is born of the culture, and is thus immoral in all sorts of ways that Good Christians can’t abide by, so they have to create their own, often changing the name and trying to replace all the bad parts with God-praising ones. It often looks very silly to the outside world, and I wonder how effective it is inside, having to have all that Godly stuff slapped on their attempts to have some fun.
That said, recall that Baptist denominations are varied. And thus, some non-Southern Baptists, not too happy at seeing their conservative brethren defining the sect, are pulling together and being active in defining themselves. They’ll have an uphill fight convincing the public that not all Baptists are Southern Baptists, and convincing the Southern Baptists to turn things down several notches so that the entire Baptist religion doesn’t get tarred with the same brush. Good fortune and skill to them for trying, anyway.
The Tricks to Keep You Occupied department passes along something frombossgoji, which is a list of things you can do that look weird, feel weird, or can just make people weirded out. Keep some of those handy for party tricks.
The Cool Things Department offers Dance Dance Immolation, a custom rig that has people dancing in fireproof suits, where the price of failure is getting not only flamed by the emcee, but by the flamethrowers pointing at you. The corresponding loss in speed and technique would probably have me failing pretty badly, even on songs I knew pretty well. I have trouble as it is with dance pads, with my tendency to have a foot that will tap the top and the bottom just above the arrow I want to hit, if I hit it square and flat-footed. I need either a smaller foot, a bigger arrow, or ballet training, so that I can DDR en pointe.
The Ancient Standard has an interesting blurb where scientists may have found the first gunshot victims in the Americas, about 1500 A.D., as the Conquisatdors came to the Incas and apparently didn’t like them enough to live and let live.
Last for tonight is a reminder and a rant. I regularly warn all of you that I am not an unbiased source, and that I will do things that will try to persuade you to my point of view. I know that, as intelligent people, you are able to extend this statement to the idea that all sources are biased to one degree or another, and are trying to convince you to subscribe to their opinion. Keep this thought in mind when reading the following article. It asks a question - Where Are All the Real Men?, which already gives you the writer’s opinion about what is to follow. The greater tragedy in Chris Benoit’s death, the writer argues, is that Benoit, WWE, professional athletes, and media culture are serving as the primary male role models for children. Those children who don’t have fathers, she laments, are even more susceptible to these messages glorifying violence, crime, and disrespect of women, because, she implies, there’s nobody around to teach them that being a man isn’t the things you see on TV They don’t have fathers, and there aren’t many male teachers to be good role models with. (I also note that she states with certainty that OJ Simpson killed his wife, although a jury found Simpson innocent of the crime. I don’t know what the rules are about a statement like that, but that sounds like it could present problems if Simpson wanted to pursue it. Not that he necessarily will, or even notices this.) So, where are all the real men?
I’d say they’re right there, if you cared to look for them. The “real men” might very well be women who are determined to ensure their boys are good boys, or other men who are around the boys’ lives, through mentorship, through programs, through other things. And there are probably plenty of people in their lives who are telling them who not to look up to and why. I don’t think she’s asking the right question if she wants to wonder why all the negative influence seems to be coming through loud and clear, and all the positive stuff is getting muffled. I think she wants to know “What makes these things so popular?” I doubt, somehow, that it’s a lack of Real (Wo)Men in their lives to teach them all about the nuclear family, the obvious advantages of a two parent household, heteronormativity, and the Inherent Superiority of a conservative lifestyle (okay, I think I’m embellishing here, there’s nothing in the article that implies the last two, as best I can tell). As she correctly surmises, the media messages show that the lifestyle has money, power, fame, and respect. To the people who this probably affects most, what they’re probably lacking is... money/the ability to procure all their needs, good self-image, and respect from others. Being fatherless may contribute to that unfortunate condition, but I’m pretty sure there are plenty of people who have fathers that want to be rappers/ballers for the same reasons. You want to help those kids? Give them the assurance that they’re not going to starve, they’re going to get a good, real, modern education with enough supplies and space for everyone, that their neighborhoods are going to be safe, that they’re going to have whatever support they need to express themselves and pursue their dreams, and that they’re not going to have to climb uphill and be looked down on by anyone because of their circumstances. Assure them that they’re not going to be sent to jail for fifteen years if they choose to smoke a joint while the other kid in the richer neighborhood snorts coke and gets escorted home by the police. And then prove that you weren’t just spouting hot air. If you can assure, and then prove, that these kids that they’ll be just as successful in school as they would be by joining gangs, or selling drugs, or any other of the ways they can fall off the straight and narrow, then they’re probably not going to do things that will jeopardize their futures. If you actually give them a real chance, you’d be surprised how many of them will take you up on it and show off that they’ve got the stuff to be famous, to be rich, to be powerful, and maybe even to be virtuous while they’re at it.
You want role models? Good. Make the society that would produce those kinds of role models, and there they are. Don’t expect some critical mass of good role models, who are likely exceptions to their situations, to change the society toward producing more of them. You want strong, healthy children? Provide that - make visits to the doctor affordable enough that even people who don’t have anything but their child able to afford them, and make whatever recommendations, prescriptions, and procedures the child needs to have done, according to the doctor, affordable enough. Then you’ll get a society that produces strong, healthy children as a majority. Want intelligent children that can turn sums in their heads and write novels on the back of their notepads? Fund their schooling with motivated teachers, modern supplies, and enough space for each child to learn well. Have parents default to fully supporting their school and their library and utilizing those resources at their fingertips fully. Want kids and adults who respect each other? Make sure everyone starts on the understanding that human beings are in this together. Don’t say that someone’s going to punishment because they don’t believe the same way you do, because they aren’t the same skin color you are, or because they don’t have the same means you do. Do this in thought, in word, and in deed, so that you don’t send a kid to jail for ten years because he had sex with a girl younger than he was in one place, and then exercise intelligence and interpretation and dismiss a case somewhere else.
I’m not saying it’s easy to cause a societal change overnight, or even within a generation or two. One of the Gandhi quotes slung about carelessly by many is “We must become the change we wish to see in the world” or something like it. If you stop and meditate on that idea for a bit, you realize that it requires effort from you, first, and then from everyone else, to bring about the society that you want. One of those clips from Dr. King is that he wants a world where people will be judged, not on the color of their skin, but on the content of their character. You can look to almost any “moral” source and find the same exhortation - it requires effort to become virtuous, and even more effort to inspire others to become virtuous through your own conduct. Reward for virtue is not always certain, either, which is probably why many of them offer some post-death enticement such as heaven or better rebirth as a goad when material rewards are not forthcoming for virtue. (Even Buddhism and Taoism require effort. You just learn how to apply it in the right places, and in the right amounts, to get the results desired. Even if the result desired to to be without desire.)
Of course, after all that angry speech, when I look at what I’ve just outlined as a plan, I say “There’s no way I can do all of that myself. What kind of masochist am I?” Then my good sense smacks me upside the head and says, “Dummy. What can you do but make yourself into the thing you want to be? The rest depends on other people.” And the task becomes manageable again. I’ll likely have no idea at all whether I’ve succeeded at it, or even what I’m trying to make myself into, until far after the point where that knowledge would be useful or inspiring. To whatever receives me, be it $deity or the inky void of the ceasing of all conscious processes, I can only hope that whatever purpose I was given or set for myself, I accomplished it. Failing that, that I acquitted myself well enough to be satisfied with it. (I also notice that any time I think or talk about the potential end of my existence, I don’t particularly like doing so. Probably because I’m young and would rather put off that kind of talk until I’ve put more experience on my life. Even though there’s no guarantees that I’m going to see tomorrow. Still, I suppose there’s some wisdom or accomplishment somewhere in being able to look at the possibility of the end of one’s life and be able to accept it.)
Anyway, don’t let that morbid digression detract from the fiery rage and exhortation for all people to improve themselves, be virtuous, and stand as the most excellent role models for the next generation to look on and want to be like. If you wonder where all the Real Men have gone, you only need to look inside yourself to find one. Regardless of whether you have a penis or not. I think I’m going to go to bed, and possibly see if some meditation or sleep will turn up something useful as a solution, as I think I’ve induced a doubting-my-own-abilities problem by thinking on this.
Went to see a high school friend married today - which for uniqueness is more important, as well as the chance to catch up with
laforce, but it might have been more raw fun to go have dinner with The Weirdo and co. My parents also wanted to do dinner tonight, so again the “everyone on the same day” rule seems to apply in my life. I acme home to watch... the CFL. The world does its very best to be strange, every day. Anyway, onward to the links. There’s only so many days where you can say “Nothing new on this front” without either annoyance, aggravation, or depression setting in.
Another official has quit the Justice Department, with no reason given. This is the seventh since the Congressional investigation over the firing of nine federal prosecutors began. Seven members of the Justice Department, now. Makes you wonder what’s going on that this many people have left.
Iraq is strongly becoming even less of a nice place, and more sophisticated explosives and traps await the people who are there. The New York Times carries a story about a platoon's encounter with deep-buried bombs and houses wired to become explosive, with an apparent plan of exploding street bombs to make soldiers go into the explosive houses. London could have experienced another bombing attack today, but the vehicles that were laden with shrapnel and explosives were captured and neutralized.
The “Would You Kindly Stop Ripping Off Our Catchphrases?” department’s
dark_christian bureau deposits the plan for the "Summer of God's Love", intended to mimic the Summer of Love as we recall it, but instead of “drugs, casual sex and Eastern mysticism” and “the hippie lifestyle”, they want to make it a convergence of youth driving across America praising their version of God, and giving “healing” to the homosexual community, ending in San Francisco, a place they must consider in need of great “healing”. This seems to be a rather large problem in much of the conservative Christian community - the popular culture object is born of the culture, and is thus immoral in all sorts of ways that Good Christians can’t abide by, so they have to create their own, often changing the name and trying to replace all the bad parts with God-praising ones. It often looks very silly to the outside world, and I wonder how effective it is inside, having to have all that Godly stuff slapped on their attempts to have some fun.That said, recall that Baptist denominations are varied. And thus, some non-Southern Baptists, not too happy at seeing their conservative brethren defining the sect, are pulling together and being active in defining themselves. They’ll have an uphill fight convincing the public that not all Baptists are Southern Baptists, and convincing the Southern Baptists to turn things down several notches so that the entire Baptist religion doesn’t get tarred with the same brush. Good fortune and skill to them for trying, anyway.
The Tricks to Keep You Occupied department passes along something from
bossgoji, which is a list of things you can do that look weird, feel weird, or can just make people weirded out. Keep some of those handy for party tricks.The Cool Things Department offers Dance Dance Immolation, a custom rig that has people dancing in fireproof suits, where the price of failure is getting not only flamed by the emcee, but by the flamethrowers pointing at you. The corresponding loss in speed and technique would probably have me failing pretty badly, even on songs I knew pretty well. I have trouble as it is with dance pads, with my tendency to have a foot that will tap the top and the bottom just above the arrow I want to hit, if I hit it square and flat-footed. I need either a smaller foot, a bigger arrow, or ballet training, so that I can DDR en pointe.
The Ancient Standard has an interesting blurb where scientists may have found the first gunshot victims in the Americas, about 1500 A.D., as the Conquisatdors came to the Incas and apparently didn’t like them enough to live and let live.
Last for tonight is a reminder and a rant. I regularly warn all of you that I am not an unbiased source, and that I will do things that will try to persuade you to my point of view. I know that, as intelligent people, you are able to extend this statement to the idea that all sources are biased to one degree or another, and are trying to convince you to subscribe to their opinion. Keep this thought in mind when reading the following article. It asks a question - Where Are All the Real Men?, which already gives you the writer’s opinion about what is to follow. The greater tragedy in Chris Benoit’s death, the writer argues, is that Benoit, WWE, professional athletes, and media culture are serving as the primary male role models for children. Those children who don’t have fathers, she laments, are even more susceptible to these messages glorifying violence, crime, and disrespect of women, because, she implies, there’s nobody around to teach them that being a man isn’t the things you see on TV They don’t have fathers, and there aren’t many male teachers to be good role models with. (I also note that she states with certainty that OJ Simpson killed his wife, although a jury found Simpson innocent of the crime. I don’t know what the rules are about a statement like that, but that sounds like it could present problems if Simpson wanted to pursue it. Not that he necessarily will, or even notices this.) So, where are all the real men?
I’d say they’re right there, if you cared to look for them. The “real men” might very well be women who are determined to ensure their boys are good boys, or other men who are around the boys’ lives, through mentorship, through programs, through other things. And there are probably plenty of people in their lives who are telling them who not to look up to and why. I don’t think she’s asking the right question if she wants to wonder why all the negative influence seems to be coming through loud and clear, and all the positive stuff is getting muffled. I think she wants to know “What makes these things so popular?” I doubt, somehow, that it’s a lack of Real (Wo)Men in their lives to teach them all about the nuclear family, the obvious advantages of a two parent household, heteronormativity, and the Inherent Superiority of a conservative lifestyle (okay, I think I’m embellishing here, there’s nothing in the article that implies the last two, as best I can tell). As she correctly surmises, the media messages show that the lifestyle has money, power, fame, and respect. To the people who this probably affects most, what they’re probably lacking is... money/the ability to procure all their needs, good self-image, and respect from others. Being fatherless may contribute to that unfortunate condition, but I’m pretty sure there are plenty of people who have fathers that want to be rappers/ballers for the same reasons. You want to help those kids? Give them the assurance that they’re not going to starve, they’re going to get a good, real, modern education with enough supplies and space for everyone, that their neighborhoods are going to be safe, that they’re going to have whatever support they need to express themselves and pursue their dreams, and that they’re not going to have to climb uphill and be looked down on by anyone because of their circumstances. Assure them that they’re not going to be sent to jail for fifteen years if they choose to smoke a joint while the other kid in the richer neighborhood snorts coke and gets escorted home by the police. And then prove that you weren’t just spouting hot air. If you can assure, and then prove, that these kids that they’ll be just as successful in school as they would be by joining gangs, or selling drugs, or any other of the ways they can fall off the straight and narrow, then they’re probably not going to do things that will jeopardize their futures. If you actually give them a real chance, you’d be surprised how many of them will take you up on it and show off that they’ve got the stuff to be famous, to be rich, to be powerful, and maybe even to be virtuous while they’re at it.
You want role models? Good. Make the society that would produce those kinds of role models, and there they are. Don’t expect some critical mass of good role models, who are likely exceptions to their situations, to change the society toward producing more of them. You want strong, healthy children? Provide that - make visits to the doctor affordable enough that even people who don’t have anything but their child able to afford them, and make whatever recommendations, prescriptions, and procedures the child needs to have done, according to the doctor, affordable enough. Then you’ll get a society that produces strong, healthy children as a majority. Want intelligent children that can turn sums in their heads and write novels on the back of their notepads? Fund their schooling with motivated teachers, modern supplies, and enough space for each child to learn well. Have parents default to fully supporting their school and their library and utilizing those resources at their fingertips fully. Want kids and adults who respect each other? Make sure everyone starts on the understanding that human beings are in this together. Don’t say that someone’s going to punishment because they don’t believe the same way you do, because they aren’t the same skin color you are, or because they don’t have the same means you do. Do this in thought, in word, and in deed, so that you don’t send a kid to jail for ten years because he had sex with a girl younger than he was in one place, and then exercise intelligence and interpretation and dismiss a case somewhere else.
I’m not saying it’s easy to cause a societal change overnight, or even within a generation or two. One of the Gandhi quotes slung about carelessly by many is “We must become the change we wish to see in the world” or something like it. If you stop and meditate on that idea for a bit, you realize that it requires effort from you, first, and then from everyone else, to bring about the society that you want. One of those clips from Dr. King is that he wants a world where people will be judged, not on the color of their skin, but on the content of their character. You can look to almost any “moral” source and find the same exhortation - it requires effort to become virtuous, and even more effort to inspire others to become virtuous through your own conduct. Reward for virtue is not always certain, either, which is probably why many of them offer some post-death enticement such as heaven or better rebirth as a goad when material rewards are not forthcoming for virtue. (Even Buddhism and Taoism require effort. You just learn how to apply it in the right places, and in the right amounts, to get the results desired. Even if the result desired to to be without desire.)
Of course, after all that angry speech, when I look at what I’ve just outlined as a plan, I say “There’s no way I can do all of that myself. What kind of masochist am I?” Then my good sense smacks me upside the head and says, “Dummy. What can you do but make yourself into the thing you want to be? The rest depends on other people.” And the task becomes manageable again. I’ll likely have no idea at all whether I’ve succeeded at it, or even what I’m trying to make myself into, until far after the point where that knowledge would be useful or inspiring. To whatever receives me, be it $deity or the inky void of the ceasing of all conscious processes, I can only hope that whatever purpose I was given or set for myself, I accomplished it. Failing that, that I acquitted myself well enough to be satisfied with it. (I also notice that any time I think or talk about the potential end of my existence, I don’t particularly like doing so. Probably because I’m young and would rather put off that kind of talk until I’ve put more experience on my life. Even though there’s no guarantees that I’m going to see tomorrow. Still, I suppose there’s some wisdom or accomplishment somewhere in being able to look at the possibility of the end of one’s life and be able to accept it.)
Anyway, don’t let that morbid digression detract from the fiery rage and exhortation for all people to improve themselves, be virtuous, and stand as the most excellent role models for the next generation to look on and want to be like. If you wonder where all the Real Men have gone, you only need to look inside yourself to find one. Regardless of whether you have a penis or not. I think I’m going to go to bed, and possibly see if some meditation or sleep will turn up something useful as a solution, as I think I’ve induced a doubting-my-own-abilities problem by thinking on this.
