Broken lives and independence

In all our lives we face challenges. The Challenge of rejection, betrayal, and broken promises. Going from a time when you think you're in control to a time that you are out of control is tough. You believe that logic and your own will power will get you through, but what if it can't? What if all the external support has eroded and you're left with emptiness? Some of us who have faith would then call on God for help, but such an act would be perceived as being weak and defeatist. But is it really? If you can't have it your way and are self destructing then aren't you at the pinnacle of weakness anyway?

Having the experience of counseling a friend of mine has been challenging. I find that I don't have the answer, but I already know I can't help better then God can. All we can do is pray that those who deny God, but demand for resolve, will find a way to fill that God-shaped-hole.

~J out

Gen Yers making their stand!

It's hard to label yourself as part of the "Me Generation" but yeah.. I'm one of 'em and now a magazine that usually writes about successful billion dollar corporations is writing about us. On their recent issue of Fortune Magazine, front page is the article "Attracting the twentysomething worker." The article goes into some depth discussing the recent phenomena of Gen Yers entering the traditional workplace with little qualms about speaking up if something isn't right.

Generation Y: Its members are different in many respects, from their upbringing to their politics. But it might be their effect on the workplace that makes them truly noteworthy - more so than other generations of twentysomethings that writers have been collectively profiling since time immemorial.

They're ambitious, they're demanding and they question everything, so if there isn't a good reason for that long commute or late night, don't expect them to do it. When it comes to loyalty, the companies they work for are last on their list - behind their families, their friends, their communities, their co-workers and, of course, themselves.

That's just an excerpt from the three page article that details how we, as a generation, are making a mark on the established working world.

Raised by Baby-boomers whose oath was to be the opposite of their parents are now encouraging their "little birds" to slowly move in to the workplace. The difference from when they were entering the field to now is that our "values" might have already been set to value encouragement and praise, rather then silent suffering. A career to us might be a field of work rather then a companies name. It might only last for 10 years rather then 30-40 years, and to top it all off; it might be that while we're working for the hand that pays us we're also chatting with friends, emailing co-workers, and even *cough* blogging all on the companies time.

Acceptable or not, while the boomers are gaging at such actions, it's happening as we speak. This you might call the "new attitude" for a new generation of working class. The working man is too passe and we see it as a symbol of what was, not what is. From the article is sounds that we're a force to be reckoned with, and if we don't get that attention we need to exist, it might spell Doom for today's most successful companies.

If you want to read the article you can find it here.
NPR also did a report that you can listen into here.

~J out

Ode de Memorial Day

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch! be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, through poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

A poem I shall never forget. Initially I learned it for an English class in Middle School, but now many years older, this poem sticks with me, comforts me in a way, and reminds me that while our dead can not speak, their sacrifice does. In Flanders fields the dead remind us to remember them as they were when they were alive. Through us, memories of them and who they were, will survive forever... if we allow.

In Flanders fields we're reminded that their sacrifice was for a cause and that cause was worthy enough *for them* to fight and die for, and now their burden is our burden to bear for them. That is to say that while we may not agree with that cause, we must remember why our loved ones died so that their lives will be remembered as a whole...

In this sacred space and sacred time of remembrance we must carry on the torch that was handed to us. The torch, In Flanders fields, is a symbol to remind us of the price we pay to live free lives in this world. What it takes to be free is our obligation, our duty: to those who have died; to those who still live, but cannot fight; to ourselves; and, most of all, to our children.

If we fail, In Flanders fields tells us, that our responsibility spans beyond ourselves, if we fail to retain our privilege to be free then we will not honor our dead, past and present.

Today as you go about your holiday or perhaps tomorrow as you're checking email or reading this, take a moment (not in silence, but in silent reflection) to remember the the brave women and men who died, by evaluating the poem, as it pertains to your life... Ask yourself:

• What torch has been thrown to me from failing hands?
• what am I doing to hold it high?

Have a great Memorial Day and tread lightly on the hot dogs and hamburgers!

~J out

We're all for Pirates, but not for Piracy!

As some of us gather at the theaters tonight to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (for a whopping 168 minutes!) without a break, I'd like to bring up some slight humor about the movie and actual digital piracy. As *real* digital pirates might know, the MPAA has made serious measures to protect the series. Now we're talking about Pirates right? Well Pirates and Piracy are different things and thus the new slogan is that: "it's cool to be for Pirates, but not for Piracy!" Contradiction? No way... In fact, one of the Pirate groups in this movie is the Singapore Pirates who (ironically) nowadays are responsible for some of the biggest digital piracy (next to Vietnam I suppose).

The bottom line is that the biggest benefit of the Internet is also its demise! Don't think for a second that just because you got up to use the bathroom 1 1/2 hours through the movie and missed a really good part, you're allowed to dL that torrent and watch that scene at home! Especially if you just bought a brand new HDTV Projector System with 7.1 surround sound! No way HOSE!

So there!

On a side note, because of Don Imas, "Yo H*, Yo H*" might label you as a racist, so watch what you say at the theaters!

~J

Are we still asleep?

Right after September 11th people started saying that the middle eastern terrorists had "Awoke the sleeping giant." That was referring to the massive military and capability of the United States to take charge and react! Now the war overseas has gone on for a couple of years and talk in congress *was* leaning towards putting conditions on the Iraq War spending bill. Well now we're hearing that after (no doubt) some serious *cough* negotiations between congress and the White house (with observing members Bruno and Bernie) congress is floating a four month spending bill with no strings attached.

On top of that, it's obvious, more then obvious, that our presence in Iraq is bogging us down. We have so much going on there that our political clout over other nations is dwindling. Iran now thinks, no.. KNOWS that we lack the ability or the motivation to seriously crack down on them so they're calling our bluff. Dippy Do Chief of Staff Condie Rice asks why Iran would defy all these sanctions... Wha? Is it not apparent? He who has the nuke does not get invaded.

The perils go on... This new immigration bill, no matter how its pitched, does not "get the job done." I'll say it because its true, but not advertised in the media: Not ALL immigrants who are working in the US are Mexican! We have Indians, Iraqis, Jordanians, Venezuelans, Vietnamese, not to mention Canadians, all working here in some capacity that if this bill were to go through, all of them would be effected in some way, shape, or form.

This gets me to my point... We said after 9/11 that the terrorists awoke the sleeping giant, but I contest that and say that Americans are still asleep. We live lives of lavish and fear not suicide bombings when we fly. We drive when we want and do not expect fuel shortages, we have our TVs on (maybe two), Ovens going, Refrigerators on, Computers on, Ipods charging, etc etc and do not expect a power outage/failure. To top it, we put "stop the war" on our cars, but do nothing more. We are still asleep... We were skeptical when the majority said we needed to stay in Iraq, but now we are not skeptical when the majority says we need to leave by the end of the year... why are we not skeptical?

Action takes place in the form of questions that we need to ask. Knowledge is power, not consensus or might!

~J out

The Art of Being Human

Today on my way into work I started thinking about what part of being human makes us human. The industrial revolution showed us that humans can create machines and work them to perfection, that is what we call ability. Humans can speak in languages in a way that inspires a nation, we call that charisma. Humans have also the ability to wake up at 6:30am and get dressed and take the predictable route to work, show up do the pre-work drill (in this case blog for me) and then start the day, this is what we call routine. All of this is within the human capacity, but it's limited to what we can do, not who we are.

Some have said that because we love, we are human... Perhaps this is it, but it is still an act. Perhaps its that we're motivated, but that takes action or a goal to initiate. What makes a human a human is a complex and mysterious thing. The answers range from one end of the spectrum (one of subsistence) to the other (one of luxury). In the end we should all, if only for a minute, ponder on what part of us makes us human.

just a thought

~J out

bashing Carter now 'eh?

So I suppose we've seen everyone high and low bashed by the Whitehouse for saying something, anything, slightly negitive about how they're doing business. It never really started with one person, but one could claim that the bashing all started when McCain was running against Bush in the 2000 elections. Who knew that seven years later and reputations blasted (from Cindi Shehan to Kennedy) the administration now is blasting Nobel Peaceprize winner, former President of the United States, and habitat for humanities spokesman JIMMY CARTER... from the Washington Times:

CRAWFORD, Texas, May 21 (UPI) -- The White House is returning fire against former U.S. President Jimmy Carter who publicly termed Bush's presidency "the worst in history."

Bush spokesman Tony Fratto called Carter's criticism "reckless" and said the former president has proven to be increasingly irrelevant by making these kinds of comments, The Los Angeles Times reported.

"I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history," Carter was quoted as saying in a telephone interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

He not only lashed out at U.S. President George Bush but he told BBC Radio "The almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq has been a major tragedy for the world."

In defense of himself he said on NBC's Today's Show that he was not comparing this administration to all of the US's administrations, but to one.. Former President Nixon's administration. The comment remained and the White House, on que, reacted like a protective parent.

If anything can be mentioned here, it is that the White House cannot withstand one huff or puff by any one, much less a big-bad-wolf. It's obvious that some ideot is incharge of the train, because while anyone can see that former presidents do not have real power; former presidents do have public power to influence. In the minds of many, Jimmy Carter is an icon and one to influence minds towards one way or the other. His influence has, without a doubt, grown in the past 25 years and if he says that policies made by the Nixon-Kissenger adminstration were better then policies made by the current Bush-Rice-Rove adminstration then that's his noble opinion which, I thought, all Americans are allowed to have.

Not mentioned yet is the stupiddity of a comment from Tony Fratto labeling Carter, CARTER?!, as "reckless" and "increasingly irrelevant." Reckless? Irrelevant? please... I'm thinking someone is going a little too extreme here! If people can't voice a simple critisim when asked (or in this case provoked by a comparitive question) then freedom is not free anymore. If our brave men and women in the military fight to protect freedom, but the people are yet to be free to speakout, then

"its 1, 2, 3, what are we fighting for?"

~J out

Cubie

This is my 70th post.. Since this is my original blog, I feel more are on their way. This doesn't stack up to the 87 posts I made on my Japan blog, but soon I'll make the 100 mark where I'm planning a special post.

Today I want to reflect on my meeting with my career councilor yesterday. What was most shocking was that all the career resources (minus a small few) were all online. I suppose this is no shock to today's generation, but mass consolidation on enormous list servs are pretty intemindating. I remember looking for this job on countless list servs with hundreds of thousands of jobs posted for the Portland/Vancouver Metro Area. Luckily with the help of my girlfriend we were able to find something, but it nearly took 3 months. With career advice so packed on websites I would venture to say that looking for a job online is just as time consuming as it used to be.

The overqualification factor on hundreds of jobs is also a trap. The councilor suggested looking at internships first, then out-of-college jobs next. I look forward to learning from this process, I have to keep my goals in mind (I want a job that will propel me to something that I'll enjoy)...

One funny aspect of the meeting is that my career councilor was trying to integrate that if I don't take career planning seriously then I might end up working in a cubicle... um.. yeah that would *err.. suck. Heh heh.

So I guess in the quest to find a good post-graduate job I'll mark today: May 17th, 2007 the first day of my Job/Career hunt. (In the mean time I'll be working sullenly in my cubicle).

~J out

*New Hours

So today starts my 9am-3pm new hours M-F. While it takes away from my vacation, I will get a boost in pay. I'm just happy to have summer hours or a summer job for that fact! As before I still got my weekends!

Something else I'm looking forward to is a meeting with a career councilor.. Not that I'm looking for a job just yet, but i'm interested in what EAS Majors do after college.

more to come later!

~J out

happily locked up in deadlocked positions

The North Korea problem is one that is so complex that annalists can't figure out if it's the bombs that are the main problem or the actors. Going from being just an "issue" to a full-fledged problem long ago, North Korea has become a pleasant catastrophe that remains, shockingly, diplomatically debated among the concerned 6-party members (China, S. Korea, N. Korea, The US, and Russia). An article from the United Press International analyzes a new piece in the back and forth ballet.

The article here says that

Banco Delta Asia froze the $25 million after the U.S. Treasury accused it of laundering money Pyongyang pockets through illicit financial activities. North Korea has said it would not take disarmament steps before confirming the transfer of funds.

By transferring the funds to another offshore bank, the North wants to see the money accepted internationally and to keep using the international banking system to manage its overseas funds. But foreign banks have refused to handle North Korea's funds at the BDA for fear that it would downgrade their credibility.

In response to the US Treasuries potentially crippling accusations, the Delta Asia Financial Group who oversees the Macau based banking agency: Banco Delta Asia (BDA) had this to say,

“Delta Asia Group (Holdings) Limited ("DAGH") regrets the US Department of Treasury's decision to finalize the rulemaking to impose a special measure against our commercial banking arm, Banco Delta Asia, S.A.R.L.

DAGH denies that BDA knew or suspected that its customers were engaged in money laundering or that any of its customers were engaged in any criminal activities or their funds were in any way connected with such activities. It is always BDA's commitment to ensuring that its anti-money laundering policies and procedures comply with the guidelines and requirements of the regulator, that is, the Macau Monetary Authority.

Denying the activities of the BDA doesn’t dismiss that North Korea still wants its overseas money, and more over, wants to continue its overseas transactions. North Korea finds that not being able to bank freely has put a kink in what seems to be its master plan. All of this puts a bind in executing the Chinese backed February 13^th agreement which was supposed to force Pyongyang to shut down its plutonium-producing reactor at Yongbyon and invite back U.N. nuclear inspectors by April 14 in return for energy aid and security guarantees. Now Pyongyang has put the BDA in a tight position as the US would condemn the bank if it continued to bank with North Korea, but by not banking, North Korea refuses to disarm.

So far it seems that the BDA has chosen to follow US Treasury demands for better ethical banking and anti-laundering measures,

“Since the designation of BDA by the US Department of Treasury in September 2005, BDA has always been co-operating fully with the US regulator and remains committed to enhancing its anti-money laundering ("AML") and know-your-client policies and procedures.”

However long this compliance will last is uncertain. All of this has stopped the European Union from carry out its 8 million euro humanitarian aid initiative for the year 2007. The standstill has everybody worried. The European magazine Cafebabel.com asks an all important question that is on everybody’s minds,

“What to do now? That's the burning question on the lips of all diplomats in place. If the option of armed intervention is still valid, how do you attack a country which, from now on, possesses atomic weapons? The risk seems too big. The Taepodong II missile has a range estimated at 6700 km (4200 miles), allowing North Korea to strike Alaska. Other experts claim that a version of the missile could have a range of 15,000 km, putting the entire American territory in danger.”

With no end in sight and defiant messages from North Korean diplomats such as North Korea's deputy foreign minister, Kang Sok-ju, speaking to a group of reporters while passing through Beijing from Russia,

“Why would we abandon nuclear weapons? Are you saying we conducted a nuclear test in order to abandon them?”

The solution is no where close to being resolved. Eventually either compromise or a military action will have to take place leaving yet another unfinished project on our plate to be dealt with.

~J out

links to the articles cited:
Analysis: Debate on North Korea continues-United Press International (UPI)

Pyongyang: much ado about nothing?-Cafebabel.com

Statement from the Delta Asia Financial Group

Pyongyang will not give up its nuclear weapons- Taipei Times

Burning Day Light

How exciting is it to go outside and see the sun? I confess the one thing I'm looking forward to (in addition to Heroes tonight) is being able to come home at 3pm starting Wednesday.

today we should all get outside and enjoy the sun... I know I will.

~J out

A shorty post

I received an anonymous complaint today (back channel) informing me that my posts put a kink in their day because they are too long and technical. So, if I can, I'll try to post duel longies and shorties.

According to CBS, "As gas prices surge to record highs across the country, there's a move on the Internet for a nation-wide gas boycott on May 15." I can admit to feeling the sting, so I too will forward this public service announcement...

Fill up if you have too on Monday the 14th so that on the 15th we can all get together and make a stand!

Have a nice day

~J

5 grave threats to Biodiversity

Yesterday I expressed frustration that we (as informed citizens) are repeaters of information. I said that a tennis ball is thrown for us to hit back and forth. Today I want to continue on that and address what matters.

When a tennis ball like problem is thrown at us by politicians and the media we're seized by it's enormity and either dismiss it as being too big to conceive or tackle just it... and nothing else. I'm talking about global warming. Global Warming is one thing that plagues this world. It is an enormous tennis ball like problem that clearly gets racked around the circles of opinion and debate, but its magnitude is its problem.

What If I told you that Global Warming is just a blanket to cover the pressing problems of society that the rest of the industrialized world? Would you feel played? Perhaps so. One of the world's most distinguished scientists, E.O. Wilson, a professor and honorary curator in entomology at Harvard. Who in 1975, he published Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, a work that described social behavior, from ants to humans, warns us of the "THE HUMAN JUGGERNAUT" what he calls the HIPPO. It is an acronym for:

• Habitat Destruction
• Invasive Species
  
• Pollution
• Population Expansion
• Over Harvesting of Species

His premise is that it is not just one problem facing society, but five. The "HIPPO juggernaut" as he puts it will take out life much faster and much more destructively then just global warming on it's own. His problem is that we are destroying life before we can even catalog it, explore it, or even acknowledge its existence around us. A couple of posts ago I spoke of it as the inevitable downside to DOW Chemical Companies' Human Element. I was introduced to E.O.Wilson's comments on HIPPO and the little things (insects) lecture by (appropriately) my biology teacher who forwarded the class a link to the TED Wish Awards.

Click here to see E.O.Wilson's Speech

I think that E.O.Wilson's idea of an Open Source Encyclopedia is a wonderful idea, but it begins with first tackling the hippo. From the documentaries and nature shows we've learned that Hippo's are large and in charge and are more dangerous to humans then alligators. It's taking over everything and leaving destruction in it's wake.

"Whoa... Josh!" "Throttle back!" you just said global warming was huge, what does that make HIPPO? Answer: Super GINORMOUSLY HUGELY BIG BIG BIGGIE BIG. Yeah.. something of that size... "Uhh all I can do is buy an energy safe light bulb, is that good enough?" ... Nope. Not good enough... "Well what can I do then?" answer: the solution is too complex for one people to solve on their own so we need to work together. To work together people need to be on the same page so my suggestion to combat the hippo is to just talk about it, broad cast it, blog it like I'm doing. By putting this on the minds of people, things will happen. Ten years ago people probably weren't thinking of double or triple pane windows or energy safe light bulbs, but they are now.. So in addition to broadcasting the message we need to come together and make throwing a plastic straw on the ground a big deal, honk if see someone throw a Styrofoam cup out the window of their car, and other such acts. People who contribute to one or all of the HIPPO forfeit their individual rights to do so, because it's now a public health matter.

To tie this all up we need know what is really important and dismiss what is not. Marginalizing real issues and debating tennis ball issues is not going to fix the mess we've made. I quoted the oracle last time who said, "make up your own damn mind" now I ask you to consider the facts of life, get informed, you'll realize what you can do to help... do it.

I'll leave you with a quote from a fortune cookie I got a long time ago..

"risk may cause failure, but success can happen without it"

~J out

No Direction Home

The bombardment of news and polls can put us in such a confused state that we end up thinking we're solidly for or against things, but if we were to be pushed to ask why we believe that... most of us would either repeat something we heard or just tell the other person "I don't have to justify anything." What I mean is that, if one were to say "I don't support the war in Iraq" or "I don't agree with Bush" to another person, and then that person asked them to justify that belief, that first person would likely fail to give a compelling *original* reason that wasn't based on propaganda from either the D's or the R's side. I think it would be staggering to see how much of our original opinion comes from either base's campaign programs, radio talk shows, music, etc.

What I see is that we are

• repeaters of information,
• cans with a string between us to be used to communicate back to the other side a condescending opinion of the other's side,
• echo chambers that echoes everything that is screamed at us.

It's not a pretty sight to think of oneself in such a way, but critically analyze why you believe is right? Can you do it without repeating a single sound-byte from a party, an organization, a group? When someone asks you 'your opinion' what do you tell them?

Odds are we are repeaters of propaganda who have been programmed with ingenious responses that are neither original, nor ours. The media, mainstream and public, throw tennis-ball like subjects at us to hit towards the other-side (abortion, gay marriage, terrorism, genocide). If you don't return the serve then the other side makes a point right? They are 1-up to us and as competitive beings we can't allow too much of that now correct? But wait! It is often that the other side rarely makes the serve that we react instantaneously too. As I said, it's the media that throws the ball to either side to get hit back-and-forth on the court, it is then ironic perhaps then that the media is all too happy to freely display this match for our viewing pleasure (now in High Definition!).

What's the point? Well no point really.. Why bother with points? What matters is a resounding question we are understandably resistant to ask ourselves, "what part of me is really me and not just a repeater of propaganda?" It's hard... just today news like

The latest Newsweek polls puts the presidents approval rating at 28%
or

11 moderate republicans met with President Bush and his staff to discuss growing resentment for the war in Iraq

will compel you to either feel remorse or victory over the other side, but it is just a game of Tennis. Today the democrats won a point over the Repubs, but tomorrow might be another day. Unfortunately this game will continue, the politicians will rant, and the media will continue to broadcast it all. Change, as it were, can only come from you. You can either be a repeater of the two bases or as the Oracle from the Matrix says, "you can make up your own damn mind!"

~J out

Geography over ideas and the power of neutrality

The title of this post is from a recent 10 page thesis paper that I wrote for my Modern South Asia class that ended just last week. The paper was graded and handed back to me this week and so I felt it would be cool if I could make my knowledge public knowledge.

But before I dive into the contents of my thesis I should tell you what I'm working on... r3d net. R3d net will be an online resource with both a public interface and a private one. You see I am a jack of all trades. Meaning I've master none of 'em, but I like to explore. All this Internet stuff can be done by us simpletons. With no prior experience I'm building the roots of a web page, ftp server, and other things (like even a wiki!) that are freely available out there including a dns (that is a something.org address) so things are in the works and when I get something somewhat public I'll blog it.

Ok so back to my report. I wrote for Lewis and Clark College so the paper meets all the LC history criteria. The gist of the report was this...

The Bangladesh Liberation War was not just an armed conflict between West Pakistan and East Pakistan that for roughly nine months, but it was an unprecedented event in history in which the supreme protector of democracy (America) allied itself with a military dictatorship (President Yahya Khan of Pakistan) while the supreme protector of communism (The Soviet Union) allied itself with a democracy (Indira Ghandi of India). This event in history was significant of its time, since all foreign policy dealing with freedom and injustice (such as US Foreign policy with Vietnam) was suspended owing to the reality of Cold War Geopolitics which is simply that geography trumps the realm of ideas.

That was the introduction to my paper. The paper goes into the politics surrounding the liberation war. Six main players made of this charade: Bangladesh Freedom Fighters, Pakistan, India, The United States, China, and the USSR. Those made up the main field, all others were either critics or supplementary to either sides' cause. You might be thinking.. a war has alliances and you just said the US backed a non-democracy.. is that really true? Indeed it was. The make of either side of the war was like this..

Side 1: Pakistan
United States- Ally
China- Ally

Side 2: Bangladesh Rebel Forces
The Soviet Union- Ally
India- Ally

The obvious second question would be why? Well it was all geography politics. In the paper I cite that the United States in 1971 was interested in a potential ally with China. You see Soviets invaded a country close to the USSR (Chechlosovokia) and no there was no telling if they were aimed at China next. So in a effort to not alienate China, the United States backed Chinese favorites (like Pakistan) now like all things Geopolitics is like pick-up sticks... its more complex then that. In addition, the United States had backed Pakistan long before that b/c of Pakistan's strategic position to Moscow and the USSR. To lose Pakistan would be to lose the containment plan. It all gets jumbled in twists and turns and the mastermind who messed up any hope of political saving was ole Kissinger. Yeah... Dr. Death had his role too in making a bad situation worse.

As I said earlier... my motivation for setting up r3d net will be so that I can inform better, maybe post better stuff or even post papers like the one I wrote. I've written a lot of stuff for school, I feel that what I've learned from a private college shouldn't be held up as secret information.

Anyway... Get some sun if you can, this weather is all but normal. Even now as I write I'm outside with my lappy absorbing sun rays... So get out there even if it is for a minute or two... Who knows maybe you too will move your workspace outdoors for a bit.

and with that
~J out

New Desk

Ho! Do I have something worth blog'n about. It's my new desk that I assembled. Now this Chinese made Maple desk has it all...

I bought it at Staples for $60 amazing! And... I'll admit the selection process, the ordering, and the purchasing (With a Visa) was all easy... so yeah... that was easy!

The assembly was another story. First to put a *new* desk in you have to take the old one out. That required a little destruction. I was up to the task so "bang-away" I went demolishing my old desk and cabinet for the new one. After some real chipping and hammering and cutting I had everything from that old desk out. I (of course) vacuumed like a mad meth addict trying to get every crumb of dirt outta there from ages ago when I installed the old desk. Now that it was clean I put the new one in.

When I say "assembly was another story" what I mean is that putting the parts together was labor intensive and the Styrofoam particles drove me nuts. I'll admit that it brought me back to the days when I did this assembly stuff for $8 a day at my old furniture warehousing job. Dang I loved that job... it was fun, backbreaking, and no one was as uptight. Perhaps it was because we were all grunts and worked grunt jobs and PC didn't matter as much as whipp'n three or four dinning tables or coffee stands together in less then a hour... I won't say anymore then... Good times.

Back to the desk.. Getting those screws in the right holes proved to be one hell of a task. In the middle of it I lost the allen-wrench and I had to go find another. It came together though and I felt a certain sense of accomplishment. My personal self told me just then to tell everybody "HEY I JUST ASSEMBLED A COOL DESK COME OUT AND SEE IT!!!" but can't you see the ego in that? No.. the enjoyment this desk brings me is good enough. Everybody will at some point (when they bug me, talk to me, need to borrow something, or hang out) come and see the desk and pass judgement.

Nuff said...

~J out

PS: Here's a pic of it in my room

GOD’s Will on US or Our Will on GOD?

*Warning this is a very long post*

I’ve been wrestling with whether or not I should post my opinion or review of the new documentary called Jesus Camp. As a “born again Christian” but also as a moderate (liberal) I find that my beliefs and morals are contradictory to the views of the so-called “Neo-Conservatives”. To understand better of what I’m about to say, I suggest first that you go to your local video rental store and rent and watch Jesus Camp.

The wiki on Jesus Camp says that it is a 2006 documentary directed by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing about a Pentecostal summer camp for children who spend their summers learning and practicing their "prophetic gifts" and being taught that they can "take back America for Christ.” According to the distributor, it "doesn't come with any prepackaged point of view" and tries to be "an honest and impartial depiction of one faction of the evangelical Christian community”. After watching it, I would agree with the first half, but the next part, the part that reads “doesn’t come with any prepackaged point of view” is only somewhat accurate. When doing any sort of religious review, opinion or points of view are make sense of what we’re seeing. How one describes “speaking in tongues” or “born again” to a non-member audience in a non-religious universal definition will always be riddled with opinion. This movie, however, left interpretation to the audience, but it was clear, if the audience was not a member of this group then it would likely be negatively shocked at the material and also would likely side with Mike Papantonio (the radio talk-show host) for his opinion that fundamentalism is too radical. On the other hand, members of this religious right would likely side with Children’s pastor Becky Fisher and praise her for being defiant while viewing this movie as a reaffirmation of why everything hinges on “keeping the faith pure.”

If it is not apparent by now, I’m talking about a clear binary schism between fundamentalists and the rest. The purely dichotomous separation has been split into self-proclaimed “neo-conservatives” or “neo-cons” and liberals/moderates. Our first “engagement” (as they could likely call it) was the 2000 election when the goal was to win 50 + 1% of the population for President Bush. Of course Carl Rove was the mastermind in finding such a constituency and converting these “sheep of Jesus” to “followers of Bush” whilst keeping inline with the faith and retaining their “moral agenda.” This all clearly reeks of politics, but oddly enough this group (at least in the film) identifies itself as completely non-political, but rather radical in keeping the morals set out by Christ. Politics aren’t the issue and making this post a commentary on politics would negate the greater truth about this group.

Fundamentalism has scarcely been herd in recent times to convey the attitudes of Americans, but rather it’s been used to characterize the extremist Islamic groups as radical and yes.. fundamental. To get a clear definition of fundamentalism, the American Heritage dictionary defines fundamentalism as “a usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.” Using this definition, the fundamentalist group talked about in this movie clearly fills this role.

The commentary on society, by the fundamentalists, says that society has sold out to secularism and has degraded the faith. Society has left morals and ethics to be defined by man’s laws and interpretations, rather then God’s laws and interpretation. Therefore we MUST turn away from the ways of man (who is weak and fickle) and go back to a time when America was pure and truly was “one nation under GOD.” For most Christians, they would agree, partly, to these claims, but the fundamentalists separate themselves out when they characterize this schism with “war-like” language… Language like “we need to fight to keep morals” or “we need to wage a war on the atheists who are corrupting the schools” or more commonly (an accentuated in the movie), “we need to train our children to be Christian Solders in God’s Army.” This ‘battle speech’ is often not endorsed by mainstream Christians (mainstream being those who do not identify with the separatist movement) and therefore, fundamentalism should be seen as outside the Christian faith as a separatist movement and independent from mainstream religion.

At this juncture when battle talk gets thrown around and the argument becomes rigidly dichotomous as “if you are not with us, then you’re against us” I find serious fault with by fellow brethren in Christ. The teachings of Christ are not to wage war with man, but to rather wage peace. This means that Jesus would rather have us love our fellow man as humans, rather then persecute humans for their choices. This means that a redefinition of the goals of Christianity is in order. Unfortunately, leaders of the our faith (with exception of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) haven't clearly defined the goals of faith to be one way or the other. For that I look to a monumental figure in the world’s religions: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) better known as Mahatma Gandhi “the great soul.” Using a Hindu spiritual leader to address the goals of Christianity is not odd or out of place in our society. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was known to have used Gandhi’s teachings on the “path of non-violence as a means of protest” to lead his peaceful protest against the injustices of racism. Gandhi, in his own defense, didn’t limit himself to being a professor of one-religion, but of all religion. Gandhi says, “I have no desire for prestige anywhere…I am a servant of Mussalmans [Muslims], Christians, Pasis, and Jews, as I am of Hindus. And a servant is in need of love, not prestige. That is assured to me so long as I remain a faithful servant.” (From M. K. Gandhi, Collected Works, 26:415) Hopefully by his own words, we can agree that if Gandhi was important to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and that Gandhi, himself, proclaimed to be a servant of Christians then maybe what he says on what the goals of faith are, should be our goals.

Gandhi says, “All well-order societies are based on the law of non-violence. I have found that life persists in the midst of destruction and, therefore, there must be a higher law then that of destruction. Only under that law would a well-ordered society be intelligible and life worth living.” Christians must take heed, especially fundamentalists, to what Gandhi is saying here. Jesus also spoke of non-violence as being the better of two paths and to never take vengeance on your own behalf. On the later he said, “19Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” (KJV Romans 12:19-21) on taking the righteous path Jesus said, “38Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. 41And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.” (KJV Matthew 5:38-42).

If we are to be good servants to man and to actually follow the words of Christ, as well as take guidance from Gandhi then we should heed these words and make them our creed. Gandhi spoke of our goal to follow the law of Love, “The law of Love will work” Gandhi said, “just as the law of gravitation will work, whether we accept it or not…having flung aside the sword, there is nothing except the cup of love which I can offer to those who oppose me. It is by offering that cup that I expect to draw man close to me…It is no non-violence if we merely love those that love us. It is non-violence only when we love those that hate us. I know how difficult it is to follow this grand law of love. But are not all great and good things difficult to do? Love of the hater is the most difficult of all.” (N. K. Bose, Selections from Gandhi, p.17).

The moral compass that fundamentalists follow is one of hate and ill repute of those who are not “morally pure” but if we are to be Christians in the truest sense then we MUST rid ourselves of such battle talk and war-mongering that fundamentalists of the past have took to justify their massacres.

It is my belief that that Gandhi was right and speaking from a greater truth that LOVE CONQUERS ALL not separation. Both what Gandhi spoke of and what Jesus spoke of was not to realign government with your own views, but to make faith a personal quest. This might sound like giving your children a change to have a brain and it should sound like that. Indoctrinating your kids in hatred of homosexuals, atheists, liberals, and even moderate Christians IS WRONG and not in line with the teachings of Christ… when I read Gandhi’s teachings or read the words of Christ I see that universally faith should bring us all together. It is not our privilege to persecute non-believers, but our obligation to love everybody. THAT is what God will truly judge us for… the deeds in your lives (good and bad) maybe important to God, but he sent his only son to not judge man for his wrongs, but to help us love man for being God’s creation. The direction for Christianity and the Goals of our faith should reflect this.

God Loves his creations, God in turn loves your Gay Neighbor, Co-worker, or peer AS MUCH AS HE LOVES YOU, so love and treat your peers and people who share different opinions of you the same way you would like to be treated because in the end.

We were all created the same and are loved the same by God.

Therefore, Love one another, I believe, should be the over arching goal of Christians.

~J out

YATA! I DID IT! I'M FINISHED!

YATA I FINISHED THE FINAL EXAM!!!

This means that "SCHOOOOOOOLS OUT FOR THE SUMMER!"

Boy am I glad.. Good Semester too!

I want to thank all my instructors for putting in the hard work and effort to teach me something. I also want to thank my right hand for writing all (or most) the words in my head which were going twice as fast as my poor hand could go. Finally I want to thank GOD who generously pushed me through the semester and helped me in ways that even I don't even fully realize.

Thanks y'all.

So indeed it's true... the pulsing pain in my right hand between my thumb and my index finger and a indent mark of a pencil marks the beginning of summer. Time to take a break, enjoy the sun, and chill out (perhaps clean my room and complete some projects that have been piling up).

Today I'm going to celebrate by having lunch with my girlfriend and seeing Portland's Cinco de Mayo (May 5th for you Americanos).

Ahhhhhh

~J out

Bringing the school year to a close

May first… it is the beginning of a new month and the end of yet another semester.

At moments in which something has ended, the door has closed in a matter of speech, I feel like I should say something…something profound that makes all that struggle and anxiety worth it. The of X would be the end of this year’s spring semester. I acknowledge that it’s still finals week and I have two more to go, but I feel like it is “good enough” to give my reaction.

This semester had new perils in it like any adventure, even now as I sit in a wooden chair at the local starbucks I feel like adventurer who’s bested the lion in the safari. The peril I’m referring to is was the transitioning back to American Society. Specifically school.

Now this year I found very interesting, perhaps it’s because America radically changed and the schools are now dead-set on pounding out some issue that can’t be resolved so simply in a classroom … or … it’s because I’ve just come back from a society who (quite frankly) didn’t care about Neo-conservatism, The GWOT, or news for that matter. I remember distinctly being the only kid on my block (when I was in Sapporo) that was reading the Japan Times (provided by LC) on the subway/bus home.

I’m questioning the Japanese resilience to either A) Remain ignorant of all that or B) try to not offend by commenting on it. In fact, I felt that society felt a little better when game shows, local dramas among friends, and video games dominated the conversation. Yet this semester catapulted me back into this country who obviously has an opinion about everything.

So if I learned anything it’s a couple of things this semester…(and I’m really struggling to keep this list short!):

• Among biologists: Evolution is fact. And it has permeated through out science as being fact… and I mean ALL science including political science.
• Gender =’s women’s condition. It’s inescapable. When ever you ‘discuss’ gender, women’s issues get brought up. Especially when the overarching subject is Gender IN ASIA. It’s useless to discuss anything else, so as a guy I’ll do what all those people expect men to do… *-sigh-*
• Geopolitics has been my topic of interest since I had a brain to think with. This class didn’t disappoint either. It’s too bad that this class will be canceled until further notice, but on geopolitics the theory that “geography matters” as well as the male argument that “size matters” all are true.
• South Asia… Wow! I didn’t know anything about that place and I’ll be honest. I hesitantly signed up thinking it was about south EAST Asia and it really was SOUTH Asia meaning India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and others. This class didn’t disappoint either and now I am even more inquisitive about those nations. Good stuff about history and especially on theories on governing.

Overall opinion: Like any professor’s dream (I’m speculating) I’m filled with tons of more questions about each area. I feel now more then ever the most compelling knowledge that we’re all connected. Not like Karma, but everything from Biology to Gender to Politics to Third World Humanity… we’re all connected to everything someway and some how. We’ve integrated, evolved, and operate in what Cisco Systems call “The Human Network.” I find that absolutely fascinating and realize what (most likely) every student realizes some point in their education…

I know enough to know that I really don’t know

That’s my hopeless statement of truth. Take it for what it is. It’s not that I’ve failed in trying to learn something, or that I need to take some defeatist position here. It’s just how it is… It even has me questioning most recently

Do we really need hard facts, hard truth, or even a truth to carry on?

Maybe we do… maybe we don’t. We live not knowing a lot of hard truths and carry on ok. I’ll end there leaving you shattered and distraught that maybe what you thought was important might not me… If you really do need something to keep you going maybe this clue will help you

Save the cheerleader, save the world

~J out