Thoughts on the Wire

I've Been Away and Distracted.

2005-08-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

THIS, IN SOME WAYS, HAS BEEN a struggle in which to keep up. This is largely (although not completely) due to the lack of feedback I feel I have been receiving from my readers. It has also been partly due to my lack of "inspiration" as cliche as that may sound -- my lack of a center focus of which to write. ..But hopefully, as I find myself trekking back to school, I will be able to find my focus again and write for the sole purpose of writing. Again, many that know me know that my favorite movie from my childhood (not to make many of you begin to feel old) is "Throw Mama Off the Train" (despite me not being a great Billy Crystal fan). This is a story of a failing but still aspiring writer, and as he begins to seek advice from his mentor and professor, the only advice the creative writing professor (Billy Crystal) can give the student (Danny Devito) is that "Writer's write." I hope that these simple words will help me as I attempt to rekindle my long lost passion.

If I Could Only Count the Times. . .

2005-06-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

IF I COULD ONLY COUNT THE TIMES that I have been turned down away from a store because they were closing early or for the night. . . ! I sometimes wish I had these celebrity connections so they could publically apologize to me for their wrongs.

Time To Grow

2005-06-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

THE CURRENT GENERATION OF CHILDREN can be adequately described as being the generation that simply hasn't been spanked enough. I may now appear to be acting somewhat insensitive to the needs of children, but I think many times people just forget what it was like to be that age. Nearly every generation has been raised in a time of war. For myself, it was the Gulf War, for my parents it was the Korean War, and for my grandparents it was the Second Great War. War has constantly surrounded us and I feel there has been too much emphasis on catering to the needs of young children regarding how to deal with war time.

Growing up in general is a difficult time. Children, like all of us did at one time, are exploring and dealing with complicated feelings regarding different situations. During my generation, we didn't have Dr. Phil telling our parents how to raise us -- it was trial and error. My parents and my peers parents simply did the best they could. I can't complain how I turned out, and for the most part, my peers can't blame their parents for how they turned out. I feel too much emphasis has been placed on the well-being of the children and not enough emphasis has been placed on teaching children the value of accepting responsibility for their personal actions.

Okay -- so I may just have a bad taste in my mouth. Last night, I was watching the second disc of the 5th Season of the Sopranos. I found myself doing other things when I had reached the peak of my patience level when I saw how the 16 year old boy, Anthony Jr., was treating his parents. At this point in the series, Tony and his wife are seperated, and Tony feels the need to spoil AJ with drums, tutors, and a brand new car during his time of distress. Granted, this is just some HBO series, but I found this to be a great representation of today's society. Again, not to sound redundant, I do understand that growing up is a difficult time. And given, I haven't had to deal too much with the concepts of seperation and divorce. Nonetheless, as any teenager, I had to deal with growing pains, and I was not given presents to ease them.

Sometimes I feel that our society just needs more parents being parents. It is during other times that I feel parents need to ease up and just let their children grow. It is the sad truth, but this is the world we live in. We can't continue to shelter it from them. Our job is to help them through it, but definitely not to constantly "baby" them through it.

"Creating a New Terrorist"

2005-05-26T06:34:00.000-07:00

WITHOUT A DOUBT THAT is what this country is doing in Guatanamo Bay, Cuba. It seems that with every attempt we have made at trying to get the captives to speak, we are further driving them and their home countries away from siding with the United States. Although there has been no concrete evidence besides that of hearsay of flushing a Koran down the toilet, when word had emerged that something of this nature had occurred, riots broke out in which people died. Sometimes I can't help but believe that the United States has a hard time noticing cause and effect. All one must do is reflect on the Vietnam War to see where this war is going as well.

Washington Post reports:
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said . . ."The United States is leading the way when it comes to protecting human rights and promoting human dignity."

When I look at all that has taken place, this idea does not cross my mind. Placing ink on male genitals and saying it is menstrual fluid, making Muslim men stand naked in front of women interrogators, and throwing religious caps in the trash are all instances that I don't want to represent our strong stance for "protecting human rights and promoting human dignity." These are not the things I want others to reflect on when I ask them to "pray for our troops."

My Lack of Posts

2005-05-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

Politics, In the News, Current Affairs
TRULY THERE ARE TOO MANY EXCUSES for my lack of posts in the preceding weeks, but my goal is to quickly change this -- thanks to the Gnome for cordially bringing it to my attention.

In other news, a stem cell bill was passed by Congress here in the United States to use federal money for the purpose of stem cell research. (I do not know if too many people can remember what hell some of the states were going through as they were not allowed to use equipment bought by the federal government to press their state agendas on stem cell research.) The stipulations of the bill will only allow for the "use [of] federal money to study stem cells taken from adults and umbilical cord blood, instead of using human embryos." Hopefully, this agreement will prove successful in calming the screams of the pro-lifers, but still allow for the progress we so desperately need in finding the cures for a few of the diseases that seem to run our busy lives.

A Little Overly Conservative? Nahhh. . .

2005-05-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

Tests of Morality (via Althouse)

"Your Moralising Quotient of 0.47 compares to an average Moralising Quotient of 0.38. This means that as far as the events depicted in the scenarios featured in this activity are concerned you are less permissive than average.

Your Interference Factor of 0.40 compares to an average Interference Factor of 0.20. This means that as far as the events depicted in the scenarios featured in this activity are concerned you are more likely to recommend societal interference in matters of moral wrongdoing, in the form of prevention or punishment, than average.

Your Universalising Factor of 0.50 compares to an average Universalising Factor of 0.54. This means you are less likely than average to see moral wrongdoing in universal terms - that is, without regard to prevailing cultural norms and social conventions (at least as far as the events depicted in the scenarios featured in this activity are concerned)."

2005-05-09T09:03:00.000-07:00

I did find this to be a little ridiculous; it's a shame how far some of these schools are going in the name of safety. I still have mixed feelings on the subject.

. . .And yet another story by Jon Lowder depicting how out of control some school regulations are becoming explains how a seventeen year old boy receives a phone call on his cell phone from his mother who is in Iraq. He is reluctant to hang up when his teacher asks him to and is taken to the office after having become "disorderly".

The most ridiculous part of the article:

Parham said the teen's suspension was based on his reaction to the teacher's request. He said the teen used profanity when taken to the office.

"Kevin got defiant and disorderly," Parham said. "When a kid becomes out of control like that they can either be arrested or suspended for 10 days. Now being that his mother is in Iraq, we're not trying to cause her any undue hardship; he was suspended for 10 days."

A chain reaction because a teacher couldn't allow the young student to accept a phone call from his mother? ..As if the 10 day suspension isn't going to cause her grief.

More Fascinating News About Day-light Savings Time

2005-04-29T08:58:00.000-07:00

I hadn't realized that not every state was subject to daylight savings time, but apparently, not all of Indiana had been. More here on the passing of the day-light savings bill.

Thursday night, though, Grubb knew this battle was over. But not his fight. Even proponents expect they will be fending off attempts to repeal daylight-saving time as soon as January, when lawmakers return.

Choking back tears, Grubb asked supporters to study the time change's impact on Hoosiers.

He asked for their promise that "if this doesn't work, you've got to come back and help me fix it so it doesn't hurt my part of the state."

As far as I know -- it's worked for the rest of the nation.

Standardized Testing -- the Lesser of the Two Evils?

2005-04-22T15:15:00.000-07:00

I read cute and cuddly stories like these and try to remember what it was like when I was in elementary school. I can't remember all the "special days" these youngsters have been allowed to experience, but I imagine I can find a place within me to justify it when I see what we've put them through.

No Child Left Behind - built with great intent, but what has become of it? We are teaching our children that 5 'B's in a row can't be right and will produce a bad score; we are teaching teachers to not teach the material in the course but to teach the exam; we are teaching both children and teachers to cut corners in order to make the grade, and we are flooding the few testing companies we have with ungodly demands for tests creating more errors in standardized testing than ever before.

So what have we achieved? We have made teachers leave the schools they had taught at for many years to find those schools not meeting the national requirements and we leave more room for days like "Pajama day" and "Game day" in effort to make it up to the children. ..And still yet, standardized tests have yet to prove they measure some amount of aptitude aside from other means.

Greeting a New Leader and a New Era

2005-04-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

News, Current Affairs, Politics, In the News
THE WORLD SAYS HELLO to our new pope, Pope Benedict XVI.

"In a very difficult, complex time where there are challenges of traditional moral values that are very commonplace in our world, he really has been a kind of a rock of Gibraltar, so to speak -- a really solid foundation as we look to the future," said Bishop William Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

. . .A few words of comfort.

Only a Few States to the East. . .

2005-04-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

Current Affairs, News

IT BECOMES HARD TO SWALLOW when schemes like this are revealed. I wonder how this did not make bigger news -- or maybe I've just been under a rock. Both situations have equal probability.

"On April 4th, nine FBI agents executed a search warrant at the Raleigh home of a convicted felon named Rafat Jamal Mawlawi, a Syrian with dual citizenship in the United States. Mawlawi is suspected of organizing a scam to illegally bring Moroccan men into the United States by arranging sham marriages and engagements to women from Memphis.

What the FBI found was much more troubling: a hidden stash of loaded weapons and ammunition clips, $34,000 in cash, two pictures of Mawlawi shouldering a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, a gruesome videotape of war casualties with Arabic text and voiceover, and more than 20 passports to Morocco, Syria, Iran, and other Middle Eastern countries."

I'm afraid this is no cure to my sleeping problems...

Oh Dear

2005-04-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

I DO NOT QUITE UNDERSTAND THIS: Cookie Monster on Diet (via JL Pagano).

It must be that our children's shows are just running out of good counting and color exercises to fill their programs. It was not too long ago that many pro-homosexual groups were targetting children's shows to promote the ideas of tolerence and diversity. ...I am still unsure of why we must place the weight of the world on the shoulders of our pre-schoolers so early. At what point do we say we are stripping from them their innocence?

I am sure there are more positive things we can communicate through these t.v. shows.

Sudden Lack of Posts

2005-04-12T15:38:00.000-07:00

THIS HAS BEEN ATTRIBUTED to a site move; the new one is in construction and there is not really a due date as to when it's suppose to be ready -- it's truly whenever we get around to getting the design and the hosting issues fixed. ...But lately that is where my blog-power has been.

Hope all is going well.
Cheers.

I Couldn't Help But Laugh Aloud

2005-04-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

IT NEVER CEASES TO AMAZE ME how young children are able to listen, absorb, and interpret the world around them. I look at instances like these, and for some reason or another, can't justify the idea that they are completely oblivious to the environment that surrounds them; however, is does sadden me that these children have been subject to the unusual amount of death lately. Even to the adults, it has proved itself to be overwhelming.

Solar Eclipse

2005-04-08T10:39:00.000-07:00

Science, In the News
FOR SOME REASON this struck me as funny:

"Interestingly, the silhouette of the moon is not a perfect circle, but rather it is slightly prickly with mountains"

Right -- perhaps they just ran out of things to say. But nonetheless, what I did find interesting was the fact that those in my region are to be able to see the sun 20% eclipsed. If it didn't sound so dangerous staring at the sun, I would venture to go see this.

The Power Our Legislative Branch Has. . .

2005-04-07T12:51:00.000-07:00

Humor, Politics, Media
IN THE NAME OF CONSERVING ELECTRICITY, Congress is entertaining a bill that will be dealing with changing day-light savings time. According to this bill, day-light savings time would extend from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in November. Although I would thoroughly enjoy the extra daylight during the fall and it would save us from having to deal with our biological clocks adjusting to the time differences, for some reason I don't think this is going to have an overwhelming amount of support -- but maybe that's just me.

What Building Doesn't Use It's Elevator in 3 days?

2005-04-06T15:21:00.000-07:00

In the News
I WAS ASTONISHED TO READ OF STORY in which delivery man was trapped in an elevator for 3 days. Apparently, he was delivering food and as karma would have it, he had delivered his last order leaving him without food or water. He was found 80 hours later and was treated for minor dehydration. But this really made me question why it took so long to realize that this particular elevator was not functioning. Truly, what building (especially an apartment building) doesn't use it's elevator in over 3 days?

I Found This to be an Interesting Enough Topic.

2005-04-05T09:18:00.000-07:00

. . . AND I AM THINKING that I may just play.

In other news, North Carolina won the finals. I was sad to see this for I had been cheering on Illinois, but I did thoroughly enjoy the game itself. It is always nice to see a well fought out basketball game, and I would have to admit that they played a better game than Illinois. In this case, maybe I could even admit that North Carolina deserved the title, though that may be a bit of a stretch.

A little more drama in the blogosphere.

2005-04-04T14:32:00.000-07:00

SOMETIMES I FIND IT A LITTLE UNSETTLING when I think of the montrous amount of control that bloggers have over society and politics. I found this to be interesting -- discussing Canada's complete and utter distaste for a few of the State's bloggers.

While the World Mourns

2005-04-02T22:24:00.000-08:00

ADMITTEDLY, I WISH I COULD SAY something in regards to the Pope's death. Unfortunately, I realize that there is nothing that I would like to say that hasn't already been addressed on a million other news sources and blogs. The only thing that truly came to mind today as I received the news of his passing was the amount of tragedy that has seemingly engulfed the world recently: the young 8 year old that was kidnapped and killed, the situation in Georgia concerning Brian Nichols, Terri Shiavo's recent death, as well as Pope John Paul II's death left me gasping -- not for air -- but for some amount of hope. It seems that as we mourn for what one has committed against another, we are confronted with what nature was going to bring about regardless, and as a nation we are left breathless.

So while the world mourns, I will say goodnight to the great huminatarian and inspiration that left us yesterday morning, but I'm afraid that is all I can say. I am truly left without words.

. . .On the Subject of Cell Phones.

2005-03-31T09:04:00.000-08:00

IN LIGHT OF MY PREVIOUS POST regarding the misuse of photo-capable phones, I found this to be interesting. Looking towards the future of blogging, it is believed that cell phones will play a part in it as well with their internet-capability. It seems that will be a life (or lack thereof, I have yet to reach a conclusion on this one) outside of the PC-blogging world, and it will enter in a new world for cell phone users. Along the same lines is the idea of grafedia. I have yet to come into contact with this in the "real world" per ce, but apparently it is catching on not only here in the United States, but around the world as well.

Photo-Capable Phones Debate

2005-03-30T09:31:00.000-08:00

A STRIKING DEBATE HAS ARISEN with the recently created photo-capable phones. I remember hearing a story in which a young boy was harrassed by an older man as he was walking from a friend's house. The boy, fortunately, was able run away from the man thwarting any attempt of the man harming him, but luckily, the boy was able to snap a quick picture via his phone of the perpatrator's license plate. This had given me a fair amount of hope with this newly found technology. It led me to think that maybe we have truly turned a corner. Maybe instead of creating gadgets for the sole purpose of entertainment, or advancing technology for the sole purpose of advancing, we had created something that would make our mother's sleep better at night. These thoughts were short-lived. Reality found me once more when a situation in Seattle came to the surface in which a step-father was found to have been taking pictures of his step-daughter and a few friends in a family-bathroom. And apparently, there have been even more scattered cases of young high school boys snapping pictures under girls' skirts as they ascend and descend from school steps. So it is another rousing game of The Blame Game. At who are we to point our fingers? Who are we to hold ultimately responsible? Is technology to blame or would these deplorable acts ensue in its absence? I assume we are back to asking ourselves the same question as we were before: Is it the guns that kill or the people? Perhaps it's not the technology that we should fear -- perhaps it's time to take more direct action with those mis-using it.

Fox Blocker Creates Static

2005-03-29T11:14:00.000-08:00

ALTHOUGH I TOO AM SOMEWHAT CONSERVATIVE I am not without a sense of humor. I had heard of the TV-B-Gone remotes as well as the remotes that will make all cell phones lose signal within a certain meter radius, but none had made me smile as big as the FOX Blocker (a cable filter that will block FOX News from one's t.v. set) that had been brought to light by other news programs last night. Apparently, you can order these gadgets for $8.95.

The Washington Post describes Kimery's intents for such an invention:

"Kimery's motives go deeper than keeping people from watching the channel, which he acknowledges can be done without the blocker. But he likens his device to burning a draft card, a tangible example of disagreement."

. . . And they call us the opinionated ones.

What left is there to ponder?

2005-03-28T15:06:00.000-08:00

A FILM ENTITLED SIX was created in 2003 regarding the murders that took place in Tennessee in 1997 by a self-proclaimed satanist group. (If it were not for my weak stomach I would venture to see the film itself, but I already felt my stomach becoming nauseous while bravely watching the trailer.) In light of the Minnesota school rampage, I imagine I was looking for some sort of answer, some sort of reason or rationale of why things like this continue to happen. My search yielded answers; however, not the answers I was hoping to find. Looking back towards the Minnesota tragedy, cartoons had been found from Weisse prior to the shooting depicting the actual plan that took place. In the case of the family that was murdered in Tennessee by these six troubled teenagers:

"The parents and friends of several of the teenagers called the Kentucky authorities and the Virginia Highway Patrol with a description of the car the teens were travelling in, and a warning that the teens were armed, and that one was violating parole. Nothing was done. According to the New York Times Research study on rampage killers, it is common for friends, families and others to contact the authorities prior to a murder being carried out, only to be rebuffed by the police."

I imagine what still baffles me is how we look at ourselves and ask why we reap what we do. And I realize I too am not without error, and hind-sight will remain to be 20/20, but looking towards the past 10 years there have been tell-tale signs of these disturbed individuals -- the trench coats, the drawings, prior threats, the past records, etc -- and we still look to ourselves as if these things come from left-field. Maybe it's time we construct a no-tolerance policy in our schools.