Wikipedia

So, I've been reading articles on Wikipedia all day, and this is one of the chains of articles that I ended up with:

Milan Kundera >> The Joke >> Czechoslovakia >> Communist Party of Czechoslovakia >> Show trial >> Nuremberg Trials >> Nuremberg Race Laws >> JCS 1067 >> Blohm + Voss >> M/V Explorer

I never would have guessed that something I'm actually somewhat acquainted with would come up while primarily reading about Commies and Nazis.

Milan Kundera wrote The Joke, based in Czechoslovakia, under the rule of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, which, in 1952, subjected Rudolf Slánský and several other senior Communists to a show trial, a highly-publicized trial under which the accused is being used as an example and an instrument of warning, such as the Nuremberg Trials, during which time notable members of Nazi Germany were prosecuted, including Wilhelm Frick, the author of the Nuremberg Race Laws, of which one known original copy, signed by Hitler himself, exists in the Skirball Cultural Center, which received the document on June 26, 1999, when the Huntington Library revealed General George S. Patton had secretly handed it over to them, having appropriated it, in violation of JCS (Joint Chiefs of Staff) 1067, the U.S. occupation directive through which Henry Morgenthau Jr. pushed his plans of Allied "industrial disarmament," which sought to destroy Germany's ability to wage war, in part by dismantling/exploding factories, like the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg, a German shipbuilding and engineering works that was established in 1877, and during its existence, has produced such ships as the Wilhelm Gustloff (sunk during wartime in what is to this day the world's worst maritime disaster), and the M/V Explorer, which is currently in use as the vessel for Semester at Sea, a study abroad program that my friend Brian participated in this winter/spring.

Ocean-Driven Hydropower

Take this with a grain of salt, as I really have no expertise relating to this. I'm merely voicing a simple concern that could be elaborated upon. From http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/02/0225_inventions/2.htm:
"Ocean-Driven Hydropower
Till now, hydropower has mostly been generated at dams. Now, turbines around the world are being designed to harness the power of the ocean. Blue Energy Canada is close to commercializing a turbine that captures energy from ocean currents and already has purchase power agreements in India, Indonesia, and New Zealand. With a set of subway-size floating turbines, Pelamis Wave Power is converting wave power into electricity off the coast of Scotland."

Alternative energy sources are a wonderful idea, but with the growing concern about our effect on the climate, shouldn't we scrutinize all of our energy plans? Unless I am somehow mistaken, getting energy from ocean currents means impeding the currents to some degree. Don't these currents we wish to tap into play a significant role in how the climate all over the earth works? Aren't we risking another type of drastic effect on the climate by impeding the natural movement of the ocean? I am just not aware of how great the effect of drawing energy from ocean currents would be on their natural flow.

Oh, the Legal System

Perhaps you've heard of, or even been following, the recent activities in regards to "sexting." Well, I've just been reading an article on the topic, from which I quote:
"Before showing the photos, Mr. Skumanick explained his offer to the crowd, answering one father's question affirmatively, that -- yes -- a girl in a bathing suit could be subjected to criminal charges because she was posed 'provocatively.'"
To this, all I can manage to think is Really?

William Hogarth

Is he haunting me? First gin, then insanity. Where will he find me next?

A Pale, Blue Dot

The following is taken directly from the Big Sky Astronomy Club Website. I place it here due to the tendency of the internet to change, and links to break. I love the quote at the end. He was more than an astronomer.

---

On October 13, 1994, the famous astronomer Carl Sagan was delivering a public lecture at his own university of Cornell. During that lecture, he presented this photo:


The photo above was taken by Voyager 1 in 1990 as it sailed away from Earth, more than 4 billion miles in the distance. Having completed its primary mission, Voyager at that time was on its way out of the Solar System, on a trajectory of approximately 32 degrees above the plane of the Solar System. Ground Control issued commands for the distant space craft to turn around and, looking back, take photos of each of the planets it had visited. From Voyager's vast distance, the Earth was captured as a infinitesimal point of light (between the two white tick marks), actually smaller than a single pixel of the photo. The image was taken with a narrow angle camera lens, with the Sun quite close to the field of view. Quite by accident, the Earth was captured in one of the scattered light rays caused by taking the image at an angle so close to the Sun. Dr. Sagan was quite moved by this image of our tiny world. Here is an enlargement of the area around our Pale Blue Dot and an excerpt from the late Dr. Sagan's talk:

"We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam.

The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of the dot on scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner of the dot. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity -- in all this vastness -- there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. It's been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."

House

I looked at my post, Homelessness, and realized that I have decided I like my room a lot. Even if the random sink in it leaks and my heater doesn't work. I like it. It's not very good for entertaining any guests on account of how small it is though. Just like the rest of the house. Oh well, not a lot of entertaining to be done anyhow.

god loves money!

shit like this never fails to amuse me:

Glorify god with some monies! fuck yeah

Rectangles

Well, Andrew is not posting, so I guess I should, so I'll have something in my Reader for me to check out...

A sign of tonight's impending boredom- I'm halfway through the shift and I'm already doing shit like this:


yay

hmm

ok, so less than a couple days

Unfortunately the class is more than full.
Best regards,
                 A. Fayaz

LAME

classes

Ahh, I have a bad feeling I won't be taking any this semester. We'll find out in a day or so, I suppose...

Homelessness

has ended. Buuuut, I don't know how I feel about my place yet. My room itself is quite small. There is no common space, just a small kitchen, no dining room or anything like that. So pretty much, it will work for sleeping, eating, and showering. That's not bad for $435/month, I suppose. I just kinda wish I hadn't been in such a rush to find a place - I feel that I could've done better. I miss my old place so much! That house was awesome. But maybe this one will grow on me a little.

I've only met one of my housemates. He seemed a little bit, well, creepy at first, but then I ran into him again, and he somehow seemed nicer. Hopefully he is a cool guy. They are all older than I am by a couple years, from what I remember the landlady telling me.

Well, I guess that's all I have to say about that for now. Wish me luck?

It's official

I'm homeless tonight

food

99% of my total fat
77% of my sodium
66% of my total carbohydrates
88% of my dietary fiber
22% of my iron
88% of my vitamin E
44% of my vitamin B6
66% of my phosphorus
44% of my magnesium
22 grams of protein

1 bag of Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips!! mmmmmmmm :D

then there's the gatorade and the red bull...

Lunch

So, I walked to the store to get some food supplies for my lunch...
-----------------
Janitor is mopping the floor near the register.
I approach the register to purchase my food and drink.
A light 80's song plays over the store radio.
Cashier rings up my purchase and says to Janitor

"Rob, you remember doin' a bunch of coke at the disco to this one, don't you?"

Professionalism at its best.
-----------------


Mmmm. Lunch. :)

Sh ("School", minus "cool," because School is not cool)

Please indicate in the space provided below:

• The reasons for your current academic difficulties (attach ALL pertinent documentation).

I'm only on the first question and I have no idea what to say. The only reasons I can think of are things that would just make them kick me out.
like...

I am not really motivated to work hard in school, because I don't think the type of career a college degree earns me is what I want.

That's gonna make them let me right back in, I'm sure!

I feel like the only reason I am in college is because I've been raised for my whole life as though college is just the next step, when I now realize that it is only one of many paths I can take.

They just both sound like quitting.

Maybe I'll put them anyway.

It's just the truth.

Meeting in the Diag

So, I got off work and grabbed some Jimmy John's for dinner. I decided to go eat it in the Diag, and went and found a nice seat in the shade. As I begin to prepare my Slim 1 (adding some mayonnaise, of course!), I overhear a man talking rather loudly to a woman about Achilles. As she leaves, he promises if she can answer whatever question he had posed to her that he would have not one, but two diamonds for her. And then he comes over to me.

I was rather surprised by this move, as I hadn't really picked up on the fact that it was not merely two friends talking. So, he came over to me and began to talk to me about Achilles as well. He was very preoccupied with how one man could become so great, speaking of him as though he were the most perfect human that has ever existed. Ah, existed, yes. He was quite convinced Achilles was a real person. Granted, he may have been a real person, but probably not quite as good as they say he was. The man even went to say that he wished he could see what Achilles looked like, because he bets Brad Pitt in Troy pales in comparison.

Anyway, somehow he progressed momentarily onto Columbus, at times taking a moment to yell a question at other people when I didn't have an answer for him about something.

At this point in the conversation (about halfway through), he took the liberty of informing me that he is Scott Kinyon:
[taken from the Ann Arbor News - May 24th, 2008]

Full Article Here
And so we talked for a little while about that, too. He was quite upset about Barbara Bergman saying of another repeat-offender mentioned in the article

"What are we going to do with this guy? We can't afford to keep putting him in jail. We can't put him out of his misery by lethal injection."

Understandably upset, I guess? There's definitely a reason that we don't give him a lethal injection, but she makes it sound as though she would like to. Oh, and coincidentally, one of those people I mentioned him yelling to was a photographer for the Ann Arbor News.

But anyway, with my sandwiches gone and his venting done, it was a logical concluding point for our meeting (and in all likelihood, our entire relationship), so we shook hands and we went our separate ways (mine: to find out if he was who he said, his: to collect some drinking money for the evening). I have a lot of interactions with homeless people around here, but that one was the most interesting as of yet.

I can't believe all of the sudden my bank was another bank so randomly.
Apparently Bank of America bought (or whatever) LaSalle.
Last night I went to get some cash, and I remembered that I had noticed them putting in a LaSalle ATM nearby where I was, on South University, but when I got there, it was a Bank of America ATM.
So I was like - well that sucks! and walked all the way to the other branch.
Just to find out it's just not even called LaSalle anymore.

Cooking

Now that I have to make my own food, I'm quite intrigued and want to try to make all sorts of tasty things. I found a nice site, which I have added to my right-hand navigation menu. I am so hungry.

People

I always wonder if people that end up being exposed as fucked up people are really different from other people, or if they only seem different because they ended up being exposed and everyone else is still just hiding.

Birthday

It tasted ok.

Fishbowl

It was vacuumed this morning! Come enjoy your very clean and nice Fishbowl while it lasts!

Labels

It's kind of strange. Two of the labels on here for my posts are Words and Thoughts. But they are sort of one in the same, aren't they? I mean, I can think in things other than words, but I can't very well show you those without words most of the time. It really goes to show how even something so amazing and powerful as words isn't always quite what you need. I still like them a lot though. They were exactly what I needed to convey this thought. And once again, I'm left wondering - do I call it Words, or do I call this post Thoughts? I guess I will call it both again.

Paper Cutter

I'm so stupid - I always call the paper cutter in here a cutting board
It's most definitely not a cutting board
Although it could be I guess
I could go cut up foodstuffs on it
but nobody does, so it's not [yet] a cutting board.

Fell up

I can't be sure where you've brought us, but
it's wonderful here.

Elephants

I never realized how weird they look until I watched this awesome video. (The video has nothing to do with them looking weird, btw. Just a side-effect, so to say.)

Math Question

Does anyone that sees this know if there is a special name for a the property exhibited by a set of integers where any sum of numbers therein (with no repeats) will yield a number unique to all the other possible sums?

i.e. a set exhibiting such a property is {1, 2, 4} because the possible sums are
         1 =1
         2=2
     1+2=3
         4=4
     1+4=5
    2+4=6
1+2+4=7

Anyone?

In My Wallet

j amtddd

dmgtd tammadw gw jdjmamd.pt tppdtajj jgw pjdmmmgwt dwmgmwp.

The Evening Breeze

The breeze was so temperate this evening that I could walk alongside my breath, watching it slowly move around until it finally dispersed.

Damn Soldiers

People say we can hate the war but don't hate our soldiers. Well, fuck! I think things like this make me hate them more than the war:
Puppy
Water
Random Shootings(Need to log in for that one)
Taxi

At Work

This is going to be the worst shift ever. I "went to bed" at about 11pm, but I didn't manage to fall asleep until about 4am. So, I've got a whole 1 hour in me. Just enough so that you have to wake up and feel more tired. That wouldn't be so bad, but then there's the fact that there is pretty much nobody in here at the fishbowl. Seriously, it's me, Saba, and one person in the far back corner on a PC. It's so quiet and makes me sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy...

Outside

The air pleases my tongue this evening.

Dinner

I walked over to West Quad for dinner before I leave for Meijer. The normal card-swiper guy wasn't there. This guy didn't says "a'ight" when I asked him how he's doing. I got my food and sat down. There were a few more people than I expected, but not by much. Maybe a total of 30. I looked around at everyone and realized that there were either groups of normal people, or individuals that seemed very odd. You know the type - dressed strangely, weird mannerisms, etc. One guy would take a bite or a sip of his drink and then pace a very defined route to the southeast corner of the dining area and back to his table in an 'L' shape. A red haired man with the facial hair style I've come to attribute mostly to North Campus-goers sat quietly and clumsily eating his salad. He never looked up from his tray. I didn't observe much more, as I was rather disinterested in my food, limiting the time of my stay. Really, my point is just that I was sitting by myself.

Sweet Flower

I think this is an awesome-looking flower:

Red Bull Follow-Up

Anyone that knows me probably predicted instantly that I would fail to stop drinking Red Bull. I have. A long time ago. BUT I feel it is important to note that today is the first half-litre one that I've had since the day I "stopped drinking" the stuff. So, what I'm saying here is, I haven't stopped drinking it, but I have started drinking less. Go me...

bad habit

I'm starting to develop a bad habit of thinking about the future too much.
I keep thinking about how final death is
and that I will just never see anyone again.
It doesn't matter that I won't know that I'm not experiencing it because I'm dead
Just the fact that it's not happening ever again past that point

isn't quite something I can tap into with words I guess

Black Pudding

The name is rather deceptive. I did not eat this, I was merely reading about it. Nonetheless, it is not what I was expecting.
Black Pudding
Gross!

Limited

What is it that makes certain things that are so natural for one person so elusive to another? I wish I could know. And change it.

I feel trapped by the limits of my mind.

Anti-Placebo Effect?

So, I know the placebo effect of medication is recognized. But is there a such thing as an anti-placebo? Could a person that expects a medication not to work then not fully benefit from the medication? It may already be a recognized thing, or maybe it's not. I just don't know and it was an interesting thought [to me, haha].

Sad Day

Due to accelerated degradation of my eyesight and increased consumption of Red Bull happening simultaneously, I have decided to experiment with not drinking it :'( At this very moment I am having my last one from the 4-pack I bought last night. It was very difficult to open, thanks to Brian ripping the tab off of it. Farewell my tasty friend.

Absolutely Disgusting

Australian anger at whaling | Reuters

I really wish the Australian government success in their legal endeavor against that.

Three things

1) As I began walking back towards South Quadrangle after getting off of the bus, I literally stopped and realized I must have never looked up at the chemistry building. Upon doing so I decided that its form pleases me very much. Then I looked around at CC Little and decided that looked nice, too. In the end, I think the evening just looked nice. I liked the way things were lit as the night began to fall.

2) My foot is in an inexplicable amount of pain. I think it's weird.

3) When I walked up to Mason Hall a short while ago, I noticed a DPS car pulled up near the entrance and thought it was odd but sort of ignored it. However, upon entering, I saw the cop and he was carrying A GARBAGE BAG FULL OF CANDY. I was very sad to realize that I must have missed out on the opportunity to grab lots of free candy after the glass front on one of the machines was broken. That's the largest amount of candy I've ever seen one person carry. I wanted it so much.

Removal

I wish I could just remove parts of my thought process. Why are they even there if I don't like them?

Psychology

The other day in Psychology 111, we talked about something I found pretty interesting.  He gave us this scenario:

If a card has the letter A on one side, the other side bears a 2.  Which cards do you need to flip over to confirm this statement holds true for the following set?

He gave us a fairly short amount of time to answer this.  Most people identified that you must turn A over and check, but many did not identify that you would also need to turn over the card that says 4, because if there is an A on the other side, the rule is false.

He then proposed the same type of problem with a social meaning behind it:

A police officer is called in to a party. Each card has an age on one side and what the person was drinking on the other side.  Which cards must the officer flip over to determine who was breaking the law?

As far as I could tell, the answer was almost immediately obvious to anyone around me.  And this was his point.  That when you give something a social application, "people suddenly become a lot smarter" about the same type of situation. I did indeed think this was an interesting demonstration.  I also think it was rather flawed in that one could look at what happened like this:

He showed us the way the first one worked, taught us why it worked, and when he presented it in a different form, we knew what to do.

Nonetheless, I felt like passing it along.

Walking Home

Strange that, as I wander through the night's snow-dampened silence, savoring the desolation of the empty streets, I bemoan my solitude.

Gorillas?

So my mind wandered down this path of randomness this evening/morning:

Do you think gorillas will ever, during the course of human existence, become intellectual beings that we communicate with?

Also, did you know the scientific name for the Western Lowland Gorilla is Gorilla gorilla gorilla?

Divided Mind

I want to talk to this person right now.  At the same time, I do not.  Isn't it weird?  I am of one mind (I think!) and yet I am expressing two very opposite desires simultaneously.  And how in the world do I keep coming to the conclusion of not to do it?  I  guess each option carries its consequences/benefits.  Apparently the benefits of not talking are greatest.  I still think it's insane that I can have exactly opposite desires at the same time, though.

Not Much

So, I haven't really done much except for work tonight. This is all I have to share with you:

Evolution

This is my take on life and why it is beautiful. It came about while I was riding a bus on New Years. I am sure it's not unique, but it is an original thought of my own mind.

In my experience, an atheist may have a problem understanding or even caring about life. "If there is nothing after death, what does life even matter?" This kind of thought seems to me to even be the motivation behind religion. People like to think they have a purpose beyond living and dying.
While I was riding that bus, I had plenty of undisturbed thinking time, and I realized that evolution makes life much more miraculous to me. To say "God created people" certainly makes a point that God must be some amazing power, but it doesn't say much for life. It just says it was created. Pretty simple, right?
Evolution, though... You've had biology. Maybe even genetics. So, surely you have a general understanding of how much chance went into creating our existence. In my mind, it is far more amazing to consider how so many chance happenings brought about the human existence. The other day I was trying to do my differential equations homework, and I just had to take a moment to marvel at how the mass of cells that is my brain would somehow figure out, be able to recall, and apply in different situations a process behind the math I was doing. And sometimes I think about how insane it is that my eyes work how they do. I can focus them in on things to create a perfect, sharp image. I can perceive so much that is going on just by using these eyes that came about as some chance happening back when our line of ancestry was still fish!?
Anyway, that is just a sample of why I think life is incredible, even if we do just die in the end. I guess I should try to make the most of it, eh? I'm working on it...

Stereotypes

Isn't it amazing how accurate they can be? I think it's insane that there are enough people that are almost exactly the same to even form a basis for the stereotype.

In the Future

A lot of people fear that they don't know what they should be in life. But have you ever been afraid that you already know? Sometimes I scare myself.

Whatever

The man in the elevator was breathing so loudly. I take small, lethargic steps to the door. I slept for too long. The girl at the third desk turns around to stare at me as I walk by. Her hair falls in her face. I walk past a man with a red shirt to my left. He is working by himself. I passed by a table of three students. All of them had their TI-89s next to their books. One had a black hat on. I stared at him, but he didn't notice. The broken chair is still sitting in its sad position against the blank, south wall. I stare at it as I walk by. A green piece of paper from the posting board has fallen face-down to the floor. I step on it.
I'm sitting down now, waiting for the computer. They've been slow lately. I feel the same. I rest my chin on my fists and stare out the window. My vision distorts every time my heart beats. All I can see is the tops of buildings. It makes the city look dead, so I lean forward to see the street, but it's empty anyway. They won't come out until night, when they can find relief from the week. All of them are weak and I hate them. When I looked at the street, I could see a nice patch of grass that survived the snow. It is cold out, but I want to go sit on it, anyway.

Wednesday

Some thoughts from today:

• I very much dislike sitting.  Anything I do sitting I think I would rather do standing/walking except for the obvious exception.
• The next time I am not in a hurry and I hear someone playing violin in the South Quad practice rooms, I want to go knock on the door and ask them to show me the basics of how it is played.  I hear it is difficult.
• Why are there fluorescent lights outside, on the roof of the Union? Do people often walk there? I am confused about them.
• Why do some guys wear those weird shirts.  You know the ones.  They look like a very light, stretchy nightgown or something was cut off and turned into a shirt.  There's a guy that I often see when eating in Easy Quad who wears them often.  There is also a guy behind me wearing one.  They are creepy.

bam

take this, homepage