橋爪

A few months back, Ebony magazine published a headline which has stuck with me for a while:

"In our lifetime." What a hopeful sentiment; that a country that just a generation ago struggled with segregation could see an African-American president.

And yet, here we are, months later, basking in the sweeping victory of Barack Obama. Who would have thought? Who would have dared? A mixed-race man with a funny name, raised in a single parent household, President of the United States of America. What do I say? What can I say?

His drive, his charisma, his intelligence and his policies have taken him to the highest office.

I'm excited for January.

All of you who are eligible to vote have done so already, right?

Oregon has sent out ballots for the November elections. I still have to go back up to Beaverton to get my ballot, but I'm really excited to vote in the presidential election! I'm not as sure about the other races and measures that are up for vote, but it's probably a bit unrealistic to expect to be an expert on every single thing on the ballot.

Speaking of presidential politics, a lot of the things that have been coming from the McCain camp and its supporters have been really frightening me lately. In all fairness, I assume that there are some insane Obama supporters out there as well, but I keep seeing video footage of McCain supporters saying absolutely absurd things.

This video in particular is pretty bad. Be warned about some of the language in it:

I've gotta say, I've never been much of a fan of Sean Combs, AKA Puff Daddy AKA P. Diddy AKA Diddy until I saw this video.


Vote or Die, amirite?

Where do you get your political news? TV? Internet? Newspaper? Magazine?

After Barack Obama won the Democratic nominee. my mom almost immediately got on the phone with a few of her friends and started complaining about how Hilary Clinton hadn't won the nomination. Her main gripe was that Hilary was dismissed "so early" from the race because of her gender. I know that there has probably been some sexism in this race for president, but am I the only one who finds that claim completely ridiculous?

At the very least, my mom hasn't threatened to vote for McCain. It scares me that some Hilary supporters are threatening to vote for McCain in the fall. Do these people think that doing so "punishes" Obama and his supporters from "stealing" the nomination away? I just don't get it.

CNN has just projected Barack Obama to be the presumptive Democratic nominee. Even if they are incorrect, the difference in delegates between Obama and Hilary is well over a hundred. Obama needs something like 30 delegates to get the nomination; Hilary needs 100+.

Despite that, it doesn't look like Hilary Clinton will concede, at least tonight. My mom, a Hilary supporter, is even calling an Obama win "premature."

Edit: Both Hilary and Obama have given speeches. Hilary has said that she will wait to make a decision about the future of her campaign, meaning that she probably won't concede for another week or more. In his speech, Obama declared himself the (presumptive) Democratic nominee.

Looks like Obama takes the Oregon primary.

Of course, Hilary took Kentucky, so the likelyhood that the Democratic nominee will be selected at the convention seems greater.

Oh dear. And at the beginning of all of this business I thought it would be the Republicans who would be having a brokered convention.

Besides, isn't it mathematically impossible for Hilary to win at this point? Or is that just a myth?

Holy shit.

Obama rally in downtown Portland drew 75,000 people.

( Big pictures )

My money says he takes it in the Oregon primaries.

Who are you supporting this year's presidential race? Why?

I kinda forgot to post a follow-up to the Obama rally. :/

( Big pix ahead )

Things are going down in Britain. Today, there were several car bomb attacks and the government raised the terror threat level to its highest level - "Critical." Why is this happening, especially now? It was only very recently that Tony Blair stepped down from power as Prime Minister - are these attacks to undermine the new government, or merely coincidental?

See the story covered by the BBC.

Iranian soldiers capture 15 British soldiers at gunpoint?

Yikes.

I'm worried to what this could escalate into.

One of the best things about the internet is the availability of...well, anything. Two things in particular caught my attention lately:

1. Jesus Camp on Google Video.

If you haven't seen or heard about this eye-opening documentary yet, I would definitely recommend checking it out. It follows evangelical Christianity, and how it affects children in America. A bit long, and a bit worrisome, but interesting nonetheless.

2. Chrome Children.

A hip-hop album available for free, legal download by the record label Stones Throw. It's fairly varied, with everything from instrumentals to remixes to straight-up hip-hop. Better than most albums out there, and with a much more attractive cost.

Gah, corporate America.

Viacom recently requested that YouTube pull videos from their site - over 100,000 in all. Why? They claim that hosting these videos is theft of intellectual property, copyright infringement, blah blah blah. Of course, these sort of generalizations lead to stupid situations like this:



A forty-four second Stephen Colbert fan video being removed. Oh, and did I mention that the video was part of an ongoing contest requested by Stephen Colbert himself? That's right, the show's host encouraged people to make these types of videos, yet they were still taken down due to copyright infringement.

[Edit: I was alerted that Colbert specified videos to be sent to his website, but I think the point still stands.]

It's nonsensical to me. The internet provides a way for product - whether it's music, video, or what have you - to proliferate, gain popularity, gain exposure. It's almost free advertising. And yet, many companies stifle this, much like Viacom has. I can understand the threat that the internet presents to their market share, but is this the best way to go about confronting it? Some companies, some artists have recognized and embraced this paradigm shift and begun to offer their content for free online.

I can download an album from the band Harvey Danger for absolutely no cost and no fear of legal repercussions. A collaboration between two hip-hop artists, Talib Kweli and Madlib, was similarly made available, albeit temporarily. Hell, I've downloaded a book (Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig) for free with the author's blessing. These artists offer such downloads because they've recognized that the internet has changed how the world views media, and how media is distributed. It is damned smart of them too, because nothing screams publicity like "FREE CONTENT." Because I have more access to their content, I am more likely to go to their concerts, their book signings; I am more likely to tell my friends; I am more likely to promote the artist in general.

Maybe I'm being naive and idealistic again. I'm probably only a bit irked because I really liked that Colbert video. :(

Yesterday, officials in Boston were swept into a panic as several mysterious "devices" were discovered across their fair city. Police, bomb squads and the like jumped into action, only to realize that these devices were nothing more than Lite Brites used for promotional purposes to advertise a show on the Cartoon Network. Despite the fact that these promos had been placed in numerous other American cities and were quite harmless upon inspection, Boston officials decided that since these devices were electronic, they must be bombs.

The two men who were arrested for setting up these advertisements gave a press conference today:



And thus, my faith in humanity is restored. Keep on truckin', gentlemen.

Off to Florida, it seems. The flight leaves at 3:45 tomorrow, so my family and I are spending the night at a hotel near the airport, meaning no more internet access for me for about a week.

Hope you all have a lovely New Years and enjoy Saddam's execution. There's nothing better than a good old-fashioned hangin', now is there?

Oftentimes, it seems like aspects of life - events, people, messages - converge very conveniently, coming together in a given time frame from often seemingly unrelated sources.

This week has been another example of that.

( I write too much sometimes )

More likely than not, I've spent waaaay too much time on the internet and am taking the whole thing seriously. Gotta take everything with a grain of salt, amirite?

Keeeeerist, I've got to get out of the house more.

Why do so many people smoke and drink? Since the beginning of this year, I've learned that more of my age group than I had ever before guessed insist on ingesting these poisons.

And the people who do these things are not just the type you would expect; they're the valedictorian, the intellectual writer, Ms. Perfect.

I just don't understand how you can be conditioned for years - taught the negative effects of theses substances, told anecdotes about the harm they wreak - and still not only smoke or drink, but do so on a continual, casual basis. When did inhaling smoke become a good idea? When did killing parts of yourself become alright?

I haven't had much first-hand experience with users, but it just seems sad to me. Not sad on a "Oh my God, someone I knew died from this," or a "What has become of this generation?" level, but on a personal, human level. It's sad to me when I overhear kids I've known for years wonder at how three months without pot is an amazingly long time. It's sad when people lose their dignity with their sobriety. It's sad when I hear stories about alcoholic parents, of which I've heard quite a few.

I know this post sounds incredibly naive, and I'd just like to acknowledge that in hopes that I'm not so.

( North Korea's First Nuclear Test )

I'm still trying to get my bearings with this one.

After the terrorist group Hezbollah captured and killed a number (something like eight) of Israeli soldiers on Wednesday, Israel has decided upon an appropriate form of retaliation: waging war upon Lebanon. Despite the Lebanese government neither funding Hezbollah nor ordering any such attack upon the Israeli army, its felt the full effect of Israel's wrath. Not only has Israel set up a naval blockade around Lebanon, but has also conducted a number of air strikes on the country, often with severe civilian casualties; the most mind-blowing of these being the bombing of Beirut International Airport, a civilian airport.

( War )

And yes, I realize both my re-telling and my photo montage is heavily biased towards the Lebanese, but frankly, I don't care. There have been attacks on Israeli villages, but the damage has so far been insignificant compared to the damage done to the Lebanese people. I was so outraged at all of this, I was half tempted to simply post "Fuck Israel," and see what came of it, but I realized doing such would be stupid and an over-simplification of an oh-so complex situation. For the time being, let us see where this leads and what further costs humanity will pay for a serires of foolish decisions.

I'm continually frustrated at people's anger at Bush.

And no, I don't mean the stuff he's actually responsible for (i.e. retarted foriegn policy), I mean the stuff people are blaming him for that he was little to nothing to do with.

George Bush is raising gas prices!

George Bush is soley responsible for the poor education system!

George Bush is profiting directly from _______.

George Bush created the hurricane hisself!

George Bush killed my father and raped my mother!

I really don't mind when people have beef with the war or with his blatantly wrong stances on oh, a couple of issues, but when you begin to blame the President for issues that-in terms of responsibility-fall on different doorsteps (Congress, FEMA, increased demand, inflation, etc. etc.), it makes you look ignorant. Keep in mind that Bush isn't the only idiot in this nation. Not only that, but it makes anyone who opposes Bush look like an uneducated lunatic, regardless of whether or not they actually are.

So please:

Research the issue. Educate yourself. Know exactly what happened and why before you begin brandishing about accusations; as one of the great philosophers of our time once commented, "knowledge is power." And most importantly,

think.

School's finally started (as of Tuesday), and I'm still adjusting. For one, I now have to get up at 6:30 everyday at the latest to make it to school on time; long-gone are the blissful nights of 12+ hours of sleep. This is in no way aided by obscene procrastination, which led to me burnin' the midnight oil last night to finish two AP English papers I should've finished over the summer. Oops.

Band is going decently, although I fucked up pretty big today during sectionals by having absolutely no idea what the hell I was doing when instructing. I'm glad that there were others there to help me recover, but still...I'm frustrated with myself for wearing the patience of an already annoyed group. Oh well; so it goes. Hopefully next time I'll have an inkling what I'm doing.

And of course the elephant in the room, Hurricane Katrina. The media can't seem to get enough of it these days, which is sort of a mixed blessing. The media attention is virtually shaming both government and business into relief work, but at the same time, it's downright painful to watch all this suffering. The families split up; the corpses floating in the water; the pollutants that will taint the Earth for years to come; the elderly who are both helpless and clueless to what's going on around them as they are taken to safety; the widespread greed and looting; and the pets left to fend for themselves as their owners flee with no choice but to leave them behind. I stop and think every now and then how much I'm taking for granted - whether it be electricity, good shelter, good food-or hell-even clean water.

( Hell. )

Of course, the Bush administration isn't exactly being responsive; whether it be to the disaster itself or just why its response has been so slow. An exchange between the White House Press Secretary (Scott McClellan) and a reporter:

Reporter: [T]here are people in Louisiana and Mississippi who are doing that job very well. Your job is to answer the questions.
McClellan: And I have.
Reporter: By saying you won't answer.
McClellan: No, by saying that there's a time to look at those issues, but now is not the time, Terry.

At least the people of Louisiana are getting back at the Bush administration, in some small way. While Cheney was giving a press conference in New Orleans, a native began shouting behind him (while cameras were rolling) "Go fuck yourself, Mr. Cheney! Go fuck yourself!"

Makes ya feel good, donnit?

( Fuck you, Superman )

Well...Al Qaeda bombed London.

I'm sure now the world respects Al Qaeda's ideals much more.

I'm sure now the world is ready to listen to Al Qaeda's demands.

I'm sure God understands that Al Qaeda was doing this only for Him, and will forgive them in kind.

I know this seems like a given, but it's just so asinine. I mean, what are they trying to accomplish here? I wish their agenda were a bit more clear, because every time something like this happens, I just wonder what they could possibly think could justify actions so random and brutal. Furthering a religious agenda? Getting back at what they perceive as an oppressive or evil government? Any way you cut it, it makes no sense to attack civilians; it simply portrays you for what you really are: a sociopath.

"Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary."
-Mohandas Gandhi

( Can you believe this...? )

How...could we allow this to happen? How could people bring themselves to do this to people's faith? I do realize that this was being done to interrogate a prisoner, most likely a terrorist, but that is hardly an excuse for this sort of religious desecration. I mean, how would we react if Iranians flushed the Bible in a toilet?

These simple disregards for other religions and cultures are what gives the United States such a horrible reputation. And for a good reason. How many other G8 countries treat prisoners like this? Hell, how many other G8 countries treat religions like this? Christ, first Abu-Grahib, now this...

Now, I do realize the hardships faced by US soldiers, but I don't understand why they keep insisting on being such dumbshits. Yes, of course not all American soldiers do this, but a large enough percentage engages in these sort of immoral, stupid activities to become a problem. I don't know...

It's hard for me to articulate my thoughts on stuff like this clearly. I mean, we're the good guys, right? The sentiment often passed on when talking about this sort of prisoner abuse/religious stupidity is something along the lines of "These guys and their fucking stupid religion had it coming to them. Sure, it's not moral, but they're terrorists for God's sake. Islam is a religion of hatred, violence, etc. etc." Why does that seem to be the sentiment shared by most of our country when it's so. Blatantly. Wrong?

Not only that, but this story still hasn't hit many of the major news outlet. CNN? Forget it. Hell, even BBC didn't have the story up on their website. I had to Google the story (which I first heard on NPR) to only find obscure news outlets and liberal blogs carrying the story...