AgPerson

If you were wondering, I’ve made it to Brandeis a-okay. Lack of posting (and computer deprivation) was due to the process of packing, flying, shipping, hotel-ing, and then unpacking, but now I’m up and running, with reports to come shortly.

Guess I forgot about the original point to the posting before: some really terrible article about how kids are being seriously screwed up by something or other – very depressing, but sadly I can’t remember if it was the state of schools or of the foster care system or what, so I really can’t say. It did suck though.

In general I’m a positive person. Progressive. I see great opportunity for change and reform. But I also see a lot of really sad stuff. For instance, I recently stumbled across an article in Salon.com that I liked, hit Google, and found the author’s magazine. YO! (Youth Outlook) is a really nice way for the younger generation to interact. In fact, the whole Pacific News Service (of which YO! is a part) is a really great independent media source. Its too bad that organizations such as this don’t get as much attention as, say, CNN. I wonder how hard it would be to start a really good TV network…Maybe that’s another thing I can put on my to-do list.

For those who may be visiting thanks to the new article in the OC Weekly (yay!) and my latest posting to mindwire.org, a short intro: This site is unedited. It is off the top of my head. I have a strange thought in the middle of the night, I write an entry. Simple as that. I never delete a posting, I never edit. I am a kid growing up, I have smart thoughts and I have stupid ones. I can be well informed or misinformed. I know this, you should too. So this web site represents what I’m thinking about. Over years, months, even days things I’ve been thinking about may solidify or may evaporate, who knows. Don’t take anything here too seriously. Enjoy life, enjoy the ride.


Why do I do this? Its hard to justify. I’m usually very reclusive, somewhat private. Why put my life online? I think perhaps to preempt the spin. I plan on being politically active, likely an attorney for civil liberties, more likely a thorn in the side of the Powers That Be. To steal fitting words from an unfitting biased Fox host, this site is a “spin-free zone.” Life. Unscripted. Uncensored.

Brandeis orientation (“Fell the Rhythm”) requires incoming freshpeople to read Caucasia by Danzy Senna. After reading this excellent book on bi-racial children growing up in the extremist/black power Boston of the early 70s, I wanted to learn how much of the fiction has been inspired by Ms. Senna’s life. With a name like “Danzy” I assumed she must be multiracial, and I was correct. Choosing to visit that great mecca of all things wonderful, Salon.com, I found Senna’s essay “Mulatto” published in their Mothers Who Think section.


Senna talks about how every white person talks about blacks in racist ways. My question to her is, is this really true? Because where I’ve grown up, in a relatively conservative area but also an area bursting with so-called “minorities,” I see this, but not like she says. Yes, I see “whites” talking badly about Mexicans, who make up a large portion of the Southern California population. Much of the complaints come from perceived differences based on culture, such as language, traditions, and, get this, even smell. I know its crazy, but different diets mean people smell differently, and some people have this perception of Mexicans (or Latinos, or whatever) as dirty.


Whenever I fill out any kind of survey or form that asks for race or ethnicity, I always, without exception, put other. If other has a blank, I like to fill in “Martian.” Really, I just don’t get it. I mean, I understand that humans naturally look for similarities, congregate around each other, whatever. Do I do it? I don’t know. I don’t congregate well, but when I do its with most everyone. I just really don’t see myself as racist at all. Will Ms. Senna disagree? I guess I’ll have to ask her if she believes any white person could ever be truly non-racist.


That’s another question, what is this white thing? I mean, I’m insta-grouped with a race and moral sphere based solely on the color of my skin? It is assumed I believe certain things, and its just crazy. I don’t get it. I generally like to hang out with whomever is interesting or friendly, regardless of ethnicity or whatever, the only real barrier I can see is when they are difficult to understand. I don’t consider myself “white.” I just don’t see it in those terms. I like to joke that I’m lucky I’m Jewish, otherwise I wouldn’t have a repressed minority with which to identify myself. Truthfully I find it somewhat disgusting.


What am I trying to say? I’m not sure. I believe that many people of many backgrounds have been constantly harassed and abused and unfairly treated due to their ethnicity and cultural stereotypes. This is fact, this is true, I would never dream of disputing it. As a corollary, I recognize that discrimination will continue forever until we’re all the same color. What was it Bulworth said? Ah yes. The following quotes may offend your delicate sensabilities. Read no further if that is the case. I will talk about my philosophy on language another time.

All we need is a voluntary, free-spirited, open-ended program of procreative racial deconstruction. Everybody just gotta keep fuckin’ everybody ’til they’re all the same color.

Amen, Bulworth. I just get pissed off with this constant negativity and anger. I mean, I like people who are open-minded and also not so easily offended. Having to be incredibly careful to watch ever word you say for any context of possible racial bias is so incredibly terrible. And the hypocricy! Oh, the hypocricy!

Darnell: I say, you ain’t no real nigger, IS you?

Senator Jay Billington Bulworth: [stoned] Is YOU a real nigger?

Darnell: You callin’ me nigger, motherfucka? Don’t call me a NIGGER, moth’fucka!

Senator Jay Billington Bulworth: Would you prefer “motherfucker,” motherfucker?

That’s the real question. Why is it that all the black folk can say “nigger” and not be bothered, but the instant some white shmuck utters the dreaded “n—” word, all hell breaks loose? Have some standards.


I love all races equally, meaning not much, but not much equally. I like the person, not the race. I like the culture, the lifestyle, the traditions, whatever, but not the specific skin-tone as a deciding factor. I really don’t give a damn what color you are. Just don’t judge me based on what color I am, and don’t expect me to be constantly vigilant and incedibly PC when you yourself are not.


I’m black on the inside, buddy. I think I probably like the black people I meet much better then the white people much of the time, but they are individuals, people, not entire swathes of America. ::sigh:: Linda and Ercil and his sister (whose name I’ve sadly misplaced in my memory banks) and I went to the Hollywood Bowl for some Bach. I think she is the funniest person I’ve ever met. She’s dying of cancer, its eating her up, and she is living each day to its fullest. She is in good spirits, she can joke, she can talk, she can ignore the wires going into her arm and the pains from chemo. She is an awesome woman, and I think that much of what makes her awesome is her background and her character developed through a rich culture that is the American black movement thing. And she can joke about race relations, about living in the “bad” part of LA, and about being a black woman with a strange device attached to her body (“Hey woman, put down the bomb!” Trust me, its funny when she goes off about it.). How much of this is because of the color of her skin? Okay, probably a lot is related to the culture based around that coloring. But people who see _only_ the color without recognizing the individual, the human, the spirit within, are doing everyone a great disservice.


So, Ms. Senna, are all whites evil? Can’t you look past the color and just see a person, without judging the race? Certainly we have enough trouble with whites, or Macedonians, or Kurds, or Kosovars or Tanzanians or Congolese or Iraquis doing that already, why you too? Let’s all give it a rest.

[Bulworth exhales smoke into Murphy’s face.]

Senator Jay Billington Bulworth: Have a drink, Murphy. Live your life.

Just a quick note to point out that I am now dsilverman@peacefire.org! Yay! I feel special. ::does little dance:: Also, the Linux install at Maintex was a success, thanks to Paul, but I realize now that with Red Hat 7.x it really is pretty easy.


Much more to report, much more (self-imposed) sleep deprivation to recover from…

My Aunt Linda took me to see a few different Bach’s works at the A HREF=http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/index.cfm>Hollywood Bowl, a really cool theater thing in, get this, Hollywood! We went with Ercil and his sister, who were both fun to be with. We had a nice dinner courtesy of the Regency Club and a nice show. And the people in the “box” next to us even gave us cookies! Yay! I hiked to the top of the Bowl and looked out over the place – it is really cool. And you can see the Hollywood sign, so now I an say I’ve seen that. The acoustics are great and the LA Philharmonic was nice. I didn’t really like the opera part though, because I don’t really like opera at all.

I should know better. I do know better. You don’t post to a public discussion site with people of as high an intellect as people on K5 without doing some good research, backing up your arguments with quotes, links, and statistics, and taking a somewhat standard geek point of view.


Oh, and its nice to search for information on a topic before posting a new article about the same topic while being completely ignorant of the previously posted discussion and resulting formation of a non-profit corporation. Whoops!


Suffice to say my reasoned views on how I think guns should be dealt with were not taken to kindly by the K5 readership. And rightly so — again, I should have known better. It is opinion, I said it was opinion, but I didn’t spend enough time working eloquence and prose and editing into my rant, as I usually don’t do with posts to AgBlog but do with legitimate news stories. ::sigh::


That sound you are hearing is me banging my head on the table. Here are a few juicy comments:

“This one misconstrues positions on both sides, is ignorant of the legal and political history it tries to lay out, hasn’t been proofread, and does little more than propose the same strawman arguments everyone’s seen before but with less eloquence.” – cp


“Other than being totally wrong on every single count, this isn’t bad. “-trhurler

“Your entire article, from beginning to end, is filled with the most unimaginable untruths that one must only conclude that you’ve been reading Michael Bellesiles’ book, which has been roundly derided and proven to be an agenda in search of supporting facts, which he misquotes and misstates to prove a point which his sources simply do not prove.
Try again.” – Beergut


And a few thought out responses, such as: “You are wrong about what “right to bear arms” means. One doesnt bear arms against rabbits, or criminals, or shooting targets. When one “bears arms”, one goes to war. Thugs dont bear arms, soldiers do. The Second Amendment is a military amendment, not an individual right. I hope people take the time to read the law journal article links cited above and also consider the evidence of case law.” – eLuddite

What have I learned here?

1. When this many smart people can get this upset, I probably should review my facts, logic, and conclusions and see if I still think I’m on the right track.
   
2. It is good to get criticized ones in a while because it helps you to really see alternative points of view and understand weaknesses in your own argument.
   
3. Personal attacks are Not Nice ™ and I’m going to try to avoid them in the future, seeing as how they did wonders to my already deflated ego, and I wouldn’t wish such a punishment on anyone else.
   
4. Liberals think you’re conservative if you say one “conservative” thing, while conservatives think you’re liberal if you say one thing left-leaning. Well then, that’s nice. What if I’m neither, but on each issue I take the approach I believe most thoughtful? Nah, couldn’t happen. Must be a crazy liberal/conservative abortionist/gun-nut!
   

So I post my second amendment rant and before I know it I’m slightly editing and revising it and then popping it onto Kuro5hin.org. We’ll see what becomes of it in the submission queue.

The US Constitution is an amazing document, but like all things made by men, it is flawed. One of those flaws is the overbroad authority given in the second amendment.


I agree with the majority of Americans who believe in a loose construction of the constitution, meaning that one must take into account what the founders were thinking when they wrote sections as opposed to just subscribing to the letter of the constituion. If they had intented Americans to follow the constitution to the letter, and had they had the time, I’m sure the country’s founders would have codified a huge document similar to the US Civil Code to guide us. Instead they chose simplicity, knowing that excess “thought,” as it is, leads simply to more misunderstandings and confusion. Frankly, they didn’t have the time to worry about verbal nuances — they had a country to fight for.


The second amendment guarantees the right of the people to maintain arms. By arms it is meant weapons. In the days of the revolution the only weapons in general circulation were rifles and pistols and the like. No machine guns, no tanks, no grenades, no TNT or explosives (at least not in wide supply), and certainly no Apache helicopters, landmines, or nuclear weapons. In those days war was much simpler, and many less people died and much more slowly. The right of the responsible citizenry of the United States, the majority of whom lived in or at the edge of rugged frontier, to own weapons for self-defense did not seem at all odd. Additionally, allowing the populance to own weapons was a good check against the power of a broad federal government and the tyranny it might bring. That doesn’t mean that people kept weapons in their homes.


A well regulated militia, the constitution states, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to bear arms shall not be infringed. I believe this was perfectly justified at the time. By “the people” the founders were clearly referring to the citizenry, and by well-regulated miltia they were clearly referring to the state and local militas that were prevalent in the day. In short, if the states don’t agree with the feds, they organize their militias and duke it out. It happened during the Civil War.


Where in there does it say that indivudials have the right to bear incredibly powerful weapons of destruction? I don’t think it does. I agree with the NRA and other organizations that believe people should be allowed to own guns for their own protection from tyranny. But not for personal defense. It doesn’t say that! Loose constructionists should see what the Constitution says, and what it implies. It says that state miltias cannot be outlawed, and in fact should be encouraged. It says that the people have the right to arm themselves. But in context, it does not say individuals should posess hand grenades. The founders saw how the system was being set up, and that is what they believed should continue: weapons arsenals controlled by state authorities, well-regulated militias run by states, and the security of the people in their homes protected by both the state and federal governments.


My point is simple: people have the right to own guns for a specific purpose, but beyond that purpose, even loose constructionists cannot argue for the right to bear arms. If you want a gun for hunting, for robbing, or simply for staring at, that is all well and good, but the federal government has the power to regulate and even outlaw such usage. Just as state governments have the power to regulate all aspects of gun ownership. I encourage states to keep militias, to keep their local national guard, to keep their local police forces and rangers and patrols. Should the federal government have its own military seperate from the states? That question is open to debate, it was not well addressed in the constitution nor in any of its amendments. But one thing should be clear: when Charlton Heston gets mad that people aren’t allowed to carry concealed handguns, his argument, while possibly valid, it certainly not based on constitutional grounds. The constitution does not say anything about grannies carrying handguns, and the constitution offers no support for weapons on our streets.

He didn’t tell me not to say Lenny, I’m just assuming and its funny because that kept happening to that guy in Memento. Speaking of which, I hear Waltham’s one movie theater has some good independent showings.

To show my new roommate the power of the Ag…er…whatever, I might as well post an update immediately after talking to him.


Today is Tuesday, and today was a stay at home day, a day for coding (badly), a day for watching televison (ick) and a day for reading Caucasia for Brandeis. Temperatures of 87 without being allowed to use the air condition (power crisis coupled with “endurance training,” thanks Dad) soured my mood, but Len (“Lenny!” “It’s Len.”) assures me it is far hotten in the tristate area and thus, by extension, in the great city of Boston. Well cheers to that.


I still can’t believe we don’t get comedy central and sci-fi at brandeis. My first political act will be talking with someone important about that. Or at least complaining loudly.


Finally, I had ThinkGeek ship my latest order direct-to-Brandeis, forgetting that they don’t accept packages any more than 2 weeks prior to opening. Oops! Ah, well.

Over the summer I’ve basically narrowed down what I watch to a few networks. That’s all I want on TV, and that’s all I want to pay for. Now, Brandeis dorms have a lot of crap in their lineup, but I’m only going to watch maybe six of their channels. Of course it is free, but that’s not the point: I want to watch what I like. I like Farscape and The Invisible Man and The Daily Show. I Like The West Wing and Six Feet Under. I like Sports Night and The Simpsons. I like Junkyard Wars. I don’t like much else.


I don’t want your ESPN, I don’t want your Fox News, I don’t want QVC. I certainly don’t want the E! network. So here is the deal I propose: give me the big three, Fox, HBO, SciFi, and Comedy Central, and I’ll give you $10 a month. That is a buck a channel plus three for the cable box. If I want more channels I’ll call you, but don’t you be putting your garbage on my set and making me pay for it!

Don’t you hate those days that just seem to rush by so fast with so little accomplished? I feel like life is short enough already without having to completely “lose” days. So today I wake up 10-ish, I get the urge for a walk, I travel the neighborhood, come back, do some computing, respond to some old e-mails (and lots more of those from way back when my article came out), read some of my summer reading book (Caucasia), and then spend 2.5 hours assembling my mom’s anniversary present, namely a ping pong table. Now, the German manufacturer calls it a “tt table,” and some people call it a tennis table or table tennis board, but i guess they’re going for the whole alliteration thing with the “table tennis table,” only abbreviated to tt for size. Kinda like the Audi tt. Guess those Germans like their “t”s.


Kinda reminds me of our current US President, who likes to have fun alliteration in all his programs, like the “Charge to Keep” (yeah, its a K, deal) and the “Communities of Character” and the “Reformer with Results.” Yeah, whatever.


On the same vein (and from the same Salon story I stole the alliteration thing from) comes this great quote from Bush on his first six months in office. Are you ready? Okay, here goes: “I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe — I believe what I believe is right.” Well that just sums it up spot on, Georgie Boy!

We held a “fiesta” event on Saturday. Now I always find it funny when people of different cultures attempt to have celebrations of another culture thinking it would make a good party. I say go for it, its fun and no one really seems to mind. But I wonder how many people would turn up if we had a Swedish party, or perhaps an Australian romp. I guess there is a line of taste you have to be careful not to cross, to stay away from any ethnic stereotypes or blatant untruths. I think it would be cool to go to an Italian-themed party or one of many other cultures, but I wouldn’t want to go to a party that disparages that culture. Then again, I’m not a stuck-up loser, I think that poking fun at yourself and others is healthy, and there is nothing wrong with a fiesta. Ours was fine, the food was good, the music was nice, and the company was fun. I’m just saying that there is a history in the United States of stupid parties where you do things like dress up as a poor immigrant or a Jew in the Holocaust. I don’t really get the humor and excitment in this. Now, as far as I know this doesn’t really happen any more today, but to reemphasise for the fortieth time: its something to be watchful of. Keep it fun, keep it free, keep it non-discriminatory.


By the way, I got some nice pictures of our party that I hope to have up in the media section soon. Our guacamole and salsa competition was a great success and there were some excellent entries, not to mention a really good seven-layer dip.

Moving on (backwards), I picked up an iBook on Saturday at about 9:00 PM. I’ve wanted a laptop for a while and known that when I get to college I’m going to buy one. I’d held off because I was unsure: PowerBook G4 is awesome but expensive, iBook is slick but the screen is small, PCs are faster and cheaper but a real pain to get working right (and yes, I have tried them. I’ve done Windows sysadmin stuff for a while and I got to tell you, that stuff is a *(&#@ to work with). So I decide on an iBook because the 12.1″ screen, while small, is crisp and clear, bright and high contrast, and hey, AirPort wireless networking is awesome. Then I stumble upon this iBook on sale at Circuit City. Now I was holding off thinking that at Macworld they might announce some price cut or something and I wouldn’t want to be the idiot who buys the thing the week before the prices are slashed. So I wait, nothing happens, and I decide that, since Brandeis gives me only a max of $50 off, I might as well shop around. Well, everyone has the same price until I see Circuit City (in the store but not online) offers the iBook at $100 off and – get this – the promotion ends TODAY (well, on the 28th). So what was I going to do? Buy it of course, at least as soon as my dad gave me permission. Well, around 8:50 he decided that if I had to have it I might as well get it cheap, and I got to the store at 9:01, a minute after closing time. I got in anyway, I grabbed the ‘book, I popped out the checkbook, and the computer didn’t approve it. WHAT??? Okay, no problem, credit. Nope, doesn’t work. College students on their first MasterCard don’t usually get $2100 credit limits. Okay, check card! Nope, that has a limit per transaction….

Long story longer, I split the payment across multiple “platforms” as it were, and got the darn thing taken care of and was home in time for dessert. Hooray! Now to go balance the darn checkbook…

Okay, okay, so I didn’t write, not a big deal! Really, don’t get all exc-ah-ted! I’m gonna try to recall things in reverse-chronological ardor because that’s how I remember it. First off in reverse, some re-tah-ded people at Verizon (can you believe those guys?) completely ruined my day today by making me stay on the phone for a small eternity while they went through processing all of my transfer forms to: get this: move my cell phone to Bah-stun. I mean, getting into college there in the first place was easier than this! So anyway, after three phone calls to three different operators in three different time zones, and after repeating the same information three times, faxing the same authorization letter to three places, and spouting Tax ID and social security numbers like crazy, I finally got my new phone number. And then the re-tahds went and cut off my old phone number without so much as a peep. No redirect, no message, no voice mail, just *poof* and its gone. So now 714-504-3003 is defunct, and my new number, which I won’t reveal here, is active. Really buddy, if you want it, you have to work a little harder then this. I mean, I don’t want random people calling me, but its not like my number is hidden. In fact it is present in at least one page of AgBlog! So with that I leave you to search.

There is a lot of stuff I should be writing but I’m not. Why? Apathy, perhaps, combined with that huge fiesta party we had last night (pictures coming online shortly). In other news, for some reason I randomly picked up an iBook last night at 9:00PM. More to come.

And I did. Here I am, back from the lake with lots of stories to tell. Wow, that was fun and wild and we even made a stop at the Grand Canyon and looked at it in all of its grandness. While some family members neglected to bring my favorite digital camera, we were able to take some old-fashioned film shots which I hope to get around to scanning and adding to my gallery as soon as I get around to a lot of things I should get around to. That said, more on this tomorrow (err…well…today, only later in the day.) For now…


I was looking back through my high school’s web site and recollecting on all the fond memories I have of the school, and of course all of the not-so-fond ones. I happened to stumble across an article I wrote earlier in my senior year, before all of the controversy, and I guess that looking at it now you can realize that I am a troublemaker, or just funny, take your pick. I think it was a decent bit of satire for being written over the course of one 56 minute class period and being posted the same day, along with freshly taken pictures and such! Without further ado, read proof that even Foothill High School can have a pleasant side. (Hurry and read it while you can, who knows what they will do with it once 2001-2002 school year begins and I’m not there to control what goes out on the web!

I am leaving tomorrow with the immediate family for a five day stint in Lake Havasu. So if you want to rob the house, now is a good time. Wait…what? Anyway, we have alarms, locks, neighborhood watch, and two vicious guard cats, so you don’t stand a chance.