thatdreamagain
I had that dream... that nightmare again. A series of nuclear detonations... the burning...
*sigh*
It's all so vivid.
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March 19, 2008
March 15, 2008
deepandthoughtful
I want to write something a little thinky... but at the moment, I'm drained. This will not be a kind weekend... Humanities formal, a movie night, and St. Patty's... all whilst trying to get all my essays done.
Thus being up this late.
A few thoughts I've been meaning to jot down... anyway.
A long time ago (as in, first year of University, intoxicated in my dorm room with some friends) I was chatting with someone about a myriad of topics relating to socialism and Marxism in general. I pointed out something that I was just pondering in the tub...
The Chinese experiment fails on many different fronts and has had an enormous toll on human life. But one of the core roots of the problem with socialism, in any form, being implemented in Chinese culture is that it is, at its heart, built upon a very longstanding tradition of gerontocracy.
On the sheer level of ideals... the socialist supposition of class equality clashes on a very basic level with an established order of the Chinese gerontocracy. In principle political change, that is... on such a level, is the realm of the young idealist. I can say with rather sincere honesty now that I was much more of an idealist when I was younger than I am now... cynicism sunk in over the years and I find myself feeling less compelled towards political change brought about by the masses.
Of course, that could be simply a function of our generation... we are certainly not living in an era where activism is as potent a vehicle for change as when it was a fresh notion (the 1960s).
Back to my point, however... 'respect for ones elders' in Chinese culture is effectively a political structure in itself, one ingrained into its very fabric. The onset of Communism has in no way changed this... in fact it has adopted it as a function of its government.
That is not to say that the young do not hold political power, in a sense, but it is to say that the aged hold political control, at least over its direction. The power of the youth, exhibited most flagrantly in the Tienanmen Square massacres, was quickly perverted by the gerontocracy to suit its own purposes, at least internally if not externally (after all, the concept of the Middle Kingdom, though unspoken, still exists).
It's not something that will likely change anytime soon. Just a thought. I'm going to catch a nap before I have to wake up and get cracking on my work.
March 13, 2008
whathesaid
March 12, 2008
wholelottaspam
Just cleaned out my JohannKwan.com mailbox and freed nearly 200 MBs of space. I was wondering what was sapping all of that up... I never use it so I wasn't sure.
While I was mucking about in my settings... I edited the 404 page. So now I've finally implemented the 404 page I saw years ago but never bothered to use.
Whee.
March 10, 2008
eliotspitzer
So... thoughts about the whole Eliot Spitzer thing...
1. Why is it a rule that if you're rich, white, and wrinkly, you for some reason have to pay out the ass for sex?
2. Who in their right minds pays $31,000 USD a night for sex? I really don't care how gorgeous they are... that's absurd.
3. Why am I not running a high-class prostitution ring?
4. No seriously? Why am I not running a high-class prostitution ring? Money, girls, 'friends' (and dirt) in high places...
5. What. The. Hell.
[22:59] TigrisJK: Why is it a rule that if you're rich, white, and wrinkly, you for some reason have to pay out the ass for sex?
[22:59] MaverickF01: hahaha
[23:07] TigrisJK: seriously
[23:07] TigrisJK: it's absurd
[23:07] TigrisJK: if you were Chinese you'd just have to hit up one of your underworld buddies
[23:08] MaverickF01: hahaha
[23:08] TigrisJK: and if you're Japanese you just have to hit up your friends' daughters at the country club playing golf.
[23:08] TigrisJK: and if you're black, well, you just gotta be like "I have a huge penis."
[23:09] TigrisJK: So why do rich white old people have to pay for sex?
[23:09] MaverickF01: because we suck?
March 09, 2008
amanwhoshapedourchildhoods
R.I.P. Gary Gygax.
March 07, 2008
people
I don't know. I mean, I may study politics... and I may have studied terrorism most of my life... but every time something like this happens it makes me sick. I'm always extremely unsettled by pointless violence.
Looking at the images out of the Jerusalem... man.
I'll post a couple of them here. Released by Zaka, obtained from AP. Readers, you are warned... following content is extremely graphic. I believe in the power of photography deeply, so I'll post them.... but... you've been warned.
I haven't used a jump/extended entry in a LONG time on this blog, but I think in this case I really ought to. Images after the jump.
March 05, 2008
holyhell
Just walked my friend home...
It's snowing so hard right now on my way back I watched our footprints slowly become indistinguishable. The snow's blowing sideways.... and it was up to 5 degrees out last night. Damn.
March 04, 2008
automotiveawesome
I don't normally cover autos on my blog... but at the moment, I am a little excited about the things I've been seeing reporting back on the blogs from the Geneva Motor Show.
Let me break it down from mildly exciting to pornographic.
Spotted at Autoblog
The VW Scirocco returns! That's really exciting... it looks FANTASTIC for a VW. I hope it hits these shores at some point.
Spotted at Jalopnik
Despite being environmentally conscious of sorts, I don't normally do the whole "green" car thing... I hate hybrids (I've ranted before about them, I don't believe that they're actually green, given the production process and the similar fuel economy to diesel)... but THIS is actually a green car, and that excites me quite a bit. Damned fine looking as well... it's the Morgan Lifecar. They've cut everything away to make it as light as possible... the seats are even made of wood to conserve weight. But zero emissions (besides water)! That's because it runs on hydrogen fuel cells... a technology I've been hoping they'd perfect and it seems they're coming along well. 200 miles on a single tank of hydrogen, and 200 fast miles to boot.
Spotted at Autoblog
I don't know how much I can say about this. I've been hoping for Audi to slot the V12 TDI into the road-going R8 for quite some time... and they have! Green (sort of) and superfast... I like. I like a lot.
Spotted at Autoblog
This was really a surprise for me... I'm already lusting after the Audi... but this...
This is pure sexiness. The Alfa Romeo 8C (which is already an incredibly gorgeous car) shed it's top and bared itself to the world. I mean... god, I'm not even a fan of convertibles in general, but THAT.... that is gorgeous. Unfortunately only 500 will be made... so besides the price tag I'll probably never even set my eyes on one.
But still... *melts*
And that's all for auto news... regular service to resume at some point.
incaseofemergency
In case the world ends... all our seeds are backed up now.
I didn't know the Svalbard Global Seed Vault had opened already. Apparently the first seeds started arriving beginning of this year and opened last week.
Awesome.
March 03, 2008
deluded
It occurred to me today that this culture of fear we've built surrounding nuclear weapons and the acquisition thereof simultaneously reassure us of the notion that we are safe. After all, the refining and production of weapons-grade uranium is a largely recognizable process, so we, the Western populace, largely rest easy knowing that nuclear weapons will not likely soon fall into the hands of a terrorist organization. Unless, of course, they are mentioned in the news, in which case certain people panic for a few days and get riled up over the issue before settling down again.
We've largely forgotten the fact that once upon a time, what we now lovingly term WMDs (an acronym resurrected during the first Gulf War) were also referred to as NBCs (a term we never hear these days besides in reference to the news station). Nuclear, biological, and chemical.
We usually leave those other two parts out these days. It took an image I stumbled upon surfing Wikipedia to shock me back into reality.
This is an M-190 Honest John warhead, quite capable of carrying 40kt nuclear warhead and make quite a few people very dead, very quickly. What is pictured, however, is a payload from the 60s (when the US still played with this kind of death)... those are cluster bomblets filled with Sarin nerve gas, designed to deliver a brand of guaranteed extremely slow and painful death over a large area.
The obvious thought remains... it's far easier for your average kook with quite a bit of money (or a rogue state) and a hatred for the West to scrounge up a chemistry lab than it is to build a gigantic nuclear refinement facility. Maybe it's a good thing we're placing so much emphasis on nuclear weapons, so long as the government isn't. Less people will think elsewhere. Despots and terrorists have so little imagination.
That said, it may just be the scariest image I've ever beheld in my life. To think that those once used to be ready to launch at any given time... scares me far more than a nuke ever could.