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Ah yeah... Brent, thank god you did that. Enough is enough! Livejournal's not for me. I'm not even sure if anyone still reads this. Either way... have fun y'all!
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Wednesday, November 3rd, 2004
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You know what? The guy isn't perfect. He's corrupted in the way that every politician is. But to say that he betrayed us by conceding and not making a bigger deal out of Diebold, that's just sick. If you have even a preliminary understanding of how politics work in our country, you know he did all that he could. He tried to push his ideas forward while being trapped in the cage of a politician. And don't tell me that he could have done more and had a chance at winning the presidency. Our system doesn't work that way. He lost. And even the most optomistic (and realistic) opponent of Bush can see that results of the election weren't close at all.
I think everyone recognizes that we won't truly get what we want just by voting. We have to develop our ideas outside of the system if we expect to see real change. The system is there to protect itself. It fundamentally doesn't want to change.
Sure the following letter is mostly bullshit, but recognize that the guy is human and he tried. I won't remember him as someone who betrayed my trust because he didn't go down kicking and screaming. I'll remember him as a guy who valiently fought a losing battle: trying to change the system while being part of the system himself.
and P.S., I know that sounded cheesy as fuck, but it's true.
Dear Nick,
Earlier today I spoke to President Bush, and offered him and Laura our congratulations on their victory. We had a good conversation, and we talked about the danger of division in our country and the need, the desperate need, for unity for finding the common ground, coming together. Today, I hope that we can begin the healing.
In America, it is vital that every vote counts, and that every vote be counted. But the outcome should be decided by voters, not a protracted legal process. I would not give up this fight if there was a chance that we would prevail. But it is now clear that even when all the provisional ballots are counted, which they will be, there won't be enough outstanding votes for our campaign to be able to win Ohio. And therefore, we cannot win this election.
It was a privilege and a gift to spend two years traveling this country, coming to know so many of you. I wish I could just wrap you in my arms and embrace each and every one of you individually all across this nation. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.
To all of you, my volunteers and online supporters, all across this country who gave so much of themselves, thank you. Thanks to William Field, a six-year-old who collected $680, a quarter and a dollar at a time selling bracelets during the summer to help change America. Thanks to Michael Benson from Florida who I spied in a rope line holding a container of money. It turned out he raided his piggy bank and wanted to contribute. And thanks to Alana Wexler, who at 11 years old and started Kids for Kerry.
I thank all of you, who took time to travel, time off from work, and their own vacation time to work in states far and wide. You braved the hot days of summer and the cold days of the fall and the winter to knock on doors because you were determined to open the doors of opportunity to all Americans. You worked your hearts out, and I say, don't lose faith. What you did made a difference, and building on itself, we will go on to make a difference another day. I promise you, that time will come -- the election will come when your work and your ballots will change the world, and it's worth fighting for.
I'm proud of what we stood for in this campaign, and of what we accomplished. When we began, no one thought it was possible to even make this a close race, but we stood for real change, change that would make a real difference in the life of our nation, the lives of our families, and we defined that choice to America. I'll never forget the wonderful people who came to our rallies, who stood in our rope lines, who put their hopes in our hands, who invested in each and every one of us. I saw in them the truth that America is not only great, but it is good.
So here -- with a grateful heart, I leave this campaign with a prayer that has even greater meaning to me now that I've come to know our vast country so much better and that prayer is very simple: God bless America.
Thank you,
John Kerry
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Monday, October 18th, 2004
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Saturday, October 16th, 2004
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Whoa! It's been forever. If I haven't talked to nayone reading this,
essentially i have no life because of mac. constant homework. but,
my mind is expanding and there are constant parties if i choose to go.
but the best thing happened this weekend! It's this annual event they
hold here called International Round Table. This year, the subject
was the American Empire. Essentially, three scholars come here and
over the course of three days they give speeches until the last day
(today) when they debate.
The first guy was a moderate, at leasty compared to the other two. He
says that the US is in a state of "imperial denial"; it doesn't
realize it's an empire. It has to if it wants to learn from the
mistakes made by other empires in the past. It is crucial that we
learn from the past if we are to remain in power. We are also of
course, very different than most empires because of this denial. His
main point is that liberties for all people are dependent upon order
being established throughout the world. An empire can do this. He
says that the US is the only viable option for world power right now.
The UN, even if it were not corrupt, is inactive because of its very
nature. It is a confederacy of states. Therefore its actions in the
world always take a long time to be realized, and its actions are sort
of a "lowest common denominator". I agree that the US is an empire,
and that we do need to create order throughout the world. But I don't
think that the US is the most viable option for world governance. At
least not the way it is right now. Empire works mostly through
collaboration, not coersion. The way we are right now, we're not gonna get things done
Second guy was left of the first guy. He believed that yes, the US is an empire, but it should not do anything to try and force a foreign country to become democratic, especially because of the paradoxical nature of democracy (from democracy, and form of government can emerge because of popular vote). If we do wish to aid foreign countries, he proposes that we give aid to the governments of these countries. But mostly, he says we shouldn't interfere... that the will of the people will come into being on its own.
The third guy was totally from the right. He, like the others, believed that the United States is an empire, and that it should exercise its power in bringing democracy to other countries. He favors the "any means necessary" method. This is different than the first because he more believes in coersion, rather than collaboration. He says that people do want freedom (which democracy is the most able of current governments to create). The essential difference between him and the first speaker is he believes the whole world should become Americanized; he's more gung ho. The first speaker says that there are only 12 or so nations that truly need help, and we need to act decisively and in a long term way to help them.
The most poignant moment of the final debate, i thought, was when the first and third speakers were asked this: "Do you think that being a white man from the middle of an empire (first man from the UK, third from the US) has shaped your opinions?" The two dismissed the question as proposperous. The third speaker, born and raised in the middle east, made no comment but his face showed what he was thinking.
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Saturday, August 7th, 2004
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yay! i got into town at 12:30 tonight! a seven hour flight to get from santa barbara to portland! what the hell? It's only one state away. Not as bad as the 15 hour flight it took to get down there.
yeah... why oh why do they make the seats in airplanes the shape that they are?! beause really, you can't sleep in them. and you're in them for a few hours. and everybody know that everone likes to sleep on flights that are sort of long and are in the middle of the night. so what the hell? is it some sort of weird torture? and if it is, why? what makes them decide to torture their passengers? i would lean back my chair as far as possible, and it felt like i was sitting straight up. if i closed my eyes, i would nod off and slide in one direction or another, because i was just sitting straight up. annoying.
the cool thing is though, that the story has a nice ending. a nice relaxing ending where we get to rest when we get home. oh wait! it isn't relaxing at all. we get a taxi... the guy speaks zero english, and his car breaks down every couple hundred feet. i'm not exagerating. and we ask the guy, "having troubles with your car?", and he looks at us and mumbles some intelligble grunt. so yeah... longest taxi ride i've had. it was disconcerting that the guy couldn't communicate with us at all. and when we got home, we had no keys. :(
but my step-dad was home. :)
i get to hang out with nadia tomorrow... yes! she rocks my world!
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Thursday, August 5th, 2004
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hmm... i was trying to figure it out and perhaps someone can explain this to me. i think "you" will figure out that i'm targeting this at you, but anyone's free to offer assistance.
i don't really understand anarchy. of course it's first of all ridiculous that there have been and are anarchist political parties. it's a paradox (i know that sounds like something a nerdy scientists would say, but it's true). the very idea of a group of anarchists being organized. i understand what an anarchist believes, but how could anarchy ever come to power? that would require an organized effort, which can't happen. and even if somehow anarchy became rampant and government totally collapsed, what would happen then? people would want power. the strongest would survive. the strongest would take control over others, and we're back to some form of government. am i just not understanding the meaning of anarchy? how can current government revert to anarchy and stay that way without an organized effort?
can an anarchist or anyone else tell me if i'm wrong on this?
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Wednesday, August 4th, 2004
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Saturday, July 17th, 2004
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I got an ipod! It's so great... I've just been spending all my time filling it up. Unfortunately, I've gotten all the music that I have any interest in that's inside the house, and it's not even one seventh of the way full! Damn. It's gonna take me a long time to fill this baby up. Josh! If you're reading this... Cake rocks! I hadn't listened for a while, but now I remember how awesome they are. You have all their cds... right? :)
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Well I'm volunteering in Emma's Dad's record shop, Reverb Records. In case you guys don't know, my parents want me to work so bad, even though I can't find a paying job, they want me to just get work experience. So here I am, running the store all by myself while Claes is over at the bank. Listening to Tom Waits, relaxing.
But that's not the news. I got a six on my IB Music exam! What the hell?! I was sure I was going to fail that sucker. Totally forgot about it the whole year (didn't have a class). With about two months left before the exam, we all remember, "oh shit, we're gonna have an HL Music exam", and we get this former IB Music teacher to come in and dril us once a month. I guess all the cramming paid off... woohoo! So I ended up getting my full diploma! Unfortunately, Macalester doesn't really reward high scores on the Music test. They only give credit for 5, 6, and 7 on HL exams, but not Music. I guess it's not a very popular major or something. But I do get credit for my englsh and history scores. And since I also took Spanish at Reed last year, I've gotten 12 credits already, and I'm not even in college. And who knows... maybe the Music knowledge will come in handy some day, but I doubt it.
But that's it! I got a six! I got my full IB diploma! Yay!
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Hahaha, apparently there's a new MMORPG game out. It's called Sociolotron, and in it, you're allowed to rape people in a variety of ways. Sick? Yes. Funny? Definitely. I love this guy's response to the idea of the game:
Weird. Really weird. I wonder if the player can be raped by other players. Imagine as soon as you log in, there are hordes of level 12837 players circling you...
I doubt I want to play that.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
this is the website for all you pervs out there:
http://www.sociolotron.com
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well if i get my first choices, my course load will look like this:
foundations of international policies, visions of the hispanic world: oral and written, theories of rhetoric, environmental science
pretty big names, huh?
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Yo yo yo! Let's see... what's happened since i last posted? Oh right.
I went stargazing with nadia out in this field by my house. When I parked the car, I ran into the curb really hard. I didn't think much of it till I got back in a while later to drive home. The tire was completely flat! Completely! No air at all. I tried to drive, and when I did, it felt like I was driving over a graveled road and a metallic scraping sound accompanied the bumpiness. I parked thirty feet later and looked at the tire. It was almost completely seperated from the hubcap/wheel thingy. It pissed me off. Nadia and I walked home (only a few blocks away), and I ended up giving her a ride home in my parents' posh car (that's compared to the '88 buick skylark). it was a bummer to fix the next day, especially because i did it in a dress shirt. but whatever.
today, i am my parents' slave. since i have no job, they're forcing me to work for eight hours. this includes filling out macalester stuff (there's shitloads of it), finding a job, and cleaning my room (possibly the messiest in the world). Why god, why? I guess it's alright. I feel semi-accomplished, and I got excited choosing my courses that I'll ake at Macalester.
I realize that my capital letters are weird. At the beginning I wrote with capitals, then I stopped. don't know why...
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Top Commenters on ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) nebojats's LiveJournal
Total Commenters: 34
Total Comments: 192
Report generated 6/18/2004 9:18:47 PM by scrapdog's LJ Comment Stats Wizard 1.1
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Wednesday, June 16th, 2004
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Well yesterday was a great day, I'd have to say. Josh's party kicked ass. It was god to hang out with some people that I don't normally hang out with. I was able to work on my mad pool skills(...), play xbox, and hang out with the old friends. Me, Martha, Nadia, Josh, Amelia... crazy. It really was sort of a trip down memory lane and I really had a fun time remembering early high school times. I don't really know if I'd go back and change everything all over again if I could. Because really, it's all working out really well right now. If I went back in time and told my younger self to do something, I would probably fuck up what I have right now. But yeah... it was great to reminisce. I had seriously almost forgotten about being a part of that group of friends. I guess that's what the end of high school does... make you reminisce (I really hope I'm spelling that word correctly).
And... to make things even better, the Lakers lost! The Pistons won and this is the beginning of the end for the Lakers. Next year, their team will disintegrate into a hodge podge collection of random players who still think they can win the championship in the yellow uniform. The rest will either retire or be traded. Amazing! The team that I love to hate will no longer be the constant threat that it has been for so long!
Right now, I'm going to go to the beach with my mom to visit my grandma and step-grandpa. I haven't seen them since I graduated or went to prom or anything like that. So it'll be another gathering in which I'm sure a lot of reminiscing will be happening (I really hope that word is spelled correctly). I will be back tomorrow!
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well... this is a nerdy debate on a game website i visit (www.actiontrip.com). but the original post by the dude in charge (2lions) went like this:
Heh, this is funny as hell. Michael Moore has won Palme d'Or on Saturday night for his George W. Bush-bashing documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11 at the Cannes Film Festival, the most prestigious film festival in Europe (something like the Euro Oscars).
And guess who the jury president was; non other than Quentin Tarantino.
I haven't seen the movie and frankly I'm about as interested in seeing it as I am in watching the DOW Jones ticker for longer than 2 seconds. This is all just election campaign bullshit. The point is that the French are giving awards to a guy that's essentially bashing on his president, clearly giving a signal how they feel about the current American administration.
Coming up at the next Academy Awards: "How the French Ran" a documentary by Charlton Heston and a few other NRA enthusiasts.
Can't they leave day-to-day politics out of freaking movie festivals? How hard is that to do? I'm not getting into the whole "who's right and who's wrong" argument in regards to the content of the documentary. I'm just saying it's in bad taste to mix burning political issues and film festivals, period.
my rebuttal (after 70 other ones), went something like this:
Excellent arguments SixShooter! What the hell did you study in college?
I agree that one of the original arguments of 2lions was how ridiculous it is that a movie that is used to "further any political agenda" can win the coveted Palme d'Or. This argument of course makes some sense, and can easily be supported. Up until this point, 2lions is making sense and no one can fault him for expressing his opinions.
Unfortunately, this quickly changes.
Firstly, there is the question of whether or not art is inherently political, whose answer can never be fully agreed upon by everyone. Because there can be no universally accepted answer to this question, it is rather ignorant of 2lions to insist that art should not be awarded if it is political. By being so close-minded in regards to a topic that is so subjective, his arguments lose any validity that they may or may not have had.
Secondly, 2lions hasn't seen the film! How can he judge its validity as a candidate for the award when he hasn't seen it? Although I would tend to agree that Moore is most likely being extreme and distasteful in using the "documentary" style of filmmaking to spread his political beliefs, it is inherently ignorant to judge something that one hasn't seen or experienced.
Thirdly, in the original argument, 2lions states that the award is "clearly giving a signal how they [the french people] feel about the current American administration." This is unfortunately another ignorant remark. Why? Because he is saying that the award is symbolic of what all french people think. This is saying that the characteristics of a few (are the judges all even french? I don't know.) are the same characteristics shared by all. And this is very close to bigotry (saying that all french people think the same), which is the most blatent and omnipresent form of ignorance that can be found throughout all of human history.
I'm sure there are more examples of 2lion's irrationality, but my hands are tired from typing so much.
I would like to end by saying this though: I've always respected 2lion's opinions and his formation of solid arguments on issues that seem to matter up until this point. I think this is some sort of fluke and that he and everyone else got overly emotional and lost their reasoning skills. I'd also like to say that I am a die-hard democrat (air america rocks, go John Kerry), but I generally dislike Michael Moore.
long entry, but i want to keep it in my journal in case some day i can look back to see how my political views have changed.
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| UCAUTION | | IN THE INTEREST OF SAFETY IT IS ADVISABLE TO KEEP NEBOJATS AWAY FROM FIRE AND FLAMES. |
From Go-Quiz.com
interesting...
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Woohoo! Great job on Springtasia all you choir people. I laughed like crazy and was very impressed. I enjoyed the new lyrics to tribute by tenacious d very much. oh man... last night i rode around portland on my bike with ellen, john and jev till 3:30! it was crazy, I haven't ridden my bike in so long! and then, i had the funkiest dreams in the world with incredibly vivid colors and then i woke up, played basketball, rode my bike, came home. so yeah, my butt, my back, my feet are all aching. but i feel very... i guess tired.
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i wrote this to randi rhodes, a liberal radio talking head, after she bashed on the french:
I really enjoy your show. It is informative and provides a more balanced look at international and national news than the mainstream media. However I must say that I think it is completely bigoted of Randi Rhodes to say that the French are wimps. To support this argument, she refers back to the Vietnam War and World War II. As far as I'm concerned, if you want to go back so far, you might as well go back to the independence of the United States of America. If it weren't for the French, we wouldn't have been able to break away from England in the first place. France is a great nation because of this. However, I think that it is ridiculous to use this argument to support the French. But it is no more ridiculous than using the French's actions during World War II as a way to pass judgement on them now. France has behaved far more responsibly and smarter than our country has during the whole conflict in Iraq. And I'm sorry, but saying that all French hate Americans is complete bigotry. The definition of bigotry is defining the characteristics of a whole group of people on those of a few, and I'm sure that Randi Rhodes has only interacted with a minute portion of the French population. How can she mock George Bush (whom I hate with a passion) for being close-minded, when she herself mocks an entire country? She is a hypocrite.
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oh man! this is so awesome. going to some gay-ish (or completely gay, i'm still not sure) club with nadia and people like that. i decided i should invite some of my friends just because i love clubbin' and i love my friends. at first it seemed hopeless. but i seriously now have a list of 16 people that are tentatively planning on going. it's so awesome! this is how ashlie imed me tonight:
Jack5parrow: hey!
ashSMASH345: hey!
ashSMASH345: gay club tomorrow?!
Jack5parrow: haha!
Jack5parrow: yes!
ashSMASH345: haha
Jack5parrow: bring a date!
ashSMASH345: thats the word on the street
haha! this is either going to be incredibly ackward or incredibly funny or incredibly incredible! i love clubbing, i love techno, and i love my friends. it can't end up being bad, can it?
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