David's Blog

The PR Nightmare that is Christianity

Christianity is not without flaws when it is forced peg-like into the organization hole. One of the flaws that is currently bugging me is the Public Relations problem that seems like it might be an inherent potential of the way Christianity works.
First, Christianity is a very accepting religion and organization. In fact, parts of it is evangelical, so they are zealously accepting. This sets up the problem.

After you realize that anyone can become a Christian it isn't hard to see why Christianity has a public relations problem. If anyone can be -- or merely claim to be -- part of an organization then there is an immediate problem of organizational self-control.
Without the ability to control itself, and with even the newest members acting as mouth pieces and spokespeople one should reasonably expect that the organizational message is quickly distorted from intent of the organization.
This is what happens on a daily basis to Christianity.

Gen. Wesley Clark: Worth Watching?

This Presidential cadidate has recently (a few years ago) retired from the Army as a four-star General. He was Commander in Chief of two different world theaters, Supreme Allied Commander of NATO (lol... such a funny name,) and probably got to be all of this because he was a West Point Graduate.
I don't really know all that much about him still, but I am interested in learning more. That's about the entirety of my opinion so far. I do know that I am not all that happy with Bush. I wish he could pick a Supreme Court Justice and then be replaced with someone better. The question is... is there someone better coming from the Democratic party? No one else I've read about seems to fit that bill, but I still have to read more about this newest candidate.

The 100 Year Vision
by Wesley K. Clark

Looking ahead 100 years, the United States will be defined by our environment, both our physical environment and our legal, Constitutional environment. America needs to remain the most desirable country in the world, attracting talent and investment with the best physical and institutional environment in the world. But achieving our goals in these areas means we need to begin now. Environmentally, it means that we must do more to protect our natural resources, enabling us to extend their economic value indefinitely through wise natural resource extraction policies that protect the beauty and diversity of our American ecosystems - our seacoasts, mountains, wetlands, rain forests, alpine meadows, original timberlands and open prairies. We must balance carefully the short- term needs for commercial exploitation with longer-term respect for the natural gifts our country has received. We may also have to assist market-driven adjustments in urban and rural populations, as we did in the 19th Century with the Homestead Act.

Institutionally, our Constitution remains the wellspring of American freedom and prosperity. We must retain a pluralistic democracy, with institutional checks and balances that reflect the will of the majority while safeguarding the rights of the minority. We will seek to maximize the opportunities for private gain, consistent with concern for the public good. And the Clark administration will institute a culture of transparency and accountability, in which we set the world standard for good government. As new areas of concern arise - in the areas of intellectual property, bioethics, and other civil areas - we will assure continued access to the courts, as well as to the other branches of government, and a vibrant competitive media that informs our people and enables their effective participation in civic life. And even more importantly, we will assure in meeting the near term challenges of the day - whether they be terrorism or something else - that, we don't compromise the freedoms and rights which are the very essence of the America we are protecting.

If we are to remain competitive we will have to do more to develop our "human potential." To put it in a more familiar way, we should help every American to "be all he or she can be." For some this means only providing a framework of opportunities - for others it means more direct assistance in areas such as education, health care, and retirement security. And these are thirty year challenges - educating young people from preschool until they are at their most productive, helping adults transition from job to job and profession to profession during their adult lives; promoting physical vigor and good health through public health measures, improved diagnostics, preventive health, and continuing health care to extend longevity and productivity to our natural limits; and strengthening retirement security, simply because it is right; first for our society to assure that all its members who have contributed throughout their lifetimes are assured a minimal standard of living, and secondly to free the American worker and family to concentrate on the challenges of today. Such long-term challenges must be addressed right away, with a new urgency.

We have a solid foundation for meeting these challenges in many of the principles and programs already present today. They need not be enumerated here, except to argue for giving them the necessary priorities and resources. We can never ensure that every one has the same education, or health care, or retirement security, nor would we want to do so. But all Americans are better off when we ensure that each American will have fundamental educational skills and access to further educational development throughout their lives; that each American will have access to the diagnostic, preventive and acute health care and medicines needed for productive life, as well as some basic level of financial security in his or her retirement.

To do this we will have to get the resources and responsibilities right. In the first place, this means allocating responsibilities properly between public and private entities. Neither government nor "the market" is a universal tool - each must be used appropriately, whether the issues are in security, education, health or retirement. Then we must reexamine private versus public revenues and expenditures. We need to return to the aims of the 1990's when we sought to balance our federal budget and reduce the long- term public debt. Finally, it means properly allocating public responsibilities to regulate, outsource, or operate. This means retaining government regulation where necessary to meet public needs, and balancing the federal government's strengths of standardization and progressive financing with greater insights into the particular needs and challenges that State and local authorities bring.

As we work on education, health care, and retirement security we must also improve the business climate in the United States. This is not simply a matter of reducing interest rates and stimulating demand. Every year, this economy must create more than a million new jobs, just to maintain the same levels of employment, and to reduce unemployment to the levels achieved in the Clinton Administration, we must do much more immediately. This is in part a matter of smoothing the business cycle, with traditional monetary and fiscal tools, but as we improve communications and empower more international trade and finance, firms will naturally shift production and services to areas where the costs are lower. In the near term we should aim to create in America the best business environment in the world - using a variety of positive incentives to keep American jobs and businesses here, attract business from abroad, and to encourage the creation of new jobs, principally through the efforts of small business. These are not new concerns, but they must be addressed and resourced with a new urgency in facing the increasing challenges of technology and free trade. And labor must assist, promoting the attitudes, skills, education and labor mobility to enable long overdue hikes in the minimum wage in this country.

Drop!

After complaining about games Wei showed me this addictive game called Drop!. I think that level 12 on Hard is the best I can do for now, so I saved a screen shot to record my current skill level.
Try it out

UPDATE: 10/5/2003
I finally managed to beat the score that I posted here. So, I saved a screenshot. I decided to replace the old screenshot with this new one, and I think that henceforth my best score will be displayed on this entry.

Martial Arts meet the US Military...

The US Military has already taken a few things from Martial Arts, but the knowledge our military has borrowed seems to have been limited to hand-to-hand combat. Just for the record, I am no master of any martial art, but I have studied and practiced two of them. What I've learned in the few short years of study were the basics, and that is what I am suggesting the military borrow -- just these basics.

One of the first things I learned is that you should learn how to fight so that you have the confidence to stay out of a fight. This outlook would really serve the US well, and I think that the reasons for it are obvious. Basically, what I quickly learned when I began martial arts training is that the training is for building confidence, poise, and for use in worst-case scenarios, but those worst-case scenarios should rarely ever arise.
Later, when I was learning technique, I learned that when you are striking a target it is more important to return to your original stance quickly than it is to strike powerfully. This seems like great wisdom for the US. Imagine how much better the US Military would be if we could have withdrawn from the many engagements that we've been involved in faster than we went into them. The US could be avoiding a lot of the criticism that it is getting now that the troops have been in Iraq for four or five times as long as it took to claim victory.
Once the fighter is back in his original stance he can be at peace, use less energy (or resources,) and maintain readiness for defense or another strike.
Lastly, love, compassion, and a forgiveness of sorts were reinforced time and time and again. This was easy to reinforce in training because when you are training your opponent is usually a freind or a mentor (or both.) After subduing any opponent it is always worthwhile to risk exposure to attack to offer help.
These are just a few things I thought about, but I am willing to bet that there are more. As I said I just know the basics.

Selflessness

Sometimes in life... we just don't feel like we have the energy to be selfless. I guess that when we're tired and worn out from a hard day or an especially busy day people tend to feel like they've earned a period of time to be less than selfless... or selfish.

Unfortunately, this isn't the way life works much of the time. People aren't always perceptive enough to realize that we've had that hard day or maybe they see that you've been through a lot, but they still have expectations of you.
Realizing this makes me feel like I am beginning to mature some more. I've got to see that I need to strive against fatigue, selfishness, and poor communications. I need to strive to be selfless as much as possible, and then I need to push myself to be a little more selfless than even I think I can be. That is how I will grow.
If I ever have children, I will not do well to be selfish. Infant bodies function all over everything, but my pride must not hinder me from loving them. Toddlers scream, run and challenge their parents; their curiosity unhinges a household, a neighborhood, and anything else in the path. I need to be strong for this stage too. I need to be fair, loving, and persistent. Every step of a child's life requires patience and selflessness from the parent.
My life is the life of a parent, and I have only now realized this. I must deal with the lowest of human qualities along with the greatest... love. Everyone around me is like my child to me, because I must be strong for them, because it is expected and desired. I need to keep my mistakes to a minimum and be strong enough to admit them and apologize each time I fall short. I am like a parent also because a parent is gratified by the little things that a child at any stage does... I too am easily pleased with simple smiles, small gifts, impromptu hugs, and life's simple tokens of familiarity and love. I am like a parent because I must love, endure, selflessly give of myself, defeat fatigue and strive to meet impossible expectations. I am like a parent because your smiles, laughter, excitement, small victories, shared moments, strange gifts, and impromptu hugs lift me up and last for ages. I am like a parent for these reasons and no more.

Typing in Arabic in Win XP

I've been wanting to type in Arabic in my windows programs for a few weeks, but I have been unable to figure out how to do it. This is mainly because I've been going about it in the wrong way. Now that I have it all figured out, I need make a record of it, so I can do it again after I forget and get a new computer.

A How to on writing in Arabic (or any language that uses an alternate alphabet) in all of your Microsoft programs.
Go to Control Panel
Select "Regional and Language Settings"
Click the "Languages" tab
Check the box next to the languages you desire in the "Supplemental Language Support" section.
Click "Details" in the "Text Services and Input Languages" section.
Select and add the languages you want to use.
I suggest clicking on the two options ("Language Bar" and "Key Settings") and playing around with them for a little while to get everything the way that you want it.
Hit Apply.

You're a Fundamentalist!

Whenever I see this word, fundamentalist, it is used in a negative way to describe someone who is strictly adherent to some worldview -- often religious, ethical or moral in some way. I looked up the word and even the definition notes that a fundamentalist is usually a religious movement OR point of view. If the point of view is characterized by a return to fundamental principles and an adherence to those principles than that point of view is open to having this adjective attached to it.
My "realization" is that most of the people I've come across, read about, heard about, etc. are fundamentalists. I would venture to say that we are all fundamentalists.

Do you have a moral point of view? Are you religious at all? If so you could be a fundamentalist if you actually adhere to your point of view. Do you feel that death is bad when it is caused by someone else? Is that view what keeps you from killing people? Perhaps you're something of a fundamentalist after all.
It is actually pretty easy to build up a short list of fundamental beliefs typically held by Americanized people. There's the death thing, the equality thing, the inalienable rights hang-up, the notion that it is permissable to express ourselves however we'd like without fear of anything -- save social consequences. The list can go on... hopefully, you've already thought of a number of the things that I've left out. Those are just the views. Having views, opinions or whatever doesn't cut it for being a fundamentalist though. You also have to adhere and expect adherence to those views. Without adherence or the expectation thereof you become less fundamentalist and more hypocritical -- another word which might fit you (or me) -- if you have views to which you have not or can not adhere.
My feeling on this is that we are all a bit fundamentalist a bit hypocritical and some of us might even claim to have no views, but those people probably have the view that having a view is inferior to having no view. Hypocrits!
...So maybe name calling or labeling should be fundamentally wrong or at least be seen by all that the labeler/critic is in no way superior to anyone else.

Sun Letters and Moon Letters

Well, I'm pretty happy right now. In my Arabic class we've learned all 28 letters of the alphabet (which makes Arabic the fourth alphabet that I know) plus a few other 'letters' that aren't officially letters. (Yeah, I don't get it either... I'm still in the beginning of learning so I am accepting what I hear.) This week we are moving on to the definite article "AL" as in Al Jazeera -- the Arab satellite news station. The reason I am so happy is that I've already managed to use some of my linguistics skills to help me do my homework and learn a new language.
Note: The rest of this will still be written in this 'happy with myself' mood that I'm in. If you don't like that sort of thing wait two days for the next entry.

Our professor told us that the AL is sometimes pronounced Al and sometimes the 'L' sound is absorbed by the letter that follows it and that sound is doubled. She said that it happens for "sun letters" and that we can go ahead and pronounce the 'L' if it precedes a "moon letter."
Of course, someone immediately asked if there was an easy way to remember the difference between these two types of letters. Unfortunately for that guy, the teacher gave the old "you just have to memorize the list" statement. I felt that there must be some linguistic phenomenon at work here, and so I set to work. Luckily, it only took me a few minutes to realize that there is a trick.
The trick is that the "sun letters" are all the dental, interdental, and alveolar sounds whereas the "moon letters" are everything else. This means that three minutes of thinking (and highlighting a IPA chart with two different highlighters) saved me a lot of memorization. Now if only I could tell someone who cared. At this hour it is even less likely than it would normally be.

Season Tickets to UF Games

I have a problem this year. I bought season tickets last Spring with the expectation that Joy would also be able to get season tickets. Unfortunately, she tried and tried on the first few days and then forgot about it until her block was sold out. Now I have all these season tickets, but I don't have someone to go wtih nor do I have someone to get my tickets with so I can sell the tickets to the games I don't care to see. If you or someone you know has this problem or would simply like to help me out by purchasing my ticket, going with me to the box office to make a pair and selling the pair, or any other ideas... let me know! Thanks.

Bill Watterson Site

I haven't really figured out a way to put a list of sites that I find interesting into my blog, so I'm just going to include this as a post. It is an interesting point of view from someone who has made an impact on my life through his artwork.
http://www.reemst.com/calvin_and_hobbes/?page=author&topic=license

Google

I'm in Fort Myers again, so I haven't really had much time to get online and write anything until tonight. Actually, I don't really have much time tonight either because I should be going to bed by now, but I am awake and bored at two in the morning so I am doing foolish things. Like searching Google. I decided to search for this page even though I swore it off three weeks after I started writing here and found nothing about it on Google. Now that I've found my blog using google I realize why it took Google so long to find me. The last cache of my site was on September 2, 2003... twelve days ago. I guess that's google for you. This is me -- bored late at night for you.

Still bored, tired and curious. On my way out of the MT system I saw that my five most recent pings or whatever that's called was the post on PHP Madness. So, I Googled that to see if Google was responsible. Yep, I'm actually on the first page of a two word Googel search phrase now. Hmmm... neat.

Kellogg's Krave

My brother bought a box of these guys last week, and my curiosity got the best of me. I'm writing about them because they are so freaking great. I bought a box for myself (and to replace the ones I ate) Sunday. They are like a big candy bar, but they taste less sweet than normal candy bars. That makes me like them even more. I have only tried one of the flavors so far, but I imagine that the other flavors will be good too.

Pet Peeve Hypocrisy

I've been noticing something in the last few months, maybe years. Everyone seems to have some sort of pet peeve. When I first heard of this term I doubted that I had one. Now I realize I have many, many things that can get under my skin. It's suprising to realize how emotionally fragile we can be once you find the right person or persons that really knows how to get under your skin. More suprising than that is listening to someone's pet peeves closely; earnestly. After a good deal of listening and observing (to others and myself,) I've found that people are really hypocritcal about these things -- these personal annoyances.

There are some people who like discussion, proof, or some something to back up statements like the ones I've just made. So, I'll discuss this more using examples from my actions and the actions of others.
Tomorrow.

Games and Girls

Alright, I said that I wasn't going to do this anymore, but something has to be done, and letters are going out. That's right, I am planning on writing to companies to suggest new products again. This time I'm composing a generic letter that I can send out to game makers such as Microsoft, EA, SEGA, Nintendo, and others.

The letters are going to be a strong request for more games that pander to "normal" (typically non-gaming) girls and young women AND standard guys (typically gaming.) There are a few games out there that appeal to both sexes, but they are generally not at the same level of quality and fun as the latest crop of masterpiece games like Halo, Civilization III, Grand Theft Auto: II and beyond, etc. etc. (it really is quite a list that has many variations.)
I want to request more games like Dr. Mario and Tetris of old and The Mario Party series, the Smash Bros. Series, Fusion Frenzy for the XBOX, The Super Monkey Ball series that SEGA brought us, and others.
I think that if you make an analogy between gaming and drugs... these type of games are like the gateway into a larger world of games for females. They allow for simultaneous group play, which means socializing to girls. Some of them allow for handicapping, which is a great equalizer and lowers the typical barrier to entry that girls feel when they pit their underdeveloped gaming skills against guy's honed botton-pressing. Also, girls typically like having an option for cooperative play. This was a great feature for Halo, and I think that it could be added to many games to make them a lot more interesting for female gamers.
OK, so those are my thoughts on this matter so far. I realize that I am very limited insofar as thinking of every characteristic of a game that makes it appealing to typically non-gaming females, so I am soliciting the thougths, experiences and opinions of anyone out there who cares and knows about this subject.
I like games. I like girls. Can't these two worlds be brought together?

Vegetarianism

Less a week ago Joy and I had a Mojo Rotisserie Chicken from Publix. It smelled so good, and we were both hungry, but what really made the decision for us was the fact that I had suggested having one for dinner last Thursday night, but did not buy one. That left the idea in Joy's head and you know what happens when you leave ideas cluttered about in a woman's mind... they typically find their way out and into some sort of fruition.

When we finally sat down to eat the chicken we both realized that someone else had always "prepared" rotisserie chicken for us, and we were pretty much at a loss of what to do with this nearly whole bird sitting between us. So, it fell on me to essentially quarter the bird with a 9" chef's knife.
Note: I have taken anatomy, which was complete with dissecting all the way up to a male cat and a female dog. In our anatomy class we dissected so many different things I was suprised that there were never any protests of any kind. The point is that I was thinking that this wouldn't be that tough, because I'd carved a turkey, dissected a few amphibians, dissected my own cat, worked with partners to dissect a large bitch, did a class demonstration with my professor, which involved removing fetal pigs from a sow that had died pregnant... you get the picture by now. It was an awesome class -- opportunity-wise. End Note.
So, I started out breaking through the bird's sternum. {Crunch} (Joy makes a Mastercard face) Then I have two halves, and Joy would very much like it if I could seperate the leg from the breast. So, I turn the bird outward and set to work on that. (More faces. Constant shift of POV from my face to what I am doing to this dead bird.)
Done.
Joy is satisfied, and she sets to work eating her portion and I set to work eating mine. I use my fingers (which is what I often used when dissecting) and begin to take my meal apart muscle by muscle. Sure enough, just as Doc (my professor) had foretold, I was thinking of the names of the muscles as I was eating. After I had eaten one quarter I set to work on my second quarter and I really got into naming everything in my head. This was the thigh / leg, and I was finally disgusted. Why was I eating this? Each piece of the chicken started to taste weirder and weirder as my imagination took hold and altered my perception a bit. I no longer wanted any more chicken -- ever.
So, I quietly finished up my chicken (I didn't want to spoil it for Joy because she was really digging in,) and called it a meal.
The point of this whole story is to show the events leading up to the cause of my epiphany about vegetarians (or reepiphany, because I have gone through this before.) After that experience, I can really understand why some people don't particularly like eating meat. I'm definately not a big fan of chicken, rock cornish hens, dove, rabbit, you get the picture. I don't like eating flesh when one non-sea animal is my portion size. In fact, I don't even really like to eat fish and shell fish that are small -- when I think about it.
This is my concession to vegetarians.
I still don't empathize with Vegans yet. I mean, didn't they start out on Mum's milk?
I'm definately still not into political vegitarianism either. Probably because the political part of it fails to appeal to any of my American / Patriotic feelings, my religious beliefs, or my logic. It is almost successful in appealing to me emotionally though, because it is (was) an animal that is being killed and eaten, but I tend to question the notion that death is inherently a bad thing. In my little opinion, it is OK to be vegetarian until you go around pouting about limited food choices, trying to convert/disgust others while they're eating, or generally being socially unacceptable in some way because you have made this dietary choice. I am much more impressed by people who've chosen their lifestyle/dietstyle, and have limited the intrusion of said choice in their social interactions as much as possible.

Band-Aids

I am very pleased with these newer bandages that Johnson & Johnson is selling now. They are the "Advanced Healing" bandages and they come in small, large, and Finger-Care sizes. I think that they are cool because they are waterproof, they manage to stay on until you are completely healed, and they somehow make the minor wound almost completely painless soon after you apply the bandage. How cool is that?

Now there is this really new "Advanced Healing" product that J'n'J calls Blister. I haven't seen it in the store just yet, but I am anticipating its arrival, because I will be hiking around Gainesville soon enough in an effort to get ready for the Marine Corps Officer Candidacy School.
Anyway, I recommend trying this product out, but I caution you to be careful about how you apply the bandage to hairy areas. I had one on the top of my foot and I now have an ingrown hair, which is really weird. OK, this entry has now gone too far. Must ...

My Personal Financial Plan

Finances are a big deal, and people often have troubles balancing their budget. I don’t really want to run into those types of problems too much so I am going to plan ahead on my finances with some forethought today.

Luckily, my finances are still mostly taken care of by my parents, because I am in college and they are happy to continue to provide for me. Unfortunately, in exactly seven months I will no longer be able to seek financial assistance from the university or my parents. (I had the government under that list, but then I realized that we’re semi-socialized and thus I could get government aid for many reasons.) So, I have seven months to get my stuff together, and I have already started on this path by consolidating my checking accounts into one checking account and my nearly empty brokerage accounts into just one, inexpensive online brokerage.
My plan might very well seem naïve to me in a year or so, but here it is anyway…
I’ve divided my expenses into several categories. My categories are Tithing/Charitable Giving; Housing; Food/Hygiene Supplies; Car/Travel; Clothing; Gifts/Dating/Extroversion Costs; Furniture/Household Supplies and Services; Savings; Spending Money. Perhaps I’ve forgotten something, but the general idea is there.
After I have all these categories set I plan to assign each category a percentage of my after-tax income. This seems like a cool idea to me, because it will help me know what type of car I can afford to drive, what sort of living arrangement I can afford to occupy, how often I get new clothes, etc. Here’s an example of how it might work…
10% -- Tithing / Charitable Giving
35% -- Housing
7.5% -- Food / Hygiene
15% -- Car / Travel
7.5% -- Clothing
5% -- Gifts / Dating / Etc.
5% -- Furniture / Household Expenses
10% -- Savings
5% -- Frivolous Spending
So, if I am making like $30K after taxes then I would need to pick a housing situation that will not cost me more than $10K per annum, which means an apartment or mortgage + property taxes of $833/month. This also means that my $30K / year will only allow me a car that costs $4.5K to drive each year, which needs to include insurance, gas, oil changes, yearly repairs, etc.
OK, I’m done. This is making me more and more afraid of my first few years out of college.

UPDATE -- 12/25/2003
I think that when I get married that some of the combined income should be set aside for each person to spend on their own. For instance... Every month I might get something like $30 or whatever and my wife would too. In that way, we can have some money that we can spend on whatever we'd like to spend it on. Also, it makes gift giving meaningful in a way, because there is still an individual's money. Whereas when two people just buy each other gifts using the combined funds, it's almost like... I'm spending money that you made on you, which has always really struck me as weird (whenever I'd use my parent's money to buy my dad something.) I guess it just seems more special to know that someone saved for a few weeks or months to get you a gift, because they've put lots of thought into it for that whole time. Or... Maybe I've just been romanticized too much by books and hollywood and there really is no difference.