The one sport were pot is a performance enhancing drug, when to eat baked potatoes, and a rejected Bin Laden February 5, 2009

Well my thursday night philosophy class is over…the oddities that accompanied it are no longer.  But don’t fret! My new thursday night class is making up for the absence of philosophical rantings with well odd non-philosophical rantings!  Take for example that my professor took two dry erase markers from his bag, looks at them and calls the red one  the communist marker, and the black one the fascist marker. He then proceed to sniff the red one and look up at the ceiling and ask “is the ceiling getting lower?”  I have discovered he has a fascination with dry erase markers.  Combine this with an attempt to make us think outside the box on research by using an example of an alien scholar studying human dental care.  His story became more elaborate, including that the earth had been destroyed by a huge meteor, and that the alien couldnt tell human teeth from animal teeth, and at one point he pointed out that we as humans are “speciest”.  Although his theoretical alien actually helped prove his points, it left me sitting in class wondering how many heads the alien had and if they were in any way related to the Zeta Greys (Thank you so much Jipson!  Collective Behavior class is stuck in my head all the time now!) Tonight was no exception to the rants. I discovered that if you google him, you will find that he is listed as the author to many books that he never wrote, mainly because one of his hobbies is to produce lies and post them online as a point of fact that the Internet does not always tell the truth. Also, he gave us some random info that had nothing to do with class: 1) If you let your electrolytes get out of whack you can slip into a coma and die, 2)I f you need to be smart, eat baked potatoes. His exact quote “I ate loads of potatoes when studying for exams,” after telling us what potatoes do not make you smart…including the powder mashed kind. One of my favorite sayings in his class to this date is doing something “ass over tit.”  One of my classmates responded “I will have to try that!”  Now imagine all these rants in a British accent….yep…And as for any DMS students reading my blog, you know who Im talking about!

Remember that dream job that I told you about in a previous blog?  The one in Australia and living on an island.  Well apparently Osama Bin Laden did not make the shortlist.  Someone did a spoof entry and applied as Osama…although the future employer thought it was funny, it wasn’t accepted.  Too bad, cause it would have made the worlds job easier if we knew where Bin Laden was!

It always makes me laugh when I hear about pot abuse in the sport world and then hear commentators bash it as being a performance enhancing drug.  Seriously?  The only thing it might do is give you the munchies!  I never understood the whole controversy until today. Apparently Japan is being jolted by a pot scandal in the Sumo wrestling world.  Now this is one sport where pot may be advantageous…’cause having the munchies may actually help the athlete! Wow…I guess some of the sports commentator knew what they were talking about…or at least will claim to have known now!

In some domestic news….Justice Ginsberg is fighting cancer…the possibility that Obama may get to appoint someone sooner rather than later is intriguing…too bad it would be just replacing a liberal with a liberal…No change in the balance on most issues there!

Well Im off to try and sleep…

Later!

An Obama Christmas, the top four toys used by the military, and an HPU update December 11, 2008

Well tonight was the lastclass for the semester…break time! Well at least a 5 day break then I get to start reading WWI History for an online class Im taking over the winter break!  So much for relaxation!  Ill survive though!  Tuesday I will be back in Ohio and will be visiting soooo many people!  Just you wait you APSI folk, Ill be back and become a filing elf for you! Probably expect me Wednesday sometime.  But for tonights blog I have the last philosophical insights for the semester…so enjoy!

Quotes from tonights class:

“History should be about how white people screwed up the world”….

“Al-Queda is Ghandi’s fault”…the justification for this one was that Ghandi led the way for passive resistance to lead British out of India, and now we have the Pakistan/India crisis…Ghandi showed the militants the way to overcome state power and effect change…granted Im betting he didnt foresee roadside bombs!

In response to Sharps theories on Non-violent protests, of which one is voluntary disrobing…”It wouldn’t be good to shoot a bunchof naked people”… Nuff said!

Well forget the ‘Christ’ inChristmas…how about a little Obama instead?!  President-elect Obama and his wife Michelle are appearing in Italian nativity scenes this year, alongside the baby Jesus and wise men.  In addition to Obama, someone can also by Sarkozy and his wife, but Obama seems to be the fave…even Im not religious and I find this a bit disturbing, yet funny.

So apparently there is a new techonolgy being developed that would let someone know what they dreamt…so far its only using simple pictures, but if it ever gets more complicated, then it could be scary!  I for one know that my dreams are bizarre and sometimes disturbing, and although I think it would be fun to see my own dream after the fact, at least once, I think that most of the people that know me would be freaked by my thought process…viewers beware!

So can anyone guess what the four top toys are that helped the miltary?  No?  Well here they are:

1)The slinky ( In Vietnam the Radio Operaters would tie rope through the middle of the long metal spirals, then drape them over branches to create perfect radio antennas. The Slinkys were especially useful because they didn’t tangle and could be yanked down quickly when soldiers needed to run. Of course, if you’re off to battle, buy an extra. While one Slinky will do the job, most radio operators wielded two for better reception. )

2)Metal Crickets (During the D-Day invasion at Normandy, more than 15,000 men dropped from the night sky carrying little metal insects. At the time, flashlight signaling was a common way for soldiers to communicate, but officials worried that flashing lights could tip off observant Germans. So, they substituted the torches for cheap, wind-up crickets that made clicking sounds. The brilliant scheme helped soldiers meet up safely on the ground. Unfortunately, the success was short-lived. A few Germans caught on, and after capturing some of the crickets, they used them to trap unsuspecting Americans. )

3) Silly String (In Iraq, a  shortages of night-vision goggles have forced soldiers to improvise with the fluorescent foam. Silly String is especially good for finding tripwires in the dark. Before entering suspicious rooms, soldiers spray the string everywhere. If the glowing blobs hang ominously mid-air or get stuck on previously invisible objects, soldiers know to tread lightly.)

and 4)The View Master (Developed in the late 1930s, the device was used as a training tool to help WWII soldiers recognize specific ships, planes, and artillery from afar. But after the war, the device got a kid-friendly makeover. The toy was outfitted with reels featuring television characters and tourist destinations, and it quickly became a staple in toy chests everywhere. )

Later!

The missing belly button, you inside Bush’s head, and a rant on propaganda via diplomats November 20, 2008

Great…thank you Victorias Secret!  Because of your runway show we now get the enlightening and irrelevant question posed to us…”Who doesn’t have a belly button?”  Apparently model Karolina Kurkova doesnt have one, and now its leading to all kinds of wonderment on if its due to her being a problem child from birth or due to cosmetic surgery.  Apparently those low rider jeans and the crop tops are leading a trend in plastic surgery to have those belly buttons altered.  I for one, have more to worry about than my belly button…take student loans for one! Whats the media coming to if this is news?!

And if this wasn’t worrisome enough, apparently the US state dept has lost their minds too… Ken Griffey JR has become a diplomat.  Now, I know, most of you are probably thinking…”who cares”, but since this is what Im getting my MA in, its a little disconcerting that a baseball player will be a diplomat.  Luckily, after reading more than the articles heading(and my heart returned to a normal rhythm), I discovered he won’t actually be in charge of anything but meets and greets, and basically being a propaganda tool for the government by …how was it put…”talk to young people and to spark their interest in America and in our culture.” Basically, Im thinking Griffey should give up his baseball player status and become a Peace Corps volunteer!  Im still disillusioned from class when I put two and two together that the PCV was basically a propaganda tool too…stupid propaganda!

Well today was World Philosophy Day.  And I had class tonight…philosophy class that is. Although on my Thursday night blogs I usually post the funnies from class, but tonight was a rather disturbing and dark class, so Im not.  We talked about killing people, using the dead bodies in war for barricades, bombs, and influencing public sentiment, and then of course, how there is no morals in politics!  So instead, Im gonna blow peoples minds by reposting one of the thought provoking questions from an article I read…

ARE YOU THE SAME PERSON WHO STARTED READING THIS ARTICLE (or BLOG)?…

Consider a photo of someone you think is you eight years ago. What makes that person you? You might say he she was composed of the same cells as you now. But most of your cells are replaced every seven years. You might instead say you’re an organism, a particular human being, and that organisms can survive cell replacement – this oak being the same tree as the sapling I planted last year. But are you really an entire human being? If surgeons swapped George Bush’s brain for yours, surely the Bush look-alike, recovering from the operation in the White House, would be you. Hence it is tempting to say that you are a human brain, not a human being. So the view is that even if the surgeons didn’t implant your brain in Bush’s skull, but merely scanned it, wiped it, and then imprinted its states on to Bush’s pre-wiped brain, the Bush look-alike recovering in the White House would again be you. What if surgeons imprinted your mental states on two pre-wiped brains: George Bush’s and Gordon Brown’s? Would you be in the White House or in Downing Street? There’s nothing on which to base a sensible choice. Yet one person cannot be in two places at once.

In the end, then, no attempt to make sense of your continued existence over time works. You are not the person who started reading this article.

Now that Ive blown your mind, Ill leave you alone…

If you want to blow your mind more, here’s the link to the article from above…Four Philosophical Questions to Make Your Head Hurt.

Later!

Intriguing rumors, a plethora of wives, and how Hollywood invades Africa November 13, 2008

Well its philosophy night…not a whole lot of funny moments tonight since most of it was spent discussing the ethics behind Private Security Forces being utilized by governments.   Fun!  But here are a few fun quotes from tonights class…

“Georgia was originally a penal colony…explains alot about Atlanta”

“All education is the destruction of a child”

After reading an article on the Congo about how rebels built a road block out of bodies…my professor stated “I wonder if they watched 300″.

Have you all heard the rumors…Hilary as Secretary of State…hmmm…could be interesting choice!

A preacher in Lagos was jailed for failing to divorce some of his wifes…actually all but 4…he has 86!  How one man can have 86 wives is beyond me!  Im not talking the legality of it, Im taking about the practicality of it!  86:1…most men would go insane if having to live with that many women!

How do you beat the economic woes if your a resort? You plan a month long “nude, anything goes” party, thats how!  A resort in Australia is doing just that, but Im going to go out on a limb and guess that they’ll get more than they bargained for in some customers!

Well Im off to write a paper thats due tomorrow!

Later!

Gum Wrappers, the coolest pit bull, and some crazy weapons talk November 6, 2008

“Stupid Sign of the Day”

 

Ahh…I love the sound of crazy talk!  Well tonight’s update will be full of philosophical rants from class and stupid actions from around the world!  I love nights like this!

To begin with, I thought the picture was fitting with tonight’s class discussion on weapons and nuclear bombs, etc.  Yes, thats right…weapons and philosophy…and it didnt go as you are probably thinking. For one, it started out with the idea of weapons with food…and of course a small discussion on cannibalism.  Then jumped to human sexuality, and then to cowards, and then to propaganda warfare.  Oh how I love this class at times (if I manage to stay awake-kidding). So here are some of the priceless quotes from tonight:

“Dont google ‘Homo’, it will lead you to places that you didn’t want to go.  I guess no one knows Latin anymore”…”Who uses poison? Assassins, spies, women…all cowards”…”Do you give someone Acid if they are already paranoid?”.  Well these are just a few…tonight’s class featured how nukes were responsible for creating the 60s and the CIA…and of course that led to the CIA and their invention of LSD to create double agents, who didnt know they were double agents…Only they would think of this.  Although its not much better than the Russians and their psychotronic warfare program…ie: influence with mind control.  Also, who thought of the neutron bomb…seriously?!  How did you propose testing it… (it wipes out human populations but leaves infrastructure in tact)?

Well off of philosophy and onto the world…

A car was impounded in Oklahoma after a dog drives away from a car wash…And im not talking rolling backwards…the Pit bull actually drove in a circle, and onto a highway, and then back to a car wash…Now that would have been fun to see!

And again in Oklahoma…a man tries to pay his bar tab in gum wrappers…now I wonder what he thought each was worth…after all, maybe gum is his main source of income with the way the economy is today.

And is some warped and sad news…in Somalia a 13 year old girl was stoned to death by 50 men for adultery.  The sad thing is that shes actually a rape victim, raped by 3 men, and 50 men did the stoning as about 1000 watched.  None of them were charged, including the rapists.  Now rape victims are adulterers apparently…

Well im off to read about Lumumba…

Later!

Fire Bad, Boats Good, and I want some specifics NOW! October 30, 2008

So Ive been told my post last night was incoherent and hard to follow because I was blogging while angry….so hopefully tonight’s is better for everyone! Philosophy class was tonight…so that means some of the infamous wisdom that was shared in class will be relayed to the blog!  Tonight was all about deception, but only a few funnies came from it…here they are…”When Fascism comes to America it will be covered in the American Flag and carrying the Bible”, “Women make better spies because they are sneaky, and wear makeup.  Men dont wait to leave the house until after they have put on their makeup, their face is their face, but women…well they conceal everything”, “The Internet is destroying the English language”, and  finally one of my classmates believes that “prisoners of war are living well at Guantanamo Bay…better that what they were living with at home.”  Imso not kidding you on the last one!  Oh yeah, one more “Vote blank, because no choice is undemocratic!”  Thats my favorite one!

Has everyone heard about Texas’s new plan to house Hurricane Ike victims on boats?! I think its sweet!  As long as its temporary..id totally live on an old cruise ship!  Can I have a balcony please!?!  (The only downside to my request is that I was not left homeless by the hurricane so I doubt Ill get my request)

Well Palin came out saying that Obamas infomercial was short on specifics…um wait…isnt that what campaigning is, saying things that sound good, but actually have no substance or direct responses?  Wow, and here McCains Campaign has been specific and totally forthcoming on all the policy agendas they plan to impose…wait…you mean to tell me that they havent?  HAHAHA…

Um…setting yourself on fire is bad…ummkay?!  Even if you are a Buddhist monk during the Vietnam protests, or a Seattle college faculty member who decided to do it for some unknown none political reason…its bad!  If for no other reason than it hurts, and makes everything around it smell like burnt meat.

So there are two google searches that led to my blog tonight…”German Techno Dancer Costume” and Live Frog Art”….I can at least understand these too…although I cant figure out if I ever talked about Germans on my blog …

Well Im off to register for winter and spring classes…

Later!

Suicidal Ants, Celtic way of war, and more crazy philosophy October 16, 2008

Yes, I am insane.  Now that we have established that, Im onto classroom insanity.  Straight from philosophy class that is!  So what did we talk about today you ask?   Well we talked about suicidal ants!  Seriously!  My professor once wanted to write a paper on “Parasitical Ethics” (ie: Rule #1: Don’t harm your host). So we started talking about how there is a species of ants that climb to the top of a blade of grass in the hopes that a cow will come along and eat it and them.  Once inside, they become parasitical and lay their eggs and die.  Now I know its evolution at its finest, but the fact that the ants knowingly walk to the top of the grass makes them at least a little bit suicidal!

Other random thoughts from class…North Korea…the first hereditary monarchy in a communist state…huh…wrap your head around that one!  Oh and yes, back to those blue painting Celts.  We also discussed the Celtic Way of War…ie: paint yourself blue and all run at the opposing force, if they run away yo won, if not, then turn and runaway youreselves.  This time the conversation did not include poison mushroom horse piss.  But did involve an imitation of the blue warriors method of attack!  Too funny!

The goal of tonights class…to establish who is and isnt a mercenary…not sure how the ants, or Korea, or the Celts got worked into the discussion, but they did, and it made sense along the way…well as much as a philosophy class can make sense that is. 

War created the need for armies…who came first armies or war…the chicken or the egg?

Later!

Sally’s Blog-more wierd classes October 16, 2008

Sally and the Statue Joy

Sally with the Statue of Queen Kapiolani

Sally at Kapiolani Park

 

Sally’s Blog:

“Today I spent time at the Loa campus again. I went to that crazy class where the professor makes no sense.  Im not sure I will ever understand philosophy.  I learned some interesting things today, but not in class.  First, not everyone is nice to talk to…Kristina and I met some homeless today who were a little scary.  Second, I got to see the Phillipino Embassy in Hawaii…in fact its just down the road from where Kristina lives.  Third, there are such things as suicidal ants apparently…Ive decided Kristina takes classes because they are wierd, not because they are helpful to her degree.  Well Im excited because I get to go to a grass skirt party next weekend!  But Im disappointed because Josh told me that Id see UFOs on Wednesday..and I didn’t! Maybe one day I will meet the little green guys!”

Sally

The new weapons of war, carpet bombing, and crazy philosophy October 9, 2008

Okay, before I begin tonights blog, I feel I should offer a disclaimer, or at least a reminder about what Im studying…  (Diplomacy and Military Studies).  Tonights class was philosophy of Miltary Ethics, and the Ethics of War.  That being said, try to remember that there was a point to our discussions tonight, so when I talk about our odd topics, I am no way condoning actually doing any of these things…that being said, I hope you enjoy tonights blog.

I can honestly say that tonights discussion was interesting to say the least.  Im not sure what to think, because I have officially decided that several of my classmates are a little warped, and disturbed…and I thought I was wierd!  So in discussion on when or why NGOs or UN or a military/country should intervene in the affairs of another country based on humanitarian relief, one of my classmates decided we as a country/UN/NGO should never intervene, and let the country that has turmoil/chaos/war fight itself.  (ie: if genocide is occuring, let them do it…a darwinistic view of the survival of the fittest applied to humanitarian aid and human right intervention).  His example of what to do with Somalia…carpet bomb Mogadishu.  Needless to say I about choked on my own tongue as I tried my hardest to hold my insults in!  I succeeded okay, but boy…he will be in for a shock come Nov 6 when I give my presentation!  On top of it…he argued that why there is no ethics in the world today was because of the baby boomers generation failing to teach us.  I had to laugh at that one, cause 1/2 the class are baby-boomers!

As we progressed onto the topic for tonights class which was the use of weapons in proportion to destruction and its relation to non-combatant fatality…ie when losses of civilians are ok.  How does my professor start the discussion?  By asking “Whats wrong with killing babies?”.  Now he is by no means advocating that the slaughtering of 10month olds are a viable tactic in war, but it causes us to think of the limitations of civilian v. combatant relationships, especially in times of counter-insurgencies and guerrila warfare. 

Eventually we ended up on alternative weaponry (ie: media, ads, and other forms of perception management).  If we as a society allow everything to become a weapon then there will never be peace.  My prof argues that society and the evolution of war has gone down hill since we started allowing advertisements on TVs in the 1950s.  Also, my prof wants to weaponize philosophy so that we can get better grants from the DOD.   So all of us in class have decided we are going to sneak my prof behind enemy lines so he can use the Socratic method to make the enemy submit…or maybe death by powerpoint?!?!  

Okay…I know Im wierd, but this class is too!  Thats why I love it probably!  Nothing is taboo in this class, but sometimes when my fellow classmates are serious on some of the stupid rationals they hold, I wonder how the US Military has managed to stay out of controversy this long (minus Guantonomo….et al).

Later!

Crazy viking, poison mushrooms, and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster September 25, 2008

Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

 

And now for some Thursday Philosophy Funnies, courtesy of my Professor:

On the Bush Doctrine: Bush didn’t hear God speak to him, he heard Cheney on the interoffice speakers…ala James Earl Jones voice.

My professor wants to join the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster cause you get beer and strippers when you die.  Plus you can talk like a pirate every day….After all what will you do with 72 virgins if you are dead (in reference to Islam).

Reasons women are not in combat…because women are more violent then men, they fight dirty!  And my Professors backing for this arguement, Pandarens…a group of women who lost husbands, sons in battle, who were vicious killers (ie: World of War Craft).

Random piece of historical information for the day (with a little parody)…

The vikings use to feed poisonous mushrooms to their horses, and then collect the piss and drink it.  The horse would dilute the poison, creating a hallucinogenic, which they would then ingest.  They would then paint each other blue, grab their spears, and run full force yelling into battle, scaring every one to death, forcing opponents to run away from the crazy,  thus sparing thier lives.

Ok, by now you must understand why I like my Philosophy professor so much…he’s a little crazy!  But what philosophy professor or student isn’t right?!?  Every class, he says some of the strangest things, and so tonight I recorded some of them for your enjoyment.  Hope you enjoyed them!  And FYI, there really is a Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, it was creatded in 2005, and they really do believe that heaven has a beer factory and strip clubs (and Hell has stale beer and strippers with VD).  If you want to know more, follow the link above…it is too funny!

Later!