2007/2008

This has been a busy year! I decided on a major for my bachelor's degree, found a school I wanted to go to, and progressed a little further in the way-too-long-drawn-out saga that has been my career in training in the Air Force. I learned that a city like Omaha, NE ain't so bad with the right people around you. I got to travel to a few cities that I've always wanted to go see—Chicago, St. Louis, Cedar Point, Detroit, Kansas City—and I'm still not done yet with the areas that are relatively conveniently accessible to Omaha (there's still Mt. Rushmore, Minneapolis and lord knows what else). I'll even have made my second trip to New York before the year is up. I designed a budget that, barring any catastrophes, will produce a nice balance in my savings before long. Not too shabby! But it's been stressful as hell, too. I made a lot of personal sacrifices to join the Air Force, but I did so knowingly and I still believe it will be worth it in the end. And it will all culminate in the coming year, as I figure out my post-military plans. On January 11^th of this year, I will enter my final year of my enlistment, and you better believe I'm counting down the days...

Looking into the New Year (and my last year as an airman), I'm extremely excited but, for all my planning, completely bewildered as well as to where I will be in a year. The plan for this year was to complete my philosophy degree before separation, take the LSAT, put a resume out, and save up a sizable amount to use either as a down-payment on a condo or house or as one year's tuition at law school (the G.I. Bill would only cover the first year at NYU law, assuming I got accepted...). I will hopefully complete my job training within a couple of months, and I would like to deploy to the Middle East sometime around the late spring/early summer time. Yes, that's right—I WANT to deploy. These days, anyone that wants to go pretty much gets to. Hopefully that'll hold up. It is an excellent chance for me to save up a significant amount of money AND to complete my schooling, since there is little else to do over there and not much to spend money on. And I'd be able to see the Middle East. Freakin' A.

But lately I've been re-evaluating some of my plans. The ultimate post-military goal is still to live in New York City, but one of the greatest catalysts for happiness is, I think, flexibility. So, I've been trying to expand my options. Every time I've come home over this past year, it's become more and more obvious to me that coming back home to live wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. There are some awesome condos going up in central Phoenix, downtown Tempe and Mesa as well. Metro-Phoenix (East Sa-eed!) still feels like my home, and I love it to death. Still, I don't know that I'm quite ready to come back home to live. I just said it wouldn't be the worst thing.

As for my attorney career aspirations, I still go back and forth. The main drawbacks are the amount of working hours (I met somebody this week who has a friend that graduated from NYU law. Apparently, she makes a VERY good living at a big law firm in Phoenix at the tune of eighty hours per week. I do NOT want to work that much!) Also, and this is a prejudiced statement on my part, but there is an ambiance to the corporate attorney field that I'm not so sure I'd fit into. It seems pretty stuffy and uptight. Don't get me wrong, I want to be successful, but I don't want to be a snob. Of course, what I allow my personality to become is largely up to me. Still, do I want to be surrounded by a bunch of arrogant pricks? Plus, though the idea of practicing law sounds very interesting and challenging, the idea of STUDYING it bores me to tears. On the other hand, there are other fields of study that I'd like to consider. I could be interested in journalism, some aspects of psychology and several other subjects as well. New York is home to many of the best schools in the country regardless of the subject, so there's no need to limit my studies to law. And if New York didn't work out, I could live in San Francisco, Chicago or even Boston. The most important characteristics for a city I would want to live in would be a good mass-transit system, a variety of cultures and communities, plenty of things to do and see, and awesome people. OH, and a good paying job. Is that so much to ask for? ;) Yeah, I'm an idealist. But I've learned the art of compromise over my relatively short lifespan. Watch—I'll end up in Poedunktown, Arkansas by the end of it. That's not what I meant by compromise. Shoot me now...

Anyway, the plan for this year is just to continue to work my ass off at my philosophy degree (I got all four A's this semester by the way. Well, one A- which really chaps my ass, but it's still an A, right?). I'll go on my deployment, put out a resume some time soon just to see what I can get; maybe even take some time off after I discharge from the military and see what turns up. Of course, we all know that we're not guaranteed our next breath, so all this himming and hawwing over the future may be completely in vain. But you can't plan for that, right? Whatever happens, I'm very excited (among other feelings) about this next year. Bring it on....

Thanks for reading this, by the way. And I wish you the best in the coming year as well. You deserve it! You wouldn't have access to my page if I didn't sincerely believe that.

Reading: Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany

Proofreaders Needed! (Yes, again....last time this semester, I promise!)

What's up guys? Ok, here's another paper I need proofread. It's for my philosophy: Moral Theory class. It's about the digital divide, which is a term for the separation between people and cultures that are technologically advanced and those who are not. Unfortunately, it's slightly on the long side. It's almost three times as long as my astronomy paper (by the way, I got a 95% on it for those of you that helped me with that one--thanks again), and it's almost four times more important (it accounts for 50 percent of my final grade in the class!). So, if you got the time and interest, please give it a read and let me know your feedback. Since this is an upper-level philosophy class, by far the most important thing about the paper is the clarity and strength of the argument. Mechanical aspects take a back seat (in fact, they take the trunk!) in comparison. So as you read, please keep in mind whether or not I am constructing my argument clearly and logically sound. If it doesn't make sense, or it has loopholes or weaknesses, I need to know about these. Also let me know if you can think of any parts of the argument that may be objected to that I have not acknowledged and addressed. Once you have checked for all of that, if you have more time and the desire to do so, by all means let me know about the mechanical errors as well. But clarity and logical strength is first, second and third priority.

The paper is due by midnight on Saturday. Any help y'all can give me on this would be freakin' unbelievably appreciated.

Oh, and let me warn you and apologize in advance for the sloppiness. It needs a lot of polishing before I send it in. I've been working on the second half of this paper for almost six hours now, so my eyes and my brain are fried. But at this point, I only care about the quality of the argument.

The Digital Divide: Everyone's Problem

Introduction

The digital divide is a term referring to the chasm between the "haves" and "have nots" in terms of access to technologically advanced hardware, software and the skills to use both. This divide is believed to exist within advanced cultures between economic classes (i.e., poor/rich) as well as between races and even entire cultures and nations. It appears to have been coined in the mid-1990s by United States government officials and journalists (Wikipedia) in order to discuss a social gap between those who owned computers and those who did not (Bickner). With the progress of technological advancements over the years, it has grown to encompass all aspects of technological usage to include not only the hardware, but the Internet, software and skills to use all of these as well.

The purpose of this paper is to support the many arguments previously made expressing the need to bridge the divide. However, the approach I intend to take is one from the perspective of the negative effects of the divide on those who are traditionally believed to be on the beneficial side. For simplicity's sake, I will refer to the technologically advanced individuals, cultures and nations as the "rich" and the those who are deficient as the "poor". I will explore the effects of the divide on the global economy, the threat of terrorism, and global morality. First, I think that a brief overview of the popularly expounded upon aspects of concern about the divide—that of the negative impact on the poor—is in order, since I intend to show that they are strongly related to its impact on the rich as well.

Overview of the Negative Effects on Technologically Underdeveloped Individuals, Cultures and Nations.

Two closely related concerns of the effect of the divide on the poor is the limitations it puts on their educational opportunities and their ability to compete in the global economy. It is not difficult to see that this is a relevant concern. With limited hardware distribution, scant Internet access, and very little clue as to how to utilize what is available, technologically-challenged children and young adults are simply unable to access the same vast array of resources. As a result, they are less educated and thereby less viable to contribute in the job market and the economy, on both a local and global scale. This drives the poor even further into poverty, leaving them uneducated, unemployed and isolated from the rest of the world. (Wikipedia)

Health care and sanitation systems is another aspect of suffering caused by the divide. With insufficient technological development, the poor are left with old-fashioned and inadequate water sanitation systems and medical facilities. (DigitalDivide.org) Since sickness is not exactly a catalyst for education and employment, this effect of the divide compounds the effects mentioned above, in addition to the problems it presents by itself. As will be shown by the end of this paper, these effects end up cycling back to effect the rich side of the divide as well.

Explorations of the Negative Effects of the Divide on the Rich.

Now that I have arrived at the main point of my argument, I have an important distinction to make. The influence that I believe the digital divide has over the world economy, education, and (as I will explain shortly) terrorism is significant. However, I understand that these issues are highly complex and cannot be reduced to one single cause, nor will they be completely resolved by a solitary solution. My aim is not to claim or defend a view that purports to completely eliminate all of these issue simply by bridging or closing the digital divide. My contention is merely that by doing so, we will be making a tremendous step forward in decreasing their presence and, possibly, eventually eliminating them altogether. The degree to which this will occur can only be known when a successful solution to the divide is found and implemented. However, the bottom line is that both sides stand to gain from bridging the divide.

One aspect in which the divide's adverse effects are shared between the rich and the poor is in the economy. Most modern reports suggest that only one billion of the world's total population is active in using today's technology to participate in the global economy. This equals less than twenty percent of the total world population! The concern that this introduces is that by ignoring the business needs and potential of up to six billion people, markets are quickly saturated. This leads to strain on the economy, such as inflation, intense competition and failed businesses. By bridging the divide and reaching out to the other side, global businesses multiply their business potential and ultimately their profit potential. This inevitably strengthens the global economy, benefiting the rich in the form of profits and the poor in the form of increased health services, education, job opportunities and even convenience services.

There is an objection that must be considered. It might be said that by bridging the divide, companies that provide significantly to their local economies in the form of jobs will be tempted to increase outsourcing to nations and cultures that may offer comparable work services, but at lower cost. By providing equal or comparable technological resources to poorer nations, it may be said, their schools, health, economy and overall quality of life will improve. They will recognize their potential in the workforce and seek to capitalize on it by entering the global job market. The original, loyal workers of these newly potential outsourcing companies will be left jobless.

I am afraid I am not at all well-versed in the ins and outs of economics, so I am unable to answer this objection conclusively. However I do have some ideas for answers. Firstly, it must be remembered that by increasing the potential workforce pool by closing the divide and creating apt competitors in the job market, we have also increased a successful companies potential customer base six-fold. With such an increase in potential demand for a company's product or service, so would it increase in the need for workers to provide the goods or services. Is it not reasonable to expect then that there will be more than enough work to go around? Further, that perhaps it would be impossible for workers in a single country to meet such a demand? It is a possibility that outsourcing would be a requirement, without a single job loss in the company's home employee base.

Even if my speculations above were not realistic or did not materialize, another answer to this objection is simply that it is morally unjustifiable. Bluntly put, this objection states that in order to preserve one group of people's job security, another group of people must be oppressed and prevented from prosperity. I fail to see how this situation can be seen as anything other than another form of robbery. Keeping a group of people in an undesirable position for one's own profit may in the short run benefit the prosperous, but in the long run it will serve as a seed for contempt towards the rich. I will delve into this further later on.

Another potential objection could argue that, whether the economy encompasses a small fraction of the total world population or all of it, markets will eventually become saturated. While this is a valid point, would it not still significantly delay total market saturation? Not only would it provide time, but it seems to me that it would increase the amount of educated economists invested in the economy and working to secure its stability several-fold. With this in mind, it seems reasonable to be optimistic about the economic impact the elimination of the digital divide would have.

Health care, or the lack thereof of the poor, is a further shared dilemma of the divide by the rich and the poor. World travel being the prominent property of modern western life that it is, a disease that breaks out in a third-world country will not remain long isolated in that country. Disease spreads rapidly across our Earth, so it would benefit all who inhabit it if all nations, cultures and individuals had the required equipment, skill and education to ensure that they had properly sanitized sustenance and health facilities to prevent epidemics. More subtly, the issue of health care also shares the similar possibility of stirring anti-west sentiments and resentment in poorer countries. On these point I do not anticipate any significant disagreement.

Lastly, we reach the point in my argument that is perhaps the most controversial: the link between the digital divide and terrorism. Because it is controversial, I intend to explore the issue in considerably more depth. Again, my acknowledgment of the complexity of terrorism and the fact that solving one contributing issue is not enough to eliminate the threat altogether cannot be overstated. It is my belief, however, that the elimination of the divide will contribute significantly enough to the cause, spreading peace and security for both the poor and the rich.

According to DigitalDivide.org, terrorism is fed by the divide in three ways: 1) Religious extremism is a form of self-protection for those who either feel left out of the advancing world, or who feel threatened by modern advancements that they perceived to be infringing on their values (citing the work of sociologist Manuel Castells); 2) Terrorists are harbored in poor, underdeveloped countries that are not invested in the global economy, so they have nothing to lose from their indirect support of terrorist causes; 3) It is difficult to alleviate poverty in these areas in the absence of modern technology. (DigitalDivide.org) Acting Assistant Professor of Law (among other things) at Yeshiva University's School of Law, Peter K. Yu, agrees with DigitalDivide.org on the point of poor nations being breeding grounds for terrorism. (Yu)

On the other hand it could be argued that integrating the poorer nations and cultures into the technologically advancing sphere may serve to increase terrorism. After all, is it not well known that terrorists utilize web cams, digital cameras, the Internet and the best technology they can get their hands on in order to support their cause? Yes, computers and technology can be used for ill. However this brings up some of the more oft-forgotten aspects of the digital divide—the need for technological skills, public access and the gradual incorporation of technology into life overall. It is simply not enough to supply a nation with a few computers and call the divide sealed.

I think that the link between terrorism and the digital divide illustrates the fact that the digital divide is not just a matter of the presence of computer hardware. It is also a matter of technological skill, public access, and a broad incorporation of technology into one's life and society. Anyone can use a computer to learn how to build a bomb. However, not everyone knows how to use technology in a way that would positively shape their lives and balance their world view. For instance, using the Internet as a resource as a resource to compare how westerners are presented locally with how they represent themselves online. Additionally, it could be used to show other perspectives on their religious and political beliefs, which has likely been very narrowly constructed by their leadership. Obviously, the leaders of these terrorist organizations will likely be unaffected in their extremism, since many of them are wealthy and technologically well-educated. They are usually the planners though, requiring underlings to carry out their plans. These underlings are not usually wealthy or particularly well-educated by any means, so they fall prey. Solving the problem of the divide could significantly decrease the pool of potential recruits, if not completely eliminate it. The leader would be less powerless to execute his ends.

Of course, it could be argued that this would only serve to increase the animosity and, ultimately, terrorism. An impassioned Muslim extremist may indeed find some pleasantly surprising aspects of western culture, but he will likely find confirmations of his beliefs as well such as use of pornography, feminism, paganism, etc. Which aspect will leave the most lasting impression on the particular extremist will depend on the extremist. However it must be remembered that by bridging the divide, we will have also increased the poor's potential for prosperity. There is every reason to be hopeful that this will help in tipping the scales towards tolerance rather than fueling their resentment.

The shortage of hardware coupled with their lack of technological skill prevents any inter-communication between members of both side of the divide. Their hatred of us is, I believe, a combination of what they hear from their superiors and peers, how they interpret their religious scriptures, and their lack of direct experience interacting with us. This lack of communication makes it easy to overlook the fact that we are people, instead we are mere symbols of principles that they abhor. This makes it easy for them to hate us. Bridging the divide would provide means of communication with them, and this would put a face to the symbol. It is easy to hate a personified principle, but it is not so easy for most people to hate another human being.

This is one point on which I fail to see any significant room for argument, since it is observed within our own country. Our nation is in a constant state of political conflict, involving people from all different walks of life, religious backgrounds and morals. Yet, we remain a prosperous nation. It is not as easy to find people of extreme views in our nation as it used to be, in fact it seems to be largely looked down upon. Westerners still maintain their personal convictions on issues from abortion to God to homosexuality. Yet the increased frequency in which we are confronted with the actual people behind these views that we actually disagree with causes us to separate the principle from the person. There is still disagreement, but the key is that there is also agreement to disagree, and business is still able to go on as usual. Tragically there are exceptions, but the responses to those exceptions by the masses tend to prove my point. For instance, the occasional terrorist attack ..ion clinics is usually condemned by pro-life groups. I think that there is a strong case in attributing such a tendency to the mass of resources at our hands, our constant exposure to people of differing views, and our dependence on people of all different beliefs, morals, and characteristics for the stability of our economy—all thanks to our technology.

The limitations on inter-communication caused by the divide also present a barrier preventing underdeveloped cultures from seeing that people of similar morals can be found in the west as well. Many are ignorant to the fact that there are westerners that they can relate to and that can show them that they can be entitled to their beliefs, but express them more rationally and to live with those who differ in a more harmonious manner. Conversely, we are unable to see them as anything short of psychopaths. We only know them from the actions of a few, those that bomb themselves in highly populated locations and the violent, threatening multi-media recordings that are put out. Perhaps the divide is preventing us from experiencing a better part of their world? Perhaps we have something that we can learn from individuals over their too? We will never know with the divide in our midst.

The bottom line is that the digital divide is hurting us who live on the good side as well as the poor. Morally, we know that people from all walks of life deserve to be presented with the same opportunities that we have. The unequal distribution of these opportunities caused by the divide foster resentment, resistance and ignorance. Economically, we are always looking for greater prosperity, and we are significantly limiting our growth by ignoring the divide. Medically, we are vulnerable to any physical ailments that the poor are. We are fighting in vain if all of our medical investments go towards defensive measures rather than preventative measures. If we maintain the divide, defensive measures are all we will ever have.

Speculations on Further Effects of the Divide as Technology and Western Life Become Increasingly Virtual

Is The Matrix in our future? I am not sure, but if it is it will only be in a portion of the population's future. I do hesitate to address this as a sub-topic because it truly is highly subject to speculation. Since it served as the inspiration to my decision to address the issue and the consequences of the digital divide in the first place, I think I should at least touch on it briefly. The question that I am most interested in is, as our society does become progressively virtual to the point that we do all of our business, education, communication, and entertainment on line, will we be more or less vulnerable to physical attack from those on the losing side of the divide? It has long been my contention that real bombs do more damage than virtual bombs. It is likely that our society, were it to evolve to such a level of technology, would develop highly advanced physical defense systems as well, but I think it would be foolish to believe that we will ever reach a state of complete invulnerability.

Another point of risk is that, as stated above, many terrorists organizations are lead by a few wealthy, educated individuals. These leaders will probably have some means of access, legal or otherwise, to our virtual system. In this way we would be vulnerable to the attack of our virtual system. Similar to the physical attack threat, we will doubtless have developed strong counter measures to prevent such a danger. It is equally as difficult to imagine that we will be able to develop a flawless form of protection, though.

Again, I am very well aware of the improbability and astronomically speculative nature of the scenario I have just described. However, I think it is still an effective presentation of the inevitability of the persistence of the divide and its dangers, to the rich as well as to the poor, as we continue to progress. It is not likely to vanish on its own, and we will continue to suffer from it globally until we take steps to bridge it.

Digital Brick and Mortar: Building the Bridge

Past efforts in bridging the divide often involved focusing on only one of many causes, usually the lack of hardware among the poor. (Citation needed) Lessons learned from those well-intentioned but failed efforts revealed the truth about the ever-increasing facets of the digital divide, and have yielded an understanding that any successful solution to the problem must be equally multi-faceted. Fortunately, there are quite a few organizations committed to tackling the aspects of the divide they reason are the most important. Programs such as One Laptop per Child and 50x15 aim to close the hardware and broadband portion of the divide. Free software activists such as Richard Stallman are working to increase free and low-cost software to needy individuals around the world. Others have suggested that research of the individuals and cultures suffering from the divide is in order, in order to discover their specific digital and technological needs and areas of interest. (Wikipedia) This last point is especially relevant according to Sherril Steele-Carlin of Education-World.com, who wonders if at least part of the problem with closing the divide involves a lack of interest in technology in general on the part of some of the poor. (Steele-Carlin)

Conclusion

The reality we are faced with the digital divide is that its presence manifests itself as a lose-lose situation for both sides. It is easy to pity the poor for the obvious disadvantage the divide puts them in—that of poor education, inadequate health care and sanitation facilities, and the degree to which they suffer economically. But when the rose colored glasses are taken away from our own eyes, we see that our pity is in vain and misdirected—we are hardly escaping the fire unscathed. The negative contribution the imbalance in our digital prosperity and their demise makes to our society is undeniable. It infiltrates our own society from all angles. We really should work diligently to resolve this problem. For our own good.

Please Proof-read for me!!!

What's up y'all? Here is a paper I'm submitting for my special project in my Astronomy 101 class. It's on dark matter--a really cool, unknown substance that is believed to make up the bulk of the mass in the universe. Anyway, I just wrote this rough draft and I wanted to post it to get your feedback. It's an introductory class, so it's not rocket science. It's pretty simple, straight-forward stuff. What I need you to do is read through it for me for spelling, grammatical errors, consistency and to ensure that the paper flows fairly smoothly, and that it sounds professional. I just wrote it, so don't be surprised if you find a lot of errors. Please let me know what you think! I have to submit it by the end of the day tomorrow (Monday, 26th of Nov). Thanks...OH YEAH! I almost forgot--I didn't write an official conclusion paragraph, because I felt like the last paragraph did a good enough job of summing it all up and ending the paper. However, let me know if you agree or disagree....

Dark Matter: A Little Light on the Subject

As humans it is easy to forget how dependent we our on our senses as catalysts to our human experiences. Take the sense of sight as an example. More often than not, the average person's assumption (perhaps even at a subconscious level) is that all that there is in physical existence is that which can be seen. In addition to that, it is easy to forget that our site is merely a complex, physiological 'interpretation' of light as it is received through our eyes and processed in our brains. It is hard to blame the average person for such assumptions, which would only pose a problem if there were found to be forms of matter with properties that did not interact with light and were therefore invisible to our eyes. Unfortunately there seems to be just such a form of matter in existence that permeates space, and for years scientists have been blind to it because they succumbed to the same assumptions as the average person. As a result it seems their understanding of the universe has suffered so severely as to cause them to miss nearly twenty-two percent of the total mass-energy believed to be contained in the universe. This matter is now known as dark matter (another seventy-four percent of the total mass-energy is believed to be comprised of dark energy, energy which is at least as mysterious and difficult to detect. However, it is beyond the scope of this paper, which will focus solely on dark matter. It is interesting to note, however, that this means approximately ninety-six percent of the total mass-energy in the universe is virtually undetectable by human senses). (Wikipedia)

So how was this dark matter discovered? Well, strictly speaking it is a hypothetical substance that has yet to be directly identified, at least to a degree that is without significant controversy among astronomers. It was first proposed by Swiss astrophysicist Fritz Zwicky in 1933. He estimated the total mass of a galaxy cluster he was observing based on the gravitational movements of the galaxies it contained, and compared it to the mass he observed visually within the cluster. The discrepancy between the two figures was astounding: the estimate based on the galactic movements was some 400 times that of the visually-based estimate. Given the speed of the galactic orbits, and the required amount of mass it would take to reach such a speed (which far exceeded the amount of mass actually observed), Zwicky came to the conclusion that there must be a tremendous amount of matter present that could not be observed. Thus, the concept of dark matter was born, though no further advancements were achieved in studying or confirming it for nearly forty years. (Wikipedia)

Seventy-four years later, the theory has only grown stronger among astronomers. Galactic motion is still the preferred method to study dark matter, however the strongest evidence for its presence its found in a property other than basic gravitational movement: galaxy-rotation curves. In theory, stars and gas in galaxies should spin slowest at the center, then speed up progressively as they extend outward to about the mid-range orbits of the galaxy. Once past these orbits, star orbits should again become progressively slower. In reality, galaxies do not behave in this way. Instead, they start out with slower orbits in the center, speed up progressively as they approach the mid-range orbits, then they level off and maintain similar speeds out to the outer limits. In order for this to be the case, there would have to be a significant amount of invisible mass present in the outer reaches of these galaxies in order to provide the gravitational strength to maintain such high orbit velocities so far out from the center. (Arny 487)

Recently, in addition to the inductive reasoning described above pointing to the presence of dark matter, scientists believe they have identified large amounts of dark matter through what is called gravitational lensing. This is a phenomenon in which light from distant objects (stars, luminous gas, etc.) passes by other objects (in this case, dark matter) and is 'bent' by the gravitational pull of the matter. As a result, the image is distorted as it passes by the dark matter, and scientists are able to use these distortions to calculate the amount of dark matter, as well as its gravitational force. (Than) An example of this is that of the Bullet Cluster, where two galaxy clusters collided. A comparison between a map of the cluster based on gravitational lensing with a map of the cluster derived from X-rays of the hot gases found that the hot gases gathered to the center, whereas the dark matter is found in the outer regions. (Wikipedia) NASA has declared that this observation is direct proof of the existence of dark matter (Hupp), though there are still alternative theories held by some astronomers that counter belief in its existence. We will briefly explore some of these alternatives now.

There is one main alternative proposed by astronomers to counter arguments for the existence of dark matter. This alternative proposes the possibility that scientists are still ignorant of some aspects of gravity, specifically with regard to great distances and weak fields. One method that astronomers subscribing to this view have developed to offset this alleged ignorance is called the Modified Newtonian Dynamics, which as the name might suggests corrects Newton's laws to account for the inconsistencies between the mass that is observed and the mass that is calculated based on gravitational movements. This view fails to refute the evidence for dark matter provided by gravitational lensing, however, and it fails to explain it otherwise as well. (Wikipedia)

Incidentally, it should be noted that there are other alternatives proposed by astronomers that appeal to quantum mechanics that are far beyond the scope of my education, let alone this paper. (Wikipedia) Suffice to say that despite such alternatives, dark matter is the prevailing theory among astronomers to explain the gap between directly observed mass and the calculated mass based on gravitational movement. I leave it to the reader to pursue the matter of quantum mechanics alternatives if it so suites their interests.

Now that astronomers have lead us to consider the possibility of the existence of such a mysterious substance, can they provide some idea of what it might be made of? As could be expected, ideas and theories abound, but that is all that we have at present. They range from known materials, such as planetesimals (moon-sized, planet-shaped, high mass bodies), low-mass cool stars, dead white dwarfs or neutron stars, black holes, or neutrinos hypothetical materials such as photinos or WIMPS (weakly interacting massive particles). (Arny 487) Significant progress in this area is required in order to adequately answer this question. For me, it is this most elusive aspect of the overall subject of dark matter that sustains my interest.

Works Cited

Wikipedia. "Dark Matter." 15 Nov 2007. 22 Nov 2007. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter>.

Arny, Thomas T. Explorations: An Introduction To Astronomy. 4^th ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2006.

Than, Ker. "Radio Telescopes Could Make Dark Matter Visible." Space.com. 03 Jan 2007. 22 Nov 2007. <http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/070103_tw_radiomap.html>

Hupp, Erica, et al. "NASA Finds Direct Proof of Dark Matter." NASA.gov. 21 Aug 2006. 22 Nov 2007. <http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/aug/HQ_06297_CHANDRA_Dark_Matter.html>

The Fountain

So I finally got around to seeing The Fountain. VERY powerful, beautiful movie. And despite its tone, it's actually very uplifting. Before I saw it, it seemed that other people that had were very divided about it. But give it a shot if you haven't already. And be sure to do so with an open mind. It's good stuff.

Oh, and I also just saw The Kingdom today. Also a very good movie. And not just because parts of it were shot in my hometown of Mesa, AZ.

Watching: The Fountain on DVD

Let the 30s begin!

Last night was awesome! I just wish I could remember more of it....I don't even remember half of the pictures I posted here on myspace.

We started off with dinner at Cheesecake Factory where the service was amazing and the food, scrumdidliumptious. I had my first mojito (it was great--thanks again, Glenn!). It was me and about seventeen of my homies (and homettes), then onto Rumors (a local military bar just outside of base) to meet up with the rest of the crew. Got there, had a couple of drinks, rounded up the crew and got on the party bus. There were 38 of us. We got on, drank, yelled and sang. Got to a club, got off the bus and went in. Drank some more, danced, and drank some more. I don't actually remember leaving this first club. But we did at some point. I actually left my debit card there--though I don't remember buying anything with it. Anyway, we got back on the bus and went onto the next club. I don't remember anything about this second club. Not a thing. The next thing I knew, I was laying by the toilet this morning, shirtless but covered up by a towel and a make-shift pillow under my head. Who's toilet was it? I had no idea, but I would later find out I was at Billy Hirchette's house. Apparently, after the second club, we went back to Rumors, then onto Billy's house. The party continued there. I remember nothing of it. But apparently I was a cooperative drunk, along with talkative and amorous (apparently I told everyone I loved them.) I puked quite a bit, as I understand it. In fact, they id'd my filet mignon from Cheesecake Factory! Yummy....It is by far the most obliterated I have ever been even close to being in my life. Fortunately, I miraculously awoke without a hangover. Must've been all the water I drank at Cheesecake, and the water they fed to me inbetween throwing up.

Anyway, it seems that everyone had a blast last night, and that's all that I wanted. Thanks to everyone who couldn't be there for the birthday wishes. And to those of you that came out--either to the restaurant or to the bus (or both)--thanks so much for celebrating my birthday with me (and for the drinks). You made my night! A guy couldn't ask for a better group of friends....

Reading: Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany

Home Sweet Home

You Know You're Are a "Zonie" When....


You notice your car overheating before you drive it.

You no longer associate bridges or rivers with water.

You can hear the weather forecast of 115 degrees without flinching.

You can be in the snow, then drive for an hour...and it will be over
100 degrees.

You discover, in July it only takes two fingers to drive your car,
because your steering wheel is so hot.

You run your air conditioner in the middle of winter so you can use
your fireplace.

The best parking is determined by shade.....not distance.

You realize that "Valley Fever" isn't a disco dance.

You can make sun tea instantly.

Hotter water comes from the cold water tap than the hot one.

It's noon in July, kids are on summer vacation and yet all the streets
are totally empty of both cars and people.

You actually burn your hand opening the car door.

Sunscreen is sold year round and kept right at the checkout counter.

You put on fresh sunscreen just to go check the mail box.

Some fools will market mini-misters for joggers and some other fools
will actually buy them. Worse.....some fools actually try to jog.

You can pronounce Saguaro, Tempe, San Xavier, Canyon de Chelly,
Mogollon Rim, Cholla, Gila and Tucson.

You can understand the reason for a town named "Why"

You can fry an egg on the hood of a car in the morning.

You know hot air balloons can't rise because the air temperature is
hotter than the air inside the balloon.

You see two trees fighting over a dog.

You can say "Hohokam" and people don't think you're laughing funny.

You see more irrigation water on the street than there is in the Salt
River

You have to go to a fake beach for some fake waves

You hear people say "but it's a dry heat!"

You buy salsa by the gallon.

Your Christmas decorations include sand and l00 paper bags.

You think a red light is merely a suggestion.

All of your out-of-state friends start to visit after October but clear
out come the end of April.

You think someone driving wearing oven mitts is clever.

Most of the restaurants in town have the first name "El" or "Los."

You think 60 tons of crushed red rock makes a beautiful yard.

Your house is made of stucco and has a red clay tile roof.

Vehicles with open windows have the right-of-way in the summer.

Most homes have more firearms than people.

Kids ask, "What's a mosquito?"

People who have black cars or black upholstery in their car are
automatically assumed to be from out of-state or nuts.

You know better than to get into a car with leather seats if you're
wearing shorts.

You can finish a Big Gulp in 10 minutes and go back for seconds.

You take rain dances seriously.

When a rainy day puts you in a good mood.

When you drive two miles around a parking lot looking for a shady place
- even in the dead of winter.

You feed your chickens ice cubes to keep them from laying hard-boiled
eggs.

You "hug" a cactus only once in your lifetime.


When you have to look up "mass transit" in the dictionary.

Petrified doesn't mean scared.

The temperature drops below 95, you feel a bit chilly.

You've lived in AZ your whole life and have never been to the Grand
Canyon

You would give anything to be able to splash cold water on your face.

You can attend any function wearing shorts and a tank top.

You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.

you realize that snowbirds aren't really birds at all, but just really
bad out of state drivers that you learn to hate

there are only two temperatures, hot and hotter

even thinking about not having air conditioning makes you sweat

*you have no idea why 48 other states (Hawaii doesn't do it either)
insist on changing their clocks twice a year for this thing called
"daylight savings time"

Reading: Explorations: An Introduction to Astronomy by Thomas T. Arny

School is back in session...

School started back up last week. I'm taking Ancient and Medeival Philosophers, Ethics, and Astronomy 101. Three classes, six textbooks. So far so good, but I've been reading a hellalot as a result! It's cool though. Did you know that ancient philosophers (600-500 BCE) wrote about theories of evolution? I did not.

Saw some good movies over the summer. Knocked Up, Transformers, Hairspray, Bourne Ultimatum, The Simpsons, Stardust and Harry Potter were all worth the time and money. Ratatouille was borderline, but on the good side of borderline. Superbad SUCKED!

Read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I liked it. Just from the preface I knew I was going to like it. I wasn't disappointed.

Summer's over. My first 'hot' muggy summer. They said it would be so horrible. That the dry heat of Phoenix and the rest of the southwestern region was a breeze compared to it. And they were wrong. Humidity has its inconveniences--my shirt has been completely soaked after each workout, and has remained so well into the following day. Gross. Working out in humidity also turns my body into a waterfountain. That's gross too. My towel also remains damp well into the day following a shower. Not as gross, but unusual. And humidity can be a little uncomfortable overall. However, it's far from unbareable. I'm not zapped of energy after the smallest hint of physical exertion outside, which is what happens back home. I have yet to seer my skin on doorknobs, benches, seatbelts, steering wheels, the sidewalk or anything else outside that bakes in the heat. In fact, I've rarely even actually felt hot over this summer. My room and my car both cool down in seconds with a/c (it takes a while back home). I've not been anywhere near dehydrated all season. And I have heard no reports of death from this humid, hot Omaha weather (people drop like flies from the heat back home). At the end of the day, I guess it's just personal choice. But give me a humid 95 degrees over a 'dry' 115 degrees any day!

Next weekend is Labor Day weekend, and I'm headin' over to Chicago for the first time. WoooHooo! I've been wanting to get over there since I got to Nebraska. Should be good times.

Metroid Prime 3 comes out tomorrow on the Wii. Fuh-reakin' A!!!

So, how have you been?

Playing: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption on the Wii

I SAW BART SIMPSON'S JUNK!!!

Yep, I saw the Simpsons movie. What were the critics TALKING about--claiming that the movie doesn't go any further than the tv show does? Bart does full frontal, and it's one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life! The movie was really good. And I haven't seen a Simpson's episode in years. So go see it. You'll like it.

This weekend wraps up my summer college course. Still waitin' on grades. Hopin' for the best. It was a good class--it explored who we are as persons, what makes us persons, and the role that identity and ethics play in society. I ended the class feeling less sure what to think, but more empowered to think it, which I kind of expected.

Also read the finaly Harry Potter this week. I think it was the best of the series. VERY good. Read it. Or wait for the movie. I'm now reading the Ultimate Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I have a feeling I'm in for something good, since I was cracking up at the foreword before the book even began.

Just got off the phone from a nearly 4-hour conversation with my bro. Then a short one with my sis. They're doing good--thanks for asking.

Closing thought: from the Simpsons movie. "So. We meet at last, whoever you are."--Homer

Next week: THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM!!!!!!! And Rush Hour 3??? What the HELL are they thinking?

Reading: The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Analytic Paper

I just finished and submitted my analytical paper that was due today. I would have posted it and asked for y'alls' feedback before I sent it, but there would've been no time to make corrections. Anyway, it's not as good as I hoped it would have, but I was assigned to compare to philosophical essays and raise my own questions about them. Here is the result--comments (good and bad) are always appreciated, and may help to prepare me for any criticisms my prof may levy against me...

What's It Like To Be A Physicalist?

The past several weeks have been a crash course for me in the various theories that seek to define and explain personal identity. Most recently, the focus of discussion has been the human experience and the problems it presents for the philosophers who attempt to explain and account for it. Thomas Nagel describes the problem of human experience in great detail in his paper entitled "What Is It Like To Be A Bat?". However, other philosophers refuse to even acknowledge that the human experience requires further explanation than that it is simply another physical function of the body. Gilbert Harman is an example of such a philosopher, as can be seen in his paper, "Explaining the Explanatory Gap". I intend to compare both of the above mentioned works and show why I disagree with both of their conclusions, though I agree with Nagel that the problem exists and that it has yet to be adequately answered.

I will begin by stating each of Harman's and Nagel's arguments, and I will follow with a comparison of the two. Harman's argument can be stated like this:
(1) There is an objective understanding of the world, which is studied by the physical sciences.

(1a) For example, pain may be studied objectively through biology, neuroscience, and psychology to determine how pain is caused and what pain causes.

(2) There is a general subjective understanding of the world, which is studied by the social and psychological sciences.

(3) There is a more specific subjective understanding of the world, referring to what it is like to actually experience the world 'from the inside', or 'Das Verstehen'. This is only understandable by sympathizing with, empathizing with or translation of another's experience into one's own experience.

(3a) This is the understanding of what it feels like to actually experience, for example, pain.

(4) There is an 'explanatory' or 'epistemic' gap between the objective understanding and the Das Verstehen understanding.

(5) There is a similar gap when translating a single concept from one language to another. Though there is usually something 'lost in the translation' because of the limits of the languages, general understanding is still possible. This is analogous to the problem of objective vs. Das Verstehen.

-----

(6) Though there is and will always be something of an explanatory gap between objective and subjective perspectives, they are merely different understandings of the same physical substance. There is no metaphysical gap. (Harman 2007)

Now for Nagel's view:

(1) The human experience involves the aspect of consciousness, or what it is like to be a particular human being.

(2) There are two perspectives to consider from the human experience.

(2a) The first-person perspective, what it is like to 'be' a particular human being. It is subjective in that it is only experienced by the person experiencing it, but is also objective in that anyone who enters the same perspective (who knows everything the person knows and sees everything the same way) may experience it as well. However, the objectivity is limited to how like in kind the individuals are (e.g., human to human, bats to bats, etc.).

(2b) The third-person perspective, which is a conglomeration of all of the objective facts in the world. This perspective is essentially objective, and is usually successful in revealing greater knowledge and insight into physical phenomena such as lightening, fire, etc. However, third-person observations fail to do so for the first-person experience.

(3) Physicalism is the attempt to explain the human experience in terms of physical structures and processes, and to 'close the gap' between the first- and third-person perspectives (i.e., subjective and objective, respectively).

(4) Currently, all physicalist attempts have either failed to adequately explain the first-person perspective of a being, or have failed to acknowledge it all together.

(5) This does not necessarily disqualify physicalism as a possibility, since it is possible for something to be true, though not yet properly explained or understood.

----

Nagel's proposition--Develop new concepts that could be called 'Objective Phenomenology', which would enable the communication of subjective experiences between beings who are completely unfamiliar with each other's perspectives. Since objective facts are physically reducible, objective phenomenology would support a physicalism that would explain the human experience without avoiding the first-person perspective. (Nagel 1974)

These arguments are, in essence, complimentary to each other. Harman seems to acknowledge and agree with Nagel's presentation of the problem: he does not deny the presence of experience in humans, and he acknowledges that there is a first-person perspective as well as a third-person perspective. Harman seems to conclude his argument with a full endorsement of physicalism (Harman 2007), while Nagel seems to favor it as a strong possibility (Nagel 1974).

However, their conclusions differ in important ways. Harman appears to render the gap between first- and third-person perspectives insignificant, stating that it is a simple case of 'lost in translation'. He accepts that the gap will never be fully closed, much in the way that language expressions are never fully translatable between different languages. Nevertheless, communication is possible to some degree and that is sufficient (Harman 2007). Nagel, on the other hand, is hopeful that physicalism will one day be able to adequately account for the first-person human experience (Nagel 1974).

Now that we have established an understanding of each of their arguments, I would like to address a couple of problems that I have with each one. I would then like to follow with an important point about experience that I feel both have failed to address.

Beginning with Harman, I fail to see how his analogy that, just as languages have limits in their ability to translate a single expression from one language to another, the third-person perspective is limited in its ability to translate into the first-person perspective (Harman 2007) works. The way I see it, language is used as the third-person description of the first-person perspective. If this is the case, Harman is basically comparing two third-person perspectives and saying that the gap that may exist between them justifies the gap between the first-person and third-person perspective, and that no further explanation is needed. He is trying to convince us he is comparing apples when he is comparing apples and oranges. It is logical in my opinion that two third-person representations such as two languages would find difficulty interacting with each other, since different languages are not intended to interact. Instead, they are intended to communicate the first-person perspective. If there were no difficulties translating between them, they would not be distinct, since they share general form and function.

To further illustrate my point, I would like to appeal to an analogy of my own. Take, for example, the case of two electrical plugs. They are both similar in form and function, and the purpose of each is to plug into an electrical outlet specifically designed to receive them--not another plug. In fact, they are NOT meant to plug into each other at all, and any attempt to do so will prove pointless (and maybe even a little humorous). Similarly with languages. They are designed to connect humans, not other languages. And while attempts to translate concepts between languages cannot be rendered as being as pointless as trying to connect two plugs, it is rather difficult, and problems do arise. In fact, the presence of so many different language yields plenty of reason for translation. However, it is only the plurality of languages that creates such a necessity; it is not a language's intended purpose.

Anyway, to return to my analogy, connecting a plug to an outlet not only satisfies both the plug's and the outlet's functions, it is an easy task to do, and it can be thoroughly accomplished. No loose ends remain. The two seem to be made for each other. On the other hand, translating experience between languages, or even between individuals of the same language, is not always so easy and is never as thoroughly accomplished as plugging a plug into a socket. That is the problem. The point I am trying to illustrate here is that the plug, to represent the language, does not quite fit into the outlet, to represent an individual. It fits well enough for the contraption to work, but everything we know tells us there is something missing--it does not quite convey EVERYTHING, and a better fitting plug would likely improve the situation. Therefore, I think that Harman's analogy fails. Because of that, a major premise for Harman's dismissal of the significance of the explanatory gap collapses.

Next, I would like to address Nagel's reasoning for maintaining a physicalist view in the face of physicalism's failure to fully account for the human experience. Nagel claims that it is a mistake to reject physicalism for its failures, in hopes that one day it will succeed (Nagel 1974). I take no issue with being open to the possibility that a particular school of thought will continue to progress and eventually succeed at its cause. Actually, I am very open to such a possibility for physicalism. However, Nagel does not just assert openness to the possibility of physicalism's eventual triumph over the problem, he endorses it as though the mere possibility of its success equals success. I feel that this is biased, and is essentially just an example of obstinately maintaining faith in a view that is far from being proven and, by his own admission, is thus far inadequate.

However, in order to substantiate his faith, Nagel refers to our current understanding of the 'truth' of physicalism to be the same as what it would be for a pre-Socratic philosopher trying to understand our scientific knowledge that matter is energy. He may be able to understand the words, and the fact that such is the case, but he would not understand the logical processes through which such a conclusion was made (Nagel 1974). But in actuality, the pre-Socratic world did not know this at all BECAUSE the observations and logical reasoning required to arrive at that conclusion had not yet been made. Arriving at a conclusion before all of the facts are in and a thorough logical process has been completed is putting the cart before the horse, and I cannot see that any good can come of it. It is the stuff of biases, and I fear it only impedes philosophical progress. One should not get carried way when speculating about possible future answers.

One of the main problems that I have with both Harman and Nagel is that a question like, "What is it like to be a (or an individual) bat?" is not specific enough. It only pushes the issue back a notch. The real question is, "What is it like to be a GIVEN, SPECIFIC bat?", or some other species. I think that this more specific question introduces two other considerations that have been nearly ignored by both philosophers: the temporal and spatial aspects of experience. With these two aspects, the questions that arise are, "What is it like to be you?", and, "Why are you you, and I me?". I found it very interesting the way Nagel defines the objective aspect of the subjective point of view when he says that it is conceivable that another person could share my experience if he saw and felt everything exactly from my perspective (Nagel 1974). However, a person could never do so at the exact same time, and in the exact same place as me, and so would be missing a significant part of my experience. That is why you will never be me, and I will never be you. I think that this limits the objectivity of first-person experience.

I regret to admit that I do not possess enough of the relevant scientific and philosophic knowledge required to expound on this question at length, but I do think that it is the real question at hand, and progress cannot be made until it is satisfactorily addressed. If all there was to explaining the human experience was simply to objectify experience, I think the implications would exceed just being able to experience what someone or something else experiences. I think that in theory I would be able to take on anyone else's identity at will, and anyone else could take on mine. All I would need is access to all the objective facts about their experience, and I would suddenly somehow be looking through their eyes--I would be them. But then, I would not know that I had only just become them because I would duplicate their memories, etc., and I would lose mine. After all, I cannot really know what it is like to be someone else if I continue to access my own memories, which the other person does not have.

I realize that this conclusion of mine seems rather extreme and convoluted, but I do not see how it is logically avoidable. If all I am is a makeup of physical processes and functions, and everything about me can be objectified, than anyone can duplicate my physically based mental experiences and become me, and I them.

In response, it may be objected on the basis that insane people commonly take on other identities, often as a result of an obsession with another person. They read, watch, and listen to everything they can to gain information on the object of their infatuation, and eventually convince themselves that they are the person, though they are not. However, this is another issue altogether. These people have taken objective facts about the person and used them to delude themselves. I am referring to the reality that, if an objective phenomenalism actually came to be, I would not just be able to convince myself that I was any given person, I would be them.

I also realize that Nagel anticipated that a concept such as objective phenomenalism would still have its limitations, which would prevent a situation like the one I have just described, but I feel that such an expectation about a concept that has yet to be developed is arbitrary and contradictory to its own purpose, which is to remove the limitations of current objective concepts that communicate subjective experience. The limits of the various physicalist views are what keep them in question now. How then would a NEW physicalist view with limitations succeed in establishing it as a solid answer? It could not.

As far as I am concerned, Harman's acceptance of an explanatory gap between the objective and the subjective as just 'the way it is', so to speak, and Nagel's faith that physicalism will one day develop a new solution to the problem that will be able to explain experience, albeit in a limited way (though it already does that), amount to avoidance of the real issue and reveal their conclusions to be just stubborn adherence to physicalist bias. One philosopher claims the answer does not exist, while the other simply believes it is yet to be found. Both assertions are just round-about ways of saying that physicalism has failed to answer the question. I think it is time to render physicalism for what it is--a possibility--and explore other options. Personally, I think I will start with exploring interactionism and neutral monism and see where I go from there.


References
Harman, Gilbert. 2007. "Explaining an Explanatory Gap," American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Computers 6.2 (Spring 2007), 2-3.
Nagel, Thomas. "What Is It Like To Be A Bat?" Philosophical Review 83 (1974), 435-50.

Partays--A Public Service Announcement. And Other Stuff, Of Course...

Yo--couple of things.

July 4th-ish to July 8th-ish, I'm going to Cedar Point to meet up with Amber, Brian, Bethany and anyone else they're bringing. I'm gonna drive, and anyone in the Omaha area who's interested in going with is more than welcome to tag along. What's Cedar Point? you may ask. Well, if you are asking that, you're not worthy of my attention from this point on. Just kidding. It's (supposedly--I've never been there) the best roller coaster theme park in the country. However, I was just reading about my current favorite theme park, Six Flags Magic Mountain near L.A., and it turns out that until very recently, it actually OUT-NUMBERED Cedar Point in roller coasters. However, this year, it retired one, and Cedar Point opened a new one, so it's behind by two now. But I digress. It's located in Sandusky, OH, and it's about a 10 hour drive. (Road trip, anyone???) It's gonna be a blast, and the more the merrier (and the cheaper!), as far as I'm concerned. Also, since Chicago is like a 15 mile detour from the highway on the way, I may stop there for the last night just to check it out--I haven't been there yet, and I've been dying to go. So let me know asap if you're interested.

Also, it has recently been proposed to me by my very good friend Kim to go to NYC AGAIN for New Years, '08. You know I'm all over that. And so should you. I had a blast last year, even though it was kind of a last-minute trip. She's gonna round up some of her people, and I'm gonna try to round up some of mine. So, if you're interested, start savin' up for a plane ticket, and a portion of the hotel. Kim knows a member of NYPD, so we should be able to get an excellent spot in Times Square for the festivities. You know there's no better place to be on New Years than in New York. Just something to ponder over the next six months or so. Let me know if you're in....

Ok, some side stuff--my iPod died. Completely. So, I'm now the proud owner of a brand spankin' new Creative Zen:M. It's basically an iPod, but I think it's cooler. It gets FM radio, has a voice recorder, and it's interface seems to be better. Video conversion isn't the pain in the a** I hear it is on the iPod, and the software is basically Windows Explorer--just drag 'n' drop the dang files in the player, and yer good to go. So, I'm happy, though not so much about the financial expenditure involved.

Also, I failed to realize that I had to submit for my tuition assistance for my summer class BEFORE the class started. I had figured it had more to do with when the bill was DUE, not when the damn class started. But no, the rules say it has to be submitted within the 30-day window prior to class start, and I missed it. I submitted a very nice letter requesting late tuition assistance, explaining my confusion and my newness to the whole process, but--and ya gotta love the military for this--they could'nt've cared less. They denied my request, and I was stuck with the bill. Ouch. Let that be a lesson to all you fellow service members out there who are looking into going back to school. Expensive lesson on my part.

Hmmm...what else...training still sucks...uhh....been jamming out to all those tunes everyone suggested to me....thanks again for that....still working on conquering my damn guitar, but finding the time sometimes is difficult....same for jujitsu and my workouts.

OH! And my wisdom teeth-pulling was rescheduled for this Monday. For those of you that didn't know, my last appointment several weeks ago was cancelled due to an unscheduled base exercise. Then, it was rescheduled for 9 July, but then they scheduled another exercise for that time. So now it's this monday, God willing. So, I'll probably be hurting and high, in alternating intervals. Visitors welcome--Don't be shy! Stop on by; we'll watch a movie or sum'at.

Alright, back to my studies...

Listening to: Jump Back: The Best of the Rolling Stones 1971-1993 by the Rolling Stones

What I've Learned

..So, I'm reading through the headlines on msn.com, and I come across Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia)'s article about what she's learn. Then, I see at the bottom a list of other celebrities' similar articles. I thought they were pretty funny and even insightful, so I decided to post 'em. I mean, if Pamela Anderson can make you think, you gotta pass it on, right?

What I've Learned: Carrie Fisher

Nothing is just one thing.

What I've learned about Hollywood you could put in a cup — a bra cup, size C.

For years people have asked if I mind being remembered as Princess Leia. I used to say no. But now I will say that it sometimes bothers me, yes. It follows me around like a little smell.

I'm very sane about how crazy I am.

Anything you can do in excess for the wrong reasons is exciting to me.

Mothers are great. They outlast everything. But when they're bad, they're the worst thing that can happen.

What I know about love I learned from being a mother. I want to chew the back of my daughter's thigh.

When you breed two Hollywood people together, you end up with someone like me.

If I'm drawn to anything, it would be kindness.

Here's what I've learned: that someone can change the course of history with a box cutter.

Fathers have laps. They have patience. They want to hear what you have to say. They have Band-Aids in their medicine cabinet and books to read to you. My father didn't have any of that. But he had songs to sing. He had other stuff.

I like having written, the same way I like having gone to the gym. I'm a conversationalist more than a writer. I take dictation from myself. I talk about myself behind my back.

I know my likes and dislikes now. I don't like exercise but I do it. I like drugs but I don't do them.

All the good people are nuts.

Ambition is exhausting. It makes you friends with people for the wrong reasons, just like drugs.

I don't have wifely skills. I tried to learn them. I tried to learn to cook and clean and stuff like that. But then I realized it's not skills you need, it's impulses. It's having the impulses to care for someone.

I got a fortune cookie that said, "You will always be surrounded by comfort." And I wrote after it, "But you won't always be comfortable."

Everything is negotiable. Whether or not the negotiation is easy is another thing.

Rehab? The first time is a gift; the second time is a bitch.

When you get on a manic run, you feel like you're a house burning down from the inside out. It's like having a bellyful of electric eels. Every ball you hit is out of the park. Every word you're searching for is right at the tip of your tongue. You look through the facts in your head, your library, your catalog of memories and experiences and information, and it's all there, everything. You have every connection before you even look for it. It's the best version of yourself, sold back to yourself on the cheap every minute every minute every minute.

The older you get, the easier it is to spot the phonies. And I just think, How unpleasant for them.

Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

There's no way to prepare for seeing yourself rendered as a 12-inch plastic doll.

It's more difficult when you lose a man to another man. It's not like you can look at yourself in the mirror and think, Mmmm, if only I had bigger breasts.

I like songs that should only be sung at night when your heart is breaking.

I have tried to function as a trusting person and I've been nailed. Now it's me that I don't trust.

I'm so sick of talking about myself I'm gonna faint.

What I've Learned: Jaime Pressley

I'm a woman; I'm going to fluctuate.

Determination is kind of like rhythm: You can't teach it. I've always had this voice inside of me saying, "You're going to do it, don't give up!" Maybe it's because I have a lot of testosterone. I don't know. I just have so much drive. There's nothing you can do or say that's going to stop me from going where I want to go.

When somebody is kissin' my ass and sugarcoatin' everything, that's when I say no.

Classic is classic for a reason.

Jaime is spelled that way because it means "I love" in French. Pressly is always misspelled, with an e, because people think it's gotta be spelled like Elvis.

The people who actually give a damn about me spell my name correctly.

I performed in public for the first time at three years old. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was on a big stage. There were probably three or four hundred people in the audience. We were doing this dance, this Kermit the Frog routine, all of us in our little green leotards. After the dance, we had to come out and do a forward roll or some other little trick. My trick was this thing where I took my legs and literally wrapped them around my head, and then I put my hands down and I walked around the stage on my hands -- I was a little contortionist, you know? And so I walk down the mat and back, and then Miss Jodi goes, "Okay, Jaime, put your legs down." But I couldn't! I was wearing tights and I had this hairpiece in my hair, and the tights got stuck on my hairpiece, and I couldn't unwrap my legs. I was like, "I'm stuck! I'm stuck!" But Miss Jodi, she was a cool customer. She just reaches down and puts her hand through my legs and picks me up like a basket. And then she says, "Wave goodbye, Jaime!" And I did. And everybody just lost it laughing and clapping, and she carried me offstage. When I got in the back and they got my legs undone, I went, "Listen, Mom, I'm famous! I'm going to be famous!"

If you want to do something, just do it. No one is going to do it for you.

It's not that I want the control; it's just that I want to be able to take care of myself, which is why I've worked as hard as I have -- so no one can tell me what I can and cannot do. When you're financially equal, there's no resentment.

We all have baggage. The question is: What baggage can you deal with?

My father taught me what it is to fish -- to be able to breathe, to be able to chill out and wait for the fish to bite. Simple things like that have really helped me stay in this business, because it's a waiting game. You've gotta be able to calm down and not take every job. You wanna wait for the big fish.

You get one negative thing out of your mouth about somebody, and seconds later you trip and bust your ass. It happens instantly.

I love television because I get to stay home.

Comic timing: You're either born with it or not.

"Earl" is not like an everyday TV show. We shoot a mini-film every week. There is such a thing as good television and good writing.

I was supposed to be on that first plane. I was in North Carolina, and I needed to go to L.A. To get there, I had three different options -- none of which were direct flights. One of the options was Raleigh to Boston to L.A. At the last minute I changed it. I was like, a) I don't want to get up that early, and b) it's stupid to go around your ass to get to your thumb. So I canceled it last minute. And that turned out to be the first plane to hit the World Trade Center. I don't really like to talk about it, but there it is. It's what could have been.

Once you've appeared in Playboy, you can't ever work for Procter & Gamble.

Pretty runs out.

What I've Learned: Robert De Niro

I like it when interviews are brief. Are we done yet?

When I was a teenager, I went to the Dramatic Workshop at the New School. The school had a lot of actors under the GI Bill -- Rod Steiger, Harry Belafonte, the generation ahead of me. I went in there and the director said to me, "Vy do you vant to be an acteh?" I didn't know how to answer, so I didn't say anything. And he said, "To express yourself!" And I said, "Yeah, yeah, that's it. That's right."

We used to roller-skate. Not like these souped-up Rollerblades they have today. Roller skates with ball bearings. We'd hang on to the back of a truck and go for a ride for a couple of blocks until the streetlight turned red and the truck stopped. Then one day they changed the lights to a stagger system. Only we didn't know. All the lights changed up an avenue at intervals so you could go twenty or thirty blocks without stopping. Suddenly, I'm stuck on the back of one of these trucks, and after four blocks, I'm realizing that the next light isn't going to turn red. The driver doesn't know you're on the back. You have no choice but to keep hanging on till he stops. There are things you do that when you get older, you realize how stupid they were.

Some people say, "New York's a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there." I say that about other places.

You have no idea that years later, people in cars will recognize you on the street and shout, "You talkin' to me?" I don't remember the original script, but I don't think the line was in it. We improvised. For some reason it touched a nerve. That happens.

Marty Scorsese listens. He's open to unexpected things on that -- this is a flowery way of saying it -- on that voyage. He takes ideas, and he's not afraid to try them.

There's no such thing as not being afraid.

Money makes your life easier. If you're lucky to have it, you're lucky.

I left a meeting right after they hit the World Trade Center. I went to my apartment, which looks south, and I watched it out my window. I could see the line of fire across the North Tower. I had my binoculars and a video camera -- though I didn't want to video it. I saw a few people jump. Then I saw the South Tower go. It was so unreal, I had to confirm it by immediately looking at the television screen. CNN was on. That was the only way to make it real. Like my son said: "It was like watching the moon fall."

I didn't have a problem with rejection, because when you go into an audition, you're rejected already. There are hundreds of other actors. You're behind the eight ball when you go in there.

At this point in my career, I don't have to deal with audition rejections. So I get my rejection from other things. My children can make me feel rejected. They can humble you pretty quick.

It's true: I spent lunchtime in a grave during the filming of Bloody Mama. When you're younger, you feel that's what you need to do to help you stay in character. When you get older, you become more confident and less intense about it -- and you can achieve the same effect. You might even be able to achieve more if you take your mind off it, because you're relaxed. That's the key to it all. When you're relaxed and confident, you get good stuff.

The hardest thing about being famous is that people are always nice to you. You're in a conversation and everybody's agreeing with what you're saying -- even if you say something totally crazy. You need people who can tell you what you don't want to hear.

Movies are hard work. The public doesn't see that. The critics don't see it. But they're a lot of work. A lot of work.

When I'm directing a great dramatic scene, part of me is saying, "Thank God I don't have to do that." Because I know how f***ing hard it is to act. It's the middle of the night. It's freezing. You gotta do this scene. You gotta get it up to get to that point. And yet, as a director, you've got to get the actors to that point. It's hard either way.

What's the difference between sex and love? Hmm. That's a good question. Hey, you interviewed Al Pacino. How'd he answer that?

When a parent dies, it's the end. I always wanted to chronicle the family history with my mother. She was always interested in that. I wanted some researchers I'd worked with to talk to my mother, but my mother was a little antsy about it. I know she would've gotten into it. It would have been okay with my father, too. But I wasn't forceful, and I didn't make it happen. That's one regret I have. I didn't get as much of the family history as I could have for the kids.

As you get older, the more complicated things get. It's almost therapeutic to be doing simple things with the kids.

If you don't go, you'll never know.

What I've Learned: Muhammad Ali

God will not place a burden on a man's shoulders knowing that he cannot carry it.

Parkinson's is my toughest fight. No, it doesn't hurt. It's hard to explain. I'm being tested to see if I'll keep praying, to see if I'll keep my faith. All great people are tested by God.

The sun is always shining someplace.

I came back to Louisville after the Olympics with my shiny gold medal. Went into a luncheonette where black folks couldn't eat. Thought I'd put them on the spot. I sat down and asked for a meal. The Olympic champion wearing his gold medal. They said, "We don't serve niggers here." I said, "That's okay, I don't eat 'em." But they put me out in the street. So I went down to the river, the Ohio River, and threw my gold medal in it.

Since that day, things in America have changed 100 percent.

When you're right, nobody remembers. When you're wrong, nobody forgets.

Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer.

We have one life / It soon will be past / What we do for God / Is all that will last.

Goodness? My mother.

When your mother dies, it really hurts. But with time, you get used to it. That's nature's way.

My definition of evil is unfriendliness.

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.

Comedy is a funny way of being serious. My way of joking is to tell the truth. That's the funniest joke in the world.

It's possible for the heavyweight champion of the world to be with one woman.

Love is a net that catches hearts like fish.

Rubble is trouble.

The more we help others, the more we help ourselves.

I like Joe.

Watching George come back to win the title got me all excited. Made me want to come back. But then the next morning came, and it was time to start running. I lay back in bed and said, "That's okay, I'm still the Greatest."

If I could meet anybody? The prophet Muhammad.

What you are thinking about, you are becoming.

I'm most proud of my family.

Enjoy your children, even when they don't act the way you want them to.

Lighting that torch in Atlanta didn't make me nervous. Standing up to the government—that made me nervous.

Wisdom is knowing when you can't be wise.

The one thing I don't understand is war.

Brooding over blunders is the biggest blunder.

I'd like to live to a hundred.

I just wish people would love everybody else the way that they love me. It would be a better world.

What I've Learned: Pamela Anderson

People say I'm the ultimate California girl, which is funny, being that I'm Canadian.

Come on, people! It's never what it seems.

My grandfather was a healer from Finland. My real last name is Hyytiänen. He changed it to Anderson when he came to Canada. All of his brothers changed their names, too, so I have a feeling that maybe something bad happened in Finland.

My breasts have a career. I'm just tagging along.

I'm a soccer mom.

I'm T-ball, soccer, karate, homework, keeping them on their schedules. I love being the snack mom, when I get to bring the cut oranges. I have one of those coolers with wheels. I'm at every game, every practice, sitting on my blanket. I love it.

I had kids to raise them myself.

I'm kind of proud of myself. I've been able to keep a certain grace about me, even in the times of disgrace and craziness.

Baywatch was a great show. It was completely mindless. You could turn it on in any language and still be entertained. You could turn it on halfway through an episode and still enjoy it. Now that's entertainment.

Are you kidding? Of course there's a red bathing suit in my new clothing line.

You'd think that my fans would be the guys who are too drunk to turn the channel after football. But surprisingly, from all the demographic research that people have done on me, we've found out that I have a huge female following. It's a girl-girl type thing.

Stripperella? I don't know what I was expecting. Nipples that cut glass. Life is funny.

Eventually you just have to realize that you're living for an audience of one. I'm not here for anyone else's approval.

In order for a man to feel whole, he needs someone to look up to and someone to look up to him.

Natural beauty takes at least two hours in front of a mirror.

The best decisions you ever make are usually the ones you make even when everyone else says not to do it.

Yes, Hef's sleeping with them all. For real! I've actually walked in on him. See, one time I was over at the mansion with some friends. We were swimming in the grotto, and I decided to walk around the house a bit. As I was walking around, I ran into one of the girls. And she's like, "Come upstairs." So I went upstairs, and there's Hef on the bed. There's baby oil, there's toys flying every which way, there's all these girls naked. It was like watching a movie. I was standing in the doorway just looking -- for a really long time. And finally I realized they were all looking at me! I realized, Okay, this is really happening. And then I heard this voice from downstairs. It was [photographer] David LaChapelle. I heard him calling my name. And it kind of snapped me back to reality. I ran back downstairs.

Rock stars are like prophets. There's something about somebody who can get up on a stage and sing. And then when they write you songs, forget it, okay?

You know when a prayer is answered.

My doctor says, "You have hepatitis C." And I go, "Okay, how do I get rid of it?" And he's like, "You can't. This is what you're going to die from." I was in the middle of shooting VIP; I didn't know what to do. This wash came over my body. And then the doctor says, "Do you know how you got it?" I said no. And he said, "Your husband never told you he had it?" It kind of threw me for a while. Obviously, it's a hard thing to tell someone, but I wish he could have had the nerve to tell me. Obviously, his ego was more important than my life.

Sometimes sex gets in the way of a relationship.

My best friend has been my best friend for twenty-five years. She works for the DMV in Canada and has this very normal life. She's beautiful. And she has the same problems that I do; it's just all relative. Like, she works in an office. Sometimes, if someone else says something about her, she's just devastated. And me, I might be in a tabloid or something. But she goes through the same feelings I do. She'll be like, "This girl in the office did this horrible thing to me!" And I'll be like, "Did you see The Enquirer?"

I'm not telling what I'm obsessed with.

I don't know if you can call me an artist or not, but I feel like I've created my life day by day. It wasn't, like, this whole plan: I'm going to conquer the world. I've been blessed with opportunities in Hollywood. I've made a career out of it somehow. I don't even really know how I did it.

Love never goes away; it just changes form.

Time passes, (crap) happens, you do the best you can. We put so much drama into everything. You gotta remember to breathe.

What I've Learned: Homer Simpson

When someone tells you your butt is on fire, you should take them at their word.

There is no such thing as a bad doughnut.

Kids are like monkeys, only louder.

If you want results, press the red button. The rest are useless.

There are many different religions in this world, but if you look at them carefully, you'll see that they all have one thing in common: They were invented by a giant, superintelligent slug named Dennis.

You should just name your third kid Baby. Trust me -- it'll save you a lot of hassle.

You can have many different jobs and still be lazy.

I enjoy the great taste of Duff. Yes, Duff is the only beer for me. Smooth, creamy Duff . . . zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

You can get free stuff if you mention a product in a magazine interview. Like Chips Ahoy! cookies.

You may think it's easier to de-ice your windshield with a flamethrower, but there are repercussions. Serious repercussions.

There are some things that just aren't meant to be eaten.

The intelligent man wins his battles with pointed words. I'm sorry -- I meant sticks. Pointed sticks.

There are way too many numbers. The world would be a better place if we lost half of them -- starting with 8. I've always hated 8.

If I had a dollar for every time I heard "My God! He's covered in some sort of goo," I'd be a rich man.

Be generous in the bedroom -- share your sandwich.

I've climbed the highest mountains . . . fallen down the deepest valleys . . . I've been to Japan and Africa . . . and I've even gone into space. But I'd trade it all for a piece of candy right now.

Every creature on God's earth has a right to exist. Except for that damn ruby-throated South American warbler.

I don't need a surgeon telling me how to operate on myself.

Sometimes I think there's no reason to get out of bed . . . then I feel wet, and I realize there is.

Let me just say, Winnie the Pooh getting his head caught in a honey pot? It's not funny. It can really happen.

Even though it is awesome and powerful, I don't take no guff from the ocean.

I never ate an animal I didn't like.

A fool and his money are soon parted. I would pay anyone a lot of money to explain that to me.

Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll get a hook caught on his eyelid or something.

I made a deal with myself ten years ago . . . and got ripped off.

Never leave your car keys in a reactor core.

Always trust your first instinct -- unless it tells you to use your life savings to develop a Destructo Ray.

When you borrow something from your neighbor, always do it under the cover of darkness.

If a spaceship landed and aliens took me back to their planet and made me their leader, and I got to spend the rest of my life eating doughnuts and watching alien dancing girls and ruling with a swift and merciless hand? That would be sweet.

I may not be the richest man on earth. Or the smartest. Or the handsomest.

Never throw a butcher knife in anger.

The office is no place for off-color remarks or offensive jokes. That's why I never go there.

My favorite color is chocolate.

Always feel with your heart, although it's better with your hands.

The hardest thing I've had to face as a father was burying my own child. He climbed back out, but it still hurts.

If doctors are so right, why am I still alive?

I'm not afraid to say the word racism, or the words doormat and bee stinger.

Always have plenty of clean white shirts and blue pants.

When that guy turned water into wine, he obviously wasn't thinking of us Duff drinkers.

I love natural disasters because we're allowed to get out of work.

When I'm dead, I'm going to sleep. Oh, man, am I going to sleep.

What kind of fool would leave a pie on a windowsill, anyway?

Reading: Philosophy: The Power of Ideas with PowerWeb