The end is near!
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: "End of the World As We Know It" - REM
Well, the end is near when referencing my winter break. Most of my friends have been in school for a week or two (HAHA you UF people!) but I don't start school until 26 Jan. But I'll be going back up on the upcoming Wednesday.

I'm happy about going back because I'll be with my girlfriend again. Also, I'll have some time to buy my books and take care of getting ready for school. However, once I get back I pretty much consider my vacation to be over.

For one, I'm currently enjoying tshirt weather during the day. However, at school the weather's been in the realm of 17 deg F as the HIGH! At night it's been going into the -20s with the wind chill.

Florida guys just don't have it that easy in New York.

I've had tons of fun at home this break. I got to read some books that I really wanted to read and I got to play Sim City 4 Deluxe. I also got to do tons of blogging which is great because I love to write.

My grandmother's coming up from Miami to visit me before I go back to NY and she'll be here through Tuesday. Therefore, I may not have a post for the next couple of days or the posts may be short. But, that's going to happen anyway once I get back into my schoolwork so I guess the exact start date is unimportant.

James Chapter 5
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Bible
Disclaimer: I ocassionally write here to reflect on what I read in the Bible...if you prefer other topics, just keep checking back or look at some of my other posts
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At first blush it seems that the beginning of this chapter is a condemnation of all who are rich. Surely, I thought, this can't be the case. Just because someone has worked hard and used their mind in creative ways should not be reason for condemnation! For there are many CEOs nowadays who are Christians and run their companies with integrity. Certainly, God doesn't hate that!

But as I read more of the chapter I came to see that the problem was not with being rich. It was with being rich at the expense of others. The chapter speaks of people not paid wages for work done and murdered for dubious reasons. Back then when there was a lot less paperwork (yes, there was SOME paperwork) it was a lot harder to track if people were indeed getting paid for work done.

So the beginning of the chapter is actually about people who are becoming rich on the backs of others. THOSE people are the ones who will face all sorts of judgement day horrors.

The next section was a call to patience with regards to the Second Coming of Christ. Christ was to come soon anyway...so just be patient for a little while. Whenever I read that I wonder if the Saints knew how long it was really going to take. Did they really think that it was going to be soon as in sometime in the current generation? Or did they understand it as soon by God's standards? Since they may have understood the world to be 10 thousand years old, they could have reasoned that God is insanely patient and therefore soon may have meant sometime in the next millenia or so.

It's a concept that's of, in my humble opinion, medium importance to Christian theology. If it meant soon as in during the biblical time period then it is obviously wrong and that could have huge ramifications for the faith. If it meant within the next few thousand years, then it's ok. However, it's one of those things that you wonder about without being something necessary to understand in order to live your life in accordance to Christian principles. In other words, being nitpicky about it will be of no real use.

The final part was just about prayer, but it didn't say anything out of the ordinary. Basically it just exhorted the followers to pray for things they need.

So ends the book of James

check yesterday
Mood:  happy
Topic: Site Info
I made a couple of posts a few hours ago, but they will show up as posts made yesterday so check those out.

2 things I really hate about the internet
Mood:  irritated
Topic: internet
First of all, I really hate when one is searching for stuff on google and types free so-and-so and the web descriptions say that the products on the site are free, but when you get there it's not. As an exagerrated exampled let's say that my search string was "free sources of food". Then a few thousand sites come up. When I look under the link at the text lifted from the site it contains something like, "this site contains free sources of food". Then when I click on the site, it doesn't actually have free sources of food at all. Instead it has a free search and to see any of the results from the search costs money.

Second, I hate when I click on a particular site from my search results and it doesn't have what I want. Then I click on another site with its own distinct URL. This new site's sole purpose is to redirect me back to the first one that I didn't like to begin with. And this continues so that basically there's really only one site and a bunch of sites that link to it.

I thought wizards could do magic.....
Mood:  chatty
Topic: movies
There's just one thing that ticks me off about Lord of the Rings. It may have to do with making it so that the plot wouldn't be over in just a few minutes, but why can't Gandolf do any magic? I mean, he was able to unposses a guy and he can kill the flying animals that Sauran commands, but he doesn't really do anything else.

For example, why can't he appear wherever he wants? Why does he have to ride a horse around? I thought that wizards were able to just flash to whereever they wanted to be and do magical tasks like create soldiers. Stuff like that.

a quickie
Mood:  chatty
In post #186 on 9 Jan 2004 I mentioned what BS the caucuses are, in my mind. Recently some of the candidates (Howard Dean was one of them, I think) got in trouble because years ago when they didn't think they'd be presidential candidates they were on a tv show. While on that show they mentioned that they thought that the caucuses in Iowa and New Hampshire were BS. Now as they kiss butt with those voters it's coming back to bite them in the butt. Hopefully this doesn't happen to me when I'm president. However, I'm not a very butt-kissing type of guy. So maybe it won't bite me in the butt.

However, to clarify (and not just because I may be running for president one day) I didn't mean that I think that these two first states are full of rednecks or are completely unimportant for some reason like that. I just meant that when compared to the rest of the nation, I don't think it's a good cross-section. I think it'd be much better if the caucuses were either all voted at once so that the candidates wouldn't be able to just kiss butt there or maybe another, more representative, state should go first.

Well, I may have another post or two tonight. It depends on whether more ideas come to me while I'm in the shower.

And the dropouts begin...
Mood:  chatty
Topic: News
I prediced it a few days ago, and it finally came true. Carol Moseley Braun has dropped out of the race for the democratic presidential nominaton. In case you've been living under a rock, she was the only female running for nomination and one of two non-caucasians. In my previous post (#195 - 10 Jan 2004)I mentioned that there wasn't a chance for her to win. I spare you a rehashing of my arguements since I already made them.

So while she was (coincidentally?) in Caroll, Iowa, Carol made a little speech that I'm watching rerun on CSPAN (my late night tv channel) where she endosed Howard Dean as her replacement for people to transfer their support for her to.

So now there are no longer any women running. Maybe she'll get a vice-presidential bid if Howard Dean wins the presidential bid. It'd be very risky though. That last time there was a combination like that (the name Walter Mondale comes to mind for some reason...was he the one who had a female VP?) the party lost. I think it'd be a very important first step for women to make it to the presidential seat.

So, if you allow me to shoot off in a slightly different direction - were a woman to win the presidency, what would her husband do? The role of first lady is a very feminine role as femininity was once defined amongst the upper-class. Basically, starting charities, appearing at ceremonial places, and having tea with the wives of visiting dignitaries. So what would the guy do? Just lounge around the house? Keep the same job he's always had? Play golf all day?

Finally, would other countries respect us with a female leader? It's still a pretty male world in international politics. I wonder if it would be very damaging for us or not. Interesting question that I'd like answered before I vote for a woman for president.

Thirsty for More?
Mood:  happy
Check out Carlo's Blog for a really thought-provoking post. I figured out how to link directly to this particular post so I don't need to tell you the date or anything like that. So, just follow the link and you can check it out. I totally agree with what he says, and if I haven't written about it before, I definitely have told people in person the exact same thing as Carlos when he talks about how humans have been performing the act ever since they formed cities.

A shift in when posts will be posted
Mood:  happy
Topic: Site Info
Ok, I'd like to thank those of you who keep coming back. At least there's a pretty constant number of people who visit the site. Almost consistently there are about 40 people who visit daily. Sometimes it spikes to 100 people and sometimes it's 30, but for the most part it appears that at least 40 people always show up. So, I feel that since you've been such loyal fans that I owe you advance warnings about any changes to the way things are done on this blog.

To reflect the fact that I'm slowly getting back into a sleeping pattern that will allow me to get up for class and the fact that I will be VERY busy at school with my classes, I will be slightly changing the "post structure", for lack of a better term.

First of all, for the past two to three weeks I've been posting pretty consistently from 1 to 3 am each day. So if you show up after that time you've seen everything I'm going to write for the day. Well, this is going to change so that I'll be writing stuff whenever I get a free moment. Maybe in the 10 minutes between a class or something like that. Therefore, when you check my blog from now on you should always check the previous day to see if I made any posts since you last checked.

Second, I will probably be posting less once classes start. My goal will always be to have at least one post a day, but school has to come first. And after that my girlfriend, family, etc. So, hopefully it won't be as bad as once a week, but just check in regularly and there'll be posts whenever I can.

Third, as you've already noticed, there will probably be either less posts per day or shorter posts. This is again a reflection of the fact that I will have a lot less time.

Thanks again for coming and continue to enjoy!

Prozac Attack
Mood:  chatty
It seems nowadays that people want to live in a complete fantasy world. Commercials ask, "Do you feel stressed? sad? do you sometimes lose track of what you're doing?" They may as well be asking, "are you alive and do you interact with other humans?" I believe that the drug companies are verging on unethical behavoir with their ads. They spent billions to convince us that our life is very unfulfilling the way that it currently is. If we feel any negative feelings then we should make sure to pop pills as if we were in Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World going on soma holiday. It's truly sickening!

Let's take stress, for example. If you think about it, there's nothing wrong with stress at all. In fact, stress is what gets us out of bed in the morning. If we didn't have the stress of hunger, the need to urinate, or the stress of not having any money to pay for anything, what incentive would we have for getting out of bed? Social interactions are only undertaken so that we don't have the stress of those people feeling ignored. Preventing stress is what makes me study because I know the stress of failing an exam.

So stress itself isn't bad at all. It's how you deal with stress that matters. You may think that it's just a cliche saying, but it's very true. Basically, it's all based in science. When you get a stress signal your body releases a ton of chemicals into your body. One of the chemicals is adrenaline, but that's not the only one. The main purpose of these chemicals is to prepare one for the hackneyed term "the fight or flight response". Why is this so and what does it entail?

Well, unfortunately when Man and Woman came into being, they didn't have the great weapons we have now. If you believe in evolution, unfortunately the new brain capacity wasn't enough for them to develop weapons outside of a spear. If you believe in creationism unforutnately Genesis doesn't read: "And then God created man and it was good. Then God created the gun and commanded man, 'use this gun to smite all animals which may try to eat you'" Therefore, we didn't have as easy a time with predators as we do now.

So you're a prehistoric man and you come across a tiger-like animal. If you were to sit there and think, "hmm...what should I do? Do I run away? Perhaps I can try to build a trap for him. I don't know. Hmm..." then you would be dead very quickly. Thus one of the functions of the chemicals released during a stress response is to shut down your brain. It doesn't want u busy trying to figure out what to do. It just wants you to pick an answer to a two choice question. Do I run or do I attack? Second, the adrenaline enhances your muscles, eyesight, and heartrate so that you can do things that you normally wouldn't be able to do. So then you can maybe run faster than the tiger for a long enough time to get to a safe place or lure him to your hunting party or something. Or you can have the strenght to hurl a spear into him.

So flash-forward to 2004. There are no tiger-like creatures running wild in most of the industrialized world. So when you get stressed from too much work, your body still gives you the same response. However, this is horrible! Since you don't have to run away or anything your heartrate is increased unnecessarily. Also, since you're at work, you actually need your mind to be fully-functional. So you pop a pill, right?

Actually, that's the cowardly way out. Basically there are two things you need to do. First of all, don't dwell on the feeling because you'll cause more chemicals to be released into your body. Second, you need to neutralize the chemicals. The way to do this is to exert yourself. Afterall, that's what the adrenaline is there for. At work you probably can't just change into some sweats and do a marathon, but you can get out of your seat and go for a brisk walk through the building or around the property. Then when you get home you simply need to remember to work out in some way. Do some aerobics or lift weights.

If you do that, then the stress shouldn't be to such a level that it needs a pill. Of course, life isn't always so simple and you may need more techniques. Other helpful stress dischargers include massages, meditation, prayer, and water-discharging of stress. However, all of these techniques that I just mentioned only have positive side effects. When you meditate or pray you get connected to a higher plane of existence which has many benefits for the body and mind. Massages also help repair muscles and can potentially help your social life if the person doing it is someone you care for. However, pills have many bad side effects. They erode your stomach lining, imbalance your body chemistry, cause diahrrea, pain, sun sensitivity, and a host of other problems. Therefore, doesn't it make so much more sense to try and not use a pill? Doesn't it seem worth the time investment?

Eventually somethings gotta give. If the politicians don't start ignoring all of the money given to them by the drug companies and cause them to be accountable we're going to be in for some trouble. They've even got a lot of doctors in on the scam. Before you know it we're going to be a nation of people who spend their entire lives stoned out of their minds just to "cope" with life in the US and to reach some fictional ideal life.

I don't mean to be a prophet of doom, but a country where there are more people dying of gluttony (eg obesity) than people dying from having too little of the necessities can't continue that way for long. If we don't make a change towards true health, we may end up falling behind and losing our superpower status to countries that are close to matching our economy, but have a much healthier populace.

We have become Rome, but perhaps there's hope before the Visigoths come knocking on the door.