Manhood

This is something I have struggled with my entire life in our society.  My mom and dad split when I was two after he cheated on her with her best friend, the wife of a youth minister.  I also had a stepfather for many years who tried when he needed to, that relationship was and is rocky, and I don’t want to make this a counseling session.  My grandfather and uncle, who died when I was 15, are the closest things I’ve had to father figures in my life.  So the idea of manhood has always eluded me.  I don’t blame my father or my stepfather for not being there enough to truly serve as consistent male role models, I actually appreciate the fact that that was the condition life handed to me.  I don’t believe I would be in such an amazingly close and supportive relationship with my mother if the situation had been different.  I have not really known what makes a man, and I have had to define that truly by myself.  I am still working on it, but I am glad that I can do that here in America.  I don’t mean to be a flag toting patriot, but I do cherish the social freedoms that I was afforded by being born in this country.  And, most prominently, I’m not subject to the male ideal that other children in the world are:

 

A child suicide bomber, gazed on with pride by the adults around him.

 

And, Five Year Olds Dude:  

 

Bolivian Civil Wars

Read the Article:

Assassination Plot Foiled? In Bolivia, Truth is Elusive

I had the immense pleasure of visiting Bolivia in December 2007.  The country is absolutely beautiful, and not just the landscape.  The people are also pretty amazing, well the ones who are educated, young, and open-minded that is.  Most Bolivians when I went there turned the other cheek to me as I passed, because I was white.  I had one taxi driver wag a no finger at me when I tried to hail his cab, even though he was obviously waiting for a fare.  Despite the prejudice though, I would still never say people shouldn’t go visit Bolivia.

My point here is not to recount a wonderful trip I had two years ago, but this talk of escalating tensions between the two very ideologically separated regions of La Paz and Santa Cruz in Bolivia is something which I was all too familiar with while I was there.  While I was in the country there was constant “whispering” of a civil war.  And by “whispering” I mean the newspapers were constantly reporting on the rallies being held by Santa Cruz for Autonomy from Bolivia.  And, in the streets the concrete walls were covered with graffiti tags reading “Viva Autonomia”, “Viva La Revolucion”, “No Evo!” , and “Morales“.  Now, talk of violent conflict in Bolivia is like talking about stocks in America.  People there are used to protests flaring up into all out street warfare, especially in La Paz which lies directly below the Bolivian mines where miners constantly will cut off supply routes into the capitol in protest of working conditions.  However, actually talking about a national split was something else entirely, at least for the friends I was with.

Considering that Bolivia is the poorest third world country in South America, a national split would be devastating for the western half of Bolivia where La Paz is located.  Someone explained the difference between La Paz and Santa Cruz to me in terms of teenagers, “La Paz is like free-loving hippies and Santa Cruz is like tight-assed preppies.”  Even though it’s obviously heavily laden with stereotyping, when taking into consideration the current political conflict, it is not that far off base.  

Essentially, it is the labor class of miners and farmers fighting against the high-powered industrialists and bankers.  However, even though much of the conflict is warranted (Morales is a puppet leader, not only to his cabinet, but also to leaders like Hugo Chavez), the very small percentage of “elite” Bolivians that make up the country would not be enough to hold their own against the rest of the base population.  By “elite” I mean non-indigenous, about 20% of the population has spanish ancestry and these are the light-skinned Bolivians, the remaining 80% are indigenous people of Bolivia, part of either Aymaran or Quechuan descent.  Aymaras were the very first “indiginos” to occupy the region over 2000 years ago.  Of course, like every South American country, the Spanish conquest completely squashed any power the indigenous people had.

Currently, Bolivia is an interesting place though, because Evo Morales is the very first indigenous president to be elected to office.  This has reignited a faith in indigenous power to rule, but it also has sparked a great deal of ignorant policy and heavy criticism from political afficianados who believe that Morales was appointed as a distraction for the people.  This is one of the strongest factors for inciting the Civil War in Bolivia.  

Whatever the true deal is here, it seems clear that some progress is being made between Chavez and American relations, so possibly the same could happen if Obama tells Morales a few jokes.  Then, before we know it, America can occupy Bolivia and pacify the impending national war.  Then we can use Bolivian resources how we see fit by handing over the government to the most obedient politician, or I guess that is what we have been doing for quite a while anyways.  We might just be able to come clean with it now that we have such an agreeable foreign-relations savvy leader.

So, don’t let impending Civil War stop you from traveling to this beautiful country, at least they don’t have swine flu there.

Texas—A country?

 

The All Alone Star State

 

 

The southern boy in me wants to believe this.  But, the rational person in me thinks it’s a bunch of hot air and horse shit…pardon my Texan.  Rick Perry, as other governors from Texas have done, has once again opened his mouth and let the right words spill out in the wrong way.  

In the recent Texan anti-tax “Tea Party” that took place in Austin (one of three tea parties planned around the state), Governor Rick Perry riled his audience up with his stance against the federal government and for states’ rights to such a fervor that some audience members shouted “SECEDE!” while waving the good ‘ol U.S. of A. Stars and Stripes flag.  Us Texans sure know how to make a clear point.

After the rally, when asked about the reality of Texas seceding from the union, Rick Perry said, “There’s a lot of different scenarios. We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we’re a pretty independent lot to boot.”  He went on to say that when Texas entered the union in 1845 it was with the understanding it could pull out. However, according to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Texas negotiated the power to divide into four additional states at some point if it wanted to but not the right to secede.

I mean, seriously?  Are we really back at this point(1861? Civil War?)?  I’ve been waiting for a revolution secretly since I’ve been 15 years old, but now that this kind of argument is really being discussed, I can’t help but wonder why over a century and a half of progress can’t further a Southern Solution to big government interference.   More thoughts to come on this topic later, but until then here is a candidate we can mull over for possible election just in case the “up in arms”  trumpet call comes soon:

The ONLY man who could truly lead Texas

The New Cigarette Tax Costs More Than We Think…

When I heard cigarettes went up to nearly $10.00 a pack on April 1, I nearly thought it was an April Fool’s joke.  Much to my surmise it was not.  In a way, yes it is good.  Us smokers (technically) should stop smoking, at least those who have been smoking for less than 20 years.  So the extreme price increase is a good incentive and motivation for that quit.  And, throughout the country there is tangible evidence that shows this tax has been effective in doing just that.  Though this tax will need a little more time to gather hard data on the true effectiveness of these continually rising taxes, it has still been shown that the tax increases already in effect has resulted in a nearly 1/3 decrease in smoking Americans.  And, I don’t mean hot.

You might say,” Yeah, what’s your point?  I like the fact that no one is blowing smoke in my face on the corner anymore.”  But, we need to consider what this huge decrease in smoker’s also results in.

One thing no one is considering in this equation is the children.  Yes, people…I am talking about the S-CHIP program.  This, if you didn’t already know, is the government tax program that takes the extra tobacco taxes as a revenue fund to help provide health and dental insurance to children that need it (or don’t actually need it because there are no income margins in the application process for S-CHIP((aside from the fact that you have to be out of insurance for half a year(((or you kids do)))))).

So, with these new insane tobacco tax increases and the rapidly decreasing amount of Americans buying tobacco products (Which does not account for those Americans who have discovered the loophole of ordering cigarettes from Europe online), all the kids who depend on the S-CHIP program for assistance might be in trouble of losing a good portion of their funding.  

The puzzle that keeps falling apart as I piece it together in my brain is what kind of logic was used in this decision.  Let me explain.  A new health initiative, which has an overall goal to raise funding by $33 Billion over 4 1/2 years, was signed by President Obama soon after he took office.  This major expansion in the children’s healthcare fund is being fueled by the ever-rising tobacco taxes.  The government regulated per-pack tax raised from $0.39 to $1.01.  This is the largest tax increase in the history  of the cigarette market.  Yet, congress has also relayed that this huge tax increase is only the first step in a recharged anti-smoking legislation.  They are also considering the option of allowing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco, which would lead to a reformulated cigarette.  And, don’t go thinking that this is the last time that cigarettes will increase in price due to taxes.  The health care reform that is planned to continue will probably find someway to reach further down into the smoker’s pockets.  So, here are my points of concern:

• Why are they funding an expansion in the children’s health care reform field through a tax that is also intended to be an incentive to quit smoking as well?  It is counter intuitive.  Dr. Timothy Gardner, president of the American Heart Association said the tax increase “is a terrific public health move by the federal government…Every time that the tax on tobacco goes up, the use of cigarettes goes down.” So, you establish a HUGE tax increase to try and get people to stop smoking, then you expect to make an ENORMOUS return on that tax from people who don’t stop?  I guess this is just a blind faith that people will not decrease tobacco usage, but as the last four years of ungodly prices on fuel showed us, high prices can regulate use.
• Also this is a tax mostly aimed at low and middle-class working Americans, as this is the majority of the smoking population.  This is also the same spectrum of the American population that cannot afford to have Health Insurance (not for themselves or their children).  Of course, this in itself might be an incentive to not smoke.  And this is one reason I can see for the enigmatic choices that are being made surrounding this issue.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cigarette smoking results in an estimated 443,000 premature deaths each year, and costs the economy $193 billion in health care expenses and lost time from work.

I don’t have a right answer for this whole situation, but I do have a final thought.  If you are the federal government, and you want to raise the funding for kids who cannot afford healthcare and definitely need it, maybe you should stop funneling money (over $1 Trillion dollars appropriated so far) to big corporations who aren’t even using it.

Are we becoming the machines?

This is an add on to the last post about Twitter in some ways, and not in others.  The real answer I am digging for with this post is to this question:  How are we allowing technology to shape us?  And what implications does this have on our society in relation to technological innovation, and the path that technological innovation will take?

To find this answer I would first consider what inherently drives or creates the need for technological innovation.  One obvious thing is the market’s demand for it.  This demand drives producer’s to continually innovate their hardware or software in accordance to what consumer’s feel the product’s are lacking (in terms of features or capability), or what the producer’s themselves believe is needed to make their product better.  The progression of cell phones in our society is a perfect example of this kind of drive.  People need mobile communication capability.  Then that’s not enough. They need mobile communication capability via text.  Then that’s not enough.  They need mobile email communication capability. THEN that’s not enough.  They need full internet browser capability along with all the other features of the preceding cell phones, not to mention that the phone has to look really cool while they do all this.

But, don’t get the wrong idea, I am not pointing the shame finger at society for this envelopment in a consumer-driven market, I’d like a cell phone with laptop capabilities too.  This brings me to the real undercurrent that drives all the technological innovation, the desire for immediacy.  People want things done as fast as they can possibly be done.  This is better achieved as technology allows us to save more and more time between us having the idea and making it a reality.  This immediacy opens up a world of new possibilities every day.  But, we can’t fool ourselves and believe that these possibilities don’t come at a price.

In my last blog about Twitter I mentioned a similar concern, and I think we’ve all heard, contemplated, and discussed the idea that as technology progresses, especially in the case of communicative technology, that it increases human isolation and drives our society apart, damaging our inherent ability to truly and intimately connect to each other as human beings.  Though this is a debatable idea, it does have some merit.  How many times have you needed to tell someone something that wasn’t exactly the most comfortable conversation topic, and so you opted to text the person this thing instead?  We have all done it, because technology allows us to.  It’s not bad, we just need to remain aware of how we are allowing technology to shape our own societal rules and practices.  And, what how our own rules and practices, in turn, shape and teach technology.  That’s right…teach.

One very interesting take on this subject is this video article/argument made by Mike Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at the Kansas State University:

 

Of course, I don’t think this discussion is limited to the academic world, I think this is an ongoing dialogue that should be discussed and considered in all facets of our lives.  Socrates said “The unexamined life is not worth living.”  He wasn’t referring to technology’s effects in our lives, but nonetheless this statement is incredibly relative to our current relationship with technology.  We allow these innovations to come like the wind and sweep by us as we grab at each new technology, without considering what kind of dependancy we are creating for ourselves, and how we are affecting our relationships with each other as a direct result of our relationship with technology.  In closing, I’d also like to show that this concern is not my own, and is not just of the academic world, but also has already made its way into the mainstream world of entertainment:

Daft Punk’s Technologica, released March 2005:

 

P.S.  It’s really creepy if you play the Daft Punk song over the muted Wesch video, for all you people with too much time on your hands or who are easily entertained.

The Life of Theatre at St. Edward’s

I will begin by saying this post is both a real concern I have for SEU, that I have devoted my past four years trying to address, and a bit of a shameless self-plug.  

The interest and participation in Theatre-going on campus is horrendously low.  It was when I first arrived at St. Edward’s, and it remains to be that way.  We are a liberal arts college, and roughly half the people on campus have either never been in the theatre (and don’t know what to make of that nipple shaped building up the hill from East) or they have been once because they were forced to go by their Freshman Studies class.  Seriously.  I actually have had someone say to me, “Oh, that’s a theatre?  I always wondered what they used that building for.” …ugh…I mean, come on, there is a sign in front of the friggin building for God’s sake that reads: MARY MOODY NORTHEN THEATRE

I know that being a university student doesn’t always mean that you are completely literate, but that sign makes it pretty obvious.  Of course, simple recognition that the theatre exists is not a solution to the problem I am concerned with.  Their has been a significant and steady decline of Theatre-going participation throughout the world over the past half century, and it is detrimental not only to the art form itself, but also to the society at large.  Sure it may be cheaper to go see the new Ron Howard or Spielberg flick, rather than catch a Chekhov, Shakespeare, Miller, Shephard, Mamet, or (if it at least gets you to theatre) a Neil Simon play, but when you go to the theatre your experience is immediate, you get to see actors experience a story right in front of you and in that way you are truly also apart of the story too.  In what other art form can you get that kind of gratification???  I mean we even have musicals for those of you who do not want to be bothered with any sort of intellectual comment on society, life, the human condition, and so on…Though those musicals do that as well but in a much more subtle fashion.

The theatre is a place where social ideas can be discussed through storytelling, film can’t really do this in the same way (And if they do, we usually hear very little about them).  Oscar Wilde had this to say about theatre: “I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.”

And, isn’t that the goal truly of all art?  To express a human experience to other humans so that the artist might effect that audience’s experience and therefore shape the audience’s life in a certain way.  No matter if it’s a play, painting, or a book, this is usually the goal.  

More importantly to my point here, isn’t that part of our goal as students here at St. Edward’s? To “Learn to Think”?  Yet, what thinking can we do if we do not participate in artistic mediums, which create public forums for social issues and concerns to be discussed and thought about?  This is an extreme argument, but the arts exist for a reason, and if your excuse for not liking theatre is because every play you’ve seen has sucked, well then you probably are just right for participation in theatre.  It is built for innovators of the art, that is why it exists, to be affected and shaped by it’s participants.  So participate.

This is where my shameless plug comes in:

I have been Assistant Directing the current production at Mary Mood Northen Theatre, and the play opens TODAY!!!

The play is a musical entitled “The Pajama Game”, and here is the skinny:

 

By Adler and Ross

 

 

The employees of the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory are demanding a 7 ½ cent raise. When management meets the union head, the sparks fly. A two-time Tony Award winner, this bright and brassy show features some of Adler and Ross’ most popular songs, including “Hernando’s Hideaway,” “Hey There” and the Bob Fosse choreographed “Steam Heat.”

 

Everyone who is a part of this production has worked very hard to make it a stellar performance, so let their work pay off and come see the show.  

When?

April 16-26 | Thursdays-Saturdays @ 7:30 p.m. | Sundays @ 2 p.m. | One Wednesdays show next week @ 7:30 p.m.

Where?

The nipple shaped building called MARY MOODY NORTHEN THEATRE

How Much?

Advance sales: $15 Reserved ($12 students/seniors/SEU community)
At the door: $18

Box Office Number: 512-448-8484

Call them also to find out when student half-off night is taking place.

THIS IS ONLY GOING ON FOR TWO WEEKS SO MAKE SURE TO COME OUT AND REIGNITE THE PASSION FOR THEATRE THAT OUR SOCIETY IS MISSING!!!!

Austin wonders do we need Twitter? Apparently, the answer is Yes.

Just so you are aware that title could technically be a tweet.  Which if you are unaware of the phenomenon that is Twitter, a tweet is a mini-blog posted on this free social networking site for people who like to report every minute of their activities every day.  Of course, it’s not just a place for Joe to let Fred know where he is going for coffee, this tool has the capacity to share business advice, philosophize, and even possibly save lives.  Many people view it as an SMS service for the internet, like texting but online…so kind of like Instant Messaging chat, no?  The creators of Tweeter would argue with this I’m sure.

This program, begun by Biz Stone and Evan Williams, since it’s inception in 2006 has already gained international usage and popularity in over 170 countries.  That’s saying something for a small  private startup website located in San Francisco that started as a side project for the two creators.  Being under 40 and having a Multi-million dollar business on your hands (not all that money is in the creator’s pockets, nonetheless…) is not exactly a new thing, but when you put into perspective the simple idea that is behind this monster it is quite an accomplishment.

But, back to my original Tweet title.  In a recent interview on The Colbert Report, creator Biz Stone had this to say in response to my question, “It’s really the messaging service we didn’t know we needed until we had it.”  The implications of this kind of statement are subject to ample ridicule, but what if we cut out all of the criticism and doubt about this new phenomenon and really just looked at a few really outstanding things Twitter has done for the world?  And what if I did it in Tweet format?  Rhetorical questions obviously, because here they are:

Twitter helped UCB Grad Student James Buck get out of Egyptian Jail

Twitter beats media & gov’t @ giving info 4 emergencies like VAtech shootings & CA wildfires

Twitter used by AmerRedCross 4 updates on disasters like fires

Twitter helps aid in response 2 Mumbai attacks

Twitter beats media 2 downed US Airways Flight 1549. Media Not  

And this is just to name a few things Twitter does right in the world.  Of course, once a new technological tool does gain social acceptance, especially in this day and age, it is just in time to see that utility be passed up by a more advanced and newer technology.  But how much more advanced can we get with Twitter?  Here is one idea:

 

Whatever direction we do move in with this new social networking phenomenon, one thing is for certain, it doesn’t matter if the need was there for the Twitter or not, it’s there now.  This means we have to rethink and try and analyze how this communication tool helps and hurts us as social creatures.  Once we figure that out, we harness the things that help and move forward with those.

My Concept of Time

 

Yes, it's a Dali

 

 

The sun rising and setting is but an activity for me to watch.  What determines a day in my world is when I sleep, and when I wake up again.  I still can recognize the formulated structure which we measure time by in today’s society, but midnight for me is not the turning point to a new day.  However, keeping with the schedule, I thought I would include this post before the midnight hour bells toll.  A follow-up post with more “depth” (take that as you will) will follow this one.  Until then—if you’ve read this—Namaste.

Seriously Now? The Global Economic Crisis was not what “Tarnished” America

The face of a confused man:

Forgive him for the misinformation

First, Read the Article:

The New York Times Op-Ed : America the Tarnished by Paul Krugman

Second, Read this:

For those of us who have dwelled in caves for the past eight to ten years, the current economic crisis the ENTIRE world is facing would be the thing that “tarnished” America’s reputation as the model of a successful country. BUT, some of us have put flint rock and cave paint behind us.

However, Paul Krugman has just emerged from his stony dwelling to conclude that:

“The financial crisis has had many costs. And one of those costs is the damage to America’s reputation, an asset we’ve lost just when we, and the world, need it most.”

Krugman must have not been around for the entire Bush Jr. presidency, which was a major cause of the depletion of all international trust and investment in anything having to do with the U.S.A. He must have also missed these past eight years when the warnings for any Americans traveling abroad were at an all time high risk level, even in daunting places like Canada.

However, America has plowed through many rough times by continuing to blindly believe that we were the country leading the way in every form of progress including government, economy, military, technology, and so forth. Even though the constitution has been working about as well as a rickety wagon for the past fifty years.

Don’t get me wrong. I am proud to live in this country, however flawed it might be. I am just shocked and surprised that a featured op-ed writer in the New York Times would have the notion to say that our reputation as an economic leader has just now been downtrodden by the reveal of fraudulence in every facet of our corporate-sponsored government.

We are far beyond having a damaged reputation. Before the economic fallout began to occur, we were just in the first stages of piecing together an international reputation that somewhat resembled the dead sea scrolls: tattered, enigmatic, and desperately in need of repair. This is not to say that we are not still trying to do this. As a country we have reignited a faith in our original form of government where power was found in the people. We set a historic record for the largest voter turnout in our country’s history, and though those numbers might be skewed to some degree, this is still an achievement we can all be proud of.

My main point is not to slam America. America’s reputation has, is, and will be “tarnished” for some time. We are all making the effort to reverse this damage, but to think that the economic crisis and appalling financial scandals that have surfaced as a result were the main cause of this sword through the heart of America’s ego would be a fatal mistake. A much greater amount of mistakes have been made that need correcting beyond greedy corporate cronies that crap on America’s once good name (when it was a good name, I’m not completely sure). However, as Krugman quoted Obama saying :

“All of us are going to have to take steps in order to lift the economy. We don’t want a situation in which some countries are making extraordinary efforts and other countries aren’t.”

And, Obama is right. Not only on the economic point, but for all political and social relations to improve the involvement and efforts toward a better world are needed by every country.

I also don’t actually think Krugman has lived in a cave (recently that is, who knows about his past…kidding). He was just a confused man that serves as a model for an American mindset that continues to damage America: Every time we have a new global crisis in which we look bad, we transplant the blame of our horrendous national image onto that event and put all the other mistakes somewhere on the back burner.

However, Krugman did not have all bad things to say. He did encourage other leading capitalist countries to do more in this time of need (however, he cited America’s efforts as an example for how those countries are lacking, a bit of a contradiction, but it’s excused).

The fact remains that today no matter how we compare and contrast our hard times to past economic depressions or increased periods of conflict, we need to focus on the one thing that got the past generations through those rough spots: Each other. We all have a responsibility to contribute in repairing not only our tattered country, but an entire world that has been torn apart in the name of greed and immoral profiteering.

It’s not America that has been shown to be the fraud, it is the people we, as citizens, have allowed to run our country. We all got voting poll fever so that we could have a real say in the direction the country would go, but that does not mean we should discontinue our efforts and relax by any means. Sure, for those of us who wanted him, and it was a vast majority, we won the battle of getting Obama into the White House, but one man alone doesn’t fix a country. I’m not saying I have the solution, I am just advocating for people to not forget what we turned out to vote for: to regain a democracy where the power resides with the people. Let’s keep that victory and push forward.