Look to Windward Substantive

I found similar things interesting as Jen. I'd like to add to the downloading memories a bit, call me obsessive, but Data from TNG downloaded all the diary entries from the colony he was in before it was destroyed. We kind of have a similar thing going on if things like Live Journal and other websites continue. Although it isn't at the point of downloading people's memories, yet. There is technology to move things with implants in your head on a computer screen, so maybe that is the next step. Although hopefully it won't be like the Borg hive mind with all the different voices. Good ol' white noise.

We have the Borg and the Culture, I wonder what's next?

Oh Great...

Mel and I stopped at Fantom Comics today and this is what we found at the cash register:




I think this comic book could possibly be worse than a movie.

I need a life

I just wanted to share with the rest of the class that don't live in Hughes Hall what I've been up to.
It is cutoff in this picture, but under the RD tag it says "Burninator: TROGDOR!!" After a week, we changed it to say "Resident Dragon: TROGDOR!!"

This is what my boss asked for, and he fell in love with the fireball, as well as the rest of the building.




I did this for the preview days with Clawed. Then someone erased Mario, so I drew 4 Yoshis.

And yes, I know I need a life and I'm a Geek. But this is my release since I'm on the all female floor.

4/22 Reflective

Just as Rinske mentioned in class, I feel that Sofia is responsible for the Runa uprising. Although, maybe it isn't really Sofia to blame, but humanity. Take your pick from the previous social science books we have read throughout the semester, and possibly dig up some Hobbs and Locke. One thing that humanity can't stand is "injustice." Sofia struggles with the Runa when she is
trying to explain why they should rise up by mentioning what they have on their side, but there isn't a word for "justice" in the Runa language. I think it would have eventually occurred, with the intervention of humans, and Sofia was just there at the right time, with a strong sense of justice.

Right now it mainly looks like this course, and readings, have posed the same question time and again, who are we to judge?

And remember, there may be a day in the future when the chickens rise up.

Children of God Substantive

I had hoped there would be a big shocker like Professor Jackson had alluded to in class. I actually wasn't all that impressed, and felt the book had a more uplifting ending than the first. Granted, Sandoz had good things in life and then is sent back to Rakhat. But I kind of had the idea that would happen from the beginning.

I enjoyed how the book skipped back and forth between the three sides. Call me scatter-brained but by the time I was bored with one chapter about Sandoz the next normally had nothing to do with him.

Maybe this has to do with just my twisted logic or something, but I actually started to feel bad for Supaari.

I guess in the end I'm like Jen and Tim in that I don't really know what to say about the book.

Reflective 4/15

I feel the idea that we are all aliens, even to our own country, was overlooked. Maybe I'm saying this because that statement is more evident in my case than the rest of the class. First off, I'm blessed to have lived at AU for a whopping 3 years (well three years in Fall 2008). That might not be calls for celebration for the rest of you, but for me it is. I'm not trying to sound like I broken record, but I'm lucky to be in one location for 2 years. Yes, I am an American citizen, but I find myself an outsider everywhere I go, even at AU. I've lived in Europe for 6 1/2 years and the rest has been stateside. I don't have a "home," the closest thing for me is my grandparents' farm where we spend 1 or 2 months visiting every summer. I don't have a home state, I had to think long and hard to figure out where I register to vote. For those who don't understand why: I was born in Las Vegas (valid reason to register there), until Spring Break my driver's license was from Utah where I also graduated high school (another valid reason), and my permanent Address is in Virginia (yet again another valid reason). In the end I picked Virginia, mainly because I changed my license over the Break. I apologize for not saying this in class, but I felt I wouldn't add to the conversation. This is something that is very close to my heart, mainly because I have yet to feel like I "fit in" on my floor, in my classes, and with my peers. Even the old saying of "home is where the heart is" is hard for me. I have yet to discover where my heart is. Is it in Germany, Italy, or the US? Virginia, Kansas, Nevada, or Utah? I hope I can find an answer, and maybe I'll be happier if/when I get this answered. There are times that I despise my upbringing, but I have witnessed so much that many people only dream of. I have been exposed to cultures and countries outside of my comfort zone. At the same time my thoughts will sometimes wander to my Dad, asking myself if he is alright, if he misses me. Call me over dramatic, maybe I'm not this worked up for my Dad's current assignment, but he has served in conflict zones before in more danger than he is now. I envy everyone else, having a home they can go to, friends they can go back to, having a familiar place they can go to. That is the downside of my experiences, I can go home; but Alexandria is not my home. I will always have a loving family to go to, but nothing else in Alexandria. No friends to see, no place to just go to.

I don't expect anyone to try and understand me. I feel I can offer a different side than most people have seen, I've just learned to be the quiet kid in the back of the classroom. I don't care if you think I'm crazy or if this has been meaningless, I just wanted to get it out there.

What happened on Columbus' and Cortez's missions are sad. Conquering/exterminating another race is not "moral" but at the same time progress was made. Life is just a double-edged sword, both sides will get hurt. I would do just as Scott said, I'd rather be Columbus because ignorance is bliss. I'd rather do something I felt was right instead of doing something I knew was wrong. Wait a minute, I did the Columbus thing (doing what I feel is right) with the AUCC. I'm even hated for it, but one person can only do so much. Like the saying goes, "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink."

Are we all aliens in America? Aren't the only true "Americans" the descendants of the Native American tribes?

Greed is Good :)

Just like the speech from the movie Wall Street, "Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind."

But maybe it doesn't always mark the "upward surge of mankind." Todorov paints a different picture of Columbus than most Americans, or myself, learn about. Basic history classes just go over how Columbus sailed to the New World, and that's it. Not that his main motivation was gold, like Todorov proves through journal entries from the man himself.

Another great line from the same movie is "Greed captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit." Columbus' expedition definitely benefited Europe, but what about the Native Americans? They didn't really go upward, they went down very violently, with the affects still manifesting to this day.

I found this a very interesting read. It most likely has to do with me being a history nut, but Todorov brings up ideas, and facts that challenge the popularly accept "history" about Columbus.

Columbus' mission was to find a route to Asia from the West, and Todorov points out how Columbus negated any argument, mainly by the natives, that challenges this. Renaming everything when it already has a name by the locals will just make things a bit worse. For those in the class that study foreign languages, you probably understand this. Most of you might think that Munich and Muechen are practically the same thing, and just because the Germans will know what city you are talking about when you say Munich doesn't mean that it is the proper name to use.

I thought Jen did a really good job pointing out somethings between Todorov and The Sparrow.

Reflective 4/8

Drake Equation for all those who want to see it.

I stand by my "monospecieism" being the reason that the mission failed. As we discussed in class, even the The Time Machine it is acknowledged that there are two species. Perhaps we have a leaning towards the first find? I've moved over 10 times in my life, and each time I was in a similar situation. I didn't want to do anything wrong in the "alien" planet I was on. And when someone would extend a hand or acknowledge my existence, I would stay close to them until I had established myself in the new area. Similar to what the expedition did. And in both cases, the first was "boring" and the other, physically, screams "danger" to humans. When was the last time you snuggled up with your stuffed Aye-Aye? Probably never, we tend to lean towards teddy bears, or in my case F-16s.

In the end, hindsight is 20/20. When was the last time you did something perfectly, and when you look back there is nothing you could have done better/differently? To be honest, I would take the route the military has been making since the dawn of UAVs, send them in first so there is no loss of life. How were they suppose to know the air was not toxic? Just like I said in class, just because a planet/asteroid has life, doesn't mean the environment is safe for humans.

The Sparrow

I'm not real sure what to write, as Tim and Scott kind of covered what I was thinking. I might even be saying this as I just rewatched the anime Trinity Blood that has similar themes, except no alien species. Just good old Vatican against the "vampires," who are actually the descendants of a failed mission to Mars where they caught a local virus that made them drink human blood when they came back to the Earth. Feel free to wikipedia the anime, or I'll gladly let people borrow it or read some of the manga.

Just like Tim mentioned, I don't really understand why missionaries try to help people/species that don't want to be helped. Maybe I've just become fed up with Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses knocking on my door. You'd think after having a conversation with the Mormons, who apparently graduated from the same high school, telling them how we lived in Utah and are not interested that they would stop coming to my house. I feel that is kind of the same with the mission to Rakhat. The alien species was more concerned about everything but spirituality.

Reflective 4/1

I'll play devil's advocate again. How cares if Schmitt became a Nazi. Hell, my landlords in Germany were Nazis because they were young kids and all kids had to be in the Hitler Jungen. Time's change, and oh by the way, the Germans were looking for someone to blame about WWI and Hitler gave them that.

Ok, now that my rant is over I can continue. I really don't know what to write this time because I'm beginning to feel this class is rehashing the same topics class after class. That's the main reason I don't say alot in class, I know I've said what I've said a few times and the point of a discussion is for new ideas to come out. I'd rather be quiet and not talk instead of rehashing the same points everyday, it kind of makes the class a bit boring.

Schmitt still makes a pretty powerful point that everything can be seen as part of the political. The EU and Microsoft is a good example. The EU is consistently pursuing the suits against Microsoft in order to make an example out of Microsoft. The EU doesn't care that if Microsoft releases its source code to the public then hackers can get into your computer no problem. That's the main reason Linux isn't a popular Operating System, because its an open source OS (in other words you can google the source code and see the actual code that makes up the OS).

The Concept of the Political

Just like I said back with Weber, I feel like I've heard everything here before. Granted, I took Modernist Explosion here where the entire course looks at the Wiemar Republik, and I'm taking German as a language. Germany after WWI wanted to figure out why they lost, they were the best professionally trained army in the world and they lost without the fight ever being on German soil. Everyone who was anyone came up with theories, some more popular than others - see Nazis. I found it quite funny that Schmitt decided to piratically make everything an "antithesis of political."

And I totally agree with Schmitt saying that confusion arises from the concepts of Justice and Freedom being used to legitimize political ambitions or demoralize the enemy. These concepts are loosely defined, one man's justice and freedom might not be another's. Just look at Shari'a law, that's justice and freedom for some Muslim countries, but to the West it is repression. You can even look at authoritarian states if you want to stay away from religious issues, North Korea doesn't have its laws revolved around the tenets of a religion, unless Kim-Jon-Il-ism counts.

And to be the "devil's advocate" here for some of the numerous discussions we've had on morality and the like. Its all our faults for not taking the time to truly understand our "enemies"
and "allies." Everyone has blame, but one side or factor will make a choice and live with it. Hindsight is 20/20 after all, and I'm sure everyone has regrets about mistakes they've made with people, or the lack of understand of the "enemy."

Little Alien Humor

I thought this would be appropriate after the movie :) Courtesy of vgcats.com

Reflections on Class Discussion 3/18

I feel that the quote from Mazer on 270 is really important. It has application to modern day, look at Pearl Harbor and 9/11. The US was attacked, people died, and the US declared war to seek vengeance. We didn't kill all the Japanese, but we took it to the next level with atomic weapons. This can all go back to the gold rule, "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth." Even when we try the diplomatic route on earth between people, that hardly ever works. I doubt if the buggers and humans had the ability to communicate at all that it would change everything. After all, we are very egocentric and I just don't think the governments of the earth would agree to allow a race to exist with better technology than us for long. The buggers did in fact fire the first shot from the information the bugger queen gives to Ender. Just like Pearl Harbor and 9/11 we attacked the group that made the first shot.

Maybe the buggers never deliberately attacked a civilian area, but humans have in the past to their own. Does that make us a lesser species?

Ender's Game and Shadow of the Hegemon

Since I read one of the sequels to Ender's Game I can't help but draw some things from both. First off, I wasn't surprised when I found out Mrs. Wiggins "was" Mormon. From the conversation she has with Bean in Shadow of the Hegemon, it made sense as to why having more than two children was important. After all, it takes 4 kids to get an ancestor out of hell.

I also wasn't that surprised that the "games" were real. I actually expected it before I even picked up the book when Professor Jackson mentioned that there would be a big shocker in the story. Maybe I'm just jaded from my military upbringing, that in war everything is possible. I haven't seen the tactics used in the novel in real life, but we do have simulations like Red Flag in Nevada that are pretty darn real. As my Dad has told me combat is the best training possible. Both really interested me. I loved the tactics and strategy I could easily see in Shadow, as it was countries fighting each other not humans vs buggers.

The whole Battle School concept isn't that far off to me. We have military academies at West Point, Annapolis, and the Air Force Academy in Colorado. There are War Colleges in Kansas and Virginia, for example, where military officers from the US and abroad come to study tactics and battle strategies. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen my Dad writing papers on past conflicts, some as currently as the Kosovo Campaign of 1998. We even have auxiliaries of all the branches for young kids to get involved with. Taking kids at 6 is extreme, but you can join one of the auxiliaries when you're 10.

V for Vendetta

I'm doing both my posts at once so please bear with me.

I found V for Vendetta quite good, and better than the movie like the Professor mentioned. I enjoyed the part where V blew up the Justice statue as well. Just like Philip pointed out, I don’t feel the graphic novel is about anarchy. It was more chaos than anything else to me. I might be bias when I say I like the graphic novel format better. There are just some little details you can’t get with a normal novel that you get in V for Vendetta. I found it quite easy to follow along from the numerous manga I have read before.

On a random note, I was so thinking about Captain Planet when I noticed that V’s epiphany was true fire, Evey’s through water and Mr. Finch through LSD (let’s just call that “heart”).

I can’t remember what page it was one but I remember Mr. Finch saying that the Leader did not heal the wounds from the war. After the Leader was dead, the country went to chaos. Sounds like the Balkans to me. Tito was a fierce dictator and kept everyone in line until he died. Now look at all the wars in the Balkans.

Now for my reflection, It seems the question of why V gets to do as he pleases is a common thread amongst all the reflective posts. I think he is allowed because the citizens were upset with their current situation and were powerless to do anything. Then V came along, blowing up buildings, giving them 3 days of no government surveillance, and giving them a choice of what to do. I had to sit in a chair watching the wall for 2 hours during a polygraph test today and it sure felt better getting out than when I was answering questions. When the interviewer asked me the questions without the equipment attached I was fine, but once everything was hooked up I was a bit scared. Perhaps the citizens felt the same.

I think the bottom line is you see what you want to see in the story. In my book V is neither a good guy nor a bad guy.

What really strikes this as a power graphic novel in my mind, is the idea of this fascist state is not far out there. It happened before in Nazi Germany, whats to say it won't happen again?

Reflections on Class Discussion 2/26

Back to my Star Trek reference. After further review, the main reason Data was ruled a "sentient" being was because of his ability to self-program. Picard also brought up the idea of creating thousands of copies for labor was exactly the same as slave labor. Beings threated as property... sounds right. Piercy avoids this debate all together, there is no discussion with any of this. Yet, like mentioned in class nothing of this nature is aroused by the existence of Gimel. I see parallels to this with today's society. Gimel is piratically the same as an autistic person. Do we threat autism as a trait that makes someone sub-human? Not legally, but there are people in society that believe this. Personally, I think this is wrong and reinforces my disdain for society today.

In another sense, Yod is similar to someone in a vegetative coma. Not mentally, but psychically. Yod needs someone to repair his mechanic parts, similar to the machines being kept on a person in a coma. But his mind is just like any human, but greater. I know the two are different, but conceptually they are similar, the person in a coma relies on the machines to live while Yod himself is a machine.

I'll also bring up the human form as a major player as to the "is Yod human" debate. The house is not seen as a human. Perhaps what should be discussed is the sentience of Yod, Gimel and robots. Can something non organic be sentient? Sounds like a Star Trek episode to me. What is this social construct of sentience? You can debate that animals are sentient beings because they are somewhat self-aware.

I again will repeat that I hate the characters, and I dislike current society being just as, if not more, revolved around sex as the book.

Tasha and Data or He, She and It?

While reading He, She and It I immediately thought of Tasha and Data from Star Trek: TNG. Shira and Yod and Tasha and Data had similar relationships. Yod is just like Data in the aspect of wanting to become human and being an artificially created. Yod eventually "dies" making him more human depending on your train of thought.

I can't help but sympathize with Shira. She remains me of someone I know, personality and relationship wise. Gadi himself seems to be reflective of the social construct of men today. The emphasis on sex, be it man or machine, has made me understand that men are pigs. It irritates me as a woman for there to be heavy emphasis on sex in the novel and in society today.

I also thought it was interesting that when I was talking to Scott about at Gamers' Club this past week about the book. He told me he related more to the novel from the perspective of the golem and not the characters. I found the parts focused on the golem rather confusing and dry. Perhaps you're sex/outlook on life influences the way the book is interpreted more so than the other books we have read thus far.

Also, I don't feel like Yod is a cyborg in the classically defined way. Yes he has biological parts, but when I hear cyborg I immediately think of the Borg in Star Trek. Starting from organic components then added mechanical attachments.

Now, if we only had our own version of the Wired.

Trapped in the Elevator

No joke, I was actually stuck in an elevator tonight while I was the RA on duty. I then thought, that maybe Paul from Dune was in a similar situation. In a sense he was trapped in the destiny of the jihad. Granted, Public Safety came to my rescue 45 minutes later, but no one was there to open the doors for Paul to be set free. Lady Jessica is like the bump in the elevator that you instinctively know is not right. I think it would have been more interesting for Dune to have the jihad not occur, if I never got out of the elevator the 7th floor of Hughes would never had the wonderful show of 2 RDs, 2 RAs, and 2 Public Safety Officers come to the rescue of the RA on duty. But then again, the elevator is like the jihad in that no matter what I tried to do from the inside I couldn't get the doors to open. Apparently the backup power generator was broken along with the emergency release handle to open the doors from the inside. I also forgot to mention that there wasn't an escape door, which I think it's illegal but whatever. I guess the point that I'm trying to get here is that Paul doesn't necessarily have the full responsibility for the jihad occurring. It wasn't my fault that the elevator stopped working, or is it? The only way to get out/avoid the jihad is to get outside help, which Paul didn't have. The outside help he thought would help just ended up making the jihad occur against his wishes.

Reflections on Class Discussion 2/19

Here is the lovely chart Kaitlin did for use in class typed up, regarding if Paul is the Messiah:
Pro

• Existing things are being fulfilled
• Messiahs can be compatible with intention to fulfill
• pg 477 "that person has been produced"
• Fremen acknowledge him as "the" messiah
• triggered a religious crusade, or better yet, the occasion for it
• killed in the name of good
• depends on the culture + social norms
• the messiah defines the cultural norm -> Paul changes traditions
• controls power and is followable - people need this
• not die, maintain peak
• "the" Founding Father - GW
• Lost Weber: Messiah as a Vocation
• Claim -> Acknowledgment -> Followers -> Makes stuff possible

Con

• Admitted he's just a seed -> pg 199
• He knew the role and used it to manipulate religion
• could be "a" but not "the" messiah
• could we have a "bad" messiah
• Paul has killed
• He will eventually die, messiahs come back
• if you die, you're a martyr

Here are things from the Weber discussion that I picked up:

• Weber might have wanted to destroy all sense of idealism/pragmatism
• This is how it is, for better or worse
• Use the necessary means
• Karl Rove is a good example of what Weber was getting to
• Bashing idealist view, not condoning real politik
• Ethics of conviction are dangerous
• Worse thing to do is do something and then have retaliation
• Theory is not practice, practice is not theory
  

As for my reflections on the class, I felt stronger about the idea that the book was written from the standpoint that Paul is the messiah. Dune leaves much out about who Paul is, other than the messiah everyone has been waiting for. Just like the saying history goes to the victor. Other than that I don't feel like anything else needs to be added.

Weber Substantive

First off, I will say it was a bit ironic that I started reading it after doing my German homework. Seeing how there are little tidbits about the definition of politik, Beruf, and rufen. But that just might be me enjoying what little use I get out of my German language skills. My German professor had a good laugh when I showed her those translation notes.

I didn't find much that I thought was shocking/new. I felt Weber rehashed topics and ideas that are already out there. I took Modernist Explosion last Spring, in which one of the readings was by Weber's wife Marianne, and I was exposed to the thoughts/movements in Germany from 1900-1935. That is most likely the reason I was left unimpressed, and felt that I had heard this before. Granted, I can understand Weber's background, he died right after the Weimar Republic was founded and missed all the lovely movements and chaos that ensued.