Have established domain name:
We shall see how things go; the domain is mine, as I’ve paid for it, and am currently using Google Sites to maintain the site until I get through college apps and invest in a dedicated server, at which point in time I shall revamp the site via HTML.
See you there.
It’s been a fun three years, but we must move on.
Let’s see how things go from here.
This is Minke, signing off from Xanga.
fin
Palin decided to pay a visit to the college here today, and I, for some reason best known to others, decided to go and see her. I just wanted to see if Palin’s really as bad as the media says she is, after all, nothing more.
The line to go into the rally was so freaking long – my peers and I arrived about an hour and a half before the doors opened, and we were about half a mile back from the entrance. So cold and windy; had trouble walking in a straight line, and as we were stuck near the edge of a building, the backdraft wind was actually worse than the wind itself.
There were a lot of people going around selling pins and buttons and shirts to the public, taking advantage of the time to market like crazy these overpriced souvenirs, especially as it seemed a disapportionate ratio of people supported Palin over McCain (there were many, many shirts that put Palin over McCain, and many other shirts specifically stating they liked Palin, and where McCain wasn’t even mentioned).
By 3:20 (over an hour after we arrived), we still weren’t in the building, and the only sign of progress we had made was a volunteer going around collecting ticket stubs that asked us to sign our names and addresses. When questioned, he said that we had to give him at least that info, as if we didn’t, “they won’t let you in.” The only thing was, he collected these stubs in a plastic bag – something that would seem too low-tech to keep track of our answers. The only reason I could see for such info was to mail us stuff, which I wasn’t looking forward to.
There was a decent-sized crowd of Obama supporters near the entrance to the rally, who held up many of those lawn signs and other posters and being generally peaceful. There was a guy with an Obama mask there as well, talking to “his” supporters. My peers and I figured that we could just go talk to the demonstrators and whatnot, and take a couple of pictures with them, considering they seemed pretty friendly and whatnot.
So we did.
See, up to this point, the McCain/Palin supporters around us were generally receptive of us, and were friendly enough, asking us about the town and the university and such. I thought they were very nice and amiable.
However, after we went to the Obama people (across the street, leaving one person behind to save our spot), they adopted a distinct cold demeanor, refusing to talk to us, and butting ahead of us in line. I overheard this one woman saying to another that they were allowed to butt, as our group had stepped out of line, and to the Obama supporters (regardless of the person we had left back in line to guard specifically against such an argument).
Furthermore, there was this one woman, who, as I went back to the line for the rally, asked me in a sardonic tone “You do know this is a rally for Palin, right?” Another woman asked me as I was about to enter the stadium, “You’re for Obama, yes?”
I replied we were there as high school students to get both sides of the story, as we were curious about politics. She, along with her friends behind her, sneered at us, as if to indicate their disdain; the sarcasm was palpable as she said, “Sure…”
Inside the place where the rally was held, we immediately noticed the lack of racial diversity; a quick headcount left us with three blacks, one Asian, and one American Indian, excluding our group (add another Asian and Indian for us). But, the point was, the group present at the rally was almost entirely made of middle aged white people, occasionally with their six or seven year old kid. There were, of course, our classmates, but for the most part, the teenage population was unseen at the rally.
So, after playing country music for an hour or so during which time Palin should have came on stage, the VP candidate finally entered the gym at 5:30, over an hour behind the schedule of 4:15. After perfunctory introductions, Palin immediately started to attack Obama, listing the faults of wealth redistribution and overseas security.
Her exact quote on Obama’s economic policy: “He says it’s your job to earn the wealth!”
Really now.
After this round of anti-Obama rhetoric, Palin moved to the changes that McCain and herself would bring to the government. Here is my list:
– clean up corruption
– pay for college
– lower income taxes (as long as you’re a business)
– “You should not be working for your government, your government should be working for you.” (John Kennedy, eat your heart out.)
– balance the budget at the end of the first term in office
– isn’t afraid to talk about wars and the word “victory” applied to such a war in a sense not immediately proceeding “no”
– “…won’t wave white flag of surrender to terrorists…”
– won’t cut off supply to troops
– seek alternative sources of energy
– “Drill here, drill now.”
– attention to children with special needs
– family first
– reform government
I just feel that, though the Palin rhetoric was passable, the actual substance was missing from the speech. This is in stark contrast to that Obama ad that, in two mintues, outlined Obama’s entire economic plan (found here).
So, overall, I felt that the speech was seriously lacking in evidence and specifics, but was decent, if not slightly above average in speaking skills.
This together would not, however, lead to such a memorable night, if not for what happened after the rally ended.
My peers had snuck in some Obama signs into the rally, with the intention of unveiling them during the middle of the rally; however, they decided that would be too disruptive, and instead, waited until Palin was done with her speech, and exiting, to show the posters.
As soon as they held up the signs, however, a woman behind us, around 45 – 50, took the arms of one of my peers, and bodily dragged her down to reach the sign so that my peer was on the verge of falling down, when my other peer came to her rescue and saved her.
After this, the woman went for another sign; however, the person holding this one was too tall, and the woman ended up smacking him a couple of times in the face.
All this time, I was kneeling on the floor behind my peers trying to get a picture of the signs; I regret not being able to record the incident, and all that I have are a couple of blurry pictures that resulted from the wild motions my peers had made in attempts to escape the seizing hand.
This general unpleasantness escalated when the woman’s husband came up from behind me to my right, and started heckling my peers and myself, in a crude impression of what we were doing (me with my camera, and my peers’ annoyance). I must have looked at him in the wrong light, for after he looked at me, he started heckling me directly.
Pointing at my hair, he jeered, “What the fuck are you?”
I replied, somewhat miffed “A racist,” thinking that he was referring to my ethnic background.
After a pause, he pointed again, and said, “Are you a fucking man or woman?”
To which I said, “A sexist.”
To which he said, “Get a job, you fucking brat. Get a life.”
Around us were at least four or five children with their parents.
The couple left at this point for the door, as the crowd around us had thinned; after waiting several moments, our group left as well. However, by chance or some other design, we found ourselves once again with the couple – this time, the man pulled out his Veterans Card, and, shoving it about two inches from our faces, yelled to us that he had spent eight years in the service in Germany, as a justification for why he supported McCain. I was confused at why being in the service had anything to do with political alliances, but I nevertheless said “Thank you” in a sincere manner. He ignored me, and continued on, shoving the card again into one of my peers’ faces, repeating the procedure, moving towards the exit as he did so.
After this point, we waited again several moments, and followed their paths to the exit. However, once again we found ourselves near the couple, who, this time, pulled one of the signs they took from my peers and taunted us to get it back, telling us so until they disappeared out the door.
Perhaps it was partly our fault; after all, it was us who provoked them to act.
But I believe what they did was also out of line, and, what was more, grossly disproportional to what we were doing.
These people, however, are not representative of the gathering at the rally; another woman, who was near us, had offered us the other side of her as a place to move to after my peers showed the signs, telling us that we had just as much right to express our views as did she.
I found that people such as the latter woman exemplifies the spirit of diversity and openess that is sorely needed in today’s society, and that, if only more people were like her, the rhetoric of tolerance can be turned into the practice of tolerance. And, through such tolerance, we can truely move forward as human beings.
US Special Forces Launch Rare Attack Inside Syria
“…killing eight people in a strike the government in Damascus condemned as “serious aggression.”” (Yahoo)
“”We are taking matters into our own hands.””
– Anonymous
“The [Syrian] government said civilians were among the dead, including four children.”
“A
resident of the nearby village of Hwijeh said some of the helicopters
landed and troops exited the aircraft and fired on a building. He said
the aircraft flew along the Euphrates River
into the area of farms and several brick factories.”
aggression – an unwonted act of violence, unprovoked, without reason
collateral damage – unlooked for, unsought for casualties within an act
FY 2008: $668.6 billion on the US defense budget, not including money routed to military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
FY 2009: $650 billion requested so far, but allocations under “supplemental” spending expected to rise.
Source (PDF)
Well, fuck.
Note: The end is somewhere off in the distance, but there is land at last.
Well, I survived Harvard and the aftershocks for the second year running. Believe this year was…quite a change from the last, in both good and bad ways.
To certain people who may neglect their Facebook, let me say this:
Times will change, and locales may differ, but there are some things that will remain with us for as long as we live. Or if we get a lobotomy.
To everyone else:
I swear, I swear, I’ll get back to posting regularly. I just need to finish my summer work and get the hang of doing my college applications, okay? As soon as those things are stabilized, I’ll restart the posting thing.
Please don’t leave me.
I need validation from lesser peoples such as yourselves.
Happy 4th of July, people!
Who wouldn’t want to celebrate a day in which the pricks of the Revolution decided to cast off Georgie the Third because of “taxation without representation”? I mean, c’mon. Clearly, in this current day society, we need not worry about taxes. I mean, who would want to; the government takes care of it all, regardless of what we say anyways.
Oh wait. That’s not representation.
Oh crap. I think the Revolution just got ass-raped.
Idiots.
So, this July the 4th, remember to celebrate in the backyard with your loved ones while drinking a keg of beer and eating an entire cow.
Yes, very patriotic thing to do- stuff yourself silly in order to prove you are patriotic to a couple of 200-something year old dead guys.
I’m sure they’ll appreciate the gesture of gratitude that you certainly have this wondrous day.
Good day, sir and ma’am. I hope what you’re eating is kosher. Because if you’re not (and you’re Jewish), you’re screwed.
Figuratively speaking.
And here’s to hoping none of those fireworks explode over your head. And by “over,” I mean directly above your blond mophead that is called “hair.”
I’m out. Peace. Bitches.
Hey guys! Guess what?
(voice of the crowd): “What?”
“The Bush administration has launched a “significant escalation” of covert operations in Iran.”! (CNN)
(voice of the crowd): “What?!”
Yeah. So, CNN reported today on this interesting development with the US-Iranian relations, which for the most part meant the US “developing” hostility in regards with the Iranian government.
You might wonder why I say “hostility.”
Perhaps it’s because the US sent commandos into Iranian nuclear facilities. (Just maybe.)
How does CNN come across this information, then, especially since, you know, the CIA is a tad secretive about this stuff?
“Congress has authorized up to $400 million to fund the secret campaign,
which involves U.S. special operations troops and Iranian dissidents.”
According to Seymour Hersh (journalist), this was due to the fact that the affectionately named Bush and Dick continues to deny the US intelligence department itself over the state of Iranian nuclear-weapons building, in that the US intelligence says the Iranians have stopped a “secret” project to build a nuclear bomb. Of course, the International Atomic Energy Agency, responsible for the checks on the Iranian nuclear program, have never even said as such that the state of Iran has ever had such a program to build nuclear weapons of any kind. But the point is that even the intelligence agencies of the US disagrees with the President. (For more on nuclear weapons and Iran, see November ’07 entry.)
Hm…
This is, of course, a far cry from the way in which the US has reacted to the other Middle Eastern country with a nuclear arsenal. No, not Iraq (although it might make Bush a tad more credible if it were true).
Israel.
“Israel,
which is believed to have its own nuclear arsenal, conducted a military
exercise in the eastern Mediterranean in early June involving dozens of
warplanes and aerial tankers.”
“The distance involved in the
exercise was roughly the same as would be involved in a possible strike
on the Iranian nuclear fuel plant at Natanz, Iran, a U.S. military
official said.”
“In 1981, Israeli warplanes destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor.”
“Iran’s parliament speaker, Ali
Larijani, warned other countries against moves that would “cost them
heavily.” In comments that appeared in the semi-official Mehr news
agency Sunday, an Iranian general said his troops were digging more
than 320,000 graves to bury troops from any invading force with “the
respect they deserve.””
“”Under the law of war
and armed conflict, necessary preparations must be made for the burial
of soldiers of aggressor nations,” said Maj. Gen. Mirfaisal Baqerzadeh,
an Iranian officer in charge of identifying soldiers missing in action.” (CNN)
The 1981 airstrike by the Israelis on the Iraqi Osirak reactor was deemed necessary by the Israelis, whose intelligence agencies believed the nuclear reactor posed a direct danger to the proliferation of nuclear weapons (by the Iraqies).
The funny thing was, Iraq was also at the time under IAEA regulations.
…And the Israelis attacked.
…Making the attack an arguable case of aggression.
…Which is what the US is attempting to do to Iran.
Funny, isn’t it?
The circle of life revolves around the basic axiom that “history repeats itself” for those who refuse to learn from the past.
Such as the simple fact that war will cost lives and will only inflame more anger and prejudice and division.
And that a war based on faulty assumptions and biased intelligence will only lead to…political satire and a bad White House Correspondence Dinner.
Right.
The point is, this is an idiotic thing for the Bush admin to do.
If you couldn’t tell.
</end>
I’m actually at Harvard right now, for the summer program. Taking astrobiology. Having fun (?). Going back July 18th or so.
(non-political)
Today certainly is a momentous day.
As of June 18, 2008, Dell stops the shipment of all computers with pre-installed Windows XP as a standalone offer. Though details are still fuzzy, I checked Dell just a while ago, and there is this new “Vista BONUS” offer, in which XP is installed, but included with the package is a Vista installation disk.
Which probably will cost a lotta money.
Why is Dell halting the distribution of XP?
Because Windows has decided to pull all XP sells off the shelves by June 30. This means that all the convenient, expensive disks at Wal-Mart that lets you install the XP operating system will disappear in about two weeks. So have fun with that.
I don’t know why Windows has decided to take away XP; I mean, out of all the systems so far, I think that XP has been one of the most successful operating systems sold- this is taking into account the numerous patches and whatnot along the way, as without Service Pack 2, an XP system is shot.
But the point is, in pulling XP off the shelves, Microsoft has essentially forced the world into buying Vista, which is vastly bug-ridden and inefficient. Sure, it’s true that XP is still supported until 2014. But what about the new buyers who would like a relatively reliable system to use, as opposed to some crappy beta?
At the base of the problem is that every operating system, be it a Linux, Mac, or Windows variant, contain approximately the same functions. All that is added to the successively newer distributions is eye candy.
And eye candy acts like quicksand to the CPU.
For instance- my crappy Compaq Presario 2100 comes with a 1.8 GHz AMD processor. Less than 1 Gb RAM. In geek speak, that sucks ass.
With minor modifications, booting up from the login screen to the desktop takes around two seconds.
I just bought a second laptop- an Inspiron 1520, with a 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, with 2 Gb RAM. Unmodified, it takes 14 seconds to get from login to desktop.
That is what eye candy does to the computer.
I find it frustrating that in this world, there are people who does sick things such as this in order to make a profit. Vista? Bull.
I would highly recommend you find a pirated XP install disk. One that doesn’t need a verification code, or has one ready for you to use.
Because I suggest laying off of Vista for at least two years.
</end>
I lied about not posting until November.
Shall seek political news.
I think I’ll repost again tomorrow.
Want to get back into the groove of things.
So to speak.
God dammit.
Political orgies become pointless when all the media has to offer is a cheap fellatio for one of the two “presidential nominees.”
By extension, this site has basically become worthless until at least the November elections are over and the media stops whoring for attention, those cheap bastards.
School’s out. I get pissed when school’s out.
Mostly because now I have nothing to do except sleep and complain and write my college application essays.
See you after the elections.
If I still remember how to type by then.
Or if I find something extraordinarily promising while browsing the various mediums for something- anything- that will relieve this stress of mine. Preferably without the assistance of prostitutes and/or CNN.
Maybe Colbert will cheer me up. His douchebaggery usually has a way of bringing a smile to my face.
Happy every-holiday-that-I-may-miss-before-November.
…If you miss me that much, feel free to add me on Facebook.
I’m the only “Minke Zhang” on there.
“The White House said Wednesday that President Bush has paid a price for the “Mission Accomplished” banner that was flown
in triumph five years ago but later became a symbol of U.S.
misjudgments and mistakes in the long and costly war in Iraq.” (Yahoo)
“[Press Secretary Dana Perino] said what is important now is “how the president would describe the
fight today. It’s been a very tough month in Iraq, but we are taking
the fight to the enemy.””
“At least 49 U.S. troops died in Iraq in April, making it the deadliest month since September when 65 U.S. troops died.”
“Now in its sixth year, the war in Iraq has claimed the lives of at least 4,061 members of the US military. Only the Vietnam War
(August 1964 to January 1973), the war in Afghanistan (October 2001 to
present) and the Revolutionary War (July 1776 to April 1783) have
engaged America longer.”
“Bush, in a speech earlier this month, said that “while this war is difficult, it is not endless.””
Thank you, Ms. Perino, for telling us what we had already figured out…five years ago. I mean, after hearing about this so many times and writing only a couple dozen times to the newspaper on this subject (actually did this- in eighth grade), you’d think that eventually someone somewhere would realize that banner was the metaphorical buttplug to Bush’s sex life. And, I mean that in the worse possible way- obviously.
The second point of contention is in Bush stating that the war on “terrorism” is not indefinite.
That’s strange, considering there’s no concrete definition of terrorism in the first place.
…And that such a war is against faceless NGOs (non-governmental organizations) who act independently of each other and are organized by totally different command structures.
Way to go, Mr. Bush. Way to declare now that the war on terror is not infinite…despite the fact that it is.
</end>
So I discovered that junior year is hell.
Life would be so much easier if my desired occupation was a cadaver.
Coleslaw From Hell 