fun facts:
inside a metrorail train i read on two different occasions the following:
a) in case of an emergency use the phones on either end of the train to communicate with the driver
b) in case of an emergency exit through the doors located at the center of the train
as i was writing down my discovery on the inside of a match book, the man sitting near me asked what my fun fact was. he replied with his own fun fact:
the lights indicating the arrival of a train are on 82% of the time
recently at o'hare i noticed a starbucks every fifty meters. in the height of my curiosity i asked and found out how many starbucks stands there are at the airport:
there are exactly 15 starbucks stands inside the o'hare terminal
i was also informed that they needed more.. . .
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
recruiter of war
hey, i have a personal recruiter! in charge of recruiting ME to the army. i wonder if i have separate ones for the other military forces....
here is the email i got today:
Dear moh,
As your local Army Recruiter, I'd like to tell you about the many opportunities the Army has to offer students like yourself. Whether you know the path you want to take after college or are still deciding, the Army has many opportunities to suit your needs.
Army Reserve
As a Soldier in the Army Reserve, you can train near home and be ready to serve full time when needed. As a Soldier in the Army Reserve, you may qualify for:
* An enlistment bonus of up to $20,000
* More than $23,000 in education benefits through the Montgomery
GI Bill with the Army Reserve "Kicker"
* Up to $20,000 to pay off your federally insured student loans
through the Army Loan Repayment Program
* An extra paycheck every month
Active Duty
If you're close to graduating or are simply thinking about giving college a break, you may want to consider serving full time on Active Duty. As a Soldier in the U.S. Army, you may qualify for:
* An enlistment bonus of up to $40,000
* An option to enlist for as little as 15 months plus training
time
* Up to $71,000 in college education benefits through The Army
College Fund and Montgomery GI Bill
* Up to $65,000 to pay off federally insured student loans
through the Army Loan Repayment Program
* Up to 100% tuition assistance for classes taken while serving
As an active duty Soldier, you will be entitled to 30 days paid vacation a year, medical and dental coverage, access to superb recreation facilities, and low-cost shopping in post stores. You may also have an opportunity to request a specific duty assignment.
Of course, the benefits of joining the U.S. Army go beyond just the monetary. In addition to becoming a stronger individual as you gain new training and experiences, you'll also feel a sense of accomplishment, experience true camaraderie and teamwork, and develop discipline and leadership skills that today's employers value.
If you'd like to learn more about opportunities the U.S. Army and Army Reserve offer, contact me:
SFC Eric L. Reed
---and, here is my reply to officer Reed:
Dear Mr. Reed,
Foremostly, I thank you deeply for your commitment to war. We would not be where we are were it not for the rage and devotion of those who serve arms. It is unfortunate that we must so often resort to violence with the intentions for peace and human rights. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about the multiple wars being fought and everyone involved in its atrocities.
Secondly, I wish that less people enlisted in the armed forces. Or rather that those who enlisted did so for the 'right' reasons. I wonder if there is a way of analyzing data that would show the percentage of military personnel that join the army ONLY because of the money and the benefits. I have a feeling that it is a high rate (but I hope that I am wrong!), seeing that you are made to sell it so well. If there are more benefits to joining the army than monetary accruance, then why is it that you only mention $$$? I know that the benefits of serving in the armed forces are not a simply put into words. Yet, it does not explain how it is that you are not requested to mention anything about what it means to be a soldier. This deeply worries me. It almost implies that the only individuals interested in taking up arms for the nation are those who have no better means of income.
I would sleep better at night if I thought that the army was comprised of individuals whom are whole-heartedly devoted to the security of people. I fear that there are too many soldiers that are angry for being deployed, as opposed to honored. They did not see this war coming, for example. They thought that they would just get to go to school for free later, or pay off their loans now; travel the world -la di da. And now they are angry, confused and perhaps hurting innocent civilians more than they are helping them. We were supposed to be helping, remember? Unfortunate are these circumstances. I do wish for a change of policy in recruitment strategy.
Lastly, I thank you again for your commitment to violence and may God be with you always,
moh
here is the email i got today:
Dear moh,
As your local Army Recruiter, I'd like to tell you about the many opportunities the Army has to offer students like yourself. Whether you know the path you want to take after college or are still deciding, the Army has many opportunities to suit your needs.
Army Reserve
As a Soldier in the Army Reserve, you can train near home and be ready to serve full time when needed. As a Soldier in the Army Reserve, you may qualify for:
* An enlistment bonus of up to $20,000
* More than $23,000 in education benefits through the Montgomery
GI Bill with the Army Reserve "Kicker"
* Up to $20,000 to pay off your federally insured student loans
through the Army Loan Repayment Program
* An extra paycheck every month
Active Duty
If you're close to graduating or are simply thinking about giving college a break, you may want to consider serving full time on Active Duty. As a Soldier in the U.S. Army, you may qualify for:
* An enlistment bonus of up to $40,000
* An option to enlist for as little as 15 months plus training
time
* Up to $71,000 in college education benefits through The Army
College Fund and Montgomery GI Bill
* Up to $65,000 to pay off federally insured student loans
through the Army Loan Repayment Program
* Up to 100% tuition assistance for classes taken while serving
As an active duty Soldier, you will be entitled to 30 days paid vacation a year, medical and dental coverage, access to superb recreation facilities, and low-cost shopping in post stores. You may also have an opportunity to request a specific duty assignment.
Of course, the benefits of joining the U.S. Army go beyond just the monetary. In addition to becoming a stronger individual as you gain new training and experiences, you'll also feel a sense of accomplishment, experience true camaraderie and teamwork, and develop discipline and leadership skills that today's employers value.
If you'd like to learn more about opportunities the U.S. Army and Army Reserve offer, contact me:
SFC Eric L. Reed
---and, here is my reply to officer Reed:
Dear Mr. Reed,
Foremostly, I thank you deeply for your commitment to war. We would not be where we are were it not for the rage and devotion of those who serve arms. It is unfortunate that we must so often resort to violence with the intentions for peace and human rights. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about the multiple wars being fought and everyone involved in its atrocities.
Secondly, I wish that less people enlisted in the armed forces. Or rather that those who enlisted did so for the 'right' reasons. I wonder if there is a way of analyzing data that would show the percentage of military personnel that join the army ONLY because of the money and the benefits. I have a feeling that it is a high rate (but I hope that I am wrong!), seeing that you are made to sell it so well. If there are more benefits to joining the army than monetary accruance, then why is it that you only mention $$$? I know that the benefits of serving in the armed forces are not a simply put into words. Yet, it does not explain how it is that you are not requested to mention anything about what it means to be a soldier. This deeply worries me. It almost implies that the only individuals interested in taking up arms for the nation are those who have no better means of income.
I would sleep better at night if I thought that the army was comprised of individuals whom are whole-heartedly devoted to the security of people. I fear that there are too many soldiers that are angry for being deployed, as opposed to honored. They did not see this war coming, for example. They thought that they would just get to go to school for free later, or pay off their loans now; travel the world -la di da. And now they are angry, confused and perhaps hurting innocent civilians more than they are helping them. We were supposed to be helping, remember? Unfortunate are these circumstances. I do wish for a change of policy in recruitment strategy.
Lastly, I thank you again for your commitment to violence and may God be with you always,
moh
Sunday, October 15, 2006
society and justice
the distinctions between society and justice, i believe are irreconcilable. what is just to me is if i could do what i want as i need. you know, i would like to use my own judgement -the kind that not every one has. which, is why we have all the rules to begin with. i digress. being a moralist, i take for granted that since most of us ought be then certainly we must be....i live in the clouds sometimes......society/community is the giving up of freedom in order to arrive at safety from others and ones self to others. i think, we take for granted that we have 'chosen' to give up our freedoms to create safety and order for the many. thus we have forgotten what freedom is and that there is nothing wrong with desiring it. anarchy is wrongly stereotyped, and improperly categorized. im sick of people proclaiming their freedom. nobody's free. you're not free, i'm not free, maybe there are a few free souls left in the world...if so they must coexist in some other dimension, cause there is no freedom in this one. if it isn't marshal law, its the law of survival, or the law of my will, or the law of physics. those sweet monks and nuns that live in caves in ladakh and such....they are free in most ways i guess. i hope i go there too one day.
Friday, August 25, 2006
placeres
los simples placeres de la vida...
el primer sabor de este dulce cafecito que recien me hice....que delicia.
hace tiempo que no tomo cafe. no hay cafetera, asi que lo hice a la hornalla.
y en el fondo, canta mercedes sosa...
"gracias a la vida
que me ha dado tanto"
gracias a la vida que me dio algo tan especial que todavia lloro por su falta.
gracias a la vida que me dio un amigo con sabiduria anciana, y me abrio la puerta a tal
perspectiva sana.
gracias a la vida por darme el poder de saborear ese dulce cafecito por primera vez.
gracias a la vida por darme el lujo de escuchar sonidos como esa voz que me toca el
alma.
otro dia, otra vez, pero nunca mas.
el primer sabor de este dulce cafecito que recien me hice....que delicia.
hace tiempo que no tomo cafe. no hay cafetera, asi que lo hice a la hornalla.
y en el fondo, canta mercedes sosa...
"gracias a la vida
que me ha dado tanto"
gracias a la vida que me dio algo tan especial que todavia lloro por su falta.
gracias a la vida que me dio un amigo con sabiduria anciana, y me abrio la puerta a tal
perspectiva sana.
gracias a la vida por darme el poder de saborear ese dulce cafecito por primera vez.
gracias a la vida por darme el lujo de escuchar sonidos como esa voz que me toca el
alma.
otro dia, otra vez, pero nunca mas.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
on duality
today, finally, i will touch the case of our ultimate dilemma-that of our dual existence. as we exist in the corporeal, we simultaneously live the life of our minds. at least all ontological inquisitors wish to understand the relation between these plains of existence. who am i?? and what the heck do i have to do with all this?? can we count the times we have wondered...pulling out our eye sockets...eating our hair...staring at the stars...(how come we feel so much closer to anything un-human than with one another?!)
baruch spinoza thought of the mind and body as identical.....but for me one of his more valuable contributions is his explication of why mind. he thought, that since we perceive everything through the analysis of the relation between thing and self, it predisposes that we must first have a perception of self. in order to perceive of the self, something internally external must be able to create this idea. therefore, the mind is the idea of self.
i do believe that mind and body are inextricable, however, the concept that they are one and the same is unsatisfactory. it reminds me too much of george berkeley. he believed that there was nothing outside of perception. much like richard rorty seems to think that there is nothing outside the corporeal. i must incline to believe that the internal dilemma itself clearly gives away the direction of the answer.
as a believer of the inextricability of body and mind, i feed from both philosophy and neuroscience. only through both will we find answers to the haunting questions of our existence. not to say that there certainly are answers. i actually don,t think that there are....yet, i cannot cease to entertain the fantasy.
recently i finished reading "phantoms in the brain" by dr. ramachandran & sandra blakeslee. i will write some quotes and personal comments. (no mla)
"the most obvious fact about existence is your sense of being a single, unified self "in charge" of your destiny; so obvious, in fact, that you rarely pause to think about it. and yet [certain] experiment[s] and observations...suggest that there is in fact another being inside you that goes about his or her business without knowledge or awareness." "your concept of a single "i" or "self" inhabiting your brain may be simply an illusion -albeit one that allows you to organize your life more efficiently, gives you a sense of purpose and helps you interact with others."
ummm...i gotta go. comments later.
okay. its later now. early july 10, so. for a long time ive been debasing this idea that we are "in charge". even this concept of having a "free will" is nothing but poo. sure, i can make decisions based on (or not) my analysis of a situation. but i can assure you that i do not choose what it is that my will wills. to a great extent, this is beyond my control. and it works both ways. for example. i do not want to be in love with the person that i am in love with.....but i am. in contrast. i want to die.....but 'something' keeps me.
"if the brain does not receive confirming visual stimuli, it is free simply to make up its own reality."
i don't much feel like getting into the different cases and experiments to which this is a conclusion of; but, now that i just read the quote...i'm forgetting everything else that i thought about it, except that the eyes are the gate to the soul.... just attempting to consider the correlation and ramifications. forget about What the soul is...its just about the idea. you Know what it is.
"this raises profound philosophical questions about how sure we can be that our own grasp on reality is all that secure."
in the next sentence he brings up the topic of different dimensions, and what it could be like for a creature of another dimension to observe us in ours. which brings me back to the last comment. our vision and physical nature may be of a certain dimension.....but i dare say that there is some inkling of me that has the capacity to perceive of another. call it whatever you may, it matters not at all. my interest is in crossing the boundaries of our dimmensions. space/time. they are only relevant to its subjects, and there is not only one measurement.
"this idea teaches us an important principle about brain function, namely, that all our perceptions-indeed, maybe all aspects of our minds-are governed by comparisons and not by absolute values."
oh...where is nietzsche right now? he would be so happy. i should send this quote to my professor at ucla, he would be happy too. no absolutes. in your face kant. so do we unleash anarchy right away? or wait for nature to fulfill its wrath to us mongrols that think that we know something? i know i'm being extreme, but who has the right to judge right from wrong ?
"no wonder temporal lobe epilepsy patients experience a sense of omnipotence and grandeur, as if to say, "i am the chosen one. it is my duty and privilege to transmit gods work to you lesser beings."
so....prophets. temporal lobe epilepsy patients??
just putting it out there.
"most organisms evolve to become more and more specialized as they take up new environmental niches, be it a longer neck for the giraffe or sonar for the bat. humans, on the other hand, have evolved one organ, a brain, that gives us the capacity to evade specialization. we can colonize the arctic without evolving a fur coat over millions of years like the polar bear because we can go kill one, take its coat and drape it on ourselves. and then we can give it to our children and grandchildren."
this reminds me of my old friends faith on humanity. total humanist, like nietzsche. also, of sci-fi stories about brain vesseled computers running the game....
"one boy can tell you the time and day, to the exact second, without referring to any timepiece." "she would say, "that rock is exactly two feet, eleven and three-quarter inches wide." and she'd be right."
savants rule! again, a proof of the possibilities of our brains faculties. there is now the hypothesis that before birth there is brain damage to the majority of the brain, and thus the self transposes/remaps its use to the part that is functioning properly. usually savants are relatively incapable of taking care of themselves, and only some possess these amazing talents. as in the movie "cube", or "rainman". (much like phantom limbs. if your arm is cut off. instead of loosing that part in your brain (motor sensor section) that is related to the arm...it 'moves' over, such that you can feel your arm when your face or shoulder are touched.)
there is talk about laughter in the penultimate chapter. i immediately related to "man of two worlds", where the dreen finally realizes that laughing isn't about funny things at all. we laugh when we are uncomfortable, or to mask our fear. dead on true.
"in other words, exposure to a real rose and pollen sets up a "learned" association in the brain between the mere visual appearance of a rose and bronchial constriction."
it was exciting to read this, because for the last couple of months i've tried the reverse. instead of actually using my inhaler when i''m starting to have an asthma attack, i do what i would do if i had taken a puff from my inhaler....and its actually worked 9:10. i don't do it too often cause i want it to work....so im doing it slowly. but its fascinating. my bronchial tubes dilate and the wheezing stops....and all i did was inflate my chest and count to ten!!!!
"everything i have learned from the intensive study of both normal people and patients who have sustained damage to various parts of their brains point to an unsettling notion: that you create your own "reality" from mere fragments of information, that what you "see" is a reliable-but not always accurate-representation of what exists in the world, that you are completely unaware of the vast majority of events going on in your brain. indeed, most of your actions are carried out by a host of unconscious zombies who exist in peaceful harmony along with you (the "person") inside your body! i hope that the stories you have heard so far have helped convince you that the problem of self-far from being a metaphysical riddle-is now ripe for scientific inquiry."
and so, i temporarily lie to rest this cumbersome dilemma of our dual existence.
baruch spinoza thought of the mind and body as identical.....but for me one of his more valuable contributions is his explication of why mind. he thought, that since we perceive everything through the analysis of the relation between thing and self, it predisposes that we must first have a perception of self. in order to perceive of the self, something internally external must be able to create this idea. therefore, the mind is the idea of self.
i do believe that mind and body are inextricable, however, the concept that they are one and the same is unsatisfactory. it reminds me too much of george berkeley. he believed that there was nothing outside of perception. much like richard rorty seems to think that there is nothing outside the corporeal. i must incline to believe that the internal dilemma itself clearly gives away the direction of the answer.
as a believer of the inextricability of body and mind, i feed from both philosophy and neuroscience. only through both will we find answers to the haunting questions of our existence. not to say that there certainly are answers. i actually don,t think that there are....yet, i cannot cease to entertain the fantasy.
recently i finished reading "phantoms in the brain" by dr. ramachandran & sandra blakeslee. i will write some quotes and personal comments. (no mla)
"the most obvious fact about existence is your sense of being a single, unified self "in charge" of your destiny; so obvious, in fact, that you rarely pause to think about it. and yet [certain] experiment[s] and observations...suggest that there is in fact another being inside you that goes about his or her business without knowledge or awareness." "your concept of a single "i" or "self" inhabiting your brain may be simply an illusion -albeit one that allows you to organize your life more efficiently, gives you a sense of purpose and helps you interact with others."
ummm...i gotta go. comments later.
okay. its later now. early july 10, so. for a long time ive been debasing this idea that we are "in charge". even this concept of having a "free will" is nothing but poo. sure, i can make decisions based on (or not) my analysis of a situation. but i can assure you that i do not choose what it is that my will wills. to a great extent, this is beyond my control. and it works both ways. for example. i do not want to be in love with the person that i am in love with.....but i am. in contrast. i want to die.....but 'something' keeps me.
"if the brain does not receive confirming visual stimuli, it is free simply to make up its own reality."
i don't much feel like getting into the different cases and experiments to which this is a conclusion of; but, now that i just read the quote...i'm forgetting everything else that i thought about it, except that the eyes are the gate to the soul.... just attempting to consider the correlation and ramifications. forget about What the soul is...its just about the idea. you Know what it is.
"this raises profound philosophical questions about how sure we can be that our own grasp on reality is all that secure."
in the next sentence he brings up the topic of different dimensions, and what it could be like for a creature of another dimension to observe us in ours. which brings me back to the last comment. our vision and physical nature may be of a certain dimension.....but i dare say that there is some inkling of me that has the capacity to perceive of another. call it whatever you may, it matters not at all. my interest is in crossing the boundaries of our dimmensions. space/time. they are only relevant to its subjects, and there is not only one measurement.
"this idea teaches us an important principle about brain function, namely, that all our perceptions-indeed, maybe all aspects of our minds-are governed by comparisons and not by absolute values."
oh...where is nietzsche right now? he would be so happy. i should send this quote to my professor at ucla, he would be happy too. no absolutes. in your face kant. so do we unleash anarchy right away? or wait for nature to fulfill its wrath to us mongrols that think that we know something? i know i'm being extreme, but who has the right to judge right from wrong ?
"no wonder temporal lobe epilepsy patients experience a sense of omnipotence and grandeur, as if to say, "i am the chosen one. it is my duty and privilege to transmit gods work to you lesser beings."
so....prophets. temporal lobe epilepsy patients??
just putting it out there.
"most organisms evolve to become more and more specialized as they take up new environmental niches, be it a longer neck for the giraffe or sonar for the bat. humans, on the other hand, have evolved one organ, a brain, that gives us the capacity to evade specialization. we can colonize the arctic without evolving a fur coat over millions of years like the polar bear because we can go kill one, take its coat and drape it on ourselves. and then we can give it to our children and grandchildren."
this reminds me of my old friends faith on humanity. total humanist, like nietzsche. also, of sci-fi stories about brain vesseled computers running the game....
"one boy can tell you the time and day, to the exact second, without referring to any timepiece." "she would say, "that rock is exactly two feet, eleven and three-quarter inches wide." and she'd be right."
savants rule! again, a proof of the possibilities of our brains faculties. there is now the hypothesis that before birth there is brain damage to the majority of the brain, and thus the self transposes/remaps its use to the part that is functioning properly. usually savants are relatively incapable of taking care of themselves, and only some possess these amazing talents. as in the movie "cube", or "rainman". (much like phantom limbs. if your arm is cut off. instead of loosing that part in your brain (motor sensor section) that is related to the arm...it 'moves' over, such that you can feel your arm when your face or shoulder are touched.)
there is talk about laughter in the penultimate chapter. i immediately related to "man of two worlds", where the dreen finally realizes that laughing isn't about funny things at all. we laugh when we are uncomfortable, or to mask our fear. dead on true.
"in other words, exposure to a real rose and pollen sets up a "learned" association in the brain between the mere visual appearance of a rose and bronchial constriction."
it was exciting to read this, because for the last couple of months i've tried the reverse. instead of actually using my inhaler when i''m starting to have an asthma attack, i do what i would do if i had taken a puff from my inhaler....and its actually worked 9:10. i don't do it too often cause i want it to work....so im doing it slowly. but its fascinating. my bronchial tubes dilate and the wheezing stops....and all i did was inflate my chest and count to ten!!!!
"everything i have learned from the intensive study of both normal people and patients who have sustained damage to various parts of their brains point to an unsettling notion: that you create your own "reality" from mere fragments of information, that what you "see" is a reliable-but not always accurate-representation of what exists in the world, that you are completely unaware of the vast majority of events going on in your brain. indeed, most of your actions are carried out by a host of unconscious zombies who exist in peaceful harmony along with you (the "person") inside your body! i hope that the stories you have heard so far have helped convince you that the problem of self-far from being a metaphysical riddle-is now ripe for scientific inquiry."
and so, i temporarily lie to rest this cumbersome dilemma of our dual existence.
Friday, April 14, 2006
time
in the end the argument is a philosophical one: is time but a concept that is relative to the subject, or can it be objectified mathematically? to the mesiogo the answer is given to us clearly from the beginning. in the opening of the book, we are sent via a letter to find the author's mother's cousin's compound in order to retrieve his mother's date of birth. once we are there we learn that it is enough to be in the presence of someone older and younger than his mother to understand how old she would be, and thus when she was born. to the westerner, the answer perhaps is not as simple. when one considers infinite divisibility it seems absurd that time should be measured with finite numbers. if time is a continuum without any gaps, and we are to measure it numerically, then it would be impossible to pin-point a second at all. the mathematician however, adheres to the logic that since it is possible to add fractions to equal finite numbers, that it is perfectly suitable to utilize finite numbers to measure the continuum of time.
also on thursday april 6, two minutes, or two seconds (i really cant remember right now--not that it makes a difference!) were 'added' to our day. did anyone notice? i think my dead fish did.
also on thursday april 6, two minutes, or two seconds (i really cant remember right now--not that it makes a difference!) were 'added' to our day. did anyone notice? i think my dead fish did.
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