Modern Convenience

I figured I'd take a break from my lately typical political ramblings to talk about something else that pisses me off...namely my computer. There is nothing on this planet, and I mean nothing, that can more quickly get me frustrated than my computer. Nothing can ever be simple with this machine! I try to do something; it doesn't work. I try to fix it; something else doesn't work. Aaargh!

You know what really makes me angry about it, though? There is one thing that all my years of education and experience in the computer science field have taught me, and that is computers don't do anything you don't, at some point, tell them to do. Ok, yeah, if the power flickers while you're flashing the BIOS or the flasher program just freezes on its own, that's not necessarily your fault. But if you update one piece of software and install another after months of surfing the web without virus and/or spyware protection, guess what...that's your bad.

I want to be mad at my computer. I really do. It's easy to do. It's an inanimate object that won't get offended my projecting my own stupidity onto it. There's one problem, though. I can't just do that. When I know it's me...I know it's me. My conscious mind won't let me just pass the blame off on my dumb computer with its ineffable will and proven nefarious intent toward me. And that just make me madder.

Usually I just end up throwing up my hands and walking away. Well, I do that after I spend about an hour and a half yelling at the poor machine (okay, so I start off blaming it a little bit). Little by little I troubleshoot over a couple of days and either figure it out or end up doing a complete reinstall, which I hate to do, but it is my last resort solution.

Anyways, needless to say, I've been having some trouble lately. Whether it's with me or my computer, well...I'd have to say it's probably me. I just hate that my computer feels the need to constantly remind me why I am no better than any of the users who have come to me whining, "My computer doesn't work...piece of sh!t!" That's why I refuse to call tech support. It isn't that I think I couldn’t possibly have caused the problem or that it couldn't possibly be a problem I can't fix. It's that I know I did cause it and probably can't fix it without losing a lot of hair.

There you go. The reason we haven't figured out a cure for baldness is because we keep inventing things that are more efficient at making us rip our hair out. And before you ask, I am not bald...I have a full, thick head of hair. I'm just not sure how long it will last if my computer doesn't start doing what I want it to do instead of what I tell it to do.

E = mt$

Have you seen this new formula? It's apparently a breakthrough in energy cost analysis. Basically it states that as my energy needs are fulfilled, my rate of financial decrease approaches the speed of light.

Look, I know anyone and everyone is bitching about energy costs right now, especially as it pertains to refueling at the pump, but I can't help but join in. That's the beauty of the internet. You can rant uninterrupted, and those who want to listen can while those who don't go search for porn. Of course, some might say that's also the bad thing about the internet, but that's a discussion for another day.

There are a lot of things contributing to the cost of oil right now. The war (oh wait, isn't that over?), I mean the civil war in Iraq (what? there's no civil war), regulations placed on oil corporations (poor oil corporations), the quest for greater profits (ok, maybe not so poor), insane state and local taxes (Uncle Sam wants you...to grab your ankles), and our insatiable appetite for the slick, inky liquid. But it really is that last one that drives all the ones before it. If only there were some sort of lubricant, perhaps petroleum based, that Uncle Sam and the oil companies could use before raping us. K - Y? Because they like to.

If I went to the store to shop for, oh I don't know, say a DVD player, I could easily just raise an incredulous eyebrow and say, "They're crazy if they think I'm going to pay more than forty bucks for this!" Gas, on the other hand, is an entirely different story. The inconvenience of not having a car is so not worth it. I'd love to do my part in saving the environment and sticking it to the man, but it just doesn't seem feasible, financially and otherwise. So when I fill up at the pump and the total comes to over $40, all I can do is grumble and pay. It's like a utility bill...except this one I pay three or four times a month instead of once.

So now the question becomes, where's the top? How much can gas prices rise? Well, like a pubescent teen, the oil corporations will keep pushing and pushing until they find this capitalist society's limit. So, ultimately, the choice is ours...it's not much of a choice, though. Somebody needs to just hurry up and invent some kind of teleportation device. Preferably one that doesn't run on diamond-crusted platinum.

Profiling III...The Elaboration

Okay, for those of you who haven't been paying attention, the running conversation has been about racial profiling. The reason why this has taken up multiple posts? Well, my buddy Justin, who is usually very sympathetic with my rants, has been making some decent counterpoints that have caused me to further explain my bleeding-heart-liberal tirade. Sure, I could just post follow-up comments, but I don't think everyone reads those, and I think these are some good points to cover in the main blog.

I think the main issue here is that I'm not making my point clearly enough, so it's easily misunderstood. There have been places in my two previous posts where people might think I'm saying that we should totally ignore the fact that militant Islamic groups have committed more severe and simply more terrorist attacks than any other ethnic group in recent history. Well, I'm not saying that at all. Like I said in my last post, I don't think we should be cowed by the PC police either. To treat somebody differently from anyone else because you fear public retribution from the politically-correct watchdogs is reverse racism, and it's not any better than just plain old racism. I do, however, feel a lot of sympathy for the innocent people that have to deal with all the backlash generated by the actions of the crazed members of their ethnic group.

Look, I'm not saying that we should just let Mamoud, Fahid, and Ahmed walk through the beeping metal detector unmolested while we strip search Grandma, John, and Jim-Bob; that's foolish. But I am saying that the exact reverse of that is racist and equally foolish. Islamic terror groups have sent out pleas for sympathetic westerners to join them and help carry out attacks because they know this kind of behavior is going on. So, if I hear one more well-to-do white man bitching about being held up an extra hour or two at the airport while we ensure, not only his safety, but the safety of everyone else on his flight, I'm going to punch him in the face! I am not a criminal. I will gladly let security check my luggage and me before I get on an "airborne missile, complete with a human payload and a thousand pounds of jet fuel" (isn't "airborne" implied in "missile"?).

And yes, while some sort of x-ray device that everyone walked through like in Total Recall would help, people can get pretty inventive when they have a goal in mind. I'm sure a resourceful terrorist group could figure out how to carry out an attack with very little carry-on accoutrements. A sort of "MacGyver Jihad" if you will. I think the only effective technological tool would be a device that can sense resolved malintent. Or perhaps we can station some Care Bears in airports to vanquish the hate from terrorist hearts.

If only we lived in a fantasy world...

Grandma, what a great profile you have!

A few short words on profiling. It's really easy to say as a white American that racial profiling is a good idea in some instances. It's really easy because white Americans have no fear of being profiled. Imagine, however, someone stopping you in an airport or in traffic because you were a member of an ethnic group of which several members have performed or are performing serial criminal acts. Would you not resent the implication that just because you're a member of that ethnic group, you have some part in those activities?

Let's also be clear about something. There's racial profiling, then there's criminal profiling. There's a big difference between these. One is a valid and effective law enforcement tool. The other is manipulating statistics to support prejudice and bigotry.

I mentioned in the previous post about the Belgian woman who suicide bombed troops in Iraq, but let's not forget Timothy McVeigh. He was a home-grown terrorist, right here in the good old US of A. And how about the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski? Did they have to carpet bomb the mountains of some Middle Eastern country to find him? No, he was hiding in a cabin in the mountains of Montana.

I understand that we do have to be realistic. There are a considerable amount of organized terrorist attacks committed by extremist Muslims, but to discount the possibility of a western terrorist out of hand is not just dangerous; it's foolish. I certainly think there needs to be more brains in our security, and I don't believe we should be cowed by the PC police either, but I do believe that there's a lot of sentiment in this that promotes the idea of racial profiling being a good way to keep us safe. That kind of thinking is insidious. It's racism that benignly slips in as a warm fuzzy of security for the greater good. It ends with the average citizen feeling vindicated for treating foreigners like criminals, especially if they have a beard and are wearing a turban.

Yeah, Hitler was eloquent too...

The word being muttered on conservative blogs and other sympathetic information sources is that they have the key to better understanding the situation in Iraq and a crucial element in the "War on Terror". The simple fact, they say, stems from the nature of the single driving force of these terrorists that have us so on edge. What is this force? Religion...but not just any religion. This religion is an irredeemably violent one. The religion, of course, is Islam.

The suggestion is that violence is inherent to Islam, and that the only logical outcome for a person raised in such an environment is fanatical, militant behavior. Therefore, the best way to ward against becoming the victim of terrorist violence is to beware those who practice the Muslim faith. Let's only stop people who "look like Muslims" at the airport. Let's hold Muslim suspects in prison for an invariably long period of time, even though we have no evidence other than their heritage and their religion.

Along a similar vein, these apparent experts in terrorist psychology say we should be wary of those who claim that Islam is a "peaceful religion". They quote organizations like CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) with sarcasm and disdain. They frequently ask why prominent Muslims who speak of a "peaceful" Islam don't condemn horrific acts we hear of in tyrannical Islamic theocracies. Clearly their only interest, some conservatives insist, is in furthering the illusion of a nonviolent faith that is the victim of the terrible publicity of a smaller set of fanatics that happen to have a disproportional amount of influence.

Well, folks...in my opinion, this is all an excuse for bigotry. I know my last post was about racism, and I hate to beat a dead horse, but this stuff really gets me worked up. You see, there are some very educated, well-read individuals spouting this ethnocentric bullsh!t. They go and quote passages from the Koran out of context with a sort of smug satisfaction, as if to say, "See? Doesn't that prove it?"

Well, don't get me started quoting the bible out of context...or referring to several of the crusades that were started, not by Muslims, but Europeans. Oh, hey, let's not forget...

The Inquisition
What a show!
The Inquisition
Here we go!
We know you're wishin' that we'd go away!
But the Inquisition's here and it's here to stay!

It's real easy to take select samples of anything and make it seem like anything you want. Sure, the Koran does say some pretty violent things, and there are places were it seems to be saying some unflattering things about Christians and Jews, but much of the history of the Koran seems to suggest that a lot of this was fabricated or possibly even mistranslated.

The thing that really gets me is that there are people out there reading this conservative stuff and saying to themselves, "Wow, this guy is really eloquent and obviously well read. What he's saying must be true!" Let's not forget how Hitler practically spellbound Germans with his impassioned speeches. These modern day Torquemadas would have us round up every Muslim in the known universe and interrogate them until they "confessed" to some kind of maligned intent and converted to a more "peaceful" religion...say, Christianity. Sound familiar?

No, of course they don't say this outright. They’d even deny it if you suggested it to them. But what other logical inference can you make from their racist ramblings? If the problem in the Middle East is because of the predominant religion, then what is the most logical solution? Theological cleansing?

Here's the real problem...the tyrannical theocracies and fanatical groups that hold so much sway in that area of the world. They warp the philosophies of Allah's followers and mold the religion's influence to their will. And this isn't a recent thing. Caliphs had been twisting the words of the Koran for centuries to suit their own greedy ends. It's no wonder so much intolerant invective can be extracted from the book. The conservative psuedo-nazi's conveniently overlook passages like the following:

Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve. [2:62]

Hmm...sounds dangerous. But what's really dangerous is people just reading the state-sponsored propaganda without seeing what the real deal is. At least if I hear something that makes me mad or that seems like important information for me as it pertains to my freedom and safety, I go check it out. I go look at all the sources, then make a decision for myself. There are people who are going to read this prejudiced drivel, and they won't bother to check the author on his sources. They won't go and look through the Koran to see what it really says, or investigate the history to see why it says it. They'll just take it for granted that the author is offering sound advice.

Well, I have some advice of my own. Let's not be so short sighted and narrow minded. Some say it's ridiculous to search old ladies with walkers and clean-cut, western businessmen at airports. I say if we officially take a stance to not search them, terrorists will search for them. Terrorists will begin using sympathetic westerners to suicide bomb for them or will slip bombs into the little old ladies' carry-on luggage. Granny will unknowingly become a martyr for a terror organization she's never even heard of. And let's not forget the Belgian woman who became a suicide bomber in Iraq, targeting American troops. In this case, judging a book by its cover could turn out to be a deadly mistake.

Don't Judge Me...

AT least not by my cover. Today's post is about prejudice in general but racism in particular. You want to hear a sweeping generalization? All racists are ignorant. I know there are educated racists out there, but an attitude so heinous as racism is a choice made despite what knowledge you may have to the contrary. That's ignorance on a level that seems unfathomable to me. But it happens...

So, what brings on this latest tirade? I was watching this reality show called "Black. White." I know, I know, I hate reality TV too, but this is a fascinating premise. Take two families, one white, one black, and make them up to look like the opposite family's race. Then have these two families go out into the community and see what happens. Yes, a fascinating premise indeed, but I don't think they could have chosen two worse families to do this with. Granted, the choice was proabably made due to the high level of drama it would generate, but I think that messes up some the experiment. Let me explain what bugs me.

First, let's take the white family. What a bunch of hippie-turned-yuppie, strange, ignorant people they are. The mother is ablsolutely insane. Her brain is simply not connected to her mouth. She says things that she seriously believes will be taken positively, or at least in jest, and it's actually something that even I would find offensive, and believe it or not, I'm pretty easygoing. The father just seems oblivious. It's not very far into the show, but so far he almost seems like a nonentity. He thinks he knows what it means to be black or how to fit in as a black man...he's totally oblivious. About the only decent one of all of them is their teenage daughter, who revealed to the black poetry group she had been hanging out with that she was actually a white girk in black make-up. I think that was pretty ballsy. Fortunately, only one person freaked out, and he may well have been speaking about his own ambiguous lifestyle when chastizing her for her deception.

Now, the black family. The mom is okay. At least she's not as insane as the white mom, but she's easily offended, a drama factor that plays well with the white mom's hair trigger tear ducts. The dad is likewise sensitive, but it seems like he's scrutinizing every little reaction, statement, etc. for anything that might possibly be construed in some alternate universe in another dimension as even slightly racist. So far they haven't really followed the son around very much, but his attitude seems to be a mix of his parents'.

While the producers have tailor made a volatile situation, as is the requisite for "good" reality TV, it does seem to highlight an issue that I think is important in understanding the state of racism today. There are really two dynamics going on that exacerbate the existing racism in this country. One is that racism is not nearly as omnipresent as some blacks (and a few other minority members) would like to believe. The other, of course, is that it's far more prevalent than most white people care to admit. I don't think one side is any worse than the other. Ignoring racism won't make it go away, and assuming all people of a specific ethnicity are racist is, in itself, racist.

I'd like to think I am not racist. When I look at another person, I see just a person, regardless of ethnicity, heritage, color, etc. These two dynamics I spoke of, however, sometimes have me thinking of things in more complex ways than should be necessary. When I see a black man, I make no assumptions about how amiable he will be, what his job is, what his family situation is, but if I interact with him, I sometimes find myself unconsciously running everything I say and do through this little filter in my head that asks, "Okay, could this be even unreasonably interpreted as racist?" That sucks! It's totally unfair. I want to be in total control of my thoughts, words and actions, but society has me and everyone else so keyed up about race, it's making almost all of us at least a little bit racist. Because once you start to change how you act and even think around someone based on their race, that's racism, even if it's with good intentions.

I don't want to be racist, and I don't want anyone else to be either. This failure for each side to tone down the exaggeration is almost worse than having them be straight up racist. Like the black family's mom said, at least in the old days, before the civil rights movement, you knew what you were dealing with. The black father was sort of right in saying that racism is a little more covert. Yes, there are probably plenty of straight up racists that are just faking tolerance because of the modern push for true equality, but I think the real covert racism is the unconscious kind of "hyporacism" that most of us are guilty of nowadays. We don't think we're racist, but we're exercising racism by either ignoring it, assuming it, or going to extremes to make people think we aren't.

When it comes right down to it...I guess I really am straight up racist: I have something against the human race, which biologically speaking, is the only true race of homo sapiens sapiens. Humans are dumb. There are a few shining hopefuls among us, but we are, on the whole, pretty stupid. We do the dumbest, most backwards things and don't even realize how we're hindering our own progress. If I were an alien, I think I'd have to insist you drink from your own fountain, and I would definitely make you sit at the back of the spaceship...