Also,

I'd like to tell you, dearest Internet: Happy Armistice Day.
I almost forgot and I think my blanking out on it possibly emphasizes the fact of the loss of meaning of this day, which is why I like when people say Armistice Day instead of Veteran's Day. So, thank you, Mr. Cowgill, my history teacher, for spreading your knowledge around. And, though I don't like war and think most of it's pointless bickering between two - or more - humans that happen to be leading a country, the people who are fighting in it are more often pawns in the process and I'd like to say thank you for the sacrifices that you make to join something you believe may effect something.
Here's a pretty cool link I found that really makes an impact behind the meaning of the day the "world stopped fighting".

Your friend,
Alex

Fair and Balanced!

Okay, now a preface to why I posted the following video: I posted this video to show the biased approach of most media around the country. I posted about FOX because that was the easiest and most available to find (obviously - but strike that last remark off the record), and plus, the video is absolutely hilarious.



Anyway, I've been reading a book called The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz, and it's turning into an interesting read. He's talked on TED a few times, which is what got me interested in the book in the first place. I'm not going to talk about the book any until I've finished it, but I will say this: "The joyfulness of a man prolongeth his days" and I'll follow it up with the subtitle of The Paradox of Choice: "How The Culture of Abundance Robs Us Of Satisfaction" just to get you thinking. I'm almost done the book so I'll be talking about it soon enough - and I tell you, my loving readers, it's an interesting read.

I am going to leave another video from TED by Schwartz, on the loss of wisdom by the constraint of rules and incentives in our culture, though. It's another thing to get one thinking:



Now, this being watched - hopefully - one could say in response to my first video, "Media has the moral obligations to go from an objective viewpoint to a biased viewpoint in order to deliver a portion of the news that will spark a reaction from the country for patriotism and the fervor to fight for one's country." I counter that with "No." Haha, no, I counter that with, "Media has the moral obligation to break one's own rules for backing a faction in any and all situations, and delivering the news objectively so people of this country can decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong."

Your friend,
Alex

Sanctity of Marriage

Courtesy of Kontraband

I have a book and album/band I want to talk about, but I want to read more of that book, so more later/tomorrow!

Your friend,
Alex

It ought to be mentioned..

My previous post about EZLN was all due to the new release of Dead to Me's new album African Elephants - indirectly related to Kyle, who showed me their myspace which held their streaming album. While I was listening to the album I saw pictures in their influences and it sparked my interest, and thus, a post to you, my dearest readers and the ineffable entity that is the internet. Amen and Hallelujah.

Because I liked the album so much, here's a sampler from African Elephants, courtesy of Fat Wreck Chords.

Dead To Me - "A Day Without A War"

Go buy the album 'cause it's coming out soon! I hope I can do so as well. It sounds like the old Dead To Me to me though they lost a person or two, but you'll have to go to Kyle for all the details and what he thinks about the album. He can do those things better than I can.

Also! While the topic of EZLN is still fresh:

A song directly alluding to the Zapatista movement by Anti-Flag, entitled "Zapatista, Don't Give Up". Perhaps not the most original of titles but eh... who cares. Someone should appreciate it.




Your friend,
Alex

I know how to obey, I was trained to obey.

I've recently watched a documentary called "A Place Called Chiapas". I'd give it a thumbs up - documenting the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, or EZLN) and its movement. Though history has shown us that revolutions are usually bad (ironically, I can see that through this blog's title), this movement is interesting. Like most uprisings in Mexico, a big issue being fought over is for the better social and economic (which, I think is a bad word to use here) opportunities for the indigenous peoples of Mexico. From what I understand, EZLN, led by Subcomandante Marcos, invaded Mexico City after the signing of NAFTA - only to be pushed back again by the Mexican Army - to bring to light the disadvantages that would continue on the poor. Since that initial uprising in 1994, EZLN has abstained from using any weapons, instead using their voice, which before they did not have. The New York Times, according to the the documentary, have called EZLN the first "post modern" revolution. And you know what? I like the sound of it. If you, my special readers, would like to see the documentary yourself, why, here it is courtesy of the devil's accomplice, Google:



"I have a dead brother. Who doesn't have a dead brother? I have one. Killed by a bullet at dawn on January 1, 1994. Very early came that bullet. Very early death kissed my brother's forehead. He used to laugh. Not now. I can't keep him in my pocket, but I kept the bullet. I asked the bullet where it came from. It answered, 'From a gun. From a government soldier's gun serving those in power who themselves serve others.' That deadly bullet has no country. Nor does the fight to keep brothers, and not bullets, in our pockets. That's why Zapatistas wear uniforms with many pockets. Not to keep bullets, but to keep brothers."

"In the mountains of Chiapas, death was a daily part of life. It was as common as rain or sunshine. People here coexist with death, and with the death of their own, especially the little ones. Paradoxically, death begins to shed its tragic cloak. Death becomes a daily fact. It loses its sacredness. You see it as someone you sit down with at the table, like an old acquaintance. You don't lose your fear of death, but you become familiar with it. It becomes your equal. Death, which is so near, so close, so possible, is less terrifying for us than for others. So, going out and fighting, and perhaps meeting death is not as terrible as it seems. For us, at least. In fact, what surprises and amazes us is life itself. The hope of a better life. Going out to fight and die and finding out you're not dead, but alive. And, unintentionally, you realize you're walking along a middle path between death and life. You're walking on the edge of the border between them."

Para todos todo, para nosotros nada.

Your friend,
Alex

Can you spare a dime, brother?

"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney (1931)

They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob,

When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear, I was always there right on the job.

They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead,

Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread?

Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time.

Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?

Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime;

Once I built a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?

Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,

Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,

Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,

And I was the kid with the drum!

Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time.

Why don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?

Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,

Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,

Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,

And I was the kid with the drum!

Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time.

Say, don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?

-Song from the Great Depression

I don't see any rewards to be reaped from an inanimate entity.

Your friend,
Alex

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black

Where the Sidewalk Ends

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pit where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know,
The place where the sidewalk ends.

-Shel Silverstein

I wish I had payed more attention to this guy when I was younger. I have one of his books, and I could've swore I had Where the Sidewalk Ends; alas, I'm pretty sure I do not.

I recently read The Doll House by Ibsen for English and I'm not going to lie, for the first time in the class, I did not like what we were doing. The play really turned around in the end though so it payed off, I guess, and now that I know what the play is about fully, and what happens, I can appreciate it more when I read it again.

Yo' friend,
Alex