Desire Armed

This is a fun quick read. Oh, the frailty of humanity.

The last question was asked for the first time, half in jest, on May 21, 2061, at a time when humanity first stepped into the light. The question came about as a result of a five dollar bet over highballs, and it happened this way:

...

Adell was just drunk enough to try, just sober enough to be able to phrase the necessary symbols and operations into a question which, in words, might have corresponded to this: Will mankind one day without the net expenditure of energy be able to restore the sun to its full youthfulness even after it had died of old age?

Or maybe it could be put more simply like this: How can the net amount of entropy of the universe be massively decreased?

Multivac fell dead and silent. The slow flashing of lights ceased, the distant sounds of clicking relays ended.

Then, just as the frightened technicians felt they could hold their breath no longer, there was a sudden springing to life of the teletype attached to that portion of Multivac. Five words were printed: INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL ANSWER.

"No bet," whispered Lupov. They left hurriedly.

By next morning, the two, plagued with throbbing head and cottony mouth, had forgotten about the incident.

Thanks to a generous gift ($600 for a plane ticket!), I will be in Oklahoma this weekend for a wedding.

The trip will be quite brief though.

I am looking forward to seeing my family, especially, my newest nephew.

Think about it.

“The only way you are going to be relevant to this generation is by you getting detached from this generation and getting connected to the realm of heaven.”

This from foreignpolicy.com today:

Mobs of Jewish settlers rioted in the West Bank attacking Palestinians and setting fire to agricultural land in protest of the Israeli government's pledge to crack down on "wildcat" settlements. Settlers are also waging an ongoing legal battle to evict Palestinians from homes in East Jerusalem.

This is from the first article:

Settlers have vowed to retaliate with attacks on Palestinians after removal even the tiniest enclave _ a tactic known as "price tag."

Under any other context, what would we call this?

Like that graphic? I threw it together real quick for you all. I even figured out how to do watermarks in Gimp. Yep.

I want to write a piece about how Jesus became an American patriot. This probably means I should buy, "The American Patriot's Bible."

Here's the Video that plugs the stupid thing. (Note: I was only able to watch up until the point that the video quotes Andrew Jackson as saying, "That book is the rock upon which our republic rests." Now Jackson, he was a great Christian leader for the country, wasn't he?"

Death to Americanity, anyone?)

I promise I'll post something significant soon. I'm still adjusting to the eastside and work. Till then, enjoy me all dressed up in an Abercrombie shirt the former occupant of my room left me.

And my new hairstyle.

So I have moved out of the apartment with Justin (because he got married) and into an apartment with a couple of friends named Ray and Ted.

The new apartment is only a 5 minute walk to school as opposed to the 1 hour and 20ish minute commute. I like that.

I also like that the former occupant of the room I inherited left me a bed that doesn't sit on the floor (something new to me in the last couple of years), an umbrella, and several Abercrombie shirts.

Ray is a close friend since I started Multnomah. Ted came along shortly there after. I've had many an adventure with both, but I suppose the new ones that happen as I live here will be told to you.

Remember when I posted a link to a picture of Jesus on the butt of a dog?

Alex comments on that post.

What you're all forgetting is that the image cannot be an offensive rendition of Jesus not for the sake of humour or a lack thereof, or even for adam's witty and chuckle-worthy reminder of our general disposition towards offense. No my friends, it is because Jesus, in fact, was not white. I'm willing to go ahead and assume he didn't travel around Galilee in a nice Wool-ite whiteness protected white robe either. Wherefore, the dog picture can only be a just and amusing allegory for white jesus and all accompanying constantinian agendas.

=D Good night and good luck

They (that ominous they that knows everything) used to say that the quality of a government was dependent on the quality of the media.

In the future, will the quality of government be dependent on the quality of Internet access...especially access to sites like youtube and twitter?

Rosenberg was shot and killed while riding his bicycle on Sunday. He had been representing a financial expert named Khalil Musa who was himself murdered along with his daughter after accusing a state-owned bank of corruption. Rosenberg had publicly accused the government of conspiring the kill Musa. The video quickly went viral after Rosenberg's death, sparking anti-government demonstrations with thousands of angy protesters demanding Colom's resignation and calling for an international investigation.

(The YouTube video that could bring down Guatemala's government: Foreignpolicy.com)

The protest in Guatemala progressed online like this and came with the arrest of a Twitterer.

The release of Rosenberg’s written statement and video have led to street protests as well as a great deal of online organizing. Xeni Jardin - who’s covered this story very closely on BoingBoing - reports that these protests have been streamed live on the internet via Ustream.tv, with the broadcast periodically interrupted by police harrasment. Guatemalans and others following the situation are organizing groups on Facebook and tagging their posts on Twitter with the #escandalogt tag.

In one of her posts, Xeni notes that the young people organizing online to protest Rosenberg’s murder are taking a great deal of personal risk. That was a prescient warning on her part - today, Guatemalan police arrested Jean Ramses Anleu Fernández, who was twittering under the handle @jeanfer.

(The assassinated lawyer, the arrested Twitterer - corruption, whistleblowing and protest in Guatemala: ethanzuckerman.com)

Facebook, Youtube, Ustream.tv, and yes, even Twitter. I guess these things aren't a waste of time for everybody.

If the Rosenberg story is legit, I hope justice comes about somehow. Even if Twitter (which I still hate) is involved.