The Eagle's Talon

2005-12-21T12:02:00.000-05:00

Alrighty..temporary downtime...it's not so bad..just give me sometime to catch up, and I'll post soon enough...thanks for the one person who reads this for your patience.......

Notable News

2005-11-11T12:14:00.000-05:00

I might do this more often, but we'll see...here are some random news/quotes that struck me as interesting:

Pat Roberson Warns Pa. Town of Disaster - 700 Club and relgious lunatic Pat Robertson after Dover, PA citizens didn't re-elect their school board members who were pro-intelligent design in classrooms: "I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God. You just rejected him from your city...If they have future problems in Dover, I recommend they call on Charles Darwin. Maybe he can help them."

Not very surprising, being that this is the same guy who called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez (Venezulan President), said that the U.S. State department should be nuked, and that feminism encourages women to "kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians."

Speaking of intelligent design...check this out.

Commercial on Television - "There is no such thing as a safe cigarette. The best thing for your health is to quit smoking." Guess who produced this commercial...believe it or not: Philip Morris USA. Interesting that they have so much confidence in the addiction and media image of their products that they can outright tell you to stop, without fear of losing profit. Craziness.

Teen wins Mich. Mayoral Race by 2 Votes - Nice, mayor before he even graduates. I'd say we're looking at the future youngest U.S. President. Although, this is the same place that elected a MI House of Representative member that says we should cut down on the amount of public universities in the state of Michigan...at a rally for higher education in a room full of college students.

Do a news search for pirates, and you'll get quite a few real responses (other than the movie). There are actually pirates plundering and taking hostages on the high seas. Arrrrrr Matey!

Man Glued to Toilet Sticks to Story - Some guy was super-glued to a toilet in a Home Depot...nice.

Crazy stuff....until next time.

Living without mobility (in a transportation sense)

2005-11-04T15:50:00.000-05:00

As much as I hate cars, gas and the problems associated with each (i.e. pollution, accidents, economic class wars), life in modern society requires that everyone possess or at least have unrestricted access to motor transportation..i.e. a car, truck, or whatever you fancy. I need a car, whether I like it or not, and I'll tell you why. Let's take a few points of examination on this issue:

As a college student, most of my life resides within the few square miles known as the Campus, more by force than by option perhaps, due to my lack of auto ownership. I live on campus in a university apartment, work on campus in a university department, and obviously I go to school mostly on the main part of campus. Some (including myself most of the time) regard this situation as 'convenient,' however it is not always the case. The fact that I do not have my own car keeps me in a vicious cage that will never allow me to own my own vehicle. The cage is as follows:

no car now
in order to buy/rent/whatever a car it takes a large amount of money
campus jobs (like mine) don't pay enough beyond 'living expenses' (food, past bills, tuition), thus not allowing for any saving
off-campus jobs pay more, but lack of car to take me to said jobs
thus no car ever

The only way I see myself getting out of this cycle is to move closer to a job, but then a new problem arises....while I'm working to save for a car, how the hell do I get to school?

Yeah, I know there's a bus system, but there are several reasons why it doesn't work.

it's not reliable on time, so I could either miss the bus and be late, or get on and be really early (not so bad), but being a student doesn't really allow time for that
it costs money to ride the bus...and if I had money in the first place, then this whole deal wouldn't exist
the bus doesn't run on weekends in most places and late at night, my prime working times

So I'm stuck to not owning a car....but now let's look at why I think I can't live without a car in the first place.

People tend to eat food sometimes, and I can't afford to A)eat Taco Bell and Wendy's (Student Union food) every meal or B)shop at convenience stores for groceries (its $3 for a 1/2 gallon of milk!) So lack of car = lack of food possibility.
My campus job and involvements consist of community service, the 'community' part emphasized. Without a car, I have a hard time getting anything done for my cause, unless I find someone else to do it for me, which loads up work that I should be doing on someone else. I can't even make public fun gatherings that I need to be at sometimes because I can't get a ride.
I'm losing my sanity. Sure it's great seeing the same room, same campus, same office, same classroom every day, all day. I love monotony. Duh! I need to get out sometimes. Good thing I don't have time for dating, or that would be embarrassing. (Hey babe, wanna go out sometime? Um...can you drive?)
If the first three things weren't enough, the fourth is great too! I feel so helpless since the only way I can ever go anywhere is by begging for a ride from my roomates, who then have just as crazy a schedule as I do, and rarely go where I need to go, so I end up settling with nothing, or calling my parents to come visit and take me where I need to go. So much for independence.

I think those are pretty good enough reasons why I need a car.

I just wish that there was some way to get around that didn't involve lots of money, or was reliable. Put some damn money into the mass transit system and then we'll talk, because the bus isn't that bad...it's just not that easy to carry 10-12 grocery bags on it.

So the verdict: I need a car, but alas, there is no thought of having a car in the next few years. Although I'm insane, poor, and eating unhealthy food (thank you Wendy's for being cheap), at least I'm not paying 2.35 a gallon for gas. Anyone wanna give me a ride?

EDIT: A few hours after I wrote this, I found out the bus that was to rented to take carless students to the big football game tomorrow in Detroit was full, meaning no ride for me. Another casulty of the lack of car ownership.

Granting what is granted as taken for

2005-10-30T20:44:00.000-05:00

I am sure we have all heard the phrase "Don't take (enter thing) for granted, because one day you might wake up and not have (said thing)." Now, everyone, nod your heads in agreement like you deeply agree with that. Okay, now who actually knows what the heck it actually means? Let's break it down:

Grant, tr.v Granted: 1. to consent to a fulfillment, grant a request
2. to accord(bestow) as a favor, prerogative, or privilege
3. a. to bestow, confer; grant aid
b. to transfer (property) by a deed
4. to concede, acknowledge

Gotta love good 'ole Dictionary.com, option number 2 seems most appropriate for this case, but there is more we need to define...so next word look-up...
prerogative n.: an exclusive right or privilege held by a group or person

I know what you are thinking...'thanks for reading the dictionary for me'...but I have a point, so hold up.

So to be granted (if my "language addition" skills are up to par) means to have been bestowed as a right or privilege...so let's put this back in the original phrase.

"Don't take (the thing) as bestowed as a right or privilege or one day you might wake up and not have (thing) anymore."

So after a little language examination we have found that we use the word "granted" incorrectly in this phrase. That would make sense why we don't fully know what the phrase means. I would assume we all have a general idea of what the phrase means: (things) will not always be the same, so don't expect things (things) to stay the same. Really, the phrase should be "(Thing) isn't guaranteed, so don't act like it is, for some day (thing) might not be around."

Now that we know what the phrase should say and its general usage, let us go back to what it could mean in terms of its impact on life. What were we doing at the time this phrase was told to us? Bragging about something? Wasting something? Ignoring someone? Many occasions have called for this phrase to be told to us, but why? There is an incorrect amount of value placed on the incorrect ideal in all of these previous situations.

Let's look at a real life example of one of the applications of the phrase:

For instance, if you don't visit your grandmother frequently, and she lives just down the road, this could be an instance of placing value in the wrong element. According to most of your parents it doesn't matter how far away a grandparent resides from home, but only how often you visit them, and they give you the 'granted' phrase regarding her life. In this case your parents place the most value on the amount of time spent with your grandmother, while you have placed the most value on her living close to you. This imbalance of value could cause issues one day, when your grandmother inevitably passes away. Saying "Although I never valued her life by visiting her frequently, I valued the fact that she lived down the road" sounds pretty harsh doesn't it? Might it cause you some regret? Of course it would! This is the sort of thing the phrase is used to teach us about.

If we place the correct amount of value on the correct ideals, then we do not have to worry about regret and additional pain. Thus we should analyze what we value and whether or not that is correct for our lives to reach the least amount of regret and pain later in our lives. This is what the phrase is leading to in its meaning. "Make sure you value everything in your life, for when you lose that thing, you will feel more regretful and pain if you didn't value it."

To discuss a more common example, let's take health. Everything is dandy when you are healthy, right? But compare that feeling to when you have a blister on the hand you write with, or a nasty cold making it hard for you to breathe. Even the smallest thing changes your life, even it is temporary. When we are sick or injured we think about how great it was to be fully healthy, and how much we can't wait to be healthy again. We never think about how great it is to be healthy now, thus placing adequate value on our health, but only after we lose it do we place the value.

So there ya have it, an explanation and application of one of life's most common phrases. Now we just need to take it into consideration in our lives and really, truely believe it. Like Socrates said in Plato's dialogue Crito, (paraphrased) In order to truely know something, you must believe it, and act on that belief, otherwise, you don't truely know it.

America's Past Time?

2005-09-25T18:54:00.000-04:00

Since we are in the midst of the football and baseball seasons I feel it is appropriate to bring up a sports-related issue: What is the true American Past Time? Since its inception, baseball, and more specifically the World Series (of course the only "world" involved is the U.S. and the Toronto Blue Jays), has been the so-called "main event" of American sports. Being a baseball fan was a very common thing during the majority, if not all of the 20th century, and it was something that all citizens could use to relate to each other, whether they knew all the players and teams or not. However, today I believe is a different story. Football has become the sport of choice in the U.S, and I'll tell you why.

First, looking at the professional spectrum, there are 162 games in a season per team, and 30 teams, for a total of 2430 games played in one season (2 teams per game = 15 games per 'cycle', times 162), which consists of 6 months. Football has 16 games per season for its 32 teams, meaning only 256 possible games in a regular season, over the course of 4 months. Why is this important information? It is because of an economical theory known as supply and demand, and it states that when supply is high, demand is low, and there it applies the same way to sports. Because of the insane amount of baseball games, which usually take place every day, it is difficult to follow and meaning is lost to most of the games in between the beginning and the playoffs. Football means something more to its fans, since games only happen once or twice a week, and each game makes and breaks the teams because of having so few games. It goes without saying (even though I am going to say it anyway) that playoffs carry identical issues, since MLB has best-of-five and best-of-seven series in comparison to the single elimination four-week playoff style of the NFL, capped off by what has truely been the "greatest show on earth."

Secondly, in the college spectrum, the money driver of most athletics programs is the football program, and near the bottom is baseball, or even softball. Even great baseball/softball programs, such as University of Michigan, are far overshadowed by their gridiron counterparts.

Finally, there is huge evidence in simply looking at attendance figures and capabilities at the largest and/or most dominant stadiums in each sport. Yankee Stadium holds just under 60,000 people and is typically 55-60 percent full during the regular season. At the Big House, the home of the University of Michigan Wolverines football, a measely(right) 107,000 people can and do fill the seats consistently, and even stuff themselves in over the limit (beyond 110,000) in standing-room-only endzone locations. The UofM stadium is the biggest football-only stadium in the world, by the way.

I have given you some of the loads of physical evidence that show that football has become more dominant of a sport in the United States than baseball, and any other sport for that matter, and is taking over as the official past time of the people of the U.S. Don't believe me? Go to a football game and a baseball game, and just compare the energy and excitement "vibe" you get from the crowd, even if you don't understand either sport.

The challenge...eating in class

2005-09-23T11:01:00.000-04:00

There are many painful processes in life, and one of them is trying to eat lunch in the middle of a class. Don't believe me? Try unwrapping a hamburger in a cellophane-wax wrapper SILENTLY when you are sitting in the second row of a small 30-person classroom!

Normally I wouldn't go as far as to purchase a hamburger from one of the school's dining operations, since it is basically an oil/grease patty on a fake bread bun, but I was starving since I was coming from a morning of meetings without even snacking. I also bought a bag of chips (another bad idea), a diet coke (bottle), and some M & Ms (probably a bad idea again). It was tortuous to manuever the wrapping of that burger without causing that infamous obnoxious crinkling sound, diverting both the other students and my professor's attention from the lecture at hand. I thought that hiding the casing under my desktop and struggling to unwrap it blindly would work, but as I just stated, it was a blind attempt, so stealth was not available at all, proving the theory that just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there.

Next, I tried ripping the wrapper open forcefully, which would produce a loud noise, but a quick one at that. The better part of the idea was coughing loudly to "mask" the sound created. This idea was definitely not successful, since I am not a good actor of coughing, and it only made the situation worse since I was getting some stares that weren't very welcoming.

About halfway through the lecture, I finally managed to open the wrapper enough to take the burger out, but that posed a new problem. The hamburgers here at the university are actually hot, and hot food usually, and especially in this case, exposes aromas that are quite nice. The smell of the hot hamburger was spreading rather quickly, so again I tried to reevaluate the theory of under-the-desktop disappearing. This actually worked, and after a few minutes of cooling, I was actually able to eat it. It wasn't the best hamburger I have ever eaten, but for the amount of work and torture that I had to go through to savor it, it was as if I had grilled it myself. As for the bag of chips and everything else, I learned my lesson and decided to wait until after class to eat them, as I was practically exhausted from the burger work.

The moral of this story is simple: don't buy loud food, stick with things like bagels, donuts, and other breaded things that you don't need to unwrap, and drink non-carbonated beverages so that you avoid that loud "breath" noise when you turn the cap. I sure won't, and I have experience to show why.

Books...adding to the already high costs of education

2005-09-15T10:29:00.000-04:00

$55, $75, $80, $150. No these aren't guesses on the Price of Right, these are the pricetags on this semester's textbooks, and the lower two are USED books (meaning that the price would be double that if there weren't any USED ones left). Thankfully, I am only taking a minimal twelve credit hours (four classes), but many students aren't so "lucky." I understand that textbooks are important for most classes, being either as an extra resource or the actual class itself, but it is getting ridiculous! According to surveys done here at EMU and around the country, the average student pays from $300 to $500 in books each SEMESTER! That is almost the price of taking another class (of three credits).

In order to truely evalute the cost-effectiveness of textbooks for our education, I want to take a look at the varying uses of them in classes. Let's take for example my classes (Business Law, Phil of Law, Business Ethics, and Critical Reasoning) this semester. Critical Reasoning, basically learning to be logical thinkers, is online, and the textbook IS the class, with a bit of documented lectures found online to complement the text. The 250 page book was $75, and I feel in this case well worth the money, as it comes with a CD that adds extra assistance. Next, the Phil of Law class involves reading a 30-40 page chapter, and then attending a bi-weekly lecture on what was read. The 300 page book was $50, and value is questionable, seeing that so far I haven't needed to read the text in order to do well in the class, since everything that I am supposed to read is regurgitated in class. For the Business Ethics class, the once-a-week lecture somewhat reiterates the text, however it is expected that we read the text in order to participate in the discussions in class that apply the concepts that are contained within the text. There are also specific case studies in the text that we have to write about later in the semester, making the value of the textbook raise significantly. The 250 page book for this class is $80, and although somewhat high for such a thin textbook, I feel that it is partially worth the price. Finally, the whopper known as Business Law. Now since it has the word "law" in it, I should probably expect to see a high pricetag on the text or texts. Yes, as the nearly 700-800 page book runs for $150. It had better be the best book in the entire world for that price, as the class consists of legal wording that is very, very confusing to most people (I am a Polisci major hoping to go into law, so I am learning to understand it, but still). Most interesting about this class is that, according to the prof on the first day, most or all of the exam questions will come from the in-class lectures, and will be given out ahead of time, along with the answers, a few days beforehand. This sends off wild signals not to buy the book. If this is true, then no student should even consider buying the book, and the prof should not even consider ordering the book or "requiring" it for his/her class. A devalued book in my opinion.

I'm sure there are many other cases of textbook usage, ranging from reference to core of the class, and definitely differs from department to department (ex. literature books are sometimes more often "real" books, as opposed to "academic" texts). The bottom line is still that books are too high priced to be a feasible resource for a student's education. It would possibly be another story if the ability existed to sell back the book for at least close to the equal amount that was paid for the text, but almost always a student is only able to get 25-30% of the cost back in the end. In the case of online book sales, which I highly recommend (half.com, amazon.com), someone first has to get shafted into buying the book at list price before anyone else can purchase a used text at a decent price, and sometimes there is still the trouble of high prices, even for a heavily used book (take my bus. law text for example - lowest price was $90 online).

So who decides on text prices? Well, I know all the English/Writing majors can appreciate (later when they have career) that it is a combination of the authors and the publishers, and most unfortunate, the publishers or "academic presses" have the bigger say. I am curious to find out how much profit those companies make on each textbook produced. I will look into it and report back when I find out, but I have a pretty good idea that this "monopolistic" demand placed on students causes for a fairly high profit margin.

So what can we do to save ourselves from these climbing text prices, while already dealing with the raising tuition and general cost of living? Well, be wary of the true need for books in your classes, and try to decipher whether or not you will really be using the book, but just be careful not to get yourself into academic trouble by trying to save money. Also, most obvious, look for the best deal, even if it means looking online and in every bookstore in town. Take advantage of the developing bookswap program here at campus (bookswap.emich.edu) and look into selling your books to other students for $10-15 less than the stores offer (post flyers and such, email me for more tips about this if you are interested, as there are some legal issues).

Well that was a big one, good luck with finding cheap books, and until next time...buy low and sell high.

Some improvements...Hurricane Thought #2

2005-09-10T11:23:00.000-04:00

Thankfully somebody has been watching, now that "Brownie" has been canned. Someone having nearly zero experience in dealing with a massive disaster such as this is not the best person for the position of dealing with a massive disaster such as this. Need I say duh?

I would like to commend all the hardworking everyday citizens for rushing to contribute everything and anything they possibly can. There are so many drives and fundraisers taking place that I cannot go anywhere without hearing about how I can give to the people affected...a great effort.

I still must emphasize that there has to more than physical giving to truely help our fellow man. We must go to our representatives and ensure that this never happens again. Too many times have we been told that certain situations could have been lessened or even fully prevented had we just listened to the people who know what they are doing such as scientists and researchers. When will the people put in charge (by us) actually look out for us and heed all the warnings that (what society would call) experts send? Any person who has ever studied physics could have told us that if the water is higher than you are, eventually it will come down to you, which is exactly what happened. Better yet is the fact that FEMA itself had done simulated exercises to determine the three most catastrophic disasters that could hit the United States; the first being a massive attack on New York (which was based on the first WTC bombing), and the second being an intense hurricane, oh let's say, category 5, hitting the New Orleans area. This was more than four years ago! You would think that after the first catastrophe occurred someone would at least scratch their head about the feasibility of those events. By the way, the third was an earthquake of at least 7.0 magnitude hitting the San Andreas Fault. Scientists (the people our government has never listened to...ever) say that there is between an 80-90% chance of that happening in the next 20 years. I think I am going to listen to that prediction and stay the hell away from the west coast for awhile. I just hope the government and people with the ability to make decisions like evacuations and building infrastructure design development also listen.

It is just a crazy situation in a crazy time. Somebody has not done their job adequately for a very long time, and I won't mention any names. All that needs to happen is to make sure that person does not keep his/her job very much longer, and that is where we come in. It is our job to show our dissatisfaction for what has happened in the last years.

(Begin Civics Lesson Here) --------------------------

As a citizen, you can do anything: write a few emails to representatives asking them how they feel about the situation, circulate a petition or two with everyone who feels unhappy about the response and send them to the federal government (your choice which branch), plan a rally with some friends, post a blog like this, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, keep talking about this issue for as long as it takes to take action; spread the word about how you feel and get others to join you with the common interest. Do not let anyone, especially yourself, forget how we feel right now, this confusion, this pain, this anger. Nothing will change if we sit back and forget about everything. KEY INFORMATION: Raising a voice is not hippyism, it is citizenship.

(End Civics Lessons Here)---------------------------

Alright...that was a crazy rant...and I'm spent for now.

The first of many....hurricane thought #1

2005-09-05T01:00:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe this is happening in the so-called "greatest nation in the world." An endless amount of people are without power and water still, hundreds of thousands no longer have homes, and even more are either stranded, injured or dead. Anarchy has erupted, and little to none help has arrived from outside sources, including our own government.

Obviously, we humans have no possible way of altering or predicting the weather 100% accurately, but at least someone could have foreseen the danger that looms in cities that are lower than the ocean/other bodies of water that rest less than a few miles away. Lots of people did, people like meterologists, geologists, and other non-emergency action directors like "Brownie" (what the president calls FEMA director Michael Brown. Those warnings have been ignored for years, and up and comes this beast of a hurricane...the mother of all mothers. DUH! Look what happened....it is what all the professionals predicted! There is also an article about a warning from the Louisiana National Guard that there is not enough manpower and equipment in the state to handle an agressive over-average hurricane/storm. The "best" part is the date on the article...AUGUST 1ST, 2005! Read the article here. Almost a month before the sh*t hit the fan! That is two big warnings that should never have been passed by...that did.

Just like Pearl Harbor, 9/11, and a lot of Iraq fighting, someone "important" didn't get a copy of the memo. Way to go.

Then there is the problem with the aftermath response, which mainly consists of regular people sending cell phones to the elderly and a few churches dropping off food supplies to stranded refugees. The government, first of all, sent a measly few thousand national guardsmen to the are, and their task was to take over as the acting NOPD. They have been shooting and pistol whipping people who have attempted to take food and medical supplies from already ravaged stores in the town. Come on, these people need things to survive and not add themselves to the list of the dead that rises every minute, and all the government can do to help is send police to stop them? Awesome.

At the few refugee "camps" like the NO Convention Center, one of the main refugee shelters, there is nowhere near enough food or supplies, let alone staff, to help the majority of those who need it. This situation is dire, and it is not getting any better at all, since the race against time is almost up, and the people with real problems, such as being without food and having medical needs that are closing in on death, will soon expire.

This situation is not to be tolerated, both in short and long terms. In the short term, GIVE MONEY LIKE YOU ARE RICH! The American Red Cross is in need of some serious cash (and always volunteers) ASAP. A nation that gave so much to the countries involved in the January tsunamis can easily help out earnestly with its own inhabitants. Get out there and give your time, your money, and your hope, as there are millions who need it right now.

In the long term, do not forget this incident, as it may potentially occur in other forms as years progress. When electing your government officials, federal, state, and local, keep in mind their potential ability and willingness to respond efficiently and appropriately when called upon in an emergency...unlike the present.

This is truely a devastating blow to civilization, and all my thoughts go to those who have been left behind by their fellow man and their government.

EDIT: A few days/weeks following the relief effort, I have begun to feel skeptical regarding donations to the Red Cross or any other charitable group. After millions have been gathered and supposedly spent on relief efforts, very little difference has been made. The way the ARC works includes too many auxilary costs (international fees, personnel payroll, etc) that is not effective for donating to the cause. It may seem more reasonable to donate directly to your local relief workers, if that is possible. Otherwise, investigate to find out exactly what your donation will be going to.