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| Even though Going to Jury Duty was a bit of a waste of my time, it did eventually become a sorta muse for this entry.
During the process of selecting the panel for the case, the Judge had said something along these lines; "I apologize for your time--we will finish the selection as soon as possible so that we may move on and finally do some justice."
At the moment that he said the word "justice", my otherwise blank mind was disrupted. Justice? No way I was going to take that word seriously. "Justice" was a word used in theatrics, spoken dramatically as such--"With God as my witness, Justice shalt be served!" or "Allow me to deal some Justice to those scallywags." Justice was never, in my mind, anything more than an image of a disgruntled old man shaking his fist in the air--and here we are at this courtroom, and this thing called "justice" was uttered from this Judge. Yeah, right, Justice.
More importantly, though, that incident is what would allow me bring up the following topic--words that I can not take seriously. "Justice" is just one of these, but I'd also like to mention that "goodness", "right", "evil", and "equality" are all words that I just can't perceive as being wholesome and complete. In other words, all of the mentioned words, and many more, represent (in my opinion) arbitrary ideas that can be defined in so many different perspectives that it's impossible to settle on an universal truth. What IS Justice? What is "the quality of being just or fair"? I suppose in the eyes of the Judge, Justice is exercised by the laws and rights from which our Constitution is derived. Mostly, however, Justice falls under the pattern of "Man is accused of a crime, Man gets convicted with sufficient evidence beyond reasonable doubt, Man receives punishment" & "Man is accused of a crime, Man is pardoned with sufficient evidence beyond reasonable doubt, Man is free to go." The quintessential problems with justice are One, who are the rest of us to judge? and Two, the level of importance placed on tangible and intangible evidence.
For example, a man had to kill a group of people to save many more; however, there is no evidence to prove this motive. He is prosecuted by the Jury's and the Judge's verdict, and dealt with the death sentence. However, who are we to judge?
Or in another example, a man who has actually committed murder can be dismissed because he had carefully schemed the crime, wherein all the evidence is carefully disposed of, any motive tactfully dispelled, and all alibi cleared. He walks free as a bird.
Are either examples Justice? Yes, in the face of the United States Constitution. Not so much for the eyes of omnipotence, though (although of course in reality, we do not see everything in the eyes of the narrator).
What IS goodness, what's right, and what's evil?
What IS equality? For decades we've struggled with the meaning of equality. Even today, with the ongoing conflict in sexism and homosexual union.
It's precisely because these words can be arbitrarily used by many in justification of certain actions that Religion becomes a convenient instrument in defining them. Anytime Religion comes into play, however, things are downtrodden, grim, and sensitive. I really resent religious self-righteousness in defining heavy words, because oftentimes the thick underlying hypocrisy bleeds through; it not only enrages me, but also depresses me to an enormous extent.
Therefore, I choose not take any of these words (of an arbitrary-nature) seriously.
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... with arresting people for owning child pornography?first of all, which part of downloading child pornography is illegal? the fact that he was downloading, or the fact that it was child pornography?
there are several discrepancies with this incident. first of all, can child pornography possess copyright issues in which downloading it would constitute "internet piracy"? my assumption would be no. since it is illegal to make, child pornography should not have the same value as regular film clips, and therefore the clips do not reserve the right to copyright.
second of all, if it's not about the "downloading" -- how is "owning" child pornography illegal? shouldn't "making" child pornography be illegal? since when did "owning a clip of something being done illegally" become "illegal"? since when did personal sexual preferences become illegal? if he's not manipulating children to have sex with him or making child pornography, what's the deal here?
i'm not condoning child pornography at all in this case. i just don't understand what he was arrested for. if it's for downloading, fine (but that still doesn't solve the issue of whether internet-circulated child pornography can be "pirated" if it's not supposed to exist in the first place). but if it's for owning child pornography, then i believe there is something rather unconstitutional here. in my opinion, by this example, anyone who downloads clips of women getting raped and people getting murdered would be arrested for owning them. i don't know, man, this may be the first small step to censorship.
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| so it's about a month and a half into summer, and it began very "rockily". first it's the traffic ticket; i still owe my brother 500 bucks because he paid for me. then not working as much. then everybody around me breaking up. then my brother's puppy went blind in one eye and had to undergo surgery so the other wouldn't go blind as well. but anyway, you know, mostly mundane shit that people complain about all damn day. my best bud vince came back from virginia and confessed to me that he feels monterey park is not worth it anymore. his reasoning is that since he came back he should be able to hang out more with the people he can only hang out with here. okay, that's logical--except the thing is, he frequently has to telemarket his desires to people so he could get them together. so with that in mind, i decided to make it my best effort to make vince's monterey park stay worth his while. this past month with vince was pretty much all physical activity and cheap food, and that's alright with me. we did a lot of hiking, a few games of basketball. we talked a great deal about our confusion with life, manga plots, girls as always, and the hypocrisy in people around us and in america. except for the fact that vince is now very health conscientious, he virtually hasn't changed. on the other hand, recently i kept reviewing myself; have i changed so much that i can not accepted how my friends have changed? take this guy for example, whom i will refer to as Z. when i first met him, i felt he was a witty and pragmatic kinda guy. always saying shit as it is, always keeping it real and not falling into the system. but that was in high school. still, throughout the conversations during college i felt that he was essentially the same guy, calling shit out as he sees it and never, ever giving in to the system. i thought that he valued who he was, where he came from, and who made it all happen. since he came back from wherever he lived and worked for the last 2 years or so, however, i felt that something stirred within me of the things he said. he did not value this town for what it was. it seemed like he judged the town by its entertainment value, rather than the people whom resided here. he repeatedly disproves the town, not acknowledging any value that the presence of his friends and family may have placed here. then, as i saw him for the first time in years, all i heard that he talked about were the meticulous faults he had observed all around him. he attributed this to his dependency on caffeine; i wasn't sure if he was joking. he talked about how a movie sucks without having actually seen it. he found fault with the place we ate at but he has probably zero intention of starting a business with better management. Z, you can not change the world by talking. a few weeks later, Z began talking about how he's enjoying his time here in this town. if entertainment were the merit of every town, then why did you disprove the town right when you arrived? why didn't you give it a chance? why are you hiding behind your vegetarianism, your clothes, your jokes, your hair, and your dependency on caffeine? and as i struggled to comprehend this change, i began to see that perhaps it was me who is being ridiculous. am i so holier-than-thou that i can pass these judgements on people? a long-time good friend, out of all people? at this state, though, i can not bear to hold a conversation with Z. i needed to grow a little more, mature a little more. i'll give myself time to see through my thoughts and reevaluate Z at a later time, when i am wiser. perhaps i will see the reason i thought the way i did and why it may have been wrong. i'm sorry if i have misjudged, and i'm sorry that i've even judged. if you're reading this, Z, i just wanted you to know that i was just unnerved because i put my memory of you on a pedestal and it'll just take time for me to get over it. more about the summer, though. i've met and spent time with a few more people this summer. most were acquaintances met through eba, and most of the time with most of these acquaintances were spent exercising. which i suppose is a good thing. i've also been to disneyland a couple of times due to the annual pass that eba bought me as a cumulative gift for all the occasions this year has to offer (birthday, christmas). now i can safely say that i have the opportunity to experience every ride at least twice. i've also made two significant trips; one up north to san francisco, and one down to la jolla, to visit friends. the only trips left to make now are to texas, virginia, and alaska, but i probably wouldn't be doing that anytime soon. so the conclusion is, while summer had a rocky start, it finally kicked into a comfortable routine. i'm done with the real estate class i was taking, so now the rest of the summer i can just share my company with people, more disneyland/california adventure visits and of course, exercise. i was just speaking with eba and i felt like i should share this as a last note to this entry. it's a suggestion of sorts, i suppose. as a friend, i like to be constructive, because what good friend isn't? there are understanding friends, empathetic friend, but though friends understand and empathize, they should also give constructive encouragement. if your friend has something that or someone who is making his/her life dramatic and miserable, then no matter how harsh it is, tell him/her that it's not good for him/her! encourage your friend to communicate and solve the problem; if the problem can not be solved, then to quit wasting time. it's only fair to tell it as it is as soon as you can, because who knows, your friend may be in that kind of situation for 50 years down the line and regret the bad decision until death. always encourage communication, inquire unbiased details and keep it real. anyway, i'm 23 and still not career-orientated. fuck man, i regret my decision to be a lazy student already. | | |
| what is a pyramid scam, anyway? those involved are taught be religiously persistent. you are encouraged to vigorous in your recruits, and are awarded when you surpass requirments. who really wins here? how does the act of recruiting, and only recruiting, become a viable source of income? it doesn't feel like something very substantial. usually some insignificant products are tied in with it, but mostly, it's just the motivation of money in recruiting and promotions that suck people in. and then there's always a catch; some sorta membership fee. what is the scam, here, anyway? are people being manipulated for their money with no results? i don't think that is the case here. it seems like a scam because there is nothing substantial about what one does in a pyramid recruiting/promoting process. it seems like a scam because if one does not recruit enough, the out-of-the-blue membership fee would not worth it. committing to a pyramid recruiting/promoting process requires a hard work ethic; you really have to be that annoying salesperson, that incessant telemarketer. and that, to me, is insubstantial and meaningless "work". | | |
| 1. Different from, not different than
you can find the logic in this by taking the verb form of different and plugging it in.
"Jerry differs from the norm because he's a fagturd."
"Jerry differs than the norm because he's a fagturd."
2. The reason is, not the reason is because
this is an example of redundancy. the logic is as follows; 1. A happened because of B.
so then
2. B is the reason that A happened. by combining the above two statements of ambiguity to form the statement "the reason is because...", one will have
- A happened, the reason is because of B. you can see clearly in here that "the reason" is not needed; a short simple statement of #1 would suffice. one may argue that the reason includes "beacause of" the reason = because of __________.
however, if it were put in question form, it would be as follows;
1. What was the reason (cause) that the stock market crashed?
There were corrupt bankers.
2. Why did the stock market crash?
Because of corrupt bankers.
It would not be wise to answer the first question with "because of". A good way to remind oneself not to use the format "The reason is because..." is to substitute "reason" with the word "cause".
- "The cause is because..." is clearly redundant.
if one insists on keeping "the reason" in the statement, it should then be an inverted version of #2: - A happened, (and) the reason is B.
Usually mistakes like these happen orally, when the speaker attempts to break the cause(s) and effect(s) into several statements like such:
- A happened.
- The reason is ... because of ... B.
in this format, the speaker has accidentally disrupted him/herself into adding "because of", since "the reason" was interrupted in his/her thought process as he/she speaks.
this can be corrected by using only "because".
- A happened
- (&) This is because of B. | | |
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