Month: April 2008

Cell Phone Bills

I am overspending a ton on my AT&T Wireless bill. My plan:

  • 450 Anytime, 5000 Night & Weekend minutes ($40)
  • Unlimited iPhone Data ($20)
  • 1500 Text messages ($10)

After taxes and fees, my monthly cell phone bill comes out to $80.06. My actual usage, however, is much less:

  • 116 daytime minutes (almost 75% of my talking happens during nights & weekends, or on free mobile-to-mobile calls)
  • 58MB iPhone data
  • 346 text messages

I got my iPhone for the internet features, not the talk ones. And if I break it down, the $30/month I spend for data and SMS is a really good deal compared to the competition. But why am I spending $40 a month for a lot more than I need? It’s pretty ridiculous that the lowest I can go with an AT&T plan is 450 minutes per month. I guess I could shave off $10 by reducing my texting to 200 a month. (I won’t go into how ridiculously inflated text messaging charges are. It’s like charging ten bucks for three-cent soda.)

I don’t like spending almost $100 a month on my phone. Humph.

College Student Schools Ashcroft on Torture

John Ashcroft spoke at Knox college – a rather liberal school. There was, as expected, a great deal of people protesting his visit, with varying levels of maturity. Howerver, one student had a very revealing exchange with Ashcroft:

ME: First off, Mr. Ashcroft, I’d like to apologize for the rudeness of some of my fellow students. It was uncalled for–we can disagree civilly, we don’t need that. (round of applause from the audience, and Ashcroft smiles) I have here in my hand two documents. One of them, you know, is the text of the United Nations Convention against Torture, which, point of interest, says nothing about “lasting physical damage”…
ASHCROFT: (interrupting) Do you have the Senate reservations to it?
ME: No, I don’t. Do you happen to know what they are?
ASHCROFT: (angrily) I don’t have them memorized, no. I don’t have time to go around memorizing random legal facts. I just don’t want these people in the audience to go away saying, “He was wrong, she had the proof right in her hand!” Because that’s not true. It’s a lie. If you don’t have the reservations, you don’t have anything. Now, if you want to bring them another time, we can talk, but…
ME: Actually, Mr. Ashcroft, my question was about this other document. (laughter and applause) This other document is a section from the judgment of the Tokyo War Tribunal. After WWII, the Tokyo Tribunal was basically the Nuremberg Trials for Japan. Many Japanese leaders were put on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including torture. And among the tortures listed was the “water treatment,” which we nowadays call waterboarding…
ASHCROFT: (interrupting) This is a speech, not a question. I don’t mind, but it’s not a question.
ME: It will be, sir, just give me a moment. The judgment describes this water treatment, and I quote, “the victim was bound or otherwise secured in a prone position; and water was forced through his mouth and nostrils into his lungs and stomach.” One man, Yukio Asano, was sentenced to fifteen years hard labor by the allies for waterboarding American troops to obtain information. Since Yukio Asano was trying to get information to help defend his country–exactly what you, Mr. Ashcroft, say is acceptible for Americans to do–do you believe that his sentence was unjust? (boisterous applause and shouts of “Good question!”)
ASHCROFT: (angrily) Now, listen here. You’re comparing apples and oranges, apples and oranges. We don’t do anything like what you described.
ME: I’m sorry, I was under the impression that we still use the method of putting a cloth over someone’s face and pouring water down their throat…
ASHCROFT: (interrupting, red-faced, shouting) Pouring! Pouring! Did you hear what she said? “Putting a cloth over someone’s face and pouring water on them.” That’s not what you said before! Read that again, what you said before!
ME: Sir, other reports of the time say…
ASHCROFT: (shouting) Read what you said before! (cries of “Answer her fucking question!” from the audience) Read it!
ME: (firmly) Mr. Ashcroft, please answer the question.
ASHCROFT: (shouting) Read it back!
ME: “The victim was bound or otherwise secured in a prone position; and water was forced through his mouth and nostrils into his lungs and stomach.”
ASHCROFT: (shouting) You hear that? You hear it? “Forced!” If you can’t tell the difference between forcing and pouring…does this college have an anatomy class? If you can’t tell the difference between forcing and pouring…
ME: (firmly and loudly) Mr. Ashcroft, do you believe that Yukio Asano’s sentence was unjust? Answer the question. (pause)
ASHCROFT: (more restrained) It’s not a fair question; there’s no comparison. Next question! (loud chorus of boos from the audience)

The student has a detailed account of the entire event, with pictures and video, here.

I’ve said it before, but it bears saying again: Torture is not a political issue. Our own inhumanity encourages our adversaries to treat us with the same evil. This madness must be stopped.

Reigious Crackdown in Russia

Today’s New York Times has a saddening article about diminishing religious freedoms in Russia. While the constitution provides for freedom of religion, the Russian Orthodox Church has overwhelming power over Vladimir Putin’s government, which it is quietly using to persecute and eliminate other religious denominations, calling them “sects” in the derogatory.

Some protestants get random visits from the F.S.B. (think post-Soviet K.G.B.) and can no longer rent spaces of their own or express their beliefs in public- many have moved into hiding, meeting in private homes.

There are definitely much worse places in the world as far as freedom of religion is concerned – Turkey and China especially come to mind. But it’s disappointing to see a country take a step backwards when it comes to freedom. I hate to think of what life for followers of non-Christian faiths must be like in Russia.

Any religion can fall into the self-righteous trap of believing it is the only true one and all others are false, making this decision by faith alone. But even then, this does not give that group a free pass to do wrong to those with other beliefs. As Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”

I surely hope that I will never make the mistake that the Russian government and Orthodox Church has made.

On Pennsylvania

It looks like Hillary Clinton won by about a 10% margin tonight in Pennsylvania. She went in with a huge lead, and the Obama camp was able to win part of that back. However, in the grand scope of things, this is not a “winner takes all event” – as a matter of fact, at this point it is nearly impossible for Clinton to win the pledged delegate count.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwd88C25J-0&w=425&h=355]

So the pledged delegate count belongs to Obama (MSNBC might not call it, but I will 😉 ). Pledged delegates are responsible for about 2/3 of the total of votes needed for a candidate to win the party’s nomination. The other third is determined by party leadership (the superdelegates). It’s a rather undemocratic process for the party elite to basically determine the people’s candidate, but that’s how it is at least this time around.

Nobody really knows how the superdelegates are supposed to cast their vote. Some argue that they should vote based on their constituents’ will, or that of the popular vote. Others say that superdelegates know better than the general public about which candidate is better qualified to lead.

If Hillary Clinton wants to make up her current delegate deficit, she will have to make a case to the superdelegates to vote for her. Since she can’t really win the pledged delegate race, she’ll have to convince superdelegates that she leads in the popular vote among Democrats nationwide. This will be an uphill race, but not completely impossible.

I find the exit polls interesting: Obama wins among voters under 45, voters with college degrees, and independent voters. Hillary Clinton’s strong demographics include conservatives, and 58% of the voters who said race was an important issues. That’s right – a lot of people voted for Hillary Clinton because she is white!

My completely unscientific Zeke’s Gut Feeling™ rating for the Democratic nomination puts Obama at a 66% chance, and Clinton at a 33% chance. In the next month or so, look for Democratic party leadership, which has remained fairly neutral, to push superdelegates in one direction or another to save the Democratic ticket from the candidates, who are starting to hurt their own chances at winning the general election by giving the public (and John McCain) more reasons why they might not be qualified to lead the country. If this goes all the way to the convention, it’s gonna be ugly.

Calm

I spend way too much time making plans for my future. Much of my finite existence is spent storing up for something better for myself in the future. And in all of that time, I think I let a lot of precious moments pass by.

For some reason, I have recently felt existence – both my own and that of everyone and everything around me – from a much less linear perspective of time. Yes, there is the past, which is out of my control. There is the near future, which I spend most of my waking hours trying to control. But there is also the vast amount of the infinite future which I cannot control. My own death is inevitable, and in the grand scheme of things, even the most meaningful life will have minute significance in comparison to eternity.

So why waste time worrying about the little things? Surely, this is no excuse to abandon all care for things that are important. But right now, at least for a short time before I throw myself back into the mundane routine, I recognize that I should not let the relatively insignificant need to control my immediate future define me. When I think, “Who am I?” I shouldn’t worry about petty things like “I go to CSU,” or “I’m trying to get into a career in music and/or technology.” I’d much rather recognize the really important things for what they are, and be defined by those things:

  • How have I loved the people around me?
  • How have I served and sacrificed to benefit others?
  • How much of my short existence was I truly aware of these important things, and how much time did I waste on the mundane and irrelevant?
The world today seems to try its best to distract us from these things that really matter. It emphasizes the rat race, the desire to get ahead and procure power, prosperity, and success for yourself. It seems to keep us as busy as possible so that we rarely take the time to really think about what we are, and what we can best do with our short existence.

Tibet Protest Photos

Wikileaks released a large collection of photos from the Tibetan protests in China from March 14-17. The site promptly went down. This may be from the flood of people viewing the images, or it may be from a Chinese denial-of-service attack in an attempt to censor the images contained.

I have mirrored the collection here.  It is a very disturbing, very real account of what’s going on in the second most powerful country in the world. I warn you that some of the images are extremely graphic and gory. Please do not view them around anyone who would react strongly to images of dead bodies. But nevertheless, they are very real.

Bush Signed Memo Authorizing Torture

Daily Kos has a very in-depth article containing a memo signed by President Bush that set policy exempting detainees from the Geneva conventions, an international law that affords basic human rights to prisoners. Not a law giving them nice, cushy amenities they don’t deserve – just protections from torture, and allowances for noncombatant organizations like the Red Cross to care for their basic health needs.

The Bush administration spin machine has been doing its best to prevent any blame from falling on current officials or anyone central to the administration. But here it is: a memo signed by the President breaking our commitment to international law and thus authorizing torture and other inhumane acts (page 1) (page 2).

I really thought we were above tactics from the middle ages. Everyone knows that torture doesn’t produce usable intelligence. We have failed the demands of being a world leader. We have failed our own standard of “justice for all.” We have endangered our own future by treating our enemies unjustly and inhumanely, inviting them to treat us with the same gross lack of humanity.

This is not a political issue. Every remaining presidential candidate will not continue this madness, but the damage to our reputation in the world and in history is done.

Awesome Indie Rock: Spoon

I was poking around eMusic trying to find things to spend my leftover downloads, and I found this rare and relatively unknown jewel: Spoon‘s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. Yes, the title is ridiculous. The music, however, is not. I am not a huge fan of the “indie” genre- I love independent bands, sure, but the kind of music that has been labeled as “indie rock” never really interested me. This album, however, is an amazingly good exception.Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga mixes driving guitars with some great instrumentation not normally found on a rock album –  “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb” makes ample usage of baritone saxophones and vibraphone backing. Their lyrics are both deep and playful, and each song has a uniqueness reminiscent of the Beatles.Spoon reminds me of – and surpasses – other similar groups like Arcade Fire and Cold War Kids. This album in specific makes me feel like I’m listening to Rubber Soul for the first time. 

Across the Universe

 

I very rarely buy movies – I’ll watch ’em once and forget about them for years. But I’ve been trying to get over Across the Universe for about six months now. I don’t know what it is – and I won’t bother to try and put it into words, I strongly recommend experiencing it for yourself.

On a very basic level, it’s a musical with a storyline inspired by 34 Beatles songs. But, despite my admitted love of the Beatles, this movie’s quality comes from its organic, original aspects. It uses the 1960s as a backdrop, but does not strive to authentically recreate the decade. Instead, Across the Universe takes events of the past to reach out to the viewer of the present, whoever they may be and whatever experiences they have to relate with the movie.

Historically, it touches on everything without painting the sixties in a partisan perspective. The movie addresses the highs and lows: race riots, generational struggles for identity, the concept of true love, the concept of “free” love, the pains of war, the hypocritical radicalism in resistance of war… It is a piece on everyone’s experience during such a transformational era.

In a personal regard, Across the Universe makes me react with a sudden urge to explore my own life, passions, and perspectives. Watching a movie that starts with the uncomfortable question of “What defines a person: who you are, what you do, or how you do it?”, then follows several characters with differing passions try to coexist and keep their differences from clashing with each other, and then finally throws all distraction aside, proclaming, “All you need is love” gives me a kind of reality check. I have to wonder if what I’m doing today is the right thing to get me where I want to be – and much more importantly, if what I’m doing today is helping me love others on a very personal level.

It’s also a very different movie than most contemporary American cinema today- it’s not a linear story that strictly follows the “establishment-rising action-climax-falling action-resolution” formula. Most of the actors are unknown to the world at large, making the film even more personal and less about watching established stars in the same old roles.

So give it a shot- I don’t want to say “this is a great movie because it’s entertaining to watch,” or that I agreed with its overall message or anything. I like it so much because of the reactions and introspection that it triggers.