Bradley's Old Fashioned Weblog

Category: General Updates

Commentary on people, places, things, the news, current events, etc.

  • A Shift in Self-Identified Important Virtues, In-Class Project

    In my Speech Foundations class today we did an interesting class project.  We were put into groups and we had to come up with a list of what we thought were common virtues that we thought were important as a group.  When all of the groups were done, the lists were put on the board.  Then the professor circled all of the themes, the virtues that showed up in most of the lists.  What stood out was that people in the class value family, friends, religious tolerance, honesty and loyalty (to friends and family).

    The professor said that this simple class project is an interesting way for her to judge society as a whole, since the things that are listed change over time.  She said she’s been doing this same class project every semester since she started teaching, and she looks like she’s in her early 60s, so I imagine that goes back quite a ways.

    She said that when she first started teaching, money was at the top of every list.  Students were very concerned with money, both having it and making lots of it.  Interestingly enough, the only list on the board that contained ‘money’ was from a group of people who were all first generation immigrants.  I imagine it has to do with perceived financial capacity.  Our economy may be faltering, but people are still generally taken care of, whereas people from other countries might not have those same safety nets, or might have family back home that they’re concerned about.

    The next thing she pointed out was that most groups didn’t place family and friends on the list prior to September 11th, 2001.  She said that ‘religious tolerance’ and similar ideas started showing up shortly after that.  Her theory on the addition of family and friends is that after people died in an attack here in the US, it made people realize that they might not actually see their family or friends later.  Something could happen, so people started to value those ideas more, and perhaps their friends and families too.

    I think the appearance of religious tolerance on these lists comes from the deluge of information people are exposed to now, in light of the war with Middle Eastern countries.  This conflict has been portrayed as a clash of civilizations and more often as a clash between religions.  To combat rampant fear of every ‘other’, ideas of religious tolerance, especially towards Muslims, has become prominent in everything from TV to classrooms.

    The point of the exercise was to demonstrate what type of audience the class is.  It’s a Speech class, and the most important part of writing a speech is knowing who your speech is intended for.

  • Bad News For New York City Smokers Tomorrow

    Notice stating that there is no smoking allowed in NYC parks after May 23rd.

    The acceptable areas for smoking just got a lot narrow, but I can’t really argue with this.  I mean, I still smoke, though I’m planning on getting around to quitting sometime soon, but even so, I can’t be upset about this.  People that don’t smoke have a right to not inhale second hand smoke.  That’s the whole point of not smoking right?  Still, it’s gonna be kind of sad that I can’t lean back on a park bench and enjoy a cigarette while watching all the people pass by anymore.

    This reminds me of something I was told by a guy in Japan.  I don’t remember who it was now, but he was saying that in Japan, they banned smoking outdoors, but not indoors.  He said the reasoning is that it’s all about choice.  If you’re a non-smoker, you can choose to not go into a smoking establishment, but you can’t choose to not walk outside.  So, you ban smoking outdoors, but leave smoking indoors up to the establishment owner.  To me, that makes a lot more sense.

    Given the Japanese stance on smoking, it makes me wonder how much freedom and choice we really have in this country.  Smoking isn’t illegal, but pretty soon it might be illegal to smoke anywhere.  I remember hearing a story a few months ago about a housing development where people were complaining that they could smell the smoke from neighboring units.  Would it be fair to ban smoking in an entire apartment building?  I can imagine a no smoking policy for new tenants, but could you really ask people to move out if they don’t stop smoking?

  • Please, Put Crappy Writing Here

    Please, put crappy writing here.

    This sign, above this trashcan, is located in the Compton-Goethals hall at City College of New York.  I’m not sure who put it up, but it’s a good reminder that if you’re not going to write well, you shouldn’t even bother to turn your paper in.  With the end of the semester upon us, and many papers due, this sign has a lot more meaning than usual.  I’m doing pretty good.  I only have one more to write and then I can completely focus on studying for finals.

    My wife tells me all the time that I write well.  I figure she’s biased, but I did always get good grades on writing assignments in high school and in the college level courses I took online.  Now that I’m physically attending classes, I thought maybe the ‘truth’ about my writing ability would come out.  I guess I just underestimate myself, because the papers I turn in always come back with good grades.

    I’ll try to not let my ego blow up too big, but I’ve even had people come to me for help with their papers, and after guiding them through revisions I’ve been thanked profusely.  I was even told I should be a teacher.  That’s kind of funny, because another guy at the school mistook me for a teacher.  That could just be because I’m older than most students and have a beard though.  Ha!  If you’re wondering, I was in the Army for nearly a decade and now I’m using the Post 9/11 GI Bill to complete my tertiary education.  That bill is a godsend.  I’m really enjoying the whole college experience, and it’s only possible because of that bill.

    Anyhow, summer’s coming.  I thought about taking a break, but I just don’t think I want one, so I signed up for summer courses.  For the first session, I’m just going  to fill a graduation requirement, Speech Foundations.  I hear it’s a fun and worthwhile class, though.  For the second session I’m going to take World Civilizations: Pre-History to 1500 AD.  I’m pretty sure I’m going to wind up majoring in History, so that should help me out.  I haven’t officially matriculated yet, so I don’t know exactly what the degree requirements are.  I’ll find out when Fall semester starts.

  • Fight Spills Into 14th Street, Causes Traffic Jam

    Yesterday, I was coming back into the city from New Jersey on the PATH train and got off at 14th street.  My plan was to hop on the bus and then go back into the subway at Union Square to head uptown to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  I wound up having to get back off the bus and walk, though, because punks don’t know how to behave in public.  One kid jumped another kid and the result was a big traffic disaster on 14th street between 6th and 5th avenues.

    Cops on the street after a fight broke out on 14th street between 5th and 6th Ave.

    As soon as I got seated on the bus I started seeing flashing lights and the bus just sat there, so I took a look out the window and saw that the street was jammed with police cars.  There was a tour bus going the opposite way, but stopped in the road with all the tourists on the open upper deck leaning over the rail and gawking.  I saw a black guy being led away in cuffs.  I waited a while and then got off the bus to take a few pictures and then walk to Union Square.

    Cops on the street after a fight broke out on 14th street between 5th and 6th Ave.

    While I was standing there taking photos, I heard what happened from a woman that had been handing out sales fliers.  Apparently, a bunch of kids from a nearby school had just left class and one kid jumped on another kid and busted the side of his face up.  The kid that got attacked took off into the subway station I had just left. The guy I saw being handcuffed was the one that did the attacking.  While she was telling me this, the police were yelling at the crowd of kids, which I assume were classmates of the kids that were fighting, telling them to go home or at least leave the area.

    Girl crying because her boyfriend was arrested for fighting on his birthday.

    When I was walking away, a girl (brown coat in the above picture, surrounded by friends) started crying, saying it was “[her] man’s birthday.”  I can only assume that the guy that got arrested is, or was, her “man”, and they weren’t going to be doing much partying that night.  He must not have wanted to celebrate his birthday anyway or he wouldn’t have done something illegal in the middle of a crowded street.  People just don’t think anymore, do they?

    Cops on the street after a fight broke out on 14th street between 5th and 6th Ave.

    On the left, you can see the M14A Crosstown I got on, then got off, stuck on the side of the road because of all the police vehicles.

    Foremost taxi is an undercover New York City police car. Cool, right?

    The only redeeming factor in this whole fiasco, besides giving me something to blog about, is that I got to see an undercover NYC police car that looks like a taxi cab.  In the photo above, the foremost taxi (facing right, just behind the cop car) is an undercover vehicle.  You can see the red strobe light in the center of the dashboard.

  • Do You Have Your Life Vests And Boats Ready For May 21st?

    Lady in Union Square train station with a sign stating the world will end on May 21, 2011.

    This lady, or someone like her, has been in the Union Square train station fairly regularly over the last week or so.  When I first tried to take her picture, she was leaning against the side of the pole to the right.  She moved,  so I moved too.  I wonder if it’s because she has some doubts about what she’s promoting and is concerned about potential embarrassment when she wakes up on the morning of the 22nd to see clear skies and just another Sunday?

    I say clear skies because the reasoning behind this theory that the world will end on May 21st, 2011 is that God said that “Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made” (Genesis 7:4) and He also said “that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8).  Apparently, May 21st, 2011 is the day God was talking about, and never mind that whole story that follows Genesis 7:4 about Noah in the ark.  That was just a prequel for the real event.  Or so they would have us believe, I guess.  There’s also some special numerology that they’re using to explain why they fixed on exactly May 21st that involves numbers with traditional symbolism and the number of days between the Crucifixion and that day.

    Sign saying the world will end on May 21st, 2011.

    I’m not going to hold my breath.  Like every other end-of-the-world theory that’s come before this one, this will end in disappointment and tears, and maybe even some embarrassment.  But, on the off chance that the world actually is flooded on the 21st, at least I won’t have to do finals for this semester.

  • Osama bin Laden’s Dead? So What?

    PD*26245836As much as I try, I just can’t seem to make the moment I saw the news about bin Laden being dead feel the same way it did when I saw the WTC collapsing on September 11th, back in 2001.  I think the reason is that it just doesn’t mean as much.  The collapse of the World Trade Centers and the resulting deaths, the toll of which is still climbing from inhalation of toxic materials by workers, was a momentous event that launched this country into what has become a decade of constant warfare, draining our economy and polarizing world opinions of Muslims and Americans.  What has Osama’s death accomplished now, so many years after the fact?  Just about nothing.

    You see, it’s too late.  The damage has already been done.  I saw a quote on a news site saying that killing Osama is like cutting the head off of a snake, but Al Qaeda isn’t a snake.  It’s a world-wide network of terrorist groups, like minded individuals in groups that can work independently of any leadership.  The death of Osama bin Laden is only a fire that will cause their feelings of hatred toward the United States, and other Western countries, burn that much brighter.  I don’t think they were doing what they’re doing just to get a pat on the back from big brother Osama after all.  This is a war of ideologies that won’t end until everyone who believes in radical Islam is killed.  I don’t think that’s likely to happen any time soon.  You might say that Osama was financially backing the terrorists, or at least some of them, but how expensive is a home made pipe bomb to make?  Not very.  How expensive is it to purchase a firearm and then shoot up a military base like that knucklehead at Fort Hood?  Not very.

    Without going down the road of questioning whether or not the story itself is even real, I just don’t see the point.  People are getting excited about Osama’s death, and I guess there is some relief or sense of justice for people who have had family members die in acts of terrorism that he claimed responsibility for, but in the grander scheme of things, this changes nothing.  Radical Islam still has a mission, and that mission is the destruction of Western Society, by any means necessary, to establish a global caliphate under Islamic rule.  Rather than going out and celebrating, we should be buckling down to make sure we’re ready for any backlash that this event may cause, especially now that we (the US) has further soured relations with Pakistan by operating behind the government’s back.  They are a nuclear power after all.

  • What Does It Take To Get Put On The Terrorist Watch List?

    More than 200 individuals who were on the federal terrorism watch list passed background checks and were allowed to buy guns in 2010, according to a new government review.

    via ABC News

    I saw this (above quote) in the news this morning when I was on my way to class, and it got me thinking.  I’ve read previously that it’s pretty easy to wind up on this list.  I read about a news anchor (or maybe it was a journalist?) that found out he was on the US Terror Watch List simply because he complained about the TSA and their ridiculous screening procedures.  So, what does it really take to get put on that watch list?

    In 2008, I took my first trip outside the United States since I was a kid.  Back then, I was traveling because my dad was in the military and we lived in Germany for a few years.  Great place, by the way.  Some kids in the US go to a shitty local museum for a school field trip.  We used to go to castle ruins that were hundreds of years old, or older.  That was so much cooler it can’t even be measured, and it is probably one of the main reasons I’ve had a fascination with sword & sorcery novels ever since.  Anyway, on that 2008 trip, I went to Singapore and then the Philippines.  I had a really good time, but hit a minor speed bump on the way back into my own country.

    When I was trying to re-enter the United States, I got asked questions about why I was in the Philippines.  I didn’t even give the trip any thought beforehand, at least not in terms of making it back through customs, until that moment, and then it all sort of clicked together in my head.  The Philippines is a hotbed of terrorism, especially in the southern islands, which is home to the comically acronymed MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front, not Mom I’d Like to F***).  I spent about a week and a half there, so it must have raised a red flag when my passport was scanned at US Immigration.

    What followed was a long discussion about why I was in the Philippines, what I did there, if I was planning on going back, and where I was going in the US.  Not helping the situation, I was still in the US Army at the time and I was heading back to my duty station, fresh from a ‘dangerous’ country that’s full of people who want to blow things up.  I’m just glad they didn’t have ‘enhanced’ (i.e. legal sexual assault) pat-downs or radioactive nudie machines back then or I’d have caused a scene and likely would have wound up being detained, as well as miss my connecting flight.

    Later that year I moved to Asia, visited quite a few different countries in the region, including one that is ‘Islamic’ and even has shariah courts.  I even lived in the Philippines for a while.  When I re-entered my country, I again had a long discussion about my reasons for being there, coming back, etc., etc.

    You might say, “But dude, you’re no one special.  Why would they watch you?”

    To that I’d say no one is really special until after they blow something (or some people) up, or try to.  No one ever heard of those morons who flew planes into the sides of the World Trade Center buildings until after they did it right?  Or that idiot that tried to detonate an explosive in Times Square, or that lunatic disgrace of a military officer that turned on his own in Fort Hood.

    So, I wonder if my name is on that list, based on my past military experience and the fact I’ve visited certain countries?  That’s kind of a scary thought.

  • Spring Break is Over and it Wasn’t Much Fun

    A tree with blooming flowers on CCNY's campus in New York City.

    When I was in high school, I used to look forward to holidays, because I knew they were days where I could relax.  That’s what a holiday is for, right?  Relaxing and taking a break so that you can go back to your studies (or job) refreshed and recharged.  Once I started working full time, I thought back to when I’d have long holidays (what seemed like all the time) when I was in school and I’d wish that we could do the same thing in the Army.  Granted, we got a lot of days off in the Army, but there was nothing like getting a week off at a time.  Not unless you used your paid vacation time anyway.

    So, when I started going back to college full time on the Post 9/11 GI Bill (which pays my full tuition and living allowance), I thought I would get a chance to take advantage of those breaks again, and that this time I could really put them to good use, and savor them, because I know what it’s like to not have them.  So, I was looking forward to this Spring Break and hoped to use it to spend my days at the museums, in the parks, or just doing whatever I wanted to do, and it almost happened.

    I say almost, because in one of my classes we were assigned a huge project over Spring Break.  I can understand being expected to complete the reading for the next scheduled class during the break, but who really sets up a huge, time consuming project to be done over Spring Break?  The project culminated in an essay.  The essay itself wasn’t that hard to write, and didn’t take much time, but gathering the data required interviewing 20 people.  I also won’t say that it wasn’t interesting, because it was, but it just seems like the timing of when it was assigned was just so… awful.  This project could have been handed out and then turned in the week before the end of class.  To get that many interviews takes time!

    If you’ve ever been in the streets of New York, or maybe anywhere, you’d know that you can barely get someone to stop for a moment to give you directions, let alone ask them 15 minutes of questions.  Further complicating the matter was that the people answering the questions all had to be within a certain age range: old to older.  By that I mean they had to be 55+, at the least.  I had a lot of issues finding 20 people in that age range to answer questions, especially since the weather wasn’t good the first 6 days of the break.  I find that old people tend to stay home when it’s cold and rainy out.  I finally managed to get my last interview done yesterday, the last day of Spring Break.  Then I had to rush through the essay, which I turned in today.

    This project was hanging over my head the entire break, drowning out any possible relaxation and enjoyment with constant worrying over whether or not I could complete the interviews, and how I would form the results into anything meaningful enough to be called an essay.

    This Spring Break just wasn’t what I was hoping for.

    It wasn’t all bad though.  I got to spend some quality time with my mom and went with her to her church’s Easter production.  That was entertaining.  I got to finally start watching the series Lost.  Ya, I know I’m a few years late on that.  I also got to see the premier of Game of Thrones.  It looks awesome, and makes me wish I’d read the books.  I’m definitely looking forward to seeing the next episodes.

    The weather finally took a nice turn yesterday.  It was actually 82 here.  Today it was a bit cooler.  I think it peaked at about 72.  Hopefully it’ll stay warm this time.  On my way home from class today I had dinner in Union Square Park and walked around a bit, taking photos, before I went into Barnes & Noble to browse around.  I wanted to take a look at the Nook Color.  It somehow just doesn’t feel as natural in my hand, or on my eyes, as the Kindle does.

  • Staples Doesn’t See Anything Wrong With Preying on Stupidity

    Earlier this week I stopped by Staples at Union Square (Manhattan) to make some copies of two documents for a project.  The black and white copies were 11 cents apiece, which I thought was reasonable enough, considering the fact that I saved time by just making my copies there.  Home scanner/printer all-in-ones are fairly slow to scan and slower to print compared to a commercial machine.  The process is pretty simple too.  You put your debit card in a slot, like on an ATM, and when you’re done making copies, you press a button and your card is charged and ejected.

    Today, when I was thinking about the dozen pdfs (each 10 –20 pages) that I need to print, my first thought was to go to Staples.  It would be faster, less of a hassle and I have an unlimited MetroCard.  So, off I went.  Unfortunately, it didn’t go quite as smoothly as making copies.

    When I walked into the Staples I started looking at the black and white copiers.  There was no spot for a USB drive so I went to the counter to ask about having files printed.  The girl at the counter told me I could leave the files with her and come back and get them in about two hours, or I could rent time on their desktop computers and just print them right away.

    Ok, so I went to the desktop computers.  20 cents per minute.  That wasn’t too bad, so I stuck my card into the slot and waited for it to start up.  I plugged in my thumb drive, opened the first pdf and clicked print.  A new box popped up and told me that to print 10 pages it would cost me $5.33.  Wait, what?  I did the math real quick in my head.  11 cents x 10 = $1.10 plus tax.  Uh?  What’s going on?  So I just logged off and went to the counter again, and this is the conversation I had with a male employee.

    “I just wanted to double check something with you.  I tried to print out a pdf on your computer and it told me that the total cost would be 5.33.  That seems a bit expensive.”

    “Oh yes, to print it’s 99 cents per color page, or 50 cents per black and white page, plus tax!”

    “But, the copiers are 11 cents per black and white page.”

    “Oh, well on the computers you’re getting the extra services of using the INTERNET and you’re able to print documents!” [If I could make hearts and rainbows appear around the word “Internet” there I would.  He said it like it was a powerful and beautiful magic, the likes of which a fool like me had never seen.]

    “But, I’m already paying an extra 20 cents a minute to use the computers.  Why am I also paying more for the same thing as a copy, just to print?”

    “Well, it’s a special extra service.”

    “What’s special about it?  The end result is the same thing as a copy.  It’s a paper with text and images printed in black and white ink.  Why does it cost so much more?”

    “You’re getting the extra service of being able to use our computers.”

    “Yes, I get that, but I’m paying 20 cents a minute to use the computer, so why am I also being charged so much more to create the same black and white page as I could on your copier if I’d come here with a hard copy of the document?”

    “Well, that’s just the way our pricing is.”

    “So, you want to charge me 4 times as much to print as to make a copy and you don’t see anything wrong with that?”

    “Nope.”

    So, I left.  If I print a document to their copier and the copier prints it, or I put a page on the glass and copy it, it still uses the same amount of materials to produce the new page (copy or freshly printed from a file).  So, I can see paying the 20 cents a minute to use their desktop computer to open the files and send them to the printer.  Sure, why not?  But why should I pay 50 cents instead of 11 cents per page?  Hell, if you think about it, you’d only have to print about 40 pages before you’d already spent so much money you could’ve bought your own home printer, or in my case, a new black ink cartridge.

    Staples, how about some better pricing on your print services?

  • The US is Broke, So Let’s Give Away More Money!

    The Obama administration plans to give the Libyan opposition $25 million in non-lethal assistance in the first direct U.S. aid to the rebels after weeks of assessing their capabilities and intentions, officials said Wednesday.

    via Yahoo! News, via AP

    Really?  Last I heard schools in the United States were being shut down left and right due to budget constraints.  Teachers are being laid off by the dozens.  Unemployment is massive.  Our infrastructure is falling behind in comparison to other first world countries to the point that we’re almost at par with places we consider third world countries.  Our deficit is 14 trillion dollars.  We’re about to hit our borrowing cap and they’re talking about raising it so we can put ourselves even more in debt.  Pretty soon, Americans won’t own America anymore.  Our credit rating is plummeting as a nation.  They’re talking about cutting our social welfare programs that benefit American citizens who have (mostly) paid into the system.  Companies from other countries are outsourcing to the US because we’re now the cheap labor force.

    So, in other words, our country is falling apart around us.  Almost every government agency in the country is in a crunch for money.  We’re borrowing 40 cents on the dollar from other countries.  So, what’s our best option?  Pissing away money on other country’s problems.  Giving money to Libyan Rebels that, more than likely, will be our enemies in 10 years, is a much better option than giving 25 million back to Social Security, or using it to keep schools open, or sending it to soup kitchens to feed the hungry and homeless here in the United States.  I know what it is.  Obama knows he’s not getting reelected, so he doesn’t give a shit about the people that elected him anymore.  He’s going to screw our country up as much as possible before he gets out of office.  Good job, dude.

    Isn’t it past time we stop worrying about other people’s problems?  I think so.  The 7k+ comments on the news article I read were overwhelmingly negative, so I know I’m not alone in thinking that the American people deserve to have our money spent here at home.  Who the hell appointed us as the world’s police anyway?  Those other countries don’t want us meddling in their affairs.  The fact that they’re saying it and blowing our shit up should be enough of an indicator for anyone with half a brain to realize they don’t want us there.  So, why do we keep giving them money and keep interfering militarily in their affairs?

    I’m not saying we should become strictly isolationist again, but I think we should pull back from world affairs, stop borrowing, stop spending on international problems, and focus on our own country’s problems.  I like how people try to claim that foreign aid is only a small portion of our budget, but even a small portion of the US’s budget is a huge amount of money that could be redirected to domestic programs.  Then you have to wonder how much better our country would be if the billions upon billions of dollars wasted on wars had been spent in improving our national infrastructure and education systems.

    How can we help our neighbors fix their houses when our own home is burning to the ground?