Hi all For the last while now I've been mulling over an idea to write a series of posts about some of the big debates and problems where I live in South Africa. In many ways I think the (unique?) situation here has a lot that can be learnt from, so I wanted to canvas whether there would be any interest in something like that? Maybe to give an idea, these are some of the types of things I'm thinking of: Current symbolism vs historical value How to navigate the space between symbolism from the past and its historical context? This is best exemplified I think by the removal of a prominent statue of British imperialist Cecil John Rhodes from its place at the University of Cape Town. Spatial justice vs the invisible hand The aftermath of forced removals and apartheid spatial planning have left immeasurably deep scars on South Africa's towns and cities. What must be done to deal with this legacy and where does the government's responsibility lie? from Unequal Scenes Some others Decolonisation of curricula Promotion of local languages vs English as the language of business, science etc. Rights of local communities around mining operations Fee-free higher education The land question Race, class and identity in post-apartheid society etc. So ja, maybe something along those lines. Curious to hear what people think. Mzansi by natives? Cheers De Waal
Honestly don't have much feedback to give, provided my general lack of knowledge on this subject. That said, I would certainly read further posts on the topics! Just your summaries had me interested.
We had our first birth in the birth center last night. Success. And we get to bill for nitrous. That means the infernal machine needs to be used only nineteen more times to pay for itself. My daughter, on the other hand, called for attention every time I was about to fall asleep for the first two hours and then woke up from a screaming, bawling nightmare. My wife is asleep in the other room which prevents me from finishing the background pass on the not-very-good movie, unless I put on headphones, which I hate doing when I'm doing surround work. Our burn rate is a few thousand dollars higher per month than we anticipated, due entirely to construction delays. This means it will be longer before the center is profitable. Nonetheless, confidence is high. My wife pointed out last night that it was effectively equivalent to me putting her through college all over again. This morning I'm mulling over the fact that aside from a brief, glorious nine months between relationships in 2002, and a semi-refreshing, maybe-we'll-make-it period of about a year before we had our daughter, I have given over the overwhelming majority of my earnings to the care of others for more than 20 years now. I'm partly bitter about that and partly contemplative. A friend of mine was in Variety on Friday because he's got a show set up with Granada and Netflix. He, of course, came to LA about a year after I did. Then his wife (whose family is not just wealthy, they're royal) supported him while he did free work for two solid years, had two kids, went through treatment twice and lived i a $4k/mo apartment while we were grinding dried placentas to make ends meet. They don't tell you that: if you're trying to break in while earning a living, you're breaking in against dilettantes with zero cost-of-failure and infinite hang-time. Then Sunday I discovered that another below-the-line friend had died of a heart attack at 36. It's all about anchoring, I guess. I've got a tree surgeon coming over to tell me what it's going to cost to make sure the three massive firs in the back don't fall on the house. I'm hoping I can afford it. At the same time I was talking to the neighbor Sunday; her roof is leaking because she got a deal from another neighbor's then-boyfriend but he's a junkie now so whatever warranty there was, yeah notsomuch anymore. Meanwhile they're building out, not up, because it's cheaper, because there's seven of them in there, six adults, and they've got one bathroom and fewer square feet than we do, and one of them is in a wheelchair. But she's on 100% disability, her daughter is on 100% disability, her son works two jobs, both of which are custodial, her one grandson got thrown out of his mom's house for fighting and her other grandson - He was howling Sunday. Not sure why. It was dark, there was lots of shouting. We're debating calling CPS. He hangs out with me but he's rough. He's eight and enjoys the company of my 4-year-old daughter who is brighter than him by far. He's on the spectrum among other things and he breaks stuff. We let him play with our daughter out doors but he's not allowed in our house unless one of his family members are there. And we're crowded with three people and all our shit in this house but fuckin'A we can still park a car in the garage. They've got seven people in there and I don't even know who the seventh is. They're building out. They're getting a loan. The contractor is a friend of a friend which worked out oh-so-well last time, right? There's seven of them, two fixed incomes and maybe three jobs between them, none of which make much money. I mean, they've got a blue tarp keeping the rain off half the house (not the roof leak; apparently that's just sort of happening without any remediation). Anchoring. I don't have a blue tarp keeping the rain out of the family room, my toilet-to-person ratio is 1.5, and we have retirement savings as if we were 20 years older than we are now. And I'm not in Variety but I'm not in the ground, either. And as formidable as our burn rate is, we fuckin' made it this month. This month, anyway.
I haven't been on hubski a lot lately. it's all about time and priorities. life has been kicking my ass. I'm starting to kick back. some pretty significant life changes are in the works. more on that later. I love you hubski. I really do. and when I say I love you "hubski" I really mean I love you all. you are hubski.
Notes on rehab My personal feelings about AA I don't really like AA. It's pop psychology. I've had personal bad experiences. It's designed around the inmates running the asylum. It's religious even if they deny it. The "Higher Power" is clearly meant to be the God of Christianity no matter how they phrase it or try to dance around the issue with newcomers. Most meetings end with the Lord's Prayer. That said there's a lot of good stuff in the program. There's practical advice and philosophy anyone can use. The inmates running the asylum is a feature not a bug but it can go awry and does. AA basically invented group therapy. I appreciate it more now than I did before I went to this last rehab. But I have to watch what I says because I refuse to blindly follow anyone and questioning anything might result in someone telling you you're going to die. Honestly I think anyone who develops a method to quit anything that works for them can get the same method to work with other people if they follow the instructions exactly. It's like a fascist approach to behavioral psychology. It arrived at the right time and gained attention which turned it into the 800 pound gorilla of recovery. I have to do it or at least go through the motions if only to build a support network. Kleinbl00 mentioned Refuge Recovery which is pretty awesome in my opinion but there's only one meeting in my area and I can't go. It is nontheistic and requires confidence, not so much obedience. SMART Recovery is probably not terribly effective to be honest but I like the meetings so I'll hit them up. My recent rehab experience I was pretty pumped to go to rehab. No one wants to go to rehab but some people want to be there because they know they need it and I was with a lot of those people when I got there. They said it had a family vibe which I was skeptical of at first but it really did. The staff was all great and there out of a desire to help people. The techs who do most of the day-to-day stuff were all in recovery. I got pretty close to a few of them and love all of them. I wish I could tell all the stories and little anecdotes I accumulated over 30 days of which there are a surprising amount. Put 20 crazy, chemically dependent motherfuckers under one roof and it gets interesting. I feel like I need to go into detail about one event though. There was one resident who arrived the same day as me. He was really depressed when he got there but he opened up in a week or two. He was pretty weird but I just thought he was a big dorky kid who had some awkward confidence after entering the real world and not being picked on anymore. He was really upset about cheating on his wife and "losing his faith" after the Episcopal church wanted to make him a deacon instead of a priest. I noticed he was kind of a lech around the women, he was rubbing one girls leg on the couch one day, a general attitude that didn't seem very respecting, but brushed it off because I assumed the women could handle him. I was in a family session with him where your loved ones address you directly about how you've wronged them. His was a shitshow. This wife he was so concerned about had a laundry list of awful shit he did to her and my mom said he didn't know what color her eyes were (you have to compliment your family member in a segment of the session). I came away thinking, "OK, it seems like he hates women," and resolved to stop conversing with him because I don't tolerate that shit. The next day my roommates were talking about him before bed. One of the other residents read his journal and it talked about torturing animals when he was a kid and maybe raping two women. Also he was being very inappropriate with most of the women in the house, moreso than I realized. Me and two girls got together with some of the techs to tell them about him and they decided to talk to the lead counselor. But first he got told in a meeting so there was a girl pow wow. He told some of this stuff to someone and, after sulking in his room for a day, interrupted a meeting he was passing through to yell at the guy he talked to for betraying his trust. I firmly told him to shut the fuck up, don't turn this shit on the group, that he is the problem. He disappeared for most of the day then was fucking liar in a group with me and I called him out again. Loudly and directly, fucking furious that he was ignoring the fact that everyone knew his shit. Then we had a whole group about his shenanigans and he was a goddamn piece of shit again, gave a disingenuous apology and only one girl spoke up about his behavior. I was livid hearing him brush off his actions like kissing a relative stranger or rubbing her leg is appropriate but I was told not to speak or at least control myself. After the meeting I intentionally tried to intimidate him while he smoked, just staying in his general vicinity because he knew I was pissed. After everyone went back inside I asked him if he felt he should leave, if he thought he was going to get better in two weeks and told him that every woman in the house was uncomfortable around him. I asked him if he thought they ever had a meeting like that before and he said no, that it was about rumors about him. Which blew my fucking mind that that was his take-away. I mostly washed my hands of the situation after that but I tried to poke at him when I spoke in group if I was given an opportunity to subtly allude to it. I'm doing good This rehab was a great experience. The group got a lot less positive a week or so before I left but I met a lot of good people dedicated to recovery. Two of the techs live near me so I can go to their meetings and they can help me meet people and get a sponsor. I really fucked up my life pretty good and other people would have a panic attack just considering the financial situation I've created. I'm not concerned about that though. I'm in love, in a way that seems deeper, healthier, mature and more genuine than any other love I've felt. I rarely get cravings, when I do they aren't bad and I didn't feel the need to drink after I lost my shit at that psychopath. Life is pretty good. I'm generally happy which is not a familiar experience. Thank you hubski for putting up with me and supporting me. Calm water don't make good sailors. -Chris
There is a group of truly agnostic AA meetings in my area. AA was initially welcoming but delisted them from their meetings directory 3 years ago, apparently making them much harder to find. So "AAA" sued AA under the Human Rights Act claiming that they were discriminated against on the basis of creed. AA's defence was, get this, that they were exempt as a religious group who could restrict participation to the faithful. A court did not decide on the merits of whether AA is a religious group as a settlement was mediated, but in the end AAA is listed again.
You are right but IIRC AA argued in those cases that it was not a religious group because the modern drafting a the 12 Statements (?) had moved away from the original wording to be inclusive to atheists. In the Toronto case they didn't even bother to pretend that was the case.
I'm motivated, y'all I'm feeling a ton more confident than I was yesterday when I put up this post, due in very large part to all the helpful advice and perspective. I'm going to bike over to the place I applied to yesterday to turn in my resume in person. I'm also going to spend today finding at least 2 other places to apply to, and spend every one of my days off doing the same thing until I get an interview somewhere I like. We're gonna turn this mother out. ------- My album is going to be out on April 15th. I needed an arbitrary deadline, and this is my Mom's birthday. It's so fucking close to being done, and I'm never going to finish it if I don't have a date. I'm going to master it myself, and if it sucks it sucks. It's going to be the first music I've charged for. $5. ---------- I'm sewing again. A shirt I made my bf for his birthday. Yes, it glows in the dark. It's also got some hand-embroidered stars around the collar that are kind of hard to see. 90% done with this, just need to hem. Unbelievably cozy. For anyone interested: this is the month that I actually open up an Etsy shop. Get hype. --------- A story to make you feel things I went to Lan Su yesterday, which was absolutely stunning. In one section of it, they had set up a Qingming display, where patrons could honor the deceased with written notes. Lots of beautiful little remembrances to lost parents, pets, stuff like "I hope that you are happy in heaven, Dad" etc. And then, this. Which destroyed me. I seem to actually be feeling emotions these days, which is a nice (if draining) change of pace. EDIT: Uh, accidentally made some sweet fuckin' glitch art when I was editing it.
Keep me posted for when you open up your etsy store. I know a lot of Mascs who would die for some dope ass short sleeve button downs, and if you're up for the challenge I know a few people (myself included) who would be into women's button downs, especially if you can mod a pattern for wider shoulders. I would spread this ALL OVER the Ontario queer community.
I'm wobbly. I broke up with a longtime, long-distance girlfriend Monday night. She's devestated and I feel terrible. I have 4 midterms this week, two today. Even though at 25 I'm only a few years older than the average undergrad classmate, I feel apart in most of my classes. I've not found "my people." I've been eating dog shit for breakfast lunch and dinner, and I haven't slept well in a long time. Technically these are all my own decisions, so it's all on me. This is just the hardest week I've had all year. I don't want to fill pubski with bummers. Something positive. I'm looking into a semester abroad next spring. Either Leeds or Seoul. Anyone spent a long time in either? Have a beautiful spring week everybody! (In the northern hemisphere I should say.)
But as an American, England has enormous appeal. It's different enough to satisfy the craving for something culturally distinct from the US. The University of Leeds is one of the most diverse schools in the world, 25% of its 20k+ undergraduate population is international. And my extroversion would feed off of the lack of a (big) language barrier. But Seoul is so cool. And the support that comes with a program like a structured study abroad is more utilized the more foreign and exotic a place is. I can go to England anytime and I'd be fine. I don't know the next time I could visit South Korea like this. I'm torn. I look forward to learning more about this all.
I think we're on the same page then. Where in the UK are you from? How old are you? Have you ever been to the states?
South east England (currently in London), 24 years old. I went to New York for a week when I was 18 for a robotics competition. Damn, that was exactly 6 years ago... I should go to the USA again.
Hope you feel better! It's good that you recognize these aspects of your life that may be lacking, and seems like you retain the will to changed them. Work on it bit by bit. My recommendation? The food. It's a simple fix, but honestly eating a good meal makes a huge difference. Good luck on those midterms!
Yea, a bunch of junk food and a few beers for dinner is like the kick when you're down. This morning it's a coffee and a homemade soup. First exam is in an hour. Thanks War
you should probably https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_at_Leeds
This is surprisingly accurate to my current condition, as well. Those few years make a hell of a difference. I'm 22, and most of my groupmates are turning 20 this year. You may have heard how well we're doing together, which is - not at all, for multiple reasons. The biggest of them is a vast difference in worldview between most of my year's students on the faculty. They're not taking their studies and future prospects seriously enough - and those are some of the most educated and thoughtful students of the university. Have you decided not to eat to feel unwell, or was it lack of energy and mood that drove you towards it? You're not as in control of what happens to you as you'd like to believe. Even the reaction to outside events has to come from some source of energy, and sometimes, we lack it. Don't be hard on yourself if you feel bad: you don't want to make it worse by blaming the victim.Technically these are all my own decisions, so it's all on me.
I think it's natural to condescend those younger than us. I try my utmost not to. It's narcissistic to think you always know better. I try to correct for that by genuinely seeing people in as positive a way as possible--trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, for instance. But sometimes I just can't help but conclude that I'm surrounded by kids who are not just told what to want but how to want. Like there's not an original, nonconformist bone in their bodies, it's fucking Snapchats with dog filters, don't-talk-to-anyone-but-look-at-my-phone all the way to class, etc. etc. Whenever I get that feeling, I have to inhale and exhale.
Take care of your body and mind as best you can. The rest will likely follow. You've done this before, built yourself up before, and the only difference I can see this time is that you have the beginnings of roots in place to help you anchor yourself while you weather the high winds. Ships and harbors and all that, you're on course for great things and contentment.
So much Sam Harris. So much. : ) Glad to see that you're doing well, too.Take care of your body and mind as best you can.
Going to beautiful Hollywood FL tomorrow. Never been. I'm actually going to be on the booth side of a conference. I've always felt sorry for the booth people. I walked to worked today to realize that I didn't bring my key. So instead of a 12 minute walk, I had a 36 minute walk to work. I am getting closer to completion of my first portrait. The next step is to really concentrate on the lighting details, the texture, and the blending. I enjoy portraiture, but I'll probably return to landscapes for a while. Landscapes are more forgiving, and until I develop more skills at painting people, landscapes are less restrictive. Even so, I imagine that painting one will improve my ability to paint the other.
Thanks, man. I am happy with it, but not totally satisfied. I want to get ridiculously good. Not just technique, but emotion and atmosphere. When I look at my paintings on their own, I am fairly pleased with were I am at. But, when I visit the museum, I am humbled. I want to get there. That's my goal.
Isochrones (areas of equal travel time) never fail to look cool: I also bought a domain last week and a bunch of acrylic glass today. These things may or may not be related. ;) Project Barbarossa is still happening. My stubble doesn't grow fast at all but at least it's not too patchy. Even though it doesn't look too bad atm I still feel much more insecure about it than I should.
They also make bankers moist. This is no doubt due to the fact that if you get one of those mammer-jammer area surveys from ESRI for $500 a pop all the information is presented in terms of 5, 10 and 15-minute isochrones. Speak their language, they'll speak yours. I get the sense that the isochrones I did were like the only ones our banker had seen in years.Isochrones (areas of equal travel time) never fail to look cool:
Confirm your numbers. If you can point to a study that says "10% of white males between 18 and 24 go paintballing regularly" and then whip out isochrones that capture exactly how many white males are within a 15 minute isochrone, it takes arithmetic to determine what your likely annual capture of white males between 18 and 24 are. YOu certainly aren't guaranteed their business but you have a reasonable expectation that short of loyalty to somewhere else or personal animosity towards you, they're coming to you first. With veen's help I was able to determine exactly how many likely consumers there were among any given location. More than that, I was able to determine how many consumers there were among our competition and then, thanks to the wonder of Washington State vital statistics data, calibrate how many births any given birth center should have vs. did have. This allowed me to not only get a good estimate for our own practice, but also see which practices were leading or trailing the statistical norm. Finally, we were able to perform the same analysis on Los Angeles, my wife's old market, to demonstrate that she was outperforming the statistical mean by a factor of seven. When you're able to say "this practitioner has historically outperformed the statistical mean by a factor of seven but will be profitable even if she underperforms the statistical mean by a factor of five" you have an easier time getting a loan.
Geo-information and analysis is wholly underrated, across the board. Pretty much every question that starts with 'where' can be answered better with GIS somewhere in the process. But Esri is worse than Adobe and competition is non-existant so the industry doesn't really grow. There's no "Photoshop" for geo. Well, maybe Google Earth Pro, but that's like bringing a knife to a gunfight. I actually made the above by using Esri's new network analysis service. With the new fancy-schmancy ArcGIS Pro, they've not yet added the functionality to use your own network to calculate isochrones. (Totes an accident u guis.) It's paid, it's customizable, faster and better. If I had that back then I would've saved days if not weeks of struggling. However, the above image was €6 out of my free €10 (120 ischrones x 5 ct) and they have no sensible way for me to top that up other than to argue with a sales rep. Glad I did that right on the first try...
Google Earth Pro is deprecated. They pulled all their useful data because they don't want to support the product anymore. All the realtors were super-salty but the fact of the matter is, Google Earth mobile uses a different engine and Google didn't want to cross-pollinate. Google Earth Desktop is dead man walking; there hasn't been an update in years. I managed to trick ESRI's sample server into giving me drive time polygons in .kml format but I cannot for the life of me stumble across the particular server backdoor and keyword bullseye to find the links...
I've had a great weekend. The lady and I have been meaning to camp or vacation for months now but we never make the time (she works night shifts, every other weekend) so mid week I just said fuck it, let's just go to the desert this weekend and try to catch the end of the superbloom. Anza Borrego park. We got a nice primitive camping site in the mountains at the edge of the desert and it was gorgeous. The superbloom was eh. I guess it's pretty flowery? Anyways I also got a grill for the first time so that we could have a fire at the camp. Now we also have a grill at the house and I made some excellent spare ribs with it. Leaving, we also passed by the Salton Sea, and holy crap, the road between the park and there is something like in Mad Max. 
Uh. Well. I'm two-for-two this year on getting a girls number while she's at work.
I usually don't participate in these pubskis, and I've been mulling over why today. It occurred to me that this is a pound for pound good thing to participate in that already fits into my life. I am at my worst in the morning. Not that all my mornings are the WORST, but relative to the rest of the day I usually just want to hide this section of myself from the world. That's probably the main reason why. Plus my timezone makes me feel like I've arrived late to a party, which isn't true and pretty irrational, but 63 comments (and counting) is really intimidating to post in. There is also a picture of beer at the top of each thread. I feel naive for asking this, but do people actually drink in the morning? I always get sleepy after drinking, drinking in the morning would be hell for me, I think. Maybe I should try to imagine you guys actually commenting during your afternoons, drinking beer with lunch. Maybe you guys have lunch at your 11am, which seems to be the norm. Fuck, I need to start waking up earlier than 8. There's a book (I'm pretty sure its The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera) where a character believes that the if her diary was ever read by someone else it would negate the function of a diary, ruin the therapuetic effect that writing in a diary gave. That idea freaked me out when I read it, I had always had public diaries with feedback from someone else, penpals in highschool, online forums, with SOs, okcupid (when it still had its penpal focus)- feedback is probably my main driver of being vulnerable, I think. This is a character aspect / flaw of mine, I think. Mike Birbiglia is a comedian who has a special called "My Secret Public Diary". Obviously he is my favorite comedian, I steal a lot of my public speaking style from him. Repetition, callbacks, timings, speaking tics- but my hunch is that there is also a propensity to paint one's life in a way that's most entertaining, whether self-deprecating or containing borderline sensitive information. I am telling a story for a local podcast storytelling show next week in front of 700 people (these shows sell out, quick). I'm psyched because they sought me out for it. One of the great contradictions about me is that I feel most comfortable when I'm speaking publicly in front of a bunch of strangers. It's a flaw, but I know I'm going to kill it.
For what it's worth, I definitely come back in the evening and read all the posts that happened during the day, so don't worry about your comments getting lost or ignored. I'm curious: why would you consider feeling comfortable in front of strangers to be a flaw?
I'm more comfortable with strangers than the people I actually know? I guess I wasn't clear with that. I've been told (by someone who was tripping balls on ecstasy, so you know its true) that I'm either at a 1 or 11 on the social interaction scale. I'm working on it.
The timing of things can't be better it seems. I am 3/4 of the way through the interview process for the next gig. I have five letters of recommendation from people with lots of extra letters after their names. My boss went out of her way to schedule a conference with the project lead to sing my praises and suitability for their program. Still nothing certain, but it feels good to have so many people willing to step up to bat for me. I have invested in developing a network, and now it is paying dividends. Still not happy with the amount of insurance companies sending me interview requests. I had a coupon for a professional resume critique and it highlighted that a lot of the language that I use on it says 'manager material' not 'Research Project Leader Material' and as a result, that's why so much resume sifting software puts my resume on the desks of insurance HR people. My Robust Pleasure Source's parents noticed that we had been spending a lot of time together (At her place) and they wanted to have a talk about 'intentions' because they are somewhat conservative folks. We had a productive and honest conversation, and to keep things brief, they like me even more now than they did before. We talked about our plans of me moving in with her and they are actually supportive of the idea, because of the changes they've seen in my girlfriend. So now I'm looking for someone to take over my lease, and once they do, I'm done paying exorbitant, 1br/1ba, college town rent. My birthday is this weekend. I'd like a steak, a nice bottle of wine, and as long as the weather holds up, my first kayak float of the year. At the moment those plans seem to be doable.
Running: I ran my best half marathon on Saturday. 1:58:04, beating my previous best of 1:59:00. It was a totally flat course, and I actually feel better about the 1:59 run. But I feel good getting a run under my belt this year; I hadn't eaten a Gu since November. Next half is end of May, but I may do a 20k in early May. Phones: My iPhone 5 is slowly dying. Does anyone have a phone they love? A coworker just got an LG G6 and likes it.
The Google Pixel is a great phone. I would say it's the best phone I've had since the iPhone 3G. And fortunately for me, T-Mobile will give you $325 in credits if you port one to their service, distributed over two years. Considering Google Fi felt so bad about the living hell they put me and my wife through that they refunded her 5X in full, we're at two Pixels for about $750.
I love my 5C. ^_^ My sister gave it to me as she switched to a newer one, and I couldn't be happier with this powerful and well-polished device. Which is why it's such a shame to see yours wither away. What's happening to it?Does anyone have a phone they love?
The only actual problem is twice recently it started clicking all over the screen. It has warped slightly, probably because of the battery expanding with age, and I think it's putting some pressure on the screen. At 4.5 years old, it doesn't hold a charge as well as it once did. So no major issues, just smaller things adding up.
I can believe it. My 3GS was solid for three years, and in the last six months the battery would last 12 hours with no use or less than 8 with use. Given this phone is over 4.5 years old and has been charged probably 2000 times and has been in some harsh conditions (but not severely dropped), it has held up well. No phone out there feels perfect, but it's time to compromise on something good enough. And between loss of the headphone jack and the clear superiority of Plex over iTunes for managing and adding music to my devices, I no longer see a need to stick with Apple. Rather, I see benefits to moving away from their ecosystem.
A caution about Plex - it is dogshit on mobile. As in, won't play a song all the way through. As in, stops randomly. You can try and jog with it but it won't last a mile. It's amazing. And Plex does not store your files anywhere you can get to it without jailbreaking your phone. And once you find those files, they are assigned garbage hash-speak filenames. So even if you wanted to do something like sync via Plex and playback via Doubletwist or something? yeah no. not so much. I achieved an uneasy peace with Google Music because T-mobile doesn't hit me for streaming that so I play whatever i want. Often, it fails to find the song on the first, second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth time but once you've pounded it a few times, it comes around. However, when I switched to Fi I found myself pretty much fucked unless I was willing to eat the data from running. I have griped to Plex about this, as have many others. For a company that really wants you to believe they're serious about music, they're stunningly unserious about music. I mean, how hard is it to, you know, play a fucking MP3 file?
Shit, son, I don't pay for it I let it upload my iTunes and stream it for free. I've found that of my friends who pay for it, they generally have like one album of all my eclectic shit. But then, I have zero interest in pop music. I don't have to. God speed.
The pop thing is an experiment. I'm severely disassociated from popular culture, I've watched one episode of one show so far this year, i haven't gone to a movie yet this year, I don't follow any professional sports and I just listened to Drake for the first time in my life this week. Podcast are pretty much the only hook pop culture has in me. I'm not going to watch shows and I'm sure as shit not watching grown men get paid millions to play kid games. I feel weird about how little involved I am in today's culture. I've been developing an unhealthy animosity for the American way of life and value system for years now. I need to reconnect somewhere and music is that which I most dearly love after people. Maybe I'll come out of it more of a hater than ever.
Plex has worked mostly seamlessly for me on my iPhone. I listen to synced music all the time at work and in my car, but only from Apple devices (work iPhone 6 and my five year old iPad). It's definitely concerning if you're having issues with it on Android. At home I'm to the point of streaming Plex rather than using iTunes, even though the music is local as well. Maybe I'll hold off on upgrading from a monthly Plex plan until I know it works for my future phone.
Cooking/Baking So, I'm getting ready to prepare my next dish for the weekend, but I haven't decided yet. I was thinking something in the wrap department, a chicken gyro maybe? Haven't decided, but I'm excited to get some time over the weekend to experiment. I also tried some baking during the week, made these chocolate cookies with peanut butter filling on the inside. They turned out pretty dope. Been shopping around for a good cast iron or steel pan to prep for my attempt at making steak. I haven't really settled on anything just yet. It's mostly a mental game for me. I don't want to ruin a perfectly good piece of meat, but I'm not sure how else to approach the situation having never done it before. Work/Working Out So I ended up getting into contact with the Speaker of my states assembly as well as an assemblywoman. They both offered me recommendations and a reference, but I refused the speakers because of other unrelated things. I figure with a reference from an assemblywoman getting a job might be a bit easier. Let's hope! I'm not sure why I connected working out with work, but here we are. I got back into jogging about a month ago, so I've slowly started returning to the gym. I shoot to go to the gym pretty early in the morning as a preemptive measure for when I get a job. All in all this month is really looking up so far.
My wife has begun watching a British baking show on Netflix. It's a reality TV contest and I watched two episodes with her. It was fun and made me want to bake. You should post your meal in #grubski.
The starts of the seasons are really good too. You've got people (like Norm, who's in a later season) who know enough to make tasty things, but aren't proficient enough or inclined (again Norm) to make them super fancy looking to satisfy Paul and Merry. To me, things generally seemed more attainable at home at the start.
OMG!! In the UK it is called The Great British Bake Off and it is very popular. Basically all of my friends watch it. People are really obsessed about it here and it has got loads of people to start baking (again). I was so confused for a second when you made that post because I thought "is there some other British baking TV show that I haven't heard of, like on ITV?". It's so jarring to see it called The Great British Baking Show on PBS... I need to lie down. This is like Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone all over again.
Gyros are traditionally slow-cooked on a spit. This is tricky to do at home. "Tex-mex" gyros are traditionally heavily-marinated meat skillet-cooked with veggies. This is the simplest thing ever. Basic advice is to use more seasoning than you think is reasonable, cook hotter than you think is reasonable, recognize that a little carbonization is damn-near mandatory for decent street food and tzatziki is important. I make mine with greek yogurt, fresh lemon juice, tahini, salt, pepper and dill. Some people hate dill. I am not one of them. Use your judgement. Steak is hard to fuck up. It's pan-independent. That said, I don't pan-fry steak. "Meat for meat's sake" dishes I grill whenever possible. The easiest, most basic approach to "cuts of meat" is to pat dry with paper towels, sprinkle liberally on all sides with salt and pepper, get as close to room temperature as is practical and then when you put it on the hot, don't fuck with it until it's half-done. Then flip it and don't fuck with it some more. That nice carbonization/maillard reaction wonderment doesn't happen near as nice if you constantly fidget with it. Allow me to state for the record that I am not a member of the Slavish Adulation of Cast Iron Club. You're going to buy Lodge because that's what's available and Lodge doesn't cook that well. I also have a legit Wagner from like 1932 and guess what? It doesn't cook that well either. Despite arguments about how bomb-proof cast iron is, it's extraordinarily precious if you want the purported "non-stick" properties to persist. Copper-bottomed stainless steel, in my experience, cooks the most evenly.
Regarding pans: Get a big, solid cast iron pan. It will outlive you by several generations if you treat it right. One of the most treasured family heirlooms (That has been argued over in wills) is my grandmothers cast iron pan. Regarding steaks: Watch Chef Ramsay. Notice how little he fucks with the meat. Salt, pepper, let it warm up a bit before you put it in the pan, LET IT REST before you cut into it. Beyond that, your job is to pick a decent cut. Ask a butcher, tell him you're still learning a fine touch with cooking and would rather not mess up something nice. Let the professionals guide you, but don't let them talk you into buying a big expensive ribeye you don't know how to treat properly just yet.
Here's a drunk man's discourse/pep talk on that: Tl;dw: unless you reduce it to carbon, it's gonna taste good.I don't want to ruin a perfectly good piece of meat, but I'm not sure how else to approach the situation having never done it before.
I'd like to stress the term "unwittingly"! Plasma is hard. If you go down that route, we will meet, someday. It's not a terribly large community. :)
Just saw this, my bad. (Great pun thread over in the new pub, btw, let's keep it going indefinitely) I think plasma is just a new regime of physics for you to explore. Hopefully you don't tire of it too quickly. :) Speaking of, I've gotta do a proof today of the convolution theorem for both Fourier and Laplace transforms. It's on wikipedia, though, so what's the point? Also on wikipedia: incredible animations. My favorite is this depiction of Liouville's Theorem. These are popping up in a lot of new places over the last two or three years. Class notes are becoming more and more irrelevant, unless they are used as an attendance grade, i.e. burying requisite information for homework in the middle of a lecture. I tallied the total number of graphics from my course's content this semester. It's like... 10. Static, 2D plots, all of them, and the count even includes a graphic showing the definition of the coordinate system used to handle large angle scattering. The rest is equations and some words. I'm a spatial intelligence person, that's pretty much why I went into this ruckus, and to have some of that taken away is rough, especially when this is absolutely a physical system, not an abstraction like QM. Still, it helps you grow, but growing hurts. Fast growth, especially. I've been a little more than slightly alarmist, recently, but I do worry about the state of academia. My plan is to (re)join and cultivate the growing number of "private sector" academics, but I worry my doing so is contributing to a greater problem. The money, first granted to one gov't branch by another, must then exchange hands once more, through contracts between gov't and the private/industry group. Dude, I don't know what it's like in your realm, but every time I turn around, someone high up in an institution has agreed to roll out someone else's kid's software (or whatever reason), and it takes all of the clerical people suspiciously long to learn the new workings. The argument that the bureaucratic structures have ballooned to wholly inefficient entities holds many buckets of water, and we've simultaneously made it more difficult for small business owners to get off the ground, especially small business owners seeking federal $'s. I've digressed, sorry. Pretend that I gracefully made my way back through the rant to establish that without some type of intervention, scientists will be leaving the United States in measurable numbers over the next few years. [edit: since concrete predictions are always preferable, I'm guessing 7% - 9% of scientists will leave the U.S. over the next 5 years. Total number of scientists is ~6 million, so I'm saying about half a million scientists throw in the towel] Trump's not even so much as a kick out the door. Maybe I'm wrong, but I know I've seen some characteristics in several different departments that I wouldn't peg as "healthy". And nowhere's perfect, but we've got several of the worst problems extending across the nation. Sorry for the doom n' gloom. We'll be OK, bro. Compared to the rest of society, things will just about always look better for us, so it's hard to get bent out of shape. Speaking of, I might postdoc in Stockholm, Austria, or Norway, but I might not postdoc at all. Got options, at least. Cheers!
I’m glad I have the day off today. I couldn’t sleep a wink last night. I’m gonna take a shit tons of naps in between loads of laundry. Antiques The other week I went on a nice, country drive all by myself. I found myself in the light industrial district of a small town, you know the kind of place, full of sheet metal fabricators and cabinet builders. Amongst these buildings, very much out of place, was an oldish warehouse type building that had been turned into an antique shop. The siren song of this place was so strong, I didn’t even think twice. I just parked my car and headed right in to where I was greeted by the shop cat, the shop dog, and two wonderful ladies at the counter. And shelves and shelves and cases and cases of antiques. I could have easily spent hours in this place. There was everything there from baseball mitts from the ‘30s to temperance era literature from the 1880s to home coffee grinders from probably the early 1900s to antique glass of all shapes and sizes from medicine bottles to jars to vases to fancy ass candy dishes. Tobacco tins, jewelery, old school books, on and on and on. God, I’m getting a shopping high just thinking about this place. It’s massive. I bought a few glass objects for Dala and when I asked how many different people sold stuff there on consignment, the woman checking me out thought for a second and said “Oh, probably more than 40 at this point.” I can’t wait to go back. I’m dragging Dala and whoever else is awesome enough to appreciate a place like this but dumb enough to not think I’m willing to spend literally hours in an antique shop. Then we’ll go out for ice cream. I was watching Antiques Roadshow the other day (God, I’m turning old). Some dude brought in a Hot Wheels Prototype that the appraiser estimated would bring in $100,000-150,000 at auction. I think the most expensive thing I ever bought was like $35. People do stupid shit with their money. Drawing I know I’ve talked about it a lot these past few Pubskis, so after this comment I’ll stop. I’m fucking awful at it. It’s a guarantee that there are 10 year olds that could easily draw circles around me without even trying. It’s partly my fault, because I’m ignoring everything I’ve learned about visual art from the handful of classes I took back in highschool to my time spent looking at stuff other people make from museums and galleries to craft shows to comics. That said, it is the most stress relieving thing I’ve done in years (minus the moments where I get frustrated at myself for fucking up). There’s not major analytical thought, no real planning even when I get an idea. All I’m doing is filling in spaces with shapes and colors while watching TV or listening to music and see what develops. When I’m done with a piece, I snap a picture of it and send it to one of my best friends, we both appreciate that it’s awful but at the same time fun for what it is, then I go back to living life. I think this’ll be my new hobby for a while. Computers For reasons, the game Flashback came into my memory recently. So doing what I do, I went onto Wikipedia late one night and used the article for that game as my starting point, to where ‘90s PC nostalgia washed over me as I read article after article about computers from around the world from the classic Commodore Amiga to the NEC PC-98. What’s interesting is that I’ve never seen these computers in person, let alone used them, yet just reading about them makes them feel as familiar as using DOS to bring up shareware games like Duke Nukem and Comander Keen to being excited as fuck when my dad brought home a Windows 95 PC because it was the first computer we ever had that had both a sound card AND a 56k modem. It even came with a CD-FUCKING-ROM, and not some 4x bullshit, but full 32x. Being able to play Mechwarrior 2 on that thing justified the no doubt crazy price my dad paid for that thing. Man, practically everything about computers are so much better these days, still, old computers were the shit. Have a simulated EGA shot for that early ‘90s nostalgia. Coffee The people I live with are good people in general. When it comes to coffee, they’re Maxwell House drinking monsters. I’m not going to lie, I’ll drink it readily because coffee is coffee and I fucking love coffee anywhere I can get it, from one of the hipster places in town that turn their nose up when all I say is “small, black, please” to the stuff you find at no-name gas stations that remind you of the coffee you used to drink at the greasy spoon that had the pie with a hint of cigarette smoke as part of the flavor profile. That said, if I can get away with it, I prefer to not drink Maxwell House every morning, it’s just that because I often work second shift and am the last person to wake up, I don’t make the coffee so I don’t really get a say in what’s being brewed. I’ve tried so hard to get everyone to drink otherwise. For a while, I thought I succeeded, as the cabinet where we keep the coffee and coffee supplies had “better” stuff in bags. Nothing super fancy, just whatever you could pick up at the grocery store. It was this way for about a month. Last week, I woke up, groggily poured myself a mug, and found myself sipping the familiar coffee that is Maxwell House. It’s not that bad, it’s just that’s what I’ve been having for years and I’m so tired of it. Can we compromise people? Can we switch to something else for a while? Folgers? Chock Full O’ Nuts? Anything but Maxwell House? . . . Please?
I watched Antiques Road Show during my Bohemian twenties, nothing wrong with it. If I were ridiculously wealthy I'd buy a million dollar Ming vase and give it to the grossest punk rocker I could find. We'd make up a cockamamie story about how he got it and when they said the price he'd smash it on his forehead. For arts sake of course.
Question about the eggshells, did he roast them first or something? Cause I'll totally give that a shot. I've tried cinnamon and didn't like it, black pepper and kind of liked it (seriously, try it). What I did find today, that I loved, was eating a banana with my coffee. The two flavors mixed together really well.
Worked with a girl who added salt to the coffee "because that's what her dad did, he learned it in the navy." Salt in coffee is fucking disgusting. It's not that it brings "2/5" coffee to "3/5" it's that people who try this trick do not understand that the scale goes to 10 not 5 and holy shit, putting salt in it throws it off the scale entirely and puts it somewhere in that weird land where consomme and chicory lives.
Trader Joe's used to sell a christmas blend that was coffee, cloves, cinnamon, allspice and black pepper. It was fucking delicious. then they switched to ground, which allowed them to cut it with robusta, and now it tastes like Goodyear All Season radials.
Amen. Once you switch a percentage to Robusta, you're fucked...Trader Joe's coffee quality has gone way downhill in the past year-ish (for their blends, single origin stuff is still pretty good).
I've only had chicory once, at an otherwise decent diner in Oklahoma City. I thought that someone pissed in my coffee or something. I was about to send it back when the Texan whom my buddy was dating chimed in with, "It's just chicory; it's good." Later that day, this girl would give an Uber driver 3 stars for being Mexican (she just "didn't like something about him"), just so we're clear about the type of person.
He just threw them in after cracking them for scrambled eggs or pancakes. Mind you, his salt-use jives with kleinbl00's coworker's salt-use origin. Gramps was a cook in the Coast Guard. He didn't add the salt to the coffee itself, but to the grounds. I'm not saying that you are going to have a great cup of coffee. But, it takes the edge off Maxwell House.
My wife's quitting (always fun when the C*O tells you "in your position I would leave"....), which is good for her sanity. I think right now the plan is for her to finish out her degree so she can qualify for more interesting jobs. Meanwhile, it looks like every department on campus is getting an 8-12% budget cut next fiscal year which is going to make things very interesting, and not in a good way. However, my advisor says it's likely I'll have some research funding in the fall! Figured out that the MR2's low oil pressure was in fact the sensor wire being loose; tightened that up and things seem OK again. Hopefully I'll be able to get it legally on the road soon.
Garden Here's where the Kale were at last week: It's been shitty and rainy all week and I haven't felt like going outside to snap more photos of them. We were scheduled to till dirt last weekend, but the ground is so sloppy. It's supposed to stop raining today, and then we have typical Kansas wind and sun until Saturday, so hopefully we can do it this weekend. Bicycle Stream of Consciousness [ Threespeed Edition ] I still haven't torn apart my touring bike to check for damage after my crash, and it's been raining so much I can't ride my Raleigh because steel rims + rain = another crash. But I have been thinking about consolidating down to just the Raleigh. I'd need to do some retrofits. New alloy rims for sure. My noodle is thinking on 26" / ISO 559mm, which is smaller than was stock (26" 1 3/8, which are actually ISO 590mm). It'd allow me to fit some large, cushy tires on there for brick/washboard roads, but I'd probably have to move to drum brakes as finding caliper brakes with long enough reach for the shorter rims would be hard. I could move to a dynamo lighting setup too if I dropped down to one bike. Drums would be appropriate for the bike, (and were indeed an optional extra back in the day) but modern hubs are wider so I'd have to coldset the frame. Or find vintage hubs, which are much less powerful. And which also means using ebay, which means using paypal... I'd also like to find a rear rack off a Superbe to fit on it, which also means paypal. Basically, what I want is a Superbe, not a Sports. But I've only ever seen one for sale in the area, and I let is slip through my fingers. I should probably get my paypal account unlocked, I guess. Fuck.
Only with an old halogen/bottle dynamo setup. I agree those are horrid. I've seen LED ones in action, but never ridden 'em. If I go the dynamo route, I'd probably plop down the money for a Schmidt Edelux II. Is it the brightest thing I could buy for the money? No. Is it comparable to the Light and Motion's I've got? Yes. Is the beam pattern on it better? You betcha. Thing is, the L&M lights have symmetrical mirrors, so I never use anything brighter than "low" on my lights if I'm in the city. That's 75 or 150 lum depending on which light I'm using (and if L&M isn't lying to me). 75 being the one I judge by because I had it first and its perfectly functional for me. Not exactly a high bar for a LED to hit these days.
Course registration: ☑ Discourses of Whiteness, intro astronomy, German, Contemporary Moral Theory. I got every course I wanted, which is new. Perks of being a junior. I'm trying to acknowledge the discomfort that I feel in social situations, but instead of using that acknowledgement as an excuse to avoid, to sort of sit in that, and deal with it for greater benefits. It's exhausting. I dunno, I haven't Pubskied in a while, but I feel like not much is that new. How are y'all?
What are you studying to do? Those are all classes I would expect someone to take their first or last quarter when their priorities are mostly to drink beer, chase girls and enjoy the sun. If you are looking to use that degree to get a job that doesn't involve brewing coffee you might seriously want to reevaluate your course choices.
Hope your college is cheap/free then and jobs are plentiful. In the us that's how kids end up way in over their head in student loan debt. I would have been really sad to spend 4 years in college only to get a 12$ an hour job that I could have gotten without the degree and owe 60k @8% interest, wouldn't wish that on anybody.
This course claims that whiteness--white racial identity--is more about language than biology. Whiteness is a rhetorical construct that exists only in discourse, yet its concrete effects impact societies all over the globe. Drawing on texts from around the world, this course traces the evolution of this construct from its inception up to the present day, examining the rhetorical strategies whereby whiteness is both hidden and revealed in a variety of genres: personal memoirs, philosophical essays, scientific investigations, political writings, legal documents, critical analyses, historical essays, and such mass media as television, film, newspapers, and magazines. By engaging in the rhetorical analysis of these texts, this course examines how the discourses of whiteness continue to frame reality and mediate power relations.
I'm a 'white' guy. Actually I am Irish and the Irish were not even considered white until the 1900's. Huh, a recent article on that history, might post this as well Furthermore, I was raised Catholic. Where I grew up the KKK was very active, and they HATE Catholics. Mainly due to the Catholic church taking a stand for racial equality in the '50s and '60's and helping organize the freedom riders. The KKK saw catholics as race traitors and set their churches on fire, killed priests and terrorized communities. The Sheriff of San Diego County in the early '60s once jokes to a room full of people that beating the shit out of the Irish kids is fine because their parents will just make more of them. Here's the thing though that people forget. The Klan are/were/define racish cocksucking shitheels that should all be rounded up killed and ground into fertilizer. Every KKK asswipe is evil, un-American and a terrorist. All of em. Yet, the KKK did have a moral core and a sense of purpose and they honestly think that they are working to make the world a better place. As I have gotten older I can understand their points, argue them, and will still shoot any of them dead if they come onto my land. Still, they have a right to exist and we fight these idiots by laughing at them. The long, rambling point is this. I logged in from work on my lunch break, which I normally do not do, to post that this class description made me so fucking angry that I just defended the Ku Klux Klan. As you take this course, think about that.
The people running these types of classes are almost always trust fund kids who grew up in gated communities and never had to make the choice of paying for gas in the car or food. If you are not in the top 20% life ain't all sunshine and flowers, and there are millions of people in the bottom 40% that through no fault of there own are in a terrible place. There is only one privilege in this world and that is cash money. What you look like is the least interesting thing about you and only tells a superficially marginal part of your life story. Something else? There is no such thing as "white people" in the same as there is no such thing as "Asian people" or "black people." The Irish, French, Italians, Spanish, British, Russians and Iranians are all Caucasian and all have a radically different interactions with the world at large; different histories, different religions, cultures, languages. A dark skinned man from Niger, or South Africa, Haiti, South Chicago or even an Australian Aborigine are all "black" and all have radically different life paths and experiences. And if you think all Asians are the same, go to Korea and call a random person there Japanese and see what happens to you. Go to Viet Nam or Cambodia and call the locals Chinese and see what happens to you. (Note, don't do this as you will get the shit beat out of you.) The focus on race is lazy and counterproductive; watching some of these courses online I get a distinct religious vibe. There has been a lot of evil terrible disgusting shit done to people in this country and in this world based solely on what they look like. That history need to be taught so that it is not forgotten, so that we can use the past as a marker for forward progress. I still have the hope that we can work past this nonsense, but these type of courses make me think we are regressing away from that goal.
But... that's literally the point. Where that course description says it is saying whiteness is a thing that only exists in our heads, but has real effects. The same could be (and is) said about other races. The way you study things that only exist in the collective consciousness is to read what people say about them. Aside from imaginary things that affect the real being inherently interesting, looking at pernicious imaginary things closely enough to see through them is how you free yourself from them. You are (were?) active in the atheist community, the second should make sense to you. galen has a strange talent for baiting me into making arguments I usually don't care enough to make.Something else? There is no such thing as "white people" in the same as there is no such thing as "Asian people" or "black people." The Irish, French, Italians, Spanish, British, Russians and Iranians are all Caucasian and all have a radically different interactions with the world at large; different histories, different religions, cultures, languages. A dark skinned man from Niger, or South Africa, Haiti, South Chicago or even an Australian Aborigine are all "black" and all have radically different life paths and experiences. And if you think all Asians are the same, go to Korea and call a random person there Japanese and see what happens to you. Go to Viet Nam or Cambodia and call the locals Chinese and see what happens to you. (Note, don't do this as you will get the shit beat out of you.)
Whiteness is a rhetorical construct that exists only in discourse, yet its concrete effects impact societies all over the globe.
a.) It doesn't only exist in the mind of other people. The fact that you don't consciously think of yourself as white doesn't mean you're not affected by the construction of whiteness. Here, do this and report back. b.) Same way any social sea change happens, by educating oneself so one can educate others, and maybe eventually we improve on a societal level.How does someone 'free themselves' of something that exists only in the mind of other people?
Watch this movie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_Clear_(film) Watch this movie: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/brainwashed-westboro-baptist-church/ I have a hard time on putting the thoughts into words. And my church was not that big of a cult as much as it was just a normal church; then again I did go to a Jesuit Seminary for two years.
Nope. Not interested. I treat everyone the way I would like to be treated. I do not make special allowances for, or treat people worse because of the melanin content or lack thereof of their skin. I am well educated in how horrible and awful white people are. What 'change' do you expect me to make?
> b. Treating people equally when they start from an unequal position reproduces inequality. I disagree, treating people unequally diminishes their achievement and hard work. Its really hard to say that X group is equally as capable as Y group and then have a lower achievement bar for X group vs Y group. Actions are stronger than words and the action says that X group is less less capable because apparently X group needs a handicap to even compete.
a. That's false, and I have a feeling your reluctance to take the IAT has something to do with that. b. Treating people equally when they start from an unequal position reproduces inequality. Step 1: acknowledge that your own identity is tied up in pervasive notions of whiteness. Do your best to limit their influence on your actions, but recognize that you probably can't change them. Step 2: accept that the moral burden of achieving equality lies on the oppressor, not the oppressed. However that's defined. Men, straight people, cis people, white people, the rich, whatever. Step 3: do something about it. -- Reread b. up there. Being a non-racist is not enough. The question is, are you anti-racist?I do not make special allowances for, or treat people worse because of the melanin content or lack thereof of their skin.
What 'change' do you expect me to make?
"You're a racist and I'll prove it." Right, so start fighting the wealthy elite who keep poor people of all skin colors poor. If we're both drowning but I'm 5 feet closer to the surface than you are, I can't help you as much as the guy on the surface with the dive boat. Step 2: accept that the moral burden of achieving equality lies on the oppressor, not the oppressed. However that's defined. Men, straight people, cis people, white people, the rich, whatever. Step 3: do something about it. Lovely words. Nothing actionable. If you mean 'Do you oppose people who make judgements based on melanin content of skin?' then I am an anti-racist. If you mean 'Do you unilaterally support BLM on every single issue?' Then I am a virulent racist, because I think skin color is the least interesting thing about a person. That's false, and I have a feeling your reluctance to take the IAT has something to do with that.
b. Treating people equally when they start from an unequal position reproduces inequality.
Step 1: acknowledge that your own identity is tied up in pervasive notions of whiteness. Do your best to limit their influence on your actions, but recognize that you probably can't change them.
The question is, are you anti-racist?
Personally, it's because such courses/lines of thought are pretty much exclusively used to justify racism against people who have less melanin in their skins. Such courses/lines of thought often conflate 'white privilege' with 'Rich oligarch privilege' forgetting that if you weren't one of the Founding Fathers or a member of their social class (Rich, Landowning) life wasn't much better/different for you in early America than anybody else. I will never feel ashamed of what I look like. The slaves my grand-cestors held had skin the same shade as their own.
I get it from all the people in undergrad who told me the best way to be an ally as a cis-het-white-male was to, in short, 'Shut up, and pay me.' I get it from all the BLM leaders who state that white people are 'recessive genetic defects' and 'mutants' and 'sub-human' Source I'm all for equality. I'm all for egalitarianism. To radical degrees for both causes. HOWEVER When you start from the assumption 'All white people are subhuman monsters who need to be done away with, you sound like a racist, not a progressive. The extremists are in charge. The radicals are in charge. I have yet to see a 'moderate' approach to these topics taken or respected by any one in a position of power.
Yes, all those things are bullshit. But my question is what do they have to do with my course's description? By deconstructing race we're exposing the defects in any racialized thinking, including "white people are genetic defects" or "white people are monsters" or whatever.
By taking the course you agree with the radicals that white people are 'problematic.' Not 'whiteness' because that's an abstract. 'Whiteness' doesn't exist. Only people do. And I can't see this class encouraging the golden rule. I CAN see it encouraging white people to feel guilty for the color of their skin, and the historical actions of powerful, wealthy oligarchs who happened to be white AT THAT PLACE/TIME IN HISTORY. Fuck race politics. Study classism instead. From where I'm sitting courses like this are a waste of your money/your parents money. I wish I could get back the thousands of dollars I wasted on 'Anthropology of Latin America' because I got to pay for the privilege of being told how much white people had fucked up central/south america, how if you ever eat a banana you're a facist, and it's my responsibility to buy my bathroom tile from a 10 man operation in Ecuador, because of neoliberal policies enacted before I was born, and that I would have opposed if I had the power.But my question is what do they have to do with my course's description?
I know my experience. I know the experience of other cis-het-white-males in similar spheres of influence. If you get lucky, and actually get a nuanced moderate to teach these things, I'd be super happy for you. But nuanced moderates aren't being hired by universities these days.
It's Sandhurst Week at USMA! Named after the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK, Sandhurst is an international military skills competition that takes place over 2-3 days this weekend at West Point and nearby Camp Buckner training grounds. Campus is packed all week with teams from all over the world. There's a gigantic Chilean man sleeping on a cot in my room right now. The energy is lit and it's really cool to see so many different people coming together with a "sportsmanly" but really fierce competitive mindset. I tried to post the promo video the Army sent out but it's not on YouTube, although there are tons of little clips that individual companies recorded, etc. the UK wins almost every year, followed by one of West Point's companies (usually H3) but the Chileans are killing it at the moment and are the Latvians. Place your bets! EDIT I just found out I have a 3.6 GPA! FUCK YEAH. As a reward from my company I get to sleep in my room before noon if I have an off hour for 3 days and my room gets out of morning inspection for 3 days. YEET
My company has a terrible Sandhurst team, but it's a great daily workout so I'll probably join next semester. We have an 'elite' team that represents the whole school called USMA Black, they go out and compete overseas and stuff while regular ol' company teams just train until Sandhurst Week. A lot of demonstrating small-unit movements/tactics, various marksmanship skills, a lot of ruck marches and casualty evacuation (fake-treating casualties and then carrying them around and stuff), dragging various pieces of artillery around a few miles, and at some point a Zodiac gets picked up, carried overhead until the team reaches the lake and then paddle across the lake for some time, stuff like that. It's nothing really crazy but once you make it a competition and you're suddenly in a race, the bar really gets raised!
I got hooked on Mastodon, which is a new (few months old) implementation of GNUSocial which is an attempt to build a decentralised social network. In this case this means that instead of having a single organisation run the whole social network you have multiple groups of people running their own websites (called 'instances') that can talk to each other. So if you're signed up on one instance you can see the posts (called 'toots') of users on another instance. More or less. It's not a 100% perfect system but it's a really interesting experiment. I cancelled my tenancy so I need to find somewhere new in London to live by the 17th of this month. There are an abundance of places that need tenants here, but it's hard to find something I really like. Meh. I need to get my life together. Other than the usual systemic facts of life (gotta go to work, gotta get up in the morning, gotta clean the house, none of these can really be avoided so it's not worth worrying) all the misery in my life comes from me being lazy and not just fucking doing the things I need to do. I have a really bad habit of becoming really really fatalistic about my own inability to do anything.
So BBSes, then? :-) I'm willing to bet money that a network of BBSes appear amongst the geek community in the next 18 months or so... it's time. And more secure. ... instead of having a single organisation run the whole social network you have multiple groups of people running their own websites ...
Yeah I think that the Mastodon/GNUSocial has a few problems (no assurances from instance owners that your data will be handled securely, no builtin fediverse-wide way of identifying yourself, the way that instances interact is not well understood by non programmers, etc) that I think people will be exploring alternatives. It would be fun to learn about BBS systems, they're so before our time...