Saturday, March 1, 2008

New Class Schedule

ENGL 135H: "Honors Advanced Composition" professed by Anne Gervasi
Room 202 Friday 8 AM - 11:50 AM


NETW206: "Introduction to Switching w/ Lab" professed by Kenneth Chipps
Room 261 Thursday 6 PM - 9:50 PM



These classes will officially start this Monday, though classwork will probably not be expected to start until I walk into the classroom in reality.

The online component of the classwork is now active, however, and I have begun work in the "Threaded Discussions" (forum-style discussion prompted/seeded by the professor).

Why I'm Evil: A Rebel Just Because

Alex's Ruminations on the Nature of Evil: an Exercise of Faith

I ask that everybody ask him- or herself one seemingly simple question.

Do I choose to be “Good,” or do I choose to be “Evil”?

Most of you would immediately, and without question answer to him- or herself "Good!" as loud as the inside of you mind can handle.

However, before I lose you to your busy schedule and the influence of the true evils in your world, ask yourself:

What is Good?

What is Evil?

I propose an exercise of the mind that won't take much of your time. Take a seat, get comfortable, and let's get in a pondering mood.

My suggestion for getting the most out of this is to take each line in the below comparisons one at a time, and consider the implications of each on its own

merit, as well as all together as a whole.

Yes, I realize that I might make make some assumptions that may be invalid, but the whole point of this exercise is to open your mind to think for yourself

on each idea's own merit.

Let us compare the two by what we all are led to believe.

Good vs Evil
Light vs Dark
Order vs Chaos
White vs Black
The Known vs The Unknown
The Commonplace vs The Rare
The Watched vs The Unwatched
The Governed vs The Unregulated
The Policed vs Those Left Alone
Tame vs Wild
Push vs Pull
Fear vs Respect
Emotion vs Logic
Fast Food vs Whole/Natural/Organic Food
Megacorporations vs Family-Owned Businesses
Agribusiness vs Family Farms
Licensed and Proprietary vs Open Source
Centralized vs Peer-2-Peer and/or Distributed
Closed vs Open
The Few in Power vs The Many in Power
Men in Power vs Men and Women on Equal Ground
Pharmaceuticals vs Herb and Other Ancient Lore
Organized Religion vs Independent Spiritual Growth
Groupthink vs Individual Thinking
The Borg vs Capitan Picard
Sociopolitical Machines vs Independent Thinking
Unthinking Party Line vs Thinking Before You Vote (And Vote)
Mainstream Media vs Independent Newspapers
Spoon-Fed Media vs The Internet
Dictatorship vs Democracy
Told What to Do vs Given Advice and a Choice
Government-Run vs Community-Run
Mandatory vs Elective
Being Drugged vs Being Clear-Minded
Monotony vs Variety
Hate vs Understanding
Efficiency vs Quality
Being Brainwashed vs Doing Your Own Thinking
Being Blinded vs Being Long-Sighted
Being Muted vs Being Free to Speak
Being Trapped vs Being Free to Walk
Being Labeled vs Being Self-Defined
Being Enslaved vs Being Free

After these ruminations, I have to say that appearances really are deceiving after all. But all one has to do is take a second look to see the second side of things.

After this, do you really want to be "Good?"

What will your fate be?

Monday, February 25, 2008

Update: New Classes, New Plan

New Educational Plan:

I'm going to switch from BS - Network and Communications Management at DeVry University, to AS - Network Systems Administration at DeVry.

All of my classes will transfer, so no wasted overpriced classes, and I'm already halfway through it.

When and if I graduate from that abominable facility, I will transfer to Brookhaven College, on my way to a BS at University of Texas at Dallas.

I can't believe I let Carl persuade me to sign up at DeVry.

Never, ever, sign up at DeVry. They are overpriced and incompetent. They are a useless school, and they have a largely unreasonable staff. They act like they are picky, but they do not know how to educate, nor to work with students. The only thing that keeps them afloat is fresh meat, and I don't recommend anyone ruining their life accruing a debt over these idiots. No-one is going anywhere with a "degree" from these people.

Personal Rant:

I have now developed a slight disgust and healthy fear of my step-grandfather Carl. I will not be around him and his deleterious influence if I can help it.

He apparently knows this, as he has threatened to break down our door if we don't let him in whether to rearrange our own furniture for us, in our own apartment, which we have already arranged just the way we like it, or to make sure we didn't throw away a piece of garbage he dragged out of the closest cesspool.

Mom might be, but I am not afraid to call the cops and get a restraining order for the sicko.

He might think so, but offering me cookies and similar items does not make up for striking me on my head, chest or back. He has a history of this, now. I have lost count of the times he has done this for no discernible reason.

Either he is going far over the cliff pas the hill, or was nutty to begin with.

He was the reason we left the apartment to begin with. Neither my mother nor I could life in such a stifling and deleterious environment. You had to always watch the meats, and if you got sick with the squirts, it couldn't possibly be his fault, no, it was the restaurants we ate at, if not that, we weren't getting enough sleep, if not that, then we weren't washing out hands right. Never his precious cooking. We may know how to cook, but he selected to oldest, cheapest, on the bottom of the super-duper-pay-pennies-on-the-dollar bargain bin meats and other dubiously food-like substances he discovered in dusty corners of Walmart.

I'm willing to give up a lot to eat right.

I'm willing to pay more, and eat less. I'm willing to regulate my eating habits as a matter of course. I'm willing to cook my own foods every week at least.

All I have to do now, is convince Mom of the fact, and to also convince her that I'm not saying this because I'm not paying for actual food just yet.

There is a reason blueberries, pomegranates, baby spinach and garlic are so expensive: They actually make you healthy, just as there is a reason McDonalds "food" is nearly free: It does the opposite.

I have a new group to allow me to "push" information to you.

If you would like intermittent information from me that I deem important (things I think you would want to know) and know me from somewhere, please feel free to join my Group:






Google Groups

Alex Net

Visit this group


If the above device does not work, a direct link is here.

Well, that's it for now.

I'm going to "Torify" (implement Tor on) my friend's computer. (He's paranoid, and for good reason, what with all of the senseless wiretapping the government is doing)

This won't help much, but he will appreciate it nonetheless.

Bye.