Doc Billbonic's Amalgamated Polymer

2006-06-25T01:39:00.000-05:00

Okay, it happened again, I just spent an hour writing a blog, and then something happened and now I have nothing.fuck fuck fuck I give up.

2006-06-09T05:26:00.000-05:00

School is continuing at a breakneck pace, with no sign of abatement. It is of course fun and interesting, yet we have so much work that we don't get that much time to get out there and speak with actual chinese people, which is a lamentable lacking. The other complaint - and some of you may find this a little crazy - is that we are, in my humble opinion, living far too comfortably. Our rooms are all outfitted with air condtioning units, televisions, running water, a shower, and a host of other smal amenities that nake the experience, well - unauthentic. Don;'t get me wrong, it's great, but the fact of the matter is that if we had to live in the same dorms that the chinese live in, no one would be the wiser. The chinese are snesitive about foreigners, bot on an individual level or even a group level, but on a bueracratic one. The chinese studets are not permitted to share dorms with the foreign students. It matters not from whence you came, all that matters is that you are not chinese. Perhaps the fastidious and self-reliant Chinese youth would be easily corrupted by the decadent, high-flying, free-wheeling spirit of outsiders. Secondly, everything is a big deal, and at the same time no problem at all. Andrew and I have had several discussions about this phenomenon, which is not only present in China, but in all confucian cultures.
For instance, recently me and some friends were hanging out in my room, and somebody's cigarette fall onto a pile of blankets on the floor. We were all standing there and as soon as we smelled the unfamiliar scent of burning cotton, we took care of the problem. Not exactly a crisis. A nusance to me (as it was my blanket that was scorched) but overal, not a whole lot more than spilled milk, and I anticipated having to pay for the damage (one shet, and one low-quality wool blanket - the kind one might be issued in the military) the next day as son as I got to my rom, the housekepers, who had ben anxiously awaiting my arrival stormed into the room with a rather official looking man. They all seemed deply troubled, (the official looking man turned out to be the hotel manager - the f$%king hotel manager for christs sake!) they al seemed very curious and disturbed about the burn. I calmly explained to them what had happened, and assured I would pay the 150 kuai (about $20) to take care of this small, careless mistake (which i was certainly not resonsble for). Still, the official looking man loked disturbed, and before I knew it they alerted my program manager, who proceeded to go to every room and explain to the entire group that an enormous calamity had happened upon our party. Maybe you had to be there, but I am teling you these people are crazy. And to prove it, another story. Every room is issued two tea-cups and two saucers. One night, Andrew carelessly left his tea-cup in the room across the hall, a mistake he would soon come to regret. the next day while we are in class, the housekeepers made their rounds. Upon returning to the dorm, my tired and disshevelled roomate prepared to make himself a cup of tea. He wlked next dor and found only two teacups. Puzzled, he inquired the rooms inhabitants to its whereabouts. Sadly they were as confused as he was, as there were now only two tea-cups in the room. A hurdle had presented itself, one that to this day has not ben overcome - let me explain: andrew inquired at the houskeepers station as to the status of his cup. they grew uncomfortable, and flustered when he mentioned that he had simply forgoten it across the hal, and was wondering if they had seen it when they were cleaning up. They told him that the rooms may only have two cups, not three, and that his third one had ben removed. "OK, whatever, can I get it back then." :Oh no, I am afraid that will not be possible. You see, each room may only have two cups." you can see where this is going, nowhere, eventually they told him that if he had lost his cup, then he would have to buy a new one. As of this writing the cup has yet to be retrieved. Now, with all of the rigidity and offcialdom of daily life difficult to bear, the place where the chinese do get to have their freedom is on the road - which makes sense, right? red lights are optional, stop sings are not even suggustions, basically anything and everything is permissable. I have taken many a cab ride in which the driver, frusturated by the red-light blocking his way, has nonchalantly pulled onto the other side of the road and beaten his own path through the intersection, battling oncoming traffic, pedestrains and cyclists without batting an eye. So, picture a country where no one follows traffic laws, yet an individual (me) who was quietly hiting a tennis ball against a brick wall behind a building, was asked to leave, not because I was trespassing, or causing trouble, or really doing anything except looking for a moment of quiet, because it was not an officially designated tennis-practice wall how could I have ben so careless, I was not hiting against an official tennis-practicing wall - what an idiot I am!
On the lighter side of things, I bought an american fotball yesterday, that's right, a good old fashioned American pigskin. If I could capture the lok on the Chinese's faces when they saw two white guys throwing an oblong pig bladder, I would pack it up and sell it. A couple of them were even brave enough to explore our bizzare ritual, and some even ventured a try at throwing the darn thing! There were some heaves, and some shotputs, a few knuckle-balls, and some weird shit I cannot begin to explain, but eventually one of them managed to throw a wobbly spiral, I promised to return on monday, with a couple of other americans, and show them how to play an actual game, which they semed very excited about. Hopefully 100 people don't show up looking for a good time, but if they Do, anyone interested in exporting football equipment?

2006-06-03T05:48:00.000-05:00

Folks, It's the new me. Tianjin is quite hot and humid during the summer and so i decided to shed some extra weight. By far the best style move I have made yet in China, and what makes it especially badass is the Chelsea Fotball Club (CFC) Jersey that I have been wearing around all day. I think it's high time I experimented with English Football Hoolganism, and I coudl start down at the local ex-pat bar, Ali-Baba's! All I need are a crew of thuggy-looking Britons and a few more t-shirts and we are on our way! Americans will do, yet are a mite fussy abuot the whole ass-kicking element of it, which makes them poor members of any gang. Especially a badass Chinese Chelsea Football Gang!
OK I'm bored, I came to the lab with high-hopes for an epic blpg entry, and this paltry bit of nonsense is all I have to offer. Here some more pictures:
The New Me

My Trusty Steed

Me and Andrew on Huashan

Terracotta Army outside Xi'an

2006-05-30T06:43:00.000-05:00

OK, So I've been in tianjin for about a week now, and finally have a chance to sit down and write something, actually the truth is that I sat down to wrtie something yesterday, and for the first time in a while was really hitting my stride, getting the good stuff down and keeping it readable. But, as with most things in this world, or my world at least, fate had a different plan for me. I was about 80 percent done with the entry when, as misfortune would have it, my hour on the computer ended abruptly, and the machine shut-down, effectively erasing the masterpiece I was about to put forth. Alas, it was probably crap anyways. I kept a relatively detailed journal of Andrew and myselfs journey to Xi'an, and so the good stories from that trip will have to wait until I have more time as they would only be interesting if I went in-depth. So, I guess I should begin with a couple of thoughts on China etc. I am beginning to get settled into the Chinese way of life, although us Americans in the program live far better than do the actual Chinese people that live all around us. All thirty-nine of us are living no the sixth floor of the campus hotel, so aside from daily room-service, air-conditioning in every room, and a carafe of hot water (for our tea) brought three times daily, we are really roughing it. Apparently last year a group of students complained about the "horrible" conditions they were forced to endure in the regular dorms. Apparently adjectives used to describe them included: "old," "Dirty," and "too hot" among others. (Personally, and anyone who has seen the squalor in which I live in my apartment in Madison would understand this), it sounds like i'd have been right at home. So in any case we cannot even pretend that we are not the spoiled, bourgeois westerners that all of the common folk know we are. Which leads me to my next observation: the Chinese have a very different idea of what constitutes a clean and sanitary environment than we do. This really only bothered me for about a day or so until I realized that most of the world probably lives like this and I needed to not be a wimp about it. Here are some observations about China that I think most of you would find interesting. First, their sanitation standards are not exactly what we would call western. Even in nicer restaurants, the most you can expect is a porcelain truogh, flanked by ribbed foot-resting spots for traction control purposes. The floor is always covered with urine and there is a small waste-paper basket in the corner as you are not permitted to throw your TP into the toilet (which I hear is not all that different from some European countries.) On the subject of toiet-paper, one learns very quickly that the presence of a bathroom, in no way assures the availability of toilet paper. You need leave only one pair of undies in the waste-paper basket to learn to always carry some napkins in your back-pocket. Secondly, there is trash everywhere. It has a tendancy to congeal into a mystery-blob around storm-drains. The endless supply of labor in China has found a number of interesting ways to deal with this phenomenon. Teams of men and women armed with brooms patrol the streets in search of puddles and garbage. Armed with straw brooms they form a line (in the same manner our snowplows do with each sucessive member staggered closer to the sidewalk. Upon reaching the storm-drain this crack team of specialists struggle to force the waste through the grill. Their dedication to the cause evidenced by the ferocity of their thrusts. I will try to get a picture of this phenomenon next time I see it. Anyways, class begins tommorow morning, and my time on the computer is running short, thus I leave you with a few pictures (which are in kind of a reverse order so scrol;l to the bottom first for the semi-correct chronology). BTW, Huashan is onhe of the five sacred daoist mountains in China, and Andrew and intrepid travellers can climb it at night (8 Km.) to se the sun-rise in the morning. The trip deserves a blog entry or three, but it was a great experience, made more profound as I found out that morning (before we climed it) that my grandfather, William Walker Marden Jr., had passed away the day before. It was with his spirit in my heart that I made it to the summit in one piece. He was a great man, a wonder to know, and is remembered by a loving family, and a particularly greatful grandson who probably drove him crazy on more than one occasion. Love you grampop.
A Couple of american Braggadoccio Huashan Summit, 6. am

The Sun Rises above the haze at Huashan summit

Andrew at the end of a particularly long ascent

Huashan at Sunrise
An exhausted self-portrait of William on our descent from Huashan

Hushan dawn

Delirious, freezing, and pumped at four AM. Summit of Huashan

The Dragon Trail (aprox 4800 ft.) at night

The Dragon trail at daytime. This was, in a word, awesome

Huashan pre-dawn. 6500 ft. (summit)
The story abuot this guy deserves a blog entry of its own. I will get to it later
Base of Huashan, 7:30 P.M.
Huashan (town) with a Chinese guy I have a story about

On The train uot to Huashan.
Random pic from big wild-goose Pagoda (Not at Huashan!)

2006-05-24T20:54:00.001-05:00

ere are a few pictures from Xi'an, in the first is taken from the ancient bell-tower loking west towards the ancient drum-tower. Both had civic and military applications during the Ming? (I think) dynasty when Xi'an was the capital. The second picture is inside the bell-tower, and the third is from the courtyard in Xi'an's Great Mosque, located in the Muslim quarter.
I will have more pictures up soon, and these three do not represent either the quality nor the sheer volume of photo's I have taken.

2006-05-24T20:54:00.000-05:00

2006-05-17T18:02:00.000-05:00

This blog is basically going to start as a collection of rambling notes and narrative from my trip. The material has generally not been proof-read.

3/17/2006
Sitting here in the LuDao hotel lobby, I finally have a chance to reflect on the past few days occurances. First, I should mention that I have a certain prider in not being able to see my own blog from here. I wish I knew how it looked, but alas, my pathetic attempt at political commentary is apparently too sensitive for the easily-subverted Chinese mind.
Let's see... my arrival in Beijing, at 2:00 PM on the fiufteenth already seems like it could have been last month. Recounting the mundane details since then... I got off the plane and made it through customs without much difficulty, getting to downtown Beijing, and the rendesvous point however, was a different story. I, like so many others before me got fleeced on the cab ride to the downtown. I was approached by a rather anonymous looking Chinese man who offered toi give me a ride into town. I phoned Sebastian (Andrew's frined in Beijing) and he gave me the address. The Chinese man who had approached me pulled out a shady-looking green plastic card which listed cab-fares from the Airport to the downtown. 350-475 Yuan for the tripo. I had just withdrawn 500, yet I talked him down to 250, thinking I was scoring a real bargain. Once a price was agreed upon, he took me to one of those fancy "unmarked" taxis, and we proceeded undaunted. Shortly into the ride, I began to wonder why my driver was all smiles. One may have mistaken him for a gifted comedian given the amount of jokes he was trying to convey to me. We tried to converse in what little Chinese I had, but the conversations were short, and difficult. After about 20 minutes, we arrived at the specified location, and I handed over the 250 Kuai to a very enthused driver who wasted no time in helping me ut of the car and on my way. As I found out later, the trip usually runs about 80-120 Kuai, So I paid anywhere in the range of double or triple the regular price. It turned out that Andrew, who was by now ill due to some food-related ailment got it worse, although he wouldn't say exactly how much. There is a old Chinese saying that "you can always fool a foreigner" and indeed this was only the first of many duypes that would inevitably be pulled on me.
That evening, as Andrew began to feel better, Sebastian, Andrew, James (friend of Sebastian) and I made our way down to Tianamen square and the Forbidden City. Walking around the square I couldn't help but thnk back to what my East-Asian Civ Professor, Professor Colucci, had said about the Chinese. The architecture of a civic-center often says a great deal about the government that operates within its walls. Looking around Tianamen Square, and the entrance to the forbidden city, I couldn't help but feel humbled by the structres; everything about the place says: Power. Our American Capitols - mostly done in the Greco-Roman style, also exude a presence (WC) of power, but there is something open and accessible abou them; they are aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable to lok at, which gives them a certain inviting quality. Here, the municipal buildings are more like imposing fortresses. I have no pictures of the buildings as of yet, but if the chinese can get out of the stone-age, maybe I will be able to upload some of the ones that I have. That's all for now, as I have run out of time here on the internet, but here are a couple of pictures that I was able to get up so far.

2006-05-12T23:31:00.000-05:00

I will be leaving for China on Sunday, and thus I would like to announce my triumphant return to Doc Billbonic's Amalgamated Polymer, Yes folks, it's the new me! My kind mother has sent me er digital camera, and so many pictures should be forthcoming. As I type this, I am succumbing to a carb coma, brought on by too much pasta tonight, However, I will sooon be writing from beijing China, here's a picture of myself entilted "Stoic Photo #2005z"

2005-12-03T12:43:00.000-06:00

While I was on vacation this summer, I concieved two topics on which I would like to write. The first regarded the American health crisis known as obesity, which I addressed in a post shortly after my return. The second was to be on a suprise topic - consisting of several posts over the course of time. Due to time constraints associated with a heavy workload this semester, I have been unable to elaborate on this secondary, and more (personally) fulfilling topic.
This is where I will assume the role if pontificating moralist. I should warn ahead of time that some material could be offensive and hurtful - that is not my intention. I would be the first to say that I am guilty of many of the things I intend to ridicule, and possibly these entries are merely a reflection of my inability to assess and accept my personal shortcomings. Any placement of blame on the individual is not meant to be a character assasination, or outright condemnation. These are merely the observations of one man.

Part One: Religion

It is quite cold today, which doesn't stop me from keeping a box fan in my window, but prevents me from taking off my shoes. There never seems to be enough coffe. This last cup I poured has brought the level in the pot to just below the silver band - maybe enough for one more, maybe that's all I'll need. The hot-plate has been off for a while, and the last cup looks like it will be quite grainy, a consequence of my carelessness when pouring the grounds into the maker. No matter now. I've got 4 cigarettes left and it just started snowing, I love Wisconsin.
In attempting any discussion of religion, one must be willing to accept that it is not going to go away, nor that it necessarily needs to stay. Speaking from a cozy college town in Madison Wisconsin, USA 2005, I could easily arrive at the conclusion that the usefulness of religion has run it's course, and that we should move to encourage organized religion to go the way of the horse and buggy. It is possible that we will begin to resemble France prior to World War One; the French were so steeped in the tradition of the military legacy of Napolean Bonaparte that on the eve of the outbreak of hostilities with the Germans, the primary discourse circled around whether or not to modify the traditional unifrom by altering the beret. Obviously, they should have been focused on immidiate threats, and not relied on the Balance of Powers diplomacy. The point is argued that we mustn't cling to an ideal based solely on tradition and consensus; we need to be constantly reassessing our objectives, threats, goals and tactics so as not to be ambushed by an ambitious enemy. Some would argue that Religion was valuable only prior to enlightenment thought, and now we are all so civilized that we no longer need to inculcate a fear of eternal damnation in the masses to get them to get along well. OK, So while attempting an analogy between religion and survival is not a particulary poignant setup, let me attempt to frame it in the context of current crises facing America.
It must be pointed out that many people believe that God is what gives our country - indeed the concept of a natioin such as ours - it's legitemacy. I am not going to get into this too much right now, but the notion of God in our nation and indeed our daily life is more pervasive than you might think. All of our currency says "In God We Trust." Everytime you spend money, you are affirming a system that claims legitemacy from a divine source. Even if you are an atheist, and you rightly know that it is our governments guarantee that assures the value of the currency (through bond trading, printing, lending, interest rate controls etc.) the government's right to do that, indeed to exist at all, is NOT given by the people, but by God. That being said I do not want to go into a theological discussion here, just accept that this notion of God - whether it be judeo-christian-islamic or whatever, is meant to be an abstract idea, a force if you will, that is not only inconvievable, but unprovable, is the key to western civilization and nationhood. In the western world this force has manifested itself in the monotheist religions, and in the east, via various polytheistic traditions. Modern day China is something of an exception to the rule, yet this hypothesis might explain why Communist party rule is at once a stranglehold and at the same time absent in the hearts and minds of many of the people. Relentless propaganda campaigns, laws against sedition, and extreme punishments are necesary to keep the population in submission. Communsim in effect tries to create the concept of a 'utopian heaven' here on earth - the 'God' has been transformed from something ethereal, elusive and abstract, into actual human beings (party leaders), which is why the system consistently reveals itself to be so highly flawed.
Back to the topic at hand. The setup here, I wil acknowledge is quite weak, so I will just go into my highly opionated rant. Americans (and humans at large for that matter) are by and large stupid. have you ever heard of a megachurch? this is where the sheep regularly flock to have their weekly dose of brainwashing. Not capable of making their own decisions, many Americans would prefer to be told how to think, feel, act, and vote. The genius in it is that these people think they are making highly informed decisions, based on their own personal preferences and beliefs! I blame a failed educational system for part of it, but that doesn't tell us the whole story. I am not anti-religion, I just want it out of politics. There is a pervailing notion that a non-religious person is a paragon of moral bunkruptcy and narcissism. A disposure not to submit to a higher power does not preclude immorality. Our political system functions in a way that makes a religious affiliation a prerequisite for holding public office. There are the notable exceptions, Jesse Ventura immidiately comes to mind, and while I don't exactly share his sentiment of "Religion is a crutch for the weak minded" It has of late become difficult to seperate the two. In the political sphere abortion rights, absistenence-only education, cloning, and intelligent design immidiately spring to mind. On abortion, I admit it is an unfortunate outcome of unwanted pregnancies and modern technology, but it is also in inherently sexist law. I went into the abortion issue a while ago, and I will not repeat myself here, but when it comes down to it, I believe it takes two to tango, and if women can have abortions against the will of the father, then we should also permit the father to opt out of child-support payments if the mother goes ahead with the pregnency (and he didn't want her to.)
My main issue is with intelligent design, and cloning. First, some background. When we think back to the cold-war era,, it is important to remember that the most important battles were fought on the frontiers of science and industry. The money that flowed into R&D programs all across the country, combined with the American market system, encouraged innovation without bounds. The soviet-style command economy, while able to go quite far with their research and development programs, had no efficient means of passing on technological gains to the population at large - which spurs more innovation and enterprise. The lack of the soviet economy to keep pace with ours was a major factor in contributing to that country's demise. The Bush white house, from all accounts I have read (and yes I have read them) is hostile to large, inefficient R&D projects unless they have a strictly military focus. While the innovations of the cold war were indeed brought about by military necessity, the swath of what was considered necessary was much, much larger. Most of the money going to research projects is intended for specific-use weaponary and these new tech's are not easily transferrable to the private sector. I also need to mention the 50% reductioin in funding for the National Science Endowment - embarassing. What is so troubling about these cuts, is that as I am sure everyone is well-aware, America's low-skill jobs have almost entirely migrated overseas. What made our economy so dynamic and powerful in the recent past was our technological advantage in so many fields. We should care less if China is making our textiles and washing machines, in fact that would be great! What we need to be concerned about is when we are buying medicine, that was developed at a chinese university. Or using a computer with chips designed by an Indian firm. we NEED to keep the technoligical advantage, which brings me back to my point on religion. Intelligent design. What the fuck!? A few weeks ago the Vatican publicly acknowledged (for the third time) that evolution is a fact, and intelligent design is not only bullshit, but has no place in scince classrooms anywhere in the world. The Vatican said this. The catholic church is the same organization that advocates against homosexuality,aborttion, and premarital sex (among others). this is a very conservative organizatioin, yet what most people don't know is that the Vatican employs a few hundred priest-scientists. I am not kidding, and these priests, all of whom are highly respectued in their fields, attempt to use science to answer theological questions, and seek out divine signs in nature. about a year ago I read an article on Slate that was about one of their confrences. At the confrence one of the main topics was an attempt to answer the question "when does life begin" the reporter thought he was in for a bible-slideshow, and was suprised to find that it was anything but. Across the pond here in the states we are teaching intelligent design in public schools. The science classroom is becoming more and more hostile to empiricism, and more and more slanted towards fantasy science. The great thing about intelligent design is that you can't do anything to prove it. Evolution, while not exactly "proven" at least has a wealth of evidence that is fit for analysis.
So, how does teaching intelligent design = economic ruin? I hope that emphasising the importance science and technology will play in th future of our economy helps. but if you are not yet convinced, I would also like to examine the stem-cell debate. This is an extremely important issue, and I will argue that we need to charge headlong into this field, at double the rate we are going now, clandestinely if need be so as to avoid public outcry. It is always important to try to live by our ideals as Americans. The constitutioin is not just a piece of paper, but a very real force, the idea of which is probably lost on most Americans - I will get into that in another essay. Stem-cell research
This is the wave of the future. The promise for mankind that this tech holds is amazing. People are willing to pay quite a lot to keep themselves alive, and we should be the one's patenting, and providing the technology that will allow them to do so. On a more fundamental level though, American politicians need to review good 'ole Game theory. To stand down on any field of research because of a moral objection to the

2005-11-18T21:14:00.000-06:00

Another week, another chinese test, another five-class friday topped off with a lil' budget bicycle center. For those who might be interested, I rearanged my room this past week, and I must congratulate myself on the improvement. There is that ugly black trash-bag filled with papers and other knick-knacks that I couldn't find a home for, but it is sitting behind me, out of my field of vision and thus of no concern to me.
The pile of books I have waiting to be read when I finally finish this semester is growing, and I am getting more and more anxious as time goes by. Maybe I'll just start this one.... no, don't do it Bill!!!!
France is still rioting. It's funny about blogs, or maybe it's just me; I often will think of something during the day and think to myself "I should write a blog entry about that" yet here I am, hungry and bored. I guess I could report on the good news front. I got into Professor Mccoy's Seminar - a highly coveted seat in a well-known and well-respected class. I got paid today. I really am the most boring person I know.

2005-10-26T11:39:00.000-05:00

2005-10-10T12:49:00.000-05:00

I no longer exist in a world that actually has days. The hours of my life are all accounted for, being divided into times when I am in class, times I am studying, hours for work, food, and sleep. This is my reality, and all said, It really isn't that bad...
As I look over today's headlines and try to suppress the sinking depression that comes with it, I can't help but dream of a better world. No, not some utopian paradise where the birds are always singing my favorite song, and we all live a peacfeul agrarian existence. No, I would just like one in which I could not wake up everyday and agree with Pat Robertson. Indeed pat, I also fear that the end-times are near - but not for the same reasons you do, you are after all, a luntic. While I never liked Bush, I supported some of his policies, namely the Iraq war, and the war in afghanistan. I also (tentatively) approved of his hard-line stance against North Korea and Iran (at least initially). On all other fronts my passive distaste for his government's policies, actions and ideology have been slowly turning to unbridled rage. Alright maybe "unbridled rage" is not the correct term, I admit that is a bit extreme. In Chinese, Bush's name is spelled Bù shí, Which is literally: "not or no, Happy" While the ubiquity of homophones in Chinese makes many literal translations possible, This one I just learned in lesson 4 of my textbook. I cannot even bring myself to talk about specific issues anymore, so I will just use some key words and phrases to sum things up: Cronyism, Headlong retreat from empiricism, Sense, Voices (Public) i.e. lack thereof, elitism, hubris, cowardice, treason, Imperator -whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm getting ahead of myself here. Anyways, It's not just Bush that is shitting on America, it's all the politicians, except for maybe John McCain and Russ Feingold, that are letting our country die. The liberalsim in this country that once espoused the importance of freedom, and equality have moved ever-closer to socialism. The Left's propoganda machine in this country is just as - if not more frightening than the Right's. Eminent Domain anyone?? If smoking in bars is outlawed in one more city (and yes, I am conflicted about this myself)... The left assumes that most people are stupid, and the big womb of government needs to keep them from running with scissors. The right does this too, but they claim that God wouldn't like it if you ran with scissors, so slow down -sinner!! How do we end the idiocy and polarization of our polis you might ask?
Easy: we need to reinstate the conscription act. Everybody in this country should be in the Military, men and women alike. If you are wheelchair-bound or have some other legitemate excuse as to why you can't serve, then you need to preform some other governmental duty. The rules need to be tough, no bipolar, asthmatic son of a congressman can get out of serving. In fact, in order to make it clear that this isn't a joke, the government should require service (in whatever form) as a prerequisite for voting - If you don't serve, you should be treated as a criminal, with a felony offense. (Conscientious objectors will be moved into prison cells with known rapists and we'll see if they really are incapable of a violent act!!) Okay, in all seriousness our country needs this. We have all gone so far apart that a rich white suburbanite might go their whole life without ever being forced to deal with Americans outside of their social class. Indeed, the military is one place where all groups could come together, and be forced to get along. Ok, I need to jet, and there are a lot of finer points I would like to elaborate on, but I haven't the time right now. ZaiJian!!

2005-09-22T15:08:00.000-05:00

Best Flash Video Ever!!

http://www.fat-pie.com/milkman.htm

In other news, I can't seem to get ahead of the workload, but school is fun nonetheless. I'm going to Chi-town this weekend to see my good friends Garth and Justin, There should be a good story or two that comes from that

2005-09-15T00:10:00.000-05:00

School is Raping me like a gay stepson right now. I'll get some shit up here soon though. In the Meantime, Topic: Effeminization of our Society and testicles as a vehicle for ostracization. Thank You

2005-08-24T16:41:00.000-05:00

After two uneventful plane flights, Madeleine and I returned safely to Madison; tired and exhausted from a whirlwind week around New England, our respective beds were a welcome sight. Our journey began in the wee hours of Wednesday, August the 17th. After a tired plane flight to chicago, and an equally dull ride to La Guardia, Madeleine and I deplaned. Disshelved and Disoriented, we spotted my sister Delphine on the loop, and we were whisked away to Westport. Everytime I go home I feel like A newborn baby, who after being smaked on the ass is eased back into the womb for a few more hours of incubation. Anyways... after an hour of my sister's crazy driving, we happened upon my Dad's house on Turkey Hill Rd. which is now home to a 12 foot American flag, displayed proudly on the side of his newly constructed barn. A deep seeded pride welled up from whithin, and I couldn't help but crack a smile, knowing the kind of looks this symbol of American pride must get from the legions of Gucci-liberals and Trustafarians that continue to poison my hometown.
After a day in Westport which included a Marden-style dinner at 'V' and drinks with old friends, we went up to my grandparents house in southern Maine for a few days of the beach and relaxation. moving right along, we returned from Maine on Monday and, having felt we had seen all things of worth in Westport, promptly boarded a train to Manhattan. After wandering the city for an hour, madeleine and I made our way to the new MoMA. Our twenty-minute wait in line ended with a credit-card machine malfunction that led to a near-row between Doc-Billbonic and the metrosexual counter staff at MoMA. Disgusted, Madeleine and I moseyed over to the American Museum of Natural History, and the day was salvaged. We ended the day as all days should be ended in New York, in The Bronx, witnessing a Yankee victory. 'Twas actually a rather exciting game. After a right beating, the Blue Jays Manager emerged from the dugout. Bloodied and on embarassed after allowing his team to take a knee, he instigated an argument with the home-plate umpire that resulted in his expulsion from the game. It was the right move. God Bless America. We returned to Westport yesterday and prepared for our return to Wisconsin. I got off the plane with $5 in my checking account and a smile on my face, not bad for a week in Westport if you ask me.
Now to things of actual importacne. Last Month when Madeleine and I were vacationing in Door County, we decided to stop at a fast-food restaurant (something we never do here in Madison) to add to the novelty of the trip. You haven't really gone on a road trip if you don't stop at at least one beacon of Corporate America's oral indulgence. Our preffered location was Culvers, home of the Butterburger. It had been so long since I had even walked into a fast-food restaurant that I had forgotten what den's of gluttony and indulgence they were. We took our place in line and perused the menu. In a move of errant Braggadoccio I approached the cashier and proudly ordered the fattsest, beefiest, baconiest, butteriest burger on the menu. Madeleine ordered something normal. As we sat down and prepared to eat, I nearly lost my appetite. I had been talking with Madeleine and hadn't noticed the other patrons around us. When I did look up, the picture became clear. This was a den of sin and vice. Over to my right, there was a woman in her early thirties, who could only be described ad grotesquely obese, shoveling a burger into her mouth at a rate of two bites per second; grease dripping from her chin. However a closer look revealed the truly disturbing element in the picture that had missed my attention the first time. her young son (of no more thatn five or six) was there with her, feasting on the poison that his mother had placed before him. The saddest thing was that the son had already developed the same body-type as his mother; his plump little digits savoring every last drop of greasy goodness. I couldn't believe it!
A new report released today posited that 25% of americans are now obese, not overweight but obese. We all have loved ones who should probably lose a little, or a lot of weight. The ne'er tactful Doc-B even sent his own mother an Ab-roller last christmas as a wake-up call that she needed to do something about the weight she has gained since moving to California, don't get me wrong, she didn't exactly pack on the pounds, but it was enough to cause me concern - especially in regards to her long-term health ( a word to the wise, Don't do this. The ab-roller was returned whithin a few weeks, and my mom called my sister to yell at her!!). While she never used the ab-roller, I can only hope that it prompoted her to become more aware of her health, especially in terms of her overall level of fitness, and most-importantly her long-term health risks associated with being overweight. While problems like Alcoholism, smoking, and Drug Addiction tend to be the scourge of High-School health teachers all over the US, Obesity is more of a slippery squid. For example, if there was a drug-user in a high-school health class, I highly doubt he could (or would) sue the school for defamation, or libel. But an overweight or obese child, whose condition is clearly known by everyone on account of that uniquely advanced human sense of vision, may have their 'feelings hurt,' or feel like an outcast if health teachers started talking about people with their condition in terms of someone who has a 'problem.' So one solution we have is encouraging schools to tackle this problem more head-on, but that I feel would in the vast majority of cases only serve to ostracize the unlucky children who have weight and/or fitness problems. This is not even to mention the wide range of fitness programs, whos ubiquity is knwn by anyone who has watched television past 1:00 AM, and thus the political difficulty in agreeing upon a universal health / fitness program fo our country's youth.
Back to culvers....
As I looked around the restaurant I noticed a family eating nearby. It was a sunday, morning and the father had on some sort of t-shirt that promoted the values of christianity. what it said was incionsequential, only that it was clear this was a religious man, and by extension a religious family who had likely just been to church. When I saw his shirt, a lightbulb flickered in my oft confused head. "If only we could get our nations religious leaders to expose their flocks to the dangers of fast-food and obesity" Now stay with me, and I'll try to make sense out of where I'm going with this. Among some of the less dubious tenets of the church is their rejection of gluttony and vice. As far as I know all sects of the church claim that the human body is a 'temple' created by God and should be treated as such (this is why for instance, abortion and suicide are prohibited). Is it really that much of a stretch to ask our priests, pastors, ministers etc. to acknowledge the dangers fast-food? Isn't it a sin to consume excessive amounts of alcohol and drugs? Shouldn't, as the reasoning goes, you try actively to live as long as you can, and thus spread the word of god (which is a sacred duty of all christians) for as long as possible? This is one area where some divine intervention might actually result in some good. Lastly, while our culture's staunch commitment (although with the current administration I at times doubt it) to empiricism has taken us far, information, is always changing. Remember when cigarette's were healthy? But God's word is not changing. While the Bible is open to all kinds of interpretation, it is still a narrow framework from whithin to work. Dietary reccomendations are also nothing new to the christians. A glimpse at the book of Leviticus provides a wealth of examples to the point. Those parts of the old testament were written long before cures were found for the pathogens that occured in domesticated swine, and thus the pious needed to be informed by some means what was healthy and what was not, who better to do that, then and now, then God?

2005-08-20T17:41:00.000-05:00

I am on holiday in new england, and thus unwilling to devote an hour to writing a blog. I am however eager to return to wisconsin on the 24th and make two posts, one on health / diet / fast food... and the other on a suprise topic, of which there will be three to four installments over the course of time. til then, ta ta

2005-08-08T14:43:00.000-05:00

With the end of my class, and just a month of summer left, I finally feel like I can relax. Ahhh. It's been a while since my last post; the interim requires little in the way of an update, but here's one anyway.
Madeleine and I went up to Door County, WI a few weeks ago where we stayed at the chateau Diemer, enjoyed fine company, ate well (except for a quasi ne'er stop at a Culvers on the way back - a topic of soon-to-be-written blog). We even went to the local bowling alley; a quaint establishment that offers four lanes of ten-pin bowling and manual scoring. It was the first time I had been to a bowling alley lacking the flashy modernity a la AMF Rip Van Winkle Lanes in my hometown. We even got to observe some of the locals in their natural habitat!
Anyways, we got back on a sunday, (don't let me forget to write the 'culvers / the fast-food plague /how to stop it', blog entry!) two weeks ago. madeleine and I are going back to my hometown of Westport, CT from 8/17 to 8/24. more on that later.
A few nights ago I was out with some of my Good friends, and among them, a gentlemen by the name of Trevor Lapham. Trevor Also majored in Econ here at the UW, and we are both planning on going to law school. I told him I never plan on setting foot in a courtroom, and he told me he was going to practice law in a small town somewhere - ostensibly to help out the 'little guy.' Well, you can guess where this went. I was accused of having no soul (per my desire to use my law degree as a corporate consultant, and thus earn a good living for me and mine) while Trevor tried his damndest to sit atop the moral high ground spouting slavery, and corporate demonisations. I couldn't help but feel steamed about the accustations. In short, it seemed like a round condemnation of my character. Does wanting to earn a good living - even if it be the life of a corporate hack - preclude a lack of character? Is it wrong for me to look at the steady divergence between rich and poor and decide not to sail on the latters ship? Are we all so fucking idealistic that we should make it our life's missions to stamp out inequality, and create a just and better world? Does being a member of the system, if it is 'wrong', make us culpable, even if we do not engage in any wrongdoing?
My answer is No, at least mostly. Like any system, if you are just one man, or small group of men and women, you should know that change can be best effected by working from whithin. How many one-man stands against the government result in change? Not many, but here's one for you: Ted Kaszynski. How many people working whithin our system (wether it be our government, or our corporations, or whatever) have been able to affect change? MLK jr., abraham lincoln, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Carnegie, Morgan...... the list goes on and on. of course it ceases to be important when the system itself is no longer able to balance itself, which may or may not have happened here yet.
OK, so how does this line of reasoning grant me a moral reprieve? it doesn't. Would I like to die thinking I made the world a better place - that my actions led to a more pareto efficient outcome( ;p) ? Of course. But I think Trevors reasoning is highly flawed in assuming that because one works for a large multinational corporation, one will always act in a favor of malevolence and oppression, sacrificing human rights and freedom if it means a .5% increase in your profit margins.
Lastly, I will mention the "marxist commoditization" of our employment. By Marxist commoditization I am speaking about the disconnect from what we do in our offices to what happens on the ground 5000 miles away. While this argument sounds like a good topic for a metaphysical debate, the truth is, people who are making these kinds of decisions are probably pretty well-informed about what the conditions are like on the ground. Would you hire someone to make those decisions who didn't have a clue what was really going on? I should think not. Problems arise from individuals who are immoral, or who have succumbed to their greed - which leads to my final thought. An argument, that is likely the result of misinformation and flawed reasoning, is the belief that by working for a company that engages in inhumane (whatever that means) actions, you are somehow morally culpable for those actions, along with everyone else. So yeah, that guy driving a forklift, you better watch out! the Liberal-Fascist movement is coming to protest near you!!!
This will be edited for clarity and soundness later, I gotta run now.

2005-07-20T13:11:00.000-05:00

It has been 44 hours since I smoked my last cigarette. I have been supplementing my nicotine intake with Skoal Bandits. I feel like a zombie. While the cravings aren't quite so bad, I feel like I've had a partial lobotomy. This transient stage of quitting, between nicotine freedom, and submission, is rather strange. That abyss I predicted would appear in my life has not yet come to fruition; it is as though someone has snuck upon me and removed my ulna, leaving my arm only partially functional, yet incabable of preforming the full range of uses my brain would like it to. This I'm certain will pass soon. In other news, I got an embarassing 'B' on my macro midterm. We had to choose three of five questions, worth thirty points each. Wether it was the four cups of coffee flowing through my veins, or my general trepidation about the exam I'm of yet unsure, but I answered the first question without reading any of the others. It turned out to be the most difficult question on the exam and I got a 7/ 30 on it (I could have answered it correctly if I had taken my time. I had one of those moments - as the door to Social Science swung shut behind me my face paled; I knew I had made a grave error, knowing it was too late to go back and change my answer, I hung my head in shame). the other two, that I answered once I had hit my stride were 27 and 30 respectively. I am livid. Had I been less of an asshat, I could have answered the gimme: Define three different measures of GDP and explain why each is good/bad. I deserve a swift kick in the nuts for that one. Anyways, more news will be forthcoming once my indigestion / nicotine problems are mitigated. Till then, pace.

2005-07-15T11:08:00.000-05:00

The exchanges were heated, the orgy of flailing arms and pointed fingers were increasigly chaotic; the wild gesticulation becoming too much for some to bear. Last night I was enjoying a few pitchers at the 'dice - a favorite watering hole of mine with some "friends". What transpired over those frothy pitchers of huber could only be called ludicrous as I tried valiantly to parry attacks from my "friends", who revealed themselves to be a misinformed and idealistic group of neo-socialists. Now I know what you must be thinking, "Bill, Why didn't you run for your stinkning life?!" or "Bill, How did you escape??". Sadly, I was unable to make them realize the folly of their ways / escape. Luckily, they revealed their true colors before it was my turn to buy a pitcher; in a tour de force rivaled only by the Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf a la GWI, the free-rider problem I had been painstakingly trying to explain was demostrated by doc-billbonic, much to the chagrin of my newfound foes of course! The focal argument forwarded by this particular pack of left-wing radicals was your typical "corporations are the one's keeping third-world countries down! It's not their fault they can't industrialize! WAHHHHHHHHH WAHHHHHHHHH!!" I hadn't actually concieved the scope of the deception until others present nodded their heads in agreement with this outrageous claim. I sat there agape, wondering where to begin. I mean, I can't explain the solow-growth model, pareto-efficient outcomes, and the law of diminishing returns to a group of rabid socialists whose closest brushes with economics happened when they played simcity and monopoly as children. Once it became clear to me that attempts to bring logic, sound theory, and reasoning into play with these people was about as effective as moving a stump by shitting on it, I tried in vain to steer the convo back to planet earth. The convo remained on planet retarded. How does one go about correcting these people without A) being a self-indulgent prick, and acting like they're not worth talking to. B) Giving a lecture C) Getting really super pissed.
Suggestions would be nice.
Yours, DoC_B WMd

2005-07-08T11:57:00.000-05:00

The Neverending Bore: Z:S Vs. Chez Fedward.

As a longtime reader of Z:S and more recently, Chez Fedward, and given my personal aquaintance with these two fine young gents I am in a unique position to offer my services as moderator to this painfully redundant clash of egos . My position would be strengthened by the fact that I am of both Irish and Italian descent, and not Japanese (which might have served to unite these two curs against me!) Sadly, this will never happen.
Insomuch as a well-informed moderator might actually result in some rational discourse here, I am instead going to take the stance of interloper. While I do this mostly for my own entertainment, I am also spurned by the need to inject my own neo-classical economic agenda into Z:S's soft and fuzzy politics. And as for Chez Fedward... Alas I am hard pressed to find a more apt description whence a recent post at Z:S accurately stated that rants originating at Chez Fedward "...needed little in the way of rebuttal" I can at least fan the flames of his incendiary rhetoric that screams: "Rush Limbaugh, but without the tact."
/flame on
bill
BTW: I have a hit counter. en garde!

2005-07-06T18:17:00.000-05:00

Lake Mendota rope swing: Awesome!

2005-07-06T13:19:00.000-05:00

Wether it was humidity, the chills, or Madeleine's metronomesque breathing (larghetto it was) I may never know, but after a near sleepless night at my apartment, I arose and sat in front of my computer screen. Herein lies the excrement that poured from my fingertips(verbatim aside from some editorial clarification on july 4th & 6th) , July 1, 2005:

Alright, I've only just woken up, so this may be a little disjointed, but here goes...
A few days ago the supreme court ruled on a case that filed by a group of citizens from New London, CT. The details of the case go something like this: a corporate developer wanted to build a resort and waterfront hotel in New London, unfortunately, many people (residential and commercial landowners) were unwilling to sell their property and the project was dead in the water. The Company (who's name escapes me right now) filed a petition with the town citing job creation and increased tax revenue as reasons the town should seize the land (with "just" compensation of course) and sell it to the developers. Obviously the frightening question arises: WTF??? How can a government, local, state, or federal, facilitate a direct transfer of property from one private individual/group to another. When they built the interstate highway system or created our national parks, these seizures of private property were deemed acceptable, because they were becoming part of the public domain - meant to benefit the public, not private enterprise and it's shareholders. Property rights have always been sacred in this country, and this scenario puts even this basic right in jeopardy - allowing this would further marginalize the poor and middle class and when reflected upon, will effect them most seriously ( a town council tends to have wealthier members of the town on it i.e. those who can afford to campaign, and put their career on hold etc.) The court finds in favor of the corporate interest. In a 5-4 split, the supreme court ruled in favor of the corporation!!! Don't get me wrong, I think corportations are great - albeit ruthless. It is in their best interest to do what is best for their sharholders, and it is governments place to make sure that their business pratices don't interfere with the public good.
The real problem, and the reason I am writing this is because of the split in the court. It was along the abortion line with the pro-choice judges on the corporate side, and the "the constitution doesn't guarantee the right to choice" on the private propertyowners sider. This forced me to ask myself a very serious question: How much does a womens right to choose mean to me? I put it to a thought experiment. Does the womens right to choose mean as much to me as living in a democratic republic, and being able to vote? Clearly, a tyranny in which women could have abortions is inferior to a democracy in which they can't. Obviously, in the aformentioned scenario, the choice is clear. When I started thinking closer to the margin, tougher questions arose: Does it mean as much as universal health care, or guaranteed social security? This is where it began to get fuzzy for me. This fuzziness lead me to consider the pro-life/pro-choice debate more closely. As a mentioned above, the justices who are "anti-abortion" aren't all really "anti-abortion" in the sense that they want to blow up a women's health clinic. Scalia, for instance is a strict interpretationist of the constitution, and argues that the constitution doesn't guarantee the right to choose. Then I began to think about people I knew who wre pro-choice / pro-life. Granted I don't know too many pro-lifers, but those I do know tend to poorly-educated, low income men and women, who are usually believers in some manifestation of christian doctrine. The pro-choice people I know (the majority in my life) tend to be credit-card weilding whites from middle-upper class families. The irony here is that the pro-choice constituency I have just mentioned could in reality supprot an unplanned/unwanted child, whereas the poorer/pro-lifers would have a more difficult time doing so.
That point aside, the democratic party needs to reconsider the abortion issue; they need to look at it in terms of a bargaining chip - the ultimate bargaining chip. In these hard times for the Democrats, they have been struggling to define their party as seperate and apart from the republicans. They have done this on several issues including the war in Iraq, Social Security, and most fervently, abortion. They are clinging onto the abortion issue trying to frame themselves as champions of womens rights, yet I can't help but see golem descending into the fire at mordor clinging onto the ring that (he percieves) gives him so much power. The democrats need to make a choice; abortion needs to become something they are wiling to trade.
okay, so the bottom line is, and I guess the question I pose to anyone who reads this is: how much does abortion mean to you? what you need in order to allow roe v. wade to be overturned? think hard about this, because, as of this morning, sandra day O'connor stepped down and a brutal fight is about to ensue over who the net supreme court justice will be. It's time to make a choice for America, and if the Democrats play their cards carefully (all of them) they may come out the victors after all.
Bill
A note: The abortion issue is in the hands of the courts. This commentary is not meant to pre-suppose the authority of the Legislature in lieu of the Courts, it is simply meant to provoke thought on how much abortion really means to you and this country. Furthermore, the ethical implications of abortion are also not meant to be addressed by this commentary, it seeks to remove the emotional element of the debate, and focus on it's value as political capital, and social policy.

2005-07-04T10:28:00.000-05:00

My first post... Sitting Naked in my room, Madeleine's marie claire brushes up against my right elbow. Angelina Jolie and her fine rack are beckoning me open the magazine, yet I resist. Here is a picture from the white trash bash.