The Occupation Nation
21 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in Bad Things
When I first heard about the Occupy movement I was ecstatic. Finally, after years of hiding in our bedrooms and complaining on blogs like this one, real people were doing real things to make a difference. The protest renewed my faith in the system, in people’s desire to seek change. As I watched the camped out activists, I was reminded of the Vietnam protests and the massive movements in the 60s and 70s, the picketers fighting against injustice and the establishment.
The only thing is, in this case, I’m not certain anyone is sure what the Occupy movement is trying to achieve.
If people are gathering in the name of a cause, or even several causes, great. We’re legally allowed to gather in protest in the constitution. But what exactly is the goal of the Occupy movement?
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Call it Occupy Wall Street if you like, but the celebrities we worship and politicians we voted into office make up most of the population of people we are protesting against. The big businesses are the only things left in America that still provide jobs. There are no small town businesses left that have survived the oil, fast food, media and factory farming rampage. Every town has a Shell or BP gas station, a MacDonald and good old cable television. 99% of your options have been systematically destroyed so that when someone asks you what you want you think “do I want Chinese or Mexican for dinner?”.
Even inside the system we can tell something is wrong. Politicians spin fantasies to win us over. They create imaginary insignificant gossips and enemies to distract from the subtly squeezing hands around our necks. This is not a system that can be changed by protest. Those in power tend not to bow to the masses, even if it is to their advantage. They will simply lie about it and do what they want anyways.
They have created a generation that is easily distracted and quickly bored. Today the Occupy movement is news, but when the country stops caring, will the people go home? What must happen for the movement to have worked? I know we will say that if the top 1% taxes are raised and enforced that it will change something, and fix the economy, but are we really satisfied with giving more money to the government that has forsaken us? Perhaps the money will go back into financing socialized healthcare and welfare and school programs, but as far as the budget is concerned that money would just serve to finance yet another needless war. Will it improve the environment, or lessen corruption, or give the people any more power than that which our corporate overlords allow us to have?
The system is broken, and we have taken a step in the right direction. The people stand together, but our voices are many and easily drowned out or silenced. We are organized without a direction, standing together without any purpose other than rage and frustration. We are like frightened sheep, bleating around in our pens. How wonderful would it be if someone could focus the strength of this new arm into a fist? How much change could we do if together we do more than just speak our minds, but fight, break down the walls of a system that has decided that we can be controlled and openly lied to? How many of us are brave enough to fight for a future where no man can say he deserves his riches any more than his neighbor?
People call it a class war, but no one really seems to know who to fight. Make no mistake, the lords and ladies and kings and queens did not die out in America. They sit upon their thrones and pass the power and corruption on to their heirs like so many families have done for hundreds of years. They consider themselves noble, better than the common man. They are not satisfied with anything less than amassing more money than they could spend in a lifetime, and they do not live in the world we do.
They could not hope to understand what it is like to watch your children raised around drug dealers and taught how to live from Wal-mart paychecks to feed the kids they had at 14 because state funded middle America doesn’t teach basic sex education. They can’t know what it’s like to die alone in a hospital, not because there is no cure but because you have no insurance.They can’t understand how honest hardworking people can be poor and homeless and need any help they can get, because nothing in their lives was ever fair.
Life for the rich is a walk in the sunshine: friends are plentiful, opportunities grow like weeds, and ordinary people look like tiny ants from the tops of private jets and skyscrapers. The CEOs and private billionaires don’t know what poverty is. We can’t expect change from the politicians with their gold lined pockets or the businesses that pay them, or the media that tells us what they want us to believe. We can’t expect handouts because the government is done giving them, and we can’t expect to change anything by staying within the neat little boxes they make to keep us in line.
My main question is this: Do we need a protest or a REVOLUTION? Car mechanics have a term for it: totaled. In a situation beyond repair, there’s just not enough left that works properly anymore. You can sell the parts for scraps, or perhaps take working bits off other cars and build yourself a new machine, but broken things aren’t just going to fix themselves. We need a new car. We need a new system. And we can’t just sit back and expect the old one to suddenly fix itself.
What I actually use facebook for…
12 Aug 2011 2 Comments
in Uncategorized
So I recently heard about Nov 5th this year as Anonymous’ possible attack on Facebook, their eventual goal to shut down the site for sharing our private information with corporations and the government. Initially, I was appalled about the attack.. and then I started to think about whether or not Facebook really did all that much for me. What was I so sad about losing?
Here is a list of the things I actually do on Facebook… and how I maybe could be doing them.
1) Chat with friends that are far away about irrelevant stuff we never discussed when we were in the same room together.
You ever notice that? How when you’re on Facebook it’s all “What’s new with you?” but in the real world you’d chat about zany stuff like ice cream flavors, or philosophy, or music, but only spend like 10 seconds on a life update.
2) Status Updates: Telling people who don’t care about the mainly irrelevant stuff I do on a kinda regular basis.
No, I don’t message my breakfast every morning, or what I did EVERY DAY… but I’m pretty sure my friends don’t actually care much about whether I made cupcakes, or if I’m angry at my boyfriend. They might be interested enough to post one sentence… but in their world my life is just a blip of mild amusement (at best) on the endlessly entertaining and distracting World Wide Web.
3) Friend people I don’t really know, or don’t talk to any more.
Admittedly, I have tried to limit this, but it’s such a fine line. Do you friend someone if you just met them? If not immediately, when do you know they’ll be someone you’ll be friends with? At what point, after not talking to someone for a while, do you say “We’re not friends any more” and delete your friendship? You have to keep them on, reminding you of the people you used to know, or met once, or once hung out with. Despite this, no matter how many times I see a status update from them, I don’t care enough to ask how they’re doing. Why should I? Facebook lets me know without even needing to let them know. Which brings me to….
4) Anonymous observation of cute guys, friends and relatives… also known as STALKING.
Does it bother you a bit that you have no idea if the creepy guy at school has your Facebook as his home page, or if your mom is checking up on you every hour, you have not a clue? I mean, I enjoy the perks, like checking out the interests and relationship statuses of cute boys I just met. However, all that means that is instead of saying hello, or resorting to any contact, I can safely (creepily?) observe their daily behavior under a shroud of anonymity. I don’t even need to visit their page to get a news feed status update on the activities of my friends. So even if I’m interested in what they’re doing, chances are I won’t even comment, and if I do it will be a snappy one liner designed to amuse and attract attention more than to connect.
5) Post perfect pictures of myself, and get tagged in pictures where I look ugly.
In today’s day and age, with modern technology, I can take any pox ridden, obese, cross-eyed goof and make them look like Brad Pitt. This is software that I regularly take advantage of by taking hundreds of web cam pictures and selecting one to be processed into a presentable image to put on Facebook. Everyone does it. So it’s no surprise that in just karmic retribution, every friend posts the pictures they have of me, which just happen to be ones where my eyes are half shut, or I’ve got two chins, or I’m looking the wrong direction. Yes, I can un-tag myself from some, but I can’t stop the influx of pictures, except by avoiding cameras… which I now do. Hopefully no one notices the paradox between the me I present, and the me the rest of the world presents.
6) Have unnecessary drama over whether or not I’m in a Facebook “relationship or not.
Maybe for you it’s different, but isn’t it odd that in order for most people to feel secure in a relationship, you have to declare the thing on Facebook? Maybe I do want to date a guy, but I probably don’t want to tell everyone about it right away. I’m not really the post my personal business and gross pictures of us making out kinda girl. And so what if it’s complicated? It’s ALWAYS complicated. There’s no such thing as a normal relationship. I don’t want to stress about whether I should change my status from Single to something else. No one wants to be first. I just don’t think that a social site should get to dictate whether or not I can just be happy being undefined for a while.
7) Post links to things I really don’t care much about.
Pretty much just that.
So, yes, my life might be changed if Facebook ceased to exist. I’d have to resort to e-mail, or AIM again (oooh retro!). I might even have to initiate contact with people that I actually remember, and forget about the friends I haven’t seen in years, and get out and talk in person (maybe), and stalk from bushes again. Just kidding, I don’t stalk… or do I?
So here’s the question guys: Do you think Facebook actually improves your life? And will you be sad if Anonymous destroys it?
Update… Life in GB.
09 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized
So here is the PaperDandelion life update, for those of you who care.
I’m currently working as a waitress at a golf club, where I spend half the time pouring old men drinks, and half the time sitting around while they all go off and play golf. It’s very good pay, and the people are nice, if sometimes a little crude. I’m planning on going on to school… yes, I know, I’m not ready to grow up quite yet. I’m applying to Oxford Brookes University, though I don’t know yet if I’ll get into the program, for the Psychology conversion course. For less than 20 grand I can get my Psychology masters in 1 1/2 years.
I have managed to make some friends in the country, although they’re a little far away, and since I don’t have a car the cab fares are exorbitant, but it’s worth it. They all come from this little village called Ley Hill where every night of the week it seems there’s a party going on. The people are lively, we play games like Pub Quizzes and Killer Darts, and everyone gets drunk every night of the week. It’s an atmosphere where no matter who you are, you instantly feel comfortable and a part of the group.
Although I’ll miss them all, I’m looking forward to the future, and hopefully will be in Oxford sometime this year. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Fix the 1015 error loop and get back your jailbroken iPhone 3GS/iPod Touch 2G (Mac)
04 Jul 2011 3 Comments
Did you just jailbreak and unlock your iPhone 3GS only to accidentally destroy all your hard work by pressing the update button? Stuck in an endless loop of 1015 error messages and inescapable recovery mode? Fear not! I have found the answer…
Read the instructions in full before trying the steps.
Disclaimer: This guide for educational purposes only. So, try it at your own risk. I can NOT be held responsible if anything goes wrong. Please read through the instructions before implementing.
Download iOS 4.1 (iPhone2,1_4.1_8B117_Restore.ipsw)
Step 1. Plug in your iPhone and launch iTunes and RecBoot.
Step 2. In iTunes, Press Option and click on the restore button. This will allow you to choose the iPhone2,1_4.1_8B117_Restore.ipsw file as your firmware.
ATTENTION: iOS 4.1 will update your baseband which is not reversible. It will void your warranty, and you will not be able to update or recover the phone to any other iOS.
Step 3. Let iTunes and the iPhone go through the sequence. They will still display the 1015 error message, but this is not a problem.
Step 4. In RecBoot, press the Exit Recovery button. This will bring your iPhone to a Emergency State… where you still see the “connect with iTunes” image on your iPhone screen, but you would be able to make emergency calls.
Step 5. Launch RedSn0w.
Step 6. Click Browse, and choose the iPhone2,1_4.1_8B117_Restore.ipsw as the file you want to use. If your iPhone is of the new OS (most likely, yes) confirm it.
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Step 7. Now select your desired options. Make sure that at least Install Cydia is selected. Now hit Next button.
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Step 8. RedSn0w will ask you to turn off your device. Hold down the Power button until the red slider comes on and turn off the phone. When it’s off and plugged in, hit the Next button.
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Step 9. Follow the on screen instructions. At this point it may simply go through the sequence, but in case it doesn’t you’ll be instructed to put your device into DFU mode.
On iPhone hold down Power button for 3 seconds,
without releasing Power button, hold Home for 10 seconds,
without releasing Home button, release Power button and hold Home button for 30 seconds.
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Step 10. Once your device goes into DFU mode, RedSn0w will start jailbreaking it. Once done, you can find the Cydia icon on your iPhone 3G home screen.
You should be fixed, out of the loop and done. If you want to re-Unlock your phone simply follow these instructions.
Whatever you do after this, just make sure not to press the update button when you plug in your iPhone, or else you’ll have to go through these steps all over again.
Unique and Original
16 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized
There is no such thing as true originality. Everything you have ever thought or said has been equivocally thought and said before by thousands. Though the DNA may be microscopically different, you are not a unique snowflake. Your struggle is not original; your story is not new; your melody is an old tune and your jokes are older than you are.
Lucky for you, we love to hear the same stories over and over again with slight variation. Our memory is such that we forgive endless monotony for the way things simply are. We are comforted by familiarity, by traditions and allusions. Although we know that we are not special, we still like to think our perspective needs to be shared. We act in self-assuring interest, desperately believing in simultaneous belonging and individuality. We will read your stories, listen to your songs, giggle at your jokes and laughingly tell you when you surprise us that you are wonderful, beautiful and unique.
But we will ostracize you if your situation makes us feel uncomfortable with our own comfort, although we have felt your pains. We will convince ourselves that melanin makes a difference to who we are and that a belief in something greater than ourselves is not enough to rectify the tiny discrepancies in doctrine. Our political beliefs, although rational and not that different, will cause us to shout hateful things, and question each other’s judgment, intelligence and even humanity. We will forget you when you do not confront us, and hate you when you force us to see something of ourselves in you.
We will expect everything from you, and give you nothing. And so will you. You are not a unique snowflake. You are us, and we are you.
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together. – “I am the Walrus” The Beatles
