emmie.

SOPA SOPA PIPA PIPA

Everyone’s talking, tweeting, posting SOPA SOPA PIPA PIPA!

It’s wonderful how informed we all are, right? Ah, but only if we are.

We’re all hearing about SOPA and PIPA and probably looking up some on it. But are we actually thinking about it? Okay, it goes against our first amendment rights, the internet would be censored, but isn’t anyone curious why? And more importantly, how?

Our first amendment has never been absolute. You can’t yell “Fire!” in a crowded room when there is no fire. You can’t post child pornography. You can’t harass or stalk. Yes, it’s different, but there’s always been an effort to find some sort of balance between protecting first amendment rights and drawing the line.

SOPA and PIPA are trying to draw a line preventing copyright infringement and piracy on the internet. The issue we’ve found is that the bills are too vague so potential abuse could over-censor and web hosting services would move overseas, hurting the nation’s economy (correctomundo?). But how many people know that?! I’m not even sure I know that!

Most every day, Wikipedia is a good resource, but today it is not a good resource, it is a good business. It blacked out its site in protest, in case you haven’t heard (wish there was a font for sarcasm) except, strategically, the page on SOPA and PIPA. So we’re all reading Wikipedia’s explanation of the bills — its one-sided, anti SOPA/PIPA explanation. Of course Wikipedia is in opposition of the bills! Its entire business us at stake!

Furthermore, I’m having difficulty finding a reliable, unbiased news outlet that’s explaining the argument against the bills well (or the argument supporting it, for that matter).

I am the first to defend my generation against accusations of technology numbing our minds. (Google-is-making-us-stupider-because-you-don’t-have-to-retain-any-information-on-your-own-and-don’t-know-how-to-think-critically type arguments. Alas, for another time.) And I know there are plenty of truly informed people who have grasped the possible implications and so, signed a protest. 

But part of me is disheartened watching my peers post in blind support of these bills.

Or maybe they all fully understand, and I am a pessimist. 

Re: CIA Asset Susan Lindauer.. Can Now Speaks 10 years after 2001-9-11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxJTwbHdH6k

Oh boy. This is the grown-up, powerful, well-spoken version of the kind of girl I hated growing up. She’s a fabulous persuasionist (and probably doesn’t even know she is) and we are wide-eyed fifth graders. While we’re in the mood, how about an elementary persuasion lesson?

Ethos: showing the author is worth trusting

The whole CIA thing establishes a bit of credibility off the bat. She advances it by telling us a little background information (most of which we knew or could easily deduce) to get us nodding our heads.

She’s also honest enough to mention (copiously) her limits in knowledge and in explanation — another fantastic and reverse psychology-esque way of establishing credibility.

Pathos: trying to make the audience feel strong emotions

Oh, our government’s shortcomings. Her go-to: the Patriot Act. She also mentions her immediate boss, whose portrayal was amusing.

Her phones were tapped, her privacy intruded on, she wasn’t given a trial. Did she say the government tried to chemically lobotomize her?

I’m not arguing her statements were illegitimate or the government’s actions were just. Simply showing instances she cried boo-hoo (mostly comically, too, which makes us feel even more sorry for her because she’s not feeling overly sorry for herself. No?)

Logos: the facts or evidence that supports the author’s point

First-hand accounts of what she was told, what she saw, etc. etc., with which she artfully weaves her beliefs.

None of the facts were “the government wired the World Trade towers for maximum damage if a hijacking was to occur.”

She presents her facts (the minimal-damage attacks that didn’t provoke war, the second-hand recount of unmarked vans outside the Center weeks before the attack) so it is a small jump from what she knows happened to what she believes happened.

So what I really mean is..

I’m sure there are gaping holes in my brief response. I’m a 21-year-old who unfortunately finds politics dense and chore-like. But here is my real point:

If you don’t critically look at and pick apart her argument like you critically look at and pick apart our governments’ actions (side note: Cheers! I commend you.), then you are just as naïve and ignorant as you’re saying we are.

Commodity self: you are what you buy… or something like that

            I’m guilty of a bad habit: retail therapy. (Cue Kanye, “single black female addicted to retail).

            I’m having a bad day (cue Sinatra “That’s Life”), so I go to the store and buy some stuff. It’s as if you’re saying, “Buying things that reflect me and who I am will make me feel better.” And that’s honestly what it does. For me, retail therapy has included a lot of boots, sweaters and watches. Luckily for me and my bank account, I don’t care about labels or top-class apparel. I do most of my shopping at second-hand stores, Ross, Target, etc.

Nonetheless, I am going into stores with the goal of finding things that I can wear to portray the “me” that I want to be and that I want the world to see. Big warm sweaters and cute boots almost epitomize who I am. I love the fall and the chilly weather. I like being comfortable. I like being outside. I used to be teased by my friends for wearing a sports watch every summer (and getting an impressive watch tan) because where I worked I couldn’t have my phone on me to check the time. And now I have a dozen watches in different colors and styles because it became a part of who I am.

Other than apparel, there are other materialistic things that I consider “mine”. The two biggest ones that come to mind are Apple products and my Jeep.

I have been an Apple girl my whole life — er, since my family got its first Macintosh when I was five. It must have been in middle school that I realized there was a divide: Macs. Vs. PCs. I’d get defensive and prideful about my computer brand. No viruses! Easy! Made for the costumer! Used for design! No right clicks! Horrah! I chuckled at my SMAD professors repeated side notes about the inferiority of PCs. When Steve Jobs died we (me and the rest of the Mac team, that is) felt it. Apple has built a devoted customer following with ingenious marketing (donating computers to elementary schools), advertising (nerdy PC guy vs. cool Mac guy), and continuously creating new devices (iPod, iPhone, iPad). There, my allegiance lies. iLove!

As for the Jeep, it was about February when I started looking for the type of car I would want. Maybe a sedan. Maybe a sport SUV. And then as if the clouds parted and the heavens sang, the Jeep came into my head. A Wrangler, of course. It was so me. It was cute, and the top could come off in the summer, and I could drive through the mud, and who’s not impressed by a girl who can drive stick? I entertained my mom with considerations of safer cars that got better gas mileage, but it was never a question.

The general feeling toward commodity self seems to be a negative one. One that harps, “How disgusting is our culture? Why must we identify ourselves with materialistic things!?” My opinion lays in opposition of the norm. How wonderful is it that we have such material things with which we can construct ourselves? How wonderful is this relatively new outlet we have to express ourselves through?

Is this naïve? Am I telling myself this because I don’t want to change? Because I like my shiny Jeep, my high-tech toys and my sweaters too much? Subconsciously, do I want to be ignorant of my faults and our faults as a population?  Maybe. But bear with me, for argument’s sake.

It is not a new phenomenon: creating, finding oneself. We, as a race, have done it for some time, I imagine. In its infancy, however, it wasn’t material things that we identified with. It was ideas, thoughts, abstract things that we identified with.

“AHA!” you shout at me. “Where is our society headed if we see ‘me’ as material things rather than abstract things? What a shallow way of life we’ve created. We need to regress or we’re doomed.”

But when has regression ever been the answer? Or furthermore, when has regression ever been an option? The march of marketing, advertising and branding are inevitable. Even if you, as an individual, could somehow detach yourself from all material associations, you’d be one of a handful, while the rest of our society carries on.

I am in no way arguing that we should accept our damnation because it is inescapable. On the contrary, I’m challenging you to embrace our evolution.

Material things don’t replace abstract things. My love for my Jeep does not replace my love for nature, my love for learning, my love for the color orange. These are still things I very much identify myself with. Commodity self is not the only self. It is not a cancer that’s eating away at other selves. It is simply an addition — new colors to paint with on our individual, unique canvases.

That’s the way I see it, anyway.

nostalgia for something you’ve never experienced

            I wish I grew up in the south.

            I am thankful for the high-quality education and beautiful four seasons the suburbs of D.C. offered me, but I can’t listen to a country song without yearning for a Georgian childhood. I wish I could’ve grown up in small home with a big backyard and a front porch. I’d sit on the swing on the porch and drink sweet tea. Everyone would know everyone, and there would be that petty small town drama because of it. Someone would always be strumming a guitar, probably some George Jones. It’d always be hot out. The girls would wear dresses and the boys, worn jeans. Weekend nights would be spent at the fair or in the Wal-mart parking lot.

            I know the ignorance and closed-mindedness that’s often associated. I know the boys would get cancer in their mouths from the dip. I know people get trapped and never leave. But something about the simplicity of that life… the humbleness… the camaraderie… a life that isn’t so fast paced…

Just a few things I’m thankful for:

health, happiness, family, friends, education, my parents, my big brother, comfy pillows, clean socks, hot water, my dog, my backyard, jokes, angels, country music, christmas music, holiday spirit, will ferrel, dogs, deer, monkeys, authors, language, flowers, butterflies, thumbs, the blue ridge, seasons, chocolate, cheese, taste buds, higher brain function, good teachers, shakespeare, the military, USA, indians, the beach, all the douchebags I’ve dated, kisses, love, wine, snow, magicians, espn, thunderstorms, campers, 22727, babies, my jeep, flirting, pain, soccer, innocence, the unknown, variety, knowledge, cowboys, good manners, compliments, doctors, exercise, gravity, dreams, slow dances, miracles, color