Marc's Journal

Hey This Makes Sense, Islam Extremists and Terrorism

2009-08-17T21:23:00.000-07:00

So I just finished reading a book called “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman. I have had a bookmark in it for two years but have just recently actually been reading it. For those who are not familiar with the book, the claim that the world is flat has little to do with physical shape of the earth, but with how technology and free-trade have enabled various peoples to play on a level playing ground.

Anyways toward of the book the author acknowledging that the world is not totally “flat”. That there are parts of the world that are somewhat disconnected and are “un-flat”. One of these is within the Islamic-Arab nations. I have never understood exactly why there are Muslim terrorists, and I suppose it had always caused some confusion. Why would these people what to cause terror? I had heard that they did not agree with our lifestyle and this was their way to fight against it. At the same time there are a lot of people whom I come in disagreement with their lifestyle, and my last thought would be it causes them to experience terror as an alternative. Why is it that the radical extremists of Islam would actually go against the charitable, loving aspects of their religion to terrorize others?

Thomas Friedman explains that it is because of a “cognitive dissonance” that takes place. I guess a cognitive dissonance is what happens when someone holds to two contradictory views. In my world religions class I was taught that many Muslims believe that Islam is the correct and best way of life and that following it correctly will lead to not only to spiritual well-being but also temporal prosperity. I understand they believe that Islam is the way this should be done and that eventually everyone will follow Islamic principles. The contradiction comes into play when young Muslims visit western culture and see prosperity and contrasts that to the poverty of those whom they just came from.

Mr. Friedman writes of Arab-Muslim young people:

“They have been raised to believe that Islam is the most Perfect and complete expression of God’s Monotheistic message and that the Prophet Muhammad is God’s last and most perfect messenger. This is not a criticism. This is Islam’s self identity. Yet in a flat world, these youth, particularly those living in Europe, can and do look around and see that the Arab-Muslim world, in too many cases, has fallen behind the rest of the planet. It is not living as prosperously or democratically as other civilizations. How can that be? These young Arabs and Muslims must ask themselves. If we have the superior faith, and if our faith is all encompassing of religion, politics, and economics, why are others living so much better”?

He continued: “Indeed, talk to Arabs and Muslims anywhere, and this cognitive dissonance and the word ‘humiliation’ always comes up very quickly in conversation…It has always been my view that terrorism is not spawned by the poverty of money. It is spawned by the poverty of dignity. Humiliation is the most underestimated force in international relations and human relations. It is when people or nations are humiliated that they really lash out and engage in extreme violence. When you take the economic and political backwardness of much of the Arab Muslim world today, add its past grandeur and self-image of religious superiority and combine it with discrimination and alienation these Arab-Muslim males face when they leave home and move to Europe, or when they grow up in Europe, you have one powerful cocktail of rage.”

Obviously nobody knows what exactly makes terrorists do what they do, but this is an explanation that at least made sense to me. Who knows if it is correct.

A Better Way

2009-07-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

When I got my personality it included a desire to analyze everything. My mom has told of how when I was younger I would sit and play with a single toy for hours on end. I am sure the time I spent seemed much longer around my older brother who at the time never sat still. This analytical perspective of mine translated in a less pleasant way later in my life. I have often analyzed the imperfect details of someone’s actions or words only to lose sight of the broader picture. This has in past lead to prolonged arguments that did not produce the desired results of any participant.

As time has passed I have found a much more effective way to come to conclusions includes paying attention more to the other persons motives and desires than what they are actually saying. I often see conflicts arise around me where all parties are making arguments that really just distract from the issue. I recently read of one example of this.

With the advent of Napster, and the following of many other file sharing applications, budget conscious music listeners turned to this new alternative to get music. The only problem was that those who where sharing their music had not been given permission to do so by the intellectual property owners. Naturally many of those property owners went to the courts to penalize those sharing the content. This turned into a publicity nightmare for the music industry with stories spreading such as that of a young girl who had made her music available on her computer and was fined millions of dollars. Even with the many legal battles that sought to make example a handful of those sharing their files there was little affect on the illegal distribution of music.

Moving forward a few years we have the New York Times reporting the trend finally reversing and the reason has little to do with legalities:

In June, two British research agencies, MusicAlly and The Leading Question, generated a wave of headlines in the tech press after reporting that the percentage of 14- to 18-year-olds using file-sharing services at least once a month dropped to 26 percent in January 2009 from 42 percent in December 2007.

Similarly, a survey by the NPD Group in the United States this spring found that teenagers aged 13 to 17 illegally downloaded 6 percent fewer tracks in 2008 than in 2007, while more than half said they were now listening to legal online radio services like Pandora, up from 34 percent the year before.

The reason is that now there are alternatives that meet what the consumers wanted in the first place. We now have ad supported online music services like Pandora and slacker radio that let you tell them exactly what you do and do not want to hear. These services often provide what people want better than the download networks and they are legal.

What the music companies were hearing before from downloader’s was “I am taking your music, because I can” but if they would have listened a little more carefully they would have heard “I want to get music quick and free over the internet and I really don’t mind ads on web pages if that is what it takes.” My point here is that the music industry could have simply listened to what the consumers actual desires were and come to a solution in a much less painful way.

This is similar to what I eventually realized as a missionary about what some people were saying to me. We would often me dismissed for reasons that defied all sensible thinking. After some experience I found what they actually were saying was often “I have gone to the same church my entire life, I may not agree with everything that goes on there but all of my family and friends go there and that is all I care about.” This certainly elicited a different response on my behalf.

I want to be a waiter

2009-03-08T22:52:00.000-07:00

So I can’t sleep, I need to sleep because I have to wake up in 5.5 hours, but my body just does not seem to get that. As a result I am going to write a blog post instead of lying in bed wishing my roommates would stop singing in the living room (oh yes my roommates do sing, they are actually generally good at it, they just need to do it during the day).

So I think being a waiter would be a blast. Like the type that bring you drinks and food at a restaurant. It would be fun to manage a few tables and make sure everyone is happy. I think I would get very good at reading people for how much I should interact with them. I would love to keep straight all the meals. It would be exciting to deal with the problems that arise from messed up orders. Having a lot of things to coordinate just sounds so fun to me.

Now I am torn because while that sounds so fun to be it does not really fit in with what I want to do with my life. My plans consist of school and internships. I sort of feel like any time not spent doing those things is simply delaying the start of my career, and thus delaying a major increase in earning capacity. For example the only scenario in which I see a chance in me getting to be a waiter is if I were to get an internship where my parents live that only allows me to work 40 hours a week. I could see myself working during the day as an engineering intern and then waiting tables at night. Here's the problems with this plan. Instead of being a waiter I could take online classes and be that much closer to graduating (closer to that whole career thing I was talking about). Also working 60 hours a week would likely negate part of the purpose of getting an internship near home, which would be to spend time with my little brothers (not so little anymore) that I have not seen much in the last few years.

So it just does not seem like being a waiter will ever really fit into my plans. I am just too practical and focused. Maybe the economy will get even worse I won’t be able to get a job as an engineer, a waiter or even the other job that sounds really fun to me, being a salesman at bestbuy . I suppose I should simply be grateful for the opportunities I do receive.

Oh did I mention I think I would be a good waiter?

Rights

2008-11-03T17:32:00.001-08:00

So tomorrow is the big day. I’ve sent in my absentee ballot. I’ve made a ton of phone calls. Now I am writing on my blog.

My favorite phone calls about Prop 8 were the ones where when I asked them how they were voting they would say, “Oh I am definitely voting yes, my granddaughter is a lesbian and we support her in all that we do.” Then I would respond “well that is great!” There were those other ones. I would politely ask if they were going to vote yes on prop 8 and they would get really mad. As they talked about rights I would get all excited and would want to tell them why they were wrong, but what I eventually learned on my mission would kick in and I would simply respond, “Well have a nice day”.

It seems to me the most common reason given against Prop 8 is to allow equal rights. This frustrates me because I don’t see this having anything to do with allowing rights to homosexual couples. Every homosexual couple has access to any and all rights afforded to those who are married under a civil union. This is about forcing social acceptance.

Rights is a word that is just thrown around way to often for me. I don’t know how many people this is common knowledge for but, the Bill of Rights are the first ten amendments to the constitution. Meaning they were not in the original constitution but were added after the the document was complete. The reason why they were not originally included was not because the founders had forgotten about them, preserving rights was at the forefront of there mind. They did not want to include a list of rights because they were afraid that if they were to enumerate (specify) rights then it would be assumed that rights would be constrained to those listed. On the other hand they wanted to limit the government itself. From this bit of history we understand that there is no finite list of rights afforded to persons as far as the founders were concerned. So then the question arises were do ones rights end, for surely people do not have the right to do certain things(i.e. killing, stealing, ect…). From phrases in the constitution like that which says we have the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness “, I come to the following conclusion. That my rights end were someone else’s begin. For example: I may have the right to free speech, but I do not have the right to an audience.

It may appear that what I have just written would be against Prop 8, but it is just the contrary. Let’s examine this “right to marry”. As far as the government is concerned marriage is a legal contract between two individuals that awards them certain benefits and places certain obligations upon those two individuals. Some of these benefits are only applicable to those who are able to independently bear children. What has already happened is that the government in California has awarded all those same contractual obligations and benefits to civil unions despite the lack of applicability of many of those rights and obligations, opposed to hand picking what is applicable and what is not. As a result as far as those two individuals are concerned they have the same rights. So why does it appear in some instances that these unions are not equally regarded? Because organizations independent of the actual contract choose to regard these contracts differently, by choice. By including homosexual unions under the umbrella of marriage this no longer permits organizations the right to treat these two different contracts as different, when they technically are. So whose rights are under attack?

As a disclaimer I would like to note that all day I study, physics, math, structural analysis, and other things, but never political science. As a result the statements and claims previously mentioned are not cited and supported the way in which I would prefer. It also is not an exhaustive discussion of why I feel prop 8 needs to pass it is just part of one aspect of how I see things.

Follow-up

2008-10-08T17:25:00.000-07:00

So I wanted to say something about Prop 8, but I suppose I have to at least address why I haven’t followed up on what I said last time. I had no idea agreeing with Barak Obama on one issue would bring so much familial controversy. I was afraid of what would happen if I actually said what I agreed with him on. So just to set the record straight I would like to say why I support John McCain. It actually has more to do with fundamentally disagreeing with Barak Obama than really liking John McCain.

Obama is liberal, very liberal. He believes in big government and lots of government spending, I don’t. I believe government’s role is to perform tasks for the people that could not be performed individually as effectively. For example, I want the road to my home to be maintained. Certainly not badly enough to rent a machine and crew to resurface the pavement myself. Thus it is the government’s responsibility to see to it that the road is improved so that all that benefit from it can contribute to its improvement. It is similar in items such as law enforcement and national security. Then comes the problem. Individuals in the government do not own that which they care for. As a result some become careless and are not concerned for the performance of what they are responsible for, rather their own personal convenience and comfort(Note: I said some not all). In contrast when an individual who owns a business they are deeply concerned with the performance of that business, because it is their performance that determines there quality of life. If they perform they make money, if they don’t, well then they don’t make money. So I want government to only perform the essentials, and leave the rest to private owners.

Now it is the government’s responsibility to regulate commerce, which is a fine line to walk. Too much regulation and it’s tough for people to get their business done and too little regulation and you get our current financial crisis.

Barak Obama has said that he wants to “invest in Americas families”, this is actually a code for he wants to increase government spending. He doesn’t want to invest his money he wants to invest my money( I can actually say that now that I have seen a good chunk of my check going to taxes). And you now I would rather keep more of my check and invest it myself. John McCain has said he will balance the budget. I don’t think he will (especially with a congress like the one we have now) but at least he wants to. Obama doesn’t even want to try. So with increased government spending that requires that money to come from somewhere eventually. If it is not in increased taxes now it will be in the future, so that means we are only taking a loan out from future generations, which sounds rather irresponsible to me.

Wow am I exhausted… and that was just one issue. I know there is a lot more to that issue than can be said in a couple paragraphs and there are a lot more issues than government spending. Maybe I will talk about other issues later, we will see what the reaction is to this. Please remember I may insinuate something unintentionally, so don’t get to excited if I say something you don’t agree with.

Most of you wont like this post, sorry

2008-07-09T20:19:00.000-07:00

Well it is my bedtime pretty soon but I just wanted to say a few things before I forget them and go another couple of months without updating my blog. Firstly, I would like to explain why I haven’t been updating my blog very often. It is most certainly rooted in the fact that I don’t exactly lead the life that inspires interesting things to write about, or that provides much extra time. I work at an engineering firm and I tend to plan on working about 11 hours a day. Some days like today and yesterday I get busy and lose track of time and end up working closer to 13 hours. I really need to work less and work on my independent study class, but oddly enough I don’t make very much money studying statistics so it is hard to make time for that. Actually I just got a threat from the Civil Engineering department that if I don’t finish that class by Aug 14th then they will drop me from my class that I am registered for that requires statistics.

Well anyways, one thing that I would enjoy writing about is the upcoming presidential election. I can’t say I can think of any readers of my blog that are terribly interested in my political opinions, I think most of them are just reading with the thought that if actually do go on a date, I may mention it here (ie Mom, Maria, Katie, Whitney). So with the risk of loosing my entire readership, I am planning on writing about the one area that I actually agree with Barak Obama nearly 100 percent on, and I am pretty excited about it to be perfectly honest.

So what do you do for fun? - Fly Kites

2008-04-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

I have been so envious lately of the people I see flying kites. My dad always had a hobby or two that he would get really into, one of which was kite flying. Now I am not talking about your typical kite that you buy at Wal-mart. My Dad has hundreds of two and four string kites. At first I wasn't that interested in kite flying myself, I was perfectly content getting my little one string parachute kite in the air and then watch my dad with all his tricks. I eventually graduated to the two string kites. Figuring out how to control the kite was really hard for a long while. My Dad would get those kites in the air with ease, but for me it was a different story. When I would finally get the kite in the air I wanted to do all the cool tricks my dad could do. And I did some pretty cool tricks myself only after the kite would flip around really cool the trick would end by the kite zooming to the ground. My dad got pretty good a fixing kites.
My Freshman year of college I brought some kites to school with me. The couple of times it wasn't freezing cold and I was able to tear myself away from the library I had a lot of fun flying those kites. When I went on my mission those kites rejoined my fathers collection, and in the 30 seconds I have been at my house since I haven't thought to grab some kites. The absence of having kites has made me so sad the couple of windy days that I had some spare time. I am ashamed to admit even a one string kite has caused me to experience jealous. But the jealousy is soon to be reversed
I just asked my mom do bring me some kites with her when she comes up for Women's Conference and I cant wait for a windy Saturday to come, it is going to be great.
Then when people ask me (like my new roommates just did) “what do you do for fun”? I can answer “fly kites”, of course with a subsequent explanation of the difference between one and two string kites.

French Toast

2008-04-20T11:57:00.000-07:00

So I love French toast, it is in a competition with omelets as my favorite breakfast food. My Mom would make a tasty breakfast on Saturday Mornings and my favorite was the classic french toast. She would generally use the bread that she was afraid was about to go bad, dip it in a simple mixture of eggs and milk and let it cook on the skillet. It was very important to me to be close by at this time to ensure that the butter got spread while it was hot, otherwise if the butter did not melt it wouldn't quite hit the mark.

Also I recall the camp outs where one of my amazing priesthood leaders Brother Seamons would make his special recipe of french toast. His recipe included several particular ingredients like nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, french bread from Albertsons sliced at about a 30 degree angle and his secret ingredient of sour cream (if I recall correctly). Even though I worked hard to not let it show, I loved those mornings where despite sleeping in a tent we had one of my favorite meals for breakfast (as long as the toast got the butter on it in time).

My next significant experience with French toast came living with Maria and Scott. They would also make french toast in a simple manner like my moms only using the Delicious white bread they buy (a tad more expensive than the 1.32$ bread I buy from Wal-mart) . Up to this point I was perfectly content with my French Toast Experience, I was confidant in my knowledge of the varieties and more importantly how to make it to my satisfaction. Then my understanding of the french toast world was altered in a way that will never allow me to look at it the same way as before.

I was quite excited when I heard that the closing social for my student ward would be a French Toast Breakfast. I should probably mention at least half of the excitement came from the knowledge that I would be getting free food, I in no way anticipated that the main course would please my taste buds like they did. To make a long story short after wondering how the french toast could possibly become so good I called one of my friends that was in charge of the Activity and the secret was Kneaders Cinnamon bread with the simple egg and milk mixture. For those who are so fortunate as to have a Kneaders Bakery close by, I hope you would allow yourself to have the same experience I did, if not I will let you know if I can find a less expensive Wal-mart alternative that will improve the taste to cost ratio.

My New Computer

2008-02-03T11:45:00.000-08:00

So somehow the computer I had before my mission dissapeared. My memory on it is very vauge, I cringe to think I may have actually discarded of it with the assumption technology was going jump so greatly it would be obsolete upon my return and a new computer would come out of no where. Either that or someone through it away in the last two years, I really cant remember.

So this has left me computerless for the last 5 months. When I was living at Maria's it did not bother me as much because I could always use hers.

In my new apartment I felt very handicapped. It was like it wasn't a true home because I could not do everything I needed.

I have been periodically browsing the laptop market with the idea I would buy one eventually. One of these instances I found myself spending way too much time when I should have been studying, so I decided I could not do it any longer and I spent a couple more hours studying the various models and finally came to a conclusion I could live with and afford. Here it is

HP - Pavilion Laptop with AMD Turion™ 64 X2
Model: dv6736nr SKU: 8676391
AMD Turion™ 64 X2 mobile technology TL-60; 2GB DDR2 memory; DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; LightScribe labeling; 15.4" widescreen; 250GB hard drive; built-in Web cam; Windows Vista Home Premium

New Job, New Apartment, New Job

2008-02-03T11:08:00.000-08:00

Yep so you could say I have neglected my blog, so I have a lot to update.
So last semester I was working at the Pizza Factory in Lindon which I actually really enjoyed. It was nice to do something that didn't require the type of thought that my classes and homework did. I was originally planning on only working there a couple of months until I found a job with an engineering firm. But somewhere in between not having time to look for a job and liking what I was doing it got postponed a couple of months.
After attending a conference held by Utah’s transit authority I was eventually offered a job as an intern with an engineering firm. So beginning with the new year I am now working for Project Engineering Consultants (PEC). I really like the people I work with and I am getting a lot of exposure to the world of transportation engineering. Since I am at the bottom of the totem pole I generally receive tasks that aren’t the most engaging but I understand I need to start somewhere.
I also at the same time moved out of Maria and Scott’s house into Wyview Apartments. It was very generous of Maria and Scott to let me live there having just returned from my mission. My finances would certainly look very different if it was not for their kindness. Since I could afford it and I thought I should be more involved in the BYU social scene. I now have yet another great ward, I really like all of my roommates, and I still visit Maria’s on the weekends to do Laundry and make food (Maria actually has Pots and Pans, really nice ones too)
I also have a new set of classes. I have moved from Math 302 to Math 303. Math 302 was a very challenging and extremely time consuming class, I would spend anywhere from 15 to 25 hours a week out of class. Math 303 so far does not seem as bad while it is no cake walk either. It is my last Math class which is very comforting. We actually just got our first test back on Friday and I got an A on it. I don’t think I have gotten an A on a math test since my junior year in High School.
I am also now taking a computer class on excel and using programming languages within excel. So far it has been very easy since I have a good background with computers, but I am very excited about what we are going to learn. I am also taking Mechanics and Materials, pretty much physics for engineers. And also the second half of the New Testament. We are given study questions to answer while reading which has greatly helped the effectiveness of my study.
So that is this Semester I am only taking 12. 5 credits because I am working at the same time, but I have it all figured out so I should graduate on time, or maybe even a semester early.

2007-11-17T23:27:00.000-08:00

Life is good! I really like that slogan from some outdoors company I would for sure buy thier shirt if it wasn't way overpriced. Anyways today I did really well on tips between today and yesterday I made over 100 dollars plus my houly wage. That always makes me happy.
I am very excited for the holidays comming up. Just two more days of class until thanksgiving. And my family is comming into town that is always a plus. But before all that I have to make it through my math test. I think I am going to take it on Tuesday. There is so much covered on these tests it is hard to study for not to mention time consuming. Well I wanted to type until I got tired and that has happened.
Oh but one more thing really quick my sister is starting to get more into photography and she did really well on her pictures today. I am very critical of pictures, just because I have seen so many, and these are really good. If I do not fall asleep first I will make a link to her blog.

Sunday School Teacher

2007-11-04T15:56:00.000-08:00

I got to teach sunday school today. I got the call a couple of weeks ago but today was my first week they let me teach. I really liked it. Teaching makes my study a whole lot more purposeful. It really did not take that long to prepare. I was really dissapointed that I did not get to bring treats, because it is fast sunday. I know from experience that it is very imprortant to bring treats.
The sad thing is that I willnot be in this ward for much longer because I will be moving into an apartment probably just before Winter semester starts.
Classes have been going all right this semester, they keep me busy that is for sure. None of them interest me too much. Ever since midterms started they haven't really stopped, I have some test every week.
Right now I am working at the Pizza Factory in Lindon as a delivery driver. I usually look forward to work. I like bringing pizzas to people, its odd I get a lot less doors slamed in my face giving people pizzas that the restored gospel. I will probably work there another month or so. I really like it I just need to start looking for work in an Civil Engineering firm doing random stuff. I really need to because that will help me along my carreer a lot more than delivering pizza. The only challange is making the time to go and look for a job. And for that matter I need to make time to look for an apartment.

Introduction Oct 31 2007

2007-10-31T14:09:00.000-07:00

Okay so I am creating a blog. I am doing this for a couple of reasons. The least of which is that I think others might care what I am up to. I really want to create a blog in order to improve my typing skills. I am going to try not to look at the keyboard and do my best to keep my fingers on the home keys. I also want to keep a Journal I know it is an important principle. Another reason is that I do not want to study for my geology test.