Phantom Blinker January 22, 2007
Posted by abohn9en in Uncategorized.2 comments
Today as i was going to school, i noticed something that has always bothered me, and stuck out this morning for no particular reason. Ever been driving behind someone and noticed that their blinker has been on entirely too long? This is just one small thing about driving that makes me upset. People who stop at yield signs and stay in the right lane when its a two lane road make me angry too. There they sit, with a red light while 5 people behind them are trying to turn right. The left lane? EMPTY. Back to the blinker. Am i the only person who has a car that makes a noise when the blinker is on? What about lights on the dashboard? At what point does that person think “crap, my blinker is on and i have absolutely no intention of turning.” Here’s what i propose: during your driving test, the instructor secretly flips a switch and the blinker comes on. If the student does not turn off the blinker within 30 seconds, they fail. If you cant see your instrument cluster, you probably wont see that kid, or old lady, either.
Topic Possibilities January 21, 2007
Posted by abohn9en in HIST471.add a comment
Picking a topic for a research project has always proved difficult for me. The last few semesters, i’ve come really close to doing projects related to propaganda. I think this class would be a good one to use that topic with, because it’s so difficult to discuss Chinese communism without discussing propaganda. Many communist countries, such as Vietnam and N. Korea also dissemminate propaganda in very much the same way as China. It’s fascinating how succeptible we are to propaganda. We can even fall victim to it ourselves, a phenomenon which i feel has alarmingly increased in the past 10 years in the U.S.
Another topic i have thought about was the issue of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. I did a very in-depth study of this dispute last semester with Dr. Rallis. Many SE Asian countries, including China, Vietnam, and the Phillipines claim the islands, which are rumored to contain oil reserves rivaling the middle east. The study my partner and i did focused more on geographic issues, such as geography of situation, resources, etc. It also explored economic and, to a lesser extent cultural issues. The Chinese in this international dispute are extremely unwilling to compromise, and often ignore Intl. Laws, such as the U.N. Law of the Sea. I this this speaks volumes about the Chinese culture. The Administration refuses to back down on this issue, which makes the Spratly Island dispute a possible powder keg situation which i believe will come to a nasty head sometime in the next twenty years.
Another topic i find interesting is Gambling in Macau. Macau was once one of the only cities in China open to foreign missionaries, and i feel that the legacy of capitalism thrives in this city. The city of Macau grossed more gambling revenue than Las Vegas this past year, and it is projected to grow uncontrollably in the coming years.
Well, that’s all i have right now. If anyone wants a copy of the Spratly Island paper, it was painstakingly footnoted, and contains a very well done index, and we got the highest grade in the class. I can’t take too much credit, since David Balbi, my partner and close friend is quite possibly one of the best students at this school.
