Hegemony? Fact or Fiction?

Warning! You may be offended by reading this blog! This blog is in not meant to be taken literally and the opinions expressed here not necessarily the opinions of Robert or Merari. The views and conversation that take place in this blog are meant solely for entertainment purposes.

Class: International Relations of the U.S.
Location: FIU.
Teacher: A Korean man with an almost cartoon like thick accent.

7/8/08, 6:41 PM
Robert Myers: yahhhhh
Robert Myers: American hegemony (Original Topic for class discussion today)
Robert Myers: America is evil
Robert Myers: America wants to rule the world
Robert Myers: right?
Robert Myers: we are colonizing rapists who have nothing better to do than DOMINATE!
Merari: yup
Merari: I’m glad u see the light
Robert Myers: INR majors always hate on America
Robert Myers: yet most of them live here
Robert Myers: explain that one
Merari: I don’t know
Merari: we ourselves are like America
Merari: "raping" it for our benefit
Robert Myers: what about pillage
Robert Myers: ?
6:45 PM
Merari: why do u hate me?
Merari: lol
Robert Myers: because you love the world more than the US
Merari: the us is part of the world
Robert Myers: well you can't have it both ways
Robert Myers: the US can't be the hegemon of the world and a part of the world
Merari: sure it can
Merari: it’s like a family
Robert Myers: being a hegemon implies that the US is the World
Merari: the Father is the "hegemon"
Merari: yet he is still part of the family unit
Robert Myers: now you're playing with semantics
Merari: admit it. You love my metaphors
Robert Myers: so you're implying that the US is this abusive father who drinks too much and beats his
children
Merari: you said it
Merari: not me
Robert Myers: I would never implicate such an ideal
Robert Myers: you did
Merari: I may have implied it, but you outright said it
Robert Myers: I just merely interpreted your meaning based on earlier statements
Merari: perhaps your interpretation is based on your own views
Robert Myers: I am trying to understand the convoluted mind of an INR student
6:50 PM
Merari: lol
Robert Myers: This teacher is crazy!
Robert Myers: he thinks China is more afraid of Japan than the US
Robert Myers: if China is afraid of Japan that means they are afraid of the US
Robert Myers: since we are allies
Robert Myers: China attacking Japan would mean attacking the US
Robert Myers: which would make his argument but he contradicts himself
Robert Myers: The African Union was established to create a common market for US domination
Robert Myers: right?
Merari: no
Merari: it was made to unite Africa
Merari: duh!
Robert Myers: Only one passport is needed in its full capacity to rape and pillage their land
Robert Myers: that’s what an IR expert would say
Robert Myers: how did we get into nuclear bombs
Robert Myers: oh wait!
Robert Myers: they kill
Robert Myers: and so does America
Robert Myers: I love how this class digresses from hegemony to nuclear bombs (Pink shirt girl, explained later on in a note, changed the class discussion to nuclear bombs.)
Merari: you brought it up
Merari: with the military power
Robert Myers: I never brought up nuclear bombs
Merari: so deal with it
Robert Myers: the power of American destruction has bombs that kill faster and are much bigger
Robert Myers: nuclear bombs are so 1980's
Robert Myers: they went out with highlighter tube tops and head bands
Robert Myers: if Israel doesn't exist to Iran how can they nuke it?
Robert Myers: it must be imaginary
Robert Myers: I get it
Robert Myers: the next place Iran will bomb after Israel is Atlantis
Robert Myers: and then Luxembourg
Robert Myers: why Luxembourg?
Robert Myers: because no one can find it on a big map
Robert Myers: so it must be imaginary
Merari: because it’s like a ship you don’t see through the fog. You hear its horn, you hear its guns shooting at you, you don’t see it, it doesn’t exist to you, but the bullets of its guns are real enough for you to take action
Robert Myers: if I can't see it doesn't exist
Merari: That’s a great thing for a Christian to say
Robert Myers: except for Jesus
Robert Myers: and God
Robert Myers: and the Holy Spirit
Robert Myers: and Heaven
Merari: and this teacher's lectures
Robert Myers: well if he spoke in a known language maybe we would learn, instead of typing this crap
Robert Myers: it’s like he speaks Konglish
Robert Myers: it’s an unknown dialect of Korean and English
Robert Myers: some people attribute Konglish to the browning of America theory
7:15 PM
Robert Myers: except they have it wrong
Robert Myers: people won't be speaking Spanglish
Robert Myers: because once North Korea and South Korea reunite to overthrow the hegemonistic power of
the US Konglish will be the official language
Robert Myers: and King Kong will be the official symbol replacing the Eagle
Merari: "reunited and it feels so good!"
Robert Myers: well in konglish that would be "renited and it feel guud!”
Robert Myers: eventually symbols will replace letters
Merari: maybe you can bring together king kong and the eagle
Robert Myers: reverting back to the original hegemony
Robert Myers: the power of no dominate power
Merari: make a King Koneagle
Robert Myers: like in the caveman days
Robert Myers: right after evolution
Robert Myers: when men were still able to swim underwater like in "Water World" with Kevin Costner
Robert Myers: I wish I had gills sometimes
Merari: I bet you do
Robert Myers: it would be sweet because I could create an aqua hegemony
Robert Myers: terrorizing all the fish
Robert Myers: and sharks
Merari: with your nuclear bombs
Merari: since it’s the 80s
Merari: and all
Robert Myers: no!
Robert Myers: hydrogen bombs
Robert Myers: !
Robert Myers: they might work underwater
Robert Myers: I am not a weapons expert like pink shirt girl
(Note: Pink Shirt girl is a student in this class who wore a highlighter pink shirt on the first day of class. The teacher explained that every student must participate in a group project with a presentation, which you will read about later. Pink Shirt girl took up 15 minutes of class asking about how the students can fail their presentation if their computers fail. Her solution was to bring backups, up to three. She then complained about how it should be the teacher’s responsibility to make sure they are capable of running Power Point and had the proper connections to run the projector. Her solution once more was three plus computers and a myriad of adaptors.)
Merari: lol
Robert Myers: this guy is on crack
Merari: lol
Robert Myers: how does a country get more power from soft power?
Robert Myers: explain that
Merari: Korean crack
Robert Myers: name one country that has become an empire from soft power?
Merari: Korea
Robert Myers: I said empire, not the armpit of Asia
Robert Myers: is a cricket a critic in Konglish?
7:25 PM
Merari: it is now
Robert Myers: por que?
Merari: because I say so
7:30 PM
Robert Myers: omg
Merari: who doesn’t know what preemtive means
Robert Myers: how can you be in college and not know what pre-emptive means
Robert Myers: this is a 3000 level class at an institution of higher learning and he asked that in class
Merari: welcome to FIU
7:35 PM
Robert Myers: F I Who?
Merari: war
Merari: pre emtive war
Robert Myers: it’s pre-emptive or preemptive
Merari: are you asking me?
Robert Myers: no
Robert Myers: I am telling you
Merari: either or?
Robert Myers: well Webster’s recently removed a majority of hyphens from the American English language
Robert Myers: I think it deserves one
Robert Myers: the dictionary doesn't
Robert Myers: so I am right
Merari: ok
Robert Myers: I don't respect a company that makes "bling" a word
Merari: lol
Merari: it is
Merari: you've obviously never been to the hood
Robert Myers: I have
Robert Myers: and I didn't like it
Merari: of course you wouldn’t
Robert Myers: they don't have Abercrombie and Fitch yet
Merari: LOL
Robert Myers: I love messing with the minds of this class
Robert Myers: they lack the mental competency to orally argue their own existence
7:55 PM-Class Discussion ends and after a 10 minute break the group presentation on Europe begins with the Trifecta of Evil + 1.
Robert Myers: wow this chick talking right now has been in college since 2003
Merari: there’s a lot of ppl like that
Robert Myers: that puts her at ohh 5+ years
Merari: I don’t judge on that
Robert Myers: and she thinks she knows something
Merari: maybe she could only afford to take a couple classes at a time
8:00 PM
Merari: have u seen lions for lambs?
Robert Myers: loans
Merari: the Robert Redford movie?
Robert Myers: nope
Merari: it’s about this
Merari: it was a decent movie
8:10 PM
Robert Myers: where are the Weapons of Mass Destruction?
Merari: Israel
Robert Myers: naw
Robert Myers: Iran's Buddy, Syria
8:25 PM
Merari: I hate it when ppl read off PowerPoint
Merari: I hate it when ppl read off anything during presentations
Robert Myers: I can't sit through this
Robert Myers: Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Robert Myers: that one little country started the entire war
Robert Myers: NO!
Robert Myers: they were the Austro-Hungarian Empire
Robert Myers: she must have cut and paste off of wikipedia
Robert Myers: it’s right 40% of the time all the time
Merari: LOL
Merari: stings the nostrils
Robert Myers: yep
Robert Myers: just like the smell of Europeans
Merari: maybe that’s why they fight so much
Merari: or used to
Merari: now they take showers
Merari: less fighting
Merari: I’m telling you
Merari: there's a link
Robert Myers: and they stopped fighting with the adoption of deodorant brought over by the Americans in
WWII
Merari: in conclusion America saved Europe
Robert Myers: Wow
Robert Myers: but we are evil
Robert Myers: evil people don't save other countries
8:30 PM
Merari: Well, America did it with ulterior motives
Robert Myers: What does the UN have to do with the EU
Robert Myers: they are separate entities
Merari: nice picture
Merari: of a cow
Merari: really depicts the Balkans well
Robert Myers: well it’s better than a four year old with an Uzi
Merari: nah... at least it’s true. Everyone knows there are no cows in the Balkans
Robert Myers: omg this is the ditz group
Robert Myers: I just figured that out
Robert Myers: the trifecta of evil plus one
(Note 2: The trifecta of evil plus one started on the first day of class and has persisted in torturing the minds of everyone sitting here for the past week. The trifecta of evil is a group of 18-year-old girls who must be freshman and are in way of their heads. These girls should consider switching majors yet they are stuck in this class for the semester so I digress. This group of girls started out as a group of three on the first day of class sitting in the far corner of the classroom. Upon hearing about the group project they decided to fight for Europe, literally. The teacher passed around a group sign-up sheet with all the different countries for the presentations. The girls like the children they are, sent one of them to the front of the class and signed all three of the girls up. The plus one comes from the fourth girl who joined their ranks of ignorance the following class after joining the Bimbo’s of Europe group presentation. The Trifecta of Evil + 1 will present later in the blog.)
Merari: pink shirt girl is not on there though
Robert Myers: it’s amazing they know how to cut and paste into a PowerPoint presentation
Robert Myers: if pink shirt girl was there they would be using three computers and lack the ability of
choosing which one to use
Robert Myers: lol
Robert Myers: the girl just used a word she read from her PowerPoint that she had no ideal how to
pronounce
Robert Myers: why would one to that to one's self?
Merari: I should’ve left
Robert Myers: me too
Robert Myers: but we're stuck here now
8:35 PM
Robert Myers: at least they speak a form of English that is comprehensible
Robert Myers: but they negate that point by mocking the intelligence of everyone in this room by typing
everything on one slide and then reading it to us line by line
Robert Myers: not only does this undermine everyone's ability to read it tortures us as well
Robert Myers: I rate her reading level at around the 8h grade
Robert Myers: They completely left out NATO, the European Coal and Steel Union, and the formation of the
EU
Robert Myers: just to point out some minor points for relations between the US and the EU
8:40 PM
Robert Myers: the third girl's reading level is around that of a fourth grader
Robert Myers: seriously
Robert Myers: who can't pronounce adoption
Robert Myers: and then they have the audacity to insult Bush as a retard
Robert Myers: Well that’s FIU for you!
Merari: lol
8:50 PM
Robert Myers: the girl speaking right now is winded from reading
Merari: it was a workout
Robert Myers: lol
Robert Myers: reading it’s up there with a flight of stairs
8:55 PM
Merari has gone offline.
9:00 PM
You left the chat by logging out or being disconnected.

The Innocent Man by John Grisham

Well I just finished listening to The Innocent Man by John Grisham since I was cleaning my room all day and I even continued listening with the slow pace of the reader just to finish it. (I wasn't going to go buy it after having bought the audio book, but the guys who read these books aloud read awfully slow.) As it was I finished it and for some reason or another I never put it together until the ending that this book was based on a true story and not a piece of fiction. The entire time I held somewhat of a bias to the author's rather liberal stance on the death penalty and tone taken, but when I found out it was nonfiction I was taken a bit back. I completely understand the typical problems most people have with the death penalty and many of them are valid points. Many forms of the death penalty administered in various countries are cruel and unusual ways to die and there will be flaws in any system, but by and large I have to say that more often than not justice prevails. I realized from the beginning of the book that the author, John Grisham, has somewhat of a bias against the death penalty and it must be just fully so since he is the one going to the bank off of such a book. I do, however agree by and large with the main flaws pointed out in the court proceedings of Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz. I see the way the trial played out as an admonishment of the constitution, due process, and habeas corpus, which allowed for justice to prevail in the end. While I understand that people may agree or disagree with the death penalty, I think common ground can be achieved when one realizes that no system is perfect. The judicial system in the US may not be perfect, but the fact that rights are the superceding power makes the US the country I would most want to live in. Getting back to the Innocent Man one of the main questions that is being begged, is whether or not innocent people are being incarcerated and even possibly being put to death? I look at the system and after having taken a look at the innocenceproject.org it is obvious as it has been to me for quite some time that the answer is yes. Yes, there are innocent people who are in prison or on death row for a crime they had no part in. I would however take a different stance on what to do next. Some say we should abolish the death penalty since one can never have a definite answer as to whether the criminal actually committed the crime, and I would have to disagree. This thought process to me is akin to saying we should go back to feudalism since the idea of democracy with a congress, house, and president can never truly work since there will always be people who might not be properly represented. I would agree with anyone that no system is perfect and our first reaction should be to take the current system and purify it to the best of our abilities. Imagine how far these two men would have gotten if they had lawyers who didn't fall asleep in court or disregard evidence in court. These men were not allotted the second right offered to them at the time of arrest, a lawyer. If these men would have had competent lawyers then maybe they wouldn't have spent over a decade in prison awaiting death. There are so many problems that should be of greater focus, from the judges in the court cases, to the state of Oklahoma’s prison system, to their psychiatric wards, problems abound throughout the local, state, and even national government in relation to the due process of Ron and Fritz. This is one of the reasons that I feel one of the best ways anyone can make a difference regardless of their personal beliefs is to be an active citizen and partake in a role that could possible change just one of the problems presented in The Innocent Man.