The Great Southern Death Mall.

Not really... I just wanted a catchy title.

In most person's eyes, malls in America are those places where teens go to die morally and where suburban mothers shop for fashionable babies clothing for a hundred dollars a Binky. Apparently they're not even public domain. In John Fiske's "Shopping for Pleasure" he describes malls in south Africa as mini Nazi era Deutschlands. Where the mall cops search out those non consuming non buyers. Teens serve as the swing kids serve as the swing kids dancing in the streets, and the mall cops (complete with loaded hip straps) are the early SS troopers.

But this is south Africa. America is a less fulfilling experience. Mall cops ride around in officer Jim Dangle shorts on top of their segway scooters, and teenagers walk around in the regular bored fashion that shows that there is no where else to be.

These malls are often told to be the death of local businesses and the spite of originality. They take up public parks and are a mole on the face of the earth. Although, that's generally what "they" say. I like malls. When you are living in a generally rural dominated area it's hard to even find local business that can service you like a mall can. I can always just walk outside to find nature, but I live in my own little public park. Malls are just a place to stock up on the things that you could only find on the Internet. While getting off my ass to get some exercise at the exact same time.

Sure, most large cities don't need another mall. They could use a little nature to supply them some beauty, and they already have plenty of local business supplying them with the original sort of fashion and trends that urban America needs to feel original. It's hard to stand out in the city, but it's easy to stand out in the country. Even malls can do that.

I like malls

Just because this is the modern world doesn't mean we're up to date.

In Tatum's article Ddefining Racism it specified that racism still exists in this country. I've seen it many times living in the south of a America where not everyone is up to date on this love everyone kinda thing. I thought the peace movements happened in the seventies? Racism has been such a common thing through American history that it is now taken as a given. Racism isn't the pointless hate of the white man against the "minority" populations. All of the minority populations have been taught that racism is a main trait of common white society. Racism exists still, but not to the extent that most of the population is hate mongering fools. How would you like to be called a hate mongering fool?

In White Privilege by Peggy Macintosh it is defined that reaping the benefits of being white (or male). There is a list of all the little feelings that you can attain by growing up around all of your people. There are many facts of racial oppression that any human can negatively affect the rest of the population. A white man can go and get a job that could have went to a needing black man. Then Tatum's notes on using racism as a prejudice can be used for the benefit of the black man. The black man can use the reasoning that the employer was racist, and that was the reason the white man was hired over the black man. So the employer, not wanting to be black listed as a bigot or racist, must hire or put out in some form.

We must come to appreciate the fact that racism and prejudice can be used in any number of ways. Whether those ways are positive or negative for you're own personal benefit.

Hooray for Boobies!

Or so it seems....

This modern world is directed around women,  addressed around women, and the fashion statements are started with women.  Most of the of the ads in modern advertising are for women.  Seemingly even most of of the ones about sexual diseases and pregnancy.  

This modern world is ruled powerfully by our advertising trends.  Many of the trends we would never understand until it was pointed out at us.  Like the phallic imagery in the camel cigarette packs or the shape of a coke bottle that resembles the curves of an attractive woman.  In the world of advertising freedom of speech needs to be taken more responsibly.  Especially in fashion magazines, because everyone wants to be famous.

Although, the closest you can get to be famous is looking like someone famous.  Of course when you're taking your fashion cues from a porcelain Plexiglas figure in a magazine you become something unnatural.  To look like this you are required to do things unnatural and generally unhealthy.  It really does not help that we are not a sex driven society.  Freud may have not been completely right in his theories, but he was true that we are psycho and very much sexual.  

It seems a lot of ads subconsciously blame women for things.  When you look at most ads against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases you will never see the man passing the disease, and it's never the man taking the blame for pregnancy.  It's always the women that's a whore for sleeping with only one man and gets pregnant. It's never counted that that man could have easily been sleeping with a different woman every night.  Men are the biggest whores because we'll do anything without getting payed for it.

Someone Wants Some Money From College

Empathetic college students, a stingy chancellor, and a Tennessee Board of Regents proposal that reads a lot like a TPS report that you would find in the movie Office Space. Well, personally I would like to have Gangsta's Paradise playing when I read these papers.

It is nice to see protests back in the college level really. I was starting to think that all the fire had left the youth of today. Guess Nirvana was wrong about that smell. Of course nothing can cause more of a reaction from anyone than the man trying to take the money from those who could use it. I really don't think there is going to be a win for anyone in the TBR. The vote originally discounted any opinions made by the students, and all ideas of a compromise were dismissed like the out of the closet son from the family X-mas party. Really the TBR proposal wasn't even known to most students and was snuck through the law making process like a similar proposition eight. Now students are making themselves heard at least.

All this proposition will mean to those in college is a loss of quality education. More online classes given to students who just learned to adapt to lectures in person. Most students barely have the responsibility to listen, do you think they'll have the responsibility to do the reading required for an online class? There will be a large increase in students taught by other students. Some people have just learned to pay attention in class and they're going to make them teach? We must also account for the morals of the actual professors. They're getting payed less to be replaced by computer programs and students they had in class last semester.

No one wants to have to pay more for school or spend any more time there. I personally can't wait to be out of college so I can take a couple years off. These budget cuts are only going to keep me around longer, and as long as I'm around money will be also...

Introduction Omega

Welcome to the world of nonretreat

here is the knowledge taught

we all know of the knowledge once lost

but cannot exactly remember

what was there

what might still exist

in this world

in a past world

in something we may have once learned

There are things between memory and importance

things that are importance to one

and things that are important to the ones with power

Memory is taught by those with power only minimal

What is taught to be remembered is taught by those in control

What is taught to be lost will never be known

as long as those in power have

CONTROL.