justsomeguy85's blog

I gotta admit, I know almost nothing about this subject except that it's pissing a lot of people off.  People are mad that illegal immigrants come to America and take jobs away from American workers and that they live here without paying taxes but still receive free medical insurance (?  I thought nobody received free medical insurance until they reached Canada) and a whole bunch of other tax-supported services like schools.  And I know that Spanish-speaking and very Mexico-, Cuba-, etc. -centric neighborhoods are sprouting up all over the place especially in major cities and the Southwest, where Spanish is in some cases even more dominant than English and people wave around the Mexican flag at rallies demanding rights from the United States government.   Read More »

Feel free to ignore this blog, because it honestly has no political or social value whatsoever.  That aside, Russian rock rocks! 

Seriously, everyone, do you know the vast wealth of popular music in Eastern Europe?  I think it has something to do with the fact that because American products were banned during the Cold War, singing in English and worshipping American bands were things strongly looked down upon by authorities in the Soviet-bloc countries (which of course means these things became popular in the underground cultures).  Not to say that they didn't happen, it's just no one could ever achieve super-popular fame singing in English and copying American groups.  As a result, numerous bands sprang up that sang in their native languages but still played popular music--most notably rock and roll, a style which they probably still received from the West in any event.  As of right now, my favorite group is definately Ленинград.  These guys are just freakin awesome, and you should all go to russiandvd.com to listen to their album Дл

For those of you who can't read the question, which to be honest is probably most of us, it says, "Who is Jára Cimrman?"  Good question.  Well I'll tell you.  Jára Cimrman (that dash over the "a" just turns it into a long vowel, which means you just hold it out slightly longer than a normal "a") was the greatest Czech who ever lived.  He nearly invented the light bulb, almost discovered the north pole, came so close to discovering the source of the Nile, and even taught the Theory of Relativity to Einstein, but history has largely ignored this fascinating renassaince man of Central Europe.  Why?  Was it perhaps because he simply challenged the authorities too much?  Because he was too great for history to bear?  Because the meek will always ban together to push back the great ones who rise from amongst the faceless mass?  Or is it because he is simply the fictional invention of several Czech actors during the Communist era?   Read More »

When most Americans think of Germany, they automatically think of Adolf Hitler, World War II, the Holocaust, and the brutal Nazi regime which gave rise to all of these things.  While certainly these things have shaped modern German society, most people forget how they changed German society.  This was finally the great social trauma that induced democracy into the German mindset, that finally countered strict Prussian militarism, and that forever made Germany a proponent of peace in almost every corner of the globe.  Read More »

And my moralizing rampage continues!  Growing up with a fiercely democratic mom in a staunchly Republican neighborhood, I've come to despise the polarized political spectrum and have done all in my power to ensure that I will never be involved in it.  I remember vividly asking a good friend of mine, a Republican, if he would vote Democrat even if it was clear that the Democratic candidate was the superior one.  He immediately answered--without even having to consider the question--"never." And the first part of that answer, the one seperated by dashes, is the one that bothers me the most.  The fact that he didn't have to think about it, or rather, that he CHOSE not to think about it.  Read More »

I can remember back to a time when I was having what turned into a rather heated debate with a good friend of mine over whether or not "ebonics" constituted a legitimate language or not.  I was of the firm opinion that it was not and all should be done to eradicate it, whereas my friend was determined to convince me otherwise.  After the argument my friend's opinion really had not altered all that much--largely because he was a stark believe in Esperonto and in the end, his entire argument was simply an attempt to convert me to Esperonto--but my position had changed drastically.  Read More »