Robster's Lobster

Lobster "Tales": March

2011-03-31T22:41:00.001-07:00

Last time we spoke I wrote folded over my laptop, squished into 11C and en route to Shanghai. No time to waste – let’s pick up from there. We arrived at Pudong International Airport on time and proceeded to make our way to the hotel. Unfortunately, we had missed the last Maglev train into town (more on that later), which meant taking a relatively snail-paced taxicab to the Westin. The Westin?...Who does this kid think he is?! No mom, I am not booking five-stars. We were incredibly lucky that a family friend of a friend on our trip owned the building encompassing the hotel. It was a wonderful hotel that also wound up hosting an insatiable buffet that will win this month’s best meal. Being 12:30 however, there was little food open for us to have dinner at after checking in. The concierge recommended McDonalds or KFC when we asked where we could find dumplings. Needless to say – we headed to the Mickey D's.

This is when it gets bizarre. Things started downhill when ordering Big Macs became harder than crossing that bridge in Monty Python’s “Holy Grail.” But wait!…There’s more! Slowly, I notice that we’re the only ones eating, but were not the only ones there. I’d say about a dozen people are sound asleep in this 24-hour McDonalds. It is well past midnight. The staff does not care. I have pictures to prove it. I thought they were dead for a while – it wasn’t until the man sleeping ten inches from my fries gave a loud, snoring exhale all over my food that I could confirm they were alive. McDonalds had officially become an impromptu homeless shelter. The corporate giant had become the community shelter and there was almost something charitable about the presence of this 24-hour McDonalds.

Out of the five different major metropolitan areas I’ve made it to in the past month I’ve seen a wide range of displays of custom and courtesy (curtoesy). From the impromptu fast-food homeless shelters, to the shoe-free floors of a Japanese Ryokan to the deep bows of the Korean flight attendants, there has seldom been a moment of chartered cultural territory. It’ not that it was weird to be an outsider – we’re used to that piece of studying abroad. There is however, an ever-present feeling of detachment. We are the new kids, the observers, the diplomats visiting a vital national interest. The customs and small acts of kindness we run into are normally what make up the things we remember about a culture. So, in my most busy travel month, the experiences I have managed to really remember are these microcosmic reflections of culture rooted in each custom.

Shanghai continued the next morning. Over the following two days we saw all sorts of museums, galleries, expositions, and pedestrian malls. Our days were filled with touristy destinations most of which were walking distance or just a short taxicab away. Which brings me to cultural custom experience number two: the complete absence of traffic laws in Shanghai. Either everyone is red-green colorblind, or "red" means "go," or people just generally have a death wish because Shanghai made a demo derby look like child’s play. Scooters go as they please, on any space they wish (sidewalks, stairs and bike lanes included). Oh, you’re a pedestrian? Sorry, there’s no right of way here – not even in pedestrian malls. If you can dodge a Shanghainese scooter, you can dodge a ball.

Shanghai has great nightlife and we had plenty of fun seeing a hip and modern city come alive a little at night. Of the daytime experiences, there were two of real note. The Shanghai Museum had some pieces that were as incredible as any museum worldwide can give. Most awesome were the 7000 year-old pieces of bronze and jade, so complex that modern science has no explanation for their creation without advanced tools. Museums like the Shanghai Museum remind you of how one can actually stomach history, or enjoy snaking hallways of display cases for hours on end. It was an incredibly valuable learning experience and I could have spent a couple more hours there.

Secondly, the permanent China Expo (the remains of the World’s Fair from last summer) is a must-see public relations stunt. Put on by the Chinese government, the exhibit seductively soirées tourists and locals alike for valuable hours of undivided attention. Host countries have historically used the world’s fair to paint fresh images of hot-button issues and China definitely kept up its end of the tradition. Extensive exhibitions and information on China’s green effort were everywhere. The massive inverted red pyramid building is both intimidating and comforting – a presiding presence of total control that screams “big government project.” There are sections devoted to the growing, eco-friendly cities of China, growing car industry, even growing children through a section where crayon drawings hang in front of the Shanghai skyline beyond the glass windows behind. Overall, it is a convincing and elegant presentation of the country that is endlessly positive. It was an interesting way to spend the afternoon, no doubt.

After four days of exploration, we ended our trip with the most incredible Sunday brunch at the Westin. Lobster, caviar, filet, rib eye, eggs to order (a rarity in Asia so far), crab, shrimp, sushi, oysters, foie gras, kebabs, dim sum, pasta, fresh crepes, even a complete orchestra and acrobats were almost as amazing as the unlimited mimosas and the incredibly cheap Chinese acupressure massage we got later that day. Hey, a little pampering never hurt anyone. It also doesn’t hurt to have an intentionally weak RMB on your side to make everything seem like an epic deal.

There was only one thing left to do - the Maglev. In the interest of moving on to the other half of the month, we basically took this unreal train to the airport. Cruising speed was just less than 300 mph. We did a 45-minute cab ride in less than 10 minutes. Awesome.

Four days later I was on the plane to Beijing. We spent a short week checking up on classes and doing laundry in Hong Kong. Our plan was to go from Hong Kong to Beijing for a short layover and then go on to Tokyo by Friday evening. From there, we’d spend the weekend in Tokyo before heading to Kyoto on Monday. After that, spend the next two nights in Kyoto before one night in Osaka. From Osaka we’d go to Seoul for the weekend before heading home the following Monday to Hong Kong.

Things hit a snag when we were in the air. At around 2:45 p.m. JST, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit off of Japan’s northeast coast. Triggering a huge tsunami, the quake destroyed countless communities all along the Japanese northeast and it rocked Tokyo with aftershocks and transportation closures. Upon landing in Beijing, our flight to Tokyo had been cancelled for obvious reasons. Air China put us up in a decent hotel and we decided to wait until morning to make plans. The airline was able to get us into Tokyo the next day, but our hotel in Shibuya said that it wouldn’t be any fun and that aftershocks were still hitting every coupe of hours. We booked new tickets into Osaka for Monday, putting us back on schedule by the beginning of the week and swapping Beijing for Tokyo.

This could not have turned out as any better of a solution. We got a complete Beijing experience filled with more “Duck Burritos” (as we came to know them) then the heart can desire. We saw the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Olympic park, an emperor’s tomb, a silk factory, a porcelain factory and a jade factory. The latter three were all tourist traps, including the tea ceremony that was thrown in, but they still count. All in all, Beijing was perfect. We had a great time and found a worthwhile replacement for Japan while we let the initial dust settle.

After landing on Osaka, we caught a bus to our traditional guesthouse in Kyoto. Kyoto represented an entirely different cultural experience. For the first time in Asia, I was charmed by a town’s architecture. Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore all have their skylines, and Beijing has the Forbidden City, but no place I had visited up until that point really had style. It felt like an old-school European town, but with an entirely different set of architectural nuances to each street. Kyoto blends the traditional curved roofs with modern restaurants, malls and office buildings. It was a city with a very distinct feeling of warmth and homeliness. I was a huge fan.

We rented bikes and spent the next day cycling from one temple/shrine to the next. The traditional palaces and parks were all cool in their own right. I was especially enamored by the completely gold-plated temple and the “world’s most perfect zen garden.”

Kyoto was great, but escalating nuclear fears had our parents neglecting all sorts of international roaming charges as they tried to convince us to hightail it out of the country. I must say that being in Japan didn’t feel that risky at the time. It felt a lot like what I remember being in California after 9/11 was like. The country was somber, but the Southwest was physically unaffected by the disaster. The losses weren’t really felt in Kyoto or Osaka, and thus life went on. I’d love to return to see Tokyo and experience a less disheveled version of the country. To me, Japan was a friendlier, cleaner, healthier and more modest version of America where I wouldn’t mind spending a significant amount of time.

So onwards to Osaka, both to follow the schedule and to be closer to the airport. We spent a great night in the costal metropolis, where our friendly hotel concierge decided that his directions to good sushi would be lost on us. He opted to join our adventure and navigated to a couple of friend’s bars and some good restaurants. As tourists we fulfilled our obligatory karaoke requirement. We sounded terrible. Best of all was SpaWorld, a 24-hour mega spa with 8 floors of Jacuzzis and gyms and televisions and reclining chairs. It is the best thing over commercialization could possibly produce; it is the Wal-Mart of hot springs. We made a stop by SpaWorld before dinner - it was a wonderful way to relax after all the chaos of getting around the country.

The next day we left for Seoul. Going into the trip, Korea always had this Walter Cronkite reporting from the front lines in of the Korean War in a 9^th grade history class VHS feel. What I found was anything but. Seoul is a young city, entirely modern, with an equally young population. It feels alive, high-tech and booming. We had a fantastic couple of days seeing museums, palaces, and art expositions all over town. There was a once-in-a-lifetime exhibit of Chagall paintings, as well as a cool contemporary art museum that was full of abstract garbage (art) to look at. The coolest of the touristy stops here in Korea was the de-militarized zone, where fully armed South Korean soldiers sit finger-on-trigger staring endlessly out onto the North Korean border. The DMZ was eerie and heavily regulated by the government, although we did get to take some pictures and see one of the infiltration tunnels discovered by the South Koreans in the 70s and 80s. Korean food was the only real letdown of the entire trip, as traditional barbeque faire became redundant very quickly. We managed to survive off of many trips to Dunkin Donuts for much-needed bagels and cream cheese, something which we can’t seem to find in Hong Kong.

Returning to Hong Kong was a welcome experience; it is nice to be back home for a couple of weeks on end. This past weekend marked the unofficial beginning of spring with the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament. We spent most of the weekend in costume, wandering Hong Kong with the myriad other western drunkards who had spent the day watching rugby and screaming obscenities at the pitch. It didn’t take long to understand the game; rugby is basically football without pads and a couple rule changes. All around the city, previously dormant cherry blossoms are doing what they do best. There has been an explosion of color and life in Hong Kong over the past two weeks, and I expect that will continue with weather forecasted to be 75 and sunny for the foreseeable future. March was our most full month by far, and April will undoubtedly demand a little more focus on getting work done and enjoying my last full month in Hong Kong.

Happy birthday, Dad!

Fine Print:

Best Meal: The Sunday Brunch at the Westin Shanghai Bund Center – WOW!

Worst Meal: Verve SoHo, Hong Kong – Got me so sick. Steer clear of the “U.S.” strip steak.

Lobster "Tales": February

2011-03-02T10:09:00.001-08:00

Sandwiched between the heavy rank of “stinky tofu” (a truly foul smelling Hong Kong dish) and the din of a nearby outdoor market lies Mr. Wong’s Chinese restaurant. It’s a small place, taking up a small slice on the end of a run down, run-of-the-mill apartment building. This neighborhood is considered the mid-east part of Hong Kong’s Kowloon district – the part of town that’s not entirely caught in the wake of billions of dollars of west-meets-east economic stimulus. Nonetheless, Kowloon is packed, and has become part of an equally bustling city. It supports hundreds of thousands of residents and many of the shops that sell Hong Kong’s infamous knock-off merchandise.

“Wong’s” – as it has been affectionately labeled by dozens of international students who grace its outdoor seating – is probably one of the least impressive restaurants I’ve encountered in the past two months.

Its walls are plastered with 8.5 by 11 multicolored printouts of menu choices. The makeshift wallpaper of Cantonese characters is about all the ambiance that can be found. Old booths line the inside, as folding tables and the stools I used to sit on in Kindergarten foster chronic back pain outside.

But I’m there once, sometimes twice a week. Sure, the food is mediocre – except for the deep fried potstickers and a deep fried fish in sweet and sour sauce – but that still isn’t worth shivering outside for two hours. Why go? There’s something special about Mr. Wong’s. It’s a place where the collectively broke exchange students of Hong Kong descend upon in order to get all you can eat and drink for HKD $40 (USD $5). I’ve met most of my friends here in Hong Kong at Wong’s. Aside from food, trips, classwork, relationships, music, sports, language and culture are digested here. Wong’s is our place to debrief, share stories and find commonalities.

Leaving California I expected these experiences/digestions of the intellectual flavor, but this setting was unexpected. Two months into my journey, I find that the experiences that I was expecting to have are happening left and right, but the surprise has been in the setting. From talking Mubarak at the horse races to arguing the metaphysical need for borders in the back of a pickup truck on a remote island in Thailand, the setting has been awesomely unpredictable.

When I last posted a Lobster “Tale,” Hong Kong was at full capacity in anticipation for the Lunar New Year celebration. On Feb. 3, newfound travel companion Zach and I headed for Singapore. It was the first of two wonderful trips this month.

Singapore is arguably the world’s strictest society. The PAP (People’s Action Party), which has been virtually uncontested since establishment of the country’s parliamentary system, runs a government based off an elite ruling system. Every industry, caste, and community is represented by its most elite members. Their smartest citizens stay home to serve their public in building one of the world’s most productive governments. Streets are scarily clean, standards are brutally high, but spirits seem to be enjoying the same success. I found it to be a remarkable ecosystem that quite simply, works.

After arriving late at night, we turned in immediately, setting out to begin the next day early in the morning. Our first stop was the Golden Mile Arcade to purchase bus tickets for our voyage to Kuala Lumpur the next day. This proved to be harder than anticipated as most shops were closed for the New Year. Nonetheless, we settled our arrangements and moved on to the Singapore Zoo. This was an incredible zoo, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who is passing through Singapore. We saw monkeys, zebras, rhinos, lions, tigers, elephants, kangaroos, snakes, and giraffes, but the massive Komodo dragon stole the show. This reptile was huge and awesome. I’ve always wanted to see one; check that off the bucket list.

Next was a trip to Singapore’s equally impressive botanic gardens, in which the “Ginger Garden” led to some obvious jokes. The orchid garden was also pretty impressive. Worth a visit. Our last stop before returning to our little India-based hotel was to the most southern point in Asia, Sentosa Island. This was a tourist trap with little of substance and was nice for views, but ultimately negligible. After drinks at the brand new – and very impressive – Marina Bay Sands Hotel and dinner on the 61st floor of Singapore’s tallest building, it was time for bed.

Kuala Lumpur was an adventure. Our bus to the Malaysian capital was like one’s first flight in business class after flying southwest for a lifetime. Our seats were huge, reclined and had on demand video. Such comfort was necessary, as the trip was seven hours of Malaysian jungle. After dropping our stuff in the hotel, Zach and I were off to the Petronas Towers for a photo op. Next up was Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown, which was admittedly a total dump. Nonetheless, it was nice to see some cool knock-off merchandise in what felt like its natural environment. After that we went to KL’s main park to visit the Islamic Art Museum, which was unfortunately closed. We settled for the National Museum, which was a nice look into Malaysian history. As a nasty thunderstorm rolled across the city, we retreated to our hotel to watch the storm pass over the countryside.

The next day we spent in traffic. Nine hours of traffic to be specific. I’ve never seen traffic like this before. Thank goodness we had our spaceship-of-a-bus to keep us comfortable, because this made LA traffic look like a cakewalk. We retuned to Singapore by 2 a.m. and settled in for the night. The next day we returned to Hong Kong. It was a short trip, but it was a great look into an extraordinarily peculiar dynamic that Malaysia and Singapore entertain with each other. Singapore is incredibly developed, refined and wealthy. Cross the border and it’s impossible not to feel the lack of organization and prosperity that Singapore is hoarding into its tiny land mass (it’s significantly smaller than Hong Kong S.A.R.). I look forward to returning.

The next weekend we spent in Hong Kong, as old friend Geng Wang rolled through the HK for a couple of days en-route to studying in Shanghai (check out his blog). Yet, in what seemed like no time at all, I was back on the road.

This time our band of goofballs grew from 2 to 6, as Mario, JP, Thomas, and Sara joined Zach and me for a trip to Thailand. We went to Thailand for many reasons, but the Full Moon Party was the catalyst. Each month, when the moon is at its fullest, Thailand comes alive with internationals and locals alike to celebrate the new month on Koh Pha’ngan’s Haad Rin beach. Before we could enjoy the Full Moon Party, we had to travel through Phuket, Koh Phi Phi (pronounced “pee-pee”), Krabi and Don Sak. We spent a meaningless night in Phuket Town en-route to an early morning ferry to Phi Phi. Nonetheless, we got the chance to do a brief taxicab tour as we wove our way to the peir. Phi Phi is a small island and is stunningly beautiful. Its four parallel peninsulas create two opposing semicircular beaches. Much like Zanzibar or the Caribbean, the water is perfectly clear, taking on a turquoise hue that is breathtaking. This was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to. We spent the day relaxing and swimming. Over the course of the entire trip I went on a Pad Thai tear, ordering the iconic Thai dish at nearly every culinary impasse. One small Phi Phi restaurant provided the best rendition of the noodle, shrimp and tomato/spicy sauce dish. Despite a valiant effort, this still was not the best meal of the month – more on that later.

After an excellent day of beach, kayaks, snorkeling and relaxation we left Phi Phi for our next destination, Koh Pha’ngan. It took a day of traveling clear across the Thai peninsula, but we arrived safely to our hotel on the northwest corner of the island before the end of the day. Thus commenced the two-day insanity that was the full moon party. It happened, it was crazy, 30,000 people showed up, I slept very little, a few people got burned, ‘nuff said. I also went on an incredible – and slightly illegal (I’m not technically a certified diver) – scuba diving trip, where I saw huge grouper, dove to nearly 70 feet below the surface, swam between a school of barracuda and yellow striped fish, got up close with some live coral and ascended 40 feet through an underwater coral chimney into some of the most incredible sea life I have ever seen. It was a spectacular experience, with good diving, good people and better pictures to account for it.

After three especially tiring days on Pha’ngan we attempted to head back to the airport for Hong Kong. Little did we know that this would be just as much of an adventure as the rest of the trip combined. We arrived too late to the ferry terminal to be in our desired location (Phuket) by nightfall. So we opted for an overnight ferry to the mainland, which would connect to a bus.

This bus was “sure to get us in to Phuket by 11:30,” according to the travel services broker. She is not worthy of the title “travel agent,” that would imply that they were at some level competent. This was not the case. Our overnight ferry got in on time, but our “bus” turned out to be a shuttle. It took us to a waiting area in the costal town of Surrathani, some 5 hours from Phuket. From the waiting area, we were shuttled yet again to a bus stop via taxi. After 45 minutes of the bus “refueling” we boarded our “express bus to Phuket.” Another 45 minutes later, our COMPLETELY FULL (or so I thought) bus was ready to go. It is 9 o’clock in the morning now. Do the math. That puts us into Phuket – which is not the same as the airport – at 2 p.m. Our flight is at 3:30. Suddenly I’m channeling my father’s notorious airport rush, worried sick we’d miss our plane and pay out the nose to reschedule.

To make things worse, our bus began making local stops, handing out the same Mr. Wong style kindergarten stools to oncoming passengers, having them sit in the aisle. The bus was now actually full. There was no more aisle. At a rest stop some 150 km from the airport, the six of us made a decision to ditch the bus and piled into another one of our many unmarked pickup truck-based taxi rides. Quite literally, a man at a roadside strip mall called his buddy, who was 20 minutes away, to come and pick us up in his personal pickup truck. After some nervous speeding through Thailand, we made it on time to our plane and safely returned to Hong Kong. It felt like we were on the Amazing Race. Good times.

This past weekend was spent in Hong Kong, visiting Shek-O beach in order to soak up some wonderful weather we’ve been enjoying. As I write, I’m sitting squished into a budget airline coach seat, en-route to Shanghai for the weekend. It would have been bad travel mojo to leave this until after my first in a long line of trips planned for the month of March. This weekend is Shanghai, next weekend marks the beginning of a 12-day trip through Japan and Korea, and the week after will take me to the Philippines for a break from being especially touristy.

This is going entirely too quickly. Kind of like eating a lobster tail.

SIDENOTES –

Best Meal: Aqua, atop One Peking (my first blowfish experience…unreal!)

Worst Meal: The rotating Restaurant on top of the Kuala Lumpur Tower

Lobster "Tales": January

2011-01-25T04:31:00.000-08:00

Today is Tuesday, Jan 25th. This date marks four weeks here in Hong Kong, so I figured it was finally time to update the Lobster Nation. This is a long post, but only expect them once a month.

So far, things have gone great. Like all men who call themselves a “Heeger,” no city is safe from judgment until it has proven its ability to cook food. Hong Kong has passed with flying colors. I am addicted to Dim Sum and eat it as close to daily as possible. Traditional Cantonese food leaves much to be desired, but is easily neglected while consuming Hong Kong’s diverse selection of international cuisines.

Best meal so far: Crystal Jade: La Mian (Noodles) and Xiao Long Bao (Soup Dumplings)

Hands down worst meal: The Star Seafood Floating Restaurant (NOTE: This was awful.)

I could write entire posts about the food here, but I figure few people other than my brother, or maybe JT or Will (if they even read this) would care. For now, I am still exploring into the Thai, Japanese and Indian offerings here and am anxiously awaiting my first journey to a “Traditional NY Deli” that I found late one night last week.

While it’s hard to believe that this trip began back in San Francisco some 28 days ago, it did. In a last minute display of almighty power, the upgrade gods at Star Alliance bumped me to business class for the 14-hour trek across the Pacific. It was there I met my now long lost friend Norm, who after 25 years of business in Hong Kong, felt the need to give me the entire low down on custom tailors in the city while subsequently flirting with every flight attendant. Many hours later, we had arrived.

In an earlier post on the Lobster, I touched on Chinese efficiency and modernity. Upon arrival in Hong Kong, my experiences stateside were instantly reinforced. Exit the plane, get through customs, grab your bag and 100 yards out, a brand new subway station whisks you away to the center of the city. Forget taxis, we blew by traffic as I watched cars mope along the highway. After the “Airport Express,” one of five different free hotel shuttles greeted us at our train stop, and 45 minutes after we left the airport, and only 90 minutes after getting off the plane, I was in my hotel room. It was clean, efficient, overwhelmingly organized, and completely centralized.

Those characteristics remind you of something? If you guessed a mall, you’re right.

A pattern began to form over our first month here in Hong Kong: malls are everywhere. Malls connect other malls. Our hotel is connected to a mall. On the other side of the hotel? You guessed it, a more than 20-story-tall mall. “The Peak,” one of Hong Kong’s main tourist attractions, is only accessible though a mall. Need to cross a street? In many cases, your only option is to use an overhead walkway that dumps you out into another mall. Need to take a ferry across the harbor? Enter and exit though a mall. Dinner? Head to a mall. Drugstore? Head to a mall. Not to beat a dead horse, but the Hong Kong subway station is underneath – and accessible only by walking through – the enormous IFC mall.

Growing up going to malls like Stanford Mall, Sawgrass and the Mall of America, I thought I had seen the best of the best. But hey, why study abroad if you can’t broaden your horizons? These malls are unbelievable. The presence of malls here in China has dwarfed my presumably versed mall background. Even more shocking, most of these malls (which all look as if they were built within the last 15 years) seem to have all of the same stores.

Per-capita, I’m willing to bet that more square feet are committed Gucci’s, Louis Vuitton’s, Prada’s, Coach’s, Armani’s and Versace’s in Hong Kong than anywhere else in the world. A newfound friend of mine here in Hong Kong explained: “There’s no sales tax here. So the billion-plus people who live in Mainland China and want these designer outfits come to Hong Kong to get them for cheaper.”

Makes sense, but it’s something you have to see to believe.

While malls have provided a look into the enormous spending power of the growing Chinese middle class, my two trips to Macau have added to this realization.

For all you westerners, Macau was Asia’s main shipping port until the colonization of Hong Kong. Now, it is Asia’s version of Las Vegas. One problem: it lacks Vegas’ nightlife. To help put this into perspective, Macau is best pictured as Vegas in the 1950’s with unlimited investment, no fear as to if the city will succeed, no Frank Sinatra and more or less no crime.

Hotels that (like the Malls) dwarf their American counterparts are springing up everywhere. Investors are building at a rate far larger than demand as they wait for an ASEAN middle class to boom. For instance, there are thousands of empty square feet in the middle of the brand-new Venetian’s main casino floor. It has never been used, except as a vast expanse to walk from the central blackjack tables to the severely over priced Morton’s Steakhouse in the back corner. Expect that space to fill up as more people flood to one of the only legal gambling zones for 1.6 billion people.

Which brings me back to the nightlife. While the casinos and hotels can communally charge comparable rates without proper demand, the astronomical prices of Vegas’ nightclubs can’t be replicated in Macau where there are fewer clients.

In layman’s terms, this led to the cheapest bottle of Grey Goose ever purchase in a Hugh Hefner club (don’t fact check me on this). At HKD $1050, or about $120 USD we got a steal compared to Vegas’ $500 price tag for the French vodka. The club, which is tagged as one of Macau’s most exclusive, was difficult to get a table at, but the prices can’t be beat. If there is one thing Macau will need after they fill their hotels, it’s nightclubs. I’m accepting seed money now.

Back on Hong Kong Island, life has been good as well. My two roommates, Jason and Spencer are both freshman students and speak solid English. They are wonderful in helping me deal with the not so bilingual staff of my dorm. School is about 45 minutes out of the heart of town, and my dorm has an incredible view of a sound off the Eastern coast of the mainland peninsula. Classes are interesting, taught and English and only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. This has left me with the incredible chore of filling a 5-day weekend every week.

Getting around town is painless. Taxis are everywhere, but more impressive is their subway/light-rail system, the MTR. Fueled by a version of London’s Oyster cards, the MTR is dirt cheap with a student Octopus card (less than $1.00 USD for a 45 minute trip clear across town, and less than $.50 to get to the mall) and can get you almost anywhere in the city. It is a modern, clean and blazingly fast system.

Via the MTR and the Hong Kong bus system, I’ve seen many of Hong Kong’s main attractions. Trips to the Big Buddha of Lantau Island, the Peak, Stanley Market, Kowloon Park, the Avenue of the Stars, the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Victoria Harbor and other assorted sites/markets around the city have been easy and fun. There is still much to see, but I’ve exhausted the typical tourist spots, and am moving on to the underground and locals-only spots, much to the chagrin of my taste buds.

If this is all going so well, then I must be withholding something, right?

People won’t stop bumping into me. Since I can’t discern if they are local, mainlanders, or from a foreign country I’ll file these excessive contact creators as of Asian descent. There’s no creativity to their route decisions. When one path is obvious, they walk straight into me. I’ll be getting off an elevator and will have to fight my way out of the people coming in.

Where’s the etiquette here? I’m over whether or not it’s impolite, there’s simple efficiency in question here. I’ve stopped saying sorry as I find that most of the time, I’m hit as I try to get out of the way.

At first, I pushed aside my stereotypical assertions in an effort to be open-minded. Screw that, I’ve figured out why Asians are so commonly classified as bad drivers – and it took going half-way around the world to have it, literally, bump right into me.

The Chinese are a people who for thousands of years have been told what, where, when, why and how they were going to accomplish every task of daily life. Confucianism, dynastic rule, and more recently communism, has told this enormous population of people to focus on their family, and let the State figure out everything else. In an increasingly free society like China and the Asian region, this poses serious complications to communal creativity. Most prominently, this is reflected – and thoroughly scrutinized – in their educational system, but it permeates further.

The lack of creativity tarnishes the ability to see a larger vision and perspective. Ultimately, this kills the ability to create an individual path that is of the least resistance. It’s not impolite to bump someone, have no spatial awareness at all or completely neglect other cars on the road in this society. And frankly, you can’t blame the ordinary citizen because it is not their fault; they never have had to have this perception before. Fundamentally, the belief feels to this outsider like, “the State will find the path of least resistance for me, I’ll just move through the ooze towards my destination.”

It’s infuriating. However, it does feel good to have some sense that it doesn’t derive from a lack of compassion. Generally, a very large bump will be followed by a "sorry" or an acknowledgment of inconvenience. Yet for smaller impediments, it’s just a part of their culture. In an effort to fully assimilate and absorb this place I now call home, I’ve adopted this practice. Watch out.

Hong Kong is a beautiful city, albeit on most days it is socked in with smog. This not only blocks the sun, it also masks visitors from getting to fully absorb its massive architecture and natural beauty. I am still waiting for an actually clear day.

Alas, this city (and my class schedule) was always meant to enable me to have a home base for travel in a region I have never seen before. While one month flew by in what feels like seconds, I am ready to hit the road. Next month brings the Chinese New Year, trips to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Phuket and the Thai islands as well as the Full moon party and possibly a trip to Beijing and the Great Wall.

Stay tuned loyal Lobsters, there’s more “tales” to come...

End at the Beginning: Bill Simmons

2010-12-04T15:25:00.000-08:00

For the first of the 11-part "Pubic Square" series, I focused on public intellectual and media mogul Laurence Lessig. His contributions to the media world via the creative commons and other open-sourced projects have fueled the advancements of online media communities worldwide. He has offered countless opinions on technology, consumerism and information over his career; he is regarded in the highest manner by his peers. In every facet of the title, Lessig is a public intellectual.

For the last of this series of public comments and experimentations in opinion wiring, I wanted to give a shout out to an individual who I am just realizing has the same clout as Lessig: "The Sports Guy."

Bill Simmons is a sports writer. He is the proud owner of "The Sports Guy" column on "Page 2" of ESPN the Magazine, and is also the featured columnist alongside equally experienced Rick Reilly at ESPN.com. For dozens of years, Simmons has covered the entire spectrum of the sports world. He has mastered a style that is just as colloquial as it is unique to Simmons, touching on topics that resonate with his audience: the "professional sports fan."

Personally, I am an amateur follower of Simmons' writing. As an avid sports fan, I fit into his target audience, but have only dabbled in his content rarely. Since I've been reading sports columns, he was an occasional selection amongst the masses, but I finally had my epiphany surrounding the greatness of Simmons' writing last night. Under the direction of a fellow Simmons admirer, I went into the archives and read his article on the 20 rules to being a "professional sports fan."

This article should be a requirement for all opinion writing classes.

Simmons has put on a clinic for how to write conversationally in a column. Like Lessig's students at Stanford who follow him like the disciples of a new media messiah, Simmons commands a lecture hall for millions through his columns, books and even tweets. His most fundamental understandings of the countless people who love sports is reflected in his easy-to-read prose and his effortless references to sports history.

What becomes blazingly clear as one reads "The Sports Guy," is his command of his craft. Over his years of writing, Simmons has perfected his style to not only appeal to his audience, but to enable his diction and syntax to match the moods and emotions of his readers. His pairing of style and know-how results in a perfect communication of his point of view, forcing it upon the reader as his opinions are delivered so fluidly in his writing its feels like inception.

Over the course of these past 14 weeks of posting, the challenge has been to explain an argument with such clarity that it achieves the same feeling of inception that Simmons has found. Whether or not I've accomplished this in any one of my "Public Square" postings is not for me to decide, but I do find that I read other writing with a far better understanding of what it means to communicate an opinion with an audience. It's been a wonderful challenge, and I assuredly appreciate the commitments that writers like Bill Simmons have for their passion.

If you haven't read him before, go and check out "The Sports Guy." Trust me, it's worth it.

A Trip to the Consulate

2010-11-27T20:30:00.000-08:00

This week, in preparation for an upcoming trip to China, I went to the Consulate General's office in Los Angeles to procure a visa. What I got however, was the first two of many realizations about the benefits of strong organizational systems in a civilization.

Before I get into China's visa application process, I want to begin with the same process but for a different country, Tanzania. I believe this story is a necessary precursor to my Chinese adventure.

Last year, as I was again assembling all of my necessary documentation for a trip, I had to apply for a Tanzanian visa. After filling out a series of extraordinarily complex and dated forms (they looked as if they had been made into copies of copies so many times that the writing was nearly illegible), I FedEx-ed a money order and my passport to New York.

After waiting the prescribed two weeks, I still had no visa and no tracking number for my passport. A another week passed before I finally dialed my friends at the Tanzanian Mission to the United Nations, where a telephone operator walked me through how they had lost the tracking number for my passport, but "don't worry, it's definitely on its way."

With another phone call and some definitive language, my tracking number was magically found, and I successfully received my passport some 4 weeks after sending it to the office.

Flash forward to this past week. Again, I am left to bring together the visas of the passport world, so that I may be granted multiple entries into the Chinese mainland over the next 12 months.

I feared for my passport. I could never let my poor identification bookelet go for another run around the Fed-Ex abyss -- it would prove to be too painful.

Melodrama aside, I did want my visa in a more timely fashion this time. After all, this is China - if they can take care of more than $830 trillion in American debt, then they surely could take care of my passport, no?

Much to my satisfaction, the Consulate General lived up to expectations. The system was well thought out, well executed and easy to complete. Filling out a simple two-page form, available for download from a easy-to-navigate Web site, took no more than 10 minutes. I arrived to find a waiting room where I was greeted by an über-number-taker machine, with three buttons, each for different Consulate General-related tasks. I pressed the visa button a received a printout of a letter and number combination: "A136."

We were at A100 when I walked in, and my immediate first thought was: "36 numbers? That takes 45 minutes at In-n-out." I had an hour to spend, and was pleasantly surprised when the numbers began flying by. Twenty-two minutes later, it was my turn, as I was called to "Window #4" by the automated female voice that will forever be engrained in my memory, for it never ceased to be blaring over the waiting room loudspeaker. Just in case I had gone deaf from the previous 21 minutes of called numbers, a large ticker showed me the numbers being currently served.

A short glance-over of my paperwork by the attendant and one pink receipt for my passport later, I was done. My passport will be ready for pickup this week, I'll pay upon receipt of the visa.

Everything was organized, it was wonderful. There is truly something to be said for solid organization, and I'm looking forward to more first hand experience with China's attempts next semester.

My run-in with the Cinese embassy also led me to a different realization on the broader meaning of organizational unity: it permeates society - and more specifically - Chinese society. All too often, Americans are off arguing over which party they are a part of, instead of finding unified policies. Yes, it's easy to call for, but unity (while at the cost of some of their Government's reputation) has allowed China to announce scores of new development projects and policies ranging from massive investments in industry and infrastructure, to hosting Olympic competition, to simply holding a steady 10% GDP growth rate for an absurd number of years.

I'm not suggesting the American political system attempt to be China's political system, nor that of Tanzania, as that is both impossible and unwise. All I'm asking is that we see the value of organization and unity, and begin to give it priority over our trivialities.

Staples said it best: "That was easy."

"Checking-In" Chipotle Style

2010-11-20T23:31:00.000-08:00

Go to Chipotle. Don’t go cause it tastes good, though. Don’t go for the burritos either. Quesadilla style? Think again. Forget the tacos, lose the chips and respond with a big “no” when asked if an extra charge for guacamole is “okay.”

Let me be perfectly clear, don’t go to Chipotle for the food this time. Go for your Facebook account.

Facebook finally did something that changed an actual action in the real world. They got me a free burrito.

That’s right, no more “friending,” no more instant messaging, no more digital displays of affection through mindless button clicking – just raw, real-life improvement.

With the new Facebook app for iPhone, patrons can more easily use their “Places” feature. “Places,” which was previously banished to a background grid of features has been promoted to the home screen of the app, living in the top right corner of the screen.

For the average Facebook user “checking-in” is probably Facebook’s least interesting feature. But a new trend is catching on as people are beginning to see the value of advertising their location.

Foursquare, an app dedicated entirely to “checking-in,” has even made a half-dozen of my fellow fraternity brothers fight over who will be the new “Mayor” (or the most “checked-in” individual at a given location) of our house.

The process of "checking-in" is simple. Go to any landmark location or store, open up Facebook or Foursquare and your phone will automatically find popular destinations around your location. Tap the “check-in” button for the store you’re in and its done.

Not impressed? Neither was I, until I went to Chipotle.

The app remodel added the ability to offer patrons real-time coupon offers based off publicizing their presence at a local establishment.

When I went to check-in at Chipotle today, I found myself face-to-face with this new option. A small yellow box offered me this deal:

“Buy-one-get-one-free Burrito, Bowl, Salad or Tacos. Present screen to cashier. For 1 use only. Expires at12:22 a.m.”

It was awesome. Moreover, it further opened my eyes to a trend that is gaining traction and popularity.

More and more, our devices will know where we are and why we’re there.

Ranging from maps of museums being downloaded directly to your mobile device as you enter, to getting deals in-line at Chipotle, our devices will begin to work more and more with the world we interact with.

Case in point: Google Goggles (a built in feature in the Google application) allows users to take photos of what’s in front of them. The search engine actively analyzes the image and makes a Google search based off the brands, logos, landmarks or text that it reads in the image.

Another example comes from our digital aviary curators, Twitter. Say you ordered a pair of shoes like a friend of mine did, but they came in the mail with a defect.

Like my friend did, go ahead and Tweet at Vans that your kicks are all out of whack and they’ll respond to your customer service request within 24 hours. Stories coming from sandwich shops, shoe companies even news stations are showing that more companies are using Twitter as a real-time interaction with their customers.

Ultimately, this shift in functionality lets you take what you personally interact with and nearly instantaneously transform it into supporting digital information, totally optimized for your use.

Online communities expert Karen North put it best this way:

“The reason why people believe Facebook will survive, is because they use it as a utility,” said North.

Users around the world are realizing that Facebook will serve to enhance their lives outside of Facebook. To announce where you are and what you are doing can now do wonders for your own satisfaction.

Where privacy was once a problem, the opposite is being realized as an opportunity.

So next time you find yourself debating whether or not to “check-in,” give it a shot – it may just get you a free burrito, or more.

A Full Tank of Gas Isn't What We Need

2010-11-13T22:45:00.000-08:00

With the many Republican pickups across Congress, leaders from the resurgent party have begun their mission to stop the "Obama-Pelosi" agenda. Yet, the true result of a party turnover has been clear. A partisan switch amongst our governing houses does not mean concrete progress in policy.

It's not the people or the personalities that are the problem - it is the systems they run.

The obligatory call for bipartisanship from the losing party is a mockery to the necessary adaptations our systems must undertake.

Calling a midterm election a sign of a "electoral mandate" or a need for complete policy reversal is only sending our government into more permanent, lasting trouble. A steadfast concentration on effective policy will lead us out of these missteps.

For explanation's sake, let's borrow a metaphor.

When President Obama made a visit to USC's campus early last month, he spoke of a car. The car, according to Mr. Obama, was the American government.When in "D", "Drive" (or Democrat), the car went forward.

"Funny," said Obama, "the car goes backward in 'R' [Republican]."

Rather than being the gearbox however, consider the politicians as the gas of our "government car." The election of a new-and-improved Republican House was our version of a fresh tank of high-octane gas.

But we've got more serious issues than what can be fixed by some Techron. We've got a overheating radiator of a health care system, a sludge filled engine of economic growth, a leaking transmission's worth of job losses, even a blown gasket of a housing market.

Gas (congress) is supposed to breathe life to these systems, feed it the energy they need and keep them running well. A change in party control pails in magnitude to that responsibility, but media coverage and political rhetoric has put a spotlight on the "message" the American public is sending to the White House. The focus is on the wrong changes.

While the practices and the policies that were enacted by since the inauguration of Mr. Obama can be viewed as overreaching and expensive, the decision of the 2010 midterm election cannot be interpenetrated as a desire for a “redo” on behalf of the American people.

It’s like saying that switching mechanics halfway through our car’s repair is the best way to get the car fixed.

To call a more than $700 billion stimulus package decidedly wrong at this stage in our recovery from the 2008 financial meltdown is ludicrous. We simply just don’t know what direction our country is going.

In 2008, Americans made a clear choice that they wanted a change in legislation – a new agenda and a new take on spending. Two years into the Obama Presidency, voters are disappointed with our new policies. Yet to claim that they are failing, or that the American people want them retracted is blatantly irresponsible.

Congress must keep our systems moving forward until local, state and federal governments can create the long-term solutions we need.

Alongside the many safety nets and balancing mechanisms we have in place, our government can adjust to the new economic climate. The Legislative branch has to buy that time.

Through all of this, the one person who should recognize this fact, is Mr. Obama.

Luckily, he did.

As shown by his press conference from the East Room on the Wednesday following the voter beat-down, President Obama understands the vote’s clear message of dissatisfaction with his administration.

Yet, his calculated and business-as-usual demeanor sent an equally clear message of dissatisfaction with a sluggish set of governing systems.

Howard Kurtz released his own dissection of the Presiden’t demeanor, citing that “Obama seemed no more perturbed than if he had lost a family game of gin rummy.”

Ultimately, Mr. Obama must continue to seek out his agenda because he was voted into office on the promise of doing so.

The American voting public, who often dictates the narrative of media pundits and politicians alike, should not have entered the midterm election expecting to vote in a new flavor of politician that would completely retract the President’s agenda.

As a population we must swallow the weight of our vote 2 years ago and look to elect those who will progress our government rather than simply create dissonance. To expect a whole new government is mindless.

The politicians who enter Congress now, will fuel the policies and moving parts of our government that are supposed to last our society for years.

Without a working formula of gas to supply our "country car" with energy, America will stay in the shop for years to come. We must strive for the right formula of politician so we can fix our bigger problems.

After all, it's not the people or the personalities that are the problem in Washington - it is the systems they run that need repair.

This goes way beyond gas.

Meg's Bitersweet "Party"

2010-11-06T23:17:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night our nation voted. That means one thing: media madness. Every one of our nation's news outlets flooded to watch parties, polling places, campaign offices and hotel ballrooms to cover the results. As a journalism student, I had the chance to cover one of these events with the rest of the media, and made a few interesting - and some disturbing - realizations about the media world.

The coverage was complete. There were national news outlets, all the local stations had a team on the media riser, multiple languages could be heard in the ballroom, there were even crews from Northern California. This was the place to be as, win or lose, we were going to see Meg Whitman, the force behind one of the nation's highest profile races in the 2010 midterm election. I was there to cover for Annenberg TV News, which is the school's nightly newscast, and we were instantly secluded to the boonies of the media riser, taking the top-left corner of a media riser set up to absorb more than 50 different outlets. While the media facilities were buzzing with activity all afternoon as reporters did live takes and interviews, it wasn't until 8:30 that a single civilian made it into the ballroom.

This brings me to my first realization. There was nothing going on in this location for three quarters of the time the media was there. Nothing. By the time 8:30 rolled around and our equipment had been set up for over six hours, people started to flood in, full of excitement as returns showed Republicans routing their Democrat challengers. But at a party that was intended as a potential victory lap for a candidate was deflated before a single person walked into the room. At 8:00 conservative megaphone Fox News had already called the race for Whitman's opponent, Governor-Elect Jerry Brown.

Instantly the entire party felt like a gargantuan waste of money. The excess signage, the big-screen TVs the full service bars, the food spreads at the media filing center - it all seemed pointless knowing that Whitman's race would be called before the party started. Nonetheless, the crowd arrived and people were awkwardly excited as California's most expensive gubernatorial campaign had failed, but countless other races were won traditionally by other Republican counterparts. It was weird.

Then came the gem of the night. No, it wasn't meg, but rather a campaign publicist who pulled one of the most peculiar moves I have seen in my media-based adventures. At around 9:30 p.m. as everyone was wondering when Whitman would concede, a press relations secretary told the AP news reporter that her candidate wouldn't concede until 75% of the vote was tallied. That headline was pumped through the AP wire from our ballroom, and soon we saw TV stations reporting the same information on big-screens around the room. Suddenly the campaign staffer emerged again, retracting her statement, eliminating the 75% rule in an effort to quell the media frenzy set off by the statement.

I had seen it, a full media gaffe cycle. From inception to retraction, I had seen the entire thing happen. This was 1) cool and 2) shocking to see in real life. It ultimately summed up what was a night of conjured sensationalism. From the special signage to the overzealous media coverage, to the gaffes of campaign workers, I had seen a complete picture of the way our country has made a spectacle of our own electorate.

Walking away from the party at 11:15 without ever seeing Whitman before our crew went off-air, I couldn't help but view the night as a ridiculous flushing of my time down the toilet. During the election season, we can far too often get swept up in the glitz and glamour of a election. Whitman's awkwardly bittersweet "party" epitomized our vicious election culture.

"It's Complicated": TV tries to date the Internet

2010-10-30T23:51:00.000-07:00

This week, a new product hit electronic store shelves: Google TV. What? A new Google product? It must be perfect. A gem of electrical and computer engineering. The pinnacle, gold standard that will build an industry.

Well, maybe not so much.

Early reviews of the much-hyped Google TV interface have turned out to be not quite as positive as developers had hoped. While the masses can spend hours debating – and millions of dollars innovating – on how to best mash together TV and Internet, the answers to our innovation conundrum lie in the nature of our consumption. Techies and laypeople alike are finding that they simply can’t connect with the mega search engine’s attempt to blend television and the Internet.

Ultimately, the shortcomings of Google TV highlight our own attachment to the mind numbing experience of watching television.

People love television. 99 percent of all households in America have at least one TV and on average, a house will have 2.24 separate televisions, according to Neilsen reporting. This same report shows that an average American will spend 9 years of their life glued to their TV set. We enjoy doing nothing more than staring at a screen to e entertained by its content for a mindless 9 years of our life.

But that is exactly the problem: the task is mindless. The Internet ushered in a new age of access to knowledge and interactive experiences, enriching and evolving our own consumption of information. The new medium was an active experience that required attention and participation in order to get the desired result.

What has happened in today’s technology landscape is an attempt to take an active medium and mash it together with a passive one. Fundamentally, the intersection doesn’t exist. Yet, this does not mean that the two will never share a happy balance of Internet enabled television viewing.

As shown by web based apps like instant streaming from Netflix, Pandora online radio, Hulu and YouTube, it is possible to have a passive Internet experience. Moreover, studies show that people are capable of turning their brain to mush on Facebook and other Websites as they are with television.

Then why can’t we find a way to make people be passive on the Internet via their television?

As shown by Google TV’s lackluster entrance, the main issue has been translating the experience from the computer to the “old-school” small screen.

“By that much more exacting standard, Google TV feels like an incomplete jumble of good ideas only half-realized, an unoptimized box of possibility that suffers under the weight of its own ambition” said Nilay Patel of Engaget.com.

Every aspect of the Internet has to be dumbed-down to the mindless nature of the Television. At the core of that process is finding a way to control the Internet in the same way one can control myriad different choices of content for the TV.

Ultimately, the innovation isn’t executed in current TV-based Internet devices. The problem is two-fold. First, the devices are physically underdeveloped. Manufacturers have to meet consumers halfway with the device they use to replace a mouse and keyboard. Expecting TV viewers to want to type with both hands in their lap on a conventional keyboard is like trying to vacuum with your hands. It’s extra work for something that you can easily just get done with a remote control. People are lazy at their televisions and at most, they want their controls to be at their thumbs.

“Because this thing is a computer, you have to use a separate remote,” explained Gizmodo.com. “With apps arriving in 2011, Google TV feels like a maid service that won't clean your bathroom.”

As referenced by Gizmodo, software needs to become streamlined and efficient as well. Staying with the laziness motif, the key to providing so much more information and accessibility to a task that used to be simply channel based means that software must make the web as easy as surfing channels. This will come in time, as its only now that a leading platform for such software to build off of has been introduced in Google TV.

The popularity and success of TV on the Internet clearly calls for merging of the two on the television. However, the reverse application has yet to work because manufacturers have neglected consumers’ personal neglect while they watch TV.

Ironically, technology now calls for a digression of complexity – needing to simplify in order to provide a more complex technology on our old favorite medium.

Welcome, Wilkomen, Bienvenue, Shalom, Gutentag, Hola, etc. from Barack et. al.

2010-10-23T21:46:00.000-07:00

At USC, we line up for two things and two things only: a football game and the President. Starting at 3:30 a.m. this past Friday morning, a select few USC students lined up early to catch a glimpse of our country’s President. Barack Obama however, waited a few hours before arriving at approximately 1:00 p.m. PST, as two choppers carried the President from LAX to the coliseum. An hour later, he spoke in front of thousands outside USC’s central Library.

But before he said a word, he had said quite a bit to supporters about the state of his party. He could not have done worse than every other speaker who graced the stage before him. Mr. Obama made the trek to Los Angeles in order to offer support for Senator Barbara Boxer, and Boxer and democrats alike, in their infinite wisdom, chose an "all-star line-up" of speakers to fill the event. The group almost too perfectly represented a melting pot of personalities, seemingly targeting every possible stereotype of a democrat voter. Put simply, it was a painful experience to watch.

Setting the tone early was Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, who was over-excited, too pushy and pain-stakingly long in his comments. As someone who has gotten the chance to cover the Mayor, I found it to be a missed opportunity to showcase some campaigning and public speaking skills. This event was about excitement yes, but not about manic motivation. Far too often these days do politics turn to this maniacal emotional state, and when the wrong attitude is behind it, this behavior can have terrible civil consequences.

Next up were some quaint but ultimately meaningless appearances as a USC student leader gave a short and well written speech, a local rabbi spoke and another state leader gave short comments about the day’s significance. The student was a small Asian American woman, the Rabbi who was a middle-aged white woman, and the State politician was a large Hispanic man. The pieces of a profile seemed to be falling together.

This was followed by a visit from State Attorney General candidate Kamala Harris, who spoke with dignity and gusto, as her desired position requires. I found her to be a bright spot in a rather meteorically average line-up Friday afternoon. The bright spot faded quickly though, as Harris gave way to Jamie Foxx and other assorted famous company.

Rap group Ozmatali played for 20 minutes alongside the USC Band, a clear time filler as we waited for the heavy hitters. Obama was running late.

The man who currently holds the Harris’ desired Attorney General position, Jerry Brown, is now a Gubernatorial candidate against ex-ebay head Meg Whitman. Foxx, after getting the go ahead for ceremonies to continue, introduced Jerry Brown who spoke for no more than a few priceless seconds, which was disappointing as his race is also extremely close right now.

After Mr. Brown, Ms. Boxer appeared, giving what was one of her best speeches I’ve heard, but was rushed as well, as the President was behind schedule. The two big time politicans to preceed the president wound up not getting to give their most complete appearance because of the President’s overarching importance. It was a disappointingly apparent that a rally that if it were not for the media, would have been palpably off base.

Before the president had even spoken a word, it was clear what message he was sending.

As shown by the very transparent intention behind the day’s line-up, this rally was for a target audience who was not in attendance. There was a clear emphasis on the female and Hispanic vote, as well as on Jewish voters and young voters. Of all those groups, one makes perfect sense, but others simply don’t fit the USC community build.

No, I should not assume that this rally was only meant for us at the host school. But it was an interesting and partially disturbing experience to feel as if my leadership was publicly profiling me to my face. Possibly, this is a realization that all people must go through with politics, but my naïveté definitely got the best of me this time.

That being said, it was quite a sight to see the president in the flesh, adorned with all the extra chaos that comes with this individual. However, I believe the event was summed up best by our society’s newest form of mass gathering, twitter:

@MackJimmy 10/22 15:11 – “Saw Obama...but I'm really glad I didn't wait more than an hour. I think people forget that he, too, is just a person.”

The (Journalists') Limbo Rock

2010-10-16T17:40:00.000-07:00

Technology supplies the overwhelming majority of its target consumers with tangibly better standards of living. Problems from everyday life are mitigated, there is more time for focused employment, efficiency rises and people become more productive. Technology makes us better – it advances our civilizations.

Or does it?

Turn on the news, pick up a newspaper, go to the movies, grab a magazine, or head to your favorite news Website, and you will feel a tangible angst about the future of news. Newspapers are going bankrupt, television newsrooms are downsizing and journalism schools are now forced to teach convergence and one-man-band journalism out in the field. Government subsidies for media outlets and revenue from government postings in papers have been lost to the accessibility and ease of the Internet. Most notably, the loss of advertising revenue and the disintegration of the classifieds business have left papers scrounging for every last penny. Technology – the Internet – has completely dismantled one of our major industries.

Technology has pitched a rare curveball at the world recently, and it is taking some time for us to figure it out. The media industry has been in severe turmoil with the introduction of the Internet. While some say that the Internet has improved accessibility to information, expanded multimedia options and connected people in previously unimaginable ways, I contend it has been a hindrance to culture.

As our tools for communication have advanced alongside technology, the availability of information has risen. The new tool of any given era – be it paper, type-set printing, printing presses, radios, televisions or even the Internet – forces the industries dependent on information delivery systems to innovate. Historically, this has led to the creation of a ubiquitous interface (the written decree, the newspaper/magazine, the live network news) that raises the professional standard for content generating sources, enabling professionals to fully utilize the new tools at their disposal. At every face-off between a new age of information accessibility and the never-say-die institutions of the past, this new form of delivery has risen out of the social necessity for the highest level of reporting. The Internet has posed such a transformation to the information delivery systems by making information effortlessly accessible.

Where global ingenuity falters to date, is in its ability to provide the new industry standard needed to regain profitability and maintain its role as a check and balance of power. There is currently no effective organization of the abyss of information accessible on the net. From music to news, a “Pandora’s Box” of content sharing and interpersonal communication has leapt into the world, leaving the information landscape chaotic and inefficient. To put newspapers online alongside underdeveloped and unregulated bloggers is not the innovation of the newspaper industry, it is merely a poor translation of printed material to a digital interface. The media industries must provide consumers with a new user interface that harnesses the unique advantages presented by the web: real-time data analysis, customizable multimedia, tactile manipulation and social interaction. Facing an infrastructural collapse due to changes in information delivery, the news and media industry must find an innovative application of modern technologies in order to generate profit from their trained professionals and serve their societal functions.

“In Limbo:” Finding Industry Standards

At face value, it is perfectly fair to blame the recent failure of the news media industry on the introduction of the Internet. However, by broadening the scope of analysis, past technological revolutions have shown that the news and media industry goes into a stage of confusion, let’s call this stage “in limbo.” For a period of time ranging anywhere from 20 years to 50+ years, old organizational structures built in the news industry search for ways to completely utilize the new. Currently, we are “in limbo.” Our culture is yet to find the best way to utilize the Internet, and by examining the limbo stages of the past, the future of media and journalism can be found.

In 15^th century Europe, a major shift in information gathering changed the way civilization gathered stories and knowledge forever. Johannes Gutenberg introduced his first printing press in 1441, sending shockwaves throughout the affluent European community. The Gutenberg press slashed the cost of printing books by eliminating complex carving and pressing. This vastly increased the availability of books and newspapers, with millions of volumes available in a variety of countries by 1500. In the preface of her book on the printing press and its effects, Elizabeth L. Einstein sheds light on the importance of the invention:

As an agent of change, printing altered methods of data collection, storage and retrieval systems and communication networks used by learned communities throughout Europe.

The printing press was to 1400s Europeans what the Internet is for 21^st century Americans – and now with the global spread of technology, 21^st century world citizens as well. However, the transition to the printing press was not entirely smooth. Stephan Fussels in his examination of Gutenberg’s impact on publishing offered this observation:

In fact, it took about 30 years until the new medium had developed a book of its own character, with respect to that, for example, it opened to a title page, its pages were numbered, and it contained the new texts of the Humanists and new editions of the classical authors. Through the invention of Gutenberg it had become possible to circulate knowledge in books of large editions that were even of a similar beauty as the manuscripts of the finest scriptoria.

Put simply, for three decades after the invention of the printing press the world could not figure out exactly what to do with the machine. The new medium needed time to recognize the significant features that were made possible by Gutenberg’s invention. The functionality of the content needed to change with the introduction of new features to reading.

While there has not been another invention of the Gutenberg press’ magnitude since the advent of the Internet, similar examples can be drawn from other innovations in media technology. Radio technology began taking form in the mid-late 1800s, with the first accepted patent of radio transmission equipment coming just before the turn of the century. Approximately two decades later, the first AM radio station started broadcasting, but it was not for another 10 years that regular radio programming arrived. Television broadcasting took a similar path as radio technology, with the first cathode-ray images being broadcasted around the turn of the century. Despite the early experimentation and proof-of-concept technology, it would be another half-century before major news outlets broadcast modern-style programming. Both of these informational innovations experienced a multi-decade-long “limbo” stage where the true functionality of the medium was not yet realized.

Presently, only one media-based industry has seen a completely Internet-induced revolution through to a new industry standard. The music industry was confronted with a basic infrastructural collapse with the introduction of digital media. In 1989, German engineers filed a patent for MP3 technology, allowing users to download songs over the Internet. By giving users the ability to distribute their media over already existing peer-to-peer networks (P2P), music began to rapidly lose profits from album sales as more and more individuals began to get their music online. The most popular of these P2P content-sharing networks is arguably Napster, which was created by Shawn Fanning in 1999. As the popularity of Napster and P2P sharing rose, record sales continued to fall. As owners of musical copyrights began to sue Napster and peripheral device makers waivered on a standard storage system, Apple Computer Inc. announced its iTunes Store in 2003. Coupled with its highly popular hard drive-based iPod, Apple was able to create a ubiquitous and vertically integrated user interface (iPod, iTunes and the iTunes Store), coupling it with a payment model that allowed users to only pay for what they wanted. The Internet had opened up the possibility of on-demand, downloadable content alongside micro-customization as individual users chose exactly what content they desired. By 2006, just 17 years after the introduction of downloadable music, Apple had announced their control of 88% of the downloaded music market share. They had found the new industry standard that record labels needed to stay profitable and escape technological “limbo.”

Future Solutions:

If the answer to “limbo stage” woes has been proven to be a ubiquitous user interface that fundamentally enhances the previous user experience, then what would such an interface look like? What I propose is a completely new, built from scratch, user interface for news delivery based off a micro-payment, multimedia content hub that vertically integrates the news media industry. This would be an individual's complete aggregation of any and all content where the content would interact in an optimized dialogue in order to make a more meaningful news gathering experience. News media ultimately needs a new media conglomerate to do what the Apple music line has done for the music industry.

First, “news” as it has come to be understood must be re-defined as encompassing both traditional news (what you would read in the newspaper or see on TV) as well as social news. What peoples' friends are interacting with - whether it is pictures, articles, events, wall posts, status updates or products - is news to each other’s friends. The goal is to make social news and stereotypical, hard news enrich the learning experience gained from the other.

Here's how it works. Users begin with a set-up process in which they do a one-time login to all of their different networks. After logging into their facebook, twitter, myspace, myTimes, stumbleupon, address book, etc., the software remembers all of their log in information, billing info, friends, posts, and preferences, placing them under a singular account. This initial setup builds a foundation of content for the software to learn from, leading them to their new-age news digest.

This home screen of news will be assembled based off a balance between users' self-highlighted interests and top news feeds from leading partners in the journalistic community (The AP, NYT, LAT, NYPost, Wash. Post, CNN, etc...). From their home screen, users can choose to highlight an entire news organization, cover featured topics or select individual content, focus on a topic (see engadget’s "hubs"), look only at a certain medium, or hone in on managing their social networks. Any way the user dictates the organization of the media to be, the software is capable of interacting with the user through its customizable features. Bottom line: make the space the user’s personal newsroom – a micro-niche news bureau that provides them what they want when they want it.

To better envision this scenario, picture that content will be embodied in “tiles.” As one clicks on a "tile" from a screen full of different options, a new screen would appear from behind the selected “tile.” The new workspace would center on the initially selected “tile” with a subsequent new set of supporting “tiles” all around. These supporting “tiles” would compile the print versions of a story, the raw copy, the breaking news TV broadcast, the feature length CNN package with a more in-depth look at a certain story, your friend's posts related to the topic, any highly-rated blog posts about the topic, even the CSPAN coverage of a senate hearing regarding the story in order to create a complete picture of a story.

By combining major news outlets' material with the material of your friends and trusted opinions, the “tile” system provides a much richer experience. Thus, the "tile" system introduces a new level of communal interaction with news. There would be no separation between the way in which you share your news with your friends and the way you get your news. "Tiles" are the tactile foundation of this interface and help the user judge the importance of a piece of content. They can change size and shape and are completely interactive with each other. Other such ideas have begun to pop up around the media community. The first of these to appear in the news industry is represented in applications like the “Times Skimmer” and “Times Reader 2.0.” Amongst peripheral hardware devices, such “tile-like” designs can be seen in devices like the Palm Pre/Pixi/PrePlus through Palm’s new WebOS, which uses “cards” to separate running apps on a Smartphone. Lastly, through the popular Ted series, concept technology has shown incredible possibilities in “tile-style” interaction with “siftables,” which are small computers that are capable of interacting independently of a mainframe computer or software using built-in sensors. When combined, these examples show the possibility of such a “tile” based interface being successful in a news delivery system.

Ultimately, the software winds up acting as a real-time, personalized search optimization tool. By knowing what your likes and dislikes are, your viewing history, your friends viewing history and the trends of the online community, the software would be able to provide the most complete look at content relevant to its user. Additionally, it allows for news bureaus to learn in real-time what news is being deemed important by its readership while still allowing for the continuation of citizen journalism and blogs. The aim is to maintain people's newfound infatuation with the average citizen covering the news while re-introducing professionalism and profit into the mainstream through a regulated and ubiquitous payment system.

When Apple introduced iTunes, it allowed for people to buy only the songs they wanted, taking a industry struggling to find a way to make people pay for their content into a whole new phase of promotions and success. This newly proposed system of content delivery aims to accomplish the same concept: pay for what you want to read that costs money to produce, get for free what authors decide does not.

As one begins to access professionally generated content they would have to pay pennies for each click on an exclusive "tile." Distributors would select prices for their tiles based off their own variables. As a user moves through they are simply prompted to pay the $.04-.07 (as an example) price for the article, video or song they want to hear. Certain sections may remain free - say, major genres or headlines - but truly rich content would cost a price. By the time a user has completed reading (say an average reader skims various topic areas for headlines and actually reads an average of 6-12 stories) they have paid anywhere from $.25-1.00 for their newspaper. Subscriptions and unlimited access passes for more consistent readers could be made available, but the point of the micro-payment system is customization. You pay for what you read/consume – nothing more, nothing less.

"Tiles" could also be devoted to advertising, combining the wealth of information that a user's history and interests with associated new content. This addition of untapped information would allow for increased advertising efficiency and return. Other news agencies could also advertise their own content next to "tiles" of related content, promoting hyper-local outlets or location-based news services that are related to content being read. Each of these opportunities would all be charged to the advertiser at reasonable, but profitable rates while the user continues to pay what they believe to be a fair price.

This system allows for a single outlet to combine user's personal information with the colossus of news and information being offered currently. If executed correctly, this system could organize the maelstrom of news devices available in the same way that a search engine collaborates all of the web’s information. This idea would embody a personalized, real-time search engine optimization of data, enabling an interactive experience that transcends current information delivery systems (newspaper, web-sites, blogs, etc.). The countless developments and unsuccessful attempts to bring customization to the major news websites all have proven to fail because they don't allow for people to truly interact with their news community. Therefore, by combining the "tile" system's potential for interactivity with user’s interests, their instincts and the myriad data available to enhance their news, this new system would finally maximize the fundamental abilities of the Internet.

Conclusion:

The media industry has plenty of exterior functions, many of which are essential to the success of our culture, but the company’s who inhabit this industry are all businesses. They must at least generate revenue to support their operations and if lucky, will generate profit. For several long stretches of history, media had the freedom to only focus on their product and not worry about their distribution methods, creating a community of individuals who were great generators of product: TV shows, news stories, magazine articles, pictures, etc. However, today’s challenges are different from the routines of yesterday’s golden ages. Media has been left with no choice other than to find creative ways to get users to pay for their participation. As long as the information remains freely accessible, with paid versions failing to truthfully change the consumption experience, viewers will refuse to pay for the service. However, if the industry innovates how the content is distributed by enhancing all aspects of a viewer’s interaction with their information, revenue generation will no longer be an issue.

Works Cited:
"Apple Launches the ITunes Music Store." Apple. 28 Apr. 2003. Web. 17 Oct. 2010.

Bellis, Mary. "History of MP3." Inventors. Web. 16 Oct. 2010. .

Bellis, Mary. "Television History." Inventors. Web. 16 Oct. 2010. .

Bellis, Mary. "The History of Radio." Inventors. Web. 16 Oct. 2010. .

Eisenstein, Elizabeth L. The Printing Press as an Agent of Change: Communications and Cultural Transformations in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge [Eng.: Cambridge UP, 1979. Print.

Stephan Fussel. (2001). Gutenberg and today's media change. Publishing Research Quarterly, 16(4), 3-10. Retrieved October 16, 2010, from Humanities Module. (Document ID: 71045936).

"ITunes Store Tops Two Billion Songs." Apple. Web. 16 Oct. 2010. .

Lisa Jardine. (1999, October). The future began in 1455. The Spectator, 283(8932), 42. Retrieved October 16, 2010, from Research Library Core. (Document ID: 45968869).Mather, Kate. "Annenberg Changes the Names of Two Journalism Degrees | Daily Trojan." Daily Trojan | University of Southern California. 22 June 2010. Web. 17 Oct. 2010. .

McIntyre, Douglas A. "The Ten Major Newspapers That Will Fold Or Go Digital Next - 24/7 Wall St." 24/7 Wall St. - Insightful Analysis and Commentary for U.S. and Global Equity Investors. 9 Mar. 2009. Web. 16 Oct. 2010. .

Eisenhower's Globalization

2010-10-02T23:24:00.001-07:00

“U.S. to Issue Travel Warning” reads the number one piece of news at TheDailyBeast.com. One of the world’s top rated new websites, a news aggregator of information from sources around the world, has rated this story as the number one piece of news that Americans should be reading. It’s the first week of October 2010 and Americans are being discouraged to enter Western Europe because of “Mumbai-style attacks” that are poised to stream into the region.

“Be afraid, very afraid. Billary sez so.” – chiefbigknife

This can’t be serious. The first comment, the first guy to have the balls to write something under this post on a New York Times top 50 website, on a website headed up by the woman who brought The New Yorker back from the grave, on a website where content from the most prestigious of places is aggregated with pride, a man chooses to mock the warning of the united states government all for a poorly landed joke.

Obvious point #1: it’s a free country people can post what they want in the comments section of a well traveled website.

Obvious point #2: Just because one moron thinks he’s funnier than the rest, doesn’t mean we have a country full of morons.

Then why bother with this comment? Unfortunately, I believe this verbal dismissal of our administration reflects an attitude that has struck a significant portion of the nation in a most dangerous way. I cannot help but notice that while certain individuals in our country not only take the wonderfully arrogant stance of mocking our leadership as a dismissal of a viable terror threat, some also look at the international community as a joke. Because a few of us hold so dearly their complete ignorance towards global conflict, our country as a whole is yet to embrace the effects of globalization.

Open your passport and turn to pages 18 and 19. (This only applies to those who have a new passport with a RFID chip in it, you can tell by the little square logo printed on the front cover underneath “United States of America”) there you will find a quote from Ike himself:

Whatever America hopes to bring to pass in the world must first come to pass in the heart of America. - President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Let's take "the heart of America" for its literal translation. Travel to Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Miami, New Orleans or any major coastal city of our nation and you will find people who are American international citizens. These international citizens participate in the international community in a variety of ways. They travel the globe, urge to understand different cultures, create business that mare multinational, learn different languages, accept different customs, dare I say they care about the safety threats of other countries. This is not to say that Americans from the Midwest, or the Rockies or the "Bible Belt" are not capable of being internationally aware citizens, but I argue that not all of America, much like our friend "ChiefBigKinfe," has accepted the American doctrine of international compassion in their heart. It may have scratched the edges of their hearts; it may be a nice idea to some. But at the core of our compatriots hearts - and therefore in the heart of America - globalization has not come to pass.

Americans confronted this discrepancy between progressive internationals and American stalwarts during the 2008 election when then Vice Presidential candidate sarah Palin began discriminating between "real America" and the rest of the country. A media backlash instantly swept across the country, calling out Palin for calling urban, upper-middle class Americans being something other than American.

Ultimately, I envision that being American will eventually mean to care abut the state of the international community. As of now, our economy, energy, politics, and safety all rely in some way shape or form on the abilities of other nations. We are each directly affected by the actions of other nations, whether or not we solicit their interaction. While nearly every aspect of our lives has become internationally intertwined, the only part that every American cannot come to terms with is sharing human interests with the people who are just as intertwined with us as we are them.

Monotheistic religion strives for harmony by having a world of people who work together. Whether in conflict or in contract, we have created systems that allow for every person to interact with each other. Despite this infrastructural globalization, America is yet to reach Eisenhower's level of global cooperation - the concept of working together has not passed through the heart of America. We are not ready to take the goals and aspirations of other nations and treat them as our own. Should it come to pass in the hearts of each nation, maybe then we will have the harmony that has been reserved for religious futures, one that enables a global community, working to improve life for all.

Put simply, were just not all ready to be international citizens yet.

A Lobster Reccomendation

2010-09-18T22:30:00.000-07:00

A great blog post that all should check out for a healthy doese of perspective on blogging and fate.
http://thisgoesagainsteverythingistandfor.blogspot.com/

Distraction vs. Reminder [Update 9/19: Breaking News]

2010-09-18T22:04:00.000-07:00

UPDATE 9/19 8:30 AM: Authorities in Palmdale, Calif. are searching for a missing religious group that they believe could be involved in a possible mass suicide plot, according to The Los Angeles Times. As referenced earlier, religious mass suicides represent the pinnacle of religious pain infliction in the name of salvation. Just another example of the battle between "Distraction vs. Reminder."

Today marks the holiest of holy days for Jews around the world. Millions of people have participated in a unique ritual that began last night and ended at sundown today. Yom Kippur, translated to the apocalyptic English of "day of atonement," consists of a daylong mass fast in which all Jews remember the assorted wrongdoings they committed against the world in the past year. It's a thousands-of-years-old-tradition that I, coming from the world's most lax sect of Judaism, loathe because of the 24 hours of food-less misery it puts me through. Despite my physical brattyness, I agree with the message of the holiday; its good to take some time and think about the effect I have on the world. But the question isn't about reflection; it’s about the pain.

Does inflicting physical pain in the name of social action force people to find clarity or forgiveness?

Does the pain serve as a distraction from the motivation for mutilation, or does it serve as a constant reminder of purpose?

Gandhi, renowned for his hunger strikes as he lobbied for political freedom in 1920's India, once said, "a complete fast is a complete and literal denial of self. It is the truest prayer" (Dalton). Huh? Could the purging of food, the infliction of pain and the degradation of the body be the truest way to thank a creator? Would you slice a hole once a year in the Mona Lisa, turn to the heavens and say: "Thanks DaVinci!" Would I ever want children of mine to harm themselves in my name? Of course not. So what am I missing here?

As I spent the day dreaming of Chinese food and Twinkies, I couldn't help but acknowledge that my hunger was a distraction. Focusing on my hunger only made me hungrier, and if I was ever left with nothing to think about, my mind immediately wandered to my hunger. My uncle, a reconstructionist Rabbi in Philadelphia, Penn. offered this explanation for the fast:

We fast because we believe that our hunger provides us with a lens into the hurt that we have caused in other’s lives. It is a reminder of the effect that we can have on others, and so we fast as a part of a larger process of forgiveness.

This isn’t changing the fact that I am still very much distracted by my hunger. My mind doesn’t wish to connect my stomach pain with a metaphorical connection to my actions throughout the year. Hearing this explanation for the fast on more than one occasion throughout the afternoon, proved to be little consolation for my hunger. If that is the case, then does this fast wind up being a metaphor for my insolence? Am I this incapable of realizing my impact on the world?

No, I am simply hungry. Yes, there are people starving in the world and the fast was a stark reminder that much of the world goes for far greater stretches of time without food on a regular basis. It’s a terrible aspect of global civilization that should be remedied, but I am allowed to be hungry. I digress, and admit, I do find meaning in the fast. Where Yom Kippur does have an impact on my thought process is in its uniqueness. There is no other day that I partake in an activity like this. Ultimately, the fast is 100 percent tolerable and doesn’t threaten my health. Jewish tradition even forbids my participation should it be unhealthy. Therefore, I do remember my impact on the world, because I spend this day speaking of my impact in a synagogue or even just at home. And that time is galvanized into my memory because I am in discomfort.

But that explanation (one I enjoy) does not explain the extreme cases humanity has encountered with social action driven pain infliction. Instances like the cult suicide of more than 190 people in Jamestown in the 1980s and assorted other cult suicides show an ultimate commitment to pain infliction in the name of salvation. In these cases I believe that participants are simply expanding a version of my own explanation into oblivion. Could it be that their sacrifice is believed to be the culmination of their prayer for forgiveness? Gratitude? Knowing their true motivations is impossible for obvious reasons, but doesn’t it just seem like the ultimate distraction to end your ability to perceive your purpose by ending your cognitive functionality?

Food (no pun intended) for thought.

A Necessary Evil

2010-09-11T16:41:00.000-07:00

Give five dollars to your local church. Donate a car to someone in need. Send a check to a school in any third world country. Try to “change the world.” Yet, doing any one of these small deeds can still leave a donor feeling a tremendous lack of effectiveness, an inescapable feeling of uselessness, wasting time and money. Voice this concern however, and the instantaneous rebuke is that the small charity is a part of a chain. The smallest actions result in a chain of good that ultimately makes life better for those affected by the gesture. The mere presence of charitable acts, is a world of difference all together. Charity makes our civilizations more advanced, more affluent and more successful simply by its presence.

The public intellectual, as defined in Stephen Mack’s post “The ‘Decline’ of the Public Intellectual,” serves this same purpose. While it is not charity, and it does not serve the same connotations, the function it has is the same.

Trained to it or not, all participants in self-government are duty-bound to prod, poke, and pester the powerful institutions that would shape their lives. And so if public intellectuals have any role to play in a democracy—and they do—it’s simply to keep the pot boiling. The measure of public intellectual work is not whether the people are listening, but whether they’re hearing things worth talking about.

By being the source of societal commentary, public intellectuals serve their purpose merely by their existence. Moreover, while they may not reform society, each is a vital link in a chain of academics who will facilitate the initial discussion around any topic, no matter the negativity required.

Evidence of the chain that connects the efforts of all public intellectuals comes from media critic Lawrence Lessig. While a simple example of what happens to all public intellectuals over the course of time, Lessig has hung up his own criticism blog at Lessig.org. A blog known for long criticism and insightful looks into litigation, literature and business of media, Lessig.org is losing its only contributor due to, well, life. Citing the arrival of another child and his increasing professional responsibilities, Lessig.org’s piece of the Lawrence Lessig public intellectual brand is lost.

While Lessig will continue to flex his influence in the media world as a public intellectual, the closing of the Lessig.org blog reminds us that the role of this community is to be present in any media, and any changes that come to society aren’t as important as the presence of the criticism. Like charity, public intellectuals make our make our civilizations more advanced, more affluent and more successful simply by their presence. It is a necessary source of criticism, and some would go as far to call it “a necessary evil.”

We're Back...

2010-08-31T13:05:00.000-07:00

That's right all of you used-to-be-loyal-readers of the Lobster, we're back with a newfound fervor. The blog will have weekly posts, spanning a variety of topics - all posts are guaranteed to be exciting reading!

----NEW TO VERSION 2.0----

- better grammar
- consistent updates
- a new theme (coming soon)
- a real domain name (coming soon)

Keep Reading,

The Lobster Staff

Why Cowards Kill

2009-03-06T13:09:00.000-08:00

High School opened my eyes to many things. But there were a select few topics that were “taboo” – topics that a teacher would dance around, be careful about, or simply disregard because they did not have the current education or breadth of knowledge to address all sides.

Darfur was one of those topics.

Oddly enough, my first exposure to the atrocities occurring in Sudan came from a T-Shirt. Student advocacy groups sold these T-shirts depicting a (supposedly Sudanese) individual crying out in tears and holding his hand up in defiance. Next to this picture were the emboldened words: “Stop the Genocide in Darfur.” As the groups sold more shirts, and the fad became more popular, it seemed as if our entire student body was in support of ending genocide in Darfur. However, simple T-Shirts sold under the pretense of “it’s money towards a good cause” reflected a lack of education on the subject. Even for my own sake, the T-shirts were the first exposure I had to the event and concrete education came only after a full spectrum of experiences. Something was wrong with this picture.

I went to rallies, attended youth group programs on Darfur, and eventually capped off basic education with a class my senior year surrounding US Foreign Policy, with time set aside to specifically focus on Darfur. The main lessons I took away were that (1) there is no debate around what is occurring in the region – the Sudanese government is fostering genocide – and (2) that the majority of the world is vastly undereducated on what is occurring in the region. We all accept that genocide reflects the worst of our species’ capabilities and if we label a situation under genocide, then it should end. What is uncanny about the situation is that if our society affirms that such atrocities as the holocaust will “never again” occur, why haven’t we stepped in and taken a role?

Unfortunately, it would take any commentator thousands of words to envelope the entire Darfurian circumstance into one piece, but there are some new developments out this week that reflect the intrinsic complexities of the situation. This Wednesday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. The problem with this announcement and the ICC on a whole is that their lack of a policing force makes the warrant issued nothing more than an amplified “tisk-tisk” aimed at Sudan.

In my eyes this is depressing in more ways than one. For starters, the Sudanese Head-of-State will continue to operate in his country while murdering hundreds of thousands. Additionally, this means continued suffering for the 2.8 million refugees displaced by the genocide. Most prominently, this action affirms our world’s cowardly ways.

According to an excellently written Economist article, there are 108 countries that singed the Rome treaty, which then established the ICC. Therefore, it is on those countries to pursue the will of the ICC. Sudan did not sign the Rome treaty. Oddly enough, the United States also did not sign the treaty, but they have taken the bold step of – openly supporting the ICC’s arrest warrant. Lackluster and seemingly insignificant, the rest of the world – whether they signed the Rome treaty or not – seems to be following this trend of inaction.

This is a cowardly and irresponsible move by the nations of the world on a humanitarian ground. However, Economically and politically it makes sense. In this case, there is an opportunity cost to saving lives. Not only does it mean a complete regime change in Sudan, entailing committing peace-keeping and invasion forces, but it also entails a hit to the world’s economy.

Sudan happens to be one of China’s main oil suppliers. In response to the warrant, Sudan has deemed the action as a western ploy to demolish their oil industry, a tactic that if true, would only send the global economy into worse downfall. As shown by Wednesday’s near 150-point rise in the DJIA on the hopes that China would pass a stimulus bill of their own, the country’s effect on global economic standing is profound. This, combined with a lack of national interest to intervene with the Sudanese government, leads to inaction against genocide.

This is a fact that we must work to reverse. Regardless of the economic or political cost, genocide is an unprecedented level of human immorality that as a species we cannot simply accept. If the entire global community acknowledges it is wrong and nobody stands up to do something about it, then we embody the definition of cowardly. Yet being a coward in this situation brings about something worse than the label - it kills hundreds of thousands of innocent refugees.

-Robbie Heeger

"Spanking" A Nation

2009-03-04T13:19:00.000-08:00

The days of Sir and Ma’am are long gone.

Mr. and Mrs. in the rear-view mirror.

Even “Please” and “Thank you” are frighteningly beginning to go out of style.

At what point in time did it become appropriate or even socially acceptable for these elderly salutations/niceties to be dropped and replaced by comparatively condescending, and disrespectful first names. I am thoroughly aware this is not a travesty by any means. My contention with this seemingly meaningless culture shift however, is what it more largely symbolizes. As we enter into the technology era it seems as though, with the overly conservative greetings, other courtesies and means of politeness have also been wrongly kicked to the curb.

Having the potential to be the most hypocritical piece I will ever write, today I am addressing the failure of the baby boomer generation in raising a responsible, respectful, and appreciative American youth. As in any case, one side is never completely at fault for an issue, and in this particular case that rule holds true. Coupled with “feel-good, politically correct” parenting, a lack of accountability on part of American teenagers has lead to what I deem to be among the United States top issues (a bold statement considering the mounting concerns already facing newly elected President Obama).

Humanitarian and Founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, recently gave a speech at a High School addressing the effects of how kids are being raised in today’s world. He discussed the hardships that teenagers will face as they enter into the real world, lacking some central lessons that seem to no longer be taught. Below are the morals that he believes are being under-supplied.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!  

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about  yourself.  

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.  

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.  

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.  

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine  about your mistakes, learn from them.  

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they  are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's  generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.  

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.  

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs. 

And my personal favorite, 

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

At the root of all these issues a main theme can be rather easily diagnosed, one I have personally witnessed and - at times - fallen victim to: a strong sense of self-entitlement. The icon of today’s society, a cell phone, will serve as the means through which I can hammer in my point. I ask this:

When did it become commonplace for kids to own the same expensive smart-phones that their parents do? When did free phones become the ones that are undesirable? When did it become socially acceptable to constantly be texting or checking e-mail during a conversation? When did it become necessary to be in touch with your friends and family at every hour of the day?

The rhetorical answer to the questions above is simply and unquestionably: recently. If I, a member of this spoiled and poorly raised youth, am aware of the implications of the direction our society is heading, I wouldn’t even want to know what my 85 year old grandfather thinks of us.

Aside from an increase in their voter participation (a certain positive), America’s youth is on a slippery slope and more than ever in need of a metaphorical “spanking.” Lessons that have been taught to children for centuries have somehow fallen by the way side. Parents are doing their kids and this country an incredible disservice by not teaching our nation’s future their “pleases and thank you’s,” by not instilling within them boundaries, and most importantly by not telling them “no” every once in a while.

Parents need to take an immediate stand and renew the teaching of what was once known as a common upbringing. No favor is being bestowed upon my generation by being given everything we should have to work for in life.

Save us!

-Ricky Frias

America's Manliest Sport Gets A Little Less Manly...

2009-03-02T12:09:00.000-08:00

I don’t even think Perez Hilton, his royal-gossip-highness himself, could keep track of the young NFL off-season.

We’re only a month removed from Super Bowl XLIII, three days from the start of free agency, and already the NFL feels more like a soap opera than a sports organization.

There’s a reason people keep themselves busy during the afternoon.

Jay Cutler has broken off communication with the Broncos after rumors surfaced that they had cheated on him with Patriots gun slinger Matt Cassell, who has since publically announced his relationship with the Kansas City Chiefs, who parted ways with longtime off-and-on sweetheart Donnie Edwards, who in between flings with the Chiefs got cozy with the San Diego Chargers, who have been trying to work things out with LaDanian Tomlinson, who used to make my head spin with his plethora of jukes on the field but now makes my head spin from his drama off the field.

And did you hear about the Bucs releasing franchise legends Derrick Brooks and Warrick Dunn? Ugh, they were so cute together!

And it looks like Ray Lewis might be back on the market, ladies!

So much drama! I’d be a hypocrite if I said I didn’t like gossip (Isn’t it everyone’s guilty pleasure?), but this is getting out of hand.

Yet not everyone is trying to work it out with old flames. Spring must be near! New love is most definitely in the air . . . Well, either that or the taboo r-word has forced a lot of penny-pinching owners to cut ties with their priciest players.
And I thought a girlfriend was expensive?

The Redskins inked Pro Bowl DT Albert Haynesworth to a seven year, $100 million contract, presumably because of how he performs in the sack!

As mentioned earlier, the Kansas City Chiefs, looking for a new signal caller with some experience but not too much experience, shipped a second round pick to New England for LB Mike Vrabel and the highly coveted Matt Cassel. Hope they don’t mind his high-maintenance franchise tag, which guarantees the young QB at least 14.65 million bucks!

Veteran linebacker Keith Brooking, fresh off being dumped by the Falcons after spending his entire football career in the Peach state, found love again in Dallas. The Cowboys, upon finding instant chemistry with Brooking, have apparently decided to work out the money situation later.

And of course the Bucs picked up bad boy Kellen Winslow. Being a childhood Tampa Bay fan, I can only relate my disappointment here to the time I found out my kiddie crush in Pam Anderson, who I watched religiously on Baywatch, was seeing Kid Rock. You never really recover from something like that.

And the new batch of freshmen for every team to prey on hasn’t even arrived yet! A yi yi. Until then, I’m going to have all kinds of fits sorting out the rest of the free agency period. This season can’t begin any sooner.

With Love,

-Ryan Waring

Too Much Negative News or are Things Really This Bad?

2009-02-27T13:08:00.000-08:00

I have a challenge for you. Go on any major news organization’s website. Be it the Wall Street Journal Online, The New York Times, BBC, or CNN – I challenge you to find me a positive story surrounding the economy.

It is not as easy as it seems, or at least as you think it should be.

Right now the Dow Jones Industrial Average is hovering just over 7,000 points, reaching new lows for the millennium with each day it falls. Announced just today, national GDP has fallen by 6.2% in the last quarter, one of the largest drops in history. The US government also announced today that it would take a 30-40% share in the failing bank, Citigroup. The list of stories about our troubled economy goes on for pages, while positive stories are few and far between at best.

In my last post I stated that I have an “arsenal of media” that I turn to for a daily dose of information. As the past six months have dragged on, these various institutions have covered the complete collapse of our country’s financial markets with clarity and consistency. However, over the past week, the media seems to be losing hope on our troubled world. There is an utter lack of progress occurring somewhere, and I (the lonely, typical reader of these publications) am left wondering if it is a lack of coverage or if things are really this bad?

The conclusion I have come to is that both sides spark this situation. There is logic in putting the bad news out first. It has a greater impact on readers; it is news that presents a clear and present danger for millions of Americans. Most of all, it is the news that is affecting our world right now. Positive economic coverage around the globe is mostly limited to small, isolated occurrences of hope – a luxury the vast majority of the world does not get to experience. There are simply no news stories surrounding occurrences that would bring widespread and immediate relief to the millions of money-crunched citizens.

This leads me to the fact that things really are this bad. Every industry has been affected by this crisis. Each household is finding themselves with less money available for spending each month, but where the most concerning news, and at the same time most promising, is coming from is the solutions side. Undoubtedly, I believe that a new sector of innovation called “green technology” will carry the private sector out of this crisis. While the Obama administration works to clear up regulations and the financial market, the world’s largest sink of cash flow remains in energy. Oil companies are one of the few who continue to have large profits during the downturn of the economy, and whoever can find the replacement technology for an ancient industry will reap incredible profit margins.

While the solutions may sound great, innovation and infrastructure makeovers take incredible amounts of time. Worse yet, the collapse of broken financial systems can move at the speed of light, while the solutions to those problems move more like a beached whale. This crisis has prompted an unfortunate paradigm. What has taken mere months to destroy will now take incredible investment, restructuring and time to rebuild. So yes, things really are this bad, and it is going to take a long time to rebuild what to lifetimes to create.

-Robbie Heeger

A Lobster Recommendation: The TED Speaker Series

2009-02-25T20:40:00.000-08:00

Each day our leaders make statements that fall somewhere along the lines of: “today’s unique challenges require unique solutions for our world." The TED speaker series provides the platform for these new ideas that will fuel the future.

I first encountered the TED series in an environmental science class this past year. The specific talk focused on the applications of green roof city planning in eastern countries. I was hooked from its onset. The information was raw, innovative and informative, and I walked away with a sense of optimism and understanding of the technology. As I view more and more of these short seminars, I find the TED series to be an integral source of information. TED has earned a spot in the arsenal of media I use in an attempt to stay on top of the changing world.

TEDx, a speaker series tour presented by TED, will be on the campus of USC March 23rd and is sure to bring a full line up of talented and informative speakers. The best part about the TED series is their extensive online video archive. Nearly all of their lectures are online, with speakers ranging from big time names like Al Gore, to the most unknown scientists and executives from countries worldwide.

To see a full list of the TED lecture archive, click here.
For USC students interested in TEDx, click here.

-Robbie Heeger

A New Pitch from the Movie Industry

2009-02-23T12:02:00.000-08:00

If there’s one benefit to a national crisis, it’s that it forces people to act smarter.

When gas prices climb to record highs, people drive smarter. They buy fuel-efficient cars, ride their bikes, use public transportation, and, whether they know it or not, care about the environment. The same goes for the recession. When the economy goes bad, people get smarter about impulsive purchases. They are less willing to get suckered into buying a certain company’s product. As a result, that company makes a better product.

I guess US Weekly was right all along. Celebrities really are like ordinary people.

Out of fear that the recession would cut ratings for the Oscars, the Academy gave us a better product. The 81st Annual Academy Awards either afforded viewers genuine entertainment or it did one hell of a job concealing its smarm. The most prestigious award show in the world underwent an extreme makeover that changed an unnecessary, but entertaining presentation into a must see performance.

The most substantial change was the presentation of the nominees. This time around, the Academy candidly lauded not just the winners, but all the nominees for their prodigious contributions to cinema. In the production categories, the traditional olio of gimmicky awards was supplanted by a deliberate order which gave a handful of like categories to a single pair of presenters who explained how each sequential step was essential to the making of a movie. The tactic really gave each element of film a sense of purpose. In the four acting categories, five cinematic legends who had previously been honored with an award introduced a single respective nominee in detail. Even when Alan Arkin mistakenly presented “Seymour Philip Hoffman” for best supporting actor, each tribute was sincere and powerful. Except maybe when Meryl Streep was introduced by the lifeless and fried corpse puppet of Sophia Loren in what I can only take as a tribute to Weekend at Bernie’s. That, I thought, was tasteless.

Oh yes, despite its shift from a comical show to one taking a more serious approach, the Oscars still kept some yucks. I had my doubts about the industry’s second best vampire slayer hosting the award show, (seriously, Van Helsing over Buffy?) but Hugh Jackman delivered, most notably when he admitted to not having seen The Reader but still choreographed an unrelated song and dance to it. I also loved Jack Black’s bit about voicing animated films for Dreamworks and then using that salary to bet on Pixar to win the Oscar, even going so far as to celebrate when Wall-E beat out his Kung Fu Panda. Ben Stiller gave a spot on impression of Joaquin Phoenix’s rapping epiphany. I must admit, however, that I was a little disappointed he didn’t get so into character that he tumbled off stage when exiting.

Nothing detracted the show from its core focus, however. The industry knew that with the recession only getting cozier it needed to deliver a reason for people to keep going to the theaters. This Academy Awards, more than ever, could dictate the success of the movie business on a macroscopic scale. By promoting the different elements of film as art instead of entertainment, the awards show emphasized the subversive facets of the world’s most influential medium. It didn’t tell us that cinema was important. It showed us why.

-Ryan Waring

What NOT to do at Thirteen

2009-02-19T14:46:00.000-08:00

Way back when, in 2004, I was at the tender age of thirteen. My life surrounded the ebb and flow of middle school life and between baseball, video games and homework, I had little time to spare. OutKast’s “Hey Ya” was all the rage, cell phones with color screens had just hit the market, and my favorite snack food was the brand new “Fritos Flavor Twist.” Around fifth or sixth grade girls became of interest and a rare few has serious relationships. However, pre-teen romance was mostly limited to a short fling and things such as “hooking up” were monumental achievements in our primitive social ladder. I once remember a student outreach group at my local middle school passing out a survey about such relationships. One question summed up puppy love with perfect eloquence: “Typically, how long are you involved in a relationship? (circle one) 1.Less than 5 days 2.One-Two weeks 3.Two weeks or more.” The naïve sense of romance that teenagers have is a phase that we all go through. We all have our awkward moments, we all wrangle with the concept of the other sex and we all find our way through our own inhibitions.

In retrospect, this era was innocently hilarious, but a report out of the United Kingdom has sparked shock around the globe. According to The Sun, the British tabloid phenomenon owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, young lovers Alfie Patten (13) and Chantelle Steadman (15) have brought a baby girl into the world. Maisie Roxanne, weighing in at seven-pounds three-ounces, was conceived when Alfie was only twelve and Chantelle, fourteen. For the sake of full disclosure, it should be noted that this story does come from a tabloid and that according to an Associated Press article, there have been no guarantees of Maisie’s paternity. However, according to this same article there was a report from local Child Services in Eastbourne, England about a pregnant fourteen year-old. Once the couple found out they were pregnant they decided to forgo an abortion with father Alfie stating in The Sun that, “I thought it would be good to have a baby.”

True or not, the possibility is of parenting at the age of thirteen not only lacks feasibility, but also seems unnatural and without reason. As a species, we bring offspring into this world in order to advance our genes. As a society, children are a part of our cultures. Across the entire globe, kids are sources of joy and a part of a stereotypical life-cycle. But like most monumental choices in life, there is a time and place for every lifestyle change. What is clear in this case is that young Alfie and Chantelle are not ready for the challenge that lies ahead. They will probably miss out on the remainder of their education, they will most likely burden their respective families greatly both economically and physically. They’ll sacrifice an opportunity at a standard childhood, trading in a life of learning, sports and recreation for a life of diapers, doctors and babysitting. Alfie and Chantelle’s actions now hold enormous weight; their every choice will affect a helpless infant and failure to recognize their new position could result in a catastrophic loss. In my eyes, this was an awful decision.

While the majority opinion for this situation seems to have clear support, there are some other factors to look at here. This story marks the second in global media storm surround maternity within the past few weeks. Mother of fourteen children (eight of which were octuplets born this month), Nadya Suelman, has brought light to not only the risks of Invitro fertilization but also to a similar debate over the responsibilities of mothers worldwide. Nadya, Alfie and Chantelle are the center of a question surrounding privacy. Is it really the business of the world to worry about the choices of two individuals? One could argue that they invited the press coverage, but the scrutiny over lifestyle choices or questions about responsibility are all part of their own decision making process. People’s perceptions of good ideas and how to time their execution are a personal choice and these pregnancies are no different. While these teenagers are clearly incapable of assessing the various aspects of parenthood, they remain sentient beings that have the ability (limited or not) to assess situations. While the greater modernized world may be unanimous in discouraging such actions, it does not mean we get to tell anyone how to live their life.

Nonetheless, Alfie and Chantelle have an incredible challenge ahead, and if proven to be real, the world will be watching as they attempt a colossus of tasks. For the sake of Maisie, I hope they find a way to provide a productive (in time, of course) and healthy life.

-Robbie Heeger

A World Apart - The Islamization of Europe

2009-02-18T21:14:00.001-08:00

This week The Lobster is proud to introduce Ricky Frias as a new addition to the staff! Look out for his posts every Wednesday of the week. Next week we'll bring in our third member of the team, Ryan Waring, who will be positing on each Monday of the week. That means three fresh lobsters every week - Enjoy!
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We have all been there, gasping for the slightest breath in between relentless dry heaves, or clutching your temples in an unsuccessful attempt to alleviate the feeling of someone trying to hammer out your eyes from the inside out, or blowing your nose that feels like it is being sat on by Shaquille O’Neal. In these moments the same epiphany races through everyone’s mind; “Why don’t I appreciate the days when I just feel normal and healthy?” Although you might live up to your sickly inspired vows for a day or two, not allowing normal everyday annoyances to break your stride, eventually this seldom felt optimism fades. It in no way makes you a spoiled or unappreciative person; in fact it makes you human. Paralleling this idea, it is frighteningly easy to be consumed by the assumption that the vast majority of the earth’s population emulates the western nation’s liberal, tolerant culture that we are accustomed to and solely exposed to.

Obviously this is not the case, especially in the Islamic World and in what Geert Wilders calls the “Islamization of Europe” in a speech he gave recently in New York. Detailing that the abnormal growth of the Muslim World and its consequent expansion into European democratic countries poises an eventual threat to America, his ideas significantly caught my attention.

I would usually categorize myself as a tolerant and accepting person who is open to learning the workings of other cultures and religions. Something I wholeheartedly refuse to accept and refuse to allow however, is the growth of a disproportionately accepting and caring conglomerate that in no way intends to reciprocate the hospitality it receives from the place in which it aspires to take over. Had the Islamic nation shown previous instances in which it successfully and peacefully assimilated into a democratic and liberty driven culture, my stance would be different.

The problem is we are not just discussing normal migration numbers; we are witnessing what Wilders calls “Muslim Mass-Migration.” I want to stress the significance that this is not only an issue we will face in the future; it is already a serious concern as mosques and Islamic ghettos are springing up in every major European city. Amsterdam and Marseille, two relatively liberal cities, currently feel this cultural climate shift, as 25% of their population is Muslim. What Wilders refers to as “super-mosques” are under construction in numerous cities and once finished will “dwarf” any church or other religious establishment within miles, clearly conveying the historical Islamic message “we rule.”

Once again I have to reiterate my typical position as an accepting and religiously tolerant person; as such it is that much more alarming that “Islamization” scares me to this extent. I have a strong personal objection to what is taking place in these cities due to some of the consequences that are already seen on a daily basis. This excerpt from Geert Wilders speech details some of these effects:

"In some elementary schools in Amsterdam the farm can no longer be mentioned, because that would also mean mentioning the pig, and that would be an insult to Muslims. Many state schools in Belgium and Denmark only serve halal food to all pupils. In once-tolerant Amsterdam gays are beaten up almost exclusively by Muslims. Non-Muslim women routinely hear 'whore, whore'. In France school teachers are advised to avoid authors deemed offensive to Muslims, including Voltaire and Diderot; the same is increasingly true of Darwin. The history of the Holocaust can no longer be taught because of Muslim sensitivity. In England Sharia courts are now officially part of the British legal system. Many neighborhoods in France are no-go areas for women without headscarves. Last week a man almost died after being beaten up by Muslims in Brussels, because he was drinking during the Ramadan."

As an American, I have been raised by my conservative, Christian father and liberal, Jewish Mother to celebrate diversity and practice religious, and cultural broadmindedness whenever possible. Simultaneously I am inexplicably thankful for our American troops abroad that are giving their lives in the name of liberty. If given the same chance I would without moments hesitation give my life to protect a place that stands for everything just and free. If, and quite possibly, when the Islamization of Europe proceeds to rid the western nation’s of democracy and liberty, the United States will stand alone as a nation of these principles.

Wilders finishes his address proclaiming “My generation does not own this
freedom; we are merely its custodians. We can only hand over this hard won liberty to Europe's children in the same state in which it was offered to us. We cannot strike a deal with mullahs and imams. Future generations would never forgive us. We cannot squander our liberties. We simply do not have the right to do so.”

Food for thought!

-Ricky Frias

Weed, Roids and Cereal…OH MY!

2009-02-13T12:00:00.000-08:00

Storied comedian and TV talk show host of “Real Time With Bill Maher,” Bill Maher sums up this week with one fell swoop:

“He takes a bong hit – and now he’s O.J.”

Michael Phelps, and fellow “druggie” friends, have infiltrated my life. For those living underneath rocks, Michael Phelps took a ripper out of a bong and was stupid enough to let someone take a picture. Additionally, the media slammed Alex Rodriguez this week after reports that he tested positive for anabolic steroids over the 2001-2003 seasons. In the middle of the week, Miguel Tejada pleaded guilty to lying to a grand jury about the “prominence of performance enhancing drugs” in baseball and now faces potential jail time. Finally, news yesterday out of US Cycling showed that Lance Armstrong’s new highly complex steroid testing program was being scrapped because it was exactly that – too complex.

So my question becomes: “Do we still care about Performance Enhancing drugs?”

Half of this question is easy to answer. As shown by Roy Oswalt’s comments on A-Rod, Kellogg’s immediate repeal of Michael Phelps’ sponsorship and his three-month suspension from swimming, people are very angry. Media coverage is higher than ever on performance enhancing drugs and many of America’s young athletes are paying attention as their heroes are carted off to eternal shame by the media that covers them. But is the American public truly mad?

I argue that they are not.

I come from the San Francisco Giants nation. We are a people with not only extended exposure to the world of performance enhancing drugs (or P.E.D.’s as they are now being called), but were also a people with undying reverence for our main man, Barry Bonds. It is true that some giants fans will discount what the slugger has done, but those of Giants nation know that one has truly not lived life until they have seen Barry rip a cover off a ball and send it deep into the murky waters of McCovey Cove. This mentality has led me to continue my love for Barry throughout his entire trial, even though I understand the illegality of his actions and would recommend his path to nobody. Also, living amongst fans of all different opinions on Barry Bonds, has led the fruits of my opinion age for a couple extra years.

All three of this week’s major drug related news stories lack true depth on the scale of P.E.D. related news. A-Rod did his stuff while it was still legal inside of Major League Baseball. Miguel Tejada lied about something that in the grand scheme will not cost him much of his reputation or much jail time. Michael Phelps took a hit at a college party – during the offseason – apologized for his mistake and that was the end of his story. None of these people really cheated.

In my mind A-Rod using steroids was a part of baseball culture. Just like chewing tobacco or unwritten rules about hitting a player square above the butt if they hit your guy, steroids was an unfortunate aspect of the culture around baseball. If Rodriguez had decided to use P.E.D.’s after they were banned from baseball, then label him a cheater and take away his statistics. In this case however, this is not true and A-Rod was simply a part of 104 other undisclosed names that were a part of an unfortunate era in baseball. Miguel Tejada’s problems have nothing to do with baseball, they are federal crimes that he faces, and thus, he is not a cheater. Michael Phelps flat out took a performance-decreasing drug and is simply not competing right now. His moral conscious is a different question, but that too is being held to a double standard.

Professional athletes around the globe are known to be heavy drinkers, overweight or over supplemented. Between Jeff Kent, Ben Roethlisberger and Kellen Winslow we can all see the dangers of riding helmet-less on motorcycles like maniacs, and yet they are not ritually tarred and feathered for the rest of their careers. Sure, they make the news for those few days, but based on Barry Bonds’ experience, Phelps, Rodriguez and Tejada will hold the title of “druggie” for their entire time in the limelight. Personally, I am fed up with it and from my sample of public opinion, so is the rest of the world. These are adults making personal choices and they should be treated as any other normal adult making the same choice.

Glenn Beck's Must See Tirade

2009-02-06T13:18:00.000-08:00

This Week's Question: What Was Beck Thinking?

There is a new clip circulating ‘round the millions of online video viewers. The clip comes from “The Glenn Beck Show” and it centers around the personal comment Beck offers on a recent lecture to young teenagers given by former Vice President and Nobel Prize winner, Al Gore. Beck quotes Gore when he says: "That there are some things about our world that you [the younger generation] know that older people don't know." Things get hazy when Beck continues to connect the statement from Gore to the Hitler Youth movement of World War II.

The video (embedded below) is a frightening representation of the new found radicalism amongst media pundits. Each day the cable news celebrities go to battle over viewers and ratings using lofty statements of complete coverage along with declarations of truthful and bias free news reporting. More and more, these shows are becoming unspeakably radical. This most recent clip from Beck could not be farther from the “Fair and Balanced” reporting that we are promised through billboards, commercials, magazine advertisements and on air proclamations. To claim that former vice President Al Gore’s statements about the youth role in global climate change is somehow comparable to the Nazi brainwashing of millions of children in order to systematically destroy an entire people is blatantly ludicrous.This all goes without mention that Gore no longer has a governmental position, eliminating any connection to Gore’s alleged “brainwashing” to the U.S. government.

Statements so entirely flagrant as Beck’s beg the question of, “are these pundits the people who we should trust to provide us news and commentary?” More importantly, are American viewers accepting these opinions as rational and applicable? What does it say about our country if the symbols of our national opinion (the media), think that motivating youth to protect the environment is equal to that of the governmental mandate for youth to support the massacre of eleven million people?

What’s more sobering is that these cases are not limited to the ultra conservative news networks’ late night time fillers. Mainstream political pundits have begun to polarize their opinions for the sake of viewer retention and increased report. The Keith Olbermann (MSNBC)/Bill O’Reilly (FOXNEWS) feud has forced political banter similar to Mr. Beck’s reality blurring nonsense into the homes of millions every night. Political gusto seems to be overtaking honest reporting. It is not that radicalism is bad, wrong or inappropriate, but rather that the complete negligence of fact in order to affirm radical sensationalism is the exact opposite reason these people entered this profession.

Welcome to Robster's Lobster

2009-02-05T15:32:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Robster's Lobster!

At the core of any blog is the opportunity and desire to communicate. We use blogs to find narratives, to search for opinions and to find underground news that we would find nowhere else. Like many, this blog is founded on those same ideals. Robster's Lobster will bring you a weekly update, on the Friday of each week, that is dedicated to one central question. -- Why dip grilled cheese in tomato soup? Was it appropriate and necessary for Daschle to withdraw his nomination due to a tax slip-up? Were the Arizona Cardinals cheated out of a replay during the last seconds of Super Bowl XLIII? -- From sports and cuisine to politics and social justice - expect to see it all on the Lobster. This blog aims to create diverse conversation around a variety of topics and The Lobster will attempt to explore each side of the argument in a search for a new found understanding of some of the world's most inexplicable aspects.

Robster's Lobster is also introducing the "Lobster" as a unit for rating any of our weekly posts. Like a topic or post? Drop a coment and give it a rating of zero to up to five "Lobsters." Be forewarned, the "Lobster" is not your ordinary star-based rating system. In order for a post to be worthy of high "Lobster" acclaim, it must be a compelling and attention-grabbing topic that forces you to examine your own opinion. If it is an discussion that you consider worth discussing or an argument that you would love to discuss, then it has met the qualifications of a high "Lobster" rating.

Once again, welcome to The Lobster! Look out tomorrow for our first topic...

-The Staff of Robster's Lobster