Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Humanities future cannot be predicted: Not even in fictional world



Imagine a universe created around the combination of history, sociology, and mathematical statistics, all done in order to make general predictions about the future behavior of extremely large groups of people. The Foundation Trilogy consists of three books of stories—Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation—that form a history of the future. The events in the trilogy are loosely based on the fall of the Roman Empire, but the trilogy is also about the nature of history itself. The Roman Empire becomes the Galactic Empire, and a sophisticated new science known as psychohistory allows people to predict future events. The sophisticated new science consist of a combination of history, sociology, and mathematical statistics The person that leads the psychohistory movement is Hari Seldon. Hari Seldon uses psychohistory to predict the fall of the Galactic Empire and then establishes the Foundation. The Foundation is a planet of physical scientist, as is the Second Foundation. The ability to predict the future through psychohistory is the key to the Foundation's success. Now this success is against its barbaric neighbors, such as Trantor. Yet the ability is found less in scientific specialists than in common-sense, empirical thinkers such as traders and politicians. There begins to form many problems with traders and politicians. These problems are due to avarice and the greed of many. Psychohistory predicts only the actions of masses of people and deals only in probabilities, so that individual choice still exists. Nor could psychohistory predict the rise of a mutant that would wreak havoc among the Foundations neighbors. Many follow what turned into the Seldon Plan; which are the predictions that Hari Seldon left behind. Yet, they learn that the predictions leave some information to be desired. Hari Seldon’s world was based around psychohistory, and the series as a whole, modeled after the fall of the Roman Empire, yet as the time went by his predictions began to develop many errors, thus demonstrations that humanities future could not be predicted and at the same time demonstrating the gender roles within society.

   Since the  Foundation is loosely based on the Roman Empire, more importantly, the fall. In order to describe the Roman Empire, a glimpse into the event that was framed around the rule of the Etruscan Kings is needed. The Roman Empire is characterized by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean.  The 500-years-old Roman Empire was weakened and subverted through the various civil wars. This is much like the Foundation, which goes through a series of Seldon crises that constantly leave it in a weak state. In 510 B.C, Rome witnessed a revolt against the rule of the Etruscan Kings. Lucius Inius Brutus, the son of Marcus, obtained his wealth illegally by King Tarquin at his death. King Tarquin abused his power to steal Brutus’ inheritance.  Brutus’ older brother had been murdered as part of the plot. Since Brutus’ inheritance was stolen and his brother murdered, Brutus was mocked by a tyrant.  Brutus took revenge and led the city’s nobility in revolt. Prince Sextus fled to Gabii, but was killed. Meanwhile the King with his family escaped to Caere. His palace was demolished. The rebellion against Tarquinius failed to two consuls, although at first they were called praetors. These consuls each held power for one year in which they ruled much like joint Kings of Rome. The first ever two elected leaders of Rome were Brutus and Lecius Tarquin Collatinus. The people turned against Brutus’ colleague who was a Tarquin and hence directly related to the despised King.   It was not long before he was left as exiled, being replaced by Publius Valerius Publicola. Soon after the plot was discovered, the aim of which was to place King Tarquin back on his throne. The conspirators were sentence to death. This small glimpse into The Roman Empires history, has many similarities with the Mayor of Terminus City, Salvor Hardin. He proposes to play the planets off against each other.

          This also gives a small glimpse of what gender roles within the Roman empire and The Foundation, are like. The fact that within the small story of the Roman Empire there are only men mentioned, demonstrates that women did not have power within the empire. Men are portrayed as the dominant gender and the ones that rule the empire. Very similar to the Foundation.  His plan is a success, the Foundation remains untouched and he is promoted to Mayor of Terminus. Using its scientific advantage, Terminus develops trade routes with nearby planets, eventually taking them over when its technology becomes a much-needed commodity. The interplanetary traders effectively become the new diplomats to other planets. Isaac Asimov's reference to the Roman Empire is seen in the following quote. "Hardin raised his voice to be heard above the clamor. 'We are a young world, your eminence in our short history we have had but few members of the higher nobility visiting our poor planet. Hence our enthusiasm !' "(Asimov 65)   Salvor Hardin is the first Mayor of Terminus, and he is portrayed as a shrewd and ruthless politician. In the quote above we see a small glimpse of the comparison between Roman Emperors and the characters in The Foundation series.  We see the violent side to Hardin as he "raised his voice" and creates an almost fragile façade, emphasized by the use of alliterations in "poor planet." The use of alliteration emphasizes the "ppp" sound one created by what can be related to a bickering, teary eyed, child. Making this reference conveys a need to nurture or help out Hardin. Another quote in which we see Hardin's true side surface is in the following: "Hardin banged his hand on the chair with sudden violence. ' Let me speak, Sutt. Your eminence, I don't care about a rusty half-credit coin for Anacreon Smyrono, or all your local politics and petty wars.' " (Asimov 61) Here we see the use of alliteration in "Hardin banged his hand" emphasizing his violent side, via the "hhh" sound that almost sounds like a swarm of bees or an angry cat. The fact that he "banged his hand" with "sudden violence" demonstrates that Hardin pretends to be a kind almost peaceful man, yet his behavior is considered "sudden" since it is not viewed from Hardin's point of view, but rather Asimov's. We see Hardin's hunger for power in the statement he makes; "and Hardin said ingenuously. 'Could Anacreon supply our nuclear-power plant?' " (Asimov 65) The fact that it is emphasized that Hardin said it "ingenuously" demonstrates that he in fact is pretending, that is also conveyed by the alliteration in "power plant," causing the "ppp" sound that sounds almost like a sad child in need of comfort. Then Pirenne states in respond; "And may I ask what you meant by blowing off your mouth about our nuclear-power plant ? Why, it's just the thing that would make us a military target.' " (Asimov 65) The use of alliteration in "by blowing" focuses on the "bbb" sound that conveys the sense of disagreement.  The alliteration in "the thing that" emphasizes the "ttt," almost like a ticking bomb, that shows Pirenne's anger. " 'Yes' grinned Hardin, ' a military target to stay away from. Isn't it obvious why I brought the subject up? Anacreon no longer has a nuclear- power economy. If they had, our friend would undoubtedly have realized that plutonium, except in ancient tradition, is not used in power plant. Back to oil and coal, are they? He murmured.' " (Asimov 65) Hardin's grin and his pleasure in discovering that Anacreon no longer has nuclear power, further emphasizes his greed. Hardin's sarcasm further demonstrates that he is two faced by calling Anacreon a "friend" while Hardin just wanted to discard Anacreon as a threat; while he ironically states "back to oil and coal are they?"  Via the discovery of Hardin's true "face" we make a direct reference to the King who took Brutus' inheritance and then killed his brother.  Brutus is one of the most famous names in the Roman Empires history. Thus further emphasizing the lack of predictability of the human race. Even as The Foundation Series is modeled after the Roman Empire, Seldon fails to predict The Foundation's fate. Even though he left pre-recorded holograms at the climax of each crises, he failed to predict The Foundation's main problems. Seldon, before his death, used psychohistory to predict and manipulate each event, yet failed, further proving that the human race is far too diverse to be predicable. Also the gender roles within The Foundation. There are very obvious gender roles, such as the power hungry men. These are characteristics of the ideology that gender has socialized into young boys.

                     The accuracy of his predictions are well proven by the events since then, and during the first crises his predictions went with full accuracy. The Foundation owed its prosperity to Seldon's predictions. Yet as the other crises came, Seldon's predictions began to leave details to be desired. As Seldon's predictions began to omit crucial information about the crises that came, the Foundation's leaders began to panic. This fear and panic was produced by the failure in the complete faith in Hari Seldon's predictions and calculations. Minor changes in the manner in which events unfolded would have been easily overcome, yet when one of the worst and most powerful crises the Foundation had faced was not predicted by Hari Seldon, the Foundation went ballistic. This great foe, brought down not only the Foundation, but also the great Trantor. The Mule is one of the greatest conquerors the galaxy has ever seen, he is a mentalic who has the ability to reach into to reach into the minds of others and "adjust" their emotions. The Mule's ability has the capability to forcibly enlist them to his cause. Individuals who have their emotions adjusted to behave otherwise normally, that is with their logic, memories and personality intact; even if they are aware of the manipulation, their ability to desire to resist it has just  been adjusted. This gives the Mule the capacity to disrupt Seldon's plan. The mule does so via the invalidation of Seldon's assumption, that no single individual could have a measurable effect on galactic socio-historical trends on their own, due to the plan relying on the predictability of action of very large numbers of people.  Since the Foundation, after the end of the Empire, is the sole supplier of nuclear weaponry in the galaxy, and using this asset, the Mule begins rapidly conquering surrounding territories, all of which lack nuclear power, sweeping aside the remnants of the Galactic Empire centered around Neotrantor. The Mule's conquest is amazingly fast. The Mule defeats the Foundation and establishes the Union of Worlds after only about five years.  Then just as suddenly he stops his advance and settles into a five year period of consolidation. This is done so because the Mule fears the mysterious Second Foundation. The Second Foundation is rumored to be capable of defeating a mentalic individual like himself. According to a hint that was given by Hari Seldon, the Second Foundation was founded at the opposite of the galaxy, from the first foundation, which itself founded on the distant galactic rim of planet Terminus. However the true location of the Second Foundation is a total mystery and popular sentiment is that it does not exist. Nevertheless, the Mule launches repeated expeditions in search of the Second Foundation during this period of consolidation. The Mule is a male figure that has the ultimate power in the universe. The Mule is all powerful thus conveying gender roles.

          Very much like the Roman Empire, The Foundation, also displays gender issues, such as the marginalization of women. The perception of women as the weaker gender, plays a vital role in the Foundations series. All the major characters within the Foundation series are all men, with the exception of one woman; Bayta. Bayta is not introduced until the second book, Foundation and Empire, even so she is not introduced until the second part of the book. At first she is displayed as a strong woman. Of course that image quickly changes, as Toran, her husband, states "I know Bay- it isn't exactly a proper change, is it? I mean from the Foundation to this." (Asimov 103) Bayta then replays, "a horrible change, Toran I should never have married you." (Asimov 103) Her strength is then demonstrated in his reaction as "his face looked momentarily hurt, before he caught himself, she said with her special 'cozy' tone, 'all right, silly, now let your lower lip droop and give me that special dying-duck look- the one just before you're supposed to bury your head on my shoulder, while I stroke your hair.' "(Asimov 103) In these quotes we note that Bayta is forced by Toran to move from The Foundation to a different and unwanted place. Here the shift in the gender role changes as he calls her "Bay" instead of saying her full name which is not long just two letters more, and she calls him by his full name. Bayta does not say what Toran wants her to say and is "momentarily hurt" by her disrespect. Bayta then mocks him and compares him to a "dying- duck" further emphasized by the alliteration, causing the "ddd" sound, used to draw attention to Bayta's argument. Bayta suggest that he "bury" his "head on her shoulder" as she then will take the role of the male, that society depicted as the dominant gender, as she comforts him in Toran's moment of weakness. She then "pointed a finger at him and snatched it away an instant before his teeth closed upon it."(Asimov 1903) This quote states that a woman that shows "disobedience" and mocks a man is replayed with violence, as "his teeth closed upon it" showing that after what Bayta said to him, he must then regain his masculinity by trying to hurt Bayta. Toran then states in replay, "if I surrender and admit you're right, will you prepare dinner?" (Asimov 103) Toran regains his masculinity and gender role by making her cook dinner, further demonstrating to Bayta what her role must be as society has stated. Now Bayta has a more significant status then Toran, because she is a relative of Mallow, were as Toran is "provincial- and not merely a provincial, but the son of a renegade Trader."(Asimov 110) It is clear that Toran is not of a high status. Toran takes great pride in the fact that he gains power from Bayta's status. This point is demonstrated when the following is stated:  "there was quite a bit of smugness about his attitude towards Bayta- the satisfied awe that marks the triumph of someone who has been hovering at the edge of an inferiority complex for three years.(Asimov 110) This conveys that Toran is using Bayta's "power" to heighten his status and masculinity furthering his gender role as the strong man. As the chapter progresses Bayta loses the strength demonstrated in when she was first introduced, as Toran's father has "his eyes on Bayta now and didn't leave. He spoke to her more softly."(Asimov 114) This addresses a sexist comment that states that a woman should be spoken "softly" to since they are perceived as the weak and sensitive gender. Fran, Toran's father then states after: "you can always tell a woman's weight by her upper arm."(Asimov 114) This adds to the image that women are suppose to me small and thin almost the size of their arm.

Throughout all these events that unfolded in the course of fifty to seventy years, what is most alarming is that the great mastermind, Hari Seldon, was unable to predict such events. This makes the assertions that the future of the human race cannot be predicted, not even by the great psychohistorian. Even though the Foundation was modeled after the Roman Empire, Asimov did not accommodate gender in his series. The sexism that existed within the Roman Empire, remained the same within the series. This provides the idea that the human race can only predict a small insight of what the future holds for them. When a mutant threatens to destroy the greatest planets every to have been created, the leaders of the Foundations are perplexed by the inability to come up and conquer there crisis. Hari Seldon had made accurate predictions, yet as more crises began to surface, Hari Seldon was more and more inaccurate.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Power,Gender, and Marxism Article Summaries


The article “The Fate of Marxism and The Future of Civilization,” speaks of Marxism and the “zigzagging” between two extremes. One of the extremes is to consider the theory and ideology of the practice. This would be the victory of socialism with in countries. The other would be to knowledge that social theory; ideology and practice are interconnected and not determined. The ideology as explained in the article is a mediatory link between social theory and practice.
“Gender Politics at Local Level,” is an article that talks about gender in the local government. Such as how the government is being challenged by gender politics. They want the government elections to promote a gender-sensitive sphere of government. This is to promote gender equality in the local government.
“Power” this article speaks of power and how it is being used in the United States. It is being used to boast a massive economy and whopping defense budget. Especially the power in the military and the use of the military’s power in foreign countries. The government is promoting its military dominance in order to obtain power over countries that lack military power. This power is also given to men instead of equally experienced women.
(not sure if this was 250 words in total or each)

Monday, February 27, 2012

The Best Character from My Childhood


I remember waking up on Saturday mornings to watch Rocko's Modern Life. I loved him so much I named my German Shepherd after him. My German Shepherd is now 9 years old so this must have been at least 10 years back. This television show was originally from Australia. I wonder why it was on Nick, if it has adult humor as well as satire, yet I'm sure kids today are watch worse programs such as Spongebob. Yet after Rocko ended, some of the staff went to work with/for Spongebob. Then they went off to produce camp Lazlo.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Dream Sweet Dreams







Good night, Sweet dreams,
Was the only thing you said,
As the covers tightened around me,
Their silky hold was suffacating,
They never lossened their grip,

As I laid half asleep,

Good night, Sweet dreams,
I heard you sing,
As my heavy, eyes slowly closed,
The darkness was creating unwanted images,
The pictures crushed my soul,

Good night, sweet dreams,
Is what you purred to me,
As my darkness slowly lifted,
The dawn made me feel alive,
It's light healed my wounds,

Good night, Sweet dreams,
Was what I whispered to you,
As the blade went deeper and deeper,
Crimson Red,
Flowing like a river,
Your life for my own.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Fan Fiction





→ This is what my idea of Trantor is. The multi-colored rocks represent minerals. Since Trantor is in outer space I imagined that since Trantor is hundreds of feet below the sun.  Since the sun cannot be seen, minerals form along with crystals. The colorful object in the middle is suppose to be a nuclear energy producer. The buildings are white, because there already is enough blackness. Also due to the lack of sunshine, the land is barren, that is why there is nothing but dirt and crystals.  The space craft at the entrance represents Trantor's technology.
→ Procedure:
1) You need a box
2) Cut the two side flaps and the top flap.
3) Make buildings out of paper →
4) Get a cap full of dirt and mix with a small amount of water and white Elmer's glue until mushy.
5) Place the mixture on the bottom flap on the bottom.
6) With a glue gun, glue the buildings down.
7) Hot glue the rocks on the bottom.
8) I used instant cappuccino mix as dirt yet you can use dirt.
9) Due to lack of paint I hot glued brown fabric to the outside of the box.

10) Hot glue 2 Styrofoam plates together and rap them in aluminum foil.
11) Hot glue the space craft to the outer corner of the box.
12) Use legos to make a structure to represent a nuclear power plant.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Alien Quest


→ The setting is in a lab for area 51. The setting switches from the area 51 lab to the parking lot, to a tree, to an alley, to a carnival, then into outerspace. Every object has a purpose and the cocroach finds it. The cockroach is the one that saves the alien and helps him escape. When the cockroach finds the object that can be used they use it to escape. The alien must overcome many problems such as a dog and a guard.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The Girl On The Train


↔ A by-product of society. Subject to mainstream culture. Consumer of all things "in." Wearing the typical American apparel she is tricked into thinking she should wear.
  →Shoes: Studded black boots, probably from Pay-less or Ross.
Shirt: White, style-less, long sleeved, under a black button up jacket from Hot Topic.
 → Pants: Jeans, dark washed, and skinny legged.
Eyes: Heavy coated mascara, with slight defect mascara stains on her eyes lids, by Revlon (maybe Maybelline, the label is worn-out). Eyeliner made to look like a raccoon's eyes.  Brown and medium, framed by long lashes.
Lips: Have a special cracked/pale lip effect due to 45 degree weather and no lipstick.
Fragrance: Probably anti-perspiring deodorant from either Dove or Teen Spirit; and nothing else.
Hair: Can probably be the "before" image of an anti-frizz hair product. Brown, slight waves to it, worn loose.
Face: Marked enough with small, red pimples that they could be connected and form an image. Never worn cover-up.  Nose too big/broad for her face. Full cheeks with a deep dimple interrupting the curve of her left cheek. A muffin top that refused to hid under the waistline of her low-cut jeans.
Legs: Too thick for her barely there, but somehow there bottom.
Body: Made to never fit into a size zero.
Everything about her screamed "ordinary." She seems to have vaccinated against the illness of Vanity.  I had seen this girl before. The type that never went to the restroom in a "pack," but rather alone. Somehow she is always one step behind the latest trend. Never envied The Kardashians'  for she has in her cranium what Kim has as a derrière. Not a genius but not a moron.  Sitting usually alone with a book in front. Or looking out the window, in a universe far, far away. In high school she must have felt like a character from "Mean Girls," but not a protagonist, or an antagonist, but rather a character in the background. One that is going through some awkward pubescent faze. Never seeming to fit in, yet never stood out enough to be marked as a "freak." She survived High school. Made it to college. As the weeks went by, she found college to be her second home. Most of the students walk alone, sitting alone. Everyone is in their own world, doing their own thing. No one looks at her. For the first time she feels comfortable going unseen. Just as she turns and looks me straight in the eye and smiles. And I realize that she is no one else but myself.   


Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The Greatest Character In The Anime World



Seto Kaiba → He is the majority shareholder and CEO of his own multi-national gaming company, KaibaCorp, who aims to become the world's greatest player of Duel Monsters
→ To accomplish this goal, he must defeat his arch-rival, Yugi Muto.
→  He is largely considered an anti-hero, as his motives are usually ego-centric and his relationships with the protagonists are antagonistic, but in several cases his actions are towards a good cause.  
→ He is very stoic and doesn't believe everything he sees.
→  He was the greatest character in the Yu-Gi-Oh series.
→  His two rivals are Joey and Yugi, yet it is obvious that he can beat both hands tied and blind folded.
 → He has the greatest jackets. 
→  Most important his deck is just as powerful as he, he is the holder of the three blue-eyes-White-Dragons.  

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Dale Gribble ♥


  Dale Gribble is one of thee best characters. He can't run or catch but he can flee. He kills pest for a living. He never uses his real name for anything legal or anything at all. If the police ever tries to arrest you he will be the first to scatter. More smoke comes out of him then a chimany. He thinks everyone is watching him. He is always in his basement looking at people with his camaras. Joseph is his "son" yet it is obvious that he is John Recorns son, but Dale thinks that his wife was insiminated by an alien while he was away.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Canada's Seal Slaughter


Hundreds of thousands of baby harp seals have been clubbed to death in front of their mothers by fishermen in Canada. The quota that was set by the Canadian government for 2012 was about 400,000 seals. This number was expected to lower, since fewer seals were actually killed. The seal slaughter was restructured in 1987, and it was set to target seals that were two weeks old. At two weeks old the coat changes to grey. The Canadian government claims that these two week old seals are adults. At two weeks old harp seals are unable to swim and therefore escape. Despite arguments in favor of the seal slaughter, in 2001, veterinarians examined the skulls of the skinned seals and concluded that over 40% of the seals were still conscious and alive when they were skinned. Thus, harp seals are being skinned alive; the process of skinning an animals involves a small incision made either at the wrist or leg, the skin/fur is then ripped right off the animals body.
The Canadian seal slaughter is a commercial seal hunt, meaning that there are no aboriginal hunters, and no part of the seal is eaten, the body is simply discarded once the fur is removed. One of the arguments stated by the fishermen, is that the seals eat the cod that the fishermen are after, yet studies have shown that cod is only 3% of the seals diet. In fact the seals eat the animals that prey on cod. Thus a seal is part of a naturally balanced ecosystem. If you would like to take action or learn more about the issue here are some links:
 http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/canadian-seal-slaughter.aspx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMcFfASAyG8
http://www.canadasshame.com/
http://www.canadiansealhunt.com/

Monday, January 30, 2012

Taking Students Dreams Away



There have been many budget cuts made to the schools of California, the issue is that some affect the future professionals of the state. The colleges of California have taken a direct hit leaving many students will lost hopes. There have been many budget cuts to applied to California state Northridge. Students have continually protested the ever increasing cuts made to education. CSUN students have protested through the "Students Occupy LA," movement, they have marched, and have done sit-ins. Even though many students have voiced their opinions there are still many issues. Budget cuts have taken away classes that students need to graduate. According to the July 3rd, 2009 edition of the Daily Sundail; the CSUN newspaper; the classes that many students needed to graduate simply disappeared. The cause of the vanishing classes was due to the proposed budget cuts totaling almost $600 million for the CSU system. At that time, July 3rd, 2009; the California Faculty Association meeting members mentioned a 30 to 40 percent cut in fall courses. According to the Daily Sundail there was a women studying, many assumed she was a student at CSUN, the truth was she was a student from Brandeis University, a prestigious private school in Boston. The argument is that  state universities offer a better price for an education to mostly local students, but they are benefiting someone who doesn't even attend a CSU, and let alone a school in California. According to the August 25th news article of 2009 of "Daily News Los Angeles," California State University has slashed enrollment and have increased tuition and fees by 20 percent, to $4,861 per year. This was done so to close a $584 million funding gap. In addition, CSUN's budget was cut by $41 million for the academic year of 2009, this meant larger classes and fewer part-time teachers. I understand that these numbers are from 2009, now how about the 32 percent tuition hike of May 10th, 2011 that took place according to a news article from KPBS.  As is said in the May 10th, 2011 news article, the California State University was considering a $1 billion contingency plan of cuts that would increase tuition up to 32 percent and shut down enrollment for thousands of students. At that time universities had prepared for double the cuts because of the state's failure, at that time, to extend state taxes. Students were wait-listed and the tuition for a full-time undergraduate student, at that time, was planned to increase to about $6,500 per year. Another news article posted by "Huff Post Los Angeles: The Internet Newspaper," a demonstration took place on the CSUN campus. Students protested tuition and fee increases.  Many students cannot afford to pay more and many cannot see the end in sight. This year (2012) subsidized loans will no longer be offered, students will be forced to get private loans. Since the school system cannot afford to keep so many students, many students will be "kicked out."  Those are just issues that are present while students are in school, yet many graduate after 4 to 6 years and look for a job in their field and find nothing. Then they are forced to return to school for another 2 to 3 years more for graduate school. That means more time, more money, and less time to get started with their lives.  Overall the news is very troubling, due to the fact that I have a subsidized loan, and I am a freshmen in college. If the situation continues to get worst then the future education of I, and the many other students will be greatly affected. I will be obligated to obtain a private loan, and be indebted for the next 4 to 7 years.  
Just SM:)E

Monday, January 23, 2012

Don't You Know Who I Think I Am?



Brief List♥
 ↓
Shy
Weird
Silly
Likes To Read
Can't Park
Likes The Smell of Fresh Cut Grass
Thinks Golf Is Booorringgg
Loves Red
Likes Vanilla
Likes To Refer To Herself In Third Person
Prefers Animals Then People Because Animals Can't Talk