Human Drug Clinic Vs. Prostitution

I would like to know the difference between selling your body for sex, and selling your body for drugs. Thus, the difference between Human Drug Clinics and Prostitution. The typical argument most people bring up is that Drug Trials are "for the better of the state and human kind". Although, are they not forgetting that they have the similar life-threatening risks? It's still abusing one's body? Somehow, drug clinics are justified, because (if proven beneficial) they can be used for the state? So although the purpose differs, the process is still the same.

The Conflicts of Nature

The Conflicts of Nature

Chameleons constantly change their complexion;
They never perceive a familiar reflection.
Seasonal times require adaptation;
The leaves change colour, they avoid a stagnation.
With ruptures of rain, and twinkles of thunders,
Contrasts of Nature are identity wonders.
Ying and Yang establish a whole,
But what part of the soul do they both control?
Black and white create shades of grey,
With so much found yet so much astray.
The day has a cloud;  the night has a star;
My soul is closed, but my mind is ajar.
The good, the bad, the light, the dark;
The conflicts of nature leave quite a mark.
Parts of myself are separate but equal,
I will always replay my unfortunate sequel.

From Russia, With Hate

Last night, while I should have been studying for my midterm or sleeping, I was watching a short film about Neo Nazism in Russia on youtube. I was so disturbed. Here's what I have to say about it:

Racism and Neo-Nazism is on the rise in Russia. And as one guy put it "The Russian Government won't systematically deal with the immigrant issue. So we're dealing with it." Attack against minorities are daily in Russia, and often result in death. "being a black man in Moscow is dangerous...I always watch my back...If I'm going to class, I go straight there." Foreign students in some of Moscow's universities are under lock down during the days surrounding Hitler's Birthday. Purely out of safety reasons.

Essentially, the main argument for brutal violence against visible minorities was that they took away jobs that Russians could potentially fill. They were angry that immigrants were (somehow) preventing Russians from the jobs, money and essentially attention they deserve. Native Russian populations are on the decline, and immigration to Russia has picked up steadily since they opened their borders.

"Controlled migration could help compensate Russia's population decline and labour shortage. Russia's population shrinks by 700,000 people each year due to high mortality and low birth rates. On the other hand, the unregistered nature of labour migration to Russia deprives migrants of citizen rights, making them vulnerable to underground employers and creating fears among Russians that immigration could drastically alter the country's ethnic makeup."

"Poor immigrants have completely destroyed our lives." said one Neo Nazi. Skinheads argue that employers will hire immigrants over Russians because Russians demand higher pay wages than the immigrants. Yet, one website states that there is a labour shortage in Russia's growing economy, and the 2007 immigration policy was implemented to fill that.

In February, the Russian government made moves to ban specific illegal parties that supported anti-immigration, but have not altered the main immigration policy - leaving anti-immigration supporters insensitive to the ban.

A few questions I would like to pose is this: Would Russia be thriving as it is today if it weren't for foreign investment, occupation and support? Would Russia be successful if all immigration was banned?

I've been doing some research, and the general conclusion among supporters of banning immigration is basically that, "Immigrants take, and don't give." Three years ago, the USA Immigration policy allowed roughly 2 to 4 million immigrants every year to enter their borders. Some argued that this caused the economic downfall: Immigrants receiving benefits, and sending their income back to their 'homelands'. Some argued that it simply caused over population and thus a lower distribution in resources.

It's obvious that immigrants cause problems for native populations, but what is the best way to handle the situation? Personally, I don't think violence against minorities is the answer - but apparently some people do.

If you're interested in watching the short film about Neo Nazim in YouTube, you can view it at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLUxuq-E9yA (PART ONE)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuOVgx3Zh6E&feature=related (PART TWO)
*This does have graphic content. So watch this on an empty stomach..."

Resources:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080308140126AAXb0K8
http://cofcc.org/2011/02/major-russian-anti-illegal-immigration-group-banned/
http://www.euromonitor.com/russias-new-immigration-policy-will-boost-the-population/article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Nazism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwAnEj2Y8gg
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/30/russian-skinheads-attack-_n_698744.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_National_Socialist_Party
http://nationalism.org/rnsp/

Activist Websites

The following are recommended activist websites I've found useful in one way or another. I encourage as many people as possible to visit and support.

http://www.worldrevolution.org
http://www.ashoka.org
http://www.msf.org
http://www.ifrc.org
http://www.earthfundintl.com
http://www.afribike.org
http://www.hajdeda.org.yu
http://www.ngltf.org
http://www.yaids.org
http://www.freerice.com

More information on these later...

The Nuisance of Telephone Poles

As I was driving back from Greenwood today, I paid particular attention to the numerous amounts of telephone poles. I've realized they're really inconvenient and I was thinking of alternatives for them. Although to create an alternative one needs to know the purposes of the fault invention.
Utility poles:
-distribute electric power(distribution lines)
-have subtransmission lines
-carry telecommunication cables

..To be continued. Disrupted due to lack of sleep..

Cryptex Box

I was really bored one day, and decided to invent something. I really wanted to invent a box that would keep my secrets, or more importantly, papers that belong to other people (not as shady as I just made it seem), and other things. Anyways, I decided to incorporate a cryptex puzzle into a wooden box. It took a lot of sketches at first for it to work properly, but eventually I made the puzzle proportionate to the box.

The vile of the cryptex would contain sulfuric acid instead of vinegar; this would insure that if someone opened the box by force, the vile would break and many of the documents would become illegible, and if someone touched the papers, well.. their fingers would burn.

The hinge of the box would be the following:

Incase of an obstructed view from the pictures, I'll do my best to explain. Then hinge system consists of 3 brass "slates". #1) 1 1/2' x 1' #2) 2' x 1' #3) 3' x 1' The height of 3 inches for the third slate is relative to the height of the box (excluding the lid/cover). The hinge system is obviously located inside of the box, and is key in the role of breaking the knotched vile. Slate #1 is screwed horizontally into the ldge of the lid. Slate #3 is screwed vertically into the inside ledge of the box accordingly. Slate #2 is then the "moving slate" that is connected to slates #1 and #2 by two brass connectors. The hollow track created by slates #2 and #3 is wide enough to insert a glass vile of acid(with a small brass rod inside)equal to the width of the box. At one end of the brass rod&vile is a brass head that will eventually be the top of the cryptex puzzle.

The following is a diagram how the puzzle is installed into the back of the wooden box:

So obviously, the typical cryptex consists of six discs each with 26s letters. The disc dimensions I'm using will be demonstrated later, but for simplicity's sake I won't incorporate the math in these explanations just yet. Anyways, each disc has a hollow centre in which the brass rod&vile fit through, and above that a much smaller track in which a small wire can be woven through and attrached to the inside of the rearside of the box and the bottom of the box to allow free rotation of the disc. Each disc also has a square knotch incorporated into the hole od the disc directly underneath the letter that is apart of the puzzle's password. So for example, let's say the password is KRISTA. Each disc would correspond to a letter, and under that letter would be a knotch. Thus when all knotches are aligned appropriately, the glass vile with matching raised knotches will slide out of the hinge and the box in general with ease. One can arrange the password on the back side of the wooden box, where six 3' x .5' slits are cut, and the discs fitting appropriately into them, with the brass rod and glass vile on the inside (obviously) and the head of rod on the outer-side of the box, opposite to the end inserted into the hinge track. The head of the rod contains a small key which can be retrieved once the rod is removed, and then used to open the classic lock on the front of the box.

The mathematics of it will be included once I find an appropriate way to do so...

It's perfectly clear that this invention is highly impractical, especially in the twentyfirst century, but was just a fun way to relieve boredom on a thursday night.

Maturity

Unfortunately, my brain tends to think much faster than I can type, so if I rapidly switch topics, forgive me, yet I'll try to be conscious of this.

For the past year I've been thinking a lot about maturity; what it means, where it comes from, etc. I've realized now that there are different ways of being mature, but more importantly, I've realized maturity is understanding.

By definition, maturity is "full development; adulthood: the period of time in your life after your physical growth has stopped and you are fully developed". Clearly this definition mentions nothing specific about the psychological aspect, and maybe it shouldn't. However, I think it's an important aspect when explaining what maturity really is.

Having the ability to fully comprehend all sides of an argument or situation, and not just one's own argument is an example of maturity. Clearly there are many more examples, and other bones of contention I'd like to address later.

Although firstly I'd like to bring up an idea of Chris Langan's, and if you don't know who he is, I suggest you google him. Anyways, he believes to an extent that the size of the brain is related to the intelligence. His example was this:

Brain size of a mouse = tiny
Brain size of a cat = slightly larger
Brain size of a dog = slightly larger again
Brain size of an ape = larger
Brain size of a human = even larger

His argument was that as you peer down the list above, the brain size increases as does the general intelligence. According to Peter H Raven, the average size of the human brain is 1450 cc. If his "theory" was true, a human with a brain the size of 1600 cc would be smarter than the average brain of 1450 cc. Although what he doesn't consider is the capacity. He's mistaken to think that because one has a larger brain, makes one more intelligent, but perhaps it just means they have the capacity to be more intelligent. There are studies that the larger the brain (and ofcourse the age of the brain) include more white matter. White matter ... oops I just caught myself jumping ahead again ... Anyways, I'll explain how this all relates to maturity soon enough, but right now there are other things demanding my attention.