So I took the GRE today, as the previous posts would suggest. It was an interesting experience.

The analytical writing section was first, and I think I did pretty well on that. I won't get my scores for a few weeks (around 6 I think). I wrote an essay about the benefits of studying history, and another essay punching holes in a statement about writers going into television rather than print.

Then came the verbal. Verbal on the GRE is a tricky beast because of the obscurity of the words they use. I finished with a few minutes to spare, and felt like I had done alright. I think I got the first question right, which is the most critical question, and by the end I wasn't getting easy stuff, so it seemed like I was doing ok, but my score was somewhat disappointing (see the bottom of the post).

A quick stretch later I was taking the quantitative. Now, math is my strong point. The quantitative is 28 questions and you get something like 45 minutes. (Verbal is 30 questions, 30 minutes). So it requires more time for each question. I was moving along doing my work on the provided scratch paper, and I realized I was running out of time. I wasn't keeping a good enough pace. So I began hurrying up a bit. I then had to really push through the last 5 questions, jotting down a quick calculation and then making an educated guess. So by the end I was a little frazzled (since I'm usually good at this) and was unsure what to expect from the score, but you'll see I did pleasantly well.

I wrapped up writing another quick essay for the research area, which doesn't count for anything, and then went for the scores. I had my expectations going into this of doing fairly well. I was expecting a 7xx for the Quantitative, and a 6xx for the Verbal, my scores were not quite what I expected:

Quantitative: 800 (Woot!)
Verbal: 540 ( should have been better)

Strangely the percentile scoring for these two sections do not relate to the number score the same. According to the estimates I've seen, 800 Q is 92 percentile. 540 V is 70 percentile. However a 760 V is 99 percentile; so the Verbal is clearly harder than the quantitative for reasons uknown to me. My scores are plenty good enough to get into the Master's program here, so I should be all set for next year.... now all I have to do is apply for the program, and graduate in April....

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I'm off to take the GRE now.... hopefully it goes well....

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Just so you are all aware, I am vacationing in Las Vegas right now....

Oh, and a bum tried to move into our apartment.... I'll give more information about that when I have time....

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Current Book: Secrets & Lies - Schneier

Excerpt:

In April 1993, a small group of criminals wheeled a Fujitsu model 7020 automated teller machine into the Buckland Hills Mall in Hartford, Connecticut [that mall is actually in Manchester, but ok], and turned it on. The machine was specially programmed to accept ATM cards from customers, record their account numbers and PINs, and then tell the unfortunate consumers that no transactions were possible. A few days later, the gang encoded the stolen account numbers and PINs onto counterfeit ATM cards, and started withdrawing cash from ATMs in midtown Manhattan.

Too bad I was only 7 when this happened otherwise I'd remember it having happened. Pretty cute trick really.

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Another Excerpt (emphasis mine):
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.... Yet abolishing recess to make time for standardized-test preperation seems cruel.

It may also be inhumane. The United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child is a non-negotiable international human rights treaty that has been ratified by all but two countries in the world. It lays out fifty-four articles proclaiming basic human rights that should be afforded to children globally, such as freedom of religion and protection from violence, abuse, and sexual exploitation. Article 31 of the convention, which was adopted in 1989 affirms, "1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and arts. 2. States Parties shall respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity." Even educationally rigorous countries like Japan and Taiwan authorize recess, sometimes multiple recesses, as part of their daily school schedule. Why would our own country be unconcerned by a recreation and leisure provision backed by the weight of an international human rights treaty? Because other than Somalia, the only other country that hasn't ratified the treaty is the United States.

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Does anyone else find it disturbing that we are the only country other than Somalia to have not ratified this treaty?
SOMALIA! A country that hasn't had an effective federal government since 1991. A country run by warlords, that has modern-day pirates siezing ships along the coastline. Probably the most anarchistic country in the world right now. What does that say about us?

Yah, Yah, I'm sure there's lots of great 'patriots' out there to tell me that we shouldn't enter binding international agreements blah, blah, blah. It's a human rights treaty. Not a binding military agreement which will draw us into foreign wars without our consent (wouldn't want to invade another country without the consent of the citizens of the US. Oh wait! we already did that....).

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So I'm really enjoying my newest book, "The Overachievers" by Alexandra Robbins. Here's a short excerpt to think about:
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In what's been called a "rebellion" and an "unprecendented bipartisan revolt" against the White House's education centerpiece, at the time of this writing, forty-seven states were considering action against NCLB [No Child Left Behind] mandates. In August 2005 Connecticut was the first state to sue the federal government over NCLB, charging the Bush administration with being "rigid, arbitrary and capricious" in enforcing annual testing that was "unsupported by significant scientific research" and wouldn't help students.

The same year, nine school districts and ten chapters of the National Education Association (NEA)--the country's largest teachers' union--sued the Department of Education over NCLB. By law, the government can't require states to spend their own money to enforce federal policies, but the NEA estimated NCLB funding was at least $27 billion short of what was needed to prepare, test, and score students. In response, former education secretary Rod Paige, who had worked with the White House to draft the NCLB law, called the 2.7 million-member union a "terrorist organization."

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Robbins then goes on to describe the fraud that was later uncovered in the "Houston Miracle" which was the entire basis for creating the NCLB law. Basically the 'rapid improvement' seen in Houston under Rob Paige was achieved by preventing lower achieving students from taking the exams by either keeping them back a grade (so they wouldn't be tested that year), having them not come into school on exam days, or convincing them to 'leave' school before the years the exams were administered. Also the amazing dropout rate of 1.5% was a complete lie, and the true number was somewhere between 25 and 50%, covered up by defining many of the dropouts to be other categories.

Simply in the 4 years I spent at Cromwell High School and going back and visiting over the last 3 I can see that the education system, at CHS at least, is having major trouble. Administration is looking to make a name for themselves at cost to the well-being of students and teachers.

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So I just registered to take the GRE on August 30. Should be interesting. I did a prep test at number2.com I did decent, assuming that the percentiles they provide are somewhere near the real scores. If I get within 5% in either direction on the real exam I shouldn't have any problem getting into the Master's program here. I'll refrain from putting those values up here in case they end up being horridly wrong...

Since it's computer based I'll have my scores for the Quantitative (Math) and Verbal immediately, and then the Analytical writing score will come later.

Hopefully I'll still be able to enjoy our trip to Las Vegas the weekend before. I probably will, I'll only stress some.

Don't forget to wish me luck!

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Just finished reading: "Preparing the Elders of Israel to Save the Constitution" by Steve M. Thomas

An interesting read from the LDS perspective of prophecy fulfillment involving the deterioration of freedom within the United States and the eventual rising of the "Elders of Israel" who save the Constitution. Thomas goes into the abuses of the Constitution that currently exist as well as lightly touching upon governmental philosophy. He backs up some of his statements with quotes from Ezra Taft Benson, but many of his claims are unfounded except as an appeal to oneself. His arguments weakend by his recurring us of the phrase "seem obvious", "obvious to any person", "you obviously have", and the like. Anyone that has studied philosophy or creating rational arguments knows this is a big no-no. By claiming something is 'obvious' you are simply saying, "I have no proof of this, but believe it anyways". This book (more of a pamphlet really) is a mere 103 pages. To properly cover the subject (as my AP History teacher would say) would have required at least five times that I think. Thomas skims over way too much just making statements that the reader is expected to accept at face value. Alot of his points are valid, and alot of his points could be backed up quite strongly, but he fails to do so, and it weakens the whole claim. I found myself agreeing with about 50% of what he was saying, but from the tone he takes writing it, that's only because I won't accept the truth of it. He comes across as very condescending, which also takes away from the rationality of the arguments being posed. He would argue that Federal Government should be so minimal that we hardly even notice its existence, and it hardly notices ours. While this sounds great, he then goes on to say that there should be no such thing as Federal Regulations in any industry, ok still pretty good. But lets think about the state of things before any Federal Regulation. Shall we read "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair? Meat packing plants were disgusting before this book was published, forcing the creation of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. I'd say that's a pretty good use of Federal Regulation. Ok, we don't know what might have happened if that Act hadn't been created, maybe people would have stopped buying meat until companies cleaned up their act, but more likely is nothing would have happened. In my personal opinion the majority of people are completely apathetic. They'll get riled up for a month or two, and then they'll forget it ever happened. Anyways, it was an interesting read, even though I refuse to agree with much of it, I do agree with alot of it, and believe that he could have written another 200 pages (on top of the additional 400 I suggested) to cover the Secret Combinations that exist outside the governement, but control the government nonetheless. I refer here to the RIAA, the MPAA, the Telecom giants, and many other organizations.

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So we just watched "V for Vendetta". It was awesome. Thinking back and vaguely remembering the previews, it was horribly advertised. I would definitely have seen that in theaters had I had any idea what it was about. The political commentary was superb, the intellectual development was everywhere, one of the best movies I've seen in quite a while. I don't want to ruin the movie for anyone, so I will suffice it to say that It was very good on many levels. If you like "Equilibrium" I think you'll enjoy this, if you have read "1984", "Brave New World", "Fahrenheit 451" you will definitely like "V for Vendetta". Items I particularly enjoyed included: The people were regular people in an ultra police state, how things would likely happen given current trends in the political world. The US manages to destroy itself through the long drawn out war that began in Iraq. The virus of St. Mary's, Three Waters, and the Subway are quite clearly used as a postulate of many conspiracy theories about the events of September 11, 2001. What if the government were behind it?

The observant reader will notice that this movie is now on my wish list.

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Current Book: 1776 - David McCullough

So I've been getting more visits to this site in recent history, some even from Europe and Canada, and all over the US. I feel like I should say something interesting. I do want to find time to add a Current Book section to the little bar that displays Current Music and Current Mood. Unfortunately I am not fluent in Perl, and such a task is beyond me at the moment. So I'll just start adding that info in here, as you can see above.

Upon reading 1776 (I still have about 80 pages to go) I've come to a conclusion, and some thoughts. I've decided that anyone that has actually studied war, and the full effect it has on the individuals so involved, would refuse to wage war, but in the most dire, defensive circumstances. It seems that a cost-benefit analysis would yield the insanity of waging war. Perhaps that's just because I think humans have the right to live their lives. Who am I to say that your government is evil and needs to be extinguished? My government has quite enough problems of its own that I can't fix. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

I've also decided that it should be a requirement for U.S. Presidency that you hold at least a Bachelor's Degree in either U.S. History or World History, and a minor in the other. That would at least suggest you know something about how the world works. "But what about a Political Science degree?" you ask. Personally, that's a nonsense degree. There certainly is no science involved in how politics works, and I am personally against the idea of "career politicians". Wouldn't it be a really interesting experiment to say only people with 'normal' lives could run for congress or governor or president? And then say you're not allowed to serve the country in such a manner for more than 2 terms. Because remember, you're a servant to the citizens of the United States, and not the other way around.

Instead the system only allows those that have dedicated their life to politics to get anywhere where they can make a difference. And by that time they've made so many 'deals' and 'compromises' just to get there they no longer can make any difference without upsetting their lobbyists... err constituents.

So how about this. Everyone knows the political system by and large is corrupt. Rather than allowing the little loopholes and secrecies to continue I've got a plan. No politician is allowed to accept anything from anyone for any reason, except when that gift is a manner of ceremony in which it would be rude to refuse, or the giver is a blood relative. By this exception I mean in the rare circumstance when, say, a foreign dignitary visits and presents said person with something as a token of friendship. And the second exception so your husband/wife can still give you flowers on Valentine's Day. In any other circumstance though, just flat out say it is not allowed. You cannot accept lunch, dinner, a soda, a granola bar, a pencil, anything. And to back this up, all members of Congress, both the House and the Senate, as well as the President and anyone else working in the White House and Capitol Building should have all their financial records open to the public. Remember, they serve the citizens of the U.S. and should act as such, and not how it works now where the citizens get spied on and the politicians are immune (since they make the laws). Wouldn't that be an interesting experiment?

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I was able to encounter the epitome of ignorance this evening. I walked down to Smith's to buy some groceries, as I was once again out of food. On my return trip is when the idiocy commenced. Some moron with apparently nothing better to do (clue number 1) drives by in a black pickup while yelling out the window "Hey, you faggot! Get a car you piece of s**t!" Yes, by his infinite wisdom my not driving a car the 4 blocks to the grocery store not only makes me a homosexual, but a homosexual piece of fecal matter. Not sure how that one works quite yet... Obviously I'm the less intelligent one in the exchange. I'm not driving an 8 mpg pickup truck and yelling at pedestrians at 10:45 pm, therefore I am dumb. I'm a senior in college on full tuition scholarship, with $3000+ in the bank; I must be stupid. I apologize to the world for my lack of wit. I'll be sure to buy a uselessly large truck before I go to get my $29.94 worth of food for the next week.

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I bought a new suit yesterday from Banana Republic. It is awesome. Quite a good deal too. Final price after taxes: $247.77. Original price: $398.81. And it's Banana Republic, it fits really well, it feels really nice, and it looks amazing.

But not to be outdone I finally found out the price of the pocketwatch I've been thinking about, and looking at each time I went to University Mall. And at its price, I had to get it, so I now have an awesome pocketwatch as well:


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Amazing thunderstorm this afternoon, maybe I'll post some pictures... anyways to the main topic.

I finished reading Blink this morning while waiting for the oven repairman to show up. It provides some intriguing insights into the power of the subconscious mind. To sum up in a very abbreviated way: your 'gut' feeling is probably right if you have enough experience in the area that the 'gut' feeling pertains to. Your subconscious mind is really good at processing the thousands of pieces of data that are constantly flying at you, cataloging them, and passing on the urgent pieces to the conscious mind for further analysis. Alot of that data, however, is absorbed and alters your psychological state without you even realizing it. You can make yourself feel happier by forcing an artificial smile for a little while. You can begin walking more slowly if a set of words unconsciously triggers thoughts of being old. You can know things without knowing why you know them. You get a sensation within the first few minutes of an encounter; your subconscious has processed the datum, decided something, and provided you with the sensation. I recommend this book as well as Freakonomics as good, intriguing reading which will, at the very least, cause you to re-examine the world around you.

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