This story describes how Microsoft is turning the screens black every hour on computers that are running pirated versions of their Windows software. The story then goes on to say that “Dong Zhengwei, 35, a Beijing lawyer, has complained to the public security ministry, describing the software giant as the “biggest hacker in China, with its intrusion into users’ computer systems without their agreement or any judicial authority”. Hey Dong, I have an idea, why don’t you complain to the ministry about you countries total lack of respect for the intellectual property right of others. 90% of the software in your country is pirated and you want to complain when a company actually does something to protect their rights.

China’s look the other way policy on piracy has to stop. If the Chinese government won’t do anything about it then the companies and people being harmed need to be allowed to do it for them. All of the fake Rolex watches and Gucci handbags that are being sold on every street corner in China need to be torched as well as the people who manufacture them and sell them. Companies should be allowed to hire mercenaries to go in and destroy every single piece of pirated clothing or electronics available. Microsoft and any other software companies should be able to permanently disable any computer that has pirated software on it.

Instead of doing anything productive the Chinese software industry is going to take actions against Microsoft. What is wrong with those idiots? Do they not realize that they are only cutting their own throats long term? Going after the deep pockets now is very short sighted and will keep China sucking hind tit when it comes to developing software engineers and programmers in the future. Despite the fact that the Chinese middle class is growing at an alarming pace and their people are adapting new technologies faster than anywhere on earth they have failed to develop a software industry because of piracy.

You will never be able to convince me that the Chinese government couldn’t stop piracy if they wanted it stopped. They can stop people from having 2 children for god’s sake. It is very obvious that they made a decision a long time ago that it would be the quickest way for their economy to grow so they went for it. But now that they are less shrouded from the rest of the world they need to step up and make the right choices. China is bad but Guardian is worse. They pretend to be reporters but in truth they are a just a typical rag that should be avoided like the plague. They can claim to only be reporting on the events but the use of sensationalism in headlines just for the sake of sensationalism get them SPITED!

I wonder if it would have been possible to ask Gillian Gibbons to simply have her class rename the bear, and let everyone go on their merry way.  No I am sure that would have been way too simple for a government that wants to do anything to make world news for their stupidity.  I really do understand how a Muslim may be offended by this, but I have to wonder if they would have been as insulted if the teacher were an Arab Muslim?  I know you are going to argue that a Muslim would have never done that, but I counter with everyone at one time or another during the course of their life makes a mistake.  I have a deep love for every religion I find them all fascinating and polarizing at the same time, you can sure read on this site the love I have shown to Islam and to Muhammad, but we all need to show more tolerance to our fellow man, and if we are insulted sit down and talk about it instead of blowing a situation out of proportion.  Sudan your entire government should be charged with inciting religious hatred for everything you have done in this case and oh so many more.

Sudan you are going to have to step up your game to beat out Fred Phelps and Lyndon Lamborn, but considering you are an entire government acting like a spoiled child I may just give you one extra notch of stupidity.  Alright it would really be impossible to more ignorant than Fred Phelps, no make that impossible, so Sudan you will have to really step up and do something extra special to win the year end award.

I had two lengthy paragraphs about the possibilities of what might have gone wrong in Fred’s childhood but have decided that you can figure out what those things are for yourself.

A few of the funny things I found on the churches website is that both Ronald Reagan and Reggie White are burning in hell right now. Well I am sure that the opposite is true of both of these great men. They are two of the most revered men this country has ever had and if there was ever a case for the conservative right to distance themselves from these idiots then I hope they take the opportunity to do so because of these two men. Americans recently voted Ronald Reagan the greatest American of all time and I am sure that was done by the conservatives who may otherwise agree with these morons on some miniscule level. I hope that all Americans can see these people for what they are. Ignorant bigots with nothing better to do than propagate hate and separation in our society.

Americans have freedoms that are given by the Bill of Rights that no other country has, and with these freedoms comes a cost. The cost to us is that we have to listen to the most awful hateful crap that people like the Westboro Baptist Church come up with. I may not know much about God, but my God hates people like Fred and his followers and will never allow them to do anything more than burn in hell for eternity. Trust me if you believe anything that comes form this bigots mouth, you are an idiot and will burn in hell right along with them. I thank God everyday when I wake up in this glorious country because there is no other place on earth you could find people like Fred Phelps to make you realize just how screwed up your life really isn’t.

Good going Fred I am sure you are going to give Lyndon Lamborn a run for his money for Spited.com Idiot of the year.

I love in-fighting made public. A couple of days ago my local newspaper the East Valley Tribune (a rag of the highest order) reported that a local LDS cultist has been excommunicated by the Mormon Cult. The said cultist a Mr. Lyndon Lamborn went public about his excommunication because the LDS Cult leaders advised him of their intent to inform the other cultists of his excommunication publicly.

Mr. Lamborn says that he is being excommunicated for raising questions about the teachings of the Mormon Cult after a co-worker informed him in 2005 that Joseph Smith the founder of the Mormon Cult was a polygamist. Mr. Lamborn has been a Mormon Cult member for more than 30 years, but he claims to have had no knowledge that Joseph Smith was a polygamist. Lyndon buddy, get your head out of your ass. Are you kidding me? What did you think people were referring to when they found out you were a Mormon and made you the butt of all of those jokes? I find it hard, no make that impossible to believe that this fool had no knowledge of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and many other Mormons being polygamists. I also find it impossible to believe that the Mormon Cult is trying to hide these simple truths from their drones, I mean followers.

Mr. Lamborn goes on to state that he has found thousands of reason why the Mormon Cult cannot be what it claims to be during his subsequent investigation. He also claims that the Cult leaders cannot give him thorough explanations for his findings and that they are claiming that he is sharing his findings with the other Cult members. Well of course he is, he is also sharing his research with the public by taking this “story” to the local rag. This Cult has a right to protect its drones from people who would directly speak out against it while in it’s midst. No matter how innocent Lyndon is trying to make himself seem in the article I am absolutely sure that he has some ulterior motive, and my best guess is that he is writing a book and is trying to gain a little notoriety before it is released. Congratulations Lyndon you made the front page of the East Valley Tribune but more importantly you made the front page of Spited.com.

Now if I could just figure out how to keep those annoying little roaches (oops I meant cultists) from ringing my doorbell, life would be grand. Seriously stop coming to my door. I have put up a keep out sign on my gate and that didn’t help. My local hardware store doesn’t sell “NO MORMONS” signs. So I guess I will have to come up with a sign of my own. How about “WE FEED MORMONS — To our dogs”

However, the Asian Culture is often categorized as a whole.

What is Culture?

Culture is the software our minds use to process input from the world around us. It is learned from the time of our birth. We belong to many groups, large (Nations) and small (Families), which differentiate themselves from other groups with rules and beliefs. Culture includes concepts, skills, habits of thinking and acting, arts, institutions, ways of relating to the world and agreement on what is significant and necessary to know.
There is no “escape” from culture. It imbues every aspect of our lives. Cultural patterns are remarkably durable, but they are also flexible, ambiguous, contradictory and changing. Conflict or miscommunication often occurs when cultures collide.

Cultural Differences
The United States is a Nation based on the ideals of Egalitarianism: “the doctrine of the equality of mankind and the desirability of political and economic and social equality”. Individuals are recognized for their contributions. We often focus on results, confront problems and speak up. These ideals are expressed in common sayings such as:

“Toot your own horn.”
“Give yourself a pat on the back.”
“Grab the bull by the horn.”
“The squeaky wheel gets the grease.”

It would be highly unlikely to hear any of these expressions in an Asian Culture. Asian Culture is Authoritarianism, which stems from Confucianism and is characterized by or favoring absolute obedience to authority. Asian Culture is status and group oriented. You may hear these sayings:

“Modesty is a virtue”
“The nail that sticks up gets hammered down” (Japan)
“An empty cart makes a louder noise” (China)

Context
Context is the whole situation, background, or environment connected to an event, a situation, or an individual. The United States is a comparatively Low Context Culture. “A low-context culture is one in which information and meaning are explicitly stated in the message or communication. Individuals in a low-context culture expect explanations when statements or situations are unclear, as they often are. Information and meaning are not internalized by the individual but are derived from context, e.g., from the situation or an event.” (2)

Asian Cultures are High Context. “A high-context culture is a culture in which the individual has internalized meaning and information, so that little is explicitly stated in written or spoken messages. In conversation, the listener knows what is meant; because the speaker and listener share the same knowledge and assumptions, the listener can piece together the speaker’s meaning”. (2)

Content is what is said, while Context is where, how and when it is said. The Highest Context Cultures are Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Arab.

The difference between High and Low Context Cultures can be compared to an iceberg:

“Above the water line: Aspects of culture that are explicit, visible, taught.
Below the water line: “Hidden” culture: the habits, assumptions, understandings, values, judgments … that we know but do not or cannot articulate. Usually these aspects are not taught directly.

High context cultures have more cultural knowledge below the waterline, Low Context cultures have more cultural knowledge accessible above the waterline.” (3)

The communication problems that arise when one speaker is from a high-context culture and the other is from a low-context culture can be seen in the Joy Luck Club: “My mother and I never really understood one another. We translated each other’s meanings and I seemed to hear less than what was said, while my mother heard more” (2)

Cultural Variations
Always be sensitive to “FACE” when communicating with an individual of Asian Culture. “Face” is identity and respect and because Asian Culture emphasizes group identify, “saving face” is not only directed at self, but also at the other person. There is concern for the group reputation and a win-win reputation. There is also a reciprocity, a belief that, “If I help save the other person’s face at this time, perhaps the other person will help save my face at a future date.” Demonstrations of saving face include: lowered expectations of other persons and apologies ahead of time, emphasizing that they have done their best and hope the others will forgive them.

Working with Asians
Check your assumptions - Because of our differences, we must never assume that a person from another culture adheres to our unspoken rules. An example is: eye contact; which is a sign of honesty and involvement in the United States, but is perceived as disrespectful in Asian Cultures.

Avoid stereotyping and generalization - Any information provided is simply a guideline to provide better understanding, but remember you are working with individuals and they deserve to be recognized as such.

Seek to understand their perspectives - Asian Culture does not promote individualism so be sensitive when requesting feedback in a group setting. An Asian coworker may refrain from speaking out in a group. Also, they will be less likely to correct mistakes or incorrect assumptions, to avoid embarrassing others (saving face). An affirmative response is not necessarily agreement.

Recognize diverse values as strengths - Asian culture values family and relationships. Once a relationship is established, there will be tremendous loyalty. This is true of your Asian coworkers as well as you Asian customers. Spend the necessary time to build relationships and honor them.

Explain corporate American culture and priorities - A typical American business meeting will include a few minutes of pleasantries and then on to business. Since Asian culture is focused on Relationships and Status vs. Task and Results, a great deal of time will be devoted to building personal relationships and a small portion on business. American businessmen, eager to close a deal, may unintentionally insult if they do not recognize the culture differences. Asian individuals thrust into American business arena, will likely be overwhelmed with the unfamiliar territory. Your awareness of the culture differences will make you an ideal coach.

Help team to understand cultural differences - “Seek first to understand, so that you may be understood.” (4) You are aware of cultural differences, and even though you do not fully understand the Asian culture, your awareness allows you to see where miscommunication may occur. Once you share your awareness with others, they too can improve communications.
Emphasize trust, inclusion and mutual learning

© Copyright 2003 Lisa Hood. All rights reserved.

Resources
(1)
(2) Amy Tan, author - Joy Luck Club; High Context Cultures and Low Context Cultures @ http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/tan.html
(3) Cross Cultural Communications @ http://www.culture-at-work.com/overh1.html#basics
(4) Stephen Covey - 7 Steps of Highly Effective People

Definition: contemporary lifestyle and items that are well known and generally accepted, cultural patterns that are widespread within a population; also called pop culture

When I look at the definition of pop culture, the words that stick out to me are “well known.”

The article “Teen Christians Campaign against pop culture” is all about teenagers and young adults going to Christian rallies to get away from pop culture and be themselves. From 2006 to 2007, a total of 127,830 people attended the 34 Acquire the Fire rallies, and 71,414 people attended the three BattleCry events held in San Francisco, California; Detroit, Michigan; and Bristow, Virginia, according to Teen Mania. That seems pretty “well known” to me. And if it is well known wouldn’t that mean it is becoming pop culture. If that many people are going to these rallies, then more are going to want to go with their friends and family. So then it is going to become more popular then anything else.

“We don’t have to be branded by the culture, we are branded by God, be who God created you to be.” Jared Hutchins said.

Maybe God made some people to follow what ever is popular at the time. Maybe that is just how people are. But I do not believe that you should be anything that someone made you to be, you should be someone you want to be. For something to get popular in the first place, it would have to be liked by more than one person. Would everyone that also liked it be considered as followers because maybe they have the same taste or they like the same things. But they didn’t like it first. You can never tell if someone truly likes something or they just like, to be popular. Maybe all the people that are into what is popular right at that time truly do like it. You don’t know if they liked it before it became popular, or just like because other people like it.

You don’t have to be Christian to go against pop culture. Many people dislike being normal, they like to be different. Take gothic or emo people for example, some one started wearing all black because they didn’t want to be like everyone else, but look at how many people are gothic and emo now. It is not pop culture but it is popular. Not everyone followed it, but everyone knows what it is.

The story starts with poor little Jared Hutchins not being able to listen to the Beatles, because the bands world view had a negative affect on his delicate sensibilities.  Jared it would seem to me is a typical American child that has learned to gravitate to any organization that will allow him to blame his troubles on anything but himself, and be a part of a group.  My picture of Jared is one of a lonely kid sitting in his room with no friends or means of getting his hands on an AK-47 to take to school the next day to solve his problems.  Jared then turns to religion and blames popular kids and pop culture for making him an outcast.  Jared states that he has to be careful of the music he listens to.  Why Jared are you really that easily influenced by what you hear in a song?  Well I guess he is that easily influence because he joined this “Christian” organization with the slogan “BattleCry”. 

Ron Luce the founder of Teen Mania is most certainly a marketing genius, but I have to wonder about the stability of any person who would want to be surrounded by teens.  Teen Mania with their slogan BattleCry has hats, shirts, mobile screen savers, and a television program.  Isn’t pop culture based on things like mobile phones and television?  Luce has used pop culture to get the attention of a bunch of insecure kids who don’t fit in to start his own little pop culture.  Genius I tell you genius. 

I am wholeheartedly for capitalism, but let’s call it what it is.  Teen Mania is a commercial enterprise that preys on children and their insecurities in the name of God.  All teenagers get to a point in their lives when they struggle with right and wrong and what they can do to be a part of something bigger than themselves.  I am sure this is exactly what Jesus wanted when he was walking the earth, saving people.  He wanted future generations to declare war in his name, and exploit young children for commercial gain.

The first pillar deals with the sanctity of there only being one god and the finality of Muhammad being the last Prophet.  Obviously this is a key ingredient of the religion; if it were not included then the religion would not truly exist.

The second pillar establishes the need for daily prayer.  I believe this may be one of the most important aspects to any religion and not just Islam.  When your god is close to your heart and in you mind at all times you are more likely to act in accordance of the religion.

The third pillar brings the plight of all people to the front of the religion.  It states that a good Muslim will do almsgiving and have concern for the needy.  If this pillar were followed more closely we would have much less suffering in the world today.

The fourth pillar deals with the purification of the body through fasting.  This is also an important part of the religion because it forces the follower to think carefully about the second and third pillars.  I am sure that Allah was establishing the other pillars through the use of this pillar, and not wanting his followers to make extreme sacrifice in his name.

The fifth pillar makes it clear that all followers of Islam should make a pilgrimage to Mecca during their lifetime.  I am not sure what the purpose of this pillar really is other than just keeping the religion on the peoples mind.  If the person hasn’t made the pilgrimage then they will be thinking about doing so, or if the have they will recount the memories of being in the holiest place of their religion.

Without question the third pillar would be the easiest to fulfill as it is the moral obligation of every world citizen to take care of their fellow man.  Muhammad gave the Followers many outs of the third pillar if the were incapable of giving monetarily according to (Islam101, 2007) “The Prophet said, “Even meeting your brother with a cheerful face is an act of charity.” The Prophet also said: “Charity is a necessity for every Muslim.” He was asked: “What if a person has nothing?” The Prophet replied: “He should work with his own hands for his benefit and then give something out of such earnings in charity.” The Companions of the Prophet asked: “What if he is not able to work?” The Prophet said: “He should help the poor and needy.” The Companions further asked: “What if he cannot do even that?” The Prophet said: “He should urge others to do good.” The Companions said: “What if he lacks that also?” The Prophet said: “He should check himself from doing evil. That is also an act of charity.”

While today’s political climate may make the fifth pillar hard for people across to globe to complete, I believe the hardest pillar for anyone would be the first.  I find that people of all faiths come to a point in their lives where they start to question the existence or worthiness of any God. 

To this young republican I would first ask why they wouldn’t want to have clean air to breath during their lifetime.  Then I explain the process of evolution and why the destruction of our environment far outpaces evolution.  Miller states that evolution is a series of mutations and that (Miller Jr., 2005, 90) “Some mutations are harmless but most are lethal. Every so often, a mutation is beneficial. The result is new genetic traits that give the bearer and its offspring better chances for survival and reproduction under existing environmental conditions or when conditions change.”  Now that being said the reason we cannot adapt to environmental changes according to Miller is that (Miller Jr., 93)“First, a change in environmental conditions can lead to adaptation only for genetic traits already present in the gene pool of a population. You must have dice to play the genetic dice game.”  If humans did have that trait in them already then we should be able to adapt right, well no because  according to miller Jr. (Miller Jr., 2005, 93) “Populations of genetically diverse species that reproduce quickly—such as weeds, mosquitoes, rats, bacteria, or cockroaches—often adapt to a change in environmental conditions in a short time. In contrast, species that cannot produce large numbers of offspring rapidly, such as elephants, tigers, sharks, and humans, take a long time (typically thousands or even millions of years).”  Thousands of years from now there won’t be any humans left to adapt to a polluted environment, but the good news is that without humans over the course of thousands of years the earth will no longer be polluted and we can start again from scratch.  Then I would ask the student to bring their copy of Living in the Environment with them to class tomorrow for a chemistry lesson.

Welcome to Environmental Science 275 today we are going to do a short experiment with fire.  The questions you asked yesterday were excellent and I thought you should get the truth.  The truth is that despite all of the evidence that evolution is that way that life started on earth we don’t really know for sure.  I asked you to bring your books with you to class today to prove that point.  Everyone please turn to page 87 in your books and follow along, Miller Jr. states that (Miller Jr., 2005, 87) “If the atmosphere’s oxygen content dropped to about 15%, this would be lethal for most forms of life. If it increased to about 25%, oxygen in the atmosphere would probably ignite into a giant fireball.”  Now everyone please tear page 87 from your books and bring them to the front of the class.  Thank you now sit down basic chemistry teaches us that in order to have fire you must have two things a fuel and an oxidizer without one or the other you can’t have fire.  I would then proceed to split the pages in half and place each half under separate glass canopies, in the first I would pump a volume of pure oxygen in until the oxygen level was above 25% and continue pumping oxygen into it until the experiment was over.  The second container would be sealed at atmospheric conditions.  I would then trigger the automatic igniter in the first and watch until all of the pages had been burned and the fire went out.  We would then trigger the igniter on the second cylinder and watch until all of the oxygen was depleted but some of the pages remained.  I would then reinforce that despite evidence sometimes science gets it wrong, even the book we are reading. 

One of the reasons I believe that Hinduism has lasted so many years as a major world religion is the fact that it does attract followers from every walk of life.  Through societal influences followers of Hinduism are better able to accept their position in life, by believing that the life they have now is the result of actions from a past life.  This is explained by (Birodkar, 1997) “Thus it helped in cementing the social differentiation that the heredity aspect of the caste system had introduced. Dis-qualifications and inferior status of any caste became acceptable when looked upon as a result of deeds (karma) of the individual concerned in his past life or as his fate (Daiva) that had been destined for him by divine will.”  Believing that you are a product of the things you did in a past life would help the suffering of people who are very poor and would drive people of all status levels to be the best person they could possible be in this life to avoid suffering in their next life, Which is contradicted by the fact that some people in Indian society look down on people from a lower cast. Fisher points out (Fisher, 2005, 97) “Marriage across caste lines, for instance, is still often disapproved in India. If a boy and girl—one of whom is from the lowest caste—fall in love, sometimes the families from both sides will kill them rather than allow their marriage, to prevent disgrace or retribution.”  When a Hindu leads their life in a manner that is helpful and non-harmful to other beings they do it because of what they call Karma.  Karma can be explained in terms of a principle of physics for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  If a Hindu steals from another person they believe that as a result in this life they will become a thief, that they will suffer the fate of having things stolen from them, and that they will pay for that crime by being reincarnated into suffering during their next life. 

Culturally Hinduism Promotes value in both men and women and many sect of Hinduism worship female deities.  Hinduism can promote more harmony in a society were women are treated as equals or worthy of being worshiped compared to a society where women are treated with disdain and as a lower class.  Fisher point out that (Fisher, 2005, 84) “The female is highly venerated in Hinduism, compared to many other religions.  Women are thought to make major contributions to the good earthly life, consisting of dharma (order in society), marital wealth (by bearing sons in a patriarchal society), and the aesthetics of sensual pleasure.”  The worship of deities and places that are the same as where you live is important to any culture.  When missionaries come from foreign places asking people to worship symbols that have no resemblance to them it can be hard for people to understand and accept.  It is important for the art and symbols of a religion to be local and relevant to the people’s beliefs and lifestyles. 

The followers of Hinduism believe that the ultimate goal of their death is to be liberated from the confines of time and space.  It is the goal of every Hindu is not be reincarnated when they die.  If the Hindu follower lives their current life on earth in all of the correct ways then they will be able to join their deities in an everlasting bliss, free from all of the human confinements.  Karma also plays an important roll in reincarnation; Hindus believe that if they lead a good life then your next incarnation will bring them one step closer to their ultimate goal.