Copyright Law

I was reading through a friend's blog today, and she posted a video commemorating Tienanmen Square and the political violence that has occurred so many times in the past, and undoubtedly will in the future. I clicked to watch the video, and Youtube popped up with the following message:
Now, here's my question: Is this censorship? Is this kind of copyright protection acceptable? Mind you, this was created by a corporation, but the information the video contains is NEWS. Political forgetfulness is so much stronger if we don't have access to free video footage from the past. I personally find this reprehensible, but wanted to get other opinions...

Death?

Today's question is a tiny bit morbid, so just bear with me for a minute. Everyone has seen or heard of interesting, strange, boring or even bizarre methods of death, from the Darwin Awards to an old woman quietly passing in her sleep. Of all the methods you've heard of, read about, witnessed, imagined or otherwise been involved with (hopefully not committed...), which method of death would you, personally, prefer to have? Would you rather have your head served to your enemy on a silver platter, or go out in a blaze of gory glory? Would you rather quietly pass in the night, or die in a mindbending set of coincidences that befuddle those mourning you?

Food? Food. Food!

The topic for today's question is courtesy of Starr, who has kindly offered several question topics for submission. A couple were already in place other places, but this one I hadn't been ready to approach yet. It is a little broad, and I may choose to narrow it later, but for now, here goes:

When it comes to food, everyone has their own ideas, philosophies, and quirks. Whether your diet is spectacularly color coded, you think eating meat is murder, or you simply like to cut out the toxic foods from your diet, you certainly have your own thing. What is peculiar about your own diet? What drives these choices? Do you ever vary from your philosophic decisions, or do you stick to your guns?

The Full Life

Today's question is complex, as philosophic questions typically are, and any answers should be thought out and reasoned. If that delays things a little bit, that's ok with me.

The first part of the question is about what it means to live a "Full Life," and here the definition of what that means, precisely, will probably vary from person to person, but in general this means a life that is more than a hollow shell. This means more than living the standard social stereotypes, but instead allowing yourself to become a deep well of knowledge, wisdom, love, strength, friendship, honor, or whatever other values are prioritized. It means more than wealth and vapid consumerism. Thus, the first part of today's question is what exactly do you consider a "Full Life?"

The second part of the question is even more difficult. Once you've come to a definition that works for your world view, how do you achieve this fullness of life? How do you make progress toward it? What goals and objectives do you have that will bring you closer to this ultimate objective?

The third part of the question is most difficult, as it stops involving merely you. With you definition, your goals and objectives firmly in mind, consider those around you who matter to you. Whether it is your friends, your family, your lover, your neighbors, or your child's child's child's child, take them into consideration. How do they fit into your definition? How does your definition fit with them? How can you help others who are struggling to come to a realization of the necessity for a full life, and, most importantly, how can you help them to grow, learn, deepen, and become full themselves?

The Music at the Moment

Before you answer today's question, go put some music on. This is really important. Whether it is the radio, or your iPod on random, or Pandora, or whatever other method you have for listening to music, go do it. Now. Music is one of those amazing things that tells a story, brings images and memories to the surface, helps you feel joy or pain or simply the desire to dance. I can't possibly express how much I enjoy music. As I've aged, the music that I listen to has shifted slightly; I'm sure this happens to most people. The music I like now I would probably have been horrified by at 13 and simply confused by at 18, but I like a wide variety of music. I like alternative rock, dance music, hip hop, blues, jazz, classical, oldies rock, some country... and on and on. I just like music.

So here's the question: What song are you listening to right now? Who is it by? What does it make you think of? How does it make you feel?

Community at Home

This first question today is actually yesterday's question. I spent the preparing my house for two babysitters to hang out at my house for hours and hours and hours and hours, so I didn't get a chance to post. Sorry about that. I'll post another question tonight, too.

Today's question comes from a category I've had since the beginning, but this is the first question to come out of it! The basis of society is built around communities, and most of us are members of multiple community groups: our family, our friends, our church, our book club or game group or whatever other hobby we do organization. These communities our either inherited (family) or optional (friends), and vary in size, scope, and dynamics. One group is both inherited and optional, and this is the community built around the simple geography of where you live. Whether it is the apartment building you live in or the neighborhood you carefully selected, the geography of your home forces a community on you, with members you couldn't have anticipated and people you almost certainly don't get along with. Today's question comes in two parts: How long have you lived in your current area? Do you want to move, or are you really enjoying the community that comes with your current residence?

Loyalty Forgotten

I considered throwing the system of question selection out the window and simply picking a question, but decided not to do so in favor of maintaining my organized system of chaos. I added it in as usual, and it happened to be the one that ended up getting selected after all! w007!
Also, I added a couple of new categories for questions, music and favorites, in order to lighten up the questions a little. It might work, although the deep discussions are one of the biggest reasons I'm doing the blog, so we'll see how I like them in the long run. I might decide to dive deep into specific songs instead of simply floating the surface, but for now the questions are pretty simple.

Anyway, I have been thinking about Patriarchy and systemic methodology a lot over the last couple of days (triggered by a discussion about arranged marriages in my Hindi class), and I realized that our society could have a fundamental issue that goes to the heart of the way we act as individuals, and this comes from us forsaking Loyalty.

Now, I don't really want to get into my theory too much in the question, I'll leave it for the answer, but the basics come down to this: Society is forged in the furnace of joint loyalty: a chief owes his people leadership and protection, they owe him food and pretty girls. A father owes his children leadership and education, they owe him honor and dignity in his old age. A priest owes his flock leadership and spiritual guidance, they owe him monetary assistance and um... choir boys? Ok, maybe not the best example.

Here's the question: What lines of loyalty do you have in your life right now? Now, I'm specifically talking about societal expectations and the idea that you don't just owe a favor, but that you owe the individual or organization something more, something to do with honor, something that surpasses mere legality or convenience. Do you owe anyone?

The first real religion question!

Although we had a brief discussion about Jon Huntsman Jr, which naturally included religion, this is the first genuinely religiously oriented question! All religions have history, and for most religions this history goes pretty deep into the past. Even if the actual religion is fairly modern, almost all of them claim lineage or origins from much deeper historic events (such as modern Neo-Paganism associated their beliefs and practices with the pre-monotheist Gods, or Islam claiming ties as far back as Abraham).

In the practice of many religions, pilgrimage is an important part of the process of being a member. Islam even considers the Pilgrimage to be one of the Five Pillars on which the entire religion is based. For other religions, pilgrimage isn't required, but it is still considered to be a sign of faith, commitment, or simply a route to a magnificent religious experience which deeply enhances faith.

What pilgrimage have you always wanted to embark on for your religious group?

If you aren't particularly religious, are there any sites that hold deep historic significance for you for one reason or another (such as Valley Forge, or Stonehenge, etc)?

Either way, where would you like to visit as a pilgrim? What about it makes it special to you?

Overnighter

Sorry about the lack of a post yesterday. It was Valentine's Day, and I was busy pretty much the whole day.

Today's question is a little bit more random, so get ready for this!

Imagine for a moment that you needed to pack an overnight bag, whether it is for couchsurfing, going to a wedding out of town, or simply having a sleepover with a friend. There are two limitations: everything you pack MUST fit in a single bag that you own, and you have to make the list for someone else to pack for you. What do you write down? What is missing in the lists that others have posted?

A Mormon President?

When Mitt Romney was running for President back in 2008, I scoffed at the mere possibility of a Mormon president. However, as time as progressed and members of the LDS Church are becoming more politically powerful in the Conservative world, I find the likelihood of a Mormon getting elected to grow increasingly probable as time goes on. Doubtless shows such as Big Love have helped in this regard, making it clear that Mormons aren't evil, don't have horns, and only have one wife.

When Jon Huntsman Jr. was selected by Barack Obama to be the Ambassador to China I considered it a bold political stroke for both men; by removing a serious contender, Obama is much more likely to be elected. By placing himself in such a prominent and political position as the Chinese Ambassadorship, Huntsman placed himself in a prime position for running for president in 2016. As time went on, though, the likelihood of Obama being re-elected seems to have slowly declined, so that now most pundits seem to think he'll lose. With that looming, Huntsman waiting would mean waiting until 2020, something he obviously isn't willing to do, as he quit his position in China and is throwing his hat in the ring. Here's the question:

Do you think Huntsman can win the Republican Primaries? If so, could he win the general election? Why/why not? Consider his policies, his politics, his wealth, and (particularly) his competition.

Rise and Fall of the American Empire

In studying the patterns of History, the potential for collapse becomes very clear: every Empire, no matter how large or powerful, must collapse or be conquered at some point. While the United States being conquered any time in the near future is unlikely, it seems a little more likely that the American Empire could be on the verge of collapsing into chaos and ruin. Bound to happen at some point, what do you think is the likelihood of it happening in the immediate future? What do you think the causes of this collapse would be, or what still needs to happen for the collapse to occur?

Question: Resolutions and Goals

Now that January is solidly behind us, the furor over New Year's Resolutions is behind us, which means that when someone tries to change something about themselves they stop calling it a "resolution" and start calling it simply a "goal." Which is, really, a lot more accurate way of looking at it, particularly since a goal doesn't have the same time restrictions or simplicity that a resolution typically does.

Here's the question:
What goals are you currently working on accomplishing? Do you need encouragement, or are you doing great?