April Fools Webcomic Switcharoo - but wait there's more

Shenanigans, I say!

As an april fools day joke, xkcd.com shows the Questionable Content homepage, questionablecontent.net shows the dinosaur comics home page, and qwantz.com shows the xkcd home page. Well done, I thought - a very clever collaboration.

I checked to see if other webcomics might be doing this too, and among other comics, checked vgcats.com, and saw that nothing was different. Later, a few minutes ago, I checked vgcats, and saw that it resembled CAD. Sure, it's a very funny comic that makes fun of CAD, which I personally am not a fan of, but that's not the point, is it. (No, it's not)

I tried to ignore Scott Ramsoomair's blatant imitation of Scott Johnson's 56 Geeks Poster, because I really like vgcats, and check it often. I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy both imitations, I'm just saying that this reeks.

Personality

There are four main personalities that a person has:
-Who others think they are (Perceived External)
-Who they act like they are (Actual External)
-Who they think they are (Perceived Internal)
-Who they really are (Actual Internal)

For the sake of easy communication about these four main personalities that names have been assigned to them.

A main difference between any of these can cause problems.
Consider the following examples:

A difference between Perceived External and Actual External personalities means that the person is misunderstood.

A difference between the External personalities and the Internal personalities means that the person is acting differently than how they normally would act of their own accord; an example of this would be teens acting differently around their peers.

A difference between Perceived Internal and Actual Internal personalities means that the person is out of touch with themselves, and possibly in denial.

Respect

Some days ago an incident occurred between a student and a teacher that I witnessed. The teacher was putting words into the student's mouth, and the student was becoming understandably upset by this. When the student tried to interrupt to defend himself, the teacher cut him off, saying "excuse me, I'm speaking". The student tried again to interrupt, saying that what the teacher was saying wasn't true, and the teacher cut him off again, saying "excuse me, be respectful" to which the student replied that she (the teacher) was being disrespectful by putting words in his mouth. She continued to speak, and he interrupted her again. Even though she had followed him to the room that he was supposed to be in (which was already was occupied by a teacher) from a study that she was supposed to be watching, at this point she told him to go to the office. He complied, but on his way out said what all of us watching were thinking, if not in so many words; (the following is paraphrased, but is probably very close to what he actually said) "this is why I never liked you".

I also have a deep dislike for this teacher, and teachers like her, because they treat students like children. Yes, it is true that I have left the details out regarding why the student was followed back to his room by the teacher in question, and yes, it is probably true that while the teacher was exaggerating the student's offense by putting words in his mouth, the student did break a rule, or perhaps more than one. It is for this reason that adults would tell teens that if they wish to be treated like adults, they should act like adults. This point of view, however, is intrinsically flawed. If you wish us to treat you as adults, you too must act like adults. You were so busy teaching us to look before we leap that you forgot that with this knowledge we had gained the ability to see that like us, you are imperfect.

Do not misunderstand me. Well, you can if you like, but do not mistake my intention. I am not saying that the student was not wrong. What I am saying is that the teacher was also wrong. A small person behind a big desk is still just a small person, and nothing more. I care not about the potential punishment, unlikely though it might be, that might ensue from writing this, because I think that it's important that adults understand that while you were telling us to grow up, you made the mistake of showing us that you are not as perfect as you would have us believe. Not all teachers and authority figures are like this. In fact, there are those which easly spring to mind that are the direct polar opposite.

What I have a problem with is that while you would expect us to accept being treated in a manner suiting our actions while simultaneously expecting us to treat you with respect, regardless of your actions. If you truly wish for us to become independent and functional members of society, I submit to you that you should set better examples than this. Many of us are below many of you only because of the limitations placed upon us by the rules in the student handbook, a document that I do not recall ever agreeing to. There was no contract that I signed or deal that I agreed to that ever in any way let you take away my rights, and as a legal adult I resent that you would believe as such. The circumstances themselves are, while inconvenient, not unbearable, but it is the principle of the matter that irritates me. If we are (and we are) forced to stand for the pledge of allegiance each morning and face the flag, should we not be entitled to the freedom which that flag represents?

I'm not saying that I necessarily want anything to fundamentally change about the student-teacher relationship and the rules and regulations surrounding the school experience, but what I am saying that what you are doing is taking our submission for granted. The moment that you assume that we're going to let it slide is the moment that I become okay with letting your rules slide...and I'm one of the nice ones.

Stale

I'm sick of this place. I've lived here for far too long. Nothing against it, really, other than the fact that it's stale (hence this post's title). It's just gotten old; there's nothing here that I haven't seen a thousand times before. I could draw a detailed sketch of pretty much every road in this town - that's what being in a place your entire life does to you.

Every day, it's the same trees, the same streets, the same people. I'm not saying that there is anything intrensically wrong with anything that I've listed, I'm just saying that I'm sick and tired of it, and want to get out of here as soon as I can. It's like a meal that you can't finish because you've gotten sick of the flavor - even if it was once delicious, there's a million other things that you would rather taste.

I'm sick of this place. I've lived here for far too long.

The United States of America

The only thing that makes the United States anything close to united is the fact that it's all on the same landmass*. We Americans live in a country so divided that we periodically measure, chart, and map our division every four years. Some states are blue, and some are red. Society is governed by what people see on television, and that is controlled by how many people are watching what. The blue states have the same kinds of televisions that the red states have, and they all tune to the same things, but still this should not be considered a uniting factor.

*yes, I get that Hawaii and Alaska don't really count, but I meant mostly as a whole
The people in America have stopped reading newspapers. Most haven't read a newspaper in a long time. Today most of us get our news from word of mouth, or television. Relatively, very few people get their news from the Internet. Any news we get is a production created by a relatively small amount of people. If, at any point, all of these people are wrong all at once, the entire country is uninformed. Still, this should not be considered a uniting factor.

Society is what we make it, not what those who would call us our leaders tell us how it has been made. Celebrities in the business, media, and political industries of the United States should not have the power to dictate the opinions of those that they would consider to be their lowers. Those of us beneath should not allow ourselves to see through the eyes of those above.

Why do people care about what celebrities think? Why would people believe someone who they see on television if they've never met them face-to-face? Why would people let themselves be manipulated to serve the needs of the capitalistic society that we have built? I use the word "we" because it was all of us that built, and are building the United States of America. We make America what it is.

What a lot of people don't realize is that there are people living in the blue and red states. This nation is neither red nor blue, and its states should have no color but that of the entire United States, if we are so truly united, as we claim. If we were truly united, we would not fear each other. If we were truly united, we would be in harmony. Unison has deserted us for a very long time. We live not only in fear of our neighbors, but of our government. No one wants to believe that this is true, but what of torture, lies, and deception? What of wiretaps and secret prisons?

A war is going on in our name against a people that most of the people living in the United States know nothing about. A fight is being waged to protect us against an enemy that we have never heard of, except from those who have lied to us so many times, and whom we still continue to want to trust, despite all evidence of the smart decision being taking action of the contrary.

Those in power claim to represent the people of the United States, but the random chosen citizen of the country can name more characters in their favorite television show, movie, or band than Supreme Court Justices.

The public school system of the United States is no longer based around learning; it is based around the number that corresponds with a student's name - their GPA. If a student's GPA is high enough, they will be able to attend college, if they are accepted, if they find a way to pay the college, if they get the chance at all. High school drop-out rates are higher than any which have ever been recorded, and nothing has changed, except the barring of soft drinks from lunchrooms, which, shockingly, has not caused rapid correction of obesity in children, which is astounding, since how students could attain soft drinks from anywhere but their local public schools remains a mystery.

In a culture that promotes going along to get along, we are giving up our liberties to those that we have been told to trust, but who are apparently undeserving of such esteem. We are at a war against a people that most of us know little to nothing about, for reasons twice as mysterious. We are uneducated sheep who know only of money, or the lack thereof. We are the people of the United States: We are unhappy, but we are too divided to do anything about it, with liberty, and justice for all.

ad infinitum

(EDIT - this picture goes well with this, I think...original link to news story here)

Let the generations that follow know that we gazed into the night sky with wonder. Let it be known to them that we recognized our inadequacies and flaws, and beseech our children to forgive us our mistakes that they may avoid making such themselves.

Let all know of our desire for knowledge and our wish for a greater understanding in ways that we could not hope to achieve. Let them know of our perseverance, dedication, and unbreakable force of will to have that which we cannot possess, know that which we cannot comprehend, and do what we cannot achieve.

Let those that succeed us know that we were the climbers of mountains and the scalers of walls. We were not perfect, and could never hope to be, but frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.

"Happy" New Year

2007 was hell. I defecate on 2007. Bring on 2008, with all of its perils.