Below are the 10 most recent journal entries recorded in thoughtfree's LiveJournal:

Tuesday, May 25th, 2004
9:45 pm	еще арабская практика Я сегодня вечером много занимался арабским, и чтобы не забыть, я напишу важные вещи, которые я сегодня выучил... أنا طالن اليوم, او كنت طالتا امس  كانت كرينة كتنت رسالة إلى الجامعة العـــــــربــــية صـــغـــــرة но это круто что слова может писаться очень длииииино :) (Comment on this)
Sunday, May 23rd, 2004
8:06 pm	арабская практика السلا م عـليكم!  مساء الخير! أنا اسمي ريـمند وأبا من أمريكا من كليفـورنية أتكلم إنجليزي بطلا قة, و أتكام عـربي , روسية, و إسبانية قليلة.  أنا طالب و جامعة ربرسيد كبيرة.  بيتي كبير وجميل جدا Еще трудно мне написать только два предложения! До следуюшей практики. -Рэй     (Comment on this)
Friday, May 7th, 2004
1:38 am	Israel and Palestine rant There is a lot of information and disinformation about this conflict, and its a matter I am most concerned about, since the US-Israel/Palestine conflict involves the US so strongly, that its very dependence on US policy is what keeps it going. There are a lot of supporters and critics of Israeli policies at my school.  A look at the bulletin boards on our campus will reveal that quickly.  However, today was an interesting day, because someone left a booklet published by a group called Bridges for Peace, which supports Israel's actions in the occupied territories on practically every issue.  Having been well read in criticism of Israel, I had to read what was in the booklet.  It was really depressing, not just because the booklet seems to discredit the Palestinians on major issues, but because there is so much disagreement on the facts.  For example, the booklet disputes the term "occupied territories" or even the illegality of the occupation and settlements, on grounds of 1948 land claims, and other grounds which ignore the legal documents.  It's hard for me to compromise this with the famous UNSC 242, which "emphasiz[es] the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war" and the call for Israel to "withdraw from territories occupied in the recent conflict."  On the first argument, the document makes it explicitly clear that territories are occupied.  The settlements are a breach of the 4th article of the Geneva Conventions, which do not allow settlement under occupation.  As for the actual occupation being illegal, the booklet did have a good point -- I'm not entirely sure what the facts are, since I think Israel's position, against the rest of the world community in 1967-71, was that although an occupation, it was not illegal, since UN242 doesn't call for Israel to withdraw from ALL territories, only the ambiguous "territories", which would be decided later.  The international community rejected this argument, but the question is, is it a fact or a controversy?  I used to think not, that it was uncontroversially a fact that Israel's occupation was a breach of international law, but now it seems more complex.  I don't think I can say for certain that this is a FACT, only that I believe that the international consensus was the RIGHT THING TO DO.  One is an observation, the other is moral judgment.  Anyway, it was depressing, because the answer seems like it should be clear, but now I don't think it is.  I am thinking of writing a letter to Noam Chomsky, who seems to know a lot about judging fact from opinion, and who knows a lot about the conflict. When I get more information, I will update my conclusions.   In any event, my heart still goes out to all those who are continuing to suffer in the West Bank and Gaza under a humiliating and brutal occupation, as well as to the victims who have lost innocent loved ones to the wicked bombings in Israel, Lebanon, and elsewhere in the middle east.  -Ray (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, May 3rd, 2004
3:47 pm	It is so Fucking HOT!  I hate the weather in Rancho!  They say the sun gives life, but it seems to want to take it away more than anything.  FUCK! :( (Comment on this)
Saturday, May 1st, 2004
11:41 pm	Random Thoughts я немножко устал, и трудно мне писать по-русски как я сейчас себя чувствую, но я попробую.  Мне скучно от университета, и надеюсь, что лето скоро придёт.  Я по моей хорошей подруге скучаю, и надеюсь, что всё у нее и ее семьи хорошо.  Они с мужом живут в очень красивом доме, и я не могу дождаться встретить их красивую дочерью. Карина интересная девушка...ей, кажется, я нравюсь, но если нет, это не было бы первого раза.  Мне всё равно, мне она нравится, потому что она говорит со мной по-русски и отвечает мне, и дала мне шанс.  Я еще не понимаю, почему Людмила решила что она просто не хотела переписываться со мной, и решила что её "надоели наши разговоры" и еще.  Я был грустен когда я это прочитал.  И пуф...её больше нет.  Пиздец.  Я уверен что это прозоидет много раз в моей жизне ... почему?  не знаю....это уже много раз случилось...моих друзей нет.  девушки нет...ах, пишу как неудачник.  Но может быть это правда...хуй всему. Ну я рад что у меня сейчас русский язык и хорошие друзья как Хуан, Маржан, и Раттана.  Они настоящие товарищи... (2 Comments |Comment on this)
11:37 pm	Happy May Day Here's a letter I sent to my family and friends: "May Day - also known as Labour or International Workers' Day - can be traced back to the 19th century. In 1889, in response to demonstrations for an eight- hour day in Australia and the US, an international workers' congress set 1 May as a day of worldwide action to demand fairer working conditions and better welfare. Workers the world over are still making the same demands. And most of them consider capitalism as the major obstacle to both social justice and global peace" - Emily Mann, The New Statesman, April 30, 2004 I thought I would share a few banal thoughts of mine regarding International Workers' Day 2004, since it probably will not receive the attention it deserves tomorrow, despite its roots here and in other parts of the world. First, I think it is symbolic of the world situation that the London May-Day collective, the lead organizer of the May Day protests in London, has decided to postpone the protests scheduled for tomorrow. It is symbolic to me, because it shows the state of labor in our national and world conscience -- it is set aside, put in the background, or forgotten altogether. How could it be that men and women, who have in common the world over this experience of work, are not going to project their force by the millions tomorrow and insist on the demands that our ancestors died for, that is, economic democracy, safer and fairer working conditions, and all the other beautiful things we wish for when we take our last coffee break and complain between colleagues? For me, the answer seems obvious -- workers are losing the battle for democracy all over the world to private tyrannies. Human Rights Watch concluded in 2000 that "workers' freedom of association is under sustained attack in the United States, and the government is often failing its reponsibility under international human rights standards to deter such attacks and protect workers' rights." Workers were threatened, fired, or bribed in divide and conquer schemes to break up any hint of organizing among workers for a better life. According the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the problem is getting worse. In other words, the United States is violating human rights conventions guaranteeing the freedom of association, and "the problem is getting worse." These are conclusions by two well-respected institutions, and I've only touched a tiny sample of the facts. All this is happening while corporations, totalitarian institutions which pledge allegiance to no one but themselves, are "outsourcing" jobs to poorer countries for higher profits. This has been standard practice for years, and will continue to operate as long as these private tyrannies can operate with the assistance of a friendly presidential administration who holds the "laws of the free market" in total contempt with huge bailouts, subsidies, and huge protectionist measures which would have disgusted Adam Smith. Again, this is has been standard practice for years. There is no free market. It is a military Keynesian state capitalism, and it is destroying working men and women all over the world. I originally meant for this letter to be a quick Happy May Day message, but I felt I had to say more. I think we are approaching a crucial point in this country, where the decision must be made between a civilized existence, or the drift of the United States back to its Third World status from many years ago. We just got to get up and do something about it if we care. Please pass this letter on if you think there is any validity to it. I would also recommend staying in touch with alternative media, like www.democracynow.org, or www.zmag.org/weluser.htm where you can find links to many labor and human rights-related articles, which examine the problem we face from the extremists in Washington, Democrat and Republican, in further detail. Peace and Solidarity, Ray Amberg (Comment on this)
8:29 pm	Tattoo Ну я ходил в место, где мой хороший друг обычно делает свои тату, и мы с артистом собрались картину. Он позвонит мне когда картина будет готова. Я не могу дождаться :)) (Comment on this)
Friday, April 30th, 2004
6:13 pm	Tattoo So I have this idea for a tattoo, but I am waiting to see what a drawing would look like. Perhaps one of my cool artist friends can draw something similar. Or maybe the tattoo artist will draw up something nice. Anyway, it goes like this: There is a woman, either in rags, or modeled from the biblical Eve, I still haven't decided which. She has large iron handcuffs on her wrists, but she has broken the thick chain which holds the two together. The scene is similar to my logo, except it is a woman instead, and both arms are shown. I am thinking if it is Eve, I will have a piece of bitten fruit being thrown from her right hand as she breaks her chains in a show of defiance, and something in her left hand which symbolizes hope and freedom (maybe a bird?) Below the woman's waist I have the idea to put a cloud of light, maybe bluish, or yellowish and in the shape of a flower (?) to make it look like she's rising from the light. I want it to look like the woman is very emotional as she's performing this act of freedom and defiance. Oh well...I could never draw such a thing if someone held a gun to my head and asked me. (Comment on this)
5:54 pm	Hello.  ¡Hola!  Приветик! !السلا م عليكم Today kinda sucked.  For the third time, I was flaked on.  Когда кто-то говорит, что хочет встретить в 2 дня, и никогда не приходит или звонит тебе, что ты будешь делать?  Ну я рад что завтра я свожу Карину в художественный музей Гэття.  Это обычно хорошо проводить время с красавицой. Mom is having me pull three old tree roots out from the ground in the backyard.  It's pretty fuckin hard.  These little fuckers put there roots anywhere they can.  They're like little fuckin barnacles. Anyway, сейчас я думаю о Карине, Анни, Аней, Регине, и конечно Кате.  Они хорошие люди, и надеюсь, что всё у них хорошо. -Ray   Рэй   El Rey ري (Comment on this)
Thursday, April 29th, 2004
10:27 pm	First Entry This is my first livejournal entry... большое спасибо Карине за её приглашение This week was pretty boring for me, except for the fact that I might a nice girl on ICQ, by the name of Karina.  I thought her nickname was pronounced Ka--poo-haa, until I remembered I knew how to read russian.  She introduced me to livejournal after we got to know each other. Это хорошая русская практика.  Я могу писать по-русски :))) Мне теперь 21 год.  Я могу купить алкоголь и терять мои деньги в Лас Вегасе.  Ну хорошо, в выходные я собираюсь встретиться с Кариной, и я думаю что мне будет весело, потому что она редкая девушка.  Я не знаю много девушек, которам нравится панк-рок! Это всё на сегодня...надо заниматься русским и арабским. (7 Comments |Comment on this)