The Good Old Confederate Flag

I'm a member of this particular forum and someone posted a discussion about the confederate flag. He was asking other members whether he should change his avatar in response to someone who had complained about it. He explained that it was not a sign of racism and disrespect, but a symbol of pride in the South. I replied that while this flag has always represented a symbol of hatred, since he explained the meaning he should keep it. However scanning the rest of the post there was one person who in particular felt the need to go into the same tired argument about reverse racism, etc. And at the very end he felt that this flag should be allowed to fly free over government agencies and the like because it is a sign of respect for their forefathers that have died in the Civil War for FREEDOM.

Now the post is relatively old now and it would useless to reply. However, I did find this very offensive for several reasons. I consider myself educated about American History and the like. And to my knowledge, while the Southerners did in fact feel that the "central" government was interfering with their rights I wouldn't call their mission one of freedom.

In fact I think it would be fair to say that it is the antithesis of freedom. Their argument was one of "I want my rights" and no one else's matter. Now while I can go into the oft repeated story of slavery and the like, I thinks its more important to touch on the subject of how after all this time people still believe that the Southern fight was one to be respected. It actually boggles my mind that today in 2008 there are still those who cannot understand that if the North was not victorious our land would be very different. Whether this view still stand today because people can look back in the past with a certain admiration for the way things were, or they are truly a racist bunch cannot be seen.

The more I think about it, the more I believe that the Confederate Flag is a symbol of a indignant people who still have not come to grips with the thought that they are not better than me.

Social Networking Sites

Today I skipped my C++ class because the snow is just terrible. So while I'm sitting here really supposed to be doing something constructive, I'd rather try to find some social networking sites. So far I've come across Orkut, which really seems to be dominated by Indians, so I don't know. I'd rather find something a little more diverse. Now I'm on with my quest to find a friend, LOL. At any rate the odds of finding someone with my particular interest seems to be better on the net than my small world I inhabit everyday. Though I'm particularly wary that there isn't anyone with my interest per se.

All in all I've tried Facebook, MySpace and Orkut and they suck ass. So on with my quest I suppose.