Today on the train I was sitting in front of possibly the loudest phone-talker I've ever heard. By the time she got off at Diversey, the whole train car had learned that this girl "just kissed! no tongue!" some guy is "non-committal right now"--just dating around, and that she "only has eyes" for the lucky man with whom she was speaking. There was more divulgent information, but sadly I forget it now.

I just don't understand who these people are who talk so loud. Was she deaf? Exhibitionist? Oblivious?

First day "at court"

Today began my first day as an intern for a U.S. Appeals Court Judge (Seventh Circuit, as I am in Chicago, and the 7th covers the Midwest basically). Everyone was very nice and informative, and I daresay I will learn a lot. I am lucky to have this intern/externship though not necessarily meriting of it.

I am looking forward to learning a lot both from the work that I will do and from the people I am working with. Right now, I am still trying to figure out what field to work in after college (hell field, I'm just hoping for a decent job after I graduate!) and then decide whether I want to go to law school or graduate school in some subject (history? public policy? Help!). Anyway, I've so far learned from various sources that working for a big corporate law firm is pretty draining whereas working for an entity like the government can be quite interesting (from working in the courts to the SEC). Often I find that experiences where one is unleashed into the working world can help direct one towards what work not to do, even if it doesn't necessarily guide towards what to do.

Lastly, I will say that I wished I live in Chicago or the offcampus Northwestern area this summer rather than the further North suburban area, simply because it would be wonderful to be within walking and quick public transport (kinda an oxymoron when referring to the El, but still) distance from stores and entertainment. I mean I shouldn't even be complaining about this fercryinoutloud, as living at home=no rent and a beautiful summertime residential area, but I guess I'm just excited to live in the city and be closer to people and places.

Sidebar

I have added more political links, links to my friends' blogs, and links to random sites that I enjoy to spice things up a little on my boring 'ole blog. So enjoy!

Shootings and Gun Control

Geez. Another shooting, this time in Evanston. A 22-year old man was shot during a barroom brawl.

There's been a lot of talk lately among Democrats to loosen up on gun control, but between a drive-by shooting last week in the town that I live in and this bar shooting in the town I go to school, Democrats (and Republicans) should be giving as much attention to areas such as the area where I live that understandably favor gun control (cities and suburbs) because of incidents like these.

La base �norme de la Tour d'Eiffel. Again, not taken by me.

(Apparently accent aigu is a big question mark for the folks at Blogger.com. Oh well).

Paris

Mary and I atop the Eiffel Tower at sunset. (She took the picture)

That's a picture from maybe October of last year when I was in Paris. The funny thing was I didn't even go to the Eiffel Tower until about three weeks after I had been in France. It's just not the first thing I wanted to see or do, but it blew me away by it's size. It's incredibly big, especially its base.

In the Voyeurism Category

Karen, Lyz, Elaine

I posted this picture because I was trying to use it for a Facebook group about my pledge family. Then I realized you don't have to go through the internet at all for Facebook pictures, but I'll keep it up anyway. From left to right, my pledge daughter Karen, granddaughter Lyz, and me. I know, it's kind of weird, but at least my family rocks. We've also figured out that we're alternating between Jews and Asians, which is ethnically exciting.

"It represents one of the most shameful episodes in the recent history of the American media, and presidency, yet is rarely mentioned today.

It occurred on March 24, 2004. The setting: The 60th annual black-tie dinner of the Radio and Television Correspondents Association (with many print journalists there as guests) at the Hilton.

Audiences love to laugh along with, rather than at, a president, for a change. It’s all in good fun, except when it’s in bad fun, such as on that night in March, 2004.

That night, in the middle of his stand-up routine before the, perhaps tipsy, journos, Bush showed on a screen behind him some candid on-the-job photos of himself. One featured him gazing out a window, as Bush narrated, smiling: “Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere.” According to the transcript this was greeted with “laughter and applause.”

A few seconds later, he was shown looking under papers, behind drapes, and even under his desk, with this narration: “Nope, no weapons over there” (met with more “laughter and applause”), and then “Maybe under here?” (just “laughter” this time). Still searching, he settles for finding a photo revealing the Skull and Bones secret signal.

The reporters covering the gala were apparently as swept away with laughter as the guests. One of the few attendees to criticize the president’s gag, David Corn of The Nation, said he heard not a single complaint from his colleagues at the after-party. "-Greg Mitchell, Editor and Publisher

An ad about this.

Save Big Bird

and the rest of PBS. Republicans are up to what they do best, slashing any semblance of educational programming from television through a House Appropriations Committee decision to cut funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. CPB is a government-funded organization that directs money to public outlets like PBS. The funding being eliminated is a whopping 25% of the CPB's budget.

According to my friend who is into education, PBS is also a huge resource for educational tools for teachers. Of course, Republicans are against teachers as well.

The idiotic thing about this is that PBS which according to mentally-skewed Republicans has a "liberal bias." Well, if Fox is "fair and balanced" to these guys, Ghengis Khan would seem to have a liberal bias. Seriously though, PBS's political reporting is just a little less mealy-mouthed than the rest of the news programs. However, they still feature some great, informative programming like "Frontline," and of course their kids' programming is very good.

Plus, PBS is the station that Americans control. Disempowering it is disempowering Americans connectivity to television programing, what little of it we seem able to influence of it nowadays.

This article is useful in understanding the Republican siege against the CPB undertaken by its chairperson, Kenneth Tomlinson.

Your libraries are safe, for now.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a slap at President Bush, lawmakers voted Wednesday to block the Justice Department and the FBI from using the Patriot Act to peek at library records and bookstore sales slips.

Thanks Rep. Bernie Sanders of Vermont for proposing this bill.

Angry Unstable Politician: Tom Delay, NOT Dean

Democrats should go after the angry Tom Delay the way they go after Dean. This guy has got away with saying some pretty awful things, as follows.

Howard Dean is a cruel and extremist demagogue. And Howard Dean is as ignorant on John Ashcroft as he is on national security. If this cruel, loudmouth extremist is the cream of the Democrat crop, next November's going to make the 1984 election look like a squeaker.

Courtesy of Brainyquote.com

"The EPA, the Gestapo of government, pure and simply has been one of the major claw-hooks that the government maintains on the backs of our constituents." - As reported in the AP [1995 July 29]

"Emotional appeals about working families trying to get by on $4.25 an hour [the minimum wage in 1996] are hard to resist. Fortunately, such families do not exist." - From the Congressional Record, H3706 [1996 April 23]

By the way, no one is worried about offending the Democratic constituency

"The judges need to be intimidated. They need to uphold the Constitution. (If they don't behave) we're going to go after them in a big way." - From the Washington Post [9/14/97]

(Courtesy of Wikipedia).

Tom Delay on the constituency of Democrats:

Greenpeace, Queer Nation, the National Education Association.

Did that get denounced by Republicans as Dean's remarks did by Democrats? Mmm..no.

Screw the Senate. It's time for all-out war.

On Clinton's expressed regret of slavery in the U.S. during a trip to Africa:

Here is a flower child with gray hair doing exactly what he did back in the sixties. He is apologizing for the actions of the U.S.

Wow, God forbid someone apologize for slavery.

A lot of politicians in this House and in this country are sucking the blood out of our constituencies. I can point to Hispanics or blacks that have become very rich by becoming civil rights advocates, and I think it's pitiful.

Christianity offers the only viable, reasonable, definitive answer to the questions of 'Where did I come from?' 'Why am I here?' 'Where am I going?' 'Does life have meaningful purpose?'

Religiously divisive much?

We're going to fund only those programs we want to fund. We're in charge. We don't have to negotiate with the Senate. We don't have to negotiate with the Democrats.

(Courtesy of Buzzflash).

Avant Garde Scattergories

Yes, everyone's favorite word game (besides Scrabble and Balderdash) has gotten a makeover, courtesy of my enterprising younger brother. His idea was rather than writing down real nouns that start with the letter that has been randomly chosen, the players write down nouns that sound like they would fit into the given category.

Here are some good ones that my brother, his girlfriend, and I came up with when we played last night, all made up:

Sports players:
Paul Panzarro
Perry Perez
Pete Papageorge
(definitely would all be MLB players)

U.S. Presidents:
Preston Sturges

Stores:
Terry's Leather
James 'n' Things

Boys names:
Pendawason
Lumphries

Singers:
Tucker Tickson

Bodies of Water:
Lake Tagotoga

TV Shows:
"Lang and the Gang"
"Louie Fucks it Up"

Appliance:
Jason Wrench

Body Part:
Jemp's Plateau

Celebrities:
Lenny Cassidy

Things at a Footbal Game:
Lorpus Pad

Type of Tree:
Pakoda

Sunny Spot:
Tikino Bay

Supporting Howard Dean

So I know I've been compulsively posting about the Howard Dean critics, but I just think the whole event is emblematic of the spot that the Democratic party finds itself in. People like Joe Biden (see below) seem to think Dean is a threat to the party.

In a recent New Yorker article about Biden, the Senator from New Jersey said John Kerry made a huge political mistake when he brought up after tape by Osama bin Laden was released before the November election that bin Laden was still at large on George W. Bush's watch. Biden said something along the lines of that Kerry should have adamantly said he stands with the president and how dare bin Laden. ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS. The bin Laden tape, despite the establishment media's proclamations could have been a huge political success for Kerry: "Why is this man still loose? Bush should have caught him. We're fighting an unnecessary war in Iraq that is getting us nowhere near ending bin Laden's hold on parts of the Muslim world" etc. What's the point of Biden's strategy if it's praising Bush? An opposition candidate that does not make.

Anyhow, in support of Howard Dean and in opposition of officials the likes of Biden, I donated $10 to the DNC and sent them an e-mail:

Dear DNC Member Services,
I donated $10 today, and I just wanted to mention that I am donating
the money in support of Howard Dean and all of his great initiatives
as DNC chair not to mention his bold leadership. I hope he is not
cowed by other members of the Democratric party who seem more willing
to fight their own than fight the Republicans.
Sincerely,
A loyal Democrat, Elaine Meyer

Here are some ideas suggested by a poster on David Sirota's blog regarding how to show your support for Chairman Howard Dean.

At 10:54 PM, Common Sense Mom said…

You are so right about Biden. How dare he say such a stupid thing about the leader of his party. Democrats are about to lose all power in Washington from a looming "nuclear option" and now the GOP is banning Dems from meeting rooms in the Capital for forums on issues related to corruption in our government.

TODAY is Democratic Solidarity Day (aka Support Howard Dean Day) Wednesday, July 15, 2005

Here's what you can do:

1 - Enlist your friends. Let folks know about this and encourage them to participate.
2 - Give money to the DNC – even $5 will send a message https://www.democrats.org/support/nationblue.html
3 - Call Democratic Elected Officials in the House http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml and Senate http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
4 - Sign the Dean Speaks for Me petition http://www.petitiononline.com/Dean/petition.html
5 - Write Letters to the Editor - http://www.usnpl.com/

When Biden or any other Washington Democrat has a problem with what Dean says, they need to talk to him directly instead of flapping their lips in public. Dean is far from perfect, but he is fighting the good fight for all of us.

Let's make a deal

All good Democrats and progressives should make a deal with Biden: he can continue stabbing his own party in the back with impunity for his own self-promotion, and say his party doesn't speak for him. In exchange, Biden should agree to never, ever claim to speak for Democrats.

Thank you David Sirota.

One more thing about the Dean comment that the Republican party is mostly white and Christian: the man's right.

In Chapter 1, we give a brief description of race/ethnicity and religion in Retro America. It is overwhelmingly White and Protestant Christian, usually of an evangelical and often fundamentalist bent. In the Deep South, Blacks form a large percentage (often as high as 85 percent) of the population and have significant local political power. They are, however, culturally, religiously, economically, and politically segregated from White society and almost totally excluded from the now-dominant Republican Party.

The Republican Party, as represented by its affiliated lawmakers in the state legislatures, is almost 99 percent white, 82.2 percent male, and 1.1 percent minority.

Data on the 108th U.S. House of Representatives show that the ranks of Republican lawmakers have nearly the same demographic profile at the state and the national levels: Whites hold a whopping 99 percent of Republican-held seats at both the state and national levels.

Retro vs. Metro

Left-wing blogs get more readers, participation than right wing blogs

Interesting article on this

The left-wing blogosphere is beginning to decidedly pull away from the right wing blogosphere in terms of traffic. This is largely a result of the open embrace of community blogging on the left and the stagnant, anti-meritorious nature of the right-wing blogosphere that pushes new, emerging voices to the margins.

If you ask me, this reflects on the very different underpinnings of the two parties, one which supports mass involvement and advancing the causes of the people, the other possessing a top-down mentality which defends the privileges of the rich.

However, despite the greater number of conservative blogs, the liberal blogs totaled nearly ten million page views per week, while the conservative blogs managed just over six million. I have been tracking the comparative audiences of the two blogosphere off and on for the past nine months, and this is the largest lead for the liberal blogosphere that I have ever found.

...There are swarms of new conservative voices looking to breakout in the right-wing blogosphere, but they are not even allowed to comment, much less post a diary and gain a following, on the high traffic conservative blogs. Instead, without any fanfare, they are forced to start their own blogs

Ballz to the wallz! I'm linked on technorati.com as a blogger who refers to Salon's article about Mark Warner. Hooray. Not sure if this link will show me, but we'll give it a try.

Give Dean a Break

What a shame that Democrats from Joe Biden to Evan Bayh, Barack Obama to Nancy Pelosi, find it more worth their time to take pot shots at Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean than to defend him. As a recent editorial says, these critics have nothing to boast themselves:

What his critics fail to understand is that Howard Dean is leading in a manner we progressive populists have elected him to do. We tried the capitulation strategy favored by Berg and others in the party for the better part of the last 15 years under Democratic Leadership Council-based party leadership. We progressives, at least many of us, endured and even support their attempt out of misguided party loyalty.

It failed, quite miserably. So, now it is our turn. Progressive populists are the dominant force in the party and we want to speak truth to power. We want Dean to say it like it really is: The Republican Party is 80 percent white and Christian; its agenda is dedicated to advancing the power of the wealthy and corporate America. In our view, Rep. Tom DeLay's conduct is criminal. Both are trying to lead us into a fundamentalist Christian theocratic state with a diminishment of our Bill of Rights. And Howard Dean is leading us in the grass-roots development of a populist party belief system with a progressive agenda of rights that some mistakenly consider entitlements.

By trying to be "uniters," and bipartisan Democrats are dividing a much more important entity, their party, while Republicans are just as uncooperative as usual. The Democrats on Capitol Hill don't seem to have a clue that the "Progressive populists" that are key to their party's success and are the people behind the most inspiring campaign we've seen in awhile--Dean's--are unhappy with their leadership and not Dean's.

What have the higher-ups given us in the last few years? Losers like Joe Lieberman, John Kerry, Dick Gephardt. What are we going to get from them in the future? The equally uninspiring Joe Biden, for starters. Bill Clinton wasn't successful because he was a DLC New Democrat, because by that logic, Joe Lieberman, the original Democratic frontrunner for 2004 should have won handily. No, Clinton had an outgoing and inspring style unmatched by the Liebermans and Bidens of his world.

Democrats ought to be embracing their base as the Republicans do, not running from it.

Mark Warner in 2008?

Granted, I think the Democrats should be worrying about MANY MANY other things before thinking too much about Election 2008, but at least candidates can start preparing, because, according to Howard Dean's campaign manager Joe Trippi's book The Revolution Will not be Televised, presedential races take a lot of preparation.

I think the most promising person I've read about is Virginia Governor Mark Warner. Moreso than Hillary Clinton (who I find has moderated some of her more inspiring goals and rhetoric to seem less liberal) and Barack Obama (who is too new in office), Mark Warner seems a great choice.

Here are some excerpts from an interview he conducted with Salon.

• My starting premise is that I really think we need to change the framing of the political debate, from right vs. left, conservative vs. liberal, to future vs. past. The Democratic Party at its best has always been when it has been about the future.

• But we have not fully cracked the code of, "How do you give that kid in Martinsville, Va., the chance to stay in the community he grew up in?" That is the appeal, and that is the question. And in a lot of ways for Democrats, rural America, small town America, mid-city America, [offer political opportunities]. These are places where people have decided they're going to stay. They're going to stay and they want their communities to flourish, yet they have received virtually no benefits from this current administration.

• How do we make sure that there is the kind of quality of life that makes rural America or small-town America appealing? How does it not feel like it is under constant assault, being in effect belittled as not as valid as what we see on the TV set every night?
• I think the president's biggest mistake, and I think he's made it twice, once right after 9/11, and once after the Iraq war started, is that he never called on this country for any level of shared sacrifice.
• I think that what's become the conventional political wisdom -- that every Democrat has to make sure that they include a Bible verse in every speech -- isn't the case. People want to know who you are. They see that through your faith. They see that through your values. They see that through what you've done in your life, what you emphasize as your priorities.
• If Democrats do not commit to being a national party, competitive everywhere in this country, we do not only our party but our country a disservice.

I remember when Illinois' current Governor, Rod Blagojevich went to downstate Illinois for a huge campaign effort. When politicians make a genuine appeal to these areas of our country, they win, and hopefully, rural citizens win as well. It is to our great detriment as a political party for the Democrats to write these people off, which is why Howard Dean's strategy of providing "Red State" support is so laudable and also a long-time coming.

Anyway, keep your eye on Governor Mark Warner. I like him, and I hope he throws his hat in the ring in '08.

I'll credit Republicans with one thing...

...And that is harvesting their young. I had a pretty difficult time myself finding liberal organizations to work for that seemed enthusiastic enough about having young people work for them to get back to my queries.

The New York Times runs an article about the Heritage Foundation's internship program which actually gives a stipend of $2,500 to each intern and houses them in pretty nice dorms.

The summer interns of the Heritage Foundation have arrived, forming an elite corps inside the capital's premier conservative research group. The 64 interns are each paid a 10-week stipend of $2,500, and about half are housed in a subsidized dorm at the group's headquarters, complete with a fitness room.

Unusual in its size (and in its walk-in closets), the program, on which Heritage spends $570,000 a year, is both a coveted spot on the young conservative circuit and an example of the care the movement takes to cultivate its young.

Of course, this is the party with the big bucks, but it would be nice if some liberal organizations valued its youth as much...not necessarily in money but just as people who can promote their causes. One thing Republicans have been excellent at is energizing and organizing their young supporters.

"There's no question that the right wing over the last 25 years did a much better job of creating a farm system," said Ralph G. Neas, the president of People for the American Way. Like many other liberal groups, his has recently expanded its campus outreach activities in an effort to keep pace with the right.

"They invested in young people," Mr. Neas said. "We're trying to catch up."

Still, while these kids all have impressive resumes, missing from their experience seems to be actual engagement with the people whose interests they would claim to represent. These young adults have worked on Capitol Hill and in White House offices, but in their quest for Republican professional work, it seems they have skipped over the campaigning, going to peoples' houses and telling them why their party should be supported.

These top-down intellectual structures like the Heritage Foundation and the Bush government offer little room for people who haven't had their heart set on a Heritage internship since their days as elementary school Young Republican president to influence the future of the party.

Guess who's coming to dinner at the Bush White House...a porn star

Our family values president doing what he does best, being a complete hypocrite:

"On issue after issue, they (the Democrats) stand for nothing except obstruction," Bush said at the annual President's Dinner, a $23 million fund-raiser attended by Republican leaders, party donors, and a blond porn star and former California gubernatorial candidate named Mary Carey.

Read all about it.

Terry Schiavo Autopsy

It's a sad day when people need to hold up an autopsy of a woman to prove her severe brain damage in the face of cruel people who blamed it on her husband.

An autopsy on Terri Schiavo, the severely brain damaged woman whose death sparked an intense debate over a person's right-to-die, showed that her brain was severely "atrophied" and weighed less than half of what it should have, and that no treatment could have reversed the damage.

Never fear, I'm sure the crazed people who had nothing better to do than interfere in what should have been a private decision think the autopsy is a conspiracy.

Why is the New York Times using a Heritage Foundation Study as authority on virginity vows and their correlation to sexual activity. The Heritage Foundation is a right-wing think tank, and the study itself has not been peer reviewed. Here's a good blog that explains how problematic this is.

Africa was important before Brad Pitt, believe it or not

I'm becoming "mad as hell, and I don't want to take it anymore" (to quote Network), when it comes to the increasingly excessive celebrity culture. I was just talking with John about how even when we don't make any sort of effort to know about pop culture, we still hear about it all the time from people and even on the news.

It is especially ridiculous that the only time the television networks can be bothered to do an in depth story about the lack of good education and healthcare in Africa is when Brad Pitt takes it up as a cause. I have nothing against (and everything for) what Brad Pitt is doing in Africa (well except that Pat Robertson is connected with the initiative which makes me suspicious) even if it is a publicity stunt, but to see Diane Sawyer pretending that she gives a damn about Africa is just laughable and sad at the same time considering how irresponsible and decadent the U.S. news media is. Especially when, after the next commerical break, she goes to talking about the mundanity that is "what happened with Jennifer?"

The last straw is hearing people say they're sad about Brad and Jennifer breaking up. Sad? You don't know them.

So hopefully Diane Sawyer will start following up on Africa now that Brad Pitt has strucken such a chord, but I would imagine she'd sooner--much sooner--follow up on Jennifer Aniston.

All of this increasing ridiculousness reminds me about the book From Dawn to Decadence, where author Jacques Barzon frames a society that is on a cultural downfall because of its decadence. Not that I (or he) are the first people to point it out, but the hybrid Enterntainment news that is prevalent is no comfort.

Lack of Communication in the Age of Communication Technologies

I just had an interesting conversation with a friend online about how it is so hard to keep in touch with people, yet, it should be so easy. With newer technologies like instant messenger, e-mail, and cell phones with text messages, communication should be as simple as typing a few words and hitting enter. Yet I find myself to have lost touch with many people in the last year. Fear not, for I'm sure I have not been cut off from friends forever; some of them are just gone temporarily, but I think there's a more fundamental problem that may not be aided by favorable geographic proximity. After all, it's easy to lose touch with people at the same college as you, who live merely yards away.

This problem is lack of things to say and feeling that it's not worth it to stay in touch. We have so many ways to communicate with people but often so little to say. We have a communications glut.

One of the prime modes of communicating these days, the instant message service, basically facillitates a discussion where two parties can pay as little attention to each other as each wants. A human equivalent to an IM discussion would be two people sitting across from each other exchanging a few words in between looking around distractedly at other people and things but with no direction in the conversation.

Older forms of written communication like letter writing are different because the writer composes an extended conversation that has a point and is personal. The IM conversation requires none of this.

IM, e-mail, and text messaging are made for people who do not have time to set aside for substantial catching up with friends. We have too many people to deal with, so there's no way to dedicate a lot of time to people we don't see on a daily basis. Too busy I suppose. Maybe we just need to spend more time alone, away from our obligations and from our communication technologies like cell phones, IM, e-mail, to appreciate the true value of human contact and communication.

Summer goals

• Study for LSAT and/or GRE and/or US Foreign Service Exam
• Clean out the drawers in my bedroom and clean my closet
• Read good news sites more often
• Research jobs in France for next year
• Start thesis research
• Read interesting books

Why do I post these goals? Because I never write things down and I know compulsive blogger I am that I will at least check back here.

Re: Template Change

Dear Loyal Reader(s),
Yes, I changed my template. Why you ask, when the other template was so mutedly perfectly appropriate for a blog about the news of the day? Because I need a blog that will jump out at people, draw them in, that embodies Y2K and beyond. No more stodginess, this is the aughts man.

Or because I was just getting sick of the old one. And I like that this blog has a small travel picture that kind of reminds me of the map of Paris's Metro.

If You Analyze the Katie Holmes/Tom Cruise Alliance Once More, You Don't Deserve the Priveleges you are Afforded in Life

I saw some of the MTV Movie Awards tonight, and there was Katie Holmes giving Tom Cruise an award for something made-up (generational actor award or something). I don't care that they're into promoting the KatieHolmesTomCruiseMustCoverUpTomBeingGay Thing, but I do care that people take it seriously. I cannot even count how many times I have heard this relationship being analyzed in the last couple weeks.

Here's what I have to say to those people who take it seriously:
YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE A GOOD LIFE.
THERE ARE PEOPLE SUFFERING IN THE WORLD WHO HAVE TO DEPEND ON THE 'GLOBAL LEADERSHIP' OF A COUNTRY WHO'S MOST PRESSING CONCERN IS THE RELATIONSHIP STATUS OF TOM CRUISE.

Which current event do you know more about thanks to our useless American media?

Darfur

Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise

If you all really care, let me tell you the deal. Tom Cruise is gay, yes gay. A lot of guys in Hollywood are gay or bi. Don't believe me? They all look so manly, don't they? Rock Hudson was gay. Cary Grant was bi. And those are some manly men. Tom Cruise is a member of a religion, Scientology, that tries to convert people from being gay to being straight. Katie Holmes is a member of this religion as well. Also, they both had recent movies out, and Hollywood now lives on the publicity stunt. That's how actors stay in the biz these days. It's depressing yes that there is a publicity-industrial complex that dominates Hollywood and thus America, so TURN OFF YOUR TV. And for the love of the lord, DON'T TALK ABOUT TOM CRUISE EVER AGAIN.

There was a driveby shooting in the town that I'm from today. This is very sad and frightening.

White Dog

This afternoon I got to see a recently re-released version of director Sam Fuller's 1982 film White Dog. The premise of the film is interesting: a woman finds a white dog who she discovers has been trained to attack black people. The movie was pulled very soon after it opened in theaters because it was deemed racist and offensive, but supposedly it was very misunderstood, actually making a pointed commentary on racism. I can understand if people would be offended by it, even though it seemed to come across pretty clearly that the film was directed against racism and its manifestation over time into something engrained and horrific. Anyway, watch this movie regardless of what I say because it's just an interesting concept, and the dog does a great job. Lassie can't hold a candle to that white german shepard.

The True Meaning of "Awesomely Bad"

The phrase has enjoyed a strong use lately, especially thanks to VH1's recent special on "Awesomely Bad" music videos. What does awesomely bad really mean though? It sounds cool and funny because it is used to enthusiastically acknowledge something for being corny or awful. At the same time, this phrase seems to me a way for its user to distance himself/herself from the campiness of what he/she labels "awesomely bad," e.g. old Celine Dionne music videos. It is very much a hipster comment because it lacks genuity, never insulting nor lauding its target. Even though I currently have the phrase on my Instant Messenger profile, I advocate ending its use in favor of the compliment "awesome" or the criticism "bad," that is, in favor of going one way or the other. Meatloaf's "I Will Do Anything for Love," is awesome in its wrenching melody and its music video's old French Chateau-cum-1990s L.A. set. It is bad in its absolute melodrama, but melodrama is the stuff of opera, so maybe Meatloaf deserves a break. The Carpenters are not awesomely bad either because their songs, though full of melodrama, touch a chord. Hey, maybe even the hipsters who would deign them awesomely bad find some strange poignancy in "Superstar."

Dear everyone who doesn't update their blogs often,

You make my attempts at procrastinating much more difficult. Now get back to work...on your blog!

"How you can promise to fight for the lives of people who do not exist yet, and look living citizens in the eye and not fight for their lives?"

From a letter in today's Chicago Tribune.

A challenge to self-proclaimed pro-lifers who are anti-stem cell research. If they're "pro-life," they better be equal opportunity pro-life.

Denying Torture

What if Hitler had countered a report that his government was torturing prisoners at concentration camps by pointing to his being a democratically-elected president (which is true)? What if Stalin had denied mass killings by declaring that his government was founded on popular desires of the Russian people?

When a government starts denying or proactively attacking accusations that it sponsors torture simply by declaring its values just, we should all be suspicious. The mantra of the Argentine military government of the late 1970s and early 1980s who sponsored that country's "Dirty War," a large-scale rounding up and torturing up of government-designated "subversives" centered around bringing "security" back to the country.

I bring all of this up because Dick Cheney has recently taken an Amnesty International Report on torture at Guantanamo Bay to task, saying: "for Amnesty International to suggest that somehow the United States is a violator of human rights, I frankly just don't take them seriously." Cheney however does not offer any reason why torture should not be suspected, just that the U.S. cannot be called a violator of human rights.

Whether or not there is torture, and it seems there is, if not in Guantanamo, then in prisons in Iraq, denying it by saying a country cannot be responsible because it just can't is the classic way that human rights violators have denied their crimes. The administration's unwillingness to define terrorists and to use the word genearlly harkens back to Argentina's Dirty War and its broad definition of "subversives."

Billie Holiday, Bent, and Post-modernism

Last night John and I got into an argument about post-modernism, with my main point of contention being that post-modernism does what it accuses other "meta-narratives" of doing: it lumps art, music, politics, etc. under a grand theme.

Still, when post-modernism came up today in my German Film class in relation to the film Run Lola Run, I couldn't help but admit to myself that culture of today exhibits a lot of inter-textuality, as post-modernism suggests.

Take a song I have been listening to recently, a remix of "Speak Low" sung by Billie Holliday, mixed by Bent. This mellow remix is worth a listen, even if it (merely) recycles.

Votes for dorm points?

Judy Fiske, an aldermanic candidate in the First Ward who lost to Cheryl Wollin on April 5th has just filed a suit against more than 200 votes that were cast by Northwestern students in the First Ward's sixth precinct. According to the suit, these votes were bought:

Fiske's lawyer, Richard Means, said NU illegally tipped the April 5 election in favor of winner Cheryl Wollin when it held a post-election party in Norris University Center and granted points to voters living in residential colleges. Residential college residents earn points and exchange them for housing priority.

Now this sounds pretty bogus to me, especially knowing that Fiske has had it in for student voters for awhile. She made the comment that since students are not full time residents, their voting rights and stake in Evanston are questionable. (A) Many students are fulltime residents because they stay here in the summer as well and (B) All students have a stake in the community--moreso here in Evanston than where they hail from, and most people are excited when students vote!

Basically, Cheryl Wollin made an effort to reach out to NU students and Judy Fiske did not. Not only did she not make an effort, she used very alienating lanugage against us. What does she expect?

Rush Limbaugh's newest enemies: high school students

Apparently no one is safe from Rush Limbaugh's wrath. Rush reamed out Evanston Township High School recently on his radio show for having a multicultural curriculum. ETHS was written up in the Christian Science Monitor for having an especially well-rounded global studies program. However, their standard social studies requirements seem pretty...well, standard

Freshmen at ETHS are required to take a full-year course on Western European civilization. Sophomores must take either a full-year course in non-Western civilization or two one-semester courses in non-Western civilization. In their junior year, students are required to take a full-year course in U.S. history.

Furthermore, ETHS is doing its students a service if they are learning more about the world and not just the US. As one student says in the article "You need to know about what's going on around the world because it's not just about the U.S."

The article is kind of funny because one of the teachers suggests that the students debate Rush Limbaugh. The school's spokeswoman nixes the idea though: "There are three weeks left of school," Miehls said. "Students (need) to focus on their studies and ... finals and not Rush Limbaugh."

Anyway the moral of this story is that, as usual, Rush Limbaugh doesn't know what he's talking about.

"A free press is one where it's OK to state the conclusion you're led to by the evidence."

According to longtime and recently retired journalist Bill Moyers, the American press, not even the public broadcasting corporations like PBS, would resemble his characterization. His address at the National Conference for Media Reform hits right at the uninformative way that political/governmental developments are reported.

He gets the Washington press corps. exactly right with this description:
...My colleagues and I at "Now" didn't play by the conventional rules of Beltway journalism. Those rules divide the world into Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, and allow journalists to pretend they have done their job if, instead of reporting the truth behind the news, they merely give each side an opportunity to spin the news.

or, as Jonathan Mermin describes it,
if the government isn't talking about it, we don't report it,
meaning that news is not news by virtue of the journalist actively investigating it but rather after getting a press briefing from the White House.

As Moyers continues, this
permit[s] Washington officials to set the agenda for journalism, leaving the press all too often simply to recount what officials say instead of subjecting their words and deeds to critical scrutiny. Instead of acting as filters for readers and viewers, sifting the truth from the propaganda, reporters and anchors attentively transcribe both sides of the spin invariably failing to provide context, background or any sense of which claims hold up and which are misleading.

After understanding this fundamentally flawed method of "journalism," Moyers says he concluded that
investigative journalism could not be a collaboration between the journalist and the subject.

Read more here.

Fun week!

So I was complaining not much more than a week ago about being back at Northwestern rather than abroad, but this week reminded me of the neat things that I have here that maybe I don't appreciate as much as I should.
Sunday: went on a nice walk with Sarah on a beautiful mid-summer-esque day and later went out to dinner with my family for Mother's Day
Monday: Cubs game, which, though a rain delay provoked my friend and I to vacate the Friendly Confines for a nearby Wrigleyville hangout, we had a good time there and met up with another friend who lives in the area
Tuesday: John smartly suggested we go to 1800 Club's weekly trivia night. Before the game began, we were approached by a friend and asked to team up. Through the entire game our team did consistently well, though not perfectly, with each of us contributing nicely. Finally, we swept the last round, which is worth the most points, to win 2nd prize of 25% of the triva cash pot.
Wednesday: Not much in terms of going out, but I got a relatively good amount of reading done. It had to happen sometime.
Thursday: Thoroughly enjoyed myself at the Chi O crush party. Towards the end of it, when several of us enduring ones were still there, I sang Aha's "Take on Me," as we had live-band style karaoke, and that was followed by someone else's rendition of the Cure's "Just Like Heaven." Everyone was dancing through these two numbers. Yeah New Wave!

ivenster.com: A new frontier for voyeurism

A little while ago I was invited to register for a new facebook-cum planner website called iventster. The idea behind this site is for students on campus to inform registered ivenster students of their events. One very strange component of this site is the ability to freely look at "funny pictures taken at events on your campus." I hope I never find myself wasting my time looking at pictures o my drunk peers on ivenster, which seems to be following in the footsteps of websites like thefacebook and friendster and in peoples' posting of their digital photos for public viewing, all tools of voyeurism. As someone who has often felt moments of voyeur's remorse, I wish sites like ivenster didn't exist. In this vein, I leave you all with a quote I am reminded of from Rear Window, a film that dissects voyeurism "We've become a race of Peeping Toms. What people ought to do is get outside their own house and look in for a change."

The strange language of theater majors

Today I was taking advantage of relatively nice weather and reading outside in one of the quads. Stationed nearby were three theater majors talking amusedly about their exploits and their friends' exploits. Especially fascinating to these people were the "hook-up"s of their homosexual friends. The conversation was the sort of thing I regret having heard, though it was definitely more salacious than my Latin American History book, because it confirms theater majors as the crazy people they are imagined to be, getting involved ever so briefly with one another and then referring to it casusally. Imagine a show like Beverly Hills 90210, where everyone has been with everyone else, which is how these people seem to like to fancy their relations with one another, aided by the social lubricant of alcohol, of course. For some reason, I overheard a similar conversation last week, so that's why I've kind of had enough of self-absorbed theater majors (well, it's not just them) and their amoral existences.*

*I am not a social conservative by any means, but I am against people treating other people like toys. My views about this probably would sound incredibly old-fashioned to someone my age.

Paris me manque

Last night I went to a fundraiser event put on by a Northwestern group and then to an apartment party, basically the quintessential night at NU, and the whole thing made me realize how much I miss leading a life of excitement, or at least more excitement, the life I had when I was in Paris. I really wish I could have stayed there the whole year, because college life just ain't what it used to be. There was a time when it was all fun, but lately things seem to have gotten old, especially since I don' t live in a cool city (which admittedly was something I specifically didn't go for when deciding to come here for school). It was also nice to live somewhere where nightlife didn't revolve around drinking. Sure, I'm idealizing and senteminatlizing my time spent in Paris, but even when I was there, I wasn't especially exicted about coming back here. So here's to Paris and to exciting abroad life in general (though admittedly I did a lot of schoolwork there too, it wasn't all fun and games), and here's hoping I will be back someday soon.

That annoying person in your class

There's this girl in my 20th Century Revolutions in Latin America class who just makes me cringe when she raises her hand. For one, she's about as concise as the Bible, and maybe it's just my personal irritation with her, but when she starts in, I can feel the room tense up until she finally finishes talking.

She also focuses on what her personal feelings are about certain things rather than on analyzing what we've actually been talking about in class (I always get annoyed when students emphasize that something "made them angry," etc. without saying why). For instance, today she was incoherenlty suggesting that the United States has the burden of being the upholder of human rights around the globe right after we were looking at a passage in the book we were currenlty reading about how the U.S. policy in Latin America has fed into repressive tactics against "subversives," i.e. torture, kidnapping, and murder. True to form, this girl probably participates the most of anyone in this class.

Hopefully this blog entry hasn't given the idea that I am against student participation or that I'm one of those students who resents people who participate. My main problem is this girl's unnecessary opening of her mouth.

Atypical Music Tastes

That's me. I have pretty strange music tastes for someone my age, from what I gather. I'll give you an example, my top ten most played songs on iTunes:
1. Velvet Water by Stereolab
2. What Does It Take (To Win Your Love), Junior Walker and the Allstars
3. Hello Like Before, Bill Withers
4. Medo de Amar, Paula Morelenbaum
5. If I Had You, Frank Sinatra
6. Reasons, Earth, Wind, and Fire
7. What's Happening Brother, Marvin Gaye*
8. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye*
9. Carnival, the Cardigans
10. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology), Marvin Gaye*

*Yes, I'm a big Marvin Gaye fan.

Anyway, where I seem to diverge from most of my peers is in liking 1970s R&B and 1960s music from the Motown record label and similar sounds. Some musical acts that I especially like include Earth, Wind, and Fire, Marvin Gaye, Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, Junior Walker and the Allstars, the Jackson Five, Al Wilson, Bill Withers, and the Isley Brothers. If I am wrong in saying that most people in their late teens and early 20s are not especially into this music, let me know, but if I'm right, I must say, my peers are missing out. Especially in regards to Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, which may be one of the top 20 best albums ever produced.

Though I confess to being one who tends to be the last to know about new "Indie" groups, and I'm certainly not the Indie expert (I tend to like Indie bands once they become popular, if then) I think in an effort to search for the latest and greatest music, people my age miss out on a great American tradition of good music from the 1960s-70s. Sure, most people like the Beatles, and there is always that contingent of Doors and Bob Dylan-lovin' college kids, but Motown and R&B is less prevalent in the tastes of young people. I conjecture that this is not so much a result of them having a distaste for the music but more of them not having heard the music.

One could even implicate race for this lack of awareness, but I can't assert that with certitude without having looked into it more. An interesting point does come from considering race though, because while college-aged kids listen to a lot of recent rap and hip-hop, they listen to little R&B and Motown, music that very often offers more hope, more thoughtful lyrics (well, circa the late 1960s and on), and less stereotyping. In my African American Studies course last quarter, we read an essay by scholar Cornel West asserts a very similar idea that has to do with rap's "nihilistic" affects. Recent rap especially has this quality, in my opinion.

Take lyrics from Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" ...

Mother, mother, there's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother, there's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today, hey

Father, father, we don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today, oh

...versus those from Fifty Cent's "Hate it or Love It," which integrates some of Gaye's "What's Going On" into the song.

I wanna live good so shit I sell dope
For a four-finger ring
One of them gold ropes
Nana told me if I passed I get a sheep skin coat
If I could move a few packs
I get the hat
Now that'll be dope

I expect some to call Gaye's lyrics sappy or unrealistic, but he wrote them in response to the turbulent Vietnam War period, which does not a sappy person make. Gaye expresses compassion and an awareness of peoples' suffering where Fifty Cent expresses cynicism and corruption. I'm willing to engage challenges to my ideas here, as always.

Weekend in Boston: More nice people, great show, and a hotel recommendation

This weekend I traveled to our nation's cradle of liberty, Massachusetts (sorry, I like calling states names that sound like license plate slogans). I went to Boston University to see my brother perform in a sketch comedy show put on by the sketch comedy group that he belongs to, Slow Children at Play. I went to see the show last year, and if it's possible, this year's show, titled "The Tragic Death of King Edward: A Performance-enhanced Sketch Comedy Show," was even better. Not only did they weave the plot of a crazy mock-tragedy through the show, but they built it around the medieval actors' illegal consumption of a "performance enhancing elixir." Very clever. Of course, I am the most biased person around since my brother was one of the stars of the show, but the audience reaction speaks for itself: the show ended with a standing ovation, not your typical finish to a student performance.

One of the 'Slow Kids' stars in an incredibly unique animation sketch involving an overhead projector.

I also had the great pleasure of staying in an excellent hotel called the Hotel Commonwealth. Situated on Commonwealth Avenue right in Kenmore Square, which seems to have heavily yuppifyied during my brother's time at BU, the hotel has extremely friendly service and very comfortable rooms. The kind staff evoke my earlier comments about coffee shop employees. I know people are paid to be nice, but it still makes me feel guilty. What did I do to be treated so nicely? Anyway, there's a hotel recommendation for you.

I'm going to miss this bed.

Coffee Shop Employees

I love a good cup of black coffee, and I love coffee shops, so I've had my share of coffee-ordering experiences. One thing I have noticed as a result of this penchant for fine coffee is that, in every coffee shop I go to, without fail, be it Starbucks, Peet's, Caribou, or some of the local places like Evanston's Unicorn Cafe, there are incredibly nice employees. The order taker at the cash reigster always makes a joke, energetically proclaims your order to the barista but only after double-checking to make sure you want whole, not skim, milk. (E.g: "Tall vanilla half-caf latte whole milk"). A couple of minutes later, after speedily whipping up your drink, the barista announces the full drink order when it's ready and wishes you a nice day.

Why should these people, who probably get up when certain college students go to bed, be so kindly? How do they stay so friendly well into the day? After all, if my conjecture that their employer grants them unlimited coffee and coffee products is correct, they are probably fully caffeinated for a couple hours, but then, if they're like me, they start to crash towards the end of the morning. And why should these people be particularly friendly? They have their share of prickly customers, not uncommon among the people who can afford to get a 3.00+ warm beverage every morning demographic.

Service with a smile.

So my hats off to all coffee shop employees. Keep on doing what you're doing if you feel like it, but don't worry if you're ever in a bad mood. I'll understand.

For Hire

Who: Me
When: this Summer
What: an internship
Why: time is running out and I don't have one. I currently have 3 places to hear from and just sent out one more application, and it's almost May! Summer is almost here. (one already rejected me).

If you know of any internship in the political area or really any area that seems interesting, let me know. Sure, this is a facile way to get an internship and actually just my way of publicizing my general anxiety about having no idea what I'm doing or where I will be this summer with but a month and a half till it commences.

Decipher this: Incomprehensible academic jargon excerpt of the week

And now for academic jargon at its worst. From p. 194 of Emmanuel Levinas's Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority (first of all, what on Earth does that mean?)

The Other is not other with a relative alterity as are, in a comparison, even ultimate species, which mutually exclude one another but still have their place within the community of a genus--excluding one another by their definition, but calling for one another by this exclusion, across the community of their genus.

Kudos to you if you can translate that into English.

TV not as degenerative as thought

When people talk about the golden age of television in the early 70's -- invoking shows like ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' and ''All in the Family'' -- they forget to mention how awful most television programming was during much of that decade.

Just to name a few pretty awful ones: "Sandford and Son," "Three's Company," "Welcome Back Mr. Kotter," "What's Happening"

Good article about how TV programs have increased in quality over the last 20-years, suggesting they have become more cognitively challenging by including various interconnecting plot strands and more sophisticated/esoteric dialogue. With shows like "The West Wing"(satisfies both qualifications), "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (satisfies first qualification), and "The Sopranos," which I don't watch but my parents love, I think this author has a point.

I also will go on record to defend the TV show "Survivor," which demands of its audience more than some might think: synthesizing the interpersonal relationships and political considerations of the characters so to figure out who might win the game.

John McCain

Remember when there were rumors that John Kerry wanted John McCain to be his running mate? Remember how some people in the Democratic party thought this was a good idea? This article is a good example of why it wasn't. Incidentally, this whole website offers great progressive journalism mostly written by college students. It's a great way to counter the active and growing college Republican presence on campuses today.

Spotlight on Facebook Club: People who are clearly jealous of Senator Obama

I should start writing a blog feature on messed up Facebook groups. The latest of the spiteful, angry Northwestern groups is named "Barack Obama is Overrated." I'm willing to admit that the man has gotten a lot of press in part because of his natural ease in front of a camera and good looks, but Obama himself has made a point of saying that his supporters shouldn't get seduced by all of the hype surrounding him. Furthermore, Obama's appeal also owes to his impressive education, his estimable career path, and his great speeches. If the creators of this group want to see overrated, they should look first to the leader of their party and keep on going from there. I'm willing to wager, however, that they are too bitter about Obama's success to seek to understand why Obama is so appealing to so many.

Furthermore, I find a problem with this group's defeatist attitude with regards to calling Illinois the "bluest" of states. Of course, it's their problem if they want to concede Illinois, and it's fine by me, but it is the general attitude of resignation regarding the supposed Red State/Blue State dichotomy that keeps people in this country polarized on politics.

Oh, and totally discrediting this group, they call Alan Keyes a "GOP Powerhouse." Even the GOP doesn't think that, much less all rational-thinking people. It's a laugh though!

The Uneducated Academic Snob

One unfortunate attitude I have run into here at Northwestern is the idea, held among some, that people who go to state schools are inferior. This sentiment is expressed regularly in a sub-par campus newspaper called the Northwestern Chronicle that unleashes its bitterness towards state schoolers every week in a mock advice column supposedly penned by a state school student.

Designated as public schools through the Morill Land Grant Act of 1862, wherein endowment from the sale of this land would go to fund the university, state schools have been for many an affordable way to get a good education and attain a good career. So why this elitist attitude towards the state schools from some at my university? How educated can certain Northwestern students claim to be with such an attitude? (If you read some of what these people wrote in the Chron, you would be surprised that they go to school at all. Link is here if you're daring enough to read it. Example: from this week's issue, there is an article claiming that Amtrak is not "revenue generating." Note to author of article: Amtrak is not a private, for-profit corporation. Sometimes, societies decide to collectively create public services that benefit everyone).

Anyway, this attitude seems to be an ungrateful manifestation of ignorance and elitism from people who tend to be privileged and unaware of what they're talking about. It reminds me of the despicable cheers that people in my high school used to chant at sports games to the effect that the students at the other school would be their underlings in the working world. This most anti-democratic, elitist (in the least educated way), and overly-privileged attitude doesn't seem to go away with the best education, or perhaps these fortunate students don't deserve the education that they seem to be squandering.

One-track mind

Once again, Daily Northwestern columnist Bryan Tolles has written an article worthy only of himself. Tackling the most important issues, as usual, Tolles provides us with a well-researched report on the ever-lively Evanston bar scene. In Nu Rejoice, Spring, bars, and booze, Tolles gleefully informs us that Evanston is "becoming the Lincoln Park of the north," which fortunately, isn't quite true (after all, Evanston has a bit more diversity, and sadly probably more homeless people). Fortunately, Tolles' columns are consistently about alcohol and sports, a comfort for those of us who, in this topsy-turvy world, like to know that we can always rely on Tolles to write about the exact same thing every week.

The "Liberal Media" Loves Ann Coulter

...As Time Magazine did just include her among their 100 Most Influential People. If Time included an asterisk next to their title with the note "if people being influenced are all Matthew Hale clones," I could agree. However, Time's pick of Coulter really calls their judgement into question, not only because she is just a downright nasty person--if I were a Republican, I would much rather have almost any other pundit on this list--but because she hasn't been particularly influential outside of her narrow pundit circle. This pick does turn the tables back on Ann, who disingenuously claims that the media is liberal, as she evidently was afforded quite the puff piece in Time.

Laura Bush: What poise!...and....What poise!

Wow, this is amazingly hilarious. There is a Laura Bush club on facebook NU. The description is a laugh:

"Poise, style and class: All necessary qualities for the First Lady of the United States. Mother, wife, teacher, and First Lady, join as we applaud her as a woman and icon.

We, therefore, are strong advocates of the American epitome of grace: Laura Bush."

Here's my suggestion for the description guys, "Laura Bush: the name says it all!" Or how about, "Poise and grace: a euphemism for muteness"

'Where Everyone Knows Your Name'

I'll withhold serious comment on the new pope and just say that the guy who played Cliff Claven from "Cheers" must be overjoyed about his inlaw being named pope...oh, what's that you say, it's Joseph Ratzinger, not Ratzenberger? Never mind.

I know it's trite to call something "really depressing"

but after reading about the counter revolution in Chile in 1973, I think the characterization is merited. The insurgency led by the now infamous dictator, General Augusto Pinochet, represented not only the renewal of old, economically oppressive policies but represented the new application of executions and "disappearances" of leaders of the "revolution from below" that had complemented (and sometimes even countered) the democratically elected Allende government. One woman, who was a worker at a textile mill that had been requisitioned from its owner, only to experience fatal repercussions from Pinochet's coup, said of the counterrevolutionary movement: "they have killed my dream...It was such a beautiful dream" (Winn, 252). Which brings us back to the depressing factor: this woman's absence of hope, caused by a brutal coup against hopeful ideals for democracy and economic equality. The Pinochet coup and dictatorship should make U.S. policymakers think twice about getting involved overseas--though this seems obvious, current events suggest our government continues to make old mistakes.

Meetings are Awful...

I have it figured out (and I'm sure many people before me have it figured out too): the purpose of any meeting is twofold (1) guilttrip people into doing work for the organization (2) hear the mighty sound of your own voice, preferably announcing things that no one could care less about or that could be announced via e-mail. Some participants in these meetings seem to have nothing else to do besides sit around and talk about nothing, apparently. Well here is my message to those people (and it may sound mean, but many hours of my life have been wasted due to them): find some friends, join other clubs if needs be, do work, get a life! Don't take your need to talk out on innocents!

Getting the Most out of College

On one of the first days here at Northwestern, I remember that my peer advisor--an older student assigned to help out new freshmen during the first couple weeks of school--told me and some fellow new students that the most learning one will do in college will not derive from books but from people and experiences.

Almost three years later, I would revise that idea and suggest that the learning will derive from uncomfortable or different experiences. In the beginning, many aspects of college seem different: more freedom, more things to do, and new friends who may not be similar to friends from high school. By one's junior year, where I'm at now, the above is second nature, and when I ask myself, what have I actually learned because of college, or more specifically, from paying approximately $40,000 a year for what is purported to be a top-notch education, I have to think a little harder.

I have eventually found that what I learn has been up to me and not to a professor or to my friends or to whatever club I may partake in (or that is, what I have made of my associations with these people). This is why, in recent weeks, I have been somewhat frantically trying to figure out a thesis idea: because some of my best experiences in college--those which I took the most ownership of my learning--have come from research.

Almost a senior, I realize one can really throw his/her four years of college away. Some will even argue that college is relevant only insofar as it is a stepping stone for graduate studies that are mandatory for anyone who has professional career interests. I disagree: I think the most important aspect of college is learning and become a critical-minded citizen. More broadly, education is how successful democracies persist.

Anyhow, if any collegebound student cares for my two-cents worth, I would give two pieces of advice for getting the most out of your undergraduate career: (1) GO ABROAD. And no, go abroad is not the same as spending all one's times with Americans and taking advantage of a lower drinking age. It means getting to actually see and understand some of those abstract things you learn about in the classroom and it requires energy to want to learn. (2) Do some kind of research. It is a great way to exercise one's mind and acquire more information. Though research projects may seem unduly specialized, as I have often thought, they are in fact the best way I have found to take ownership of one's education and reap lasting intellecutal growth.

The Republican agenda of fighting a fatal and expensive war in Iraq, going as far as possible to prevent women's sexual choices, from abortion to birth control, and restructuring the tax code and spending on defense to divert spending from domestic programs, to name a few items, has always struck me as immoral. More recently, I have realized that this agenda is a big waste of time, given all of the serious problems our nation should deal with.

On Tuesday night, I went to see a speaker, an editor from the French newspaper Liberation who talked about deteriorating European-American relations. Although I have been upset by certain actions in Europe, like anti-immigration and anti-Semitism, one thing that this speaker mentioned that makes European Union countries that much more advanced than some in our country is that there is little debate on "social" issues like abortion, religion in schools, and homosexuality. This is not to say that debate is stifled but just that virulent fundamentalists are few and far between.

Think about it. Isn't it counter-productive to focus one's engergies on trying to prevent women from having sexual choice? Is this the most important thing our nation must deal with today? Is it even close? With all of the other problems threatening life--what anti-choice Republicans claim to care so much about--and economic well-being, why waste money, resources, and in some cases lives by demonizing women or sending young men off to war.

The Dickie Humps Uprising: Another Year, Another Northwestern Student Body Election

It's that time of year again, when a few students concerned with Northwestern's student council, Associated Student Government or ASG come out and campaign for the votes of the rest of their fellow students who usually have little idea of what ASG has done. I think ASG gets a bad rap: it's done more than people think, though it is also a paridigmatic example of how little the NU administration, under the leadership of University Fundraiser...er President Henry Bienen, cares to improve Northwestern in ways that would benefit undergraduate students, like examining the consequences on learning that results from the quarter system, promoting teaching as much or more than research, and improving the advising system, among other things. Within this inertia, I think ASG, especially over the last year, has made some useful changes, like the Target P/N, summer financial aid, and increasing campus security.

The exciting thing about the ASG elections though, even to someone like me who likes to fancy themselves interested in issues, is by far the hilarious personalities in the running. This year's elections proved especially satisfying as fodder because of Howard W. Buffett's resignation as a candidate for Executive Vice President. Buffet went out swinging, accusing his opponent, Jay Schumacher of slandering Buffett, charging him falsely with election violations, and stealing his identity (just kidding about the last one). Buffett also railed against the ASG group that he served with, saying that their were interests that wanted to stifle his supposedly reform-minded campaign so that ASG corruption wouldn't be exposed. All of this in college student government!

In other humourous news, Northwestern's most beloved write-in candidate actually received more votes than two of the candidates for ASG president. Dickie Humps, a nickname given to an actual engineering student named Richard Humphrey whose "candidacy" was launched with a write-in campaign last year, received 195 votes this year. Other write-ins who resurfaced this year were El Testicular, NUMB Fuckin' Tenor, and Library Sleeping Lady (my personal favorite). Streetwise vendor near Le Peep and Paddy McResume were some welcome new additions to the write-in list. Since two candidates were running unopposed, I indulged in writing in Tookie Clothespin and Thor Svenson proving that even serious voters like me can have fun when it comes to student government elections.

Facebook Blacklisting?

If some NU profs, most notably, Medill Professor Michele Weldon, have it their way, your membership in Facebook clubs that criticize their classes may cause you trouble. The Facebook is a popular website for university students who network with friends from their school and other schools and make clubs, usually in somewhat of a sense of jest (take a club I belong to simply titled "ROBERT GOULET," which honors the mustachioed crooner).

Some of these clubs have been challenged by professors in the Medill School of Journalism recently, to the point that the professors held an open forum with freshmen about the harm that venting on websites, for instance by creating Facebook clubs with names the likes of "Editing and Writing the News Made My Quarter Hell" and "History and Issues [in Journalism] Cured My Insomnia," is a detrimental habit. According to these profs, if one posted such "libel"ous comments when one is in the working world, there will be serious consequences for that individual.

In my opinion, these professors are possibly more offended than they'd like to admit that the Facebook clubs express dissatisfaction with parts of the Medill curriculum. Columnist Elaine Helm spins this in a positive light in her column from yesterday, entitled "Free speech? Yes, but with supervision" but her article ends with an ominous warning from Professor Weldon: ""(The Facebook) may be your generation's mode of communication, but my generation still controls the consequences." With Medill's recent intervention in the Facebook community, it seems that nowhere, not even a little online outlet like The Facebook is safe!

No Manners

Today I had the pleasure of being around not one but many very rude, loud people. The first instance was on the El train amongst riders going to a Cubs game. For some reason people going to Cubs games feel entitled to yell their conversations so everyone can hear. The family in front of me was no exception, with one of the travellers going on and on about her friend's hideous wedding plans and constantly yelling to her husband and father about various unimportant things.

My second experience with rudeness occurred just a few minutes ago at the library cafe here at Northwestern. I was standing in line to get a drink and I must have glanced over at the girl in front of me for a second because the next thing I know, she's saying to her friend "I hate it when people look me up in down" while standing about a foot away from me. Her friend responds, "Maybe they're intimidated by you." I should have said something back to her (like why don't you confront me if you hate it so much) but am not brave enough, and in fact it was probably better not to get involved with this self-important girl, but wow, she really overreacted. I'll admit, a sweatpants-wearing slob of a Northwestern student is pretty intimidating, but really, this girl needs to get some tact!

A letter that I wrote in response to an opinion article in the Daily Northwestern, written in favor of keeping University of Illinois' mascot, Chief Illiniwek, was published today. The letter, which is linked to here, went as follows:

Tolles wrong on Illiniwek

What Bryan Tolles fails to acknowledge in his Thursday column in support of University of Illinois' mascot, Chief Illiniwek, is the opposition to the mascot undertaken by Native Americans themselves.

Using a Native American symbol for mere entertainment is similar to the use of African American actors or actors who donned "blackface" as pure entertainment in old-time minstrel shows. Maybe the audience of the minstrel show gained a greater knowledge of the existence of African Americans this way, much as Tolles claims Illinois fans gain a greater knowledge of Native Americans because of the Chief. But is exploiting an ethnic figure for pure entertainment value really the best way to gain such knowledge?

-- Elaine Meyer,

Weinberg junior

Now let's hope that John's letter in response to Howard W. Buffett's termination of his campaign for Associated Student Government (Northwestern's student council organization)'s Executive Vice President is printed next week!

Courtesy of a loyal reader:


"Republicans think that life begins at conception and ends at birth and
starts again, I guess, when you're in a vegetative state."~ Al Franken

Shifting the Blame on Iraq

Back when I used to work in the billing department of a doctor's office, where oftentimes one has to prove to a patient or an insurance company that required claims forms were sent on time, I was given a little advice by one of the other employees there, hold onto papers as proof that you have done your job so you can C.Y.A: Cover Your Ass.

The release of the Silberman-Robb Report on the use of Pre-War Intelligence (Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction Report) reminded me of this acronym, because it seems alive and well at the White House and the Pentagon. While the Silberman-Robb Report indicts the intelligence community for its "pre-war judgements," it was explicitly prevented from investigating the use of intelligence on Iraq by policymakers.

Here is a good article about this report's huge deficiency, a report seemingly engineered by the Executive Branch to put the blame for Iraq on the CIA, and, as my co-worker would put it, play a little game of C.Y.A. One has to question the value of a war that the policymakers who concocted it are unwilling to take responsibility for.

Oh, PR

Today the annoying flyer in the center of the Daily Northwestern, my university's main newspaper, was a glossy advertisement for something called "NU Cuisine." This flyer epitomizes everything I hate about public relations, with a sub-par product hiding behind a ridiculously over-stated ad campaign. Anyone who goes to Northwestern or to any college really will appreciate this ad.

On one side of the flyer, above a picture of some sushi, reads in bold letters: "Live like a student. Eat like a celebrity."

On the other side, we are told that Northwestern is "introducing NU Cuisine." That's funny, I thought we contracted out to Sodhexo. Anyhow, NU Cuisine is "the only restaurant in town that offers so much of today's contemporary ethnic and specialty cuisines." Even our dining halls have signature specialities. Elder has "made-to-order sandwiches and salads" and "carb-friendly options." Willard, the dining hall I ate in most frequently Freshman year and that went majorly downhill after Parents Weekend, unbeknownst to me, offers "healthful menu options" and "fresh fruit." My favorite work of PR stylizing is for the Crowe Cafe (the cafe in one of the academic buildings): "Quick service cafe featuring eclectic menu, organic coffees and espresso drinks." Who knew that scones and Doritos were eclectic!

The Cost of War

Today my International Ethics professor, who I also had as a prof in France (he's the Northwestern professor who comes along every year and teaches a class about France and the EU) made an interesting point about war: he said that for instance, in the time that Robert McNamara was Secretary of Defense, defense spending took up 10% of the United States's GDP (we just watched The Fog of War, a film that centers around a McNamara interview). He said that some military guys who he meets with a few times a year call war "making rubble"--basically, destruction. On the other hand, this professor said, construction of buildings can't consume that high a percent of our country's GDP. The idea is, look at how much effort is devoted to war, to making machines and people that can destroy versus building things.

In that vein, we also have to read a book called The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. O'Brien recounts when he received his draft notice in the mail: he had always opposed the war but was never too aware of how it could affect him personally since he had done well in college and was accepted to a graduate program at Harvard. I could picture someone my age who had been afforded the good fortune in life that I have been afforded, especially in terms of receiving a great education, in the same situation if Iraq escalates, and it is a pretty sobering thought.

Thus, I wish people who support a murkily-explained war like Iraq would think over what war means rather than reciting platitudes like "well, they had it coming" or "war must be fought" to justify the war. If, after thinking over the great costs of war, one still feels he/she can support a war like Iraq, for instance, I invite that person to enlist in the military.

The Leadership of Pope John Paul II: The Good, the Bad

The death of Pope John Paul II necessitates not only a mourning of this loss but also an examination of his positive and negative contributions as pope. Although I can't claim to have as much of an investment in the office of pope in a spiritual sense, since I am not Catholic, the decisions of popes to involve themselves in political questions, and more personally, with other religions like my religion, Judaism, incites myself and many others to feel invested in the type of person who holds the papacy.

Thus, as Rabbi Michael Lerner said in a recent article in the Jewish magazine Tikkun

It is the Jewish tradition that in remembering the dead, we talk honestly and not just say the good things. In fact, we consider it more of a respecting of the dead to acknowledge the full picture, and not only say what we admired, but also what challenged us. And we do that starting with the first times that we talk about the dead, in the eulogy, and during the period of mourning. Our tradition teaches us that it is this honest accounting that allows us to return from sadness in a healthy way, rather than by covering up parts that disappointed us or hurt us.

In this regard, Pope John Paul II put forth several great achievements but, unfortunately, made a lot of regressive decisions as well.

On the one hand, as Lerner says,

On the positive side, he continued and reaffirmed the strong Catholic teachings on the importance of social justice. He advanced the connection between Catholics and Jews and took some important steps to symbolically affirm the sisterhood of Christianity and Judaism. He made symbolic gestures of recognition of Islam. He courageously stood up to communist dictators in Poland and the military junta in Brazil, pleaded for an end to the conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland, went to Japan and denounced nuclear war. He took a step toward modeling forgiveness by visiting in jail the person who tried to kill him. He called for reconciliation between Israel and Palestine. And this is only the tip of the iceberg of many good deeds and positive values he espoused.

On the other hand,
Rather than widening and building on that spirit of liberalization by taking actions like including women in the priesthood, allowing priests to marry, welcoming homosexuals into the church, this pope not only reaffirmed the most sexually repressive aspects of his tradition (few of them actually based in biblical texts) but also elevated these issues into the central issues of loyalty to the church.

-Also supported beatifying Nazi sympathizer and enabler Pope Pius XII.
-Interefered to prevent a U.N. Resolution in Cairo in 1994 that favored abortion rights and contraception, among other things, to redress population problems
-Promoted the use of a politician's stance on sexual issues, especially abortion as a "litmus test" to determine their alleigance to the Catholic Church, which for instancee, allowed reactionary American Catholics leaders not to allow Presidential candidate John Kerry sacraments
-As Lerner says about this, Why did they not take that same position in regard to supporting capital punishment, voting for wars, voting to give more funding to military preparations than to helping the poor?

Lerner concludes his article with a humble and eloquent extension of solidarity to Catholics:
So it is actually only because I feel a strong solidarity, an intrinsic connection, between my own connection to God and the connection to God of the Catholic world, and a strong affirmation of all that is deeply beautiful and moving in the Cahtolic tradition, that I feel a need to speak the deepest truth that I know as we witness a global mourning that partly obscures the reality of this pope and his legacy.

I will leave it at that.

Adventures at a Big Ten School that Wins Games

This weekend, I went to U. of Illinois to visit a friend and by default, to watch U. of I play Louisville in the NCAA tournament. Illinois is one school that is happy about basketball! After the Illini beat Louisville, students ran out into the main drag of Champaign, Green Street, some scaling buildings, trees, lampposts, and others being hoisted atop the shoulders of bulky frat guys.

Now, some Northwestern students have mourned the lack of school spirit here, lamenting that we're too busy with our studies to get excited about a ballgame. Being at U. of I made me realize, however, that I couldn't give less of a shit about having school spirit. While it's fun to watch a suspenseful game, the obnoxious drunk people, the noise, the mob, made me realize that I'd rather not have Northwestern win a Rose Bowl or NCAA Championship if I have to deal with all of that. I understand why people get excited, and I had a great time in U. of I, as I always do, but I could do without sports hooliganism.

The religious right's support for keeping Terry Schiavo alive through a feeding tube presented an interesting paradox on their part. For a group that has given science a lot of flack, it is odd that they would equate "God's will" with keeping Schiavo alive through the use of a feeding tube, a product of modern medicine. Of course, this problem suggests that trying to determine God's will is a fruitless task: did God will in humans the power to create technology and medicine that can prolong life or did God will that humans not subvert God's powers through science? Who knows.

Still, the religious right has so often positioned themselves against modern science, believing the Bible to offer better insight into the existence of man than empirical study. That is why it is odd that this group finds God's will is for an unconscious person to be kept alive through modern technology, a product of scientific reasoning and discovery. This is the danger of introducing the idea of God's will into the argument over keeping someone in a coma alive or not: that God's will cannot be determined by humans, and this is where the religious right, who so often take pot shots at science, get themselves in hot water.

The 'Foxy Supreme Court Justice from New Hampshire'

Proof that I'm not the only one who thinks so.