Sporadic Thoughts

2004-04-27T15:37:00.000-04:00

Slate's ad report card comments on the new Verizon commercials that feature a mixed-race family, with a white mother and a Latino father.

I had seen these ads and was intrigued by the use of a mixed-race family. I would agree that it's used as an attention-getting gimmick, but not because of the fact that "a mixed-race family is still sort of a big deal." I think it grabs the attention because it's something we haven't seen before, from either full television shows or commercials.

The article views the move in the standard, cynical marketing way, but I think the fact that such a huge company can used a mixed-race family in their broad, nation-wide marketing campaign is a wonderful sign of how far we've come as a society. With all the issues of race and diversity we've had to deal with on campus this year, it's comforting and reassuring to see that Verizon, and its market research, feels it can treat the issue as "no big deal at all."

2004-04-08T15:16:00.000-04:00

This article on asteroids hitting Earth contained this interesting passage:

An asteroid, or several asteroids, are believed to have kicked up so much dust and set off so much volcanic activity 65 million years ago that the resulting climate change wiped out the dinosaurs.

But scientists believe an event of that size would only occur about every 700,000 years on average.

Every 700,000 years? Now, I'm not the best mathematician, but doesn't that mean we should have had approximately 92 such catesrophic events in the past 65 million years?

2004-03-08T18:11:00.000-05:00

Very interesting analysis of the Bush presidency. Confidence Man

2004-02-24T15:37:00.000-05:00

Bush calls for ban on same-sex marriages

Seriously, I think this is an election-breaker for me. I support what the President has done in the war on terror, but really, if we can allow something so hateful and bigoted to become part of the Constitution, what are we fighting to protect? I can't even express the outrage I feel at the prospect of this. I can only refer to the Andrew Sullivan and the many who have emailed support to him. As always, most of the blogosphere is more eloquent, though not more passionate, than I.

2004-02-03T12:56:00.000-05:00

The Justice, my ever-favorite campus newspaper, seems to have started a series of interviews with recognizable campus staff. Last week was the cute cashier from Usdan and this week's it's the ever-popular singing mailman. I think it's great a great trend. There are a lot of people that work hard to make our campus run smoothly and it's great they're getting some recognition.

2004-01-29T14:55:00.000-05:00

So the beginning of classes, the business of my life, and the lack of computer in my room (it crashed right after break, new one should be here next week) have hindered the blogging lately. It took a lot to bring me back from hiatus, but I think this article is worth it.

Inventor of 'Ctrl-Alt-Delete' is retiring.

It is a sad, sad, day.

2003-11-17T23:26:00.000-05:00

So just now, as I was sitting in my room talking on AIM and doing some reading for class, I heard shouting out in the hallway. I go outside to investigate and find a group of about 10 Brandeis students marching through my hall chanting, "Oppose Hate, Tolerate!" Now, I was visibly confused as to what was going on, wandering around and saying, "What's this? What's going on?" However, no one even tried to stop and explain to me why they were making this demonstration. Now I, for one, am all about opposing hate, but I do wonder what made them feel that this was an effective way of fostering tolerance. It seems that they are mainly disrespecting their fellow students who are trying to study and wind down from a long day. Instead of a productive exchange of ideas, I was prompted to once again look with disdain on the activists of this campus and share with my fellow bewildered hallmates the sarcastic proclamation," You know, I have always been for hate, but they've really showed me that I should tolerate instead."

2003-11-12T15:23:00.000-05:00

The issues of the Justice have been found and are being distributed. I've been asked not to state the name of the person who took them for the moment. The sad thing is, most of the campus still has no idea that the issues were stolen in the first place.

2003-11-12T13:17:00.000-05:00

The editors of the Justice have been wandering the dorms looking for the missing papers. 300 copies were found in a black garbage bag in East, one of the main sophomore dorms, and hearsay has it that there are a bunch more in a certain senior suite. Right now it's looking more like a prank than someone upset at the paper, but I can tell you that the Justice editors are livid either way. More updates and I learn them.

2003-11-11T22:47:00.000-05:00

Apparently someone has stolen the entire 4000 copy run of this week's Justice. You can still read the issue online here, but I always like having the physical copy in front of me. Not sure if this is some prank or a protest related to the debacle of a few weeks ago. I'll try and update as I learn more.

2003-11-11T17:52:00.000-05:00

Another entertainment industry death. Actor Art Carney, Ed Norton on The Honeymooners has died. Apparently his grandson goes to Brandeis and is friends with some people I know, but I've never met him.

2003-11-11T13:26:00.000-05:00

Apparently the CNN Rock the Vote debate was pre-scripted Well, yeah. Perhaps I've grown up in too cynical of a world, but I never thought that those questions were spontaneous.

2003-11-09T17:24:00.000-05:00

Saw The Matrix Revolutions on Thursday night. Enjoyable enough. Better than the second, not as good as the first, as all the reviews say. I think this article from Slate (warning, minor spoilers) has an interesting view on what went wrong. It really is sad that the greatness of the first movie has been lost a bit in the shattered expectations of the sequels.

While Revolutions has a narrative force that was missing from Reloaded that actually makes you care a bit during the battle scenes (as opposed to the "damn, this is cool, but do you really think anything will happen to Morpheus or Trinity" car chase of the second), the ending claims to wrap up all conflict, when in reality, all the questions of the first movie remain unresolved. **SPOILERS**If the Matrix still exists, isn't humanity still enslaved? And wasn't that the whole point of the war? If the war is over, will the machines release all of the minds from the Matrix? And if so, how will the machines power themselves? If the machines continue to use human energy to power themselves, wouldn't the humans be ideologically bound to still try to free minds that were ready? What exactly has been changed by Neo's martyr death? **SPOILERS**

The Matrix sequels have fallen into the same trap that has engulfed the Star Wars sequels. Too much hype, too little payoff. It's probably true that nothing could have lived up to the expectations of millions of fans, but no matter how bad the reviews, and how disappointed the fans, the movies continue to break box office records. And because of that, we will inevitably continue to see innovative, exciting movies that are ruined in the push for money-making sequels.

2003-11-06T15:13:00.000-05:00

While the Justice issue has calmed down a bit on campus, the mainstream media is still talking about it. Today there was another article in the Boston Globe as well as one from the Jewish Telegraph Association. In addition, a friend of mine said her parents heard a piece about it on a talk radio show in Los Angeles.

On campus, there seems to be a sense that the worst is over. We're back to our normal actions of having "forums" and "discussions." The latest being a special workshop led by a "noted diversity workshop leader/facilitator" who "uses poetry as her medium
of choice in her presentations." On Tuesday there was a lecture on "The History of the N-word." These discussions are important, but we've had things like this before and the problem is with attendance. How do you get people to these events and how do you get people to care? For now, all I see is a decrease in the amount of cynical sneers directed towards the forums, but that is not going translate to more people going out and attending these events.

Now I don't have a solution to this. I don't know if anyone does. But unless you really hit people where they live, unless you get at something that affects them, it's very hard to make them care. I wonder how many members of the BBSO were active during the "Men's Room" scandal two years ago when the racial slurs were directed towards Asian women.

2003-11-06T13:01:00.000-05:00

For a change of pace:

This essay on the feminization of the American male, which I found via Instpundit and has apparently been making a splash around the blogosphere, doesn't seem all that original to me. I've heard most of it before, in a way less offensive to women. It also has shades of a Fight Club rant.

2003-11-03T00:51:00.000-05:00

Campus Press Notes has some interesting updates from a source on the Justice. I think this quote pretty much sums up how I view the situation:

One person's racism is not symbolic of the whole community's thought. By saying that this type of racism is prevalent at Brandeis b/c one person holds views is irrational (and stupid).

2003-11-01T20:08:00.000-05:00

Yana Litovsky's (Justice features editor) resignation letter is published in this week's issues, which came out on Friday instead of Tuesday as reguarly scheduled because of more demands from BBSO. It is full of justified frustration and anger, while still being reasonable and logical. I disagreed with some of Litovsky's opinions two years ago during the Men's Room incident, but I must say that I whole-heartedly support this letter.

The Justice apology and defense is equally well-written and logical, while still full of emotion, though I agree with Steve Silver that the defense should not have been placed above the apology. I only hope this misjudgment doesn't bring more heartache to the already drained editors.

I've only gotten through about half of the letters to the editor, but they seem to be pretty varied. A few, I am happy to say, try to address the fact that this campus has a habit of 'protesting for the sake of protesting.' While I don't think this is the case here (protest was warrented, just not to the degree that it happened) it is something that is quite widespread and it's good to know that others on this campus are recognize it.

2003-10-30T11:01:00.000-05:00

Thanks to JawsBlog for the link. I think it's my first outside of my sister, so it really means something. Unfortuantely, it had to be on such an upsetting issue.

Campus Press Notes has a great, clear timeline up of everything that's happened. And Steve Silver, former Justice editor, is still going strong. There was a report on the local news last night with student interviews.

I had lunch yesterday with one of my good friends who is the photo editor of the Justice. That's right, people, she is in charge of the pictures. Not words, not content, photographs. She has been acting on minimal sleep for the past week and a half and says she does not feel safe going to her Spanish class because the other students give her hostile looks and refuse to speak to her. This is ridiculous. Nobody should feel unsafe in their classes or anywhere on this campus.

I'd write more, but I have to go give a tour for admissions and try to remember the I love I have for this school.

2003-10-28T14:26:00.000-05:00

As life continues to be way too busy (I'm actually skipping class while writing this post; it's the only way I'd have time), I haven't been blogging much lately. In the past week a huge controversy has exploded on campus. You can read great ongoing commentary (much better than I can do) about it at JawsBlog and Steve Silver's blog.

The basic gist: a rascist comment was published in the school newspaper, The Justice. An article was written blaming the Cubs general manager for blowing the NLCS championship and ended with a quote saying "the only thing [he] has a Ph. D. in is a work that starts with 'n' and rhymes with Tigger, the lovable scamp we all fell in love with from Whinne the Pooh." The Black Student Organization (BBSO) presented the Justice with a list of demands. The student who wrote the article resigned from the Justice as well as his position on Student Senate. The sports editor resigned. On Sunday night, the Student Senate met from 7pm until 6am and passed a resolution that called for the resignation of the editor in cheif. This demand has now been met and the editor, who had been in office for one week when this incident occured, agreed to step down.

What was printed in the Justice was inexcusable. The writer rightly was forced to resign as was the sports editor. The issue had to be dealt with, but the way BBSO is reacting is completely unconstructive. They staged a walkout on a forum on Thursday night; a forum designed to have an open dialogue and discuss what should be done. This, to me, shows a distinct lack of willingness to work with others. BBSO was hurt and has been reacting out of anger and without thought ever since. They have continued attacking the Justice editors even when demand after demand has been met. The administration has picked up this issue like no other in my time at Brandeis. The leadership of the Justice has been decimated. And now, the most well-established and basically the only form of communication of news on this campus may well disappear.

The comment made was inexcusable. But so is that action taken by those who, instead of adding constructively to the dialogue on this campus, instead decided to lash out and destroy one of the greatest organizations on this campus. Those students who are being attacked now, the majority of the editorial board, had nothing to do with the article which was printed. We have punished those responsible. We cannot hold the entire organization responsible for the stupidity and mistakes of the few.

EDIT: Oh, and I almost forgot. The story has been picked up by the Boston Globe. This, I think, is the saddest thing.

I love Brandeis. I have gone through four years here and worked damn hard on Orientation, Famly Weekend, and other activities to make this school a better place. We have a great community and incredibly passionate students who care about what they are doing. When an event like this get so blown out of proportion that it is all anyone can talk about, this is the image that the rest of the world sees of us. This is not the face of Brandeis. This is an isolated incident that has caused shuch hurt feelings that people are blinded by their anger. It upsets me greatly when issues like this become what people know of Brandeis. This is not the school I know. This is not the school I love.

2003-09-18T12:53:00.000-04:00

What do you use a dictionary for?

2003-09-03T23:17:00.000-04:00

Fitting that I should return to blogging with an article about Buffy. Virginia Postrel sets out the assumptions of the Buffyverse and shows Why Buffy Kicked Ass.

2003-08-14T15:22:00.000-04:00

While I hate to declare a hiatus so soon after starting up again, there will be a 3 weeks pause in blogging. I'm planning Orientation for my school and the Orientation Leaders come back this Tuesday, then the freshmen on Sunday. So I will basically be working non-stop for the next 3 weeks, barely having time to check my e-mail, let alone read the news. After September 1st I will have my life back and hopefully keep up the decent pace of blogging I've had the past couple weeks. And thanks to everyone for the renewed interest!

2003-08-05T09:26:00.000-04:00

Proof that Texans really are crazy:

"The difference was Bush was the great uniter. Perry and DeLay are the great dividers."

This quote from a Texas Democrat. What is the world coming to?

2003-08-04T18:22:00.000-04:00

Flash mob hits the Harvard Coop. Now why wasn't I invited?

(Link via Instapundit

2003-08-01T13:28:00.000-04:00

There are some heart-rending posts on Andrew Sullivan's site regarding the recent declaration from the Catholic church and President Bush's comments against gay marriage. While the hate mail and stories of people losing their faith and trust of the Catholic church are awful, it is warming to see people standing up for the right to love whoever they want and not allowing themselves to feel guilty for it.

People are often asked what they think is the most important thing in life. There are many answers, and while as a 20 year old senior in college I have much more to learn about life, at the moment my answer is love. To find that one person who makes you so happy, who fills your life with extra meaning, who makes everything that much better just by existing, just by being with you. It is so rare and so hard to find, how can you say that you can't find it in someone of the same sex, or someone of a different religion?

This is why I get so upset when I talk to my friends who refuse to marry anyone who isn't Jewish. Yes, my Judaism is important to me and I believe I will want to raise my children Jewish, but how can you allow something like that to overshadow a chance at love? Differences can be worked around, problems can be worked out, but when I find that person who I know if right for me I will not let anything stand in my way. And how dare you deny someone else that kind of happiness? How dare you deny yourself that kind of happiness?

2003-07-31T09:55:00.000-04:00

Bush wants marriage reserved for heterosexuals.

"I believe marriage is between a man and a woman, and I think we ought to codify that one way or another," Bush told reporters at a White House news conference. "And we've got lawyers looking at the best way to do that."

I think I'm going to be sick.

2003-07-28T18:46:00.000-04:00

Good news from Iraq.

I've often been fascinated by the idea of how to start a government from scratch. There are so many things to consider; so many needs to take care of. The fact that someone at one point sat down and wrote out a Constituion and established a rule of law seems only a story out of history books. So it strikes me as especially odd and amazing to read about Iraquis actually doing this right now. While I idly while away my summer there are men convening a constitutional convention to establish a new government for their country. It really is an amazing and inspiring thing.

2003-07-24T23:01:00.000-04:00

Den Beste provides a big picture summary of the war on terror fron September 11th to Iraq and beyond.

2003-07-21T16:20:00.000-04:00

If ever I was to question my decision to not go to law school I think this post reaffirms it.

2003-05-30T15:35:00.000-04:00

I return from a long hiatus to blog an aricle on something I used to be guilty of myself. Bigotry against Republicans.

2003-03-27T12:27:00.000-05:00

I've mentioned the pro-America Brandeis club Bowling for Columbine is up for an Academy Award for Best Documentary. But, according to Academy rules it's not actually a documentary!

2003-03-20T11:41:00.000-05:00

The walk-out is on here at Brandeis. I didn't make it up the 53 steps to the main quad where it was being held‚ but from the bottom you can hear them chanting‚ "What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? Now!"

The table set up by United We Stand with support ribbons and petitions had a crowd around it both times I stopped by and I've definitely seen more people wearing ribbons than I expected. It's so great to actually see diversity of opinion on this here!

2003-03-18T19:35:00.000-05:00

Okay, I know I made a post last week pointing to a new Brandeis blog Brandeis Vanguard and explaining my long absence from posting, but for some reason it's no longer here. And the fact that I didn't notice for several days may tell you something about my busy schedule. So here's a quick make-up post for that being gone.

Also, check out the map of our allies over at Balloon Juice.
(Link via Vodka Pundit)

2003-03-18T11:17:00.000-05:00

So my newly purchased TV has been put to good use switching back and forth between CNN and Fox News every morning. And today they keep emphasizing the 'countdown'. 'Countdown: 33 hours' flashes along the bottom of the screen. It makes me feel like tommorrow night we're all going to crowd around the TV and count '5-4-3-2-1' and watch the bombs fall down on Baghdad.

2003-02-10T23:02:00.000-05:00

I saw Bowling for Columbine on Friday night when it was playing on campus. I thought the first hour was rather interesting, but the second hour was completely unnecessary. He simply re-said what had been stated in the first hour. Also, his points made no sense. First he said, "Guns are bad, guns are evil." Then it was "But guns aren't what cause the problems." And finally, "But still, guns are evil, even though they're not the problem." And of course, I was the only one in the auditorium who seemed to think these two points were rather contradictory.

2003-02-01T14:56:00.000-05:00

The sincerity, the honest tributes of the blogosphere are what keep bringing me back. Reading what everyone has written about the Columbia tragedy today brings tears to my eyes. There are so many intelligent, compassionate people out there and I feel privileged that I can read and take comfort in their thoughts on this sad event. Check, as always, the links to the left. They can say most anything better than I can. The image that got to me the most while watching the news this morning was footage of a van driving the families of the astronauts away from the landing site. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

2003-01-29T00:08:00.000-05:00

Two items in the State of the Union struck me as somewhat surprising (I didn't get to watch it, but I read the transcript). First, the pledge to help fight AIDS in Africa and second the dedication to engineering a hydrogen-powered car. Both of which I think are wonderful proposals, just not something I was expecting to hear in the speech. As for the real political analysis, I'll leave that to those more qulified.

2003-01-22T13:15:00.000-05:00

The art of commercials.

2003-01-22T10:30:00.000-05:00

Toothbrush trounces car as top invention.

2003-01-21T11:32:00.000-05:00

Check out the quote of the day over at The Kitchen Cabinet.

2003-01-18T11:21:00.000-05:00

What? There are supposed to be antiwar protests this weekend? We've been at school for a week and I haven't heard anything about this. The Brandeis activists seem to be dropping the ball.

2003-01-17T11:59:00.000-05:00

CriticalMass is a website set up for Harvard students to express their opinion about classes and professors. It seems students are usually too scared to speak up.

This is quite the opposite of how things are at Brandeis. While the administration doesn't always listen, students are always willing and eager to start up a petition or a protest about school policies. Two years ago there was a two week vigil by students hoping to gain tenure for a popular professor. The professor did not get tenure, but since then the administration has created a position to gain student input on tenure decisions.

Just one more way Brandeis is better than Harvard. We don't have grade inflation either.

2003-01-16T16:14:00.000-05:00

Slate's wonderful Explainer column (which I don't read often enough) gives us the origins of the expression "Pie in the Sky".

2003-01-15T09:58:00.000-05:00

The fifth Harry Potter book will finally be published on June 21st. And apparently, it's longer than the last one!

2003-01-13T19:30:00.000-05:00

Why We Won’t Invade North Korea. A clear, concise, easy-to-understand analysis. (Link via Megan McArdle

2003-01-12T23:48:00.000-05:00

The first Israeli astronaut will carry this drawing by a boy who died in the Holocaust into space with him. The moon landscape depicted in Petr Ginz’s drawing attests to his aspiration to reach a place from where the earth, which threatened his life, could be seen from a secure range.

2002-12-27T00:56:00.000-05:00

I missed this post on coming up with names for groups of people a while back. My favorite is "A categorizing by species is artificial, and degrading to the uniqueness and authenticity of each individual, and therefore this entire excercise is empty and moot of deconstructionists."

2002-12-21T15:19:00.000-05:00

Now this is just cool.

2002-12-18T12:34:00.000-05:00

New York unveiling new WTC proposals. I don't know, none of them really grab me. I think they're all a bit too modern for my taste. And where are the memorials?

2002-12-12T12:54:00.000-05:00

I put up a hit counter on the site a little while ago and I seem to be doing much better than I thought. I don't think I could quite get up to where I am thanks only to my sister and my parents. So thanks to all of you that aren't obligated to read this for checking out what I have to say. I'm taking my last final in half an hour (what, I should be studying you say? Nah.) so I should have more time to waste on this little project over winter break. Hope you all keep coming back. It's great to have you here.

2002-12-12T12:49:00.000-05:00

Check out how popular your name is, compliments of the Social Security Agency. Apparently Hanah and Dahlia aren't in the top 1,000, while Hannah seems to have peaked from 1992-1994. Though, personally, I think originality in baby names is a good thing. Props to my parents for their imagination.

(Link via The Agitator)

2002-12-05T15:57:00.000-05:00

I know you've all been wondering what happened to Al, Tim Allen's sidekick on Home Imporvement. No? Well, honestly, neither was I, until I came home one day and my roommate was watching Family Feud. He's the new host and the show is definitely more addictive than I remember. Just what I need to distract me during finals time.

2002-12-03T21:48:00.000-05:00

Geologists discover worlds oldest rocks

2002-12-02T23:05:00.000-05:00

The Kitchen Cabinet is reporting that U.S. currency will be getting colorful next year. I'd link to the actual article, but it requires registration and I'm too lazy for that right now.

2002-12-02T22:56:00.000-05:00

FOUND magazine. Fascinating. My favorite are the notes. I could look at them all day. Must remember to try and find a hard copy the next time I'm in Boston. (Link via The Agitator)

2002-11-20T10:38:00.000-05:00

Jesus doesn't want you to drive an SUV.

2002-11-20T10:37:00.000-05:00

Jesus doesn't want you to drive an SUV.

2002-11-20T00:36:00.000-05:00

Radley Balko is postulating on the attraction of women to Sam Waterston. I'm not quite sure what it is either, but it's definately there. I've been watching the show on and off since junior year of high school and even back then my friends and I agreed it was all about Waterston.

2002-11-18T23:14:00.000-05:00

Best sun picture ever.

2002-11-15T10:35:00.000-05:00

Student rally supporting war with Iraq. Wow. That's nice to see. Feels like I should be doing more here. (Link via David Hogberg via Instapundit)

2002-11-14T11:27:00.000-05:00

So there's a teach-in against the war on Iraq tonight and fliers have been showing up on the dining hall tables titled '9 Reasons Why the US should NOT Go to WAR with IRAQ'. First of all, love the liberal use of capitalization rules. But let's get to the actual reasons.

1. An attack would be against International Law.
Um. How, exactly? The UN has passed a resolution calling on Iraq to allow weapons inspectors in or face military consequences. Is it violating internationial law to enforce international reglations?

2. Going to war without justification would only lead to more terrorist attacks against the United States.
First, we do have justification. Second, sitting back and doing nothing is exactly what will stop terrorist attacks. I'm sure of it.

3. Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter has stated that there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that the US had no right to go to war.
I didn't pay to much attentiont to this at the time, but I remember a while back reading something (specifically at Instapundit and Live from the WTC) about Ritter doing a complete about-face and his position on this not being too trustworthy. More information would be appreciated.

4. Iraq has never used chemical or biological weapons when it was an enemy of the US, only when it was our ally. The massive military capabilities of the US haver served as a successful deterrent.
Didn't Iraq use chemical weapons during the Gulf War? We were allies with them during that?

5. Thousands of US soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians would die.
Thousands of US and Israeli citizens will die if we do nothing. We cannot know how many civilians will die in this war. Far fewer died in Afghanistan that was predicted by anti-war folks then. I believe we can hope for the same in Iraq.

6. There is no evidence that Iraq supports terrorism.
Can't refute this one off the top of my head. Help, please?

7. Sanctions have already killed over 1 million people in Iraq since the end of the Gulf War. We cannot jusitfy any more deaths caused by US policy.
Sanctions have hurt the people because Saddam Hussein steals the food and money that is supposed to go to civilians to pay for his palaces and Republican Guard. By going to war with Iraq we can take Hussein out of power and allow for normal with relations Iraq once again which will make life better for all civilians. Just as we did in Afghanistan.

8. An attack on Iraq would disrupt the region, leading to a greater war with multiple nations involved.

9. We should concentrate on human needs and stop spending more than $400 billion on the military.
If we do not keep our nation and citizens safe we will not be able to help others. And wasn't it this massive military capability that was deterring Iraq in reason 4?

This was all done very quickly and off the top of my head. Comments, criticisms, etc. are greatly appreciated.

2002-11-14T11:11:00.000-05:00

Woah! Megan McArdle has made a massive sight redesign. Still the same great posts, though.

2002-11-13T11:33:00.000-05:00

The Onion | Marxists' Apartment A Microcosm Of Why Marxism Doesn't Work

2002-11-07T10:19:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - Van owner 'confesses' to planting Bali bomb What are those quote marks for? Are they trying to say it wasn't a true confession? Or were they just unnecessarily excerpting one word from a longer quote?

2002-11-06T12:28:00.000-05:00

A nice round up of the Massachusettes election over at Hub Blog.

His quote from Howie Carr about classroom elections reminded me of my first political experience. As a kindergardener in Texas, I had no idea that my parent's Jewish, liberal, Democratic views weren't shared by everyone until we held a mock 1988 Presidential election and I think I was one of 3 student to vote for Dukakis. As forshadowing for my later attitude in poltical discussions, however, I was completely convinced that I was right and everyone else was wrong.

2002-11-06T11:51:00.000-05:00

After an hour and a half reading election coverage, it was a nice break to read today's Lileks. It's a rather long one today, but totally worth it. I laughed out loud at least three separate times.

2002-11-05T16:44:00.000-05:00

I just got back from my first ever time voting. It was quite exciting. Though I was surprised to see such old technology used. Still, it felt good to actually be able to do something to add to the political process besides rant in my own little world no matter how little it actually counts.

2002-11-03T13:40:00.000-05:00

Quite a fun reminder of how amazing a world we live in.

2002-11-03T13:18:00.000-05:00

This article is quite pessimistic about today's college students and their interest in international policy. Apparently because there aren't as many protests against the war as there were during Vietnam, students don't care what happens. Maybe they would have found something different if they'd gone beyond Lehigh University. My favorite part, though, is this quote:

''We keep our students desperate just trying to keep up with what they're asked to do,'' [Dave Amidon, director of Lehigh's Urban Studies program] said. ''My students are too wise to waste time on something they can't do much about. They don't squander their time.''

Amen. If they want us to be more activist, maybe they should stop giving us so much work to do!

2002-10-30T13:00:00.000-05:00

A little while ago Stephen Green said he was going to do less linking and more long, opinion posts. I, for one, am enjoying it immensely. Go. Read. Enjoy.

2002-10-30T12:57:00.000-05:00

A Political-Type Meme

Which Founding Father Are You?

2002-10-28T15:59:00.000-05:00

A long and thoughtful post by Radley Balko regarding war with Iraq.

2002-10-23T11:14:00.000-04:00

Jehuda Reinharz, president of Brandeis University, co-authored an anti-intimidation pledge signed by other university presidents and published in the New York Times. It was written mainly in response to events at Concordia University and SFSU where Jewish students were harrassed and attacked by pro-Palestinian protestors. The student newspaper here published an interview with him on the subject this week.

It's really disappointing that what started out as being a wonderful opportunity to educate the student body about events happening across the country (how many people here really know what happened at Concordia? 2 our of 6 people I ate dinner with last night I can tell you) ended up with Reinharz backtracking and becoming defensive. The subject of some anti-Arab flyers put up around campus was brought up and Reinharz advocates throwing these students off campus? Putting up fliers around campus, however biased the opinions on them are, is nothing like having mobs of students yell anti-Semetic comments and vandalize school property. It encourages discussion, it doesn't stifle it. If Reinharz could make his position consistent I'd be a lot prouder to have him as my unveristy president.

2002-10-20T13:57:00.000-04:00

As a hard-core Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan I really wanted to check out Joss Whedon's new creation Firefly. I've only been able to see 2 episodes due to the extremely bad time slot the show has (Friday nights at 8 on Fox), but what is really interesting is the official website for the show. Normally network websites are quite low on content and you have to go to fan-run sites for all the fun, juicey details like spoilers and epiosde recaps. But Firefly has the most in-depth network website I've ever seen. There's the obligatory message boards, but also a spoiler sections with pages from next week's script, interviews with the cast and crew, and even a blog by a production assistant on the set. Dig around and you can even find coveted footage of everyone's hero Joss Whedon. It's almost more fun than the show itself!

2002-10-16T11:10:00.000-04:00

They've caught the guy who made the Bali bomb. This one's hitting a little too close to home as well. My roommate's friend from home is studying abroad in Australia this semester and was supposed to go to Bali at some point. My roommate e-mailed her after we heard the news about the bombing and she hasn't heard back in 4 days.

UPDATE: My roommate got an e-mail from her friend in Australia and all is well. Thanks for all your concern.

2002-10-16T10:56:00.000-04:00

They've called in the military to help find the D.C. sniper. I really hope they find him soon. Especially because my Aunt lives about 20 minutes away from where most of the shootings take place. And also because I'm supposed to be in D.C. in two weeks to perform with my dance group. Nine killed, 2 injured, it's been almost 2 weeks and they still haven't found him. What is taking so long?

2002-10-14T08:46:00.000-04:00

Wow. My Con Law professor reads blogs. He sent us an e-mail this morning about a case the Supreme Court heard (Eldred - about copyrights) and said
"Blog coverage at:
http://www.corante.com/copyfight/
http://allafrica.com/staff/kwindla/eldred.txt
http://research.yale.edu/lawmeme/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=392
Media coverage at:
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,55684,00.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-961467.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/10/business/10BIZC.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3508-2002Oct9.html
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/local/4251014.htm"

Blog coverage! I wonder how many other people in the class undertand what that means. And the third post on the first link is to the Volokhs. Maybe I can go impress my professor with my close family connection there. :-)

2002-10-10T16:59:00.000-04:00

For once Instapundit is behind the curve! I posted news of Seventeen Magazine's coolest college rankings weeks ago.

2002-10-09T23:18:00.000-04:00

Instapundit points us poor college students to this item on why not to buy used textbooks. This is what I've been saying for years! It's also why I was upset at the begining of the year when there weren't any new books in the bookstore for one of my courses. If there's anything we've learned today it's this: Never trust idiot with highlighters.

2002-10-09T11:55:00.000-04:00

He's back! Yes, Stephen Green is back from a week-long vacation with his usual wonderful content. Seems he spent the week playing computer games and enjoying newly-married life. My lull in blogging, however, hasn't been for quite so fun reasons. Let's hear it for midterms!

2002-10-07T14:39:00.000-04:00

Professor quote: "It's good to have people who follow things through to their logical conclusions. It's good to have these kinds of extremists. Like libertarians."

What? Libertarians are extremists? Oh yes, I keep forgetting.

2002-10-07T14:33:00.000-04:00

Supreme Court won't intervene in New Jersey case. My constitutional law professor brought this case up in class this morning by asking, "Is anyone here from New Jersey?" As if the only people who would have heard about or cared about this issue were from the state. Well, I know a few people from Washington DC, New York, and Tennessee who know a thing or two about it.

2002-10-07T14:30:00.000-04:00

My sister has a very interesting post about college students' views on the war with Iraq. Now Brandeis, as opposed to Bryn Mawr, is quite a politically active campus. Just say you're having a protest and you'll get loads of people showing up, probably without even having to tell them what it's about (though the wonderfully vauge topics like 'peace' and 'tolerance' will bring out the most). But I think that the last paragraph of her post sums up the ideas that all of these activist students have. 'If we could only get everyone to sit down and talk about what's bothering them we could easily come up with a solution.' They cannot imagine a situation when this strategy would not work. They can't believe that everyone can't just get along. You cannot convince them otherwise. That is why they are dangerous.

2002-10-07T14:28:00.000-04:00

Supreme Court won't intervene in New Jersey case. My consitutional law professor brought this case up in class this morning. He asked if anyone knew anything about it by asking "Is anyone here from New Jersey?" As if the only people who would have heard about this or cared about it were those from the state. Well, I know of some people from New York, How to watch sports with guys. Turns out I've been doing it all wrong. I do wish I could still impress guys with my knowledge of sports, but the truth is I haven't had time to really follow anything since, well, since I started college. Damn classes getting in the way of my flirting.

(Link via The Agitator)

2002-10-01T15:02:00.000-04:00

I'd been wondering how many Brandeis students had attended the protest in D.C. this weekend and how many were arrested. Well, now that it's Tuesday, my trusty school newspaper, The Justice, has come out and let me know. 30 went, none arrested. How disappointing.

While I suppose it's pointless to fisk a school newspaper article, there was one line that just make be laugh out loud:

Radical Students Association (RSA) member, Lee Tusman '04, said that the WTO acts to help finance projects in developing nations, but as a condition, they dictate restructuring of the economy, opening of markets, and a weakening of government social services.
The countries that get financing loans must pay them back.

Horror of horrors! Countries that get loans have to pay them back? Who would have thought? I mean, you would think that the word loan no longer meant the same thing as gift.

2002-09-30T11:14:00.000-04:00

I usually enjoy reading Lileks every morning while I'm eating breakfast, but Jess Ventura is "a dead pinky toe that will fall off some day, and we won’t even notice until we shake it out of our shoe"? Ew.

2002-09-29T22:46:00.000-04:00

Some thoughts on how to be happy. Seems like I've got a pretty good start. Born female: check. Go to church (well, synogogue): check. Country dancing: As soon as Nissa gets back from Scotland we're going again. Now I just have to work on that pesky marriage thing.
(Link via Quare)

2002-09-29T14:54:00.000-04:00

Megan McArdle is appalled at the amount of cheating that goes on in public high schools today. I suppose we all should be, but the article she points to is a completely accurate reflection of what went on in my high school. Two years before I graduated, one of the valedictorians (yes, we had several) was caught cheating a month or so before graduation. She remained valedictorian.

2002-09-26T10:28:00.000-04:00

With all the talk of bloggers running for president (here's two potential candidates I'd support) I was wondering. Are there any politicans with blogs out there? It would be a wonderful way for them to keep in touch with their constituents and publish their thoughts and views about issues. It would also help prove that they're actually doing something and allow them to easily get input from the people they represent. On the other hand it would mean that they'd have to be honest about what they thought and take definite positions. So maybe there's a good reason there aren't any politicians in the blogosphere.

2002-09-25T16:58:00.000-04:00

I am, with rare exception, neither eloquent nor persuasive. Luckily, I have a blogosphere out there to learn from. This post by Stephen Green puts beautifully one of the many things I wish I could get across to my fellow students. This country has done things badly, yes, but we have also done many, many things well. Our past failures must be studied and examined and we must always question, but don't let mistakes of the past tie our hands in what we need to do today.

2002-09-24T16:52:00.000-04:00

Buffy Blog Burst!

I am a come-lately Buffy fan, but I try to make up for that by being overly obsessed. I had seen bits and pieces of the show before, but come on: Buffy the Vampire Slayer? How can a show with that name not be stupid.

It all started last October when I sprained my ankle at dance practice on Thursday night and was hence unable to go to NYU and visit a friend as I had planned. I was rather depressed about this and so spent all of Friday night lying on the couch in the common room and watching TV. After the first-ever US episode of Iron Chef, hosted by William Shatner, a rerun of the musical episode of Buffy came on. I had heard a bit about it and I love musicals so I gave it a try. Instantly I was hooked. Even without knowing anything about the plot and very little about the characters I could tell that this show was something special. Luckily for me, at the time FX was showing two episodes a day so by January I had pretty much caught up on most of the show's backstory and mythology. I now own seasons 1 and 2 on DVD (I can't belive season 3 doesn't come out until January!) and am a regular reader of (though I have yet to post on) many online discussion forums.

Buffy is a show that infinitely rewards devoted fans and repeated viewings. The dialogue is always witty and intelligent and the amount of continuity throughout the show's seasons is amazing. It is a show that allows its characters to grow, evolve, and change like few other shows do. It allows you to escape into a fully formed world of demons, magic, and super heroes every week. And an all new season starts in just 3 hours!

2002-09-23T18:47:00.000-04:00

Vodkapundit asks: 'Do they not teach economics in college anymore?' I can tell you, yes they do and even at a liberal institution like Brandeis the economics department is amazingly sane. I think the problem is that most students haven't had an introduction to basic economics. Most high schools require economics to graduate, but we all know how well the public school system is doing there. I learned more in 2 weeks of college econ than I did in an entire semester in high school. I would dearly love to have Introduction to Economics be a requirement for graduation. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but learning a bit about how the economy and markets actually work might combat some of the huge anti-free-market bias that exists in many of the social science departments(*cough*sociology*cough) and make for some less isolated, more realistic students. And maybe it would stop those damn hippies from trying to take away my EZMac!

2002-09-23T16:58:00.000-04:00

Well, to go along with my post below about U.S. News and World Report's college rankings, apparently Seventeen magazine has ranked the top 100 coolest colleges. And surprise: Brandeis is number 77. Although this time there's no contest with the sister as Bryn Mawr is infinitely cooler at 32. A bit of home-town pride in here, though: Rice University, which is about 45 minutes from my house is number 1!

2002-09-20T10:22:00.000-04:00

Yesterday there was a 24-hour peace vigil and "think-in" here on campus. This means that a bunch of wanna-be hippies get a chance to sleep outside for a night and think they're doing something important. Because by sitting outside and really thinking one of them is bound to come upon a hither-to-unrealized idea to achieve world peace. They had a piece of poster board set up where people could write their thoughts about peace. I wrote up a quote that friend of mine had told me once: "We will have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us." ~Golda Meir. Yay for the little subversions. As I walked away I noticed the people at the think-in, who had been chatting when I first walked up, had gone silent and were reading what I'd written. I hope I really gave them something to think about.

2002-09-19T12:32:00.000-04:00

The always controversial U.S. News college rankings have been released. My beloved Brandeis University is number 31. Unfortunately, I can't say if I'm better than my sister because Brandeis and Bryn Mawr are rated on different lists! One interesting point: University of Texas at Austin is number 47 this year. I knew it was a good school, I just didn't realize it was that good.