Cans and bottles hurt me...

Today in AP Biology, we sorted cans and bottles after finishing a movie we watched. If you are one of the more than 51,000 people that work in the same corporation as myself, this probably sounds familiar. I work for Hy-Vee. This means that our little job of sorting came pretty easily to me as I recognized the familiar signs of can shed bags and too many bottles to count.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate having a job that will give me more hours during the summer and a leave of absence during the school year. However, like most people, I'm not exactly looking forward to going back after school ends. For the most part, my job at customer service isn't so bad as high school jobs go.

However, I am not a fan of the bottle return policy. If people were not often disgusting, I would be perfectly fine with it (normally, I think it is a good idea as it encourages people to recycle). But the cans are often sticky, crushed, hairy, not empty or just plain dirty. We actually are recommended to wear gloves from the health hazard they cause. That's not a good sign.

Anyway, it was just a reminder that I must go back to the world of work soon. But at least I get paid.

The seniors are gone

Yesterday was the seniors' last day of school. It may be strange that I am taking such a note of this since I am a junior, but it feels very weird with them gone. There are the few reasons.

#1: My boyfriend is a senior. So now he is making that first step towards leaving the high school where I get to see him every day to a strange and mysterious place that is much closer to the "real world." The fact that he has already left school means that he is that much closer to graduating and leaving for Egypt in about two weeks. It's really exciting that he gets to go to another country and then off to college, but it will be very weird not to see him. We've been dating for almost 2 1/2
years and during that time, I've seen him at least multiple times a week. So that's weird to think about.

#2: It makes me realize that my senior year is very close. It seems like I just started my junior year with new hopes and goals and soon I will have to edit those goals for my senior year. And there are all these "lasts" coming up: last football season, last homecoming dance, last basketball season, last prom, last Mock Trial competition...It doesn't seem like that long ago that I started high school thinking that it was just like the teenage movies (it's not, by the way, especially if you are like me). And then there's the prospect of preparing for college. I don't even know what I want to do when I graduate, just that I'm interested in biology. I don't have any idea what college I'd like to go to either. That's a lot of uncertainty.

Either way, the hallways seem less crowded and noisy with the seniors gone. This means a lot of changes for my class and myself, which is scary but also very exciting. Hopefully we will have a great year/summer and will fulfill the idea of the rock in front of our school: "no regrets."

England

This summer I am going on vacation to England. I'm going with my mom, grandma, aunt, uncle and my two cousins. It doesn't feel like I'm going yet though. I have yet to get a travel book and look up possible places to visit. I haven't figured out who's bringing a laptop and I don't know the exact date of when we are leaving. But even though I don't have most of the details worked out, I am excited about the idea.

One thing I am worried about is the fact that I am going with my family. A couple of things I haven't mentioned so far is that one of my cousins is around 4 or 5. Another is that quarters will be so close that I will be sharing a two-bed hotel room with my mom and grandma...and I'm sharing a bed with my mom. This alerts me to the fact that we are most likely going to be in a very small room. I'm less excited about these aspects of the trip.

I love my family very much, but I'm afraid I may be less affectionate when spending every waking (and sleeping) moment with them.

Stromboli

Deep in the food court of our local mall, there lies a fast food restaurant called Sbarro. Surely, many of you have heard of this wondrous place with pizza slices so large that you can't completely hold one in your hands. But Sbarro has another amazing creation: THE STROMBOLI!!!!!

The stromboli may seem fairly safe from the picture linked above, although perhaps with the exception of the cheese oozing out (I think I may be drooling as I'm writing this). However, the item contains more grease than your car engine which inevitably comes leaking out at some point. Delicious, trans-fatty grease, that is.

So now whenever I venture to the mall during lunch, I eat one of these strombolis. This is a decision that both pleases me and hurts me at the same time. On the one hand, it is by far the most appetizing items in the food court. On the other hand, there's so much grease and calories that I'm usually left bloated and perhaps even feeling slightly sick. Thus: our love/hate relationship.

Ultimately, I would recommend this sumptous product to those not afraid to get a little oily. Despite its obvious lack of health, the stromboli is very tasty. And it led me to discover my dad's newfound talent at making calzones (which are healthier and just as tasty). In other words, Sbarro makes good food happen.

Pam + Jim = Jam

What can I say about the season finale of my beloved show, The Office? I am a very sad and disappointed girl who takes too much solace in the romance of TV characters. If you are even an aquaintance of mine (or you read titles of blog entries), you know that I'm referring to Pam and Jim.

When I began watching The Office with Tim, I was instantly rooting for Pam and Jim to get together. This, of course, was what the writers of the show intended when they forced us to slowly become entranced with the idea. Finally, Pam broke up with Roy and began dating Jim. Things were looking sunny and clear, especially when we got the clue that Jim was planning to propose to Pam:



So, obviously, most thought that Jim would propose before this season ended for the summer. But no! Andy ruined "Big Tuna's" big moment and now we must wait until the next season begins to see what happens. The worst part is that Pam, like the rest of us, thought Jim would propose that night. But hopefully things will go well when the show returns. After all, this is The Office, not a soap opera. One of the best parts of the show is that they focus on comedy and not drama. I've been waiting so long for Jim and Pam to join forces and create Jam! It must happen soon.

Rap "Music"

Granted, I have more than a few pet peeves. But what I find worse than PDA and people who find themselves incredibly smart is rap music. Now, I find it debatable that this noise can even be called music. How can someone named Bow Wow (seriously...Bow Wow?) compare with the likes of Bruce Springsteen or Aerosmith?

To answer this question, I came up with the possibility that maybe their fame is derived from their amazing lyrics. So, I looked up what is the number one rap song right now (according to AOL music because, really, who can we trust to tell us what's number one than the Internet provider that constantly cuts out?). Apparently the number one rap song right now is called "Lollipop" by Lil Wayne. I'll just give you a little sample of the lyrics:

Shawty wanna thug
Bottles in the club
Shawty wanna hump
And ooo I like to touch ya lovely lady lumps

This is just a tiny portion of the song because I really didn't feel comfortable putting most of the lyrics on a school-checked blog. But you can look it up yourself and for now you get the point. Basically chauvinistic and violent undertones highlight the entire song. So I think we can rule out those amazing lyrics.

So maybe the real key to their success is that they're great dancing songs? Well, I know there are many people who would disagree with me, but I would not agree with that. Sure, the beat is usually fairly exposed in rap songs but it seems like every song sounds the same. There are no instrumentals and no real singing, just talking. Compare that to blues, jazz or rock and you'll find that it doesn't really compare. Hell, I'd rather dance to "Cotton-Eyed Joe."

So I guess the real question I have is why does this music appeal so much to the majority of those in my generation? First, there's the fact that the majority of kids in my school (the school that is predominately white...by a lot)seems to really enjoy this music. Honestly, how many of you know all about that "thugging?" Then, you have the black people who enjoy it. Obviously I don't know the first thing about being a minority, but it seems like music that promotes gangs and violence is the last thing that will create equality. But I do know the first thing about being a woman and as such I find these songs very offensive. The songs are usually very demeaning while featuring scantily clad women humping the air. Come on, this is the 21st century, shouldn't we be beyond this by now?

Henry VIII

I just finished reading a book called The Wives of Henry VIII. This may sound like an unusual choice, but it might make more sense if I explain how I became interested in the subject. This beginning came when I saw The Other Boleyn Girl with my mom in theaters. This is the story of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of a king who divorced/killed five of his six wives. So the movie made me wonder what actually happened in history since Henry VIII is one of the more bizarre tales in history. My mom had started reading this book a while back and lent it to me.

All in all, the book was pretty interesting. Usually my nonfiction books are more limited to David Sedaris and Sarah Vowell so this was uncommon for me. But the subject itself is obviously one that it is hard to make dull and the writing was good anyway. But I guess the biggest thought that occurred to me while reading the book is that Henry VIII became extremely fat. Don't think chubby, think morbidly obese. I understand that he had power and wealth, but how do you force yourself to be attracted to such a man? Especially when the guy wasn't exactly a sweetheart. I mean, who decides to let their daughter be courted by a man who has a history of tantrums and cutting off his wives's heads? Very weird.

Ode to the AP Tests (otherwise known as ap-ness)

Finally, the day has come when I will not be tested every single day! Honestly, I think if the room were very quiet during some of the AP tests you would be able to hear the grunts of my straining brain cells. However, my brain cells that are responsible for recognition of my own name must be very happy. I think I wrote my name twenty times in the past three days.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to be possible getting college credit for much cheaper than I would in an actual college. However, taking an AP test three days in a row is like taking the ACT three days in a row. But perhaps its more stressful than that because you can take the ACT over.

I think the worst part about the AP tests is the time left over. For example, today they gave us 2 hours and 15 minutes to write 3 essays. For those of you who don't know, this is a lot of time. I ended up with 20 minutes left, but others ended up with almost 50! This is a lot of time to sit and stare at a ceiling. And then you inevitably end up staring at the digital countdown, willing it to be faster. Which just slows it down.

Walks with Jack

At my dad's house we have a Golden Retriever named Jack. Jack is...well, crazy would be the best word for it. But lately I've noticed something else. Although both my dad and I run on a daily basis, Jack is actually out of shape. You wouldn't know this by looking at him:



But walks with Jack are always an interesting event. First of all, recognition of his leash as time for a walk seems to be about the only idea we can get to diffuse through his thick skull. Actually, it's probably one of the few times that we get to see him calm. It's like he dares not to move because his treat might be taken away from him.

But then when we get outside my 90-pound dog begins pulling frantically on his leash. My boyfriend and I tried to teach him to heel once. Our walk ended up taking a half an hour to walk three blocks because we stopped every time he pulled. You might think that, while he wouldn't immediately pick up the trick, Jack might at least get a little hint. But no, he pulled until he was wheezing against his collar, but when we loosened it the memory of this discomfort was long gone. I'm not entirely sure that he has long-term memory.

But despite all of this vivacity in the beginning of his walk, Jack begins to tire after about a mile. And this isn't just in those hot Iowa summers that make even me feel like I'm in some sort of desert. Towards the end of every walk, Jack begins to look up at me like "Aren't we finished yet?" His gait turns into a slow, lumbering one as he pants and continues to look searchingly for signs that we're almost home. I find this very strange as most days one can find Jack sprinting around the backyard in circles for no particular reason. And when I say sprinting, I mean really sprinting. Where does all the energy that he puts into jumping and biting me in greeting go?

21

This weekend I saw the movie 21. I was actually very impressed. Although I suppose whatever review I give must be taken with a grain of salt since I am a fan of Oceans 11 types of movies, which this was a lot like. And we see yet another excellent performance from Jim Sturgess. But this role was a lot different than his roles in Across the Universe and The Other Boleyn Girl. In this movie, his character went from being his usual quiet type to being more extroverted. So that was interesting to see. It was also interesting to see Kevin Spacey play the role of a more dangerous character.
One thing that I learned after seeing this movie was that it was based off of a real story. This was surprising to me because the movie is about MIT students who travel to Las Vegas during the weekends to count cards at blackjack. Obviously though, there were probably many elaborations in the movie. At any rate, I thought it was interesting that there really were students who did this and I have to wonder who found out about it.
All in all, I would definitely recommend this movie. I couldn’t stop watching!

America's Next Top Model

One day I needed something to watch while I was riding our recumbent bike in the basement and I naturally turned to MTV to find a show that required no thinking. America’s Next Top Model was on, so I decided to watch it because I knew that some of my friends enjoy it. What I found is that it is not only the incredibly vapid show that I imagined but also very addictive.
The idea of the show is that some models complete a challenge and some sort of photo shoot every week. At the end of that week, they are evaluated on how they did in these by a panel of judges and one of them is let go. And when they are not out on photo shoots, they are living in the same house together and interacting with the result of much drama. So essentially it seems to be a mix between The Bachelor and American Idol.
I don’t watch America’s Next Top Model when new episodes come out in the current season, but only watch reruns on MTV on the weekend. Because of this I only see snippets and random episodes of old series. However, you can get the general idea from that. One thing I have noticed is that the panel of judges (who mostly stay the same) are often very rude. I have heard models compared to Michael Jackson and even heard it said that a girl could stand to lose 150 lbs (even though that would make her 30 lbs, which “would be better”). Granted, some of these things were said when the models weren’t around, but still. They often praise models for their positive attitudes, but usually that means smiling at someone who just said something quite offensive to you. I’m not entirely sure why the judges feel that the perfect model is someone who lets people degrade them and talk down to them. That doesn’t exactly sound like confidence to me.
Obviously though, the show is very entertaining to watch. But here’s a good example of the treatment I was talking about earlier:

Flight of the Conchords

For those of you unfamiliar with Flight of the Conchords, I can tell you something definitive: you are missing out. I was introduced to the “band” when I showed up to a friend’s house. We were sitting in her bedroom and talking when all of the sudden I started paying attention to the music being played. The following lyrics reach my attention:
I’m not crying
No, I’m not crying
And if I am crying
It’s not because of you
It’s because I’m thinking of a friend of mine who you don’t know who is dying
That’s right, dying

So obviously my first reaction is “What the crap is this?” and you are probably thinking the same thing after reading those lyrics. So, in answer to your question, Flight of the Conchords is a show on HBO that is sort of a parody of the band shows of MTV/VH1. I have yet to actually see a full episode (however, I’ve seen most of their music videos on YouTube), but apparently it’s a show of their trials and tribulations, complete with their songs. Of course, one should keep in mind that this is obviously a parody.
Here is their video for “I’m Not Crying”

Attention: STOP MAKING OUT!

Usually I’m not the cynical, I’m-too-mature-for-high-school-thing type of person. However, one major exception to this is people who feel the need to share their deep passion for each other in the hallway. And usually even this isn’t much of a problem as one can choose to simply ignore them. In the past few days, though, the national alert of PDA has reached alarmingly new and high levels. Because of this, I must beg the general public of my high school: please desist your groping and kissing!
This became a problem when I returned to my locker after school one day and found that a new group had decided to make the same area their new home. Up against the opposite wall, they stared deeply into each others’ eyes and kissed….right in front of me. Now I find that my new friends are there every single day just groping away. This is rather awkward as such obvious and “passionate” PDA is like some sort of car wreck that you just cannot look away from. And trust me, you want and need to for your own sanity.
So before you start this dangerous habit, think about everyone else. I know you’re just so deeply in “love,” but the rest of us are trying so hard not to vomit.

Pennsylvania Primaries

On Tuesday, we will finally see the next of the Democratic and Republican primaries (although I think we can all safely say that McCain will receive the Republican endorsement). So I guess that a lot of people are asking what is expected to occur in this primary and what each scenario would mean for Obama or Clinton. The general consensus seems to be that Clinton is in the lead with a small margin. Clinton also seems to be in the lead in Catholic/Irish and blue collar areas, while Obama is more popular around Philadelphia and other larger cities. From what I’ve seen, it seems pretty unlikely that Obama will walk away with an actual win from this primary, but he could stop Clinton from taking the whole state. CNN commented (in the video linked above) that what Clinton really needs is to obtain about 54% of the votes to Obama’s 44% (or more) in order to gain more momentum. These are the results of the primaries in neighboring Ohio and New Jersey. Anything less than this sort of victory might cause a loss in momentum. So this scenario seems to be the actual goal of the Obama campaign.

Fighting in Pennsylvania

Unfortunately, it seems that we are once again seeing the Democratic presidential candidates battle it out. While we seem to have had some sort of relative lull recently, the Pennsylvania primaries have rekindled the debates. The change was apparent when the candidates went from saying that their respective opponent could beat McCain in a general election to apparently now saying that the other couldn’t win in the general election. But that’s just one small example of the fighting going on. Essentially the real problem is the fact that neither Obama nor Clinton seems to be able to go one day without verbally attacking the other.
Now, maybe this is very naive of me, but I was honestly hoping that we might have a cleaner run for the presidential candidate this year. Instead, it seems like McCain is just having some sort of relaxing nap while the Democratic candidates tear each other to pieces. I just find this strange because it seems like both candidates have similar ideas, at least for the most part. And when these primaries and caucuses first began, there were many people who found that they liked more than one of the candidates. But now we have negative ads coming through the mail and showing up on the T.V. and it seems like half of the debate time is eaten up by issues that really don’t matter (read: Obama’s old pastor and Clinton’s Bosnia incident). Granted, this has been happening for a while now, but why? Both of the candidates know that the longer this goes on, the worse things are going to be when one of them is running for president.
I guess the part that really concerns me is the large possibility that neither of the candidates will be able to have the minimum of 2,025 delegates needed to win. I mean, if this is the fighting we must put up with at a big primary, just think of the convention. I have a feeling that the unity they’re hoping for after convention will be elusive.

"Bitter"

We have yet another presidential tiff after Obama’s comments about small town citizens being “bitter” about their lack of financial help from the government which leads them to “cling to guns and religion.” Clinton and McCain speedily and happily proclaimed him an “elitist” and now new debate over the second amendment has emerged.
So the real issue behind all this is that the American people want someone like them in the presidency. First of all, this is rather contradictory as one must have significant funds in order to run for president in the first place. For example, both Clinton and McCain’s families are both worth about $100 million. Nevertheless, this hasn’t stopped Clinton from trying to relate to small town people by telling old hunting stories from her childhood. Whether or not these stories had the intended effect depends on who you talked to. However, I find it odd that presidential candidates feel that they are relating to the middle class by telling stories of hunting or drinking shots (like Clinton). I mean, honestly, maybe I’m off the track but those don’t seem to be our only pastimes. It makes it seem more like they’re taking a time to just condescend to our level. Like we’re too simple for anything else.

Bruce Springsteen

Throughout at least my entire life, my dad has been enamored with two things: distance running and Bruce Springsteen. Now that I am firmly following in his steps about the running, it seems like I’m also finding a passion for “The Boss’s” music. It began with my dad’s declaration that he was going to take my boyfriend and me to a Springsteen concert with his friends. I was listening to some of his CDs in preparation and discovered that I truly liked the music.
But the real reason that I am impressed by Springsteen is his concert. For those of you who do not know, Bruce Springsteen is almost 60. And the E Street Band, who plays with Springsteen, has been together since 1972 and the musicians are middle aged. So you might think that the energy level would be below that of a younger band. But that is where you would be wrong. The energy level was high and persistent throughout the entire show with few breaks. Here was this 60 year old man who has way more energy than anyone I have ever seen. And the performance of the music was excellent, as one might expect from someone who has been performing since the 60s.
This is Springsteen performing Radio Nowhere live at the Today Show:

Wuthering Heights

I just finished the novel Wuthering Heights over spring break and a week later I’m still not sure what I think about it.
On the one hand, it was a very powerful book. The emotions are very raw and the characters are much deeper than the hero/villain stereotypes. So generally, I really enjoyed this book and it was something I would read again. But, on the other hand, Wuthering Heights is not exactly a feel-good book. Throughout the book, the characters’ violent passions and often lack of consciousness border on discomforting.
The main idea of the book, for those who haven’t read it, is that the love between Catherine and Healthcliff is thwarted. Then the rest of the story is how it affects the lives around them. I was never quite certain of who I was sympathetic to during the story as the characters were usually either spoiled or (there’s no clearer way to say it) just mean. But it is too simple to simply say that Healthcliff was just a bad person when you see his torment over Catherine being lost.
Unfortunately, my thoughts are still a bit too muddled to be writing this. I feel like I need to read the book again in order to give an accurate opinion of it. So I would recommend it, but make sure you keep your names straight (many characters have very similar names).

Hunger in Haiti

Even as we absorb ourselves in the upcoming presidential election, the news reminds us that we are far more prosperous than much of the world. This was evident when learning about violent protests in Haiti over lack of food.
It is a shock for most people living in places like the United States to actually hear about these things. Yes, we have our monstrous national debt and our poverty, but there is almost no comparison. According to the CIA World Factbook, 2/3 of Haiti’s population are unemployed and 80% are below the poverty line (they do not define what they mean by poverty, only mentioning that the definition varies between countries and that wealthier nations have a more generous definition, so we can assume that poverty in Haiti is much lower than our definition of poverty). However, the United States has a 4.6% unemployment rate and 12% below the poverty line.
Now, this definitely isn’t me saying that we don’t have some serious problems in the United States (Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, anyone?) because we do. But if people are looking for an issue that crosses country lines and political party lines, this is it. We may argue about how to go about fixing the problem, but there’s no denying that something needs to be done about it. The sad fact is that half of the world lives off of less than $2 a day. Our poverty levels can’t even compare to certain countries in the world where people cannot find or pay for water, much less food. As someone who lives in a middle class home in the United States, I have no idea what it’s like to be unable to find food. We simply take it for granted that there will be supermarkets filled with so much food that someone in Africa wouldn’t believe their eyes if they saw it.
There are more statistics and information on the Internet, but we all know that poverty is an issue. We cannot let the fact that we are unable to relate to those who turn violent from poverty in order to get what we take for granted stop us from doing something about it. If you’re looking for a black and white issue, here it is.

No connection between Hussein and al-Qaida

This is obviously very old news, but also very notable. It was announced around March 14^th by the Pentagon. Apparently they can definitively say that there never was a connection between Saddam Hussein, former leader of Iraq, and al-Qaida. I think that many people suspected this, but there’s just something about hearing the government come out and say it. We have been in this war for five years now and the majority of the United States’ rationales for entering it have been disappointed. After September 11^th, we were told that those who were responsible for the deaths would be held responsible. We were later lead to believe that Saddam Hussein was somehow linked to the terrorist group responsible for the attack and therefore was responsible himself. Now we find that this isn’t the case. We were also told that Iraq had the now famous (or infamous) “weapons of mass destruction.” We have yet to ever find those either. Remarks have been made that people in Iraq hid them, but I am curious to know how one effectively hides and moves excessively potent atomic or biological weapons. I’m guessing they’re pretty big. So now that these are disproved the only rationale we’re left with is that we’re spreading freedom to the people of Iraq. Congratulations. We’ve finally found a rationale that no one could possibly argue with without being an evil person.

Dividing the Democratic Party

Apparently former Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd has announced that the Democratic Party should declare a candidate before the caucuses finish. He also believes that this candidate should be Obama.

To some extent, I can agree with him. His reasoning is that the Democratic Party has become very divisive in the past couple of months and will only continue to worsen. I would definitely agree with this assumption (I believe my first post on this blog was centered on my irritation at the bickering between Obama and Clinton). I hope that the current relationship between Obama and Clinton won’t last the entire process of the caucuses, but I guess that no one really knows. I can only assume that things will become even more aggressive as the Democratic convention grows nearer in the same way that Clinton became more aggressive as Obama caught up to her lead. A poll by CNN showed as many as 16% of polled Democratic voters saying that they would not vote in the 2008 election if their chosen candidate isn’t picked (whether that candidate is Obama or Clinton). This is rather alarming for, although it probably has some errors and is only accurate as to people’s current beliefs, it seems to be a fairly accurate representation of how things stand. I mean, after all, how different are Obama and Clinton from each other? Yes, they obviously have some different ideas and their supporters would be quick to find them. But they’re both moderate Democrats who are going after similar ideals, just in slightly different ways. Is this enough to keep you at home? Is it really better to just pout and sulk in a corner?

At any rate, I do see Dodd’s point in his reasoning; this constant bickering has become destructive. However, I don’t think that the answer is to claim that Obama is obviously a shoe-in for the presidential candidate when the race is so close. I also do not agree with the idea that we should completely disregard the states that have yet to vote in a caucus and just pick. That is entirely against the caucus system and would most likely lead to an even more divided party than before.

Youth Vote

I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve heard an older person make the comment that my generation lacks the political awareness and action of older generations. This is obviously coming from the generation who lived during the Vietnam War and participated in many protests. While I don’t think this is entirely accurate, there are a few grains of truth with it.

There is something wrong with the percentage of those between the ages 18 and 30 who vote. When you look at South Carolina, for example, this age group made up 9% of voters in 2004, but this increased to 14% in this year’s primary. There are two ways to look at this. First of all, 9%?! This percentage is much lower than our actual representation. But you can also look at the trends. Many organizations about the youth vote, such as CIRCLE, are reporting a larger amount than usual of young voters, often doubling or tripling past participation numbers. And the majority of these voters are democrats for Obama. For once, it feels like my generation truly is stepping up to the plate to change the face of politics.

Clinton Under Fire

Anyone who is vaguely familiar with the elections will know that Clinton's main point of attack against Obama is his experience, especially foreign experience. And now we find that she has been exaggerating a description used to describe her wealth of experience. For a brief summary, she had told an anecdote about her arrival in Bosnia during the Clinton administration in which they had to run as they were fired on. The media has apparently uncovered a videotape of their landing which shows them not to be rushed at all and that she actually stopped to talk to an eight year-old girl. She says she misspoke, but has used the story more than once.

So what do we make of this? Obviously it isn't a giant lie. Is this just another example of the media being tough on Clinton? Or is this another example of Clinton manipulating the general public? It is probably both to some degree. It is obvious that Clinton knew that she was stretching the truth and is now trying to feign ignorance in hopes that we'll just leave it alone. I personally don't think that it is such of a big deal, but it just adds to the general atmosphere of her administration. It's just politics as usual, which is disappointing.

"A More Perfect Union"

Although I missed the original speech by Obama on the 18th, I was luckily able to find a full version. I rarely actually say anything about the links I hyperlink to, but I have to stop and say that I highly recommend taking the time to watch this speech if you have not done so already.
Perhaps it is from the years of painfully watching President Bush give speeches and talk in an impromptu fashion, but every time Obama speaks I can hardly believe my eyes or ears. It isn’t full of embarrassing Bushisms (or Obama-isms, I suppose) and it isn’t awkward. It is the way one would always picture the American president to speak. It was sincere and touching.
The speech was in response to the media criticism of his former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and the following criticism of Obama (cough, Fox News, cough). However, the speech was not about him trying to necessarily apologize for the pastor, but to talk about the conditions of race in this country. After all, this is why the Reverend made these comments. This led to the most candid and eloquent speeches about race I’ve ever heard, especially in a country where it is taboo to discuss such things.
“This church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.”
I thought that this was one of the most effective words of the speech. I obviously have no idea what it is like to be African American but this helps me understand. That African Americans, especially of the pastor’s generation, want to make this country a more equal place, but they are also held back by the bitterness that has come from having to fight so much for their civil rights.
This, however, was my favorite quote of the entire speech and on this note I will leave you:
“For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle - as we did in the OJ trial - or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright's sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she's playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies. We can do that. But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we'll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change. That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, "Not this time." "

Romantic times in the Afghanistan War

One of the most recent bushisms really isn’t even something that he misspoke. In a recent videoconference with U.S. soldiers in Afganistan, he said the following.

"I must say, I'm a little envious. If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed. It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger.”

When I saw this quote on the “Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger” (by the way, I really recommend this link, it's hilarious) on the Colbert Report, I must say, I was completely surprised. Granted, I was getting my news from a liberal talk show, but still. I understand that President Bush wishes to raise the morale of the troops, but pretending like they’re having all made-for-touching-movie special moments is ridiculous. Obviously I don’t understand what troops are going through any more than he does, but at least I admit that I’m sure they’d rather be home with their friends and family. What can I say? Sometimes I am utterly shocked and alarmed at the things that come out of his mouth.

Eliot Spitzer Sex Scandal

So obviously there has been a lot of news about the sex scandal involving Governor Eliot Spitzer of New York. This scandal caused him to announce his resignation on Monday. Now, there seem to be a few questions following this news: is infidelity enough reason to cause a political official to resign? And the question that really irks me: why is it that their wives are standing next to them during their political address/apology?

This incident reminds me (and I’m sure many other people) of the Clinton sex scandal. The main difference is that President Clinton had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, a woman who worked with him. But his main problem was that he lied in legal proceedings which is, obviously, against the law. But with former Governor Spitzer, the problem in legality comes from the fact that he had hired prostitutes, which is punishable under the law. But even if he hadn’t hired a prostitute and cheated on his wife with a colleague, like Clinton, would it have made a difference? The public already gets outraged at the mere presence of infidelity, which is understandable as we expect politicians to hold up to our moral expectations. But does the action merit an expulsion, or are they able to do just as well? You often hear remarks of President Clinton’s supporters that the infidelity incident does not affect how competent he was as a president. I go back and forth on this issue. On the one hand, politicians are human too. But on the other hand, they knew going into this profession that they would be held to a high standard. After all, isn’t that a large part of the appeal of Obama? People want a president/politician who will give them hope and set a new standard for politics. We don’t want to feel like we need to always be suspicious of our government and actually feel like it’s working to help us. We need honest people to do that.

But the thing I also think is very bizarre is that Spizter’s wife stood beside him as he apologized to the nation…for cheating on her. I’m sure that it’s humiliating just to know that your husband cheated on you with a prostitute. Then everyone in the nation finds out about it and your husband goes on T.V. to apologize for it. And it’s your job to look very forgiving and accepting so that everyone feels like they should do the same. It seems like you’re just getting salt rubbed into the open wound.

Research Stuff

After doing a bit of research, I think I can narrow my very large topic of poverty down to possible scientific solutions to poverty/what they’re attempting now. This is still a pretty big topic, but it seems to be one that people would be less familiar with (as opposed to political solutions, such as the One program and Free Rice). It’s very research papery so far, but it’s interesting.

One of the places I found a lot of information was on the BBC News website. A large problem for countries is that they are very hard hit by natural disasters as they typically have very little warning and prevention programs. Another huge problem with poverty is that people are unable to find clean water, much less food. This has caused some new water treatment plans to start.

I was also very surprised to read about the effects of global warming currently affecting poverty and agriculture today. I had realized that this definitely was expected to affect places like Africa in the future, when a few degrees in temperature change could mean significant droughts. But apparently scientists believe that global warming may already be a cause of increased drought and risk of famines in Eastern Africa.

But there’s also the question of how much can scientific discoveries do if the underlying social and population issues are still present and keeping the poverty alive.

Spring

I think everyone around me would agree that it is definitely time for spring. As the temperatures begin to peak over their usual maximum of 10° with a wind chill under 0, everybody is anxious for the snow to finally melt. This is especially true for runners who have been battling a combination of snow, ice and wind chill all winter. So on the days that we can actually make it out our door, we must jump over a snow bank onto an icy sidewalk where we immediately trip and fall. And even when it hasn’t snowed in days, the sidewalks are still covered due to the fact that people don’t think it is necessary to take the half an hour to shovel their sidewalks. But all of that will soon be over!

Yesterday, the afternoon heat reached over 30°, with temperatures rising throughout the week. I may sound like a weatherwoman, but right now 50° sounds awfully close to summer weather. Finally the ice has melted off the sidewalks so that you can actually run down them instead of doing some horrible version of a slip and slide. Sure, everything has turned into a muddy, slushy mess, but most importantly it is a warm muddy mess. Finally, the sun feels warm.

The War in Iraq? Never heard of it.

Whatever happened to the War in Iraq? Although it was an extremely important and often talked about issue early on in the election, it seems to be a taboo topic anymore. And this doesn’t just include the political candidates but in the media as well. It seems to be almost possible to forget that we are even in a war that has dragged on for around 7 years.

What news you can find reporting on the subject says that there is less violence, especially in Baghdad where there are an increased number of troops actively securing the city. But others claim that the lower occurrences of violence are superficial. Since the basic root of the violence is conflict between the Sunni and the Shiites and corruption in general, are we really solving these problems? Of course the lower violence is good news but one has to wonder why the violence is decreasing. Is it simply because we have upped the security in this major city and mainly separtated the groups? And if that is true, then what happens when we leave? And even if this war does turn out alright, does this mean that we should just forget about the lack of morality surrounding its beginning?

American Gods

I just finished the book American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I have previously read his books Neverwhere and Stardust, so it was interesting to note the different tones of the novels. The first book of his that I read was Stardust which is a fairly short book that is very light. While there was conflict, it wasn’t exactly bloody or anything like that. When I read Neverwhere, I noticed that it was a lot darker than Stardust. Not only was there more blood but it was it was just darker in general. For example, two men (although obviously not human) are following the girl Door and engage in torture/are generally creepy.
But American Gods was even darker than Neverwhere. It follows a man who leaves jail and becomes employed by a man named Wednesday. He gets caught up in this struggle between Gods. Once again, the characters were unlike any I have met before and were exceedingly vivid. Many of the characters he meets are Gods of some sort and their personality fits accordingly. That is something that I really enjoy about Neil Gaiman’s writing: his characters are always very unique so that the reader can picture them in their head.
The only thing that kind of put me off in American Gods was some of the crudeness that was present in the first half of the book. These scenes were usually very explanatory sex scenes which generally added nothing to the story line of the book. It is not as if I found them offensive, but they didn’t really seem to add anything to the story and just added to the dark atmosphere of the book. But, I did enjoy the book despite these random scenes scattered throughout the first half of the book. Like Neverwhere, you were never really sure whether you should trust people other than protagonist and Gaiman really keeps you eager to know how everything will end. The book especially seemed to really pick up during the last half, as conflict increased. Although I liked Neverwhere and Stardust better that isn’t really saying much because those are two of my favorite books. I enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it, especially if you are a fan of fantasy.

Research Topics

The research topic that I am most interested in is probably poverty. I recently attended a Hunger Banquet put on by my school's National Science Honors Society. It was really interesting and shocking at the same time. It isn't as if I didn't understand that poverty was a problem before, but I honestly had no idea that it was as extensive as it is. Poverty just seems like it would be a topic that I could really get into and it would be an easier essay to read. But if that doesn't work out then my second choice is the role of women in Islam (completely random, but I always wondered about this and don't know quite as much as I should about the religion) and Alzheimer's Disease.

Battle of the Democrats

As more and more primaries come in and we count up the delegates, it seems like things are getting really heated...at least on the Democratic side. While the Republican standpoint seems to leave little doubt as to who will end up with the most delegates (McCain), the Democratic race is very obviously in a dead heat. As of February 25th, CNN shows that the number of delegates for Obama is 1,378 and for Clinton is 1,269. While it seems like many hopefuls for Obama see this as a victory, it's still a far cry from the 2,025 needed to actually win the presidential spot. So understandably it's getting a bit tense between the candidates.

I understand tension, but this is just getting ridiculous. It began with former President Clinton jabbing at Obama and accusing his supporters of supporting him on the basis of his race. After that, it seems to have completely gotten out of hand. Every single time I turn on the news or look at an online source, I hear about the two of them trading jabs or that one of them has attacked the other and now the other is responding. This culminated into my favorite "Shame on you, Barack Obama" Clinton moment (which you can't help thinking while you're watching: My God, that is one pissed off woman) to which Obama responded that this is "silly season" for politics. Granted, a lot of my information was first introduced by my Obama-fan boyfriend, so it's mostly skewed in a Clinton-attacks-Obama way. But the thing that bothers me most is the unveiled animosity between two halves of the Democratic Party. How on Earth is everyone going to pull together as a group for the election if we all hate each other?