***Entry 182*** Wednesday, November 13, 2002 01:40 p.m. I'm off to learn how I did on that Chemistry test and hope that I stay on the road...Meanwhile, you can read this
***Entry 181*** Wednesday, November 13, 2002 01:01 p.m. There really was no reason to respond to this incoherent, uneducated post. But sometimes, I just can't help myself. My response really went overboard, but maybe I helped out nonetheless. [Just a tip: scroll down to the comments section, to see my response...]
1. I'm reading a lot of interesting things right now, but I can't seem to blog about them. I read them and think about them and then read something else without commenting. I'm usually not this scatterbrained, but for some reason...
2. I've left the stove and/or stovetop on after cooking the last couple of days. I've driven off the road into grass twice. I can't remember what I was typing in this blog...Common excuse, "I'm distracted." But by what?
3. Perhaps, the impending conclusion to "A Critique of Consensus Process." The intro, Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 were emailed back to me today...I still have work to do...
4. Perhaps, it's graduation fears...Where am I going to work in less than 2 months? Yi! or Am I ever going to have time to apply to grad school?
5. I don't think any of those things are the direct factors for my distraction; they are just more evidence that shows how distracted I am.
Can I just blame *everything* on weird winter mode?
***Entry 179*** Tuesday, November 12, 2002 11:30 p.m. This essay is mostly for me, since I have to write (yet another) piece on Marx--perhaps my last as an undergraduate. Y'all can enjoy it too if you like. Otherwise, you must wait until tomorrow for another post from me. I'm tired.
***Entry 178*** Tuesday, November 12, 2002 04:47 p.m. If you haven't checked out Matt's brilliant machination.org lately, you've been missing out on so many great anti-war postings. Plus, he posted a link to this hilarious semi-satire against the impending war on Iraq, the idiot president, and the Department of Homeland Security.
***Entry 177*** Tuesday, November 12, 2002 02:32 p.m. Wow. More college student protest stuff over at the DC IMC. First commentary on George Washington University and their compliance with new INS system. Then commentary on the INS system itself.
Then, reposted BBC story on student protests in Kabul. See more college student stuff in ***Entry 172*** below.
***Entry 176*** Tuesday, November 12, 2002 02:23 p.m. If you are in town tonight, check out the *hot* documentary Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election at Visions. This event is being put on by the DC IMC and looks to be super. If that doesn't excite you enough, there will be plenty o' *hot* teasers for the fabu Washington Interns Gone Bad. While, I'm at it, Washington Interns Gone Bad, will premiere *this* Friday at Art O Matic and I will certainly be there since I have a little role in it. As for tonight, I'm likely sticking to Southern Maryland. So enjoy Visions without me. :(
***Entry 174*** Tuesday, November 12, 2002 01:40 p.m. Well...I'm just reading the Post vigorously today. (Or, more likely, I'm in between my class and my job and wasting time by blogging...but whatever.) Anyhow, as of today a few metrobusses have been equipt with the technology to process the divine SmarTrip cards. When I first bought my SmarTrip card nearly 3 years ago, I was told that it was going to work on the busses "soon." Well, nearly three years later the experiment has finally begun. Although I feel for the poor people who use pennies to pay for metrobus fare and will be alienated by the end of penny-usage on SmarTrip equipt busses, I regret giving up all my nickels to a certain out-of-town visitor more. Why? I'm all about the me-me-me, these impoverished days.
***Entry 173*** Tuesday, November 12, 2002 01:15 p.m. Returning to the seemingly never ending Post-election speculation on the Democratic party...First, Richard Cohen writes against the Democrats steering toward the left. He makes some useful claims, such as, the Dems should have nationalized a campaign focused on the economy; however, those thoughts are buried within a column that steers toward the absurd and the racist. Some prominent examples of this "the Democrats should have done was embrace the war on terrorism" ... and ... "As for Texas, it showed once again that the rainbow coalition -- the left's impossible dream -- better have some pink at the top. Having a black Senate candidate and a Hispanic gubernatorial candidate resulted in defeat for both.". With advice like this, the Dems might as well steer toward the left.
But, the Post doesn't stop there, E.J. Dionne Jr.'s column is full of the same ridiculous crap, but it ends with even more useless remarks: "The Democrats lost because Bush was much tougher than they were, much smarter in his choice of issues. The Democrats don't need to move left or right. They need to adjust to the new environment terrorism has created." Oh yes, Bush is *so* smart! Oh yes, remaining in the noncommital center is such an effective election strategy. And Oh yes, 9/11 changed the world and we all must pander to the demands of an unelected "President" to save democracy. What a joke.
At this point, the Post-election commentary is getting old. No one seems to be looking critically at anything other than petty strategy after petty strategy. No one seems to be looking at actual structural flaws in American Democracy itself. Give me another month, and I'll post Chapter 1, which deals with this. Hopefully, it will be much more informative than all the half-witted commentary of the past week.
***Entry 172*** Tuesday, November 12, 2002 12:57 p.m. Some interesting things out in Post-world re: college students. First, this report on the potential for wide-scale student protests in Iran and the political implications those protests may have. For a brief taste of this article: Some 5,000 students gathered at Tehran University, once the hotbed of revolutionary fervour that overthrew the shah two decades ago, in support of academic Hashem Aghajari, sentenced to hang for questioning clerical rule in the Islamic Republic.
"The execution of Aghajari is the execution of the university," demonstrators chanted. "Political prisoners should be freed.". Read it.
Additionally, in the Class Struggle column, Jay Mathews reports on today's release of the results of the National Survey of Student Engagement. Not surprisingly, my college doesn't release the results publically. Perhaps, it would be detrimental to their vomit inducing propaganda. Seriously, I have really enjoyed attending SMC; however, it always makes me ill to see my school state things like this: By the senior year, you have not simply gathered fragments of knowledge that may gradually disappear in the years after graduation. You have built for yourself a solid intellectual foundation for life. Since I'm graduating this semester, I'll check back on the validity of this claim in a couple of years.
***Entry 171*** Monday, November 11, 2002 11:10 p.m. Sorry, Josh. I may not write my larger post-election commentary after all. Why? I've just read this piece by Post columnist William Raspberry, who says much of what I would have said: from the peril of being a DC voter to the reasons the Democrats lost. Perhaps, my piece would have been a little different. Perhaps, I may still write it. But the more post-election commentary I read, the closer I see my views reaching the mainstream without my contribution. Maybe I'm not so far off the center after all.
***Entry 170*** Monday, November 11, 2002 10:59 p.m. Clarissa has sent me a super silly photo of me from the most recent DC IMC editorial meeting. Hmm...out of the many reasons I can come up with for posting this photo here, I'll print three of them: 1. It was *that* weekend (for those in the "know") 2. Clearly, I'm ADD... and 3. Vanity really knows no boundaries. The photo may not show me in the best light, but it shows *me.*
***Entry 169*** Monday, November 11, 2002 10:54 p.m. Really, the only way I know that people are linking to this site is through my glorious site meter. A new link today is from LaughingMeme a super techie blog, which as a non-techie, I can't fully appreciate. To be honest, I think that the "Indymedia Blogs" that are linking to me come from Rabble's site. Speaking of Rabble, his err...recent post on "Addressing issues of women and technology" is super helpful for the blog piece I'm writing.
***Entry 168*** Monday, November 11, 2002 10:49 p.m. Matt's been doing some substantial media criticism and analysis of the world-wide anti-war protests. Meanwhile, I'm missing the city and finishing up the most worthless outline on a paper I'm considering calling "Towards Media Democracy: Women and Weblogs." Yawn.
***Entry 167*** Monday, November 11, 2002 05:05 p.m. I have to thank Julian Sanchez for emailing me this review of Lisa Jane Disch's The Tyranny of the Two-Party System from Reason. Honestly, I don't read Reason on a regular basis, but I really like the review. Libertarians, Greens and other third party-types can all benefit from fusion. And if you follow Disch's argument, American democracy will benefit as well. Sam Chambers suggested I read The Tyranny of the Two-Party System for Chapter 3 of "A Critique of Consensus Process." I suggest you read the above review and then read the book.
***Entry 167*** Monday, November 11, 2002 04:54 p.m. After a couple of weeks of cynical disillusionment, It's time for the arbitrary list of things I like again.
1. Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way": As I'm wrapping up my undergraduate experience, this song makes perfect sense. Going my own way, however, has nothing to do with giving my world to anyone else. I'm happily single.
2. Fall Foliage: I can't help but appreciate having my car covered in multi-colored leaves. It's fun.
3. Traffic on holidays: I had to attend class today for an awful Chemistry test; however, holiday traffic=almost no traffic, so it was okay. I hope all you federal government employees enjoyed the day off.
4. Parking Enforcement on holidays: Similar to the traffic on holidays appreciation, parking enforcement employees had the day off. I could park my Maryland tagged car right in front of my house without fear of the $20 ticket.
5. My friend Meg: Today, I got a fabu discount on the fabu double shot at the local Starbucks that Meg works at because we are friends. And I love caffeine.
***Entry 166*** Sunday, November 10, 2002 09:46 p.m. I'm a product of public schools and I know all about censorship, repression, and ridiculous propaganda. However, I'm not sure that the answer to these problems is what this character proposes. Here's some total crap: The school system is only made to brainwash you and mold you so that you fit into our corporate fascist plutocracy. Do not buy their bullshit. Question everything. Never comply. If they punish you, respond with a brick. Oooh...how unique...how revolutionary. These high school students should just get over their little rebellion; it will be meaningless when they get to college.
***Entry 165*** Sunday, November 10, 2002 04:54 p.m. I'll probably use this piece on the Green Party reaction to the 2002 elections somewhere else. As for now, click the link and read it. You've gotta appreciate a quote like: "People look at the election as a bad election for progressives, but it was actually just a bad election for Democrats," Myerson said. Yep, which is why if the Democrats ever want to redeem themselves, they best take up some of the Green Party's good ideas: standing against the ridiculous war, supporting election reform, etc. if they ever want to win again. But that's a larger piece for later.
***Entry 164*** Sunday, November 10, 2002 04:40 p.m. I finished the rewrite of Chapter 3! Yea! Procrastination has its benefits; I am in super productive mode. I also finished the rewrite of my preface and I studied for tomorrow's Chemistry test. I'm still planning on writing that essay and I have to write that outline, but that can wait. :)
***Entry 163*** Saturday, November 9, 2002 03:04 p.m. The perils of procrastination lead me to abandon all previously scheduled projects and delve into the pitfalls of credit card debt. And if all that wasn't pretentious enough, consider this: when I was a high school senior, I predicted that credit card debt would somehow have something to do with the decline of the economy. Too bad, I'm a victim here. I'm a super exploited low income college student with a somewhat substantial credit card debt. Hey? What am I entitled to these days? (ha ha ha, Joanne I'm most certainly kidding.)
***Entry 162*** Friday, November 8, 2002 06:41 p.m. Again, I apologize for my absence. I hope you all enjoyed reading the West Wing post over and over and over again. Anyhow, I'm not going to be around much this weekend. I'm working on some major projects that I'll be able to report on soon.
1. An essay on: the election results, the idiot pundits proclaiming the death of the Democratic Party, and the prospects for changing the Democratic Party and/or the election process itself. Ultimately, I'm considering starting a new political consulting firm dedicated to steering the Democratic Party towards a more grassroots activist mentality...and this essay might be worth something towards that goal.
2. An outline for my essay on blogging and feminism. Special thanks to Alan Bushnell, DC IMC tech guru for some interesting tips on media democracy and blogging. :)
3. The biggest project of all...I'm back on deadline for Chapter 3 "Democratic Conclusions" for my "A Critique of Consensus Process." I have to have the second draft due to Sam Chambers on Monday. Considering this has been the all consuming project recently, I think I've finally figured out how to conclude the project and make some serious contributions to political thought. Again, I have to thank all my friends in the blog world who have posted commentary during the preliminary stages of writing this paper. You will be thanked, even if you disagreed with me, in my preface. :)
Anyhow...If you seriously are looking for something to read...consider hitting Adam Eidinger's letter to friends and supporters. He really gets at the message behind the campaign and provides hope that things will change, although not as soon as we had expected. Progress in small occasional spurts, is still progress.
***Entry 161*** Wednesday, November 6, 2002 10:49 p.m. Fed Exec hasn't put up their West Wing Watch, yet; but I will do some brief analysis before crashing. Certainly the most interesting part of the show happened before the theme song/first commercial break. Voters surrounded Josh Lyman in the polling place asking if they had voted properly. The first mentioned that he had voted for the President, but under the "Statehood" party, not the Democratic Party [fusion]. Another mentioned that she ranked the candidates [instant runoff voting]. Josh, was getting irritated...but it turned out that it was all a joke. *sigh* Election reform is hardly a joke. In fact, after yesterday's results were disclosed, it's more necessary than ever. But President Bartlet won nonetheless. Too bad the real elections aren't as beautiful...or at least they haven't been since The War Room.
