My guilty pleasure: hitting "randomize tossups" on the Electoral Map and seeing how often Obama or McCain wins.

Fun Fact: McCain can't win without Ohio.

"Come to the Bullpen at 12:00am or 7am on Tuesday, September 30. Top Secret. Wear black/camo or any other spy gear you might want to wear."

This was a message I received from the "Miami University for Barack Obama" Facebook group earlier today. Sketchy? Definitely. Was I going? Absolutely.

Turns out, we had a mass shipment of signs, stickers, and posters that had a theme of REGISTER TO VOTE, paid for by the Barack Obama campaign. I joined about 50 other students as we ran off in the rain, arms full of sheets of stickers and posters. We plastered the library. We taped them to ONE WAY signs. We stickered trash cans, campus signs, and buildings. Granted, some angry haters tore them down a few minutes later.

But why? Although they were paid for by the Obama campaign, they only said his name in small letters. I guess certain caffeine-driven students thought it necessary to deter voter registration.

I've been meaning to join this lovable group for some Obama debauchery for a while, and tonight was quite a night. Tomorrow is "Make your own Obama shirt Day" on the Slant Walk, and you bet your campaign buttons I'll be there.

interesting perspective

I received this in an email today from a friend and thought it offered an interesting perspective. I don't necessarily agree with everything stated, but I thought I'd put it up here to spur some conversation. Which apparently, it already has :)

Thanks Preston and Nisha already for your input


'The other day I was reading Newsweek
magazine and came across some poll data I found
rather hard to believe. It must be true given
the source, right?
'The Newsweek poll alleges that 67
percent of Americans are unhappy with the
direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence 2/3 of the citizenry
just ain't happy and want a change. So being the
knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, 'What
are we so unhappy about?'


A.. Is it that we have electricity and
running water 24 hours a day, 7 Days a week?


B.. Is our unhappiness the result of
having air conditioning in the summer and heating
in the winter?


C.. Could it be that 95.4 percent of
these unhappy folks have a job?


D.. Maybe it is the ability to walk
into a grocery store at any time and see more
food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last
year?


E.. Maybe it is the ability to drive our
cars and trucks from the Pacific Ocean to the
Atlantic Ocean without having to present
identification papers as we move through each
state?


F.. Or possibly the hundreds of clean
and safe motels we would find along the way that
can provide temporary shelter?


G.. I guess having thousands of
restaurants with varying cuisine from around the
world is just not good enough either.


H. Or could it be that when we wreck
our car, emergency workers show up and provide
services to help all and even send a helicopter
to take you to the hospital.


I.. Perhaps you are one of the 70
percent of Americans who own a home.

J.. You may be upset with knowing that
in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of
trained firefighters will appear in moments and
use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames, thus saving you, your family, and your
belongings.

K.. Or if, while at home watching one
of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or
prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun
and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you
and your family against attack or loss.

L.. This all in the backdrop of a
neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and
pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where
90% of teenagers own cell phones and computers.


M.. How about the complete religious,
social and political freedoms we enjoy that are
the envy of everyone in the world?


Maybe that is what has 67% of you folks
unhappy.


Fact is, we are the largest group of
ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever
seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. , yet
has a great disdain for its citizens. They see
us for what we are. The most blessed people in
the world who do nothing but complain about what
we don't have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.


I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31
percent approval rating? Is this the same
president who guided the nation in the dark days
after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to
bring an economy out of recession? Could this
be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the
spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist
attacks? The commander in chief of an
all-volunteer army that is out there defending
you and me?


Did you hear how bad the President is
on the news or talk show? Did this news affect
you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't
take a look around for yourself and see all the
good things and be glad? Think about
it......are you upset at the President because he
actually caused you personal pain OR is it
because the 'Media' told you he was failing to
kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.
Make no mistake about it.


The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have
volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go.
They are able to refuse to go and end up with
either a ''general'' discharge, an 'other than
honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a
''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in
the brig.


So why then the flat-out discontentment
in the minds of 69 percent of Americans?


Say what you want but I blame it on the
media. If it bleeds it leads and they
specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a
car crash with blood and guts How many will
watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The
media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, and when criticized, try to defend their actions by
'justifying' them in one way or another. Just ask
why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J.
Simpson to write a book about how he didn't kill
his wife, but if he did he would have done it
this way......Insane!


Turn off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage.
Then start being grateful for all we have as
country. There is exponentially more good than
bad. We are among the most blessed people on
Earth and should thank God several times a day,
or at least be thankful and appreciative.' 'With
hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud
slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up
the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, 'Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

Original text

Yay Kellyn!

My roommate is blogging for the New York Times about the Presidential Debate tonight.

Check it out here.

More Protest Videos

Thanks Peter

What I get at Wendys

Question of the day:

Is it possible to be a pro-life feminist?

To All Women

Eve Ensler, the American playwright, performer, feminist and activist best known for "The Vagina Monologues", wrote the following about Sarah Palin.


Drill, Drill, Drill
I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for Polar Bears. Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.

I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.


But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.

I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country choose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity.

Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, "It was a task from God."


Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not.


She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes.


Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of the United States. She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth.


Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air.



Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be.


I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S., but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.


If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC, "Drill Drill Drill." I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.


Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?



Eve Ensler
September 5, 2008


Thanks Michelle

More videos from the protest...

In case you're interested. Because I am.

In this one, you can really see how many people were there. Which is lots.

Very Loud Students.

Cops rolling up.

McCain's Lies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH0xzsogzAk

Incredible that such a man has come so far in this campaign...

Cincinnati's not the only city with riots...

What happens in a college town when the blackout is STILL continuing, and students get bored...er?

They protest.

At 5pm on Monday, after a Presidential Council meeting, all students got a text message saying that classes would resume on Tuesday. To be honest, I expected it.

Campus had power and was running on a generator. I camped out at my friends' on campus apartment all day so I could work on some online homework which would be impossible to do without power. Unfortunately, many students didn't have that option. The library, which was open only until 9pm, was crowded. On a campus that claims to be "paper free" and does all of the work online, this presents a problem. University officials claimed that the dining halls were open, but word was spreading that they were quickly running out of food. Kroger and Walmart, our two grocery stores, were as well. We caught DP Dough while it was open and were able to order a mass amount of calzones. Unless you lived on campus, you were stuck with cold showers.

So what do we do?

We riot.

I received two text messages around 7pm that each said something along the lines of "Sit-in at Hodge's (the university president) house at 9pm. bring a lawn chair. come drunk or sober. tell all your friends". At first, I laughed. It's ridiculous to protest class. I mean, we are at a University.

But then, around 9:15, I started getting calls from friends that sounded like they were at a loud concert. A bunch of us jumped in the car to investigate.

When we arrived on High Street, we saw that the entire block was blockaded by police. A lot of people had the same idea as us, and were quickly parking their cars to see what all this was about. Kellyn and I jumped out and went to join the crowd.

Imagine this: Thousands of students spilling out into the streets. 30 cop cars. Dogs. Shields and gas masks. American flags. Cowbells. People climbing trees and poles. Several arrests. Toilet paper flying through the air. Chants ranging from "Take me out to the ball game" to "No power, no class" to "DE-FENSE *clap clap* DE-FENSE". And still, more students were joining in.

Granted, most of the kids I talked to were just there to check it all out. There were a few who were actually protesting, but most were just there because...well...we had no power, and there was nothing better to do.

Eventually, we left, but could hear the chants and yelling from a few blocks away.

So where was President Hodge during all this?

Oh. When the power went out, he went to Columbus to be comfortable. Nice.

So far, I've found 25 newspapers and stations who have covered this. We've made news stations as far as Thailand. Most of the articles and the comments following basically ridicule the students, saying there are people dealing with worse things, and we're being spoiled brats. One of my favorite comments on a website said "Why don't you guys just do something productive like watch CNN." Uh. Really wish we could have, pal...

Here are some of my favorites:
A video from a Cincinnati local station
Article in the Miami Student



We're not dumb. We know that there are people worse off. But, we stood up for ourselves when we felt like we were being mistreated as a student body. I'm just proud that the students came together for something.

As of now, my apartment has power. It came on at about 4:30am and part of me was slightly disappointed after all the fun we had yesterday. Many of my friends and professors, however, still don't. We had to throw away probably $50 worth of food. When we get the strength, we're going to fight the townies and other students at Kroger for provisions for the next week or so. Sometime over the next 24 hours I have to finish a paper that I needed the internet to do research on and write.

Whoever said senior year wasn't going to be fun was DEAD WRONG. Check "participate in a riot/protest" off my to-do list.

Al Gore invented the internet 8 years ago.

Now McCain is claiming he invented to Blackberry.

Strong statement from a man who admits he doesn't know how to email or use a computer.

back in blackout

What do you do when you're a college student in your average college town, and the power goes out?

If you go to Miami University, you buy a couple cases of beer, cross your fingers for no classes tomorrow, and start drinking.

Last night was easily one of the craziest, most random nights I've ever had at Miami. After one of the worst windstorms Ohio has seen in years, trees were tossed around on and off campus, and power was lost between Louisville and Dayton. Since all the power companies are down in Texas doing hurricane cleanup, we're stuck with this mess.

Kellyn and I took this opportunity to go to our neighbors' house, sausages and chicken breasts in hand, and asked if we could use their grill. Two hours later, we're playing "Asshole". Two hours after that, we're walking around uptown looking for parties. And oh boy, did we find them.

We got a text message notification around 8pm that we weren't having classes the next day. From that point, though, there really wasn't any turning back.

When there are no lights on, it's like there aren't any rules. People were walking around with open beverages. Underage students were carrying cases of beers. Other highlights include walking uptown past the apartment above Bagel and Deli where kids were hanging out the window singing the theme song to Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

So that's what a student does during a blackout...

difficult for me to accept...

...but we have been learning in my Economic Growth class that foreign aid doesn't help. If this aid was used towards investment, which leads to growth, it would be effective. However, 99% of the time, one of these ties are cut.

My Goals for humanity:
-cure cancer
-figure out a way to make aid WORK

A 21-year-old girl who can't afford grad school is selling her virginity to the highest bidder to finance her education.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2008/09/11/gianulias.virginity.for.sale.kovr

I'm not even going to begin to talk about how disgusting this is. If Palin getting the VP bid is a step forward for womanhood, this is a definite step back.

Confession

I can't wait for The Office to come back on.

Officially countdown: 15 days!

What a badass (x2)

LCC soccer is apparently on the upswing.

Seven years ago I moved to a po-dunk town in Ohio from a suburb of Washington, D.C. There, I left several hobbies - an almost-black-belt in Tae Kwon Do, a place on the show team at a top area riding school, a soccer team that kicked the butt of anyone we played (we were considering moving on to a club called WAGS (Washington Area Girls Soccer), one of the top travelling clubs in the country.

Why did we move again?

I'm not going to get into that, but for my personal development it was probably the best decision I ever made. Probably not for my athletic development, however. When my mother enrolled me at LCC, she informed me that they would be starting a first year girls' soccer program.

Great. I went to my first practice, and there were girls who didn't know they needed to wear cleats and shinguards.

I was one of about 7 girls who were on the team all 4 years. The founders of the team. We won about 5 games in 4 years.

Now my littlest sister is playing. Not only that, but she starred in an article in the Lima News. Not only that...there are pictures of her in said newspaper.


I think she's throwing an elbow in that one. I'm so proud.


On a slightly unrelated note, Switzerland didn't become a black hole last night. I don't completely understand this, but yay science!

I feel like stupidity can skew these numbers...

This looks sweet.

http://www.wuhnurth.com/

A completely environmentally friendly concert? Yes please.

Too bad I'm headed up to Michigan for a water ski tournament. At least I might get to see Lindsay! Horray for Morocco reunions!

Friedman would be proud

Only a college economics textbook would have this problem in it:


The answer, by the way, is country 2. If you're a rational economist, that is...

Happy birthday, love of my life

Google turned 10 yesterday.

Where would I be without you, my love?

A concise view of John McCain's life as seen on the Daily Show.

Awesome.

You just have to extend...

What an unexpected, incredible weekend.

Miami might not be one of the best teams on the water anymore, but this weekend, we somehow held our own. Regionals might not be such an impossibility as we thought.

I saw some old faces in Van Wert, but mostly new. I thought I locked my keys in the car, and found them in my sleeping bag after calling AAA. I got about 4 hours of sleep in 2 nights. I got to know some fabulous Miami newbs. I woke up at 7:30am and spent 13 hours making sure everyone made it down to the dock to ski when they needed it.

As for my own skiing, I made a practice run on Friday night. It's been a year since I last skied. It took me 3 times to get up. Seeing as you only get 2 tries during the real thing, I'm glad I got that out of the way. On my real slalom run the next morning, I got closer to getting 1 ball than I ever have. Quite the accomplishment for someone who hasn't been practicing all summer. I got a couple side slides on my trick run, and almost nailed a 360 before I fell. My jump this morning was nothing to write home about, but my legs didn't break so I consider that a success.

95% of the doubts I have about this season are gone. I had a blast at Van Wert, as in previous years. I came home sore, tired, and I can't wait for next Friday.

This is freaking cool

They internet gods invented a website that profiles your surname.

My last name is English, but they're more of us in Canada than anywhere else.

Check out your surname here!

http://www.publicprofiler.org/worldnames/

I love when Opinion writers for the NY Times write things a lot more eloquently than I ever could.

Judith Warner hit the nail right on the head.

"Why does this woman – who to some of us seems as fake as they can come, with her delicate infant son hauled out night after night under the klieg lights and her pregnant teenage daughter shamelessly instrumentalized for political purposes — deserve, to a unique extent among political women, to rank as so “real”?

Because the Republicans, very clearly, believe that real people are idiots. This disdain for their smarts shows up in the whole way they’ve cast this race now, turning a contest over economic and foreign policy into a culture war of the Real vs. the Elites. It’s a smoke and mirrors game aimed at diverting attention from the fact that the party’s tax policies have helped create an elite that’s more distant from “the people” than ever before. And from the fact that the party’s dogged allegiance to up-by-your-bootstraps individualism — an individualism exemplified by Palin, the frontierswoman who somehow has managed to “balance” five children and her political career with no need for support — is leading to a culture-wide crack-up."

Meanwhile, I enjoyed the Daily Show today, when a representative went to the RNC and got delegates to admit that Sarah Palin allowed her daughter to make a "choice" that she wants to take away from the rest of women in this country.

I'm in love with this video from The Daily Show showing exactly how hypocritical Fox News and Republican bias is...

See it here.

Water ski season begins today.

Bring on the drama, the falls, the successes, the ridiculous tournament themes and costumes. I'm ready.

It all brings me back to this:

I'm on Barack Obama's listserve, and I received this email today.

Friend --

Why would the Republicans spend a whole night of their convention attacking ordinary people?

With the nation watching, the Republicans mocked, dismissed, and actually laughed out loud at Americans who engage in community service and organizing.

Our convention was different. We gave the stage to everyday Americans who hunger for change and stepped up to make phone calls, knock on doors, and raise money in small amounts in their communities.

You may have missed it, but we also showed the country a video with the faces and voices of those organizers, volunteers, and donors from every corner of the country.

I watched this video and felt proud for the people of my country for the first time since I saw the Republican delegation chanting "drill, baby, drill" last night at the convention in St. Paul. How can a man who promised to make this a presidential race about the "issues" be spending such money and throwing so much mud at his opponent?

I watched the Republican Delegation last night and felt nothing but nausea. Are there Americans out there who really want to put power into the hands of people who, in the face of conflict, "talk shit" about the others like we're still in high school?

Back in the swing of things...

Although this year is vastly different from last year in essentially every way possible, I'm finally adjusting to the U.S. For the first week back, I fully expected to wake up in Morocco, and was disappointed/surprised to wake up at home.

This weekend, I went out for the first time and saw all my old friends at a party. Kelsey visited, so I got a chance to play tour guide of Oxford and Miami. I've finally started referring to Morocco as something of my past, and I'm pleasantly surprised to find that a couple of my classes have themes that relate to my experiences. There's a water ski tourament coming up this weekend in Van Wert, and Greek Week starts next week.

Things are never going to go back to the way they were last year, but I think I'm liking the way things are.