All of which has me wondering, what exactly are all of these people trying to save the world from? Each other? "Dancing With the Stars"?
The big picture here just isn't that easy to sink your teeth into. "An eclipse is coming." So what? "Whose side are you on, anyway?" Who really cares, since both sides say they're going to save the world, but we're not really sure how or when or even why?
My thoughts exactly. I'm on the verge of canceling my Season Pass to this crapfest.
Studs Terkel recently passed away - in fact, he died right before the election. If there was anyone who believed in hope more than Obama does, I'm sure it was Studs. My hunch is that he knew - probably before the rest of us - that Obama would win the election.
I was able to see Studs in Berkeley several years ago and I loved him (that talk is posted below). Studs was best known for what we'd now call "documentary journalism" I suppose; he was interested in the story of the average person, and did what he could to promote those everyday voices.
Just like Dorothea Lange and to some degree Richard Avedon, he captured moments in the life of people you might otherwise miss. Arguably, his legacy is reflected in the series This American Life. I hope he continues to inspire others, as he does me!
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is collaborating with Games for Change, a non-profit company that promotes the development of video games that educate children on various issues. One such game, Our Courts, is a free online game about democracy and the U.S. Constitution.
SDO's involvement in the development of the game stems from her concerns about attacks on the judiciary (e.g., "judicial activism"), which she discusses in the clip below (the full version available here):
When the citizenry has no idea how our government works, people don't know how to effect change in the system. It's no surprise, then, that citizens do nothing when a certain #43 acts as if he's king.
UPDATE: Just came across this article about US officials flunking a civics quiz. How timely! You can take the quiz here... I scored a 79% - before law school I would have bombed it. The economic questions are way beyond my reach, but at least I got most of the law-related ones correct. In my defense, however, the economic questions seem ambiguous and conclusory, so there. Suck it, civics quiz.
Whenever I need to hibernate for long studying/writing sessions, I have to have the right music to get me through. Especially when I'm writing papers - even dry legal analysis requires something that triggers thought and creativity.
Usually the stuff I've been listening to when studying won't do it for me; I need something new, or something re-discovered, but something that won't be distracting.
This is why I love DJ sets like Dave's Lounge or SomaFM's Groove Salad - it's a collection of tracks I usually have never heard before, but that are lounge-y, mellow electronica that works well as white noise.
34 children have now been dropped off at Nebraska hospitals following the enactment of their ridiculously vague safe-haven law that technically allows any parent - even those from other states - to abandon their children to the state of Nebraska's foster care system.
WHAT THE FUCK.
I can understand some new mother freaking out and society wanting to have an alternative to reduce/remove the horrible risk of infanticide. That's why safe-haven laws are enacted and should be in place.
But abandoning your 5, 10, 15, or 17 year-old child because they behave badly? Really?
Now, I'm not a parent and I know I have limited patience, but I'm going to judge these people anyway. Maybe this thing bothers me because I had a strained relationship with my mother during my teenage years and I would bet that if she knew she could drive me to Nebraska and drop my ass off she would have.
The woman in the photos below is one such "parent" who abandoned her daughter and now, based on these pictures, seems to want sympathy; Bitch, please:
The caption: The mother of an 18 year-old daughter, who asked not to be named to protect the identity of her child, stands in her daughter's room, in Lincoln, Neb., Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008. After a recent spate of her daughters' bad behavior, the mother said she felt like she had no other choice but to leave her daughter at a hospital, where she thought she would get help through Nebraska's safe haven law. She says she worried that if the law was changed, she would not have a way to get help for her daughter. Nebraska lawmakers meet Friday to begin tightening the state's open-ended safe-haven law.
It's been far too long since I talked about cocktails, has it not?
I came across this article about the best cocktails around town (and by "town" I mean, county). I can personally vouch for the goodness coming out of Fez, Estate House, and AZ88.
Sweet out-of-town friends, please come visit me so we can go and imbibe on this goodness!
