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Saturday, 02 June 2007

Wednesday, 16 May 2007

  • Currently Listening
    A Sun Came
    By Sufjan Stevens
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    For anyone who watches Boston Legal

    If you watch the show, you know almost all of the episodes end with Alan and Denny drinking scotch and smoking cigars after a long week of legal rangling.  I had to wait for the transcript for this one, but it was well worth it:

    Alan Shore: Do you think you’re a racist Denny?
    Denny Crane: Oh… nah, I… I don’t know. Do you think it’s racist to say a man sounds black?
    Alan Shore: I think it’s more offensive to say, ‘street’ or ‘urban’, when the inference is you mean ‘black’.
    Denny Crane: So, what do you say?
    Alan Shore: Well, Barack Obama referred to the black sound as a black idiom, more like jazz and less like a set score.
    Denny Crane: They let him get away with that?
    Alan Shore: Evidently.
    Denny Crane: I might vote for him, you know.
    Alan Shore: Obama?
    Denny Crane: “Anybody in America can grow up to be president!” That’s what I say. Except Hillary! She wins, I puke.
    Alan Shore: Barack Obama.
    Denny Crane: Ah. Handsome. Great photo-op. But I don’t know what he stands for. Be a perfect president. He speaks perfect white, as well as black. You never heard me say that.
    Alan Shore: What about McCain?
    Denny Crane: He speaks Bush now. Can’t win.
    Alan Shore: Obama is against the war now, you know.
    Denny Crane: So am I. [Alan is surprised] It’s boring. I’m ready for a new war. Time to blow up Iran. They got Sadam. Now we gotta get uh… Amina **********. And that nut job in North Korea, they both gotta go. And not because they’re not white.
    Alan Shore: Okay. Denny, does it bother you at all that America is so hated by the rest of the world these days? Denny Crane: Well, of course it does, Alan. Just can’t please everybody. Better to just…
    Alan Shore: Blow them up.
    Denny Crane: Exactly. And not because they’re not white.
    Alan Shore: No. ------------

    This was written after the Obama "articulate" debacle and I think it illustrates a lot of the American consciousness when it comes to politics and race.

Thursday, 10 May 2007

Thursday, 03 May 2007

  • Two Kings of the Court

    This had to have been one of the coolest games to ever see:

    Photo

    Nadal vs. Federer on a hybrid court of half grass and half clay.  Federer, who has won 4 straight Wimbeldon's, and Nadal, who has won 78(!) straight clay matches faced off in a three set match that went to a third set tiebreaker.  Tennis is such a masterful game, they should add the hard surface to make this type of adaptation even more interesting.  Maybe an American could start winning, too.

    If only Andy could find his mojo . . . .

Friday, 27 April 2007

  • Currently Listening
    Five Score & Seven Years Ago
    By Relient K
    see related

    Why Everyone Should Go To College (Reconsidered)

    The Dean of Admissions at MIT, who is considered one of the best deans in the whole country, and has written a book about the admissions process, is resigning because of the fact that she lied about her college degrees: she never had one!

    While I feel that this prolonged (30 years employment at MIT) unethical behavior merits the resignation of Marilee Jones, I feel this is just another example of how asinine the college diploma is.  College diplomas are the mainstay of one of the largest sectors in the economy, they swell the coffers of loan companies (and colleges, Google: College Loan Scandal), put students in debt, make parents take out second mortgages; all because everyone should go to college and get a degree.

    Let me just say what this college thing is: a fad.  Like Webkinz or chipotle.  College diplomas are the must have for anyone, and we pay exorbitant fees to get them, but in reality, well, the MIT debacle is just another case where someone with only a high school diploma becomes a senior member of the most prestigious technical institute in the world, and is recognized within her industry as one of the movers and shakers in the admissions world.

    She lied.  She deserves to get fired.  But why on earth do corporations or institutions never consider someone without a degree when results show that, for many jobs, degrees are unnecessary.  The college degree prerequisite, for many jobs, is snobby and superfluous. 

    America would be in far better shape educationally if college diplomas were necessary for the fields that need them, and high schools were academic enough so that the students who want good educations can work hard and get them, or they can slack off and get a bottom-rung job; its the students priority after all.  England and Sweden do good jobs of tiering secondary education so that students can reach their full potential.  America should, too.  But that would upset the educational industry and Sallie Mae loan sharks too much.

tomtimturn77

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    • Name: Thomas
    • Location: Clifton, New Jersey, United States
    • Gender: Male
    • Member Since: 5/18/2004

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  • Living in Jersey, going to grad school at Rutgers.

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