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Wednesday, March 31, 2004

John Nash would never have made a mistake like this.

Okay, so Goshen is going to make people pay a $250 deposit on SST groups two semesters before they leave. Assume the following (and I think they're pretty fair assumptions):

  • Goshen needs this most for the small SST groups (French and German) in order to determine whether there is enough interest to run the group.
  • If someone wants to go on a French or German SST group after the two months are up, Goshen can't afford to turn them down.
  • Goshen can't read your mind.

What this essentially comes down to is that rather than pay the $250 deposit you should just pretend not to be planning on going on SST, then, whenever you feel like it, "change your mind." Goshen can't tell if you're being honest or not, and can't afford to refuse you in either case.

It is true that that for SST groups which look likely to fill up, you might lose a chance at them by holding back your deposit. But how many really fill up? And isn't it the ones that are least likely to fill up that Goshen most needs the deposits for in order to determine whether or not the unit should in fact go on at all?

The results of this will be to harm the French and German SST groups because Goshen will be even less able to predict interest, as students will be encouraged to conceal their plans to participate in those groups in order to avoid forfeiting their deposits should they change their minds (as well as forfeiting two-semesters' worth of interest on the deposits).


Latest Contribution of U.S. to Democracy in C.A.

"In El Salvador almost $2bn was sent home last year by workers living in the US, outstripping the country's exports. The subject was a pivotal issue in this month's presidential election after US officials said that should the left win, they would consider blocking the transfer of money to El Salvador and expel Salvadoreans working in the US. The pro-US Arena party candidate won the election."

From "Emigrants provide lifeline for Latin America" in today's Guardian

For more on The El Salvadoran elections, check out "El Salvador Elections: "Democracy" in the Empire's Backyard" by Jim Goronson


Tina, trashy as alwaysAh, yes, dear Justina. After spending the last month couch-(and futon)-surfing at Brick, learning the magic of Magic and of Fermat's Last Theorem, reading our books and cooking our food it seems that the time has come for you to return to Lancaster and the warm bosom of your loving parents.

Sigh. She is leaving us all too soon, but swears she will return in time for the kickingest-May-Term-ever. In the meantime, help us send her off (Long-John Silver's style) at Brick tonight, 6pm.

Come back soon, Justina, and stay cool.


don't be fooled this photo was actually taken in JanuaryIrrational Exhuberance

Spring has definitely arrived in Highgate! Today we had coffee break in the garden. The sun was shining, the bees were buzzing. The flowers were smelling. The butterflies were fluttering by. And it was so warm!


Tonight sucks!

Can't sleep. ... Don't know what to do. ... Guess I'll blog. ... Maybe I'll try doing homework. ... 'Sigh.'

Monday, March 29, 2004

This is absolutely ridiculous. I think the woman in the foreground is named Cheryl. That definitely looks like an MPD badge on the cop's uniform. Perhaps Trachtenberg thought that the UPD cops might be too gentle with the students, being as the UPD is unionized...WTF!?!

So I was supposed to be running over off and on this week to check in on the sit-in at the Marvin Center. A couple undergrads were going to occupy the lobby to draw attention to how GW, DC's second-largest employer, doesn't treat its workers well and to demand a living wage for GW workers. But by the time I get over there, two hours after the noon kick-off, there's no one there. Turns out they all got arrested right away. I hear that they've been released, though no news on charges.

(If you're interested in more news on this, the DC Indymedia news story will probably include updates as they become available. Jobs With Justice has a huge number of pictures on their website.)

Any arrests at all weird enough. I've only heard of one other sit-in that ended in arrest, and I've heard of dozens. A lot of them end with the students agreeing to end the sit-in for a partial granting of their demands. And the U-W Madison arrests came only after several days.

But on top of the weirdness of the arrests, the fact that MPD officers would be doing the arrests is totally strange. I can't imagine that Joel Trachtenberg would want MPD arresting his students. The UPD would be more under his control. And there's always turf conflicts between MPD and UPD, so it's really strange.

Right now I can think of two explanations:

  1. Trachtenberg is trying to intimidate students, and thinks that the MPD are more intimidating the UPD, which is probably true on a psychological level though in reality it's no big deal who puts the cuffs on you.
  2. Somewhere along the line something got messed up and the MPD got called in and arrested everyone without the GW administration really supporting that course of action.

Anyway, if you all get a chance, put my tuition dollars to good use and jam Trachtenberg's fax. This page will send a free fax to him for you.


"We need to keep them out of here."

Rhea County, Tenn., Commissioner J.C. Fugate [pronounced 'feggit'], on introducing a measure that would ban gays and lesbians from living in the county and, if caught, allow them to be prosecuted for "crimes against nature." It was approved unanimously, but withdrawn two days later because of outcry outside the county.


Why isn't anybody blogging?
No worries, I'll just blog to myself.
so here's a good story: I had this huge paper/presentation due today and I missed work and worked on it for ever and then it wasn't due today! oh man, that's hilarious! ha ha. I laughed so hard I cried. That's ok, I didn't want to be outside filming tday anyway, it was terrible out. oh, no wait, it was beautiful. arrgh. here's what I made today because I was supposed to be writing a paper. arrgh, only 3 more days of filming left.



Early retirement

At the early hour of 2:00 last night I labeled my self incognizant of my surroundings or my goals and found my way back to bed where I passed out in less than 13 seconds in a pile of stinky socks. The cause of last night's episode was none other than the classic procrastination induced sleep deprivation. I am currently missing the fourth to last day of what has been an amazing internship and wallowing in self-pity. There is a possibility of me making it to the rest shooting today if I stop looking for ways to procrastinate and start writing a paper. The day is not lost though. I will celebrate tonight no matter how my yet-to-be-conceived 20 minute presentation goes and then I will go to work tomorrow and forget about stinky-poopy-school for 16 hours like I did yesterday.

More procrastination.



What the hell am I doing?
blogging? now there's a stupid idea. why? because I just worked 16 hours on set and have a 6 page paper to write and a 20 min presentation to prepare by tomorrow night and I work tomorrow. but I want to procrastinate?

A poem (In the style of a. a. milne):

Where is my sweathirt?

I took it off to take a shit
and although I shit no more
It isn't where I set it down
and it's not where I put it before

Sunday, March 28, 2004

These crackers would have treated Gail better.Being at School on a Sunday

It's weird, y'know? I'm never there on Sundays. If I have to study, I bring my books home with me for the weekend. But I was there today for the SOA Watch legislative sessions. It's ridiculously easy to reserve rooms here at the George Washington University School of Law, so I just grabbed three and oop! we had a mini-conference thing. I learned how to show movies with the help of neat-o GWU media guy Andrew and made copies in the library. Aside from that, I just sat around and studied Civil Procedure.

One big downer was some of the conversation at the anti-oppression working group's workshop. It's amazing how quickly white people are able to turn serious talk about racism into a blame game, or abstract it to the point where it doesn't really matter that they're speaking so dismissively to poor sweet Gail, who is the only black person in the room, as she becomes visibly tense, standing stiffly with her mouth tightening into a hard, weary line. Why can't people see what's in front of them?

But not everyone was that way, indeed really only a few loud voices. All in all it was a good time. The day was good for me. Sometimes I feel like I don't do anything anymore except study. But now I've found my true calling in life: reserving rooms.


fucking fuck fuck fuck... stupid... fuck... paper... grah... procrasination... fucking... f.. fuck...

Saturday, March 27, 2004

playing God...
if you were Jesus.. and you decided to interfer in Daron Showalter's life.. what would you do? How would you poke fun at him, what lesson would you try to teach him...
I'm writing a screenplay-- Daron Meets The Man.. and would sort of like some outside input on things to do to Daron.. or well, to have Jesus (Tool) do to him..


On how we're feeling

Randy... 29.6%
Nosely! 26.8%
Cold... 22.5%
Introspective? 11.3%
Giddy! 9.9%

Friday, March 26, 2004

Proposed maximum pain and suffering damages in Pennsylvania: $250,000
Maximum fine for indecency in broadcasting: $500,000




I'm coming out of the closet!
as thespian! yes folks I'm making my stage debut as hamlet (hamletta) in a play written by none other than our very own eric deiner meyer. finally, I've found my 5-6 minutes of fame!


no
Tim, did you put my address as erin or erini. 'cause erini won't work. I haven't legally changed it yet--not sure if and when it'll happen.. but um. no... I didn't get your london e-mail.
anyway... it back to studying psych for me...


London Letter
Hey I sent out my third London Letter today (with a nod to Rini). Did it get past anyone's spam filters?


qu'est ce que fuck?
so...like, apparently, film crew eats dinner at 1:00 which is about the time all goshen parties kick it into the retreat stage. fucking shit. so after a wonderful ham with an open bar at dembufsky's, the goshen kids convinced the crew to continue the celebration at hump house. when we got there, they all had left. arrr. I'm drunk, lots of free beer.


This just in:

After conferring with Ben Beachy I feel ready to declare that, contrary to Joe Liechty's opinion, I am not a Stalinist.
Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.

Also: Vice magazine was the, to use Lauren's term, "shitness" back when I was digging books instead of high school. It was free, local, rock-and-roll, and its all-irony-all-the-time attitude was a balm for my turbulently post-modern psyche. Then they moved to NY and got all complexé, as we say in Montreal, and is now a corporate shadow of what it used to be. But every once in a while they feel guilty and sneak in some quality Canuck representing. Here, then, is "The Vice Guide to Canada":

vice guide to canada


Everything you ever wanted to know. For real.

Thursday, March 25, 2004

Why do these people always have to bother me? I hid in the library. Nothing like this ever happened at Goshen.


Because it's all John Leigh, all the time (Bonus: written in the style of John Leigh!)

Actually, this reminds me of one of my seven roommates in Chengdu who spent his nights at internet gaming cafés getting beat up online. Then he would sleep all day and say the only English phrase he seemed to know: "fuck the school." The punch line to this little thing is that his romanized name was Zhong Lei (pronounced, you guessed it, "John Leigh").

Although he wasn't nearly as funny as the real Panamanian. Also funny by AYS: a "business letter" (especially since she's "working" in Holland right now). And absolutely not funny at all: Histand for President.


Answering Tim's question

Yes, Aaron was the one who helped us out with the accents. Unfortunately we had to try to unlearn our Standard Irish--which is what we had started learning--in order to concentrate on Northern Irish. He was of great help; he actually made a recording of the whole play doing the correct accent.


If you're not doing anything tonight You should hit up thump night 'cause bout half the crew from lonesome jim is going to be there (no promises on liv or cassey yet) Be there doodes.


throw of the chains of prescriptive grammarY'all's posh roots

Actually, my usage of the term "y'all" is possible only because of my liberation from the chains of prescriptive grammar. It is a heresy imposed on us all by our authoritarian elementary school teachers based on arbitrary rules set up by a bunch of patriarchal anoraks in the 19th centurty with an inferiority complex. We must all throw off the chains of standardization, revel in our inconsistencies, dangle our participles, and speak like where came from. If we speak like they want us to we will lose not only our voices, but our minds as well. Is it not better to butcher a sentence, then to lose your soul? Shall we not embrace the richness of the english language? Why sell ourselves (and 3rd grade brats) short? It is our diffences, not our ability to emulate dead languages, that make us posh and we must realize that ultimately, poshness is a state of mind. And now, off to tea.


"y'all?"
come on bro, you're supposed to be in London getting all posh.. not becoming an anorak...
pull up your socks. ;)


bloody sundayFor all you NWP people out there

Alice Roth just arrived at the Mennonite Centre today and we ended up talking about 'Carthaginians'. She and her husband Willard have spent a good deal of time in Northern Ireland working with the Corrymeela community. She knows what a struggle it has been for the Catholics in Derry to deal with the wounds they have and was very impressed with the NWP handling of the deep emotion and issues of the play. She was also really blown away with Irish accents (is it true that Aaron had something to do with those?). Y'all are apparently having a real impact. It made me real sad that I wasn't there to see y'all shine.

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

and then

and then I realized that it was all a joke and I looked down and then I found 5 dollars.

it's true. don't knock it till you've tried it.


No Opportunity Wasted
I talked with Jim Loewen today after chapel.. And I expressed how much I am interested in his books (although I have not read them yet), and in his new book... Well, I'm now in discussion with him about creating a documentary on his book that's coming out in September. I'm extremely excited--and realistic too.. It might not work out, but I'm definately going to use all of my effort to do this. (effort, might unfortunately include my bank account too....)
Documentary film is my dream career--which many have probably heard about a lot from me.. And doing a project on a that I am really interested in just makes things even greater. So hopefully, in the next months, I'll have more information to share with you about the progress of this.


DreamActually, none of these really resemble my darlings, but I thought the visual would be helpful.

So Dream is having a fundraiser. It's for Kerry. I hate to point out the obvious, but this guy has millions of dollars from the Heinz fortune. Someone please explain to me why he deserves any of my hard-earned student loan money?

In happier news, while at first I was depressed about accidentally buying the expensive tweezers, it turns out that they really are worth the extra $2.99. Oh special tweezers, how gracefully you remove unwanted hair from between my two extraordinarily distinct eyebrows. You truly understand this part of me, tweezers, unlike some other people who have not reached the same level of appreciation with regard to hair removal.

Also, Stinking Liz are back in town, so it's jam-metal for me tonight. Oy!


My favorite line from The Last Temptation of Christ:

An angry person in a crowd, yelling at Jesus: "That's what happens when men don't marry; the semen backs up into their brains!"

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

texas?
has anyone else noticed the "We provide beer and schwag to our users because we care" on the blogger home page?


Dialogue between a 20 year-old student and a 78 year-old adjunct who worked at the Kinsey Institute

Celeste: Betty, do you have any pain relievers? I have an infection in my mouth, and I forgot to bring some to school.

Betty: Of course, I have some in my purse. Are you going to get that infection treated?

Celeste: Yes, my dentist suggested I treat it with baking soda and peroxide.

Betty: Good. You have to treat it, because infections in the mouth lead to infections in other places.

Celeste: (looks at Betty questioningly)

Betty: (nods)


funkster mcFunkity funk

Tristan King is a good man and he liked our Hour After. Yay!

Also, we are currently remastering our roughish studio takes with a CD expected out in April (maybe for a New Workld launch on the 17th, but very hush-hush). Hopefully, mp3s will be up soon (if you want to volunteer some webspace, email Mike Shank. Please!). And Meg, I'll never forget watching Dolls with you and Tasara in Paris. Béatifique!

Monday, March 22, 2004

Hey!!!
when can I buy a CD from the hour after? better yet, you kids should post the mp3s on your web page

Also
I'm in love with Dolls, we're going to have japanese surrealist babies


All images, all the time

Lynne Cheney: Interesting person

Lynne Cheney writes a book.


Jesus Chainsaw Massacre
Is it just me or are there some striking similarities between these two posters?:

and

Statistics:

  • Number of minutes Jesus was beaten: 45
  • Number of times Jesus was whipped: 115
  • Number of times Jesus falls in slow motion: 3
  • Number of nails pounded into Jesus: 4
  • Hours it took to put Jesus' makeup on: 7

    (From ruthlessreviews.com)


    potatoes and cheese


    Wait, did you mean my aunt Ruth?

    My aunt Ruth.




























    Tom Toles is very funny


    not my ruth
    must be someone else's aunt ruth. potatoes and cheese please


    mike, enough with yer pretentious indie-cred-counting and non-traditional-spelling-of-possessives.


    Wait a minute...
    Meg, is your aunt the Ruth Schrock who works at the Mennonite Archives? I worked with her all last year. She is so cool! It must be an honor to be punched in the arm by her...


    thanks everyone for coming to the "art" show!
    my aunt told me i was stupid and punched me in the stomach be for she left... thanks ruth.

    Sunday, March 21, 2004

    No, it means that they're on top of the bonus points you usually get just for reading the blog.

    p.s.: You still rock for picking me up.


    is "extra bonus" a redundant phrase. if they're bonus, aren't they inherently extra?


    Can someone let me know which Brubeck chart was performed at the hour after? Thanks. (Extra bonus points to everyone who noticed the pretentiousness in the question, though not more than three because it's pretty easy.)


    My blood hurts
    Dude, erini, that sucks that you didn't get to go to the hour after. it was really amazing. Oedipus, I give you two thumbs up and cheers for an superawesome performance. the aphex twin cover was absolutely amazing. and the portishead was well done, and the flaming lips was pretty cool, and all the others that I don't remember right now: so good!!

    hey! you kids should all head over to the music building and to the hershberger gallery today from 2-4. there will be food! and an $8500 painting and a kick-ass DVD display featuring sasha, julia, cory, and nate. and tons more julia and a shit-load of copperwire; none of it is mine, thank god. kate has some pretty fucking amazing manipulation art with a story line by john e. that's not all! you can also take home your very own complementary commemorative postcard of the 2004 senior group 1 art student show! score.

    Saturday, March 20, 2004

    Oedipus Funk Hour After
    yeah, so I really wanted to video tape this... but seeing as I didn't get a ticket (due to reasons I don't even understand).. yeah, I don't think I'll be able to. When I talked to Thushon he said something about needed a seat at the band table and to e-mail this woman... unfortunately I couldn't remember who she was and couldn't find a name that sounded right in the directory... and I e-mailed Michele.. never heard back... basically yeah, I won't be able to film this for you guys. Sorry.
    After all of this is over, we should set up a time to start planning things for the video. I'll try to have the storyboard and shot sheet done around the same time that you guys finish mixing the song.


    I really don't like wearing a suit. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. The people in this picture don't seem to mind. Maybe they can just wear suits for me.Kicking Ass!

    Who kicked ass on the oral arguments? Oh yes, that would be me. I made the sharp little gestures. I was confident. I hit the roadmap like an anvil to a cartoon head.

    Oh and that rebuttal! That was the greatest. (1) Standard of Review, come on! WTF!?! (2) She traded for it. That is so not the same is it just being in a drawer! (3) This lady grows weed. She is totally a danger to society.

    Yeah, it was great.

    Tonight Bronwyn's house is throwing a boardgames and tiki drinks party. Oh yeah little umbrellas! It'll completely be like 1953 or something.

    Now I'm going running.


    Blue Monday.Blue Monday

    So Sarah and Ashley and two of their housemates and I went dancing at The Black Cat. Lots of high-schoolers there, which was cool. They were fun. They made me smile with their fresh enthusiasm, the halloween costume jewelry, and off-the-shoulder fashions. They were adorable. Another high-school girl asked me to dance with her and her friend. "But I can't dance," her friend insisted. "Look around," I said, "half these people can't dance either." It was true. (Gosh you should have seen the guy in the leather jacket. Robin I miss you.) I smiled at them and went back to dancing with Sarah.

    The DJ was good, not excellent. She pulled some interesting things that I can't quite remember now. She wore red sequin boots and had tattoes all over her arms and shoulders. I was scared and awed by her. But not enough Cure songs. There are never enough Cure songs.

    Okay, to bed now. In less than 12 hours I have to be in front of a pretend appellate court, wearing my suit and acting more aggressive than I did at practice, at least that's the advice I got.

    Friday, March 19, 2004

    A big fatty thank you to vrick for the lovely dinner this evening
    I'm surprised more people aren't taking brick folks up on their dinner offer. Justina made some kick ass stir fry - I should have brought something but didn't. what a mooch am I. maybe I'll bring over some cookies later. or heroin. hmmm....


    cool

    and don't forget, sun. 2:30pm


    Wanting what I've got

    I can't think of anything I want less than a baby, sorry Xena.

    For a feature story, I've spent this week interviewing mothers in their teens and early twenties who are still in school. It's been a powerful experience. This quote, for example, hit me like a punch in the chest:

    Celeste: What do you want for your son when he grows up?
    Cherie (who gave birth to her son at 15): Not to grow up and get a girl pregnant at a young age.

    Another young mom, a college student, told me how she had to come to college to find a calling because she knew that if she had stayed in a dead end job, just working for the money, it would make her start to resent her daughter. So she came to Goshen to study art.

    I admire these young women. They get a lot of joy from their children, while at the same time being cognizant that they have to work a lot harder than most other young people.

    Suddenly, being able to stay up all night working to get a degree, with no particular employment in mind, feels like a luxury.


    Well, we might all be too busy getting ready for our kick-ass Hour Afters (*cough cough*), but at least our compatriots out East are busy writing about us. This week's EMU Agora features Jeremy Yoder on the history of the EMU/Goshen differences.

    laterz


    Crazy leather costumes, that too.Reasons Why I'm Happy
    • Registration is going to be a no-brainer and I will for sure get the classes that I want either fall or spring.
    • The Post gave that new movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a good review.
    • I have a secret. Don't worry, it doesn't mean much to any of you. But it's very important.


    Thursday, March 18, 2004

    Newsweek quote (March 8, 2004)

    "There are times when I see some comely young lady I would love to have as a house pet. But my wife won't let me, dammit. And I bought her a gun. That shows you how smart I am."

    New Hampshire state Rep. Richard Kennedy, at a public hearing on gay-marriage legislation, in a remark unrelated to the bill



    Political Corner

    This week: Congress debates like there's no tomorrow , and Haitian rumours keep flying!

    A bit from the State Department Noon Briefing, March 16, 2004:
    QUESTION: Change of subject to Haiti?

    Now it's not only Aristide who is making accusations about the U.S. role in his departure, but also, Maxine Waters has made remarks today saying that the U.S. Government had a hand in helping the opposition threaten Aristide. She went so far as to question whether the U.S. actually organized a coup, blaming Noriega in particular.

    I know we've been through refuting many of these allegations, but I guess you have to do it again.

    MR. ERELI: Consider them refuted. They're not true.

    President Aristide voluntarily, of his own volition and his own initiative, with no coercion, resigned as president of Haiti and left the country in order to spare that country further bloodshed, which was the result of his misrule.

    QUESTION: (Inaudible) she's calling this another regime change by the U.S. Anything -- with that in particular -- she says it's a policy of regime change, and pre-emptive strikes on Haiti.

    MR. ERELI: Where to start. First of all, it wasn't pre-emptive, because the country was falling apart. We tried to work with all parties to come to a peaceful solution. When that proved impossible, and when violence was threatening to tear the country apart and to produce a horrific repeat of what it had been through ten years ago, Aristide, in assessing the situation, as I said, decided to do the wise thing and spare his country further suffering and resign. That was something that he decided to do.

    So it wasn't the United States supporting regime change, it was the decision of the leader of Haiti that it was in the interest of his country that he leave. And he decided to do that, and he resigned. And he wrote his own letter of resignation, and he asked us what we could do to help him leave.

    QUESTION: If I could follow up. I don't know if Teri brought this up, but there are some accounts that he claims that he was actually brought to the airport under some kind of rouse that he was about to have a press conference -- I don't know if you've seen the reports -- and that -- I mean, and apparently those are backed up by -- on the record by one of the pilots, and that the U.S. military said that they were going to transport him securely to a press conference and, in fact, took him to the airport, and then put him on a plane.

    MR. ERELI
    : False. Completely, utterly without basis.

    Wednesday, March 17, 2004

    My Email is Broken

    3/17/2004
    4:45PM
    System diagnostics have indicated an imminent hardware failure with the E-Mail system.
    System administrators are working to resolve the issue.
    We apologize for any inconvenience.

    This is very annoying. I have important things to write to people about.

    My power adaptor is also broken. It won't charge my battery. A woman at a phonebank that was outsourced to India will get me another one, but not for a week. No battery power for a week.


    and the "awesome person of the week award" goes to....
    gwen miller, who found me in the art building and said, "here kate, it looks like you need this." and handed me a dove chocolate! thanks gwen!


    not so much "cursed," more, the cruelest joke ever...


    CDs: It's what's for dinner!

    So you know those dreams you have in which bad things happen and then you wake up and you're just so relieved that it isn't real? Usually for me it involves my bike being stolen. But last night it involved me eating housemate Tim Kennel's CDs. I think I ate about a half-dozen. They were thin, crispy, and just a little sweet, a lot like those anise wafers my mother used to buy when I was in high school. I was hungry, so I ate them. I was so upset afterwards. I thought, "How am I going to explain this to Tim?" and "How am I going to pay for replacements?" and "That was a really expensive snack!" But then I woke up and realized that I hadn't eaten the CDs at all and it was fine. What a relief.

    In other news: bored? lonely?


    Inside joke gone terribly wrong!!!

    I so meant to sent an e-mail labeled the following to Nicole Miazgowicz and not Michele Fanfair Steury:

    Know any good afterbirth jokes?

    Luckily, the e-mail itself was completely clean and didn't refer to the inside joke at all! Let's just hope that this doesn't put Film Club's club status into jeopardy. I guess I'll wait and see how MFS responds.


    Hey everybody, check out Tristan's funny little thing at http://thecancheriosdebate.blogspot.com/

    Shmears.

    Tuesday, March 16, 2004

    Happy Saint Urho's Day!

    translated from Finnish.. "Grasshopper, Grasshopper, go to hell!"

    Monday, March 15, 2004

    ooh!
    we had access to one TV channel today for the first time at the cave!! it went away though, but believe you me, it was exciting while it lasted. and that's not just exciting, it's excccccccciting!

    -meg


    actually,
    it is my understanding that something is goinging down in NYC, San Fran., Sacramento, L.A., Chicago, DC, Boston, and Philly, if not more places. if we really wanted, we could probably rock something here; March 20 is the first anniversary of the U.S. bombing and invasion of Iraq.


    Actually, just so y'all know, it's going down in New York City this time. I won't be able to make it, but y'all should hike over there.


    3.20.04
    So... I hear something's going on in DC on March 20th.... umm yeah.. what's this all about.. Just told that apparently there's a protest or something. Any news?

    Sunday, March 14, 2004

    And the sons of pullman porters/And the sons of engineers/Ride their fathers' magic carpets made of steel.Amtrak

    I'm back in DC now. This will have to be 'goodbye' for everyone who I didn't get to see one last time before I returned. I had a really nice ride home, getting some Contracts work done last night and a little Civ Pro done this morning, though I'm not quite sure if I understand the Civ Pro stuff. I do understand the Contracts, which is good because I might miss class tomorrow to legal observe. But yeah, no screaming babies, though a conductor did lose his temper and shout at a passenger. I considered doing something, but the passenger herself called Amtrak from her cell phone to complain and that sounded like enough. I didn't really see the incident anyway, as I was curled up waiting for Toledo to go away. But it was weird.

    Things look uglier from the train. I think it's because no one thinks to keep the back of their property looking nice. Graffiti and trash accumulates on the back side of buildings. No one thinks about people like me, watching out the train window.


    Ode to my Dad
    My Dad is a cowboy-boot and Redskins starter jacket-wearing, 52 year-old radical. He can have intense theological discussions with seminary professors, or vividly recount sports games with working folks in the grocery store.

    He's coming to visit later this month. I love Jim Wallis, too, but he's just not as cool as my dad. Go hear Jim speak anyway. He's certainly a better orator than most who come to Goshen.


    A colorful wallpaper to brighten your day



    Saturday, March 13, 2004

    sign me up!
    hallie! ohh, pick me! I want a job! how do I apply?

    Friday, March 12, 2004

    rini
    good choice. I dealt with similar problems in theatre. while we have classes, none of them are necessarily worth the time. Bryan Falcón and Bruce Hostetler (both professional directors) convinced me to stay. They said to get a good general education and some theatre experience, and move to a city as soon as i graduate. It's a theory. I like it so far, mainly because I ignore my classes and spend all my time at New World or with friends. Now I'm working on another short film.

    and: new world wants to do film stuff. come to our get-together Saturday at 1pm or give me a call. there are a lot of ideas, and we need some people with energy to make them happen. lets do something.

    i think i want to try using aerial shots in my next film, that would be cool.


    Thanks to Adam Derstine I've seen the light!
    And thanks to Sasha as well..
    My solution is to stay here at GC (with all of you!!), and just change my major. With InterDis I can get what I need and forget about all those classes I'd only just slack off in. So now I just need to choose a third major... I've got Theatre/Film and ASL...

    The whole internship thing still sucks, but I've got to accept and respect their decision.. plus it gives me more time to work on my short film and the oedipus video. I guess there's a bright side to everything.
    (ack, now I've got a song from life of brian stuck in my head...)


    Hipsters and their coffee in the Mile End section of Montreal. Represent!So sad to hear, Erini. That's a damn shame for sure.

    Other damn shames:
    Spain
    South Korea

    Damn greats:
    Grey Album
    Mile End
    Hallie's birthday!

    As for staying with friends/leaving for the academics, you might want to talk to Adam Derstine about that. He's had to deal with the same thing.


    fuck shit fuck
    okay, so apparently I never had the internship... even though it was planned that I'd meet with them tomorrow morning. I called today, like they asked, and they turned me away. I was really excited because here I am at Goshen, and I really shouldn't be since I can't get any classes that are going to affect my career (other than LA), and this opportunity comes along that I feel that I totally need.. I'm not mad with anyone who got the internships.. a lot of people were after them... I guess I'm most upset because 1) how often do film majors actually get an opportunity like this at GC, and 2) because they claimed that I had the internship and then just rejected me. The only things that are keeping me here at GC are SST, my friends, and ASL. And I'm starting to wonder if those are decent reasons seeing as I'm paying $24,000 that I never had and I'm screwing myself over because I need a school with a film department.
    What would you guys do in my situation?
    - Stay at the place that has friends you care about and has great opportunities like SST... or
    - Go to the place where you'd get an education you'd use?
    I mean, I left my home town to go here rather than BSU, and I left all my friend from HS behind.. not sure if I want to go through that again...

    Anyway... I'm going to check the weather and the road conditions.. I need to get away from GC for a bit... or at least until I work on Sunday...

    (Ps- it was Rachel Sprunger)


    Friday: Check out the word of the day!

    Also: iTunes is "spastic"? Check out the comment by pnestar at the end of this Record article for proper usage.

    Thursday, March 11, 2004

    Yeah Meg, I just decided this morning to call them.. apparently I might be a personal assistant to someone.. which actually disappoints me.. I want equipment, something inanimate... oh well, at least it's still experience.. I go in on Saturday morning.. Apparently, my future housemate Rachel called later in the afternoon, and they told her all the positions had been filled.. so yay that I called early.. and grr 'cause i have to live with her next year & I hope she's not pissed that I got it and she didn't.
    hooray for stress levels going down!


    For those who are interested:
    Today was the first day of shooting, we began at 7:00 in ligonier and it was fairly chilly, I learned a lot about grip equipment and was quite proud of myself. The morning progressed and the weather got warmer and I was quite happy to have Phil the DP (director of photography) name me as his apprentice. Unfortunately, after lunch, the weather turned from sunny to butt-ass cold, shooting continued inside a tiny trailer which left me out in the cold, both literally and figuratively, and I spent the rest of the time huddled in the grip truck. it kind of sucked. Later in the day it went from butt-ass cold to holy-mother-of-jesus-have-I-really-been-out-here-in-the-cold-for-10-hours, and-it-is-still-getting-colder-and-chirist-it-is-snowing cold, at which point I retreated indoors. Eventually I wandered back out to location and after another 30 minutes of doing nothing, decided my time would be better spend at home studying. so I went home. I'm wiped but very happy with the way the day went.

    Also, some side notes: I have a red sharpie in the back pocket of my jeans. I don't know how it got there. I swear I didn't see a single red sharpie all day, let alone use one, I have no idea how it got there. On the subject of red: I have been home for at least 45 minutes now and my cheeks are still red. are they sunburned? wind-burned? cold-stained? can the cold stain one's face? On the subject of stained faces: Sr. Jack-ass, who has a name and is an intern but I refuse to call him anything but Sr. Jack-ass, because that's what he is, anyway, he is playing at dembufsky's on saturday at 10. You can go if you want to, he claims that he is bringing in folks from double barrel darrel to play with him so it might be good. but I don't know if he is or not because he is a jack-ass and there for I have a very low opinion of him. oh, and if you know the folks in DBD, don't tell them that I called this dude a jackass because then I would feel like a dumb-ass, which sucks, and while blogging makes me feel like I have free reign to people-bash, having it repeated doesn't. yeah.

    Erini, I'm sorry about you not getting a call. if you really want an internship I would call them. If that's not your thing, don't do it.

    also, we have an intramural soccer game tonight, so if anyone wants to come cheer us on (and I'm sure you're peeing your pants right now, then you should come the game.


    Canadian politics

    The Right Honourable Paul Martin
    Prime Minister of Canada
    House of Commons
    Ottawa, Ontario
    Canada K1A 0A6

    Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology
    c/o Louise M. Thibault, Clerk
    House of Commons
    180 Wellington Street
    671, Wellington Building
    Ottawa, Ontario
    Canada K1A 0A6

    Dear Prime Minister,

    Re: Bill C-9, Act to amend the Patent and the Food and Drug Act to permit the export of generic medicines to countries in need

    We write to congratulate you on assuming the office of Prime Minister of Canada, and we welcome your public support for an amendment to Canadian patent law that would allow the export of generic pharmaceuticals produced under compulsory licence to countries in need.

    The initiative could make a significant difference in the lives of millions of poor people needing affordable medicines, and Canada will set a global precedent with this legislation. As you probably know a ‘Declaration on Partnership to Fight HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia’ has been recently adopted by delegates from 55 States convened in Dublin by initiative of the Irish Presidency of the European Union. Following your example the declaration commits the states that have adopted the Declaration to early implementation of the World Trade Organisation decision of 30 August 2003 on improving access of the poorest countries to the medicines necessary for those living with HIV/AIDS. The Dublin declaration, coupled by the European Parliament resolution UE P5-TA 52 2003, give advocates ground for demanding their government to join Canada in implementing legislation that would allow developing countries to contract European generic drug producers to provide affordable life saving drugs.

    Since the Canadian initiative will set the reference also for the European Union and other wealthy countries, we wish to respectfully draw your attention to some elements of Bill C-9 that could undermine the intended purpose of the Canadian initiative.

    We represent humanitarian organizations, HIV/AIDS organizations, and people living with HIV/AIDS and their advocates, from Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. We have intervened in the global debates at the WTO, and we hailed steps such as Bill C-56 (the precursor to Bill C-9, introduced in Canada’s Parliament last November) as the right way to address the global crisis posed by HIV/AIDS, and particularly the treatment gap that the same World Health Organization has recently declared as a public health emergency. We were also pleased to see from recent media that you recognize
    there are ‘shortcomings’ with Bill C-56 as tabled, which makes us even more confident in sharing with you the main problems we see with Bill C-56 as itcurrently stands:

    § the provision that would allow patent-holding pharmaceutical companies totake over contracts negotiated by generic manufacturers with developingcountries and thereby block the issuance of licence to the generic manufacturer, and to do so every 2 years;

    § the existence of a limited list of pharmaceutical products covered by schedule 1 and a process for amending the schedule that does not adequately reflect or protect the right of sovereign countries to determine for themselves when to use compulsory licenses to importing generic pharmaceuticals;

    § the exclusion of some countries from the scheme set out in Schedules 2 through 4, in particularly numerous developing countries facing public health needs with limited resources;

    § the failure to let generics manufacturers supply lower-cost pharmaceuticals directly to non-governmental organizations delivering health care in developing countries.

    These shortcomings represent serious flaws that will undermine the effectiveness of Canada’s initiative, but all of them can be remedied. If so, Canada will set a worthy global precedent that will make a concrete contribution to saving and extending lives in the developing world. With this legislation, Canada will become the first country to implement the WTO
    decision and the initiative has already received worldwide attention and strong support.

    As global citizens, we urge you to fix the shortcoming underlined in this letter. If done properly, this is an initiative of which Canada can be rightly proud. But if Canada passes legislation that is ineffective and provides unnecessary entitlements to patent-holding multinational pharmaceutical companies, at the expense of poor patients in the developing world, the legislation will reflect poorly on Canada and – most important - will be of little benefit to those who desperately need access to more affordable medicines.


    HOTTIE IN THE GYM??
    Alisa, ummm.. well.. the next time some famous hottie comes to the gym, you must call me stat.. I mean it would be cool to, uh work out and stuff... it's not like i'm stalking him or anything. okie dokie?


    menno muscleFinal Issue of the Mennonite

    After two years of procrastination, the final issue of The Mennonot is finally availbe. You should all download it and distribute it widely.

    Disclaimer: I had nothing to do with publishing this wonderful piece of satire other than ripping off their name and having the publisher as a mentor in high school (explains a lot I suppose).

    Without further ado, here's a juicy excerpt:

    Top ten reasons for being glad you’re a Mennonite

    10. Over 600 songs in the new Mennonite
    hymnal and not one of them is Kum Ba Yah.
    9. The excitement is really building over the
    upcoming motion picture, starring Harrison
    Ford and Kelly McGinnis, about Mennonite
    ethnic diversity called Whiteness.
    8. Church leaders plan to remain true to the
    traditional stance of military non-involvement
    by prophetically declaring all Mennonites to
    be gay or lesbian.
    7. Who can dance to rap music anyway?
    6. The fellowship at the annual Amish-Mennonite
    Oktoberfest is never strained by a nasty
    hangover.
    5. Three words: three bean salad.
    4. Completing one’s education without ever
    experiencing sex ed taught by an 80-year-old
    nun claiming to be “married to Christ” greatly
    increases the possibility of having a healthy
    sex life.
    3. Menno Simons could have kicked Luther’s
    and Calvin’s butts.
    2. Church leaders took a dramatic step forward in
    the cause of women’s rights by affirming that head
    coverings need not be worn during the swimsuit
    competition at the Miss America pageant.
    1. Large gene pools are so darn impersonal.


    grr for me...
    the people from the production company still haven't called again like they said they would! it's really getting frustrating.. this one chick on Tuesday makes me feel like I got an internship... and then I never hear from them again.. GRR! I feel like an arse calling them too....

    in other, happier news... I will soon be planning a dinner for all of you fine folk... it's been an on going plan with Sasha.. origionally it was going to be Finnish food.. but some of the spices are hard to get (or uber expensive), and I finding a good fish market other than Wal-Mart is errr.. So I'm going to be using this new cookbook I got in Arizona.. it's "Authentic Mexican
    "... so that's what it might be. It won't be until April though. But yeah.. look forward to that..

    Wednesday, March 10, 2004

    I'm gonna be famous:
    I'm a grip intern. score! which means I get to learn a shit-lot. oh, and I have to be on set tomorrow at 7 fucking o'clock. looks like a lot of coffee, some emergen-c and a cocktail of illegal uppers will be tomorrow's breakfast. if only my car didn't buzz like a bad bassoon. bastard. but that means I get to ham it up with katie tomorrow morning!! if she'll pick me up, that is.


    I feel like there was a bunch of stuff that I wanted to link but now all I can remember is Memorable Quotes from State and Main.


    Totally feels like 38

    Get your shorts on! In related news, the Science students owned Faculty ass this morning in a 5-0 romp. Great stuff. Highlights include Tara Yoder tackling about-to-retire Don Clemens from behind. Tara: "He just gave us a hella hard Orgo exam." Me: "Good reason to tackle him." Tara: "I just remembered: he hasn't graded them yet!" Anyway, shmears to you all and enjoy your spring.


    ahem, feels like 36,
    and it's still getting warmer. i have to admit, that yesterday i was a little sceptical when it snowed and when there was frost on grass this morning, but i think it's shaping to be a damn fine spring day. hmph.


    Who's it gonna be...

    Kerry, Bush or Nader?

    Tuesday, March 09, 2004

    Rubber House
    We decided that tonight is a good night for mojitos and Goose Island. I've been working too hard. It's good to let go a little with my favorite friend, Flor de Cana.


    What's wrong with everything
    At Harvard Business School, thirty years ago, George Bush was a student of mine. I still vividly remember him. In my class, he declared that "people are poor because they are lazy."
    yup. and also, it seems that Bush's new campaign ads
    use paid actors playing firefighters.
    "There's many reasons not to use real firemen," retorted one Bush media adviser. "Mainly, its cheaper and quicker."
    well holy shit.


    Meg
    did you get another call today from the production team?? and if yes, did they tell you what position you've gotten.. I don't know if they told me.. I think I may have been too excited to pay attention to all the details.


    So, I'm in town.

    And thanks so much to Meg who missed class to pick me up. She is the greatest. And here is my journal competition entry. It sucks, but not for reasons which are likely to be immediately obvious to people who haven't subjected themselves to law school (i.e. citation) so I won't elaborate on them.

    TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
    Sanders v. Acclaim Entertainment, Inc., [2001-2002 Transfer Binder] Prod. Liab. Rep. (CCH) 57,944 (D. Colo. 200).

    U.S. Const. amend. I.

    Brandenburg v. Ohio, Russell L. Weaver & Arthur D. Hellman, The First Amendment 73 (2002).

    Weirum v. RKO General, Inc., 539 P.2d 36, 40 (Cal. 1975).

    DeFilippo v. National Broadcasting Co., Inc., 446 A.2d 1036 (R.I. 1982).

    McCollum v. CBS, Inc., 249 Cal. App. 3d 989 (Cal. Ct. App. 1988).

    Rice v. Paladin Enterprises, Inc., 25 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 2441 (4th Cir. Nov. 10, 1997).

    Byers v. Edmondson, 712 So. 2d 681, 1998 La. App. LEXIS 1776, 29 Media L. Rep. 1982 (May 15, 1998).

    James v. Meow Media, Inc., No. 00-5922, slip op. at 22-23 (6th Cir. Aug. 13, 2002).

    145 Cong. Rec. H4407 (daily ed. July 23, 2001) (statement of Rep. Osborne).

    Marjorie Heins et al., Violence and the Media: An Exploration of Cause, Effect, and the First Amendment (First Amendment Center 2001).

    Carl F. Horowitz, Teenage Wasteland, Reason, Feb. 2004, at 50.

    Clay Calvert & Robert R. Richards, New Millennium, Same Old Speech: Technology Changes, but the First Amendment Issues Don’t, 79 B. U. L. Rev. 959 (1999).

    Juliet Dee, Basketball Diaries, Natural Born Killers and School Shootings: Should There be Limits on Speech Which Triggers Copycat Violence?, 77 Denv. U. L. Rev. 713 (2000).

    Karen Abbott, Judge Says Nintendo, Others Didn’t Cause Harris and Klebold to Carry Out Killings, Rocky Mountain News, Mar. 5, 2002, available at http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/columbine/article/0,1299,DRMN_106_1014458,00.html.

    OBJECTIVE PORTION

    On April 20 at about 11:20 in the morning Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold arrived at Columbine High School armed with guns and other “implements of destruction.” Sanders v. Acclaim Entertainment, Inc.,[2001-2002 Transfer Binder] Prod. Liab. Rep. (CCH) 57,944, 57,945 (D. Colo. 200). They proceeded to kill twelve students and a teacher, William Sanders (“Sanders”). Id. In the investigation following the attack, police allegedly uncovered that the two consumed large amounts of obscene, violent, and sexually violent video games and movies. Id. at 57,946.

    The plaintiffs, the widow and stepchildren of Sanders, brought an action in diversity for wrongful death against a number of video game and movie producers. Id. The plaintiffs claimed that but for the actions of the defendants, in conjunction with the actions of Harris and Klebold, the killings would not have occurred. Id. Chief Judge Babcock dismissed their action under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12 (b)(6) for failing to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Id. at 57,945.

    The judge rejected the plaintiffs’ negligence claim on the grounds that the defendants owed no duty of care to the plaintiffs. Id. at 57,950. The judge also concluded that no reasonable jury could find that the defendants had caused the conduct that resulted in Sander’s death. Id. at 57,951. Finally, the judge concluded that the plaintiffs’ claims were blocked by the First Amendment. Id. at 57,954.

    In finding that the defendants owed no duty of care to the plaintiffs, the judge considered four factors: (1) the foreseeability of the injury; (2) the social utility of the conduct of the defendants; (3) the burden of guarding against harm; and (4) the likely consequences of placing that burden on the defendants. Id. at 57,948. The judge found that any foreseeability of this specific injury was “speculative” at best. Id. He also noted that other courts have found no duty in similar circumstances. Id. The judge noted that a Kentucky court in a case involving very similar circumstances found that media defendants could not have foreseen this sort of attack resulting from their actions. Id. 57,948-49, (citing James v. Meow Media, Inc., 90 F.Supp.2d 798, 804, 806 (W.D.Ky. 2000)).

    The judge found that the defendants’ conduct - creation of works of imagination - contributes significantly to the social welfare. Id. at 57,949. The fact that the plaintiffs characterized the material as “violent” did not lead the judge to discount the material’s social value. Id. The judge noted that violence is part of many stories throughout history. Id. The judge further questioned the notion that society would be better off if the sensitive were protected from violent images. Id. (citing American Amusement Mach. Ass’n v. Kendrick, 244 F.3d 572, 577 (7th Cir. 2001), cert. denied, 122 S.Ct. 462 (2001)).

    The judge combined the final two factors, evaluating together the magnitude of the burden on guarding against injury and the consequences of placing the burden on the defendants. Id. at 57,950. The judge found that Colorado courts “repeatedly reject efforts to impose overly burdensome and impractical obligations on defendants, including the obligation to identify potential dangers.” Id. (citing Davenport v. Community Corrections, 962 P.2d 963, 969 (Colo. 1998)). The judge also found that the magnitude of the burden that would be imposed on the defendants were they to be found liable would be “daunting” and would “chill their rights of free expression.” Id.

    Finding that all four factors weigh against imposing a duty on the defendants, the judge found no duty. Id.

    Additionally, the judge found that no reasonable jury could find that the defendants caused the injury. Id. at 57,951. The judge found that the actions of Harris and Klebold formed a superseding cause that the defendants could not have anticipated. Id. The judge held that as a matter of law, causation was not present. Id.

    The judge considered several First Amendment issues. The judge noted that courts protect video games under the First Amendment because they contain messages. Id. at 57,953. The fact that they are entertainment does not preclude them from carrying messages. Id.

    The judge held that the defendants speech was not incitement under the Brandenburg test. Id. (citing Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969)). Inciting speech is not protected. Id. The defendants’ speech, however, was not incitement because it was made without any intent that it would lead to illegal activitiy. Id. at 57,954. The defendants’ speech was also not “likely” to produce “imminent lawless action,” as the Brandenburg test requires. Id.

    Finally, the judge found that the plaintiffs failed to develop a theory for restricting defendants’ speech to minors that would meet the Supreme Court requirement that such restriction be “narrowly tailored.” Id. The plaintiffs’ theory would restrict the defendants’ speech to all persons. Id.

    SUBJECTIVE PORTION

    This ruling in Sanders v. Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. is consistent with a reluctance on the part of the courts to find media defendants liable when viewers engage in violent acts allegedly as a result of consuming the media. The high-profile nature of the facts may mean that this ruling will further entrench this reluctance in the courts. A threat to this tendency could come from the realm of social science. However, social science shows no signs of coming to a consensus on the effects of media. Furthermore, serious questions exist as to whether psychological research can even be capable of determining the effects of media. Finally, even were we able to know the effects of media on behavior, we would be faced with the equally difficult question of determining whether restricting media to reduce violent behavior is a desirable option.

    The decision in Sanders is in line with the requirement of courts that the defendant have the intent that the speech result in dangerous or criminal activity for the speech to be left unprotected by the First Amendment. Where speech is “directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action” it is not protected by the First Amendment. Brandenburg v. Ohio, Russell L. Weaver & Arthur D. Hellman, The First Amendment 73, 75 (2002). Courts are unwilling to find that media can incite criminal action when the media does not “intend” a violent response and when that response is not “imminent” or “likely.” James v. Meow Media, Inc., No. 00-5922, slip op. at 22-23 (6th Cir. Aug. 13, 2002) (holding that media defendants’ speech is protected under Brandenburg and did not “incite” a school shooting). Cases where courts do find that media incited illegal activity are rare exceptions where the defendant intends the response and the response is highly foreseeable. Weirum v. RKO General, Inc., 539 P.2d 36, 40 (Cal. 1975) (finding that a radio station offering prizes at various locations could foresee that listeners would drive dangerously to arrive at those locations); Rice v. Paladin Enterprises, Inc., 25 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 2441, 2469 (4th Cir. Nov. 10, 1997) (holding that only in rare cases where media defendants intend for their materials to be used to assist a crime can they be found liable). The court’s finding in Sanders that the defendants are not liable because they did not intend and could not have foreseen the violence they allegedly caused is in keeping with this precedent.

    If any further challenges to the line of cases finding media defendants not liable arise, their likelihood of success may be dampened by the high profile of the facts in this case. If anything could have overturned this series of cases it seems likely to be the national shock at the shootings at Columbine High School and the general atmosphere of concern around school violence that existed in the late 1990s after several high-profile incidents. Juliet Dee, Basketball Diaries, Natural Born Killers and School Shootings: Should There be Limits on Speech Which Triggers Copycat Violence?, 77 Denv. U. L. Rev. 713, 713 (2000) (listing high-profile incidents of school violence and noting national concern). However, it did not do so.

    A challenge to the precedent of no liability for media defendants could emerge from social science, but is unlikely to do so for several reasons. Strong scientific evidence of a link between consuming violent media and violent activities could conceivably create a situation where courts would impose strict products liability on media defendants for the violent actions of consumers. However, this seems unlikely in the near future, given the present divides among social scientists as to whether media violence leads individuals to engage in real-life violence. See Marjorie Heins et al., Violence and the Media: An Exploration of Cause, Effect, and the First Amendment, 4 (First Amendment Center 2001) (noting the deep divisions in psychology as to why humans act violently). Furthermore, it is uncertain that psychologists could even formulate studies that would answer this question. See id. at 7-8 (pointing out the artificiality of the lab environment and the multitude of factors that confuse results in correlational studies).

    Finally, even were social scientists to prove conclusively a link between the consumption of violent media and violent acts by the consumers, we would be left with perhaps an even more difficult question: do we want to restrict speech in order to prevent lawlessness? Killings incited by music, movies, or video games are certainly tragic, but does the prevention of a handful of murders really justify the restrictions on speech that might be necessary to prevent them? Might we not decide that free speech has such value to a democratic society that we are willing to accept the cost in blood?

    Monday, March 08, 2004

    Unpreparedness

    Dean asked me to show American History X to his Transforming Conflict and Violence class tonight. I met the group, all first years I think, in AD 36, and with one student's help put the DVD on (technology is not my friend).

    Two hours and a lot of graphic violence, hate mongering, near redemption and wrongful death later, we all sat there stunned. I had never seen the movie before.

    I got up to turn off the DVD, and the group of kids not much younger than I looked at me with wide eyes. It seemed like they wanted to talk about the movie, but I didn't know where to begin; I was too shocked myself. I asked them if they wanted to share anything that was on their minds. They looked at me with wide eyes some more. I told them I didn't want to keep them, and they silently filed out of the room.

    Now I need to do homework, yet I imagine it will be several days before I'm able to shake those images out of my head.


    This dude is so invited to Wednesday's Super Spring Ultimate Frisbee Showdown featuring GC Science faculty vs. Science students. It's gonna rock. All you Science students out there better be there (10:30 a.m. on the Coffman lawn), and if Vic Koop is reading this, a word to the wise: I'm gonna own your ass.

    And that's the double-truth, Ruth.


    Also: you (and everybody else) is hereby invited every weeknight at 6pm (except Wednesdays) for a delicious supper at Brick House. We're going to rock this thing till we run out of money/energy/time. We'll see how far we get.


    Clue: The Musical! is more interesting than Sanders v. Acclaim Entertainment, Inc.Clue

    Hey well if you go on Friday I'd be able to swing it. Saturday night I'll be riding the train.

    Schedule for this afternoon:

    • 2:30 - Leave house
    • 3:30 - Print out journal competition entry
    • 4:00 - Turn in entry
    • 4:30 - Head to Union Station
    • 5:20 - Hop train to Elkhart!

    All this to be done while carrying two very heavy bags. Oh yeah.

    In other news: see you all soon!


    Clue: The Musical Update

    So far, Kanagy and Celeste have responded to say that they are interested in going (and perhaps some other people from Torba). If we would go as a group, I would only be able to go either of the following times (because of conflicts with my Torba schedule): the 12th or 13th (Fri. or Sat.) at 8 P.M. Student tickets are $12 each.


    12 Reasons Same-Sex Marriages Will Ruin Society

    Sunday, March 07, 2004

    MEG!

    Ok, first thing you do is call this number: 1-800-872-7245.
    Then say these things to a computer program named Julie:God Named Celeste.

    • "Train Status" when they ask what you want to do
    • "Yes" that you do know your train number
    • "Two nine" for train twenty-nine
    • "Arrival" for arrival times
    • "Elkhart, Indiana" for the station
    • "Tuesday" for the day you want to know about

    Don't use the website. It doesn't work. But do check the number to know what time I'll be in. I'm supposed to get in at 9:04am Tuesday morning, but we'll see about that.

    To get to the station, take 33 north towards Elkhart. Just keep following South Main Street into town. You'll cross East Indiana Avenue, then Prairie Street, then in about a third of a mile you'll be at the station. 131 Tyler Avenue, to be specific.

    Also, I saw a guy with a District of Corruption shirt today while walking to church. Also: Meg, I love you.


    I think Derek may have won this round....


    Blog

    Blog blog bloggity blog. Bloggiferous, bloggifery, bloggacious bloggy blog. Blogoneous, blognastic blogger. Blogunctious Bloggorean. Blogibly bloggible, blogtastic, blogtankerous blognacular. Blogterically blogarious. Blogstipated blognarian. Blogsexual bloggette. ... Blog.

    Saturday, March 06, 2004

    I just got engaged too!
    to the blog! ha, who loves the blog more, now? bitch.


    Bridesmaids eating pizza are more interesting than Sanders, et al. v. Acclaim Entertainment, Inc., et al.Jeff and Vanessa and Engaged!

    Yeah, so that's basically it. Jeff is my housemate and Vanessa is his girlfriend of several years. I mean, we all saw it coming for the past month, but last night it finally happened. Ang decorated the house by herself this afternoon. She thought I'd already left for Goshen. In reality I was hiding in my room, writing my Journal competition entry and mostly goofing off. I like my new bed. It has lots of space for scattering books and papers about me as I work. And now I'm going to blow off the rest of the evening with a little impromptu party, even though I still need to finish the objective part, write the subjective part, and (biggest of all) prepare the table of authorities. But I do have a good outline...

    They haven't set an exact date yet, of course, but they're thinking about June 2005. That's a long way off, at least in my opinion, especially when they've already been together so long. I want the wedding now! But of course there are the usual mixed feelings on the subject.


    How much we love our BLOG
    The first page of blogs had the word "blog" 24 times throughout the page. This page has it only 3 times. Perhaps we don't love our blog as much as we used to? nahh. We still love our blog. I love you blog. Blog.
    in blog,
    -meg

    Note: After this post, I will have upped the "blog" count to 14. It looks like I love the blog the most. blog.


    OMG, Happy Birthday everyone!




    It has been such an honor to be part of this great virtual community. Here's to another great year of blogging!


    Also: Kate, when is the Shoup merchandise going to go up? Do you need any help?

    Friday, March 05, 2004

    march 6, 2003
    i'm having so much fun, i'm afraid i might forget:
    happy 1st birthday!


    Anyone up for some theater?

    Would anybody like to go see Clue: The Musical at the Elkhart Civic Theatre sometime? I love the board game and I love the movie, but I'm excited to see what will happen to it when you add music! The dates are March 5, 6, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19 & 20. I think it would be fun to get a group together. Contact me somehow if you would like to go.


    I saw ben stiller!
    I got a call from the film people. Score!! we'll see what sunday brings...
    The place where we stayed ruled until the cable company stop letting us use the internet or watch television because they owner-dude didn't pay the bill. dumb fuck. How the hell am I supposed to live without internet. arrgh. poop head.


    Sun
    It's a sunny and warm Friday afternoon in DC, and everyone is happy. Female GW students have, as required by law, stripped down to the bare essentials while male GW students wander around in Abercrombie shorts, trying to look cool. Secretaries wait at the bus stop in long black jackets that seemed so necessary in the morning but that they now wish that they hadn't worn. Hot-shot investment bankers in convertable coupes with the tops down pull out in front of lawyers in SUVs. The lawyers honk. Janitors chat and smile on cigarette break out front of offices. A man on a church lawn has abandoned the brown paper bag of winter and is drinking his Bud Ice cheerfully unemcumbered. Clusters of schoolchildren walk home, talking loudly. A man in a white t-shirt is carrying an energy drink in his right hand and has what looks for all the world like an albino boa constrictor draped over his shoulders. "Is it real?" I slow down to ask him. "Don't you see it moving?" he retorts. "Shit," I say. Everyone in DC is happy.


    I still don't have a tan...
    Some how I've managed to visit Arizona on it's worst days. It's almost exactly like Indiana temperature and climate wise... but it's so much more beautiful here. Tucson is right inbetween some really amazing mountains. If I could afford it, I'd love to move out here some day. I really like the Mexican influence here. And I think I can survive easily without grass or giant shady trees.
    So far I've seen a hawk, a lot of rabbits, some golfers, purple cacti, and an attack of quails. (I'm telling you, they want to take over the world...) It's really odd.. I've been waking up at 7a here because there's a two hour time difference.. and like Indiana, Arizona doesn't change times. So I've actually been going to bed at 8 or 9p here...
    Anyway.. It's nice to be away.. even just for a few days. Now, I must go, my Aunt has scheduled my mom and I for a hot rock/stone massage... yay for relaxation and a lot of shopping!

    Thursday, March 04, 2004

    Andrea looks like Sophia Coppola to a degree that is just uncanny, except for the hair.

    So the appellate brief is done, and now it's time for journal competition. Not quite sure why I'm doing this. Everybody else is, I guess that's my reason. And I already bought my train ticket for Monday night anyway, so what else would I do with my weekend?

    Last night was NLG meeting, which was cool. Miles from UDC and Andrea from American and I are going to get a meeting on and throw together some stuff. Yeah. And we'll get Quasim from Georgetown in on it, too. Should be a good time. I like them.

    Oh, and don't go to Buffalo Billiards. Too friggin' expensive.


    what's up at alamo laboratory?
    a photo of a panda bear. note the photog. ha!



    Wednesday, March 03, 2004

    Jesus for dogs

    A dogbone for anyone who can make heads or tails of this site.

    Or someone who thinks they can do better. Just think of what you could do with lots of video captures of a trained monkey and George Bush's state of the union address.











    This is me with all the copies of my brief.Brief is Done!

    Yep, I printed them all out yesterday. Tonight I'm going out for Emily's birthday after the DC NLG meeting. This weekend will be full of journal competition. Celeste is on her way to visit Jenna in Boston, which is good because I'll need the time.

    Somehow it's only 1:45 but it seems so much later. I often feel this way when I get up very early, but today I slept in until 8:30. Who knows?

    Tuesday, March 02, 2004

    Safe-for-work porn


    I think out of any addictions one could have.. this one is the most entertaining..
    I've been dancing to this particular one for a while this morning..
    This only further excites me about my desires to go to Africa after finishing GC to just wander and film....


    thank you panasonic


    watch Cannibal! The MusicalGood Morning!

    What a great day it's been. Okay, a couple of things:If you want fulfilling political/techy work after college (Schrocks, I am so looking at you), take this test and post yourself at MoveOn.org. Actually, isn't this kind of what Sue does? Family footsteps...

    In congressional news, we are represented by an ass (maybe you knew this already) but Mark Kirk seems to be holding it down on this whole EPA/mercury business.

    Lastly, Cannibal! The Musical is going down at Brick tonight. Dinner at 6pm (bring wine/dessert), movie following. Good times guaranteed.


    Blonde opposition to Chavez continues in Venezuela



    County Seat, 9am

    And now--after hamming it at 534, the Dembufsky (Bona-riffic!), the Pub and then 534 again--we fall into bed with early morning breakfast plans. At this point, we are reminded of one last William H. Davies poem. And yes, it is just as bad as the last one:
    LIFE IS JOLLY

    This life is jolly, O!
    I envy no man's lot;
    My eyes can much admire,
    And still my heart crave not;
    There's no true joy in gold,
    It breeds desire for more;
    Whatever wealth man has,
    Desire can keep him poor.

    This life is jolly, O!
    Power has his fawning slaves,
    But if he rests his mind,
    Those wretches turn bold knaves.
    Fame's field is full of flowers,
    It dazzles as we pass,
    But men who walk that field
    Starve for the common grass.

    This life is jolly, O!
    Let others know they die,
    Enough to know I live,
    And make no question why;
    I care not whence I came,
    Nor whither I shall go;
    Let others think of these--
    This life is jolly, O!
    Again, there you have it. This genius, who wrote "What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?", is pretty accurately summing up Spring Break so far.


    p.s.
    the dood who lives in the hostel with us is NOT funny. he thinks he is, he wants to bae a stand-up comedian. no, REALLY. But he's horrible. OH dear, I wish the cable television worked...our only hope is the saving grace of a home video. God, if you would only send us, "analyse this," I would be eternally greatful.

    p.p.s. I don't give a damn about spelling, so don't make fun of me


    Go to see The Passion and give your life to Jesus.

    Evidently, there was an unfortunate happening in Wichita, KS. I'm paraphrasing the following from imdb:

    Mel Gibson's new film ... caused more controversy on Wednesday when a woman suffered a fatal heart attack during the graphic crucifixion scene. Peggy Scott, a 56-year-old advertising sales manager, suffered the seizure during the 25-minute scene in which Jesus ... gets nailed to the cross. She died before reaching [a] hospital. ...[A] local TV reporter described the incident: "She had a seizure during the crucifixion scene, which is very graphic. She was taken to [a] hospital, but later pronounced dead. I do not know if she had deep religious convictions, but she must have felt something to have been at the theater at 9:30 A.M. to watch this movie."

    Monday, March 01, 2004

    GC Women Going to Fecking Nationals With Their Huge Basketballs of Glory

    Man, the basketball team just did a great job of holding the fort and taking the Indiana Wesleyan people for a 70-64 ride. Wonderful! As a representation of how we all feel about the thing (before 534 and Pub-ing), here's a little poem I found. It is so for real.
    A MAY MORNING

    GC women win, go to nationals!The sky is clear,
    The sun is bright;
    The cows are red,
    The sheep are white;
    Trees in the meadows
    Make happy shadows.

    Birds in the hedge
    Are perched and sing;
    Swallows and larks
    Are on the wing:
    Two merry cuckoos
    Are making echoes.

    Bird and the beast
    Have the dew yet;
    My road shines dry,
    Theirs bright and wet:
    Death gives no warning,
    On this May morning.

    I see no Christ
    Nailed on a tree,
    Dying for sin;
    No sin I see:
    No thoughts for sadness,
    All thoughts for gladness.
    I guess that's all I have to say about that.


    Updates from the big apple
    This place is fucking amazing our hostel has free internet (note the blogging) and isn't really a hostel at all. it's really some apartment in washington heights that we share with the two guys who run the place and no one else! we have it all to ourselves!! It's, like, 6:15, and we're completely wiped. Pictures might be posted, although no promises....we haven't really done anything yet, but schmeh. Maybe some food would be nice. This place is completely decket out in Ikea stuff and bob marley is in the CD player, we have a kitchen with free tea and sugar and a free washing machine and dryer which means I lucked out because I only brought one change of clothes, score for me. Anyway, I highly recommend the place. It's the 1291 club, which means that sometimes ytou can get rooms for $12.91...not now though, but ours are only $20!!! score, this is SOOOO recommended. ooh, and I called the people with the film thing and I can SOOO SWING IT!!! I just have to get kate to cover for me in aesthetics and do a senior show and a hermeneutic and a methodology paper and a senior thesis all while working from 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, for three weeks starting next week, no sweat, I'm golden, shit, what the hell have I done!! umm... ok, time to go drown my anziety in beagels and pizza.


    1. Hi Hallie!!! Happy birthday in advance, because i know i won't be able to come. Bleh. I DO really want to visit you'all sometime though.

    2. Ok, all of you I'm-staying-in-Goshen-for-spring-break-losers (I can call you that I because I'm one too) should get your heinies over to 534 around 9:00 for pre-pub gaming! And if you aren't going to the pub, come anyway and just "game".

    3. That's all.


    What we should all be doing tonight

    The GC women's basketball team beat Taylor again last Friday, putting them up against second-seeded Indiana Wesleyan in a big game tonight, 7pm in the RFC. I think it costs $2 to get in, but we can probably work it. Then, of course, get out of your oedipus funk at the Pube. Attendance mandatory. We'll see you there.


    in reference to sasha's "do something out of the ordinary" link:
    i managed to to do most the suggestions:
    - try that new restaurant you've always wanted to eat at! (Luna's: nachos, sweet potato fries and woodchuck cider)
    - get a new haircut! (my mom cut my hair)
    - walk, don't drive! (a 5 hour city hike mind you)
    - say hello to a friendly stranger! (talked with random couple from iowa and their baby outside of the UDC metro stop)
    - bring your mum flowers! (didn't do this, but i did take a picture of my dad licking a cops nipple)
    i win.


    I hate bragging.

    OK, no I don't. I would just like to say that I was the official winner at the New World Players Oscar Gala this evening, correctly guessing 18 out of the 24 awards. Yay for me! I do have to add that, by far, the biggest disappointment for me was the best lead male actor going to Sean Penn. I love Sean, but I wanted to cry for the fact that Bill Murray didn't get it. He played such a sad character in the movie and I wanted him to be happy again. Also because this was his one chance; comedic actors are never nominated and it's so late in his career.

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