Immigration

I rarely touch political topics anymore, but I was reading BBC News when I came across this article about Cardinal Mahoney's support of illegal immigrants. I strongly disagreed with this op ed (I found on Google News--yeah, ok, it's rather a straw man publication) claiming that Mahoney should merely think his disapproval and not actively break the law by aiding immigrants. I guess the people on the Underground Railroad, Martin Luther King, and Rosa Parks should have all just "thought" their disapproval as well.

I also (for once!) approve of Bush's push to allow immigrants to remain. I don't think immigrants should receive special government aid programs. Most of them want to work (more of them would if we stopped all gov't benefits), and if, in spite of a language barrier and a great deal of prejudice, they are able to find jobs that too-lazy -to-even-reach-for -the-bottom-rung- of-the- corporate-ladder Americans can't or won't procure (4.7% unemployment rate, oh my!), then bully for them! Perhaps it was my ex-pat childhood, but don't have a bit more empathy for Americans than for anyone else. In fact, given U.S. natives' inherited benefits, maybe less.

It all boils down to racial bias, folks. Most Americans are uncomfortable with a group of people who listen to Ricky Martin instead of Green Day, and who may temporarily bring down the living standards in their neighborhoods until they get their feet on the ground.

Making some sort of moral distinction between "illegal" and "legal" immigrants is ludicrous. Illegal immigrants are not the criminals and pond-scum of Mexico--they're just people who failed to win the immigration lottery but still want to earn sustinence-level wages by picking lettuce or working at McDs.

Abraza la diferencia, amigo.

Google Quote of the Day

"Everything popular is wrong."

--Oscar Wilde

But We Really Knew It Already, Didn't We?

"Women are not doing the risky behaviour that men do - driving too fast, getting into fights and drinking large amounts of alcohol . . . What we really need is for men to start behaving a little but more like women rather than the other way round."

Professor Danny Dorling, Sheffield University, British Medical Journal. Reported on BBC News.

[Thou] leathern-jerkin, crystal-button, knot-pated, agatering, puke-stocking, caddis-garter, smooth-tongue, Spanish pouch!

Shakespearean Insult Generators and Dictionaries

Some authentic, some (I think) not.

I Can See Queerly Now the Reign Is Gone:

The Path to Liberation and the Development of Homoerotic Themes in Puzera Canelo, Andrea Luca, and Ana Rossetti. Steven F. Butterman. Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature, 2001.

I just had to share...I was browsing JSTOR (for something entirely different) and this title made my day. Yes, I know, I'm easily amused.

Movie Reviews. Because I can.

Chocolat (2000)

I enjoyed this movie, but it was nevertheless an American film trying to be French. The actors all had pseudo-French accents (except Depp who, I think, was supposed to be Irish), and it attempted to catch the joie de vivre French charm. It had its moments, like the young priest in the garden singing "Hound Dog." But the end was terribly predictable.

The cinematography was pleasing, and the pictures of chocolate-making delectable.

The movie is set during Lent and opens in a Church. The message: goodness is about inclusion rather than exclusion. God doesn't give a damn whether or not you eat chocolate, but he could potentially care about your decency to other people. Yes, it's a predictable lesson. But lots of people still haven't caught on.

Storm Center (1956)

This movie is not available on DVD or VHS. I saw it with a bunch of librarians because it's about...a librarian. Alicia Hull (Bette Davis) has run a small public library for decades, and everyone loves her until she refuses to take a book called "The Communist Dream" off the shelf. The town, at a time of rampant McCarthyism, turns on her.

The film itself was supressed for several and only released at the ebb of the era. Yes, it's predictable. Yes, it's melodramatic. But it presents a much-lacking positive image of a librarian, and, for you fellow liberals out there, it has frightening similarities to the current atmosphere. Some of my favorite quotes (as well as I can remember them).

The Bad Guy: "We are in a war now, whether it's hot, cold, or lukewarm, and I don't care if some people get hurt for us to win it."
The Good Guy: "You're talking just like them. The great thing about democracy is that everybody cares if a stubborn old lady gets hurt."


The Repentant Assistant Librarian: "I'd rather crawl into a hole than marry an up-and-coming politician."

Sage Advice

"Don't mix your cliches."

Editorial comment inserted in my paper by my cheeky brother. Oh well, at least he didn't tell me to stop using them.

Dreams

Yes, as you can see, I'm progressing greatly on my paper. Ahem.

Brooks' post on his dream reminded me that I had a quite vivid dream the other night, and I don't usually dream anymore. I was suddenly in front of a military recruitment desk and the person behind it asked me what branch of the service I wanted to be in. I said the airforce, I guessed. Then I remember walking around a sterile, bright, white-walled, circular hallway with a duffle bag. I think there were a bunch of other women there and they all had buzz cuts. In the last part I realized what I'd done: I'd just finished my master's degree and I couldn't figure out why I'd gone and enlisted in the military. I had this horrible sinking feeling of being stuck.

Boredom

Is there anything worse than boredom?

Plain-old,

Writing-a-paper-I-hate,

Tied-to-the-screen,

Can't-concentrate

Boredom.

This One's For You, Dr. Stacey

I put part of this up in my away message, but I thought it just had to be shared with a larger audience.

A BBC article shows that Americans know more about the Simpsons than the First Amendment.

A tentative thought: is this necessarily a bad thing? As far as making friends and influencing people goes, spouting off the First Amendment would be annoying, while being able to talk about Homer and Marge means you "get it." And, honestly, if the government comes after you, what's rhetoric got to do with it? I mean, if a SWAT team comes after you and you say "you're violating my First Amendment rights," they don't just stop, right? Perhaps a thorough knowledge of the Amendments is really only practical for lawyers. It is only through lengthy court cases that the Amendments are actually applied, anyway.

I think the fact that 1 in 5 Americans thinks the "right to own a pet" is in the First Amendment is a hoot.

Just Not a Good Week

My car died at the Herbarium today. The botanists tried to give me a jump, but to no avail. It was windy and cold. We think it's the starter. Another sympathetic co-worker gave me a ride home. I ended up skipping class...

For the first time ever, I think. I was always too interested to skip my humanities classes and too frightened to skip math and science classes.

But I made up for it by skipping chapel. Frequently. And, you know, I'm not the least bit sorry about it.

Tired of Sitting Still

Ice-age heat wave, can't complain.
If the world's at large, why should I remain?
Walked away to another plan.
Gonna find another place, maybe one I can stand.
I move on to another day,
to a whole new town with a whole new way.
Went to the porch to have a thought.
Got to the door and again, I couldn't stop.
You don't know where and you don't know when.
But you still got your words and you got your friends.
Walk along to another day.
Work a little harder, work another way.

Well uh-uh baby I ain't got no plan.
We'll float on maybe would you understand?
Gonna float on maybe would you understand?
Well float on maybe would you understand?

The days get shorter and the nights get cold.
I like the autumn but this place is getting old.
I pack up my belongings and I head for the coast.
It might not be a lot but I feel like I'm making the most.
The days get longer and the nights smell green.
I guess it's not surprising but it's spring and I should leave.

I like songs about drifters - books about the same.
They both seem to make me feel a little less insane.
Walked on off to another spot.
I still haven't gotten anywhere that I want.
Did I want love? Did I need to know?
Why does it always feel like I'm caught in an undertow?

The moths beat themselves to death against the lights.
Adding their breeze to the summer nights.
Outside, water like air was great.
I didn't know what I had that day.
Walk a little farther to another plan.
You said that you did, but you didn't understand.

I know that starting over is not what life's about.
But my thoughts were so loud I couldn't hear my mouth.
My thoughts were so loud I couldn't hear my mouth.
My thoughts were so loud.


Modest Mouse--The World At Large

Stomachs Are Important

Social Science Journals Cursed by Passive Voice

"Instruction sessions emphasized use of full-text databases and other electronic resources whenever appropriate; electronic resources were publicized; instructional Webpages were created; informal sharing of instruction experiences and instruction assessment was encouraged."

Tian, J. and Wiles-Young, S. (2000). "The Convergence of User Needs, Collection Building, and the Electronic Publishing Market Place." The Serials Librarian 38(3/4), 337.

As Dr. Sanders would say... BY WHOM???!!!!