Let's go Krogering!

How often do you think about grocery stores? I would argue that they are an important symbol of a civilization's mode of existence. Have you noticed that virtually every escape- from- communism- into- democracy story features a first trip to a western grocery store? I think we should all write brief histories of shopping. They would be illuminative of our socio-economic backgrounds.

My first grocery memories are of Pueblo and Pueblo Xtra. While they didn't carry North American staples like chocolate chips or whole wheat flour or raspberries, they were a step above my grandmother's situation -- she used to have to drive to San Juan to procure anything more than rice and beans.

I was always marveled at Meijer when I would visit the States. The rows upon rows of bulk candy, the free samples, the sanitized shininess and lack of aroma in the meat and fruit departments. Finally, we got a Walmart in Puerto Rico and it seemed that we had arrived.

But after moving to the States I became more picky. I always left Walmart (i.e. "Mecca" in Leesburg) smelling slightly of fried chicken and Chinese labor camps. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, of course, leave one feeling much more enlightened and middle-class. But for everyday shopping without connotations, there is always Kroger in the midwest.

Wait...there ARE heroes in Iraq!

Director of Iraq's National Library and Archive blogs. Reason #3,657 why war is bad: it destroys cultural repositories (cf. Dresden in WWII).

My Day

1. "How are you?" "Functional, thank you."

2. What is a nonexample?

3. Pharmacies are confusing.

4. I am more depressed than 90% 0f my peers (perhaps this is a nonexample of things that should be posted on a blog).

5. You know those objective statements at the beginning of syllabuses? Those things we always assumed the professors pulled out of their . . . hats? Well, there are actually books about them. They're called "taxonomies of educational objectives." Who would have thought?

6. Harry Potter (well, the actor) is starring in a play about a teenager who finds horses erotic (Equus). There is a nude scene. There are promo pictures, but I'm not posting them here. I just thought you should know.

Roads Are Important

So whenever I begin to identify too much with liberals, something happens to remind me how utterly alienated from any mainstream political ideology I actually am.

It snowed last night. Not very much. A couple inches at most. But on my way to work the roads were not ploughed and there were cars in ditches and being towed, reminding me not to progress at my usual brisk clip. Now, Washtenaw County is wealthy by Michigan, and even midwestern, standards. Taxes are high, and we have neat-o public goods like a stellar library system, bus routes, and an indoor recreational facility. All of which, it could be argued, might be replaced by private sector competitors like the YMCA, Borders, and taxi cabs. Yet, while very few members of the public use the public gym, most of us do use the roads. It really boggles the mind to consider how many deaths and how much property damage has been done by the abyssmal state of the roads in Washtenaw, and Michigan in general. Toledo, in contrast, does not have such an enlightened recreational or public transportation policy, but we do have our roads cleared. Immediately. Before people of all classes and ethnic groups end up in ditches on their way to work.

Sure, everyone knows how to drive in the snow in Michigan, but does the City Council really want us to go out and buy Hummers so we can get to work during January?

Another grievance, while I'm on the subject of the local government: the streets around the U of M are surrounded with expensive art and jewelry botiques and other generally non-student-friendly outlets. Not a Walgreen's or Burger King for blocks and blocks. Zoning, I've heard. The University has a more practical understanding of student needs and harbors Wendy's, Subway, and Panda Express within its Union. Now that Pfizer's R & D is moving out, the U is Ann Arbor's main source of income. Perhaps, someday, Washtenaw County will figure out what every student wants: cheap food and cough medicine.

Someday I'm going to find the perfect city where marijuana is legalized AND there is a practical understanding of the proper hierarchy of public goods AND no zoning laws.

Work and Play

Interesting, but perhaps not surprising, new statistics from the Chronicle of Higher Ed (1/26):

Freshman survey about study/play differences among college freshmen in fall 2006:

Studying 6 or more hours/week:
men 26.9%
women 37.6%

Exercising or sports 6 or hours/week:
men 58.9%
women 44%

Partying 6 or more hours/week
men 25.6%
women 18.9%

Playing video/computer games 6 or more hours/ week
men 22%
women 3.8%

Puerto Rican Man, Oldest Living Person, Dies at 116

See story at the Telegraph

Reverse Profiling

So I have a growing body of evidence based on personal experience that cops don't pull over white women. Even for speeding. About a month ago, a cop pulled over a guy behind me who was not speeding to the extent I was. (I thought he was after me at first, though, which gave me a fright. I don't intend to be pulled over in a deserted area. I don't know why women should trust cops anymore than any other man. Especially since they have guns). The other day, I was speeding but the cop behind me made it clear that all he wanted was for me to get over and let him by (to go get the REAL baddies, I guess). So...this is my hypothesis:


1. Speed limits are often ridiculously low.* Cops like to hover where the speed limits are unnecessarily low, indicating that speed limits are not posted for safety.
2. If speed limits are not posted for safety, and if cops profile speeders based on something other than the speed they are going, then there must be a more nefarious reason.
3. Cops cannot pull people over on the suspicion of drug possession, etc.
THEREFORE, speed limits are merely a subterfuge to allow the government to perform otherwise illegal searches.

I think I've forgotten formal logic. But it makes sense, doesn't it? So could we further hypothesize that speed limits are yet another of the multitudinous evils attributable to the war on drugs?

*Per Wikipedia, the safest speed is the "85th percentile", or what the majority of cars will drive on a given stretch of road. Oddly, speeds in many areas are 8 - 12 mph below this suggested speed due to "political or bureaucratic resistance". Hmm....

Poll: Where in the world should Michaela go?

My parents have generously offered to buy Matthew and me airplane tickets as graduation gifts. I cannot make major life decisions without taking the public temperature. A tendency Bill Clinton shares. Along with height, left-handedness, and the fact that he's delivering my commencement speech. The similarities are frightening really...

So...anyway...Australia/Asia/Africa are out -- too expensive. I doubt parents would contribute to any excursion to the Middle East. Too dangerous. Silly, really. Won't be much fun post-nuclear holocaust.

I've never been to...

Greece
Spain
Portugal
Turkey
Hungary
Scotland
Ireland

It might be fun to go back to...

France
UK
Switzerland
Austria
Rocky Mountains
California

UK and Switzerland tend to be pricey...

Votes/other suggestions?

"The War on Podcasts"

I was browsing the iTunes store today and I saw this category and I thought, "oh no, not another one." Then I realized this was referring not to a campaign against podcasts, but rather to material about "the war" available for download.

"Congress shall have the power to declare war"...or not

International Herald Tribune reports that,

President George W. Bush, facing sharp and widespread opposition to his plan to send more troops to Iraq, insisted Sunday that he had the authority to do so, even without the approval of Congress.

"I fully understand they could try to stop me from doing it," he said in an interview with CBS airing Sunday. "But I've made my decision. And we're going forward."

Oh. Excuse me. Of course. If the President decides something, far be it from Congress to intervene. Thanks, Abraham Lincoln. Actually, I'm not entirely blaming Bush (or Lincoln) for this. I know that's surprising. But our Republican-controlled Congress has been hemming and hawing ever since 2003 about this "invasion," "occupation," or whatever we want to call it. Ron Paul made an excellent observation at the start of this whole mess that the last time Congress declared war was in WWII. Yet another way in which Iraq is more like Vietnam.

Attack of the Drones pt. 2

So do you think I have a future in anime/manga? Obviously, I need to get a mouse attachment for my laptop.

Drones to Patrol Canadian Borders

My mom always used to tell us not to go near the fence of the military base or the marines would shoot us. Drones are even scarier.

Resumes/Resumés

Lately, every time I see a sign reading "school resumes," or "regular hours resume," my mind immediately registers it as meaning "resumé." Either we need to revive diacritics, or I'm really stressed out about getting a job.

Self-Medicating

My family has a rather adversarial relationship with the medical profession.

Most ailments are treated at home. Thorns, rusty nails, and blisters are treated with povidone iodine, and Vicks is applied to all lung conditions. We have a treasured stash of prescription pain medication. Matthew is pain-resistant, so whenever he is seriously injured enough to warrant some T3, we fill the scripts and store them away in the cupboard. You never know when some dumb doctor will be out on the golf course when one of us is in agonizing pain.

Only when we have determined that inaccessible drugs are needed do we fraternize with the enemy. My mom accompanies every member of the family to their appointments lest the doctor misdiagnose or forget about the patient on the cold metal table. Armed with an arsenal of print-outs from WebMD, she will convince the doctor of the proper diagnosis and then, thoroughly beaten, he becomes her pez-dispenser for prescriptions. When someone is in the hospital, they require 'round-the-clock supervision lest the nurses forget to change the IV.

I have recently discovered yet another way to skirt the medical profession. With my UM ID, I have access to many pharmaceutical and medical resources through the medical library. What they don't tell consumers about drug side effects could kill you.