Decisions don’t come easily to me. to make things more difficult, we have two very good candidates to choose from—each with her or her weaknesses. I thought i made my decision weeks ago, but now, especially in the wake of “A More Perfect Union,” I am having second thoughts. Let’s have another look:
[The blessing/trouble is that] Both candidates have platforms that are similar in many ways. I suppose it comes down to priorities. Our priorities. What are our priorities? Mine are health care and racial justice. I’m not sure whether my priorities cut one way or the other. Get back to me in a month.
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Organizing
A band of progressive students and our law school’s student organization focused on civil liberties issues (can you guess the name?) are in the midst of organizing students to fight our university’s administration’s decision not to extend protections to certain classes of individuals—individuals who are routinely discriminated against, ridiculed, physically and emotionally harmed, and, in some instances, killed. Apparently this has been an ongoing struggle at this university for well over 10 years. And to think that this is a university that claims to embrace diversity and foster a sense of inclusiveness, irrespective of one’s color, creed, etc.
All we want a more inclusive non-discrimination policy, i.e., the addition of Just two words: “sexual orientation.” It’s the least we could do for our friends, faculty, staff, future students, current students, and the future of this university we love. I’ll provide more details in the very near future. In the meantime, here’s a message from the NAACP’s Julian Bond:
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Penguins
I am proud to announce that I am parent of a beautiful penguin family, courtesy of Defenders of Wildlife and my lovely friends J, C, and C. I even have a certificate of adoption to prove it! Best of all, it came with a coloring book and a penguin doll.
john deere tractors; corn fields; authentic, weathered trucker caps; I-love-God/Jesus or God/Jesus-loves-you bumper stickers everywhere; papa johns, subway, burger king, ihop, chilis, olive garden, and other large chain restaurants (i.e., very limited dining options); and an unhealthy obsession with college sports, particularly football. . . . that’s where i go to school. ‘love the school, but i can’t say i love the region so much.
it’s not so bad, really. ‘great place to raise kids. really, i’d probably like it better if i weren’t in my 20s, and in love with the big city life.
that said, it’s strange to be back. in my mind, time froze at this location when i left at the end of my 1L year. in fact, i still find myself referring to our 1L year as “last year,” when it comes up during conversations with friends i haven’t seen in over a year. i wonder if
this is what goes through the minds of alumi when they visit campus.
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metric’s “police and the private” is on my mind and playing on my iTunes. not sure why, though. last week, it was travis’s “my eyes.”
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the other night, my friends and i went to see “the nanny diaries.” what a depressing movie. i couldn’t go to bed till 2:30 am this morning. maybe the movie had something to do with it? any of you feel the same way?
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yesterday, i saw the most beautiful person ever, with the most beautiful smile ever! who is this dude? he lives in the building next to mine. that’s all i know. details to come. . . i hope.
lots of things annoy me. but very few things make my blood boil. littering is near the top of that list. walking chimneys, i.e., people who smoke while walking down a crowded sidewalk, are also on that list.
i hate getting cigarette ashes blown to my face or clothes as i’m innocently walking down a sidewalk, minding my own business. who the hell doesn’t?
for reasons related to work, i spent most of today out and about in manhattan and brooklyn. of course, it would have been far more enjoyable had it not been hot, hazy, and muggy. needless to say, the weather put me in a foul mood.
so, every time i saw someone litter, i made it a point to stare her down and make sure she knew that i was witness to her misdeed. of course, I use “she” and “her,” but, really, all of the litterbugs I saw in action today were men! a coincidence? perhaps.
and every time i sped up to walk past (and not behind) a walking chimney, i made it a point to wave my hand around (as if to dissipate smoke) , furrow my eyebrows, and stare them down as i walked past them. damn; i was irritable today!
what’s also interesting is that some of the litterbugs made it a point to scope the scene and look for potential onlookers before they surreptitiously tossed their still lit cigarettes or empty cigarette packs to the ground.
what the hell is wrong with these people? they obviously knew what they were doing was wrong. i bet they’re the same people who’d answer “yes” to the question of whether they’d commit a felony if they were assured that they could get away with it. damn them. damn them.
i think we should add a litter charge, street cleaning fee, and dry cleaning tax to cigarette packs. wtf.
I’m leaving for a mini-trip in a few hours. . . . But before I go, I thought I’d post my running list of the funniest questions that have been asked of me:
American on Korea:
Did your family have electricity?
Are you North Korean or South Korean?
Do you speak North Korean or South Korean?
Did you have clean water in your village? [By village, they meant Seoul.]
American on Libya:
Do Libyans live in pyramids like Egyptians?
That’s near India, right?
American on England:
Did you meet the queen?
They only drink tea, especially the flavored kind, right?
Wow; you took a bus to get around? I thought buses were only for tourists.
Wow; what did you eat while you were there? [Food, like everyone else.]
Americans/English on Chile:
Did you learn “Chili”? [They're referring to Spanish, I'm guessing.]
Did you have to ride horses or donkeys to get around?
Did you have electricity?
Did you eat chili with everything while you were there?
How did you take baths? [I got into the shower and turned the lever.]
English on Texas:
Do you guys live on a ranch?
Do you ride your horse into the city? [I don't own one. And even if I did, I wouldn't ride it into "the city".]
You don’t sound like George Bush. Why is that?
American/English on Iceland:
That’s near Alaska, right?
Was the ground icy when you went?
Do they have “eskimos” there?
Did you eat polar bears? [No.]
Americans upon meeting me (an Asian-American):
Wow; your English is great. How long did it take you to learn the language? ['About as long as it took everyone else, I guess.]
You’re Korean? So, do you speak Chinese?
Where are you from? [A difficult question, but insert American town anyway, e.g., Chicago] No, where are you really from?
[Loudly and slowly] HOLA, SPEAK EN-GLISH?
Of course, many of these questions are rooted in ignorance. And much of it can be blamed on their perhaps substandard education, SES, etc. In that sense, maybe it’s not so cool that I find these questions amusing. It’s sad, really. Oh well. . . .
it’s been one week (give or take a few hours) since i’ve returned to the states. already, london seems like a distant memory. that’s too bad. but new york isn’t a bad substitute. granted, new york is london’s dirty little brother. . . and the tube is now the subway, pounds are dollars (thank goodness), mild and damp is hot and humid, refined is raw, cinema is movie theater (check out “knocked up” - hilarious!), and annoying accents (think: bermondsey or cockney) not as prevalent. . . . i think i can get used to this. i have to.
my new place is in a fun part of east village. lots of nightlife, not that it matters to me, since i’m a bit of an early bird. tons of restaurants. and even a few storefront psychics to boot. seriously.
i passed one the other night as i was on the phone with a law school friend, and the “psychic” woman called out to me, “come here, sweetie. there’s something i need to tell you.” i smiled and picked up my pace.
just moments after that encounter a sketchy-looking mexican gang member (telltale tattoo job) who was so obviously drunk sneered at me and said, “i hate motherf****ng” chinos.” “i’ll say it again: i hate motherf****ng chinos.” concerned for my safety, i ignored his sorry a** and carried on. i took no offense because a) the guy was drunk as hell; b) he’s f****ng ignorant; i’m not chinese, and i don’t even look chinese; c) he’s obviously got serious issues he needs to work through. moreover, i guess everyone’s entitled to dislike certain people, though i think one would be damn stupid and remiss to hate whole classes of people based on superficial characteristics like race.
that said, there’s never a “normal” day here in east village. ha ha.
‘just finished the mad dash to the finish. the next three days: organizing, cleaning, saying goodbye to peeps, last minute touristy stuff, etc. busy, busy, busy. but i can deal with this kind of busy.
hospitals are meat markets. well, the one that i’m thinking of, anyway. girls check out guys who check out other girls who check out girls who check out guys and girls who check out guys. (wait, that sounds a lot like that blur song. )
what is it about hospitals? or maybe it’s just a london hospital thing?
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but before i go, i’ve got to say this: if you haven’t already done so, go to the nearest cinema and check out “the lives of others” (das leben der anderen). it’s a dark, intelligent portrayal of humanity . . . at its worst . . . and at its best (kind of). not too surprising; after all, it’s a german film.
i saw the film earlier this week (finals week!) with our human rights prof, her companion, and three of my classmates. amazing. i’ll leave it to the critics to discuss the film; i can’t do the film justice.
but i’ll tell you this: it felt super awkward at times when the hot and [literally!] heavy sex scenes - of which there were only two, thankfully! - came on screen. i never knew whether to stare (natural response, doh!) or look away. damn; an unfortunate product of my christian upbringing.
aggravating factors: (1) that our professor was seated to my immediate left, and (2) we sat in the fourth row at the cinema (read: the droopy breasts on screen were the size of small, inverted hills in vermont).
but don’t let this take away from the film. it’s a must-see. just try not to sit in the fourth row with your prof and classmates when you check it out.
between hosting a friend visiting from japan via scotland and my final exams and papers (yes, unfortunate timing ), there isn’t a lot of time to post.
so, i’ll leave you with this . . . a song about merck’s vioxx scandal, corporate governance, etc. it’s back by popular demand. and by “popular,” i mean the three of you who requested its return.
called “ain’t no son of a preacherman - from the perspective of an unhappy merck shareholder,” it’s set to the music of “son of a preacherman”. y’all know that one, right? hit it, john: << song removed out of privacy concerns >> send me an e-mail if you want it.
indeed, my posts are progressively getting shorter and fewer in number. but fear not! (or rejoice, depending on whether you love or hate this thing) things will pick up in two weeks. there’s just a lot i need to do while i’m still in london.
in the news . . . . (the threeaday’s been reduced to one since this bit is especially interesting and my time’s limited today)
an institute of medicine report released on may 24th includes some recommendations that are sure to put the tobacco industry lobby machines (or pressure groups, as they’re more appropriately called in the UK) into high gear. among the IOM’s recommendations: an increase in tobacco excise taxes, so as to achieve parity in prices among states and reduce effects on interstate commerce (read: reduce interstate smuggling), as well as FDA regulation over tobacco!
the latter is especially interesting because it’s not at all a novel idea. the FDA, under former commissioner david kessler, tried to do just that - it fought tooth and nail to bring tobacco (nicotine, really) as a drug under FDA jurisdiction.
to establish regulatory jurisdiction, the FDA had to establish that tobacco fits neatly within the statutory definition of a drug. long story short, the SCOTUS ultimately disagreed with the FDA, finding that it was never Congress’s intent to place tobacco under the FDA’s jurisdiction. so, here we are today . . . .
WTF?! but if you want more than a “WTF” response to this debacle, check out david kessler’s book on the subject. he’s a doctor and lawyer by training, so there’s something for everyone in that book.
in any case, returning to the present, click here if you want the quick and dirty version of the IOM report. it’s definitely worth a read!
before i close, here’s something that one of my profs at public health school said: “tobacco’s the only legally marketed product that kills when it’s used as intended.”
that said, now think of this: while few people are complaining about the FDA’s recent plan to regulate vitamins - products that are ostensibly designed to protect your health - people are b*#$%&ing about FDA attempts at regulating tobacco - products that will damage your health. where’s the logic in that?
let’s see what the SCOTUS says about FDA regulation of vitamins, assuming it ever reaches that level. doubt it.
should states require HIV testing of suspects indicted on rape charges? that’s the question du jour in the new york state senate. this is a tough call - balancing suspects‘ civil liberties with the interests of rape victims. factoring in scientific reality and speculation as to lawmakers’ real motivation for supporting this bill, i’m not sure where i stand on this issue. but i’d probably err on the side of civil liberties. in that sense, maybe you should be glad that i’m not your lawmaker.
facebook.com is looking to give users moreoptions to customize their profile pages (read: myspace-ize their site), much to the chagrin of some users, including me. i prefer facebook to any of those other social networking sites because of its simple, clean interface; i like that i don’t have to deal with [self-executing] music players, funky colors, and annoying adverts masquerading as “features,”as one would on myspace, for example. let’s hope facebook stays true to its base. [by the way, i had no idea that its CEO is a 23 year old kid. suddenly, i feel so old. and unaccomplished.]
sad! the person who put an arrow through this poor cat’s head should be hanged by his toenails and made to watch 48 hours of PETA videos and 48 hours of lifetime’s made-for-tv movies.
Addendum: speaking of facebook, here’s a funny article about facebook on bbc.co.uk. (found it during one of my many breaks from writing!) a 40-something year old bbc tech correspondent tries his hand at facebook, though without much success, it appears. facebook in london isn’t what it is in the america. but maybe that’ll soon change!
lex iniusta non est lex. - let’s not talk about it for now.
i came across this article on the nyt website during one of my many study breaks today. indeed, joshua tree national park is definitely worth a visit, if you can get there. the drive there isn’t so fun. nor is it particularly safe. but when is driving in LA or the LA area ever safe?
when s, a good friend of mine from college, visited me in LA some six years ago - yes, i actually lived in that sinkhole of a city! - i tried to think of fun, off-beat things that we could do, i.e., activities that aren’t too hollywood, disney, and definitely not too OC.
so, in our short time together, s and i ended up spending time on a beach in malibu, catching up over coffee in west hollywood; visiting UCLA (i love that campus!); chilling for a few hours at a coffeeshop in koreatown - one that is frequented by korean gangsters (oh, how sexy! okay, not really); spending a half-day in los feliz, with its famous residential architecture; walking up and down wilshire blvd (just three blocks from where i lived); exploring hollywood (which, at that time, was not the glamorous, shiny hollywood of today!); and doing some light hiking through parts of joshua tree national park. we had a good time.
but it was hot. damn. stinking. hot. the heat was even worse at joshua tree, since, as you may know, the place is a desert. maybe that’s why there were so few visitors there with us that day. of course, we never made it to death valley. i kind of regret it now, but whatever. life goes on.
but what i most liked about joshua tree national park was that the park and the “cities” surrounding it were rough, dirty, and decidedly rural. it was almost like we were had climbed into a wormhole and exited somewhere in the middle of nowhere, some 50 to 100 years back in time. anywhere but los angeles.
so, it made me sad to read that suburbs are fast encroaching, and that area - though not the park itself, i’m assuming - may soon become another palm springs or surburban wasteland.
that last thing southern california needs is another los angeles or palm springs.
of course, there are other factors contributing to the blood shortage.
but perhaps fewer lives would be lost if policymakers used a scientific evidence-based approach to inform their decisions, rather than one based on prejudice.
why not just come out with it and ban blood from black people? liberals? women who wear their skirts a bit too high? unmarried people who have sex? non-virgins? people who’ve traveled outside of america? and those who haven’t accepted Christ as their savior?
after our penultimate meeting of international environmental law, i walked out onto trafalgar square, and, much to my surprise, i saw:
and this
like, what?! since when did london - okay, trafalgar square - go green . . . literally green, that is? where did the grass come from? it was real grass, you know. and it wasn’t there yesterday when i walked through the square!
i tapped the first person who caught my eye, and i asked him about the grass. jonathan, who works with english heritage society or something like that, explained that it was the city’s way of promoting open, green spaces. ‘turns out he wasn’t too far off.
according to the daily mail, yes, that daily mail (london’s answer to the ny post, assuming one came before the other), the two-day installation (today was day one) is part of a new tourism campaign to encourage people to visit the greener parts of london, e.g., marylebone, primrose hill, etc.
personally, i doubt that laying 2,000 square meters of turf around nelson’s column is the best way to do it, but it certainly caught my attention! oh, and don’t worry; after the two days are up, they’ll move the turf to bishops park in fulham.
as for those two people who were on their backs - the only two who were on their backs in the middle of trafalgar square - i think they were paid actors. you’d have to pay me a lot to lay myself down on that sopping wet grass in a nice suit or, for that matter, anything other than non-permeable rain gear.
my guess is that they will be featured in this evening’s free london daily papers. the evening standard, and maybe even tomorrow’s times or the guardian. i’ll check. weird.
one more thing . . . . the bill for today’s evenining standard (as seen at the waterloo station):
man, i think “eco defenders” instead of “eco warriors,” and “protect” instead of “target” would’ve been more appropriate.
now, i may be no corporate law expert (like duh!), but this rings shady. for this and other reasons, e.g., unprecedented growth and questionable privacy policies, the goog may be a company to keep an eye on. the wary eye, that is.
EDIT: apparently folks in the EU are also concerned about the goog’s privacy policies.
), there isn’t a lot of time to post.
