Swine Flu is in Dallas, my Home Town

Should I be frightened by that fact? I don’t know.

I’m currently about a 4 on an uneasiness scale of 1 to 10. A week ago, I would have been at a 1. However, the number of schools in the area I grew up in that have closed recently, combined with the fact that my mother, a pediatrician, works with kids in this area all the time, has raised it a bit.

Creative-commons licensed photo from Flickr taken by johnmuk

There have been two confirmed cases of swine flu at Canyon Creek Elementary School, a school not far from my house. It was actually one of the first stops on the bus route that took me to the magnet school I attended as a child. Richardson Independent School District actually closed down the school for a few days to prevent the spread of swine flu and disinfect it thoroughly, making it the first school in North Texas to close. The closure has been extended to a week after another case was confirmed. Two other elementary schools in the district have confirmed cases- interestingly enough, not the ones actually close to Canyon Creek.

The RISD website has also been running a very good set of news updates, making clear distinctions between confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of swine flu. A suspected case indicates that the person has tested positive for Influenza A- a result that could indicate the common flu or the swine flu. A probable case indicates that the person’s Influenza A subtype has been unable to be determined, leaving the authorities unable to rule out swine flu. Cases are only confirmed once the national Center for Disease Control has tested the results and confirmed it to be swine flu.

So currently, RISD has reported two confirmed cases, two probable cases, and eight suspected cases. None of the cases have required hospitalization, and only one school has been closed down. That sounds like pretty good news, all things considering. I am very proud of the fact that despite the presence of swine flu, my former school district has not shut down all the schools, but only the ones actually affected. RISD has not given in to this crazy paranoid fear, though many others have.

I think RISD’s approach of closing down specific schools instead of the entire district seems pretty smart. A few others have followed course. Plano ISD closed one school down after a confirmed case of swine flu, and closed two more after a few probable cases. Dallas ISD has only closed one school down as well, after a confirmed case of swine flu.

I understand it can be difficult to know when to close and what gives you a reason to close, especially when CDC is giving such useless advice saying schools “should close for up to 14 days depending on the extent and severity of the illness and in close consultation with local and state public health officials.” What is that supposed to mean? But I think closing down the entire school district when there have been no confirmed cases, such as Denton ISD did, is going a little overboard.

Fort Worth ISD closed down April 30 after one case was confirmed and three other probable cases were reported. As of yesterday, there are four confirmed cases and nine probable in the district.

Lewisville ISD has canceled all classes until March 11, due to one confirmed case and seven probable cases of swine flu, according to this Dallas Morning News article. My sister works as a flute teacher at a few of the Lewisville schools, and I know the closures have been affecting her financially. However, I can’t help but be relieved that she won’t be around that, especially given her extremely pregnant condition right now.

The state UIL has canceled all events and competitions, affecting a large amount of music, arts, and sports events. This seems pretty reasonable though- having all those kids together can’t be a good idea.

I have to admit, the news about swine flu has not affected my plans or attitude towards my final days in London or in Europe. I refuse to let paranoid fear of catching the sniffles, no matter how rare sniffles they are, keep me from enjoying my time here.

There are currently ten confirmed cases of swine flu in the UK, only one that has been confirmed that passed through human to human contact (and that guy was a close friend of the honeymooning flu couple). That’s not that many- not enough for me to worry. None of these have been serious anyways. People need to calm down and stop freaking out.

I did see a guy wearing a face mask on the Tube the other day. I had to hide my laughter and smirks- I seriously wanted to oink at him or tell him how manly he was. I was totally not the only one thinking it either- I saw at least a few others laughing too. (Interesting bit- this article shows that face masks actually don’t do much to stop the spread of swine flu, and may actually cause more problems due to the presence of saliva.)

And hey, I am going home to Dallas in about two weeks anyways. What’s the point in worrying about it here when there’s even more of a chance I’ll get it over there?

Some other interesting swine flu news:

China denies flu discrimination

Churchgoers adapt their usual greetings to the swine flu warnings

Swine Flu creates epidemic of scam e-mail, Web sites

Ads tap into fever over swine flu

Mexico may reopen schools, businesses as other countries deal with flu’s spread

Pigs will fly before we take flu seriously

Swine flu cases spread across U.S.

Swine flu nations make trade plea

The world response to the flu crisis

A WebComic’s Evisceration of the Newspaper Industry

Least I Could Do, a rather strange but great fun comic I’ve read daily for a while, has recently gotten into an intriguing storyline regarding the main character Rayne’s desire to buy out a newspaper company and make it into a workable business scheme. It’s quite pointedly a topic the comic’s writer really believes in.

During the comic, Rayne’s made a number of accusations against the newspaper industry that I find fascinating and for the most part, accurate. The comic makes some really really good points.

Here’s the most pointed comic:

Comic taken from www.leasticoulddo.com, originally written by Ryan Sohmer and drawn by Lar DeSouza. I’m using this based on a section in the LICD FAQs that says, as long as credit is due, it’s okay to post comics up on social networking sites. I’m sending an e-mail to the writer letting him know I’m doing this too- I’ll take it down if he doesn’t want me to have it up.

I definitely see the writer’s points. I really do. And I know for the sake of the comic’s storyline, it’s not advisable for him to find the grays between the black and whites.

However, I would like to point out that a number of newspapers really have worked over the years to harness the power of the Internet as a business model and have done much more than just sit and whine over it. I’m not going to take the time to sit and name them all right now, but the Washington Post comes to mind, along with some of the newspapers in the UK such as the Guardian and the Times online.

Although this is not my area of expertise in any stretch of the word, I do know that making a workable Internet business model for a newspaper is very difficult and has stumped many people valiantly trying to make it work. Advertising isn’t enough to keep the current newspaper industry afloat; neither does a subscription-only format work. It’s a lot harder than you might think. (If anyone who knows more about this issue wants to add to this, please feel free to enlighten me, it’s not a topic I know much about.)

Anyways, it’s a really fascinating look at one person’s opinion and I’d suggest y’all check it out. This link leads to the first comic in the sequence to really talk about the newspaper industry. The storyline goes up to the current day. Sundays are reserved for “little Rayne” comics and aren’t in the storyline.

It goes with some other news that’s come out lately: such as this much-tweeted about post by Mavericks owner Mark Cuban on how newspapers should save their business. Again, it’s one person’s opinions, and I find things to agree with and disagree with in it. (I do love the hometown angle- Mark Cuban isn’t just a crazy basketball team owner to me, he’s MY CITY’S crazy basketball team owner. I’ve heard my mom and dad deride him so many times over breakfast while reading the paper, you know, “Did you hear what Cuban did now?” Yay Dallas, I can’t wait to come back to you.)

This is a bit older, and I think I posted this before, but it goes with the post’s theme of webcomics, newspapers, and Internet-based business models. Neil Swaab, of Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles, wrote a long post on his issues with switching to a monetized Internet mode for his comic back in February that set a few blogs aflame. He later deleted it, but Questionable Content’s Jeph Jacques tears it apart with lots of quotes from it over here. I think he makes some very good points about both the practicality of an Internet business model and artistic credibility. I particularly like where he says, “I don’t know what country accepts BULLSHIT ARTISTIC CREDIBILITY DOLLARS as valid currency but I’m sure glad I don’t live there! Money is money.“

Ahhh, fun. : )

UWire 100, Babies, and EuroTrip09

Wow so this is going to be a catch up post. I hate doing these, but well, it’s my own fault for not blogging for like a week and a half.

I was named to UWire 100 2009! So apparently I’m now one of the top 100 collegiate journalists. Check it out- I have a really pretty profile with people saying good things about me on it. This calls for a bit of Skins slang- Whizzer!

No really, I’m very honored to be picked for this, especially since I didn’t think I had a popsicle’s chance in hell due to my almost complete lack of working in Student Media this past year. But apparently, my independent type journalism and past work got me in. Also, I’m sure it didn’t hurt that I worked for the UWire Youth Vote Blog last year and during that time, met up with a few of the UWire people and had ice cream in New York City. I’m a charmer in person, what can I say?

I have one niece now, the gorgeously awesome Elaine Georgiana Dickson, as I mentioned. She’s totally cool, and even has two extra fingers to prove how special she is. It’s something related to her mother Valerie’s Haitian/Irish background- she was born with them too. They’re just hanging by a thread so they’ll be removed later. It’s still awesome though- I can’t help but think COOL I have a gorgeous mutant niece. (This is a good thing- I’m a comic book fan, after all.) I can only hope she develops awesome powers a la Baby Matt Parkman, Toddler Touch and Go, from Heroes.

My other niece is due soon as well, May 30. I’m hoping desperately she doesn’t come early so I’m there to meet her in her first day or two of life. However, I have spoken to my sister a lot about this- she’s going to be okay with it if I’m not there when Beanette (as Karen’s been calling her) is born.

I was seriously considering canceling my EuroTrip09 plans after Elaine was born 6 weeks early. I was hit really really hard with homesickness and just wanting to be there. I had even found a way to change my plane ticket back from London for a decent price. However, I’ve decided to keep to my plans after all.

Realistically, it’s not going to make much difference if I’m there or across the world when the babies are born. I’ve specifically planned for a while to be in Texas this summer so I can be around them- a decision that honestly probably kept me from getting a prominent, paid internship- something I’m positive I could have gotten if I’d stayed in D.C. or gone to NYC. I don’t regret that decision, but at the same time, I’m not going to give up the only opportunity I’m probably going to have in the next 10 years to travel around Europe. This is something I’ve wanted to do since before I even applied to this program and I absolutely want to make it happen. -shrug-

Anyways, EuroTrip09 plans are seriously under way now. I’m going to be honest, it’s going to be a trip filled with extremely nerdy Art exhibits that I can’t wait to see and a few must-see sites as well. I love dancing and clubbing (my flatmates and I went to a Salsa Club the other night that was AMAZINGLY fun), but when I’m out traveling on my own, I don’t feel terribly comfortable going out at night. In addition, I promised my mom I’d stay out of heavily populated crazy close places (like clubs) in an effort to stay away from Swine Flu. (Which is definitely a topic I plan to write about later, btw, because I think the paranoia and hysteria is fascinating, frustrating, and well-founded due to historical precedence (although most people don’t know about that) all at the same time.)

I’ll be traveling light, just with a backpack of essential clothes and items (I plan to buy one of these things to protect my belongings, even if I look really nerdy in the process). I’m staying in hostels along the way, a prospect that still makes me slightly nervous, but less so than before my trip to Rome. There will be ridiculous amount of picture taking.

Brandenburg Gate, Creative Commons-licensed photo from Flickr by dionhinchcliffe

Anyways, this Tuesday, I fly off to spend three days in Berlin with my flatmate Kate. I have a number of things I plan to do there- looking at a couple the contemporary art museums (Germany’s really big in the modern art scene), checking out specifically the Anne Frank Zentrum, the East Germany museum, the Holocuast memorial and Hitler’s Bunker. All the usual things as well such as the Reichstag and the Brandenburger Tor. I also plan to check out Cupcake Berlin, a vegan cupcake place I read about at Princess Lasertron’s blog. I am bummed out that I can’t go to Sammlung Boros after all- it’s a bunker turned modern art mecca that unfortunately, only is open on Saturday and Sunday and is reservation only. I’m just flat not going to be in the country when that happens. Boo.

It’ll be fun to practice my German for a few days- I know nearly squat but I picked up on it pretty quickly when I was in Vienna last year for about four days, and I’ve studied a little bit out of a book I bought. I just think it’s a fun language. I do have a large part of German heritage, even if none of my family really knows that much about it (my brother-in-law Steve is the most German of all of us). My mom used to live in Germany for a few years as a little girl- I had originally planned on traveling to Nurenburg to check out where she lived, but it fell through when I decided to come back a little earlier than I originally thought for the babies. It is something I seriously want to do at some point- I’ll have to make sure to come back.

Paris skyline, Creative-Commons licensed photo from Flickr by TaylorMiles

Then I’m going on alone to Paris for three days. I’m seriously looking forward to the Louvre, the Picasso Museum, Notre Dame Cathedral, and Versailles. There will be lots of other places to check out as well- those are just the priorities. I just want to really soak up the atmosphere as much as possible- have excellent croissants and cheese and wine. I do hope I’m not made fun of too much. I took a semester of French my first year at Mason and did truly horribly in it. Though I could read and write it, my accent was atrocious and I simply couldn’t hear the sounds correctly. I’ve heard parisians can be fairly rude to American travelers- I’m hoping people are nice to me if I just smile a lot. I did hear at one point about these cool free tours Paris natives give to visitors, in an effort to try to change the bad rap the French sometimes get. I can’t find them anymore though- I’ll have to look around more.

The Rosaire Chapel, Creative-Commons-licensed picture from Flickr taken by Colares&Arte.

Then, I’m going on to Vence, in the south of France known especially for The Rosaire Chapel, a chapel decorated and designed by Henri Matisse, as a thank you to a dedicated former nurse of his who joined the church as a nun. I’m really excited about this day of my trip, as I have literally wanted to see this church since I first heard about it when I was around 12 and attended a Picasso-Matisse exhibit in Dallas with my family.

Dali Theatre and Museum, Creative Commons-licensed photo from Flickr taken by Stefan Schlautmann

After that, I’m off to Figueres, Spain, to see the Dali Theatre-Museum, where surrealist painter Salvador Dali created a fantastic group of works specifically for the site and tons of his paintings and sculptures remain. Dali is also buried there, in a crypt he designed himself. I’m psycho-excited about this, as Dali is really one of my favorite painters ever. His work is so disturbing but amazing and I’ve been in love with it since I did a project on surrealism in 5th/6th grade.

Barcelona Skyline, Creative Commons-licensed photo from Flickr by MorBCN

I’m ending my tour in with three days in Barcelona, Spain. Though I originally hadn’t thought of this city at all, it should be perfect. I know Spanish pretty well (not near fluent but conversationally, I do okay) and I know Catalan isn’t terribly different from that. The food and sangria is supposed to be fantastic. The modern art scene is great, with tons of Gaudi buildings all over the city and lots of other lovely museums to explore. And there are beautiful BEACHES with gorgeous hot weather that’ll help me get ready for Dallas this year. Ahhh. I can’t wait- it’s going to be so wonderful and relaxing after all the madcap tourism in all the other cities.

I’ll fly back to London on May 16th, giving me basically two days by myself in the city until I kick off back home. This is actually great news, as this, my last full weekend in London will pretty much be eaten up by trip planning, packing, and finishing my portfolio/essay for my internship credit. The best place for me to store my stuff while I’m gone closes at 3pm Monday due to the bank holiday, so everything’s gotta be ready by then.

Whew. It’s going to be crazy. So I should get back to work then instead of trying to make this gargantuan post even longer. Ciao y’all! : )

A Conglomeration of Views on the Miss USA/OMG GAY MARRIAGE Controversy

(I would positively love to get more opinions on this- please keep them coming in the comments section or send me an e-mail at newsyharpgirl@gmail.com)

I freaking love controversy.

Maybe that’s like saying “I like watching train wrecks,” but it’s true. I absolutely love watching people get riled up and passionate about something they believe in. I think it’s the journalist in me. (At least it’s better than the journalist side of me that gets all excited when I hear about a murder or something and think- MAN great story!)

I’m not the only one…Anyone remember Without Me, by Eminem? “We need a little controversy, ’cause it feels so empty without me!”

Anyways, in honor of this train wr…controversy over the Miss USA pageant/gay marriage issue, I’ve collected a variety of opinions from friends and random people online on the subject. Mine’s at the end if you’re interested. : )

(Warning: This is VERY long)

Miss California USA, Carrie Prejean  (Creative Commons photo from Flickr posted and I would assume taken by El_Enigma; If this isn’t true, let me know and I’ll take it down immediately.)

Quick Recap of what exactly was said:

Perez Hilton asked Miss California USA: “Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?”

She replied: “Well I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land that you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what? In my country, in my family, I think I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there. But that’s how I was raised, and I think it should be between a man and a woman.”

“I feel like it’s interesting that the same people who scream tolerance from the rooftops can’t be tolerant of someone they perceive to be intolerant. If that makes sense. Why should it be wrong for a woman to express her beliefs? I admire her for standing up and not being afraid to say how she feels in a time when having a viewpoint like hers is unpopular.
Freedom of speech works both ways.“

-Tierney Kain, Mason student

“There is nothing wrong for a person to express their beliefs. However, how can somebody dare infringe upon the rights of people who have never done anything to her? How can she say she can have certain privileges while others are seen as inferior?
Now I am not necessarily a fan of marriage in general, but I don’t believe that marriage should just be between a woman and a man. I’d love to contribute to your blog!”

-Alejandro Asin, Mason student

“I think we need to be more open to people’s beliefs, whether we agree with them or not. I realize that her beliefs are not entirely popular with everyone, but I think this could be handled in a much more mature manner. We can disagree with each other with maturity and honor.“

-Kathy Zakarian, Mason student

“What boggles my mind is why they invited Perez Hilton in the first place to be a Miss America judge. Anyone who knows anything about him knows he’s a total flamethrower.  So what did do? Ask a question that shouldn’t have been asked in a Miss America pageant of course – it’s not like you could expect much better of him.
I think one major thing is that Carrie was asked a question on the spot that shouldn’t have been asked in the first place. He asked for her opinion, and that’s simply what she gave. Considering the circumstances, she tried to show respect for the “other side” before even expressing her own opinion. I think she handled that moment pretty well. She tried to talk about her love for her country and that people have opinions of both sides, then stood up for her thoughts. Of course, Perez Hilton expects that someone will only express thoughts aligning with his in order to win his vote.
So he gets upset that someone answered his question without trying to dodge it with a fake no-answer when they believe differently from him.  She didn’t even put down the “other side” in expressing herself, which is the total opposite of the character of Perez’s behavior after the show.
Plus, Carrie was already forefront with top scores in everything until Perez had to focus the show on himself.”

-Kimberly Tran, Mason student

“Religious questions are always contentious.
I do wonder why he asked a religious question of this particular contestant.  Did he ask comparable questions of the others?  If not, why not?  Was he setting her up so that she would either have to lie or cause controversy?“

-Brenda Mears, my amazing brilliant mother

“I think her answer reveals that she isn’t very well informed of the issue more than it shows ignorance or intolerance. She states that “We live in a land that you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage” which isn’t the case at all unless you consider four states enough to make up for the myriad others that have banned gay marriage.
Despite the “In my country” opening to her next sentence it seems like she was trying to express a personal view rather than a social one since she brought up her upbringing and family. Or at least I hope that is what she was talking about. I don’t see the problem of her having that view as it could simply indicate it’s a personal preference. Besides, she never answered the question.”

-Jared Schmidt, Mason student

Some other fun blog posts on the subject, mostly gathered from Twitter.

My Thoughts on Miss California USA (From a legit Pageant fan blog)

Awesome- Apparently this blogger was actually at the event. She had some interesting things to say about the aftermath of the event- who knew that people actually attacked Miss CA’s family afterward?

“For those that were waiting to attack the family as they were leaving the theater I must state again that we live in AMERICA where everyone has the right to their own beliefs.  I understand that you were offended by her statement, but that does not give you or anyone else the right to take away her freedom of speech… You are not helping anyone by picking a fight with someone who’s views are not the same as yours.  As we all know, education is key, not violence!!”

Bikini Baristas & The Miss USA Pageant

Fave line from this- “It’s widely-known that the biggest contingency of pageant fans is homosexual men.”     (…..Really? Is this from from the official statistics of the OHMYGOD let’s be stereotypical club?)

Perez Hilton & the Real Miss USA

Fave line from this- “I’d like to tell Perez Hilton to go to hell. Well, that wouldn’t be very polite, let alone a very Christian thing to say. That’s the sinful me speaking.”

Miss California USA – My Response May Surprise You

Fave line from this- “I wouldn’t want to have a beer with her, but I don’t think she should have lost a BEAUTY pageant because of her opinion.”

Some of my favorite Twitters on the subject (there were THOUSANDS)- I basically chose these because of shock or humor impact, not for any deep thoughts on the subject.

“The “celebrity” judge who kept Miss Ca. from being Miss USA is a celebrity GOSSIP. In other words he is professional sinner! Read Proverbs!”
DavidCalhounTN

“Personally, the Miss USA pagent is outdated and should be retired. It sends the wrong message to our young women.”
OCJill

“Great leadhership: she lost an earthly crown, but gained an eternal one. @talkto10: Miss USA controversy: http://tinyurl.com/dfprf4″
leadHership

“Perez Hilton’s obscenity-laced Andy Warhol moment at the expense of a principled Miss USA contestant is ugly and embarassing.”
carolynreisapr

“Just because Miss USA doesn’t believe in gay marriage, it doesn’t mean she’s wrong. What happened to free speech in this country.”
danitydonnaly

“The Miss USA pageant…Miss California spoke what she believed and loses the crown! Gays are going too far! Unfair!!”
honey55

“@perezhilton Do you feel bad about her losing, she may be stupid but who isn’t in miss usa, and she might of won if u asked a different ?”
claudeandash  (my personal favorite- hah!)

Here’s my view.

1. Perez Hilton did ask a legitimate question- one that’s a totally hotbed issue right now. Miss USA needs to be ready to answer any question, any time, and that’s one that’s sure to come up in the future. I don’t personally think he was out of line for asking the question.

2. When you really go back and look at the question, he obviously phrased it looking for an answer based on the standard academic position + support rubric. Miss California didn’t back up her view with anything. She just said it was the way she was raised. That’s not evidence. She could have talked about state rights, she could have talked about federalism, she could have talked about how legalizing gay marriage is perceived by many to be a threat on religious institutions. She really phrased her answer in the most simplistic way possible.

She has made statements since that she was dreading the question, implying that she expected it, and also that she was studying for the interview questions. She had the expectation and time to craft a better answer than the one she gave, and she didn’t. From that standpoint, it was not a good answer.

It’s like my journalism law professor said last semester to my class, “I don’t care what conclusion you reach as long as you support it.” Most academics say the same thing- in essays, debates, etc., it really doesn’t matter what answer you end up with as long as you provide evidence supporting it. She just flat didn’t.

2. That notwithstanding, the huge amount of backlash today over her answer was not because of her lack of evidence but because people disagreed with her opinion. And that’s pretty uncool. I’m just going to say straight out that even though I support the legalization of gay marriage, I respect and understand the viewpoint of people who don’t. I do not think my friends who are against gay marriage are bigoted, prejudiced or ignorant- I really just think they have a different point of view than I do. It is a tetchy subject that I avoid talking about a lot because people end up insulting each other over it badly, but ultimately, you have to respect each other’s view.

What really gets me are the implications that people who disagree with gay marriage are -ignorant, bigoted, prejudiced, -insert insult-. That’s not necessarily true. Sure, there are some, but a blanket statement is ridiculous.

Conclusion: I respect her opinion but she didn’t support it with any evidence, an act which would have caused her to fail a similar exercise in an academic setting. The backlash against her for simply holding that opinion however, is utterly ridiculous and intolerant.

Running Down the Controversy Over the UN Racism Conference

My flatmate Kate has been playing Oregon Trail, the BRILLIANT old-school computer game, online at this great website for the last hour or so. She put me and other people we know into the game, so occasionally hilarious things such as “Rachael, you have typhoid!”, “Stop bear, I need to shoot you!”, or “All these men keep getting broken legs!” keep getting yelled out. It’s great. I plan on going to play for a little bit after I wrote this blog post, so all y’all should too, at this totally legal link.

Hah. We’re so good at this whole, “Let’s work on our two 3,000 word papers due next week” thing.

(“KELLY! You died! Now I just have typhoid Rachael and two broken legged men!” “How did I drown!? I’m a Pisces!!!”)

Anyways, I‘ve been following this UN Racism Conference controversy pretty closely the last few days. To sum it up, the last time they tried to hold one of these in 2001, a whole bunch of people, including the US, walked out because of the wording some countries put in the draft declaration declaring zionism racism and Israel the worst thing since the Empire in Star Wars, etc. etc. This time around, the same thing pretty much happened, with the US, Canada, Israel, Germany, Australia and Italy all boycotting for the same reasons, with the added reason of holocaust-denying Israel-hating Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad being a speaker at the event. Oh, and his speech was set to take place today, on Holocaust memorial day. Sounds fun, right?

As you can imagine, President Ahmadinejad did not disappoint, accusing Israel, the US and Europe of being racist and destabilizing the entire world, clearing out the room quickly, as delegates from at least 30 countries walked out.

Here’s a good summary on how the conference started out. You can read excerpts from Ahmadinejad’s speech from this AP article.

That’s the -gist-, but of course, it’s way more complicated than that. People are alternately angry about the decision to boycott the conference, happy about it, etc. The reactions are ALL OVER THE PLACE.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson over at Huffington Post said Obama’s decision to boycott the conference was “terribly wrong,” going on to say that “There is still too much bitter racial and ethnic hate and turmoil in too many places in the world that have nothing to do with Israel and Middle East problems that scream for attention.” He pointed out that since the conference convenors removed language from the draft resolution about Zionism being racism at Obama’s request, he should have sent a US delegation. (Here is where I think Ahmadinejad caused Obama to balk from attending).

The Black Congressional Caucus is pretty pissed, calling the boycott of the conference “a missed opportunity.” Human Rights Watch said the conference on racism was undermined by the withdrawals of the Western governments. The Pope applauded the conference and continues to defend his decision to send a Vatican City delegation to the event.

And ooo, icy remnant of the Cold War! Russia has criticized the Western nations boycotting the conferences in a very passive-aggressive way. Not certain if this is a direct quote or not, but according to the article, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Yakovenko said that apparently, not all governments were ready to face the growing challenges of racism, xenophobia and intolerance. Ooof man, your name’s going into the US Department of Defense BURN BOOK.

In another fun turn-of events, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu called the conference an “anti-Israel” event and vowed not to let Holocaust deniers cause a second Holocaust, saying Ahmadinejad is a Holocaust denier who wants to perpetrate another massacre of Jews.

Here’s an article written before the start of the conference talking about Western fears that Muslim countries would “hijack” the conference.

I’ve been using my TweetDeck to search out additional comments on the conference- here are a few interesting bits.

fonchik- “As an Obama supporter, I am SO embarrassed by US boycott of UN Racism conference.”

vadsten- “UN Racism Conference building walls rather than bridges?”

grahan- “Diplomats walk out after Ahmadinejad apparently misunderstands purpose of UN conference on racism http://tr.im/jfSt plus, guy in a clown wig”

JohnnyGregg- “Iran Prez Ahmadinejad speaks 1st at UN conference on racism. Guy who picked the order sentenced to a lifetime of never hearing the end of it”

What do y’all think? Was the US government wrong to boycott the conference, or did Obama make the right decision?

Update Later: Human Rights Watch posted another article urging the countries that walked out of the conference during the Iranian President’s speech to “Defeat Bigotry by Standing Ground.” What I find interesting about this article is that it goes into more detail than others on what actually was changed about the draft resolution for the conference.

The article from Human Rights Watch says: “The draft document, adopted after preparatory negotiations chaired by Russia, contains no reference to Israel or the Middle East and rejects the dangerous concept that religions, as opposed to individuals, could be defamed or have their rights violated. It also reaffirms the tragedy of the Holocaust and condemns anti-Semitism. In addition, it fully protects the right to freedom of expression as defined under international law, affirms and strengthens the call for the protection of migrants’ rights, and acknowledges multiple and aggravated forms of discrimination.”

The article also talks at the end a bit about Iran’s own past and current discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities.

You Too! Can Lose Weight/Look Great on the No-Effort London Diet

I refer sarcastically of course, to the insane amount of walking around I do in my average week. I mean- I haven’t ever really added it up, but I would imagine it amounts to over 20 miles weekly, when you add in walking to and from class, to and from Tube stops, to and from work and the Tube station when the bus is running too slow, polling people along one road, etc. etc.

I don’t keep to a diet persay. I attempted at the beginning to cut sodas out completely, but once I adapted to the sweeter taste of sodas here, I’ve imbibed occasionally. I do drink a lot less soda than I did in the states and drink way more tea- which considering it has like 10 calories a cup, is pretty great. I guess I eat more fiber? My diet’s changed a lot here- I used to be really into the whole cooking fish thing but then I got over it- now I’m really into pita bread with lunch meat and cheese. Breakfast is usually a dry Wheatabix cracker thing with cheese (I don’t think that’s how you’re supposed to eat them, but whatever, I don’t like milk on my cereal). And although I’m a chocolate fiend, I’ve pretty much tried to keep my intake of chocolate the last month or so to Cadbury Eggs- yummm.

But weirdly enough, though I really haven’t made any efforts to lose weight, it’s just been dropping off. I have no idea how much I’ve lost, due to a lack of scales and a very lazy desire not to have to convert stones or kilograms to pounds, but just looking at myself in the mirror, I can tell.

I think it’s just a city thing/lack of car thing. What’s the point of driving somewhere when you can just walk it or use public transport? I have sooo much energy now too- I always feel like dancing when I’m somewhere completely inappropriate for it- in the street or in the elevator at work or on the Tube. I actually did dance a little on the way back from The Three Mediums event last night (it was actually crazy cool- review coming soon), and pretty much ignored any weird stares I might have been getting at the time.

Anyways, I’m posting photos now, because as my boyfriend loves to point out, the highest views I’ve ever gotten on my blog have come from the last time I posted a lot of pictures of myself up. Which is totally weird, but okay, cool, I’ll go with it.

I’ve always considered myself aerodynamically curvaceous, but recent developments have reduced my drag and inertia further. (Hah, I have no idea if I got that right, booya high school physics)

Huh. I kinda can’t believe I’m posting these online.

I found this chick at an awesome art gallery event on Vyners Street! The Great Cake Escape hid him in a little lace doily along with candy and stuffed him in a pipe- I noticed him sticking out and when I opened it up it said YOU FOUND ME! : D Happy thoughts. He lives on my computer now.

New Hat. Is awesome.

More assorted pics, yay.

Taking an Art History Class in London is like CANDY

I love how I don’t blog for a few days and then I suddenly forget everything I was talking about before. What was really cool is how I actually had a decent amount of visitors on Saturday without blogging at all, just because I’ve had enough of a buildup of posts on interesting topics that people find them on google or something (I assume) and come in randomly to check them out. The Octuplets post and the Fake Pope Smoking picture post have both been pretty popular lately- interesting.

Anyways, I don’t know if it’s come across in this blog yet, but I actually really love art- particularly modern art. My Art History class this semester has been like candy to me- I haven’t taken an art class since my freshman year of high school and then I get to take this great one where I learn about ALL the art movements and study so many artists and then traipse around London to all these nearly unknowable art galleries checking out all the contemporary art?

Seriously. Like CANDY. Plus we have this fantastic teacher, Lisa, an American transplanted in London for the last decade or so, who’s absolutely hilarious, brilliant, and great fun.

Some of the places we’ve been-the normal places like The National Gallery, Tate Britain (Fantastic exhibit on there right now called AlterModern, plus the collection of Turner paintings is awesome), Tate Modern (which is brilliant) and Saatchi (which I ADORED- I love Middle Eastern Art!). Then we’ve been to a lot of the little galleries up and down Vyners street (we went there on a late “First Thursday” night to enjoy free beer and cupcakes, thanks to The Great Cake Escape), such as FRED and ….well lots of other fun galleries that I never actually caught the names of.

One of my favorite exhibits that night was a selection of art from Kim Rugg, who takes apart 3D objects like comic books, cereal boxes, sweaters, etc. and puts them back together in a really intricate 2D way. Verry Cool.

Really, the favorite gallery space we’ve visited while here is The Wapping Project, made out of a beautiful old hydroelectric power plant in the middle of a very warehouse-y old area- it’s almost impossible to find at first. They’ve left all the old machinery in and made it into this fantastic modern art space where a lot of site-specific place gets done. We went to see “Turning of the Season” there- we got to talk to this incredibly cool creator of one of the pieces there in the process. It’s sad, cause the website is so artsy as to be completely useless for finding out any information about the site or what’s going on there- but I have managed to figure out that the current exhibition there is something about like…shoes or clothes or something.

For our final project in our Art class, we have to create a Fantasy Art Exhibition in a space we’ve actually visited with lots of artwork. I’m so excited about mine- I’m calling it Split/Identity and displaying works by female artists (mostly contemporary) exploring their public and private identity in a variety of contexts. I’m using work by Frida Kahlo, Shadi Ghadirian, Tracey Enim, Kerry Tribe, Sarah Lucas, and Shirin Neshat. There will also be an extensive use of recorded poetry by Maya Angelou and Emily Dickinson, a variety of music involved, and quite potentially, the use of street performers. The Wapping Project is going to be a brilliant place for my fantasy art exhibition.

I can’t waiiitttt.

Absinthe that’s Legal in the US and Absinthe Cupcakes

I know- Random post, right? It’s just I’ve gotten a little obsessed the last few days with this new blog I found- Cupcake Project- where this lady must like, take whatever comes into her head that day and makes them into glorious cupcakes which she then makes all her friends taste at fabulous parties.

I want to be that fabulous. I must make cupcakes a lot this summer. : )

Anyways- I read a post that she wrote back in March 2008 (when I get obsessed with a blog, I go back and back and back…) on Absinthe cupcakes. Absinthe was outlawed in the US for quite a while, but became legal again in 2007 with some rules attached. (Great blog there on the legality of absinthe)

I’ve tried absinthe before, while part of a shot drink I had in Prague last January- I don’t know if it was that or the Bailey’s that gave me the queasy feeling in my stomach the next day (cream/milk doesn’t agree with me generally). My sister’s had more of a long taste of it (years before she got pregnant, don’t worry) and told me it tasted like drinking lawn grass.

Anyways, here are links to several Cupcake Project posts that dissect what absinthe is and provide the recipe for the actual absinthe cupcakes she made.

Absinthe is Legal and Ready to be Used in Cupcakes

Absinthe Cupcakes: Brought to you by the Green Fairy

And just for kicks, I’m going to post a few of my favorite other Cupcake recipes from this site that I absolutely MUST try to make this summer.

Beer, Cheddar and Bacon Cupcakes (for the Super Bowl!)

Oreo Cupcakes (With a built in cup for milk in the middle!)

Margarita Cupcakes

Nian Gao Cupcakes (red bean sticky cakes for Chinese New Year!)

Pumpkin Chili and Pumpkin Chili Cupcakes

Avocado Lime Cupcakes (I may not ever make this for my family, but for my flatmate Kate? maybe?)

Baked Bean and Tomato Cupcakes!

Yeah, uh, clearly I’m obsessed. : )

Big (Black) Taxi: Cab Drivers have Bigger Brains than We do

Creative-Commons copyrighted picture off of Flickr by Patrick Mayon

Well, at least larger hippocampuses.

I had my last dinner tonight with my parents- they’re flying back to the States tomorrow. Afterwards, I walked out of the hotel, noticed the drizzling rain and the lateness of the evening and decided I just really didn’t want to take the 20 minute walk back to the flat.

I caught a black cab with one of the most interesting drivers I’ve ever had the pleasure of talking to. From an innocent question about whether he had memorized the London map came an entire discussion about his experience with a research study on cab drivers a couple years ago, that led to the conclusion, that yes, cabbies have larger hippocampuses, better navigational skills and often improved mathematical skills.

The cab driver was pretty cool- said he’d been driving 15 years and it took him a couple years to get to the point where he knew most of the streets, landmarks, locations of police stations, hospitals, hotels, etc. etc.- I never thought about it before, but it must be really hard being a cab driver.

I found the brain research study article he was talking about online afterwards here- it’s from 2000. Very interesting. BBC News also got people to answer the question, “Do you think cab drivers are smarter than your average motorist?” Funny answers. I must say, I have wondered before if drivers (cab or amateur) in New York City are missing the part of their brain that warns them away from danger before- my boyfriend Aram’s driving scares me enough, his grandmother’s honestly frightens me. Ohhh New Yorkers…

Easter Celebrations, Walk-In Cocktails and Cupcakes!

My parents have been visiting London the last week. Over the four day Easter weekend they managed to completely exhaust me with a thorough regimen of museums and sightseeing- I’ve done more touristy things this last weekend in London than I have the entire time I’ve been here, I think.

We did Tower of London, Victoria and Albert Museum, the War Cabinet Rooms/Winston Churchill Museum, walked around Buckingham Palace and the Tate Britain. I discovered that Winston Churchill was indeed, the man, and kicked butt around Parliament from age 25 to age 89. Brilliant man- I think I need a poster of him on my wall now.

We also attended Easter services at Westminster Abbey- lucked out and got front row seats of the contingent seating in the Poet’s Corner (meaning we still were three rows behind the main members, but much luckier than the crowds standing up in the back). Worshipping near the dead bodies of Lord Byron, the Bronte Sisters, and Laurence Olivier was…quite the experience. The choir was kickbutt and heavenly with little boy voices singing very very high. The sermon was excellent and actually very much in style with the story-tellin’ my Lutheran pastor does back home. A nun saying prayers busted out with some politics in the middle by talking about Gaza- it was a little surprising considering the only other modern issues she talked about specifically were the earthquake in L’Aquila and the situation in Sri Lanka (a good idea, since there were Tamil protesters right outside, though not on the Parliament Green as normal since it was fenced off for the holiday).

Communion was long- my mom counted 21 helpers passing out bread and wine, yet it took about 20 minutes to half an hour to get through everyone in the church. I really had a very bad view of the people in the back – but I would guess loosely that there were over a thousand/two thousand people there. The whole experience was pretty incredible. We weren’t able to take pictures inside at all but I had the satisfaction of watching a priest pretty much shut down an Italian tourist for pulling out her camera.

All weekend long, the city has been just jam-packed with tourists- mostly Italian- all over the place. Now, I’m really not meaning to make any generalizations here- but so many of these tourists are just plain rude- pushing in and out of trains, taking up space on sidewalks and not moving aside- letting their freaking children play on priceless artifacts in museums and then run screaming down the halls. My flatmates noticed as well- it’s like the whole city just got ruder for the weekend. It made me very crabby- I’ve been avoiding the touristy areas while I’ve been in London anyways and having people being so crass is just a big contrast to the usual politeness of the British.

Anyways, I had a few stories published online this weekend as part of the awesome new initiative the office has going of putting all the stories out on Facebook and Twitter for publicity. It’s pretty cool. I’ve got a really interesting one on how a supermarket’s plan to change a roadway around was refused due to safety reasons, and a great fun one on a walk-in cocktail event happening here in London this Thursday.

In other news, I found this fantastic Top Ten List of Cupcake Blogs today- it’s great fun.

: D