Friday, November 18, 2005
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Kansas is not crazy...
...But these people are.
They'll be voted out soon and then we'll go back to the old standards. It's just this stupid back-and-forth that makes the state look moronic.
People in Lawrence don't seem to be like the rest of Kansas. At least the educated crowd are pissed off by this. That's good.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Thesis in!
I turned the final draft of my thesis in on Friday! I still have to go through the defense and I'm sure I'll have to make some changes, but it's still a great feeling. I think it turned out OK. I've lost a lot of the excitement I first had for the project, but hopefully I did well enough to get the heck out of here!!
Yeah!!!!
Yeah!!!!
Monday, October 31, 2005
Scalito
I haven't had a chance to read everything about Alito, but I am really disappointed Bush nominated another white man. How disappointing. And, of course, he's Princeton/Yale. What an old boys club. How annoying it is to us who are "out of the club."
I think I would have been happier with a more conservative woman or minority. Maybe that's superficial and wrong, but that's the way I feel.
I think I would have been happier with a more conservative woman or minority. Maybe that's superficial and wrong, but that's the way I feel.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
"We have lost hope"
I'm watching C-SPAN and David Gergen is chairing a panel on "Leadership in America." It's based on research done by U.S. News and World Reports. Howard Schultz, the chairman of Starbucks, just said the "chasm" between the haves and have-nots is so large in this country that most of the have nots "have lost hope." Jeff Canada mentioned that the government is spending $29,000 (I think a year, I could be wrong though...) to keep people in jail. But if he went and asked for $29,000 a year to help poor children, people looked at him like he's crazy. He cited a studying about how scientists used to drop rats in water to study their resiliency. Wanting to find what characteristics the rats that fought to survive had. His reaction was, "why are we dropping rats in water." That's the same thing we're doing with poor children. Dropping them in water and making it very hard for them to survive.
A lot of this panel echoed a lot of what Richard Harwood is looking at. The panel started by giving results of a survey that said most Americans do not trust leaders in general. It's scary. I don't think things are hopeless, but things need to change. But I guess this is what democracy is all about--discussing things and trying to make the world better.
Howard Schultz in interesting. He grew up very poor and is new chairman of one of the largest companies in the world. Read more about him here.
A lot of this panel echoed a lot of what Richard Harwood is looking at. The panel started by giving results of a survey that said most Americans do not trust leaders in general. It's scary. I don't think things are hopeless, but things need to change. But I guess this is what democracy is all about--discussing things and trying to make the world better.
Howard Schultz in interesting. He grew up very poor and is new chairman of one of the largest companies in the world. Read more about him here.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Naples Web site
Rob Curley left the Lawrence Journal-World and has taken over at the Naples (Fla.) newspaper. I think the Hurricane Wilma coverage shows the willingness of the newspaper to move to convergence. I think this is the future of journalism. But, more importantly, it is just pretty cool to look at. I love well put together news Web sites. They make me happy.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
This makes me furious
According to this article, the only abortion clinic in my hometown, Springfield (Mo.), has shut down. This makes me very, very angry. I don't "endorse" abortions, but a woman should be able to get one if she so chooses. I just don't like people imposing their opinions on others this way. The doctors who perform them in Springfield are scared. And scaring doctors is just plain stupid.
The Right to Life guy said, "demand obviously is not enough for them to weather the storm." But the clinic did 1,500 procedures a year. I'd call that demand.
This type of thing is making it really easy for me to make the decision to never move home. I basically want to move as far from the Bible Belt as I possibly can. I can't believe it. What's wrong with these people? The last time I checked, abortion was still legal in this country.
You know, with education and birth control we probably wouldn't even need abortions. But these religious people are so nutty they don't support either of those options either. People are going to have sex. If they don't use birth control, the woman may get pregnant. The woman may not want to be pregnant. Nobody should decide what happens with that woman's body other than that woman. I don't like abortions. I would probably never have one. But they need to be an option. Now, the crazies in SW Missouri are going to require scared, young women to drive at least four hours to do something that is every bit their right. This is a bad topic. I don't usually like to write or talk about it. But this story made me mad.
The Right to Life guy said, "demand obviously is not enough for them to weather the storm." But the clinic did 1,500 procedures a year. I'd call that demand.
This type of thing is making it really easy for me to make the decision to never move home. I basically want to move as far from the Bible Belt as I possibly can. I can't believe it. What's wrong with these people? The last time I checked, abortion was still legal in this country.
You know, with education and birth control we probably wouldn't even need abortions. But these religious people are so nutty they don't support either of those options either. People are going to have sex. If they don't use birth control, the woman may get pregnant. The woman may not want to be pregnant. Nobody should decide what happens with that woman's body other than that woman. I don't like abortions. I would probably never have one. But they need to be an option. Now, the crazies in SW Missouri are going to require scared, young women to drive at least four hours to do something that is every bit their right. This is a bad topic. I don't usually like to write or talk about it. But this story made me mad.
DeLay's mug shot
Is it just me, or does Tom DeLay look way too happy in this mug shot?
I guess he's trying to look defiant and confident in his innocence, but do you really want to flash a 100-watt smile at a booking?
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Harriet Miers Take 2
OK, last week I wrote that it was "intellectual snobbery" that was bashing Harriet Miers. I may have to take that back. She's not been very forthright. And this 'she'll vote the way the President wants her to' is really annoying.
She needs to talk a little bit more I think.
She needs to talk a little bit more I think.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Loneliness
Rich Harwood come spoke to our class a couple of weeks ago. He said some very interesting things that I've been ruminating over.
We have built up barriers to other people and most of us are now very lonely.
I was just out walking/jogging near my apartment. While I was walking I noticed a couple of things. A) Even though it was an absolutely beautiful day, I was the only one out walking. B) In most of the cars that passed me, there was only one passenger. Other than the concern of mine about people wasting gas, I started to think about the barriers we have built. Nobody walks places in American suburbia. There's really not much to see. Cookie-cutter houses. Cars that smell bad. Safety issues. Cars will run you over because the drivers are not used to seeing people actually out walking.
I talked to a friend of mine last night. She grew up in a large European city. The first day she came to America (a mid-size Midwest town) she went for a walk wanting to explore her new home. In the process, she had two or three people ask her if she needed a ride and a lot of strange looks. People just don't walk in that town. They drive everywhere.
Not only do people drive around by themselves (adding to the isolation), the likelihood they would actually bump into someone and have a conversation with one of the fellow frantic drivers is very small. People are not longer people. They're a green Taurus. A red BMW. A smelly old Ford truck.
Maybe as more and more people populate this earth (last count was over six billion,) we will continue to find ways to isolate ourselves. But I don't know how good that is for our psyche.
Harwood spoke about Americans not trusting or knowing their neighbors. About watching television 14 hours a day. In our lives, it's normal not to actually talk with another person. But this lack of human interaction is not satisfying. They are unhappy. People don't trust other people. They don't trust media. They don't trust government. Maybe it's because we've grouped institutions of people together to make them larger than they actually are, and forgot that we're all just humans.
We have built up barriers to other people and most of us are now very lonely.
I was just out walking/jogging near my apartment. While I was walking I noticed a couple of things. A) Even though it was an absolutely beautiful day, I was the only one out walking. B) In most of the cars that passed me, there was only one passenger. Other than the concern of mine about people wasting gas, I started to think about the barriers we have built. Nobody walks places in American suburbia. There's really not much to see. Cookie-cutter houses. Cars that smell bad. Safety issues. Cars will run you over because the drivers are not used to seeing people actually out walking.
I talked to a friend of mine last night. She grew up in a large European city. The first day she came to America (a mid-size Midwest town) she went for a walk wanting to explore her new home. In the process, she had two or three people ask her if she needed a ride and a lot of strange looks. People just don't walk in that town. They drive everywhere.
Not only do people drive around by themselves (adding to the isolation), the likelihood they would actually bump into someone and have a conversation with one of the fellow frantic drivers is very small. People are not longer people. They're a green Taurus. A red BMW. A smelly old Ford truck.
Maybe as more and more people populate this earth (last count was over six billion,) we will continue to find ways to isolate ourselves. But I don't know how good that is for our psyche.
Harwood spoke about Americans not trusting or knowing their neighbors. About watching television 14 hours a day. In our lives, it's normal not to actually talk with another person. But this lack of human interaction is not satisfying. They are unhappy. People don't trust other people. They don't trust media. They don't trust government. Maybe it's because we've grouped institutions of people together to make them larger than they actually are, and forgot that we're all just humans.
Friday, October 14, 2005
Harriet Miers
OK, I don't have a real strong opinion on whether Harriet Miers should be confirmed or not, but what I do see is intellectual snobbery running amuck. She didn't go to Harvard. OH NO!!! There's no way a person who worked hard, didn't have thousands of dollars to spend on an Ivy league education, and showed up for work every day could EVER become a Supreme Court justice. Ninety percent of this country did not go to an Ivy League school. Should people who didn't go to one of these schools not be represented in government? SMU is not that shabby of a place. She has done well. She is obviously smart. She wouldn't be in the position she is now in if she was not gifted. Yes, being a Supreme Court justice is one of the most intellectually-challenging positions in the country. But, why can't someone who's not part of the "Ivy League gang" be one? It might be good to have someone "normal" on the Supreme Court. The founders never said anything about going to a particular school in setting prerequisites for our leaders. Abraham Lincoln never even went to college.
I look forward to her confirmation hearings. I think she'll impress (and surprise) several of the intellectual snobs.
I look forward to her confirmation hearings. I think she'll impress (and surprise) several of the intellectual snobs.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Only Anderson understands!!!
I have this really nasty habit of biting my fingernails. I've tried everything to stop. My new thing is getting acrylic nails put on. They're kind of annoying. I have to go get them "filled in" about every two weeks because my nails grow fast. While they're very strong, I still sometimes want to bite them right off!! There's just something powerful about it. While I've always been ashamed of this habit, this Anderson Cooper piece made me feel better.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Conservatives are corrupting this great movie...
I loved the "March of the Penguins" movie. But conservatives are now taking the movie and using it for their own agendas. It makes me sick.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Bad Science writing
From The Guardian
"There is one university PR department in London that I know fairly well - it's a small middle-class world after all - and I know that until recently, they had never employed a single science graduate. This is not uncommon. Science is done by scientists, who write it up. Then a press release is written by a non-scientist, who runs it by their non-scientist boss, who then sends it to journalists without a science education who try to convey difficult new ideas to an audience of either lay people, or more likely - since they'll be the ones interested in reading the stuff - people who know their way around a t-test a lot better than any of these intermediaries. Finally, it's edited by a whole team of people who don't understand it. You can be sure that at least one person in any given "science communication" chain is just juggling words about on a page, without having the first clue what they mean, pretending they've got a proper job, their pens all lined up neatly on the desk.
Of course a system like that will cock up. The proof is in Bad Science, every week. See you in Berlin.
· Bad Science will be continuing in the Guardian next week"
"There is one university PR department in London that I know fairly well - it's a small middle-class world after all - and I know that until recently, they had never employed a single science graduate. This is not uncommon. Science is done by scientists, who write it up. Then a press release is written by a non-scientist, who runs it by their non-scientist boss, who then sends it to journalists without a science education who try to convey difficult new ideas to an audience of either lay people, or more likely - since they'll be the ones interested in reading the stuff - people who know their way around a t-test a lot better than any of these intermediaries. Finally, it's edited by a whole team of people who don't understand it. You can be sure that at least one person in any given "science communication" chain is just juggling words about on a page, without having the first clue what they mean, pretending they've got a proper job, their pens all lined up neatly on the desk.
Of course a system like that will cock up. The proof is in Bad Science, every week. See you in Berlin.
· Bad Science will be continuing in the Guardian next week"
Monday, August 22, 2005
Pictures from Australia
Here are some of my pictures from Australia! Take a look, let me know what you think!
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Throw another shrimp on the barbie!
Australia here I come!
Actually I don't leave for two weeks. But the countdown begins.
In other news, can't wait for this quality piece of television
Actually I don't leave for two weeks. But the countdown begins.
In other news, can't wait for this quality piece of television
Monday, June 06, 2005
Deep Throat
The journalistic community (and the world) has been abuzz after Deep Throat revealed himself last week. Here is Bob Woodward's piece.
Monday, May 16, 2005
William Allen White
William Allen White was a brilliant writer and a brilliant man. I was especially touched by the obituary he wrote for his daughter, Mary White. You should read it if you get the chance. Grab a tissue, this will make you cry.
Of course, what made White so famous in the first place was his essay "What's the Matter with Kansas?"
It seems a lot of people are saying that. Especially with the evolution hearings. For some reason--maybe it's because of all the Jayhawk journalists out there--these bigoted things (oh, like trying to stop teaching evolution) seem to get all kind of press!! You know, other states have had the exact same kind of controversies. We're not the only ones! We just get the media attention...
Of course, what made White so famous in the first place was his essay "What's the Matter with Kansas?"
It seems a lot of people are saying that. Especially with the evolution hearings. For some reason--maybe it's because of all the Jayhawk journalists out there--these bigoted things (oh, like trying to stop teaching evolution) seem to get all kind of press!! You know, other states have had the exact same kind of controversies. We're not the only ones! We just get the media attention...
Friday, March 25, 2005
OK, I've been a slacker
My blogging has definitely slacked off lately... The thesis has become my life. Seriously, I'm not kidding.
I was finally starting to get over my severe disappointment and then the impending depression that set in after KU lost to freakin' Bucknell in the first round of the NCAA tournament, until I read this article. Mizzou people...*sigh*...always so unclassy. At least we made it to the tournament.
If UNC loses to Villanova tonight, my world will be much better. Not that I have a huge grudge against Roy Williams, I just want to see 'Nova do well since they served us a shalacking in December. Got root for something.
I feel I should post things to this blog. I mean, that's what blogging's all about, right?
Anyway, this is a funny site if you haven't seen it already.
OK, back to the thesis...can't waste any more time.
I was finally starting to get over my severe disappointment and then the impending depression that set in after KU lost to freakin' Bucknell in the first round of the NCAA tournament, until I read this article. Mizzou people...*sigh*...always so unclassy. At least we made it to the tournament.
If UNC loses to Villanova tonight, my world will be much better. Not that I have a huge grudge against Roy Williams, I just want to see 'Nova do well since they served us a shalacking in December. Got root for something.
I feel I should post things to this blog. I mean, that's what blogging's all about, right?
Anyway, this is a funny site if you haven't seen it already.
OK, back to the thesis...can't waste any more time.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Kansas in the news
Kansas has sure been in the news a lot lately. Yes, I know...the small, flat, home of dorothy and toto and not much else...has been grabbing a lot of national news headlines. I'm not a Kansas native. I'm from the neighboring, (and after I moved here I discovered) much-hated state of Missouri. I feel like even though I've only been here two years, I'm more of a Kansan than a Missourian now. I appreciate Missouri. There's a lot I like about the state...but for the lack of finding more eloquent words, I feel like Kansas has its shit together a lot more than Missouri. Better roads. Better schools. More pride. More consideration. There's not all that stubbornness that comes along with being the "Show-Me State." I don't know...I'm not a native of here, but I've been thoroughly impressed by what I've seen in Kansas so far... But then again, I've only lived in the northeast part of the state...
Anyway, back to my original idea for this post. I went to CNN.com today and two of the main stories (BTK and the Steve Fossett flight) involved Kansas. One day last week the top two most e-mailed stories from NYTimes.com featured Kansas in the headline. Larry King had an entire show about the BTK guy. Yes, we're getting a lot of attention for the mass murderer guy in Wichita...so that's probably not a good thing. But I guess as a Missourian, I'm not used to seeing my state featured on the national news (that, of course, is when our governor doesn't die in a plane crash and then beats John Ashcroft posthumously...I'm glad Jean was named Senator, but I can't help but think the country would have been a better place if Ashcroft would have stayed in the Senate instead of becoming AG....) Yes, I know, if you're from New York, L.A. or D.C., most all of the stories on national news organization Web sites come from your place of residence. But I had a small little thrill this week by seeing all the Kansas stories in such prominent positions of the national media agenda---for better or worse.
Anyway, back to my original idea for this post. I went to CNN.com today and two of the main stories (BTK and the Steve Fossett flight) involved Kansas. One day last week the top two most e-mailed stories from NYTimes.com featured Kansas in the headline. Larry King had an entire show about the BTK guy. Yes, we're getting a lot of attention for the mass murderer guy in Wichita...so that's probably not a good thing. But I guess as a Missourian, I'm not used to seeing my state featured on the national news (that, of course, is when our governor doesn't die in a plane crash and then beats John Ashcroft posthumously...I'm glad Jean was named Senator, but I can't help but think the country would have been a better place if Ashcroft would have stayed in the Senate instead of becoming AG....) Yes, I know, if you're from New York, L.A. or D.C., most all of the stories on national news organization Web sites come from your place of residence. But I had a small little thrill this week by seeing all the Kansas stories in such prominent positions of the national media agenda---for better or worse.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
KU wins!
KU beat K-State tonight in the last game for the four seniors in Allen Fieldhouse. Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Fieldhouse so celebrations were definitely in order. The basketball players wore retro jerseys. The cheerleaders and crimson girls wore 1950's-era outfits. And the best part, the cute J-hawk mascots had tuxedos on!! They were so adorable!! Mike Lee, Keith Langford, Aaron Miles and Wayne Simien all gave very thoughtful, emotionally stirring, tearful goodbye speeches. When I was a kid going to basketball games at SMS, I always thought these speeches were so important. So touching. As I've grown older (and admittedly much more cynical) I sometimes groan when I listen to these speeches. They're made by 22-year-old kids who, as athletes, often overemphasize their importance in society. Just because you can shoot a ball doesn't mean you can walk on water. As we get older, moments like these are special, but they pale in comparison to bigger worries. When I was a senior in high school, I practiced my speech for the big banquet at the end of the year for days. It went over well...my friends and the parents clapped and laughed at my clever jokes (or at least I thought they were sooooo clever at the time...they probably weren't...) And then life went on... I've done plenty of exciting and cool things since then, but nothing seems as important to me now as they did when I was younger. Maybe I've lost my fire, my drive. I don't know. But I really enjoyed the speeches by Mike, Keith, Aaron and Wayne tonight. They were full of some ego-driven moments, but overall those guys have a good sense of what's important. I appreciate that.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
I feel much better now
So I went back to my old topic which looks for media bias between black and white quarterbacks. I worked on it all last year, so my literature review and method are in pretty good shape (needs work--editing, adding of some studies, cementing things, etc.) But I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER NOW!!! The only think I feel bad about is that I should have done this 3 weeks ago!!! The blog/Supreme Court thing was going absolutely NOWHERE!!! Anyway, hopefully I can get my lit review and method in good shape so I can defend it by April. And then I can conduct the study next semester and get done with school!!! I'm so excited. I never thought I'd be so thrilled with the aspect of graduating and getting a job. When I first came to grad school it was mainly because I didn't want a 9 to 5 job. Now that's not sounding too bad... Hopefully I'll be able to get a job...new stresses, but I'm trying not to think too far ahead.
Saturday, February 26, 2005
i hate my thesis!
ok...just trying to vent here. i'm really disliking this thesis topic. i wanted to study media coverage of the supreme court. somehow, during the course of writing my literature review on that, i got over into this dark world of blogs. my professor in charge suggested maybe doing a study on how blogs cover the supreme court differently than mainstream media. ok, that's nice, but do bloggers really even pay attention to the supreme court!?!? no, is my guess. so i'm thinking i'm going to have to take the supreme court out of it period...and look at the top circulated newspapers and compare what issues are being covered to the most influential blogs (probably using technorati or feedster or something like that to determine them...) so this is kind of interesting. i'm going to test agenda setting theory to this new world of blogs. but i don't really know if i consider blogs as news sources. i know some people are using blogs as their news sources (that's why technorati and others like it are in business....) but do they have an agenda setting function?? i just don't think so...and that's going to be hard to argue. i'm so frustrated. this sucks. :(
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
info on blogs--help!
So I just re-shifted my master's thesis project to looking at blogs. I was going to do just media coverage of the Supreme Court, but my advisor suggested looking into blogs. I think I'm going to do a content analysis of mainstream media vs. blogs in what cases/issues/justices they pay the most attention to. If anyone has any suggestions/comments/help I'd appreciate it. E-mail me at jennyb1780@yahoo.com. Thanks!!
Sunday, February 20, 2005
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