Whee!

Here's an article in the Nation written in March by one of my professors and friends at Dartmouth, Juliet Johnson. As an undergrad at Stanford, she took a class from the one and only Condi Rice, "then just a lowly associate professor," called The Role of the Military in Politics. One of the most useful parts of the class was a simulation in which student teams were split up into several groups mirroring the foreign policy branches of the US executive branch and tasked "to resolve an emerging international crisis peacefully if possible, by force if necessary." (read the article for more detail.)

The article mentions three important things Juliet learned from Professor Rice:

1. Rhetoric Matters

2. Seek International Support

3. Maintain Credibility

Kudos to you (now Dr.) Johnson! You actually learned something that our now National Security Advisor supposedly "taught." The first point especially needs to be made a lot more frequently and forcefully.

"In short," Juliet concludes, "Rice's class taught us that C students rush to war, while A students work diligently and patiently toward peaceful solutions to international problems."

That pretty much says it all.

So I was on the Hill for a good part of the day today and I noticed that things seemed strangely deserted after the summer interns have left.

Taking a shortcut through one of the underground Congressional parking lots, I came across a parking space reserved from none other than California Congressman Darrell Issa. I have to admit that I was sorely tempted to bounce his car to get back at the person largely responsible for the gubernatorial recall but also to give the 'car alarm czar' a taste of his own medicine.

Whee!

My home town (OK-- it's two towns down from that) finally gets into the national news and what is it called? Mecca, California is "a desolate farm town" in "a bone dry desert" near the "freakishly overgrown wetlands of the Salton Sea." It's actually an interesting story about how California is monitoring and trying to deal with the spread of West Nile Virus. Listen to it here: California Prepares for West Nile.
Home, sweet home!

A while ago, I saw an advertisement in the Pentagon City Metro Station for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Museum that was pretty good:
Visit the DEA Museum and Visitor's Center. Target America: Traffickers, Terrorists, and You!
I wonder how long it took them to come up with that one.

I was reading the front section of yesterday's Wall Street Journal (090303) that I found on the metro and there was a teaser for a story about how one school district is charging students $60 to join the high school band and similar fees for "school activities and services that once came at no extra charge." Not having the section where the actual article was printed, I tried to look it up on the internet but had no success. Does anyone else know about this? I'm curious.

What Is Your Battle Cry?

Yea, verily: Who is that, skulking out of the fields! It is Hradcany, hands clutching a vorpal blade! And with a bloodthirsty roar, his voice cometh: "Ares, God of War, be praised! I swear that on this night, you shall dine in hell!"

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My vorpal blade goes snicker-snack!