I haven't started working yet, mainly since its spring break and few schools are all round, so have spent most of my time reading and chatting it up with grandma. My new hangout is Arcadia Public Library and although I miss something more comfortable to sit in while reading the news ( it has WiFi and I surf the net on my own computer), its nice to people watch and read (one of my favorite things do to in Santa Cruz). Also, hanging out with the grandma is always interesting. Today, over a breakfast of soy chorizo and potatoes with beans and salsa ( YUM, she happens to be an amazing cook) we talked about all sorts of stuff, a good chunk about marriage (she sees it as a way to honor God, I think its just a piece a paper). One would think these conversations could get heated, but they don't. She'll either slyly change the subject very, or just agree to disagree. Yesterday, she asked about Obama's speech on race, and even though a VERY strong supporter of Clinton, she was pleased with what he said and that he did not reject his pastor (did I mention she was very religious?)

Anyways, here are my musings for the day:

China, Tibet and the Olympics: So China has been getting some heat for awhile. Suffering from insane amounts of pollution, a history of human rights offenses, not urging Sudan to do more about Dafur and recently (well not really) its issues with Tibet which have resulted in some violence this week. All of these offenses have some call for a boycott of the Summer Olympics being held in China this year. China is even claiming that the Dali Lama is the one who is calling for the violence in Tibet, even though he recently said he would resign if that were true. People have been calling for a boycott. While I do believe we should be supporting our athletes, I feel that it should be known that while they may be able to control dissent in their country, they cannot control it in this one (this said while im giving the middle finger to the telecom's via telepathy over the internet connection). Anyways, while reading the comments of the linked article I read one that struck me as simple yet effective. While the torch is being carried through Tibet, everyone should wear something that is bright yellow, showing unity with Tibet, that way when televised, you will see a bunch of yellow. The Tibetan flag has a sun on it. Im all about symbolism.

US high school graduation rate discrepancies: Here we go again. So, states have found that the numbers that they give to the federal government and the ones for the state are different, by a good amount. Surprised? And California wants to cut education budgets...what a mess.

MTV Awards More Relevent than Oscars? Is that a good thing? I guess we'll see when they release the nominees. Now, it has always been my impression that the Oscar's are about well done movies and performances, while MTV is about what is most popular. I just seen No Country for Old Men last night, and it really was damn good. I doubt popular culture thinks so. If relevance is about honoring crap that people pay to see to not think, I think we should be worried. Then again, it could just mean that the Oscars, not the movies, is kinda boring. This post is for my film buff friend Peter.

An F-You to: Dick Chaney
An interview with the VP:

Q: Let me go back to the Americans. Two-thirds of Americans say it's not worth fighting, and they're looking at the value gain versus the cost in American lives, certainly, and Iraqi lives.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: So?

Read the rest

Aye, Aye, Aye.