Saturday, December 31, 2011

The "Unclean"

This morning, I had breakfast at Chick-fil-A.  It's somewhere I've decided to boycott, and yet their delicious Chick-n-Minis keep me coming back. But while I chowed down on my delectable treat, my guilt grew.  How could I support such an organization?

So what's the problem?  Well, in 2009, Chick-fil-A donated nearly $2 million to anti-gay groups, according to the Huffington Post.  Earlier this year, change.org released a statement that Chick-fil-A still has deep ties to the anti-gay movement.  "We do not accept homosexual couples," wrote WinShape Foundation, Chick-fil-A's "charitable arm."

As a final paper for my public opinion class, I wrote an analysis of the same-sex marriage debate.  I pride myself on my ability to play devil's advocate, to argue both sides (when needed).  People should be able to make their own decisions instead of relying on the decisions handed to them by their parents or society or their church.

But when I wrote the paper, I was horrified by many of the arguments against gay marriage.  "Legitimate" arguments.  Ones that people actually argue, and not something silly that a comedian says.  Arguments that people actually believe.  A list of them, found in "Same Sex Marriage: Focus on the Facts" by Sean Cahill, is below:

Thursday, December 15, 2011

A look back at 2011

The holiday season is upon us, as they say, and that means a time to reflect and be thankful.

Personally, 2011 has brought it's own adventures and difficulties.  I packed my things and moved away from home for the first (real) time.  I have struggled with making friends, being away from family and those who love me, and finding where I fit in at graduate school.  But I am blessed with some amazing new friends, an increased confidence in myself, and the ability to scrape by in a meager studio apartment and lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

I try to use this blog to reflect on the world from my own perspectives, to bring attention to injustices and examine the decisions we blindly make every day.  We're just going through the motions, more often than not.  I wake up and switch on my little green coffee maker from my friend Christine.  I go to classes, churn out papers with moments to spare, and wave to familiar faces at the corner of University and Park.

That behind me, I'm going to use this space to look back not just on my life, but on what 2011 meant to the now 7 billion humans that call our Earth home.  What did this year mean?  What have we accomplished?  Where have we fallen...

Thursday, December 8, 2011

A pleasant kind of Onion

"It smells like roses!" he yelled.  The crowd erupted in cheers.  "They said that's wind you guys up."

Monday evening, UW alumni Joe Garden and Carol Kolb of The Onion came to speak at the Distinguished Lecture Series in what was titled "An Evening with The Onion."

I'm not sure what I was expecting to happen, but it did not disappoint.  Garden and Kolb proceeded to give a presentation worthy of Onion fame.  They began with the history of the paper, which they claimed was established in 1783 by T. Herman Zweibel, a Prussian immigrant and "tuber farmer" who established The Mercantile Onion.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Are we too quick to judge?

I am.

We're in the wake of a whole slew of scandals.  The Penn State scandal with Jerry Sandusky, the Syracuse scandal with Bernie Fine, and we can't forget Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain.  The allegations made against these gentlemen all have to do with sex.  Sex sells.  Right?

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Since when is rape funny?

I like to think that I live in an America where I am accepted for being an intelligent woman.  Sometimes, I'm reminded that this is not always the case.  I have re-encountered the pro-rape ideology.

Two weeks ago, it came to my attention that Facebook had been ignoring pro-rape groups for two months.  That's an awfully long time for the social networking giant to ignore groups such as "What's 10 inches and gets girls to have sex with me? My knife," "Abducting, raping and violently murdering your friend, as a joke," and "You know she's playing hard to get when your chasing her down an alleyway." The last group received over 350,000 likes.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

We Remember

I was just waking up when my phone lit up.  "I'm fine," read a text from my then-boyfriend.

I didn't really know what that meant and, still groggy, was satisfied to simply close my phone.  We had been dating (mostly long distance) for only a few months and I had gotten home the night before from a weekend with him.

It was the first time I went to visit him at his university and my parents made the drive with me.  My then-boyfriend and I spent a fantastic weekend together - he showed me around campus and we watched movies.  When it came time for me to leave, he asked me to stay one more day.  Of course, I couldn't.  I had classes Monday morning and my parents were my ride.  We were naive freshman, and it was April 15, 2007.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Survey Says: Stupid.

For those who don't know, I am from a small town in Baltimore County, Maryland called Perry Hall.  I am proud to be from this town, which boasts not only an Ikea down the road and an awesome 24-hour grocery store (where I had my first job), but also my alma mater, Perry Hall High School.  With 2,300 students, PHHS was almost as big as my undergraduate university, and is the biggest high school in Baltimore County.  I loved it there (although mostly in retrospect because, let's face it, high school is miserable).  I was in theater, I played on the marching band's drum line, I took all AP classes and left with some of my best friends still today.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Obama versus...? A look into the Republican race for the presidency

The race for the Republican presidential nomination has been highly contentious, with constant flipping between the “front runners.” In fact, Slate released an animation of the GOP “horse race” which is a great visual aid to see how the race has evolved over time (found here: http://goo.gl/7Xd95)

With the debate that took place in Las Vegas tonight, I feel as though only more questions have been raised among the candidates. Republicans need to ask not only who they like, but who can beat Obama in the 2012 election.  How can this decision be made? Whether or not you have been following the race so far, below I highlight some of the key points that I think should be considered for the Republican bid, as well as some personal insight into the debate. Some are political, some are not. I welcome any feedback.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Political Journalism: A critique

In a slightly different vein than my last two posts, this post is in response to a class assignment in which I have chosen an article in my beat (politics) and will analyze some of the good and bad aspects of the story.

The article I will discuss is entitled "In New Hampshire, search continues for Romney alternative" in the Political Wires section of the Miami Herald. The article, written by David Lightman, can be accessed here:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/16/2457028/in-new-hampshire-search-continues.html

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Knox on wood

Seattle is known for a lot of things. Salmon being tossed at Pike Place Market. Starbucks. The Space Needle. And now, 24-year-old Amanda Knox. The Seattle native who traveled to Perugia, Italy in 2007 to study abroad and wound up with a 26 year sentence for murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher, was released on appeal this past Monday. After four years in Italian jail, she has finally come home to the United States.

Books have been written, the media has gone crazy with articles and videos, even 48 Hours had an exclusive entitled "Amanda Knox: The Untold Story" which aired last night (http://goo.gl/c32sk to watch). But how could such a harsh conviction be so quickly overturned during appeal? Why did Knox spend four years in jail when it took a jury only a few hours to turn her conviction around, declaring her innocent of the murder (though guilty of defamation and given time served).

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Occupy...

For weeks now, hundreds of thousands of people have been camped out in New York City in the "Occupy Wall Street" protest. While it has received little media attention, this protest began a huge campaign centered around the slogan "We are the 99%," demanding that high paid CEOs and politicians put aside their "corporate greed" and help Middle America.

The "Occupy Wall Street" protest has now turned into a movement, with similar protests starting up all across the United States. Angry middle class Americans who are fed up with high taxes and high unemployment are finally ready to take a stand.

But is the Occupy Together movement fair? Billionaire Warren Buffett, who allegedly has a lower tax rate than his secretary, is standing beside President Obama for his new jobs act. The complicated "Buffett Rule" would ensure that those with higher incomes pay more in taxes. Despite what seems like support for the working man, Buffett is still one of the "wealthy" being attacked by these protests.