Okay. So people are pissed at China for not freeing Tibet?
(Yes, even I have a "Free Tibet" button that I got somewhere without the background knowledge.)
Yet, aren't WE owned by China right about now?
It's like we're a big ol' SUV, and they have the Leasing papers.
If we truly wanted to Free Tibet; we'd probably have to stop buying Made In China stuff?
Which is like everything.

There's a massive history to all this.
And the news doesn't really talk about it.
Is it on Wikipedia?

Oh, and since I'm on a political semi-rant today,
I was thinking about a blog I read that was anti-Obama.
The whole "he's inexperienced" thing
a) doesn't bother me and
b) isn't a big enough issue to bring up, in my opinion.
Why?
Here's my angle: I've noticed, as a teacher, that those teachers who've taught forever and ever typically (note this word) are not up for much change in what they do. Even my favorite teachers had a method built up in their heads, so much so they didn't use lesson plans or syllabi, etc. Now, the ratio of good teachers after 20+ (random number) years of teaching to not-so-good teachers after 20+ years of teaching is lop-sided. It's rare to find a teacher who's still "got it" after all that time. This is my opinion, of course. So, when you take that and apply it to the Democratic candidates, I'm looking at Mrs. Clinton like, sheesh, she's already been around for awhile. Will she be as open to change as a supposed "newbie"? Because, MAN, do we need some change!

And before we can really talk about experience (perhaps this should've been a comment to leave on the blog I read), we have to determine if her being the First Lady has ANY relevance at all.

One "cool" thing about all of this: It is going to bring up some CRAZY AWESOME discussions in my English 120 Fall Online section (theme: controversy). It'll be the first election where I'll be teaching 120 as it's occurring. Neato Speedo.

So, I leave around 10am Friday to head to the RRGSC at NDSU. Stop first at Qdoba for some early lunch since that place has the best burritos ever. Anyhow, that's probably the only highlight of lunch because once I grabbed The Forum, my face FELL. I saw this: "Obama Skit Prompts Investigation at NDSU" (the whole thing even ended up on CNN!)

From John Lamb's article, "A week of sex, rock, talk" in today's Sunday Forum. "It seems that after a long winter, some college students have cabin fever. Or maybe that’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin Fever. On Friday it was revealed that members of the Saddle and Sirloin Club at North Dakota State University worked a little blackfaced and blue during the Mr. NDSU Pageant. One male student, dressed as the “I Got a Crush on Obama” girl, gave a lap dance to another male student in blackface and an afro wig, representing Barack Obama. In the background, two male cowboys feigned anal sex and ripped an Obama sign. Wow. That’s a tough act to follow. Or swallow, for that matter. Maybe Helen Keller jokes would’ve worked better. I never thought I’d praise Donald Trump, but this would’ve never happened in the Miss USA pageant. And isn’t the Saddle and Sirloin Club a steakhouse in Yankton, S.D.? All this comes after University of North Dakota students were criticized for stereotyping American Indians at a costume party. Guess who won’t be coming to dinner when Obama visits Grand Forks this week?"

From today's Editorial in the Forum: "The “kids-will-be-kids” excuse won’t fly. These are college students, not junior high students. By the time a young person qualifies to enroll on a college campus, he or she should have enough good sense to develop sensibilities about stereotypes, racism and offensive depictions. Moreover, the adult advisers to such organizations have an even greater responsibility to put a stop to any activity that wanders into that realm. While neither incident gets a pass, the UND stunt was especially demeaning in light of the school’s ongoing conflict over the Fighting Sioux logo and nickname. At NDSU, an adviser tried to make the case that the kids were insensitive because most of them are from small towns with little diversity. That ploy is insulting to the kids. It suggests that somehow their development has been arrested because they grew up in small towns. Nonsense. Small-town students are as connected to the wider world today as are their big-city counterparts. Communications and technology expose them to race and culture and every other aspect of societal diversity. The blame rests with the UND and NDSU students. Sanctions should fall on them and the organizations that sponsored the events. Pleading ignorance won’t do. Given the character of the events, the students knew exactly what they were doing and did it anyway."

I shake my finger at all of our colleges. Why? Because this could've easily happened on the campus I teach on (sorry, but it's true - especially after the word 'gay' had to be written on my vehicle by someone) or any other upper-Midwest college. I just know it. We're a bit ignorant with our 90% whiteness ("NDSU’s undergraduate enrollment is 10,403. Ninety-two percent of the student body is white and 1.5 percent identify themselves as black.") taking over practically every campus. So, Chapman apologized and things will be investigated.

Oh, and The Spectrum (NDSU's student newspaper) had problems distributing their issue on Friday as well. Over four thousand early copies were stolen, probably due to the fact that all NDSU employees' salaries were listed. I got my hands on one; it was pretty depressing to see what my adored professors make. The humanities just aren't appreciated at many campuses, eh?

Beyond all of this hoopla, I did attend the conference and learn a whole bunch from current grad students. This conference was started by Katey Ehrenberg back in, I think, 2003 (?) and it's grown every year to include more and more grad students from around the area. Geoffrey Sirc of the U of M even came up to give the keynote! I have much to say about the conference (highs and lows as well as ideas), but this post is already lengthy, so I'll save some thoughts for tomorrow.

Democrats may be shooting themselves in the head.
McCain's having barbeques in Arizona,
while Obama and Clinton are splitting the party.
Who can beat McCain?
My guess is Obama; my hope is Obama.
Campaigning takes more energy out of its voters
than it does the candidates.
It's all overdone. It's all over-analyzed. It's draining.