As you all have noticed, I haven't posted (or even been on) in nearly 6 months. Most of the previous times I was on, I was just complaining that I am not on enough.

I do intend to eventually fix this, but I am not into sporadic posting, and can't really post regularly without home internet access. When I move, I will post more regularly. However, I have heard far too many horror stories about people posting too much personal information, or being judged by potential employers for what they say (political or personal), so I will continue to be careful with that I say.

That said, I will try to do at least a decent amount of posting in the meantime (despite the contradiction with what I said earlier), just to warm me back up to posting.

And, more importantly, I will update my friends lists (even though for a long time I haven't been asking my real-life friends if they post), and my links (boy are they outdated!)

You all can thank Hope for whining me back online (I would post a link to her right here, but I don't have the energy). I need to turn my inertia around.

-D

P.S. When I graduate, I will probably clear out my entire LJ and start over. Not because I am ashamed of anything I said (I am not), but just because it is time for a new beginning.

P.P.S. The reason I never started the political blog that I promised is I was warned that it can seriously impede someone's career if they want to work on the inside of politics to be a blogger.

As expected, there is rampant speculation about the Supreme Court now.

Will the Roberts hearings proceed immediately? Will Bush name the other nominee first? Will he elevate a sitting justice to Chief (thereby requiring three confirmations) or withdraw his nomination of Roberts as an associate and nominate him as Chief (I see this as VERY unlikely)? If he does elevate a sitting justice, who will it be? Will his new nominee be a conservative? Will it be a minority or woman (as was expected for the last vacancy announcement)? Will it be Gonzales?

My view is that Roberts is in, though the process may be delayed a bit. The nomination will be delayed, but he is in. The other nominee will be one of the women (or minorities) named the last time around, but not Gonzales. I also think that there is a good chance we will see O'Connor stay and become the new Chief Justice. I don't think Scalia (who is even hated by his colleagues) or Thomas have a chance.

But this might not be over. Stevens, who is now acting Chief, is 85-years-old. Granted, he is in good health, but he is 85-years-old. Bush may be able to pack the court with young conservatives. Then again, I have never viewed Roberts as a true conservative. I think that, once in office, he will be like Souter.

As we are all tragically learning from the news, the billions of dollars of damage (typical in natural disasters) pales in comparison with the unprecedented human toll. Not only are hundreds of thousands of people homeless and displaced, but there are hundreds upon hundreds dying. People have no food, shelter, fresh water, or medicine. They are sleeping amongst rotting corpses and violent mobs who loot, rape, and murder. There is complete chaos and lawlessness.

While the hurricane is certainly no one's fault, why aren't we, 4 years after 9/11 prepared for such an event? Isn't the Department of Homeland Security supposed to have elaborate evacuation plans for all major cities? Didn't they assure us we have unbreakable communications and supply networks? Weren't we told that food, shelter, fresh water, medicine, and security would be provided for us in an emergency?

This is the greatest tragedy in our nation's history. Who knows if New Orleans will ever truly recover. Sadly, the nation is not giving this issue the same attention it would if those stuck behind were the upper and middle class. But since they are almost entirely poor, black people, we can go about our lives as usual and just say, "Isn't that sad?"

These tragic events should not only remind us of the frailty of life, but the absurd unpreparedness our nation still endures under President Bush. Just imagine if this was not the result of a hurricane, but of something far worse.

I think it is high time that we have contigency plans for evacuating every major city. Nothing will work seemlessly, but we can at least have some preparation in place. Heck, we have contigency plans for any kind of military event (including a war with Great Britain). Why didn't we have a plan for evacuating a sub-sealevel city in the Gulf Coast?

I just realized how desperately I need to update my links. DFA is no longer a leading Democratic Blog, and there are much better Democratic Websites. And I am not sure I am any longer on an exchange with some of those I listed for that reason.

It isn't like me to devote an entire entry to plugging another blog, but I recommend anyone interested in an Iowan's view of politics visits iowatrueblue.org . It is a blog written by the past Chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, Gordon Fischer.

Judge Roberts is nominated to a position on the most powerful body in the most powerful country in the world, yet with his unquestionably impeccable credentials and unparalleled intelligence, both sides are playing stupid, irrelevant political games.

The White House will not release his documents from when he served as White House council (claiming privilege). I am a strong believer in privelege to the utmost degree, but this is not from when he was serving a private client, nor does it relate to the present administration. If there is any doubt that what is revealed may be used against a previous administration (which is an absurd fear), President Bush can issue a preemptive pardon for all those involved. The fact is these documents are incredibly germaine, as they stem from his serving a former President in a role directly responsible for his nomination. If he helped them commit terrible crimes, he should not be on the Supreme Court. If he was aware of terrible crimes and didn't step forward, he should not be on the Supreme Court. And if he did nothing wrong, the Republicans shouldn't be hiding the documents. It is a horrificall dangerous precedent to set in saying that legal documents - written by a Supreme Court nominee while serving as a public official in an administration from many years ago - should not be subject to public scrutiny.

I would, however, propose a compromise: release them to the Senate but not to the general public. If they are clean, he will get nominated. If not, good thing they were released.

My party is playing a political game of the worst caliber by going after his wife.

Someone has purchased my intended domain "donkeyrising.com". I guess I was too slow...

New suggestions are welcome, though!

-D

Few people are as unquestionably qualified as judge Roberts. While his judicial experience is limited (2 years), and he is young (50), he has outstanding academic and legal credentials. He is regarded as having unparalleled intellect and impeccable integrity. I may disagree with his politics (as do all Democrats), but politics is not a valid reason to oppose someone's nomination. Unless something comes out that no one in the public currently knows, Judge Roberts should be approved.

As a political issue, it would be VERY harmful for the Democrats to oppose him. It makes them look like a token minority party who provides nothing buy perfunctory opposition to let people know that they are there. Moreover, he will pass no matter what, and it would be nothing more that a waste of political capital.

Is he conservative? To a degree, yes, but he is not an extremist. More importantly, he will faithfully interpret the constitution and not legislate from the bench. Liberals are frightened by his opposition to Roe v. Wade, but it is strictly on constitutional grounds that he does so. (And no one can validly argue that Roe v. Wade is really a constitutionally grounded argument - after all, they rely on the 3rd Amendment, protecting us against the housing of troops in peacetime as evidence.)

People can argue in favor of judicial activism, but I have two response: first, it is constitutionally forbidden; second, it can just as easily go in favor of conservatism (though it always seems to have gone in our favor). Yes, many good decisions have been acts of judicial activism, but to oppose someone for NOT being a judicial activist, and for being a strict constructionist is very bad policy, very bad philosophy, and is antithetical to the tenets of Constitutional Democracy.

I have very little say on the issue only because a lot is already being said. What I do have to interject is:

1. I think this scandal has the potential to go a LOT deeper and become a LOT more serious. (How did Karl Rove know this top-secret classified information when at the time he was a political advisor and not a government official?)

2. The polls that 75% of people think Rove should be fired while only 15% think he should stay are quite encouraging in a conservative-dominated country. Then again, they claim to stand for integrity. Washington insiders (GOPs especially) aren't taking this as seriously as the American public is - much like Watergate.

3. This makes the President look horrible and weak. He vowed to fire whoever leaked the information. Now he is backing away from it. He looks like a spineless flip-flopper who really IS a puppet for Karl Rove. This entire thing is scaring me (the fact Bush is standing by him), and I have never been a Bush fan. Karl Rove failed on the Social Security debate, the Filibuster debate, the Terri Schiavo debate, etc. Those were all his workings. That was already 3 strikes. Why is the President keeping his top political advisor now that he has released the name of a covert CIA operative for political gain? Something doesn't set right, even for a stubborn President. I am very uncomfortable with it. In not firing Rumsfeld, he looks stupid. This looks suspicious.

4. The Democrats have the opportunity to exploit this if they play it right and gain strong advantage. However, Republicans are destroying them on the media-spin campaign. I have no idea how, but they are. Even though the polls are in our favor, they are containing tempers to a simmer rather than a boiling outrage. More importantly, they are running every distraction technique (the technicality that it was a _former_ agent and not a current agent, attacks on Wilson personally, claims the Democrats are doing this as a political witch hunt and are ignoring real issues affecting our nation, etc.) and succeeding!

Well, it looks like my long-time dream of doing Birthright Israel will not come to fruition. The age limit is 26, and I turn 27 in September. My previous plans to go had fallen through for various reasons. Now that I can finally go this Winter, I miss the age deadline by 2 months. I wrote them, but they said they cannot make exceptions. I am quite disappointed.

Birthright Israel is a program that sends young-adult Jews (18-26) to Israel, all expenses paid (airfare, food, lodging, everything) on a full-service tour for 10 days, if they have never been on a youth trip before. I have never heard of anyone not absolutely loving it. And it is worth about $10,000.

Not only will I be unable to come up with $10,000 anytime in the foreseeable future (maybe in 10 years, at best!), but I could never do the youth-tour. I would miss out on the camaradarie, which is a large part of it.

I had been looking forward to it for years. I am very disappointed.

Not only am I missing out on staying in touch with friends, but losing critical information as well. (Very belated responses to financial aid inquiries, missed modeling job opportunities, etc.) No matter how many people I tell that I don't have regular access, there are always a littany of important emails I am late in reponding to. I feel like a schmo.

Also, a shitload of my emails on AOL expired. Hopefully, none of them were too vital.

I just can't wait to get back to regular email, AIM, LJ, MySpace, Friendster, Tribe, etc. Basically, being in the 21st Century.

You know, internet access has now been classified as an "essential service" in many cities, requiring the government to provide affordable and widespread access to all its citizens. Water, gas, electricity, sewage, phone, internet.

Most of the blog posts I have outlined have been rendered obsolete, but I will hopefully someday be current again.

Until then, I am hundreds of emails back (plus unresponded MySpace, Friendster, Tribe, etc. messages).

To briefly update on the stalker incident (and hopefully address the several questions en masse):

After a lot of back-and-forth, the independent internet watchdog organization, www.truste.com, said that they only consider it a privacy violation if "personally identifiable information" is compromised. Apparently, someone's full name and email address are not "personally identifiable". They also said they found no evidence of any wrongdoing.

Ironically, MySpace contacted me the following day to tell me that their own investigation found there was, in fact, a major violation. They apologized profusely and said they have located the tracking software and will prosecute the author of it. (They also said they would punish the person who used it, but nothing appears to have happened as of yet.) Finally, they insist that no one at MySpace or affiliated with MySpace had anything to do with it. Somehow, I doubt it.

Because of my sickness, I really don't have the energy to fight much more right now, but I haven't forgotten it. At least I have some solace in knowing they are aware of the problem. Sadly, truste.com is trying to take much of the credit.

-D

P.S. The stalker herself has not contacted me since. I think she learned her lesson.

Everyone, I am suffering from tonsilitis. I will not be able to have them removed immediately, but they are quite a nuissance and keep me from wanting to post (or do much of anything else) in the meantime.

I know you are stalking me too, 159.121.166.99, so you can stop.

I am going to update my links and my friends list (I will contact anyone before removing them), and may change the style. Any recommendations are welcome.

Be careful about using your real personal information on your MySpace account (your primary email, your real first and last name, address, phone number, etc.) Even though it is _promised_ to be private, and only used by MySpace employees, they apparently give the information out to their friends, etc.

How do I know this? Someone on MySpace contacted me on AOL and bragged how she got the information from MySpace. I didn't believe her, but I still reported HER to MySpace (thinking she did some kind of hacking). Then she contacts me again saying she heard about the complaint from MySpace. Apparently, they (or at least someone at MySpace) is really working with her, trying to cover up that they earlier helped her out.

I might get kicked off MySpace for even reporting this privacy violation (which is a serious crime), but I have everything documented for TrustE (the internet watchdog organization).

Be careful, people. I have always been a huge fan of MySpace, but this is unbelievable. I will never again feel safe giving my personal information to a "secure" website that promises privacy is their most utmost goal.

I am going to force myself to find time to get online, read LJs and post to mine. I actually have a post to put up in a minute, taken from MySpace.

For those I haven't talked to in forever, I am sorry. Send me an email (or just drop me a message here)! I love you guys and miss you, especially YOU (and you know who you are - the one I can't find on MySpace anymore - my pretend online girlfriend).

-D

I have a lot to say, and I now have the time to say it. Unfortunately, where I am currently staying there is no internet access (nor even cable television). I am about an hour east of the city in Henry County. Right now, I am visiting my parents house just to do email and the like.

I apologize for not being able to respond to emails or being able to post, etc. Hopefully, I will soon be back in the city. Some of the posts I had outlined will be obsolete, and may therefore not be worth posting (e.g. about the Iraqi elections, the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire, etc), but I am sure there will be new things (like the Social Security debate).

In the meantime, be well, everyone.

President Bush just nominated Ambassador John Negroponte to be the first Director of National Intelligence. Despite his shady past regarding the Nicaraguan Contras while he was Ambassador to Honduras, he has served well as Ambassador to the United Nations and most recently to Iraq. I would be a bit concerned about a diplomat overseeing our 15 intelligence agencies, but his deputy will be current Director of the National Security Agency, Lt. Gen Mike Hayden, who has served there since 1999. I am actually more confident with him then I would be if Porter Goss had gotten this promotion as we expected. As for the rumors that the first few people offered the job turned it down, well... I wouldn't be surprised. It is tough to be the first one in such a tenuous and ill-defined position. If people turned the job down, Andy Card shouldn't deny it like someone turned down. It isn't a token job. A rejection isn't a rejection of the President.

According to this article, Liberal Arts degrees are worth less than they were last year. Most of the technical degrees listed in the brief index are substantially more valuable. I hope this isn't a longstanding trend.