Fear and Awesomeness

Last weekend, I had a pretty fabulous Friday night with a friend in Lake George.  I didn't look at my phone for a couple hours.  When I got in the car to head home, I noticed a couple missed calls.  I recognized the number, though the name was deleted from my phone long ago.  I was kind of glad I missed the calls - they definitely would have killed the mood of the night.  I ignored the voicemail like I ignore the emails.  But the text...well, it's right there on the screen like a train wreck.

As I drove home, I was terrified of what was waiting in my driveway.  I pulled around the the corner and peaked down the road to see if anyone was parked at my house.  The driveway was empty.

Tonight as I was driving home, I had the same fear. It was completely unprecipitated and irrational, but I had this nagging feeling there was a truck waiting in my driveway and I wondered how much longer I would have to live this way.

I pulled into the empty driveway, went inside, and locked the door behind me.  And I realized that I while I'm sometimes afraid of what I'll run into outside, I'm not afraid to be in my own house anymore.  And I'll never be afraid in my own home again.  And that's pretty awesome.

Observations at the airport

1. I don't care how perky your rear end is. If you are over eighteen, it looks absurd in that tight white sweatpants / thong combo. Even if they are bedazzled. And the fact your kids are here for this display is a bit creepy.

2. It has been nine years since you were allowed to lock your suitcase. Nine years. People no longer feel bad when you are paged to get out of line at security. People think you're a moron.

3. Not an airport thing, but frequently on my mind - I harbor great resentment for Tyra Banks for adding the words "moron" and "white trash" to my everyday vocabulary.

4. I fully support your right to wear spandex, splits, men's capris or whatever otherwise crazy attire makes your sport better. I even encourage it. Make it leopard print! But when the gloves come off, so do the satin shorts. I don't want to see your spandex at the airport.

5. The breakfast bacon Stromboli at the Albany airport is about eight thousand calories of heaven.

Exit Procedures

How to leave the United States:

1. Show passport and boarding pass.
2. Go through metal detectors / put bag on scanner.
3. Go to gate.
4. Get on plane.

How to leave China:

1. Show boarding pass.
2. Take train.
3. Show passport.
4. Walk to next counter.
5. Show boarding pass and passport.
6. Walk eight feet.
7. Show boarding pass.
8. Go through metal detectors / put bag on scanner.
9. Allow for thorough patdown.
10. Go to gate.
11. Present bags for manual search.
12. Get on plane.

Professors as Law Enforcement?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124111931

There is so much in this article that disturbs me.  A lot of it has to do with the fact that is an OpEd piece listed
labeled as "news."  I am all for OpEd pieces.  I'd just like them to be labeled as such.  My bigger issue has to do with such careless reporting, but if I am to request it be labeled OpEd, I can't also request that it follow tenants of good, fact-based reporting.

I will summarize for those who don't feel like reading the article.  Girl was raped.  Police did nothing.  She went to university.  Administrative proceedings ensued, results were not good.  Now we should be upset at the university and demand they do a better job at investigating such crimes.

Really? Do you really want university administrators performing law enforcement duties?  Nowhere in this essay is therw any outrage at the police.  The police are the ones who shirked their duty here.  The police have an obligation to investigate crimes.  The District Attorney should be prosecuting said crimes.  (I almost said "the police should be investigating and prosecuting," but I have heard the intro to Law and Order one too many times.  Police investigate; DAs prosecute the offenders.)

Then there is the discussion of the offender.  He had a drinking problem.  Uhm....so what?  How is this relevant.  It's not.  Neither is the fact that he got in a fight with another guy.  Rape is a predatory crime, and neither his drinking nor his beating up another guy would be allowed in court.  Just like we wouldn't, and shouldn't, be allowed to ask how many times she had come back to the dorm drunk that semester.  Someone sent the victim an email saying she too was attacked by the same rapist and this information was given to the university, who apparently was supposed to consider this information in their handling of the case.  Really?  Would this make it into court?  Should it?  There seems to be some inconsistency here - university should be hard on criminals, but should not follow general rules of evidence.  You can't have it both ways - demand the university act like a court for the accuser, but not for the accused.

But in the end, I don't want the university playing prosecutor.  Do you want your English Lit professor investigating a murder?  Is a rape investigation less serious or complicated?

Maybe the communists do get something right...

Earlier this week, there were articles floating around that Earl Bradley was indicted on 471 counts for molesting 103 children.  We are going to do some psychological analysis to determine his "state of mind" at the time of the crimes.  No matter what the results of the trial are, the worst thing that happens is he spends the rest of his life in prison.

The China Daily repored this morning that the management of Panda Dairy are on trial for selling tainted milk products.  They face the death penalty.