Silly Girls In Dresses

So, this is a screen shot of what greeted me after I got home from class:

Eff.

I tried to suppress that dread that gets your heart pumping and triggers that good ol’ “fight or flight” instinct, but to no avail. Welcome to The Great Depression: Round 2.

I’m seriously worried about getting student loans next year. What if I can’t afford that last two years of law school? The bailout was morally disgusting, but…I would really like to be able to get a loan next year. If this was the way to do it……well…….

Here’s the thing: socialist policies helped us get through the last depression, so why are people so against them now? One of the biggest concerns I’ve heard from the Republicans in the House during these last few days was that the $700 billion bailout was going to lead us down a path towards socialism. While I absolutely do not condone the bailout plan (seriously, why on earth would anyone give the people who got us into this mess the authority to bail us out…without oversight?!), I do think that we need to stop looking down our noses at socialism. The free market failed, people. We might to make the big swing to the left before we can rest comfortably in the ideological middle.

Apparently, if you are a parent in Nebraska and don’t feel like taking care of your children anymore, you can just drop them off at the nearest hospital or police station! No questions asked! The government will take care of them under a “Safe Heaven” law passed in July.

As a friend of mine pointed out…isn’t Nebraska one of the states that thinks “the gays” are the ones ruining the American family?

Um, just wanted to let everyone know that I have the best study buddy in the world:

Pete is bored by Torts

trying to help me highlight....

I don’t care if posting pics of Pete on my blog makes me a creepy cat lady. He’s adorable, you’re jealous, just admit it and we can move on.

Alright FINALLY some part of government has publicly stated that Senator Leahy’s Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act is not so great. I mean, seriously, how could you miss the amazing amount of stupid in this bill?

The Justice Department apparently “mimic[ked] the EFF’s concerns,” which is simply fantastic. I’m always a tiny bit skeptical of the effects organizations like the EFF have, but this gives me hope!

While I was on the farm this summer, there was a lot of talk about the progressive nature of Canada. At the end of a month, I was fully aware that Canada was not the “Progressive Wonderland” that I had been seeking. Instead, my Canadian friends joked, I should move to Sweden if I wanted to live an a REAL progressive wonderland. 

I couldn’t help thinking of those conversation when I read this article. Of course Sweden would have the answers to all of America’s problems! Why didn’t we think of that before?!

Also, I need to stop reading the NYTimes so much and get some other news sources. As much as I love it, this is getting ridiculous.

Check out the picture accompanying this article.

Notice how Obama and McCain are at COMPLETELY OPPOSITE ends of the table? Smart.

Suzanne Vega is perhaps just as famous for her music as she is for her (indirect) role in the creation of the MP3. I was unaware that she is also an excellent writer.

Her blog in the NYTimes really captures a lot of the complexities that copyright law must deal with. The story she tells also suggests why the current copyright system we have in place may be simply wrong.

Her post is part of  ”Measure for Measure”, a series of NYTimes Op-Eds designed to showcase the creative process of songwriting. Suzanne Vega, Andrew Bird, Roseanne Cash and Peter Holsapple are among the contributors. Check it out here.

It’s a simple principle that many people have forgotten: recycle.

For centuries, people worked on farms. They didn’t have supermarkets or big box stores or chain restaurants, and they had to make everything they needed. They were self sufficient. This is the way humans were meant to live. We are supposed to diversify our crops and recycle our waste. We have not been doing that, and now we’re obviously in an environmental crisis.

Renewable energy is a reaction to the wastefulness of oil and CAFOs and other horrible lifestyle choices. I’m clearly excited that this issue is spotlighted in the current presidential campaign. Even so, renewable energy has its problems. Is coal really that clean? Can we really grow enough corn to produce ethanol and feed a growing nation?

Here is one solution that gives me hope: using cow manure! Read about it here.

Yes, it may be gross, but it embodies many of the principles that we have lost: it recycles waste, it allows for diversification and it supports local farmers! Of course, I’m a sucker for anything that supports local farmers but who wouldn’t be? The wave of the future is a renewal of the past! God I wish my roof was open so I could grow some things. Maybe my next apartment….

This is yet another reason why I love Radiohead.

I wonder what Larry Lessig thinks of this. I’m envisioning….a smile?