Deantastic!

I haven’t been able to post to the blog this week, and for that I apologize. I’ve been swamped with schoolwork this week despite the fact that there were no classes from Monday to Wednesday. The Science Investigatory Projects are due really, really soon, and while we’re nearly done with our manuscripts, there’s a lot of work to be done yet.

So, anyway, there are some stuff I want to talk about. Let me yap now.

Sarah Palin is McCain’s veep

Sarah Palin, a single-term governor of Alaska for two years now, has been chosen as John McCain’s running mate. I watched Gov. Palin’s speech after McCain introduced him, and right then and there I figured their camp was getting panicky. Here’s what she said in her speech (full transcript found here):

“I think as well today of two other women who came before me in national elections. I can’t begin this great effort without honoring the achievements of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, and, of course, Senator Hillary Clinton, who showed such determination and grace in her presidential campaign.

“It was rightly noted in Denver this week that Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America. But it turns out the women of America aren’t finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all.”

This was clearly an attempt to pander to Clintonians who were disappointed at the fact that Hillary’s name isn’t on the Democratic ticket—a clever attempt, in all fairness. This is how I interpreted the speech, though:

Hey, Hillary Clinton didn’t win the primaries, which only means that I’m the right person for Veep and Grandpa Johnny’s the right one for Prez.

Photo credits: http://blog.cleveland.com

It underestimates the logic of American women everywhere. It seems like the McCain campaign has assumed that people will vote for Palin (and maybe even her running mate) simply because she has a vagina. This election was supposed to transcend all boundaries. After all, a charismatic African-American by the name of Barack Obama is the first black to be nominated for the presidency by a major political party, and by golly, Hillary Clinton would’ve made history were she the nominee. Why then have the Republicans assumed that people would decide who the next vice president will be by virtue of sex?

This article from Jon Soltz explains why Palin is a bad choice, and strengthens my initial reaction about it being more of a political pick than concern for the nation. Palin is simply less experienced than what Republicans say. She has been governing Alaska since 2006. Let’s not forget that Alaska has a sizeable amount of money in its coffers thanks to the fact that it’s bursting with natural resources and has a smaller population to spend its money on. Translation: no fiscal quandaries, which at least partly explains why she is well thought of in her home sate. As for foreign policy? “Alaska’s close to Russia, so she’s gotta have some experience” is all they’ve got. Surely, Barack Obama, who legislates and therefore knows about the issues and concerns of the John and Jane Does of America (and not just the John and Jane Does of one sparsely populated state), has more experience to boot. Alas, the hypocrisy of John McCain and gang (regarding Obama’s “inexperience”), is revealed.

(She looks like Tina Fey, though.)

In other news

Things are finally looking up for me in the love department. (OK, teenage stuff ahead—brace yourselves.) The wounds of the past look like they’ve finally healed and new doors are opening up. I couldn’t be happier.

However, school’s been nothing but a load of shit. The first quarter of the school year has come to a close, and our grades (for which I expressed my indifference in an earlier post) are starting to pour in. The long wait to find out how high (or low) our marks are is nerve-wracking, and I can only hope it all goes well. I’m in deep trouble with my Statistics and Physics grades, though. I’ll update you on my fate as soon as I get information.

I’ve also decided to go ahead and participate in Blog Action Day 2008, where bloggers will write about one common topic to try to raise awareness for it. This year, the issue in focus is poverty, something I’m not alien to because I have encounters with it everyday. I’ve been struggling to write as of late though, but I’ll try my very best to get a post ready for the event. (Mark it on your calendars—October 15’s the date.)

Jaiku is back from the dead. Well, sorta. Google, in an attempt to revive its entry in the microblogging arena, has opened Jaiku up to the public. No more “give us your email and we’ll see what we can do” nonsense—just sign up (or sign in), agree to the new Terms of Service, and you’re off jaikuing (or whatever the appropriate verb is). Whatevs. My microblogging platform of choice is still Plurk, with a little tweeting thanks to TwitterFox, and a sprinkle of Tumblr to complete the recipe.

Lastly, but not the least, I want to mention a great blog I discovered recently—Putting Blogs First, which is written by Muhammad Siyab. There’s a whole load of great content in there, like Thursday Link Roundups and Top X lists for your perusal. Check it out! (The author of the blog did not approach me asking for a plug. No compensation was provided for this mention. I don’t even know if Muhammad knows I’ve linked to his website, lol.)

I’ll catch up with you in a bit, and hopefully next time I’ll have more good news to report. Toodles.