hermionesviolin: image of Buffy and Giles seated in the school library with text "knowledge is power" (knowledge is power)
Tammy Baldwin gave the Commencement address at my alma mater this year.

The Commencement page says "At the age of 37, Baldwin became both the first woman and the first non-incumbent, openly gay person to be elected to represent her state [Wisconsin] in Congress. She was re-elected to her sixth term in 2008 and currently serves in the 111th Congress."

I read her address online.

Near the beginning she says:
My bio says I won my first campaign for public office when I was 24 years old. But my classmates always remind me that’s not completely true. My first campaign was right here at Smith when I ran for president of my house. I felt confident. I had passionately followed politics for years. And, not only was it my house, it was called Baldwin House.

Needless to say, I lost. But, I learned my lesson. I’ve never run another campaign against a Smithie. And I’ve never lost another election.
Aww.

Okay, I'm excerpting most of the remainder of her speech.
One of my favorite professors was Jim Henle. My first class with him was “infinitesimal calculus.” I was a math major and a pretty sharp student. In his class he did something that took me completely by surprise.

He assigned us “insoluble problems” -- problems with no solutions -- as homework. We weren’t expected to come up with the answers. But we were expected to show some progress.

Professor Henle’s point was that by pushing against the boundaries of what we knew, we could expand those boundaries. Of course, in the back of our heads, a lot of us had another thought: that every problem starts out as insoluble. Then somebody goes and cracks it.

I never figured out any of the problems. There’s a reason I became a politician and not a mathematician. But as my career has progressed, I’ve thought back to that class many times.

Far too often, our greatest challenges are portrayed as insoluble problems. And our reaction is to throw up our hands, say “oh well,” and go on to the next challenge. But history teaches us that even our biggest problems have solutions. How do you calculate the area of a circle? How do you build a computer for less than a million dollars? How do you govern without a King... or Queen? All insoluble problems -- or so they seemed.

ExpandRead more... )

The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. said “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” He used it in many speeches, but the most famous time was in his speech in Montgomery after the march from Selma.

Remember this was the third attempt to march. The first time, they were attacked by the police with clubs and tear gas and had to turn back. The second time, they were stopped by a judge’s order. The third time, they finally made it all 54 miles to Montgomery where Dr. King gave his speech.

However, all they had accomplished was getting to Montgomery. They hadn’t changed any laws. They hadn’t gotten any concessions. Jim Crow was still the law of the land.

Today, we remember the march from Selma as a key turning point in the civil rights struggle. This is how progress happens. You push and push and push until you can’t push any more. Sometimes you are beaten back. But in the end, that arc bends just slightly and the world is a better place.

Many of you know this history. I raise it today because it is easy to forget that in the history books, we always know how the story ends. Real life is different. We can’t see that far ahead. We don’t know what the future brings.

It becomes easy to focus on problems that have clear cut solutions. How do I get this job? How do I get this apartment? How do I pass this bill? Avoiding the insoluble problems means saying that at best, we can do only a little bit better. What a tragic pronouncement!
***

I heart fandom.  Someone linked to the NYT article "Dear Donna: A Pinup So Swell She Kept G.I. Mail", commenting, "I can't recommend this story highly enough. Both because it is Memorial Day, but also because it offers a really unique window on (and starting point for discussion about) fan/celebrity interaction."
hermionesviolin: black and white photo of Emma Watson as Hermione, with text "hermionesviolin" (hermione by oatmilk)
I can b-school osmosis the psychology stuff, but I think I'm just not wired for economics.  Have I retained any of what I've read on this?  Not much.

I've retained that most people think the 700-plus-billion-dollar bailout is a bad idea.  And that banning short-selling isn't a useful idea.  And that lot of folks don't buy the blaming of the "repeal" of Glass-Steagall.  Oh, and Megan McArdle is skeptical of hindsight regulation.

Expandreading list )

One thing that's been throwing me in chatting with lefties has been the idea that we should let Wall Street fail (they deserve it after all, and hey, if these companies are too big to fail, isn't the middle class too big to fail as well? shouldn't we get some sort of bailout -- I bite my tongue on the fact that "saving the middle class" isn't that simple, nevermind the fact that much/most of the middle class is not exactly teetering on failure, because I know the statement is intended partially tongue-in-cheek) as if this wouldn't have any sort of ripple effect.  I mean, I'm usually the one advocating heartless pragmatism (just war, ends justify means, etc.) and not being beloved by the Left for it.
ExpandI quote Megan McArdle a lot )
Things I might be able to retain include Tim Carney on what the heck AIG is (via Megan McArdle).

***

Ten National Security Myths (The Nation - September 17, 2008)

***

I finally read Maureen Dowd's "Aaron Sorkin Conjures a Meeting of Obama and Bartlet."  I'd been resisting, 'cause I don't like Maureen Dowd.  Not gonna lie; I wasn't impressed. 

There's a lot of filler, and while there are a few good lines it's mostly not that compelling.

And Bartlet's attack on Palin . . . where to even begin?  Oh, I know, with "It's not bad enough she's forcing her own daughter into a loveless marriage to a teenage hood, she wants the rest of us to guide our daughters in that direction too?" because where the fuck did THAT come from?  Point out a double standard?  [Which Bartlet does, in his "black daughter" bit.]  Yes, go for it.  But we know nothing about Bristol and [Googles] Levi or their relationship.

[livejournal.com profile] jennyo takes the opportunity to comment: "I also note that 30 Rock has a lot of shippy RPF [...]  This once again suggests that of all fandom fights, the "ZOMG RPF IS WRONG!" is still a rather dumb fandom fight."  I would argue that pr0ning up celebs is a bit different from the gen/shippy RPF that mainstream media is able to get away with.

If we're gonna talk West Wing professional RPF, I prefer The Onion's "Aaron Sorkin Announces New 'West Wing' Animated Series At SorCon" (hat tip: wisdomeagle).

***

This from the Tues. Sept. 23 metro made me giggle:
The owner of a San Francisco wine bar was doing a brisk business with an organic wine imported from Chile: Palin Syrah. But after a certain nomination last month, sales have dried up.

"It was our best-selling wine before [the V.P. announcement]," Chris Tavelli, owner of Yield Wine Bar, told the Serious Eats blog. But since then sales have plummeted. Because wine drinkers in San Francisco really are that petty.
***

InstaPundit:
OBAMA SUPPORTER John Althouse Cohen on "How Obama Lost Me."

Plus, Mike Rappaport on why he's not supporting McCain.

Don't people wind up feeling this way every four years? Which isn't to say they're wrong. As for me, I haven't liked a candidate enough to be actually disillusioned by one in . . . well, ever, really. The good news is that the guy you don't like usually fails to live up to your fears almost as much as the guy you like fails to live up to your hopes. . . .
The Mike Rappaport piece ends: "Update: Since Glenn has linked to this post with the statement "why [Mike Rappaport] is not supporting McCain," I thought I should give readers a couple of other blog posts on the subject with additional reasons.  Here are three of many, and there are others on this page."  Reading them is something of a surreal experience.

***

Starbucks Does Not Equal Savvy
What we talk about when we talk about experience
By Michael Gerson | NEWSWEEK
Published Sep 20, 2008

Here They Go Again
Rovean tactics alone do not win the Republican Party elections. This is a center-right country, and Democrats ignore this at their own peril.
By Jonathan Darman | NEWSWEEK
Published Sep 20, 2008

Who Cares Where Spain Is?
The debate shouldn't be a chance to play gotcha. What the candidates know about the world is less important than how they think about it.
By Richard N. Haass | NEWSWEEK
Published Sep 20, 2008

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