The Democratic Nominee

The long and arduous path towards the nomination of the presumptive Democratic presidential representative has finally been decided tonight. Obama took the lead in the lead in the delegate count tonight and will thus be the Democratic nominee. I cried during his speech tonight. I also cried during Clinton's speech. I cried because I do have hope for this country. There are some who see this "hope" as helpless and wonder how Obama can follow through on his promises (see Tucker Carlson, most of the commenters on MSNBC and Fox News); but because I have hope for something, anything better than the Bush administration.
Not to say that this primary season has been all peaches and roses. We have witnesses virulent misogyny and racism on the part of the Democratic nominees and their supporters as well as on the part of the Republican party (also add homophobia, transphobia, and just about any other -phobia to that side of the ticket).
I hope that this party can pull itself together. I voted for John Edwards ages ago on Super Tuesday. Since then I have sat back and watched this nomination process. I have listened to the sexism and racism and spoken my mind when people have uttered ignorant things in my presence.
I hope, that now that Obama is the nominee, the horrid sexism and misogyny that have run wild in the media and among so called Democrats is addressed. I was torn between Obama and Clinton, but felt that the constant attacks against Clinton because of her sex was something that I, a woman in academia (in a historically male dominated discipline) could identify with.
So, here's to Obama...I'm excited that one of my state senators could be the POTUS...I'm excited that the Repugs could be out...I'm excited that peoples' voices in all of the states (and territories) voices were heard...and mostly, I'm excited about the hope that ANY Democratic nominee can offer.

Science Fairs

Check out these 41 Hilarious Science Fair Experiments. They don't inspire much confidence in young kids (or their parents and teachers who approved these projects).
So, if you ever entered a science fair, what was your project about? I did mine (in 4th grade) on measuring people's heart rates as they did different exercises wearing varying amounts of weight in a book bag. I think the point was to see which kinds of activities were more taxing on the heart...or I just made that up and it was really an excuse to make the cute boys in my class get sweaty so I could touch them and listen to their hearts. I was pretty pathetic back then.

Update

We have a snow day here in C'dale. The University is shut down. It should actually be called an ice/snow day since all day yesterday it alternated between snow and ice. Tamira just tried to scrape her car...and it didn't go well. We're basically stuck in our house for right now which is okay by me since I've been sick lately.

Weirdness front: A couple of weeks ago a group of us had a run in with Ron Paul fans. As we were celebrating Lindsey's defense, we had no idea that craziness was about to descend upon us. All of a sudden (near close) there was a group of unknown guys at the end of our table. One was talking to Rose, who looked very uncomfortable, so I went over and saved her. Then, as the lights were brightened and the bar tenders started ushering people out, on of the guys approached us and said (and I'm not making this up), "I'm one of the Ron Paul guys. I'm a member of the Ron Paul team. How do you ladies feel about Ron Paul?" Well, needless to say, I could not hold in my hysterical, are you fucking kidding me, laughter. Is this the new way to pick up the ladies? Has this gotten a positive response with other people you've just met? And then it got better. I told Ron Paulian No. 1 (with his porn star wannabe mustache and way hawt 1980's black faux leather jacket) that I actually wanted to keep many federal programs around including the Department of Education which despite it's flaws is the only reason I can afford to go to school. Plus, I added, I don't think eliminating the income tax is going to magically solve all of our nation's problems and that a new consumption tax was going to make it very hard for me to budget. His response? Well, if the income tax was gone, I would be able to afford my schooling. My response? More hysterical laughter. I only work 10 hrs a week outside of my assistantship (which would disappear if the Dept of Edu went bye-bye)...how much money do you think actually comes out of my paycheck? It ain't enough to cover tuition I'll tell you that.

I should add that throughout this "conversation" Eraina was drunkenly yelling, "I'm from New York. Hillary's my home girl!" It was perfect.

So, that's my weird story. Just heard that Ron Paul is essentially dropping out of the race, so maybe the nutty Paulians will go away. Still don't know who I would vote for. I'm not convinced on Obama's policies, and I'm almost tempted to vote for Hillary just because of the sheer hatred leveled at her from both the left and right simply for being a woman.

Sigh....

I may have ruined Christmas...not really sure how things escalated to the point that they did, but I sure as hell had to get out of town.
Now, it's Saturday night, I'm tipsy and hanging out with my cat. How cool am I?
Sculls looks drunk in this pic too:)

More Xmas-y goodness

(Christmas Wrapping, The Waitresses)


(All I want for Christmas, Mariah Carey)


(Santa Baby, Eartha Kitt)

XMas Nostalgia

As if Cahokia didn't have enough problems...

...the Fairmont City landfill is being expanded to within 2,100 feet of Cahokia. Now, you might argue that visual eyesores and the occasional whiff of rotting baby diaper is something that folks visiting the World Heritage Site will just have deal with in the name of important revenue; despite the fact that I think there are laws in place that deal with the construction of eyesores within the purview of World Heritage Sites (I know in the state of IL they have laws about compensating the owners of historical homes when cell towers are built within view).
However, what is particularly striking about this case is the final couple of sentences in the article. You know, the ones that mention the artifacts and the skull???!!! Call me a naive archaeologist, but doesn't the presence of human remains (whether prehistoric or not) typically put at least a temporary kibosh on construction plans? OK, I'm done pretending to be naive now. Those of us who have working the American Bottom and surrounding regions know that this is starting to become common practice. There are certain CRM (cultural resource management) firms and corrupt archaeologists who are willing to write off archaeological sites of importance. If you read Tim Pauketat's new book, Chiefdoms and Other Archaeological Delusions, you will find more information about archaeological corruption. Several years ago, a local collector in the American Bottom region was checking on come subdivisions that were being built on locations with sites that were deemed not important enough for archaeological mitigation beyond a simple survey. The collector found features visible in the soils, artifacts in the back dirt, and human remains.
It is amazing to me what people will do all for the sake of the Almighty Dollar.