Wilson’s secret strategy

17 Sep 2009, Posted by Braden Hendricks in Backpages, Braden Hendricks, 0 Comments

America has pretty much always operated on a two party system. While there were a few years there in the beginning when there was only one political party, or just protopolitical parties, for the last 190 years straight the government has been opposed in two diametrically opposing forces. Only the names have changed with time, but mostly it has been conservative versus liberal, big government versus small government, a regulated economy versus laissez-faire, etc. etc. Okay, we all know this, but according to some political analysts, America needs the two party system. They say that if there were three major parties, the government would be wildly unstable. One major party would result in a dictatorship state. Well, that seems to make sense, I suppose. I’m no poli-sci major, but clearly there must be a reason for most advanced democracies to have formulated into two-party systems, and it is quite obvious that this will not change anytime soon in this nation- despite the GOP’s best efforts to make a complete laughingstock of itself.

And that’s where Representative Joe Wilson, R-S.C., comes in. The latest gaffer in the recent string of Republican falls-from-grace, Wilson interrupted President Obama’s all-important address to a joint session of Congress concerning health care reform. While not creating the frankly ridiculous hysteria that his speech to schoolchildren caused, Obama’s latest rhetoric performance caused enough ire in Representative Wilson at least for him to shout “You lie!” in a most undignified fashion.

He looks like a cheeser doesn't he? (CAROLINA POLITICS)

See? I wasn't exaggerating. (WINCOAST)

The unprofessionals

15 Sep 2009, Posted by Bud Baker in Backpages, Bud Baker, 0 Comments

This past week, three of my favorite superstars made absolute fools of themselves. All of them displayed conduct that can simply be described as… unprofessional. Michael Jordan turned his Hall of Fame speech into a self-promoting diatribe. Serena Williams lost her U.S. Open semifinal match in an explosion of anger. Not to be outdone, Kanye West humiliated a teenage girl on national television.

Michael Jordan’s Hall of Fame speech was the most disappointing. I always thought of Jordan as the consummate professional. Although he certainly was highly competitive and at times showboated, he always seemed to compete with style and grace. We all wanted to be “like Mike.” As a kid growing up in northern Florida, I had no business rooting for Chicago, but Jordan’s incredible athleticism and professionalism turned me into a diehard Bulls fan. I vividly remember running around my house as a little 10 year old screaming in jubilation after Jordan hit the game winning shot against the Jazz in ’98.

For these reasons, I was somewhat surprised to hear Jordan in his speech tell his family that “[he] wouldn’t want to be [them]” or admonishing other NBA Hall of Famers for incidents that happened decades ago. Jordan didn’t stop there. Jordan ridiculed former Bulls general manager Jerry Krause for a quote made years ago and even criticized his high school coach for not putting him on varsity as a sophomore. The basketball great revealed a dark, bitter side of his personality that the public hasn’t seen before. It was almost as if he had been waiting for this moment to unleash years of frustration and anger upon his fellow competitors, teammates, friends and family. Jordan’s remarks were mean-spirited and unprofessional. But Michael can get away with it. He is after all, the greatest basketball player of all time (the greatest athlete of all time according to ESPN). A living icon. I mean if Jesus played basketball he’d wear number 23, right?

The angry meltdown by Serena Williams was the probably the most understandable of the three. Serving to stay in her U.S. Open semifinal match against Kim Clijsters, Serena was called for a foot fault by the lineswoman. Serena went berserk. She stormed the lineswoman, started cursing and waving her racket. At one point she even threatened to shove her tennis ball down the lineswoman’s throat. That last remark lead to a penalty for misconduct, ending the contest. Serena Williams was bounced from the U.S. Open because she threw a temper tantrum. Serena was fined $10,000 by the WTA and has since issued a sincere apology. The outburst appeared to be an aberration in an otherwise stellar career. Perhaps she just caved into the pressure of defending her U.S. Open title and living up to all the hype. Nonetheless, Serena’s furious tirade was startling, bizarre and rather unprofessional. Why so much anger?

“You won’t like me when I’m angry.” (Witchita Eagle)

Now we turn to Mr. West. After Sunday night, I think we can all agree that Kanye has lost his mind. As Taylor Swift was accepting her MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video, Kanye yanked the mike out of her hand and proclaimed that Beyonce’s “All My Single Ladies” video was the best of all time. Now I like Beyonce, and I agree that her video was probably better, but what?? Why is a 32-year-old man trying to shame a 19 year old? Why is Kanye acting like a fool?

Kanye you were once cool. Everyone loved you. Every album you’ve made has been a hit. You even made auto-tune sound okay for awhile. What’s the problem man? Why are you hating on Taylor Swift? She’s just a little girl that sings light, harmless, pseudo-country songs. It’s not like she’s George Bush or anything.

And now looking back on that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” quote, I no longer respect it anymore. At the time I was proud of Kanye for speaking his mind and expressing the frustration that African Americans and gulf coast residents were feeling in the wake of this country’s worst national disaster. Now I just see it as a bumbling  rant by a spoiled, ego-inflated celebrity who wouldn’t even let a charity organization share the spotlight with him. Kanye’s recent actions have not only been unprofessional, but juvenile and pathetic. It’s time for him to grow up.

Someone please stop this man. (AP)

Late night thrills?

14 Sep 2009, Posted by Gloria Ahn in Backpages, 0 Comments

I’ve had my first 4:30 a.m. last Friday, and I don’t think it will be my last one.

Yesterday, my friends nonchalantly told me that they would probably sleep around 3 to 4 a.m. That late night will probably not be their last one either.

I’m not sure why, but it’s so much harder for me to wake up early (10 a.m. classes what?) and so much easier for me to stay up later (You slept at 11 p.m.? Are you nuts?)

Could it be that our sleeping schedules correspond to our preferred class times or that we think that the later we sleep, the more we are “getting done.” Could it be that we don’t feel like Duke students until we’ve pushed our REM cycles to the limit.

Even though it’s ridiculous, I think that it’s something of a combination of the two. I think there’s a moment of proud for us when we can say, “Man, I slept so late yesterday. I was up until 4 a.m. finishing my math XXX homework.” We like to push our deadlines, and then feel accomplished when we beat the system by waiting until the last possible minute to complete it. We might make quiet resolutions at the end of our last minute endeavors, but it will more likely than not NOT come into fulfillment.

So as we perpetuate bad habits for ourselves, we become a bit too comfortable with the thrill of almost not getting things done. I don’t know about you, but I kind of did that myself as I was writing this column. It’s not 4 a.m. in the morning, but I was pushing the envelope. And to the tell you the truth, I’m sick of it. The thrill is bland now and then guilt of having something to do is like a piece of spinach stuck between two stubborn teeth.

We all know the solution to our age old problem. It’s just a matter of dealing with it.

My suggestion? Well as an economist, I would recognize the greater benefits to the unworthy costs of procrastinating. As a realist, I would recognize that it’s easier said than done. As a Duke student who eventually gets things done, I know that if I put my mind to it, it will get done. It might not be now, but slowly but surely it will.

Response to Satell’s guest commentary

11 Sep 2009, Posted by Vikram Srinivasan in Backpages, Backtalk, 0 Comments

In his guest commentary yesterday, Cliff Satell took issue with my argument on the consequences of individual drug use, making the case that Latin American casualties of the drug war die from “bullets…not weed.”

But Satell simply ignores how drug cartels obtain their bullets. It is precisely because Americans buy Latin American drugs that cartels have the resources to purchase weapons and fund their organizations.

Well, some pot is produced in the U.S., he responds, and therefore its use does not support cartels. However, the nature of distribution networks is such that drugs have changed hands several times before they reach their ultimate consumer.  There is basically no way for drug users buying off the street to know exactly where their fix is coming from.

Then, Satell contends that demand is infinite and suggests that therefore efforts to curb marijuana demand can only be limitedly effective. Satell then argues that since one individual drug user’s choice to discontinue use will not end the drug trade, the decision of whether or not to use pot has no moral dimension.

I am actually fairly sympathetic to the former position, but it’s hard to know where to begin in refuting the latter one. The difficulty of getting individuals to stop using drugs does not absolve those individuals of the moral consequences of their actions. The implication of Satell’s view is that individuals never have any ethical responsibilities based on the social consequences of their actions because of the collective action problem. By that logic, Duke should never have divested from Sudan in 2007. I’d suggest, instead, that supporting drug cartels in any way, even if that means sending them cents on the dollar, is something students should feel conscientious about, given the sheer brutality of the crimes cartels commit.

Moreover, many seem to have either misread or misunderstood the view I expressed in my initial column regarding legalization. I explicitly stated that “debates over legalization of drugs are legitimate and have a place in the public discourse,” so to suggest that I am ignoring the legalization issue is flatly inaccurate.

However, the key point, as I noted before, is that these debates have no logical bearing on the ethics of current recreational marijuana use. A defense of the ethics of an action cannot rest wholly on the contingencies of an alternate universe. Whether or not legalization would eliminate the market for pot distributed by drug cartels tomorrow is irrelevant to the ethics of using marijuana today.

The bottom line is that marijuana is illegal now and drugs from those cartels are a real and substantial part of the U.S. market. When students choose to use drugs, there is a tremendous likelihood some portion of the money they spend will find its way back to some truly brutal murderers operating South of the border. These are facts. When drug users choose to ignore them, they do so not at their own risk, but at the risk of innocent people far away. Duke students should consider carefully whether they are comfortable with that.

Seeking normality, and culture

10 Sep 2009, Posted by Lisa Du in Backpages, 1 Comments

It is “Orientation,” and I am waking up in a strange room.

Correction-I am waking up in a strange room and panicking, in tune with the dull and insistent throbbing of my headache.

Then, awareness sets in. I remember that I am in Japan and it is indeed orientation week at my new university. I am no longer at Duke-where orientation is long over-and things are going to be different.

I am not waking up to a breakfast of SmartWater for my hangover and an unhealthy dose of reality slapping me in the face. Instead, there is a delicious home-cooked breakfast waiting for me downstairs, and the reality is that my jetlag-ache will go away in time.

It has been about a week since I arrived in Japan and began to exhibit all the symptoms of a stereotypical “foreigner.” I was nervous, tongue-tied and sweaty. In my anxiety, I also managed to forget every word of Japanese I knew for my first 12 hours in the country. ‘Twas not a pretty sight.

By nature of the fact that I am in a country where the average level of English comprehension is such that it is okay for someone to wear a sweatshirt that says “Libido” and not get stared at, knowing English is not going to be the ace in the hole that allows me to get by. I have to make do with my questionable Japanese skills, and needless to say, embarrassing episodes will follow.

The first time I went out for dinner with a fellow American student, I accidentally ordered two helpings of cold Japanese soba dipped in a slimy raw yam and egg mixture. As it was a small and private restaurant where the owner did everything from waiting tables to cooking, my upbringing left me with no choice but to smile politely at the elderly man and obediently shove segments of what looked (and tasted) like noodles soaked in spit into my mouth. Yum.

During a recent visit to a local temple, I unintentionally bought a charm for singles seeking love and marriage (really, am I that desperate?) because I thought it meant good luck in friendships. Not only was I embarrassed to find out its actual function, but I have no idea what to do with it now. I can’t throw it away-read: I would definitely be breaking some religious code and suffer for the rest of my life-so the charm innocently sits on my desk, all the while resembling a kind of ticking biological clock that I should not have to deal with at this point in my life.

But aside from the average screw-ups of a silly foreigner, I have yet to encounter a true dose of culture shock. Small things like the fact that everything is on the left side or that I now have to think before I throw my trash out into one of the five million different trash cans set out in my house (burnables, non-burnables, bottles, cans, paper, etc. etc.) phase me a bit, but so does the shock of waking up in a strange room, which I have actually had some experience with in the past.

Strangely enough, the biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is living in a house and having a “family.”

Moving into a “home” during college will probably be quite different for anyone who has adjusted to two years of living in Duke dorms, but it is about twice as bizarre for me, because I can’t say I have ever experienced “living: family style.”

I was raised by just my aunt. She always worked strange and long hours, so my middle and high school years consisted of me going back to an empty apartment and having dinner with the TV. So it is absolutely incomprehensible for me to be sitting down twice a day with my host family to actually eat a meal and make conversation. The normality of it is quite absurd to me.

I have never been part of a normal family dinner talk. My host mom is very gracious in asking about my day and if I am adjusting well. I’m the one bringing up awkward topics like Japanese politics, Thanksgiving and Duke’s ridiculously high tuition. It doesn’t help that it is all done in Japanese.

So while I adjust to normality and continue my search for the big culture gap everyone told me to expect here, I figure it can’t hurt to mingle with the locals and see how bright the Asian glow is in the Orient. And who knows? Maybe that culture shock will hit me over the head so hard that tomorow I’ll wake up and forget where I am again.

I have certainly woken up in worse places.