Random Musings

Ted “the Internet is made of tubes” Stevens is at it again. He has introduced a bill that would give the government the right to veto new digital media devices. The ones we would be “allowed” to have would be required to support the broadcast flag. If you don’t what Congress to dictate which MP3 player you may or may not own, write your Senator

So, the surveillance ruling:
I agree with it. 9/11 did not invalidate the 4th Ammendment. The FISA court exists for these circumstances; it grants 99% of all warrants asked for. Why is that not good enough for Bush?

Grandma is fine. Only her leg was broken, her ribs and arm were only bruised. She only needs a cast, not surgery. She actually got transported to NJ that same day.
Well, I'm off. Orientation Week is exausting. I think things might be easier once classes start-those end earlier!

So, how did my move in go?
Well, my Grandma went to the hospital.
She tripped while getting out of the elevator. She has brittle bone disease, so, while for anyone else that fall would be nothing, for her, it resulted in a trip to White Plains Hospital-and she lives in central Jersey.
Luckily, she should be transferred to a hospital there later tonight (possibly even right now).
Except for that, the move in went well.

I leave for law school tomorrow. My last summer vacation will end. I wrote a poem for the occasion. Hope you all like it. God, the time went by so fast...

Childhood’s End

Preparing to go to law school,

My last summer vacation-

I remember when I was younger-

Adulthood was far off in the distance

Barely visible.

I would drive around on my little toy fire truck

Or robot,

Or I would play Nintendo,

Then later Super Nintendo

Until my favorite TV shows came on

I remember

Singing along to Kids Incorporated

Journeying into the Hundred Acre Woods on Welcome to Pooh Corner

I remember Today’s Special

And the Little Koala

And David the Gnome

And I can’t leave out Real Ghostbusters!

Even when school seriously started,

In the afternoon,

I would still go into childhood’s dreamland

And watch Disney Afternoon-

Ducktails

And the weekends had

Garfield

Ren and Stimpy

Rugrats

I remember spending all day on Final Fantasy 3 (I didn’t know it was 6 then)

Skipping lunch to beat Kefka.

I had no worries

About living on my own, or jobs, or anything else

I had no future

But summer vacation

But now those days are over.

High School and college stired me from my childhood dreams

And now they will end for good.

Oh, to go back to that magical time for just one day!

When ghosts were real and the Ghostbusters always vanquished them

And Inspector Gadget always caught the bad guys

And Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy were real

And, however fleetingly, magic was possible…

10,000 pieces of luggage lost. I'm glad you can at least take expensive stuff like your laptop with you again. I also reiterate my earlier suggestion that the airlines be responsible for 100% of damages related to lost and stolen luggage.

The EFF has AOL's contact information if you want to complain about the recent data leak.

So, thanks to the discovery of a new terrorist plot, no liquids except for formula and baby’s milk and no electronics on planes. Some thoughts:

-Somebody should invent some sort of test strip to dip in liquid that would indicate whether or not it’s an explosive, so people can take their own drinks onto planes again and not have to do gross things like drink breast milk.

-We now have to trust our MP3 players and laptops and camcorders to baggage handlers. Maybe airlines hire different kinds of people, but, when I went on my cruise to Halifax, the baggage handlers looked and acted like ex-cons. They did not look like the kind people I would trust with a $2000 laptop. Airlines should be held to a strict liability standard-if they choose to hire people who look and act like thugs, they need to be responsible for the consequences. If I ever have to travel with a laptop, I will give serious consideration to Amtrak and Greyhound (if I have to fly overseas, I might find someone I can mail my laptop to who could hold it for me-at least I could insure it).

-The article makes a good point-people use MP3 players to drown out screaming babies. Maybe the airlines could offer kid free flights? Some have “kids fly free”, right? Why not “adults fly free from kids”? I’d pay extra for that (even if I could still take my MP3 player, I’d still pay extra for a flight with nobody under, say, ten on board).

I know these security measures are necessary, but they should still find a way to mitigate the inconvenience.

I day-tripped to New York today. I love that city. I think it’d be nice to live somewhere where public transportation is actually a viable option-I hate driving. Also, everything in New York is close by, and it’s a great place to go window shopping. I hope I make enough to live there one day.