No End in Sight

Last night, I saw the movie "No End in Sight," which is about the rebuilding of Iraq from just after the war started until just after the 2006 election, when Donald Rumsfeld resigned. It seemingly makes no judgments about whether the war should have happened, it just examines the immense disaster zone that Iraq has become. It's a poignant movie, and depressing as hell, and we just waked away scratching our heads at how a very small group of people in power in Washington DC could create such a quagmire, despite the effective and honest efforts of so many others on the ground in Iraq. Go see it, if only to inspire you to vote for the very best politicians who have the best chance of making our country (and the world) better for everyone.

Admission

It's been two years since I went ovo-lacto-pescatarian (veg+sustainable eggs/dairy/fish), and to celebrate, I ate a burger and a piece of Italian sausage. ONLY because it was served to me by the farmers who raised those burgers and sausage sustainably on their very own farm. The burger was just okay, but the sausage was sweet heaven. This doesn't mean I'll be chowing on jerky daily or anything, it just means I'll indulge in some sustainably raised meat now and again. I still love my beans.

And no, my stomach did not explode from eating meat after going 2 years without it. It just felt like it would because I ate too much food. Cow is some filling stuff, yo.

The New Year and such

This is the first year ever that I didn't do anything for the Jewish New Year, and the only parts I really miss are the food. Eggy challah bread with honey is divine. Maybe I'll bake some this weekend.
Anyway, a new year always brings new opportunities and new challenges. Our farm group is now official, and we got a grant to pay for some events like a sustainable dinner series and perhaps a speaker. Today I got an email from two different people about the group's involvement in other activities on campus and beyond. Even though the farm workdays weren't my idea, it's so exciting to be a part of something new and engaging. The new students are psyched, which means we'll be able to pass the torch instead of fizzling away at the end of the year. In the meantime, it's still hot out. We're looking forward to 80-degree weather because it's cooler than the 95-degree days we've been having. I'm more used to it now, but I miss my hot coffee in the morning.

That's the opportunity, or at least one of them. Although, like usual, there seem to be more challenges to wince at than opportunities to daydream about. Between my master's project, my economics class, and the calculus I'm still trudging through, I'll just be happy to make it to graduation. People say that God gives you only what you can handle, and even if I don't always really believe that, the idea of it helps me get through the day.

This weekend, we went to the coast and took the long scenic way back. Most of the North Carolina coastal plain is filled with small towns, full of churches but little else. The interesting thing about this state is that unlike in the Midwest, where the faces are all white in the small towns, here, there's probably a mix because of the state's history. I'd be proud of the diversity if there wasn't such an economic status divide among races.

One more thought: shopping for cat food is hard for a vegetarian. I settled on organic kibble and natural (not organic) canned food that at least listed mostly real animal products as the first ingredients. The kibble was the same price as the other stuff, and the cans weren't on sale but not more expensive than most original prices. But still, most of this stuff is just so bad. Is it better to get the fish flavors instead of chicken or beef? I'll have to do more research on this.

News update

A few posts ago, I mentioned that BP was planning to dump more pollution into Lake Michigan. Well, the Chicago Tribune reported on August 24th that BP is changing its plans and vows to find ways to prevent the increase in pollution. Read it here. Let's hope they stick to their promises, both publicly and in actual operation.

Now, it's personal

I just found out that the federal government rates the regional transit development projects a low priority because there still isn't high intensity of development here. Yet. So the question becomes: build transit infrastructure in preparation of the boom we know is coming, or wait til the population influx overwhelms the system and the development is overdue?
There's also something no one is saying officially, but they're certainly keeping it in mind. The federal government won't fund these projects because the money needed is going toward the war instead. So they're waiting it out to see what the new administration will do. In the meantime, local infrastructure all over the country is crumbling or insufficient because of this costly war we're not going to win. This isn't new information, really, but it shows that contrary to what I previously thought, the light rail and improved bus service plans aren't held back because of local politics. They're held back because national politics have hijacked local agendas.

Rain

It finally rained yesterday, for what feels like the first time all summer. Still, we only got about half an inch. The town of Creedmoor, about 20 miles northeast of here, has to pipe in water from a nearby town because its water supply is spitting out sludge. I've never heard of a town just running out of water before, especially not when the rest of the country is drowning. It's crazy. At this point, we're wishing for a hurricane just to bring water to the parched land.

Generation Gap

It has been an eye-opening summer, especially the past few days. Saturday, I watched The Drug Years, a television series on VH1 about drug use in the 20th and 21st centuries in the context of music, pop culture, and politics. I had seen the series before, but I watched because following was The U.S. vs. John Lennon. I fell asleep, but thanks to DVR, I was able to watch it this afternoon, after reading an article about President Bush's driving philosophy during his time in office. There are many many many differences between Bush and John Lennon, but you can tell they both came from the same generation. One might argue that if Bush's father hadn't been a Republican president during the backlash to the "hippie" generation, he'd be more like the rest of us. In any case, I'm still sort of processing the whole thing, but in the meantime, I'll say this: it's incredible how the people who grew up during the biggest revolution of recent history have allowed the country to go in quite the opposite direction.

Summer recap

I left work on Friday, my last day, and went directly to Charlotte. When I returned yesterday, summer was over. Today was the first school-related meeting, and now it's time to get cracking. So before I dive in, a summer recap.

Work: Turned out to be a satisfying summer overall. Being respected as a member of the academic community is a nice, if strange, feeling. I met with environmental professionals, city planners and commissioners, and state agency employees. I attended city and state commission meetings, committee meetings, and legislative hearings. I did lots of research about topics I thought I knew a thing or two about. Professionally, it may or may not take me where I want to be, but I made a lot of connections and learned a lot about the functionality (and dysfunctionality) of state and local political processes, environmental and development policies, and how advocacy can be more than petitions and postcards. I also worked with a great bunch of people who work hard and play hard. One thing is for sure: I would not have known how to do my job without the past year of classes and work, and it reaffirmed the value of this whole experience.

School: Took a couple classes with professionals, which helped put my coursework into perspective and taught me some essential new things I sadly would not have learned in my required coursework--another valuable aspect of local internships.

Play: Hiked, biked, kayaked, shopped locally, visited the mountains, traveled. Made new friends, listened to live music, cooked new food, splurged on camping gear. Does it get any better?

And so, a few take-away lessons about North Carolina:
1. Locals will fully accept you as a Midwesterner (meaning Outsider), but they will be overjoyed and relieved to learn that you want to stay and help make things better here.
2. In many arenas, things are still very much a Good-old Boy white male's game - women in politics must be strong enough to be taken seriously but must still seem deferential to men. And, the state government is just now passing legislation acknowledging the Wilmington race riots in 1898
3. It's nice living closer to the production of the food I eat. No more Styrofoam tomatoes or mushy cukes.
4. Summer is hot. Unlike other parts of the country, there are no 70-degree days here. During the day, it's 80 or 90 or 100, and at night it rarely goes below 65 degrees. And I'm sorry, but that's how it should be. Cool summers in Chicago never felt right to me. Then again, ask me how I feel when I'm walking around campus in 92-degree heat.
5. I'll never get over the Southern accent. It's music to my ears.

Paddling

Today I went kayaking on the Eno River, in an area of calm waters where the Eno, Little, and Flat rivers become the Neuse River, which flows southeast to the ocean near Beaufort, NC. Somewhere along these rivers, there really are rapids, but our trip was calm and easy. The biggest excitement was a fan boat that came through the opposite direction. It has been so dry this year that the river was pretty low and slow, but the scenery was beautiful. Coming back upstream, where the Eno and one of the rivers merge, the sun was setting over the trees through the haze and contrasted the glowing green of the grass and algae. A white bird (heron? egret?) stood still and graceful in the distance.

I think it was last year that I paddled up the Chicago River, during which we were told to try not to fall in because the water was less than fresh. One whiff of the river upstream was all the convincing I needed to stay in my boat. It may soon get grosser, now that BP has obtained a permit to dump more pollution into Lake Michigan from its plant in Indiana.

Coincidentally, I've been reading River Horse by William Least Heat-Moon, and tonight is the premiere of Feasting on Asphalt 2, in which Alton Brown samples the world of food from along the Mississippi River. These guys have it right - traveling by river certainly gives you a much different view of the world than you get by road or train. Yet another reason to save our great bodies of water.

Growing pains

The bf and I were talking the other day about the challenges this country faces under our watch. Our grandparents lived through the Depression, some of the worst times in our country's history. Then, things got better. Our parents were born in the most populous generation yet, and with them came a huge cultural revolution. Their work during the Civil Rights movement, the Women's Rights movement, the Gay Rights movement, and an overall acceptance of all kinds of ideas and lifestyles has allowed the country to really grow and prosper. It has been a good thing, for sure, but now we're getting to big for our britches.

Many cities grew so much, so quickly, that they didn't stop to think about the impact that has on our aging infrastructure, as evidenced by recent dam failures, bursting steam pipes, and collapsing bridges. The threat of terrorism may scare us, but our own structural weaknesses may be the actual cause of our eventual demise. That, or our failing food production system. Factory farms produce mass quantities of tasteless junk, eroding and depleting the soils and polluting our water, air, and digestive systems. Obesity was once a "luxury" of the rich; now, it's cheaper to eat foods that make us fat, in large part because our crop subsidies reward soy and corn, the key ingredients in most of the unhealthiest (and cheapest) food out there.

Surely, we haven't seen the end of all this political and structural turmoil. Culturally, some things are better, but it seems we're more willing to accept wrongdoings, even though they make us queasy. Since Watergate, the political process has really been led astray and people have lost faith in their elected leaders. After all, look how screwed up our government is now, and every new scandal elicits little more emotion than "meh, what else is new?" Look at what the sports world has become: doping in baseball and cycling, dogfighting in football, gambling and cheating in football - things that we all know are wrong but have come to accept as par for the course. An interviewee on NPR mused that this is a generational thing, at least in cycling, and that we can only hope to stop future generations from such behavior because there's no hope for this one. The author of a new book about selling out to corporate America (read the interview on alternet.org) rings true for many of us idealistic twenty- and thirty-somethings who want to change the world but can't afford to support ourselves on the salaries of such jobs. Instead, we take the corporate job, promising ourselves that we'll only do it until we've made a good living and saved some money, and then we'll give back to the world. But by then, it might be too late. We'll have aging parents to support, without a Medicare or social security system to help out. And if we have kids, we'll have to support their increasingly expensive needs for schooling, food, health care, and whatever hot trends they just have to follow.

None of this is news to anyone at this point. Yes, I'm whining, because right now, I don't have it so bad. But I'm one of those idealistic twenty-somethings with an expensive education that I'll be paying for many years down the road. Here in North Carolina, a huge opportunity exists to make some real changes in the way agriculture, development, and conservation happen. All those people who no longer have open space in the Northeast are moving down here, grabbing up open space without any plan in sight. I could start a 1,000 Friends of North Carolina. I could lead a strong progressive campaign against the very vocal naysayers, working for smarter development planning, boosting political and economic support for sustainable agriculture, creating stronger environmental policies in the state. But I have student loans. I have hand-me-downs and oldies-but-goodies that will need replacing in a few years. I want to get married (green wedding!) and own a home (solar panels or sustainable building materials!). Maybe I want to have kids someday (although who wants to bring a child into this world as it is now?).

Looks like I have my work cut out for me.

Bragging rights

My little brother, who's not so little anymore, is now a pastry chef with a rave restaurant review in a big-city newspaper. In my eyes, he may as well be the Next Food Network Star. The review came out on my mom's birthday, which most certainly made her day more special.

We ate at his restaurant on opening weekend--okay, the server didn't know where the fish came from (except that it was from the market down the street), but the food was fantastic. Who knew that cheesecake with crumbled Cap'n Crunch Crunchberries could be so good? He has only been in culinary school since last September, but he's a favorite among his professors and an indispensable asset to the restaurant. Now he has a clip to show potential employers, and someday, he'll be pastry chef to the stars. So yeah, I'm just a little proud of him.

Dodging horse poop on the ol' trail

Today I went bike riding on a portion of the American Tobacco Trail in Wake County. It's part of the Rails-to-Trails program, and someday more than 22 miles of railway-turned-recreation path will wind through the Triangle area. The portion I rode on is about 6.5 miles long and wind through forested areas in mostly undeveloped (not for long) Cary and Apex. The three trail heads include gravel parking lots with new waterless restroom facilities. They call them "sweet-smelling" toilets, which are little more than outhouses with better air circulation, but I applaud the effort anyway. I'm not picky about toilets, but these were pretty decent.

Anyway, riding on the trail brought back old memories of riding on the Katy Trail in central Missouri--the crunch of the clay and gravel path, the rustling of the trees and buzzing of the insects, the faint flowery smell of nature, and the friendly like-minded people enjoying some outdoor physical activity. Being on the trail here felt like being back in Missouri. There were maybe more pine needles on the trail here, and less wildlife, but plenty of fresh air and sunshine abound. On this trail, they allow horses, of which I saw five, and as they passed I caught a whiff of barn dust, horse sweat, and worn leather. For a moment, I missed the days of riding lessons and summer camp. Bike riding in Missouri was one of my favorite activities, something that brought me such joy, and today I remembered how much I love it. Many times, I have said to myself, "this, this is my religion." Nature and movement and music. Perhaps someday soon they'll finish the trail--the section just north of this one is still rough-going. But as I rode home, listening to the Splendid Table on NPR, I got a renewed craving for the little things in life, be they outdoor adventure or the tastiest lunch ever. Today I had both.

The Angler: Dick Cheney as you only guessed

The Washington Post has a four-day series about Dick Cheney and the powers he wields. The article includes testimony never printed before from sources in-the-know. It's fascinating and scary at the same time. Check it out here.

Getting used to the humidity

Today I went to a rally outside the legislative office building about hog farm waste. It was an interesting mix of seasoned grassroots organizers and over-the-top cheerleading. At the end, they said a prayer. Cause that's how they roll in rural North Carolina. Gotta give them credit, they were certainly creative and fairly effective. No matter their rallying technique, the fact is that hog farms produce a ridiculous amount of waste that pollutes the lakes and streams, as well as the air that farm neighbors breathe, and thus far the politician have been mostly willing to let the huge factory farms do as they please. There's a bill up for discussion that would change that, so perhaps the state will see some change soon.

Other summer activities have included the farmers market, where I bought blackberries so delicious, it's hard to believe they're the same fruit you can buy at the store for twice the price and half the flavor. Real blackberries have almost a hint of spearmint to them, and they don't just taste like dark raspberries. I've also been hiking in the Umstead state park and Eno River state park. I had forgotten how much I missed real hiking. As my friend put it, that is my religion. Who needs a stuffy synagogue and boring rabbi when the sights, sounds, and smells of the outdoors are so much more moving. My new bedroom window faces a little wooded area between the building and the fence that separates the apartment complex from the road. Each morning, I awaken to a bird symphony, complete with a bird call that sounds kind of like a duck but surely isn't. My kitchen window also overlooks the area, so I can gaze at the trees while I do dishes.

I have also been taking advantage of the free or cheap learning experiences my school offers. I'm learning how to use the Geographic Information Systems program to create maps, and I took a class about environmental sustainability and Capitol Hill. That class was most inspiring because after marveling at how little must actually get done in government, I heard from some people who actually got stuff done. It gave me a ray of hope through the cloud mass that is the 2008 presidential candidate roster.

Speaking of politics, I've heard some interesting discussion happening here and there about where our country is and how it got to this point. After many years of Iraq, of corporate ownership of our government, of food unsafety and health problems caused by pollution, we're still looking to others to place the blame. How could Bush lie to us? How could the pharmaceutical companies deceive us? How could bacteria-ridden spinach sneak onto our grocery shelves? By now, we need to stop asking how others could do this to us, and start asking how we could let them get away with it for so long. We voted for these politicians, and we didn't protest hard enough against their policies we don't agree with. We rely on giant corporations to give us the food, clothing, medicine, and a surprising array of other things at cheap prices, without asking how they're doing it or what the environmental and social prices are. We don't hold others accountable for their actions. So now here we are; some people are starting to ask the right questions, and some things are starting to change. I believe I criticized John Ashcroft at some point years ago (if not here, then certainly in conversation) for being an overall scary conservative who lost to a dead guy in the 2000 US senate race in Missouri. The big joke now is that he's starting to look like one of the good guys in this administration.

Historic farming

Yesterday we did some farm work yet again, this time on a mostly meat farm where the emphasis is mostly on education. The farm has some Dexter cows, sheep, goats, chickens, pigs, catfish, ducks, and a small garden, as well as two Haflinger horses and a mule to do some of the heavy pulling and two livestock guard dogs and four border collies for herd management and companionship. So yeah, a lively bunch. At one point, one of the horses was put into a different area for demonstration with a bunch of students visiting the farm, which freaked out the other horses, riled up the goats, and excited the dogs. There was lots of running, barking, bleating, and such, and we couldn't help but stand by and laugh. The goats also tried to hijack the John Deere equipment and had to be shooed away every few minutes.

Aside from the comical nature of the farm, the owners want to practice and teach others about historic farming, which includes using animals bred for hardiness and practicality that require little use of antibiotics, hormones, or artificial diet supplements. The cows, goats, and sheep mostly graze and eat some grain; the chickens and ducks eat the bugs roaming around and spread the manure; the pigs eat mostly stale bread donated to the farm and leftover veggies from the garden. In the barn, the family also has some old farm implements, as well as old kitchen that they now use for canning and cooking. The owners also want to teach crafts like weaving, stitching, canning, quilt making, candle making, etc. The idea, which they're currently working toward, is to keep the functioning farm and bring in school groups and individuals to learn about life on the farm before modern farm practices, but still with the feeling of modern life. All of this historic farming is important as sustainable (or balanced) agriculture and it fosters a real sense of appreciation for how difficult it is to live completely off your own land.

My farm experiences thus far and reading Barbara Kingsolver's book prove why factory farms and large-scale production has become so common: it's HARD WORK to sustain a small farm on limited financial resources and no use of the current practices that encourage quick growth and survivability during transit. To support a family of four on only what you can produce or buy locally is really a full-time job that requires almost constant vigilance and work to plant (or raise), weed, breed, harvest, prepare, and store the fruits of your labor. The owner of the farm we worked at yesterday described the tendency of third- and fourth-generation farmers who happily adapt to modern farming conveniences or sell the land outright for large sums of money, because sustainable agriculture is hard work, and it's hard to make a living because the products come in smaller quantities. When you grow your own food, your life revolves around food. I'm exhausted thinking about it.

I find myself feeling guilty for not growing more in window boxes or shopping at the farmer's market more often or eating some things that would never grow around here out-of-season, if at all. But I guess doing some things are better than doing nothing. Supporting local farmers is important, and I couldn't now imagine living somewhere without access to a farmer's market.

Summer pleasures, Southern style

My dear Texan friend welcomed me to the South recently, after commending me on my happiness here. I mentioned that it was easy to become a Southern girl, because here in NC everyone is so friendly and living here is so pleasant. Unlike in Texas apparently, as my friend put it: "Welcome to frickin' Texas. Get used to it." One reason this area is so lovely is the local concert series sponsored by the local NPR station every other Friday night from May to October at the American Tobacco Historic District. Once the heart of tobacco production in this country, it's now modernized offices and restaurants in the shell of the old warehouse and factory buildings. In the middle, a gorgeous pavillion, surrounded by a shallow moat, is the venue for local bluegrass, blues, community band, and other music performances. The bluegrass is part of the Back Porch Music series on WUNC, and it does feel like we're hanging out in someone's backyard. Concertgoers sit on the soft grass, kids and dogs run free, and everyone dances a jig. Don't get me wrong, Chicago's summer music can't be beat, with the fireworks exploding beside the Milennium Park bandshell. But here in Durham, it feels both modern and down-home.

Another summer pleasure: today I went to the local farmers market and bought a sweet and pungent Vidalia onion, a cucumber, sugar snap peas, a basil plant, and strawberries so sweet, you'd think they were candy. I ate the strawberries with some ricotta cheese and a light drizzle of honey. Maybe it doesn't get better than that.

North Carolina legislative process and Another Farm

Now I know why people have little faith in their government representatives. It's amazing anything ever gets done. Yesterday I got a quick civics lesson in the North Carolina legislative process. Here are just a few things I learned:

1. State legislators are part-time--they only get paid $17,000 a year, so they have other jobs as well.
   
2. Long and short sessions: The state legislative calendar goes in two-year cycles, starting with odd-numbered years. Hence, the new calendar started this past January with a long session that goes until August-ish. During this time, bills are proposed. Bills requiring funding can be proposed at anytime; bills not requiring funding must pass out of either the House or Senate by "crossover deadline," which happened to be yesterday. If they don't pass crossover, they're put on hold until the next long session in 2009 (which essentially means they're dead, unless the bill sponsors are hardcore about getting it passed.) After crossover, all bills requiring funding and others that passed the crossover deadline are debated in committee until August, when the legislature recesses. In Spring 2008, they reconvene in a short session until July to continue discussing (and trying to pass) the bills leftover from the previous year. If the bill doesn't pass by July, it's dead and the sponsors have to start all over again in January 2009.
   
3. Local legislation: North Carolina has this archaic policy that all local legislation must get passed in the state legislature. This is an attempt by the state to control and oversee all state and regional legislative affairs, and it takes up a ridiculous amount of time in the General Assembly.
4. Even though NC is a red state, both the House and Senate are controlled by Democrats. Representative Joe Hackney, Speaker of the House, is a lawyer and farmer. This week, he slyly prevented a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage from passing the crossover deadline, rendering it dead until 2009.
   
5. Go to www.ncleg.net to learn more. I'm sure I'll post more this summer--the whole thing fascinates me.

In other news, we're working on another farm next week. These farmers are historic, or "heirloom" farmers, meaning they continue using historic practices with historically preserved breeds of animals and crops. They do use modern farm equipment and just collect the antiques. Heirloom breeds are those not cross-bred or genetically engineered--they evolve with changing conditions through good old survival-of-the-fittest. Farmers breed historically pure animals that exhibit the best traits, and they save seeds from plants that grow well and taste best. And they procreate the traditional way--pollination or...you know. This is the complete opposite of the way most food is produced in the world. Most crop seeds are sold by giant companies like Monsanto and are genetically modified to contain a "termination" gene. This means that seeds saved from the year's crop will not grow. Farmers using these seeds must purchase new stocks every year from these huge companies. This leaves crops vulerable to changing conditions that scientists can't predict, it costs much more money for the farmers, and the crops aren't even nutritionally sound or flavorful. And it certainly omits the element of history and culture.

I could go on and on, but I won't. Instead, I'll recommend reading "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," by Barbara Kingsolver. She and her family ate only locally produced food in the mountains of Virginia for a year, and her book is about both their experience and the disaster that food production has become.

Pimp My Career

The school year ended on a satisfactory note and I'm now almost at the end of my first week of my internship. I suspected it might be a good summer--my supervisor has said many times that he's been looking forward to working together this summer. Right back atcha, guy. My first day on the job, I attended a joint committee meeting at the state legislative building on emergency preparedness and disaster recovery. I must be a nerd, 'cause I was psyched. What can I say, I have become a political junkie. Probably by the end of the summer, I'll have attended enough meetings to be sufficiently bored at them, but right now it's cool. There's definitely a feeling of Southern politics floating throughout the capital. Yesterday I delivered invitations for an oyster roast to the state senators and representatives, and many legislative aides were wearing bow ties and hats with ribbons. Many of them said, "Thank you" in that charming Southern accent that I just adore. Four days into my job and I have already learned so much about the political history and the modus operandi of the state. It's fascinating. A lot of things are changing in North Carolina, mostly for the better; the influx of conservative Northerners and the exit of many conservative Southern Democrat politicians will make for an interesting new mix of agendas.
So my job is fulfilling and interesting, and the work I have done so far has been up to par, thanks to my year of schooling. The watershed class I trudged through last semester is already coming in handy, my adeptness in writing policy memos has served me well, and my instincts are kicking in nicely. I'm meeting with my master's project advisor tomorrow to see how I can turn all this research about sustainable disaster recovery and comprehensive plan development into a project that will torture me for the next year.
Oh yeah, the best part about my job? I can work from home.

Politics Friday

Last night the bf and I sat around being the political junkies that we are. First we watched reruns of The Daily Show, further analyzing John McCain's appearance on Tuesday night and the election in France. Then we flipped through and caught most of Bill Moyers Journal on PBS. I have never seen this show before, but so many people talk about it that I felt like I had been missing out. Moyers had an interview with Jon Stewart, which was funny, thoughtful, and touching. Then he had a story about a group of independent journalists who are covering the attorney general firings. These journalists have really exposed the plans behind the scenes to put more politically supportive attorneys in place of those who have either refused to take politically motivated action against Democrats or who have been pursuing cases of wrongdoing by loyal Republicans. And I gotta say, it makes me a little sick. The facts that have been uncovered and presented so far comprise a story that sounds like a conspiratorial novel, but is, in fact, reality. This is not just the Democrats hating on the Republicans. This is an unbelievably scary reality of the inner workings of the American government. To read more about the journalists' work, you can either click through the link above or go here.

Needless to say, Bill Moyers Journal has been added to the DVR recording list. We joked that recording this show automatically registers me on the Patriot Act watchlist for un-American activities. These days, I wouldn't be surprised. In any case, it's not the scandal story that attracted me to the show, it's the fact that Bill Moyers asks poignant questions and presents stories that the traditional news programs don't cover. As a current events and politics junkie, that appeals to me more than outright Bush-bashing, which as Jon Stewart complained, has gotten really old and too easy.

Driving in cars with radios

Now I remember why I love driving so much. Listening to the radio can be a fun experience or a frustrating time, especially when you're a captive audience. Until now, I was under the impression that Triangle-area radio sucked. When they say they play everything, they mean
everything random that no one really wants to listen to. Ugh. I thought I was going to have to rely on trusty old NPR (91.5 WUNC) while on the road. But I have recently discovered some great independent radio stations based out of University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill (89.3 WXYC) and North Carolina State University in Raleigh (88.1 WKNC). I guess Duke has a radio station too (88.7 WXDU), but I haven't listened to it yet. The playlists look good, but I tend not to trust any station whose mission is:

"WXDU, as a member of the Duke University Union, exists to inform, educate, and entertain both the students of Duke University and the surrounding community of Durham through quality progressive alternative radio programming. WXDU seeks to give its staff te freedom to pursue their personal aesthetic within the framework of a cohesive format. WXDU aims to provide the listener with an alternative viewpoint untainted by commercial interests. WXDU should maintain good relations with the music industry without compromising its integrity and nationally recognized commitment to quality programming. WXDU must remain a laboratory where all members are free to make and learn from their mistakes."

(Wonky! This, by the way, is a perfect example of what the Duke experience is. Even music is an academic endeavour and must always keep up proper and impeccable appearances. My program is not like this, however. We like music for music's sake. We're the hippies.)

In any case, ah, college radio. Where everything indie came from before anyone had ever heard of it. The stations play great music all the time, and you can listen to all of them online. Please check them out and spread the word. And support your own local/college radio stations.