War of the Words

Those pesky professional journalists always beat me to the punch. In Sunday's Chicago Tribune, journalist Naftali Bendavid wrote an article about the new trend in politics, which is to create a sound byte of a political foe saying something onerous and then demand an apology from that person. In Chicago, the most familiar example of this is Senator Durbin's comparison of the Guantanamo Bay prison camps to such things as the concentration camps in Nazi Germany or the Soviet gulags. He later apologized after a number of policiticans from both sides of the aisle criticized his statement, but the fact still remains that prisoner treatment at Gitmo is a very contentious issue. But whether or not Durbin was correct in his assessment, the big story was his comment, not the subject of his comment.
These days, it seems like everyone is throwing around zings, criticizing the other party for their policies, their associations, their actions. But as Bendavid's article points out, the big policy issues that people should be discussing are being overshadowed by contentious statements people are making about those who support the policy. Few are talking about the real issues, instead turning them into insults that aim to discredit the other side and turn the public against them in time for the next election. Yes, some people are examining prisoner rights in Gitmo. Jon Stewart questioned the validity of Howard Dean's statement that the Republican party is made up of white Christian men (you know that show segment was funny!). But Dick Cheney, on Hannity and Colmes said of Dean's statement, "Maybe his mother loved him, but I've never met anybody who does. He's never won anything, as best as I can tell." Yeah, except for that little race for Governor. Five times. Dean's statement was worth looking into for statistics of the makeup of the Republican party, and Cheney zinged back by saying only his mother loves him. Way to be a Dick. These days, it's all about political capital. Avoid the real issues--the important thing is to make your political foes look bad. That way, in the next election, even more people will vote for you just because they like you and hate the other guy, not because they agree with, or even know about, where you stand on the issues.

Do the Boy Scouts know that the Japanese internment camps were not just ethnic summer camps?

Here's an interesting article: Interned Boy Scouts Look Back
I don't know why, but it really struck me. Just because a group of people are locked up together and forced to live in tents and shacks doesn't mean they stop living their lives. In fact, many Japanese boys in the camp joined the Boy Scouts because their parents thought it would help them assimilate. Why they wanted to assimilate into a culture that locked them up in the first place is beyond me, but I guess it was the only choice they had. It's uplifting to see that some good came out of it, and it's cool that they all got together after all these years. They obviously gained a lot from their experiences with the Boy Scouts and turned a terrible human rights disgrace into something valuable and meaningful.

Speaking of Scouting and camps, since it's now summer, I've been reminiscing about summer camp. I went to Girl Scout overnight camp, and while I didn't care about earning badges (most girls in the girl scouts preferred to make candles and lanyards, not canoe and hike) I was one of the outdoorsy willing participants who got my first taste of sleeping in a tent in the woods, building a fire, getting dirty and mosquito-bitten, and waking up early to go swimming or canoeing in the cold-ass lake. It made me appreciate the outdoors in a way I never would have by riding bikes and playing in the swimming pool with my friends. The first time I felt a sense of spirituality connected with nature was during some sort of ceremony in the Green Cathedral in the woods on the land near camp. I went to camp there for two weeks every summer between 2nd and 8th grade, and come August 1st every year, I still feel like I should be trekking off to Wild Rose, Wisconsin.
That was just my experience, but other people have gained a lot from summer camp as well. In fact, Michael Eisner, Disney guru, said that he grew more as a person from his experience at summer camp than from college or business school. He just wrote a book about it called Camp (read the amazon.com review here). Camp is all about teamwork, learning how to live in close quarters with people you don't know in an environment that forces people to learn some basic survival skills. Sometimes putting on a wet swimsuit at 6:30 am to wash the campfire smell out of your hair with dirty lake water or sharing the best remedies for mosquito bites makes you realize that some things are just more important in life. The WWII internment camps were no romp in the woods, but they too taught people how to work together as a community, make the best of what they had, and learn something new. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating internment camps, but I am advocating the whole summer camp experience. On a purely volunteer basis.

More about women and science

Regarding my previous post about women in science, about which I did not expect to receive such ire from people, I say only this: I'm glad the topic is being discussed in the media and among people in the community, no matter what the opinion. It's my blog, and I'll cry if I want to.
Here's something uplifting: Women aimed for the stars, hit glass ceiling
It's great that these women are being recognized for their accomplishments after all these years. Mad props to them for trekking through those challenges, both physically (vertigo? swallowing 3 feet of rubber hose?!) and emotionally (balancing families and the stress of training, dealing with gender role issues) and not giving up on what they were passionate about. More inspiration to everyone to follow your dreams, no matter what stands in your way.

Borders, beware

Just a quick plug to support your local music stores. Every six to eight weeks, I trek down to the south suburbs to get my hair cut (no way will I trust just anyone with my curls). Today I was early so I stopped into my favorite south suburban music store, Threshold Music, where I bought a compilation cd of music that is produced by an independent record company in the UK. I never would have found something so cool as this cd, or the other independent artist cds sharing the same listening station, at Borders, Best Buy, or even Virgin Megastore. Threshold also has a huge variety of random used cds from all genres and really reasonable prices for all cds.
Oh yeah, and they're in the same little shopping center as a fishing store that carries live minnows. Doesn't get any better than that. Anyhoo, seek out your local music stores, and local bookstores, for that matter, and support them. Don't let the corporations take over and inflate cd prices. Eighteen dollars for a cd I can download from iTunes for $10 is simply ridiculous, especially since they usually have only one or two good songs anyway.

If you know of any great local music or bookstores in your town, feel free to post them in a comment here, and the next time anyone visits your city, they'll know where to go for quality.

But the goggles totally mess up my hair!

There has been some discussion in the media lately about girls and science. Last week, the Tribune ran an article about a physics professor at the U of C Lab School who is known for treating girls and boys equally in the classroom, challenging every student to learn and grow. I see no reason to restate the discussion in the article (check out the last page or two--it has some really interesting statistics about the numbers of men and women in scientific fields), but I will discuss my personal experience with science education.
I heart science. I read science-related magazines and books. I love the science and natural history museums, I visit the zoo when I can, and I spew random facts about soil or tsunamis or octopuses (yes, that's the correct plural form of octopus. Ask me why. I dare ya.)
Okay, so I'm secretly (or not so secretly) a science nerd. Why am I not working in a science-related occupation? When I was in high school, I wanted to be first a marine biologist, then a zoologist. I wrote to Jack Hanna, zoo guru, about how to get into an occupation like his. He wrote me back. So junior year, I was debating which classes to take to prepare me for college. "I could take AP Bio (taught by the teacher I had for regular bio, and it was a tough class) or journalism. Hmm, writing is easy. I'll take journalism and maybe I can write about science stuff." My 8th grade English teacher told me I should be on the student newspaper, and my freshman bio teacher was a bitch. And that decided everything.
Support and encouragement from teachers often decide the fate of easily-molded students. Science teachers often simply answer questions from girls while challenging the boys with more in-depth questions. Instead of requiring equal collaboration during lab work, they allow the boys to take over the physical lab and let the girls take notes and write the reports. Girls are encouraged to succeed in "emotional" subjects like English, art, and foreign languages while boys are challenged and nurtured in science and sports. Fewer women enter advanced degree programs in science because they are intimidated or frustrated or bullied or just never empowered, which means fewer women are qualified to teach science. Girls don't have many role models in scientific fields, so they don't realize that it doesn't matter if they look funny in chem lab goggles if they're making a difference in the world of science.
My parents never told me I couldn't do things, in fact they let me follow my every whim. My teachers never treated me like I was incapable of succeeding in any of my classes (maybe because I was in honors classes and was obviously a good student). I almost never felt like I was treated differently from the boys, but maybe I wasn't paying much attention to that. But none of my science teachers, except maybe my chemistry teacher, ever prodded and challenged me in a good way. I was intimidated by science, even though I have always been passionate about it, and no one taught me not to be intimidated. Unlike the teacher from the Trib article, no one found a different way to teach something. Regret is a nasty little thing.
Maybe this generation of students and teachers will be better. As each generation moves away from the 1920s, the gender roles blur more and more. There's hope for our kids.

Just call me Ace

Dogs have been in the news a lot lately. Yesterday, three dumb ass kids in Chicago's south suburbs were attacked by a dog (not usually ferocious at all) while trying to climb into the neighbor's swimming pool. The pool is surrounded by a chain-link fence, a Beware of Dog sign was posted on the fence, and the kids hadn't asked permission to use the pool. A woman gardening on the South Side was mauled by two pit bulls, whose owner hadn't restrained or trained them since the last time the dogs had attacked someone. Those dogs were euthanized. A few weeks ago, a dog saved a little boy who was being attacked by another dog. Now, the mayor of San Francisco wants to impose limits on pit bull ownership after a boy was mauled to death by a pit bull.

'Dogs sure are vicious,' you're thinking. 'They're so dangerous and they maul innocent people.' But the problem isn't with the dogs, it's with the people who own them. Because dogs are such loyal companions, because they understand words like 'car ride' and 'dinner time', because they have human-like temperaments, people think that dogs are like humans, except they can't speak our language. Dogs are indeed very smart animals, but they aren't human-smart, they're animal-smart. They rely on instinct, not reason. When dogs attack someone they don't know who is in their territory, they're protecting their homes and their companions. When they randomly attack someone on the street, it's probably because that person smells like something that makes the dog feel threatened, whether it's another animal or a scent that reminds them of a previous experience, or they were startled by a sound or a suddent movement. It's not because they're evil, they're just relying on their instincts.

Animals, like people, have a variety temperaments. Some breeds are known for being easy-going, sweet, and low-maintenance. Other breeds, like pit bulls and other dogs that people train as fighters, are naturally more difficult to properly train (hence why they make such good fighting dogs). Some pit bulls don't want to fight though, and so they get beaten up by the trainers and other dogs. People think that all dogs are naturally sweet and cuddly and they don't want to have to do a lot of work to make them behave. When the dog does misbehave, instead of teaching it how to act properly, they yell at the dog, yank at its leash, and scare it into compliance. But dogs are like children. No matter how nasty they can be, if they're properly taught how to behave, they'll behave. It may take a lot of patience, some alternative teaching methods, and a lot of love, but that's how it is with both animals and people. That's why I cringe every time I hear of a dog attack or of a dog being euthanized for bad behavior. People are lazy and mean, and they'd rather put a dog down for doing what a dog does, instead of giving back to the dog the love that the dog gives to them unconditionally. Chicago Canine Rescue helps rescue dogs from bad homes, teaches the dogs discipline with positive reinforcement, and helps find new, loving homes for the dogs. Sounds like they really have their work cut out for them these days.

The Koran, the Torah, the Bible (in no particular order)

They are all just books. They tell us stories about our ancestors, they teach us moral lessons, they discuss the relationship between a higher being and believers of that faith. We place a lot of importance on our respective Books, believing that through them we can achieve a greater sense of being and perhaps even salvation. The Koran, the Torah, the Bible, all may be just books, but because of our very personal faith, we expect others to treat our Books with respect.

It deeply saddens me that anyone would even think of defiling a religious object, a symbol of faith. The saddest part is that people in other countries have so little confidence in the US that they have no problem believing that someone in our army would do such a thing. It's like the bad rumor you hear about someone. If you respect that person, you say, "No way, that would never happen." But if you hate the person, then of course they did that bad thing. And so we punish our media for reporting information, but we don't punish the people who made the world hate us to begin with.

And now for something completely different...

...Kind of. I'm reading Silent Spring by Rachel Carson--not a very cheery book. So I was overjoyed when the Momster send me this cute cartoon which sends the same message: support organic farming and fight against chemicals and pesticides, because they're more harmful than we think. Anyway, go to this site: Grocery Store Wars. I promise you'll giggle, even if you're not a Star Wars fan. Boy, that Cuke Skywalker. What a hottie :)

It's not just about the news, baby

As a reader and a writer, I'm drawn to all things literary. In the paper this morning was a Chicago Tribune Review of a literary journal, THE2NDHAND, meant for the masses, not just for university professors and grad students. Read the Trib review and then check out the journal at www.the2ndhand.com. You can read the stories online or order copies of the journal for just a few bucks each. Author Joe Meno says, "In a lot of ways, it's a galvanizing force for the great underground writing scene we have here. It's at the direct center of the underground writing scene in Chicago."

My very literary friend and I were emailing each other about why some great writers never make it big while the crappy writers often get book deals. If you want to help ensure that the great writers get recognized for their work, check out this literary journal and support local talent (well, local if you're from Chicago) and seek out the underground writers in other cities as well.

Scien-wha?!

This just in from the world of entertainment news: Tom Cruise, or shall we say Dr. Tom Cruise, has taken it upon himself to help heal the suffering. Cruise is a follower of the Church of Scientology, and his religious conviction has led him to believe that modern ailments can be cured through alternative methods. What he practices in his own life is his own business and if it works for him, great. I fully support religious pluralism throughout the world. But he had to go poking his nose into someone else's business, and that's when it got personal.

Brook Shields wrote a memoir recently called "Down Came the Rain," about the postpartum depression she experienced after the birth of her daughter in 2003. Postpartum depression is common and isn't well-understood yet. Cruise commented on Shields' use of Paxil to help treat her extreme depression caused by fluxuations in hormones and chemicals. Cruise said in an interview with Access Hollywood set to air Thursday (via the New York Daily News), "These drugs are dangerous. I have actually helped people come off. When you talk about postpartum, you can take people today, women, and what you do is you use vitamins. There is a hormonal thing that is going on, scientifically, you can prove that. But when you talk about emotional, chemical imbalances in people, there is no science behind that. You can use vitamins to help a woman through those things."

Obviously he knows exactly what he's talking about, as his eloquence on the subject demonstrates. I try not to make personal issues of the topics I post on my blog, but as a woman who fights with her hormones on a monthly basis (as do most other women), I must personally say that some people JUST DON'T GET IT. I hope Brooke Shields told Cruise where he could put those vitamins. True, holistic medicine and alternative therapies can be very beneficial for men and women struggling with all sorts of health problems. But as each month passes and I fall victim once again to the storms in my mind that pass with each placebo pill that I punch from the packet, I realize more and more that women are at the mercy of our hormones. It's a problem that doctors have really only scratched the surface of. What may seem like a little bloated crankiness to men is a reaction within our bodies that we can't control and often don't understand. Brooke Shields struggled with a severe hormonal imbalance after she gave birth, and on top of trying to take care of this newborn baby on little sleep, she had to battle the feelings of fear and frustration at not being able to shake her depression.

A dear friend once said to me, "Sometimes I think I've gotten crazier as I've gotten older, because I just get so PMSy. But I realized that it's all relative. When I was a teenager, I was crazy all the time (as most teenagers are), and now that my hormones have evened out, when I do get PMS, it seems so much worse." She's right. I'm not saying we're all just a big ball of hormones and men should just wear armor all the time. I am saying that when the hormones hit us women hard, we really cannot fully control it. We think about things too much. We get upset at little things. We really crave certain foods and we get bloated. And when it passes, we wonder why we got so upset, why we felt suffocated and cloudy, why things seemed like such a big deal. We feel ashamed of ourselves for not being able to control it. We feel like such fools for letting it affect our work and our relationships and our living space. We get mad at our bodies because we know it will happen again next month and we hate our doctors for not coming up with a real solution. Shame on Tom Cruise for publicly lashing someone about an issue he can't possibly understand, and shame on Tom Cruise for his lack of empathy for a fellow celebrity, a fellow human being, a woman just trying to live her own life.

Tom Cruise must be suffering from Short-Man's Syndrome: an ailment which causes the vertically challenged male to think that HE has the ultimate wisdom and experience to advise others on matters he truly knows nothing about. They have a vitamin for that, don't they?

A different sort of Up-or-Down vote: Viagra for Sex Offenders?

When you think Viagra, you probably think of that Bob Dole commercial in which he's watching Britney Spears on tv and he tells his dog "Down, Boy." Ew. Lately, people have been talking about how Viagra is the new club drug, especially in the gay community. Today, the news media have been reporting that New York comptroller Medicaid audits from the year 2000 through this past March found that 198 convicted sex offenders in New York received Medicaid reimbursement for Viagra prescriptions after they were released from prison. Now the states have been notified that they aren't required to pay for such prescriptions for convicted rapists and other high-risk sex offenders.

Maybe you're saying, 'why should sex offenders get Viagra, especially for free? That's like bringing alcohol to an AA meeting! And everyone knows, that once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic...' Or maybe you're saying, 'but these guys are like any other criminal--they did the time for their crime, they may have learned their lesson (or not), but once they're released from prison, they have the same rights as anyone else.' Aha, but those convicted of violent crimes are prohibited from owning a gun, and registered sex offenders are barred from entering a certain zone around schools and other places where children spend a lot of time. There was also a story last week about theme parks banning convicted sex offenders from buying passes or entering the park. But how far is too far when it comes to restricting rights of convicted criminals? Just like any other rule or law that restricts peoples' rights, it's a fine and dangerous line.

Don't get me wrong: the thought of registered sex offenders taking Viagra, and free Viagra at that, really creeps me out. And I agree we should restrict their access to schools and other public places where children roam freely. Maybe Medicaid should be paying for mandatory extensive counseling for these guys for the rest of their lives, since many sex offenders were sexually abused as children and need mental help, not prison time. Viagra is not medically necessary for these people. Therapy is.

Going Green in the Red Rocks

First a shout-out to my good buddy who just moved to Salt Lake City and sent me a postcard with the hopes of getting a shout-out on my blog. But this is not just a gratuitous shout-out to my friend, it's also a pat on the proverbial back of Salt Lake City, home to a strong environmental movement among responsible businesses. My friend commented on the lack of environmental responsibility of sending a piece of paper in the mail instead of emailing a digital image, but the gorgeous scenery on the postcard attests to the need of Salt Lake City to preserve and protect the surrounding ecosystem. Which it's doing, with a program run by the Salt Lake City government called Salt Lake City GREEN. Mayor Daley is doing an okay job of striving to make Chicago the greenest city in the nation, but it looks like Salt Lake City may be showing him some fierce competition.

My friend also requested that I visit and bring beer and Giordano's pizza, which is a Chicago staple (and so so good.) I swear, he's using me for the pizza, but for beer, he need look no further than Salt Lake Brewing Company, home of Squatters Pub Brewery, an SLC e2 business and 2004 winner of the 'environmental company of the year' award by the Recycling Coalition of Utah. Props to them for being environmentally responsible and conserving water in this desert region with waterless urinals. That's not the only thing they do that makes them worthy of such awards, but they have a photo of the urinals on their website, and who doesn't love a good toilet photo, really. I wonder what the urinal cakes are made of...

Enough potty humor. The brewery also uses windpower (as does a large portion of the city), which is becoming a rather popular source of power for breweries (and other homes and companies) in the Western U.S. New Belgium Brewing Company in Colorado boasts of its use of wind power, and they make a damn good beer. If someone can prove that wind power makes a better beer than other types of power, maybe more people will invest in wind power technology. As we learned from Kid Rock (see my post about Trippin'), sometimes one can only understand social issues when they relate to beer, and if that's what it takes, hand me some frosty mugs and a six-pack. Anyway, if you want to know more about how Squatters Pub Brewery is contributing to conservation and social awareness, just check out their website. And if you're in Salt Lake City, support the cause.

See? Salt Lake City really is more than just Mormons and the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. So to my SLC buddy, I take back the jokes about your recent move, and I have no fear that you'll greatly contribute to the success of socially conscious breweries wherever you live.

Oh, I see how it is...

So, we went to war in Iraq because of unsubstantiated claims of weapons of mass destruction, which we have yet to find. Okay, so riddle me this: Iran is telling the rest of the world, to our faces, that they're planning to resume uranium reprocessing for nuclear weapons. Where's our committee with the maps and charts and threats of invasion? Hmmm....Iraq=Saddam Hussein, against whom the Bush family has had a vendetta for decades. Iran=What's-his-name. Either we learned our lesson the hard way by going to war without fully exploring all our options and paying more than we expected (in resources and lives), or *someone* dragged the whole world into his personal drama and doesn't really care what happens now that he got re-elected and realized that this whole President thing is hhhhhard woooork. Gotcha. I see how it is.

(Poll) Religion and Politics: An Honest-to-Goodness Open Opinion Forum

I have no idea how many people actually read my blog, but I thought I'd throw a poll out there to y'all because I really want to know something. A preface: many of my friends and family members have been talking lately about Tom DeLay's and Bill Frist's attempts at melding religion and politics, specifically regarding the Terry Schiavo situation and the recent judicial nominees whom most (if not all) Democrats oppose. This isn't really a new story, especially after the November 2004 election was accompanied by a big discussion about morals and values, but people seem to be getting more worked up recently. I won't say how I feel about any of this because don't want to sway the poll. I want people to answer honestly and openly, regardless of their political or religious beliefs. So I ask you to either post comments here or email me and tell me:

Do you hear or know of people who are discussing the recent use of religious discussions to help sway legislation or public policy? Do people think that the line between church and state will soon become (or already is) blurry? How do people feel about a greater presence of religion in politics? Do you (or others you interact with) feel that there's anything to be worried about? Is the growing public concern about DeLay's and Frist's politico-religious involvement off-base, or is there really something to be vigilant about?

I know a lot of people, whom I don't speak with on a regular basis, who have varying political views, and I want to know what other people think. I hear a lot from one side on a regular basis, but I try to really keep an open mind and not judge a situation based on one specific point of view. So tell me what you think, tell me what people around you think, just tell me SOMETHING! I need some intellectual discussion, people! No judgements made, I promise.

Thank you for your time.

Music sharing for your ears

I've been passing the word on to people about Launchcast, which is an internet radio station hosted by Yahoo! You can pay $3 per month to get commercial-free music and better quality, or you can pay nothing and listen to 800 songs a month. The reason I love it so much is that I created my own radio station and rated the artists and albums I like, and Launchcast will play them, as well as other artists and albums that are of the same genre or that are rated by other people who share some of my music preferences. Plus, I can go to an artist's page and randomly rate other similar artists, even if I've never heard of them. And just like that, I expand my playlist and get exposure to other music I wouldn't hear otherwise. And anyone with a Launchcast station can link their station to other users' stations, thus further expanding their music universe. The only things I don't like about Launchcast are that they tend to play a lot of the same stuff often, the commercials are slightly annoying, they're not compatible with Mac OS X yet, and they also stick in some random crap that I would never in a million years listen to on my own. Small price to pay for tonal amusement.

Regular radio, you're going down. Internet and satellite radio give us music fans what we want to hear. So, I share with you my station. Feel free to listen at will, link your station with mine, or suggest new music to add.
Rock On.

U.S. Forests Can't Get No Love...and other ways we Americans are failing each other

I'll spare y'all the rant from atop my soapbox because I promised myself and my readers that my blog would be a forum for constructive discussion and relevant information. So without futher ado, here are some articles to read while you're avoiding work on a beautiful Friday afternoon. Warning--they won't make you feel proud to be an American, but check out the bottom item for something that will lift your spirits...

1. Environmental News Network: "Road Building to be Allowed on National Forest 'Roadless' Areas"

2. Washington Post: "New Rule Opens National Forest to Roads"

3. Washington Post: "House Panel Receives Detailed Spending Plan for '06"

4. Washington Post: "In Kansas, a Sharp Debate on Evolution"

5. Washington Post: "Tom DeLay Calls for Greater Humility"

6. National Geographic Online: "Wild Horses Sold by U.S. Agency Sent to Slaughter"

And now for something completely different (and cheery!)
Something for dinner, in honor of Cinco de Mayo. Try the turkey tamales with mole negro (looks yummy!):
Epicurious.com: Land of the Seven Moles--Oaxaca's Intriguing, Intricate Cuisine

Eco-tourism: to go or not to go

Tonight on the Daily Show, Lewis Black commented on the new MTV show, Trippin', starring Cameron Diaz and all her little celebrity friends. On Trippin', Cameron and other celebrities travel to various locations around the world to educate viewers about the local customs, social issues, environmental challenges, and other items that we Americans are terribly uneducated about. Lewis Black played a clip of Drew Barrymore talking about going to the bathroom in the woods, and another clip of Kid Rock becoming enlightened after learning that he does, in fact, need water on this planet because the beer companies need water to make beer. The Kid Rock thing was too easy to ridicule, and it's sad that sometimes people can only relate to world issues through beer. But I'm glad he actually realized that environmental degradation matters to everyone, including redneck country rock stars who wear cornrows and white tank undershirts.

Lewis Black's comment about Drew Barrymore's woodland activities really says it well: that nothing sums up the United States' relationship with the rest of the world than a white woman taking a crap in native's backyard. I could comment on the political aspects of America's involvement overseas, but it's too complex an issue to cover in one small blog, and I'm no political scientist. However, I will comment on the dilemma that Trippin' poses. Cameron Diaz is doing the world a great service by educating the MTV viewers about cultures and ecosystems around the world. During the last election, P. Diddy proved that we can motivate the 18-to-24 set to get politically and socially active and that MTV, though it has somehow stopped playing actual music, can be an educational tool. That is, in between shots of the spring breakers hanging out on the other side of the island, where resorts have contributed to air, noise, light, and water pollution.

Ecotourism allows people, usually white middle and upper class Americans and Europeans, to visit remote areas in third-world countries and indigenously populated locales, learn about nature and local cultures, and comprehend the economic, political, social, and environmental issues that plague those communities. Do they return to their communities and help educate people there about what they experienced? Do they donate money to world aid and conservation organizations? Perhaps, but more likely, they go home and tell their friends they crapped in the woods, and they show photos of endangered animals taken with their pricey digital cameras. But traipsing through remote wilderness areas and sacred lands compromises the ecological health of previously protected habitats and the cultural beliefs of natives who rely on the land for their existence. So do we prohibit these trips into foreign lands in order to protect fragile habitats from pollution and degradation? Or do we continue taking people into remote wilderness areas and sheltered villages because it helps educate the public about other cultures and environmental issues? It's a tricky thing. I'm torn.

Shows like Trippin' have potential, if the stars return from the trip and do some follow-up with the communities they interacted with, to show that they're serious about the experience they had. Otherwise, people will watch another reality tv show about stars having an exotic adventure, and then they will zone out, change the channel, and forget what they saw. Message to Cameron and the gang: if you want to make a difference, you have to do the work of real people and not rely on your celebrity status to change the world.

Apostrophe Abuse Runs Rampant in U.S.

My bright idea for starting a blog was accompanied by my amazement at the blatant misuse, and abuse really, of proper grammar. As a long-standing grammar perfectionist and a graduate of The Number One Journalism School in the Country, I feel it's my duty to set the record straight about a simple punctuation element of English grammar: the apostrophe.

Misuse of the apostrophe seemingly began to rear its ugly head in emails and instant messages, as fast typing and multitasking often allowed mistakes to slip by unnoticed. (Not to say that before the computer age people had perfect grammar, but it was less in-your-face than it is now.) Forgivable, certainly, but it still registers with the grammar-obsessed everywhere.

Slowly, hand-written posters in storefronts, type in low-budget commercials, and other less-intrusive media productions emerged bearing the apostrophe where none was needed. Often these posters were written by people whose first language was not English, or the low-budget aspect of the piece did not allow for professional producers or editors. Again, forgivable.

And then, the explosion. The tension that had been brewing between the rules of American English and the Americans who speak it suddenly blew into an all-out war. Billboards, magazine, newspaper, and television ads for major businesses, banners, other large and professional media presentations, and even product information on packages now bear the mark of an uneducated proofreader or even a failure to run spellcheck. It's appalling, really, and it's unprofessional. Why would I buy a product, watch a television show or a movie, or partake in any activity whose lack of editing in the promotional or informational material is apparent?! Maybe I'm a snob, but I believe in professionality, and bad grammar screams of laziness or just plain stupidity.

Off my soapbox, and into the classroom for a quick grammar lesson in apostrophe use. After all, I see no use in complaining without doing something to rectify the situation. So here is Ranly's Rule, stated in my own words. Please take heed.

The apostrophe has a couple of uses.

1. It creates a contraction--makes one word from two or combines an object with is. Example: does not becomes doesn't or the phone's ringing (meaning, the phone is ringing)
2. Combined with an 's', it makes a noun possessive. Example: the dog's tail (Keep in mind that if the possessive noun ends in an s, no need to add an extra one, such as the Jones' dog. Also, when a pronoun is made possessive, such as the dog is hers, no apostrophe is needed.)

Here's the most blatant and unforgivable mistake that is too often made with the apostrophe: My family has two dog's. Everyone should know that in order to make something plural, one need only add an s (in most cases...we won't get into that complex rule). Sadly, people just don't get it. And that is my biggest complaint. Get a clue, people. Learn the proper use of the apostrophe and laugh and point at anyone who screws up this very simple rule.

Enough of my petty rant. I promise that future posts will include more interesting, educated, and useful commentary on things that matter more than grammar. (There are more important things in this world than grammar?! What??!!)