Our first stop is the Trustees Room, that large and airy study space just off of the main lobby. Despite the intrusion of a few oblivious graduate students, this is truly the kingdom of the well-heeled and upwardly mobile among us.
On March 7, a horde of students, faculty, and security guards filed into McCosh 50 to absorb the words of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, who visited campus to accept the prestigious James Madison Award at the invitation of the University’s Whig Cliosophic Society.
The existence of these inflammatory sermons was portrayed as a news-event in itself, but for many Americans the real news should have been this: black people are not happy with America the way you’re happy with America.
Air travel used to be a real Event with a capital “E,” something that you would dream about and count down to. The old-time airlines like TWA boasted wide aisles, big seats, attractive stewardesses, and complete meals with real silverware for everyone (even the plebs in coach).
In Doha and Dubai we have two vastly different cities. While it is difficult to simply declare one superior and the other inferior, different values are clearly present in the directions these hubs are moving. While Doha’s may seem more thought-out for the long term, Dubai’s stunning present development is a compelling counter-argument.
My gut reaction was that I missed out on something historic and big and violent. But the riot wasn’t any of those. Apparently, protests and riots in Greece are somewhat pedestrian – almost every time there is something to be upset about – there is a protest.
You might have heard that a half-black man named Barack Obama is running for President. This sounds ridiculous, but the last few weeks have revealed that some have not.
At 10:16 yesterday morning, I received an e-mail from my mother. The message was three sentences long, and only the first four words were in English: Bác Hai is dying.
It’s an interesting characteristic of Western culture (and maybe of cultures in general) that, over time, we tend to forget exactly why we do the things we do. Of course this is to be expected, as behaviors and preferences become institutionalized over time, making it less important to remember who was the first person to do or say something, and under what authority this was done.