Via e-mail forwarded by my friend and former guest blogger, Dan Ornelas:

This test only has one question, but it's a very important one. Please don't answer it without giving it some serious thought. By giving an honest answer you will be able to test where you stand morally.

The test features an unlikely, completely fictional situation, where you will have to make a decision one way or the other. Remember that your answer needs to be honest, yet spontaneous. Please scroll down slowly and consider each line - this is important for the test to work accurately.

You're in Florida...In Miami, to be exact... There is great chaos going on around you, caused by a hurricane and severe floods ....... There are huge masses of water all over you.... You are a CNN photographer and you are in the middle of this great disaster. The situation is nearly hopeless.

You're trying to shoot very impressive photos. There are houses and people floating around you, disappearing into the water. Nature is showing all its destroying power and is ripping everything away with it.

Suddenly you see a woman in the water, she is fighting for her life, trying not to be taken away by the masses of water and mud. You move closer. Somehow the woman looks familiar. Suddenly you know who it is - it's Hilary Clinton!

At the same time you notice that the raging waters are about to take her away...forever.

You have two options. You can save her or you can take the best photo of your life. So you can save the life of Hilary Clinton, or you can shoot a Pulitzer prize winning photo. A unique photo displaying the death of a former first lady and one of New York's senators and a possible future presidential candidate.

And here's the question: (Please give an honest answer)

Click on the "Contentions" link directly below this post to see the question. Its way worth it.

Play the game now. The Quest for the Crown

Prepare to be astounded and flabergasted.

Even if the universe should tumble in ruins, it would strike a man undaunted.

-Erasmus on the role of God's grace

A U.S. military source is confident that we will catch Bin Laden this year. If so, what do we do with him? Try him in an American tribunal or in a world court of some sort? Seeing that he is an international criminal that has committed acts not only against the U.S. but also against Saudia Arabia, Pakistan, Indonesia, etc., I think some sort of international tribunal should be set up. Of course, if we do that, then the death penalty might be taken off the table. Some conservatives here might have a problem with that, but not I. It would be the best opportunity for America to show strict justice without blood-lust.

Ok, never mind that C.S. Lewis died before the rock group Styx even started, but bear with me here.

Some of Styx "Mr. Roboto" lyrics:

The problem's plain to see: too much technology
Machines to save our lives. Machines dehumanize.

C.S. Lewis from "The Abolition of Man":

Man's conquest of Nature turns out, in the moment of its consummation, to be Nature's conquest of Man.

Coincidence? I say no. :-)

The New York Times hired an ombudsman for the first time a couple of months ago, except they chose to call the position their "public editor" which I decried at the time. Now, according to this Wired News article, a new blogging trend has begun, in which a blogger follows a certain reporter and checks every single thing that reporter writes. Now this is a public editor!

Except I'm not sure this is good for journalism. Yes this adds another fact checker into the loop to hold reporters responsible, but it also is bound to subject reporters to the harrassing of biased parties. The article, for instance, mentions such a blogger, who is a Howard Dean campaign volunteer. The article gives Glenn Reynolds ("papa blogger") take on the matter:

Glenn Reynolds, who's taken the Times to task again and again in his popular InstaPundit.com blog, thinks the idea of tracking a single reporter might be a bit misguided. The big media institutions, not the individual writers, are what's wrong with modern journalism, he said.

"The real problem is that these reporters are given boring, pigeonholed assignments to tell boring, pigeonholed stories over and over again, in different locations," Reynolds added.

During and after the brunt of the Iraq conflict, the BBC was all over Tony Blair and his government for "sexing up" the facts regarding suspected WMD programs in Iraq. The BBC Chairman, Gavyn Davies, has now resigned after admitting that these stories were based on unsupported accusations. Score one for the truth.

...but I'll make an exception. Who said this about me? Try a few guesses in my comment section...

He's also the most brilliant (and sexy) individual alive.

-July 31, 2003

Its really piling up here in South Bend. There has to be at least a foot on the ground and its still coming down. I love it.

Update: Well, we're now up to at least 16 inches on the ground, and its still COMING DOWN! We had a rocking game of snow football on ND's south quad. Yours truly had 2 TDs, but I also fumbled like 4 times.

11 for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. It gosh darn better win Best Picture, or I will have lost much faith in the Academy. I also feel that it at leased deserved a Best Supporting Actor for Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee), but hey the world isn't perfect. See all of the Oscar nods here. I do like Mystic River's nominations, including Sean Penn for Best Actor and Tim Robbins for Best Supporting. If you haven't seen this masterpiece by Clint Eastwood, then make haste and do so now.

I would feel ashamed for quite a long time if I ever purchased wine in a can. Thanks to Lawren Mills (a new addition to the sidebar) for the link.

Well, according to this article, about 32 million people have logged onto NASA's website since the Spirit Rover landed on Mars. Thanks to Glenn Reynolds for the link.

The Indiana General Assembly will not pursue a Constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. I would have been quite dismayed had they done so. Now to work on getting the already existing general Indiana statute ban repealed.

When we met with Justice Thomas, I was quite surprised that he chose to answer every question, even if it dealt with possible upcoming cases before the Court. His only ground-rule was that we "ask questions that we actually want answers to." Thats fair, I would say.

Following that ground-rule, I asked him, 'What role do you see the Equal Protection Clause playing in this Court's handling of the gay marriage issue?'

To which he answered that he felt that the Full Faith and Credit Clause would be more applicable and that the Court had never entertained such a case on Equal Protection grounds. His answer was more nuanced than that, but I can't do it justice here (no pun intended). But it did cause bells to ring in my head. I can only think of one direction he can be going with it. Under Bill Clinton and the 104th Congress, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was passed. Its possible that the Full Faith Clause could apply to it, so I asked Justice Thomas if he felt that was indeed the case. He flat out said he did not know. To his credit, he probably has a good idea, but it would be dangerous for him to make a comment without an official position, so I respect his non-answer in this case. But I still want an answer to my question, so I'll post part of the DOMA text in conjunction with the Full Faith Clause, and let any Constitutional scholars or others venture a guess here. Here's the DOMA:

`No State, territory, or possession of the United States, or Indian tribe, shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other State, territory, possession, or tribe, or a right or claim arising from such relationship.'

And the Full Faith and Credit Clause:

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State; And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. (U.S. Const., Article IV, Sec. 1)

Well, I'm a day late, but here is the promised summary of my D.C. trip. I'll make it brief, until I get some photos, which may be awhile, as they roll in.

I went to D.C. with only one other ND student, because a couple of our friends ditched at the last minute, but no worries, because we added another guy to the hotel room to keep the costs down. We left ND at 1 a.m. Wednesday morning and arrived at about 11:30 a.m. The plan was to give ourselves plenty of time on Wednesday to secure our lodging and get settled in. The general lack of sleep messed with me a bit over the trip, but it was nice to have the extra time. That night we went out to eat with a group of students from the University of Dayton at this nice Italian place and then to a couple pubs in the Cleveland Park area. It was neat to see our old stomping ground from the semester program from last spring.

Thursday morning we got up nice and early and met with Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas. He lectured for about a half hour and then took questions for another couple hours. He was suprisingly open and frank-- and exceedingly intelligent. His comments on life and constitutional interpretation were refreshing and insightful. He openly criticized his colleagues on the court for not giving attorneys enough time in oral arguments and he criticized the court's liberal justices (without mentioning names) for choosing to ignore their duties to the Constitution in preference for a new mode of judicial tyrannical activism. Regarding politics in Washington he said (and I paraphrase), 'Its like having an old AM radio sitting on your desk blaring at full volume. You can't understand a word of what's being said, but you can't help but hear it.'

The remainder of Thursday and Friday were spent at the actual conference listening to speakers and browsing different organizations booths. The speakers I listened to include VP Dick Cheney (who recycled the President's State of the Union), Sec. of Labor Elaine Chow (who spoke about new overtime rules), Ann Coulter, Oliver North, Ed Gillespie, etc. etc. Friday night we attended the Ronald Reagan reception and banquet where we got to meet Senate majority leader Bill Frist, who gave an excellent speech also. He opened it with a discussion of the theme of C.S. Lewis's "The Abolition of Man." He had me there.

We ended the trip with a full tour of the monuments-- an always welcomed activity. Our nation's history is incredible, the American experiment a gigantic success. I've never been more confident of that.

Mel Gibson's new film, The Passion, is generating a lot of buzz. And a lot of people are interested in what the Pope and Catholic Church have to say about it.

But we might never know, because nobody can seem to agree on what he has actually said or not said. Its either shoddy reporting, confusion at the Vatican, or both. The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan has an excellent article that describes all of the confusion here.

Hey all, Luke here... back from D.C. and a fantastic conference and week. I'd like to thank Ted for his great posts from Wednesday to Saturday of last week. Look for more good content from him in the future.

I'm still road tired so no conference summary right now, but I'll have one tomorrow sharp, and hopefully photos in the next few weeks, as they roll in.

Well, at least this one got turned over. My Dad sent me an AP story about two African-American women who sued Southwest Airlines because the flight attendant used the rhyme "Eenie, meenie, minie, moe; pick a seat, we gotta go.'' They felt that the rhyme was directed at them because the original rhyme, apparently unbeknownst to the flight attendant, went "Eenie, meenie, minie, moe; catch a n----- by his toe." I have flown on SWA many times, and the staff always uses jokes, rhymes and songs to make the passengers feel at ease. I've found it quite an enjoyable depature from the plastered on smiles found on other domestic airlines like United, where it appears they hire the most misanthropic applicants for every job. But I digress. I think lawsuits in the country are completely out of hand. Hypersensitivity to anything that could possibly be perceived as backhandedly racist will get our country nowhere. All it will do is make people so afraid of saying anything around members of another race or ethnicity for fear of being labelled a racist. Increased tensions can only create more animosity and bad feelings.

Email me (tflynn@nd.edu) if you want me to forward you the whole article.

Notre Dame football just picked up a big commitment from a player by the name of Darius Walker. He's a national top-20 high school running back and just declared that he's going to play for the Irish next year live on an ESPN.com chat. I'm excited that we got a player of his caliber to play for the Irish, but the method by which he announced his decision and all the hype surrounding recruiting in general rub me the wrong way. It seems ludicrous to have a total circus over the college decision of an 18-year-old, but there I was, hitting refresh 15 times to see what the decision would be. I think that big-time Division I collegiate athletics is an inherently flawed system. At the heart of it, though, is the almighty dollar and I figure that as long as we all keep shelling out for season tickets and football merchandise, nothing will really change. Too bad.

Appropriately entered in the Offbeat News section of CNN.com, this article talks about how a rabbi has created a prayer to protect computer users from the temptation of Internet pornography. Having lived in an all-male dorm for four years, something tells me that the Office of Information Technology should hand out a copy of this to incoming freshman along with their ethernet cards...

Every year, these are handed out to the people of this Earth who do the most good to the gene pool by removing themselves from it. Most are confirmed, although some to seem rather far-fetched. Regardless, I always get a kick out of them. Here's the winner:

"When his 38-caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a holdup in Long Beach, California, would be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder: He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked."

This next one is my personal favorite from this year's crop:

"After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Beltway had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn't discovered for 3 days."

Email me (tflynn@nd.edu) if you want me to forward you the 2003 "Winners" email. Thanks to my brother Andrew for sending them to me.

In light of President Bush's recent comments regarding sending manned missions to Mars, this article was published in the South Bend Tribune. One of the scientists mentioned, Dr. Clive Neal, is one of my professors as well as my academic advisor. I share his enthusiasm for President Bush's proposal. It's the first time in a while I've actually agreed with something the President has said! I support this push to establish a permanent outpost on the Moon and send astronauts to Mars in part because I believe that it will inject some excitement about science into young people. Many students of today are apathetic towards the sciences, thinking that they are dull and only for "nerds." The excitement of travelling to another planet and the role models produced by such a program could inspire a generation of schoolchildren to pursue geology, physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering instead of only thinking on how to find the necessary funds to put 20-inch "spinner" rims on their cars.

A question to all of you who, like me, have fantasies about travelling to the stars: If you were given the opportunity to travel to Mars and explore, but knew that you could never return to Earth, would you do it?

Hi everyone! It's the long-awaited debut of Ted Flynn, Daily Contentions' illustrious backup blogger. I'm looking forward to adding my words to Luke's blog this week and I hope I won't disappoint. I welcome people to get in touch with me through email at tflynn@nd.edu. For my first post, I'll just toss out a quote from Ernest Hemingway I found the other day as food for thought:

"Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know."

It's a little dark, I know, but still, it does give one something to ponder, doesn't it?

Ok, the time has come for me to hand the reins over to Ted Flynn who will be blogging for me this week.

Ted, a senior enviromental geosciences major at Notre Dame, hails from Sacramento and is a big Kings fan. His general command of trivia (sports and otherwise) is amazing, and he likes cool music. His girlfriend, Christy Ruggiero, was the guest blogger on Daily Contention on the Friday of Guest Blog Week. Oh, and he has a better taste in music than I.

Cya on the flip side...


-Luke

Matt Drudge's headline "Dean Go's Nuts" is a bit misleading, me thinks, but Howard Dean's losing speech in Iowa certainly shows a good deal of excitement and perhaps a bit of anger.

Listen to the audio and judge for yourself...

Joan B. Kroc, the deceased heiress of the McDonalds estate, has willed a $1.5 billion to the Salvation Army. The donation will all be in one lump sum and cash, making it one of the biggest such donations ever.

Late last year, Kroc left The University of Notre Dame's Kroc Peace Institute a $50 million dollar donation. As one of my roommates so adeptly pointed out, a $35 million donation by the Mendoza family to our business college took it from off the radar screen to top 25 and even top 10 in numerous categories. One wonders how the Peace Institute, which has a far smaller budget, will be able to use this money. Create world peace and love? Doubtfully.

Canadian teen Mike Rowe thought it clever when he registered the website domain name: www.mikerowesoft.com

That is until Microsoft released the hounds (read: lawyers) on him. He received a notice in the mail that he was "infringing" on their copyrights; he responded by asking them for money in compensation for him to release the domain name. They offered him only $10!! So now, upset at that pathetic offer, Mike is gonna see this through. (Thanks to Chris Letkewicz for the pointer on this story.)

And if I were a lesser man, I would go back and delete this post from Jan. 10 when I predicted that Dean would win it, and Gephardt would come in 2nd. My first two missed predictions on Daily Contentions. Not a terrible record. But hey, I get so much enjoyment from pointing out others' missed predictions; it would only be fair to point out my own mistakes.

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.

-Plato

Tomorrow (Tuesday) night, I'll be driving with a small group to D.C. (Daily Contentions' initial sake). I will be attending the 31st Annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). VP Dick Cheney and RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie are two of the several great speakers that will be addressing the conference. I'll be back to Notre Dame on Saturday or Sunday, hopefully with some good photos.

In the mean time, and starting tomorrow evening, Notre Dame student Ted Flynn will have the reins of this blog. This means that Daily Contentions should actually be a good read this week :-) I'll give him a proper introduction before I shove off tomorrow evening.

Regrettably I have not more than a cursory study of the man's life, and am not able to make a great post for the day. This being the case, I'll defer to Joshua Claybourn, who both honors MLK and puts his scholarly work into perspective in this post.

Michael Demmons, of DiscountBlogger fame, provides an excellent reason to avoid Wes Clark.

Pressters not loath to donate to politicians

Beat the Patriots

Update: Sigh... There's always next year. And to look on the bright side, they made it a week further in the playoffs than I would have predicted at the season's beginning.

If this story from Drudge is true, then I say "Amen." Its about time somebody put Maureen Dowd in her place. And if she decides to write about the snub in her column, then she will let personal issue enter into her "professional" opinions. Disgraceful.

Some say that "South Park Republicans" are entering into the majority in the GOP. This may be true; in any case, I'd say that Howard Dean lead the South Park Democrats. Think about it, and remember you heard it here first. :-)

What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?

-Matthew 16:26


Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

-James 4:14

What the hell is a monoculture you ask? Well, the term usually applies to biology. For instance, an agricultural monoculture would be the vast predominance of one plant species in an area. In the Irish potato famine, for example, Irish farmers came to plant nearly only one specific species of potato. As we know, a specific pathogen came in and destroyed most of those potatoes. The lesson: diversity resists attack by virus or bacterium.

Now, this lesson certainly cannot be applied to every aspect of life, because not all processes work the same. However, this CNET News.com article makes a great comparison between agricultural monocultures and "digital monocultures." In short, software monopolies threaten the security and stability of computer networks. As I've mentioned in the past, Microsoft's dominance is harming the field of computer technology in that manner. This paragraph sums up the point nicely:

As a result, the report maintains that today's software ecosystem would be more diverse and therefore more secure if it included non-Windows products made by competing companies. "This fundamental principle assures that, like farmers who grow more than one crop, those of us who depend on computers will not see them all fail when the next blight hits," the study stated.

Anderson Windows has a new type of window they are showing off. One hitch: its not the same type of glass we're used to. Rather, this glass has a fine (and nearly invisible) web of LCD fiber woven into it. The embedded LCD web can make the glass do some very very cool things such as turning opaque or even acting as a television or computer monitor. Its not, umm how shall I put this, reasonably priced at this point, but costs always fall. This Wired News article explains the technology and all of the possible uses.

Now if you feel that you can't go on (can't go on)
Because all of your hope is gone (all your hope is gone)
And your life is filled with much confusion (much confusion)
Until happiness is just an illusion (happiness is just an illusion)
And your world around is crumbling down, darlin
reach out come on girl reach on out for me
reach out reach out for me
I'll be there with a love that will shelter you
I'll be there with a love that will see you through
When you feel lost and about to give up (to give up)
Cause your life just ain't good enough (just ain't good enough)
And your feel the world has grown cold (has grown cold)
And your drifting out all on your own (drifting out on your own)
And you need a hand to hold, darlin
reach out come on girl reach out for me
reach out reach out for me
I'll be there to love and comfort you
And I'll be there to cherish and care for you
I'll be there to always see you through
I'll be there to love and comfort you
I can tell the way you hang your head (hang your head)
Your not in love now, now your afraid (you're afraid)
And through the tears you look around (look around)
But there's no piece of mind to be found
(no piece of mind to be
found)
I know what your thinking,
You're alone now, no love of your own, but darling
reach out come on girl reach out for me
reach out reach out.......... just look over your shoulder
I'll be there to give you all the love you need
And I'll be there you can always depend on me
I'll be there to always see you through
I'll be there to love and comfort you

-The Four Tops, "Reach Out, I'll Be There"


If you haven't listened to any Four Tops, I suggest you do so soon. They're old, but good. I wonder if the lead singer was singing to a particular person in this song.

Wait, wait, hold on a second. I'll be perfectly clear: I think Dean is an idiot on matters of foreign policy and many matters of domestic policy, and I think he would be a terrible President.

That said, I respect his unusual candor on matters. I would like to see more bluntness from our politicians, but I of course am dreaming.

This latest ABCNews story on Dean smells of a witchhunt to me. Apparently, while Dean was governor of Vermont, his lead security trooper was beating his wife. The article makes its accusation quite clear: "What Did He Know About Abuse Allegations; When Did He Know It?"

Unfortunately, after making such a damning inquisition, the article does nothing to answer either of those questions. This is irresponsible journalism, at its worst. In fact, I'll use my own more correct terminology; this isn't journalism at all, its pressterism only. Read it and judge for yourself.

By my account and by the facts that are known, Dean's error was at worst an error of judgement, not the approval of domestic violence that this article implies. I grant that Dean should not have filed an affidavit in favor of the trooper with a lack of knowledge of the actual events.

But until we actually know if Dean knew about the abuse while promoting the trooper, then there is no story to report. Its moves like this that force politicians to take adversial stances towards the media.

This article's first few paragraphs are hilariously ironic:

Turnabout is not fair play - at least according to Microsoft.

Responding to Hewlett-Packard's agreement to bundle Apple's iTunes music store on its computers, a Microsoft official called the move uncompetitive.

"Windows is about choice - you can mix and match software and music player stuff," Dave Fester, general manager of Microsoft's Windows digital media division, told reporters after last week's Consumer Electronics Show. "We believe you should have the same choice when it comes to music services."

Microsoft, of course, spent years in court claiming its own bundling of products was good for consumers.

"He said what!?" said Bob Lande, a senior research scholar at the American Antitrust Institute. "Apparently his view of competition is that Microsoft is the only one allowed to offer a product."

The Daily Show is always good for plenty of laughs. This mock interview of a UC-Davis student coming out of the closet as a conservative is no exception.

...sometimes we just have to take the time to notice it. One of my friends from the dorm pointed this out to me. Look at the photo of the vending machine and popcorn package carefully, and I think you'll see the humor in it:

All thru' the day I me mine, I me mine, I me mine.
All thru' the night I me mine, I me mine, I me mine.
Now they're frightened of leaving it
Ev'ryone's weaving it,
Coming on strong all the time,
All thru' the day I me mine.

I-me-me mine, I-me-me mine,
I-me-me mine, I-me-me mine.

All I can hear I me mine, I me mine, I me mine.
Even those tears I me mine, I me mine, I me mine.
No-one's frightened of playing it
Ev'ryone's saying it,
Flowing more freely than wine,
All thru' the day I me mine.

I-me-me mine, I-me-me mine,
I-me-me mine, I-me-me mine.

All I can hear I me mine, I me mine, I me mine.
Even those tears I me mine, I me mine, I me mine.
No-one's frightened of playing it
Ev'ryone's saying it,
Flowing more freely than wine,
All thru' your life I me mine

-Beatles, "I Me Mine"

Michael Manning wrote to me via e-mail:

Lucas-
Caught up on all the DC posts from Xmas break. I read what Romano said and your reply, but your answer is not entirely satisfactory. While I agree with your position that desire is not equivalent to genetic predisposition (condition was the term you used I believe), what about kleptomaniacs and psychopaths and erotomaniacs? Since God created them, is it OK to steal or murder or be promiscuous? (Not that I agree with this, I definitely believe in the existence of sin, but how would you reconcile this with your argument?) From what I understand of these conditions (which is very limited), kleptomania is the compulsive addiction to stealing DESPITE the absence of desire to steal. Psychopaths view murder as a survival strategy, despite the presence of an actual threat. Sexaholics are like compulsive gamblers or alcoholics, they are addicted. Since the commission occurs with a lack of "rational" desire, or in some cases, despite a desire to not commit the act, are these acts sinful?


Response: There are two distinctions that should be made between your examples (e.g. kleptomania, psychopathy, etc.). The first one, you have already made: rationality. A kleptomaniac does not desire the things he or she steals, but just the process of stealing. Furthermore, stealing involves no basic process or behavior that humans are biologically designed to enjoy. Sexuality, on the other hand, is built into humans. But what about "erotomaniacs"? Their desire is sexual in nature, so why by this logic is it wrong? This brings us to the second distinction: consequences. Kleptomania's negative consequences are obvious. Erotomania's consequences include higher risk of acquiring STDs, lack of meaning in relationships, etc.

Homosexuality, on the other hand, is not irrational and is without intrinsic negative consequences. Therefore, comparisons between it and kleptomania, erotomania, pedophilia, beastiality, etc., fall utterly short.

Someday love will find you
Break those chains that bind you

-line from Journey's "Separate Ways"

The NYTimes Magazine's Emily Nussbaum has an excellent article on teenage diary-style blogging called "My So-Called Blog." Its long, but a great read nonetheless. Her primary focus is on personal blogs of teenagers and how it has made public many of their adolescent concerns, but she places the role of blogging and other new communication technologies into perspective here (emphasis added):

Back in the 1980's, when I attended high school, reading someone's diary would have been the ultimate intrusion. But communication was rudimentary back then. There were no cellphones, or answering machines; there was no ''texting,'' no MP3's or JPEG's, no digital cameras or file-sharing software; there was no World Wide Web -- none of the private-ish, public-ish, superimmediate forums kids today take for granted. If this new technology has provided a million ways to stay in touch, it has also acted as both an amplifier and a distortion device for human intimacy. The new forms of communication are madly contradictory: anonymous, but traceable; instantaneous, then saved forever (unless deleted in a snit). In such an unstable environment, it's no wonder that distinctions between healthy candor and ''too much information'' are in flux and that so many find themselves helplessly confessing, as if a generation were given a massive technological truth serum.


Personally, I find these diary-style blogs kindof silly. Why should I read about the personal problems of people I don't know? And if I do know them, then why don't I just talk to them in person? These new communication devices give us unheard of opportunities, but they also can destroy normal healthy socializing if used with the wrong attitude.

From the reverse perspective, a personal blogger might ask me why they should care what I have to say about George Bush or the Mideast peace process. I have consistently placed political and topical blogs on a higher pedestal than personal blogs, but should I?

euphonium- n. - A miniature tuba:

And I really wonder why, for the following reasons:

1. I've never subscribed to it, nor have I ever received it in the past, nor would I like to ever receive it in the future

2. It was labeled with my address from Fall 2003, rather than my current address (both of which are in the same dorm), and

3. My last name was spelled incorrectly on the label (Sayer rather than Sayre)

Those of you who know me know that I dislike the color-coded terror alert system. In short, I think its far more useful at causing us fear and grief than it is at protecting us against terrorism.

That said, this new plan by the Bush administration to color-code all airline passengers according to their threat (as perceived by a gigantic computer database) just flat out scares me. The level of information this will require the government to keep on so numerous citizens is incredible. Co