Sleep Spent

Four new songs of the week, my backlog from this last month.

Go! Enjoy!

Me: “Hi, my name is Nick and I wanted to let the Senator know about a bill currently in the Senate and my position on it.”

Exasperated McCain Staffer: “Is it the INDUCE Act?”

Me: “Why, yes it is.”

Exasperated McCain Staffer: “Are you opposed to it?”

Me: “Yep!”

Exasperated McCain Staffer: “I’ll put your name down.”

We’re getting through.

Oh, and don’t forget to call a couple Senators/Representatives today!

Save Betamax!

I received this e-mail yesterday:

Nick,
You say its time to send troops to the Sudan.   There are plenty of recruitment
offices in every location.  They will be happy to have you sign on the bottom line.
In fact,   this would help one of the poor disadvantaged inner city young men
stay home.  Especially since he did not have your advantage of parents who
paid for all your schooling.  It would then appear that you had learned what
is meant by the term hypocrisy.
The old professor,
San Luis Obispo</blockquote>

Wow, OK. First things first: I have paid for all my schooling. My first repayment of the nearly $23,000 loan begins next month, actually. I’m proud of the fact that I worked to pay the bills while in school (for the last two years of it, anyway). And while I wouldn’t say I never got help from my parents, it simply isn’t true to assert that I had some sort of ultra comfy, silver-spoon college experience.

Secondly, I am in no way apologetic about feeling like something should be done about the Darfur sitation. And, given our country’s system of a volunteer military, it is not strictly hypocritical to support a deployment of troops without at the same time asking to be one of them myself. This, after all, is a political issue. There have been plenty of military actions I’ve disagreed with recently which have required U.S. troops, including a recent one involving just over 1000 of them. Perhaps you heard about it? I think I have enough dove credits saved up to ask for this and not feel like I’m being unreasonable.

(Incidentally, thank you for giving me a reason to figure that out for myself. That feeling of hypocrisy I alluded to earlier seemes to have vanished.)

Thirdly, if the e-mailer had been listening to the news, they would be aware that the African Union has already deployed some troops to the area. I think an African solution to an African problem is great, and I totally support it. In fact, I support whatever will allow over one million people to return to their homes. If that means Western troops with blue helmets, so be it. If that means troops from neighboring countries, so much the better.

And lastly, who the hell are you?

I must say, I’m impressed.

Bush Declares Genocide in Sudan’s Darfur

But this is only the first step. Now we need to actually do something about it, which is going to take troops. As much as I’d be in favor of that happening, I don’t know that I’d want to be one of them. (I hate that hypocritical feeling. :-( )

And speaking of troops, most of ours seem to be occupied at the moment in Iraq and Afghanistan. That leaves very little capacity to deal with something the whole world agrees is a humanitarian crisis on a massive scale.

I’m no economist, but I know an example of opportunity cost when I see it.

It’s a little early yet to be talking about it, maybe, but I’m going to be in London for Thanksgiving. I need a place to make a list of what I plan to do while I’m there, so here it is:

• See Ben Folds at the Barbican (link) (!!)
• See Christian Slater in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (link)
• Visit Leeds Castle and other spots of interest in Kent (link)
• Visit Nick Drake’s grave at Tanworth-in-Arden
• Go hang out in Oxford for a day
• See The History Boys playing in the West End (review) (!!)
• Shop for some of that hot European fashion
• And of course, hit up some more museums. I should like to spend a day at the British Museum, perhaps another day at the Museum of London. I want to visit the (relatively) new home of the British Library. And I definitely want to check out The Type Museum (!!), which I found out about too late last year to investigate.

Am I missing anything? Where else should I visit? I’ll be in England for 10 days, so I’ll have plenty of time for other things. Perhaps a trip to Wales... hmmm.