Shout It From The Rooftop

Fictional Deadly Rock Becomes Reality

2007-04-28T02:17:00.000-05:00

CAN AN ICONIC HERO IN BLUE AND A RED CAPE BE FAR BEHIND?

Turns out Kryptonite has been discovered.

No, really, it has. And we're not talking the element you find on the periodic table either.

A mineral has been discovered in a Serbian mine that matches the description of the alien rock that emits radioactive poison affecting certain other-worldly fictional superheroes.

When analyzing the new mineral's chemical make-up, a near match was found to already exist - in pop culture fiction.

I say "near" because its make-up of 'sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide lacks fluorine, which would've make it a perfect match to its description in the recent "Superman Returns" film. That, and it's not green.

But it does turn pink-orange in fluorescent light.

So... without diving too deep in the metaphysical philosophy that preaches that reality is merely formed by our thoughts and desires, I will spend a few minutes geeking out over the idea that where there is a rock, there is a hero not too far behind.

Fit For A Queen

2007-04-28T01:53:00.000-05:00

As mentioned in a previous blog, Her Royal Highness, the Queen of England is coming to Virginia. Just in time for the reopening of the Commonwealth's capitol.

What? You didn't know that the Capitol has been closed for renovations for the past two years at the fine sounding tune of $104.5 million?

Well, we certainly wouldn't want Richmond looking a sham for the big 4-0-0 anniversary of Jamestown, now would we? Not with the Queen delivering a speech to a joint session of the General Assembly next Thursday, May 3rd, most certainly not.

Furthermore, discussions between her palace in London, the embassy in D.C. and the Governor Kaine's office are taking place to decide how best the visiting queen should acknowledge the event of last week at Virginia Tech.

I wonder if I can get her to sign my copy of "The Queen" - once I get past her security detail.

Proposal to Drill Off Virginia Coast

2007-04-28T01:00:00.000-05:00

SOMETIMES YOU ONLY BEGIN TO TAKE NOTICE AND CARE WHEN IT'S CLOSER TO HOME

Though no drilling would potentially happen until 2011, the Interior Department is about to release a five year plan that involves a "major proposal for expanded oil and natural gas development on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf." This includes Alaska's Bristol Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, and Virginia - my Virginia.

Suddenly, I take notice; and suddenly I care a great deal.

All I have to do is picture in my head the spill of March 23, 1989 in Alaska's Prince William Sound involving oil tanker Exxon Valdez, and photoshop that imagery against the backdrop of the Chesapeake Bay and Assateague Island.

I think about area's famous blue crab.

I think about the seasonal swim of wild ponies across the Assateague Channel to Chincoteague Island.

And maybe I'm going all Rachel Carson here, but despite the current conditions of the Potomac these years, I don't like the ideas of a drill station off the coastline of Virginia, just waiting for an accident to happen.

Hopefully and luckily two things will happen:

1. The plan will never be passed.

2. The power and control the oil industry has over our need for energy sources will finally be thwarted by new energy developments, and we can move on to have new energy crises - such as accidental fusion meltdowns threatening to consume entire continents.

Journalists Kindly Evicted From School

2007-04-22T08:32:00.000-05:00

The student body of Virginia Tech has asked that the media and all journalists leave the campus effective early Monday morning; and it's a good thing they did.

I'm sure they've had enough of being a media-frenzy, three-course buffet. Unfortunately, many took what happened nearly a week ago as another opportunity to get the most story out there before everyone else. NBC released the home-made videos of the killer for crying out loud!

And those truly affected, have had enough for one lifetime. So the decision to ask the media to leave was "...made by the students, with the intent to regain a sense of normalcy, as [they] prepare to move forward..."

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Does Whatever A Spider Can

2007-04-22T07:18:00.000-05:00

It's official and it's most certainly happening. Our favorite neighborhood web-slinger will be singing his way into a Broadway musical.

And bring on the heavy-hitters! Tony award winner Julie Taymor is directed, with music supplied by Bono and the Edge.

So don't be expecting a comedy. In fact, I'm not sure what I would be expecting from this production. You think Peter Pan had an interesting time flying about the stage. Just because you throw big names behind it doesn't mean it wont flop (i.e. Wedding Singers: The Musical). This brought up a discussion with other theatre goers, and it turns that this is just the tip of a frightening trend of converting films in plays. A spec sheet actually went around for Top Gun.

Let's hope not.

But for our Friendly Spider-Man ... at least we know he can pull off the tights.

There Is No Pause

2007-04-17T20:41:00.000-05:00

Monday, April 16th 2007, a man and his guns killed 32 students and teachers at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.

You can catch the latest here: CollegeMedia
and here: CNN

But...

The world still turns in time around the Sun, and thus the days keep coming with no regard for respite. "Time moves forward" - 0r perhaps, "Tempus Fugit."

Such days when everyone is eager to react and react with flare, I find myself sitting back and allowing the many, many suddenly vocal participants to crowd the airwaves, the web, and every vacant corner with their 'many' words.

For what do I have to contribute; anything of merit or significance that would actually shift the tide of the great conversation?

Or perhaps, I watch instead of speak because their words ring so similar from the past. There is nothing new in death and endings in this world. Grief, though wanted to be unique by every individual wallowing in it, is still grief.

Watching those who become animated due to unwanted endings, teaches and reminds that Good steps out from the ashes, bearing the name "Beginnings."

Find the good, and let us continue living forward; for if we fail to pick our heads up, the one who took the lives of those 32 people, has taken our lives as well.

Yes, let there be talk and much of it. And then tomorrow, let us appreciate that there still is one by chasing it full stride.

CAN PLAGIARISM PREVENTION VIOLATE COPYRIGHT LAW?

2007-04-15T15:56:00.000-05:00

ONLINE PLAGIARISM DETECTION SERVICE SUED

Turnitin, a widely used online tool across the nation by public school teachers, is in the defendant's chair as two local Fairfax high school students filed a lawsuit against them this past week in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

They seek damages from the Californian based compay that exposes those who copy and cheat on their papers by comparing their work "against a database of more than 22 million student papers as well as online sources and electronic archives of journals."

The students are suing because their own essays and papers are added to that same database in the process, violating copyright law.

Robert A. Vanderhye, a McLean attorney, clarifies:

"The problem with [Turnitin] is the archiving of the documents. They are violating a right these students have to be in control of their own property."

Perhaps public schools should focus on teaching students to be creative and not copy others as opposed to spending so much effort in catching them in the crime.

A win for the student would be a considerable shift in the landscape of how teachers and professors across the country can and can't check students' work for authenticity.

SEEING RED

2007-04-15T15:35:00.000-05:00

Painting the Highway Red

Not too long ago (April 4th) commuters on the stretch of Interstate 495 that passes through Littleton, Massachusetts - outside of Boston - might have thought they were seeing the world through rose-colored lenses.

500 yards of the northbound lanes changed from black to a bright crimson when "thousands of gallons of red dye" were spilled from a topsy-turvy tractor trailer.

The dye is the same kind used to stain wood mulch and is considered environmentally safe, though still not advisable for consumption by curious little squirrels.

When traffic reopened the following morning, the highway was still red.

No More Bloody Sundays

2007-03-26T23:12:00.000-05:00

A deal has been made between warring factions of Northern Ireland today. Catholic and Protestant rivals are sitting down at the same table. This really could be, as many around the world hope, the beginning of an end to a crimson stained era.

This is too important for me to summarize. If you've ever cared or even known of the bloodshed in Northern Ireland, then read the full article.

We're talking of a conflict born in days of Oliver Cromwell, 17th century. Their struggles reach even farther back, when England first took reign over Ireland.

If You Build It, Will The Cows Wear Spacesuits?

2007-03-26T22:44:00.000-05:00

Florida has Cape Canaveral, Houston has NASA Command, and soon New Mexico could have the "world's first all-commercial spaceport." That is, if the citizens of Las Cruces don't mind paying slightly higher taxes.

No, they're not talking more Roswell conspiracy theories. The desert valley that is much of southern New Mexico could very well become...

"Spaceport America -- a 21st-century portal for thousands of people hoping to blast into space as tourists, explorers, researchers and, maybe someday, as commuters to destinations halfway around the world."

Why d0 I envision the ghost of Disney's head laughing manically and bouncing in a jar of jelly when I read this?

And did you know that there are private companies all over launching rockets into space? One company took a rejected NASA idea and sent into orbit the first inflatable 'space hotel.' One problem - total vacancy. They didn't even send up a monkey to answer the front desk phone!

You should definitely check the full article linked above. It even reveals just what happened to some of those dot.com billionaires.

Just How Long Does It Take To Get To The Center?

2007-03-26T22:11:00.000-05:00

Anna Nicole Smith died 8 February 2007. 46 days later, the Broward County Medical Examiner says that she died due to a mistake on her part, foolishly combining pain killers with anti-anxiety pills. Really, a drug overdose.

46 DAYS!!!

Just how long does it take to do an autopsy these days? Seriously, why did it take so long for them to say something that one look at her liver or kidney or, I dunno, her stomach - would have revealed?

Sometimes Florida is worse than D.C. politics. I wish I could take that comparison further but 'ole Jeb finished his reign in January.

But just for fun, he was just recently denied an honorary degree by the University of Florida Senate. That just tickles me. Guess he didn't qualify.

I Am Sky-Walker!

2007-03-25T13:45:00.000-05:00

This is so cool. The Grand Canyon glass Skywalk will open up this March 28th 4,000 ft (1,220m) off the canyon's floor, and 70 ft from the rim. They say the views are amazing.

To give you an idea of how high up you are, the Skywalk extends out nearly three times higher than the Sears Tower (442m) and over 700 meters higher than the current tallest building in the world, Taipei (509m).

Check out this video of the new site.

All of a sudden, I want to visit Nevada.

Elizabeth Edwards

2007-03-25T13:17:00.000-05:00

This is more of rant than any news blog - but it is in response to what the news world deems worthy of publication. Here we go...

The politically obsessed, Republicans, and generally those not sharing John Edwards' personal dream of sitting in the Oval Office are all going to argue that the current and future health status of his wife IS their business. But if they had any respect (which seems an ethic quick and easy to lose in journalism), they would just leave Elizabeth Edwards alone.

So her cancer has returned, and much worse than before. But that's not the news so much as what they are really intimating. The subtext is:

"Oh, she's going to die and he wont be fit to run a nation, yet alone his own affairs!"

Well, leave her be, and leave his family be! Cancer is cancer, and in our own lives we all know at least one person either with or affected by it. I truly hope that if what they say about her cancer is true, that her time with her family would be free of the press and mics shoved in her face. She shouldn't even be expected to speak on the subject unless she so chooses.

I truly truly expect that Edwards' decision to move forward with his campaign for the White House was contingent upon her insistence, an insistence in the same not influenced by political babble pressure but instead by her own wanting. In theory, in our democracy, no one man is too important that he must sacrifice his family.

Mighty Mouse

2007-03-25T12:44:00.000-05:00

Having dwelt in evolution's guttural land of the color-blind, some mice have emerged with full technicolor vision thanks to the constant meddling of scientists. For our furry rodent friends, I wonder if it's anything like watching the Wizard of Oz.

In the simplest of terms, mice have two kinds of color detector "cone" cells. This same genetic trait is what causes people to have red-green colorblindness. They only see the world in hues of blues, yellow, and grays. All other humans have three kinds of receptor cells, and thus we see in trichromat.

Scientists took this third kind of receptor cone cell from human retina cells and super-glued them to the eyes of unsuspecting mice. Now they can safely drive through heavy traffic intersections. Well, the smart ones can at least.

And what does this new mighty mouse mean for us? It means a possible cure for red-green colorblindness in humans, "and perhaps add a fourth color receptor, which would allow a finer parsing of the spectrum."

Scientist Jay Neitz explains it this way: "You'd think that the color world of a tetrachromat would be very rich compared to ours."

Soon we'll all be seeing the smell of roses after a surgical procedure instead of tripping out on hallucinogens.

The Queen! The Queen Is Coming!

2007-03-25T12:01:00.000-05:00

It's been 16 years since the Matriarch of the Palace Buckingham has set foot upon the shores of America, but coming now she is this May to Virginia.

She'll spend a couple days in our Commonwealth and then with her husband - Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh - she'll travel on down to see some pretty horses run in circles at the Kentucky Derby, also romantically known as "The Run for the Roses." That name sounds made for a movie title. Her visit will wrap up with this fancy state dinner at the White House with our humble leader and his lady. I hope Laura Bush can cook.

But causing much sadness in a very few number of Virginians is that she doesn't have the interest of staying long enough for the anniversary party celebrating 400 years since settlers stepped off the James River in 1607. But really, who wants to bring attention to the fact they first settled in swampville? How many died before they realized it would be best to resettle further inland away from mosquitoes and disease?

I'm thinking she knows better than to stick around too long. But for me though, I would've liked asking her if she has seen the "The Queen" yet.

Ever Wonder Where Starbucks Got Their Name?

2007-03-18T00:44:00.000-05:00

I'm an admitted and proudly-proclaimed Battlestar Galactica fan - never saw the old series but Ron Moore's steering of the new series airing on SciFi has been intense with numerous unexpected turns. It's the mini-series that could, and it's on trajectory for a third season collisional ending.

But the show is not what I'm here talking for.

I'm driving the long hour of 4 AM home from Richmond, window down, radio blaring, and desperate to keep my eyelids raised long enough so that I manage stay within the painted lines of the road. I get to thinking about coffee. I'm not a coffee person but at that moment I would have taken the caffeine juice intravenously.

With the way my mind works, I naturally jump from thinking about that to a cartoon drawing of a paraplegic mummy on an IV drip, to Grey's Anatomy, to Battlestar. And it was then that I realized the unmistakable name similarity between Katee Sackhoff's "Starbuck" character and the Seattle coffee brand Starbucks.

So, which came first? The coffee or the fictional hotshot pilot? The original show aired in 1978, nearly 30 years ago. One must think Starbuck was on the block first then. Wrong.

Starbucks coffee opened in '71, beating the show by 7 years. So does that reverse the tables on which is the chicken and which is the egg? Not exactly.

Turns out I'm not the only one with such useless questions and that someone has done their research ("Not I, said the cat"). Go read the answer here. I'll wait.

You back, already? Interested that it was another, older obscure character that has more to do with the coffee brand's namesake. We can thank Melvin for that.

The End of An American Symbol

2007-03-07T18:30:00.000-05:00

Captain America is DEAD - assassinated while in handcuffs. Those responsible? Either a brainwashed government agent or publisher Marvel Comics depending on how you look at it.

Today the latest issue (#25) of the comic book "Captain America" hit the stands, following on the heels of Marvel's own Civil War in which heroes fought against each other as a result of new registration laws; laws requiring all meta-humans to register with the U.S. Government and thus reveal their secret civilian identities to the authorities.

Steve Rogers, otherwise known as the leader Captain America didn't like the idea of forced registration and led an opposition against those heroes in support of the registration laws. Rogers believed he was fighting for the personal freedoms of all heroes. But then he saw the devastion his little war was causing on the American public and immediately surrendered, broken by what he had done.

While being escorted to his hearing, an assassin put a round of lead into his chest.

Speculation already has been raised across the net that Steve Rogers will most certainly be back, as the publisher surely wouldn't put an end to one of their most recognizable icons. It would be like killing Superman.

Wait, they did that already.

But Superman also returned the next year. So on that regard, Marvel Comics today released this statement:

"Captain America, Steve Rogers, is dead."

Well, that more or less settles the "is dead truly dead" debate. Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada responds to numerous questions from mainstream media news coverage. He first explains a fundamental flaw in such an iconic character who was raised during the Great Depression:

"He hasn't been living in the modern world and the world does move."

Concerning the meaning of the Captain's demise:

"There is a lot to be read in there. But I'm not one who is going to tell people, this is what you should read into it, because I could look into it and read several different types of messages."

And finally, concerning the permanent nature of his death:

"There was a period in comics where characters would just die and then be resurrected. And the death had very little meaning and the resurrection had very little meaning. All I ask of my writers is if you're going to kill a character off, please let that death have some meaning in the overall scope of things."

For this blogger, it's an interesting and uncertain time for the identity of the American hero to be reevaluated. If there was a real Captain America today, what and who would that person be? Would he support the Patriot Acts and the War in Iraq - or would he fight against these agendas? Where would he stand on the understanding of Freedom? Would he be of the people, or of the government?

Perhaps, fiction will continue to be used to illustrate these significant changes.

I Was A Son Of Liberty

2007-03-05T23:20:00.000-05:00

When I went home this past weekend, I managed to copy to my laptop the photos ("image files") of my little excursion south to Richmond last Tuesday. You see, just miles outside the commonwealth's capital is late 18th Century Boston, Massachuesetts.

At least a few streets of Boston...okay, only the front exterior of some colonial buidlings. And yes, they stapled the leaves to the trees (but each leaf is separately numbered!)

What am I talking about? A miniseries focusing on the life of John Adams is currently in production in the heart of Virginia (for those history buffs who've studied the Continental Congress and the Constitution, you'll find the choice of locale ironic), The project is funded by Tom Hank's very own pockets - his production company, that is. The series is based on David McCullough's 2001 book, and it stars Paul Giamatti as John Adams and Laura Linney as Abigail Adams.

And I? My childhood training in horse-riding has garnered me a place in the production as rider of many hats, as in one shot you may see me as a Son of Liberty, and in another scene as an infamous red coat. As I would love to tell in detail all that I saw and witnessed last week, here may not be the place, nor do I have truly the length to be faithful to the experience.

If you want to know more, then leave a comment and I'll let everyone know if I so choose to setup a new blog/site that will follow my adventures in history.

2007-03-04T14:40:00.000-05:00

I'm home for the weekend, and its good to remember there is life outside the halls of academia and untouched by the cut-throat, demanding pressures of the real world. I'm from Fredericksburg, VA and I'm at the kitchen table ready the Sunday edition of the Free Lance-Star. If you did or didn't notice, the paper's website address managed to commandeer the name of the small colonial city of a downtown that is Fredericksburg, home of an important battle in the Civil War. It's as if the owners of the paper (and the local radio stations) are royal governors of all adjoining lands.

No, we don't have power struggles down here in the old country, and we most certainly do not have old money here in these parts.

The paper once upon a long time ago was actually two local papers: "The Free Lance" and "The Daily Star" until they were merged at the turn of the 20th Century. It's fascinating to see how some traditions develop to become integral in the area culture. I grew up with "The Free Lance-Star" - not knowing of anything else until I saw a copy of the Washington Post in middle school.

I thinks its time for some competitive business to shake them from their lethargic, conservative stance.

The significant difference between many papers and others such as the 'Free Lance' is that the majority of the articles in the latter are pulled from other sources (with the exception of the regional section of the paper). Helen Thomas works for one such company that licenses papers around the country to print their journalism.

Hello Class, Check This Out For FLICKR

2007-03-01T11:44:00.000-05:00

My brother dabbled in a little software coding and came up with this little thing that creates a fun interface for your photos stored in Flickr. Follow his simple instructions here, and with a little copying and pasting and then clicking, you'll have something like this.

Except, you'll hopefully have more photos than I. His example gives you a better idea.

And NO, my brother did not write my site for me. He made me learn for myself. Starting here.

Lots of Little Golden Men

2007-02-25T14:07:00.000-05:00

The Iraqi president flies to Jordan suffering from illness because the job of running a democracy in a volatile atmosphere may have been too much pressure, little buddy Iran is going "nan-nan" with a protruding tongue because Iran doesn't feel like taking a break from its nuclear weapons development program, and none of this matters today because it's OSCAR NIGHT!

Yep, that's right. Step right up and join the millions of fans from around the world for the 79th Academy Awards! Now, I had written up an extensive coverage of this year's nominees weeks previous to tonight for the school's paper, but due to issues beyond my control, none of my fellow peers at Mason and beyond will be privileged to reading it. It's a moot point as of this morning regardless.

So instead, to the very few who even know of this young and struggling blog, I present you with some of the greater highlights.

First off, we're talking Ellen Degeneres as the host. This is a very good thing. She is natural, and as such a confident and funny personality, both in casual conversation and in stand up - the latter being the strength she will rely on tonight. She is also only the second woman to host, following the pioneering footsteps of the great Whoopi Goldberg. I'm looking forward to Ellen jabbing a few jokes at the annoying orchestra music they blare in with every time a winner goes more than three breathes into their acceptance babble. Her improv is snappy, which is reason enough by itself for this blogger to watch.

And if you just happen to be a Mason person as you read this, there is a party happening down at the JC Cinema tonight as they put the big show up on the appropriately big screen. Fiesta starts at 6:00 pm!

On to the nominees now. I could list all their names here, or I could be efficient and just paste in a link of those in the nominee circle. I have to say how incredibly pleased I am with this year's selections. 2006 truly must have been a glorious year when the odd and eccentric "Little Miss Sunshine" stands shoulder to shoulder with "The Departed" and "Babel" for Best Picture.

Watch out for Ryan Gosling, nominated for Best Actor, as he sweeps in with his worthy performance in "Full Nelson." The ladies should remember him as the heartthrob from "The Notebook" - he's the guy who put all other romantic guys to shame. Leonardo DiCaprio also did convincing job in "The Departed" and look, Bilbo Baggins is up with a seventh nomination, though so far he's always been the nominee, never the winner. Will Smith and Forest Whitaker round out this bout.

Best Actress looks to be quite the cat fight this year, and its all high class and going Brit. Judie Dench in "Notes On A Scandal" was a destructive force of nature and Helen Mirren truly was a Britain's ruler in "The Queen." There is also Penélope Cruz and Winslet is the third Brit, but my money is on the matriarchial trinity that is Dench, Mirren and Meryl Streep ("The Devil Wears Prada"). You can catch up with these girls in recent conversation between the three of them. They be some bad girls.

"Pan's Labyrinth" is a must must must see, for it is a dark, underworld beneath the rabbit hole fantasy that is purely gorgeous to see and far more imaginative than any magic kingdom with a giant mouse. Guillermo Navarro should be made president of something important for his work, and if this film doesn't receive it's rightful recognition - then those who decide the winners do NOT know art when it's Mona Lisa spitting in their faces.

I love that for once many of the Original Screenplay and Adapted Screenplay nominations were also films that were either nominated for Best Picture and/or starred those nominated for individual performances. Four out of five in the Original Screenplay category are three of the five for Best Picture!

Who should win that big one? You decide, America! ...Wait, that's another show. Honestly, I would want for any of the nominees for Best Picture because they are all films YOU SHOULD BE WATCHING! But in the end that is reality, as much as "Little Miss Sunshine" stands to sweep through many of the other categories, I feel that the big Oscar will go to "Babel" or "Departed", which seems to be the popular favorite. Eastwood is always good with his films every time up to bat, but "Letters of Iwo Jima" just doesn't have that extra magic it needs to take the final lead.

So there you have it. I expect to see you all tonight dutifully laughing with Ellen's humor and expecting "Pan's Labyrinth" to win. For more goody goodies to read up on, check out WashingtonPost.com's page devoted to the event.

HOLLYWOOD, HO!

Bloggers as the News

2007-02-24T13:34:00.000-05:00

Two bloggers are the subject of national and international publicity this week, and it's not a good thing for either of them. A film studio is suing a popular gossip blog that publicizes the personal details of celebrities' lives for the unauthorized posting of photos of Jennifer Aniston topless. Across the big pond, an Egyptian blogger has been tried and convicted for criticizing an Islamic leader.

This is a posting, of Bloggers Behaving Badly.

Mario Lavandeira, online alias "Perez Hilton", runs the celebrity blog and is being charged with posting stolen footage of Aniston sans shirt taken either during or after production of the 2006 film "The Break-Up." The owner of the film, Universal Studios, isn't too happy about it. They're going so far as requesting of the California court for both monetary damages and trial by jury.

As an aside, I didn't feel that the 'romantic-comedy' was all that great, as both co-stars seemed to be recycling previous work into their performance.

A lawyer for Lavandeira released a statement calling the entire suit "unfortunate" and claiming that the Lavandeira "did nothing wrong." This is in consideration that he removed the content immediately following the learning of it's stolen nature. It also is noted that just last year Aniston sued another photographer for taking pictures of her, get this, topless. Its as if the defense is trying to say that people are lawsuit-happy. But instead they lead me to a new question - what is up with Aniston being caught with her shirt off so often?

Then again, just by looking at his smug mugshot I can clearly see why someone would sue the guy.

A few skips of the stone across the Atlantic and we have Abdel Kareem Soliman facing a four year prison term for using his blog - hope you can read Arabic - to voice his (negative) opinion concerning an Islamic university and it's president, Hosni Mubarak. Just by insulting Mubarak an calling him a dictator earned him one of those years behind bars.

This is a big deal! Soliman's trial lasted a total of five minutes and judgment was passed by a solitary judge and not a jury. Human rights activists are screaming up the wall over this. A website has already been set up to gather attention to his plight, and a recent interview of him can viewed on YouTube.com.

What at worst should have been a slap on the wrist and a removal of the libel from his blog instead results in hard time. A clear contrast can be drawn between an American blogger and an Egyptian blogger existing under different laws in their respective, native countries, yet they post on the same Internet. We are moving inevitably towards a confrontation between nations and universal policy that must result in a new standard of protections and freedoms for all who operate and interact online, because the lines between countries disappear on the Web.

Or let me put the situation this way: This and other cases of bloggers being convicted around the world is just the beginning. Governments, including ours, will continue to seek to control what happens on the Internet, with consequences for all bloggers if they are not wise to fight for their rights.

The Future of Community News In A School Missing Out On It's Community

2007-02-22T11:15:00.000-05:00

The more elaborate and sophisticated the technology, the more prone it is to losing one link in the chain and jamming up. For example, two posts I uploaded this weekend do not seem to be showing their darling faces. I wonder where they went off to.

But that glitch is not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about my school.

For those of you not in the know, I attend George Mason University and it is considered one of the most diverse academic settings in the country by the Princeton Review. This past Tuesday in my Online Journalism class, local community news blog BackFence.com co-founder Mark Potts spoke of the future of community news via online.

The idea is that much like the once upon a time idyllic picture of neighbors casually talking about local happenings from over the yard's fence, now those living in the same community can discuss whatever is happening online. You can post about a new event or service, as well as join in on a conversation about something else already posted - all things that are relevant to you because they are in your backyard. But then it was mentioned that we could have such a forum amongst the students of Mason.

Yet we don't. The school loves to promote their diversity, especially at pep rallies, Final Four basketball games and landmark events such as Senator Barack Obama's recent visit. But when the last streamer has been trampled and the last dance has had its time on the floor, the party's over and everyone goes home. A large percentage of the student body living off campus still makes us a commuter school, and commuter schools remind me too much of bedroom communities.

In a bedroom community, that social community spirit is threadbare because so many of the residents each week go elsewhere for their jobs, work long hours, and come back with barely enough time to rest before heading off again the next morning. And so many of the students at Mason do just this - they show up for class, and then they're off to where ever the rest of their lives happen. I used to be one of these commuters, and it was borderline mentally disabling trying to lead two full lives. So I sacrificed the campus life.

So the question I pose is this: Would enough individual students actually partake in such online "conversations" as opposed to just being interesting in casually reading them? The questions is not one of being able to to communicate, but choosing to communicate. We already have Facebook. Mason enacting a site much like Backfence would be a logical step forward in opening hundreds of rooms of communication - public forums that would transcend that ethnic diversity that we so proudly wear as a badge of honor yet it divides us. It divides us severely into clusters of likeness each time we think of our ethnicity, and we forget often that we are all students trying to get through the day, through the week and the semester.

We are all students with things happening around us that are relevant to us, yet we do not tell the whole of the body. Either that, or the entire student body is not listening.

The Question About Smith That No One Is Asking

2007-02-17T01:23:00.000-05:00

It was last week when fellow Online Journalism classmates and I emerged from the broadcast studio room after a joint-conference interview with Helen Thomas that are phones beeped like neglected little children all at once. Despite what ever else had happened in the world that day, this was going to be the headline evening news: Anna Nicole Smith was dead.

My honest to god first thought: Who's the daddy?

Of course you all know of whom and what I refer to. Smith's second and only surviving child, infant Dannielyn is the only biological heir to Smith's fortune. But the five hundred million dollar question is one of the unknown and questionable identity of little Dannielyn's male genetic donor. It seems that more than one man is man enough to own up to the responsibility.

I wonder if the sparkling ring of a multi-million dollar inheritance has anything to do with their sudden fatherly interest.

Now BBC News reports that Smith's alleged 2001 will left her vast estate to her now dead son. Her will goes on to say:

""I have intentionally omitted to provide for my spouse and other heirs, including future spouses and children and other descendants now living and those hereafter born or adopted."

Oops. Seems someone forgot to update her affairs after said son died last year in a hospital due to drug overdose. And it's interesting to note that the will is being revealed now, as it could change the tide determining who gets the money in the end. Or perhaps not.

But here's the rub. No one seems to be all too concerned with how and why Smith died. The public must assume that such a death is expected of a 39 year-old former playmate and widow to a Texan oil tycoon (who was more than thrice her age when he finally bit the big dirt nap). Or perhaps people are too dazzled by the scandal to be concerned with the departed.

Even when the medical examiner has yet to determine the cause of death.

NASA Reconsiders Entrance Exam

2007-02-08T05:33:00.001-05:00

NASA astronaut Capt Lisa Nowak, 43, is trading in her spacesuit for a jumpsuit after driving 900 miles in an attempt to thwart another woman who she perceived to be a romantic rival. Now NASA is thinking that maybe they might have missed something during the screening process.

You think??

Or perhaps the geniuses in Houston need to remember that sometimes normal people have a momentary lapse of insanity. Then again, I wouldn't want such a normal person snapping while in Space.

Nowak, mother of three - who has been charged with attempted murder, attempted kidnapping, attempted vehicular burglary with battery - isn't looking so happy as in her NASA pre-flight photo. According to the February 6th, 2006 Washington Post, just "flew last July on a shuttle mission to the international space station."

You can check out her official bio here.

So in an effort to save face, NASA is both officially saying that they will reevaluate the psychological screening, and verbalizing their support for not only Wacko Nowak, but also the other two astronauts involved in this weird but yet oh so typical in normal life love triangle. They're calling it tragic. I call it hormones.

But then again, there's a reason why so very few are ever selected to fly into space. Consider Captain Nowak grounded indefinitely.

"Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" Hits Roadmark!

2007-02-05T23:02:00.000-05:00

Tonight's episode of Studio 60 struck an unforgettable road sign in the journey of the show. Everything up to this point has merely been momentum, as executive producer Aaron Sorkin hit full stride. His hands upon the helm purposefully steered the boat towards the horizon's storm - and a thunderous roar it will be.

Tonight, Harriet and Matt (Sara Paulson and Matt Perry respectively) arrived at a place in their antagonistic dance in which edged words and forced hands finally kinked his armor to the point of failure. And then one last stray blow cut deeper than he was ever prepared for. Divulging actual plot would ruin the experience, and the experience is what it's all for after all. It's enough to say that Sorkin is just beginning to tell his story.

To fans of this show and of his previous, it is barely secret that Sorkin is truly speaking of himself and his life in the television industry through the vessel that is Studio 60. That was apparent from the pilot's opening polemic speech against the destitute backsliding of the industry delivered passionately by the great Judd Hirsch. But the soul of the show over the first half of the its inaugural season revealed itself within the conflicted relationship of Matt and Harriet, two very opposites of the coin that is comedy.

You see, Matt is Sorkin. At least that is how this reviewer senses it. And Matt's heart has been made vulnerable and now injured, just as pickaxes dig and tear at the studio's stage. Planks yank away exposing an ugly hole, as if it had been shot through. Watch in the fading last shot of tonight's episode, and see in Matt's eyes that hole gnaw itself a wider and wider place inside of him.

The descent into the abyss will be both terrible and with casualties, but again, also purposeful. You must stare down the squall to reach calmer seas.

For those of you who by the calamities of fate have missed tonight's episode, it can be viewed free of charge online, courtesy of parent company NBC.

~ May good drama and worthy stories always have safe harbor on the small screen!

You Would Think He's Already President

2007-02-02T14:48:00.000-05:00

As a man much larger than himself careened Obama around the parked sport utility vehicle sternly and quickly by the arm, the senator points to another, sportier car and says, "I think I'm going in that." Over the screams and cheers and confusion, his words were barely audible and soon enough he was inside the SUV nonetheless and departing.

Today, on February 2nd, the anticipated arrival of Senator Barack Obama (D-Il.) to the Fairfax, Va campus of George Mason University was heralded by crowded masses of students jammed inside the student lounge (some who had been camped out in front of the stage before the morning's first classes), blue banners announcing "Students for Barack Obama", and security blocking doors and stairwells. Half the school was there, violating I'm sure maximum capacity regulation.

When he spoke, the students applauded and affirmed and cheered. Like a true politician, he could captivate his audience. And though he touched upon all the issues that are of particular importance to the minds of today's academia and tomorrow's families, his platform today did not extend into the realm of action and strategy.

Yes, global warming and failing systems of education and health care need to be addressed and repaired, I as a member of the very community that he recognized as the one that will bring about changed, as generations have before in their youth, want to know the How.

How will he universalize health care? How does he plan to retract from the war we are neck deep in over in the Middle East? How will he reverse the effects of global warming and how will he improve education? I'm not looking to support and put my faith behind a personality, or even a good man with good intentions. I'm waiting to see something more than just motivational speeches. Don't get me wrong, as I would be pleased to see that something more coming from Obama.

But the way the crowds swarmed to him, and the way they afterwards hovered outside awaiting for his exiting appearance as he made his way to the caravan - he was a celebrity, he was a god descended from on high and they were worshipers hoping to place a hand on his sacred robes. It was as if he was already President even though that is a long and uncertain road yet ahead. Today on campus Obama was the perception of immortal significance in the hearts and minds of many, but today will shortly become tomorrow. It is tomorrow, that I'm more interested in.

Students for Barack

Obama to Visit Mason

Barak Obama Speaks at Johnson Center