Just a reminder that comments are very welcome-I wanna hear what you think and just know that people are actually reading these. So drop a line on any of the posts here.

It would be real cool if there was like some girl, and I was like really good friends with her, and we could just like hang out and talk about stuff and have a good time and laugh at each other and stuff. And then we just like realize that we liked each other and got together. Like in one of those teen dramas. Except without all the complicated stuff that happens after. That would be cool.

Also, if she liked hip hop-though that's optional. Some kind of music would be good though, though not a deal breaker.

In case you were wondering, nothing in particular inspired this, except maybe watching too much WB.

So, living with your mom during your year off isn't all smiles and daffodils. First of all, you have to explain why you're living with your mom by saying it's only for the year (see above) in order to not sound like too much of a loser. Second, you have to be respectful of the living situation and all, which while usually fine can put a cramp in your social style (is that the expression-something like that).

Anyway, so I was invited to this party in DC Saturday night by a nice girl I met during grad school visits who will be going to school w/ me next year (no, it's not like that, she's just a friend). So telling my mom about it, she was emphatic that the area where the party is isn't a good place and that I shouldn't go. She seems to still be a bit upset over that whole robbery thing from a couple summers ago (long story short-i was visiting another friend in DC 2 summers ago, got robbed by a group of guys-no violence or anything, just financial loses, some inconvenience, and a story to tell-"so there were like half a dozen of them, and just me, with my bare hands, fighting them all off at once..." except without the last part, which didn't actually happen ;)).

So I obviously understand her concerns and I have been a lot more cautious with that kind of stuff since the incident. Still, this is probably something that, if I were living on my own, I'd go to, and I could still technically go now if I wanted to I guess, but that would be a bad thing to do to mi madre-she worries enough as it is. Besides, I am getting free room and board; I guess that's worth a party or two.

extra credit to anyone who found the song reference in this post.

So I've been doing some cleaning up around here lately. No, really, I have. I was organizing my old notes from college, and it's kind of weird to think that four years can fit into some notebooks and a few folders.

Dude, I have a degree. I keep forgetting that. Maybe once I get a frame for it, it'll seem real. Or i could get it copied, shrunk and put in in my wallet. Or print it on T-shirts. and on hats. No, that might seem pretentious. Just the T-shirts.

Inspired by several of my friends. Please see the next post for ways to help.

"If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength! Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who guards your life know it? Will He not repay each person according to what he has done?"
-Proverbs 24:10-12, quoted recently by a friend of mine.

We wanted to help but...what?

The United Nations wanted to help but...
but China wants their oil more, and so they just sit back and watch.
but Russia wants to sell them weapons, and so they just sit back and watch.

The US wanted to help, but then we forgot. We don't even watch.
Watching would be too hard; forgetting is easy.

But wait, it was the US who took note. We called it genocide when even the UN wouldn't. We stood up where we had not for Rwanda.
Then we patted ourselves on the back, and said job well done? Then we argued over which Court to send the criminals too. Of course, we aren't trying to stop them first...but someone will, right?

The African Union wants to help. They've done what we haven't. They've sent in troops.

Rwanda sent in troops, because it remembers what happened 10 years ago. We remember because of Hollywood and Don Cheadle. They remember because of 800,000 dead.

Nigeria sent in troops, because it has power, because it has the largest population in Africa, because it has played the role of peacekeeper before.

The African Union wanted to help. But they couldn't decide who should go in first. They argued over status, and people died. They went in, but they didn't have...
They didn't have the authority to attack, to disarm, to strike first. Instead, they watch. They monitor.
They didn't have the manpower to police this region. 2000 soldiers for 200,000 square miles.
They didn't have the money or the equipment to be as effective as they could.

And so...
And so the government of Sudan says it didn't start this, and the Janjaweed ("bandits", "devils on horseback") aren't under their control, and they aren't being helped by government soldiers, and yet the soldiers are helping, are fighting next to the militias.

And so they continue killing, and raping, and looting. Is it about race? or land? or politics, or...well, what is genocide ever about?

And so Britain watches. It still has interest in its old colony. It actually pays attention.
And so, the US watches (from time to time). If only its troops weren't already committed elsewhere then...it would have a different excuse. But that excuse might not be quite as good-but we don't have to worry about that, because we have our excuse this time. This isn't like Rwanda.

And so the relief organizations, the charities, they bind the wounds, they feed the hungry. But their bandages are too few, and their food and water are too little. And their weapons-well, they have no weapons. And so those outside their camps are killed. And so those inside their camps are afraid. and hungry. and thirsty. and scarred. And those inside their camps are uprooted, again. Their camps are bulldozed, looted, burned.
Sometimes, aid workers die. And their collegues leave. They have to be alive to return another day, another place, to save lives somewhere, even if not here.

And so the rebels-yes, the rebels who started this conflict. They aren't innocent. They continue to attack, and reject peace. They harass aid workers. And they-they want their own people to continue to suffer? Because if they suffer, the world will watch, and if the world will watch, the world will act, and if the world will act, the rebels will win. The rebels are clever, but they don't know the world, do they? We can watch and not act. We can even choose not to watch.

And when our children ask us, why didn't we help, we'll tell them...
And when their children (those that are left) ask us, why didn't we help, we'll tell them..
And when judgment day comes, and I'm asked, why didn't I help, I'll tell Him...


If you want to help you can:
1. Donate-here are a couple organizations doing good work in Darfur:

World Food Programme
http://www.wfp.org/how_to_help/donate_online/online.asp?section=4&sub_section=5
US Friends of the WFP
PO Box 11856
Washington , D.C. 20008

Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières
http://www.doctorswithoutborders-usa.org/donate/

2. Write your members of Congress:
To find out who they are, visit www.house.gov and www.senate.gov
For a sample letter, see the following site (letters at the bottom of the page)http://www.genocideinterventionfund.org/action/legislation.php

Africa Update: Darfur

300,000 people dead and counting.

So I figure most people have at least heard about the situation in Darfur, the western region of the African country Sudan. If you haven't heard or want to know more, here is a very quick summary.

Sudan has had civil wars going on for decades. For instance, a 21-year conflict between the government and rebels in the south just ended with a peace deal signed in January of this year. In 2003, however, a separate conflict started in the western region of Darfur. People from several black African tribes residing in Darfur formed a rebel movement and attacked government targets (police stations, etc). They are fighting because they feel they have been neglected and excluded by the Arab government of Sudan. The government responded by helping to arm Arab militia known as the Janjaweed, who have been systematically terrorizing the villages of these black tribes. The Janjaweed have committed massive amounts of murder, rape, looting and other crimes. Current estimates say around 300,000 people may have died as a result of this conflict. 2 million more people have been forced out of their homes and into refugee camps, where they suffer from shortages of food and water. The Sudanese government, despite it's denials, has supported the Janjaweed, often sending government troops who participate with the Janjaweed in attacts. The US government has already declared that these acts amount to genocide, but relatively little has been done by the US or the rest of the international community, and the conflict continues.

So I'm a pretty big music fan. A lot of the artists I like, though, are individuals who don't really match up with my morals and beliefs. Furthermore, some of them are or have been accused or even convicted of some pretty bad stuff. I've wondered for a long time to what extent I should let artists personal lives influence whether or not I listen to their music, buy their albums and whatnot.

The Michael Jackson trial is going on now, and if he is indeed guilty of the charges against him, then he's committed some pretty morally reprehensible acts. If that is so, does that mean that I shouldn't continue to listen to and enjoy his music because I know who it's coming from and what he has done. On the one hand, as long as he's not advocationg abuse of children in his music, perhaps his art and his personal acts are two different things that can be separated. On the other hand, doesn't doing so imply that I'm, to some extent at least, giving him a pass, saying that it doesn't really matter to me what he's done as long as he makes good albums?

I mean, if say Britney Spears went on a racist tirade or something like that, then I would guess that there would be a huge moral outrage and listening to or playing her music would become taboo (though Eminem has largely remained unscathed after an old tape of him making racist comments was produced, but that's a different topic). But hasn't an artist who's committed murder or child molestation done a worse thing than that, and shouldn't there be an even stronger reaction against them? (note-I'm not a big Britney fan, though I do like a couple of her songs, but thought she might be a good example. And I am still a fan of some of Eminem's stuff, despite having BIG problems with a lot of the stuff he says, including unease over the racial comments)

Another question is, if you should let an artist's personal behavior effect how you react to them, how far should you go? Should you only shun artists who commit murder or assault women or children? What about physical abuse against spouses or girlfriends? What about acts that don't directly harm others, like drug use? Should those things matter or not to the fan? How about acts that the artist may have done in the past (drug dealing, robberies, etc, as many, many rappers claim to have committed) but has claimed to put behind him/her? Or what about acts that are alleged but not proven in a court of law? To what extent should artists get the benefit of the doubt from fans (I think for instance of R.Kelly, who has not as of yet been convicted of the child pornography charges against him but who according to people who have seen the videotape have little or no doubt it is him)? I've thought about these questions on and off for a while and have come to different conclusions in individual cases. For instance, I have continued to give Michael Jackson the benefit of the doubt while waiting for the evidence to come out but I tend to avoid listening to R.Kelly's music once the extent of the evidence against him became known. I don't know if either of these reactions, or those I've had with other artists, are legitimate or not, and I may change my mind about them. Any ideas?

How do you meet people in the real world? So I'm in my year off between college and grad school, living a few minutes walk away from the University of Maryland campus con mi madre. I'm not affiliated with the school at all though, and I don't know any of the students or hang out on campus. It's a pretty big school, so there must be stuff going on around, but I can't really figure out how to a) figure out when/where stuff is going on or b)get into that scene even if i knew. There's a couple bars near where I live where students seem to hang out, but I'm not the type of person who just goes to a bar and meets people.

I guess I'm not really the type who goes anywhere solo and meets people or anything like that. In college or when I've been in the DC area previously for summer jobs, I'd go out with friends from school or people I knew from work, and therefore have people to hang out with at the bar or folks to watch a movie with or whatever. But I don't really know anyone here to do that type of thing with, and therefore I don't really go out, which means I don't meet anyone new (is this a Catch 22 or not)? Fortunately, I'm still in touch with a lot of my friends I've met from college and have met some people visiting grad schools and whatnot, but those people aren't around to hang out with, so it's not the same. I'm going back to the place I worked last summer (a summer camp) in June and then to grad school in september (where I still have a lot of friends in the area, so that will be cool), so this will all be a moot point shortly. Still, it might be useful for the future to figure out how people do manage to go out and meet people and all that stuff outside of school or work (assuming they do-they must, right?)

Africa update: Togo
Election Sunday.
So for those who don't know much about Togo, here's some background (it's a little long but interesting). Togo is a small West African country bordering Ghana. It became independent of Britain in 1960. It's first president, Sylvanus Olympio, was assassinated in 1963 and a few years later Gnassingbe Eyadema took over in a bloodless coup, and held on to power with an authoritarian government for decades. Eyadema, who may have been involved in the Olympio assassination, ruled from 1967 until he died suddenly in February 2005 (yes, that is 38 years), by which time he had established himself as Africa's longest-serving ruler.

This is where it gets interesting. According to the constitution, the head of the national assembly, at the time a man named Fambare Ouattara Natchaba, was to be installed as interim president, with elections within 60 days for a new president. Natchaba was out of the country at the time of the death and the country's military sealed the borders, which prevented him from returning. The military then installed Eyadema's son, Faure Gnassingbe (who had been a minister in the government) as president, claiming they needed to act right away in order to keep order in the country. Once this was criticized as blatantly illegal, the Parliament (dominated by the president's party), hastily voted Gnassingbe as speaker, thus retroactively legalizing his installation as President. It was also decided that Gnassingbe would serve his father's full term instead of having elections in 60 days.

This did not go over well with the international community, especially the neighboring countries. Under pressure and sanctions from both the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Gnassingbe relented, agreeing to hold elections and then stepping down, installing Abass Bonfoh, vice president of the national assembly, as interim president (Natchaba continued to claim he should have been installed, but that did not happen). This was important because in the past the African political community was seen as an old boy's club that allowed dictators and coup leaders to operate unpunished, so the forcefulness by which African leaders pressed Togo's government to act according to its own principles gives hope that a blind eye will no longer when rulers victimize their countries and people.

There has been some violence between supporters of the government and opposition candidates in the run up to the election, scheduled for April 24, with a few deaths reported, though it is unclear if all of the claims are legitimate. as the government wants to paint a bad pictures of the opposition, and the opposition is arguing that the elections have been arranged to hastily to give them a fair shot at organizing a campaign. Gnassingbe is running as the ruling party's candidate after having stepped down as president. The main opposition candidate is Emmanuel Bob-Akitani. The real leader of the opposition, however, is Gilchrist Olympio, son of the slain first president. Mr. Olympio has been living in exile after an assassination attempt against him in 1992. He is not allowed to run for president because he does not live in the country, which is why his deputy is running in his place. Mr. Olympio is currently back in the country campaigning, however.

The election is scheduled for Sunday, April 24-will keep you updated.

This is me 

It took me a ridiculously long time to figure out how to post my picture.

Anyway, so this is my first post of actual content, so I figure I should say some things about myself. Let's see what else. I'm Christian (Baptist-raised, non-denominationally Protestant in practice), which is very important to me. I genuinely try to live up to Biblical principles (loving God, loving neighbors, with the specifics that come with), but I could still use improvements in some areas-feel free to give me suggestions.


I grew up in Allendale, SC (technically in Martin, SC in Allendale County). I graduated from Allendale-Fairfax High School in 2000 (good old A-F, you may have read about it somewhere. sigh.), and went to Harvard University. I graduated there in 2004 and am going back in fall 2005 to start a Ph.D. program. It's really a fun place (well, it can be), and I'm looking forward to being back, especially since a lot of my friends will still be around.


I like music, especially rap/hip hop, despite having a bunch of issues with the content in much of it. But I find the artistry of (good) rap music so fascinating and dare I say beautiful. (yes, I do dare). I expect to post lots of hip hop related commentary, so I won't elaborate here. I like most other forms of music too, though I haven't really gotten into classical or country yet. I'm a fan of grunge for some reason, though I do realize I'm about 11 years too late for that scene.

I have a weird sense of humor, so if you think something might be a joke, it probably is. Especially if it's a bad joke.

I'm still looking for that special lady, but I figure doing so over blogs is probably not the coolest thing in the world, so I'll stop now.

Ok, that's it for the moment-Comments on any of my posts are highly encouraged (I like the feedback and the knowledge that people are actually reading this thing).