However, a lot went on in the world over the past two days that deserve a mention (albeit, less than I'd like to give.) So without further ado:
- The Clinton Machine is trying to accuse Barack Obama of linguistic plagiarism in order to discredit him. Yes, this is the same campaign that says speeches aren't a valid way of rating a candidate. I'd care, except for the fact that 1) Obama and Deval Patrick admit to bouncing speech ideas off each other, and 2) as the senator says himself, he's already written two books and composes most of his own speeches. Trying to discredit him based on one monologue is a little silly.
- Michelle Obama is under a little heat for the following statement:
"What we've learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback. It is making a comeback and let me tell you something, for the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country."
Apparently, critics can't fathom her implication that this is the first time she's ever been proud of the Great United States. That, of course, is a poor interpretation. I'm pretty sure that the key word here is "really"--her point is to emphasize how much prouder she is now than at any other moment in her life. That's a rational sentiment, right? For example, I'm usually always proud of my fraternity by association, but after certain accomplishments I become exceptionally proud of our place. Similarly, I bet all of us at one point have been told by our parents: "I'm really proud of you." It doesn't mean they usually hate us, does it? So although Mrs. Obama could have chosen her words a little more carefully, it most certainly isn't something people should be flipping out about. - Rumor has it that Hillary Clinton may be courting Obama's pledged delegates in order to get an edge at the DNC. No one knows the true source of this info, but if it's true...
- Yesterday, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia, almost immediately gaining recognition from the US and other western powers. Best of luck to the new nation.
- Today, Fidel Castro announced that he will not be continuing his rule, instead handing powers to his brother Raul. I guess the cloning machine finally broke, eh?
- And in Pakastan, Musharraf's party has lost the election, essentially giving rule of the country to Bhutto's party. Being that Musharraf is a huge US ally, it will be interesting to see how Bush and Co. handle this.
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On an unrelated note, the 2010 Brass Rat was revealed last night. I like it, although I'm clearly biased towards the purpose of the ring and think that this committee violated that principle a few times. Nevertheless, the sophomores seemed to like the design. We 08s more or less approved too, but the 09s felt that some of their elements were stolen. Hmm, perhaps your design wasn't as original as you thought, huh guys? Haha.
I'll let you all decide which of the active three rings you like best. But just know that the 2008 Ringcomm has yet to receive a single complaint :-P.
