Still I Rise You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I’ll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? ‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like [...]

The world lost a cheerful, inspiring light when it lost you.

In response to Walter Russell Mead’s article, “Nuking Westphalia: Obama’s Deep Convictions Point to War With Iran“. First and foremost, Mead is criticizing idealism/Wilsonianism (and subsequently Obama) because he is a realist. Most Republicans are. “Wilsonianism” is just a swanky term for “idealist”. It makes the article sound more dramatic than it really is and [...]

I just received a $30,000 scholarship from the University of Denver for law school, in memory of Robert B. Yegge. He was the Dean Emeritus of DU Sturm College of Law. Not only was an accomplished lawyer, but he set precedent in the field of law by pushing for recruitment of female law students. Can’t [...]

“In our hood men are half price; worth less than a dog. Here we are used to being beaten in the head [expression forced to obey]. God laughs, bares witness to this. Here if you are sad, they suggest suicide as the solution. Here living is harder than life. Here living is harder than life.” [...]

American diplomacy contains within itself three contradictory principles: a generous humanitarian impulse, the pursuit of self-determination overseas, and a third principle irreconcilable with the first two―that others’ problems must be solved the American way. (Williams Appleman Williams, Tragedy of American Diplomacy) On Part III of Parag Khanna’s The Second World. It’s been an interesting read [...]

“One strategic alternative is for the United States to do more of what it didin Aceh in early 2005 for tsunami victims, providing constructive investmentsof soft power that can generate longer-term relief from the need to use destructiveand usually snowballing forms of hard power.” The Moral Logic and Growth of Suicide Terrorism by Scott Atran [...]

Face it – reading the news sucks and it’s depressing. How can you actually help to stop barbaric acts like the stoning of Sakineh? E-mail the people you put into power. If you never do it, they’ll never bother to react. The more people voice their opinion, the more these officials will have to respond. [...]

This is my understanding of it, thanks to the brilliant economist James L. If I botched any of this, feel free to debate below. But it is fascinating stuff. 1. Banks lending to both high-risk and low-risk homeowners through mortgages 2. Banks decide they want money now, not 30 years from now 3. Packaged up [...]