Gosh, this month has really flown by. I don't really care what the day on the calendar says, as long as the weather starts getting warmer. Yesterday and today, actually, were quite beautiful. I opened up my car windows, let the fresh air in and sang along -- loudly -- to the radio. Pretty sweet.
In campaign news, NY Times blogger Matt Bai has a really interesting post today about what it's like for campaign staffers when their candidate loses/drops out of the race.
Watching last night's GOP debate, Nick and I were worried that McCain may have made a few missteps -- specificially when he was asked about why he would be better qualified than Romney to handle the country's economy, and his answer really didn't address the economy at all. It seemed like he didn't hear that part of the question. But this NY Times article doesn't make mention of it, and sounds like it was rather even. Plus, with the Governator now on his side, how can he lose? :)
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Update: Dingell says he wasn't sleeping at SOTU
From The Politico, January 30, 2008
Dingell wasn't asleep though he wished he were
"I wish I had been sleeping."
--Rep. John Dingell to the Detroit Free Press about the SOTU where it appeared he was sleeping though he says he was taking notes and Blackberring with his staff. "Perhaps then I would have heard the president say something about providing health care for 10 million uninsured children or finding a political solution that will allow our troops to return from Iraq, but that happens only in my dreams," he added.
By Anne Schroeder Mullins 03:40 PM
Dingell wasn't asleep though he wished he were
"I wish I had been sleeping."
--Rep. John Dingell to the Detroit Free Press about the SOTU where it appeared he was sleeping though he says he was taking notes and Blackberring with his staff. "Perhaps then I would have heard the president say something about providing health care for 10 million uninsured children or finding a political solution that will allow our troops to return from Iraq, but that happens only in my dreams," he added.
By Anne Schroeder Mullins 03:40 PM
warning to anyone i encounter tomorrow
i will be very cranky.
I spent over three hours working on an article -- editing it to perfection -- only to neglect to properly save it and lose ALL of my changes. unable to go to bed with it still on my mind, I just spent the last hour trying to re-create what I had done. I couldn't remember everything, but I have enough down that I feel comfortable enough to try and go to sleep...and wake up in 5 hours.
ps-- please be kind and try not to stare at my puffy, red eyes from the half-hour i spent crying on the phone to nick after waking him up at 3am, or my noticeable lack of eyebrows. thank you.
I spent over three hours working on an article -- editing it to perfection -- only to neglect to properly save it and lose ALL of my changes. unable to go to bed with it still on my mind, I just spent the last hour trying to re-create what I had done. I couldn't remember everything, but I have enough down that I feel comfortable enough to try and go to sleep...and wake up in 5 hours.
ps-- please be kind and try not to stare at my puffy, red eyes from the half-hour i spent crying on the phone to nick after waking him up at 3am, or my noticeable lack of eyebrows. thank you.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
In other election news...
My friend, and fellow georgetown alum and newsie, Matt Stuart, has been working for ABC since he was in college. He's now covering the Romney campaign, and apparently gets mistaken for one of the Romney sons all the time. Check out the really funny video here: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4209985&affil=wfaa
McCain wins Florida
AP photoTo the relief of Mr. Michiels, John McCain won the Florida primary tonight, nudging him much closer to the Republican nomination. Also, I just realized how good looking his wife is. Go Johnny, go!
I guess I'm growing up
Every election year becomes more and more exciting to me. And yet, in some ways, more frightening. It's hard to really know who's going to make a difference, even though I read about the candidates ALL the time. And its truly scary how much money affects the outcome.
You be the judge
Nick always tells me how hot he thinks all these soccer players are. (see: Twellman) And I know he's joking. But then I told him that I was going to buy him this Mike Birbiglia t-shirt, and he was a little too excited:3:18 PM me: i'm going to get you the mike birbiglia tee shirt that says 'i'm a little gay"
3:21 PM Nick: haha that would be awesome
3:23 PM me: wow
Oh great...
From: Georgetown University Information Security Office
Date: Jan 29, 2008 8:27 AM
Subject: Message from Georgetown Information Security Office
January 28, 2008
Dear Current or Former Students, Faculty and Staff:
We are writing to inform you that you are among a group of individuals whose personally identifiable information such as name and social security number may have been exposed due to a recent computer theft on campus. We regret this incident and wanted to alert you via emailas soon as possible after completing our investigation of the nature and scope of the data at issue. Recognizing the seriousness of this incident and the concern we share for the personal security of those within our community, we are making arrangements to provide free credit monitoring services for you. In the coming days you can expect to receive a hard copy mailing with instructions on how to take advantage of this service.
On January 3, 2008 an external computer hard drive was reported stolen from a locked office within the Office of Student Affairs in the Leavey Center on the Main Campus. Georgetown’s Department of Public Safety responded to scene and continues to cooperate with an ongoing investigation by the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department. In addition, we have informed the U.S. Secret Service about this incident so that they may follow up as they determine appropriate.
A thorough internal investigation of the data that was contained on the hard drive has now determined that the hard drive included personally identifiable information for students enrolled and some faculty and staff from 1998 through 2006. Since the files related to a range of cross-campus student financial transactions processed through the Office of Student Affairs, it pertained to students enrolled at the Main, Medical and Law Center campuses. No financialinformation, such as bank account or credit card numbers, was contained in the hard drive. This incident is limited to this one hard drive and does not extend to other University systems and services where personal data may be stored or updated.
At this time Georgetown has no evidence that your personal data have been misused. However, as a precaution, we are notifying you of this situation and encouraging you to place a fraud alert on your credit reporting accounts. You can find instructions for notifying credit bureaus, utilizing the free credit monitoring service (as soon as it’s available) and other information online at identity.georgetown.edu.We have also established a toll free hotline (1-866-740-2458) be operational as of 9:00am EST tomorrow morning. In addition,if you are on or near the Main Campus, you may attend an information session on Wednesday, January 30 at 2:00pm in the ICC Auditorium where we will be able to respond to any questions in person. A separate information session will also be held on the Law Center campus on Thursday, January 31 at 4:00pm in McDonough Hall Room 203.
Although in this particular instance the data breach was the result of a computer theft and not any kind of system intrusion, it is an unfortunate example of the increasing importance of data security to all of us. We deeply regret any incident that potentially exposes the sensitive data of members of our community.
Georgetown recognizes the potential vulnerability of this kind of information and consistently has taken steps to protect data across University systems. For example, Georgetown has been actively reducing the use of social security numbers in its data storage. Individuals are now assigned GoCard numbers and NetIDs to be used as unique identifiers instead of social security numbers. We are also taking other steps to implement enhanced security procedures across campuses and continue to identify and incorporate emerging best practices in data protection and security.
You may also take steps individually to protect sensitive data. Some suggestions for doing so can be found at our Office of Information Security website at security.georgetown.edu as well as online resources from the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse at http://www.privacyrights.org/identity.htm and the federal government’s identity theft website at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/.Please accept our sincere apologies for this incident. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Sincerely,
H. David Lambert Todd Olson
Vice President and Chief Vice President for Student Affairs
Information Officer
Date: Jan 29, 2008 8:27 AM
Subject: Message from Georgetown Information Security Office
January 28, 2008
Dear Current or Former Students, Faculty and Staff:
We are writing to inform you that you are among a group of individuals whose personally identifiable information such as name and social security number may have been exposed due to a recent computer theft on campus. We regret this incident and wanted to alert you via emailas soon as possible after completing our investigation of the nature and scope of the data at issue. Recognizing the seriousness of this incident and the concern we share for the personal security of those within our community, we are making arrangements to provide free credit monitoring services for you. In the coming days you can expect to receive a hard copy mailing with instructions on how to take advantage of this service.
On January 3, 2008 an external computer hard drive was reported stolen from a locked office within the Office of Student Affairs in the Leavey Center on the Main Campus. Georgetown’s Department of Public Safety responded to scene and continues to cooperate with an ongoing investigation by the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department. In addition, we have informed the U.S. Secret Service about this incident so that they may follow up as they determine appropriate.
A thorough internal investigation of the data that was contained on the hard drive has now determined that the hard drive included personally identifiable information for students enrolled and some faculty and staff from 1998 through 2006. Since the files related to a range of cross-campus student financial transactions processed through the Office of Student Affairs, it pertained to students enrolled at the Main, Medical and Law Center campuses. No financialinformation, such as bank account or credit card numbers, was contained in the hard drive. This incident is limited to this one hard drive and does not extend to other University systems and services where personal data may be stored or updated.
At this time Georgetown has no evidence that your personal data have been misused. However, as a precaution, we are notifying you of this situation and encouraging you to place a fraud alert on your credit reporting accounts. You can find instructions for notifying credit bureaus, utilizing the free credit monitoring service (as soon as it’s available) and other information online at identity.georgetown.edu.We have also established a toll free hotline (1-866-740-2458) be operational as of 9:00am EST tomorrow morning. In addition,if you are on or near the Main Campus, you may attend an information session on Wednesday, January 30 at 2:00pm in the ICC Auditorium where we will be able to respond to any questions in person. A separate information session will also be held on the Law Center campus on Thursday, January 31 at 4:00pm in McDonough Hall Room 203.
Although in this particular instance the data breach was the result of a computer theft and not any kind of system intrusion, it is an unfortunate example of the increasing importance of data security to all of us. We deeply regret any incident that potentially exposes the sensitive data of members of our community.
Georgetown recognizes the potential vulnerability of this kind of information and consistently has taken steps to protect data across University systems. For example, Georgetown has been actively reducing the use of social security numbers in its data storage. Individuals are now assigned GoCard numbers and NetIDs to be used as unique identifiers instead of social security numbers. We are also taking other steps to implement enhanced security procedures across campuses and continue to identify and incorporate emerging best practices in data protection and security.
You may also take steps individually to protect sensitive data. Some suggestions for doing so can be found at our Office of Information Security website at security.georgetown.edu as well as online resources from the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse at http://www.privacyrights.org/identity.htm and the federal government’s identity theft website at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/.Please accept our sincere apologies for this incident. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Sincerely,
H. David Lambert Todd Olson
Vice President and Chief Vice President for Student Affairs
Information Officer
Monday, January 28, 2008
cloning
I (gasp!) might agree with Bush on this one. I fully support scientific research, like stem cells, for example, that can help people suffering with disease or injury live better lives. But I probably would draw the line at full-on human cloning. It seems to be the corollary to killing. I think a good indicator of one's feelings on this issue is how you reacted when you heard the FDA approved the sale of meat from cloned animals. I, for one, was turned off to the idea -- keeping in mind that cloned animals often develop more diseases.
HAHHAHA
Cut to a shot of Rep. John Dingell -- asleep!!! Gotta give him props. He's old, and if I had to sit through 7 of these speeches by Bush, I'd probably be asleep too.
no child left behind
Bush is lauding the "results" of NCLB. Most teachers I know don't think it's an effective teaching tool.
But Bush is proposing a 'pell grant program' for primary and secondary school children to attend private schools if their public school is failing. i thought these were called vouchers? I'm torn on the issue. I want all children to get the best education possible, and if that means they have to go to private school, then great, and we should afford them that opportunity. The problem is that we can't transfer every student to private school, so where do we draw the line? And what effect will it have on the public schools?
But Bush is proposing a 'pell grant program' for primary and secondary school children to attend private schools if their public school is failing. i thought these were called vouchers? I'm torn on the issue. I want all children to get the best education possible, and if that means they have to go to private school, then great, and we should afford them that opportunity. The problem is that we can't transfer every student to private school, so where do we draw the line? And what effect will it have on the public schools?
Live Blogging the State of the Union address
oo.. they just showed HIllary, who appears to have been daydreaming about something else... probably the fact that Ted Kennedy endorsed Obama earlier today. They then cut to a shot of Obama -- who says that cinematographers, even for the SOTU, don't have a sense of humor?
Online NewsHour economic stimulus rebate calculator!
See how much you will get back, here: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/2008/01/how-much-can-i-expect-from-the.html
Props to the Online NewsHour for being so ahead of the game!
--
reblogged from tumblr Jan.26
Props to the Online NewsHour for being so ahead of the game!
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reblogged from tumblr Jan.26
blast from the past
This is a clip of the song I'm listening to right now. It's a drum and base song called 'Railing' that I first heard in HS. 7 years later, I still think the song is cool and completely original.
--
reblogged from tumblr Jan. 26
Too good to be true?
People says that New Kids on the Block are going to stage a reunion! I was obsessed with them when I was.. oh, 5 or so. My sisters had NKOTB posters, pins, and yes, pillowcases. I was so sad though because I was never allowed to go to the concerts because I was too little... I do remember, however, watching their concerts LIVE on pay-per-view or something like that and thinking it was the coolest thing EVER. (It was.)
--
reblogged from tumblr Jan. 26
Recovery in NoLa is far from over
Interesting article in the Times today about the housing market -- economic topic du jour -- in New Orleans. When I visited for the first time last April, it was surreal to see the blocks of boarded up houses that still had spray paint on the them that recovery workers had used to mark whether or not there were survivors inside.
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reblogged from tumblr Jan. 26
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reblogged from tumblr Jan. 26
"Hoyas' Wright Is Likely Out for Season": WaPost
Noooooooooooooo. According to this article, Wright's injured ankle may keep him out for the rest of the season. So sad!!! --
reblogged from Jan. 25 tumblr.
reblogged from Jan. 25 tumblr.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Colbert!
Conor, Hanlon, Nick and me with the Stephen Colbert portrait at the National Portrait Gallery. [Conventiently located between the men's and women's bathrooms :)]
Jan. 19, 2008
Congrats Ali!
my awesome roommate is getting a real job. unlike my internship, her's will include health insurance.
Allison to Alyssa, me, Krista: When my health insurance kicks in we are having a 'living on the edge" weekend
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Jan. 24, 2008
Allison to Alyssa, me, Krista: When my health insurance kicks in we are having a 'living on the edge" weekend
--
Jan. 24, 2008
Bill's remorse?
"When I was running, I didn't give a rip what anybody said about me. It's weird, you know, but if you love somebody and you think that they'd be good, it's harder."
— Bill Clinton at a campaign stop in Columbia, S.C.
aww, Bill, that's sweet. maybe you should have though about that when you were getting pleasured in the oval office
— Bill Clinton at a campaign stop in Columbia, S.C.
aww, Bill, that's sweet. maybe you should have though about that when you were getting pleasured in the oval office
Kucinich is dropping out..
Here's the story. (Shout out to Moonman at the CNN political ticker.) NewsHour story to come!
Sniffle
i think i'm getting sick... I guess this past weekend's schenanigans took a heavier toll on me than I realized.
Upcoming weekend should prove more chill. I really want to take a walk or drive through Rock Creek Park, which I drove on for the first time by myself yesterday. It really is beautiful once you get up by the Zoo. Also want to visit the National Building Museum and see this exhibit. Considering how much I love architecture, it's a surprise I haven't already been.
--
Jan. 24, 2008
Upcoming weekend should prove more chill. I really want to take a walk or drive through Rock Creek Park, which I drove on for the first time by myself yesterday. It really is beautiful once you get up by the Zoo. Also want to visit the National Building Museum and see this exhibit. Considering how much I love architecture, it's a surprise I haven't already been.
--
Jan. 24, 2008
Reasons I'm glad not to be in law school, exhibit A
Nick: sentence from S. Court opinion: "...the influence which there constitutents possess at elections are, in this, as in many other instances, as that, for example, of declaring war, the sole restraints on which they have relied, to secure them from its abuse"
Nick: WHAT
me: hahaha
me: i got nothin' for ya
-- Jan. 23, 2008
Nick: WHAT
me: hahaha
me: i got nothin' for ya
-- Jan. 23, 2008
Hoyas beat 'Cuse in overtime (Jan. 23)
i figured i should probably start with some sort of opening message about this being my first attempt at a blog, but well, that's about it. Here's my blog!
--
My voice is still recovering from Monday night's basketball game against Syracuse. I almost didn't mind the annoying 'cuse fans in attendence because it only added to the overall raucusness of the arena. I was especially happy that JTIII let Crawford get in some good playing time, instead of relegating him to the final minutes when we are 20 points up, as he has in other games. Plus, he made a 3 which helped get the Hoyas back on track. Although games like Monday's can be heart-wrenching and frustrating, they are definitely the most exciting. You leave the arena with such a high.
I really like this AP article about the amazing defense of Jeremiah and Patrick, as well as this one from the Washington Times.
Nick directed me to this post on the HoyaTalk boards about season ticket holders who consistently give / sell their tickets to opposing fans:
Dear season ticket holders in Section 120, row N, seats 3-8:This was the third straight game I had to sit in front of a whole row of opposing fans. This is getting ridiculous. Please either show up from now on, or sell your seats to an actual Hoya fan. Otherwise I will be forced to hunt you down and deal with you according to the Fan Convention of 1909. You have been warned.
Despite my statement above, Agreed! (Notice I had said "almost".) The student section and young alumni sections should be for Hoyas fans only. There are 20,000 seats in the arena, so it really shouldnt be so hard for opposing fans to find other seats. Georgetown ticketing needs to find a way to solve this problem.
--
My voice is still recovering from Monday night's basketball game against Syracuse. I almost didn't mind the annoying 'cuse fans in attendence because it only added to the overall raucusness of the arena. I was especially happy that JTIII let Crawford get in some good playing time, instead of relegating him to the final minutes when we are 20 points up, as he has in other games. Plus, he made a 3 which helped get the Hoyas back on track. Although games like Monday's can be heart-wrenching and frustrating, they are definitely the most exciting. You leave the arena with such a high.
I really like this AP article about the amazing defense of Jeremiah and Patrick, as well as this one from the Washington Times.
Nick directed me to this post on the HoyaTalk boards about season ticket holders who consistently give / sell their tickets to opposing fans:
Dear season ticket holders in Section 120, row N, seats 3-8:This was the third straight game I had to sit in front of a whole row of opposing fans. This is getting ridiculous. Please either show up from now on, or sell your seats to an actual Hoya fan. Otherwise I will be forced to hunt you down and deal with you according to the Fan Convention of 1909. You have been warned.
Despite my statement above, Agreed! (Notice I had said "almost".) The student section and young alumni sections should be for Hoyas fans only. There are 20,000 seats in the arena, so it really shouldnt be so hard for opposing fans to find other seats. Georgetown ticketing needs to find a way to solve this problem.
Friday, January 25, 2008
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