orichalcum

No more integration in schools. No more real protection against gender discrimination in employment. No more protection against mistakes of the federal court (the guy who followed wrong instructions from a federal judge about a filing date, and had his suit thrown out consequently). No more blanket right of choice. No more campaign finance reform. No more freedom of speech in schools. No more separation of church and state. More protections for big business. More protections for the executive branch. And that's just the first term. And it's not going to get better, not with the most likely retirees all being from the moderate camp.

The only reason I saw any significant number of Hispanic students in my public school was because they were bussed in from lower-income neighborhoods. It was by no means a perfect system; they were almost entirely tracked to the lowest track once they arrived at my upper-class suburban high school, and we interacted mainly in gym, where I once got into a near fist-fight with a girl from that neighborhood. And yes, I might have gotten into Harvard if they hadn't decided to accept the Hispanic daughter of a plastic surgeon with a B+ average from my class instead. But you know what? She used that education to make a career in helping battered women seek asylum in the U.S. and work to protect human rights and prevent torture abroad. And don't tell me that her fluency in Spanish and Portuguese hasn't helped her there.

Growing up, I knew every day that there were other kids out there from different backgrounds than mine, with different opportunities and family structures. There are going to be a lot more kids who grow up now never seeing anyone who doesn't look and act very much like them.

On the filming of Indy Jones IV:
"The filming will take place on June 28 through July 7. It will be a chase scene, set in 1957, in which black sedans will pursue Ford or his stunt double on a motorcycle east on Chapel Street, through Branford and Saybrook college courtyards, the Old Campus and a practice field in West Haven. Indiana also will roar through the Yale Commons dining hall. It will be set up to look like a study hall so it will be books and papers sent flying, not dishes and flatware."

See ladybird97's LJ for more.

Bads: Our landlords called to say that they'd be showing the apt at 11 AM tomorrow. This means, of course, that the apt needs to be clean. In most ways, this is no problem - our cleaning lady came yesterday, and I can keep things in order till tomorrow. But she doesn't clean our bedroom, because it's a disaster area that is desperately in need of several hours of sorting and many loads of laundry that we've kept putting off because it's Not Fun. So, guess what I'm doing today, when not working on my recalcitrant article and booking travel stuff for the NoCal trip?

Goods: OTOH, two packages arrived today. One was the Harry Potter Wii game, which I will let myself play at 6:30 today, after all the cleaning is done and Mac is asleep. The other was clothes from Chadwick's, which is having a massive clearance sale of fall and winter stuff, ladies. I got two dress skirts for $10 each, a nice tank top for $3, a new bathing suit for 15$, and new heels for $10. I was a bit nervous about buying shoes online; they wind up looking great but being a bit large, because they didn't have half sizes. Still, I suspect my feet will swell after planes anyhow, and better too large than too small. I had forgotten how much I hated 2-inch heels, but the new green dress really requires them, or I look like the footless wonder. So, a reward for hard work.

Weirds: Does it seem to anybody else like all the other 8 justices despise Kennedy? Conservative or liberal, they're all venting this week about his "hesitant" and "half-baked" rulings,

So, this is totally a minor personal thing, but M.A. totally gets built up as Bestest Emperor Evah, and ever since Gladiator, poor Commodus is That Incestuous Shmuck. Well, now I have proof that, at the least, Commodus reversed (I argue due to influence from his concubine Marcia) the increasingly harsh persecution of Christians instigated by who? His daddy, the same Marcus Aurelius. Of course, most Roman historians are pretty anti-Christian anyhow, so who knows how well this will play.

So, I've been testing out different new cookie recipes to make for a big group food thing coming up, and I wanted to report on my progress. I want, ideally, about 200+ cookies/bars/brownies, so I'm looking for 5-7 different kinds to provide variation.

Chocolate: Well, obviously, I need a chocolate thing. I could go with the basic chocolate chip, which everyone likes, but it seems a bit dull. Current leading options are Midnights ( a chocolate-coffee rich cookie), raspberry-fudge brownies, and/or homemade truffles, except I'm worried about the melting factor.

Peanut Butter: Another must for me. Here I think I'll make two batches, one of Peanut Blossoms (peanut cookie, hershey's kiss in the center) and one of the 1-2-3-4 PB cookies, which are very easy.

Other: Well, now, here's the question. I definitely want at least one Other. I made a batch of chai shortbread last weekend, but it's a bad sign that there are still pieces sitting there a week later - it's good, but just not very interesting. I've made Lemon sugar cookies before, but they're not very popular, and mostly a sugar cookie with a vague lemon aftertaste, and they take a bit of work. My current default is to apricot or lemon bars - linzer cookies, which I haven't tried making yet.

So, any suggestions for good non-chocolate non-pb cookies, or for good chocolate cookies? The priorities are preservability, speed in making, and relative economy of ingredients (amaretto is discouraged,for instance.) Also, I am not a fan of biscotti.

So, we've told a bunch of you about seeing the funniest Muppet Show segment ever, and now, it's on YouTube, thankfully.

Go. Watch. Now. Do it for the children. Do it cuz you've had a hard week. Do not have liquid in your mouth.