I'm An Affiliated Voter Now

Discussing communism is one thing. It's a different matter when you're discussing communism with the student from China. In Communist China, membership in the Party is dispensed on an exclusivity basis. In fact, only 7% of the population is a card carrying member. In Comparative Politics, we learned that some young Chinese die to be members. You must love communism to be a member, though. Such an affiliation can put you on the US blacklist. The Party's less ideological now than it was in Mao days. In fact, there are now businessmen in the club. We call this hypocriticism. Fortunately, our student sees a future in a free world enterprise and does not expect to be a technocrat. Being a member of the Party, he says, doesn't guarantee you the best job anymore.

In America's multiparty system, parties vie for membership. Exclusive parties don't work. Maybe they used to in the 19th century, but not today. From my laptop, I can join any number of political parties, from the GOP to the DNC to Larouche's cult or the Greens. I just did join one, and it only took about 2 minutes.
They fiddled around with the idea about being 18 in the disclaimer, but they didn't ask anything of it. If you can register to vote prior to 18, then so goes.
Some day, I'll come out of the woodwork on which one I joined.

In support group:
"Yes, I have something to admit."
"We're behind you all the way"
"I'm a member of the ********** party.

T+F@Landon

2 gymnasiums, 2 full sized fields and a lax area.
There's probably a jousting area that I didn't get to see. This is Landon School, on Wilson Lane in Bethesda, MD. Years ago, I was at this athletic-heavy school for a tour. Now I was here for track.

2" 45' was all the time that I took to round the track twice (800m total), but I could feel those 8 seconds. I promised myself that I'd give my all in the final 200m. I did; I passed and charged. I knew today would be better; I relieved myself, removed a retainer, tightened my laces, and did not have a cold rain on the parade. Yet, my lungs were pressing against the ribcage. I suspected I ruptured a few capillaries; I think that explains the metallic taste that I had internally after the run.

Was it really 7pm? It was. But I was home by 8pm. Sometimes, track meets are held- locally.

School Concert

A novel concept: the choral and orchestral concerts were combined this season. This was done for a number of reasons: larger audience, less dates on the calendar, etc. I noticed that first point as we circled around the campus to find a parking spot coming in. The two sections were separated by an intermission in which the orchestras prepped up. All the ensembles played well, and the semi-pro Jazz ensemble rocked the house as usual. As a special tribute, the Hearn brothers (with Brendan, the cellist, a graduating Senior) played a virtuoso Irish jig. Although I'm a bit peeved about the refreshments being finished before the end of the orchestral performances, the sum that I did have before playing was gorgeous. It seems to be a great way to close an Alumni weekend.

Not for money but for glory

Amazon the web retailer has started to offer cash to bloggers who drop the name of specific products in their posts. The pay rate is based on how many click-throughs you get from your blog to an embedded link to Amazon. This, of course, causes partiality which some would say is hazardous to the free-minded world. That said, if I were to sell promotions on this blog, then I would clearly identify the pay-to-say sections. But from my point of view, it'd take a lot (and not pennies or dimes)for me to sell out my audience.

(note that name-dropping in content-enbedded ads is different that a general sponsorship or advertising that is kept separate from the journalistic material).

The You-Can't-Join-Club

How does a prestigious club become prestigious. Is it exclusivity? If so, then does it mean the lower the invitation rate is (if there is one at all), the higher the response rate will be? In a prestigious and secretive Facebook group that I am in, new members are discussed before being sent an invitation. Turns out, the invitation acceptance rate is a clean 100%.So then, does being exclusive imply prestige? No, not as cliques are involved. Could selectiveness be used as a marketing tool? It sure has been and is.

Hot Water

Yesterday was Secretaries' day. But most officials consider this day "Administrative Professionals' Day", for the sake of professionalization of every career path, or just for greedy managers who want in. Else, it could just be that Secretaries are synonymous with pensions-disappearing.
To the satisfaction of "working girls" (quoting the 1991 Carly Simon movie), there is now (and has been for a while) a day called "Take your Daughter to work day. Egalitarian fathers, or mothers, bring their daughters to work so they can see that their opportunities aren't limited to secretary, stewardess, nurse or teacher. Now I remember the grade-school debate about TYDTWD: why couldn't the boys take the day off from school? (One boy did; he was ridiculed for the rest of the year). So, in a bow to gender equality, more and more boys took part in (and ruined?) the tradition. Today's Earth Day as well, and being the busybody that I and all my friends are, were unable to attend the festivities on the Mall. Thus, the isolation between us working conformists and environmentalists with leisure time grows.

Take this to the typing pool and leave in the 20th century.

Retrocession: Modern Precedent

Some say that to think that Maryland would ever want to take back DC is crazed talk. There is no Civil War, and lots of people actually live, today, in Maryland's part of DC. Thus, there is to be only one big city in Maryland, not two. But the State that is is not gobbling the whole city, but nibbling it from the tip. No one seems to ever think of this friendly precedent: For one reason or another, the Wilson Bridge from Oxon Hill, MD, to Alexandria, VA, was built so it crossed across DC's very southernmost tip. All that is at this tip is water and an apparent sandbar. When a new bridge was built last decade, Maryland urged the DC council to cede the part of the city's aqueous holding that was under the bridge. That way, neither VA or MD could ask DC to pitch in to the maintenance fund. This change may have affected the residency of several bald eagles and sea gulls, but, as for humans, no one maybe except the guy who opperates the drawbridge.