Saturday, May 30, 2009

a situation that pisses me off

remember when i told you that i like to study media bias in political news reporting?

here's a great example:

Obama made note of the LGBT protestors outside the Beverly Hilton hotel when he spoke at the DNC Benefit held on may 27th.

The NYT reports:

"A gaggle of sign-waving protestors milled around outside The Beverly Hilton, the sprawling hotel on Wilshire Boulevard. They must have caught the president’s eye when he arrived at the hotel from an earlier stop in Las Vegas because he relayed one of their messages to the crowd.

"'One of them said, 'Obama keep your promise,’ ' the president said. 'I thought that’s fair. I don’t know which promise he was talking about.'

"The people in the audience – who paid $30,400 per couple to attend – laughed as they ate a dinner of roasted tenderloin, grilled organic chicken and sun choke rosemary mashed potatoes."


Which promise? How about starting with the repeal of DOMA, the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell', a federal hate crimes law, and above all, the promise to be a "fierce advocate" for all the LGBT people who voted him into office?

The AP posted a slightly different report on the remarks:

"While many Obama supporters waved and cheered as his motorcade approached the Beverly Hilton, some protesters decried Tuesday's California Supreme Court ruling that upheld the voter-approved gay marriage ban. Some of them also urged Obama to repeal the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy for gays. Obama said he could not hear the protesters' exact words, but he agreed with one who shouted that the president should keep his promises."


do you see the difference?

amazing, isn't it?

a perfect semester

Scheduled Courses
Course-Id Sched. No. Type Days Time Location Units Instructor Grade* Textbooks
COMM 0740-01 26607 SEM: INTERPERSONAL COMM - A

SEM T 1810 - 2150 HUM 285 M Golden


COMM 0871-01 26610 COMM RESEARCH STRATEGIES - A

SEM TH 1810 - 2150 HUM 113 G MERRIGAN

SFSU GPA
4.0


AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH


all the gray hairs and sleepless nights were totally worth it.

4.0 after a completed year of graduate school.

anyone else completely freaking out?! no?

just me then?


fine

Friday, May 29, 2009

a visitor post doctor's visit

this has been quite overdue, but i attribute that to a lot of things. papers, stress, interviews, other visits, etc.

so when my dearest sarah came to visit i knew i only had a few days to show her as much san francisco as possible. the two of us were part of a journey across the country a few years back, but our time in san francisco was brief and we were quite lost most of the time. this time around, we had more time and proper knowledge about where and what to do.

first things, first, she had to make herself comfortable in my apartment, a simple task of course









see? totally comfortable.

now, with only 5 days available for sarah's exploration sensation gyration inspiration vacation, i had a lot of ground to cover in little time.

i showed her:



the pacific ocean



delores park



haight ashbury



the golden gate bridge



the de young, including the andy warhol exhibit



pier 39, the embarcadero and fisherman's wharf



hayes valley



the castro



the aquarium




the california academy of sciences



the mission district

all the while introducing her to good friends, tasty food and very colorful townspeople

















all in five days time.

we even had time to have my friends lukas the lebanese, stefan the german and kad the frenchman, prepare our dinner. being the culinary genius that i am, i allowed them to do the most of the work while i played happy cooking tunes and documented the experience





we barely slept, and it was one of the best weeks of my california lifetime.

i think she had fun too.



love and loyalty