The Supreme Court and why I want to write nonfiction

Dear Siblings,

I just finished watching All the President's Men for the first time, which, if you haven't seen it, is definitely worth the time. It's apparently a classic that I had never heard of until recently about the journalists who broke the Watergate scandal. It's an inspiring story for any writer (or wannabe): after all it's about how two nobody reporters were able to essentially singlehandedly bring down the Nixon administration. It's not only impressive, but makes me proud to be an american (and a Washington Post reader). In what other country could a corrupt government be brought down, without force, by a single newspaper?

Anyway, as I was thinking about the power of words (and missing my typewriter a bit - hence the font) I started to go over the events of the day in my head. I started this morning early - 6:00 - which as you may or may not know, is before the sun gets up. There's just something not right about getting up before the sun. It's unnatural. I was up because I had plans to make it over to stand in line at the Supreme Court building to get in to hear oral arguments about an upcoming religious liberty case Hein vs. Freedom From Religion Foundation. The case is fairly technical and not all that interesting until you pull back a bit and examine the ramifications. It involves a suit against the government over executive sponsered conferences about community initiatives that were allegedly partial to faith-based groups.

That's actually not the issue at hand though. The case is really testing the court on whether or not taxpayers have standing to sue under the establishment clause of the first amendment. That means (for those of you that didn't go to a discussion panel in order to get it more properly explained) that the debate is whether or not the ordinary taxpayer is injured enough by executive spending to have standing in the courts to sue the government. The government is of course arguing that they do not have standing. You should check out the BJC's position. Be sure to look at the blog if you do - it's got a transcript (kind of funny actually) and lots of surrounding articles.

So I got up at 6:00, and made it to the line outside by 6:30 (most of that time was spent, not getting ready or walking, but convincing my groggy self that it wasn't ok just to go back to sleep and pretend I didn't hear my alarm). According to the green card I got from the nice policeman I was 50th in line. Since they only let 50 of us in, that was pretty handy. They didn't actually let us inside the building until 9:15 or so with the arguments starting at 10:00.

Pretty soon after I got there a kid walked up behind me who immediately started talking to me. I was a little annoyed at first, since I had brought my 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to help me pass the time, but he was a nice enough guy. He seemed uber excited to see the justices, though he didn't know anything about the case and didn't really care. He's a freshman at George Washington and just wanted a celebrity citing I think. We got to talking, which, as you know, is pretty rare for me. It became clear quickly that he was a republican and described himself as a George Bush republican, something that he seemed to think was a dying breed. I'm not so sure that that's true, sadly, but I also am not sure he's really a GW republican but just thinks he is.

He assumed that I, being a Baptist which he found out from where I worked, was also a republican, I think, though I made it clear from the outset just how much of a moderate I really am. As a side note, I find myself playing the roll of true moderate more and more. Even though I'd really think of myself more as fairly liberal leaning I always seem to be explaining one side to another in a political or religious conversation. It's like when I was dating Meghan (always defending Meghan to Mom and Dad and Mom and Dad to Meghan), but on a bigger scale.

We talked a little bit about religous liberty since the opportunity presented itself, and I think I may have sold him on it from the "Nobody can tell me what I should or shouldn't believe" stance. I don't think he had really thought it through before. It's amazing how many Christians don't think about what it would be like if members of some other religion had the power to enforce or even just governmentally support their beliefs.

At some point during the conversation, although he was pretty nice about it, he brought up that he hated that democrats had won the recent elections on negativity: that they had won because they were against something rather than for it. I disagreed as to the extent that he was suggesting and how he was putting all democrats into one lump, when democrats are (as the saying goes) barely an organized political party in the first place, but he had a good point. Only I'd go ahead and apply it to all politics for the last 20 years.

I suppose that if you're against something (the war, a woman's right to choose, whatever) than that implies that you are for it's opposite, but I firmly believe that the way you talk about something matters. I'm so sick of everyone being against the other guy, just because polls have shown that it's more effective. It's more effective because it's easier. It's a Machievellian "better to make the people love you, but since that's hard to do make them fear you instead" approach to politics. Maybe that's smart, but it's bad for the country.

What has happened to our great speeches? What is the last great speech that we can culturally remember? I bet you jump all the way back to Kennedy. There were so many powerful lines that stick with us even today, even among those of us who weren't alive to hear them. They were passionate and importantly they were full of hope. I don't know how great a president kennedy really was, but his words were inspiring. As Charlie says on West Wing - "If they're shooting at you, you must be doing something right." The US government has more potential than any other organization maybe in the history of the world, either for bad or good. Government, Politics should use that potential to inspire us to become better than ourselves. I just want to be caught up in something great, in a period, a movement to which history will look back and say at least they had hope. At least they believed in something. At least they spoke courage and defied the surrounding dark, if only for a little while.

I don't know, I'm getting a little carried away maybe, but that's why I want to do some kind of political writing. I don't know if I have the skills to do that, to write speeches that inspire, or if I'll even get the opportunity, but I know it's what I want to hear, and no one else seems to be doing it.

- Warnie

Crazy Runners

Okay I just thought this was amazing and you guys should check it out. Crazy, but amazing.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/runningthesahara/about.html

Bell towers and alarms

Hello Brothers,
This will probably be a short post because I am absolutely exhausted. This is one of the photos I recently took for our newspaper. It didn't make the final cut but I think that was because another article came up. Anyways its of our new bell tower and I don't know why but I really like it.
I'm quite exhausted and right now I seem to be asking myself "How can I be a photographer, a sculpture, a sister, a girlfriend, and a daughter when I am too tired to be myself or anything else?" I know all this worry and slight depression is just simply that: exhaustion but I'm still letting it get to me a little bit. I saw a funny thing today though. In one of the school buildings there was a sign on the door that said "Door is Alarmed" and then someone had taken a marker and written under it "window is astonished." I don't know why but that cracked me up...maybe its just because I'm weird.
I just got done with my major assessment which doesn't really mean much. However I had to go through most of my work and title it. I never realized how hard it is to title work and not sound retarded. I went through some poems and stuff to try and get ideas but it was still reeeeeeally hard. You come up with things like "entrapment" and "the darkness of my soul." It always gives me a good laugh at myself. I'm starting to ramble. Sorry my entries have been so random and not very thoughtful. I promise to do better.
love to all,
Boo

God and Clifford the Big Red Dog

Dear Brother and Sister,

The original post was actually nothing like this one. It was about how, while smoking a cigar outside, I saw some lights reflected off the DC cloudcover (which always makes the sky look orange, like it's on fire) that reminded me first of UFO's or of fairies jousting because of the way they circled out, collided, and then circled out again. But that was unrelated to the bulk of the passage, which would have been about how I actually wrote a bit for Pilgrim that I really enjoyed writing. No I'm still not done with my part, and it seems to get longer every time I sit down to write, but it was fun. And I think it was pretty good - it involves a 9 year old ripping his own eyes out, it must be good right? While sitting there with my cigar, I thought, "You know, I may not be the most eloquent writer that ever put pen to page (nice eh?) but sometimes I have some pretty good ideas." Then I thought, "No, that's wrong. God has good ideas and sometimes he lets me write them down." Sappy maybe, but I still think that that's true.

______________________________________________________________

So anyway, tonight I was going to write a little about the following article and the ridiculousness of politics and the media today:
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There's much huffing over puffing on Hill
By Christina Bellantoni
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Feb 15 2007 12:00AM
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Smoking has become the hot topic on Capitol Hill.
Who is, who isn't, and where the lawmakers puff -- closeted or not -- are among the whispers in the hallways and on the presidential campaign trail.
There have been at least 35 news reports about Sen. Barack Obama's long battle with a cigarette habit, and how the Illinois Democrat has been chewing Nicorette to kick that habit as he runs for president.
And in the latest installment, staffers for Rep. Keith Ellison tattled to Capitol Police that Rep. Tom Tancredo was smoking a cigar inside his congressional office.
"We already have the biggest air-purifying unit you can get, and I would be happy to try to make sure that it's even less odiferous around here, but I'm not going to stop because we still have the right to do so," Mr. Tancredo, Colorado Republican, told The Washington Times.
&! nbsp;An officer investigating the report informed Mr. Ellison, Minnesota Democrat, that smoking is allowed in the private offices, the Hill newspaper first reported yesterday.
Calling his office in the Longworth building "our own little castle," Mr. Tancredo said he would have preferred a personal visit from his next-door neighbor.
Mr. Tancredo, seeking the 2008 Republican nomination for president, added, "He can get an air-purifying system for his office."
Mr. Ellison's office did not respond to calls for comment yesterday, but spokesman Rick Jauert told the Hill that he first called the Capitol superintendent when he noticed smoke "coming through the walls." That office referred Mr. Jauert to the police, and he informed his boss that he had made the report.
Mr. Tancredo said he has never met Mr. Ellison, who has gotten his fair share of headlines.
! ; In November, Mr. Ellison became the first M! uslim in recent times to be elected to Congress. Then, Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., Virginia Republican, protested Mr. Ellison's use of the Koran for his swearing-in. In a letter to constituents, Mr. Goode complained that if strict immigration laws are not enacted, "more Muslims" will be elected and will demand "the use of the Koran."
The dust-up created national headlines and highlighted philosophical differences on immigration policy.
Mr. Tancredo noted that the only time he has even referenced Mr. Ellison was to defend his use of the Koran.
But the Colorado congressman has a friend in Mr. Goode, who delivered a gift to Mr. Tancredo's office after learning of the cigar incident.
Mr. Tancredo said that he knew the envelope from Mr. Goode contained a cigar, but that he hadn't yet read the letter. He opened the note and read it to a reporter for The Times.
! ; "We have a policy in my office of allowing one to smoke from tobacco country if he or she so chooses," Mr. Tancredo read from the letter, pausing to stifle laughter. "We extend this courtesy to an outstanding presidential candidate. Hope you can use it in your office. If you can't, come on up to mine."
Others, including Minority Leader John A. Boehner, have felt like pariahs lately, especially since Speaker Nancy Pelosi banned puffing in the Speaker's Lobby off the House floor.
Mr. Boehner, a chain-smoking Ohio Republican, told reporters gathered for the Washington Press Club Foundation dinner last week that he isn't fond of Mrs. Pelosi's decision.
"We can still smoke out on the balcony. But, Nancy, it was 20 degrees out there. I think I want a seat on your global warming committee," he told the California Democrat.
As for Mr. Obama, reporters see! m obsessed with him kicking the habit.
! Ma ureen Dowd of the New York Times opened her latest column thus: "Barack Obama looked as if he needed a smoke and he needed it bad."
After a long Chicago Tribune story about Mr. Obama's smoking, ABC News did a piece on its Web site about Michelle Obama demanding that her husband quit those Marlboros before embarking on a rigorous campaign for the White House. Both articles quoted numerous health advocates and pundits analyzing whether a candidate should admit to such vices.
Reporters trailing Mr. Obama to Iowa last weekend made sure to note this comment by the presidential hopeful: "I've been chewing Nicorette all day long."
An article on Slate.com last month even speculated that should Mr. Obama quit, he would lose his trademark deep voice -- identified by the Web site as "authoritative but comforting, rich and resonant and wise."

First of all, who gives a shit? Smoke don't smoke, it's not like it really has anything to do with running the country. Second of all, and I hate to agree with Republicans, but if you are a Congressman then I think you've earned the right to smoke in your own damn office. Yes, you should first be respectful of others, but that just goes with common decency. If Ellison (or his staffer) had had the balls or even just the courtesy to walk next door and see what was going on, and politely explain the situation and then, if the congressman in question had said, "Fuck you liberal. I can do what I want," he would have plenty of reason to be pissed off. I mean - I really hate Goode, and the fact that he was involved in the earlier Ellison news makes his actions a little underhanded - but if I was another congressman, even if I didn't smoke - I'd send down a box of cigars too. Obama should be commended for trying to quit, and it should be left at that. Why do we bother with such trivialities? Did he smoke pot in college during the 70's? OH MY GOD! Is he fiending for a cigarette? Is he chewing nicorette to help him quit? Did his church once say that there should be no middle class? (Which by the way seemed really clear to me that they meant the rich have a responsibility to the poor...). I'm just so sick of how reporters focus on the smallest details that we don't need to know, when there is so much substance out there. Of course they wouldn't do it if we didn't buy into it.

Hope you all had a good Valentine's. I'm going down to C-ville and then home this weekend cause I gets Monday off. By the way HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG!! YOU'RE 44 YEARS OLD or 308 in GIANT DOG YEARS!

Love in Clifford,
Warnie

Snow Day!

Warnie and Boo,

You know, this doesn't happen to most adults. But I'm reveling in my snow day, brought on by a nasty little nor'easter. Well, not so little. The state basically told everyone to stay home, and the university canceled all classes. It reminds me of the time Warnie and I got caught in Harrisonburg, somewhat. A strange stolen space where none of the silly requirements of day to day life matter anymore, simply because the weather has trumped it all.

Of course, the basic requirements still exist: food, warmth, etc. and hopefully the storm won't knock out power or cause too much destruction up and down the coast. Right now it's the best Valentine's day present I could get.

Anyway, I actually wanted to post a bit about going to see Barack Obama on Monday night. We went to the fieldhouse, which was a strange venue for the town hall meeting, but packed, which was good. The College Democrats President and Vice took it upon themselves to introduce the Senator, which was AMAZINGLY BAD. If Bozek and I had gone up there and talked about our days, and then said, "Oh yeah, Sen. Obama is here" the crowd would have been more jazzed. But despite that, he still managed to get the people going. Including the people with the stadium style signs behind him that said Go Barack! if they got their act together and did it in sequence. Through much of the talk, they said "O Arack!" which I thought was kind of funny.

I think, and I mean this in a positive way, I've lost my ability to be awed by political pageantry. That's not to say that I've lost my ability to be inspired, or even moved. I just no longer buy into much of the theater of it. Who claps when, how big the American flag is, blah blah blah. Maybe it was just the format, but I felt like it was much more like a press conference. I got some answers I wanted, some I wasn't so sure of, and generally got to weigh the issues in my own mind. I think some of the people missed that part of it, by getting caught up in the other part of it.

But in the end, I was pleased. I'm not sure he's the guy for the presidency--he didn't drip charisma as much in this forum as I would have wanted. That being said, I think anyone who doesn't put him in as a running mate would be foolish, and I think his ideas were actually very good. He spoke in specifics and in terms of current legislation, which was a nice change. Even if he remains in the Senate, I think Barack Obama is doing good things for the country. I'll have to see the rest of the field before I make my final decision on who I support for president, but if he ends up being the guy, then I could vote for him without hesitation.

Ok, off to the old typewriter. Maybe I'll get a poem out of the snow.

Happy Valentine's day to you both.

Jack

God and Cigars

Nevermind I don't have the energy to do this now.

The Foreign Service

Dear Jack y Bethyboo,

I've had another revelation for my future. I was reading an article in the New York Times (again with the Times) while looking for burried religious liberty in the news, which is the best part of my job. Anyway, I don't remember the specifics, but the article was a back pager about how along with the surge in troops to Iraq, Bush was calling for a surge in civilian personnel. Mostly, he was calling for civilian reconstruction - aka big companies. But there was also a section about how they desperately needed more Foreign Service Officers and were asking for federal employees to take a temporary shift of assignment and to go to Iraq. Now this got me thinking. "Foreign Service? What the fuck is that?"

Well, as it turns out the fuck is that it's essentially diplomatic staff. The foreign service is part of the State Department and does everything from manage an embassy to influencing foreign policy. I was interested at first primarily because, if you remember, my whole readjustment after finding out I wasn't a good enough writer for academia (cough, bastards) started because I felt somewhat guilty for living off the fat of the land while well over 2000 kids my age or younger had died, and had died fighting for America. Even though the war is incredibly stupid and has caused far more problems than it solved (I think the count is about 1,000,000 to 1) these kids were actively trying to change something and most probably believed, believe, that they were making the world a better place. I never really wanted to join the military, but I wanted to use the talents that I had to help solve the problem - to keep 18 year olds from dying for a pointless cause.

Anyway that's what led me to communications and politics: the possbility that I could somehow use writing to fix those kinds of problems. If you can inspire or convince the right person, you can do anything. Well, as I wasted a little time to check out the foreign service I saw that you could do just that - directly. I don't think I'll make the cut for Iraq. I'm not ready, and I don't want to give up on grad school at all - I don't think I was misguided in that plan. But after grad school it's at least something to consider. They divide you into tracks, one of which really appeals to me. They have a political track where your job would be to analyze the political situation in any given country and write back your suggestions to the state department. In a way it would be like specifically political intelligence and you have the chance to influence foreign policy. I don't think I'd do it for the rest of my life, but I could see doing it for as much as a decade.

Part of the attraction is of course just the appeal of being able to tell my grandkids stories of my time in Afghanistan, Ghana, or the Congo and how I helped to stop a civil war or genocide or invasion. Then again, just because I'm a democrat doesn't mean I'm immune to the call of king and country. And as a christian, the opportunity to further peace and religious liberty appeals to me more than anything.

I don't know that I want to do it. All I know is that I got really excited when I saw that it was an option, which is what led me to the BJC as well. So, I think it's at least worth considering. Let me know what you guys think.

Love,
The Other Boo

Giant bunnies and such

Dear Brothers,
I thought it would be appropriate for my first photo on the blog to be of breasts. The word "breasts' in Italian is i seni, which (as Ben knows) is masculine. Ironic. Anyways, this is one of my five sculptures that I completed for my first assignment in class. It is made entirely out of wax with some plaster/fiber glass shredding on the front. I have now discovered a fabulous love and hate for wax. Continuing on the art trend, I have a bunch of shows this spring (hopefully) and I'm also applying for an Independent Study and Grant for next fall.
Not much is really going on here. I'm a little bit nervous about writing because I have nothing truly eloquent to say. I'll try to scan some more art and photos to put up though. The newspaper thing is turning out well and I'm enjoying it a lot more than I expected to. The next one comes out tomorrow (eek I hope my photos were good!) so I will try to send you both some copies. For now I must away, but I will leave you with this....

One Quarter Century Down

Dear Warnie and the Boos,

So here I am, perched at the edge of my first quarter century. It sounds momentous, but in many ways, it's just another day here. It's cold, and the light is pale, as if the sun is just barely bumping its nose above the covers, and hoping that the heat will kick in. I have friends sleeping in mittens, and this morning the air froze to my beard.

And while birthdays tend to elicit the introspective, narcissistic impulse in me, this year it's very difficult to put into words. I've tried to write several times about what I've learned and forgotten, but it all comes out hackneyed and nowhere near as deep and mystical as life really is. I'm reminded of when Dad used to tell me to keep a journal when I went on trips (as I'm sure he told the both of you) and I'd come back with 5 or 6 poems--it was the only way I could really capture the richness of it all, my prose just felt too limp to really hold on to the thrill of it all.

What I feel most today is the thrill of what's next--I feel that I've gotten somewhere in the last 25 years, and that I'm ready to start diving into the work at last. It's probably the feeling most people get at graduation, but I'm a slow study. I feel that my train has started rolling, and I realized at the last minute that it would just be common sense to leap from the platform and catch the last car. I've got a long way to go, but at least I can look back at everything rolling behind me with fondness and gratitude.

I'm not sure that makes any sense at all. So I'll wrap this up with a quick discussion of one skill I have picked up.

I can drink with the best of them. I had a blast at my party, mostly because that was one of the most ridiculous football games I've ever seen. The ball almost had a life of its own, and it didn't want to be owned by any team, apparently. Actually, I liked it a lot. I love having to compensate for weather, although in the end the team that was the best won, as they should have.

But the ridiculousness of the game, plus having some friends over I haven't seen in a while, resulted in a fantastic amount of drinking. We went through half a jug of Cribari Chianti (and by we, I mean mostly me and Lee) not something I generally recommend, but there's a Donald Hall poem about it and I wasn't feeling beer. And then Jeff got me a humidor, cigars, and a bottle of nice scotch. I love nice scotch. I love it a lot.

But good old me, I remember throwing down water in between drinks, and having the good sense to throw a b-vitamin in there before bed, and I was fit as a fiddle the next day. Which was best, as it made the whole day seem like a success.

Although the apartment looks like a frat house. Got to get on that.

So, I realized there's no way to really wrap this up neatly. Which is good.

Jack

A Passionless Generation

Dear Comrades,

Today Brent (left, as BrentZilla), the bossman at BJC, asked a few of us "younger people" to take a look at a NY Times Op-Ed piece about the political state of our peers. It's written by David Brooks, who lectures at a number of universities. You can read it here if you have NY Times Select...which you don't, and neither do I. I had to have Brent print out a copy so I could write back to him, and since I'm scannerless, I'm not about to recopy the entire article by hand. Can't the Times just charge their advertisers a little more to make the full paper available online? The Post is all online and it's a better paper.

Economics aside, the crux of the article is that if Professor Brooks' classroom experiences hold true for the whole nation, then we are in for a political future that is "increasingly practical, anti-ideological, modest and centrist (to a fault)." I have to say that I completely agree, except that I'd maybe add - mediocre, dull, and unimaginative.

Brent wanted to get our opinions on the subject and how it applied to how we spoke to 20 somethings and college students about our separation of church/state mission, as well as baptist history and principles. This was my response (because I don't want to re-write it):

Brent,

I think that Brooks' analysis basically holds true for most college students and 20-somethings. In my experience, it's not even that students are drifting towards the center out of any kind of interest in compromise or moderate principles but simply because they are both overly cautious and have little to no passion about...anything. Obviously there are great numbers of exceptions. Still, I found that this holds true even outside the realm of politics where one could expect a little jading after the last decade. I took a great many literature classes in college, especially Russian Literature. I found again and again that after reading these great sweeping passages about the human experience the majority of the class would remain unimpressed, much preferring more modern texts full of sarcasm, clever devices, and little substance.

Take my roommate for example. He has worked in 3 political internships already (he is a junior) and plans another in the summer. He is very liberal and well informed - an intelligent and capable student from all I can tell. On the outside he seems that he would be either one of those people who seem to be running for office since they were born, or else a passionate proponent of some liberal cause. Yet, actually he cares more about politics for politics sake, and seems only vaugely interested in issues at all. He knows he'll never work in politics and wants to work in the private sector. All the work he does now seems just for the experience, and what it can do practically for him in the future. I don't mean to malign him in any way - he just seems typical of my generation. Though he would like to see the country turn in a different direction, he is motivated primarily by practical concerns rather than by ideology.

Even among extreme college activists on both sides of the fringe, I get the impression that they will largely retreat from that position after graduation and definitely by the time they reach 30. It is somewhat viewed as simply part of the college experience, and it is the activism itself, rather than the issue, that attracts the students.

I'm not really sure what that means for how we discuss our issues. I personally lament this trend towards fearful caution in people my age and think that it will lead to more years of political mediocrity. I certainly don't think that, if this thesis is true, it would serve our cause to filter out the passion that is so integral to baptist history and principles. It could serve to emphasize the message of moderation, and to show that strong ideology doesn't necessarily lead to impractical, hardheadedness. What attracts me to Baptists (traditional baptists anyway) is that they are fierce advocates of what could be considered centrist issues rather than centrist from a careful and "tolerant" secularism in which one has to be forever fearful of mispeaking. Whether or not other people of my generation would appreciate the same ideology, I don't know.

It's possible that I'm just taking things to an extreme. Very probably, it's just the way it has always been in every generation. The people that are gifted and passionate carry the people that are not - either towards something better or towards something worse. I don't know, there just seems to be a lack of fire in this country for anything worth being fiery about. Even the war, which I obviously didn't agree with and wasn't worth being fiery about, seems to have just happened. It's like the government, in very careful language, explained what it was going to do, and most of us just swallowed it. They didn't have to beat the drum hardly at all, and when they did it was like they didn't know how. That's not exactly my point. I guess my point is just that I'm tired of how measured and therefore mediocre politics has become, and judging from the majority of my former classmates, it's not likely to change any time soon.

Anyway, just a thought. I may share a more letter like post later on tonight or tomorrow. Jack, hope your super party went well - you should write about it. Well, if it was interesting...maybe it was really boring. Maybe no one showed up, and the keg didn't arrive on time. Maybe you were rooting for the bears.

Peace cracka-jameses,

Warnie

Baby if you love me you'd give me a hand...

Dear Jack and Boo,
I think I'm in love. Seriously. Only it's not fun, it's bad, so maybe it's not love - it's probably obsession. Damn. Because I don't really want to be obsessed with anyone - they aren't worth it. I'm not worth it. It'd be better if it were actually...you know. But I don't know yet. Nevertheless, I have something for you to read that I think you'll enjoy...

Doctor Pleads Guilty to Stealing Hand

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 11:11 p.m. ET

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- A young doctor pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing a hand from a cadaver when he was a medical student, then giving it to a stripper he had befriended.

Ahmed Rashed, 26, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of third-degree theft, said Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Judson Hamlin.

Rashed gave the hand to Linda Kay, 31, during one of his visits to the club where she worked. He got to know the exotic dancer while he was a first-year medical student at the school in 2002. She wanted a cadaver's hand, authorities said, and he complied.

Authorities said the hand was found in a jar on Kay's dresser. Friends have said she called it ''Freddy.''

''He meant no disrespect,'' said Rashed's attorney, Kalman Geist. ''It appears that this body had served its purpose.''

Geist said Rashed removed the hand from a fully dissected cadaver at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark that was scheduled for cremation, and was unaware that what he did was illegal. He graduated in 2005 and is now in his third year of residency at a Los Angeles hospital.

''A lot of people do things when they're 22 that they wouldn't do 10 years later,'' Geist said.

Rashed will be prohibited from seeking a license to practice medicine in New Jersey while he is on probation. Hamlin said he will recommend five years of probation at Rashed's sentencing hearing, scheduled for March 1.

A grand jury indicted Kay on a receiving stolen property charge, which was resolved when she agreed to be enrolled in a supervision program for one year, Hamlin said.

Love, (Obsessed)
-WW

The District Blues

Dearest Siblings,

I think it's about high time that you guys heard a report of my doings and goings on in the Capital of our great nation. Don't let the title fool you: it hasn't all been bluesy. In fact, occasionally it's been downright Bebopy, maybe with a little Latin mixed in, just for flavor ala Dizzy Gillespie. But it's been bluesy too. Anyway, enough jazz snobbery, I should get right to it.

First, I know you're both dying to hear about my infamous trip into the real West Wing. That, I have to say, was pretty awe inspiring, even if everything is incredibly smaller than it is on TV. A friend that I'm sure I've mentioned to both of you at one time or another and in who's parking lot the beast is currently parked, works for The Agency. I don't really know what she does, and I know that if I were to even make up something she'd be incredibly pissed because I put it on a blog - not that she'll ever be reading this. Regardless, she knows someone else in The agency who knows someone who works in the West Wing. As it turns out most of the office space that you see in the show The West Wing is actually in the EOB - the Executive Office Building. There are only 200 people (all political appointees) who actually work in the West Wing itself. The guy who did our tour - Dan - is 29 and works in Homeland Security. Actually he pretty much divides his time between the two buildings, but he's important enough to go where he pleases. Funnily enough, he's in charge of fixing FEMA and came on board during Katrina. I didn't mention it.

As a funny aside, some things really are like the TV show. He told us how he had come in just for a few hours on Saturday morning, mostly just to put us in the system so we'd be cleared with security. He didn't think it'd be a real work day, so he wore sweat pants. As it turns out, something happened (I actually don't know what) and everyone was called in. He'd had the foresight to leave a spare shirt, and a spare sports coat at the office - in fact, everything but pants. He was forced to go to all his meetings, some of them high level, in his sweat pants: funny stuff.

Anyway, we went in through the staff entrance through which everyone walks with the exception of the President. Yep, that means the Vice-President as well. The interior is decorated with ever changing photographs of what the administration has been doing that particular week. In my case, just about everything was about the State of the Union. The shot that was most memorable to me, partly because it was most frustrating, was a picture of the President in the Oval surrounded by his communications staff. His director of Com, his head speechwriter, and one of the lead speechwriters on this particular speech (Toby and Sam). The lead guy, not the head guy, but the lead writer is 25 years old. Jeezus that puts a lot of pressure on people who want to be there someday. Then again, maybe that's the problem.

So, skipping to the good parts, we ended up out in the Rose Garden, which, although a little smaller is just like it is in the movies. It fairly inspiring actually. It was at that point that I really couldn't believe that I was there, looking at the Oval office from the outside - as in from the Residence. Maybe I'm a nerd (maybe?) but seeing the flag flying over the residence and knowing I was walking between columns that FDR built gave me chills. Of course it was also freezing, but that's not the point. There is actually only one direct way from the Residence to the Oval and that's outside. FDR believed that it would be good for all presidents to be outside in their country before they went to work each morning, to get a little perspective. As it turns out, the President was actually in the Oval at this time - essentially waiting for us to leave so that he could go to the Residence untroubled. Was he more probably attending to business? Maybe, but I prefer to think that he was waiting on me. Anyway, we had to leave and go back inside.

Then we got to see inside all the important rooms - The Roosevelt Room, the Oval Office, and the Cabinet Room: all of which, by the way, are right next to each other and have no glass windows from the hallway. In fact, Dan said that most of the day doors are shut and the West Wing is completely quiet, completely unlike the West Wing of TV. Also, remember when Sam mistakenly tries to give a tour to Malory's elementary school kids and starts bullshitting about how the Roosevelt room was named after FDR not Theodore even though there's a big damn painting of him on the wall? Well, he actually wasn't wrong - the room is named after both of them in the interest of bipartisanship - FDR's Nobel peace prize is right next to the big damn painting.

Right next to the Oval is a Norman Rockwell painting of the statue of liberty. It was given to Bill Clinton by Steven Spielberg but gifts to the president are actually gifts to the country and in order to keep them you have to pay for them. Also, there seems to be some clause that says that the incoming can request certain art objects to remain or something like that. Anyway, the painting is worth $15 million dollars. It's just hanging there, not in a case or anything. There are of course dozens of original paintings, many on loan from Museums that are actually priceless, but I kind of expected that. This was just there - $15 million dollars. It was intense.

We left through the diplomatic entrance which was less impressive than you'd think. It looked kind of like a small library. Small in the sense of a small study with a few books in it. I wonder what visiting dignitaries think, but I kind of liked the lack of pomp. Outside we stood in the same spot that you see on TV whenever someone says, "I'm live reporting from the White House." I can see why - the building really is impressive, especially from the outside. And just to stand there - so close to the greatest potential in the world - was incredible.

Well then. I was actually going to launch into all my other Washington exploits (hence the Dubliner poster) and the reason why I've been drinking Whiskey (Elmer T. Lee) and listening to Modest Mouse (whenever I drink alone I listen to Modest Mouse) but I've gone on so long I think I'll just save all that for another day.

By the way Jackie boy, I did see the bit about Boston being lame and thought it was pretty strange that the news continued to cover it after the police had determined that it was harmless and only had a few parts that could have been used for a bomb. CNN was like "Bombs in Boston? Harmless or THE END OF THE WORLD?" Goddamn I hate the news. But now, being the heart disease of the country it's like I can't avoid watching TV news.

Affectionately Yours,
-W

Boston is a Lame City Full of Lame People

My dear Warnie and The Boos,

As the title offers, Boston is a lame city, full of lame people. I'm not sure you've been keeping up with the current hysteria here in frozen yankeeville, but here goes. Yesterday it was reported that 10 mysterious packages, likely bombs or some sort of chemical/biological agent, were discovered around Boston. MSNBC, CNN, and FOX news were all over this story. Even NPR cautiously reported the possible end of civilization as we know it. Thanks to the miracles of modern technology, I can show you a picture of these devices.

Yes, it was the Moonites. Giving the finger.

Well, Boston deserved the finger. Not only was this just an advertising campaign composed of devices showing a cartoon character, the devices were "magnetic lights that pose no danger". Now, I'm not up on current terrorist chic, but I haven't seen much in the way of cartoon characters. Well, maybe Maoists, but definitely not Al-Qaeda, seeing as the Qu'ran isn't so comfortable with images anyway.

Oh, and to make Boston lamer, they're arresting the artists who put up the ad campaign. Now, this campaign existed in Boston; New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Atlanta; Seattle; Portland; Austin; San Francisco; and Philadelphia. No where else had a problem with this! Probably because the people aren't, you guessed it, lame.

Since I know, Warnie, that you've looked at Something Positive, I know you at least have some idea about this problem, since Randy Milholland talks about it a fair amount. But it's frustrating to think that I'm dealing with the kind of mentality that would suppose that my poems amount to terrorist rhetoric simply because they don't understand what they mean. Heaven forbid I put blinking lights on my poems, they'd arrest me.

Sigh. Anyway, I thought I'd let you know I quit my job at the liquor store. I got tired of not being able to write as much as I wanted, and it was depressing me. So, I'm done. Partially I did it so I could interview Alistair MacLeod and drive him back up to Vermont after he does a reading here at UNH. His novel, No Great Mischief, is amazing. But mostly I was tired of doing something worthless, when I feel I can trust myself to contribute something of worth, whether with my writing or my time.

Speaking of writing, I have a poem due in 5 hours. I'm going to go and start clacking on the typewriter, and see if that theory about Hamlet is correct.

Take care, and don't move to Boston,

Jack