No Solution in Sight

See Times article here.

The situation is looking lugubrious in the Gulf Coast region because of the oil spill. BP Oil is trying to recoup control over the oil gush, but with little success. The attempt to cap the main flow failed, and continue to put the animals and environment in jeopardy, not to mention the the thousands of people who rely on the Gulf's fish for their livelihoods.

BP executives are being rather reticent, convincing the public that everything is fine, when their plans are failing. They have brought together a symposium of the world's greatest minds - offering political, technological and environmental solutions that have yet to work.

I hope a solution is found soon to prevent more of the devastating effects of this gigantic oil spill.

I Guess this Relates to Othello...

Lawrence Fishburne starred as Othello in the movie we watched, and he also stars in CSI (the topic I really wanted to talk about) so...

Yesterday on CSI Fishburne's character, Dr. Raymond Langston, continued his journey to catch his nemesis, 'Dr. Jekyll'. The team's inability to catch this serial killer over the entire season has had a pernicious effect on everyone, but it hit Langston especially hard. Langston became obsessed with catching the killer - working on the case in the free time and neglecting the rest of his caseload to work on this one. The lack of new leads, and the increasing number of murder victims led to a dim prognosis for ever catching the killer.

The episode took a surprising turn when the team discovered that Jekyll had transgressed his previous (horrid) boundaries to stalk and harass Dr. Langston. The episode ended rather incongruously when the team received an offer to suborn another serial killer into revealing the identity of Jekyll, but did not catch him. However, the the preview for next week's episode (the season finale) showed that Jekyll will be revealed, but one of the CSI personnel would be seriously injured or killed. Not to be a critic, but I think that if any character was killed off, the quality of the show would suffer, like when Warrick was murdered. I will be happy with the finale if all the principle character survive, and there is some sort of homage to Grissom, who left the series in the last season finale.

5 Weeks Left!

The ubiquitous stress of junior year is almost over. In a little over five weeks, school will be over and we will officially be seniors! These past few weeks have seemed like an impasse, with SATs and AP exams but today they're over. Finally. My friends know how fastidious I become during this time every year, studying for tests for hours on end and generally freaking out.

The Unavoidable Pattern of AP week - Nervous students walk into the testing room, already exhausted from cramming the night before. Sitting in the same position for hours, neatly in alphabetical rows, students scribble furiously in an attempt to finish before time is called. When the 4+ hours pass students sulk out the room, with exams completely enervated their minds and bodies, and proceed on the to their next class of the day.

But this debilitating cycle is no more!

There was just an Othello reference on House...

So House was at his psychiatrist's talking about Wilson and:

House: I don't know how I feel.

DR: You're acting like he [Wilson] is some manipulative Iago. He's not. He's your friend.

This was literally on as I was typing the previous blog about Emilia and Iago. Weird?

In-On-It or Out-Of-It

The essential Othello question... was Emilia involved in Iago's plan?

Emilia can accurately be described as the least jejune character in Othello. She is inherently deep and metaphorical but, is she conniving? I can assure you, there is no definite answer to this question cited in the text, so it is up for us to speculate. My original predilection - deep down she knows about Iago's plan, but is unwilling to admit it to herself.

Some people describe Emilia as sinecure, turning the other cheek to Iago's to benefit her own status, but I don't agree. I think she doesn't want to believe there is a malevolent side to her husband that she was blind to before. Emilia is not used to the evil side of Iago, and is a neophyte when it comes to plotting lies and murder.

In an attempt to retain the camaraderie she enjoys with Iago as husband and wife, Emilia does not warn anyone about Iago's plan when she finally allows the pieces to fall into place. Finally realizing she will be bereft of happiness if she keeps up the lie, Emilia finally confesses to Othello and a room full of Venetian soldiers. Emilia was not granted impunity, however, because Iago stabs and kills her as she finally tells the true.

So did Emilia know? In the back of her mind, yes. In her willing consciousness, no - not until the very end of the play.

Love Not-a-Triangle

An Overview:

Othello is married to Desdemona but has possibly slept with Emilia.

Desdemona is married to Othello but was accused of having an affair with Cassio.

Emilia is married to Iago but might have slept with Othello.

Cassio is married to an unnamed and barely mentioned character, but regularly hires Bianca the prostitute and is possibly in love Desdemona.

Iago is married to Emilia but concocts the entire plot because he is in love with either Desdemona or Othello.

In Othello, there are many tacit references to past affairs and secret lovers. Othello breezes through the beginning of the story with panache, confident in Desdemona's adoration and virginity. However, he soon becomes piqued after Iago's suggestion that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. Despite Cassio's rather obsequious nature, Othello goes on a rampage to fulfill his vendetta against his highest lieutenant. The possibility of this affair, among many others, eventually leads to *SPOILER ALERT* the everyone-is-murdered-but-stays-alive-long-enough-to-climb-into-the-overly-conspicuous-bed-in-the-middle-of-the-room-already-filled-with-dead-bodies scene.

Up on a Pedestal...

~An Analysis of Status in Shakespeare's Othello~

Othello ~ Othello is able to enjoy the highest status of everyone in the play because he is General of the Venetian Army. However, when not in a military setting, he is ostracized as the only black man in the white society of Venice.

Desdemona ~ Blessed with money she did nothing to deserve, the affluent Desdemona has a high status based on both her wealth and her beauty. In her marriage however, she as almost no power because of her sex and Othello's higher status.

Iago ~ Iago fools some characters with his blasé attitude towards status. However, readers soon discover his desperate need to be Othello's lieutenant after Cassio is (perhaps unfairly) given the position.

Cassio ~ Because of his military position, Cassio had a relatively high status. But after the drunken brawl and the subsequent subjugation from Othello, Cassio lost his military and social rank.

Barbantio - Barbantio attempted to use his status as a Senator to prosecute Othello for "stealing" Desdemona, but Othello's high status allowed him to be exculpated.

Hope-y, Change-y and all that

Sarah Palin, who has repeatedly castigated President Obama for using a Tele-Prompter, was recently seen giving a speech with notes written on her palm. Ummmm...

Satiating liberals, the notes were not obscure points one would be likely to forget, but rather the colloquial terms "Energy" "Tax" and "Lift American Spirits." Now, as much as I don't support Palin politcally, I'm sure she could memorize these words fairly quickly. So either she spent minimal time preparing for the speech, or she was so incredibly nervous that she wouldn't be able to remember anything she memorized. Either option is not particularly comforting.

Instead of surreptitiously using handwritten notes, she should have just rescinded her prior statement about the President and used the Tele-Prompter. But she chose not to.

Her cynical attitude towards Obama's goals of hope and change is depressing. Hope is something Americans should strive for whether or not it happens because of President Obama or under the leadership of a Republican president. Calling Obama's whole plan "hope-y and change-y" was completely unnecessary. Is she seriously prompting a lack of hope just because the Democrats use the word as well?

And now conservatives are crying foul over Press Secretary Gibbs' mockery of Palin. "I wrote a few things down. {shows his palm with scrawled words to the audience} I wrote eggs, milk and bread...And then I wrote down hope and change, just in case I forgot."

Semper Fi

In Memory of Marine Sergeant Christopher Hrbek

Sergeant Hrbek of Westwood was killed by an IED in Afghanistan on January 14th, 2010. Read the news article here.

I'd like to thank him and all of our men and women overseas for their many sacrifices.

*Headslap*

I am officially obsessed with the television show NCIS. Not many people around here watch the show, which is surprising because it is the #1 scripted drama on TV.

NCIS stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the show follows the members of the agency's Major Case Response Team. The combination of the agents' relationships and the cases they solve makes the show so fantastic.

Characters:

**Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs - As the main protagonist of the series, Gibbs is the most experienced agent and acts as a father-figure to his team. He was a Gunnery Sergeant in the Marines during Desert Storm and is stoic when dealing with the stress of his job as Special Agent in Charge.

**Special Agent Tony DiNozzo - Tony is the Senior Field Agent on the team (and doesn't let the other team members forget it). Portrayed as the comical, suave, ladies-man, Tony seems childish but he's loyal and completely serious when the team is threatened. Tony is Gibbs' right-hand man and yet receives the majority of Gibbs' headslaps.

**Probationary Special Agent Ziva David - Contrary to what her title suggests, Ziva (pronounced Zee-vah) has been with the NCIS team for years. She was the Mossad Liaison on the team until she applied for US citizenship and Special Agent status. As a former assassin, she is extremely experienced in the fields of weapons, defense and the Middle East.

**Special Agent Tim McGee - McGee started out as the computer genius on the team with little field experience, able to solve the most cryptic of cyphers but not the best at apprehending suspects. However, the Junior Field Agent has improved his fieldwork greatly under the guidance of Gibbs and Tony.

**Forensic Specialist Abby Scuito - As Gibbs' favorite, the ebullient goth (yes...she is always happy yet she dresses in all black and has around twenty tattoos) receives the bulk of his praise and gifts of Caf-Pow. Although her appearance is deceiving, she is extremely qualified for her job, and her discoveries often solve the team's cases.

**Medical Examiner Donald Mallard - Known as "Ducky" to the team, Dr. Mallard performs the victims' autopsies and shares his findings, which often help to identify the killers, with Gibbs. Ducky can be described as anything but laconic, providing the team with long, rambling stories of his adventures that relate to almost any topic.

**Assistant Medical Examiner Jimmy Palmer - Palmer is a bit of a maladroit when he's in Gibbs' presence because the agent intimidates him to no end. As Ducky's apprentice, however, he is extremely competent and on occasion provides insights that Ducky overlooks.

**Director Leon Vance - Vance is the most controversial character on the show, often butting heads with Gibbs. He earned the disdain of some fans when he terminated Gibbs' team in search of an agency mole. Although the team was reinstated, both the agents and the fans still don't completely trust the Director.

I would recommend NCIS to EVERYONE. It's an amazing show that always lives up to expectations. For those who are interested, new episodes air Tuesdays at 8pm on CBS and reruns air on USA and Ion Networks.

America the Beautiful????

Americans have the more municipal waste per capita than any other country in the world. And this is after we started to "go-green."

The Go-Green frenzy has lured Americans into a false sense of environmental protection. Behemoths of trash (like in the photo at the right) still pervade the landscape in much of our country, contrary to popular belief. Sure, we think that the go-green phenomenon has changed the ways Americans consume. But has it really? Be wary of people who say the environmental crisis is over. It's far from it.

I am not trying to be supercilious. Sometimes it is impossible to buy something that is completely green. But in many cases, companies continue to overproduce and overpackage, hurting the earth and outweighing any good that environmentalists attempt to do. I mean, does meat really need to be packaged with a Styrofoam plate, a sheet of paper and plastic wrap? In Europe, they just use plastic wrap to package meat, so it's an attainable goal to cut out the Styrofoam and paper. And name-brand cereals use a plastic bag and a box to hold their products. And for what reason? Cheaper cereals already come in only a bag, so what's the problem? And the worst part is, these companies are overt in their disregard for the environment. They do not attempt to use less packaging, nor do they use safer production methods. Americans need to demand a more environmentally friendly approach from our nations corporations.

Cut down on the packaging. Cut down on the waste. Eradicate unsafe environmental practices. For good.