A Sense of Schumer’s Style
Posted 4/03/11 by Christine Hurd
This past Friday, the lovely Conversations with Kirkland and your own Harvard Dems sponsored “A Sense of Schumer” which was basically a one-hour Q and A with the senior senator from New York State.
First off, Senator Schumer talked about his humble beginnings at Harvard and his change in concentration from chemistry major to government. He talked about an organic chemistry experiment: “Finally, after hours and hours, I got the experiment to work. The sun was rising and the crystals had finally turned from blue to green so I know it worked. Then I looked up and realized that there were no people around. That’s how I knew that I need something more social.”
And he definitely held a great conversation with the attendees, answering around ten questions from a plethora of topics such as AIDS funding, China, consumer protection, environmental legislature, entitlement spending, New York State taxes, and how he thought the health care bill should have been passed (a proponent of single-payer).
Surprisingly also was his comment about John Boehner, cautiously commending him for leading both the Tea Party section and “normal” section of the Republican Party.
While he often brought the topic of conversation back to America’s middle class, some of his answers were unconventional and not often said in the democratic conversation, including a strong opinion that America will still be the world’s major economic power for years to come. This contrasts to public opinion in a survey published in December saying that a majority of Americans believe China has outstripped the U.S. as the #1 economy.
He also provided his views on the environment, citing that Jerry Brown’s solution of raising environmental standards of buildings in California in the 70s could be applied to the United States in lieu of a carbon tax, an oft demonized solution.
Ultimately, it was a great event, and the Dems would like to thank Kirkland House and especially the lovely Lange Luntao for making this conversation possible. Stay tuned for more events!
Bill Richardson
Posted 3/28/11 by Katie
Bill Richardson is visiting Harvard as a Visiting Fellow with the IOP this week, and I’m reminded of this profile of him by Ryan Lizza. Check it out:
Lurking behind Richardson’s grabby, clumsy style is a guy who will do anything to be loved. And that’s how many Democrats view the United States right now–a nation that desperately needs the world to love us again. Richardson may be a good Cabinet member for the next president, but, despite his charm and likeability, the next president needs to be more than a frat-boy-in-chief who believes that personal connections can overcome all the world’s ideological fissures. We’ve already been down that road. Back at the baseball game, where the Iowa Cubs are crushing Richardson’s own Albuquerque Isotopes, the governor is a whirl of energy and one-liners. We ride an elevator to the broadcast booth. “You’re the owner, huh?” Richardson says to a man escorting us. “Why are you kicking the shit out of us?” The governor settles into a chair between the Cubs’ two play-by-play announcers. There’s a pop fly to shallow right center. The Cubs shortstop falls down trying to make the catch, and an Isotope makes a sprint for second. “He’s out!” Richardson interjects. The announcer, Toby Hyde, concurs. “Bill Richardson is right,” he says. “He’s out.” He adds, with just a trace of sarcasm, “I’ll let you call a couple of plays.”
Odyssey Dawn?
Posted 3/26/11 by Katie
For those curious about how operations are named:
Each command within the vast Defense Department apparatus is given a series of two-letter groupings that they can use for their operations’ two-word sobriquets. Under the system, the U.S. Africa Command, nominally in charge of the Libya strikes, was given three sets of words that it could begin the operation with.
“These words begin between the letters JF-JZ, NS-NZ and OA-OF, and those three groups give about 60 some odd words,” explains Africom spokesman Eric Elliott. “So, the folks who were responsible for naming this went through and they had done recent activities with NS and they went to O.”
Using the O series of letters, Africom officials picked out “Odyssey” for the first word. The second word is picked “as random as possible because that’s the goal of these operational names,” says Elliot. Africom pulled out “Dawn” for its second word and the resulting combination, “Odyssey Dawn,” is devoid of any intended meaning, Elliott insists.
Make the Hour Last
Posted 3/24/11 by ToriWenger
This Saturday, March 26, from 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM, the Dems will be shutting off all of our lights and gathering in Lowell Courtyard to celebrate the international recognition of Earth Hour (http://www.earthhour.org/Homepage.aspx). Though we all would like to say that we try to do all that we can each hour of every day to conserve energy and protect the environment, we admit there is always more that can be done. This hour we will gather to recognize what we already do and promote doing MORE.
Though our lights may soon switch back on after our celebration of Earth Hour has expired (Harvard students do, after all, have to study and, unfortunately, candlelit study sessions aren’t exactly condoned by Harvard fire regulations), we are nonetheless thinking of the many ways to make the spirit of the hour last.
This year, we hope you will join us in extending the energy of Earth Hour in the next month, to Earth Day (April 22, 2011), and beyond! At 8:30 PM on Saturday night, don’t just shut off your lights for the hour, but consider adopting one of the following resolutions to promote environmental friendliness:
1. Eat less meat (or none at all!).
- A 2008 report from the United Nations cited that meat consumption constitutes for 40 percent more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the cars, trucks, and planes in the world combined, so put down that hamburger and grab some greens to go green!
2. Study in communal spaces.
- The bright lights of Lamont shine bright all night, with or without you under them, so pick up your books, shut off the lights in your dorm room, and head on over to Lamont (or another communal workspace).
3. Use a travel mug or water bottle.
- While you’re at Lamont, Starbucks, or wherever else that coffee craving consumes you, forgo the paper cup and use your own travel mug. You’re not only going to save the Earth but also save some dough as many establishments provide discounts on pricing if you use your own mug.
4. Print double-sided, and when you can – don’t print at all!
5. Join the movement.
- Whether you join the Dems in our efforts to promote clean energy and climate change legislation or join one of the many environmental groups across campus and the country, there are plenty of ways to get active, involved, and vocal. To start, call or write your Senators and Representative to tell them that you think the environment should be their priority!
Although we encourage you to keep up these habits all 8,765 hours of the year, try adopting them from Earth Hour through Earth Day as a start – we know you can, and we certainly will!