Back to the Campus

There were times that I thought I wouldn't make it back with the high water that resulted from the storms. I got back ten minutes after the bookstore closed so I am waking up early tomorrow.

Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher will be on campus around 12 PM in the University Center Ballroom so I don't know if I will buy a camera for that...maybe.

Now for some news,
Political Strategists Jim Jordan and Erik Smith Join Westhill Partners.

Jordan comes to Westhill Partners from his own successful consulting firm, Thunder Road Group, where he directed political and communications strategy for several "527" groups in the 2004 election, including America Coming Together and The Media Fund. Previously, Jordan served as campaign manager for presidential candidate Senator John Kerry. Prior to that, he served as Executive Director, Communications Director and Political Director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Here's some advice from Natalie Portman with regards to dating and being famous:

How does stardom affect the dating life of a college student? Portman pauses carefully for a few moments. "I don't really discuss my relationships, ever," she says. "Any new person, as a friend or a 'suitor', will have an idea about me; you always have to navigate that. Look, I'm excited by fame myself - we're all products of celebrity culture. But if that's the main thing for someone, it's probably not going to work out."

On the presidential election:

Portman views our star-driven culture with unusual detachment. She says she watches television so infrequently that she'd never seen Braff in Scrubs before meeting him. During last year's presidential debates she hosted a series of rowdy gatherings in a television room that is rarely lit up by cathode rays.

All of which is unlikely to dispel her claim that the most popular misconception about her is that she is "really serious"; nor are the appearances she made during the presidential campaign on behalf of John Kerry. "I felt very strongly about the election," says Portman. "But I don't want to be arrogant and assume that people will listen to my political beliefs just because of who I am. I just hope that young women in particular might be interested in what I have to say, and maybe I can direct their attention in the right direction."

Portman's political engagement didn't end when her candidate was defeated. Last year she began working with Queen Rania of Jordan in an organisation that helps women in the Third World start their own businesses. She follows the conflict in the Middle East as avidly as any Jerusalem-born exile. While she was at Harvard the college paper published a vicious anti-Israeli article, and Portman wrote back to defend her mother country with equal vehemence. But when asked about the region today, she addresses the question like the most melancholic neutral. "There's one set of people who need dignity, autonomy, self-rule, security," she says. A heavy gloom descends on the airy living room. "Other people need security, respect. There has to be trust on both sides. We're so far away from that."

On using foul language in Closer:

However one chooses to describe Portman's character in Closer, the actress was obliged to utter the kind of profanities that will surely shed the porcelain-doll image. For Portman, the swearing was no big deal. "I'm not squeamish like that," she says. "I get potty-mouthed occasionally. Of course, I try to keep it polite most of the time."

Portman in the news:

Hollywood actress Natalie Portman - who has been spending time the last few months in Israel studying at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem - says the country is a beautiful, peaceful place. "Living in Israel is really beautiful. One of the most shocking things is how peaceful it feels," she told the Guardian Weekly. Portman is going to be starring in a film by Israeli director Amos Gitai, playing an American Jew. She told the Guardian that the film was not explicitly political.

Portman is only 23--I thought she was older than that. I'm not even sure what actresses I can compare her to but she is one of the best actresses I have seen on film in a long time--a long time.

Southern Mississippi library system bans Jon Stewart's best-selling book.

Officials say they banned the satirical textbook in eight public libraries last month because they objected to an image of the faces of the U.S. Supreme Court justices superimposed on nine naked bodies.

Do we really need another John Ashcroft? This is just stupidity at its worst.

Charles Krauthammer on Fox News Sunday:

"The new chief justice will be Antonin Scalia," Krauthammer said. "And, contrary to popular opinion, the new justice will not be a moderate. It will be a hard-line conservative, strict constructionist. I'm guessing Mitch McConnell."

The senator couldn't believe his ears.

"Imagine when I saw that," he said in an interview. "I have a law degree, but I wouldn't go to me for a simple will."

Interesting. I thought the President, Sen. Bunning, and Gov. Ernie Fletcher were the only ones to make bad mistakes like that. I list Fletcher as he couldn't pronounce Rep. Anne Northup's maiden name.

Some Evan Bayh humor to end with:

What was U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., chatting about with Vice President Dick Cheney after Bayh was sworn into office Tuesday? Would you believe laser tag?

Bayh informed Cheney that when his twin sons -- Nick and Beau Bayh -- celebrated their ninth birthdays in November, the boys played a rousing game of laser tag with their friends. Each participant chose a game name, and Nick picked Cheney's. (Other players included "George Bush" and "Howard Dean.")

The 9-year-old Cheney won.

What was the real Cheney's response? "He just chuckled," said Bayh spokeswoman Meg Keck.