NDAA

Second post in one night. Hopefully that's not a sign. I've made significant process in my research paper. Only three pages remaining. There is hope.

I hear the train. That is one thing I miss from living in South Complex. Moving off campus was highly inconvenient but much cheaper. And that didn't even end up working out! While this has been an..interesting semester, living at home in the next few weeks will definitely make my pocketbook a little more aesthetically pleasing. Putting in my two weeks at McDonald's was definitely worth it. Speaking of that place, I believe I work in about...seven hours. Whoopee!

That's another thing. Working twenty hours a week while being a full-time student is about as much fun as walking on glass- that is to say, it's not a good time, or an easy one, for that matter. But John McClane could do it, so why can't I? (Then again, I'm nothing close to a badass cop from the NYPD.) Hopefully you got that reference. If not, your Christmas movie list is seriously in need of some editing.

The nice thing about the structure of this blog I think is that it's not supposed to be a record (yes, I am reiterating this, from my last and only other post). I hope this makes me feel less obligated to post something, and therefore more inclined. The amount of writing I have to do for my schoolwork alone is enough already. At least this is random humdrumming that isn't for a grade or whatnot.

I suppose I could talk about my random quirks. One thing that I do on an hourly basis, or perhaps, every other hour (that is, when I have access to a computer, am not working or sleeping) is check up on the news. I'm curious to hear what news sites people prefer. I tend to go between New York Times and CNN (I've actually managed to bypass the Times' 20 article max policy by running CCleaner whenever I can't read an article). I've found this to be a good mix, although sadly neither site reported on the National Defense Authorization Act (henceforth referred to as NDAA). According to many tweets (yes, I've started "tweeting", and only because of the Arab Spring. It's actually a very interesting concept, although the 140 character limit can get frustrating. My twitter name is Anjanette007, although I will go ahead and let you know that I probably only manage to tweet once a week, if not less than that), it's the result of a media blackout. Considering this bill passing the Senate is fairly recent news (just voted last week), and there has been little to no news articles published on any major news site, is fairly frustrating. The content is enough to send me to another country.

Debbie Stabenow voted for it. I guess I know who I won't be voting for in the next election year.

If you're not familiar with the NDAA, I'd recommend looking up information about through the ACLU or Amnesty International. I'd hate to sway your opinion on this (or make it for you), but I will say that the qualifications for being a potential 'terrorist' are very broad and simplistic, and in my mind, could jeopardize the safety of many Americans. In addition, the law also grants power to the federal government to arrest, detain, and torture indefinitely any individual believed to be affiliated with a terrorist organization. While the simplicity of this bill may be designed to target individuals who have yet to commit an act of terrorism, but seem extremely likely to do so (think KKK or the Michigan Militia), it could lead to a slippery slope of the government detaining whoever they like. Oh, and did I mention that simply criticizing the bill could be rationalized as an act of terrorism? Hopefully Obama will veto this.