Did anyone go shopping on "Black Friday"? Though it seemed to be completely chaotic and hectic as a whole (I worked a seven hour shift in retail that day), apparently the day was no more busy than it had been in years past.

Though discount chains like Wal-mart were bombarding customers with lower prices and holiday offers, CNN states that an outside firm watching over 45000 retail outlets released a statement saying that the profit margin for Black Friday stayed about the same as compared with years past.

Every day gives way to another politician doing something wrong. CNN created a short segment of the top five political turkeys of this year. Topping this year's list is the infamous former FEMA director Michael Brown (also known as "Brownie"). His major faux-pas was the poor management skills while dealing with the crisis level in Hurricane Katrina stricken areas.

If you had the option of pardoning any five political icons from this past year, which ones would you choose? Which person do you believe caused the most commotion in Washington or around the world? Why would you chose those people?

The FBI recently released their "Top Ten Art Crimes" to the public. Paintings on the list include the ever famous "The Scream" as well as Van Gough's "View of the Sea at Scheveningen."

It is sad to learn that most stolen art is never recovered. The FBI estimates that only about 5% is ever recovered and returned to its original owner. It is also sad to hear that the United States is at the top of the list for the most sales of stolen art in the world. This is due partly in fact to the lack of regulation on the Art Market. It is not always the black market sales of pieces, but sales to private collectors or through large auction agencies which go unnoticed.

The bureaucracy has always been a target of public scrutiny. Historically, it was a focal point for corrupt bargaining and job exchanges. The spoils system, made popular by Andrew Jackson, created a negative outlook on the bureaucracy and its efficiency. Politicians run on platforms which include “breaking down bureaucracy” (see Ronald Reagan’s first campaign) and minimizing the red tape. In reality the nature of the bureaucratic side of government is to grow larger to handle the complex problems presented at different times.

When does racism begin in a child's mind? Where do they learn it from? These girls are thirteen years old and already working for the Ku Klux Klan. They're used as pawns to draw people to concerts benifiting the "cause." Their parents believe in white supremacy and the "preservation of the white race."

Growing up in a home with a mother and teacher (the girls are homeschooled) who is a white supremacist, these children may never know what they're really saying. Their mother is happy to announce how she teaches her children "her version" of history.

Has anyone else ever noticed that sometimes, if you smile at the people on campus they don't smile back? I grew up in a community where you could smile at anyone and recieve at least a smile, head nod, or hello back. So coming to Bryn Mawr with my best friendly smile, I've been somewhat disappointed. My dorm (Pem West) got together last night for a "Diversi-tea" in the spirit of Diversity Week and sharing. We discussed how other people felt the same way, that one smile is all you need to brighten your day. Yet, when I smile at someone I don't know, I get this look of "who ARE you?!" It's a look of horror, and I know I'm not that scary. So we as a dorm decided that everyone should just start smiling at people.

This is a tangent that I was thinking about, and am therefore branching off of Judge Hatchet's blog. With regards to children and dressing older than their age, there's another issue entirely when dealing with clothing.

What do you wear to getting a job? We've all been told that first impressions last a lifetime, but what do people do when they can't get those interview worthy clothes? There are hundreds of websites give a set of rules and guidelines for how to dress when searching for a job. But if you already don't have the income to afford to follow those guidelines, where do you go?

As I'm sure everyone knows, TheFacebook is a web community designed to connect students with other students from around the world. TheFacebook is a helpful tool, providing an outlet for students to search for friends from high school and meet new friends at their current college.

However, there is a draw back to this "technological advancement." Everyohe has heard their parents say "well when I was your age, we didn't have the internet, much less cell phones." This article from Newsweek explains how college freshman, now more than ever, are so technologically advanced.

Today is the day that I catch up on everything that I've been putting off this past week. My catch phase for this week was "I'll do it tomorrow." Research for a paper? I'll do it tomorrow. Studying for a mid-term? Oh, I'll just do it tomorrow. It's a vicious cycle, isn't it?

Procrastination catches up with us all, whether you be the student who waits to study until the night before (or until 1 am before) your big test, or waits until the day before a paper is due to write that twenty page research paper.

I hope everyone is enjoying these days off (I know I am). But have you ever noticed that people from your past just pop up in situations you wouldn't expect? I came home this week for relaxation and time with friends, but everywhere I go I seem to bump into someone else that hasn't changed at all. It was refreshing to come home and be welcomed back, but it's just strange. At school, though we may not realize it, we're changing and growing into educated women. But at least for me, when I came home, everything stayed the same. I went back to my high school and it was the same. The people haven't changed, they're still "little high schoolers." It's strange to see that the juniors are now seniors, sophomores now juniors, etc. It's like you can't get away from what you were because you come home and nothing has changed.

Although everyone is caught up in the new Supreme Court nominee, we've overlooked something that generally affects us as bloggers. Though it's not September anymore, this is still very pertinent to our class as well as the blogging community.

Recently the FEC (Federal Election Committee)attempted to regulate the internet in relation to campaign ads and political spam mails. Interestingly, the many in congress backed free-speech on the internet, and turned down the weak FEC regulation. This was also because the of large amount of outspoken bloggers against the regulation. This initial legislation was a collection of weak proposals as an attempt to stray from political blogging scrutiny.

Hey everyone,
I know that I kind of harp on the same idea over and over (photography is the one big thing that I'm passionate about), and I know we're supposed to be writing blogs a little less personal based and a little more interest-relevant based but I had to get this out! And in a way, as freshman trying to meet new people, this blog post will have some relevance, so forgive me for my rant.

This saturday was the March for Peace and Liberty in D.C. as well as London. However, most news sources overlooked the world-wide rally because of the still chaotic situation in New Orleans and the other places hit by the hurricane. Though the war is a continual point of concern and arguement between parties, families, neighbors and countries foreign policy, it is something that is always there and not a "new topic for discussion," therefore it gets overlooked, even when thousands come together to voice their opinions.

As everyone can tell by the blog name, I'm a photographer. I've been taking pictures for fun for most of my life, but never really did anything artistic until the beginning of high school. I went through, and skipped, some of the high school program, and took a course at a local community college just for fun. I have about 1,800 pictures posted on a webshots account, two seperate fine art sites and a handful of shows that I try to enter things in every year (but sometimes I just don't get in :0()

Since I got to Bryn Mawr, I almost feel like we're in this bubble. I personally don't have a television in my room (a couple girls down the hall do) and now am experiencing television news withdrawal. While at home I was a CNN/MSNBC junkie during the day and a Daily Show fan at night. Without these outlets I MUST check online sources as often as I can. The bubble situation really came to my attention when the first major hurricane hit, not Katrina but the one prior, Florida. I actually had family staying down towards the southern tip of the state and had no idea they were in any danger. Which is why, as a heads up, I'm posting. If you find yourself checking blackboard alot for classes, there's a portion of your own personal preferences that you can change to include a New York Times daily feed for International, National and other news. So if you don't check the aggregator on this site very much (but you should!) you can use your own Blackboard site.

I added The Times Online to the news aggregator. It's a more international look at the news (what the rest of the world sees as compared to what CNN would provide for us). It's actually pretty nice for an outside look on American politics, especially with what's going on with the Hurricane Relief. It's just something to look at for comparision, you don't have to agree with everything the paper says.

Chapter 16- 'Been Blogging? Web Discourse Hits Higher Level"

Basically this chapter is an overview of how people can get feedback on their beliefs and responses to things going on in the world today. Blogging is making journalism into a different job description because of the instant response available on the web. More columnists are going to the web to post their beliefs that would usually only make it to the editors door and never into news print. The internet is a new way to convey ideas and to spread information. Blogging is more helpful because more people can access it and use it. Websites like Blogger are making it so easy that you don't need to know HTML codes to have your own personal blog.

Okay, so today we got into a really heated discussion about what should and should not be posted on this blog. Frankly ladies, we need to take into consideration all that has been said in previous posts.

I understand the rights issue. We said this was an open and uncensored blog, so the author of said entries wrote openly on what she felt like talking about. However, we do need to realize that this blog is associated with Bryn Mawr College. I mean, it's in the url for goodness sake. We can't really expect to write everything that pops into our mind at a one time. There should be some boundaries. I'm not saying you shouldn't talk about how you feel, or what is relevant, or feel like you're going to be attacked for your views and words. I'm merely saying that we should determine the boundaries. This is a PUBLIC blog, which means that anyone, not just students at Bryn Mawr, can get into it and read what we have to say. That's fine. But because Bryn Mawr is on this website, because it's a class at the college, we're making a name on the internet for this school. We are independently thinking creatures. We all come from different places, different backgrounds, different beliefs. People form opinions, people create judgements. The content in some of these blogs is not what I would like people to think about the college. It's our responsibility to keep the prestige of Bryn Mawr as high as it has always been. I wouldn't want to walk around and have people think our school as the place with the "vulgar material" in a class run blog.

My family and friends are a large part of my life back home. I had a group of about six really close friends with which I still keep in contact. During our senior year we became very close, especially towards the end of second semester and graduation. I went on my senior trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with the group, and through out the summer we had dinners and parties just to hang out. I actually had a split birthday with two of my best friends (our birthday's fall within a week and a half of eachother). My parents are very close to my heart and I try and talk with them as often as I can. Most of my immediate family lives within walking distance from my home. I have an older brother who's back in our hometown looking for a job and only two first cousins (one on each side of the family). So our family is pretty small but very close.