Some Stuff that Happened the Last Few Days

Tennessee Returns Hillary and Huckabee
I was literally made to apologize for this in my history course, when my history professor brought up "The Right Reverend Huckabee" and my home state. Its a bit embarrassing, really, knowing that we vote for people based on their spiritual credentials above their political ones. I don't actually have numbers to back this up, but just giving the electoral map a once-over, it looks like the Huckabee states correlate strongly with states that rank low in education.
Then, of course, there's Billary. It's puzzling to note that a state which saw Harold Ford lose a close race to Bob Corker doesn't show better for Obama. From now on I'm telling people I'm from Illinois.
Interestingly, people here don't think there are any real Republicans, and can't fathom a Republican victory in '08. Non-Democrats only barely qualify as human beings. The reason is they look at the current administration in all its horrific glory, see how bad the opinion polls are, and in a parliamentary system of government like they're used to, the Prime Minister would be resigning soon and the party in power would be calling emergency meetings about whether they should rethink their entire manifesto or just dissolve completely. They don't understand that just because a reckless juggernaut of groupthink and cronyism has crashed our executive branch for the past seven years, doesn't necessarily spell doom and gloom for the whole party. Not that I'm predicting a Republican victory, but I think it's foolish to rule it out.

Tornadoes Ravage Tennessee
Yes, this had something to do with the primary results. Thoughts go out to people who lost property and/or friends, and to Carolyn Negley, who goes to Union University. It takes things like this to remind you not to take things for granted. These storms are also one of the key reasons that I'd like my future home to be a fortress, with a bunker.

Tennessee Ravages Florida, 104 - 82
Until the last 10 minutes, this wasn't a pleasant game to watch. Once again, Tennessee got out to an early deficit and had to battle back against both Florida and an officiating crew that believed the 20-something thousand fans who came to Thompson-Boling Arena that night had paid to see them blow whistles.
It was a special night for Florida's #21, Dan Werner. Werner officially joined the Galactic Wankers' All-Star Team when he hacked JP Prince down in a shameless, indefensible manner. I only wish that JP Prince was Roy Keane, because if he was he would end Werner's career during the rematch with a bone-splintering kick to the knee.

Martin Ferris
On Wednesday I had the privilege of meeting Martin Ferris, Teachta Daila (TD) for Kerry North and former IRA gun-runner and prisoner. He did three terms in prison for around a dozen years, going on hunger strike at one point. His last stint was for attempting to bring several tons of weapons, explosives, and ammunition into Ireland via a fishing boat. It's often speculated that, prior to the IRA's decision to end its armed campaign, Ferris served on the IRA Army Council along with Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.
IES brought Martin in to talk to their Peace and Conflict Studies kids, and I found out and got their permission to sit in on it. He was more frank than I thought he would be, considering he's a politician now, about his paramilitary background. In his talk he went through the entire course of the Troubles, with some personal anecdotes thrown in and then answered our questions for a while.
I found him very sincere and personable. He balanced his dedication to his cause with tacit statements about tolerance for other persuasions, especially Unionists, and warnings that violent acts are never justifiable when another course of action is possible, as seen now in the current government of Northern Ireland.
I asked him two questions, the first about the arms shipment that landed him in jail and what kind of advantage it would have given the IRA. He told me, strikingly, that while the weapons would have been a welcome boost, the real weapon was the knowledge and resolve in the minds of he and other IRA Volunteers. For example, he illustrated, if I bought him a few household items from nearby stores, he could make a 2-ton fertilizer bomb that would smoke a few city blocks. I also asked him what kinds of strategies were in place in the current situation of peace and government that were moving us toward a united Ireland. His answer was a list of detailed technical stuff about all-Ireland institutions and so forth that aren't worth reproducing here.
It's always nice to meet someone you've read about in books. I get to do that fairly often here.

In Other News
The rest of the guys went to Amsterdam this weekend. I'm just hoping they all get back in one piece. In case you were wondering, I can lift 13 stones on the quad machine. Yeah, I don't know how much it is either. I just know I can lift 13 of them. Rugby jerseys are 100 euro. Lots of nice games coming up this weekend and possibly a day trip or two.