Stay true to the dreams of thy youth

Good news, I found my camera. It was hiding in the pocket of an old suit, which I conveniently wore one night of Inauguration Weekend.

I'll try to have the photos up later this week.

I am currently on the bus from Washington DC to New York City. In the last year, DC has seen a proliferation of bus services from here to the Big Apple, with buses leaving every half hour or so. The increase in competition has been fantastic for us passengers.

Last year, I took the bus between the two cities in the summer. Known as the China Town bus, this service reminded me a bit of the chicken buses I have taken previously in Guatemala - cramped, hot, smelly and no guarantee of arriving at your destination at the scheduled arrival time. The first time I took it, the route was supposed to take four hours; it took seven. For whatever reason, the driver decided to stop a second time in DC, then downtown Maryland, then Philadelphia, then New Jersey, and finally New York (and of course a few smoke/bathroom breaks in between) No services, no amenities, only the comfort of your neighbor's knees and shoulders in your lap and face.

Thank god for economic competition.

I am now riding one of the multiple bus services between these East Coast cities. Most of the routes are now express routes, direct to New York taking roughly 3 1/2 or 4 hours. Trying to get an edge on the competition, the bus services started offering free wi-fi to customers. A great service, but the battery of my aging computer only lasts a little under two hours. Then I found Bolt Bus (I'm not being paid by them seriously).

Sitting here on the 7:30 pm bus, ten empty seats around me as I spread my legs out drinking my coffee. Free fast wi-fi the entire ride, and best of all, each seat has its own outlet to plug your computer into. It would be perfect to watch a movie, read the latest news, chat with friends, and listen to music. The only problem is, all week, knowing that I would have wi-fi and an outlet on the bus, made me procrastinate on my 12-page paper due Tuesday... so I have an exhilarating ride ahead of me critiquing post-colonial nationalist literature on the Middle East.

Hmmm, maybe I'll take the China Town bus next time. It may smell like yesterday's leftovers, but at least I will have an excuse not to work on my paper.

As the dust settles over Gaza, and the Palestinians and Israelis attempt to return to a pseudo-normal state of detente, it is soothing to step back a bit and read an optimistic op-ed examining the future. Nicholas Kristof writes this week on the future of the region and discusses the international community's hope that President Obama and the United States will re-engage in the region, taking an even-handed approach, which has been lacking for almost two decades now (arguably since Bush, Sr.).

You can find the NYT Op-Ed here.

Nonetheless, as usual, I'm more pessimistic on whole thing. Israels have an election coming up, and already each candidate is attempting to prove he has bigger eggs than the others. Olmert suggested Israeli would return to Gaza with a "severe and disproportionate response," meaning because once again the Palestinians fired a few poorly aimed rockets at Israeli cities, Israel is going to completely level three apartment buildings which may or may not contain weapons and may or may not contain 50+ civilians. Benjamin Netanyahu, the predicted upcoming prime minister of the Likud Party suggested that the war should have gone on longer, been fought harder and should have destroyed Hamas altogether. Valiant goals, except in the process of destroying Hamas, Israel would have had to kill every single civilian in the Gaza Strip

Frankly, to be blunt, I'm sick of this fighting, I'm sick of Israel claiming they are the victim, and I'm tired of electioneering politics in which candidates attempt to show how tough they are by bombing other people.