Prompt subject: Current Events, Legislation
Prompt author: Xan “Chaos” Englehart
Prompt cycle: November 10-16 @ 23:59 GMT+0

In the words of Todd Dwyer,

Finally, the end of 8 years of fascism in this country — an end to two stolen elections — a new beginning for democracy and renewed hope and for an American reunion in these United States. America has been liberated from the dictatorial rule of the imbeciles who ruined this country.

Now that all the election dust has settled down, what did you think? Did you have a crazy good time on Tuesday night when Obama was announced as the winner? Did you flip out at Californians for the proposition results? Did you yell out your window at innocent passersby? Did you get ridiculously drunk and don’t remember most of the night?

Some election highlights:
President/VP – Barack Obama/Joe Biden (D)
Prop 4 – not passed
Prop 8 – passed
House – held by Democrats
Senate – held by Democrats

Prompt subject: Philosophy
Prompt author: Xan “Chaos” Englehart
Prompt cycle: November 3-9 @ 23:59 GMT+0

You’re walking down a street and you see a middle-aged woman collapse about 300 feet away, at the crosswalk up ahead. You are a trained and certified EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) and know what you can do to help her. However, you are off duty and are not under the liability umbrella of the medical director at the hospital where you work. Legally, you are not bound to help this woman, but what about ethically?

Analyze this situation from an ethical standpoint. Remember that you might be charged with assault/manslaughter if anything happens to the patient. Hell, she might even press sexual harassment charges!? (Don’t say we didn’t warn you, Count Mein…) You might do something that you thought was right, but ended up hurting her more. She might have a DNR order (“Do Not Recuscitate”) that you’re violating. A lot of things could go wrong, but a lot of things could go right. So what should you do?

For those who never learned or don’t remember Ethical Decision-Making from Mr. Jason Friend, read on…

More »

Prompt subject: California, Current Events, Legislation
Prompt author: Jinx “T-Unit” Flair
Prompt cycle: October 27 – November 2 @ 23:59 GMT+0

Elections are right around the corner – are you on top of things?

November 4, 2008 marks the 58th presidential election and the first that we are legally allowed to vote in! Are you all registered to vote? Did you register in California? Are you voting absentee?

This year’s California state elections ballot includes voting in the office of President of the United States, all the seats of California’s delegation to the House of Representatives, all of the seats of the State Assembly, all of the odd-numbered seats of the State Senate, and twelve propositions.

Last time, we discussed the presidential nominees – this week, we’re focusing more on the California ballot, particularly the twelve propositions, as listed below:

1A – California High Speed Rail Bond. S.B. 1856.
2 – Treatment of Farm Animals. Statute.
3 – Children’s Hospital Bond Act. Grant Program. Statute.
4 – Waiting Period and Parental Notification Before Termination of Minor’s Pregnancy. Constitutional Amendment. (third attempt at Proposition 73)
5 – Nonviolent Offenders. Sentencing, Parole and Rehabilitation. Statute.
6 – Criminal Penalties and Laws. Public Safety Funding. Statute.
7 – Renewable Energy. Statute.
8 – Eliminates Right of Same-sex Couples to Marry. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.
9 – Criminal Justice System. Victims’ Rights. Parole. Constitutional Amendment and Statute.
10 – Bonds. Alternative Fuel Vehicles and Renewable Energy. Statute.
11 – Redistricting. Constitutional Amendment and Statute.
12 – Veterans’ Bond Act of 2008. S.B. 1572.

Read up more of them in the enclosed voter guide that should have come with your absentee ballot, or click here for more information.

What are your thoughts? Expand on a couple, or even all of them if you like!

(For Asuka, you can either choose to voice opinions on these, or respond to one of the other prompts if you’d rather do that)

Responses
Why ANYONE with the smallest drop of common sense and a sense of compassion one hopes still exists in all humans should vote NO on Prop 8. (Earwax)
My $0.02 (Regina)
Jinx is not really a fan of consuming sketchy animal products and coat hanger abortions. And apparently God is not a fan of gays. (Jinx)
How I voted on the propositions… (Xan)

Prompt subject: Information
Prompt author: Jinx “T-Unit” Flair
Prompt cycle: October 13-19 @ 23:59 GMT+0

So you might have noticed that we’re already four days late on putting up a prompt for this week. You might also have noticed that we’re also four days late in putting up a reason why there is not a prompt for this week.

We’ve reached crisis mode again – I’ve got projects and drama galore and still trying to make time for searching for summer internships while Xan is exploding from four finals and job interviews and God Anonymous II knows what else because honestly, I can’t even keep track. All I know is that I had to call her at 2AM (East Coast time) while long boarding back to my dorm to wake her up so she could study, and that almost resulted in a fatal accident when I lost the board and almost barrel-rolled over my laptop and impaled myself in the fence. At least she woke up, I suppose. Long story short, we’re exploding like chipmunks in a microwave and this is officially a catch-up week.

Xan interjecting here… Jinx is INCORRECT — I am not taking finals. The quarter system isn’t THAT fast. Rather, I am now almost done with MIDTERMS week from hell. It sucks. I’m going back to studying now and thank you Jinx for that wake-up call.

Prompt subject: Creative Writing, Current Events
Prompt author: Xan “Chaos” Englehart
Prompt cycle: October 6 – 12 @ 23:59 GMT+0

Sometimes you’ve got a lot of really boring stuff that you need to tell a lot of apathetic people. How does a writer deal with that? Well, ask the illustrious Seth Mandel Winger.

Every week, his dorm had house meeting. And every week, no one paid attention to the house meeting notes that were sent to their inboxes. Mr. Winger decided to remedy this situation. Here is an excerpt from one rendition of his take on house meeting notes.

The desert artist leads a hard life.  While he may dream of verdant landscapes and lush ponds of water lilies, all he sees as he gazes longingly out his window is a bleak and dessicated wasteland, an expanse of sand and cacti, gila monsters and dry river beds.

Such is the case of one Filibert T. Wooseldorf, self-proclaimed desert painter extraordinaire.  We meet Mr. Wooseldorf one morning in early March, as he is deep in thought over his breakfast of runny eggs and stale coffee.  Mr. Wooseldorf has been without inspiration for several weeks now, having exhausted all the possibilities the bleak landscape of his home could provide.  His critically acclaimed set of twelve oil paintings entitled “Dirt at Different Times of Day” sits, unbought, in his garden shed, gathering dust.

“Perhaps,” sighs the pitifully lonely Mr. Wooseldorf to himself, “I should sign up for Loro’s Special Dinner on Friday May 23 from five to ten p.m. — it’s free and both is special and includes dinner.”

(to read the rest of his entry, click here)

Your task this week? Simple. Include the following lines in your own story:

• SpaceX Falcon 1 becomes the first privately-developed liquid-fueled space launch vehicle to successfully make orbit
• Fannie Mae forgives mortgage debt of 90-year-old woman who shot herself
• Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia sets a new marathon world record of two hours, three minutes, 59 seconds at the Berlin Marathon
• Man uses home-made flamethrower to set relatives on fire
• A stampede in Jodhpur, India, at the beginning of Navratri, kills 113 and injures more than 250

Good luck!

Prompt subject: Current Events, Legislation
Prompt author: Xan “Chaos” Englehart
Prompt cycle: September 29 – October 5 @ 23:59 GMT+0

On Friday, September 26, 2008, the candidates for the presidency of the United States faced off in their first debate. The debate focused on foreign policy and national security, which allowed for discussion on the global financial crisis.

Now, if you’re like me (Xan or God Anonymous II, take your pick), you’ve probably been too busy/lazy to really follow the election in depth. So here’s a broad question for you: what do you think of the presidential candidates and their campaigns so far? You can talk about campaign ads you’ve seen, the attention the campaigns have gotten on the internet (youtube and blogs), whether you think Obama’s ears stick out too much and you think that makes him look like a monkey, what you think about the candidates’ age and race, whether you care at all and why or why not. It’s pretty much open.

If you’re a little more into politics or the election, give us your thoughts on the planned policies of the two candidates, and (if you’re willing) who you’re going to vote for.

Some jumping points:
- Sarah Palin and Joe Biden as vice presidential candidates
- healthcare plans
- funding for alternative energy sources
- Iraq war and troops in Afghanistan
- government bailout of financial corporations

(Don’t worry about local elections (like propositions) yet; you’ll get to argue about those later.)

Responses
I’m an immigrant… yeah… (Asuka)
Energy crisis SOLVED with totally hot new policy! (Jinx)

Prompt subject: IMHO
Prompt author: Xan “Chaos” Englehart
Prompt cycle: September 22-28 @ 23:59 GMT+0

Although we all come from similar backgrounds as far as upbringing and academic career leading up to college, we’re all diverging now and have different intellectual interests. So what makes your course of study the awesome one?

This week, defend your choice of college major. If you’re not sure yet, stand up for what you see as your dream job or the one you’ll eventually hold. Make sure you cover the things other people might bash — low pay, nonexistent non-work life, hoboism, a lifetime of inhaling musty book smell, dealing with stupid people, living out of a suitcase — whatever.

Make sure you comment on each others’ posts to bash other people and make them more thoroughly defend themselves!

Responses
Regina’s ALIVE!! (Regina)
I Win (Count Mein)
MD/PhD’s and the Awesome Scale (Xan)
Because I say so, but since you asked… (Asuka)

Prompt subject: Creative Writing, Music
Prompt author: Jinx “T-Unit Flair”
Prompt cycle: September 01-07 @ 23:59 GMT+0

Music has a tendency to invoke certain memories for each of us. Whether it’s because we associate it with a certain event or image or because it brings up thoughts and feelings, music is a huge part of our daily lives. For movies, the soundtrack is what can make or break the movie. This week’s prompt is to listen to the song and write about a scene from a movie – you can write your own scene, or you can tell about what kind of scene it would accompany. Like “A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words,” this prompt is green and reusable, so stay tuned for more!

This week: Many of you may remember Sumin Lee from our high school class of 2005. She’s currently studying music at UCLA, and wrote and recorded some pieces a couple years ago. It’s a very intense piano piece that I always feel like would be the perfect thing to go on the soundtrack of a movie. This week’s song is “Tempest,” which can be found by clicking the link below. Enjoy!!

Responses
Remembering (Jinx)