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Today is Independence Day. The Fourth of July. The birthday of America. It is known as the day that the new nation declared its independence from Great Britian by signing the Declaration of Independence. I’d like to celebrate the day by reciting one of America’s most recognized anthems, The Star-Spangled Banner. O! say can you see by [...]

Such a bad ass.

Happy Independence Day from everyone here at Onward State! If you’ll be in the State College area today, make sure you head over to Beaver Stadium/Medlar Field/Bryce Jordan Center to take part in 4thFest 2009. 4thFest is an annual celebration of America put on by the town of State College and Penn State University. Events will [...]

I think I've mentioned previously that my coworkers are "all up in my business" and that I'm ok with it. They typically seem interested in the ups and downs of my love life, and either offer their advice or interfere....

Auto-posted while I am in Philadelphia for Independence Day.When I was growing up, the suburb where I lived supposedly had the best Fourth of July fireworks around; this year it will not have anything. With the economy putting many municipalities on hard times, it's not surprising that many cities and suburbs are either cutting back their fireworks budgets or canceling shows altogether.(from Flickr user suneko)One thing I've never quite understood about local fireworks displays is why there isn't more collaboration among municipalities. For example, why do five medium sized suburbs (say with 40,000 population each) need to organize and fund their own fireworks displays? Why don't they collaborate, pool their funds and host a single kick-ass fireworks display? The launching site for the fireworks could rotate each year or it could be based on how much the municipalities contribute to the fund.It seems silly to have neighboring cities compete for the best fireworks shows each Fourth of July. If they collaborated, they could each spend less money and the resulting show would be superior to what each little municipality could have put together itself. In the old days, maybe there was some political value for a mayor who could lay claim to the best fireworks around. Nowadays, it seems like there would be a lot more value for a mayor who could cut the city's budget without necessarily sacrificing the quality of the Independence Day fireworks.

So I’m Matt Portman, the latest and greatest addition to Team Not Drugs and I happen to be in Mumbai, India where I’ve been getting all cultured and shit for the last two weeks. This past Thursday here in India marked the day Indian courts passed a new law that refuted an old law. [...]

The 96th Tour de France begins its 1st stage of 21 today in Monaco at 6:30AM EST. Everyone will be watching @lancearmstrong to see if he gets himself into any trouble. At the very least, he’ll look great in his new jersey. My favorite sites for coverage are iTV.com and VeloNews.com. Also, iTV has a pretty [...]

DSC02654Originally uploaded by u2aholicHi! Are you Jeff? YesNorandomWho are you!?

So many of you post funny comments from around your household occasionally & while I don't have little kids that say funny (but cute!) things, there have been quite a few funny things said around here at my house that I felt compelled to share... plus I kind of missed doing weekly funny quotes posts, so it's kinda like that!So the first one comes from my dear old young dad! He called my mom the other day after his golf tournament, and when she asked him how it went, his response was "Have you have ever had a nail driven through your eye?" She, of course, said no & he said "Well, I guess you can't understand how I feel then..." OMG, dramatic much?!?!! Then, later that day my mom & I decided to facebook stalk my dad (okay we didn't really plan on "stalking him" we just thought it would be funny to see what he does on facebook!) Anyway, some woman who my mom had never heard of wrote on his wall & told him he looks great! lol So later when my dad came home, this conversation went down: Mom: "Whose Jennifer So & So (I can't remember her last name, that's not the point!)? Dad: "She was a Tri Delt when we were in college... she was a party girl."Mom: "Oh. I've never heard of her. And she wrote on your facebook wall saying you look good! Are you gonna go have an affair with her!?!" (She was kidding, she has no reason to feel threatened!) Dad: "No... Lot's of girls talk to me on facebook, it's no big deal." My dad, the player, y'all! Watch out, he's apparently a big stud that gets all the ladies! I should be so lucky to have such a cool dad...! My 16 year old sister had a bunch of friends over, and I kept seeing flashes coming from the other room they were in. I started listening to what they were saying, and every time they would take a picture they would say "Be... The Hills!" *flash* "Be... Heidi!" *flash* "Be... a cat!" *flash* They seriously did this for probably at least 5 minutes, who knows how many pictures of themselves they took! lol Don't you miss being 16!? ;)The other night at dinner, my dad & I had this conversation:Dad: "So my friend, you know Mr. H is working on his website for his company.. blah blah blah... (he talks a lot ok!?) & he was looking at some blogs so I told him you were into all that & I sent him the link to your page..."Me: (Now listening way more closely) "Oh..." Really thinking: You did what!!? How did you get that address?! (Ok, I guess it's not that hard... I mean my blog isn't exactly a secret, I was just taken back that my dad reads my blog or at least knows the link!)Conversation between my parents:Mom: "So our anniversary is coming up, we need to decide if we are going to go out for it."Dad: "Oh yeah..."Mom: "Did you already make reservations somewhere special?!"Dad: "Yeah, of course." (after awhile)... "So what day of the week is that on?"Mom: "Well I guess you didn't make reservations!"Conversation between my Dad & I:Me: "I don't think you like kids very much... I'm surprised you had any!"Dad: "What!? I love kids! What are you talking about!?"Me: "Well, you get mad every time they are screaming in church or something..."Dad: "Yeah, well they are better seen not heard!"My sister & her friends, hanging out in the kitchen... my sister's phone goes off:Sister: "Did I get a text!!?"Friend: "No..."Sister: "Yes I did! Let me see!"Friend: "It's just one of those stupid FWD messages..."Sister: (reading) "You will be kissed on the 4th of July by a person who thinks your perfect & tomorrow will be your best day if you forward this to ten friends including me!" "OMG I'm so forwarding that!!!"(My sister's friend)Friend: "So I have 3 boyfriends now!"Me: "Really?! Wow..."Friend: "Yeah, except none of them actually know we're dating, but they'll figure it out!"

This is a nice video called Lost Generation that goes along with a recent article that I wrote. Wish that I had known about it then.  

WASHINGTON, DC __ Here's another look at the U.S. Capitol tour.[where: 20009][where: 02809]

Miladies and gents, I have just recently returned from an incredible, month-long summer vacay that consisted of flying to Taiwan, then Japan, then Taiwan, then Korea, then back to Taiwan. Love all three locations. You must visit them all. Must! They are all fantabulous! I’m back in the U.S. now, of course. Awww, yes I am [...]

Is at Rockin’ on the River in Cuyahoga Falls listening to Fins to the Left No related posts. No related posts.

I absolutely adore Audrey Tautou. I fell in love with her acting chops when I saw the movie Amélie six or seven years ago. She's perfect for the role as Coco Chanel. Enjoy!xoxo

by Jenny from the BlogMy apologies for the lack in updates, but you see I've been preoccupied with circling Wisconsin begging for a job all while trying to perfect my moonwalk, you know, for obligatory reasons. In the meantime, a lot of pop cultural stuff has been happening and have no fear, the Sidewalk definitely has something to say about it all. So stay tuned....©2009 DOTS

Sup guys, I’m facing a spiritual crisis. See, I don’t know whether I should become a Mormon or not! The church just seems so out of touch and like my community priest doesn’t even have a Twitter and…wait…what’s this? Why, it’s a Chat About Faith! Dude, Zack is online. He’ll help me out, [...]

"Money and prestige are reason enough to become a doctor.""Why is it wrong to say you want to make a lot of money as a doctor when money is the main motivation for every other profession?"Regarding money, these are just a few types of comments you'll come across when scanning some of the premed message boards.Other people say that "wanting to help people" is very noble, but the reality is that doctors have wants and desires too. They're human like everyone else. And what you most people want? Money.And let's not kid ourselves. Depending on specialty, sub-specialty, notoriety, and location, doctors make anywhere from $100,000 - $650,000 a year. The other side will argue, "If all you wanted to do is make money, there are other fields you could get into that doesn't requires 12 years of your life."That's what they say, but I'll tell you what I think:Why are doctors held at different standards when it comes to motivation? Because there are different standards. It's wrong to say that "making money" is your main motivation to become a doctor because you wouldn't want your doctor to say this.So, you've just had a major trauma emergency or have been notified of a life altering illness that's going to affect you for coming months or years or the rest of your life. You're sitting in one of the examination or consultation rooms waiting for the doctor to walk through the door. They finally arrive, you see them for the first time, and what you do you think of them? What do you want in your doctor? Do you want them motivated by money?The answer is obviously "no." And I think people forget this.If I hired a plumber to come to my house and fix some nasty problem, I wouldn't care at all if he found himself in that profession because he needed the money. I wouldn't care if that job payed his bills, helped him support his family, or allowed him to live the life he wanted to live. Good for him. But there's something different when you're dealing with people's health.This is true for doctors, PAs, nurses, CNAs, EMTs, all the way down the list, and everything in between.I argue this to a greater degree for doctors because they're almost exclusively the people working autonomously, making the decisions. But the same can be said about anyone one of the professions I just listed.Plumbers, taxi drivers, managers, businessmen and women, and even lawyers (in some cases, especially lawyers), who cares if their motivation is money?Ask Yourself This: As a student, do you have the qualities and motivations you would want in your doctor?

As usual, Cory and I have yesterday and today off from work. We both chose to sleep in and I think it was a wise choice. We rose around noon to a beautiful 70 degree day full of sun. A few nights prior, an Alyeska pipeline worker decided to be immature and [...]

I finally discovered this show when I upgraded my cable. I'm catching up on it this weekend.This show rocks!

Josh and I had an oddly wonderful time exploring Chinatown today with two of our friends. I used to live near there, on Broome and Centre St., but I hadn’t really spent time down there since getting back from Paris. We trekked from the East Village down Elizabeth St., past  Canal and down to Bayard. [...]

Today was one of the longest days of my life! We had to leave our hotel in Milan at 6:45 am for the train to Paris. Unfortunately, I snoozed my alarm clock a few too many times and got a 5 minutes to spare wake-up call & had to scramble to get my things together. We had to drag our suitcases 1.5 miles to the station.Reading "Travels of a T-Shirt in a Global Economy" on the trainThen, our train had techinical difficulties making what should have been a 6 hour ride, 8 hours. When we finally arrived in Paris we had a million flights of stairs to carry everything. It was quite a relief to finally make it to our hotel in the Bastille district!me in the windowsill at our hotel in my YMI skinny jeans!While I'm away, I've still got my lovely readers in mind! YMI Jeans is collaborating with me to bring a wonderful giveaway! They sent me a pair of black skinny jeans which I've already worn out and about. They were super comfy and I felt quite european chic pairing them with ballet flats and a side braid.Just leave a comment on the post below (including your email) for a chance to win a pair for yourself as well! The contest will run until July 11th and is only opened to U.S. residents (sorry!)xoxo, lauren P.S. Also check out:YMI Obsessed blog - http://blog.ymijeans.com/YMI Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/YMIjeansYMI Twitter - https://twitter.com/YMIjeans

[ July 4, 2009; 10:00 am to 8:30 pm. ] What: During Centre County’s July 4th Fest, the All-Sports Museum is open to the public from 10am-8:30pm.  There will be a special showing of the movie Angels in the Outfield at 3:30pm in the Clemen’s Family Theater.  Lion Cub Zone will be set up in the Founders Mall (BJC Mezzanine entrance parking lot) from 4-8:30pm.  [...]

This will be the first in a ten part series that explores Midway Atoll from the people's perspective. In other words I will try to show the parts of Midway that are here strictly for the Human residents.This is my "street". It is the only street in my "neighborhood". Other residents include the Atoll's Biologist, Mechanic, and 2 seasonal technicians. Bio technicians as a matter of fact. The path is barely wide enough for a golf cart, but even this requires constant stops to move birds out of the way. Bikes work best. It is not unusual to wake up in the morning and find out a neighbor from further down the lane, returning home late, decided to park a cart in your front yard rather that contend with dozens of angry snapping Albartoss chicks. Been there, done that. The chicks are getting old enough to cause damage with their beaks. Most all of the vegetation seen here, while wildly exotic, fragrant and pretty is not native and takes up valuable nesting habitat for the Albatross. My favorite is the fluffy pink thing that has been flowering non-stop since I got here.

Everyone here at The College Driver would like to wish all of our readers a Happy and Safe Fourth of July!   This is one of the most hectic and accident prone weekends of the year, so be sure to buckle up, set that iPod to shuffle and take it easy whereever this holiday takes you. If you're hanging out with friends, leave those keys inside and just spend the night.   Look for some pretty cool changes in the next few weeks here at The College Driver and let us know what you think!

Auto-posted while I am in Philadelphia for Independence Day.Maybe I'm lucky that I didn't graduate in May like I should have. There are plenty of people from my university who are now two months out of college and still unfortunately unemployed. I think they all understand how tough it is right now. There are a lot of people chasing a few jobs. But it's what happens as they chase those jobs that has caught my attention recently.Consider this simple question: where do you want to work? Depending on your field, the answers will vary; but if you named a company that does business with customers, it is likely that you are one of their customers.So when you apply for a job, you might not expect to get hired or even to land an interview. But it seems reasonable to expect a little courtesy and respect. A call or personalized email to let you know that you aren't a fit for the position.. even a few encouraging words might not help. People hate getting blown off. They hate not knowing what is going on and feeling completely out of control in situations. An easy way for a company to piss off some of its best customers is to neglect its job applicants. This seems painfully obvious. And yet, my peers tell me that it is exactly what is happening at many of the places they are applying.Yes, I know, companies are getting bombarded with applications; recruiters are being overwhelmed and overworked; slowing business is crushing the economy as it is. I'm no expert in human resources, but it seems like now is a particularly bad time to do anything that might turn more customers away from a business. Why don't some get it?

Arriving in 2010 as a 2011 model alongside its Kia brother, the Sportage is the next gen Tucson. Like the Kia, efficient four-cylinder engines mated to five or possibly six-speed automatics is expected. Styling is said to be similar to the Veracruz, but expect a more luxurious look like the Genesis to separate it from the Sportage. Increased amounts of chrome will be used and it will likely have LED taillights as Hyundai moves upscale in the market. All of the expected safety features, including stability control will be standard as Hyundai continues to improve its safety image. Source: LeftLaneNews

Breadloaf is going strong this summer as evidenced by a video from a teacher to his students. Maybe this video also serves to demonstrate why we need a new Middlebury website…? So this is how alumni party? And its in the Hepburn Zoo? Dang…reunion. Any good language school video out there yet? [...]

Politico reports that the scandal-plagued and controversy-proned Alaska governor, who made her national debut at last year’s Republican National Convention, is resigning her governorship later this month: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announced Friday that she was resigning her office later this month, a stunning decision that could free her to run for president more easily but [...]

Or at least, that’s what he reveals in a series of recently released interviews conducted prior to his execution in 2006: Saddam Hussein told an FBI interviewer before he was hanged that he allowed the world to believe he had weapons of mass destruction because he was worried about appearing weak to Iran, according to declassified [...]

today i do not have work because tomorrow is the 4th of july, i guess they want to make sure that the campers can fly to a different state or whatever for the holiday. either way, i got to sleep in an extra day which was rather magical. havn't done much since i've woken up, although my uncle is here working on the house (my 'rents decided to have the house painted while they were gone). i might call up my aunt and ask her if she wants to go driving, if the weather is permitting. she won't go driving with me if it is raining.on thursday i saw the movie Transformers 2 with J, which was rather amazing, as good as the first one. i am rather a sucker for action movies with a love story thrown in. it was nice hanging out with J again, she shall be leaving for Maine today to see her family and celebrate her birthday up there. Speaking of birthdays, here is a shout out to AM, happy birthday!oh, i promised you some drama about B. here goes: her family found out that she does something rather regularly that she is not supposed to be doing (i will let you guess), so her parents said that she was grounded. of course, she still has her car, cell phone, and life, her and her brother are just deciding to lay low and not go out so that her parents won't get mad at them. i do not kow if this means our disney trip with V is cancled or not, B said she was going to ask about it this week. i hope we can still go, it is supposed to be a three-way birthday celebration for V, B and i because our birthdays are july, august and september dates. keep your fingers crossed!now, lets see if my nw friend from work, CB will answer my facebook wall post and hang out with me tonight...

So amongst being unemployed, I am currently working on two unpaid internship gigs. One with @CarrboroCoworking (http://www.carrborocoworking.com) and the other being the Kindness Cure Campaign(@kindnesscure) with @CJScarlet. Her page can be found here. I am loving both of these projects and we’re already starting to see results with our SEO and SEM at Carrboro Coworking, and an [...]

The BBC reports that scientists believe that they have discovered a single mega-colony of ants: Researchers in Japan and Spain led by Eiriki Sunamura of the University of Tokyo found that Argentine ants living in Europe, Japan and California shared a strikingly similar chemical profile of hydrocarbons on their cuticles. But further experiments revealed the true extent [...]

I got a Threadless Submission. My Threadless Submission: Buckaneer Alright guys, I need everyone's help on this one. I just got a threadless design up for submission. What does that mean? Means a design (seen at right) that I designed is up for consideration to be turned into a T-shirt and sold by Threadless. Cool huh? So here's the part where I need YOUR help. I'm hoping that everyone will go to Threadless and score my design. You will need a threadless account, so sign up if you don't have one, and then vote. 5s would be great, and if you click on "I'd buy this as a t" that would be really awesome too. Don't forget to spread the word! Tell your friends, your family, your co-workers, your cat, the birds at your bird feeder, etc. All the help I can get would be greatly appreciated. Again, the link is here. testread more

obama at disney’s hall of presidents

“watching Die Hard: also known as the Life and Times of Chuck Norris”

As I sit in my bed, leftover ravioli cooking in the sunlit heat of my bedroom, forehead pounding in painful retribution for last night’s drunkenness, I realize: I’m totally not a summer person. It’s not just that I don’t wear shorts, though, I mean, I don’t, so my pale, hairy legs only grow paler and sweatier [...]

I’ve just made my second Kiva loan, after my first loan was re-paid in full!! My first loan of $25 got repaid in full, so I had enough credit to make a second loan. This time I chose a Mother of 2 so she can expand her salon/beauty shop in Benin! I’m pretty excited, I think she’ll [...]

Who says we all take the day off! Today we are introducing the BG Views Business Center. Note, that URL will change but it will always be linked under Guides in our navigation menu. The Business Center offers information on...

Facebook recently announced usernames for both profiles and fan pages. At the last minute, Facebook changed their requirement for fan pages from 25 to 100 fans required - this did not amuse many. Thankfully we have the best fans in...

One of my biggest pet peeves is how most of the right-wing always blames the immigrant. Since when is it a crime for someone to want to do better for their family? Isn’t this what fuels the American ideal? To me, I wouldn’t do anything different. Especially when I knew that jobs existed in a [...]

From CollegeHumor comes a musical that references every single social network and meme you can fathom. Posted in video

“Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.” -William S. Burroughs For most of us, weekends are a period of relaxation. We take the dog for a... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

It's most important to figure out what you did wrong the first time around and plan what you'll do differently this time.Maybe you didn't have enough time to study for the LSAT. Maybe you just didn't use it wisely. I recommend a minimum of 3 months.It could be you didn't use the right prep books.Maybe you didn't spend enough time on a certain section. Maybe your approach just wasn't flexible enough.The biggest concern students have is "there aren't enough PrepTests" and/or they've "already used up too many PrepTests." There are 62 PrepTests, most of which are easily available.Of course, having to resort to the older exams and having to redo newer ones isn't ideal, but it shouldn't be a major concern.This blog post will help you figure out to move forward as you prepare for an LSAT retake.Blog reader Whitney writes:"[M[y concern is whether I need to do question type practice or just simply do more full length and section practice."Ideally, you'll do a mix of practicing specific question-types and doing full-length sections. You'll end with full-length exam practice.The real issue is figuring out what went wrong the first time around and using that info as you plan your retake schedule.If you aren't having difficulty with a specific type of question, then full-length section/exam practice is all you need.However, this situation is rare - most people have more difficulty with some question-types than others.This means you'll probably need to "Drill, baby, drill."If you didn't cancel your most recent LSAT score, review that exam and make a list of the question-types you answered incorrectly and/or that gave you difficulty.If you did cancel it, do a few full exams (untimed) to determine question-types that give you difficulty.If there were relatively few types that gave you difficulty, you might just want to spend a week or two drilling those types and then move onto doing a practice test or two each week.The following schedule assumes you already did most/all of the sample schedules I've posted on the blog. If you did little or none of the things contained in those schedules, use those instead.This schedule also assumes there are 4 Logical Reasoning question-types that give you difficulty and one type of Logic Game that gives you difficulty. Finally, it assumes you've already seen/used PrepTests 29-57 in your prep the first time around.Feel free to alter this schedule according to your needs.PrepTests 29-38 are in The Next 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests. All exams after those (PrepTests 39-57) are sold individually. They're listed and linked in the Best LSAT Prep Books post, as are the Logic Games Bible and Logical Reasoning Bible.Week 1: Review the Logical Reasoning Bible chapter on one question-type giving you difficulty. Do several dozen questions of that type (untimed) using the LSAT Logical Reasoning spreadsheet (from exams you've never touched, if any). Review all questions that give you difficulty and write explanations for why each wrong answer choice is wrong and why the right answer choice is right.Week 2: Do the same with another type.Week 3: Do the same with another type.Week 4: Do the same with another type.Week 5: Review the Logic Games Bible chapter on the game type giving you difficulty. Do several games of that type (untimed) using the Logic Games Bible's appendix (from exams you've never touched, if any). Create diagrams to disprove each wrong answer choice and prove why the right answer choice is right.Week 6: Do PrepTests 34, 35, 36 (or skip 34 and do 37 last this week, if you can get 39 for the following week). Do them as 4-section exams (timed). Review all wrong answers and write out explanations for them.Week 7: Do PrepTests 37 (or do 39 after 38 this week, if you can get it), 38, 40 (as 4-section exams) timed. Review all wrong answers and write out explanations for them.Week 8: Do PrepTests 41, 42, 43 (as 4-section exams) timed. Review all wrong answers and write out explanations for them.Week 9: Do PrepTests 45, 46, 47 (splicing in sections from 44) timed. Review all wrong answers and write out explanations for them.Week 10: Do PrepTests 49, 50, and 51 (splicing in sections from 48) timed. Review all wrong answers and write out explanations for them.Week 11: Do PrepTest 51.5 (June 07), 52, and 53 (splicing in sections from 51) timed. Review all wrong answers and write out explanations for them.Week 12: Do PrepTests 55, 56, and 57 (splicing in sections from PrepTest 54) timed. Review all wrong answers and write out explanations for them.Weeks 9-12 should include 5 and 6 section exams (alternating) to simulate as experimental sections. See Preparing for the Experimental Section for why, where, and how to include "experimental" sections.I know Weeks 6-12 will include exams you've already done. Remember, I said I'm assuming you've already used PrepTests 29-57 in your prep the first time around. That's okay.Your goal shouldn't necessarily be to get an accurate gauge of your progress. No one (except maybe your parents) is going to give you a prize for how you do on a practice exam. The real thing is all that matters in the end.Even if you've already done these exams (and remember them well) will you really remember all the answers? If you really think you will (enough to make them irrelevant for studying, anyway), do a previously-taken exam or two under timed conditions. Just see if you get perfect scores on them. My guess is you won't, which means you still have something to learn from them.Besides, doing them in chronological/numerical order puts at least a few months between you and any particular exam. This means if/when you answer questions correctly, it's more likely this will be due to your understanding of the questions's logic rather than your memory.If you're really concerned about remembering them, substitute some of the older exams (the ones in the 30s from Weeks 6 and 7) for one you've never seen before (from 10 Actual, 10 More, or the rare older PrepTests).It's important to fully understand the newer PrepTests because the LSAT changes over time.Good luck, and Happy 4th of July to everyone in the U.S.!

Seems like everyone wants more help on LSAT Reading Comprehension these days, so here are some loosely-related thoughts on how to approach Reading Comp.What to focus onI like to think of Reading Comprehension passages as big "point at issue" questions like the ones you find in Logical Reasoning.Comparative reading passages are the most explicit examples of this. You want to be aware of the opinions each passage expresses. Most importantly, look for areas where there's overlap between the two.In the non-comparative (regular) reading comp passages, look carefully for any opinions expressed by individuals. If you see an opinion without an "advocate," it's the passage author's opinion.Again, focus on the viewpoints and speakers, not the details (evidence). The LSAT isn't expecting you to remember everything, and it certainly isn't expecting you to memorize what a Koch curve is or how it's created (June 09 LSAT - PrepTest 57, RC Passage #4). It's simply expecting you to remember where in the passage you can find that info if you need to return to it.In law school, you'll have to get through hundreds of pages a week on boring topics. This is why LSAT passages tend to be on obscure and mostly-uninteresting topics. Your job is to convince yourself that it's interesting and that you care about whatever point at issue or difference of opinion is expressed in the passage.Identifying viewpointsAlthough reading comprehension's grown more unpredictable on recent exams, there are some common RC structures you might see. This is especially true for natural science and social science passages.Here's one common RC structure (although there are many others):"In the past, a discussion has generally been limited to one thing, but new research, evidence, or studies have sparked new debate over the issue of X."Alternatively, the same structure might look like this:"People used to think things were one way, but new evidence suggests things are actually another way."The old way of discussing, viewing, or theorizing about something is viewpoint 1.The new way of thinking about this issue is viewpoint 2.PrepTest 29, Section 2, Questions 16-21 (page 28 in The Next 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests)Natural Sciences ExampleOld way: Bohringer's finding (Lines 18-20) - Viewpoint 1New way: Schiech's studies (Lines 4-8, 29-41 and 54-56) - Viewpoint 2PrepTest 29, Section 2, Questions 22-27 (p30 in Next 10) - Social Sciences ExampleOld way: Most scholars' lack of interest in how medieval law actually affected women (Lines 11-14) - Viewpoint 1New way: Interest in how the law actually affected women, and what's necessary to study that (Lines 16-28, but especially 25-28) - Viewpoint 2Summarizing viewpointsOne way I stay engaged and keep track of viewpoints is to reduce them to a core word or phrase. Why?Because sometimes they'll say, "Some scholars believe X, while other scholars believe Y."I'd call them the X-ists and the Y-ists.Example: PrepTest 22, Section 1, Passage 4, Questions 22-26 (p124 in 10 More Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests)Lines 18-24 of this passage give us the core of the argument:The debate centers around whether language corresponds in some essential way to objects and behaviors...or...whether the relationship between language and things is purely a matter of agreed-upon conventions, making knowledge tenuous, relative, and inexact.I'd mark "V1" and "V2" in the margin (to the left) of the words "essential" and "convention," respectively.One group believes language has an essential meaning, and the other group believes its meaning is conventional/relative.Throughout the passage, I'd mentally call the viewpoints "essentialist" and "conventionalist," and I'd mentally call the groups in the debate the "essentialists" and the "conventionalists."This concise summary of the viewpoints allows us to place just about every piece of information in this passage into one of these two groups.PrepTest 31, Section 4, Passage 4, Questions 21-28 (p102 in Next 10)In this one, the passage even gives us names for the groups in lines 37-38 - "subjectivists and objectivists." Use these names to make the reading easier for you. YOu'll now be able to go back and note in the margins where evidence for each viewpoint appears.Red herringsMost passages start by jumping into the main topic they're actually about. However, a few begin with a topic that is unrelated to the topic that the passage is actually about. I suspect LSAC does this with the goal of tricking those who want to save their least-favorite topic or type (natural science, social science, law, and humanities) for last. Don't be fooled!Examples:The essentialist/conventionalist passage in PrepTest 22 starts with a paragraph about math.PrepTest 35, Section 2, Passage 3, Questions 15-20 (p332 in Next 10) starts with a paragraph about "philosophers of science" while the passage itself is more concerned with biologists.

If you've done more than a few PrepTests by now, you're probably sick of questions about cholesterol-lowering drugs, climate change, and potential reasons the dinosaurs diedWe get it. Some folks at LSAC (perhaps Stephen Luebke is among them) haven't gotten over their childhood obsession with dinosaurs. It's as if they think writing 1,000 questions about dinosaurs will bring them back. Sometimes I wish the dinosaurs were still around too, but Jurassic Park didn't work out so well in the end.The dinosaur logic game is the straw that broke the camel's back. It was one thing to have dinosaurs appear in Logical Reasoning on every other exam, but to have them spill over into Logic Games? It's time for a change. After all, you're looking to go into law, not paleontology.I propose LSAC stop beating us over the head with dinosaur-related topics. In fact, it's time to get rid of all the common LSAT Logical Reasoning topics. LSAC needs to find new obsessions. To pave the way, here are 25 proposed topics for future Logical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension questions.In no particular order, they are:1. Reasons for the decline of, and ways to save, the newspaper industry2. Connection between Internet, cell phones, and Twitter, and decreased attention spans3. Morality of illegal file-sharing and counterfeit goods4. Effectiveness of meditation, acupuncture, and feng shui5. Potential effects of media publishing "top secret" info during wartime6. Prisons and alternative rehabilitation techniques7. New/undiscovered life-forms and aliens8. Pirates (music, software, and traditional ship-sailing)9. Medieval (knights and samurai) and Mafia codes of honor and loyalty10. Continental drift and its effects on evolution/speciation11. Pyramids and how they were built12. Loch Ness monster and Bigfoot13. Reasons for the decline of the Roman Empire14. Fuel efficiency, hybrid cars, alternative energy sources (particularly, algae as a biofuel)15. Weird sea animals and plants living in the Mariana Trench and chemosynthesis16. Great Pacific Garbage Patch (credit: my student Tory)17. Evolutionary links between humans and apes18. Effectiveness (and effects) of standardized testing, particularly its potential to perpetuate/correct societal inequities19. Spam-fighting technology20. Milgram experiment and Stanford Prison Experiment21. Contemporary musicians, artists, and scholars22. Economic recession and government policies - proposed ways to end it (bailouts, etc.)23. Effectiveness of businesses' recession "specials"24. Plea bargaining in exchange for testimony25. Salem Witch Trials and how they might have been caused by a fungusWhat topics would YOU like to see on the LSAT? Leave them in the comments!

Saw this license plate on a car the other day, and I have to cry “Fowl!” There is no way that person is THE #1 fan; twenty minutes later, I saw the same license plate on another car. I’m sure both guys found their plates in a bin of “#1 fan” stuff. This whole thing [...]

dancing with myselfOriginally uploaded by .Surya.You, dear reader, now have an assignment. You are to choreograph an interpretive dance based upon one of the following words. Which word will you choose? YetiGargantuanChowderWrinkleQuintessentialZebrasheepskin bootsI expect to see these interpretive dances on YouTube by Monday. That's an order!

I drew this on a paper towel at the Yale Herald office before meeting with the EIC for our end to the year meeting.So as I leave Yale for...California (just for the rest of the summer)...I'll have something to absorb all the terrible, terrible tears to come in the meantime.And if ever there were a shoulder to cry on, she's got to have two of the best.Alls will be's better soon! --NyaoReuxben

I’m hearing that the use of washers and driers at MC will be free starting in the fall, with the trade-off of no more phone service in rooms. Have confirmed with students, but am confirming with officials. Full details to follow as I get them. As a side note (so I don’t feel like [...] No related posts.

Kia-World.net has been able to get photos of the next Kia Sportage while it undergoes hot weather testing in a desert environment. The exterior shape shows that it's much sleeker and will wear a grille similar to that of the new Forte. We expect it to offer several engine choices, possibly starting with the 2.4 liter four-cylinder engine currently in the Forte SX, a V-6 and a diesel. The choice of automatic and manual transmissions are expected as well. theCD's take: The Korean automakers get better with each model.

WASHINGTON, DC __ So, 109 Middle Eastern Partnership Initiative scholars arrived in Washington this week for a five-week tour of the United States. On our first day, we visited the Capitol and saw many of the sights. Of course, we took lots of pictures and video... and video of people taking pictures. Here's an example:Ahmed took this video.[where: 20009][where: 02809]

Let’s face it. I’m busy. You’re busy. Middlebury is busy, too. There just aren’t enough hours in the day, even in the summer. So, for all of us that have been busy, here’s the scoop about all things Midd related that have happened in the last week or so. No frills, just the dirty details. [...]

It all started in December of 2008. I turned 22, my ex-girlfriend and I had recently broken up–again, and I was stuck with my brother in the geriatric little Israel that is Boca Raton, FL. The country club is always a relaxing time, Atlantic Beaches are nice, my grandmother’s banana trees were keeping me…regular, but [...]

It all started in December of 2008. I turned 22, my ex-girlfriend and I had recently broken up–again, and I was stuck with my brother in the geriatric little Israel that is Boca Raton, FL. The country club is always a relaxing time, Atlantic Beaches are nice, my grandmother’s banana trees were keeping me…regular, but [...]

This is amazing. Posted in random

A couple days ago we showed you FIAT's poster campaign that uses a panda being involved in a crash test. As disturbing as that sounds, today I found a video clip of a Panda being used as crash test dummy in a FIAT 500. I know some, such as Stephen Colbert, would consider a panda bear crash test as a form of fast food, but something about this gives me an upset stomach.     TheCD's take: And these are the people who are running Chrysler....

I can’t quite come up with a good name. Dave’s Cheesy Garlic Bread is a little too generic, and Devmorgan’s Cheesy Garlic Bread is a little weird sounding.. so, I’ll go with My Cheesy Garlic Bread (by Dave Morgan). No, this isn’t particularly geeky, and has nothing to do with technology or computers - but it’s [...]

Apparently turning a dorm into a tetris spectacle is too easy, so a group at Wroclaw University who have no girlfriends a lot of free time hacked into their building's lighting system into a KITT light show.     Source: Jalopnik

It seems everyone in Milan has modelesque good looks & height, what's in the water?! It's my last night in the city and I've thoroughly enjoyed the action pack couple of days we've had here. Today we went to la Teatre de Scala (Scala Opera House workshop), where we got a behind the scenes look at the sets and costumes for production. We also went to the Zucchi museum, which houses the world's largest collection of printing blocks and printed our own bags! One of the things i've enjoyed most is just hopping on the metro and exploring the city. We've stumbled upon wonderful shops, hip bars and restaurants, and the most beautiful scenery ever. It's been a fantastic start to our trip!surrounded by old printing blocks @ the Zucchi museum!hand printed fabric from the blocks! (so beautiful!)all the colorful spools of silk for weaving textiles (in Como)remind me why we don't serve gelato in the US?!heart shaped margherita pizza at dinner! I love Italy..Tommorrow we have a pleasant 6 hour train ride to Paris through the Swiss Alps! I'm having an amazing experience already and can't wait to share my adventures along the way!xoxo, lauren

Posted in art

Looking back, I probably overrated the first Transformers film. Still, it was a decent action movie with some laughs. Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen does not change the formula at all, but is that really a good thing? The old adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” can often be said of many forms [...]

The findings of a study conducted by NHTSA have shown that amber colored turn signals reduce collisions by about 5%. Because of this, NHTSA is fumbling with the idea of mandating all auto manufacturers to switch to amber colored lenses.   Source: Cars.com via Autoblog Photo: BestRated1's Flickr

Earlier this year I wrote about the culture of fear; recently there has been more discussion about the idea of letting children roam cities by themselves.The driving force behind all of this seems to be the obsession that parents have with knowing where their kids are at all times. That's why games of pickup baseball in the park have been replaced with organized soccer leagues. It's why kids get dropped off at school in minivans and SUVs, even if they live within a ten minute walk. And it seems to be the reason why people get emotional and upset when they hear about another parent who lets their kids explore a place beyond the gated walls of the suburban subdivision.For what it's worth, it seems like the next logical progression in parenting is the application of technology for the purpose of kid-tracking. I imagine that within the next ten years children across the country will carry global tracking devices, and parents can know the whereabouts of these children through any computer or cell phone. These devices might be built into kids' shoes or cell phones. Questions of privacy will probably be raised; courts will set legal precedents, but ultimately I think the technology will win.I'm confident that this will happen because that's just how quickly technology progresses. Ten years ago kids didn't carry cell phones. Almost no one had one when I was in high school. Yet almost immediately the trend changed. Now it's strange for a high-schooler not to carry a cell phone. I understand the same is also true for middle school and elementary school kids. Ten years ago nobody had a GPS unit in their vehicle, now they're all the rage (even though I still don't like them).The implications seem less predictable, but I imagine there will be two basic outcomes. Some parents, content with being able to track their kids wherever they go, will actually let them go out to explore. They will start letting kids walk and bike to school again, because instead of watching the child move from the back seat of the SUV to the front door of the school, they can do the same on the screen of their cell phone. On the other hand, some parents might become even more obsessive. They might use the technology to punish kids for anything that looks like suspicious behavior. They will use it as a new excuse to shield their kids from the outside world.The technology looks inevitable. I only hope it can be used for good.

(via) Posted in art, Uncategorized

Kevin Drum – an Ancient One, in political blog time at least – isn’t too thrilled about the new blogging status quo: I write as much as I ever have, but in my posts I link more to news sources and less to other bloggers than I used to.  I’m not sure why.  Part of it [...]

I rule. I find it a bit strange though, that it doesn't list my actual major. Oh, well. I'm just glad it finally arrived. (When they say 6-8 weeks, they ain't kidding.)

According to Gallup, Iranians don’t exactly trust our intentions when it comes to “democracy promotion.”: I am shocked – shocked – that decades of U.S. intervention in Iranian affairs – including a successful coup attempt – as well as the American willingness to prop up corrupt, repressive regimes has left Iranians with a sense that they [...]

Chapter Two: Characters Whether we be old and bald Or young with scabby knees, Our heads could do with filling With some interesting stuff, For now they’re bare and full of air, Dead flies and bits of fluff, In the Hogwarts RPG, the most versatile and fun to play characters are students. Almost all the characters you will play will be students [...]

I can’t really disagree with Ezra Klein here: Washington, DC: So do you think a constitutional amendment that gives more senators to larger states (from a range of 2 to, say, 8) would be feasible? I believe that is how it works in Germany’s upper house, the Bundesrat. It would leave the system pretty much intact [...]

I ran a search on the MLS for houses in east Toronto around the $200K range. This is what I found listed at $204,900 CAD: Is it the house on the left or the right? I guess it doesn’t really matter. It’s a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, semi-detached shack bungalow. Don’t all rush out at [...]

Graham Spanier is calling in favors… or trying to, at least. He sent a letter (PDF) to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan about Governor Rendell’s recent exclusion of Penn State and other state-related universities from federal stimulus money. By arbitrarily re-defining The Pennsylvania State University as non-public, simply because we are not “under the absolute control of [...]

As our nation’s birthday approaches, here is a list of what those still in the ‘Etta can do this weekend. July 3rd – 15th Annual Red, White, and Blues Festival – 6 to 10 PM – Music starts at 7 PM Taking place at the Lafayette Hotel, there will be plenty of “blues, brews, and BBQ’s” to [...] No related posts.

To love something means accepting it, “warts and all.” Well, here’s one Waxman-Markey wart I don’t even like: its failure to count all the carbon.

“Lets’ go make bad decisions at Wegmans.” Agreed. A package of organic wheat grass, tin of Latin coffeegrits, and a graffiti eggplant later I was a happy man. With Pete Rock in the background, I sliced, fried up and gave a friendly stranger wandering in my backyard a slice of decliciousness. Look at what happened:

In this strange world we live in, there's news of the weird and news of the "seriously? no fucking way"! Earlier in the week, the good lord took Lucha minis La Parkita and El Espectrito, but not in a way that would warrant a tearful 10-bell salute. read more

Inspired by the extremely stylish Jessica at What I Wore, Rachel and I decided to take advantage of last Saturday's sunny weather and do an impromptu photo shoot in the park. It was quite a success! Though we felt a...

Inspired by the extremely stylish Jessica at What I Wore, Rachel and I decided to take advantage of last Saturday's sunny weather and do an impromptu photo shoot in the park. It was quite a success! Though we felt a...

A couple of months ago I wrote an article teaching you how to be a badass. In case you missed it, . Well since you guys seemed to love it, and we could all use a little advice on being a badass, I decided to give you part 2 on How To Be [...] No related posts.

Hello beloved readers! Long-time-no-see.Because I can't fill you in to every itty bitty thing that's happened in the world of Ali since my last entry (and by last entry, I mean the last time an entry was about my life as a student here at Augsburg College), I'll do a bullet-point deal.I:was turned down for what seems like an infinite number of internships, despite my flawless academic record (a cumulative 4.0 GPA) and experiences as a visible leader on-campus and in my departments.cannot find an intellectually stimulating full-time job for the life of me. I give tours, and tutor, of course (and I love doing it), but with a puppy and an apartment to pay for, those very part-time jobs suffice only to cover those two expenses--with absolutely no money left over to pay off my computer and VISA bills. learned, because of this continual hardship, to never again put all my eggs in one basket. You see, I fully intended to get an URGO grant to study gender representation in video games this summer; and I assumed that, with my outstanding record, I would have no problem securing a grant. I was wrong. And now I have nothing.completed 100 hours of research for URGO (definitely not what I originally applied to do, but it was something), and compiled approximately fifty pages of notes from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.was taken to the emergency room, where I found out I had a viral infection attacking my joints--which explained my week-long total inability to move without severe pain. This, in turn, kept me from attending my last two Intercultural Communication classes--and from taking the final exam. Luckily (although I don't use that word very often anymore), my professor let me take it a few days after, and I nailed it (a perfect score). I suppose that's it, really. Of course, I've had more fun that I let on, but when Lady Luck keeps kicking me even though I've been down and out for three months, it's the aforementioned kind of stuff that dominates my train of thought.But the way I see it--the way I've come to expect life to be--sooner or later, Lady Luck will quit being such a bitch.C'mon, gimme a break, will ya?

I've avoided the world of MMORPGS's (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, but you know that you nerd) for quite some time, mostly because I barely have time to play games that don't require me to meet real-time goals. With World of Warcraft blowing up to the point of inviting a parody on South Park, it's safe to say that MMO's have reached far beyond their previous demographic, which included for lack of a better term, basement dwellers. read more

. yay! hello kitty bonanza.  the cute, the cuddly, and the bizarre sides of hello kitty merchandise. awkwardboners.com a crafty sales scheme: the issuing of deceptive bra sizes in order to increase business sales. (ny times) real men love fight club. that’s right they better like fight club! why you should marry for $ (the frisky) how fun! song-inspired band names. (spinner) the different kinds of [...]

Dudes!TD'er Bennet Walsh ('12) writes in with some exciting news about his next big project:I'm shooting a movie about secret societies at Yale for our final project for the filmmaking workshop I'm taking this summer. We need extras on Monday, the 6th, and that Saturday, the 11th(?) at 9 a.m., meeting at Phelps gate both times. It will be lots of fun and you can come to our screening and win

I find myself in the waiting room of the urgent care facility. My immune system has taken a vacay, leaving me exhausted with my sleeping mother, watching Jimmy Fallon at a quarter to two in the morning. Pacific time. We got up at 9, eastern time. MedFail!

Originally uploaded by meadowsWho wins in a fight between the following:IdealismRomanticismResistentialismSiderismAdvertisementismsheepskin bootsI had to look most of them up. Don't worry. As for advertisementism just go to Rand-O-Mania to see a post on that blog about it. Resistentialism is a belief that inanimate objects hate humans. Siderism is a belief that stars play a role in our lives.