Grab bag

Ah, this post is late, I know. Mea maxima culpa. Aaaand I don't have one fixed topic to blog about, so here are a couple of vignettes.

First, the shameless yet serious plug: as part of my writing class, we are creating a service project, and in particular we are providing resources for those who are victims of bullying, especially through means such as Facebook. Wall Watch is currently campaigning for better support from Facebook if there is an apparent case of bullying using their network. We are also setting up a page that combines links for various programs and hotlines that you can access in one go, covering issues such as cyberbullying, suicide prevention, physical bully (still happens unfortunately), and LGBT-related bullying. I know that there are plenty of programs out there, but the recent rash of teenage and young adult suicides as a result of ongoing, very public bullying indicates there is some way to go, whether it be a lack of awareness or lack of access to the right resources.

Now, foreign news: Well, there's not much good news at the moment, with different armies pushing against each other constantly like really disjointed versions of the German and British lines at the Somme. You gain some ground, and you lose it elsewhere; even as progress is being made by NATO forces in the south, the Taliban have been slowly creeping across the north. NATO allies are now reassessing their future role in the conflict, as Sweden has chosen to reduce its troops from 2012, while the Czech government has chosen to do the complete opposite and increase its troop numbers, and Canada is evaluating its own progress. And when entire police units decide to abscond, it's easy to feel particularly morose about the whole situation.

What about domestic news? I've always liked the colour red. And one of my school colours is cardinal, which is pretty close. On the other hand, as of Tuesday, the House of Representatives is now distinctly red. Probably the one time where I haven't cheered to see it. US politics is probably the one time I've leaned towards the colour blue. So what happens now? I'm not entirely sure. Political campaigns in the US are ridiculously long in my opinion; even before the midterms were over certain candidates were already focusing on 2012. What does that mean for the legislature? It's really too early to say at this point. With the House in one pair of hands and the Senate in another pair, bipartisanship is going to be important, more than before.

Finally, the lighthearted moment: fainting kittens.