Ahem.

Allow me to indulge in a rant.

What is the deal with the new Harry Potter movie?!?!

I don't mind a few changes for the sake of brevity and plot simplification. I've even gotten over the fact that the actors don't remotely resemble how I think the characters should look and behave (particularly LeStrange and Snape). But what they did to HP and the Half Blood Prince was just WRONG.

First of all, they invented a whole new scene involving the Burrow burning down. What are they going to do when they have to have a wedding there in movie #7?

But the worst offense, to me, was the scene near the end inside the cavern. In the book, Dumbledore, nearly lifeless, begs Harry for water. When Harry is forced to scoop it from the lake, the Inferi become animated and start to attack. Dumbledore manages to make a fire and Harry gets them both to safety. The best line in the whole book is when Harry says to Dumbledore "Don't worry," and D replies, "I'm not worried, I'm with you."

In the MOVIE, first of all, the Inferi look like thousands of Gollums, one of which drags Frodo, I mean Harry, under the lake. Fortunately Gandalf Dumbledore magically comes back to life, casting a magnificent fire spell that vanquishes the Inferi and saves Harry.

The key difference here is that in the book, Harry realizes he no longer needs Dumbledore to protect him, just in time for Dumbledore's exit. In the movie, once again, the adults have all the power and wisdom, and the teens are just along for the ride.

One thing that bugs me about the movies is that the adults are too grown up, they have all the answers - they don't have the faults and flaws that make the characters in the book so great.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Quick Post - Creigh Deeds mentions loan forgiveness (gasp!)

In a recent Q&A, Creigh Deeds answered a question (here) about the rising cost of tuition and what he would do to help students saddled with student loan det.

The question: "What would you do about rising college tuition costs?"

Deeds: "[truncated version] I plan to offer targeted loan forgiveness to encourage students to enter high-need fields and fill jobs in high-need areas, such as teaching and health care and science."

Not the best answer in my opinion, but it's something - a tidbit, and I love morsels (Nietzsche taught me to appreciate the bigness of small remarks). I'm encouraged because it's obvious that there's an awareness of the student lending crisis, and it was actually a question raised. Of course, no one is really responding to those of us saddled with debt and graduated, but I'm heartened.


Who lives in VA? If you live in VA, I demand (ha!) that you call Deeds's office and tell him we'd support him, if he sticks to this plan!

His contact information is:

Northern Virginia Headquarter

2001 N. Beauregard St., Suite 420
Alexandria, VA 22311
Phone: (571) 303-2260

Deeds for Virginia
P.O. Box 11658
Alexandria, VA 2231 

I'd love to have a room for a night at the White House, but I am not a Podesta

I hesitate to suggest that Obama's eloquent speeches about the importance of higher education is disingenuous . . . I relate strongly to the stories he tells about his mother being a struggling graduate student from Kansas. (Those are two things I share with her, plus I attended schools where Obama either taught or attended himself). The same institutions that informed the way Obama thinks also played a formidable role in my own intellectual formation. But then I learn that Anthony and Heather Podesta - lobbyists for Sallie Mae - spent the night at the White House. Mr. Podesta claimed that his lobbying efforts failed (see page 2 of this article). However, his wife, Heather, made three additional visits to the Old Executive Office in the White House Complex. Moreover, Anthony Podesta's brother, John, was head of Obama's transition team. I realize these facts are just part of politics. I'm not naive. Nevertheless, it's unsettling information, especially  when I think of the way in which I was inspired by Obama's refrain: "We need real change." From this lowly perspective (plus being crushed by student loan debt), I'm not really seeing any of this so-called "real change," and I know that there are millions of others who agree with me. It leaves me wondering why I bothered canvassing for Mr. Obama. It also leaves me wondering if there is any value in obtaining degrees from the most prestigious universities in this country.