Day 242: My Inadequacies in the Water

 

August 30th, 2011I went to work early in the morning (where I washed carts and took a terrible confidentiality test), and then proceeded homeward immediately afterwards. After making a sandwich for lunch, I participated in a 4-episode Degrassi catching-up mini-marathon. When Geetha finally came over, she delivered me some delicious Red Robin, before we quickly got into the water pictured above (La Regencia swimming pool)- which I found out I can’t really swim in. The water was super cold, and I tried my best to stay afloat (but failed). Amy and Rosario screamed from their balcony to say hi to us, before we got into the not-so-warm jacuzzi. When all was said and done we went back to our place, before busing back to Geetha’s place to hang out the rest of the night.

On this day in 1967, Thurgood Marshall becomes the first African American to be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice. He would remain on the Supreme Court for 24 years before retiring for health reasons, leaving a legacy of upholding the rights of the individual as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. From a young age, Marshall seemed destined for a place in the American justice system. His parents instilled in him an appreciation for the Constitution, a feeling that was reinforced by his schoolteachers, who forced him to read the document as punishment for his misbehavior. After graduating from Lincoln University in 1930, Marshall sought admission to the University of Maryland School of Law, but was turned away because of the school’s segregation policy, which effectively forbade blacks from studying with whites. Instead, Marshall attended Howard University Law School, from which he graduated magna cum laude in 1933. (Marshall later successfully sued Maryland School of Law for their unfair admissions policy.) EFF MARSHALL COLLEGE.

Ken Walsh reports that Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul denounced the Federal Emergency Management Agency Sunday morning on Fox News, as millions of Americans buckled down for Hurricane Irene. Paul has been consistent in his criticism of the agency, voting against a 2008 bill that would have sent federal aid to his home state of Texas after Hurricane Ike, and promising to oppose any future requests by the Obama administration for more funding. His most recent condemnations came directly after a Fox News interview with FEMA Director Craig Fugate. Paul admitted it would take time to dissolve the agency but it was necessary that Americans “transition out of the dependency on the federal government.” [Read more about how President Obama is handling natural disasters.] According to Paul, the country simply cannot afford to waste money on the “deeply flawed policy” that underlies FEMA’s operation. He argues that FEMA has one of the worst reputations for inefficient bureaucracy and that it “creates many of our problems.” FEMA came under attack after its bungling of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and the federal deficit has dominated the national political debate. Yet the timing of Paul’s comments was particularly bold, as they came only days after an unprecedented Virginia earthquake and while a hurricane roared through much of the Northeast. TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE.

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