I realize that Florida doesn’t technically meet the definition of a banana republic (go look it up in Merriam-Webster), but I’ve always thought of it as our own little banana republic right here in the United States. This article in the Washington Post yesterday sums it up nicely.

September 11 is a day that I will never forget. In fact, I will celebrate it every year. Why? Because it’s my birthday, and I had it first (well, maybe not first, but certainly before the terrorists). Sure, I remember what happened last September 11; it was by far the worst birthday I’ve ever had, and I’ll certainly never forget the events of that day: the shock, the loss of life, and the emergence of heroes. I won’t be writing a sad, memorial entry today, though. Happy Birthday to me.

Today is my 25th birthday. Now I can rent a car. Yipee! At 16, you can drive. At 18, you can vote, be drafted into the armed forces, and sign legal contracts. At 21, you can drink alcoholic beverages. But you can’t rent a car in most states until you’re 25. Does that make any sense at all?

With the work I’ve been doing on graduate student unionization for At What Cost?, I’ve pretty much hit my activity limit. In fact, were it not for the fact that I know that the election is next month and then it will be over, I think I would be way over the limit. That’s caused me to neglect this site. Sorry about that.