Fast initial commentary about Bad Bunny at the #SuperBowl
Screen size matters.
RantWoman still does not want a big television in her apartment. RantWoman saw #BadBunny perform via a very large screen. RantWoman found the production visually confusing. It probably would have been equally confusing viewed from a seat further back from the screen where RantWoman viewed some of the game with slightly more comfortable results.
Honestly, no matter what efforts are made in collaboration between @NFL and @ACBNational about #accessibility, with #SuperBowlLX, as with many other events rich in detail, RantWoman relies A LOT on social media commentary. This does not distress RantWoman. In fact, the discussion helps RantWoman feel included and feeds RantWoman's capacity just to blurt out opinions.
Audio / song:
RantWoman was part of both an in-person conversation and two text chats. English monolinguals were, to put it politely, confused. In RantWoman's case loud chatter made it hard to parse the song.
RantWoman solicited commentary from people in her circle and from one single voice on X. Commenters included two native Spanish speakers and two others with different levels of Spanish fluency. The verdicts:
Rap is not anyone's most familiar idiom. One commenter observed that probably a string quartet would be an unlikely sell at the Super Bowl
Something was muddy
Many people have trouble understanding song lyrics, especially the first time one hears them.
RantWoman caught "Nunca! Nunca! Nunca! (Never, never, never) as well as a long list of countries in the Americas where futbol means something completely different from the Super Bowl.
On social media, mainly Elon's sandbox:
numerous hashtags
MUCH praise.
Lots of haters in the replies in AZ Rep. Adelita Grijalva's feed on X. RantWoman DESPERATELY wishes people would make at least minimal effort to listen about actual culture before spouting opinions RantWoman definitely consider disagreeable or weird at best and generally tiresome and hateful.
Thank GOD, no posts YET from CO rep Lauren Boebert.
A word from an NPR addict
RantWoman has a hard time simulating interest in football, even when the #SeaHawks are winning. After a delicious bowl of turkey chili assembled in fine and ingenious form by some of RantWoman's neighbors, RantWoman fled the watch party and went back to her apartment and NPR.
And even more delightful if also in the weeds away from the #BenitoBowl, a trip down memory lane to the first college Spanish literature course RantWoman jumped into. RantWoman arrived at college having placed out of the language requirement based on high school Spanish and acutely aware of inability actually to understand anything. So RantWoman jumped into a course with Don Arcadio.about literature of the 17th and 18th centuries. Readers are invited to enjoy both segments above and Prof. Quinones discussion below of Puerto Rican identity.
Trump’s Ex-Terrorist Guest, Republican Chaos for 2028, and AI Afterlife ...
Since the 2028 races came up,
FWIW. DNC probably wouldn't listen to me but the ship has sailed about sending the #StableGenius in the White House to prison. That should have happened a month after #J6 and no one should have waited around for him to decide to run again before deciding to file charges.
On the other hand. if #GrandpaSleepyhead where anyone else, he would already be a dementia patient with a court appointed guardian managing his affairs. If he doesn't leave office feet first before the end of this term, the goal needs to be secure, genteel, well-supervised retirement. And EVERYONE of both parties is going to need to focus on undoing all the damage his reign of error is doing to US democracy, US national security, and realities for ordinary hard-working people in the US.
Pete Hegseth Requests ONLY CHRISTIAN PRAYERS for Victims in National Gua...
Senior Military commanders WARNED #CadetBoneSpurs that deployment of the national guard in Washington DC had high risk of making guard members targets of grievance based violence.
Second, Heather is a big RantWoman fan, as demonstrated by both reprinting some RantWoman entries AND listing RantWoman in the Fall 2025 Resources.
Third and most unexpectedly RantWoman has been Recognized at the WA Council of the Blind Awards Banquet. RantWoman will have to check her certificate for the exact title of the award. True to RantWoman form, RantWoman has other things to say, but for now a short meditation on #Halloween, the 279th anniversary of Princeton University, and the fun and hope intended in some tactile graphic renderings.
Next, awkward commentary about a #Halloween present, shown below.
For someone reading fingers only, this is just a big blob
What could possibly be wrong with this picture???
Urk. It looks like fun even to many people with low vision, but someone reading fingers only will experience just a blob they struggle to identify.
When RantWoman has played around with TactileView tactile graphics software, she has concentrated on images with clear lines. The picture has some clear lines but the task would be rendering the clear lines and then doing whatever with the color print.
RantWoman does think that the tactile image might be more comprehensible if there were different tactile patterns for the different colors of the image. Definitely an idea that would be fun to experiment with, for example by assigning different colors to different tactile patterns.
Now, with thanks to the Princeton 279th anniversary homecoming page, some examples from the kids' sections.
Believable tiger cub line drawing with foliage in the background.
A fierce tiger face that might be too busy for a clear tactile experience.
Just for fun:
A lecture RantWoman hopes will appear as a link or a podcast
RantWoman definitely does not look at entire videos in full detail. RantWoman tends to listen and only occasionally invest enough eye focus to see detail.
So the channel is fascinating because it spells out a LOT of things that are happening visually. Sometimes it feels like reason 320 zillion why blind people and sighted people miscommunicate, although RantWoman could be vaguely interested in seeing how much of the same info could be picked up by voice.
First, this video points out lots of visual specifics in Erika's speech at Charlie Kirk's funeral.
What Changed With Erika Kirk? Body Language Analyst Reacts to funeral
YouTube is full of opinions about whether Erika Kirk is grieving appropriately. RantWoman would just leave the poor woman alone. RantWoman's experience with grief is that it comes and goes unpredictably for a long time.
As far as the state of national dialog about Charlie's death:
--RantWoman was part of a conversation where one participant made the fascinating point that it doesn't matter that lots of Charlie's detractors are disgusted by #MAGA comparisons between Charlie Kirk and MLK. What matters is that is how Kirk's followers see him.
--In that conversation, RantWoman pointed out that MLK never helped raise millions of dollars to help elect a corrupt pedophile as President. It will take some maneuvering to keep the gravy train running but the other question is what messaging will remind people that their presence in the national conversation is valuable as they HOPEFULLY come to grips with some disagreeable realities.
--Apparently #SecDef Pete Hegseth is terribly shaken by Kirk's assassination.
Somewhere in this line of thinking MIGHT be some threads Erika Kirk is thinking about.
RantWoman does not share Erika's theological certainty about what happens after death. RantWoman has enough faith not to worry about that until she gets there. RantWoman remembers one family hiccup after RantDad passed away about cremation. RantDad's younger sister was worried that if RantDad were cremated, he would somehow miss out on the Rapture. RantWoman's view: any deity that can pull off the Rapture can give people whatever corporeal presence they need for the situation.
RantWoman is interested in one moment in particular, the clip in the post here right at the beginning of her speech when the President summons her to the stage.
The way the President summoned Erika creeped RantWoman out a little bit because of something about the President's voice. Erika strode out like someone used to the kind of summons that bothered RantWoman Erika won Miss Arizona in a beauty pageant run by the not-yet-President and perhaps is used to the kind of kiss on two cheeks that Spidey called out.
Something in the second video, from a different angle made RantWoman wonder about a really gross possibility. RantWoman just naturally assumes the President is a pervy lech who will grab every chance he gets to paw at beautiful women. Watching the President Embrace, RantWoman wondered whether there was some over-the-line pawing going on. Even worse, RantWoman found herself wondering whether the President tried to kiss Erika on the lips rather than on the cheeks. RantWoman can't really tell, but the question adds a possible interpretation. Did Erika pull away a little and bury her face in the President's shoulder far away from his lips.
All of this gets RantWoman to another #TPUSA irony: TPUSA preaches "tradwife" values about women's relationships with their husbands. But Erika has now become the head of the entire #TPUSA empire.
This also harkens back to CO Congresswoman Lauren Boebert's appearances at TPUSA events. Lauren in her spiky heels and scary red lipstick pranced around talking about Biblical values in marriage while she was busy divorcing her husband. So THANGS are not always what they seem, and there is probably room for LOTS of people to think carefully about what matters to Gen Z.
Weirdly, I believe that one of the Black women Charlie Kirk referenced DID say that they benefited from Affirmative Action. Almost every Black person I met at Princeton somewhere along the way had to deal with crap about them not deserving to be there.
When the Skull and Bones society at Yale started to admit women, there was a quote about that was the way to ensure they were looking forte smartest people at Yale. I know it probably smarts to hear that looking outside of entitled circles is a good way to find the smartest people available, but there we are.
And Charlie Kirk is still a bizarre human being whose appropriation of the Bible does not at all line up with what I understand.
RantWoman has done enough ushering at different kinds of events that at some point, questions of herding people around and what different event attendees might need wander through RantWoman's mind.
Tonight's questions:
RantWoman has lost track of a link featuring a young woman interviewing to guys who are probably about her age. The guys were at the #CharlieKirk UVU eventand both reported about what happened after the fatal shot was fired, basically panic and everyone trying to flee, including some people who fell. RantWoman's first question: has anyone tracked injuries among the people who fell? RantWoman can think of lots of reasons to ask about this. Enough said.
One of RantWoman's instincts in many crowd situations is to look for paths through or out. This is partly because RantWoman and Ambassador Thwack prefer not to plow into people. People who have been to active shooter drills also get taught to think of either places to hide or ways to get away. RantWoman got only a fleeting look at the crowd. It did not appear that anyone had done anything to ensure there were aisles in the crowd. One commentator commented about the number of officers possibly being too few for the event. RantWoman has no opinion about that except that perhaps 10 or 15 student ushers could have helped ensure that there were aisles.
Next since RantWoman is around lots of wheelchair users and people who need signlanguage interpreting, RantWoman wondered idly where wheelchair users would have been and whether anyone requested sign language interpretation.
RantWoman will simply leave the wondering questions here for now and try to go about the rest of her commitments at least for a bit..
The presumption of normality: the reason Justice Kavanagh just accepted the Justice Department's claim that 10% of people in Los Angeles are undocumented.
RantWoman's additional points:
RantWoman is not a lawyer but it appears to RantWoman that Justice Kavanagh writes a lot of full employment for lawyers opinions. Currently the norm seems to be let the harm roll on while the lawyers lawyer..
RantWoman is not confident enough of her own Spanish to toy with the idea of recuiting a lot of white Spanish speakers who refuse to speak anything but Spanish in public, just to help document discrimination.
RantWoman also would love to be wrong. ICE should ONLY pick up people with convictions for serious felonies. Congress should grow a spine and get over their racism and recognize the value and values people bring to the US regardless of where they are borm.
This week, hundreds of former Israeli military officials issued a letter saying that Hamas poses no military Threat to Israel.
Hundreds of Gazans have been killed in the insanity that currently passes for food distribution in #Gaza
Radio broadcasts are filled with Israeli voices saying, essentially," Genocide? What Genocide? Famine? What Famine?"
Polls in Israel show both that many Israelis are disgusted with the current situation and that they just want hostages home. Some in Israel would be too happy just to drive the Palestinians out, bulldoze the place and transform it from an open air prison to some kind of grand Trumpian resort.
And Hamas releases disgusting pictures of hostages starving along with the rest of the population.
It would be just awesome, to RantWoman at least, if visible vigils or protests included feet on the ground demands like allowing UNRWA to resume management of food delivery or admitting the internaional press.
Instead, there are media reports of Rep Adam Smith's town meeting getting shut down by protestors.
RantWoman's instinct at firstwas just wait to coment. RantWoman assessed the initial reports as standard protestor vs protested they said / they said.
Leave it to Brandi Kruse to provide details of the initial court hearing.
Socialists arrested for disrupting townhall of Democratic Congressman
Oh, FFS.
There is being as obnoxious as possible. If the point is to be as obnoxious as possible, sure. way to go. Congratulations Kshama, with a bonus for rushing the stage, which RantWoman always considers dangerous as well, of course, as rude.
And there is persuading people to take different actions, that is different actions besides arresting protestors, as if the criminal justice system is not already overcrowded and overused.
RantWoman's other problem: RantWoman is trying to imagine Kshama addressing some of the things RantWoman knows Rep Smith gets to address.:
--Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth emphatically is not doing his job about proposing a budget on the timeline required by law, RantWoman would certainly want a smaller defense budget and different priorities, but RantWoman just can't see Kshama having productive conversations about legitimate policy considerations.
--Hegseth's campaign to fire women and people of color in prominent positions is more about a white supremacist military than effective national defense.
--Hegseth and the President's politicized personnel decisions are about as dumb as Putin firing everyone who disagrees with Russia's "special military operation in Ukraine."
--There is a whole generation of people who have returned from endless wars, some deeply committed to Constitutional principles that MIGHT pull the country back from the current administration's thunderous stomps toward authoritarianism. RantWoman is quite certain these people are far better equipped to speak to others in their ranks ready to tear down US society than Kshama or anyone working for her.
--Hegseth clearly has no concept of the importance of diplomacy and the right person applying the right words at the right time in challenging situations. See for instance Hegseth's disgraceful treatment of General Milley who called up his Chinese counterpart during the aftermath of #January6 and probably forestalled some kind of international crisis on top of the domestic outrages.
Should RantWoman go on?
RantWoman is not in the "Kshama never again" camp, but Protest Curmudgeon has plenty else to opine about and would not mind less rhetoric specifically from Kshama and maybe even more actionable policy discussions.
This post is dedicated to everyone who will be motivated to give protest speeches at their college graduations and everyone considering strategies to survive the pomp and circumstance..
#Genocide in #Gaza is an obvious choice for a topic, Also, on point to RantWoman: all the current administrations assaults on science, free speech, education, and the hard fought gains in civil and human rights in the US.
This post is also offered in solidarity with Harvard, the US oldest university and all the idiocy coming their way, as well as every other university (Looking at you, U of WA, among others) trying to address many conflicting concerns.
Today's youth probably do not need RantWoman's advice about how to protest. One prerogative of advancing age and increasing curmudgeon status is to offer unsolicited advice anyway.
And if, heaven forefend, speakers offer comments that laud any aspect of the current national and international mess, RantWoman would say the following:
1. Protest in numbers large enough that individuals cannot be isolated and the protest cannot be erased. This goes for life beyond graduation ceremonies!
2. Do the best you can to tolerate at least SOME of the objectionable speech, not because anyone needs more objectionable speech but in deference to the concept of free speech and space one HOPES to find in university settings to have spirited discussion and disagreement.
3. Listen before doing anything disruptive and be creative!
Here is a quote offered without comment from the Daily Princetonian online Reunions issue in consideration of space for academic freedom:
With that, RantWoman has Things to Say about her own graduation from Princeton 40 years ago before a truly inspiring video about some of this year's graduation speeches so far.
Some wonderful orange flowers RantWoman can't identify behind a fence
First, RantWoman is not attending her 40th class reunion. This is not, unfortunately, that RantWoman fears she might be overcome by some overwhelming though problematic urge to protest something.
RantWoman considered some options far enough in advance that probably things could have worked out but other Life Circumstances have gotten in the way. Plus RantWoman is inept about parties but may find time to opine further about class reunion traditions in another post.
For the record, after the anti-apartheid sit-in the year RantWoman graduated from Princeton, as RantWoman has previously written, RantWoman and 45 other graduating seniors were all on disciplinary probation. Many people besides the sanctioned protestors also carried black balloons and wore red armbands.
RantWoman has no memory of the graduation speech. RantWoman does remember a roar of approval when Dr. Seuss, a figure who probably helped many in the class learn to read, was awarded an honorary degree. Considering all that has come to light abou Dr. Seuss' racist views, there is a certain irony in having both an anti-apartheid protest and recognition of Dr. Seuss. RantWoman, though, would not rescind the recognition.
At Princeton there is also a tradition of a speech in Latin by the salutatorian. RantWoman remembers there were laugh lines even for graduates not fluent in Latin. RantWoman would not be distressed if this year's Latin salutatorian speech were about Gaza but considers that unlikely.
Now, some clips brought to us by a YouTube Channel called The Bitchuation Room. RantWoman loves the channel.
PS. RantWoman has taken up many feminist issues, but does not mind not having a degree in "Post colonial feminist theory."
1. MAYBE if you are thoughtful, protestors detained in the recent protests at the UW Interdisciplinary Engineering Building MAY be able to negotiate some way to stay off campus and still finish classes. RantWoman has no opinion beyond that, or rather RantWoman has opinions that probably everyone is going to find problematic. More on that shortly.
2. Some or all of you are likely to face criminal charges. RantWman is not a lawyer and is not going to comment about that beyond the observation that there are plenty of voices demanding criminal consequences.
3. It is never a bad day to condemn the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. There have been abundant opportunities to do that for decades, since long before October7. Again, more on RantWoman's thinking, the role of the academy, job hunting, conscience and more separately..
Now back up a few steps.
Y'all have again aroused eruptions from Protest Curmudgeon. Protest Curmudgeon, aka RantWoman is old enough to be your mother and probably in some cases your grandmother. RantWoman is not up on every detail of student movements at protests at the University of WA, but back in the mists of last century, RantWoman graduated from college on disciplinary probation because of a protest about South Africa. RantWoman is probably taking some risks by putting together all of the comments below; RantWoman hopes the risks are worthwhile.
Say it loud. Say it again.Any day would be an excellent day to keep speaking out loudly and clearly about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. A really clear ask, needed for decades. A clear ask of whoever might make a difference is It's not just that 2 million people starving to death under Israeli watch seems to RantWoman VERY unlikely to lessen the level of anti-semitism in the world. RantWoman also does not understand how chasing campus anti-semitism is supposed to help when the ones braying most loudly are also sitting down to dinner with holocaust deniers and avowed white separatists. RantWoman can though agree that lots of people on many sides of Middle East conflicts are making piles of money in the arms business.
Next, we take massive property damage at a building called the "Interdisciplinary Engineering Building." As someone who spends a lot of time reminding engineers why humanities classes are good for everyone and redefining the scope of projects, the very idea of an Interdisciplinary Engineering Building sounds awesom to RantWoman. In fact, RantWoman has contributed as a community member to a number of different computer-science and transportation related projects at the UW I school. So RantWoman, is definitely not charmbed by the scale of property damage seriously.and definitely does not think the current presidential administration is likely to offer anything good for what RantWoman considers extremely valuable and constructive projects.
RantWoman can imagine--but has NO INTENTION of penning--a manifesto about "Look at this mess! Does it remind you of any place, like say GAZA? Do you want to live in Gaza? Do you want to turn the whole campus into Gaza? How about we find a way to talk and do better?"
RantWoman is NOT volunteering to write any manifesto, butwhat to do? In the current humanitarian crisis, people are likely to starve to death in Gaza long before either Boeing or the U of WA respond to absolutist demands. But people can and should demand an end to the two-month total humanitarian blockade of Gaza. So, say it loud. Say it whenever and whereever you can, End the Total humanitarian blockade of Gaza.
Next, we have numbers. To some extent, RantWoman empathizes with people who just want to study and get a good job." But in the case of the college sit-in RantWoman knows best two things matter. The sit-in happened against a background of more than half the entire campus, undergrads and graduate students signing a petition calling on the university to divest from companies doing business in South Africa. The sit-in RantWoman's senior year was one of several from previous years.
The sit-in RantWoman's senior year was not exactly because of something new about South Africa. The sit-in happened because, after the umpteenth divestment resolution was turned down in the Board of Trustees, the President of the University said something in the campus paper about closing discussion. The campaign asked the President to find a way to restate whatever he meant to say. He said he was misquoted and would not correct that quote out of fear that in the future people go after him about anything that he said that got printed in the campus paper..
Before RantWoman's college sit-in one person involved in the campus campaign called RantWoman to say he supported the demonstration but did not feel able to participate out of concern not to endanger his commissioning due from his ROTC scholarship. That person has probably long retired. If he hadn't, he is the "wrong" color and at risk of being insultingly labelled "#DEIHire,"by a graduate of the same institution now working beyond his depth in the current administration.
The actual demonstration took place during finals week, at the best-known administration building, an edifice that briefly served as the nation's capital. The plan was just to blockade all the doors and not let anyone in until the university divested of its holdings in companies that do business in South Africa.. RantWoman imagines there may have been some chalk art but no other property damage. Also, little impediment to people needing to get around most of the campus.
The university did not of course immediately divest. Instead, 89 students, 49 seniors, out of a total campus of 4800 plus or minus were detained by campus police, delivered to the local police station, processed and sent home facing two charges. RantWoman had a final the afternoon of the sit-in and considers herself VERY fortunate to have gotten processed in time to go home, have lunch and then go to her final.
The sit-in got a lot of publicity including interest from lawyers who offered both legal help and suggestions. One lawyer suggested just having everyone plead guilty. RantWoman was part of the not guilty caucus who thought it was dishonest to plead guilty if one does not feel guilty. That stance let to a group conversation with a local firm. By that time, the protestors had already asked the university to drop charges against anyone who might have visa problems. The firm suggested that protestors could ask that for everyone. That team also noted that no one had any intention of suing the university, that the protest was about South Africa.
Happy ending sort of.
All criminal charges were dropped in fairly short order. At the next Board of Trustees meeting, there was an announcement of a divestment of a small holding which may just not have been doing well.
RantWoman's bottom lines:
The humanitarian crisis in #Gaza is NOW. Address that. End the humanitarian blockade. Peace in the Middle East is going to take longer, so buckle up.
Universities are vital spaces where people can come together and learn. That role must remain even when conversations get difficult.
Actions have consequences. Deal with them. Don't expect consequences to go away just because of more earnest pleas.
I am old. I think a VERY urgent message about the humanitarian crisis and ethnic cleansing in Gaza is getting lost.
I fear that all the visuals will be dumpster fires and complaints about protestors' clothing choices.
I have no patience with voices that clamor "domestic terrorism" in the presence of nonviolent protest.
I am also sick of the idea that ANY insistence that Palestinian people have rights terrifies others. Long ago in a university across the country, I organized speakers about a number of topics. The ONLY topic that consistently got bomb threats was Palestinian human rights. Where does anyone imagine THOSE bomb threats came from?
Michelle Obama: This Is A Scam! People Were Running From Us Because We W...
Former First Lady Michelle Obama probably does not need RantWoman to stand up for her. Thanks, though, to Elon's sandbox and one of RantWoman's X contacts who definitely thinks differently than RantWoman, RantWoman's Sunday has been blessed with a window into the #MAGA infoverse. Reminder: this is the same infoverse that for years has been proclaiming Michelle a man, based solely on Michelle in one of her podcasts phrasing a question to a Black Man she was interviewing "As a black man, (what do you think...?"
In today's moment, well into the video below, Michelle speaks about how it's expensive to live in the White house and the family is expected to pay for every bite of food and their daughters' plane fares when they travelled with Michelle on her plane, not with their dad on Air Force One. Michelle goes on to talk further about how having young kids in the White House does not happen with every President and how much she had to put her foot down to make space for her family.
Because the venue of RantWoman's initial encounter with this topic was X and the clip only showed the short comment about the cost of being President, the replies and quote tweets (sorry Elon, not sorry about word choice) were all about people frothing at the mouth about how out of touch Michelle is compared to everyone else's realities.
RantWoman wanted to scream and demanded from her X correspondent a link. RantWoman still had to do a bit of search on her own, but OH LOOK. Michelle grew up in a two-room apartment in an aun't house. Her dad had a disability and a career as a civil servant. People who can't handle people, on the strength of their own hard work and striving plus a few book contracts, starting from this kind of modest beginning, paying off law school debts, and now being able to afford several properties just need to get over themselves! Maybe listen to the full arc of Michelle and Barak's lives, choices they made in service to the country and stop participating in mindless smears!
There. End of Rant, for now.
Now please appreciate all that there is to appreciate in this video..
PS. One of RantWoman's favorite quotes, paraphrased: "We are being led by people who have not found their best selves."
RantWoman will soon hit a major decade anniversary of her graduation from Princeton, just as private colleges with large endowments, #DEI, and campus protest are all over the news. RantWoman has Things to Say.
RantWoman has never considered it likely that she would be in a position to endow even, say, a drinking fountain or an endowed professorship. Maybe RantWoman is thinking too small, possible a thought for future alumni.
One of RantWoman's ways to give back is to serve as an alumni interviewer for people who have applied to Princeton. Now that admissions results are out, people are making choices among their options, RantWoman has opinions, with thanks to all of this year's cohort of interviewers.
The giant alumni interview machine who this year collectively interviewed over 500 students who applied to join the Princeton Class of 2029
RantWoman finds interviewing applicants an extremely rewarding way to give back. Things RantWoman finds rewarding:
"Meeting" young people who will make great contributions wherever they wind up.
--A lot of the time meetings are on Zoom. So RantWoman sometimes gets to see uneven internet even in WA.
--RantWoman is really direct about her parameters for meeting in person: RantWoman does not drive so applicants get to figure out how to come to RantWoman if they want to meet in person. RantWoman thanks several branches of the Seattle Public Library for space for in-person meetings.
Learning about a lot of different high schools, high school experiences, student opportunities and challenges.
Giving students an opportunity to ask questions. Sometimes something comes up in the Q&A that tells RantWoman the student won't be too disappointed if they do not get admitted to Princeton. Sometimes RantWoman talks to a student who will be the first person in their family to go to college. Many times, RantWoman learns something interesting or easily relates to an experience the student shares.
Imparting such wisdom as RantWoman has to offer. Please listen, especially if RantWoman repeats the same advice in response to multiple questions, for example about realism in coursework choices.
Reassuring students that "because Princeton has an amazing financial aid program" is perfectly reasonable as one factor in their decisions to apply. RantWoman spends a lot of time in Elon's sandbox. PResently it is very fashionable in some corners to scream that no federal dollars should go to schools with large endowments. RantWoman strongly begs to differ. Some students, such as the embattled Secretary of defense go through Princeton on ROTC scholarships. For other students, financial aid includes some kind of campus work study job.If people need financial aid and otherwise qualify to be admitted to Princeton, they darn well should be able to use their federal financial aid at the schools where they are admitted. RantWoman also considers it extremely appropriate that people graduate from Princeton with WIDELY varying views about and approaches to issues of the day, with a further note about all the different ways the country gets its money's worth from Princeton alumni.
Odds of admission are low. Princeton admits 4-5 % of students who apply. This means a lot of students with 4.0 GPA, phenomenal test scores and striking extracurricular activities do not get admitted. RantWoman has a pretty standard set of questions and tries to listen for unique energy the student will bring to Princeton and personal qualities that will help them succeed. RantWoman also tells students she is just a cog in the admissions process, wishes the students success, and sometimes says it would be cool for our paths to cross sometime in the future.
Most of the time, RantWoman has no trouble answering those questions, but some years one or two students pop straight to the top of RantWoman's guesses. In fact, for a while, rantWoman was beating the odds in terms of the percentage of students she interviews who get admitted. Some years, RantWoman's list includes lots of people with something to offer but nothing that massively distinguishes them from other applicants. RantWoman always encourages other interviewers not to get discouraged when that happens.
Ahh, but interviewing is not all daffodils and roses. Here are a few further tips.
RantWoman does the best she can to listen for special family circumstances such as difficulty finding a place to study because of housing challenges or family duties that get in the way of too many extracurricular activities. RantWoman realized it matters to talk about these things after she reckoned with the point that she herself often was the one putting the family dinner on the table because of RantParents' work schedules.
Please try to avoid annoying your interviewer. For example:
Please respond promptly when an assigned interviewer reaches out.
Please keep enough track of your interviews to NOT ask an interviewer "which school are you calling about."
Do not mention other schools applied to by name, but RantWoman is just fine with comparisons such as "I want to study a specific language available at Princeton" or I am interested in a specific student activity or this aspect of the Princeton campus really appeals to me.
Please do not act entitled. RantWoman has no interest in people's test scores, but other notes of entitlement also peeve RantWoman. Admission rates are widely publicized and "very competitive" is always a standard. Princeton admissions are indeed very competitive. RantWoman talks to about a dozen students a year. Everyone RantWoman talks to brings valuable gifts to wherever they go to college, even if it is not Princeton.
A special note about test scores: RantWoman is not interested in test score details. RantWoman is not even keeping as much track as might be reasonable about testing requirements. Recently another Princeton alumna spoke about her test scores being only 10 points shy of perfection. Percentagewise, RantWoman's deviation from perfection was bigger than 10 points, but RantWoman's scores were the second highest in her high school, with an asterisk because many students took a different test.
If you are interested in a specific topic, maybe use the search bar on the website to see what academic presence there is or is not. RantWoman usually does not say something even if she forms an opinion that Princeton might not be the best fit for a particular program, but RantWoman has a time or two formed that opinion. RantWoman also finds it annoying when a student has a clear idea of a strong interest but has not checked the Princeton website for further information.
STEM skills and computer science are extremely important in any future workplace. However, RantWoman's life has involved considerable experience working in IT roles with people who have both humanities degrees and more technical backgrounds. Sometimes at receptions for admitees, RantWoman is really tempted just to blurt out "Not everyone here who says you want to major in Computer Science will get degrees in computer science but y'all will have many opportunities to use any technical skills you have.
A large percentage of students graduate with degrees other than what they mentioned when they applied. Get help when you need to. Keep things in perspective.
PS a lot of the advice here applies to lots of other schools besides Princeton.
This video posted for purely lexicographic reasons, explanations of two acronyms.
Okay, RantWoman as a persistent feminist decrees that just brining wifey to meetings without for instance even minimal security clearance efforts is just WEIRD. RantWoman wishes the Hegseths martial happiness, but have some limits, m'kay???
RantWoman sincerely wishes to thank all the veterans relentlessly reminding us all that Pete Hegseth is completely unqualified to be Secretary of Defense.
RantWoman has other thoughts, but they deserve a different post.
As long as RantWoman is sinking a ton of time into the matters related to the incoming administration, why should readers of this blog miss the opportunity to share in some of RantWoman's opinions?
#Petehegseth #SecDef
Merely being a Princeton grad does not make one qualified to be #SecDef. I for instance am also a Princeton grad and not even interested in being Secretary of Defense.
THANK YOU for calling out the President Elect's bent toward military action. No one asked questions about times when the point is NOT to use military force. I am troubled also by repeated comments about using the military INSIDE the US as well.
Why should Joni Ernst be the only point person about women in the military? Shouldn't EVERYONE on the Armed Services committee be concerned about Mr. Hegseth's attitudes and behavior toward women? IN PARTICULAR, concern about attitudes toward women needs to last longer than any one Senator's concerns about re-election.
I did not hear a single question about Christian Nationalism. To me there are concerns about separation of church and state. Also the Department of Defense is supposed to serve everyone in the US, not just Christians or in particular Christians with drinking problems.
I am very troubled that so far there are no reports of the FBI even talking to women who have raised concerns about Hegseth's past behavior. Honestly, if the FBI will just try to sweep everything under the rug LIKE THEY DID WITH JUSTICE KAVANAGH, who is willing to go for Congressional subpoenas? I absolutely do not consider repeated mumblings about "anonymous smear campaigns" appropriately responsive to legitimate questions.
Even if the President Elect is an adjudicated rapist and unabashed sexual predator, WE DO NOT NEED MORE RAPISTS in high office.
I am very interested in knowing more about the WHO of any team Mr. Hegseth proposes to assemble.
No one is well-served by ramming this nomination through. If the Senate needs to move on to other nominees and come back to Mr. Hegseth, that is what should happen.
WHY should Joni Ernst be the only person concerned about sexual assault in the military. #GOP MEN should have the balls / spine/ choose your body part to stand up for all the women in their lives.
We do NOT need more rapists or lifelong financial fraudsters in high office.
As for Jesus, the lefty commentariat goes all "who, what, Christo fascism?" the minute anything religious comes up. HOWEVER, I think it's more important to speak of separation of church and state an of the point that the DoD serves everyone in the US regardless of how they do or don't pray.
This is so much more than whether the President Elect has his ego invested in ramming Hegseth through. After what #FelonDon did about reports to the FBI about Kavanagh before he got confirmed to #SCOTUS, some of the public is rightly outraged that the Adjudicated rapist and unabashed sex predator keeps trying to name other rapists to high office. The military already has huge problems with military sexual trauma. the public needs to see Hegseth's background report NOW. Even Wikipedia helps. Hegseth went to Princeton on an ROTC scholarship and graduated in 2003. While there he was the publisher of a long surviving conservative publication called the Princeton Tory. I have not waded through the archives from Hegseth's time there but the paper has a long anti #DEI record.
As an aside, job interview question 101 "please describe your leadership experience and the size of the organization you led." The Princeton Tory has NOWHERE NEAR the personnel of the Deprment of Defense.
I find endless ranting from some quarters against #DEI in the military really offensive. Hello! Which demographics are overrepresented in the US military. Why SHOULDN'T command staff look like the troops they are leading. It makes me mad to think of an African American student also on an ROTC scholarship when I was at Princeton a few years earlier than Hegseth would have to live with all the nonsense that Hegseth represents.
Further rant: the DoD serves all of the US, not just drunk white Christians screaming "Kill all Muslims."
Hegseth is also a perfect example of why the US should not send troops into forever wars without planning for the costs of the veteran services they will need when they come home. Hegseth has said in interviews he is self-medicating after all his military service and he needs to GET HELP. There should be no stigma in that but he should never be confirmed
RantWoman invites readers to enjoy the videos and see if the irony becomes clearer.
1. The distraught neighbor with the Pride flag
RantWoman wants to say "Oh, honey, Mrs. Alito has just as much first amendment right to fly the flags of her choice as you do."
Yeah, yeah, we are talking about a famously anti-LGBT symbol and some chatter that is making commentators look under the bed for Nazis. Welcome to the first Amendment. Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences..
But if Mrs. Alito thinks her husband's job is "nonsense," could that be the perfect reason for Justice Alito to retire???
The ever erudite Lawrence O'Donell
And Stephen Colbert, along with a bunch of other comics from around the world get to MEET THE POPE.
Listeb carefully for why RantWoman threw in "Happy Pride."
Interests: Digital Inclusion, Languages and language access, walkability, accessibility, disaster preparedness.
When in doubt, laugh about something!
http://rantwoman.blogspot.com
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