We are finally settling into the new house. Almost all of the boxes are unpacked and all of the rooms are mostly "put together" and functional. In the midst of this all, I got to attend a Foundations of Excellence conference in Asheville, North Carolina last week. This conference will ultimately lead to OCC examining its entire approach to the "first-year" experience and making a grand plan for at least the next five years. For a junior faculty member to participate in this conference, and serve on the steering committee, is quite impressive (not to toot my own horn too much!)
The two weekdays after the conference I managed to bike into work. It felt good to ride my new route and get back into a little exercise. The new route is only 5 miles one way, which means I can ride it in under 20 minutes. That's nice for my commute time, but it means I won't get as much exercise as I used to (my old route was just under 7 miles one way.)
Last night my wife and I watched the Olympics. We were up much later than we should have been, but were rewarded with the U.S. victory in the 4x100 freestyle. It was the best moment of the Olympics so far.
We also watched the opening ceremony. It was amazing! Sadly, the most memorable part for me was the announcement of the opening of hostilities between Russia and Georgia. There is little doubt that Russia has abused whatever legitimacy it may have had for an intervention by pressing into parts of Western Georgia. This is an invasion to conquer and permanently occupy. It makes the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq look retrained and completely legitimate. Sadly, the world has not responded with the same outrage. Why? First, the Russians invaded rather quickly. No attempt to legitimize their actions, no attempt to negotiate, no effort to address international norms or law ("tell me of this mythical UN of which you speak.") Second, everyone knows that the Russians/Soviets have and always will be brutal butchers that don't give a rat's about international law or morality. Basically it has behaved as most Great Powers have always behaved. The U.S. was, and is, the major exception to that Great Power tradition.
The Russians are partying like its 1979,
Brad
