Armadebtdon. It’s the end of the world as we know it, according to Jon Stewart, who was not enthused with the President’s speech last Monday.

After the debt ceiling video debate, (if you want to call two separate speeches a debate— transcripts of the President’s message and Boehner’s response) citizens responded.

Websites of congressmen were flooded with users/citizens outrage.  Servers went down as emails of protest overwhelmed  the systems.

Some were following  Obama’s proclamation:

So I’m asking you all to make your voice heard. If you want a balanced approach to reducing the deficit, let your Member of Congress know. If you believe we can solve this problem through compromise, send that message.

By message did he mean a letter or a tweet?

Twitter reported on the server shut downs and many Congress members took to the social networking site to respond to constituents.

Both speeches acknowledged American frustration with government, without drawn-out apologies, which has been made evident in most citizen interviews.

If you check out this recent Washington Post poll, under question #23, only 30% of Americans would re-elect their congressperson.

So Obama called us out and many Americans took to the online social network. Should they have been marching in Washington?

This may be the beginning of a new era like when FDR called citizens to their televisions with maps in which he said these words:

“It is your problem, my friends, your problem no less than it is mine.Together we cannot fail.”

Obama similarly expressed at the end of his video:

The entire world is watching. So let’s seize this moment to show why the United States of America is still the greatest nation on Earth – not just because we can still keep our word and meet our obligations, but because we can still come together as one nation.

There has been a call for change…a phone call, that is.

College student body Presidents representing over 120 campuses have banded together to ask the grown ups to act their age.

These student politicians are demanding real politicians in Washington place the welfare of the nation before partisan politics and come to some sort of compromise on the debt ceiling.

Their concerns were laid out in a letter read at a press conference, seen here:

Their worries seem well-founded, as Washington remains predictably gridlocked.

President Obama has given their concerns consideration, and took the time to address the student body Presidents on a conference call.

Although the details of the call were not released to the media, participants have described the tone of the call as “engaged”.

Students remain concerned that young people already deeply affected by the recession will bear the brunt of the consequences if a compromise is not reached.

The younger generation has been plagued by high unemployment rates. For June 2011, the national unemployment rate was 9.2%. Yet for 20-24 year olds the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 14.5%, and for 16-19 year olds it was 24.5%.

Carlos Reyes, a Georgetown University graduate who helped draft the letter explained,

“We thought it was important to give a voiceless generation a voice in this process. Washington often kicks the can and the can is usually us, but this time the can is kicking back.”

Thanks to Fox News!

US Government plays the Race to the Bottom of the Debt Crisis.

Athiests ask officials to not display a cross at the World Trade Center Memorial.

Manchester United manhandles MLS Allstars.

Tired of the Debt Drama? We are too.

Thanks to the Washington Post!

American fauna sure seem to be causing a fuss lately. Check out these stories!

Jaws 5

The 5th unprovoked shark attack this year occurred in 18 inches of water. The shark in North Carolina attacked a six year old girl, who will recover. While she harbors a little hostility towards the species as a whole, she says she forgives the beast that bit her twice in the right leg.

Grin and Bear it

A grizzly bear attacked 4 teenagers who were on a survival camping excursion in Alaska last week. The four appear to be healing well and have begun to return to their home states. Alaskan officials have said that this kind of attack is incredibly rare, akin to being struck by lightening.

The Great Wild Horse Triatholon begins! If only they knew how to ride a bike…

Every year, tourists come to Assateague islands in Maryland to encounter a unique tourist attraction: WILD HORSES.

Last summer, this correspondent witnessed up close and personal the Assateague Horse experience while camping on the island.

The horses walk through the streets like they own the place. This is quite curious and exciting to observe. Less interesting is engaging a wandering horse when it stumbles into your tent late in the night.

The annual Pony Swim starts today. Ponies are rounded up, herded into the sea where they swim to nearby Chincoteague island. There they will be auctioned off.

Local authorities are questioningwhether or not the ponies should remain wild in the future.

It seems the “mischievous little buggers” are becoming so accustomed to humans that they are becoming a nuisance.

What do you think? Leave them wild? Or do you reign them in?

We have several alumni who are current professors and others who are in postdocs or STEM positions with plans to enter the professoriate later in their careers or serve as adjunct faculty.

Here is a short list:

Dr. Oliver Meyers (UMBC), Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Mississippi State University

Dr. Alycia Marshall (UMCP), Associate Professor of Mathematics, Anne Arundel Community College

Dr. Stacey Williams (UMB), Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Notre Dame

Dr. Jesus Caban (UMBC), Adjunct Professor of Computer Science, UMBC, Researcher – NIH

Dr. Lorrie Frasure, Assistant Professor, Political Science, UCLA

Dr. Christopher Whitt (UMCP), Assistant Professor, Political Science, Augustana College

Dr. Calandra Tate (UMCP), Assistant Professor, Mathematics, College of Staten Island, CUNY

Dr. Cyntrica Eaton (UMCP), Assistant Professor, Computer Science, Norfolk State University

Dr. B. Michelle Harris (UMCP), Assistant Professor, Nutrition and Food Sciences, UDC

Dr. Kholiswa Laird (UMBC), Postdoctoral Fellow, Chemistry, University of Rochester

Dr. Latese Briggs (UMBC), Postdoctoral Fellow, Chemistry,  MIT/Harvard Broad Institute on Genomics

Dr. Robert Alexander (UMBC), Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr. Sylvester Mosley (UMBC), ORISE Postdoctoral Fellow, FDA

Dr. Dawn Ward (UMBC), Assistant Professor, Chemistry, Stevenson College

Dr. T. Sean Vasitis (UMB), Assistant Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Dr. Jocelyn Reader (UMB), Postdoctoral Fellow, Greenbaum Cancer Center, University of Maryland School and Medicine, Adjunct Professor at University of Maryland University College

Dr. Marishka Brown (UMB), Postdoctoral Fellow, Respiratory Neurobiology, University of Pennsylvania

Alumni of the Dissertation House are listed here:

http://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/alumni/

This page contains many first placement positions and will continue to be updated.

Jonathan Edwards

“Upon a review of the statement given by Mr. Edwards as to his early religious experience, it is evident that he was not one who could satisfy himself upon any insufficient grounds: not a symptom of carelessness or of presumption can be discerned; he looked upon himself with a holy jealousy; he thought, he read, he conversed, and above all he prayed, that he might be enabled more accurately to search his own heart, and thus escape the danger of self-deception, and be convinced by proofs which would stand the test of the judgment of God, that he was a child of light, a subject of holiness, and an heir of glory. And thus studying himself under the penetrating light of the word, and the gracious influences of the Spirit of God, he acquired that exact knowledge of the various inward exercises and outward displays of the Christian character, which enabled him in after-years, with such skill, to separate delusive appearances from those which are solid, and to mark the strong difference between the mere professor of the name of Christ, and the actual partaker of the power of the gospel. It was in these early years of his life that those correct views were formed which afterwards expanded in his admirable treatise on Religious Affections.”

Reflection:
As Jonathan Edwards continued to grow in the Lord, he became more and more confident that it was God’s work in him that brought him life and not his own, and he endeavored to live this out with all that he could. To him it wasn’t just about knowing certain religious rules or interesting facts about God, but it was about having a real life, intimate relationship with God that overflowed in worship and prayer. As he lived this way, Edwards grew more and more into the wonderful life that God had for him. A life that was more and more in line with God’s calling.

Response:
Let’s pray that just like Jonathan Edwards, we too would get caught up in the wonder, majesty and calling that God has over our lives. Let’s ask that this would not just be about outward appearances, but that we would be transformed in this relationship with God from the inside out.

Source: Works of Jonathan Edwards, Volume 1, Birth — Parentage — Early Religious Advantages — Serious Impressions and Account of his Experience.