Miss Rants

Welcome to Miss Rants!  The aim of this blog is to add a voice to the public dialogue that will (hopefully) be fresh, unique, and from time to time funny.   So here are the ground rules. Please play along:

1)      First, in a world flooded by “experts”, I think that it is only fair to tell you a little bit  about who I am.  I am a PhD student in Classics, writing my dissertation on the reception of the classical tradition.  That is to say, I study how ancient texts are reinterpreted over time.   My undergraduate degree is also in Classics.  That is my academic background.  This means that I have no formal training in theology, sociology, psychology, psychiatry, human development, economics, or public policy.  Like the rest of you, I rely on my own meandering experience in these areas.  I happen to think it is important that people know that so as not to be misleading when I pontificate on other topics.  That is cheap. And yes, I am looking at you Jim and Laura!

2)      Along the lines above, I am not a journalist.  I do not report the news.  I comment on the news that has already been reported.  My lefty bias will show through no matter how hard I try (and don’t worry I will try).

3)      We do not do celebrity gossip here.  Other peoples’ lives are boring no matter how rich and famous they are.  And even if they aren’t boring, it is really none of our business what actors, musicians, and the like are doing. I have seen the argument among celebrity bloggers that they are taking up the banner of the average man against the powerful. Well, here is the deal:   star power primarily has to do with influence and has little or no concert power attached to it.  Celebrities can draw  attention to a cause but they don’t affect the law anymore than the rest of us.  If   you want to “speak the truth to power”, there are bigger fish to fry.   In the name  of good taste and a little human decency, we shall not discuss the lives of   entertainers.

4)      We SHALL discuss the lives of public figures when those people have actual power (i.e. politicians, corporate executives) and have committed acts of blatant  hypocrisy.  In terms of mocking related to this discussion, we shall never mock who someone is, only what they do and say.

5)      Comments are welcome and expected. The point is not just for me to have a soap box (though that is part of the point); it is to help create a conversation.  Nonetheless, obnoxious comments get deleted.

Now let the blogging begin!