Government Chocolate

          Our final installment of Budgeting & Taxation included a forum on government waste and a zealous argument over espionage and budgeting. Several of my classmates took the position that an overly transparent budgeting process for the intelligence agencies declaws them; I argued that broad strokes of information could help budgetary employees make informed decisions. This spilled over into a straight-up debate about domestic spying; I was one of 4 students out of 17 who said they wanted to know if the government was spying on them. This was a perfect conclusion to an incredible class, and I strongly recommend that anyone (not just poli sci students) with an interest in what the government does with our money to take it. It certainly wasn't the "accounting for political science" class that I expected.
          I missed the previous class of AWPL, and came in to learn that the Answer to Complaint that I put together with Mike and Dan had won the class's "best of" vote. Our team, Irish Wristwatch #YOLO370, took it in a landslide. (We got 9 votes; the next runner-up received 2.) For all my last-minute, lazy work this semester, I really killed it on this assignment, and I even got props for "the sentence," which sort of flowed out of my pen of its own accord. ("Put simply, the Plaintiff's complaint is the product of a rampant culture of unnecessary litigation within the United States government." [explosion optional]) Someone from Northeastern's law school came to give us tips on the application, and it was all I could do to keep from screaming when I thought about the cost. After classes were finished at last, I drank a bit with Alaric, Iris, Kevin B (who's here for the weekend), LJL, and Molly before making a run on Tasty Burger. Good game, spring semester, but only one of us is still standing.
          Quotes of the day:
"I always wanted to try those chocolates." - Prof. Jimenez, re: Coloradan marijuana chocolates, after a discussion on whether they could be shipped to Massachusetts
"I used to be in college, I was drunk and didn't learn anything. Honestly, I don't remember a single thing." - Prof. Jimenez