Who is Gary Garino?: May 2006

Letter to Fr. Leahy

Below is a letter that was sent 8:17pm, May 30, 2006 to William P. Leahy, S.J., the President of Boston College, and Jack Dunn, the Director of Boston College's Office of Affairs.

Dear Father Leahy,

I recently caught word of the controversy about Condoleezza Rice receiving an honorary degree from Boston College and giving this year's commencement address. As a proud alumnus who donated $10 to the Boston College Fund I have decided to offer the following suggestion.

Next year begin the process of selecting a speaker by compiling a list of the ten people who are responsible for more deaths in the last 5 years than anyone else on earth. Once you have this list, simply cross those individuals off of your roster of invitees.

Now I know what you're thinking. But this will only leave us with six billion options! Please calm down and listen.

This year Condi shared the stage with the President of Catholic Relief Services, a Haitian refugee that is now a nonprofit superstar, and religious sister that's devoted over 50 years to caring for students. Perhaps they would be willing to deliver the keynote address. If so, you may end up choosing someone based on their character, rather than their fame. This may sound too Jesus-ishy, but it might just work, too!

Have a nice summer!

Michael Del Ponte
A&S, '05

McSweeney's makes me laugh

Okay....So I posted a hilarious commencement speech by Conan that everyone loves (thanks Norcini). But McSweeney's humor is the kind that you get addicted to. You want to binge on it, but you've heard about other cats who tried and OD-ed, so you have to ration the articles; 1 a day, maybe (and I mean maybe) 2 a day on nights when there's nothing good on TV.

I thought "Dispatches from a Public Librarian" was funny, but this is ridiculous....

Stephen Elliot's Poker Report

Conscious Lifestyle...always one step ahead

At Conscious Lifestyle we don't need experts to justify what we've known for years...but it sure does help!

Writing about concerns over fair-labor issues and environmental responsibility...

"It's a big challenge convincing people that there's a good reason behind a higher price point," Mr. Cohen said. "Often the most successful way to do that is through the lifestyle connection, to convince consumers to do the right thing or the healthy thing."

-Marshal Cohen, the chief industry analyst at the NPD Group, a market research company in Port Washington, N.Y.

To read the full article on a Conscious Company that's making a difference, check out this NY Times article.

My First and Last Da Vinci Code Post

Despite my general disinterest in pop culture, I’ve decided to do the unthinkable: post something about the Da Vinci Code. Amongst the Bible-thumping Dan Brown bashers and the uninformed media hype I’ve discovered my own Holy Grail of sorts: an article that’s actually INTELLIGENTLY written.

For some reason, everyone forgot that the Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction. Maybe it’s because church history and art history are thought to be incredibly boring by most people and it is easier to place faith in a suspense story than it is to develop informed opinions by readying something by…um, I don’t know, maybe a historian? Or to perhaps examine the discourse of Harvard professors that are…hmm, how should I put this? NOT FICTIONAL.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

As many of you know I'm thinking about doing CSR consulting after Yale. The more I research it the more I'm becoming convicted about the possibilities of this relatively young field. Check out this quote from Jules Peck, a Global Advisor to the World Wildlife Fund:

"Transforming capitalism to a system that enables prosperity in harmony with each other and the planet is the greatest challenge of out time."

To read Lifeworth's annual review go here.

MLK Speeches....sicki.

I Have a Dream

I've Been to the Mountaintop

A Time to Break Silence

Conan's Commencement Speech at Harvard

http://www.february-7.com/features/conan.htm

"Many of you are justifiably nervous about leaving the safe, comfortable world of Harvard Yard and hurling yourself headlong into the cold, harsh world of Harvard Grad School, a plum job at your father's firm, or a year abroad with a gold Amex card and then a plum job in your father's firm."

Condi's a liar...I'm out!

"I cannot, in good conscience, exhort my students to pursue truth and knowledge, then collect a paycheck from an institution that displays such flagrant disregard for both."

BC Faculty Member Resigns in Protest of Condi Being Honored.

Banner Drop for Condi

BC Honors Lies and Torture

The Vatican called the war in Iraq "immoral, illegal, and unjust" BC honors it's architect

"The Catholic community and institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions."

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholics in Political Life

For anyone who saw Hotel Rwanda and wonders why the US didn't care to stop the massacre of 800,000 people, just ask Rice. She'll tell you, "There is nothing wrong with doing something that benefits all humanity, but that is, in a sense, a second-order effect."

Killing Iraqis = first order effect.
Stopping genecide = second order effect.

Thanks Condi!

(See Rice's Foreign Affairs Article for quote)

a/s/l?

Back in the day when signing on to AOL required 5 minutes, 138 decibals of screeching noises, and $29.99 a month there was a little something known as a/s/l, or age/sex/location. This helpful inquiry usually followed a “Hey, wassup?” and was thought to be developed by a sophisticated, silicon valley-based team of social scientists, internet predators, and 14 yr olds with dial up.

a/s/l was helpful in determining the age, sex, and location of ambiguous internet identities, such as Sk8rPiMp69, XOXObackStreetQT, and 42&divorced1973hunk.

There was a certain honor code what went along with a/s/l; you could never allow yourself to believe that anyone was telling the truth. Despite this rule, I often took pride in having a buddy list filled with 18 yr old models from Honolulu.

Unfortunately, my naiveté was often crushed when my online friends’ moms would respond to one of my instant messages and explain that their child was at pre-algebra tutoring…Oh the disappointment.

This week I had a similar experience online. I discovered PLAYRADIOPALY! on Pure Volume and ended up listening to their poppy, postal service-esque songs all weekend.

PLAYRADIOPLAY! has a clean sound that’s catchy enough to keep you singing their hooks throughout the day. I envisaged the group to be made up of 20-something art school drop outs that cashed in their trust funds to live in Greenwich village and make music.

After 3 days of enjoying hits like “Bad Cops, Bad Charities” and “At This Particular Moment in Time”. I took the time to read PLAYRADIOPLAY!’s profile and was haunted by the ghost of a/s/l. PLAYRADIOPLAY! is actually one 16 yr old from texas that makes his music in his garage.

I immediately opened iTunes, cleared my search history, and took a shower. I tried to overcome the feelings of having been violated with a healthy dose of positive thinking. At least I didn’t put PLAYRADIOPLAY in my Facebook profile or buy some merch. Nonetheless, I had allowed an adolescent that probably sneaks into R rated movies to achieve heavy rotation in my playlist. Will the shame and embarrassment ever reside?