what's going on today?

hmm, so what is there to blog about today. i think i already exhausted my thoughts for the week on the healthcare debate, as well as clash for cunkers. and nothing notable happening in aerospace industry either. boeing still isn't quite sure how long the 787 will take, and they plan to test the orion crew module in abort tests starting early next year. but none of that is really surprising i suppose. and the state budget has even managed to avoid front page and especially my wallet (and thus my extreme interest, ire, and disgust) for a few days.
oh. i remembered what i can talk about. remember a couple weeks ago, gates got arrested "because he's black?" then he and crowley went to have beers with obama (and biden) to "discuss race relations in america." but then within the last two weeks here in california, we had a large race riot in one of the state prisons. dorms are now uninhabitable, in once case completely burned. yet why is no one suggesting that we invite some of the prisoners directly involved to go to washington and talk it out over some beers too? while some might argue that this riot was between two minority groups (blacks and hispanics), there's no denying that it was still an issue of racial tension here in america and one that is certain to rise with the gradual "browning" of america that is expected to happen over the next several decades. so what better way to highlight and bring positive discussion on the issue than to bring real average citizens into the discussion? (i'd hardly say crowley and gates are very representative since a similar episode is undoubtedly played out weekly with other minorities but none are world-renowned harvard professors.) this incident is being highlighted as a further failure of the california prison system, but i think it's far more representative of both the imbalance of incarcerations and definitely an indicator of the racial barometer in the country. if anyone is really serious about discussing race relations in a meaningful way, they would seize the nice opportunity afforded by this riot to start a real discussion. sure, Ph.Ds can sit around all day at posh conferences and talk about it until their faces are blue, but i can assure you that many are not directly related with it like the common man is.