Amid all this categorizational stuff, I've decided to make a switch.

First off, I'm moving over to the blogging service Blogsome. It's based on WordPress, and it allows file uploads and template editing. That's really all I need in a blogging service.

Secondly, the blog will no longer be known as The O'Hara Factor. Amid feeling really awkward introducing myself as the author of "The O'Hara Factor", and with the will to start a group blog again, I'm resurrecting an old name I've never been able to beat: The Arizona Growler.

Don't expect any new posts here as I intend to populate The Arizona Growler with posts as fast as I have here. If you're interested in contributing, see the welcome page over there. Thanks for the fun. See you over at The Arizona Growler.

The Wildcat reported some time ago that IFC president Robert Medler's charges of theft via official credit card have been dropped. I expect a civil settlement instead, as Medler does admit his guilt.

I'm trying to set up categories on here, so bear with me as I get these tags working. Looks like Technorati's not working fast enough to get the thingers working, so I'll have to take some embarassing semi-dead links for a little while.

I'm guessing what was formerly known in the Arizona Daily Wildcat as "GoWild" is now known as "Heat Wave". Just what we need: another reference to the fact that weather in Tucson is hot. No crap.

And while I've never paid much attention to the section of either title, it's starting to look more like these things belong on the opinions page. Either that, or Heat Wave is some degenerated version of it (much like some of the mailbags).

Exhibit #1 is heaping praise upon the Dry River Collective and its moral and cultural degeneracy.

Tucson has earned its place on the map for having a socially conscious community and an accepting atmosphere. With alternative lifestyles like the gay and lesbian scene being openly embraced and the recent peaceful protests for humane immigration laws, the city has become a center of political freedom and a haven for knowledgeable citizens. One organization that promotes political awareness in downtown Tucson is the Dry River Collective, 740 N. Main St.

I'm only seeing this online, and I've previously noted significant differences between the print and online editions. At least online, this is not objective news. The Wildcat has every right to publish it, but please, please ensure it's labeled as COMMENTARY!

I suppose Exhibit #2 isn't disguised as objective news, but it too requires a commentary label. Perhaps the entire MSM should be concentrating on the recent attack in Seattle on a Jewish center by an obvious anti-Semitic radical Muslim rather than on a drunken Mel Gibson.

The Arizona Republic reported two days ago regarding the possibility of requiring U.S. history at Arizona public universities.

Let there be no doubt: students are vastly undereducated regarding the history of our country, and there are not enough history professors to handle such a burden at UA right now. While the article only addresses these two issues, the current status of general education and academic bias at the university also come into play.

Students currently consider general education simply to be a burden upon what they really want to study before graduation. I doubt U.S. history courses will change that, but if the university wants to make room for such a possibility, general education will have to produce well-roundedness rather than burden and money drain.

Combined with the already-established academic bias of UA professors, what use are students going to gain from such Tier I or II courses as...?

• INDV 102: Black and White: The Causes and Consequences (...)
• INDV 102: Lesbian and Gay Studies (or we could treat people as individuals, too!)
• *INDV 103: What is Politics? (at least under David Gibbs, promoted moral equivalency between Soviet Russian propaganda and that of the Reagan administration)
• *JPN 245: Popular Culture in Japan (A course focused almost solely upon reading outdated, boring scholarly essays about popular art, not culture. Despite having taken four semesters of Japanese language and having been to Japan four times, this course was of no help.)
• TRAD 101: The Africana Experience (stupid white men!!)
• TRAD 104: Eroticism and Love in the Middle Ages (ooh, fun)

* Courses I've taken

Of course, there's good things about the general education courses as well. I give high marks to:

• *INDV 101: Philosophical Perspectives on the Individual
• *NATS 104: Nutrition, Food, and You
• About to take TRAD 104: Justice and Virtue

The solution is simple. General education needs to be about things like classical philosphy and U.S. history, not sex and anime (but I repeat myself). After all, is there any use trying to find some way to blame it on the white man before actually studying history and philosophy?

The end of Sharia law in Afghanistan may come from a UA-educated "technocrat", this according to the Pakistan News Service. Very good news indeed. This ought to rattle the "all cultures are equal" crowd. Let's see if UA has the guts to brag about it. I'll give them some time before levying specific criticism.

But in the meantime, we also have a professor facing jail time in Turkey for "insulting Turkishness." Instead, UANews covers a law professor getting a one-year appointment to the Nigerian president's cabinet.

There's more important news out there to report. Both the Wildcat and UANews totally missed the Shafak story, but the latter manages to brag about a temporary Nigerian cabinet post. Sure, the Nigeria story is newsworthy, but can we perhaps request some prioritization?

There's lots to write about and no time whatsoever. Expect something tomorrow. Thanks.

Perhaps an actual cheerleader could clarify most of this terminology, but it looks like much of what cheerleaders do is now banned, this according to the Pac-10 itself.

Previous speculation stated that the conference would ban cheerleaders from stunts in which both feet leave the ground.

Previous:
Pac-10 set to ban cheerleading stunts

Via their listserv, I've just discovered the Arizona College Republicans blog (for the entire state, not just UA). Much like its predecessor operated by former chairman Pete Seat (to which I'd give a link if it wasn't now a splog), it entirely misses the point of blogging.

Political blogging is about independence, not a political party's line of propaganda. To paraphrase something I remember being posted on Pete Seat's blog, "I am yet to see one original thought here."

Then again, political blogging isn't about reputational self-destruction, either. (See "Google Bombs" at the bottom of the left column if curious.)

Update: You know your conservative organization is in trouble when it has a minority outreach coordinator.

Update 2 (August 4th): This must be the first time a "conservative" outlet has censored me. My comments are not there. Perhaps that's an overstatement.