Ned Donovan - Ithaca ‘12

Hey everybody,

So this might be my second post in Anger and Hate, however I chose not to call it that because unlike Fred Phelps, the following recipient at least deserves open discourse.  In Allentown, PA (where my father is currently the Vice-President of the City Council) there is a man named Bill Villa.  I will not get into the man’s history except to say that it is truly tragic, and the loss of a daughter is awful, as my family (although I was not born yet) can tell you.  I don’t know much about the man because most of the information I have about him comes from his truly vicious blog postings, or from people who seem to hate him, and therefore speak about him in hyperbole and with venom. In a recent post he threatened to go after my father with “Both Barrels” which in context means that he may or may not use the legal system to attack him, but I believe the wording is very specific and is a very thinly disguised threat of harm. So on that post I have posted a comment with my thoughts on his actions. Because I hear that he has a tendency to rewrite, or not accept comments he does not like (pardon me Mr.

Hey everyone,

So it’s that time of the year where we all get together and stuff our faces in honor of good in the world.  That’s not me being sarcastic either, I love that tradition (I love food).  There’s not much to report here, I just hope that everyone’s having a phenomenal thanksgiving, that all my college friends are having wonderful breaks from school, and that everyone in my life is taking a day to relax, and just enjoy themselves.  I know I am.  I’m here in Allentown at my dad’s house with my Dad, Diana, Devan, and Graham joined me for thanksgiving as well.  We’re about to go out to a large thanksgiving gathering of friends which should be fun, and should have too much food involved.

My break has consisted of relaxing and eating and sleeping.  I’ve watched a bunch of football with Jason, played video games with Derek, watched movies with the gang, and one day when Graham, Jason, Christine, Danny Moss, Nick Taylor, and I went out for a hike in the woods of Ithaca.  The pictures are posted below.  Beyond that there’s not much else to report.  Graham and I got really lost driving down here…(okay I got really lost because I was driving and Graham was playing video games on his computer) and the trip which should’ve been 3 hours, took a little over 4.  Ah well, we can’t win them all.

Hey everyone,

So I’ve been here at school freaking out about life and the things I have to do, because everything is so hectic right now.  It was only today, that I had a sort of epiphany, where I realized just how confined to my own program I am right now.  Looking at the trials and tribulations of my friends and family I realize just how much less stressful my life is than I thought.  Specifically my brother and my father have been having truly stressful and trying months.  We’ll start with my father. My dad (Michael Donovan, and no, not the director who is all over my resumé; they are different people) is a city councilman in Allentown Pennsylvania. Earlier this year he was assaulted by some teenagers he asked to stop go-karting in a park they were not allowed to be riding motorized vehicles in.  One kid punched him in the face and broke his cheek bone.  My father, did not push the full wrath of god upon this kid to make an example of him, instead he talked with the boy, the judge, and the boy’s father, and came up with a suitable juvenile sentence.  I can tell you if I had been hit, I would have gone after him in a heartbeat.  Later on this year my father went next door late at night to ask his neighbors to quiet down and to bring their barking dog inside.  When he knocked on the door, he was answered by an angry woman who was screaming at him, and she slammed her glass door in his face.  The door shattered, covering him in glass, and he (wisely) left the scene after calling the police.  Soon after he was served with two cases, one for criminal harassment, and one for destruction of property (she maintains that he broke her door).  The harassment case was thrown out by the judge at the end of the summer, and the DOP case was voluntarily removed by the complainant after receiving a letter detailing the penalties for the consequences of wrongful use of civil proceedings and abuse of process.  You can read the details here on Bernie O’Hare’s blog.  The time between the charges being dealt, and the dismissing of the cases was a few months, however, and over that time many biting personalities in Allentown were able to take potshots at my father over the case (Bill Villa being the #1 instigator).  These people have been coming after my father a lot recently, and this is the other trial my father is constantly facing.  On his public blog he hopes to allow a forum for people to get ideas through to the city council.  As with all political public blogs, these bring out the best and worst of people.  Recently he’s been getting a lot of the worst from Bill Villa and his supporters.  In that blog post I just linked, Mr.

Hey everyone,

I’m not going to do this every time my brother has an article, but this is freaking exciting!  Therefore I’m just going to post this one as well.  Check it out.  Again you can follow Will’s work on his website, and the original article can be found here.

 

BEIRUT: Agreements, not controversy, dominated a discussion at the American University of Beirut (AUB) on Tuesday between Rami Khouri and Michael Young, the former a regular contributor to The Daily Star’s Opinion section and the latter its editor. The debate was sponsored by AUB’s Center for American Studies and Research (CASAR), and entitled, “The Middle East Policies of the Bush and Obama Administrations.”

Khouri and Young agreed in principal on a majority of subjects. The event largely focused on the realities of a post-Saddam Middle East, the persistence of Arab dictatorial regimes and their de facto support by America both militarily and politically, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Basic disagreement, which remained cordial and often unspecific, came in the form of Khouri’s optimism for the future Obama administration’s ability to achieve success in the Middle East, versus Young’s pessimism that the incoming president-elect will lack the means and the leverage to achieve much in the way of progress.

Regarding Iraq, Young’s perspective was that the removal of Saddam Hussein and the Baathist regime in Baghdad was ultimately a positive event, both for Arabs and for the West.

Hey everyone,

Ali enjoys stomach rubs

Look how content she looks!

I made it home from Ithaca without a hitch. Two of my suitemates (Max Lorn-Krause and Jason Barrera), Alyssa Darsa, and I headed out around 6pm from Ithaca after I finished my Paint Crew assignment for the day. With the exception of a little bit of weather around Albany it was a relatively uneventful trip. I dropped Max and Alyssa off in Newton MA at 12:15 and headed onward to Boston. After dropping Jason at the Berklee College of Music, I headed north, finally arriving in Maine at 3am.

I have to say that it is strange being home. I’m used to flurries everyday and relatively cold weather, but here the ground is bare and it is significantly colder. Upon waking the next morning, I went to L.L. Bean with my mother and decked me out in garb to prepare me for the long winter in upstate New York. I feel so cool now in my new hat, gloves, and boots. Add my comfy new slippers to the equation and I’m positively stylish (–yeah–no).  Most exciting part of my day was playing with Ali though.  I miss having a dog at school.