Escaping the Iterations of the Pastiche

The Eccentricities of Hobbies – Things about Which One Can Find Themselves Jazzed

2009-01-15T15:54:00.000-08:00

You’ll have to forgive me; this blog isn’t about politics or some hilarity from my youth. No, it’s a subject I was thinking about recording as I walked one-half mile back to my house after my run last night.

My run last night was fantastic. For some background, while I am an assistant coach with a running group here in Boise, Boise Run/Walk, I’ve taken it upon myself to engage a personal coach to improve my marathon time. My coach is the head coach of the running club I run and coach with.

Thus far, engaging a personal coach has worked for me on a few levels. One, I’ve found myself resolved to work harder at my runs. I am not necessarily running harder, but I am even more mindful of certain things I would normally take for granted. As an example, this last Saturday, during my eleven miler, I made a real point of taking hydration and nutrition during my run and not skipping them, like I so often do. Of course, another component was that I spoke at my group about ensuring one is properly taking in energy and water whilst running; nevertheless, I’ve said those things before, and not practiced what I preached. With a coach and a personal program, that’s right, I’ve found myself actually doing what I know I am supposed to do.

Wow, Matt, that’s great. I know. I know, here I am prefacing the point on which I was going to write. Well, what I just wrote was more or less the point; however, what has me so motivated was the run I took last night. Mike, my coach, on Wednesdays, has my program set up for “speed work.”

For you non-runners out there, “speed work” integrates some different sorts of training into one’s run. There are different types: interval training, hill repeats, striding, tempo running, Yasso 800’s, etc… Long and short, there are lots of ways to practice speed work, and there are lots of good reasons to do it. Rather than bore you with the sports physiology, we’ll say I am motivated to do this, both to improve my marathon time and to shake up what is normally a nice gentle Wednesday-night eight-mile run.

Last night, I ran 4.16 miles from my house to a street just east of Warm Springs golf course in Boise. There, I crossed the street at the ped-way, and came to the hill at Wind Song St. Wind Song is a beautiful steep hill, with a sidewalk, leading up to nice affluent homes. It’s rather rural, but it’s not in the middle of nowhere. I believe technically it is still in Boise-proper.

There at Wind Song, I did 8 x :30’s. Essentially, after running 4.16 miles, I stretched a bit, and ran 8 trips up this hill, turning around to return to the bottom. When I got to the bottom, I’d prepare my Garmin again, and take off up the hill. That took me between five and ten minutes. I don’t recall exactly (when doing hill repeats, one isn’t turning around to run them the second they get to the bottom).

Anyway, after I completed those hill repeats, I took off back to my house. My head felt great, and my run started quite strong. At that point, I think my body was accustomed to the challenge of running up hill. Needless to say, I ran back to my house, and cut it short at eight miles, which left me about .8 miles to walk back to my house. The walk was quite refreshing, and I did so with a great amount of self-satisfaction.

It’s quite amazing, this human experience, pushing myself to do something I would have considered “conditioning” as a teenager. Now, I dig on the fact that I am going to be a better runner, and that I was motivated to do that on my own. Coach Mike left me a voice mail while I was in a meeting earlier, and wondered how it was going. I think I’ll send him this link.

A Relaxed Sunday and a Weekend of Movies

2009-01-12T07:44:00.001-08:00

Typically, this time of year, following early church service on Sunday, I like to head up to Bogus to get in some skiing. Yesterday, however, I heard that it was busy, and I was a bit fatigued, so I decided to run errands and relax a bit. As far as the errands went, they were relaxed and rather uneventful. Following trips to “Bed, Bath and Beyond” and REI, I went over to my friends, the Bush’s, house.

Bob and Dianna were gracious hosts, as always. Dianna immediately served me ranch beans she had sitting from being made earlier in the day or weekend. They were very nice, and it was quite nice to have homemade food. Bob and Dianna had friends of their staying with them, in town from Southwest Washington and McCall, I’d refer to them by last name, but I cannot say I ever got that.

Prior to their friends coming back from running errands, two of their guests are getting married in the near term, the mother and sister of the bride were the other two guests, Diana, Bob and I watched “Pineapple Express.”

In the same way Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, the Wilson brothers, and Wes Anderson formed the “Frat Pack,” Seth Rogan and Judd Apatow have now dominated the humor scene. It’s a good thing, as the “Frat Pack” is not nearly as prolific as they once were.

Not having seen “Pineapple Express,” I was well entertained by the movie. I am glad I saw it. It was most fun watching it with Bob and Diana. Express wasn’t the best movie I saw all weekend though, I have to admit. Saturday night I saw “MILK.”

“Milk” was an incredible film, and I was glad to have seen it. My friends Dan and Patty asked me to join them, and I was more than happy to do so on Saturday Night. It’s hard not to go on and on about why I enjoyed the movie and thought it was so good.

To summarize my feelings on Saturday evening, I would have to put it along these lines: not being gay, the movie being shot by a gay director, Gus Van Sant, gave me a better feel for the characters’ struggles, thoughts and feelings. I know that sounds rather surface, but genuinely, in the same way few if any but African American directors could really convey the rage and pain of racism, I had more empathy for what these folks endured/still endure. Two, Penn’s performance was magnificent. I realize that’s like saying, “Hendrix played a mean guitar,” but his performance showed his range and really made me feel for the character. I don’t want to spoil the ending, but just prior the credits, my feelings for Penn’s performance really crystallized. Three, I thought the movie was so apropos, primarily due to this past year’s Proposition 8. After seeing “MILK,” I look forward to supporting future GLBT rights initiatives.

It’s interesting, being straight, but having so many friends that fall into the categories in the movie, I don’t know that I’ve ever been confronted with the turmoil or issues that friends of mine have had to face. I guess that is part of the struggle GLBT folks are subjected to, primarily, because the social construction is that they should be undercover about their preferences. Whatever the case, I have to expect that if I was in their shoes, I would be quite radical. I don’t think anyone knowing what GLBT folks are subjected to would choose to deviate from society’s norms; nevertheless, there are ignorant people that still think people “choose” their sexuality. I am still looking for someone opposed to Gay marriage, to tell me where in the Bible it says being gay is bad. Please, if you can find the chapter and verse, let me know. While it doesn’t apply to me, I would just assume those that have those feelings be afforded the same rights I have.

Thankful

2009-01-02T12:21:00.000-08:00

First, my apologies for a long overdue post. I suppose that’s one way to keep readers from hitting one’s blog too often—quit posting. If you are here in spite of iterant lapses in posting, I thank you. Sincerely, it’s nice to have one’s thoughts read.

I was thinking about what to write, because at the moment, with the holidays, the free time I’d have had at work last week was spent on vacation to Phoenix. Phoenix was quite nice, and I had a great time spending lots of quality time with my family. My Auntie Pat was a terrific host, and I had all too much fun and leisure from which to leave. I suppose we all have to return to normal lives, leaving vacation, but it is what it is. In short, I had a wonderful time, and I’ll sound all too cliché saying this, but the six days I was in Phoenix went much too quickly.

While I was there, I had a bit of an epiphany. I was there at my grandparents’ retirement community, which provides for meals and care, if care is needed. There we were guests in the dining room, and the people of Royal Oaks, the community where my grandparents live, couldn’t have been nicer. My wonderful Grandma Phyllis is quite well known at Royal Oaks, largely because she is on the board. My grandmother is a sharp lady, and it’s fun to see her doing so well with their community.

I apologize; I digress. There we were in the dining room, and on more than one occasion friends of my grandparents would marvel at how well I’m doing, when they would realize I was “Phyllis and Mel’s grandson.” It’s not very often that I hear people refer to parts of my life that have since passed by a few years, but it happens from time-to-time, mostly around the holidays. At one point a woman said to me, “Matt, we sure did pray for you.”

When she said that, as one would expect, I said, “Thank you very much, those prayers certainly made the difference.” I said that quite sincerely.
The evening continued on, and we went on with dinner. At a later point, after we had left the dining area, I was commenting on being flattered and caught off guard that my circumstances were a topic of discussion. Again, it’s something that I have the good fortune I don’t have to think about very often.

During that discussion, I made the following statement, and it put me back for a moment. I said, “Following such an ordeal, we should all be so fortunate, as to be able to thank those who have prayed for us.”

Reading that after I just now wrote it, for me, again brought in that same meditation. Odds are good if you’re reading this, you too prayed for me a little more than two years ago. For that, I am most thankful—God bless.

The Big Three – Congress, Let’s Make the Most of It

2008-12-05T07:46:00.000-08:00

Here I am, and I’ve commented on this numerously; yet, I’ve not written anything here on my blog. Detroit, what to do with you? Congress, why would you ever dare squander this opportunity?

Obviously, one could spend forever writing this, but that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for your or my time. Congress – loan them the money for which they are asking, but put them under receivership. In short, now is the time Congress to ensure that the Big Three all live up to real CAFÉ standards.

It’s quite simple, mandate greater fuel efficiency standards that match the most efficient cars in the world, those coming out of Japan. Ensure the Big Three, if they don’t already have the technology, knocks off the designs via reverse-engineering these foreign automobiles. In addition, ensure that idle assembly plants partner with someone making alternative energy products, e.g. Wind Turbines or Solar Panels.

In all of these instances, we have an experienced labor force, well trained about the construction of automobiles. We have plants and assembly lines well tooled and equipment for two of the three above products. Lastly, for the one errant out-of-the box component, there could be retraining and retooling, or there could be the usage of the infrastructure to package and distribute, cutting the costs right out of the production.

Detroit’s issues for the past thirty years have been the result of bad management. It’s not as though the labor force is lesser than elsewhere in the world. Detroit, in both design and materials, has gone for cheap, shoddy quality and inefficiency in favor of faddish wants of car buyers at a given moment. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of one car designed by a Detroit automaker that makes me think twice about heading to the dealers.

In short, Congress has kowtowed to Detroit on emissions for far too long. They did so when Detroit, between the UAW and the Big Three execs, leveraged its weight on both sides of the political spectrum. Now is the time to make them change, while they are down; keep people employed, and keep millions with health insurance until a decent health plan comes about for our country’s people.

Australia - a new film...

2008-12-05T06:59:00.001-08:00

This last week, with my family, I saw “Australia.” I don’t quite know what to make of the movie. It was entertaining, and it had all of the romantic and epic elements of a 1950’s-era film, including the gallant rugged horseman, the aristocratic lady, and the spiritual native boy. Rather than those elements being injected for the sake of camp, I think the filmmaker, Baz Luhrmann, genuinely works within these conventions out of sincerity.

Provided we live in an age of taking previous conventions from the Modern-era, and we turn them on their head or turn them inside out, for me, it was hard to make whether or not “Australia” was a high-camp rendition on past conventions. Of course, then I thought of it, and there was no irony injected along with these ancient conventions. For example, looking at the film poster, there is no sense of irony to it.

Quite simply, “Australia,” a long narrative, could have been made in 1958 with James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor. Of course, they both would have had to acquire Aussie accents; nevertheless, that was the feeling I had leaving the film. It’s a palatable rendition, but for my money, it certainly was nothing new or thought-provoking. Moreover, I don’t like Luhrmann’s continuous injection of music—particularly Judy Garland sung songs from “The Wizard of Oz.” To me, it seemed as though this was projected towards three very specific audiences: women, children, and Judy Garland fans.

Delinquencies

2008-12-03T15:44:00.000-08:00

I’ve been out for almost a couple of weeks, and I had meant to write a review of my trip back to the Quad Cities. It was a delightful time, and one with a good number of interesting observations—not coming from Chicago but from Boise.

What was most important, arriving home in Moline/Fyre Lake was seeing my beloved family, including my sister, and then seeing my friends. I had a good number of runs on seem neat routes, which made the runs at home neat. The two eight-milers I ran were different: one went from 24th Ave, down to the Mississippi, off to East Moline, and then back. The other run went around Fyre Lake, back up to the Corner Mart, and then back to my folks’ house. They were fun runs.

Of course, what was also quite delightful was returning back to Boise, where I’ve bought and moved into a house. I bought the house back in October—closed on the 30th. Then, I took possession on the 31st. I moved in over subsequent weeks, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the house.

You’ll have to forgive the organization or cleanliness, as the pictures were taken following my return from a week of vacation. It’s not that I live messily, but that I still have not had a chance to finish unpacking. In addition, I had not unpacked from being away for the week of Thanksgiving.

Here are pictures:

That’s where I am, and I look forward to having visitors to Boise. It will be too much fun to have friends and loved ones come to Boise to visit.

http://picasaweb.google.com/matthewcurtisjohnson/MattSHouse113008#

Iraq boots out the Americans

2008-11-20T07:32:00.000-08:00

http://www.economist.com/world/mideast-africa/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12650224

It’s amazing to me that we have a “withdrawal agreement” with Iraq, and it’s not been broadcast throughout the media. Of course, right now, we have the big three automakers asking for money from Congress. Nevertheless, this is pretty damn big news, in my humble opinion. Moreover, it is particularly amazing is that we’ve not had this announced via televised Presidential Announcement.

There was a quote in this article that struck me: “This is a big moment for America and Iraq, yet the Iraqi government was more regretful than jubilant, calling the deal the best it could achieve after more than a year of negotiations. The Bush administration, now in its last weeks in power, made several concessions.”

Is it me, or is it a far cry from the US being greeted as “liberators” that the above had to take place under those circumstances?

Those items are less of a concern, now that the Office of the President is being relieved of its most incompetent administration. What is more concerning, from my perspective, is the dichotomy between the Sunni and Shiite. This potential sectarian strife is not limited to Iraq, but the vacuum created by a US withdrawal, done poorly, has the potential to result in a civil war, all too easily funded by the Sunnis in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, etc… and the Shiites in Iran. I don’t know. I am hopeful and anxious to get our troops out of Iraq, but I certainly hope that the government in Iraq is well enough constructed that it can withstand those tensions.

Without the Presidential Campaign, It’s Tough to Write

2008-11-19T08:16:00.000-08:00

My friend Martha today was curious as to why I hadn’t posted anything as of late. It’s interesting why I haven’t. I had to think about it a bit. Realizing that I’ve not had anything viciously political on which to write, I’ve been left with little to write.
Is that the case? Am I not doing anything? Of course not; truthfully, I’ve been quite busy being a new homeowner, and with a vacation back to Illinois starting Friday afternoon, I’ve not had a lot of interesting stuff to write.

In short, while I would be self-conscious about writing about just me, writing about the minutia of what I am right now doing is just not that interesting.

However, I can write about the following: Here in Boise, I have a dear friend, Betty. Betty is noteworthy because of what a great friend she is. Betty and I met at our church about a year ago. Betty is also known as “GiGi” to her great-grandkids. Betty knows me well, and a few Sundays ago, asked me what had me fidgety. I explained that I was in the process of moving, was going to try to meet up with a friend for coffee, and I had to clean a bunch at my old place.
From there, Betty insisted on helping me move my kitchen supplies. What a dear friend! Betty came over to my place, and was an absolute help! For Betty to just come over and keep me company; that would have been enough, but she packed so much of my flatware, silverware and dishes! Because I had bought brunch a few Sundays before hand, Betty insisted that Sunday of doing the same! I know. I know. I was having the hardest time accepting, and not stealing the check; however, I know better than to mess with my friend Betty. Betty is not to be messed with, so I relented!

This past Sunday, without having any signs of being fidgety, again, Betty insisted on helping me clean. I already had the majority of my cleaning done, and just a little bit to move out. Nevertheless, Betty came by and helped! As I am leaving a few days from today, I wanted to see Betty prior to leaving for Thanksgiving, so I could take her something nice.

Last week, after the first Sunday, I took Betty some potted begonias; provided that, I was going to bring her something else. As I went over to Betty’s to say “goodbye” prior Thanksgiving, I dropped by my PO Box. There I was, at the post office, and I saw in my PO Box an envelop with Betty’s return address. There I was, about to take this dear friend a gift for helping me more than she already had, and I was receiving such a lovely card.

From there, I went over to Betty’s, and she had made a nice dinner for us. I seldom, if ever, eat prior my evening runs. In this case, I was more than happy to dine with this dear friend, and the gesture itself was ever so generous and wonderful. Betty is truly a great and dear friend, and I am fortunate to have her as a friend.

It’s such a wonderful thing, friendship. I was concluding a conference call I organized with some engineering students at the University of Illinois yesterday and Village Hope, the charity with which I am working to put irrigation in Sierra Leone, and I noted that what we were doing was far from being zero-sum. That’s the amazing component with great friends and family, all wonderful people; it is quite far from zero-sum. Great family and friends are instances of “win-win” – truly great things.

The Palin Industrial Complex Redux

2008-11-11T14:27:00.000-08:00

Following the election, aside from Obama, the person we are hearing the most of is Sarah Palin. You and I both know it. Governor Palin is receiving more press than George Bush, Dick Cheney, John McCain or Joe Biden all put together.

What can I say? You heard it here first! http://mattyjohnson.blogspot.com/2008/10/britney-industrial-complexis-it-now.html

I am telling you – there will be a massive offer for Sarah Palin to be featured in all of these various ways. When a scandal hits her due to Trooper-gate, we’ll not have heard more on one subject from Greta or Nancy since that little girl in Florida went missing. Like it or not, you can thank the GOP for sticking us with Caribou Barbie. The upside? Well, Saturday Night Live is once again funny, and we get Tina Fey in costume. We always need to see the sunny side up, I suppose.

As I wrote that, I just thought about how my normal five mile Tuesday night run is different than it used to be from Boise’s North End—surreal…

Out of Pocket

2008-11-11T06:44:00.000-08:00

Hey Readers, I hope you are doing well. Apologies for the delay in posting, I have been in the process of moving to my new home. I was reticent to write about the process of moving into a home I bought—what, without pictures, but it’s what I’ve been up to. Please know that the pictures are forthcoming. I have not yet had a chance to take too many pictures, largely because I am in the process of settling in.

Alas, were it not for our families, most specifically our Mothers or Sisters, and imminent visits—you’ll note I am speaking from a bachelor’s perspective, we would not settle in to things as quickly as we should. What’s amazing about home ownership, as most of you know, is that it takes us back to the Problem of Universals.

In short, there is an idea of how one’s home should be, but that idea of a home in stateful perfection, while conceivable, is something that can never quite be obtained. I suppose that could fall back to one of the first rules of economics, which is to say, “Human wants are insatiable.” Of course, the second rule to accompany that is “resources are limited or finite.”

Right now, I couldn’t be happier with my home, and I don’t have too much in the way of projects. I have a few minor projects, like correcting a tree’s growth, from slightly meandering to perfectly vertical, and doing some caulking in a few little spots prior to winter. None of these things are terribly intimidating, nor am I too hurried in dealing with them. Of course, the counterbalance to completing these two minor tasks is cleaning up my old apartment, and completing the last of my move.

My move is done, with the exception of the cards and drawings hung on my refrigerator—those things and my cleaning supplies at my old place. Other than that, moving those remaining items and cleaning up after a year’s worth of living, then I’ll be free and clear. Of course, then I’ll start on the aforementioned projects, and whatever other little ones I have outside. At the same time, I have pictures, which still need to be hung or framed, and I have friends for whom to cook. Indeed, I am little homeowner/homemaker Matty, and I am having a ball.

If this is the first you are hearing about my move to buy a house and move into it. It’s been to long since we’ve spoken or corresponded. I am sorry for that. Sometimes I feel quite disconnected from many friends back in the Midwest or elsewhere. I do have guest bedrooms, so please plan a visit to Boise. I look forward to seeing you sometime soon.

I hope you are all doing well.

The Wall Street Journal's Opinion Page has always been Right Wing - The Deconstruction of a Disgraceful Plea

2008-11-06T06:27:00.000-08:00

A dear friend forwarded me the below editorial yesterday, and as one would expect, I vehemently disagreed with Mr. Shapiro’s position. I am prone to deconstruct the essay, which one can find by clicking on the picture.

For Mr. Shapiro’s first point, the San Francisco sewage plant, it was a proposition in San Francisco. One could find that a city permitting a gay pride parade or another commemoration classless. Perhaps the citizens voting for that “classless and disrespectful” measure learned something from those dismissing exculpatory evidence during Whitewater? In this instance, they had a sense of humor about what to name something that removes waste. I enjoy how Mr. Shapiro uses the phrase, “many Americans,” lest we not forget this is a democracy. Our first questions should be about where and who descended our politics to this level in the first place, something over which we should all stop to think. President-elect Obama cited those immature in their dissent from persons’ political positions in his speech. How did we arrive at this level of immaturity?

“Mr. Bush has endured relentless attacks from the left while facing abandonment from the right.” Relentless attacks from the left? Yes, well I suppose when one has been at the helm of a ship driving into an iceberg, perhaps they deserve dissension. I don’t have the time or space for concision to lay out all of the ways this President and his administration have governed so poorly, but putting us into a war under false pretenses might be a one-off that one could mention.

Particularly, I enjoy the non sequitur used with the following passage:
“During his 2004 victory speech, the president reached out to voters who supported his opponent, John Kerry, and said, "Today, I want to speak to every person who voted for my opponent. To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your support, and I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust." Those bipartisan efforts have been met with crushing resistance from both political parties.”
I am beginning to detect a theme from this essay. He uses simply the words of the man, not his actions to support his point. In this case, Mr. Shapiro uses the President’s words subsequent an election, and speaks as though his administration “worked to earn our support,” or “did all it could to deserve our trust.” What evidence does Mr. Shapiro provide to support that President Bush has done these things, and has been mistreated otherwise? He provides no supporting evidence.

Mr. Shapiro in his next paragraphs mentions a litany of political failures by the Bush administration; however, he does nothing but highlight areas where Bush has miserably failed. Reading this is laughable, and is being published in a paper purchased by the same individuals who own Fox News. I can continue to write over this, but would ask that you look at any one of these qualitative propositions, and tell me where I am wrong. This essay is perhaps the ultimate in the Right’s insults to our intelligence.

Mr. Shapiro, One reaps what they sow...

The Treatment of Bush Has Been a Disgrace
What must our enemies be thinking?
By JEFFREY SCOTT SHAPIRO
WSJ—November 5, 2008

Earlier this year, 12,000 people in San Francisco signed a petition in support of a proposition on a local ballot to rename an Oceanside sewage plant after George W. Bush. The proposition is only one example of the classless disrespect many Americans have shown the president.
According to recent Gallup polls, the president's average approval rating is below 30% -- down from his 90% approval in the wake of 9/11. Mr. Bush has endured relentless attacks from the left while facing abandonment from the right.
This is the price Mr. Bush is paying for trying to work with both Democrats and Republicans. During his 2004 victory speech, the president reached out to voters who supported his opponent, John Kerry, and said, "Today, I want to speak to every person who voted for my opponent. To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your support, and I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust."
Those bipartisan efforts have been met with crushing resistance from both political parties.
The president's original Supreme Court choice of Harriet Miers alarmed Republicans, while his final nomination of Samuel Alito angered Democrats. His solutions to reform the immigration system alienated traditional conservatives, while his refusal to retreat in Iraq has enraged liberals who have unrealistic expectations about the challenges we face there.
It seems that no matter what Mr. Bush does, he is blamed for everything. He remains despised by the left while continuously disappointing the right.
Yet it should seem obvious that many of our country's current problems either existed long before Mr. Bush ever came to office, or are beyond his control. Perhaps if Americans stopped being so divisive, and congressional leaders came together to work with the president on some of these problems, he would actually have had a fighting chance of solving them.
Like the president said in his 2004 victory speech, "We have one country, one Constitution and one future that binds us. And when we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America."
To be sure, Mr. Bush is not completely alone. His low approval ratings put him in the good company of former Democratic President Harry S. Truman, whose own approval rating sank to 22% shortly before he left office. Despite Mr. Truman's low numbers, a 2005 Wall Street Journal poll found that he was ranked the seventh most popular president in history.
Just as Americans have gained perspective on how challenging Truman's presidency was in the wake of World War II, our country will recognize the hardship President Bush faced these past eight years -- and how extraordinary it was that he accomplished what he did in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
The treatment President Bush has received from this country is nothing less than a disgrace. The attacks launched against him have been cruel and slanderous, proving to the world what little character and resolve we have. The president is not to blame for all these problems. He never lost faith in America or her people, and has tried his hardest to continue leading our nation during a very difficult time.
Our failure to stand by the one person who continued to stand by us has not gone unnoticed by our enemies. It has shown to the world how disloyal we can be when our president needed loyalty -- a shameful display of arrogance and weakness that will haunt this nation long after Mr. Bush has left the White House.

Words not Meeting their Requirements

2008-11-05T06:45:00.000-08:00

Admittedly, I was largely reticent to even begin writing about last night, 4-November’s events. While I could talk or write about it endlessly, I’ll try and keep my words to a minimum. I don’t think I have the time or concision to keep my thoughts on yesterday’s events well enough edited to keep my audience reading.

I’m sitting down today refreshed; refreshed, because my confidence in this country is still in tact. A friend and I emailed yesterday, and we were both nervous about the day’s events. Of course, we had hope, but the consequences of the contrary were too frightful to rest easily.

I digress. I was going to keep this somewhat concise; largely, because I didn’t think I could put together something worthy of our new direction.

First, as McCain had mentioned in his gracious concession speech, what an historic achievement for this country and our integrity for equal protection and equal rights, for all people. I watched young women and men in Spellman College, in Atlanta, dancing and tearful at their hopes and dreams finally coming to reality. In addition, to all of that, to see Oprah and Jesse Jackson in Grant Park, also with tears of joy and solace in their eyes, was simply majestic. Quite clearly, I cannot begin to imagine what the election of an African-American President must feel like to a race of people who have dealt with oppression, in some fashion, since our continent was settled; nevertheless, I have to imagine it was quite reconciling, a final triumph over Jim Crowe.

Secondly, as I was watching the shots from Spellman and Chicago’s Grant Park, I saw a camera shot of young white men and women, jumping around and dancing; also, as though they were in a frat house. I suppose that goes back to something I wrote about some time ago; quite simply, Obama is meta-racial—some refer to it as post-racial, but since I called it “meta-racial” I am sticking with it for consistency’s sake.

Of course, speaking to what a diverse group of young men and women were dancing about, all at the same time as a largely African-American group were dancing down in Atlanta, it was not only change in the face of the races of those that hold the White House. No, right now, our country has finally decided to overwhelmingly depart from the politics of this administration and the politics of the boomer generation’s “liberal vs. conservative.”

When Obama spoke last night, he gracefully mentioned those who will immaturely mock the efforts to progress this country, moving it back from these horrible eight years of Republican Rule. We have so much work to do, and it is going to be difficult; however, we are in the process of correcting things, only to make them better for us and our children. Even having to get up from a comfortable night of sleep this morning, I was comforted by the fact that I can now look at the outcome of this election with satisfaction about its outcome. It’s been time for too long now, and we can rejoice that someone intelligent and right headed is heading back to the White House.

A Wonderful Letter - Please Read

2008-11-04T14:48:00.000-08:00

I Didn't Vote For Obama Today
November 4, 2008, 9:37AM

I have a confession to make.

I did not vote for Barack Obama today.

I've openly supported Obama since March. But I didn't vote for him today.

I wanted to vote for Ronald Woods. He was my algebra teacher at Clark Junior High in East St. Louis, IL. He died 15 years ago when his truck skidded head-first into a utility pole. He spent many a day teaching us many things besides the Pythagorean Theorem. He taught us about Medgar Evers, Ralph Abernathy, John Lewis and many other civil rights figures who get lost in the shadow cast by Martin Luther King, Jr.

But I didn't vote for Mr. Woods.

I wanted to vote for Willie Mae Cross.
She owned and operated Crossroads Preparatory Academy for almost 30 years, educating and empowering thousands of kids before her death in 2003. I was her first student. She gave me my first job, teaching chess and math concepts to kids in grades K-4 in her summer program. She was always there for advice, cheer and consolation. Ms. Cross, in her own way, taught me more about walking in faith than anyone else I ever knew.But I didn't vote for Ms. Cross.

I wanted to vote for Arthur Mells Jackson, Sr. and Jr. Jackson Senior was a Latin professor. He has a gifted school named for him in my hometown. Jackson Junior was the pre-eminent physician in my hometown for over 30 years. He has a heliport named for him at a hospital in my hometown. They were my great-grandfather and great-uncle, respectively.But I didn't vote for Prof. Jackson or Dr. Jackson.

I wanted to vote for A.B. Palmer. She was a leading civil rights figure in Shreveport, Louisiana, where my mother grew up and where I still have dozens of family members. She was a strong-willed woman who earned the grudging respect of the town's leaders because she never, ever backed down from anyone and always gave better than she got. She lived to the ripe old age of 99, and has a community center named for her in Shreveport.But I didn't vote for Mrs. Palmer.

I wanted to vote for these people, who did not live to see a day where a Black man would appear on their ballots on a crisp November morning.

In the end, though, I realized that I could not vote for them any more than I could vote for Obama himself.

So who did I vote for?

No one.

I didn't vote. Not for President, anyway.

Oh, I went to the voting booth. I signed, was given my stub, and was walked over to a voting machine. I cast votes for statewide races and a state referendum on water and sewer improvements.

I stood there, and I thought about all of these people, who influenced my life so greatly. But I didn't vote for who would be the 44th President of the United States.

When my ballot was complete, except for the top line, I finally decided who I was going to vote for - and then decided to let him vote for me. I reached down, picked him up, and told him to find Obama's name on the screen and touch it.

And so it came to pass that Alexander Reed, age 5, read the voting screen, found the right candidate, touched his name, and actually cast a vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Oh, the vote will be recorded as mine. But I didn't cast it.

Then again, the person who actually pressed the Obama box and the red "vote" button was the person I was really voting for all along. It made the months of donating, phonebanking, canvassing, door hanger distributing, sign posting, blogging, arguing and persuading so much sweeter.

So, no, I didn't vote for Barack Obama.

I voted for a boy who now has every reason to believe he, too, can grow up to be anything he wants...even President.

SPAM from McCain the Morning of an Election?

2008-11-04T06:03:00.000-08:00

I woke up in the middle of the night last night, and had a hard time falling back to sleep. As such, I got up from my bed, and went to check email. I know, this is starting out like an exciting post...

Anyway, as I was looking at my email, I found a damned bit of SPAM from John McCain! Let's line this out together:

I hate spam, which makes me dislike those who sent it to me

I've not received any spam from Obama

Like so many others in this country, I've already voted

I don't think a whole lot of McCain's decision making capabilities, predicated on the fact he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate...

I can only assume he bought my email address from the same people that sold it to the Viagra, Enhancement, Meet Local Women, cheap Rolex's, or Pharmaceuticals folks that spam me...

Here's the spam, sans graphics...

My Friend,
From the time I entered the Naval Academy at age seventeen I have been privileged and honored to serve my country.
Throughout my years of service, I've been faced with challenges where I could have taken the easy way out and given up. But I'm an American and I never give up. Instead, I choose to show courage and stand up and fight for the country I love. Today, I am asking you to stand with me and to fight for our country's future.
Our country faces enormous challenges and our next president must be ready to lead on day one. My lifetime of experience has prepared me to lead our great nation. I'm prepared to bring solutions to our economic challenges, bring our troops home in victory and improve our nation's healthcare system.
Time and time again, my country has saved my life and I owe her more than she has ever owed me. I have chosen to show my gratitude through a life of service to our country and tomorrow, you will have a choice before you.
I humbly ask you to make the choice that will allow me to serve my country a little while longer by casting your vote to elect me as your next President of the United States.
Finally, I ask that you never forget that much has been sacrificed to protect our right to vote. We must never forget those Americans who, with their courage, with their sacrifice, and with their lives, have protected our freedom. It is my great hope that you will exercise your right to vote as an American tomorrow.
I thank you for your kind support, your dedication to our cause, and most importantly I thank you for your vote.

With sincere appreciation,

John McCain

You lost me there Senator...

Remiss and Good People

2008-10-30T06:38:00.000-07:00

As of late, I’ve been feeling remiss about not writing more than I have. I don’t know that I can articulate very well my feelings of neglect on posting to my blog, but I suppose I’ll take a stab.

If you read this very often, you know that I just joined facebook this last weekend. In doing so, I’ve been rewarded with a compliment on this blog by my dear friend Wendy. Wendy is a wonderful and quite down-to-earth woman, for those of you that do not know her. Receiving a compliment on my postings was both flattering, and for me, it highlighted that it has been a bit since I last posted. On that note, I should dedicate this blog to my dear friend Wendy. To further that, I should note, Wendy, Idaho is full of people from Wisconsin.

The bar near where I currently live, it flies a Packer flag on Sundays. In addition, there is a great young family at my church, both the mother and father are officers in the Air Force, and are around our age. Anyway, they have two children, one of whom is a little girl between three-and-four. The little lady came to church a few weeks ago in a dress modeled after a Green Bay Packers’ Cheerleader’s outfit. It was undoubtedly precious. The father is serving off in the Middle East, which must be so challenging to care for the two kids with her husband being far off; nevertheless, like a good Wisconsin woman, the mother brings those two kids to church every Sunday.

In addition to that, another means of motivation for writing today was the pleasure that I had in running with my friend Jenny Stinson last night. You can see Jenny’s blog up, just to the right of this posting “Runny4yourlife.” Jenny and I ran the trails by where I live, which are a lot of fun, but they are continuously challenging. I admitted to Jenny last night, the trail I run for my Wednesday 8-miler, “Lower Hull’s Gulch,” has two-and-a-half miles of substantial uphill. That uphill is marked with rocks, and it definitely builds up one’s soleus muscles, ankles, and gastrocnemius. In any event, it’s a great run, which always reminds me that no matter how much I run, or how strong I am, challenges are always out there, and I can always improve my running.

I guess that’s the sort-of-meta thing I think about running, right? It’s a sport in which progress is so immediately quantifiable. I suppose one could say the same thing about swimming, cycling or golf, but the act of running is something so minimalist, it is ultimately reduced to two areas: physicality and mentality. The simplicity and determination of the sport are two things I absolutely adore about it.

I digress. Running with my friend Jenny was a terrific Wednesday-night run, and Jenny, right now, is training for a 50k. A 50K is thirty miles, which is four more than a marathon—err, 3.8. Anyway, it’s a 50k trail run, which is why Jenny thought of being a rare improvement on the enjoyment of my Wednesday night run. Beyond that, Jenny flattered me by noting things I had said in my blog.

It’s tough to express just how flattering it is to speak with a friend about something random, like having met a lovely woman in a coffee shop, by the coffee shop’s specific name, and for the friend to ask a question citing a past blog post. In this case, Jenny was spot on, which was quite flattering. My friend Jenny, a fellow Chicago transplant, is a dear friend of mine to have here in Boise. Not only are Jenny’s daughter, son-in-law and Grandson Marshall terrific people, but she has lovely friends, current Chicagoland residents, with whom I had the pleasure of dining before the City of Trees Marathon, and her beautiful golden Fremont. In short, Jenny keeps great company, has a wonderful family, and a great puppy dog.

Lastly, I should conclude with what a pleasure it is to have my friend Ben in town this week. Ben was in Eastern Idaho with other friends for the end of last week and beginning of this week; they were there hunting elk. Ben is here in my place until Sunday, about which I couldn’t be happier. In coming days, I’ll probably post something, which will further indicate why it is all the more fun and important to have a dear friend in town.

I guess on that note, I should be off to take care of some things for the remainder of the working week. In any event, I wanted to ensure I put up a good post, and noted some of the most immediate joys around this week.

Facebook and Detachment

2008-10-27T06:51:00.000-07:00

I love writing for my blog, if for no other reason than expressing that which I’ve felt over a given period. One cannot deny the experience is not quite like a journal, which I’ve never been as good at keeping as corresponding with friends. As I am writing that, I am thinking of what had me write the above title. At the prompting of several friends over the past year, I’ve finally joined Facebook. Having done so, I am experiencing this incredible sensation predicated on my geographic and lifestyle changes.

Before I write further, I should preface this by saying I’m not regretting my move, nor am I regretting my aforesaid lifestyle changes. Of course, if you don’t know me well, the move was from Chicago to Boise, Idaho. From the lifestyle change perspective, we are speaking of my having traded working hard/playing hard for working well/living well, including doing a lot of running, all of that post-trauma.

Back to my point, joining Facebook has provided me a reconnection to many with whom I’ve not kept in touch. In so doing, I am realizing just how dynamic my friends’ lives have been. Being a human, like many of us, I tend to be rather self-centered. With that self-investment, it’s too easy to lost track of time and years gone by.

A few examples, browsing the page of one lady I knew, back at Illinois, I saw pictures of a friend of mine who went to Iowa. My friend, I’ve known him for twenty-plus years, and the girl, I knew as a younger classmate who worked at a sister bar to the one at which I bartended. Seeing the two of them in pictures, I asked my friend Paul if they were or had been dating. It turns out they have been dating for approximately four months. That’s a rather small example, but the point is that the little city of Chicago I left behind didn’t keep people from intermingling and meeting one another.

Of course, steps taken even further have been to see another woman, whom I one knew well, now married, looking as lovely as ever. In short, I always had a crush on this woman, and to see that she is now married, it leaves one thinking of years past. Of course, the last time I saw her was at Oasis playing UIC Pavilion back in 2005, when I had a girlfriend with whom I was enamored. The point is to say though that seeing these progressions leaves me feeling a bit intimidated about how fast life moves not just for me individually, but for everyone else. It’s the feeling that one doesn’t disagree with, hearing someone speak about it. Rather, it is all too easy right now to say, “No kidding, Sherlock? Everyone’s lives change? Surprise!”

With all of that said, however, it does not keep one from noticing it more vibrantly with this new medium through which it comes. It’s rather surreal, to say the least. It makes one miss those who are back in places of yore, be it Sherrard, Champaign, Memphis, or Chicago. Nevertheless, I do love having moved to Boise, the natural wonders are too nice to refuse.

Owyhee Lake - close to Boise

PS - I don't think I can / I am making it a rule to not access Facebook at work. If you send me a friend connection, and I don't confirm straight away, it's because of that. It will be later in the day.

"Joe the Plumber" the Poor Man Is Frought with Issues

2008-10-23T12:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/16/joe-the-plumber-is-it-see_n_135211.html

Long and short, Joe would receive a tax cut under Obama, as his business makes lees than $250,000 per year. Moreover, Joe has tax paying issues. In short, Senator McCain, your utilization of this man was poor judgement. Perhaps not as poor as picking Sarah Palin, but your consistency gives reason to fear your success in the coming election.

Pictures, Songs, Haircuts and Fashion, How They Evoke bygone Times

2008-10-23T07:13:00.000-07:00

This morning, I was visiting http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/, reading about one of my favorite band’s album’s reissues being postponed. In doing that, I see this picture—the one off to the right, and am struck with this wave of nostalgia and passed time. For me, it’s quite amazing to see haircuts, colors, and photo components none of which would be considered part of contemporary fashion. At the same time, because of what has since occurred, those items seem all the more out of time.

Since this photo was taken, for bands in Pavement’s genre, recollection of 60’s and 70’s garage rock meeting dive bar aesthetics has been dominant. Beyond that the styles of college-aged kids, even those revolting against their contemporaries’ affluent aesthetic, have changed substantially. I realize this is a bit meandering, but in how cyclical fashion aesthetics are, it’s hard to write about it without a flow chart. The ebb and flow are interesting.

I digress. Seeing this photo brought me back to thinking of just how much time has passed since this photo was taken for this no broken-up band, at the same time, how much time has since passed for me. The year this photo was taken, I was either concluding my freshman year at Illinois or starting my sophomore year. I was quite into being a fraternity boy, and working on enjoying the fruits of my labor during pledgeship. It all seems quite long ago, and evokes this time about which I seldom think. I think about later years in University, but seldom back specifically to the year of 1997.

Of course, sometimes I wonder if that is because 1997 was one of the easy and comfortable years of Clinton pax-Americana. Because the events of the Balkans and Africa were quite far removed from college students out having a good time, and none of my friends were subject to having their reserve duty called up, thinking about the world stage at that point wasn’t a question. I wonder now how nineteen-year-olds find themselves in those similar circumstances.

I guess that begs a great question: is it better to live in days of Halcyon or days of concern, which keeps one focused on the world’s events?

Sarah First

2008-10-20T11:52:00.000-07:00

Governor Palin, are “pro-America” places just like the place in your home where a member of the Alaskan Independence Party lives?

Everybody’s Gotta Make a Living – Vanity Redux and Old Folks

2008-10-20T07:11:00.000-07:00

Are we a culture obsessed with Vanity and Desperation?
You’ve probably seen me write about SPAM before, and read my thoughts about “Truth to Market.” To sum it up, we see spam about erectile dysfunction, male organ size, pharmaceuticals and clothing all the time. Spammers have one clear objective, of course, which is to make money. As such, they spam on the aforementioned topics with the hope that will grab as many desperate folks as possible. By the same token, the one liners, as here demonstrated, are overly pervasive on the Internet. It’s as though late night/early morning ad buyers have found they can penetrate a broader demographic via the Internet than through their former medium.

What does this say about our culture? Again, I think I am only stating something at which we all nod our heads, but it’s probably one of the greater flaws of our culture. By that I mean the guise of “having it all.” We are a nation that has waged a war, at the same time telling people to “spend, spend and spend,” does our Government sell the same delusions? Clearly, in the process both the citizens and the Government of the United States have run up a bundle of credit card debt.

My point is simply that we have cultural issues that we need to repair from our grassroots. It’s evident by what is marketed to us. I could probably spend more time writing on this, but for now, work is more of a priority.

Good News in the Morning

2008-10-19T17:01:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning, and was delighted to hear Colin Powell endorsing my candidate for President. Powell is a respected and intelligent man; moreover, he was betrayed by the current administration, which gives him all the more cause to fight for Obama’s campaign. Let’s be frank about something, John McCain, while he is angered at the allegation, does not represent a shift in policy from the current administration—probably the worst President in our history.

I digress. I was delighted to see one more component fall to Obama’s favor, and glad to see it was someone whose support could silence one of the many attempted criticisms of Obama. Over the next few weeks, we’ll see McCain and his surrogates clutching at straws, attempting to find something that works against Obama. It will be obnoxious and annoying, but it’s the cost of doing business.

Out of respect for John McCain, after he hopefully loses, I hope he returns to the Senate, and will end his campaign. McCain’s campaign and his erratic behavior in it have changed my opinion of the man and his faculties. It’s too bad, but he doesn’t care what I think, so it simply is what it is.

Working on a Saturday, and all the Thoughts that Come into One’s Head

2008-10-18T17:25:00.001-07:00

It’s funny, I don’t know if I am into writing about thoughts as much as I am thinking about the various websites I’ve been visiting today. Right now, my Shuffle is playing “Check Your Ride,” by Tribe Called Quest, but I was last reading an article about Memphis-rocker Jay Reatard—that’s how he spells it.

Anyway, as I was reading about Jay Reatard’s latest album on Pitchfork, I was thinking to myself, third-person, “Wow, what is Matt doing right now, but sitting for his twelfth hour on a Saturday, at his work desk.” Of course, admittedly, I did run seven miles from about 7:30 to 8:35, plus the time back at my place to shower and change. That involved leaving work where I was earlier and coming back. That’s my Saturday, and of course, because I had to open a conference bridge and run this morning, I went to bed wicked early last night.

Apologies, I’m not trying to whine. My point in writing that is to note, I’ve had a lot of time to think. Of course, seemingly, I always have time to think. I live alone, run alone, and do most everything else alone. For some reason, however, being at the office alone has provided ample time with fewer distractions to update myself on media.

Of course, if you read this blog ever – bless your heart, you probably know that I spent the bulk of my time reading http://www.economist.com/, http://www.cnn.com/, http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/, http://www.espn.com/, http://www.slate.com/ or http://www.salon.com/. Yeah, politics, tunes, or sports, I am an action-packed man—a man of action.

As an aside, I thought of something as I wrote that. Thursday night, I went running in the dark, which meant I didn’t run the trails, instead I ran Hill Road, here in Boise. Hill is a great road, with a nice long sidewalk and a great amount of bike trails on it, both of which make it a safe and easy run, particularly in the dark.

I took Hill from Harrison Boulevard to 28th Street. I loved running down 28th Street! What was quite lovable about it was how running down it immediately took me back to both Memphis and Chicago. At times, it looked like running in the North part of Memphis’s Midtown. In the case of Chicago, it reminded me of my runs this last fall between Lincoln Square and Ravenswood.* Between the dark, the cool fall temperature, the age of the houses and buildings, and the era in which the street was expanded to what it is, I was reminded of these different areas.

28th St. Boise

Nostalgia is such an amazing feeling, isn’t it? Certainly, different senses initiate different components of nostalgia, but above and beyond that, once one experiences it, they then have the cognitive processing that takes place. For example, in this case, I was immediately reminded of Memphis and Chicago, but then I went into my knowledge of things and analyzed why I was so reminded of those two different places.

I guess that’s what one thinks of while they’re sitting at their office on a Saturday.

*For those of you that don’t know, Ravenswood, in a way, envelopes Lincoln Square on the East and West.

Matty’s Life…

2008-10-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

There may be those of you wondering, “Matt, what are you going to do after this election?” I imagine most of you are probably thinking about such things. As for what I have going on, post-marathon, outside of work, etc… well, there isn’t a lot too interesting at the moment, that I am quite ready to disclose to the public. Let’s just say that I am working my way into something a little more “homey.” In the meantime, I am just working, etc…

Of course, there is something else about which I can speak… Obviously, I go to CNN.com pretty regularly, and I have a bit of an obsession with a woman in a Chevron banner ad. Hello – she’s a babe. I wonder if she lives in Boise. Yeah – that’s about what I have going on right now – dreaming about a woman helping Chevron market themselves under the guise of cleaner energy. Yeah – clearly, I have a lot going on…

Joe the Plumber—What Happens When the Economy Falls out from under Him?

2008-10-16T06:44:00.000-07:00

Senator McCain,

You performed better last night than you did in previous debates. Of course, our friend (the guy over here to the left), he can’t afford to provide his family healthcare, send his kids to college or to pay for his fleet of trucks’ gas. Why? How can he not? Let me give you the quick and dirty:

1) Your healthcare plan is horrible. No one in their right mind, when studying it, will give it the time of day. It’s poor. While you speak about competition and deregulation, in concert with a $5000 tax cut, which will nullify existing employer-based healthcare, you are forgetting one thing: healthcare needs regulation to protect the sick and poor huddled masses. If you weren’t in the Senate and didn’t have a job, because you’ve had skin cancer, you couldn’t go out to get your own private plan. Insurance companies are in a numbers game; therefore, they do not like folks who have reoccurring conditions—cancer-survivor? Living with lupus? Have multiple sclerosis? Sorry, tough luck. Your healthcare plan promotes exactly the opposite of health.

2) College under you, well you’re offering nothing different. Moreover, your economic policies show no substantive difference to that of the preceding President. If our buddy to the left can’t afford it now, he sure won’t tomorrow. Ergo, continuing on the downward spiral—strike two.

3) Gas? Drill baby drill? No – that won’t work either. As Senator Obama has stated on more than one occasion, we have 5% of the world’s resources and use 25%. Math and economics might not be your strong suit, but seriously, play that out over five-ten years. Yeah – that doesn’t work. Meanwhile, because of the continuation of Republican not “tax and spend” but “run-up-debt and spend,” our US Dollar is worth even less against the world currency market. In short, your planned continuation of this imbecile’s administration, well, it’s just not going to work.

In short, in case you haven’t figured it out, we’re stuck with a problem, and you’re not offering anything distinguishable. Watching you last night, you could have done something revolutionary. Right during your rant about not being George Bush, you could have laid out a point-by-point list of things that separate you from him. Oh yeah, that’s right, you didn’t.

Sincerely,

Matt

Graciousness and Allowing Things to Fold over on Their Own

2008-10-14T11:56:00.000-07:00

I’ve been a bit out of the news cycle as of the past few days, but I was unsurprised by the outcome of Pain’s “Troopergate.” In addition, of course, I did see news footage showing McCain’s delusional claim, “We have him right where we want him,” to a group of supporters. It’s entertaining and sadly ironic how McCain, his team and the RNC are losing this campaign all on their own.

Like our current President, McCain and his team haven’t seemed to garner lessons history teaches us. Since their Convention bubble, burst by the economy’s misfortune, they’ve spent all of their time speaking negatively about Barrack Obama. Ironically, when Hillary’s campaign fell into its dregs, it did the same thing. I say “ironically,” because that was only five-six months ago the wheels fell off the Clinton’s bus, campaigning against Barrack Obama.

What is quite amazing, aside from the shear number of “Hope” stickers one sees around any given city, is that Obama and his campaign are legitimately campaigning through a means of “New Politics.” In Obama’s case, in spite of character assassination attempts by his opponents, he’s kept his cool. In all of these cases, the man has simply brushed this proverbial “shit” off his shoulder.

It delights me to see that Obama has simply stood back, allowing McCain to lampoon himself. Obama has played it quite clean, and has done little quid-pro-quo with the character assassination components. Outside the advertisement acknowledging McCain being one of the Keating Five, outside of speaking to it during speaking engagements, he has spent little time being bothered. It’s quite delightful to see a campaign and its surrogates allow their opponents to self-disintegrate.

Perhaps I am blinded by my bias? If I am missing something, please comment on this, because I am quite interested in anything Obama has done on par with the Ayers/Wright/Rezko nonsense, none of which are new, nor have the past relationships received “unethical” status from any bodies of Law.
For my Conservative friends and family, I cannot imagine the embarrassment you must have over Sarah Palin. I can now see why I heard her too easily dismissed back in June, during that VP-speculation period.

Class Warfare and How the Republicans Have Turned into What They Are

2008-10-10T12:28:00.000-07:00

I cannot do David Brooks' essay justice today, so I'll simply provide the link. Brooks is a conservative, and represents the intellectual-side of the party: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/opinion/10brooks.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

Desperado – This Is Damned Absurd

2008-10-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

McCain and Palin’s campaign as of late evokes the words of “The Eagles:”
Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses?

You been out ridin’ fences for so long now

Oh, you’re a hard one

I know that you got your reasons

These things that are pleasin’ you

Can hurt you somehow

Desperado, oh, you ain’t gettin’ no youger

Your pain and your hunger,

they’re drivin’ you home

And freedom, oh freedom well,

that’s just some people talkin’

Your prison is walking through this world all alone

The absurdity of their attempts to re-tread the Ayers component is absurd. Of course, there is a strategy behind it, make no mistake. The point behind bringing this up again, in conjunction with trying to make Obama’s campaign looks suspicious (contributions information), and continuing to call him by his full name, including middle name Hussein, leaves me thinking just how desperate McCain’s campaign is.

Economy? Iraq? Anything that is pertinent to the American psyche these days? No – on those components, they lose. McCain’s policy positions are absurd, just like his “surprise” buy up bad mortgages plan “unveiled” during Tuesday’s Town Hall.

McCain’s campaign right now is losing, and it’s not getting better for them. Their last ditch effort is to get as dirty as possible, which McCain was to have been above. Clearly, out of desperation, he and his campaign have sunk to new lows. One can tell that by the forwards that come into our Inboxes these days. Funny—how come these brilliant nuggets of “Truth” about Obama aren’t carried by the news? No – instead they come to a select few, and are forwarded out. Being deceitful or casting false assertions wasn’t acceptable in the first grade. How the Right Wing has continued playing just as dirty as ever; it’s shameful.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/09/campaign.wrap/index.html

A Momentary Lapse of GOP-Backing Responses

2008-10-08T15:43:00.001-07:00

While I’ll occasionally receive a forward about Obama being a suspect alien, I’ve not heard a thing of substance arguing against Obama in weeks. Have Obama supporters, like me, made so many good points that these friends now see the light? Is the campaign that far gone for those rooting on McCain? Have McCain and Palin done so horribly that those supporting them no longer have the strength or desire to continue doing so?

Sincerely, you know who you are. If you at one point were supporting McCain, why has the conversation ceased? I’m trying so hard to figure out why none of my GOP-backing friends are telling me about Obama’s middle name, how he is just too “Liberal,” or how McCain is so much the better American.

Is it the VP pick, in the face of what has turned out to be the worst economic crisis since our grandparents were children? If I were a McCain advocate, I would have lost my marbles on the Palin pick with the economy in its dire straights. McCain has Mitt Romney for all of his flaws, who was a successful businessman; moreover, he fits most of the Right’s plank positions. Why didn’t McCain pick Mitt Romney?

Let’s back that up a bit, perhaps Romney could have been McCain’s golden goose. Why not? For one, we know that McCain hated Romney, so much so that McCain couldn’t face him during their debates. Senator McCain, that sounds like a temperament issue. Okay, that to the side, even if that was not an issue, what else is there? Oh – I get I, Romney is a Mormon. In part, because of Mike Huckabee’s mid-primary efforts, Romney’s religion would have likely kept many in the South sitting on their couches on 4-November. At least that was the GOP establishment, ala Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, et al, were probably saying—underground, at least.

For Senator McCain, we have a downward trending economy—we’ll call it that; although, it’s an understatement. In addition, we have an uninspired pick for Vice President, for which the following nicely sums up: http://www.salon.com/opinion/keillor/2008/10/08/palin/. Friends and countrymen, I know it must suck advocating on behalf of a party and candidate continuing George W. Bush’s incompetence right into the next campaign. I feel bad for you. I don’t think anyone will smugly laugh at you if you just concede that it’s about time for genuine change in Washington.

Feelings on Reproductive Rights - Either Way, the Verdict Is for Obama

2008-10-08T07:37:00.000-07:00

I received the following from the Matthew 25 Network, and thought I would share. In spite of your opinion on Reproductive Rights - please read the following from Douglas W. Kmiec:

Can you be pro-life and support Senator Obama? The answer - upon even a moment's reflection - is "unequivocally yes."

Please visit our new online resource Pro-Life, Pro-Obama created for those in the Pro-Life community that may be considering support for Barack Obama for President.

Learn the facts to share with your friends, family and faith community members. I hope you will visit today at: ProLifeProObama.com

We are all called to build a culture of life - but there's more to it than just hoping that the next Supreme Court justice somehow deals with Roe v. Wade. A bad economy is threatening to human life. Women facing the moral tragedy of abortion - are facing it, now, today - and they need a supportive community and tangible help, not condemnation.

As Ronald Reagan's legal counsel and as a dean and professor at Catholic University and Notre Dame, I have worked to put the law on the side of life.

But after 35 years, a new approach is needed. Barack Obama's strengthening of support for prenatal care, health care, maternity leave, and adoption will make the difference. Studies confirm it.

We are but a few weeks away from a new beginning in America.

I am inspired by what Senator Obama calls "the promise of America -- the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation in the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper. That's the promise we need to keep."

That is the change we need right now. And it is within our grasp.

Thank you for visiting the site and we look forward to being in touch,

Douglas W. Kmiec
In Partnership with the Matthew 25 Network

Listen to our latest radio ad featuring Douglas Kmiec and his message of support for Senator Obama. Help us run this ad in key battleground states by making a donation today.
Douglas W. Kmiec holds the endowed chair in Constitutional Law at Pepperdine University. Prior to that, he was dean and St. Thomas More Professor of Law at Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He also served as Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Counsel under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He is author of the new book, Can A Catholic Support Him? Asking the Big Question About Barack Obama.

* The views and statements expressed by Professor Kmiec are personal and are not intended to represent the views of Pepperdine University or any other institution.

The Britney Industrial Complex—Is It now the Palin Industrial Complex?

2008-10-07T14:52:00.001-07:00

Earlier this year, there was a great deal of discussion around “The Britney Industrial Complex.” Both NPR and the Washington Post did articles/segments on the subject, after an article by Portfolio Magazine: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/21/AR2008012101691.html

The point was simple, to quote from the Post:
“Portfolio's Britney Industrial Complex illustrates the economy's need for celebrities. Vast amounts of money can be made by manufacturing ones who appeal particularly to the young. Spears was once one of those, although at age 26 she has leaped that demographic boundary. Still, the breadth of her drawing power cannot be fully estimated. Portfolio's concoction does not, for instance, measure her worth to the morning television shows -- "Today," etc. -- which on any given day are mere adjuncts to the fan magazines. Nor can it measure what she is worth to us as a topic of common interest for our communal water-cooler moments. Even this column has, in a sense, exploited her.” You can see the Portfolio article here: http://www.portfolio.com/culture-lifestyle/culture-inc/arts/2008/01/14/Britney-Spears-Career-Analysis

Recalling back to the beginning of the year and the end of last year, there is a strident similarity between John McCain’s Vice Presidential nominee and the woman who acquired a faux British accent just prior shaving her head. The point is simple, there parallels are too consistent; moreover, the judgment is ridiculous.

Our media plays to a market, and our market has truth to it, which is to say that if Palin didn’t sell magazines or bring back SNL’s popularity, they wouldn’t make a thing out of her. Taking a step back, and reading myself write about this woman, I am only a reflection of the society from which I come, I am only reiterating the same bit of media. The point is, McCain will most likely lose this election, but even after 4-November, we’ll have a new celebrity over which to fawn. With that new celebrity and celebrity family, perhaps we’ll even have reality television shows. The media potential is limitless, and when you are finally suffering Palin-overload, come two more months, you can thank John McCain for introducing her Wasilla-Hillbillies to the US.

Conversations with the Senator

2008-10-07T06:04:00.001-07:00

I’ll not go back over all of the outstanding components from yesterday. Rather than do that I’ll simply say, let’s keep it clean. For one, you’re not looking well, which doesn’t encourage people to vote for you. Please disregard that; that was not substantive.

While your campaign has gone negative, in the light of the economy going badly, perhaps you need to discuss how you are going to change things. We need to cooperate on this, because I cannot think of areas where you want to deviate from the current Administration.

Wait! I know, we can talk about how you’re a maverick! Shoot, you’re right; Governor Palin already beat that one to death. Okay, let’s go back to the Economy, you are going to disproportionately cut taxes for those making less that $250,000 a year! Oh, that’s right; you’re not going to do that. I am mixing you up with your opponent.

What is it then you’re going to do? BINGO! Your plan is now to get rid of health insurance for everyone who receives it through their work! Senator, I don’t think that’s a winner. Why are you doing that?

Wait! Competition and Deregulation? Wasn’t that the justification for eliminating regulation around banks and the financial industry? Doesn’t that open up the door for more sick people being poorly covered by some sort of “discount” health plan? That too is pretty nasty.

Let’s backup a step and recap. Right now, you are continuing the same economic and foreign policy components as the Bush Administration. In doing that, you are going to reduce controls over healthcare? No wonder you’re so far behind in the polls. Yikes.

It’s a good thing you have that Governor from Alaska. She really knows her stuff, right?

Poll of Economists from the Economist

2008-10-06T10:50:00.000-07:00

http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displayStory.cfm?source=hptextfeature&story_id=12342127

Random Thoughts on a Monday – Adjunct from Yesterday’s Conversation with Audrey

2008-10-06T10:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was sitting at Java, doing work on my PMI Presentation for later this month. I saw Audrey, a woman I met late last month, come through the door. Audrey is pursuing her RN, and I’ve run into her studying once or twice. I was speaking her, and asked her what she was studying. Audrey responded with “oncology.”

That took me in a new direction, and I asked her where they were finding causes for cancer. Largely, to fix a problem, one needs to find its causation. Of course, the second I asked her this, I thought and quickly changed my perspective. “Causes of cancer are like the weather, aren’t they? The systems are so complex and multi-dimensional, predicting cancer in someone is like predicting the weather a year later.” The point is to say that, like the weather, there are no linear causes for things that happen with our bodies. If there is one thing running has taught me, there is nothing so easily reduced to linear causation.

Our human minds, while incredibly intelligent, always strive to find linearity to things, when they are so much more complex and multi-dimensional than that. Quite simply, our systems are so dynamic, both with the economy, politics, weather, our bodies, etc… is there ever a way to understand root causation to such components? I am sure “Tipping Point,” by Malcolm Gladwell probably discusses this—I haven’t yet read that book. Ultimately, as we exist over expanses of time, like a Universal Field Theory for the Universe’s physics, perhaps such things we are never to know or fully understand. However, it is quite amazing, and always something to keep us continuing to try to figure it out.

Of course, as I type this, I am beckoned to Book Lambda of the Metaphysics, by Aristotle. If you’ve not read it, or don’t have the time, look it up sometime on Wikipedia. It’s tough to get around unity and oneness. What a wonder it is in which we exist.

Smearing the Good Guys – How My Relationship with the Right Wing Has Forever Been Damaged

2008-10-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

If you have email, and you go to the Internet, undoubtedly, you’ve received email forwards. Beyond that, undoubtedly, you’ve received something akin to: “I love John Adams, and the ghost of John Adams wrote something you can’t argue with. 5 Facts about Obama!

1. He’s a closet alien
2. His father, not from Kenya, is from Mars
3. Obama is one of the Decepticons
4. Obama has been known to say, “ more than meets the eye.”
5. Even though Obama calls Chicago home, he likes Hawaiian food!

The point is, the Right Wing, from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth to the latest and greatest smear-whisper Internet forwards, does nothing but play dirty.

Note: immediately, they will cite Democrats who were in trouble back in the 1980’s, with the House’s post office scandal. Duly noted; however, for ever line item of corruption the Democrats had twenty years ago, Jack Abramoff’s GOP has done just as bad, if not worse. Going beyond that, one doesn’t see too many forwards about Republicans. Why is that? My goodness, could it be that while the Right claims to have moral superiority, they use that to justify shady political tactics? Maybe I’m missing great examples from the other side of things; however, I’d love to hear about them. Because unlike forwards I get about Obama’s middle name being Hussein, etc…, I seldom receive anything short of the facts from Democrats. Whose side do people want to be on, those with honor and dignity or those who play dirty? I am not down with dirty politics; it simply leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

The GOP—Taking Pride in Stupidity? Say It Ain’t So…

2008-10-05T16:33:00.001-07:00

It seems quite obvious that there is something endearing to listening to one with whom we could see ourselves having dinner or grabbing a drink; however, it seems as though there could be a limit to this. I don’t expect this blog posting will be written before we hear out of the GOP the words “Joe6Pack” or “HockeyMom.” That’s unfortunate. For the sake of likeability, in the past eight years, the GOP has nominated tickets with the intellectually incurious.*

I recently saw an article, which stated that this began with Dan Quayle, but I think its roots are farther reaching than that. Let’s backup a minute. Right now, we can say that appealing to “Joe6Pack” or “HockeyMoms” is similar to trying to being a populist. “Populism,” for the GOP to continue down this road takes a great deal of chutzpah. This is quite something for a party that has provided for the largest and most disparate gap of wealth in recent history. One could reduce this to “what’s the matter with Kansas” thinking.

Ultimately, where this finds its roots is with the 1968 Republican Convention and its nomination, where Richard M. Nixon and Kevin Phillips successfully devised his “Sothern Strategy.” In a 1970 New York Times article, Phillips said:

“From now on, the Republicans are never going to get more than 10 to 20 percent of the Negro vote and they don't need any more than that... but Republicans would be shortsighted if they weakened enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. The more Negroes who register as Democrats in the South, the sooner the Negrophobe whites will quit the Democrats and become Republicans. That's where the votes are. Without that prodding from the blacks, the whites will backslide into their old comfortable arrangement with the local Democrats” (Boyd, James (May 17, 1970). "Nixon's Southern strategy: 'It's All in the Charts'", The New York Times, pp. 215.)

This was the strategy of the GOP back in the 1970’s, and it’s what then worked well for them. Since, the Democrats have only been able to successfully elect two Presidents, both of whom were from the South.

I would argue, thus far, the Southern Democrats have been the exception, largely because aesthetically they relate best to those the GOP began to attract as its stronger base following the 1970’s Southern Strategy. The continuation of the Seventies’ Southern Strategy was the “Reagan Democrats” in the 1980’s. At that point, due to both the Soviet Union’s menace and a bad economy from Carter’s term, Reagan was able to successfully appeal to blue-collar union folks. Due to escalating the Cold War, Reagan made himself the only option come 1984, as we were then ruled by the politics of fear. Ironically, one could cite the same strategy in 2004—fascinating.

I digress—apologies. Right now, we’ve witnessed two Republican administrations in the past thirty years utilizing the remnants of the “Southern Strategy,” by utilizing populism with a twofold attack.
Quite simply, the Republican Attack can be reduced in two components: One, attack the opponent’s character, highlighting a perceived disconnection with values of the larger portion of the population; two, demonstrate and embellish fear of that opponent’s capabilities against enemies of the United States.

Over the past twenty years, they did this by appealing to the wedge issues around abortion, social welfare, marital infidelity, and the Middle East. When Democrats—Bill Clinton, won, they did so because the economy hits bottom following long Republican terms in office; moreover, there is a reduced air of insecurity, which allows voters to focus on the economy. In this case, following the Bush Administration’s atrocious eight years of office, we have the former, and the latter’s strategy has been massive enough to call that component into question as well.

Quite simply, with John McCain (security) and Sarah Palin (“value”-identification/photogenic), right now, are in front of us. As such, with Palin’s limits to values/photogenic appeal being transparent, in the face of her Bush-like incompetence, even the Reagan Republican Swing Voters know better. Of course, this is why McCain’s ticket’s numbers are as low as they are. Ergo, we are going to see a blitz of character assassination in the coming weeks, which will be the only thing their party’s horrible platform can conjure. It’s unfortunate that we have to suffer. Fortunately, it’s been so transparent leaving Bush and Cheney in office for this length of time.

I have one last favor to ask: please when receiving forwards about the candidates, go to http://www.snopes.com/. Even for McCain-Palin, please go to the website. It’s non-partisan. It simply exists to provide dimensions of truth to the Internet and forwards.

*One could take that even further, and mention Dan Quayle, but for the sake of brevity, I thought I’d keep it to this millennium.

Being a Hack, here in America, That’s Politically Fashionable

2008-10-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

My friend Robert asked a question this morning about why it is that Americans and politicians find it so much more agreeable to be “Joe6Pack” or “HockeyMoms” than to be educated or “elite.” It’s a terrific question, and one that too many have spent a lot of time pondering. Call me an elitist or whatever you care to, but I am tired of Hacks being elected.

The current President of the United States is an intellectual hack, who staffed his White House with minions from Dick Cheney. That President’s intellectual incuriosity has cost our country thousands of lives. Last night, even though she cutely accused Obama-Biden’s campaign of looking backwards rather than being about change, Sarah Palin daftly only confirmed that. Governor Palin certainly did demonstrate she can repetitively use the word “maverick,” but she didn’t clearly answer questions nor did she respond to any statements Senator Biden made about her ticket’s being four more years of the same rubbish.

As I wrote about over the past few days: her bar was so low, all she had to do was not stumble over her talking-points. Fair enough, but this was what put her performance, in many people’s opinion, to bed: "Let's talk about the maverick John McCain is," Biden said. "And, again, I love him. He's been a maverick on some issues, but he has been no maverick on the things that matter to people's lives ... He's not been a maverick on virtually anything that genuinely affects the things that people really talk about around their kitchen table."

Sound Bites and Talking Points Are What They Are—Is It Not Recursive to Use Clichés with Them?

2008-10-02T08:43:00.001-07:00

One wonders how Tina Fey can get such laughs by quoting the governor verbatim, case and point:

"I think they're just not used to someone coming in from the outside saying, 'You know what? It's time that normal Joe Six-Pack American is finally represented in the position of vice presidency,' and I think that that's kind of taken some people off-guard," she said in a radio interview with conservative host Hugh Hewitt. "

Because that was this week, we’ll have to wait for SNL to play it this weekend. My point, however, is that this woman has said nothing of substance. I make the joke by posting the BINGO card on the blog. Seriously though, I cannot hear one person arguing the contrary on this woman’s contribution to the campaign. In short, she’s photogenic, young, and a governor in Alaska, that’s enough to get her a VP spot for an already dead on its feet political campaign.
I could go on ranting about McCain’s performance yesterday with the Des Moines Register. Rather than do that, I’ll simply let them continue to Implode their campaign. I’m looking forward to this evening’s debate, if only to truly play the BINGO game—just absurd.

PS: Gov. I sure do not want “Joe Six-Pack” represented in the position of “Vice Presidency.” I would prefer he or she have some substantive qualifications that go beyond anything we’ve thus far seen from you—disgraceful.

Setting the Bar Too Low?

2008-10-02T06:35:00.000-07:00

Tonight, as we all know, is the Vice-Presidential Debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. Leading up to the debate, the press, following four interviews, has thrown a great deal of analysis and conjecture at Palin’s qualifications. Quite simply, with all of this recent analysis and abhorrent performances, I am concerned the bar has been set so low, her not calling for a bombing of China or a Supreme Religious Cleric leading the Federal Government would be considered a “Win.”

Watching her two tête-à-tête interviews with Couric were quite painful; the same with Charles Gibson’s. Moreover, the third interview with Katie Couric, where McCain sat next to her, and spoke on behalf of her qualifications, to me, seemed like a young woman’s father assisting his daughter during a college entrance interview. In short, the lead up has been rough, and the press, having been held off of her, cannot get enough of the stuff.

In short, here are my thoughts on the strategies of the two campaigns—the quick and dirty. For Obama and Biden, I believe with the economic turmoil and war, their strategy has been to lie low allowing the news to do most of their work for them. The Bush Administration and Republican Party have done so horribly in the past eight years, taking a step back will do nothing to damage the brand. In short, the country knows the DNC’s plank, and Obama’s supporters know where his campaign stands on things. Obama was doing most of his work this summer, and right now, his campaign is allowing the GOP fruit to eat itself.

For the McCain campaign, they went a surprise direction selecting Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska for VP Candidate. Governor Palin plays the part of being a Governor from the more “Libertarian” West with religious credentials to enliven the Religious Right, with which McCain has always struggled. Beyond that, she, like Bush, is an affable and photogenic candidate with youth on her side. In short, she makes up for what McCain is not.

However, there is a problem with Palin; she is as intellectually incurious as George W. Bush. Watching her on the Couric interviews and with Charles Gibson, one could liken her answers to questions like a doe in the headlights. Quite simply, our country has been duped twice by electing someone for whom study, foreign policy, and intellectualism are not interesting or worth knowing. With a current President who has only been duped by any and every policy salesperson with whom he has spoken, we cannot be ready to elect someone on a ticket making that same mistake again. Those are my hopes.

Of course, with their mastermind strategies, as is evidence with Wall Street deregulation and Neo-Conservative Middle Eastern policies, maybe just maybe, the McCain Campaign has been engineering the expectations for Palin to be incredibly low! “This here is a woman who can spit clichéd talking points ad nauseum! Just watch her resort to them every time she’s asked something to which she doesn’t know the answer!

#1 Problem with McCain

2008-10-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/apr2008/db20080429_854428.htm

I would love for my friends and family, who support John McCain’s candidacy, tell me I am wrong on this topic. This is the biggest issue I take with John McCain from a policy position. Tabling the lackluster decision for a VP candidate or his temper, on just a nuts and bolts policy, I cannot understand how anyone in the middle class with good conscience supports a candidate advocating for the following: do away with the employer-based tax exemption and a tax credit to individuals to help them buy their healthcare.

Right now, as per the link: “Kaiser Family Foundation survey released last year found the average annual premium of an employer-based insurance policy is $12,000, of which employees pay about one-third.”

Taking this a step further: “McCain's plan is meant to encourage individuals to purchase their insurance and free companies from the heavy cost of providing coverage. His theory is that employees would take their tax credit and flock to the open market, where they could shop around for the plan that best meets their needs. Insurance companies would have to become more competitive to win their business.”

Here is the last premise I know to be a component of his plan. To this, McCain is proposing the following: “Instead, he would give a $2,500 annual tax credit to individuals, and $5,000 to families, to purchase their own coverage.”

Let’s add this up in classic logic:
The annual premium of employer-based insurance policy is $12,000 (I know the “conservatives” will argue the free-market will change that, but no one can dispute that companies don’t already pursue competition for their best rates; moreover, they buy in bulk). Therefore $12,000 is hopeful, but let’s stick with that for argument’s sake - $12,000
McCain’s plan offers $2,500 to individuals, and $5000 to families for their own coverage purchased
As it stands, if I have a family, and I am fortunate enough to get health coverage for $12,000, I am left with a $7,000 bill.

Now, I know that people can speak to the “Open Market,” which will encourage price competition. All that is doing is relegating folks with less money to be forced to buy poorer “discount” health insurance plans. We all know that there will be different levels of insurers, many of whom will offer plans with overly skimpy coverage.

Senator McCain, look at what took place with the Sub-Prime mortgages! Take uneducated poorer folks, and throw competition at them! Of course, under the assumption that they’ll not be duped by discount insurance salespeople, this works fine. This is the most inept bit of healthcare planning I have ever seen. I’ve not heard nearly enough discussion around a plan this daft. Heaven-forbid horrible things happen to people, but when they do, under this plan, how easily they’ll be deficient of coverage or in Chapter 11. This healthcare plan is morally irresponsible and incredibly short-sighted. At best, it just leaves the average working middle class tax payer with a $7000 increase in bills—good idea!

The Inaugural Salmon Marathon

2008-09-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

The below is an essay I wrote the day after the Salmon Marathon. It's not short, so consider yourself forewarned. One of my running clubs put it in their newsletter:

I arrived in Salmon for the first annual Salmon Marathon, from Boise, on a gorgeous
Friday afternoon. The drive into Salmon was especially nice, provided the beautiful
weather and the valley view of the rugged Beaverhead Range’s Sacajawea Peaks. The
day that followed would provide me with a spectacular marathon experience, blending
the beauty and folksiness of a small town marathon, with the organization, fun and
culture of a marathon substantially larger.

Salmon is a smaller town, with a population of approximately thirty-three hundred
people, nestled in East-Central Idaho, about two hours from Missoula, Montana. Being a
smaller town, Salmon presents all of the wonderful experiences one comes to expect from
a place of Salmon’s size. After a warm and enjoyable packet-pickup experience, at
around noon, I went to find a nice Chinese food restaurant, to load up on rice for those
pre-marathon carbohydrates.

As I’d arrived in Salmon with plenty of time, I decided to get directions so I could drive
and preview the marathon’s course. The nice folks running the pickup directed me to
Tendoy, Idaho, which was where the start was located. Their instructions were quite
simple, “Follow Main out of town, it becomes “twenty-eight,” you will come to Tendoy,
from there, turn left. On your right is the school house; that is where the start of the race
is.”

As I drove up Highway 28 to the small town of Tendoy, every car or truck coming from
the opposite direction introduced to me something I’d not seen since my younger years,
growing up in Sherrard, Illinois, “the farmer wave.” If you’re not familiar, a “farmer
wave” is the ubiquitous response exhibited by passing folks in rural settings throughout
this country. It can be as simple as popping the index finger up from the steering wheel
of one’s truck. What was most delightful was being caught by it off guard, and then
striving to preemptively catch passersby before they could beat me to the punch. Perhaps
it was right there I began to feel enjoyable nature of what the Salmon Marathon would
come to offer. Of course, packet pickup was well organized and friendly, but it hadn’t
yet hit me that I was going to run the marathon in such a special place filled with warm
and friendly folks.

After I returned to Salmon, I went to my hotel room at the Stagecoach Inn, which was
strategically located across from the bus pickup and race’s finish line. I sat in my room
for several hours catching up on phone calls and trying to stay off my feet. Laying out
my race wear and pinning my number to my shirt. From there, I left for St. Charles
Catholic Church in Salmon, which was where the race-sponsored pre-race pasta dinner
was to take place.

As one can certainly imagine, the dinner was full of jovial folks, all of whom were
excited about the marathon and its smaller town setting. I met folks at the dinner from
Upstate New York, Utah and San Mateo, California. Like marathoners in every pre-race
dinner, there was a fun exchange of marathon stories from around the States and other
parts of world. It’s challenging to adequately express the fun and rustic nature of dining
in the place where Salmon’s Knights of Columbus meet, provided that church halls or
basements are too often the locations for such things. Of course, from a marathonperspective,
too often there are more than 10,000 racers, which logistically conflicts with
one local church or public hall opening their doors for every tier of racer to sit down and
dine together. This was again where the smaller nature of the Salmon Marathon, with its
limit of 250 racers, expressed its advantages.

Like the church hall at St. Charles Church on Friday night, Saturday morning, all of the
racers met for the busses to drive us to the start line, from the same place where the
packet pickup was located. The busses to drive us to the race start were school busses,
which provided for roughly twenty-two miles of conversation with fellow racers. Upon
arriving at the school, to our surprise, doors to the one-room Tendoy schoolhouse were
opened, and we were told to go into the school to wait for the 6:45 a.m. start. After
entering the school, the race volunteers and organizers asked us to take a metallic starsticker,
and attach to the map the location from where we came. Then, we were to write
on the posted piece of poster paper our name and city of origin. It was there, in the
comfortably warm school room, I learned that those from out of the state of Idaho
received in weeks prior letters from school children in Tendoy welcoming them to
Salmon and their school in Tendoy. Again, the wonder of the small town experience was
sweetly evident.

At around 6:40 a.m. my fellow racer Luke and I headed out to acclimate to the near perfect
start time temperature of roughly 45 degrees Fahrenheit. It was a little chilly, but
in the perfect way, the kind for which we knew we’d be thankful once the race started.
As we stood there Kathy Gatens the friendly and energetic race director gathered all of us
for the convocation to kick off the race. There a local pastor led us in a pre-marathon
prayer, and Kathy introduced us to a patient at Whitewater Therapeutic the program
which the marathon benefited. The young woman told the racers how she had benefited
from the program, which was all the more sincere and heartwarming, taking further the
wonderful and caring feel the racers had leading into the marathon. To conclude the prerace
convocation, we sang to a racer from Boise, whose birthday was the next day,
“Happy Birthday,” and then we were off to the start line.

The marathon, because of its smaller size was gun-timed, which didn’t leave any
concerns. As the gun went off, we began running, and a good portion of the racers took
off in quick order. The race was on “Old Lemhi Road” for the majority of its length.
Old Lemhi is a gravel road with reasonable amounts of gravel and dirt, likening it to a
trail run, which didn’t leave anyone, with whom I spoke, discouraged. Portable
bathrooms were located at approximately every other mile, which was nice. The race
started prior dawn, but magically, as though it was planned, as racers progressed up the
road, the sun came up and shown the beauty of the high mountain desert in which we
were running. There were ranges on both sides of the valley in which we were running,
and the range to our left, the south side, began showing its dawn color, the perfect reds
and greens one sees in Salmon’s surroundings.

What was equally impressive was looking to the left at dawn; around mile two, we saw a
mule deer grabbing some grass in the far off field to the left of the course. Not far after
that, around mile three, many of the racers caught a glimpse of a moose also tending to its
dawn activities. Taking this further, while I’ve never run a marathon with a course like
this, there was also the pleasure of receiving a chorus of moos and whinnies, as we
passed pasture and ranches, running down Old Lemhi.

There is the component that sounds quite rural about that, but at the same time, there
were wonderful residents of Salmon and local farms out to cheer for us sporadically
throughout the course. Of course, from the race’s logistics there was adequate hydration
and toilets throughout the course, but amongst all of the crowds there, there was a chorus
of nice women standing at the gates of a ranch, around mile fourteen, waving American
Flags, singing “God Bless America.” It was difficult not to attempt to sing along with
them, as I threw my hand over my heart at the sight. Of course, keeping with the spirit of
the marathon and the wonderful people of Salmon, crowds gathered in spots throughout
the course. In spite of the town’s smaller population, there was no shortage of
community support from the people of Salmon, or the marathon’s volunteers.

Concluding the marathon into town there was an enjoyable length of downhill, which
lead onto Salmon’s streets. From there, the course wound over to the park near Idaho
Adventures, where the busses picked us up. As I ran down to the park, where the chutes
were located, a group of young women cheered for me, “Go Matt!” I looked at them
quite puzzled, and one responded with a smiling “Don’t worry, you don’t know us.” It
was tough not to both be flattered and chuckle at that component of the race. As I ran
into the chutes, the entire park was full of racers just having finished and spectators, all of
whom cheered me through the finish. Again, the theme of this smaller marathon was
consistent throughout the race.

It is all too easy to continue to write about how nice and kind the people of Salmon were
as volunteers and spectators, but the part that provided for enjoyment of that experience
was just how well the race was run. Kathy Gatens, the Race Director, and her group of
organizers, planners and volunteers, along with the police and fire fighters of Salmon put
on an event that was a continuous display of proper advance planning. Certainly, the
racers and people of Salmon were blessed with gorgeous weather for the race, but much
of that comes down to planning for the right date, based on the location.

Following the race, at 5 p.m. the town had a party at the cleaned up park, where the finish
line was located. At the party, racers were provided free access, whereas other patrons
were charged for admission. There were tents from local patrons, some were selling
food, some were advertising their products, and others were selling desserts for
donations, all of which reemphasized the gracious nature of the race, the town, and those
organizing the event. From there, a terrific bluegrass band, New South Fork Bluegrass
played a wonderful set of bluegrass music, both their originals and covers of classic
bluegrass musicians like Bill Monroe. With many from the town having volunteered to
help out with the marathon, there was a wonderful cross-section of families with parents,
grandparents, and young children dancing to the warm sounds coming from the band.

As some new friends of mine and I were standing a talking during a break in the music,
the Race Director Kathy walked by us, and we stopped to thank her for such a wonderful
race. I found myself saying to her, “Congratulations for planning such a wonderful race.
We all love the idea of running a marathon with a small number of participants in a
smaller city’s environment, like Salmon’s, but there are typically consequences choosing
to run a smaller city’s marathon, due to lack of planning or organization.” As Kathy
stood there grateful for the compliment, I said, “Kathy, this marathon was the perfect
blend of a smaller city’s atmosphere and the terrific planning you put behind it.” I felt
comfortable speaking on behalf of all of my fellow racers saying that, as I’d not heard
one person say something to the contrary. If one is looking for a small marathon, one
with limited participants, on a faster course with optimal conditions and planning, I
would immediately have to refer them to Salmon’s, as it was all of the above. I am quite
grateful I heard of it when I did, and registered. I am sure as word gets out about this
year’s marathon, future marathons in Salmon will be tougher entries to gain.

-Matt Johnson 14-September-08

Bill – Waiting until after the Jewish Holiday?

2008-09-30T07:10:00.001-07:00

I guess this sums it up. If you comb back through the Matty blog, you can see my open letter during the primaries. I feel like much of what Clinton is bringing to the table right now is a bag of sour grapes… Maybe it’s just me….

You're a “Maverick” – An Open Letter to Senator McCain

2008-09-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

Senator McCain,

While this might not be the last letter you’ll see from me, I felt I needed to write you one after last night’s debate performance. As a candidate for President, I found your performance rather lacking. As I sit down to write this, I’ll try to conjure the reasons I didn’t think much of your performance. From there, perhaps you can modify your performance this next debate.

First, Senator McCain, you need to look at your opponent when you are debating him. It was rather maniacal that you couldn’t find the strength to face Senator Obama during your debate. We first saw this when you were debating Mitt Romney, and it seemed rather odd then as well. This time, however, it seems to be a continuation of a part of your manner, which leaves many concerned about how you would face world opponents.

I know that seems like a bit of unimportant minutia, concerning the fact you don’t face opponents during debates, but it arouses concerns about your temperament. We are all cognizant of your sacrifice for our country, and please know I’m not discounting that. However, if your temper or anger for an opponent prevents you from facing them eye-to-eye, for fear you might appear angrier or lose control, perhaps you shouldn’t look to take on the role of President of the United States.

Temper is not something unique to you; I know that. For instance, temper was something for which Bill Clinton was known; however, Clinton could face his opponents during debates. From my perspective last night, during the debates, it looked as though you were ashamed of your positions, or you were in trouble with your opponent. That didn’t show the grace many of us would like you to have.

On another note, your use of the word “Maverick,” it has to go. Sincerely, the rate at which you and Governor Palin say the word makes it sound to be a manufactured sound-bite. It’s as though your campaign did lots of polling on the qualities in the past the public liked in you, which has left your running mate and you reiterating it endlessly. Honestly, your use of the word has taken away its power, and left it more like a sound bite than a characteristic for which some might admire you.

For every part of your “Maverick” nature, you’ve continuously voted along with the worst President in our history. This is the same President who led us into war under false pretenses, and permitted torture both in Guantanamo Bay and abroad, through our military or through third parties. For all of this being a “Maverick,” your support for President Bush has simply meant that you’ve been a “Maverick” advocating or voting on behalf of someone making horrible management decisions for our country.

In short, if your idea of being a “Maverick” means what your record over the past eight years has been, I think I’d prefer to have someone else take the role of President of the United States. At the moment, your role does not provide me any comfort or hope in the face of what we have on the table.

What Economists Say

2008-09-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

http://faculty.chicagogsb.edu/john.cochrane/research/Papers/mortgage_protest.htm

With great pleasure, I am posting what my dear friend Peter just sent to me. In so doing, I realize I was perhaps not as clear during my first post on the topic, so I’ll clarify things a bit.
I am not for Paulson’s bailout – I like Dodd’s version better, if there is one
I don’t know that it needs to be right this second;
However, I think it should come sooner rather than later
I do think action is required, not necessarily right now, but at some point
I do think there are socio-economic ramifications to this, which need to be taken into account before anything is firmly done

To the link that is attached, I like the petition, and far be it for me to speak better on economics than those signatories. I do not, however, believe that our economy in this instance should live and die by the free market. I say that for the following reasons: one, our market does not exist in a vacuum; two, the problem was not created in a vacuum; three, there are ramifications beyond simple profit and loss.

The petition argues not against government intervention. It argues instead for the following: “we ask Congress not to rush, to hold appropriate hearings, and to carefully consider the right course of action, and to wisely determine the future of the financial industry and the U.S. economy for years to come.”

I just wanted to clarify. I erred not stating clearly enough; therefore, conflating the Bush administration's move with things that should be done.

“Bailout” – How Are You on It? Me, I am for it!

2008-09-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

I am averse to the word “bailout,” it’s too pejorative. We need to examine this as the government investing in our nation’s solvency, thereby, saving our country and the world from Recession.

Why do I support this Economic Rescue?

Here’s the quick and dirty: watch J.P. Morgan buy Washington Mutual, and watch them thrive. Congress should move along with an economic rescue package similarly.

Why does the purchase of a failing bank work for JP Morgan? Well, like Bear Stearns, there are assets both firms hold, it’s just that their management blew too many calls.
Certainly, there is a short-term loss absorbing Washington Mutual, but the flipside to it is that Washington Mutual as JP Morgan, upon restructuring, holds enough assets to be a recoverable asset. Above and beyond that, the purchase of Washington Mutual allows Chase to move into the West, which means that I can consolidate back to one major bank (I opened another checking and money-market account here in Boise at another bank, mostly so I didn’t have to pay ATM fees).

Of course, in the case of the Federal Government shoring up mortgages, there are risks. On the other side to that, the risks of doing nothing far outweigh the risks of the Federal Government owning Real Estate (that outcome being the worst case). Right now, all of this paper money going around, if shored up by the Federal Government will keep the credit markets buoyant. No one I know is 100% liquid. In some respects, if not many, most I know use credit cards. Some may keep them paid off as regularly as possible; nevertheless, there is that smidge they have outstanding to a creditor. That’s not excluding all of those in the US with mortgages, car loans, businesses buying other firms, etc… In short, doing nothing could cause a catastrophic collapse of the credit market.

Okay, our government has failed us, in both their lack of regulation and allowing too much buoyancy in the market, both with loose capital irresponsible government spending. That’s to be sure. This coming November, please don’t forget the party 100% responsible for six of the last eight years. Does the Democratic Party share some responsibility for Fannie and Freddie? To be sure, but this ball started rolling about eight years ago, and it kept rolling unhindered right up to 2006.

Make them pay in November, but let’s not cut over our nose to spite our face. It’s that sort of irresponsibility we need to legislate against in coming years. We need to elect those that will effectively do that. Those responsible for this, they will pay with their loss of office or CEO positions, but we don’t all need to suffer for their mistakes. That is water under the bridge. Like Iraq, we can’t simply run right this second. We need to shore things up, plan for something effective, and then make a graceful departure. The Federal Government could do the same with housing here in the market, if things got worse. Even in worst case scenarios, there aren’t fewer people needing homes, there will always be value in homes in the US. That value might be reduced, but then, if the government restrains itself in their liquidation trickle, they can control that value. From a free-market perspective, it sounds dicey, but it’s better than the other way things could go.

The Future's Eyes, What They'll Hold

2008-09-26T07:06:00.000-07:00

It was tough to come home from my run last night, and not sit down to write about thousands of things. Of course, looking at the post I put up, just before I went to bed, we could probably see this coming.

First, I respect Libertarianism, but where were all of the “Conservatives” these past eight years? Not doing anything about this credit crisis will amount to a global recession. Let’s not do that team! I’ve seen Ron Paul’s berating Bernanke, but sorry Congressman, you’re missing the point. I don’t see one economist amongst your crowd speaking against our government’s attempt to salvage credit. No, it’s hindsight twenty-twenty Libertarians who didn’t do a damn thing to stop or block six years of Republican economic policy domination, from 2000-2006, which put us in this mess.

As I type that I think to myself how these past eight years will be looked upon in history books. For one, we didn’t learn from the gas crisis of the 1970’s. Detroit and American drivers returned to buying expensive gas-guzzling cars, which became the status quo.

I recall writing emails, back when I lived in Memphis—with nearly everyone driving SUVs, how immature and short-sighted that choice of auto was. As a revolt, while in Memphis, I bought a Subaru. I look back at twenty-two year-old Matt with a smile, and find myself grateful for the indignation.

Okay, I digress. We have historians looking back at our less-than-thirty years’ repeat of one set of mistakes. What’s the next set of mistakes? Is it similar to cheap credit and loose monetary policy of other decades, e.g. the 1920’s? Hmmm… While in our history books we see pictures of flappers and J. Gatsby, we know that it was people continuously living above their means.

I wonder if fifty-to-one-hundred years from now people will look back on people taking out loans for homes they couldn’t afford and cars they couldn’t afford, thinking, “What were those people thinking? It’s not as though they were the first people on Earth to live above and beyond their means, but how did they get so caught up in doing so? My goodness, what a bunch of idiots they were!”

Take that same classroom of juniors in their high school’s American History class, and then throw in the Iraq war. “Wait, wait, wait, we invaded Iraq under the guise of “WMD,” and they didn’t have any? The White House knew of this, and helped fabricate additional ‘intelligence’ to aid their case with the US and the World? How they were not impeached, and how we did not get out of the Middle East sooner, just baffles me! Especially considering the President before was impeached for, what, hooking up with an intern?!

I would love to hear someone else’s interpretation of how the future will look back on the seven-and-a-half years preceding this post. It’s a shame we were so easily duped.

McCain's Campaign

2008-09-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

I'll probably find myself writing more on this tomorrow; however, it was something that was on my mind. Right now, McCain's campaign is exhibiting the ineptness and incompetence that the current White House has shown over the past eight years.

Sincerely, W was handled from the minute Rove decided that he could turn HW's affable son into a President. Right now, we now have John McCain, playing the same game as Bush has for as long as we've known him. Sincerely, the way this campaign is going for Senator McCain has two possibilities: one, he has made some horrible managerial and strategic decisions, which has run his campaign into the ground; or two, he has submitted to his handlers, who with or without him have put him in this horrible position. Neither of which speak well for his possible presidency; we simply can't afford a third term of this level of incompetence.

In all of my discussions or disagreements with friends on McCain, I have yet to hear a policy position they take in opposition to Obama. Every discussion descends into a platitude about his professional career being in Chicago, his history as, among other things, a community organizer, or something correlated to his father being of foreign birth.

Please, someone reading this provide me a stated policy position McCain has in contrary to one of Obama's that demonstrates his appeal for being the next President. Consider this the gauntlet, because I have yet to see one policy-based argument that serves as a stunner.

If someone simply states "Chicago Machine Politics" or "Illinois Government Corruption," to that I will note the S&L scandal or "The Keating Five." In neither case were the two candidates convicted of anything, nor were they defeated by their primary opponents based on these items, respectively.

From a policy-perspective, please tell me how McCain is better on the Economy, Iraq, Iran, and Health Care or otherwise. I've not yet heard any delineation from McCain, respective to the status quo, while at the same time, it's tough to find us in worse shape fiscally or diplomatically.

The nice part of things at the moment is that the newness of McCain's Campaign's August distraction has worn off, and the desperation of the move and its poor implementation are being represented loud and clear. Do we want someone who manages their campaign this poorly running our country next year? I certainly hope not, and by the latest shift in polling, I suspect I'm not the only one.

Campbell Brown - Great Blog - Had to Share

2008-09-25T08:45:00.001-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/25/campbell.brown.financialcrisis/index.html

I thought Ms. Brown summarized and articulated the feelings of many of this country quite well. It's my hope that Congress passes the "Bailout," they pass Christopher Dodd's bill, which offers Paulson funds to do what he claims he wants to do with the $700B, but takes away his immunity, among other things. What's wrong with some accountability? Clearly, we've seen a great deficiency of it over the past eight years.

Jake, This One Is for You

2008-09-25T06:57:00.000-07:00

While we can battle about McCain temporarily pulling out of the race and how political of a move it is, it’s too much fun pointing out your VP candidate’s worship with an African Witch Hunter (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl4HIc-yfgM). Perhaps this Witch Hunter could come and help kill off the dastardly witches that have run us into Iraq and run the Economy into the ground. Perhaps if McCain and Palin were elected we could have Thomas Muthee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Muthee) come into the White House to help save us from the likes of Mama Jane. To think Reverend Wright caused such controversy. Yikes – this is a little too bat-spit crazy—it’s a good thing she’s a hockey mom.

“Putting My Campaign on Suspension”

2008-09-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, I find it a little humorous that McCain is putting his campaign on suspension to go back to Washington and avoid this Friday’s debate. Why? Matt, this crisis is dangerous for our economy! We need all of Washington in session, able to vote on the bailout package!

Okay – well then, by all means, should McCain, a patriarch of the economy go back to Washington to attempt to look Presidential in the face of a crisis that was caused by everyone but those deregulating banks, real estate and Wall Street over the past eight years! What is the worst that could happen for McCain? He announces his intention to suspend his campaign, and go back to Washington in the face of his declining poll numbers, so he can look more Presidential! “I am a man of importance! My poll numbers have descended, which means I can’t get anything out of being on the stump! Rather than do that, I am going to symbolically stop campaigning in a losing campaign to look presidential by going back to Washington!

It’s a good thing McCain is putting all of this on hold! Maybe if things aren’t working out for him, he doesn’t get the October surprise Bush is striving for on his behalf, and the economy is still bad, he can put the election in November on hold as well! Yeah – it looks to me like capitalization on bad news for the Economy…

The Internet’s Workaround for Pop-Ups

2008-09-24T06:55:00.001-07:00

(a current rolldown ad)

(a cartoon making fun of "old" PopUps)

Is it just me, or is it frustrating how web designers have come up with the content roll down to workaround the pop-up blockers our web browser developers have put together? It’s quite frustrating, as there wouldn’t have been such developments if people were happy to be affronted with advertising content. It reminds me of the TiVo did to commercials on Television, and how there was balking at it. It makes one wonder, why do brands risk making their brand annoying? Would it not simply make more sense to produce the best product based on value, and proceed with that? Of course, based on the assumption that the market drives such behavior, clearly, there is success in it. That’s simply too bad. This post was brought to you by Matt – he’s smart.

Jake’s Comment Begs an Interesting Question

2008-09-23T15:28:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, my friend Jake wrote a comment about my posting of a pro-Obama forwarded email on this here Blog. Jake’s comment, please see the comments in the below blog, notes that all of my postings for the past few weeks have been around McCain’s running mate decision, with the exception of my marathon. That led me to a thought: why is it that she became so noteworthy? Is this an advantage to McCain’s campaign?

Let’s talk about advantages to McCain’s campaign: one, the economy hasn’t been in the gutter this bad since 1991-92; two, we are in an unpopular war fought based on a myriad of lies promulgated by an administration which is exceptionally more secretive than ever—McCain supports this war; three, the positions of the Republican Party on social matters run below average on poll numbers. All of these things added together, it seems to make sense to distract the public from the substance of McCain’s policy positions.

McCain’s policy positions, while he has taken contrary positions in the past, ultimately are his own, and they have led us to where we are today. Right now, when faced with what we have, from political, economic, and militaristic perspectives, the American Public looks down their nose. Alas, a few weeks ago during the convention in St. Paul, a nice looking woman was put in front of the American public to refresh McCain’s campaign’s image. This worked, and indeed this Governor from Alaska did attract a lot of attention, some would argue—this guy included, that this was due to the fact that we knew little about her. These first few weeks have become a discovery section, and there was enough juice about her life in Alaska, we couldn’t help but knock down McCain’s selection choice – largely predicated on playing to his party’s base.

Isn’t that just it? McCain’s policy positions are disagreeable to 72% of the American Public, and his age raises concerns. By bringing in some new blood, which is not so readily deconstructed, like Romney would have been, McCain has diverted attention from his shortcomings. Right now, McCain’s campaign is doing the same thing Bush’s campaign did in 2000 and 2004, which was divert the public from the substance of policy positions, and focus the public on something else—something fascia and remote. If the only way a party can win is by playing games about personalities rather than policy issues, clearly, they are lacking something.

Of course, when it comes to those discussions, let’s not forget the Keating Five and the first Mrs. McCain. Were McCain the Democrat in this race, we’d have heard about those two items ad nauseum. It’s too bad. I just hope this time it won’t work like it did the last two times to put someone so incompetent in office.

The First Forward I've Received in a Long Time, which Makes Sense

2008-09-22T13:16:00.000-07:00

Subject: I'm a little confused...
I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....

If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents and a single mother, you're "exotic, different."
If you grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.
If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick. *Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable. *Attend 5 different small colleges before finally graduating, you're well grounded. *If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer with a constituency of over 100,000 people, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.*If in those 4 in Washington you were able to author about half a dozen major laws (working with fellow Democrats and Republicans) and have 4 pass and signed, you don't have enough experienced.
If you serve 22 in the Senate, authored less than half a dozen laws and have only one signed (the McCain Amendment prohibiting torture in the armed forces which he, himself no longer supports) you're qualified to run the country.
If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian. *If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, then left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system, while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.
If your wife is a Harvard graduate laywer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.
If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.
OK, much clearer now....

Why vote Barack Obama?
His work as a community organizer provided him with a profound understanding of what real people need from their president. At the Republican National Convention, in which the theme was service, Republicans mocked Obama's willingness to put his country first. Obama. See Obama's response to the disrespectful Republicans.
McCain is bad for our foreign policy! He may have experience, but is it backed by a thorough understanding? Both he and Governor Palin have chiseled out an image of them leading America with absolute confidence, and have said time and time again that they would not blink to push that red button, but confident as they are, would it be an educated decision? It's been duly noted that McCain lacks enthusiasm for the details that the other senators, Obama and Hilary Clinton included, are quick to pick up. Time and time again he has been profoundly mistaken on foreign policy decisions, most notably on his recent tour in the Middle East, mistaking Sunni and Shia, sects that fundamentally do not get along. And he doesn't do it just once, he does it five times!! He's a "warrior who is dumb about war.As the Chairman of the Subcommittee of US Foreign Relations on European Affairs and through his voting record in the Senate, Barack Obama has repeatedly been right on Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan and supports our troupes, even after the war's ended, and he always has!
He wants to provide affordable healthcare and cut taxes for working Americans, taxing only those who make over $250,000. He would also eliminate taxes for seniors making under $55,000 per year.
McCain will overturn the historic Roe vs. Wade decision. In this respect, McCain exemplifies the contradiction that exists within the "sanctity of life" defense in which the majority of Republicans use in the same breath as "abortion," but according to Gallup, 80% of Republicans are also staunch advocates of the death penalty. There is quite a double standard. And how is wanting to protect the life of a mother not a reflection of the belief of every American - that life should be cherished and preserved?
As we all know, and are humbled by, John McCain was physically tortured for years during his service in Vietnam. We expect John McCain to hold a firm stance against such dehumanizing practices, however McCain has been swayed yet again to align with his party and now supports waterboarding. In fact, he seems to be changing his mind or confused on his stance for many other topics as well: click here to see. An exception being his stance on gay marriage. He's still against that.
Republicans like to note that Obama marks present when it comes time to vote, but what they don't tell you is how much more Obama gets done. The Library of Congress makes this information available at http://thomas.loc.gov/. Searching the list of bills/resolutions in the current congress (111th), Obama is listed as a sponsor or co-sponsor for 130, McCain is listed for 38. Search of the 110th congress came up with 660 bills/resolutions that Obama sponsored or co-sponsored, compared to McCain's 252. In the 109th congress Obama sponsored 579 bills/resolutions to McCain's 337. In the past three congressional sessions that adds up to 1,369 bills/resolutions sponsored or co-sponsored by Obama compared to McCain's 627 during the same period. Obama is over twice as productive in the Senate as McCain. Imagine what he could do as President!

Things Not Acceptable for which to Charge

2008-09-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/21/palin.rape.exams/index.html
Reading the article in the paper today, about Palin’s town, while she was mayor, charging women for rape-kits in opposition to state legislation fighting the practice is about as disagreeable as possible, to say the least. I have to admit, from a victim’s perspective, the idea of being charged for a component of the investigation is among the most absurd and horrific things I’ve ever heard.

I understand that Palin is on record not being aware that women or their insurance were being charged for their rape kits. However, provided this was a topic of the legislature and in the news in Alaska, during her term as mayor, methinks that she probably pondered the issue, and investigated it.

I can also imagine that, like ambulance fees being charged to a person or their insurance, it was internally justified as something, “the insurance will be probably paying for this, in most cases.” I am going to make another assumption, based on the way investigations and interactions with Police following the report of criminal activity; I don’t imagine women are being told upfront they’re going to be charged. No, instead, I think it’s as the article shows it, one received a bill after the fact with that $1000 charge. They receive the bill or the Explanation of Benefits from their insurance.

From personal experience, just receiving an explanation of benefits from one’s insurance company, for the charges for an ambulance that took them to the hospital in a medical emergency predicated on criminal activity, leaves one shocked that something so basic and not to the victim’s fault could be assigned to the victim. Fortunately, in the State of Illinois, there is victim’s compensation, which would have paid for that charge in arrears, if insurance didn’t pick it up. Nevertheless, sending a victim through that rigmarole is unimaginable, particularly in the case of something as brutal as rape.

What this tells me about Governor Palin is:

If she was not aware of this, she was not detail-oriented, nor was she a victim’s advocate;
If she was, but thought it was “okay,” she has a deficient morale compass
As one who is anti-abortion, even in cases of rape or incest, she has no empathy or perspective on women’s health issues or perspective on victim’s rights.

In summation, to think that anyone would think it was okay to charge victim for the investigation of a crime, in any capacity, needs to be removed from their position. It’s simply not acceptable, nor is it something that anyone should support. I hope she has to answer this in the public domain, not through a public relations representative. That’s among the most horrific policy stances I’ve ever seen.

Sitting in Coffee Shops

2008-09-21T11:59:00.001-07:00

That is something I do more often than perhaps anyone should bother. I write that as here in Boise, I sit in Dawson Taylor next to two lovely young women, both of whom have nice strawberry blond hair. One is a nursing student; the other is working on getting her PhD in writing at USC. What’s nice is sitting near them falling into conversation; however, the challenge at the same time is not talking to them too much. One doesn’t want to be annoying to those which they would like to see again on friendly terms.

Of course, then it is that those nice enough to allow one to join in their conversation, without disapproving or frustrated looks, find the work that had them previously occupied. To be sure, being self-entertained is a primary motivator for bringing the laptop to the coffee shop.

Of course, then we can be reminded that we showed up here at the coffee shop with a laptop for a reason in the first place. Yes – that’s right, there is work to be done.

Speaking of Liberal vs. Conservative…

2008-09-19T14:57:00.001-07:00

What’s quite amazing is how the AM radio conservatives of the past thirty years have turned “Liberal” into a pejorative word. It’s impossible to hear a political discussion, and not hear the word “Liberal” used in a context meaning something unfortunate or negative. Those who’ve claimed a “Liberal Media Bias” are the same individuals who make “Liberal” so negative.

Let’s see what we can do to disassociate this word with terms so negative. I am sure Derrida or Wittgenstein would have something to say on this. I digress, these days, when I hear the word “Liberal,” this is what I think. The United States is a “Liberal Democracy.” Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, John Locke and Thomas Jefferson were all Liberals.

If the above four were Liberals and William F. Buckley is a conservative, I’ll take the former. Of course, this recent administration has been a betrayal of Buckley’s movement, which is to say that even those who argue on behalf of the Bush Administration, Cheney, Hannity, Limbaugh, McCain and Palin are opposing the political party’s legacy principled for which they singed up.

In short, being “conservative,” isn’t what it used to be, and I’d rather be fiscally conservative with our treasury, which means I’ll probably be voting the other direction than the GOP this year. My goodness…

Less Government, Less Regulation and Libertarianism

2008-09-19T07:05:00.000-07:00

It’s quite fascinating moving out West from “Back East,” even though Chicago is clearly the Midwest. What is sometimes fascinating is the persuasion for Goldwater-era conservativism, which the GOP hasn’t seen since the 1968 convention.* I run into Westerners all the time, which advocate for smaller government or “less government,” because they don’t like the “tax and spend Liberals.”

Let’s dispel a few myths, under both Reagan, Bush I and Bush II, we’ve run up an enormous deficit, in favor of irresponsible tax cuts, with large expenditures on Defense. The point is simple, voting for a Republican is like voting for someone who will give you a Ferrari, but throw it on your credit card. Ultimately, it needs to be paid for, but whom or how is it going to be paid? Oh, and in the meantime, the world’s confidence in our currency disappears, dropping our ability to trade with other countries. That’s not being “fiscally irresponsible.”(Ironic tone intended). Rather than “Tax and Spend Liberals” it should be “fiscally responsible Liberals.”

Then one has those same “conservatives” arguing against social welfare programs, or the expense of them. More often than not, when I hear someone arguing against such programs, there is a racial or socio-demographic undertone. In essence, not helping out those in need, but criticizing them for their background, poverty, or the country where they were born, that’s simply fascism. Moreover, it doesn’t represent the angels of our better nature…

Yes, okay, not to have that battle everyday, what’s even more humorous is listening to the argument that somehow the Republican Party owns Christianity. Re-reading the New Testament, those on the far Right, particularly the “Religious Right” sure seem an awful lot like the Pharisees, etc… I find it quite odd that those who profess such great faith do so while continuously exposing their hypocrisy.

Okay – there is Iraq—enough said. If one is a conservative, fiscally or otherwise, why are they going to start unnecessary wars in far away lands expending treasure for reasons, which weren’t good enough the eleven years prior?

Hmmm… Let’s see – oh yeah – it’s a good thing we de-regulated banks, mortgage brokers and Wall Street. “They don’t need regulation!”

The point is, the contemporary GOP is about as far removed from the aforementioned components of Barry Goldwater or Lincoln’s ideals—both sides of their favorable history. I thought Ron Paul was interesting, but McCain running for Cheney’s third term, he simply represents a continuation of a party beholden to Ralph Reid, Tom DeLay, Scooter Libby, Jack Abramoff, Dick Cheney and George W. Bush. We currently have the most incompetent White House in our history, a “President” not too interested in his war in Iraq. Not quite where we need to be. The rest of the world knows this and many of our people do as well. It will simply be interesting to see the continuation of spin. I’d like to think most citizens in this country know the old maxim: “Fool Me Once, Shame On You; Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me.”

*The 1968 was Richard Nixon’s nomination, and it was a decided shift from the “Less Government” Republican Party of Western Conservatives, ala Barry Goldwater. Limbaugh and other “conservatives” still espouse this Libertarian vain of the Republican Party, even Reagan promulgated some of it; however, since 1968, the GOP has worked with Nixon’s “Southern and ‘Silent Majority’ Strategies.” These two strategies coalesced around appealing to those dissuaded by hippies from the 1960’s and the Civil Rights Movement in the South. It’s been continued by opposing Roe v. Wade, etc...

Salmon Salmon Salmon - A great marathon!

2008-09-18T14:49:00.000-07:00

You know, you run, run, run, run, and finish!
Salmon was amazing! I've written a lot about it, but trying to find a way to trim down the essay for this blog.
In the meantime the results are there, and your Matt has run it. Not the first marathon in which I've participated, but thus far, it was the nicest. Something I said a lot while running the marathon, "I Love you Salmon! Thanks Salmon!"
http://www.salmonmarathon.com/results.html

Blackberry? McCain - You Did?

2008-09-17T09:31:00.000-07:00

You knew it was coming, right? I mean how can one not put these two items together, following the recent news that our dear Republican candidate for President, not only was a POW, but he invented "Research In Motion's" Blackberry!

I remember all of the grief Al Gore got for inventing the Internet... Now, with McCain inventing the Blackberry, the US has two high level folks, which are not only politicians, but IEEE inventors! Amazing!

The Begrudging Movement of Big Oil and Pharma

2008-09-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

It’s amazing to me, during this election year, just how much we’ve seen from energy companies, pharmaceuticals, and their lobbyists. It’s amazing, as we’ve seen little to anything from them over the past seven hears; however, one can tell there is currently a confluence of factors changing the tide on them. With Energy, we have the outrageous price of petroleum, predicated not off of supply but a substantial increase in demand from those in Asia. As such, companies like Exxon, Chevron, et al are airing advertisements encouraging “conservation,” particularly on items tangential to petroleum’s issues (e.g. one’s thermostat).

Like Oil, there is Montel Williams on commercials on my TV in the morning, talking about PPA busses, “From the Aloha State of Hawaii; To the Free State of Maryland,” which along with another similar industry-sponsored program, providing points like “with my savings I buy shoes.” In both cases, these two industries feel a change in tide, respective to their business models. Only in the face of a potential for change are they now budging to become more consumer friendly and environmentally conscious. Is that not amazing?

Why have we not heard anything for the past seven years? Why now? What is it that’s moved these two industries to react? Is it out of the good of their hearts?

Lake Wobegon - What a Nice Editorial

2008-09-10T09:58:00.000-07:00

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-oped0910keillorsep10,0,7101227.column

Those News-Cycle Playing “Conservatives” Are at It Again

2008-09-10T06:51:00.000-07:00

We all know there is a common expression for trying to make something ugly sound better than it is, case and point, the Bush-McCain-Cheney Economics plan. What’s funny is that Obama made a mistake using the word “lipstick” to call it out. Okay – we all know he was referring to “Economic Policy,” but because Sarah Palin used the word “Lipstick,” during her Convention Speech, she now owns the word and any use of it can be aligned to her. This allows the Rush-Hannity’s of the world to say Obama was calling Palin a pig.

Sitting in on the roundtable discussion earlier this week, it went like this:

Team,

“Jobless claims are at Record Highs for the longest time, and we just had to bail out Fannie and Freddie. Folks, they are going to nail us on the economy. Because we can’t lose our base, those making good money, which hate taxes, we need to figure out a way to change the subject.”

“Well, we could start a ‘whisper’ about him being Muslim.”

“No – that already blew up, and has been effectively dispelled. We need to take umbrage at something new. Come up with something good and I’ll make a call to Limbaugh to have him get the rest of the Right talking about how horrible of a person he is.”

“Well, we now have a woman on the campaign, and being a guy, you know he’ll say something that we can align with Governor Palin.”

“That’s thinking; that’s thinking. What did she say that we can have him attacking her? We need something that is particularly women-oriented. With her being against sex-education, Alaska doing poorly for maternity protection, and her being anti-choice, we need to get something to get the Hillary Gal’s behind her!”

“She did make the lipstick comment.”

“That’s right! If he says anything about lipstick, particularly that ‘Lipstick on a Pig’ euphemism—we go bananas! We’ll then control the news cycle, and from there, we’ll change the subject!”

I Can’t Stop Wanting to Comment on McPalin!

2008-09-09T06:52:00.000-07:00

Governor Palin’s story gets more and more interesting. I’ll leave the following components to speak on their own.

While Obama belonged to a Church with crazy-uncle Jeremiah Wright saying absurd tenants of liberation theology, particularly in response to 9/11, Sarah Palin belongs to a church with the following statistics:
1. Gay people are gay because they don’t pray enough to be straight. A faithful person can pray away their gay! Perhaps if enough people pray for the gay, they’ll all become straight!
2. Prayer will help Alaska firm up its pipeline infrastructure (I do believe God is involved in miraculous things; however, offering up that for a prayer is like offering up “rain on INVESCO Field during Obama’s acceptance” or “please ensure that Enron’s business stays afloat.”
3. There is active “speaking in tongues”
Palin beats on Obama and McCain for “earmarks” but hired a lobbying firm to help her town of Wasilla. Beyond that, she was for the “Bridge to Nowhere,” and they have her on video about it! Lying and hypocrisy are two words that come to mind.
I’ll leave something more familial off the table, as I’ve already blogged about it. Let’s just say, I don’t have a lot of respect for her attitude towards Sex Education or belief that Abstinence Education is more appropriate, and should fully supplant sex education

McCain McCain – Not so Much – An Open Letter to John McCain

2008-09-05T06:26:00.000-07:00

Senator McCain,

Seeing you last night left me asking so many continued questions about you, which remain unanswered. Rather than dally about how Cindy and all of your children are doing, like usual, I’ll cut to the chase.

Senator McCain, we were brothers in arms back in 2000, when you were running against George W. Bush in the primaries. This was at the same time Rove and his henchmen and women were push-polling voters in South Carolina about you fathering a child of a different race. From there, you opposed Bush’s “irresponsible” tax cuts and ran the “Straight Talk Express.”

Here it is eight years later, and you are the nominee for your party! That is quite an impressive accomplishment, based on the difficulty of your primaries. You John, you were able to continue with your “Maverick” branding, which is a good thing for you. On the other hand, seeing your positions of late, I am wondering if you are drank the same Kool-Aid that led the Republican Party to damage its brand of conservativism.

You know that William Buckley, your beloved Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater are all turning in their graves right now, right? Being as irresponsible with the treasury of the United States, as he was with the checking account his parents gave him for Yale—cutting taxes while at war and never seeing a spending bill he didn’t like, we cannot help but see the policies of this current administration as abhorrent.

Of course, flipping that on its head, back when you opposed him, you had something going for you, which was nice. Now, on the other hand, here we are eight years later, with an economy in shambles—that’s never been your strong suit, and you are advocating more of the same?! Senator McCain, you have to understand that continuing down this road of spend and spend and spend, without paying for it, like Daddy’s credit card in New Haven, doesn’t make any sense.

Last night during your speech, I didn’t hear a damn bit of difference. We have arguably the worst president in our history, leaving us in a worse global position than when he started, and during your speech last night, I didn’t even hear you state how you were going to change any of it. Your service as a naval officer was most honorable, as were your years in the Senate. On the other hand, you’re a little too old, as your freshness seems to have left you. Without hearing more how you’ll do something different than follow the horrible plan in which we’re currently wallowing, you’re leaving me no choice but to vote for the other guy. It was funny how you alluded to him and your VP pick—she’s prettier than Romney, called on him directly a few nights ago, but in both cases, it just looked cynical.

Sincerely,

Matt

Drilling, Drilling, Drilling

2008-09-04T07:56:00.001-07:00

What is it that makes me laugh? It’s every time I enter a political discussion about why Obama over McCain, those advocating the Republican Party bring up drilling. Drilling is the attempt of the Republican Party to command a wedge issue with the Democrats, those who opposed ANWAR. Drilling is the reason the GOP puts Sarah Palin up on stage, and justifies her being on the ticket. This last Saturday, at my running club, a guy with whom I am a friend mentioned, “if they would have done what Gingrich proposed back in ____, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Let’s back up for a minute and discuss simple economics. There are two things that affect price, supply and demand. In this case, Supply is the argument for more drilling. The theory being that if there was more oil in the market, it would be worth less per barrel. Okay, in a vacuum, that would be true – ceteris paribus. Of course, what we aren’t in is a vacuum.

What every advocate for drilling fails to mention, when they speak to greater expansion of drilling, is that there has never been such a strong demand for petroleum. China and India, these two little countries in Asia, with a good 35-40% of the Earth’s population, now have middle classes. These two countries’ middle classes now are purchasing cars and driving them. Of course, with their currencies on the incline, and their “demand” for petroleum increased, that throws the market into flux.

As it stands, we have limited petroleum in the United States. Even with further drilling, off shore, right off the beach in California and Florida, or up in ANWAR, our addition to the World Crude Supply would be nominal; therefore, it would do very little to drop the price in petroleum.

Let’s take it from the “Liberal” side of the fence, and talk about conservation of the resource. What if we all used less gas, well, that would help our pocket books, but it would do little to change the price of gas:
“Oil consumption, for example, has been falling in rich countries for over two years. Goldman Sachs expects them to use 500,000 fewer barrels a day (b/d) this year than last. But it reckons that decline will be more than offset by an increase of 1.3m b/d in emerging markets. It predicts China’s demand for oil will grow by 5%.” (Endurance test, Economist, August 21st, 2008)

Folks, no matter how much we drill in addition to that which we do not already drill—in the areas oil companies already can drill, we are not going to cut the price of oil for you and me at the pump. Gas is going to stay expensive, and the Republicans are going to continue to talk about more drilling. Of course, stock holders of Exxon Mobile, et al, gain more value, as do the executives’ salaries increase, when we increase drilling, it has little effect on our price at the pump, while reducing our environmental safety – to drilling I say, “Supply and Demand – it is demand affecting price, not a lack of supply.”

Young Professionals

2008-09-03T14:01:00.001-07:00

Today, I was at Boise Young Professionals, which was interesting. I decided to try out the first luncheon, to see if I had interest. I do, to some extent, so I will probably bone up and join. It’s a nice young professionals organization, which is interesting. I am working hard on keeping an open mind towards it, like most things along those lines, which I find a bit pretentious.

Above and beyond that, what was interesting was during their speaker’s main topic. The speaker initially was putting some folks on the spot, which was entertaining, and then he asked a voluntary question from a volunteer about a great business mentor one has had, and what they did. You get the picture.

I didn’t mention Ditto by name, but I raised my hand for the microphone, and mentioned his being an Idaho Vandal*. I went on to speak about how Ditto was a terrific communicator, but not just in speaking or writing, rather he was a great listener. His skills really involved honing in on someone’s ideas and synthesizing them into something quite successful.

The speaker as he took the microphone complimented me on the side, with the mic away.

It’s amazing how some can affect us in little ways, which come up during instances such as that one. Of course, there are great folks in all of our lives, but what is most spectacular is recalling what it was that made them so special, and how it helped make their lives great. Dear friends are about as good as it gets.

*there was an earlier discussion between the Vandals and the BSU Broncos, which is a standing debate here in Boise. It wasn’t anything of substance, except that it was a topic to which most could relate, there in the crowd.

“Attacking” Sarah Palin’s Daughter

2008-09-02T15:32:00.000-07:00

I received a text today from a dear friend, one supporting McCain. This friend is a great person, and a very astute individual. As we support opposite sides of this race, we’ve been known to taunt one another via both email and text messages. Today, I received a text from him, giving me grief for stooping low to “attack” Palin’s teenage daughter.

Not knowing whether the text was predicated off of what I shot to him yesterday via text or yesterday’s blog, I wanted to clarify something. In the event I didn’t state this clearly in my blog yesterday, my issue is not with an impregnated teen, or giving her grief. It’s that she comes from a family with a mother espousing a reduction in sex education in favor of abstinence education.

Governor Palin is an advocate of abstinence education, which is something I find too naïve and unrealistic to supplant informative sex education. It’s unrealistic and naïve, and in Palin’s advocacy of it; seemingly, she must have diluted herself into believing that her kids weren’t engaged in sexual activity. That’s just it, isn’t it?

The religious-right have always diluted their policy positions predicated on the instruction of values, which will keep teens from having sex or getting into drugs. Of course, for adults these same values mean full and gainful employment, passing these things on to children, and abstinence from substance abuse and anti-social behavior. Moreover, these values are also predicated on a divorce-free family, a stay-at-home mother and an SUV in the garage. Okay, perhaps the SUV is taking it a bit far, but is it?

The religious right’s promulgating this idea of their “values” saving civilization from itself are all well and good, so long as they do not preach hate or discrimination against those who perhaps have “alternative” lifestyles. Of course, we know better than this, right?

I just cannot yet square how and why we should take these folks seriously. Their policies do not work for them, in their own families, nor have they proven them elsewhere. For this daughter of Sarah Palin’s, a teen, she has the benefit of a mother who is the governor of her state. What about all of the underprivileged teenage women without good sex education or family support? What about these young women? They are told by the Right to have their children, and put them up for adoption, if they cannot afford to tend to them.
Of course, in the meantime, they might not have the health insurance to provide them healthy and good obstetrics. Beyond that, if they choose to keep their child, they would then need to support them, but receive grief from our society for needing assistance (not from the government, per se, but from those that lambaste “welfare moms). Lastly, when the kid is being brought up underprivileged, she or he is more prone to anti-social behavior, and on and on.

The point is simple, because not every teen mother has the benefit of having a family with her parents together, and a boyfriend marrying her, they should not all be subjected to education that clearly does not equip them with the tools to avoid unwanted pregnancy. So I am clear, it’s not to the detriment of this young woman being pregnant. It’s to the stupid naivety of her mother and her mother’s party. To make a simple cliché, they should practice what they preach, and for her daughter, while she might not agree with her mother, clearly she wasn’t in a household where she felt comfortable asking for a prescription for birth control—same story. Maybe Sarah Palin can learn from her daughter, and provide her other children with birth control, rather than leaving them without, rushing into shotgun weddings (as Palin is a big NRA member, maybe it’s a 7mm wedding…)

Let’s See, Other Thoughts from this past Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-02T12:41:00.000-07:00

It’s interesting, when talking to an old friend on the phone today, who went to LA for the weekend, what one can state about their weekends, respectively. While one summarizes their weekend’s past itinerary and what it was that was notable; thinking back over this past weekend, much of it was rather standard. I ran my “long run” on Saturday, which this week involved a mere 12 miles. From there, I went over to Java and played around a bit on an Economist, or something. Then I went to the CoOp to buy a few meat dishes for a colleague, her husband and I to eat at dinner on Saturday. Normally, I would prepare those things myself, but since I was taking the dishes to her house, along with some of my risotto, I felt like taking the easy way out, what with their already being packaged.

Dinner was nice, and it was interesting, as my colleague’s husband is a well informed financial professional. Jim’s perspective on today’s issues and the real estate market were quite interesting. My colleague had surgery on her hip, but seems to be doing much better, now that her surgery is several weeks behind her. Her spirit seemed quite up, which is what one hopes; prior her surgery, one could tell she was in pain.

Following from that was Sunday, which was nice. I went to church, like usual, and enjoyed spending time with my friend Betty, and the rest of the women with whom I sit. Betty and I, like usual, went for coffee afterward, and I met a nice women as we were leaving coffee. From there, I went to prepare for a marvelous Built to Spill show for Sunday evening.
Built to Spill played my favorite album of theirs, “Perfect from Now On.” It was masterfully performed, and I left pleased that I was in attendance. I adore Built to Spill, and living here in their hometown, I am delighted when I get to see them, with so many that no something more intimate about them.

Beyond that, yesterday was a nice day of rest. I went to Java—undoubtedly, you’re detecting a pattern, and I made some new friends. Right now, not that this is necessarily uncommon for me, I am in the friend-making business. Moving to a new city can be challenging, and Boise, being a smaller city doesn’t have nearly as much churn; therefore, culturally, the people, while friendly, are not as accustomed to having new folks integrated into their social circles. That is by no means a rule, but is something I have, from time-to-time, experienced.

Waking up this morning, with everyone else in the States off yesterday, was just so nice. It was nicer than vacation, largely because it wasn’t as though there was too much in the way of work being done while I was out. That’s always nice and refreshing, not to come back to a plethora of already started work.
That was it, a great Labor Day weekend.

Keeping Families "Off Limits"

2008-09-02T08:19:00.001-07:00

I respect Obama for stating that the campaigns should keep one another’s families off limits—they should. I note that, having watched Karl Rove state on Fox that Obama was going after Cindy McCain, when he made fun of McCain not knowing how many homes they owned. Hey Karl, Cindy’s name wasn’t mentioned once, and to infer from Obama, acknowledging McCain not knowing how many homes he owned, an attack on Cindy, that’s what we call a non sequitur.

Okay, sorry for going a bit tangential. Here’s the gist of where I am going. Governor Palin, being an advocate of Religious-Right "birth control through abstinence," watches her argument crumble with a child having a child while still in high school out of wedlock. Right now, Palin cannot stand on a stage, in an auditorium, in Congress, or in a high school gymnasium speaking about waiting until marriage or until one has graduated from high school.

Governor Palin as VP and McCain as a President would be an administration against sex education, speaking in favor of abstinence education. As a student, in both Jr High and High School, I never sat through a safe sex discussion without someone mentioning abstinence being the only 100% effective prevention of pregnancy and STD’s. With that, a proper education on various means of birth and disease control, following a statement on abstinence, should be the standard with which sex education is provided. To preach abstinence education supplanting comprehensive sex education, for Governor Palin, would now be hypocritical.

That’s the point – while I think we should keep the families off limits, Bristol Palin is proof that her mother’s platform is ineffective and unrealistic. In my opinion, while Obama and Biden should take the high ground, the public should be mindful of what that approach to birth control provides, in a wealthy and successful family. Let us not forget that Bristol Palin is by no means an underprivileged young woman in a rural setting or the inner-city, with less of a chance to successfully raise her child. In my humble opinion, this is quite relevant, and calls into question the GOP’s platform on health education and birth control.

Vanity

2008-09-01T12:02:00.001-07:00

Not to be overly vain, but I am guessing the "Juneau" vs. "Juno" pun will be recycled endlessly in the coming weeks. Mark my words - you read it here first! :)

Is Schadenfreude Something So Horrible? Am I bad for feeling it?

2008-09-01T11:18:00.000-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/01/palin.daughter/index.html

As you probably know, by the time you are reading this blog, GOP VP Candidate Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol is five months pregnant. Bristol is a senior in High School, and she is unmarried. Right now, her plans are to keep the baby and marry the father. From the perspective of one whom feels we should afford all women reproductive rights, I cannot help but giggle a bit at this.

Why? Well, like so many things, it’s a confluence of various factors. For one, Governor Palin and the GOP’s stance on abolishment of reproductive rights are predicated on “Abstinence Education,” or a lack thereof being the root cause of unwanted pregnancy. Of course, Pregnant Bristol most assuredly grew up in a home with an undoubtedly intense amount of abstinence education, being her mother’s religious-right stance on reproductive rights. In the face of that wonderful education on “waiting,” her daughter, one from an affluent family, became prematurely pregnant—being unmarried and not yet having graduated from High School.

From a second point, one can assume that Bristol was reticent to disclose, or perhaps fully kept her sexual activity from her parents. Perhaps that’s not a safe assumption, but one can doubt that her mother would allow for her to proceed with a sexually active relationship being unmarried and still in High School. Predicated on the current administration’s positions on the Birth Control Pill (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hillary-clinton/an-outrageous-attempt-by_b_114064.html), one can assume with McCain holding his hand over his face in response to the same topic, that Gov. Palin feels the same way as Bush and McCain towards reproductive health--even the pill.

Right now, we have an administration, which wants to diminish women’s reproductive rights. We have a party, presidential and vice-presidential candidates, whom run in lockstep with the same policy, one of whom has a teenage daughter pulling her best version of Juno, and not just because she lives in the city of Juneau!

Go for it McCain and Palin, most assuredly every woman I know is going to vote for you because of the gender diversity of your ticket! Is it wrong that I laugh in the face of that?

PS - what's even more entertaining is the thought that McCain's campaign "knew" of this... do we think so? Or did they vet Palin that poorly, or was she dishonest? Hmmm... It sounds as though it's safer to say we "knew," but do we believe that? Honestly?

Commonality

2008-08-28T06:43:00.000-07:00

You know, it’s interesting, having a common name; it’s always evolved into something a bit more colloquial. That can be, both a blessing and a curse, as I am sure anyone can imagine. It’s one of those things that I sometimes take for granted. For instance, I don’t recall anyone ever mispronouncing my name or having to ask how to spell it. No – nothing of the sort has ever transpired. At the same time, however, there are the disadvantages.

“I know someone named Matt Johnson.” “Matt Johnson was a teacher of mine.” “Matt Johnson committed a crime in my town growing up,” etc… Like I said, it is both a blessing and a curse. The following is part of an email to the woman organizing programs for my church. I am co-leading a Confirmation/Teen “Sunday School,” this year, which should be fun. Like volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club, I enjoy teaching and helping kids learn. As I derive a nice amount of self-satisfaction out of the process, I don’t think I earn altruistic points, but with that, it’s great there is nothing better than a good win-win.

I should note, on the side, with Isaac and Aaron being co-leaders, I think I am going to have to start going by "Matthew," in order to keep things appropriately biblical. I am not sure how to put it otherwise. Isaac and Aaron both have the solemn tone and name-recognition associated with the Old Testament. Sure Matthew is a Gospel, but come on, every other kid in the Eighth Grade at North Middle School goes by "Matt," "Matthew," "Matty," or worse yet "Mattie."

I'd change my name to Mark, John or Luke, but I think I am beaten in those directions as well. Shucks, with Nathanael being from Bartholomew, I might have to start going that direction. Of course, then that lends itself to Simpson's references.

Can I be called Moses or Noah? I like Noah; that has sort of a Hollywood screenwriter feel to it...

Yeah, that’s it!
Best,
Noah

Jim Leach's Convention Speech

2008-08-26T10:27:00.001-07:00

http://www.clipsandcomment.com/2008/08/25/full-text-former-us-rep-jim-leach-speech-to-democratic-national-convention/

Like the Republicans will have a former Hillary Clinton supporter speak or be around in their convention, we can expect to see converted on both sides. Nevertheless, Jim Leach’s speech last night made me quite happy, largely because the Republican Party misrepresents what it has done with its power. GOP, this is why your brand has been destroyed, because this abominable president you’ve provided us, marketed under the guise of “conservativism,” has been anything but.

Former U.S. Rep Leach sums it up nicely:
“The party that once emphasized individual rights has gravitated in recent years toward regulating values. The party of military responsibility has taken us to war with a country that did not attack us. The party that formerly led the world in arms control has moved to undercut treaties crucial to the defense of the earth. The party that prides itself on conservation has abdicated its responsibilities in the face of global warming. And the party historically anchored in fiscal restraint has nearly doubled the national debt, squandering our precious resources in an undisciplined and unprecedented effort to finance a war with tax cuts.”

I can’t add anything better than that, and were the Republican Party campaigning on redemption of these principles, they’d be worth considering this November. They blew this since that confluence of Rush, Delay, and W. Sorry GOP – you can scratch me off your rolls.

Cafestol and Kahweol - Two Reasons You Should Give Up Espresso

2008-08-24T12:14:00.000-07:00

Cafestol and Kahweol are two nasty little oils, which cause elevation of one's cholesterol levels. Rather than type a whole lot in this regard, I'll simply cite the following: "TOXICOLOGICAL SUMMARY FOR CAFESTOL AND KAHWEOL" (Raymond Tice, Ph.D., Integrated Laboratory Systems, October 1999):

9.0 TOXICOLOGICAL DATA
9.1 General Toxicology
9.1.1 Human Data
A direct relationship between coffee consumption and total cholesterol has been
demonstrated (Thelle et al., 1987). The cholesterol-raising effect of boiled coffee has been
associated with the diterpenes from coffee oil (Heckers et al., 1994; Mensink et al., 1995; Urgert
et al., 1995a; Urgert and Katan, 1996). Paper-filtered coffee does not elevate cholesterol since
the lipid content (including diterpenes) is negligible (van Dusseldorp et al., 1991; Ahola et al.,
1991; Ratnayake et al., 1993; all cited by Urgert et al., 1996). In a 2-year cross-sectional study
of Norwegian subjects controlling for possible confounding variables such as body mass index,
number of cigarettes, and physical activity, boiled coffee increased serum cholesterol by 8% (18
mg/dL; 0.47 mmol/L) in men and 10% (21 mg/dL; 0.55 mmol/L) in women (Stensvold et al.,
1989). For those drinking filter coffee, the effect was only significant for women.
More than 20 epidemiology studies have been conducted. The effects of cafestol and
kahweol on cholesterol, triglyceride, lipoprotein, and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity
levels from some of these studies are given in section 9.10.2.

If this is interesting to you, I suggest reading the entire paper, which you can find via the NIH: http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/htdocs/Chem_Background/ExSumPdf/Cafestol.pdf

I've personally given up everything above and beyond drip coffee, and have seen my LDL levels drop substantially. Aside from better health, it's added dollars and cents to my wallet, as drip coffee is substantially cheaper than the more upscale coffee drinks.

Diligence – on the Tunes

2008-08-21T07:53:00.000-07:00

In the interest of diligence, I should note, I preeminently confess that my perspective is quite subjective. That subjectivity is twofold: one, I am happier here in Boise than I was in Chicago, which provides for a happier attendee, hence a warmer experience; two, because there aren’t as many shows, it doesn’t provide for the space to become apathetic. About those two factors, there is no question. I confess that I am most definitely affected by those two factors.

However, I have to qualify that admitted subjectivity. To hear the set lists I have in Boise, with the exception of the local Built to Spill set list, they have involved rarities that one would not hear from these same bands in a larger more frequently played market. Moreover, the crowd shares my enthusiasm, providing for no apathy, which feeds into the performers’ performances—e.g. Wilco’s “Longcore.”

Either way, be it in the “eye of the beholder,” or be it objectively accurate, it is what it is. I’ll take it, just like the traffic, or lack thereof—I am in love with living in Boise. Shhh—don’t tell anyone.

Shows in Boise

2008-08-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

Moving to Boise, while it has not been perfect in every way, has a large number of advantages. Many of those advantages I’ve written about are the things I use to make myself feel better when I long for more and diverse restaurants, a greater number of eligible single young educated women, or diverse viewpoints. One further advantage to living here in Boise, which never ceases to delight me, is that Boise is infrequently visited by big national touring acts.

I know – I know, that is counter-intuitive, e.g. Matt, if you love music, you had to love the music scene in Chicago. Big bands played there all the time. Boise is small enough acts don’t play there very often. That’s what one would think, but evidence thus far has proved to be the contrary. Case and point, the last two shows I’ve seen in Boise, Robert Earl Keen and Wilco.

I saw Wilco play the neatest show I’ve seen them play, perhaps ever. That is no exaggeration. They played two encores, and had a great amount of fun. Of course, the venue was a winery converted into an outdoor venue. The stage was at a rather low height for an outdoor venue, with a flat gallery from which to watch the band. Jeff Tweedy commented he could “die” playing in Boise, on that stage, because of how comfortable he felt in the weather.

Prior the show, I’d not bothered to do any research about past Wilco shows in Boise, but Tweedy announced during the show that they’d not been in Idaho since “this small band for REM opened for us. We helped them get their start.” Of course, I could go into further detail on the set list, but that is unimportant. The only important thing to know was that I had more fun and enjoyment listening to Wilco in this beautiful setting, and Wilco was having a lot of fun playing for folks they’d assumed hadn’t heard them live for ten-plus years. As such, they dug into their back catalog, and played a few songs from “Mermaid Avenue,” etc…

Were I a bigger Robert Earl Keen, I could note the same sort of well loved seldom played “rarities,” but I’ve not seen enough of his shows to know better. Seeing Keen, however, proved a wonderful experience. Again, like Wilco, Boise not being a place he plays often, removed any apprehension he might have with him in Austin, or something.
The point is simple, while iterations are less frequent, when we get them, the shows are all the better. Apathy is lost in the beautiful setting with the enthusiastic crowd, leaving bands no choice but to put on an amazing show. Needless to say, I am most looking forward to seeing the Hold Steady in November!

Idaho Natives

2008-08-20T07:26:00.001-07:00

Recently, I was coming into the parking lot, with a woman around my age at the same time. For purposes of anonymity, I won’t spell out her license plates, but I have been wondering forever, “To what do they translate?” I had been thinking “I donate….,” so I asked her, “What do you donate to? I am having a hard time deciphering your tags; they’ve been a curiosity of mine for a while.”

She mentioned, “It means Idaho native.”

“Oh,” I said, “I was trying to figure out what you donate to! Ha. Ha….” I was amused as I drove off, largely because I didn’t get it from the start. Beyond that, however, apparently not being someone didn’t damage my ego. It made me giggle at the fact that this woman was proud enough of something to put it on her tags, but that it is probably not deciphered by most.

Whatever the case, I suspect that this speaks to something more substantial, a fear I have coming to Idaho from Chicago. From my perspective, at least it’s not California, which is more typically derided by the locals here in Boise, the same way it assuredly is in Colorado. For me, though, it always begs the question, about xenophobia. I suppose xenophobia is predicated from the classic human condition of fearing an altering of the status quo. At the same time, however, I recall always being quite excited about something new and different, from childhood through adulthood. I guess, from my perspective, that’s when things are the most fun and the least mundane.

I suspect, at the same time, however, there are those, myself included, that come somewhere with sensibilities contrary to what people have known and loved for years. Examples I was just speaking about last night: Here in Idaho, water that is too cheap to encourage conservation; the need to make speaking on a mobile while driving a violation, something for which someone could receive a ticket. I think if one were to poll Idahoans, they would probably find those opinions quite contrary to their ideas of what is right, etc…

I suppose it’s something to consider.

The Grand Teton and Yellowstone - Part I

2008-08-18T07:57:00.001-07:00

There I was this weekend, off to visit with the Rice’s, Jon, Lizzie, John, and Margaret. My close friends’ last vacation in the States, before they return to the UK, with my friend Jon’s mum and dad, and they were nice enough to invite me to join them.

I left work on Friday morning, and drove to West Yellowstone. The drive is somewhat uneventful, but provided I’d not yet been to some of those parts of Idaho, I was excited to see things I had not. Southeastern Idaho isn’t necessarily the most interesting part of such a gorgeous state, but one could hear the same thing said about Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Arizona and New Mexico. Were it not for the prairies and plains, our settlers would have had nothing to eat, prior to the advent of refrigerated trucking and rail, etc…

I digress. Friday, I drove to West Yellowstone, which is a tiny town with a massive number of hotels and restaurants, most of which are doing their business this time of year. One could tell by the disproportionate number of young women and men from places like Eastern Europe. For some reason, I doubt that a beautiful young maiden from Russia, Ukraine, or Croatia comes to the tiny berg of West Yellowstone for a university education; no, this place is that of lifestyle employment.

I saw the Rice’s that Friday night, but had planned to stay in a hotel, so I could get up early for my fourteen mile run. This weekend was a cutback week, so it was “just” fourteen miles. I know. It’s obnoxious to talk like that, but this Saturday is twenty, and when faced with the difference, one begins to think that fourteen just isn’t that bad.

I woke up at 4:45 a.m. for my run, and stretched grabbing my cup of coffee on the front-end of the morning. I was off at 5:50 a.m., and running to the Rendezvous Nordic ski trails right inside of West Yellowstone. I was referred to them by the hotel staff. Running into those, it was still quite dark, I found myself on a back-road. I kept running the back-road, and was watching my Garmin.

I have to admit, at a time or two I pondered the stray grizzly or wolf pack roaming freely nearby West Yellowstone. I kept running along, however, thinking that those predators were likely closer to where the buffalo roam. It’s amazing how running distance can sometimes work, one can find her or himself running along, thinking about reasons to turn back and try something else. That’s a trick one’s mind plays with them, when doing something voluntary but stressful. Nevertheless, I kept on running. That said, however, the hill never seemed to end. I was running up the foothill range surrounding West Yellowstone, and was not due to stop, even by mile seven, which was when I’d turn around to make it an even fourteen.

There I was, I ran seven miles up the hill, and then, I turned around to head downhill for the remainder of my fourteen mile run. I have the Garmin report, and my elevation started at about 6500’. The summit of my run was 7734’.

The run was what it was. I enjoyed it, and then I spent the rest of the weekend with the Rice’s. I could spend hours writing about what a great time it was with such wonderful people, in such a lovely place. As it is Monday morning, I have to get on about work. Nevertheless, more to come with pictures, but probably not until the Rice’s get back to the Internet, at that point, I’ll have to meander on about what a pleasurable time it was to see such wonderful friends, of whom, in the very near term, I’ll not see a lot. Godspeed to you Rice’s and a happy and safe trip back to Great Britain. “Why do they call it ‘Great Britain?’ Because it’s Great!” – Jon Rice

Blog Updates – Am I Horrible, or What?

2008-08-15T07:19:00.000-07:00

Apologies if you’ve been tuning in for regularly scheduled updates, as recently, I’ve been quite horrible about writing in this. Let’s see if I cannot itemize some recent occurrences, and perhaps that will get the juices flowing on this accord.

Running on Wednesday evening, I was up in the Foothills for a nine-miler. I love running the foothills of Boise, which are just a mile North of my place. In short, I run down my hill, then up 8th Street. That brings me to Hull’s Gulch, which is this terrific Gulch running many miles further than I take it. Nevertheless, there is a nice footpath along the stream that rolls down the Gulch.

Running this time was a buzzing noise I heard, this being a few nights ago. I stopped running, hitting “Stop” on my Garmin. As I did so, I looked down at the left side of the path, and there it was, a rattler. The rattler was coiled up, and there it was, quite scared of me. I knew better than to run past it closely. As the snake was in close proximity to the path, I stood there for a moment contemplating what to do. I looked for a rock, and found one partially immersed in the dirt. I kicked at it, until it came free. I picked it up, and lobbed it over, and hit the snake. It paused for a moment; then it recoiled. I waited a moment, and then I watched it slither down across the path, into the bottom of the gulch. I then ran onward to finish my nine miles.

I am heading to Yellowstone today, to see Jon, Lizzie, and Mr. and Mrs. Rice! I am quite excited for it, and will be heading out of the office in the near term. For that I am excited! I am going to run my 14 miles tomorrow morning, but beyond that, the whole weekend is devoted to the Rice’s! I cannot wait to see such dear and lovely friends, all of whom will be returning to the UK within the next month. Of course, for Jon’s parents, they’ll go back sooner, but it’s Jon and Lizzie’s departure that will affect me the most.

It’s quite funny how this move to Boise has been much different than that to Memphis. Because Memphis was in driving distance to Champaign, Chicago, and the Quad Cities, I saw friends a lot more often than I do out here in the West. I’ve not seen Jon or Lizzie since around Christmas, and our communication has fallen off, like it does when one moves ~1500 miles from where they once lived. Seeing them this weekend is of great importance, as they were there and true friends during such a horrible time. The next time I’ll see them after this weekend will probably not be until I make a trip to the UK. I am starting to fantasize about the London Marathon. I don’t know. It’s quite funny thinking about running 42.2 rather than “26.2”. Of course, that is solely the conversion from miles to kilometers, but you already knew that, didn’t you?

Other than that, things are humming along here in Boise. No new updates in the love life. I have the same steady stream of limited prospects. They are there, to an extent, but not in great numbers. Of course, Boise is not a big place, which means one has to change their expectations. Any time I find myself missing the plethora of young single women or ethnic restaurants, I simply remind myself that it takes me no longer to get to work than ten minutes. Oh yeah, and I can ski in the mountains and the climate rocks… These are things we take in strides!

Those of Whom We Fear

2008-08-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

This was too cute to not share. When I say "cute," it's meant not out of disrespect for faith, just at how absurd and horrifying that people would misuse their faith in such a way. I liken it to fascism... Biblically, it's reminiscent of the Pharisees.... Hmmm...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztO8wZz029Y

How about taking the production and ad-buy space for the following:
Please pray for the sick
Pray for the impoverished
Pray for the safe return of soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan
Pray for Peace...
etc...
Obviously, each of us could spend a great deal of time writing more on this, but for the sake of brevity, I'll leave it at that. If you get bored, give it a look.

How Hiring Government Employees Solely Committed to the President's Agenda Hurts Us—For Shame on Bush

2008-08-01T08:12:00.000-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/08/01/todd.defining.abortion.cnn

This report is among the most frightening things I have ever seen come from this government. While I am averse to setting forth on a slippery slope constructed argument, these definitions come dangerously close to affecting women’s rights concerning healthcare and health insurance. Methinks the drafts of something along these lines are largely constructed to help insurance companies getting around paying for birth control. Of course, there are dimensions above and beyond this, but this seems as though it is crafted to compromise reproductive rights.

"The Golden Hour"

2008-07-31T19:51:00.000-07:00

If you're reading this, I am quite sure you know I have no training in cinematography. That said, I am a fan of the work of Terrence Malick. Malick, a fellow Illinois native, in my opinion, is one of the greatest directors of his generation; moreover, he is quite particular about the look and feel of his films. Malick, as I understand his work, only shoots during "the Golden Hour." "The Golden Hour" is the last minutes before dusk or dawn: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_hour_(photography).

Like my usual writing, I am initiating this with a long preface. The reason I took so many words to write about photography and Terrence Malick was to express that the design behind it just smacked me boldly in the face. Thirty minutes ago, I was walking down to the drop slot, to pay my August rent. I was in a pair of shorts, with keys and rent in one hand, and my phone up to my ear with the other. As I strolled the fifty yards to the mail slot, I looked up the grassy hill leading up to the ridge where a neighborhood of affluent houses resides. Looking up the hill, in the midst of this Golden Hour, there she stood, a beautiful doe simply nibbling on the grass and foliage there on the hillside.

Talking to my aunt on the phone, about a trip to see her and my family, I stood there dumbfounded. Much like seeing the fox again this morning, walking into my office building; paying my rent this evening, I was again reminded that I live somewhere new and quite special. The point behind the verbose and tangential preamble was that there are few words to express how serene and beautiful life is for me, here in Boise. Growing up in the country, we saw deer, but never in such close proximity or with such graceful presence. Shhhh... don't tell anyone.

Peter and Maria, Mike and Anu

2008-07-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

Writing is such an amazing means for communication or meditation. The latter was what had me pull out my notepad here in SEATAC. What had me thinking of that was thinking about what I had earlier written to my wedded friends Maria and Peter.

Maria and Peter were married today; this was the 20th of July. There I stood at the reception thinking about how truly joyous and special their wedding was for me. It wasn’t special due to anything exceptional concerning Peter and Maria’s circumstances or the material components around their wedding—with the exception of their location, view and weather. Rather it was special because of how joyous and expressive they were for one another and their love.

Reading that as I wrote it makes me self-conscious about how cliché that sounds. Nevertheless, it was truly between them, and abnormally expressive coming from my friend Peter; to read that, or to fully understand that, you have to know my friend Peter.

Peter, a great guy, is someone whom often times keeps emotions more to himself. In this case, Peter could not have been more proud and happy than to be marrying Maria. This was evident and expressive in the broad and white smile born across his face. Moreover, in the apparent face of the minister speaking too softly into the microphone; there Peter was, with a booming, “I do!”

There I stood at the reception thinking of all of this, along with my overwhelming enthusiasm for my friend Peter and his beautiful bride Maria. I decided I needed to go write something more substantial to the guestbook than I did earlier, at the front of the reception.

There I stood, over at the guestbook table penning this relatively lengthy note of joy. Of course, I was conscious of anyone coming late, or taking the opportunity of distraction to write something away from the earlier lines. When a woman came up behind me, I offered to set down the pen. Upon offering, she declined, and walked away from the table with a smile. It wasn’t of any consequence.

Following from that, I was finishing up my paragraph, and I found a couple behind me. I apologized immediately, but this time I promised, “I am just finishing.”

The attractive young woman said, “What you didn’t get them a card?” with a broad smile across her face. Her husband stood next to her, amicably smiling, but also ready to move forward with signing the guestbook.

I stated to explain, but didn’t go into detail, after I finished what I was writing. Instead, I went to find Peter to wish him a wonderful evening, express what I am now writing in the airport, and to say “goodbye,” as I had to be leaving for my flight. I introduced myself, and they reciprocated with good manners.
“I am Matt.”
“I am Mike,” he said. “I am Anu,” she followed. It was perfectly amicable and nice, with her grin at catching me in the act of writing a rather verbose note to Peter and Maria.

It was indeed a pleasure to see faces of so many I had not seen for a while, but the real pleasure was seeing a dear friend find his true love. After this wedding, it was the kind of good fortune and beautiful display of love and happiness you wish you could laconically articulate to others during a warm toast, wishing them the very best of life and love. “May you meet a spouse to make you as happy as my friend Peter was today, this the 20th of July.

Fox News—I Watched and Shan’t again Watch

2008-06-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

I watch Fox News on occasion. I do not discriminate; in spite of the fact I think it can be a network full of hacks. I know; I know, but it’s not because it’s a network running political positions contrary to my own. For example, I love and greatly admire George Will, much more so than I like James Carville. My voting record probably falls more in line with Carville’s, but that doesn’t mean I think he states his arguments better than does Will.

My point in that preface is I have never been quite as disgusted as I was this weekend, flipping between stations yesterday. I couldn’t be more serious, I flipped through a Geraldo forthcoming things on his show, and was interested enough to stay on Fox News. In so doing, the lead story was a super-model’s apparent suicide from jumping off a building, where Geraldo’s show had “exclusive footage.” What?! Exclusive footage of someone’s suicide, I turned away immediately; however, there was to be something else that kept me flipping through the station to see if the coverage of that story had concluded. Three times flipping, I saw the profile of the model’s face, lying supine, on the street from the other side of a truck, shot underneath the fire engine’s body.

I could incessantly write about this, but for now I’ll conclude. To write more just leaves me again seeing the image, and thinking about what a relative or loved one would do when faced with something so horrible and tabloid. How anyone can take this channel seriously, makes me wonder so much about our culture.

Some Random Matt Thoughts—A Matt Musing

2008-06-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

These past few days, I have been listening to two albums, both of which, years ago, were much loved albums of mine. REM’s “Eponymous” and Radiohead’s “The Bends.” From the last thirty years, both acts are considered hallmarks of independent rock; of that, there is no question. Moreover, “The Bends” has always been a darling of critics. Nevertheless, sometimes it takes going into one’s library and putting those CDs in the car, thereby putting them back in rotation.

Of course, “Eponymous” was a Greatest Hits of REM’s IRS Records work, prior to their becoming a Warner Bros. act. I am noting both of these things due to the fact that realizations sometimes come in the oddest of places, like driving to work. Driving to work today, I found myself repeating “Driver 8.” I used to play “Driver 8” over and over again when I was in the seventh or eighth grade.

The human experience never ceases to amaze me, in the same way that I’ve always found the Smiths lyric interesting, not until recently have I realized my love for the band was driven by the work of Johnny Marr—his composition. For me, the same could be said for R.E.M. While Stipe is an entertaining front-man for the band, both colorful in style and personality, my adoration of their music has been the result of Mike Mills and Peter Buck.

I don’t know if this is significant, other than it seems to remind me this thematic component of this year, I am getting older. Instead of thinking of the lead singer, without being a musician, we have that tendency; I am now noticing and appreciating the scope of bands’ work. I know that sounds altruistic and a bit dopey—also intuitive, but it’s one of those bits of consciousness that never ceases to amaze me. These are those bits, the likes of which leaves us thinking, “it’s odd; it seems so logical now, I am surprised I’ve not before now noticed this.”

Misguided Faith – Means for Control

2008-06-24T11:48:00.000-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/24/evangelical.vote/index.html

It never ceases to amaze me, the way those that speak so highly about faith and the bible in public life cannot academically and respectfully disagree with another person’s challenge to their respective positions. The link above is to a CNN story about James Dobson, stating that: "I think he's [Obama] deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own world view, his own confused theology."

What Obama says in the speech cited from a few years ago is in the article. Please read it, and make your own judgments; however, please think about this. Is it that Obama has an issue with the bible? No, that’s not what he says.

Obama’s problem with the use of the bible in public policy is the same problem I have with it. Prior to faith being intertwined with law, that faith would have to undergo a synthesis, being transmuted from, in this case, the bible, and then written into law.

To whom do we go for such enlightenment? Who are appropriately learned in the scripture to intertwine their faith in our laws? For Dobson, I am sure he would cite maybe not himself, but other religious leaders that could be involved. Of course, who selects these leaders to be those who interpret the bible? What about those of varying faiths?

What if one day, the US, following this precedent became an Islamic state? Would it not then make sense to follow Sharia? I know; I know, the slippery slope argument is a fallacy, but please see the parallel to what Dobson is saying. In essence, opening up the bible to our interpretations and evaluations, for the purpose of jurisprudence becomes an ugly and dangerous thing.

I started to write about Con and Transubstantiation, but held off on it. The point is the argument for incorporating faith in law, when there is a constitutional framework for their separation— for good reason, holds no water. How about this: why don’t we look to the bible, like we look to Greek philosophy for object moral axioms, and apply them to law? Thereby extrapolating these simple and objective axioms into different circumstances, and applying them to case by case by case. Following an agreed decision, citing conventional wisdom and previously decided opinions, we develop a framework of laws… My goodness, I am should be a framer of Early-Modern Constitutional Law, or a philosopher like Locke, Kant, or Mills!

The point is, when someone starts to reinforce their arguments using their interpretation of their translation of sacred texts, they are working to their personal morality. I think I am better off without James Dobson’s idea of Morality; he supports Bush, who put us in a war without substantial provocation.

Sawtooth Relay—The Gr8ful Deadfeet

2008-06-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

I have forthcoming pictures, I’ll likely post tomorrow. Nevertheless, I felt as though I should sooner rather than later write something about the experience. This last Friday my team of six, Jay, Nick, Amber, Sparkle, Jerry Garcia, and I drove from Boise up to Stanley, Idaho. The team did so in a classic 1980’s conversion van, with an iPod full of songs and a horn speaker mounted on the front of the van. We were bound to run the Sawtooth Relay.

The Sawtooth Relay takes place from Stanley to Ketchum, Idaho, along Highway 75. The route is a smidge of sixty miles, which are divided among the team of six over twelve runs. For the sixth leg of the relay runs over Galena Summit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galena_Summit), this is an 8701’ summit in the Sawtooth. I had the good fortune of not having to run that leg, but had the pleasure of running about eleven miles of the relay, over legs five and eleven.

If you ever have the opportunity, I highly recommend making it over to Eastern Idaho. Idaho is an undoubtedly beautiful state, and the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho are pristine—a spectacular bit of eye candy. Winding up in Ketchum, having run through the Sawtooth, one can see why this part of Idaho, where Sun Valley is, is why so many with money spend their time in that part of the world.

The race was a blast; we had an incredible amount of fun. My team was a diverse group of folks, mothers and fathers, a middle-aged native-American, a college student and a near-thirty-year-old bachelor. Of course, to all of those runners there is greater detail, just like there is to every person one chooses to describe via demographic. The point was simple, we were there running the Sawtooth Relay to have a great time and we did.
Pictures to come!

Tim Russert and Blue Collar America

2008-06-15T19:52:00.001-07:00

Whilst I am sure many of you have heard a great deal about the passing of Tim Russert this past Friday, I felt the need to write a bit on Tim Russert’s passing. Russert was more than a popular news bureau chief or a great interviewer for NBC News, relative to things political. From my perspective, Tim Russert did something few others continue these days. By that, I mean, in a great many of ways Tim Russert represented the Blue Collar Ideal of our country. Russert did so the way Bruce Springsteen does for music or the way the Tom Clancy character “Jack Ryan” does for fiction. It’s this universal ideal, this archetype about which our culture fantasizes, but no longer follows through in keeping alive.

I say that, in that I come from an area not dissimilar from Tim Russert’s Buffalo, NY. The Quad Cities—Moline, Rock Island, Illinois and Bettendorf, Davenport, Iowa—are a rust belt stronghold, right along with Peoria, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Detroit and more southern parts of Chicago (e.g. Gary, IN, Beverley, Homewood, etc…). Moving to Boise, I’ve often claimed a love for the city's socio-economic diversity, and loving that there is a dimension of “blue collar” work in this city. I continue to believe that; however, seeing the tributes to Russert, and thinking of the way I live, along with my upbringing, I cannot help but think I’ve avoided some dimension of that blue collar lifestyle that I so admire in Russert.

Is it just me, or are our generations losing their attachment to the post-Industrial Revolution remnants of the blue-collar labor ideal? I think our culture, while idolizing it in a nostalgic way, does not embrace it. Don’t get me wrong, I think we still value hard work; however, I think we are looking for components that are not as easily accessible. In other words, I think “elegance” has replaced pure function, and we prefer more synthesized and easily palatable deliveries both with our media and our ideals of ourselves. Of course, with those two things, one could go off the “deep thoughts’ end,” and claim that our social construction has taken us away from the “blue collar,” and for right now, our nostalgia keeps us thinking that mode of delivery is “to the point,” and is “honest.”

Because people like Tim Russert are doing what they do, that nostalgia remains. This is a Chris Matthews meets a voting-for-Hillary Clinton Pennsylvanian Male meets a Reagan Democrat. From a step back, it’s something interesting with which to contend. In short, it makes me wonder where the blue collar daughters and sons are, and what it is they aspire to do. Did the idea of being blue collar dissolve with the Baby Boomer generation? I don’t know. It’s something that fascinates me, indeed.

Confusion: Is It That McCain Is Too Old?

2008-06-12T06:34:00.000-07:00

Waking up this morning, with Morning Joe on the TV, as I prepared my oatmeal, I heard nothing but conjecture about Obama’s campaign, and the angle they are taking with McCain. A few days ago, on the Today Show, to Matt Lauer, McCain said,

“not too important” when American forces could come home from Iraq and that, “What’s important is the casualties in Iraq. Americans are in South Korea;
Americans are in Japan, American troops are in Germany. That’s all fine.”

To McCain’s credit, he is analyzing Iraq with a naïve sense of pragmatism, which would be fine were it somewhere in Africa or Asia, but history has shown the contrary; hence, my use of “naïve.”

Due to McCain’s age, I don’t suspect many in the press will use the adjective “naïve” in referring to his comments on Iraq, not in analysis. Rather, we have Obama’s campaign surrogates or John Kerry using the word “confused.” Quite simply, that word is somewhat fitting, in the same way one calls someone’s child “confused,” when they are espousing naïve claims.

All of this is perfectly understandable. Right now, for Obama’s campaign to use the word “naïve” would open the door to Obama’s relatively short tenure in national politics. Rather than using “naïve” or “confused,” in my humble opinion, they should switch to “strategically flawed,” for the same line of attack. By all means, they are working to do that, but McCain’s comments are so absurd, it’s hard not to speak to quick pejoratives, as that is what comments like this deserver.

I look most forward to a live debate on the subject. I would love to hear Obama utter the words, “Senator McCain, you are wrong. Let’s step back and game this. Right now, we have 100,000+ troops in this country, one we invaded on a cause, which was later demonstrated to be false. There is a region that has theological and culture division from us, whose activists and terrorists are using the above premise, the invasion, to justify terrorism and anti-Americanism. In the meantime, we have not caught or killed Bin Laden. What strategic benefits to maintaining an occupation in Iraq do we have?”

The quick and dirty of it is that while McCain’s age is something to avoid outwardly discussing, his ideas and beliefs in foreign policy are antiquated. McCain is still thinking in terms of “us versus them,” which would be fine; however, “them” is something much more amorphous than it was when it was the USSR. In short, we are fighting a culture, one which uses our “fight” as justification for further violence. While I am not saying we stop being violent towards those trying to kill us, I am suggesting, we work differently than treating our current enemies as Nation-States. This isn’t the Cold War, nor do we have a draft.

Realizations

2008-06-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

I realize that this has been all over the media, and if you read this ever you are probably expecting me to make comments akin to those of Tim Russert or Tom Brokaw last night. Obama’s completion of the primacy season with the presumption of his nomination, as a candidate for President of the United States, will be viewed as among the most historically significant occurrences to have taken place during our lifetimes.

Again, if you’ve watched the news in the last twenty-four hours, you may have already heard this realization. Whether you are for or against Obama, you think he is too Liberal, or you feel his position on the War in Iraq is wrong, this is a milestone for Western Civilization.

Barrack Obama is the first person of color to be in the running for the top job in a Western Democracy. We have progressed beyond the EU, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, all of our peers, in this respect! In the spirit of full disclosure, I have been a fan of Obama’s for quite a while, as I am sure if you are reading this you know. Nevertheless, this is something about which I cannot help to write with excitement.

What is quite lovely about all of this is, in addition to the aforementioned statements or race, his positions are not those of the lunatic fringe. No, rather they are those of most Americans alive and voting.

In spite of what will be sold by McCain’s campaign, he is averse to affordable guaranteed healthcare for our citizens.[1] For the war in Iraq, I will not espouse McCain wants us to remain in Iraq for another hundred years; however, he has given no indication towards a clear exit strategy. On the economy and petroleum, in both cases, the two respective issues are intermingled. In fact, Iraq, Petroleum and the Economy are all, in multiple dimensions, connected to on another. McCain’s policies are a continuation of what is not working.

In essence, assuming Obama’s campaign is run correctly, the choice between the continuation of the worst presidency in our history and Obama make the choice seem rather easy. At this point, the question goes to running mates. I sincerely hope that Obama avoids nominating Hillary Clinton. While it could be a path of least resistance, there are others equally qualified and great for that which Obama could use. From my perspective, Joe Biden, Richard Lugar, or Christopher Dodd, they are all top tier candidates. While there is no gender diversity with that, I cannot see Obama being a candidate for change with Hillary that close to the presidency, with Bill that plugged into it as well.

[1] With friends who have survived cancer, the idea that for-profit companies could prevent them from being insured as private citizens repels me from the argument that government guaranteed healthcare is a step towards socialism or “big government.” If that were the case, our allies Canada, the UK, France, Norway, or Germany would all be socialists. In none of those cases is that true.

Fascinating Excursions

2008-06-03T13:48:00.001-07:00

I often wonder if iterative self-analysis or self-assessments are consistent across the board. I relate that, because as I sat down to aimlessly play on the internet, in the midst of my workday, I went to LinkedIn. I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn, since I moved to Boise. Part of me wonders if LinkedIn is an escapist outlet for re-establishing connections and correspondence that one wouldn’t otherwise do.

For those of you not familiar with LinkedIn, it is, in essence, a social networking site, similar to Facebook or MySpace. The exception to LinkedIn is that it is for “professionals.” Rather than the aforementioned websites—Facebook or MySpace, LinkedIn is work-acceptable, in that it enables one to keep in contact with current or former classmates or colleagues.

I digress, except to say that as I was going to LinkedIn today, I wondered, “are you going here so often whilst at work, because it is escapism? Is this an avenue to keep in contact with former colleagues, or is it also another means to keep up-to-date with how people are and what they are up to?”

For right now, I have to admit, I think it is a bit of both. While I used to play around on MySpace, I don’t find myself nearly as interested in the site any longer. I would say that is largely the case in that I am growing older, and my friends now, at this age, don’t belong or play on MySpace. Rather, nearly everyone I know, who are professional in some context, are alive and well on LinkedIn.

Wow, I just came full circle to find: one, my friends and I are grown up; two, I “escape” every once in a while; three, I am too up on current events to occupy more time than I do at home with the media.

Quick question: Is iterative self-analysis predicated on an idiosyncrasy, or is it on too much alone time?

Oh Bob Dole

2008-05-30T10:09:00.000-07:00

Sometimes one wonders, are people seeking the limelight, which is why they do something negatively uncharacteristic of their reputation? Or, is it that they are looking to make waves for those things, and regain some notoriety? Seeing Bob Dole’s outburst following McClellan’s book release sent my mind wandering in both directions. Of course, from there, I thought more on it, and I’ve come to the following conclusion: Dole is just a crotchety old curmudgeon.

I will say this, McClellan doesn’t win points for professionalism, nor is he telling us things we don’t already know about the Bush administration. Surfing between channels last night, Dick Morris was acting a bit of a fool, but he reiterated the same point toward McClellan, which was to say, “We already knew that.” Following that statement that McClellan was spurned by the “Liberal Media,” which I found quite laughable.

Folks, let’s be serious about some things here with our media. They are not “Liberal,” nor are they “Conservative,” they are in a money-making enterprise. When +75% of the country does not like a president, or think he is doing a good job, and he has an administration mired in scandal, there is a market for a book by a former insider reaffirming everyone’s suspicions. It isn’t a Liberal Plot or Conspiracy. In the same way, Bill Clinton getting Oral Sex from an intern was newsworthy, and Hillary was wrong for blaming it on a “vast right-wing conspiracy.” The one component I would grant Hillary for her “conspiracy” charges does go to Ken Starr’s ignoring of exculpatory evidence, but Clinton still was out-of-bounds with Monica.

In short, truth needs to be spoken to power, and the current White House has been exceptionally obtuse about their playing of the media, throwing us into this war. Let them be called on it, but Bob Dole, you should be agreeing with McClellan while you are knocking him for being unprofessional.

More Entertainment from Those Delightful "Conservatives," Whom Think "Rush is Right"

2008-05-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

Below was my response to the more obnoxious forward from "conservative" email forward-land. Mine is up top here, below this was what I received.

The other day, I received among the most special emails. It was sweet, in that it reminded me of one of the young kids I work with, when I volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club. The email is below, please have a look.

What I recalled from the discussion with the seven-year-old was her being upset that her mother's new boyfriend got rid of the Corvette that Mom and her old boyfriend had been driving around, taking to nicer dinners. The litttle one claimed that all she hears this new boyfriend talk about was "bankruptcy," "credit," and "thinking about the bigger picture." That made her mad, because he made Mom return the Corvette, and they don't go to nice dinners any more. It sure didn't seem like the right kind of boyfriend for Mom. The other guy was much nicer, and he spoiled her mom, calling her "baby."

Of course, asking more about the old boyfriend, I heard he had to leave town, because of this scary monster "Chapter 11". Mom's new boyfriend is not as much fun, but Mom told this girl that everything was going to be alright. The new boyfriend just wants to fix things, things that can be fixed before they get too bad. Mom said, "he wants to deal with things long-term, not 'tactically'." She then asked me what "tactically" means, and I explained its definition versus "strategic."

I helped by explaining that, yes, things are nice, but if you buy them on credit, you have to pay them back. If someone borrows too much money, they begin to be a bigger risk. Especially, if they don't make enough money, but spend, spend, and spend.

As I am sure you have now picked up, the below email is talking about our country living on Credit Cards, and that finally catching up with us. Of course, the challenge is that it attempts rather daftly to place blame on those that cannot sign bills into law. Rather the challenge is that, someone doesn't always get to look good whilst fixing something. No, they have to work while folks are frustrated, taking their needed medicine.

For instance, were it not for Democrats taking congress from the likes of Tom DeLay, et al, would we have heard of the horrible conditions at Walter Reed?

We now see this GI Bill being debated. Watching components of veterans' congressional testimony is equally disappointing. I don't know that one can take seriously these email forwards that pull tiny facts out of context, without keeping things in perspective. Of course, we see these all too often.

- Hide quoted text -
This email comes in three parts:
Part 1
In just one year . Remember the election in 2006?
Thought you might like to read the following:
A little over one year ago:
1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high;
2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon;
3) The unemployment rate was 4.5%.

Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we have seen:
1) Consumer confidence plummet;
2) The cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3.50 a gallon;
3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase);
4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses);
5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $1.2 trillion dollars;
6) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.

America voted for change in 2006, and we got it!

Remember it's Congress that makes law not the President. He has to work with what's handed to him.

Part 2:
Taxes... Whether Democrat or a Republican you will find these statistics enlightening and amazing.
www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151.html
Taxes under Clinton 1999 Taxes under Bush 2008
Single making 30K - tax $8,400 Single making 30K - tax $4,500
Single making 50K - tax $14,000 Single making 50K - tax $12,500
Single making 75K - tax $23,250 Single making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 60K - tax $16,800 Married making 60K- tax $9,000
Married making 75K - tax $21,000 Married making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 125K - tax $38,750 Married making 125K - tax $31,250
Both democratic candidates will return to the higher tax rates
It is amazing how many people that fall into the categories above think Bush is screwing them and Bill Clinton was the greatest President ever. If Obama or Hillary are elected, they both say they will repeal the Bush tax cuts and a good portion of the people that fall into the categories above can't wait for it to happen. This is like the movie The Sting with Paul Newman; you scam somebody out of some money and they don't even know what happened.

PART 3:
You think the war in Iraq is costing us too much? Re

Dear Sweet Irony

2008-05-28T05:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I saw a pickup truck, being driven by two younger men. If I had to wager, I would say between twenty-two and twenty-six. Their truck was adorned with writings and stickers. Yesterday was indeed an election day here in Idaho.

What their truck has plastered all over it, well, it was glorious. "I'm Pro-Life!" and "I Love my Guns!" Clearly, the latter phrase was an ode to Obama's comments from six-weeks ago. The former was separately advocating a popular conservative view. Either way, their statements fell in line with the GOP's platforms: anti-gun control; anti-reproductive choice rights.

Of course, being "pro-life" and "loving one's guns," well, one can call me an elitist, but that is too funny for words. As Idaho is clearly in the Red State category, I cannot hope that it was two college-aged progressives playing dress-up for Halloween, but wouldn't that be funny if it were? Oh - dear sweet irony.

Clinton Chastises Press for ___________________

2008-05-20T14:51:00.000-07:00

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

My goodness, now that Clinton is clearly beaten, as of tonight anyway, we will have to suffer through her fits of umbrage, justifying her loss. It’s a sore loser rap that is semi-consistent across the political spectrum; however, hers is predicated on the idea that the media were sexist towards her.

I take exception to that, I have to admit. One would have to sit me down, and cite all of the ways she has fought sexism through the established mainstream media. Cite the examples, and then show the footage or print reinforcing it. Romney, Huckabee, Edwards, Biden or any one of the other candidates could highlight a specific bent or approach the media took with them, to justify why they are not in McCain or Obama’s shoes.

The point is quite simple, Clinton, while her campaign has been in two or three months of death throes has been onward trudging. Simply because she receives points for longevity, does not mean that this nomination was hers, as she has always thought. For me, seeing this now simply shows that her expectations have always far and away exceeded those of the populous for what she deserves. That along with her graceless approach to tough talk and discourse pushed me away from her since the beginning.

Flights to and from Phoenix

2008-05-19T06:26:00.000-07:00

It never ceases to amaze me the disparities between cultures here in the United States. Flying to and from Phoenix this last weekend, Sky Harbor, Phoenix’s airport contains folks as diverse in style and attitudes as one might find in JFK or ORD. There are foreigners, East Coasties, Midwesterners, folks from the West and of course those tattooed and pierced from the “New West.” While traveling always offers great opportunities to see differences in cultures, those truly interesting components are reserved for what one can learn about her or himself at the destination.

This last Friday was my Grandma Phyllis’s birthday, the specific birthday that it was shall remain ageless, but let’s say that it was a milestone—one that required a special trip. What always amazes me, growing up in my family, are the things I learn growing further into my family. I say that, in that, growing up we continuously have an evolving perception of who our relatives are, and how they act as adults. Of course, as anyone that has grown up through these lives of ours can say, perceptions continuously evolve, and those things we learn about one another carry with them further dimension as we grow older through this life.

While I am quite sure that seems to be a rather odd, yet intuitive, stanza, methinks it’s the sort of component to life one can never truly comprehend until they have lived in this adult world for several years. What has me thinking in that direction, was seeing my Grandma this weekend, amongst my maternal family, all of the same folks whom went to Nicaragua for Christmas. The difference between this trip and Nicaragua was that it was in Phoenix, where my maternal aunts and grandparents live; therefore, it was more vacuous.1

Seeing my Grandmother there in Phoenix this weekend, I saw an incredibly vivacious woman, whom is joyful, intelligent, funny and well spirited. Grandma Phyllis looks years younger than whatever age she may be; her smile was bright and her eyes were lit up all weekend. What amazes me, among so many other things, is her involvement in the community in which she and my Grandfather live.

Not to brag on my Grandmother, or anything, but she is the chairperson of their board. No, this is not some Del Boca Vista-type organization, nothing of the sort. In short, what I am trying to say is that it is not a caddy club for ladies of the club, but a genuine Operational Organization, one which works to ensure the dining facilities are in good order, the security and the grounds are keeping the residents safe.

It’s noteworthy in that it dearly impresses me. Not that my Grandmother happens to be heading this board, no. Rather, the style and grace with which she speaks professionally about her involvement, particularly in casual conversations.

While I’ve managed to delve rather far into her work with her community’s Board, I should note the other component that did so much to impress me with her this weekend. My aunts, mom, grandma and I played a round of golf. Indeed I was playing with the ladies. As I arrived a day later than my folks, and it was surprise, my Granddad didn’t have the opportunity to book me with the “Bandits,” his golf team.

In that, I went joyously with the ladies, and we played a great round of golf. Again, playing golf, I couldn’t help but marvel at the terrific genes my Grandmother is bestowing on me, as her Grandson. Grandma looked terrific on the course, playing as youthfully as those of my mom’s generation or me.

Obviously, I could continue to go on about my Grandmother, but you’ve endured enough of my gushing on that. If you’ve made it this far, please humor me by reading about my complaints towards those here in the American West. Call me old fashioned, but I loathe ink and these odd spacers folks throw in their ears. Come on folks, hoop earrings are relatively obnoxious, even if one relegates them to something comical. I am lost on one throwing something like that in their ears. Certainly, if they are a Maori Tribeswoman or man, I could see it, but for middle class kids marching through the airport?

I think Phoenix Sky Harbor has to run right up there with John Wayne, PDX, SEATAC, or PDX for inordinate amounts of “sleeve” tattoos and/or spacer-ear hoops. No, I don’t have ink. I am not absolute against it. To a point, I get the “Tramp Stamp.”2 Those are not visible during the wearing of short-sleeves or during a job-interview. Sincerely, though, I have hard time understanding “sleeves.” One now sees them in places like Davenport, Iowa or Boise, Idaho, but there they are not so common, as what one sees in Phoenix.

Phoenix, outside of Scottsdale and Sun City, may be the USA’s capitol of “New West” absurdity. I use the word “absurd,” in that absurd body art applications, particularly the aesthetics for which folks are going seem as transient as the “Bad Boy Club” tattoos one saw in the mid-Nineties in my high school. The challenges for these faddish or transient designs are that they are permanent.

Sincerely, these tattoos so many out here, in what I’ve aptly referred to, in my own way, as the “New West,” don’t seem to have any overarching themes or points. I somewhat understand an eighteen-year-old enlisted in the Marines, tattooing him or herself with a “Semper Fi,” but come on a jelly fish or stingray? Can anyone envisage old men with their wives on the Lawn Bowling courts of Sun City in the year 2050?

I don’t get Phoenix. Is it elitism to find aesthetics disdainful? For me, it’s not a shriek or back-away, because I am afraid of ink or body art, no. Rather, it is a problem

1: As always, I have a tendency to use “bigger words.” By stating vacuous, I mean that Phoenix is a vacuum, in that it is in the States, and is the home to my Mom’s family. Therefore, it does not offer the instability of all of us traveling in Nicaragua. As such, it provided opportunity for more clinical observations.

2: “Tramp Stamp” - This is the tattoo on the small of a woman’s back, one which was probably obtained during a Spring Break to somewhere in Florida, California, or Mexico. That or it floated north from said “Spring Break Destinations,” into the near-the-mall-tattoo-parlors throughout the US.

Vanity

2008-05-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

I once dated a woman, and she wrote professionally. That point is not an important one, except that she was not especially good at writing. The reason I even bring it up, is that she once used the definition of “Perfection,” to start out an article about something. Yeah, agreed, it was something along the lines of eight-grade lit class, or something. I only bring it up, in that I wanted to define "vanity." With Hillary’s continued pursuit of the Democratic Nomination, one cannot help but note that her continuation of this, thinking she is the “best candidate,” is predicated largely on amour propre.

As that was the case, the vanity required to continue fighting what in one’s mind is a battle they must fight, requires a great deal of self-diluting vanity. I assume it’s the same sort of vanity that Presidents Bush and Cheney enwrap themselves about the war in Iraq. One makes a decision, and executes on that decision, with all their might. In so doing, they are fraught with self-belief so much so, they are now past a mental point-of-no-return.

For Hillary, one cannot think anything beyond that she is, right now, telling herself that, “I am the best person for this country. Things will change, and all of a sudden there will be a demand for me to be the nominee.” It doesn’t help that someone as self-indulgent, Bill Clinton, is her partner in this. The two of them feed off one another, both in the past, to the present, which is why neither of them have the wherewithal to resign from the campaign.

Certainly, it is their right to continue on this Bataan Death March, and if they do, that will be fine; however, they must know, the Clinton legacy is suffering terribly. It is quite transparent the self-indulgence and calculation, the more they are present (note: Hillary’s interview yesterday with USA Today—referencing her strength with “white” “hard-working people”). Undoubtedly, this is the way the Clinton’s speak amongst themselves, but the more fatigued and longer they are in the public face, the more transparent that will be to others. It’s not becoming, nor does it help the DNC, which is, in turn, why the Clinton Legacy will suffer in our recent memories following this election. It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is. Alas, we will have quite the President out of this race in 2008.

Crombie Dudes

2008-04-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, I was wrong. Said Abercrombie trio were all having issues hear, and one works for Abercrombie. It would be easier to delete than write this, but I'll concede, my initial conclusions were incorrect. If one goes to cnn.com http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/04/25/intv.tshirt.guys.cnn they will see what it was.

Product Placement

2008-04-23T06:17:00.001-07:00

While I have not spent money at Abercrombie and Fitch for roughly ten years, I will continue to not do so, when I prevent my future children from being into it. Abercrombie planted three young men in obnoxious shirts behind Obama during his speech in Indiana last night. These three morons stood not far behind him, most likely out of being paid by Abercrombie to get there early and purposely stand behind him. Did anyone see this?

Here’s the deal Abercrombie, if you are going to plant folks at Rush Limbaugh’s campaign rally, make it look more genuine. That idiot with the buzz-cut head couldn’t have appeared more apathetic, almost as though he was just there to punch a timecard. I appreciate Abercrombie working to stay with the young, but our young voters have more sense than this. Quite simply, with the shear amount of irony and conspiracy that pervade popular culture today, the owners on the PR-side for Abercrombie mistook putting these three idiots behind Obama as something no one would catch. Keith Oberman called it immediately after as well, which was pretty hilarious. In short, Abercrombie, if you are going to do that in the future, please be more competent.

Apparently, I am not the only one that caught this!
http://www.shoppingblog.com/cgi-bin/sblog.pl?sblog=422083

http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/trailhead/archive/2008/04/22/obama-speech-sponsored-by-abercrombie-fitch.aspx

A Few Things

2008-04-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

Apologies, if you come here often, for which I am most flattered; odds are good it’s probably been more than a while since you have seen a new post. I am delinquent as one could be for this. As far as things stand, let’s see, the quick and dirty on Matty:

1. Work is going well, and I am comfortably busy. I am quite happy for that.

2. As far as running is concerned, I ran “The Race to Robie Creek” this last weekend, on 19-April. I earned a respectable time, but like everyone ever racing, not nearly as fast as I was hoping. 2:20 for a half-marathon with more than 3000 ft in elevation change, two-thirds of which were uphill. I am registered for the Salmon Marathon on 13-September.

3. Romantic life, that’s pretty much non-existent at the moment, and I am comfortable with that. Most dates I have been on thus far have run contrary to my inter-personal experiences preceding Boise. Everyone has been very nice and lovely; however, they have all been exceptions rather than classical dates.

4. Boise—I love this city, but the challenge is the cultural difference. Get this; I am from “Back East,” right? I know… I used the word “lackadaisical” in conversation on Saturday, and a cuter girl that was sitting among friends and me, she said, “What does that word mean?” Apparently my word choice can be perceived as haute, arrogant, or ostentatious. This is something I am sure none of you have ever thought, no? :D

5. As for the campaign, let’s see here, what is up with Hillary continuing down this direction of “potentially having pledged delegates change their minds,” is she kidding me? Both she and her husband have disgraced his legacy with their continued fight for this nomination. Hearing Terry McAuliffe on MSNBC this morning made me loathe for much of the DNC establishment. Hearing Hillary or her supporters continue to speak on how she might be able to pull this off is almost as abrasive as continuing to receive emails from friends and loved ones about “how great conservatism is.”

6. To all those who call themselves “conservative,” please know this, every position one claims to hold, “being for small government,” “being for individual liberty,” “being against poor fiscal judgment,” “being for strong national defense,” we are in the worst shape we have ever been in for all those tenets! “Conservative,” is a word the Republican Party incorporated, and has lost completely with George Bush’s Presidency and the congress preceding this one.

What’s amazing as the “movement” has worked people into the idea they are being rebellious by “standing up for something this country stands on,” in contrast to some of the off-shooting counter-culture from the 1960’s. That was why we elected a whiney rich kid, who has compromised this country more than any president prior. This year, we hear the “movement” beckoning Ronald Reagan’s memory, mostly because he is the only recent Republican, not alive to be called to defend himself and not Nixon. Let’s be realistic. McCain wants to continue this War in Iraq, and is maintaining the same irresponsible fiscal policy, putting our economy, our schools and our standing in the world at risk.

Whatever happened to “Fiscal Conservatism?” One doesn’t hear about that any more.

Have We Ever Been in a Worse Strategic Position, Wow - the GOP is Awful

2008-04-18T09:33:00.000-07:00

Obviously, if you are reading this, odds are you know that I support Obama. I have from the beginning, and I continue to do so. Right now, in thinking of this solely from a Political-Economic perspective, these are components that we seldom see covered in the discussion of this year’s Presidential campaign. Obviously, components relative to Iraq and the Economy are too substantial to appropriately cover in a quick draft, but if reduced down to some smaller parcels, we can work our way into some conclusions.

From an Iraq-perspective, we fostered this war predicated on the idea that Sadaam was working to develop weapons of mass destruction, was supporting terrorists, and may have had something to do with 9-11. We took a position with the UN, where we made our case; we proceeded near-unilaterally into this preemptive war against the will of the world community; found no WMDs; we now occupy a war-torn country with internal strife and civil war.

One could construct the path to 9-11, from direct involvement in the Gulf States:
1. Residual occupation of Saudi Arabia following Desert Storm

2. Continued support of totalitarian governments, giving rise and fomenting terrorist activity

3. Continued presence in the Gulf States, due to demand for petroleum
o Demand for petroleum, due to over-subsidization fostering excessive demand for petroleum

4. Action taken against the US in 9-11, undoubtedly horrible
o Action taken in Afghanistan with the support of the world community

5. Not completing work in Afghanistan capturing or killing Bin Laden

6. Progressing into Iraq
o Iraq under false pretenses
o Continued demand for petroleum
o Continued occupation, due to the “break it, you buy it.”
o US strategy in occupying Iraq elongates time in Iraq
o Guantanamo Abu Gharib

7. During a war, we cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans, and expanded our national debt, thereby weakening the dollar

8. Dollar is weak against foreign currencies; commodities (including oil) are now at an all time high; we are maintaining a presence in a country in which we are further fomenting hate for America (see points 1-3)

I know W went to B-School, but seriously, from a strategy-perspective, this will be taught for the next few millennia in Strategy classes as an example of what bad strategy can do. The work we have done with this administration is absurdly compromising our world position.

We need a back-out plan, and McCain isn’t proposing anything contrary to the positions of the Bush Administration, for no good reason. His position on taxes, keeping them status quo is absurd.
During past wars, e.g. WWII, we had War Bonds. For the Iraq War, as Americans, we’ve been encouraged to go out and spend. The average household has immense debt, and we are suffering a massive housing crisis. With all of that, there has been no communication for us to constrain our spending. Rather, many were sent a check from the Government, spending money it’s no taking in through appropriate taxation...

Why would one vote for the party that delivered us the worst Political-Economic position in maybe our history? Moreover, why would one vote for someone not offering a reconciliation of these policies against a world in which we’ve compromised our position?