Politics ’08, and the Good Cop – Bad Cop

It’s too challenging to hear further banter on “Bill and Hill” from the media. Everyone alludes to it, but no one will summarize it for what it is, a consistent strategic ploy by the Clinton’s.

This has happened too many times for Clinton’s campaign to pretend that it’s not a strategy. For example, there was the campaign manager in New Hampshire, whom noted Obama’s admission of drug experimentation as a kid, later “fired.” Then, there was the BET mogul again noting something, only to later apologize. Furthermore, there was Clinton’s Jesse Jackson reference following South Carolina.

Of course, Clinton’s campaign officially decries such acts or statements, but one can’t help except to think that this is not a good cop – bad cop strategy with the voters. Clinton’s supporters, including former President Clinton, are sent out to say things to keep Obama on the defensive. It’s down and dirty politics written about by Machiavelli, practiced by Morris and Rove.

Hearing NOW come to the offensive towards Ted Kennedy for endorsing Obama only serves to further make Hillary less attractive as a candidate to the majority of Americans. I feel objective in saying that, as I am for good components of gender equality; however, I feel their tactics are too strong and extreme. In short, it has nothing to do with Hillary being a woman; it’s that, as a person, she is disdainful. “Here comes the fun part,” or whatever it was she said concerning going on the offensive.

At the end of the day, or at the end of this next week, we’ll have a pretty good idea how things will shape up come this August. Edwards dropping out today, along with Giuliani, with McCain’s win in Florida and Huckabee’s support, this race is shaping up to be a McCain vs. the Democrat. As I have said before, Clinton is too polarizing and McCain is to moderate for the majority of Americans to not keep the GOP in the White House in that race. If the Democrats want to win against McCain, they need to insert Obama. I said this a few weeks ago. I will say it again and again, ultimately, if it goes the other way, it likely to go badly.

I don't dislike McCain, but for fear of the last eight years of Bush, Cheney, Lott, DeLay, Abramoff, and dozens of others that don't practice what they preach, we need to give them Dems a shot again.

Case in Point, if you haven't been to this website yet, please look. They do too good a job for me to try to reproduce, but it's to hard not to cite and cite their work.

http://www.publicintegrity.org

The New York Times Endorses Clinton and McCain

I find us miring down into absurdity. Unfortunately, I could envisage Bush’s victory in 2004, and it came true. The same seems to be happening again with McCain and Clinton. The New York Times, a paper I normally like a good deal, has taken a position behind Clinton, which is an endorsement of the Democratic Party’s establishment. Beyond that, they take the obvious step, which I wrote about yesterday – McCain.

I was watching Keith Oberman last night, and the polls show in a McCain and Clinton match-up McCain wins. McCain will win a race between he and Clinton, which I won’t go into again; in short, he will be able to stand credibly behind our way forward in Iraq and deconstruct Clinton’s position before the electorate. Because she is not as likeable or as pragmatic, a nomination for Clinton will mean another four to eight years before we get seriously started on National Healthcare. It’s a shame.

What else is a shame is William Jefferson Clinton. At the moment, watching him campaign on behalf of his wife, he is no longer as charismatic as he has been in past years. During my run in Boise’s inches and inches of snow last night, I was thinking about China’s place in the world’s economy. How Economic Integration was the way to bring every country into the fold.

I then recalled hearing the expression “Economic Integration” from Bill Clinton, and how intelligent and progressive I thought that was. Right now, however, I don’t see that Bill Clinton doing near the work he did, nor do I envisage Senator Clinton doing so either. Quite simply, she has not captured, refocused, and projected onto America the brilliance of the Enlightenment.

No, I don’t expect candidates to cite Adam Smith or John Locke during the campaign; however, I’ve yet to hear anyone, aside from Obama, speak to the substantive intangible ideas of our world’s integration. Not only does Obama capture it with words, but with aesthetics. Obviously, I am an Obama supporter, but as the campaigns progress and the establishment’s positions are used to augment papers’ advocacy of the “safe” status quo, we will move away from transformative change.

It’s too frustrating to forecast it. I continue to have hope for Obama, but if he is not the nominee, and it is Clinton, our next President will be John McCain. McCain could have been the President in 2000, but that got all jacked up, and look where we are now. It’s all too bad.

McCain’s New Ad -- The Dems Lose in '08

Reading CNN today, http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/01/24/mccain-i-am-dems-worst-nightmare/ , there is now an ad by McCain’s Team espousing that a McCain nomination would result in a victory over the Democrats. Letting McCain’s points speak for themselves, appear to provide substance behind the ad’s theme.

Apparently all of the Democratic Candidates mentioned McCain’s name, in aggregate, fifteen times during this week’s debate. The Democrats fear McCain, as he is the one politician on the GOP-side that appeals to independents. As one that is socially rather liberal, I have several problems with this.

Methinks that McCain’s increasing success is due to the fact that Republicans tend to be smarter during the primary process than Democrats. The GOP is more politically strategic. As the GOP is more politically strategic, so are its voters. That is the reason behind this ad, and the root cause for which McCain’s campaign is airing it. Right now, they see McCain catching on in popularity and momentum, especially amongst independent voters. Therefore, McCain will receive the nomination from the Republicans.

McCain will be the nominee due to a confluence of the following factors: one, he is a veteran with opposition to anything less than “intelligent” withdrawal from Iraq; two, economically, as a Republican, he can lay claim to Regan’s heritage and policies, which everyone in the GOP seems to be erect for this year; three, he panders well enough to social conservatism; four, he doesn’t do so with overpowering sentiment and religiosity, which allows him to sit more towards the middle; five, he can command the votes of independents.

On the contrary, the one issue McCain veers from the GOP Platform is in immigration. In short, this isn’t a showstopper for most conservatives, just the GOP’s more populist wing. The fiscal conservatives don’t mind immigration, and at the root of it, no Democratic candidate will have a more conservative position on it the subject.

I said it, in my Open Letter to President Clinton, and I will say it again. If the choice were between Hillary Clinton and John McCain, I like nearly everyone I know would vote for McCain. Hillary’s nomination is another revision of the Democrats shooting themselves in the foot. Don’t people understand that? Obama is the one thing that keeps the GOP awake at night, like McCain does with the Dems, or so the ad says. I am certain that if it comes down to McCain and Obama, Obama can beat McCain up on the war, and he’ll win. If it shakes out McCain v. Hillary, the GOP, in spite of the awful disastrous “War on Terror,” will retain the White House.

Yeah Bill and Hillary keep working to deconstruct Obama and win over him in the primaries. That is a great idea, just please do me a favor, while you work to make sure that the GOP wins the White House, yet again, don’t do too much to ruin Obama’s chances otherwise.

Spousal/Partner Assistance

We receive so many emails in the course of days, weeks and months, many of which are spam. Far too often they are concerning one’s desire for pharmaceuticals, one’s vanity or they have to do with relationships. Before, I have sounded off about such things. Yesterday, in my Inbox for GMAIL, I received an email with the subject line reading: “Spousal/Partner Assistance.”

Upon receiving that, I assumed it was someone marketing their mail-order bride dating service. Lo and behold, being single, I could find a way to hook up with a “beautiful and single” Russian or Chinese “wife.” Because of GMAIL’s normally careful filters, I assumed that if this was in my Inbox, it deserved an opening. I opened it up, and was very surprised to read for what it was.

In their relocation efforts, my new company hires relocation consultants to assist someone like me with the relocation of their wife or spouse. I immediately returned the woman a note saying: “I do not have a spouse or partner. They hired a bachelor, and I have moved to Boise for just myself.”

I was laughing so hard in writing that with self-deprecation thinking that it was spam, I didn’t pause for a moment to really think on it. Ultimately, the subsequent thought process, one must realize is largely predicated on the new city, which I call home. I say that, because when one surrounds him or herself in their demographic, and everyone they meet is married and is rearing children, it stands as a firm contrast.

By no means am I a lonely heart Matt, at least not so far as I think; however, moving here to Boise does serve to keep me more in exceptional contexts, rather than that of the “normative twenty-nine-year-old young professional in Chicago.” A good fifty-percent of my friends back in Chicago are not married; most of them don’t even have a relationship heading in that direction. Here in Boise, however, when I meet people around my age with similar career aspirations, I find them married with adorable little ones.

I continue not to have plans to “rush into” anything. I say that with all sincerity; but, I would be a liar not to concede that one’s surroundings don’t highlight their being an exception. As I move to conclusion, the thought that lingers in my mind is one of a bit of fear. Quite honestly, I am fine being so single, albeit with the occasional lonesomeness; however, the fear I have is that I have not been living in Boise for a long time. Those who have, immersed in this more paired up culture, without a spouse or partner, have to feel their exceptional nature even more than I do, in my newbie status. With that, not having yet been on a date here in Boise, I have to admit, I am a bit on my heels. My fear is meeting a lovely young woman having a date or two, and quickly finding out that she not only has the expectation of quick nuptials, but a quick family. As many of you know, I ran into that in Chicago about eleven months ago. Those are expectations or requirements I would prefer not to encounter. As I write that, I find myself thinking: “Matt, no risk, no reward.”

That’s me on a Saturday morning, at work, before my training group for the Robie Creek Race.

Stimulus Plans and Fiscal Idiocy - It's What Rich Kids Learn at Yale

Our spending budget has ridiculously high deficits, as we are off fighting a war in Iraq. Our government is spending money like crazy, but has done nothing but cut taxes for the last six-seven years. Meanwhile, as a result of running a government off of credit, and having a loose monetary policy, foreign investors see the US as a bigger risk. What do they do, they take their money out of the States, which drops the value of our currency. In response to a recession, or fears of it, we are now going to offer folks a “stimulus package,” which will put a paltry $800, or something, in our pockets.

When polling folks, I have heard the majority of people polled plan to take the $800 and pay off their debt. As a nation, we have been in love with the cheap credit we have had for such a long while, and this love has done nothing but allowed us to spend ourselves into debt. Of course, being that those of us in our nation individually have more debt, our credit rating is not what it used to be. As such, our money is more expensive, as we are riskier.

Bush’s solution is to inject more liquidity into the economy, a short term fix allowing folks to keep more of their money, or something to that effect. Of course, our nation’s credit, provided that we owe countries by the masses, is diminished. Rather than paying off our debts as a nation or individually, the effort of this stimulus is to inject more liquidity into the economy.

Too little, too late, but that is just like everything else this President has done for us since his terms in office began. I am not surprised, and there is no way to argue with giving folks their money back, but it’s just idiocy. Obviously, I could go on and on, but that won’t help, because this problem is too regressive to waste your and my time by me writing a long and laborious passage on it.

It comes down to this, whether one is a government or person: sure debt is fine, but be sure you can pay it off. If you are going to borrow, that is fine, but don’t misallocate funds to more and more areas, not keeping one’s credit high.

Bush, our economy and federal government’s accounts are in shambles. America, that is what happens when you take a rich kid from a rich family who never had to do anything but ride on his daddy’s name. Bush’s fiscal policy is that of his Yale budget, “Turd Blossom, let’s just throw this on Daddy’s charge card.”

Is it Schadenfreude I am Feeling?

One certainly does not want to admit the pleasure that can be had in others’ misery, but then often times there are those many of whom take consideration in the state of things and their cyclical nature. Economics is called the Dismal Science for a reason and for anyone to think that with rises there aren’t falls, well too often that is self-diluting. Economically, things are probably getting worse not better for a while. As it is an election year, conventional wisdom was saying about five months, liquidate money in the market, and move it to something that is more secure, e.g. gold.

For the past six years, following 9-11, we have seen unfettered growth. Much of that growth was predicated on a confluence of things: cheap credit, a culture of consumerism reinforced by our patriotism following the tragedy (one that didn’t need that much reinforcement), benevolent world following our tragedy, governmental spending of our budget surplus on Wars and pork barrel spending (using our tragedy as justification), and finally unneeded tax cuts justified by our tragedy.

In short, we are in this situation, not for any reason short of mismanagement of our economy by the federal government and the cyclical nature of economics. Of course, with the cycle, those things we can counter-balance through fiscal responsibility, minimizing their effects. Yet, when we allow for swings to take place without restraint, we get what we are now facing, a recession. With our recession, we are going to see housing prices plummet, all in the face of more expensive gasoline. Gasoline will only continue upward, as based on supply and demand.

My thoughts relative to gasoline bring me back to my days in Memphis driving through East Memphis and Germantown, TN. Too often, I recall seeing a massive SUV with a “W” sticker on the back of it. More often than not, I also recall a floppy long hair in the bangs, Southern Frat boy with an Ole Miss sticker, a “W” sticker, a ducks unlimited sticker, and a Widespread Panic sticker (Widespread was a band from Athens, GA playing neo-hippie music) on the back of a Ford Excursion or Chevy Tahoe. For me, at the time, the contrasts shown too brightly, it didn’t make sense for one to spoil their children to have so much, and embrace their spend-happy lifestyles predicated on keeping up with the Jones’s.

What I found most disturbing in that climate was the support of a bad president taking us to war in Iraq. Of course, we had been attacked by horrible people on 9-11, but that attack and what we were about to do in Iraq were completely exclusive of one another. Of course, we knew that at the highest levels, but we continued to march on to it.

Why did I go off on that tangent? In short, I feel as though these people, those who foolishly thought, with righteousness, we were right on everything, therefore we should embrace our worst impulses to spend, spend and spend. Too many Americans were spending like mad. I guess for much of that, I should include myself. Not so much so that I felt the need to buy a large American SUV, but I have always been fiscally rather relaxed with my funds. The climate five years ago was for all of us to spend, and if we didn’t have it, borrow it. That philosophy became common place, and we have seen our economy artificially bubble as a result.

This administration has borrowed on the world’s economic goodwill for American assets in several ways. Our trade deficit is the largest it has ever been, and in the past six years our percentage of global GDP has gone from thirty-one percent to twenty-six percent. These people in the White House and those in Congress up until 2006 didn’t see something on which to spend money they did not like. At the root of it all, there was the justification of us to continue because of our “War on Terror”.

Now, as our homes are worth less and less, and our dollar is worse an all time low relative to other currencies, I have a bit of a smile on my face. Why? Well, we needed a correction, and people saying so didn’t make it happen. It has taken this country being run poorly for the past six or seven years for the population to realize. Now that they realize, this “Revolution” we continuously heard from those on AM radio has shown its true colors. Conservatism, as defined by the likes of “W” and Rush Limbaugh is a failure, as they do a horrible job with whatever it is they believe. This time, there is nothing to blame except horrible mismanagement of the Economy. It has taken a long time, and hopefully we can correct it before our damage to ourselves isn’t too bad.

At the end of his presidency and in the future, we will see George Bush as the worst president in the history of the United States. Not only did Bush mislead us into a war on a nation that did not attack us, sacrificing the World’s political faith in us, but Bush and his party have mismanaged our economy through legislation so badly, our economy relative to the rest of the world is in the worst shape it could be. For me, I only feel alright about it, because methinks that this will allow a greater change to take place. The true colors of “Rush is Right” are shown, and America we cannot have our cake to also eat it.

When we separate ourselves from Economic Fundamentals, for whatever justification we care to believe, we run amuck. It’s just too bad it has to happen, but then for one to play they have to pay.

Time to Click the Link and Watch a Clip from "Election"

http://slatev.com/player.html?id=1377935786

This sums up everything I feel about the Hillary Campaign - please watch it. It is perfect.

Bill and Hillary, It's Personal - Hitchens and Noah, Saying what I am Happy to See in Writing

http://www.slate.com/id/2182065/

http://www.slate.com/id/2182073


I cannot simply reprint the article to which I am linking, but I suggest it be read. Hitchens starts out by retelling a story of Hillary’s time as first lady, how she approached Sir Edmund Hillary with a superfluous story of her naming. Hitchens uses this to masterfully filet Clinton’s supporting President Clinton’s pre-White House life as a torrid womanizer.

Hitchens goes on to cite more numerous accounts of why those like me argue against her continuing to run for President. The essay is well done, as it cites the horrors of the partisanship that mired Clinton’s presidency, and it shows Hillary’s shortcomings throughout it. These are reasons why I, and many of my friends, are so averse to her running with the Democratic nomination.

I miss President Clinton’s work, but I don’t miss his drama, or the drama that surrounds him. Beyond that, why do I miss his work in the first place? Oh, it’s because I am comparing him and contrasting him with undoubtedly the worst US President in our history. No matter how annoying President Bill Clinton’s idiosyncrasies were, they pale in comparison to “W’s”. I find President W so loathsome, I can’t help but shake my head that he has ruined the GOP and their “revolution,” the way he unquestionably ruined his dorm room at Yale.

I digress. I thought of this while reading some of Hitchens’ piece this morning. I don’t like Hillary Clinton on a personal level, but I will take a hard stance against the Clinton’s substantially if they spoil this opportunity we have with Barack Obama. We have a Democratic African-American whom appeals to white men and women; he appeals to Republicans and Independents. Undoubtedly, he will, from a bipartisan perspective, deny further Republican Pork Barrel “bridge-to-nowhere” spending, but will point that money towards making sure you and I are covered with healthcare.

Noah, does similar things to what Hitchens does, in that he demonstrates her "experience" claim is a laugh. That, as well, is most worth a read. I just hope more folks can read that; otherwise, the Dems will be butchered following August/September.

Mr. and Mrs. Clinton, ultimately, if you spoil this chance we have at a move away from the “Rush is Right” Nineties and a whole new era in American Politics, I won’t be able to forgive you. Hillary has to wrap up her campaign, and you have to stop dividing the Democratic Party by trying to “put away” Obama. If you do so, I could see myself voting for Romney or Huckabee, not just McCain. Based on their alignment, that would be a shame, but I couldn’t forgive a self-serving machine. Right now, you are cutting off our nose to spite our face, and while clichés are horrible, it’s fitting. Stop.

The Economist's Analysis on Where the GOP Sits

Please go to the link to read the article.

http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10498758

I don’t want to be accused of pulling quotes out of context. Having said that, here are some of my favorites:

“Americans regard the Democrats as more competent than Republicans by a margin of five to three and more ethical by a margin of two to one. They prefer Democratic policies on everything from health care to taxes.”

“Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee have as much in common as their respective alma maters—Harvard Business School and Ouachita Baptist University. The party is also in danger of going off the deep end. Mr Huckabee denies that man is descended from the apes. Everyone except Mr McCain seems to think that it's a good plan to send 12m illegal immigrants back home.”

“Mr Bush's Republicans also made serious policy errors. They stuck their head in the sand over global warming. They ignored rising anxiety about stagnating middle-class incomes. They turned the war on terrorism into a defining issue and then messed it up.”

“The doomsters draw the wrong lesson from the Bush years. The lesson of the Bush presidency is not that the Republican coalition is exhausted but that it has been badly managed. Mr Bush has failed to keep the coalition in balance—he tilted too far towards his party's moralistic southern wing and too far away from its libertarian western wing. He has allowed public spending to balloon and pork-barrel politicians to run wild. And he has ignored big changes in public opinion about climate change. The Republican Party certainly needs to update its agenda to deal with problems Reagan never grappled with. But this is no time to go breaking the mould and starting again.”

Open Letter to President Clinton

Dear President Clinton,

The United States knows that you owe Hillary, and we are conscious of your attraction in working to get back into the White House; however, we want you to stop. Your cherry-picking references out of Senator Obama’s comments, out of their context, make me like your wife’s campaign even less. I don’t know how to say this, as your eight years were good ones for this country, as a whole, but we don’t want to regress. Senator Clinton winning the White House would be a regression back to an era of awful partisan politics.

I am sincere in this perspective, as your wife continues to have the same foes you had together when you were in the White House. One can see this, in that Republican strategists are praying for your Senator Clinton to win the Democratic nomination, because they see her as the one lock to maintain control of the White House. Unfortunately, as much as Republican stances displease me and the electorate when deconstructed for what they are, the electorate does not like your wife, nor do I.

Why don’t I like your wife? That’s a great question, and one which I’ll be happy to answer. Of course, I don’t like that she voted for President Bush’s authorization for Iraq, but beyond that, I see her as among the most politically expedient people in this country’s political system. How is she different than anyone else you ask? Well, she did not divorce you following you cheating on her, which to me seems more opportunistic than anything else. In my humble opinion, her staying with you following your terms in the White House is the ultimate move for political expediency.

I know; I know, right now, it makes good sense for you to attack Obama, as you have the prestige to do so, but come on, do you think it’s not transparent to Americans whom support Obama? Quite simply, for Democrats, a primary vote for Hillary, leading to a nomination, is a vote for whomever the Republicans nominate. I do not know one person that likes or gets behind Senator Clinton. For one, I can only say that if she were nominated, I would hop fences to vote for McCain.

Why would I betray some political stances of mine to vote for McCain over your wife? Well, for one, I find your wife to be disingenuous. Two, listening to her speak is like listening to nails on a chalkboard. I tried to give her time on Meet the Press yesterday, and I had to turn it off, as she repelled me. Of course, keeping it to these two factors, I would have to go for McCain. That is mostly because he is the lesser of many evils on the Republican-side. I feel as though McCain would do less overall damage to the electorate than your wife.

With all due respect, please bow out of your wife’s campaign, and go play some golf. Retire and enjoy it! You arguing on behalf of your wife, against Obama, is unattractive. It is killing your game.

Warmest Regards,
Matt

Poem for Lori

What’s amazing are the little things,
Those off-handed little things one can say to another,
Things that are in no way meant to be taken poorly,
But that the receiver can misconstrue or infer so much more,
Or it is something that sits with them interminably,
Doing so for lots of reasons,
Reasons like fascination and infatuation with the sender.
All the preceding interactions leaving questions as to who that person is,
Of course, those are things of our nature we never quite get around,
Like why we fight wars or have unrequited feelings,
At the end of it, we all have touch points that have the power to linger,
Those that when we find out their answers,
They humble us in ways that bring us to laughter,
That it is, person-to-person communication, tête-à-têtes, as it were,
They are the framework, with which we fall into the traps of little things,
Were it not for such little things and coupled with humility,
Methinks there would be nothing but our being too serious,
Every once in a while, it is important to know how fallible we are,
Alas that is our nature, lest too easy to forget

Rove Praising Hillary over Obama, Smells Fishy

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/01/11/karl-rove-takes-aim-at-obama/

Karl Rove is taking a position against Obama and favoring Hillary? It doesn’t get simpler than this, and I hope that Americans can reconcile motives behind someone for whom, I hope, Americans can see coming.

Let’s deconstruct this to some basic premises:

- Rove is an arch Republican.
- Rove wants a Republican to win the next election.

- Rove does not like Hillary Clinton or Obama.
- Obama demonstrates that he can operate gathering bipartisan support.
- For Rove, Hillary is an easy battle for Republicans to maintain power.
- For Rove, Obama compromises this.
- For Rove, it makes more sense to disparage Obama and praise Hillary, as his intention is to match Hillary against a Republican.

Ultimately, it is this divisiveness that has run our government amuck. Conservatives now hemorrhage money, run up debt, and cut taxes. They are borrowing from our future while destroying the environment. The one GOP candidate who runs contrary to this, McCain, is my second choice to Obama, assuming Bloomberg doesn’t run. I don’t want McCain, for several reasons: one, he is too old; two, his position on reproductive rights; three, being strong about this horror of a President we have and Rove, to kowtowing to him.

Bad news bears.

USA Today, Wow – Garbage Shouldn’t Be Delivered so Easily & Soldier Boy - Matt’s Pop Deficits

Rather than type an open letter to USA Today, I’ll simply cite the front page headline this morning, taking up seventy-five percent of the front page: 'American Idol' tries to get its groove back in upcoming seventh season.

All this, in the midst of a war in Iraq and a Presidential Election! Rather than rant and rave on this, I think it all speaks for it self. One just has to question the journalistic integrity of the editors of the newspaper. Beyond that, this is a garbage newspaper, for which hardly anyone subscribes. It is a rag paper in hotels throughout the US. I am just thankful for the Internet, faced with new options like that.

Of course, I could go on a rant about CNN’s morning news show talking about “Soldier Boy,” a pop dance sensation from a teenager in Atlanta. Here is a confession: I had never before seen it done. I haven’t had a lot of opportunity to watch a lot of Football; clearly, this is all the rage amongst coaches and players.

I turn thirty this year. Am I getting old? Clearly, I go on a tear about USA Today’s cover dealing with American Idol, and I don’t know a thing about “Soldier Boy”. Methinks this nearly relegates me to Ward Cleaver status. It’s not as though I feel I am missing something important, or I want to be more attuned to things like this. However, I have found “better” things to do than keep up with things of this sort, which makes me think I have grown “old”. Well, what can I say? My diet is better; I am fitter than ten years past; I sleep better, and I am more fiscally mindful. I'll take it.

Meditation on Business Travel

I just wanted to lay out some quick points and excerpts from my trip to Denver this week. I used to travel a lot, my first three years out of school, so I have a lot of these feeling still lingering whenever I business travel. Business travel makes me want to say things that would come off like quotes from Chuck Palahniuk’s “Fight Club.” Rather than do that, I thought I would keep it to one simple point, Cell Phone Usage.

Men under the age of twenty-three and over the age of forty should be required to receive a license for mobile phone usage. For older men, the reason: when one’s hearing is not of a reasonable quality, they feel the urge to conduct business calls loudly. To receive the license they should prove a knowledge of both excusing themselves from their continental breakfast buffet table, and go out to the hallway. Sitting at one’s table with an open USA Today and a plate full of freeze-dried eggs blotched with Tabasco is not the place for discussing the scope of one’s business enterprises.

For the young men, the reason: I don’t like the OSU Buckeyes, nor do I care to hear how “ripped” or “wasted” someone’s friends were during the BCS Championship. Moreover, I don’t want to hear how much love one has for their girlfriend somewhere back in Columbus. Certainly what you do is important, working for the Federal Government in your first post-collegiate job is important.

Women, there are two types of you: the matron with the headset coaching one of her family members through iterative daily tasks, or making sure all is well with one’s teenage children’s supervisors. The other types, of course, are those that are early-to-mid-twenties that are pulling a female version of the Type-A male I mention above. Certainly, I am sure their business is “important,” but outward demonstration of command and quick thinking with outward dramatization is not necessary. We believe that these young women, like young men, are “important,” and they have “big” things transpiring. To be sure!

One should be so lucky to have great lovely friends in a city to where they travel for business. On a lighter note, my friends Jonathan and Jess, a great young engaged-to-be-married couple did me the courtesy of picking me up last night, and they took me out for Sushi! The Sushi was phenomenal, some of the best I have had in years. Truthfully, I don’t know that it could be much better. I would go so far as to say, the best I have ever had.

In all fairness to Sushi chefs, I will give a good bit of bias to the fact that I was with terrific company. It was great to see two friends I had not seen in a long time. More than that, it was great to see them both doing so well, and looking so great. Last night was the highlight of my trip to Denver, unquestionably!

Meditation on Romney – The Aaron Spelling Candidate

Thinking of old Mitt, it’s hard to like him. I can’t say I dislike him because he is a handsome man with a great deal of money, his business success, or the fact the he is a Mormon. Somehow combining all of those factors together to the person that is indeed Mitt Romney, I find rather loathsome. Why is it, I laugh at his representatives on cable news channel talking head shows, or laugh when he is in the debates? It was the same lovely way he was deconstructed last night on the Daily Show.

I remember for 2004 rolling my eyes at the term “Flip Flopper” relative to John Kerry. Certainly, in my twenty-nine years I have “flip-flopped” on more than one issue. Why is it then for me that Romney’s position changes or attacks are so laughable from an observation perspective?

I can only tie it all up in the same way I started to dislike him. Romney’s first campaign ad had his entire family oozing shear commercial script around a fire in a living room. The script was obnoxiously cheesy, and had his son affirming to his family, during their scripted conversation, I paraphrase, “Dad, I think that is exactly why you should run for President. It’s because no one cares about these issues like you do,” or thereof some likeness.

With Mitt, at the root of it, it isn’t one of those things; it’s all of them combined together in someone which seems to have no substance to his personality. To listen to him talk is about as personable to listen to the loud speaker taking a monorail between terminals at the airport. For me, Romney is the worst part of American Media’s prima fascia portrayal of perfection: good looks meeting lots of money; success in business to success in politics; beautiful girlfriend to bride-to mother of too many kids; all coming from a generous upbringing. It’s just a little too Aaron Spelling—gross.

Wishing Ill Will, Thoughts?

http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10490218

Little less than a year ago, I sent a letter to Starbuck’s concerned about the ghastly experience I had in the branch at the Sear’s Tower. The branch consistently bustled, but its baristas’ attitudes were shit.

Coffee at Starbucks or Caribou isn’t particularly cheap, but provided an option for that kind of coffee, Caribou, allowed me to send a rather nasty letter to Starbucks. Of course, they apologized, and sent me a coupon for a reduced price for a few servings and a free coffee. In the correspondence, I scoffed at the pat response, and casually expressed my delight in now having the opportunity to take my money to a competitor with nicer staff. That is no joke, Caribou had substantially nicer staff.

In the process of scoffing, I noted that the Starbuck’s experience had been reduced to that of a McDonalds. Now I see the story in the link above I posted. Starbucks is in trouble for lots of reasons. I don’t think it is right to “hate on” people, or wish them ill-will, but this begs the question, I would like to see Starbucks crippled.

Provided that the law treats corporations as a “person” is it metaphysically wrong to wish ill will upon a corporation? I don’t think so, as I think it is safe to wish ill will upon Halliburton and Blackstone for what they have done in Iraq or Cigna for their life-sacrificing denial to Nataline Sarkisyan (http://www.forbes.com/business/2008/01/08/sarkisyan-cancer-insurance-biz-healthcare-cz_dw_0107cigna.html).

While my gripe against Starbucks is non-existent compared to the link above I just cited. Bad experience and bad actions makes me wish ill will upon these corporations. Of course, that is for what the legal system we have is. That’s an extreme example, but for me, Starbuck’s could use a good corporate reckoning. I am just glad I now have my Java.

Like I would have said forty years ago, “it’s just The Man trying to keep us down!”

Dark Roots

I feel it is necessary to note why Clinton’s “dark roots” are one of many reasons for me not liking her. If nothing else, this is largely predicated on my fear of seeming like a sexist. Again, trust me, it is not that.

While it is status quo for women to color their or “highlight” hair, I find it to be a little vain. I am going to call myself on hypocrisy, because I have dated and adored more than one woman who does highlight their hair. In addition, if I am going to criticize highlighting, I should be criticizing makeup, and I am not.

At the end of the day, for me it has more to do with the thought that it represents Clinton being disingenuous, and perhaps, for me, it’s an overall comment on society that so many women feel it necessary to color their hair. To have a President of the United States coloring his or her hair, would be a warranting of the status quo. And, if one is going to be President of the US, please have a dye job/hair cut not to show off the truth lying underneath the coloring.

Come on Hillary, if Bill can have a $200-plus haircut on LAX from Rubénsilver, or whomever, you can do something about your atrocious hair.

Sidenote: I would say the exact same thing if any of the male candidates highlighted their hair, and had exposed dark roots!

Newsflash! Posting Shorter

Wow - Hillary won New Hampshire, by a small margin. How disappointing, but the fight isn't over for Obama.

Keeping this short and sweet, Reasons, why I won't be voting for Hillary:

1. McCain is too old, but faced with the option between Hillary and him, it goes to McCain
2. I can't vote for a President with Dark Roots
3. I can't vote for Hillary predicated on her voting for Iraq. Not that I think, because she supported it, but because she knew better. It was her wanting to seem tough on Defense
4. Listening to her acceptance speech, provided me with a plethora of adjectives, e.g.: repellent, monotonous, tiring, dissatisfying, etc...
5. She thinks she is entitled

I can't handle the idea of another Clinton or Bush name following the word "President." Seeing McCain win and Hillary win in New Hampshire, if that continued on to convention would have me voting another way, either Bloomberg or McCain.

It's not because she is a woman -- not for one second. Please don't think that. For me, it is quite simple, I can never vote for someone so transparently disingenuous. Sorry. Beyond that, she is another text book example of expired Washington polarization and partisanship. I am tired of it. I'd like to think we are beyond it, but one term with her as President would put us awash in the same garbage to which we had to listen for ten years. Not to mention her on the pulpit, it's a drone. Listening to Bush mispronounce "nuclear" not knowing what lots of words mean is almost as equivalent, but at least it is funny. Hillary just has the drone of Charlie Brown's mother, no thanks.

Perspectives and Life’s Little Reminders

This morning, after I got to the airport in Boise, I found my ticket was not issued. It wasn’t too much trouble, but the travel agent had to issue me a ticket for the next flight, as the earlier flight I was on was oversold. The extra couple of hours in BOI were fine, as I had my shoes shined, read, spoke with Mom and had a nice cup of coffee. The next couple of unfolding items served to remind me how precious life is, and sometimes just how easy it is to lose track of the most important qualities of life: health, happiness, emotional strength, education and love.

Getting the cup of coffee the clerk that helped me had what I would characterize as a mild case of Downs. I am by no means a physician, as all reading this know, so I could be wrong. Whatever the case, the man that helped me was exceptionally friendly and kind, and his cheerful disposition served to remind me how important the basics in life are and how easy they are to overlook.

I have flown enough over the past year that I am Premier Exec, but not drinking, I felt no need to try to upgrade. Rather, I sat in the first row in Economy, in the aisle seat. Sitting down, the window seat guy moved along side me, and I said my hellos. We both sat down, and the window seat guy, Ryan, moved to fall asleep. I can take a hint, so I didn’t move on through conversation.

While sitting there minding my business a female flight attendant led a young boy, approximately thirteen over to our middle seat. The boy was crying profusely, and was inconsolable to the flight attendant. The flight attendant spent a few moments telling him that someone was going to meet him at the gate. During those moments I thought, “I wonder if this younger guy is afraid to fly?”

The flight attendant left him with his tissue, and I quickly introduced myself. “Hi, my name is Matt. How are you?”

The boy immediately broke into tears, and was so hurt. I could feel how sad he was by looking at his face and seeing his tears. I said, “I hope all is well. Are you okay?”

The boy went on to explain that he wasn’t okay, because he was leaving his mother from Christmas to go back to his foster family in Iowa. We talked further, and without my prying, he explained that he had four more months of foster care, where he had to be in Iowa away from his mother. The boy also expressed that he had been in foster care for four years.

While I started talking to him about his school subjects and what sports he liked, I thought to myself just how tough it had to be to leave one’s mother. I have no idea as to why the boy has to go to foster care in Iowa, but I cannot imagine the circumstances are particularly good. I could write about this indefinitely. My speculations are unimportant, he was a trooper. We spoke about the Presidents, and he said they studied Lincoln. I explained why Lincoln was our best President, as he was strongest when things were the toughest, which is why historians consider him the best.

I did what I could to tie that back to him being a tough young guy for facing such challenging circumstances in life. I had said to him earlier that I was proud of how well he was doing for the tough thing he had to do. That he would be able to get through it through his strength, and that it is how well one fares in challenge that shows how great they are. I related that back to Lincoln, and I quoted some Twain along the same lines. Please know I did so not preachy-like, but tried to make it as conversational as possible, so my message wasn't lost due to him feeling patronized.

Towards the end of the flight, I managed to casually bring the other man, about my age, sitting with us into conversation. We were talking about travel and business, and he said he studied Forestry in undergrad. Upon hearing that from him, I mentioned what the thirteen-year-old between us liked, some farming related things, and I mentioned what I suggested the boy could study. We then casually, as the "older" two guys there discussed things the boy could study to further follow his interests.

By no means am I suggesting that I helped change this boys life, but hopefully one little nugget of life’s truths will come back to him sometime when things are tough, about what a great President Lincoln was and why. Even if that doesn’t happen, that young boy, in his anguish and pain served to remind me how important and fortunate we all are for the love of those around us. How great education is for teaching us these important components of human experience from the past, and how it all ties in so well to our own lives. The same way the slightly disabled guy at coffee reminded me that health is something for which we can not strive hard enough to maintain, and to have the good fortune of good health is something not to be squandered.

Of course, all of those things dwell in the same category as emotional health and well being, which can be a challenge for everyone in their lives. For some, it comes down to circumstances, and coping with them through something like therapy to remedy their after effects. For others, it’s something physiological that requires rehabilitation, therapy, or psychopharmacology.* For some others neither of those circumstances are factors. Whatever the case, witnessing a truly random disparate sample of folks today, has me sitting alone in a hotel room thinking about just how fortunate we all are. Life is indeed too grand to articulate, it’s just amazing how it takes reminding sometimes.

*Rather than go tangential in the body of what I was writing, I would note my thoughts on psychological health predicate on a chairlift ride I had on Sunday. I was riding up the mountain with a guy about thirty years older than me. That man and I were talking, and he mentioned his being a psychiatrist and runing a psychiatric hospital locally. Those weren't his words, but for the sake of discretion (like referring to the boy as "boy" rather than his name), I feel responsible to keep it generalist. Whatever the case, the doctor and I were talking, and I took interest in his profession. I noted that they must have seen a sea change relative to psychopharmacology over the past few years, as stigmas have to be declining and the medications are treating more issues, etc... That ride up Bogus had me thinking about how quality of life is so well predicated on psychological health, and too often that is missed in self-evaluation. Perhaps that, like other very personal ailments, doesn't receive discussion over the water-cooler; ergo, remediation is kept secret. At the end of the day, being well is a full self inventory, it isn't just how well ones cardio-vascular works...

Weekend Activities

Since 2001, I have driven with pride and glory my Subaru. I bought my car in Memphis with anticipation of moving to New England, thinking I needed something for the snow. Of course, I would be less than honest not to admit the connotation an “All Wheel Drive” car like the Subaru Outback possesses, at least for me, and that being a reason why maybe I bought it*. Of course, when I found I was moving to Boise, I told the Subaru, “You are going home.” This weekend, I felt finally like I was living a lifestyle appropriate to my car purchased seven years ago.

On Friday night I had my friends James and Liz over for dinner. I cooked them salmon and lentils, along with some Maytag bleu risotto. I will post the recipe for my salmon and lentils a bit later. Anyway, following their leaving I went to bed, and I got up the next morning to head to my training club for Boise’s “Robie Creek” half-marathon. Robie Creek is probably the toughest half-marathon there is. I know they claim the toughest in the Northwest, and maybe there is one in Colorado, or something; however, Robie is approximately eight miles uphill, then five downhill. It’s tough, and I am looking forward to running it in April.

Following my training run, one that wasn’t too long, only three miles**, I went to have some coffee. After having coffee, I grabbed my new snowshoes and drove up to Bogus Basin to hit one of their snowshoe trails. The drive up to Bogus was easy, but a pain the arse in a few respects**. The snowshoeing was a lot of fun and it was easier than I had expected. I did their toughest and longest trail, and noted that my heart rate was comparable to what it would be were I running. Of course, a lot of that was also predicated on that I was at 7000 elevation, so working at that altitude gives it some of its depth.

Of course, what I had done by Saturday night was run and snowshoe, which made me a tired puppy. I rested on the couch after an Epsom salts bath to watch the debates. I was glad to see Obama continuing to command his lead, which was encouraging. After the debates, I dropped like a log; I was beat. I slept like a baby, and woke up to head over to Jim’s Coffee for breakfast to meet James and Liz. There was a fresh three inches on my windshield, and the snow here is wicked dry and fluffy. All of that snow had me in anticipation for what was to come. That said, I digress, Jim’s Coffee doesn’t deserve to have “Coffee” in his title, because on weekends, they don’t open until 8AM. In the Midwest that would never fly. I don’t think it would in an Idaho fishing camp, but then again, I live in the North End****, so who knows?

James, Liz and I met at my regular coffee shop Java*****. There we ate breakfast, and I drove all of us up to Bogus. Of course, the fresh snow made skiing all the more attractive; it spoke less well for the drive up. The mighty Subaru held like a champ up the fifteen miles to Bogus from Boise. Without chains, without a V8, it worked its way through the snow and bad road conditions like a champ. That’s not to say there were not about four or five “Man’s Trucks” spinning out on the way up, stopping to adjust or turn back, but the Sub****** – she held!

Liz, James and I made it up to Bogus safely, and they were kind enough to snowboard with me while I skied down the runs we went as a group. It had been two years since this last December since I had skied, but I felt pretty good. Dittman will have to talk to me a bit on some thoughts I am having relative to length and such, provided the powder is something with which I am not as familiar, but it went really well. We had terrific powder on which to ski, and Bogus, less than twenty miles from Boise, was terrific and had a good number of runs! It only makes me more greatly anticipate skiing here so close to home.

Needless to say, I was beat yesterday evening after running, snowshoeing and skiing. I did my best to eat well, but didn’t do as well as I should have throughout the whole weekend. I should have eaten more, but I tried to eat healthily at my dinners on Saturday and Sunday evening. Of course, I write this now in the airport, on my way to Denver, but I couldn’t be happier about my move here to Boise. It has brought my Subaru “home,” as now it has an owner that does the things Subaru uses to advertise their cars, like Patagonia or LL Bean do with their clothes or lifestyle gear. I feel terrific, fresh and healthy. I hope to continue to feel so well about what I am doing and how I am doing it. It’s quite exhilarating. Of course, I write this in the airport looking at a picture of the President and of the Head of Homeland Security. Things will have to go much better in this year’s elections. ^^^

*Ok – truth be told, I went to university when every middleclass to well off kid had to roll with North Face or Patagonia, as such the “outdoor” lifestyle was something not only in vogue to live, but to dress as though you did. In other words, even if you and your family couldn’t afford regular trips to Aspen, Telluride or Alta, to be “cool,” one needed to dress as though they were just about to hop on the plane to do so. Probably with that same mindset, or a likeness thereof, I went out at the age of twenty-two and purchased an All-Wheel-Drive Station Wagon. This was largely also due to my thoughts I would move Northeast, but perhaps that was more of a justification for something new and fancier. As such, I was not a fan of the SUV, which was the way to go in Memphis, because I had political-economic implications in mind concerning gas prices and the kind of guys that drove big SUVs^^.

**I say three miles isn’t too long, because I typically run five-to-six miles on my weeknight runs these days. I have not been training for anything specifically, but I am keeping a base trying to keep fit. I took Friday night off for the Saturday run, that it was just three; I was in good shape for it.

***Driving uphill fourteen miles with lots of “U” curves at 20mph and switchbacks, all of that is just fine. My challenge was twofold: one, there was a line of cars both ahead and behind me; two, there was a car that was behind me, riding my ass, as though I was going to be able to speed up magically getting ahead of the cars ahead of me. My challenge with riding me so continuously was troubling, because I could not get ahead of what was in front of me. The guy tailgating me was pushing a rope, which just doesn’t work, either in mathematics or in physics. On another note, I was breaking in advance of the curves, and then accelerating through them, so he would ride my ass going into the curve then would be left behind, as undoubtedly, he was breaking hard in the curves. It makes me think that his daddy didn’t teach him how to drive in the mountains, which for me is counter-intuitive. Needless to say, downshifting downhill, I encountered similar issues. Whilst trying not to ride anyone’s ass going downhill, cars would ride mine. It wasn’t worth pulling over to let more cars pass, as the stream was continuous. It’s just troubling that some teenagers, I am assuming, don’t know what they are doing.

****The North End of Boise is known for being an older more bohemian part of town. Hyde Park is in the North End, and has my favorite restaurant in town. It also has Java. The North End is where one would find a Craftsman bungalow, or something of a similar time period. Because of the aforementioned description, it has rather silly connotations amongst my colleagues. Clearly, the North End used to be somewhere more common place for Hippies back years ago, I don’t know. It earns terms like “granola,” etc… Whatever the case, I have yet to find a place more accommodating to young-ish bachelors in Boise. If there is a place, and you know of it, let me know. I like it just fine, and I have yet to see any smelly old hippies. More often than not, they are young professionals or aspiring to be as such.

*****Java is my Hyde Park coffee shop. They have coffee, food, and exceptionally cute young women working. I have become regular enough to be known by most of the staff at Java. That is largely predicated on the frequency with which I get coffee (every night before my run), and on the weekends before my training runs. The conversation is the most social I have outside of work (work is fine, but I am trying to keep worlds more separate), and it reminds me that there are, in fact, young not-married women here in Boise. Ultimately, I have not yet seen any of these young women outside of their jobs and I have a rule^ against asking out wait staff or those working at a place I frequently patronize. That said, I don’t know that I am getting anywhere in romancing a cutie Java-girl, but that’s cool. They are still nice to surreptitiously admire.

******That’s not to say the Subaru does any better breaking in ice than any other automobile. I was breaking and slid once, which did no damage, but something for which I need to be aware and buy chains. It’s not going to hurt. Note to self, buy chains. ^My policy against asking out waitresses is largely predicated on the fact that they have to be nice. Of course, in addition to that, being “one of the regulars, Matt, just asked me out; he’s like old” doesn’t entirely appeal to me either.

^^For me a large SUV was always a sign of one’s phallic deficiencies. That said, to go out to buy an Excursion or Expedition seemed largely predicated on other personal inadequacies. Certainly, I know some guys that are so massive that they require big cars, but what, is that one in twenty? I have never seen a physical justification for an SUV that a four-wheel drive station wagon will not fulfill. Just because one has soccer players doesn’t qualify them for something like an Excursion. If one truly needs to ferry eight nine-year-olds around in their car, they need to buy an obnoxiously ugly Dodge Ram van. Those are just my thoughts relative to all of it. Really, one can do whatever they can afford and justify to themselves; however, I am quite gratified in being a twenty-two-year-old knowing better all those years ago.

^^^Ok W and Chertoff look particularly silly in pictures on the wall of the airport, just after metal and baggage detectors. One, W’s smile is a bit too juvenile for a President, as he has that smirking smile of his, which for me, does not look at all Presidential. In large part, that is predicated on the fact that since he has been in office, and since the TSA has been so well pronounced, we have been in a “War on Terror.” If we are in this “War on Terror” look Presidential; don’t smile because Turdblossom thinks it is going to help pull off 2004’s election. Chertoff looks a bit like an alien, and methinks his picture is solely there to serve as juxtaposition to Bush’s more “photogenic” picture. In short, the pictures look like a fraternity composite, one with the nerdy fraternity brother positioned next to the spoiled impish playboy rich kid spending Daddy’s money. While one can be reminded this horror is soon to be over, the pictures were a standing memory of what our country represents to people elsewhere in the world.

Pinker's History of Violence

The below link is to an essay by Steven Pinker of Harvard's Department of Psychology. The essay is an interesting read; however, I have issues with its substance. In short, violence certainly existed in the past and it exists today; however, I would argue that while times and forms of it have changed relative to everything in its amounts, we are looking at a zero-sum. In short, we are neither better nor worse than respective eras in human history.

http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/pinker07/pinker07_index.html

For me, it is too challenging to take Pinker’s leap from brutal primitive violence to better publicized violence occurring between nation-states or ethnic groups being lesser in aggregate. I agree that there was probably not a more peaceful form of our species; however, I disagree with his argument for our current supposition that we are now more violent, predicated on the violence that is better publicized. I think it is safe to say that indeed Enlightenment thought and the nation-state of the Modern era provide us with more security against individual on individual violence in society, and that mixed in aggregate makes us individually holistically safer than millennia ago; however, I think humanity’s nature for general violence is just as strong – we are flush. Pinker isn’t right that our current place in time provides us with less violence, rather we are consistent; violence across the centuries has continued between humans; it is just amorphous.

By amorphous, one can cite numerous examples ranging from biblical times through to Iraq. Certainly, one can go through the past twenty years highlighting tribal violence, like what we might see in Rwanda, or they can take it up though to more Modern forms with what is occurring to date in Iraq. Through all of that, we can cite violence of forms everywhere between. What I did not detect from Pinker’s essay was more substantive reference to intra-social person-on-person violence. While there might be fewer murders per capita now than in antiquity*, I would wager there exist just as many robberies or personal assaults person-to-person per capita as there did in the past. Now, however, these assaults can take formation in different fashions (e.g. hold-ups or muggings). In short, I don’t think Pinker is saying here anything truly substantive relative to his thesis; not so much as he is simply trying to reassure us that we were just as violent in the past as we are today; that and there is hope and result with existing nation states. Currently things certainly are more public and visible, so we are more cognizant; however, just because the form of our violence is different, doesn’t mean that at its roots it is any different in spirit or substance than what it was when a rock or axe was our weapon.

*Pinker's argument's shortcoming is that he does not provide substantive statistics to support his case; rather he poorly cites the work of an anthropologist or two. In these rather poor citations he does not provide for hard statistics. One can't necessarily expect that "monks" or whoever from thousands of years ago kept reasonable statistics; however, to make any real argument requires apples to apples; otherwise, he predicates his entire argument on the supposition of other academics or himself.

Traveling Abroad and a Merry Christmas

I am writing this having returned from Nicaragua a few days ago. My family and I went there for Christmas to see my sister working there for the Peace Corps. Becca has been in Nicaragua for a little more than six months. Seeing her was delightful, and the trips didn’t suffer any tragedies; however, with all there that we had, it was not the way I wish to spend future holidays.

Holidays, the word itself conjures up Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving. Of course, having worked for a British firm, I also associate the word with what we in America call “Vacation.” Nicaragua is a lovely country just north of the Equator, which means that it was plenty warm the whole time we were in-country. With warmth come all sorts of challenges being from a wealthy developed country, to which we are not always accustomed.

For me, the challenges that we saw in Nicaragua came from my own errors in expectations and preparedness. I say that, because I love camping. When preparing for a camping trip, I know that I need to bring something to purify water, something to sanitize dishes, a way to dispose of toiletry effects and a way to guard one from mosquitoes. In packing my bags for a vacation to see my sister, I did not adequately prepare myself to my later satisfaction for the same inconveniences one would find in Nicaragua. Quite simply, traveling to a developing country, one should prepare as though they are backpacking.

In Nicaragua, there are little waste cans near each toilet. The waste cans are there for disposal of toilet paper after its use, as the plumbing and sewers in Nicaragua are not strong enough to tolerate toilet paper. Of course, that is something, were I camping, I could handle; however, on vacation, away from home, in beachside accommodations, it was not for what I had anticipated. The same, of course, could be said for the country’s substandard tap water. I think my sister has now built up a resistance to the lack of thorough sanitization in the water, but as an alien, one should not consume their water out of the tap. There are of course further accoutrements, like worrying about bugs, clean food and the cleanliness of those preparing one’s food, but all of that I was something for which I thought I had prepared.

Not to go on further disparaging Nicaragua, but being my first Latin American experience, I was looking forward to local cuisine. Local cuisine there in Nicaragua was devoid of any real flavor. The nicest restaurant we went to make a terrific upscale burger, but the kitchen was run by a Norte Americano. I did not see any of Rick Bayless’s Mexico, or any likeness, in Nicaragua.

It was an absolute ball to see my family, and to spend time with my maternal grandparents and aunts. I have to say though; there are conveniences, like running on paved roads, which were just too badly missed. The roads were in horrible disrepair. Quite simply, it all harkens to what we learn from Tiny Tim in Dickensian-fashion, which is those that exemplify the spirit of Christmas, make due with what they have and live well in spite of their challenges. If nothing else, it’s important to know for what to be thankful, and unquestionably, for me, that is family and being from the US. Being from the US, or another developed country is something that is too easily taken for granted. Access to great healthcare, cleaner food and sound infrastructure are great. All of that makes me chuckle at those running for office that are so anti-government or anti-tax. For those espouse irresponsibly doing away with taxes or a sound federal government, make a trip the developing world. More important than my political economy-rant, my Grandmother and Grandfather’s health is superb, which is gratifying on so many levels.

Being eighty-two my grandfather hiked with my father and me up the highest point in San Juan Del Sir, where we posed next to the town’s cross overlooking the Pacific. It was the highlight of my Grandpa’s trip, and he showed me how strong his health and will are. The man has a fifteen-year-old artificial heart valve and a knee replaced this last year. Grandpa is hiking up steeply inclined surfaces triumphantly. I am honored to come from stock like that. That is something for which to be most thankful – health and happiness.

If nothing else, I didn’t get as much time with my sister as I would have liked. The circumstances were not conducive to it, which ate into the purpose of my being up for heading down to Nicaragua away from Boise and the States. The positives were spending time with my family in a country to which I had not been. I can’t say I will be rushing back any time soon, as I am not so much a beach person as I am into the mountains and forests in more mountainous climates. I like cities as well, but there wasn’t anything of note from that perspective either. In short, Nicaragua is not a vacation place for Matt, nor would other developing countries in Latin America. I am more than happy to try Buenos Aires, Rio, or Santiago, but I am not so much game for Central America with its particular challenges.