Happy New Year!

I've never been much of a new years person. I'm usually disappointed by the passing of another year rather than excited by the possibilities that lie ahead. It's a downer, I know. That said, I hope you all have very happy new year celebrations.

As for resolutions, last year I had three:
1) Quit biting my nails.
2) Get a little better at singing.
3) Send a letter or postcard every week.

In generally I failed miserably. However, I do bite my nails less and I can sing slightly better. As for the letters: failure.

I haven't come up with mine yet, but will share when I do. What are yours?

Religion Question

What do catholic priests do if, during communion, they spill the wine/blood or crackers/body all over the place?

But I Heart Hugh Grant!

According to a new study, romantic comedies are bad for you because they create unreasonable relationship expectations.

Twilight is probably bad for you too. Just sayin'. ;)

Merry Christmas!

Wow, so blogging is hard when on vacation. I actually thought it would be easier, what with more time. Alas I was wrong. Between the friends, gifting, family, etc, I wanted to wish you all a very merry Christmas. Hooray!

Non-Paper Daily, 12.19.2008

*Obama completed his cabinet today:
-Congressman Ray LaHood as Secretary of Transportation.
-Congresswoman Hilda Solis for Secretary of Labor.
-Former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk for for US Trade Representative.
-Karen Mills, a former venture capitalist, to lead the Small Business Administration

Not many thoughts except that Ray LaHood is a Republican, one of two or three if I'm not mistaken, that Obama has added to his cabinet.

*President Bush released just over $13 billion in bailout funds for the the American automakers. Considering the economic hurt we are in, this is probably a good idea. One of the last things we need is another couple million people out of work. If those companies are going to fail, it needs to happen when there is enough capital available for replacement companies to start up.

*And in the biggest news, today was my last day before Christmas break. Hooray!

The Trade Deficit Bubble

Here is a well-written blog on a topic I have been mulling over for a couple years. The nickel version: First there was the dotcom bubble, then the housing bubble. What's next? How about the trade deficit bubble? The United States borrows billions of dollars every year to pay for things for which we don't have money. What happens when that bubble bursts and countries around the world no longer want to buy our currency? It's a big question with lots of scary answers. Click the link, it's worth a read.

Non-Paper Daily, 12.18.2008

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

F3DM by BYD

Big time news. (click the link for a photo of the car)

Today BYD Auto, a Chinese automaker, released the first ever mass produced plug-in electric car. Basic design: The car has enough batteries (that are charged from your electrical outlet) to drive approximately 60 miles on all-electric mode, meaning the internal combustion engine does not turn on. After 60 miles the car can either start a small generator that charges the batteries or simply act like a normal hybrid.

I'm a huge proponent of these vehicles. First, they are a bridge technology that will move us closer to electric vehicles. Second, they reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared with traditional vehicles. Third, they move the smog away from population centers to more efficient electricity production centers. And fourth, as our electricity production becomes greener (wind, solar, etc), so too do these cars.

My true wish would be people biking and walking more, but the reality is that people will drive individual vehicles. If that's going to be the case, then plug-in hybrids are a good start.

Tom Vilsack: Next Secretary of Agriculture

Yesterday, Barack Obama made another addition to his cabinet, adding Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture. Vilsack is the former governor of Iowa, a state famous for its agriculture. So, a good fit, right?

Wrong. Perhaps the greatest policy blunder in the history of the United States has been massive producer-side (government support that goes directly to the producer of a good or service) subsidies to corn farmers. The result has been a breathtaking shift in America's food chain. Just about everything we eat, with the exception of fresh vegetables, is based in corn. Nearly all processed foods are made with high fructose corn syrup. Nearly all dairy products come from corn-fed cows. Nearly all beef and pork comes from animals fed corn. Nutritionists across the globe agree that a diet based in corn, especially high-fructose corn syrup, is a leading contributor to obesity.

Furthermore, the latest policy fad of producing ethanol from corn is disastrous. It's led to an increase in food prices, over-use of arable land, a shift away from traditional crops toward a corn-based monoculture, and a huge use of water and energy to produce fuel. Bad, bad, bad, and worse.

Rather than moving in the direction of more corn, Obama should be moving away from corn. Vilsack will be a good old boy advocating for more subsidies and increased production of corn. Big strikeout on this selection.

Non-Paper Daily, 12.17.2008

*In yet another sign of the times, people are getting on welfare in significant numbers. Bailouts cost money, but so, too, does having massive unemployment.

*Things keep turning this way and that in the Minnesota senate recount. Both campaigns are challenging ballots and now they are bringing back previously-dropped challenges. A couple days ago it looked like we may have a winner as early as tomorrow, but now it looks like there may be a long road ahead. The winner is someone who will be serving for six years and, with incumbent reelection rates what they are, probably longer. I say take your time and get it right.

*Today Time named Barack Obama its "Person of the Year." No surprise there considering most president-elects win the award in the year they win and, whether you agree with the guy or not, Obama truly revolutionized campaign fundraising and use of the internet in campaigning all while energizing the nation like no political figure has done since Bobby Kennedy.

OPEC Cuts Production

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, announced today that they are cutting production by 2.2 million barrels per day. To put that number into perspective, world oil consumption is 80-85 million barrels per day, so they are cutting production by about %3. Additionally, Russia and Azerbaijan, two non-OPEC oil producers, also announced production cuts.

This is not a trivial amount, however oil prices did not immediately go up today in response to the news. Basic economic theory predicts that a cut in supply will increase the price, which is exactly what these countries are trying to do. Rather than sell their product at $45/barrel, it makes a whole lot more sense to sell it for $60, $70, or $80+. Keep in mind that their oil reserves are finite--eventually it's going to run out--so they want to make as much money as possible while they still have it.

As an aside, simply because it is incredible, let's work out daily worldwide oil consumption. One barrel of oil is 42 gallons. Humans use 80-85 million barrels a day, which is about 3.5 billion (billion!) gallons of gas per day. In a world where billions of people do not even have a car, humans consume about half a gallon per person, per day. This average is misleading because people in countries like the United States use a much higher percentage. Pretty astounding numbers.

The Rich

I read a fascinating blog about the rich getting uber rich in the last few decades while, simultaneously, their tax burden is smaller. Sounds like a good gig for them. Unfortunately that means the rest of us are making less money and paying higher tax rates.

Billionaire Warren Buffet, one of the world's richest men, has famously explained how he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. It is simply wrong that the richest people are not paying the highest tax rates, that is core principle of a progressive system of taxation.

A snippet:

So there you have it. The top 400 taxpayers, a group so rich and elite that I'd need scientific notation to properly represent their proportion of the population, have doubled their share of income in the past decade or two but have decreased their tax burden by nearly half. Nice work! As you can see, Warren Buffet wasn't exaggerating when he said his secretary paid a higher tax rate than he does. If she pays more than 18% — not exactly a tough hurdle when you figure that payroll taxes already account for about 8% of that — she probably does.

That's absurd.

How They Make Me Laugh

Yesterday while reviewing for a test this exchange occurred:

Teacher: What company did Queen Victoria hire to explore the Nile River?
Student: The YMCA!

Correct.

Non-Paper Daily, 12.16.2008

*The Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate to nearly zero in hopes of urging our economy away from depression. The Fed has been cutting interest rates regularly for months now and they essentially can go no further. It is a bit disconcerting when the tools in their toolbelt can no longer be deployed.

*Obama named Chicago school's chief Arne Duncan as the next Secretary of Education. Fairly bland pick. The guy is an old friend and basketball buddy who Obama has known for years. He could have done better. I see the problems with our education system every day and I'm in a good school setting. Here was an area Obama could have picked someone with big ideas and he chose to play it safe. Unfortunate.

*New York politicians are looking into an %18 tax increase on soda. Their rationale: It's a way to generate revenue that will be used to treat obesity that is caused, in part, by soda. I haven't read the details, but philosophically I'm a fan. Gas taxes pay for road repairs. Cigarette taxes pay for anti-youth smoking campaigns. Etc. They taught us in the education program that the punishment should always fit the crime. Often the same principle can be applied to taxes: the tax should fit the expenditure.

Bailout the Failures

Yet one more reason the Bush Administration is just a bunch of douchebags.

Congress insisted that in order to pass the bank bailout bill then the provided funds could not be used to give bank executives (the very executives that ran these banks into the ground) massive compensation packages. The Washington Post reported yesterday, however, that the Bush Administration slipped one sentence into the final bank bailout bill that took all the bite out of that provision.

There you go, our finest at work. Just a little more than a month to go.

A Milestone

Slowly but surely I have racked up the posts and you all have racked up the page visits: Today we eclipsed the 5,000 visitors barrier. To all who keep coming back for more, thank you. To be honest, I write for the sake of improving my writing, but the most rewarding aspect of blogging are your comments online and in person. Keep'em coming and, dare I say it, on to 10,0000!

Non-Paper Daily, 12.15.2008

*If you had not already heard, President Bush went on an unannounced trip to Iraq for a signing of the most recent agreement for the pullout of American troops within about two years. While at the ceremony an Arab journalist threw both his shoes (one at a time) at Bush, who demonstrated some nimble dodging. Apparently in Arab cultures, throwing one's shoes at someone is the ultimate gesture of disdain. Who knew? As to be expected, the journalist has become something of a celebrity for standing up to the President of the United States. The video:

*The scuttle is that Caroline Kennedy is actively pursuing Hillary Clinton's senate seat. It is the same seat that the late Senator Bobby Kennedy once held. Political dynasties are not good for our system. Plus, as Kevin pointed out, the rich and famous already have political access a leg up in elections. Count me out on this one.

*Barack Obama has tapped Steven Chu to be the next Secretary of Energy. Not only is he smart (he's a Nobel Laureate) but he's also one of the favorites from the environmental community. Additionally, Obama named Nancy Sutley to head the White House Council on Environmental Quality. As Steve pointed out, in terms of diversity, that adds a second Asian American to Obama's cabinet and the first openly gay member of any cabinet, all serving under the first non-white President of the United States. Positive steps indeed.

One Dollar Diet Project

As I signed into my Yahoo mail account a link caught my eye: Couple Eats on $1 Per Day for a Month. Sounded interesting, and it was. Billions of people around the world live on $1 per day, so they wanted to see if it was possible to eat in America on that budget. Clearly this is difficult here simply because our society's food is more expensive, but they were able to do it. Along the way they learned a few things, garnered some media attention, and ate a lot of plain oatmeal. If you're interested, here's their blog.

Non-Paper Daily, 12.13.2008

*There are dozens and dozens of reasons why Africa struggles to move out of poverty. Even with billions of dollars in aid and expertise, little progress is achieved and, in many cases, they are still moving in reverse. Just one of those reasons is a distrust of the West.

*For all my fellow college football lovers, Sam Bradford of Oklahoma won the Heisman Trophy today.

*It's been a slow day.

Fantastic. The video is cute, but the music is priceless. Enjoy:

Non-Paper Daily, 12.12.2008

*The Minnesota State Canvassing Board (they deal with elections) directed county election officials to count approximately 1,600 wrongly disqualified absentee ballots. Franken, who is currently losing by a couple hundred votes, outperformed Norm Coleman in absentee ballots, so this is a huge boost to his chances at winning.

*The precipitous drop in oil prices is severely hurting the economies of countries that rely on its export as their primary source of income (Iran, Russia, et al., I'm looking your way.)

*Looks like the auto company bailout is a no-go due to Republican senators protests. The Bush administration, however, is poised to act, so it looks like the Big Three car manufacturers won't be going bankrupt... yet.

*Miley Cyrus received a Porsche for her birthday, but was disappointed it wasn't the car she wanted. Can't she just buy the car she wants?

Tre Interesting

A video from Wired that shows all commercial flights over a 24 hour period, condensed into 72 seconds.



Hat tip to Travis.

Non-Paper Daily, 12.11.2008

*In numbers higher than predicted, unemployment insurance applications surged to a 26-year high.

*Regardless of how you feel about it, the auto company bailout plan was on track, then knocked off track, but again sees a glimmer of light. Apparently Ford can survive for awhile with out it, but GM and Chrysler are staring bankruptcy straight in the eye.

*Anti-globalization protests are spreading across Europe in response to the ever-worsening economic situation. Maybe just a little something, but maybe something much bigger.

*Without direct knowledge it's hard to tell, but Pakistan seems to be taking steps against those that perpetrated the bombings in Mumbai. If accurate, this is certainly a positive development. Pakistan has two groups in charge--the military versus citizen government--that often do not see eye to eye. There are all kinds of question marks that will continue to surround Pakistan until there is progress stabilizing the governing structure.

Yes, We're Still in Iraq and Afghanistan

A friendly PSA:

After a closely fought, high-profile election that gobbled up headlines and in the heart of a global financial meltdown, I would like to remind you all that yes, we still have hundreds of thousands of troops abroad. This may come as a surprise, considering the lack of news coverage on the topic. Don't shoot the messenger, I just thought you all should know.

Recycling Woes

As prices for commodities (definition of commodity) plummet--the example in this article is tin, which has dropped from a high of $327/ton earlier this year to $5/ton--recycling centers are facing major financial problems. The basic idea: the more raw materials are worth, the greater the profit margin recycling businesses can achieve.

The sixth commenter to the article, david b, points out a possible solution that I, in theory, support. He argues there should be a price on consumer products to cover their disposal. In other words, the consumer would pay extra in the price of a product in order to cover the eventual disposal of that product. The greener the product--one that uses recycled materials, less and/or recyclable packaging, etc--the lower the price. This would allow the market to work by incentivizing greener products by making them cheaper.

Jeopardy

Wow. Going into Final Jeopardy:

Leader: $15,500
2nd Place: $11,100
3rd Place: $5,000

Final Jeopardy:

3rd Place: Correct for $4,999
2nd Place: Incorrect lost $701
Leader: Incorrect lost $7,001

The guy in second who got the final question wrong still won. Never seen that before.

Non-Paper Daily, 12.10.2008

*Time Magazine came out with their "Top 10" lists that don't mean anything, but to suckers like me, are fun to read.

*Congress may be voting as soon as tonight on whether to send relief to the American automakers.

*My letter to the La Grande Observer's editor was published today. It is in response to an opinion article that, basically, said, "Wind farms are ugly and environmentalists suck."

Global Warming in the Media

This is disturbing:

As scientists make ever-more urgent calls to curb our emissions of greenhouse gasses, mentions of global warming in the media are down. What's going on? Are people burned out hearing about something that's going to burn them up? WTF?

Non-Paper Daily

I've had a variety of people tell me that this blog is one of their primary sources of news. Considering this, here is the first edition of a daily news feed that covers a few of the day's most important news events. (Yes, I know, I've tried a variety of reoccurring posts and failed miserably, but this strikes me as more likely to succeed considering I read the news every day. Fingers. Crossed)

*Illinois' Governor Blagojevich was arrested this morning on charges relating to bribery and abuse of power. Blagojevich is the guy responsible for appointing President-elect Obama's senate replacement. Among his many transgressions, his latest is trying to sell that appointment to the highest bidder. He posted bail this afternoon and should be in trial fairly soon. Stay tuned.

*Piracy in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Somalia, is getting so bad that cruise companies are canceling ships and governments are placing armed soldiers on cargo ships.

*A possible breakthrough in the battle against malaria, a disease that kills 1 million and sickens 2 million more annually. In field trials a vaccine has cut malarial infections in half.

Unions and Energy

Many people really dislike unions for one reason or another. I, on the other had, think they play an integral part in maintaining a strong middle class and fair working conditions. Here is an excerpt from a blog post over at Mother Jones that accurately explains some of the benefits of unionization:

Look: unions aren't perfect. Nothing is perfect. The financial industry, just to pick an example out of my hat, is obviously wildly imperfect, but that doesn't mean we should get rid of the private financial industry. It just means we should regulate it to avoid some of its worst pathologies.

Ditto for unions. If anyone has a better mechanism for giving workers more bargaining clout and therefore higher wages, I'm all ears. Anyone who thinks collective bargaining is a good idea but believes we ought to reform the Wagner Act, I'll listen to them too. But the evidence of the past 30 years makes it pretty clear that productivity growth and improved education aren't nearly enough on their own to keep median wages growing. Neither is unionization, for that matter. But at least it pushes in the right direction.

This reminds me of the argument over the different methods of producing electricity. All production methods are imperfect--coal releases massive pollution and mining coal is destructive, nuclear creates toxic waste and uses gobs of water, wind farms produce intermittent power, dams destroy rivers, solar uses rare materials--but we should build the one with the least imperfections. Duh, right? As countries around the world continue to build coal plants, apparently it's not that obvious.

Reduced Urban Driving

For many reasons it would be a positive development to reduce vehicular congestion in urban areas: pollution and noise reduction, greenhouse gas emission reduction, improved pedestrian and bicycle safety, to name a few. Through the years I have read about a variety of ways municipalities have attempted to reduce city traffic; for example, London imposes a fee to enter city center. Here's another idea: raise the price of parking. Basically Chicago has sold the right to set and enforce parking rates for the next 75 years. As Kevin over at Mother Jones points out, 75 years seems a bit excessive, but the idea of charging more for parking may work in much the same way a high gas tax could reduce overall driving. Worth a shot!

Election Results

With the conclusion of Louisiana's congressional races, the election season is officially over (Okay, almost over; they are still battling over the recount in Minnesota. The actual voting is now over.) and the results have instilled some faith in the belief in the political system.

*Barack Obama beat a candidate that mirrored Bush's views.
*Ten Stevens, the convicted felon-for-a-senator from Alaska, lost his reelection bid.
*William "I store stacks of cash bribes in my freezer" Jefferson, a congressman from Louisiana, lost in his reelection bid even though he represented one of the most heavily Democratic districts in the nation.

Proof that our system really can work. Now if we can just get away from scurrilous emails and basing our votes on 30 second commercials. One can hope.

Keep Your Mind Sharp and Happiness Up

Whenever I sign into my Yahoo! mail account there is a feature story right next to the "Sign In" button that invariably catches my eye. Usually they are fairly bland, however tonight it caught my eye. The title, "Unusual exercises that can help your brain." I was hooked.

Basically the article argues that doing things outside your normal routine is good for your brain and increases happiness. Without further ado, the list:

1. Spend an hour each day without saying anything except in answer to direct questions, in the midst of the usual group, without creating the impression that you're sulking or ill. Be as ordinary as possible. But do not volunteer remarks or try to draw out information.

2. Think for 30 minutes a day about one subject exclusively. Start with five minutes.

3. Write a letter without using the words I, me, mine, my.

4. Talk for 15 minutes a day without using I, me, my, mine.

5. Write a letter in a "successful" or placid tone. No misstatements, no lying. Look for aspects or activities that can be honestly reported that way.

6. Pause on the threshold of any crowded room and size it up.

7. Keep a new acquaintance talking about himself or herself without allowing him to become conscious of it. Turn back any courteous reciprocal questions in a way that your auditor doesn't feel rebuffed.

8. Talk exclusively about yourself and your interests without complaining, boasting, or boring your companions.

9. Cut "I mean" or "As a matter of fact" or any other verbal mannerism out of your conversation.

10. Plan two hours of a day and stick to the plan.

11. Set yourself twelve tasks at random: e.g., go twenty miles from home using ordinary conveyance; go 12 hours without food; go eat a meal in the unlikeliest place you can find; say nothing all day except in answer to questions; stay up all night and work.

12. From time to time, give yourself a day when you answer "yes" to any reasonable request.

I especially like #'s 1, 2, 11, and 12 and plan to try them. Do any catch your eye? Why?

Thanksgiving Food

I didn't want to gross you out before this year's big meal, but I found this post over at Wired Science about the food we eat to be fascinating. First, check this chart out:


The post gives a variety of examples about how the food we eat today is different than the food our grandparents ate. As you can see on the chart, turkeys are significantly bigger. One reason? Artificial insemination. Turkeys over 30 pounds are physically unable to mate which results in a virtual ceiling for turkey size. Once the biggest turkeys could artificially inseminate all the hens, their offspring sprouted (pun intended).

The article goes on to talk about how other foods have changed through the years. It's worth a read.

Last Mention... I Think

I almost promise this will be the last time I mention the "Name as many countries as you can in five minutes" website, but one more thought came to mind. Since my first attempt, I've actually spent time studying maps in order to score higher... and it's worked. As of my last try I named 128. More importantly, I can honestly say the world map in my mind's eye is more complete and accurate. I mention this in relation to teaching: If I can find ways to motivate my students just as this mini competition has motivated me, then I will be a good teacher. It's been fantastic to be both the teacher and the student on this country-naming project as it has highlighted the importance of intrinsic motivation.

Plus, I learned a few new countries. Who knew Comoros, Nauru, and Kiribati are countries?

Ze Snuggieeee

My brother and I couldn't stop laughing when we saw this infomercial:

Or you could join a monastery.

Apparently there is a cult of bad parody on Youtube surrounding the Snuggie. Ooohhh, my poor hands are bold and caught under my blanket.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, with all the family and friends and without the rabid consumerism, is my favorite holiday of the year. Last night we made pies and cinnamon rolls and the turkey is already in the oven this morning. In just a few hours we will be hosting a dinner with exchange students from around the world, providing a home to those who, at least tonight, have none. I wish you all the best, especially safe travels, and may you all have a very happy Thanksgiving!

Wish you were here T, T, and L!

UPDATE: And Ms. S... wish you were here too

Language Reclamation

LOL: Laugh Out Loud

Most people use the acronym independently. A simple, clear response with universal meaning. Me? "I'm lolling." I just can't leave out the subject.
It's a subtle push back against the "txt tlk" that is creeping into the lexicon. My friend Niki beautifully explained the irony:

I actually think that making it "I'm lolling" is sort of reclaiming the whole thing for grammar snobs, because you make it longer thereby defeating the purpose of the word to begin with, you capitalize your "I," you use an apostrophe... etc.

I could not have articulated it better myself.

LOL

Landscaping at Home

Last spring I created a growing space on the east side of our front lawn. We grew potatoes, turnips, and the most successful leeks and carrots we have ever grown. It looked like this:
We decided this is the best garden space we have and it was worth extending for next year.
After adding a bit of compost the spot is ready to go!

Gardening Wrap-Up

It's been a few weeks since gardening gave way to winter weather, but I haven't put any finale photos up until now. Enjoy!
A final photograph before "turning over" the garden.
This little lady is the daughter of a fellow community gardener. At this point, with a little help from her, I had torn out everything except the corn.
And the year is over. It's a beautiful cycle.

I did end up getting a bit of corn, but the big crops were beans, squash, and zucchini. The big surprise was tomatillo, a relative of the tomato that is used to make green salsa and a vegetable with which I was previously unfamiliar. It was a fantastic experience at the community garden and I urge all of you to find a gardening opportunity near you.

Name That Country, Part II

I've found the "Name as many countries as you can in five minutes" immensely satisfying and worthy of another mention. Since my first attempt of 69 countries, I have incrementally improved with 85, 92, and finally 101. My dad, who reads maps at night, got 90 on his first try. Impressive! After the quiz you are able to see how often each country is correctly identified, which provides a fascinating glimpse into where people focus their attention. This may be a fun tool to use in the classroom, although I'm not sure if the five minute time limit is helpful other than to create a bit of competition.

If you haven't already, go check it out and see how you do. Leave your score in comments (anonymously if you aren't happy with your results!). It only takes five minutes!

Animal Videos

Recently I added Wired's science blog to my reading list and was treated to a wonderful blog about lawnmowing goats and, now, a list of ten awesome animal videos. They are fantastic. Here is one, for your viewing pleasure, that blew my mind:

Fun Five Minutes

Here's a fun five minute activity for this Friday afternoon. Thanks to Margot for the tip. I scored 69 (holllller), but felt inept the entire time. Going to try again now. Leave scores in comments!

UPDATE: 85 the second time. When looking at the list I recognize nearly all of the countries, but when the clock is ticking they don't roll off my fingers!

Auto Company Bailout

The big question on Capitol Hill is whether or not the government should provide billions of dollars to the big three American motor companies--Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler--in order to keep them out of (probable) bankruptcy. The basic argument is as follows: The three car companies directly employ about half a million workers and indirectly employ about two million. If they go out of business the national unemployment rate would quickly go up a few percentage points. Yikes, right? The argument against the bailout is that these are three poorly run companies, dinosaurs of the past who have not changed with the times, and should therefore die just as any business would that doesn't offer a good product.

Both arguments have merit. In a recession, conventional wisdom goes, the government should increase spending and fuel the economy while it's down. Of course, there is also basic capitalistic theory that says companies must offer a good product or die. So where do I fall on the auto bailout? Not sure.

I'm leaning toward letting them fend for themselves simply because there are lots of innovative businesspeople out there who will fill the void. Who doesn't think there will be brilliant people who step up and create a big, successful auto company to fill the "American-made" slot? Perhaps, instead, the big three auto companies will step up to the tough situation and get better. Novel thought? My guess is that either option will result in better cars. The worst option? Give them unconditional money. My fingers are crossed.

Pirates

I can't remember if I blogged about pirates before (my gut says yes, but my tags say no), but if I haven't, it is a shame. Commence Pirate Blogging:

Those of us who thought pirating on the high seas no longer exists were wrong. Like slavery, pirating is alive and well in parts of the world. The danger area, you can probably guess, is off the East African coast. In this case Somalian pirates have highjacked a Saudi Arabian oil tanker.

Yes, you read right, a hundreds of feet long oil tanker. You might be thinking, "A bit much guys?" And we'd be thinking the same thing. Apparently they take over ships large and small and demand ransom. Impressive, no?

Goaties

About two years ago Serena introduced me to the beauty of goats. Not only are they super super cute, but they are highly functional too. According to this story from Wired Magazine, goats are used as lawnmowers in areas where lawnmowers or herbicides are inappropriate of unfeasible (ie landfills, industrial areas, park space, etc).

Goat stomachs, for all intents and purposes, can digest anything carbon-based. I remember there was nothingness in the desert of northern Chile, but sure enough there were goats wandering around subsisting on dead twigs. Truly remarkable.

SPAM

Last week a major server was shut down that hosts email spam. Apparently after it stopped churning out junk mail the "worldwide volume of spam dropped by two-thirds." Wow.

Education Funding

While reading comments on a post about teachers unions, one commenter reminded me of a fantastic bumpersticker about government funding priorities in the United States:

IT WILL BE A GREAT DAY WHEN SCHOOLS GET ALL THE MONEY THEY NEED AND THE AIR FORCE HAS TO HOLD A BAKE SALE TO BUY A BOMBER!

Who Knew?

Last night at teacher karaoke night Bill captured this gem of a photo.


On to more important musing in life: Did you know that EMF's Unbelievable (which is what I am singing in this photo) has two completely different versions? I knew most of the lyrics to one, but then something completely different (same instrumentals, changed lyrics) came on. Is it standard to have one version and then another for karaoke? Inquiring minds want to know.

Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day to you all. I am sure that today is not the only day we think of our current and former soldiers, but it is a day where we can take a moment to publicly say thank you. Our soldiers, past and present, do a lot of difficult work, including the impossible task of risking one's life for others, and they deserve heroic treatment for their heroic acts. Today is our chance to give a very public thank you.

Thank you veterans!

Squirrels, Squirrels, Oh My

This morning I went into the room where I keep my work clothes and noticed some movement on the floor. It was a bit startling, but I soon realized it was just a cute baby squirrel. I got my dad and we headed upstairs armed with a fishing net and gloves. We cornered the little fella and made a move, but he scampered into... wait for it... the refrigerator duct. Into that abyss he disappeared. My dad and his friend Ralph just set a trap including some delicious nuts to lure him in. Don't worry animal lovers, it's designed to keep him alive.

This reminds me of the time my friend Travis told me that Washington, DC has weird mutant squirrels that, rather than a smooth brown, are nearly black. Black squirrels!!!! Unnerving.

These, however, are not the only squirrel stories to share. Last night while sitting upstairs using the computer I heard thunderous commotion from the roof. It sounded as if two squirrels had fallen out of the tree and commenced World War III. Maybe they were black, impostor squirrels beating up our cute local browns.

HOLY SHIT. As I finished this post I saw a squirrel jump off our roof onto the driveway below. Am I in a Hitchcock film?

Letters to God

One of my teacher friends from Elon sent me a forward titled "Letters to God" which was a compilation of short letters from kids to god. You may have seen these, but if you have not, I have included my two favorites.


If you wrote a letter to god, what would you say?

Status Update

My favorite post-election quip so far, found on Facebook as someone's status update:

So and so is "really regretting that McCain/Palin tattoo."

Yeah, me too.

You Win Some

Barack Obama wins.

Phew. To be honest, my greatest emotion is that of relief. Relief that Americans demonstrated some academic rigor by stepping through all the muddy waters, looking at what Bush's policies have done to our country in the last eight years, and seeing that, on policy, McCain and Bush are nearly identical.

So many things could have happened to abruptly swing this election into McCain's favor, not the least of which was latent racial fears, but Americans restored a man of intellectual vigor back into the White House.

Armed with greater majorities in the House and Senate, I think we can all expect the American ship to be righted.

And You Lose Some

Yesterday we lost our 2nd round playoff match against Astoria High School by the score of 2-1. They scored five minutes in, we equalized 20 minutes later, and they popped another in 10 minutes before half. The rest of the game we spent pounding away at their door, but nothing came to fruition. It was heartbreaking for many reasons, but most of all because I will miss this excellent group of seniors. Bravo to them for fighting hard to the end.

Hooray!

We won our playoff game 3-1! The guys played well, including an unreal shot from 35 yards for our first goal. We broke the "Sisters Curse," after they beat us two years ago and our volleyball team in the state championship game last year.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Astoria, Oregon to play the Cowapa League champions. One of the team goals was to get a road playoff game, so we can check that off the list.

Tuesday is Election Day, so it has the making of an incredible day (Obama and we win), an okay day (Obama loses and we win or vice versa), or the worstest day ever (we both lose).

Wish us luck!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is here and a happy day to you!!! Today I was a poached gorilla (thanks Travis!), but after getting all sweaty wearing it for only 15 or 20 minutes, I had to disrobe. Alas, I gave it a shot. Perhaps tonight I'll be a biker... a great excuse to wear spandex in public. Have a great day!

UPDATE: Eric just corrected my grammar. Fuck.

Soccer Playoffs

We just found out last night that our first round playoff match is against Sisters High School in Sisters, Oregon. We lost to them in the 2nd round two years ago in what was probably the worst weather in which I've ever seen a soccer game played. There's a bit more history: Last year Sisters beat our volleyball team in the state finals. We have quite the burden of stopping Sisters in their tracks and it starts this weekend!

For those of you around town we play at noon on Saturday. Come watch!

International Financial Ruin

It's been a week since my last post, eek! But I'm back now even if a bit sick (I've been told that first year teachers have the worst time staying healthy.).

It's worth reading the entire post about how emerging markets (the term "emerging markets" refers to developing countries who are quickly becoming 1st world economies) are getting the shat kicked out of them as a result of the current financial crisis. Sure, things are bad here, but things are BAD there. Here's an excerpt of the post that highlights the free fall some countries are experiencing:

"Markets down more than 70%: Vietnam (-70.5%), Peru (-73.2%), Ireland (-73.4%), Russia (-73.9%), Iceland (-88.7%).

Markets down between 60% and 70%: Hong Kong (-60.1%), Poland (-62.6%), China (-69.8%).

Markets down between 50% and 60%: South Korea (-54.5%), Italy (-55.2%), Egypt (-56.9%), Brazil (-57.2%), Japan (-58.1%), Singapore (-58.2%), Turkey (-58.5%), India (-58.3%)."

Egads those are devastating numbers. It's similar to global warming in that the countries causing the problem are adversely affected, but countries that are merely bystanders bear significantly more pain.

Wasilla Wisdom

Sometimes Jon and the Daily Show crew get it so right. Enjoy:

Colin Powell

This morning on "Meet the Press" Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama.

Some of the key excerpts from his interview:

*He is "troubled" by the direction of the modern Republican Party.
*He began to doubt McCain's judgment he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate because he believe she is ready to be President of the United States, which "is the job of the Vice President."
*He said McCain was "a little unsure of as to how to deal with the economic problems that we were having, and almost every day, there was a different approach to the problem, and that concerned me, sensing that he didn't have a complete grasp of the economic problems that we had."

Rush Limbaugh said it was because of race (but he's a bigot, so what should we expect?). Many Republicans said it was politically calculated. But I say screw them. Here is a guy, Colin Powell, who is the foremost expert on military matters in the entire Republican Party. He was viewed as the Republican Party's next Presidential nominee in the late 80's. He gave McCain the maximum donation of $2,300 only one year ago. He was the Secretary of State in a Republican administration and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff... and, today, he endorsed Barack Obama.

Wind In My Roots

My mom sent me this story from the New York Times this summer about the first full size wind farm in Nebraska. It is located in the Middle of Nowhere, aka Ainsworth, where much of my extended family lives. Below is a photo from summer 2007 of Serena and members of my family in front of the wind turbines.


This type of development is significant. Much of rural America is dissolving away as the agricultural industry becomes ever-more mechanized and the economy in general specializes in urban-based service jobs. Renewable energy development infuses money into these communities through land leases, property taxes, and workers who spend their paychecks in local shops and markets. Rather than the status quo of nuclear and dirty coal, renewable energy projects are environmentally friendly and an economic boon for some of America's most vulnerable communities.

The wind in Nebraska keeps blowing, let's harvest it.

Big Soccer Day

Today's a big day for my team. We play Ontario with the winner all but securing second place in league and with that a much better playoff position. We lost the first game to Ontario (at their place) 3-0 and won the second game (at home) 3-1, so it's a great match-up. We started the day right with a big pancake breakfast at my place, so we're ready to go!

An extra treat: Nebraska football is on tv this morning. Hooray!

UPDATE: We won 2-0! We're locked into second place with a loooooong shot at the conference title if everything falls into place right. Tonight we celebrate!

Another Eight Years

Even McCain himself thinks he is more of the same:

We're Smart Kids

All the other masters of education students are in town this week for classes and it's fantastic. Lots of laughing, lots of stories, lots of this and lots of that. Eric and I rocked "Paradise City" at the bar tonight and tomorrow we'll be figuring out how to best educate the youth of our nation. Gravy.

Paintballing

Just got back from paintballing with my soccer team. Team bonding is fun.

Teaching

Today I was put in charge of (nearly) the entire day: 7th graders learning about Cuneiform and 8th graders about early exploration of America and an alternate view of Columbus (that where he is not a hero). The two classes of 8th graders were slated for a one hour lecture and, for the most part, they took it like champs. Put your hands together for them. Anyhow, thought I'd share this day because it was one of the first of its kind.

Calamity

Sitting in the classroom today this popped into my head: For all the financial troubles in the past month, has anything changed for the average Joe? Try as I might, I couldn't think of any concrete, day to day effects as a result of all this trouble. The argument is this: The masses don't feel the pain for another few months when the job market slows down, no one can find a job, prices continue to go up, and investments stagnate (or, worse, go down). But, for now, is anyone out there feeling this?

Pickin' Up

The last week has been great for my soccer team. On Thursday we played Ontario, a team that beat us 3-0 in the first match-up. This time we won 3-1. Ontario was missing a couple key players, but I'm proud of my guys for taking advantage of the situation and putting forth a solid performance.

Yesterday was even bigger. We played Milton-Freewater (known as Mac-Hi) at their place. History lesson: Mac-Hi has won the past three state titles, haven't lost a league game for at least four years (since I've been around), and and is currently ranked #1 in the state. Two weeks ago we lost 8-0. Yikes. This weekend was different. We went down 2-0 early and then scratched and clawed our way back into the game for a 2-2 tie. We won the last 60 minutes of the game 2-0 so it gives me hope for the final game with them in a couple weeks.

Hooray!

One Way to Look at It

Below is a forward I received from Serena today. Some snark, but all too true. Enjoy.

If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different." Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you are 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 graduating, you're well grounded.

If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, 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 while sponsoring 131 bills 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 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, and 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 lawyer 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.

Some People Suck

Venting:

A couple days ago I went down to my plot at the community garden to see that corn and tomatoes had been taken. Someone decided after they put zero work into the garden that it was okay to take. Take. Take. Take. I rationalized it this way: It's okay, as long as the food is consumed.

Today I hear cheering from the middle school field where my soccer team plays games. It's been raining continuously for two days so the field is mush and very susceptible to being ruined. A big group of adults decided this afternoon would be a great day to play a game and, thus, destroy our field. My team spent all summer off our field to preserve it for games. We practice off to the side to preserve it for games. Now these guys ruined our efforts in one afternoon. Take. Take. Take. No rationalizing: Those guys are assholes.

What the hell is wrong with people like this? Where are their brains when making decisions that directly destroy the positive actions of others?

VP Debate

Is SNL making a comeback? My understanding is that 10-20 years ago Saturday Night Live played a small, but significant role in shaping the political discourse. Have Tina Fey's spot-on impressions of Sarah Palin brought SNL back to the forefront? You decide. This clip made me lol over and over:

The Debates

Thus far I've maintained radio silence on the presidential and vice presidential debates. However, after watching tonight's VP debate I wanted to share one observation that held true about both debates: How many times did Barack Obama and Joe Biden have to correct McCain and Palin's facts? Two dozen? Three dozen? More? The debates were prime time examples of what has become a fundamentally dishonest campaign being run by John McCain. It struck me that after nearly half (maybe more?!?!) of McCain and Palin's statements either Obama or Biden had to say, "Actually, what he/she just said is false and here is why."

After being lied into war in Iraq, lied to about Valerie Plame, lied to about the attorney purge, and lied to about domestic spying, I am ready for truth. Enough is enough.

Blogging Funk

I think I have figured it out. The blogging funk: Nearly all of my day--from 6:30am until 6:30pm--I am a creature of the public school system. First is school, then is soccer. After dinner and a little reading it is back to bed to prepare for another day. This leaves me with little time for other experiences.

"Then blog about school and soccer!" I hear you all crying out.

Sound the horns. I've decided that, in general, school and soccer and bloff-limits (blogging+off-limits=bloff-limits... simple algebra really). It's not fair to the students nor professional to discuss those things that happen during the school day with students. That leaves me with a couple hours at night to experience bloggable things. Quite frankly, that hasn't been happening.

So now we know what's going on. Perhaps starting in a month (after soccer) things will change. In the meantime maybe I'll start making stuff up.

Financial Meltdown

Shit is certainly hitting fan right now in the United States. It's important to note, however, that it is not only within our borders that the financial problems are booming. European banks are also failing and Asian markets are struggling as their primary markets (the West) take a nosedive.

What is occurring is truly fascinating. The problems are so complicated that most of the population does not understand a problem that may cause total financial crisis. Shoot, even some of the most brilliant minds disagree on the cause and certainly disagree with the best solutions. Though I have read much about what is going on, my understanding still remains fairly rudimentary. At its core--if you want the nickel version--the financial markets are locking up because there is no cash for loans. Much of what makes our financial system go around is that banks are able to hand out credit left and right. Now, however, there is no money to dish out. Credit is nearly unavailable and our financial system has started locking up: available credit is to the financial system as motor oil is to an engine.

So here we are with a financial crisis that nearly no lay person understands yet those very people will be affected, some with devastating results. With the government's solution locked up in Congress we can only sit on our hands. Enjoy the wait.

UPDATE: For those wondering, the reason, it seems, that banks are not willing to extend credit is because they don't trust that other banks will be able to repay the loan. Why? Because no one knows which banks own how much in bad bad bad bundled mortgages (We've all heard about falling home prices and foreclosers, right?). The essence of the bailout plan, I believe, is for the government to buy up all those bad mortgages from banks that are drowning in them so as bring everyone afloat with credibility. Capiche?

Blog Recommendation Needed

I want to read a blog about space exploration, space-related technology, the international space station, space tourism, NASA, etc etc etc. Any ideas?

Bravo

The winner of the first (and probably last) "Great blogger lines of the day" goes to Kevin Drum over at Mother Jones:

This sounds like a bunch of skydivers forming a circle and thinking they can all pull each other up. I think you'd need M.C. Escher to illustrate it.

UPDATE: I spoke too soon. In his next post Kevin offers this gem:

House Republicans, who apparently earned their high school degrees from a rack of gumball machines, decided to hold their breath and stamp their feet unless capital gains taxes were eliminated, a lunatic proposal that has exactly nothing to do with our current problems.

Bravo indeed.

Inspiwhat?

The financial world is coming to an end, I'm teaching and coaching, the presidential race is on fire, and my fave season (fall) is upon us, yet I continue to be terribly uninspired to write. Hopefully I'll snap out of this funk soon. Bear with me.

Mystery

We all have things we remember from our childhood. Often these memories lay benign until awaken by a particular trigger. Serena and I once talked about the Public Broadcasting show "Mystery" and how it's intro left an indelible image in our minds, serving as a trigger for both of us.



As the weather turns colder, memories have roared back. Something about fall in La Grande--the smells, weather, leaves, soccer--evokes a dramatic emotional reaction in me. So, for today, it's "Mystery" and fall bringing back wonderful memories. Yours?

Football Fun

Who's excited for college football tomorrow?!? Football fan or not, this will get you laughing:

Our Choice

Any questions?

Intellectual Pleasure

A new blog has rolled across my desk. Good writing, sharp thoughts, both things we could all use more of.

Hittin' the Fan

Shit's sure hittin' the fan when it comes to the financial system in the United States. The DOW is down about 1,000 points in the last three days, financial/insurance companies are falling apart, the government is bailing these private corporations out, and my dog's tumor is continuing to grow. Things are bad.

But... I'm reading a fun book called "The House of the Scorpion" that I want to finish tonight. I got it highly recommended from the middle school librarian and she was right that it's entertaining. So it's read or blog... gotta have your priorities.

Now, will Matteo escape to freedom!?!?

A Reminder

Let us not forget.

Lying Update

Even Karl Rove, yes THE Karl Rove who guided Bush into the White House not once but twice (using the sleaziest of tactics), says that McCain is lying.

Lying

What is going on with the McCain/Palin campaign?!?! Since introducing Sarah Palin as his running mate, they can't go a day without lying. Now the media is noticing. Some of the lies:

1. The campaign said Sarah Palin had traveled internationally to Ireland and Iraq. Turns out, however, that she sat in her plane while it refueled in Ireland. Her Iraq trip consisted of her flying into Kuwait and taking a trip to the Iraq border. That's it, no meetings, no tours, nothing. Instead of stating the truth they tried to make it sound like she had extensive foreign travel experience.

2. Sarah Palin stated that she never tried to ban books at the local library while she was mayor. Truth is she asked the librarian three times about the process for banning books. Palin then fired the librarian for not fully supporting her.

3. The McCain campaign keeps repeating the lie that Sarah Palin, as governor of Alaska, did not support the Bridge to Nowhere. In reality she did. McCain is saying Palin never requested federal earmarks. She did that too.

4. McCain is lying about Barack Obama's legislative record.

5. They're even lying about their crowd sizes! Pathetic.

What makes this all the more grating is that McCain is largely basing his campaign on honor and character. It's time we the public call him on this.

Tough Soccer Week

This was a tough week with my soccer team: we played three games in five days, were missing one of our captains (he is traveling in Ireland, tough life right?), and had a couple players nicked up with injuries. With the short bench and lots of game time we came up with three wins, including a win in our first league game. Hooray!

Weird Score

Today a funky football score occurred:

Auburn 3
Mississippi State 2

You don't see that often.

And now we will return to our regularly scheduled blogging.

Hostages

Another question (the last one has elicited a grand total of zero responses, so my hopes are not high): Have there been an any American soldiers captured and held hostage during the Afghanistan and/or Iraq Wars? I don't know the answer, do you?

UPDATE: Thanks to Vicki in comments who reports there have been hostages, however in limited numbers. With all the fighting and deaths in the last five years, the low number of hostages is certainly a testament to the military's ethos of leaving no man behind.

Tell Me Why

Question: Why are people considering to vote for McCain? Honestly, I want to know and need help. What policy positions do people like? Answers please.

I Heart Jon Stewart Part III

I just can't get enough Jon. This from Matt over at My Road Less Traveled:

I think the Obama campaign should hire the Daily Show to do their campaign ads - they seem to be hitting the nail right on the head!

Agreed. People must understand that McCain will say any and everything, even if it completely contradicts what he believed in before, just to get elected.

Soccer Team

Another weekend, another trip. I'm taking my soccer team to the east side of the state to tour Oregon's capital building, check out Oregon State's campus, and watch the Oregon State men's soccer team play Gonzaga. See you on Monday!

I Heart Jon Stewart Part II

John brought this to my attention over at Vita Brevis. Apologies for another Jon Stewart clip, but it's brilliant. How can people vote for McCain?!?!? If you are going to vote for McCain and are embarrassed by that decision, just leave your reason why anonymously in comments.

Experience

If ever you hear Republicans argue that Barack Obama's lack of experience is reason not to vote for him, say this:

1. The Bush Administration--with Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, David Addington, Paul Wolfowitz, Stephen Hadley, John Ashcroft, and company--had more combined experience than any previous administration in history... and look where that got us.
2. The last time Americans elected a legislator from Illinois with only a few years of experience we were rewarded with one of the best presidents ever: Abraham Lincoln.

Judgment, policies, and knowledge, not experience, are of utmost importance.

I Heart Jon Stewart

Those people will say anything. Do they not realize just how ridiculous they are?

Sarah Palin Knows God's Will

John over at Vita Brevis brought up an interesting point about Sarah Palin's religious views. Apparently she told graduating ministry students from her hometown church in Wasilla, Alaska that the Iraq War and a completed oil pipeline were God's will. My favorite excerpt from John:

Methinks the first sign that someone doesn't know God's will is when they begin a sentence with "God's will is," and end it with something about "war" or "oil pipeline."

Touche.

Drill Baby Drill

More than once at the Republican National Convention tonight the audience started chanting "Drill baby drill!!!!" They want to put an oil rig in everyone's back yard. How quaint! Whatever happened to the "conserve" in conservative?

Someone needs to deliver Republicans this memo: We can't drill our way out of our dependence on oil. We could drill everywhere but because there is a finite supply we would eventually run out. There are two choices: 1) Find an alternative to oil now (walking, biking, electricity, compressed air, car pooling, public transit, etc etc etc) or 2) Ruin our environment by drilling everywhere, run out of oil in a few decades anyway, and then find an alternative to oil.

I'll take door number one.

Charming

Rick Davis, John McCain's campaign manager, said yesterday that "This election is not about issues."

Good Rick, nice of you to admit that McCain is not focusing on issues, but rather personalities, fear, and deception. Bravo for honesty.

Sarah Palin

Five days ago John McCain chose Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, to be his running mate. Interestingly enough, he made the decision six days ago. Most presidential nominees take lots of time, consider their options, and select their VP candidate with great measure. Not John McCain. Dude follows his gut (sounds like our current president).

Apparently he was going to choose former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge or former Democrat Joe Liebermann... until he got the memo that the crazy right wingers in his party would abandon him if he chose a pro-choice running mate. So what did he do? He chose Sarah Palin, someone he'd met twice and Googled the night before. Rather than making a well thought out decision, McCain made a rash decision based on flawed information. Sound familiar? Do Americans want another person who makes decisions just like Bush?

As a result of not putting Palin through a rigorous vetting process, McCain selected a running mate with a colorful history. Enjoy:

1. She recently hired lawyers (with government money no less) because she is under investigation for corruption. Apparently Palin fired Alaska's chief of police because he wouldn't fire the man her sister was divorcing. Stay classy.
2. As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired lobbyists to secure federal earmarks to the tune of $25 million... the exact earmarks John McCain bashes in his stump speech.
3. Palin is an extremist when it comes to a woman's right to choose, gay rights, and guns. This isn't middle of the road Republican stuff, we're talking waaaaaaaaaaaaay crazy. Examples: She believes abortion is wrong even in cases of rape and incest. Also, in 2000 she supported Pat Buchanan for President (Google him or take my word that he's crazy). Interestingly enough, she supported Buchanan over McCain in that election.
   
4. She was affiliated with the Alaskan Independence Party whose primary goal is to get Alaska to secede from the United States. That doesn't exactly jibe with McCain's campaign slogan of "Country First."
5. She's the anti-environment candidate. She wants to drill offshore, drill in ANWR, drill here, drill there, drill everywhere! She also doesn't believe humans are contributing to climate change. Another one of thoooooose.
   

I'll stop there. Feel free to add more in comments.

What really strikes me is this: McCain had more than a few months to find the single best person in the United States to be "a heartbeat away from the presidency" and he waited until the last minute to choose Sarah Palin. He treated it like a 7th grader would his homework. Plus, assuming he wanted to select a woman, what about Christine Todd Whitman, Susan Collins, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, or Condoleezza Rice, all in possession of vastly more impressive skills.

This selection is weird on so many levels.

Bike Race

This weekend I beast on the bike. I won my first real race: proof. (Look under Cat 4/5)

I gained time on all the contenders during the time trial where I had the opportunity to ride a real time trial bike with the radical handlebars. The one I rode looked a lot like this. In general time trials are not a favorite for riders because it essentially consists of pure pain. While I was watching the pro racers start I talked to a guy next to me and he said, "Yeah, time trials are only cool for the goofy helmets and fantastic bikes (Without googling it, any guesses on how much that bike costs?)." I lolled.

Now into school!

Back!

I've been away from blogging for the past few days due to a soccer game and a three day bike race (more on both later). Now I'm back with lots to blog about: first day of school, Sarah Palin, Hurricane relief, etc. Keep an eye out.

School Day Two

Today the vice principal (because he's your pal!) showed all the teachers this video:



Yes, I can be a softy, but it made me water up. A fantastic story about what one person can do to change their immediate world. As the saying goes, "Think globally, act locally." If everyone made that kind of difference the world would be transformed. Anyhow, it's a reminder of some of the things I hope to accomplish as a teacher.

Education Help Part I

Though not vast in number, my readership is steeped in wisdom and knowledge. From time to time as I create lessons this year I will come to you all for ideas. So here, in all its glory, is part one of the ongoing series "Education Help."

In a couple weeks we will be talking about September 11th with a bunch of 7th and 8th graders. I am looking for a short video (5-10 minutes) to be shown at the beginning of class that A) sums up the story of what happened (these kids were only five and six years old at the time) and B) has good imagery and video. Does anyone know of a short film that fits the bill? Ideas on where to find one?

Bob Casey

The video clip in the previous post is Dennis Kucinich at this year's Democratic National Convention. It's a message too many Americans are missing, instead opting for sound bites and media talking heads. Take a look.

At the convention, prominent members of the Democratic Party parade onto the stage throughout the day for their five to ten minutes of glory. Kucinich was great. Below is a good quote from former Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania:

McCain likes to call himself a 'maverick,' but he votes with George W. Bush more than 90% of the time. That's not a maverick; that's a sidekick.

True and a good zinger. Something to keep in the memory box.

Kucinich is Kool

Go Dennis Go!

Word.

I am sitting here watching the final day of the Olympics and the showed a montage about the Winter Olympics two years from now in Vancouver, British Columbia. After the montage the old white-guy announcer uttered this gem:

Word. Book your reservations for Vancouver. It's da bomb.

Yes, yes, it is da bomb.

I've lost track...

Here's a new one.

Welllll, let's see here... Oh, I got it! I own so many pairs of underwear I've lost track of how many. Shoot, I own so many pairs of socks I've lost track of how many. So, there's precedent here.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised anymore, but McCain never ceases to amaze.

WTF Olympics?

I'm not one to complain about the Olympics. In general it's utterly and completely awesome; an awe-inspiring display of human specimens doing incredible things. Today, however, I turned on the TV (obviously I didn't have to change the channel because it's always on NBC during the Olympics) and on came Women's Competitive Dance Jump Roping (I don't know what they call it). There wasn't much jump roping, actually, but mostly jump rope throwing, twirling, and person-cradling-using-a-jump-rope. It was more like a Vegas show rather than an Olympic event. Not as bad, I guess, as when there was Solo Synchronized Swimming. I kid you not.

UPDATE: Wow. Swallowing my words right now. I just watched another bit of Rhythmic Gymnastics (that's what it's called) and it was unreal. Picture this: One girl throws a hula hoop about 25 feet into the air, another girl does a front handspring, as she rolls out of that handspring she chest bumps the hula hoop back into the air another 25 feet into another flipping girl's hands. Wow.

Bambi

I just ran out side at 12:05am, in my underwear, bb gun a-blazing to defend the homestead from a pillaging bandito... by the name Bambi.


This year in the middle of the summer, for one reason or another, the dear have descended upon the gardens of La Grande. Normally they are up in the mountains all summer, enjoying the great human-less expanse. Unfortunately, this year they've decided the glitz and glamour of the big city is preferable to rural living, which has been bad news for the beans, squash, and tomato plants.

Now time for some shuteye so I can stay awake for tomorrow's "Deer Be Scurred" stakeout.

Babies

Some facts about last year's Oregon babies and their moms, gleaned from a short article out of The Oregonian:

Youngest mother: 11
Oldest: 55
Highest number of previous deliveries by a mom: 14 (shizzam!)

Bonus factoid that made me lol:
Least common names: Pirate (boy); ESPN and God (girls)

ESPN is funny enough, but God? Zam.

Drive Thru

At 1am tonight I drove by McDonald's and the drive thru had four cars in it, sitting, idling, waiting.

Seriously people?

It's terrible for your health, relatively expensive, awful for the environment, and those folks were sitting in line burning $4/gallon fuel (as well as their precious time) for the "opportunity" to pay for all that bad.

Anyhow, whatevs, people do what they want. But, if any of you ever see me waiting in a four-deep McDonald's drive thru line at 1am, then you'll know it's time to ship me off to the funny farm.

It got me thinking about how much fuel is burned waiting in car lines. Here are a few examples that popped into my head: food drive thru, bank drive thru, and parents waiting to pick up kids from school. Throw in red lights and the numbers probably grow exponentially. There must be millions of hours worth of idling ever year in the United States alone.

Nothing much to add here other than daaaaaaaaaaaaamn.

Another Blog

Some of you know them, some of you love them, some of you wish both applied to you. Whichever it is, they're now online.

Richie (one of my former players) and Jeff (not one of my former players) started blogging over at LG's Finest, with a mix of sports, thoughts, and stories out of La Grande. Go check'em out... especially if you ever had a crush on Richie's sister.

Time Article Numero Dos

Last night (as I sweated my ass off in 90+ degree temps, where's my aluminum?!?!) I mentioned a second article in the Time magazine that caught my eye. This one, entitled "Pain Amid Plenty" is about a topic that gets little attention, but that I find strangely fascinating: Food aid to Africa.

It is something that gets little attention when people talk about foreign policy. A couple weeks ago I asked a good friend who is very bright what she thought about the subject. After a long pause she confessed, "I dunno, I haven't really thought about it much."

The article says that the world has spent billions of dollars in food aid to Africans which has not necessarily been money well spent. Instead of teaching people how to grow their own food, we've simply provided it for free. Not only has that created dependent societies, it has also undermined the existing farmers: they have gone out of business because it is impossible to compete in a market flooded with free food. Not only that, but populations have continued to grow in areas that cannot sustain so many people.

So what to do? It appears one option, and perhaps the best, is to shift resources to agricultural training so that Africans can sustain themselves. I'm all for it. Western nations won't forever be available to ship food to these nations, so let's help them achieve self-sustainability sooner rather than later.

At only a few hundred words it's a quick read, go check it out.

Sweaty Pits

Last night I read the latest issue of Time magazine an came across two articles of interest. The first (perspiration... errr, inspiration for this post) is about sweat and antiperspirants. Basic premise: Antiperspirants work because they plug your sweat glands with an aluminum-based compound, people are using stronger and stronger antiperspirants, therefore people are putting more aluminum into their body. Question: Is this a bad thing?

According to the article, research indicates there is no connection between the use of antiperspirants and cancer or Alzheimer's disease... but color me skeptical. Seventy years ago they didn't think smoking was bad for you and look how that turned out.

Anyhow, don't be scurred... just aware.

African Mail

I couldn't post about this until now because I didn't want to ruin the surprise for Serena, but here's a story I've been looking forward to sharing.

As most of you know Serena is in Swaziland (okay, don't go there, it hasn't been updated in months). To be the good friend I am, I sent her a package right after she left. Serena told me to use red ink on the package and also to reference Christianity. Apparently to Swazi mail workers red ink signifies important government documents and tampering could mean trouble. Furthermore, many are devout Christians and are more likely to respect the integrity of a package with Christian references.

We all know that a little Tylenol does good, so a LOT of Tylenol does better. Right? I applied this flawless logic to my packing technique:

The upper left reads, "Love they neighbor, not their personal mail." -Jesus
Across the bottom, "Jesus is Lord. Amen."


The back was a bit rich. On the left:

Jesus said, from verse 12 of The Book of Mail, "I most love those that open packages only intended for the recipients hands. Amen."

On the right a little poem, "God is good. Jesus is just. FYI This is for Serena. The above-mentioned desire it so."

Did it make it safely? Yesssssir.

McCain+Plagiarism=Not Surprised

Did John McCain really lift text from a Wikipedia entry? It was in high school that I learned plagiarism is unethical. I learned in college (b/c that's when it became popular) that using Wikipedia as a source of information for an essay is unacceptable. Now we have John McCain copying information from Wikipedia to use in a speech as he runs for President of the most powerful country in the world.

I shouldn't be surprised anymore, but it seems like each week McCain outdoes himself on the Ridiculous Scale.

Lin Hao

I missed the opening ceremony of the Olympics last night, but caught a recap this morning. They highlighted a nine-year-old Chinese boy who was leading the Chinese team into the stadium along side 7'6" Yao Ming.


Apparently he was given this honor because of heroics he displayed when his school was destroyed during the earthquake a few weeks ago. After his school collapsed he helped one of his peers out of the rubble. Instead of staying away he risked his life by returning to the school and dragging a second student to safety. Why? In his words:

I am a hall monitor. It's my job.

It made my eyes water.