100 Posts!

This morning's blogging session put me over 100 career posts. Hooray! I will be celebrating by checking out a new French bakery for breakfast and soaking in all the joys of Oregon on my first full day back from The Trip.

In honor of my blogging mentor (mentors get credit for achievements like this), here's a Song of the Day: EMF-Unbelievable.

Political Parties and Extremism

In my post about the Libertarian Presidential Debate I mentioned how my perception of the Libertarian and Republican Parties is that they are far more extreme on policy proposals and on the campaign trail. From my perspective Democrats are more level-headed and practical.

Garron, my insightful friend, former Republican, and catalyst of two posts in one day, commented about some examples of where the Democratic Party has the stereotype of extremism. A part of his thoughts:

In short, no. While there's definitely some extreme views within the (Republican) party, I don't think they dominate.
For a long time there was little place in the Democratic party for socially conservatives. The perception I and many others had was that Democrats represented the EXTREME abortion, homosexual, feminist, positions. If you had strong religious views you didn't feel too welcome.

The perception is that Dems are extreme on social issues (abortion, gays, feminism). With the exception of abortion--where those against legal access believe each abortion is a murder--my thought is that those issues listed affect quality of life, not quantity of life and are therefore by default secondary issues.

Examples:
-War: people, Americans and non-Americans alike, are dying.
-Global warming: people will die from drought, changes in growing seasons, extreme weather, etc.
-Health care: deficiencies in the system mean more people will die from lack of care.
-Economy: ours makes the rich richer and the poor poorer which leads the impoverished to live shorter, less healthy lives.

So yes, the Democrats have issues where they appear more extreme, but these are the issues that do not deal with life and death.* When it comes to issues of life and death--war, the economy, global warming, the environment, and health care--Democrats approach policy and campaigns on these issues with honest proposals that do not demagogue the opponent. It's refreshing and one of the reasons I'm proud to be a Democrat.

*Again, I empathize with people who believe an abortion is about life and death. No one likes abortions, but some of us believe a women has a right to choose to have an abortion. In my view this is especially true in the first trimester. So, certainly, if someone believes abortion is always about life and death then the analysis above breaks down.

UPDATE: To be clear, I do not believe Democrats are extreme on those social issues mentioned above, but the party certainly is viewed by a lot of people in the United States as being extreme on those issues. While I believe those folks are wrong, that does not change the fact that people perceive Democratic positions on homosexual issues, abortion, and feminism as extreme.

Money and Life

Garron over at Life's More Real had an insightful post about money and life that I wanted to share. The nickel version is that you should live life for life, not just for accumulating wealth. Of course, especially in our society, there are certain benefits accorded to those that rake in the cash, but in the end when all the cards are on the table, stories, love, and relationships are more important.

An excerpt ("the host" is a radio host who talks about wealth development):

Towards the end of a segment about markets and investment's the host said "Money isn't important," followed by a long pause. I waited for a commercial, or for him to continue, but he didn't. I wondered what was happening. Then he came back on, in a choked up voice. "Money doesn't matter," he said again.

Go check out the entire post and help Garron think of additions to his Top 5 list.

Big News

One of the three fathers of "Mmmmmmmm Bop" is now a father of a child.

Oh how the world goes round.

Trip Finale

Today is the final day of my east coast trip. Rather than recount what I've been doing I'll just say that Boston has really impressed me and is faaaaarrrrrr better than New Yorkers give it credit for. I already look forward to coming back again.

Oh, and one more thing: Yes it went billions over budget and yes there are a variety of flaws, but Boston's Big Dig is a fantastic example of the benefit of getting cars away from city centers. Without exception every person I talked to testified that Boston's downtown is exponentially better and more connected now that the vehicles are underground. Take note city planners and get cars out of downtown!!!!

Now off to shower and to catch the T to Logan!

What People Pay Attention To

When looking at the two presidential candidates--John McCain and Barack Obama--I see night and day. Coming from the inherent restraints of a two-party system these guys could hardly have more different world views and policy proposals. Considering the mess George Bush and gotten us into and how closely McCain's proposed policies match with Bush's current policies, I simply cannot understand how people can even consider voting for McCain. Do they really want another four years of Bush?!?!

I have enough faith in the electorate that I believe that is not the case. What has happened, is that instead of focusing on their significant policy differences, the mainstream media focuses on lapel pins, gaffes, and preachers. What this does is muddy the many differences between the candidates.

I've been mulling this over in my head for months and came across this blog post over at my favorite blog Political Animal. Below is an excerpt:

Personally, I think being wrong about official US policy towards Iran, and about whether recent history shows that negotiating with them won't work, is more serious than being wrong about precisely which Nazi concentration camp your great-uncle helped liberate. But then, I also think that at a time when we are involved in two wars, our standing in the world is as low as it has been in recent memory, we have jettisoned our commitment to basic human rights and the rule of law, our economy is tanking, our currency seems to be in free-fall, the energy crisis has finally (and predictably) hit home with a vengeance, food and commodity prices are soaring world-wide, our health insurance system could most charitably be described as badly frayed, our infrastructure seems to be crumbling around us, and a whole lot of people are looking at losing their homes -- at a time like this, there are better things to talk about than flag pins, pastors, and the real explanation for Hillary Clinton's RFK moment.

Honestly: if this campaign is decided on those sorts of issues, we deserve what we get. It's just a pity our election will affect so many other people, who don't.

Vonnegut's Timequake

While visiting Elon I was loaned Kurt Vonnegut's Timequake (thanks Jessica and Mark!). Vonnegut's never really done it for me (between Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five) and this book was no exception. A handful of times I laughed out loud, but for the most part it wasn't anything special. That said, all the short chapters made it a great travel book to fill in those random dead times on the road.

Here are two passages that I lolled at the most. Enjoy!

I do not propose to discuss my love life. I will say that I still can't get over how women are shaped, and that I will go to my grave wanting to pet their butts and boobs. I will say, too, that lovemaking, if sincere, is one of the best ideas Satan put in the apple she gave to the serpent to give to Eve.

And this joke:

He would have known several jokes I know, like the one Fred Bates Johnson told one time, when he and Father and I, just a kid, and some others, were hunting down in Brown County. According to Fred, a bunch of guys like us went hunting for deer and moose up in Canada. Somebody had to do the cooking, or they would all starve to death.

They drew straws to see who would cook while the others hunted from dawn to dusk. To make the joke more immediate, Fred said it was Father who got the short straw. Father could cook. Mother couldn't. She was proud she couldn't cook, and wouldn't wash dishes and so on. I liked to go over to other kids' houses, where their mothers did those things.

The hunters agreed that anybody who complained about Father's cooking became the cook. So Father prepared worse and worse meals, while the others were having one hell of a good time in he forest. No matter how awful a supper was, though, the hunters pronounced it lip-smacking delicious, clapping Father on the back and so on.

After they marched off one morning, Father found a pile of fresh moose poop outside. He friend it in motor oil. That night he served it as steaming patties.

The first guy to taste one spit it out. He couldn't help himself! He spluttered, "Jesus Christ! That tastes like moose poop friend in motor oil!"

But then he added, "Good good, but good!"

McCain Doesn't Support Troops

On Thursday the Senate passed, with solid bipartisan support, a GI Modernization Bill with 75 votes. The bill updates a variety of benefits to veterans, including education benefits that assures veterans the chance to get a college education without going into debt. Sounds like an appropriate thing to offer veterans after they have put their lives on the line. The legislation sounded appropriate to 75 senators, including Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama. Republican Presidential candidate John McCain he does not support the legislation and didn't even show up to vote, instead electing to stay in California for fundraisers.

McCain argues that added educational benefits will draw veterans out of service at a time when our armed forces are already having a hard time reenlisting soldiers for Iraq and Afghanistan. Sounds like a catchy argument, unfortunately it's not based in fact. A Congressional Budget Office study shows that the improved educational benefits will increase recruitment at levels that will more than offset the loss of soldiers due reenlistment losses.

Apparently McCain, the self-promoted champion of soldiers, believes it's better to trap soldiers into service because they have no where to go other than to continue fighting. Barack Obama and 74 other senators, however, believe a better way to support the soldiers is to pay for their college education when they have finished their terms of service and to recruit more and better soldiers by offering improved education funding.

McCain talks one way but doesn't back it up with his vote. Here's yet another reason I support Obama.

Car Free

I saw an ad in the DC metro system about a Car-Free Diet. It's a simply site the helps commuters calculate the health and financial benefits of leaving their car at home. This change in lifestyle makes so much sense that it surprises me just how many people continue to do the traditional car commute. Obviously there are folks who have no choice, but there is no doubt in my mind that that number is fairly small. As fuel prices go up the market will drive more and more people to use non-traditional commuting methods, but that transition will take even longer until people factor in the other benefits of leaving their car at home. And if you wanted a refresher, here are some of those benefits:

1. Save money on gas and vehicle maintenance. Yes, you'll spend some on mass transit, however many employers give out mass transit commuting dollars.
2. Save your sanity. I can't think of many other things that bring out the worst in people than a big traffic jam.
3. Get exercise. By walking or biking you get much-needed exercise. You can walk or ride to the metro or bus and still get that exercise.
4. Get some reading time. Commuting in the car leaves you staring at the bumper in front of you. Commuting in the metro or on a bus lets you read your favorite book, magazine, or daily.
5. Help the environment. Single passenger vehicle commuting to work emit billions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year. Take yours off the road and make a real difference.
6. Help the United States get off of foreign oil. We send billions of dollars a year to other parts of the world for a product we burn up. Our economy is weak and our national debt is growing. Using less gas would make a big difference.

Add other benefits in comments! 

Libertarian Presidential Debate

On Tuesday I was browsing through the Washington Post and happened upon a press release that went something like this: Bob Barr and Mike Gravel! Live! In Person! Libertarian Presidential Debate!

I thought, "Well, that's better than lying on a cold bench in Dupont Circle." (It surprising how quickly you can feel like a person without a home.) So off I went to the debate.

You political junkies out there probably noticed the missing name: Ron Paul. He is the star of Libertarian politics (though he's still a Republican) and, just recently, he broke the one million vote mark in the Republican Primary election. He even has $5 million in his campaign fund. That said, he was no where to be found at this debate.

Honestly the event wasn't that interesting. I met Anthony, a first year law student at George Mason who considers himself a Libertarian and works at a think tank whose aim is make our voting system more equitable. I met Jessica, a writer for an online magazine who was sent to get a story on how the Libertarian Party could be to the Republicans in '08 what Nader was to the Democrats in '00. And I met the campaign manager of a Virginia congressional candidate who, quite frankly, was weird.

The big takeaway was a new perspective on why I like the Democratic Party: it seems like we're simply not as extreme. The Republicans all vie for the following titles: Hates Terrorists the MOST; Hates Taxes the MOST; Hates Environmentalists the MOST; Wants to Drill in ANWR the MOST; Is the LEAST PUSSY OF US ALLLLLLLL; etc. You get the point. The Libertarians were the same way. It was a competition to see who could mention state's rights and the constitution the most. There was a specific question about who promised to close which federal agencies. It's all so extreme. Perhaps it's due to my perspective, but Democrats don't seem to have those extreme positions. Can you think of any?

Days 12-20

Yeeks, has it really been that long since I've posted a trip update? There's a lot and I have to catch a bus to New York in an hour so this is going to be brief:

-Dana and I drove from Raleigh, NC to Washington, DC. We talked about everything from Peace Corps to Nazis. Ken, her trusty GPS navigator, took us on a route I was unfamiliar with, but we went that way because the computer said so. Whatever happened to maps? Entering DC we saw the biggest traffic jam I've ever witnessed: Southbound on I-95 there were five lanes of traffic at a bumper-to-bumper standstill for approximately 10 miles. I couldn't do that, period.

-Catharine was an amazing host. We partied, we chatted, she fed me, I washed my clothes, etc etc. She put up with me for six whole days. Incredible! A big thanks to her.

-I got to see old Elon friends and others from the "Working in DC" era of my life. I was a guess player for a kickball team (we lost) and softball team (also lost). I'm not much of a ringer.

-Now I'm in Baltimore and heading to the bus stop to catch a ride to New York City and the home of Ian and Jeffy. The bus stop is pretty sketchy so if I'm abducted or become a drug addict, tell my family I love them

Aaaaaaand...

... I went rollerblading today.

It was glorious.

Make fun of me in comments.

Voting

A few days ago I sent in my ballot for Oregon primary elections. I like politics and government so this was exciting. I was voting for candidates seeking the Presidency, Congress, local positions, and a variety of other things. The "other things" include Oregon's Secretary of State (SOS) and Attorney General (AG) positions. As I was doing research on the candidates for these two positions I realized that A) I have no idea what I want in an SOS or AG; and B) As someone who pays a lot of attention to politics, even I didn't know who I was voting for and why. How is the average voter with a full time job, supporting a family, and with no free time supposed to make an informed decision when even a political junky like me is unable to do so?

A bit more fuel to this fire was added when my friends in North Carolina told me they have to vote for the State Commissioner of Labor. Huh? Do you know what you're looking for in that position? I sure don't.

These experiences have led me to believe that such positions at the state level should be chosen just as they are at the federal level: by the elected executive, in these cases this would be the governor. Just as the president of our country chooses their cabinet members, I believe governors should choose their "cabinet" level positions (Secretary of State, Attorney General, various commissioners, etc). Under this scenario voters would choose not only their governor, but also a broad slate of government positions determined by the ideology of the governor-elect.

Certainly their are flaws to this plan as well, but it certainly is better than people blindly voting for obscure candidates.

Water Pong

Last night I was playing water pong with my friend and on the last cup I bounced it off the table, against the wall, and then back into the cup for the victory. In light of my shallow pong experience this was considered amazing. Hold the applause, just throw money.

John Edwards Edorses Obama

On Wednesday John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama. If you didn't believe me before, it's become ever more clear that the race is over. A few nuggets of election info:

-With the exception of Al Gore, John Edwards was arguably the most sought after endorsement. Not only is he a prominent member of the party, he brings Obama credibility with white, working class voters.

-This signals to the16 delegates Edwards won that they should support Obama.

-Of those 16, nine have already publicly moved to support Obama

-The delegate gap between Clinton and Obama is now about the number of superdelegates that are still on the fence.

Is there any any chance Clinton will get them all? Not likely.