October Demands Patience

I’ve laid off a bit during the last few days about commenting on the news in general. One reason for this is that I really don’t understand some of it. In particular, the (at this writing) 700 billion dollar taxpayer-funded bailout planned for the cascading failures on Wall Street. It seems that everyone is in agreement as to who’s to blame in this crisis: the other guy. And in this intense stage of a presidential campaign, I doubt that I am going to get an even-handed explanation from anyone, either.

That brings me to the other reason for being reticent about news commentary. It seems that EVERYTHING that is happening has a special political spin attached to it, depending on which side one wants to win in November. And for better or for worse, the rest of the world seems to understand this to some extent as well. Well, at least I hope they do. After all, the two candidates and their running mates both seem to be engaged in a game of one-upmanship as to how much they can vilify different important countries such as Russia and Iran. The idea of proposing that we engage in constructive, peaceful dialogues with our adversaries (real or imagined) apparently would be an act of political suicide. Can you believe what EITHER of them are saying at this late stage? I can’t. Why should anyone else? I suppose we'll all just have to wait for this period of national insanity to pass in about five weeks. This coming month of October is going to be a test, not only of my patience with this broken (to me) electoral process, but also of the entire world’s patience as well. Maybe I’ll just stick to local, sports, and weather commentary for a month!

I know I had mentioned in an earlier article that I was stepping down from campaign commentary until after the election. But there is one observation I feel compelled to make at this time: John McCain doesn’t look or sound very well. He has been on the campaign circuit since 2007 and must be physically spent. He is in his seventies, which by itself doesn’t necessarily mean anything. But it looks to me as if he has overextended himself badly. I hope I’m wrong, for his sake if he loses, and for the country’s sake as well if he wins. For I won’t be surprised if, not too long after the election, we don’t get a news flash about him being admitted to a hospital somewhere. What kind of system is this that you have to practically kill yourself to get elected?

Solar Walk

A few days ago, my local newspaper, The Gainesville Sun, featured a short article about Solar Walk, which is a series of sculptures lining the south side of NW 8th Avenue, going eastward from NW 34th Street and ending at NW 23rd Street. These sculptures comprise a scaled-down outdoors Solar System planetarium starting with the Sun and then progressively arriving at each planet until, approaching NW 23nd Street, the last planet Pluto stands (I still call it a planet). Now Elizabeth Indianos, the artist responsible for this intriguing Gainesville landmark, has added two comets to the sculptures. The one closer to the Sun features a streaming gas tail, while the more remote one doesn’t.

I went out on NW 8th Avenue to get a closer look and some photos. In the process I ran from the Sun all the way past Pluto (about 0.9 mile). Since the objects are scaled according to their orbits' relative distances from each other, it gave me a strong impression of how vast the distances are between the outer planets.

Here are some shots of Solar Walk:

Superimposing One Place On Another

Please humor me for a little while as I go off in a small flight of fancy. I was sitting out in my back yard the other day and wondering whether or not I could fit a theme park ride in it. Not a roller coaster: they take up way too much space. No, I was thinking more along the lines of something like Zamperla Corporation’s spectacular Power Surge, which is my hands-down favorite of all the theme park rides (including roller coasters).

Power Surge, when going full tilt, resembles something like a demented, fast moving Ferris wheel that has come unglued from reality. Riders are hurled in just about every direction conceivable while traveling around the “wheel”. From the ground, this ride looks terrifying. And from the air, a rapid succession of random images of ground, air, buildings, and other passengers at various angles (including complete inversion) can likewise impart a sense of peril and intense disturbance. It is one ride that I have never quite gotten used to. And that’s why I like it so.

I wonder whether I could fit Power Surge in my back yard. Not that I could afford it or would get the city’s permission for it. But I can still imagine what the view would be as the ride begins and progresses, with it all happening over my home and neighborhood instead of the theme park.

This sort of musing can be taken a step further. Wherever I am, I can “pretend” to be in a roller coaster seat and then imagine where the ride would take me if it were superimposed on where I was. If seated within a building, I could “see” the tracks rising until they passed through the ceiling and out in the open air above the building. And then curl back and dip back into the building’s interior, crossing through rooms and walls at various stages in the ride.

Maybe all of this is a sign of boredom. But I think it’s a little more than that. When I am in different places doing different things, I impose different standards of distance about my environment. Sometimes I would like to reconcile them all into a consistent, coherent sense of distance and space. So I take places like my home, neighborhood, grocer, workplace, or shopping mall. And then (mentally) impose other places (like theme parks, the beach, or anywhere else I’ve been) on them to get a feel for the distances involved. It’s a good mental exercise that can enhance my abilities to visualize and remember. As well as being a mildly fun diversion. I wonder if this was the sort of thing John Lennon did when he was “just sitting here doing time”, “watching the wheels”!

Lisey's Story

I just finished reading Stephen King’s novel Lisey’s Story, and I think I can say with authority (I’ve read about 90 % of his stuff) that this is his greatest work. By far. If you have never read any of King’s writings, this is the one you can’t do without.

Stephen King is often categorized as a “horror fiction” writer. And certainly, many of his novels and short stories fit that label well. But what exactly is “horror fiction” anyway? Isn’t it the vicarious experience of life and death as we fear it to be like but can’t bring ourselves to admit it? We’re all alive and fear death and suffering. But they are nonetheless inevitable facts of our lives.

Lisey’s Story definitely has “horror” elements to it, but it is much more than that. It is a story of a woman’s grief and love for her deceased husband. And how the worlds that we all create with our imaginations can sometimes overflow from ourselves and enter the real lives of others.

I have done a lot of reading over the past few years, and much of what I have read has been forgettable. I mean IMMEDIATELY forgettable, from the moment I finally put the book down after reading the last word on the last page. Lisey’s Story is a “keeper“, a complex story that will stay with you and challenge you on many levels: what is love, what is truly real, and .....why does Stephen King always seem to end up in western Maine?!!

Baseball Playoffs

It looks like sweet revenge for former New York Yankees skipper Joe Torre. Torre’s old team missed the playoffs this year for the first time in more than ten years, also marking the first season he hasn’t managed them in the same span. Meanwhile, Joe’s current club, the Los Angeles Dodgers, won their division and are flying into the playoffs. Guess who I’ll be rooting for in the National League?!

Since my New York Yankees weren’t good enough this season for the playoffs, I’ll have to go with the home-state boys, the Tampa Bay Rays. If one or both of these teams (Rays or Dodgers) fail to get past their first round, I’ll have to pick another team (or teams) to pull for. One team, though, I will absolutely NOT root for no matter what: the Boston Red Sox (that would be a betrayal of my support for the Yankees). Nothing personal, Stephen King (die-hard Sox fan)!

At this stage, I see the teams still in the playoff hunt and imagine some interesting potential World Series matchups (at this posting, the Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins, Milwaukee Brewers, and New York Mets are in very close races to try to make the playoffs):

--"All-L.A.": Anaheim Angels vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

--"Windy City": Chicago White Sox vs. Chicago Cubs

--"Super Bowl City Rematch": Boston Red Sox vs. New York Mets

--"Cubs try to get past another Florida team": Tampa Bay Rays vs. Chicago Cubs (in 2003, an interfering fan cost the Cubs their playoff series against the Florida Marlins)

--"Settle Old Scores": Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (in a different uniform, LA manager Joe Torre goes up again against former AL East rival Boston, while former Red Sox star-turned-enemy Manny Ramirez is starring for the Dodgers).

--"1986 Series Rematch": Boston Red Sox vs. New York Mets

--"1959 Series Rematch" (for the old folks): Chicago White Sox vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

--"One Franchise Represents Both Leagues": Milwaukee Brewers vs. anyone (the Brewers represented the American League in the 1982 World Series and are now in the National League).

--"My Best Scenario": Tampa Bay Rays vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (with the Dodgers winning)

--"My Worst Scenario": Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago Cubs (couldn’t both teams somehow be made to lose?)

In the “great disappointments” department, I have to ask myself what happened to the Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, and of course, the New York Yankees. The Braves, long known for their superb pitching, badly need rebuilding in that area. The failures of the other three teams, in particular last year’s National League pennant winner Colorado, are perplexing to me. Other than the fact that there is a fine line between success and failure in this very competitive sport. Who knows, maybe they’ll be back next year and this year’s successes will flop!

One other thing: Other teams are in the playoff picture as well. In the American League, the Minnesota Twins are battling the White Sox for their division title, while in the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies won the East for the second straight year. These two teams may end up being my fall-back choices should the Rays and/or Dodgers screw up (of course, Minnesota would first need to make the playoffs).

Morning At Starbucks on US 441 & 16th

I’m sitting in a different Starbucks than I usually go to. First, when I pulled into the parking lot, I thought swell, not many cars, it’s not too busy here. But when I walked inside, there was a long line. And then, looking around, it quickly dawned on me: this is the Starbucks that’s just a couple of blocks from Gainesville High School. And judging by the shrill, loud voices around here, they do a lot of business with the teen student crowd. Hey, if I were in their shoes (and had the money at that age to burn), I’d rather hang out here before school than at my dreary old high school, too. Only I think I’d just bring a book to quietly sit with and read. Wait--I think all that noise just walked out with a couple of very loud teens. Yep, there they go on their way to school. Suddenly I can hear myself think again!

I’ve been trying to spend a little quality time lately studying and writing instead of going back to sleep after taking my daughter to school in the morning. Then, upon getting back home a little later on, I can still nap for an hour or two. And when I finally do get up for good, I feel that I’ve already accomplished something in the day. So far so good, although I’ll have to admit that I am mentally just not quite as sharp as I usually am in mid-afternoon.

I’m not looking forward to mowing my lawn, which I’ve let grow too much lately. The problem is that my old lawn mower recently has not been starting up too well. Hopefully, though, I’ll be able to keep it running long enough to make a “dent” in the sea of grass. And then, I’ll be counting on the weather to change enough to slow down the growth. But then again, I may just wait for this weekend to try to get that task done. [This entry was written last week. I just switched to an older mower I had and breezed through the yard!]

One thing that I can do by not immediately going back to bed in the morning (I report to my job at 3:30 PM) is plan out what I am going to do with my day. This helps to focus on simple things when I do finally get up from my later “nap” and gives me a sense of continuity for the day as well. So that’s what I’m going to do now!

Final Campaign Statement

I’ve thought for some time now that there is no reason why anyone, even if they were relatively apathetic about politics, would still be undecided about who they wanted to be the next U.S. president. I cannot fathom the shifts in the polls during the last few weeks, first abruptly to McCain and then gradually back to Obama. Who ARE these people who seem to drift with the wind and keep changing their minds?

I believe that the last few weeks of this campaign will be directed at precisely these clueless voters, who will more likely than not make their final decisions on impulse and whimsy rather than on who they think will do a better job of running the country for the upcoming four years. And as a result, we are in for a torrent of pointless, stupid posturing, baseless accusations, and last-minute dirt-dog-mean personal slander. Since I have already made up my mind for whom I will vote, I see no point in subjecting myself to this counterproductive media onslaught. And I certainly don’t feel inclined to react to any of it in this blog. But, if watching and listening to foolishness on an unprecedented, mass scale is your cup of tea, then you’re welcome to it. I’ll just say the following about where I’m going.

I believe that Barack Obama will make a good president and I will vote for him in November. I’m sure that he will make some decisions that I disagree with, just as I am sure that if John McCain is elected, he will do some things that I support. In spite of all the nonsense I’ve heard during the past few weeks, I believe that McCain is a good man who will do his best to act in the country’s interests if elected. And so will Obama. I’m a bit more skeptical of McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin, for I see her as much more ideologically-driven. But hopefully, this is more or less political posturing on her part. She does seem to have a pragmatic side to her (very short) record as Alaska’s governor. I’m equally concerned, but in a different way, about Obama’s running mate Joseph Biden. Biden strikes me as a bit too eager to beat the war drums when addressing foreign policy issues. What was it Teddy Roosevelt said? “Speak softly, and carry a big stick”, I believe it was. Of course, Palin has also spoken very provocatively regarding foreign policy as well.

Reacting in a knee-jerk manner to every news story is not what I want from my leaders, but that is what this campaign has been reduced to. So, although I still will keep in touch with things in general, I am now off the track with regard to the details of “who said what” and “who said what about what who said”. So, may the best candidate win. Hopefully, this time around the system won’t break down and the country as a whole can finally accept the outcome of a presidential election as legitimate, regardless who wins.

Figuring Things Out On My Own

I am not a mathematician. I’ve taken upper division level math courses in college, but that’s where it ends. I’m even less qualified in the area of computer software technology. But I am a human being with a brain that seems to be functioning enough to get myself through each day as it comes. And that means I can delve into areas that I know for a fact others probably would think of as “easy” or “trivial”. Logic puzzle games such as sudoku, kakuro, and hidato are examples, as are the more traditional word-based logic problems. But there are other games as well.

Each time my family and I go to a Cracker Barrel restaurant, we find at our table a peg game. The block consists of an equilateral triangle of peg holes, five on each side, fifteen holes in all. There are fourteen pegs in holes, leaving an empty hole (which at the start can be anywhere on the board the player wishes). The game begins this way. The object of the game is to have only one peg left on the board when all possible moves have ended. A move consists only of a peg jumping directly over another into an empty hole. The peg jumped over is then removed. So, ideally, a (winning) game will take thirteen moves. Usually though, it’s much shorter than that, with three or four pegs still there when the moves are exhausted.

I wondered if I could develop a procedure that would guide my moves toward victory in this peg game. Naturally, my thoughts veered to the Internet, and I wondered whether or not someone else had figured this out. I did a search and came up with a site in which someone who had written a program of all possible moves had come up with all of the possible winning games. After seeing this, I decided to go no further with the Web and instead decided to tackle this on my own. After all, where’s the fun of doing a puzzle if someone else is giving you the answer? On the other hand, sometimes when I am trying to figure things out (like this peg game), I feel like the anthropoid ape in the beginning of 2001: A Space Odyssey who is sitting around a pile of bones and figuring out how to use them as tools. Maybe I should be playing Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra while performing this task!

Forty Days of Purpose

The church my family and I attend is starting something called “Forty Days of Purpose”, based on Rick Warren’s famous bestselling book The Purpose-Driven Life. You may already know that, or that Warren is the pastor at Colorado’s “non-denominational” Saddleback Church who hosted and moderated the nationally-televised forum with presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain.

This six-week “course” involves the participants meeting weekly at different homes around town, reading the chapters, answering questions, and having discussions on the material. And of course, with this comes the opportunity for a little friendly socializing.

As you may or may not know from reading this blog, I have a few issues with the doctrines that strict fundamentalist, evangelistic Christianity puts out. And Warren tends to endorse these doctrines. I have no intention of “rocking the boat” by making a nuisance of myself with others about these differences, but I won’t just sit around and parrot things that don’t compute for me either. So, the way I see it, this will be a chance for me to just be myself and see if the people around me are willing to accept me for who I am.

I’ve noticed before that, if they don’t get carried away with specific religious or political doctrines, people everywhere are remarkable similar in the way they see life. If you go into areas that people have common ground with other in, then it may be possible to establish a bond of at least good will between them, and possibly even some good friendships can develop. Of course, within a religious grouping such as the one my wife and I will be in, the pressure and challenge will be to hold true to my beliefs without offending others.

I have seen discipleship courses like this one being promoted in various churches before. One of the threads common to them is the teaching that the “disciples” should strengthen their ties to the church being attended, in terms of giving both their money and their free time and labor. I have a feeling that, without this inserted into the courses, churches wouldn’t be so keen on promoting and sponsoring them. After all, there is such a thing as the bottom line, isn’t there?

Touchy Tim & the Gators

The University of Florida Gators are traveling to Knoxville, Tennessee to play their rivals the University of Tennessee Volunteers in football this Saturday. Last year, some folks in Knoxville (and elsewhere) accused Florida coach Urban Meyer of needlessly running up the score late in the game. Earlier on, it had been a tight game with Florida leading 28-20. But then, in the fourth quarter, the Gators kept pushing Tennessee with their starters, throwing long passes and padding up the score until it was a 59-20 blowout (on paper). The Saturday before last, Miami Hurricanes coach Randy Shannon accused Meyer of padding the score with a last-minute field goal (and beating the point spread in the process). Upon hearing of the criticism, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow who, in the eyes of many here in Gainesville and beyond, can do no wrong, criticized the Miami coach for criticizing Meyer. Which reinforces the point I made back on September 8: you can’t criticize Urban Meyer, Tim Tebow, or the Gators in general around this town anymore. There’s no more of the light give-and-take banter we used to traditionally enjoy throwing around. Even during the incredible run of several Southeastern Conference championships and one National Championship under Steve Spurrier, it was commonplace and acceptable to toss around criticism, directed both at Spurrier and star Gator players. Now you’re either totally with the Gator “icons” or you’re the enemy. And I don’t think that’s a very sportsmanlike attitude to project.

The last time I sensed this type of an insulated, over-protective environment with UF football was in the early 1980s under the late coach Charlie Pell. And his win-at-any-cost philosophy eventually resulted in a major scandal in the Gators football program and them being place on probation, as well as having their 1984 SEC Championship stripped away. I doubt that the current edition of Florida football will come down to that, but it does detract greatly from the fun of following college football in this town when so many regard it as a kind of war instead of an interesting diversion. Sure, you want to display your loyalty to whichever team you want to follow. But those on the Florida team, be they players or coaches, deliberately chose to be in the public eye in this very competitive sport. As such, they are bound to submit to criticism, agree or disagree with it. And the whiny, touchy reaction to criticism of Urban Meyer that Tim Tebow displayed is in itself worthy of criticism (and ridicule), as far as I’m concerned.

HD Radio

The other day at work, one of my colleagues asked me if I had ever heard of high-definition radio. And I had a prepared response: I had already investigated the subject and discovered that the “HD” in HD radio apparently didn’t stand for for high definition, or for that matter, anything else. “HD’ is part of the brand name chosen by the company that our government rewarded the exclusive contract to for developing and implementing this technology.

In HD radio, an equipped station can broadcast more than one signal at a time. An HD-equipped radio can then separate these signals into different stations. So you can see the great possibilities in this. In Gainesville, not a very big radio market, we have only two stations already broadcasting in HD so far. 89.1-WUFT, the Public Radio station here, has three “channels” on its HD signal: music, news/talk, and “other”, including old-time radio shows. The other station, 97.3-WSKY “The Sky”, broadcasts its HD on two channels. The first is its original right-wing talk show format. The second, which intrigues me, has an album rock format reminiscent of the old 103.5 WSHE and 94.9 Zeta-4 stations I used to listen to in south Florida.

There are more stations than this in Gainesville, though. I am waiting until more get into the HD picture and I have more programming choices. I’d also like to see at least one of these stations put out a channel that features independent/alternative music of the type that 100.5-WHHZ used to play until this year. That type of channel would fit like a glove in this big college town.

Broadcast radio needs to do something radical to give listeners more choices. The current situation does not serve the public’s interests. There are many genres of popular music, and we have the technology to provide them for people to enjoy. And with “opinion” radio, I’m all for conservatives having their voices heard. But more liberal viewpoints are difficult to find on the radio. Hopefully, HD radio will provide an outlet for this expression as well. Well, we’ll see how it all turns out. I’m optimistic but cautious.

Inner Sanctum

I can’t speak for anyone else when writing this particular article, for when it all comes down to it, I have to pass through my own life from the subjective viewpoint of an individual. One of the ideas that I believe in is that, arguments about the ultimate nature of free will aside, I control my mind. Which may sound a little circular if you were to start out with the assumption that it is my mind that is doing the controlling!

But it’s true that I believe this, as silly as this may or may not seem. Furthermore, there is something on the order of a “virtual” place within my mind where I dwell and work on “redesigning” my thoughts and goals. I call this my “inner sanctum”, for obvious reasons.

It’s important to have some kind of battle plan when starting out on my day. Otherwise, I would be bouncing around from one externally-imposed obligation to another, sliding into lethargy and complete self-indulgence between “duty moments”. No, I must design my patterns of thinking and resultant behavior according to a paradigm that includes devotion to responsibilities (with boundaries) but which transcends those obligations, being directed to my own personal aims. With me freely posing difficult questions to myself and mulling over them, testing, and refining my answers according to my developing web of experiences. And to help accomplish this, I stole a page from Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

One of Covey’s habits is “Begin with the end in mind”. The way I interpret this is that I should imagine myself being very old, possibly in my nineties and looking back on how I spent my life for the past forty years. From this day (in September 2008) onward, not going back to my earlier life. And evaluating how wisely I spent my time. To accomplish this, I need to ascertain which values I hold the most strongly and base my imagined “backward” reflections on these values as a yardstick for judgment. And I’m not sure that some of these values would be of the sort that a beauty contest finalist would use to answer the final “big question”!

Do you have a blackboard to write your thoughts on and then erase when they don’t “fit together” right? I do, but it’s back hidden in my garage somewhere. But it seems like it might be a useful tool for my values clarification and goal-definitions. It reminds me of one episode in The Prisoner television series titled Free For All, where the Prisoner is shown by his captor a hidden laboratory that a fellow prisoner, a scientist, is allowed to freely continue his scientific research in without interference. There was a big blackboard in the lab that the scientist would fill with his thoughts and observations. The “authorities” would simply photograph it from time to time to gain the information they wanted. With me, it’s something like that, except that it is I who am holding my own thoughts captive. Maybe I’ll just take digital photos of my own blackboard from time to time!

My Discomfort Zones Update: 9/16

I haven’t been as consistently bold about jumping into areas that I need to be, although I did have some successes. I think that I need to write out some specific goals and just hold myself accountable (on this blog) for fulfilling them. Anyway, I was able to survive some discomfort zone excursions:

--I had to overcome an overwhelming sense of personal incompetence in the area of home improvement, but I did venture into this uncomfortable area a few weeks ago when I measured and laid down tile for my daughter’s bedroom. We’re planning to redo our entire home’s flooring, and now it seems very feasible. About halfway through the tile laying, I cut one of my fingers pretty deeply, but my wife tended to it and I was able to pick up where I left off and finish the task.

--I have been running more and more out on the open road instead of just running the treadmill. It hasn’t been the easiest thing to do, especially with the weather as hot as it has been at times.

--I finally went to my dentist and got help with a mounting tooth problem. She pulled out the tooth fragments that had been left embedded in my gum and prescribed some antibiotic against the infection. A surprisingly pleasant all-around experience from such an uncomfortable, dreaded place to go (the dentist’s office).

There is a whole slew of tasks that I need to just roll up my sleeves and do, one at a time. And all of them reside firmly in my “discomfort zone”. But they’re all necessary, and I WILL DO THEM! Here are a few that I would like to accomplish:

--Clean out the garage.
--Keep the insurance filings current.
--First record, then restrict personal spending.
--Keep various sections of the house clean.
--Inspect areas needing repair in the house.
--Get car maintained.
--Restrict TV/Web time and record efforts.
--Consistently do piano, reading, writing (blog and fiction), and foreign languages and record time spent at them.
--Run daily unless special circumstances prevent this.
--Maintain yard weekly.
--Meet emergency situations head-on and responsibly.

No, I have little worry about running out of discomfort zones any time soon!

Monday Newsbreak: 9/15

--An estimated more than 100,000 residents of the eastern Texas coastal areas directly in the path of Hurricane Ike chose not to heed warnings to evacuate and instead chose to stay and try to ride out the storm. At this writing, more than 600 rescues of stranded residents have been made, but only time will tell how many casualties resulted from decisions to remain instead of fleeing to safety. One might have thought that the disaster at Galveston of 1900, when a hurricane killed around 4000, or even the recent tragedy down the coast caused by Katrina just three years ago, would have been enough warning. And it probably was, for most. But for those who did stay behind, their danger is still ongoing, since the area is full of hazards, including downed power lines, debris, and damaged buildings.

--The level of mud being slung around in this presidential race has reached such epic proportions that I can barely continue to cover it. What may have been the final straw with me was the “pig with lipstick” comment Barack Obama made in reference to a failed policy that the Republicans, including John McCain, immediately blew up as a personal attack against Sarah Palin (Obama was in no way talking about her). Never mind that McCain himself had used the expression on a number of occasions with reference to Hillary Clinton’s take on issues. Don’t those slinging the mud realize that if elected, they will have an impossible task of reconciling half of the country with them? Or do they just seek naked power without regard to any sense of decency? And why do I already know the sad answers to these questions?

--As a response to Russia’s recent incursion into Georgia, The U.S. is stepping up its arms sales to allies in the region, including other former Soviet republics. Georgians living in South Ossetia are reportedly being harassed by local militias into leaving that region for Georgia proper. Although I understand how Russia could feel justified in intervening following the initial Georgian offensive against South Ossetia, allowing the persecution of an ethnic group (the Georgians) in a region under its military control makes its expressed concern about how Russian people living in the various former Soviet republics are treated nothing less than sheer hypocrisy. By putting the West on alert against them, this incursion may have been a very big mistake on their part. At least for the manner in which they executed it.

--In Steve Newman’s great feature Earthweek, ice in the Arctic Ocean has now melted enough to create an open, navigable circle of water for the first time in about 125,000 years, according to experts in the field. Of course, I don’t rightly know who would have been around to navigate the area 125,000 years ago! But this sort of information, which should help put to rest the notion that the melting ice is just part of a natural cycle, is going virtually ignored in the media (except by Mr. Newman). This is happening while a global warming denier is helping to catapult one candidate into the lead in America’s 2008 presidential race. Since we like to pretend that the ice isn’t really disappearing in the polar regions, why don’t we go a little further with our pleasant delusions and just proclaim that everything else is going hunky dory across the world? And bring the troops home.

Scrapbooks

Making scrapbooks became a tradition in my family as I grew up. My mother, my sister, and I all were avid “scrapbookers”. What I would do was go through old magazines lying around the house and cut out interesting pictures and paste them in. Once, when I was a little kid and didn’t know better, I got hold of an old Playboy magazine and cut out some of their comic drawings and pasted them in. And then proudly showed off my scrapbook to my mother. She said, “Billy, where did you get these drawings?” After telling her, she didn’t reproach me, but did make it clear that THAT magazine was off-limits to me!

Although my interest in scrapbooks waned after childhood, my mother continued the hobby. A few years ago, she gave us a scrapbook that she had put together, and I have to say that this was a great personal gift that was very inexpensive but which contained a lot of expression and communication in it. Kind of like a blog!

When I was taking American History at my local community college in the mid-1970s, I had as my instructor an elderly, very opinionated (favoring the political left) man who conducted his class in an unorthodox manner. We had a rather standard textbook that we would study and be tested on. And my teacher would let any student ask about anything they read or see him during his office hours. But the class time itself was dominated by the teacher sitting behind his desk, on top of which was an enormous scrapbook, full of newspaper and magazine clippings that he had inserted within over his many years of interest in history. The topics were not mainstream textbook topics; they were the kind that someone (like me) might have chosen to write blog articles about! But they all dealt with the topic of American history and had a bearing on the period in that history being discussed. And although this teacher’s demeanor was that of stubborn rigidity regarding his own views and angry intolerance regarding others’ dissenting views, his unusual “scrapbook” approach to teaching left his class as an indelible experience in my college education.

I’ve been discovering lately that I often come across an interesting article or editorial letter in my local newspaper and then lose it a few days later when I want to refer to it. I may find that a story may be developing in the news that I’m interested in but which I don’t feel is complete enough for me to write about. Also, it’s sometimes very important to be able to trace the history of how a news story is reported, not just the story itself. Saving piles of newspaper doesn’t cut it, but clipping articles of interest does. So I’m starting my own scrapbook, patterned after that unforgettable, cranky old history instructor’s scrapbook. And the first things to do will be to buy a nice (but cheap) empty scrapbook and then go back through my old newspapers and magazines (that I haven’t thrown away yet) and start snipping and gluing (very selectively)!

I miss my mother greatly. She died of complications arising from lung cancer in 2002. I take after her in many, many ways. She was someone whom I know for a fact that I would have regarded as a very sweet, intelligent woman, even if she weren’t my dear, sweet, intelligent mother. And her use of scrapbooks is something that both inspires me and brings back good memories.

So interest in scrapbooking can be seen in kindly people (like my mother) and in cantankerous people (like my American history teacher). Or it can be seen in someone afflicted with an unstable mixture of the kindly and cantankerous (like me). I’m sure that my scrapbook will be quite different from those of others. I do think I’ll stay away from certain magazines and drawings, though (lesson learned from childhood)!

Cows and Whales

Recently, I noticed an exchange of editorial letters in my hometown “rag”, the Gainesville Sun. One writer wrote to belittle evolution in general and the idea in particular that whales evolved from cows. A few days later, another letter appeared whose writer challenged the first writer to substantiate her views with documentation, particularly the view that anyone had claimed that whales evolved from cows. He also ventured the speculation that this charge had arisen from an “intelligent design” advocate’s works, not from any pro-evolution scientist.

I believe in evolution. If there is such a thing as “intelligent design”, then it must complement, not contradict what is already known about natural selection and species differentiation. If anyone wishes to tailor his/her view of reality to precisely conform with the belief that a certain piece of religious scripture is “infallible”, then that’s all right with me, too. I know several respectable, intelligent people who believe in intelligent design this way. But I operate on the assumption that species evolved over extremely long time spans which are hard for people to get an intuitive feel for. And that the processes of evolution occur on many levels, especially on a submicroscopic molecular level that is equally difficult to picture. Hence, the gross oversimplification about cows and whales.

But I already know that, as mammals, cows and whales do have a common ancestor that was also a mammal, but which has been most probably long, long extinct for several million years. So I set out, with just the Internet, to see how much I could derive about this relationship between cows and whales, as well as their common source.

As it turned out, I didn’t have to go far, for Wikipedia had an excellent article about the evolution of cetaceans. It revealed that, although whales were originally thought to have evolved from carnivorous animals, in the 1990s, DNA and protein analysis seemed to indicate that they stemmed from artiodactyls and bear a close genetic similarity to the hippopotamus. The divergence of what were to eventually become whales, dolphins, and porpoises from other artiodactyls is now thought to have happened around 53-54 million years ago.

The earliest known species that led down the evolutionary road to whales was pakicetus, living about 53 million years ago. Largely linked to later modern cetaceans by its special ear structure, the teeth of pakicetus are also very similar in some aspects to those of fossil whales, according to the article. This article covers a sequence of some species leading up to modern whales: indohyus (48 million years ago), amuocetus, kutchicetus, protocetus, rodhocetus, brachiosaurus, durodon, and later species which were much closer to modern whales.Species from the bovine family, from which modern cattle came, go back to 18-20 million years ago. Their link with whales is rather indirect, the common ancestors going back before the appearance of pakicetus 53 million years ago.

I happen to personally know both the anti-evolution and the pro-evolution editorial letter writers. Both care deeply about this topic and are honest with their expressed opinions. For this I respect both of them, although I wonder how much either of them would respect my own opinions in return were they to read them! What was it that Jesus was reported to have said--Oh yes, it was, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Perhaps the most important thing in successful argumentation is the one thing often completely ignored: value and and show respect to your opponent. And casting them as part of an insidious conspiracy or discounting their opinions because they aren't in the "profession" are definitely NOT signs of respect.

South Ossetia, Russia, and Georgia

I recently read an article published on a Russian news website written by the former president of the South Ossetian Autonomous Region that’s recently become the focus of armed conflict between Russia and Georgia, which had been stuck with the territory when Russian expansion more than two hundred years ago incorporated Georgia along with this region. Later, the Stalin-era policy of splitting up nationalities among the republics reinforced this lumping in of South Ossetia with Georgia.

The Ossetians speak a distinctive language that is in the Iranian group of Indo-European languages. The languages in the area that it most closely resembles are Farsi (Persian) and Pashto, but it is written in the same (albeit modified) Cyrillic script as Russian. Over the years, both Northern and Southern Ossetia have attracted a large ethnically Russian population as well. And since Georgia only gained its true independence in 1991, the idea that South Ossetians immediately thereafter wanted no part in its future is not exactly the same thing as it was in 1860 when South Carolina seceded from the U.S. after being one of the original thirteen states.

I believe the United States is misguided in its condemnation of Russia for militarily intervening in this area after Georgia’s unstable president had South Ossetia’s capital shelled, causing more than a thousand deaths there. Criticism yes, condemnation, no, for any armed incursion in another area, even for the expressed purpose of restraining an agressor, is bound to raise suspicions on the part of others (just ask those opposed to the U.S. military presence in numerous countries scattered across the planet). And military action by its very nature involves destruction (we don't seem to be as worried about that when talking about our own military actions). But does anyone reasonably think that America would have held its own military back if a similar event had happened just across its own borders?

For Russia, Ossetia is a very sensitive area and has a direct bearing on its national security and its own “war on terror”. For it was in Russian North Ossetia where terrorists took over a school in Beslan in September, 2004 and massacred hundreds of innocent people, mostly children, when the authorities stormed the area.

Vladimir Putin is obviously a nationalist who knows that he can enhance his political capital among his countrymen by presenting an image of his country being strong and active on the world scene. But isn’t that what our politicians in America are doing as well? Remember that the Russian state is no longer ideologically-driven as it was with Communism under the old Soviet paradigm. Let’s recognize the Russians for who they really are and not get carried away with paranoia. They have just as much a right to defend their own interests as we do!

So Russia now recognizes South Ossetia as independent, and that region’s former president whole-heartedly approves. From where I am looking at this, Georgia should realize what its best, most stable path for the future is and try to engage its neighbors in as constructive a manner as possible while maintaining friendly ties with the West. South Ossetia looks as if it will opt to become a part of Russia. But that would still be a far, far cry from the accusations I’ve lately been hearing that this great nation has embarked on a campaign of naked imperialist expansion.

I'm not naive about Russia or any other nation. I'm neither a Russophile nor a Russophobe. For those Americans who see all kinds of threats and danger in the latest Russian behavior, I say that I'm a little concerned myself. But also keep in mind that what you're seeing in them is what an awful lot of people across the world see in us as well.

Gender and Presidential Politics

I would have been very content to support Hillary Clinton as the Democratic Party nominee had she won the nomination. But she didn’t. Barack Obama won instead, and I’m supporting him. Does that mean that I agree with everything he says? Not by a long shot! But I at least recognize that, after the November election is long over and we all have to reconcile ourselves with whoever ends up in power, what is going to count are the decisions that the new president will be making. Do you want that president to be pro-women or anti-women?

Republican John McCain, who (I think) practiced tokenism by putting an extreme right-wing woman on his ticket (in hope of attracting disaffected Hillary voters), does not believe in enforcing equal pay for equal work whether done by a man or a woman. Democrat Barack Obama, who (I think) foolishly let his pride get in his way by not putting proven vote-getter Hillary Clinton on his ticket, does believe in equal pay for equal work regardless of gender. If you’re a woman reading this, or just happen to believe in the cause of women’s rights, you really should look at things from the perspective of, say--2009 or 2010 looking back. You don’t want a packed Supreme Court beholden to male supremacy, the super wealthy, and large corporate interests. But that’s what you’ll get with a McCain presidency. You don’t want the Family Medical Leave Act so diluted that working women are put into hardship situations while trying to balance family with work. You stand to get that with a McCain presidency. You don’t want women, as they face various health problems, having to choose between food and medicine. Or being forced to remain in dead-end jobs with no hope for advancement simply because they may have pre-existing medical conditions that prevent them from obtaining affordable health insurance from a new employer. You will continue to get that with a McCain presidency. Regardless of what your feelings are about pro-choice vs. pro-life, do you really want the government involved in every sensitive issue that properly belongs within your own family? With a McCain presidency, the state will interfere more than ever before in your own personal decisions, not only with reproductive issues, but also with end-of-life matters (remember the Republicans and the Terri Schiavo “affair” in 2005?). How long do I have to go on to make my point?

Being personally miffed because one’s candidate was defeated is something that people just have to get over. Truthfully, although I believe that Obama’s passing over of Hillary for VP was a mistake, I think that McCain’s refusal to seriously consider Mitt Romney as a running mate is much more telling. For the former Massachusetts governor’s Mormon faith was a big factor in the so-called evangelical base of the Republican Party rejecting him for consideration. The idea that a theocratic element of any party could wield that much leverage should be a very, very scary thing. And if you vote for McCain/Palin, you are voting for that element as well!

If you supported Hillary Clinton in the primaries and believe that Roe vs. Wade should be upheld, then you are not only voting against your convictions if you support McCain: you’re also voting against Hillary Clinton as well! And if you oppose Roe vs. Wade while supporting her, I’m not sure what to say, except that you just might want to get past personalities and images and get more into the content of what the candidates really believe in. If Hillary Clinton were president instead of Barack Obama, she would pretty much be signing the same bills into law that he would, and vetoing the same bills from becoming law that he would as well. Her all-important Supreme Court nominations would be philosophically compatible with his. And all of this would be very, very different from the decisions made in a McCain administration.

McCain & Obama: To See or Not to See

A funny thing happened on my seemingly eternal voyage through time to vote for Barack Obama for president. After all the controversy about John McCain’s divisive and hypocritical (to me) running mate at the Republican Convention last week, the actual presidential candidate finally had the stage all to himself. I was at work during his nomination acceptance speech and, although I didn’t have access at the time to television, I heard his entire address, courtesy of Public Radio. And I was very impressed by his down-to-earth, slow, and clear presentation. He spoke to the audience in a paternal, but not patronizing manner (reminding me a bit of good old (late) Fred Rogers of Misterroger’s Neighborhood fame) that was reassuring and confidence-inspiring. I came away from listening to that speech thinking that he had hit a home run, to be sure. And then I went home and turned on my TV.

Naturally, the news channels were focusing on the last day of the Republican Convention and were replaying McCain’s speech. But instead of being entranced by it, as I watched McCain I became more and more irritated by his visual delivery. He seemed very uncomfortable and made a nuisance of continually batting his eyes whenever he wanted to make a point. As a matter of fact, just about everything I saw about him belied everything that I had heard from him. Suddenly, what had at first seemed like a great speech had transformed into a rather humdrum, mediocre one.

I’ve heard that, when John F. Kennedy debated Richard Nixon in the first presidential debates in 1960, a similar phenomenon occurred. Polling done immediately after the debate showed that listeners who only heard the debate on the radio generally felt that Nixon had won, but those who had seen it on television were convinced that Kennedy had won. What a difference between television and radio!

And I think that Barack Obama also presents a different effect on the audience, depending on whether it is a television or a radio audience. I’ve heard him on the radio, and he often seemed to be a little disoriented and grasping for words. But when watching him speak in similar situations, his face and mannerisms skillfully supported what he was saying and contributed to a feeling of empathy and understanding between him and his audience.

Try it some time: when either McCain or Obama are on TV giving a speech or an interview, first close your eyes and critique their audio output. Then open your eyes and see if your reaction doesn’t drastically change. I think it will! Of course, with McCain you may understandably choose to keep your eyes closed!

Monday Newsbreak: 9/8

--The secular People’s Party candidate for Pakistan’s presidency easily won election in that important, troubled nation in an election that carries important lessons for our own. Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of assassinated party leader and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, represents the majority sentiment in Pakistan of the desire to have a society devoted to civil rights, respect for diversity, and full integration into the world community. As such, he opposes the xenophobic and religiously narrow, intolerant, and violent minority who want to establish a theocracy and throw out Western influences (including democracy and civil rights). I think most countries have this sort of tension between those believing in social and scientific progress and those “my way or the highway” types who see anyone disagreeing with their religion or politics as part of an evil conspiracy that must be warred against. Although, in America, we don’t see the terrorism that exists in Pakistan, there are still groups that frame their xenophobia and religious bigotry in similar ways to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda sympathizers in Zardari’s land. Only their professed faith isn’t fundamentalist/political Islam; it’s fundamentalist/political Christianity. And now they have a voice in this election: Alaska governor Sarah Palin. Due to his regrettable, short-sighted, and cynical selection of Palin as running mate, I now see the possible election of McCain to be president as a potentially dangerous development. I’m counting on either my fears about Palin being dispelled by her own words or having those words eventually expose her extremism to the rest of the nation before the election (and before it’s too late). No, Palin is certainly not Al-Qaeda, but she does seem (to me) to promote a mindset that runs in opposition to the great American traditions of inclusion and progress.

--NASA Administrator Mike Griffin has revealed in an e-mail what I had been suspecting for some time: President Bush, in spite of his public pronouncements about establishing a Moon base and seriously preparing for a manned Mars voyage, in fact has no interest in either of these projects. Apparently, our president was only interested in scrapping the Space Shuttle program and used the carrots of returning to the Moon and exploring beyond to get people at the agency to work at shutting it down. The result: without any real funding for new ventures, the next president will probably just keep running the Space Shuttles, as old and outdated as they are, without implementing any new plans. But, as I see it, this is nothing new. The only presidents who have shown any real interest in our space program were Eisenhower and Kennedy. Johnson was indifferent, and Nixon was the first of a string of presidents who deliberately set out to sabotage our manned space exploration efforts. Ironically, if Vice-President Spiro Agnew, even with his public image as an anti-intellectual, had survived his 1973 income tax scandal and had succeeded Nixon (instead of leaving it to Gerald Ford) after Watergate, we might have been able to revitalize our space program. For Agnew was very captivated by our Apollo successes and was eager to get started, even in 1969, on plans to land on Mars!

--Hurricane Ike keeps altering its trajectory and now appears headed to the Gulf of Mexico after it batters the southern Bahamas, Haiti, and Cuba (which seems to be happening way too often this year). Then, if it hits Texas or Florida, expect an appropriate, measured disaster preparation response. But if it heads straight at Louisiana, then expect more ridiculous statements by New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin and ridiculous meddling by presidential candidate-turned-shameless-opportunist John McCain.

--The University of Florida Gators football team, with a little timely help from a questionable call by the officials (ruling an obviously incomplete long pass as being complete), were able to finally pull away from a tough University of Miami Hurricanes team and win 26-3. Now here’s what got me. The Vegas “line” on the game had the Gators favored by 21 and a half points. And they had built up a 23-3 lead late in the game. With time running out on the clock, Florida had the ball deep in Hurricane territory and could have just run out the clock, as was the expected custom of sportsmanship in these types of situations. Instead, they decided to kick a field goal, giving them a 23 point victory margin and beating the Vegas spread. H-m-m-m!!!

This season represents a departure for me: it’s the first time since the early 1980’s that I am not enthusiastically rooting for the Gators. I’m sensing a rather ugly streak of sports fanaticism and hero worship (of Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer) in this community that repels me. When Florida goes up to Knoxville to play Tennessee, I may well actually pull for the Volunteers, who have won my respect with their likable coach Phillip Fulmer. Plus, I dig Knoxville! (Of course, I understand that in the nineties, the Tennessee fans went a little over the top idolizing Peyton Manning as well.)

My Piano Update: 9/6

Unfortunately, I've let other things get in the way of simply taking a few minutes each day to practice my piano. There have been lessons missed due to holidays and injury (I cut one of my fingers badly a few days ago, though it's now nicely healed). Like so many things in life, it's all down to getting oneself into the habit of just doing it. So all of those great, ambitious ideas I laid out last time about devoting time to music theory and playing from memory came to naught. But that's why I am doing these updates: I can't keep writing disappointing articles like this. I know what my goals are about piano. But it may be necessary to set some more "public accountability" goals to rivet my attention to practicing properly. And by that I mean doing public performances. After all, last February's recital did make me practice more. Anyway, it's something to look into if I can't get my act together in front of the keyboard.

My NFL Predictions For 2008

Well, once again it’s that time of year for this very amateur fan of the National Football League to put out my hunches about how the season will play itself out among the various teams. My traditional favorite, the Miami Dolphins, looks to vastly improve on last year’s 1-15 disaster (although in fairness it must be said that many of those losses came in very close, competitive games). My least favorite team continues to be the Dolphins’ arch-rival New England Patriots. The crowning moment of last season came with about 35 seconds to go in the Super Bowl when the upstart New York Giants captured the lead and the NFL Championship, ruining New England’s “perfect” season and putting a (temporary) cap on their arrogance and cheating. Needless to say, come hell or high water, I’m now a New York Giants fan as well! Go Eli Manning!

I claim no expertise whatsoever with the teams, their players and coaches. I do know that the Dolphins have vastly improved in just about every area and should be able to count on veterans such as quarterback Chad Pennington and running back Ricky Williams, barring injuries (or with Williams, suspensions). I don’t expect the Dolphins to win it all, but I believe they do have a shot at an 8-8 season. And at least a split with those pesky Patriots.

Here is my rundown on how I see the standings at the season’s end:

AMERICAN CONFERENCE

EAST
1. New England
2. MIAMI
3. New York Jets
4. Buffalo

SOUTH
1. Jacksonville
2. Indianapolis
3. Tennessee
4. Houston

NORTH
1. Cleveland
2. Pittsburgh
3. Cincinnati
4. Baltimore

WEST
1. San Diego
2. Oakland
3. Denver
4. Kansas City

******************

NATIONAL CONFERENCE

EAST
1. Dallas
2. NEW YORK GIANTS
3. Philadelphia
4. Washington

SOUTH
1. New Orleans
2. Tampa Bay
3. Carolina
4. Atlanta

NORTH
1. Minnesota
2. Green Bay
3. Detroit
4. Chicago

WEST
1. Seattle
2. Arizona
3. St. Louis
4. San Francisco

My far-out Super Bowl pick?
San Diego beats Dallas! [Of course, I'd prefer to see the Dolphins facing the Giants.]

REM's Man-Sized Wreath

Now that's the REM I've come to love! OWW!

Broken Tooth Blues

I have been suffering for a few days from a lower back tooth that mostly chipped off after the filling that was in it came out, leaving an infected gum area with tooth fragments sticking out. Ouch! Fortunately, I have a very good, kindly dentist who removed the fragments from the gum yesterday and put me on antibiotics. Although it aches some, I feel that I am well on the road to recovery.

When an infection affects a part of my body, even if it seems minor, the whole body can suffer as a result. I remember the time a few decades ago (late 1979) when I accidentally cut into one of my fingers pretty deep and had allowed it to become infected. I came down with what seemed like severe flu symptoms, which lasted for days and wouldn't get better. When I finally saw a doctor, he diagnosed the problem, put me on antibiotics, and within a couple of days I had drastically improved.

This past tendency for me to ignore my own developing health problems when I was single is still regrettably a (hopefully shrinking) part of my personality. Fortunately, I have a wonderful wife who looks out for me! But, sheesh, I am in my fifties and should be a little quicker about addressing my own health concerns by this stage of my life.

Hurricane Bowling Alley

Right now, the Atlantic Ocean looks like a bowling alley, with the balls being hurricanes rolled out in rapid succession. And they all seem to be headed our way (and we‘re the pins)!

First Fay pretty much traced its path over the entire state of Florida, soaking it and virtually eliminating the drought and concomitant fire hazard that has plagued us for some time. Then Gustav slipped into the Gulf of Mexico, slamming Louisiana and spinning off some storms over us in north central Florida. Now Hannah is a hurricane and is dawdling around the southern Bahamas before it will supposedly pass Florida to the east (spinning off more storms at us) and hitting the Carolinas. In the mid-Atlantic is tropical storm Ike, soon to be a hurricane as well, with a projected path having it taking Hannah’s current position. And even further east is a tropical depression almost certain to become Josephine [correction: it has become Josephine].

So, in the span of less than two weeks, we’re talking about Fay, Gustav, Hannah, Ike, and Josephine. Okay, you up there, I get it; this is a busy hurricane season! But would you mind spacing out your rolls a little more? Or better yet, why not sit down and take a little break? At least roll some gutter balls, will ya?

Moral Hypocrisy and Politics

In light of the revelation that Republican vice-presidential candidate, Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s seventeen-year old (unmarried) daughter is five-months pregnant, Democratic opponent Barack Obama has proclaimed “hands off” this issue. I’m assuming that he isn’t talking to me, since, even if he becomes president, he can’t tell me what I can say or not say. Besides, the issue with this matter that concerns people isn’t the pregnant daughter, but rather her mother.

And the mother is a politician who has wielded her power in public office to enforce her vision of what is “moral” on the entire population regardless of their religious orientation. That includes insisting on abstinence-only-based sex education in Alaskan taxpayer-funded public schools, with the idea that showing methods and availability of contraception is immoral. And I suppose, if someone else’s teenage daughter became pregnant, that would be immoral as well. But since Sarah Palin is on the “right” side of the political spectrum, Focus on the Family's Christian Ayatollah Dr. James Dobson is all beside himself with fulsome praise for the Alaska governor. Tell me with a straight face that he would be reacting in the same way toward a liberal Democrat!

There is a concept tossed around in conservative Christian intellectual circles called “moral relativism”. The idea behind this is that it is impossible to determine whether a behavior is moral or immoral without placing it in its proper context. And conservative Christians have railed incessantly that this is a trait of “secular humanism” designed to dilute God’s absolute standards of morality. Yet conservative Christians like Sarah Palin and James Dobson seem to have no problem with shifting into this mindset whenever the behavior in question touches upon them in any way.

Look, this sort of thing can happen in any family, the way I see it. It’s a delicate matter that belongs to the concerned family to resolve. And that’s why I think that folks like Palin and Dobson are despicable in that they are the ones who set out to tell other families how to behave. While pushing for the police power of the state to enforce their views on others. What hypocrites!

Monday Newsbreak: 9/1

--Hurricane Gustav is hitting the Louisiana coast as this article comes out in the early morning hours. There is great concern in New Orleans as to the viability of their levee system, some sections of which still haven’t been properly repaired. But those in authority apparently have learned Katrina’s lessons and evacuated the low-lying city in anticipation of any unforeseen levee breeches. Meanwhile, New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin is back to his old patterns of hyperbole, terming Gustav as “the mother of all storms” and “the storm of the century” only three years after his city was devastated by Katrina with enormous loss of life.

--Due to Gustav, the Republicans are cutting back on their convention activities this week, at least for Monday’s first day. They are taking no chances at possibly being accused of indifference towards those victimized by this storm. President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, Texas Governor Perry, and Louisiana Governor Jindal are all getting into “position” around Gustav. John McCain and Sarah Palin made a public (i.e. campaign) appearance at a Mississippi emergency action center. Why? And McCain said in an interview that he may make his acceptance speech by satellite from the Gulf area. Why (again)? Why doesn’t he just stay out of the way and let the people do their work there?!

--Speaking of Sarah Palin, how much of an asset or a liability to McCain’s quest for the presidency she’s going to be comes down to two factors. One, does Palin have something embarrassing from her past that could trip up the campaign? And two, the more she speaks and interacts with the press, what is the developing national image of her going to be? But let’s keep in mind that people are still going to primarily vote based on McCain vs. Obama as the chief presidential candidates, not on the second-fiddles.

--This past Tuesday saw only about 25% of the registered voters actually voting in local elections here in Alachua County. The incumbents, some of whom I voted for and some of whom I didn’t, pretty much sailed through to their reelections with only a couple of them being defeated (one by a former incumbent). And I wondered how many of those who didn’t bother to take just a few minutes and exercise their civic responsibilities to vote actually support Bush’s Iraq War and its rationale of establishing democracy there on the other side of the world, even at the sacrifice of thousands of our brave soldiers.