Elephant Art
I'm amazed.
Rick and Heidi's blog turned me on to the fact that there are elephants out there who are painting. Yup. Painting!
Pretty cool, huh? I sure thought so.
Rick and Heidi's blog turned me on to the fact that there are elephants out there who are painting. Yup. Painting!
Pretty cool, huh? I sure thought so.
Followup to an interesting comment...
"Anonymous" posted the following:
Below is my response, I put it on the main page because I think that the question was interesting and know that most folks don't go back to read comments much.
Fair question!
Our goal is to someday enjoy spending as many as three to six months/year back in California.
We love the USA and still refer to northern California as "home" when speaking to each other.
Our decision to move to Costa Rica was partly born of a sense of trying something new and different, partly due to enjoying the weather in the tropics (usually) and partly due to knowing that there is a great big world out there and that restricting ourselves to living in just one little part of it wasn't enough to satisfy us.
Beyond that- we also recognize that the US political scene has far-reaching effects upon the economies and lives of millions of people who live outside of the USA. Just look at the economic situation in the news today if you need more evidence. Or try telling an Iraqi that the US presidential elections only affect people living in the USA.
As for Costa Rica- we are legal residents but have no intention of becoming citizens largely because the USA doesn't recognize dual-citizenship, but partly because we still consider ourselves guests in this country and *from* California. I do, however, participate in politics at a very local level in an attempt to help steer towards more sustainable development and increase infrastructure. It may not be much, but I think I help out.
I'm just wondering why a couple who has chosen to leave their country has taken the trouble to get involved with its politics? Shouldn't you be trying to gain citizenship in Costa Rica and vote there?
Fri Oct 24, 01:55:00 AM CST
Below is my response, I put it on the main page because I think that the question was interesting and know that most folks don't go back to read comments much.
Fair question!
Our goal is to someday enjoy spending as many as three to six months/year back in California.
We love the USA and still refer to northern California as "home" when speaking to each other.
Our decision to move to Costa Rica was partly born of a sense of trying something new and different, partly due to enjoying the weather in the tropics (usually) and partly due to knowing that there is a great big world out there and that restricting ourselves to living in just one little part of it wasn't enough to satisfy us.
Beyond that- we also recognize that the US political scene has far-reaching effects upon the economies and lives of millions of people who live outside of the USA. Just look at the economic situation in the news today if you need more evidence. Or try telling an Iraqi that the US presidential elections only affect people living in the USA.
As for Costa Rica- we are legal residents but have no intention of becoming citizens largely because the USA doesn't recognize dual-citizenship, but partly because we still consider ourselves guests in this country and *from* California. I do, however, participate in politics at a very local level in an attempt to help steer towards more sustainable development and increase infrastructure. It may not be much, but I think I help out.
Labels: california, Costa Rica, news
Google Sketchup is interesting
Remember when this whole site was about travel? The good old days...
At least I can promise no more politics for a while, I voted. I'm done. From here on out I'm avoiding the news about the candidates: it can't affect my vote, just my blood pressure. Ok, one last comment- please go vote. Please.
On to software!! (whoo, hoo, the fun never stops around here).
I've been fiddling with Google Sketchup 6 recently and I'm having a blast. It is like a video game, but actually serves a purpose. Ok, if it were a game it wouldn't probably sell very well.
Here are some snaps from a model I've made of our house. This was a learning project for me, and took about 12 hours of "work". Much of that was taking and confirming measurements, then forgetting them, then taking them again. Tip: draw a very rough sketch on paper and write your measurements there. Tip #2: decide how you are going to handle door openings, then be consistent (I choose to measure to the inner edge of the jamb, if I decide to actually model the jambs later, I'll have to make some changes). Tip #3: Use a mouse, not your laptop touch pad. It goes much faster with a mouse and the added scroll-wheel makes life a whole lot easier.
You can click (on mouse or scroll pad) here and here for two slightly different perspectives.
If you've got Sketchup installed, you can actually load this skp file and take a look around our house. If you haven't installed Sketchup yet, you can get it for free at http://sketchup.google.com.
Obviously, I've got a long ways to go before this is done. My next challenge is to build the staircase to the upstairs area, and remember to keep the 2nd floor in it's own layer so that I can still see/make changes to the downstairs. I'd also like to figure out how to apply textures to surfaces such that I can import a photo to apply as texture. Among various other things I need to learn still.
I sure hope that the rains let up soon so I can go surf.
At least I can promise no more politics for a while, I voted. I'm done. From here on out I'm avoiding the news about the candidates: it can't affect my vote, just my blood pressure. Ok, one last comment- please go vote. Please.
On to software!! (whoo, hoo, the fun never stops around here).
I've been fiddling with Google Sketchup 6 recently and I'm having a blast. It is like a video game, but actually serves a purpose. Ok, if it were a game it wouldn't probably sell very well.
Here are some snaps from a model I've made of our house. This was a learning project for me, and took about 12 hours of "work". Much of that was taking and confirming measurements, then forgetting them, then taking them again. Tip: draw a very rough sketch on paper and write your measurements there. Tip #2: decide how you are going to handle door openings, then be consistent (I choose to measure to the inner edge of the jamb, if I decide to actually model the jambs later, I'll have to make some changes). Tip #3: Use a mouse, not your laptop touch pad. It goes much faster with a mouse and the added scroll-wheel makes life a whole lot easier. You can click (on mouse or scroll pad) here and here for two slightly different perspectives.
If you've got Sketchup installed, you can actually load this skp file and take a look around our house. If you haven't installed Sketchup yet, you can get it for free at http://sketchup.google.com.
Obviously, I've got a long ways to go before this is done. My next challenge is to build the staircase to the upstairs area, and remember to keep the 2nd floor in it's own layer so that I can still see/make changes to the downstairs. I'd also like to figure out how to apply textures to surfaces such that I can import a photo to apply as texture. Among various other things I need to learn still.
I sure hope that the rains let up soon so I can go surf.
Labels: news, software, weather
Back roads from San Jose to Jaco
Last week I had some business to do in Jaco so we headed out of San Jose via Puriscal on a beautiful winding road that usually has great views. Somewhere along the way we took a left instead of a right, and decided to follow our noses (and the very-vague GPS) to figure out a back roads route instead of back tracking to the way we knew was correct. One of the advantages of living in country with a crazy road network is that you can take seemingly random roads with some degree of confidence that they will eventually hook up to something that eventually hooks up to a road that eventually gets you back to where you were headed originally. Though it can take a few "stop and ask" sessions.
We cruised through the city of Puriscal (approx 30,000 people) and snapped a few pictures of the old church. Really neat building, in total disrepair, and ugly power lines not withstanding. It would be fun to go inside and poke around, but the fencing and our interest in arriving in Jaco prevented us from exploring more. If we had known that we were about to take a two-hour detour through all-over, we may have gone ahead and taken some time to poke around.
Fortuitously, we did stop to fill up the tank with fuel. It wouldn't have been much of an issue as we had about 400 Km worth of diesel in the tank already, but as we got further and further from "I know where we are", it was reassuring to have a full tank.
Shortly after leaving Puriscal, we came upon a bit of a problem. The road was gone. Fortunately, it did have signs (not always the case) so we didn't plummet to our deaths in the chasm below.* 
Also fortunate was the nearby (unmarked) detour, from which we got a great view of the bucolic valley below while mist rose from the surrounding mountains. This is a part of Costa Rica that we just don't see very often and it was a refreshing reminder of how amazingly diverse the country is, both in terms of geography and also flora and fauna.
*Ok, it wasn't such a deep chasm, and it was daylight, and pretty easy to see. No real danger there at all. Regardless, it isn't uncommon to mark something like this with a broken twig and a grocery bag. Seriously. Drive carefully in this country.
We managed to take a wrong turn, perhaps several wrong turns, and ended up on a good-quality but very muddy narrow mountain road that winds from the mountains through more mountains, with views of mountains before winding along towards more mountains, then finally dropping down along a river (you just have to turn right on the unmarked lane by Super Gloria) to some unmarked turns by various bridges along more muddy lanes and eventually you'll hit Jaco. In a nutshell, that is how it was described to us. After we accepted our fate, the drive was beautiful! There were flowers galore nested into little farms in various valleys, sweeping views of the misty mountains, the always exciting "two huge dumptrucks passing each other on a washout". Who could ask for more? The dumptrucks were there trying to repair the fairly small but serious looking landslides that were alarmingly frequent along this route. No less than eight times we drove through what was probably less than two days-old road re-construction. Had we tried to do the same route a few days before, it wouldn't have been possible, I think.
In addition to the impressive vistas to which we were treated, the generally gray and rainy weather was pleasantly cool. One of the downsides to exploring around here can be that you are either stewing in your own juices, or suffering through an interminable-seeming day of air conditioning blasting in your face. If you grant it nothing else, you've got to hand it to the Central Valley on weather. Most of the day was in the low 70s, with high humidity, but occasional sunshine. Pretty darn pleasant.
Also very pleasant were the delicious chorizo sandwiches that we made, almost as if we had planned to be out in the middle of naught all day. I can't post the picture of Jocelyn snarging down on the handful of pork and bread (she vetoed it) but take my word, yummy sandwiches were the order of the day and in the interest of helping myself remember yet another happy aspect of the day, I felt obliged to mention it.
Along the way we drove through the edge of (or at least very very close to the edge of) a little town called Salitral. I was excited because I was pretty sure that I remember reading about a Woman's Association of Salitral that is using methane-producing digesters to convert pig manure into cooking gas. We didn't stop because A) we were starting to worry about just how far out of the way we had diverged, B) We were already over an hour late for a business meeting in Jaco, and had no cell phone coverage, C) It was raining pretty hard at that point, and D) checking out a biogas production facility isn't the type of thing that takes 15 minutes.
Turned out that not stopping was a good call as I was totally mistaken in my recollection of the location. The place that I was thinking of is Santa Fe which isn't even close to where we were. Go figure. Of course, that isn't to say that Salitral isn't a worthwhile place to stop. It may have something wonderful to offer. In fact, if I end up on this random road again some day, I'm stopping in Salitral just to find out what is there.
After asking directions a few more times, and taking some wild guesses that proved to work out in our favor, we hit a big river that we basically followed towards the ocean, where we knew that there would be a highway that would take us to Jaco. The roads got less winding, though they had less gravel, more mud, and deeper potholes. Now, like several other times on the day's journey, we were feeling pretty glad to be in a Land Cruiser, and even more glad that we had put it in 4wd prior to getting stuck in some of the unexpectedly deep wallows. I should take a second to point out that, of course, the gnarliest sections of the drive were the ones that we didn't take pictures on because Jocelyn (and I) weren't willing to wade through knee-deep soupy mud just to snap a photo of our truck slogging through knee-deep soupy mud. Maybe next time.
The rest of the drive was fairly run-of-the-mill Costa Rica: great views of everything from soaring hardwood trees to horses in lime-green fields to swollen creeks and smiling children perched impossibly on bundles in the back of rickety pickup trucks. Since we were so horribly late, we gave up on the time table completely and just enjoyed the drive. Something we used to do all the time but have gotten too busy to enjoy in recent months.
At the risk of sounding too hokey- it was almost as if the events of the day were arranged by someone else, call it divine intervention, call it our subconscience, call it the Universe, call it happenstance... but whatever it was, a bunch of little things all lined up nicely for us to have a really pleasant, unexpected, four-hour backroads adventure.
Our very late arrival even turned out to be no problem at all as Jaco was without electricity and my business contact had moved out to a nearby town seeking internet, where he didn't realize that he didn't have cellphone coverage, so we would not have been able to find him anyway had we arrived in Jaco on time. Go figure.
We cruised through the city of Puriscal (approx 30,000 people) and snapped a few pictures of the old church. Really neat building, in total disrepair, and ugly power lines not withstanding. It would be fun to go inside and poke around, but the fencing and our interest in arriving in Jaco prevented us from exploring more. If we had known that we were about to take a two-hour detour through all-over, we may have gone ahead and taken some time to poke around. Fortuitously, we did stop to fill up the tank with fuel. It wouldn't have been much of an issue as we had about 400 Km worth of diesel in the tank already, but as we got further and further from "I know where we are", it was reassuring to have a full tank.
Shortly after leaving Puriscal, we came upon a bit of a problem. The road was gone. Fortunately, it did have signs (not always the case) so we didn't plummet to our deaths in the chasm below.* 
Also fortunate was the nearby (unmarked) detour, from which we got a great view of the bucolic valley below while mist rose from the surrounding mountains. This is a part of Costa Rica that we just don't see very often and it was a refreshing reminder of how amazingly diverse the country is, both in terms of geography and also flora and fauna. *Ok, it wasn't such a deep chasm, and it was daylight, and pretty easy to see. No real danger there at all. Regardless, it isn't uncommon to mark something like this with a broken twig and a grocery bag. Seriously. Drive carefully in this country.
We managed to take a wrong turn, perhaps several wrong turns, and ended up on a good-quality but very muddy narrow mountain road that winds from the mountains through more mountains, with views of mountains before winding along towards more mountains, then finally dropping down along a river (you just have to turn right on the unmarked lane by Super Gloria) to some unmarked turns by various bridges along more muddy lanes and eventually you'll hit Jaco. In a nutshell, that is how it was described to us. After we accepted our fate, the drive was beautiful! There were flowers galore nested into little farms in various valleys, sweeping views of the misty mountains, the always exciting "two huge dumptrucks passing each other on a washout". Who could ask for more? The dumptrucks were there trying to repair the fairly small but serious looking landslides that were alarmingly frequent along this route. No less than eight times we drove through what was probably less than two days-old road re-construction. Had we tried to do the same route a few days before, it wouldn't have been possible, I think.
 |  |  |  |
| Pretty fence and flowers in the middle of nowhere | Great views | Dumptrucks, they always seem to pass each other at the narrow, washed out part of the road. | More impressive, misty, beautiful, mountain views |
In addition to the impressive vistas to which we were treated, the generally gray and rainy weather was pleasantly cool. One of the downsides to exploring around here can be that you are either stewing in your own juices, or suffering through an interminable-seeming day of air conditioning blasting in your face. If you grant it nothing else, you've got to hand it to the Central Valley on weather. Most of the day was in the low 70s, with high humidity, but occasional sunshine. Pretty darn pleasant.
Also very pleasant were the delicious chorizo sandwiches that we made, almost as if we had planned to be out in the middle of naught all day. I can't post the picture of Jocelyn snarging down on the handful of pork and bread (she vetoed it) but take my word, yummy sandwiches were the order of the day and in the interest of helping myself remember yet another happy aspect of the day, I felt obliged to mention it.
Along the way we drove through the edge of (or at least very very close to the edge of) a little town called Salitral. I was excited because I was pretty sure that I remember reading about a Woman's Association of Salitral that is using methane-producing digesters to convert pig manure into cooking gas. We didn't stop because A) we were starting to worry about just how far out of the way we had diverged, B) We were already over an hour late for a business meeting in Jaco, and had no cell phone coverage, C) It was raining pretty hard at that point, and D) checking out a biogas production facility isn't the type of thing that takes 15 minutes.
Turned out that not stopping was a good call as I was totally mistaken in my recollection of the location. The place that I was thinking of is Santa Fe which isn't even close to where we were. Go figure. Of course, that isn't to say that Salitral isn't a worthwhile place to stop. It may have something wonderful to offer. In fact, if I end up on this random road again some day, I'm stopping in Salitral just to find out what is there.
After asking directions a few more times, and taking some wild guesses that proved to work out in our favor, we hit a big river that we basically followed towards the ocean, where we knew that there would be a highway that would take us to Jaco. The roads got less winding, though they had less gravel, more mud, and deeper potholes. Now, like several other times on the day's journey, we were feeling pretty glad to be in a Land Cruiser, and even more glad that we had put it in 4wd prior to getting stuck in some of the unexpectedly deep wallows. I should take a second to point out that, of course, the gnarliest sections of the drive were the ones that we didn't take pictures on because Jocelyn (and I) weren't willing to wade through knee-deep soupy mud just to snap a photo of our truck slogging through knee-deep soupy mud. Maybe next time.
The rest of the drive was fairly run-of-the-mill Costa Rica: great views of everything from soaring hardwood trees to horses in lime-green fields to swollen creeks and smiling children perched impossibly on bundles in the back of rickety pickup trucks. Since we were so horribly late, we gave up on the time table completely and just enjoyed the drive. Something we used to do all the time but have gotten too busy to enjoy in recent months. At the risk of sounding too hokey- it was almost as if the events of the day were arranged by someone else, call it divine intervention, call it our subconscience, call it the Universe, call it happenstance... but whatever it was, a bunch of little things all lined up nicely for us to have a really pleasant, unexpected, four-hour backroads adventure.
Our very late arrival even turned out to be no problem at all as Jaco was without electricity and my business contact had moved out to a nearby town seeking internet, where he didn't realize that he didn't have cellphone coverage, so we would not have been able to find him anyway had we arrived in Jaco on time. Go figure.
Labels: 4wd, 4x4, Costa Rica, day trip, fuel, landcruiser, mud, photo
...with apologies...
...more politics. On this one, I don't know if I can avoid commentary.
While doing a little research on the previous posts, I spent a lot of time chatting with Jocelyn about various topics. These chats help form my opinions and positions. I think that it is safe to say that for most people, their spouse is both an influence and an indication of what they consider to be good and important in the world. At the very least it says something about the person with whom they have committed to spending an awful lot of time.
Without further ado, I present to you an absurdly reduced summary of the 2008 "First-Spouses". My only metric is their current occupation and their education.
Quick thoughts: Michelle Obama has been observed to be on the board of a company that profits from WalMart. Cindy McCain has invested massive time and money on very respectable humanitarian foundation work. Jill Biden is president of an NPO related to cancer education, and also works with military families. Todd Palin is a champion snow mobile racer.
Quick conclusion: Democratic ticket spouses have a law degree and a Ph.D. Republican ticket spouses have a Master's and a diploma.
Potential conflicts from Spousal Occupation: Biden might vote for more education. McCain could encourage more beer consumption (or tax breaks for folks earning $6 million/year). Obama may favor big-health or Pickle Producers. Palin will continue to push for more oil extraction, but will likely keep wild spaces open to off-road vehicle use.
Trying hard not to sound like a broken record here.... but doesn't it seem, yet again, that one of the four is a bit of an outlying data point? Who would *you* want advising the most powerful decision maker in the free world? A snow mobile racer?
While doing a little research on the previous posts, I spent a lot of time chatting with Jocelyn about various topics. These chats help form my opinions and positions. I think that it is safe to say that for most people, their spouse is both an influence and an indication of what they consider to be good and important in the world. At the very least it says something about the person with whom they have committed to spending an awful lot of time.
Without further ado, I present to you an absurdly reduced summary of the 2008 "First-Spouses". My only metric is their current occupation and their education.
Candidate | Spouse's Name | Occupation | Education |
John McCain | Cindy McCain | Chair of Hensley & Co (beer distributor) | B.A. University of Southern California, M.A. University of Southern California |
Barrack Obama | Michelle Obama | VP External Relations, University of Chicago Hospitals | B.A. cum laude Princeton University/ J.D. Harvard Law |
Joe Biden | Jill Biden | Community College Professor | B.A. University of Delaware/ M.A. Villanova University/ M.Ed. West Chester University/ |
Sarah Palin | Todd Palin | BP employee (formerly management), Commercial Fisherman | Wasilla High School (and some college courses!) |
Quick thoughts: Michelle Obama has been observed to be on the board of a company that profits from WalMart. Cindy McCain has invested massive time and money on very respectable humanitarian foundation work. Jill Biden is president of an NPO related to cancer education, and also works with military families. Todd Palin is a champion snow mobile racer.
Quick conclusion: Democratic ticket spouses have a law degree and a Ph.D. Republican ticket spouses have a Master's and a diploma.
Potential conflicts from Spousal Occupation: Biden might vote for more education. McCain could encourage more beer consumption (or tax breaks for folks earning $6 million/year). Obama may favor big-health or Pickle Producers. Palin will continue to push for more oil extraction, but will likely keep wild spaces open to off-road vehicle use.
Trying hard not to sound like a broken record here.... but doesn't it seem, yet again, that one of the four is a bit of an outlying data point? Who would *you* want advising the most powerful decision maker in the free world? A snow mobile racer?
Labels: news
OH NO. More political posting.
Seriously. This has got to stop. We did a fun driving trip last week, I'll post photos shortly. I promise. But until then, a little more political info. Again, trying to present information, not analysis. I hope that everyone out there who reads this will make their own, informed opinion, and Vote!! in November.
Mean time. Here is a look at the different ways in which the two presidential candidates plan to adjust taxes. I don't have a source for the information on this chart, but found it at Stefen Hayden's Blog. There is bunch of good stuff there (much is not political), go take a look. But for now, take a look at the tax adjustments.
Personally, I don't want to pay more taxes. But if I some day find myself in the million-dollar plus group, I suspect that it'll hurt me a lot less to pay more taxes than if I find myself in the under-$20,000 group. Frankly, I don't think that people who make less than $25K/year should pay income tax at all. Oh, shoot, now I'm talking taxes.... the *real* truth is that I think income tax is a faulty solution to governmental revenue. I like the Fair Tax best of all.
Mean time. Here is a look at the different ways in which the two presidential candidates plan to adjust taxes. I don't have a source for the information on this chart, but found it at Stefen Hayden's Blog. There is bunch of good stuff there (much is not political), go take a look. But for now, take a look at the tax adjustments.
Personally, I don't want to pay more taxes. But if I some day find myself in the million-dollar plus group, I suspect that it'll hurt me a lot less to pay more taxes than if I find myself in the under-$20,000 group. Frankly, I don't think that people who make less than $25K/year should pay income tax at all. Oh, shoot, now I'm talking taxes.... the *real* truth is that I think income tax is a faulty solution to governmental revenue. I like the Fair Tax best of all.
Labels: news
Academic Records
Ugh. More political commentary. I'll try to curtail this new obsession with the 2008 Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates' portrayal by the media, but I feel a real lack of objective information vs. analysis and commentary.
I took a few minutes to compile a summary of the candidates' academic records. For the record, I have a B.S. Ecology, Behavior and Evolution from the University of California, San Diego 1992-1996. I don't actually remember my GPA (seemed so important back then...) but I'm pretty sure it was around 3.3 or thereabouts. I was a B+ / A- student for the most part.
Also, for the record, I don't think that academic performance is necessarily a great indicator of future potential as a leader, businessperson, or anything else. I *do* think that a willingness and/or ability to perform well in an academic setting is a pretty solid indicator of a person's drive or innate ability. I also believe that there is some merit to the notion that people who attend prestigious institutions of higher learning have accomplished something good and important. Something that is not necessarily within the ability of everyone to accomplish. That is: getting into and graduating from a top-tier school means that some combination of intelligence, hard work, family connections, and perseverance have come together in sufficient quantities that the person who has graduated from said school is someone of value.
OK. Enough commentary, on to some facts culled primarily from Wikipedia (so take it with a grain of salt) and a handful of other blogs/news sites/postings on the web (so use an entire salt lick).
In brief: The two candidates for President both attended prestigious institutions of higher learning. The two democrats both hold degrees in Law. The two elder candidates both ranked low amongst their peers. One of the four candidates has a very small portion of the academic distinction of the other three candidates.
Once again I find myself thinking: "Who the hell decided that Palin was fit to run for Vice President?". I'd vote for her as President of my home-owners association any day of the week, even State Governor (ignoring politics, just looking at experience), but for higher office I generally assume that the candidate has a stronger academic background than my own, and Palin simply doesn't cut it.
I took a few minutes to compile a summary of the candidates' academic records. For the record, I have a B.S. Ecology, Behavior and Evolution from the University of California, San Diego 1992-1996. I don't actually remember my GPA (seemed so important back then...) but I'm pretty sure it was around 3.3 or thereabouts. I was a B+ / A- student for the most part.
Also, for the record, I don't think that academic performance is necessarily a great indicator of future potential as a leader, businessperson, or anything else. I *do* think that a willingness and/or ability to perform well in an academic setting is a pretty solid indicator of a person's drive or innate ability. I also believe that there is some merit to the notion that people who attend prestigious institutions of higher learning have accomplished something good and important. Something that is not necessarily within the ability of everyone to accomplish. That is: getting into and graduating from a top-tier school means that some combination of intelligence, hard work, family connections, and perseverance have come together in sufficient quantities that the person who has graduated from said school is someone of value.
OK. Enough commentary, on to some facts culled primarily from Wikipedia (so take it with a grain of salt) and a handful of other blogs/news sites/postings on the web (so use an entire salt lick).
| Candidate | Undergraduate | Graduate | Comment |
| Barrack Obama | Occidental College (two years) then B.A. Political Science at Columbia University 1981-1983 | J.D. Magna Cum Laude, Harvard Law 1988-1991, President Harvard Law Review | lackluster early academics, very strong later academics |
John McCain | U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis 1954-1958. (ranked 894 of 899) | Naval War College | 16 Naval Awards & Commendations including a Silver Star(3rd highest military decoration) |
| Joe Biden | B.A. History & Political Science University of Delaware, Newark 1961-1965 (ranked 506 of 688) | J.D. Syracuse University College of Law 1965-1968 (76th of 85) |
|
Sarah Palin | Hawaii Pacific College 1982, North Idaho Community College (2 semesters), University of Idaho (2 semesters), Matanuska-Susitna Community College (1 term), B.S. Communications-Journalism, University of Idaho 1987 | none | Participated with success in pageants during college years, won a scholarship |
In brief: The two candidates for President both attended prestigious institutions of higher learning. The two democrats both hold degrees in Law. The two elder candidates both ranked low amongst their peers. One of the four candidates has a very small portion of the academic distinction of the other three candidates.
Once again I find myself thinking: "Who the hell decided that Palin was fit to run for Vice President?". I'd vote for her as President of my home-owners association any day of the week, even State Governor (ignoring politics, just looking at experience), but for higher office I generally assume that the candidate has a stronger academic background than my own, and Palin simply doesn't cut it.
Labels: news
2008 Election
I spent some time today catching up on speeches and punditry for the Presidential elections in November. Wow. Another tempest in a teapot. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I am a little bit at A) some of the things that candidates have said (or not said) and B) many of the things that other people have said about the candidates.
I plan to vote for the democratic candidates this year- not so much because they embody everything that I want in a leader of the USA, but because they seem like the lesser of two evils.
With the exception of his opinions on a few important topics, I think that McCain is actually an interesting choice of Republican candidates. He is certainly less right-leaning than many people in the party and has shown a laudable willingness to work with people in his time in Congress. I am dumbfounded at his choice of running-mates, especially in light of his age. I'm not trying to be age-ist here, but we've got to accept that he is rapidly approaching the age at which the average American man stops living. His history does not suggest to me that he is particularly likely to outlive the average, which could mean Palin as President. Despite her strong presence at the VP debate (very telegenic!), I'm left with the overwhelming impression that Palin is a mere spokesperson with no political clout, and an apparent complete lack of comprehension of policy. Matt Damon offer a good summary of my concerns about Palin.
With that said, I don't like the way that Obama has vacillated on some key issues (such as campaign funding) and I do have some concerns about his relatively low level of experience. Having said that, I do believe that he has demonstrated a good ability to form strong advisers and hope that he will perform well in the Oval Office. I think Biden could be one of the best VPs in a long time- he has experience and political history to make up for Obama's lack, and he obviously has a solid understanding of how things do or don't work in Washington.
Please feel free to add your comments to this discussion. I'm interested in fact/figures/voting records that support one candidate vs. another. I'm not interested in religious arguments- I understand that they matter a lot to many people, but I'm sure that religious considerations aren't going to be swayed one way nor the other by this little blog!
The fact that I will be voting for a candidate in whom I don't believe 100% is a little depressing to me. The growing discontent of the American public with regards to our political system has been hashed and rehashed too much for me to add anything meaningful here.
I remember the first time I voted in a Presidential election. I really thought it was thrilling and felt a sense of empowerment. Now, I look at it as a duty to complete so that I buy a license to comment in the future, but otherwise as a fairly futile undertaking- I'm certain that Obama will carry California (where I'm registered) so the reality is that my vote is unlikely to actually matter at all. Then again, I suppose that if all of us felt that way then CA might go "red" and I'd really feel like a heel.
Monday is the last day to register to vote. If you haven't registered yet.... GO REGISTER. Even if you are going to vote for the team that I don't support, I hope you do register and do vote. Maybe if everyone started thinking about politics the way that I did when I voted in college... maybe then things would start to turn around a little.
Here's a quick summary, by the way, of my understanding of candidates views on some topics that I consider important (in no particular order):
There are other issues, of course. On health care I don't understand their positions. It seems like neither is truly advocating radical reform of the deeply flawed US health care system. Too bad, big opportunity there to help people.
I'm also unimpressed by immigration policy for either candidate. It seems like a lot of wasted money what we do now, same goes for the "war on drugs" which is inexorably linked to immigration and also a huge waste of tax dollars.
Finally, one of the things that I found most un-believable: Palin has traveled to a grand total of five countries in her life. Canada (on her way to Alaska, perhaps?), Mexico, Kuwait, Germany and the USA. For me, travel is one of the most important things that we do. It expands our horizons and shows us the reality of how different people have different perspectives. While there are certainly people who lack the economic ability to travel extensively, Palin isn't one them. Her lack of international curiosity worries me. Deeply. It suggests to me (or perhaps I interpret from it) that she lacks intellectual vigor and is closed to new ideas/concepts and might be unwilling and/or unable to accommodate the vast diversity of thoughts, experiences, and beliefs of the people of America.
I plan to vote for the democratic candidates this year- not so much because they embody everything that I want in a leader of the USA, but because they seem like the lesser of two evils.
With the exception of his opinions on a few important topics, I think that McCain is actually an interesting choice of Republican candidates. He is certainly less right-leaning than many people in the party and has shown a laudable willingness to work with people in his time in Congress. I am dumbfounded at his choice of running-mates, especially in light of his age. I'm not trying to be age-ist here, but we've got to accept that he is rapidly approaching the age at which the average American man stops living. His history does not suggest to me that he is particularly likely to outlive the average, which could mean Palin as President. Despite her strong presence at the VP debate (very telegenic!), I'm left with the overwhelming impression that Palin is a mere spokesperson with no political clout, and an apparent complete lack of comprehension of policy. Matt Damon offer a good summary of my concerns about Palin.
With that said, I don't like the way that Obama has vacillated on some key issues (such as campaign funding) and I do have some concerns about his relatively low level of experience. Having said that, I do believe that he has demonstrated a good ability to form strong advisers and hope that he will perform well in the Oval Office. I think Biden could be one of the best VPs in a long time- he has experience and political history to make up for Obama's lack, and he obviously has a solid understanding of how things do or don't work in Washington.
Please feel free to add your comments to this discussion. I'm interested in fact/figures/voting records that support one candidate vs. another. I'm not interested in religious arguments- I understand that they matter a lot to many people, but I'm sure that religious considerations aren't going to be swayed one way nor the other by this little blog!
The fact that I will be voting for a candidate in whom I don't believe 100% is a little depressing to me. The growing discontent of the American public with regards to our political system has been hashed and rehashed too much for me to add anything meaningful here.
I remember the first time I voted in a Presidential election. I really thought it was thrilling and felt a sense of empowerment. Now, I look at it as a duty to complete so that I buy a license to comment in the future, but otherwise as a fairly futile undertaking- I'm certain that Obama will carry California (where I'm registered) so the reality is that my vote is unlikely to actually matter at all. Then again, I suppose that if all of us felt that way then CA might go "red" and I'd really feel like a heel.
Monday is the last day to register to vote. If you haven't registered yet.... GO REGISTER. Even if you are going to vote for the team that I don't support, I hope you do register and do vote. Maybe if everyone started thinking about politics the way that I did when I voted in college... maybe then things would start to turn around a little.
Here's a quick summary, by the way, of my understanding of candidates views on some topics that I consider important (in no particular order):
| Issue | Obama | McCain |
| Evolution vs. ID | "I believe in evolution, and I believe there’s a difference between science and faith. That doesn’t make faith any less important than science. It just means they’re two different things. And I think it’s a mistake to try to cloud the teaching of science with theories that frankly don’t hold up to scientific inquiry." | "I happen to believe in evolution. ... I respect those who think the world was created in seven days. Should it be taught as a science class? Probably not." |
| Woman's Right to Choose Abortion | Keep it as it is now | Overturn Roe v. Wade (note: Palin opposes abortion even for rape victims.) |
| War in Iraq | end it soon | Spend more, kill more |
| Pork-Barrel Politics | Says he opposes, but it appears that "Bacon tastes good" | Lifelong opponent |
| Campaign finance Limits | great fundraiser (now beholden?) | less is more (but lots of help) |
| Global Warming | Man-made. Must limit emissions. Will fund renewable energy progress. | Man-Made, Limit emissions by 2050 (that's well after his death. C'mon.) |
| Education | Make community college free, make public colleges very affordable, invest heavily in youth programs | Invest in internet education resources (read: Corporations make $ on education), supports vouchers |
| Energy Policy | Make 10% of US energy renewable in 1 year, 25% by 2025. Supports stupid flex-fuel car idea. Supports "clean coal" and mild support of nuclear. Opponent of bad "gas tax holiday" concept. Suspend buying oil for strategic reserves. | Supports stupid flex-fuel car idea. Strong proponent of nuclear. Supports coal and offshore drilling. Vague support of renewable energy. Proponent of bad "gas tax holiday" concept. Suspend buying oil for strategic reserves. |
There are other issues, of course. On health care I don't understand their positions. It seems like neither is truly advocating radical reform of the deeply flawed US health care system. Too bad, big opportunity there to help people.
I'm also unimpressed by immigration policy for either candidate. It seems like a lot of wasted money what we do now, same goes for the "war on drugs" which is inexorably linked to immigration and also a huge waste of tax dollars.
Finally, one of the things that I found most un-believable: Palin has traveled to a grand total of five countries in her life. Canada (on her way to Alaska, perhaps?), Mexico, Kuwait, Germany and the USA. For me, travel is one of the most important things that we do. It expands our horizons and shows us the reality of how different people have different perspectives. While there are certainly people who lack the economic ability to travel extensively, Palin isn't one them. Her lack of international curiosity worries me. Deeply. It suggests to me (or perhaps I interpret from it) that she lacks intellectual vigor and is closed to new ideas/concepts and might be unwilling and/or unable to accommodate the vast diversity of thoughts, experiences, and beliefs of the people of America.
Kate and Brad Got Married
I haven't downloaded the other pictures from our Atlanta vacation, but clearly the most important part of our journey was enjoying the marriage of Katie and Brad. You couldn't have asked for a better day w/regards to weather. It was a perfect day to hang out by the lake. Both Katie and Brad looked great and were full of smiles, which is always a pleasure to see. I wasn't feeling very much the photographer, but took some shots. If you want good pictures, it is probably worth talking to Katie or Michael Pisarri (the photog) as he got some wonderful images of the day.
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Labels: atlanta, photo, weather, wedding
Back in Tamarindo
I'm back! Jocelyn is still in Atlanta, doing some jewelry shows and trying to keep a positive attitude despite all the dire economic predictions that we are hearing.
Lots to tell.... but no time to do it right now. Stay tuned.
Lots to tell.... but no time to do it right now. Stay tuned.
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