Fun with Spell Check

One abvrevation we sometimes use at work is Certificate of Completion (CoC). Plural it can be written CoCs. I almost let my spell check change it to Cocks.

Eminent Domain Restrictions - Ask the Right Question

The Wall Street Journal wrote an editorial claiming that a recent report from the "Institute for Justice" shows that if a state restricts the use of eminent domain that there is no impact on economic growth. Their conclusion:

The verdict: So far, there has been no discernable hit to economic activity from the restriction of eminent domain, even in those states with the broadest reforms.

The study is flawed and the question is wrong.

What should they look at: Has restrictions to eminent domain hurt neighborhoods and communities by delaying and preventing important redevelopment projects from moving forward?

Flaws with the study: it is too broad - looking at statewide economic growth indicators is not focused on the areas where this is an important tool. Look at communities that have been using it successful and carefully evaluate the progress in those communities. West Allis, WI for example. One explaination for the results could be that there is more sprawl development and less inner city redevelopment with the changes.

Another flaw, the time frame. These restrictions may take years to really see and feel. planning an inner city redevelopment may take a long time until there are construction jobs and actual construction of buildings. Property taxes are even later to be seen because the properties are not reassesed for a year or so after the project is done but the impacts on property values of neighboring properties will take many year. If Newark uses eminate domain today to acquire land, builds a new mixed use development in 2 years, the property taxes from that development may not increase until yr. 3 and the economic development in the neighborhood may occur over the next 5 to 10 years increasing the property tax value.

Another concern which I don't completely understand is that the economic trends in each state vary based on many factors. I don't see how you can lump states together with signficantly different economic pictures to show variations in economic indicators. I would want to compare what the Florida economy would have been without passing these restrictions to what it was with the restricitons.

Overall, the WSJ buying into the property rights movement PR game and should look at how these restrictions impact real projects in real neigborhoods.

Why Many Dems are Anti Clinton

I thought occured to me as I was driving today. It is much more natural to support your candidate if you are against the opposition. It is human nature. It is odd to say, my candidate is good and so is the other one, they both have pluses and minuses. As we start to get behind one person we psycologically turn against the other one trying to find fault in them to make our choice seem right. This is especially true among Obama supporters, they are itching for a fight and after 2000 and 2004 they want to be right and prove that their person is best. As I listen to Stephine Miller, who supports Obama, and hear the angry Hillary supporters calling it is clear they are in the same boat. No one wants to hear anything bad about their person.

It is like if you make a decision to buy a car, you trick yourself into thinking your selection was best and other choices have problems that would have made them bad choices. You want to feel good about your decision. I hope to god that after some morning period that the camp who looses can change their tune and get excited about jumping on the other side.

My Morning Political Media Critique

Two observations on the political coverage.

1. State Journal had a nice victory shot of Hillary on page 3 next to McCain. Her "win" should be a back page short blurb or paragraph in the story about the GOP race. This gives the impression that her win was legit and matters. NYTimes had an article too about her win which many will read and see as a sign of her strength.

2. A few comments on this piece If Giuliani is out he is out, that is news. The analysis I find flawed.

I don't agree with this:

For much of the year, the party’s conservative base has exhibited deep unease about the ideological credentials of Mr. McCain, given his championing in the Senate of campaign finance regulation, his advocacy of granting illegal immigrants a path to citizenship and his support for steps to address global warming.

While conservatives may not love McCain as much as others, I think that these three things are issues that social conservatives may support. I think that the real Christian conservatives and more importantly their leaders probably don't love John because he doesn't focus much effort on their key issues, abortion, gay bashing, evolution bashing, prayer in school, etc. He has more important priorities. Many true Christian conservatives probably actually support him on these things.

Also, I don't like the part in the article about Hucklebee:

Yet if neither Mr. McCain nor Mr. Romney is the perfect candidate in the eyes of many Republicans, the results in Florida leave the party little option but to choose between them. The campaigns of the two leading alternatives, Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Huckabee, both faded away here. Whether they linger in the race or not, they will be standing at the sidelines, described by McCain and Romney aides as little more than bit players.

“There’s no question about it: It’s now a Romney-McCain race,” said Jim Greer, the Florida Republican chairman.

Huh? He won Iowa and with Thompson out may do very well in many states. Why should the NY Times declare that he no longer has a chance. Why after one more state should they make such a claim.

EXTRA - This great collection of conservative comments that Salon put together about their feelings about McCain. I love it. They are not going to happily support their party's nominee. This explains in more depth why many don't like him. Here is a great quote:

"The best thing for the future of conservatism in America would be a McCain loss in the general. And we need to start tearing the Republican Party apart and re-building, from the ground up."

It seems that having this wide open field with shifting front runners has really hurt the GOP. What they should have done is sat in a smoke filled room in June and picked their man and all conspired to support him.

IT IS CHILLLY!

I feel like a total goofball, we got up got dressed, etc. and waited for the bus for around 5 minutes until our neighbor told us that there was no school today.

Entourage - Thumbs Down and Thumbs Up

I am glad that I am not the only one who felt that Season 3 of Entourage lost some of the sharp witty writing. The bulletin board on the show's web page has several comments which viewers noticed this as well. See this thread

But there is hope, episode 39 was great! I busted a gut about the whole Yom Kippur thing. Ari was running from temple to temple with Adam Goldberg on Yom Kippur trying to secure the movie deal.

The Next State of the Union

Most Democrats can't stand listening to Bush speak. They never watch the State of the Union or anything he says. If they do it is so they can make fun of him and criticize him. I would say that most democrats do not think that Bush could possibly be right or have good ideas about anything.

This is sad.

My fear about a Hillary presidency is that it will be the same for the republican half of America. Do we want to live in a country where half of the public can't stand the president?

I watched the speech and did not find it that upsetting or awful.

Ban Drive Thrus - in Edmonton?

This article describes how Edmonton, Alberta is considering banning restaurants with drive-thru windows. While drive-thrus are not part of good urban planning, they serve a very important function. There are times where a solo parent with young kids needs to use the drive-thru. I think the smart approach for communities would be to limit drivethrus in certain areas where they are trying to encourage density and pedestrian use. Unfortunately drivethrus are an almost essential function in many cases for many families. Also, who wants to get out of the car when it is 20 below zero. If you really wanted to curb greenhouse gas by urban planning there would be other ways to go. Also, because of the large number in place now, I don't think it would be a net gain for the environment. People may drive further to find one, driving more.

Clinton Campaigning in Florida

This kind of crap is really going to muddy the nomination process. I can see both sides claiming this is right/ wrong. Here is the Clinton's side - sounds great like apple pie:

Regardless of today's outcome, the race quickly shifts to Florida, where hundreds of thousands of Democrats will turn out to vote on Tuesday. Despite efforts by the Obama campaign to ignore Floridians, their voices will be heard loud and clear across the country, as the last state to vote before Super Tuesday on February 5."

"I will try to persuade my delegates to seat the delegates from Michigan and Florida," she declared before arriving in Florida. "Democrats have to win Michigan and have to try to win Florida and I intend to do that. The people of Florida deserve to be represented in the process of picking a candidate for president of the United States."

What is Obama supposed to do here? It would be one thing to campaign here for a symbolic win but to change the rules after the fact seems very worrisome. If this really turned out to be a delegate count close race and she pulled a move like this, this would be outrageous to Obama supporters. He wasn't even on the Michigan ballot. This would be a convention I would want to watch, can you imagine the speeches - Everyone should have their votes counted vs many did not vote because they knew it would not count.

I really blame the democratic party leaders and the idiots in the FL & MI legislature that changed the date.

Was this from the environmental studies book I used in 1996?

This article describes the reasons I decided to stop eating meat. I read this stuff in college and decided it was something that I needed to do to support the planet.

While I agree with everything in the article and it is all facts, I am surprised that the New York Times would publish such a piece. It is not what people want to hear while they enjoy their bacon and eggs. Liberalism is much more easy to digest if it is blaming the Republicans and the corporations rather than trying to get us to change.

To put the energy-using demand of meat production into easy-to-understand terms, Gidon Eshel, a geophysicist at the Bard Center, and Pamela A. Martin, an assistant professor of geophysics at the University of Chicago, calculated that if Americans were to reduce meat consumption by just 20 percent it would be as if we all switched from a standard sedan — a Camry, say — to the ultra-efficient Prius. Similarly, a study last year by the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Japan estimated that 2.2 pounds of beef is responsible for the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the average European car every 155 miles, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days.

I think every American, kids and adults, should visit a farm, a dairy farm, a livestock farm, a meat processing plant, etc. Kids have to watch graphic videos on child birth, why can't they learn about where their food comes from.

Part of the problem is that the corporations make it very easy to eat meat and not very easy to eat anything else. Fast food is all over the nation and the non-meat options are very limited. It is much easier to eat meat free if it is an attractive option in the restaurants.

Give It Up

Rappers rippin a lyrical kickin finger-lickin
But to the rhythm I'm givin but never cotton pickin
Like James Brown I'm sayin it loud

- Public Enemy

I really like this tune.

Obama's Big SC Win is Big

I wonder if Clinton could win any Southern states if she is the noninee. She is the Senator from NY not Arkansas. Can a democrat be elected president without strong southern support? She clearly doesn't appeal to a huge hunk of the country.

Kennedy Endorsement for Obama

I think that is a big deal for Obama and a big slap against Clinton.

If she is the nominee then it is going to hurt her in the general election in getting the democrats excited about her. Compare Bush to Hillary. If there were any GOP leaders who did not feel that shrub would be a good president, they all were told to keep quiet and support the man. He came out of the 2000 primary as the strongest person supported by all. If and when Hillary becomes the nominee, there will be many democrats, both elected officials and the public, who will have a hard time immediatly switching gears and saying 'Yea Clinton!'

Fight for Delagates

According to this NY Times piece the fight for the nomination can become very complicated quickly. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/us/28delegates.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Uggh. This will add a lot of uncertainty and make the public question the fairness of the process. I hope it doesn't come to this type of counting because it would get ugly and drag things out. I hope that by March we will have a clear nominee (on the Dem side of course) that we can all get behind. If Obama and HRC have to campaign hard for many more months and fight about who is the winner that would not be good. Just like we were not happy in Gore vs Bush with the outcome where the person who gets the popular vote does not win the White House and the goofy electoral college process seems screwy, this will reveal that this nomination process is goofy and will make many question the outcome and fairness of the process. I was disturbed already by the conspiratorial ideas by Obama supports after NH with the differences between polls and the outcome. Very interesting stuff for a wonk like me.

I read somewhere the question about what happens to the delegates that Edwards gets, can he pledge them to Obama, throwing another wrinkle in the process.

I don't predict that it will come to this because if HRC wins a bunch of big states on Super Tuesday, she is going to try to convince the public that she is the winner and that it is over regardless of delagates.

I am sure this guy was thrilled to have his wife write this book

Article about book by British woman:

Carrie Jones hasn't had sex with her husband Hal, a City banker, for the past four years. Nor does she want to. Sex is something she can no longer summon the effort to endure - with the man she married, at least.

She admits she stays in her sexless relationship for the sake of her children, aged nine and 11, and will remain celibate until the day they are grown up and she feels able to leave.

"I remember the first time my girlfriends and I admitted that we all felt the same about married sex as parents: we couldn't be bothered with it and felt guilty for not wanting to sleep with our husbands. It was a revelation. I remember thinking: 'Thank God! It's not just me!'

So convinced is Carrie that her experience of sex in marriage - initially pleasant, dwindling to nothing at all after having children - is a universal one that she has just written a book, under an assumed name, highlighting the disappointment of her sex life.

If this were my life I don't think I'd want to write a book about it.

I do not agree and I think that many do not agree with this:

'Providing a stable home for children is totally incompatible with having an exciting sex life'

Why it may not be good to have your boss live in your neighborhood

The rides were nice but what if your boss decides to get involved with neighborhood issues and serve on the neighborhood assocation board when you don't agree on things in the 'hood. A little weird.

Growing Up On-Line - Frontline- watch it!

I watched most of a very good PBS show on issues related to kids on-line. While it is somewhat like a dateline tabloid media type piece it is much more in-depth and thoughtful and useful. I don't even like to think that my children will be in this world but they will and we all will need to understand it. Any story I see about some kid who does some crazy thing (shoots people, kills himself, etc.) I think- his parents must have not been very aware of what he was doing, feeling, etc. but I can see how an adolescent can because distant from his parents. My kids will have their own separate lives very soon where I won't have a clue what they are up to with their friends.

What makes this a very telling story is that the kids and parents all seem very normal and you can see how this type of thing can happen. It does a good job of talking about how the fear of on-line predators is really overblown but how other things that go on on-line are more worrisome.

Ban Plastic Bags?

Whole foods announced it is going to stop offering plastic bags. While I can sort of understand the tragedy of the commons/ public good argument for a community to ban these or a store not to offer them, I do think that almost all shoppers who get them reuse them. They use them as garbage bags or to carry things. I love them and use them all the time. For a snack bag or to carry kid stuff and most importantly to dispose of soiled diapers. If my community banned them I think I would end up buying more plastic bags to replace them. It seems that a few bad folks have ruined this functional product for the rest of us but littering, etc. I may reuse one for snacks 3 or 4 times and then something spills in their and I toss it.

What is Rush talking about and why does Althouse care?

I usually find Althouse interesting but I don't even understand this quote from Rush which she is talking about. Rush Limbaugh talking about the way Hillary Clinton was sitting in her chair at the debate. Huh? Rush said something about how she could could not cross her legs during the debate? His quote makes him sound like a total idiot. What in the world is Rush trying to say and why does he think it sounds sexist. I woudl think that Rush and other rightwing blow hards probably say many sexist bad things about Hillary but who cares how she sits.

Why don't people run for president in groups?

the Clinton campaign is unique in that both Bill and Hill are really running together to run the country. While candidates get people to endorse them, and they occasionally make speeches for them, why do we not see other political leaders working more closely with candidates. If three strong leaders worked together and said they were forming a coalition to run the country that would be great. The candidate could say that the others would be his or her close advisers if they win and likely be in the cabinet. No one candidate can really be an expert on all areas of government and if someone was running along with a military foreign policy expert and a economic policy advisor who were experienced political figures in their own right it would make the candidate much stronger.

The Media is Egging on the Obama and Clinton Spat

I was listening to Le Show - Harry Shearer talk about political reporting. He said that the media can only talk about 2 things, the candidate's political strategy and catching inconsistancy flip-flops. I would add they also like the horse race political spat type of news which we are seeing now. This type of reporting is worthless and misleads the public into thinking that it is important. From reading the news, you'd think that this is important and people are selecting cadidates based on how they come out in this fight. They are easy to cover because they only involve a few soundbites. I wish that both cadidates would not even engage in this stuff. They feel they must defend themselves.

None of this matters in terms of how these people will do in the general election and governing the country. I think part of the problem is that many people are finally engaged in the campaign but the media doesn't want to run stories about the candidates backgrounds and positions on issues because it is not new information. Because of this type of reporting however I bet most American's know more about Clinton's comments about Johnson and MLK than her views on health care and experience.

Daddy the Packers Lost!!

Those who know me know I am not a sports fan. We did watch the game on Sunday with the kids but it was bedtime around halftime. They wanted to watch the whole thing and we lied and told them that we were not going to stay up and watch. So the kids thought we would not know the outcome until morning. My daughter woke up first and my wife let me sleep in a little bit but eventually I was woken with this sad news. She was genuinely upset.

Clinton Playing the Game

Nice piece from Ruth Conniff about Clinton's smart political moves. Rings true and is depressing.

read this:

So maybe I should have been more skeptical when I saw what looked like Fox News piling on, playing the same clip of an uncharacteristically emotional Hillary over and over. It looked like Hillary was crumbling under pressure, and that she'd lose in New Hampshire, as she had in Iowa, to the more charismatic Barack Obama.

The pundits — especially on Fox — were arguing that her show of weakness would do her in. I'm no fan of Hillary Clinton. But like Katha Pollitt and Gloria Steinem, I didn't want to see the first serious female candidate for president go down that way.

But then Hillary won. And in her victory speech she appeared to take advantage of that emotional moment and women's strong reaction against the media onslaught. Watching her highly stage-managed speech in New Hampshire, I thought, "I've been had."

She got Fox to attack which generated simpathy and support - HC wins NH! Another point about HC generally:

Hillary, it's true, lacks Obama's ability to inspire. When she finally put some college kids behind her in that New Hampshire speech (replacing the ancient and battle-weary Madeleine Albright in the camera's eye), they looked distracted and bored — the opposite of the genuinely revved up Obama crowd. Her speeches are full of generalities, meaningless and bland.

Since she doesn't inspire many, people will not be enthusiastic to go door to door for her, college students won't make too much effort to go vote, the result....democrats will lose. I am not sure I will even put a yard sign up unless my wife makes me.

The Jewish Americans

Great PBS series about the history of jews in America. I am learning a lot and highly recommend it. We watched parts 1 and 2.

Clinton Working from GOP Playbook

A new Clinton mailing against Obama sounds like a move that the GOP often use against the "tax and spend" liberals. It uses scare tactics and is dishonest. It says, "Nevada families need to keep more of their hard earned dollars - not less..." and claims Obama has "A plan with a trillion dollar tax increase on America's hard working families". Obama responds to this with a clear answer. Basically he is proposing to save social security by increaseing the payroll tax against the wealthest workers (those earning over $200,000).

I don't see any other solution to this problem than raising the age you can get SS or decreasing the amount people get from SS, both which sound worse for more lower income and middle income American's. From what I read she has no real solution other than appointing a bipartisian commission to study the problem.

I would not want my kids playing here

At work I was sent this photo from a contaminated abandoned electroplating facility in West Allis, Wisconsin. This is nickel sulfate crystals found in a tank found at the facility. Thought is was a cool photo. It is a public photo from EPA. It is scary that places like this still exist. The place was still in operation until 2006! From what I have learned working here, OSHA does nothing to protect people working in places like this. To read more about the site look here:
http://www.epaosc.net/site_profile.asp?site_id=3297

first black disney princess

after talking about this for a while, Disney is getting ready to release a movie with a black princess. I am curious to see how this is marketed and intertwined with the other popular princesses. The whole Disney princess marketing machine is huge. After a trip recently to Disney World they get a huge amount of play and everywhere. The big 6 all tied together as part of a package. They sell all sorts of stuff with the 3 white chicks (Cinderella, Belle and Aurora) and then Ariel, Jasmine and Snow White have there own products. Mulan and Pochanas are really not part of the same club - they are second tier princesses. Disney is trying to be all PC but they will have to revamp their entire collection of books, place mats, clothing, etc. if they really want to include her. I hope Tiana is accepted by the rest of the clique but I don't have high hopes.

Also, it is odd given Katrina to set the movie in New Orleans. Millions of American girls will see the movie but will anyone tell them that the place was destroyed and may never be the same.

Obama and Jews

9 Jewish Leaders Say E-Mail Spread Lies About Obama This whole thing may seem like a non-issue, who would believe or be influenced by some dumb email like this. It disturbs me because I know for a fact that this email has been widely circulated by many middle age older Jewish people and some of them are not the most progressive thoughtful people. I hate to say it but many older Jewish people are not comfortable with a black person and are certainly not comfortable with someone who has any Muslim ties. As a result, I think that many in FL, NJ, NY and CA will be turned off from Obama and HRC will likely win those huge states. The history of black and Jewish relations is one of strong collaboration and support during civil rights but in recent years (20 yrs) the tension and racism is strong. Older Jewish people love the Clintons.

Johnny Drama or Ari Gold?

I can't decide who I like more? I am totally hooked on Entourage. We are half way through season 3. While it is a total soap opera with young hot bodies, the whole insiders view on Hollywood is very interesting. Like the movie "The Player" I am fascinated by the whole drama of competing agents, directors, and studios. I would love to know about all the great movies that almost get made, all the final versions of movies that are completely changed from the directors visions and original scripts, all the actors who get big rolls because the agent owes someone something. Are there many movies where the star did not want to make it but had to because of some contract deal or some other reason.

Of course it is just a TV show but one thing that seems unrealistic about this show is that the 4 guys seem to have a happy time just hanging out together in the house with little disruption to their little fairy tale life - best friends forever. I would imagine that many real stars have a lot of disruption in their lives by people who want to leach onto them and all sorts of ugly sides to the their real lives. This seems so nice and everyone gets along for the most part. Also, you rarely see the pavaratsi taking photos of Vince when he is out in public.

Twins get Married By Mistake!

Article about UK couple who got married and then realized they were twins. While very unlikely, it would seem with the increase in IVF, there could be more problems with this in the future. I know a woman who had a baby from an embryo she got from the UW fertility clinic. I don't know if she got any info about the biological parents of the baby. There is a good chance that one or more biological siblings to that baby are walking around Madison. This is a possiblity with adoption too. Someone who is adopted could end up marring their brother or sister.

John Kerry for Obama

The fact that this is such a minor of a story clearly shows how weak Kerry was as a candidate. Who cares? His endorsement doesn't mean much. It is good for Obama as was endorsements from Bradley and WI gov Doyle. Support from well known main stream democrats makes the public think that Obama is not a risky flash in the pan but a real viable choice.

It is striking that he would not support Edwards his former running mate. I don't think that he is hitching his horse to the winner to boost his political future given that it is not clear if Obama can pull this off. If he is it is a big risk. Anyone who supports Obama now is not going to have a strong future under President H. Clinton. She will remember. Note - I don't think Richardson, Dodd or Biden have endorsed anyone.

Paglia on Clinton

Hillary without tears -- Why it's time to close the book on the Clintons -- and herald the Obamas! Read this very good piece by Camila Paglia on why she is for Obama and not Clinton. It starts from a letter from someone raising a good issue that I would not have put this way but gets at part of why she is not appealing to many as a leader:

As her husband has dragged his numerous female play objects before her and has humiliated her on the public stage year after year, she still stays within the marriage. Hillary seems to take every beating, and yet she appears to "keep on ticking." Does she thrive on this? How would this affect one's (female) psyche? Judgment as President? General perspective?

The article gets into her pyscological state and who she is as a person and doesn't pull any punches:

But Hillary herself, with her thin, spotty record, tangled psychological baggage, and maundering blowhard of a husband, is also a mighty big roll of the dice. She is a brittle, relentless manipulator with few stable core values who shuffles through useful personalities like a card shark ("Cue the tears!"). Forget all her little gold crosses: Hillary's real god is political expediency. Do Americans truly want this hard-bitten Machiavellian back in the White House?

One of the reason I don't like her is that I expect there would be strong partisian conflict between her and the GOP even if the democrats keep the majority dividing congress and the country:

The Clintons live to campaign. It's what holds them together and gives them a glowing sense of meaning and value. The obsessive need to keep campaigning may mean a president Hillary would go right on spewing the bitterly partisan rhetoric that has already paralyzed Washington.

Richardson's Campaign is Over

I knew this would happen and feel that it is too bad. His international and executive experience is stronger than anyone.

A few observations:

1. the media did not find him to be a sexy horse that they wanted to promote.

2. the media focus on the horse race of their favorite people and did not ever really analyze the experience and skills of candidates.

3. if Richardson could get as far as he has in life without major mistakes and scandals that is amazing. It seems that few high officials can survive long with out major problems in their past. Obama and Edwards have so little public experience so they have had little chance to get into problems.

4. he is not the best speaker and not the most charismatic. too bad

Clinton's whining may be working but will hurt the Party

I listened to HRC and Bill talking about Obama and it sounds very negative. They don't want to admit that smart American's may make an educated choice and select Obama given his experience. They want someone to blame, they have to blame media and the Obama camp for dirty dishonest information about him and Clinton. This negative approach may turn some people for Hill but what will happen to all those Obama supporters come November if HRC is the candidate. Will Obama supporters enthusisiasticlly suppport Clinton with all her and Bill's negative attacks against him. She doesn't show that she respects him and will not pick in for VP. Many will not come to the poll to vote for her in Novermber.

Big Fairy Tale

Watch this interesting Bill Clinton clip about Obama. He seems to feel the press has given Obama a free pass and not called him on things they should have. He says that Obama is inexperienced, everyone knows that. He gets into some mudslinging which doesn't make his candidate seem strong. I would like to know the specifics about the things he says the Obama camp did against him and HRC but he basically says, we may have done some dirty things but so have they. Is that why I should vote for Clinton? Who's dirty things are worse?

I don't know how to embed a youtube clip

. He seems very upset that so many people are supporting Obama and wants someone to blame. The media, the Obama camp, etc. He can't accept that maybe the public just doesn't like Hil.

ADDED 1/15- This speech has gotten a lot of play and I have heard some defend it by saying his Fairy Tale comment was specifically about Obama's views on Iraq. While it was said after some discussion about Obama's Iraq stance, it was in a speech where other things were discussed about Obama. I think it applies broadly to Obama's campaign and to his ability to escape the campaign without major criticism. I don't think it is wrong to say or racist but I think it shows a lack of respect for the voters. People are not voting for Obama because he opposed the war more than Clinton. Even when Clinton points out the flaws with Obama, people still like him.

The show The Office in real life

I share my office with two other people. Yesterday, one of my colleagues was installing software or something on my officemate's computer and while doing so, started reading a personal email that my other officemate was writing to his girlfriend without his knowledge. He figured this out when the colleague commented on the subject of the message! The colleague and the officemate are not friends at all. Total invasion of privacy and completely in appropriate. How would someone think this is acceptable?

Race in the Election

I like Obama and think he would be a good president but I don't see anyone really taking about the basic issue here. While the majority of Democrats are happy to elect a qualified black person for president, I am not sure the majority of Americans are. Just say that 80% of democrats are not racist and happy to vote for a black person. There are still some who are democrats and are racist and will not vote for a black person for president. Then there are Republicans who will support their man for the most part no matter which white guy they pick. Then there are independents. While some will always go both ways will enough be swayed to go for Obama vs be turned away from him because they are racist. I know it is not that simple but I am concerned that there are many racist people in this country in all political styles and if Obama is the nominee then many people will have to confront this issue. I hope I am wrong but I would guess that there are many life long democrats who would not vote for Obama. Like what happened when Harold Washington ran for Mayor of Chicago. Or with Ford in Tennessee.

How many people will admit they would not vote for a black candidate? An article I found about a Newsweek poll from this summer said:

According to the results, 92 percent of the respondents say they would vote for a black candidate.

You could assume that those 8% are all Republicans but I don't think that is necessarily true. Also, I would bet that if asked the question generally people would say they would but when confronted with specific candidates, their racist feelings would come out and they would not choose such a cadidate. In this case, many moderate, independent types would say that he is too liberal or inexperienced or doesn't have solid economic policies when deep down they fear a black president.

I am back

back from a fun but not very relaxing trip - get up early, chase the kids all day, repeat. Warm weather for most of the trip of except for 3 days when it was in the 30s!

what is new?
Obama won Iowa - it is amazing how nice Iowa folks are, they are clearly not racist. It seems that Obama will take NH too. Wow. He is not experienced but that doesn't seem to matter to many. The young people see to be the main group really supporting him.

Watched debate in NH. Good to see Richardson on stage with the other 3 top cadidates where he belongs. Could have been a more solid chance to promote his experience. His language is not as strong as it should be. I like all candidates and think they all have strong chance to beat Republican nom.

I don't really understand some aspects of the primary process. Rudy did not do well and is not doing well in NH but had national lead for long time. Is he just hoping to win CA, NY, etc and that will do it. I have seen very little political analysis about how the early states wins can be off-set by vs wins on super tuesday.

Bad accident in Madison in the fog - sounds awful. wow. http://www.madison.com/wsj/topstories/265768 100 cars in crash, 50 injuries, people stuck on highway for hours. Makes you realize you should always be cautious, bring food, bring blankets, charge cell phones, etc.