Well 2 weeks until the election. My last post ripped McCain's campaign a bit, and I must say it was good to hear him try to somewhat fix that. However, today two people that I'm very impressed with have endorsed Obama. The first is Colin Powell. Powell somewhat disappointed me during the lead up to the war. It's hard to know what he did or did not know, and whether he is loyal to fault. However, I still see him as a good and honest man who does what he feels is best for the country. I would have voted for him had he run in 2000. Today he said:
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"I strongly believe that at this point in America's history we need a president that will not just continue — even with a new face and with some changes and with some maverick aspects — will not just continue basically the policies that we have been following in recent years.... I think he is a transformational figure, he is a new generation coming onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I'll be voting for Sen. Barack Obama..... He has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president." - Colin Powell Oct 19, 2008
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The second endorsement comes off a lesser known figure named Fareed Zakaria. He is a foreign affairs and global policy journalist. He has an amazing knowledge and comprehension about the world. I've added his sentiments below. They very much reflect my own.
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"I think we have two good candidates. Both are serious people with an obvious commitment to the United States. Both are knowledgeable and substantive. Both talk about reaching across party lines to solve the country's problems.
But I think one is distinctly better for our times.
As I've watched John McCain discuss the current economic crisis, I couldn't help but think that he was really out of his element. His response to questions about the crisis and the rescue package tended to all be about cutting taxes, keeping government small, ending earmark spending.
This is a recitation of 30-year-old Republican orthodoxy and feels irrelevant to the problems we face today.
To get a sense of how divorced from reality McCain is on economics, consider this. He is still promising to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term, while offering large new tax cuts. In reality, the deficit is likely to be $1 trillion. Balancing it would require not good government policies, but magic.
On foreign policy, McCain is a relentless warrior. He wants to fight in Iraq, openly threatens to bomb Iran, is skeptical of the Bush administration's diplomacy with North Korea. He wants to kick Russia out of the G-8, humiliate China by keeping it also out of that body. He sees a world in which a league of democracies will tussle with an alliance of autocracies.
It's a Cold War strategy for a post-Cold War world.
By contrast, Barack Obama has been calm, sensible and intelligent on both economics and foreign policy. His proposals to respond to the financial crisis have been careful, measured and attuned to the moment we're in. Some of them have been adopted by the Bush administration already.
He wants limited tax cuts for the middle class, but also major new investments in infrastructure and alternate energy.
On foreign policy, he argues for greater international cooperation and the aggressive use of diplomacy. He sees a world in which America doesn't have to fight with everyone, and should instead work with other countries to solve the common problems we all face.
I repeat, these are two good men, but with two very different views of the world.
John McCain represents the best of America's past, and Barack Obama the hope of the future -- the hope of a country that can make big changes and live out one of its greatest promises, of equal opportunities for all Americans, of every caste, creed and color.
And America has always been a country that looks forward." - Fareed Zakaria Oct 19, 2008
full text @ http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0810/19/fzgps.01.html
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Sunday, October 19, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
William Ayers
"McCain has gone in his ads one step too far, and sort of attributing to Obama things that are, you know, beyond the 100-percent-truth test.... there ought to be an adult who says: 'Do we really need to go that far in this ad?" KARL ROVE 9/08
I grew up in Arizona. I have long liked John McCain and favored him in the 2000 elections. But he has changed this time. I admit to heavily leaning toward Obama over the last few months. But I still watch the debates and I still agree with some aspects of McCain's views. Unfortunately McCain campaigns' renewed smear tactics have really upset me. When Sarah Palin and McCain campaign staff are everywhere saying "Obama associates with terrorists" something is wrong. That isn't a debate over issues, policies or ideas. That is the politics of fear...The kind the appeals to the most weak minded Americans.
No one is accusing Obama of helping Bill Ayers bomb anything are they? No one is accusing Obama of sharing Bill Ayers political views are they? No. Bill Ayers might support some of Obama's views. But someone believing in you is definitely not the same as you believing in them. Guilt by association is a dangerous road to go down. Do we really want to judge people on what their acquaintances do or believe? In fact, all Obama is being accused of is associating with him while both were members of the board of an anti-poverty group. Oh and Ayers has helped fundraise for Obama. But, Ayers now holds the position of distinguished professor of education at the University of Illinois-Chicago and received Chicago's Citizen of the Year a few years back.
Don't we have an economic collapse right now? Are we still overextended in Iraq? Aren't there some real issues about our country we could talk about?
I found this today......
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"Senator John McCain: If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as "not one of us," I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate, and therefore of potentially instigating violence.....
John McCain, you are no fool, and you understand the depths of hatred that surround the issue of race in this country. You also know that, post-9/11, to call someone a friend of a terrorist is a very serious matter. You also know we are a bitterly divided country on many other issues. You know that, sadly, in America, violence is always just a moment away. You know that there are plenty of crazy people out there.....
John McCain and Sarah Palin, you are playing with fire, and you know it. You are unleashing the monster of American hatred and prejudice, to the peril of all of us. You are doing this in wartime. You are doing this as our economy collapses....
Change the atmosphere of your campaign. Talk about the issues at hand. Make your case. But stop stirring up the lunatic fringe of haters, or risk suffering the judgment of history and the loathing of the American people - forever."
From an editorial by Frank Schaeffer. Shaeffer supported McCain in 2000 and McCain wrote an endorsement of one of his books about military service. Full text at :
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.mccain10oct10,0,7557571.story
I grew up in Arizona. I have long liked John McCain and favored him in the 2000 elections. But he has changed this time. I admit to heavily leaning toward Obama over the last few months. But I still watch the debates and I still agree with some aspects of McCain's views. Unfortunately McCain campaigns' renewed smear tactics have really upset me. When Sarah Palin and McCain campaign staff are everywhere saying "Obama associates with terrorists" something is wrong. That isn't a debate over issues, policies or ideas. That is the politics of fear...The kind the appeals to the most weak minded Americans.
No one is accusing Obama of helping Bill Ayers bomb anything are they? No one is accusing Obama of sharing Bill Ayers political views are they? No. Bill Ayers might support some of Obama's views. But someone believing in you is definitely not the same as you believing in them. Guilt by association is a dangerous road to go down. Do we really want to judge people on what their acquaintances do or believe? In fact, all Obama is being accused of is associating with him while both were members of the board of an anti-poverty group. Oh and Ayers has helped fundraise for Obama. But, Ayers now holds the position of distinguished professor of education at the University of Illinois-Chicago and received Chicago's Citizen of the Year a few years back.
Don't we have an economic collapse right now? Are we still overextended in Iraq? Aren't there some real issues about our country we could talk about?
I found this today......
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"Senator John McCain: If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as "not one of us," I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate, and therefore of potentially instigating violence.....
John McCain, you are no fool, and you understand the depths of hatred that surround the issue of race in this country. You also know that, post-9/11, to call someone a friend of a terrorist is a very serious matter. You also know we are a bitterly divided country on many other issues. You know that, sadly, in America, violence is always just a moment away. You know that there are plenty of crazy people out there.....
John McCain and Sarah Palin, you are playing with fire, and you know it. You are unleashing the monster of American hatred and prejudice, to the peril of all of us. You are doing this in wartime. You are doing this as our economy collapses....
Change the atmosphere of your campaign. Talk about the issues at hand. Make your case. But stop stirring up the lunatic fringe of haters, or risk suffering the judgment of history and the loathing of the American people - forever."
From an editorial by Frank Schaeffer. Shaeffer supported McCain in 2000 and McCain wrote an endorsement of one of his books about military service. Full text at :
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.mccain10oct10,0,7557571.story
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Palin
(my friend Tom at a Palin rally in Fairbanks)
Having Palin on the republican ticket is exciting for Alaska. I must say her first speech, I thought was polished, well delivered and well received. Unfortunately, in recent weeks she is proving to be more and more of a political fiasco.
I admit to a mild liberal bias. However, I like McCain as he's been the senator for my home state as long as I remember. I thought Palin seemed a good bold choice at first. She has done okay as a governor. She did come in as a bit a of reformer after a very despised and corrupt predecessor. Before her vault to the national stage, I think most Alaskans would say she was doing a good job.
We in Alaska find it strange she talks so much about the bridge to nowhere, since she campaigned actively for it for quite a while. She even told the people of Ketchican that it was insulting that its expansion area was being referred to as "nowhere" The Troopergate is also a bit of an issue, although not much as much as the media makes it out. Despite what the author of your forwarded email states, the issue isn't that Trooper Wooten was problematic - everyone agrees the guy was an ass. That was known, reported and the department was taking what they felt to be appropriate action. The concern is that she used her political position to push for his firing and then later fired his boss for (allegedly) not complying. His boss was a very popular commissioner with the troopers. Additionally, Palin promised to fully cooperate with the investigation and even said she welcomed it. So to claim there is a liberal bias to the probe now seems like a bit of late complaint. Funny enough, I actually always expected the investigation to clear her. It has become more controversial now that she won't participate.
And to be clear, let's not pretend that Republicans in Alaska are above the corruption fray and it's just the corrupt democrats trying to bring her down. Republicans here just overwhelming put Ted Stevens through the primaries again despite the fact that is on trial for bribery and corruption as we speak. "Uncle Ted" as he is known here, has such a reputation for pork projects for Alaska he might still get re-elected if he killed someone
To get back to Palin though, the worst is the interviews. I don't think she's a terrible person; she just isn't ready for this level of politics. I feel bad for her. I think she will be a great asset to the Republicans in time, but her inability to perform without the teleprompter is rather alarming. Her answer to Couric on the financial bailout wasn't even coherent, and her response about Russians invading alaskan airspace was simply ridiculous. The governor has nothing to do with the USA response to Russia. Even the NORAD commanders are saying that. She would do so much better for herself if she would just be honest. "no i don't have much foreign policy experience. I'm working with some great advisors, I'm learning quickly and I plan to get involved immediate." That would go over so much better than what she's done.
So I suppose I'm not a fan. She has promise, but I think in the end will be a bigger liability than an asset. However, if McCain loses, I'm sure we'll see Palin again.
Oh and I'm hosting a vice presidential debate party thursday. I'll let you know if my sentiments change.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Saturday
Today I cleaned almost half of my desk at work up, shot arrows with a friend in his front yard, hit golf balls from his back yard towards a nearby tundra pond, and got my ping pong table set back up. Pretty good day..........
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
New Music
I've always liked a variety of music. Anything from classical to hip hop. And now the combination... pretty amazing!
Monday, August 18, 2008
The trip finishes!
Three adventurers, for sure! (think of poor Meghan... three guys to deal with!)
Friday morning was easy, easy fishing. I was just using rod and reel (not like those fly fishing other guys!) I spent about an hour on a hole upriver from our camp and in under an hour had caught 2 dollys, 2 rainbow and 1 graying. And that was just the fish I landed. Another two or three spit the hook before I got them in! Not being a huge fisherman, after that I spent a nice few hours in the sun reading while the others got their fishing fix.
A big group of our friends met us on Saturday for the pickup. They boated several hours up from Bethel and met us up on the Kisaralik river. And thank goodness they did! By that point the river had slowed so much we were barely moving. The mountains and hills were gone, we were tire and ready for home! That night our friends prepared a great feast of fresh salmon for us. Yum
Sunday we all came home. I got home about 7:30pm and luckily had the foresight to have taken off Monday from work. What a trip!
The trip continues...
Sunday we again got off to a mid day start. (a routine began developing here). We would get up somewhere around the 9-10am mark. Usually not too much conversation as Ryan made his coffee in his fancy French press and we all got our oatmeal for breakfast. Key tip - adding craisins to oatmeal adds good fruit and flavor! We would talk and strategize a bit, then go back to some quiet time as we broke down camp.
By noon to 1pm or so we were usually out on the river. Not the type to underprepare, we had two GPS units with the latest topographic maps, several paper maps and a guide paper with some key landmarks/ obstacles to watch for. We also had a VHF radio and a satellite phone for emergencies. (see, mom? safety first!) As you can see, we had some navigational prowess.
Unfortunately while Chris and I were consulting our maps, charts, GPS etc, we floated right by a black bear on the shore! Megs and Ryan later told us how the bear had watched us float by, even raising up a bit. We wouldn't have believed in, but unfortunately photo documentation exisited.
Moving on! We hit the upper falls on Sunday. We climbed up a bluff to scout the area before we went through.
The view from up there was pretty amazing. We could see all the salmon piled up in the water waiting to leap up the falls and continue their journey.
We were able to raft one part but the second part we had to use ropes to line the boats through. Prior to that we had to empty them and carry all the gear around the falls.... whew! So much work!
Monday we hit another section of rapids and had an amazing bear day. Depending on whose boat you were in, we saw between 12-13 bear just that day! My total for the week ended up being 17 bear sightings. Everywhere we camped was covered in bear tracks, but we were never bothered and never saw any signs that bear had been near our camp in the night.
As we continued our trip the river changed fairly rapidly. Mountains faded to background scenery and more rolling hills and bluffs started to appear. The upper river had amazing beauty and a decidedly un-Bethel feel.
By noon to 1pm or so we were usually out on the river. Not the type to underprepare, we had two GPS units with the latest topographic maps, several paper maps and a guide paper with some key landmarks/ obstacles to watch for. We also had a VHF radio and a satellite phone for emergencies. (see, mom? safety first!) As you can see, we had some navigational prowess.
Unfortunately while Chris and I were consulting our maps, charts, GPS etc, we floated right by a black bear on the shore! Megs and Ryan later told us how the bear had watched us float by, even raising up a bit. We wouldn't have believed in, but unfortunately photo documentation exisited.
Moving on! We hit the upper falls on Sunday. We climbed up a bluff to scout the area before we went through.
The view from up there was pretty amazing. We could see all the salmon piled up in the water waiting to leap up the falls and continue their journey.
We were able to raft one part but the second part we had to use ropes to line the boats through. Prior to that we had to empty them and carry all the gear around the falls.... whew! So much work!
Monday we hit another section of rapids and had an amazing bear day. Depending on whose boat you were in, we saw between 12-13 bear just that day! My total for the week ended up being 17 bear sightings. Everywhere we camped was covered in bear tracks, but we were never bothered and never saw any signs that bear had been near our camp in the night.
As we continued our trip the river changed fairly rapidly. Mountains faded to background scenery and more rolling hills and bluffs started to appear. The upper river had amazing beauty and a decidedly un-Bethel feel.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Kisaralik Float Trip
Recently got back from a 10 day trip out in to the wild. Three friends and I went to float down the Kisaralik River. To get to the start we took a float plane about an hour from Bethel to Kisaralik Lake. We were supposed to have a large float plane to take all of us, but last minute it was unavailable, so instead we had to take two trips in a smaller plane (poor Chris missed out on this start photo)
We had the plane stuffed full. No sense going light when rafts are carrying all your gear! We finally got out of Bethel around 4pm on a Friday.
Compare the scenery from photo 1 to photo 2.... the difference? Mountains! Ahhh.... I do miss mountains.
We got camp set up on the lake, did a short hike and prepared to embark on Saturday morning. Friday had been a little questionable with the weather, but once we were out to the lake we had gorgeous blue skies. The only disturbance was the occasional helicopter coming through. There is a gold mining exploratory group not too far from the lake.
Saturday we got a mid-day start. Not having much paddling experience, I started off on the oars. Unfortunately first up on the river was a challenging rock garden obstacle course. Well, a few rocks never hurt anyone, right? As we began down the river, bright red salmon were all over fighting their way upstream.
Bethel has had a pretty cold summer. When my parents came to visit everyone (myself included) commented on how beautiful it was one day - True weather was in the mid 60's with partly cloudy skies. But up on the river, the gods of weather smiled down on us. The weather stayed great, and we took some time to enjoy the views and sunshine. I wouldn't say it was warm that day- it is still Alaska after all- but it was very pleasant....
We had the plane stuffed full. No sense going light when rafts are carrying all your gear! We finally got out of Bethel around 4pm on a Friday.
Compare the scenery from photo 1 to photo 2.... the difference? Mountains! Ahhh.... I do miss mountains.
We got camp set up on the lake, did a short hike and prepared to embark on Saturday morning. Friday had been a little questionable with the weather, but once we were out to the lake we had gorgeous blue skies. The only disturbance was the occasional helicopter coming through. There is a gold mining exploratory group not too far from the lake.
Saturday we got a mid-day start. Not having much paddling experience, I started off on the oars. Unfortunately first up on the river was a challenging rock garden obstacle course. Well, a few rocks never hurt anyone, right? As we began down the river, bright red salmon were all over fighting their way upstream.
Bethel has had a pretty cold summer. When my parents came to visit everyone (myself included) commented on how beautiful it was one day - True weather was in the mid 60's with partly cloudy skies. But up on the river, the gods of weather smiled down on us. The weather stayed great, and we took some time to enjoy the views and sunshine. I wouldn't say it was warm that day- it is still Alaska after all- but it was very pleasant....
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