High Fives are Pretty Great

Done with my summer internship. No more commuting, yay! Still, I really will miss the people in the office. Nice, good people can be hard to find, and man, did I run into a lot of them.

In other news, high fives are pretty great. Epic street sign from New Haven, CT.

Also, Barney Frank is pretty badass. Well, not really - he kind of sounds like Droopy Dog from Looney Toons, really. Still, at a town hall meeting in Dartmouth, he told it like it was. When confronted with a woman holding a picture of Obama with a Hitler mustache and comparing universal healthcare to a Nazi policy, Frank lashed out with an apt, "on what planet do you spend most of your time?", arguing that talking to her further would be "like trying to argue with a dining room table." Well done, Barney.

Obama the Comedian

Barack Obama is many things. President of the United States. Devoted husband and father. Face of the American people. Kenyan-Hawaiin. But, apparently, he has been hiding a hidden skill from us throughout this long journey we've taken with this whitest of black men: a knack for snappy one-liners and a post-politics comedy career.

A few nights ago, Barack Obama brought the house down at the White House Correspondants Dinner. Below is a video. WARNING: 17 minutes long, but full of suprisingly funny political humor.

Don't worry, you can laugh. The Secret Service have cleared this one.

Wise Words

Today I thought I'd share a quote I read in the November 13th edition of The Economist...

The Israelis, for instance, could put an end to a hundred years of futile hostilities by buying somewhere for the Palestinians. If they clubbed together, they could get somewhere really nice—Florida, maybe. China could stop making aggressive gestures towards Taiwan and buy Malaysia instead. It’s already run by Chinese, so they’d hardly notice the difference. And Barack Obama, committed to uniting America, could defuse the nation’s culture wars by purchasing an alternative homeland for those of his countrymen who want more use of the death penalty, less gun control and no gay marriage. A slice of Saudia Arabia’s empty quarter would do nicely: there’s plenty of space and the new occupants would have lots in common with the locals.

The British are familiar with the notion that, if you’re bored at home, you grab somebody else’s country; but recent experience suggests that invading places can be expensive and troublesome, so a market solution seems a better way of dealing with national dissatisfaction.

Turkey Day

Just checking in to wish my somewhere between three and seven loyal viewers a happy Thanksgiving. Even in the somewhat troubled times that we live in today, there really is so much that we have to give thanks for: Health, happiness, freedom... and, of course, food. Lots and lots of food.

That being said, I also encourage you all to take a look at our President-Elect's Thanksgiving Address. Good stuff.

G.O.P. VP a BP: Bad Pick

Until very recently, I was undecided on who to support in the upcoming presidential election. Strictly speaking about the candidates themselves, although I was favoring Obama somewhat for his policies, I was planning on waiting until the debates to make a real choice. However, recent rumblings in the McCain campaign have pushed me far, far away from the GOP as I can get. That rumbling's name is Sarah Palin.

I can see Joe Biden in the Oval Office. He's a respected man with a long list of legislative accomplishments, a good set of positions, and a nice foreign policy agenda.

I cannot see Sarah Palin in the Oval Office. She has never held a real legislative position, and has no experience except two years as governor of a state that has a total population one quarter than that of Brooklyn. She essentially strikes me as a hockey mom that ascended into local government, as she put it, from her beginnings as a member of the PTA. Now I hear that her 17-year old daughter Bristol has been pregnant for 5 months. In other words, the child of a very conservative mother who advocates strong Christian values had not the morals to stop herself from becoming pregnant in high school.

This is totally aside from the actual socio-econo-litical issues in the election. To me, Sarah Palin is far too conservative for my taste, and puts too much stock in her Christian background. I see religion as something personal. It should not be used, or at the very least advertised as the guiding principle behind one's policies. But stuff like this worries me. I am simply unwilling to entrust a strictly conservative, right-wing person with virtually no experience and questionable judgment with the massive amount of power that the Vice President wields. Don't forget: Especially in John McCain's campaign, the competence of a VP as a potential POTUS is important. And the McCain/Palin 08 is seriously lacking here.

Also, just as a by the way, her childrens' names, are Trig, Piper, Willow, Bristol, and Track. If you're going to run the country, at least give your kids some decent names. Seriously.

Congratulations, Sarah Palin, you've managed to convince me that Barack Obama is the right man for the job.

Barack Out

Hehe, just starting to watch Barack Obama's candidacy acceptancy speech at the DNC. Unfortuantely, it seems that the crowd cheering for him and chanting "USA!" will simply be the context of his speech. They've been going for like five minutes and all he's said is "thank you". Hehe.

Oh, by the way: No I haven't chosen a candidate to support. But dude, everyone's watching this thing. Including the 80-friggin'-thousand people watching him in that giant stadium. He's like a black Ronald Reagan. Except a Democrat. Hehe.

Anyways, I'm leaving for Massachusetts tomorrow, and I won't be back 'til late Sunday. I'll be doing my first college tour at Williams College. Exciting. So, might not be in touch quite as much.

Keep on rockin'.