One of the defenses of John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate is that Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were each also in their 40s and relatively inexperienced when running for President.
The problem with that defense is that Clinton and Obama each prepared for their presidential runs by networking extensively, asking the [...]
Archive for August, 2008
Experience and preparation
Posted in Politics on August 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Hello, Goodbye
Posted in Music on August 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I was sitting in the Green Dragon yesterday afternoon (with a book, in the corner, with the lights down low) when the Beatles’ “Hello, Goodbye” starting playing, and I couldn’t help stopping to listen to it. What a great little piece of fluff that song is! Light, funny, clever, poppy. Easy to overlook because the [...]
The DC5 has landed
Posted in Music on August 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The entire Dave Clark Five catalog has been out of print for more than a decade (it appears that Dave Clark just likes it like that), but one of their greatest hits albums is now available on iTunes.
In case Clark changes his mind again, I have taken the precaution of purchasing:
“Glad All Over”
“Catch Us If [...]
The 3am phone call
Posted in Politics on August 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
To answer the question asked by that Hillary Clinton commercial…
Of Obama and McCain, Obama is the one I would want to answer that 3am telephone call at the White House.
Obama has the even temperament, keen intelligence, and mental vigor that I would want a leader to have when making tough decisions on little sleep.
McCain is [...]
Four campaign observations
Posted in Politics on August 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The GOP is focusing on tearing down Obama rather than building up McCain.
To the extent that the GOP does talk about McCain, the talk rarely refers to anything he has done in the last 35 years.
The Democratic National Convention was well-managed, if somewhat boring.
Biden was the right choice for VP.
I have no regrets about supporting [...]
College football season begins
Posted in Sports on August 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The first major college football game of the season starts in about four hours.
One of these years, I will get cable hooked back up, buy a big-screen TV, and lose myself in football season the way I did when I was a teenager. Every summer, I ask myself whether this will be that year; and [...]
Craftwork and wage-earning
Posted in Commerce, Philosophy on August 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
In Book I (345e-347a) of the Republic, Socrates distinguishes between one’s ability to succeed at a craft (to be a craftsman) and one’s ability to succeed in being paid (to be a wage-earner); and states that the two abilities should be considered in isolation from one another. One can be a craftsman without receiving a [...]
The High Priestess (Card 2)
Posted in Tarot on August 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Some say that 20-year high school reunions are the best reunions. By then, your classmates have sloughed off all they will ever lose of what they unconsciously copied from their parents; and reveal those true facets of their personalities that they once kept hidden, whether from fear or from ignorance. After 20 years, you can [...]
One down, six to go
Posted in Life on August 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I have a list of seven things I want to accomplish while I am on vacation.
I finished one this morning: Cleaning out the cul-de-sac of my L-shaped bedroom. I had had a big, wobbly desk back there for as long as I had lived here, and I have finally cleaned everything off it, dismantled it, [...]
A satisfying lunch
Posted in Food, Portland on August 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The best, best, best, best, bestest thing about having my weekdays off work this week is that I can eat at Pine State Biscuits without waiting in line for an hour.
American freedom
Posted in History, Quotation, USA on August 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The land of the free! [America] is the land of the free! Why, if I say anything that displeases them, the free mob will lynch me, and that’s my freedom. Free? Why I have never been in any country where the individual has such an abject fear of his fellow-countrymen. Because, as I say, they [...]
Democratic unity
Posted in History, Politics on August 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Tonight’s Democratic National Convention lineup is scheduled to include Jimmy Carter and Ted Kennedy.
To continue the theme:
Tuesday night will have Walter Mondale and Gary Hart
Wednesday night will have Michael Dukakis and Jesse Jackson
Thursday night will have Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown
Submitted for your approval…
Posted in Life, Video on August 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
During the summers when I was a kid, I would watch two old television shows every weekday: Perry Mason and The Twilight Zone. The first one would have been no surprise: I loved mysteries and puzzles, and had an unhealthy fascination with Los Angeles. The latter one, though…I have always steered clear of things (roller [...]
Newspaper control
Posted in History, Media, Quotation, USA on August 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Newspapers have a much greater importance in America than they do in Europe. You must not conclude, however, that the press is more free in the New World than in the Old. With us it is the government that watches over and controls the newspapers; in the United States, the religious sects and political parties [...]
Does online research lead to superficiality?
Posted in Academic, LIS on August 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
James Evans, a sociologist at the University of Chicago, writes about his research into the costs of having more research materials available online.
The benefits of having the materials online are obvious: Ease of finding, ease of searching, ease of printing.
Evans wondered whether there were costs along with those benefits. He found that the ease of [...]
