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Journal Archive 2006-2007, from Geo's Place (Return to home page.)
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Sunday, August 5, 2007. Finally the monsoon season has hit Arizona. So the scorching heat and blazing sun has abated, somewhat. We've dropped to 100-degree days (!), with 60% humidity and occasionally an evening rainshower. There's been more than water under the bridge since my last post here, but pretty encouraging progress in most areas of life. My primary job as Director of Strategic Planning continues apace. This role will wrap up in September, when I'll step down from working with the community development organization of which I've been a part for 10 years. It will mark the end of an era as I complete the transition back to living and working in the US. It's a bittersweet transition. I've made so many great friends and been involved in so many interesting challenges around the world that I hate to leave it. But I am very excited to be re-convening my scientific career and putting down roots again in the States and being able to spend more time with friends and family back here. Speaking of re-convening my scientific career, I've been taking undergraduate coursework in Chemistry and some related fields to review and prepare for re-matriculation in a graduate program. After many years' detour into business and community development, it feels like "coming home" in more ways than one. I was especially encouraged by a series of communications with the grad admission chair at ASU's Chem department about the possibility of re-entering a degree program. And an old friend -- who was a grad student at ASU in the same lab in which I did my undergrad research two decades ago and who is now a Prof at MCC -- has also given me some great advice. So plans are moving forward well and I'm getting great encouragement from friends and family, too. Meanwhile, Chandler-Gilbert and MCC have been excellent resources to take these undergrad courses and get up to speed on the science again. Unfortunately, a technicality is preventing me from qualifying for in-state tuition this coming Fall (even though I will have been living in AZ for over a year by the time the semester starts and there's no question I have a domicile here). So it's too expensive to re-matriculate at ASU this coming year. Making virtue of necessity, while the bureaucracy at ASU is delaying my matriculation by another year, the focus will be on spending the time to deepen my Chemistry foundations by taking some additional undergrad courses. With respect to coursework review, the first year of Chemistry is finished. In addition, I've taken a course in Statistics and American Government (which I'd never had, back in the day). My course grades have been uniformly high -- the past two Chem courses finished with higher than 100% in the final grade -- but more importantly, my whole attitude of learning is different and it's having a positive effect. Twenty years ago, I recall taking courses and trying to just "get through them" working hard to hurry up and graduate. Now, though, I'm actually enjoying taking my time, studying more in depth and doing extra work to understand the material even better. The summer course in CHM152 was particularly enjoyable, as I became a sort of informal teaching assistant in the class, leading study sessions for each exam (including a marathon 5-hour session for the final exam) and being a resource for my fellow classmates. That was a lot of fun and very edifying, personally. The instructor was outstanding, and the fellow working in the stockroom is very knowledgeable and helpful. They're also pretty cool to hang out with, too. This coming Fall, I'll take Organic Chemistry, also at MCC. This is exciting because I never felt, even in grad school, as if I had control over this material to the degree I would have liked. I originally took O-Chem at ASU in two 5-week summer sessions, back in 1987, while taking other courses at the same time! I was trying hard to complete my degree in only three years (which I did) because I was paying my own way through school. As a result, organic never felt comfortable to me like inorganic did. So I'm enthusiastic about being able to get a deeper understanding of the basics of Orgo this time through. In addition to taking these review courses, more teaching will be on the horizon. This past Spring, I was an Adjunct Prof at MCC for the Fundamental Chemistry & Lab course in the evening. It was a good way to get back into the whole Chemistry mode, and I had a great time working with the students. Some excellent, affirming comments on my Instructor's Eval, too! This coming fall, I'll be teaching three CHM 130 lab classes in the evenings and I can't wait to get started! Finally, a success in a somewhat more mundane challenge. Our citrus trees -- the ones we planted last fall -- were suffering from severe chlorosis -- leaf-yellowing and leaf-drop -- and sun scorch this summer. I tested the soil and found we had low nitrogen and low phosphorus, as well as alkaline soil. At the same time, we were having serious sun scorch on all of our plants because of the 115+ temperatures. I amended the soil with sulfur (to lower the pH), chelated iron (to compensate for the alkalinity-induced lack of free iron), blood meal (for the nitrogen) and phosphorus. I changed the watering schedule and put screening over the trees to keep worst of the blistering sun off of them. And I prayed. All of this paid off when this past week, brand new green leaves began popping out on all the trees, and a few days ago, even a few new buds appearing on the worst-stressed tree! No more leaves are curling, yellowing or dropping, either. Fortunately, too, we're into our monsoon season, where the weather is not so hot but more humid, which is great for the citrus. So it looks like out citrus trees are, well, out of the woods!
Friday, December 15, 2006. End of the semester. This morning, I took my last final in American Government. I'm pretty sure I aced it, which would make the sixth test out of nine I got 100% on this semester in my two classes (the other class being Stats). I was never able to do this well in college "back in the day". I'm not sure if it's just because I've matured and willing to focus more on the courses now or whether I just know much more now about the subject matter or whether I just like and resonate with the material more. Maybe all three. This afternoon, I volunteered to give a presentation at my friends' daughters' elementary school. They have been studying ancient civilizations (Egypt, China, Aztec and Mesopotamia) and asked me to come in and speak about my experiences in Ancient Carthage. It was about a 40-minute-long presentation and I got to share the history of the ancient Phoenicians, the founding of Carthage, Carthaginian trade, the Punic Wars with Rome and so forth. I also shared about the dig I had been on and the discoveries we made, while passing around some of the pictures and things I'd unearthed: a Punic coin, a game piece and a murex shell from which purple dye was made. I tried to make it fun and entertaining, interlacing it with stories as well as the props. The kids (6-8 years old) stayed attentive for the whole hour, which was cool. The teachers seemed just as entertained! At the end of my talk, I gave each of the kids a coin from the modern day country where Carthage is located. It was a blast telling first- and second- graders the ancient stories about Cato in the Roman Senate, Queen Dido tricking the Berber Chieftain, Admiral Hanno finding the Gorillas and, of course, Hannibal and his elephants! I think I had as much fun as they did! :)
Wednesday, October 11, 2006. Far, far too much going on this summer. Rather than go into detail, I'll just list the events in chronological order: June: Extraordinarily busy preparing for major annual conference at which I will be a primary presenter. July: Three week conference in Spain. Incredibly draining. Last week in July: In three days, made final preparations and moved back stateside to my home in Chandler. Stepped down as Church Elder. First week in August: Began a six-week furlough/vacation by spending a very nice week with my family in GA. Went to a family reunion in Alabama - a great time. Second week in August: Returned to AZ to begin pulling my things out of storage, get my car ready, etc. Began coursework at CGCC (taking pre-requisites for a graduate program at ASU). Third week in August: Mom and Stepdad and I agreed they would move in with me. Remodeling begins on my house to make it handicapped-accessible. Begin CPL Fellowship program. Fourth week in August: Mom passed away suddenly. God rest her soul. I don't think I can really describe what I feel except it feels like my heart has been torn out. I was in kind of a daze for a month afterward, just trying to take care of everything that had to be done. I still feel off-balance. It's just so...I don't know what. I hope to be able to write more about this later, but right now, it all seems too surreal and jumbled. First week in September: Mom's memorial service. Great sadness. So much to do - thank God and everyone else for all the help. Second week in September: Remodeling reaches its climax and Stepdad moves in with me. A lot of logistics to arrange. These weeks are a very draining time, emotionally and physically. Third week in September: Two exams at CGCC and somehow, got 100% on both of them. Returned from "furlough/vacation" to full-time work. Fourth week in September: Began to catch my breath from what seems like an impossibly busy Summer. Finally started to unpack my luggage from life overseas. First week in October: Began Student Public Policy Forum. I enjoy working informally with the Maricopa Community College District a lot. Continuing to work full-time in my primary job. The past few months have just been crazy. Obviously, Mom's passing was the most challenging thing to deal with and I'm still working through it. At least we know Mom is with the Lord. It's been pretty rough to come to grips with it all - so much erupting all at once. A major move, reverse-culture shock, a house remodel, a change in job roles, Mom's death, my Stepdad's move, part-time college, full-time work, etc., etc. I basically had to go into "extreme crisis-management mode" from the end of August through September just to cope. Fortunately, though, the dust is settling from the remodel, my Stepdad and I are both getting settled in and a routine is starting to develop with my other activities and responsibilities. And I'm finally getting to unpack some of the boxes I've had in storage. So we're managing from day to day. It would be hard to express how much help we've had during the past six weeks. I couldn't have made it without all the support. Thanks everyone, again, who chipped in to help in one way or another. You folks are the greatest.
Sunday, May 21, 2006. Beautiful days, lots of work, and another rejection from the US Army. Lots going on these past few weeks in my job, taking care of some key issues while simultaneously preparing for the handover to my replacement in mid-June. Thankfully, it's all going smoothly and there don't seem to be any major snags. Some highlights other than work have included an excellent Easter service here in St Marc Jaumegarde, helping baptize two young college students in the Mediterranean Sea, and helping re-tile a new terrace for the house in preparation for the kids' Vacation Bible School in July. The days have been nice and sunny which has been good for outdoors work. I've also been putting about an hour per night into my political blog and it's going well. I've had some very interesting and enjoyable interactions with various members of my community back home in Chandler. I feel like, in some ways, I'm far more informed now about the politics and public policy issues than I was when I lived there. There's something about being deprived of your home to make you appreciate it - and understand it - all the more. I'm looking forward to getting back home and meeting these folks and working closer with them to improve our community. And in addition to all of this, there's been the preparations for moving back to my house in Chandler in early August. Speaking of which, it's now official - inasmuch as I've bought my tickets. I'll be traveling to Georgia to attend a family reunion on the last weekend in July. Then I'll head to Arizona immediately thereafter. I'll have only a couple of weeks to get settled in and pull my things out of storage before things get really busy again. Namely, I'm also registered for a couple of night courses to prepare for a graduate program at ASU, to hone my skills as part of ongoing professional development: I'm hoping to go into science policy and education. It'd be great to teach. The great thing is that my employer has stipulated this as a formal part of my job description - they really value my getting this training. I'll continue to work with them as a Director of Strategic Planning and Development, working from Chandler, traveling occasionally, while taking these night courses. There are a couple of other community projects I'm hoping to get involved in, too. The result may end up being too heavy a workload, but we'll see. *** As my long-time readers may know, I'd been on a career track to join the military earlier in life. I was really big into JROTC in high school and then enlisted in the Delayed Entry Program in the US Navy. But before I went on active duty, I received an NROTC scholarship to attend college. After my first year, I chose to postpone my entry into the military until I could complete graduate school, so I could serve in a research and development role with the military. As I've mentioned before, in retrospect, this turned out to be probably the biggest career mistake I've ever made in my life. Anyway, following my Master's degree, I inquired of the Officer's Candidate School (OCS) program in the US Army and was actually told, to my amazement and chagrin, that they didn't have a high demand for OCS candidates in the hard sciences, but that the OCS liaison would be in touch with me. After pursuing the contact for a few months without it appearing there was any sincere interest in having me join, I re-matriculated to complete my Ph.D. It was a year and a half later that I came down with the severe bronchitis that, once healed, left me with asthma. And with that, the dream of joining the military came crashing down around my ears. Ah, such is life. Nevertheless, the hope has persisted that somehow I might be able to join the service and serve my country. While I have been sincerely concerned about our government's use of the military - and the way some in the military have acted in certain situations - I nevertheless think very highly of our armed forces and the superb and important work that they do. So it's been a perpetual hope that I might be able to join. Acting on that hope again, I've contacted a few recruiters in the past few weeks to inquire about the possibilities. The Air Force flatly told me I was too old (I'm 39). The Army has increased their age limit, though, so I had an email exchange with the recruiter. Of course, his response was nothing new: the asthma is a dealbreaker for them. My read of the physical tests required by the National Guard, Border Patrol and other agencies appear to be similarly restrictive. I wish I could change this. If a recruiter put a contract in front of me that would let me put on my country's uniform and serve, I'd probably sign it immediately. (You hear that, recruiters!?) But I can't change it, and its something I guess I'll have to keep living with. I just trust that God is leading me where he wants me, and hope to continue to serve Him, my country and my community in other ways. Update: (June 26, 2007) Another rejection...I ran across another Army recruiter at MCC who asked me if I were interested. I explained my situation and asked for someone to call me. A couple of days later, they did and a ten minute phone convo led to another rejection. There just doesn't seem to be any way to get around the asthma thing, sadly. But you know, this time, it wasn't such a disappointment. Mainly, I think, because I'm very happy about my career path preparing to teach Chemistry. In many ways, it feels like I was born to it. Everyone says that I'm a good teacher and that my passion for teaching science is obvious. And I do enjoy it a great deal. So I just need to screw my head on right about the military thing, quit looking back and instead rejoice that I've found my calling as a chemistry prof! :)
6:05 p.m. GMT, Monday, April 13, 2006. Considering funerals on Maundy Thursday. Perhaps it's just the Easter season, but as I've been preparing to transition back to my home in Chandler this coming August after seven years of intermittent overseas community development work, a number of issues arise as I close this chapter of life and prepare for the next. One such issue is the need to update my will and burial plans. As I was considering burial options, I recall back in 2003 when my good friend Greg passed away. Greg's funeral was, like all things he was involved with, planned with clarity beforehand and carried out with simple, straightforward competence. Handled by the Tempe Mortuary, Greg was cremated, followed by a tasteful and respectful memorial service held in the nice chapel there. I was able to give the eulogy, followed by a brief homily by a local pastor. Afterward, the family and a few of Greg's friends scattered his ashes in the Superstition Mountains, in sight of Weaver's Needle, where Greg had spent much quality time. The whole arrangement struck me as eminently reasonable, respectful and well handled. There were no gross extravancies, no outrageously overpriced urns, no elaborately carved coffins, no huge burial plots, no massive marble headstones, no profusion of flowers, etc., all things that would eventually be a waste. Yet, respecting the need for the surviving friends and families to mourn and pay their respects, there was ample opportunity for us all to come together, grieve Greg's passing and celebrate and commemorate his life. As I say, it was characteristic of Greg that this was all planned out beforehand and the plans reflected Greg's reasonable sensibilities. As I'm looking at updating my will and burial plans, this is the kind of funeral arrangement I believe I'd like for myself. Update: Following up on this idea with an email to the mortuary in question, it appears that such an arrangement would cost, in total, between $1600-$1800 (in any event, well under $2000), which seems quite reasonable.
12:31 p.m. GMT, Monday, April 10, 2006. Permalink. Whom Would Jesus Bomb? Some of the folks who read this journal are not Christians, I realize. And I respect your right to decide how and whether you choose to embrace spirituality, even as I am personally quite convicted of my own faith. And I have a personal journal in which I document my spiritual thoughts, insights and prayers. However, today I felt compelled to write in my online journal about something profoundly on my heart. It is addressed to fellow Christians, but perhaps there is something in it for the rest of you, as well. On this Palm Sunday, when I commemorated Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem in fulfillment of the prophecies, I was convicted, again, of one of the key lessons of Christ's triumph. The community Jesus was speaking to believed the new King, the Messiah, would be entering Jerusalem to wage military war against the oppressive Roman occupiers and conquer them by might. Yet the very message of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem is that Jesus did not come to earth to engage in military warfare, but in a conquest of hearts. His whole strategy was to overthrow the "righteous" self-ascriptions of divine approval based on legalism, and the idea of violence as a means of overcoming evil, and fulfill the old covenant by instituting a new one based not on law or might, but on love. Jesus spoke so eloquently from the Mount of Olives. That "Sermon on the Mount" is replete with exhortations to meekness, humility, non-violence and peacemaking. Nowhere does He advocate armed resistance as a means to further the will of God. The idea is drawn into sharp contrast when He even prevents Peter from defending Him against those who came to arrest Him, and gave no struggle but went meekly to the cross as a sacrificial lamb. Yet, well-intentioned Christians, rightfully outraged at evil in the world, seem to be eager to completely overlook Jesus' clear teachings and hearken back, instead, to the righteous anger exhibited by God in the Old Testament as their model for behavior. In doing so, they justify their actions by ascribing to themselves divine approval, when there is nothing in the Gospel that would support that contention and everything that argues against it. Put bluntly, waging a violent war against an enemy simply isn't Christian. Now, having said that, I recognize that I fall short of this in my own attitudes. For example, I believe waging World War II was the right thing to do. I've stood in front of the ovens at Dachau and was convicted deeply of how, sometimes, it is necessary to confront evil in this world. But I nevertheless note that this view is not in accordance with what Jesus taught. Indeed, the Quakers, vaunted for their pacifism, have experienced difficulty reconciling these values, at times. My own ancestor, John Gregg (ca. 1747), was a Quaker in Virginia who took up arms against the British to fight in the Revolutionary War. My research suggests he was kicked out of the Quaker denomination for this action. The armed rebellion against a temporal government is surely not supported by the Gospel, and yet I am pretty confident that, in the same situation, I would have done the same as my forefather. The problem arises in that most of us, even the most devout and well-intentioned of us, fail to uphold Christian values all the time. Sometimes, they seem just foolish or impractical or irreconcileable with what we feel to be important, such as the need to take up arms against a dread enemy. Sometimes, it's just our own carnality, though. And it's easy to justify, using elegant and impassioned arguments when we do it. "The heart is wicked, who can know it?" Thus asks Scripture, with the understanding into human nature that far exceeds our own. We are subject to all kinds of temptations that lead us astray - lusts of the flesh, pride, jealousy, anger - and those temptations are so much greater when they are supported by the world around us. Indeed, as we have seen, folks are often much more willing to follow the leading of the world and the agitation of the mob, than follow Christ's teaching. Crass demagogues who are slickly able to appeal to our sense of honor or humanity, for example, can stir us up to acts of patriotic and humanitarian outrage on behalf of their agendas. Indeed, patriotic fervor and humanitarian outrage can serve very positive and constructive goals. But they can also be used as a lever to engage susceptible people into supporting actions which have more to do with mob behavior and crass politics than behavior that is truly inspired by God. Thus, just as the coarsening of culture becomes a greater temptation for Christians to be carnal, so does a community-borne anger become a greater temptation for Christians to forego Jesus' teachings about peace and humility in favor of the sins of pride and anger and violence. This is fomented by our own innate senses of survival, honor and competition, making non-violence seem somehow weak, soft and dishonorable. Yet, as Jesus indicated, this is a position of strength, supported by the strength of the Holy Spirit and bolstered by the fact that we who are in Christ have nothing to fear and have the glorious richness of His grace, which enables us to be gracious and shine His light to the world. Sometimes this is done with some of the coldest, most reptilian calculation imaginable. I have long found it horribly amazing, for example, that people who support wars dismiss civilian casualties as "regrettable, but necessary in war". The very idea that someone could espouse actions which would knowingly kill thousands of innocent men, women and children, and continue to do so, and then explain it out of hand as an unfortunate necessity, has got to be something straight from Satan. This is not an idea that in any way is supported by Jesus' teachings or sacrifice. In this week as we go from Palm Sunday to Good Friday to Easter, we should search our hearts and search Scripture prayerfully. From Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem as foretold in Zechariah 9:9, to the Last Supper, His betrayal, arrest and trial, imprisonment and torture, to his death on the cross, burial and resurrection, it behooves Christians - true Christians who sincerely seek God's face - to explore the deeper meanings of God's intended message through His Son, Jesus Christ. We are called to sanctified living and massive bloodshed in pursuit of our perceived ends has no place in Jesus' teaching. Peter Mikelic, a Lutheran clergyman, has a similar insight in his recent editorial: In his Sermon on the Mount, [Jesus] taught active non-violent resistance: "Do not return violence with violence ... but give the other cheek." "Love your enemies; forgive those who wrong you." "Become peacemakers - then you are the children of God."
12:17 p.m. GMT, Friday, April 7, 2006 I've just been enjoying a CD of outstanding Christian music by Renea Taylor: "My Spiritual Journey". Renea gave me the CD when she was visiting here with the brilliant Christian group "Global Velocity" - from Chicago area - who performed at our church and in a couple of local venues. Their music is inspirational and tightly arranged, with outrageously good vocalists and instrumentalists. More importantly, the members of the band are simply fine folks with a real love of God. They helped us work on our terrace and around the house in preparation of the Children's Bible School this summer that will be held here. It was wonderful working together and connecting - a very moving experience all around. And Renea (pictured in the photo labeled "internet central" here on the far left, I'm on the far right) can SING, y'all! When she busted out on "Shackles", we were busting moves in the church aisles!
11:55 p.m. GMT, Tuesday, April 4, 2006 After much deliberation, research, consultation and prayer over the past few years, I've made a decision regarding my political affiliation. I had earlier shifted in my own mind to embracing an Independent mindset. But after considering that more fully, consulting with friends and supporters and praying a lot about it, I think it's a half-measure that doesn't address my convictions. Consequently, I logged onto the County Recorder's website for my home and formally switched my voter registration, at last, from Republican to Democrat. I explained my reasoning recently to some folks in an email, which I'll excerpt here: Well, it is my profound belief - based both on my deep faith in God and in my personal hope for humanity on this earth - that we are each called to serve our fellow man such that the people in the worst conditions are lifted up. To the degree that government is intended to protect and preserve our society and provide basic security for all of its citizens, I believe government has a meaningful place in achieving this goal. So while I strongly favor fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets, I see a number of traditionally Democratic agendas and initiatives being very worthy of government spending.There you have it. And now, I'm trying to get used to what it means to be a Democrat, as it's a very new feeling for me. I sense that I will alienate a lot of my colleagues, associates, friends (and maybe even family) in this step, but trust that they know my sincerity and my heart for following the leading of God and my conscience to serve Him in the best way possible. *** Update, January 20, 2007. Well, one of the good things about time's passing is that it sometimes affords you the new perspective and experience to grow in wisdom and change your mind. I was extraordinarily active in last November's election cycle - doing lit drops, canvassing, voter registration, attending meetings and debates, researching and blogging about the various campaigns, doing phone banking, writing letters to the editor, etc. I got to meet and interact with some great folks in the process, too. We were successful in helping elect Harry Mitchell as our new Congressman, a result with which I'm extraordinarily pleased, considering not only his good qualities but also the importance of replacing the fellow whom he defeated. Now, a couple of months after the election, I've been able to assess that experience and compare it to my earlier expectations. It was extraordinarily fulfilling to be able to contribute to campaign work. Moreover, I realized that nothing that I did required me to actually be registered as a Democrat. In fact, the issue almost never came up. So I have to recognize that my earlier assessment of being registered as an Independent was wrong: I very much can be registered as an Independent, while taking a firm stand and fighting hard for my principles and for electing candidates I support. Furthermore, as an Indy, I don't have views mistakenly ascribed to me simply because I'm affiliated with a given political party. This realization in mind - and considering my political views don't perfectly align with one party or another - I have re-registered as an Independent. I think both of the major parties have good ideas as well as bad ones. Both parties field good candidates as well as some real stinkers, too. And while the "two-party system" has some advantages, I'm seriously concerned that partisanship as it is practiced often can be poisonous to political discourse in this country. As an Independent, I hope to promote comity and champion well-reasoned solutions in favor of progress without being constrained by a particular party affiliation. I suppose this shouldn't come as a great surprise to me since I've been a member of a non-denominational community church for many years for some of the same fundamental reasons. I prefer to allow those things upon which we agree help to bring us together, rather than allowing those points upon which we disagree divide us. Then, with that as a basis for collaboration, use what life and energy God has given me to try to make a positive difference in people's lives.
11:16 p.m. GMT, Tuesday, April 4, 2006 A friend just sent me an email that noted the following: Tomorrow afternoon, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06. Which is pretty neat! He suggested that it only comes once, but I had to remind him that I'll be overseas and we use military time, where the day comes first and the month is in the middle. Hence, 04/05/06 will occur for me on May 4th! I plan to celebrate both.
Saturday, April 1, 2006 Happy April Fool's Day!
Late Tuesday evening, March 28, 2006 In Memory of President Dwight David Eisenhower, now linked here.
Tuesday evening, March 28, 2006 
A discussion online tonight related to the "Lore of the Unicorn" by Odell Shepard reminded me about something quite interesting I encountered on my trip to Scotland last October. While there, I toured Stirling Castle. They had converted one of the buildings in the outer bailey into a weavers' workshop and were completely re-weaving replicas of the famed Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestries. You could walk through and watch them weaving the great, beautiful works, while a sign asked politely that you not distract the weavers by speaking with them. A couple of the tapestries had already been completed and were hanging in the beautiful Chapel. When the series of seven is completed, I believe they said they're going to hang the replicas in the Great Hall of King James IV, which has recently been completely restored (hammerbeam ceiling, thrones and everything). This link goes to the Special Projects page for Stirling Castle which explains more.
Monday evening, March 27, 2006 Argh! UConn bites the dust. Update: And with this, too, I suppose my NCAA picks are all shot. Villanova, I'm frankly disappointed. I mean, if you were going to do us the injury of beating Arizona, you might have at least had the class to beat Florida, too, and go all the way. Seriously. I guess it's time to be embracin' the Mason.
Saturday morning, March 25, 2006 In an effort to separate the political and governance discussions from my more personal journal, I've created a separate blog focusing on local politics, especially related to my neighborhood, Precinct 134 (Folley). It can be accessed from the sidebar links in my Office.
Friday evening, March 24, 2006 What!? Fine. My next pick, UConn.
Friday morning, March 24, 2006 The limb breaks. Ugh. Okay...my second pick: Gonzaga State.
Sunday evening, March 19, 2006 My Final Four picks:
Duke And of those four, I'm going out on a limb here (well, not really) and pick the Blue Devils to go all the way.
Sunday, March 19, 2006 Evidently, the cost of war in Iraq, by the time it's over, could surpass $1 TRILLION dollars. From this article: Just this week the House approved another $68 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which would bring the total allocated to date to about $400 billion. The Pentagon is spending about $6 billion a month on the war in Iraq, or about $200 million a day, according to the CBO. That is about the same as the gross domestic product of Nigeria.As noted on MeFi, today: That number is hard to comprehend. To get a grip on it, observe that the CIA says the average annual purchasing power of Iraqi citizens is $3,400, and there are about 7,500,000 males between 15-65 years old in Iraq. Divide this out, and it turns out that by the time we're "done" with Iraq, we could have hired each and every man in Iraq and paid them their average annual income for 39 years. Yup - we could have hired every man in Iraq for their entire career.Another MeFi reader posted a quote that had been, for a long time, my signature quote online, from Eisenhower: "Every gun that is fired, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children."So much money. I sometimes find myself musing on what else that trillion dollars might have bought. With three record deficits in the past few years and with the House having just voted to increase the debt limit to $9 trillion, while simultaneously rejecting the reinstitution of PAYGO, I find it impossible to call the Republican party the party of fiscal responsibility, any more.
Saturday, March 18, 2006 I noticed on this page that the AZ Dem Party has approved a number of resolutions in their latest committee meetings. Two of them particularly caught my eye: the Resolution on Voter Confidence in Elections Act (.pdf here) and the Resolution on the Creation of a DNC Election Integrity Clearinghouse (.pdf here). Given my strong sense of the importance of fair voting in our democracy, my own "Voting Fiasco" experience of 2004 (see my blog entries in October 2004), and the demonstrated susceptibility of electronic voting machines to tampering/hacking, this is a resolution I can seriously get behind.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006 Back on December 12, a few months ago, I posted a journal entry stating clearly that I am a Republican, yet expressing my serious concerns with the direction the Republican party has been taking. Anyone that's been reading this journal for the past year knows that this has been an ongoing theme for me. In the past few months, I've slowly been coming to grips with what this actually means. It's a challenging question to have to face, and I'm not at all happy to have it reach this state. I believe I'm brought to the point of having to reconcile in my own heart, my party identification with divergent views on some key issues. As a result, I'm forced to acknowledge that I disagree with the direction of the Republican party, in practice, on some important points. I no longer feel that I can wholeheartedly defend the Republican party on its foreign policy, fiscal policy, trade policy, environmental policy, health care policy and some other issues. In fact, I find that conservative Democrats have sometimes championed my values better than my own party (PAYGO is a very good example). I don't embrace everything that the Democrats propose. But I suppose that it at least brings me to the point where I have to acknowledge where my heart is and say, for the first time in my life, I'm tempted to become an Independent. I agree with Senator McCain on some issues, especially on his fiscal responsibility. But I also note that there are some fine Democratic folks with whom I agree. Governor Napolitano, for example, is a superb Governor and should be re-elected. And if Harry Mitchell does indeed file for the AZ-5 congressional race, as I think he will, I will seriously consider supporting him, too. He's an outstanding Arizonan with a fine record of service. So what does this mean? I guess it boils down to more serious soul-searching. I've been a Republican all my life, and, thus far, for good reason. But it's just agonizing that the party, as a whole, just isn't living up to its creed nowadays. Result: I may be forced by my conscience to switch parties.
Friday, March 10, 2006 I know I occasionally slip into political mode on this blog. I'm very interested in politics, but this isn't really meant to be a political forum. I guess that lately I've been having a challenging time trying to accept what's going on in politics and it's reflected in what I'm journaling. It's driven by a strong desire to see certain things come to pass in our society. What would I really like to see happen in my country? Some of it is unrealistic, or at least unrealistic from a purely political standpoint, as it is based on my personal faith. But in terms of what I think IS feasible, I'd like to see a little progress in civilization, overall. I want to see at least legal tolerance for people different than me (even as I may personally disagree with their views), adequate funding for cutting-edge, revolutionary medical research, protection of our environment, a growing positive sense of America's legacy in the world, a sense of accountability in how things are run, and more than lip service given to the Rule of Law. I want to see every American with adequate health care, fed and sheltered. You know, those things that Christians are supposed to be in favor of, things that Jesus Himself called for us to make sure we took care of in life. These are things that also atheists, agnostics, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and, darnit, just about everyone should be able to agree on. So it's particularly frustrating when I hear someone, especially my fellow Christians, argue their political dogma rationalizing why these goals shouldn't be pursued. That's what I want to see happen in my country. And right now, I'm not convinced it's happening.
Saturday, February 25, 2006 First, on the Dubai Port deal: 1. According to this UPI story, the number of ports in question is not 6, as has been mentioned by the Administration and the media, but 21. 2. In the same article: The Marine Transportation Security Act of 2002 requires vessels and port facilities to conduct vulnerability assessments and develop security plans including passenger, vehicle and baggage screening procedures; security patrols; establishing restricted areas; personnel identification procedures; access control measures; and/or installation of surveillance equipment. 3. From this AP article: Thomas Kean, former Republican governor of New Jersey and head of the 9/11 Commission: 4. From the same article, Bush refuses to step back from his threat to veto any act of Congress to try to stop the sale. 5. As John Podhoretz of the conservative National Review Online, noted today: Rasmussen has a new poll up in which -- hold on now -- Democrats in Congress are outpolling President Bush on national security. By a margin of 43 to 41 percent, Americans say they trust Congressional Democrats more than Bush when it comes to protecting our national security. And by a margin of 64-17 percent, they oppose the sale of the ports to Dubai. 6. Meanwhile, a lawsuit has been filed to stop the sale of the ports without the legally required review and investigation. *** In other news today, on the Iraq War, THREE of the Right's most listened-to voices (one at the bottom of the political food chain, the two others other at the top) made stunning 180-degree turn-arounds in their rhetoric: A. Bill O'Reilly -- the widely watched, highly charged, hypervocal Fox populist -- has just come out with a statement saying that we must get out of Iraq "as fast as humanly possible" because "[t]here are so many nuts in the country -- so many crazies -- that we can't control them." B. William F. Buckley, Jr. -- arguably the most erudite and influential giant of conservative ideology -- is now stating clearly the startling view that "the American objective in Iraq has failed" and calling for an "acknowledgment of defeat." C. Francis Fukuyama -- one of the most notable neoconservative policy theoreticians on the scene and an original member of PNAC -- has just written a stunning and complete rejection of neoconservatism and says, of intervention in Iraq, that "it seems very unlikely that history will judge either the intervention itself or the ideas animating it kindly." Quite a phenomenal stage we're standing on now, as opposed to the past few years, when pretty much only the Democrats were saying these things and being ridiculed and insulted for it.
Friday, February 24, 2006 1) It's bluntly illegal. According to federal law, such decisions are supposed to be taken following review and investigation by the CFIUS committee to evaluate the security implications. SecDef Rumsfeld is a member of the committee and SecTreasury Snow is legally required to Chair it. Neither were a part of this decision nor even knew about it until well after it happened. Quite aside from the security issue, that's simply breaking the law. 2) It's grossly inconsistent. The almost cavalier approach the Admin has taken to the security implications of the sale, e.g., Bush's "Don't worry about the security", is at variance with the way his Administration has ratcheted the nation up and down their Rainbow Scale O' Terror when it's suited them. If we have to take extraordinary precautions to safeguard the nation (as evidenced by the Patriot Act, the TIA program elements which we've just learned are actually ongoing in spite of having been voted down, the perpetually broken FISA law and the invaded Iraq), then the casual attitude to having the heavily implicated UAE pick up control of our ports is outrageous.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006 First, from this site, I learned that I was born when "Somethin' Stupid", by Nancy Sinatra and Frank Sinatra, was #1 on the charts. Yeah, yeah, I know. However, I was conceived when "Light My Fire" by The Doors was at #1. No comment. The second thing I learned, from this grim site, was that under the 1913 table, my weight would have required a 6' 6" gallows drop to perform the ideal "hangman's fracture", rather than my either being decapitated from too long a drop or strangled to death from one too short.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006 The theme has been explored well by others. It first occurred to me many years ago when I read Camus' "The Stranger", and was especially reinforced by Sartre's "The Wall", both of which works struck me profoundly. I've encountered the theme in many places since, but was reminded again today when reading this article telling of how convicted murderer Michael Morales was "nonchalant" when told of the delay of his execution. I recall when my friend Greg died, feeling mostly numb for days afterward. Looking back on it now, I think I was generally able to go on with helping his family move his things out of the house, giving the eulogy, scattering his ashes in the desert, cleaning the house, finding another renter. After three nights in the house and being unable to sleep, I had to ask my friends James and Cathi to let me sleep at their place. Other than that, I suppose, to casual observers, I may have seemed unaffected by Greg's death. It wasn't until a couple of weeks later, actually, when I was on the phone with someone, that it really hit me. They'd just given me some very good news and my knees bucked and I wept deeply, kneeling on the floor, them still on the other end of the line. It was the strangest thing. In retrospect, not so strange, I guess, how that good news provided just enough of an nudge to break my tenuous hold on some very strong emotions. I can't imagine what I would be feeling if I ever had to face my own execution or, worse, had to grapple with the idea for weeks or months before it actually occurred. I suspect something like parts of the internal dialogue of Sartre's prisoner. I also imagine I would have gone through such an emotional fatigue that any momentary, procedural delay in the event would not cause in me much elation. I might even appear nonchalant.
Sunday, February 19, 2006 For the first time since I've been designing my web site, since May 2002, it's beginning to look like I want.
Tuesday, February 7, 2006 It cost me 877 euros (about a grand, US) plus TVA which I can recover when I head back to the US. I'm using it now. It's nice and I'll reinstall my stuff (I have a full backup) so I'm not worried. Only thing is, it has a French keyboard, with the physical keys all labeled weird and in the wrong places. I've remapped the keyboard so I can type on it, but I'll need to do something about the physical keys. Also, the return key is only half the size of the previous one, so I'm getting used to that, too. Nevertheless, I'm happy with it.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006 Heh...Mom doesn't read my blog, so she won't see this. But I ordered her two dozen pink roses, with balloons and a teddy bear to be delivered today. I'll give her a call later.
Monday, January 30, 2006 Then the external, backup hard drive locked up and crashed the computer hard. The computer wouldn't boot past the splash screen. I let it sit for a while and tried again - it booted up! But the backup drive was not mounting. I let that sit a while and it finally (after about 15 minutes of clicking) mounted, which is very uncommon. I'm ecstatic, though, that both the laptop and the external backup drive seem to be functioning well, now. I backed up some final things, just to be sure. Tonight, I'll go buy another backup drive and put all my stuff on it. Nothing like losing all your data, then getting it all back again. Not sure what caused the problem, but I'm kinda suspecting it's the internal hard drive that's been acting up. I've carried this laptop all over the world and back, sometimes in some very rugged and unsavory conditions. I had a problem last summer with a system file getting corrupted and I think that was related to the hard drive, too. It may be time for a new computer, anyway. The one I have is a G3 800 iBook and over 3 years old (I bought it in early '03 as a refurb). I've been planning to get a new one this summer when I get back to the States anyway. Maybe a new Powerbook!
Wednesday, January 18, 2006 What makes it so is the exit from the plane. It was nighttime when we came in, and I hadn't been looking out of the window. But when I stepped out of the plane onto the top of the stairs, prior to descending to the tarmac, I beheld an amazing sight. There, less than a kilometer right in front of me, lit up by huge spotlights as if it were about to take part in some great, divine play about the apocalypse, was the Rock of Gibraltar. I half expected the sky to open above it and battle-ready angels to pour out, ushered into the great wide world before the gesturing Hand of God. Or Valkyries. Yes, maybe Valkyries. Ragnarok at the Pillars of Hercules. Anyway, last night after dinner, I had superb coffee accompanied by tasty "ossi di morti" (bones of the dead), made by my hostess here. Not a typical Spanish deal, but nice, simple almond cookies.
Wednesday afternoon, January 11, 2006 Five expecially knowledgeable and pointed critiques have recently come out about the possible illegality of the much debated NSA surveillance program. These critiques seem to capture the essence of the legal concerns so well that I want to link them here for further reference. Long story short: if the NSA program is how Gonzalez has represented it, and now NSA whistleblower Tice is reporting, then it was illegal and Bush's authorizing it was an impeachable act. (Of course, we don't have all the facts, yet, so we don't know whether the program was as Gonzalez and Tice are claiming. So further assessment must wait until hearings are held.) 1. The formal report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Links directly to a 44-page pdf. As stated on Volokh, "To condense its 44 pages into a sentence, it says that if you accept that the NSA program violated FISA, then the claims in DOJ's letter as to why the AUMF or Article II trump FISA are relatively weak." It should be noted that the CRS is widely respected for being non-partisan and extremely savvy about the law. 2. A joint letter from 14 legal scholars and former Administration officials expressing serious concerns with NSA program. 3. A letter from Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Tribe to Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) arguing points on how NSA program would be illegal if it is as has been reported, thus far. Links directly to 6-page pdf. Favorite quote: "The technical legal term for that, I believe, is poppycock." 4. An article arguing the parallels between the Bush NSA program and the Nixon wiretap program that led to the formulation of the FISA law to begin with, by John W. Dean. Dean's bio on Findlaw describes him thus: "Before becoming Counsel to the President of the United States in July 1970 at age thirty-one, John Dean was Chief Minority Counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives, the Associate Director of a law reform commission, and Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States. He served as Richard Nixon's White House lawyer for a thousand days." 5. An article by Suzanne Spaulding, former assistant general counsel at the CIA, general counsel for the Senate and House Intelligence committees, and executive director of the National Terrorism Commission (1999-2000).
Wednesday morning, January 11, 2006 Today is my Stepdad Troy's birthday! Happy 79th, Troy!! In other news, of course, for an unrepentant law and public policy groupie such as myself, it's not surprising that I have been glued to CSPAN watching the Alito hearings online. I can only say, as I've said before, God bless the good folks at C-SPAN. As for the hearings themselves, the first thing I noticed was the painful lack of critical thinking evidenced by most folks that like to call in on shows like this. They're generally either blatantly partisan, completely off-topic, or both. So, although I appreciate hearing other folks' take on the proceedings, after 10-15 minutes of it, I've got to mute the sound during the breaks, just to save my sanity. As it happens, there is no shortage of insightful, written opinion on blogs such as Volokh Conspiracy (more right-wing) or Balkinization (more left-wing) and I enjoy reading those sites, so I dont feel like I'm missing too much. The other big thing I noticed yesterday when I was watching was the elephant in the room that no one seemed to be willing to see. I simply didn't understand why the huge, meta-implication in Alito's "I said that back then" responses wasn't being acknowledged and challenged. It seemed to me that the only pragmatic purpose in making the argument "I said that back then when I was applying for a job/working for Reagan/much younger" is to functionally suggest that he NOW no longer holds the position. That's the strong implication, right? Yet, we had very little real indication that what Alito once said on his applications, in memos and in interviews is at variance with what he still believes. So I was watching, wondering why some (Dem) senator didn't ask him if this is what he intends to imply with his argument (i.e., a divergence from those past views). Or, if he does NOT intend to imply such divergence, why he was attempting to obfuscate or mislead the senators on his views. Then, thankfully, Schumer did exactly this. And he didn't let Alito run off down some vague rabbit hole or off on a tangent, but held him to the specific question. And what happened? Alito threw up a stone wall and refused to answer which, honestly, was more telling than anything. Schumer's comments following this, using the "mother-in-law" analogy were spot-on. I mean, given 30 minutes, I'm pretty sure I could do better than many of the senators while still remaining politic. It is, after all, their job to ask the tough questions. As I've said before, I think Alito is a good judge and will be confirmed easily. I am concerned with some of the views he probably holds, though. So it seems to me unfortunate that his confirmation will happen with (1) Republicans bending over backward to be his advocate (poor Alito was covered in Republican slobber when yesterday was over) and (2) Dems being generally incompetent at elucidating his current judicial philosophy. Therefore, my conclusion is that the hearings are elaborating far less about Alito than about the Senate. Namely, in this process, most Republicans are wilfully abdicating their responsibility and most Democrats are woefully inept at fulfilling theirs. *** And, finally, I'm doing some more revamping to the site. I'm experimenting with putting the long lists of links inside of selector boxes, to minimize scrolling. It doesn't look as pretty, but it's perhaps more functional. And soon, I'll be archiving the journal and put 2005 to rest along with the other previous years (which can still be accessed via links in the sidebar). A couple of other improvements should be coming in the next few weeks, when I get some spare time (not much of that likely, since I have a heavy work and travel schedule coming up).
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