Wall-e meets M-O

What's in a week, part 2

This week has not been quite as exciting as the last, but still, it has been an interesting one.

M and I went to Dublin (the San Fran East Bay one, not the infinitely more interesting Ireland one), and ate with our friend Z at an Indian restaurant playing music as varied as traditional Indian music and Aqua (as in, "Barbie Girl").


I listened to and watched the DNC in Denver, CO, which was the first political convention I've watched, and the day after, witnessed on TV the naming of the first female vice presidential candidate for the presidency.

M and I watched my new favorite movie, "Wall-e"!!! This movie is GRRRREAT! I loved everything about it, and can't wait for it to come on DVD so I can watch it again.

My first CGU visitor came and visited me!!! S and her husband C were wonderful house guests, and they totally inspired me to be more proactive in my own life, as well as to listen to more jazz! Oh, not to mention, study for my GRE again!

I took my first class at our new gym, and it totally kicked my butt! I walked around in pain for two days after, but I'm definitely going back.

And I bought really cute blue suede Mary Janes! The perfect topping to a pretty good week.

Palin update #1

It has been brought to my attention that McCain may have picked Palin in an effort to "steal" Hilary Clinton's female supporters. The thought initially did not occur to me because I like to give women more credit than to think that they would vote for ANY woman just because she IS a woman. But, now that I have thought about it, I can see how many women would fall for that. "Oh well she is a woman, she has five children, she is a Protestant, etc etc etc, therefore she gets ME!" Really? She may get YOU, individual nameless woman, but does she get the COUNTRY, and the other nameless women and men out there? I really hope that come election day, women and men alike make their decision not based on the gender of those running for office, or their religion (Biden is a, GASP!, Catholic), or their color, or their age, as much as I poke fun at old McCain, but based on what we may hope to see from these candidates.

No one seriously believes that either McCain or Obama will be able to pull off 100% of what they promise to do if in office; but if just 10% of what they promise will be achieved, it will make a big difference in the direction this country will move in from now on. If there is only a 10% improvement in health care availability for those who need it, I will be glad to see Obama in office. If there is only a 10% improvement in education, it will be 10 much needed percentage points that will be welcomed. If our dependence on Middle Eastern oil decreases just 10%, it will be 10% of a move in the right direction.

It is sick to think that Palin is attractive only because she is female, and her appointment as the nominee for VP has revealed the Republican machination's flawed ethics. She has a newborn child with Down's syndrome, who will need constant care. When Edwards' wife developed cancer, Republicans cried out that he should retreat from the race and stay home with her. How is this any different? I'm not saying that I think this should keep her from being a candidate for VP, but it is interesting to actually see the Republican hypocrisy at work.

It is sick to think that Republicans think that a woman, any marginally, semi-qualified (though this I find debatable) woman, will convince women who wanted to vote for Hilary to actually vote for her own party's ticket, only because she is a woman. When Obama began running, Republicans cried out that blacks will vote for Obama because he is black! Well, they are doing the same thing here, if in fact that is what they are doing.

But what is most sickening is the fact that I do deep down believe that it is possible that many women will mistakingly view Palin as a beacon for feminism only because she is a woman. I think it is possible that an ill-informed woman would vote for McCain/Palin solely because half the ticket is female, ignoring that this ticket will advocate that women should NOT have the right to choose, that women should NOT be allowed to marry their lesbian partners, that women should NOT have those rights solely because they are not women acting in the way that THAT party would want them to. I want to believe that a majority of Hilary supporters will not feel this way, that they will remember WHY they wanted to vote for Hilary besides her gender, remember that she herself has asked her own supporters to give their support now to Obama, and I think that if this gender game was the reasoning behind Palin's nomination, the Republicans will be disappointed come November.

However, four years ago, I did not believe for a second, for a second! that Kerry would lose, and I appreciate and like Obama much more than Kerry. So, like I said in my previous post, this is an exciting and history-making election. In a few months, Palin and McCain, Biden and Obama, will stand trial in front of the millions of Americans who will cast their vote, and I only hope, regardless of the outcome, that these millions of Americans take at least a minute to think about WHY they are voting for their choice. I can see why some people will want to vote Republican. That is their prerogative. But I only wish that people would vote with their eyes and ears open. That women do not vote for McCain ONLY because he chose a woman, but because they truly believe that team is the better of the two options. Just as I hope that when voting for Obama, people don't vote for him and Biden ONLY because they want to see what a black man will do as president, given the chance, but because THIS black man is the better choice for president between himself and McCain.

What is he thinking?

I am going to base this ENTIRELY on Wikipedia and CNN.com articles, so as I'm not entirely informed, I don't profess that this should be taken in any way too seriously as a political commentary, but rather a first impression.

Let's see what Wiki says about Sarah Palin, in a nutshell...

Runner up in a beauty pageant, which got her to college, which led to a journalism degree and her early career as a .... sports reporter.

City councilwoman and then mayor for Wasilla, Alaska, population less than 10,000.

Current governor of Alaska, population less than a million.

It seems that her politics are clean, and she is a strong advocate for ethical politics and has spoken against corruption, and is an advocate for environmental policies including "independence from big oil companies." *Note, her husband is in the oil industry, and, as will be mentioned later, wants to drill for oil in Alaskan national reserve lands.

She is anti-abortion, anti-same-sex marriage, is pro capital punishment, and advocates creationism to be taught alongside evolution in schools!!!!

She is for drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, which even McCain opposes.

She has five children; her eldest son is in the army, and her youngest, born this year (she is 44), unfortunately has Down syndrome.

I don't mean this in a smart-ass way, but I wonder what McCain is thinking. He must have his reasons to pick a 44-year old woman whose only political experience has been in Alaska, a state in many aspects removed from the continental U.S., with no foreign policy experience, and
who I'm sure many will question whether she can become this country's Commander in Chief if something were to ever, God forbid, happen to McCain, who would be the oldest non-incumbent president in U.S. history. As this story develops, it will be exciting to see where all of this goes, though I admit I am surprised and a bit impressed that McCain chose a woman. I think Hilary would have been a better choice but that's my opinion :) Ha. Can you imagine an Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Clinton ticket? God forbid. Hooray for Clinton giving her full support to Obama!!!

I am excited for the Republican Convention in Minneapolis to see what the Republicans will say. The DNC has been very exciting, and I was very lucky to hear Obama's speech last night (read his speech here), which I believe addressed a lot of the reasons why he, as opposed to McCain, gets why certain things need to be done, and done soon. Like he said, it's not that McCain doesn't care; it's that he most likely doesn't know.

By the way, did you know McCain attended Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA, a prep boarding school that today, in 2008, has a yearly cost of attendance of $38,000? Nothing wrong with that, lucky him that his wealthy navy admiral father could send him there, but this just shows that from the beginning, he was quite removed from the lifestyle that most American teenagers in the 50's were leading. The fact that he was a teenager in the 50's also brings to mind the question of how in the world is he supposed to relate to the country's youngest voters? I think McCain is a bright politician, but this country has had enough of wealthy old white men who have never lived among "us"!!

In conclusion, how lucky are we to partake in this historical moment? A woman nearly made it as president, and now, a woman is in the race for becoming vice president! We are going to witness America's first black president, and I'm looking four or eight years ahead, and thinking, Hilary, why not?!

This is an exciting time, to be sure. But the question remains, what is McCain thinking? Is this a plot to fill seats at the RNC, which I hear has been difficult? Does he truly believe Palin is a better choice than, say, Romney? Palin is 28 years younger than McCain, and perhaps he views her as that voice that can relate to the younger population. Can't wait to see where all of this goes.

And seriously, people, check out this site and read through the speeches. I am sure they must be on youtube, but speeches are really interesting when read, as well :) They make for remarkable documents for posterity, and like I said last night, I expect my kid to study last night's speech in his or her political literature class two decades from now :)


Oh what the heck. Here are some youtube clips :)

One of the speeches I most enjoyed, Beau Biden's, Joe Biden's son, and Delaware's Attorney General and a Captain in the Delaware Army National Guard (and born the day after my birthday!!). Check it :)



And one of the best parts of Obama's speech. *Note- Obama's comment about McCain saying that middle class means making less than $5 million/year is in relation to an August 15, 2008 response that McCain gave to the question of what he believes "rich" to mean, to which McCain said, "I think if you're just talking about income, how about $5 million?" (Obama's response: "I would argue that if you are making more than $250,000, then you are in the top 3, 4 percent of this country," he said. "You are doing well.") McCain's spokespeople later said McCain had been "joking." Hardly believable when his wife is an heiress and his own background was highly privileged. Seriously, this man has NO IDEA what it means to be a regular American. At least Obama went to law school on loans, not because his daddy had been an alumni! Anyways, I regress. Here is part of Obama's speech:



P.S. Happy birthday to John McCain. Today, August 29, 2008, he turns 72.

Pictures from Nebraska are up

I have added the Nebraska pictures, as well as some other pictures from this summer, to my Picassa albums. They can be seen here.

Summer 2008