O' the day - 7.31.07

OK, I know I'm not completely cognizant of the ins and outs of subsidies, particularly farm subsidies, so I'm a bit at the mercy of reporters with regards to the proposed bill and the historical nature of the money given farmers each year. I believe the statistic I heard this morning was that two-thirds of subsidies are given to the richest 10% of farmers; if this is indeed true, then yes, we definitely need an overhaul of the subsidy program. I understand that our food supply here in the U.S. depends upon the crops grown each year; however, something seems wrong about being paid to do your job -- twice.

O' the day - 7.30.07

The problem with listening to the news on the way to work is one of negative vibes -- I had to listen until I was in the parking lot of my office before I heard a story that wasn't about how terrible and horrifying the world at large is. Of course, the story was about a new book on Lincoln that portrays him as quite less than saintly; I'm not sure if that was an actual positive turn or not. At least it was slightly more interesting than hearing about the basic evil of the country and government and all its citizens.

O' the day - 7.25.07

I think the idea of not offending anyone of another religion might have gone a bit too far, based on a story I heard this morning. (Full disclosure: I came in partway through the story, so I may have missed a bit, but I think I'll be pretty close.) The story was about the pope leading the Catholic church back to more traditional Roman values and rituals, i.e., Latin mass and so forth. However, many newer-value Catholics are afraid that by returning to the Latin mass, Jews will be offended, as apparently one of the customary prayers on Good Friday is one for the conversion of Jews to the one true faith. Given, this particular prayer may smack of self-centeredness and lack of an open mind, but it's their faith; they should stick by it. The story was about how Catholics are afraid that this particular prayer, and others in its vein, will offend others, and of course, religion's purpose above all is to avoid offense. I just don't get it; change your faith, held for a couple of thousand years, for fear that another group may not agree? I understand modernization of faith; culture and society has changed and religion necessarily has to change (to a point) with it. But change one of the basic tenets of your faith so you can play nice with another's belief system?

O' the day - 7.19.07

Completely, absolutely disgusted once again with hearing about the obscene amounts of money being spent on the presidential campaign, especially this early on. I understand that presidents are traditionally wealthy men; granted, you wouldn't necessarily want the leader of the free world to have been bankrupt seven times previously, as he's controlling the finances of our country. But the fact that well over $100 million has been spent -- already! -- shows me that politicians, as usual, say one thing and do another. If they really, truly cared about the American people, campaign reform would have been first on the list years ago, and so many of the dollars that are being spent to elect just one man (or woman) could be used to actually better the lives of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, by providing food and clothing and medical care to the general public. Spending millions on catering by Wolfgang Puck doesn't count.

O' the day - 7.18.07

Intellectual property is a funny thing. I'm constantly amazed at the business that's been built around the ownership of ideas -- attorneys, college courses, and the like --, and at the legal wrangling over what constitutes an idea that qualifies for singular possession. The idea of remaking 7-11s into a Simpson version was the topic of discussion in my NPR story of the day this morning; an ad company will likely sue, saying this was their idea to start with, while the production company claims it was their idea to start with, a nebulous "turn America into Springfield" that to me, covers an awful lot of ground. I certainly don't condone plagiarism or intellectual property theft, but the idea of actually owning thoughts is incredible and mind-bending and great fun to turn over in one's head.

O' the day - 7.13.07

-- O, dreaded Friday the 13th!

Frustrated yet again this morning by an interview -- the interview itself was nothing special, just coverage of a NAACP convention held to display the Democratic presidential candidates. (Of course, mere mention of the NAACP is enough to start my blood boiling, but that's beside the point -- or maybe it's in conjunction with the point; either way, it's only part of the main issue.) NPR held an interview with several young (18 or so) female delegates who were espousing the most common views -- Barack Obama may not be black enough for black voters; Hillary Clinton makes some good points; blah blah blah. Then one of the girls, speaking about Obama and his potential win, said she'd like to get to the point where it wasn't "the first black man to" do something great, but simply "the first person to" do a thing. That's a nice ideal to aspire to; however, her timing was greatly oxymoronic -- saying you want to get away from "black" anything at the NAACP convention is an impossibility. The NAACP, by its very name and intention, is about making that very strict distinction between black and white, and as much as these girls would like to believe there's a world out there that doesn't distinguish color, as long as there's a NAACP, we'll still hear about "the first black person to."

O' the day - 7.12.07

Heard a great interview this morning on NRP with Lamar Alexander, and one of the best points I've heard made re: Iraq in the last several years -- he was speaking about the fledgling Iraqi government and the criticism that government is receiving from the U.S. for lack of consensus, and thus lack of moving forward on the running of their country. Alexander's point was that if the oldest democracy in the world was trying to show the newest democracy how to come to agreement, what kind of example are we actually setting? With the partisanship in America at an all-time high, what with the campaign coverage and all, we cannot even come to terms amongst ourselves to handle the running of our own government -- how are we supposed to show this example to the Iraqi people and tell them to do as we say, not as we do?

O' the day - 7.10.07

Knowing full well that I'll be dealing with this particular issue myself within the next few years, I'm still not quite sure what I think about the idea of going into huge amounts of debt in order to receive a college education. Sure, I came out of school owing about $6,000, which I paid off in $50 increments over seven years, so I can't say that student loans aren't useful and appropriate. The amount I borrowed was manageable, and allowed me to obtain a degree when otherwise I would not have been able to afford it -- the essence of student loans. However, one has to wonder whether graduating with a debt of literally hundreds of thousands of dollars is indeed manageable, or even ethical. A college degree is a wonderful thing to have; it opens doors and increases lifetime earnings. A college degree at the expense of 20 or 30 years of repayment, though, has to be critically examined; we are a nation of debtors, and that debt starts early in life.

O' the day - 7.3.07

This is all I have to say regarding the Bush commute of Scooter Libby's prison sentence yesterday, to all my liberal friends:



In one of his last acts as president, Clinton grants 140 pardons

January 20, 2001
Web posted at: 12:38 p.m. EST (1738 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Keeping his promise to work until the last hour of the last day of his term in office, President Clinton granted 140 pardons -- including one to his own brother -- before preparing to relinquish power to the incoming Republican administration of George W. Bush.

A vast majority of those who received the last minute pardons are unknown to the public, although the list does include former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros, Whitewater scandal figure Susan McDougal, Patty Hearst and former CIA Director John Deutch.

News of McDougal's pardon came just one day after the president struck a deal with Independent Counsel Robert Ray effectively ending the Whitewater investigation. In that agreement, Clinton agreed to a five-year suspension of his law license and acknowledged that he gave false testimony under oath in the Monica Lewinsky scandal.