Liberty Or Death
How many people, like me, are only familiar with little more than the final sentence of this speech by Patrick Henry? It contains very little in the way of political policy or ideas, but a very good sketch of the…
Month January 2008
An Exciting Change
I have been asked to take on a new responsibility in scouts. Instead of serving in the presidency of our ward young men’s organization I will now be working with the Webelos. For those who are not familiar with the…
Promote Job Creation
Bob Herbert and I often differ in our views but I really like what he said about economic stimulus as is being discussed in D.C. There is no question that some kind of stimulus package geared to the needs of…
Mapping Politics
Thanks to the observations and perspective of Obi wan Liberali I think I can accurately place some political parties on my 2 dimensional political spectrum. Not only can I place the labels for our two major parties and some other…
Political Spectrum
I liked the discussion over at KVNU’s For The People about how labels can be misleading regarding someone’s political philosophy. As always, there are quizzes to help someone figure out their own philosophy. KVNU linked to The Political Compass. Another…
Conspiracy of Confusion
Diet is about as far from my normal topics as I can imagine. Part of the reason for this is that I generally follow the world’s simplest diet: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” (Michael Pollan January 28, 2007)…
Comments Window Closing
For those affected by the MountainView Corridor, I am reminded that the window of opportunity to comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement is closing next week. Comments must be received no later than January 24th. Now is the time…
The Electability Trap
In what is probably the best non-partisan political commentary I’ve read recently, Ron Klain at Campaign Stops (a New York Times blog) writes about the dangers of choosing a candidate based on electability. Whether you are looking for the person…
Excessively Complex
Witness the Achilles Heel of bureaucracy as demonstrated by my local elementary school (and probably many others in the state as well). Members of the legislature are working (in vain) to ensure that our children get an excellent education. Leaders…
Case for Absitnence
I was surprised as I read this Op-Ed piece in the New York Times by Caitlin Flanagan. I doubt it was her intent, but I found a very strong argument in favor of abstinence as the preferred attitude toward extra-marital…