Curse you clouds!

The lunar eclipse was all but hidden from view. Oh well, see you in 2007....

Supporting our troops

I watched Fahrenheit 911 yesterday (finally). The scenes of the war and the conversations with the troops really resonated with me. I also read this article in Newsweek, where soldiers refuse a dangerous mission deliver fuel because they knew it was contaminated. It all got me thinking about the troops and what it means to support them.

These people have voluntarily put their life on the line for our sake. In doing so, they put their trust in us to place them in harms way with good cause and only as a last resort. That's our responsibility to them. That's how we honor them.

This war is a breach of the convenant between the troops and those who enjoy the safety they provide. We do not support our troops when we fail to admit this war is a mistake. Doing so perpetuates this breach of their faith in us. In supporting the war in Iraq, we do further disservice to the troops.

So I'm doing what I can to support our troops. I'm voting for Kerry.

Last chance until 2007!

Catch the lunar eclipse while you can. This is the last one until 2007!

And please, oh please, vote and help ensure that this is the last total lunar eclipse to occur while Bush is in office!

Absurd claim about Kerry

I came accross this in the "What's New" section of Snopes. There are dozens of these e-mails about both candidates. This struck me, though, because it suggests that Kerry is stifling opposing viewpoints at his rallies and suggests that voters watch out because that's how his presidency would be. As the Snopes article points out, Kerry did not stifle opposing voices. Instead, he engaged the hecklers. Of course, there is a presidential candidate who goes to great lengths to stifle any opposing voice at his rallies. Hmmm, who could that be? Here's the litany from the DNC.

Got a monkey off my back!

Got a m-m-m-monkey off my back back back!

My indentured servitude is over, and it feels good!

If you haven't heard the story, it's like this. An early Homicide had Pendleton getting involved in some upper echelon politics. Gee thinks it's a bad idea, and warns Pendleton that "they eat their own." In the end, Pendleton learns the hard way that Gee was right. I was Frank in this particular scenario.

But I'm done now, and good riddence!

They could have been contenders

In case you haven't heard, SpaceShipOne won the X Prize. But did you ever hear of Space Transport Corporation? If not, this is a good article on how their bid for the X prize went.

And you should definitely check out this. No, seriously, check it out. To entice you further, I suggest you watch this.

The debate - boy that felt good!

Okay, I'm voting for Kerry. You probably already know that. I have the lawn sign and everything. But I've gotta tell ya, that debate felt good.

I thought Eleanor Clift summed it up nicely in this commentary. I'm one of those Democrats that had, as she puts it, begun to drift away in despair." Kerry's performance couldn't have come at a better time. I feel like we've got a chance again.

A few of my favorite moments that I haven't seen quoted:

KERRY: I understand what the president is talking about, because I know what it means to lose people in combat. And the question, is it worth the cost, reminds me of my own thinking when I came back from fighting in that war.

And it reminds me that it is vital for us not to confuse the war, ever, with the warriors. That happened before.

And that's one of the reasons why I believe I can get this job done, because I am determined for those soldiers and for those families, for those kids who put their lives on the line.

That is noble. That's the most noble thing that anybody can do. And I want to make sure the outcome honors that nobility.

KERRY: I mean, we can remember when President Kennedy in the Cuban missile crisis sent his secretary of state to Paris to meet with DeGaulle. And in the middle of he discussion, to tell them about the missiles in Cuba, he said, "Here, let me show you the photos." And DeGaulle waved them off and said, "No, no, no, no. The word of the president of the United States is good enough for me."

How many leaders in the world today would respond to us, as a result of what we've done, in that way?

KERRY: What I think troubles a lot of people in our country is that the president has just sort of described one kind of mistake. But what he has said is that, even knowing there were no weapons of mass destruction, even knowing there was no imminent threat, even knowing there was no connection with al Qaeda, he would still have done everything the same way. Those are his words.

Now, I would not. So what I'm trying to do is just talk the truth to the American people and to the world. The truth is what good policy is based on. It's what leadership is based on.

The president says that I'm denigrating these troops. I have nothing but respect for the British, Tony Blair, and for what they've been willing to do.

But you can't tell me that when the most troops any other country has on the ground is Great Britain, with 8,300, and below that the four others are below 4,000, and below that, there isn't anybody out of the hundreds, that we have a genuine coalition to get this job done.

You can't tell me that on the day that we went into that war and it started -- it was principally the United States, the America and Great Britain and one or two others. That's it. And today, we are 90 percent of the casualties and 90 percent of the costs. And meanwhile, North Korea has got nuclear weapons. Talk about mixed messages. The president is the one that said, "We can't allow countries to get nuclear weapons." They have. I'll change that.

Who is this kid teaching my child?

Sharon and I attended Back to School Night last week.

It was Tuesday, when what was left of Jeane. We arrived about 10 minutes early and the place was jammed. There was no parking to be found; we ended up three blocks away. We had umbrellas, but they were little use in horizontal rain and the inch of water on the sidewalk. By the time we got there, we were drenched.

We made our way to the auditorium to listen to the opening presentation. The principal gave a very nice speech and proceeded to introduce the faculty. They announced my daughter's teacher and she stood up. Seeing her, I immediately thought to myself, "what is she, like twelve?" As everyone applauded, Sharon turned to me and said, "what is she, like twelve?"

We made our way to the classroom. Actually it's not a room, but a partitioned space in the geodesic domed building that is my daughters school. Geodesic domes were big in the sixties, I guess. I think it was supposed to promote a more open and flexible education space or something. Actually it's just noisy. But I digress.

In fact, the teacher is really nice, and my daughter likes her. She explained her class and the curriculum, and I think my daughter's in a good class. She's also been teaching at the school for five years. And, okay, she doesn't really look twelve.

But I'll bet they still ask her for ID.