...something like this pops up. I follow the website Columbus Underground on my Twitter page, and this morning they tweeted something that caught my eye...COTA bus changes. I've got a bit of a thing for public transit (even if I don't use it nearly as much as I should/could) so I thought it was worth checking out. Here's the CU article...COTA is adding a Hilliard-OSU express, as well as several other adjustments. You can get the full list there.
There's bigger news from Iowa, because on Friday gay marriage became legal in that great farming state. It blows my mind, because a state that's as rural (and typical conservative as rural states are) as Iowa is able to recognize a basic human right, but California and Ohio aren't. I mean, seriously? 3/50th of the country is moving in the right direction...but we need a few more states to reach critical mass.
The North Korean satellite launch was a monstrous success...! At least, according to the North Korean government. As the BBC will tell us (and I trust the BBC infinitely more than my own government sometimes, never mind the North Korean one) the rocket launch failed, and the satellite with its sing-a-long payload never reached orbit. President Obama took the opportunity to push his arms control agenda, telling us, "This provocation underscores the need for action - not just this afternoon at the UN Security Council, but in our determination to prevent the spread of these weapons."
That's a bit more than I intended to post today...but that's what happens when I'm putting off other work ;-) Have a good rest of the weekend!
Showing posts with label Obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Obama. Show all posts
Tuesday
No News Today?
I feel like something of a failure...since I can't find anything to really write about today. Aside from the Israelis, it seems like the entire world is just...pausing. There's news, of course. An Indonesian ferry sank, killing many. That coal ash spill in Tennessee really messed up a river that had been recovering. Prince Harry used a racial slur three years ago to talk about a fellow Sandhurst cadet. And natural gas may finally start flowing back into Europe, now that Ukraine has allowed EU monitors into the pumping stations.
And of course, as I mentioned, there's always Gaza.
But that's all I have, really. Nothing jumped out at me and said, "This is crazy-important! People are going to be DIRECTLY EFFECTED by what's going on here!" The world is...calm?
It's a false calm. In Ohio, the economic outlook isn't any better. And we have a group of freshmen legislatures who are tackling it. Could be good, could be bad.
Obama hasn't even been sworn in yet. 9 days to go (as of this writing), and then you just know something is going to hit the fan, just because it's a new President. And it'll be a nice juicy something because it's Obama. That crisis is brewing, as we speak. We just don't know about it yet.
Not much to do about it today though, except keep an eye on the newspage and an ear to the radio...try and stay a touch ahead of the curve. You folks have a great week, and I'll see you again for the "Your Take" recap on Thursday.
And of course, as I mentioned, there's always Gaza.
But that's all I have, really. Nothing jumped out at me and said, "This is crazy-important! People are going to be DIRECTLY EFFECTED by what's going on here!" The world is...calm?
It's a false calm. In Ohio, the economic outlook isn't any better. And we have a group of freshmen legislatures who are tackling it. Could be good, could be bad.
Obama hasn't even been sworn in yet. 9 days to go (as of this writing), and then you just know something is going to hit the fan, just because it's a new President. And it'll be a nice juicy something because it's Obama. That crisis is brewing, as we speak. We just don't know about it yet.
Not much to do about it today though, except keep an eye on the newspage and an ear to the radio...try and stay a touch ahead of the curve. You folks have a great week, and I'll see you again for the "Your Take" recap on Thursday.
My Take: Obama's Centrist Moves
As Obama stopped campaigning, and started getting down to the business of running the country (I mean, someone has to...) it's become somewhat obvious he's not quite the socialist, nationalizing commie he's been made out to be by the right wing.
Likewise, he's not quite the champion of the progressive movement who will bring peace and happiness to all, as the left wing has promised.
To me, that's a damned good thing. My rule of thumb is when the extreme ends of the spectrum are BOTH mad at you, you're smack dab where you want to be.
I've been watching the nominations and the leaks of nominations. I've listened to the news conferences, and the analysis of those conferences. And all this seems to be adding up to is the man is making some calculated steps in the direction of sound governance.
I know, it's been such a foreign concept for the last decade. While it's a little annoying ("What do you mean, he's not promising to shut down Gitmo by February???") it's also the sign of a mature mind. You can't argue very well against the desire to have something in place before knocking down the old regime.
Really, I think all we can expect from Obama right now is to set up a solid, well rounded team...and to tackle this pesky economic crisis. Really, that's all we should have on our minds right now, because unless our house is in order...we can't even think about landscaping the lawn.
I can wait for Gitmo to be closed. I can wait for education reform. I can wait for taxes to be made sensible again. I can wait for healthcare and social security to be worked out. Because you need the little things, before the bigger things. Obama seems to understand that very clearly, and is setting up people who think the same way.
And really, that's how a moderate works. That's how someone who thinks about the issues operates. So all in all, I feel quite good.
And that's more than enough rambling for this Tuesday. You folks have fun.
Likewise, he's not quite the champion of the progressive movement who will bring peace and happiness to all, as the left wing has promised.
To me, that's a damned good thing. My rule of thumb is when the extreme ends of the spectrum are BOTH mad at you, you're smack dab where you want to be.
I've been watching the nominations and the leaks of nominations. I've listened to the news conferences, and the analysis of those conferences. And all this seems to be adding up to is the man is making some calculated steps in the direction of sound governance.
I know, it's been such a foreign concept for the last decade. While it's a little annoying ("What do you mean, he's not promising to shut down Gitmo by February???") it's also the sign of a mature mind. You can't argue very well against the desire to have something in place before knocking down the old regime.
Really, I think all we can expect from Obama right now is to set up a solid, well rounded team...and to tackle this pesky economic crisis. Really, that's all we should have on our minds right now, because unless our house is in order...we can't even think about landscaping the lawn.
I can wait for Gitmo to be closed. I can wait for education reform. I can wait for taxes to be made sensible again. I can wait for healthcare and social security to be worked out. Because you need the little things, before the bigger things. Obama seems to understand that very clearly, and is setting up people who think the same way.
And really, that's how a moderate works. That's how someone who thinks about the issues operates. So all in all, I feel quite good.
And that's more than enough rambling for this Tuesday. You folks have fun.
Friday
Democratic Nomination
I applaud Hillary Clinton for sticking it out this far. It takes quite a bit of guts to hang in there when everyone is telling you to get out. I do respect her ability to stick to her guns and keep pressing forward.
But...it's over. Very over.
She's done well enough to drag this out. Each time she needed a victory to survive, she's gotten it. I'm not sure how, since the more I've learned about Clinton the less I've wanted her to get the nod.
I'm still behind Obama. I think his unwavering poise (contrasted with Clinton's "You always give me the first question!" whining in the debates), his ability to talk tough truths (telling a teacher's union they'll have to accept merit pay, for instance), and the way he hasn't really run from anything (denouncing Wright as a wild and crazy man with misguided views, admitting his campaign has been too negative).
I hope Hillary has plans to bow out before the convention, mayhaps at the end of this month. I really don't want to see a divided party as the end result of this insane year of primaries, because that's precisely what John McCain wants.
What's wrong with John McCain? Not a whole lot...except he's absolutely not enough of a course correction after Bush. Eight years ago, McCain would have been fine I believe. Right now, we need to pull a 180 degree turn and McCain is not up to that task. Sorry bud.
But...it's over. Very over.
She's done well enough to drag this out. Each time she needed a victory to survive, she's gotten it. I'm not sure how, since the more I've learned about Clinton the less I've wanted her to get the nod.
I'm still behind Obama. I think his unwavering poise (contrasted with Clinton's "You always give me the first question!" whining in the debates), his ability to talk tough truths (telling a teacher's union they'll have to accept merit pay, for instance), and the way he hasn't really run from anything (denouncing Wright as a wild and crazy man with misguided views, admitting his campaign has been too negative).
I hope Hillary has plans to bow out before the convention, mayhaps at the end of this month. I really don't want to see a divided party as the end result of this insane year of primaries, because that's precisely what John McCain wants.
What's wrong with John McCain? Not a whole lot...except he's absolutely not enough of a course correction after Bush. Eight years ago, McCain would have been fine I believe. Right now, we need to pull a 180 degree turn and McCain is not up to that task. Sorry bud.
A Closer Look at Obama
Now to look at Barack Obama. I'm currently very disappointed in Obama, since his campaign failed to act on my Myspace friend request. I gave them a lil over three weeks, and they muffed it. So it's cancelled. HA!
Education: Obama seems to have his head on straight when it comes to education. He talks about performance pay, better respect, a sense of urgency, and keeping life long education affordable. I can get behind all that.
Diplomacy: This is a good run down on Obama's foreign policy. Essentially, I see the opposite of the cowboy diplomacy going on here. Phrases like "learn from the past" and "understanding the non-Western world" give me hope.
Bipartisanship: Obama has been big on this issue. The biggest sign of it that I've seen is the fact his health care plan doesn't include a mandate (a horror to the right wing) except where children are concerned. That's a compromise position, and I think it's something we should admire.
War in Iraq: He didn't vote for the war, wanted to finish Afghanistan instead (what a novel concept!). He plans on having all but a token force out by 16 months into his administration, with only embassy protection and al-Qaeda hunters left (no permanent military presence). Check it out.
...And Now for Some News...
White House Unveils Plan for Credit Crisis, from NPR
Fire In Lhasa as a Result of Tibet Protests, from BBC
Blue Jackets Still in Playoff Running, from WCBE
Education: Obama seems to have his head on straight when it comes to education. He talks about performance pay, better respect, a sense of urgency, and keeping life long education affordable. I can get behind all that.
Diplomacy: This is a good run down on Obama's foreign policy. Essentially, I see the opposite of the cowboy diplomacy going on here. Phrases like "learn from the past" and "understanding the non-Western world" give me hope.
Bipartisanship: Obama has been big on this issue. The biggest sign of it that I've seen is the fact his health care plan doesn't include a mandate (a horror to the right wing) except where children are concerned. That's a compromise position, and I think it's something we should admire.
War in Iraq: He didn't vote for the war, wanted to finish Afghanistan instead (what a novel concept!). He plans on having all but a token force out by 16 months into his administration, with only embassy protection and al-Qaeda hunters left (no permanent military presence). Check it out.
...And Now for Some News...
White House Unveils Plan for Credit Crisis, from NPR
Fire In Lhasa as a Result of Tibet Protests, from BBC
Blue Jackets Still in Playoff Running, from WCBE
Wednesday
A Closer Look at Clinton
Since she isn't my favorite, I'll look at her first. Here are a few stances she has on her issues.
Clinton:
War in Iraq: Near as I can tell, didn't vote for the war PER SE, but voted for authorization because the Administration apparantly mentioned they'd try and use diplomacy first. As far as ending the war, she says she'll do it, starting phased redeployment (wow that's a loaded term) within the first 60 days of her administration.
Education: Clinton issues a press release about NCLB I found on the Senate website (yay Google!). It says essentially that it's a wonderful thing, but now it needs to be revamped based on what's happened in the last five years and then funded appropriately. I didn't see much in the way of college level positions, but really...if we're doing a good job at the high school level, the kids will be able to get into college.
Bipartisanship: Every candidate talks a big game about bipartisanship, because all the polls tells them we're sick to death of partisan bickering. I couldn't find any specific statements about this from Clinton. I also can't remember any big across-aisle reaches from her (I could be wrong there). I do know she makes conservatives foam at the mouth (for reasons I don't really understand...) and that's not conducive to getting things done.
Diplomacy: That same article I cited under ending the war in Iraq mentions quite a bit about diplomacy as part of her rebuilding plan. If that is any indicator on how her diplomatic efforts in other ends of the world, it makes quite a bit of sense. Also, the campaign ads I've been seeing (since she HAS to win in Ohio, more or less) mentioned an "end to cowboy diplomacy," which I'd be ok with.
...And Now for Some News...
Obama Wins Mississippi Primary, from NPR
Governor Spitzer Resigns in Scandal, from NPR (he was caught by the same tactics he pushed for as NY Attorney General...irony, eh?)
British Air Strike Kills Afghan Civilians, from the BBC
Rwandan Priest Gets Life Term on Appeal, from BBC
Columbus Appoints Homeless Advocate to Mayor's Office, from WCBE
Union Vote at Ohio Hospitals Called Off, from WVXU
Clinton:
War in Iraq: Near as I can tell, didn't vote for the war PER SE, but voted for authorization because the Administration apparantly mentioned they'd try and use diplomacy first. As far as ending the war, she says she'll do it, starting phased redeployment (wow that's a loaded term) within the first 60 days of her administration.
Education: Clinton issues a press release about NCLB I found on the Senate website (yay Google!). It says essentially that it's a wonderful thing, but now it needs to be revamped based on what's happened in the last five years and then funded appropriately. I didn't see much in the way of college level positions, but really...if we're doing a good job at the high school level, the kids will be able to get into college.
Bipartisanship: Every candidate talks a big game about bipartisanship, because all the polls tells them we're sick to death of partisan bickering. I couldn't find any specific statements about this from Clinton. I also can't remember any big across-aisle reaches from her (I could be wrong there). I do know she makes conservatives foam at the mouth (for reasons I don't really understand...) and that's not conducive to getting things done.
Diplomacy: That same article I cited under ending the war in Iraq mentions quite a bit about diplomacy as part of her rebuilding plan. If that is any indicator on how her diplomatic efforts in other ends of the world, it makes quite a bit of sense. Also, the campaign ads I've been seeing (since she HAS to win in Ohio, more or less) mentioned an "end to cowboy diplomacy," which I'd be ok with.
...And Now for Some News...
Obama Wins Mississippi Primary, from NPR
Governor Spitzer Resigns in Scandal, from NPR (he was caught by the same tactics he pushed for as NY Attorney General...irony, eh?)
British Air Strike Kills Afghan Civilians, from the BBC
Rwandan Priest Gets Life Term on Appeal, from BBC
Columbus Appoints Homeless Advocate to Mayor's Office, from WCBE
Union Vote at Ohio Hospitals Called Off, from WVXU
Voter Registration Confirmation
Sorry for the late post. The day jobs kinda got in the way.
I was going to post a picture of my voter registration confirmation card, and explain it, and maybe even the voter ID laws (which apparantly still give people fits).
But as I'm trying to photoshop some of the more sensitive info out of the picture, I realize they have my name wrong. They put an "A" where there should have been an "O." Meh.
So now we're gonna look at how to fix this instead. Take it as a lesson about checking your confirmation postcard carefully.
Step one is to check out my local board of elections. In this case, it's Franklin County.
Step two is checking to see if I'm registered under my real name or not. I can check my registration by clicking the link on the left hand sidebar.
*searches for name*...
And the search function is apparantly broken, since it asked me to call the office of the Board of Elections. Nice.
I'm assuming I'll need to have my name changed, so I can actually vote without having to cast a provisional ballot. (What's that? A new post topic? Hrm...). When that happens, I'll simply fill out another voter registration form and mail it in.
Of course, I should prolly call the BOE just to be sure.
McCain and Obama Win Again, from NPR
Family Brings Soldier's Dogs Home, from NPR
Bhutto Widower Rejects Idea of Being Prime Minister, from BBC
Israeli MP Blames Gays for Earthquakes, from BBC
Congressman
Ok, so I suck w/ this schedule thing. I blame starting a new job and throwing my weekend outta whack...so now here we are.
Again, I moved recently. So now I'm not represented by the Schmidt woman, who couldn't be farther from my values if she tried. Let's go see who now claims me as a constituent.
Looks like Dave Hobson. District 7 really is Central Ohio, ranging from Lancaster to Dayton. I'm kinda impressed, and thus not at all surprized at the fact it's a GOP district.
It's all small town farm country, or nice suburbs. With a few token urban regions (like my crime-infested economically depressed neighborhood) for show. I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that the GOP has had an uninterrupted majority in the state legislature for years?
The guy's page is quite robust actually...go check it out. Doesn't seem bad at all. And he won 61% of the vote in 2006...not too bad, considering the nation's mood at that point.
We'll look into him more at length...so...yep. That's all I got for now. Enjoy your Legislation Wednesday!
Again, I moved recently. So now I'm not represented by the Schmidt woman, who couldn't be farther from my values if she tried. Let's go see who now claims me as a constituent.
Looks like Dave Hobson. District 7 really is Central Ohio, ranging from Lancaster to Dayton. I'm kinda impressed, and thus not at all surprized at the fact it's a GOP district.
It's all small town farm country, or nice suburbs. With a few token urban regions (like my crime-infested economically depressed neighborhood) for show. I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that the GOP has had an uninterrupted majority in the state legislature for years?
The guy's page is quite robust actually...go check it out. Doesn't seem bad at all. And he won 61% of the vote in 2006...not too bad, considering the nation's mood at that point.
We'll look into him more at length...so...yep. That's all I got for now. Enjoy your Legislation Wednesday!
...and Now for Some News...
Obama, McCain Winners in "Potomac Primary," from NPR
Roger Clemens Denies Steroid Use, from NPR (Whatever. Sold out Red Sox, used steroids...)
Top Hezbollah Leader Killed by Bomb, from BBC
Spielberg Steps Down from Olympic Committee, from BBC
Columbus Council Approves Budget, from WCBE (you'll have to listen to the story for details)
Monday
Displeasure 3x!
Three things have really, really disturbed me today:
- Bush, making a tour of the Middle East with an apparant aim of starting World War Three
- Obama, Clinton, and Edwards wasting time on a ridiculous point of history
- Blogger not letting me into my account all day for unknown reasons.
First of all, I had to shut off NPR's Morning Edition this morning because of a speech the President made while on his Middle East tour. I couldn't listen to it. He was saying bad things about Iran, and calling on our allies in the area to help stop Iran from doing bad things. Sounds a lot like the run up to a recent unnecessary war. Does Iran sponsor terrorism? Yes. Why? Who cares; it's unacceptable. Is the proper way to deal with it by pissing them off more and instigating war? No. I'd love to see our country try to use actual diplomacy, instead of justifying war in advance. I'll be writing letters over this.
I again killed the radio a couple hours later after listening to coverage on the tiff between Obama and Clinton over who deserves credit for the Civil Rights Act. As soon as I realized Obama was accusing Clinton of downplaying MLK's role in the civil rights act, I shut the radio off. The clip I heard of Hillary's statement praised LBJ, yes. For passing a piece of legislation, which . I didn't hear praise for being the father of the whole movement. Even if she HAD said words to that effect...why would Obama debate such a ridiculous point? Dr. King is the undisputed father of that Act, of the whole movement no less.
I learned in high school that when someone made a ludicrous statement, you ignored it. This would have served both candidates well.
As for Edwards trying to put in his two cents on the issue, I'm not going to touch that. Politicians...really do disgust me.
At this rate, I'll be voting for John McCain.
Blogger? Whatever. I got in at last, and really...it's small potatoes compared to the rest of this.
Tuesday
Tuesday Stuff!
I'm thankful today for the fact my sisters made it out this week...so just a quick one today.
Now for Some News...
New Stem Cell Research Could End Ethical Worries, from NPR
Rare National Buzz Help Obama Decide to Run, from NPR
Teachers and Civil Servants Join Transport Strikers, from BBC
Pulitzer Winning Photographer Accused of Terror, from BBC
U.C. Won't Get to Host Presidential Debate, from WVXU
County Workers May Not Get Raises, from WVXU
Now for Some News...
New Stem Cell Research Could End Ethical Worries, from NPR
Rare National Buzz Help Obama Decide to Run, from NPR
Teachers and Civil Servants Join Transport Strikers, from BBC
Pulitzer Winning Photographer Accused of Terror, from BBC
U.C. Won't Get to Host Presidential Debate, from WVXU
County Workers May Not Get Raises, from WVXU
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