Hey, Somebody Needed to Carry Her Luggage!

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Every year in early May Nancy and I head out on vacation; she has an annual convention of the Pediatric Academic Society. Last year it was in Toronto and next year we travel to Baltimore but this year it was in beautiful, downtown Honolulu. I’m not ordinarily crazy about the island of Oahu because it’s so built up but it was nice. We stayed at the Westin Moana Surfrider, one of the oldest hotels in Hawai’i, and it was just flat out relaxing. While Nancy was running off to meetings, I got to enjoy the beach and explore a little of the city. This isn’t for everybody, but I was moved by walking around the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also called the “Punchbowl” because it’s in an old volcano crater. Many of those buried there died in World War II including many who died at Pearl Harbor.

After the convention was over we moved to the island of Kauai where we once again stayed at the Poipu Kapili. The resort is really good and we recommend it to everyone. Unfortunately there is a great deal of development going on around it and we fear in the next few years it will become too congested. We’ll see.

As everyone who has been to Hawai’i knows, you can’t do anything without a rental car. When we travel we normally use Enterprise but they don’t have cars on Kauai. They sent us to Alamo and trust us, we won’t use them again. It’s commonly known that rental car places try to tack on extra charges (e.g. collision damage, liability, etc.). We have coverage for all these and most places understand that. It appears that Alamo has figured out a new charge: the Vehicle License Recoupment or Recovery Fee (VLRF). If the car is damaged while I’m using it, even if it’s not my fault, they will charge me the daily rate until the car is fixed. It was also explained to me that since we were in Hawai’i, any parts would come by cargo ship that takes a long time to get there. The agent also explained that nobody covers this and it is in my best interest to get this coverage. I took it because I was stuck but I’m convinced this is just another way they’ve found to get more money out of me. When I googled the VLRF, the first 5 pages were for Alamo so I’m guessing they are the only ones who have thought this up. My bet for what’s next: charging me for the time it takes the agent to explain this coverage.

In fairness, other than the construction and the rental car, the rest of the vacation was wonderful. We both enjoy snorkeling and my favorite spot is on the north shore, called Tunnels. Nancy also tried something called snuba. I was too freaked out to do this but she enjoyed it and they have promised us a DVD of her experience.

On our last day we toured the National Tropical Botanical Gardens. I’m really not a flower guy but it was a good tour and it gave me enough history of the island to keep me interested. This is a “don’t miss” even if you’re not a botanist.

It was a fun week. So next year we are headed to Baltimore. I’ll be boning up on my duckpin bowling.

Celebrating Books

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Yesterday I made my annual pilgrimage to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. This is the third time I’ve gone and I look forward to it every year. Warwick’s Books charters two buses and I did that again. It’s nice not having to drive up and back to LA but it can also be a little limiting: we arrived 5 minutes before the first panel I went to and the woman next to me on the bus had to leave her last session early to catch the bus. On the other hand, the price of the trip includes a swag bag and they bring local authors who lecture on the ride.

It’s held on the campus of UCLA; far and away the best part of the festival is just being on campus with so many people interested in books and publishing. The rest is gravy. Tommy Lasorda, longtime manager of the Los Angels Dodgers was there promoting his book I Live For This! Baseball’s Last True Believer. He’s a great storyteller and I was grateful to be there.

Part of the fun also is seeing the booths of all the different publishing houses and bookstores. They say it’s difficult to get a book published these days but given all the publishing houses that seems strange. So if you’re looking for Theosophical University Press or want to talk with someone from the Ayn Rand Institute this is your place.

One blemish this year is that I’ve noticed a number of people handing out leaflets for activities not related to books. The Jews for Jesus people were there handing out leaflets along with other Christian Churches. Obviously they have a right to be there and I’m not opposed to churches giving out information, but they were on public walkways and sometimes obstructed traffic. There was also a guy screaming about how people need to embrace atheism, especially in the African American Community, since religion is meant to keep people oppressed. Did I mention that he is as white as I am? Then again, UCLA is a public place and I’m not sure there’s anything anyone can do.

Bottom line: sign me up for next year.

They Are Not Making This Easy For Me (but that's OK)

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On the left side of this blog I’ve tried to keep track of two things: (1) Who is running for President and (2) How many delegates are committed in the Democrat’s race. John McCain has already wrapped up the Republican nomination and the other parties don’t have the primaries.

In terms of who is running, that is getting a little complicated. I periodically try to click on the links to make sure all the candidates are still running. Especially with the independent candidates I get the feeling there isn’t much going on. The pages don’t seem to be updated much but no pages have gone down and nobody has announced pulling out of the race. The one change is that there does seem to be some party hopping. Mike Gravel began the race as a Democrat but has switched to the Libertarian party. On the other side of the aisle, Alan Keyes has announced that he has left the Republican Party but I’m not sure where he is going. Since he is still running for President I’ll keep him with the Republicans until he announces where he is going. Also, Bob Barr has announced that he is thinking of running as a Libertarian but hasn’t decided. I’ll include him if/when he decides to run.

The delegate race is the same mess it’s been all along. I’ve removed the delegate count for the Republicans since there’s no longer a race. Almost every news outlet counts superdelegates who have committed to a candidate; I haven’t since they don’t need to commit until the convention and can change their minds.

It’s not the easiest thing in the world to keep up with this, but I have to confess that I’m loving it. Frankly, it’s democracy in action and I think the Founding Fathers (and Mothers) would be pleased to see it.

Reflections on Holy Thursday and Five Years of War

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In the Christian Calendar today is Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday, depending on your tradition. We Catholics read from the 13th Chapter of John’s Gospel where Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. Tonight at mass Fr. Jairo spoke eloquently about the need for leaders to be in service and not dominate.

Alas, this would have been a good sermon for President Bush to hear. As I reflect back on the 5 years we have been at war in Iraq I grieve for the 3992 of our brave men and women who have died (if you’re keeping track it’s 1675 since this time last year) but I also grieve for what our nation has become. It goes without saying that since the collapse of the Soviet Union nearly 20 years ago the United States stands alone as the world’s largest superpower. But in the last 8 years we have not used that power well. We have not been servants, but tyrants. We have treated our allies as subjects (and are puzzled when they do not cooperate with us). We have treated countries like Iran, North Korea, and others as blights on the world worthy only of destruction. And we have treated ourselves as the only country worthy of respect.

Our next president will have an immense job. He (or she) will have to reach out to our allies and mend fences; will have to reconcile with old enemies and prevent making new ones; will have to understand that science is not the enemy and we really do need to face up to global problems like warming and pollution. Our next president will have to see our economy as part of a larger world economy that ultimately should serve everyone, not just the wealthy.

We swear in a new president in 305 days and that day can’t come fast enough for me.

And the Delegate Winner Is…

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I’ve had great fun (right) trying to follow the delegate count in the election. After a fair amount of searching I decided to keep track of the pledged delegates only, knowing that the superdelegates don’t need to make their choice until the convention. I set up a table to show where each candidate was awarded delegates according to state. I also put a link on the left side of the page. I’ll keep keeping track.

The Prius Enters His "Terrible Two's"

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The beauty of buying a car on St. Patrick’s Day is that it’s easy to remember the anniversary. It was two years ago today that I bought my Prius. As of today I have 53,900 miles on it. That sounds pretty substantial and I guess it is, but given my job and the miles I drive for work, it’s not bad. If you’re interested in the math, that comes out to 26,950 per year, or 2,246 per month, or almost 74 miles per day. I’m still getting about 45 miles per gallon and I have one of those coveted stickers that allows me to drive alone in the carpool lanes. All in all, not a bad deal.

John McCain and John Hagee? If You Thought Anti-Catholic Thought Was Gone…

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I haven’t posted in a few weeks but I’ve been watching. I’ll have more thoughts on the primaries soon, but tonight I found something that is worth watching. John McCain is the presumptive Republican nominee. I don’t plan to vote for him and while I disagree with many of his positions, I do generally respect him. However he has embraced John Hagee who has preached some incredibly anti-Catholic messages. You can see this on YouTube:

It's Not Easy Being Green (OK, You Had to Know This Was Coming)

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Last August I wrote that I had heard from the John Bootie campaign thanking me for having a link to his website. I always think it’s a feather in my cap to see that anyone is actually reading this blog, even if it’s someone I disagree with (like John). A few days ago I heard from Matt Cleveland of the Green Party. He asked me to update the web page for Jesse Johnson which I gladly did. He also asked me to add a link to his page. He is providing web access to anyone who is running for office under the Green banner.

I had mixed emotions when I first looked at his site; he’s pretty angry with the Democratic Party for some actions that have prevented some Green candidates from having the access they need. I’m one of those Democrats who still harbors some resentment toward Ralph Nader in the 2000 election. But in fairness I’ve included links on my page for candidates I don’t like, and so I’m including this. If you’re someone who resonates with the Green platform and you’re interested in making a difference, contact Matt. He’s being pretty generous with bandwidth and I commend him.

From Super Tuesday to the Potomac Primaries, and Why Is the Delegate Count So Confusing?

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It’s now a week since Super Tuesday and it appears that the nomination picture is slowly coming into focus. On the Republican side Mitt Romney dropped out of the race; that made some sense as he and Mike Huckabee appeared to be splitting the social conservative vote. Interestingly enough his exit speech talked primarily about Iraq and the War on Terror which was never a major part of his campaign.

This has essentially paved the way for John McCain who is now the presumptive nominee of his party. You would think this would be good news for the GOP but it isn’t. Long simmering hatred of John McCain has boiled over, especially with Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter. I have to confess I don’t know much about what they are saying as I don’t have the stomach to listen or read very much.

I’m still trying to keep track of the delegates. It’s become dramatically more difficult and complicated than I thought. I’m writing this before we have the results of the Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. primaries, and as I write (for example), NPR gives Barack Obama 994 pledged delegates and 160 super delegates (for a total of 1,154). CNN gives him 1,181; MSNBC gives him 958. Finally Fox News gives him 1,154. Perhaps the best irony is that Fox News and NPR are the only organizations who agree.

I’m using NPR numbers simply because NPR is the news organization where I get most of my news. Right now I’m attempting to keep track of delegates using an Excel spreadsheet. It’s a good way of keeping track but this type of spreadsheet doesn’t translate well into html or xml. In future days I’m hoping to translate these numbers into a table that I can post.

Speaking of the delegate count, I’ve been doing some reading about why this is so confusing. Earlier I talked about how some places are using projections. I’m also learning a great deal about super delegates and uncommitted delegates. The best explanation I’ve heard is from the NPR show Fresh Air on January 31st. Terry Gross interviewed David Rohde from Duke University. Here is a synopsis of some of his points:

  • Several of the candidates who have since dropped out of the campaign had delegates. At the conventions those delegates can still vote for their candidate but don’t have to. They are essentially now free agents and can change their votes at will
  • The states of Florida and Michigan moved their primaries to January against the wishes of their parties. The Democrats say they will refuse to seat any delegates from those states and the Republicans will only seat half of them. That is what they are saying now but there is nothing to stop them from changing their minds and seating those delegates. That could prove to be a nightmare as several candidates didn’t campaign in those states
  • Of the delegates at the convention, the Democratic Party has designated 796 (20% of the total) as “super delegates.” They are senior members of the Democratic National Committee, current, and former office holders. Bill Clinton, by the way, is a super delegate. We can assume he will vote for Hillary and several of these politician have endorsed a candidate but nobody is bound to anyone until the convention.
  • In the Republican Party there are also super delegates, but each state can also allocate delegates who are uncommitted, regardless of who wins the primary or caucus.

Had enough? OK, this puts me at odds with many of my friends, but I love all this chaos and complication. It makes for a more interesting race. Hang on, we’ve got months of this stuff.