The Wright Stuff?

I heard a lot about Obama's recent speech called, "A more perfect union", so today I searched for and found the video.

Full text

George Lakoff is cuckoo for the speech. You can read his comments here.

Since deciding that I prefer Barak to Hillary I haven't felt conflicted. Hillary seems like she's angrily imploding while equating attacks against Obama with making the case for herself. It is not the same thing at all, otherwise my own criticism of the president Bush would qualify me as your president.

The way of the vegemite

Here is a 40-minute talk by Dr. Colin Campbell, author of "The China Study".

T. Colin Campbell Presentation

I have been mostly adopting a vegemite diet and so far it is going well. I say mostly because I am intent not to be a fanatic about this. Here is my outlook:

• I have meat in the freezer that I'm not going to throw out since an animal died to provide it. 

• If I'm going to do this, then one key is good recipes. I don't know how to cook vegemite dishes, so I've been perusing vegetarian cooking magazines. That has provided an influx of  ideas.

• Thinking about food like this has turned out to add a lot of interest to meals. One success was  the idea of fixing a nice meal, to both try out new recipes and to illustrate that a change like this doesn't have to be a martyr's experience. On the menu were stir-fry turnovers and sage/pumpkin-balls with white wine and then desert (a chocolate-pie with date-nut crust).  I think that was a good idea. Everything looked, smelled and tasted good and I was full.

• Cheese is really good on a lot of things and that will be tough to eliminate, perhaps even impossible for me. I think I'll reduce the amount of cheese I eat by using Parmesan cheese grated on things, as well as a sprinkling of nutritional yeast. It is a quality vs. quantity approach.

• I have no desire to become a fanatic about my diet. Life is short and uncertain and there are times when I am going to consume animal protein (i.e. holidays, Super-Bowl parties,  weddings). I'll leave horror, guilt, and shame to the vegans.

• I'll steer away from the fake-meat products, which usually look unappetizing and invite comparison. I want to strive to make food that tastes good in-and-of itself. Vegetables have a lot of color and flavor and simple techniques like roasting or sautéing develops them further. I don't think there is any need to make "meat-like" dishes and I believe this is a self-defeating approach given my experience with a Tofu "hot-dog". Anything more disgusting than a hotdog will only be found in my trash bins.

• Having said that, though, I have found a few substitutes that I like. I prefer the taste of rice milk to soy milk, and like Nature's Gate brand. I like Morning Star "chicken" nuggets. I also like WholeSoy & Co.'s soy frozen yogurt. So, I am not going to be fanatical about avoiding substitutes either.

• I really like soup and I'm going to figure out some good ones. I saw a Tuscan bean and green soup that looks good and French Onion soup ought to be possible.

So far this approach is working out well-enough for me. I have had a pizza with friends here, and burger at a BBQ joint there, but on the whole I have reduced the animal protein in my diet by a large magnitude. 

Simplicity Itself

Politicians are great at generating confusion when campaigning. Here is what I intend to keep in mind come November.

This is an election to pry power from the finger-tips of people that have abused it. If I live to be 140 years old I expect to never see economic, moral, and foreign policy failures of this magnitude, duration, and cost.

In short, I will vote for a gassy mule with a powder-horn in it's butt over a Republican in 2008, and that goes double for one so misguided as to see success when he looks at 4,000 deaths, 5 years, and no political progress.

Where in the world is Dick Cheney?

Vice president Dick Cheney's current tour du war includes stops in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jerusalem, and Turkey. You might ask yourself, "Self. What is Dick doin'?"

DEBKAfile, an Israeli-aligned intelligence-reporting site, reports that:

Our military, Washington and Gulf sources report that US Vice President Dick Cheney is again talking about possible US military action to shut down Iran’s covert nuclear program.

Full Details

I know it is late in the president Bush's term, but those incompetent violence-addicts need watching.

Dick

The past sez...

"Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God's service when it is violating all His laws. Our passions, ambitions, avarice, love and resentment, etc., possess so much metaphysical subtlety and so much overpowering eloquence that they insinuate themselves into the understanding and the conscience and convert both to their party."

- John Adams in a letter to Thomas Jefferson -

Reinhold Niebuhr, The Irony of American History (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1952), 21-22

The present illustrates...

Raddatz: Two-third of Americans say it’s [Iraq war] not worth fighting.

Cheney: So?

Raddatz: So? You don’t care what the American people think?

Cheney: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls. There has, in fact, been fundamental change and transformation and improvement for the better. That’s a huge accomplishment.

-Excerpt from an interview between Martha Raddatz, chief White House correspondent for ABC News, and vice president Dick Cheney in Oman. -

Source

I sez...

Shouldn't someone with Dick Cheney's record have more humility? 

Shouldn't a public servant in a democracy have a higher regard for the will of the people?

Dick Cheney reminds me more and more of "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il.

Delegate math

Barak Obama has 1413 pledged delegates and 208 super delegates for a total of 1621 delegates.

Hillary Clinton has 1242 pledged delegates and 237 super delegates for a total of 1479 delegates.

John Edwards has 18 pledged delegates.

Democratic candidates need 2024 delegates to win the nomination.
Obama therefore needs 403 more delegates (1621 + 403 = 2024).
Hillary needs 545 more delegates (1479 +545 = 2024).

3118 delegates awarded so far (1621 + 1479 + 18).
There are 4047 total delegates.
There are, then, 929 delegates remaining.

There are 566 pledged delegates left, ranked in descending delegate order below:

Pennsylvania has 158 delegates and votes on April 22nd
North Carolina has 115 delegates and votes on May 16th
Indiana has 72 delegates and votes on May 6th
Puerto Rico has 55 delegates and votes on June 7th
Oregon has 52 delegates and votes on May 20th
Kentucky has 51 delegates and votes on May 20th
West Virginia has 28 delegates and votes on May 13th
Montana has 16 delegates and votes on June 3rd
South Dakota has 15 delegates and votes on June 3rd
Guam has 4 delegates and votes on May 3rd

This means there are 363 super delegates remaining (929 - 566)

Now that we have the info we can look at the odds.

Obama needs 403 of the 929 remaining delegates, so he needs 43.38% of the total to win the nomination (403/929).

Hillary needs 545 of the 929 remaining delegates, so she needs 58.67% of the total to win the nomination (545/929).


Here are the places she garnered those kinds of pledged delegate numbers:

Hillary won 59.14% of the pledged delegates in Massassachusetts's (55 of 93).
Hillary won 59.91% of the pledged delegates in New York (139 of 232).
Hillary won 63.16% of the pledged delegates in Oklahoma (24 of 38).
Hillary won 66.66% of the pledged delegates in American Samoa (2 of 3).

Source

I cannot resist pointing out here that Democrats will be counting the votes in Guam, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa while ignoring those of Florida and Michigan.

God Talk

If you want to see someone reasonable discussing the athiest viewpoint, you can't do much better than this opening statement by Sam Harris:



This statement was part of a debate with Chris Hedges. You can view the full exchange here:

Truthdig discussion

Finally

Obama finally sat down with the Chicago press and answered all questions about Tony Rezko.

Details here


With that albatross flung off his neck I feel a lot better about candidate Obama.

So much so that I think I'll do a post shortly on delegate math and Hillary's predicament.

Determination

Here is a link to a video of Bill Moyers interviewing former journalist Sarah Chayes. She has been helping to rebuild Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban.

Hope is irrelevant

She seems like a remarkable woman and I admire her fortitude.

Woman in red

Vanessa Cariddi grew up in Maine and from a young age was captivated by opera. If you've ever traveled around rural Maine you'd know how improbable that was.

Knowing nothing about opera I will describe her voice as luscious. She appears in this video dressed in red and on the right:



Here is a link to her website: Vanessa Cariddi

I've seen enough of Hillary

I've decided that I've had enough of Hillary's campaign. She just drove me away with this bit of shameless, scorched-party groveling for votes:

"I think you'll be able to imagine many things Senator McCain will be able to say. He's never been the president, but he will put forth his lifetime of experience. I will put forth my lifetime of experience. Senator Obama will put forth a speech he made in 2002,"

Source: Clinton on her plane en route to Fort Worth from San Antonio.

Now I hope she loses in a rout.

ADDENDUM: So much for a Texas rout, but now Hillary has been caught exploiting racism.

Her desire to win now exceeds my desire to vote for her.

Whitewater too?

The worst-case scenario I can come up with for Democrats in 2008 goes something like this:

1. Obama locks up the nomination
2. The press suddenly realizes the Tony Rezko story (see here and here) is worth looking at after-all.
3. The trial becomes a circus, with Obama forced to testify.
4. John McCain plays the race card.
5. Al Sharpton rides in and kicks the hornets nest.

Maybe it is a good idea for Hillary not to concede the nomination after-all?

Jack Nicholson endorses Hillary

Here is a YouTube video of Jack Nicholson endorsing Hillary Clinton:

The one that got away...

As I watch the case of Roger Clemens unfold I am reminded of another public liar that got away. The one I am thinking of lied to the American people, the U.S. Congress, and our closest allies and the end result was another Vietnam.

On one hand, you have an aged and overweight pitcher sticking pharmaceuticals up his butt to extend his career, and on the other, casualties in the tens of thousands.

Which one finds room on Ms. Pelosi's table?

Turkish Invasion

Turkey has been attacking the Kurds in Northern Iraq:

Turks rolling along


The Kurds have managed to oversee one of the more stable areas of Iraq, probably because they hated Saddam Hussein so much (they were the "own people" in the sentence "He gassed his own people").

How will they view US inaction in the face of such an intrusion into the free and soverign, happy and virtuous, somewhat sandy Iraq?

What happens if the Turks mistake US soldiers for Kurds?

What happens if Iran decides to defend the Kurds?

What if the UN decides to send in peace-keeping troops (I know I'm being absurd)?

Isn't this story a little bit bigger than the attention it draws from the corporate media?

How much are the Kurds going to take?

Vegans

I mentioned earlier that I don't like the word "Vegan" and it's true. What I don't like is that vegan doesn't describe someone that eats a healthy diet, but rather a whole lifestyle.

Perhaps I should go with "plant eater", or the Latin version "plantaedere", or "herbivorous", or "vegemite"? Whatever the phrase it should identify someone that predominantly eats plants, but isn't going to say no to thanksgiving dinner with friends or proper superbowl fixin's.

I need a word that means adopting the food for its' health benefits without rigidity, while rejecting the vegan-culture.

I suppose Americans working for social change in the sixties who weren't interested in adopting hippie culture faced the same grammatical challenge. Society likes its' pigeon-holes. Either you are "anti-war" or a "hawk", and you're not expected to oppose dumb wars on their demerits without being pegged a dove.

C'est la vie.

Mission Accomplished?

In 2007 901 US soldiers died in Iraq. That is a 3.4% increase from 2006's 871 deaths (details here). There is also no foreseeable political progress being made (the ostensible reason for the escalation), Iraqis are neither safe nor free, and yet Osama still is.

However, the public is being sold on the idea that this constitutes a "success". It is clearly a marketing success, and one favoring John McCain, the presidential candidate with the most enthusiastic aspirations for escalating and extending our occupation.

Studying The China Study

I have been raised as a carnivore with a fondness for gravy. I enjoy bacon, and steaks, and pork chops, and lamb chops, and fried chicken, and brisket and pulled pork, and grilled salmon. I am sure that over a lifetime I am personally responsible for more than one barnyard's decimation. And I don't like the word vegan either.

But, I have been reading "The China Study" lately, a book about nutrition by T. Colin Campbell. It is a book which promotes a whole-grain, low-fat, vegetable based diet, the benefits of which include...

Living longer
Having more energy
Lowering blood cholesterol
Reversing heart disease
Preserving eyesight
Stronger bones
Avoiding impotence
Avoiding strokes
Prevention of kidney stones
Avoiding Alzheimer's
A lowered risk of prostate, breast, and other cancers
Avoiding arthritis
and it may help to prevent diabetes.

The evidence suppporting Dr. Campbell's findings is scientifically based, well presented, and startlingly clear. So much so, that I am reconsidering the way that I eat.

I am reminded of a passage from Plato's Gorgias, during which Socrates wishes to denounce oratory by comparing it with "cookery"...

"Cookery puts on the mask of medicine and pretends to know what foods are best for the body, and, if an audience of children or of men with no more sense than children had to decide whether a confectioner or a doctor is the better judge of wholesome or unwholesome foodstuffs, the doctor would unquestionably die of hunger. Now I call this sort of thing pandering and I declare that it is dishonourable - because it makes pleasure its aim instead of good, and I maintain that it is merely a knack and not an art because it has no rational account to give of the nature of the various things of which it offers. I refuse to give the title of art to anything irrational..."

Source: Gorgias

Why is it that desire and reason pull in opposite directions?

For now I am going to incorporate more vegetables and fruit into my diet and take things one meal at a time. I'll write about this book some more, and leave you with a handy link for more information:

The China Study

Singing Friday

Sung to the tune of Cocaine, by Eric Clapton

McCain

If you wanna end war you better not vote for; McCain
When Saddam is gone and you wanna fight on; McCain
It's no lie, It's no lie, It's no lie; McCain

If you wanna drop bombs, bombs on Iran; McCain
Don't forget this fact, we're still in Iraq; McCain
It's no lie, It's no lie, It's no lie; McCain

If you got bad news and wanna keep them blues; McCain
It's a pain in the ass all this expensive gas; McCain
It's no lie, It's no lie, It's no lie; McCain

He won't leave, He won't leave, He won't leave; McCain

U.M.

Mitt Out

Mitt Romney has decided to call it quits.

Details here
Read his speech here

Let's take a look at the math for the Republican race:

The total number of Republican delegates is 2,380
The total number of delegates awarded so far is 1,197
Therefore, there are 1,183 Republican delegates left

Republican candidates need 1,191 delegates to win

John McCain has 714 delegates
Therefore, John McCain needs 477 more delegates, or 40.32% of those remaining.

Mike Huckabee has 181 delegates
Therefore, Mike Huckabee needs 1,010 more delegates, or 85.38% of those remaining.

If all of Mitt Romney's delegates (286) should go to Mike Huckabee, then he will have 467 delegates.
Therefore, Mike would need 724 more delegates, or 61.20% of those remaining.

Ron Paul has 16 delegates.

I'll leave that math as an exercise for the reader