Not My Usual Day

Last week was a very fun week. Kristin was visiting for a week (for those who don't know, she's interning in Minnesota and living with my parents...maybe I mentioned that in a previous blog) and we did a lot of fun things.
saw this
went here
ate here
started reading this
and attended this


as well as work on our "patio garden" and eat some good cheese/drink a VERY TASTY Belgian style ale from the Wine Source

Now, it's just me again...one is the loneliest number.

-N

This is bothering me

I'm sure most of you have heard of Genarlow Wilson. If you haven't he's been serving something like a 10 year sentence for having consensual oral sex with a 15 year-old girl; he was 17. In Georgia, apparently that's a felony. Do I think he deserves 10 years, probably not. Maybe a good butt-kicking, but 10 years seems excessive.

That's not really the part that's bothering me; the oversight of some critical details by the media is what is. The reason that I'm writing a 2nd entry today is because I just saw another bit on CNN about this "poor, angelic" kid. I guess there was a rally today in Atlanta calling for "equal justice" and for him to be freed or his sentence reduced (WHICH OF COURSE I DON"T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH!!!!). The media makes this kid look like a card carrying member of the local MENSA-Saturday-morning-chess-club. They always seem to overlook the fact that this kid was at a hotel party getting drunk (accepted information) and stoned (speculative; no concrete evidence) with a bunch of other kids while engaging in orgies of all manners. To top it off, the fools video taped the whole thing. It sounds more like a Sturgis Rally rather than the game of "spin the bottle" the media makes it seem like.
I think Michel Martin has some great commentary on this and the Duke Lacrosse cases.
Should the kid be locked up for 10 years? No...but c'mon, he certainly isn't this.

-N

I'm done...

I can't do it anymore...I just cannot hide my contempt for the President anymore. Being that I work in news, I hear about wire-tapping and "pardons" and executive privileges all day long. Sometimes it's hard to filter out all of the analysis and commentary, but I'd like to think I do a reasonable job of just listening to the President's comments. I've listened to many, many clips of the President in the past two weeks, so I've had a lot of exposure to his, and other's thoughts on his, positions. As I'm sitting here, I'm combing through clips of his latest press conference, and it's maddening. (Oh, the Chairman got me thinking it was time to write about this. I think he offers a good view, especially from the perspective of one who has become more skeptical of the Bush Administration...if I may characterize him as such). I have to be careful because I could spend MONTHS listening to old audio clips, so I'll highlight one of the many, many things that I think are problematic.
For those who don't know, Congress submitted a bill that requires "satisfactory" progress on 18 benchmarks to be made by September. First of all, I have problems with the word "satisfactory." Anyone who has ever been to school knows that "satisfactory" implies that you did just enough to get by. Take, for example, a pass/fail grading option. In order to pass, one needs to receive at least a "satisfactory" grade of a "C" or higher (the standard "C" range is from 70%-79% accuracy...or is it precision? whatever...). In most settings, not a lot is required of one to obtain a "satisfactory" level (OF COURSE I am not a fool and realize that there are plenty of objectives for which a satisfactory level is next to impossible to attain). I think that the people of Iraq, and our men and women in the service, deserve better than "satisfactory."

President Bush said on Thursday:
"Today my Administration has submitted to Congress an interim report, that requires us to assess, and I quote the, the bill, whether 'satisfactory progress towards meeting these benchmarks is, or is not being achieved.' Of the 18 benchmarks Congress asked us to measure, we can report that satisfactory progress is being made in 8 areas"

What!?? 8 out of 18? So far, that's about 44% accuracy-decidedly NOT satisfactory (which, as stated earlier, I don't believe to be a high enough standard to begin with). YES, I know that these are to be met by September, but go to the lower right corner of your desktop and double click the time; you'll open up a calendar. September is 7 weeks away!

Low standards, lack of implementation and disregard for public opinion are very problematic for the Bush White House. These factors, combined with statements made by the President that he will let the generals, not politicians, dictate the Iraq timetable-along with reinforcing how HE is the Commander-in-Chief and how HE has a feeling about Iraq, etc, etc, drive me insane.

So, I'm done. My name is Nick, and I don't like the President. There...it's out in the open. Don't judge me.

-N

Check this report out on the BBC

4th in the capital

Well, the 4th turned out to be pretty interesting here in DC (other than having to work my usual 7-3 shift). After I was done working, I decided to go down to the Mall before going to a co-worker's house for a bar-b-que. I headed out, forgetting about the 6-pack of beer in my backpack. When I tried to pass through the checkpoint, I was handcuffed and made to stand in a "quarantine" area for minor violations (which so happened to be next to all of the porta-potties...in the sun...hundreds of thousands of people...) while they ran a background check on me. An hour-and-a-half later, one six-pack of beer shorter and one $250 ticket "richer," I left for the bar-b-que...Ok, so I made all of that up...nothing happened, but boy would that be a good story (I especially liked the "quarantine area by the crappers" part). What I really did was read the signs that said "no glass, no alcohol" and decided to not go anywhere near the mall.

The picnic was lots of fun; lots of good food, free beer, etc. Besides 1 other guy, I was the youngest one there by about 6 years. I met all sorts of interesting people: one worked for the DOJ, one for the State Department...one guy was even working for a firm that was building/trying to lobby for hydrogen fuel cells! This other guy, I forget what he does for a living, was an amateur bee-keeper (sweet!).

After the cookout (and sans beer), I walked back to the mall and caught the fireworks show. I would recommend that everyone see it at least once-it was spectacular! The Washington Monument and the Mall were an excellent backdrop for the show.

I'm a little "brain-drained" today so, that's it for now...



-N

Gettysburg

Being that I am alone this summer, I have a lot of spare time on my hands (and one can only have so much fun playing with two generally non-responsive cats). I have decided to, with that spare time, hop in my car on my days off and just drive to a random destination. Monday, July 2nd, I went to Gettysburg.

First of all, the drive there was fantastic! I took several back country roads there (not the most direct route, but beautiful). I drove past farms, 2 vineyards and through many colonial-era towns. Of particular interest to my nerdy, horticultural side was the abundance of Day Lilies; in some areas, they were comparable to fields of dandelions back in Minnesota.

In the few hours I was in Gettysburg, I learned a lot about the Civil War. The first thing that surprised me was that the "Battle of Gettysburg" happened July 2-4, 1863. It was very sobering standing on the fields where thousands of men were losing their lives exactly 144 years before. I also saw homes where former military personnel lived and brick buildings still showing scars from bloody shootouts.

Perhaps the most unexpected feelings were those of shock...maybe even a little disgust. To the best of my knowledge, Gettysburg is NOT a Confederate town (it is just above the Mason Dixon Line, but there is a strong sense of "Southern Pride" there. I noticed several Confederate flags flying; one of particular note had "I'm not coming down" stitched across the bottom. Also, traveling around the battlefield, there were many, many Confederate flags and "First National Flag of the Confederacy" flags (I had never seen this last one before Monday).

Maybe I'm confused, but haven't the Confederate flags become signs of racism? I realize that some people reject this concept and say that it is just a symbol of "Southern Pride," but come on...The Civil War was fought mostly (I believe) because 11 "rogue" Southern states felt that they were entitled to keep, nay, own, slaves. Those flags are symbols of that army and thus that polluted ideology. I understand that people are proud of where they come from, but you don't see (normal) people in Germany flying Nazi flags? Japanese citizens flying the "Kamikaze" flags? (side note: I'm listening to Bush talk about the current war right now...it's funny how he turns everything that is supposed to honor our troops into a platform for the war. Anyway...)
The other striking thing was that I did not see ONE person of color the whole time I was there; not on the battle field, not in the town, not in the war relics shop...Again, who can blame them? I wouldn't want to go somewhere people still flew banners that reminded me of how my ancestors were treated as property.

I'll stop now. I just wanted to share some thoughts.
I feel a new interest in the Civil War brewing inside me. Maybe I'll make trips to other Civil War battlefields this summer.

N


Here's a kludged-together panoramic of part of the battlefield

Vacation pics

Pics of the wedding, bar-b-que and yes, McGyver in a diaper. Sorry they're disorganized...