Michelle and I arrived in Seattle last night at 11:00pm local time. I dozed off and on through the flight whereas Michelle mostly flopped around, unsuccessfully seeking some comfortable position. Nary an empty seat on the plane (which they switched at the last second to add more capacity which left Michelle and I in a 3-person row rather than the 2 person row we hoped for).

We got to the airport super early, fearing that July 3 would be a day with long lines. Nope. At least not at night. So we had lots of time at the gate and I got some reading done.

Staying at Orf's place north of Seattle - he picked us up at the airport last night. Always great to spend the car ride laughing and catching up. He has a great townhouse but the wireless network doesn't like either of my laptops (yeah, I had to bring two cuz I'm working while on vacation - Michelle says I'm a giant dork, but there are people I should see while I am out here).

Now for some magazine followup...

The 9 July, 2008, issue of The New Republic had some stories worth mentioning this week (they always have stories worth reading). Got a kick out of "Terror Firma" by Jonathan Chait, in part because of its nods to Stephen Colbert.

It doesn't matter that Obama never said, or even implied, that legal prosecution should be the sole method of preventing terrorism. The fact that he even mentioned prosecution apparently proves that he has what McCain's campaign called a "September 10th mindset."

Yet some logical flaws with this analysis present themselves. (And yes, I realize that the mere fact that I would intellectualize this issue, rather than understanding it in my gut, proves that I too have a September 10th mindset.) First, terrorists often operate in our country, or in friendly countries, which makes military action against them tricky. McCain (through his campaign blog) assailed Obama for favoring "prosecutors rather than predators." But, when the terrorists are holed up in New York City, as was the case with the 1993 bombers Obama referred to, simply arresting them strikes me as more efficient than leveling their apartment with a drone-fired missile.

From there, I turn next to "Deconstructing Barry" by Andrew Delbanco for a reminder of why I like Obama so much. Despite my frustration with his recent TOTAL SELLOUT to the Telecom companies by supporting retroactive immunity for their subservience to the Bush Administration and its Constitution-what-Constitution? approach to a few chickenfuckers from the Middle East (I suspect i have started to digress) ...

At any rate. Lately I have needed to be reminded why I still think this Obama guy is worth caring about and supporting. Delbanco reminds me that Obama understands the nuances of modern America.

[quoting Obama's Dreams from My Father] - "Most evangelicals are more tolerant than the media would have us believe, most secularists more spiritual" ... "most rich people want the poor to succeed, and most of the poor are more self-critical and hold higher aspirations than the popular culture allows." When he scans the human landscape, Obama tends to notice contradictory individuals more than coherent interest groups. His sentences are alive because they are in tension with themselves:

I imagine the white Southerner who growing up heard his dad talk about niggers this and niggers that but who has struck up a friendship with the black guys at the office and is trying to teach his own son different, who thinks discrimination is wrong but doesn't see why the son of a black doctor should get admitted into law school ahead of his own. Or the former Black Panther who decided to go into real estate, bought a few buildings in the neighborhood, and is just as tired of the drug dealers in front of those buildings as he is of the bankers who won't give a loan to expand his business. There's the middle- aged feminist who still mourns her abortion, and the Christian woman who paid for her teenager's abortion ...

And finally, an article that I will not quote from but which I wanted to point out to my fellow sports lovers. Jason Zengerle writes about a man campaigning against the NCAA for profiting on athletes while doing too little to make sure they get educated. Interesting piece.

Tonight, Michelle and I are heading out to Seattle for a vacation. I am hoping to get down to Salem to hi to OR-OSHA friends but I'm not sure how long we will be in Oregon. We'll be flying by plane at first and by the seat of our pants for the rest of the trip!

Chanda notified me that a bunch of the photos were missing. I fixed it - The best photos are now available - check that last photo on page 5 and pages 6 and 7.

Quote James upon the credit roll of Hancock

So far, the summer has disappointed me when it comes to bad movies. They have been good! Wanted was way better than expectations, and now Hancock was also quite entertaining.

I expected to laugh at Will Smith and enjoy his comedy carrying the movie. But it did not entirely rest upon his talents. And joy of joy - Charlize Theron is in a scene wearing a loose tank top with MACALESTER in the blue and orange!

BLUE AND ORANGE
BLUE AND ORANGE
OUR COLORS ARE
BLUE AND ORANGE
THERE ARE NO WORDS THAT RHYME WITH ORANGE
GOOOOOOO MAC!

Turns out Peter Berg - the film-making Mac Grad did Hancock. Hats off to you Mr. Berg! After reading a few reviews, I really did not expect such an engaging story line. And the plot twists took me by surprise - though I found out in the car ride home that Michelle figured out some of them before hand.

Good stuff. Will be buying that one on DVD.

Updated: Interesting interview with Pioneer Press - with some hints about deleted scenes that look fun.

Months ago, I watched PBS's Frontline series called "Bush's War." I meant to put up a well thought-out post, discussing the insanity of the last 7 years since 9/11 when the Bush Administration and Congress began wetting the bed each night due to fears of terrorists.

This series offers many insights into the war and how the Bush Administration made the worst foreign policy decisions in the history of this country. And I might note that this never should have happened - the Republican Congress, aided by Democrats, refused to honor the Constitution and simply allowed BushCo to do whatever they wanted sans oversight.

You can watch the entire series online - and more. Please do. The first amendment is meaningless if citizens refuse to educate themselves and take advantage of these investigations.

A final note - the same people who have steadfastly refuse to admit that anything was going wrong in Iraq are now telling us that everything is better. It isn't. And Afghanistan is heating up. Just because Iraq is no longer on the nightly news does not mean we can now ignore it.

The next administration had better investigate the hell out of Bush and friends.

The explosion was more of a CRACK than a BOOM or even the KABLOOMY I hoped for. It was actually a stunning experience. Missed what this is about? Read about it here.

I put my smokestack demolition photos on flickr and in my gallery.

And finally, the smoke drifted over downtown St. Paul.

Update:The best video I've seen thus far is from the Strib which shows just how slow it goes down.

Also, a video from the explosion...

Photos from visiting the Klinks in Texas. With captions!

I allowed KARE11 - the local NBC affiliate to use a photo I took of Macalester's golf coach for a story about her competing in the LPGA Tour this weekend.

Watch for the Sport Shot Photo credit.

God, I am pumped to see this movie. Also, Will Smith is awesome. But maybe not that quick? Does Stephen stump him at the end? He looks damn confused, not sure if he is acting or not. Don't think he was...

Historically, laws relating to things like obscenity have skirted first amendment concerns by using "community standards" to decide when something is beyond the pale and receives less legal protection.

But how does one know what community standards are? Is it what people confess to or what they really do when they think no one is watching? Well, Google is ALWAYS watching - if you are someone like me who has traded privacy for the stunning array of services that google offers.

So, can a court use a community's search history to decide what community standards are?

I hope so - because the community standards are traditionally defined by what people would admit to in church, not what they really do. If people really admitted to what they do in private, you would know that outrage against things like pornography is largely theatre.