I can’t remember the last time I voted for a Republican. I know I have in the past but it has probably been 5 or 10 years. In each election I carefully look at all the candidates and read their statements, websites, and I look at various organizations that I trust for their endorsements.
I look for candidates whose values match my values. And for the past several elections, the Republican candidates on my ballots seem to be getting more divergent from my values. Although on many topics, I lean towards the ideals of Democratic candidates, on several topics I lean conservative (for example, I support nuclear power, a strong military, free trade, and a flat tax).
I agree with Andrew Sullivan, who, in his blog, lists 12 reasons why he cannot support most current Republican candidates (thanks to Louis for pointing out this article):
I cannot support a movement that claims to believe in limited government but backed an unlimited domestic and foreign policy presidency that assumed illegal, extra-constitutional dictatorial powers until forced by the system to return to the rule of law.
I cannot support a movement that exploded spending and borrowing and blames its successor for the debt. I cannot support a movement that so abandoned government’s minimal and vital role to police markets and address natural disasters that it gave us Katrina and the financial meltdown of 2008.
I cannot support a movement that holds torture as a core value.
I cannot support a movement that holds that purely religious doctrine should govern civil political decisions and that uses the sacredness of religious faith for the pursuit of worldly power.
I cannot support a movement that is deeply homophobic, cynically deploys fear of homosexuals to win votes, and gives off such a racist vibe that its share of the minority vote remains pitiful.
I cannot support a movement which has no real respect for the institutions of government and is prepared to use any tactic and any means to fight political warfare rather than conduct a political conversation.
I cannot support a movement that sees permanent war as compatible with liberal democratic norms and limited government.
I cannot support a movement that criminalizes private behavior in the war on drugs.
I cannot support a movement that would back a vice-presidential candidate manifestly unqualified and duplicitous because of identity politics and electoral cynicism.
I cannot support a movement that regards gay people as threats to their own families.
I cannot support a movement that does not accept evolution as a fact.
I cannot support a movement that sees climate change as a hoax and offers domestic oil exploration as the core plank of an energy policy.
I cannot support a movement that refuses ever to raise taxes, while proposing no meaningful reductions in government spending.
I cannot support a movement that refuses to distance itself from a demagogue like Rush Limbaugh or a nutjob like Glenn Beck.
I cannot support a movement that believes that the United States should be the sole global power, should sustain a permanent war machine to police the entire planet, and sees violence as the core tool for international relations.
Tonight I listened to President Obama’s speech to the cadets at West Point. In general, I was very pleased to hear that he is planning on increasing our effort in that country to go after terrorist organization Al Qaeda and the Taliban who support them. I agree that our efforts in Afghanistan have been adversely affected by our mistaken focus on Iraq. I think we took our eye off the ball by going into Iraq and it ended up being a huge and costly distraction from getting the terrorists that attacked us in 2001. I agree that we need to work closely with the Pakistanis on their side of the border to avoid giving Al Qaeda and the Taliban a refuge.
The one problem I had with the speech was the plan to begin returning troops in 18 months during Summer of 2011. I’m concerned that is not enough time to get the Afghan troops on their feet. Hopefully, his following statement indicates we go longer in needed (emphasis mine, link):
But taken together, these additional American and international troops will allow us to accelerate handing over responsibility to Afghan forces, and allow us to begin the transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011. Just as we have done in Iraq, we will execute this transition responsibly, taking into account conditions on the ground. We’ll continue to advise and assist Afghanistan’s security forces to ensure that they can succeed over the long haul. But it will be clear to the Afghan government — and, more importantly, to the Afghan people — that they will ultimately be responsible for their own country.
I hope this indicates that the troops will come home only after Al Qaeda and the Taliban are run into the ground. I’m sure some people will complain that the troops aren’t coming home yet and others will predictably attack the President for taking too long to decide or having a plan for withdrawal but this war has been going on for eight years. This war is older than both my kids. We need to get serious, go after the enemy, and finish them off.
Both these cases were my kids. They’re fine and this was taken back in July.
I avoided getting infected from them but plan on getting the H1N1/09 vaccine as soon as it is available. I had two bad cases of the seasonal flu in the last decade and never want to experience it again. Here is a good article on how the vaccine is manufactured and why it is later than expected. People who are concerned that the vaccine is “new” or “rushed” should note that this method of vaccine manufacture has been in use since the 1940s.
I knew I wasn’t supposed to be running the air conditioner today. From the National Weather Service:
… Daily record high minimum temperature broken in Las Vegas…
… Monthly record high minimum temperature tied in Las Vegas…
The low temperature in Las Vegas on Friday November 6 2009 was 62 degrees. Not only did this break the daily high minimum temperature which was 57 degrees set in 1970… but it also tied for the warmest low temperature ever recorded in November. The 62 degree low temperature reading also occurred on November 8 2002… November 12 1983… and November 13 1981.
This record is preliminary pending certification by the National climatic data center.
Well, it continued to be dry here in Syzdekistan. I recorded no rain in October, but I did see a few sprinkles around the valley and our yearly total stands at 1.85 with most of that falling in February. Below the fold is the official climatic summary from the National Weather Service. One interesting note is that the Weather Service Office in Las Vegas serves a huge area: all of Southern Nevada, most of southeastern California, and some of northwestern Arizona. Most of it is desert but there are some high elevations including part of the Sierra Nevada and the highest point in the lower 48 states. So the temperature extremes, especially in a month like October with wildly mixed weather, can be very extreme. [Read more →]
The more I think about it, the more I realize that the U2 show last weekend was the best concert I have been to. Great seats, great sound, amazing stage setup that added to the performance of the band, and a band that really loves what they do all came together for a perfect night. Wikipedia has a good article about the stage setup and it answers some of the questions I had about the stage. There are three stage sets being leapfrogged on the tour, they use 120 tractor trailer rigs to move it, and the band is offsetting the carbon dioxide produced in moving around all that huge equipment.
Here are some pictures I took of the stage. One was during the break between the Black Eyed Peas and the U2 shows. The second is right after the concert at 23:50 and the final is about 0:26 as they are breaking it down.
I just had the pleasure of seeing U2 play here in Vegas. I’ve seen U2 several times before and they never cease to amaze me. This show had great sound and an incredible stage set up. Wired has a look at their stage set up. It was amazing.
