1. Grab the book nearest you. Right now. Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST. 2. Turn to page 56. 3. Find the fifth sentence. 4. Post that sentence along with these instructions in your LiveJournal.
I usually don't do the meme thing but I felt prompted to do this one. It has proven quite uncanny:
"And now concerning my servant Parley P. Pratt, behold, I say unto him that as I live I will that he shall declare my gospel and learn of me, and be meek and lowly of heart" -Doctrine and Covenants, Section 32.
It's interesting because Parley P. Pratt is my great-great-great-great grandfather. For those unaware, the Doctrine and Covenants is part of the Mormon Canon and many of it's sections contained revelations for specific members or apostles of the early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Given in late 1830, Section 32 was a mission call for Parley P. Pratt and a few other Mormon Elders to preach the gospel to the Lamanites (the term Mormons used for Native Americans).
The Elders didn't have any measurable success with the various Native American tribes, but in their travels through Ohio, they encountered a Baptist minister and taught and ultimately baptized most of his congregation. It's a good reminder that despite the seeming fruitlessness of our current task, it leads us to other opportunities.
I think almost 2 years ago before the primaries I predicted that the Republican nominee was going to be one of 3 people: George Pataki, Mike Huckabee, or Mitt Romney. McCain wasn't even an afterthought. I went on the assumption that recent electoral trends favored executive over legislative records, thus the 3 governors. However, for the first time since Nixon or Kennedy will a Senator leave the capital straight for the Oval Office.
I thought Pataki's no loss record in prior political battles could propel him forward and put New York into play. Apparently, he wasn't as confident as I was.
Huckabee exceeded my expectations in many ways including how much support and attention he received with so little budget. However, he also disappointed me, with his identity based politics and subtle anti-Mormon bigotry he and his followers injected into the primary. I still think he's going places. Just not the White House.
And Romney. I won't list the myriad of explanations and theories of why he didn't win. With a crowded field and so many variables, the sum total was too much for him to overcome. But I noted that he quickly conceded and reconciled to his main opponent McCain. Additionally, Romney ate the remainder of his campaign debt, thus allowing donors to give more freely to his once rival. This is a an example that Huckabee and Clinton failed to follow in putting aside their egos and doing what's best for their party.
I could pontificate ad infinitum on politics with my perfect hindsight, but instead I will prognosticate once more. Which brings us to the graphic above. Which of these dozen or more figures will join the McCain ticket?
I'll start off with the (relatively) left field choices: Powell, Lieberman, and Ridge. These are the most daring choices for McCain. He would be betting that more independent voters would balance out the base sitting out the election. The men are pro-choice or affirmative action, and have their own differences with both major political parties. To choose any of them would be most risky, least likely, but highly rewarding if done right.
Next up are the also-rans: Giuliani and Thompson. Huckabee technically should belong in this category but certain gaffes and joking about guns pointed at Obama immediately disqualify him from any serious consideration. I think Giuliani has a chance of making the bottom of the ticket despite his terrible primary performances. Biden's awful performance and gaffes didn't prevent Obama from selecting him. Though, the one good quip Biden had made fun of Giuliani's propensity for all things 9-1-1. Thompson stands less of a chance, though he would solidify the base more than most of the other possibilities.
Now for the women: Palin, Hutchison, Whitman, and Fiorina. All strong women who are or have been in important executive positions. Despite senator Hutchison's long career in the Senate, McCain would benefit more from having the younger governor of Alaska Sarah Palin to balance out the ticket. Whitman and Fiorina, former CEO's of eBay and HP probably won't help with the recent meme of too many houses equals bad. As sad as it is true, the woman pick would be perceived as more identity politics and would probably help or give a better excuse for disaffected Hillary voters to pull the lever for the other side. If McCain chooses a woman, it'll definitely be Palin.
Finally, for the most likely choices: Pawlenty or Romney. There is not much I know about the 2nd term Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty. He was preceded by former pro-wrestler Jesse Ventura. He also has a cool nickname: T-Paw. There is no guarantee that choosing a running mate from a certain state, let alone having the national convention in Minnesota will deliver that state come November. To choose Pawlenty would be the epitome of the 'do no harm' mantra. The base won't be terribly excited, not because of his record so much, but they'll have no clue who he is.
I'm torn on whether I want Romney on the ticket or not. Part of me wants Romney to wait it out on the chance that McCain loses. Former VP candidates don't do too well after they lose (see Walter Mondale, Bob Dole, Dan Quayle, John Edwards, etc. To hitch onto the straight talk express would be all or nothing for Romney's political aspirations. Four years is not too long to build up support and overcome his weaknesses. But Romney balances McCain in many ways: executive experience in both private industry and government, intimate understanding of the economy, and a successful track record of fixing failing enterprises. To choose Romney would be to choose competency. The man exudes it.
I know much will be made over the 'out of touch' nature and 'too many houses' meme, but Romney also has a great ability for classily diffusing gotchas of that nature. When Chris Matthews asked Romney how many he houses he owned, Romney quickly responded "One less than John Kerry". Not only did he redirect the question towards the other party, but he also subtly reminded Americans of the hypocrisy of Democrats who elected a patrician politician yet complain when another owns too many houses. Another problem for Democrats and their glass house full of stones is the fact that their nominee's home purchase was facilitated by a convicted felon in a shady manner.
I'm sure if Romney were chosen that a half dozen prepared commercials will run with Romney criticizing McCain with various amounts of context omitted. However the words are twisted, you will never find Romney going so far as saying McCain was not qualified to lead the country like Biden said regarding Obama.
Perhaps Romney's biggest problem is the flip-flopping image the media has tarnished on him. Yes, I know Romney has shifted on a number of issues, particularly at convenient times in his political career. But what I don't see him doing is shifting back and forth like flip-flopping implies. Another thing I don't see him doing is holding multiple positions at once like Kerry's infamous 'I was for the war before I was against it' or Hillary Clinton's back and forth on permits for illegal aliens during the primaries.
But if Democracts make position-changing an issue, then they're on the short end of the stick again. With Obama, there's no end to the flips or flip-flops. Just off the top of my head he changed his mind on the FISA wire-tapping bill, constitutionality of gun bans, justification of death penalty, decriminalization of marijuana, the Cuba embargo, Iraq pullout time line, NAFTA support, and campaign finance. Just words indeed. He truly is the candidate of change.
Final verdict is: McCain can win this with or without Romney. Romney brings a lot to the table, but so will many of the others I've already mentioned. We should also never underestimate the ability of the Democrats to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Hillary's prolonged primary push as well as the lackadaisical choice of Biden are further evidence of hubris and miscalculation inherent within the Democratic party. Having the Republican convention later will also help steal a lot of the thunder from the Obama nomination and could generate a nice bump beyond parity in the match-up polls. It's going to be an exciting from now until November and no matter what your political inclinations are, there's no excuse not to be involved.
P.S. I know that VA congressmen Eric Cantor isn't likely to be VP, but I just had to throw his name in on the offhand chance he is selected so all my bases are covered. McCain's running mate WILL be someone who I mentioned here tonight!
P.P.S. Bobby Jindal is another of my favorite young governors who will be going lots of places. But for now, he'll be staying in Louisiana to take on hurricanes and corruption. He even said he'll skip the convention should hurricane Gustav venture towards Louisiana. I'm certain he'll do much better than a heckuva job should it come to that.
Welcome to the world Rouena Mary Driggs! Relevant statistics are 7 lbs 4 oz, 21 inches, born June 3rd at 9:36 pm. Labor took under 4 hours and there was no tearing or stitches. Home birth (and extremely competent midwives) are the way to go.
So, now we have a 2 1/2 year old daughter with a preponderance of consonants in her name (Elspeth) and also a girl with many vowels (Rouena). We found that by spelling it with a 'u' instead of a 'w', people are more likely to pronounce it that way we like. Elspeth in typical cute toddler fashion has contracted her name to 'Weh-na' while Mom occasionally calls her Ro-chan. Too cute. Her middle name is in honor of my mother who passed away in 2002.
We've finally achieved some semblance of a regular schedule of feedings and diaper changes, just in time for me to start summer term. So, if no one hears from me in a while, it's because I'm studying/moving/whatever amongst other things.
It's been a tough time for us the past year. Shortly afterwards, I picked up some sort of mystery illness which would have me starting out everyday ok, but developing a fever in excess of 100 almost every single night. This went on for well more than a month. I overcame it finally a few days after seeing a doctor and the strep test came back negative. Go figure. To this day, I have no idea what the disease was.
Then we had another miscarriage, I had lots of school, I was an organizer on the Utah College Exit Poll committee, and so forth... In short, it's been a busy year.
But things are looking good right now. We are currently in the 21st week of pregnancy with a little girl on the inside. All milestones are within normal parameters and she is kicking pretty frequently (a good sign for concerned parents). The due date is sometime in late May, just in time for my Memorial Day weekend birthday.
A new semester has also recently started. I'm teaching 2 labs for the Stats 221 class. Yes, I am a wielder of the red pen. I'd tell you some crazy answers I've had to grade, but it might be a FERPA violation.
So, expect more activity from my general direction, if not periodically, at least occasionally. :)
I've had a lot of thoughts since the atrocities committed yesterday on Virginia Tech's campus. I can't say I was personally invested in anyone currently there. My brother went there briefly back in the 90's. I've been to Blacksburg a few times and have always rooted for them during the Commonwealth Bowl. But even being so far removed, it hits me hard how so much potential could be wiped away so viciously. It's going to be really hard for all the families, friends, community, and college to rebuild and come to grips with this. It is why I do not want to hijack this loss for a political rant. Besides Paul Roberts sums up my feelings pretty well: http://www.lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts204.html.
However, it's been barely 24 hours, and already you have people playing political football with the dead. Jack Thompson (nemesis of gamers everywhere) has pointed the finger once again to interactive entertainment (aka murder simulators). Even Dr Phil has been echoing the video game theory. In addition, you have the knee-jerk disarm everyone/arm everyone fringes battling eachother just like the last time a shooting occurred. Even students are attacking their administrators for failing to react to an unprecedented attack. The students should be allowed to hold their administrators to higher standards and expectations, but the faculty are not to blame for the killings. The blame and malice lays squarely on Cho Seung Hui.
I think Seneca's comments from 2 millenia ago are still applicable today: Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est. A sword never kills anybody; it’s a tool in the killer’s hand.
http://www.poe-news.com/features.php?feat=31845 Now that Ex-Secretary Rumsfeld has more time on his hands, he can retreat to a monastary and perfect his martial arts techniques. His handling of the Iraq War may not be missed, but his various gesticulations surely will be.
So, I heard from my cousin's friend's doctor's ex wife's nephew's former roommate that Osama Bin Laden is dead. What does that mean? Absolutely nothing! From UPI this morning: "According to Saudi intelligence sources cited by a French newspaper, which in turn claims to have obtained a document leaked to them by French counter-intelligence services" regarding Osama's death. How many degrees of separation is that? Four, if you're counting the UPI piece. I'm sure there's some mathematical formula which states that the validity of a news report is inversely proportional to the distance it has traveled. I don't believe he's dead until there is some hard evidence such as a body...or body parts. For reference, the original article can be found here: http://aelo.fr/index.html. It should be apparent what 'Ousama Ben Laden serait mort' means.
Now let us suppose he is dead. Al-Qaeda is not going to do a press release saying "Our glorious leader courageously died in a hospital cot, all the while vexing the infidel". They are going to keep this on the down-low in order to maximize the fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD?) in Western nations. Osama was always more effective as a bogeyman than doing any day-to-day operations. He is so removed from running Al-Qaeda that it really does not matter whether he is alive or not. For all we know, he has been dead for years and the news has been broadcasting the 'Best of Osama' unreleased B-sides remix tapes.
On the home-front, however, I have been inundated with nutty conspiracy theories that Osama is alive and well (or unwell) in a CIA prison or he is still on the CIA bankroll helping to bolster the president's approval ratings (that plan sure isn't working if that were the case). It's been a perennial joke how many times I heard that Bush is waiting for the right moment to reveal Osama's capture. An October Surpise as it were. Well, the time to use it would have been 2 years ago and I don't know how much a lame-duck president cares about mid-terms, but I think we can discount those theories.
Regardless of Osama Bin Laden's mortality, there are still thousands of secret Al-Qaeda operatives throughout the world planning and waiting for their next attack(s). Assassinating their leadership will be as effective as chopping off the Hydra's head; another head or two will spring into place. We need to bring the 'War on Terror' more to all fronts, particularly to the social and economic ones. I am willing to bet that if most Muslim countries had unemployment rates below 10%, terrorist conscription rates would plummet. We also need to cultivate a better ecumenical environment with moderate Muslim leaders. Namely, helping them recognize or tell the rest of their religion that Sharia does not govern the whole Earth. All the while, the Western World should not deliberately seek to offend Islam and it's adherents, Muslim nations should not be so quick to seek offense. I could go on, but I'd like to hear some more thoughts on the matter.
I just read this on the DIGG queue a few moments ago, though it seems to be true through independent sources. Normally I am leary of hearing celebrity deaths through sites like DIGG and Wikipedia. Just a week ago, I recall seeing that Andy Rooney of 60 minutes was mauled by a drugged bear (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Andy_Rooney&diff=72556782&oldid=72546025). After a few fruitless internet searches, I called BS on the ursine marauder. Since nothing corroborated the story the graffiti was quickly tagged over and forgotten. However this new story 'bears' true. As I have written this blog post, the news sources have escalated from 2 to 116 and it is now currently the number 1 story on Google News. Amazing how news travels these days. As for Steve Irwin, the man, the legend, the lunatic, I'm a little surprised I haven't seen this headline years ago. In a way, his life mirrors Timothy Treadwell, recently proclaimed 'Grizzly Man', who spent 13 years of his life living with bears only to be ultimately devoured by them. That bear attack did actually happen. As for Steve, supposedly a poisoned stingray barb penetrated his chest. during an underwater documentary. If I had the choice, I'd probably choose a stingray over being eaten by crocodiles. Or being mauled by a bear for that matter. In honor of the great Crocodile Hunter I present to you a clip from the South Park episode 'Prehistoric Iceman'.
You're not Japanese, but you wish you were! You can use chopsticks with your eyes closed, and you've memorized hundreds of Kanji. You even answer your phone "moshi moshi." While the number of anime videos you've seen is way higher than the number of dates you've been on, there's hope. Play the sexy, mysterous gaijin, and you'll have plenty of Japanese meat.
Here's a picture of my wife Kim and I during our Winter Vacation to Mordor. Not really, I'm just testing the photo insertion feature on LiveJournal. I figured it's about time to join the 'blogging' crowd as it were. I've only been web coding for one from or another off and on for almost a decade but didn't feel like making a page that I'm not getting paid to created. Plus the nostalgia bug has hit me ever since I've become a father last year. It's interesting to see what old classmates are up to and how they've changed (or not). So, if any out there want to keep up with me and my currently small family of three, feel free to add me to your friends list and keep in touch. For those wanting a little more of the backlog of recent events (child and all), please check out http://driggsfamilynews.blogspot.com (maintained by my wife of course).
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