20080730

candidate nicknames

i'm sure there are some out there that are more clever, but to me, the election this november looks to be a contest between BO and Old Spice.

20080718

good news!

from the cuba front: the government is planning to allow more private ownership of land. it seems like it's mostly a practical measure, designed to cut down on the amount of food that cuba needs to import. but whatever the reason, it's a huge step forward for freedom on the island, especially if coupled with this:

"He [Raul Castro] has also announced that workers can earn productivity bonuses, doing away with the egalitarian concept that everyone must earn the same...."
so wait... if i work more, i can get paid more? sign me up! if these reforms go through, it will definitely be time to start easing our trade and travel restrictions on cuba.

20080710

context is overrated

we actually ran into this one while designing the whitworth college republicans t-shirts, but didn't end up using it:

"A wise man's heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man's heart directs him toward the left" (Ecclesiastes 10:2, NASB)

i had been looking for that one for awhile, but couldn't remember exactly where it was. and then the other night, i randomly opened my bible up right to it. that's gotta be a sign of some sort...

20080707

good question

yeah, i'm with rachel on this one... how exactly does this change anything? shouldn't this be considered more evidence in favor of what christians believe, rather than "rewriting the bible"?

20080704

yarrrgh...

so, last night i stayed up waiting for my little brothers to get back from young life camp at malibu. they were supposed to be home around midnight, at which point i was supposed to pick them up at one of the local churches. at 03:15, somebody else dropped them off right at our house. which means i could have been in bed for three hours at that point. good times.

i'm alive!

believe it or not, i survived my trip. at some point i hope to have up a more thorough account of it, along with pictures; but for now, here are the highlights:

sunday
arlington national cemetery
the white house (just the outside)
washington nationals baseball game (vs texas, lost 5-3)
smithsonian national museum of natural history

monday
supreme court (handed down three decisions [1, 2, 3])
library of congress
tour of the capitol building (including about 5 minutes of a house session)
navy memorial
washington monument

tuesday
jefferson memorial
wwII memorial
vietnam memorial
lincoln memorial
fdr memorial
korean war memorial
us department of the treasury - bureau of printing & engraving (the buck starts here!)
national archives (constitution, bill of rights, declaration of independence, among other things)

wednesday
gettysburg
harpers ferry

thursday
national zoo
smithsonian national air and space museum
marine corps memorial

friday
15 hours of travel
my birthday!

saturday
ft. drum centennial air show

sunday
walking tour of sackets harbor battlefield

monday
i'm home!
sleep