Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Detritus of the Day

I had the cable news-babble going this afternoon.

First, a huge thank you to Senator Sherrod Brown for voting against the FISA bill today. You can see who voted for and against here. Senator Clinton did the right thing, but I see that Senators Biden and Richardson voted aye. Think they are aligning themselves for the VP slot?

Throughout the afternoon, the news people were torn between reporting the very important breaking news about Iranian missiles or the apparently equally important breaking news that the Ramsey family has been ruled out as suspects in the 12 year old JonBenet Ramsey murder case.

According to one earnest news spinner, the Iranian posturing "plays to McCain's strength" ie foreign relations. Why is foreign relations a strength of McCain's? Because he is a hawk? That's the sad truth. People who prefer negotiation can't ever be considered strong. Funny how in school we are all trained to teach our students to avoid aggression in dealings with each other. Punishment is swift for any kid who strikes another. We spend years teaching our students how to work cooperatively. And yet on the international playground, we see grown men drawing lines in the dirt and daring the grown men on the other side to just try and cross this line and see what happens. What happens is weapons blasting, lives lost, atmosphere poisoned. Great way to solve problems, fellas.

I broke away from the breaking news and hopped on the new bike for my first ride to the Acme. Last night's rain cooled things down, so it was a glorious sunny yet comfortable ride through Kenmore. I'm amazed at how fast I can get places on my bike. And how riding it brings me into the community I'm riding through, unlike driving down the boulevard hidden inside the cab of my truck. Tomorrow I'm venturing even further, taking a bike ride over to U of A for a thesis conference with my advisor. Yes, it still isn't finished, but I've put myself on a writing schedule for the summer that will bring it to completion before school starts at the end of August.

Finally, if you haven't read yesterday's post on Greensburg, please do and be sure to check out the comments. Anita, a resident of Greensburg popped in here to update us on how the town is doing. Be sure to visit Greensburg GreenTown for all the latest news on the greening of Greensburg:
Greensburg GreenTown is a nonprofit organization established to provide the residents of Greensburg, Kansas with the resources, information and support they need to rebuild Greensburg as a model green community following the May 2007 tornado. Read more about our programs in the About Us section.
They are seeking a million five dollar contributions to help them achieve their goals. Please consider contributing -- I already did and challenge all my readers to do so as well.

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