le chose du jour

If you are planning (which you should be) on reading 2666, by Robert Bolaño, just go on and buy this box set. I love the broken down format along with the rough cardboard exterior. More on the actual content of this book I'm loving later, when I finish the 900th page. Trust me, it's one you'll want to own.

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le chose du jour

I just found out my friend has drawn all these wonderful cards for an e-card website. I think they are majorly cute. Go here to send one to someone you love today!

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le mot du jour

This past week it seems like everything has been roiling. Not rolling, not boiling, but roiling. The word has appeared at least thrice in the Times in the last seven days, usually to refer to the economy or the financial markets.
The Webster defines it thus: ROIL-"make turbid by stirring up the sediment or dregs of" or "to move turbulently : be in a state of turbulence or agitation". So kind of like roll, kind of like boil, but chock full of its own special significance and shades of meaning. Where did this unlikely verb come from? Chances are it was probably coined in the late 1500s, inspired by rouiller, French for "to rust, make muddy."
Don't you love words you know that student of English as a second language will ever learn?

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Europe-21. USA-One. Wait, make that two.

So, Europe is still winning. They have the culture, the food, the urban planning, the languages, the art, the Euro, the history, the Catholicism, the Nutella, the public transportation, the dashing first ladies, the tourism, the budget airlines, the UNESCO world heritage, the social safety net, the inexpensive wine, the playful graphic design, the artisans, the cafes, the olive trees, and the Camino de Santiago.
BUT. And it's a big But. We have Barack Obama--and they're all jealous. It's not Barack insomuch as his race that begets this feeling. Everyone is envious of the position of race in America-- specifically, its approaching irrelevance. The truth behind the 1960s is finally revealing itself. It's not that we were the most bigoted, racist nation--we were just the first to go through these growing pains, and right in the public eye. All the water hoses, bombings, and civil rights struggles did not signify that we were backwards and close-minded, but that we were hurtling toward the future at a pace far outstripping that of our Atlantic neighbors. From Carla Bruni hoping for an "obama effect" in France to the struggles facing these countries as a whole regarding immigration, it is obvious that the United States is still THE place for dreams and, hey, let's be honest here, people of color.
Oh, and we also have peanut butter.

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Change. Big Time.

Across the world exclamation points abounded and hope seems to be sparked anew.


FRANCE::Le Monde
"L'Amerique choisit Barack Obama"/ America chooses Barack Obama
SPAIN::El Mundo
"Cambia el color de historia"/ He changes the color of history
GERMANY: Rheinische Post
"Die Wiederauferstehung des amerikanischen Traums" /the repurchasing of the American Dream
ITALY: Il Messaggero
"Obama è il nuovo presidente degli Stati Uniti:Il cambiamento è arrivato"/ Obama is the new president of the USA: Change has arrived
KENYA: Daily Nation
"In Kenya, A Holiday, Song, And Dance for Obama"

I felt excitement and pride last night. My cynicism was stripped away, at least for the moment, and it felt awesome. Like being a little kid again. God bless America!

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if on a winter's night a traveler

I believe books fall into one of three categories:
1) trite and boring
2) really well-done and interesting, yet unoriginal
3) masterpieces of originality and beauty.
I prefer to choose books that fall in the third category, but I fail as often as I succeed.
Here, we have a masterpiece.
Okay, I know I am a little behind the times here, raving about a book published in 1979. But this title definitely deserves a little dusting off the shelf.
Italo Calvino's If on a winter's night a traveler is engaging in a meta-meta-narrative postmodern-before-postmodernity-really-existed kind of way. Don't misconstrue my meaning-this book is only as cerebral as you want it to be. The basic premise is a story of a Reader in search of a novel that is interrupted repeatedly, only to be replaced by a different, equally addictive book.
With themes of uncertainty, miscomunication, and mystery threaded throughout, if on a winter's night a traveler

is a unified whole, despite a structure that breaks it up into (depending on how you look at it) two or 11 different books. The successful use of the second-person is a breath of fresh literary air. Of note to writer-readers, Calvino employs a technique of talking about writing in the narrative that is not only fascinating, but potentially quite useful.
Apart from the more serious, critical aspects of the novel, it is just plain enjoyable. And that is the true mark of a masterpiece.

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le chose du jour

EDUARDO CHILLIDA: A sculptor vasco that embodies his culture's contradictions, beauty, and persona.
His sculptures bear resemblances to rocks, yet the finite, sharp carvings made in them bring them out of the natural realm. These granite and steel sculptures can be found in the lush hills outside of San Sebastian, Spain. Situated on a perfectly rolling landscape, they fuse with the history of the countryside, weathering the same wind and rain, reflecting the same light and shadows that los vascos have for centuries.

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shiny, new

You know that liberating feeling when you realize you can do something previously thought impossible?
yeah.
You can get wax off of fabric, and I'm talking the whole, greasy stain, not just the hardened crust.
Here's what you do:
1)pop offended item in freezer
2)scrape off the wax once hardened
3)soak in mineral spirits, rubbing at stains
4)rinse with alcohol (the kind for rubbing, not drinking)
5) let dry
6)launder

It. Works.

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election year revelation

My brow has a few added furrows from thinking about how hot-button issues figure into my voting this November. Abortion rights, for example. I don't like abortion. But, I also generally don't like Republican policy. So how does one reconcile these two issues in the ballot booth?
Well, people, let's talk it out.
Say McCain gets elected, puts another strictly conservative judge into the Court. Roe v. Wade gets overturned, right? Wrong. Abortion rights don't really hang on that one vote, as conservatives would have you believe in an election year. Don't believe me? Okay, so let's say Roe v. Wade does get overturned.
Then what? Well, the states get to decide individually whether abortion is legal. Yep, that's right. The battle is not won; it is merely passed along. Let's face it: most states would keep abortion legal.
So, Catholics, your vote for McCain is not a vote to end abortion.
Alternatively, Obama wants to offer prenatal and maternal support, more expedient adoption, and maternity leave laws as a way to pre-empt abortion. Does that make great, great sense to anyone else?
Please take a close yet holistic look at your values and see how they align with each candidate. (I'm thinking feeding the poor, I'm thinking the value of life, including those fighting in faraway countries...)

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my family

That's my husband and my daughter.
We spent the week on a farm, loaned to us by some of our dearest friends. Two bedrooms + endless supply of chicken eggs + assorted farm animals = perfect family vacation!



Really, Buckley? Are you really that cute?



Reality isn't good enough for us. So we make our own.

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i am america

Over the years, I have been made to feel confused, guilty, stupid and sad about my disenchantment with this country. In an attempt to cure myself of these feelings, here is where I spill a couple of the reasons.

I. Cities and Sidewalks
As Enrique Peñalosa, the former mayor of Bogotá, said recently: "when you construct a good sidewalk, you are constructing democracy...We are designing cities for cars, cars, cars, cars. Not for people. Cars are a very recent invention. The 20th century was a horrible detour in the evolution of the human habitat. We were building much more for cars' mobility than children's happiness."
I cannot overstate my indignance at the existence of places that literally cannot be reached without four wheels and an engine. It turns us into little islands--I cannot walk to the major shopping center less than a half mile from my home because it is bisected by a major interstate, with only a four lane highway crossing it. STuck.

II. Food, Or Lack Thereof
The state of the market here in America is deplorable. I'm talking super-, not stock.

And it all began with private interests interfering in a governmental attempt to interfere with the foods Americans eat. When a link was found between the consumption of animal products and poor health, an attempt was made to make Americans cut back on them--until, that is, private interests intervened and revised the rhetoric to point out individual nutrients as harmful or beneficial instead of whole foods. Thus, according to Michael Pollan, began the age of nutritionism.
Now the vast majority of the population cannot cook, shops in the middle of the grocery store for foods that last longer than seems possible, and, oh yeah, is really fat.
I long for a place with a culinary heritage. I suppose the cultural mixing pot that we are ( a good thing) makes that unrealistic, but I cringe when I think that Americans look to the latest studies to determine what they buy and what they eat. Newsflash, people! That is never going to work. Something really deep in the American psyche is going to have to change. Fruits and vegetables have such a bad rap here, with young people, males, and baby boomers. I feel like vomiting when I hear people deride a diet filled with them.
Example, upon expressing distaste for the Fast Food Burger, a response I got: "You're not one of those organic people, are you?" Honestly, I don't know what that means.

more to come, i'm sure...

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town.

goings on for your enjoyment...

Thursday, July 17
5-7 Wine and Tapas tasting at Wine Cellar $5
5:30-6:30 wine tasting at mt. brook Western $5
6:00 Thursday Night Live at Tria, live music
? affordable late night Little Savannah

Friday, July 18
5-7 wine tasting at Tria
5-7 wine tasting at Wholefoods
5:00-9:00 Art Opening at Hawthorn Gallery (3rd ave n)
5-10 Art On the Rocks at BMA

Saturday, July 19
7:00 pepper place
8-5 A'Mano 75% off market day
12-2 wine tasting at Wholefoods
2:00 coffee tasting at Primavera Roasters 9691177
4:00 AL Outdoors Backpacker seminar
7:00 open mic at Greencup Books 105 RABlvd poetry




Thursday, July 24
5:30-6:30 wine tasting at mt. brook Western $5
5:30-8:30 art opening at Amanda Schedler fine art
6:00 Thursday Night Live at Tria, live music
? affordable late night Little Savannah

Sunday, July 27
art lecture at Avondale Park Library

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bright shiny morning

James Frey's new book, Bright Shiny Morning got somewhat slammed this week in the New York Times Book Review. The reviewer seemed to pride himself on his central thesis, which was, essentially, that this novel reads too much like non-fiction and Frey's much publicized non-fiction turned out too be too close to fiction.
Clever. But I actually found the book to be an enjoyable experience, and not at all oversimplified as the reviewer pointed out.
Facts about Los Angeles separate each of the chapters, which sketch the lives of various Los Angeleans, The city becomes a character in its own right, with its promising start as a land of hopes and dreams (and angels) slowly spiraling into a mess of highways, lack of water, and overdose on drugs and crime. This spiral is echoed in the stories of the main characters, Amberton, a movie star, Dylan and Maddie, two small town kids looking for a better life, and...

...Esperanza, the hispanic maid. Are these stereotypical characters, as the NYTimes reviewer points out? Yes. Are they any less riveting for that? No. And I believe they have enough flesh on them, pockmarked and dimpled with Frey's rapid-moving prose, to seem true to life.
I say Forgive Frey! His past sins have no bearing on this beautiful book that links a city (in a portrayal that will serve as a history as well as a story) with those who live and are ultimately subsumed by it.

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those sunday drives...

A week or two ago, I read a letter to the editor in the Times that went a little something like this:

I think the Freakonomics guys, Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt, may have missed the boat on two points with the suggestion that insurance rates be adjusted by the number of miles people drive (“Not-So-Free Ride”).

First, is there any research to show that Americans are really driving wastefully? I don’t know of anyone who goes on a “Sunday drive” anymore, though it used to be a popular event in my childhood. I think that we have cut our driving significantly due to the current high cost of gas.

Second, they have not accounted for the driving skills acquired with experience. I’ll bet that people who drive only 2,000 miles a year are more accident-prone, making them a higher insurance risk, than those who drive 30,000 miles a year.

BILL GILLOOLY
Northborough, Mass.

Oh. My.
I can just see this elderly man sitting in his early '90s suburban style home, smiling smugly in all his perceived logical-knowledge-filled state.
You ask for research? Evidence that Americans are driving wastefully is everywhere you look, buddy. Remember when you got in the car yesterday and drove that half-mile to the grocery store for a loaf of sliced white bread? THAT was wasteful driving. The entire infrastructure of the country is devoted to wasteful driving, which is unfortunate, considering that every mile we drive today costs fifteen cents in gas...


That does not include hidden costs, such as those to the environment, or other costs accrued by the driver.
In fact, anyone who lives more than a mile or two from their daily place of business is driving wastefully. The ability to live 30 miles from where you earn your living is a really new advancement in human culture. And I, with a few exceptions, honestly believe that commuting more than ten minutes starts to make you a bad person. Okay, that's not true--after all, well-situated real estate can be hard to come by. Phrase it this way: in an ideal world, we would all live within a thirty minute walk to where we needed to go, and we would walk it, chatting briefly with our neighbors, letting our muscles do what they were made to do, taking in the outdoor air, and letting our mind wander.
For those who are interested, this ideal situation does exist. It is known as "the rest of the world," i.e. Europe, Africa, Asia, and South/Central America.

...and don't even get my Catholic a** started on this one:

Other than a tangential mention, human overpopulation went unaddressed in your issue. It’s a sad fact that in these times there is no such thing as an “environmentalist” with more than one kid — unless the additional ones are adopted, of course.
STEVE HEILIG
San Francisco

AAAHHH! What's natural is having kids! What's unnatural is watching tv, driving cars, using microwaves, petroleum, the internet....must I go on?

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Indecision

A generation that previously had to rely on Eggers and Safran Foer for their voice has found a much more satisfying option in Benjamin Kunkel. His not-so-recent novel, "Indecision", just found its way into my reading stack, and it satisfyingly captures, without any ostentatious gimmicks, that nagging voice in my post postmodern head.

I suppose it could be called a post 9/11 novel, but the event serves merely as a canvas upon which Kunkel paints witticisms and colorful, real language that captures the "plight" of the well-fed young American. This is our coming-of-age novel, people! A little depressing, considering the main character is/thinks he is doped up on drugs prescribed for an eternal malady: indecision. What to do when faced with a wide open world?

Dwight Wilmerding, the main character, is taken out of his soggy existence in New York City and immersed in the vivid Ecuadorian jungle. His resultant trip is half Heart of Darkness, half White Noise, and wholly entertaining. This is a must-read for twenty somethings who are, well, indecisive, and need a) a good laugh and b) a pause button for their ever-expanding reality. I leave you with my favorite quote:
"In my experience, when a person doesn't know what to do with himself, he will check his e-mail."

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town.

volume two of worthwhile free (unless otherwise noted) birmingham events.

Thursday, May 8
5:30-6:30 wine tasting at mt. brook Western $5
7:30 handbell concert at samford

Friday, May 9
4:00 Rick Bragg booksigning $24 at AL booksmith
5-7 wine tasting at Tria
5-7 wine tasting at Wholefoods
5-9 art opening at hawthorn gallery (2017 3rd ave n)
5-9 art opening at naked art
7:00 open reading at GreencupBooks, 105 Richard Arrington Blvd S

Saturday, May 10
7:00 pepper place
12-2 wine tasting at Wholefoods

Thursday, May 15
5:30-6:30 wine tasting at mt. brook Western $5
8:00 Dog Sees God at theatre downtown (pay what you can-$5 min.) 1816 3rd ave n

Friday, May 16
12:30 organ recital at Cathedral Church of the Advent
5-7 wine tasting at Tria
5-7 wine tasting at Wholefoods
5-10 Art on the Rocks at BMA featuring The Dynamites $20
6-8 art opening at Four Seasons in Bluff Park

Saturday, May 17
7:00 Pepper Place
10-6 Do Dah Day
12-2 wine tasting at Wholefoods


Type rest of the post here

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pro- or anti- war? neither. both.

If you are like I was, you want our troops out of Iraq, pronto. You believe the foreign policy disaster that is the War on Terror should end, but maybe if someone asked you to explain your stance in the context of the war's history, you'd stutter a bit. Don't worry--it's not your fault. The media has conditioned our collective memory to be more like a blackboard than a stone tablet. Events are recorded, only to be erased and replaced with more shocking, unexpected events. Frustrating, yes. That's where Christopher Ferguson's documentary, No End In Sight, comes in handy.

In this , the definitive Iraq cinematic offering, Ferguson presents the events of the war, from the very beginning, spliced with video (much of it fairly rare footage) of both politicians and soldiers, interviews, and hard facts. And this is no amateur's attempt at chronology; pretty much the only voices missing from the documentary are--surprise--those of Bush, Cheney, and Rice. The linear construct of the film, designed by this capable MIT grad, is simple yet incredibly effective. Say goodbye to one of the administration's most powerful PR tools, Operation Iraqi Confusion.

This is a great piece for the whole family--it doesn't lean too far left for Dad the Republican, and it forms just enough judgment to please an anti-war viewer. I fall in the latter category, and I was interested to find thatNo End In Sight had the effect of pulling me away from the "get US out now at all costs" constituency. The sight of the Iraq people, running wild through streets that we weren't prepared enough to secure, brings the situation into a focused reality that is much harder to turn one's back on than an abstract notion. I don't want to leave until we return a semblance of security to the Iraqis. But, as this documentary makes painfully clear, this won't happen anytime before January 2009.

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town.

Here's everything I would be doing in Birmingham the next couple weeks if I didn't have a baby. Every free happening in Bham is listed, and those with a price are some things that may be worth the money. So gather ye rosebuds while ye may.


Thursday, April 24
Art Buzz Birmingham-live music, byob painting class (www.artbuzzbirmingham.com)
5:30-6:30 Wine Tasting at Mt. Brook Western $5 (it's good)
6-10 Redmont Gardens 70th Birthday Celebration (www.redmontgardens.com)
7:00 Jeff Whetstone speaks on photography at BMA
7:00 Little Professor Book Club

Friday, April 25
10-6 Contemporary Art Festival in Lynn Park (www.magiccityart.com)
12:00 Mid-Day Musical Menu-a 30-minute concert of Broadway favorites and lunch at Cathedral Church of the Advent (2017 Sixth Ave N)
4:00 Guitar Hero tournament with live music, food, and drink. Lightning Strikes in Trussville (www.alsironhorse.org)
5-6:30 Wine Tasting at the Vintage Wine Shoppe
5-7 Wine Tasting at Tria
5-7 Wine Tasting at Whole Foods
6:00 Vintage Birmingham Signs author, Tim Hollis, signs at AL Booksmith
6-? Raindrop Music Festival at Bottletree: highlights include Triceratops $20/day $35/wknd

Saturday, April 26
10:00 coffee tasting at Primavera Roasters (4133 White Oak Dr.)
10-5 Reel South Film Festival at BMA. Featuring movies that explore the South in the 20s + 30s. Films at 10, 12:30, and 2:15.
10-6 Contemporary Art Festival in Lynn Park (www.magiccityart.com)
11-4 Mt. Laurel Spring Festival
12-2 Wine Tasting at Whole Foods
1-5 Corks & Chefs at the art fest $25
2:00 "ring World" at the Robert R. Meyer Planetarium on BSC's campus $2
2-? Raindrop Music Festival at Bottletree: highlights include The White Oaks, Kate Taylor, Monarchs $20/day, $35/wknd
7:00 Robert Plant and Alison Krauss at the BJCC

Sunday, April 27
10-6 Contemporary Art Festival in Lynn Park(www.magiccityart.com)
2:00 BMA national poetry month topic tour
3:00 pottery demonstration at Avondale Library

Monday, April 28
6:45 Open Gym Volleyball at Homewood Park

Tuesday, April 29
9:30 performance by spoken word artist Saul Williams at Pearson Hall Auditorium in Miles College.
5:00 Transportation Planning Process Public Involvement Meeting at 1731 First Ave N
5:30 Cultural Exchange Ensemble and UAB Gospel Choir at Hulsey Recital Hall
6:00 To Kill A Mockingbird discussion at Avondale Library
7:30 "The Righteous Gentile, a Holocaust remembrance at Brock Recital Hall on Samford's campus

Wednesday, April 30
4-6 Art Reception at Samford
5:30-7:30 Wine Tasting at the Wine Loft
6:00 The Devil Came on Horseback, a documentary on Darfur at Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
7:30 piano concert at Brock Recital Hall at Samford
7:30 Live jazz and 1/2 price bottles of wine at Open Door Cafe

Thursday, May 1
2:00 Israeli choir concert at Brock Recital Hall at Samford
5-8 Art Opening at Amanada Schedler Fine Art t Mary Evelyn in Homewood
5-8 Art Opening at Monty Stabler galleries in Homewood
5-9 Jazz and wine tasting at Rucker Place $10 (1804 12th Ave S)
5:30-6:30 Wine Tasting at Mt. Brook Western $5 (it's good)
6:00 A Dream in Doubt, a documentary on the Sikh American community at BCRI
6-8:30 Tria Market-live music on the patio, with drink and dinner specials

Friday, May 2
5:30-8:30 Art Opening at Artists Incorporated in Vestavia
5-6:30 Wine Tasting at the Vintage Wine Shoppe
5-7 Wine Tasting at Tria
5-7 Wine Tasting at Whole Foods
6-10 Art Opening at Bare Hands Gallery
Crawfish Boil

Saturday, May 3
PEPPER PLACE opens for 2008!
12-2 Wine Tasting at Whole Foods
7:00 Art Opening at Greencup Books, 105 Richard Arrington S
7:00 Chlidren's Dance Foundation show at Alabama Theatre
Crawfish Boil

Sunday, May 4
7:00 Derek Webb at Workplay

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obama is more than talk.

here is some real information on what obama says and does, since it is popular to accuse him of being full of rhetoric and short on "solutions".  


his religion: "My father, who returned to Kenya when I was just two, was born Muslim but as an adult became an atheist. My mother, whose parents were non-practicing Baptists and Methodists, was probably one of the most spiritual and kindest people I've ever known, but grew up with a healthy skepticism of organized religion herself. As a consequence, so did I.
It wasn't until after college, when I went to Chicago to work as a community organizer for a group of Christian churches, that I confronted my own spiritual dilemma.
I was working with churches, and the Christians who I worked with recognized themselves in me. They saw that I knew their Book and that I shared their values and sang their songs. But they sensed that a part of me that remained removed, detached, that I was an observer in their midst.
And in time, I came to realize that something was missing as well -- that without a vessel for my beliefs, without a commitment to a particular community of faith, at some level I would always remain apart, and alone.
But as the months passed in Chicago, I found myself drawn - not just to work with the church, but to be in the church.
For one thing, I believed and still believe in the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change, a power made real by some of the leaders here today. Because of its past, the black church understands in an intimate way the Biblical call to feed the hungry and cloth the naked and challenge powers and principalities. And in its historical struggles for freedom and the rights of man, I was able to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an active, palpable agent in the world. As a source of hope."

 his philosophy
"I think actions do speak louder than words, which is why over the 20 years of my public service I have acted a lot to provide health care to people who didn't have it, to provide tax breaks to families that needed it, to reform a criminal justice system that had resulted in wrongful convictions, to open up our government and to pass the toughest ethics reform legislation since Watergate, to make sure that we create transparency in our government so that we know where federal spending is going and it's not going to a bunch of boondoggles and earmarks that are wasting taxpayer money that could be spent on things like early childhood education.
Senator Clinton and I share a lot of policy positions. But if we can't inspire the American people to get involved in their government and if we can't inspire them to go beyond the racial divisions and the religious divisions and the regional divisions that have plagued our politics for so long, then we will continue to see the kind of gridlock and nonperformance in Washington that is resulting in families suffering in very real ways.
I'm running for president to start doing something about that suffering, and so are the people who are behind my campaign."



 on faith: None of the candidates offered answers that strayed far fromDemocratic Party orthodoxy, but their openness in discussing their faith was unusual. Clinton and Edwards said they pray daily. Clinton described herself as a "praying person." The questions were not the same for each candidate, and Obama, who of the three has spoken the most about his faith in campaign appearances,discussed his belief that evil exists in the world and said "there is a moral element" to his view that pay for corporate chief executives has become excessive. He repeatedly invoked the biblical phrase "I am my brother's keeper." - Wash. Post

on the economy: "Number one, with our tax code: We've got to stop giving tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas and invest those tax breaks in companies that are investing here in the United States of America. We have to end the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy and to provide tax breaks to middle-class Americans and working Americans who need them. So I've said that if you are making $75,000 a year or less, I want to give an offset to your payroll tax that will mean $1,000 extra in the pockets of ordinary Americans. Senior citizens making less than $50,000, you shouldn't have to pay income tax on your Social Security.
We pay for these by closing tax loopholes and tax havens that are being manipulated.
So these are all issues that I've talked about repeatedly, and I think there are also opportunities in our economy around creating a green economy. We send $1 billion to foreign countries every day because of our addiction to foreign oil. And for us to move rapidly to cap greenhouse gases, generate billions of dollars that we can reinvest in solar and wind and biodiesel -- that can put people back to work. So...
The question people are going to have to ask is: How do we get it done?
And it is my strong belief that the changes are only going to come about if we're able to form a working coalition for change. Because people who were benefiting from the current tax code are going to resist. The special interests and lobbyists are going to resist.And I think it has to be a priority for whoever the next president is to be able to overcome the dominance of the special interests in Washington, to bring about the kinds of economic changes that I'm talking about."

on health care : "We both -- 95 percent of our plans are similar. We both want to set up a system in which any person is going to be able to get coverage that is as good as we have as members of Congress. And we are going to subsidize those who can't afford it. We're going to make sure that we reduce costs by emphasizing prevention. And I want to make sure that we're applying technology to improve quality, cut bureaucracy.
Now, I also want to make sure that we're reducing costs for those who already have health insurance. So we put in place a catastrophic reinsurance plan that would reduce costs by $2,500 per family per year.
So we've got a lot of similarities in our plan. Senator Clinton believes the only way to achieve universal health care is to force everybody to purchase it.And my belief is, the reason that people don't have it is not because they don't want it but because they can't afford it.And so I emphasize reducing costs. And as has been noted by many observers, including Bill Clinton's former secretary of labor, my plan does more than anybody to reduce costs, and there is nobody out there who wants health insurance who can't have it.
One last point I want to make on the health care front. I admire the fact that Senator Clinton tried to bring about health care reform back in 1993. She deserves credit for that.But I said before, I think she did it in the wrong way, because it wasn't just the fact that the insurance companies, the drug companies were battling here, and no doubt they were. It was also that Senator Clinton and the administration went behind closed doors, excluded the participation even of Democratic members of Congress who had slightly different ideas than the ones that Senator Clinton had put forward.And, as a consequence, it was much more difficult to get Congress to cooperate.
The point is this, you know, we can have great plans, but if we don't change how the politics is working in Washington, then neither of our plans are going to happen, and we're going to be four years from now debating once again how we're going to bring universal health care to this country."

Obama's plan for health care:
• Guaranteed Eligibility: No American will be turned away FROM ANY INSURANCE
PLAN because of illness or pre-existing conditions.
• Comprehensive Benefits: The benefit package will be similar to that offered through Federal
Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), the plan members of Congress have. The plan
will cover all essential medical services, including preventive, maternity and mental health care.
• Affordable Premiums, Co-Pays and Deductibles.
• Subsidies: Individuals and families who do not qualify for Medicaid or SCHIP but still need
financial assistance will receive an income-related federal subsidy to buy into the new public
plan or purchase a private health care plan.
• Simplified Paperwork and Reined in Health Costs.
• Easy Enrollment: The new public plan will be simple to enroll in and provide ready access to
coverage.
• Portability and Choice: Participants in the new public plan and the National Health
Insurance Exchange (see below) will be able to move from job to job without changing or
jeopardizing their health care coverage.
• Quality and Efficiency: Participating insurance companies in the new public program will
be required to report data to ensure that standards for quality, health information technology
and administration are being met.

on Iran: says he would “engage in aggressive personal diplomacy” with Iran if elected president and would offer economic inducements and a possible promise not to seek “regime change” if Iran stopped meddling in Iraq and cooperated on terrorism and nuclear issues. in general, he advocates "talking" without preconditions with problem countries such as Iran and Cuba, differing significantly from Bush's current approach.

on Iraq: Mr. Obama has also talked about keeping a limited force in Iraq after withdrawing American combat units at the rate of one or two per month. But he insisted in the interview that the mission of his residual force would be more limited than that posited by Mrs. Clinton. He said he would commit to training Iraqi security forces only if the Iraqi government engaged in political reconciliation and did not employ the Iraqi Army and the police for sectarian purposes. In any event, he said, American trainers would not be attached with Iraqi units that go in harm’s way. Senator Barack Obama said that the United States should shift its military focus away from the Iraq war to a broader fight against Islamic extremism.

on preparedness to govern/war: "I wouldn't be running if I didn't think I was prepared to be commander-in-chief.
My number one job as president will be to keep the American people safe. I will do whatever is required to accomplish that. I will not hesitate to act against those that would do America harm.Now, that involves maintaining the strongest military on earth, which means that we are training our troops properly and equipping them properly, and putting them on proper rotations. And there are an awful lot of families here in Texas who have been burdened under two and three and four tours because of the poor planning of the current commander-in-chief, and that will end when I am president.
But it also means using our military wisely. And on what I believe was the single most important foreign policy decision of this generation, whether or not to go to war in Iraq, I believe I showed the judgment of a commander in chief. And I think that Senator Clinton was wrong in her judgments on that. Now, that has consequences -- that has significant consequences, because it has diverted attention from Afghanistan where al Qaeda, that killed 3,000 Americans, are stronger now than at any time since 2001.
You know, I've heard from an Army captain who was the head of a rifle platoon -- supposed to have 39 men in a rifle platoon. Ended up being sent to Afghanistan with 24 because 15 of those soldiers had been sent to Iraq. And as a consequence, they didn't have enough ammunition, they didn't have enough humvees. They were actually capturing Taliban weapons, because it was easier to get Taliban weapons than it was for them to get properly equipped by our current commander in chief.
Now, that's a consequence of bad judgment. And you know, the question is, on the critical issues that we face right now, who's going to show the judgment to lead? And I think that on every critical issue that we've seen in foreign policy over the last several years -- going into Iraq originally, I didn't just oppose it for the sake of opposing it.
I said this is going to distract us from Afghanistan; this is going to fan the flames of anti-American sentiment; it's going to cost us billions of dollars and thousands of lives and overstretch our military. And I was right.
On the issues that have come up that a commander in chief is going to have to make decisions on, I have shown the judgment to lead. That is the leadership that I want to show when I'm president of the United States."

Obama released his earmarks to the public; hillary won't.

Obama wants to cut emissions 80% by 2050...and in my opinion, it seems that having the goal may be enough to get us there (vs having no plan at all) He believes in investing money into this effort, which will pay back so much in the long run.

above information is from various debates and news articles.


oh, and his life story
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2007/12/29/us/politics/20071229_OBAMA_TIMELINE.html

and his stances
http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaBlueprintForChange.pdf

and more on his views on faith:
http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaonFaith.pdf
http://www.barackobama.com/2006/06/28/call_to_renewal_keynote_address.php

and an article from the london guardian that breaks things down w/o partiality
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/22/hillaryclinton.barackobama

that's it for now.

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baby!

i am a mother now.
baby buckley was born january 21, 2008. she's doing great...developing right on schedule, it seems. At least, she keeps getting cuter and cuter.

her favorite things include: shocking visitors with loud bowel movements, ceiling fans, starring in films, band of horses, barack obama, listening to her mom pronounce monosyllabic words, and, of course, milk.

baby - husband = hard...but we're making it. chip is out on the road, so buckley and i have been kicking it alone for about half of her life.
if you want to hear what he's doing, leaving his family behind and such, visit him (and a few friends) here.

it's funny how time flies with a baby.
my days are filled with reading, cooking, feeding, sleeping, and walking. there is beauty in this repetition, although perhaps it's a little hard to find every now and then.

yummy updates soon on blankpalate.

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