During a lull between trains in Alliance, I wandered around looking for other things to photograph. There are a couple of grain bins next to a bridge over the tracks.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Photo: Grain Bins
During a lull between trains in Alliance, I wandered around looking for other things to photograph. There are a couple of grain bins next to a bridge over the tracks.
Photo: White Building
For some reason, abandoned buildings have always attracted me. They seem to have stories to tell. They're sad stories, but I am compelled to listen.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Why I Voted for Barack Obama
I have not heard any pundit trying to explain Barack Obama’s victory talk about why I voted for Senator Obama, and I don’t think my reason is uncommon. I did not vote for Mr. Obama expecting him to fix the economy; I think Senator McCain is the better economist. I did not vote for Mr. Obama expecting him to fix the nation’s health care system; I don’t know who would have been more likely to succeed at that task. I did not vote for Mr. Obama because he is likelier to bring our soldiers home from Iraq or to prosecute the hunt for Osama bin Laden more successfully than Mr. McCain; I think Mr. McCain has a better understanding of the complexities of the Middle East and Iraq.
My vote for Mr. Obama was not a vote for Mr. Obama. It was, purely and simply, a vote against Republican hubris. My vote was a vote against a group of leaders that think that laws are to be obeyed, unless they stand in the way of what they want to do. My vote was a vote against a group of leaders who think that the Constitution is a fine document that can be ignored when they think it’s important to do so. My vote was a vote against a group of leaders who think that “all men are created equal” applies only to people who happen to be born in the United States. My vote was a vote against a group of leaders who think that “innocent until proven guilty” applies to everybody unless they happen to be suspected of terrorism. My vote was a vote against a group of leaders who believe that the laws of the United States can be ignored completely if they are acting outside the boundaries of the United States. My vote was a vote against a group of leaders who are so confident that they have all the answers that they can ignore any evidence, no matter how clear or compelling, that they are wrong. My vote was a vote against a group of leaders who are so confident that they have all the answers that they can ignore any ideas any other group may have to offer. My vote was a vote against a group of leaders who would rather fight with our enemies than talk to them. My vote was a vote against a group of leaders who believe that it in pursuit of what they believe to be good for the country, it is acceptable to lie to the American people. My vote was against a group of leaders who pay lip service to the principles on which our country was founded, but who ignore every one of them in their actions.
I was very pleased when the Republican Party nominated John McCain to seek the Presidency. I do not follow politics closely, but whenever I heard of John McCain, he seemed to be a voice of reason, standing up for what he believed was right, and working with whoever was willing to work with him, regardless of party affiliation. I believed that Mr. McCain’s decades of leadership in the Senate made him well qualified to be President. I believed that Mr. McCain had the intelligence and the moral strength to recognize his party’s failings and to correct them.
But then Mr. McCain selected Sarah Palin as his running mate. Because of his age and therefore the relatively high probability that he would not be able to complete his term, it was critical for him to choose a person well qualified to take over the Presidency. Is the governership of Alaska sufficient preparation? I doubt it. And Mrs. Palin’s political morality had a serious question mark, with the investigation of her improper use of her office to influence the firing of a state trooper. That left a nagging doubt in my mind: if that issue is not important to Mr. McCain, how serious is he likely to be in cleaning the mess left behind after eight years of President Bush? And then Mrs. Palin proceeded to loudly, shrilly insult the intelligence of every American voter every time she opened her mouth. First she took credit for killing the Bridge to Nowhere, when she had originally supported it strongly, and she only stepped in after Congress had blocked all funding for the bridge and it had become a laughingstock worldwide. Then she pounded Senator Obama for “pal-ing around with a terrorist”, for having crossed paths occasionally with William Ayers decades after Ayers’s association with the Weather Underground ended and when Mr. Ayers was a respected member of the community. Because Sarah Palin was representing the Republican Party and Mr. McCain, I could no longer support Mr. McCain.
This letter is being sent to the Republican and Democratic National Committees, to every Senator and Congressman, and to major newspapers around the country. If you are Republican, please take these observations and feelings to heart. I have voted Republican in the past because I identify more closely with the values the Republican Party professes than I do with the Democrat Party’s values. I want to be able to vote for you again. Take a step back and look at your actions over the past eight years. Review the criticisms you have been receiving without defensiveness, understanding that your critics are often intelligent people who have not only the best interests of the country at heart, but the best interests of the Republican Party. Remember where we came from, and renew your commitment to uphold the spirit of the Constitution and the law, as well as its letter. Make “all men are created equal” your primary tenet. Not “all US citizens”, or “all people we don’t think are our enemies”. All men. All women. Everywhere.
If you are Democratic, do not succumb to the temptation to gloat. Use your leadership responsibly, without vengeance and without rancor. Remember that you don’t have all the answers, either. To solve the huge problems facing this nation, all opinions must be considered. Remember that all of your colleagues, whether Republican, Democratic, or something else, ultimately have the good of the nation and of their constituents at heart. Use this opportunity to build bridges, not walls. You need all the help you can get.
My vote for Mr. Obama was not a vote for Mr. Obama. It was, purely and simply, a vote against Republican hubris. My vote was a vote against a group of leaders that think that laws are to be obeyed, unless they stand in the way of what they want to do. My vote was a vote against a group of leaders who think that the Constitution is a fine document that can be ignored when they think it’s important to do so. My vote was a vote against a group of leaders who think that “all men are created equal” applies only to people who happen to be born in the United States. My vote was a vote against a group of leaders who think that “innocent until proven guilty” applies to everybody unless they happen to be suspected of terrorism. My vote was a vote against a group of leaders who believe that the laws of the United States can be ignored completely if they are acting outside the boundaries of the United States. My vote was a vote against a group of leaders who are so confident that they have all the answers that they can ignore any evidence, no matter how clear or compelling, that they are wrong. My vote was a vote against a group of leaders who are so confident that they have all the answers that they can ignore any ideas any other group may have to offer. My vote was a vote against a group of leaders who would rather fight with our enemies than talk to them. My vote was a vote against a group of leaders who believe that it in pursuit of what they believe to be good for the country, it is acceptable to lie to the American people. My vote was against a group of leaders who pay lip service to the principles on which our country was founded, but who ignore every one of them in their actions.
I was very pleased when the Republican Party nominated John McCain to seek the Presidency. I do not follow politics closely, but whenever I heard of John McCain, he seemed to be a voice of reason, standing up for what he believed was right, and working with whoever was willing to work with him, regardless of party affiliation. I believed that Mr. McCain’s decades of leadership in the Senate made him well qualified to be President. I believed that Mr. McCain had the intelligence and the moral strength to recognize his party’s failings and to correct them.
But then Mr. McCain selected Sarah Palin as his running mate. Because of his age and therefore the relatively high probability that he would not be able to complete his term, it was critical for him to choose a person well qualified to take over the Presidency. Is the governership of Alaska sufficient preparation? I doubt it. And Mrs. Palin’s political morality had a serious question mark, with the investigation of her improper use of her office to influence the firing of a state trooper. That left a nagging doubt in my mind: if that issue is not important to Mr. McCain, how serious is he likely to be in cleaning the mess left behind after eight years of President Bush? And then Mrs. Palin proceeded to loudly, shrilly insult the intelligence of every American voter every time she opened her mouth. First she took credit for killing the Bridge to Nowhere, when she had originally supported it strongly, and she only stepped in after Congress had blocked all funding for the bridge and it had become a laughingstock worldwide. Then she pounded Senator Obama for “pal-ing around with a terrorist”, for having crossed paths occasionally with William Ayers decades after Ayers’s association with the Weather Underground ended and when Mr. Ayers was a respected member of the community. Because Sarah Palin was representing the Republican Party and Mr. McCain, I could no longer support Mr. McCain.
This letter is being sent to the Republican and Democratic National Committees, to every Senator and Congressman, and to major newspapers around the country. If you are Republican, please take these observations and feelings to heart. I have voted Republican in the past because I identify more closely with the values the Republican Party professes than I do with the Democrat Party’s values. I want to be able to vote for you again. Take a step back and look at your actions over the past eight years. Review the criticisms you have been receiving without defensiveness, understanding that your critics are often intelligent people who have not only the best interests of the country at heart, but the best interests of the Republican Party. Remember where we came from, and renew your commitment to uphold the spirit of the Constitution and the law, as well as its letter. Make “all men are created equal” your primary tenet. Not “all US citizens”, or “all people we don’t think are our enemies”. All men. All women. Everywhere.
If you are Democratic, do not succumb to the temptation to gloat. Use your leadership responsibly, without vengeance and without rancor. Remember that you don’t have all the answers, either. To solve the huge problems facing this nation, all opinions must be considered. Remember that all of your colleagues, whether Republican, Democratic, or something else, ultimately have the good of the nation and of their constituents at heart. Use this opportunity to build bridges, not walls. You need all the help you can get.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Photo: The squirrel
The main reason for this blog is to have a place where I can quickly show off my pictures. We'll start with an untypical one, for me. I walked Loki, armed with my new Canon XSi and its 70-300-mm zoom lens. A squirrel on a telephone wire caught my eye. It walked up to the pole and stopped. I took a picture, then changed the setting on my camera. When I looked back up at him, he was looking down at me.
One of the nice things about the XSi is that since it has 12 million pixels, I can pretty much crop to my heart's content. This was taken at 300 mm, which is about 10X magnification to begin with, and I probably got it up to 25X or so just by cropping out things that weren't squirrel.
Who is Cedric Cicada?
On the off chance that anyone is at all curious, I thought I'd explain the name of this blog. I am on a large number of E-mail discussion groups, and they were clogging up my inbox. In 1999, I decided to sign up for a Google GMail account to receive all group messages. The only problem was that I couldn't find a unique name. "Interrobang" was taken, so was "RobR", so were all other variations on my name I could think of.
It happened that 1999 was the year of the cicadas in our neighborhood. My wife and her Girl Scout troop decided to combat the fear and loathing millions of cicadas would generate by holding a cicada festival. The festival featured an art contest. By far the best entry in the contest was a stained-glass, three-dimensional cicada. The artist said its name was Cedric. Finally, in desparation, I chose CedricCicada as my user name in GMail, and throughout the Google universe.
It happened that 1999 was the year of the cicadas in our neighborhood. My wife and her Girl Scout troop decided to combat the fear and loathing millions of cicadas would generate by holding a cicada festival. The festival featured an art contest. By far the best entry in the contest was a stained-glass, three-dimensional cicada. The artist said its name was Cedric. Finally, in desparation, I chose CedricCicada as my user name in GMail, and throughout the Google universe.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)