PO Box in US

A student has six dogs and a cat. This country does not have much in the way of stuff for dogs so she would like to buy on ebay and other places in the US. (Most will not ship overseas.) Is it possible to set up a US PO Box and have it automatically forwarded to the UAE?

I told her I doubt the USPS would be able to do it but I am pretty sure a private business could. Any suggestions?

The South Atkins Beach Diet - Week one

Weighed in at 221 this morning. Given the fluctuations from day to day 4 pounds is nice but not a big deal.

So far so good. No major cravings...

Farmer Steve and Farmer Karey

Karey sent this picture of her and I to show the class. She asked that I crop her out.

Quote of the day: Farmer Steve

A former student stopped me to say: "I overheard students talking in the hallway. You must have told them you come from a farm because they were saying, 'Why would the university bring in a farmer to teach the management classes?'"

I wish I could find a pair of bib overalls to wear to class next week.

Update:

Miram (understandably) does not understand why I'd wear bib's to the classroom: "So, you want to wear bibs to expose and reinforce a stereotype? Farms don't "manage" themselves!"

My goal is not to reinforce a stereotype but to break one. First, I loved growing up on a farm and have zero regrets. Second, I think farmers are pretty damned smart. And finally...

I am 100% comfortable in the classroom. I have few gifts - no athletic or artistic ability - but I can teach. So I'd be comfortable playing the bib overall wearing farmer stereotype to the hilt... hell, I'd wear a straw hat if I found one.

Historically, I know this to be true: Students love me or hate me, but by the end of the semester they will not be questioning my credentials. At that point they'll have to reexamine their thoughts about farmers.

Looking for a job?

Happening right now: Statewide unemployment of 4.3%. In the western part of the state housing is scarce and most motels are booked up. The labor shortage is so critical that even McDonalds will pay a $300 bonus for those willing to work.

Where? North Dakota. They've discovered how to extract oil from oil shale in western North Dakota. The article predicts in ten years it could be the number one state for oil production.

*****

North Dakota may have good news but the other economic news is continually depressing. Consumer confidence is back down, the dollar is stronger (which may sound good, but it won't help demand for US products) and today they revised consumer demand for the last three months of 2009 to be weaker than earlier stated.

Shining moments

Of course I'm biased... but Iowa is being well represented at the Health Care Summit. Grassley and Harkin have been among the best of the senators speaking at this event. Most states have no representative at this meeting and we get two on opposite sides of the aisle.

Both represented their sides well (which is not true of everyone else around the table).

Iowans can be proud.

Where have all the good PowerPoint writers gone?

This semester I'm using my fourth textbook for teaching Operations Management. (2 in the US and 2 US textbooks here.) There's one commonality among the texts: The accompanying PowerPoint slides suck. This isn't a problem for me because I don't teach from PP. Unfortunately, our students rarely crack the book and try to survive on what they can get from class and the PP slides.

I wonder if there is a specific reason. Unlike my classes in economics, management, HR, or finance, I can't explain Operations Management in two sentences or less. Perhaps there's something endemic in the discipline that makes it harder to make decent PP slides.

Insomnia cure: Health Care Summit

Last night was one of my worse nights: Went to bed at 1:30. Played white noise on the IPhone but could not get to sleep. At 3:30 I decided to play an episode of the radio show, "This American Life." The show is a series of stories told in one hour. It worked; I remember the second story and must have fallen asleep. Sadly the last story included opera. It woke me up. It's now 4:30. I played a second story. It was really interesting and I was awake the entire hour. It's 5:30. I shut the radio off and hear birds chirping and roosters crowing. I lay their hating life. The last time I checked the clock it was 6:45. I fell asleep. Just before 8AM cats fighting outside my window woke me up.

I had to be up by 9 so I just said, "Screw it" and got up.

So... with one real hour of sleep I have to say following the Health Care Summit tonight is close... really, really close to putting me to sleep.

Quote of the day

Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons was rumored to be in an affair. When both were sighted in the Reno airport reporters followed them to a car where the governor flatly denied that he had been on a trip with the woman. He told the reporters:

"You are full of shit. You are. You really are."

The next day the Governor's office issued a statement that, yeah, they were on the same plane and "I apologize for any ambiguity or confusion caused by my answers..."

Wow. This is a state where their senator's family paid off a woman he was having an affair with.

Apparently, what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas.

A 12 year old is able to consent

So 12 is the age of consent, but if it is a teacher seducing the youth the age must be at least 15. According to who, you ask? The Catholic church.

I was equally shocked that Iowa's age of consent is 14/16. Then I realized what this meant: A 14 year may have sex with someone who is up to two years older. That's still really young but it does face the reality that some under 16 are having sex.

I wonder why the right-wingers in Iowa have never clamored to get this changed. Only two other states have similar laws.

Don't do this to me

On Sunday I started the low carb diet. Nuts are the best snack while on the diet. I bought some this morning and when I tried to open it the tab broke. It was like a Warner Brothers' cartoon as I had to hack away at it get it open.

Usually three days into this diet I feel like crap. (The body really misses carbs.) So far it's going OK. I've had no major cravings. If I could maybe, you know, exercise I'm sure that would help.

And on a lighter note...

Sometimes getting a detention is worth it. Click on the photo above if you can't read it.

*****

Today I was discussing leadership in class. I asked my students what they thought leadership meant.

Student: Being pussy.

Me: WHAT?

Student: Being pussy.

My mind is running. He did not just say that! The class is laughing uncontrollably. The kid who said it is turning red. He clearly didn't mean what we heard. The guy next to him talked to him for a second and said, "Sir, he meant 'bossy.'"

*****

And here's your favorite stars with their faces photoshopped upside down. Warning: It's disturbing.

Making the Keystone Kops look good

I have not been able to write about healthcare because the news has made me sick for over a month. No Republican support for things they used to support is sad. (Chuck leads the way on the hypocrisy.) Meanwhile, my party has the liberals demanding all-or-nothing and a White House that has been incapable of leading. I understand letting Congress write its own legislation but the mixed signals from the White House on every major point of health care reform has not been helpful.

Today the White House published a blue print for moving forward. This comes 34 days after the Massachusetts election. 34 days! I'm not sure why they didn't choose to wait longer... 'cause, you know, it will be easier once the election gets closer.

It's only 11 pages. I suggest reading it. It is solid and would help in many, many ways.

And I project less than a 10% of anything close to this passing.

My geek post of the day

I've often thought:

"Wouldn't life be great if we had an undo... Ctrl +z"?

Now there's a card that expresses the thought. Geeks and nerds around the world will be buying this because we all know we're going to screw up in the relationship so it's a good idea to have this around.

Customer service

Tonight I tried to reach Mom in St. Luke's. I sat on hold for just under five minutes before getting a human voice telling me her number was busy.

OK.

I called back ten minutes later and got through quickly. This time I was told that they don't put people through from 12:30 to 1:30 each day to give patients a time to rest. I said, "I'm her son calling from the middle east."

"Let me put you through..." was the response. The phone was still busy but this time she gave me the direct number to the room.

As much as we hate customer service in America, by far it beats what we have here.

The South Atkins Beach Diet

This morning I decided to start a diet. Years ago I learned the particulars of the Atkins diet (which was very popular) and the South Beach Diet (which made more sense). Both are low carb diets. The oversimplified difference:

• South Beach says that limited carbs that digest slowly in your body are OK and that high fatty meats are not OK. (No pork bacon on the South Beach Diet.)
• Atkins says pork bacon is good but pretty much every vegetable under the sun is bad. So have that marbled steak lathered in butter.

I've successfully combined the two: I use only veggies that are relatively low carb and digest slowly... but I also love bacon.

On the way home from work I bought 3 pounds of bacon, a couple of pork chops, a head of cabbage, nuts, cheese and celery. Frying up some bacon and using the grease to fry up cabbage with some onion/garlic salt was my meal today.

If history repeats itself the hardest week will be week one -- the body is not happy as the carbs are purged from the system.

I'm starting this diet very near my all-time high: 225 pounds. Obviously, I have good reason to do the diet!

Global Village - Afghanistan

I have been searching for a runner carpet since I moved in here. I saw several that were OK but this was the first one I really liked. (The picture does not do it justice.)

It's hand-made from Afghanistan. The price was $270 - which is about half the price I paid to put in wall-to-wall carpet in my basement back in the US. It feels wonderfully soft and it's the type of thing that when I decide to leave here I'll be able to sell.

Since the dark picture at the top doesn't show the intricate design I took an over-exposed pic to bring it out better.

Global Village - Vietnam

These stackable plates have the symbols of:

Prosperity

Longevity

Happiness

In other words, a good wedding gift.

Global Village - Africa

I LOVE these coasters. They are hand carved sandstone (heavy) and individually painted. (Looking closely you can see variance.) Here's my conversation with the nice woman selling the items for this post:

Steve: How much are the coasters?

Saleswoman: 20 Dirhams (Just over $5)

Steve: That's all? That's a great price...

Ann walked away in disgust.

I also really liked the hand-carved salad tongs.

The cute heads are definitely a conversation piece. I have a couple of weddings this summer... these will part of the gift.

I don't think any of them read the blog so I don't think I let anything out.

Bargaining: How do you know you paid too much?

At Global Village I purchased two necklaces. The price was cheap by American standards so I didn't bother to bargain. How do I *know* I got taken? The guy threw in the earrings for free... "for my special friend."

Ann just shook her head in a way of saying, "Wow, you suck at bargaining."

Dean Smith

Sometimes you wonder how the brain works. I knew about Roy Williams' outrageous Haiti comments for days before I posted the Kansas pic. I even wrote the Kansas post without mentioning his horrible comment and only added it as an update. Roy Williams is now the coach at UNC.

Today, February 20, I'm wondering if something in my subconscious led me to that post. In college I knew nothing about UNC (or it's previous coach, Dean Smith) until Spellman told me about him. He was an ardent admirer of Smith as a guy who - coaching in a southern state - did more for desegregating than any other coach.

February 19th also happens to be Spellman's birthday.

I can't think of a single day in the past 13 years since his death where he hasn't been in my thoughts but certain days - birthday, first heart attack, his wedding anniversary, date of his death - that generate more thoughts. Subconsciously, I have to believe it led to my post below pointing out what a prick Dean Smith's successor is...

Wow, Step 9!

I hate Kansas basketball. (Iowa fans will understand.) When the evil Roy Williams left for North Carolina I realized I had to get over my hatred.

This is called "Wizard of Oz redux."

The fact I liked it and was willing to post this on my blog means I'm on step on 9 of the 12 step program. I feel all warm and tingly inside that I've progressed this far. Kansas may be OK after all.

But I still hate Roy Williams.

Update: Just in case YOU didn't hate Roy Williams: This week he compared the 11 losses for North Carolina to 230,000 people dying in Haiti.

Roy Williams: Douchebag Royale.

On the "forgive Roy Williams and let it go" 12 step program I am stuck on step 1 and I'm very happy to stay there.

I can rationalize anything

We went to Global Village tonight. I didn't plan to buy anything, but well... after I started I said to myself, "You thought you lost your billfold and you didn't. Replacing everything in that would have cost you $400 so really spending that much tonight is just free money."

And, umm, I went over. Pictures tomorrow.

What happens when brain cells return

I didn't leave my billfold in a classroom. I left it at Ann & Mike's. Good news following bad seems to be the trend this week.

All things considered, this was a good first week of class. In every one of them I had students willing to speak up and ask questions. Some semesters that takes weeks to achieve - particularly on the women's campus.

I was glad to get some sleep last night. Teaching - like remember where you put your billfold - is easier with a few more brain cells.

What happens when I'm down to a few brain cells

Sunday night I couldn't sleep because of bad news. Monday night I couldn't sleep because of good news. From Sunday morning until now (Tuesday night) I've had about 3 hours of sleep. Fortunately, I only taught one class today and I told them upfront I was not at 100%. They were very supportive and class went pretty well.

Unfortunately, I took my billfold out while teaching and then left it in the classroom. I realized an hour later and waited outside until the next class was done. The prof for that class said he hadn't seen it when he came in so I'm hoping one of the women from my class picked it up for me. Sadly, I had a lot of money plus driver's license (over $100 to replace) and cashcard (ridiculously over $100 to replace).

It's now 9PM and I'm going to try to get some sleep. I have a long day of classes and meetings tomorrow.

****
Unrelated: I've been told the comments section is not working. I'll try to look into it tomorrow when I (hopefully) have a few more brain cells.

Behold the powers of FaceBook (and Skype)

At 1AM last night I decided to check e-mail before heading to bed. I was greeted with two "Mom - Urgent!!!" messages from my sister.

I was able to reach Miriam by Skype and she filled in the scary details. In the middle of the night - 7000 miles and ten time zones away - a feeling of utter helplessness washed over me. With zero chance of getting to sleep I made a simple comment on FaceBook that Mom was not well. Twenty e-mails, FB personal messages and comments poured in... and that was pretty much the first hour.

The good news 24 hours later is that Mom has made an incredible recovery. Far better than any of us could have hoped for. She's still in intensive care, but thanks to the wonders of Skype I was able to see and talk to her tonight.

It's been a long day, but a day made much better knowing I am lucky to have so many supportive friends.

Valentine's Day

I shouldn't have logged into FB today. There's nothing but saccharine posts from those who can't imagine their lives without their sweethearts. Ahh, touching. It's taking everything I have to not comment, "Yes, you'd be a crack whore if prince charming hadn't come into your life."

What's left for single people to do? Pretend that that their real love is their pet. "Here's my picture with my sweetheart, Pookie." Now, I love Gus - I really do - but he's not my sweetheart. We've never taken our relationship to that level and while it may be a dissapointment to my dog (with his testicles intact) it's just not going to happen.

My favorite of the single friends was this:

Spending today with GOD, my one TRUE LOVE.

I have resisted commenting to him, "...and with your second true love - you're right hand."

For all of you enjoying VD I wish you the best and I'm sure the over-priced flowers and dinner will be worth it.

Brody

This is a picture of a friend's new pug. I love this picture because it captures the pug personality: "I want attention so I have to do something bad. See me about to chew Mr. Bill into shreds!?!"

*****

Unrelated: After a very cool start to February the heat is rising. I've started running the air during the day. Ahh, winter... it was nice while it lasted.

Spring break 2010

I'm headed back to Nepal. We were able to snag tickets for under $200. Given how cheap everything is in Nepal it might be cheaper than staying in Al Ain. Oh, who am I kidding? Nepal brought out my inner Imelda. I purchased an extra suitcase for the flight home - one to go there and two to come back.

I seriously considered a trip home for spring break. I didn't pursue that because:

1. A $200 ticket is better than an $1100 one.
2. I planned to cancel classes for a week for the US trip. If I'm going to ask for favors from my boss I'd rather save up and be home for my birthday.

I want to play euchre!

Yahoo has a great euchre website. I've played hundreds of games. I'd like to play with/against friends. Let me know if you are interested for a Saturday noon central time tourney.

How excited am I that I might be able to spend my birthday at home?

I booked Tony's gallery for a going away party. There are several things that could trip this up but I feel confident it's going to happen.

A week ago we were told we would not have to report back until Sept. 14 (my birthday is on the 16th) with classes starting on the 19th. I plan to beg, plead... cry, if I have to... to be allowed to return for the first day of class (19) and not the 14th. I can see me working here for years and to have ONE birthday back home is more than I could hope for.

I have had a couple of birthday parties but I've never had a seriously kick-ass birthday party. I want one.

So much for the after Christmas discount

I saw this in the store today. It's a store I go to once a month or so. I'll try to keep you up to date on their progress of selling the chocolate Santas and "the countdown to Christmas"...

In the news... the Hummer is green?

A teen built an igloo and was found by police to have 2 bongs, a survival knife, hammer and 7.5 grams of pot. He was arrested. My sources say the pot was enough to make a person happy for a couple of days, nothing more. What an incredibly stupid waste of time for our judicial system. The article didn't mention a Taco Bell in the neighborhood...

So I know many of you thought the cash-for-clunkers program was stupid. (It wouldn't have been my first choice on how to spend a few billion, but it was better than nothing...) Japan had a similar program with restrictions that kept out virtually every American made car. Given that almost half the vehicles purchased under cash-for-clunkers was Japanese, the Obama administration pressured the Japanese to ease up. They did. Now a Japanese citizen can get a subsidy for buying a Hummer.

Don't you hate it when you go into your arranged marriage with high expectations and find the bride to be cross-eyed and sporting a beard?

Arabian Deer?

Near where I live they've built this pen for a buck and three does. I have no idea if they are really indigenous or what their purpose is...

The Daily What.

The Daily What. is on my list of blogs to check every day. It often has stuff like this:
... and this...

I think it’s gonna be a while before this guy gets any lovin’ from the Mrs.

Free Fallin’

I am renewing my call for uplifting music. (I need it.) This time I’ll start with one of my own. How can a song where a guy is saying he is free fallin’ being uplifting? Because it came out in the spring of 1989 and that was me… and I realized it. This song helped me make a turn-around and I appreciate it to this day.

Ahh, the mysteries of life

A few days ago some students made an extraordinary play to get added to an already too full class. Since there were two other half empty sections available they were told "no" by lowly peons (the registration people and me) my boss and my boss' boss. An e-mail was issued to all parties that this was not going to happen, no way, no how.

Today the class met and they are in it.

An alternative look at Ukraine

I have an American colleague who is Russian. She thinks the recent election in Ukraine is good news because the (Russian leaning) winner is good at governing. She thought his opponent was, "into seeking attention but did a lousy job as Prime Minister. She's just not serious... she's the Ukrainian version of Sarah Palin."

Interesting.

You are not you when you’re hungry

I haven’t had a chance to see all of the Super Bowl ads but here are two early favorites:

The following is unbelievable:

It was filmed in Letterman’s studio.  Jay was snuck in wearing a hood, sunglasses, and a mustache (no joke).  Jay is in such need to repair his image he’ll do an ad for his competition.

Elections matter - producing results matters more

After many years of a corrupt President leading the country to ruin, the people had hope. They voted for change. Thousands took to the streets in the largest political rallies ever seen. The hard-line government was crushed. The liberals promised reforms and the people cheered.

Many years later the reforms had failed to materialize and the people became disillusioned. At the next election many stayed home and the forces of darkness returned to power.

This is the story of Ukraine 2010... And I hope it's not a preview of our future.

No? No problem, I can ask someone else

Here's a series of events played out over four hours:

Student: Sir, my friend and I need your class to graduate this spring.

Me: It's already 10 over capacity. There's no way they'll let you in and I don't have the power to sign you in. There are two other sections with many empty seats. You can get into one of those.

Student: But sir, we want to take it from you.

Me: Appreciated, but I have no power.

They go to the registration desk where they are told the class is full. They come find me and take me to the registration desk where both of us say, "Class is full and we have no power to put you in the class."

They then go to my boss, the department chair. He tells them, "No, you can sign up for one of the two other sections."

They come back to me to ask me sign a paper saying I would let them in the class. Knowing I'd never get rid of them I write: "These students need this class to graduate. If there are no alternatives I don't mind if they are added to my class." They didn't seem to get my "no alternatives" clause.

They then took the paper to the Dean of the College (my boss' boss) who also turns them down. Shortly later I get an e-mail from my boss that politely states: "Steve, I will not let ANYONE be added to your class." I wrote back that I appreciate the blanket "NO" and that I can use that for the rest who were asking.

The "I'm going to shop around until I find someone to say 'yes'" attitude ties my stomach in knots. I need to get better at saying, "No way, no how." The "sorry, I have no power" is not working well for me.

***

Later in the day a student I loved having in class last year told me he'd try to get into this class. I told him the story above and he said, "I will still try. My father has wasta (connections)." So this will be interesting.

First day of class

I only have one class on Sunday/Tuesday so this was pretty much the easiest first day of class possible.

You know all the work I planned to do over vacation that I felt guilty about not doing? It was good that I didn't do it: At that last minute we changed textbooks so that work would have been useless. The PowerPoint slides I re-wrote have gone over well. Add to that the exhaustive review of Game Change and I pretty much accomplished what I wanted during the break. I know few will read the pages of text I created for Game Change. I did it as much for myself as anyone else. When I read a book like that I need to process it. Putting it all on the blog did that for me. I wish I had done that for the book on the financial crisis. Rather than just say, "All Hail Bernanke" I'd like to have specific points to back that up. If I had done a similar post with that book I'd feel better now.

*****

I am very disappointed that the Russian is leading in the exit polls for the Ukrainian election. Anytime a country makes a turn to the dark side it is unfortunate. If for nothing else, the Ukrainian identity will be further subjugated. Imagine the US where virtually all magazines and newspapers are in Spanish. Further, almost half speak exclusively Spanish in the home in all of the southern states. Now the country is electing a leader a Mexican who not only speaks mostly in Spanish, he relies on Mexico and he'll likely rule like a dictator. If you've imagined all that you know what the western Ukrainians will feel tomorrow.

A reminder of the chaos from after the Palin selection

I remember the panic among Democrats in early September 2008. They feared that the Palin selection had doomed their chances in November. I didn't... not because I'm a particularly calm or serene person... but I had read enough about her to be confident that she'd implode. Thankfully, she didn't disappoint. It was interesting to read in Game Change that this was seen by the President during those darkest days when my friends-in-arms were peeing their pants.

Obama's reaction to seeing this to his close friend Valerie Jarrett? "This is what I've been telling you."

Game Change - The shockers.

In the posts below I have laid out my outtakes of the book. Before reading them here's my list of shockers:

• In 2007 Hillary was confident of becoming the nominee to the point that she was already thinking of her running mate. Since she knew it wouldn't be Obama she planned to have two African Americans on her selection committee so it wouldn't look so bad. (100)
• Elizabeth Edwards was "cranky" on a conference call with the Edward's team. She inquired about her health insurance and was told it was complicated and it would be explained privately after the call. "She flew into a rage. If this isn't dealt with by tomorrow, everyone's health care... will be cut off until it is fixed... I don't care if nobody has healthcare until John and I do!" (128)
• Edwards top aides tried to tell him that Rielle Hunter was a problem. He seemed to listen. When confronted with the fact it would likely bring down the campaign, Edwards was angry, "Why didn't you come to me like a fucking man and tell me to stop fucking her?"
• The effort to get Kennedy's endorsement was fierce. Bill did not help Hillary. "The day after Iowa, he phoned Kennedy and pressed for an endorsement, making the case for his wife. But Bill went on, belittling Obama in a manner that deeply offended Kennedy. Recounting the conversation later to a friend, Teddy fumed that Clinton had said, A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee." (218)
• In the summer - long after conceding -Hillary could not give up her thoughts about Iowa: "'If we could have avoided Iowa, which I think would have been very difficult - I was the front-runner, blah blah blah, I had to prove my bona fides. I don't see how we could have, frankly. But I never felt good about Iowa., ever felt good about it.'"
• The book goes on, "Clinton shook her head in wonder at the Obama phenemon in the cornfields. 'You know, the Oprah thing,' she said. 'There was such a sort of cultlike, peer group pressure... They had drunk the Kool-Aid. And I am convinced they also imported people into those caucuses, which we will never prove." (265) For those who have never participated in the Iowa caucuses this may sound reasonable, but it's not. In a primary it might be, but in a caucus each precinct only gets a few delegates so stacking the deck would require an effort to bring in the Illinois ringers and evenly distribute them across the 1781 precincts in Iowa. Obama's campaign was good, but not that good.
• Told by aides in 2007 not to do immigration reform, "McCain refused. He was disgusted by Republicans in Congress and radio gasbags such as Rush Limbaugh who bashed immigrants. 'They're going to destroy the fucking party,' he would say. As McCain's town hall meetings devolved into shouting matches over immigration, the candidate let his frustration show through. He called Lindsey Graham in despair. Listen to these people, McCain said. Why would I want to be the leader of a party with such assholes."
• At the convention Hillary had written her speech. Bill came in and rewrote it. Hillary saw the rewrite just hours before she was to speak. "Hillary was furious, apopolectic. 'This is my speech!' she said, and then stalked out of the room and back to her suite. A few minutes later Bill walked into the conference room looking sheepish and chastised." (346-47) They quickly returned the speech (as best they could) to Hillary's original draft.

Game Change - The time before the Iowa caucus

As an Iowan I'm happy that the first 170 pages of the book are dominated by the run-up to the Iowa caucuses. New Hampshire got the next 20 pages. That pretty well sums up the relative importance of the two events.

Here are my takeouts with (page numbers)

• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid believed Hillary would weigh down the senate candidates in 2008 and urged Obama to run. (33)
• More surprisingly, Chuck Schumer (the other senator from Hillary's New York) believed Hillary to be vulnerable because of Bill's more recent indiscretions. (36)
• Hillary's own investigators tracked down all the rumors and were able to conclude that "Bill was indeed having an affair - and not a frivolous one-night stand but a sustained romantic relationship." (50-51)
• David Geffen (Hollywood magnate who was an early supporter of Bill Clinton twenty years ago) was disturbed by Bill's travels with playboy Ron Burkle. When 'asked if he thought if Bill was was still fooling around, Geffen would reply, 'Do you think the Pope's a Catholic?'" (87)
• Prior to deciding to run Obama spoke at the Harkin Steak Fry (which I still kick myself for missing) (56), felt good about Iowa (64), knew that if he won Iowa he'd likely be the nominee (62) and even conducted focus groups in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. (65) <-- Really? I would love to know anyone who participated in that focus group.
• Hillary spent $45 million on her senate reelection in 2006 against a weak opponent. That left her only $10 million to roll over to the presidential campaign. (78) That senate campaign with a way too large high-priced staff was a sign of the future.
• Because Iowa had come to know Edwards (or so we thought) during the 2004 campaign he was the early front runner in 2007. Hillary's own poll had it at 38% Edwards with Obama and her tied at 16%. "...she put on a brave face. 'It's better than I thought it would be,' she said. 'We have our work cut out for us." (93)
• "If Hillary was going to be competitive there she would need to go all out. The problem was, she hated it there." (94) Later on the same page: "She found the Iowans diffident and presumptuous; she felt they were making her grovel... Over and over, she complained about the system that gave Iowa so much power in selecting the nominee. 'This is so stupid,' she would say. 'So unfair.'"
• One of Hillary's people - Mike Henry - wrote a memo in May 2007 explaining why she should skip Iowa. He was stupid enough to also send it to a friend and less than 12 hours later The New York Times had it. (95) Once it became public there was no way she could pull out of Iowa because it would have been read as a defeat.
• Bill Clinton was not happy that the credo in Iowa politics is that you can't go negative. "... the one thing Iowans won't abide was negative campaigning." (98) I'm not sure I believe that, but it's often said. Anyhow, "Bill wondered if Iowa was laying a triple whammy on his wife: she couldn't attack, she couldn't quit, and she couldn't win." (98)
• While Hillary didn't like Iowa she did fully understand the state's importance as she told her people, "You realize... we're only Iowa away from winning this." I whole-heartedly agree. If Hillary had won the Iowa caucus she'd be president now.
• Obama bored people at early town hall meetings "taking ten minutes to respond to the simplest inquiries." (110) Yes, yes, and yes. While I love thoughtful answers, Obama's inability to be concise made me wonder if he was the right guy to be the nominee.
• It's amazing how many fellow senators did not want Hillary to be the nominee. At one point in 2007 Schumer was "telling fellow senators that Obama needed to take a two-by-four to Hillary." And since Obama wasn't willing to do it they wondered if he was tough enough to win. (116)
• Obama knew he wasn't at the top of his game in the fall of 2007. He and his team planned for the Des Moines Jefferson-Jackson dinner to be the turn around for his campaign as it had been for Gore and Kerry. (120)
• On Elizabeth Edwards: "The nearly universal assessment among (the Edward's aides) was that there was no one on the national stage for whom the disparity between public image and private reality was more disturbing." (127) Neither Edwards nor his wife come out looking good in this book.
• The book explains that Jefferson-Jackson (known as JJ in the political geek world) was the turn around for Obama's campaign. (150-51) But it really misses why he won the event so clearly: Hillary performed terribly. She had a sore throat and her voice was off. In this large indoor arena she spoke only to her crowd, keeping her back to the rest of the audience. Bill sensed JJ was a turning point for Obama. (155)
  
• Our former Gov. Vilsack proved he was clueless in advising Hillary's campaign. (153) He said, the young will not caucus so Obama's big crowds of young people are nothing to worry about.
• The book goes to great lengths to detail dissension within Hillary's campaign. Specifically, how much everyone hated her pollster Mark Penn and thought that her campaign manager Patti Soylis Doyle was in over her head. Both points were widely talked about during the campaign.
• Penn was proud of how many times he was able to say "cocaine" in reference to Obama during a Hardball interview. (163)
• Hillary's campaign thought the Register's endorsement might help them win the Iowa caucuses. (164)

Just before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucus, every campaign went into their final pitch. I remember seeing Hillary at the Vinton high school. Her performance stunned me and the book explains it well: "Hillary embarked on what The New York Times described as a 'likability tour' of Iowa. She brought her husband along to vouch for her warm and fuzzy side. She brought her best friend from sixth grade. She brought farmers from New York to tell Iowans how she'd helped them... Gone from her speeches were any strident tones. Speaking as if she were on Quaaludes, her voice was bedtime story soft, her cadences syrupy slow." (165) She did speak as though she was on quaaludes and I will never understand why they did it.

• Vilsack again proved what little feel he had for his own party and state. When the Register released its final poll showing Obama with a strong seven point lead he said he couldn't believe they were projecting 220,000 to show up. "And Vilsack, who knew the caucuses like the back of his hand, took one look at the numbers and said, 'That can't be right.'" (171)

Vilsack had a reason for his opinion: The previous high was 124,000 in 2004. But anyone in Iowa in 2008 knew it was an entirely new world. The Register actually underestimated turnout; the Iowa caucuses had 234,000 attendees.

Game Change - the rest of the Democratic race

Here we go:

• On the day of the New Hampshire primary Hillary demoted her close friend and campaign manager... by e-mail. (187)

After losing Iowa but winning New Hampshire and Nevada Bill insisted on going to the next contest - South Carolina. The campaign wanted to write off the state and focus on the mega-contests on Super Tuesday but Bill insisted. He proceeded to offend blacks and many who had long admired him (including me). "All during the campaign, media and cocktail party psychobabble had abounded as to whether the former president actually wanted his wife to win. Now, for the first time, Hillary's closest aides began to contemplate the question seriously - asking themselves whether, on some unconscious level, he'd been trying to sabotage her." (212-13)

• After Obama dominated Hillary 55-27 in South Carolina Bill pointed out, "Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84 and '88. Jesse ran a good campaign here. And Obama ran a good campaign here." (214) The attempt to marginalize Obama as the "black candidate" was not lost on the Obama campaign.
• While Iowa put the Obama train into motion, North Carolina sealed the deal. As Tim Russert said that night, "We now know who the Democratic nominee is going to be and no one is going to dispute it." (249)
• Hillary told Penn she wasn't interested in being VP, "I've already done that job." (261). From what I've read from Gore I think he'd agree.

Game Change - The Republican primary

There's much less interesting stuff in the Republican primary contest. Although McCain's campaign was given last rites by the media in the summer of 2007 he stayed in because he perceived (correctly) that the rest of the field was weak. Given the winner-take-all rules of many of the Republican primaries McCain won - not because he was most popular - but that Huckabee, Romney, and Thompson split the conservative vote.

Anyhow, here goes:

• After a 4th of July trip to Iraq he quipped, "I'm the only one I know who would go to Iraq to get away from it all."
• Giuliani, McCain and Huckabee were all taking a piss before a debate. While doing their business they made fun of Romney "Poking fun at him, mocking him, agreeing how much they disliked him." Of course, Romney walked in... (293)
• "McCain routinely called Romney an 'asshole' and a 'fucking phony.' Giuliani opined, 'That guy will say anything.' Huckabee complained, 'I don't think Romney has a soul." (294) Ouch, that's harsh coming from a preacher!

Game Change - the general election

Here we go:

• "...McCain's view of Obama was firmly fixed and strikingly similar to the one that Hillary held: Obama was a lightweight, a line cutter, a go-along-to-get-alonger who pretended to be a man of independence, and who bore none of the scars of political sacrifice that McCain wore as medals of honor." (325)
• McCain ran effective celebrity ads in late July/early August 2008 comparing Obama to Paris Hilton. The campaign nixed one with Oprah in it with the campaign manager saying, "'Don't politicize Oprah. She's more powerful than you can comprehend, like Obi-Wan Kenobi.'" (330)
• Obama remarked that he didn't look like other presidents. True, but it led the McCain campaign to accuse him of playing the race card... To which Obama told his people, "McCain is playing the race card by accusing me of playing the race card." (333)
• While the Clintons were on board the Obama campaign, "The Arizonan regularly phoned Bill and chatted with him about foreign policy. Boy, McCain gets it, the Clintons would tell people. John McCain is tough."(344)
• Obama found Biden to be boring. While in the senate he listened to Biden go on and on Obama passed a note to the guy who is now his press secretary saying, "Shoot me now." (28) I saw the same expression when I saw Biden speak at the Blue Strawberry in CR.
• Lieberman was McCain's first choice to be VP (not Tom Ridge as many speculated when they trial ballooned the idea of a pro-choice VP). Lieberman wondered, "Am I going to have the unique honor to be the only person in history to lose twice as vice president on two different tickets?" (356)
• While the McCain campaign knew they hadn't come close to fully vetting Palin's background they were not concerned about her understanding of issues. "They didn't explore her preparedness to be vice president. They assumed she knew as much as the average governor..." (362) Wow, understandable, but wow.
• Campaign manager Schmidt couldn't believe Palin's calm before being announced as the VP selection. "Palin nodded and replied, 'It's God's plan.'" (364)
• Schmidt later realized that Palin might not know as much as the average governor. Telling the group charged with getting her up to speed, "'You guys have a lot of work to do. She doesn't know anything.'" (370)
• McCain left Bernanke "flabbergasted" by his lack of understanding of the financial crisis. (381)
• The suspension of the McCain campaign is presented as a huge blunder. Even President Bush was not happy at the meeting where he was forced (by the McCain campaign) to call the leaders of Congress together with Obama and McCain. "Bush was dumbfounded by McCain's behavior. He'd forced Bush to hold a meeting that the president saw as pointless - and then sat there like a bump on a log. Unconstructive, thought Bush. Unclear. Ineffectual." (389)
• McCain's performance during the financial crisis led Treasury Secretary Paulson's chief of staff to say, "'I'm a pro-life, pro-gun, Texas Republican. I worked all eight years for Bush. I helped sell the Iraq War. I was in the Florida recount. And I wrote a letter to John McCain asking for my five hundred dollar contribution back, when he pulled that stunt and came back to DC. Because it just isn't what a serious person does.' To his amazement, Wilkinson determined that he would be voting for Obama." (393)
• In the attempt to buck up Palin after disastrous interviews on ABC and CBS, she was told, "Ronald Reagan said that trees cause pollution and went on to be a great president." (402)
• Palin kept calling Biden "O'Biden" during debate prep leading to the decision for her to ask if she could just call him Joe. Dems were worried that Biden would talk patronizingly. He avoided it but given how many times she goofed during the debate Biden told his handlers, "You guys owe me. You don't know how much restraint that took." (407)
• Towards the end of the campaign, "Some in McCain-world were ridden with guilt over elevating Palin to within striking distance of the White House." (416)
• In October an Ohio focus group of undecided voters met where one "middle-aged woman let loose with... 'He's a Muslim. He's soft on terrorism - because he's a muslim. He doesn't (put his hand on his heart). We're not even sure he was born in this country.'" The moderator was confused... she is an undecided voter? "Because if McCain dies, Palin would be president." (416)
• One of the reason Powell endorsed Obama is that "He was startled by the crazies at (McCain's) rallies." (422)

Game Change - After the election

Here goes:

• Hillary flew to Chicago with the plan to kill the Secretary of State request before it became official. Quoting James Carville she said, "Once you're asked, you're fucked."
• Hillary warmed to the idea when she realized returning to the senate was not going to be what she hoped. "She had come back thinking her campaign had enhanced her status, that she could snag herself some kind of plum position." Kennedy and Reid shot her down. "Behind the scenes (Reid) and Schumer were beseeching the Obamans to take Hillary off their hands." (432-433)
• In debating Obama against taking the Secretary of State position she said of her husband, "You know I can't control him, and at some point he'll be a problem."

Wow. There you have it. It feels like I spent as much time explaining this book as I did reading it.

December 12, 2009

That was the one day I did not see the sun. Today's rain and lightning reminded me because the sun was only out for an hour before it hit.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: There's no underestimating the positive effect of seeing the sun every day. (Although clouds disappear in May and by early July I'd do anything to see something more than haze.)

Two days ago I made the mistake of wearing a brand new pair of contacts out into a sandstorm. I was only outside for a brief time before I came back to wear glasses. I cleaned the contacts twice and hoped to wear them today. Nope. Once the really fine sand embeds the contacts they are unusable. And contacts are EXPENSIVE here.

Unemployment: Not good news

A drop in the unemployment because more jobs are created is good news. A drop in the unemployment rate while another 22,000 jobs are lost is bad news. I was hoping for a reverse in this morning's news: Unemployment rate up and 50,000 net jobs created. The month we get that will be the real sign we've turned the corner.

Vacation

I have to one of the few people in the world that does not enjoy or look forward to vacations. Oh, I like lounging around and spending hours on the internet; I can't deny that... but it's always with guilt that I should be doing something. So for virtually every vacation I set goals of what I will accomplish. And, of course, I never meet them.

This vacation is over. Classes start on Sunday. I'm trying not to be too down on myself for the lack of accomplishments. Vacations are supposed to be about sleeping in and not taking a shower until 6PM, right? If only I could convince myself.

Related news: I might, just might be home for my birthday next September. Given the timing of Ramadan this year (and the eid celebration/vacation that follows it) it doesn't make much sense to start classes and after the first week send everyone home for a week of vacation... so the thinking is that we'll start after that week of vacation. That would mean a start of September 19th at the earliest.

My birthday is on Thursday September 16. The idea of being home for a big birthday party is very appealing... with me getting on a plane the next morning to make it in time for the first class on Sunday.

One of my favorite quotes of all time

Taking a break after inhaling the first 100 pages of Game Change, I checked FaceBook. In my mailbox was a question from a friend (and fellow Resident Assistant) from Coe about a student on my floor.

Being the overly eager RA I looked forward to meeting the new students during the summer orientations. Before I met any of them I met a mother who spoke with a slow-drawn accent that could easily be confused with Lousiana. She said emphatically, "M-y s-o-n is comin' to Coe to major in futball and minor in rassling."

In my three years as an RA it was very easy to pick out the one-term one-year wonders. (No matter how badly any student performed in the first semester Coe would almost always give them a second chance for the spring.) After a while I was concerned of the ethics of the admissions department. Go to Iowa with the plan to be pre-med and you're told you'll have to get accepted into the program after you prove yourself with grades. At Coe you're told, "Major in Biology. If you're accepted to the college you're guaranteed in the program. Many of our biology graduates have gone on to be doctors..." That's true, but telling that to a kid with a 17 ACT is disingenuous at best, but more accurately it's deceitful.

In the case of the kid above, Lonnie reminded me that the "futball major" was a presidential scholar. A fact that my love for my alma mater had allowed me to repress. I do remember he lasted less than two years.

Game Change

A friend who was back in the US for the break returned today and brought me the book. It's the tell-all background book of the 2008 race. Here's a quote from the first page:

"The past months in Iowa had been a blur of high school gyms, union halls and snow0dusted cornfields. Obama was surging, he could sense it... His strategy from day one been crystalline: win and Iowa and watch the dominoes fall."

As one who appreciates Iowa's importance in the political process I like reading this on the first page. I think I'm gonna like this book.

Warm winter?

So back in October I posted a map from the National Weather Service predicting a warmer than normal winter. You can read the original post here and the map is below.

And the prediction was accurate... for November. Remember all those wonderful 50 and 60 degree days in November?

Starting on December 2 the bottom fell out. December was colder than normal and January was way colder than normal.

So what gives? Today state climatologist Harry Hillaker explained the forecast on Iowa Public Radio's The Exchange. The reason the NWS got it wrong is el nino. For all ten previous el ninos the upper midwest had a mild/warmer winter. Since there's a strong el nino in play right now it was easy to forecast a mild/warm winter this year.

The host also asked about ice. It seemed to the host that there's more ice now than in the past. Hillaker responded that the NWS measures precipitation and snow, not ice. "Don't you think they should?" asked the host.

To the longtime Iowans I ask, "Do you think there are more freezing rain ice storms than there were twenty-thirty years ago?"

This may look political but it's not

Product placement props: My thanks to the Vice President for playing along.

Crist watch

Last spring there was the Arlen Specter watch: How long would it take the Republican senator to drop his party? In that case it was a little less than two months before he realized he could never be elected as the "Republican" senator from Pennsylvania again. The state's right-wingers were going to choose one of their own in the primary.

Now there's news that very popular Republican governor Charlie Crist is 12 points behind the right-winger favorite to be the nominee for the senate this year.

All of this may explain why Crist chose to meet Obama this Thursday when the President travels to Florida.

Mmm!

Over the past few days I've found some wonderful stories about the wonders of bacon. I can't wait to share them with you. In the meantime here's some pics from my friend Rishi:

I think it looks fabulous... God bless his artery clogged heart.

On FB he makes it clear that the corn was added "mostly for scientific and psychological reasons."

Update: Rishi needed to correct my quote. It should be "physiological" not "psychological." Apparently he was concerned eating this without corn would have the same effect as the government giving our grandparents five pounds of cheese every couple of weeks.

Oh, how I miss the nachos from those government cheese give-aways.

Quote of the day - A new talking point to get someone to pose nude

The new senator from Massachusetts posed nude for Cosmo years ago. Big(?) deal.

He credits the photo shoot as launching his career. Saying on This Week,

"If I hadn't done that... I never would have been sitting here today."

Well, good for him! I'm sure many photographers will use that line to convince their subjects to pose nude... "See? It could launch your career! You could be a senator someday!"

Delight(fully expensive) Movers

Long story short: I spent the day helping a newbie from Wisconsin get her stuff moved. Mind you, in this country helping someone move doesn't really mean lifting boxes. It's rounding up the gang of workers and getting them to the right places.

In this case the woman hired a moving company an administrator recommended. The price $450. Last year I moved 3x as much stuff for less than $75. But she didn't get completely ripped off when you consider the circumstances: These workers came all the way from Abu Dhabi (80 miles away) and did an American mover style job of carefully wrapping each piece of furniture. They even wrapped a mattress in plastic to take it for the short distance trip.
In total nine workers came; three in the truck in the top picture and six rode in this pickup.

My new friend said, "Well, I guess my lesson for the day is not to take the advice of administrators who get paid much better." Yup.

Feeling burned by the charge she asked, "Do I have to tip when I'm paying an outrageous price?"

I told her I understood the "I'm getting ripped off feeling" but the guys doing the moving make $200-$300 per month. A $5 tip per man will make their day, if not their week. She agreed.