Well, I had aspirations of getting in a few more posts this weekend, but birthday activities and home brewing kept me busy enough. Now it's Sunday and time to wrap up the week. I'm going to keep this one short like last week as I have to get up super early tomorrow to fly out for business (argh).
John McCain and Barack Obama appeared at the Saddleback Church for a Q&A session with pastor and best-selling author, Rick Warren. I thought the session was reasonable with Warren serving as a good moderator. There were no great sound bytes or screw-ups in my opinion. I haven't watched much of the "analysis" after the debate, so I haven't heard the spin yet. Meanwhile, Bob Barr filed an injunction in the District Court against Saddleback on the premise that they were in violation of FEC rules by not having predefined objective criteria for inclusion to the forum. Barr lost his case. Should Barr, who is running on a platform denouncing the power of big government, try to use the power of government to get his way? Or, is he using whatever means possible to get his voice heard so that he can have the opportunity to advance the platform? It's an interesting debate. Regardless, according to the latest Zogby poll, most Americans want to have the opportunity to hear what he has to say in a head-to-head(-to-head...) debate.
The anti-Russia rhetoric in the U.S. continues to heat up as the days progress. I tried to bring the objective facts of history (is there a such thing?) to this audience earlier in the week. In discussions through the weekend I've reiterated my point that the complexity of this situation warrants caution in taking sides. I strongly feel that there is plenty of blame to go around and varying perspectives. Yet, sadly, all I tend to hear from both the television and others is how badly Russia is misbehaving. "Once you are KGB, you are always KGB", "Russia has attacked a sovereign nation", "Georgia is a friend of the West", "We must protect democracy"... Look, Russia's actions are deplorable. But, it is a bit more complex. Do the residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have a right to secede? Where does the line end for Georgia to use military force on its own people within its own borders? By the way, doesn't it seem a bit odd that the U.S. is taking such a strong stance against a nation launching an unprovoked attack against another nation?
Locally, Greg Ballard's budget is getting some heat. One of the biggest sources of discontent is his plan to reduce the budget for the Parks Department. This story ran in the Indianapolis Star this weekend. I want to do some digging around at some point to see if there has been any solid, reliable economic analysis which objectively studies the impact of green space on crime and education in a neighborhood. It makes sense to a degree, but I've seen some of the parks in this city. Just because there is a park, it doesn't mean that it is either nice or visited by anyone. This also reminds me that I need to read the Indiana State Constitution at some point as well as it's equivalent for the city of Indianapolis. I'm sure that parks are probably designated as essential services, but opportunity for privatization may exist. Either way, having some element of objectivity to determine which parks are "working" and which ones are not should be a must. Government should be run like any other business. You need to have objective goals and measures to know if things are working. Investment and management should have some notion of ROI or a cost-benefit analysis.
This week I plan on breaking down the candidates for President. I'll review everyone who has ballot access in at least ten states (that's my own arbitrary and objective criteria). This will include my official endorsement. I also plan on discussing "windfall profits" and their place in Obama's plan for the country.
1 comment:
1. I only saw part of the Obama segment with Warren, though found it silly that public officials in a secular society should feel the need to answer questions such as, "does evil exist?" Sadly, too much of the voting populace seems to hinge on these sorts of questions. Some days I think millennial hysteria is undermining true global progress. Crazy humans.
2. Everybody already knows Russia is eeee-vil. For proof (and a great montage scene), watch Rocky IV.
3. So far, I don't think Ballard has done a very good job of proving that he knows what he's doing. However, I have a certain respect for David Reynolds (city controller) and am thus reserving some reactionary commentary on this one until the budget year plays out. If the crime issues die down in Indy soon, most will probably overlook weeds in the parks. Though I often wonder if in all his travels to Places With Totally Awesome Chinatowns, our mayor ever noticed that places with great nature-oriented public spaces were engineered as such to provide serenity for urban psychopaths who otherwise go apeshit and do Bad Stuff. There's an obvious correlation there and I don't think you need numbers to prove it. A concrete jungle is a stressful place to live; I don't think the mayor understands that.
(Oh, and my gut instinct is that privatizing *any* parks is a terrible idea. There's got to be a more creative way to address the issue.)
Post a Comment