Very-very-very fine house

Sean and I are officially residents of Palo Alto. We have no furniture and have discovered that our DirectTV account is useless at this new address, but we're moved in and so far everything's fucking super.

I've been riding my bike to work every day - besides the oil-less commute (which I love), the best part is smelling the eucalyptus each morning as I ride through the less developed parts of campus to get to my building. And this morning I watched the sun rise over Hoover tower - it also turned the rolling hills in the distance an amazing purple color.

The new 'hood requires some adjustment for our dog - Brisbane was the land of off-leash living, not so much Palo Alto.

Hopefully muttly will get used to leash-life before she dislocates one of our shoulders...

We're still in the process of emptying and cleaning out our old place in Brisbane - time and energy are at a premium, lately. *Yawn*

Emily, my first roommate in Alaska and good buddy flies into town this afternoon, so we probably won't get much done this weekend, either - she's worthy of the sacrifice, however; no complaints.

Autumn is beautiful in Palo Alto - maybe not as beautiful as New England's, but it's warm and colorful, so as burnt out as I feel, life is really very good.

And that's the news from here.

If you have second, check out this website about breaking the bottled water habit - our water supplies may depend on it.

Read it, embrace it and pass it along.

Palo Alto or bust!

Our new abode (the one on the right).


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Rattlesnake

Right after watching the first debate last night, Sean found this thoughtful commentary piece on Talking Points Memo, an excellent muckraking blog by Joshua Micah Marshall (who visited our group at Stanford last year... good times).

What I have posted below (here is a link to the piece) was written before the debates started and I think Marshall makes some excellent points. Enjoy!

Looking forward to what we can expect from tonight's debate, the most telling points are situation and character. The polls for the moment look good for Barack Obama. And what he needs to prove in the context of the entire campaign is that he has the stature and heft to be President of the United States. That and Obama's character both suggest that he'll try to put in a solid, reassuring performance rather than aiming for a knock-out punch or some game-changing moment.

Meanwhile, everything about John McCain's character and the situation he finds himself in suggests he'll do precisely the opposite.

Whether we call it John McCain's freak-outta-palooza or just some freewheeling maverickism, everything John McCain has done over recent months and especially and with a new intensity over the last week has been geared to upsetting the applecart and creating some event which trips up Obama and shifts the trajectory of the campaign. Some of us may see it in a negative light or a positive light, but descriptively, I don't think many people on either side of the political aisle would disagree with that analysis.

Add to that the issue of character. A high stakes campaign brings out the essence of an individual. And campaigns, in almost every case, are defined by the candidate. With these rapid-fire rash and erratic actions, I think we're seeing the real John McCain. It may be filtered through and packaged by Steve Schmidt or Salter or Davis. But fundamentally I believe this all stems from John McCain.

(To add to the miss, note this pool report filed as McCain headed for the plane to Mississippi tonight with Rudy Giuliani in tow -- the "general atmosphere is utter confusion." Not conducive to going into a high stakes debate. But very much in line with McCain's recent affect and behavior.)

Put those two factors together -- recent behavior/strategy and fundamental character -- and I think you have to expect a John McCain who is unpredictable, possibly uncontrollable and looking for any moment to launch a dramatic ambush or confrontation that will amount to his ultimate roll of the dice.

--Josh Marshall

Sarah Palin vs. Rape Victims

My husband reminded me last night about one of the ugliest legacies among all of Sarah Palin's horrific political actions while serving in Alaska, specifically her tenure as mayor of Wasilla.

Palin cut funding for medical exams that rape victims undergo in order to gather evidence against their attacker. These tests cost anywhere between $500 and $1200 each.

If you were raped, would you be able to cough up that much money?

“Under Sarah Palin's administration, Wasilla cut funds that had previously paid for the medical exams and began charging victims or their health insurers the $500 to $1200 fees. Although Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella wrote USA Today earlier this week that the GOP vice presidential nominee 'does not believe, nor has she ever believed, that rape victims should have to pay for an evidence-gathering test...To suggest otherwise is a deliberate misrepresentation of her commitment to supporting victims and bringing violent criminals to justice,' Palin, as mayor, fired police chief Irl Stambaugh and replaced him with Charlie Fannon, who with Palin's knowledge, slashed the budget for the exams and began charging the city's victims of sexual assault. The city budget documents demonstrate Palin read and signed off on the new budget. A year later, alarmed Alaska lawmakers passed legislation outlawing the practice.”

Full Story http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-alperinsheriff/sarah-palin-instituted-ra_b_125833.html

But the problem goes beyond that. What people may not realize is that Alaska has a serious sexual assault problem. Check out these facts:

According to the Department of Justice, the percentage of lifetime rate of rape /attempted rape for women by race is as follows:

All women: 17.6%
White women: 17.7%
Black women: 18.8%
Asian Pacific Islander women: 6.8%
American Indian/Alaskan women: 34.1%
Mixed race women: 24.4%

And regarding...

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT IN ALASKA

• Almost 75% of Alaskans have experienced or know someone who has experienced domestic violence or sexual assault.
• There were over 6,000 reported cases of domestic violence in Alaska in 2005.
• 524 forcible rapes were reported in Alaska in 2005, representing almost 13% of all violent crimes.
• The Alaska rape rate is 2.5 times the national average.
• Child sexual assault in Alaska is almost six times the national average.
• Alaska has the highest rate per capita of men murdering women.
• Almost 30% of Alaskans were not able to access victim services or encourage others to do so because there were no services available in their area at the time.
• Almost 90% of Alaskans would vote to increase funding for victim service programs, and over 90% would support increased penalties for domestic violence and sexual assault perpetrators.

And just so you know,

More than 1 out of every 3 American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped in her lifetime.

More than 3 out of every 4 American Indian and Alaska Native women will be physically assaulted in her lifetime.

So it's not JUST that Sarah Palin has zero credentials, a legacy of political much behind her and neoanderthal ideas about reproduction, education, Feminism or the acceptable use of power... she's just generally doesn't give a shit about anyone except herself. Not even rape victims.

And we're supposed to believe she's a public servant?

FEMA-Gate (or Heckuva Job, Bushy)

Guess what?

FEMA hasn't learned a damn thing since Katrina.



Is it just me or is this beyond angering? It's actually frightening. We can dump money into "anti-terrorist" programs to spy on US citizens, but can't help these same citizens when something bad actually occurs.

This question I hurtle into the (rhetorical) ether...

am I the last person on earth who thinks that hiring someone else to clean your house is an unforgivably lazy and inhumane practice? (Not counting people who are physically or mentally unable to due to conditions well beyond their control.)

I can't help but see such actions as saying: "You're poorer than I am so you should be cleaning up filth I create."

I understand a busy lifestyle, I do - I usually have 4 free hours per night (between arriving home and going to bed) to walk my dog, cook, eat and clean. Never mind doing something good like reading, writing or going out. Time is not easily come by, but if one has time to live in his or her house and spread his or her filth around, one should have time to clean it up.
(This coming from a person who has not had a house containing a dishwasher or washing machine in it since the age of 18).

On the other hand, I realize that people need jobs, any jobs, and there are obviously people able and willing to do such work, no matter how badly it pays. And it does pay badly. I also realize that while I don't pay other people to clean my house, I do pay them to haul my trash, make my clothes, grow and picky my vegetables, grow and slaughter my meat, and (sometimes) fully prepare my food.

I'm not calling for a return to the Agrarian society. No, I am just pondering where the laziness line lies.

What are the reasonable tasks for which I should take personal responsibliity?

What ones are not?

Took the words out of my mouth...

My friend just forwarded this to me:

Obama's campaign would be over, done, cooked, imploded if:

-he used his office to allow his wife to carry narcotics for her consumption on a diplomatic passport.

-he had a scandal where he traded campaign favors for political influence ala Keating 5.

-he picked a Veep with the same skill set and experience as Sarah Palin.

-he called his wife a trollop and c@%t in public.

-he couldn't remember what border Afghanistan was on.

-he kept confusing Iraq with Iran.

-he involved himself in a regional conflict that has no strategic value to this country.

-he surrounded himself with a lobbyist operation of 150 people to manage his campaign.

-he dumped his 1st wife for a 24YO heiress to a beer fortune, committing adultery in the process.

-he had a lobbyist that got him to intercede with the FCC on broadcasting licensing with a potential sex angle involved.

-he was 72 years old with a medical history of numerous occurrences of cancer.

-he was celebrating his birthday with a cake while New Orleans was drowning.

-he was in a Party that has been a governing disaster for the past 8 years.

-he had falsely fingered Iraq for the 9/11 attack.

-he had fellow Senators of his Party publicly worried about his temper and temperament to be POTUS.

-he was caught on camera celebrating his birthday with a celebrity and indicted con artist in some exotic locale.

-he couldn't remember how many houses he owned.

-he violated campaign rules about flying in private aircraft, owned by his wife, at n/c to his campaign.

-he thought rich was making $5MM/year.

-he let Michelle show up for his nominating convention, wearing $280,000 worth of jewels.

-he continued to lie about his VP's accomplishments. particularly on earmarks and the bridge to nowhere.

-he stated that Joe Biden probably knew more about energy than any other person in the US.

-he graduated 894/895 in his class and crash 4 jets while in the military.

If he were running as a Republican, these problems wouldn't matter.

Yeah, like he said.