I don't post videos around here much but…this is just awesome. It's a group of people that apply auto-tune to news casters and politicians normal voices and make a pop type song out of it. Really, really well done

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President-elect Barack Obama is being sworn into office today. Where are you watching the events of this historic day unfold? 

Well, I'm late here again (as this happened yesterday) but here's my answer: I decided that I would go home and watch the swearing-in ceremony as it happened considering I normally have lunch from 11:30-12:30, plus or minus a half hour.

I thought it was really cool being able to watch that happen live and I was extremely pleased with what I heard in his inaugural address. Just to copy and paste a section:

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our
safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers … our found fathers,
faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure
the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood
of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not
give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all the other peoples and
governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the
small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend
of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of
peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and
communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances
and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot
protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they
knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security
emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the
tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

After the past 8 years of the thinking that the United States didn't have to work with the community of nations in the world, that we were somehow above all that…it's refreshing to hear this sort of talk coming from the man who is the face of our government. We need to start working with the world, not forcing the world to work our way. That may have worked in the past, but the situation has changed and we've got to change with it, not cling to old ideas until it's too late.

I know everything isn't instantly going to get fixed. President Obama can't possibly meet all the expectations that have been heaped on his shoulders. It's going to take a long time and a lot of hard work to undo the damage that has been done. He's probably not going to be able to meet all of his campaign promises because the world is in a constant state of change.

That's ok though. It's not the programs I voted for or the tax proposals or the health care plan…it's the kind of thinking that Obama represents, a person willing to listen to all sides of the debate, who isn't afraid of having people who may disagree with him offer their opinions, even in his cabinet. A person who knows that in order to make America safer, we need to repair our broken reputation around the world and use military force only as a last resort. A person who understands technology and has people on staff that understand how it can be used to make the country more transparent. Heck, have you seen the new whitehouse.gov? It has a blog for goodness sake!!

So we'll see what happens. I can't remember feeling this good about the potential direction of the country in a long time. Well, probably ever because I was still in high school when Bush was elected and I didn't really care about this stuff as much as I do now. I feel like the country is starting to slowly to come around to progressing down the right road. The future will tell how many steps we take, if at all.

Here's hoping that history remembers Barack Obama fondly.

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Did you watch the baseball game or the debate last night?

Considering I'd rather get my eyes dug out with with rusty spoons than watch an entire baseball game (It takes so long for them to do anything!!!) I watched the debate.

I went in not expecting it to change my mind. I was going to vote for Obama before he even announced he was running for president, so not much is going to change my viewpoints on this. So, needless to say, I thought the debate was a big win for Obama. McCain looked like he was a grumpy old man getting increasingly frustrated with Obama's corrections of McCain's misinformation. A couple times it even looked like his eyes were going to fall out of his head because Obama had owned him so hard.

Joe the Plumber is a name I hope I never have to hear again after hearing about him so much last night. But it was worth it for when McCain brought up the misinformation about Joe's business saying that under Obama's health plan he would be fined for not offering health benefits.

McCain: Now, my old buddy, Joe, Joe the plumber, is out there. Now, Joe, Sen. Obama's plan, if you're a small business and you are able — and your — the guy that sells to you will not have his capital gains tax increase, which Sen. Obama wants, if you're out there, my friend, and you've got employees, and you've got kids, if you don't get — adopt the health care plan that Sen. Obama mandates, he's going to fine you.

Now, Sen. Obama, I'd like — still like to know what that fine is going to be, and I don't think that Joe right now wants to pay a fine when he is seeing such difficult times in America's economy.

((Some stuff edited out here))

Obama: I just described what my plan is. And I'm happy to talk to you, Joe, too, if you're out there. Here's your fine — zero. You won't pay a fine, because…

McCain: Zero? ((McCain's eyes were bugging out of his head at this point and it looked like he was staring at the headlights of an oncoming train))

Obama: Zero, because as I said in our last debate and I'll repeat, John, I exempt small businesses from the requirement for large businesses that can afford to provide health care to their employees, but are not doing it.

That was worth it. They also brought up Ayres and I think that Obama directly addressing the topic and explaining his relationship with Ayres should pretty much lay the issue to rest with most rational Americans.

All in all, I thought this debate was the best. The moderator was awesome and he let the topics go on if there was a good discussion going down between the candidates, but he wasn't afraid to step in and try to direct the discussion if necessary.

Now the three week wasteland wait begins…

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As per usual on weekends, my friends and I gathered to hang out a bit. No major "lets go out" type activities this time. This was purely hanging out and watching some TV/anime/mst3k and having a good time.

Wassy also showed me how to make her Chicken Cacciatore which is excellent (part of the reason why I wanted to learn how to make it). She took me shopping for the ingredients so I could see what she got and then explained what she was doing as she was cooking which is the best way for me to pick something like this up. Since I'm a cooking noob, I don't know a lot of the techniques and don't have a feel for when stuff will be done, so seeing somebody do it (while I take notes) is a very helpful thing. Now I need to go out and buy a big skillet.

Conversation inevitably turned to politics because of the presidential debate Friday night. Personally I think Obama did well and responded to McCain just making crap up multiple times. I'm a little biased though since I'm a very strong Obama supporter. I found it interesting how different people are seeing the debate. It sometimes sounds like they weren't even watching the same thing I was. A lot of people have commented about Obama's suposed disrespectful looks at McCain, but I saw it the other way around. You could tell that McCain just can't stand having to stand up next to Obama. He barely kept control of his temper. And he also tried a bunch of rehersed jokes that just fell totally flat.

I just think Obama handled himself better. He agreed with McCain a couple times which I think showed class and a willingness to listen to the other side's ideas. He followed up by explaining where he differed with McCains positions which, unfortunetly, a lot of people seem not to have heard..they stopped listening at "I agree with my opponet". Dah. I also liked how at the very end Obama passed up a chance to keep fending off a McCain attack and told the moderator (who was trying to gain control of the conversation to move on) that he should just move on. A very classy move.

I'm looking forward to the expected bloodbath that will be the Biden vs Palin Vice-Presidental debates coming up this week. I'm going to pop some popcorn for this one. It should be good.

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Fish (my betta) is swimming around quite nicely now, exploring everything. He just discovered that there's a middle bit to his tank with plants and stuff in it and has been examining them up close and personal. He's getting blown around a bit by the filter though so I'm going to be changing it out to a much calmer sponge filter as soon as I get some parts I need via mail order.

And now I'm going to go from fish to the Eliot Spitzer thing, which has to be one of the strangest transitions I've ever done on here. I try to avoid commenting on political news events because I'm sure nobody really wants to read it, but this is kinda big and I've got some stuff to say. First of all, I've seen a lot of people asking why this is such a big deal and how it's any different from what Bill Clinton did (for example). Normally I'd agree. I think somebody's personal life is their own business and if Spitzer simply had an affair I would probably not vote for him again, but I wouldn't call for him to resign either. That situation would be between him and his wife.

This however, is different. Spitzer ran on a platform of stamping out corruption in government, using his record as Attorney General as proof of what he's done over the years. And he's done some really good stuff as AG which is why I voted for him in the first place. And then, as it turns out, he's involved in this prostitution ring which violates several state and federal laws. Once he starts breaking laws, that's the point where a personal matter becomes an issue for the public.

I just read he's going to resign, effective Monday which is good for everyone involved. Hopefully people can put this behind them and keep working on the important business of running the state. And I hope that with the passing of Spitzer, Upstate New York isn't forgotten becaus he really started to focus on upstate which is typically ignored by the state government. 

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I try not to get political on here. It's not that I'm not interested in political type things…it's just that I prefer to keep my views to myself (and a small circle of close friends and even then…not so much). I'm registered as an independent as I don't believe that political party should influence my vote. I'll never really understand why some people vote straight ticket without even thinking about it…but that's another topic. Recently, I find myself identifying more with the viewpoints of the Democrats than the Republicans though.

So when Barack Obama announced that he was going to be running for president in 2008, I figured I should pick up his latest book The Audacity of Hope(which I was thinking about grabbing earlier anyway) and see if I can learn a little more about him and what his stand on the issues is. I had also heard really good reviews of it, and I was looking for something a little more…non-fictiony.

I read through the whole thing in about a week. It would have been a  lot quicker, except that I was in Washington DC for most of that week and was largely too tired to really read. Obama is an incredibly articulate writer. The book was interesting, well organized and well written. I particularly enjoyed the way he brought in real life people and situations to help back up his points instead of attempting to discuss the issues in abstract and in a vacuum.

I'm not sure if I'm stuck in some sort of Obama reality distortion field or something, but after reading the book, I came away with a feeling that the author was a genuine. He admitted his biases up front, as well as bringing up several examples of when he was wrong in how he thought, or lucky. I came away thinking that he was just a regular guy, trying to do the best he can and help out where he could. I'm usually fairly good these days on picking out something that's insincere. Like I said, not sure if it was some sort of distortion field clouding my judgment there or anything.

It also helped that I agreed with a lot of what he had to say. His thoughts on the state of the political debate are refreshing, about how it's become less about the issues at hand and more about how electable somebody is, or what small thing they may have done in the past.

If you're at all interested in finding out more about Barack Obama or just want a good read on the political situation of the country (from the Democrat perspective obviously), you can't go wrong with this. You might not agree with everything he has to say, but I'd be fairly surprised if you didn't take something away from reading this book.

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I just got back from voting. We’re still using the push lever mechanical machines where I’m at so the process was easy and painless.

Eagerly awaiting the results. There was some highly contended races in my area with a lot of national attention, so we’ll see how it goes…

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