Laughing at himself...

This morning, I watched the news and listened to NPR. I just caught the tail end of a fluff story on ABC about John McCain at cancer forum hosted by Lance Armstrong. And then, as part of a larger political piece, I heard excerpts from that event.

Let me go back for a moment and preface all of this: I may be liberal, but I'm not completely sold on Obama. I like his message, I like him, and I'm eager to hear more concrete plans from him (this also applied to McCain).

These excerpts I heard, they don't make me nervous, but they don't make me like McCain or establish the personal connection I need to have with him. When he speaks, he trails off, as if he's not totally convinced of what he's saying. I never feel like he's completing a thought. My impression is that the only promise he's not afraid of making is that we have WIN in Iraq (totally different story, when did it become about winning? I understand the "Mission Accomplished" thing, but when did it become a competition? Is that just because U.S. citizens are perceived by their government to need to see things in such black and white terms?).

The thing that makes me most uncomfortable is this: He laughed at his own jokes before anyone else laughed. I know, this sounds petty, but it speaks a lot to his personality today.

In 2000, I switched from being an independent to being Republican so that I could vote for McCain in the New Hampshire primary. The man running then was a confident, seasoned maverick. He could cross party lines with ease as he spoke to the genuine concerns of the U.S. middle class. In many ways, the campaign he ran then, the message he had, reminds me of Obama's now.

But today, the laughing thing says a lot about a loss of confidence. Over the past eight years, McCain was changed. He's moved more to the political conservative side while trying to keep his hand in with moderates. It hasn't worked, I don't think. A lot of people look at his changes in stance as selling out. Where is the the McCain of 2000?

Now, we have an McCain who's confidence has been cut from under him. It makes me feel as though he still has the same principles and ideas that he had then, but now he feels the need to bow to pressures to support ideas he doesn't believe in or place high priority on.

And now, we have someone who laughs at his own jokes.

Auto industry lessons from the HD DVD vs blu-ray war

We're desperate for new technology in our automobiles. We (even the SUV lovers) want more efficient technology, alternative fuels, and affordable vehicles. Where are these machines of the future? Where's my flying car?

I have no doubt that car manufacturers want to develop new tech. That industry is suffering, GM believes that the era of the SUV is over. Even high efficiency car sales are slowing as people struggle to justify making payments on such expensive cars and still have to pay for gas.

Listening to NPR last night, the discussion had turned to GM and Ford's ventures into all-electric cars. While a noble move (GM should have continued with the EV1 project from the 90s), the production cars are still predicted to be in the $30-40k price range. This puts these cars out of the price range for a large portion of the population. Heck, the Prius starts at $21,500 according to Toyota's Web site; that's still out of my budget. I will pay less over the life of my car by buying used and somewhat efficient instead.

So, why the delay and why the high price? Manufacturers will need to spend a ton of money to develop the new tech, and they don't know what to invest in! Do they make the current engines more efficient? What about hybrids, diesel hybrids, biodiesel hybrids, or natural gas? Ethanol or fuel cells? Where should they begin?

Like anyone else, they want to invest in the winning technology. Look at HD DVD and blu-ray DVD technology. HD DVD was the first to the gate, prices weren't bad. A lot of money was invested in developing it and marketing it. Looked like a winner too, with the backing of companies and a fresh market share. blu-ray, on the other hand, was delayed, was considerable more expensive, had mostly Sony backing, but was a more advanced technology. A safe bet would have been HD DVD.

Now HD DVD is dead as a format and blu-ray is gaining ground on "traditional" DVD sales.

Who would you have the car manufacturers put all of their chips with? Financially and ecologically, there's a lot more at stake here.

I wish someone would come up with a Mr. Fusion.

Missing out

My wife and I just celebrated our first wedding anniversary. We were one of "those" couples. You know, the ones that got married on 07/07/07. My dad picked the date. He's a numbers guy, and thought of it way before we did.

While we were out to dinner to celebrate, Sam asked me if I thought I had missed out on anything by being with her, by marrying her. Which spurred a long, and very good, conversation. We've never been ones who have had to work too hard at our relationship, and rarely talk about it. But when we do, well, it's a good thing.

That said, this wasn't a fair question. Every choice we make immediately precludes a different path (I'll discuss infinite, multiple parallel realities some other time). Of course I missed out on other opportunities. How could I not have? There are other women who I could have had a connection with, other jobs that I could have stayed with or taken, other places I could have moved to. But I didn't. And I'm happy.

A better question is, do I regret missing other opportunities? And the answer is no. If I weren't so happy, the answer would be different.

Location, location, location?

I guess the first part of planning a wedding is the date, but that's another story, one much easier. The location was harder. The only advice I can give is this: get married where you want, family will complain no matter what. Whether you make them fly to Colorado or drive 20 minutes, someone isn't going to be happy.

You might as well be. After all, it's your wedding day.

I can't stress that enough. It's YOUR wedding day. Not your mother-in-law's, not your best man's, not Uncle-Louie-from-Cincinnati's. YOURS.

So, when my wife and I started to plan our wedding, we spent a lot of time going back and forth about where to have it. I wanted to try to make it more convenient for my family, and have it somewhere in Massachusetts (we're in New Hampshire, my family is in Rhode Island). It would certainly be somewhat less convenient for her family, but I was trying to achieve balance.

Her family bitched. They understood, but they bitched. It turned out to be a moot point; we couldn't find a place that we both liked and could afford.

But there was a winery that meant a lot to both of us. I was one of its first customers, she loved their wine and liked the owner (she works there now, helping run wedding). And, as weddings go, they were fairly priced.

So what that her family would have to drive almost an hour? For my family, it was going to be nearly three, and the elderly members of my family are certainly not better off than hers. It was where we wanted it, where we would be most comfortable, where we could have the ceremony and reception that we wanted.

The complaints? All from her family. My family just wanted to know when they could eat.

Dr. Death

I have to wonder, when is enough, enough?

Operation: Last Chance is an bring remaining Nazi war criminals to justice. It has recently dispatched a team to Patagonia in an effort to find Aribert Heim, also know as Dr. Death. His crimes, to be sure, are heinous and churn my stomach when I think about them.

If he is still alive, Heim just passed 94 years old. If he is still alive, he has spent the better part of those years running and hiding, always looking over his shoulder. These have probably not been peaceful years.

If he is found, what will they do to him? Certainly he will be tried, but will he live through the trial? And if he is found guilty, what will his punishment be at this point? Life imprisonment? That is as good a sentence as what he has now, where his "freedom" is questionable. It would also bring medical care if he falls ill, a dry roof over his head, and food, however bland it might be. He also would no longer have to run and hide. Or would it bring a sentence of death? For a 94 year old, this does not necessarily seem like a punishment. Nor is it humane (and giving this man death by lethal injection seems a bit hypocritical).

To be sure, if I were to see him, I would tackle him and turn him over to authorities. But why are they looking for him?

It's something I can't possibly understand. As atrocious as his crimes are, they were never targeted against me, and likely wouldn't have been. I react with outrage and fight for justice, but it isn't personal.

And maybe that's the missing piece for me: this Holocaust, and Heim's actions, are crimes against humanity to me. But to the Jews, Gypsies, and other people that it targeted, it was personal.

I am a part of humanity, as are they. Maybe this should be personal for me as well.

H2O + NaCL

In a few short hours, I will be (as far as I know) internet free. I am heeding the call of Cape Cod, my second home for more than half of my life. Sam and I are heading down for the better part of the week into the weekend, mostly to get away, but also to celebrate our anniversary.

One year. Feels like yesterday that we got married. And then, it felt like another day and another party. Are we strange in that respect? Some couples tell me that it was such a whirlwind that they barely remember it. Others tell me that it was the best day of their life. It was more the latter for me, and it was a distinct pleasure to have my WHOLE family together for the first time.

That said, my family size keeps changing. Some people who came last year, I wouldn't invite again. There are more people now that I would insist on having there. I'm happy to report that my wedding party would be exactly the same. Maybe I would have included dad a little more, but he seemed happy to relax and not worry about a thing except taking pictures.

Which is part of the plan for the Cape. I plan on doing a LOT of photography. I'm been using the term "metric ton" lately, and I'd like to use it now, but I'll refrain. But the camera is fully charged, the CF card is empty, and I plan on shooting from almost the moment I walk out the door. I want to play with my new flash, do some portrait photography.

Mostly, though, I want to relax.