The best of the best is right here

The title is dedicated to the strategy that Obama took to do some damage control regarding Reverend Wright and Tony Rezko last Friday.  [Note: I started this post at 11:35 PM on Friday night. Sorry for the confusion.] Politicians rarely appear on news shows on Friday nights because it’s simply the lowest ratings day of the week. Obama must have felt that it was probably a good idea to appear on Anderson Cooper 360, Hannity and Colmes, etc. in order to give the explanations for the controversies surrounding him relatively little press.

Anyhow, in order to relate this to real life, Friday night is sort of like a leftover night. If you’re living by yourself and don’t have anything to do, it’s just sort of, ‘This is relaxing but I really want to be doing something constructive [group socialization] instead of twiddling my thumbs.’ Since I don’t have anything to do, I am going to watch The Shawshank Redemption upon my girlfriend’s recommendation. Not ‘constructive’, but it’s better than nothing. [I haven't seen the movie before but it sounds good from what I've heard of it.]

If this is the ’slowest’ night of the news cycle, maybe many of you won’t get around to this entry until Saturday or Sunday, but oh well, I had the urge to write and that urge just doesn’t leave sometimes.

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I’ve always wanted to write down my general thoughts on time. As in how long things take to prepare or how far in advance you should notify someone if you require their help.

And in a very, very, very, general manner, I’ve boiled it down to the progression of two. What this means is simply that if something is going to take one second, you have to tell someone who is helping with you with it two frames ahead of the length of whatever you’re doing. In this case, that would be an hour (second-minute-hour).

If something is going to take you one minute, you need to prepare for it or give someone notice about it one day in advance. One hour, one week. One day, one month. And so on. It’s just a general way of helping to keep all of us on track.

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Overall, this week’s workouts were extremely good. I played basketball, ran, did shuttle runs, and lifted weights. So, all in all, a good week. But as I wrote last time, with some gain comes some pain. And while the gain has come in the exercising area, the pain has come in my lab area. It’s frustrating because I am not a moron who doesn’t think two steps ahead. Yet, when it comes to knowing the basics or just having an intuitive understanding of how a certain experiment is supposed to be conducted, I don’t have ‘it’. And the ‘it’ factor is what’s killing me right now. ‘It’ comes from having a solid understanding of what the hell is going on theoretically plus enough practical knowledge in order to conduct an experiment. I vow not to give up…

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Went to a talk on 12th century Jainism by Paul Dundas over at the Penn library yesterday. Thought it would be an introductory talk. Boy was I wrong. I was completely lost. The lecturer was generally talking about how monks (sadhus) were in a battle about whether they should be a part of temple installations because there is violence is creating the temple site itself. Interesting stuff.

Have a stellar weekend.

Peace and love to all.

-The way I approach each day now is by ‘3′. I go to bed each night or wake up each morning thinking about three things I have to get done the next day. These are the three most important things that you have to do in a day that’s not part of your normal routine (going to school, class, etc.) For example, today, my big three was going to the gym (not part of my normal routine as of late), writing an e-mail to my students about the upcoming week’s labs, and talking to the coordinator for the lab that I TA regarding various issues. I got all three done today. Even though I got a lot more done than that, even if I had done just those three things, my day would have been a success nonetheless.

If you’re having trouble feeling good about getting necessary things done on a regular basis, try the rule of 3. You’ll appreciate the effort you put into each day a lot more.

-In addition, I also try to get off my ass by doing things in 15 minute increments. For example, if my apartment is messy and I really do NOT want to clean it up, I make a pact with myself that I’ll clean for 15 minutes and if I don’t feel good about it after that, I’ll stop. This can easily apply to starting homework or getting anything else done. It’s plain and simple. It’s just another way of stating that 90% of the hard work is just getting off your ass. But another underlying point is that if you don’t like what you’re doing after 15 minutes, maybe it’s not necessary that you do it. If you do like what you’re doing, then it falls into the category of ‘this is something I needed to do…glad I got started on it’.

-I still need to register to vote in the PA primaries. Yikes. Can’t forget. Must be done by Monday. If it doesn’t get done, my Obama support is not delivered to where it’s needed most: the ballot box.

-I ate tonight at the ‘Kingdom of Vegetarians’ with Ashok. It was pretty funny except he and I had pretty much the exact same things in mind when we were going over what to order. Wtf? The menu has over 100 items. And to be thinking of the same appetizer and almost identical entree. Strange. The funniest nuance was that we were both thinking of getting the ‘Dim Sum’ (all-you-can-eat of a certain list of items) because we were both craving scallion pancakes…just one of twenty menu items on the Dim Sum list. Funny.

-Life has been going up and down for a long time now…probably the last three weeks. I have started to get things in order again this week. Earlier, I told myself that I was too stressed out for being just 23. Now I don’t have that much to be stressed out about, but I think of it as letting my guard down. Many of you know that I don’t let stress get to me. I usually just deflect it like a fly. Not to say I always succeed, because usually if something doesn’t go right (provided that I made a reasonable effort), I don’t necessarily mind a non-favorable outcome. But lately, with classes, lab work, TAing, and friends and family, I did get stressed. Maybe it wasn’t stress. But my mind was quite dense. It was as if there was always something there to think about. It’s hard to describe.

Just think when there’s a lot on your mind. There can be a lot on your mind because you have a lot to do. Or there can be a lot on your mind because there’s not much to do but so much to think about. It was definitely more of the latter for me.

But I no longer feel that way for now. Sure, there’s lots to think about and do, but it’s under control for now. Besides, it’s the freakin’ weekend, so I plan on drowning the week’s worth of efforts away with Naked Juice, March Madness, and the gym.

-My bracket is donnnnnnnne. Screw you Arizona. I never watched you during the year, but I heard Jaryd Bayless (sp?) was a future NBA star and you had a white guy (Chase Budinger) who could shoot. Only the latter proved to be true. [If Bayless stays another year (doubtful), you'll be unstoppable especially with budding star Jordan/Jared (I forget) Hill inside.]

But losing to West Virginia? Even after controlling Joe Alexander? Inexcusable.

-At least I called Siena over Vandy. I’d seen Vandy throughout the course of the season and was not convinced. Not like I had a scouting sheet on Siena, but doubts about a high seed are more than enough to overcome a lack of information concerning a lower seed, especially a mid-major.

Sorta’ glad that I didn’t help my girlfriend with her bracket. That’d have been even more of massacre than my own. We tend to favor her favorite teams. But her favorite teams (Kentucky, Duke, UConn) and others geographically close to her house (Vandy, Louisville [they're up as of now]) were all spanked or dearly close to doing so. (Belmont…oh, what could have been?)

-UPDATE:  I believe that most people use ‘whitening’ toothpaste for one reason or another.  This seems to have been the trend for several months if not the past year.  But generally, do you really notice people’s teeth getting whiter?  Just a thought…

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Phew. Enough. Rest for the weary mind and soul. Peace and love to everyone.

My girlfriend has stated that I come off as anti-Hillary sometimes. While we have had lively discussions back and forth regarding Decision ‘08 (her supporting Hillary and me supporting Ron P…just kidding…Obama), I do not believe that that was the case…until now. So, to my awesome girlfriend, you’re 100% right when you make that statement.

I have a great amount of respect for the persona of Hillary Clinton, a strong leader. A person who is respected for her humanitarian gestures as first lady. I also have a great deal of admiration for the body of work she has put forth in the Senate.

But the campaign she and her advisers have conducted has, as of late, been absolute filth. Pure garbage.

I don’t even know where to begin.

Because I know you all read my blog in less than a few minutes, I’ll get to the good stuff. Then, for those less bored, read on for more goodies.

From October 2007:
“I was shocked when I learned Iowa and Mississippi have never elected a woman governor, senator or member of Congress,” Clinton told the paper. “There has got to be something at work here. How can Iowa be ranked with Mississippi? That’s not the quality. That’s not the communitarianism, that’s not the openness I see in Iowa.‘“

Basically, it’s like, Iowa, I’m going to kiss your ass at the expense of another state. Yes, people, I know it’s called ‘pandering.’ Obama does it. Everyone did it in Iowa. But can you imagine Barack (or, for the purposes of this anti-Hillary entry, anyone else) denigrating an entire state just to appease a few voters in Iowa?

From March 2008:

DR. SUSAN RICE (Obama adviser, in reference to the answer that Clinton’s advisers gave to the question, ‘Exactly what foreign policy experience does Hillary have?‘ in a media call): They said, you know, oh she — first of all, as you pointed out, they said, you know, nothing for several, almost 20 seconds.

TUCKER CARLSON: Well, she went to the 1995 Beijing…

RICE: And then she went to the Beijing women’s conference which, of course, is a crisis [sarcasm intended]. And then she claimed that she played an instrumental role in negotiating the Northern Ireland peace agreement. George Mitchell who was the negotiator said she not directly involved. She claimed she went to Kosovo and opened the border with Macedonia, and yet the border opened the day before she arrived on that trip through no direct involvement of her own.

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UPDATE:  From politico.com,

A tough story from Toby Harnden, who used to be the Telegraph’s Ireland correspondent:

Hillary Clinton had no direct role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland and is a “wee bit silly” for exaggerating the part she played, according to Lord Trimble of Lisnagarvey, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former First Minister of the province.

“I don’t know there was much she did apart from accompanying Bill [Clinton] going around,” he said. Her recent statements about being deeply involved were merely “the sort of thing people put in their canvassing leaflets” during elections. “She visited when things were happening, saw what was going on, she can certainly say it was part of her experience. I don’t want to rain on the thing for her but being a cheerleader for something is slightly different from being a principal player.”

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Even as I write this, I hate that the Democratic race has come down to this. Obama and his campaign are not without its faults. But I am not, for one second, listening to anyone who says, “Samantha Power made a terrible mistake by calling Hillary Clinton a ‘monster.’” That comment was CLEARLY meant to be off the record. The quote in the article even says, ‘She’s a monster. And that’s off the record.‘ I mean, as an editor/reporter, if you’re typing those words, ‘…off the record…’ out, shouldn’t, you know, an alarm (or how about a Red Phone :-)) be ringing somewhere.

[The Scottish Times included it under the premise that 'it would give context to the conversation.' That's bullshit. I don't know crap about journalism but to an average joe like me, there is no justfication for including that quote.]

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Here’s Strike Three. “I think that I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House. I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002,” Clinton says.

Oh yah, Hillary? Who’s been an elected official longer than you have? Who has actually worked in local communities for years? Yes, you’ve been a national name for longer, but drinking tea with the leader of Uzbekistan is not called foreign policy experience. And for more ‘experience’ claims, just re-read the Susan Rice quotes above.

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Strike Four. Howard Wolfson called out Obama’s campaign for using Ken Starr-like tactics. For those not in the know, Ken Starr was the lead attorney in Bill Clinton’s impeachment trials….universally hated by most of America at the time. Well, what were these ‘Ken Starr-like’ tactics?

Asking for the release of Clinton’s tax (from 2000-2007) and White House records. Something that can be done just by saying, ‘Yes.’ Conviently, Hillary agreed to release her tax records…but after April 15. Sure, maybe for 2007 prep, you might need your records from 2006 (I don’t know; I’m not a CPA) but I don’t see the hold up in releasing your records, you know, from 2000.

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Strike Five. This is getting absurd, I know. “Shame on you, Barack Obama.” For those with a short memory, that’s what she said in response to Obama’s mailers which critically pointed out differences in the Clinton and Obama plans. Nothing overtly negative. No name-calling. Just differences.

But Hillary? She put out similar mailers, before AND after, with the title, “America can’t afford Barack Obama.”

Shame on who?

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For Republicans/McCain supporters, Barack does know how to fight. Whether it’s versus McCain or a global enemy. But I think that he will run a very respectable campaign with Senator McCain based on policy differences. I know Bill Clinton has stated that Hillary and McCain would be a boring matchup, but please, the Clinton attack machine leaves no body unmutiliated.

Now for Obama-leaning Democrats, please take this entry in stride. Hillary Clinton is still a respectable individual who has done many positive things for this country. Let’s continue to fight for Obama and against the politics of division.

For Hillary-leaning Democrats, Obama is not without fault. He and his advisers make errors all the time. But think of the class when he has not uttered a single word about Whitewater or any other shady business deals the Clintons have gotten themselves into. The Obama campaign is prepared to fight back, but Obama said in October 2007 that he wouldn’t want to run if it meant knee-capping his Democratic opponents.

Hillary isn’t kneecapping Obama. She’s trying to bludgeon him.