Category: Political

The American people.

The Presidential debate tonight was one of the best political debates I’ve seen. Yes, there was time to bring in canned speech and talking points, but the moderator was exceptionally good at clarifying points, showing when both candidates were similar and both were different. More than that, I thought it was a class act to see the cordial nature of the two men following the debate, as well as the relatively civil discussion during the debate – and we owe much of this to PBS’ Jim Lehrer.

Not that he didn’t turn the heat up; he did. He directly addressed many of the topics and statements that have been tossed around in the back rooms and along the sidelines the last several months. But by doing so, he forced both men to make their statements directly in front of each other, when the other had a chance to immediately refute, or at times, concur with what was said. No more speculation, no more innuendo – what you saw was what you get.

As for which person won, Kerry or Bush – it really does break down into: which man proposed the course you most want to follow. Gone were the memos and the Swift veterans and all of the other folderol that has plagued this campaign. What we saw tonight was what Kerry would do, what Bush would do, their reactions to the questions, how they were different, and how they were the same.

These are the men in the light now. The election really does revolve on what they will do in the next four years if elected. All of those who have grabbed a bit of the light until now, gleefully following this rumor or that, dipping their toesies in the muck, guess what: Your ten minutes are up.

The earlier black & whites were from a roll of film that I found deep in my camera bag. They make a nice break from the color slides from the hot air balloon race.

This week has been a tough week, with the increased violence in Iraq, and the devestation that Hurricane Jeanne wrecked on Haiti. It looks like Florida will get hit. Again.

The political race is heating up, and today I filled out the rest of my profile as a volunteer to monitor the elections here in Missouri for TechWatch. Missouri was one of three states that had contested election results in the last election, and the race in this state grows closer with each passing day. Some pretty ugly campaigning here, too.

I am pleased from what I see of Kerry lately. There is a sureness to his speaking that’s hard to deny – a determination and a steadfast resolve to stay on the issues. We must not get sidetracked into defenses against outlandish claims; we must stick on issues, no matter how much this race gets focused into values .

There’s much at stake.

Warning: this political message contains no reference to Vietnam, lies, lies about lies, boats, planes, or typeface. It has not been screened by webloggers for accuracy, nor has it been endorsed by any political pundit currently appearing on the Technorati Top 100. View at your own risk.

Because agricultural inspection has been folded, along with most other domestic inspection services, into Homeland Security, there is now a shortage of inspectors, leading to the very real threat of the spread of disease that can destroy crops, contaminate livestock, and kill people:

The government has reduced the number of soldiers in the nation’s long-running battle against dangerous pests and food-borne diseases, as it focuses on stopping terrorists.
…
Recent discoveries demonstrate the unremitting threats: European cherries infested with insect eggs; fertilizer from Canada with ground-up cattle parts; grapevines hidden in a false-bottom suitcase; raw chicken parts arriving from a country inflicted with avian influenza; plants bagged with dirt containing unknown organisms; and even whole legs of cattle stuffed into a huge suitcase.
…
The problem in the Department of Homeland Security is both numbers and attitude, inspectors say. With fewer trained eyes, more pests and diseases are bound to enter via passengers and cargo.

Customs and immigration officers taking up the slack in screening are law enforcement officers, not biologists. They’re trained to intercept suspicious people and drugs, not suspicious bugs, and many of them view the agriculture specialists and their mission with disdain.

The number of people killed by terrorists annually is estimated to be about 600 people. The World Health Organization states that two million children die because of food and water contamination yearly. It also states that one out of three people suffer some form of foodborne disease annually.

Recently, uninspected seeds were released into the United States that could have contained disease that may have wiped out our corn crops. We lucked out and the recovered seed has not been so contaminated.

However, one container of the seed was never inspected.

Well, I feel safer thanks to the Department of Homeland Security. Don’t you?