Football Now In Full Swing

Yeah! The Ducks won last night. They're 1-1 now with much improvement over last week. While my expectations have been lowered for what the team will do this season, at least they got the W. Utah up next week for a game at Autzen.

I also saw that UW beat Idaho to win its first game in two years. Congrats to them and good luck against USC. Seriously, I'm no UW fan...and I know the odds are decisively against a UW win next week...but the game is in Seattle, and if there is any chance for USC to lose I'm all for it. "Go Huskies" for that game.

Now, lets see if those Seahawks can get it going today and get the season off on the right foot.

Go Hawks!

Conservative Organization Drives Debate Again

Last month, I observed how organized, committed and energized the right wing is with a post to this blog. Click here to read it.

The right is clearly dominate in their ability to drive public debate. They are passionate, organized, action-oriented and on-message while moderates and liberals are slow, lazy, prone to debate facts and issues and generally willing to acquiesce to whatever the right wants to yell out.

Mind you, facts and what's in their own self interest usually has nothing to do with the right's approach. No, it's more about an extremely vocal minority spewing out pent up emotion over a vague set of values such as freedom, small government and family values....set off I suspect over displeasure in losing the 2008 elections so badly to Obama and Democrats.

But the do it really, really well.

And with that approach, they drive the national political agenda despite being in the minority.

And so...what's the talk in the media in the wake of Obama's healthcare speech? Is it about the merits of healthcare reform? Is it about why this nation is going bankrupt specifically because of the healthcare system we have now? Is it about how it was, in fact, the conservative-run government that led is into historically massive debt?

No, it's about a bunch of ticked off conservatives saying that we're heading for USSR-style communism, calling Obama a liar, hoisting signs of Obama looking like The Joker or Hitler and saying that he's going to lead us to ruin.

But don't take my word for it.

For fresh evidence of what I'm talking about, read about the march today in Washington, DC in the AP story here. Note the photo collection featuring some of the fine intellectual points being made by the marchers.

Also, you can get a perspective on what's going on from the article in today's Boston Globe by clicking here.

The good news is that something must be hitting a nerve with these people, and I for one say that if you're really pissing off the far right wing...you must be doing something correctly.

Obama Healthcare Speech

I thought the events occurring at the U.S. Capitol last night served as an insightful microcosm for the entire debate on healthcare.

• On the one hand, you had the President articulating the need for reform of the system both from an economic and moral perspective. He used facts, re-capped history, declared principles, gave reasons why reform is needed, tied in how a better healthcare system will help the greater economy, provided an overview of what reform would and would not be, dispelled falsehoods and rumors, challenged Congress to act and appealed to a greater sense of our nation's well-being. This has been the approach of those leading the healthcare reform debate so far, but much more compelling coming from Obama himself.

• And on the other hand, you had an emotional outburst from a Republican Congressman from South Carolina shouting at the President and calling him a liar during the speech. And the rest of the Republicans (and a few Democrats too to be fair) who are against reforming the healthcare system? Well, they sat on their hands most of the speech in stony silent support of the current system we have today. Histrionics, unsubstantiated assertions, whipping up fear and stubbornness have been the primary tactics for those opposed to reform, and we saw that in spades last night too.

To summarize: Facts, reason and a moral appeal by Obama. "You lie!" shouted from the other side...and on an issue that Obama was not lying or even shading the truth about. That's where we're at in this big debate.

Emotion usually wins the day, so up to now the "you lie" stuff has been pretty effective. Perhaps the addition of the moral component by Obama will balance things out or bring a much needed reality check to the whole process. We shall see.

Happy Birthday Diane!

Happy birthday to my wonderful wife, Diane!

I love you sweets!

100 Year Old Color Pictures of Russia

Sticking with the theme of pictures from eastern Europe this week, I stumbled across a really interesting online exhibit of color photos taken in Russia from 1905 to 1916.

The official photographer of Czar Nicholas II's royal court was commissioned to roam the country and take pictures, and it's truly fascinating to see these images from so long ago in vibrant color. I love black and white photography, and certainly that was the norm at that time, but seeing these color pictures really bring that era to life.

The full Library of Congress exhibit of these pictures is viewable at the link - here. Newsweek also has a gallery - here.

Keep in mind as you view, these pictures are not colorized...they're actually glass plate color pictures taken 100 years ago. Here are a couple examples...

Poland Pictures on Anniversary of Invasion

I had no idea when I posted my entry yesterday with pictures of Warsaw, Poland that Sept. 1, 2009 was the 70th anniversary of Germany invading Poland - generally considered the initiation of World War II.

But it was.

Diane and I visited Poland in 2002 on an adventure to find where many of her relatives came from, and we had a really good time...nice people, rich history, wonderful food and great beer, beautiful architecture (in parts not destroyed by WW II), and a sobering reality check on what humanity is capable of with a visit the former Auschwitz concentration camp.

Today Poland is doing well in the post-Soviet era. It's a country moving forward, but not forgetting its past. I would recommend a visit if you're looking for something a little different but equally European than the typical France, Italy, Germany experience.

I've uploaded some more pictures of Poland such as the ones below to my Flickr Photostream. You can see the set by clicking - here.

Pictures of Warsaw, Poland

Want to know what Warsaw, Poland looks like? Well, I've posted some pictures from our trip there in 2002 on my Flickr Photostream.

Click here to check them out.

I'll be posting more images from Poland, including more from Warsaw, some from Krakow, a sobering visit to the site of the Auschwitz Concentration camp and more.

Meantime, here are a couple examples from the set: