e) anything that is not homework and involves cookies
This is a rainbow that lasted ALL DAY (and some cows. I'm not sure how long they lasted). We were able to see the ENTIRE rainbow. Both sides. That's good luck in Hawai'i. 
This is a wee farm hoose (that's Scot's for house) that the museum bought and then moved every single wee wobbly stone to be on the museum proprty(that's Scot's for callan can't spell). I like the teal windows and door.
That's Achie(that's not the spelling, but that's how it sounded) Brae stone circle and Callan's classmate's kid offering herself as a virgin sacrifice.
This is Callan trying to break into the house of a brownie (its like a Scottish leprachaun, or a hobbit or a menehune. A small man like thing, essentially. I think they are legended to have powers. Now look at all that good folklore I'm learning. I could also teach you how to fry oatmeal. yes, seriously. This is a really long parenthetical).
This is a really blurry picture of the article I wrote for the University Paper. Which I have included below (because I don't have any more interesting pictures). This is mostly what it looked like in print. I was too lazy to double check all of what the editor cut out (mostly the interesting part. No, I'm kidding. I think my original was more bias. Fancy that, me being biased. The editor did a good job making it more fair.)
US Politics: The Presidential Debate
ON 7 OCTOBER, Presidential nominees Senator Barack Obama (Democrat) and Senator John McCain (Republican) met to debate for the second time on Tuesday, moderated by network news anchor Tom Brokaw.
This debate used the town hall format, where questions were taken from pre-selected audience members and email requests. John McCain favours this town hall style format and has been unsuccessfully trying to structure the entire campaign as a series of town hall style debates with Obama in each state.
The debate focused heavily on the current economic crisis. Obama stressed helping “ordinary families”, while also coordinating US economic efforts with international efforts to help stabilize the world economy along with the U.S. economy. McCain focuses on fixing the “cronyism” of Wall Street and allowing US citizens the chance to work without the interference of the national government.
The escalation of the U.S. economic crisis has seen McCain’s poll numbers fall steadily, despite the time he took off from actively campaigning to help on the bail out, which was signed into effect by Bush on 3 Oct. Other Senators said his aid did not have any significant impact.
Noticeably absent from the debate was any reference to the Bush administration’s possible move to take ownership positions in U.S. banks following the European model, in an attempt to stabilize the economy. Such a move would contradict the Republican Party policy of less government. A similar plan was proposed by British officials.
Tom Brokaw asked both candidates what their equivalent of the Bush Doctrine on foreign policy would be when they take office. The Bush Doctrine describes the policy of U.S. pre-emptive military action against any group that poses a threat to U.S. security.
McCain described his Doctrine as doing whatever possible to prevent “terrible calamities”, McCain added that U.S. actions must also “be tempered with our ability to beneficially affect the situation”. McCain did not elaborate on how he would assess the benefits prior to taking action. McCain’s judgment has been challenged after he sang the suggestion that the U.S. bomb Iran to the tune of a Beach Boys song.
Obama outlines his own Doctrine as being influenced by a “moral obligation” to intervene in world situations such as genocide. However, Obama realizes the US will not always be able to affect a situation and “that's why it's so important for us to be able to work in concert with our allies”.
The U.S. is the only industrialized western nation without a national health care system. Despite the common complaints about the efficiency of the Canadian or the British NHS by their citizens, they give all legal residence access to free or affordable health care.
Obama proposes offering all taxpayers a health care plan similar to the one U.S. Senators have. Those people who like their current health plan can keep it, while reducing the cost by as much as 2,500 U.S. dollars a year.
McCain, who is opposed to any form of “socialized medicine”, proposes giving families a 5,000 US dollar (2,500 for individuals) tax refund to purchase private health insurance of their choice.
Jerry Burris, a political writer with the Honolulu Advertiser for forty years and co-author of the book A Dream Begins: How Hawaii Shaped Barack Obama, commented “the debate was a draw”, explaining “you get what you want to see in these debates. The real issue is who Americans see as most ‘authentic’ and true to their own nature”.
Obama and McCain are scheduled to face off only once more on 14 October before elections on 4 November.
3 comments:
I was eating cookies while reading your blog. Creepy how you predicted the future like that. Any prognostications on the election or should I take your absence from the USA as a good indication of bad things to come?
i really need to look into this ferrets on youtube thing...
and please get into the leprechaun house next time and see if i could fit in there.
unforunately my powers of prediction only extend as far as the slightly-better-than-mundane.
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