Why I will not vote for Senator Obama

This article, published today by Ken Blackwell at townhall.com, sums it up very well. Enjoy.

Words Obama Will Regret

Hurricane Obama

After both major party conventions, it appears that the McCain/ Palin ticket has taken a commanding lead in the polls.  Zogby poll said McCain over Obama 49%-45% and Gallup reported McCain 48%-45%.   I’m certain that the RNC speeches gave the GOP a bump in the polls, and there will still be ups and downs until November, but I think we are witnessing the end of the miraculous Obama.   The unstoppable force that was Barack Obama is a lot like Hurricane Gustav. The media hyped it up. We all thought it was going to be the big one; the one nobody could stop, yet as Gus approached the land, it turned out there wasn’t much to him; just a lot of wind. At the end, we all wondered why all the networks were giving Gustav so much press.

Honestly, I don’t understand why the Democrats keep moving to the political and social left with their candidates. Clinton was a fairly moderate Democrat (however ineffectual, he didn’t rock the boat too much). Then they chose Gore, whom I would still classify as fairly moderate, though left of Clinton. Then Kerry, who was a true 1960’s, activist, anti-war leftist politician.  Remember how he was clearly going to win?!  Now they have selected the most left-wing member of the senate paired with the third-most liberal, and they think they are going to win over the middle-of-the-road Americans who determine the elections in this country?  Wake up, Dems, America isn’t a socialist country, so stop trying to make us Europe! We left Europe. We left behind oppressive taxation! We left centralized governments that governed from far away! We needn’t return.

Election ‘08 Polls: Tied

After last the latest round of speeches from the GOP convention, the polls on CBS show that Obama and McCain are tied at 42 percent.  We’ll see where they stand tomorrow AFTER McCain’s speech tonight.

Ancient wall unearthed in Jerusalem

A new archaeological discovery found remains of the southern defensive wall of Jerusalem dating back to the time of the Second Temple, which was constructed under the direction of the Hasmonean Kings, who ruled the kingdom of Israel between 167-37 BCE.  The wall was discovered during the construction of a new promenade, which will now run along side some exposed areas of the ancient wall.  The wall, constructed without any mortar, has survived quite well, and parts of it still stand as high as three meters (a little over 9 ft. tall).  You can read more about it here.

GOP Convention 2008

After day 2 of the RNC convention: Huckabee did great. Giuliani (whom I love) absolutely nailed it, and Sarah Palin knocked it out of the park.

Some quotable highlights:

Joe Lieberman:

“Our first president, George Washington, in his farewell address, warned that the spirit of ‘party’ could be the worst enemy of democracy and enfeeble our government’s ability to do its job.”

“What, after all, is a Democrat like me, doing at a Republican convention like this? Well, I’ll tell you what: I’m here to support John McCain because country matters more than party!”

Mike Huckabee:

“Barak Obama’s excellent adventure to Europe took his campaign for change to hundreds of thousands of people who don’t even vote or pay taxes here. But let me hasten to say that it’s not what he took there that concerns me. It’s what he brought back: Euopean ideas that give the government the chance to grab even more of our liberty and destroy our hard-earned livelihood.”

“Now, I get a little tired of hearing how the Democrats care so much for the working guy, as if all Republicans grew up with silk stockings and silver spoons…. Let me make something clear tonight: I’m not a Republican because I grew up rich. I’m a Republican because I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life poor, waiting for the government to rescue me.”

Rudy Giuliani:

Regarding Obama’s Illanois State Senate record: “For president of the United States, it’s not good enough to be ‘present’. You have to make a decision.”

“Because change is not a destination. Just as hope is not a strategy.”

“Drill, baby, drill! This, and a lot more, is the kind of change that will create growth, jobs, and prosperity. Not what they [Democrats] want to do: tax us more, increase the size of government, increase tariffs, hurt jobs, send jobs elsewhere. We need John McCain to save our economy and make sure it grows.”

“Well, the first day,  as far as I’m concerned, the first day she [Palin] was mayor she had more experience as an executive than Obama and Biden combined. Then she became governor. She’s reduced taxes, she’s reduced government spending, she’s encouraged more energy exploration. She’s been one of the most active governors in the country, and Alaska can be proud of having one of the BEST governors in the country. She’s got an 80 percent approval rating.”

“How dare they question whether Sarah Palin has enough time to spend with her children and be vice-president! How dare they do that!  When do they ever ask a man that question? When?!”

“We’re [Republicans] at our best when we are expanding freedom.  We are the party that has expanded freedom from the very beginning: from ending slavery to making certain that people  have freedom here and abroad.”

Sarah Palin:

“Some candidates use change to promote their careers.  John McCain has used his career to promote change. ”

“The special confidence of those who have seen evil and have seen how evil is overcome…”

“You know, they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull: lipstick.”

“Now, I’ve noticed a pattern with our opponent, and maybe you have too. We’ve all heard his dramatic speeches before devoted followers, and there is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or even a reform, not even in the state senate.  This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting and never use the word “victory” — except when he’s talking about his own campaign.”

“Harry Reid, the majority of the current do-nothing Senate. He not long ago summed up his feelings about our nominee.  He said, quote, “I can’t stand John McCain.” Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps no accolade we hear this week is better proof that we’ve chosen the right man [John McCain].”

Russians Stirring Things Up

I understand that the headlines tonight are littered with responses from the Democratic Party nominee following his speech (another topic all-together). I understand it’s importance and primacy in the coverage tonight. One thing that troubles me with the media , however,  was the little attention given to the coverage of Vladimir Putin’s accusations towards the United States.  Today Putin made the charge that the United States orchestrated the conflict in South Ossetia, and blames the US for training and arming the Georgians.  Putin claimed that this was done by the United States to strengthen a political candidate.   It looks rather more like Russia was trying to make a territorial grab towards her former Soviet empire.  Russia’s allies do not recognize the sovereignty of South Ossetia and acknowledge it has part of Georgia.

Over the recent past, Russia has stressing its relationships with the West and with the NATO powers.  Russia has accused NATO powers of building up naval forces in the Black Sea (these five warships were scheduled for exercises in this region long before the Aug. 8 conflict between Russia and Georgia).    Russia has made towards Poland for agreeing to the installment of NATO missile defense systems, and also today, there is a report that Russia has just tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile.  This missile, designed to deliver nuclear payloads, was tested in response to the US plans for a missile defense shield.  Russia is still a force, and we should not take these threats lightly.

Revival of the weblog

I realize that I haven’t written a blog in quite some time. Now that the summer is over, and the new school year is kicking off, I will get back to more fantastic topics on which to write.   Wish me luck this week as I start teaching three new classes!

The cave of Romulus and the Lupercalia

For those of us classicists, this is a very exciting discovery (even if a few months old now). I’m just disappointed that somebody else found it, and not me. An article in the New York Times talks about the discovery of the cave sacred to the Romans. According to Roman myth, two twins, Romulus and Remus, were rescued by a she-wolf and suckled back to health in this cave. Whether or not this myth is true, the cave itself was probably the cave associated with this myth, as well as the Roman festival of the Lupercalia. celebrated on February 13-15. This old yet strange festival involved the sacrifice of dogs and goats. Then, after getting their foreheads smeared with blood, young boys would wear the goat skins, run around the Palatine Hill and hit women with strips of leather (called Februa, thus the naming of the month) thereby insuring fertility.

What else is exciting about this cave is its location under the house of the first emperor, Augustus. This confirms the notion that Augustus saw himself as the new founder of Rome by constructing his house on top of the sacred cave and connecting himself with Romulus and the festivals surrounding it.

I’m sure you all are thrilled.

Choosing a career in this modern world

Last night I was reading in Thomas Cahill’s latest book, The Mysteries of the Middle Ages, and he was talking about the different world of the Middle Ages.  People did not get to choose their profession. It was chosen by their parents, and it usually involved following the family trade or business.  “shoemakers remained shoemakers, and duchesses duchesses and fishwives fishwives, and no one entertained even a whisper of hope for an improvement of status.”

Cahill does, however, point out the possible advantage of this system.  “We fail to acknowledge, on the one hand, how full of anxiety our own society is, how its lack of assigned roles leaves so many individuals woefully isolated, permanently nervous about the random fluctuations of their fortunes. If, on the other hand, one could say, ‘I am the shoemaker of Trier, as was my father before me, as will be my son after me; I am an integral part of my community, even necessary to it; my neighbors respect me and depend on my skill,’ one could own an abiding peace that eludes all but a very few children of twenty-first century.”

I couldn’t help but see my own personal anxieties about what I was going to do with my career. I have often asked questions like these: “What am I going to study in school?  How am I going to make money?  How am I going to be respected for what I do?” et cetera.  I still often ask myself these questions, and I do have considerable anxiety on whether or not I have chosen the right path.  This is a difficulty of our own age.  Certainly, there are many things about our own time that make life easier than those of the twelfth century, but having ones own career given to oneself made other things much easier than today’s open field.  I can’t say that I truly want my career chosen for me, but this passage in this book made me think about my career anxieties, and, for a moment, I wished that our society made it clear our own destinies.

Oldest City of the Americas in Peru

Last night as I was tending bar, I had a customer ask if I had heard of the latest discovery: the oldest city in the world in Peru. I asked him if it was older than Jericho, Jarmo, or ‘Ain Ghazal, but he didn’t know what I was talking about. Obviously he wasn’t schooled in archaeology, but I was flattered by his attempts to connect with my interests. I decided to browse and see what he was talking about. Sure enough, there was a discovery, but it wasn’t as old as the neolithic sites in the Near East.  Last month, German and Peruvian archaeologists discovered a very old Plaza in the ancient city of Casma. Carbon dating puts the ancient site around 5500 BP (Before Present, which is about 2,600-2,500 BC).   If this is true, this part of the city would make it one of the oldest cites in Peru and also in the New World (Caral is proabably slightly older, but is probably contemporary with these new findings).  The findings here and at Caral mean that there were complex societies in South America contemporary with the Old Kingdom of Egypt and the Sumerians in Mesopotamia. These settlements even have their own pyramids.  The Associated Press put out this article on the discovery.