Home for a while

For a change, I'm home for more than a few days. It's kinda nice to have extended morning net-surfs; to watch the talking heads on cable TV; to catch up on reading; to have the occasional nap, and to see my kids and friends.

The news of the world isn't particularly good. Iraq, Burma and Sudan don't look good. North Korea looks a bit better. The US dollar continues its slide. There was even a brief blub on NPR this morning saying that the dollar had affected the illegal drug trade, making Canadian pot more expensive than its Mexican counterpart to American consumers. I'm surprised that the dollar isn't even lower, given the budget deficit, the trade deficit (not to mention the Bush brain cell deficit), the price of oil, and the never-ending war in Iraq.

Global warming continues with record setting-shrinkage of the Arctic ice pack, and on the other side of the world, an early start to the brush fire season in Australia. Permafrost in the Arctic is thawing, releasing methane into the atmoshpere as the biomass in the previously frozen muck melts. I fear that the tipping point has already been reached and that there's not much that can be done to stop global warming from accelerating beyond what most scientists predict. I used to think that my generation would be spared most of the effects of climate change, but I'm not so sure anymore. It's easy to be a pessimist at times like this. A pessimist is right most of the time, and he's happy when he's wrong.

On the US front, Obama can't seem to get any traction against Hillary. I'd take Obama, Edwards, or Richardson ahead of Clinton any day, but I have to admit that inspite of my visceral dislike of Hillary, she's better than anything the Republicans have to offer. Maybe the polls are wrong. I've read a couple of articles on the polling errors caused by reliance of pollsters on land-line telephones, and I'd like to think that Obama's support comes from the younger crowd who often don't even have land-line telephones. Both Megan and Caroline have only mobile phones, so they and people like them will never be polled. But I also have to admit that Obama hasn't fulfilled his early promise of a different sort of politician. I just hope that next year when I get to vote for the first time (unless I end up in Guantanamo, I should be a US citizen sometime this fall), I'll get to vote for someone I believe in. I'd hate to have to make the choice between the lesser of two evils, or some wag once said, the lesser of two weasels.

Bush vetoed an extension of S-Chip, a government financed health care program for children. It's only the second or third veto he's ever used, so it's hard to believe that fiscal responsiblity is his prime motivator. There is enough support in the Senate to override the veto, but support is weaker in the House. I hope the veto is overturned, but I do have some problems with the bill. The extension of benefits will suppposedly be financed by a federal tax on cigarettes. Even though smoking is a filthy disgusting habit with no redeeming social value, as a former smoker I have a lot of sympathy for those who do. Smokers are disproportionally working class (OK, white and black trash) who don't have much of a political constituency. As a result, the ever-increasing taxes on cigarettes are extremely regressive, hitting the people hardest who can least afford it. If healthcare is going to be financed by sin taxes, at least jack up the price of booze too. That way, chardonnay and cabernet aficionados will pay their fair share too.

My schedule for the next few months is starting to fill in. Next week is music week, with Fred Eaglesmith appearing in Seattle at the Tractor and Greg Brown at The Aladdin in Portland. At the end of the month, I'll be in a sailboat, racing from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. Following the race, Bonnie and I be taking a week of instruction in sailboat racing (yeah, I know it's ass-backwards) in San Diego.

In the meantime, it's good to be home for a while. I may even find the time to finish my blog on Matthew. (I know you're all thrilled about that)