Reflections on...FOOTBALL!!!

As I sit updating my blog and going web research I am listening to the live audio stream of BYU football!! A personal favorite hobby and something I have sincerely missed while living abroad, I just wanted to say that I LOVE FOOTBALL!! For all those that have not discovered the adrenaline-run, strategy-filled, hard-hitting, nail-biting action of college Football, I invite you to visit http://www.ncaafootball.com/ and pick your favorite team. Granted, it's the end of the season and there won't be much action left...but you can still get into the bowl bids and conference championships...and then finish out the year with some pro football action leading up to the Super Bowl in January. Oh, and while I'm at it and before the game ends...just a shout out to my fellow BYU fans---GO COUGARS!!

Howe Caverns

On a weekend day-trip, Dave took me to a great little spot called Howe Caverns. After about a 2 1/2 hour trip towards Albany in the pouring rain and a quick stop at Burger King, we finally made it to the caverns. By the way, Burger King started this new thing where the tray liners are replete with "health information" for all the food on their menu...DON'T read it if you ever wish to eat fast food again in your life!! After seeing a hamburger listed with 85g of fat and 1300 mg of sodium, I wished I had packed a lunch. Anyway, we made it back to the freeway and then drove along a series of random country roads that made me grateful Dave has GPS in his car. I can't imagine how people got around in the back country without handy-dandy GPS directions!!

Arriving at Howe Caverns, we got our tickets and waited for the next tour while we wandered through the gift shop and oggled the mounds of homemade fudge for sale. The tour started by descending a HUGE 158 ft elevator shaft and entering the cave. Touristy and developed, it's far from real spelunking, but we had a blast taking funny pictures and playing to see who be the first to spot any cave gremlins. There was a lot of artificial lighting (along with rows of algae and other microlife responding to that lighting), brick-paved trails complete with steel handrails, and plenty of rsting stops along the way for those visitors that just couldn't hack being on their feet for the 80 minute tour. Dave joked about all the "naturally-formed" handrails, electrical chords, and emergency phones. We were a part of a small group of about 30 people following a sarcastic tour guide who recited the history of the cave's discovery, the number of weddings that had been performed on the heart-stone "bride altar," and random stories about what the formations supposedly look like.

Enjoy the pics!!
WELCOME!!

Some of the stalactites (remember that stalacTITEs hang TIGHT to the ceiling and stalagMITEs lay low to the ground)


Looking down the cave


The tour included a 15-minute boat ride...kinda reminded me of being with Willy Wonka though.


Looking down the underground river from the boat


The biggest formation in the cave...the Pipe Organ (and Dave...not typically included as part of the formation but he just fit in so well!)


Playing some more with the formations


Looking up...anyone up for some rock climbing??


The most narrow part of the trail...picturesque!!

Taking a break...


Me alongside the largest free-standing formation in the cave.

HALLOWEEN!

Eyeball eggs!

Ryan the industrial designer making short work of a giant pumpkin!


The crew carving pumpkins... all friends from the Branch. Sandy is a new friend in the Branch from Taiwan who wore a U of U t-shirt as a costume, Ryan dressed as a Syracuse student and borrowed my orange scarf to compliment his S hat, Allen was something from the 1800s and Brittany had an old nurses robe on under her sweatshirt. Really relaxed, but a lot of fun! Krystal ended up joining us later after her concert but I didn't get a picture of her.

And me...I was Static Cling. I wore all grey and safety-pinned random articles of clothing to me along with the amazing hairdo.


Yeah, I know it's forever late...but check the Fall entry to see why.

FALL (yeah it's late but it's a long story...)

SO, I had great intentions of blogging Halloween, the beautiful Fall leaves, and other adventures here in Syracuse but, unfortunately, one night Dave was trying to copy pics from my memory card to his computer and accidentally assassinated the card--all the pictures with it. Luckily, after some long patient hours with recovery programs, he was able to get me the pictures back. All this means that I am going out of order but want to document things nonetheless...

Here are some great pics of buildings on campus with the changing leaves of the ivy vines highlighting the changing seasons.





This is the Lincoln statue right outside the main halls where I have class. No Fall colors, but wanted to give Abe some press time before he gets covered in the snow (I'll promise to document that later!)


Heading down one of many leaf-covered streets of Syracuse. I took this picture admittedly after the main thrust of the changing colors...which lasted all of about a week...when the ground became covered in crunchy, crispy brown remnants of the surrounding foliage.


Such a rare sight I simply HAD to take a picture. Yes, there are Republicans (albeit closet Republicans) in New York.

SNOW!!

As per the yearly tradition of the changing seasons, Syracuse is now completely covered under a blanket of white. We've had intermittent snow drifts in the past couple weeks, but it is clear that this storm is going to make the frozen decorations are here to stay (for the next few months at least). According to the locals, there is often a melt-down during December before the rest of the snowpack hits but it'll pile up to a couple feet before we get that reprieve...

So, everyone is bundled up and avoiding any outdoor ventures whenever possible. Despite growing up in Utah and being incredibly familiar with snow, this cold front has hit me hard. I felt more or less acclimated from the scorching heats of Paraguay and only occasionally used my space heater in my room whenever the temperature fell below 60. But, I'm now trouncing around with thermal underlayers and a big fluffy coat and scarf to try and keep out the cold. The humidity makes everything that much colder, not to mention the crazy bitter winds. But, all in all, it's amazing to watch the snow falling and drift into soft white piles everywhere. In general, I LOVE snow and enjoy the beauty of seeing everything covered in an indiscriminate layer of crystaline coldness.

So, I would like to document this momentous occasion by attaching some photos:

Here is my house complete with uncleared driveway and Lucy resting quietly...



This is the street where I live...yes, it is UNPLOWED. For whatever reason, the city has opted not to worry about the unlucky locals of Cambridge Street but resigns them to hope for a safe exit and avoid doing donuts down the narrow blacktop. Unlike Utah, people are still allowed to park on the street during the winter but are required to trade off sides--one side of the stree on even days of the month and the other side on odd days. So, if you park on the street while it is snowing, not only do you have to clean your car OFF but you have to get your car OUT of the wall the plow creates as it comes through...oh wait we don't get a plow so I guess that's not an issue!


Sweet little Lucy...I really hope she makes it through the season!

Reflections on...the financial crisis

A month after the announcement of the US bailout plan (soon thereafter followed by many other bailout plans across the globe), the effects of the global financial crisis continues to knock at the door of the policy makers at the World Bank, the IMF, and other international lenders and financial centers.

What's sad is that in a world where more than a Billion people live in extreme poverty (less than $1 a day), the decisions of rich governments and lending institutions have driven an additional 20 million people into poverty (according to the World Bank...see the article here.)

With all the complexities in the domestic financial market, I can't help but wonder how the millions of people that all of a sudden can't buy as much flour or rice or milk are feeling. As an educated person with lots of resources and access to information, I could get in on the discussions, learn the technical jargon, and perhaps even evaluate some of the policy decisions and gripe about how things should have gone differently...if I wanted to. I am not a financial expert and don't dawdle in the realm of Wall Street, but I could if I so desired. What about the rising generation of poverty-ridden (and probably malnourished, illiterate, and disease-ridden) individuals that don't have even the option to inform themselves or even comment on the causes of their condition. Do they know why poverty hit them? I guess that would assume that WE know what even causes poverty in the first place. I just lament the situation in which intellectuals theorize about and discuss the financial crisis while millions of innocent victims of their decision are forced to strategize how to survive it.

Reflections on...Veteran's Day

OK so it's technically the morning after Veteran's Day...but I'm always a little late...

I just wanted to say that I was a little disappointed to see the lack of attention that Veteran's Day received yesterday. None of the major papers I read through had a front page story or a special highlighting a veteran's life story. I didn't spend all day searching, but I shouldn't have to.

There was, today, however, a front-page spread in USA Today of Barack Obama hugging a veteran from Iraq who had lost both of her legs, and a front-page spread in the NY Times about a veteran fighting to be compensated as a care-taker for her also veteran husband that had been paralyzed by a bullet to the neck in combat in Iraq. The first is a thinly-veiled agenda-driven charicature of Obama's stance on "ending" the war in Iraq by pulling out troops while the latter is a legitimate story with implications for the current military compensation structure though hardly front-page worthy and incredible pessimistic and myopic for commentary on Veteran's Day. Apparently in America today, Veterans are to be pitied for the toll the government has taken on them as helpless victims of an unjust system rather than self-sacrificing and dedicated individuals meriting the collective respect and support of the American public.

With the current war in Iraq drawing so much scorn and criticism, people have lost sight of the millions of other veterans that have returned from duty or are currently serving in the various military branches around the world. Regardless of your views on the political motivations or the moral implications of our foreign involvement in the Middle East or elsewhere, every individual that has VOLUNTEERED to serve in our military deserves your respect, admiration, and love. For generations past and generations future, they are fighting with their lives to ensure that our country retains its precious freedoms, including the opportunity so many happily take for granted to criticize and speak out against the government. It is because of them that there is no draft of compulsory service that would have drawn millions of the young vote that so rapaciously denounces the Bush Administration and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is because of them that the American public in general does not have to witness first-hand the destruction and death of war but can filter it out through obscure international press and propagandized liberal media. IT is because of them that I can sit in comfort in my home and know that this election and every election to come will not involve coups or violence but peaceful transition. Remember, there are BILLIONS, literally BILLIONS of people in the world that do not enjoy those freedoms and do not consider them RIGHTS. Now, more than ever, it is not a time to flippantly toss around the concept of rights and freedoms but to treasure, cherish, and protect them as direct products of the self-sacrifice, dedication, and service of the more than 23 million American veterans.

So, despite the constant focus on the cost of war and the unpopularity of the president, I for one choose to take this Veteran's Day to say THANK YOU to all the men and women faithfully and dutifully serving this country. I am not ashamed to say that I love my country. Why should I be? I LOVE MY COUNTRY! I don't love all that has happened, I don't love all the leaders and their individual choices. But, I uphold the VALUES and the PRINCIPLES it was founded upon and I LOVE the freedoms that I enjoy as a result. I THANK every man and woman that silently upholds those values and principles as well. And, I wish more Americans would do the same.

Reflections on...the election...part 2

So the election has been decided. The voting booths have been taken down, dragged away, and stored for next year. Libraries, schools, and polling places all go back to the daily rhythm of pre-Nov. 4. Many are saying that the world is now a different place. That, in totaling the votes and selecting Barack Obama to be our nation's next president that, somehow, everything is changed.

The New York Times reported that "Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease as the country chose him as its first black chief executive."

McCain, in his concession speech, cited this as "an historic election."

And, in his all-too-familiar inspirational tone, Obama himself in his acceptance speech resounded: "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer."

Yet, I have to remain a healthy skepticism. Yes, we live in the "land of opportunities." Yes, I believe in the American Dream and I never stopped believing in it. And, Yes, this is a huge symbolic victory for race relations in the United States that a man with a black father and white mother would ascend to the presidency. But, is everything suddenly different from the night before? Are politics somehow smoothed beyond discontent and disagreement? Are racial tensions magically erased in the casting of ballots? I don't think so. I'd like to believe that our country will be better off with its "new-found" optimism and that a Black president will inspire inner-city youth to overcome cycles of poverty and abuse. I'd love to see our country better-respected throughout the world and our positive influence recognized as a beacon of democratic ideals. But, is all that really in the hands of a one-term senator with sketchy associations and the blind eye of the liberal media?

No, I did not vote for Obama. I question his capabilities. I question his experience. I question his staffing decisions. I question his role in international negotiations. I disagree with his stance on abortion. I disagree with his over-hyped propaganda-driven campaign. I disagree with the race card and a fear of being politically incorrect protecting him from the scrutiny of the mass media. And, regardless of where he stands on the issues, he is, after all, only a man. One in the more than 300 million Americans that he now represents. Furthermore, he is a man in a position that is delicately integrated into a system of checks and balances that depend on the 535 Congressman and 9 Supreme Court Justices entrusted with federal governance. Regardless of his demographic profile or speech-writing ability, Obama is faced with an incredible set of challenges and obstacles that define our troubled times. The inspirational message of change got him into the presidency, but I fail to believe that the difficulties plaguing our own society let alone those of the rest of the world, are somehow obviated by a change in administration. Beyond him as an individual, I question the logic and sanity of the American public at large. I am uneasy about the future of a country whose citizens vote based on peer pressure and empty accusations of bigotry and ignorance. I fear for the strength of the constitution and the integrity of the Supreme Court in times where "rights" and "equality" have become buzzwords rather than issues of solemn consideration.

The people have spoken and he will be our commander and chief for at least the next four years. So, I will support the office of president and I wish him well. I will support the system that I participated in and the outcome that it produced. In voting, I accept that my decision may not be the one chosen, but that I cherish the opportunity to take part in the process and will respect the outcome.

It is, in fact, a triumph of the democratic system that the transition will be so smooth and the the overall change will be subtle at best. Our system was created to limit the power of the president and the radicalism that marked the royal chambers of European feudalism. And it has done just that. Regardless of political leanings or legislative pull, overall, the president has an incredibly limited scope of real power and Obama's ascension is no exception. That has nothing to say about his symbolic power, his influential power, and his role in foreign policy. The point is I find comfort in knowing that they system worked. There will be no coups, no bloody backlash from unhappy voters, no drastic overhaul of government and the political freedoms we hold dear. Individual issues, yes. Controversial positions, yes. Potentially devastating involvement or lack of involvement in the global arena absolutely. But, in the end, the 300 million Americans glued to their TVs for the upcoming inauguration will go about their lives much as they did prior to the election and the social inspiration will translate into fond memories of political rallies and banner-making. In making his individual impact on the world, I support Obama to take his place as the next American president, though I feel the changes he advocates are much more dependent upon millions of other individuals that are watching him.