new kind of christian

I must say that when I listed faith as one of the things that I wanted to discuss on this blog, that may have been an overstatement. My faith has been an area whose depths I have not plumbed in my own life in some time. I have felt tremendous uncertainty and ambiguity with regards to the form of my faith. The object of my faith has always been uncertain, but I have perhaps been disenchanted with the form and culture of evangelical Christianity for some time. This scared the crap out of me, so I refused to completely acknowledge or explore this, afraid of where it might lead.

Thankfully, I have just started reading "A New Kind of Christian", by Brian McLaren, a recovering evangelical himself. He spoke recently at a luncheon that I attended, during which he spoke of justice and its centrality to our faith. I was really moved by him. I am very moved by his book, a topic I will discuss further. It is a breath of fresh air right now.

supreme commander now?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Now that I've got the will of the people at my back, I'm going to start enforcing the one-question rule. That was three questions [...]

PRESIDENT BUSH: Again, he violated the one-question rule right off the bat. Obviously you didn't listen to the will of the people.

consequences of the victory

Well, that sucked, and it still sucks, but it happened. God is in control. Amen.

The silver lining to a Bush victory for those like me who believe that Bush's policies are disastrous and that they will do terrible damage to our country is that Bush will be around to reap the storm. I have always believed that his economic and foreign policies are very short-sighted and will have medium to long-term negative impact. So here are the predictions I have for the next four years:

-continued increases in spending that match the anomolously high spending growth from his first term.

-leading to a stable or growing budget deficit

-leading to an unsustainable national debt.

-leading to uncertainty in foreign investment in bonds

-also continued ignoring of our overconsumption of gasoline

-leading to continued to excess consumption

-accelerating the timeline for reaching Hubbert's peak

-smaller fraction of people with health-care

-smaller fraction of children covered by health care


I will get to more tomorrow, including science policy, my own personal pet peeve.

Bush likely to win

oh well.

I just feel tired. My backpack feels heavy and the morning air feels cold.

How could this be possible? 4 more years of squandered opportunity. I don't want to be bitter. God please help me.

... I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love...

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IEM 2004 US Presidential Election Winner Takes All Market Price Graph

It's time to buy Kerry

For Kerry, Against Bush? Who Cares

There is a lot of talk that democrats don't like their candidate because polls show that they are more likely to vote for him because they are voting against Bush. While Kerry voters may or may not like Kerry a lot it is actually irrelevant to this question to some degree. Imagine that Kerry voters and Bush voters each liked their candidates exactly the same amount. Let's say 7 on a ten point scale. But many Kerry voters also *really, really* dislike Bush as well. Let's say 9.8 out of ten. On the other hand if the general Bush voter may dislike Kerry, but don't feel absolutely betrayed by him, their sentiment may only be 6 our of 10 against Kerry.

So easy to have a scenario, where candidates are equally liked by their respective voters, but the one candidate is much more disliked than the other.

Bush peak baseline

I forgot to give numbers last time. here is the current electoral count according to www.electoral-vote.com
Kerry 211 Bush 327

It just doesn't get better than this for Bush, and Lord willing, it gets a lot worse.

Peak?

I am going to go on record and say that as of today, September 16, 2004, things don't improve for President Bush in this campaign. So, according to me, Republicans should enjoy this moment, because I don't think it will last.

Reasons include:
Suddenly strong and crisp messages from Kerry (though who knows how long that will last)
News from Iraq is bad and steadily deteriorating. I really wonder if at this current trajectory if elections will be possible.
Economy does not appear to be poised for an unexpectedly sharp upturn that will significantly impact peoples current conceptions of its performance.
No more one-sided events to boost his and the Republicans message.

Possible reasons that I could be wrong:
Kerry could be worse than Gore in the debates.
Osama Bin Laden could be found.
Terrorist attack on our soil, though this could go either way.
Videotape of Kerry saying, "yeah, I really fooled everyone with that whole purple heart charade."

So that's it. I am obviously so biased that I couldn't even pretend to be objective if I wanted to, and my hopes are obviously intertwined into this prediction, but it is as honest as possible.

Ex-NSA Head William Odom, ex-Centcom Commander Joseph Hoare, Air War College Strategy Professor Jeffrey Record, Army War College Strategy

Did I mention that I have a pit in my stomach?

These are the type of people that deserve to be listened to.

USATODAY.com - U.S. tribunal could lose members

I am tired of the pit in my stomach when I read about whatever this administration does next in the "War on Terror". I don't know how they can do things so badly if it is not on purpose. Did they not consider using LAWYERS very important for a trial of this magnitude?

COMMENT: Bush eloquently lays out his vision while ignoring reality

Fareed Zakaria is always so insightful, key quotes:

Bush mocked press reports detailing the problems in Iraq, comparing them to gloomy accounts of Germany in 1946. If the president really thinks that Iraq today looks like Germany in 1946 -- an advanced industrial country with a long liberal tradition, centuries of experience with capitalism, the rule of law and a defeated population that fully cooperated with American occupation -- then he's in for a rude surprise.
...
Bush is right to note that after World War II, because "generations of Americans held firm in the cause of liberty, we live in a better and safer world." But in those years the United States adopted a series of wise, generous policies and a conciliatory style that made it much loved in the countries we were trying to help. Spreading democracy requires allies, particularly among the targets of one's affection.

The picture could not be more different today. Bush does not seem aware that the intense hostility toward him in every country in the world (save Israel) has made it very difficult for the United States to be the agent of freedom. In every Arab country that I have been to in the last two years, the liberals, reformers and businessmen say, "Please don't support us. American support today is the kiss of death."

The Shadow

The specific criticism of Krauthammer here is irrelevant to my point. They refer to Jung's theory of "The Shadow". We project our dark side onto others. That just made me think, "what is the Shadow that I tend to see in others?" I have been realizing that I do get locked in certain behaviorial and relational patterns that are too similar to be coincidence. So let's see what I see in the shadow of people that I tend to reject:

judgemental
shallow
authortarian

The funny thing is that I have seen this in people whom I now consider great friends. I have seen these in people that I never grew close to. That makes me wonder what I have missed out on.

hmm... food for thought.

garden update

I must say, this year the garden has been bountiful. As opposed to last year when i got ~1 fruit per plant that I grew, this year has been whelming. We have eaten a number of meals just from the garden. I have a jar of pickles made with cucs, dill, and garlic straight from the garden.

I just looked at my tomatoes, which had given me bumper crops in the last two weeks of July but then went largely silent, and found that a second crop is on its way for many of the plants. The Brandywine plant has 10 (!) green tomatoes, black from Tula has a few, and others are coming along. I guess I will need to get some netting to keep the birds away.
I had a lot of caprese salad this summer and a lot of tomato sauce, all of which was just fabulous

pumpkins - i planted a pumpkin plant on a whim, and after doing nothing for a couple of weeks, it took off, sending out multiple vines that grow ~4 inches per day. Three beautiful green pumpkins are coming along so quickly. We will have a couple ready for Halloween to be this year's Jack and Jaqueline 'O Lantern. Bess was very intrigued by them last year.

Melons - worked out well, except for one beauty that the birds killed before ripeness. The watermelon sugar baby has one beauty under the foliage of other plants. I have one Charentais melon hanging on the trellis in a sling. I am checking it daily for ripeness.

Eggplants - wow, these are a major success story of the garden. Three of the four were great. Rosa Bianca is absolutely the most beautiful eggplant that I have ever seen. White with lavender striping, and it tastes great in eggplant parmesan. I grew Ping Tung long purple eggplants which are similarly great. some green apple eggplants for which I got seeds from the folks at "Path to Freedom".

Squash - i grew a patty pan squash plant and unfortunately we were not ready when it started producing. It was a couple of ripe squash every day. We did not know enough recipes to make it interesting. So I froze some for zuchinni bread later. I will be better prepared next year.

ok, that's it for now. I will try to get some pictures up.

more novel spellings

just added to the list: Brangow

overripe lemon cucumbers!

while the ripe lemon cucumber is truly a delight, an overripe lemon cucumber tastes like a foot (or what I imagine a foot would taste like!)

new misspelling/mispronunciations of my name

For those of you who don't know, the name Brandow is the source of unbelievable (to me) amounts of confusion:
is it pronounced like bow (as in bow& arrow) or bow (as in bow of a ship)?
then the misspellings:
Brandon (all the time including driver's license)
Brando
Branclau
and now on the phone someone said

Chris Brodeville

I have no idea how that came about, but it never surprises me anymore.
What is weird is that in theory my name really is not that tricky, but in practice it apparently is.

BERGER SOCK EXPERIMENT

With all the distraction of people reporting their recommendations on how to protect ourselves from terrorists in the future, it is important to stay focused on the important things:

link

Continental: Complaints Led to Drop-'Doonesbury' Poll

because it created more controversy? Well, isn't that part of the point of a political cartoon??? you might replace it with "Agnes," "Get Fuzzy," "Pickles," "Zits," or something else. That is almost too funny for words. It is almost a charicature of the situation.

still no comments

that means you!

simplicity = brilliance

In my opinion, one of the most important hallmarks of intelligence is simplicity. My wife has quietly shown this quality on a couple of occasions:

1. always checks out our children's library books in batches of 10. No need to keep track of titles or different numbers. When it is time to return them, you only need to find 10.

2. Not as novel, but a few years back when setting up an email account, she just chose her full, common name, maggiebrandow. it is efficient because people who want to email her know her name. no need to keep track of whether it is first initial, last initial, coolgirl57, or anything else. obviously John Smith would have a tougher time with this approach.

learning stuff...

is very hard to do. Particularly when it concerns your own nature. I am reminded of this again today as I had to confront people. Anyone who knows me know that I hate confrontation, so I spent ~24 hours dreading the reaction to my confrontation, to be, of course, pleasantly surprised that the reaction was entirely benign. Will I ever learn, or is this the type of thing that requires deeper transformation. During my dreading, I thought, "well they MIGHT not react badly", but I KNEW they would.

How limited are our powers of rational thought, when you get down to it?

The Bike

Lance's Bike speaks up for itself. key quote "Listen, it IS about the bike. That's why they call it a BIKE race. If you prefer, I can arrange for you to WALK around France. But be forewarned: You don’t get to date hottie rock stars by walking around France."

National debt to likely to hit the ceiling in October

I can't imagine that the Bush campaign is thrilled at this prospect.

What's up?

I have had this blog up for, let me see, over two weeks, and no one has made comments. Hmmm... does that mean that no one is reading me yet? Or does everyone just agree in a moderate way that does not lead them to comment. I need to be more provocative.

Desperate for Bryant, Clippers Dump Two

Trying not to panic...

CNN.com - Saudis: Bin Laden associate surrenders - Jul 13, 2004

Am I the only one that thinks this is weird.

ESPN.com - NBA - Tomjanovich expresses desire to coach Kobe

I assume that I am not the only one who thinks that this report that Tomjanovich would really like to coach Kobe, but is communicating to him via his own agent and video, is not a good sign for the Lakers. Meanwhile the Clips had a meeting, the Nuggets had two meetings with him, at his house of course. You wouldn't want to be forced to travel to talk to the people who might offer you a contract over $100,000,000. I wouldn't either.

tea

I ran out of my standard green tea, and was forced to dig through my drawer, looking for something different. I found an unlabeled packet of tea. I have no idea what flavor it is, though it is pleasant enough. However, I feel like I am drinking potpourri.

sweetbreads

A guy with a million pennies is interesting, no doubt. However I love sweetbreads and most people just react by saying, yuck! So that is the kind of bet that I would like to make.

No comments yet

I am a little surprised that my comment counter still reads '0'. Either no one is reading this, or millions are reading and just not commenting.

CA take note!

Kids in jail is an incredibly difficult subject. But, this gives me some hope that people will pay attention to alternate ways of dealing with juveniles in detention. I always try to remember, "they eventually get out."

ESPN.com - NBA - Rockets, Magic finalize Francis-McGrady trade

Uh, Kobe? Are you sure that you don't want to play nice with Shaq?Uh.

Kerry, don't pick Gephart.

Seriously, no one (that I have read that is) seems to actually want Gephart. He is a nice enough guy, but he is, for whatever reason, as compelling as a limp rag. On the other hand, tons of people are actually compelled by the idea of Edwards. Drezner explains this nicely. Also poll results indicate an advantage to an Edwards VP pick. While that poll is not super compelling, I believe that I have seen better results elsewhere.

Personally, I will be enormously disappointed by a Gephart VP pick. To me he just seems like an also-ran politician that is thoroughly uninspiring. Though, he realy does seem like a nice guy that has great intentions and has served our country so well.

The first post is unavoidable

I must begin this blog with the caveat that it feels almost dauntingly pointless. If you look at the blogroll on the right there, you must surely be struck by the complete lack of originality displayed. It is the blogosphere of someone declaring that his tastes run the course of ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and occasionally for spice HBO and Showtime. How original!! I guess that I get to distinguish myself with my witty, pithy observations concerning the news or the other bloggers. At this point I can’t even make a name by devoting myself to commentary or criticism of a specific big-name blogger. That has already been done. Perhaps I could comment on those commenters. That would be very “meta” of me, and enormously pointless.
At this point I think the blog is my chance to simply vent about politics and perhaps to continue to find a voice as a writer. Do not infer from the last statement that I am or consider myself a writer. Somewhere deep in my heart, I wish that I were a “writer”. However, I once used the phrase wordsmith in disavowing any writing competence, a phrase whose use, upon later reflection, firmly establishes the veracity of my disavowal.
So what will I be writing about? I imagine I will discuss a lot of politics, because (again uniquely!!) I am so thoroughly fed up with our current presidential administration that I am left without words that are appropriate for conversation. I mean that rather than vulgar language, I am reduced to ad hominem diatribes that are redundant for certain audiences or useless and offensive for others. I will also touch on science and environmental policy, my Ph.D. in Chemistry giving me some relevant expertise on such subjects. Additionally, I will probably talk about religion in America, or just in my life. My faith in Christ is rather central to my existence and identity. Oh yes, I will be discussing books that I am reading. I am trying to read more these days that has a longer perspective than the daily, weekly, or monthly news. This list is a starting point for filling in classic works that I have missed.
That’s about it. For all of you who are reading this and don’t already know me, you can check out the about me section.