25 September 2008
24 September 2008
Richard wants to know...
My friend Richard wants you to waste a small amount of your time on the following ridiculous question. (Why he can't post to his own blog is a good question, but I'm guessing Jamie does the posting...). Be sure you craft your OWN answer before looking in the comments at everyone else's.
"What are the 2nd-to-last 4 digits of the sequence: 123456789."
"What are the 2nd-to-last 4 digits of the sequence: 123456789."
23 September 2008
Thanks to Jaydee...
Who doesn't have her own blog, so we'll make her a regular contributor. She sent this conversation between Bartlett and Obama.
16 September 2008
07 September 2008
The Water Playscape
Our favorite big park just up the road a bit has a great lake where we like to take the dogs to swim. It turns out they have what they call a "Water Playscape" as well. Too bad it's the end of the summer before we checked it out. Maya LOVES it. Here are some snaps...
05 September 2008
John McCain will work for you...
As long as you're white and rich.
First, as we were watching the republican convention the past few nights, and we noticed a stark contrast to the democratic convention. Almost everyone is white. Turns out it's not just who got on the camera. (See this article from the Washington Post.) Less than 2% of the delegates to the Republican Convention are black and 5% are hispanic. (For anyone who hasn't been following the changing demographics of the United States, this is not on par with the more than 12% black population of the US and the more than 14% hispanic population.)
Second, the Tax Policy Center did a review of both candidates' tax proposals (both as described by campaign representatives and as presented on the campaign trail). While the linked summary is straight from the source, I think the table here sums it up nicely. I don't know for sure how we should define "middle class," but the mean family income in the US in 2006 was $48,561, while the median was $70,354. I'll leave it to you to decide which plan helps the middle class more.
OK, seriously. I'll try to contain myself from now on. Probably no one but my dad and Laura appreciate these posts in lieu of Maya photos...
First, as we were watching the republican convention the past few nights, and we noticed a stark contrast to the democratic convention. Almost everyone is white. Turns out it's not just who got on the camera. (See this article from the Washington Post.) Less than 2% of the delegates to the Republican Convention are black and 5% are hispanic. (For anyone who hasn't been following the changing demographics of the United States, this is not on par with the more than 12% black population of the US and the more than 14% hispanic population.)
Second, the Tax Policy Center did a review of both candidates' tax proposals (both as described by campaign representatives and as presented on the campaign trail). While the linked summary is straight from the source, I think the table here sums it up nicely. I don't know for sure how we should define "middle class," but the mean family income in the US in 2006 was $48,561, while the median was $70,354. I'll leave it to you to decide which plan helps the middle class more.
OK, seriously. I'll try to contain myself from now on. Probably no one but my dad and Laura appreciate these posts in lieu of Maya photos...
03 September 2008
Lies and Misleadings
So we're watching the Republican Convention, since we watched the Democratic Convention last week. Perhaps there were just as many lies and misleading statements last week, but tonight was horrible. Just two tidbits:
Mike Huckabee put forth the "fact" that Sarah Palin had received more votes for mayor of Wasilla than Joe Biden had for president:
"And speaking of Gov. Palin, I am so tired of hearing about her lack of experience. I want to tell you folks something. She got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."
The numbers? By my personal quick count using google's primary map shows Joe Biden with 6206 votes in the 2008 presidential primary. Sarah Palin received 651 votes for Wasilla mayor in 1996 and 909 votes in 1999 (from the Wasilla, Alaska website).
Rudy Giuliani took Obama to task for too many "present" votes in the Illinois state legislature:
"Then he ran for -- then he ran for the state legislature and he got elected. And nearly 130 times, he couldn't make a decision. He couldn't figure out whether to vote "yes" or "no." It was too tough. He voted -- he voted 'present.'"
First of all, this is a tired story. Obama has already defended himself with respect to this claim, stating that these votes were generally with purpose and with a block of other legislators to make a statement (See this article from the Boston Globe, for example). (And, by the way, that's 129 votes out of around 4000 that Obama cast in the Illinois legislature.) Second, in the 110th Congress, Obama has missed 45.5% of the votes (a lot, to be sure). McCain has missed 63.8%. That's more missed votes than Tim Johnson, who suffered a brain hemorrhage in December. (Numbers from the Washington Post.)
Correction: Apparently Biden got 79,754 primary votes. That's what you get for counting by hand... :)
Update: And if you want the facts checked, this website is interesting.
Alright. Back to our regularly scheduled programming...
Mike Huckabee put forth the "fact" that Sarah Palin had received more votes for mayor of Wasilla than Joe Biden had for president:
"And speaking of Gov. Palin, I am so tired of hearing about her lack of experience. I want to tell you folks something. She got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."
The numbers? By my personal quick count using google's primary map shows Joe Biden with 6206 votes in the 2008 presidential primary. Sarah Palin received 651 votes for Wasilla mayor in 1996 and 909 votes in 1999 (from the Wasilla, Alaska website).
Rudy Giuliani took Obama to task for too many "present" votes in the Illinois state legislature:
"Then he ran for -- then he ran for the state legislature and he got elected. And nearly 130 times, he couldn't make a decision. He couldn't figure out whether to vote "yes" or "no." It was too tough. He voted -- he voted 'present.'"
First of all, this is a tired story. Obama has already defended himself with respect to this claim, stating that these votes were generally with purpose and with a block of other legislators to make a statement (See this article from the Boston Globe, for example). (And, by the way, that's 129 votes out of around 4000 that Obama cast in the Illinois legislature.) Second, in the 110th Congress, Obama has missed 45.5% of the votes (a lot, to be sure). McCain has missed 63.8%. That's more missed votes than Tim Johnson, who suffered a brain hemorrhage in December. (Numbers from the Washington Post.)
Correction: Apparently Biden got 79,754 primary votes. That's what you get for counting by hand... :)
Update: And if you want the facts checked, this website is interesting.
Alright. Back to our regularly scheduled programming...
01 September 2008
Labor Day in Austin
Sure, it's hot here. But we decided to make the most of the holiday from work and day care. After Maya's nap, we headed downtown. We discovered the Austin Science and Nature Center, where we went on a short nature hike to the Nature Center. At the center, they had a good deal of exhibits, including some birds (Maya really liked the owls), some small mammals, and other little things, like turtles. The best part? It was FREE!
We headed to Mozart's coffee shop on the lake to cool off a bit before meeting Addie and her parents at Whole Foods for dinner. Maya should sleep great tonight! (Who am I kidding? We should all sleep great!)
We headed to Mozart's coffee shop on the lake to cool off a bit before meeting Addie and her parents at Whole Foods for dinner. Maya should sleep great tonight! (Who am I kidding? We should all sleep great!)
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