Catchup Time!

Okay, many many things to post about. I expect today will be at least a three post day. First, life and holidays.

For New Year's, we went down to Savannah, near where my girlfriend's family lives. All in all, it was an awesome trip. New Year's Eve was great First, we went down to Tybee Island, where we saw frickin dolphins, not a hundred feet off shore!

See!
See more!

Also, we saw some birds I didn't know what they were but they looked cool.

Then we went on a riverboat cruise in the evening, which took us up the river and then down and back to watch the fireworks over the city. the music was pretty good, the food not so. I forgot my camera, so no pictures of that for you.

It's a long ass drive from Georgia to here, especially on New Year's Day. But we made it fine.

Let's see. Also, I have my school schedule finally set and should finish for transfer somewhere bigger at the end of spring, like I'd hoped to all along. Yay!

So that's the five minute summary of the last couple weeks.

Iowa

Well, the very first state in the presidential primaries is over. Mike Huckabee, preacher and proponent of the bullshit "Fair Tax" scheme won the Republicans, and Rudy Guiliani, who's quite possibly more authoritarian and scary than George W. Bush came in last. Even behind Ron Paul.

On the Democratic side, Barak Obama won, and John Edwards edged out Hillary Clinton, and most everyone else was distant.. I can't say I'm upset by this. Hillary Clinton is better than any of the Republicans running, but I get the feeling she'd be the one most likely pushed to start a wa if she was President. And we don't have enough of an army for the occupations we have, much less another war.

Of the other two, I lean more towards Edwards, because Obama's given too much play to some of the bullshit right-wing talking points about things like health care, and because Edwards is more willing to speak up and take on the corporate assholes who are helping ruin the country.

That said, I'd be more than happy to support either of them as President. And Obama makes a mean speech, but Edwards is no slouch himself. See for yourself.

( Obama's Speech )

( Edwards' Speech )

Another Good Man Gone

One of the posters over at Obsidian Wings, Andrew Olmsted, died in Iraq.

I only ever knew him from his postings there and his own blog, and mostly through arguing with him occasionally. But he was an honest and decent man, and most of what he wrote is of the same caliber as his own obituary there. His last entry in his other blog, over at the Rocky Mountain News is about helping Iraqis bring gifts to Iraqi kids in a refugee camp. The world's a little bit worse off without him. Him and the many other soldiers and civilians who died in this, and every other war.

UPDATE: Hilzoy found the AP article probably about Andrew here. It doesn't really say very much. But each and every article like that isn't just about numbers, they're about people.