My little bit

For all the b.s. that accompanies them, I have always liked presidential elections in the U.S. That's probably because I am not affiliated with any political party. Watching the candidates compete as they do, and more importantly, watching their repective strategies unfold is infinately engrossing. If you can take a step back and watch the campaigns with a disinterested eye toward the eventual outcome, you can see a drama of epic proportions, because the story is not merely about the candidates themselves, or even the parties they represent, but the entirety of the country.

Watch the news or read the papers as I do. Everyone gets in on the action. Everyone has their own bit to play. Everyone feels that something important is at stake. Everyone feels a certain weight in knowing that the outcome of this fight matters in a way that few others can compete with. In other words, everyone feels a deep relevance in what is transpiring.

Each candidate will lead the country in a different direction. Each candidate has different ideas for how best to proceed in the country's affairs. Each candidate loves his/her country and is committed to its prosperity. Some ideas work in practice better than others, but I truly think that the ideas themselves come with the noblest of intentions.

Call me naive if you will, but I genuinely want to believe in our leaders, even when they do make mistakes.

This year, the main candidates running for president are of course Barak Obama and John McCain. Each has gone through a very trying nominating process and emerged victorious even though the obstacles in front of them were truly daunting. McCain supported a wildly unpopular war and did not really appeal to the social conservative wing of his party. Obama was vitually unknown and faced in Hillary an opposition with enormous organization and connections within the party. Yet they both prevailed, and have become the stronger for it.

Both of them have unique histories that resound to me as an American. Both of them are patriots and strong Americans. Both of them would make fine presidents in my estimation.

It may not always be so, but at least this particular election cycle, I sleep in peace at night knowing that whichever way the presidential election goes, the country will be in good hands. Rest easy, America. This year, we can't lose.

Respect

John McCain may be getting a lot of bad press lately, but before you demonize him, please watch this video.

Awesome Commercial

Back in 2000, this commercial came out and was an instant hit in America.


Well, the same actors have gotten together to do a new one, and it's pretty funny!

The Dark Side of American Politics

Being in Japan, I only hear about this a little in passing, but I saw this video on a good friend's blog, and I was less than impressed with the people who appear in it. To think that in 2008 people in America still act this way is scary. Simply appalling.

Disliking one's political opponent is fine. But that should be based on legitimate political differences in opinion, not on rumours and hearsay and speculation.

Let's face it. America has indeed made tremendous progress in racial and religious equality. But the road ahead is still without end in sight.

Presidential Candidates Try Their Hands at Comedy

McCain on Letterman

Here's the backstory.

Back when the financial crisis gripping America (and alas the world) was starting out and Congress was crafting a bill with the Bush administration to try to address the situation, John McCain suspended his campaign to rush back to Washington to help out. Unfortunately, on that night he was scheduled to appear on the Late Show with David Letterman, so he had to cancel. Here is Dave's reaction on that night.

Colin Powell Endorses Barak Obama

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


A discussion of this endorsement on NPR's "Talk of the Nation".
(The Kristol article mentioned in this piece)

More from NPR's "News and Notes".

Note: Using these videos should not be taken as an endorsement of cspanjunkie.org. I happen to think that the short clip added to the end of the second and third videos is distracting and unnecessary.

Final Presidential Debate

The last debate.

Three things seem to have been noticed in this debate:
1)John McCain "I am not Bush."
2)Joe the Plumber
3)McCain's blinking

Bubble Burst: Japan vs USA

Interesting article comparing current U.S. economic situation with Japan in the '90s.

2nd U.S. Presidential Debate

I should have started posting these earlier, but here is the second presidential debate between Sen. Barak Obama and Sen. John McCain.

冬対策

今日は冬対策に取り組んでいました。

２DKに住んでいますが、その「２」というのは洋室一部屋と和室一部屋のことです。夏はやはりウッドフローリングの洋室が涼しくて心地よいですが冬になると和室が暖かくていいと思うので、できるだけ洋室に入らなくてすむように今日一日中工夫しました。

これだけで光熱費が例年より下がるといいですね。冷暖房は和室じゃなくて洋室にあるからちょっと心配ですが、温度が下がるほど効率が悪くなるというから・・・いいですかね？

でも、試してみないと分からないものです。

最近いろんな面で倹約しようとしていますが、そのおかげで水道が3千円弱から半額以下まで下がったし、電気代も先月安かったです（3千円台）。他にも色々と工夫していますが（例えば携帯電話など）、こうやって自分の努力で得た結果を具体的に見えると嬉しいものですね。