A Day at the Races

Last week Wisconsin held its primary elections. As such, the various candidates have descended upon our town of La Crosse like vultures on a carcass in the Veldt. I know my friends in Washington had their primary last week as well, but it seems the candidates chose Wisconsin as their battleground. In different ways, each candidate had their presence felt. We first knew primary season was coming when dedicated Ron Paul supporters littered campus with literally thousands of fliers for the week preceding the election. I’m sure Dr. Paul would be horrified if he heard about all the pollution caused in his name.

Then came the week before primary. We had representatives from all the candidates. This is where the fun began. It started out with a bang when we found out that former President Bill Clinton would be visiting campus. Although I am not Hilary inclined, I couldn’t pass up the chance to see a former president. The Rec center was packed full for his speech. We barely got a seat even though we showed up almost an hour early. Unfortunately, despite the millions and millions of dollars the Clinton campaign has raised, they can only seem to afford the rights to three songs (I’m a Believer, a Dixie Chicks song, and one other I’d never heard before) which played continuously for the hour before the former President Clinton spoke.

The next day I took a bus downtown to the Radisson where John McCain was giving a town hall meeting. This was also packed to the bursting, although the venue was much, much smaller. Senator McCain came out and gave a speech and answered questions from the audience. It was refreshing to hear him talk about Nuclear power as a potential source of energy. He pointed out that 80% of French energy is Nuclear. He also pointed out that the French have elected a “Pro-American” president, which shows that if you live long enough, anything can happen.

It was very illuminating to hear two different talks in such a short time period. The two candidates were pretty much polar opposites. Senator Clinton is on one end of political spectrum, and Senator McCain is much more centrist. At time they used exact the exact same phrases or ideas, but drew different interpretations of their meaning. These past few weeks have certainly felt like

In other news, research group Mindset Media found that owners of Apple computers are 60% more likely to be arrogant and self centered.

Also, NPR recently released a Podcast on Gordon Gekko, the character from the Oliver Stone film “Wall Street” and the impact he has had both on Capitalists and other economic system believers as part of its series ‘In Character.’ The transcript of the broadcast and a download for the audio can be found at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19105520. It runs about five minutes, so check it out when you get a chance.

The other day I was listening to one of my old-time radio shows and one of the characters recited this poem as a ‘personal mantra.’ I found it very moving and decided to post it.


Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.

George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron. 1788–1824

599. We'll go no more a-roving


SO, we'll go no more a-roving
So late into the night,
Though the heart be still as loving,
And the moon be still as bright.

For the sword outwears its sheath,
And the soul wears out the breast,
And the heart must pause to breathe,
And love itself have rest.

Though the night was made for loving,
And the day returns too soon,
Yet we'll go no more a-roving
By the light of the moon.

____________

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading.

Sean

P.S. – I’ve changed the settings so that anyone can post comments. You no longer need an account. Some of you emailed me and told me this was a problem last time. Let me know if there are any more problems.