Rick Steves? That goofy guy with the fanny packs?

In first news, the fasting experiment seemed to turn out well. I ate no food yesterday, just drank a couple glasses of orange juice and a couple mugs of tea. I got kind of tired by the end of the day, slept pretty well, and am now feeling just fine. Whether it did anything good for me, I don’t know, but it was at least not bad for me.

In second news, I was just pointed to Rick Steves’s blog, in which he details his recent trip to Iran. His main point: our problem is not with the people but with the government, the people are amazing, and it would be terrible to go to war with a country like this. Reading it, it’s hard not to agree. Then, to play devil’s advocate, I let my dad’s point of view kick in, and I think “that’s all very nice, but if they have a crazy government that wants to nuke us, we have to stop them, even at the price of making life more difficult for their people.” But isn’t that the same as radical Iranians think? I was struck by a sentence where he said Iranians are about as happy with Bush as Americans are with Ahmadinejad. Granted, if you put our society up against theirs, with their lack of so many personal freedoms, I’d take ours any day. But something in me feels like turning Iran into the next Iraq would be the worst possible scenario.

… and that’s why I’m voting for Obama. Well, one of the reasons. He seems less likely than McCain to get us into another war. (well, duh, right?)


blog 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010