If you too have once complained that your dish didn’t look like its image on the menu, don’t worry - that’s probably just because the food lacked the motor oil, shoe polish and white glue used to take the picture.
For more information, read the dirty tricks of food photographers on the excellent photocritic blog, and never dare to complain again!
As a political junkie, I can’t resist this short update on my previous post on Clinton and Obama:
The upcoming elections in Texas and Ohio could have a strong influence on the race. If Obama wins both, he probably has won the nomination. Even if Clinton isn’t able to win at least one state with a strong margin of at least 7%, I’d suppose she’s 60% likely to end her run.
If she wins one state with a healthy margin, the race probably will continue. If she wins both states, Obama might be in trouble, as the momentum could decisively shift towards Clinton.
My prediction is a very narrow win by Obama in Texas. So narrow that I won’t be surprised if he loses in the end. It probably depends on turnout and the final breakdown of the latino vote. However, in either case he will carry more delegates from Texas. As for Ohio, that’s Clinton’s state to lose. I predict she won’t, yet I see a victory between 3% and 4%, which won’t be enough for her to stay in the race.
Yeah, I know I meant to write shorter posts, but this one basically wrote itself.
As a Swiss citizen, I don’t have any stakes in this race; the foreign policy of the new administration will also affect Switzerland, but the possible policy differences towards Switzerland aren’t that varied. Still, as an avid reader of some political blogs, I’m following the primary season closely.
My favourite candidate (Sen. Chris Dodd) dropped out very early, and so I mostly sat down and watched. As the field has narrowed down to a race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and as the decision comes closer, I’d like to chime in with my thoughts.
First things first: I think both of them have the potential to be a good president; both offer comprehensive and sound ideas. If that’s not enough, having the real possibility of either the first woman or the first black man becoming President of the United States is a great testimony to the vivid democratic culture of the states.
Yet I do have a preference for the general election. I want Barack Obama to be the next President of the United States of America. I’d like to elaborate on my reasons a bit more. As said, the policy differences are not that big, yet there are some important nuances nonetheless.
* Clinton cleary has a more hawkish approach on foreign policy. Her vote for the Iraq War, her vote for declaring Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist group, as well as her refusal to negotiate directly with unwelcome foreign governments, all indicate this. Barack Obama opposed the Iraq War from the beginning and has a more constructive position on foreign affairs.
* A nuclear conflict, or a nuclear terrorist attack, are among the biggest nightmares one can imagine. Barack Obama wants to reduce the nuclear arsenals and stop the spread of nuclear weapons and related technology. Yet he also supports the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
* The current Bush administration has taken outragous steps to increase its power and to set the executive above other branches and above the constitution. Hillary Clinton, despite pledging to support legislative action against the bill, did not show up during a vote held on the FISA bill, while Obama did. This bill would grant telecommunication companies retroactive immunity for the warrentless delivery of customer data to US intelligence agencies. A fine example of Barack Obama’s (who’s been a professor of constitutional law at the University of Chicago’s Law School) strong stance for the constitution.
* Barack Obama stands strongly for transparency in government matters. The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, which lead to the creation of a public database about the government’s spending, is just one example.
* He introduced several sound bills on global warming and energy efficiency, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and cutting benefits of the oil industry. During the last year, Hillary Clinton introduced not a single bill on these issues.
* During the last 20 years, the United States have been governed by either a Bush or Clinton (George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1993; Bill Clinton from 1994 - 2000; George W. Bush from 2001 - 2008). Under Hillary Clinton, this period could expand to 28 years. This concentration of power in the hand of a few powerful and influential families strikes me as odd for a democracy. And don’t get me starting on the fact that Jeb Bush and Chelsea Clinton might be eyeing a run in 2016.
Also, I normally don’t give much about a candidate’s speeches, or attributes like inspiring. Yet it must be noted that Obama’s ability to mobilise voters is amazing. Never before have so many first-time voters showed up during primaries. Never before has youth turnout be so big. Never before have so many people contributed money to a candidate; he’s close to pass the millionth contribution. And this are individual contributions, mind you. He also leads among independent voters, and might even carry some Republican votes. This all are positive signs for the health of a democracy. Given that many people feel disaffected about politics, big money and globalisation, given that authoritarian regimes and authoritarian tendencies and movements inside democracies have grown stronger, this is another crucial point which makes the case for a presidency of Barack Obama.
This blog has remained in a pretty inactive state so far. I never meant this blog to be buzzing at the top of daily affairs, but neither did I envisage it to be collecting digital dust. This renders the situation rather unsatisfying. Hence there are two options at the table. First, to abandon this blog completely, or second, to rescue it. As the title already spoils, I decided to go for a second try.
My first attempt at blogging failed mostly because I tried to write long, oversized posting while simultaneously lacking the time to complete them. You wouldn’t believe the amount of unfinished articles I have left in my draft folder. Hence I’ll try to write more frequently, a resolution which can only be achieved by writing shorter pieces.
Of course, longer posts may still happen from time to time (I still need to finish my report on my not-so-current-anymore trip to Armenia), but they won’t be the new norm. I hope this new style will suit me and increase the quality and appeal of the blog a bit. Maybe I’ll also end up writing useless crap, who knows…
