3rd Obama – McCain Debate Commentary

Barack Obama - John McCain 3rd Presidential Debate

Many of you will be quite pleased that with this last presidential debate, I'll quit commenting on the politics of the day.

Not much changed in terms of the candidate’s messages or their ways of delivering their respective message.

Some of what I found interesting were the nonverbal responses made by one candidate as that person listened to his opponent, particularly when an attacking statement was made. The listening candidate’s expressions and gestures seemed to clearly show how they felt about the statement in many instances.

Both candidates’ various messages seemed more defined this time, (but still not in anything like a definitive way.)

We watched a network that gave undecided voters a way to weigh in on what they thought of each candidate’s message as it was delivered, which we saw as a line on the screen that went above the middle line for a positive response to what was said and would show a ‘below the line’ reading for a negative response. It showed that these undecided voters did not like the attacks. The reading went above neutral line most often when the message was positively focused on how to move our country forward by solving a particular problem.

All of us as citizens might benefit from this same approach. Perhaps we will all have much higher marks if we place the focus on how we can work together to solve our critical problems and create the nation we wish to have, leaving our more petty concerns, fears and grudges behind. In light of how much needs doing to restore prosperity, focusing on anything else is self-sabotage.

- Richard Chandler

Commentary on 2nd Presidential Debate

My observations on the second debate were much the same as what seemed to be the case with the 1st debate, but perhaps it was even more clear with this second one. Both candidates looked and acted like they could be our president.

So the real question for me, (and perhaps for you too), is which candidate has the ideas that you feel will be most helpful for you as a citizen and will best move us forward as a nation.

- Richard Chandler

Commentary on Biden - Palin V.P. Debate

It seemed to me that we were left with the sense that both candidates for the VP position were stronger than our perceptions of them prior to the debate. I noticed that the questions of the moderator were actually answered much more frequently and with more specificity by Senator Biden.

There was more civility between the two of them than I had expected, and that was heartening, as at the end of this election it serves all of us to work together for our common good and not waste valuable time bickering over non-relevant topics.

Having said this, people like you who go to this quotations website are likely to decide who to vote for based on the content of the candidates answers and not so much on who we personally like or can best identify with in terms of their personality, gender or biographical story. And of course, what we individually believe is best for the country will vary widely for all of us. Please vote... Our future is best served by an engaged citizenry.

- Richard Chandler

Commentary on the 1st Obama McCain Debate

I watched and listened to the presidential debates. I watched and listened to some of the more neutral commentary from news people. And I watched and listened to the partisans on both sides emphatically state their viewpoints in ways that were not unlike the many political commercials that we have heard.

After mentally dismissing virtually all of what was said by the partisans, a great deal of what was said by the candidates, (as it was simply meant to discredit the other), and some of what I heard from the more neutral news commentators, I was left with an overall good feeling about the debates. Here are three reasons why:

Unlike what I remember from George W. Bush’s debates, it seemed like both candidates where to some extent thinking on their feet and not just reciting parts of their speeches.

They both showed a good deal of toughness while at the same time not abandoning civility. It looked to me like both candidates had what it took to be our president.

All of us have widely varying differences on which candidate’s policies, views and plans would be best for our country for the next four years, and for that, it serves us as engaged citizens to discuss and debate these issues and vote for who we feel would be the best president for our country.

At the same time, based on this debate, it is hard for me to understand how anyone could deny that either candidate would not be up for the job. So for me - separating out why I feel that one candidate has ideas that make more sense to me in terms of what we as a country should do and how we should do it – I was left with a feeling that both had outstanding leadership skills, even though there might be wide differences of opinion on which way we as a people should be led.

- Richard Chandler

Why Stack Rocks?

Quite often, the people who are out on walks past our property will stop for a minute and ask us the following question: Is there a meaning behind your stacks of rocks? They often go on to say they have seen this sort of thing before, in places like Sedona, Arizona or in Alaska. There is a meaning behind rock stacking, even though our reasons for stacking rocks did not have to do with this explanation.

In a number of native cultures, including the Hopi Indians of Arizona and many of the Eskimo Native Americans of Alaska, a stack of rocks was
seen as a symbol of a protective entity.

Because a vertical stack of rocks looks like a human figure to some extent, these stacked rocks were seen as entities protecting the property, perhaps warding off harmful spirits and helping to protect the sacred space of a particular outdoor area.

We actually have the same tradition in Christian culture, where gargoyles were fashioned out of stone and added to the borders of cathedrals constructed from medieval times through the renaissance, for the purpose of protecting the sacred space of the cathedral from infiltration by malevolent spirits.

So placing stacks of rocks around one’s property might be seen as a pragmatic way to do to ward off negative influence or predatory energy.

Our own reasons for stacking rocks were not so esoteric. We wanted a fence to separate our property from the adjoining park that would let the dogs and kids know where the park ended and our property began. But a chain-link fence seemed too utilitarian and a solid fence was too closed off. Both kinds of fences are not all that aesthetically pleasing. They are also very expensive.

So what we did is plant a series of small arborvitae bushes every 10 feet alternating with a stack of rocks between each bush along our property lines. This creates the illusion of a fence, and to our taste, is much more interesting, organic and artistic.

We were inspired to do so by the art of Andy Goldsworthy, who uses found objects in nature, including rocks, icicles, driftwood, twigs, leaves, rocks, and a host of other nature mediums to construct his art. The picture is from his roof top exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art.

And if these stacks of rocks also ward off evil spirits… all the better.

- Richard Chandler.

Bonnett & Richard’s Solar Project - Part II

How We Lowered Our Carbon Impact Along with Our Utility Bill (If you missed Part I, you'll find it in the post just below this one)

So here is how it works: Our water is piped from the city water system into our mechanical room. Just after the meter, the water splits into two pipes… one for cold water and the other as it travels toward the hot water heater. A few feet prior to where this ¾” copper pipe enters into the natural gas hot water heater, we soldered a series of valves and two copper pipes enabling us to divert the water in a way that follows a parallel pathway to the pipe that leads to our outdoor faucet for watering the lawn.

These two pipes connect to two new outdoor faucets and the faucets in turn are connect to six interconnected 120’ lengths of ¾” commercial grade black hose. This hose totals 720’ and is the solar collector.

The parallel lengths of hose are set into the inside corner of the house and travel up onto the roof where the hose is wrapped around the roof vents to keep it in place.

After gathering heat from the sun and the surrounding shingles it travels down again, into the return faucet, copper pipe, inside valve and finally flows into the gas hot water heater at a very warm temperature when the sun is shining and at the outside air temperature when the sun is not shining. Through this process, our gas hot water heater has only a little firing to do when the sun is out as the water is now much closer to the optimal temperature.

Once we again return to freezing temperatures, all we have to do is to drain the hoses by disconnecting them from the outside faucets. I will use gravity to do most of this work and hook up a small air compressor to one of the hoses to make sure the water is blown out for the winter. Inside the house we simply turn the inside valves to reopen the direct flow to the hot water heater and shut off the diverted flow which goes to the outside.

To get the very most out of this solar system we will focus our times of doing laundry and running the dishwasher during the day when the sun is out. Because hose is only ¾” in diameter, it doesn’t take long to heat up a fresh batch of hot water.

Even though our old Maytag washer worked perfectly fine, at the end of 2007 we purchased a frontloading clothes washer which has significantly cut the gallons needed to do each load by over two thirds. Since we have a very busy massage therapy practice, we do a great many loads of laundry in addition to our personal laundry.

Our new solar collector combined with the new washer will significantly reduce our use of energy, saving us money and lowering our carbon footprint. Even though this project cost us some money, we feel our financial investment will be paid back in a couple of years. Prior to the monetary payback, we take pleasure from knowing that we are immediately helping our planet in a small way. We are also gaining confidence that as individuals we can find many more innovative and low cost ways to go green. We have compiles a few environmental and commentary quotes here.

Bonnett & Richard’s Solar Project - Part I

How We Lowered Our Carbon Impact
Along with Our Utility Bill!

In a nutshell, we wanted to do something more. While our florescent light bulbs were in place throughout our entire house and we just finished converting our outdoor light fixtures to accommodate the new fluorescent floodlights, we wanted to do more… something more dramatic.

The idea of preheating the water with the sum before it entered our natural gas hot water heater had been percolating for sometime. It seemed simple enough… find an inexpensive way to route the water out of the house and into some kind of solar collector, and then back into the house a whole lot hotter than it left. Have it leave the house just before entering the hot water heater and then back in and directly into the gas hot water heater at a nice hot temperature.

While this idea works well for the months before it freezes, it can’t be used in the colder seasons, so any system we constructed would have to allow us to easily switch it back to a direct route into the hot water heater as well as to drain the water out of the collector.

Even for us Minnesotans, limited as we are to only 7 months when water doesn’t freeze, it seemed to us that if the system was easy to build and install, and didn’t cost us too much, it would pay back the cost of it in a few years and give us some savings from then on. More environmental quotes and commentarty here.