What Everyone Misses About the Iowa Caucuses

As a proud Iowan, I often ask myself – what do we really have to brag about? Sure we have world famous attractions like America’s largest Czech and Slovak Museum, the Midwest’s largest frying pan, and the home of the first soldier to die in World War I. Assuredly, these hallowed halls whet the appetite of the would-be tourist. But not to worry – we have the caucuses!

The Iowa caucuses bring millions of dollars to our state every four years and begin the process of determining the leader of the free world. But wait, who really cares? Not Iowans, that’s for sure. For the last several months and for the next two as the Iowa Caucuses approach, polling data and school visits in Iowa will dominate the national press – and be skipped over by most Iowans.

This is the sad incongruity between national perceptions of the “noblest form of democracy,” and the reality in Iowa. On January 3, 2008, the first votes (sort-of) will be cast for the eventual president of the United States. And they will be done so by no more than about 150,000 largely white, middle-class, citizens from, just one, heartland state. This is not meant to be a drag on Iowans – we take our job seriously.

Well I should say the roughly 5 % of the state that caucus take their job seriously. So when the national media swarms on Iowa, it makes the viewer in Tallahassee or the reader in Seattle think Iowans are something they are not – a bunch of political geeks descended from some abnormal heritage well versed in the treatises of Locke and Montesquieu. Most of us barely got past Federalist #10 – something about factions?

So Iowans don’t care, oh shit! Not really. The media likes to assign a mythical advantage to whoever wins the Iowa caucuses. This notion also is largely incorrect. Oh sure, Kerry won Iowa and won the Democratic nominee in 2004 as did Bush for the GOP in 2000, but Iowa played a very minor role in the victories of those two candidates. Polling data shows, those two candidates were already on their way to winning nationally without the supposed “boost” they gained from Iowa’s anointed aristocracy.

Finally, no one really knows what is going to happen come January 3. When only 5% of the state is likely to participate, reliable polling data is hard to accumulate. And even when polls do reach upwards of 1000 “likely” caucus goers, who really knows if a) they will go, or more importantly if b) they will switch their support during the two hour marathon butting heads with the Orange Bowl. The media speculates daily about the polls coming out of Iowa and shapes how the rest of the nation feels about the candidates when in actuality, anything could happen.

Iowans are a proud bunch; we’re not easily persuaded by fast talking politicians dressed in nice suits. In that regard the politically active citizens of the state are some of the most gifted observers in selecting the next POTUS. That being said, the caucuses are hardly the best democratic measure aimed at jump-starting the race for president. The large majority of Iowans are not as active as they should be, and Iowa does not matter as much as everyone wants it to. And while I like saying I’ve met all the leading contenders, the Iowa fray wastes millions of dollars and hours of energy. It also undercuts democracy – presidential candidates are ignoring most of the country.

Like Bruce Wayne in the newest Batman movie, I am telling you to get out of my house for your own good. The candidates and the media need to get out of Iowa – it’s bad for America and it undermines the nomination process. I’ll be sad when Iowa no longer dominates the press every four years but I guess I’ll have to find solace in cooking really big pancakes while sipping Bohemian beer.

A week at Midd

The past two weeks of Middlebury life have been in a way ultra typical, but in a way also extemely interesting. It started last week when Rajiv Chandrasekaran came to speak on campus. He is an editor at the Washington Post and wrote the book Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone about the first few months of the US invasion in Iraq. He was very journalistic in that he didn't really offer any political views or blame.

He did, as he does in the book, highlight a lot of the atrocious planning mistakes commited by the Bush Administration. It wasn't really anything new or different from the book. The one thing I took away was how journalists could conduct their investigations so much easier immediately after the fall of Saddam. Now Western jounralists can't even leave the green zone and Iraqi journalists do all the investigating, and even they are at risk. I do recommend the book though as a basic run through of how we messed up. Chandrasekaran has a lot of unique takes on the whole situation and is very good about not blaming the soldiers or State department.

This past Wednesday, I was lucky enough to have dinner with Peter Galbraith, an expert on Iraq and former Ambassador to Croatia under the Clinton Administration. The public library where I work was sponsoring Ambassador Galbraith, and I was invited to dinner. I was a bit disappointed because I thought the other adults failed to really address the expert mind we had at the table - instead we were discussing how young kids are so tech savy (never heard that before). But after awhile we got around to a more serious discussion.

Turns out that Galbraith went to Oxford and Harvard with current Pakistani #1 dissident Benazir Bhutto. From what I have been reading in the press, I wasn't the world's biggest fan. When Bhutto was Prime Minister, she wasn't exactly a pillar of democracy. She also inherited the post from her father, also again not exactly a morally stable person. I had my reservations, so when Galbraith talked about his close friendship with Bhutto, I was a bit mystified. Over the course of dinner, though, I think Galbraith backed it up with some so-so examples.

Although Galbraith was ambassador to Croatia, its not really his thing. Which was sad for me because of my current interest in that country. He spoke about the Dayton Accords and the war in Bosnia, but not with any real passion. He saved that for Iraq - which he worked on during his time at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The other big idea Galbraith had was partition in Iraq. Again, from everything I read, it doesn't seem that partition works. Most experts agree that the Sunnis and Shia do not want the country split up, and neither group wants to lose the Kurds. In my view, it makes sense on just about every front to let the Kurds go their own way. They've earned it, they've instilled stability, and they have a homogenous geography. Sadly, the question of oil revenues prevents any movement in this direction.

The final highlight of my week was dinner with Eileen O'Connor. She was a journalist for ABC and CNN in Moscow during the 80s and 90s. While I thought her political conclusions about the situation in Russia were a bit underdeveloped, she told fascinating stories about her interactions with Russian officials. O'Connor was the only journalist to discover Boris Yeltsin's heart attack in 1996. In the wake of this coverage, O'Connor was threatened by groups and followed by hitmen. She found out that she had a price on her head, and officials were encouraging her to leave the country. Not only that, she was pregnant at the time. (Photo Credit: AP)

This was just one of the many interesting stories she shared with us over the course of the evening. For me dinner with important people is alwasy difficult. I have no manners, and I'm generally awkward. I'd just like to editorialize and brag that I didn't have any large gaffes during the meal. I managed to not spill any food, or apply any stains to my clothing. This was really promising for me and I hope my luck continues.

The Accident

Last Friday after carefully deliberating for about 30 seconds, I decided to head down to Wesleyan University in Connecitcut to visit my friends Laura and Sara with who I studied in Budapest. I was about 2/3 of the way there enjoying a fine biography of Eisenhower and talking to my mother on the phone when it happened. If the narrative is getting a little boring - the pictures should excite you.

I was traveling South on I-91 in very heavy rain going about 60-65 mph. All of a sudden the car completely lost control and fish tailed a complete 180 degrees. So, I'm facing the wrong direction in the middle of the freeway traveling backwards at about 60 mph. I'm pretty sure I avoided any heroic words of wisdom at this my finest hour and instead went with the ever-used response to dramatic situations: OH SHIT, OH SHIT, OH SHIT, OH SHIT.

So after I was facing the wrong direction and careening down the highway, I eventually continued this path but moved over to the ditch. After awhile of careening through the grassy ditch, I met the trees further off front and center. Because of the angle, I hit the trees with the back end of the car and basically turned an Alero in a trunkless Prius. I couldn't really see the road at this point, but I found the phone that had ended up on the floor. I explained to my mom that I wasn't hurt, and then turned to getting the hell out of Massachusetts.

Calling 911 should usually be a calming element, but when the guy asked where I was and I couldn't pinpoint it exactly cuz all interstates look the same, he grew hysterical. I was thinking, "I'm the one that just about died and you're yelling at me?" He couldn't deal with my calm antics so he transferred me over to the Massachusetts state Patrol who were very helpful.

Except its apparently a crime to crash, so i got a citation for impeded operation because apparently it wasn't enough that I just had a near-death experience and my car was totaled. Bud Light needs a new commercial, "Here's to you Massachusetts State Patrolman" - Asshole.

The tow druck driver was great, dropped my car off to get fixed and left me and all of my car's belongings at the local Dunkin Donuts - wow what an unfriendly place, but the homeless guys that wandered in were comforting. I wasn't the only squatter.

Luckily enough, my friends Erik and Emily agreed to come down and rescue me from the coffee world and took me back up to Midd. On our way back I got these pictures of my tragic car.

Good thing is I came out uninjured, neck hurts a bit and I discover a few bruises everyday but nothing major. I've driven so much and never been in a serious accident - oh well guess it happens to everyone.

The Bi-polarity of college life

Last night, Orange Crush played to the ever affectionate crowd of Middlebury College. They are a really good 80s cover band that biannually returns to Midd. The college is in the midst of trying to raise $500 million over the next several years. They raised half of it last night. This brings me to my point, there were a few hundred of the smartest college students, myself included, dancing like idiots to Madonna and Bon Jovi. All I could think about was how these crazy people were going to run the world someday and make that $500 million several times over. Many of them have Teach for America and Goldman Sachs interviews planned alongside shots of vodka.

I mean I know everyone needs to loosen up and have a good time, but imagine the feedback of 20 yr old facebook pictures of Steve Jobs or Donald Trump passed out on a couch in a college dorm. How will social networking sites shape the future - it shall be interesting indeed.

In other news, James Piscatori , a noted Middle East scholar at Oxford spoke at Middlebury. I went to his key note address and came away appreciating the voice of British academics. They have a way of capturing eloquence in speeches unheard in the states. Or as my friend Dexter said about Anatol Lieven, "he talks funny."

The substance of his talk was interesting as well. Well not really, because he was quite general, but the intersting thing he said was that there are factions developing in the Middle East and they have some political power. Pluralism is prospering. This is promising but also very scary. The power of Islamists can rise and fall with the attitudes of public opinion. In Morocco and Turkey, Islamic parties have swept into power and have largely gone about their tasks through peaceful means.

In Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, and other places, politicized Islamic groups have not responded through peaceful means and continue to threaten the stable order in those countries. My thoughts after reading and talking with friends who have travelled to the Middle East and the Islamic world is that countries that are open will choose peaceful leaders. The young and moderates in Iran don't like their president and want normal relations with the world. The Algerians I taught English to were more pragmatic about US middle east policy than a lot of Americans I've talked to.

So I thought it was really promising that Piscatori said factions were developing, but it doesn't mean democracy is proliferating. There is a lot the US can do to promote these various groups. The other intersting thing I took away from his talk was the idea of a larger Sunni and Shia blocs developing in the region. The various groups in Iran and Iraq are cooperating to a larger degree than I had thought, and doing it despite US warnings. This is me not Piscatori: America would be within its soveriegn rights to attack Iran for this action, though I think its a bad idea.

While the development of factions is promisng, the idea of large religious ideological blocs is a bit scary. Still the development of the reformation led to the rise of the nation-state and eventually democracy so we should be weary of criticizing all macro religious developments.

It's Pure Politics

First off, I had better respond to my brother Matt's argument about my post on Iowa and its caucuses.

The one thing I like from his argument is that the primaries/caucuses should be consolidated later in the year. This is great, but it will never happen. John Edwards started running for the nominee on November 3, 2004. The candidates and the states will never allow the dates to be reigned in, though I support this whole-heartedly.

Instead let's try to get what we can. Matt lives in Tacoma, Washington, probably the biggest thing undercutting his entire argument. He tries to say that Iowa is more conservative than "some places in America." True, we are more conservative than about 10 states and more liberal than about 30. Matt also thinks Iowa is pretty homogenous. Wrong. Iowa City, and Des Moines are much more socially liberal than the rest of Iowa. And that is where all the poeple live. Iowans widely elect Senator Tom Harkin, one of the most liberal members of the Senate, and Charles Grassley, largely one of the most conservative members. The representatives are all over the spectrum and the Statehouse is largely split down the middle. To say Iowa isn't mainstream America is laughable. Sure we're not Seattle, New York, or Chicago, but we're sure as hell not Topeka, Birmingham, or Columbus.

And Matt does make a good point, Gravel, Kucinich, and Paul do have some good, new ideas. That doesn't dispute the fact that they are still idiots. To have the foreign ministries of several countries, and the US State Department issues its own statement is definitive evidence that I'm right, they are idiots.

So, what does this mean. Iowa should stay first. We are responsible. We shouldn't be first alone. As we saw with Kerry, Iowa does matter, maybe a bit too much. Let's have Iowa, South Carolina and a Western state be the first three barometers of the candidates. Some geographic and political diversity would be a valuable addition to the contest, but Iowa deserves its place.

I'm Back

It has been quite some time (shout out to Dallen) since I have written anything on here. A couple of friends and relatives focusing on international affairs and politics have thrown up links to my site, so I might shift my discourse to covere these areas and humour them. Since this is my first post since this summer, I thought I would go two routes: A) update a little bit about the personal life and B) throw out some views on the current political scene.




First and foremost, my recent proposal for a Fulbright Scholarship in Croatia has taken over my life(picture is Dubrovnik). After consulting with professors and removing all references to the first hand "tourism" I had hoped to experience, I shifted my proposal to studying Croatia's accession to the European Union. Croatia is currently the leading contender among all European states. Before the EU Constitution failed in France and the Netherlands, Croatia's hopes for accession looked more promising than ever. Now they have some ethnic tensions, macroeconmic policies, and judicial statutes to remedy before they can become a full member.


I wasn't too excited about my actual proposal, just swimming in the Adriatic, when I got an email from several professors in Croatia that agreed to sponsor my proposal and offered to publish my results in the Croatian yearbook on EU law. This was quite a wake up call, and now I'm just counting down the days until I find out when I'm leaving. I just discovered today that Clinton's ambassador to Croatia and a Kurdish expert is speaking at our town's public library. My charm will come out in full force on that night.


Also, I've decided I want to be a foreign correspondent for a major newspaper as my life's work, so hence why I've started up the blog again. It's a good way to keep my energies focused on the news and keep me writing.


Middlebury is such a terribly busy place, and I've come out of my shell a bit as a senior. I've been hiking, playing soccer and golf, partying, and trying to fit in academics as well. I'm also writing about the women's soccer team for the newspaper - I'll throw up some links for those interested. Our IM soccer team is awesome when we show up and terrible when I'm the lone member on the team present.


I'll be much better at keeping updated from here on out with lots of witty tirades - I'm already thinking of some of the stereotypical people on this campus I hate, but I'll hold back for now.

Why Iowa Must not Change its Primary

I'm from Iowa, you think we like the candidates invading our state earlier and earlier every year? Well when it was President Bush or Al Gore visiting, we got a little excited about the pomp and circumstance, but hearing about Edwards' 12th visit or some hick from Arkansas or New Mexico visiting Des Moines, we really get peeved. Moving up Iowa's primary date will only make this worse, and here's why keeping it the same will make the process better.

South Carolina is just the latest of several key states that have moved up their presidential primaries. More and more states are moving their primaries to the beginning of the 2008 calendar year seeking to draw some of the attention from Iowa - it isn't working. The candidates are still focused on Iowa, and this is a good thing. Iowa represents main stream America and that's a good place to gauge how the contenders are doing. We have the two most separated senators but the state is pretty much evenly divided during presidential campaigns. We're good where we are because we're a moderate state but not beholden to any particular ideology.

The second reason we shouldn't move our primary is because other states will be too intimidated to move past us. There would be a huge uproar from any number of folks from the presidential candidates to interested parties in Iowa. This won't happen as long as Iowa stands strong. Instead, what is happening is a consolidation of the major primaries in just a few weeks. The process has something to gain from this, i.e. fewer stories with mentions of Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul, Mike Gravel, and Tom Tancredo. The sooner those guys are eliminated, the sooner Mecca and Medina can rest safe, and parks everywhere will no longer feel humiliated.

I think its long past the days when we could hope campaigns would only last a year. Now, they begin as soon as that last ballot is cast in the midterm elections, and in some cases earlier. Until campaign finance laws are changed, candidates will be jumping the gun earlier and earlier every year. The only way to put a halt on this absurd process is to at least keep the primaries in same calendar year as the election. Knocking off people like Kucinich and Tancredo will allow the real candidates to have a better, more engaging debate about the relevant issues.

How I kept British troops in Basra

Yesterday, I single-handedly changed America's relations with Great Britain. I was standing on the National Mall, as I often do on Monday afternoons reserving the field for the award-winning Harkin Heroe's softball team. Since a storm was brewing and the humidty induced sweat in my hair was being replaced by bountiful rain drops, I had to put Harry Potter away and find other means of entertainment. Thank God I had a soccer ball because that's what shaped everything.

Well unlike Mr. Bush, I knew that Gordon Brown wasn't a famous rugby star, though he did play in high school. And like every male with the slightest interest in sports born outside of North America, loves soccer. So I enter the story on Gordon Brown's historic first visit to the United States as PM. As I was practicing my Ronaldinho impression, Bush and Brown's motorcade drove by me on the mall. I saw Brown look right at me, and then turn to Bush and make a comment. I'm pretty sure this is what he said in his gruffy, Scottish accent:

"Damn, you eejits actually play football, what kind of pitch is that w/o goals."

"Damn straight we play football, the American way."

[mutters under his breath] "He really is as dumb as yer man said."

Still, this is my thought: Today, Brown announced that he would delay bringing troops home from Iraq. After seeing yours truly play the world's sport on the National Mall, a certain nostalgia came over Brown. America can't be all bad if we have youngsters playing soccer right here in our nation's capitol. I can't give up yet, no matter if the leader of the free world is a dimwit. I think the city of Basra owes me (and Brown) a thank you.

Happenings

So this is my new best friend, Samuel Zbogar, the Slovenian Ambassador to the US. We spent some time chilling last week at the Slovenian Embassy in Georgetown. A delegation of the 21st Century Forum of Des Moines was in town meeting with various DC agencies and one trip was to the Embassy. The group is designed to promote Democratic politics in young professional circles around Iowa's capitol. I've been growing a beard lately (see the picture) so I fit right in.

The Ambassador was great, very engaging. I was quite surprised becasue based on the US ambassadors I've met, I figured he would be about 60, grey, and a political appointee. Instead he was a very dynamic guy who as you can see is pretty young and appointed based on, surprising I know, a meritorious system. I got his attention when I asked a question about Kosovo and Russia - and he was very diplomatic about giving no answer whatsoever.

Other happening in DC include losing my cell phone, a DC United Football (soccer) game, lots of softball, and Nationals games 2 and 3.

When I say I lost my cell phone, I can imagine the irresponsible connotations of a young college student this must conjure, but none of them are fitting - I'm sure. I left it on a park bench in Alexandria, VA. What an idiot. But let me just digress a bit and discuss how cell phones have revolutionized social life. I may sound like an idiot complaining here, but just think about it. We are almost always on the move planning on calling later to meet up at a certain place. Theres lots of changing of plans, destinations, all conveyed over cell phones. Plus no one is on time in this generation so amendments to pre-agreed to plans are inevitably required. So, for one who has lived without a cell phone for over a week now, I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'll be ecstatic tomorrow when I finally get reconnected, but should we really place such reliance on being connected to other poeple? That's all I'm saying.

These last two Nationals games have been awesome. Well not really because they still play in RFK stadium which abslutely blows, but becasue the Nats have won in dramatic fashion. Scoring the game winning hit in the 10th was D'Angelo Jiminez who had something like a .079 batting average. The game was a bit depressing for awhile becaue of the rain that sent most of the stadium packing, but I was there until the end. (Just so I don't get sued, photo is from the Wash Post).

Game 3 was also a nail biter, but this time I felt like my own cuticles were in danger. Mark, another intern in Harkin's office scored 6 free tickets and a parking pass that were 8 rows behind the 1st base dugout. Talk about being right on the field. After a pretty good pitching performance and weak hitting by the Rockies (12 runners LOB), Austin Kearns hit a bomb in the bottom of the 8th to close out the game for the Nats 3-0.

In softball news, I'd say both teams are getting better, though Harkin's performance at the States of the Big 12 Annual tournament is not a very telling sign. We were out quick after an 0-2 performance and I'd say the free lunch and booze were serious hurdles for much of our outfield. (Mark screaming "we've got 'em right where we want 'em" as we walked in a run making the score 14-1 perhaps is a good example.) Last Monday we showed the "Hill's Angels" from Clinton's office a thing about taking over Iowa. On Wednesday, the think tank league matchup of the night against a State Department team proved too much for my New America colleagues, but we had some pretty tasty half priced burgers after the game. My gigantic wound is by no means healing and I'm wondering if I'll ever have hair on that part of my leg again. If not, at least its a good story to tell.

Been doing a lot of reserach on Saudi Arabia. I don't think America has ever been more secretive about our relations with an ally than we are with the Kingdom. Feel free to prove me wrong.

And in news that everyone seems to be trying to figure out, Harry dies in the 7th book. Ok not really I don't know and haven't read any reviews, just throwing that out there to scare some folks.

Next week should be a fun one, two softball games, reunions for DC 05 interns and Budapest 07 friends, plus I'm being dragged to Harry Potter #5 the movie and paid to drive to the beach in Delaware (ok that one I can handle). Maybe next weekend I'll get back up to New York and wine and dine with the famous grandma of Sara Greene.

Oh the DC United games was pretty exciting, a 3-3 draw with lots of action. We scalped tickets of course for less than the price and sat about 20 rows back from one goal post. The atmosphere is so much different than a Nationals game. First off, everythink said over the intercom is in English and Spanish. There is so much more electricity in the stadium and the game is much shorter making sure you don't miss anything. My first pro soccer experience was great, hopefully theres more where that came from.

An Epic Wound in the making

So this is a pretty amateur photo taken just a few minutes ago, but i'm sure its going to develop into an epic wound. I say this because I'm going to play a lot of softball and probably not slow down.

I made the worst of the wound on Friday during our softball victory over the DCI thinktank. Let's just say I rounded first a bit too far on a gravel field and bit the dust. And no I didn't come out of the game - i had to cover up the blood well enough so no one would say anything.

Then today in a game on the national mall, I was not going to make the 1st out at third in my quest for a triple - the sacrifice: reopening the wound.

And with a game tomorrow and a tournament on Saturday - I'm guessing there's no rest in site. So like I say an epic wound. Below is a photo of the original wound.

Cage of Death

When I say I work in a cage - I actually mean it. Compare this to the picture below of my New America office.

What a week

I've had a pretty unbeatable week of events. I think the starting point was last Friday with the game in Baltimore and only got better. Monday - Nationals vs Cubs, Tuesday - BBQ feast with view of downtown DC, Wednesday - fireworks on the National Mall, Friday - Yankees vs Angels at Yankee Stadium & VIP tour of Statue of Liberty, Saturday - Coney Island and Live Earth Concert, Sunday - swimming in Maclean.

O let's just get this out there - I love baseball and road trips, so its natural to say I'd be up for anything. When my friend on Thursday was like, hey we're going to new york tomorrow - you should come, i was like why not. But i'm getting ahead of myself - Fireworks in DC.

Boston and New York might be the only other places equal to DC for the 4th of July. I'm sad to say that this was my second time ever not being in Okoboji, though happy this time its for DC and not Yale, Iowa (pop. 287). Oddly enough, Alex, the friend who was gonig to New York had been to Yale, Iowa for the 4th of July and knew Tim Sheaf a good friend in the debate world.

Anyway, when I think of 4th of July, I think of bbqs. Well indeed thats what most of the day consisted of. First at Renee's, then Courtney and I ventured to various work bbqs before shots of Hungarian palinka and then fireworks on the mall. They are really special not because of the quality, but because the Capitol and Wash. Monument in the background, standing next to Lincoln and Vietnam, and capping a whole day of bbqing. Not bad.

I forgot to say that Monday was spent watching the Cubs destroy the Nats at RFK. How come the stadiums I live in close proximity to always suck. The Metrodome and RFK have to be two of baseball's worst stadiums (after Montreal disappeared). Still I was happy to see the Cubs win - who as of today are only 4 games out of the wildcard.

Its ok though, Friday night I got up to Yankee Stadium which is like the Vatican for Protestants. Sure you can admire how great and awesome it is, but it still has a lot of baggage that goes with it. Plus I sat in the bleachers with two New York fans making it espcially depressing. I got to see those famous lights for a very long 14-9 game. I forgot my camera all day Friday so no pictures.

Also, I love driving in NYC. Basically you are restricted by traffic and stoplights, not by speed limits so its pretty exhilirating. Its much better than driving in DC. In DC I get frustrated becasue there are cars everywhere, but in NY its just buildings and people which are less antagonistic.

Friday night, Sara (friend from Budapest) and I trekked all the way out to Brooklyn and got about 3 hrs of sleep before a 7 am view of Coney Island. Odd feeling for a board walk that early, but surprisingly lots of people were out. After a couple of hours on the beach, it was off to the greatest concert ever. 10 hrs of music with headliners like Dave Matthews, the Police, Bon Jovi, Akon, Kanye West, Ludacris, John Mayer, etc played at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. It was pretty unreal and we had an amazing time. Charles - the guy that got the VIP passes and tickets is in the picture. On stage is my good friend Alicia Keys. We were pretty exhausted by the concert on Saturday so chose to just stay in for the night. Only took about 4 hrs to drive back to DC on Sunday and I was home for about 20 minutes and couldn't stand the heat. My good friend from school Amelia invited me over for a swim - and 4 hrs later i drug myself out of the water.

Great week - should have some more stuff about what I'm doing at work and the upcoming DC United game - I've never been to a soccer game - still dont' think it will compare to European soccer.

Three quick thoughts

Where have all the men gone?

I was doing some research yesterday, and I came across the fact that the Northern Mariana Islands (a US territory) have the highest female to male ratio of anywhere in the world. There are 100 women for every 77 men, and for some incredible reason tourism is declining in the region. Guess it's high time i flew to the Pacific.


Dissemination of Information

Here at the think tank, we've created a blog that should be up and running in the next few weeks. Althuogh its exciting that I'll have another forum for my thoughs, one being more academic, I'm also kind of displeased with the thought of yet another blog. This goes to an idea my friend Katie wrote about awhile ago - yes on her blog. A friend from Budapest, who maintains her blog from Prague now, explains that there are way too many blogs out there people should voluntarily remove their own blogs.

I like this idea, because its true, there are too many blogs - even professional bloggers that do nothing but write posts all day. It seems to me there are so many blogs out there, there are more people writing and less people getting all the info. Its great there is such a variety of info available, but with all of it available, there has to be a corresponding trade-off, I'm just not sure what that is yet. And yet here i sit writing a blog post so...

Iowa in the news.

Ottumwa, Iowa has recently been in the news because of the new iphone. Steve Jobs used Ottumwa as an example of why he had to pick AT&T for the iphone network. Only two companies had wirless internet networks that could reach this part of the state - so he had to choose.

Iowa always pops up in the news as that other place. I was reading another article awhile back and Iowa was the home of Joe six-pack for some study. Also back at Middlebury last year, a professor arguing about foriegn policy and how complicated it was, used for example that a person in Iowa wouldn't understand the nuances of foreign policy. As a very ardent supporter of Iowa, this is all quite discomforting. We're not really known for anything excpet attracting the leading presidential candidates. These guys know much more about Iowa than any natural politician should. American politics is a circus, but thats not the point.

I guess its good we get in the news for something, but we really have to work on our reputation so we're not always - that other state.

Fun with Renee

My cousin Renee is out here for the summer interning at a hospital in the district, so we've been hanging out a bit. I have to recount two of our adventures. First was an epic bike ride, second was one of my favorite pastimes - Major League Baseball.

Last Thursday, Edwin and Rosalie graciously invited Renee to dinner. Renee is living in an apartment and probably doesn't get all the home cooked meals like I do. So we agreed to meet up at the capitol at 5:30 for the ice cream social and then head out to Virginia for dinner. Well Renee decides we should both ride the whole 10 miles on ONE bike. Mind you this is not flat, and there is a thunderstorm brewing. So after we're riding for precisely three minutes, Zeus releases his full arsenal of rain. It just poured and poured for about 10 minutes. Rather than seek shelter, we powered through.

Needless to say we received just a couple of funny looks from drivers. At this time, there were no pedestrians to be seen - thats how hard it was raining. Well about 3/4 of the way home I get a call from my grandpa in Iowa. We're late for dinner and he's the messenger. Trouble is, I can't call Edwin and Rosalie back because Verizon messed up their phone system and they couldn't receive calls. Well after about an hour and half (ride usually takes between 45 min and 1 hr) Renee and I finally struggle in soaking wet. Our hosts were as happy as could be and made us some delicious pork chops and veggies. I think I will discourage Renee from riding that far on one bike ever again.

Our second adventure was up to an Orioles game in Baltimore. Naturally I love baseball, but I've never really described what I've nicknamed "the little boy feeling." You all have had it at some time or another, but maybe you just haven't given it a name. It happens at different times for different people. For me, it happens when I enter a baseball stadium - every time.

Let me try to describe it. When you're a little kid from rural Iowa, going to a baseball game is a big deal. So you walk into that stadium and see all the lights, the flashing neon signs, all the people, the green, green grass, players with names like Puckett, Ripken, Sandberg, something inside you just makes you really excited. Sure you might call it butterflies, but its something more. Its experiencing something that is very rare and something you've done in your head a thousand times. I had it when I stepped onto the Rialto in Venice, and when I entered Times Square for the first time. It no longer comes for games in the metrodome, but I definitely felt it upon entering Camden Yards. Call it corny or what you will, but I am comforted every time it happens - I haven't grown up yet.

Surprisingly we actually got to see a really good game. Orioles first basemen Aubrey Huff hit for the cyle, something that only hapens once every 800 games - about the same odds as seeing a no-hitter. I've seen two cycles but never a no-no. The angels looked good early, taking a 5-0 lead, but then let the Orioles back in who when it swung in their favor 7-5. The Angels rallied back with a 2-run homer in the top of the 9th to take the final lead of 9-7. Great day for baseball.

Renee and I also got to venture on American public transportation - train up and bus back. It was weird randomly talking to passengers, something I never did in Hungary (that whole language barrier), but I did miss Hungarian prices ($7 for the train and $10 for the bus). I think it would have cost $2 round-trip in Hungary. Oh yeah, they were giving out those sweet orange hats during the game...

The DC Experience

Everyone who has ever worked in DC knows how it goes, this city is unlike any other in the way you always meet new people. This is because its a transient city where almost none of the professionals are actually from DC. Its kind of a sad dichotomy because the district is very poor, has terrible schools, so its hard for natives to break out. Well what actually ends up happening is that everytime you meet somone it goes like this?

Hey, where you from? (answer either a state or major city)
What school did you/still go to?
What do you do in DC?

Usually if either A or B are somewhere you know of you play the name game as in, do you know this person. Also, in today's world it seems that everyone going to about 30-40 different colleges in the northeast knows somebody at every other school in the Northeast.

Well I bring all of this up, because its interesting about howI might play baseball next saturday. So I was at this party with fellow Iowa interns, when two random neighbors in the apartment building just invite themselves in - not that weird actually for this city. Some of us were talking about baseball and pretty soon this guy was recruiting us to play for his team on Saturday. We didn't turn out last weekend becasue of the 9am start, but next weekend we might be in the mix. This is really just to illustrate how quickly acquaintances are made in this city.

The second example is how if you have even the littles thing in common with someone - it sparks off great conversation. For instance this guy I work with grew up in Vermont so instantly there is plenty of conversation. Rest assured, just about anywhere in this city is ripe with possiblities for meetings. Since no one has a home base here - everyone is looking for more.

Just an update about work. I've been digging through lots of old Harkin files and there are some interesting things. I found all these old memos on the constitutionaliy of Impeachment hearings. Up until Clinton's trail, all past impeachment hearings had been held in secret....

Here at the New America Foundation I got to do registration at an event today with the leader of the Green party in Germany. He spoke a lot about Iran, but I was interested in how amazing the building was. We were at the Carnegie Institute which shares space with the Council on Foreign Relations and the Brookings Institute. This is like the Mecca of the think tank world. New America is right there, just no one knows it yet...