matching tracksuits

In May 2000, I unexpectedly returned to Poland. It all happened suddenly: I’d been planning a fall visit, but then I found one of my friends was moving out of Poland and another was going into the army, so I wouldn’t get to see them were I there in the fall. Within a week, I had tickets and I could hardly contain my excitement.

Eight years later, a repetition: we will be going to Poland this summer after all. We leave at the end of the month, and we’ll stay for almost two full weeks. We’d stay for the summer if it were possible, but given American companies’ generous vacation allowances, we don’t have a choice. And K is not prepared to do something like this:

Tell them you’re planning to take 2 months off. Don’t ask. Tell them. Make it clear that you’re going to go regardless of whether there’s a job waiting when you get back. They’ll accommodate you. Trust me. (Two Weeks Vacation is only a Recommendation, not a Rule)

So two weeks will have to do.

And it will be a crammed two weeks. We’re going to get the Girl baptized; we’re spending a couple of days in Krakow; we’re going hiking in the mountains; we’re visiting half the population of Podhale; we’re climbing Babia Góra;and more.

We’re leaving in nineteen days.

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From the Wall Street Journal:

Housing starts decreased 12% to a seasonally adjusted 947,000 annual rate, after falling 0.7% in February to 1.075 million, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. Originally, Commerce reported February starts 0.6% lower, at 1.065 million. Building permits also dropped in March. (WSJ)

Twelve percent?!

Anyone really believe the housing slump is going to end any time soon?

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This race has been odd for the religious right. First, there was the issue of whether or not to support a Mormon — a non-Christian in the eyes of many Evangelicals. Now comes the troubling Hagee endorsement of McCain.

Yet it’s not only those on the left side of the spectrum that are troubled by this — or at least, it shouldn’t be. Those same Evangelical Christians who hesitated to support McCain should also be leery of Hagee and his less-than-orthodox theology, as seen below:

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There is, apparently, a place in California where gas is now $5.20 a gallon.

But it’s still not as bad as Polska, where gas (due primarily to taxes) is about $7 a gallon (though sold in liters for zloty, of course). When you take into account the significantly lower wages compared to the average here, you end up paying over $15 a gallon.

When gas prices get to be $5 a gallon throughout the States (and it will probably happen ridiculously fast), will we finally get serious about alternatives? Will people start, at the very least, buying more fuel-efficient cars?

Americans, however, are not shunning these beasts. Far from it. Auto industry figures show that after a two-year slump, sales of the gas guzzlers are up over 2006 — in some cases, way up.

The numbers for large SUVs rose nearly 6 percent in the first quarter of 2007, and the April figures were up 25 percent from April 2006, according to automakers’ statistics provided by Edmunds.com, an automotive research Web site. (SF Chronicle)

Probably not.

Most Stunning View in Town Is the One at the Pump - New York Times

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In France’s 2002 election, socialists and other left-wing party members backed Jacques Chirac (who is, despite what many Americans think, on the right side of France’s political spectrum) in order to avoid the far right-wing Jean-Marie Le Pen from winning. That’s like communists voting for Bush.

Many in America seem unwilling to do something similar.

Two things:

First, many conservatives are upset with the McCain nomination:

“I’m really depressed today because this is the first time that I find myself in a position that I will not work for the nominee (McCain),” said a caller to host Rush Limbaugh’s conservative talk-radio show on the verge of tears. (Reuter’s)

Second, Michelle Obama, on the possibility of Hillary winning, said:

GMA: Could you see yourself working to support Hillary Clinton should she win the nomination?

MICHELLE OBAMA: I’d have to think about that. I’d have to think about that, her policies, her approach, her tone.

GMA: That’s not a given?

MICHELLE OBAMA: You know, everyone in this party is going to work hard for whoever the nominee is. I think that we’re all working for the same thing. And, you know, I think our goal is to make sure that the person in the White House is going to take this country in a different direction. I happen to believe that Barack is the only person who can really do that. (Source)

It seems odd to me that people — Democrat or Republican — would risk someone they vehemently oppose (i.e., the opposing party’s candidate) winning because they didn’t like their own party’s candidate.

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Common sense:

In this country you can own a gun and still not know how to use it. And even if you know how to fire it, you don’t necessarily know how to fire it under pressure. The people who are supposed to respond to situations involving firearms go through a lot of training which prepares them to deal with these situations. It’s the rare armed civilian who’s going to be anything more than a hindrance in a firefight.

“More Guns, More Problems“

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From the BBC:

Leading politicians have distanced themselves from the Archbishop of Canterbury’s belief that some Sharia law in the UK seems “unavoidable”.

Gordon Brown’s spokesman said the prime minister “believes that British laws should be based on British values”.

The Tories called the archbishop’s remarks “unhelpful” and the Lib Dems said all must abide by the rule of law.

Dr Rowan Williams said the UK had to “face up to the fact” some citizens do not relate to the British legal system. (Archbishop sparks Sharia law row)

I’m going to sound like a right-winger for this, but I’ll say it: it seems to me that if you have problems relating to the legal system of your country of residence, perhaps you should consider changing your country of residence; if you desire Sharia law, perhaps you should go to one of the countries where it is enforced — Iran and Saudi Arabia come to mind.

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If Giuliani is a prize fighter and the primary season is a title bout, Giuliani just bonked his head on the way out to the ring, knocking himself unconscious to the cheers of virtually no one.

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Huckabee on the proposed stimulus package (via memory via NPR): We’re giving people all this money, which we’re going to get in loans from China. Then we’re going to tell Americans to go out and spend it, mostly on products produced in China. Who’s economy is getting stimulated?

Marc Acito, in an NPR commentary, developed similar ideas.

If we get said check, we’re going to invest it in new windows. The bliss of being a homeowner…

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On his “Issues” page regarding marriage, Huckabee writes,

I support and have always supported passage of a federal constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman. As President, I will fight for passage of this amendment. My personal belief is that marriage is between one man and one woman, for life. (Mike Huckabee for President - Issues)

If it’s a personal belief, why literally make a Federal issue out of it?

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