Friday, July 17, 2009

Summer Travel Photos

This year I enjoyed a cool roadtrip in the southwest. Here's a taste of the (mostly) desert beauty.


Thursday, July 16, 2009

How Many Ways Can You Say Squid?

One thing I find mildly amusing about some news writers is what seems to be a personal challenge to use as many different synonym phrases for the subject matter as possible. For example, a story about a dog would include "pooch," "canine," "man's best friend," and others.

Today the subject is squid. In this article, the writer mentions:
"jumbo flying squid"
"sea monsters"
"carnivorous calamari"
"alien-like cephalopods"
"
deep-sea giants"
"
so-called Humboldt squid"
"red devils"
Apparently halfway through the piece the writer ran out of synonymical word combinations, and retreated to using the word squid throughout the rest of the article. She must have taken off her cutesy creative hat.

Romney the Early Frontrunner for 2012

It's very, very early, yet--but it's still noteworthy to point out that after Sarah Palin's spectacular crash and burn, Mitt Romney has emerged as frontrunner in the 2012 election. How the likes of Sarah Palin and John McCain rose to the top last year in the first place is beyond me--but let's leave that for another discussion.

From the Fox News article:

Of all the Republicans and Republican-leaning respondents polled, 26 percent favored Romney as the nominee while 21 percent preferred Palin. Nineteen percent favored former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and 14 percent chose former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

A lot can change in three years. However, I'm convinced that a devastated economy will remain the top issue as the Obama administration continues to gut the potential for free-market prosperity. This plays to Romney's strength, and will land him in a strong position to contend for the office.