Please Vote...Independently

My Dear Friends,

I truly don't care who gets your vote this upcoming election and I sincerely hope you vote, no matter the candidate you support. However, as the rhetoric gets more fierce and the mud slings even harder, I would simply encourage you to look out for a few techniques commonly used by campaigns to stir up emotions and by media outlets to sensationalize the stories and drum up viewership. I have three items for your consideration: context, spin, and straw man.

Here is a fictional scenario: Bob says "It's an unfortunate truth that fat people must die, on average, younger than the average population because they are more susceptible to many diseases." Jack then prints a large poster and starts an ad campaign saying "Bob is a terrible person because he said 'fat people must die!' More than 50% of the country is overweight, and he thinks you all should die!" This campaign by Jack is obviously taking Bob's words out of context. 

Jack could also say "Bob doesn't believe in science or modern medicine because he believes that it's inevitible that overweight people will always be doomed to die younger than the rest of the population." Jack is putting a spin on the quote here. Taking words out of context removes the original meaning of the phrase. Putting a spin on a quote adds additional meaning to a phrase, which may or may not have been intended. 

Jack could then start asking the question "Do you think we would be better off as a society if we turned out backs on science and killed off all overweight people? If not, than vote for me!" Jack is essentially running against an imaginary opponent at this point, asking people to decide between himself or someone who doesn't believe in science at all and wants to kill fat people. This other person doesn't exist. A straw man argument can be thought as taking an irrational or completely outrageous position that most sensible people will not agree with that is superficially related to your opponent's position, and project it as your opponent. It's very easy to build momentum against this opponent, being that his position is ridiculous.

Now let's look at some real examples.

Context:
"You didn't build that"
"I like to fire people"
"I'm not concerned about the poor"

Spin:
"My opponent thinks that all people on welfare are lazy"
"My opponent has no problem with growing the welfare state"

Straw Man
"Do you think America is better off as a society where only the top 1% have opportunities?"
"Who wants to have a communist society and become like Cuba?"

My plea to you -- if you're getting all riled up, please remember it's by design. Stop letting campaigns and media outlets tell you what to think and how to vote. Take the time to read the trascripts and watch the videos. Most importantly, think for yourselves.

For Once I Have A Good Reason

Why my skating was terrible today. Lame -- only got 1.5 shifts in today.

This Is What Dads Are For

Ruthie likes to squat while reading books. This is what happens when she reads a book right after getting out of the shower before we put a diaper on her.

"Mommy daddy poo poo! Poo poo on floor!"

Lost, Now Found

Sometimes it's nice having sub-zero temperatures and deep snow for days on end...like when you need to retrace your steps over rarely-traveled terrain a day after losing your keys.

I was running to catch the bus the day before when the keys popped out of my pocket...you can see how far apart my steps were.

Jeopardy Challenge

Once/year the game show Jeopardy holds their online version of open try-outs. Basically, everyone around the country logs into a special website and you are assaulted with questions for about 10 minutes. You are given 50 questions, 15 seconds max per question.

I can think of so many people more qualified than me to take this type of random-knowledge quiz...like anybody in my extended family with the surname Jeppson, but thought it would be fun to try just for kicks!

Getting ready...



Question #1!



And that's when I knew I was screwed. Seriously, half of the questions were on literature (approximately half of those on classics, half on recent, popular fiction). I did great on all of the science questions though :) I bet Lisa would have done great...she's so much better versed on literature than I am, and there were even some Africa and Middle East geography questions too!

They never release scores of applicants. You're only indication of whether you did well or not is if they give you a call witin the next year. We'll see...

Table Delivery at Work

Turkey Trot '09

A 5K is considered by people in the running community to be a 'fun run'. Those aren't two words that I typically consider having any business being in the same sentence. Running is not something that I do. Running is something that villains do while evading the police. Running is something that people do while chasing a ball or after leaving a flaming bag of poo on your doorstep.

Well, add this to the list of fundamental dogmas of my life that have been altered since meeting my wife and her family. I 'ran' the 5K Stuffing Strut today through downtown Detroit while Lisa and her brother Joe and sister Linda ran the 10K Turkey Trot. Since this semester began, I've been trying to get in shape and eat better, play ice hockey every Wednesday morning, and run a couple times/week. Don't let me give you the wrong impression though, I've hardly trained for this. I usually pass out after about a mile of running.

Being that there were over 12,000 people running in this race, it wasn't hard to keep pace at the beginning - the masses of people were pouring down the city street like molasses. As the race progressed and there started to be separation between the participants, I was feeling good about my pace. I passed a man in spandex pushing a jogging stroller, a man with a nutrient belt with enough food and liquids on it to last for a week, a man dressed as Batman as well as the Flash, a butterfly, many elves, some Santas, and a few reindeer. At about a mile into it, I had reached my limit. My feel felt as though they were encased in cement and my ankles were non-responsive. I started to walk. I was passed by nutrient man, Batman, some elves, a reindeer or two, and a butterfly. Then I was passed by some chubby 14-year-old girl that I swear was actually eating while awkwardly jogging past me. I started jogging again. At least Batman is a superhero.

The mantra of the Special Olympics is that it's not important where you finish, but simply that you compete. Well, I ran, I competed, and I finished. Mission accomplished. Actually, I'm pretty happy with my time considering the (lack of) preparation I've done. A twelve-minute mile equates 5MPH average. I'm pleased.