Brief Thoughts

I’m not feeling well this morning, so I had the opportunity torture to watch the network news my wife normally watches when she gets up. A few brief observations follow:

• When talking to voters yesterday (I canvassed neighborhoods for the Obama campaign), there were quite a few voters who seemed confused about both candidates. Why? Because of advertising. The negative ads against each candidate – seemingly regardless of who sponsored and supported them – discouraged voters from participating at all. Let me repeat that: They didn’t decide to vote for “the other guy”, they decided to simply drop out of the process altogether. Much the same as the Obama campaign shut out lobbyists earlier this year, I have to wonder if advertising should be limited. At the very least, it behooves those who support a candidate to adopt the same tone as the candidate, thus allowing them to keep the high road.
• Anyone have any suggestions for teaching children principles instead of rules? Kiddo’s having a heck of a time this morning because he’s simply not used to me being here in the AM and it’s throwing his whole routine out of whack…
• People are all enthusiastic because – as part of the “top story” today – gas is an average of $3.25 a gallon here. Yes, that’s lower than it was… but it’s just a sign of how adaptable people are… and how fast they’ll accept a new norm.
• Which, speaking of, how is the “normal” temperature calculated for forecasts? As global temperature and climate change continues, isn’t the “normal” going to trend closer and closer to the “record” temperatures?