Boston VI

I've not seen anyone writing about it, but the last few days have seen a noticable narrowing of the gap between Obama and McCain in terms of the percentage of the popular vote they can expect to win.

Real Clear Politics, which takes a weighted average of a number of different polls, shows that between 25th October and the 30th, Obama's lead fell from 8% to 5.9%. This doesn't seem to have affected his lead in terms of electoral college votes (where Obama is currently on 311 to McCain's 142 and 85 "toss ups"), but it still makes me nervous. It is easy to imagine people becoming complacent, and not turning out to vote because they think it is in the bag. I also wonder if the traditional English support for the underdog (I'm thinking of John Major and Spitting Image in 1992) could apply here too, to devastating effect...

Boston V

Drummond very kindly sent me Simon Schama's new book which I am really enjoying. It is full of stories and characters that I had never heard before, and which I expect many Americans are also unfamiliar with (they are unlucky that it won't be published here until June 2009 I think).

One fact struck me particularly: in Mississippi in 1963 (i.e. a full century after political rights were supposedly granted to all) only 7,000 African Americans, of a population of 450,000 were registered to vote. This disenfranchisement was brought about by a combination of intimidation and obstruction (e.g. making black Americans take difficult tests to prove they were qualified to vote which white Americans were never required to take).

It has only been 45 years since the civil rights movement took on the establishment to end this kind of discrimination. It makes it all the more impressive that the country now not only has a black man running to be President, but that he has a great chance (I would need nerves of steel to put it more strongly!) of being elected.

Boston IV

I love this video of high school students singing about the election - it's a shame you can't hear all the words. I keep saying this, but it is testament to the interest this election has generated that a class of 15 year olds (?) can get this excited even though they aren't able to vote.

Boston III

I don't know why, but I've not yet written about the war (probably that should be wars). But they are omnipresent here in a way they aren't at all at home.

I noticed it most listening to people's conversations on buses and trains. I have probably overheard at least four groups of people talking about friends they have who are currently overseas fighting. One girl was berating her friends for failing to stay in contact with someone they had all once been close to, but who had been in Iraq for nearly a year. An old couple were talking about how hard it was for some children they knew to be growing up without their father around. War seems to have intruded into people's everyday lives here much more than in the UK.

I stole this picture from Sarah, who is in Boston for three weeks on a visiting fellowship at Harvard; I forgot my camera when I went out walking today. She pointed these signs out to me. They are all over the city, 'though I saw a particularly high number in a poor neighbourhood called Dorchester. I can't find anything about them on the internet, but apparently they are the names of American soldiers who have died in recent conflicts. I'm not sure if they lived on, or had any connection to, the streets they are assigned, but it's startling to be reminded, on nearly every street corner, of a recent death. And many are well tended (like this one) with flowers and american flags.

Boston II

Re: my post about Colin Powell, Rush Limbaugh is not convinced.

He thinks it is just a simple matter of race: he was struggling to find "all the inexperienced, very liberal white candidates that he [Powell] has endorsed". I have to admit, when I heard him on the radio he scared me.

Boston

Yesterday I watched a rather old and fumbling John McCain on "Meet the Press", and was treated to further slips of the tongue (following "Senator Government"), such as "Joe the Biden". I found him rather flat and uninspired, except on two subjects: the need to lower taxes and his "pride" in Sarah Palin (imagine Obama saying he was proud of Biden).

He was in a difficult position - the interviewer challenged him about the polls which show Obama now having a significant lead in both the popular vote and electoral college votes (Real Clear Politics puts this at 7.3% and +149 respectively). But I was surprised at his line of defence: to flatly deny the credibility of any of these polls, preferring to quote a single poll by Zogby which suggested the Republicans were only trailing by 3-4% ('though if you look at the website you will see the difference was actually 5.3% yesterday, and 4.8% today).

And he talked the talk of a campaign that still believes it can win, even if his doubts about this did seem to come through in his slightly lethargic manner. He claimed that recent rallies had been the most positive and enthusiastic of any he had ever seen, and insisted that his campaign was growing in strength. It gave me the impression he was desperately trying to reassure his core voters, and perhaps even those working on the campaign: there have been reports that Republicans are already beginning a post-mortem on the campaign, and trying to decide who to blame for its failure.

Chicago - Pittsburgh - Philadelphia

Just a few Obama bits:

i) I have stopped noticing, but realised while I was in Chicago just how many people were wearing Obama badges. And not just small ones - really large ones, which they wear on their lapels so that everyone can see. And the variety of them is wonderful - Adam has one written in hebrew (he's living in Pittsburgh's equivalent to Golders Green)!

ii) Urban outfitters are selling this Obama t-shirt, showing just how mainstream and fashionable supporting him has become.

iii) In Philadelphia the other day I came across this barber's shop:
This is all just indicative of the incredible enthusiasm he has generated. The Economist reports that in Pennsylvania alone he has 17,000 volunteers. Yesterday I went food shopping with a middle aged Quaker woman who added champagne to her cart: she finally felt it was safe to expect victory. I heard that the main intersection in a black suburb of Boston was completely blocked the other day by a spontaneous demonstration in support of Obama, everyone carrying banners and signs.

It is, indeed, a very exciting time to be here.

I ❤ Chicago

Let me count the reasons.

Great public transport, tons of cyclists, crisp autumnal weather, neighbourhoods with local high streets and (at least) one great pub that shows the football... hmm - maybe because it's just like London?

Am treating today as my birthday instead as it was so perfect: to start with, the museum was actually open today. Then Arsenal won 4-2. Then the sun came out, and I found a pair of woolly cream coloured tights. And I listened to Sufjan Stevens and danced home.

To top it all, we are about to go to a bluegrass gig!

Joy.

Chicago IV - birthday

It started promisingly enough - I had a lot of lovely birthday messages (thank you!) and I got out on this lovely bike again. I rode the 10 miles along the lake shore from the place where I am staying to the centre of the city, where I left the bike and went for a bit of a wander.

It then deteriorated when I found that the museum I wanted to go to was closed, and the tube line I was close to didn't go to the other museum I wanted to go to... and it was pouring with rain. I decided just to try to get some lunch, but despite this city having a great reputation for food I walked for more than half an hour without finding anything except chains and dives. When I was soaked to the skin and about to give up I thankfully came across a very nice Italian restaurant and warmed up while I waited for my rigatone with wild mushrooms and tomato sauce (which was delicious).

I couldn't face the ride home so I took the bike on the tube (so civilised!).

But the evening was wonderful - one of my hosts made pumpkin miso soup, rice and black-bean-kale-and-garlic stew for dinner, which was followed by birthday brownies (complete with candles). Then we went to the "liquor store" (which prompted a discussion about why off licenses are called that) and spent the rest of the evening sitting around talking, listening to music (handsome boy modeling school, Kate Bush and something Argentinian), drinking and... taking myers briggs personality tests. Many of you will know I have an inexplicable love of these tests, so this was about the best possible way I could have spent my birthday. No, seriously!

Chicago III

Ellie put me onto this, Colin Powell's endorsement of Obama. Sorry it's a little late!

I was struck by Powell's eloquent critique of the differences between McCain and Obama. It was also noticeable that in seven minutes he said nothing about either candidate's policies. He focused on their characters, their different approaches to the campaign, and their personal abilities. Perhaps this shouldn't be a surprise: Powell may still be a Republican in terms of the policies he believes are best for the country, but have been so convinced by these other factors that they overrode his policy instincts.

But if this is the case, it suggests the same could happen to other Republicans. Indeed, the Huffington Post reports CBS's Bob Schieffer: Colin Powell was "saying aloud what a lot of Republicans have been saying privately". Which makes those stories of damascene conversion I was so dismissive of in September, sound rather more plausible.

Musical diversion

I just got really excited because I found that my friend James and I are on the NPR website! Proudest moment of my life.

Chicago II - or "Americans love their dogs"

My first host in Chicago, who I met through Servas, and I went today to a park in the north of the city to... enter her dog into a dog fancy dress competition.

Leaving aside the fact that I am really quite scared of dogs, and being held in a small enclosed park with 60 of them, all off their leashes, for 2 hours is close to my room 101, it was quite an experience.

Joey was our entrant - as Elvis. She ended up winning 3rd prize in the home made costume category:

Other highlights included geisha, police dog, wonderwoman and a pirate:

It was certainly unlike anything I have ever, or would ever, do under my own steam, but then, that's part of the point of this adventure. Only, adventurous in a direction I wouldn't necessarily have expected.

Signs of the times

Sign in a bakery in Seattle
Sign on a suburban street in Boulder - click on it to enlarge, I think it's worth it (it's a public response to a rather angry letter from a neighbour accusing the poster's author of conspiring to murder a bear, calling him septic scum and suggesting he goes "back east").
Protest advert in central San Francisco.

Minot, North Dakota - the final presidential debate

I took a lot of notes, but to be honest, it was pretty boring. Same old same old most of the time - the same stats, the same responses, in a lot of cases even the exact same phrases that have been used in previous debates. This is depressing given the huge amount of material they could potentially discuss - they seem stuck on a few topics.

Listening to it, rather than watching it, made me notice the difference between the candidates' voices - Obama's is deep, soft and rather mellow; McCain's slightly scratchy, higher and certainly less pleasant. But I thought both of them sounded tired, and at times Obama sounded bored of the whole thing. They probably are, but it seems a shame when this may be the last time some people hear them setting out their vision and plans for America.

I feel like I am constantly bemoaning the fact that neither candidate is setting out a compelling vision. I wonder if this is because I am a consultant - and if actually this is the last thing the electorate wants. But still, I can't help thinking that only a vision can really get people excited about this election. I think Obama has succeeded in setting one out for his foot soldiers, but it hasn't made it out to us, (or indeed Joe the plumber), the ordinary observers.

A couple of details took me by surprise. Both candidates plan to end all imports of oil from the Middle East (and Venezuela) within 10 years. Does anyone have any idea what this would do to those countries if it actually happened? It also sound completely unrealistic.

Obama mentioned the story of a woman whose equal pay for equal work claim was dismissed and McCain did not support her case (or perhaps her appeal - I missed some key moments). Does this mean there is no federal equal pay legislation in America?

McCain seems to be accusing Obama of wanting to "spread the wealth around" - when I first heard this I thought that was supposed to be a good thing, but apparently not.

Finally, all this talk about health care is getting me down. Even laying aside (or taking as read - and in need of change) the inequity of the American system, it is stupendously expensive (America spends twice as much of its GDP on health - 16% - as the average for developed countries). Both candidates were asked if they were interesting in containing costs, and of course both said they were. But their strategies for doing so are likely to have minimal impact - making medical records available electronically, tackling obesity and opening more walk in clinics are all good ideas, but they won't save 8% of GDP.

A couple of weeks ago the New Yorker had an ad publicising a request from more than 500 doctors for the candidates to go further and advocate establishing a single payer system, which is something that could dramatically reduce costs. But even with healthcare so high on so many voters' lists of priorities, it looks like neither candidate sees this kind of radical solution as palatable to the electorate.

Thank goodness for North Dakota public radio

I did a very stupid thing, which was to book myself to be on a train during the third, and final, presidential debate. I spent a while wondering what could be done - and was seriously tempted just to plagirise Oliver Burkeman because I have enjoyed his coverage so much.

Instead, I resurrected my radio and after repeatedly finding nothing but static and some unexpected tribal drumming, I managed to find Prairie Public Radio which was running a rather too kind interview with a local politician in run up to the debate.

I had visions of gathering a crowd of politically minded train travellers to the loungue car, and even got permission from the attendant (who sang to us over the intercom five times a day to remind us of the treats she had available) to set up a listen party in her car, but reception was poor and no one had come along to join me so I headed back to my cabin.

On the way back I ran into Rebecca, who had been keen, and Nandan, who she'd met over dinner, and the two of them came back to my (extremely small) cabin, where we cradled and cajoled the radio to try to get better reception. It was maddening until we came into Stanley and transmission got strong enough to be able to hear anything properly. Towards the end of the debate, Rebecca went to get some fresh air when we stopped at Minot, and Betsy came and took her place.

So, we listened hard and in theory I should be able to tell you all about it. But this story is a lot more interesting than the debate was, I'm afraid.

"Empire Builder" - Seattle to Chicago

Though no one specifically asked for it, I think I promised you a tale of train food in the form of photo story. I have attempted this below!

On the first evening everyone at my table chose the four cheese ravioli, which were more appetising than they look! And not too filling, leaving room for the chocolate and raspberry torte which was delicious.

For breakfast the next day, french toast. Accompanied by a series of uncomfortable silences (single travellers are allocated to spare seats with strangers - which can be good and can be really, really awkward).

Lunch was a "garden burger" served with crisps and half a gherkin. And I'm afraid I forgot to take a picture of the key lime pie, but it wasn't what I expected (i.e. a lime green version of lemon meringue pie) - more like a lime flavoured cheesecake with a bit of crumble, or crumbly pie, topping.

Dinner on the second night was identical to the first, except the conversation was notably worse (lunch and dinner only have one vegetarian option each). Oh, except followed by chocolate icecream.

Breakfast I also forgot to photograph (sorry!) but it was rice crispies, a strawberry yoghurt, two wedges of orange and a "biscuit" (dry, savoury scone). And they'd run out of tea!!! Not impressed. Also not impressed to be sat opposite a silent (literally) minister of the church (another table mate informed me) who was the spitting image of Steve Buschemi, and with two rather rabid republicans whose best case against Obama was that he had initially not worn an American flag lapel badge.

Lunch was only available in the dining car between 11 and 12 which seemed just too soon after breakfast for me, so I got another garden burger (this time no relish) from the lounge car - incredible fpod item - vacuum packed for long life, bunged (whole - bun and all) in the microwave for 2 minutes and then it counts as edible. Actually, it did the bun a lot of good: apart from being a bit soggy on the outside (from the condensation) it was nicely chewy and sweet.

Seattle III

Quite a lot of people have asked me to write about Sarah Palin. It sounds like troopergate and Palin in general are generating a lot of interest and excitement in the UK.

But not so here, or at least as far as I can tell. It has, of course, been reported, but it's not a story which is running and running. I don't know why this is. I wondered if it was because the Obama campaign is on a winning streak, feeling positive and like it is winning the arguments, and therefore doesn't feel the need to dwell on negative stories about the other side in order to gain political advantage.

On the other hand, Pierre thinks it's such a minor case of abuse of power, especially compared to what other Alaskan politicians get up to (not to mention Clinton when he was in power) that it is in no one's interest to keep bringing it up.

Nevertheless, Palin doesn't need troopergate to turn people against her. My sense is that a lot of swing voters could see McCain as president but are totally turned off by Palin's extreme views - and this seems to get to the heart of McCain's problem... or even the main problem of democratic politics in general. He is the candidate for a party some of whose views he has long shared (principally, its fiscal ideology), but he is uncomfortable with others, especially the social conservatism of many Republicans. Likewise, social conservatives are suspicious of him, believing (rightly, I think) that he does not share their views on key issues such as abortion.

This may be what has led him to behave really rather respectably in recent days - criticising people at his rallies who shouted abuse about Obama, and conducting similar restraint to the Democrats over Obama's connection with Ayers et al as the Democrats have done over troopergate.

But this restraint, and apparently chivalrous behaviour, is politics too - the CNN response trackers during the debates consistently showed the lowest approval when the candidates attacked each another, and the highest when they set out a vision for how they would restore America to greatness. Both Obama and McCain know where they need to focus in order to impress the electorate.

Seattle II

Walking home last night I began crossing the road, even though it wasn't my right of way. The only traffic was a parked bus, and when it pulled out I ran the rest of the crossing in order not to get in its way.

As I continued along the street, the bus pulled up beside me, driving very slowly and the driver opened the front doors. He was speaking to me but I had my headphones in playing loud Beirut and I couldn't hear what he was saying. But I feared the worst - remembering warnings when I was a child that in some states jaywalking (crossing when it's not your right of way) is illegal...

I finally got close enough, sans headphones, to hear him. He said "I'm sorry I pulled away - were you hoping to get on this bus?"

Seattle

On arrival in Seattle, I managed to get myself and two old Russian ladies locked in a stairwell. Luckily we were rescued after a while by a woman who heard us banging on the door.

I have rather taken against a city in whose main station it is so easy to get trapped... but I have only just arrived; I expect things can only get better.

San Francisco III

Today I took a boat across the bay to a state nature reserve called Angel Island which is another former army base, as well as "the Ellis Island of the west" and an internment camp for Japanese Americans during the war.
It was incredibly creepy, old abandoned buildings and no one about for miles around.

San Francisco II

One really nice thing about America is the street life. Possibly this has something to do with the climate, which encourages people to spend time outdoors with their fellow citizens. Two examples:

In Denver, and again in San Francisco, I saw public chess boards, at which crowds of (apparent) strangers gathered to play each other!

And this morning I saw this group of elderly Chinese women (there was a similar group of men on the other side of the park) doing some kind of co-ordinated dancing (Chinese line dancing?) in the Italian quarter. They seemed unselfconscious in the face of a number of curious photographers.

San Francisco

I was lucky enough to enjoy the best tour imaginable of San Francisco yesterday - on the back of an ancient Vespa! We went right up to the twin peaks for the most fantastic views of the city and the bay, then through Haight-Ashbury (centre of the 1960s hippy revolution) and out to the Presidio - a former army base to defend the Golden Gate Bridge which is now a public park.

It also happens to be Navy week, which means the skies are full of Blue Angels (the equivalent of our Red Arrows) and other stunt planes roaring about and making the good people of California wonder if this is how it feels in Afghanistan...

Santa Cruz IV - an unfortunate accident

Ho ho, this is very silly but it might make you laugh...

Those of you who are friends of 6 Rochester Road will remember that Peter was unfortunate enough to have a strange accident when he was in Santa Cruz - and by terrible co-incidence, during my trip I suffered the same fate! Fortunately my head has now been re-attached to my body, enabling me to resume blogging.

Santa Cruz III - the tree house

My other treat yesterday was a tour of Ned's tree house and grotto. The photos don't need much explaining, it was incredibly beautiful, everything cobbled together from thrift stores and other people's rubbish. To wonderful effect.

Santa Cruz II - the beach

I couldn't help writing to gloat that yesterday I swam in the Pacific. Everyone said it would be too cold. I was even told stories about how my grandpa (a hardened sea swimmer, who has swum north of the arctic circle) threw up after swimming near San Francisco. But it was glorious. There is no other word for it.

(To be fair, it's a lot warmer in Monterrey Bay than it is in the open sea off San Francisco).

Santa Cruz

Unlike the previous debates, which have had my full attention, I'm afraid this one only got about half. Partly because I was watching over the internet, but mainly because someone was cooking me the most fantastic meal downstairs, and I could smell it and after a while couldn't bear not being near the food and had to abandon the politicians. The dinner was... extremely spicy home grown tomato, courgette, cinnamon and chilli soup, spicy italian sausage, marinated chicken wings, farfelle with garlic, home made garlic and paprika bread, salad with garlic dressing... and to finish a fruit salad with 86% cocoa chocolate! Wow. A lot of garlic and absolutely delicious.

I noted down some thoughts, as follows.

The first thing that struck me was that neither Obama nor McCain seemed as comfortable talking to "the people" (they were answering questions from the floor) as they had been in a more formal one-on-one debate. I didn't find either as articulate or as succinct in their answers, and there was a fair amount of rambling from them both.

The second was just how old McCain looks, even when he's not standing by the side of a man who is 25 years younger, a foot taller and infinitely more attractive. He shuffles when he walks. He looked slightly unstable on his feet. And you really can see the tumour on his face (or at least, some sign of where it was). Speaking of which, the doctor I met on the train said "people just don't survive melanoma - he's going to die and it's going to be soon". And we all know where that would leave us if he is elected.

The third striking thing was how similar so much of the content was to both the first presidential debate, and the VP debate. The same "facts" kept being trotted out: McCain wants to give $4bn to the oil companies. Obama voted 94 times against tax cuts. And after each of these attacks, the other tried to defend himself instead of answering the next question, while apologising by saying he knew people don't like this "back and forth" and finger pointing.

I did catch the point at which McCain called Obama "that one" but am surprised people are making so much of it as it seemed to come more from rushing to get his point out than any maliciousness.

The general concensus seems to be that Obama won, but with a caveat - that he did so only because he is already in the lead and it would take a dramatic improvement or a killer line of attack for McCain to be said to have won. I would agree in as much as I think Obama didn't do his best, he failed to say anything really inspirational in my view. But I suppose that, as in football, one shouldn't complain if one's team wins despite having played poorly. In fact, one should be rather grateful.

The train from Denver to Emeryville (for SF)

34 hours of train is a lot of train by anyone's standards. Not to say it was boring - far from it. In fact, I only managed to read about 100 pages of books because there was so much to see, and so many people to talk to. So, there is too much to write to really be able to tell you what it was like. Instead, I will write about the people... and a little about the food.

The photo is of the one meal I took in the "dining car" (always makes me think of the chattanooga choo choo). Unfortunately you can't see quite what a disappointment it was. They were sold out of the only vegetarian option (veggie burger), so I had to take the macaroni cheese from the children's menu. It came in... 3 minutes! As did my dining companion's steak burger. It was a small bowl of overcooked pasta, with a very small amount of cream sauce. Where was the crispy cheesy topping?! Maybe kids aren't supposed to care about that.

The rest of my food I brought with me - the on board meals are expensive and (as you might have guessed) not that great. However, on my seriously long haul from Seattle to Chicago I have a sleeping car, which is fiendishly expensive, but includes all my meals in the dining car. So, watch this space for a detailed (and if I remember, illustrated) discussion of Amtrak cuisine.

No Amish this time, but a good and varied collection of people nonetheless. 2 English gap year students doing NYC to SF in one go, a computer game idea generator from Barcelona via Montreal, a train nut who spent hours (literally) telling me about California's historic inter-urban railways, a bossy mum with her recalcitrant son - she drove him mad making him do things like give up his seat so I could sit next to her and talk, a crowd of Serbian students, a black doctor with a white wife, a Glaswegian son-in-law and a Chinese daughter-in-law (and a passion for Obama) and a woman who had lost the sight in each of her eyes but in two different ways...

I am struck by the easy sociability of Americans, and ashamed when I find myself ill at ease or worrying about being rude.

De Tocqueville wrote about the pleasure two American strangers have on meeting one another, and how this contrasts with the English, who exchange only the most necessary pleasantries before making their excuses and going their own way. This was (incredibly, 170 years later!) illustrated on the train. The lounge car attendant asked me, and the man in the queue behind me, where we were from. London. And Manchester. We smiled nervously at one another and asked politely what the other was doing in America. Then the conversation stalled. Yet I imagine he was as swept away by the openness and friendliness of Americans and found himself in long conversations with them, as I did.

PS update on 10th October - I forgot to write that we journeyed along a river for quite a long time, passing a couple of camp sites, and lots of people out in boats or on the shore enjoying the great outdoors. As the train went past, literally half of those along the river pulled their trousers down and mooned us. Is this some kind of great American tradition?

PS on VP debate

For a far funnier and more entertaining account of the debate, may I direct you to the Guardian's liveblog - concise, true and made me laugh out loud.

Boulder, Colorado V

VP debate tonight. And it has left me a lot more optimistic than the Presidential one last week (which is a shame, since most pundits seemed to think it was unlikely to have any impact on the outcome of the election).

Palin did ok. She had much better eye contact with the audience (i.e. the camera) than Biden, whose eyes were fixed on the moderator (and therefore downwards, as he and Palin were on a raised stage) for at least the first 15 minutes. And she did a creepy winking thing which some people might like. Her strongest card seemed to be on taxes... which it shouldn't be, given that in fact the Republican tax proposals favour the wealthy minority, while the Democrat ones favour the middle classes (no one cares about the poor, perhaps because even the poorest Americans consider themselves middle class - the opposite phenomenon from the UK). But everyone hates taxes, and the Republicans are the traditional party of tax cuts - regardless of who they actually benefit.

But asked about anything other than taxes or energy policy (she considers energy her strong suit because of being from an energy producing state) she mainly avoided the question. In contrast, Biden had a well informed, and to the point, answer to every question thrown at him. He did not hesitate, as Palin did, faced with difficult questions. He was specific where she was general and woolly. He even managed to choke up when talking about having seen his son severely injured and wondering if he would pull through. On all the important issues - the economy, health care and Iraq - I think he won, both on content and on delivery. He was likeable, believable and passionate.

Perhaps the most striking thing was one significant area of agreement between the two candidates - that the Bush years had been a failure, and that things needed to change. People watching the debate with me wondered aloud if Palin was going off message on this one, because she showed no reluctance to admit, and detail, these failings and then to present herself and McCain as "mavericks" who would do things differently. This seems like dangerous territory, especially as, as Biden emphasised, they are setting out few specific policies to distinguish themselves from the current administration. Their rhetoric is about change, but the policies are not there.

Finally, I was disappointed by Biden on foreign policy - which is his area of expertise and experience. Perhaps he was playing politics, but his attitude seemed cynical, it seemed realpolitik-al... When talking about Iraq, he argued for American withdrawal on the basis that the Iraqis have a budget surplus and a huge army trained by the Americans - why should taxpayers be paying to protect Iraqis when they should be doing for themselves. Nothing about the greater legitimacy of an indigenous army, or the preferences of the democratically elected government. Similarly, on Palestine, he said he had consistently argued against elections in the West Bank, because he knew Hamas would be elected - essentially denying others the democracy he celebrates in America.

Photos

At Ellie's suggestion I have worked out how to add photos. They are all supposedly labeled but I can't see that - hopefully they are self explanatory anyway. I've added an old one to 10th Sept which I meant to do ages ago but forgot (sorry).

I've put this photo up because I didn't have anywhere else to put it, and I guessed that everyone else was like me and had always wondered why there are 57 varieties of Heinz!

Boulder, Colorado IV

The reason I came to Boulder is that it is possible to go "hiking" (what we would mainly call walking I think) within walking distance of the city. In the mountains. Which is quite an attraction after the miseries of American public transport and the flat expanses of the midwest.

On Monday I practically ran up into the rockies, so full was I of enthusiasm for finally getting some exercise. It was too hot but it also felt wonderful to get to the top, and I rewarded myself with my first blueberry pancakes of the trip. Someone asked me if I always hiked alone but I didn't think much of it.

So yesterday I woke up early to try to go again. But I was absolutely aching all over, and decided to postpone in favour of a guided hike to an abandoned quarry in the evening. I got to talk to a lot of nice people over the course of a couple of hours of walking, but more importantly I learned of previously unthoughtof dangers: rattlesnakes! And bears! So close to the city! Everyone else agreed they would never hike alone at this time of year, everyone knew the woods were full of bears stocking up on berries before going to hibernate, and everyone knew what happens if a person comes between a bear and her cubs (heaven forbid!).

Undaunted I set off early this morning to try and walk up a canyon. I got as far as the signs warning not to let dogs off their leashes at this time of year (dogs increase the risk of "bear encounters" apparently) and was only feeling slightly nervous when... I got a huge nosebleed (heat? altitude? over-enthusiastic yomping up a hill? or just bad genes?). Spent a while mopping up the mess with my sock until a kind woman passing gave me some tissues! Then went mournfully home.

On the plus side, it meant I didn't have to feel bad about spending the rest of the day sitting by the side of the creek on the edge of town, reading and dipping my feel in the (ice cold) water.