Supporting McCain and Gathering Ocean Samples
6 Comments Published by Dr. Beyster October 9th, 2008 in Politics, Technology.As you know, I have decided to support John McCain in his presidential bid. It’s interesting to me to postulate what I think would have happened if we’d followed something like the Obama plan in Iraq. In the first place, Saddam Hussein would still be in power. My feeling is the situation between Iraq and Iran was a tinderbox waiting to reignite, so the two dictators might have fought again. Assuming that Hussein won, which he probably would have, guess who his next target would be? Israel. So, bingo, even Obama would have to go to war then. Maybe the result would have been the same as we have now, but the process would have been different.
I look forward to the Saddam issue being discussed in the next debate instead of ignored. In my opinion, it is the ace in McCain’s pocket.
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On Tuesday I had the opportunity to go to sea on Craig Venter’s boat Sorcerer II. John Evey picked me up at home and took me down to the marina where the 100-and-something foot boat is docked. There were many people aboard, including a permanent crew of three, plus geneticists and several oceanographers from Scripps. It turns out I knew Andy Allen, who did the sampling off my boat when we visited Catalina a few months ago. It was good to see them all again. Sorcerer II is a motorsailer, so we got to do some sailing, although the skipper was cautious because there were so many landlubbers aboard.
The measurements were made off the stern of the boat, and three probes were lowered into the ocean at various depths. The three probes are necessary to make a good measurement of the chlorophyll. One probe measures the viruses in the ocean. Another lowers the instrumentation package into the ocean so we have the metadata such as salinity, temperature, currents, and other characteristics from the environment where samples are being taken. The third probe is basically a hose that sucks the water up from depth, passes it through a filter, and repeats the process to get good samples of the chlorophyll and anything around it. The samples are then put in test tubes and plastic containers for further analysis.
What the scientists were looking for was the behavior of the chlorophyll layer in the ocean. They wanted to know where it was, at what depth, and if its position had moved over the past month. This layer is where photosynthesis occurs in the ocean, and it’s not always on the surface of the water which was a surprise to me.
Andrew and I are planning a trip on my boat after the first of the year up the California coast as far as Point Conception, making measurements along the way. I suspect a lot of the instruments on board Sorcerer II will be used on Solutions. I was particularly happy because I wasn’t sure how well I would be able to maneuver around Sorcerer II. I was fine. I plan to be on the first leg of Sorcerer II‘s voyage when it leaves next month for Europe.
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I wish I cold give financial advice given the current climate, but right now I’m sitting tight on my investments. Thank God they’re mostly bonds. My impression on what is going on in Washington is that none of the people with money know where to apply it to revive the economy.
– Bob
You might want to inform yourself a bit about the reality behind Middle Eastern affairs. A Good place to start would be with the non-partisan Robert Baer. Read about what he had to say about the issues at SERENDIPITY.
Hi Bob,
Well, you were right and I was wrong on the econmoy….my only defense is that I didn’t hear any warnings from any of those who have that responsibility in the Administartion or the Congress.
I am on the fence regarding these 2 candidates, for I don’t think either of them is up to the job, but I’m leaning to McCain because I think a Democratic Congress is a certainty, and we do poorly when one party has all the power–witness GWB first 6 years–and much better when we have a split WH and Congress–witness Nixon & Clinton, probably our smartest (tho’ detestable) presidents in my living memory who worked with “opposite” congresses to the benefit of the country (excepting Clinton’s non-existent foreign policy).
I think McCain is dangerous for the reasons Dick gave you, but I totally agree with your assessment of Obama–all show and no go. He has no experience whatever–less than Palin who Dick derides unfairly as if she were running for President–except to have worked for ACORN, an organisation whose folks are under indictment in at least 3 states for corrupt voter registration practices.He has no accomplishments except 2 memoirs already at his age. I’ve scanned the 1st one and found it full of high-flying rhetoric, self-aggrandisement, and devoid of substance. His idea that taxing capital gains and businesses wil not adversely affect all other taxpayers reveals alack of understanding on how businesses price their products. His naivete, and maybe worse if published reports are true, on Iraq is dangerous. But he is smart and can learn, whereas McCain is probably not going to.
Turning our country over to someone so inexperienced as Obama at a time when we are in deep trouble strikes me as a very dangerous bet!
I would have preferred Hilary!!
Best, Hugh
McCain was the right man in 2000, he has since sold out to the political machine and the self preserving insiders for higher office. This started right after the 2000 election. He looks like Bush of 1992, with no since of why he is running for president, or purpose, other than its more important for a republican to be president (no leadership or country first in this purpose) than a democrat. Opportunity knocks for a great leader to step up and guide this country over the next few years.
McCain of 2000 would be easily winning this election. It is to bad he is not.
As for the Saddam arguement, the president cannot declare war. Somehow our goverment has lost the checks and balances the founding fathers put in place, and the people of this country sit back and don’t scream about it.
Jeff: How exactly do you think McCain has changed? I haven’t noticed anything different myself other than he fails to question Obama on what he would have done about Saddam Hussein. — Bob
Hugh: Thank you for your blog submission. I’m glad you’re reading and responding to my editorializations. I’m surprised, however, I haven’t aggravated more people with my discourses on McCain versus Obama. I guess I’m afraid enough about what might happen if this Democratic administration takes over the White House and has control of the Congress as well. McCain is not perfect. But he clearly understands national security a lot better than Obama. I would also trust McCain with the purse strings more than Obama, who is likely to spend more money than necessary to fix our problems. I’ll be listening to the final debate on Wednesday to hear what they have to say, and to see if that changes my opinion. — Bob
Merge Divide: Thanks — I’ll have a look. — Bob