Politicians are the Worst Kind of Hypocrits

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I don't normally get overtly political, but this kind of hypocrisy (which happens routinely across the political spectrum, by the way) just demands a response.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK/DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - "Hillary Clinton, under pressure from the left wing of her Democratic Party to aggressively campaign against income inequality, voiced concern about the hefty paychecks of some corporate executives in an email to supporters.

Striking a populist note, Clinton, who announced on Sunday she was running for president in 2016, said American families were still facing financial hardship at a time 'when the average CEO makes about 300 times what the average worker makes.' "

Favorite Photos from The Week's Four Corners Trip

Here are some of my favorite landscape photos from this last week's trip to the Four Corners Area.

Shiprock

I Like Uber... A Lot!

I've been reading a lot about Uber over the past long while, but living in Orem, Utah, have been unable to really try it out.

This past week on a 4-day business trip to Washington, DC I've used it a couple if times myself and numerous times with a group.  I really like it and here are a few reasons why:

Venetian Landscape Paintings

I spent a few hours yesterday (April 4, 2015) at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.  Most of that time was spent looking at early Italian painting and paintings by the Dutch masters in the west wing of the main floor.

The Fortress of Königstein

I fell in love with several landscape/architecture paintings by Venetian masters.  Mostly from this gallery. 

Tetonic Symmetry

Pine
Lonely hill
A bird of prey swoops
Eerie darkening skies loom
Dry grasses ripple in the pale sun
A herd of deer gathers at the meadow's edge
The reds, oranges and yellows of Fall are long fled
Stands of bare white aspen mingle with blue spruce and Douglas fir
Restless waves build on the midnight water of the lake
Far away granite peaks point to the heavens
A cold stream grey and wet rushes by
Small creatures huddle for warmth
Autumn is dying
Chill winds blow
Rain

Mary's Dog - A Poem

Mary got herself a dog, the cutest little pup
It played and tugged at her heartstrings and then the dog grew up

Mary left her dog at home when she went off to work
The dog chewed up her brand new shoes just like a total jerk

Mary took her dog with her when she went for a walk
I spied a cat, it broke the leash and chased it 'round the block

Mary traveled out of town and left her dog with Dad
And when the doggy misbehaved the old man got quite mad

Mary went to bed one night, her dog outside the door
At dawn the dog was in the bed and she was on the floor

Mary gave her dog a treat to teach it to behave
The treat was gone in no time flat into its mouthy cave

Mary let her dog outside when it began to bark
When she found spots burned in her lawn, she took it to the park

Mary's dog had "accidents" outside the hallway door
Mary got the carpet changed after she fixed the floor

Mary's dog got old and frail and finally met its end
Without her dog the world seems less, her heart may never mend

Photos that I Like from Last Summer

Assorted Sparse Poems

Yesterday is gone
No matter what we may wish
Tomorrow will come

Call it Fusion (퓨전)?

말없는 소리
폭탄후 혼란 사망
정없는 마음

A voice without words
After the bomb, turmoil, death
A heart without feeling

Haiku & Poem

Childhood Memories of a Duststorm

A strengthening breeze
A great wind comes from the south
I am lost in dust


Poem 3

A cool wind blow across my face
And leads me gently down
Across the meadows of the hills
And wandering to the town
I have gone
I have come
I am changed
Yet still numb.


March 24, 2015 10:22 pm

Two Poems

Insomnia breeds poetry?  Last night it did.

Poem 1

Malignant and imperial cruel spirit
Crouched like an assassin in the night
Cold and calculating scientist
Turning on the harsh remorseless light

Hiding in the vastness of the labyrinth
Boldly marching forth to face cruel fate
Stabbing up from hell at heartless destiny
Lingering in shame inside the gate

December in India, Part 8

After our whirlwind tour of Jaipur, we headed back to Delhi to the airport for our trip home.  We got to see some different country than the trip down to Agra.  There were more hills and it was noticeably drier.  We saw a lot of camels for the first little while coming out of Jaipur.  We also stopped and watched troop of monkeys being fed.  The traffic was heavier than the day before with all the long-distance lorries on the road coming up to Delhi.  The road to Agra was a toll expressway with no freight traffic and the road from Agra to Jaipur was not nearly as busy.  We stopped several times at intersections where the traffic backed up.  And once or twice we got delayed by construction on overpasses.  It was a long trip, but still interesting.  We stopped at great roadside restaurant and had chicken pakora and meat samosas.  The latter were very good and I wish I had tasted them earlier in the trip.

December in India, Part 7

We spent Christmas Day in Jaipur touring some very beautiful and interesting sites.  We visited Hawa Mahal, Amber Fort and Jal Mahal in the morning.  In the early afternoon we went to Jantar Mantar and the Jaipur City Palace in middle of the city.  Then we drove for several hours back to Delhi where we caught our flight home to the U.S.

Leaving the Hotel

December in India, Part 6

We left Agra on the morning of December 24th and spent most of the day driving to Jaipur.  The road was very foggy in the morning and we ended up stopped for about 45 minutes in a traffic jam.  As they day went on the fog burned off and we entered drier country.

On the Road from Agra

December in India, Part 5

At the Taj Mahal in Agra

On Monday morning, December 23rd, we checked out of our hotel in Karol Bagh early in the morning and began our three day "golden triangle" tour to Agra and Jaipur.  We had a car and driver for the next three days and stayed at a couple of nice hotels.

New Camera and Photo per Day

 

I bought a new camera and lens this summer.  The lens is a Tamron Di II 18-270 F/3.5-6 made to fit the Canon EOS mount.  I used it for several weeks in Korea with my old Rebel XT.  The new camera body is a Canon T3i.  I started using it when I got back and I love both the lens and the camera.  I like the extended ISO with the T3i.  It goes to 6400 while the old XT went only to 1600.  The 18-270 range on the Tamron means I don't need to switch lenses like I did when I was using the 18-50 and 50-200 Canon kit lenses.  This is a big plus when I am out in a sandy environment like the San Rafael Swell.

Taiwan 2014, Part 1

Temple at Chiufen

I presented a paper a the Asian Meetings of the Econometric Society in Taiwan this June.  I was able to bring both my wife, and my youngest daughter along for the trip.


We arrived in Taipei on the evening of June 18th.  We had rented an apartment via Airbnb in downtown Taipei in the Ximending district and enjoyed staying there.  The conference ran June 20 through 22.  Yeongmi and Joan took afternoon tours on the 20th and 21st via a local tour agency.  I went with them on the 19th to the northeast coast and the village of Chiufen.  We spent the 24th through the 26th in Taroko Gorge.  We flew to Korea on the 28th.

December in India, Part 4

Shopping in Karol Bagh on December 22nd.

December 21 - Southern New Delhi

On Saturday the 21st, we hired a car for the day and visited several sites in the southern park of Delhi.

December in India, Part 3

December 19 - Conference and Injury

On Thursday morning we hired a car and drove from our hotel down to south Delhi to the campus of the Indian Statistical Institute for the conference I was attending.  This was the 9th Annual Conference on Economic Growth and Development, sponsored by the Indian Statistical Institute
Planning and Policy Research Unit.

Campus of the Indian Statistical Institute in New Delhi

December in India, Part 2

December 18 - Riding the Ho-ho Bus in Delhi

Humayun's Tomb

On Wednesday Morning we took a Tuk-tuk from our hotel to Gurudwara Bangla Sahib Marg, which is a radial road that runs southwest from Connaught Place / Rajiv Chowk.  We caught the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus there.  Given the traffic in Delhi, this turned out not to be such a good deal.  For the same price as two Ho-Ho Bus tickets we could've rented a car and driver for the day.  We rode the bus from there to the Red Fort.  But because we'd been inside the day before, we visited the Jain temple across the street.  Then we walked along Chandni Chowk westward and toured the Sikh temple, Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib.