Recommendations

Until we have a few more adventures to post, we thought we’d do what many bloggers do and recommend a few links.

Cost Of War
For those that remember Jim’s project 18 months ago called MyWarTax, the concept/code was donated a few months ago to the National Priorities Project, which attracts more than 100K hits a month and now uses it as the Individual Tax Calculator. More people now see what they personally pay for Iraq: http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar/individual

Absentee Ballots
Hoping to add to the record voter turnout this year, we delivered our ballots to the US Embassy a few weeks back. But a friend sent this video to Jim of what could have happened if we hadn’t…
http://www.cnnbcvideo.com/index.html?nid=maRCuUhEUeGekF5iTrdlNjM0NDI3MDg-_by=11169223-k5IJosx

Credit Crisis
Whether we like it or not, it seems we’re all now in a big Macroeconomics class together. This podcast below covers the crisis in a way that one can actually understand.
http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=94411890

And for an inside view on how the sub-prime crisis got going in the first place, this is a fascinating listen:
http://www.thislife.org/radio_episode.aspx?episode=355

FRIENDS!

Jim and I are blessed to have great friends – some were even willing to travel nearly ½ way around the globe to visit, well …maybe part of the draw is New Zealand as well.

Jann Varner, a friend of Angie’s since Kindergarten, was the first of several who recently made the trip. During her stay here in August we escaped for a night to a spot on the East Coast of the Wairarapa between Riverdale Beach and Castle Point just a few hours from Wellington. It was called ‘Parrydise’ holiday home, a highly recommended spot. The views were spectacular as you can see with Castle Point in the background. Wow!

Kathy Sapp arrived as part of an annual “girls trip” event, or as they call it here, “the hens trip”. Kathy arrived early with the intent of just hanging out for a few days in Wellington. She accomplished that, and being in the Capital city, also rubbed shoulders with a Member of Parliament, Winston Peters, who had just been censured by the Parliament Committee. We attended a filming of a weekly live political show at the famous Backbenchers Bar across the street from Parliament. Mr. Peters was up for a bit more publicity so he was there as well (See Photo). The gracious Mr. Peters after posing with Kathy for a tourist photo said, “Good luck with your travels in NZ” to which Kathy replied, “thank you and good luck…uh…uh… with all your stuff going on…” Remaining his cool self Mr. Peters replied, “Oh don’t you worry about me…” to which Kathy jumped in, “oh after what I saw on the news tonight, I don’t need to worry about you Mr. Peters.”

If only she could vote in the NZ election.

HUTT RIVER TRAIL

We joined the Hutt Rotary clubs for a stretch of the Hutt River Trail today. It’s a trail system along the Hutt River that the club helped organize and connect. Every month, the Rotary Club meets and walks a stretch of the trail and we were fortunate to join in and help will away the rain. And as many great Kiwi events do, this also ended in the parking lot with an impromptu tea!

Angie pictured with Hutt City President, Linton Adams.

And the Best Political Ad Goes To….

(From your resident political pundit, Jim…)

The New Zealand election is fully underway and whilst the main party campaigns feature smiling mug shots of their candidates or wedge issues that divide, the Green Party has stayed true to itself while respecting voters with a simple, intelligent and evocative ad campaign. The Greens have elevated their message beyond the squabbling of everyday politics and into the realm of aspiration. And isn’t aspiring for a better world and a better way of life what elections should be about?