News that would be funny if it weren't depressing

Obama Press Secretary dismissed this as "silly season," but for me it's more of a sad statement on today's state of affairs.

Next week, President Obama will give a back-to school speech directed at elementary and high school students across the nation. This couldn't possibly controversial, right? Not in today's America, I'm afraid.

Per MSNBC, the planned speech "has provoked a backlash from some within the Republican Party, with the chairman of the GOP in Florida saying the real motive is to indoctrinate students with Obama's "socialist ideology.""

I wish I were making this up. But it gets better. Read on:

Explains the article, "Obama plans to address students across the country on Tuesday with a message about staying in school, working hard and achieving educational goals."

Work hard and stay and school. If that's socialism then color me red.

But let's be fair here and see what the Florida GOP chair, Jim Greer, actually said:

According to the article, he said the event "obligates the youngest children in our public school system to agree with our president's initiatives or be ostracized by their teachers and classmates."

"While I support educating our children to respect both the office of the American president and the value of community service, I do not support using our children as tools to spread liberal propaganda," Greer added.

Liberal propaganda? Someone should inform Greer that Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush also gave similar addresses to students.

But let's hear from some of the other "critics":

"I'll be keeping my kids at home that day," a person identified as "Nascar Dad" wrote on the Tampa Bay Times Web site. "Our school is offering an 'alternative' activity, but if millions of parents across the country keep their kids out of school; Ouch!"

So you're keeping your kids at home, hoping that millions of others do so as well, to make a political point? It's pretty clear who the real tools are here.

What I look forward to the most about being back home in the good ol US of A

There's been plenty to like about Costa Rica over the last four months, and I'll be posting soon on what I'll be missing the most. But it's also time to look forward. In just over a week, I'll be touching down in San Francisco and on North American soil for the first sime since the early hours of 2009. Here's a small sample of what I've missed and am looking forward to the most:

1. Baseball

Reading the box scores and catching the occasional highlight on TV hasn't done much to whet my appetite for sports. And now that the Kings' season is over, it's time to move on to baseball. Since I'll likely be in Sacramento for a little while after I get back, I'm especially looking forward to River Cats Games. Biking along the river, catching the cool Delta breeze, hot dogs, burgers and beer at Raley Field... it doesn't get any better than that, does it?

2. Barbeques

Speaking of food, I think the single cooking item I've missed most is a barbecue. With the warm weather down here, it's been torture having to cook meat on the stove or with the oven. If I had it my way, I'd be grilling meat and vegetables every day.

3. HDTV

I try not to make a hobby of watching too much TV. Down here, that hasn't been hard. But I'm really looking forward to plopping down on the couch and catching up on some of my favorite shows like Lost, The Office and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Even better, I'll be able to catch the later rounds of the NBA playoffs, on HD to beat. Awesome.

4. Mexican food

There's a soda down the street from my office called Tacos Tumbres where I lunch frequently. It's ostensibly Mexican but basically serves up the same casados, albeit tasty ones, as anywhere else. For my first meal in California, I'm going for some real good, down home Mexican food. Los Jarritos, Oscar's, Caballo Blanco and (only after midnight) Carolina's. I get hungry just thinking about it.

Hmmm, everything seems to be revolving around food and sports. There's got to be more than that, right?

5. Seeing friends and family

Ah, ok. Much better now. Sorry for getting sentimental. But there should be some fun times ahead, ranging from visits to friends at Stanford and my sister at Santa Clara, Avalon and my cousin Jon's graduations, and hopefully a trip to Vegas and climb of Mt. Shasta. All in a couple month's work.

And now, a brief foray into what I'm not looking forward to: using a cell phone again, driving (although it was fun driving again for a while when we rented a car for Arenal and Monteverde, but that was mostly because the roads were deserted on Good Friday), lunching for more than $3, listening to Laker and Dodger fans gloat about their teams' success, inane politics, and, finally, not having amazing flora and fauna right next door...

Oh wait, I'll be in Northern California. I still will.

What I'm reading: Obamanomics

If you're got some time to kill, check out this captivating piece from The New Republic on Obama's economic policies. The authors, TNR editors Franklin Foer and Noam Scheiber, find many similarities between Obama's philosophies and the central tenants of the behavior economics book Nudge, which I've been meaning to read but haven't gotten to yet.

The key point is that, despite all the histeria of Obama's alleged "socialism," his economics are in fact decidedly market based; instead, Obama and his team aim to tweak incentives so that while people still have freedom to choose, the most favorable decision is what fits the public, as well as individual interest. Here, Obama neither fits the traditional definition of big-government liberal nor the mold Clintonion New Democrat centrist. Foer and Scheiber summarize:

As a theory of government, this approach has much to recommend it. It's resolutely liberal in its ends, ambitious in its means, but also respectful of individual freedom. It is, in other words, a government that is activist but distinctly not socialist.

I stumbled upon this article via the New York Times' new "Idea of the Day" blog, which also includes a number of "must-reads" (the TNR piece was one of these). I'm not sure who has time to read all of them, though!

SMF airport 2nd in US in animal collisions

Maybe it's a good thing I'm flying back to SFO next month. The AP reports:

Airplane collisions with birds or other animals have destroyed 28 aircraft since
2000, with New York's Kennedy airport and Sacramento International reporting the
most incidents with serious damage, according to Federal Aviation Administration
data posted for the first time Friday. And the problem appears to be growing.

The reason? The article explains that Sacramento International "lies beneath the Pacific Flyway used by millions of geese, swans, ducks, cranes, raptors and other birds that migrate with the seasons and stop to feed on crops in the farms that abut the airport." Maybe putting the airport in the middle of nowhere, far from downtown, wasn't the best idea after all.

On second thought, I'll take the minuscule risk of hitting a bird any day over having commercial jets fly over Land Park. Although perhaps they should consider extending hunting season around the airport.

The Final Countdown

Time flies. My internship at The Tico Times ends in a week, after which I'll join Avalon in Panama for a few days before flying back to California May 6. Over the next week. I'll be posting some reflections on my four months in Costa Rica, as well as lists of what I'm looking forward to the most about being home. Once I head to Panama next Friday, however, posting will be few in far between.

It's also one month until the NBA draft lottery, so expect more basketball posts in the near future.

Finally, if you don't understand why I posted the picture at the top of this post, do yourself a favor: go to Hulu and watch "Arrested Development" immediately. Do it. Now.

Blago Blog

While the possibility of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich participating in an NBC reality show "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Outta Here!" setin Costa Rica created a lot of buzz, it was not to be. according to the AP, Blago needed a judge's approval to leave the country, and Tuesday, he didn't get it. Here's what I whipped up for The Tico Times Web site:

Rod Blagojevich, the indicted governor of the U.S. state of Illinois, isn't coming to Costa Rica any time soon.

According to news reports, a U.S. district judge on Tuesday denied the
former Democratic governor's bid to travel outside the country in order to appear on NBC's “I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!” reality TV show that will begin production in Costa Rica next month. The judge said Blagojevich, who pled not guilty to federal corruption charges last week, must remain in the United States to assist his attorneys in assembling a defense strategy.

The show, however, will go on. Other rumored contestants include Geraldo Rivera (now doing his thing on Fox News), Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman, and some other lame quasi-celebs from reality shows like The Hill and American Idol whom I've never heard of before. If the rumors are true, my money's on Dog to win (how could you not pick a bounty hunter to survive best in the jungle? Bounty hunters are definitely more qualified to survive the jungle than a mayoral campaign)

NBC will confirm the cast next week, and I should be interviewing an executive producer for more about the show. Tune in next week for updates.

If you must go to Jaco...

While we only spent a couple hours there Sunday, Jaco was pretty much what I expected--hot, dusty, and not the least bit charming. To be fair, we didn't go to the beach at all, and I would have liked to take some surf lessons there, but we ran out of time. I understand its appeal in having a built-up surf and tourist infrastructure (if you're into hotel towers and condos instead of small boutique inns) and being only a couple hours away, but I wouldn't recommend it for the top your itinerary.



If you're in Jaco for whatever reason or another, however, be sure to check out Taco Bar. On Sunday, we were stuck deciding between a soda and a Subway, but wandering down the streets, past the myriad surf shops and blatantly overpriced eateries, we found the open-air Taco Bar around a corner. Its prices were reasonable (4,400 colones, or a little less than $8) for either a heaping burrito or two tacos, along with free reign at the salad bar. Filling options include chicken, fish and seafood--both Avalon and I went with the mahi and were not disappointed. Niether was my appetite, as I was almost full already from the burrito before I even attempted to tackle the salad bar. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area.