Obama's State of the Union

Hey everyone! I just watched Obama's State of the Union this Tuesday. If you haven't seen it already, just go on youtube, or follow the transcript from here.

So in any case, I thought this speech brought up some interesting discussion topics. First off- whether you're conservative, liberal, or moderate- you have to admit, Obama does a pretty damn good job of reaching out to both sides. As Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times wrote, "There were no boos or a shout of 'You lie!' as in years past. Many Republicans and Democrats sat side-by-side-- the first time anyone here can remember such mixing". Indeed, Obama pushed for a number of bipartisan measures, including but not limited to clean energy policies.

There were several parts in Obama's clean energy spiel that I literally jumped up and applauded for, but overall, I'd have to say it was a little disappointing. Compared to his portion on education (which I believe was the strong point of his speech), Obama's talk on clean energy seemed to lack the same kind of depth. Instead of discussing strategies and providing specific examples like he did for other topics, Obama speaks rather vaguely about environmental policy. Whereas Obama devoted entire paragraphs to the importance of education (which, I kid you not, is just as important), he never mentions the reasons for developing clean energy. The term "climate change" does not appear even once in his speech.

Of course, you can't really blame Obama, especially when he's trying to reach out to Republican party. As we all know, climate change has become a dividing issue between democrats and republicans, not so much on the basis of whether it's real, but how much attention it deserves.

As I discussed this speech with teachers, classmates, and family, I came to realize it was perhaps Obama's best intention not to bring up a touchy subject like climate change. In a speech aimed at uniting Americans regardless of political stance, the mention of this subject would almost certainly be counter-productive. So, again, it's a dividing issue.

I just find it a shame how environmental policies, which should consist of simple, common sense, are so heavily politicized. As we're seeing already in Australia, Brazil, Pakistan, and various ecosystems across the world, the effects of climate change are real. It'll kill us. And while other countries are pulling themselves together to take preventative measures, the US- which is responsible for 20% of the world's carbon emissions- is too busy bickering and fighting over their own laws to do anything about it.

PS: Read Jon Choi's blog, where there's plenty more information on climate change and politics.

PPS: Just in case you were wondering, I'm a fairly moderate liberal on most issues. With the environment, I just tend to be a bit more extreme (As I like to say, I love birds and trees more than my own species).

The Making of the Fittest

Despite the fact that I stayed home and did almost nothing for two weeks, I've been a terrible person and decided not to read anything. I mean, sure- I read plenty of bird reports, magazines, field notes, college information, facebook stuff, and books for schoolwork, but outside of that, I haven't read any literature. For this reason, I'm going to review The Making of the Fittest- a book by Sean Carroll that I'm supposed to read for AP Bio.

For a book that is supposed to teach me everything I would otherwise learn from textbook chapters, I have to say this is a good read. In The Making of The Fittest, Sean Carroll describes all the intricate genetic processes, mathematics, and mutations behind evolution. It's really quite interesting. Carroll presents the facts to his readers with a simple, down-to-earth prose-- far removed from the scientific jargon that you might expect from this type of book. This makes the book fun, somewhat fast-paced, and fairly easy to comprehend. Some of the things I particularly like about Carroll's writing style is that he's willing to provide examples, make analogies, and delve into background information. When describing how Old World Monkeys and apes evolved color vision, he first describes what exactly makes color vision, the genes responsible for our vision, how color vision evolved in birds and fish but not mice, and goes on to explain how color vision may have disappeared in early mammals.

Even though I have yet to complete the book, Carroll has taught me some fascinating things. Until now, I never fully understood how organisms lost certain traits over time. According to Carroll, the phrase "use it or lose it" applies to genes. When a gene does not face pressure from natural selection, there is nothing stopping a mutant gene from reproducing and being passed on to offspring. Where I thought organisms evolved blindness or flightlessness simply because they didnt need eyes or wings, I now know it's because mutations are allowed to accumulate in certain genes of theirs.

I must say, Carroll's writing occaisionally goes over my head when he talks about base pairs or protein codes, but I believe that his writing beats alot of scientific works in terms of readibility.

RARE BIRD ALERT

Happy New Year everyone!! Even if this blog is supposed to be a graded English "assignment", I suppose it couldnt hurt to throw in a little bit of my life every now and then.

In any case (despite the fact that there's school tommorow) I am REALLY excited. I participated in the Waukegan Christmas bird count yesterday and found an insanely rare bird.

This bird was a BOHEMIAN WAXWING- a nomadic, berry-loving creature from the Arctic. It is closely related to our familiar Cedar Waxwing and is similar in many ways. Both species have plump little bodies, short crests, brownish plumage, and waxy red blobs on several flight feathers (hence the name). They are very gregarious and will often travel in huge flocks in search of berries and small fruit. Because they occaisionally eat fermented berries, all waxwings have evolved strong, efficient livers- allowing them to recover quickly from drunkeness.

The Bohemian Waxwing is like the Cedar Waxwing in habits, but is slightly larger, grayer, and generally rarer. Unlike the Cedar Waxwing, which nests in parks and gardens across the US, Bohemians nest way up in the arctic and will wander unpredictably when food is scarce.

So in any case, I was counting cedar waxwings when I noticed one that didnt look quite right. Here's how it went:
Ari: Oh! Look! A waxwing flock.
Jason: Let's count them.
Ari: 1...2...3...4...5.....................28...29...30...31...what the?.......HOLY S#%&T!!!!! THERE'S A BOHEMIAN WAXWING!!!
Jason: Oh my God. You're right!!

Thinking it would stay for a few minutes, I ran back to the car to get my camera, but unfortunately, the whole flock was gone by then.

I still can't believe I saw that bird. Here's a photo, in case you were wondering what it looks like.