Wedded

Got married Saturday in a wonderful ceremony we wrote ourselves. Photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/pattyandmike/tags/wedding/

Honeymoon in Fredericksburg was a delight. One of the best things about it was the guesthouse we stayed in. Photos at http://flickr.com/pattandmike/tags/honeymoon

Got our king-size mattress from Ikea today. It needs a few days to expand (it's made of foam).

Consider the issues in the presidential election. Do they stand independently? Perhaps they are more connected than we first think:

• Oil consumption leads to global warming and militarism in the mideast
• Militarism in the mideast leads to terrorism and war
• Global warming leads to agricultural challenges and threat of flooding, fires
• Farm subsidies increase illegal immigration and impoverish farmers in the developing world
• Poverty in the developing world leads to increased illegal immigration
• Poverty in the developing world leads to increased religious fundamentalism, which leads to terrorism
• Terrorism leads to higher US militarism
• It has been theorized by economists that abortion rights led to the decline in crime in the late 20th century in the US
• Farm subsidies, fighting crime, caring for the poor, and militarism lead to higher taxes

Want to lower taxes, reduce crime, reduce illegal immigration, reduce terrorism threats, and bring our fellow citizens home from Iraq and other dangerous points? Consume less (gas and goods) and vote for candidates who will reduce military and farm spending, and increase personal freedoms.

For a more authoritative commentary, listen to former Labor Secretary Robert Reich's commentary from public radio's Marketplace, a show on economics and finance: http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/01/09/policy_integration/