Notable Links



Denver Internet Marketing by Parallel Path

Arvada Boutique Clothing Store Stella B's

A 3 hour tour

by: DavidThi808

Sun Jul 13, 2008 at 20:32:08 PM MDT


Anyone remember Gilligan's Island? Even a group as clueless as that was focused on getting off the island. You're stuck on a deserted island - primary focus is getting off the damn island. Why is that so hard to figure out?

Ok, the 3 amigos were asked the standard Daily Camera question "If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three things would you want with you?" And the answers range from poor to excellent.
DavidThi808 :: A 3 hour tour

Joan Fitz-Gerald: A good, thick book, sun block (SPF 45+) and a raft.

Grade F : Either she is going to lie on the raft anchored near shore until she starves to death as she has no tools to help her hunt food. Or she will push off from shore on the raft to float aimlessly until she starves to death. A raft doesn't spell rescue - the ocean is gigantic and islands are few and far apart. Terrible answer.

Jared Polis: My computer with a universal wireless card so I could blog about my experiences; a solar panel for my computer; and a boat to get back home with.

Grade A-- : Ok, Jared will return home safe and sound with a boat. So he got the key issue right. But a universal wireless card? Last I heard, there are no cellular towers on deserted islands, nor in the middle of the ocean. A sat-phone, yes. But a universal wireless card - that's as useful as a microwave oven on a deserted island. (And Jared's technically literate, he knows this.)

Will Shafroth: A survival kit -- with fire-making materials, water filter, space blanket, knife, journal and a deluxe inflatable mattress. A fishing rod with lots of hooks and lures. A complete set of James Michener's books.

Grade C : Will is going to be able to live indefinitely on the island. And that's a good thing as he's never going to get off the island. Nothing. No thought to getting home.

So what does this question tell us about the thought processes of the three candidates? Well if they approach legislation like they approached this question we get:

Jared Polis will look outside the box to find a way to eliminate the problem, and then add on some useless items.

Will Shafroth will stay within the perceived constraints of a problem - but will then craft a good response to mitigate the worst of the problem.

Joan Fitz-Gerald will also come up with a solution to eliminate the problem - but her solution will fail - badly.

With Jared you get home. With Will you live. With Joan - sorry...
Tags: , , , (All Tags)

Share this post:

A 3 hour tour | 38 comments
lol
good diary

"There are a lot of reasons not to elect me." Mitt Romney in a moment of clarity

"I'm Mitt Romney and yes, Wolf, that's also my first name," Willard Mitt Romney demonstrating 'policy flexibility.'  

Here's a link
to the Colorado Daily article

Based only on the article, on Energy and the Environment, I'd give Shafroth a B, Polis a B-, and Fitz-Gerald a C+

Shafroth mentioned the need to protect special and unique places in Colorado (Roan Plateau, roadless forests) and efficiency; Polis mentioned his ten-point plan and that more drilling is not going to solve our problems; Fitz-Gerald also mentioned this last point, but spoke more about what she claims to have done in the State House rather than what she will do in Congress.


"There are a lot of reasons not to elect me." Mitt Romney in a moment of clarity

"I'm Mitt Romney and yes, Wolf, that's also my first name," Willard Mitt Romney demonstrating 'policy flexibility.'  

Spun as usual
The question was:

"If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three things would you want with you?"

See the word stranded? If you have a boat, you aren't stranded. Jared showed something by his answer allright--he demonstrated his ability to dodge the question.

Good catch, but the conclusion still stands
Jared refuses to accept the constraints someone gives him and is hopeful about the future. Will accepts what he is told and just tries to make the best of a bad situation.

I don't know either one very well, but it sure sounds like a good match for their stump personas!

[ Parent ]
This is like saying...
You have a $600 billion dollar deficit and have tapped out your creditors.  How do you fix it?  Well, we increase spending by $20 billion and invest so that in the future we have more income!

I'm sorry, Dave, you can't do that!

I like "thinking outside the box", but I tend to assume that if I can see a box-shaped object, I'm not looking at a sphere.

"We're below sharks and contract killers." -- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), speaking on Congress's 9% approval rating

[ Parent ]
You could just become a paid staffer...
My take on those three questions:

Joan: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade - the raft isn't for getting home...  I'll live on coconuts, mangoes and other things found on deserted islands - when was the last time you saw Gilligan hunting?

Jared: Sounds like a nice place to visit; I'll tell you about it.  And when I'm bored, I'll just take the boat - see, I'm not really "stuck".

Will: I know how to survive, be comfortable, and relax in any situation.  Since I might be here a while, Michener seems like an appropriate amount of material.

All three: God, this is a dumb question!

"We're below sharks and contract killers." -- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), speaking on Congress's 9% approval rating

I've been very consistent on this question
Please take a look at my post about this re the Boulder City Council election. This is the post that started my blogging a lot.

I want a legislator who clues in to the simple response of get me off the island. It's like if you get 3 wishes what do you wish for. Wish 1 is "more wishes." Problem elimination is a greatly desired trait in those we elect.

Where all the cool kids will be on Saturday - Code War!

[ Parent ]
So...
You want someone who can't follow basic rules? Someone like that won't get far in Congress.
[ Parent ]
I think you don't understand the meaning of the term
From The Free Dictionary

To drive or run ashore or aground.

There is nothing in that which says I must remain there. It merely says I am going to find myself run aground. Think of this as you are on a ship going down next to the island and you have time to just grab 3 things - what are they.

I think the definition of "stranded" in no way precludes selecting items that will get you off the island. For your logic to hold the word used would have been "restricted to" rather than "stranded."

ps - I think the best answer is a solar powered satellite phone with GPS, food & water for a week, and a couple of good books.

Where all the cool kids will be on Saturday - Code War!

[ Parent ]
Beer?

[ Parent ]
Try some others
Princeton WordNet: isolated; cut off or left behind

Wiktionary: abandoned or marooned; (of a vessel) run aground

Miriam-Webster: to run aground; to leave in a strange or unfavorable place, esp. without the [...] means to depart.

The question says "YOU are stranded".  No boat mentioned.

"We're below sharks and contract killers." -- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), speaking on Congress's 9% approval rating

[ Parent ]
I think you're making an invalid assumption
You're making the same mistake that Will made. Yes by all those definitions you're dumped there, alone, abandoned, far away from civilization.

But you then get 3 things. Any 3 things. It does not say only things that won't help you leave the island.

Lets say I'm Dr. Evil and I tell my henchmen to strand you on a deserted island, but to give you any 3 things you ask for. Are you going to ask for a boat and/or a satellite phone? I sure would. They might say no - but they might also say yes (henchmen are notoriously stupid).

Where all the cool kids will be on Saturday - Code War!

[ Parent ]
Dr. Evil is notoriously stupid
His henchmen are worse.

I reject the assumption because it removes the premise of the question.

If you're going to give Joan an F for making the most out of her movie-inspired situation, and Will a C because he's thought about survival (and managed to cheat the rules because he wanted a kit containing more than three items...), then Jared cannot receive an A- for wanting the one thing that he obviously can't have, and a wireless card that won't work in the middle of nowhere.


"We're below sharks and contract killers." -- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), speaking on Congress's 9% approval rating

[ Parent ]
I can't believe...
That there's an actual debate going on in this diary.

I knew a stripper named Skyler once.  --TaxCheatGeithner
[ Parent ]
Exactly...
despite my comment below, this is a little more than ridiculous...  
[ Parent ]
Look...
If you can't decide - boat or plane - then don't comment.  </snark>

"We're below sharks and contract killers." -- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), speaking on Congress's 9% approval rating
[ Parent ]
It resonated more than I expected
Maybe it was just a slow news night. Or people just wanted to have fun.

Where all the cool kids will be on Saturday - Code War!
[ Parent ]
and a couple of good books
Why not a Kindle? Then you wouldn't be stuck with a couple of books, and you could read at night too.
[ Parent ]
A Kindle needs wireless
So it would be like Jared's wireless adapter - useless.

Where all the cool kids will be on Saturday - Code War!
[ Parent ]
Not if you've loaded it up
before being stranded.
[ Parent ]
Sorry Dave
This sounds way too much like you are expecting a Captain Kirk style Kobayashi Maru response. Be careful, your geekitude is showing.

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason and intellect has intended us to forego their use..." -- Galileo Galilei, 1615
[ Parent ]
Wow...
looks like someone is over-thinking what  was supposed to be a fun question bringing a little levity to a reasonably contentious campaign.

I'm a JP supporter but I've gotta say Will's answer was the best and agree w/ our resident Shafroth shill, twotone, that the key word here is "stranded."  

JFG's answer is just lame.  Well, maybe not lame, just boring.  C-

JP's answer is interesting...but who in their right mind would care about a rich guy from Boulder's experiences on a deserted island?  Seriously, who wants to read a blog that talks about: "Day 12:  I'm still stranded without access to my beloved turtlenecks and blue blazer.  Perhaps I should hop in my boat and try to find home.  But no, more blogging must be done.  Stay tuned."  D

Will, though, is being realistic.  He's freakin' stranded so he wants to make the best of a bad situation.  That's what a big chunk of being a legislator is all about.  My only complaint is his collection of Michener books.  I mean, have you read Alaska?  How about The Drifters?  It's like Kerouac without actually being...um...interesting.  B+


Dabee, points for best post yet
on this thread, IMO.

Well put on all counts.

While I agree that it is somewhat peculiar that such a non-issue has started a vigorous back-and-forth, the operative word here is stranded, and that by most accounts stranded means--stuck, not able to leave, etc.  

Sure, you can insert Dr. Evil, his bumbling henchmen, etc. etc. but isn't that taking it too far?  If not, than if its anything you can have I would vote for:

1-well-equipped island cabana complete with solar panels, a stocked fridge and pantry, and sufficient help to keep it tidy, do the landscaping, etc.;

2-regularly scheduled charter service back-and-forth; and,

3-a golf cart.  

[ Parent ]
Haha, thanks...
the golf cart is obviously the most important of the three  :P
[ Parent ]
Michner's early stuff is great
Tales of the South Pacific is fantastic as is the Bridge at Toko-Ri and his one about the Hungarian uprising.

Where all the cool kids will be on Saturday - Code War!
[ Parent ]
Summary of interviews (part 1)
Q1: single most important issue constituents bring to your attention...
  • Jared: No one issue - Iraq, food/gas costs, health care, environment, "other"
  • Joan: health care
  • Will: economy

Q2: health care crisis - is there one, and how do you fix it?
  • Joan: Yes, fix via single-payer system (supports HR676).
  • Will: Yes, supports Obama's reforms
  • Jared: Yes, supports "comprehensive reform for universal quality health care".

Q3: Environmental concerns - as important with other problems looming?
  • Will: Yes.  Environment drives our economy; also, alternative energy good for economy.
  • Jared: Yes.  Talks about energy efficiency and renewables to improve efficiency.
  • Joan: Yes.  Efficiency and renewables are job-creation efforts, reduces nat. security spending for overseas oil.

Q4: Energy use and energy policy (reduce dependence on foreign oil)
  • Jared: Reduce carbon footprint through 50MPG efficiency (2020), 10% ZEV (2014), and invest in renewables.
  • Joan: Call for citizen buy-in to efficiency/renewables.  Incentives, money taken from current oil subsidies.
  • Will: Efficiency, invest in renewable energy R&D, and 30% renewable energy by 2020.

My evaluation:
  • Q1: Jared didn't properly answer the question.
  • Q2: Joan's answer on health care was most comprehensive; Jared's answer may be similar, but I can't tell for sure from the wording.  I'm not a fan of Obama's plan compared to HR676, so Will's answer falls short of my hopes...
  • Q3: Will and Joan focus on benefits to economy to help us through tough times, which was the thrust of the question.
  • Q4: All three give good answers. Jared very ambitious on vehicles, Will on renewables.  Joan emphasized a different point - citizen buy-in - which will be important.


"We're below sharks and contract killers." -- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), speaking on Congress's 9% approval rating
Summary of interviews (part 2)
Q5: Iraq getting better.  Still get out?  Why?
  • Joan: Yes, and immediately.  Iraq doesn't want us there, we're spending our children's money on it, not much political progress.
  • Will: Yes, funding must have a(n expedited) timetable.  Engage regional countries to develop peace and peacekeeping in Iraq.
  • Jared: Yes, according to the Responsible Plan.  No residual troops.  Colossal mistake with no easy solutions.

Q6: Illegal immigration
  • All candidates gave similar answers: path to citizenship, enforce vs. employers, fix problems with current program.

Q7: Forclosure crisis
  • Will: Longer re-negotiating period, boost market through 1st-time buyer purchase of foreclosures, crack down on predatory lending, create jobs for long-term solution.
  • Jared: Financial Product Safety Commission to review/regulate products, support FDIC introductory rate freeze, work with foreclosing agents to maintain properties, extend repayment window.
  • Joan: supports many current U.S. House measures - not sure what they do.

Q8: pork-barrel spending / earmarking
  • Jared: End earmarking; funding "by merit only".  Not all projects bad (NOAA, NREL, CU, others in district.
  • Joan: NOAA, NIST, universities depend on fed dollars.  Would fund for public good vs. individual business benefit.  If she could get pine beetle funding, she'd feel good about it.
  • Will: Supports pay-go.  Would work to fund NOAA, NCAR, NREL, RMNP - important to district.

My evaluation:
  • Q5: Joan's answer strongest, but all good answers; I worry about timetable float in Responsible Plan, and did for ISG plan that it was based on, too.
  • Q6: Not much difference here.  Jared has a bit more specificity as he supports and details Salazar's plan, but all have the basics down.
  • Q7: Something to be desired in each response, IMHO.  Joan's answer was the political answer to a techie's alphabet soup; Jared wants to help loan agents keep up the properties they foreclosed; Will wants to subsidize repurchase of foreclosed homes to 1st-time buyers.  I think they're mostly going the right direction, but...
  • Q8: I wish Will and Joan had addressed earmark reform, while I think Jared misses the point that removing earmarks means the not-necessarily-impartial Administration gets to decide instead, and removes a valuable path for advocacy.


"We're below sharks and contract killers." -- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), speaking on Congress's 9% approval rating
For completeness
I missed something important on Joan's answer to Q8, and that is her emphasis in her response on the importance of balancing the budget (and her experience at that).

While I abbreviated all of these answers, I felt that in this specific case my abbreviation took away from the answer significantly.

"We're below sharks and contract killers." -- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), speaking on Congress's 9% approval rating

[ Parent ]
Summary of interviews (part 3)
Q9: CD-2 is diverse.  What do you do for cafe owner in Eagle?  Tech company owner in Broomfield?
  • Joan: Single best thing for both is single-payer health care.  Met mtn. cafe owners while representing district, won award for high-tech work in State Senate.
  • Will: We all want similar things - better health care, education system, environment, and emphasize transportation.  Been all over state and can listen to and understand diverse needs.
  • Jared: For cafe owner, health care, small business capital and program help.  For tech, update IP laws - strong incentives but reasonable use of IP.

Q10: What would you do for educational reform?
  • Will: Major overhaul of NCLB.  Support early childhood education programs.
  • Jared: National starting teacher salary $40k.  Innovate and diversify school system to reach kids not currently succeeding through school system.
  • Joan: Early education.  Smaller class size.  Better teacher wages.  (Rural) School repair issues.

My evaluation:
  • Q9: Will and Joan focus on commonalities; Jared on specifics per-person.  All good answers, though.  I'd love to hear more on IP reform - it's a pet concern of mine and something Jared should be strong on.
  • Q10: I think all of the candidates have the basics of education down well, and each missed points that I know they've made during the campaign.  I'd like to see Joan talk more on school innovation, and know I wanted to hear more from Jared on NCLB reform from hearing him elsewhere.


"We're below sharks and contract killers." -- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), speaking on Congress's 9% approval rating
Good reasonable analysis
I don't agree with all your points, but at least you are looking for something more than someone saying "boat."
[ Parent ]
I would have been more impressed
with "submarine."
[ Parent ]
Thanks
... and I'm looking for counter-analysis.  I tried to condense the responses down into accurate summaries without bias so that everyone could read and provide their own take on the various points.

And I specifically did it because while David puts great stock in his analysis of something meant to be a fluff question, I wanted an analysis of the entire set of interview questions.

"We're below sharks and contract killers." -- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), speaking on Congress's 9% approval rating

[ Parent ]
The same problem, in video format


Where all the cool kids will be on Saturday - Code War!
Clearly, the best TV theme song of all time.
What other theme song, in less than one minute, introduces all of the characters and tells why their lives are intertwined?

Okay ... The Brady Bunch accomplishes all of that, but it's completely off the topic of the boat theme and the relevant and riveting discussion of the meaning of "stranded."

[ Parent ]
According to USA Today - a boat is a good answer
USA Today asked the same question in this article of the presidential article.

Amazingly, only Tom Tancredo wanted off the island.

Continuing its "personal side" series of offbeat questions for the presidential candidates, the Associated Press reports on what they said they would want to have if they were stranded on a desert island. Apparently, Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado is the only one who thought he might want to get off the island:

Question: What is your desert island necessity?



Where all the cool kids will be on Saturday - Code War!
Uh-oh...
You and JP agree with TT.  This can't be good.  :P

I like the "my wife" answers.  If I was stranded, I think I'd choose Dennis Kucinich's wife too, haha...  Just kidding...sort of...  :)

[ Parent ]
I thought of that
But I figured if I was truly stranded forever, better that it's only me and my wife still gets to live in the regular world.

So what I would want most was my wife and daughters - but I would never put them on my list.

It is curious that only TT thought of that. I wonder how much thought the others gave it.

Where all the cool kids will be on Saturday - Code War!

[ Parent ]
Republican Answer
I don't want off the island
I want a construction company and a marketing firm. I'll build a tropical resort and retire rich.  
A 3 hour tour | 38 comments
Menu

Make a New Account

Username:

Password:



Forget your username or password?






Advertise Here!
ads@coloradopols.com


Active Users
Currently 12 user(s) logged on.

Search




Advanced Search


Colorado Pols Network


Jeffco Pols
Summers, Kerr to Host Joint Town Hall on Saturday
Jeffco Pols
Joe Coors Announcing CD-7 Run Today
Jeffco Pols
Roybal Fined for Wiechman Loan
Jeffco Pols
  More >

Denver Pols
Poll: Who Will Win the HD-1 Primary?
Denver Pols
Hancock Rolls Out Economic Development Plan
Denver Pols
Michael Hancock Wades into ASSET Debate
Denver Pols
  More >













RSS 2.0



Pols Gets Mobile: ColoradoPols.com/mobile/

Colorado Pols is on Twitter: twitter.com/coloradopols

Email Pols


How to Write a Diary That Will Make the Front Page



Terms of Use/Privacy Policy



Pols Posting Policies



The Pols Penalty Box



Yard Signs!



The Pols "Mailbag"

Mailbag #1



Relevant Links

The Big Media Blog

Blog It Right

Blog For Growth

Blogometer

Business Word

Colorado Capitol Journal

Colorado Center on Law and Policy

Colorado Democratic Party

Colorado Ethics Watch

Colorado Independent

Colorado Labor Blog

Colorado Veterans for America

Colorado Legislature

Colorado Lib

Colorado Libertarian Blog

Colorado Media Matters

Colorado Progressive Coalition

Colorado Republican Party

Colorado Secretary of State

Colorado Senate Dems

Colorado Senate GOP

Colorado Young Democrats

Commentary Today

Coyote Gulch

CU Democrats

Curious Stranger

Daily Kos

Dan Willis-Rumors

Dem Notes

Democracy for Colorado

Denver Politics

East Boulder County Politics

Ed Stein Ink

Election Neutrality Now

eleXn

George in Denver

Great Education Colorado

Head First Colorado

The Hotline Political Network

Junction Daily Blog

Left in the West

Liberal and Loving It

Maintain Educational Standards in Colorado

Mount Virtus

MyDD

National Journal

On Call

Peak Dems

Political State Report

Progress Now

Prometheus

Project Vote Smart

Radio Free Denver

Senate Guru

Slapstick Politics

Steam Powered Opinions

Square State

Stygius

TalkLeft

The Thicket

The Bell Policy Center

The Hypothetical Wren

ThomasMC.com

Toilet Paper Online

TRACER Campaign Finance

View From a Height

Walter in Denver

Wash Park Prophet

Western Democrat


 
Colorado Pols is wholly owned by Colorado Pols, LLC
webmaster-at-coloradopols.com

Powered by: SoapBlox