The 3-Minute Democrat

Rhode Island is holding primary elections today, March 4th (aka Command Day in some circles). More than half of RI voters are registered as Independents (including this blogger), meaning they can vote in either party's primary. So this afternoon, I marched forth and became a Democrat for 3 minutes. I went to my polling place, an elementary school, at 3:30, thinking I'd avoid direct contact with all the little germ incubators. No such luck. An afterschool program was in full swing when I arrived. Fortunately, I was wearing a heavy-duty surgical mask, as well as latex gloves. Voting takes place in the gym, which had maybe 15-20 people in it when I arrived. After becoming a Democrat and voting, I filled out a form to disaffiliate from the party and become an Independent again. Neither hell, high water nor a stem cell transplant can prevent me from doing my civic duty. Now let's hope I didn't get infected.

Unrelated political news: I spoke with Mariel last night who just returned from a trip to the Amazon. I knew she'd been in a border region, but had no idea if the park she visited was anywhere near the scene of the weekend FARC murders, which occured in Ecuadorian territory, close to the Colombian border. Since Venezuelan President Loco Chavez claimed he was sending troops to the area, as was Ecuador, I asked myself: why did we think studying in Ecuador was a good idea? Mariel had not been anywhere near the site of the massacre. According to Mariel's Ecuador Mom, whom I chatted with briefly, everyone's hoping for a peaceful resolution to the problema. Next weekend, Mariel's taking a trip to Banos, a town situated near an active volcano that just last month had been erupting violently. Fortunately, I have a bit of active volcano experience under my belt and therefore am not an alarmist. Volcanoes are fairly predictable, whereas political eruptions are much more difficult to gauge.