Congratulations Barry Bonds

I don't want to wait until Barry Bonds breaks Hank Aaron's home run record to congratulate him. He is only two shy of tying the record and he will surely break the record. Congratulations Barry Bonds. I don't know whether or not you used steroids on the way to breaking the record. There are all sorts of rumors that you did. Until someone proves that you did anything illegal the record is yours! Baseball must live with the abuses it allowed over the years and as a result modern day individual records will be tarnished . Barry Bonds , if you did anything illegal please own up to it. If you didn't, enjoy your moment of glory and then fade out of the game!

Shades of Young Abe Lincoln

On Thursday, July 19, 2007 the Associated Press had a story about young Guineans studying under the dim parking lot lights at G'bessi Airport in Conakry, Guinea. Only about a fifth of Guinea's 10 million people have access to electricity. Students long ago discovered that the airport is one of the few places where the lights never go out and go there to study for their exams.
I couldn’t help being impressed. It also brought to mind young Abe Lincoln studying by the light of a fireplace. As with Lincoln ,the pursuit of education no matter the obstacles can only bode well later in life.
We take much for granted in this country and education is right there at the top of the list. Our schools evolved from one room school houses to quasi campuses. Rather than studying by parking lot lights our students have the best that technology can offer in the way of study aids. This is true whether they are in an urban or rural area. Not all take advantage of the fruits of studying and that is a shame. I hope that the story of the young Guineans is brought to the attention of our young Americans.

A State Without Borders?

President Bush announced an initiative on Monday, July 16 to shore up the Palestinian president and to begin building a Palestinian state, signaling that his administration will use its remaining months to make a major push for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Israel reacted on Tuesday, July 17 by ruling out negotiations "at this stage" over the boundaries of a future Palestinian state, rebuffing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and casting doubt on a renewed U.S. push to address the issue. So goes the Middle East peace process.

The Bush initiative is almost laughable. Why has he waited so long? Are we legacy building? Nowhere in his initiative is he involving the Mediterranean European countries. Is it because they have made it plain that the success of any peace initiative is dependent on concessions from Israel? Our middle East foreign policy has been held hostage by Israel and Zionists and has no room for forcing Israel to make meaningful concessions. Bush’s initiative is grandstanding and has no real substance other than bribe money for Abbas.

How can there ever be a Palestinian state if any discussion of boundaries and Jerusalem is off the table? Palestinians need more than financial support, they need respect for their vision of a Palestinian state with borders. A “border less Palestine” can only provide food for violence and terrorism. Israel has its borders. Palestine needs borders. There will be no peace until borders are on the agenda.

On Quagmire, “Fragmire” And “Legismire”

If a quagmire is a difficult, precarious, or entrapping position what is a “fragmire” ?A “fragmire” is a difficult, precarious, or entrapping position in the midst of a fragmented, tribal society a.k.a.. Iraq. Which is worse? FRAGMIRE! What is a “legismire”? A “legismire” is a difficult, precarious, or entrapping position held by the majority in the Congress i.e. the Democratic Party. The Democrats would like to get us out of the “fragmire” but the quagmire which is the current Congress creates a predicament which makes any meaningful legislation difficult. If the legislation is meaningful then Joe Lieberman may bolt to the Republicans and there goes the razor thin Senate majority. If legislation is more than a token disapproval of the Iraq “fragmire”, the Democrats risk the label of traitors. If legislation calls for stringent energy conservation measures, the oil lobby and Detroit stand poised to spend millions to dilute the proposals. If attempts are made for healthcare reform legislation, the insurance lobbyists will overwhelm Congress with all kinds of slight of hand proposals. If education reform and social services reform are proposed, the religious right is right there ready to undermine what is left of the separation of church and state. Thus the “legismire”.Should the Democratic majority play it safe? Hopefully they will summon the courage to extricate themselves from the quagmire by aggressively forcing a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, by passing a resolution calling for the division of Iraq into homogeneous religious and tribal states, by passing legislation forcing energy conservation, by backing away from faith based initiatives and sending the religious right packing, and by funding a War On Global Warming.

The road to meeting these objectives is treacherous . I’m sure that any political strategist in his right mind would advise a detour. It is not an overnight trip but it is one which must be undertaken. The future of the country depends on traveling the road to peace and solving domestic and climate issues. Along the way the Democratic Party must find a "Driver" who will navigate that road all the way to the finish line - November, 2008. Waiting for that "Driver" is like waiting for the Messiah but one must have faith - he or she will come forth!

Holy cow, its Saint Bush!
What was this photo trying to convey? Could it be that during his last visit with Benedict he got an answer on his legacy? Is the Vatican considering canonization? Will Bush convert?

Divide Iraq ?

NPR News reported this morning that the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is approaching one-half trillion dollars. Mind boggling and what has it bought us. Pretty expensive to put Saddam Hussein in a grave and Osama bin Laden in a new home. It should be apparent that the present war strategy is a failure.

The reluctance of the Bush administration to change course will drive Iraq into ruin and weaken this country . The argument for staying the course is that if we withdraw our forces Iraq will go into all out civil war. In other words we must assume the role of a police force for a country that is embroiled in bloody sectarian conflict. More accurately it appears that for the foreseeable future we will be a police force refereeing a civil war. Is that what half a trillion dollars is buying us! To both Democrats and Republicans alike this should be unacceptable. Rather than debating troop withdrawals and time tables isn’t it time to use our power to implement the division of Iraq? It has been proposed in the past by Senator Biden and has been endorsed by Senator Brownback. Now we have Edward P. Joseph of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and Michael O'Hanlon, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution trying to draw the attention of Bush administration policymakers to a plan which would divide the country into three main regions. Each would assume primary responsibility for its own security and governance, as Iraqi Kurds already have in Kurdistan.

Detractors of plans to divide Iraq point out that it will lead to instability, as though we have stability now. Our current strategy is not working and its time to admit failure in establishing a stable Iraq. The division of Iraq is an alternative that should be pursued. In my opinion a united Iraq will not come from an experiment in democracy. A strongman type of government will certainly evolve. But isn’t that what we liberated Iraq from? Divide Iraq into three main regions before its too late! At the very least give The Iraq Study Group recommendations a chance. THE IRAQ WAR MUST END!

Back To The Future

What is Benedict up to ? The minority traditionalists in the Catholic Church will have their way just as the religious right in this country has had its way. Along with extreme Muslims and ultra orthodox Jews they are taking us back to the times of religious ignorance and intolerance.

(It was reported on 7/11 that Benedict has also approved a decree re-establishing the old premise that The Roman Catholic Church is the only true church and that salvation will be achieved only thru Catholicism. Now we know what he is up to. He is taking the church back to the Middle Ages. Will a Grand Inquisitor be appointed next?)

The September Song And Dance

What kind of a song and dance is behind the Iraq progress report to be made by General Petraeus in September? What will we know in two more months than we already know ? Why not an honest assessment at this time? Perhaps it will take two months to write a face saving report. One hundred Iraqi civilians killed by a suicide bomber today! Who will convince their families that progress is being made? Questions and more questions. The song and dance man -in chief is not answering the questions and is still bent on selling us on the Iraq War. Better he take another look at the recommendations of The Iraq Study Group before it's too late!

About Energy

Lately I’ve noticed that after my morning walk or shopping trip to the mall I run out of gas. Am I succumbing to advanced years? Is it a malady of seniors? I was about to make an appointment at the renowned Cleveland Clinic when I found my answer in the morning paper. It has nothing to do with aging! The whole world is running out of gas.

That being the case there must be some experts working on solving the energy crisis. Lo and behold there is no dearth of experts and countless solutions abound. My lack of energy is no small problem to me so I eagerly sought out a solution that might work for me.

As oil gets scarce it has been proposed that harnessing wind power will cut down on oil consumption. So off I went on my walk with one of those beanie caps with a propeller on top . Sure enough if I went into a trot the propeller started to turn. Problem - at my age a trot is not an option and in spite of the wind power I ran out of gas after trotting one hundred yards.





Solar energy has also been proposed as a solution to the energy crisis. I removed some solar cells from the outdoor light fixtures and mounted them on a plate. My thought was that as I walked with the solar panel held close to me, my body would absorb solar energy. No way , this is Northeast Ohio and sunny mornings are rare. All that I accomplished was to become exhausted carrying a solar panel.




I said that there were countless proposals for alleviating the energy crisis. An intriguing one involves the use of hydrogen gas to run our cars. Would a change to a gassy diet provide the energy I was seeking? I went on a diet of beans, prunes and cabbage. One week into my diet gas generation was at its peak. Yes indeed, one mile into my walk there was an eruption of gaseous energy. I made an abrupt turn, sprang into a trot and raced for home. Just made it, but the whole ordeal unnerved me. It wasn’t the kind of energy I was looking for so I went back to my normal diet.

Obviously the solutions I experimented with were not meant for the human body. I was about to give up but I perked up when I read about ethanol and how renewable energy sources would be our salvation. I didn’t see how it could do anything for my energy level but then again not worrying about where my next tank of gas might be coming from might be just the medicine to rev up my engine. As I read more about ethanol I found that ethanol fuel production depends on availability of land area, soil, water and sunlight. I was shocked to learn that ethanol contains about thirty-four per cent less energy than gasoline. In other words my fuel efficient Toyota would become an ethanol guzzler. It’s a vicious circle. Everything has its price. Ethanol will reduce our dependence on foreign oil but we’ll need more gallons of ethanol versus gasoline to satisfy our energy needs. This in turn will kick in the law of supply and demand. As the demand for ethanol increases, more land will be devoted to raising crops for ethanol production rather than for food. If the food supply diminishes, food prices must go up. After all if chickens and cows eat expensive corn then we will eat expensive chickens, eggs and beef. If that’s not bad enough, we may have to import corn in order to satisfy our demand for ethanol. Looks like we’re back where we started, depending on foreign products for our energy needs.
The bottom line is that rising food prices will mean a change in my diet which could very well result in a lower energy level. I decided to go ahead with my original plan and make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic - not Internal Medicine but the Psychiatric Department. This quest for energy is driving me nuts!

Will Giambi be baseball's Libby?

All is quiet on the steroid front as Bond's closes in on Hank Aaron's home run record. Senator Mitchell seems to be studying the hell out of the issue and does not appear to be close to issuing a report. The prize catch so far is Jason Giambi who was trapped into being questioned by Mitchell. I wouldn't be surprised if Giambi becomes the centerpiece of his report. Everyone else has been stonewalling the investigation and as in the Plame leak investigation the high profile culprits will probably escape unscathed. Giambi deserves better. At least he's been honest as compared to a certain Libby.