Nobody 660

Sunday, July 30, 2006
Nobody # 660

Nobody Asked Me But:

Weldon Drew on basketball: “We have a great bunch of outside shooters. Unfortunately, all our games are played indoors.”

July 24 - My wife thinks I’m crazy, but I’m not. I am just a fan(atic) about Bruin basketball. That’s why I spend so much time reading about recruiting, and that’s why I will be nervous until sometime tomorrow when High school senior Kevin Love, a 6’ 10” tower of talent from Lake Otswego, Oregon, will announce his decision about where he is going to play starting in the fall of 2007. The number 1 or number 2 ranked recruit in the U. S. in his class, depending upon which ranking service one reads, will choose between UCLA and North Carolina and almost everyone expects it to be my Bruins. Actually, I do too, but recruiting is much more art than science and artists can surprise.

If he does choose Westwood I promise to listen to his Uncle Mike, and the rest of the Beach Boys sing “California Girl” all summer and “Merry Christmas, Baby” all winter.<<<

July 25 - It is 23 minutes until Love announces. I am still nervous but that’s okay. It means I care and caring is a good thing. When he announces I will feel ecstatic or depressed. If the latter, it won’t last long, because being a fan is a small piece of frosting on life’s cake. But I do like frosting.

The wait is over. Kevin Love is a Bruin. He will be the best Bruin center since Bill Walton graduated in 1974 and may be good enough to lead an already excellent team to our next National championship. (If we don’t win it this coming season.)

Was it worth the wait, worth all the hopes and fears? Absolutely.<<<

Barb says that I am good at multi-tasking. I finally do a task after she has asked me multi-times.<<<

This, from the current Time, may be old news, but not to me. According to the fanatics who control Iranian power but not the minds of many of the people, Pepsi stands for “pay each penny to save Israel?"

Pepsi is one of the products that these nuts, often unsuccessfully, urge the people to boycott.

My reaction: Since I prefer Coke, does that mean I am anti-Israel? Actually the article reminds me that, while they are not ready for a neocon type regime change, the hearts and minds of the Iranian common people are not lost. Attack them and their loyalty reverts to their government and the clerics who mostly control it. Don’t use force and many Iranians are not so sure that the Arab problem is a Persian problem - "If the lantern is needed at home, donating it to the mosque is haram [forbidden]."

Iran is a house divided. The religious and power elites on one side, supported by a substantial number of cause-oriented, easily swayed youth. On the other side are the good people, a majority in number, a clear minority when it comes to the distribution of power.

How do we deal with the former without alienating or even killing the latter? Sound familiar? Check out Israel in Lebanon. But we have an edge over Israel. We may be hated but we are recognized as legitimate. We can directly engage Iran diplomatically, but the Bush bunch won’t do it. And the tragedy is that their policy of shunning Iran, Syria and North Korea is as big a failure as their military fiasco in Iraq.<<<

Before we totally leave the subject, is there any reason why a stray Israeli missile can’t accidentally land on “Braveheart?” Mel Gibson, the self-appointed defender of Christianity, when arrested for drunk driving last week reportedly said that, "the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world."

If not a missile, how about a boycott? Sign here _____________.<<<

The Internet is soooo coooool. While Barb was taking a bath the other night, I watched a panel discussion by 3 NY Times columnists on politics. When David Brooks, the conservative in the trio, said that he thought Hillary would make a pretty good president, I almost fell out of my chair.<<<

Patt Morrison, in the LA Times, wonders if photography is becoming illegal in the United States?" She sites the following examples:

A man taking pictures of a symmetrical array of school buses gets a visit from Homeland Security.

A shutterbug shooting 16-millimeter film of the scenery outside the train window is questioned, and the film is confiscated.

A history student taking photos of the New York state Capitol for her class project finds the police at her door.

Another student in Seattle, photographing a popular tourist sight, is corralled by men declaring themselves to be "homeland security."

A Texas railroad buff takes pictures of trains and gets grilled for five hours by the FBI and the cops.

In the online photo magazine Vivid Light Photography, Jim McGee writes about photographer-cop encounters and "wild tales about 'made-up' laws that cops pull out of the air to justify their actions.”

My reaction: The Alien and Sedition Laws begat the Indian Removal Act, which begat Lincoln suspending the right of Habeas Corpus, which begat the Red Scare, which begat FDR’s executive order sending Japanese Americans to Manzanar and other “relocation” camps, which begat McCarthyism, which begat domestic spying by the FBI, which begat The Patriot Act.

AND NOT ONE OF THESE “EMERGENCY” ATTACKS ON THE BILL OF RIGHTS WAS NECESSARY!<<<

From the Sacramento Bee: Kids die in pools as safety bill stalls - In June, alone, four more small children drowned in pools.

The goal of Assembly Bill 2977 was to double protection around new residential swimming pools, while, at the same time, requiring older pools undergoing even slight upgrades to be retrofitted to the same.

And the killers are: lobbyists for the pool and spa industries, the only group listed as opponents to the bill. They emphatically stated that, “their industry will never support the requirement for two safety features for every pool.”

Did I read somewhere that their motto is, “Better a few kids dead than a few bucks lost?”<<<

"YO, BLAIR," AND COPPING A FEEL OF THE GERMAN CHANCELLOR – BUSH’S “HANDS ON” FOREIGN POLICY.

With England it’s frat boy style, “Yo, Blair,” probably followed by “get your ass over here or I’ll snap your butt with a towel.”

With Germany it’s hands on diplomacy – as in the surprise neck rub our beloved leader gave to German chancellor, Angela Merkel, during the Group of Eight meetings.

I’m all for friendly, but when our president makes the British Prime Minister look like a lackey, and offends the German chancellor with an inappropriate touchy/feely moment, it may be past time for some Rice advice.<<<

“There are places I'll remember” John Lennon

For me, Saratoga Springs, New York is one of the best.

Although Barb and I did not go there “for the waters,” nor for the ponies, we discovered a small town where the living would be easy. Start with the main street, Broadway, lined with immaculate shops, restaurants and a cool Starbucks where one can have excellent coffee or, on special occasions, a grande mocha while reading today’s NY Times - and then plug in the laptop for some browsing and writing.

After your wife has finished her type of browsing, she picks you up at SB and you cross the street to Congress Park, a delightful place to take a break and ride on the historic 1910 Marcus Illions carousel. Then venture down small side streets complete with their own delights including Hatties, a great Southern up-country restaurant. After some fried chicken or dirty shrimp, wander back to Broadway. Turn right, walk a couple of blocks and discover rows of Victorian homes to drool for.

Here is a bit of Saratoga Springs history, but don’t get too intrigued with the place. It’s mine.

The springs have been there forever - well almost forever. Iroquois hunters discovered the springs and celebrated their healing properties in the 14th century. Each is distinctive. The State Seal Spring is fresh, sweet and noncarbonated. Polaris, while delicious, is also naturally slightly radioactive - one sip gives you that glowing feeling. Island Spouter is so rich in gas and minerals that it shoots 15 feet into the air, which makes sipping a little difficult but try a bathhouse that uses it and you may be cured.

Saratoga Race Course, built in 1846, is one of the country's oldest and was featured in the movie “Billy Bathgate.” The racing season is July and August. Fans fill the town, which makes these months a good time to stay away unless you love crowds and trifectas.

Back on Broadway and across from the park is the Canfield Casino, which had a peculiar rule. Gambling, though illegal, was operated solely for visitors. Diamond Jim Brady, John Philip Sousa and a goodly share of mobsters played roulette and blackjack, but Saratoga residents were banned.

Things changed after the Kefauver hearings in 1951 that linked gambling to the mafia. The Canfield Casino closed and local residents were again treated the same as visitors. Nobody gambled.

But you can swing by the brick building, now a museum and learn that in 1853 Native American chef George Crum invented the potato chip at Moon's Lake Lodge near Saratoga Lake.

So munch on a few as you explore. Even stop by Starbuck’s and say hello. I’ll be the one (in my dreams) sitting by the window reading today’s news or pecking at my laptop. But then go home. I’m the last of the new residents. From now on this is a zero population growth town.<<<

Nobody 659

Nobody Asked Me But:

“I laugh and cry with the same eyes.” Poet James Kavanaugh

“I laugh because I must not cry.” Abraham Lincoln

PART I

“If this be treason, then make the most of it.” Patrick Henry

“Marine Cpl. Christopher Leon, 20, Lancaster; Killed by a Sniper.”

“Spc. Christopher D. Rose, 21, San Francisco; Killed by a Roadside Bomb.”

These two Californians, killed this past week, join the list of Americans who have died in vain in Iraq. I wanted to follow their names with a scream, as I did last week, AMERICA COME HOME!, but I can’t. There is too much evidence that our fanatical enemies claim victory and gain strength whenever their target withdraws. It happened following Russia’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, America from Lebanon and Israel from Lebanon and now Gaza.

So we are left with empty curses and dead Americans in a place to which they should never have been sent. Saddam Hussein's regime, loathsome as it was, provided a strategic balance in the region to the power of a greater enemy to world peace - a radicalized Iran. (And isn’t it ironic that our most dangerous enemy state is not even Arab?)

So, damn you George Bush! Dam you Dick Cheney. Damn you Don Rumsfeld! Dam you all for your criminal stupidity. God Damn you for putting our men, our women and our country in a lose/lose situation!

Dam you because you lied. Your Axis of Evil was never Syria, Iran and North Korea. It was always Iraq, Iraq and Iraq. You have done NOTHING about those countries who were always the real threat.

You have weakened our country and are now anxiously awaiting 2009 when you can run back home and leave your mistake for someone else to clean up.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

PART II

California Assembly Bill 1147 is not this year’s most important, but it has attracted some attention. Its purpose is to legalize hemp for use in car door panels, food - energy bars, granola, smoothies and body care – shampoos and soaps.

What’s very interesting about legalizing this cousin of marijuana — both members of the notorious cannabis family – is that it has joint sponsors - Democratic Assemblyman Mark Leno and Republican, Chuck DeVore.

However, if the bill does pass, and it looks to have an excellent chance, people, who want to get high legally will have to smoke a lot of car door panels or drink several quarts of shampoo. Hemp has 3/10 of 1 % dope as opposed to marijuana’s 3% to 15%<<<

How quaint: In 1867, Henry Ward Beecher, the great preacher, abolitionist and brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, was sued by his longtime friend, Theodore Tilton, for committing adultery with Tilton’s wife. The official charge was "criminal conversation." One wonders whether this charming Victorian euphemism covered only the act itself or did the naughty pair whisper “dirty” words in one another’s ear.<<<

Mickey Spillane died last Monday. He was my sex education teacher. I was half like his famous private eye, Mike Hammer. Hammer liked violence and women. I liked women.

In writing ability he was a C or maybe a C+, but he finished “I, The Jury,” his first book, with a three-line ending that is among the most famous in crime fiction.

After discovering that the killer is the seductively beautiful woman he has fallen for, Hammer shoots her with a .45 slug to her naked belly. The book's final three lines:

"How c-could you?" she gasped.

I only had a moment before talking to a corpse, but I got it in.

"It was easy," I said.

Thanks, Mickey, you gave this teen some cheap thrills – and I mean that in the best of ways.<<<

LA Times story lead: In Iraq, Civil War All but Declared

Since more than 6,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since May 1st, isn’t it is past time to remove the “all but?”<<<

LA Times story lead: In Claremont, Civil War All but Declared

Don’t burn the flag, use it as an advertising tool. That’s what real estate agent Nancy Telford and her husband did – planted flags on sticks with her card on them. "We did it to beautify the hill," Telford said. We're just being patriotic for the Fourth of July."

But Steven Llanusa, the board president of the Claraboya Homeowners Association, believed that the flags were just dressed-up advertising that violated the association's codes, covenants and restrictions, so, when the Telfords refused to remove them, he walked the neighborhood plucked then out of the ground and threw them into his trash can.

Now the community is at war. Some support Llanusa. Others want him persecuted and prosecuted for grand theft flag and desecration thereof. Condoleezza Rice is expected in Claremont momentarily to test her mediation skills before going to Lebanon.

In the meantime you and I are going to have to figure out why using Old Glory on a stick as an advertising tool is all right but dropping it in the trash is not.<<<

NY Times: Taliban militants seized two towns in tumultuous southern Afghanistan, forcing police and government officials to flee, officials said Monday.

Comment: Looks like even our declaration of victory in Afghanistan was premature.<<<

George Will agrees, as his criticism of the administration and the neocons shows:

“America responded to two hours of terrorism one September morning by toppling two regimes halfway around the world with wars that show no signs of ending.”<<<

And Will, in turn, continues to be verbally assaulted by his more radical conservative brothers -

From Slate: “Eric Johnson, a blogger at Catholic Light, continues the counter-attack on traditional conservative George Will’s criticism of “neos” for substituting eagerness for reason in pushing regime changes in the Middle East: ‘Will doesn't bother to refute the (Weekly) Standard's premise that Iran is driving much of the murder and mayhem throughout the Middle East.’”

My reaction: Since Iran is our greatest enemy, why are we fighting in Iraq?

The question stands alone but to take it a step farther, why are we fighting in Iraq, which was Iran’s greatest local enemy?<<<

This week’s quote comes from Maureen Dowd:

“In a twist that illustrated the growing power of Shiites and Iranians, even the Shiite Iraqi prime minister broke with the Bush stance and denounced Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Is there no honor among puppets?”

Baseball – the home of grand traditions and obscure records:

Tony Gwynn Jr. had a double for Milwaukee. His first hit. His father, an all-time great, had his first hit, also a double exactly 24 years earlier to the day.

Oakland’s Mark Ellis hit his 33rd home run Tuesday breaking a tie with Dave Collins for the most career home runs by a major leaguer born in South Dakota.<<<

A HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US! Last Thursday we celebrated 17 great years and are now heading for 17 more. I am a lucky man!<<<

Nobody # 658

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Nobody Asked Me But:

Procrastinator: One who lives each day as if it’s his next to last.

Here is the easiest test question of the year:
Do you think the Israeli military response inside Lebanon is justified?

Yes XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
No

I have been critical in the past of Israel’s “land grab” policies, but the bottom line is that, except for its few religious fanatics, Israel wants only to be left alone and live in peace. It is the Islamic world that will not allow this to happen.

From the New York Times: The European Union criticized Israel on Thursday for “the disproportionate use of force” in Lebanon.

There are things that I greatly admire about many European nations. Their consistent pro-Arab, knee-jerk response isn’t one of them.

From the LA Times: “Despite Hezbollah's Ties to Iran and Syria, it also acts alone.”

Like any parasite, a terrorist organization can’t live without a host.

“A beautiful day in San Francisco is the most beautiful day on earth.” Walter Mosley, speaking through his protagonist, Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins.

I include this line from “Cinnamon Skin”, not because it has any relevance to the rest of my essay, but because, in the midst of remodeling a bathroom I yearn for us to get away. And what better place than the city where every hill comes with its own unique and beautiful view, and where nature’s artist paints sky and water with her best paint and brightest colors. Among larger cities, its only rival for my affection is Seattle with its blue lakes and green foliage, but to get the green, one has to put up with the weather, and something about that dampens my enthusiasm.

Ladies and gentlemen: Welcome to the “Fight Between The Right,” the Republican version of the battle of the century.

In this corner: the traditional red conservatives - “Government is the enemy and any piece we can dismantle is good except the part where we rob the poor to help the rich who will then give back to the poor in low-paying jobs while amassing huge fortunes.”

And in this corner a tag-team red, composed of neo-conservatives - “the United States is exceptional and must use its power to spread Americanism around the world,” and the Religious Right – “the righteous (that’s us) shall inherit the world – starting with America.”



George Will, representing the traditional red fired a verbal shot across the bow of the tag-team red in last week’s Newsweek: “Conservatives might say that while Democrats, whipsawed by Republicans wielding the power of big government, are getting what they deserve, Republicans do not deserve the dominance they are thereby achieving.”

At the same time the neo’s were also on the attack, the target, their President:

Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute wrote, in The Wall Street Journal, after North Korea's missile tests last week that North Korea had achieved more "strategic successes" under the Bush administration than it had under President Clinton.

This weekend in The Weekly Standard, William Kristol, wrote, "The red lines, pink lines, and mauve lines of U.S. foreign policy seem increasingly to be written in erasable ink. What was 'unacceptable' to President Bush a week ago (a North Korean missile launch) has been accepted." He called the current policy "Clintonian."

And where is our president in this fight? Mostly bouncing back and forth, as he is pummeled on all sides. This past week when he wasn’t diddling over a nuclear Iran and dawdling over North Korean missile launches, he was surrendering (rightly so) to the Supreme Court on Guantanamo, which is bound to make all three groups see red.

Could it be that the president has discovered that even superpowers have limits, and his “think tank boys” don’t like it. That’s the difference between sitting in the Oval Office and writing about it.



Just so you know that disunity is not the exclusive domain of the Republicans, I give you Connecticut and the problem that is Joe Lieberman, or - should a political party purge its dissidents?

First a bit of background: Lieberman is, of course, a Democratic Senator from that state and the party’s ineffective candidate for vice president in 2000. He is being heavily challenged by Ned Lamont for the party nomination in his 2006 reelection bid. Here are two comments on each side of the issue and then my tiebreaker.

Suzanne Nossel of the group blog Democracy Arsenal writes - “The crux of Lieberman’s problem is his unwillingness to acknowledge the severity of what’s happened in Iraq , and to demand accountability for it. Given the severity of the consequences of the war, the public is right to demand a sharp focus on what went wrong, why and who bears responsibility.”

“Lieberman professes no interest in these questions, seeming to believe they should all be subsumed by overriding loyalty to the president amidst the threat of terror.”

In his Los Angeles Times column, Jonathan Chait calls the Lieberman-Lamont race “a full-scale Democratic civil war,” and he thinks the Nedroots are making a tactical error by attempting to oust Lieberman: “Although I’m no Karl Rove, it seems to me that turning a rock-solid Democratic seat into a potential Republican pickup represents something less than a political masterstroke.”

Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus thinks the campaign to defeat Lieberman is “disturbing”: “His bipartisan instincts should be commended, not pilloried. His refusal to back away from his convictions on Iraq deserves admiration even from those who disagree.”

“Wait a minute,” writes Matthew Yglesias at Tapped, The American Prospect blog: “The war is, a big deal and Lieberman’s views on it are ridiculous. Why can’t the campaign be about the war?”

Me: Anyone who feels an overriding loyalty to the president on the Iraqi War should be challenged and hopefully defeated. Contrary to what Ms. Marcus writes, bipartisan instincts are not commendable traits when American’s are dying in and for a mistake.

And while on that subject -

You know that we have been in Iraq too long when 50 more people are killed just in Baghdad and only the NY Times fronts the story. When death has become so commonplace as to be shoved to the inside pages it’s time to Come Home America.

Political speak: When politicians “address a problem,” it means either that they have no solution or no solution that would not lose them votes.

The first complete treatment for AIDS that is taken once a day as a single pill is expected to be available soon.

This begs the question to the Religious Right: Did that same God whom some of you claim sent AIDS as a punishment, send this pill to offset the punishment?

This week’s questions for yours truly:

Have you ever won a contest? If so, what was it for and what did you win?

Other than sports and courting, I don’t do well in contests. As best I can recall, my record is about 2 wins and 3,245 losses. The wins - a cake in a cake walk when I was a kid and $84 on a lottery ticket. I am sure you do not want me to spell out the 3,245 losses.

How often do you need solitude, and how and where do you find it?

How often? Most every day.

How? By letting Barb sleep every morning until 8.

Where? In my study with my computer.

Barb and I spend a great deal of time together and everything from work and play to simply being quietly together in the same room brings us both joy. But having those 2+ hours every morning with no needs to fill but my own is very satisfying. Throw in an occasional trip to Starbucks to drink black and either read or simply sit back and contemplate life’s possibilities, and my alone time is complete.

From the (formerly) highly respected (if conservative) Wall Street Journal:

“The ‘Clintonian moral climate’ of the 1990's was a root cause of Enron's problems.”

Right! And Monica was so hot that she probably caused global warming.