MONDAY through WEDNESDAY, May 13 through 15, 2008

• The pygmies comprising the "leadership" of Burma should be charged with Crimes Against Humanity at the International Court in The Hague.  If the U.N. can do nothing but threaten to expel these bastards from that organization, they will have given the world...or at least the U.S...yet another reason to ignore it. 
• Recently published is a photo of our troops walking through poppy fields in Afghanistan with the inscription assuring the reader that they are leaving that crop undisturbed.  Why?  I have previously addressed this subject in this section.  The farmers should be paid their usual wages for the crop; the crop should be totally destroyed; and the middle-men and political leaders who complain should be jailed.  Then the farmers should be supported in growing different and profitable crops.  Why is this so hard?  Who in Afghanistan, Pakistan and in this country are being paid off to block this action?
• Hillary, Obama, "just plain folks", the super-delegates and the pundits.  Only Hillary and the folks have it right.  It's Not the Math, stupid!   It's what the people want that counts: all the people, from past and future primaries, and including those residing in Michigan and Florida.  The liberal pundits don't want Hillary.  The super-delegates will pledge, un-pledge and re-pledge based upon the prevailing winds in August.  And that's how it should be, despite the best efforts of the undemocratic Democratic leadership. 
• Do alien beings, advanced enough to engage in interstellar travel, exist?  I don't know.  But at least now the Catholic Church says that such a concept could be embraced by that Religion.  My theory: any culture that advanced would want nothing at all to do with us: inferior and warlike beings, stuck in arrested development.  As for Religion and God: "The Ways Of The Lord Are Straight...On A Crooked Path."

GS

SUNDAY, May 12, 2008

In the interest of being "fair and balanced", given my long-standing and continuing negative opinion of Barack Obama, I offer the following.  What am I missing here?  GS

And amazing it was. It made it possible for him to stand today on the verge of being the first black person ever nominated for president by a major party.

One could guess the thoughts of the blacks and whites in that crowd: Can you believe that our state — South Carolina, first to secede and first to open fire in the Civil War — is now catapulting a black man to the front of the presidential contest in a year that bodes well for Democrats?

"Race doesn't matter," some began to chant. "Race doesn't matter!"

The cry soon gave way to more familiar chants of "Yes we can," and everyone in the auditorium surely knew that race does still matter in so many ways. But in a pinch-me moment, they seemed to realize that a barrier had been broken with a swiftness and certainty that even they had not foreseen.

Even more astounding, the man vaulting ahead of the universally known former first lady, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, had been a state legislator only four years earlier — a lawyer with no fame, wealth or family connections.

Now, the entire nation and countless foreigners are absorbing a moment that had seemed decades away, if possible at all. Smart strategists and rank-and-file voters ponder how Obama rose so far so fast, and theories abound. Historians will sort it out someday, but Obama's blend of oratory, biography, optimism and cool confidence come to mind most immediately.

It's not just about him, of course. If America can seriously think of putting a black man in the White House, surely it must also profoundly rethink the relevance of race, the power of prejudice, the logic of affirmative action and other societal forces that have evolved slowly through the eras of Jim Crow, desegregation and massive immigration.

Maybe the toughest question is this:

Is Obama, with his incandescent smile and silky oratory, a once-in-a-century phenomenon who will blast open doors only to see them quickly close on less extraordinary blacks?

Or is he the lucky and well-timed beneficiary of racial dynamics that have changed faster than most people realized, a trend that presumably will soon yield more black governors, senators, mayors and council members?

Presidential campaigns have destroyed many bright and capable politicians. But there's ample evidence that Obama is something special, a man who makes difficult tasks look easy, who seems to touch millions of diverse people with a message of hope that somehow doesn't sound Pollyannaish.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, a black Maryland Democrat who endorsed Obama early, says the Illinois senator convinces people of all races that Americans as a society, and as individuals, can achieve higher goals if they try.

"He says we can do better, and his life is the epitome of doing better," says Cummings, noting that Obama was raised by a single mother who sometimes relied on food stamps. "He convinces people that there's a lot of good within them."

And why should they believe such feel-good platitudes? "Because he's real and he has confidence in his own competence," Cummings says.

Without question, Obama is an electrifying speaker. At virtually every key juncture in his trajectory, he has used inspirational oratory to generate excitement, buy time to deal with crises, and force party activists to rethink their assumptions that a black man with an African name cannot seriously vie for the presidency.

A prime-time speech at the Democratic convention in Boston catapulted him to national attention in 2004. When his presidential campaign badly trailed Clinton's high-flying operation, he gave it new life with a timely Iowa speech that outshone her remarks moments earlier on the same stage. And a heavily covered March 18 speech about race relations calmed criticisms about his ties to his former pastor, although Obama had to revisit the matter when the minister restated incendiary remarks about the government.

Obama has a compelling biography, too. The son of a black African father he barely knew, and a white Kansan mother who took him from Hawaii to Indonesia, he was largely raised by his white maternal grandparents. He finished near the top of his Harvard law class, then rejected big firms' salaries to work as a community organizer in Southside Chicago, where he found a church, his wife and a place that felt like home.

But all those attributes don't explain the Obama phenomenon.

Other great orators have fallen short of the presidency, including Daniel Webster and William Jennings Bryan.

Plenty of brilliant people have tried and failed, too. Bill Bradley was a Princeton graduate, basketball star and Rhodes Scholar.

Intriguing biographies aren't enough, either. John Glenn was an astronaut and American hero, but he couldn't get off the presidential launchpad.

Jim Margolis, a veteran campaign strategist now working for Obama, thinks it is his blend of all these traits, wrapped in "authenticity," which makes Obama's message of hope and inclusion seem plausible, not pie in the sky.

Margolis interviewed many of Obama's Harvard classmates for TV ads and documentaries. They told him Obama "was wise beyond his years, and never talked down to people," Margolis said.

"He has this amazing ability to connect with people and understand their problems," he said. "And through it all, there is this optimism."

For a politician with only four years of experience at the federal level, Obama also has spot-on instincts, associates say, and a steely confidence in his convictions, in good times and bad. His roughest patch came after Clinton revived her campaign with wins in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and a renewed uproar over Obama's former pastor threatened to consume his campaign.

Obama rejected advice to criticize Clinton more fiercely, and went back to his themes of political and racial reconciliation. His solid win in North Carolina and near miss in Indiana confirmed his judgment.

Obama and his small core of longtime advisers also outsmarted the vaunted Clinton team by focusing early on small caucus states, where he racked up important wins. His fundraising has been nothing short of astounding, with millions of dollars pouring in via the Internet from people who never gave a politician a dime.

Obama fans often search for words to express their attraction.

"He just really electrifies you when you are listening to him," said Lena Bradley, 78, a beauty salon owner in Washington. "He has something that's leading him."

As ephemeral as "something that's leading him" sounds, it's hard to explain in more clinical terms his impact on people. But it's there.

As recently as June 2006, a lone reporter could travel with Obama in cars and small planes as he campaigned for other Democrats in state after state. On one such visit to Massachusetts and New Jersey, his charm was on full display before crowds of various size, age and ethnic makeup. He made teenagers guffaw by saying people pronounced his name "Yo Mama." He quoted scripture in a black church, and set every head nodding.

On a plane ride he talked with the reporter for an hour, on the record, with barely a hint of the nervousness or hedging that most politicians understandably display to someone with a pen, pad and tape recorder.

Before an audience of 300 people in East Orange, N.J., Obama spotted local resident and famous singer Dionne Warwick. He smiled impishly and sang, "If you see me walking down the street," the opening line of her hit, "Walk on By." The crowd roared its approval of his on-key ad lib.

Some veteran politicians also see "something that's leading" Obama, whether they can explain it or not.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., a longtime friend and supporter, said "nothing was ever the same" after Obama's Boston speech.

Durbin recalls pulling Obama into a vacant meeting room in Chicago's Union League Club, where both had spoken on a Friday afternoon in November 2006. He felt it was time for his young colleague to decide whether to run for the White House.

"There are moments in life when you can pick the time," Durbin said he told Obama. "But when it comes to running for president, the time can pick you. You've been picked. This is your moment."

A short time later, Obama launched his candidacy.

SATURDAY, May 11, 2008

Now for a different kind of treat.  Herewith follow the personal reflections of a world-traveling journalist whose particular work and sphere of influence are in the field of Aging.  Carole Marks Scott is a self-made wife and mother-turned-businesswoman who is founder and CEO of Focus Communications, Talkers Magazine, and the Talk Radio News Service.  She hosts “A Touch of Grey”, a daily one-hour syndicated radio talk show focusing on aging.  She is also a credentialed White House correspondent. 

Ms. Scott recently returned from a tour of Far East Cities.  Click here to read her un-edited comments. 

THURSDAY and FRIDAY, May 8 and 9, 2008

• Cindy McCain gave a good accounting of herself on the Today show this week.  Articulate and direct, we could see how she and her husband have spent 28 years together.  A worthy partner for any of his efforts.
• Burma.   After my suggestion earlier this week regarding crimes against humanity, the actions of the gang running that country only support such a pro-active approach: a choice between rice...and bullets aimed at them. 
• A review of a book which appeared recently in the NYTimes Book Review described once pristine Mount Everest as a new Times Square, complete with pimps and pickpockets.  Where democracy and free market capitalism were supposed to channel humanity's better nature, we are certainly not there yet...and we may not even be on the right road to such a goal.  In fact, the new Russia seems to be providing an example of the baser nature of those constructs.  So, what's next?
• Certainly, the U.N. is not the answer, in its current iteration.  As explained by John Bolton, who served for 15 months as the U.S. Representative to that body, what that motley crew seeks from its members - most notably from the U.S., is "norming"; that is, "the idea that the U.S. should base its decisions on some kind of international consensus, rather than making its decisions as a constitutional democracy."  (in Imprimis, a publication of Hillsdale College, April 2008). 
• Two provocative articles appeared on the same page of the NYTimes on Sunday, May 4 (Wk, p4).  One dealt with "Legal Ethics" which "requires" an attorney to refrain from divulging his client's admission of guilt to him, even at the cost of an innocent person being sentenced to many years in jail...or worse.  And what happened to the dual role of an attorney, including being "an Officer of the Court", prohibited from misleading the Court or from suborning purjury?  And what about the ethical prohibition against causing the injury of an innocent person in order to protect oneself?  The article was too facile in its acceptance of only one side of a debate in the Legal Profession that, although being won by the purist advocates, has much to support the other side.  The other article described "A Fiery Theology That Is Under Fire", a phenomenon that has captured too many Black preachers and their congregants since the 1960's...as if time had stayed still during the last four decades.  And to what end?  The advances of Black people have occurred in spite of, and not because of, the inflamatory rhetoric and attitude.  And those advances would accelerate without it.
  

GS

TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY, May 6 and 7, 2008

• Indiana and North Carolina.  What was it that Mark Twain said: "News of my death has been greatly exaggerated".  News of Hillary's political death is floating all over the airwaves.  A case can be made that the deck was stacked against her from the beginning by the ultra-liberals who consider her too conservative for them.  And when 90% of Blacks continue to vote for Obama...who is playing "the Race Card"? But can the Democrats really be so dumb?  Hillary would be the much stronger candidate against McCain.  Instead, their only message is that "a vote for McCain is a vote for a Bush third term".  That certainly will not stick on this independent thinker.  Bottom line: McCain or Hillary...Yes.  Obama...No. 
• Our Democratic Congress continues to try to give "get out of jail" cards to all the losers in the current housing and exotic trading fiasco, regardless of personal responsibility.  So, what else is new?  President Bush has rightly promised to veto any such boondoggles. 
• The price of oil.  When is this government - and its people - going to draw a line in the desert sand on the ever-increasing cost?  Short-term: more domestic drilling; rationing; excess profits tax on the major oil companies; prosecution for oil speculators; hardball negotiation with our oil-producing allies...and our adversaries.  Long-term: nuclear power...and other effective alternative energy sources.  The longer we wait, the weaker we become, and the harder it gets to restore our control of our own destiny. 
• Burma.  By whatever name, a sad country being more devastated by its heartless leadership than by the recent cyclone.  At what point do official governmental crimes against humanity, whether in Burma or Sudan or Zimbabwe or all the other hell-holes, demand the overthrow of those governments by the world's "family of nations".  A radical idea...but one whose time may be at hand...coupled with the subsequent economic development of those areas by that same family of nations.  The current approach of zealous neglect is inhuman...and it is also very dangerous to us all.

GS

MONDAY, May 5, 2008

As previously promised, I will have something to say every time another breathless article appears on the subject of Health Care Reform.  See the article entitled "Even The Insured Feel The Strain Of Health Care Costs", by R. Abelson and M. Freudenheim, NYTimes today, pA1.  Then ask yourself the following questions: 1) When was the last time that you heard that many of the "uninsured" are uninsured by choice, to save premium money? 2) When was the last time that the statement..."can't afford coverage" discussed coverage for what services and desires, without regard for any health care priorities, or coverage as a direct result of stupid life styles, or for end-of-life coverage...wherein 30-40% of all Medicare expenditures occur in the last 6 months of a person's life?  3) When did you last hear that physicians are regularly victims of theft of services of about 30 % of the fair market value of those services?  4) When did you last hear that physicians would be paid adequately for coordination of care, for preventive care and immunization services?  5) When did you ever read that tax deductible employer health benefits and tax exempt employee benefits, which mystically removed the patient from any concern about the cost of the care being sought, were and are the dumbest ideas to come down the pike since their origin in the early 1970's?  And 6) When did you last hear "What's Really Propping Up The Economy: Health care has added 1.7 million jobs since 2001.  The rest of the private sector? None."  (See Business Week, Sept. 2006).  Folks, health care delivery in this country can be greatly improved...but only after we get REAL.  See my many articles and comments throughout this web site, dating back to the 1970's,  for the definition of "REAL".

GS

FRIDAY through SUNDAY, May 2 through 4, 2008

• What do you say when you hear that: a) the economy of the whole world depends on the profligate spending habits of Americans; b) Americans, already grossly over-leveraged with debt, are urged to spend - rather than save or reduce debt with - their "rebate", in order to help the country "turn the corner" economically; c) Wall Street must be saved from its own greed and stupidity with bailouts paid for by Middle America; d) Americans who had inadequate resources to buy homes and who are now facing foreclosure must be bailed out, also by the remaining thrifty, struggling and sensible Americans; e) corporate Agribusiness is reaping massive profits...and Federal subsidies to boot...from the biofuel craze while hundreds of millions of people in the world are facing starvation from the resulting inadequate grain supply and high costs; f) we are being blackmailed by the oil cartel...and we still resist drilling for more domestic oil in the short-term and a massive conversion to nuclear power for the long-term?  I call it INSANITY.  Folks, if we don't fix our Fundamentals very soon, we will have entered the decline and fall of the American nation...and this will not take 200 years.  For supporting facts, see the following: 1) "One Guy Who Has Seen It All Doesn't Like What He Sees Now", by E. S. Browning, WSJ April 28-27, pB1; 2) "Triple-A Failure", by Roger Lowenstein, NYTimes Magazine April 27, p36.
• News from the Campaign Trail.  Obama still can't put a candid sentence together without checking his notes, his teleprompter or his mental Rollodex.  An empty suit.  Hillary did a lot of good for herself in her interview with Bill O'Reilly this week.  She looked more presidential than her husband ever did.  John McCain, "the real McCoy", continues to dominate the scene for uncommitted observers with his integrity, his candor and his solid positions - including that on Health Care Reform shared with us this week.  My nightmare: Obama vs McCain.  Obama deserves no chance to win, even when it is highly likely that he would lose.  My dream: Hillary vs McCain.  McCain will win...but even if he loses, I can live with Hillary, since her social and economic policies and those of the Democrats will ultimately fall and fail of their own weight.  But Wait!  There's More!  It's called the Stupidity Factor.  Ralph Nader as a spoiler on one side; and Bob Barr as a spoiler on the other side.  So, I guess we'll just have to keep reporting from the Campaign Trail for a few months longer.

GS

THURSDAY, May 1, 2008

ANOTHER ISSUE FOR THE CITIZENS OF NEW LONDON, CT.  I AGREE WITH THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT.