Opaque Lucidity

Slow Joe

Senator Joe Biden, that genius of our age, has once again put his foot in his giant-sized-but-slow-thinking mouth. He said the following about fellow Senator Barak Obama:

"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," he told the New York Observer, a weekly. "I mean, that's a storybook, man."

The Senator now claims he called Obama and explained the comment. He also said it was taken out of context on the Drudge Report.

Really? How can you take that out of context? Am I missing something here? Of course, it doesn't matter. Since Biden is a liberal Democrat, this story will fade into the background by the end of the week. Does anyone remember Trent Lott? How about Jimmy the Greek?

And Not A Strong Mind Among Them

You have to love the way liberals think about their ideological opponents. To many of them, it's not enough to simply disagree. Instead, they have to make their opposite members into idiots, facists or rich playboys with no concern for the "little people". This says a great deal about the strength of their arguments.

Take, for example, the article in this week's "New York" magazine (not to be confused with the "New Yorker"). The article is actually a collection of essays about President Bush. Not his policies or his beliefs, but the man himself. Other than John Heilemann, who wrote the introduction, not one of the writers has spent any time with the President. Ever. Yet, they are all somehow qualified to speak about his emotional and psychological health based on....what? How he comes across on TV? A gut feeling?

In reality, their assessments are based on partisanship and hate. All of them, with two exceptions, are either authors of quasi self-help books or college professors, two groups not exactly known for their conservative bias. They hate President Bush and they don't think he should have ever been allowed in the White House. He's not one of them , pseudo-intellectuals whose fantasies of a socialist state run by an elite oligarchy drive their every public action. He doesn't fit in like Bill and Hillary Clinton did with their Martha's Vineyard vacations and weekends spent in Malibu mansions. He owns a ranch in Texas of all places and they know that nothing worthy of their consideration can come from a state where gun ownership is practically mandatory and heroes are invited to speak in public schools on Veteran's Day.

If articles such as this are what passes for deep thought in New York City, then it is no surprise that they have twice elected an Arkansas coat-tail hugging lawyer to represent them in the Senate.

And Yet, It Moves

The following comment was posted to this blog recently:

The ART of WAR suggests that you know your enemy, yet declarations about the morale of the enemy being affected by statements made in the US CONGRESS and hyped by peaceniks or warmonger pundits in the media, reflects ZERO understanding of what makes combatants who have been been in continual conflict for thousands of years, HUNDREDS OF GENERATIONS illustrates exceptional IGNORANCE. They are NOT draftees who are reluctant grunts looking for an excuse to go AWOL, as is a common characteristic of CHICKENHAWKS, they are HOLY WARRIORS who are as IDEOLOGICALLY OBSTINATE as any BONEHEADED BIGOT that believes they belong to a MASTER RACE. Those who took an oath to uphold the US CONSTITUTION are obligated to abide by its tenets which demands participation in the democratic process by exercising free speech to counter misinformation propagated by war profiteers that have little if any regard for the lives lost in battle as long as war is perpetuated. Why those who imply that being critical of those who make poor strategic decisions are aiding the enemy are not OVER THERE carrying out the orders made by those decision makers whom they endorse, remains a nagging question that until a better answer than HYPOCRISY comes along is the truth.

The poster did not leave his name or real e-mail address (although the style of writing tells me all I need to know), so I deleted the comment. I repost it here as an example of the kind of stuff that gets posted here by anonymous idiots on a regular basis. Lately, however, the comments have begun to possess similar patterns in terms of grammar and usage. If you listen to talk radio, you are probably familiar with the term "seminar caller". Could this be something new---seminar posters?

Notice a few patterns. First, there is an attack on the writer (me) instead of a simple recitation of opinion. Second, there is a glaring lack of knowledge with regard to how our military works. This, by someone who calls others chickenhawks while he has probably never supported a cause larger than his own ass. Finally, he asserts that I consider all dissent to be aiding the enemy, something I have never said.

Nice try.

My Latest Tech Crave

The Apollo 1/Challenger Disasters, January 27/28, 1967/1986

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1968, Again

There was an anti-war protest in Washington today. The usual players were there, including Jane Fonda in an attempt to once again be relevent. Do you think she'll visit the insurgents like she visited the North Vietnamese? I don't think so, either---they'd chop her head off.

Protests such as this remind us of how wonderful our nation is. A large group of people can travel to the very center of national power and say pretty much anything they want and as long as no one gets violent, naked or high, no one gets arrested. I can't imagine going to a protest such as this, even if I were against the war. The manpower that such a gathering consumes could be better used someplace else.

What does trouble me, however, is the non-binding resolution that our Senate is set to debate this coming week. To quote The Mercury News:

The resolution would put Congress on record against the president's plan to send 21,500 more soldiers to Iraq, but it would do nothing to stop it.

This is the manuevering of cowards. If the Dems had any resolve, they would seek to cut funding for the war. This would not be popular with voters, who may disagree with our forces being in Iraq but who certainly do not want to see them not get the supplies and support they need. So, for the sake of political gain, the Dems and their fellow-traveling RINOS are pushing for a resolution with no teeth. According to them, it will harm no one while sending the President a strong message.

What those on the Left fail to realize is that the very fact of this resolution's existence lends comfort to this nation's enemies. The terrorists we face in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places understand our history very well. To them, the game is simple: if you kill enough Americans and turn public opinion, the Yankees will go home. Vietnam and Somalia help prove their belief in American weakness. Now, The Party That Ignores History is about to do what they've done again and again---tell the world that the US is leaving soon.

As odd as it may seem to those whose opposition of the war is wrapped up in their hatred of President Bush, I suggest that another resolution be passed: one that calls for complete victory in Iraq. Tell the President to end the war quickly and bring our people home. Tell him to accomplish this by using harsh, unyielding force against the insurgents in Iraq. Tell him the days of fighting a politically-correct police action are over. Tell him to give this nation's field commanders free reign in the completion of their missions. Tell him that we will support no more Fallujahs. Tell him that resistance must be met with fierce, swift violence that does not seek to contain, but to completely destroy. Tell him that this is what victory requires.

As I've written here before, we are out of easy answers. All that remains is a choice: victory or retreat followed by more dead Americans. I would like to think the Democrats will come down on the side of victory. But I know better.

5 Is Enough

So we took in two more cats today. They belonged to my brother- and sister-in-law, who have one year old twin boys; one of them is possibly allergic. As of now they are both hiding from us under an end table. I'm hoping that hunger entice them to show their faces sometime soon.

I'm sure they feel abandoned and alone. This is one of those times that I wish I could be Dr. Doolittle for a few minutes, just long enough to tell them that this is their new home and that they have nothing to worry about except a dog that will want to sniff their butts and two cranky female cats.

Time will tell.

A Terrible Truth

I have to confess something, a habit that has been growing larger and larger in my life over the past few months. Some of you will understand what I'm going through, and some of you will scoff. All I ask for is your empathy and compassion.

It all started innocently enough. I would come home from work about an hour later than Kelli and she would be doing it in the living room. I was repulsed at first. I told her that I was above that kind of thing and I thought she was, too. As it turns out, she had been doing it for a long time; I just hadn't been paying attention.

And then the day came when I stayed in the living room a little too long. Next thing I knew, I was locked into it as if I had been addicted my entire life. I now know what a crack addict feels like after his first rock.

You see, I watch 'General Hospital' with my wife. We record it on the DVR and watch it when we get home. It has become a ritual, a sort of daily smoke-out where the residents of Port Charles drown out my day with their monumental problems. Will Elizabeth tell Lucky that Jason is actually the father of the baby she's carrying? Will Sonny make Carli love him again? Will LuLu find a way to prove her mom's innocence? Will Maxi move on, or will she continue to cause mischief?

The acting is terrible, the sets are obviously phony and the plots border on inane. But there is something about the way the sub-stories are told that makes you want to come back the next day. I completely understand how people get so wrapped up in these shows. I was once a non-believer, but I have seen the light.

Laugh if you must, but know this: there but for the grace of God go you.

And, for the record, Jason needs to dump that bimbo Sam and get with Elizabeth so they can raise their baby together.

The Last Japanese Holdout On Guam, January 24, 1972

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The Ultimate Geek Flow Chart

I'm going to leave this one alone.

TOM Cruise is the new “Christ” of Scientology, according to leaders of the cult-like religion.

Cruise joined the Church of Scientology in the ’80s. Leader L Ron Hubbard claimed humans bear traces of an ancient alien civilisation.

One more stunt like that, Mav, and you'll be flying cargo planes full of rubber dog shit out of Hong Kong.

Warming The Bottom

Spanking your children, some parents call it discipline, others say it's child abuse but in California the punishment may soon become a crime.

If the bill is passed parents found spanking their children would face up to a year in prison or a 1,000 dollar fine. The law has a string of critics who say it would be an invasion of privacy and difficult to enforce. There is plenty of time to work out the kinks, a decision is not expected until Spring.

As most of you know, Kelli and I do not have children, nor does it look as if we ever will. My only experience with spanking comes from my parents, who did spank but only sparingly as far as I remember. What do you parents think? Do you spank? If so, why? If not, why not?

Finally, is this really an issue in which government at any level should be involved?

The Greenbrier Ghost Murder, January 23, 1897

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190 Miles

Vladimir Lenin Dies, January 21, 1924

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Thatcher? Guess again.

Hillary Clinton is to be presented as America’s Margaret Thatcher as she tries to become the first woman to win the White House.

Yeah...without the class, civility, values or big brass ones. Senator Clinton couldn't be Lady Thatcher's purse.

In The Line Of Fire

We found out today that a friend of ours is going to Iraq or Afghanistan in the near future. If I had to choose among all the people I know, this would be the last person I would've chosen; not due to lack of will or ability, but due to career. I can't go into more detail than that.

Our conversation reminded me that, once again, I am far from the front. The sailor part of me, the part of me that wanted to go back into uniform after 9/11, is envious of our friend. I say that out of no sense of bravado or foolish patriotism. Regardless of what you think of our reasons for invading Iraq, we broke that nation and now we have to fix it. I don't have all the answers, but the one thing I'm sure of is that we have to give the Iraqi people a better homeland than what they have now. It is a moral imperative.

It's easy for me to sit here in a warm house in Indiana and talk about imperatives and the sacrifice that is going to be necessary in order to stabilize Iraq. The simple truth is that I have sacrificed absolutely nothing in this war. I get up, go to work, come home, do an episode of the podcast, and go to bed. No one's life is being saved here.

So, for the first time in a long time, I envy our friend. That makes me something---foolish, pitiful, delusional---I know not what.

The Zimmermann Telegram, January 19, 1917

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I Come In Peace*

This is the second time in two weeks that a credible person or group of people has seen something odd in the sky. The first incident took place at O'Hare airport in Chicago. I have always believed that there is other intelligent life in the universe, but I was always uncertain as to whether anyone is visiting us.

Now, I'm not so sure. After all, we now live in a nation in which Al Franken may run for the US Senate. If the aliens are going to come and save us from ourselves, I hope they're on the way. I, for one, welcome our cosmic overlords.

*"I Come in Peace" was a great sci-fi movie from the mid-80's. It included a murderous alien whose only spoken line was "I Come in Peace". Death normally followed. Good times.

Ike's Farewell Speech, January 17, 1961

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The Way We Were

Kelli received an e-mail today from a friend with whom we went to high school. She was seeking contact information for a classmate that neither Kelli nor I have spoken with in nearly seven years. This classmate and I were once very close friends, but our lives went in different directions. That's the way it goes sometimes.

The e-mailer, who is female, is recently divorced and is in a relationship with a former college boyfriend. While I am certainly no mind reader, I read her request for contact information as an attempt to contact yet another link to her past. It is not my place to pass judgement on her actions, but we do have the right to be bystanders instead of participants. I've participated enough.

Even though I have not talked to our lost classmate in the better part of a decade, I know him well enough to know that he has spent very few moments in the past 18 years thinking about our female friend. I also know, as she does not, that he did not like her very much in high school. She was a drama queen, as so many of us were. He was one of the few who was truly grounded, although he had his own high hurdles with which to contend. When he and I and our group of friends left high school, we all left town---they for college, me for the Navy. Only I came back.

I think many people do themselves an injustice when they try to fit old classmates (especially from high school) into their lives as adults. There are exceptions, of course; there are a handful of school friends with whom I remain in contact. But these people are the exception, not the rule. Perhaps I am bitter or not a very good friend. I simply have never understood the need for people to "re-connect" with the years that were, for many of us, not a whole lot of fun. They may seem fun in hindsight, but I seem to only remember insecurity and broken hearts.

So if I were to talk to our female friend (I won't), I would tell her to move on. The past is to be studied and learned from, not re-lived.

The Fifth Column

By tradition and regulation, members of our active duty military do not generally speak out in pubic forums concerning policy, national security or anything else unless it is part of a member's assigned duties. During the Gulf War, the training command to which I was assigned gave me and my fellow sailors the strictest orders not to talk to a member of the media, even if we were off base and in civilian clothes. The Navy had and has people on the payroll who do that as part of their professional responsibilities.

I guess the rules are a little more lax now. This article, linked from the Drudge Report, mentions Seaman Jonathan Hutto, a sailor stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. I recognized that name, and a Google search told me where I had seen it before--- at Appeal for Redress, a website that:

"...provides a way in which individual service members can appeal to their Congressional Representative and US Senators to urge an end to the U.S. military occupation {of Iraq}. The Appeal messages will be delivered to members of Congress at the time of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January 2007."

So I dug a little further and found this article, in which we learn a little more about Seaman Hutto:

"Jonathan Hutto graduated from Howard University with a degree in political science and a résumé of social activism.

The Navy couldn't have known it then, but they know it now: They had signed up a sailor strongly opposed to the Iraq war."

With this information in mind, let's step back and look at the big picture. First, Jonathan Hutto joined the Navy in 2003. I could not find the exact date of his enlistment, but that was the same year we invaded Iraq. Second, Seaman Hutto was employed by both the ACLU and Amnesty International, both organizations that are not friendly to the United States military. Finally, Hutto has a college degree but joined the Navy as an enlisted man. This is not unheard of (I went through Naval Nuclear Power School with several men who had undergrad degrees), but it is unusual.

Let me be clear: I may be completely wrong about Seaman Hutto. He may have joined the Navy out of a sense of patriotism or to, as the article above says, seek direction. If this is the case, then he has my respect. But I don't think that's why Jonathan Hutto is in the Navy.

Jonathan Hutto is a ringer.

A ringer, for those of you unfamiliar with the term, is someone who is accepted into a competition or organization and whose skills are misrepresented, normally to make it appear that the person is less talented than he actually is. When I look at Hutto's resume', there is nothing else I can conclude than that he joined the Navy with the intention of stirring up anti-war sentiment in the military.

Has he been successful? That depends on what your definition of success is. His Appeal for Redress site claims 1042 petition signers who are active-duty military members. Assuming that number is legitimate, it is less than 1% of the men and women in uniform. That's hardly a rousing anti-war movement. John Kerry did better than that during the Vietnam War and he didn't have internet access.

Some of you reading this are doubtless wondering why this is a big deal. After all, members of our military are still US citizens, so don't they have free speech rights? In a word, no. Anyone entering the military gives up quite a few rights, one of which is the right to free speech guaranteed to the rest of the population. You have the right to request a review of something you consider unfair, but you do not have the right to stir up protests in the name of your cause. I believe this is exactly what Hutto is trying to do.

According to the PilotOnline article linked above, the Navy looks the other way as long as Hutto's "hobby" is done on his time, out of uniform and off base. That's all well and good, but how long before the effects of his work begin to show up on base? It's happened before, albeit not for 30 years.

None of what I have written here will show up in a mainstream media story. It is much more romantic to see Johnathan Hutto as a young sailor who, one day, got fed up with the war and decided to do something about it. But I believe a dangerous precedenct has been set here, something we may all have to pay for down the road.

Benedict Arnold Born, January 14, 1741

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The Don

I've always thought Donald Trump was sort of a bufoonish cartoon type. He's NOT a self-made man, despite what you might have been told; his father left him a thriving real estate business. That's not to say Trump hasn't made some good decisions, but it's a heck of a lot easier to become a billionaire when you're born a millionaire.

Now, Trump feels the need to dump on Condoleezza Rice. Why? Who knows; it's probably just his populist leanings showing. Either way, his comment on her sounds like something you'd read on a Democrat forum:

"In all fairness, I see Condoleezza Rice - she goes on a plane, she gets off a plane, she waves, she goes there to meet some dictator. ... They talk, she leaves, she waves, the plane takes off. Nothing happens, it's a joke, nothing ever happens. I think she's a very nice woman, but I don't want a nice woman. I want someone that's not necessarily nice."

Really? So, Donnie, how much do you know about what happens behind closed doors? No more than any other American citizen. The difference between Donald Trump and a crazy homeless guy is a bad hair cut and a pulpit.

And, yes, I know my posts have been short lately. I've been home sick for the past three days; I'll do better.

From The Cave To This

Boxer Down

The vapidity - the sheer mindlessness - of Sen. Boxer's assertion makes it clear that the next two years are going to be a time of bitterness and rancor, marked by pettiness of spirit and political self-indulgence of a sort not seen in America for a very long time

What did you expect? Civility and common sense?

Sergey Korolyov Born, January 12, 1907

This is a guest podcast by Lorne Ipsum of geekcounterpoint.net. Please check out his very cool site and podcast.


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Surge

The President is going to address the nation in about an hour. He will tell the public about his plan to deploy 20,000 more troops to Iraq as part of a "surge" offensive. Whether you support the war or not, I think most of us can agree that the White House has done a terrible job of selling the American people on the need for unity and sacrifice. That needs to end.

I believe the President needs to keep several things in mind. First, his opponents (both here and abroad) will hate him regardless of what he does. Thus, plan for victory, not for harmony with the opposition. Second, talk to America often; maybe even weekly. Americans understand victory if the terms of the win are laid out in a plain, honest fashion. If it's going to take hellish warfare and civilian deaths, then tell us that. Go back and read my first point.

Finally, know that it is going to take hellish warfare to win Iraq back from the terrorists. Entire towns may have to be destroyed. Yes, you can think that's easy for me to write because I'm not living in a small village in Iraq. But consider this: this nation destroyed two cities with nuclear weapons because the leadership in Tokyo refused to surrender. It was horrible, but in the end it saved lives. Quit looking at the here and now and start thinking about the world in terms of generations. Our enemies certainly are.

Mona Lisa Visits America, January 8, 1962

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iPhone

Well, I got most of it right---I just didn't guess that the new video iPod would be part of the phone package. Today's presentation by Jobs demonstrates why Apple remains a leader in design and useability.

MacWorld, TalkSmackWorld

The Steve will make his MacWorld keynote address tomorrow at noon EST. As usual, it will include all sorts of new, cool gadgets that will sell like hotcakes and be replaced in six months or so by even cooler gadgets. Just so there is some record, here are my predictions:

1. The "iPhone". This product will not go by that name. It will be less a phone and more an iPod/PDA with phone capabilities built in. I see a large flash drive (4-8GB) and possibly a slide out keypad, allowing it to look like a Nano at first glance.

2. Leopard (OS X 10.5). While The Steve has already stated that this next version of the legendary Mac OS will be released in the Spring, I believe he will unveil the complete details of the OS as well as the release date. Instead of the March/April, I'm thinking February 15, two weeks after Vista rolls out to the retail sector.

3. iTV. This will be a media-center Mac (once again, already mentioned). I'm guessing it will look like a Mac Mini.

4. Video iPod with a bigger screen. This is a reach, but I think the iPod is going for the touchscreen. That way, the same small frame can hold a screen as large as the one on the Zune.

There you go. I'd love to hear what you think, if you have an opinion on the subject.

Breaking The Embargo

Matt Drudge is reporting tonight that Apple is set to introduce a pocket-portable PC on Tuesday. If true, this will be a major surprise, since the PDA market seems a little dead. Or....will it also be a cell phone?

Fender Bender

Kelli was involved in an auto accident earlier today. She is OK physically, but is a little shaken up. The car will need some front end work done, but nothing serious. You don't realize how much you need two cars until you lose access to one of them for a few days.

This accident reminded me, once again, of how fragile our connection to this planet is. Add a little speed to the equation and my wife could be in the hospital tonight. We drive thousands of pounds of steel at high speeds under all sorts of conditions and wonder why so many people die in auto accidents. Add to that the fact that almost anyone can get a driver's license in the United States and you have all the ingredients for a Mad Max remake.

I know that I married the right person because I can not imagine my life without her. When she called me tonight to tell me she had been in an accident, her voice was calm and I knew she had not been hurt. But on the drive to the scene, I couldn't help but wonder: what if she wasn't OK? What would I do?

Spouses die every day and leave a loving partner behind, so I know it's a matter of going on with your life because that's really the only option you have. But if you have a good marriage, your wife (or husband) becomes a part of you, an indispensible part. I just hope we have many years ahead of us.

Japanese Emperor Showa Dies, January 7, 1989

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Planning For The Big One

Israel has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons.

This British tabloid story (I'm convinced every paper in the UK is a tabloid) even has Matt Drudge breaking our the virtual red ink. I wonder why everyone is surprised. Of course Israel has plans to use low-yield nukes against Iranian nuke facilities. They'd be fools to NOT be training for such a mission. Truth be told, they've probably been planning for years.

I want to laugh whenever a nation's war plans are revealed. There was a story a few years ago in the New York Times which stated that the Pentagon had drawn up nuclear strike plans for North Korea. So what? A plan is just a pen put to paper; the Pentagon probably has a plan to nuke Canada, too. The US exploded the world's first atomic bomb on July 16, 1945. I would be willing to bet a large sum of money that someone in the War Department was working on a target list on July 17.

The story is, of course, intended to cast Israel in a bad light. I mean, just because the President of Iran has called for Jewish extermination doesn't mean you have the right to plan for pre-emptive action, does it? Why not wait until Tel Aviv is a smoking hole in the ground? Do you think the Israelis would earn the world's sympathy then?

Follow The Yellow Brick Load

The Wild, Wild West

Stories such as this make me wonder what's really going on along our border with Mexico. It is possible that confrontations like this have been happening for years and that we are only hearing about this incident because of the current debate over illegal immigration. But I doubt it.

It's easy to be seen as a Minuteman devotee (which I'm not) when discussing this topic, but something must be done. It's not an issue of illegal immigration, but of national security.

The Golden Gate Bridge Started, January 5, 1933

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The Fickle Crowd

Cindy Sheehan, forever eager to see her face on television, led a group that shouted down several Democratic Congressmen who were trying to unveil their lobbying reform plan today. At first glance, this seems odd, for it is the Democrats who have most closely aligned themselves with the cut-and-run anti-war movement. I have to admit, though, that this doesn't surprise me at all.

The November, 2006 elections were a referendum on the war in Iraq. President Bush's name wasn't on the ballot, but he was all over it. The Democrats and their fellow travelers in the media did a wonderful job of shaping the issues, and they are to be commended for their...well, for their craftiness. They not only won the hearts and mind of many centerist voters, but they also energized their base. Part of that base, unfortunately, is led by Cindy Sheehan and the fever swamp leftists who hang out at Daily Kos.

The problem with making the looney left part of your base is that they will eventually demand your attention; that's what they're doing now. They are not motivated by logic, reason or patriotism. Instead, their motivators are hate, self-preservation and guilt. It's a dangerous combination, but now the Democrats have made them part of the foundation of their house.

For the Dems, a best case scenario would be for the radical base to keep their seats and vote for the big D (and I don't mean Dallas) on election day. That, however, is not what's going to happen. These leftists will never vote for Republicans out of spite---you might as well ask them to stop supporting late-term abortions. What they will do, however, is stay home, vote for the Green Party or otherwise throw away their franchise. For those of us who want to see a real conservative in the White House in 2008, this is exactly what we want to occur.

Like the old tale teaches, a scorpion is always a scorpion, even if it just finished giving you a ride across the river.

The SL-1 Accident, January 3, 1961

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Of Life

I first began to seriously question the use of the death penalty in the United States during 1994/95. You may remember the trial: some ex-NFL star murdered his wife and her friend and then got away with it. You probably read about it once or twice. Put simply, if OJ had been a poor kid from LA, he would've received the death penalty. Instead, because of his celebrity, the prosecutor did not even seek the death penalty. It pays to be a well-known asshole who beats his wife. Would you have received that same leniency from the DA?

And so I concluded that justice can be bought in the US of A. And if justice can be bought, then we have no business putting people to death because they can't afford millions of dollars' worth of well-dressed, slick lawyers. That's not to say there aren't good attorneys out there whose rates are affordable; in fact, there are probably good public defenders out there who serve at low pay simply because they know they are needed. But even so, does your local, low-priced lawyer have the same resources at his disposal as Johnnie Cochran did?

There is also a part of me that believes a life spent behind bars is worse than being put to death. This is a personal belief based on my own image of what prison life is like---I have no emperical evidence suggesting that this is, in fact, true. I also believe it is possible, even in prison, for a person to make something useful of his life, even if that something is serving as an example to others of how not to live.

Two things happened over the holidays which have made me re-evaluate my position. The first was the execution of Saddam Hussein. It does not bother me at all (in fact, I am actually happy) that he is dead. I have heard the opinions of those who have said the US gave him the chemical weapons he used on the Kurds. Even assuming this is correct, does that mean he is innocent? I do realize that killing him will not bring even one of his victims back. But if his death keeps a potential follower of his in line, then it was worth it. It is also important to remember that a living Saddam would still have a public voice, regardless of where he was imprisoned. He would find a way to get his message out. Hopefully, only Pol Pot and Hitler and hearing him now, and they probably have bigger problems.

The second thing that influenced me this weekend was my podcast concerning Commodus, the Roman emperor who was probably more than a little crazy. After his death, the Roman Senate moved to have his name and likeness removed from public view. I don't have the Latin phrase handy, but they tried to remove him from public memory. That didn't work, of course, because knowledge of him survives in the 21st century. But the effort was worthwhile. In the same way, Saddam Hussein needed to be erased from Iraq. His name will never die, but eventually the survivors of his brutality and his supporters will both fade away; while he should not be forgotten, hopefully the times in which he lived while be seen with some puzzlement, the same way we look at 1930's Germany and wonder how a failed painter and all-around loser could come to power after writing a book in which he made it clear he wanted to invade Russia and murder Jews.

There are people, in our society and around the world, who need to be expunged from the planet. Should the 19-year old kid who kills a store clerk while high on crack get the electric chair? Not in my opinion. But he should spend the rest of his life thinking about it in a little cell. But even in confinement, he can be saved. He can become a good person. Someone like Timothy McVeigh, however, needs to go---he was too far gone and too willing to kill thousands of innocents to be allowed to continue in this dimension.

I'm not going to list the crimes I believe should get the death penatly and those that should merit life in prison with no possibility of parole. But I'm beginning to believe there are people who we need to divorce from our world, not in the name of punishment or even deterrence, but because they are just too dangerous to remain among us.

In With The Not-So-New

2007 has arrived. I wish all of you health and happiness in the new year.

As we celebrate the dawning of another January, we learn that 3,000 American servicepersons have died in Iraq. It is a grim number, but one that brings with it a sobering reality: more military members have died in Iraq than Americans who died on September 11, 2001. This has been mentioned by several news outlets in the past few days, as if such a comparison is relevant.

It has always bothered me that the talking heads among us revel in reporting the latest round number from Iraq. Remember 1000? 2000? The zeroes brought large headlines, as if the 1,999th soldier, sailor, airmen or marine killed there was not quite as significant.

I hope that 2007 brings a beginning to the end of our large-scale involvement in Iraq. I use the term "large-scale" because I know that we will have a presence in Iraq for a generation, maybe longer. Personally, I believe that Iraq can not become a peaceful place as long as it remains one nation. The area that is today Iraq should actually be three nations: one for the Kurds, one for Shiites and one for Sunnis. The nation as it exists today was an artificial solution forced on the area by the British at the end of the First World War.

Of course, dividing a land into three parts would bring its own special problems, but at least there might be some feeling of nationalism among the nations' citizens. Now, such feelings do not seem to exist. Loyalty is to the mullah, or the clan and not to the government in Baghdad.

Moving on, I would like to put forward my predicitons for 2007:

1. The Web 2.0 rise in tech stocks will come to an end rather suddenly. It will not be the meltdown we saw in 2000, but it will be noteworthy.

2. On Mars, evidence will be discovered that will prove that life either currently exists on the planet or did exist in the past. If it's past life, it will be life not that different from what was here on Earth 10 million years ago.

3. North Korea will collapse from within, creating a humanitarian nightmare.

One final thing: I wonder how much my Cowardly Lion costume would fetch on eBay?