MONDAY through THURSDAY, March 29 through April 1, 2004

Somewhere in the Bible there is a Divine admonition not to call another "Thou Fool".   But today the temptation is great, referring to whoever was responsible for re-printing today, in The Day, without comment, an editorial from the San Jose Mercury News.  The title, "Get Rid Of This Law", refers to the recently enacted Partial Birth Abortion Act, passed after years of testimony, none of which supported the allegation that this murderous act was ever necessary to protect the physical  health of the mother.  The gimmick here has always been reference to "the mother's health".  Is that mental health, financial health, social health, or what?  Even in the hypothetical situation where the mother was in serious physical jeopardy for her life, in balance with the life of her full-term child, anything could be done to save her life under the principle of "primary intent".  And so far as the positions of the AMA and the ACOG are concerned, "a pox on both their houses".  Remember...it has been many years since physicians have been required to take the Oath of Hippocrates.  So, even with physicians, "let the buyer beware!"

• Regarding the use of condoms, Roman Catholic Bishop Dowling of Rostenberg, of South Africa, faced with a near pandemic of HIV and AIDS in that country and in Africa, has come out in favor if their use, despite the position of the Catholic Church.  That position has always been one that, in my opinion, ran far ahead of its theological support and that, in its coupling with the vital prohibition against against abortion, literally threw  the baby out with the bath water.  Now Bishop Dowling has invoked the principle of "primary intent" to support this position: a condom is used to avoid the spread of lethal disease, not primarily as a contraceptive.  Right on!
• Reacting to the interpretation by fundamentalist Christians of the Book of Revelation, whereby only Christians would be saved, the Dean of Union Theological Seminary in New York put it this way: "I don't think God was selling cosmic fire insurance through Jesus."  Right on, again!
• Regarding the Jews and Islam, and more particularly Israel and Palestine, attendance last night at a lecture at Connecticut College given by Fred Astren, Director of Jewish Studies at San Francisco State University, reinforced my earlier comments in this section on the subject; namely, that reference to "religion" in this controversy and throughout the Middle East is a gigantic distraction from the real issue...the "real politik" of power.   As has happened so often in history, "religion" is being used by all sides for political gain.  For a bit of counter-point on this subject, look shortly here for a letter written to me by my friend and colleague, Robert Levin, M.D.
• Finally, Fallujah.  As has been noted for many months in this section,  we have played "Mr. Nice Guy" for too long.  Most people, especially in the Middle East, respect nothing in the absence of power.  And given our incursion into Iraq, the Iraqi people have a right to expect the establishment of security, through raw and overwhelming power if necessary.  l predict that Secretary Rumsfeld will, in his 80's like former Secretary McNamara, admit to this failure in his policies.  It too is costing many lives.

SUNDAY, March 28, 2004

The busy news week continues.

• Regarding stories related to the Iraq issue: 1) Today's report by Dan Williams entitled "Israeli Secret Services Faulted For Iraq Forecasts" (Reuters), an action taken by an Israeli parliamentary inquiry.  How did that mis-lead the U.S. and England, and to what end?  2) "Egypt Steps In After Tunisia Scraps Arab Summit", by Jonathan Wright, (today, Reuters).  "The Tunisian government news agency said Tunisia had insisted that the summit explicitly endorse democracy and reject what it called 'extremism, fanaticism, violence and terrorism' - and that other countries had balked at this."  3) The powerful cleric al-Sistani may undermine the interim Iraq government because of minority rights given to Sunni and Kurdish Iraqis.  4) Hans Blix still carrying water for U.N. inaction and intransigence in today's New York Times Magazine section interview (p15).  Giving him every benefit of the doubt, he reminds me of the three monkeys, who must also have been diplomats: "hear no evil; see no evil; speak no evil."  Although a factual, non-partisan inquiry into all the confusing issues preceeding (by 10 years!) and following 9/11 should take place, it is proving impossible in the vitriolic atmosphere created by the Democrats in this election year.  Lies and liars.  Duplicity and stupidity.  But Americans are seeing through all this.  See the column by Maura Casey entitled "Unrepentant As A Liberal Iraq Hawk" (The Day, today, Perspective, pC1).  Just keep getting your news from at least three sources.  Even the New York Times today has some good reading.  ("About That Election, Mr. President...", Op-Ed, pWk13).  As always, Thomas L. Friedman has another illuminating article, a wish list for all of us. (ibid).
• Regarding Kenton Robinson's column in today's The Day (theday.com, Daybreak, pG1) entitled "Where Policy Wins Over Fact, Every Time", as a full-time physician and part-time scientist I say: Write On!

SATURDAY, March 27, 2004

• Will the real Richard Clarke please stand up?  Long before he wrote his book, only after he was safely retired, attacking the President for his handling of the terrorist threat before and after 9/11, this man's letter of resignation praised President Bush's "courage, determination, calm and leadership...It has been an enormous privilege to serve you these last 24 months".  Another direct quote of Mr. Clarke appears in a recent Rapid Response (see above).  Now comes Senator Frist, Senate Majority Leader, with the accusation that Mr. Clarke's testimony this week and his earlier closed -door testimony on the same subject, both under oath, were diametrically opposed.  Do you get my drift?
• Here is another "dog bites man" story: Catholics and the Catholic Church are being attacked.  What a shock!  William Donahue (President of the Catholic League), call your office!  However, the latest is not just another puerile cheap -shot.  An effort is being made to force Catholic hospitals, which provide a vast amount of health care...a lot of it free...in this country, to provide "Reproductive Services" (read "abortion, contraception") to any patients so requesting same - or risk losing Medicare participation and thus risk their survival. What happened to Freedom of Religion, the Right to Privacy, to Equal Protection Under The Law and to Due Process?  We hope that this latest Attack of the Ultra-Liberals is quashed out of hand.
• "...One nation, under God...."  YOU BET.
• More on the "defective, unreasonably dangerous" computer software being sold by all companies...which I suggested months ago should result in class-action suits under "Product Liability / Strict Liability laws to force them to correct the worm, virus, spam, and identity - theft vulnerabilities that afflict all software.  Now we read that the software industry is formally opposing suggested Federal legislation that would require consumer permission to install "spyware" that now automatically enters any computer, allowing retrieval of all sorts of private information.  Could it be that all the "vulnerabilities" of software are intentionally built into the product for commercial gain??
• Finally, I wish to report on a lecture presented at the most recent meeting of the South-Eastern Connecticut Committee on Foreign Relations, one of many such committees organized by private individuals throughout the country.  The topic, presented by a Muslim expert, discussed Islam and Democracy.   From the lecture and from the subsequent discussion I gleaned the following conclusions: 1) "Islamic Democracy" should not be considered an oxymoron; 2) the key to dealing with that question lies in defining the question...namely, that Middle Eastern and world-wide terrorism has nothing to do with Islam; 3) Islam is one of the three great Abrahamic religions - it in no way espouses the "principles" of the terrorists, regardless of their claims; 4) the terrorists are about  power and only power, geo-political and local,  whether we speak about individuals or about tribal chiefs or about some mullahs, or about the despotic leaders of Syria, Saudi Arabia, ....  Defined in that way, the world has no argument with Islam and with Muslim people.  But it will meet power with over-whelming power, pre-emptively, location by location, at least until those who support or even tolerate such terrorists eliminate them for their sake and for ours.  When that has taken place, we will be available, on invitation,  to help Muslim people achieve a democracy compatible with the true tenets of Islam.  Toward this end, the Muslim - Americans in our midst can and should play a vital role.  Meanwhile, Iraq must be the show-case for what can be accomplished.  That is why many power-brokers within and without Iraq, great and small,  are trying so desperately to thwart our efforts.  Much is at stake: for them, a free, modern Islamic world;  for us, perhaps the avoidance of World War III.

TUESDAY through FRIDAY, March 23 through 26, 2004

Another busy news cycle.  And once again I offer sources for reading the facts and balanced opinions on important issues facing the American electorate this year.  It is, after all, a responsibility of citizenship to keep informed and then to vote knowledgeably.

• On the issues of health care costs and of the uninsured, see "Faint, Desperate Hope For Health Care Leadership", by Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.(WSJ Wednesday, March 17, 2004, Opinion, pA17).   See also the article by Julie Appleby (USA Today, Wednesday, March 17, 2004, Section B 1).  Also, see related offerings by myself and by others on this web site.
• On Iraq, it is very hard to find any good news reported in the liberal Eastern press...but it's out there.  See USA Today, Thursday, March 18, 2004, p1A; also, USA Today, March 17, 2004, p7A; also, NYTimes Sunday, March 21, 2004, p1. Contrast this with the totally negative editorial which appeared in The Day (theday.com) on Sunday, March 21, 2004, and which was effectively panned in a letter to the editor by R. Alan High today...although I would change the title..."leans to the left" to "collapses to the left".
• The new Medicare Law is correctly being criticized for the under-estimated cost projections provided by the Administration in promoting its passage.  But there is something else going on here.  Americans still hold on to the schizophrenic attitude that they can have everything they want in health care - and not pay for it.  As we have said many times: pay for all the excellent care demanded through American health care, whatever the % of GDP; or develop a means of rationing - prioritization - applicable to all, regardless of ability to pay.  You wanted drug coverage?  Pay for it.
• Spain...now there's a case study on the goals and success of terrorism.  See WSJ articles in the Opinion sections of March 17, 22 and 24.  See also the article by Greg Stone in The Day, Sunday, March 21, 2004, Perspective, pC1.  Let us hope that we in America, still nearly as vulnerable to serious attack as on 9/11 by virtue of our open society, will stay the course...and not cut and run.
• Regarding our public schools, held hostage to our highly organized and politicized "educators", see "The Empire Strikes Back", (WSJ Thursday, March 25, 2004, Opinion, pA16).  "In the past five years Florida has delivered real school choice to more American schoolchildren than anywhere else in the country.  Which is no doubt why Jesse Jackson was down in Tallahassee earlier this month calling Governor Jeb Bush's policies 'racist'".  See also the column by George Will entitled "A Radical Tackles Los Angeles Schools", (The Day, Sunday, March 14, 2004, Perspective, pC6)
• Regarding protection of the unborn, the law banning partial birth abortion is currently mired in the courts in another delaying action by the pro-abortion gang.  We can understand - but not agree with - some of the arguments of this group...but never as applied to the killing of babies within seconds of birth.  This is simply monstrous.  And yet, six of the seven members of Congress from Connecticut voted against the bill; Congressman Shays supported the ban.  They should be targeted for defeat in their next elections.  And any Catholic among them should be excommunicated by the Church.  Finally, today - after five years of trying - a bill protecting the unborn, from conception, through Federal Criminal Law, passed the House and the Senate and awaits signature by the President (The Unborn Victims of Violence Act).   Of course, John Kerry voted against this bill.
• The saga of Governor Rowland continues.  And so continue the increasingly desperate efforts of Connecticut legislators to dodge the bullet of effective ethical reforms applicable to them, by offering up a sacrificial hog for slaughter.  Prediction: if the Governor is impeached or resigns, there will be no effective reform of ethics policies.  If the effort fails, the Connecticut Legislature will be unable to avoid passing such legislation.

WEDNESDAY through MONDAY, March 17 through 22, 2004

Sorry.  We were away on family business.
Such an interval produces too large a number of issues to deal with fully, although many have been the subject of earlier comments in this section.  Anyway, here goes...

• It seems unfair to attempt to lecture people who daily face injury and death while going about their daily routines in their home areas.  But today's assassination carried out by Israel seems gratuitous, counter-productive and stupid.  It is too bad that none of the parties in this war have clean hands any more.
• The first anniversary of the second Iraq war has unleashed a torrent of half-truths and diatribes.  I couldn't care less about what Europeans and the U.N. think (pick a word: socialists, pacifists, appeasers, liars, crooks...).  But the real misfortune is here in America.   We have troops in the field; and we have an election season where the opposition will stop at nothing to win.  What is that saying: "giving aid and comfort to the enemy?"
• And suddenly, on-stage comes Richard Clark to the rescue, top terrorism expert under President Clinton, held over by President Bush, all the while biding his time until he had 30 years in government before indicting the entire government effort against terrorism in a book just released.  Only then is he re-born...or to use his own words: "I've done 30 years in the government.  I've done my public service.  Now I want to get the facts out," he told ABC (by Sue Pleming, Reuters).   Should we ask what he was doing before this?
• While we're at it, let's give some "what fer" to this administration.  There are a number of issues out that have impugned its credibility and also its effectiveness in helping Americans.  These issues must be addressed by President Bush before November...or he will lose to a loser.

2) Devising a means to provide affordable health care coverage to over 40 million people who now lack it;

3) Protecting the pension and health benefits that retirees contracted for with their employers as one condition of retirement;

4) Decide whether we want an open, global economy - and fight for it; or whether we want protectionism...we can't have both;

5) Finally get realistic about our long-term future involvement in Iraq, and produce the security forces to actually achieve a democratic Iraq and safer Middle East.  Sorry, but that will require a fair military draft.  I know just where to find suitable draftees: they're now in Florida, raising hell on Spring Break.

GS

MONDAY and TUESDAY, March 15 and 16, 2004

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US.  Today is the first anniversary of "Rapid Response...."  It was begun in anticipation of an eventful year; and we have not been disappointed.  I, and my son Adam...my favorite Professional Engineer who does the electronic heavy lifting...wish to thank all those who visit this site at least occasionally for the insights or for the aggravation.  I look forward to an even more eventful coming year, election and all.  I promise to continue doing all in my power to provide much more light than heat on issues of the day - as an INVOLVED CITIZEN.

GS

SUNDAY, March 14, 2004

• For many months I have been criticizing the way in which the National Guard and the Reserves have been abused as inappropriate first-responders in this Iraq war.  Now we get proof that they have had hand-me-down and second-rate equipment at crucial periods in the last year, thus increasing their casualties.  Not a way to make friends and to increase enlistments and re-enlistments.  But this will come back to bite the policy-makers in the rear echelons, making it necessary soon to re-invoke the draft.  And that will be a good thing, for our young people and for the nation.
• More on sinful priests.  The Day today ran a series of articles on one particular abuser who was recently interviewed at length.  To read the apparently straight-faced rationalizations about his actions from this individual is bad enough.  But  the quoted comments of the diocesan attorney are absurd and insulting.  An example: "I think a lot of this has to be viewed in the context of the times in which it occurred.  Things that would stir things up now would not reach the radar then."  That must have been the advice that our "worthy" bishops were receiving when they were grossly mis-handling news of such gross activity attributed to their fellow priests.
• President Putin and the Russian people.  Now there's a match made in heaven.
• On a lighter note, I just read the autobiography by Jay Leno, entitled "Leading With My Chin" (Harper-Collins Publishers, N.Y., 1996).   What a hoot!  And it's also a snap-shot of "family values", his family.  After having spent years playing one-night stands, over 300 nights per year, in every arm pit in the country,  this man has earned every classic car and motorcycle he owns.  And, on top of that, he seems like a real nice guy.

SATURDAY, March 13, 2004

A lot going on again.

• If I had any talent in that direction, I would become a political cartoonist.  These people wield a lot of influence with their jest.  That's why I find the constant and unbalanced liberal cartoons published by The Day offensive.  But who cares, right?
• "Depraved Indifference".  Now there's a phrase that comes to mind frequently  while reading about the goings - on throughout this country regularly.  The latest refers to a young mother who, in order to avoid a "big scar" on her belly, allegedly refused to have her twins born by C-section...thereby causing the death of one of them.  And, by the way. where was the father?  That's another comment that comes to mind a lot, together with "where were the parents?"  These are all some of the results of the ultra-liberal enabling and amoral lessons of the last thirty years.
• The "same-ol' same-ol'" apologists of the United Nations (you know who you are), both before and since the Iraq war, would do well to read "The Oil-For-Food Scandal, by Therese'  Raphael, describing in great detail how the U.N. allowed itself to be fooled...and in some cases enriched...as "a monstrous dictator was able to turn the Oil-for Food Program into a cash cow for himself and his inner circle" (WSJ March 11, 2004, Opinion, pA16).  Now it is doing a similar thing with Iran and its developing nuclear capability.  And we are supposed to subordinate our national interests and safety to that gang?  No way.
• On several occasions in this section, I have proposed a massive nation-wide re-training program for Americans whose manufacturing jobs have disappeared permanently.  The President mentioned this idea in his State of the Union message.  Now Alan Greenspan is promoting it.  Maybe now it will get done.
• For anyone who has forgotten 9/11, like the Democrats, the Spanish authorities now have found that Muslims with ties to al-Qaida were responsible for the deadly Madrid bombings this week.  Does anyone think that it can't happen here again?   It is to the great credit of the much-maligned Bush administration that it hasn't happened yet...and, God willing...may not.  Remember that as you think about the coming elections.

GS

THURSDAY and FRIDAY, March 11 and 12, 2004

As if to document my favorite description of ultra-liberals (see above), they keep over-reaching.  Fair is never enough.  They want it all.  For example: 1) Civil unions are not enough...they insist on re-defining the historic and legal institution of Marriage; 2) some rights for gay couples in child custody in special circumstances are not enough...they insist on "having" and raising infants and children, thereby adding to the gender confusion of some young people, called "trans-gender" children; they are not satisfied with the distortion of "Freedom of Religion" to freedom from religion...they want the foundational context of this country "under God" to be eliminated; they are not content to argue differing points of view on the merits...they have to call our highest elected officials "liars";  they are not satisfied promoting sex education in the schools...they have to continue their historic role as "enablers" by insisting on giving out condoms as well.  And now comes hyperbolic Al Franken, announcing a new "liberal" talk show entitled "Air America Radio".   His group will also undoubtedly over-reach and will themselves become the cartoon figures they try to depict.

GS

MONDAY through WEDNESDAY, March 7 through 10, 2004

• It's good to see President Bush on the hustings again and giving back a little of what he has been receiving in recent months.  Example: "My opponent has strong beliefs.  They just don't last very long".Bara-bing!
• In a long commentary article that appeared in The Day last Sunday, Dr. Charles Frink (not an M.D.) offered a broadside against the poly-pharmacy that we physicians admittedly have to resort to in order to patch up Humpty-Dumpty after decades of unwise living, or just to cope with the ravages of ever - increasing longevity.  Well, life is choices.  People don't have to take these medicines and treatments.  But medical science has accomplished something in the last century. The life expectancy of the average American in 1900 was 47 years.  In 2003 it is 77years.  A lot of people, and all of my patients, think that's a very big deal.
• At times, much of the news points in one direction.  Connecticut and the Boy Scouts of America, courtesy of the U.S. Supreme Court.  Catholic Charities, courtesy of the California Supreme Court.  The rash of law-breaking regarding same-sex marriage ceremonies and certificates in several states.  The continuing direction of the movies and T.V. toward unabated violence and pornography.  The recently released papers of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Blackmun that confirm the determination of many members of the Judiciary at all levels to re-write the U.S. Constitution.  The Wall Street Journal calls this "Secular Absolutism" in today's editorial.  It could also be called "Attack of the Nation-Snatchers".  Articulate, Arrogant, Asinine.  This election will be the year of the ultra-liberals vs the rest of us.  Pay attention, folks; and hang onto your seats.

SUNDAY, March 7, 2004
What a difference a few days make: all kinds of things to discuss.

• The New York Times today gave  top billing to Senator Kerry's views on various foreign policy issues currently challenging the United States.  I believe that these views will come back to haunt him.  One example: when is "a democratically elected leader" not a democratically elected leader?  When the election is warped; when the leader abuses his powers in traditional totalitarian ways including terror;  when a broad - based popular uprising destroys his ability to govern and to maintain order...in an area where such uprisings can metastasize to surrounding countries.  Sound familiar?  Haiti.  This situation was handled just right by all...except by some members of the Congressional Black Caucus, as noted earlier in this section.  In any case,  "bring it on", Senator.
• Today's edition of the New York Times made news in another way also: It was refreshing to see, on page one, a photo of a male and a female kissing, instead of the usual fare of recent weeks.  On top of that, they were celebrating their virginity!  Wow!
• The invention of Winston Churchill called Iraq may actually make it out of the despotism and the Middle Ages that is called the Mid-East, with a little help from its friends, including the United States.  But we hope that the U.S. race to departure does not leave the country with un-lanced abscesses such as the Kurdish question and the role of Islam in a true democracy - as we did in our own early history with slavery.  In Iraq, a consequent civil war would not wait 71 years to erupt...it would be nearly immediate.  So, let's do it right, and not just fast, before we get out.
• I have tried to say as little as possible about "The Passion Of The Christ".  (See an earlier offering in this section).  But the distortions of others keep getting in the way.  The latest is the screed by Frank Rich in the New York Times.  Such outbursts reveal a great deal more about the writer's inner self than about the movie.  A common denominator, I find, is that they are intimidated by what is portrayed and by the history on which it is based.  Come, now. We all have read at least parts of the book.  "Do not be afraid".  You still have time to find The Way.

FRIDAY and SATURDAY, March 5 and 6, 2004

Martha, Martha.  What were you thinking?  I don't think too many ordinary people will get much glee from this conviction.  But, they will draw some conclusions: 1) even smart people do stupid things; 2) beware power...it corrupts, or at least it produces arrogance that clouds the mind and that makes one an instant target; 3) years ago a "study" revealed that - no matter how much money a person may have - he or she needs "just a little bit more"...the more money, the less likely to learn that there are three kinds of money: old money, new money, and enough money; 4) the crime itself is usually less serious than lying about it; 5) regarding the oxymoron "business ethics", there is not much difference between the the obscene excesses of the Kozlowski's and Fastow's of the world...and the illicit effort of a multi-millionaire to save $50,000...New York City learned in the 1990's that - in order to reduce the incidence of serious crime in the city, even the squeegy-guys and the pan-handlers had to be dealt with.  Will Martha get jail time?  If she doesn't, that will send a terrible message to a society that already believes that crime pays and that everything is "relative".  Too bad.

GS

THURSDAY, March 4, 2004

• More on the Oscars and Hollywood politics, in the words of a friend and colleague, Dorothy Leib, M.D., entitled "Hollywood Opposes War, Honors Violence" (Letters to The Day, Thursday, March 4, 2004, pA9).  I know that actors have to make a living, too.  But I wonder if John Wayne, Gregory Peck or James Stewart, working today, would have allowed their talents to be used in such "drech" as appears regularly on the silver screen today.
• Here's a "dog bites man" story.  Some genius decided to spend thirty days eating only the "super-meal" fare of McDonald's...to see what would happen.  Voila, he gained 30 pounds!  A "man-bites-dog" story would have been if fhe had lost thirty pounds.  Actually, there is no mystery to the development of Fat America: excessive caloric intake...mostly fats and carbs; lazy parents and kids with regard to daily exercise; addiction to the tube with no parental controls; a new school profit center called junk-food and soft drink machines at school; and also, I have long felt, the progressively earlier age - in puberty and even earlier - of sexual activity, with its augmented estrogen effects during the growth phase of girls.  There's the diagnosis...and the solution.
• Until recently, I have known little about Senator John Kerry.  But that is changing.  From information such as that reported by William Safire today ("Time For Kerry To Get Serious"), The Day Thursday, March 4, 2004, Commentary, pA9), it would appear that his favorite pet must be a chameleon, and that we may be treated in the coming months to a baritone-basso blow-hard.  Hang onto your hat.
• On a more local level, the Connecticut Supreme Court has finally upheld the lower court decision regarding the application of Eminent Domain in New London.  I believe that the recent action of the City Council in support of the NLDC was critical to that 4-3 vote.  Now let's hope that reasonable local citizens on both sides of the issue can come together to solve this problem for ourselves, rather having to wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to deny Certiorari in 6-12 months, as it will most likely do.  And the parties should not allow themselves to be goaded by the Institute for Justice to keep the litigation ball in the air fruitlessly. New London is just one small fish in the large national lake in which they are fishing - for their own purposes.  When it's all over, they will leave; and we will be left with the future of this fine little city,  which has had many problems in the past with carpet-baggers.

MONDAY through WEDNESDAY, March 1 through 3, 2004

• Outrageous and Irresponsible.  On the day that Aristide left Haiti, with his supporters roaming the streets of the capitol and the rebels set to enter - as American troops circulated in this boiling cauldron, U.S. Representative Rangell, Democrat of New York, and several other members of the Congressional Black Caucus could be seen on world television giving credence to the "absolutely baseless, absurd" (Secretary Colin Powell) declaration by Aristide that he had been "kidnapped by the Americans".  Even Senator Dodd got into the act.  What idiots!
• In this election year, when nothing less than the truthfulness of the President has been put in play, the Administration might do well to reconsider the choice of Scott McClelland as White House Press Secretary.  He appears to be tentative, even devious, with his halting and tight-lipped responses to questions from the Press.  Nowhere near as good as his predecessor.  President Bush can afford nothing less than candor...or the appearance of candor...in his spokesman.
• The recent terrible toll among Iraqi civilians at the hands of terrorists speaks again to the failure of Secretary Rumsfeld to put enough troops in the field to establish security in Iraq at this late date after our invasion.  Whatever the merits of his long-term goals for a smaller, more agile and lethal military, the last several months in Iraq will not have been his finest hour.
• On a lighter note, the Oscars predictably honored a group of dark movies with depressing plots, film color and lighting making the otherwise good actors often look cadaverous, and gratuitous sex and drug use.  Some scenes look as if the parties are playing out their recent acid trips.  Can't someone give these very talented people good roles?