SUNDAY through TUESDAY, November 28 through 30, 2004

• More regarding Ukraine.  President Putin has shown in many ways during the last year that he longs for the bad ol' days of the Soviet Union.  Commentators now are suggesting that he is determined to keep Ukraine "within the Russian sphere of influence".  Does this remind anyone besides me of that day in 1946 when Winston Churchill announced to the world that "an Iron Curtain" had descended over most of Europe. That must not be allowed to happen again.
• Meanwhile, our military has begun to prepare for the next war, instead of the last one.  For the first time since the 1930's, when the U.S. Marines "Small Wars Manual" was published, a new "Counter-Insurgency Operations" manual was published and distributed to our forces last month.  On a macro scale, two other sources of prognostication are very worthwhile reading to enable all of us to prepare for a dangerous future: 1) "The Pentagon's New Map; War And Peace In The Twenty-First Century", by Thomas P.M. Barnett, G.P.Putnam's Sons, 2004); and "America's Assignment", by Henry Kissinger, Newsweek, November 8, 2004, Special Report, p32).
• The American Economy...Watch Out.  Americans' personal indebtedness is the highest ever.  Americans' savings are the lowest ever.  We may be playing the dangerous dollar deflation game too well, considering that this country depends on foreigners to finance our debt.  Our source of economic life-blood, oil,  is by no means secure.  And our infra-structure (ie. Social Security, Health Care) has developed serious cracks.  Democrats may disagree (they are still drawing wrong conclusions from the recent election results), but the strong leadership of a determined President who doesn't have to play the re-election game again may be just the strong medicine this country needs in the next few years.  See "Validation By Defeat", by George Will (Newsweek, Nov. 22, 2004, p86); and "Why Bush Has No Fear", by Charles Krauthammer, Time, Nov. 2;9, 2004, p156).   Let's hope....
• On the local scene; (New London, Ct.) the continuing saga of the NLDC and the City Council is well summarized in today's editorial in The Day (theday.com): "An Important Milestone", Opinion, pC2.  Lord knows, I've tried to help.  Having mediated New London teacher-board disputes in the late 1960's, adaptive reuse vs. wrecking ball, police union vs. city, firefighters vs volunteers, and business groups vs. preservationist disputes in the 1970's, and shoreline open space efforts in the 1980's, I tried some private dutch uncle "shuttle diplomacy" during the last year between the NLDC and the City Council.  This time I have not been too successful...at least so far.  But I've got a simple mantra:"Never Give Up".

SATURDAY, November 27, 2004

• Let's see if President Bush can avoid making two serious mistakes.  In Iraq, any delay in holding the nation-wide election on January 30, 2005 would be a victory for the terrorists and the Sunnis and a gross insult the the 1000 dead and 10,000 wounded American soldiers in that country.  The election will be valid whether or not the Sunnis participate.  Nobody is required to vote to make an election valid.  And the Kurds are probably "supporting" a delay to increase their bargaining position regarding substantial Kurdish autonomy that they want - and should have.  And we still read in the liberal press that whatever happens in Iraq is entirely America's responsibility.  NOT!  The Iraqi people will have freedom and democracy...if they earn it.  They will have a civil war...if they want it.  They will have another tyranny...if they deserve it.  At great expense to us, and also for our own self-defense, we have given them a choice.
• The other possible serious mistake concerns Ukraine.  President Putin should be allowed no illusion regarding the stakes there: an immediate return to the Cold War, and another successful effort to bankrupt and isolate his nation.  Let's watch these unfolding events closely.
• Last night's two hour special on the 40 year public career of Tom Brokaw was very well done...and painful to watch.  It was hard to have lived through some of nation's wounds once, without having vivid reminders.  Indeed, the tone of the piece was generally melancholy.  Tom, let's look at it this way: WE SURVIVED!.  The philosopher Nietsche said: "Any experience that you survive is worthwhile".  And Americans are certainly survivors.

FRIDAY, November 26, 2004

Still digesting from yesterday's Bacchanalia?  Digest this!   Several reports, to be found on this web site under The Involved Citlzen - Miscellaneous, need no comment from me.  They address Michael Scheuer's book about the CIA, Tom Friedman on Iraq today, our challenge with North Korea, and the needs of our Military.

If that is not enough, keep a close eye on what is going on in Ukraine.  Very important, and hopefully not another Prague - which would revive the Cold War in a heartbeat.    President Putin may be about to remove his disguise.  The U.S. and the Western world should now make painfully clear to him what he and Russia have at risk in this high-stakes poker game.

GS

THURSDAY, November 25, 2004

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I personally have many things to be thankful for, as most of us do.  Among them are the facts that: my maternal grandmother, at age 18, married my grandfather on condition that he take her immediately to America from Italy; my father came here at age 19, right out of the Italian Army in 1919; my wife's maternal grandfather and grandmother came to America as young adults from Ukraine; her paternal grandparents came here from Poland.  That's how I come to have so many things to be thankful for.  And that brings us again to the issue of immgrants.  Whether we can trace our American roots to the DAR and SAR, to Irish and Chinese workers on the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860's, to the melting pots of our great cities at the turn of the 20th century, or to the Korea-towns and barrios of California today...America is a country of immigrants.  And it should continue that way.  See the article by Rupert Murdoch in yesterday's WSJ entitled: "Let Us Give Thanks To Our Immigrants" (Opinion, pA12).

GS

MONDAY through WEDNESDAY, November 22 through 24, 2004

• Still more on the pharmaceutical industry...it's that important.  See the article in the November 2004 issue of AARP Bulletin, entitled "Fighting Back: Three insiders speak out on how the drug industry really works", p10.  It's always good to get an inside look.
• More on immigration.  The Far Right is too rigid on this one.  And its substantial political capital earned in the recent election will not be enough to counter the business realities on the ground, the issue of fairness, and the political counter-weight of being able to earn the Hispanic vote for Republicans.  It has already been estimated the the President's share of the Latino vote in the recent election was 45%. See "Ignore the Anti-Immigrant Right.  Bush Did", by Jason L. Riley (WSJ, Monday, Nov. 22, 2004, Opinion, pA15).
• Want to know more about your President?  Read the insightful article in yesterday's WSJ entitled "Bush The Insurgent", by Fred Barnes (Opinion, pA18).  It's about "a president who won't kowtow to D.C.'s Establishment".  Very reassuring.  One example: "Mr. Bush did make one bow to the establishment last week.  He showed up in a tuxedo at the British embassy for a party honoring Ms. Rice.  'One tux a term', a White House official said.  'That's our idea of outreach to the Washington community'".
• One part of the recent election should not be over.  This country dodged a bullet, despite McCain - Feingold...or because of it, that threatened to make us look like a third-world country needing help from the U.N. and from Jimmy Carter.  This has been addressed earlier in this section; but the NYTimes addressed one aspect of the multiple problems in its editorial on Sunday, November 21, 2004: "Improving Provisional Ballots" (Wk p12).  Election reform is just about as important to us today as is home-land security.  Anybody listening?
• Health Insurance.  Daily, more Americans lose and/or are without this basic requirement of economic and personal health.  One very important solution, as stated ad nauseum in this section and on this web site, is the use of Health Savings Accounts.   It's an uphill battle, fought for about 20 years against the health insurance industry, and for other reasons described in a recent article in the WSJ, addressing "Why Employers Are Slow To Try HSA's" (Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2004, Personal Journal, pD1).  But it's worth the struggle.  Try Fortis Insurance Company, and also check with your State Department of Insurance and with you Congressman or Senator regarding the relevant provisions of the Medicare Reform Act of 2002.
• Here's a bright note for the day...something for which to give thanks on Thanksgiving.  "Congress Acts To Recoup Diplomatic Parking Fines", very recently voting "to cut aid to their countries by about the sum they owe in unpaid parking tickets in the United States...New York City, which houses the United Nations, would stand to recover about $195 million from about 200 countries, New York's senators said." (Reuters, today).  Could that be the first step to an eviction????

SATURDAY and SUNDAY, November 20 and 21, 2004

• More on the pharmaceutical industry and the FDA.  An extensive book review of several works on the subject is a must-read for everyone of us taking and paying for multiple medications ("The Drug Lords", by Stephen S. Hall, NYTimes Book Review, Sunday, November 14, 2004, p8). "Why? Because, as (Marcia) Angell notes, 'a perfect storm' of indignation - on the part of consumers, regulators, and even doctors - may be developing around the pharmaceutical business".  Doctors have long been critical of the fact that much more is spent by the industry on marketing than on research, that marketing directly to the public has circumvented the useful mechanism of "the learned intermediary" between the industry and the public, and that many more "new" medicines are just more pretty faces than useful developments.  Can something be done?  Of course...but only if there is a massive public outcry against current abuses, and the laws that have made them possible.
• Here's a case of poetic injustice.  The Daily News reports today that Columbia University has become the site of "Poison Ivy", hyperbolic and hate speech by some professors of the university against Israel and its right to exist.  Remember the many reports in recent years of the liberal intolerance on campuses throughout the U.S. for any conservative thought.  All this is despite the claims of academia regarding the importance of a free flow of ideas in places of higher learning.  But Freedom of Speech never includes "the right to cry 'Fire' in a crowded theatre.  Is there any common sense out there?
• Iraq.  What a mess.  And its architect keeps his job.  Secretary Rumsfeld even had to be convinced out of his original idea that 30,000 or 40,000 troops would be sufficient to conduct the war itself.  And today we read that "Child malnutrition in Iraq nearly doubled since U.S.Invasion" (The Day, World, pA2).  All because we did not - and do not - have enough troops to establish security and to do the intended job there...despite the gross abuse of our regular military and especially of our Reserves and National Guard.  President Bush, the election is over.  No more excuses.  Do the right things now!

FRIDAY, November 19, 2004

• This could be a Jeopardy puzzler: Answer, Prince Charles.  Question, Who has just become the "White Man's Bill Cosby"?  We learn from the WSJ today (Opinion, pA16) that the heir to the British throne is taking a great deal of flak for writing in a private memo the following: "What's wrong with everyone nowadays? What is it that makes everyone seem to think they are qualified to do things far beyond their technical capabilities? This is all to do with the learning culture in schools.  It is a consequence of a child-centered systrem which admits no failure and tells people they can all be pop stars, high court judges, brilliant TV personalities...without ever putting in the necessary effort or having natural abilities."   You see, "we are not alone".
• While you are at it, please read the article by Daniel Henninger,  same newspaper, same page, entitled "Troops in Fallujah Are the Best Since World War II".  Amen to that.  They are all heroes.  Let's not forget that, this time, when they come back.
• Regular readers of this section may recall my concern, expressed earlier, regarding whether the FDA had joined several other U.S. regulatory agencies playing "fox in the chicken coop".  Stay tuned: it doesn't look good...and this is IMPORTANT.

THURSDAY, November 18, 2004

• Elderly drivers.  The source of the greatest number of auto accidents, after teen age boys.  A difficult problem, since the independent living of a senior citizen often depends on his or her ability to drive.  But the elderly are a special class with special risks insofar as driving is concerned.  They should be subject to periodic mandatory physical and visual exams, certified by their physicians who would be required to report substantial relevant impairments.  And they should be required to take periodic driving tests, which at the very least would be refresher courses.  With every right comes responsibility.  This important social issue should be resolved by reason and not by emotion.
• And while we're at it, DWI convictions require tougher penalties than are now meted out.  A second conviction should carry jail time and a one year license suspension.  A third conviction should carry jail time and permanent license revocation.  Any DWI driving without a valid license should be jailed for at least one year, that number doubled with every repeated instance.   Tough but fair.
• The saga of Tom Delay and yesterday's Republican caucus action.  An indictment is not a conviction, and is not enough to thwart the will of those who elected such an individual.
• The U.N. "Oil for Food" scandal gets worse and worse.  No way that Kofi Annan could not have known about it, and about our European perpetrators.
• "Is Wal-Mart Good for America?"  That was the subject of an important report aired this week on PBS.  Think about it: Wal-Mart has such a vast consumer following that it can dictate prices that manufacturers charge to it; thus, some U.S. manufacturers go bankrupt, and many others go to China for their production, in either case eliminating jobs for Americans, the same Americans whose buying binges keep Wal-Mart in that cat-bird seat; but wait...Americans are buying on credit, just as our government is buying on credit, the creditors being the rest of the world that buys our national (and personal) debt while we buy their foreign goods;  but wait...the worst thing that could happen to the world economy would be for Americans to buy less and save more - that would produce a world-wide depression, according to experts.  Sounds like a massive Ponzi scheme to me.  But, whatever you do, "don't look back...somebody may be gaining on you", like a tsunami!  "Stop the world.  I want to get off!"

MONDAY through WEDNESDAY, November 15 through 17, 2004

• Chirac and Blair Meet in London.  Oh, to be a fly on the wall at those meetings.  Chirac is a 19th century Frenchman in a 21st century business suit.  He insists on a "constant pie" distribution between an rising Europe (read "France") and a decline of the U.S.  The right man for the wrong times.
• We continue to be treated to a siren song by those who say and write that we should primarily be concerned with what "the Arab street" thinks about us - whether they "hate"us or not.  That would not even be true if the man in the Arab street were thinking at all, instead of reacting viscerally to the poison fed him daily by his Arab press.  The Arab world entirely missed the leavening and civilizing effects of the Renaissance; they are stuck in their own Dark Ages.  All America can hope for in the short run is a fearful and grudging respect as we show them what a force for good can do - with or without their help - in an area of the world also vital to us.
• The losers in the last election continue to groan and moan over all the media.  Get over it...and let's get to work together.
• Should a non-native-born citizen have the right to seek the U.S. Presidency?  Why not?  This country and its Constitution have always given special status to aliens, to say nothing of naturalized citizens.  Or do we have to wax poetic about how much this nation has always owed to people of other countries who decide to share their talents and fortunes with us who were born in America.

SUNDAY, November 14, 2004

A lot of responses to today's news.

• Having reported the recent experience of Colorado Republicans (in a recent RR), now comes another cautionary tale - from Montana.  The Governor, as well as both their State houses went Democratic.  Looks like not only Democrats have to do some agonizing reappraisals. That great sea of red on the national map may be in jeapordy of being repainted.
• That's rich...Frank Rich, that is.  Forget that the election is over; he's still fulminating from his perch on the NYTimes.  (See today's column).  He's going to need some heavy duty physical therapy to get himself untwisted and un-spun.  And am I wrong, or is the NYTimes Editorial today not giving credence to a 2004 edition of election conspiracy theory?  That's what happens with self-inflicted wounds...they fester.
• Another player who is starting to "lose it" is the esteemed (or just plain "steamed") Kofi Annan.  See "U.S. and U.N. Are Once Again the Odd Couple Over Iraq", by Warren Hoge, NYTimes, today, International, pA12.  Who said that the U.N. is becoming irrelevant?  And we'll have to wait until 2006 for a change in leadership there.  I nominate Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi.
• We now read that 6.5 million blacks voted for President Bush.  So there is hope for that long-embattled section of the American mosaic.  All they have to do is to dump their national leadership and listen to Bill Cosby.
• We read that retirement in the future may be a whole lot different from what this senior generation is experiencing.  Good.  Given increasing longevity and increasing worries about personal, national and world economies, the word "retirement" should be forgotten in favor of "career change", if anything.  Even now, people who have retired are returning to the work force, out of boredom and/or necessity.  And it's much healthier than retirement in the usual sense.  Consider the following facts, derived from the actuaries of Metlife and reported recently in the WSJ.

Now, there's some food for thought...and planning.

• Finally, Yasir Arafat.  If there ever was a life of unfulfilled expectations.... Two articles in today's newspapers provide sturdy bookends for the library of material yet to be written on the subject of Israel and Palestine.  See "The Arafat Voids", by Thomas L. Friedman, NYTimes today, Op-Ed, pWk 11; see also "How To Get A War-Torn Region To 'Shalom'", by George and Cynthia Willauer, The Day today, Voices and Views, pC3.  If President Bush has indeed decided to spend his hard-earned political capital, this would be a great place to start.

FRIDAY and SATURDAY, November 12 and 13, 2004

• That story "with legs" is walking.  Mourning Democrats are trying to clothe themselves in a mantle of morality, trying to "out-Christian" the Christian Right...as they call it.  Even Al Sharpton is developing a "Faith and Values Coalition".  Good.  But first, check out the agenda items offered in the recent "rapid response".  You can't just "talk the talk".
• "My country...may it always be right..." but if it is wrong, I'll say so!  The Government has been patently wrong about the "Gulf War Syndrome" from the outset, attributing the serious multi-system symptoms experienced by many thousands of Gulf War veterans to "their nerves".  Finally, they are willing to admit that something else may be involved...like poison gas, the likely culprit.  Amid the patriotic fervor quite appropriate for a nation at war, remember the three categories of liars: Liars; Damned Liars; and The Government.
• Among the goals of the second Bush administration will be to extend the Patriot Act, about which John Ashcroft's recent article was recently referred to in this section.  Now comes a useful article by an honest, knowledgeable authority on the subject: "Patriot Fixes", by Bob Barr, WSJ, Friday, Nov. 12, 2004, Opinion, A12.  It should be read to facilitate the coming continued debate between the need for national security in these dangerous times...and our need for security from our government.  Once again, this highlights the importance of getting our information from multiple sources in view of the shameless political "yellow journalism" with which we were bombarded during the recent election.

THURSDAY, November 11, 2004

• Veterans Day.  My father and his generation called it " Armistice Day", referring to the end of WW l, in which he fought.  It was a very important day for him.  And it should be for us, too, with our men in the field.  Even more important since they are doing heroic work in the face of another grievous error by our political - military leadership...this time in the form of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.  He has been dead wrong, right from the beginning, about the troop strength we needed and need in Iraq to establish basic security.  Let's cut our losses now, before we have to look forward years from now to his belated "mea culpa", in the pattern of Robert MacNamara regarding Viet Nam. Mr. Rumsfeld should resign or should be fired.
• Here's a story which "will have legs".  We read today that "Liberal Christians Challenge The Idea The 'Values Vote' Belongs Only To The Right", (The Day, Thursday, Nov. 11, 2004, Nation, pA4).  They maintain that "the moral values held by most Americans are much broader than the handful of issues emphasized by religious conservatives in the 2004 presidential campaign".  That's right...and at least they changed their tone from that of calling them "zealots" or just plain nuts.  Perhaps we can engage in a broader dialogue, as soon as they admit that a fetus, at any stage of development, is a human being; that partial birth abortion is murder; that the institution of Marriage is between a man and a woman; that embryonic stem cell research is abortion with a friendly face; that the concept of "value neutrality" is immoral; that the U.S. Constitution guarantees "Freedom of Religion"...not freedom from religion; that we can "know obscenity when we see it".  There: we already have an agenda for our first meeting.  I'll look forward to it.

TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY, November 9 and 10, 2004

I must admit: there is less "fire in the belly" now that the election is over.  But there is still plenty to comment on.  So, fear not.  We're here to stay, if for no other reason than to anticipate Hillary Clinton running in 2008!

• One last comment - I promise - on the recent election.  The moaning and groaning...a lot of it vicious...from the blue "Blues" is well exemplified in the recent column of Maureen Dowd, entitied "The Red Zone Of Fear, Intolerance" (The Day, Saturday, November 6, 2004, Commentary, pA7).  Get over it!
• U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, about to retire, has served his country well in very difficult times...pushing the envelope and testing the limits of legal propriety.  Read about it in his own words: "The Patriot Act: Wise Beyond Its Years" (WSJ, Tuesday, October 26, 2004, Opinion, pA24).
• The advice on how to conduct American foreign policy is coming in from all sides: the usual suspects from Old Europe; the U.N....  And in USA Today, today, we have a report by Youssef M. Ibrahim: "Arab Winds Blowing Against America" (The Forum, 13A).  It would be well here to present a quotation from Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton, commenting on Hamilton's role in the formulation of President Washington's Proclamation of Neutrality over 200 years ago: "With the Neutrality Proclamation, Hamilton continued to define his views on American foreign policy: that it should be based on self-interest, not emotional attachment; that the supposed altruism of nations often masked baser motives; that individuals sometimes acted benevolently, but nations seldom did."  Nothing much has changed, despite the broad reading that 20th century America at times gave to that "self-interest".  Nor should it.

MONDAY, November 8, 2004

• Yasir Arafat.  Talk about unrealized potential for the benefit of his Palestinians and for Mid-East peace.  And now I suspect that he is the latter day "El Cid".  Remember that movie?
• After the election, there is also no lack of advice for Republicans.  The most humorous comes from some Democrats: "after winning, big, now follow our policies"...or something to that effect.  Sure.  Here's some advice from me, in addition to what's already on this site:
• Don't give up on urban centers.  Both the Hispanic and the "youth" vote are attainable with attention and reasoned positions; Blacks are another matter, unless or until they realize how little they have gained from the Democratic plantation mentality, from race-baiting and from class warfare.
• Jobs: the key here for many is to RE-TRAIN!
• Health Care: Health Savings Accounts (HSA's) are the way to go, with financial help for the truly needy.
• Environment: do everything possible towards energy independence, including another look at the nuclear industry...this time without the lies.
• Defense: consider a fair and universal draft, to meet our national needs and to expand the availability of the military experience (a positive one) to many more young people.  Continue pre-emptive self-defense, with coalitions of the willing.  Foreign cynics, hypocrites and frauds need not apply.
• Social Issues: Abortion...No, especially "partial birth abortion"; Stem Cell Research...see my commentary on this web site under "Abortion"; Gay Marriage...no, but "civil unions" yes; Education...two monopolies (insurance and baseball) are too much; bring the teachers' unions to heel, and promote choice; Parents...demand responsibility - children are in trust to parents, with the "Parens Patriae" looking on.

GS

SUNDAY, November 7, 2004

There has been no lack of consultative opinions regarding the malady affecting the Democratic Party.  Two excellent diagnoses and treatment plans are provided by Maura Casey in today's The Day (theday.com) and by George Will in the same newspaper.  Meanwhile, the Democratic response has varied from depression, to denial, to truculence.  Get over it, folks.  Your four-year delusion about the "illegitimacy" of the Bush W. presidency is shattered.  Discard your ultra-liberal flotsam and jetsam...as I did ten years ago after having been a Democrat for 30 years...and you'll do just fine.  For tomorrow, some words of advice for our fellow Republicans.

GS

MONDAY through SATURDAY, October 25 through November 6, 2004

"Guilty...with an explanation."  This long interruption in the flow of "Rapid Response" was the result of our desire to get "down and dirty" in the election process.  Our son David, a tax attorney in Denver, Colorado, was running for the Colorado House of Representatives from a combined Denver - Arapahoe district (District 3).  We spent the last week in Denver, sending out thousands of mailings, making hundreds of phone calls, walking miles to make neighborhood literature drops, and sometimes freezing on busy street corners to "troop the colors"; ie. wave David's campaign signs.  (During two days there we had 8 inches of snow and below-20 degree wind-chill temperatures).  Result: the short version is that he lost.  The more complete version is that, while the rest of the country provided the Republicans with the Presidency and with a stronger hold on both houses of Congress, the Colorado Republican Party sustained its worst loss ever since 1960, losing both houses of the Colorado Legislature.  "Why", you say?  Dave had complained throughout the compaign that he and other candidates were getting little or no support from the State Party.  It now appears clear that the Colorado State Republican leadership was "out to lunch".  And so, they may be had for lunch in the coming months.  Meanwhile, Dave did better as a Republican in Arapahoe county than nearly all the other Republican candidates (except President Bush), even better than the losing U.S. Senatorial candidate, Pete Coors.  Win or lose, great experience.  You should try it sometime, especially running for office at least once.  I ran four times, and served three times.

The national election results were gratifying, and a great relief.  Lots of thoughts...but they must wait for another day, after I catch up with my real life.

But there is one thing that can't wait.  After presiding over one of the greatest frauds in world history, the U.N. "Oil for Food Program", Secretary-General Kofi Annan had the gall yesterday to suggest to leaders Bush, Blair and Allawi that an attack on Fallujah - that den of domestic and foreign vipers - would diminish the legitimacy of the coming Iraqi elections in January.  (See "Saddam's U.N. Payroll", WSJ Editorial Thursday, Oct. 28, 2004, pA14).  Mr. Annan, Please Shut Up!   In fact, now is about the time for the U.S. to deport the entire United Nations from our shores to Old Europe, a venue much more suited to its members' gross hypocracy, cynicism and impotence.

GS