FRIDAY through SUNDAY, AUGUST 29 through 31, 2003

The terrorist bombing in Najaf, Iraq yesterday is another terrible reminder of what the Iraqii people - and the American people - are up against.  Yes, both of our peoples, if only they and we would see the identity of interest in defeating terrorists and their supporters, whoever and wherever they may be.  For their part, the people of Iraq must now see who their friends are and who their enemies are...and act accordingly.  No more fence-sitting; no more brave words and gestures "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."  As described in the article, "Bombing Suspects Tied To Al-Qaida," their country is again being invaded...not by a country trying to help them while defending itself, but by foreign enemies of their interests.  For our part, Americans must stop wringing our hands in doubt or cynically playing politics with this issue.  We must unite behind our leadership and behind our fighting men who are dying daily to keep the chaos from our shores.  And we must send massive reinforcements both to restore security and to ferret out and neutralize those enemies.  This must include getting tough diplomatically and economically with Syria, Iran and also Saudi Arabia - for starters - until they suppress the terrorists in their own countries.   There is no other effective way for us to protect ourselves while stabilizing a Middle East powder keg that can otherwise consume us.  This is our 21st century variation of the Cold War of the later 20th century - and it is just as dangerous, perhaps more so.  For our enemies in the Cold War did not themselves want to die.  Such is not the case with these madmen.

GS

THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2003

We keep coming back to the Iraq situation, because it's there, and because a combination of  well-intentioned, fuzzyheaded and also politicized opinions continue to appear in the media.  In addition to the many prior offerings in this section, two recent sources are directly on point:

• "Fighting 'The Big One'" (A war over ideas and values, not oil), by Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times, Sunday, August 24, 2003, Op-Ed, Wk p11;
• A book by Caleb Carr, "The Lessons of Terror", Random House 2002.  Consider the following quotation from that book (p13):  "The successful answer to the terrorist threat, then, lies not in repeated analyses of individual contemporary terrorist movements, nor in legalistic attempts to condemn their behavior in courts of international law, nor in reactionary policies and actions that punish civilian populations as much as the terrorists who operate from among them.  Rather, it lies in the formulation of a comprehensive, progressive strategy that can address all terrorist threats with the only coercive measures that have ever affected or moderated terrorist (or any other military or paramilitary) behavior: preemptive military offensives aimed at making not only terrorists but the states that harbor, supply, and otherwise assist them experience the same perpetual insecurity that they attempt to make their victims feel."  Amen.

MONDAY through WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25 through 27, 2003

Here are three more alarming articles on the issue of Internet Security, or rather insecurity, a topic discussed earlier this month in this section.  The U.S. Constitution requires a "case or controversy", and an actually harmed plaintiff, in order for a suit to be initiated.  There are probably millions of people and hundreds of corporations in the world that fit that description and who cound be party to a Federal class-action suit against the computer hardware and especially software industries for producing and maintaining products which can be described as "defective, unreasonably dangerous", under Product Liability Law.   Any enterprising attorneys out there?

• "Welter of Viruses is a Wake-Up Call for Software Industry", by Robert A. Guth, WSJ Tuesday, August 26, 2003, Marketplace, pB1.
• "Privacy is history on the Internet, says consumer group...Social Security numbers of top  federal officials found for sale online", by Jenniver C. Kerr, The New London Day, Thursday, August 28, 2003, Business, pB11.
• "New Battleground Over Web Privacy: Ads That Snoop", by James R. Hagerty and Dennis K. Berman, WSJ Wednesday, August 27, 2003, pA1.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 24, 2003

• Here's some good news about Iraq, found surprisingly in the New York Times today: "Chaos and Calm are 2 Realities For U.S. in Iraq", by Dexter Filkins, p1.   Once again, it highlights the fact that - whether dealing with the Palestinian, or the Israeli, or the Iraqii crazies - their own people must take a direct and predominant hand in bringing them to heel for the benefit of the greater societies involved, and for the sake of world peace.
• For readers of the New London, Ct. region, and for anyone who has been asleep for the last several years, the excellent editorial in The Day (www.theday.com) today regarding the New London Development Corporation is a perfect way to catch up on the news and the challenge facing NLDC and the city of New London.  Atta Boy!

FRIDAY and SATURDAY, AUGUST 22 and 23, 2003

• The last offering addressed "what we must do in Iraq."   This addresses what we must Not do in Iraq: namely, share military authority and control with the U.N....for any reason.  That august body cannot hold a meaningful debate, let alone be effective in the field.  They did not even have the sense to accept U.S. protection for their headquarters in Baghdad.  No, we'll accept help, and we will show appreciation, but not at the cost of jeopardizing the success of this vital mission.
• It looks like we were right about the reported "air quality" in lower Manhattan after 9/11 (see an earlier offering here).   The actions of the EPA at that time, evidently the result of pressure by the Administration for "reasons of security", remind me that participants in negligence and fraud in government always wait until they leave their posts to expose it, and then always refer to it in the past tense.
• And then we have more on the debacle called "public education".  An article in The Day (www.theday.com) reported: "Schools Warned About Lagging Achievement", by Judy Benson Friday, August 22, 2003, pA1.  It was followed immediately, today, by the article "Groups Want Revisions in Education Standards Law", also by Judy Benson, The Day, pB5.  The article describes the usual bankrupt arguments by the usual "professional" suspects: if the kids can't pass fair national exams, dumb down the exams to a level that they can pass - whatever that is.  This insanity began with City College of New York, a once prestigious place of learning, in the early 1960's. It has proceeded ad absurdum to produce the present sorry state.  And these "educators" haven't learned a thing from that whole experience. Articulate, Arrogant, and Asinine.  (Please see the extensive offerings on this web site under Public Education Politics).

THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2003

My sentiments, exactly!  Reported in today's Day (www.theday.com) are two articles addressing what we must do in Iraq: demand that the Iraqiis take much more responsibility for what is happening in Iraq.  As noted in earlier offerings here, it is their country; it is their freedom.  And their lindividual and collective attitudes toward the help America is giving them must fall into one of two categories, with appropriate response from us: friend or foe.  That includes especially the clerics. Enough with "Mr. Nice Guy"!  In a populace that has known only totalitarian regimes, only the projection of power, fairly but effectively applied, has any chance of working in the short run.

• "Bremer demands Iraqi council take more authority, condemn U.N. suicide bombing", by Dexter Filkins and Neil MacFarquhar, The Day, Thursday, August 21, 2003, World, pA2.
• "Blast wasn't aimed at U.N., it was aimed at Iraq's future, by Thomas Friedman, The Day, Thursday, August 21, 2003, Commentary, pA9.

MONDAY through WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18 through 20, 2003

The massive Blackout of a few days ago is yet another example of the creed of the world of Business: "Greed is Good".  It turns out that today's national power grid, as someone noted, would be comforting to Thomas Edison; nothing much has changed.  Of course, this is hyperbole.  But, in fact, available and necessary controls are not in place mainly due to eternal pursuit of the bottom line by Corporate America - and even by States that have a stake in the status quo.  This, on top of the excesses and fraud of the 1980's, followed by the implosion of two years age (Enron, etc.), accompanied by the vastly inequitable tax burdens of private individuals and corporations alike, and by the rampant cheating going on under the rubrics NAFTA and GATT.  Where is it written that, unless we follow totally unregulated laissez faire, allowing the business community the right to lie, cheat and steal, we are attacked as "anti-business".  I am pro-business and anti-lie, cheat and steal!  That requires federal regulation, effective and yet not stifling.  This should not be a Democratic or Republican issue; it is an efficiency, common sense and fairness issue.  The Republicans, especially, had better understand this and stop acting like Pavlov's dogs when the subject is brought up...or they will lose the next election, even at a time when the Democrats, as usual, cannot be depended upon to defend the country.

GS

SATURDAY and SUNDAY, AUGUST 16 and 17, 2003

• Are the topics discussed in this Rapid Response section timely, or what?  Even the current Dilbert is about "your network-security product..."   Check it out.
• Now Medicare has another dilemma: whether to pay for risky palliative lung surgery for far-advanced chronic lung disease patients.   Welcome back to the "third rail" of American Medicine: rationing or prioritization, as discussed elsewhere on this web site.  The choice is clear, as opposed to the current ad hoc political method of funding selected medical care over other medical care...based upon whoever has the loudest lobby.  This society should either decide collectively to pay for everything that the miracles of medical science can produce - regardless of the percentage of the Gross Domestic Product that may represent; or it should permit and sponsor a national system of prioritization of medical care applicable to all of us.  Or is this approach too honest for our fearless leaders?

THURSDAY and FRIDAY, AUGUST 14 and 15, 2003

• Here's a followup on the last comment, on Identity Theft and related problems of internet insecurity.  This is addressed in an article published in the WSJ entitled: "Keeping Your PC Safe From The Worm", Thursday, August 14, 2003, Personal Journal, pD1.  Good Luck, but at least do what you can.
• The rest relates to World Insecuity.  First we read about "Islam Under Seige", a recent book that attempts an explanation and apology for the anti-Islamic murderous and sucidal actions of alleged followers of this great Religion in recent years.  Then we hear about yet another close associate of Osama bin Laden captured today, a person whose life to date epitomizes the long-term world-wide threat of terrorism, especially against the United States.  And then we read an article by Albert R. Hunt, the chief liberal on the staff of the WSJ: The Faux Foreign Policy Leadership, WSJ, Thursday, August 14, 2003, Opinion, pA13.  In it, Mr. Hunt chronicles, based on polls, how badly our foreign policy seems to be fairing among the people in the streets of various countries, including Spain, Turkey, Russia and Indonesia.  This, as contrasted with the more realistic policies of their governments as they relate to the only super-power in the world today.  This is not to be jingoistic, but, under all the circumstances, and since 9/11, Who Cares?  Our first duty as a society is self-defense.  That includes pre-emptive self-defense, military, economic, and in any other way that will get the message across to friend and foe alike.

MONDAY through WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11 through 13, 2003

Hello again.  Work keeps getting in the way of this relaxation.

• First, regarding "Identity Theft", a serious and growing problem that has seriously disrupted the lives of many thousands of computer/internet users, often through no fault of their own.   As stated in an earlier Rapid Response"  the largely ignored "elephant in the living room" is the fact that computer/software/internet providers and their users cannot currently guarantee security and privacy.  The use currently is inherently non-secure, despite all the available security measures.  That brings to mind the legal principle of "Product Liability: A tort which makes a manufacturer liable if his product has a defective condition that makes it unreasonably dangerous to the user or consumer". (Black's Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition, p1089).   Whether or not the application of this legal principle to this situation needs to be tested in the courts, it would be a great marketing approach if the computer/software/internet industries were to accept the responsibility, both regarding victims of identity theft and regarding developing a sustainable remedy for this serious shortcoming.  There are millions of people out there who will not currently use the commercial opportunities available because of this personal vulnerability.  Another way to do well while doing good.
• Regarding the continuing conflicts in Iraq and elsewhere, the following comment by Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez (Commander of U.S. Ground Forces in Iraq) yesterday says it all:"Every American needs to believe this: that if we fail here in this environment, the next battlefield will be the streets of America.  Every soldier...understands the impact to America and to the global war on terrorism of his duty here."   Another relevant article is by Vin Weber, former Republican congressman from Minnesota, entitled "As They Were Saying", (WSJ, Wednesday, August 13, 2003, Opinion, pA10).  In it the author reviews the many times and ways in which the previous Administraion had made the case for removing Saddam Hussein, facts conveniently forgotten by the Democratic presidential hopefuls since then.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 10, 2003

• The goings-on in California have politicians throughout the country quaking in their boots.  Imagine a democracy "of the people, by the people, and for the people" having a direct and effective say in their own governance through such mechanisms as referendum petitions and recall mechanisms.  Shock and Awe!  Well, "Power To The People", at long last.  And once again it is occurring in the the State which has long been the the harbinger of our future as Americans, for good and for bad.  Gray Davis was regarded as a poor governor long before Enron, as he and Willie what's - his - name rode rough-shod and spendthrift over the legislative process in Sacramento during the 1990's in true Democratic Party fashion.  Furthermore, "lack of experience", the main strategem of the Davis campaign against the Terminator, should read "absence of political debts to pay".  Many American corporations have found that often the best new CEO is a person of integrity, common sense and people skills recruited from a completely different background than that of the searching company.  Enter Arnold.  He'll do just fine!
• In the New York Times today is another example of "Freedom from Religion" nowhere found in the Bill of Rights.  The article is entitled "Courts Weighing Rights of States to Curb Aid for Religion Majors" (p1).  It appears that eleven states prohibit aid for the study of Theology in college.  Cases challenging these laws, which must be highly offensive to the vast majority of Americans, will be heard in the U.S.S.C's next term.  Will such ultra-liberal and arrogance and idiocy never cease?
• On the local front, we continue to have The Day of New London highlighting inane articles by Tom Teepen and today by Tom Blackburn of the Palm Beach Post (remember the hanging chads?) using all manner of sophistry in trying to attack the logical and effective response of the Bush administration to the implications of 9/11 for American national security.  But then we also find  the excellent article by Jerome T. Fischer entitled "Mid-East Peace: Let's Start At Home", (The Day, Sunday, August 10, 2003, Perspective, Voices and Views, pC3).  I guess we'll have to continue taking the good along with the bad and the ugly from this generally very good newspaper.

FRIDAY and SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 and 9, 2003

As reprinted in The Day, Thursday, August 7, 2003, Thomas Friedman has written another good article, "telling it like it is": Arab Nations Practice Hypocrisy.  This exposition, and so many other developments coming out of that great cauldron called the Arab or Islamic World make it clear that the price of America's engagement in the Middle East and in Africa, either altruistically or for our own pro-active self-defense , will be decades of carrot-and-stick deplomacy at substantial military and financial cost.  That will be the price of avoiding World War lll  or another round of Crusades.  Do we have a choice?  The choice, I think, is either to meet the challenge of 9/11 at its roots, or to fight it on our own soil.  So stated, I see no alternative.  The "choice" of isolationism certainly does not exist.  And this is not a partisan issue, despite the Democrats' demagoging it.  So, buckle up.  It's going to be a long, hard ride.

GS

THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 2003

The following requires no comment, just grass roots action...

By Rush Limbaugh:

I think the vast differences in compensation between victims of the September 11 casualty and those who die serving the country in Uniform are profound.  No one  is really talking about it either, because you just don't criticize anything having to do with September 11.  Well, I just can't let the numbers pass by because it says something really disturbing about the entitlement mentality of this country.  If you lost a family member in the September 11 attack, you're going to get an average of $1,185,000. The range is a minimum guarantee of $250,000, all the way up to $4.7 million.

If you are a surviving family member of an American soldier killed in action, the first check you get is a $6,000 direct death benefit, half of which is taxable.  Next, you get $1,750 for burial costs. If you are the surviving spouse, you get $833 a month until you remarry. And there's a payment of $211 per month for each child under 18. When the child hits 18, those payments come to a screeching halt.

Keep in mind that some of the people who are getting an average of $1.185 million up to $4.7 million are complaining that it's not enough. Their deaths were tragic, but for most, they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Soldiers put themselves in harms way FOR ALL OF US, and they and their families know the dangers.

We also learned over the weekend that some of the victims from the Oklahoma City bombing have started an organization asking for the same deal that the September 11 families are getting. In addition to that, some of the families of those bombed in the embassies are now asking for compensation as well.

You see where this is going, don't you? Folks, this is part and parcel of over 50 years of entitlement politics in this country. It's just really sad. Every time a pay raise comes up for the military, they usually receive next to nothing of a raise. Now the green machine is in combat in the Middle East while their families have to survive on food stamps and live in low-rent housing. Make sense?

However, our own U.S. Congress just voted themselves a raise, and many of you don't know that they only have to be in Congress one time to receive a pension that is more than $15,000 per month, and most are now equal to being millionaires plus. They also do not receive Social Security on retirement because they didn't have to pay into the system.

If some of the military people stay in for 20 years and get out as an E-7, you may receive a pension of $1,000 per month, and the very people who placed you in harm's way receive a pension of $15,000 per month. I would like to see our elected officials pick up a weapon and join ranks before they start cutting out benefits and lowering pay for our sons and daughters who are now fighting.

"When do we finally do something about this?" If this doesn't seem fair to you, it is time to forward this to as many people as you can. If you're interested there is more.......................

This must be a campaign issue in 2004. Keep it going.  SOCIAL SECURITY: (This is worth the read. It's short and to the point.)  Many of you may have already seen this part, so it will be a depressing reminder....

Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during election years. Our Senators and Congressmen do not pay into Social Security. Many years ago they voted in their own benefit plan. In more recent years, no congressperson has felt the need to change it. For all practical purposes their plan works like this:

When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay until they die, except it may increase from time to time for cost of living adjustments. For example, former Senator Byrd and Congressman White and their wives may expect to draw $7,800,000 - that's Seven Million, Eight Hundred Thousand), with their wives drawing $275,000.00 during the last years of their lives.

This is calculated on an average life span for each.

Their cost for this excellent plan is $00.00. These little perks they voted for themselves is free to them. You and I pick up the tab for this plan.

The funds for this fine retirement plan come directly from the General Fund--our tax dollars at work! >From our own Social Security Plan, which you and I pay (or have paid) into--every payday until we retire (which amount is matched by our employer) --we can expect to get an average $1,000 per month after retirement. Or, in other words, we would have to collect our average of $1,000 monthly benefits for 68 years and one month to equal Senator Bill Bradley's benefits!

Social Security could be very good if only one small change were made. And that change would be to jerk the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan from under the Senators and Congressmen. Put them into the Social Security plan with the rest of us and then watch how fast they would fix it.

If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe good changes will evolve. WE, each one of us...can make a difference.

OK!  It's catch-up time.

• The Episcopal Church has done it again: Always avant-garde, and always Non-Roman Catholic.  Alright, we get the idea.  But be careful that you don't implode.
• There are two wars that we have been fighting, both without success; and I heard them being compared during an interesting GBH program last night: the war on drugs, and the war on forest fires.  In both cases our approach is wrong, effective approaches are available, and we refuse to change tactics for political reasons.  More on that at another time.
• Here's the latest discovery: Americans are FAT, especially their kids.  Take one normal child, add years of junk foods and fast foods and sugar-laden soft drinks (easily available at your local school as a cash cow), stir in - very slowly -years of TV (average four hours per day) and other computer idiocy.  Let sit alone for hours on end while the parents are too busy doing other things.  And there you have it...A FAT KID.  And with girls there may be another ingredient: the very early use of oral contraceptives.  This is not rocket science, folks.
• If there are any ultra-liberals out there who have had the intestinal fortitude to stick with these commentaries during the last several months, the following is a Must Read: Ann Coulter's recently published book entitled: "Treason - Liberal Treachery From The Cold War To The War On Terrorism" (Crown Forum, New York, New York, 2003).  If you still have any regard for the facts, any intellectual curiosity and honesty, this book is for you!

SUNDAY, AUGUST 3, 2003

There are times when the best I can do is to refer the visitor to some good recently published articles.  This is one of those days.

• "The Sleepy Superpower Awakes", by Charles Krauthammer, Time Magazine, August 4, 2003, Essay, p76;
• "This Was A Good Thing To Do", by Paul A. Gigot, Wall Street Journal, Monday, July 28, 2003, Opinion, pA10;
• "The Press: Time For A New Era?", by Robert L. Bartley, Wall Street Journal, Monday, July 28, 2003, Opinion, pA11;
• "AMA Backs Research Cloning", Catalyst, July - August 2003, p12 (see link on this web site).

FRIDAY and SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 and 2, 2003

Besides grousing about Homeland Security legislation (especially the Patriot Act which does impact personal privacy to some extent), and about the varied intelligence on which the Bush Administration relied in part as a reason for invading Iraq, and about the WMD's - so far missing - but known for a decade to exist, and about the daily tragedy of American soldiers being killed, now we add the hind-sight regarding health hazards to which the heroic workers at the World Trade Center site were exposed as they searched for survivors.  Regarding the last point, any high school Biology student  - and certainly the first responders and construction workers knew or should have known what they were dealing with as a health hazard.  The workers did it despite that knowledge...that's why they're heroes.  What the general public knows viscerally - and what the politicized liberals either don't understand or cynically ignore - is the fact that we are at war!   All of the above issues must be considered in that light.  And that is also true regarding the Iraqi people, not only at war, but on the losing side temporarily.  They should be helping us, and not engaging in political diatribes and outright assassinations of our men in uniform.  Both at home and in Iraq, we have to deal effectively - even harshly - with these facts.  Pre-emptive self-defense is our right and our obligation as Americans.

GS