This Week's Good Movie: "Man in the Wilderness" starring Richard Harris and John Huston

In the early 1800's, a group of fur trappers and Indian traders are returning with their goods to civilization and are making a desperate attempt to beat the oncoming winter. When guide Zachary Bass (Richard Harris) is injured in a bear attack, they decide he's a goner and leave him behind to die. When he recovers instead, he swears revenge on them and tracks them and their paranoiac expedition leader (John Huston) down. This film is a great adventure for those who love the mountains and the outdoors. There is a message of determination, the will to live and also forgiveness and peace. There is very little dialogue in this movie. That is not necessarily a negative. The viewer is free to interpret Zach Bass' thoughts and feelings as he struggles to survive in the wilderness.

China Update

More bad stuff from China. Mattel, America's largest toymaker has recalled millions of toys tainted with lead and harmful magnets. Why wasn't safety screening done in China before these toys left the factory? Let's face it, China's desire to make money off Americans supercedes any concern about safety. Also, as stated before, our trade policies are making China wealthy to the point that they are increasing their military. Any time we buy Chinese goods, we are helping make China into our biggest military threat. I know it's hard to do, but check labels and boycott Chinese goods when possible.

This Week's Good Book - "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Last year we took a trip to Chicago and I thought I'd do a little reading about Chicago prior to the trip. I came upon this book and was captivated by the story woven through the magnificent Chicago World's Fair of 1893.

The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 was nicknamed the “White City” for its majestic beauty. Architect Daniel Burnham built it; serial killer Dr. H. H. Holmes used it to lure victims to his World’s Fair Hotel, designed for murder. Both men left behind them a powerful legacy, one of brilliance and energy, the other of sorrow and darkness.

The World’s Fair introduced America to such classic favorites as Cracker Jack, Shredded Wheat. and Juicy Fruit and was the birth of historically significant symbols like Columbus Day, the Ferris Wheel, and the Pledge of Allegiance. It was a truly magical place, where the most important figures of the late 19th century made their appearance, among them Thomas Edison, Susan B. Anthony, Jane Addams, Clarence Darrow, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, Buffalo Bill, and Helen Keller. Many looked to the fair as a source of inspiration, from Walt Disney, whose father, Elias, helped build the White City, to L. Frank Baum and his illustrator, who visited the fair and created the grandeur of Oz based on what they saw.

But, there was a sinister side to this fair, a serial killer. In fact, he was a doctor. Erik Larson tells a true tale of grandeur and mayhem at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893.

Have Conservatives Been Betrayed?

Many Conservatives are feeling betrayed by the Bush White House and other Republicans. Let's take a look at some issues and think about what a conservative would believe about them:

1 - No Child Left Behind - Conservatives are for less govt. involvement in your life. Bush's No Child Left Behind is a betrayal of that principle in that it dictates to your locally-elected school board what to do. In other words, Washington knows better how to educate your child than you do. Is this conservatism?

2 - Medicare Prescription Drug Plan - Conservatives are for less govt. spending. Bush's Medicare Prescription Drug Plan is busting the budget and adding huge amounts to the national debt. Is this conservatism?

3 - Dubai Ports World deal - Hiring a company from a Muslim Middle Eastern country to guard our ports is what Bush proposed. Sending jobs overseas and outsourcing our national security, is this conservatism?

4 - Hurricane Katrina Response - Is our nation secure when we can't even help our own people in need? News helicopters were able to fly over New Orleans, but we couldn't get National Guard helicopters to rescue our citizens. Are we ready for terrorist attacks in America? Is this conservatism?

5 - Family Values and the Republican Party - Conservatives tout the family as being all-important. Let's take a look at Republican leaders and their personal value history: Fred Thompson - divorced, John McCain-divorced, Newt Gingrich - divorced his wife who was dying of cancer, had an affair while he was impeaching Clinton, Rush Limbaugh and his wife have 4 divorces between them, George Will - divorced, Rudy Giuliani- twice divorced and had a very public affair while he was Mayor and still married, Ronald Reagan - divorced, Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia - married three times. Barr had the audacity to author and push the "Defense of Marriage Act." (Which marriage are you defending?) Is this conservatism?

6- Amnesty for Illegal Aliens - Bush proposed amnesty for illegals - This is a pretty clear violation of conservative principles. You DON'T let law breakers off the hook. (Scooter Libby is an exception.) Is this conservatism?

7 - Military Service - Conservatives and Republicans are the party of the military. They tell us that all the time. Let's look at some GOP leaders and their military service: Bush - Went AWOL from the National Guard after his dad got him into the Guard around a long waiting list to avoid Viet Nam. No one has come forward to say they served with him in Alabama in 72-73; Dick Cheney- DNS (did not serve) ; Karl Rove - DNS; John Ashcroft - DNS; Bill Frist - DNS; Paul Wolfowitz, DNS; Fred Thompson-DNS; Trent Lott - DNS; Jack Kemp had a bad knee from football-DNS; Rick Santorum, DNS; Condi Rice - DNS; Rudy Giuliani - DNS, Jeb Bush - DNS; Mitt Romney - DNS; McCain served and was a war hero. Why was he bashed by the Bush campaign in 2000? Minority Leader Mitch McConnell- DNS; Minority Leader John Boehner-DNS; Minority Whip Roy Blunt-DNS; Dennis Hastert-DNS; Dick Armey-DNS; Chuck Hagel - 2 Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star in Viet Nam; Tom DeLay-DNS; Where were all you conservatives when America needed you? FYI - Democrats who served: Ted Kennedy, Tom Daschle, Richard Gephardt, Al Gore, John Kerry, Bob Kerrey - Medal of Honor Viet Nam; Daniel Inouye- Medal of Honor WWII; Charles Rangel - Bronze Star Korea; Wesley Clark - 38 yrs in the Army including Supreme Commander of NATO; former CA governor Gray Davis-Bronze Star Viet Nam; Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) -- Navy Cross, the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals, and two Purple Hearts in Viet Nam; Jack Murtha (D-PA) - 37-year career in the U.S. Marine Corps, Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts;

Let's stop making an assumption that one party is the party of the military and the other party is weak on national defense. Also, consider that those who have sacrificed the most in war may be the ones who are most careful when considering going to war. Also, consider how war may affect your family personally. Do you think Bush would have been so quick to go to war if his daughters were on the front lines?

8 - National Debt and Big Government - True Conservatives are upset when we have an unbalanced budget and a national debt. Republicans have betrayed this principle. It used to be the Democrats who were the "tax and spend" party and now we have the Republicans who are the "no tax and big spend" party. Consider that the national debt tripled under Reagan. Consider that the last President to achieve a balanced budget was Clinton. Do you remember the summer of 2001 when the big debate was how to spend the surplus? The Dems wanted to begin paying down the national debt and the GOPers wanted to give it to the people in the form of a tax refund. The greatest cause of the current record national debt increase is the tax cut (Congressional Budget Office-2004). This administration and Congress is not fiscally conservative. Do you realize that the federal govt. has added a million jobs since Bush took office? Govt. has gotten bigger under Bush, not smaller. And that costs money!

Disaster in Minneapolis

I've driven across the I-35W bridge many times. I take it for granted that the bridges we use are safe. But...they're not. After a new infrastructure is completed, we assume that all is done and that we'll not have to worry about it again. However, it costs money to maintain our infrastructure. By now, you've heard about the thousands of "structurally deficient" bridges in our country. Maybe we need to spend some money in America to keep our citizens safe from bridge collapses instead of sending billions down the drain in Iraq. How ironic that the Twins had to postpone the groundbreaking for their new $480 million stadium because of the neglect of a bridge. But, this is what America wants. We want to spend money on lavish stadia and want to give our athletic heroes millions of dollars while our bridges and schools deteriorate. Good teachers leave the profession so that they can better afford to feed their families. Wow, what the heck are the priorities in America? BTW, the citizens of Hennipen County were not allowed to vote on the taxes they now pay for the stadium. The county commissioners knew that they might not get the stadium if they put it to a vote of the people. So much for democracy in Minnesota. I pray for the families who lost loved ones in the bridge collapse and I am thankful for the first responders and average citizens who helped in the rescue efforts. It should never have happened.

This Week's Good Book: America Reborn - A Twentieth-Century Narrative in Twenty-six Lives - by Martin Walker

The author presents a narrative of the outgoing American century through individual portraits of 26 of its most influential participants. Beginning with Teddy Roosevelt and concluding with Bill Clinton, Walker's portraits are less biographical than they are temporal. Each chapter takes a well-known individual as a paradigm for a larger development ("Emma Goldman and the American Dissident," "Lucky Luciano and the American Criminal," etc.). The early chapters are essentially recapitulations of received wisdom: for instance, Henry Ford invents mass production and realizes he must also create a mass consumer class, hence the five-dollar day for his workers. This is an interesting history of the 20th Century using biography as a format for enlightening the reader about larger issues. Some of the biographies include Woodrow Wilson, Babe Ruth, William Boeing, Winston Churchill, Katherine Hepburn, John Steinbeck, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King and Billy Graham.

This Week's Good Movie - "Twelve O'Clock High" starring Gregory Peck

The film stars Gregory Peck in one of his finest performances as a callous general who assumes command of a bomber squadron based in England. At first, the new commander has little rapport with the 918th Bomber Group, whose loyalties still belong with their previous commander. As they continue to fly dangerous missions over Germany, however, the group and their new leader develop mutual respect and admiration, until the once-alienated commander feels that his men are part of a family--men whose bravery transcends the rigors of rigid discipline and by-the-book leadership. This book has been used in leadership training in the public and private sector because of the leadership principles involved. Twelve O'Clock High has historical value and instructional value in leadership training.

Random Thoughts

Las Vegas has decided not to try for an NBA franchise. They figure it would tarnish the city's reputation...Is Barry Bonds sponsoring a team in the Tour de France?...Dick Cheney's heart procedure will cost him money out of his own pocket. Seems that Blue Cross won't cover the cost of a search warrant..."We've been decimated by the return of 37 players from last year's 0-12 team" - from a college FB coach...Instead of going through the hassle of breeding and training dogs to fight in order to satisfy his gambling urge, why didn't Michael Vick just do what many wealthy athletes do: bet on their own sport...Whatever happened to Osama Bin Forgotten?...If Hillary is elected President, will there be more male interns in the White House?...It has been predicted that a team from Minnesota will win the Little League World Series this year. That is, if there are no injuries to key Twins players...John Edwards' poverty tour stopped at the John McCain headquarters this week..."The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it (doing drugs), convict them and send them up the river, too." - Rush Limbaugh, 10/5/95...Barak Obama has learned that if you bicker with Hillary, you look more presidential..."You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.'' — George W. Bush, Townsend, Tenn., Feb. 21, 2001 - Maybe literacy should begin in the White House...

Church and State

The question of the separation of church and state is never ending. Those in favor of including more religion in government will say that "separation of church and state" is not in the Constitution. They are correct, those exact words are not to be found there. However, the "establishment clause" and the "free exercise clause" are in the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Basically, they state that the government shall not establish a religion and that the government shall not do anything to prohibit the free exercise of religion. So far, this country has done pretty well in keeping religion out of government. But, there are always those who want to infuse their religion into government and schools. This country was not founded on the Christian religion. (see Quote of the Week). Yes, it's true that the founders were Christian, but they were wise enough not to force their views on the country, but to allow freedom of religion, a freedom they did not have in Europe where there were state religions. Those who see a breakdown in society and our youth, blame taking the 10 Commandments out of school as the reason. A more valid reason would be the breakdown of the family. I, for one, don't need or want the school to teach my child values and relgious principles. That is too great a responsibility to leave to the schools. If anyone has a doubt as to the effect of a government forcing religion on its people, look at Afghanistan and the Taliban. Look at Iran. If we have more religion in government, there will be less tolerance and more persecution, however subtle, of people who have different views. Leave religion to our churches and families and America will be just fine.

This Week's Good Book: The Martin Luther King Trilogy: "Parting the Waters,54-63", "Pillar of Fire,63-65", "At Canaan's Edge,65-68" - by Taylor Branch

Taylor Branch spent 24 years of his life researching and writing this trilogy on Martin Luther King. His America in the King Years series is both a biography of Martin Luther King and a history of his age. No timeline can do justice to its wide cast of characters and its intricate web of incidents. This is not for the casual reader. It totals over 2200 pages. The series actually begins back in the early 1800's with the black churches founded by slaves in the South. It is fascinating and reveals much history of which I was unaware. The absolute brutality and violence against blacks in the post-reconstruction era extending into the 1960's is portrayed in great detail. The reader can feel the hopelessness of the blacks in the South because the racism was government-sanctioned. Imagine living in the state of Mississippi where a black was murdered and a white jury sets the murderers free. Imagine the local sheriff, sworn to uphold the law, is involved in murdering civil rights workers. Another frustration that I experienced in reading was that the FBI, under the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover, was out to get Martin Luther King. The FBI had him illegally wire-tapped for years. I can't understand why Hoover was so against King. Then, when some of the racist murderers are tracked and caught, the FBI took such great credit for it. A favorite cop-out was to hint that the civil rights movement was communist-backed. This series should be a must for history teachers and students of American History. It is the most thorough and detailed writing about the civil rights struggle.

Between Iraq and a Hard Place

Ok, my patience is running thin. I had to write about Iraq. This won't be a long diatribe, but it will hopefully cause some thought about the larger issues. First, what do we do now?? Bush got us into this mess and there will be NO good strategy, either staying or getting out. Secondly, why are we there? All the initial Bush reasons for starting this war have been proven invalid. There were no WMD's when we invaded. Either this administration is incompetent in their intelligence gathering or they lied to us. Take your pick. Al Qaida was not there. Do you think a ruthless dictator would allow a rogue group the freedom to operate in his country? Was Saddam a threat? Do you remember the no-fly zone? Heck, he couldn't even fly over 2/3 of his country! And, the weapons inspectors were having him destroy missiles that they found. Enforcing U.N. sanctions? Assuming that the removal of Saddam's government is complete, then why are we still there? Even so, things were going to turn out ok. Iraqi oil was going to pay for the rebuilding, Iraqis would welcome us with open arms and the insurgence is in its final throes (2005). (All of these claims are from our Vice President Cheney.) Now, Al Qaida is definitely in Iraq. Why wouldn't they be? Since there is now a wild west open frontier atmosphere, any terrorist group can thrive there. A larger issue that has not been addressed is Iran. Which country is the biggest threat in the region? Iran. And which country is their historical rival and counterbalance? Iraq. Now that we have removed the biggest obstacle to Iran's regional desires, what happens? We have created a void in the region and Iran is definitely filling it. If we get out you can expect Iran, via the Shiites, to attempt to establish another Islamic state, something that Saddam would never do. His Iraq was a non-sectarian state. If we stay, we will continue to lose American lives and spend more billions of our tax dollars for a dubious cause.

We can't force the various factions in Iraq to get along.

A final question. Why haven't Iraqi troops been trained to defend themselves in 4 1/2 years? Doesn't the training of American Army and Marine ground troops take place in about 90 days?

Mission Accomplished!

This Week's Good Book: "From Love Field - Our Final Hours With President John F. Kennedy" by Nellie Connally

"Mr. President, you certainly can't say Dallas doesn't love you!" These words were spoken by Nellie Connally just moments before shots rang out in Dealey Plaza. Nellie Connally was in the car that fateful day in Dallas when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and her husband, John Connally, Texas Governor was severely wounded. What was supposed to be a day to show Texas hospitality to the president and his wife, instead turned into a day of tragedy, a seminal moment of American history. Ten days after the assassination, Nellie wrote down notes so that her grandchildren would know about the events of that day as they affected the Connally family. Nellie Connally had to deal with the death of the President in her home state and the transition of power to Lyndon Johnson while attending to the long recovery of her husband John from his wounds. There were those who said that a liberal president from the Northeast would not be welcome, or safe, coming to Texas. However, prior to the fateful and fatal moment Texans showed the Kennedys great warmth and hospitality on the two-day swing through San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth. Then, a minute by minute look at the events following the shots in Dealey Plaza. From Love Field is a good read for anyone curious about the Kennedy assassination or who remembers "where they were when JFK was shot." Nellie Connally died in September of 2006.

This Week's Good Movie - Land and Freedom

Ken Loach's Land and Freedom won two awards at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and was also considered as the best European Film of 1995. The Spanish Civil War of the 1930's is the setting. The idealism of the anti-fascists who are opposing Franco becomes soured when they realize that the Communist faction of the rebels becomes controlling and dictatorial. The lack of proper training, the poor arms that they carry, the lack of discipline (one of the soldiers refusing to march) and the endless pointless political infighting (see the scene where they debate over the collectivization of that land they have captured) are all displayed. The lack of unity among the anti-fascists was a large factor in the Franco victory which allowed his fascist leadership to rule Spain until 1975. This film shows the authoritarian nature of C0mmunism. When you have a revolution, be careful what you may get after the revolution. This is a good film about a war of which most people have little knowledge. It should be noted that Hitler, in supporting his fellow Fascist Franco, was able to test his war machine prior to unleashing it on the rest of Europe.

This Week's Good Movie: Papillon

Starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. They called him Papillon, meaning "butterfly." If only he had wings to go with the name. Unable to fly, Henri Charriere virtually willed himself free. He persisted until he did the impossible: escape Devil's Island. Based on Charriere's bestseller and shot in Spain and Jamaica, Franklin J. Schaffner's film of Papillon united two stars at key career junctures. After a decade of fine work in The Great Escape, The Sand Pebbles and Bullitt, Steve McQueen found in Charriere another ideal tough-guy role. Coming off The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy and Little Big Man, Dustin Hoffman again distinguished himself as Dega, Charriere's scruffy friend. McQueen's character reminds me of Cool Hand Luke with the determination to be free exhibited by Paul Newman. Papillon shows us the inhumanity of colonialism at its worst. This is a great adventure film with great acting by big names.

This Week's Good Book: "Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership Nixon to Clinton" - by David Gergen

Few observers are as qualified to comment on the merits of presidential leadership as is Gergen, having served as a speechwriter and adviser to four chief executives. In these finely etched tales of his time with Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton, Gergen not only explains what made these men tick but also draws broader lessons on what makes for presidential greatness. This is not a book to herald the right or the left. It is an objective book written by one of the few people left in Washington with credibility. Whenever I see Gergen on TV, I know that I am going to get an unbiased viewpoint. Tell me where else you can get that! This is an excellent book for anyone interested in history or the current situation in this country.

Liberals are Evil!

Yes, that's right. Liberals are evil! At least that is what conservatives have convinced many people to believe. It has been a remarkably successful campaign to redefine a term that has been in political and cultural use forever.

Webster defines liberal as: "Function: noun: a person who is liberal: as a : one who is open-minded or not strict in the observance of orthodox, traditional, or established forms or ways b capitalized : a member or supporter of a liberal political party c : an advocate or adherent of liberalism especially in individual rights."

Since when is open-minded considered to be bad? It all comes down to semantics. And when you want to simplify political discourse, it is convenient to apply a label, especially when the label is so distorted.

Think about where America would be without liberals. (in the true sense of the word) Had there been no liberals, America would: (1) still be an English colony; (2) have slavery; (3) still have child labor abuses; (4) have no Social Security or Medicare for retirees; (5) still have legal segregation in the South; (6) have much more polluted air and water; (7) have no Black stars in sports, including representing America in the Olympic Games.

I could go on and on. My point is that the meaning of the term liberal has been distorted terribly, as if a liberal is a bad person. Whenever someone throws that term out, ask them to define it. That should be a challenge. Or, ask them if the following Americans are evil: Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, Martin Luther King. These great Americans were responsible for great changes for the better in our country. They could be considered liberals because they were open-minded and made changes.

So, let's get back to genuine political discourse and throw out the labels and just listen honestly.

God Bless America!

China Update!!

China has been sending tainted items to the United States. Related news this week:

U.S. health officials say they will stop imports of five species of fish from China because of concerns the seafood is contaminated with potentially dangerous antibiotics. (from Voice of America)

Tainted toothpaste that entered the United States from China last month was distributed more widely than the discount stores that carried them, a newspaper reported Thursday.
About 900,000 poisonous tubes have been found in hospitals for the mentally ill, prisons, juvenile detention centers, and some hospitals serving the general public, the New York Times reported. (CNN Money.com)

As mentioned below (see The Century of China) , America is putting itself at risk by importing from China and aiding their economy and, thus, the buildup of their military. Now, it is becoming more and more clear that there are health risks from importing Chinese goods. Why? Because the quality of Chinese goods is not very high due to the fact that they pay almost slave wages and, in some cases, have been accused of using slave labor in their manufacturing sites. The solution: Buy American. I know this is not easy, but I make the effort and buy American whenever possible. In doing so, I am helping to save American jobs. If more Americans were label conscious we could reduce Chinese imports, affect the Chinese economy and make it more difficult for China to build up their military.

This Week's Good Book - The Echoing Green: The Untold Story of Bobby Thomson, Ralph Branca and the Shot Heard Round the World

This is a good sports book about the people involved in one of the most famous sports moments of the 20th Century. The author goes into detail regarding the event and the lives of those involved. One twist in the story was the NY Giants stealing signs in 1951 at the Polo Grounds. None other than Leo Durocher is behind the "legal cheating" that takes place. This one home run marked the two principles, Ralph Branca and Bobby Thomson, forever. There are many familiar baseball names in this book. Many of them were players whom I recognized as managers later in their career. If you like baseball you will enjoy this book. 512 pages. Published in 2006 and available at Amazon.com.

Fly the Flag!

July 4th is one of my favorite holidays. I love this time of year. The picnics, family activities, reunions, fireworks, parades, etc. I consider myself to be rather patriotic. I mean this in the most inclusive sense. Even though I have disagreements with the way things are going in our government, I believe that ours is the best system. I believe in America. Now, there are those who may think that you can't be patriotic AND criticize the government, but they are not true believers in the First Amendment and our wonderful freedom of expression. (See the Quote of the Week.) One of those freedoms of expression is to fly the flag. I have a modest collection of American flags. On holidays I fly 5 of them at a time from the overhang of my garage. In order, they are: The Bennington Flag (has the "76") , The Betsy Ross Flag (stars in a circle), The Star Spangled Banner (15 stars), a 48-star flag and a 50-star flag. I encourage everyone to fly a flag on July 4th. Flags are inexpensive and easy to put up. I have a 5' x 8' flag that was flown over the U.S. Capitol on my birthday in the year 2000. It comes with with a certificate and is a nice keepsake. You can make arrangements online with your congressman to have this done for you and the cost is very reasonable. Happy Birthday America!

This Week's Good Movie - The Mission

Robert De Nero, Jeremy Irons and Aidan Quinn star in this historically accurate film about the Spanish and Portuguese in South America around 1750. Irons is a priest who ventures into the jungle and starts a mission among the natives. De Nero is a slaver who has a conversion and almost fanatically helps Irons. The missions are a safe haven for the natives who are subject to being enslaved by the Spanish and Portuguese. The church cedes the land to the Portuguese and the mission and its people are in danger of being captured or killed. There is great scenery, music and acting in this film. If you like De Nero or Irons or Quinn or you like history, this movie is well worth the rental. The DVD has a good feature on how the movie was made and the transport of a native tribe to the shooting location. I watch this film at least twice a year.

Why Don't Kids Play Anymore?

When I was growing up, you would ride your bike down the street and find kids playing football and baseball in their yard and basketball in their driveway. When was the last time you saw kids doing this? Think about it. Today, the kids are either indoors with computer games (That's what they call playing now.) or at an organized activity. This is a huge change in the way kids play. Now, mom drops junior off at the organized activity and then goes on her shopping trip. I coached my son in youth soccer. I figured that I would donate some of my time, since my son was in the activity. (When he decided he didn't want to play soccer anymore, we let him quit, although not in the middle of a season.) I found that it was so easy for parents to drop their kids off at soccer practice and be on their way, never helping in the activity. Let someone else take care of my kid.

Today, many kids are terribly overscheduled! Mom ferries the child to 3 activities the same day, after a long day at school. We must have the kid in hockey, swimming, martial arts, music lessons, dance lessons, basketball traveling team, pee wee football, etc...etc...etc. This is what I call activity day care. Have these parents ever asked their child what they want?

The result of this is that kids are denied a simple developmental activity...PLAYING. Kids need to interact with their peers and not have adults intrude 24/7. Kids learn to get along better when they play. Nowadays, kids in sports have learned to blame the referees and coaches for misfortune. Intrusive parents have taught kids that winning is the only thing that is important. When surveyed, kids report that the number one thing they want out of sports is fun. Winning is far down the list. However, parents make sure the kids have fancy uniforms with their names on the back and shower them with trophies. Is this appropriate for young kids?

Heck, we never had those problems. We made our own teams, coached ourselves and refereed our own games. If we didn't have 9 guys for a baseball team, we made do with less and adjusted our rules. "No hitting to right field cuz we don't have a right fielder." Everyone was welcome to play. We didn't hand-pick "traveling" teams with the best players. The only traveling we did was to the front yard or to the field behind the school. But we always made it home for dinner or before the sun went down. No one ever went home blaming the ref or ump or coach. We just had fun.

It's time to let kids be kids again.

The Century of China

The 20th Century was arguably the American Century. It began with McKinley/Roosevelt and the ascension of American power displayed when Teddy Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet around the world in 1907. America's intervention in WWW-I and WWW-II was the difference in saving democracy as an institution.

Many years ago my father predicted that China would be the world power with which America would have to contend. His prediction is coming true. China is rapidly increasing the strength of its armed forces to the point that it will be able to flex its muscle around the world and firstly in the Taiwan Strait.

How does a country become a military power? Countries can only become a military power by first becoming an economic power. The Soviet Union did it, but they bankrupted the country in doing so and most of the country was 3rd world economically. Look at 3rd world countries like Libya and Iraq. In Libya (oil and natural gas) Khadafi flexed his muscle until the U.S. put him in his place. In Iraq, Saddam Hussein became an egomaniac thug with his oil reserves providing the money. These tinhorn dictators would have never been heard from had it not been for energy reserves as their bankroll.

So now we have China, a huge economic power. China is a far cry from the isolationist days of Mao. The number one reason that China is an economic power is America. China received Most Favored Nation Status from the U.S. and now our country is flooded with Chinese goods., thus making China an economic power. Every time you buy an item made in China you are contributing to the loss of American jobs and also to the military might of China, a military that America will have to confront some day.

This Week's Good Movie - Dr. Zhivago

Dr. Zhivago was written by Boris Pasternak in the Soviet Union. The text was smuggled across the Iron Curtain and published in the west where it won rave reviews. The setting is Russia in the years prior to and shortly after the October Revolution. The movie has all the elements of a classic film: romance, history, scenery, music and fine acting. Omar Sharif as Zhivago, the idealistic young physician/poet and Julie Christie as Lara, the vulnerable young girl, are thrown into the turmoil of World War I and the Russian Revolution. Survival and love become their focus as events beyond their control swirl about them. Rod Steiger does a great job playing the evil, yet practical Komarovsky. The film does an admirable job of showing the hypocrisy of the communist system. I recommend this film for anyone who loves history and who just loves great films!

This Week's Good Book - Alas Babylon

Alas Babylon, by Pat Frank is one of the first post-apocalyptic novels of the nuclear age. It concerns a small town in central Florida after a nuclear attack on the United States. I remember a TV version and it scared the heck out of me. Many years later, I searched for the book and made it a priority to read it. It begins by describing the aftermath of nuclear blasts. Although the town is not directly hit, it is affected in terms of the lack of utilities, the elimination of local government and a decline in civility. This is a scary and depressing reality. However, the book becomes more readible as the characters develop a strong sense of survival and community. This book will alert you to the realities of nuclear war while inspiring you. About 300 pages from Amazon.com.

Moderate - A Lost Label

Whatever happened to the "moderate" American? In this polarized political climate there seems to be a need to label everyone who expresses a viewpoint. Liberal or Conservative in various degrees seem to be the stock labels for us nowadays. This makes it easier to discuss issues since we now know what the other person is thinking based on the label. Of course, they couldn't possibly hold a view that is not verbatum from the liberal or conservative talking points that we get from talk radio or cable TV. When we use labels as a crutch, we leave no room for independent thinking. We assume this person has a conservative or liberal view on all issues. How simplistic!

Suggestion: Avoid labeling people and just listen to what they have to say. And, if you must use labels, add a third label to your list: MODERATE. There are many more moderate Americans than the talk shows would like you to believe. If people would think for themselves and stay away from labels, the talk shows would go off the air.