Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Jackson on Schiavo, Bush on Democracy in Iraq

The Rev Jessie Jackson today spoke in front of the hospice where Terri Schiavo is being cared for with her family in the wings. “This is one of the most profound moral and ethical issues of our time….She has been starved to death. She has been dehydrated to death. We ask God for a miracle.”

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President Bush speaking to an audience of many Iraqis from the White House Rose Garden. The assembled audience were Iraqis and Iraqi-Americans who aided in the voting process in Iraq and for Iraqis in the US.

President Bush opened with condolences to the earthquake victims in Indonesia.About the Iraqi democracy and elections;“Freedom is on the march.”

“The World has seen Iraqi women vote in enormous numbers. Eighty women are in the transitional assembly.”

The new government must, “…uphold the will of the majority while respecting the rights of the minorities.”

The next step is the drafting of a consititution and in October there will be a National Referendum. “Then Iraqis will return to the polls to elect a permanent assembly.”

“Iraqis have taken big steps in a long journey of freedom.”

“The habits of liberty are built over generations.”

"Free people of Iraq are doing what Saddam never could do, be a positive example for the middle East.”

“Spreading freedom is the calling of our time.”

Sunday, March 27, 2005

Asking History, A Good Place to Start for 'State of Black Union'

The State of the Black Union was held on February 27, 2005 and televised on CSPAN. The gathering was held in Atlanta, Georgia. Representing the black community were state representatives, company presidents, pastors and community leaders.

The monologue of some speakers was uplifting and pointed to the many successes of the civil rights struggle and results by activists in the past. The meeting of black leaders was desired to write a "covenant" or contract. This Covenant would be a concise set of points most important for black America. For the 2008 elections the Covenant would hold accountable those who sought the black vote in aid their election hopes. Once elected the official would then be expected to follow through on the promise. The covenant web site can be viewed at www.covenantwithblackamerica.com. Be sure to listen to the recorded message from moderator Raymond Brown who explains the covenant.

Some panel members painted a different picture. The comments by the majority of the panel was the sad state of the black union. Their remarks were negative and inflammatory and blame was handed out like samples at a grocery store. After watching the C-Span coverage I have spent hours searching for a transcript of the symposium. If the site is brought to my attention I will link or post it for review.

The host did not question the subject nor did he keep the speakers from using this event as a political sounding board. As the presentation progressed the accusations and negativity became more frequent and the statements became increasingly slanderous. It appeared to the casual observer each successive speaker was competing for the best sound bite of the day. The remarks eventually succeeded in tripping an emotional cord with the audience when clapping was heard and laughter when one of the speakers began to slander President Bush and joking about his level of intelligence.

After watching a few hours of the symposium I gathered a few points;
1) The leaders did not feel enough was being done for black America.
2) The current representatives in government they have supported in the past are not dealing with black problems thoroughly enough.
3) Between the comments made and the fact there was an entirely black panel for all three sessions the perception was if they want it done right, they must do it themselves.

These were representatives and leaders of the black community. They were not only brought here to discuss a possible change in direction for the black community. They were here to brainstorm ideas for improving all areas of life.

Very little discussion was made in a constructive, positive form. It was also noted, very little history of past great leaders was referenced. The Reverend Jessie Jackson quoted Dr. King. The names Julian Bond and Kweisi Mfume were also mentioned, however they are more recent leadership. I would state with confidence little was accomplished at all. In the audio file on the covenant website, Jeremy Brown says himself the details of the covenant were not decided upon (as apparently some if not all the points were to be discussed.)

WEB DuBois was the first black to earn a PHD from Harvard. He was a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Referenced from 'The Leaders Companion' by J Thomas Wren; In 'The Negro Problem,' DuBois talked about the most important ingredient for the success of black America. The development of the “Talented Tenth.” Education was the first step in development of the Talented Tenth or the brightest ten percent of the population. Du Bois wanted the brightest ten percent of the black population to be “educated in the best colleges and universities.”

These same citizens would then graduate and become leaders in all areas of the community. These people would be successful people and therefore positions of admiration and inspiration to the black community. The influential power of these citizens would be a tool of immeasurable benefit through encouragement and even directly fostering the “Mass” of the community to improve.

The “Talented Tenth” would first show the other ninety percent it is possible. Then the “Mass” would ideally go and continue the progress. One person at a time would break the cycle of poverty, low self-esteem and reliance on social welfare. In turn they would become role models for the next generation of youth with the potential energy for productivity and leadership.Du Bois also stated education alone was not the sole salvation of his people. “The family and group life… the training of one’s home, of one’s daily companions, of ones social class,” would be key to success of the talented tenth. I believe Du Bois felt the improvements gained through successful individuals in the black community could be easily undermined if the destruction of the family and negative peer influence grew.

A broken home with one parent left to raise the family would contribute to the uphill battle. Our youth at the grade school and high school level are finding roll models in their friends and on television. Some of their peers who do not put forth effort in school are ‘models’ and convince others to believe inattention and uncooperative behavior in the classroom, disrespect for teachers and aggressive handling of disputes in the hallways are acceptable. The more they see it, the more they accept it and the desensitizing takes a tole.

The difference between right and wrong is not always clear. It is more clear to those with a dad and mom as we grew up. Decisions by our youth in broken families and other less fortunate environments will have increased trouble with the areas of ‘grey’.WEB Du Bois wrote sensibly. However he was writing for his time. He states in his ‘The Negro Problem”, The success of the black movement requires the mobilzation of black communities as well as the transformation of attitudes in the surrounding society…. No others can do this work and Negro colleges must train men for it.”

If the black community is being misled to believe they must go it alone. Any credit handed out by prominent black leaders will only be given out to a selected people or groups. The March 25, 2005 issue of USAToday.com, posted a story of interest on this topic. “Bush is opening doors with a diverse Cabinet,” written by Susan Page. The article discusses the ground breaking levels of diversity for the Bush Administrations appointees to lead the country. Per the article, the current administration is more diverse then during any other Presidency. Most notably he has currently two of the ‘big four’ cabinet positions filled by a black and hispanic American. The two current minority cabinet holders are Secretary of State Condileeza Rice and Alberto Gonzalez as Attorney General.

According to the article, “Another reason Bush hasn't gotten as much credit as Clinton: The interest groups most likely to praise diversity of personnel generally disagree with Bush on policy.” It seems the Mrs Page surmizes those who are in position to voice support are only willing to give credit when it is due if the individual is on their list of approved supporters. If Al Sharpton was President, interests groups such as the NAACP, Rainbow-Push and others would be very supportive of a decision to diversify the cabinet more then ever before. Because it is President Bush who is doing the diversifying, the interests groups are throwing a fit because it is not one of their own. Therefore they keep their supportive remarks to themselves. Sounds like discrimination.

Susan Page begins to make some summaries in the last third of the article. She states, “Over the long term, Republicans and Democrats agree that the impact could be considerable. The presence of minorities in high-profile jobs could destigmatize the Republican Party among young African-Americans, who remain the most loyal Democratic voting bloc, and could encourage young Hispanics to move toward the GOP.”In the very next paragraph she quotes Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson as saying “It shows respect…” to name Latinos to such powerful positions. Politicos may see this trend as benefiting one party and hurting another. Susan Page and Governor Bill Richardson are missing an opportunity to see what this could mean for the young generations of minorities. Leaders of our country making decisions about our present and future.

The transformation Du Bois talked about one hundred years ago is happening steadily. It is a shame however true, our older generations are typically the least accepting to change and least likely to be inclusive and accept others as they are for color of skin, sexual orientation or other. I will hypothesize the youngest generation today is the least prejudice to date. This pattern will continue with each new generation becoming more inclusive then the previous.

It is also realistic there are many from the middle and older generations who are developing more open minds. The elder generations grew up in a less inclusive time. They may have had racially questionable family and peers or possibly had opened minded people around them. Time is needed to rid minds of prejudices and naïve ideas.

There are fewer prejudice among us today. I am confident in saying there are enough white and educated who believe in this cause and feel it is our concern. The mobilization of the black community is not enough. Mobilization of those in the other communities who can spread the good news of tolerance will have a positive and measureable impact on race relations. The white and educated can and should be doing their part in the teaching of the future black leaders, coaching the black basketball and baseball players, mentoring the black student to be picked for the academic decathlon and support the improvement of black America. Black men and women will contribute to their own future. They will author of more books, start up more companies, be roll models for their youngest. We can all be proud of bringing the environment for these changes to flourish.

It is tantamount the successes of these leaders be proclaimed within the black community but not proclaimed as "a black man" or "a black woman" did this or that. It is also important their successes sit in the front row and be seen, prior to the mentioning of their skin color. Their work and results must take precedent over the color of their skin. The media or any other medium of communication may show their faces in picture, this will be enough evidence to conclude their race. A child does not need to be told someone is black, Hispanic or white. All children begin life naïve and with no prejudices. The prejudices are learned later. If left to think, the same child would probably judge each leader not by color, by the person.

The current administration seems to understand the abov, and for their first criteria for appointments it appears to be, Who would do the best job. Stephen Hess of the Brookings Institute commented on the minority appointments by President Bush. He felt the individuals chosen were quality appointments first and they were people of color second. He said lightly, “…blink and look and say, "Oh, my goodness, it's a black woman..." Working with one another is not cliche, it is imperative. Dr. King said on August 28, 1963 in front of the Lincoln Memorial, "...for many of our white brothers realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone."

There is a talented tenth in all races. The talented tenth of today's United States is colorful.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

UN, Oil For Food

No one has been indicted of wrong doing at the UN. This is not to say there will not be wrongdoing found. Investigations are currently underway on Benon Sevon's management of the Oil For Food Programme, his questionable $160,000 he received from a relative. Also under investigation is Kojo Annan's role with Cotecna and the ability of the company to land a billion dollar contract with Oil For Food while Kojo was on the payroll.

Until the dust settles it is difficult for us to make judgements on the involvement of the named parties. Until Paul Volcker is finished and any other inquiries are complete I will continue to give UN Secretary General Kofi Anann the benefit of the doubt. I do not agree with having a UN in the current power it commands, however I would like to believe Kofi Annan is a servant-leader with corrupt pit-crew. Perhaps he is too trusting of 'yes' men and women reporting to him and also worried he will upset anyone. This scenario would place blame on the UN as a organization, not the Secretary General. The responsibility would still fall to Mr Annan regardless.

Good people with great intentions The UN appears to be plagued with good people being corrupted by power and seemingly endless revenues from contributing countries. Perhaps there is not enough checks and balances for the UN. If the world body was held accountable on daily transactions and employees knew they were being watched perhaps the good people equal intentions would not fall prey to developing a sense of being 'untouchable.' The trend toward developing into poor decision makers may be curtailed and brought to a sustainable levels with occasional attrition.

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Terri Schiavo, What could we know?

We are not there to see Terri. We are not doctors trained to detail her condition or give prognosis. What the public CAN do is read what is being posted in the media and blogs, read the transcripts of numerous interviews of doctors and individuals who would actually have some knowledge about her situation. Given some of these experts may be biased by way of;
1) are they on the pay roll of one side or the other,
2) biases regarding their right to life/right to die views,
3) political views,
4) or most obviously their own diagnosis/prognosis based on their evaluation.

There are so many unknowns. Is Terri a vegetable or coherent to some degree? What does Terri really want? If we cannot determine with certainty then who should decide?. Husband, family or court? There seems to be experts and plenty of emotion for both sides of the fence.

As many answers are unclear and doubt around every corner, I feel the moral right is to nourish and hydrate Terri for a while longer. Let us try to more thoroughly insure we are not taking her life when she is aware what is happening with no voice for a vote.

Porous Border, J D Hayworth Fighting the Good Fight

The rap sheet of our porous southern border already contains thefts, carjackings, assault and murders. These are current problems with each new day bringing a longer list of laws broken by those who should not be here. Every person jumping the fence or successfully smuggled by the "coyotes" are already criminals. They have circumvented our immigration process and are here illegally. It could be argued the illegals are not harming the US by being here if they just did this one thing wrong, crossed illegally. This is too ideal.

If just 1% of illegal immigrants cause another crime, whether petty or grotesque, they can officially be placed in a category a larger burden then benefit to this country. Once found guilty of the crime of which they are accused, immediately they should be returned to their country of origin. Their names can be added to a list of those not welcome. The list will grow rapidly. Adding a few additional servers to the budget of Homeland Security would rememdy any lack of storage space.We have been watching at least the last 4 Presidents, starting with Ronald Reagan. Then Bush 1, Clinton and now Bush 2 doing something while doing nothing. Doing something amounts to a little tough talk and no improvement. Ronald Reagan gave amnesty to millions under the Immigration and Control Act of 1986. Since then, the talk has been tough at times from other presidents, however the results less then presidential. Perceptions are everything. The current administration is less on dialogue then I remember of the previous three presidents and also takes first in having the least results.

The states are doing some good things. In the last election cycle, the people of Arizona passed Proposition 200. It made it a requirement to prove you are a citizen prior to being handed a voting ballot. However there is also a governor in the state, Janet Napolitano, who seems unconcious with respect to the notion driving is a privilege and no concern for her states safety. In the last election she promoted granting of drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. This is similar to what former Governor Grey Davis of California passed. This among other issues brought an end to his governorship.

Our borders have many holes. From this perspective there does seem to be measureable-direct economic gain from border jumpers. My concern is with the immeasurable-indirect economic burden also crossing the border. Strain on education and hospitals as two examples. These people need to be encouraged or forced to come here via the legal road. If this means closing the border then this is something to consider. These are changing times and those who want to destroy America can cross the border along side of another who wants to pick oranges.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Schiavo, Doctor Says Recovery Possible

Dr. Bill Hammesfahr was interviewed on Hannity & Colmes, Foxnews Channel. Per the interview Dr. Hammesfahr was nominated for the Noble Prize in 1999 for work with people with cases like Terri Shiavo's. The following is a cut&paste from the transcript online (Foxnews.com); **************
HAMMESFAHR: I spent about 10 hours with Terri across three separate occasions, and I spent a lot of time with videotapes, the medical record which is in boxes and boxes and boxes. for about a year. And of course, you know, I spending time interviewing the family and people who actually have seen her. So I've spent a lot of time with her.

HANNITY: Do you believe she is aware, conscious and responsive?
HAMMESFAHR: Terri is completely aware and conscious and responsive. She is like a child with cerebral palsy. We have kids in the Pinellas County school system every day that are much worse than her, that we're educating....

HAMMESFAHR: I was not paid. Now, if you look at the people who are on Terri's side and stepped forward, at last count, two weeks ago, 33 M.D.s, brain injury specialists from around the country, places like UCLA, Tulane, LSU, Boston University --Thirty-three physicians has stepped forward to say that this person can be rehabilitated. She's not in PVS, not in a coma. And the -- Judge Greer ignored this.

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Dr. Hammesfahr then questions the credibility of Dr. Cransford, another doctor who has been outspoken about Terri's case. He has been supportive of keeping the feeding tube out per the Florida Judge's decision;

HAMMESFAHR: Well, I think you need to go and look at the videotape of Dr. Cranford. Dr. Cranford's videotape compliments Terri on following commands. At one point he moves a balloon around in front of her and he again compliments that she is able to see it that she can follow commands.

Sunday, March 20, 2005

12:01am Vote

Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colorado "This is as important as anything we have done here."

Rep. Jim McDermot, D-Washington"No Planning Process"

"This is something to hide something else, something going on in this house."

Rep. Mark Sander, R-Indiana[Terry Shiavo] "...is responsive"

Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Texas" In appearance or in fact... Michael Shiavo has a conflict of interest."

Rep. Christopher Shags, R-Connecticut" How deep is this Congress going to reach into the personal lives of people."

Some Dems and Republicans made a case against the bill citing issues with;
1) States Rights
2) Precedent
3) Seperation of PowersOne Republican made the case for "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.. and if we error, then error on the side of Life," citing the Bill of Rights.

Debate began at 9pm Eastern time on Sunday, March 20 and concluded just after midnight in the first few minutes of Monday, March 21 with a vote;

After over three hours of debate, House called for a vote. The measured was backed by 156 Republicans to 5 who voted against it and 71 who did not vote; 47 Democrats voted in favor, 53 against and 102 did not vote. The lone independent in the 435 member house did not vote. (FoxNews.com)

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Harvard President, Summers Under Undue Fire

The President of Harvard University has recently come under scrutiny about comments he made at the NBER Conference on Diversifying the Science & Engineering Workforce. It was held in Cambridge, Massachusetts on January 14, 2005. I would encourage you to read the entire transcript of the conference. (see below for link) Sentence four explains in a nutshell what concern this discussion would be tackling;

“I'm going to confine myself to addressing one portion of the problem, or of the challenge we're discussing, which is the issue of women's representation in tenured positions in science and engineering at top universities and research institutions…”

Larry Summers has received the most negative attention on the following statement: “…why is the pattern different in science and engineering, and why is the representation even lower and more problematic in science and engineering than it is in other fields. And here, you can get a fair distance, it seems to me, looking at a relatively simple hypothesis. It does appear that on many, many different human attributes-height, weight, propensity for criminality, overall IQ, mathematical ability, scientific ability-there is relatively clear evidence that whatever the difference in means-which can be debated-there is a difference in the standard deviation, and variability of a male and a female population.

He stated some facts and made conjectures; numbers show 20-25 years ago there was an upswing in the number of women entering science and engineering and today the swing has regressed. “…The relatively few women who are in the highest ranking places are disproportionately unmarried or without children… one has exactly the same conversation in almost any high-powered profession.” Then he follows encouraging the conference with a rhetorical question; “ What does one make of that?”

He gave a hypothetical answer using other empirical data and his own judgement, again stressing it is up for debate; “…The most prestigious activities in our society expect of people who are going to rise in leadership positions in their forties near total commitments to their work. They expect a large number of hours.. flexibility of schedules (favoring the institution), continuity of the life cycle… That is a level of commitment that a much higher fraction of married men have been historically prepared to make then of married women.

Mr Summers wanted, “…attempts at provocation...”“…and I think it’s important to try to think systematically and clinically about the reasons for underrepresentation.”“To what extent is there overt discrimination? Surely there is some.”

“The work that Claudia Goldin and Larry Katz are doing will… contribute greatly to our understanding of these issues and... may prove my conjectures completely wrong.”Larry Summers brings his opening remarks to a close prior to Q&A: “I’ve given you my best guesses after a fair amount of reading the literature and a lot of talking to people. They may all be wrong. I will have served my purpose if I have provoked thought on this question and provoked the marshalling of evidence to contradict what I have said.”

Larry Summers obviously did not anticipate the negative backlash to his remarks. When reading many articles written in the newspapers it appears Mr. Summers is not getting a fair shake. However, when the dust settles we will all look back and see his ideas have stimulated “thought,” and dialogue and quite possibly more positive results then if the conference ended and it's transcript was filed away deep into archived history. He may have accidentally or not, promoted this topic into national discussion.

President Larry Summers' work will be well served.

http://www.president.harvard.edu/speeches/2005/nber.html

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Patriot Act, A Successful Story?

The Associated Press today wrote an article regarding the arrest of 18 people in a arms smuggling ring. The goods being delt would have been grenade launchers, shoulder-fired missles and other weapons made in Russia. They were to be smuggled into the United by way of a patriotic informant.

One suspect was Artur Solomonyan, an Armenian living in New York and Los Angeles. A second was Christiaan Dewet Spies, a South African, living in New York.It appears they were the two points of contact for the informant and were coordinating the arms sale.

It appears from the article, the informant continued to deal with the smugglers and worked w/the FBI to gather enough evidence to eventually make the arrest.

The FBI tapped 7 phones and intercepted over 15k calls. It would be interesting to know whether these taps were able to be made because of the Patriot Act.

Monday, March 14, 2005

Iraqi Born Under Saddam, Now is American With Story

The Iraqi government had been in power since 1963. The rules of how to live and who to fear were developing and taking By 1969 the regime took control of all media and gave many of the countries intellectuals, poets and artists a choice between joining the Baathist party or they would loose their jobs, be prosecuted, tortured or put to death. Of these people many would give in to the regimes demands out of fear, the others would often disappear. Benyamin Benyaminan can tell you stories first hand of life under dictatorship. He and his family lived in Iraq.

In 1973 Benyamin Benyamin lived in Iraq with his family. His family had been reading an Arab Magazine called Life in United States. They knew there was a better life outside of Iraq and decided to leave Iraq. They discussed a plan with their final destination as the U.S.

The family could not leave all at once because the government would realize they were defecting. They decided to leave the country a few at a time. The family met together and developed the plan. The first to leave would go to Lebanon (a friendly country) and get an apartment, a job and begin set up roots there. The idea was for the first to establish Lebanon as the stepping-stone from Iraq, then to a family member already living in Chicago, IL. Benyamin and his brother were the first to leave. The two had to be careful when asking permission from the passport officer to leave the country. Benyamin pieced together a simple story to get him out without suspicion of defection. He told the officer his fiancé was in Lebanon and he needed to go there to marry her. They were granted a pass to leave.

Once Benyamin and his brother were safely in Lebanon they began to work and send money home to his family. This money would be used to prepare for others to leave. They communicated by letter. The regime read all correspondence entering Iraq from other countries. Because of this the family agreed to use a code in their letters.

Once it was time for Benyamin and his brother to leave Lebanon for Chicago, they would send for a few family members to make the leap of faith to Lebanon. In a letter home Benyamin used the agreed upon code. He wrote in the letter inviting his family to his “graduation ceremony.” This phrase meant ‘leave the country’. The family knew it was time to send the second group to Lebanon. Once the new family members made it safely to their apartment, Benyamin stayed a while for the family to make their surroundings familiar. He gave them the keys to the apartment, showed them where the grocery store was located, and had already found them jobs. Benyamin and his brother then left Lebanon for Chicago where they found a place to live in a Christian church and found work in a factory putting nameplates onto refrigerators and appliances. The war in Lebanon started in 1975 and the United Nations rushed papers for the remaining family in Lebanon to leave the country.

The Iraqi government had been in power since 1963. But the rules of how to live were already firmly in place. By 1969 the regime began taking control of all media and gave many of the countries intellectuals, poets and artists a choice between joining the Baathist party or they would loose their jobs, be prosecuted, tortured or put to death. Most would give into the regimes demands while others would disappear.

Benyamin is a member of Assyrian Church of the East. The church is growing. NobleDoctrine encourages contributions to the church.

Assyrian Church of the East8712 N 35th AvePhoenix, AZ 85051Learn more about the Assyrians and their history, resource; http://www.aina.org/aol/peter/brief.htm#Language (Assyrian International News Agency)

Friday, March 11, 2005

Crown King to Phoenix

Driving home from camping in the Bradshaw Mtns, Northwest of Phoenix, the campers stopped to look at a flowing wash. Once we dismounted out of the Explorer just off of a graded Crown King Road, we could hear a “hissing” coming from low or under the truck. Put my near the car and heard the tire leaking air. The passenger side rear tire had a 1 ½ inch nail in the outside row of tread. The tire had not lost a lot of air as of yet, however it was slowly leaking. We were seven miles from the next town, Bumble Bee, AZ. The town consisted of less then a dozen old homes, a ranch and a school house. It was an additional five miles of forest road to Interstate 17 and about more miles down a steep interstate to the next town of Black Canyon City. The consideration was to simply drive slowly the remaining distance to Black Canyon City. This was ruled out due to the tire loosing air and the extremely slow speeds needed to drive on the forest road even if we still had 4 good tires. We were going to change the tire.

The car was jacked up with the standard issue mini-jack Ford provided in their Explorer models. I was also using the standard issue lug wrench. I could not get the lugs off. An anemically sized tool, the wrench was 12 inches long and did not provide enough torq for breaking loose the lugs. The tires were last rotated at a local dealership. I was able to break loose just one lug. The impact wrench may have been used a little to liberally on the other four. The stubborn lugs were determined not to turn.

There were a few cars driving by on this road, possibly one every 15-20 minutes. We stopped the first car driving past, a FedEx truck. The driver said he did not have a toolbox, a lug wrench, or even a spare tire for his own truck. A couple more vehicles each drove by in 10 more so minute intervals each stopping on their own to ask if everything was all right or offer assistance. No one had a larger lug wrench. The next truck to approach was a Suburban license plates from Nebraska. Three gentlemen in their late 50’s rolled down the windows as we flagged them down. They did not have a wrench but pulled over to see if they could help. I explained our situation and one of the men, obviously well corn-fed growing up due to his size, attached the lug wrench so he could pull up and directed me to grab the wrench just below his hands and I could pull simultaneously. With a hard pull from both of us, a few moments later a second lug came loose. The remaining three lugs came loose with similar efforts. The damaged tire was replaced by the spare.

The wrench was inserted back into the jack to lower the car. As the jack was cranked counter clockwise the truck was not lowering. The placement of the jack was one foot in front of the passenger side rear tire on the frame rail. The Explorer was a 4 wheel drive with 16 inch wheels and all weather tires with sizeable tread. The frame rail was high off the ground. This required the jack to be raised a bit higher to get the wheel off the ground. If another placement had been chosen, directly behind the wheel the jack would not have been raised as high to get the wheel off the ground. The extra distance the anemic jack was raised apparently caused the cog teeth of the internal mechanics to get off track. The jack would not lower. Another 10 or 15 minutes went by as we pondered how to get the truck off the jack or the jack from under the truck. I considered just slowly rolling the truck off the jack. But conjecture what could happen as the jack was being moved with the weight of the truck combined with movement forward or backward. The jack could choose any number of destructive or dangerous routes. Yet another person stopped to ask if we needed assistance. The driver of a white Silverado came to a stop and rolled down his window. As I approached the car with the anemic wrench in my hand the driver actually hesitated and then began to pull forward, maybe wondering if I was not in any trouble at all but setting the scene for a Texas hold'em-up. I casually convinced him to stop and assist by explaining our situation briefly. I sampled for him the action of the broken jack when he stepped out of the car. He suggested putting a flat but reasonably thick rock under the rear tire and backing the truck up onto the rock. This would do one of two things, raise the truck up as to pull the jack from under, or simply knock over the jack. As we searched the desert roadside for an appropriate sized rock, the gentlemen got in his car and went on his way. The rock was placed under the passenger side rear tire. Before moving the vehicle, the passenger side front window was rolled down to able communication with my friend as he watched from the side of the road what was about to transpire. As the truck rolled slowly onto the rock, I could hear a light thud and the truck sank instead of rising after rolling onto the rock. Walking around the truck to see the outcome one could see the jack successfully was knocked over as the rear wheel rolled onto the rock, however the car sank due a nearly flat spare tire.

The situation was now this; A nail in one tire, a flat spare and a broken jack, 22 miles from civilization in the middle of the Upper Sonoran Desert.Someone is always looking out for me. 10 minutes later the very next car to drive by was a local couple. They gave me a jack to use, voluntarily took my spare tire back to their house where they had an air compressor. They returned in another 15 minutes, inflated the spare and brought it back to me. They also brought with them a puncture repair kit. The gentlemen pulled the nail out of the tire, and patched the hole on the spot. Then they would not take anything for helping us. They just said to help someone next time. Good people.The entire inconvenience lasted a little over 2 hours. There were no less then 7 vehicles to offer any assistance. The one vehicle, which did not stop, was a Forest Service truck. Funny he did not stop. The sign for the Tonto National Forest was across the forest road and back 10 yards. I suppose he did not stop due to we were officially out of the park.

After all this hospitality in the middle of no-wheres-ville we drove toward home. During the drive home there were probably 20 cars defiantly keeping us from changing into their lanes.

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

How To Reform Social Security

There have been a few ideas made public by our lawmakers on methods to secure the future of Social Security. The merits and faults of these ideas were debated today. Senator Chuck Hagel supports voluntary private accounts.

The following is an article Noble Doctrine found to be honest, and looking out for us. The article is for private accounts. Written by Michael Tanner at the Cato Institute; http://www.socialsecurity.org/pubs/articles/tanner-050120.html

Whatever the final outcome to reform social security, increasing the payments to the government by any worker, wealthy or poor does not seem to be viable. There is a post being prepared, soon to be published, arguing against the tax increase proposal as the answer for Soc. Sec. solvency.

Monday, March 07, 2005

In the midst of multiple controversies at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the President of the University steps down.]

Elizabeth Hoffman resigned from her post. The last couple months have given some attention to the University they did not anticipate. A brewing scandal in the football program and the vitriolic authoring from Professor Ward Churchill has led to her decision;

"It appears to me it is in the university's best interest that I remove the issue of my future from the debate so that nothing inhibits CU's ability to successfully create the bright future it so deserves,'' Hoffman wrote in a letter to the school's board of regents. (from article by Chris Dolmetsch, Bloomberg.com, March 7, 2005 12:50 EST )"
Guiliana Sgrana, the Italian Journalist freed from her terrorist hosts is lucky to be alive. An Italian agent who was key to her release was killed when the car the journalist and agent were traveling in drew fire from American servicemen.

The troops basically state the vehicle would not stop when warned and they opened fire. The journalist states there was no justification and now accuses the troops of possibly targeting her.

Where have we heard this before? CNN's Eason Jordan accused the US and the troops of this on at least two occasions and recently he stepped down due to the controversy.

There is probably no connection between Sgrana and Jordan. I seriously doubt Jordan high atop CNN would have even had the opportunity to read the work of Sgrana. It is just interesting to me the Italian would make such accusations. Both the journalist and the troops saw the same incident from two perspectives. One inside the car driving joyfully back toward home and the troops on the other side of the windshield protecting themselves form what they decided was a threat.

I am happy the journalist is alive. But I will give the beneifit of the doubt to the troops. They have a big responsibility. They are noble for risking and sacrificing for us. They are just like you and me. Men and women with families at home.

Sunday, March 06, 2005

To Salvage Power, Syria Bends

Muammar Qadhafi was confronted with a choice in October 2003 as a ship carrying centrifuges and other equipment was caught heading to Libya. We know the first choice given him by the 'good guys' in the international community 1) give up your nuclear weapons program or else.... Do we know what the second option would have been? Libya was already suffering under economic sanctions since 1986. Maybe his nuclear facilities would have been made military targets. Perhaps further sanctions or actions would have been made.

Qadhafi has personal gain by keeping out of the limelight of the United States and United Nations. He retains his position and power. By relinquishing WMD programs he maintains his status quo and may even be rewarded through easing of sanctions. The key to his retention was showing the "good guys" he was cooperating and diplomacy was working. There would be less need for more serious action by the 'good guys' if he is showing improvement. He salvaged his power.

Syrian leader, Bashar Assad may actually be a nice man and has decided to give Lebanon back to the Lebanese. However it is also reasonable to conjecture he too may be cutting his losses. He is showing calculated improvement to avoid further attention. He seemingly becomes a smaller problem and is less likely to face otherwise mounting pressure.

Because Iraq is no longer a member of the 'axis of evil,' Bashar does not want Syria to fill the vacancy. Suggestion to the 'good guys.' As we move to bigger fish in North Korea and Iran, keep an eye on Syria.