Let Bygone Days Be Bygones

I'm going to try something that would ordinarily make me pull my hair out, and rend my clothes. I'm going to interpret the Bible as literally as possible. Now, according to the Bible (sorry, though, not by Chapter and Verse-I no longer have one availiable) the area of the Gaza Strip, known in Old Testament days as Philistia (thus, Palestine), was once given, by "God", to the Hebrwew tribe of Dan. It was, in effect, to be their share of the "Promised Land". Unfortunately,they could not take the country-ever. Now, the tribe of Dan has dissappearred into the ash heap of history, having been taken into captivity long ago by the Assyrrians, along with the remainder of the "Lost Ten Tribes of Israel".

In other words, the tribe of Judah-the present day nation of Israel-has no legitimate claims to this country. So, quite frankly, going by their own religion, they should get the fuck out now, in fact, should never have been there in the first place. But why quibble? They can be excused, after the 1967 war, taking the place over for the purposes of their security concerns. But where they fucked up was by moving these religous fanatic settlers in there to begin with. This has opened up a can of worms which the U.S. is now paying to take care of. To the tune, in fact, of 1.5 billion dollars or so. fair enough, it is well worth it.

So let's forget the Bible, and go by the U.N. Charter that provided for two nations, Israel and Palestine. This land, Gaza, belongs to the Palestinians. True, they have fucked up royally themselves over the years, but the facts are on paper, traceable back to a reasonable date, agreed to by the Israelis, incidentally. But the Israelis felt they had to have the land in the wake of the massive immigration of Jewish Refuseniks who began migrating to Israel from the Soviet Union beginning in the 1970's, in droves. They needed the land for them, they felt, and they needed a security presence in Gaza, the West bank, and in East Jerusalem. It didn't work out so well.

You have to wonder about any person or perople that would even want to live in an area made up of fortified communities of roughly twenty thousand people or so, surrounded by 1.5 million or so people that despise them, would gladly and gleefully jump up and down on their entrails and carcasses given the opportunity to emaciate them. But these settlers are determined that "God" has given this land to the Jews, and to this day are praying for some kind of miracle, while Jewish soldiers patiently try to remove them, unarmed,without guns, sticks, shields, or even so much as helmets, prying the settlers, sitting on the floor of the synagogue of Neve Dekkallim, locked arm in arm, resisting, and praying, and shouting, and screaming.

In addition, there have been right wing Jewish protestors who have entered the area, in defiance of government orders, to join with the settlers in their efforts to remain on the land. I will admit to some degree of sympathy for the Jewish children of these settlers. What an example their parents are setting for them. How callously they disrespect their safety by insisting they remain in such a desolate place, in such an untenable position. But that is the spectre of religous fanaticism everywhere. "God" will make all things right, according to them.

If I could have a chance to advise the Israeli Governemnt, I doubt they would listen to me, but I know what I would tell them. Let them stay in their settlements. But make sure it is clear to them, you stay at your own peril. If you remain, you will be subject to Palestinian laws. You will have to abide by their rules and regulations. You will become, to all intents and purposes, citizens of their nation-and totally at their mercy.

I bet that would settle it for most of them. They would leav, and quickly. But not all of them, of course,not the most fanatical, the most determined. They would remain convinced that "God" will protect them from the evil that might befall them. "God" has given this land to them, it is not up to them to disobey him. They would remain. Whatever befalls them, or their children, would be the will of the Lord. It is their duty to endure. And so it would go, with doubtless the same result as the destruction this attitude brought upon the Jews in the 60's C.E., when Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Temple of Herod The Great became the Wailing Wall. Incredible how such blind religous fanaticism negates even the reasoned lessons of history.

As for the U.S., who is paying for the implementation of this latest policy, we can only hope these right wing fanatics don't immigrate here, as a good many of them might. They have all ready blamed Bush, as well as Sharon, for this event. Sharon's life will be in danger from this moment forward from these people, more so than it ever was before, when he had only Arab and Muslim terrorism to contend with. Butif they come here, they might not content themselvers with targeting Bush. They might, in fact, become as much of a security problem for the people of this country as any of the most fanatical Muslim fundamentalist.

States of Emergency

Governors Elliot Richardson (d-New Mexico) and Jane Napolitano (d-Arizona) havve both recently declared their respective states to be in a state of enmergency due to the uncontrollable state of illegal immigration, and the waves of illegal aliens that flood into the states. Over a million have been caught attempting to cross so far this year into New Mexico alone, and Richardson has been making some noises about making some kind of a deal with the Mexican government of Vincente' Fox to bull doze an old abandoned town just across the border from his state, which is currently being used as a staging area for illegal trafficking of drugs and immigrants.

Unfortunately, he has stopped short of calling out his states National Guard to assist the Border Patrol, though he could easily do this. Neverhteless, he has taken an important first step, and will hopefully hold firm against the almost certain tide of protest that will come from the Far Left, and probably from the economic conservative base of the Republican Party as well. Some say, quite cynically, that this is a calculated move on his part in an attempt to run for the Democratic party nomination in 2008, or perhaps more likely to secure a spot on at least the short list of Vice Presidential running mates for Senator Hillary Clinton. Perhaps. But he is still doing the right thing, which, incidentally, the majority of Hispanic American citizens seem to agree with.

Now if only Arnold could find his courage, and issue the same State of Emergency, though this is unlikely, as Arnold would probably be accussed of using this in an attempt to detract from his other myriad problems, which in fact has all ready happenned. But he should still join with Richardson and Napolitano, and let the chips fall where they may. The same with Gilmore, of Texas. But I have a feeling this guy is just too corrupt, as bad in fact as Fox. I am not encouraged that he will do anything that might tend to go against the economic interests of the Republican economic conservatives.

This is quickly becomming a real hot potato issue. Americans are pissed that both Bush and the Congress is trying to sweep this issue under the rug and just hope it goes away, mainly for political, as well as economic, reasons. But the tide is quickly turning. A nephew of Barry Goldwater, of Arizona, has recently announced his up-and-coming run for the Senate, and the main issue seems to be immigration reform. I have to find out more about him before I can say much, but if he is running in Arizona, McCain could be in real trouble. McCain's insipid, watered down Immigration Reform Bill that he has co-sponsored in the Senate with Edward M. Kennedy, is just not good enough. It has more rules, but no teeth. In fact, teeth is all that is needed really to enforce the laws that are on the book.

But since the Federal Government, the Congress, and the President, seem fit to fondle a toothless tiger and hope the rest of us never catch on, it was only inevitable-and right-that Project Minuteman got started, depsite the accusations of vigilantism, and racism (of course). They showed that it could be done, and the Government has to be concerned, and probably humiliated.

Richardson recently said he didn't truly approve of the Minuteman Project, though he felt they were well meaning, sincere, and patriotic. He was just fearful of the potential for violence, that things could get out of hand. He stated that it is better for people that are well trained in dealing with these matters be put on the border to deal with the situation, as oppossed to untrained citizens, however well-meaning.

To which Mitch Geiger, the Chairman of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, said he agreed totally. If the Border Patrol were given the manpower and other resources necessary to do the job, he said, he would be glad for the Minutemen to leave. They would much prefer to spend their time with their families, barbecuing over the weekends, rather than patrolling the Mexican Border on the look-out for illegal aliens (my term) .

Unfortunately, somebody has to do it.

See Dick Run (Run, Dick, Run)

I have recently come to the conclusion, that Dick Cheney is going to run for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2008, and will probably be nominated on the first ballot. His running mate-Sweet little Condi-Pie. What a combo. And I bet they win. Maybe by a landslide, depending on how things go. Of course, health is a factor, but I'm sure Dick will be good to go, for one term anyway. I can't see him going for a second, admittedly, but one term will be enough to pave the way certainly for Condi to stage a run of her own in 2012. Her running mate? Probably Jeb, who will probably in 2020-but you get the picture.

Naturally, all this depends on a bunch of factors, the war in Iraq, the general state of the economy, and at long last, the recent Energy Bill passed by President Bush. If it ends up bringing down the price of oil, or at least reigning it in to manageable levels, that would be one good plus. If the Bill results in more oil refineries being buildt, which it should, that will help as well. Then, of course, the prospect of more nuclear power plants being built might be just on the horizen.

That leaves the war in Iraq, and the all around war on terror. If it too is going well, especially if our troops are by this time out of Iraq, an the all around national security of thecountry is determined by the voters to be on solid ground, and substantially improved, yet another notch on the old Dick.

Finally, the economy. If both of the previously mentioned factors go as hoped for by the administration, the economy should be in fairly good shape. The deficit will still be high, resulting in an ever increasing national debt, but as long as unemployment is held down to reasonably low levels, who really pays the attention to the deficit that they should anyway. After all, thanks to the Housing Market, which will still be going strong probably for some time yet, and thanks in addition to the artificially low levels of interest rates, which should even now by all rights be at least twice as high as they are now, the economy should hum along, with help from cheap imported goods from all those Third World countries that are busy buying up our debt like old fags at an antique mall.

In other words, no, the economy is not in good shape, it just looks good. Whenthe economy is in good shape, you make more money, not less for putting in more hours, and then having to pay increased state and local taxes and insurance rates so that even if you do make more, you end up making less. You usually get to take a paid vacation ever so often as well,by the way, which more and more Americans are finding themselves able to do less and less.

But appearrances are all that matters at election time, and come election time, the economy will also be aided, to a great extent, by residual effects of this years Highway Bill, in addition to cetain aspects of the aforementioned Energy Bill. Not that this is bad, by the way, they probably will create jobs, improve the energy situation, etc. But the good effects will mask the bad omens that more people should learn to pay attention to, but do not, and will not.

And the democrats will, of course, give the republicans plenty of ammunition, demanding peace at any price, or at least not being able to convince the average voter they are trustworthy when it comes to matters of national security-which is the same difference.

And of course a good many democratic activists will bitch and fume about the nuclear power plants Bush wants to build, which would actually be good for the environment, but who cares-nuclear energy is bad, so they're going to be against it. And they will be against building new oil refineries, as well, or anything else that would help us to reduce our dependancy on foreign oil that doesn't involve windmills.

In other words, when the democratic activists are right about something-for example, the need to develop alternative energy sources- well and good, but they can't leave well enough alone. They have to be against everything else as well. They think everything ought to be done their way, right then, right there, and everybody else ought to have to fall into line, and if you don't like it, fuck you. As a result, they cause the Democratic party to lose election, after election, after election-and they still are just too fucking stupid to get it. They still run their mouths about gun control, about ending the death penalty, about peace at any price. And wonder why most Americans wouldn't vote for them for anything substantially higher than dog-cathcer.

Thus, the issues that they are right about, andthere are many of them, in fact, will never be acomplished. Because of their own unreasonableness. Because of their own stupidity. Because of their hatefulness, their arrogance, their unwillingness to compromise, even when it is obvious it would be actually to their advantage to do so.

Yeah, Cheney will run. After all, even though the smart money for the time being is on John McCain to get the 2008 Repoublican Preidential nomination, face it, the Republican Party owns the smart money, and they are the ones who will dole it out. And most Republicans don't really like John McCain. Not the ones in control of the party, at any rate. So Cheney will run. And Condi will be his running mate, I am sure, depending, again, on how circumstances evolve.

And if the Democratic Party doesn't reign in their activists-in fact, I am all for giving them a hearty recommendation to the Green Party if they don't get their shit together-it is irrelevant who the Democrats nominate. Probably Hillary Clinton and Elliot Richardson, but again, it's irrelevant, really, who the Republicans nominate. Anybody they choose is a shoe-in for election, as long as the Far Left is perceived as being the face and the voice of the Democratic Party.

Yes, I know the Far Right is just as bad. They're no worse, but they are as bad, I'll concede. So what difference does it make? Well, the American public has been sick of the Far Left for going on thirty years now. The Far Right has some catching up to do.

The Gods Must Be Sulking

In my own personal and private mythology, I have designated the area around Paducah, Kentucky, including Lynch and other areas in the immediate vicinity, as being sacred to the God Poseidon. This is where the Ohio and the Mississippi River happen to converge. There is also a fault line in this general area, and because of this it has been known to produce earthquakes. Nothing really major, yet, or at least not for quite some time-say, going on a couple of hundred years or so-but the potential is there. The really troubling thing about this is, kentucky is lined with an extensive network of caverns. Mammoth Cave, in fact, is so extensive it has as yet to be fully charted or explored.

A major earthquake, therefore, could conceivably cause an appreciable amount of danger, especially in the westernmost part of the state, which would doubtless be the dpicenter of any quake, major or minor. In fact, homeowners in this area would be well advised to purchase some kind of earthquake insurance, while it still may yet be affordable. As of yet, the only such quakes that have occurred in the last few years, have been very minor. Almost as though the God were simply rolling over while sleeping, or snoring.

On the other hand, the God seems to have deserted the sacred area I have designated for him. After so long a period of time with very little rain, conditions in the state are dire. In some areas, rsidents hacve been advised to limit their water usage to merely bathing and cooking. People are ceetainly being strongly discouraged from using inordinate amounts of water to water their lawns and plants, for example.

As for the river, what can you say? The Ohio River, the opart near Paducah, at any rate, is down now to eight feet. Because of this, barge traffic has recently been called to a halt. Thus, river commerce is affected adversely. In fact, the last few times the Ohio River was traversed by a barge, it hit ground. Thus, barge traffic will probably be halted until such time as a sizeable hurricane sends enough rain our way to enable the water to thus rise to more normal levels. This would take one hell of a hurricane, or a long series of moderate to strong ones. In fact, this had been predicted, but so far the predictions have not borne out. Which is probably good for thefolks in the Gulf States. But one person's poison, as the saying goes-

At any rate, Poseidon, it seems, has elected to snub his nose at the weather predictions, and has diverted the majority of hurricanes and tropical storms away from the Gulf Coast. Maybe he feels the folks down there have had enough. Or maybe he is simply pissed at us up here, for the levels of mercury and other contaminents that have been dumped in his sacred waterways, and is trying to tell us something. Like, for example,"STOP DUMPING YOUR SHIT IN MY RIVER, MOTHERFUCKERS!"

Yeah, sometimes it is far more effective to sulk than it is to throw a tantrum. After all, when a God throws a tantruym, you are too busy dodging flying glass, tree tops, and houses, to really think clearly. But when they sulk, you have time to think. And sometimes, it's not too pretty. It's kind of like being grounded for a month. Sometimes it can be more effective than a quick spanking which is over and done with relatively quickly, then at times just as quickly forgotten. You would almost prefer the spanking.

I can hear it all now, I know. You're thinking, are you fucking nuts? Do you really think the God is doing this, because he's pissed about the way we have abused the environment? You think he's responsible?

To which I would reply, "Well, no, not really. But we might be."

Cindy Sheehan-Private Personnas And Public Spectacles

I just recently got off the Michael Moore web-site, where I read with interest about the exploits of Ms. Cindy Sheehan, who is currently camped outside the gates of the Bush ranch in Crawford Texas, where the President is currently in the midst of a five week working vacation. According to Bill O'Reilley, Ms. Sheehan is being used by Michael Moore and other elements of the Far Left, from MoveOn.Org, to a group called Code Pink. I tend to agree with him. Of course, she is incensed at the accussation, and has evidently acquiesced to the urgings of her new-found friends to not appear on the O'Reilly Factor. Of course, she as a right to make this decision, but if I could get the word to her, I would advise her to appear on the program. O'Reilly at least tries to put on the appearrance of fairness, and if he were to be stupid enough to rake her over the coals, or to demean her in the slightest way, he knows full well that there would be hell to pay in the way of public relations.

It's turned into a pathetic type of dance really. Some, like O'Reilly, claim she has changed her position as regarding Bush, she says she has not, and insists that her past remarks have been misinterpreted, and she really meant-but all this is unimportant. It would be easy enough to accept that this is a woman who is grieving over the loss of her son. That this is a woman who is in pain and who is sincere in her efforts to get a private meeting with the President in the way of an explanation, and that she is determined to do her part to hasten an end to the war.

As such, it would be more than easy to undertand how her position regarding Bush over the course of the last few months may have evolved. How she may, in effect, have come to change her mind, to see things in a different perspective. So what? Is it against the fucking law to change your mind? If it is I'm in a hell of a lot of trouble,as there are times when I have changed my mind in the middle of a fucking post.

It's also understandable if she is in fact being "used" by Michael Moore, Code Pink, etc. Birds of a feather.

But on the other hand, that's just the problem. Cindy Sheehan has by now become, not a bereaved mother who is in pain and turmoil while in the throes of a grieving process over a very real and personal loss. She has now become a public commodity. A celebrity, in a sense, a public personna. She is now, in effect, no longer a private citizen. She is in the public domain.

Some of the more cynical of her opponents-and believe me, they are her opponents, though they might refrain, for the moment, from open displays as such-would say that she has been bought and paid for, that she is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Far Left. And perhaps they would be correct. It has been pointed out, for example, that she has been against the war from the onset, before even her son was assigned to it. And, incidentally, you will begin to hear this trumpeted more and more. Gently, at first, and then the sounds will become louder, and ever more shrill. As of yet, she has not denied this charge. And of course, if it is the truth, it is an opinion which she had, and has, a right to hold.

All ready, certain members of her extended family have issued statements to the effect that she has chosen to dishonor the memory of her son, and that the remainder of the family does not feel as she does. So far, she has responded simply by stating, on Mr. Moore's web-site, that her husband and children are solidly behind her, and that is all that matters to her. Again, what is the point of her families statements? They have their opinions, and Ms. Sheehan has a right to hers. This simple basic fundamental civil liberty should not be the occassion for a family feud.

But the political elements involved in this matter, on both the Far Left and on the Far Right, will indeed use Ms. Sheehan, in the case of the former as a poster child, and in the case of the second as, unfortunately, target practice. It's coming. It's only a matter of time. And, in that second case, only two things have kept it from coming thus far. I would like to believe that simple human decency is one reason. The other reason is simple human cowardice and political calculation. But the feelers are all ready out, believe me, and the time will come when Ms. Sheehan will learn what I hope Mr. Moore has prepared her for, assumming he really has Ms. Sheehans all around best interests at heart. And that is, as soon as the politcal fall out is sufficiently calculated, Ms. Sheehan will become the target of perhaps as vicious a smear campaign as one could ever imagine. If there are any skeletons in her closet, they are due for a good public airing. If not, she certainly will at the least be faced with critics who will soon no longer refrain from taking off the kid gloves.

In effect, when you become a public person, and you involve yourself in controversial matters, you can expect to eventually become the object of a fair amount of criticism. And an unfair amount as well.

Delores Kesterson And The Bush Conscience

One war mother that is not so nearly well known as Ms. Sheehan is Delores Kesterson, who lost her son in a tragic accident. While piloting his Blackhawk, he was invlved in a mishap with another helicopter. Though he managed to bring his craft down on the roof of a nearby building, thus saving the lives of sme of his crew members, he himself was one of five that ultimately died.

Ms. Kesterson, like Ms. Sheehan, was also one of the grieving war mothers who were invited to the White House to meet with the President. She was told after the group meetig that the Prsident would give each one of the mothers three minutes in private. She expressed her agreement to this arrangement, whereupon she was throughly checked. She then showed a letter she wished to share with the President, though it is unclear what the cntents of that letter were.

She told Mr. Bush, that she felt the war was unnecessary, and thus her tragic loss. Bush listened to her in the private little cubicle that had been set up for their meeting. Then, he proceeded to remind her of, of course, that old canard about 9/11, when "the country was attacked". Of course, Ms. Kesterson was not impressed by this reasoning, as she in concert with a growing number of Americans-including myself-feel that 9/11 was not the proper justification for the Iraqi War. (though I do feel personally that there were plenty of other justifications which in fact pre-date 9/11).

Bush listened to her with an apparent air of sympathy, and then, to her surprise, asked her if he could hug her. Ms. Kesterson agreed to this request, as she felt that this was a "human" thing to do. But Bush's hug must have evidently left her cold. In fact, her assesment of Bush is perhaps the most important point of this story.

President Bush, she declared, has no conscience. Not for the now more than 1800 American soldiers who have thus far lost their lives, the innumerable others who have been wounded, some seriously, and permanently disabled, not for their grieving families, and not for the far greater number of Iraqi citizens whos elives have been likewise ended or afflicted.

When I heard her relate this account on Fox's The O'Reilley Factor, it resounded over and over again in my mind, and I knew there was a great deal of truth to it. George W. Bush, the President without a conscience. And I knew that there was more than a small chance that this bereaved mother, her life shatterrerd with grief over the loss of a well loved and heroic son, may have seen more perfectly into the soul of the President of The United States than even the most seasoned professional therapist could hope to. It was only a fleeting glimpse, of course, a mere snapshot in time. But such glimpses can indeed provide indelible etchings of a truth that can not be denied, excused, or even explained away.

Bear City-Bear, Bear City

There has been a disturbing trend recently in the national forrests of the country, involving an increasing number of bear attacks. In fact, just this past year, there have been seventy such attacks-in New Jersey alone. That in itself is enough to get my attention, as I didn't think there was anything in New Jersey but concrete and steel. No, that business about the "Garden State" didn't fool me one little bit. But evidently, there is more forrest land in New Jersey than is realized, or than I realized, at least. You know there has to be a hell of a lot of bears in an area for there to be seventy attacks by them.

And that is probably the problem, there are way too many bears, in way too condensed an area. I mean, New Jersey ranks as the 45th largest state of the Union in terms of size-snugly between New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Not a big state at all. You wouldn't think there would be seventy bears, let alone attacks by same.

It says more, however, about the hunger for land than it does about the bears. More and more, bears, and other forms of wildlife, are being forced out of their natural habitats, or further feel the ever increasing encroachment by human kind.

And then there are the tourists who stupidly persist in feeding bears, or leaving refuse which includes foods in areas where bears are sure to be attracted to it. You know most of them, the vast majority of them, know they are not suppossed to do this, but at the same time, you know they don't give a fuck, they are going to do it anyway, after all, they are human, that's a fucking bear, fuck it, I want a picture, besides, I think it's cool, hey, look, I think he likes me.

Of course, this over time causes the beat to lose it's natural fear of humans, and the next thing you know you have situations where a bear will go into the temporary camp-site of an unsuspecting tourist, and you have the potential for tragedy. Thus, it is really not safe to go out in the forrests by yourself anymore, thanks to a bunch of numbnuts, who by the way are probably the same fools who are responsible for most of the forrest fires you hear about year in and year out.

Thankfully, there is a point to this post, over than just an excuse to rant, yet again, about something that really pisses me the fuck off. I am a pagan, a worshipper of the forces of nature, and a witch, and as such I assume that a good lot of the people that might be drawn to read this Blog, if any, are of the same beliefs, and in the meantime there are others who, though they might not be so inclined, (though are still of course welcome here) may nevertheless be also lovers of the great outdoors, or know of someone who is. If so, read carefully, for the following advice might actually save your life, or that of someone you know and love.

For one thing, go to the mountains and forrests in groups. It just isn't safe to go out by yourself anymore, or even in small groups of twos and threes. There is strength and relative safety in numbers, for no other reason than to scare off potential natural predators.

If on the other hand you do find yourself in the position where you might be approached by a bear, bear in mind the following. Hopefully, you will have a gun with you, and readily availiable. Do not , however, shoot the bear. Even if he approaches you. If you shoot the bear, you will probably be dead within a matter of five minutes or less, because what you will accomplish by shooting him, (unless you have a certain kind of gun and really know what the fuck you are doing)is piss him off in a way you really don't want to be the cause of. Instead of shooting the bear, shoot up in the air. If he just stops and looks at you, shoot over his head. And then, at the ground close to him, hopefully not close enough to where it will ricochet. In the vast majority of cases, the noise will be enough to scare the beat into flight.

In the unfortunate event you don't have a gun, or are unable to retrieve it due to it's relative position as regards to you and the bear, by all means don't panic. Start shouting and screaming and stomping the ground, as loudly as you can. This as well should, in most cases, scare the bear away from you.

Unless it happens to be a grizzly bear, that is. In this case, he is probably going to advance towards you. You are now his lunch, as far as he is concerned. There is now only one thing you can do. Lay down on the ground, and roll up into a ball, making sure your head is burrowed under you chest so that it is not exposed. Lay as still as possible. Believe it or not, this will probably work, provided you can keep your head-no pun intended.

The last thing you should do, is run. Once you succumb to this temptation, you have identified yourself to the mind of any bear, as his prey. He will run after you. And he will catch you. And he will kill you. And he will eat you. Unless he is a she. In that case, she will share you with her cubs.

So there you have it. Now, don't you just love nature?

David Owens- Military Historian

I know David Owens, have known him for quite some time. He is a Social Studies teacher at the North Laurel County Middle School, and in his spare time, he is either haunting old cemetaries, working on restoration of the grounds and/or providing new stones, or he is writing some aspect of Kentucky History, either books or articles (usually revolving around the Civil War) or he is trying to talk me into joining him on one of his jaunts to one of his beloved Civil War re-enactment events. As a resident of Rockcastle County, he is particularly interested in the little known, though strategically important, Battle of Wildcat Mountain.

It came as no great surprise to me, therefore, when I learned that he was recently appointed, by order of the Adjutant General of the Kentucky National Guard, the position of Kentucky National Guard Military Historian.

To be honest with you, I sometimes think David never got tired of playing Army when he was growing up. I am intertested in history, however, so one of these days I might join him on one of these events. On the other hand, I have to confess, I have to wonder how the long departed spirits of the Civil War veterans of both sides would feel at the prospect of grown men dressing up in authentic Union and/or Confederate regalia, and reenacting hard pitched battles that cost hundreds of thousands of lives, wrecked the health and morale of probably an equal number if not more, left soldiers and civilians embitterred, disabled, and/or disfigured for life, and for the most part at least was certainly a horrific experience to have to live through on a constant, daily basis.

And it has actually inspired an idea, a couple of them really. For one, why not turn this into an extreme sports event. I'm serious. You can have two sides, only instead of getting together for a two or three day re-enactment, replete with booths and concessions, actually set aside a month where both sides actually have to live the way the true soldier of that day had to live-and survive. Taking a minimal amount of provisions, the type that you would find in that day and time, you would have to make do for that period of time. You would in the meantime have to forage for the essentials. You would have to deal with the increment weather in the same way they did. No portable televisions or radios, no internet, no modern cooking or cleaning conveniences, and most importantly, no modern bathroom facilities. It would not be pretty, and it would certainly not be fun, I would wager, to any but the most fanatical enthusiast.

Of course, you could only take this so far. When the two sides eventually met in pitched battle, for example, they couldn't use real bullets or explosives, though by the time it was half-way over, they might feel more inclined to do so than they might imagine they would. And it goes without saying you couldn't-or you shouldn't-take over unsuspecting farmhouses and requisition their livestock and supplies.

Otherwise, such an event might make the Civil War enthusiast truly understand what the Civil War veteran of the past really had to endure-and why by the time it was over they may to a large degree not have felt quite so enthusiastic about it. It would, I am certain, deepen their appreciation for the struggles and sacrifices of the past all the more.

I said something about a couple of ideas. Well, the other idea is for a Reality TV series based on just such an event as I have described. Two teams, lead by two officers, with an equal number of soldiers, roughing it. When the time came for the ultimate conflict, which side would be the winner?

Okay, not such a great idea. Reality TV? Shit, I should be shot for that.

Secretary Of Labor Caught Screwing Miners

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, it has been said, is obviously fucking the senior Senator from the State of Kentucky, Republican Mitch McConnell, who is also the Senate Whip. Ordinarily, this would raise eyebrows, and cause for alarm, with it's potential for conflict of interest, which would seem to be so apparrent. Of course, Ms. Chao and Mr. McConnel are married, so people tend to gloss over the apparrent potential.

But one person who has probably given it a great deal of thought recently is Ellen Smith, the owner and editor of Mine Safety and Health News. She would have a right to raise her concerns. In fact, Ms. Smith has been blackballed from press briefings and denied access to government officials. Elaine Chaos labor Department has in fact gone to great lengths to lock up public information pertaining to mine safety enforcement in general. It has, to be even more specific, locked out long sections of the Inspector Generals report on the recent Martin Conty coal waste spill.

Maybe Ms. Smith should file a lawsuit under the Freedom Of Information Act. Wait a minute, I think she has. Well, let's all wish her luck. The miners whose livelihoods are threatened should they blow the whistle, and whose health is threatened every day, would be well served by her dedicaton to mine the truth from the shafts of denial. For the good of the environment, in additon, which is threatened by the mine owners and operators who have been evidently given the green light under the Bush administraton as represented in this instance by Ms. Chaos-wife of Senator McConnell- and her tenure at the Labor Department for now a second Bush term.

The same old story. Greed and corruption at the expense of workers and their families , the environment, and the general public. All held hostage to the threat of lost jobs and increased energy costs. There ought to be a law.

But until such time, hey Mitch, do me a favor, bend that old lady of yours over, and stick the old cock-a-roo up the old poop chute for me, Goddess knows I would love to, but hey, you go ahead, be my guest, I bet that's a nice tight ass. While you're up there though, better put on that mining helmet, you know, the one that's got the little light on top that you need in case you get up there too far and end up getting lost. Shit, you would know then how a miner really feels.

And, uh, well, Elaine, so would you.

Lexington Not So Good On Federal Test Standards

Well, the test results are all in. Out of 51 schools in the Fayette County Schol systems, 23 of them failed the federal testing standards as mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act. Now you would think that things would get better instead of worse. Yet, last year only 15 schools failed the testing. Of course, one cold easily make the case that this is the kind of thing that happens when you are stuck with an unfunded mandate (which on the face of it you would think would make the act unconstitutional).

Lexington educators have pointed out that this year, 90% of Fayette schools met 80% of their targets. But of course, that is pretty much irrelevant, when it comes to issuing sanctions. Thankfully, these sanctions only apply to schools that receive Titlle I assistance. That is to say, schools that receive federal aid for needy students. These schools must offer their students the option to transfer to other schools.

Well, that is one good part of the policy, probbly the only good part of it. On the other hand, I'm a big believer in the proposition that parents should have the right to send their students to any school they damned well please, and these schools should be obliged to accept them, with exceptions being allowed only for students who have a habitual discipine or other such problem.

Otherwise, there is an inherent problem with a policy that forces students to spend an appreciable amount of their time studying for a standardized test, and having to spend more time of the year in school as a result of being federally mandated to pass that test, a mandate which the government somehow feels not obliged to fund. Thee are a lot of problems with America's schools system, especially in the inner city and other more urban areas. But No Child Left Behind is really piling on, and causing more problems than it is solving.

I believe No Child Left Behind shouldl quickly go the way of the dinosaur. On the other hand, the dinosaur, from all appearrances, was a tenacous beast, so it may not go so quickly. But it will certainly go. It's only a matter of time.

What Would You Do For Your Winter Vacation?

Parents across the country are bitching and moaning about the decrease in time their kids get for the summer vacations, which seem to shrink more every year, while many educators give a variety of reasons why it is so necessary. Of course, both sides are far off the mark. In fact, schools have never employed a sensible schedule, why should they start now, and when you get right down to it, why should parents fucking complain?

A common sense solution would be to give kids two weeks of vacation in the summer, two weeks in the autumn, and two weeks in the spring. Since most parents arrange for their work vacations in the summer, it seems, then the kids two weeks summer vacation can be doled out on a rotating basis.

And of course, two weeks during each of these seasons would hardly be enough, so therefore you provide the remainder of the much needed respite during the winter, for two months of it, in fact. What could possibly be more sensible? It would probably be cheaper, to say nothing of safer, to cool a hot school in the summer than it is to heat a cold school in the winter. And of course, as so many children are dependant of buses and public transportation to get to and from school, there are obvious travel hazards involved in winter travel in most areas of the country that wouldn't be a factor any other time of the year.

That leaves the problem of kids needing their summer time for purposes of recreation. But, in addition to giving them their two weeks allotment, you can have them go for three days a week during the summer-a further savings in those summer air conditioning bills-and have them make up the time during the spring and autumn months by going six days a week.

Besides, winter is a good time for recreational activities in it's own right. And on the especially cold days, what better time to gather around the living room with the family, sharing meals and stories. And oh yeah, engaging in nice, quiet reading and studying in preparation for the spring semester ahead.

Hell, thanks to the phenomenon of cabin fever, by the time that spring gets around, kids will probably all be ready, willing, and even eager to get back to school.

Heartwood Celebrates Forrest Decay

The Forrest Service has a big problem in the area of Morehead Kentucky, and that is what to do about trees in the northern part of the Daniel Bone National Forrest. A great many of these trees were earmarked for sale by logging interests, yet due to a 2003 ice storm, damage to a great lot of these trees has made them unusable. Richard WHite, one log exporter says the sapwood has completely rotted in the trees, most of the bark has falen off, and insects are getting into them. As a result, though to a great extent some of the trees are still marketeable, their value has dropped eighty per cent in the last year and a half.

The Forrest Service nevertheles says the trees should be removed. This, they claim, would prtect other trees from disease, and promote the growth of other trees. However, Kentucky Heartwood, an environmental group, and their leader, Ferrin de Jong (coordinator) wants the trees all left alone. By leving them standing, he claims, they will replenish and stabilize the forrest. The Forrest Service looks upon this claim as being ludicrous. Yet, Kentucky Heartwood, rather than exhibiting concern for the overall health of the forrest and the environment, seems to look upon these circumstances as a victory against the logging interests they so adamantly oppose.

I would tend to side with Kentucky Heartwood, ordinarily. I would have nothing, to be sure, of limited logging, so long as it was done in as unintrusive a way as possible. But unfortunately, the necessity of logging roads does in fact change the density of the forrest ground and endangers indigent species which are necessary for the continued health and vitality of forrest regions. Thus, logging should definitely be limited to the outer periphery of the forrestsd, as logging is a vital and useful component of the economies of many states, including Kentucky. Unfortunately, give some people a mile, and they will eventually take a thousand or so, every time. And as difficutl as it is to stand against their lobbying efforts from the outset, it is all the more so once they have become an established mainstay of the local landscape.

There should be some form of compromise, ideally stated. But things have gotten to the point now where ideology, as in most other things, has outstripped the boundaries of common sense. Anybody with an ounce of the latter would know it's not a good idea to let rotting trees stand unremoved. Obviously, tree blight, and other forms of disease, would easily take hold and quickly spread to healthier trees, if this were allowed to continue. In addition, once these trees dried, they would much easier catch fire than would ordinarily be the case. They would also be a danger to the genreral flora and fauna of the area. The Forrest Service has it right on this issue.

Kentucky Heartwood seriously needs to rethink its stance. If they don't, they run the danger of revealing themselves to be just another cog in the wheel of the looney left, and no sensible person will take them seriously.

The Ashland Police Sex Scandal-An Update

The Ashland Nine ought to start their own semi-pro baseball team. They not only have the right numbers to field a team, they are united and have consistently stuck to their game strategy, which they have down pat. Deny, deny, and deny.

And refuse. To take part in a polygraph examination, that is, requested by the Department. Nine denials, and nine refusals. Of course, as a consequence of this, the Ashland Nine have now been suspended without pay, on the grounds of insubordination.

I find this to be an abhorent reaction on the part of the Ahland Police Department. After all, in a court of law, you cannot force a crimninal defendant-nor a suspect-to take a polygraph examination. In the event they do agree to take one, it can be used as an investigative aid only, and regardless of the results is inadmissable in a court of law as evidence either of guilt or of innocence.

This is only in part because it is against the Constitutions guarantees against self-incrimination according to the Fifth Amendment. It is also, just as importantly perhaps, because poygraphs are notoriously unreliable.

I always considered it a travesty that businesses and government agencies were allowed to get away with polygraphing employees and applicants, precisely due to both reasons. It's intrusive. It's anti-American. It's just flat out wrong.

It's also worth noting that this subject of a polygraph came up mainly because the accusser in the case took her own polygraph examination, which reportedly showed her to ber truthful. Yet, this test was conducted by a former FBI agent, a professional polygrapher, who was hired by the woman's attorney. But would she garner the same results were she to be polygraphed by an independant agency?

The Ashland Police Department should be held to the same high standards prosecutors are suppossedly held to in criminal cases. If the Ashland Nine are guilty of the charges of sexual misconduct with which they have been charged by this one female complainant, while on duty, it shold be easy enough to prove it without resorting to this infringement on the civil liberties which these nine uniformed police officers have to an equal extent as their accusser, and anyone else.

On the other hand, if the charges can't be otherwise proven, there's more than a small chance it's because there's no "there" there.

William Poole

William Poole, of Clark County Kentucky's George Rogers Clark High School, charged with allegedly making threats aainst students and teachers in a journal, was recently cleared in Clark District Court. Attorneys for both sides agreed with Judge Brandy O. Brown (District Judge) that it would be almost imposible to prosecute Poole for terroristic threatening> Poole had claimed the journal found by his grandmother was a work of fiction that had been assigned in school. It was he said a story about zombies taking over the school.

But there was no such assignment, the stiry had no zombies, and Poole had tried to convince students to join him in a paramilitary group. He also violated terms of probation, on an original misdemeanor charge, by going onto school property. As a result of this, he had been sentenced to a six month jail sentence, of which he ultimately served four months

Now he must live with his grandparents, take medication and undergo therapy, and is not allowed on the grounds of any school in the county or to associate with any students. He has been described as "an angry young man who doesn't like to follow rules. He doesn't like authority."

Maybe so. And, maybe it was all a big misunderstanding. Maybe young Mr. Poole got a little carried away in his proivate jurnals, and his inner fantasies took over and evolved into the form of a violent rant. On camera, he seems like an affable enough fellow. Maybe he was just giving vent to his teenage anxieties and frustrations, and there was no real danger of it going really beyond that. If so, it's a shame that he had to be put through this, and still must be monitored in what would in this case certainly seem to be a harsh manner.

On the other hand, with all the incidents of school violence, especially Columbine, and other incidents, one of which happenned in a Kentucky school some years back which resulted in a shooting and multiple casualties, one can hardly blame a concerned grandparent and the school and local authorities for taking what they considered proper corrective measures. This could have been nothing at all. On the other hand, a great tragedy may have been averted, and hopefully, if he needs it, the young man will get help, and his life will progress in a positve manner from here on out, as oppossed to being irrevocably destroyed one way or another.

Kathryn Harris

So what do you give to the bitch that has everything? Besides in this case an extreme makeover, that is. Well,you could give her some dick, you just know she would be grarteful, I would fuck her for that reason alone. But failing that, if you are Governor Jeb Bush of th state of Florida, and the bitch in question is Katherine Harris, you might want to consider, very carefully, giving her a Senate seat.

After all, the woman has paid her dues, having assurred the Governors brother George W. won the state in the 2000 Prsidential election. To be fair, the President in my opinion legitimately won the state in the 2004 election (though Ohio might be a different story). And she has endured the humiliation of having to temporarilly settle for a couple of terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Now, it's time to move on to her just deserts. Onward and Upward.

But don't look to eager now, Jeb. Naturally, for appearrances sake, you will have to stage the illussion of a bona fide election. And, after all, there is a better than fifty percent chance that Ms. Harris will legitimately "win" the election. She might do so in part by pointing out the weaknesses of, if not Senator Bill Nelson, the opponent she wishes to replace, then of his party in general, especially their confused, and confusing, contradictory positions on Iraq, Guantanamo, Homeland Security, and the overall war on terror.

She will also play to the right wing base of her party witht he predictable buzz words and phrases aainst abortion, gay marriage, and liberal, activist judges who suppossedly want to "legislate from the bench". (As oppossed to certain conservative activist judges who want to legislate not only from the bench, but from the Bible).

But mainly, and most importantly, she can count on that well-oiled Republican Party machine to work tirelessly to sabotage the election on her behalf. Say, for example, by rigging voting machines in certain key Democratic precincts to inexplicably, and unnoticeably, throw out one vote out of every three or four hundred or so cast. Which might be more than enough to swing the election in a close race. In fact, such a tactic might well cost the democrats 7000 votes or more. After all, how many Democratic Party representatives are going to bother to test a voting machine three of four hundred or more times? Of course, very few if any would go to such lengths, just like there are very few men who would really like to fuck Ms. Harris. Though again, maybe they should. In the first instance, Senator Nelson might have good reason to be very grateful, and in the second case, Ms. Harris I have no doubt would be even more so.

Senate Ban On Lawsuits

Thankfully, the Senate voted to ban lawsuits aimed at gun manufacturers by pretty much insurmountable odds for the imediate future. In fact, the final vote taly was 65 to 31 in favor of the ban. I have as yet not looked at a list of who voted both for and against it, but it's a safe bet no more than three or maybe four Republicans voted against the bill, while it's probably an equally safe bet that no more than ten to twelve democrats voted in favor of it. Hopefully, this is one dragon that has been put to rest.

But the Trial Lawyers Association and American Bar Association must have figured they had a good chance of sufferring this setback. After all, taking into consideraton the logistics involved, they must have known the odds were against them enjoying continued uninterrupted success. What it really amounts to is, Big Business is on to them, and for once, Big Business is in the right. The trial lawyers enjoyed such an unprecedented victory over the Tobacco Industry and it's Capitol Hill lobbyists, their greed got the better of them. Not content to rest on their laurels, they set out for more conquests, from juicier targets, for example, the Fast Food Industry, who saw them coming a mile away, and have been gradually implementing adjustments in their menus and their marketing strategies to try to ward them off at the pass.

At about the same time, they began aiming their sights at the gun manufacturers. But those boys play rough, and have some powerful buds, for example the NRA, arguably the most powerful and most effective lobbyng group in the history of Capitol Hill. They put their money where their mouths are, and now the critics of the gun industry, whle not necesarilly silenced, have cetainly been muzzled.

So now the Trial Lawyers Association will, after taking a little time to lick their wounds, eventually be able to go back to licking their chops as another target presents itself in the form of yet another group of real or imagined victims to exploit. They can gather them up in yet another insane class action lawsuit, and if they are successful, then once again they can divide up roughly one third of the winnings, if they feel like being generous, among their 2000 or so clients, while a relative small handful of lawyers and their staff divide up the bulk of the remaining two thirds.

And yet another business will then pass the increased costs of doing business, mainly due to increased insurance premiums, on to their consumers, and in the meantime more people will be laid off as another means of cutting expenses and making up their losses, and more laws will be passed, some of which may be good, some of which will be unnecessary. But life will go on. It's not really that great a tragedy, one way or another. But it's kind of funny just the same, just because it's all such an obvious fucking game, with the stakes, of course, greed, and power.

But it's nice to know that sometimes shit will blow up in the greedy bastards faces.

The Democrats Have Totally Lost Their Minds

And if they don't get them back, real quick, they can look forward to continued minority status. On the other hand, there's a damn good chance they enjoy that status, or are more than willing at least to accept it, as long as the contributions from their idiotic extremist supporters come rolling in. Howard Dean. What can I tell you, except that I was wrong about him. I was one of the ones that supported his recene elevation to chairman of the national party. I thought he had the vision, and the energy, and the sheer moxy, to get the party out of the rock bottom they had sunk down to and infuse new life into it.

Well, I changed my mind as of his latest outburst about how the Republican Party is about to target foreigners as a method of attracting more votes from the more racist oriented elements of the American population. Is he putting me on with this? I mean, really. For one thing, what the fuck does he mean by "foreigners"?

If he's talking about foreign born American citizens, people who came into this country legally, and became American citizens, or are in the process of becoming so, and are willing to assimilate into the culture of this country while yet retaining the individual traits of their countries and selves that made them who they are, and are otherwise determined to become law-abiding citizens who contribute to the country, well, okay, I would easily agree with him. I would, that is, only I don't think that's what the hell he is talking about. And if he is, I think he's still off base, as I don't think Bush and the Republicans in general are targeting people such as this.

If, on the other hand, he is talking about illegal aliens, who come into this country illegally, who drain the social sercvices resources of this country, serve to drive down workers wages, and are responsible for a great percentage of the crime that occurs here, in addition to the possibility of foreign terrorists that might have entered the country, either legally or illegally, then again, I have to wonder just what the fuck his point is.

To begin with, as far as I and a great many others are concerned, George Bush has been extremely lax in regards to protecting our borders with Mexico, and in dealing with the problem of illegal imigration. A far cry from "targeting" them. I should only wish that he would. So do most other rational Americans, including, by the way, immigrants and descendants of immigrants who came to this country legally and have contributed to this country in positive ways.

Howard Dean is trying to create an issue where one doesn't exist, and goddamned if he ain't trying to get on the wrong fucking side of it at the same time. Now that takes some doing. If he thinks the Democratic party is going to win elections by looking out for the interests of illegal aliens, well, that's just another nail in the coffin of the Democratic Party. Other Democratic Party activists, and "strategists" have even recently been floating the idea that voters should not be forced to present valid identification when going to vote, in order to prevent illegal aliens from voting. How can anybody possibly be against this idea? How could they possibly be in favor of alowing illegal aliens to vote, as has been proposed in some states? Yet, this is what the Democratic Party, or at least a sizeable and vocal part of it, have been advocating.

I always used to hear it say, the Republicans have good sense, but they don't have a heart. While the Democrats have good hearts, but they don't have any sense. Right here is a perfect example of the validity of that saying, and why the Democrats are destined to remain the minority party in the U. S, for some time to come. A cold hearted mind is going to win out on sentimental foolishness in the long run. It's only a matter of time.

The Democratic Party isn't merely foolish, however. They've come down with collective fucking Alzheimer's.

The Fucking Police Of Ashland Kentucky

A big scandal of sorts is brewing in the Northwest Ohio River town of Ashland Kentucky, and it's a doozy. Nine police officers have been temporarily releaved of duty, with pay, during the course of an investigtion into their alleged on-duty sexual activities-with the same woman.

The womans lawyer, to make matters even murkier -which is to say suspicous as hell-was the one who brought this to the city's attention. According to this source, the woman, in her early twenties, gave a detailed 900 page account of her recent escapades with the police, and in the meantime managed to pass a polygraph examination given by a former FBI agent. But, according to the lawyer, there is no plans of yet-OF YET-to file a lawsuit on the alleged "victims" behalf.

I'm sure it's coming. Why else bring the matter up, assumming it was consensual. And if it were not, why not outright file charges? Probably because this is what is commonly known as a "cop whore", out to make a killing from the beleaquered city of Ashland, who found out she may have a big pay day coming, especially if one or more of the incidents of sexual misconduct involved the use of drugs and/or alcohol. Just couldn't get enough by being the neighborhood snitch (and I don't mean enough dick, she evidently got more than enough of that-I guess). Help with the rent and other matters, like having the other way zealously appraissed when you go about your illicit business, whatever that might be, can only get you so far when you have to spend too much time on your back with your legs spread open.

To be fair, I'm only speculating (and having loads of fun doing it). The womans name has not been released, so I am only guessing at her motives. The nine cops have not had their names revaled either, though of course everybody in Ashland knows who they are, I'm sure, or could easily learn their names. Ashland is not that big a place. As I'm sure the ninth cop to receive his suspension realized when he arrived to work, having just returned from a two weeks vacation, only to be greeted with the news. I can only imagine how foolish he must have felt as he walked out of police headquarters and realized what everybody had been laughing at on his way in.

As for the woman, again, I can only wonder, does she have a husband, children? Is she from a well-to-do family? Damn, I hope so. If she's just your average street trash, then this won't be near as much fun. But whoever-or whatever-she is, it begs the question, how and why did this get to an attorney? After all, this must have been going on for some time. Did she engage in group sex, with all of them maybe at various times.

And can she prove the charges? How?

"Well, so and so has the biggest dick, it's _ inches long and about yay wide", I can hear her say in court. "So and so over there though has the shortest. While him over there, he has this weird mole on the shaft of his cock. And whatzhisname over there, he cums too fast. Not like whatzhisface though, he can go all day and night. Poor whatzis, he can't get it up without Viagra." And on and on.

Of course, some things can be proven, some might not be so easy, but I have to chuckle at the thought of all these poor schmucks standing in line having their private parts photographed. Of course, it's not going to come to all that. There is only one thing yet to be decided in the case of the Ashland Nine. And that is, will the matter be investigated privately, from within the confines of the Ashland Police Department? Or will the city insist on the hiring of an outsided, independant investigator, in order to insure not only a fair and impartial investigation, but that everything is done above board-in other words, for appearrances sake?

Times were when a matter such as this would have been swept completely under the rug in most jurisdictions and would have been the subject of scorn and derision in others. maybe those times weren't so bad in regards to matters such as these. Of course, if the charges are true, even if the sex was completely consensual, and it occurred during on-duty hours, then the officers will have to be let go, unfortunately. You just can't have that kind of thing going on with your local police or other public officials, on the public time and the public dime.

But the city of Ashland should beware, and not too quick to pounce on behalf of an alleged victim who might be out for nothing more than a big payday at the expense of the city and it's taxpayers.

Mercury And Autism-Now Heads Should Roll

I recently made a decision to update this Blog usually only one day a week, toward the end of the week, in order to make it worthwhile to log onto it on a regular basis, as otherwise it would be a matter of one or two posts a day on the average. However, there are situations that cry out for exceptions, and the Tim Russert interview yesterday on Meet The Press is one such example. One of the guests was Mr. David Kirby, author of the recently released book Evidence Of Harm, which confronts the situation of the increase in instances of autism among children with the possibility that this can at least in part be explained by the presence in childrens vaccines of the chemical Thimerosol, which contains the element Mercury, as a preservative.

An empty suit whose name I don't remember right now (nor do I really care to) appearred with Mr. Kirby as an obvious shill for the pharmaceutical industry, and explained that the results of scientific testing by the CDC (Centers For Disease Control) found no evidence to substantiate this charge. He further stated that the definition for autism had been significantly broadened-yet provided no statistical evience to support this outrageous claim. In real cases of autism, he insisted, there has been no real increase. And what cases are verifiable, there is no evidence of a direct link to Thimerosol as a component of childrens vaccinations. It could as easily be explained by the presence of pollutants in the atmosphere, for example, including mercury.

But well, well, well, what do you know, it turns out that all the relevant studies conducted by the CDC have been turned over to the HMO's. Therefore, they are no longer public documents, therefore they are no longer availiable for viewing, not even by the media by way of the Freedom Of Information Act. This despite the fact that the CDC still obviously retains copies of the studies. What an outragous and obvious abuse.

There should be an investigation, with a special prosecutor. If it does indeed turn out that the presence of Thimerosol has been a factor in the increased rates of autism, the families affected should be immediately compensated, and what few vaccines still contain the product should be immediately pulled from the shelves and recalled. And beginning immediately, there should be a total cessation of any further importations of this dubious product to foreign nations. What good is it doing the U.S. reputation, which is all ready on life support, and the health of the Third World, when the potential cure for infectious diseases might cause permanent brain damage to a population that is all ready weakened by the affliction of malnourishment and increased susceptibility to not only diseases, but the harmful side-effects of harmful medications, due to the weakened state of their own immune systems? Thus, the increased appearrance of autism in our population might be negligible in comparison to what may occur in Third World countries whose populations are significantly weakened.

Anybody who made it through Junior Chemistry in high school should know better than to suppose any vaccine containing mercury as a preservative would be safe for children, when it is present in those vaccines in amounts that would be dangerous, at more than ten times the safety level for an adult. What could they have possibly been thinking? If you handle a thermometer, and it breaks, and the mercury spills out onto your hands, and you have a cut, and the mercury thus gets in your bloodstream, it can make you sick. It can cause brain damage. it can cause death in high enough doses. But they put it in vaccines? For children? And even ship it overseas, to give to children in the third world. What an outrage.

Autism is particularly horrid. It is the result of an inflammation of certain parts of the brain, in which a person born with it, or later developing it, becomes totally disfunctional in most areas of life. They have absolutely no ability to relate to others on a social level, for the most part, and are incapable of caring for themselves on a practical manner. Although it is true that they might develop an astounding capacity for memorization in certain limited areas. For example, they might become mathematical geniuses, or have an amazing capacity for remembering meaningless, or trivial, statistics. But they may remain totally retarded, and at times near to unteachable, at anything else. It almost makes you wonder if this were done on purpose as a means of farming and cultivating specific potential geniuses in mathematics or physics or chemistry. As bizzarre and unreasonable as this might sound, it would not surprise me. Besides, there had to be a reason for using such a poisonous and dangerous element as mercury in childhood vaccines. What could it possibly have been? Were they just playing the odds, and hoping no one would notice? For no other reason than Thimerosol was the best preservstive they could find, therefore they could make and/or save millions, or billions, of dollars?

It's time now for people to really start getting pissed off about this situation, to the point I would go so far as to suggest a revolution. Not a violent revolution, mind you, but a gamble nonetheless. If you have children, simply refuse to get them vaccinated. If enough people did this, and stated they would continue to do so until the government released the CDC data on Thimerosol, as should have been done immediately by the way, you wouldn't have to worry too much about putting your children at risk. The government then would have no choice but to release the data. Or maybe not. Maybe they would still refuse. Which would tell you all you would need to know. If they are that desperate to hide the truth, it must be bad. Real bad.

Of coure, I know that kind of revolution is not possible, as it would take huge numbers of parents to go along with it, and I doubt that many parents would be willing to take that kind of risk. Nor do I want the pharmaceutical companies to go bankrupt, or be forced out of business. But they should be taken over. The pharmaceutical Industry is one business that should be completely nationalized. For too long have those people used their clout to rip off the people who depends on them for their health care needs, using crooked politicians to acomplish the deed.

But it would be just as bad to leave the companies in the hands of the same politicians, and the government bureaucracies that helped to create the disaster American health care has become. Therefore, the only sensible solution is for the government to seize the assets of the pharmaceutical industry, and sell them to the highest bidder, while at the same time establishing a government oversight committee, through Congress, with a sunshine clause built in for state governments and the media.

That way, the families of victims of this shameful scandal can be compensated, and at the same time some kind of sensible national health care that is progressive, of high quality, and affordable, in addition to being equally availiable to all segments of society, can finally be implemented.

This might be the proverbial silver lining. The fact that the pharmaceutical giants may have by their very greed and outright vicous treachery given us the justification and the not only legal right but obligation to do just this. At the same time, there should be criminal charges brought to bear on those who are responsible for implementing this horrible policy. And, if there are any who should be found knowingly guilty of purposely being responsible for this action, knowing full well what the possible consequences might be, in addition to being guilty of trying to cover up the evidence of harm after it became obvious, then long term prison sentences would be more than appropriate. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, the death penalty may in some cases be justified.

Robert Novak-Give The Prince Of Darkness His Due

I disagree more often than not with Robert Novak. But who cares, I like the guy. Maybe I just have a thing for curmudgeons, or possibly I just appreciate and respect not only his talent, but his depth of experience. One thing I know for a fact, the man is deserving of respect. After all, he has been a Washington insider since the 1950's, and the man knows his way around the place. He knows the major players and shakers, inside and out, on both sides of the political spectrum. He had this reputation from the early days when he was a part of the team of Evans and Novak, up until the time his old partner, Roland Evans, who joined him, up until his recent death, on CNN's Evans, Novak, Hunt, and Shields.

Since joining CNN, practically from the inception of the network, Novak has quickly earned the title and appelation, "The Prince Of Darkness". It seems to fit. But a lot of his fellow analysts at CNN know better than to take such appellations with more than a few grains of salt. Still, Novak is a man who should be taken seriously, and I think therein lies the problem. A good lot of the time it seemed that few did, from his liberal antagonists on the old Capital Gang, (another CNN staple which was recently defunct), Mark Shields, Margaret Carlson, and Ed Hunt (who of all people should have an appreciation for Novaks position at CNN, himself being the token liberal at the Wall Street Journal) to his co-hosts on the old Crossfire program, including James Carville, seemed at first glance to go out of their way to belittle Novak, chiding him for everything from his selfish interests in tax cuts, to his suppossed extravagant wealth, to his greatly exagerrated number of years in Washington.

Novak always took these chidings, for the most part, in more or less good humor, but here and there one could see flashes of impatience, and agitation. Sometimes, he would lash out at his tormenters, but more with the attitude of a wise old man scolding the impertinence of the young whippersnappers he was being forced to endure. Not with any actual ill will, it seemed.

But things finally came to a head when, on a recent airing of Inside Politics, Novak took exception to Carvilles seemingly playful jaunt that Novak just "had to look tough for the right wing". "That's bullshit", Novak snapped. "I don't like that".

Novak seemed to become even more irritated when the moderator seemed to ignore the outburst and continue on with his questioning of Carville as though nothing had occurred untoward. Looking at the moderator in an attitude of disgust, he rose, and walked off, throwing his microphone to the ground as he did so. CNN, for it's part, later issued a statement to the effect that Novak was suspended, indefinitely. I doubt seriously the Prince of Darkness is overly concerned.

Novak seemed compelled to issue a statement to the effect that he was agitated at Carville for questioning his motives. I take him at his word, unlike the myriad of others who seem determined to ascribe motives where none exist. Some for example postulate that Novak feared the potential of a coming query on the program as to his role in the Valerie Plame affair, and took this opportunity to avoid this questioning.

Ridiculous, in my opinion. For one thing, Novak has all ready addressed that issue, long ago, and if questioned again, he would doubtless give the same vapid answers he gave before. More than likely, he would utter that old canard about not being allowed to speak directly in the middle of an on-going investigation. Which would certainly be his right. And frankly, there probably is nothing to tell. He probably merely used Karl Rove as a verifying source on the Plame story, the same as did Matthew Cooper, without being aware really as to the covert status of Plame. The whole point to the stories as published, remember, wasn't to reveal Plames covert status. It was to point out her connection to her husband Joseph Wilson's trip to Niger and her importance in recommending and helping to set up that trip as a means of counteracting and contradicting Bush foreign policy. In other words, it was a way of saying that Wilson was lying when he said the trip had been arranged by Vice-President Cheney, and conducted with his knowledge, and that the Vice-President then dissavowed the trip when it didn't turn up the hoped for results.

Complicated? Yes,and that's the whole problem, the whole story has turned into such a labrythine maze of lies and deceit that there are times you need Ariadnes golden cord to trace back to the original sources. But Bob Novak isn't the Minotaur of this story. He's just an old man, who reacted to yet another perceived affront to his honor and dignity. In other words, he just lost his cool. And conservatives like Michelle Malkin should take a deep breathe and get a grip. But then most conservatives are fucking morality hypocrits anyway, so no surprise that yet another should be so aghast at such a display of profanity. When Ms. Malkin reaches Robert Novaks age and depth of experience, in the unlikley event she ever does, then she will have possibly earned the right to criticize another persons manners or lack thereof. More than likely, she will have earned the right to utter a few well-chosen profanities herself, only more than likely she will still be too much of a hypocrit to say them openly and honestly. After all, she might give all the other fucking hypocrits the wrong idea.

As for CNN, they really need to rethink their position on this really trivial matter. They have all ready earned a reputation, undeserved or not, as a stellar member of the "liberal elite press", and of being suppossedly so unfair to the conservative side. In reality, not only do they give the conservative side a fair amount of air time in the couse of interviews, at least, but they have a number of conservative analysts as well. Robert Novak is not the only one they have, this is true. On the other hand, none of them come close to matching Robert Novaks status and standing in the field of journalism as a conservative columnist and commentator. They should not only reinstate him, but in my view they should issue an apology for any misunderstandings over this really unimportant bit of nonsense, and show the man the respect he deserves.

Current TV

It's a done deal. Al Gore will soon proudly oversee the launching of his newest brainchild, the first since the legitimacy challenged birth of the Internet. The new child will promise to produce much ooh-ing and aah-ing, and a few kitchie-kitchie-koos. But a lot of people are going to whisper under their breaths, "what an ugly fucking baby". And a few more are going to do so in stage whispers.

Current TV. I'm not sure exactly what it is. You assume there will be a healthy dose of politics, probably slanted to the left, though hopefully presenting a balanced perspective, or at least not being overly strident.

But it sems it will be about more than just politics. There seems to be an opportunity here for newcomers and beginning filmmakers to show off their talents and their expertise. To express their creative talents. Their vision.

Hey, Al, give me a call. I got talent. I got vision. The expertise, well, we might have to work on that one. But at least I got a lot of heart.

And I got a lot of ideas, Al. Creative, original ideas. So what do you say? Al?

Al?

Too Much Of A Good Thing-Covington and Carmel

Carmel, California must have taken a page from the playbook of Covington Kentucky when deciding what to do about the glut of art galleries that have flooded the town. In the case of Covington, it got to the point where there were so many strip clubs it was indeed a blight. In fact, it was downright ugly. I walked by a place one time while on my way to treat myself to a serving of LaRosas pizza for my birthday, when I walked by the open door of this one strip club and wondered, "huumm-maybe?"

But then, as the drunk made his exit, this whale of a broad spread her legs and straddled a barstool, which promptly seemed to disappear up inside her cavernous cunt. I continued on to LaRosas.

But then, there was Dreama. A nasty drunk when provoked, but physically beautiful. And ambitous. Dreama was a dreamer. And when I ran into her once at the local laundromat, and she asked me to remove some quarters from the pockets of her skin tight jeans (on the grounds that her just polished nails were not yet dry) I thought my dreama might come true. But alas it was not to be.

The girls, though, ran the mix, from beautiful, to pretty, to cute, to interesting, to plain, to ugly, to nasty-to downright, motherfucking disgusting.

All becaue there were just too many places that had to have a cetain number of dancers in order to function, and there just weren't that many good ones to go arund. So they took what they could get. Of course, many of them were drunks, or drug addicts, and hookers. If they weren't so going in, a great lot of the time they would end up that way. But a good many of them resisted this downward spiral-though they seldom worked at these places for long. But for the most part it was relatively easy, in most places, to get a handjob under the table. Or a blowjob. But whether you got any of this, or nothing, you could always say you got fucked. The drinks you were obliged to pay the girls for their "company" ran the gamut from twenty dollars, and more.

Naturally, you were made to understand that any activity that smacked of prostitution was "not encouraged" and could only happen "after hours".

Regardless of all this, it got to the point where even the prettiest of girls had a hard time bringing in the customers for long stretches at a time. These stretches would come to be known as the "off-season" and any girl, even the prettiest and most talented dancers, were discouraged from engaging in work solely for the artistic merits. Even so, it all grew old- as did all too many of the dancers-and the novelty quickly wore off, and the glut of strip clubs ensured a corresponding abundance of mediocrity. And desperation.

And so the city of Covington, Kentucky passed an odinance which aimed to prevent new strip clubs from opening. For moral reasons, of course, and to improve the city's image. I haven't been there for awhile, so I wonder if the city's image has improved all that much. Probably not. But I bet the girls on the average are prettier. And I bet business is stable, and I bet it is good, maybe even in those "off-seasons". It is probably booming, more so than usual.

Carmel, California may indeed experience a Renaissance, for the same resons. Too much of anything is a bad thing, even art, and even the best of galleries might be in danger of being swallowed up by the glut of mediocrity that might otherwise ensue.

Of course, you have to guard as well against the other extreme. The dangers of elitism, and worse, the threat of monopoly. Even a glut is preferable to that. Even when out of desperation galleries resort to underhanded promotions and tactics to attract customers.

Such as the one gallery recently that offerred free admission to any man who showed up naked to a recent exhibition. And of course some did. I for one don't see the wisdom of such an obvious display. It is at best somewhat degrading to the gallery. For the man? Well, I guess that depends. Petty much like some of the girls in the strip clubs of Covington.

Some people would almost pay them to keep their clothes on.

George Smith

Another missing pesons mystery, this one involving a newlywed couple on a Meditterrannean cruise, during which the groom disappears, amidst allegations of drunken revelries, arguments between the couple (to the point the bride alegedly gave the groom a knee to the groin), gambling, rowdy teens, mysterious Russians, a late night to early morning party in the couple's cabin. An argument, loud voices, the movement of furniture across the floor. The dropping of a heavy object that resounded with a sickening thud.

And blood. The next day. Blood in the cabin. A bloody handprint at the railing outside. A pool of blood on an awning under the couple's cabin.

Pictures. Of the blood. Before the blood was quickly cleaned up. From the cabin. From the railing. From the awning. No evidence. Nothing but a missing husband, a presumed widow, and rumors. Innuendo. Hearsay.

The bride was in the cabin during the party. No, she was at another party, on an upper deck. But where? When?

No matter who killed George Smith-and George Smith is obviousy dead, and more than likely murdered-it is almost of no consequence in comparison to the actual tragedy, that of a cruise ship so concerned with it's reputation, with it's image, with going so-well, overboard, in protecting it's botton line.

So much to the point that vital forensic evidence may have been purposefully destroyed. Not as a matter of inexperience, or incompetence, or stupidity-but as a matter of corporate policy.

And naturally, the Cruise line would deny this charge, as indeed they all ready have. Of course, they would just about have to. As always, you should read the fine print.

Homeland Security-Storming The Gulags

The new Homeland Security Department has finally done something that might prove it is worhty of it's status as the countries newest cabinet level department. And of course, it is certainly to eventualy become the subject of controversy and legal challenges. I am talking here about the recently announced "Operation Neighborhood Shield".

Unless, of course, they stat out by going after some of the rabidly far-right conservative miitias, or the Ku Klux Klan, or maybe some white biker gangs. But of course, the real targets wil be what we know it was meant to be.

Gangs. Stret gangs. Thugs. The kind that infest the African American and Latino communities and result in an increase in crimes of violence, drugs, rape, and murder. To say nothing of the myriad of out of wedlock pregnancies that invariably occur in these areas.

The kind of areas where the majority of the people who are ordinarily hard-working, decent, law-abiding, and respectful citizens, are kept mired in poverty, fear, and misery. Where honest business investment and commerce are kept at a minimum, while price gouging runs rampant and slumlords rule the day.

Where the elderly on fixed incomes are afraid to leave their homes even in the daytime, and the young and the vulnerable are easy targets for exploitation.

The gangs that rule these provinces by fear and intimidation, and prowl it's alleys and corridors like packs of wolves or wild, rabid dogs, are, true enough, sometimes white. They are Slavic, Italian, sometimes Irish. Also Jewish. But they are also, certainly, African Americans. Or black immigrants. Haitians. Nigerians. Jamaicans. Also Oriental. Vietnamese. Koreans. Chinese. And, yes, they are Hispanic. Mexican. Columbian. Cuban. Puerto Rican.

It is a sad but true fact that non-whites do make up the majority of these gangs, the gangs that prey mercilessly on their own people, and serve to keep them as destitute as the neighborhoods in which they are trapped. Liberal poitics have, in fact, turned them into prisoners of their own special gulags, with the gangs in the role of the gulag guards.

It is only right that Homeland Security should free them from this imposition. From this American Gulag System. But will they suceed in doing so?

I certainly hope so, not just for their sake, but for the well being of all American society. For all of us. But the guards, and the wardens, of this American Gulag System-well, they have powerful benefactors.

John Bolton

Okay, good, it's settled. John Bolton got the recess nomination we all knew was coming. The way I look at it, it's a win win situaton. There are two possible scenarios.

*John Bolton does the bang up job Bush and most Republicans believe he will do. He cleans up the U.N. And boy, could that place use a good house cleaning, in fact, it's several springs overdue. Bolton may well be the man for the job. He may be the only man, in fact, with the stomach for it. If so, good for the country. And in the long run, good for the democrats, who are also overdue in learning a hard but vital lesson. Which is, you have to be firm, tough, and even severe, when dealing with the crooks, scoundrels, and Third World Thugs that make up the majority of the people at the U.N.

*John Bolton does an awful job, in which case the democrats will win points, and maybe the next election cycle. But only if they react in the proper manner, by promising to do the job Bush tried to do, only promising to do it correctly this time. And then doing it.

There is no in-between. Bolton won't, of course, do any real damage. That has all ready been done, and more political correctness and efussive posturing and kow-towing to the interests of this Cadre of Clowns can only exacerbate the situation.

Judith Miller-Practice That Puckering

Robert Novak, you would think, would be in danger of serving hard time for leaking-to the general public-the name of a covert CIA agent, Valerie Plame, the wife of former Ambasador Joseph Wison. But he is not. Neither is Matt Cooper of Time magazine. So why is Judith Miller in jail, when she leaked the information to no one?

Except apparently, that is, to Robert Novak and Matt Coper, both of whom seem to have used Karl Rove as no more than a verifying source, if undoubtedly an eager one. Why doesn't Ms. Miler come clean and save herself the fate of countless hours of Oprah Winfrey and Spanish lanquage soap operas in a jail filled to double capacity?

Obviously she is not doing it for the companionship. And if the fate of Novak and Cooper are to be our guides, it is not for fear of the penalty for having loose lips. After all, she herself would be under no obligation to keep Ms. Plames identity secret, if she were, then Novak and Cooper, it stands to reason, would face similar serious consequences.

Could it be that she is possibly fearful of being revealed herself as a covert agent, working undercover at the New York Times, as a wholly owned subsidiarie of the Republican National Committee?

Only time will tell. And in the meantime, those lips may end up getting a good workout, and become considerably tighter. Or looser.

The Newly Discovered Planet-Minerva

So now NASA has finally discovered the mysterious and elusive "Planet X", the long awaited tenth planet of our solar system, wich has long been postulated as the true explanation for the perturbances in the orbit of the planet Neptune that lead to the discovery of the planet Pluto. It was insisted that Pluto was much too small to have this effect. There had to be another explanation.

Well, the new planet is one and a half time the size of Puto-and twice the distance from the sun. For some perspective, it takes Pluto 248 years to revolve around the sun. Planet X takes a whopping 546 years to accompish the same feat. To bring this even further into perspective, when Pluto was discovered in 1930, the last time it had been at that point in the Zodiac where it was in that year, was in 1692. The last time Panet X was at the point in the Zodiac that it now is? 1441. Yeah, well before Coumbus discovered America. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, before Columbus himself was actually born.

But the really odd thing abut the cold, barren, apparently methane composed world, is it revolves around the sun at a higher level than all the other planets. Why? Who knows? A result, possibly, of the suns weakened gravitational pull at that distance. Or possibly due to some as yet unknown aspect of the new planets composition.

Soon, the new planet will need a name, a real name, and in keeping with tradition, I would to propose the name Minerva, the Roman version of Athene. After al, Minerva, as the virgin Goddess of Wisdom and War, had a reputation, unfairly or not, for being cold and distant. Plus, that aspect of divine wisdom which she embodied would, in the opinion of some, tend to place her on a higher level in comparson with your tyical Graeco-Roman deity. Like our mysterious planet itself. Cold and distant, it hovers on a higher level than the other planets. So there you have it.

Makes sense to me.

Martha Stewart

If anybody could hope to be the living incarnation of the goddess Athene, it would be Martha Stewart. Forget the unfortunate fact that she is no longer beautiful-though she is indeed what might be termed a "handsome" woman-and that she very unwisely lied to the Feds during an investigation and got caught doing so, and received a prison sentence for her efforts. All this is incidental.

She is cold. She is hard. She is bitter. She is strong. Yes, she's a bit of a bitch, almost a prototype of the stereotypical business woman. She is shrill, but she is shrewd. And, like I like to say about my patron Goddess Athene, she is severe. Yet, serenely so.

I even bet the woman is a virgin. Okay, maybe not physically. And for damned sure not mentally. But emotionally? Without a doubt and, sadly, nobody wants to bust that cherry, not even to prove that they could.

But she wil overcome all odds otherwise and, like the Goddess springing forth from the head of Zeus, she too will spring forth in full force from societies legal restrictions on her character and dignity.

Martha Stewart, on house arrest? Okay, but she's going to cause a lot of headaches. She can go shopping. She can go to doctors' appointments. She can go to church. But not yoga?

Wait a minute now, I can hear the calculating diva explain to her parole officer, isn't yoga a type of therapy? Isn't it considered by some a type of spiritual discipline? And so it is, Martha. So it is. You hang in there, girlfriend. You have all the gifts of the Goddess, all her atributes and talents, and you certainly have put them to use in the most wondrous of ways. Don't fail us now.

Who knows, maybe one day they might name a planet after you.

The Atkins Diet

One thing I learned a long time ago, you can make a lot of money merely by validating peoples beliefs and lifestyles, and the more blatantly harmful they are, the more you will make. You see the similar process at work in politics, religion, business, and even relationships. People want reassurrance. And, though you would think food and health would be a different matter, it isn't. People want to feed their faces, and they want to feel good about it.

Therefore, when Dr. Joseph Atkins formulated his wildly popular diet in the late 70's, in which he asserted you should eat as much protein as you wanted, and you could lose weight by doing so, it should have been obvious he was going to be an unqualified sucess.

Of course, there were conditions. It required the drastic reduction in the intake of carbohydrates. But to people who love meat and dairy products, this would likely be seen as no great loss.

But now, finally, the Atkins Diet Company has gone broke. Good riddance. Like all fad diets, it lot just a little too much weight, after a period of constipating wealth, it suddenly sufferred an unexpectedly violent case of the shit runs.

Now, maybe somebody will come along and formulate a sensible diet. Fortunatley, it has all ready been done, and it is in the public domain. In fact, you can credit the federal Government for developing the idea of the four basic food groups and the need for a balanced diet that utilizs all four groups.

It has stood the test of time and, for the average person, it is the best diet plan ever devised. It is also good for most cases where there is an obvious need for weight reduction that doesn't involve diabetes or glandular disorder. But it as well comes with conditions. You must get adequate amounts of sleep and exercise (besides work). You should not neglect one food group while making up the difference by overdoing another. For example, you shouldn't gorge on proteins and fats while eliminating or drastically reducing crbohydrates-which, incidentally, are necessary to ensure the adequate presence of electrolytes, which just happen to be necessary for healthy brain function.

Finally, there is another condition, no more or less important than the others. Which is, eat enough to satisfy your appetite. Then stop. Reduce between meal snacks if not eliminate them, or change them to healthy portions of fruits and nuts.

In other words, if you don't want to be a disgustingly obese fat ass slob, and you don't want to come down with diabetes, heat disease, high choloesterol, high blood pressure, etc., and you don't want your kids to follow your example by being fatso fucking tub-of-lards and stay miserable laughing stocks throughout their formative years-

QUIT STUFFING YOUR FUCKING FACE!!!!!!!

Rafael Palmiero

At now more than 3000 hits, and better than 500 home runs, and at 1834 RBI's, Rafael Palmiero should without a doubt, under ordinary circumstances, be considered a shoe-in for induction into the Baseball Hall Of Fame on the first ballot, upon his first year of eligibility. But such is the world that we live in, that some consider him a serious possibility for induction-maybe-on the second or third ballot. Not necessarilly in his first year of eligibility, mind you.

What has dimmed his chances might not so much be the testing at which steroids showed up in his system, for which he has been suspended for ten games, as much as his recent testamony before a Senate Sub-Committee during which he claimed to have never used steroids. He may not have committed perjury in a way that is provable. But he certainly lied.

And his insistance that he was unaware of ever having used steroids, which he seems to have taken from the Barry Bonds playbook of plausible deniability, may indeed have only made the lie more blatant-and obvious.

But Palmiero has two unlikely defenders. For one, George W. Bush, who strangely made a call for a crackdown on steroid use by athletes in professional sports a centerpiece of his 2004 State Of The Union address, but yet now insists that Palmiero (who used to play for the Texas Rangers when Bush was the owner of the team) is "a friend" and believes he is truthful in his assertions of innocence.

The other defender is even stranger, on the surface, when you consider that Jose' Conseco, author of the tell-all book Juiced, which deals precisely with the subject, in that book listed Palmiero, among others, as a player of whose steroid use Conseco had personal knowledge.

Now, however, Conseco claims that Palmiero's recent positive test results may be due to the preence of chemical elements in his bloodstream that are an outgrowth of past steroid use. In other words, Palmiero's test results might indeed be a false positive. His assertion-more testing needs to be done in order to determine the difference, and just how long these elements remain in the bloodstream past the last time of steroid use.

This may not be so much of a strange defense on Conseco's part, as he points to potential proof of Palmiero's perjury, while pretending to take the high road by defending Pamiero after being slammed by him.

The real story to all this, however, is how incideous this whole process has become in it's effect on all level of sports, amateur and professional, including school sports. Our performance driven and record breaking obsessive society has produced a glut of child would be star athletes, their aggresive and self promoting parents who push them to suceed whatever the cost, and coaches whose careers are so dependant on establishing and maintaining winning records. There was even a recent case where a coach encouraged the injury and incapacitation of a below par child athlete who was dragging down the team-in T-Ball.

You constantly see assaults involving parents, students, coaches, umpires, referees. At times this can result in an all-out brawl. Serious injuries are more commonplace than might be expected. And at times, death has ensued. Sometimes due to violence. Other times, due to overextended, gruelling training and practices. And, yes, due to the effects of steroids. On at least one occassion, suicide has resulted.

And all for what? To win that big contract. Secure in the knowledge that, for a time at least, and focusing here specifically again on baseball, both the Major Leaque Owners Association, and The Union Players Association, shook hands and, with a nod and a wink, issued meaningless declarations, instituted a number of insipid, ineffective rules and "reforms"-and looked the other way. After all, home run contests were drawing fans back into the park, and more records were being set, and broken, however dubiously.

And, though beaseball seems on the surface to be the worse offender in this matter, it is far from being alone. And, like the cancer that it really is, it has trickled down-or up-from the highest levels of sports into all levels of it. Just one more tumor in the national body that is sick witht he cancer of sucess at all costs. Not only in sports, but in all else.

Healthy competition is good. It is natural, and to be encouraged. But, like all else, when it becomes cancerous, it soon metastisizes, and spreads outward, and inward, until a drastic cure-if by now possible-becomes the only recourse.

But has it really gotten that far out of hand? Well, to recap, Rafael Palmiero has been suspended for ten games. The pay that he will forfeit for that brief period of time-200,000 dollars.