Iraqi Elections & Despicable Americans

I know Dick Cheney & other neo-cons expected to see WW II- type celebratory crowds when our troops rolled into Baghdad. Didn't happen, beyond the pulling down of some statues.

Why not? Maybe because these people have lived under one tyranny or another forever, so they didn't have a return to freedom to celebrate. Or, maybe it was because the oppressor we toppled was home-grown, and not an invader. Or, maybe it was because we fought a war against these very people a decade ago, so our troops were still looked upon as the enemy.

Whatever. Did you see the looks on the people as they voted Sunday? Especially the faces of the women? Did you see the people proudly holding up their inked fingers? Even CNN's reporters were gushing about the feeling in the streets of Iraq.

That was the victory parade Cheney expected, but didn't get. That was why over a thousand of our best young men and women have given their lives.

That was the look of freedom.

I walked around all day with a catch in my throat.

Now, for the despicable Americans.

Paul Vitello, a liberal columnist for the very liberal Newsday here on Long Island, wrote a column about the peace movement, which he refered to as "The Second Superpower". He writes of the "peace activists" as practicing their own kind of patriotism.

Some patriotism.

A direct quote:

"If the election touches off even greater violent conflict, engaging U.S. troops even more," said Leslie Cagan, national coordinator of the Manhattan-based anti-war group known as United for Peace and Justice, "that could be a kind of shot in the arm for us."

Huh?

If I'd heard this on Fox, I'd be tempted to think it was a plant-- after all, don't liberals accuse us conservatives of implying that they are anti-American?

Well, what could be more anti-American? This confirms what we conservatives often suspect: that there are many in the "peace movement" who care more about the movement than the peace, who are more concerned about reliving their youthful anti-Vietnam War days, than they are about the lives of young Americans, or the future security of our country.

Democrats wonder why America is turning from them more and more. This is why.

The professor in Colorado, who stated that the 9/11 victims got what they deserved.

The "peace activists" actively rooting against us.

The hypocrites who wrung their hands when we were attacked, who "acknowledged" in September, 2001 that this would be an awkward, long, frustrating fight against a large group of people, spread throughout the Middle East, who hate us and who have been attacking us for years, but who immediately turned once the going got tough.

Despicable people with no memory, no common sense, and no sense of shame.

They want to know why we are in Iraq? Simple.

We are fighting those who hate us on their streets, not ours.

We are trying to install democracies because that is our best hope at ending this cycle of terror-- people who are free rarely, if ever, attack others without cause.

Will it work? Who knows? But has anything else? If ten years from now we see democracies in Afghanistan, Iraq & Palestine, wouldn't it be expected that there will be fewer terrorists coming from those lands? How about if we end the tyrannies in Syria? Libya? Iran? Saudi Arabia?

Wouldn't the world be safer, for us, for our children, for our grandchildren?

Maybe it won't work. But the great American judge, Felix Frankfurter once said something which our soldiers know, which most Americans know, and which the brave Iraqi voters now know:

We have enjoyed so much freedom for so long that we are perhaps in danger of forgetting how much blood it cost to establish the Bill of Rights.

Friday Quickies

....While there is a lot riding on this weekend's election in Iraq, the true test will come the next election, or the one after that, whenever the party that wins this election has to turn over power to a rival. The most stirring moment in democracy is when a sitting President stands next to his rival as the new guy is sworn in (Carter to Reagan; Bush to Clinton). That's when we'll know democracy is there to stay.

....My good friend B After the Fact is writing a fascinating series on pre-Civil War history-- check out Bleeding Kansas.

...There's a story running around about two old clowns who got themselves arrested at one of our local Courthouses. The press, and Leno, are playing it up as if these are two kindly old men who got arrested for telling lawyer jokes.

I wasn't there. But I've walked the phalanx of the people from this group, and groups like it, as I've gone into other local courthouses. They usually stand at the Courthouse steps and verbally berate lawyers as we approach, and as we enter the building. Think of the abortion protesters outside the clinics, though we aren't as emotionally vulnerable as the women going to the clinics, of course.

So I have no pity for these guys; again, I wasn't there, but since I've seen some pretty obnoxious behaviour from their group, I can only imagine what lead to their arrests--and I guarantee you it wasn't just telling jokes. They did something to piss off those Court officers, and those officers put up with a lot day-to-day.

Finally, note that one of the guys was there to answer his DWI charge. Sweet people. Usually they're just torqued off they have to actually pay child support.

....One of our local high schools is considering installing breathalyzers, in order to test students they suspect are drunk in class. Since my friends and I tried to build a still in Chemistry class years ago, I will reserve comment.

....This guy who parked his vehicle on the tracks in an abortive attempt to commit suicide. He's now charged with 11 counts of murder, and could face the death penalty. Capital punishment arguments aside, please tell me he's not on suicide watch. Leave some rope in his cell, and see if he saves the taxpayers of California a bit of change.

...."The percentage of Earth's land area stricken by serious drought more than doubled from the 1970s to the early 2000s, according to a new analysis by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo. Widespread drying occurred over much of Europe and Asia, Canada, western and southern Africa, and eastern Australia." So says the National Science Foundation, reporting on a study appearing in the Journal of Hydrometeorology.

They place the blame squarely on global warming.

Again, I admit my confusion about whether this is a man-made problem, or a naturally occuring one. Still, it seems like something we should be concerned about-- one of my first posts ever was on the subject of water, and the need for a national pipeline here in the U.S.

Though sitting here on Long Island, with 18 inches of snow on the ground and 6 degree temperatures outside, it's hard to believe global warming is real.

...Finally, a quote from Teddy Roosevelt:

There is no good reason why we should fear the future, but there is every reason why we should face it seriously, neither hiding from ourselves the gravity of the problems before us nor fearing to approach these problems with the rebinding, unflinching purpose to solve them aright.

March 4, 1905 - Inaugural Speech

Funny Observations

I am on about a dozen joke-email chains. I love jokes. I send new ones on to about 30 or so people; I have a "clean" list and I have a "non-clean" list.

Two observations were just emailed to me-- they may be floating around the 'Net, and I don't know who to ascribe the original to, but they are new-to-me, and I thought them funny and insightful:

Cows: Is it just me or does anyone else find it amazing that our government can track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the state of Washington, as well as all her calves to their stalls, but we are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country? Maybe we should give them all a cow.

Constitution: They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it's worked well for over 200 years, and it's no longer copyrighted, so they can use it for free!

If I Ruled the Sports World-- Pro Football

The third installment in this series (college football, hockey) of what I would do if I were the King of Sports.

I love pro football. I lost interest for a few years, after the strike, and when the Jets were soooo horrible under Joe Walton. And I still can't sit in front of the television and watch two or three games on a Sunday like I did when I was in my teens and twenties-- but that has more to do with life's circumstances than football.

What I like best about football is that it isn't tied to "tradition" for tradition's sake. It's willing to adapt it's game to technology, the size and quickness of the players, etc.

Still, here's what I would change:

1) I would cut out the commercial after the kick-off. Team scores, go to commercial. Team kicks off-- go to commercial. C'mon. One break is enough--play the game!

2) If a team is successful in challenging a call, it doesn't get charged a time-out, but it does lose its ability to challenge another decision that half. That's not fair-- if the ref screwed up a call, he screwed it up. Each team should get one losing challenge per game. Lose it, and it's gone, but, if the call gets overturned, you should mainain the right to challenge another call;

3) I'd hit every guy who does a choreographed dance, etc. with penalties, fines, suspensions, and, ultimately, death--especially the "sack dances" and non-scoring celebrations by players whose teams are getting buried. Stop it. You look like fools. And if you use a prop (cell phone, marker, etc.) boom--immediate exile to the Canadian Football League. Goodbye. And, finally:

4) The pros should use the college system of "innings" in overtime. Sudden death just isn't fair--and it's not as exciting as the college system.

That's about it! Maybe I would do away with sideline reporters, but truth is they don't bother me much.

All in all, the NFL is OK by me, with the minor exception that the Jets' coaches don't know how to use the clock. But that's a local problem, which shouldn't concern the King of Sports.

Starbucks Touts Financial Prudence

Yesterday afternoon I stopped at the local Starbucks for a cup of coffee. Not the local Starbucks 3/4 of a mile from my office, nor the one that's a mile from it, nor the one that's 15 blocks east of my office, nor the one that's 7 blocks north. I stopped at the Starbucks that's 5 blocks south of my office. It was on the way.

I paid $2 for a cup of coffee. I figured I was buying something hot, though slightly burnt, to warm up a cold New York afternoon.

I thought I was buying coffee. What I got was a nice dose of feel-good new age liberal political propaganda.

Printed on the side of my cup was an essay, part of Starbuck's new "As I See It" series, where Denis Hayes, a self-proclaimed environmentalist, ripped into the deficit, alleging that the Bush tax cuts & policies were bankrupting the nation. The national debt was threatening the environment, he opined. We must do something.

On the Starbucks web site, Hayes sets forth his solution:

We should undo the recent tax cuts, including the inheritance tax, and we should then cut current spending enough to balance the budget. We should make intelligent reforms in health care, modeled upon successes in places like Oregon and Sweden. A federal board should invest a portion of the current surplus in the Social Security Trust Fund in stock and bond index funds – and we should stop using Social Security funds to finance the national debt. Americans should sharply rein-in our consumption, and we should invest in education and productivity and basic research.

Uh huh. Yeah, I get it. We raise taxes and fund every liberal scheme, and viola! instant Nirvana. Now, I agree with some of his suggestions, I do. But, on whole, it's a batch of sounds-good won't-work nonsense. And why is it on my ridiculously expensive coffee cup?

My head hurts from thinking of all the ways Harris' plan for the American economy and the world environment would utterly fail. For instance, notice that after we invest a portion of the Social Security money in stocks and bonds (a good idea), he wants Americans to "sharply rein-in consumption", and to raise taxes. Yeah, a good recession will do wonders for the stocks and bonds, you betcha.

The idiot.

Here's my solution to the national debt crisis:

Let's all stop buying overpriced coffee at Starbucks. Let's install "National Debt" jars at the 7-11. The money we save, (including tip!) we put in the jar, and send to Washington to pay down the debt.

It's a start.

And it's more honest than a rapacious international corporation, which makes money off low-paid workers, and which markets a non-essential product that wholly depends on discretionary spending, lecturing its customers on prudent spending habits and liberal political issues, all to appear hip & trendy.

Johnny- Laughter in the Silence & A Grown-up Bedtime

I'm sure there will be thousands of tributes to Johnny Carson-- the TV was full of them yesterday.

Here's what I'll remember most about the King of Late Night:

He was funniest in silence, in that pause between the set-up line and the punch line. He followed the great Jack Benny in that. I don't know of any standup comedian today who gets such great laughs, not at what he or she says, but during the gentle hesitation. Timing, they called it. Reaction takes. We've seen it in sitcoms: Archie Bunker, Maude, Bob Newhart. You smiled, then chuckled, then laughed, all in the space between, waiting for their next line, one you knew would blow you away.

They could do a half hour of Carson highlights, and never have him utter a word.

Growing up in the Sixties and early Seventies, getting to stay up to watch Carson (it was never the Tonight Show-- just Carson) was a hidden treat proferred by bribing babysitters on a Friday night, or stolen when the rest of the house fell asleep, and, finally, a bar mitzvah of sorts, a symbol of your coming of age. The night your parents let you lay on the floor watching the family TV (one per household, thank you very much) and didn't chase you to bed when Ed McMahon roared out his "Heeere's Johnny!", that night was a special one. You weren't a little kid anymore..

Johnny got a little worn around the edges towards the end. Arsenio Hall's show, with energy that attracted younger viewers (think Leno's opening) seemed to make Carson show his age, a bit. Still, his monologue was unmissable, and the parade of comedians he trotted out made it worth the loss of sleep.

My wife remarked how unthinkable it is that Ed McMahon outlived Johnny. Perhaps cigarettes are much worse than booze.

I know the papers and magazines and books have portrayed the 4-times married Carson as aloof, cold, insular, etc. Like many comedians, I'm sure he had a temper, too.

But, not in my home. When he came to my house, he was warm, and smart, and funny, and always, always classy.

As you go through life, you get to feel like you know these people you see on TV, and in the movies. A few have affected me when they passed. I was literally queasy, bordering on depressed, when Jim Henson died-- though I was raised before Sesame Street and The Muppets, and my daughters had aged out of his shows. It felt like someone who had been a big part of my kid's early childhood was gone.

I won't feel that bad about Johnny, but I will be a bit sadder today. Still, on balance, he made me smile and laugh in far greater measure than this little feeling of melancholy.

Buffett & the Storm

We're all getting ready for The Perfect Snow Storm here on Long Island. Local forecast is for 12-24 inches (I guess depending on whether the meteorologist is a man or a woman).

It's cooooold outside-- wind chill down to 0 degrees. The Great Lewis Black notes that only wind chill counts-- who cares what the "real" temperature is-- do I need a sweater or not, a--hole? Well, I was just out getting some wood and filling the bird feeders. Yes, you need a sweater.

My plan is to hunker down by the fire with the latest Jimmy Buffett novel, some Buffett, and Nancy Griffith and John Gorka playing in the background, sipping some coffee and watching the snow fall.

And trying to figure out how to con my 14 year old daughter into shoveling. May have to re-read a bit of "Tom Sawyer"!

Friday Quickies

....I have posted several items on the Roslyn school district scandal. Now comes a great new twist: The former high school principal, who was forced out because of some district-paid Vegas trips he took with the now-under-arrest Superintendent, is suing the former Superintendent, on the grounds that the principal was "duped" into accompanying the Superintendent to Sin City! The principal is claiming he was told the trips were Board approved, and that they were "informal conferences" because he & the Supe talked "educational issues" over dinner. Now that he has lost his job, the principal wants compensation from the former Superintendent.

You can't make this stuff up.

.....The Center for Disease Control published a survey decrying the increasing number of school districts that are no longer requiring physical education. The A.P. picked up the story, running it in more understandable language.

I had to take gym throughout college, as well as high school. My college program was much better-- you picked most of your events. It was a good way to get some exercise, and to learn new "life sports" and activities.

However, while I endorse mandatory P.E. on all levels, it is ridiculous for athletes on school teams to be required to take gym. It serves no purpose; it lumps "jocks" in with non-athletes, further discouraging the people who need the exercise the most; it exacerbates overcrowding; and, since most high school athletes are practicing 5 or 6 times a week, it is a waste of time.

Personally? In larger high schools, I'd develop massive intramural programs in lieu of P.E., thus allowing many students the opportunity to compete in sports, even if they aren't good enough to play varsity.

....I know we are running record deficits, and will for some years going forward. I know the national debt, the accumulation of all these deficits, seems enormous. I just can't get a handle on it, (and I was a member of the Economics honor society in college). I need perspective:

I want somebody to put the national debt into MasterCard terms: What is our credit limit? Have we maxed out? Is the current deficit the equivalent of somebody having $500 on their card, or $25,000?

And can we switch to a card that gives frequent flyer miles?

....In the aftermath (I was going to write "in the wake of.." but stopped myself) of the Tsunami, people are wondering why there wasn't a warning system in place. I think we probably can conjure up many other disasters for which there is no defense: asteroids, having been the subject of major motion pictures, come to mind, as does the possibility of another Madonna movie.

One came to me recently: is anybody storing, and protecting, seeds? Like for corn, wheat, soy, fruits,etc. What if we have a world-wide weather crisis one year-- do we have a seed repository? Is it big enough to replenish our farms, to feed 6 billion people? Listen, I come from a place where you can only tell you are leaving one town and entering another by the green signs on the highway-- and where more than 2 acres of trees is deemed a forest. Here on Long Island, farming is something that mostly occurs elsewhere.

So I ask-- are we seed-protected?

.....Finally, I leave you with a quote from Teddy Roosevelt:

Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country.

– Theodore Roosevelt, Kansas City Star (April 27, 1918)

Inauguration Day Wish-- Repeal the Two-Term Limit

It's not about W. I'm not looking for W to be a 3-term President. I'd exempt him, and any former President, from any repeal Amendment.

The two-term limit is bad law. It's undemocratic, as are all term limits. I know, I'm a Republican, and that's supposed to be our thing, but term limits show such a lack of faith in democracy that I'm embarrassed by them.

Plus, I've seen how voters can overthrow entrenched power without term limits-- the Republicans in Congress in 1994; the Democrats here in Nassau County, NY over the last 6 years. Bastions of one-party rule fell, by the most powerful weapon known to man-- the ballot box.

The problem with the two-term limit, enacted after FDR, is that it really makes the Presidency a one-term affair. Today, George Bush will be sworn in, effectively marking the beginning of the end of his Presidency. So much of the power of the Presidency is in the bully-pulpit. A first-term President is empowered in his ability to strike fear in his enemies, and his friends, and is limited by the natural desire to get re-elected.

By limiting the Presidency to two-terms, we get the worst of both worlds. Immediately, people start setting up their own campaigns; the President's influence on both sides of the aisle drops precipitously, as would-be candidates refuse to deal with tough issues, for fear of alienating voters.

And the limitation inherent in knowing you may face the electorate is gone-- and we have seen how second-term scandals have rocked our country, flamed by Presidents seeking legacies, or filled with hubris.

Further, good people bail out, knowing that the job is so limited. Second term cabinets and staffs are always weaker.

I'm a fan of The West Wing. Yes, I am. I like science fiction, too-- I know how to suspend belief, so I can stomach the liberal-bias and enjoy the amazing writing and acting. I think the show is accurately depicting the last year or two of a Presidency-- the lack of focus, the lack of influence. Dangerous.

So as we swear W in again, I think the country should seriously consider repealing the two-term limit for future Presidents, and let the voters decide. It's the American thing to do.

Robert Parker & Helen Hunt

I know I'm not alone in this, but I like finding an author, then reading everything he or she has written, starting with the earliest work, and moving forward in time. It works especially well with writers who have serialized their characters.

Of course, it helps to be a bit dense. I must have read about a dozen of Robert Parker's Spenser books, before I realized that the TV Spenser played by Robert Urich was the same Spenser of the book series. Duh.

A few years ago, Parker wrote a book with a new detective, a woman named Sunny Randall. He's now written his fourth book with her as the lead, and I highly recommend them.

This weekend I read Melancholy Baby, and it was excellent-- a fast paced page turner, made more special because Parker brought one of his characters from the Spenser series to counsel Sunny. It's fun, like an inside joke, or a wink from a friend. If you haven't read the Spenser series, or seen the TV version, it's no big deal-- the character is still intriguing. But the added knowledge lends a bit more body.

Supposedly, the impetus for the Sunny Randall series was a request made by Helen Hunt that Parker write a character for her. I read about this before the first book came out, and I've been watching for a Sunny Randall movie ever since, but no luck. I don't know if Hunt backed out, or if they're still working on it. Regardless, as I read the books, I hear Helen Hunt's voice, and I picture her in my mind's eye (not a wholly unpleasant thing, by the way.)

I'm always looking for another author. Suggestions?

Seymour Hersh--- Traitor?

Way back in law school, I learned that the First Amendment did not protect all speech. The two classic examples were shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theatre, and publishing "information about troop ships"--in other words, tipping off the enemy as to our war plans.

Both exceptions make sense. The cliche used in legal circles is that your right to swing your arms ends at my nose. The right to free speech, and the press, can't extend to placing people in harm's way.

Somewhere along the line we have lost track of the second exception. Regularly, the media reports on our troops, their whereabouts, their strengths, their weaknesses, etc. We've come to take it for granted that some retired general will come on the air and expound on strategy and tactics. The problem, of course, is that we taxpayers have spent probably millions of dollars training this general, and much of his expertise comes from the blood of young Americans who fought under the general's command as he rose up the ranks.

So why do we give this information to our enemies for free?

We spend billions of dollars on intelligence services. Yet Seymour Hersh gets a source, and boom! tells the enemy that we're getting prepared to strike. How is that protected? How does that not influence our actions? How does that not potentially put Americans in harm's way?

The answer is: Seymour Hersh, and those like him, do not consider Iran to be the enemy. They consider the Bush Administration to be the enemy. See, they know better how to conduct foreign policy, and if it wasn't for the damn yokels in the Red States, by gosh, we'd have a President who understood the need to compromise, dither and appease-- somebody from the Neville Chamberlain school of diplomacy with which the New Yorker and the NY Times are so much more comfortable.

Is Hersh a traitor? You bet. So was the person who gave him the tip. And so was that idiot Geraldo Rivera, and so is any former military officer who gets his face on TV by blathering any information which the enemy can use in any way.

It's not a game. It's not a TV show. Young people are dying to protect us from being killed. We owe it to them to treat this much more seriously.

MLK Day

A few comments regarding Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

First, if you've never heard, or read, the entire "I Have A Dream" speech, you owe it to yourself. Take the time. It's worth it, if for no other reason than to indulge yourself with King's amazingly rich use of the English language.

Second, I still think it's a bit unfair to many great Americans that we now celebrate all the Presidents on one day, and King has his own holiday. Washington and Lincoln lost their days; Jefferson, Franklin, Susan B. Anthony, Edison, Bell... no day. Perhaps if politics hadn't interfered, we would have been better off with a Great Americans Day, with a different rotating group highlighted each year.

Third, to guarantee 100% observance, they should have made the holiday the day after the Super Bowl. We need that day off anyway.

Fourth, I remember where I was when I heard of his death, and I remember my parents being concerned about going to the store that evening, afraid there would be trouble. I was young, but even then I realized the tragic irony of the violent death of this man of peace, and the threat of violence in its wake.

Fifth, if we can get past the politics of the day, and the overwhelming feeling that this is solely an African-American holiday, it would be fitting and right if this day eventually morphed into a celebration of peace & tolerance-- where the 4th of July is marked by barbeques, and Thanksgiving is marked by feasting, and Christmas with gift-giving, perhaps MLK Day could become a day of community service. What better way to celebrate this great man's life and teachings?

Finally, I leave you with one of my favorite Martin Luther King, Jr. quotes, one which should be ingrained in every American's psyche. It's something I've preached to my kids, and to the kids I've coached, and to my employees, and which I remind myself often. It reminds us to do our best, always, regardless the task or the job:

If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.

Friday Quickies--on Saturday

....Have to root for the Jets this afternoon. Worse, since it's my brother-in-law's 40th birthday, my brother and I have to take him out, before we all meet for a late dinner. So, instead of spending the afternoon with my wife, helping with little chores around the house, or perhaps indulging in a leisurely trip to the Mall, I have to go out to a bar, and drink beers (which is the plural of beer here on Long Island), and watch a damn playoff game.

How much does that suck?

....The space probe of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is a resounding success. I've always believed that manned space flight was an imperative, and I still do, but more and more I'm coming around to the notion that these man-less missions really do generate more knowledge and more information (two separate things). When they perform properly, the probes are spectacular; when they fail, nobody dies.

Not to make light of what's obviously a great tragedy, but didn't the first photos from Titan look a bit like the current California landscape?

....I do not believe there is such an entity as a non-profit, or not-for-profit organization. Does not exist. The same forces that move and shape "for-profit" organizations propel the NPO's (non-profit organization).

The director of an NPO may not be looking for sales-generated income, but he or she is certainly looking at other numbers-- donations, funding, grants.

The director of an NPO should be looking at costs and expenses, but, like many a CEO who is using other-people's-money, the director is probably more interested in empire-building, or comforts (such as a nice office, easy transportation, etc.)

The director of an NPO may not be looking at the bottom-line profit number to report to Wall Street, but he or she is certainly looking at whatever "number" will impress his or her constituency--more porgrams, higher profile, whatever.

I came across a study issued by the Brookings Institute on September 13, 2004. Simply put, few Americans have any confidence that their charitable dollars are being spent well, or appropriately. I raise this issue because the California mudslides, and the Tsunami, and the Florida hurricanes, have generated hundreds of millions of dollars of donations from Americans. Moreso, we have seen scandals , in the Roman Catholic Church, and elsewhere, where money was not spent appropriately.

I'm not a "big government" guy. But there are things we need government for. One of them is to serve as a watchdog, to make sure we aren't getting ripped off.

When the SEC was formed to monitor Wall Street back in 1934, the Gross Domestic Product of the entire United States was $66 billion dollars.

Today, non-profits generate $61 billion dollars of economic activity--in just Florida!!

I know Bill O'Reilly and others have been demanding that celebrities be accountable for the money they raise. But this is a much bigger issue.

There are private companies, such as Guidestar, which can help us sort out "good" charities from "bad" ones. But, that kind of listing only helps so much, and of course, it relies on the charities' own financial reporting. Especially in these days of Internet donations, lax State auditing, etc., we need more.

It's time for a non-profit version of the SEC. We need accountability for the billions of dollars we donate each year, to charities, to educational institutions, to hospitals, etc.

We are entitled to transparency. We are entitled to know that the money we donate benefits the people we are told it will help. It can only lead to more responsible management of funds, and ultimately, when more than 11% of Americans think the charities are spending money well, to more donations.

Roslyn Board Member-- See Ya!

This is a story upon which I have extensively commented. Back in the Fall, I called upon the "new" members of the School Board of the scandal-plagued Roslyn (NY) school district to do that which the Commissioner had failed to do-- oust one of the Board members who had improperly utilized district property, and who had been a principal on the Board while it allowed over $8 million dollars to be stolen. (I sent a copy of my post to the Board, though I was, I assume, just one of many voices calling for her ouster.)

They finally acted. Last night the Roslyn Board announced that Patricia Schlissel was going to resign-- and they made it clear that if she didn't formally do so, they would take steps to remove her.

Bravo!

Now, the DA should follow up with an investigation. If money and property were illegally used, even if just a few thousand dollar's worth, criminal charges should be forthcoming.

As a conservative, I want to see government spending kept to a minimum. Prosecuting thieves, and sending a chill into those who might follow in their footsteps, is a great way to help keep spending down-- or, if you liberals prefer, to free up more money for necessary programs.

Either way, as Teddy Roosevelt (Republican) and Grover Cleveland (Democrat) agreed more than a century ago, when together they took steps to reform New York State government, clean government is something for which honest people, on both sides of the aisle, should strive, and is something which benefits us all.

As then Gov. Theodore Roosevelt said:

We can afford to differ on the currency, the tariff, and foreign policy; but we cannot afford to differ on the question of honesty if we expect our republic permanently to endure ... Honesty is not so much a credit as an absolute prerequisite to efficient service to the public. Unless a man is honest, we have no right to keep him in public life; it matters not how brilliant his capacity.

I'm Back

Sorry for the lack of posts-- life called, and I was forced to answer!

Plus, my wife & loved ones (notice I didn't include her in that category!) have demanded I "do something" health-wise, which has resulted in a treadmill appearing in my basement, the use of which has impinged on my blogging time. So a combination of things (including a bit of writer's block, I think) has kept me from this space.

But, I'm back. I have a lot of things I want to comment on, and some things to make fun of-- and many, many blogs to read and comment on. I think I've got my time parceled out better, so here we go!

And many thanks to those of you who noticed I was gone!!

Possible Movement On Corrupt Roslyn Board Member

I have written extensively about the Roslyn School District scandal, where over $8 million dollars was stolen, where the Superintendent, the Assistant Superintendent & the billing clerk are under indictment, where the high school principal was suspended (and has now resigned), where the head of buildings & grounds was likewise terminated, and where Board members (one of whom still remains on the Board) were found to have received unauthorized financial benefits totalling in the thousands of dollars...with no action from the Commissioner of the NY State Department of Education, who has the power to remove the offending and negligent Board members.

Two new items:

1) The NY State Comptroller today issued the findings of his audit, in which he blasts the auditing firm Roslyn used, and, indeed, calls for a criminal investigation of the auditors (who audit more than half of the districts on Long Island); and

2) The Roslyn Board, 4 of whom are "new", has finally retained counsel to look into whether they can remove the offending member, something I called on them to do months ago.

Still nothing new on the criminal cases. I just hope this group of public-funds thieves get more time than the Suffolk County commissioner who was sentenced yesterday.

And, again I ask-- where is the Commissioner of Education?

90 Days For Bribery Is No Deterrent

A local Long Island politician got caught, on tape, taking a $5,000 bribe from a land developer.

What does he get? 90 days. Well, really 60 days, because he gets 1/3 off immediately for good behavior.

Huh? What kind of message is that? What kind of warning is that to other pigs not satisfied with the inevitable extras that come with public office, but who go beyond the usual "perqs" into outright theft?

I know I shouldn't judge so harshly--they say young men seek justice, older men seek mercy. But still, we send kids away for longer than that for stealing far less. I know the disgrace is supposed to be punishment enough, but in this post-Clinton world, where shame no longer exists, loss of position in the community is just not enough.

The judge blew it. This guy should be doing hard time, for a long time.

If I Ruled the Sports World-- College Football

I previously wrote about what I would do with hockey, if I were King. (Hockey, for those who don't remember, was a sport played on ice-- sort of like soccer, but with sticks.)

Tonight is college football's National Championship, the game that was supposed to decide who is the best team in the nation--except that, as usual, there will be at least one other team that will claim the title.

College football has many more problems than some fans and sportswriters whining about the lack of a definitive champion. It is a sport reeking of excess, corruption, & stupid rules, run by greedy, petty little men & women who exploit children for profit.

What would I do?

- I'd institute a playoff series to determine the National Champion. Sixteen teams-- the regular season champions of 10 or so conferences, and the rest invites. There will be some whining, from the 17th team that misses out, but, hey, win your conference and you get to play in the playoffs.

- I'd cut down the scholarships from 85 to 40. It would lower the cost of the programs (by the way, only 40 out of 117 Division I programs made money last year-- so the argument that football finances other sports is, by and large, a myth), and it would spread the talent out, making the sport more competitive. Fewer kids would be sold by a "major" college on the distant dream of riches and stardom by coaches who combine the worst of televangelists and used car salesmen.

- I'd pay the players. Yep, I'd pay 'em. There are millions of dollars pouring into the schools; everybody is making money except the guys who are busting their butts. They should be paid. No salary cap. No restrictions. If a school wants to lose money by paying out more than is coming in, well, then, the market will take care of that. If a school wants to use football as a marketing tool for donations or to tout the rest of its programs, fine, go ahead. Want to take money from labs and put it in weight rooms? Well, then science students will go elsewhere.

The market pressures are there already; they never go away. The NCAA rules are like wage & price controls--they never work, they only distort. Let my people go!!

- I'd let the NFL sponsor college programs. The colleges are already the NFL's minor league-- let them pay for it. Maybe each NFL team would get a few colleges, the players from which would automatically go to the designated NFL team. Anyway, the NFL, like college coaches & presidents, are making money off these 18-22 year old kids-- let them pay for that right.

- I'd ban cheerleaders. Go play a sport.

- I'd disban the NCAA, putting it on the same dump of hypocrites with the UN. Rules that are so arcane that nobody can understand them; enforcement so biased that everyone knows the rules don't apply to the big guys (The University of Kentucky, a major basketball power, got in a jam when a DHL package broke open, spilling out cash that was going from the UK assistant coach to a prospective player. The joke then was that the NCAA was so mad at UK, it gave a three year suspension to Cleveland State). NCAA? Gone.

- Finally, I'd ban face painting. It's silly, and I'll bet those paints turn out to be toxic.

Insights From Movies

One of my favorite scenes in the movies is from "Broadcast News", with Holly Hunter (Jane) as the crazed producer, William Hurt (Tom), as the golden boy, slightly dim-witted, corner cutting anchor man, and Albert Brooks as Aaron, the old school hard-working, beat reporter, all working for a local TV station. Holly Hunter's character is being pursued by both men.

				

				Aaron

		I know you care about him.  I've

		never seen you like this about

		anyone, so please don't take it

		wrong when I tell you that I believe

		that Tom, while a very nice guy, is

		the Devil.



				JANE

			(quickly)



		This isn't friendship.



				AARON

		What do you think the Devil is going

		to look like if he's around?  Nobody

		is going to be taken in if he has a

		long, red, pointy tail.  No.  I'm

		semi-serious here.  He will look

		attractive and he will be nice and

		helpful and he will get a job where

		he influences a great God-fearing

		nation and he will never do an evil

		thing...he will just bit by little bit

		lower standards where they are important.

		Just coax along flash over substance...

		Just a tiny bit.  And he will talk about

		all of us really being salesmen.

			(seeing he's not

			 reaching her)

		And he'll get all the great women.

And the truth is, when looking at the decay in our society, it is often in this manner it happens-- a seemingly nice guy or company, just whittling at the corners, lowering our expectations, bit by bit.

Bill Clinton is the personification of this in politics; I always think of him when I see the movie, and vice versa.

But we've seen the same in the business world. The Walmart's, the Home Depot's, the Sears. all lowering standards, bit by bit, until we accept cheap, poorly made products (many made from the sweat of children & slaves, by the way), and think it normal to stand in long lines, or accept horrible service. This didn't happen overnight. It happened bit by bit.

And, by the way, those old fogeys in the '50's who warned that rock and roll would lead to wanton sex, unwanted pregnancies, drug use, the breakdown of public morals, etc.?

They weren't wrong, were they?

Maybe it is the devil.

Happy New Year to All!

Happy to New Year to you all. May 2005 bring you nothing but health & happiness, and may we all see peace this year.

I'm looking forward to getting back to a regular routine on Monday. I have a whole host of resolutions, some serious, some not.

2004 was a good year for my family. We avoided funeral homes. None of the hospitializations were serious or ended badly. My family unit went on a couple of nice vacations; we saw our eldest apply for, get accepted by and start her college career. Our youngest got her first job, and is excelling at it-- we can see her self-confidence rising.

Angela and I spent last night with some friends, one of whom has a son who is a freshman at West Point. That kept the evening in perspective, as did these unending videos of the tsunami victims. We are lucky to have young people like her son, who are willing to defend us. And we are lucky that we have homes, and food and drink aplenty.

Now that I think about it, 2004 was a very good year for me and mine. Here's to 2005!!