World War I Was Pointless

I just finished Paul Fussell's "The Great War and Modern Memory". The book was a review of the war though the eyes of British soldiers who survived, and some who didn't, and who left written material describing their ordeal. Eight and a half million soldiers died in that war. They died in elaborate trenches filled with, at one time or another, water, gas, dead soldiers, rats and other disgusting remnants of the carnage. The tactics of the generals was primitive and unimaginative, resulting in solders being mowed down in the 10s and 100s of thousands sometimes in just a few hours. All this horror happened with little understanding and much fantasy from the home front.

Mr. Fussel pointed out that the soldier's basic instinct was to survive so to return home to resume their life as father, brother, carpenter, teachers, and more. The conscripts were summoned to the war with little training and no knowledge of what faced them. The odds of survival was slim so a whole generation was wiped out as they tried to cross No Man's Land, that patch of territory between the trenches of the two opposing forces at war.

The Great War, as well as all wars according to Fussell, is ironic, ironic in that wars are always much more horrific than ever dreamed at the start. WWI was started with the thought that it would be over quickly and victory would be glorious, but as it turned out it went on, and on, and on. The death was staggering and the killing was technologically brutal, ripping bodies apart and leaving mutilated bodies to rot in the mud on which rats engorged themselves. All the while, the literature at home painted the picture of victory, glory and valor. Fussell at one point says that Wilfred Owen lived out in WWI "the old lie" (that it is sweet and proper to die for one's country).

War changes everything. No one can really understand what war does to the innocent until one has to step over dead bodies with care so as not to trample once "silly conscripts that are now cold marble". This was an excellent education for me. It brought to me, as close as I ever want to come, the devastation of war and what it does to human beings on both sides of No Man's Land. War's affects the short lives of the boys being sent to their death with a swift end to their short lives as well as to following generations who have to live with the consequences the giant loss to humanity. I'm changed. I now have another dimension to consider when I contemplate war as good or as evil.

Just Finished “All Quiet on the Western Front”.

I am sure many millions before me have said it, but I will add once more, "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque is a great book. He led me through the horrors of war via a masterful piece of art. I kept saying to myself as I read each page how lucky I was that I did not have to experience it firsthand even though I was in the Air Force during the Viet Nam war. I lost friends there, but I was fortunate to come up with state side duty. I have always considered myself somewhat of a pacifist, but I have not been very vocal about my beliefs. When George Bush was taking us into the Iraq war, I kept saying "Maybe this guy knows something that we don't." In other words, in the face of my reservations I gave him the benefit of the doubt. After all, he had the CIA, and I did not. As it turns out, he did not have them either. I think now after reading this work of art, I am apt to be more decisive and vocal about my views on war. I don't think I will be against all wars, but I expect to be more opinionated and active about expressing my thoughts. We need to be extremely cautious about entering into war. But when is war necessary? It needs to be the VERY last resort. We can influence leaders and peoples of other states by many other means than just military might. We have economic power that has not been fully explored. I believe we could cripple Iran to the point that they would shelve their nuclear plans in favor of economic and political survival. We would need the cooperation of other counties but we could achieve our objective there without using bombs Every bomb that drops has the risk of hitting a child, mother, father, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, brother, sister, grandfather, or grandmother. After reading "All Quiet", I believe we should go to much greater lengths than we have in the past to avoid the horrors of war.

Dallas News Summer Book Club

The first book of the Dallas News Summer Book club is Eric Marie Remarque's novel "All Quiet on the Western Front". The author takes a deep dive in the personal tragedy of war as Paul Baumer describes the horrible death of his friend Kemmerich, who just had his leg amputated, in a crowded hospital reeking of gangrene. Baumer vividly describes the final moments of Kemmerich's life. "But he only weeps, his head turned aside. He does not speak of his mother or his brothers and sisters. He says nothing; all that lies behind him; he is entirely alone now with his little life of nineteen years, and cries because it leaves him." The author then follows that scene with Baumer, who just sat at his friends bed as he slowly died, showing signs of hope as he leaves the hospital. "Thoughts of girls, of flowery meadows, of white clouds suddenly come into my head." It struck me odd that he could enjoy life amidst devastating war. I can't wait for chapter three.

 

Well I’m No Longer Retired!

I'm so busy; I might as well get paid while I'm at it. I accepted a job offer at a nearby electronics company. I do have a need to improve, so besides running 35 miles a week, I have been refreshing my math skills, tutoring high school kids, working out at the Y, and spending quality time with my grandchildren. My days are filled and time is speeding by. I figure that I might as well get paid for my activities. Since I was offered a job for which I have a lot of experience and some skills, I accepted and will start on the 18^th. What will change? Working out at the Y will be spotty if at all; I will get to see the grandchildren on the weekends, I will run first thing in the mornings before work; and I plan to practice math in my spare time. I am looking forward to working again. It will be nice joining the business environment and having some money come in.

Retired – Maybe?

Well I got fired! Well, they called it “laid off”. Or was it downsized? In any event, the question I now ponder is “should I now consider sliding into retirement or should I try to do something productive”? I will not go on and on about the pros and cons of each, but I will say I am really considering a change in my life. I’m 60 and maybe, just maybe, I will have another 20 years left if I’m lucky. I want them to be fun! I want to enjoy the next phase and that may or may not include working an 8 hour day. I’m going through the process of getting my resume updated, printing business cards, and producing a brochure for consulting. I’m really not sure anyone would want to hire me as a consultant but I do think I could save the right company money. Anyway, we will see. I’m seeing a lot more of my grandchildren and spending quality time with my wife. I’m in no hurry. I’ll keep you informed.

The Internet Helps Me Be More Productive

The internet is a tremendous productivity tool. I use it in various ways to cram more in a day or week. It allows me to avoid traffic jams, visit my parent, spend time with my granddaughter and pay my taxes, just to give you a few examples.

When I started my present job in Richardson Texas the 25 mile drive to work was 40 minutes, but recently the journey has grown to 1 hour. By using my home DSL I totally avoid the drive at least a couple of days a week. On those days I do drive in I work from home during the rush hour and take the drive later when traffic is light. At 10 am or during the lunch hour the drive is 30 minutes. In one week, I can easily recover 2 ½ hours.

When visiting my parents who live in West Virginia, I work from a nearby Holiday Inn that offers free wireless internet service. The hotel staff serves me breakfast and lunch, while I work from the bar which is closed during the day. I set up my computer, fire up my Voice Over Internet Phone software, attach my headset and conduct all my business as if I were in the company or in my home office. Nobody I interact with knows, or for that matter cares, where I am. At the end of my day, I return to spend the evening with Mom and Dad.

My son who lives in Florida is equipped with internet service over his TV cable system. While visiting him and his family, I reroute the cord from his Dell to my laptop, shut the door to his computer room, and my conduct business, breaking occasionally to spend time with my two year old granddaughter who is naturally curious about what is going on in daddy’s office.

Doing my taxes over the internet using Turbo Tax has cut this once tedious task from several days to two hours. The Turbo Tax software, in and of itself, cut the time to around four hours, and by interacting with the internet I can save another hour or two by retrieving W2 and other information and even submitting my forms to the IRS on line.

These are just four examples where the internet has allowed me to spend less time doing more. I cut my time in the car, saved valuable vacation days by working while visiting family, and pay Uncle Sam with ease. My goal is to find other avenues to further exploit the productivity of the internet, and I bet there are numerous undiscovered ways. I just need to find them.

Winning

Winning is good, but playing is much more important. Every day, it seems, I hear sports figures, coaches, players, and fans, extol the virtues of winning. You too, I’m sure, have heard “Winning is what it is all about”. “Winning is not the most important thing it is the only thing”. I submit to you, those people have it all wrong; playing is more important than winning. If you don’t play you will never experience winning or losing. Spectators experience neither.

Now let me ask you, how many winners are there in the NFL? Well, you have winners and losers each weekend, but on Super Bowl weekend you have only one winner. What does this picture tell you? It says that one week you may be a loser and the next week you may be a winner. There is, however, only one winner in the quest for the national championship. At the end of the Super Bowl, is the only winner the National Champion team and every other team is a looser? Well that weekend only one team was the winner of the National Championship, but the rest of the teams were not losers, and what about the other 364 days of the year? In any game, if you play long enough you will be on the loosing side as well as the winning side. And which side you end up on any specific week says nothing in particular but the results of the final score. It does, however, say something about your character that you played the game. You have faced the potential of not prevailing on that specific day. By facing your opponent you have accepted the challenge and are willing to lose, if it happens, that day. There will be other days. So if you loose, shake it off, so to speak, and try again. The key is not to dwell on the loss by taking it personal, but to keep practicing and playing, honing your skills to take advantage of the opportunity when it arises to beat your opponent or conquer your challenge. If you play you will, at one time or another, experience both winning and losing just by engaging in the chase of the ball, the run against the clock, the swing of the club, or the crack of the bat.

It may sound a bit hokey, but spectators are much more plentiful than players. You and I know many spectators who never engage. Of course, we are all spectators at one time or another, but it does take some energy to enter the fray and to take on the experience that may lead to loosing which is, for many, another word for failure. But loosing is not failure; it is only not being able to prevail that particular game day. Tomorrow is a new day and a new game. So don’t fear loosing, fear not playing.

Lunch At Nonna's House

One Friday my friend, Gary, and I arrived at my house to start a much-anticipated weekend. We had just driven from Fairmont College and were famished, but a quick perusal of the our refrigerator uncovered no appealing food. I said, “No problem, lets go to my Grandmothers; She always has good food”. We both ran across the empty lot that separated our two houses and pulled open the screen door to find my Nonna standing over a large pot of boiling minestra. Now, this is a peasant dish as Marie, my wife, calls it, but it is great, I think. It is nothing but greens of some type, spinach, kale, or chard, with potatoes, always and bean sometimes. I introduced Gary to her and asked if we could have some minestra for lunch. She said, “You boysa sitta down and hava somea thisa minestra for a luncha”. She provided us with a couple of gigantic slices of hard Italian bread aside of two large bowls and immediately filled the bowls with heaping mounds of smoldering greens and potatoes. As she left the kitchen to tend to her other chores, shouted “munga, munga”. We both blew on the food to cool it off and dug in as if to save our bodies from starvation. After about five minutes, I had half of my dish emptied, but Gary had made nary a dent. He said, “John I don’t see how you can eat this stuff. It tastes awful”. I could understand this because the first 13 or 14 years of my life I too hated it. Something miraculous happened after that and I suddenly loved it. Anyway, I said, “ Don’t worry, just put it back in the pot. She will never know.” He then stood up and emptied his dish into the pot on the stove and sat back down at the table with the empty dish sitting in front of him. I kept eating. My grandmother returned to the kitchen, noticed his empty plate and said, “you likea”? Gary said, “Yes Maam, it was great”. In one large movement she grabbed his empty dish, filled it to the brim, sat it down in front of a startled Gary and said, “Hera hava somemora, youa growina boya”.

Lunch With Nonno

I loved to lunch with Nonno, my grandfather, because not only did I get to taste some great Italian food like my Nonna’s homemade bread, spicy soprasatta and aged provolone cheese, but I was also lucky enough to accompany it with some of his excellent homemade wine. One fall day we were at the table, just the two of us for some reason, and we both were eating quietly. We did not say much; we just enjoyed each other’s company. He had on a white shirt and tie with a vest. His head was round, shiny, and bald with a little band of hair from ear around the back of his head ending at the other ear. In one of my sips of the dark red wine, it found its way into my windpipe, and I coughed uncontrollably, propelling a jet spray across the table landing on you know who. I’ll never forget the image of red wine all over his white shirt and, most of all, on his baldhead where it ran down his forehead forming three or four little ruby rivulets. I immediately and profusely apologized. He said nothing, but grabbed his cloth napkin, wiped his forehead, put the napkin down, shoved the wine bottle in my direction so I could refill, and continued eating as nothing happened.

Enjoy Each Moment

I must work on enjoying each and every moment of the day. I think this may be the secret to having as much fun as possible while toiling at a rather boring job. This trick is not as easy as one might think since here I am at work doing something that really is not joyful, and yet I’m supposed to treat it as if I would rather do nothing else. Do I just reject the notion that I would rather be home, sitting on the couch with my dog, Whitney, petting her while she sleeps on my lap? Do I disregard the feeling that I would rather be somewhere else instead of staring at the computer, typing emails or reviewing financial reports? Maybe the trick is to take pleasure in the little things of the moment, like chatting with a coworker about their family or their work. That is what I will try. I will give it a shot and let you know.

Child Labor

In Hayden Kantor’s heart wrenching “The Face of Child Labor” published in the Dallas Morning News on Nov 18, he tells of children being paid as little as $1.25 for a 12 hour day. In the day of globalization where we help raise the standard of living in India, and ours as well, by purchasing their goods and services, I believe we have a moral obligation to demand that India do something about this atrocity. I would hate to think that one of my dollars encouraged anyone to exploit children for profit. I don’t believe the answer is discontinuance of international trade since both countries gain through the efficiencies of comparative advantage, but I do believe we should do more to hold leader accountable for this horrific practice and demand a solution.

Death

Hooligan's View
The Terry Schaivo death has created quite a national debate over how the terminally ill die. I will not comment on it because I do not want to contribute to the glut of rhetoric. It does, however, make me think about the way we die today. I think I have figured out that in the absence of a living will the physician, Hospice, and the family generally attempt to make the terminal patient as comfortable as possible, obviously in accordance with the patient’s desires if conscious, and in doing so reasonably keep them from pain even if it may hasten the ultimate end. Is this the right thing to do? I think so because the sentient have the obligation to treat the unconscious patient as they would want to be treated if they could let us know or, in the absence of knowing, doing what is best for the dignity of the terminally ill. Dignity of the dieing is paramount not the conscience of the caretaker who must exhaust all means to extend life due to moral convictions. Our moral obligation is to give dignity to life by administering to the terminally ill in a way they would want and, in the absence of knowing, the way we would want to be treated. To specify how the end would come in a situation like Terry’s, thereby relieving the family of the terrible burden of deciding, one must execute a living will. I’m going to do that this week end.

Grouch

Hooligan's View

Everything annoys me today. I know no one probably wants to hear this, so if you’re reading you can stop here if you want. Let me start with the constant aggravation I receive from the speaker phones in the offices near my cube. I have asked these guys several times, via email or just by me closing their doors, to keep their offices closed during these calls. I never use the speaker phone. I have a headset so I don’t bother my neighbors, what is so hard for these guys to comprehend that noise coming from speakers disturbs those of us who have no protection. You see they can close their doors to keep noise out of their offices, so they do not realize how their noise affects others. OK and then there is the continual bickering from people I work with about details and other items that have little bearing on issues. Don’t sweat the small stuff . I believe they just like to hear themselves talk. A subset of these people is management who has to micromanage everything in sight. If it is not their way, it is wrong. And then there is the traffic when I drive to work. Why don’t these people move? When the light changes, step on the gas and when the car in front of you moves you move. Don’t wait 5 seconds to think about it. Move! I’m glad I got that off my chest. I feel better; how about you?

Economics Class

Hooligan's View

On April 18, I teach a microeconomics class. I have been teaching micro and macro for about two years now at Richland College in Richardson TX, just a convenient couple of miles from my office. I do so because I enjoy the subject and I enjoy the interaction with the students.

Economics permeates everyday life. For example, take benefit and cost analysis. I know I may be strange, or rather sick, but everything I do, whether subconsciously or otherwise, I assess benefit gained against costs lost. Time spent on working in the garden gives me tasty vegetables in the summer but consumes time I would otherwise spend with my wife. I can recover this lost time with her in the evening over a nice dinner using some of the greens I produce with my bare hands. Money used to purchase a flight to visit my parents gives me time to enjoy their company, since I live a distant 1800 miles from them, but is money I can not spend on retirement savings where I believe I’m in good standing and will probably have to work for life anyway. Resources like time and money, everyday items, are limited and must be used to maximize benefit lest they are wasted.

Productivity is a common theme. Production efficiency is an worthy target because if we hit it, we are prized with a good lifestyle. We get the “goods” for the least possible costs and leftovers we can use for producing other “goods”. Productivity gains mean we can have more with the same money giving us a higher standard of living than otherwise. This need for ever increasing productivity pushed to the limit will give us Eden, no work and all pleasure. Sounds like a great goal doesn’t it?

I start each class with the same question. “What economics occurred in your life today?” Since my students are primarily working young adults, I get answers like, “We had a layoff today” or “My Company was just bought out by a larger firm”. Oh, they also like to give the class daily reports on the price of gas. Later when they run out of personal examples they bring the newspaper to present the details of an interesting article on something like the price of steel or trials and woes of Martha Stewart. At the end of each course, many of the students comment that this question and answer session does bring economics, the subject, into focus as every day living. It is all around us.

Of course, there is more to life than economics, but by teaching this class I have a chance to share a little of what I have learned in the last 60 years with the my students and at the same time, and I know it sound trite, I learn a great deal just trying to stay current. I would not want my students to think economics was boring, now would I?

Freescale Marathon

Hooligan's View

A week ago I went to Austin to run my second marathon, the Freescale. Marie, my wife, and I stayed with our great friends Terry and Ann Cook. We flew down on Saturday early and returned on Sunday late. We had a great time, even though my race was a little disappointing.

On Saturday Marie and I went to Love Field to fly Southwest Air to Austin. This was the first time we had ever flow. It is very close so a drive is not too bad. I just did not want to dive back after the race. Terry picked us up and we headed for their new house in Bastrop, a small town about 20 miles from Austin. The house is beautiful and, my goodness, large. The Cooks took us through the house. The toip floor is a very large room which gives them about 3800 sq feet of living space. After we rested a couple of hours we all went to Buca de Pepi, an Italian restaurant, where my entire running group agreed to meet for a pre-race spaghetti dinner. I introduced Terry and Ann to all my running mates, and we had a grand time.

Race day came quickly after I had a fairly good night’s sleep. Terry dropped me off in the dark near the start. After I worked my way to the starting line in the drizzle, I found, amidst the 7000 runners, a couple of guys I knew before the race began. I hooked up with George, my coach, who was planning to run a 9 minute mile pace. I ran a pace of 9:30 in Chicago, in November, three months earlier, so I was worried about keeping up. After I started, I got the bright idea that maybe I could do it the whole way, and I kept it up with George for 20 miles, feeling good most of the way. After I saw Terry, who was waiting for me at the 20 mile point, I “hit the wall”. My legs would not move so I was reduced to walking portions of the remaining 6.2 miles. I finished the race averaging 10 minutes a mile. Many of my running mates, including George, experience this same problem that they quickly attributed to overly warm weather and dehydration. At end of the race I stopped to talk to Elaine, one of my training partners, and as I spoke to her my vision began to disappear into a white blur. I said a quick goodbye and left abruptly to walk some, hoping to have my legs pump some blood to my brain. It worked. When I met Terry and Cara, his daughter, he offered me a Gatorade that I immediately chugged. It helped my stamina tremendously.

We went back to the house where I showered, ate lunch, and had a short nap. After a great dinner, Terry dropped Marie and me off at the Airport and we arrived home not too late that night. It took me at least three days to recover from that race, but I really enjoyed spending time with the Cooks. I enjoyed most of the race too, especially the first 20.

Mardi Gras - 2005

This was the third. The first was in 1997, second in 1998 and this one. By the way, I was robbed at gunpoint in 1998. Nonetheless, I enjoy Mardi Gras because of the seriousness which the revelers party. You’re expected to party whether you like it or not. My cousin John and I went to New Orleans after a quick decision to drive down on a Friday and come back on Sunday. That would give us Friday night, Saturday and a Saturday night to get our fill of excitement prior to returning on Sunday.

We dove for 8 hours, and arrived downtown at about 4PM amidst the crowd. We called and met Libby, John’s sister, at here office building, one of the largest in New Orleans. She brought us to meet her boss, a native and longtime parade supporter (Krewe member). They have about 8 or 9 parades a day for a week and the parades are just another reason to party. Anyway, her boss pointed from the 26th floor areas to avoid and areas to seek out. We then headed off to the French Quarter where the crowd at 5PM was light but it did not take long for the pace to quicken. We stayed there till about 1AM and from there drove to Libby’s for a late night snack prior to hitting the mattress.

The next day we had more fun with a parade and more Bourbon Street. I started with a run around the local community college while Libby took Juan, her 11 year old son, to a soccer game. When they arrived at the house - Juan lost but had a good time and scored a goal - we started with a little wine and snack for lunch. John and I went to a local market and picked up a barbeque chicken and sausage. Once of the nine parades, Endymion, that day starts a block from here house. For the first time ever I got caught up in the fever and jumped for beads like all the locals. I probably had a little help from the wine I had been drinking most of the day. Later we went back to the French quarter and pushed through the crowds. John had the good sense to drag me back by midnight.

The next day we headed back to Dallas careful not to ruin a nice visit by having an accident. I don’t know if I will do Mardi Gras again, but I enjoyed the trip and the party atmosphere. John and I talked about making the Jazz Festival held every year in April. We will see.

Retire?

Hooligan's View
Many guys (my brother, brother in law, and friends) my age are retiring. Should I do the same? I’m 58 now; I may have 10 or 20 years left if I’m lucky. Why not enjoy leisure time, more time with my grandchildren and wife, or simply time to do the “things I want to do”. Don’t I deserve it?

The trouble is that I don’t think I can deal with leisure. You see I get bored when I have three days off from work. I’m trying to develop some interests, hobbies, or even other duties that will fill what otherwise might be empty space. I have gardening in the summer, running to keep me fit, reading when I find something that strikes me, and passing time with my family. I am, however, a long way from doing this full time. I am just starting to cultivate these activities and am not really very good at them just yet.

A big fear is that I will let my mind atrophy. I remember my wonderful uncle Kenny. When he was a young man he worked at the Goodyear tire factory during the day, and after work he tended to his farm in the fields and barns, all the while raising a large family. After he retired, I visited him in Florida at his retirement home, and when he and I took a walk he became excited about finding a loose bolt on the ground. That walk worried me for weeks. Never do I want to become interested in loose bolts on the ground. I want to contemplate grander issues of humanity.

While I’m developing a life that will survive my employment and seeking a path to enhance human existence, I think I had better stay employed. I’m sure all those people who know me deserve it.

Why Would Anyone Run a Marathon?

This weekend I meet with my running group to run a whopping 3 hour and 40 minutes. You see I’m training for my second marathon in Austin on Feb 13. The question I get is “Why in the world would you want to run 26.2 miles?” Well I’m in pretty good shape since I just ran my first a couple of months ago, and I don’t want to lose anything. A fit body can wilt overnight; all good runners know that. Running can be routine and boring, so the regimen of training for the marathon puts a little structure and purpose into the process. It also forces me to eat with a little more caution, since I have to mindfully watch what I eat a day or two in advance of the long runs lest I diminish my energy output. In addition, my first marathon, in Chicago, was fantastic, and I want a repeat. It was a beautiful day, the fans were 3 and 4 deep cheering us on the whole way, and hospitality was unparalleled in my experience anyway. So there you go; I do it because I’m neurotic.

Power and the US Diplomacy

Power and the US Diplomacy was the subject of Henry Nau, speaker at the World Affair luncheon here in Dallas today, Jan 18th. He characterized the prevailing views on foreign policy - he is a college professor – as nationalistic, institutional, or idealistic*.

The nationalist is one who sees events in terms of power and tends to argues that we do what is in our national interest. If we are attacked, we defend ourselves since no one else will do so. The nationalist proposes that we extend power to keep others from using power against us. They believe in a strong military for defensive purposes only. There is no nation building; it is much too altruistic and expensive to boot. Power balancing is a good thing since it keeps everyone in their proper place.

The institutional believer thinks in terms of all inclusive decision making and consensus building. International groups working together will come to the best solution for everyone. They believe in the UN, NATO, WTO and other multinational bodies. If we work together in organizations that represent purposes bigger than ourselves, we will not only build a better world that includes all countries and peoples but will also build goodwill for us at the same time.

The idealist’s beliefs are based on values. Our values are better than their values so we should do all we can to make ours prevail in the world. We believe in an open society with as much freedom as possible, and we should encourage more. It would be a good thing. This group can tolerate other values to an extent, but when there is conflict we must do what is necessary to impose ours and not the other way around.

He talked about some of the current events in these terms. For example, the 9/11 attack evoked the nationalist instinct to defend ourselves. The nationalistic response was to invade Afghanistan, the perceived source of the act of aggression. While we want a democratic society there, we are willing to let it take on its own characteristics. The president runs the nation in the midst of warlord countryside. He also point out that President Bush has an idealistic bent when it comes to Iraq, but thinks the President has a back up plan to give the Iraqis a chance to run and defend themselves and to pull out gracefully as they begin to take over the task of security and governance.

He took some question at the end of which I can’t remember. His answers, however, reinforced his message that all believers do so in terms of the three prisms he describes. He revealed himself as a mixed nationalist and idealist and thinks President Bush is the same. In all, he was an excellent speaker, and I understand his definitions of the three categories, but what does it tell us or lead us to conclude? Here is where all falls short, so I’ll stop.

* The Jan 18th 2005 editorial in the Economist “More Sticks and the Odd Carrot”, also refers to the Washington factions in very similar terms, at one point asking “…can the realists, neo-conservatives and multilateralists all be made happier in a second Bush term”?

George Bush’s Inauguration

Today, Jan 20th, 2005 George W. Bush was sworn in for a second term as President of the United States. I voted twice for the guy, but to tell you the truth, I’m not sure about him. I not sure about this Iraq war, his plans to free the world, and his fix for Social Security. First let’s talk about the war. He was in an awful hurry to invade Iraq, and now that we are there the terrorists are picking off our troops one by one (many times more than that) in addition to killing many Iraqis. We were warned that we were terrible at nation building and the proof occurs every day as we watch the disgruntled Sunnis spreading violence across the country and trying to create a civil war before our eyes. My guess is we need triple the troops we now have to get this mess under control. Secondly, just how does he plan to spread freedom throughout the world? Even if we overlook the self righteous tone of the message, just what does that mean and to whom does it apply. Are we going to boycott those that he judges to be not so free? Does he mean military intervention; I don’t think so. Is he going to do it with just dialogue or talk? It sounds lofty, but if he uses anything but talk, we are in for more international tension at the least or more war at the worst. Maybe he should put his efforts on domestic problems like Social Security, my third concern. We have a real problem now that will put the program in the red in 2018. Does George Bush have a program to head that off? No. He wants to solve the problem by getting our kids to put their security in a private system, which may help much later than the crisis year, but will carry a large transition cost and not do anything for the system when it is seriously needed, near term. He and we are asking our children to carry a very large burden to support the baby boomers. George Bush was elected with a majority control of congress, but, in my opinion, I’m not sure he will lead us to a better era given what I’m hearing now. Only after the next year or two, will we know for sure.