MONDAY through WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 through OCTOBER 1, 2003

The news is heating up again.

• Three upsetting stories have come out in recent days, all having to do with hazing and other intentional harm inflicted by some students on other students.  Whether called "teasing" or "bullying" or "hazing", occurrences like the stories out of Long Island and Wilkes-Barre, Pa. boil down to only two things: criminal assault and battery, and civil rights violations.   Parents of the victims should be very aggressive in pursuing both criminal and civil actions against the attackers, their parents and - where appropriate - the school districts in which these actions occur.  There are a lot of Stupid People out there; they need to get a message that they can understand.
• As described in a recent book review, the "Faustian bargain" that the founding fathers of Israel made in order to produce a viable nation - deferral of a decision on whether Israel was going to be a democracy or a theocracy, reminds me of the similar bargain made by our Founding Fathers regarding slavery.  We know what this nation had to go through to resolve that issue 80 years later.  ("Black Hats and No Hats", about the book Real Jews, by Noal J. Efron; N.Y.Times Magazine section, Sunday, September 28, 2003, p20).  Perhaps the people of Israel, or at least their current leaders, at some level have decided that prolonged war with their Arab neighbors is better than facing internal turmoil.  Another bad choice.
• Lord, save our children from their public education "friends".  Despite the massive evidence that continues to pile up about poor methodology (most recently involving "homework", or what passes for it today) and poor outcomes, unrepentent liberals led by an increasingly incoherent Senator Edward Kennedy continue to fight all efforts to give parents the right of choice through the mechanism of "vouchers".  When does all this become criminal?  "Is anybody there?  Does anybody care?"

SATURDAY and SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 and 28, 2003

Several recent newspaper articles prompt me to think about the two institutions in my life that are trumped only by Family:  the Roman Catholic Church, and the Practice of Medicine.  My Faith is solid and secure,and the "rock" of that Faith is the Church.  That does not prevent me from distinguishing between the Church and its sometimes wrong-headed, illegal and immoral human representatives.  Perhaps this is a reflection of my Italian - American heritage.  Italy, with Ireland the most Catholic of countries, is also notoriously the most anti-clerical.  So, I have no difficulty denouncing actions like those of Cardinal Law and his ilk, and also "throwing the bums in jail" if necessary.  (Please see my earlier offerings this Spring on the subject, as the sordid tale was unfolding.)   That relates also to the recent stories about the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, run shamelessly until 1996 by the "Sisters of Mercy".  And yet, I consider a vocation to the priesthood to be the highest profession to which one can aspire.
And then there is the Profession of Medicine, a close second as practised by most physicians.   I read and hear about physicians advising their children and others to avoid Medicine as a life's vocation, a ministry.  Wrong!  Despite the revolutionary changes that have taken place in the practice of Medicine,  changes that have substantially reduced the rewards and magnified the challenges,  this as a life's work is a "light that is worth the candle".  Family, Faith and Profession.  Now there's a "tri-fecta" for anyone with the intellectual, physical and moral attributes to bet a lifetime on.

GS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2003

• Regarding the recall election to be held soon in California, the result will be a real opportunity to see the following maxim in action: "In a Democracy, the people always get what they deserve."  Gray Davis was a "lame duck" long before the Enron debacle.  Always dancing to the tune of ultra-liberal Willie Brown, the long-time leader of California politics, and currently the Mayor of San Francisco, Gov. Davis can be called the Nero of California.   As for Arnold, he'll do just fine, if California Republicans can only defer their death-wish for another election cycle.
• Once again syndicated columnist Thomas Friedman has "connected the dots" for us who try to understand what the devil is going in the world today.  (Connect Dots For Picture of War, The Day, Saturday, September 27, 2003, Commentary, pA7).   He is right about the cynical efforts called NAFTA, GATT, WTO and the pap about "internationalism", a game in which the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.  The recent results in Cancun highlighted that fact.  He is also right about the current signs that this Bush administration may be keeping its eye - not on the ball called Iraq, Afganistan and world terrorism - but on the gorgeous blond in the box seat nearby - winning the 2004 election.  That will be a batting stance sure to produce a pop-fly to the infield.   Wake up, Mr. President!   Difficult things need to be done now, politically correct or not.   The vast majority of Americans will support you...if you do the right thing.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2003

What does the California proposal, endorsed by Cruz Bustamante, to give illegal aliens driver's licenses have in common with America's dispute with the United Nations and other internationalists - here and abroad?  And what about the effort to remove from the oath, administered to aliens in the process of becoming naturalized citizens, any reference to their duty to defend their newly adopted country? Well, did you know that there are proposals out there for the United States to eliminate our national boundaries altogether (as reported on National Public Radio today)? So that's the common effort of some here and in the world:  to eliminate the U.S.A. as a sovereign nation altogether.   How does that grab you?  As for myself, I'll paraphrase the statement of Charlton Heston: "Over my cold, dead hand."  I believe that most Americans would say the same thing.  So, listen carefully to the cacophony of commentary that is beginning to blare at us during this election season approaching the 2004 national elections.  You'll be hearing arguments that subtly support the above point of view.  You'll know what to do about that on Election Day.

GS

MONDAY through WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 through 24, 2003

It's catch-up time again.

• First, Iraq.  "What we have here is a failure to communicate".  President Bush clearly reaffirmed the basis for America's doctrine of pre-emptive self-defense, including retention of our own national sovereignty. The U.N. Secretary-General and French President Chirac just as clearly reaffirmed their purported commitment to multilateralism, multinationalism and internationalism.  Fine.  We agree to disagree.  And we are ready to complete the job in Iraq on our own , if necessary.  That will be highly unlikely, since the other major players in the world are hardly stupid enough to give us a completely free hand in Iraq and thus in the entire Mid-East.  Look for individual countries to come to their senses grudgingly, and to accept President Bush's invitation to participate.  Meanwhile, "a camel is a horse designed by committee".  And the U.N. camel has hardly been able to stand upright during the last few decades.
• Did we really read about this expression recently...Medical Rationing?  That concept has been taboo as long as I have been proposing it as a way to provide appropriate health care for all who need it, without breaking the bank.  But once again the methods that have recently been unearthed are unfair and downright immoral.  In one WSJ article in the last 10 days we read of ad hoc rationing being done by a nurse on the wards, with no uniformly accepted guidelines.  In a more recent article in the WSJ we read about a large Texas University system of health service rationing based almost entirely on a patient's ability to pay.  Actually, that crass system began in Oregon two decades ago, where health care rationing was imposed - but only for Welfare recipients.  Wrong!  Medical rationing, or prioritization, would be appropriate and fair only if decided upon after broad-based societal discussion and acceptance, and only if applied to all, regardless of ability to pay.  Either that, or spend as much of the gross domestic product as necessary to give all Americans all the health care services that they desire.  The present bastardized system - called "managed care" - is neither saving money nor providing all necessary care.  This reminds me of the remark attributed to Winston Churchill who, before 12/7/41, was trying to get the U.S. to enter the World War: "Americans can always be depended upon to do the right thing...when all else fails".
• As is often the case, four articles recently published in the Wall Street Journal are "must read".  1) The KGB's Man, by Ion Mihai Pacepa,  Opinion, Monday, September 22, 2003, pA18.  2) KGB State, by Garry Kasparov, Opinion, Thursday, September 18, 2003, pA16.  3) 'My Master's House', by John McWhorter, Opinion, Wednesday, September 17, 2003, pA26.  4) Angry Democrats: Lost Birthright, by Robert L. Bartley,  Opinion, Monday, September 22, 2003, pA19.
• As I have stated more than once in these offerings, this is recreation - not work.  We must all remember, despite all the heavy stuff, the statement of Auntie Mame: "Life is a banquet; and all you suckers are starving".  So let's all continue to partake of this banquet called "Life" with gusto.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2003

Vacation.  "It's a good thing".  And no, I don't have a laptop or Wi-Fi setup yet.  This is still a small ( but enthusiastic) operation.  A vacation provides not only the well-known benefits; if it involves travel, it also affords opportunities to read different print media and to watch different TV.  From those opportunities come the following vignettes:

• The October, 2003 issue of Harper's magazine reports disapprovingly - and cynically - that "We're In The Army Now...The G.O.P.'s Plan to Militarize Our Culture", by Kevin Baker.  Against that background, read today's A.P. report by John Solomon entitled: "Terrorist Says 9/ll plot began in '96".  Mr. Baker evidently prefers compromise to pro-active confrontation.  So do I , except when dealing with crazies.
• Today, The Day of New London publshed a group of editorials and commentaries entitled: "The Perils of Power...The Limitations And Risks Of America's Global Military Dominance" ( in Perspective, Section C1).  It presents in fairly measured tones one side of the on-going debate about how to deal with the war we are in.  I look forward to a similar presentation of the other side of the debate.
• In USA Today, Thursday, September 18, 2003, we read about "Unmarried with Children: For Better or Worse?" (p1A).  Not ideal, and the research is still out.  "There are 'all kinds of risks, emotional and legal, but unmarried families can certainly thrive if they are loving, fairly stable and have set up rules and goals'".   This refers to opposite sex couples.
• From Ohio comes Mona Charen's article: Vouchers Benefit Needy Children (Springfield News-Sun, Friday, September 19, 2003, Opinion, p10A)  Loaded with fascinating facts that you never hear about in the liberal press or from NEA, it makes the argument in favor of vouchers, as a way to help kids now as well as to help public schools in spite of themselves, a veritable no-brainer.
• And from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette comes the article by William Raspberry entitled Connecting The Global Village (in Weekend Perspectives, pA11).  It discusses Bill Gates' support, to the tune of $51.2 million, awarded to New York City to create 67 small high schools.  This follows the work and report of the Commission on Children at Risk: "Hardwired to Connect - The New Scientific Case for Authoritative Communities".   It would seem that there are actually people and groups out there who are thinking about the failure that is public education, unlike the NEA and the UFT whose only game plan is to pass the hat around yet again.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2003

Developments in the Middle East are occurring almost too fast for informed opinion to be articulated; almost, but not quite, especially when we have the insights of a seasoned soldier and diplomat like Secretary of State Colin Powell to inform us.  Readers would do well to attend to all his statements, especially those reported in recent days during his trip to Iraq.  His Boswell of the moment is George Gedda, AP Writer.  Even the New York Times Editorial today got it almost completely right.  And then there is Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel who today told Israel Radio: "Arafat can no longer be a factor in what happens here.  Expulsion is certainly one of the options, killing is also one of the options."  Who let him out?  It is past time for this country to start kicking butt, Israeli as well as Palestinian.  Not only for their sakes, but as the only way we can start to cool down the antipathy of the Arab world toward the the West in general and the U.S. specifically.  President Bush, you can't wait for the 2004 national election results to take action on this, as well as on a major reallignment and/or expansion of our Military.  If you wait, you'll lose - and you should lose.

GS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2003

It is time to cut the Gordian Knot!  The insanity that passes for relations between Israel and Palestine must be cured from the outside; for the parties themselves are equally afflicted.  Please see the letter that I published on September 14, 2001 (on this web site, in the section entitled "The Involved Citizen, September 11, 2001") in response to the events of 9/11.  Since then, nothing good has taken place in that part of the world.  Hamas and other groups have continued their terrorist acts against Israel despite efforts by the Palestinian leadership (including Arafat?) to begin negotiating a non-violent solution.  In fact, these groups may be in no way under the control of any legitimate Palestinian leaders.  In that case, a final solution may have to include a civil war among the Palestinians themselves.  But neither that nor any positive movement on the part of the Palestinians will take place as long as Ariel Sharon and the theocrats of the Israeli government continue fighting for an Israel of the Bible and continue to allow and promote illegal Jewish settlements...most recently with a new and inflamatory Jerusalem Wall.  Nor was it a wise step to add to Arafat's support with the recent vote of the Likud to "remove him".  Rational People of Israel take note: "He who seeks equity must do equity".  Get the settlers out of all illegal settlements...by force if necessary.  Offer the people of Palestine a viable homeland, with no "right of return" for Palestinian refugees.  Leave the future of Jerusalem to later negotiations among all the stake-holders, which include more than Israel and Palestine.  Then seek political and military guarantees from the U.S. and from the U.N.  They will be forthcoming, whatever the Palestinians - and their supporters - do.  And I believe that the rational Palestinians will then take the only rational path open to them...by force if necessary.  Not a pretty picture...but better than the current insanity on both sides. And it is time for the United States to make all this happen, by political and economic force, if necessary.

GS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2003

So much distortion; so little time to refute it.  The spectacle that is the running of the Democratic Presidential hopefuls is producing a torrent of increasingly strident...and sometimes outrageous...accusations regarding President Bush and his conduct of the nation's business.  Each candidate seems compelled to outdo the others in the race for the most liberal selection that the liberal - controlled democratic primaries will make.  In the process, truth is trampled.  One example of this, refuting much of the bad news being reported nightly about Iraq, appears in the recent publication of a survey of Iraqis  taken for the American Enterprise magazine and conducted throughout Iraq with Zogby International survey researchers (What Iraqis Really Think, by Karl Zinsmeister, WSJ, Wednesday, September 10, 2003, Opinion, pA24).  This should be read in order to balance the distorted picture being presented by much of the media.  Meanwhile, let's not forget: this country is at war.  American priorities too often based on self-indulgence must change.

GS

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2003

GOD BLESS AMERICA.

GS

MONDAY through WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 through 10, 2003

"Deja vu", all over again.  Two media efforts noted this week have reinforced my strong suspicion that we Americans live in two colliding universes: ultra-liberals  who have learned not a thing in the last fourty years ("articulate, arrogant, asinine"); and everybody else. I listened today to a radio interview on National Public Radio with U.S. Representative and very liberal Democratic Presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich.  It reminded me of the first - and only time - that I was foolish enough, as a medical student, to spend three uninturrupted hours interviewing a schizophrenic patient.  What a headache, trying to follow - with little success - his thought patterns.  And then there was the article by Shelby Steele entitled: Civil Rights Boulevard (WSJ, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2003, Opinion, pA22).  In it he addresses the predicted results of decades of liberal plantation politics. A couple of quotations will provide the general idea.
"I can no longer hear Jesse Jackson's name without thinking of Norma Desmond, the great and ruined silent film star in 'Sunset Boulevard' who, after killing her lover, descends a marble staircase as if for her next scene when in fact only the police await.  Norma is a figure of chilling pathos because she insists on the past...."
"The great lie of today's black protest, and of the diversity mongers in our institutions, is that racism still holds blacks back.  It does not.  Black and white elites like the racism diagnosis because it politely - and fruitfully for black elites - assigns responsibility in a way that does not blame the victim.  But blacks are not behind academically and economically because of racism.  We are behind because four centuries of oppression would leave any group without much knowledge of how to develop and compete.  We have less stored capital of knowledge and habit in these areas than people realize.  Call this culture or a legacy of oppression or just plain backwardness, but to call it racism is to insist on the past, and to make all that you say next obsolete."

GS

SATURDAY and SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 and 7, 2003

Again the subjects are Iraq / Terrorism and Globalization.  In both areas, and with their implications, President Bush is now vulnerable.

• As stated earlier in this section, both with regard to the clear need for more forces in Iraq, and regarding the deteriorating situation in Israel / Palestine,  President Bush must take action before the 2004 election...or he will lose that election and - more importantly - a weakened America will leave a dangerous power vacuum in the world.  Regardless of possible political consequences, he must either move all but caretaker forces out of France and  Germany for redeployment as needed; or he must call for a fairly imposed military draft...or both.  And he must seriously pressure (coerce?) both Israel and Palestine and their supporters to live up to the basics of the "road plan" ostensibly agreed upon two months ago.  What he must not do is submit to continued blackmail by France, Germany, and some other members of the U.N. Security Council in order to obtain some help with these problems - help which ought to be offered by them as part of their world obligations.  Specifically, he must not relinquish military and administrative control over the effort in Iraq.  The U.N. has repeatedly demonstrated that it is unready, unwilling, and unable to undertake such responsibilities.  Here's hoping that the President's  report to the nation on September 7 will be consistent with this approach.
• The problem of job loss in America continues to worsen.  A recent offering in this section attempted to analyze the problem, including the problem of Globalization. Now comes an article by Robert J. Samuelson entitled "A Crackup for World Trade?, Newsweek, August 25, 2003, p55.  As usual, Mr. Samuelson is right on point.

TUESDAY through FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 through 5, 2003

It's catch-up time.  Sorry for the delay.

• With all the liberal "blasting" of the policies of President Bush, particularly regarding Iraq, it is useful to get back to facts periodically.  The article by Paul Wolfowitz does that ("Support Our Troops", WSJ, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2003, Opinion, pA14).  Remember a definition of a "liberal": the first person to leave the room when the fight starts.
• Regarding college costs, of course we want all eligible high school students to have an opportunity to get a college education.  But where is it written that that opportunity should be without serious effort by the student, but academically and financially.  Public college tuitions seem to be modest to date, even with this year's increases.  There is a lot of grant money out there.  And what about students earning a substantial portion of their school expenses...and saving?  I know what that's all about from personal experience.  The old saying is still relevant: "I fight poverty.  I work."
• What's going on here?  We read that laws have to be passed to reduce prison populations.  Isn't it the job of criminals to reduce prison populations?  And isn't there any such thing any more as an "illegal alien"?  A society that cannot or will not control its borders and that cannot guarantee civil society is on a steep downward spiral.
• And what happened to "majority rule", with adequate - but not coercive - safeguards for the minority?  There was a time when a minority in the U.S.Senate had to mount and endure a gruelling -and uninterrupted - filibuster to try to thwart the will of a majority.  No more.  Now we have "filibuster lite": take time outs...rest...schedule the effort.  The result is rule by a minority, as occurred yesterday when nominee Miguel Estrada was blocked from majority appointment to the D.C. Court of Appeals.  That is not democracy in action. "Filibuster lite" should be repealed by our Senators if they want our support.
• And why do computer hackers  rarely get substantial jail time?  Both they and the manufacturers of current inherently defective software / hardware should be made to pay for their anti-social behavior.  This can no longer be a case for "Buyer Beware".  Cyber-world has become so integral to the functioning of society as to need to be considered tantamount to a public utility.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2003

This Labor Day over 6% of Americans in the work force are out of work.  How did this happen?  Remember the burst Wall Street bubble that began several months before George W. Bush took office?  Remember the resulting recession that is just now starting to turn around?  Remember 9/11, with its massive direct and consequential costs, including Homeland Security?  Remember world terrorism and our pre-emptive strike against Saddam Hussein?  Remember NAFTA AND GATT, with that "great sucking sound" of U.S. jobs going to third world countries where U.S.companies could maximize profits while directly or indirectly underwriting deplorable human rights abuses and environmental degradation?  Remember the greatly increased productivity of American labor, armed with the tools of the second Industrial Revolution, with consequent reduced need for American labor?  Remember an industrial labor force that thought it was their birthright to continue in the same jobs performed by their fathers and grandfathers...just because?  And remember that more and more of our eligible retirees are rightly opting to continue working, for their personal and financial health, during ever increasing life spans?
Well, that's the diagnosis.  What's the treatment?  Remember that a price/earnings ratio of 20 is reality, and that a ratio of 40-70 is dangerous fantasy.  Remember that the American economy does not improve through profligate government spending, but through private spending and investment - which requires private money in private hands. Remember that there are thousands of madmen out there who are ready to kill us in our shopping malls and churches...unless we get to them and to their supporters first.  Remember that America is of, for and by the People - not of, for and by amoral and unsupervised corporations.  (Please see the offering, under the category Miscellaneous, entitled Globalization  - on this web site).  And remember that no job, craft or profession is secure unless the worker updates his or her skills or develops totally new skills.  The world is changing just too fast for anything less.  (I estimate that, on a daily basis as a practising physician, no more than 20% of the skills I am using was learned in Medical School.  The rest has come since then, through continuous education, training and experience.)  So, the real challenge and opportunity for government, corporate world and private citizen alike is to develop a massive re-education and re-training program for those members of American labor who will never see their old jobs come back in this "jobless recovery".  This program should be  on the order of the CCC, WPA and similar programs - short of world war - that got our workers back to work in the 1930's and early 1940's.  Let's get real...and prepare for tomorrow, not yesterday.   HAPPY LABOR DAY.

GS