The Mayor of El Paso, Texas

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It is easy to look at our national elected politicians and become discouraged. So many of them are only concerned with raising money and remaining in office. Ethics? An unknown concept to many of them.
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So it is really wonderful to find an elected official who is actually a leader and a statesman - not just a politician. Below I have copied an article from today's El Paso Times written by John Cook, the Mayor of El Paso.
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El Paso's future has no place for Asarco
By John Cook / Guest columnist

The city of El Paso is in the midst of an unprecedented boom.

The federal government recognized the city's many quality-of- life attributes when it focused on El Paso as an area of growth during the Base Realignment and Closure process in 2005.

The state of Texas recognized the potential of El Paso when it approved the construction of the country's second new medical school in more than 25 years and the only medical school on an international border.

Housing starts are exploding. Commercial construction is at near-record levels. El Paso is racing into the new century as a major metropolitan player.

With its sister city of Ciudad Juárez, El Paso is emerging as a shining beacon of the future. The combined international population is approaching 3 million. The sun is shining on El Paso. Our city's future is indeed bright.

However, all of the good work that got us where we are today, and which promises to take us even further, is threatened by a single proposal: the proposed reopening of the Asarco smelter.

Some have asked why there is such strong opposition to Asarco.

If you're curious, I am pleased to announce that you can go to the city Web site and view a new video that makes it clear why Asarco is not right for El Paso. The video is posted on the city's web site: www.elpasotexas.gov
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(NOTE: In the above link you will find a video about ASARCO. Pause the video at exactly 7:20 and you will see me from the backside. The suspenders are the giveaway.)
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I am especially proud of the municipal employees who worked with our legal counsel to tell the city's story in such a compelling fashion.

Until you have a chance to view the video, the short story is that Asarco is a part of El Paso's rich heritage. But so is the horse cavalry of the U.S. Army. Both are to be celebrated as part of the fabric that made El Paso what it is today, but neither is a part of the modern El Paso. Lead and arsenic emissions in Downtown El Paso are as out of place in 2007 as a saber-led cavalry charge through the streets of our modern city.
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The 800-foot Asarco smokestack is a historical monument to the past. Copper smelters are not the centerpiece for modern American cities.

Asarco should not be allowed to reopen because of the threat it poses to public health, its record of repeated non-compliance with state environmental statutes, and widespread public opposition, including international opposition.

It is difficult to take seriously Asarco's sunny predictions of how it will economically benefit the city with new jobs, tax revenue, etc. when the company is in such poor financial condition that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
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Asarco has already lost its case before two state administrative law judges, where the city of El Paso proved that Asarco's record of non-compliance made it unworthy to hold a state air emissions permit.

Asarco was delinquent in paying its property taxes, but when that became known to the public, it somehow found the money to pay, even though it is in bankruptcy. Asarco has demonstrated that it is a bad corporate citizen.

To date, the TCEQ has received more than 9,600 letters opposing the reopening of Asarco. While that's more than 10 times the number of those claiming to support Asarco, we can't afford to let the Asarco advertising campaign offset the wishes of our citizens.

To keep El Paso moving forward, it is imperative that its citizens call and write Gov.
Rick Perry and the TCEQ and let them know that while the Asarco smelter is part of our city's past, it must not be a part of our future.

The message must be clear: Please Don't Allow Asarco to Restart.
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There should be no confusion. El Paso is proud of its industrial economic base and supports the businesses that are such a vital part of our community and our future prosperity. El Paso welcomes and embraces industry, but it must be industry that plays by the rules and makes a positive contribution.

Asarco is not one of those businesses.

Permitting Asarco to reopen will take El Paso back to a place in time that we neither want nor deserve. We must not allow that to happen.
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John Cook is mayor of El Paso.
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http://youtube.com/watch?v=rRuo_iF7Avo
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Screw Children Who Don't Have Health Insurance

This apparently is what George W. Bush believes. Opposing poor children having health care shows just what a genuienly evil bastard he is at heart.

He is a typical example of the third generation of wealthy parents and grandparents. Poorly educated, not very bright, very narrow, overbearing, and arrogant.

His dad was a hard working guy. Prior to becoming president he was head of the CIA. He worked his way up and earned the respect he got.

Bush Jr. thinks he deserves fame and glory just because of his last name. This guy is a terrible black eye for the country.
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Kermezaar 2007

-click on the pictures and they will enlarge

Every year in El Paso, Texas there is an arts and crafts fair called the Kermezaar. This year it is located inside, in the International Museum of Art on Montana.

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I went over there this morning after walking the dog. Lots of fine artitists are exhibiting their works there, and it is well worth checking out.

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From Carlos Egan I bought these two 3-dimensional wood reproductions. The one of the outhouse is cute and I'm putting it up on the wall of the bathroom next to my bedroom.

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The reproduction of the San Elizario church is remarkable. At one time this was the county seat, and is famous for Billy The Kid having busted a friend of his out of the town jail. San Elizario is due South of my house.

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Criminal Charges against ASARCO?

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The El Paso County Attorney is looking into the possibility of filing criminal charges against ASARCO for past environmental violations.

http://newspapertree.com/politics/1689-criminal-prosecution-sought-on-previous-asarco-allegations

El Paso Mineral and Gem Society

The El Paso Mineral and Gem Society had a fund-raising auction last night.

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From my collection I donated a nice amethyst geode, the petrified wood that I recently found near my house, and a piece of chalk with fluorescent calcite from the formation bordering the English channel. Like at Dover, but on the French side.

I bought some nice things in the auction - and CHEAP too!

I got one half of a geode recently found near Deming, New Mexico USA. Look closely at this under shortwave ultraviolet light and you will see in the top right hand corner a small bit of calcite that fluoresces red.

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NOTE: Click on the pictures and they will enlarge

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The green fluorescence is trace amounts of uranium in the silicon dioxide. You can see the bands (sort of like tree rings) where it was deposited in layers.

I also got a couple of pieces of fossilized plants out of England, and a cut slab of ancient “little critters.” Also a couple of cut slabs of fossilized palm tree wood from East Texas, and some dog tooth calcltie which barely fluoresces at all.

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And a friend gave me a nice big piece of mahogany obsidian.

These rocks plus several more which I gave away cost me a total of $10-. What a deal.

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American Housing Mortgage Market

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One would think that with all the problems in the market right now borrowers would be requiring a 10% to 15% down payment.

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This house is 4 houses away from mine. It just went on the market, and the sign says that they are willing to do a deal zero down.

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Not wise

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Taser this... F--- Bush

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The editor of a college newspaper is in hot water for publishing an article that said "Taser this... F--- Bush"
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Other than not knowing how to spell the common and slightly offensive street term for an act or instance of sexual intercourse, this seems like an entirely reasonable approach for a college newspaper to be taking.
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So what is the problem?
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Youngite

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Earlier this week I acquired a nice piece of Youngite which is about 18 cm long. It is beautiful both under normal light and also under the shortwave ultraviolet lamp.
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Wikipedia says: Youngite is an agatized breccia mineral from an area near Hartville, Wyoming.
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This composite stone has a breciated Jasper center overlaid with a grayish translucent druzy quartz. It often looks some what like fuzzy brains and usually fluoresces green. The jasper center is lacy and ranges in color from a light tan to a very pretty peach or salmon color. This deposit is basically dug out. Youngite is sometimes polished into cabochons for jewelry or other decorative shapes.

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Gunfighters of The Old West

I am a member of the Concordia Cemetary Heritage Association. Concordia is a really large, old, burial place in El Paso, Texas. The earthly remains of two Presidents of Mexico have rested there and many other famous and colorful people. As the crow flies Concordia is 10.3 miles (16,6 km) from my house.

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John Wesley Hardin is the big draw currently. Historians say that he was the deadliest gunfighter of all time. He killed far more men than any of the other famous gunfighters. It is alleged that he killed more people than Billy The Kid and Jessie James put together.

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Right next to Wes is buried the husband of John Wes's girlfriend. She paid to have them buried side by side. Even back in the 1800's women seemed to have had the knack of outliving their men. Of course one has to overlook the danger of childbirth to say this! Their graves are at about N 31.78094, W -106.447494

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The Hubbard Museum of The American West is in Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico USA. This is located up in the Sacramento Mountains 115 miles (185 km) North Northeast of my house. It has a really amazing collection of old west memorabilia. It is a very wealthy and first class museum. If you like to see old wagons, carriages, old indian stuff, and old cowboy things then this is one you should not miss.

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Included in the wonderful collection of things they have on display is John Wesley Hardin's revolver, and also one that was owned and used by Billy The Kid.

This is a link to some of the other pictures I took in the Hubbard Museum: http://flickr.com/photos/paul_garland/sets/72157602160975939/

Another gunfighter who lived near to El Paso was Billy The Kid.

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This is his pistol/revolver which is in the Hubbard Museum in Ruidiso Downs.

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One time a friend of his was imprisoned in the San Elizario jail. At the time this was the county seat. It is located 10 miles (16 km) due South of my house. William Bonny (Billy The Kid) rode up to the jail house in the middle of the night and banged on the door. He pretended that he was a sheriff with a couple of men that he needed to put in the jail.

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When the jailers opened the door they found that they were facing Billy The Kid's gun. He took his friend out of jail, put the jailers in their own cell, and rode off into Mexico.

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Just as an aside, earlier this week I took my camping trailer and my little black doggie Inu, and we went up to the Sacramento Mountains. They are among the southern most part of the Rocky Mountain Chain. Where we spent the night was at about 6,600 feet above sea level (2,400 meters). When we left the next day I went by the Hubbard Museum in Ruidoso Downs.

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When we got up to the mountains, a friend told us that the prior night a mother bear with two cubs had come by and rummaged through the nearby trash can for food. He had woken up and seen her in the middle of the night. So rather than let my dog run wild like I frequently do up there when we are camping in the mountains, I made Inu sleep in the trailer with me. He really didn't mind, especially since the the temperature got down to the low 40's F (about 5,5 degrees C). He was perfectly happy to get in the sleeping bag with me.

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In the morning it was clear that the Mother Bear and her two cubs had come by again during the night for a snack. The trash can was a little bent up and there was trash scattered about.

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And me and my little black doggie slept right through it. Kind of reminds me of the time that I slept through a direct eye wall hit from a category 5 hurricane. She and her two cubs walked within 50 feet (15 meters) of where we were sleeping.

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But to give my little dog credit, I did have the stereo on during the night playing some really nice blues from Guitar Slim. And no doubt the odors eminating from my old body were strong enough in that confined space that he didn't smell the bears. Thank heavens! I had my 38 special revolver with me, but even with the high pressure rounds with jacketed hollow points my guess is that the mother bear would have won any battle involving physical violence.

Political Demonstrations

Yesterday afternoon I got to go to a concert by Guitar Slim. Good heavens, this man knows how to play the Blues! Really good. If you like Blues then buy one of his CDs. I have 3.

LINK: http://www.guitarslim.net/

On the news I have seen many really large demonstrations. I guess for civil rights and ending the Vietnam war Washington, D.C. used to see thousands of people in these demonstrations. I have only been personally involved in a few political demonstrations.

Once before the war ended I marched in a demonstration in El Paso carrying a sign. The CIA guys in dark glasses were there, and they took my picture several times with their really nice Nikon 35 mm cameras, and General William Westmoreland was only about 15 meters (50 feet) away. He established eye contact with me and held it for several seconds.

Once in London, a couple of days after Tieneman Square, I watched and sort of participated in a very large demonstration. But mostly I was there as a tourist. I didn’t even know what had taken place in Bejing.

After hearing Guitar Slim I drove over to the west side of El Paso where there was what to me was the largest demonstration I have ever been involved in. Here in El Paso, Texas the large and heavily polluting ASARCO copper smelter wants to re-open. There were probably 5,000 participants there. Maybe more. It was an interesting group of people. Virtually everyone was either in their late teens to early twenties, or old farts with grey hair who remembered how terrible the air pollution was prior to the smelter closing down.

The mayors of El Paso and Anthony were there as anti-ASARCO demonstration participants. I met a guy who teaches linguistics at UT El Paso and had a nice chat. The artist Hal Marcus was also there.

The neatest guy I met was a fellow who had a long full grey beard much like my own. His name sounded like “Q” the evil fellow on Star Trek, but I finally got it right as Pew. Like myself he grew up in El Paso, and recently lived 20 years in Europe working. He lived in Germany about 50 miles east of my house in Cologne, Germany. He worked for the symphony there. He had also worked for the one in Frankfurt. I really can’t say I am a real symphony buff, but I have attended symphonies at the opera houses in Liege, Belgium, Cologne and Frankfurt. Another example of “Wow, what a small world.”

After the demonstration was finished and I was driving away I took this picture.

Apple Phreaks

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I am not an Apple phreak. I am certainly very disenchanted with Microsoft, but that doesn’t mean I think apples are good.
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On the other hand some very smart people who I really respect are: Stephen Fry, Henk Pelzer, Eddie Anderson, and Mike Garland.
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Their new i-phone is a joke as far as I am concerned. The good news is that it is a quad band GSM. The bad news is extensive. It does not allow you to change SIM cards! Unreal. Or the battery! And it does not have a removable memory card.
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The camera in the apple does not take video either. And there is no built in light for the camera.
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I have two of the Sony W810i phones. These are also quad band GSMs. You can put in a removable memory card. I have a 4 gb card, but 8 gb cards are also available. You certainly can change the SIM card and the battery, and there is a built in light for the still/video camera.
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Both phones allow you to listen to MP3s, the Sony has a built in FM radio. You can watch videos and still photos on both phones. The Sony w810i is a nice small size...roughly the size of an ipod nano.
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The only reason I can see to buy a apple i-phone is status. Kind of like if you want the reliability and good resale value of a Toyota, but you like to waste money and want a larger engine so that you get lower fuel economy, they will be happy to sell you their “premium” brand the Lexus.
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REBUTTAL FROM A HEAVILY ADDICTED APPLE ADDICT:
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It's hard to defend apple, microsoft or any corporate giant that forces you to do business in their little universe, especially one as particular as Steve Jobs' alternate reality sphere. I agree that the iPhone has some bodacious flaws - those you mentioned, and before I bought one, I told myself I wouldn't. But you see, I am a member of a cult, the cult of Apple, and as such, I am destined to snatch up the latest Cupertino artifact as soon as I convince myself it's truly the next best thing. The next best thing to be unearthed is a brand new operating system - four weeks and counting. The only iPod I have is one I put audio and video discovery on for the temporary use of in- custody clients. They like it. Their attorney's like it and the jail staff think I sneak them secrets to the universe hidden away in crime scene photos, 911 audio and surveillance video. Morons. Although I have a huge music library, at this point in my life, I don't listen to it a lot. If I did, I don't think I'd do it walking around with it plugged into my head. I have an Apple TV. It takes me about an hour to transfer a rented DVD to it, so I can watch a movie when I want without having to rush back to Blockbuster to avoid late fees. It's a toy, but it does function well and it's fun to screw around with. Buying an iPhone right when they were released, I knew it would be overrun by better models probably by Christmas -> the hindsight of the iPod evolution. I'll probably buy an new model in a year or two when they have more features, just like I recycle my main desktop (under the table) Mac on an almost yearly basis. And I know I pay a premium price for Apple branded products. But you know what, I'm a member of a cult and the machines are uniquely fun and productive. I cannot imagine running my business without one - couldn't do it. Even with a windoze machine. My mac runs windows vista - has to because the company that makes my primary billing software stopped supporting Macs in the late 90's when even I thought Apple was going under - prior to Jobs re-appearing and resurrecting the company. So, I use windows on a daily basis, booting it up into a window by itself on a secondary monitor on my intel powered mac. I've slowly taught myself how to navigate and use that operating system. It disgusts me, that I now rely not only on Jobs, but Gates as well. But at least the Apple's fun. I get out of windows as soon as I can. But now that I've had an iPhone for a couple of months, I've consolidated all my contacts, calendars and url's so that I have them with me when I'm 'out in the field'. I had PDA's and PDA phones before (like a really nice Blackberry), but it was a major pain the ass to sync stuff between the main databases on the office computer and the PDA. Now, the cult allows me to do it by just plugging the iPhone into a USB port while it charges. Don't get one - you will become a member of a cult. If there was an Apple store in El Paso you could go in an play with one just for the hell of it. But then you would start trying to figure out if you could sell your existing phone hardware on eBay and come out even if you bought an iPhone. It truly is an insidious capitalist maneuver. It's a cult that requires no safron robed finger cymbal artistes blocking the sidewalk at the passenger drop-off curb to hook you. Enough - i've got to go to the grocery store before it attracts its sunday morning hordes of moms with screaming kids. Man, i'm getting crotchety in old age. Later.
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New Mexico USA

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I drove about 700 kilometers (400 miles) yesterday. The dog and I went up to a history event at the old Army Fort near Silver City, New Mexico USA.

Each time we go up that way we stop near Hurley, New Mexico. There is a little dirt road there near to the airport. The dog and I get out and take a little walk.

It is pretty rare to see snakes, and normally I leave them alone. They have an important niche in the ecosystem, and I have found that normally if you will just try to avoid them they are happy. The last thing they want to do is get in a fight with a large animal like a human.

But yesterday my little doggie was just a wee bit too interested in the rattlesnake for comfort. He is a hunter, and he loves to go after rodents and lizards. So I “humanely uthanised” the snake. This is how some people describe killing or murdering. My 38 Special is really quite loud, and that certainly got Inu’s attention. Then I acted very frightened of the snake to try and teach him that snakes are dangerous and should be avoided. I have cropped away the snake's head because it was basically decapitated after I shot it.
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After we went to the history event about Buffalo Soldiers at Fort Bayard, I asked the GPS lady to take me to the nearest gun shop. She found one about 2 kilometers away. It is just a little hole in the wall that really had a first class selection of ammunition and of guns. I needed to buy some shells to refill my pistol.

The guy had a WWII Russian Rifle with a bayonet attached which was operable for less than $200-. I did not buy it, but that sure is a cheap price.

He had this cute picture of a nice old lady up on the wall. Sure seems like my kind of woman. In fact that expression on her face reminds me of a couple of my ex-wives.

Afterwards we drove over to Lordsburg and then to the ghost town at Shakespeare, New Mexico.
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Shakespeare is OK, but really there just is not much to see. I prefer some other ghost towns where you can wander around completely unattended. I would not drive very far out of my way to see this ghost town.
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Who Is At The End Of The Rainbow

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When I got home this afternoon I took my little black doggie Inu out in the desert for a little walk. It had just rained.

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It sure looks like my best friend is sniffing for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

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It Is A Small World

Over the course of one’s life you encounter an amazing number of “Wow, what a small world” experiences. Here is my latest.

A few weeks ago I gave my Toyota SUV to my nephew who is a teacher at Coronado High School. He had a new starter put in it. I happened to be at his apartment when it was ready, so I gave him a ride over to the garage to pick it up.

El Paso, Texas is a fairly big metropolitan area. There are well over 1,000,000 people living here. And it is a big place too. My house is 50 kilometers from this automobile garage, and both are in the city of El Paso. I would guess there must be probably 500 or more auto mechanic garages in the metropolitan area.

Today a very dear friend of mine from Aachen, Germany, Erwin Wolharn was up at the museum at White Sands Missile Range and then later at the White Sands National Monument, New Mexico USA. He, his wife, and his children are all really delightful people. Some of the nicest people I knew when I was living in Europe. From his cell phone he called his son in Germany. He asked his son Richard to look at my blog to get my e-mail address and then to send me an e-mail asking me to call him on his cell phone.

I did, and we met at 4:00 this afternoon. We went over to Starbucks and had a cookie, a cup of coffee, and a wonderful chat.

He had asked that I meet him at the business of Julio, the brother of his delightful wife Carmen. And this business where we met up is the very same auto repair shop that put the starter in my nephew’s Toyota a few weeks ago.


Moral Of The Story: Don’t do anything that you don’t want the whole world to know about. Because you may be 1,000 kilometers away from home, but someone who knows you very likely will see you.
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RESPONSE: Paul, this reminds me of something Michael told me about yesterday. Someone-or-other was telling him that when she was in the hospital for something to do with cancer, she had a wonderful oncology nurse named Whatever-It-Was. Ms. Whatever-It-Was said, "Oh, you have an interesting name. When I was a fifth grader long ago, I had a teacher named Mr. Whatever-It-Was, and he was by best teacher ever. The patient told her that HER husband used to be a 5th grade teacher, and isn't it interesting. But the nurse said, I'm sure it's not the same Mr. Whatever-It-Was because that was in Maryland. The patient said, "Hmmm. It was when we were in Maryland that my husband WAS a fifth grade teacher." It turned out that the teacher of the nurse and the patient's husband were indeed the same person, and they all had a nice reunion.

Iranian President

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This seems pretty self explanatory to me.

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Peter's Friends

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The 1992 British film with Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and others is really wonderful.

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I just finished watching it for the first time. I had to order the DVD from Britain, which means it won't play on a standard American DVD player.

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For anyone who is a fan of Stephen Fry, this is one of the don't miss shows.

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Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter%27s_Friends

ASARCO Protest

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This coming Sunday evening there is going to be a community protest against re-opening the massive and highly polluting copper smelter in El Paso. If you are any where near to El Paso, Texas this weekend you should try to make it.
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Really!
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Faces Against Asarco: Community Photograph
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When: Sunday, September 23 at 6 p.m.
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Where: Executive Center between I-10 and Paisano Drive, enter from Paisano
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Attire: Casual white shirt
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Parking: Enter Executive Center from Paisano and look for signs -or- Get on the bus at Sunland Park Drive.
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For more information, call 544-1990 or visit http://gettheleadout.net/
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Blackwater

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The private security company which guards American diplomats and the top military brass in Iraq is in hot water for behaving like out of control nazis.
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Well, maybe this is a little strong, but maybe not too.
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So why is the American goverment afraid to use American soldiers in this job function? Or if they have been so successful at training the Iraqi forces, why not use them? It seems to me that all private militias/security guards in Iraq should be made illegal. They are certainly inappropriate and undemocratic. They operate almost entirely outside of the Rule Of Law.
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This is just another slap in the face by the Republicans to democracy. Kind of like just willy nilly eliminating Habeas Corpus. These bozos are bad news.
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Alan Greenspan certainly is not known to OVERSTATE anything. For him to describe this Republican/Bush adminstration as "dangerously dysfunctional" should be major news and something we all ought to pay attention to.
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San Antonio Frog

My niece is a neat person. She is a school teacher, an artist, and is married. I'm sure there is a word to describe her husband (2d cousin, twice removed??) but I have no idea what it is. I guess inlaw is as good a word as any.

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Clay is a brilliant guy, and he also takes great pictures. He recently posted this picture of Mr. Toad to their Flickr account. I assume it was in the garden of their house in San Antonio, Texas.

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I really appreciate the difficulty in getting good close up photos like this!

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Hillary On Universal Healthcare

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Hillary Clinton is very smart and well informed about the issues. No question about that. But once again she is blowing it on the issue of universal health care. Without any doubt everyone in America should have access to the health care system without being bankrupted. But she keeps chosing the wrong method of implementation.

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Her latest pronouncement is that all Americans will be FORCED to buy affordable health insurance.

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Good heavens lady, get real. The problem is that affordable health insurance is not available in America. So that needs to be the primary focus, not FORCING Americans to do anything. The reason that almost 50 million people do not have health insurance is not because they are deadbeats or are trying to get over on the system. The problem is that they either are uninsurable becasue of pre-existing conditions, or that health insurance coverage is prohibitively expensive.

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When you you start talking about forcing single mothers to buy health insurance, or when the government begins forcing old folks on modest fixed incomes who have been let go and are out of work because their jobs went overseas, you are treading on very dangerous turf.

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Maybe you are not as bright as I thought. You sure show no signs of being a natural leader. Too Bad.

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Really, too bad. Because for the most part your ideas are first class.

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Geezer Economics - or - How The Republicans Bankrupted America

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Seventy percent of the enormous national debt was generated by the Bush dynasty and Ronald Reagan. I guess it is no wonder that in one of the world's richest countries there are 50 million people who do not have health insurance, and thus do not have access to the health insurance system.
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Alan Greenspan is one of the most respected people in the field of economics. His recent book is so open and honest and intellectually rigorous that I have copied a review of it below. This is important stuff.
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Link: http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/greenspans-memoirs-clinton-saved-bush-spent/2007/09/17/1189881433621.html
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FORMER US president Bill Clinton emerges as the political hero in the memoirs of one of America's most powerful and influential economists of the past two decades, Alan Greenspan.
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Greenspan, who served as Federal Reserve chairman for 18 years, praises Clinton's mind and his tough anti-deficit policies, calling the former president's 1993 economic plan "an act of political courage".
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But in his new book, The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World, he levels unusually harsh criticism at President George Bush and the Republican Party, arguing that Bush abandoned the central conservative principle of fiscal restraint.
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"My biggest frustration remained the President's unwillingness to wield his veto against out-of-control spending," Greenspan writes. "To my mind, Bush's collaborate-don't-confront approach was a major mistake."
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Greenspan accuses the Republicans, who held the majority in the US House of Representatives until last year, of being too eager to tolerate excessive federal spending in exchange for political opportunity. The Republicans, he says, deserved to lose control of Congress.
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But he adds later: "I don't think the Democrats won. It was the Republicans who lost. The Democrats came to power in the Congress because they were the only party left standing."
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Greenspan, 81, indirectly criticises his friend and colleague from the Ford administration, Vice-President Dick Cheney. Former Bush Treasury secretary Paul O'Neill has quoted Cheney as once saying "Reagan proved deficits don't matter".
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Greenspan says, "'Deficits don't matter', to my chagrin, became part of the Republicans' rhetoric." He argues that "deficits must matter" and that uncontrolled government spending and borrowing can produce high inflation "and economic devastation".
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When Bush and Cheney won the 2000 election, Greenspan writes: "I thought we had a golden opportunity to advance the ideals of effective, fiscally conservative government and free markets … I was soon to see my old friends veer off to unexpected directions."
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"Little value was placed on rigorous economic policy debate or the weighing of long-term consequences." The large federal budget surpluses that were the basis for Bush's initial $US1.35 trillion tax cut "were gone six to nine months after George W. Bush took office."
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By the end of last year, Greenspan writes with some bitterness, governance
had "become dangerously dysfunctional".
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Muhamed The Dog

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I grew up as a Christian, going to church every Sunday, attending bible classes, getting confirmed, and even participating in the services wearing the long black dress. And when I was was 30 years old, and should have had enough maturity to know better, I became a reborn christian.

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After all the pedophilia and money grubbing by the holy men of the various Christian sects, and looking back in history at all the death and destruction this chuch has caused, I have to say that this is a very dangerous and harmful religion.

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Of all the popular organized religions the only one which seems worse and even more evil than Christianity is the Muslim faith. And the funny part is that both religions claim Jerusalem as a holy site.

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Lars Vilks is a cartoonist from Sweden. I've been to that country several times. After seeing various parts of it I came away with the impression that it is a second rate country filled with arrogant people. I'm sure this must just be a stereotype, but it is the one I have developed from personal experience.

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Harry Potter Audio CDs

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I recently listened to the first Harry Potter book on Audio CD. When you are travelling long distances on the highway, having a good book in the CD player sure does make it nicer. I am a big fan of Stephen Fry, so I got the British version of it rather than the American CD. This first book was really pleasant to listen to. It took six CDs. And with each one being a little over one hour that is about 7-1/2 hours.

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The second book read by Stephen Fry is basically unavailable. Unless you want to spend several hundred dollars on it. So I went ahead and bit the bullet and got the final book. It arrived from England yesterday and I got a very pleasant surprise.

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This last Harry Potter book on Audio CD is unabridged. And it is 20 CDs long. That is roughly 24 hours of Stephen Fry reading. Wow. No wonder it was fairly expensive!

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Petrified Wood

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For about 6 months while I've been walking the dog out in the desert each day, I've been searching for bits of chalcedony which are fluorescent, and little pieces of obsidian (Apache's tears).

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And for the about last month or 6 weeks, since I've found the bed of the Rio Grande where it used to run hundreds of thousands of years ago, and since I have gotten a couple of rock tumblers running in my garage, each day I come home with 5 or 10 pounds of naturally rounded stones.

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But yesterday I was really surprised when I found a nice piece of petrified wood out in the desert less than a mile from my house! The exact ICBM coordinates are N 31.74616, W -106.25918

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Golden Aspen Motorcycle Rally

About a 3 hour drive from where I live, up in the Sacramento mountains, each year in Ruidoso, New Mexico USA a big motorcycle rally is held.

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Supposedly this is the 3rd largest motorcycle event in the country. It is called the Golden Aspen Rally and is held in September to coincide with the aspens turning beautiful colors up in the mountains. I took the dog and went up there today.

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LOTS of Harleys.

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Thousands of them...like an annual mating ritual or an infestation.
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And I found something really interesting. For once being old, and grey, and fat, with a grey beard was completely normal. And the people there were really nice.

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How different and delightful!

Link: http://www.motorcyclerally.com/

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Too Many Cars

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I've been on freeways (expressways, motorways, autoways, autobahns, etc.) in virtual gridlock all over the world. London, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Berlin, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York. It is so easy at those times to get angry at the politicians who are spending the money foolishly on anything other than roads.
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I lived in Frankfurt, Germany for a couple of years in the early 70's. Nice city. The financial center of Germany. The annual car show is going on there right now. I went to it last year. It is really amazing. Clearly one of the world's biggest.
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Der Speigel in Germany just published a nice article about how car makers are finally beginning to realize that carbon dioxide and global warming is real. And that if they have a green image it will help their sales efforts. In the article they had this amazing graph.
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No wonder the roads are totally clogged up everywhere. In 1960 there were 122 million cars worldwide. In 2006 there were 925 million cars! Good grief. The problem is not too few roads, rather the problem is too many cars.

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The War Against Terror

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President Bush and the top military men in our democracy appear to be getting more and more disoriented.

Terrorism is a genuine problem. For Sure. All over the world. And we must do everything in our power to make sure that these lunatic fanatics don’t do more things like they did on September 11, 2001. No question about it. And our poor young men and women in uniform are doing their best. And sacrificing their young lives. They should be honored.

But our national leaders seem to have become fixated on Iraq when in fact the problem is a world wide phenomenon. If anything, at the moment Pakistan and Afghanistan bear a much closer examination than either Iraq or Iran.
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I took this picture the last time I was in Barcelona, Spain. It seems sort of appropriate.
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How Old Is Too Old?

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I read recently that in the artificial environment of zoos animals are living much longer than they would normally when living in the wild. And that they are beginning to see more and more of the same health problems in these zoo animals that many of us older homo sapiens are experiencing.

Arthritis, cancer, dementia, obesity, breathing difficulties, etc.

It appears that there is indeed some maximum age programmed genetically into each species. Yes one can use all sorts of tricks to try and get around nature’s laws. But in the end it becomes a trade off between quality of life and quantity of life. Almost every day on our leukemia support group web site I see messages from people in their late 70's or early 80's who are still hoping that there is some new magic drug or medical solution to cure the disease. Yes, maybe the Virgin Mary will come down and solve your problem too.

With the aging populace cancer has now become a much more common problem. In fact it has now become a marketing opportunity. Not just for the doctors and proliferating number of cancer centers around the country, but now even Hallmark Cards has brought out a series of greeting cards that you can give to your friend who has cancer:

http://www.hallmark.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/article1000110051/HallmarkSite/GoldCrownStores/JOURNEYS_OCCASIONS_CANCERstores

So how old is too old?

My father, my mother, and my maternal grandmother all died in the hospital.

My grandmother’s brain was functioning so poorly that prior to going into the hospital for the final stay she would fall down, shit all over herself and all over the floor, and then just lay there waiting for someone to come help her. Prior to death she would have long periods when she was lucid. We very very close, and I visited her every day in the hosptial She would absolutely beg me to help her escape from the hospital and go home. When she finally died she had bed sores, and her hands were tied down to the hospital bed frame to keep her from being troublesome to the hospital staff.

I was living in Europe when my mother died, but I heard that towards the end she kept trying to remove the various tubes that were plugged into her body. And that this was all such a bother to the hospital staff that they also tied her hands down to the hospital bed frame.

I view both of these as forms of cruel and unusual punishment for two really nice human beings who for 95% of their lives had led amazing and interesting lives. Torturing old folks like this goes far beyond just uncool. I see it as mean and sadistic.

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In the traditional oriental and native American cultures old people were respected and honored. How can one best describe the situation in modern America? Old people are just a smelly and expensive problem. What to do with them is a predicament. Incarcerating them in retirement communities (concentration camps) where they are out of sight is the generally preferred solution.
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My paternal grandfather was an intelligent and brave man. He also had led an interesting and amazing life. The difference with him was that he had it figured out. He really got it. He was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and before it spread to his brain (like it did with George Harrison) he made a rational, conscious decision. Rather than undergo the torture, humiliation, and expense of hospitalization near the end of life, he very analytically and methodically took his 32 caliber semi-automatic pistol and shot himself in the head. I guess the animal folks would call this humane uthanization.

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Everything Changed on 911 - For A While

It is September 11 again. And here in the land of poor folks and super patriots I didn’t see one car flying the American flag today.

I’m sure some houses must have had the flag flying, but I didn’t notice any and I’ve been from Eastside to Westside and all around today.

I haven’t visited New York city in almost four years. When I was there last ground zero was still patrolled by guys in uniform carrying machine guns.

Bush sure got it wrong. Yes, we all actually believed S. Hussein when he said he had WOMD. Everyone did. And he in fact had previously used them against his own people on more than one occasion. And the woefully impotent UN sure wasn’t doing anything about him. We really did have to do something about it.

So I was and am all in favor of having taken him out. Too bad he wasn’t humiliated more at the time of his execution. He deserved it.

But after we got him, we should have washed our hands and left. It now looks like the USA may be in Iraq for many, many years. This just won’t work. It will ruin and bankrupt our country.

I sure hope the Democrats really do understand this.

Fluorescent Chalcedony

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Chalcedony is a type of quartz. Basically silicon and some oxygen. One of the most abundant minerals on the face of the earth.

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Most quartz is not fluorescent, but sometimes it contains trace amounts of uranium and fluoresces green when illuminated with short wave ultraviolet light.

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These are all little stones that I have picked up within a mile of my house, walking around in the desert with my best friend. This shows the tremendous variety there is in nature.

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