There Goes Roy Hobbs...

Remember the movie "The Natural?" The sports writer played by Robert Duvall tells Robert Redford (Hobbs) basically "the players come and go, Hobbs. We (the writers) are the ones that make the game."

Hobbs wanted to be the best that ever was. The pressure on him was incredible. More than any of us could imagine. He had an owner wanting him to fail, a woman deceiving and using him, a bookie trying to fix him, a manager who's whole life rode on him succeeding and legions of fans living their Depression-era lives through him.

And he was make believe.

In the movie he hits one out of the park. In the book he takes a dive.

Nonetheless, it brings us to today's steroid scandal. Some pretty big names out there. And some awfully small ones. Bonds has been a target of the writers for years. They finally have something with which to hang him. Funny, Clemens always seemed to get a pass. How could HE perform at such a high level for so long without a similar scrutiny to Bonds I wonder?

Clemens, through his mouthpiece, vigorously denies the allegations. Of course he does. He says Roger has never failed a drug test.

Let me tell you something about that statement. Whenever you hear an athlete say "I never failed a drug test" what he mean is "I was never caught." You almost ever hear them say "I never took performance enhancing drugs." That would be a lie. The most current tests for performance-enhancing drugs are always YEARS behind the technology of the cheaters. Always.

So who is to blame for all this? OK, the players for trying to cheat the system. That's pretty obvious. But how about the owners? They are the ones who profited most on the performance of these guys. They and their Commissioner have turned a blind eye to this thing for decades. The sports writers are to blame. They pimped for the Sosa/McGwire home run race. The pennant races, the whole thing. They are the shills. They were in on the game too.

We are responsible. That's right. You and me. We pay to watch. We support the game. We want the great home run chase, the great pennant race, the Red Sox to win, the Yankees to dominate, the lowly Pirates to crawl out of the cellar SOMEDAY. If our players took a little juice to help that happen, what did we care? No skin off our backs.

So now we have this. I don't know. It could be the ruin of major league sports. Olympics too. Heck, don't you think there are kids in high school doing this just to make the team? Or to get a scholarship? I'll lay you a hundred dollars to a doughnut there are parents out there facilitating it. Just for the bragging rights alone that their son or daughter got a "Full Ride" to some college.

Can we ever trust the validity of any mark ever achieved again? Alex Rodriguez is now the Golden Boy of baseball. If he's juicing will we ever know? The writers like HIM. They won't upset THAT applecart. Watch and learn. He'll be proclaimed the new Savior of baseball in a couple years.

Is it about money? Of course it is. It's ALWAYS about money.

One Other Thing...

Earlier I posted that our group will be known as Bots 6. Turns out that was pre-mature. We are Bots 7. Has a much nicer ring to it, don't you think?.

My Peace Corps Job in Botswana

It turns out there is a married couple currently volunteering in the Peace Corps in Bots. The Awsumbs (a great name I might add). Anyway, they've established a blog which I posted a few days ago. Their latest entry laid out what each job title entails. My job title is District AIDS Coordinator or DAC.

Here are the details:
1) DACs - District AIDS Coordinators

DAC volunteers work at the district level helping to coordinate HIV/AIDS activities, programs, and interventions. The DAC office is not supposed to implement specific HIV/AIDS activities, which falls on local NGOs and sectors. Instead, DAC offices, with the support of a community AIDS committee, decide how to direct local funds and monitor the effectiveness of interventions. DAC offices also report on local HIV/AIDS programs, such as ARV therapy, PMTCT, orphan care and home based care. A DAC PCV builds the capacity of the DAC and others working in the DAC office. This may involve creating organization tools, improving linkages with community organizations, incorporating data and qualitative assessments into planning and monitoring, advising NGOs and sectors on how best to implement activities, etc.

DAC volunteers live in the bigger villages and towns and their day-to-day job is very office based. (You are being told this upfront—don’t plead ignorance later.) The advantage to being a DAC is the access to resources (e.g., activity budget, vehicle/driver assigned to the office, linkage with various sectors). You also end up being kind of a focal person for the other PC volunteers in your area by sharing information and finding ways to support their activities. The biggest disadvantage is dealing with nonsensical bureaucracy and protocols (which isn't unique to Botswana or the emerging world).

So there it is. Looks like I'm going to have to re-enter the actual "Work World" for a couple years! Dang!

Read It And Weep

A certain young graduate student I know (not Mick) wrote this paper. He shall remain anonymous due to a felony he confessed to in the paper. But, the message is a sobering one.



Peak Oil:

The Intersection of Public Health, the Built Environment, and National Security


Climate change is not the biggest threat facing modern society, not even if the sea level begins to rise noticeably in the coming decades. This and other anticipated effects of climate change – intensification of severe weather, droughts, floods, the spread of tropical diseases, etc – can all be dealt with or adapted to, given our level of technology. That last part is worth repeating – given our level of technology. But what if this were not a given? What if all the complex systems that our advanced society is based on began to crumble? Well, then climate change would be just an exacerbating factor in a much larger problem. This problem is Peak Oil.


“Civilization as we know it is coming to an end soon.”


So begins the website Life After the Oil Crash, a first-stop primer for anyone interested in the issue of Peak Oil (Savinar 2005). This site is now the number two result when one Googles the word “oil.” Its daily readers include the multi-billionaire friend-of-Bush Richard Rainwater, who made his fortune by speculating on trends that he recognized before anyone else did. Rainwater says, “This is the first scenario I’ve seen where I question the survivability of man” (Ryan, 2005).

Peak Oil theories are based on observations of the behaviors of oil fields called Hubbert’s Peak. M. King Hubbert was a Shell petro-geologist in the 40s and 50s. He posited that the production of individual fields followed a bell curve, sloping upward until half of the reserve was tapped, and then sloping back down until it was no longer economical to pump the field. He correctly predicted the peak and decline of domestic US oil production. When his theories are applied to global oil supplies, some think that the peak is imminent, if not already in the past. Others give world reserves another 30 to 40 years before peaking. However, everyone agrees that at some point they will peak and then begin a long, inexorable decline.

The ignorant scoff and say, “We will never run out of oil.” Actually, they are correct. This is because it will no longer make economic sense to extract oil from the Earth once it becomes so difficult that it requires a barrel of effort to produce a barrel in return. Actually, we will probably stop long before that point. This is because we do not need to run out in order to face a crisis. All that is required is for demand to sufficiently outstrip supply – because all of our economic systems are based on growth, and all growth is currently based on the consumption of oil. Once it becomes apparent that oil-based expansion is no longer possible, and no viable alternative is ready, systems will quickly collapse.

If the peak was passed in 2005, as some believe, that means there is no longer any “swing” production available – extra capacity that can be tapped in time of shortage in order to stabilize prices. It basically means that the spigot is open wide and no more can be produced on a day-to-day basis. China and India are certainly demanding more and more oil. The price per barrel is steadily rising, approaching the what-will-be-historic mark of $100 per. The world will probably find out whether or not the peak has passed the next time there is a Katrina-sized disruption. On that occasion, Europe lent the US oil from its strategic reserves, acting as a swing producer (Appleyard, 2005). The question is, had Europe not, could Saudi Arabia have produced more? We do not know, due to how closely Saudi Arabia guards information about its capacities.

As with climate change, even skeptics must admit that Peak Oil is real, but argue the timetable. They say that new reserves are being discovered and the size of current reserves are being found to be larger than previously thought. Most of this is nonsense. No “elephant” fields have been found in over twenty years. Most of the smaller new fields labeled by the press as “new” are not new at all – they were previously discovered, but difficult to reach. They are simply newly viable, as the rising price of a barrel has made them finally worth tapping. The “Jack 2” field in the Gulf of Mexico is an example of this, as well as recent “finds” off the coast of Brazil.

As for recent upward revision of reserve estimates – there is no way to verify them, as most are held as state secrets, and there are many economic incentives for fraud. OPEC production quotas are based on the stated reserves of its members. Also, if the world became too aware of its situation, nations might more aggressively seek to wean themselves from oil addiction. That is not beneficial to exporter nations.

Humans have a tendency to believe that everything happens in cycles. Life, the seasons, the economy – climate change skeptics even argue that global warming is part of some grand cycle. Our consumption of oil, however, is a non-recurring event. Oil reserves are a trust fund of solar energy accumulated in the form of compressed biomass for hundreds of millions of years, and we will have burnt through it, literally, in just two centuries. This is not part of any cycle.

Peak Oil optimists say that we will be saved by innovation and alternative fuels. Perhaps this is true, but a look at the current state of our alternatives is not encouraging. Solar, wind, wave, and geothermal power, hydrogen cells and biofuels – these are all summarily dismissed in their present states of development by critics, including Savinar on his website, and James Kunstler in The Long Emergency. The following is from Life After the Oil Crash:


When considering the role of oil in the production of modern technology, remember that most alternative systems of energy — including solar panels/solar-nanotechnology, windmills, hydrogen fuel cells, bio-diesel production facilities, nuclear power plants, etc. all rely on sophisticated technology and metallurgy.

People tend to think of "alternatives to oil" as somehow independent from oil. In reality, the alternatives to oil are more accurately described as "derivatives of oil." It takes massive amounts of oil and other scarce resources to locate and mine the raw materials (silver, copper, platinum, uranium, etc.) necessary to build solar panels, windmills, and nuclear power plants. It takes more oil to construct these alternatives and even more oil to distribute them, maintain them, and adapt current infrastructure to run on them. (Savinar 2005)


Still, those who wish to dismiss Peak Oil usually do so with their faith in innovation – faith, not reason. This is due to the Pollyanna Principle. People are more likely to believe incorrect, even irrational, information that benefits them rather than sober assessments that spell bad news. The skeptics call the Peak Oil pessimists Cassandras, the same as there have always been, always predicting disaster. The following passage from a feature in the Sunday Times of London addressed this well:


But those [past] doomsdays were the product of faith; reason used to always say the world will continue. The point about the new apocalypse is that this situation has reversed. Now faith tells us we will be able to solve our problems; reason says we have no answers now and none are likely in the future. (Appleyard, 2005).


And later, in the same feature:


The evidence is mounting that our two sunny centuries of growth and wealth may end in a new Dark Age in which ignorance will replace knowledge, war will replace peace, sickness will replace health, and famine will replace obesity. You don’t think so? It’s always happened in the past. What makes us so different? Nothing. (Appleyard, 2005)


This is the subtle point of Pulitzer Prize-winner Jared Diamond’s book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fair or Succeed, though rather than phrasing it so stridently, he for the most part allows the reader to draw the parallels between the fall of past societies and our own present situation. In example after example, Diamond shows how the population of past societies has always expanded to the threshold of local resources. Then, once local resources are exhausted, or diminish due to some other reason, collapse occurs – often rather quickly and brutally.

The final section of this book: Practical Lessons, should be required reading of all public health and planning students (if not the whole volume). Though Diamond is more concerned with environmental degradations than Peak Oil, the following gallows humor is still quite striking:


Are the parallels between the past and present sufficiently close that the collapse of … [past societies] … could offer any lessons for the modern world? At first, a critic, noting the obvious differences, might be tempted to object, “It’s ridiculous to suppose that the collapses of all those ancient peoples could have broad relevance today, especially to the modern U.S. Those ancients didn’t enjoy the wonders of modern technology, which benefits us and lets us solve problems by inventing new environment-friendly technologies. Those ancients had the misfortune to suffer from effects of climate change. They behaved stupidly and ruined their own environment by doing obviously dumb things, like cutting down their forests, over-harvesting wild animal sources of their protein, watching their topsoil erode away, and building cities in dry areas likely to run short of water. They had foolish leaders who didn’t have books and so couldn’t learn from history, and who embroiled them in expensive and destabilizing wars, cared only about staying in power, and didn’t pay attention to problems at home.” (Diamond, p. 514)


_________________________________

In The Long Emergency, Kunstler argues that America is perhaps the least prepared of all nations for the realities of Peak Oil, primarily due to our decades-long investment in suburban expansion, and the reliance upon automobiles that accompanied it.


The American way of life – which is now virtually synonymous with suburbia – can run only on reliable supplies of dependably cheap oil and gas. Even mild to moderate deviations in either price or supply will crush our economy and make the logistics of daily life impossible. (Kunstler, p. 3)


In addition, our sprawling suburbs have devoured lands that were once agricultural for miles and miles around our cities. In a post-Peak economy, without the means to transport the average piece of food 1,500 miles, we will need this land returned to its previous use. But will this conversion be possible?

Kunstler predicts that the suburbs themselves will become the wastelands of the future, unlivable due to their remoteness from the city and general lack of access to mass transit. Two-ton personal transportation devices run on fossil fuels will no longer be practical or affordable for the vast majority of citizens, as they are now. People will have to move in closer to existing population centers. Kunstler believes that large cities might be untenable – that the post-Peak world may favor smaller cities and hamlets that are surrounded by agricultural land that can support more modest populations.

When referring to Kunstler’s outlook in The Long Emergency, Richard Rainwater says, “It’s the Z scenario” (Ryan, 2005). An A scenario must then be a set of alternatives and innovations, and the time to implement and scale them, that would work so well in place of oil that there would be nary a blip in the purring of the global economy. The reality will most likely be somewhere in between. But where, at what scenario will we find ourselves when the passing of Peak Oil is realized?

This is the question facing future public health and planning professionals. How do we prepare for the possibility of any Peak Oil future that is not scenario A - business as usual? There is no preparing for a Z scenario. I must disagree with the billionaire Richard Rainwater on what this scenario might look like. I think that Kunstler belongs somewhere around the letter T. The Z scenario would be the nightmare world of stirring ash and cannibalism in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, perhaps as the result of resource conflicts that escalated to a nuclear level.

If we are lucky enough to develop a viable alternative to oil in time, it will most likely still require that we “power-down” from our current levels of energy consumption, unless we very quickly unlock the secrets of cold fusion. This means that the carrying capacity of the Earth will be diminished. Before the Industrial Revolution, the Earth’s population was around 1 billion. Since the boom allowed by the exploitation of fossil fuels, it has risen to well over 6 billion. What will the Earth’s carrying capacity be after the end of easy oil?



________________________________


Where were you for New Year’s Eve, 1999? Do you remember the uncertainty about the Y2K bug? There were predictions that massive system failures and chaos could spread across any place that depended on computer networks. This is one reason that I decided to spend the corresponding week in Havana. Cuba was not dependent upon computer networks, and therefore might be a safe bet, just in case there was really anything to the alarmist Y2K scenarios that were being bandied about the news channels.

Cuba comes up again in considering Peak Oil. Some think that a best-case scenario’s slide down the back-slope of oil depletion with no real alternatives might resemble what happened there in the 90’s:


The American trade embargo, combined with the collapse of Cuba’s communist allies in Eastern Europe, suddenly deprived the island of imports. Without oil, public transport shut down and TV broadcasts finished early in the evening to save power. Industrial farms needed fuel and spare parts, pesticide and fertilizer – none of which were available. Consequently, the average Cuban diet dropped from about 3,000 calories per day in 1989 to 1,900 calories four years later. In effect, Cubans were skipping a meal a day, every day, week after month after year. Of necessity, the country converted to sustainable farming techniques, replacing artificial fertilizer with ecological alternatives, rotating crops to keep the soil rich, and using teams of oxen instead of tractors. There are still problems supplying meat and milk, but over time Cubans regained the equivalent of that missing meal. And ecologists hailed their achievement in creating the world’s largest working model of largely sustainable agriculture, largely independent of oil. (Appleyard, 2005)


Of course Cuba is now the beneficiary of Hugo Chavez’ largesse, and oil is being delivered regularly. Still, the country now has the know-how and the proper infrastructure to deal with a world without oil.

One difference between Cuba in the 90’s and potential American scenarios in the future is that Cuba did not have nearly so far to fall as we do. Cuba already did not possess networks as vast, advanced, and irreplaceable as those we depend on now in the United States. Another obvious difference is that Cuba is not a democracy, and it is not a capitalist economy. It is a dictatorship and a command economy. In Cuba’s time of powering-down, these features were almost certainly to its benefit.

I do not yet suggest that we do away with democracy and capitalism in order to deal with a future threat of unknown magnitude. However, taking more decisions regarding resources, infrastructure, and the environment out of the hands of elected officials might not be a bad idea. Non-elected professional, one hopes, would not allot funds to any more Alaskan “bridges to nowhere” or ignore the politically inconvenient measures necessary to avert impending water shortages.

I believe that Jared Diamond would agree:


Two types of choices seem to me to have been crucial in tipping… outcomes towards success or failure: long-term planning, and a willingness to reconsider core values. One of those choices has depended on the courage to practice long-term thinking, and to make bold, courageous, anticipatory decisions at a time when problems have become perceptible but before they have reached crisis proportions. This type of decision-making is the opposite of the short-term reactive decision-making that too often characterizes our elected officials. (Diamond, p. 522)


Professional planners and public health professionals, working together, could begin structuring our nation in such a way that we could better deal with a future power-down. And even if such a power-down did not occur, these changes would be ones that would benefit public health and the built environment anyway. These include many of the things that our class has talked about this semester: mass transit, greater connectivity, less sprawl, pedestrian-friendly design, LEED certifications, local and organic food production, smart growth, and dense mixed-use development.

How can the above best be implemented? I would suggest the entire United States be re-organized along the framework concept of Megaregions. We would be better off without the plethora of archaic, overlapping, and squabbling jurisdictions and authorities full of redundant and petty politicians and bureaucrats that currently burden us. Efforts need to be coordinated at a larger scale. We no longer have the luxury to tolerate wasted time and incremental, provincial bumblings, simply for the sake of outdated political tradition.

As Richard Rainwater says when considering the post-Peak future, “You have to push way past conventional thinking, test the boundaries of chaos, see events in a bigger context” (Ryan, 2005).

Public health and planning practitioners need to speak up and seek to expand their power. The stakes are too high to be content with the present system, when elected officials can, and do, consistently ignore good advice. Those in planning and public health need to cast off their traditional meekness and their acquiescence to backseat roles. Their goal should be to advance from positions as advisors to positions as leaders, whether through advocating organizational reform or seeking public office themselves.

____________________________________


Portents of the coming oil crunch are everywhere. As recent as the December 9th edition of the New York Times there appears an article titled: Oil-Rich Nations Use More Energy, Cutting Exports. It seems that the historically high prices of oil are producing such rapid economic growth in exporter nations that they are needing to keep more and more of their production for themselves. Indonesia has already “flipped” from exporter to importer. Mexico is set to be next, perhaps within 5 years. Mexico is currently the number two source of oil to the United States (Krauss 2007). For the United States, the crunch may precede the peak. Then what?







References


Appleyard, B. (2005, October 16). Waiting for the lights to go out. The Sunday Times, October 16, 2005. Retrieved December 6, 2007 from http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article575370


Diamond, J. (2005). Collapse. London: Penguin Books.


Krauss, C. (2007, December 9). Oil-rich nations use more energy, cutting exports. The New York Times. December 9, 2007.


Kunstler, J. (2005) The long emergency. New York: Grove Press.


McCarthy, C. (2007). The road. New York: Vintage Books.


Ryan, O. (2005, December 26). The Rainwater prophecy. Fortune, Dec 26 2005.


Savinar, M. (2005). Life after the oil crash. Retrieved December 5, 2007 from http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net

This Is Why Tom Friedman is Great...

Thanks to Jason for shooting this to me.

More Peace Corps stuff...

So I called them today to accept the assignment. Got the voicemail! So now I wait for the call back. They were probably watching President Sock Puppet's press conference.

Oh! The first thing to fall out of my offer package was a letter from HIM. Sheesh! I wanted to puke. George Bush wants to tell ME about service? Give me a break.

Anyway, here's a link to their information pdf about service in Botswana. I'll be in a group forever after known as Bots6. Meaning we will be the sixth Peace Corps group to serve in Botswana since reintroduction in 2003.

Moving right along...

More Bots info

Here's a link to a blog by a husband and wife Peace Corps volunteer team. They are (or were) both working on the HIV/AIDS project there. I just found it and haven't read it much yet. It came highly recommended by someone else who will be going the same time as me. I think I'll be able to connect through facebook with others soon.

More on Botswana...

I've been reading up online like a mad man. Here in a nutshell is the 411.

Economically they really moved past needing the Peace Corps there until the AIDS epidemic struck with a vengeance. In fact the Peace Corps had left in the late '90s. But after the Botswanian (Botswanan?) government asked them back they returned in 2003.

Still not sure what I'll be doing. But the info I got seems to indicate it will be work in an office of some kind.

No Tarzan. No Jane. No boy. No Cheetah.

FLASH!!!

It's Botswana. April 20th, 2008 til June or July 2010. I just opened today's mail and there it was. I haven't even absorbed half of it yet. Looks like I'll be an HIV/AIDS Regional coordinator. And today is AIDS awareness day.

More to come.

Mikey's going to AFRICA!

Gibraltar

Meanwhile, back to the last trip. From Granada Mark and I made a mad early morning dash to the city of Algeciras, Spain to catch the ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar to Tangier, Morocco.

Of course the Strait of Gibraltar is well known for that big rock. You know, the Prudential logo. Gibraltar is kind of an interesting place. Turns out it's a British Territory. Instead of Euros they use Pounds. You can drive all over the rock. Which we did.
From atop the rock we could see Africa.

So to Africa we went...

Peace Corps Update

Yeah, I know. I know. I haven't finished posting about my last trip. I'll get around to it. Sometime. Maybe. Maybe not.

BUT, things are moving on the Peace Corps front. FINALLY I think I've cleared the last medical hurdle. It wasn't much of a hurdle actually. They wanted the doctor's statement about my PPD test (Tuberculosis) to be more detailed. It took me fifteen minutes to get and mail.

I got a call yesterday from the main office checking to see if I'd done that. Now this morning I get an e-mail from them with all kinds of forms and information telling me how it's going to go down.

When I was on the phone I tried to get a line on where I would be invited to. No dice. They play by the rules. Their rules. I couldn't get a hint.

So I still don't know. Maybe by this time next month. Or sooner.

It would sure be easier if I was rid of this house.

Anyway, here are a couple pictures from the last day of my last trip:

In the Red Sea off Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Aboard the good ship "I don't know what the name of the thing was."

All I know is I'm going away for a long time.

Granada, Alhambra and Albaicin

This was the coolest part of the trip. We got to Granada in (what we thought was) plenty of time to find our hostel. We would book the hostels via internet each day for the next night. The average hostel cost about $25 per person. Sure, you had to share a room, but that's how you meet the most interesting people. Mark and I were usually the oldest folks in the hostels. But we were always made to feel welcome. Hostels invariably feature free internet, local tours, an open kitchen and a homey atmosphere. This compared to the "Five Star" places we stay in during the recruiting tours where the internet fee alone costs more than a stay at a hostel. Different kind of travel.

The Makuta backpacker's hostel in Granada took us FOREVER to find. It was in the Albaicin neighborhood, hard against Alhambra. Here is a picture of the neighborhood taken from the walls of Alhambra. Our hostel is in the picture, but I'll be switched if I can find it.

So Alhambra. First off, in Arabic "Al" means "the." So calling it The Alhambra is like saying The The Hambra. Just like Chai Tea Latte. What do you think "Chai" is?

Oh, and Hambra means red, for the color of the bricks.

Anyway, the place stood against the Spanish reconquest for over two centuries until that fateful year of 1492 when the last Moorish King, Boabdil The Unfortunate ceded it. As he fled toward the south and still existent, but dwindling, Moorish territory he paused on a hill to look back one last time at his beloved Alhambra. His mother, ever the supportive parent, was quoted to say "Weep as a woman for that which you could not defend as a man." Thanks mom.

It was while walking the narrow cobblestone ways in the palace I heard a disturbance behind me. Kind of a rumbling, bumbling, stumbling sound. I need not have looked. It was my erstwhile companero rolling down the sloping path. I didn't even have to look. His claim was he was distracted by a certain pair of pants.

I saw her too and I didn't fall! (Grace under pressure.)

We spent six hours there and could have spent another day. If you go either book tickets online a couple days before you intend to go or get up early to queue for the limited number of tix they sell each day. We got lucky.

Playing Catch-Up

I've been remiss in keeping up with my last trip. So I'll attempt to bring everything up to date.

When last we saw our heroes they were marveling at the Chapel of the Bones in Evora, Portugal. From there we made a mad dash to Seville, Spain. We had a heck of a time finding our hostel in Seville. It was dark and the Spanish are not very good about posting street signs. In fact, they barely do it at all. Of course the roads were created as donkey paths about a thousand years ago, so they aren't very conducive to automobile travel. I guess that explains the lack of Hummers in Europe. But, as luck would have it we ran into a kid from Brazil (Rodrigo) who was doing study abroad in Portugal and spending a couple weeks exploring the Iberian Peninsula. By coincidence he was looking for the same hostel as we were. With his help we found it. Even though it was only a few yards from where we were standing we would have NEVER found it alone.

Nonetheless, we didn't spend much time in Seville. Just enough to snag another UNESCO World Heritage site and see the Espana de Sevila, which was pretty cool.

Here are the pictures.

Granada and the Alhambra were calling and we were running short of time. But not before we made a twenty mile detour to visit an unusually named village. You'll see it in the pictures.

More tomorrow on Granada and the Alhambra. By the way, to call it THE Alhambra is like ordering a Chai Tea Latte at Starbucks. I'll explain later.

Couple More Thoughts On Dubai

Fifteen percent of ALL the construction cranes existing in the world are in Dubai. That's almost one of every six.

BUT Subway's sandwiches here are not nearly as good as those in the States. I had one for lunch today. Only choice of cheese was Provolone, no Pepper Jack. No fresh spinach. No banana peppers. No Italian Herbs and Cheese bread.

It's a sign.

A Word About Dubai

OK, I still have pics to post from Spain, but we're in Dubai for a brief stay. This place never fails to amaze. I picked up a Papa John's Chicken BBQ pizza (no onions) to munch on while I write this. (No way I'm paying hotel prices for food)

Anyway, I'm reading "The Braindead Megaphone" by George Saunders and in it he talks about Dubai. To paraphrase, you know how sometimes in the States a big architectural firm will announce a series of major projects, maybe ten, for a particular city that they hope will re-shape the entire area? In the end perhaps only one of those will be completed on a scaled down version and the firm will hope you forgot the original proposal.

In Dubai all ten projects are completed and they are all bigger, grander and more expensive than the original plans called for.

Thirty years ago this place was a sand pile with a creek running through it. It was started up by illiterate Bedouins. Only five percent of the revenues are derived from oil (It will run out in 2010). By then they'll have the world's tallest skyscraper (700 meters:2300 feet as compared to Taipei 101 at 500 meters), the world's largest mall, biggest theme park, largest indoor ski run (see previous post), biggest this, most that...you name it Dubai will have it.

Why doesn't AlQaeda hit this bastion of westernized commercialism? Outside of the US there could hardly be a more high profile target. Because they are invested heavily here. Those guys throw PILES of cash into banks here. As does the Italian Mafia, the Spanish Mafia, Indian Mafia. So how come we don't come after them?

Because so does CNN, Reuters, Google, Microsoft, Papa John's, etc. etc. etc.

Dubai is to the Middle East what Switzerland was to Europe during the time of Hitler's Germany.

Both sides need it. It's surrounded by Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia, three of the most boogered up countries in the world. Gotta be a valve to ease off the pressure somewhere.

Is it sustainable? I believe it is not. But what do I know?

After Madrid

This itinerary story will be all out of order. The pictures are here.But one of the main reasons for this Spanish soirée was to visit the city of Badajoz. In 1811 British forces under Sir Arthur Wellesley who later became the Duke of Wellington attacked the citadel of Badajoz which was being held by French forces. It was a bloody fight as one section of the wall surrounding the city was breached. Led by a suicide squad of volunteers known as "The Forlorn Hope," the British successfully poured through and 5,000 men from each side died. The amazing thing is hardly anyone living in Badajoz today knowns anything about the battle. Our hotel was 50 meters from the front of the hotel and the receptionist had never heard of it.

But evidence of the fortress which stood since the 11th century is all around. Sections of the old walls are seen within a parking deck.

From Badajoz we shot into Portugal to the cities of Elvas and Evora. Elvas consists of three fortresses. In fact it was the most heavily fortified city in Europe. Two of the forts were basically empty. MArk and I were the only ones there. But Elvas proper was a really cool little city.

Evora is a UNESCO World Heritage city. The weirdest place in it was the Capela dos Ossos, the Chapel of the Bones. The walls, ceiling, trim, the whole joint is constructed of human bones and skulls. On the walls are two ancient decomposing bodies.

Between Elvas and Evora we stopped at what we thought was a winery. Turns out it was a boutique hotel. The hotel was closed, but the two ladies there (one of which has been nominated Mark's future ex-wife) were more than happy to show us around and part with three bottles of their estate vintage. VERY good!

We made our way then back into Spain, Seville to be precise. Along the way we passed this city dominated by yet another medieval castle.

You Might Not Want To Look At These Pictures

So on our second day in Spain, a Sunday as it turns out, they had bull fights in Madrid. Guess they have them every Sunday. We saw the stadium when we were coming in from the airport and had to check it out. It's an impressive structure, built in 1929.

It wasn't an overflow crowd. About what you'd find at a Pittsburgh Pirates game. They kill six bulls. Three matadors are featured and each gets to down two.

It's a rigged game as you can well imagine. I put my pictures on Picasa so you can view them all on this link. It's a brutal deal, at times disgusting and disheartening. If you have a queasy stomach for this sort of thing you can skip the pictures and just take my word for it.

And yet there is a undeniable poetry to the thing. You can see why guys like Hemingway wrote about it in "Death in the Afternoon." You can also get a sense of how 168 Spanish Conquistadors under Pizarro were able to subdue an estimated 200,000 Inca warriors in the 16th Century.

On the other hand sometimes the bull gets some payback.

On this day the bulls were winless with one tie, 0-6-1. The first bull of the day was allowed to live because one of the guys on horseback committed a foul of some kind. It was all in Spanish, so what did I know? I heard later that sometimes the crowd will call for a bull to be spared. Unfortunately it also turns out these bulls rarely live long afterwards. They generally end up dying of their wounds before being returned to the farms. So it's a bad deal for them all the way around.

So from Madrid we're moving south. Toledo, Talavera and Badajoz awaits!

Book It!

Just finished book #100 for the year. Sharpe's Company. Historical fiction of Captain Richard Sharpe, a member of the Duke of Wellington's British army fighting the Napoleonic army in Spain in 1812. This book covered the battle of Badajoz, a fortress assault that cost Wellington over 5000 casualties.

Mark Schroeder and I intend to visit the sight of this fight next week. Thus the reason for making this particular book number 100.

It's only October 15th. How many can I finish by year's end? There are a lot of good (and bad) books out there. I've got at least six lined up for the trip. I've learned to pack more books and less underwear. Makes my trips more comfortable all the way around.

TMI? Tough!

What Time Is It?

Mark in Petra
This time next week (Insh'Allah) I'll be in Madrid, Spain. Buddy Mark Schroeder (see his Blog link to the right of the page) and I are going to Spain and Portugal before beginning possibly my last Middle East recruiting tour before I head off to the Peace Corps.

We plan on visiting the sites of some battles fought during the Duke of Wellington's Peninsular Campaign against Nap (Call me Bonaparte) Napoleon back in the early 1800s. In keeping with the theme of our Arab/Muslim work tour we'll check out Granada and the Alhambra, mainly to find out if it was the Moops or the Moors (Seinfeld reference).

We'll finish the Iberian tour at Gibraltar when we grab a ferry across the Strait to Morocco. A short (?) train or bus ride later and we'll be in Casablanca and back with my international recruiting tribe for one last go 'round. We have 35 universities signed up, a post-9/11 record. We finish on November 8th with a scuba diving trip in the Red Sea near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

It's going to be kind of a bittersweet trip for me. I love the Middle East and all the folks I run with. My hope is my partner Joseph Humadi (not THAT kind of partner!) will take me back when I return from my mud hut in two or three years.

So for now I'm doing one more packing job. Gotta remember, "Less is More, Less is More." But I am bringing my mask and fins.

So what time is it?

Game time.

Peace Corps Update

Got a letter from the Peace Corps today. They didn't like the EKG from my physical. It shows what's called "First degree A-V block." Nothing to worry about. It's common in highly trained athletes (ahem!). But, they need my doctor to tell them that to insure I didn't have a heart attack or something. Which I did not.

By the way, prognosis for First degree A-V Block is good. No treatment is indicated.
I'll die eventually, but not from that.

Just Like Old Times

Been visiting Mick down in Columbia, South Carolina this week. He's found a Saturday baseball league to play in. It was like 1997 all over again. He was two for four with a triple off the wall and two Ribbies. A good day at the ball yard.

On the way back from the game we passed this place. I wonder what's in that sandwich?

The Coming War With Iran...

The Second Coming

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold,
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction,
while the worst
are full of passionate intensity."
-William Butler Yeats

A Little Family History...

I was down in West Virginia last weekend attending a little family reunion. (Great place to meet chicks!) Kidding! Anyway I went looking for the headstone of the Wigal that we can trace back the farthest, the immortal Philip Wigal. Lo and behold we came across this cemetery. Kind of a strange feeling to see your name on a bone yard.

Nonetheless, a few years ago this stone was placed in honor of ol' Philip. No one knows for sure where he is actually buried.

Phil might have been a brave Continental soldier in his day, but that isn't what he was best known for. After the Revolutionary War he was a corn farmer in western Pennsylvania, Westmoreland County I think. To get his crops to the eastern markets before they spoiled he along with other area corn farmers had to convert the crops to a form that would last during the long trip over rough pioneer roads. To wit, Corn Liquor or Whiskey. Now the new Government in Washington UNDER President Washington needed to raise money to help pay for the debts incurred during the recent unpleasantness. So the Congress imposed a tax on whiskey. Well, the local boys weren't too big on the idea of paying for that by themselves, so they had themselves what is known as the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794. So far as I can tell it wasn't much of a rebellion. But there was enough nonsense going on that the government sent about 12,500 troops out to western PA to put it down. And for the only time in US history a sitting President (another guy named George)led troops in a combat-type situation.

In the end good old Philip and another guy were captured, tried and convicted of treason and sentenced to be hung. Which would have put a real dent in my life story. Fortunately for me and all the other Wigals Washington, the president, pardoned Phil and we were free to populate the earth, as it were. Afterwards Phil lit out for western Virginia (now West Virginia). By the way, I once read that Philip was considered by his neighbors as "simple." Wonder what they meant by that?

After taking the picture of Philip's stone I noticed this other head stone nearby. Pretty unusual I'd say, especially given both his wives were named Catherine.

Years go by. Along comes my Great-Great-Grandfather, John Maltimore Wigal.

They had some great names back then. It's seems John was what they used to call a woods colt. In other words someone slipped one past John's mother's goalie. The name Beckwith has been mentioned. Sure would have been easier to deal with THAT last name than Wigal, which no one can ever spell nor pronounce. Nonetheless, John was my Civil War relative. He and his brother enlisted in the 20th Virginia Cavalry, CSA. No famous battles, unless you count The Battle of Droop Mountain Virginia (now WVA). It was the last Civil War battle fought on what is now WVA.

That was the last of the semi-famous Wigals. Still waiting for another noted Wigal.

Weep Not For Your Memories...

I will remember you.

Seen Along Interstate 68 in western Maryland

Wonder how this mountain came to be named. Just seems a dicey appellation in this day and age. Yet there it is.

If I Were Charged With a Crime...

Do you suppose I could be released on my own recogniscence?

Bush Claims to Have Read 87 Books So Far This Year

Where do you start with that? How about I call Bullshit!? Hard to believe the leader of the free world has time to read that many books. I'm betting he's counting comic books.

Anyway, as of this moment I have read 89 (Check it out if you don't believe me)

I've also been to more countries than him (not on YOUR dime!).

AND I'm responsible for far fewer innocent deaths.

Rest In Peace Sappy

Fourteen years of unconditional love. How do you say good-bye to that? Saps had a form of Multiple Sclerosis that in the end just robbed her of the ability to get around. The Vet said it was time. You know this shit will happen from the day you pick them up from the kennel. But you do it anyway.

She was the best dog.

I hate September.

Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) Minneapolis Airport Bathroom Arrest

I think I took a dump in that john last May. My feet didn't bump anything and there is NO WAY I would be picking up a piece of toilet paper from the floor!

Greetings From the YO

Once upon a time never comes again.

Help Me Out on This...

I think a good argument could be made that the Democratic party is in principle the more supportive party towards gays and gay rights. Conversely, Republican legislators most consistently vote against gay marriage and other gay rights.

So why is it all the closeted gays turn out to be Republicans? Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) being the latest.

Don't play Barney Frank. He never hid his orientation.

It Turns Out Our Group Wasn't the Most Watched Bunch at the El San Juan

On Thursday night Eddie, I and a couple others headed to "The Palm" steak house for a few hundred dollars worth of dead cow. There was this over the top, hot blonde in line behind us. You just couldn't help noticing. In fact I noticed so much it never occurred to me to look at her partner. Finally, after we were seated, someone said, "Hey, that's (rapper cum actor) Ice-T with the blonde."

What show was he on?

Where Do You Fit In?

Check this out.

What did I have? Fifty-six last year?

I'm sitting on number 82 right now for '07. The more I read the more there is. Of course, being retired and spending lots of time in airports, I HAVE the time to read.

This Kind of Thing Happens to Me ALL the Time!

Sometimes I'm jealous of myself. These are a couple of my friends from recruiting in Puerto Rico. My pal, Eddie LaVigne, marked 25 years of recruiting in Puerto Rico last weekend. Several former recruiters flew in to celebrate with him. And it was a pretty, pretty, pretty good time.

More pictures to come as they send them to me.

Such good friends...

More Thoughts on Television Ads

So have you seen these Binder and Binder Law Firm ads? What is the deal with the stupid hat? What is the image they are trying to project? A geek lawyer in a suit wearing some kind of pseudo-cowboy hat. Doesn't make sense.

I don't even think he is a real cowboy.

My Weekend With George

I got a call last week from my friend George's daughter Janet. He and I were great diving buddies back in my salad days of the 70's when I was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It was his 70th birthday and she wanted to know if I could come down to Fayetteville, NC to help celebrate. We had kind of lost track of each other for about 25 years, only reconnecting a couple years ago. So naturally I went.

Janet cooked up a BS story to get him to the airport and we completely surprised him. It was one of those airport scenes I see all the time and never get to participate in.

So George was once a Marine and like ex-Marines everywhere he never completely let it go. (Not like any paratroopers I could mention.) Thus the decoration on his cake.

While we were there George took me down to the infamous Hay Street. Back in my day the 500 block of Hay Street was a rough neighborhood. One bar, The Town Pump, had stood there since World war II. It was immortalized in the book "The Devils With Baggy Pants" about the famous 504th Airborne Infantry battalion of the 82d Airborne Division.

Now everything is gone. Urban renewal. In the place of the Town Pump stand a medical center.

BUT, across the street stand the new Airborne and Special Operations museum to which we paid a visit.


It was very cool with displays of the history of the paratroop operations.

On the walkway leading to the entrance were these blocks commemorating various folks who had served in the airborne.

Of all the blocks there was actually one of a man I once knew. General Lewis was my Division Artillery commander when I was in the 82d. It was a surprise to know he had passed away. I guess I always see the guys from back then as forever young.

Up in the rafters was an old WW II era C-47 troop transport aircraft.

This guy was "standing in the door!" A position I took 47 times in my career.

Of all the displays, from before WWII, up through Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Afghanistan and Iraq, the display covering my service in the 82d Airborne was the shortest. It basically covered Soviets, but we never did. Does anyone even remember the Soviets?

So anyway, here is George's sweetheart of a daughter Janet:


All in all, it was a wonderful time. Those guys treat me like family.

I Don't Even Know Where to Start With This...

First, I hope I never die. Because every day I am astounded at the stuff that develops. It just gets better and better.

So I've got the TV on, not really watching. There's this commercial on for something called "Mirapex," a treatment for RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome), a dread disease you never heard of ten years ago. I SWORE I heard them say one of the side effects is "an urge to gamble!" I thought I must have heard that wrong. So it comes on again and sure enough,some of the side effects may be an urge to gamble or engage in sexual activity. All this to keep your legs from kicking?

They'll be putting this stuff in the water supply out in Vegas.

Remember AC-DC?

Those guys were geniuses.

Peace Corps Update II

This past week I got started on the medical and dental clearances needed to finish my Peace Corps application. First came a couple visits to Art, my personal physician. He shot me up for Tetanus, a polio booster (Who ever heard of a polio booster?) and measles/mumps/rubella. Three needles in two minutes. Ouch! Actually it wasn't all that bad. I remember being dragged kicking and screaming to Dr. Baldwin's for those original polio vaccinations a lifetime ago.

My eyesight checked out at 20/15 in the left and 20/20 in the right, jet pilot eyes.

Blood pressure: 114/70. Resting heart rate: 48.

Thursday I had the dentist visit for X-rays and cleaning. Turns out the last time I had been to the dentist was 1995! Surprisingly my teeth are in pretty good shape in spite of that.

All in all I'm in pretty good shape.

Once I get all the forms filled out and the appropriate physician signatures I should be complete. It'll be up to the Peace Corps docs to approve and give me final clearance.

Then it's just a matter of waiting for an invitation. No I don't know where I'm going yet. I won't know until the invitation.

Plus I still have to sell this house...

Why Sometimes I LIKE Flying

Commercial air travel these days is largely a pain. Late flights,oversold flights, missed connections, lost luggage, non-existent bad airline food, cramped seats.

But, sometimes you get a cool moment. The other night I was on the Red-Eye from Vancouver to Chicago. The skies were clear all the way to the deck. It was a moonless night and not much light pollution so the stars were in full view. Way off behind us to the northwest was a line of thunderstorms, lightning flashing below our altitude.

That in itself was beautiful to see. But then a meteor flashed overhead. A "Wow" moment!

You don't get that with your feet stuck on the ground.

Back From British Columbia

And it was an awesome trip! I swear someday I'm gonna move up there. Maybe Victoria or Vancouver, BC. Post-Peace Corps of course.

We kayaked for MILES and saw all kind of marine life. Orcas, Minke and Humpback whales, seals, sea lions, a bear, a million bald eagles, loons (my favorite call), ate fresh caught wild salmon, relaxed aboard the 68 foot refitted ship, The Columbia III. Just had the best time.

Have a look at my pix on Picasa.

So you can go there for a look. I'll add more as I get them from my fellow shipmates.

Meanwhile I'm doing the medical clearance thing for the Peace Corps. No prostate exam required, but still a kind of a pain in the ass.

The Parents Respond

This morning's earlier post brought this quick reply via e-mail from my mother:
"...the story is pretty much accurate....the condition of the Lady was more
than just age!!! She was deaf, nearly blind and since her fur was graying,
she blended in with the gravel. Dad has grieved for many years over this
accident and even today says it hurts him....."

Hey, at least they didn't claim "Executive Privilege!"

At Last The Truth Comes Out!

It's a scandal worse than Watergate. Finally my parents (who shall remain anonymous) let the proverbial cat out of the bag yesterday when they acknowledged that on July 9, 1975 Dad accidentally backed the car over "Lady," our long time pet Cocker Spaniel. "Lady" had been a member of the family (even though she was never actually allowed in the house) for many years and in her old age liked to sun herself out on the driveway. At the time I had recently been stationed in South Korea, so a cover-up was undertaken. As always the cover-up is worse than the actual crime itself! The details of "Lady's" last moments are still murky. But, suspicion has it our then neighbor, an Ohio Highway Patrolman, was recruited to apply the coup de grace.

Apparently the parents were leaving for the hospital to celebrate the birth of my niece and their first grandchild Jill.

So Happy Birthday Jill! Many happy returns.

I'm like Mr. Bojangles. "After thirty years he still grieves..."

I'm Pretty Sure I've Seen It All Now...

Was I dreaming or did I see a Paper-Scissors-Rock "Championship" on ESPN last night? They even had a $50,000 grand prize!

I'll just go ahead and die now. There's nothing left.

New Seven Wonders of the World Announced

Something called the New Open World Corporation (NOWC) among a little controversy announced the newest "official" Wonders of the World were announced on July 7th. The list consists of:
1. The Pyramids of Giza (Egypt)
2. The Taj Mahal (India)
3. Machu Picchu (Peru)
4. The Roman Colosseum (Italy)
5. The Great Wall (China)
6. Chichen Itza (Mexico)
7. Christ the Redeemer Statue (Brazil)

The Pyramids were sort of "Grandfathered in" based upon complaints their inclusion should never have been questioned in the first place because it is the only surviving member of the original Seven Wonders. The whole process was a little bogus since it resulted from a combination of free and paid votes and was not available to people who didn't have access to the internet. NOWC even admitted someone could vote multiple times.

But, I would say it's a pretty decent list. I've been to five of the seven. The five I've visited without exception had a huge "Wow" factor.

I would have included Angkor Wat in Cambodia or Stonehenge in the UK over maybe the statue in Brazil. It just seems the stuff built in ancient times are cooler.

PARIS IS FREE!

OUR LONG NATIONAL NIGHTMARE IS OVER!

At 12:15AM Pacific Daylight Time today, amidst hundreds of fans, papparazzi and curious morons and on live nationwide TV, celebrity skank Paris Hilton did the reverse perp walk from some county jail in LA into the waiting arms of mommy and daddy in their black Caddie Escalade. The for-some-unknown-reason-popular Miss Hilton earned her release after, I don't know, two or three weeks of jail time for some kind of driving infraction involving alcohol. Really, who gives a shit?

Meanwhile the number of Americans killed in the Iraq misadventure approaches 4,000, civil war has plunged that poor country into bloody chaos. Tens, if not hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been slaughtered. Cheney runs the government he was not elected to.

Go back to sleep.

Peace Corps Update

Had my second interview just now with the Peace Corps recruiter. My application process is moving along and my next piece will be a nomination. We went over several opportunities for service. Most are in the field of non-profit group or NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) advising. They also include HIV/AIDS teaching. Almost all Peace Corps postings involve that.

So here were the postings she had available for my time frame:

1. April 2008, sub-Saharan Africa
2. June 2008, Eastern Europe
3. May-Jun 2008, The Caucasus
4. Jun 2008, Caribbean (non-Spanish speaking)
5. June 2008, sub-Saharan Africa
6. March 2008, North Africa (Morocco)
7. June 2008, Central Asia/Asia
8. April 2008, sub-Saharan Africa

My two preferences, in order, are Numbers 1 and 6. She said I have a 50/50 chance of getting one of those two.

Now I have to get my medical and legal clearances. Those could take as long as six month.

Do you hear that? My new future approaches.

So does yours.

Celebrity News

1. Inmate Paris Hilton's mother is kinda hot. More so than Paris. Her Dad looks like a dick though.

2. Keith Olbermann is fantastic as host on MSNBC's Countdown. But, his replacement when he is away, Allison Stewart, is hilarious. She needs her own show.

Speaking of the Peace Corps

They contacted me yesterday. I have a second phone interview tomorrow. I thought the first one went very well. Can't help wondering what the second one will be about. Do you think they found out about my "Crime of Passion?"

Today's Quote

Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory.

Betty Smith

(She died in 1972, so there will be no contact for book purposes.)

The March Toward 100 Books read in 2007 Continues

I’m shooting for one hundred books this year. I may go broke doing it. I have a thing against going to the library. Amazon.com is my crack cocaine. Barnes and Noble my methadone. Borders my caffeine. Wal-Mart my cigarette butt found on the sidewalk.

Check my progress to date.

Peace Corps Blogs

I'm really getting into this Peace Corps thing. It turns out there is a website in which you can link to blogs of what shall hereinafter be referred to as PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers).

I haven't read them all. There must be hundreds. But, the level of grammar in the ones I HAVE read is distressing. You know, I like text messaging. But, you shouldn't write in a blog or other written communication they same way you text. In fact, you should not write in the same way as you talk or think.

I mean, LOL u r so stoopid if u do.

Like scratching a blackboard with ur fingernails.

Happy Birthday Mick!

Twenty-six years ago right about now this sweaty, big eyed package was delivered. Even though I was crying like the baby he was somehow I cut his umbilical cord and held him in my arms.

It was the happiest day in Jan's and my life.

Oh Yeah, My Next Big Thing...

I've applied to join the Peace Corps. It's a long process, sometimes taking from nine to twelve months to actually be assigned. I'm about a month or so into it. Have already had my first interview. They didn't reject me outright yet (like those bastards at "Survivor"). Next in the process is a nomination, maybe in July, which will give me a region of the World in which I will most likely be assigned. Following that is a medical and legal clearance (uh oh!) then an actual invitation.

You can give your preferences for region and country, but they have the final say. I would like Jordan or Morocco (I'm studying Arabic. I can actually ask for a Pepsi.), but indications are that is unlikely. I'll probably accept where ever I'm assigned.

Of course, I still need to sell the house before I go. How do you fix a water leak when you are in Mongolia?

Thoughts While Watching TV This Morning...

A passion for the business of accounting? Can there be a lamer tag line for a company? What kind of sorry excuse for a life would you have if accounting was your passion?

So many questions...

Jerry Falwell is Dead

I shall not mourn his passing. This was a mean-spirited, racist, homophobic phoney. Falwell represented the very worst of American society.

We as a country are worse off for his having been here.

That's What I'm Talkin' About!

My Eyes Are Burning!

Sitting here tonight watching MSNBC. What is that smell? The distinct odor of Methane. Hey, it's not me. I'm clean. Then I hear the source. Saps is a one dog global warming machine.

Time for a walk...

Happy Anniversary!

Four years ago today President Sock Puppet was at the very height of his undeserved popularity. Over three thousand American and uncounted (because the Bush administration doesn't consider them as fully human) Iraqi deaths and we are no closer to the end of this abortion. Is THIS the same country that, along with a different "coalition of the willing" won a TWO FRONT WAR 60 years ago!!?? In less time?!?

You gotta wonder about a country that would elect this bag of hammers twice. Even if the fix was in both times. It should never have been that close.

Enjoy your cake.

A Living, Breathing Example of "Not in My Name."

Here is an open letter from the poet Sharon Olds to Laura Bush
declining the invitation to read and speak at the National Book
Critics Circle Award in Washington, DC. Sharon Olds is
one of most widely read and critically acclaimed poets living in
America today. Read to the end of the letter to experience her
restrained, chilling eloquence.

Laura Bush
First Lady, The White House

Dear Mrs. Bush,

I am writing to let you know why I am not able to accept your kind invitation to give a presentation at the National Book Festival on September 24, or to attend your dinner at the Library of Congress or the breakfast at the White House.

In one way, it's a very appealing invitation. The idea of speaking at a festival attended by 85,000 people is inspiring! The possibility of finding new readers is exciting for a poet in personal terms, and in terms of the desire that poetry serve its constituents--all of us who
need the pleasure, and the inner and outer news, it delivers.

And the concept of a community of readers and writers has long been dear to my heart. As a professor of creative writing in the graduate school of a major university, I have had the chance to be a part of some magnificent outreach writing workshops in which our students have become teachers. Over the years, they have taught in a variety of settings: a women's prison, several New York City public high schools, an oncology ward for children.

Our initial program, at a 900-bed state hospital for the severely physically challenged, has been running now for twenty years, creating along the way lasting friendships between young MFA candidates and their students -- long-term residents at the hospital who, in their humor, courage and wisdom, become our teachers.

When you have witnessed someone nonspeaking and almost nonmoving spell out, with a toe, on a big plastic alphabet chart, letter by letter, his new poem, you have experienced, close up, the passion and essentialness of writing.

When you have held up a small cardboard alphabet card for a writer who is completely nonspeaking and nonmoving (except for the eyes), and pointed first to the A, then the B, then C, then D, until you get to the first letter of the first word of the first line of the poem she has been composing in her head all week, and she lifts her eyes when that letter is touched to say yes, you feel with a fresh immediacy the human drive for creation, self-expression, accuracy, honesty and wit -- and the importance of writing, which celebrates the value of each person's unique story and song.

So the prospect of a festival of books seemed wonderful to me. I thought of the opportunity to talk about how to start up an outreach program. I thought of the chance to sell some books, sign some books and meet some of the citizens of Washington, DC. I thought that I could try to find a way, even as your guest, with respect, to speak about my deep feeling that we should not have invaded Iraq, and to declare my belief that the wish to invade another culture and another country -- with the resultant loss of life and limb for our brave soldiers, and for the noncombatants in their home terrain -- did not come out of our democracy but was instead a decision made "at the top" and forced on the people by distorted language, and by untruths. I hoped to express the fear that we have begun to live in the shadows of tyranny and religious chauvinism -- the opposites of the liberty,
tolerance and diversity our nation aspires to.

I tried to see my way clear to attend the festival in order to bear witness -- as an American who loves her country and its principles and its writing -- against this undeclared and devastating war.

But I could not face the idea of breaking bread with you. I knew that if I sat down to eat with you, it would feel to me as if I were condoning what I see to be the wild, highhanded actions of the Bush Administration.

What kept coming to the fore of my mind was that I would be taking food from the hand of the First Lady who represents the Administration that unleashed this war and that wills its continuation, even to the extent of permitting "extraordinary rendition": flying people to other countries where they will be tortured for us.

So many Americans who had felt pride in our country now feel anguish and shame, for the current regime of blood, wounds and fire. I thought of the clean linens at your table, the shining knives and the flames of the candles, and I could not stomach it.

Sincerely,

SHARON OLDS

Put A Cork In It (Them)

You know, you hear about this, but it's still a little hard to believe.

We COULD eat less meat. But, then ADM and Cargill shares would fall. We can't have THAT can we?

I'll tell you one other thing. The dog is adding her fair share of methane to the atmosphere. I might contribute a puff or two myself.

Weekend Update...

OK, it's Wednesday already. I know I'm late with the Little Rock report. But, it has taken me a while to sort it all out in my mind. So here's the short version: It was fantastic! Now the longer:

mary anne radmacher and me
She's the authoress. Remember, she doesn't use capital letters. We finally met in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel late Friday afternoon. From that point on it was a whirlwind. Saturday morning we were treated to a private tour of the William J. Clinton (our last actual President) Presidential Library by a really close FOB(Friend of bill) Paul Leopoulos. Boy a nicer guy you have never met.

Paul gave an insight into the workings of President Clinton that we never get in the media. They've known each other since third grade, but Paul still gets emotional when recalling the life of his friend. By the time we parted company Saturday night we felt like we had known each other for years. Paul and his wife Linda run "THEA Foundation" to honor the life of their daughter Thea who was tragically killed in an auto accident several years ago. Thea was a promising artist and the foundation is in support of the arts.

Totally unrelated and stupid aside: West Virginia Easter Egg once rolled at the Clinton White House. Once a Mountaineer always a Mountaineer!
So after the tour we set up in the Clinton Museum/Book/souvenir store for the book signing.

We signed around 600 books. When I say "we" I mean everyone who had a part in "Lean Forward Into Your Life." I think there were seven of us. Just the nicest, most interesting group (OK, outside of my recruitment tribe) of liberals you could imagine. We had a ball.
Now at this point I would like to introduce mary anne's new husband, David.

As you may guess he is a character. You would be correct. The kilt is in honor of his Scottish heritage. Turns out the guy wore it at their wedding on March 21st. Only at the wedding he wore a traditional Scottish knife (I don't know the proper name for it) tucked into his knee length socks. Gotta admire a man who comes to his own wedding packing a shiv.

Not to be outdone I wore the sherwani I got in India a couple years ago. I never get to wear it, so I figured this was as good an excuse as any. Besides women like it.

So we're signing our books and having a high old time when I suddenly remember that Heifer International, my favorite charity, is headquartered in Little Rock. Turns out it is next door to the Clinton Library. Sadly, by the time I got there they were closed. But, I took this picture in front of it.

So now comes the really amazing part. The last event of the day was a little gathering in the publisher's suite. Those who contributed to the book were each to give a reading of our respective parts. mary anne had me go first. By this time the story of how we "met" through my blog was pretty well known. So, I read my little story and I have to say the response was very good. I was surprised. I mean I thought it was pretty good, but I might be prejudiced. (No ego problems here.)

Then Jan Johnson, the publisher, asks "do you write like THAT in your blog?" mary anne jumps in with and emphatic "Yes he does!" Next thing you know Jan is asking for the blog URL. There had been some talk earlier of publishing blogs in book form (blooks). I told her I one day want to publish this blog and call it "The Best of The Best of What's Left."

So Jan, if you're reading this, please consider my shameless self-promotion. Like every other faux pas I commit, it's done with the best of intentions.

So it was a rare experience, one I won't forget (at least until the Alzheimer's fully kicks in). Kind of motivates me to write that book I've been mulling around. Not the blog book, a different one. Most of the people you meet in the blog would be in it. Even Saps. I've written three pages already. Only 947 to go...

This Should Be Good

Some of you know the story. But without having to search back through five hundred posts here it is:

About a year or so ago I posted a poem entitled "Live With Intention" by mary anne radmacher (she doesn't like to use capital letters, OK?). AND I made a crack about how she was probably 106 years old and her idea of living on the edge was to skip her Metamucil for a day.

A little while later this very same mary anne radmacher e-mails me! Of course she took umbrage at my remark (justifiably it turns out). She's not even as old as me. She had Googled her own name and found this blog. It also turns out she was under contract to write a book and after reading the eloquent prose of my many musings wanted to ask if I would contribute to the book.

Anyone who knows me knows, as modest as I am, I still will always (usually) leap at the chance to do something a tad askew from the normal daily crapola.

So I wrote. And I have to say I was pretty pleased with what I wrote. So was she and even more astonishingly so were the editors. My story made the final cut, unlike my attempt to get on "Survivor," which is a whole 'nother yarn.

So this weekend is the big coming out party (I don't know what they actually call it) of the book, which is titled "Lean forward into your Life"(available on Amazon for $10.88 plus shipping. Follow the link.). This soiree will be at the William Jefferson Clinton (remember, our last actual President?) Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. I'm flying down tomorrow. It'll be the first face-to-face for mary anne and me. Guess I'm actually supposed to "do" a reading of my bit.

So BUY THE BOOK! Hey, I'm not making anything on it so don't expect a free copy from me. If you're too cheap to spring eleven bucks you won't appreciate it anyway.