Well, Duh!

I had to laugh when I read the headline for a story in The Wall Street Journal yesterday: Corruption Suspected in Airlift Of Billions in Cash From Kabul. We are well aware that we are supporting a very corrupt government headed by Hamid Karzai. We are well aware that his brother is one of the biggest offenders with his connections to the opium trade.

So why is it that suddenly officials are surprised that the millions of U.S. dollars packed in suitcases and stacked on pallets at the airport for transfer elsewhere might just be tied to corruption? Especially when much of it is slated for banks in Dubai?

What really frosts me and seems to be forgotten by the powers that be, this is U.S. taxpayer money. Yours and mine! You know, the money sent to create the jobs we don't have here, to build the infrastructure there while ours is falling apart, schools, hospitals.

It goes into Afghanistan as aid. It goes out as bribes. It's all perfectly legal with no accountability. They are shocked, shocked that it might be due to corrupt activity!

There is a new general in charge now to fight this useless war. We're told the ambassador, the special emissary and the State Department will no longer butt heads with the military and that the soldiers may again be permitted to defend themselves. That's all fine and dandy but it will be meaningless if in the end Karzai and his ilk will follow the money, our money, to their secret accounts in Dubai and elsewhere and ultimately leave the country to the Taliban.

Should that happen our entire government should be charged with aiding and abetting the enemy. After all it is our money making it all possible!

Animals At Risk In Their Own Home!

I hate to say I told you so, but I did. Often. Before legislation passed allowing people to carry guns in our National Parks. My fear was the animals, and at some point other humans, will be at risk of being shot.

I was right. Friday a grizzly was shot and killed by hikers in Denali National Park. By a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol.

According to the law you are allowed to carry them but not discharge them. What kind of law is that? Anyone feeling threatened, justified or not is likely to pull the gun and use it as easily as the police taser old ladies confined to bed!

That has happened too. In Glacier a woman discharged a .357 magnum into the ground to frighten off what she deemed an aggressive white tail deer. Being attracted to salt including that in human sweat, the deer probably only wanted a taste! She was given a warning because she wasn't facing imminent danger.

It's nearly July. Vacation season is in full swing. The National Parks, which I believe are a haven for wild life, will be full of enthusiastic people wanting to experience the adventure. Great scenery. Exhilarating fresh air. Wild life in their natural setting.

Somehow guns on the hips of these people is offensive to me. It encourages carelessness. They don't have to bother knowing why a deer might be aggressive or that there may be better ways to avoid a confrontation with a bear when you've but heard a rustle in the bushes!

The estimated population of bears in that part of the park is between 300 and 350. Now there is one less. The incident is being investigated. I just hope it wasn't a female trying to protect her cubs.

What a bad piece of legislation. I absolutely dread the body count. Deer, bears. Rabbits may be next. They rustle the bushes too.

Ahhhh Choo!

For those of you who don't live in Cottonwood country, this is what aggravates our allergies. This was taken a couple of days ago. Today we couldn't even see the grass. It looks just like someone trashed the yard with cotton balls.

Fortunately I'm not bothered by it. It's not like I don't have enough to contend with considering my back side and all! For those of us not bothered it's fun, but for those who are it's miserable. So here's to winds in the willows and everywhere else to blow it away!

What Do We Have To Do?

The public is furious about health care. Even more so when they saw the size of the bill and found many in Congress admitted they hadn't read it. Remember Nancy Pelosi telling us as soon as it was passed we'd find out what was in it?

How many months have passed? The public still doesn't like it even as the President is assuming the power to change things.

So now it's financial reform. Another two thousand page monstrosity. What's in this one? You guessed it. No one knows. They really don't get it. Yet Christopher Dodd who headed the effort had this to say according to the Washington Post.

"It's a great moment. I'm proud to have been here," said a teary-eyed Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), who as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee led the effort in the Senate. "No one will know until this is actually in place how it works. But we believe we've done something that has been needed for a long time. It took a crisis to bring us to the point where we could actually get this job done."

I'm getting tired of the way these yahoos conduct business. How much pork are we going to find in this bill? How many 'Louisiana Purchases' or bribes like Ben Nelson from Nebraska negotiated? Be sure they're in there.

You know what we get with sloppy legislation? We get six year old girls on the no fly list and can't find out why or how to get off. We get police tasering an 86 year old bed ridden woman.

What's to be done when we're told it's the way Congress works. Period. Live with it. I guess I will but it would be nice to know what it is before rather than after the fact!

When Sciatica Isn't Sciatica

For five years and counting I've been going to doctors trying to find out what has been causing nearly debilitating pain through my buttocks and down my leg. As years passed the pain increased and crept steadily down my leg to the point where my knee doesn't work without a wince of pain and pause to let it pass.

Five years. I think I've taken every muscle relaxant, anti-inflammatory and pain killer known to man. All to no avail. Everyone was convinced it was a back problem and I was convinced it wasn't since the pain emanated from my hip. Finally, my pain doctor, who is an anesthesiologist by training, and my acupuncturist told me it was indeed not a back problem. It was a muscle and nerve problem. Something called Piriformis Syndrome. A malady where the piriformis muscle is pinching the sciatic nerve. I apparently am a text book case.

Five years. My family practitioner at the outset told me nothing showed on the x-ray so there was really nothing to treat. A specialist had looked at an MRI and found some torn muscles in the region but nothing on which to perform to do surgery so take a pill and call in a month. Chiropractors, massage therapists. physical therapy - no one focused on the area I insisted was where the pain began.

Five years. An anesthesiologist and an acupuncturist. Even with the pain specialist I've gone through a pot full of pills and shots to no avail. It took awhile to pin point the problem though I think I explained it as well as the journal he showed me. One more shot is on tap. Botox. Hub is having a fine time with that one. Botox in my butt! It is funny. The pain isn't. The theory is that Botox will relax the muscle big time and release the pinch in the nerve. One hopes! Meantime physical therapy, especially stretches of that muscle, continues on and on and on.

Five years of having my life like nickel and dimed away by a lack of diagnosis and ineffective treatment. Funny, there is so much about the ailment on the Internet you'd think the doctors would have thought of it! Talk about having to be master of yourself and tenacious! If you don't want to settle for "there's nothing there" you've got to push and push and push.

One more shot. I hope it's not in the dark.

Not So McChrystal Clear

Subordination, it was said. Not as much as sheer stupidity. Having read the Rolling Stone article, I found the offensive comments to be no more than what most of the military who are frustrated with these unending conflicts might say to one another in their bull sessions. To relay it to a reporter is sheer stupidity. Or is it?

McChrystal surely marches to his own drummer just as does our President. As a military man, however, the President is his Commander-In-Chief. He is to serve. Not critique unless asked to do so. Which I'm certain he was on many occasions. Coming up on the short end of his requests, I wonder if this whole episode was designed to make public just what the upper echelons of the military think of the ambassadors, the Vice President and even the President. The whole mess. Even at the cost of a career. Never mind that he'll make millions on the lecture circuit.

McChrystal wasn't my favorite General. He was the one who decided to do away with the base fast food outlets that were such a reminder of home for the troops. It was under his command that the troops were to be awarded medals for restraint. Don't shoot unless you're sure a body is really a combatant. Come on! That's no way to fight a war. WAR!

Regardless of my opinion, McChrystal is a General of some note. The President can ill afford to be shown as weak or wrong, especially with his ratings as low as they are. He can accomplish that all by himself. It is not the General's place to do so. Discipline is essential. Chain of command is essential.

The days of Patton and Montgomery as showboating military leaders are long gone. War has been politicized to the extent, just like Obama's commission on the oil spill, that there are too many fingers with no appropriate expertise in the pie. Obama promised to listen to his generals. He may have listened but he didn't hear. The McChrystal incident shows the outcome of the thinking because of it.

For better or worse, the war is now truly Obama's. He can no longer blame any of it on Bush. The generals are his, the ambassadors are his and the strategy is his. What he now needs to do is get them on the same playing field and quit letting Karzai captain the team.

Who's Lying?

You cannot prove a negative. Senator John Kyl, R-AZ, said at a recent town hall meeting that he had a meeting with the President in the Oval Office where no one else was present.

The topic was border security. Supposedly the President told him that if the border was secured he'd have no leverage with Republicans for comprehensive immigration reform. The White House has said the President said no such thing. One of them is lying. It has come to this. What a disgustingly sad state of affairs.

But let's look at it. We know the Republicans and the administration are on different planets on this. The Republicans want to do it piece meal. Secure the borders then tackle what to do with the illegals already in the country. The Democrats want to do it in one fell swoop.

First of all, we have no idea if the President was really this candid or not if no one else was present. Therefore the White House denial holds no weight. On the other hand I can't imagine the President being quite so up front with a member of the opposition, even in private. Kyl, on the other hand can't prove the President actually said what he is attributing to him. In my opinion that makes it a wash.

We know from experience the President is not the "decider" Bush was. Right or wrong. Telling Larry King, of all people, We've already put more resources into border security than we ever have." doesn't mean squat when the illegals are still streaming across the border. More does not equate with doing what the law requires. Suing the state for trying to pick up the slack doesn't either.

Knowing the administration is for comprehensive reform or nothing it would seem Kyl's recollection of the conversation bears consideration. That the President would tip his hand that he plans to use border security as a bribe for votes seems unlikely though I have no doubt that is the game plan.

That either should lie about it or deny the substance of it is of value only if the administration thinks it can bully comprehensive reform through just as they did health care. Looking at how many Democrats are defecting on lesser issues and you'll see the flaw in that thinking.

I have little respect left for either side on a host of issues at this point. Incidences like this don't help. It just sticks in my craw that we have to play the "did too", "did not" game on such important issues.

When the President indicated that if the CEO of BP worked for him he'd be fired because of his handling of the oil spill, I might remind him that he works for me. Enough said.

To Fathers Everywhere

In honor of Father's Day, I'm going to give the President a break. Fathering seems to be a skill he does well and I'm sure his girls have a special day planned for him.

Fathers. It's one staple in life the whole world shares. No matter your race, nationality nor religion, there are Fathers. They are the lesser heralded of the parenting duo. Most likely because, at least when I grew up, they were around far less than Mom. Today that may not be as true with the numbers of duel income families.

We should be thankful we live in culture where parenting is celebrated. Where family is still important and we strive mightily to keep the unit a strong one.

Think of what it must have been like back during the days of Hitler Youth when children were dressed up in uniforms like the tin soldiers they were to emulate and encouraged to "snitch" on their parents. Most often their fathers.

In some ways things have not changed. Somewhere in the world the family unit is always breaking down over ideology. In Iraq this past week in Iraq a son shot his father to death because he refused to quit his job as a translator for the U.S. This was no mere child. He was a 30 year old man along with his 24 year old brother and a cousin, 19.

History repeats itself. Causes, no matter how ignoble, will always be sold to the vulnerable. I hope fathers who don't live within those cultures realize how fortunate they are and are the better for it. It is tragic when son turns against father for somewhere along the way the family unit has broken down.

I loved my father and though gone these many, many years, I still miss him. His patience, generosity and strength of character. His arms around me when I was sad or scared or sick or just for the heck of it. I was so lucky to have had him. He deserved every ounce of love that came his way.

The World Against The Government!

To listen to President Obama tell it everyone from BP to the auto industry, Wall Street and the health insurance companies are all against him, him being the government. As Daniel Henninger spells it out in this morning's Wall Street Journal he's making it personal. It's a glimpse into the mind of a man who seems increasingly angry. In the President of the United States, I'm finding it uncomfortable, to say the least.

Laws seem to be of little interest to him when he decides to take action. There is no law supporting his demand of British Petroleum and when the White House was asked, the questioners were told no law was necessary. There was no law to support his firing the President of GM.

We're going in the wrong direction here. It's not just the administration, nor just this one, but this one is the one in power. Include Congress. Of what possible value is today's grilling of Tony Hayward other than to allow the panel to posture and humiliate Mr. Hayward. Well, one thing it did do was, as usual, showcase the lack of knowledge Congressmen have about the issues at hand.

Yet they must be seen to be doing something. This is where we have a graphic example of just why the President's quest for bigger government is a flawed idea! The Coast Guard, Corp of Engineers, Salazar and Napolitano have done little but stumble all over one another. The end result is chaos.

At the head of the table sits the President. "Put a six month moratorium on all deep water drilling! BP can't pay their dividends! I'm tough. I'm in charge."

Whoa Nelly! Was any thought given to the consequences? Dividends are not like executive bonuses, for crying out loud. They go to investors, many of which are pension funds. Even rich ones like Obama's unions could be hurt.

As for the moratorium on drilling, an lot of jobs for those suffering Gulf states go away. It isn't the tourism business or fishing that generates the big bucks. It's oil . It isn't call it black gold for nothing. There is one other kicker. Other oil companies aren't going to let those rigs sit idle for six months. They'll be moved and just try getting them back. In truth I don't think Obama cares. I don't think he wants them.

The other kicker is how the world views all of this. We had dinner with friends from England last week and they had no kind words to say about our President and his ways. Companies considering U.S. operations may think twice. They see how he's treated the auto industry, banks and Wall Street. How health care was ramrodded through. They see how he's treated Toyota yet what have you heard about the recent recalls at GM? Is Obama Motors exempt from the press? They're looking at this BP business and thinking maybe not.

The President made a point of apologizing for all sins American from years past on a world wide tour. Who's going to apologize for what he and his Congress are doing to us?

Some Men Lead, Then There Are Others...

I remember when I was doing publicity for a charity many years ago. The president of the organization intrigued me. The position was held by a lady, very attractive and very distant. Unlike what you would expect a leader to be. No rah, rah cheering on the army of volunteers, but rather a distant, cool persona. After a while I realized why. She hadn't a clue as to how to do her job.

That's how I'm seeing Obama these days. He seems to be two dimensional. He is either apologizing to our friends and enemies alike for sins past, or bullying them. There is no touch. No finesse. Nothing that a true leader usually displays. As I've observed before, he seems to have a penchant for playing catch up while trying to disguise it with bravado.

He's getting what he wants - more and more government intervention. If anyone is more clueless than Obama it's government and it's layer upon layer of bureaucracy. I honestly felt the politicizing of his speech to the nation last night was disgraceful and an insult to all the people, be they small entrepreneurs or large corporate enterprises who stepped forward at the onset offering help.

Where was the apology for not having the government's emergency plan staffed, equipped and ready to respond? Don't blame Bush. Flowery speeches and the consumption of snow cones does not a leader make. Yeah, he seems a nice enough guy but he's Peter principled out. He wanted the job, he got it, but it seems more than he can handle. I don't recall at the moment who said he seems paralyzed when it comes to decision making, but he does, so commissions are formed and another czar appointed.

In some ways I'm glad he's the way he is. The dreamer. Enough damage has already been done to our country by those who know how to control him. Were he more effective matters could be even worse.

The one man who has stood out as far as having passion is Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal. He is engaged, he is angry. He has been acting like a leader. He has not been afraid of taking on the government's response. Or lack thereof.

Ahem, Republicans. You're looking for a face to put on that figure of leadership you so desperately need. You might give him a more serious look. One bad speech shouldn't end one's career. Don't get hung up on how far to the right he is or isn't but observe what the man does in the face of crisis. Stepping in to salvage what should have been the government's responsibility has him looking worthy of consideration to me.

Can This War Be Won?

Does anyone remember exactly what the war in Afghanistan is all about? Is it to keep the Taliban from regaining it's leadership? Is it to dismantle al Qaeda? Is it to find the ever elusive Bin Laden?

I do know we've spent a lot of time pacifying Karzai. We've made it a fight by permission to appease his complaints about civilian deaths. We've kept his corrupt government in place and are allowing them to negotiate with the Taliban. Excuse me. Negotiate just what? I've never quite been able to figure that out.

Now I learn in this morning's paper that he's okayed a major security crackdown in Khandahar, birthplace of the Taliban! The half million people living in the region are scared it will bring more bloodshed. Bet on it. Yet he makes a public relations tour trying to get them to put aside their fears. Right.

What isn't clear to me is just who the crackdown is aimed. Insurgents. Would that be al Qaeda or Taliban? Criminals. Does that include Karzai's thugs? Wealthy power brokers. They could be just about anyone. What a impressive task they've set for themselves. I hope no civilians are harmed. I'm not sure criminals and power brokers are not civilians!

On the other side of the coin a report says Pakistan is arming and training the Taliban. Strange bedfellows for a U.S. ally. They of course deny it. Never the less, it is known that Pakistan intelligence agencies have kept contact with the Taliban just as their government supposedly denounces them. Talk about forked tongue!

Meanwhile our troops continue to be killed. Today is flag day. Ours is flying. My hope it is one day it will fly to honor those who served, past tense, rather than those who continue to serve and die. For what?

How

I've come to the conclusion that we're missing a point in this season of primaries. That would be the "how". And not the cliched Indian greeting!

Dissatisfaction with and disappointment in the Obama administration and Congress in general has the lynch mobs calling to throw all the bums out, no matter which party. There are legislators who are pretty thorough in their decision making process and actually have the people in mind before themselves. Their problem is they can't seem to band together in numbers enough to overcome partisanship.

Now people are being unseated merely because they are incumbents. Not wise. Having been bouncing around this part of the country of late I've had the chance to browse some newspapers I usually don't see. It seems all the same. So and so's a bum, elect me. I'm against this, this and this. I'm for not much of anything.

But if they are for something, no one is saying how they would expect to achieve their goals. Never mind that the lofty idea of one politician hasn't a chance to even get a hearing, especially if said politician is a newbie. But other than that, how often have you ever heard the "how"?

We had better start pinning them down. I don't see a lot of substance in many of the Tea Party favorites that are winning primaries. Take the race in Nevada for instance. Harry Reid had everything but his rump out the door but the Republicans elected the weakest of the candidates vying for the nomination to run against him. She is a Tea Party favorite. In all that I've read, I don't see what she actually brings to the table. It would be nice to unseat Reid but I don't see it happening now.

If we really want to put the skids on this run-a-way administration we had better get off our "any body but" mode and start looking for candidates who actually have some ideas as to how to make things work rather than listening to no more than the same tired slogans.

There certainly must be some truly able out there. Aren't there?

Red, White or Blue?

The catch up work is on hold. The weather is just not cooperating. Plus I had a birthday thrown in so Hub has given me a reprieve on my hiatus from blogging!

We met some good friends in south central Washington for a couple of days of wine tasting. Some of the wineries have a concept that is relatively new, in my context, and eminently workable. Little "villages" with a cluster of a half dozen or so wineries all within walking distance. It was great. We tasted wines we'd probably have by passed had we been driving from winery to winery - as we did in some areas. We found some real treasures in so doing.

It was quite nice to have a drizzly week day. Not many people were out and about so the servers had ample time to tell us about their wines. Being on meds I kept my tasting to nothing more than small sips but it was enough to give a thumbs up or down. And to get relaxed enough to join in laughter and camaraderie that is typical. It was just a lot of fun.

Maybe the best part for me, with limited ability to consume, was the number of tasting rooms that had dogs as greeters. It was funny, but I was the first each and every one came to as we entered. I guess they sensed I needed a "doggy fix" more than I needed a taste! They were right.

We tasted some great reds and whites and the pups sure chased away my blues!

No Rest For The Weary

The house and the yard finally caught up with me! Planting between rain showers then mowing and more mowing. Then doctors appointments and acupuncture! Sheesh! I promised Hub no more blogging until we're caught up. The first of next week no doubt!

I'm happy to announce, however, that all three nests I've told you about have babies! Can't wait until they emerge. See you soon.

A Ray Of Sunshine

The weather has been gray, wet and chilly. I ache more and my mood reflects it. Gray. The news has been so black (no pun intended about oil) I've not felt like commenting on it. Even the birds around here are gray. Or brown. Except the occasional Meadowlark or Western Bluebird. Even they aren't as colorful as their eastern cousins.

I miss having my dear old Bacchus to dote on so I've been taking particular delight with the onslaught of baby birds. The shrubs surrounding our house have become an entire neighborhood for them. At last count I found two Blackbird nests and one Robin's all full of new borns. There was the Killdeer nest with young a few weeks back. I take my life in my hands from protective parents when I get anywhere near. Lawn mowing has become quite a challenge. But you know what? They too are, well, gray.

So imagine my delight this morning as I looked out the window to see if the rain had eased enough to check on the plants in my green house. A rustle of wings and swaying of branches in a willow and a small bird appeared. Then another. And they weren't gray! They were brilliant. They were beautiful. I rushed to the den and dug out my bird book and hurried through the pages.

Western Tanagers. Oh, how I hope they become part of the 'hood!

The Wisdom Of The Aged!

Jim Hightower's column on Grannies For Peace recently caught my attention. I read anything I see on seniors, especially women, making a difference!

In this particular case, it's a group of New Yorkers, not all women but mostly so. Not all seniors but mostly so. They range from a few in their fifties on up to their nineties. Many belong to various antiwar groups with "grannies" in their titles. Indeed, there are a lot of them all over the country. Research on the web can be a learning experience if you want it to be!

This particular group really intrigues me. They have gathered for over 330 consecutive Wednesdays, in every type of weather imaginable, to protest the Iraq and Afghanistan wars! They come while battling cancer, on their way to various appointments, on canes and walkers. They carry placards and hand out anti-war leaflets and chant "Bring our troops home - alive!" They tolerate tourists taking their pictures and commenting about "how cute" they are all because it gets the people's attention. It engages them. We should get as much from our government.

I think of the collective wisdom of this gathering of aging patriots, and patriots they are. If they feel that strongly about these wars, there's something to be said. Their wisdom comes from lives lived long. That they remain physically able to pursue their vigil week in and week out is awe inspiring; that they feel so strongly is awe inspiring, that they actually do it is awe inspiring.

How long has it been since your awe was inspired?

Those Who Can, Do; Those Who Can't, Posture

What possible good can come from the government suing BP? I'm by no means absolving them from a share of the fault for the massive leak, but they are by no means solely responsible. If the U.S. hadn't been swayed by the enviros and their faulty science the oil companies wouldn't have needed to seek deeper and deeper locations in which to drill.

If, indeed, the administration was on top of the disaster from the beginning, why didn't they make it public? Saying the Coast Guard was there isn't the same thing and they had nothing to do with what was happening on and beneath the rig anyway. Obama, I believe, was greeting the Duke Blue Devils. I don't see much difference between the way this administration has handled this issue than the way Bush handled Katrina.

Let's face it. Those taking the brunt of the responsibility and biggest financial hit is BP and those involved with them in the drilling. The blow out wasn't anticipated. What exactly happened, if short cuts and procedures were shaved, at this point is all speculation. Accidents happen. Not to lessen the impact on the natural environment and those who's livings depend on use of the sea and it's products, it hasn't been a romp in the park for BP or the industry as a whole either. Their stock has plummeted leaving scores of stockholders in the dump. Their bottom line is fractured with the cost of trying to fix the leak and then the clean up required afterwards. A law suit would only drain those resources further.

Maybe Obama is infuriated and frustrated with the time it's taking for a fix. If the emergency plan that was in place had been functional, perhaps matters wouldn't have gotten so bad. Who is to blame for the equipment needed for the plan not being in place? Certainly not BP! Give the petroleum industry, those who have the knowledge and expertise in the field, space to figure it out and get it done.

The government and the justice department would do well to just stay out of the way until the problem is resolved and the clean up finished. Plenty of time for recriminations then. Is there an oil man among them? Not Salazar. Not Napolitano. Certainly not Obama.

Right now would be a good time for the government to do what it does best. Nothing.