The War on Terror

It's very handy to have a few wars going on--great for assuming extra powers and for one's legacy. But as regards terrorism, the caption is part of the problem. Terrorist attacks are criminal acts, not acts of war, and the appropriate response is to mobilize international law, not military violence. Justice, not vengeance. And for that we need friends all over the world.

Thanksgiving Day and War

On Thanksgiving Day, after two days of houseguests, I'm ba-a-a-ck. My first message for the day is that I'm tremendously thankful!!!!
My second message doesn't fit very well, but it's on my mind. It's about the Iraq War. A story in the Rocky Mountain News headlined "Why we must get out" (by H.H.S. Greemway), says" The Iraq state is a Humpty Dumpty that that is beyond the ability of the United States to put together again. Only Iraqis can do that, and the presence of American forces might actually be a disincentive to ethnic and sectarian compromise." My gosh! My sentiments exactly. I'm so happy that the media and opinion-makers are beginning to reflect that view. Sure took a long time. Why??? Even before the US invaded I wrote Sen. Tom Daschle, Sen. minority leader, (and others) urging him to oppose invasion. Such an easy call. I find it hard to believe that so many Democrats voted for it. Even, and especially, John Kerry. He certainly should have known better.
In any case, the media are beginning to print a little more than the administration line. After 5 years of sadness and depression about the state of our country, I'm beginning to feel some hope.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Just a brief review today of seeing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir last night at the Pepsi Center, neither of which I'd seen before in person. They are indeed remarkable. There are 360 singers, and they serve as volunteers, without pay. They perform so much that this presumably means that they must have independent means because it is unlikely that they would have time to have a job. Their first performance in Denver was in 1893--which was also their first performance outside of Utah--on their way to a performance at the Chicago World's Fair.
I found the Pepsi Center worthy of comment too. If I heard it right, it holds about 30,000 and it was sold out, with proceeds going to the National Sports Center for the Disabled. On the screen we were treated to seeing disabled contestants doing such feats as ice skating on one leg and riding a bicycle, pedaling with one leg.

Gary Hart and Church and State`

In yesterday's blog I mentioned a news item about Nixon. Today I'd like to quote him exactly (from the documents just released): "Publicly, we say one thing," he told aides, "Actually, we do another."
Today I have just one comment. Gary Hart has written a book called God and Caesar in America. Sounds like a must-read.

Today

Hello. It's snowing (I love it seeing I don't have to drive anywhere) and NPR is talking to someone about Naropa University and Jack Kerouac and Alan Ginsberg, and I'm contemplating finishing my Eventide book today (what a luxury to be able to read if I want to and decide to just ignore my to-do list), while always in the back of my mind I'm wondering how this country is going to survive more than 3 more years of Dubya. A story in the morning paper about the release of 50,000 pages of Nixon's papers quotes him (Nixon) as instructing his staff that he was going to say one thing and do the opposite, like from now on--this brought to mind Dubya talking about how the Democrats are distorting his reasons for the Iraq invasion. I think he grew up thinking that lying was normal. I've always presumed he could pass a lie detector test because that's the way he thinks and operates and has probably done all his life.

Novels

I'm now reading Eventide, by Kent Haruf, our book club selection, and finding it worthwhile. (Although I'm wondering if no fiction can have a happy ending anymore, or even anything good happening. So far there's been nothing but disaster.) I'm finding very little fiction these days that says anything to me, which makes me greatly prefer non-fiction, where there are a million things I just can't wait to read. I did, however, think The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown was an all-time great. And Cold Country (author?) was also excellent.

Clyde Prestowitz books again

Prestowitz's Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions (2003) is a strong attack on the direction America is taking, all the more remarkable because Prestowitz was a counselor to the Secretary of Commerce in the Reagan Administration. He is extremely knowledgeable. His most recent book (2005), Three Billion New Capitalists: The Great Shift of Wealth and Power to the East, is a comprehensive statement of what ought to be done now in the world. The "new capitalists" of wh0m he speaks are 1.3 billion Chinese, about 1.1 billion Indians, and about 600 million from the former Soviet Union. His analyses of each country is impressive, reflecting as it does his remarkable ability to stand back and look at a nation seemingly without prejudice or ideological predilection.

Books I'm reading

I've just finished a couple of books by Clyde Prestowitz that I've found pretty impressive. He's an expert in international trade and is not at all happy about what's going on even though he was an official in the Reagan administration.

Introducing Myself

I’m almost 84, a widow living in Denver and still excited about life. My macular degeneration rules out driving but I can still read.

My background includes voting for Roosevelt in 1944, teaching Link Trainer in the WAVES in World War II, marriage to an Economics Professor at the University of Denver, raising three children, studying everywhere I could, including at the Sorbonne and the Institute of Political Studies at the University of Paris, at the University of Texas at Austin, and at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where I finally earned a Ph.D. at age 64. Also teaching part-time at various colleges.

In my retirement I write about economics and politics and cause as much trouble as I can. My goal in life? To learn as much as possible about the human condition before I die, and to have fun writing and talking about it along the way.

My Introduction

I'm a poor old half blind widow. :)