FOR AULD LANG SYNE

It's resolution time, a last shot from 2009 for 2010:

May the stimulus and the bankers work in concert to restart the economy and jobs, jobs, jobs.

May we begin to see cooperation and a united front of action between Homeland Security and all the governmental agencies involved in terrorism so that the left hand will know what the right is doing.


May we see the beginning of peace in the Middle East, a decrease in the appeal of the radical Muslim elements, progress in Afghanistan and withdrawal from Iraq.


On a personal note:


May I finish my office in the basement of our house.


May my kids all keep working and/or find new jobs.

May the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Reds make me proud again.

I don't want to be greedy. These will do for openers.

HAPPY NEW YEAR,

A VERBAL SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD

Better than any words I can pen is this clever poem from the Financial Times. It sums up a lot of my frustrations with "The Wonderful World of High Finance". My English sister-in-law sent it to me---thank you, Angela!

Here's the link---enjoy!

And Happy New Year!

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d3977b0e-f3eb-11de-ac55-00144feab49a,_i_email=y.html

LOOKING BACK AND HOPING FORWARD

It's that frenzied time of year with everyone scurrying to be ready for Christmas and to clean up end-of-year details. It is also a time to be retrospective.

2009 has been, to understate it, challenging and scary. The economy, although suppposedly showing signs of a revived pulse, is still suffering severe unemployment, foreclosures and heart-rending economic problems for many families. The health care issue and the machinations thereof in Congress are mind-boggling, and I, for one, don't know what the hell kind of plan we are going to end up with. Our new President is besieged with these problems, intensified by a right-wing of naysayers who fight him on almost every initiative and offer little in the way of even minimal cooperation. He has stumbled on several occasions of his own doing and suffered sometime from overexposure. Recently he has righted himself and shown signs of assertive leadership.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, especially the latter, are deep thorns in our sides, bleeding and paining us. Reluctantly, I accept the President's decision to increase the troop levels and pray that the tactics will work. At this point, to pull out completely would only exacerbate the problems of the Middle East and Asia. Iran and Israel are powder kegs. The extreme factions of the Muslim world continue to create deep divisions and problems for the world. It ain't a pretty picture...

As a member of the "glass half-full" school of positive thinking, I still hope that American leadership in the world can and will prevail. My most fervent wish for the New Year is that we can find a way to bury our divisions and work together to deal with our many domestic and international problems. In the words of Hamlet, "Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished."

Happy holidays to you all.

TWISTING THE TIGER'S TAIL (OR TALE)

Enough already! Don't you think the subject of Tiger Wood's "transgressions" or infidelities has been exhausted? Even if thirty-two new amoratae surface to stir the sexpot even more, so what's new?

I guess it's human nature for us lesser mortals to enjoy the downfall of a man "from high estate", Aristotle's definition of tragedy. We love to roll in it, smear it around and toss it back and forth. I don't justify his behaviour, but not many of us have been icons of sport and public notice and exposed to the temptations in and scrutiny of our private lives such as he has endured.

O.K., we've all had our laughs, made our little jokes and cackled. Now let the man try to piece his marriage back together and get on with a very changed life. It's going to be a long and rocky trip, I suspect---and probably expensive, as well.

I wonder what it will do to his game...

IT'S GOOD TO BE A PROUD AMERICAN AGAIN

I quote our President in his eloquent and historic Nobel Prize acceptamce speech:

"I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people.
A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.
I raise this point because in many countries there is a deep ambivalence about military action today, no matter the cause. At times, this is joined by a reflexive suspicion of America, the world's sole military superpower.

Yet the world must remember that it was not simply international institutions not just treaties and declarationst that brought stability to a post-World War II world. Whatever mistakes we have made, the plain fact is this: the United States of America has helped underwrite global security for more than six decades with the blood of our citizens and the strength of our arms.
So yes, the instruments of war do have a role to play in preserving the peace. And yet this truth must coexist with another that no matter how justified, war promises human tragedy. The soldier's courage and sacrifice is full of glory, expressing devotion to country, to cause and to comrades in arms. But war itself is never glorious, and we must never trumpet it as such."

Once again, at a crucial moment, Barack Obama stood up and said what needed to be said, much as he did when the time came to face the "race" problem during his Presidential campaign when he delivered another profound and encompassing analysis of the problem. His Oslo speech was deeply philosophic, wide ranging, and combined idealism with pragmatism. As one would expect, it was not greeted with tumultuous applause with a basically pacifistic audience who, as he noted, were highly suspicious of American past action. Agree with him or not, he was a statesman who stated his position with dignity, erudition and honor.

I hope you were as proud of him as I.

MY CHRISTMAS SPORTS WISH LIST

I wish:

Serena Williams would shut the f---- up and pay her fine.

Coaches would stop yakking about their “student athletes” and just call a spade a spade--- trainees for the N.F.L, N.B.A. and M.L.B.

The N.C.A.A. would cut the B.C.S. bullshit and go to an 8-team playoff by cutting the regular season to 10 or 11 games and then holding playoffs the next two weeks and the championship on New Year’s (or thereabout).

Replays were part of every major sport---but with reasonable limits.

Sports writers were limited to 200 words or less per articles.

TV Sports commentators would appreciate the golden sound of occasional silence.

The tennis season was shortened by two months.

Baseball would go back to 154 games so the season won’t creep into November.

Baseball would stop calling it “The World Series” and call it “The National Championship Series (N.C.S.)---unless they invite international teams, like Cuba and Japan, and play it off.

Teachers could be paid at least 10% of professional athletes’ salaries.

Tiger Woods would keep his woods (and long irons) in his pants.

All of us interested and/or involved in sports could remember it’s still a game and not critical to life support.

That’ll do for starters.

HOBSON'S CHOICE

Finally, the long wait is over and the President has made known his proposed Afghanistan policy. It was a good speech, delivered with authority and credibility, that of a man who has been through a long deliberative process from which he has forged his plan.


As expected and totally predictable, critics from the right and left used their blowguns to assault this "no-win-no-clear-moral imperative" policy. Whatever the President says, he is wrong to somebody. One critic referred to "platitudes"; another to "same old, same old".


I respect John McCain's concern that putting a timetable on our withdrawal can play into the Taliban's hands. On the other hand, if the President failed to make clear some kind of exit strategy, he would play into the hands of the increasing numbers against the continuation of the war, not to mention putting the current Afghan administration on notice that they are expected to maximize their efforts to deal with their problems in an efficient, non-corruptive way.


You have "the minimalists" who think we should do as little as possible in American involvement and emphasize playing up to creating divisions in the war lords to fight the Taliban on a local level. The Vice-President and Tom Friedman, to name two, both with international expertise, seem to favor this course of action. On the other extreme, you have General McChrystal and many Republican hawks, who think 40,000 troops a necessity. (I might add, if Obama had said 40,000, then many Republicans would have probably opted for 50,000! Whatever he suggests is automatically wrong.)


Involving and working with Pakistan, making them "partners", as the President stated, is essential. If we don't have their total support in pursuing the Taliban and Al-Quaeda operatives who find safe haven in the hill country next to Afghanistan, we can't possibly change the course of this war.


Equally essential is the deeper involvement of the other NATO forces to take on a larger share of troop responsibility. I note that Nicholas Sarkozy refuses to involve French troops. I wonder what he would do if the disproportionately large Muslim population of France suddenly created even deeper civil war in the form of suicide bombings in Paris, for example.


It is truly Hobson's Choice with no clear facile answers. I think we need to give the President our support and give this plan a fair chance.

ARE WE CREATING A CAMEL?

Here we go again. The big health care debate in the Senate is underway. A recent report from the Congressional Budget Office shows that the cost of health care for the vast majority of Americans will go down if the Senate bill is passed. Of course, the Republicans, as is their wont, find the one area of covered Americans whose premiums will rise and jump all over the bill with both feet. The fact that this one area represents less than 20% and that the other 80% will have their costs reduced doesn't mean crap to these negative thinkers.


I almost shudder when I contemplate what the final bill---if it ever passes---will look like when a zillion amendments and modifications are made to placate the majority. It will probably resemble the classic definition of a camel: a horse designed by a committee.


"Hope springs eternal in the human breast" is the watchword for all of us viewing from the sidelines. Let's hope we get something where the majority are covered and we can shed our reputation as the only major world power without a health plan.