STRICTLY FOR THE BIRDS

Periodically I like to keep you abreast of what is happening in our bird world.

As you may remember, if you have read this column for any length of time, we have a dead palm tree right next to our house, about fifteen or sixteen feet in height which has been inhabited for several years by red-crested woodpeckers. Later, we had a screech owl making his home there, but I don't think the woodpeckers made good neighbors, so he (or she) moved over to a neighboring strangler fig tree in front of our house. One of my neighbors had a creche outside his house at Christmas last year and came out one day to find the screech owl next to baby Jesus.

The woodpeckers are still going strong. Every morning , as I awaken around seven, I hear a drumming on the metal flashing around our chimney, and I know that one of the males is demonstrating his machismo. This drumming is to attract the females, just like some jock on a playing field preening and showing off for his chick. We put out some birdseed on a corner of our porch for our tenants as a neighborly gesture. One day I saw from our powder room window which overlooks the tree and that corner of the porch one of the females was partaking of the seed when a bigger male pileated woodpecker, whom I had never seen before or since, appeared and chased her away so he could eat. Then a crow arrived, and they eyed each other warily like a couple of old gunslingers before the pileated woodpecker moved on.

Then last week, as I was making my early morning potty call, what do I see out the window but a really big red-shouldered hawk, perched on top of the palm, surveying the kingdom. He was magnificent and looked every inch the part of the predator king of the neighborhood. One of my neighbors has seen him, and one day witnessed a fight for a fish between an osprey, an eagle and the hawk---and the hawk won that round!
I have seen him on the perch a couple of more times and called for my wife, but, by the time she got there, he was gone. Then, a couple of evenings ago, as we were backing out of the garage, lo and behold he was sitting on a telephone box on the edge of our property, and she got to see him before he swiftly winged off.

I haven't seen the woodpeckers for a few days, but I know they're around because of the drumming on the roof. I suspect they are still in the palm but lay low when the Godfather comes around.

I'm looking forward to new faces and new adventures in the bird kingdom. It's great entertainment!


P.S. My techie grandson came to visit and changed my music, which was overdue. Hope you like it. Go to the list below for your choice of ten.

BIRTHDAY MUSINGS

I turn 84 today and, in the timeless words of former Prime Minister Clement Atlee, when asked how it feels to be 80, he replied, "Considering the alternatives, it feels rather good". My back acts up occasionally, my arthritis flares---but I'm here and still have my mind--- I think.

I'm the same age as Joe Paterno, but I'm sure I will have a much better day than he. I had sense enough some years ago to realize that my prime was past and it was time to retire. Joe read too many of his press notices and stayed too long. A movement to encourage him to retire surfaced in 2004, but he rode it out. It's one thing to want to continue to contribute to the world and keep occupied, but you have to realize when the hour to hang it up has come. Joe's came some time ago. Now enforced retirement---firing under a euphemism---is the only course of action. and what is left has badly tarnished the reputation of a university and permanently scarred too many young lives. What an unecessary and tragic waste.

My friend, Grumpy, wrote one of his usually wry and perceptive commentaries the other day on Bill Clinton and how good that era was. He's right---to some extent---and I agree that Bill Clinton intellectually was extremely bright. (His wife may be even brighter...) Bill Clinton was also extremely lucky to come along at a time when economic forces were on the rise, and he was smart enough to let them run. But I also hold him responsible for assisting in making the moral compass go awry. The seeds of our increasing immorality were already there; he simply personified them at the highest level.

I'm not talking so much about sexual morality as ethical morality, our value system. Why can't we fudge the rules a bit if we can make an extra buck. Screw the little guy---what's he done for us recently? Maybe fought a few wars, but that's history. The brass rule, not the golden: do unto others before they do it unto you. Recent political and business facts of life bear out my concern.

Actually, I think the roots of this moral decay go back to the Nixon era and Watergate when the great disillusionment set in. Then came the Gipper's time: Ronald Reagan personally was a decent man,but his administration set the tone for a selfish individualism which stretched the rules---it's O.K. if it felt good and if it worked. It never got any better under later administrations.

I'm so old I can remember (barely) a time when, if you shook hands, you had a deal. Want to try that today?

Forgive the rantings of an old man. i would simply like, in my remaining years, to see a return to CIVILITY, the ability to agree or disagree by listening to each other when in discussion, I'd like to see HONESTY, facing up to truth and dealing with problems. I'd like to see MORALITY, living within ethical standards when we deal with each other.

As I blow out the candles (with several breaths, I'm sure), I'll make that my wish.

POWER PLAYS

Isn’t it amazing the recent rash of sexual allegations or, to use Bill Clinton’s classic adjective, “inappropriate” behaviour. First, Herman Cain gets accused of harassment and inappropriate advances which he has exacerbated by his clumsy handling of the whole situation. Now we get the sad and disgusting allegations against Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno’s longtime assistant and defensive specialist at Penn State, who has seemed to demonstrate another kind of specialty, accused of being a deviant sexual predator with young boys.

I’ve quoted before Henry Kissinger’s famous maxim, “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.” Being in a position of responsibility gives the perpetrator a sense of invulnerability---I’m powerful and can do what I want. And sometimes that works for the benefit of the power broker, but, then again, it can backfire.

It is incredible how unzipping your fly can create seismic world changes on occasions. Look at Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, Napoleon and Josephine, Paris and Helen of Troy, to name a few obvious world shakers and movers. Then there are the just plain tawdry ones like JFK and Marilyn (among others), Bill and Monica, Eliot and the D.C. hooker. That tiny portion of the total anatomy has a disproportionately huge effect on occasions.

I think the Sandusky accusations particularly sad and capable of sullying the reputation of a very fine university, State University of Pennsylvania, and their legendary coach, Joe Paterno. Paterno had nothing to do with the sordid mess, but it certainly appears that his casual handling of the problem does not reflect well on his judgment. He fulfilled his legal requirements, but I don’t think he fulfilled his moral responsibility. Maybe at his advanced age he just doesn’t want to deal with it, but that is not a solution or resolution of the problem. I thought Ohio State’s recent mess a classic in mishandling; now it is more than matched by Penn State with many young lives tragically affected.

Sometimes I despair at the amorality and immorality so prevalent today. Maybe it’s always been that way, but we seem to have more than our fair share these days. It can drive a man to drink.

Bartender, make it a double.

THE SILLY SEASON

Well, the world moves on, as population hits 7 billion. I’m glad I won’t be around in 2050 or so when it hits 20 billion! Sales of deodorant should hit new highs…

In the mean time, in our current world, we keep seeing the human comedy (or tragedy, depending on your viewpoint) whirling on like the merry-go-round life is. And the horses asses of the world continue as models of consistency.

I see that paragon of goodness and world benefactor, Kim Kardashian, is divorcing her husband, the N.B.A. Nets Kris Humphries after 72 days of marriage. Why was this not hard to predict? After the lavish and hyperbolic wedding, reality sets in. I hate to see marriage treated like a commodity on the market, bought and sold as the spirit moves you.

Congratulations to Michelle Bachman for her latest gem: that she doesn’t really care about the kids of emigrants being citizens. This woman invented foot-in-mouth disease. Ed Rollins, her former campaign manager, says she is “out of money and ideas”. Even the Tea Party don’t want her.

Congress and the Presidential candidates continue to put the emphasis on all the wrong concepts. Quit debating the health plan, emigration and tax formulae---just debate how to get jobs going and nudge the economy upward and onward. For once, put the good of the people ahead of partisan politics.

And the Super-Committee, charged with coming up with a fiscal plan to balance the budget ultimately, seems to be bogged down in partisan intransigence. Isn’t the idea of a bipartisan committee that both sides give a little? What am I missing?

And I note our dear friends, those pillars of American enterprise, the big banks, like Morgan Chase and B of A, are doing their usual p.r. miracles by charging fees for using debit cards---and then backpedaling furiously when the people---shock of shocks---revolt! Paul Volcker, the former fed Chairman and august pundit of matters economic, says the size of these banks need to be reduced and strict regulations applied. This man was one of your advisers, Mr. President, are you listening?

9-9-9 or solid 20. Come on, guys, get serious and really study improvements to the tax code. Cute gimmicky numbers aren’t the answer. Parry is spending too much time extricating his foot from his mouth and now Herman Cain has to tap dance around these recent sexual allegations.

Ah yes, the silly season is in full swing.

One wonderful note: Mona Simpson’e eulogy for her brother, Steve Jobs, and quoting his last words: Oh, wow,” repeated three times. Do you think he saw what we hope we’ll see? That warms an old man’s heart. And that’s a good note to go out on.

NOT WITH A BANG BUT A WHIMPER

It was a great World Series with one of the most exciting games, game six, matched only, arguably, by the famous Red Sox-Reds game six of 1975 when Carleton Fisk waved his home run fair. The final game I expected: the Rangers left their hearts on the field the night before, while the Cards were psyched up.

The Rangers stayed close for a few innings, but that disastrous three-run "gift" caused by three walks and two hit-by-pitcher sounded the death knell. A sad way to go out.

Actually, the relief pitching, one of the Rangers' fortes all year, went south in the series, and there was the difference. Clutch performances such as Scott Carpenter's pitching under pressure in the seventh game was a superb addition.

Having a mid-America series was a real treat. It's nice to know that money can't always buy happiness, so the Yanks and the Phillies sat this one out, while the Red Sox died a premature death in September. The Heartland has had a rough economic time for many years, and this psychological shot-in-the-arm was good for what ails us.

I have an affinity for the Cards, because they have a similar background to my beloved Cincinnati Reds: both river towns, German-burgher mentalities, big on culture and sports, hotter than hell in the summer, even though they hate each other right now, probably because they are so much alike!

At the same time, it would not have bothered me if the Rangers had lost their virginity and won a national championship. Nolan Ryan and his boys are doing a great job of building carefully and sytematically a dynasty.

In any case, the National Pastime got a good shot in the arm and is alive and well. Who says baseball is as exciting as watching grass grow?

HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN

I know many of you are bored by tennis, but enough of you are nuts about it as I am. You can remember when the U.S.A. dominated the singles game, going way back to Bill Tilden, Don Budge, Jack Kramer, Pancho Gonsalez, Tony Trabert, Vic Seixas, Jimmy Connors, Arthur Ashe, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, et al. Them days are gone forever or, at least, a helluva long time. In doubles, the current Bryan Brothers may be the best team ever.

In women, we have a similar tradition, going back to Helen Wills Moody, Alice Marble, Pauline Betz, Doris Hart, Maureen Connolly, Althea Gibson, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova (though Czech-born),Lindsay Davenport, The Williams sisters, et al. Same problem as the men---not many ranked players left.

Here are the current rankings of American men in the top 100: #8---Mardy Fish, #14---Andy Roddick, #23---John Isner, #36---Alex Bogomolov, Jr., #43---Donald Young, #60---James Blake,#73---Ryan Harrison, #93---Michael Russell. Note, one guy in the top ten.

For the ladies, #12---Serena Williams, #42---Christine McHale, #54---Bethany Mattek-Sands, #72---Irini Falconi. #77---Vania King, #92---Sloane Stephens. Got that? Nobody in the top ten. Incidentally, Venus Williams has dropped out due to injuries, but her best days are past.

What happened? Well, first, the rest of the world caught up and took up tennis with a passion. Look at the Russians, the Czechs, the Serbians and Croatians, the French, the Italians, the Argentines and Colombians, and especially the Spanish. In women the Chinese are coming on strong, and you can probably expect the men to make a big noise soon. The Aussies, once a powerhouse in tennis, have been in the doldrums, although a few new names are coming on strong. Even the Brits have a #3 in Andy Murray!

Second, the proliferation of competing sports like golf, in particular, track and field, soccer, rugby and the like siphoned off a lot of participants worldwise.

Third, America has individual training camps like Nick Bolleteri in Florida who has trained many of the world's best players, but no coordinated national program to develop talent. The Czechs, Serbs, Russians, Spanish and French put real emphasis on this, and the results are apparent.

It's a pattern we have known before. Witness Basketball, a truly international game now. We still tend to dominate when we seriously train and put a national team together who learn to play like a team and not as individual egos. If we don't, we have seen what has happened. Look at the number of international players in the N.B.A. now.

Golf is a another case in point. A few years ago eight out of the ten top spots in golf were Yanks. As of today. it's half of that with none in the top three.

It seems to be the way of the world, but it saddens me not to have a few Americans on top. Maybe next year, as we say in baseball!

OUR VALUE SYSTEM

Do you get as concerned as I about some of the misplaced values in this current world of ours? I'm sure you do.

Here is a prime example. I read in the Huffington Post a column by Dan Solin, which really touched a nerve.

He mentions a guy in Shreveport LA named Roy Brown, who faked a stick-up in a bank (he pretended he had a gun), took $100.00 and told the teller he was homeless and needed food. He turned himself in the next day, stating he was not raised to be a criminal, and was later sentenced to fifteen years.

Then Solin mentions the one I was so hot about in my last blog, "The New Alice in Wonderland", where Citigroup was fined 385 mill and made to reimburse investors whose subprime mortgages Citigroup bet against by selling short. No jail, just a fine, which is like a slap on the wrist to these big firms who plead nolo contendere and walk away.

Then he mentions the countless real estate scams involving billions of dollars where the criminal sentences range from three months to eight years.

Is something wrong here? Is this the result of money and influence prostituting justice? It makes one appreciate the sentiments of The Occupy Wall Street protesters still making noises and gaining converts.

Another example to me of misplaced power and values are these new so-called "Super-Pacs", the latest legal way to get around the ban on large individual and corporate gifts. What really changes except the name? I also note both parties have 'em!

When money means power and power means influence---it's as old as time---you run this risk. I don't like what it means today in this lightning world of instant communication where everything happens quicker.

The value system becomes invalid.