AULD LANG SYNE

Here we are, hanging at the precipice of the New Year, ready to jump. We will still have two of our daughters here, so we will celebrate out with the old and in with the new at home, joined only by my wife's sister and husband, both British but who own a condo here in Sanibel Island and stay until mid-January, and perhaps a few close friends. We stay at home on New Years and have for a long time. On this island, comprised of a majority of "grey beards", it is standard operating procedure. In fact, invariably when you entertain on Sanibel Island, you can be reasonably certain that, come the stroke of nine o'clock, your guests will rise as one and depart. Nine o'clock is referred to as "Sanibel Midnight"! Who knows, we may be daring on this special night and stay up until eleven!

The end of the year is tax time here. We don't have a state income tax, so the local county tax collectors sock it to you with high property taxes. You have from November until the end of March to pay them, with an obvious increase in taxes the longer you take. I always pay them by the end of December so that I can get the tax deduction for income tax purposes in the current year. It is a large and painful bite---but better, I guess, than a state income tax. It's like the old Tennessee Ernie Ford lyrics to "Sixteen Tons": "...another day older and deeper in debt."

It has been a wonderful holiday season with so much of our family here for a good part of it. The older you get, the more you appreciate family and the poignancy of realizing that the days are dwindling with increasing speed and should be treasured.

I make a resolution: May we live in better times and in greater contentment in 2011. I wish that sentiment for all of you. God bless you.

END-OF-YEAR MUSINGS

It is that time of year when you begin to ruminate about the year ending and the impending one approaching fast. It has not been an easy year for most of us for many reasons. The economy and the state of affairs in Washington---and the world, for that matter---have not made for any sense of contentment. Some random thoughts:

At least Barack Obama ended his year on a relative high with major legislation on important matters passed; namely, the Nuclear Treaty with Russia, repeal of "Don't Ask. Don't Tell" allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the military and extending more medical benefits to 9/11 surviviors. Certainly his willingness to compromise on the extension of tax cuts, even for the rich, mollified enough Republicans so that enough defected from Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's intransigence regarding anything touched by Barack Obama to put the legislation through in decisive final numbers. I wish I could read into this recent success an easier path for future legislation from a bipartisan view, but I think such thoughts illusory and that the next round of legislative action will be rough sledding for the President as the Republicans flex their newfound political muscles. A lot of important work is ahead regarding the health care plan, social security, revising income taxes, not to mention the number one priority of reviving the economy.

From an international point of view, China is really throwing its weight around, as many emerging nations are wont to do. (It occurs to me that we have done so on numerous occasions!) We must keep pressing for international pressure on China to play ball fairly in international trade and in falsely supporting their currency. We must prevail upon them to exert pressure on that rogue state, North Korea, and to assist in keeping the pressure on that other rogue state, Iran.

The impasse in the Middle East continues to be discouraging. We must continue to support Israel as a sovereign state and yet encourage a reasonable compromise with the Palestininans, who also have rights. We must find a way to defuse Hamas which can only help the peace process, enabling the two sides to keep talking reasonably.

Afghanistan is another Vietnam, any way you look at it, and the best we can expect is to cut our losses and get out as soon and as gracefully as possible. I think we need to keep talking to the warlords and try to divide the Taliban, but any hope of a military victory is long gone. Our dear friends and allies, to whom we have given billions in aid, the Pakistanis, are not about to change their ways and will provide safe havens on their border for the Taliban. I simply hope we can enable the framework of a working democratic government, train enough soldiers and police to keep the country from descending into total chaos---and then get the hell out of there.

The hypocrisy of the football world continues to amaze me. The N.F.L. and their stand on injuries and violence amuse me. As I said in an earlier blog, on one hand they produced films glorifying the gladiatorial aspects of the game and then try to enforce rules to mollify the violence. Then they increase the schedule to 18 regular season games from 16, which wil surely result in more injuries because by the end of the season bodies are sore and vulnerable. College football isn't much better. why do we need this plethora of meaningless bowl games? Because they make money, stupid! What about a proper playoff system of 16 or even 32 teams and sharing the revenue with all the schools involved on a proportionate basis on how well the team does? And suspensions are a chuckle: Terrell Pryor, Dave Herron and a couple other Ohio State teammates break the rules and they are suspended for four or five games next year---but can play in this year's bowl game. This ensures that Pryor will probably turn pro and miss his senior year. And baseball isn't a lot better. Do you remember when you could afford to take a family to a baseball game? I know the players needed more money years ago, but how much is enough?
I could go on but I won't...

I better leave you on a more elevated note. In spite of tough times, international problems and hypocrisy, I'm awfully glad and grateful still to be around to comment. I thank the few readers I have for putting up with my musings, and I wish all of you the happiest of holidays and nothing but good times in the New Year.

P.S. Recommended reading: Ben Stein's "The 7 Big Lessons of 2010" on AOL News.

"GROW OLD, THE BEST IS YET TO BE"

Every day I get many reminders that my salad days are over: knee pains, sciatica shooting down my right leg and overall stiffness. But what really reminds me of this inevitable fact is when I see the young in operation.

Two of my granddaughters, 27 and 25, arrived Saturday from Myrtle Beach SC where they share a house. The elder one, an internet advertising executive, will be married next October 1 on the beach in Myrtle Beach, while the other is a natural-born superb teacher, who started teaching kindergarten and, by dint of being considered the best teacher in the school, was made Developmental Reading teacher. They both are great joys in my wife's and my life, as well as to their parents, my eldest daughter and husband.

Back to the subject of realizing my longevity, watching these two tackle the job of decorating the Christmas Tree, the house and the outside lights was miraculously quick. It probably would have taken me three days, with help, to achieve what they did in about two hours. Then, to top it off, they waltzed over to a beachfront condo we own and rent and, within a few minutes, had that condo decorated so that her sisters, spouses and children would arrive to a festive scene. (We don't rent the condo over the holidays but always keep if for the family.)

Hey, I may have aches and pains ---but I'm grateful for all the help I can get, and this dynamic duo take the pain and pressure out of the holidays.

Who says growing old is all bad? Robert Browning got it right: the best is yet to be, especially when you have the right kind of help!

WHERE HAVE ALL THE HEROES GONE?

And another one bites the dust! My childhood idol, the VanMeter Heater, Blazing Bob, Rapid Robert: Bob Feller, age 92, has just died. I worshipped him, had his picture on my wall and followed his every move religiously.

The obituaries have been wonderful: everything from a piece by Ray Suarez on PBS Evening News to a full half page in the NY Times. He was the first major leaguer to enlist after Pearl Harbor and had four years of service with hairy naval combat as a Gunnery battery head on the USN battleship Alabama in both the Atlantic and Pacific. He lost four years out of his prime---and wouldn't have changed a thing. He said the real heroes are the guys who dodn't come back.

In 1940 my dad took me to Yankee Stadium to see my two heroes, Bob Feller and Joe DiMaggio. We sat behind the catcher's net, and we all oohed and aahed at the speed of his fast ball. It couldn't have turned out better: Feller won 2-1, pitched a one-hitter---a home run to Joltin' Joe!

"Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio, a hungry nation yearns for you..." And, as far as I'm concerned, you could add to Simon and Garfunkel's lyrics, "A hungry nation mourns for Feller, too."

The heroes of that era are scant today, and we just lost one of the best. I'm sure God will start him on his All-Star Team.

JUST DON'T DO IT

For some time, as many of you must also be doing, I have watched the debate regarding the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and the idea of acceptance of gays and lesbians in the military. I simply do not understand why this subject is so controversial.

Are opponents afraid that some gay or lesbian is going to pop out of the shadows in a military barracks and force his or her sexual attentions on some poor straight? If a heterosexual attempted rape or molestation on some victim, he would be quickly brought up for court martial and either imprisoned or dishonorably discharged. The same should happen if a gay or lesbian were stupid enough to pull such a stunt.

As a heterosexual, I do not want to know what happens in your bedroom or for you to know what goes on in mine. It is a totally private matter between two willing participants. Why not the same for gays? I must add that I do not like to see gay parades where sexual actions are parodied or simulated for the same reason---it's no one's business and it's strictly private.

If a gay or lesbian volunteers for military service and meets the physical and mental standards required for service, he or she should be accepted---without questions regarding sexual orientation. So long as a person meets the standards and serves honorably, that is all that matters. In the British armed forces, for example, gays and lesbians have served for years, and I'm sure it is true for many other foreign military forces.

We have enough trouble today trying to find enough volunteers for service. Why should we exclude persons willing and able to serve, whose private lives are their business, just as the lives of straights are supposed to be?

Don't ask---and forget the "Don't Tell" part! We live in a country which reputedly respects individual rights (though I sometimes wonder). Why is this such a big deal? Come on, America, live and let live!

LIKE FREDDY KRUGER, I'M BACK!

I was without the use of my computer for a few days due to what turned out to be a router gone bad and since replaced. A computer geek---a very nice guy--came over and diagnosed the problem and got me going again. I was going through terrible withdrawal symptoms and especially dreading the accumulation of mail which would be generated by several days of not being able to check mail. It was not so bad as I anticipated and did not take long to clear the 95% of junk which I did not want or need. In any case, I'm back in business at the same old stand...

A few miscellaneous and unrelated observations during this period of absence in no particular order:

(1) It isn't bad enough that Obama has continual problems with the recalcitrant Republicans but now must deal with backlash among the liberal Democrats. Wake up, guys: something is better than nothing, and the compromised tax deal is about as good as you'll get under the current poisonous political climate. Compromises never satisfy everyone, but in politics they make this imperfect world go round. The President is trying to salvage what is possible, and the impossible is just that!

(2) Cam Newton wins the Heisman, to nobody's surprise. He is a superb athlete, and the N.F.L. must be drooling. Whether he will end up keeping the Heisman is another story. I do find it a bit incredulous that he personally knew nothing about the financial shenanigans and proposed selling of his talent. Perhaps he still believes in the tooth fairy.

(3) The baseball salary sweepstakes is off like a rocket with the Red Sox making major moves and hitting, for them, new financial heights. Then we have the Cliff Lee bidding war between the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees--- stay tuned, it's getting interesting. I'm glad the Yanks finally signed up their captain, Derek Jeter; it would have been sacrilege for him to finish his illustrious career elsewhere. And even my beloved Cincinnati Reds signed a long-term deal with their young and talented Jay Bruce.

(4) The Health Care issue is about to come front and center, and this should be a long and bloody war. I read that it is projected that medical care could in thirty years or less be 40% of the federal budget if medical costs continue on the same upwards spiral. Will someone step forward and face the facts and get the ball rolling to start remedial action? And then we have Social Security and tax reform with which to deal. Whoa, Nellie, as the old sportcaster Keith Jackson would say.

(5) In the meantime, education in America , in spite of the efforts of Arne Duncan, the Secretary of Education, is on the back burner, while our kids rank 14th in language, 17th in math and 24th in science in international testing. How do we plan to compete if this trend continues?

(6) Could you believe the rioting by the students in England? From the French, I expect running into the streets, throwing bombs and burning autos---but the usually well-mannered Brits? The times, they are a-changing. British students were shocked by a triple increase in tuitions, and they let it be known, as Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall can attest.

That's it for now. I must get my mind back to the holiday preparations and the arrival of three of our four children and spouses plus four of my six grandchildren. This will be hectic but wonderful. I hope you are in good holiday spirits and ready for Santa.

PANDORA'S BOX

Today I read in the New York Times that the F.T.C. is beginning to crack down on internet tracking by recommending a program where consumers would have the right to control, should they choose, to stop advertisers tracking their internet browsing and buying habits. I think this is needed, just as I firmly believe individuals in a free society have certain privacy rights.

I have sounded off before on my reasons for not joining Facebook or other social networks, although I recognize that for some it is a way to stay in touch with or rekindle old friendships. But the invasions of privacy which have occurred on these social networls concern me.

It even bothers me that in almost every news article the age of the person is noted. I realize in certain cases this is necessary, but who gives a damn if a woman cited for a traffic accident is 52. What has that got to do with the accident? I know some of us oldies are a bit sensitive about revealing our ages; personally, I don't care---I'm an old fart of 83, and I readily admit it. But why should a person have his or her age revealed unless vitally needed for medical or security reasons?

This new Age of Information is transformative and has put at our fingertips more information than ever available to the seeker. This can be a boon---and a bane. Individual rights are still an essential part of our democracy and way of life and must be respected. I still want to have the right to control my information within bounds of security or medical reasons. Your computer or laptop can be Pandora's box---don't forget that. You never know what may jump out of that box.

JUST A HOLIDAY THOUGHT

My old friend Grumpy just wrote a blog about making the day after Thanksgiving a holiday, as well. Not a bad thought---but I have a better one...

One of the few times Abe Lincoln screwed up was making the fourth Thursday of November a legal holiday. What he should have done was make the fourth Thursday in October the national holiday of Thanksgiving. It would make more sense then; after all, it's a holiday to celebrate the bounty and harvest of the earth, for which we are blessed, and October is more of a harvest month than cold and frequently bleak November. We could also combine Thanksgiving with Halloween for a super holiday weekend.

As of now, Christmas is so close to Thanksgiving that you hardly have time to catch your breath, and the holiday stress is upon you. Putting Thanksgiving in late October would balance thing off nicely: Labor Day in early September, then Thanksgiving in late October with Christmas and the Holiday season kicking in early December.

I think a petition to the President would be in order. The only problem is the Republicans would fight any initiative from Obama, and the whole concept would crash in flames. But file this one away for the future!

VIRTUE TRIUMPHS, EVERY NOW AND THEN

Well, maybe there is some justice left in this world. Maybe, occasionally, cream rises to the top and true ability can trump phony posturing.

Dancing with the Stars finally got it right and made Jennifer Gray and Derek Hough legitimate and deserved winners of the contest. Even the Palin Powerhouse of voluminous and staged phone calls for once were not enough to overcome true talent.

And in baseball two nice guys, both having overcome personal problems, are the M.V.P.s of both leagues: Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds in the National League, who overcame psychological problems due to the unexpected death of his father in 2009 and had an outstanding year in leading the Reds to the playoffs for the first time in 15 years; and Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers, who overcame a background of alcoholism and drug abuse which had blighted his immense talent and set him back 5 years in development and has now won the batting title in the American League.

And Stan the Man Musial, one of the heroes of my young manhood, the great St. Louis
Cardinal outfielder for 20-odd years, Hall of Famer, married for 70 years, most beloved citizen of St. Louis---now he's a Medal of Freedom winner at age 90!

Yes. I'm happy to say, occasionally nice guys do finish first!

And a happy Thanksgiving and a host of blessings to you all!

OPERATION PALIN

I saw an excerpt from Baba Wawa's upcoming interview with Sarah Palin where Palin says she believes she can beat Barack Obama and is considering a run. This latter declaration hardly comes as a shock since she has been running from the day after the election of 2008. I also see in a poll that 80% of Republicans favor her. It makes me wonder how I ever could have been affiliated with that party. She is relatively young and attractive, splendid qualities but not necessarily paramount in determining suitability for the Presidency. She is shrewd and has latched on to that malaise and winter of our discontent so prevalent today in our faltering economy.

She has a huge "P.R." force working for her, and I think it is reflected in the recent Dancing with the Stars results where "Operation Bristol" has mounted an incredibly effective campaign to take Bristol Palin undeservedly to the finals of the dancing show. I bet it's all part of that smooth machine generating publicity for the Palin name.

Are you getting as tired of soundbites and image-making as I am?

THEY WAS ROBBED

Our oldest daughter talked us into watching Dancing with the Stars. We have not watched every episode but enough to keep up with the contestants. We did watch the semi-finals last night and were shocked and chagrined to see that Bristol Palin qualified for next week's finals and that the singer Brandy and her partner Machs, one of the two best pairs in the competition, who had even scored a perfect thirty (10-10-10 from the three judges) on one of their routines the night before, were eliminated.

I've got nothing against Bristol Palin, in spite of the idiocy of her mother, and she seems a nice girl who has improved as a dancer as the weeks ensued. But she and her partner weren't in the same league as Brandy and Machs and consistently had the lowest scores from the judges week after week. What kept them alive was the voice of the people, who obviously favor publicity over talent. I know, I know, democracy and its rights and all that jazz...

This year's competition featured some of the better dancers in Star's history, especially Brandy and Machs and Jennifer Grey (Baby in Dirty Dancing) and partner Derek who stood out above the pack. I was really looking forward to a shoot-out next week between these two talented pairs. Now I would not be surprised if Miss Notorious and Famous will win the whole shebang---undeservedly---because of Mama's fame. There ain't no justice. In this case, democracy failed.

A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS

Finally, a voice of reason is heard from the Republicans. Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, long respected for his intellect, integrity and expertise in foreign policy, made the following comments in an article in Politics Daily. I quote:

"Among some in Democratic leadership and the media, "anger" is shorthand for dismissing the scope and legitimacy of frustration -- which found expression in the tea party movement -- with the current direction of federal policy. But whatever criticisms may be leveled at a particular tea party spokesperson or candidate, it is unfair -- and foolish -- to view the movement and the more than one-third of Americans who say they support its objectives as an irresponsible fringe. The vast majority are responsible citizens convinced that federal tax, spending and regulatory policies are fundamentally off-track -- so much so that they seriously threaten future prosperity and freedom, requiring ordinary individuals to become actively involved in the political process to set things right. This is how it is supposed to work in a representative system.

It is also mistaken, in my view, for those who applaud the November election outcome to focus primarily on voter anger...

I respectfully disagree with a "just say no" approach. Opposing unsound administration policies remains important. But simple, unadorned "opposition" is mistaken, from both the policy and political perspectives. "

Richard Lugar was once considered a possible Presidential candidate, but his quiet understated style lacked voter sex appeal. He continues to stand as an example of sound reasoning and judgment in a political arena continuously fraught with posturing and soundbites. May he and a few similar colleagues of both parties be heard! Right now we need more of such voices to speak out.

LOTSA BAD NEWS BUT A FEW BITS OF SUNSHINE

It's been a long month. My wife and I arrived home yesterday after thirteen days in Atlanta with our middle daughter who had surgery but is progressing well. Prior to that we had visited our youngest daughter who had suffered a concussion, hematomas and lots of stitches in a bike accident. She is much improved but must be careful for some time. We are catching our collective breaths before we return for Thanksgiving with youngest daughter and family on the east coast of Florida.

Obama had a bad week abroad, as well, running into international resistance to his proposed fiscal plans at the G-20 meetings, failing to reach a trade agreement with South Korea and sparring with China over their monetary policy. He is rapidly learning that national self-interest trumps international agreements.

The one bright international event was the freeing in Myanmar (Burma) of that amazing freedom fighter/woman, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was allowed to go free after seven and a half years of house arrest. Here's hoping freeedom can ultimately triumph over the military junta and despotic warlords of Burma. She won a free and legitimate election as President of the country some years ago but was not permitted to serve and then effectively jailed by the generals.

So, between Aung San and my two recovering daughters, things are looking up! Maybe the President will get lucky, too, but it looks like a stormy course ahead.

A NEW CAREER FOR GOLDEN OLDIES

My wife and I have been staying in Atlanta with our middle daughter, who is recovering nicely from a hysterectomy. It is important that she not try to do too much immediately, not go up and down stairs too often (which is tricky because she lives in a three-floor townhouse), not bend too much, etc. She is an exercise nut in excellent condition with a resting pulse of 55 beats per minute due to spinning bike classes, so this good health speeds up the recovery process.

My wife and I feel like a hired couple of butler and maid: cooking, cleaning, shopping---all the domestic bit---while the daughter takes it easy and spends most of the time talking on the phone with a myriad of friends and well-wishers. The only bad part of the process is the eternal stairs. As a couple of golden oldies, we quickly discover our knees, feet and arthritis take their toll.

Atlanta is a lovely city with hills and dales and striking scenery, especially with the leaves beginning to turn. Geographically, it is really spread out with an Interstate system that is a necessary evil. Now living on a small island in Florida, we don't do a lot of interstate driving, except for short spurts on I-75 around Fort Myers, Florida, so the maze of interstates and belt systems of Atlanta can be a bir daunting. Rush hour is a real challenge with a host of competitive aggressive drivers jockeying for position on their commutes to work. When I drive, I try to avoid the interstates wherever possible, and my daughter ihas provided me with some pleasant alternate routes.

Just to let you know: if you require a couple for domestic service, my wife and I are available. But we must insist on working on a one-level house! Plus we don't come cheap!

THE ALARM JUST WENT OFF

O.K., already: the G.O.P. won big. The people have spoken, and they want change, for sure.
A host of theories abound as to the reasons for the Obama shellacking.

The theory that makes most sense to me is that the top priority of the American people is for jobs creation---the old "It's the economy, stupid", the famous Bill Clinton campaign reminder---not the emphasis and time spent on health care reform. I don't think it is a total repudiation of the President as much as criticism of his priorities. I know he tried to enact measures to improve the economy, but the time spent and publicity generated by the health care debate grabbed the headlines and got the public attention.

Now he has two years to mend his image. He must make a total effort for bipartisanship and be willing to horse trade and compromise---without forsaking his basic principles. I hope John Boehner, who claims he wants to be remembered as a statesmanlike Majority Leader, can put the good of the country as his first priority. After reading the asinine remarks of Minority Leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, to the effect that the number one priority of the G.O.P. should be to make Obama a one-term president, I have serious doubts about his sense of priorities to the national interest. Of couse, he wants his party to have the next president, but right now the precarious state of the economy is obviously the prime concern, and we don't need this kind of parochial posturing.

We all know, historically, a lot can happen in two years and that these yo-yo swings are frequent in our political process. Learn your lesson, Mr. President. Communicate and connect with the people. Be a bit less cerebral and detached and more emotional and caring in your approach to the people. Make the economy the top priority, which would include involving the Republicans in the study and analysis process. Open the health care debate to bipartisan reform.

You've had your wake-up call...

OF MONEY AND SPORTS: HYPOCRISY

I read today a good column by Carl Cannon in Politics Daily about how George W. Bush was right, for sure, on one thing---coming out strongly, even in a State of the Union message in 2004, against steroids and urging the federal ban of their use. Cannon points out, which I knew but had forgotten, that W. was once a serious contender to be Commissioner of Baseball. With his love of the game, he would have been ideal for that job, which is not something I can say about his most recent job.

All of which leads me to my main point: the hypocrisy inherent in the management structure of our major sports. Baseball knew about---and ignored---the steroids scandal until it came back to bite them after Federal law pushed them into doing something about it. A record book to be filled with asterisks is hardly to be desired. Cannon notes that 1000 less home runs were hit this year than in the prime of the steroid days. Duh, I wonder why...

How about that paragon of moral; virtue, the N.F.L.? In all their ads and films they emphasize the power of explosive hitting: the sound effects of those Steve Sobol films of pads smashing into each other with gladiator violence. Now they backtrack and are offering guidelines for uncontrolled helmet butting and stiff fines for flagrant abuse. Duh, about time?

Boxing, horse racing, swimming, bicycle races all have their share of abuse scandals to the point that they have been severely tarnished by drugs and sometimes viewed as "fixed".

Betting scandals abound in many sports: point shaving in basketball, as well as abuse problems; tennis even has a betting scandal.

One of the "cleanest" sports, in terms of scandal is golf, excluding the Tiger Woods scandal (which is the problem of an individual and not the sport). Why is golf relatively squeaky clean? Because they have had hard and fast rules of conduct and behaviour for many years which they assiduously maintain.

Consistency, rules, codes of conduct are permanent virtues which need to be maintained in all sports and not subject to the whims and greed of owners or participants. I know sports is big business, but, for God's sake, it's still a game. And you play games by the rules.

ONCE A PARENT, ALWAYS A PARENT

It's been a rough few weeks, what with my youngest of three daughters sustaining a bad concussion, multiple stitches, hematomas and bruises from a bike accident while training for a triathalon and my middle daughter about to have a hysterectomy. The eldest daughter is fine, I'm happy to report!

The youngest one is a great athlete in fabulous condition. She entered one of these triathalons (not the Iron man variety but shorter forms) earlier this year after not having done one in a year or so---and she won her age division and finished the second woman in the race by less than thirty seconds. Not bad for a 45 year old, eh?

It is really frustrating watching her try to stay at rest, she is so hyperactive, but she is learning that recovering from a concussion takes a lot of time and patience. It happened three weeks ago, and she still gets headaches, although their frequency and intensity have waned. We visited her on the east coast of Florida for the first time for five days and had a wonderful visit. She had asked us to wait to see her until she felt she could have a good visit. She has two teen-age sons involved in a host of sports and activities, so she is a "soccer mom" plus, which makes it all the harder for her to stay still.

Now my wife and I have a four-day break and then head Saturday for Atlanta where the middle daughter will have surgery on November 3. Today, I understand, they do these operations arthroscopically, or keyhole surgery, through the abdomen, but she still will have to take it easy for a few days. She lives in a town house with three flights, so we want to keep her from using the stairs as much as possible. We'll be with her until Nov. 11. She's also very fit, so I'm sure she'll do fine.

As a friend of mine said, "Parenting never ends!" We should just be grateful they are still here.

A SPORTS COMMENTARY UPDATE

Well, sports fan, it's been awhile since I commented on the sports scene, so here goes:

(1) My Buckeyes got a real butt kicking from Wisconsin---and deservedly so. It goes without saying, when you're number one, everyone is up for you, but great teams still surmount that problem. Ohio State just wasn't ready. Mr. Pryor and the boys better get back to fundamentals.

(2) Big Ben made a fantastic debut after all the hullabaloo and had a fine game. I don't need to comment further because my old friend Grumpy will probably devote the next week or more of blogs to the Steelers' success and Big Ben's redemption in their win over my hapless Browns. At least, in time, we Brownies may have a quarterback in Colt McCoy.

(3) I know Boise State is good---but that good?

(4) I'm still wearing a black armband for my Cincinnati Reds. Actually pitching with an average E.R.A. of 2.5 for the series was not bad, but the Phillies' arms were just too much (1.33.ERA). Especially Roy Halliday!

(5) Bold prediction: the Phillies will beat the Yankees in the World Series, assuming they get by that Giant pitching.

(6) My heart went out to Hunter Mahan and his grieving tears when he lost the deciding match of the Ryder Cup. a close-but-no-cigar rally by the Americans. Parity has also struck golf.

(7) Tiger Woods at least showed he was alive in the Ryder Cup, but he still has a long way to go psychologically, plus I think he needs the steadying influence of a swing coach.

(8) The young lions are beginning to come on in tennis to challenge Rafa Nadal, and Roger Federer's best moments are behind him. He still, on a given day, can play tough, but the depth of young talent is impressive.

(9) Watch out for Juan Del Potro, the Argentine 2009 U.S. Open Tennis Champion who missed this year due to wrist surgery but is about ready to come back---a real talent there and 6'7", to boot. Also watch our two young giants, John Isner (6'9") and Sam Querrey (6'7").

(10) I'm still fed up with King James (LeBron, of course!) and his bullshit ego. I wonder how the Miami Heat will deal with three primadonnas.

That's a wrap, sports fans!

REVISE, REPEAL, MEND OR BEND?

The above title contains the catchwords of today in regard to Obamacare or the new health care bill. Do we change the bill or get rid of it; do we try to fix the flaws or start all over? It is obvious that the subject of health care is a major concern in the upcoming elections.

I was for some kind of health care program and didn't care if the far right labeled me a wild-eyed pinko socialist. For years I kept getting stuck on the fact that the number one industrial power in the world was the only major nation without a health plan. On the other side of the coin, I was not happy with the congressional compromises, tinkering and end result of the plan that passed. In an earlier blog I used the old saw to describe the healthcare bill as a camel---a horse designed by a committee.

I still think the answer lies in NOT throwing out the whole bill but for a truly bipartisan committee to take the time to break it down, piece by piece, to remedy the defects in the bill. I have enough of the fiscal conservative in me to be suspicious of the efficiency (or lack thereof) of governmental-run programs. If certain aspects of a new health care program can be done better by state and/or local governments, so much the better.

I recently read an article by Sally Pipes, President and C.E.O. of the Pacific Research Institute, decrying the future prohibitive cost of the new health plan. She points out that the new bill creates 47 new bureaucratic entities and 20 pilot programs. In the course of the article she notes that the Principal Financial Group (from whom I receive a small pension each month) is dropping out of the health insurance market where they service 800,000 customers because of the projected cost of the new plan. Principal Financial Group are not small potatoes. She also mentions that by 2013 117,000,000 will have new health care plans and that the Congressional Budget Office believes that health care costs will rise 10-13%. Objectively, I must point out that Mrs. Pipes is not a fan of "socialized medicine" in any form, which doubtless colors her viewpoint.

It would appear, unless a political miracle occurs in the next three weeks, that the Republicans are going to make massive gains in congress and, quite possibly, control the House of Represntatives. I will be relieved when this mudslinging, innuendo-filled, filthy time of campaigning is over and hope, once the election is finished, that congress and the administration can begin to communicate in a civil and rational manner to prioritize some of our urgent needs, among which is health care and a workable plan.

Revise, repeal. mend or bend: just sit down and converse to make bipartisanship work for the national interest. And proper health care is really in the national interest.

I'VE HEARD THIS SONG BEFORE

And the beat goes on...

Senator Richard Shelby (R., Alabama), in his infinite downSouth wisdom, is blocking the nomination of Peter Diamond,, a Nobel laureate from M.I.T., to the board of the Federal Reserve.

He made a brilliant explanation to the effect that the Royal Academy of Science in Sweden, the selector of the Nobel Prize, does not determine who is qualified for the board of governors of the Federal Reserve. Great logic, Dick: a Nobel Prize, in your view, is chopped liver?

Peter Diamond won his Nobel for theories on the causes of joblessness. In this harsh economic climate with 9.6% unemployment, is this professor irrelevant? Are brains irrelevant or unneeded on the Federal Reserve?

It's more partisan posturing from the G.O.P.. who currently are strutting their best preening stuff in partisan obstructionism when the country needs bipartisan cooperation to solve our many economic problems. I'm sure Peter Diamond will be confirmed, but a man of his intellectual qualifications doesn't need this nonsense.

We know what you're against--but what are you for, besides being for throwing Obama out. Senator Shelby and a gaggle of other G.O.P. geese--- for shame!

EN GARDE! DANGER AHEAD!

In a recent blog, I told how some hacker got into my bank account, most likely through my debit card, and nailed me for $5000.00. I'm in the process of getting my money back, but what a pain in the butt this whole process of regaining the funds and changing all my auto payments and legitimate debit card expenses can be. Everything from social security and annuities' deposits to utilities and insurance payments by debit had to be changed. In order to change some, you need to send a voided check---and I have not yet received my new checks with my new account and routing number. I have some temporary checks from the bank with the right account number and routing number, but some of these sources need regular checks, so I'll have to wait until my new checks arrive---very soon, I hope.


I've only been home three days and already I have heard of two other people I know who have been ripped off the same way. One is a really good guy who does a lot of repair and maintenance work for me who got "had" for $3000.00. He's sorting it out now. The other makes mine look puny: the guy who services swimming pools in our neightborhood really got nailed---for $28,000, including a college tuition! I haven't seen him yet to ask, but I would think tracing that one must have been fairly easy by finding out who the student is and checking connections from there. In my own case, since the guy bought three air tickets to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, and much of his activity was in Utah at a Krogers supermarket and HSBC, Hong Kong Shanghai Bank, the world's largest. At least, it's a start to trace him down. (I'm assuming he's a male and Arab, and Arabs usually don't let women run their finances!) I know it's not my problem now, as the bank and investigators are on it, but I'm simply curious.

We get so used to the computer and the internet that we get in a comfort zone and forget the many perils inherent in this cyberworld. There is always some crook---unfortunately, really computer-literate---who is waiting to pounce like a financial vulture on the innocent and exposed. I felt like a real dummy, but I have a lot of company.

So, my friends, be careful and cautious. We all face many dangers in this world, and computer thieves are just a new variant on an old strain.

"THESE ARE THE TIMES THAT TRY MEN'S SOULS."

I read in the papers this morning that certain G.O.P. congressmen are nostalgic for the good old days of Bill Clinton. Politicians' memories are about as long as their unmentionables, so I find this laughable. Would they like to go back to the glory days when they were tryimg to impeach good ole Bill?

In the same article it is speculated that the Republicans, once they get in power, will cooperate more with President Obama on key legislation like Social Security reform, education, energy amd climate change. How typical: piss all over Obama's programs when the Demos are in charge but grab the headlines and the credit when you are in power! Don't put the good of the nation first--- just make sure things don't get done until you can take the credit.

Thomas Paine was right.

ANOTHER BRAVE NEW WORLD

My wife and I are just back from a visit with two of our oldest and dearest friends, who are about to leave their small midwestern town where the husband once headed a highly successful private business run by three generations of his family. The whole family earned a wonderful living from this business, but it reached the point, after three generations, that too many of his brother and sisters all wanted their kids to run the business and the infighting and family snideness was rampant. My friend successfully negotiated a sale of this business to a highly successful and reputable midwestern industrial conglomerate. Now everyone is happy, busily clipping coupons and counting their fortunes as the stock of the conglomerate is a real winner and provided the basis for diversified portfolios.

My friend and wife were civic leaders, deeply involved in good works in their community and in the area, including a progressive school for three to six year olds, developing a beautiful natural area of fifty acres of their property which is a real landmark for nature lovers and much used, supporting the arts generously--you name it, they're generous and active supporters to a host of good causes. And the number of people they have helped to cope and get on with life is legion.

But time and age have come for this dynasty to move on, and it has been a real heart-tug, especially for the husband, to make the move away from this dynastic setting. None of their children is in the town: five of the six kids and countless grandchildren live in the west and the other is in New England, so there are no family ties to bind them to the little town. It took several years of entreating by their kids, but now they are both ready to make the move---and they are off in a week or so to live in Colorado in a lovely community where they can be independent and still have medical assistance when that time comes. They are nervous but ready. Knowing what they bring to any community and group of friends, I know they will fit right in and be immensely popular and contributing to the betterment of that new community.

My wife and I went through this change of life eight years ago when we left our small midwestern town where my family had been well-known for almost 150 years and moved to our island paradise in Sanibel, Florida. It is challenging, exciting and fun to start all over again, even as old farts. Some years ago, a doctor friend of mine told me that the surest sign of old age was the inability to adjust to change and the need to maintain rigid patterns of living. We all, sooner or later, must face this challenge to enter a brave new world of change. My wife and I did it: I'm confident our dear friends can pull it off admirably.

Welcome to a new world, dear friends. Now enjoy.

POLITICS AS USUAL

It was really heartwarming, seeing that picture of John Boehner and other key Republicans in shirt sleeves with a background of a lumberyard---really the common touch, you know..."We're going to roll up our shirt sleeves and really get down to work for all Americans!"

What nonsense. This kind of political posturing makes me ill, it is so phony and staged. I was simply shocked that John Boehner took time away from the tanning booth for this photo op!

Any way you cut it, this new Promise to America is sameold-sameold, simply packaged in a new wrapping. Cut the spending, undo the health plan, keep the Bush tax cuts for all (including the very rich). It was long on promises, short on specifics on how to do.

With Medicare, Defense and Social Security among the major expenditures, how do you make major cuts? As for the health plan, why throw the baby out with the bath water? Is every provision of health care wrong? Shouldn't revisions to the current plan make more sense? Wouldn't it make sense to form a bipartisan committee to study, analyze and make recommendations for an improved plan? Oh no, bipartisanship is a dinosaur of a word buried in the ancient past.

I'm still catching up with the American political scene after three months in U.K. I understand while I was away it was declared in a cover article in Forbes that Obama was a neo-colonial Socialist/Commie influenced by his Kenyan father who died umpteen years ago. I swear to God: what are they smoking these days?

The more things change, the more they are the same...

I'VE BEEN HAD...

It's great to be home and begin to catch up with family and friends. I satisfied quickly my yearning for a good hamburger and corn on the cob: my daughter served it the first dinner after we arrived to visit her!

Then I got a cold water shock the next day when I received a letter from my bank, claiming that someone had hacked into my bank account. All of a sudden, I'm seeing bills for airline tickets to Bahrain, deposits to another bank account, not mine, and other expenditures far away from my base of operations---to the tune of over $5000.00! By the choice of air destinations, sounds like some Arab is enjoying the good life at my expense.

One really feels violated, financially raped. I'll get my money back, I am assured by my bank, but it will probably be over several months. Plus all the bullshit you have to go through---changing bank account numbers, advising social security and all the people with whom you have financial dealings.

This happened to me on a slightly smaller scale three years ago when someone got my American Express card number and had a ball in Brooklyn NY and the Long Island suburbs. Amex was quick to get on the ball and I was reimbursed.

This internet world is wonderful but, as we are all discovering, fraught with dangers and perils from the many cheats and vultures preying out there in the nether world. A brave new world---but also a vicious one at times!

WE'RE STEALING HOME!

Time is running out on my wife's and my time in England. We've been here in our. little house in Eastbourne, East Sussex, seventy miles south of London, since late June, so it's time to come home, see children, grandchildren and friends in Ohio where I was born and lived most of my life. In the case of my British-born wife, she spent more time in Ohio than any place in her life!


We've had a wonderful summer, but it's time to come home. We leave Saturday, September 18 and will be in Ohio until October 5 when we return home to Sanibel, Florida, our delightful island paradise. We're ready for a good steak. You can get good ones here from Angus beef, but the price is really astronomical. What you can't get is a decent hamburger; somehow they mince their beef, and it just doesn't work, so that will be a priority. Plus we hope there's some good Ohio corn on the cob still around, although I know it's getting late.


I try to keep posted by internet and by some good newspapers here on what is happening at home, especially the political situation, but I know I've missed a lot. That dingaling Sarah Palin must be strutting like a peacock as her Tea Party candidates made such political headway. I cannot believe the average man is so stupid to be taken in by her jingoism and patriotic platitudes. (On second thought, maybe I can...) Remember Abe Lincoln's bit about fooling some of the people some of the time but not fooling them all of the time. I hope good sense and reason will ultimately win out.


So, we're packing up, putting the stuff we leave here away in boxes. We have two German women students coming in to rent the house two days after we leave who will stay until the university year ends in the middle of June---just when we want to return. We have been very lucky with mature students who attend the University of Brighton, Eastbourne branch where they have excellent departments in physiotherapy and podiatry. The house is perfect for a couple of people, and we love collecting rent for nine months which helps cover our summer expenses here. it's a good deal for the students, for they are exempt from council taxes (property taxes), and we only pay taxes for the time we are here.


Yes, we're ready to come home. I'll be back at you soon again!

AUSTERITY---HERE AND NOW

In a recent blog about my recent trip to France, I referred to the French upset and day of strike protesting the proposed change of retirement age from sixty to sixty-two expounded by the President, Nicholas Sarkozy. I have read several analyses of this French rebellion, and one of the common threads of these articles has been the French refusing to face reality. I think this has been a problem for more than the French; it is certainly prevalent in England and in America.

In England, the new coalition government headed by Prime Minister David Cameron, a Conservative, and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, a Social Democrat, has proposed austerity measures for drastic fiscal belt tightening, the worst since the 1920s in the aftermath of World War I. The unions are up in arms and screaming for "civil disobedience” and strikes to protest and force the government to back off.

In the U.S.A. screams have come from both extremes of our basically two-party system, ranging from decrying government waste (so what else is new?) to exhorting for more governmental expenditures to stimulate the economy. Lots of talk and little action.

Let’s face it: the spectre of austerity is an international problem. It is only magnified by the size of the major world economies, such as the U.S.A. China, Japan, Russia, Germany, England, France, India---you name it. Especially in the major powers we thought the expansion and the good times would go on forever. It is as if we were in the middle of a riotous all-night party and, in our drunken craze, thinking at 3:00 a.m. the party would last forever---and then discovering at a bleary 6:00 a.m. that we were wrong.

Yes, folks, “The party’s over, it‘s time to call it a day…”, as the song says. Things are not the same, and I seriously doubt if they ever will be again. We’ve been greedy; we have not looked beyond tomorrow; we have ignored the lessons of the past. I’m not saying things won’t get better someday, but it is going to take a lot of work, a lot of belt tightening, and a lot of long-term planning and the guts to stay with those long-term plans before that day will come. So now it is time to go to work. Let’s stop bickering long enough to recognize that we need to cooperate for our future wellbeing. In the process we might try showing some tolerance toward others as part of this cooperation.

End of sermon. Austerity is here . Let’s recognize that fact. Let’s live with it. Let’s work together to mend and recover. Amen.

THE FRENCH ARE STILL THE FRENCH

My wife and I have just returned from a five-day holiday in France where, for the first time, we traveled by coach (bus). We were picked up in Eastbourne at the civilized hour of 11:05 a.m. Sunday by a “feeder” bus which took us to Hythe in Kent, about an hour and a half east of Eastbourne where we combined with other feeder buses to make up a party of thirty to board our Euro-Cruiser. We thought we might go the easy way through the “chunnel” from Dover to Calais, but instead we went by ferry, an hour and a half ride (as opposed to twenty minutes through the tunnel) to Calais and then faced a four-hour ride in our Euro-Cruiser to our destination of Cabourg in Normandy, so we were a tired bunch of puppies by the time we checked into our room at Le Grand Hotel in Cabourg.

Le Grand Hotel is truly grand, the product of la belle epoque, that era of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when opulent palaces were the watering places of the rich. Marcel Proust, arguably the best French writer of the twentieth century, used to stay at the Grand in Cabourg with his family and has written many reminiscences of his times in Cabourg. There is even a casino next to the Grand. The beaches are sand but of an almost industrial grade, orangish and gritty, not the most inviting but still popular. We were there after the season, and most of the summer homes are boarded up. A long promenade along the front facing the beach makes for good walks and a vista of the summer mansions with their steep mansard roofs and dormers, often combining stucco and wood beams, similar to Elizabethan houses.

The main shopping street stretches north from a lovely garden and plaza in front of the hotel and has a variety of shops and restaurants where you can purchase, in food and drink, the wonderful cider produced in the area and Calvados, a potent brandy made from apple jack which can knock you on your can, as well as an assortment of cookies, pastries and bread for which Normandy is noted.

The first full day we drove to Mont St. Michel, a two-hour drive south, to see this famous castle built on a steep mount and surrounded by water. At low tide, the water recedes enough for the plethora of buses and cars to drive in park and infest the Mount with visitors. It is magnificent from a distance. Once you start the steep ascent up the cobbled streets, you are in a swarm of tourists and are exposed to an endless row of gift and novelty shops all selling the same tourist items at incredibly high prices. Some of the more avid shoppers in our group claim that every shop had identical prices, so I’m sure a bit of touristic collusion is going on. We found a delightful little inn and had a delicious lunch of les moules avec frites---mussels in shell in a cream sauce accompanied by French fries, all washed down with a delicious rose¢ wine. We were glad to see this picture postcard castle and mountain---but once is enough unless you just love being jostled in mob scenes.

The next day we were on our own in Cabourg and did the shopping/lunch routine. Once again we had mussels, this time in a meuniere sauce with more fries and, this time, bottled water. We had our dinners at the hotel where the food was delicious and creatively served, as the French do so well. The only drawback were the tables and chairs. Some efficiency engineer must have worked long and hard to devise a setting arrangement for thirty with two plus tables jammed together and stuffed almost immovable chairs in which to sit. It was a feat of advanced Yoga and contortion to get a seat, and then moving the chairs was like bench pressing.

The next day we went to Deauville, another exclusive resort town just a few miles from Cobourg. The weather started horribly with teeming rain just after we embarked from the bus. A compatible group of six of us spent forty minutes in a bus stop, trying to shield ourselves with umbrellas. Then we found a small restaurant/bar where we could have a drink and dry off. Fortunately, the weather later cleared and we were able to walk to the center of town where we saw scenic fountains and buildings. Deauville is very upper-class. There were American flags draped all around the main square in honor of an American Film Festival taking place that week. (Deauville is like the Cannes Film Festival of northern France.)

The last day was a wake-up call at 5:30, a quick breakfast, and the long bus ride to Calais where we connected with a noon ferry. Connections were smooth, and the feeder bus deposited us back in Eastbourne by 4:00 p.m.

My rating of coach travel; B-. Our driver was a nice guy, an amusing Yorkshireman, but he was a last-minute substitute for the regular tour driver for this area who was sick, and really didn’t know diddly squat about Normandy. It would have been nice to have had a director with some historical and local knowledge.

How do I rate France? Their politics are miserable and going through major convulsions at the moment. In fact, on the Tuesday they had a “national strike” to protest the new reforms President Sarkozy is trying to implement. The main grievance is raising retirement age from 60 to 62. 60 to 62---can you believe this crap? The poor darlings find it difficult to make such a change and join the rest of the world, which is talking about increasing retirement age everywhere. The people are fine individually. The Normands still fly in the major cities the flags of France, Canada, Great Britan and the U.S.A. in remembrance of D-Day and our liberation. The food makes it all worthwhile---ooh la la.

In other words, the French are still the French. In their own words, le plus qu’il change, le plus le meme: the more things change, the more they are the same!

THE BRITISH ARE COMING!

My Yankee blood got riled up today when I read a column in the Sport Section of The Daily Telegraph today by Oliver Brown. He was pissing all over Paul Casey, the Brit golfer who lives in America, which I think Brown views as a cardinal sin, particularly excoriating him for not playing at Gleneagles in Scotland last week but playing an American tournament. I don't mind him criticizing Paul Casey, but in the process he made some disparaging remarks about American golfers not caring about the Ryder Cup and chasing the almighty dollar.

The British sport columnists are frequently real shits, extremely opinionated and given to hyperbole. Oliver Brown just went one step too far, and my answer is below.

Dear Mr. Brown:

As a visiting American married to a Brit who spends and enjoys his summers in U.K., I must comment on your column of 1 September 2010 in The Daily Telegraph on Paul Casey. I can only say that I find your comments tasteless and mean-spirited, to say the least. You, quite obviously, do not like Casey, which is your privilege as a man and journalist, but I think, to use a favourite British phrase, you were a bit “O.T.T.”

You comment on the overemphasis of corporate involvement on the American tour, and I tend to agree to some degree, except for the fact that the corporations do provide economic security for the tournament promoters and a very good living for many golfers. I notice that many regulars on the European tour are quite willing to play some of these events, and I have also noticed that they have not turned down the money prizes. The true amateur spirit of “play up and play the game” is a virtuous sentiment, but a good number of European and American golfers also earn their livelihoods on the course.

I think Casey would have better served to have played Gleneagles to enhance his Ryder cup selection, but he was also in the running for the Fedex Cup, a Hobson’s choice which had to be painful.

I resent your assumption, which makes for colorful journalism but an unfair generalization, that all American golfers agree with Hunter Mahan and his frank but inaccurate comments regarding the Ryder Cup. A host of American golfers eagerly anticipate the opportunity to play for their country, ranging, yesterday, from Nicklaus, Palmer, Trevino, Watson and Crenshaw to, today, Furyk, Stricker, Crane and Johnson, to name a few. If you could stop dipping your poisonous pen long enough, you might realise that the spirit of clean and pure competition still lives in these mercenary, materialistic, dollar-grubbing Yanks on the right occasion.

Go ahead and take aim with your rifle at Paul Casey, but don’t use a shotgun that scatters ammo pellets on the whole of America golf. It is neither fair nor right.

We haven't fought the British for awhile---maybe it's time again!

I'M STUPID---HOW ABOUT YOU?

I have just read an article in The Daily Telegraph which confirms some suspicions I have sensed in an abstract way without having the data to support these suspicions. A new book, “The Shallows: How the Internet Is Changing the Way We Think and Remember” is being published by Nicholas Carr, who also wrote this article in the newspaper entitled “How the internet is making us stupid”.

His premise is that the fathomless depth of information available today on the internet is confusing and changing the way we think. To quote Mr. Carr: “A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that the net, with its constant distractions and interruptions, is turning us into scattered and superficial thinkers.”

Carr believes that scientific evidence demonstrates that we are losing our ability for deep and long-term thinking because of the short-term emphasis on brief hits of information and stimulation which cause us to lose the ability to focus for longer periods of time.

He cites various scientific tests in support of this premise. For example, at Stanford they gave cognitive tests to a group who used the internet for media multitaskings and to another group who don’t multitask so frequently. They found that the group who do not mulltitask on the net so much did much better on the tests while the multitask performed poorly. At another American University, unnamed, they had half the students at a lecture allowed to browse on their laptops while the other half could not; a subsequent test showed that those without the computers understood the lecture’s content much better than those with the laptops. Another study at U.C.L.A.’s Children’s Digital Media Center showed that studies indicated that the computer tasks like video games increased the speed at which the children could shift their attention to icons and other screen images but also resulted in less rigorous and more “automatic” thinking. Some scientists make the case that this constant barrage of bits of information is changing the neural patterns of our brains and slowing the long-term cognitive functioning of brains.

I find that I really have to force myself to concentrate when , for example, I am reading a book, much more so that in my earlier life. Some of that may be attributed to age, but I suspect that becoming exposed to the barrage of information on the net could also have an effect on my concentration.

So, just be aware. internet user; I know I’m dumber---maybe you are, too!

DON'T TREAD ON MY MEMORIES

I have come to the realization, particularly in my elder years, that many of the ideals by which I have lived are outmoded or obsolete by contemporary standards of the young. History, for example, the study of the past which has so often been useful in furnishing guiding lights for the future, is neglected. “The past is a bucket of ashes ,” wryly noted the poet T.S. Eliot. How many of the young today know more than the barest of bones about their own country? You would be astounded by the number of people in America who don’t know where Canada or Mexico is located, or able to name cities in those neighboring countries, not to mention have any knowledge of their histories.

In terms of history, World War II is one of my most vivid memories, not because I participated in it---I just missed it--, but because my late childhood and teen-age years ensued during the period from 1939 to 1945. The memories are etched deeply because my two older brothers were involved in that hellish conflagration, the middle brother killed in the Phillippines and the eldest shot down but, fortunately surviving and returning home. When you have those traumas as part of your life, you never forget the significance of the events of that war. I can still name the major areas of conflict and battles within those theatres of war; I can remember many of the paramount generals and admirals of the war; I can remember most of the planes, Allied and Fascist by their designation: I.e,., P-51 Mustang, B-26 Liberator (my brother was Navigator in one), P-38 Lightning, P-47 Thunderbolt, B-17 Flying Fortress, Messerschmitt 109, Focke -Wulf Spitfire, Hurricane, Zero, et. al. My British wife has her memories of being evacuated from a London suburb and living for some months in the country away from the bombings and from her mother, her father being away serving in the R.A.F.

With a trove of memories from this great conflict, which preserved and in many ways shaped this world of today, I am deeply saddened---and angered---by the ignorance of many, old and young, who simply don’t know or care about it. And I am infuriated when I read about those who desecrate those memories. In England recently, a young woman, flanked by lines of former servicemen, outside the Magistrates’ Court in Blackpool, raced down the line and urinated and performed sexual act at the town’s centotaph. Two other cases of pissing on memorials have occurred here, as well as a Muslim spraying graffiti in glorifying Osama Bin Laden on another memorial. I am confident similar offenses have occurred in the U.S.A. I realize many are disillusioned and expressing anti-war sentiments, but it is foul and, yes, evil to sully the honored dead. Protest a war, fine; dishonor memories, hell no.

It would never occur to those protesters that their right to protest is in good part due to those honored dead who fought and died to preserve the freedoms we have today.

I am ashamed of their insensitivity and ignorance. Part of their punishment should be an enforced study of history, particularly the two great wars of the twentieth century. Then they should scrub the monuments, memorials and cenotaphs on a weekly basis for some weeks.

These memories are too precious to be ill-treated.

WHERE HAVE ALL THE HEROES GONE?

One of the great pleasures I enjoy is reading the obituary page of The Daily Telegraph (or any of the major British newspapers) where this type of writing is an art. The only close competitor in the U.S.A. would be The New York Times. These obit columns deal with important personages and are international in scope, not simply British. They are always well written, filled with anecdotal information as well as biographical and career details.

Frequently, they are of World War II heroes who, as you are well aware, are dying off rapidly. Tom Brokaw in his wonderful book about WWII “The Greatest Generation”, extolled this generation who saved our democracies. The British obit writers appreciate them just as much.

A special one struck my fancy yesterday in reading of the death of Billy Millin, an 88 year-old Scot, who was piper for Lord Lovat and his regiment and, at the D-Day landings, from the moment he emerged into the icy water from the landing barges playing his pipes, while the soldier directly behind him was killed as he came out of the barge, Billy waded ashore and continued marching back and forth along the beach while his Scottish comrades were landing, inspiring them with Scottish melodies. One Tommy ran up to him and exclaimed, “Yer a crazy bastard, ye are!” Billy Millin then followed his regiment into France and , while they were enduring fierce German resistance in the hedge rows of Normandy, Billy continued to march down the roads playing his inspirational songs. Soldiers were falling all around him, but he was unscathed, except for one bullet which slightly damaged his bagpipe, which was still operable. They later captured German prisoners, and one of them told him that the only reason he wasn’t shot was because they figured he was mad. Billy was depicted in the war film, “The Longest Day”, where his piping at the landing was shown.

As part of the international flavor of these obits, there was a beauty today for Bobby Thomson, Scottish-born, the creator of “the shot heard ‘round the world”, the famous home run when the New York Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in a playoff game, after coming bsck from a 13 ½ game deficit in August to pull off “the miracle at Coogan”s Bluff “ (the Polo Grounds, home of the Giants). In the obit, they told that Glasgow-born Thomson and his family moved to America for greater opportunity. Bobby came out of Curtis High Scool in New York and was signed by the Giants for the handsome bonus, in those days, of $100.00! He was a bombardier in the Army Air corps during the war and did not start his career in baseball until 1946.

Yes, the old heroes are going fast. But is fun remembering them through these wonderful write-ups.

SEEN FROM HERE

It is interesting to view America from another perspective, as I can do in England.

The honeymoon for President Obama, as in the U.S.A., is over here, and he is getting his share of questioning and criticism from the journalist pundits here. His handling of the B.P. mess was particularly exacerbated, as I said in a previous blog, by his constant reference to B.P. as British Petroleum, which was a bit too personal as far as the average Brit was concerned who took it as an anti-British stance.

Several commentators have also criticized his handling of Iraq and Afghanistan, particularly feeling that he is rushing out too precipitously to bolster his ratings in the polls and the upcoming mid-term elections. Anti-war sentiment is strong here, as well, but the concern is that we should not set dates to leave and stay as a presence to assure, in the case of Iraq, that a stable government is in place and, as for Afghanistan, to render some kind of order out of chaos so that the many factions can at least talk to each other. They don’t see any kind of real victory there---and I have to agree with them on that.

Disagreement also rears its head in the handling of the economy. The Brits, under the new Conservative administration, are really going in for retrenching and tightening the belt, slashing programs, reducing budgets, cutting personnel and the like to reduce the deficit and get expenses under control. They are against priming the pump through governmental expenditures, as the emphasis has been in the U.S.A. But they also contradict themselves by talking about “QE”---not Queen Elizabeth---but Quantitative Easing so that money can be pumped into the economy. One paper referred to the recent moves of the Federal Reserve’s plan to buy long-term Treasuries to keep the economy moving as “QE-lite”. I think they are as confused as we are on how to stimulate the economy. No wonder Thomas Carlyle once referred to Economics as “the dismal science”.

Prices are high here, although they seem better to Americans here because of the strength of the dollar. Only a couple of years ago the British pound was $2.00. Now it’s $1.55 to the pound. Most food items are higher, with the exception of bread, milk and eggs. Clothing costs are high, which is why most Brits head for the mall outlets when they come to America to stock up on clothes. Their beef doesn’t compare to ours, except for the most expensive Angus beef . Their hamburgers are minced and horrible. But their bacon and sausage (called bangers) are fabulous. And I love their beer, particularly the brown ale called “bitters”. John Cleese of Monty Python fame used to refer to American beer as “half-frozen bat piss”, but he probably hadn’t seen some of the great beers coming out of some of our micro-breweries.

I love it here. By September, though, I’m ready to come home.

DON'T MISS IT!

While our eldest daughter is visiting with us in England, we thought we would go up to London for a day, take in some delightful meals and see a play. Eastbourne, where we live in the summer, is only 70-odd miles south of London with excellent and frequent train service, so it is easy to take a day trip. We left at 10:30 a.m. and were home by 10:00 p.m.

We had one of the finest theatrical experiences we’ve ever encountered in seeing the play, “War Horse”, which has won the most prestigious awards, including the Olivier Prize for best play (named for the great actor, Laurence Olivier) and the Critics Circle Award.

“War Horse” is a unique and innovative play based on a popular children’s novel (but with adult appeal, as well) about a young farm boy and his horse who develop a loving mutual bond at the time of World War I. Joey, the horse, is a large, fast and spirited animal who is conscripted into the British Cavalry. The dashing Cavalry officer who purchases him, with great misgivings from Arthur, the farm boy, promises the lad that he will take care of the horse and bring him back in a few months after the war is won, he confidently and erroneously predicts.

The cavalry office predictably is killed and the horse ends up in German hands, and by the end of the war Joey is trapped in No Man’s Land. In the meanwhile Arthur, only sixteen, lies about his age and enlists in the British Army in an effort to find Joey. He undergoes a living hell of combat experience. You can predict the happy ending..

What is so mesmerizing are puppeteers, four to a horse, who operate these fantastically “real” horses on stage. The puppeteers’ movements are balletic in their grace and you find yourself, even during dialogue by the live actors on stage, drawn to the horses who whinny, neigh, trot, gallop, rear and even nibble grass on stage. The mechanisms and levers to create this realism are complex and fascinating. Other puppeteers circle the stage, sometimes through the audience, with birds, especially vultures, and with a comical goose who is always chasing and biting some unlucky farm hand.

I’m sure it will come to New York and then go on national tour. You need a large circular revolving stage, so the logistics of showing “War Horse” will not be simple. If it is anywhere near you, DON’T MISS IT! It is an experience you will cherish.

P.S. Steven Spielberg has bought the movie rights for “War Horse”. Does that tell you something?

ENGLISH WEATHER, ANYONE?

This year has been a fabulous summer by British standards with lots of sunshine. Weather is a major topic in U.K.

A major source of delight and amusement in the U.K. is reading and/or listening to the British weather reports. They do not make simple declarative statements like sun or rain or cloudy; oh no, it is an essay or speech in which every contingency is covered. There are more disclaimers in a British weather report than in a lawyer’s brief.

A British weather report is like a politician’s promise: something for everybody. Following every newscast, much as we do in America, the weather follows. No Doppler radar and impressive graphs are shown, as our “meteorologists” proudly display on our screens; the national weatherman simply delivers the equivalent of a short oration, covering every possibility, except possibly a typhoon. They cover every nook and cranny of the British Isles from Ulster (Northern Ireland) through Scotland, Wales and England. By the time the report finishes, you have forgotten the brief section covering where you live. On regional TV covering, for example, our section of Southeast England the reports although confined to that smaller area, are almost as detailed and almost as confusing.

“Variable” is the operative word for British weather---and especially the weather reports.

BRITISH TELLY, ANYONE?

The quality of British television can be extremely high, but they have their fair share of dogs. For example:

During the day and often at night, they show a number of real estate shows, especially for second homes. One or two I understand --but four daily?

Antique shows are interesting---but four or more daily?

They love cooking shows and contests. they can be great---but, again, four or five?

Believe me, I don't watch all these, but I see them in the program (spelled "programme") listing.

British "telly" also is a vast repository of old American sitcoms. For years they've been running "Murder, She Wrote". "Jag", "Dynasty", "Friends", "Falconcrest" as daily or multi-weekly fare. American producers must rub their hands with glee---not to mention the actors---at the residuals they receive for these old chestnuts.

No holds are barred in smut or four-letter words. You never hear a bleep on British TV. My daughter is visiting, and the other night an old American police movie was showing, and she was astounded by mother---- issuing from the screen. I told her that's standard fare. The talk shows are pretty free and loose, as well.

I was having terrible reception problems as our house is near hills and lots of trees which block digital signals--as well as French signals from across ther channel. I solved this problem with a satellite box and dish. Now I can even get CNN, Bloomberg, European and Asian news services, even El Jazeera, the Arab network (in English). I miss ESPN which is only shown on Sky, a satellite network owned by that old charmer, Rupert Murdoch, for which I would have to sign up for a year. Since we're here only three months, it's not worth it. I get most of my American sports news from the web.

Several of the BBC channels are commercial-free, which is a real blessing, but the independent channels, like ours, bury you with ads.

All in all, I would call it a dead heat between the Brits and our TV. They do more interesting specials, but they have more dogs.

THOUGHTS FROM ABROAD

I thought you might be interested in viewing the oil mess from another perspective, as seen from the U.K.

The British have taken the American reaction as anti-British. Some of the vitriolic rhetoric they have taken personally; in particular, President Obama’s statement a few weeks ago that British petroleum needs a real ass kicking. I think one problem is the President using the name British Petroleum instead of its actual name of B.P. (Yes, it does stand for British Petroleum, but the initials have become accepted usage and the actual corporate name for a long time, much as KFC is the actual name of the corporation even if it was originally derived from Kentucky Fried Chicken.) So, referring to British Petroleum becomes a bit too personal for the Brits.

I also think they did not appreciate the President of the United States using the term "ass kicking" As a matter of fact, I don’t like it either, not, God knows, because I’m a prude but simply because I don’t find it is appropriate from the President of our country. Obama is pretty good at keeping his cool, but I think he was under a lot of pressure at that time to show he was in charge, and tough language seemed the thing to do at the time, a kind of macho knee jerk reaction to show he was really pissed and was taking charge.

In discussing this whole ugly mess with my British friends, I mention the blog I wrote a few weeks ago when I put the shoe on the other foot and asked how they would feel if a rig exploded in the North Sea and spread oil south to the English Channel and then into the Irish Sea, probably comparable area to what is now covered in the Gulf of Mexico. They agree they would not like it one damn bit.

They also point out---and they are dead right on this---we are not exactly free from corporate negligence endangering the environment. In addition to the Exxon Valdez spill, where Exxon acted promptly to clean up the mess, they go back thirty or more years to the infamous Union Carbide chemical catastrophe at Bopal in India where the environment is still poisoned today. No argument on that one…

B.P. is a major British corporation and has been one of the linch pins for dividends and growth to support pensions and investors. It provides a ton of jobs in the U.K. And don’t forget, it’s also a major player in the American economy where 40% of the stockholders are American and B.P. is a major employer in the oil industry and provides a lot of jobs in our economy. David Cameron, the Prime Minister, was quite right in emphasizing while visiting America that it is to our mutual benefit for B.P. to survive, not only for pensioners and stockholders but so that they can pay for the damages they have caused.

I have stressed that I think most Americans like the British and our "special relationship" (except for some of the extreme right wing nut cases who don’t like anybody, including Americans who don’t buy their politics). We don’t think U.K. is the villain---just B.P.

I think another common interest we will share is when the British people discover, as we will, what kind of shenanigans were played by the Labour government formerly in power, B.P., Colonel Kadaffi, the Libyan leader,and the Scottish National party in the Oil-for-Hostage deal where the convicted Lockerbie bomber was freed "for compassionate reasons" due to his terminal cancer (which, we now learn, was not terminal and the son-of-a-bitch will probably be around for another ten years). I have a feeling this deal is going to turn out to be very messy for those involved, especially B.P. and the politicians involved. I think our shared "special relationship" will have a common bond in this imbroglio.

Emotions are high; tempers are hot; feelings are touchy. The economy in both countries is still suspect with a lot of belt tightening on both sides of the Atlantic in store. I still think we need each other and need to work together. Understanding each other is necessary.
　
　

THE WALLFLOWER AT THE BALL

I feel like a wallflower at the grand ball, all alone and unloved. Here are all the couples dancing the night away and, poor me, I’m just sitting with no partner.

I could have joined Facebook and had the potential of 500,000,000 friends all over the world. In addition to the almost 129,000,000 in America, I could have known 27,000,000 in U.K., 26,000,000 in Indonesia, 22,000,000 in Turkey, 19,000,000 in France, 16,000,000 in Italy, 15,000,000 in the Phillippines and 15,000,000 in Canada---to name a few.

I once said in an earlier blog that I had not joined a social network because I really didn’t need 500 new friends. But 500,000,00---wow! I really screwed up, bigtime.

Seriously, it is an amazing phenomenon. A Harvard student started this four years ago for his buddies at Harvard---and now look. I bet the Harvard Alumni Association are after him for a huge gift. Colleges just love billionaires in their twenties: think of the long-term giving potential.

I think it’s too late for me. I just can’t handle such astronomical numbers, so I’ll just keep sitting on the sidelines watching the dancers go by

THE U.S.A. DOESN'T HAVE ALL THE KOOKS

I used to think that in the U.S.A we almost had an exclusive on non-thinking weirdos, but spending time in England has caused me to alter that opinion. This isn’t a recent revelation---I’ve noticed this for several years---but a recent event has really convinced me that U.K. has more than its share.

You probably have read about Raul Mott, a lowlife scumbag whose high point in life was being a bouncer in a night club in northern England, who recently, after shooting a cop and probably blinding him and killing the new boyfriend of his former girl, threatened to kill any police who came after him. He was subject to a massive manhunt lasting almost a week, was located in woods near his home and finally Mott shot and killed himself after being stunned temporarily by taser shots.

This wonderful man who had accomplished nothing in life but scaring and hurting people has now become a cult hero to a group of non-believers, idiots who have convinced themselves that he has been a victim of police brutality. These non-thinkers have showered the site of his last stand with bouquets of flowers, masses of them, and messages, bewailing his loss and extolling his martyrdom, a symbol of police brutality.

Even the new Prime Minister, David Cameron, in a speech before the members of the House of Parliament, felt called upon to denounce this misplaced and idiotic display of false and misplaced sentiment.

No longer will I say, Only in America…”. The cult of non-think is thriving and prospering here, as well.

BACK FROM THE DEAD

I feel like I have been reincarnated or born gain. My wife and I arrived in England nine days ago, and I have been unable to use my ancient laptop computer until yesterday. I did check my mail on my sister-in-law’s and brother-in-law’s computer a few days ago and found 140 messages, of which 4 were of any interest---par for the course. Then yesterday, when I was able to use my laptop, I found 190 messages, of which 9 were of interest. I got busy deleting and cleaning up this garbage and now I’m in good shape.

Internet is expensive here, as is phone service. My best deal was with a U.K. provider called O2, which, fortunately, has the best reception in the hilly area of Meads, a section of our town, Eastbourne , where we live. I am using a dongle, which, I found out, is not a male appendage to the body but an appendage plugging into my laptop, which connects me via mobile broadband to that great nether world of cyberspace.

I have also purchased for under ten pounds (under $15.00) a pay-as-you-go cell phone which will be a lot cheaper than using BT (British Telecom), with whom I would have to sign up for a year---or pay a steep cancellation fee. B.T. charge by the second, and the last time I used them two years ago for telephone and dial-up internet service it cost me for three months about $700.00. Now I have broadband and cellular phone, and it will be a lot more reasonable.

Without my computer, I felt like a druggie needing a fix. I had not realized how dependent I have become on the computer or how isolated I felt from the world. For example, I found out this morning that my beloved Cincinnati Reds are in first place by three games. (No, they do not show American baseball scores in the newspapers. They used to, but no longer.)

So, I have returned to the world of the living, my friends, and will stay in touch more regularly.

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

This will be my last blog from the U.S.A. for awhile as my wife and I leave tomorrow for England, returning in mid-September. It has been great, visiting my daughter and husband as well as my son and his family, all in the Toledo area. As I said in my last blog, it is great to come home to Ohio this lovely time of year, although the heat is beginning to generate now.

My son-in-law yesterday took us on an auto tour of "the war zone", the area in Lake Township, Wood County, Ohio, around and in Millbury, the scene of the devastating tornado of June 5 and 6 which killed six people and damaged or destroyed at least fifty homes and businesses. It really is a war zone, out of a World War I movie: jagged and bent trees with their tops shorn off pepper the landscape. You drive into Millbury, a hamlet of 1500, and drive down the main drag and you see a lot of small but neat ranch homes, a typical midAmerica setting---and, suddenly, on the next block, homes are totally wiped out or damaged beyond repair. Blue tarps on roofs are plentiful, with boarded-up windows. The capricious nature of tornados astonishes me: on the same street, on one side, homes are unscathed or with minimal damage, while on the other side devastation reigns. Tornadoes play hop-scotch, jumping across fields, missing a farmhouse but wiping out the barn fifty feet from the house, or, as often, the opposite---erasing the house and leaving the barn.

The fact that it happened late at night made the horror story even worse. How many tales I've heard of last-second dives into cellars, just in time to save lives while the home is destroyed. One poor woman, in a wheelchair with M.S., was pulled by the legs down basement stairs by her husband with her 12-year old son right behind. Then they heard a deafening crack. The husband took a flashlight and shined it upwards and saw only blackness---and then realized it was the sky. Their home was gone with only rubble surrounding the basement stairs.

It is a very personal story for my daughter and her husband. They once lived in Millbury and now live only two miles away in Northwood, Ohio, so they have many friends in the area. Their two daughters went to Lake High School, which I noted in an earlier blog was in good part destroyed by the tornado. Many of their school friends' homes were destroyed. It is a psychological as well as a physical trauma for many.

The community and the area, including the city of Toledo, have responded magnificently and generously with all kinds of help. They have done an incredible job of cleaning up the area. Wood County. Lake Township, is rural, and the fields were filled with debris after the storm. You drive along country roads and are amazed how normal the fields look, except for the broken trees and a new supply of firewood in the yards of many homes.

It is a time to count your blessings if you have been spared such an ordeal. I am confident that the strong-willed industrious people of Lake Township, Wood County have the resiliency to rebound and come back stronger than ever from this ordeal.

Americans have shown those qualities countless times in war and peace. That same resiliency is on display in the gulf states right now, as well, although their fight is just beginning. They too shall survive and rebound.

OHIO: A GREEN AND PLEASANT LAND

Prior to leaving for our summer in England, we visit family in the Toledo, Ohio area. I am an Ohioan by birth, and it is always enjoyable to "come home". I love Florida and our island paradise, but it is good to escape the steam bath atmosphere of southwest Florida in the summer.

I also love the lushness of Ohio in the early summer before extreme heat dies it out and dulls the green. We had dinner outside on my daughter's and son-in-law's patio on the occasion of the visit of their eldest daughter and her boyfriend to whom she will be married next year in South Carolina where they both live. It was one of those soft nights with a gentle breeze, a sunset like a Monet painting and, much to my grandaughter's amd my delight, an armada of fireflies (or lightning bugs to us midwesteners). We don't have them in South Carolina or Florida, so this was a real treat. My granddaughter reverted to her childhood and chased several lightning bugs around to capture them, and, if my old knees were better, I would have joined her!

The midwest in early summer has its own unique softness and verdancy. Rain in the spring had been heavier than usual and the result was this extra lushness. The only problem with it is that you have to mow the lawn more frequently. but it will dry out soon enough when the oppressive midwestern heat gains momentum and control.

In the meantime, it is a special time, and I'm sure the English poet, William Blake, won't mind if I use his line applied to England and apply it to Ohio; it is truly 'a green and pleasant land".

DAMNED IF YOU DO OR DON'T

I see the President's speech last night on the oil crisis got mixed reviews: to his supporters, he showed he was on top of affairs; to his detractors, exactly the opposite---he is floundering.

This is totally predictable. the right wing had opinions ready to propagate even before the speech was finished---prefab hatchet jobs like Sarah Palin and a host of Neo-Cons were ready, willing and able to smear the speech. To be fair, I think some of the more liberal-minded also had their supporting commentaries ready in advance.

In this era of rabid partisanship, positions have for some time been set in concrete on almost all political subjects with no apparent willingness to talk to see if common ground can be found.

It is now Obama's war, Afghanistan. It is his recession, especially the jobs (or lack thereof) market. The financial mess is his. And it certainly is his oil crisis since it occurred on his watch.

Let's get a little perspective. The beginnings of many of these problems go back, not only to G.W. Bush but to Clinton and Reagan, as well. Go back to Reagan, the supreme capitalist who encouraged the free market and minimal controls. Clinton had a "laissez-faire" attitude: don't touch a thing while things are going so well. W. encouraged this kind of thinking in market and financial terms, plus he added the expansionary democratic imperialism where we propagate the American virtues of free enterprise and democracy at a killing cost to us, both literally and figuratively. And cronyism between government agencies and industry is far from new.

At the time many of these programs seemed to make sense, although, personally, I was against going into Iraq when we had Sadam Hussein in a box amd should have concentrated on Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and other trouble spots. I am a defender of the free market system but not uncontrolled or unregulated free market. You need safeguards and deterrents to control the unprincipled and greedy.

I've said this before: I like Obama, but sometimes he is too cool for his own good, too much the rationalist and needs to demonstrate some emotional passion. He has been trying to do that recently. but his enemies refuse to notice.

I'm off with my wife at the end of the month for our usual summer in England. (She's an American citizen but still has feelings for where she started.) It will be interesting to see America from a different perspective. I love this country, warts and all, but sometimes it is good to step away to see things here.

I wish our President Godspeed and good luck as he pursues the rekindling of the economy and tries to deal with the crisis in the gulf. We live on an island in that gulf, so, believe me, we have a vested interest in seeing it cleaned up. I'll keep watching and praying...for progress in cleaning up B.P.'s mess and hoping the job market shows dramatic improvement. Then we can all start to breathe a bit better.

A LETTER TO BRITAIN

Dear Brits:

As an American having been married to an English (half Scot) woman for fifty-seven years with whom, the last few years , I have spent summers in England, I am most definitely an Anglophile. Those credentials should qualify me to be a reasonable cultural bridge between the two nations of America and Britain.

Right now in U.K. great concern exists about anti-British sentiments in America and the President’s recent fiery remarks concerning BP when he said there needed to be “some asses kicked”. I know that came as a shock to Britons to hear the usually imperturbable and cool Barack Obama use such a non-Presidential perjorative. The Daily Telegraph ascribed it to political pressure and jingoism, which I think is a fair assessment. The President has been catching hell from a variety of sources, and he needed to demonstrate some emotional heat and passion to mollify his critics. I know many Brits call us Americans “O.T.T.” (over the top) on many occasions and think we are guilty of hyperbole, which, I admit, is an American characteristic on occasions. We are frequently emotional and don’t hide our feelings.

But---and it’s a big but---I suspect even the understated Brits, if subjected to the pressure of the present Gulf crisis due to the fire and destruction of the Deepwater Horizons rig and the subsequent uncontrolled pollution of a a large area of the Gulf of Mexico, threatening and despoiling the shores, so far, of Louisiana, Alabama, the panhandle area of Florida, and, I fear, a lot more to come, would be inclined to fits of pique and temper.

Put the shoe on the other foot. Let’s suppose that an oil rig was destroyed in the North Sea and was spewing millions of gallons of filth toward the English coast,. say near Great Yarmouth and then spread south, invading the English channel past Dover, Folkestone, Hastings, Eastbourne (where my wife and I live in the summer), carrying on to Portsmouth and then the resort coast of Devon and Cornwall, spreading into St. George’s Channel separating the U.K. and Ireland, etc., etc.. I think we might hear a few choice expletives from politicos in U.K. and certainly from the more rabid newspapers which I say, as an outside observer, are not noted at best of times for understatement. The yellow journalists in England are equal to the worst rags in America,

B.P. is an important corporation for the Brits and one of the mainstays of many U.K. pension funds and investments. The U.K. economy is hurting, and B.P. is a major player. 40% of its shareholders are here in the U.S,, which means it’s pretty important to us. Their P.R. during this mess has been far from perfect, and they have not added any stars to their crown, for sure. To be fair, they are really trying now to do the right thing, but they have not convinced those poor souls who earn their livings as shrimpers, fishermen, motel owners on the resort beaches or the naturalists and biologists seeing what is happening to the sea creatures and birds in the blighted areas.

I’m sure B.P. is not alone in its past philosophy of putting profits first and safety second; I suspect most of the oil companies in America would be just as guilty. What has to be done is to shore up the safety laws to prevent this ever happening again by making the punishment so harsh, including criminal charges, that they can’t afford to cheat., as well as emphasizing alternative sources of energy to minimize our dependence on oil.

It is a time in today’s climate in so many areas of harsh rhetoric. So many people are so busy talking they can’t find time to listen.. But it also a time when the worst oil disaster in American history is threatening the physical lives of so many creatures and the economic lives of so many Americans.

We’re not anti-British. I think most of us want to continue that “special relationship” existing between our two countries. Try to understand that the trials of this crisis are weighing heavily upon us. The economic news in the world as a whole is bad enough---and this oil crisis only exacerbates it.

It’s getting hot here. Let’s all try to stay cool--- but hot to trot when it comes to cleaning up this mess. I think you Brits can relate to that..

Yours Sincerely,

Fleshhpot