The Right Bailout

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20081204/NEWS01/812040398/1008

The book I am recommending to people is, The Post-American World, by Fareed Zakaria. Non-technical, meant for the everyday Joe to read, the book is worth the read. Fareed sets forth in very clear terms what we, as Americans, will have to face as more and more countries close the gap between themselves and the United States, and the developed world, in general.

Let's get right to the chase. What industry in the United States is arguably the most important industry in the United States? I'll give you a minute . . . . .

Automobile? . . . nope.  Computers?  . . . nope.  Software? . . . . .  nope.  Uhm, what about finance, with all the banks and mortgage companies it must be the financial sector, right? . . . . nope.

According to one of the later chapters in Fareed's book, he argues, and I have to say my bias agrees with him, that EDUCATION, and specifically HIGHER EDUCATION is the most important industry in the United States.

Higher Ed? How can that be?

Ok, let's break it down. Where do our business leaders come from? How do they get their education? Accountants? Economists? Software programmers? Engineers? Scientists?

Most of our business leaders all receive their training within the United States, at U.S. universities. Some may travel abroad to receive more robust training - study abroad is a great experience and I recommend it for everyone - but, by-in-large our universities churn out the leaders of the largest free market in the world.

And not only that, we also train and churn out leaders for the rest of the world, too. Thousands of students come to the United States every year to enroll in school and receive their education. They may already have received one degree already in their home country, in fact. That degree, while of value, pales against a degree from a U.S. institution of higher learning. Foreign students study in the United States, then take that education and put it to use here in the U.S., or they may relocate to another country to study, or they may put their education to use when they return to their home country.

To return to the question, the question was not which industry has the largest market share, or has the greatest income, the question was, 'what industry is the most important?'

Now, that is not to say that some intrepid, entrepreneurial people might strike out on their own and develop something, like Google, or Facebook, or Microsoft. In most cases, these groundbreakers where in school when they developed their software. Smart people tend to hang out at universities and seek out other smart people.

What is happening now, because of the financial state of the United States, is the undermining of our educational system. Specifically, I am focusing on the budget cuts faced now by all higher education institutions in Kentucky. Other states are also faced with tough decisions.

An analogy I thought of likens the budget cuts of higher education to removing the support pilings under a very tall building. You can only remove so many before the building looses stability and cracks begin to appear. Remove more, the foundation fails, and the building collapses.

Higher Education is fundamental to economic growth, economic well-being, and social well-being for the United States. Cutting higher ed funding weakens us as a country as we lose a little ground on our competitors. Rather than leading, we may have to follow. We may lose our privilege as a country, our global respect, and our status as the world's leading economic force. Of course, that may happen, anyway, with the growth of China.

I like what the Western Kentucky University's President Gary Ransdell was quoted as saying the Louisville-Courier Journal on Wednesday (the link is above): "You cannot continue to cut your budget and return money to the state ... and still grow."

The Council on Post-Secondary Education (CPE) for Kentucky has an initiative for univerities to grow their student body populations. Murray State must add 2,000 students by 2012 to comply with the initiative. Add, serve, and educate 2,000 additional students over the next 3 years, on top of giving back $2 million dollars in 2007-2008. MSU is supposed to give back about 4% of its budget, or about $2 million dollars, in 2008-2009. Salaries will be frozen, hiring for some positions will be suspended, and programs may be suspended or eliminated. The Murray State budget will be more like the budget available in 2001, nearly eight years ago.

I argue that Higher Education is a better place to invest, a better place to put "bailout" dollars. The effect would be huge, albeit not very immediate. After all, it takes 3-5 years to for someone to graduate college. The money could be used to improve and repair current infrastructure, fund student loans and scholarships, fully fund programs, fund research, and, of course, educate people.

The Wrong Bailout

First, we had the Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac bailout. With 5$ trillion dollars in assets to lose, they were too big to allow to fail.

Then, we were faced with a slew of banks needing bailouts: Washington Mutual, IndyMac, First National Bank of Reno, Nevada, to name a few. Check out this site for a complete list. Along with those, we have the mortgage company crisis. This is $700 billion dollar blank check that Henry Paulson was given.

Now, the Big Three auto makers have entered the fray. Ford, GM, and Chrysler want money. GM says they need $4 billion dollars right now, before the year ends.

The CEOs look and sound like drug addicts. They claim they will reform themselves, but they need a fix right now. They claim they will fail if we don't help them. They claim that a bankrupt U.S. auto industry will weaken us militarily and will undermine our national security (Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli). They try to bargain, then use fear-mongering to try to keep from losing their gravy train, or their addiction to their own largess.

Would auto bankruptcy really be a bad thing? Sure, there would be a stigma, perhaps, attached to the auto maker(s) that got hit by bankruptcy. If, on the other side of darkness, a good product that people could be proud of was produced, that might lessen or eliminate the stigma. But stigma is not a good reason not to do something . . . to me, anyway.

Here are some thoughts about a potential bankruptcy plan:

1. Bankruptcy does not mean the doors on the plants are closed and locked forever, probably not at all.
2. Done the right way, bankruptcy could keep people in their jobs (at least some) while the company was reorganized.
3. Labor contracts would be nullified, allowing more reasonable labor contracts to be created. Sure, getting paid 90% of your salary should you be laid-off sounds great, but is that really feasible? This would help them get their costs under control, for sure.
4. Bankruptcy would force a restructuring of the Board of Directors. These are the real felons. They are the ones that control the flow of funds and stimy innovation. Remove them and in their places put in people who know how to innovate.
5. Bankruptcy may help create a new Ford, GM, or Chrysler that is lean, mean, and able to compete in the global marketplace.
6. The automakers need to realize that this is not the 1950's. Thought processes must change or adapt to meet the needs of the 21st century. To me, it seems like the automakers would rather spend millions lobbying Congress to impede progress, than be the forerunners of progress. I say this specifically to comments regarding the cost associated with fuel efficiency and alternative fuels (that are not corn-based). There is a market for such cars.
7. GM was bailed out in 1979. Why did they not learn their lesson then. Why are they repeating the same mistakes 30 years later?
8. If there is money available, why not give $1, $2, $4 billion dollars to finance those companies like Tesla Motorcars to get them up to production levels?
9. Bankruptcy might finally force the car maker culture to wake up and smell the coffee. The fact that this industry is in the shape it is in is humiliating and embarassing. The U.S. was once the world leader in automobiles, in innovation, technology, design. Now, all we have proven is how sedentary and entrenched we have become, lazy and boring.

In my mind, bailing out GM, Ford, and Chrysler is the wrong bailout.

So, if that is the wrong bailout, what is the proper bailout? ...

My Travel Geography IQ

This Traveler IQ was calculated on Monday, November 17, 2008 at 05:16PM GMT by comparing this person's geographical knowledge against the Web's Original Travel journal's 3,320,716 travelers who've taken the challenge.

This is a cool site for testing your knowledge of places around the world. I did very poorly on the extra credit. I was not prepared for the vagueness of the hints. I know most of my capitals and countries, but am not so hot when it comes to famous places, and secondary populated places.

The United White States of America

The Associated Press is currently running this article. The New York Times picked it up today; I am sure others are to follow. Apparently, gun sales are up, as well are threats against those who support Barack Obama.

Seems as if Whitey, and by Whitey I am lumping myself into that group, is nervous about a black man being president. Or president-elect.

The last decade or so, lots of commentary has revolved around whether or not racism, true racism exists in the good ol' USA. No, we are too far removed from the days of slavery, some would argue. People of color are completely at ease in the US. 

The problem with this is that the "people of color," Blacks and Hispanics were saying that no, this is not the case. But we, meaning whitey, and maybe some well intentioned minorities were saying that these comments were coming from disgruntled people who were at fault themselves for becoming disenfranchised from the US.

Someone ran down our street, pulling up the Obama/Biden signs, wadding them up, then throwing them in the drainage ditch in my yard. I straightened them back out and set them back where they came. When my neighbors McCain/Palin sign fell over, I went over and set it up.

Folks, this is not the United White States of America. 

This is not the United Christian States of America. Nor is it the United Christian White States of America. This is not an autocracy (well, it is obviously) of old, white, rich men. The country was not supposed to be an autocracy of old, white, rich, men. Religion was not supposed to the basis of our government. Nor was gender. Nor was race. The only true stipulations were that a president has to be born in the USA, and has to be 40 years old.

The people voted, and Barack won. Therefore, let his victory stand and stand behind the President. 

After all, God wanted him to win. Right?

The End of Poverty

Several months ago, the Christian Science Monitor ran a series of articles covering poverty. When the series was over, the blog that helped people share their concerns and ideas went away with it.

Last week, I received an email from one of the authors of the series, and the author of the blog for the series, informing me that the blog was up-and-running.

These are a great series of articles. The issues and concerns are completely addressed, and ideas and current efforts also covered. 

Now, the blog is back up and, if the new posts are any indication, very active.

The Geography of Whiskey

As we learned in my earlier post, the geography of bourbon is really the geography of whiskey. Bourbon is a member of the whiskey family, by definition.

We also learned that I do not care much for Jack Daniel's. At least the cheap stuff. Maybe the more you pay, the better the whiskey gets. I am pretty sure that is true. A decade and a half ago, I visited a professor's house. He treated the guests to a sample of some whiskey he kept in his freezer. All I remember is how smooth that stuff was. I wish I could remember the brand. I know it was in a small bottle, that he kept wrapped in a velvet bag.

Whiskey drinkers talk about whiskey in terms of smoothness. Jack Daniel's, on my smoothness scale, is about as smooth as a swallowing a sheet of 80 grit sandpaper. The amber fluid that he sparingly shared was smooth in the truest sense of the word, truly "water of life" as whiskey is meant to be.

Not to be completely undone by my bad experience with JD, I bought an inexpensive bottle of Kentucky bourbon, W.L. Weller "Special Reserve" Straight Bourbon Whiskey. The bottle was refrigerated for a several hours before sampling. Once sufficiently chilled, I poured a small amount into a glass and sniffed. Smoky and sweet scent, not completely off-putting. The small taste I took had a metallic, tinny-tasting flavor, though definitely smoother than the JD,  but still somewhat harsh. In the end, I still found that mixing with Coke or Dr. Pepper was a must. I didn't care for it neat and clean, didn't care for it with water and ice; only with another beverage added was I able to throw a few back.

Weller comes from the Buffalo Trace Distillery, located outside Frankfort, Kentucky, which happens to be the oldest distillery in the United States, having come into operation before 1773. That is not why I bought this label; I had no idea until I googled it prior to writing this article. I wanted an inexpensive bourban made in Kentucky that did not have to do with large, irritable, game fowl or grumpy old men. 

Waiting in the wings is a bottled of the Old Weller Antique 107 Brand. I guess this is the original formula or something. I had a sip of it; tastes different than the S.R. but I have't sample enough to speak with any intelligence on it, yet.  

The Geography of Bourbon

A long time ago, a friend gifted me with a bottle of Jack Daniel's Black Label Sour Mash Whiskey. I must not have treated this friend very well, as this whiskey tastes like poison. Of course, it is a poison, destroying my liver. I'm sure my liver has since recovered. My memories of this foul concoction persist, however.

As I drank the bottle, it did get me to thinking. How do people drink this putrescence straight? I ruined Coke after Coke, using it to dilute the taste. My neighbor across the street hipped me to the fact the, in the case of JD, Dr. Pepper works better. After a little taste-testing, a 3:1 ratio of Dr. Pepper to JD reduced the Retch factor significantly. Thanks to Dr. Pepper, I was able to finish the bottle. Well, I guess, "thanks." The combination of the two I call, "Dr. Jack." I won't waste my money on JD. Lesson learned.

And I also thought about this: what is the difference between Whiskey and Bourbon? Is it just a name thing, or is there a real, ingredient, process, content difference?

The short answer is: yes, there is a difference between Whiskey and Bourbon.

"Whiskey" comes from Ireland, or perhaps, Scotland. We aren't sure. The process of making whiskey was probably brought to Ireland and Britain from the Middle East in the 8th or 9th century, by Christian monks. 

As a side note, Christians seem to be responsible for the early development of whiskey. Later, others would further contribute to the history of the beverage. Once Kentucky became involved, Baptists would have a hand in creating Bourbon.

"Whiskey" represents any mixture of grains, fermented, distilled, blended, and aged, in barrels - usually oak barrels. Typically, whiskey can be up to 160 proof (80% alcohol content). 

Scotch Whiskey, by law, must be bottled in Scotland.

Irish Whiskey, by law, must be bottled in Ireland.

Japanese Whiskies are available in Japan, and, I would guess, must be bottled there, as well.

Canadian Whiskey, by law, must be bottled in Canada. Canadian whiskies are usually rye based, rather than barley.

Now that the definition is covered, how does bourbon fall into this mess?

"Bourbon" is a uniquely American beverage, and represents another member of the whiskey family. Bourbon mash is comprised of at least 51% and not more than 79% corn mash, must be aged at least 2 years in oak barrels. Bourbon is derived from the name of Bourbon County, Kentucky. It should be noted, however, that when this designation was made, Bourbon County was much larger then than today. The American Territory was still young in those days, and over time, the territory would be carved into the present counties we have today.

About 95% of bourbon available today comes from Kentucky.

The bottle of sour mash whiskey I drank came from Lynchburg, Tennessee. I'd like to give it back, if I could. But, then, I would not have learned some valuable lessons.

The Geography of Coltan

Congo's riches fuel its war - Christian Science Monitor

Coltan - the article mentions several valuable resources available in The Congo: timber, gold, diamonds, cobalt, copper, tin, and coltan. What the heck is coltan, anyway? Sounds like a cross between a jazz musician and an anime robot.

Reading up on coltan using Wikipedia, I learned that coltan is what I thought it was: Tantalum. I figured it had to be tantalum because I knew that The Congo was a good source of tantalum, and since tantalum was not listed as "tantalum," I assumed by its absence, tantalum was present, just called coltan. And I was right.

Coltan was once called "columbium." Take the "col" part + "tan" from tantalum and we have coltan.

If you have a Playstation 2 at home, like I used to, or probably a PS3, or a Wii, or an XBox 360, or a home computer, or a laptop, or a cell phone - jeez, everyone in the world has a cell phone - then your life is affected by tantalum. Specifically, it is used in capacitors. And capacitors are found everywhere. Thusly, you affect and are affected by people's lives in The Congo. Bet you didn't know that, huh?

But look at the list again. Gold? Diamonds? Copper? The article says that "...the Congo should be one of the richest countries on earth..." My question is this: why haven't we invaded this country yet? The government is weak, the countryside is overrun with warlords, the inhabitants have primitive technology. The Congo sounds like the Southwest Asia version of Afghanistan.

Oh, wait, no oil ... Well, there you go. Jeez, if they just had oil. After completing the necessary paperwork, The Congo would be a good candidate for regime change. Kinda like a sex change, only everyone gets it, it costs a lot more, the doctors have to move in with you to make sure the change takes, and not everyone is sure the result will be an improvement, and that eventually the body may revert back to the original gender.

And by the way, we are taking about The Democratic Republic of the Congo, the largest state/country in Africa. The DROC is almost landlocked, with lots of militant groups running around the countryside, all either upset at the DROC government or at the government of an adjacent country.

To make things complicated, right next door is a completely other country, called "Congo." To keep the two countries separate, we call the smaller one, "Congo" and the bigger one, "The Congo." Must be an ego-thing, like Ohio State University changing their name to "THE Ohio State University," because as far as they are concerned, there are no other schools in Ohio. The rest are pretenders. <-joke

Boundaries, People, Boundaries!

Bangladesh-Burma (Myanmar) maritime boundary dispute escalates - Christian Science Monitor

Look at the "A." That is the location of St. Martin's Island, used as a reference in the article.

Now, draw an imagery line southwest (who knows what bearing), and the endpoint of that line ends up being near the bottom of the image.

Installing chain-link fences is hard to do in the ocean; they tend to drift away; corrode, then drift away. Forget about drawing a line, those tend to dissolve. What are we supposed to do in order to play in our yard, and stay out of the neighbor's?

We should hire surveyors to draw, or paint, lines in our yard so that we don't accidentally plant trees in our neighbor's yard, or dig in our neighbors, or suck oil out from under our neighbor's yard. Especially oil. Saddam invaded Kuwait, thinking that they were drilling in his yard.

In this article, oil rears its slimy head. Burma is looking for offshore oil reserves. Bangladesh went out to look and to see why its neighbor is prowling around. Somebody will have to go in and help the two figure out where the fence is supposed to go. Bangladesh and Burma - I mean, "Myanmar," (jeez, those military junta guys are touchy about their name) - will have to adjust their GPS units to make sure everyone plays nice.

What if ... The Rotating Presidency of America

European Union to Be Led by Former Soviet Satellite - NYTimes.com

Here is an interesting idea: What if the United States had a rotating presidency?

Read the article above, then get back here and read this.

From the article we learn that the European Union has a rotating presidency. Right now, everyone's favorite European, and husband to model/singer Carla Bruni, Nikolas Sarkozy is running the show. Come January 1st, the reins will be passed to the Czech Republic. And, of course, we all know that the Czech Republic is a lapdog of Russia. Not really, just trying to be funny.

Can you imagine what this country would be like if we had a rotating presidency? Instead of campaigning for two years and spending millions of dollars, U.S. leadership would pass from one state to the next each six months. That means that Texas, Arkansas, and California would be disqualified for this year's election.

Obama, from Illinois, would definitely qualify, and McCain would qualify, too, being from Arizona.

Throw the 47 remaining states into a hat and then someone draws the next state the leads the nation. Say that Obama wins the election; in July, McCain would take over. In January, though, someone would need to remove Illinois and Arizona from the hat, and pick from the remaining 45 states.

The process would continue every six months until all states have had a chance to lead the country. Then, all states go back into the hat.

Sounds equitable to me.

The Geography of Crazy Sh*t

I have to rant. I'm really getting wore-out on all of this garbage. People sitting back and doing nothing while child-rapists and child-murderers get state-sanctioning. Yes, I'm talking about you, Sudan, The Congo, and Somalia. I'm sick to freakin' death of it all.

Meanwhile, back in the United States, we are victims of our own narcissism. This dipshit, Robert Fox, is paying $10,000 US to have Barack Obama's bestselling book, Dreams from My Father, analyzed to see if it was really written by William Ayers, the guy that was over militant during the Civil Rights movement, bombing police stations, and what-not.

By the way, I did not slander Robert Fox, mentioned above. Anyone who flagrantly illustrates his or her idiocy qualifies as a "dipshit."

WHO CARES?!?!?!

Madmen are running loose, killing and raping children, and this California nutjob thinks someone ghostwrote Obama's book. Who cares???

I am so damn tired of all of these jackasses who think Barack is Muslim (who cares???), thinks he is a socialist (who cares???), thinks he is a closet Arab (who cares???).

The Republican Party seems to be bastion of: 1-Racists, 2-Bigots, 3-Christian zealots and Fundamentalists, 3-Old men, 4-White men, 5-Rich men - who am I leaving out? The thing I don't get is how they can sit around and be pro-Life and also be in favor of the right to bear arms (kills people) and also in favor of killing people in foreign lands. Seems to me that the natural position of Republicans would be pro-Choice: I choose to kill people in Country A but, well, the people in Country B are ok, I guess, so I choose to let them live.

They are all 'fraidy cats, 'cuz they can't handle a true democracy, a democracy where, heaven forbid - literally - a Muslim might be President, or a Woman, or a Hispanic, or a Negro, or a Socialist, or a lesbian, or a gay man. Do Republicans even understand the nature of Democracy? I mean, really? Why can't someone other than a rich, white, man run for President?

But I digress.

We sit around in our comfy little lives, eating our comfy little comfort foods, and watch comfy little people make comfy little cakes on our comfy little cable channels while some child gets her head bashed in by a bunch of cowards. And this happens day-after-miserable day in Africa.

Our government is culpable. We are the most powerful nation on the planet, by far. We can reach out and snuff out a life like blowing out a candle - unless it is Usama bin Laden, of course - we can invade not one but two countries all because two buildings in NYC get demolished. And our government sits by, lets state-sanctioned child-rapists and child-murders run loose. But, hey, there is no money in helping kids, no oil, no natural gas, no nothin'.

But, we can't protect children in other countries from atrocities that occur in those countries because that would be "wrong ... those are sovereign states ... we can't just waltz in there with guns 'ablazin' "

Oh, yeah? Who says?

By God, if I were President, I would put China on notice and tell them to quit screwing around in Sudan, and back us up, because the US is going to make the Janjaweed part of the history books, and the Sudanese government, as well. Or, at least stay the hell out of the way.

Then, we start blasting away at all the damn pirates off the coast of Somalia; like we had to do with the Barbary pirates of the coast of Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. We have to make piracy so very unattractive to them that farming looks like easy livin'. Once we have the coast under control, then we can work our way inland. We can then partner up with Ethiopia and whoever else wants to clean-up Somalia.

What would happen if our conscious led our Foreign Policy decisions? What kind of country would we live in? What kind of world would we live in?

Bible Geography: Cyrus the Great

When talking Southwest Asia in World Geography, discussion of religion must ensue. When talking religions of Southwest Asia, Judaism must be discussed. When talking Judaism, the influence of the Persians must covered. Got to follow the money trail.

As our story opens, the Hebrews are slaves of the Babylonians. The Babylonians are attacked or invaded by the Persians. Persians: 1, Babylonians: 0.

Under the new Persian rulers, particularly Cyrus, the Hebrews fare somewhat better. In fact, Cyrus the Great, who the Hebrews anoint as a Gentile Messiah because they love him so much, sends the Hebrews on a mission to rebuild their temples in Jerusalem, giving them the resources to do so.

If the Persians, specifically Cyrus and Darius, had not intervened when they did, the Hebrews might have been a footnote in history. And then where would Christianity be?

The Book of Ezra contains the details of the biblical story. The Book of Isaiah also contains some elements of the story.

Geography on TV: Crusoe

A modern treatment of an old story has made its way to television. Crusoe, a new offering on NBC, depicts the adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a man washed up on an isolated, uninhabited island after his ship sinks.

Crusoe is based on Robinson Crusoe, a novel written in 1719 by Daniel Dafoe. The island in that story was off the coast of Venezuela. The novel may have been inspired by the true story of a fellow named Alexander Selkirk. Selkirk's island was in the Pacific, a lonely little place called Mas a Tierra.

Haven't seen the show; don't know if it is good or not. The show is filmed in the Seychelles. And in South America. And in the United Kingdom. The string of islands can be found of the east coast of Africa, north of Madagascar.

Israel - Isreal? Who cares, right?

I care.

This is another one of my pet geography peeves, the misspelling of "Israel".

It is not "Is-real";

It is "Isra-el".

And there is a good reason for this.

"El" means god. Specifically, "El" is the true God, the God of the Hebrews, and thusly, of Christians and Muslims. Other forms exist as "Elohim" and "Eloah".

When we break apart Israel into its constituent parts, Isra and -el, we get this: "something" + "God". What does Isra mean?

Isra means "he who struggles" or "he struggles." When we add the two together, we get:

Israel, or, "he who struggles against God," or " he who struggles with God." And that is certainly what the Hebrews did, struggled against God, throughout Exodus and Leviticus.

This is a lot different than Isreal, "is real."

I can find Israel on a map. I don't know where Isreal is.

Now that we know about El, we can use it to figure out some names.

Michael (micha-el): he who is like God
Raphael (rapha-el): healing God
Gabriel (gabri-el): devoted to God

29th in Infant Mortality, #1 in Your Heart

My tirade continues.

Ok, look, just to reiterate, to compare the United States with Poland is like comparing apples and bowling balls. Nothing wrong with Poland; I'm sure the people there are wonderful. I would love to visit sometime. But, Poland is Poland and the United States is, well, like no other country on the planet. Stop making asinine comparisons.

I dove deeper into these statistics. I want to map the most recent data. I found some stuff so a map is forthcoming. But I found some real troubling info.

First, a national goal of a 4.5 IMR is probably not doable. The goal is admirable, but consider what has to happen. The 4.5 IMR represents the sum total of all states in the United States. That has to include states with excellent health care and a relatively homogenous population, i.e. Maine. Also, we have to consider states like Mississippi and Alabama that fall way short of Maine in terms of health care and population homogeniety.

Secondly, we have to ask ourselves, Is our national health care system really that bad? We have the best trained doctors. We have the most sophisticated dianostic equipment. We have the best teaching schools and teaching hospitals. There must be something else going on for our "national" IMR to be so "bad". There is something going on.

Your assignment is to first read these news releases from a variety of state health departments:

• North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
• South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
• Mississippi State Department of Health
• South Dakota Department of Health

Here is a table from the Kaiser Family Foundation that provides some details, and gives away where I am going with my diatribe.

Questions:

1. Are all ethnic groups equal when it comes to IMR?
2. Which ethnic group has the lowest IMR?
3. Which ethnic group(s) have the highest IMR?
4. Does any state have an ethnic group with an IMR close to 4.5?

Obviously, if you answer these questions, a pattern should emerge. If you are white, your baby has a better chance of living to his/her/its first birthday. If you are not white, then the chances of your baby living to his/her/its first birthday decrease by at least half.

Really, though, everyone is pretty lucky to live in the United States. Chances are good that your baby will see its first birthday, anyway. But babies born underweight, premies, general birth complications, anything that makes the first few days of life difficult, are going to fare better if they are white than if they are not.

It isn't because white babies are hardier or more robust - but they may be. There are lots of mitigating factors:

1. Whites tend to be less poor
2. Whites tend to have better access to health care
3. Non-whites tend to be poorer
4. Non-whites have less access to health care
5. Poor tend to lead unhealthier lives; smoke, drink, worse diets, don't see their doctor regularly.

If we look at really successful states, like Maine, we can see a couple things. People are pretty educated. The population is relatively small. Few minorities live in Maine. And 85% of the population have access to health insurance or are covered by some type of plan. This rate is one of the highest in the nation.

If we, and by we I mean our government, want to reduce our IMR, then we have to address the IMR of our minority populations; we have to address the health care of babies born to minorities. This is where we will see the greatest impact in reducing our national IMR.

Can anyone say National Health Care coverage? Socialized medicine?

29th on Infant Mortality

I wish I knew the name of the jackass who wrote this article. These editorials are the type of crap I argue against.

Read the editorial. The author says that we should hold off on being too proud of ourselves regarding shaving 15/100ths of a point from our Infant Mortality Rate. Who does this person compare the United States against? Let's take a look at our competition:

Poland. Slovakia. Scandinavia, which means Norway and Sweden. East Asia, which probably means South Korea and Japan, in this case.

Yeah, you know, the last time I checked Poland had 300 million people and was the third-ranked country in terms of population and area. Wait, so was Slovakia. And Norway. And Sweden. In fact, all of the regions mentioned have so much in common with the United States that I wouldn't know where to draw the line between where one country begins and the other ends ... voice dripping with sarcasm

We cannot go around comparing the United States to Norway. Or Sweden. Or Japan. Or Poland. They are not us; we are not them.

We have 300 million people. We are the third largest country on the planet, in terms of population and area. We have a population that is as culturally diverse as any place on the planet.

If we look at our states as real 'states' and by that I mean as countries, then let's start making comparisons. Compare Maryland to Norway. Compare Maine to Sweden. Compare New York to Poland. Now, we can compare apples to apples.

For the most part, our country, the United States, does very well in terms of IMR. We do need to examine what is going on in three states. Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, the District of Columbia, and Tennessee. Those four states, and our national capitol, are holding us back.

But, to say the United States is the same as Poland or Slovakia is asinine and ridiculous, and speaks more of the ignorance of the author than any real, lurking social disease.

DROC Fighting Continues

While most of the world has been distracted by events in Iraq and Afghanistan, Africa has been challenged by forces within and without.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, the largest state in southern Africa, is the site of the deadliest conflict in the world, surpassing even the Iraq War and Afghanistan, combined.

Since 1998, nearly 4 million people have died within the DROC as a result of this conflict, either through direct armed conflict or due to starvation and disease. The number dead is about 8% of the 62 million people that live in the DROC. Women, and girls have been victimized, raped, killed, tortured by roving bands of militia. Boys have been taken and are being trained as militia members. These boys are kidnapped then trained how to kill.

The major warring factions involve the Congolese army versus the militants of a renegade general Laurent Nkunda, the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP). The fighting that continues today reflects hostilities leftover from the Second Congo War, also called Africa's Second War, and the Great War of Africa. 8 countries and 25 different groups fought during the five years of the formally recognized conflict.

In looking at multiple sources of information, Wikipedia, Human Rights Watch, BBC News, CIA World Factbook, I cannot really find the source or cause of the fighting. I ran across a reference to Nkunda being upset over the treatment of Tutsis, leading him to form an anti-Kabila militia. His support for Tutsis in Africa does not seem to justify his guerilla war or atrocities committed by people under him. He was indicted for war crimes in 2005.

The DROC has the potential of being one of the most economically successful countries in Africa. This potential may be the source of conflict. The DROC is the largest producer of cobalt, major producer of copper and industrial diamonds, and one of the most important metals involved in technology, tantalum.

I write about this now, as fighting as increased in the last couple of days, forcing many to leave their homes. According to The World yesterday, nearly 50,000 have been forced out of there homes because of the conflict. We, sitting in our comfortable chairs in the US, have been mostly oblivious to the conflict in the DROC.

Google Earth's Coolest Addition

I was setting up Google Earth for my lecture/discussion on the Middle East last night and noticed a funny new icon I had not noticed before.

In Google Earth, I always click on icons I am unfamiliar with just to see what happens. Maybe not always a good idea. I trust Google explicitly, though ....

Anyway, I discovered this great new addition: Webcam.travel. People from around the world have posted geotagged webcams to Google Earth. Now, anyone from around the world can visit webcam.travel, or load up Google Earth with the Webcam.travel layer loaded and look at conditions - as they are within a few minutes - almost anywhere in the world. Man, this is awesome!

We looked at Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after taking our map quiz over Southwest Asia. Part of the webcam.travel website includes a Google Map showing the location of the webcam, giving you an idea of where you are within a city, town, village, etc. Plus, you can view the typical Google Earth satellite imagery or map layer to give you a bird's eye view of the area you are looking at. The Rotterdam perspective seemed to be directed to the ocean; the view was brilliant, almost like the city was on fire. I thought I was looking at the fires in southern California at first, before I noticed the webcam's title, and vicinity. The webcam captured the intense illumination in the area, bright, saturated yellows and golds of urban lights. The skies were low and overcast, giving the effect of smoke. Taken all together, the image appeared to be that of many lines of fire, when in actuality, we were looking at four-lane highways, industrial districts, and other urban features. Cool stuff!

Movie Review: Charlie Wilson's War

Who says one man can't make a difference?

Okay, well, a lot of people say that. What happens when one person tells another that they CAN make a difference, but they have to go to Pakistan first?

What you get, at least in this case, is the US proxy war against the Russians, with Afghanistan the battlefield, and the Afghanis the army.

At the onset of hostilities between the Russians and the Afghanis, just what was the US foreign policy? Uh ... well ... we don't have one, sir. Not exactly true. Our plan, at least according to the CIA Section Chief in Pakistan, was to let the Russians keep killing Afghanis until they completely run out of ammunition. Okay ... what happens when we run out of Afghanis and the Russians still have bullets?

Not really fair for the Afghanis, particularly when the Russians do not belong there, and hundreds of thousands of Afghanis are living in squalor in refugee camps in Pakistan. Meanwhile, the Russians are picking apart cities, villages, and outposts with impunity. Not a fair fight.

Charlie Wilson, a senator from Texas' 2nd district, is an interesting character, more ethical and moral than he lets on. His heart is in the right place, let's put it that way. His mind, however, is engaged in more carnal pursuits. Encouraged by the 6th most wealthy woman in Texas, he visits Pakistan. The Pakistanis think the US assistance in the region is a joke. The Afghanis were given military assistance by the US - WWI issue rifles and ammo - which has no effect on Russian armor. The Pakistanis ask Charlie to visit the refugee camps before his departure.

What he sees changes him, changes his mind, gives him raison d'etre for bringing down the Russians. Working with a rouge CIA operative, Charlie gets U.S. support and begins the takedown of the Russia military, via Afghani rebels.

But at what cost?

Gust has some interesting insight at the movie's end, weaving in some Zen. Make sure and listen to it.

The crazies come back to Afghanistan.

Movie Review: Stop-Loss

In Tikrit, you lead your squad after some guys that attacked your checkpoint. Not because you want revenge, but because you are following orders. Three Humvees in pursuit of a little Datsun pickup with three perps inside with AKs. The squad chases them through town, down a narrow alley, where the perps flee their truck and run into a building.

You leave a man on the roof-mounted .50-cal to cover your six, and take the rest of the squad down the alley. The alley is tight, barely big enough to get a wide-ass Humvee down, and walls climb to three or four stories on either side. The sun can't be seen because the sky is so narrow above the street only a little indirect light comes through.

As you prepare to lead your guys into a building, the shooting starts. One guy goes down, then another. Fire from the rooftop. Your guys return fire. Bad guys fall. An RPG takes out your Humvee; the soldier manning the .50-cal is gone. Your second in command runs into the building after the original bad guys, but takes a hit. You hear him call your name. You rush in, and find yourself face-to-face with a guy holding a child... and a grenade. You shoot both. Moving up the stairs, you hear more shots. You dodge into a room - clear; in the kitchen, your buddy is on the floor, shot, and taking fire from around a corner. Tossing in a grenade, you cover your ears and shield your body. The concussion knocks you around. Checking the adjacent room, you find your grenade got the bad guy... plus his kids, wife, mother, father - the whole family tree just got clipped.

You manage to get your buddy out. In the meantime, the backup has arrived and is helping evac the wounded. You lost three guys, and a fourth probably lost his legs. Who knows how many baddies went down. Thank God your tour is over, thank God your enlistment is over and you can get back to the states. You've got your best girl to marry!

Enter Stop-Loss.

With volunteerism dropping, and re-enlistments dropping, the military is having a hard time meeting numbers. What to do? Why don't we activate a little known part of the contractual fine print and re-activate those that are scheduled for discharge? Excellent idea!

Stop-Loss, AKA Backdoor Draft, was instituted after the Vietnam War. When a person signs the military contract, whether for two years or four years or maybe even six years, the real obligation is EIGHT years. Now, in times of peace, eight years, smeight years, right? But with two wars on the stove, one of which is not particularly popular, and the other not going well, the military complex has found itself with a bit of a Public Relations (PR) problem. So, while we try to improve our image, we still need soldiers. And who makes a better soldier than someone who is already a soldier?

According to statistics at the end of the movie, about 10% of soldiers have been affected by Stop-Loss. Stop-Loss soldiers serve an additional 6 months, on average. But we all know the problem with averages ...

The movie covers many issues Iraq War soldiers encounter in their domestic/civilian lives. Ryan Phillipe, who I don't really care for as an actor, has such a good performance that my opinion of him has changed, a little. Many of the events in the movie are pulled right from the headlines. Well, not lately, as the media has moved onto another bright, shiny, object - Obama/McCain, and the Economy.

Watch this movie!

Movie Review: Taxi To The Darkside

Abu Ghraib.

Merely thinking about Abu Ghraib makes my skin crawl. Such an honorable example of American culture. But wait, that isn't right. American military culture under Bush. It doesn't represent me, my ideals, my concerns, or my beliefs. Anyone with any ethical or moral fibers in their bodies are probably not represented by Abu Ghraib, hopefully.

Taxi to the Darkside tells the story of what happens when someone is at the wrong place at the wrong time. And he dies from bad timing. Not because he was holding a weapon, firing weapon, in possession of a weapon. He dies from being impoverished. He dies from the color of his skin. He dies from excessive violence promoted with a wink and a nudge from the US military apparatus.

Watch the movie.

The Geography of Starbucks

Thanks to Dante Chinni for an interesting article on the geography of Starbucks.

Here we go:

Stereotypes. Some people believe that the "Wal-mart Nation" favors John McCain; the "Starbucks Nation" favors Barack Obama. Probably not true.

What I found immensely fascinating was the division of the United States into 11 Starbucks Communities. I am not going to summarize them here; you can visit the article to discover the 11 Communities, but I will list them (mostly so I don't forget)

1. Minority Central
2. Service Worker Centers
3. Campus & Careers
4. Military Bastions
5. Tractor Country
6. Immigration Nation
7. Monied Burbs
8. Evangelical Epicenters
9. Boom Towns
10. Emptying Nests
11. Industrial Metropolis

These communities do not correlate with any common perceptual region, i.e. the Bible Belt, the Sun Belt, the Midwest, or the South, for example. These communities exist wherever people who fit the demographic profile of the community live. For example, an easy one is Military Bastions, or military bases, like Ft. Campbell, KY, or Ft. Benning, GA. Immigration Nation may refer to those areas that are attractive to migrant laborers, or perhaps some urban centers that recent migrants tend to gravitate towards, such as Dallas, Phoenix, New York, Atlanta, etc.

The article deals with an area of geography called Market Segmentation. Some might say that market segmentation falls within the jurisdiction of marketing and business. However, we cannot forget that whenever place enters into the discussion, and the resulting characteristics or traits can be mapped, then we are now well within the domain of geography.

I like this Patchwork Nation idea created or implemented by the Christian Science Monitor to track trends in our culture.

Country VS Realm VS Region

One of my pet peeves is the misidentification of a realm or region as a "country."

For example, what raised my ire was an Apple iTune podcast description for the show, "travel geography." The premise of the show invites people who have traveled abroad to discussion their journey. A description of the show is posted to help the listener decide what to listen to.

In one case, a two-part episode description invited listeners to learn about the travels of a few people who had traveled across the "country" of Asia.

The "country" of Asia? You've got to be kidding me. And associated with a podcast called, "travel geography," no less.

Maybe they meant "China" or "South Korea;" or maybe they meant to say the "realm of Asia," rather than "country."

A 'country' typically is thought of to be a political area on the landscape, where the area is governed by the people that inhabit the area, and others outside the area recognize the sovereignty of the area. Such as Germany, or Portugal, or Uruguay.

A 'realm' is a large area that encompasses many different countries, contains a great number of people, and is a mostly inhabitable territory. Such as Asia, Africa, or Latin America.

A 'region' can be defined by a number of subjective characteristics. Regions can also vary by scale. A region could exist at a very local scale, such as around a town or city. A region could exist at a national scale. US states that receive a good deal of sunlight and also receive a number of retirement migrants are part of the Sunbelt. States that are perceived to have strong religious faith fall into the Bible Belt. These are perceptual regions. They encompass a number of administrative units, i.e. states, and are a subset of the larger "realm."

By the way, one of the best iTunes podcasts is The Amateur Traveler. The guy that does this does a great job.

Movie Review: Noise

ThinkFilm production has a new Tim Robbins movie available for rental, "Noise."

Car alarms are annoying. Just one car alarm going off is enough to send many people into a state of incoherent babbling. Imagine multiple cars or trucks going off simulatenously or consecutively. Madness, shear madness, could result. And this is what sends David (Tim Robbins) over the edge. The movie is somewhat autobiographical in nature, according to the NYT article. David, seeing the lack of respect in the world around him, feeling assaulted by urban noise, takes matters into his own hands, becoming a crusader for silence, the Rectifier.

While not a movie with "geographic" themes self-evident, one scene stands out to me. David is being followed around by a part-time writer, who was an earlier victim of one of David's anti-noise tirade. David had thrown a rock the the storefront of her father's furniture store because the burgler alarm going off at 3am. He has moved into an apartment as his wife has become intolerant of his anti-noise campaign methods. As David and this reporter talk about David and his alter-ego, the Rectifier, David is seen stabbing the wall with a pushpin.

I liked the scene (the rest of the movie was so-so) as the casual observer may not recognize that David is pushing a pin into an aerial photograph of New York City. He was using aerial photography to map his exploits! In fact, it wasn't just one aerial photograph. Stuck to the wall above a worktable was a partial flightline of aerial photography for New York City, with several colored pushpins jabbed into various locations across the city.

I thought that was kind of cool.

Iran and the Debates

I hope everyone has been watching the debates. They are informative in their content, and, conversely, informative in what they do not contain. Listen for comments about China and India. Are there any ???

Let me be clear, I am not going to use this venue to support either party. I do want to point something out in this venue, though.

The President of Iran is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Not to diminish his power or his authority, but the reality of Iran is that M. Ahmadinejad is not the real power in Iran. The real power in Iran sits with the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.

The Supreme Leader of Iran is in control of the military, not the President. When we hear President, we think, generally, that the person in the role of President has the same powers as the US President. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not a dictator - he is up for re-election next summer. He cannot launch an attack against Israel, as command of the military is outside his powers.

Many countries have a President and a Prime Minister. The President takes care of domestic affairs. The Prime Minister handles international affairs. Sometimes, the role of President may be termed, "Chancellor," such as the case of Great Britain. In the USA, we combine both the domestic duties and international duties into one position, the President.

Becoming more informed about the world is what this blog is about. When we learn, we are then able to see that things may not always be what they seem. Perhaps, we become more curious and ask more questions. That is part of becoming educated - being able to ask better questions, or question the answers.

I encourage everyone to explore debate comments.

Repairman Jack Geography

On a whim, I bought my first Repairman Jack novel, "Harbinger." Anyone who has read a Repairman Jack novel, by F. Paul Wilson will realize what came next. I bought my second Repairman Jack novel, "Hosts." And then I bought "Gateways" and "Crisscross," which I am reading now. I bought "Infernal" on Friday.

No, I am not reading them in order. I have been buying them used, based on price and availabililty. I really need a copy of "All The Rage." Events in that novel seem to alter the future of Jack, at least he realizes that there is more to his repair work than meets the eye.

FPW weaves a lot of geography into his works. His endnotes in "Gateway" specifically address his use of literary license to deviate from known geography to relocate certain restaurants and other features. The environment, via the Everglades, becomes a character in "Gateways." Demography of southern Florida is expressed through the Gateway retirement community. Jack's father retires to southern Florida, which is characteristic of our current US population. Early in the novel, Jack runs across the unique fauna and flora of Florida, the sawgrass, mosquitos, herons, plus the low relief terrain. Near the end of the novel, Jack, his father, and Carl have to deal with the looming influence of Hurricane Elvis, in addition to certain reptiles.

FPW novels are rife with geography examples. Jack is highly observant of traffic patterns, the movement of people, when people are active and when they are not, as in commuting patterns and weekend travel. Jack is attentive to the economics of the neighborhoods, caring a mental map of New York City and New Jersey that helps him at a basic level navigate the region, and operate at an advanced level as he uses his knowledge of commerical, industrial, and residential areas to conduct his "repair" operations.

For someone who has only traveled to that area once, FPW through Jack's voice, I feel like I have a better understanding of the geography Newark, NJ and New York City.

Can you really see Russia from Alaska?

Can you really see Russia from Alaska? - By Nina Shen Rastogi - Slate Magazine

Thanks, Nina, for a great geography article!

At the beginning of each semester, I have students do an exercise, to help them refresh their knowledge of the world. Name the continents, name five most populous countries, name the five largest countries - that sort of thing.

One question that I like to ask is the distance between the United States and Russia. As one might expect, answers tend to be in the thousands of miles-range. The majority of students are surprised to discover that the distance is about the same as the distance between the east-west limits of the municiple boundaries of the town in which my university is located. And then I tell them that on a clear day you can stand on US soil and see Russian soil. And then we talk about Seward's Folly, which is why we have Alaska to begin with. At some point during the Cold War, a woman swam the distance between the islands of Big Diomede and Little Diomede. She had to get Khruschev's permission to set foot on the shores of Big Diomede.

What would life be like if we returned our purchase and got our money back ...

Fannie Mae Breakdown

I have to be honest, when I heard about the imminent bankruptcy of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, I passed this off as just another financial crisis, similar to the mortgage crisis, and the bailout of some banks recently. Boy, was I wrong.

When I hear economists say that they would rather see the United Kingdom or Japan go bankrupt, my ears perk up.

NPR broadcast this story on September 9th, 2008.

• FM/FM hold $5 trillion in debt. Not only is that the largest debt held by any company, it is larger than any countries debt. Except for the United State, that is.

That is $5,000,000,000,000! I can't imagine that much money. Another way to think about this, perhaps, is that this value is about 1/3rd of the GDP of the United States.

Could anyone possibly imagine what would happen to the global economy should either of the two agencies go belly-up? Domenico Siniscalco, former finance minister of Italy, has an idea. He stated that the "bankruptcy of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would have meant Armageddon...Meltdown of...the global financial system." Yike !!!

The solvency of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac presents an issue to the global financial markets. Is the U.S. a stable financial market? The U.S. was once pretty bullet-proof; now, global financial markets are not so sure. As Peter Costello, a finance minister from Australia put it, the U.S. is exporting financial instability.

India has smiled somewhat over this. After taking considerable criticism for years for managing "backward" and "closed" financial affairs, India is now viewed as being a "cautious manager" of its economy.

Maybe, we, the U.S. should take a step back and examine just how cautious we really are.

Movie Review: The Kite Runner

My wife and I watched The Kite Runner the other night, the last DVD in a multi-movie and Guitar Hero '80s weekend. We didn't begin watching until late, around midnight. My hopes on staying awake throughout the length of the movie were pretty low. Once the movie began, however, we were riveted throughout the entire 2-hr length.

Amir and Hassan are friends; two young boys growing up in the same house in the time prior to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Flying kites is their one of the their major enjoyments together. Amir flies the kites, taking Hassan's advice. When Amir cuts the line of a competing kite, Hassan becomes the Kite Runner, having an innate gift to track the defeated kite as it descends toward the winding streets and alleyways of Kabul, Afghanistan. Amir is also a noted storyteller for his age, able to craft words and passages that entertain children and adults alike. His father does not think much of this ability, prefering Hassan's ruggedness and masculinity, noting that Hassan tends to defend Amir in fights, although Hassan is quite smaller than Amir.

Amir and Hassan seem inseparable as friends, though one thing does separate them: race. Amir is Pashtun, the preferred people of Afghanistan. Amir's father is very wealthy, driving a replica of Steve McQueen's Mustang around the streets of Kabul. Hassan is a second-class citizen, barely tolerable by most Pashtuns, as he is Hazara. The story takes a violent turn as a result of this racial divide, and the friendship between the two boys is never the same. Soon after, the Soviets invade and occupy Afghanistan, forcing Amir and his father to flee, leaving Hassan and his father behind.

Leap forward to 2000, and Amir is living in Fremont, California, still intractably tied to the Afghani-Pashtun culture. A phone call one night forces him to revisit the ghosts of his past, and he embarks on a journey back into the heart of his homeland, no longer ruled by the Soviets, but by the Taliban.

I flew kites as a kid. My dad put together a World-War I byplane kite, which we flew once. We crashed it, breaking it, but not seriously. It then hung from my bedroom ceiling for years. Kites take on a whole new meaning in this movie and prove to be an calming counter-point to the serious themes permeating the movie.

Events in the movie take place in Fremont, California, the portions that are set in Kabul, Afghanistan were shot in Kashgar, Tashgarkan, and in the Pamir Mountains - all of which are in western China.

The Taliban are also portrayed, accurately, at least superficially so. From the street hangings, the bearded gunmen, women wearing the chadri, the full-length blue burqa, to the atrocities committed at Ghazni (Ghazi) Stadium.

Inspired as it is from true events, Kite Runner is a work of fiction. We can achieve some insight into culture, wealth, trust, and honor, through this story: the wealthy and elite in Afghanistan, moderate Islam versus radical Islam, racism, and the radical rule of the Taliban.

Rent it; it might be one of the best 2hrs you have spent in front of your television in a long time.

A Country Called Europe

I like this title better than the original title, "It's the end of Britain as we know it". My title is not accurate, but neither is CSM's. However, we are both heading in the same direction.

The European Union is growing closer to becoming "a country" by my estimates. Europe has been evolving towards a "union" since 1950, when the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)was established. Later, in 1957, the Treaty of Rome would create the European Economic Community, otherwise known as the Common Market.

In 1973, an additional three countries would join the original six charter members of the ECSC. The ECSC would then become known as the European Union. Greece, Spain, and Portugal would soon follow.

I don't mean to provide a chronology here, and I am not going to. For these countries to cooperate serves all European countries. The issues that stand before them are numerous. The reality is that for each country to thrive, each must recognize interdependence on the others. How does a country then thrive in the face of differences? So many languages, different religions, different economic cultures and climates and stages or levels of development.

The European Union seeks to provide such a structure, to encourage growth, yet maintain fair and equitable practices across a diverse region.

In essence, it is almost as if a Federal Republic is evolving across Europe. Each province, e.g. Germany, has autonomy to conduct business, have local elections, etc., but must adhere to EU business rules in the process. Very analogous to our Federal system: our U.S. states are analogs to EU countries. Our states have given sovereignty over to our Federal government, in terms of defense, monetary policy, etc.

In many ways, Europe has been set forth as the 'grand old man' of the world. In regards to the EU, the United States has appeared to have been at the forefront.

Iraq and Iran: Together for the First Time

Folks, I see this as a big deal. I have read numerous international articles, within the Arab world and without, and I see this as a concern.

Iraq and Iran spent the better part of the 1980's fighting over the Shatt al-Arab waterway in the southern part of Iraq. Oil, of course, was the contention.

Saddam became the buddy of the United States, as a way for us to conduct a proxy war against Iran. After all, the fundamentalist Shi'ites in Iran had just overrun our embassy and taken hostages, keeping them for almost a year. Donald Rumsfeld even took it upon himself to engage Saddam directly during this time, helping deliver non-military assistance, agriculture products supposedly. Supposedly, these where then converted over to chemical weapons that Saddam used to kill 200,000 Kurds in the northern part of Iraq.

The U.S. has not been friendly with Iran ever since we supported the overthrow of the theocratic government in 1952, replacing the president with Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. The former government had nationalized the oil industry, taking away the investment that a U.S. oil company had made.

The Iranian President enjoyed two days in Iraq. He announced his visit weeks in advance. While security was high, he appeared to travel with impunity and without much regard for his personal safety. He also appeared to enjoy the personal attention of Jalal Talabani and al-Maliki. He visited several places around Baghdad and Iraq, and also received accommodations outside the Green Zone. President Ahmadinejad enjoys the support of the Shia minority in Iraq, the southern portion of Iraq. Iran supported the Kurds during Iran-Iraq War so the Kurds also appreciated Iran's attention. The only ones that seemed upset were the Iraqi Sunni Muslims, who are quietly backed by Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

In contrast, President Bush has stayed little more that 4-8 hours at a stretch in Iraq, has not been outside the Green Zone, and only announces his visit after the fact. Granted, he is a bigger "trophy" for opposition forces so requires more security, but it also says a lot about how the U.S. currently viewed, as well.

When all was said and done, Iraq and Iran signed agreements to improve and promote cooperation, cultural and strategic ties.

Iran is, and will continue to be, an important player in stabilizing Iraq, particularly for the Shia.

Space Imperialism on the Horizon

An article in Christian Science Monitor pulls together details from multiple sources, outlining China's apparent interest in militarizing outer space.

On or about January 19th, China destroyed one of its own satellites. Military experts view this as the beginnings of militarizing space. Once a country has the ability to shoot down satellites, then the ability of collecting surveillance on that country is diminished. So, one can understand the DoD's concern.

At issue is air space and the concept of territoriality. A country's boundaries extend into the sky, "airspace," and into the ocean depths, "territorial waters." But what about space?

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 bans the use of space and celestial objects for military purposes. Thusly, none of the signatories can orbit missile platforms or conduct military operations in space, on the moon, Mars, Pluto, etc.

The treaty does not cover shooting down satellites from earth, however.

So much for Science Fiction battles ...

Movie Review: God Grew Tired Of Us

Sudan. If you haven't heard of Sudan by now then you aren't reading this, haven't used the Internet, and are probably a good candidate for a real-life version of "Lost."

Currently, the world is applying pressure on China to affect change and prevent more tragedy in Darfur. But Darfur is in the western part of Sudan. The southern part of Sudan has fallen off of most people's radar.

From the early 1980s through 2005, the southern part of Sudan was involved in a civil war with northern Sudan. I may need to amend that - the North was at war with the South. The South contains the oil, which the Chinese want, also better soils, which the southern Sudanese want and the northern Sudanese wish they had. Complicating the conflict has been religious differences; the North is Muslim, the South is Christian and Animists. The North is mostly Arab, too, while the South is African.

During the two-decade long civil war, the North killed, captured, or ran off thousands of southern Sudanese men and boys, who fled to Ethiopia and later to Kenya. Fathers, husbands, brothers, and uncles were forced from the lands or killed by the northern armies. Those young men and boys that fled, on foot, through dangerous territory, would be called the "Lost Boys of Sudan." They would become separated from their families and many, even to this day, have not yet been reunited with family members. Families were broken apart; mothers, daughters and sisters were killed, some fled and became refugees in neighboring countries. Thousands ended up in refugee camps, and from these camps, choice few were selected for lives in the U.S.

The movie follows four Sudanese Lost Boys, primarily John Bul Dau, and their new lives in the U.S. We learn about their lives while in the refugee camp and glimpse life within one of these camps. We see their introduction to technology, listen to their notions of what life in the U.S. must be like. Seeing these young men and their interaction with airline food and bathrooms is interesting, like watching full-grown children, as everything is so new and different. While interesting, much of this I found disturbing.

We, as Americans, take so much for granted. Something so simple as looking into a mirror that each of us do a dozen times a day is captivating and mesmerizing to the young men. Seeing themselves in the mirror at the airport bathroom maybe the first time each had this experience. I was stunned by that. Later, I was stunned again by the lack of counseling these men went through to assist them in managing such culture shock. No mentors, outside of the first day walk-through of their apartment. They were quickly introduced to trashcans, the refrigerator, the toilet and toilet paper, and potato chips. And then left on their own. Strange land, strange country.

They also get to pay back their airfare, after having to work two or three jobs. Loneliness also haunts them. Their "families," other Sudanese Lost Boys in a refugee camp in Kenya, are half a world away. The people here, in Buffalo, NY, are unfriendly, not talkative, "you can't just walk into someone's house and talk." In the camp, one is surrounded by friends who have been through the same experience, and through the Grace of God, a few get an opportunity to succeed in the U.S.

The film is very eye-opening and poignant, and covers many positives, such as John reuniting with his mother after 17yrs, and working towards bettering the lifes not only of other Sudanese living the U.S. but also advocating for those still living in refugee camps in Kenya. But I couldn't help but think that all Sudanese would much rather have their lives back, and live in their Sudanese homeland, rather than live life abroad.

Movie Review: In the Valley of Elah

About 70% of a human brain is water. The human brain has a consistency not unlike that of a firm jello. A recent Washington Post article cites research that ties concussions to PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). The question you may be thinking is: what does a jello-like brain and PTSD have to do with "In the Valley of Elah"?

Tommy Lee Jones portrays a father, Hank Deerfield, searching for his son, Mike, who has gone AWOL soon after his return from a tour of duty in Iraq. Jones' character is also a former MP and knows the Army bureaucracy well enough to know that he has to push through it to get answers. Charlize Theron portrays a local police detective assisting him in his search.

**Spoilers Ho'***

We soon find out that Mike is dead, and not just dead, but butchered and barbequed. Rather than hoping his son is AWOL trying to work through the stress of battle, Hank finds himself at odds with the Army in trying to discover his son's murderers.

What we learn throughout the course of the movie is that ordinary people forced to make extraordinary decisions can seem outwardly fine but have undergone serious emotional damage. I begin the discussion by introducing the brain material because we are only now beginning to realize the damage done to the brain by explosions and concussive-type damage. Soldiers subjected to concussive forces as a result of IED explosions, mortar attacks, of even firing their own weapons are at risk or may have already suffered some brain damage.

The damage to their brains will most likely go unrecognized and thusly undiagnosed. Then, the soldiers walk among us with undiagnosed brain injuries. Of course, not all are dangerous, but many are "wounded," psychologically and perhaps even physiologically wounded. Couple this with the fact that these are young men and women whose brains are really still developing, and we have a serious medical condition that left untreated could affect not only the soldiers life for years to come but everyone they come into contact with.

The movie was very good, thought-provoking, and hints at the dangers of war that shadow everyone who has been involved in the military.

Life Imitates Art: Wishful Thinking

The Independent Republic of Kosovo was born yesterday, much to the chagrin of the Bosnian Serbs. There is great consternation and rage directed towards the new-found republic and religious homeland for the Bosnian Serb Christians.

In fact, so many Bosnian Serbs are outraged at the audacitiy of Muslim Kosovars to declare their independence that they are looking to their heros to help them regain their core region. Cries for Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic are heard openly in the streets and in the papers.

Of course, these "heros" have been identified as war criminals by The Hague, and are on the lam from international police agencies, despite living open lives in Serbian strongholds. Ratko Mladic's visage may be seen on political posters in Macedonia.

On the eve of Kosovo's independence, my wife and I watched the movie, The Hunting Party. The movie came highly recommended by the manager of Video Gold; he and I trade opinions on politically-charged movies from time-to-time. The Hunting Party is loosely based on the real-life story of Scott Anderson and four other intrepid journalists, one of whom is Sebastian Junger, who become confused with a CIA hit squad. The group sets out to "interview" Radovan Karadzic but the endeavor quickly escalates to bringing him to justice.

The movie significantly deviates from the truth, however. In the real effort, five journalists set out to capture Radovan, while in the movie five becomes three. And - spoiler coming - the movie three end up capturing Radovan, while in real-life the five never capture Radovan. Radovan is still living in Serbia, or perhaps Russia by some accounts. His pal, Ratko, is still living in Serbia, protected by the Serbian army.

What the movie appears to have accurately portrayed is the apparent incongruence on the part of the international community in their interest in finding these individuals. Yes, they have warrants out for their arrest. Police and law enforcement officials seemingly know the location of said individuals. Their efforts at apprehension are bumbling, at best, noted by the attempted arrest of Radovan at church that left a clergyman and his son wounded. All true is the advertisement in a Serbian paper, asking anyone with information on the whereabouts of either of the two men to call an 800 number. The 800 number was only accessible to callers from inside the U.S. When asked about the possibility that this blunder could have been deliberate, S. Anderson provides this comment:

"You hear this kind of conspiracy-theory crap about the United States from European journalists all the time. As the only one at the table who'd actually worked for the American government--years ago and briefly--I assured Philippe that Washington was actually capable of far greater idiocy." (Scott Anderson, 2001)

Rather than run up against copyright infringement I have posted a link to the original article, 'What I Did on My Summer Vacation' via the Finding Karadzic blog. Watch the video, then read the article; or vice-versa. One cannot help but note the Hollywood embellishment. And that is the most frustrating:

If only life did imitate art, on occasion, particularly the way the movie Radovan received his just desserts.