Busy Week

Not sure just what to write about tonight. We had a busy week. Went to northern Idaho and visited with our youngest son and the granddaughters. We went to a small water park in Hayden, Idaho and had a good time even though I'm no swimmer. It was good to see our son and the girls. We boarded the dogs this time and that was harder on me than Tee Tucker and Harriet. Now that I know we can trust the kennel we boarded them at maybe we will take some longer trips without them. I would take them if we had a RV or travel trailer. Maybe if gas prices go down.
Obama has picked his running mate and I'm not sure Joe Biden is a good choice or not. Right now I tend to think that he is a bad choice and rather diminishes the candidate of change that Obama had started out to be. If Obama wanted an attack dog to do and say things that he can't, then Biden is a good choice. But attack dog politics sounds like "politics as usual" in Washington. Maybe McCain will make a better choice of running mates, however I can't help but see "Grandpa Simpson" every time McCain speaks.
I have received several comments on my blog lately and it never ceases to amaze me that people read what I have written. I really enjoy the comments and read them all several times. It is really something to think that people I have never seen or am likely to see are looking at what I say.

The Return of the Russian Bear

The fighting this week in Georgia marks the return of the big bad Russian Bear. He has slowly been reawakening for the last several years and now with Putin pulling the strings it has reawakened with a roar of defiance. The bear has been slowly flexing his muscles with the fighting that has taken place in Chechnya over the last several years under the guise of fighting Islamic terrorists. Now all pretense is gone and the Russians are letting all the new republics that formed after the fall of the Soviet Union know that they had better toe the line or else.
The Georgian president, Saakashvili, while a problematic leader had been trying to align his country more closely with the US and NATO. The Russians and Putin were very upset with this. In fact Russia has been upset when any of the former Soviet Block countries that have made overtures to NATO and the US. Saakashvili made the mistake of taking military action to try and bring back two break away areas of Georgia. The people in these two areas have always felt more in common with Russia than Georgia and Russia has used this to their advantage. So when the Georgian military marched in they asked the Russians for protection and the Russian's are using this as a way to rid themselves of a leader that they don't like and can't control.
Saakashvili made several big mistakes in this crisis. First and foremost he completely misread the Russian response to his military actions. Secondly he thought that he would get more support from the US and NATO. The US is so tied up in Afghanistan and Iraq that there is nothing that we can do because we have nothing to spare. NATO can do nothing without the US, so Georgia has nothing but sternly worded messages and general but nonspecific condemnation of the Russian's actions.
There are larger implications here beyond the suffering of the Georgian people. Russia is back and badder than ever and they are spoiling for a fight or at least a confrontation with the West. The fighting in Georgia is the first act in the New Cold War. The next president is going to have more to worry about than withdrawal timetable from Iraq and the economy, he is going to have a confront a resurgent Russia. Yes, the Russian Bear is back and looking for trouble.

Olympic Coverage and is that a Sport

I know that I have said that I was interested in the Olympics this time but I do have a complaint, the total over coverage. The local station, Channel 7 KTVB, has had pretty much nothing but the Olympics and that is okay. On cable MSNBC is also carrying the Olympics for about 2/3's of the day. Today when I looked at KTVB they were showing some of the women's swimming events and some gymnastics. MSNBC so showing badminton and women's beach volleyball. Badminton and beach volleyball are Olympic sports? With all that is happening in the world right now I fail to see how beach volleyball and badminton are that important.

I know that CNN, Fox and Bloomberg are all covering world events for cable but MSNBC is trying to cast its self as a the source for all the election news, "The biggest event this Year" they keep trumpeting in their ads. So I find it hard to believe that they are covering badminton in the middle of the day with Russia and Georgia putting the world on the brink of a larger global war.

Another thing is NBC is tape delaying the events. I know that many of them are being played in what is the middle of the night for most of America but in this day of instant communications and 24 hour news, internet updates and screen crawlers it is hard not to know the outcome of an event before NBC gets around to showing it. There is nothing like watching the USA basketball team take on China knowing that USA wins by 31 points. In fact NBC is streaming many of the events in real time on their own web site. So come on NBC show them as they happen. 

Boise in the News

Why is it that any time Boise or Idaho is in the national news it is not for anything good. The last two days the national media have carried stories about Brandi Swindell being detained for protesting in Tiananmen Square. I know that she is a "good Christian" that is trying to save souls and all that but she is helping add to the picture of Idahoans as just a bunch of racist rednecks and double talking fools. What sort of Christian goes to another person's house to make a scene. I think the Chinese government should revoke her visa and send her home where maybe someone can teach her some manners.

Then there is Larry Craig, the punch line that just wont go away. He is yet again in the news fighting his guilty plea for soliciting airport bathroom sex. He says he is not going to the Republican Convention because he is not running for re-election and he is still fighting his case in court in Minneapolis and he doesn't want to be a distraction at the convention. This could have been all over if he had just quit like he at first said he would and then fought his case as a private citizen but no he has to remain in office so as to be a punch line that again shows Idaho in the worst possible light.   

In the early part of this decade we had the Boise City Travel Gate scandal. While that was mostly a local story it did generate some stories in Washington, Oregon and Utah. Yet again Boise and Idaho shown in a less than flattering light.

In the 1980's and 90's we had the White Supremacists at Hayden Lake with all their prejudices and hatred. They were good for almost 20 years of showing Idaho in the worst possible light. Add to that the Ruby Ridge Incident and the resulting Federal trials for all involved and we once again come out at the bottom.

I know that there has to have been some stories that show Boise and Idaho in a good light but for the life of me I can't come up with one right now. There are local stories about good kids in school but those are just that, local stories. We need some good national press and not just some top 10 listing as a good city for walking. Maybe the Special Olympics next year will be our chance to show the nation and the world what a great place Idaho and its people really are.

Paris Hilton for President

I just watched the Paris Hilton answer to the John McCain ad about celebrity and I laughed my head off. I think that she will have the last laugh on this issue. That being said I did rather like her answer to the energy crisis. Limited off shore drilling with tax incentives to the auto makers for hybrid and plug in technology cars. This actually is not a bad plan and in the great scheme of things in Washington DC, it is doable.  It is sad that a celebrity has a better thought out plan that can work than either of the two candidates. I now want to hear her plan for affordable health insurance. 

The old white haired dude and the serious talking guy really need to stop trying to one up the other guy and start thinking about and articulating about the very real problems that we are facing as a nation. Energy, Social Security, health care, education, the environment and the mess that is Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead we have the old white haired dude mocking the serious talking guy and handing out tire pressure gauges to the media thinking it is a joke.  The serious talking guy pulls out the race card and prattles on about changing politics as usual. 

If either one of these clowns wants to win on the issues and ideas they had better start having some ideas and look at the issues. Energy is easy compared to Social Security and health care and so far neither of them have talked about those. I know that there is still 3 months until election day and that anything can happen in that time but I'm just pessimistic enough to believe that all we are going to hear is name calling and the same old party line. So lets hear it for Paris Hilton, she at least saw a problem and came up with doable, workable solution. 

Bikes and Spandex

I went walking with the dogs this morning in the foothills. We had a good time and the girls were actually pretty good considering it was someplace they had never been and it was all new to them. We took the Kestrel trail and I swear it was mostly uphill, both ways. There were two different groups walking dogs, one dog on a leash and three dogs off leash. They were all very well behaved but I still believe all dogs should be on leash when in that environment. Then there were the mountain bikers. The ones going up hill were all fairly polite and courteous. The ones going downhill was another story.
At the trail head there is a sign that talks about trail etiquette. The sign advises that pedestrians have the right of way at all times and that bikers going downhill need to yield to all persons going uphill. It also mentions letting people know that you are coming up behind them either verbally or with a bell or horn. The verbal, bell or warnings were never used by any of the bikers but that was okay as I was keeping and eye on the trail and reeling in the dogs and moving off the trail as I saw bikers coming. As for yielding to people going uphill that never happened.
I was going uphill and there was another walker coming down and there was a spandex clad biker behind her. I moved off the trail and waited. The biker was moving really fast as he went by me and he blew by the lady walking without a word or sound of warning. Why is it if the biker is wearing spandex pants, a bike jersey, gloves and a helmet they always act as if the rules don't apply to them? Whether in the streets, on the greenbelt or the trails the spandex clad bikers ride as if the devil is chasing them. If there is a bike lane the spandex crowd never uses it, they are always in traffic. When in traffic they never follow the traffic rules, at least they rarely stop at stop signs.
Don't get me wrong here I know that not all spandex bikers disobey the rules, though I have never meet one, and not all non-spandex riders are law abiding. It just that to this casual observer spandex seems to bring the worst out in the bike rider.

Nothing to Say

I'm not sure why I have been so silent lately. I had started this blog thinking I had all sorts of things to say. Since I have retired I find that if it is not politics I have nothing to say. Lately even politics has been letting me down. So much of what passes for politics in this country is nothing more than members of opposing parties mouthing their party line. Obama and McCain while quick to blame the other for our economic problems have no real answers or solutions to our difficulties. McCain wants to help the rich and big business, the normal Republican party line. Obama keeps saying that we need a new politics to answer the problems but he is very short on explaining what this is or would entail. As long as this is what they do for campaigning it holds little appeal for me.
I rather find myself looking forward to the Olympics and for me that is strange. I'm an auto racing and football fan not a track and field or gymnastics fan. Maybe it is the fact that it is in China. I have always wanted to see China and walk the Great Wall and see the Forbidden City. Also I want some real Chinese food. I know that what passes for Chinese food here in America is only a pale shadow of what the Chinese really eat. Don't get me wrong I'm no Andrew Zimmer looking for the really odd and mostly repulsive things to eat but I want more vegetables, fish and tofu and less batter dipped and deep fried chicken and pork. So I will watch the Olympics and dream of traveling.
I'm 2 months into my retirement and I have only missed going to work a couple of times. I still think that I will eventually reenter the work force but for now I'm okay with staying at home and trying to become a house husband. I do know that if I work again it will be a no stress job. After 24 years of working as a Fire/EMS 911 operator I really don't want a job that entails me making decisions that could affect a person's life. But for now doing little house work and walking the dogs is just fine with me.

Obama and Time Horizons

It seems that Obama is not the only person who wants to see a timetable for troop withdrawals from Iraq, it seems the Iraqi government wants one too. In fact I believe that this is not the first time that the Iraqi's have stated that they want US troops to leave. Now Bush is talking about a "time horizon" for withdrawals. Like most people I'm wondering what a time horizon is. I believe it is just playing with words. When one is looking to see when the sun will rise or set on the horizon you consult a timetable. So lets just call it what it is, a timetable for withdrawal.
The problem for Bush and McCain is that they have painted themselves into the corner by saying that withdrawing troops is losing. They are trying to have it both ways by saying that the surge has reduced violence in Iraq but to withdraw would put the surge in danger of failing. Bush and McCain have never defined what success would look like. I believe that Obama is correct when he says " Bush and McCain have no plan for success in Iraq only a plan to stay in Iraq". Why else would McCain be willing to stay in Iraq for 100 years.

Impeach Congress

The recent shameful vote by Congress to allow President Bush to tramp the Constitution into the ground and provide cover for the Telecoms is grounds for impeachment. The President and every member of Congress is sworn to uphold the Constitution and the last time I looked the 4th Amendment is still part of that document. The bill that was passed basically tells the President that he can ignore the law and the Constitution and deprive the citizens of this country the protection of the law and due process. Additionally the President was able to protect his partners in crime with a blanket immunity. While this President has worked tirelessly to destroy the Constitution this one Bill is the largest loss of rights for the citizens of this Country ever enacted and it was done with the help of the Congress.
The 4th Amendment guarantees our right to protection from unreasonable search and seizure. The Amendment says that the government must go to the court and show probable cause to search or seize evidence in a criminal case. The President says that he needs the power to search and seize without the courts because this would impede the ability to capture dangerous terrorists or stop terrorist attacks. There is a court that was set up for just this situation. The government can even start the search before going to this court. They have 48 hours to do this after the search starts. The court has approved 99% of the requests that have come before it over the 30 years that it has been in operation. Bush still maintains that this is to intrusive and slow for the needs of national security.
This Administration has maintained since September 11 2001 that the courts. the laws and especially the Constitution have tied the hands of law enforcement and national security. This President has run rough shod over the Constitution and the courts and has given himself more power than any president has ever held. The President wants us to be afraid of terrorists but we have more to fear from our own government.
Senator Obama voted for this travesty saying that it is a compromise. He had started his campaign for president saying that he was against the blanket immunity that Bush wanted in the bill, now its a compromise. What compromise, the Bill gave the President everything he wanted and no protection for the citizens of this country from eavesdropping and loss of privacy. Senator McCain has backed the President without question since 2001, so his support is understandable. So we can expect no help from either of these two to help restore the Constitution. The Congress brought articles of impeachment against Bill Clinton for lying. I say not upholding the Constitution is also impeachable. So impeach George Bush, John McCain and Barack Obama and the rest of those that don't believe that the Constitution is worth upholding.

Not Sure What to Call This

The 4th was not as bad as I thought it would be. I think the Village Idiots were out of town. That is not to say there was no fireworks but it was more quiet than I thought it would be. Tee Tucker still had lots to bark at and Harriet still hide and shivered for all she was worth. There were at least two mortars in the area launching some rather impressive rockets. Again no police or fire department people in the area to stop or ticket them. At least this year the aerial display in the neighborhood only lasted about 30 minutes and not the 2 hours of several years ago.

I'm getting rather tired of the presidential election. It just seems to drag on and on. McCain and Obama have been sniping at each other but nothing really definitive or important has been said on either side. The pundits and talking heads are just speculating and looking for hidden messages and motives behind statement or action on the part of the candidates. While I would rather see Obama win than McCain there is precious little difference between them. They are both playing to the center and being very cautious. 

I know that many people thought that the war would be the big issue but it has been over shadowed by the economy. Gas prices are still going up and food prices have been jumping up also. People are out of work and the mortgage problem is still not getting any better. Neither candidate has a very well thought out economic plan and so far they are just spouting the party line. They need to get a well thought out plan and start talking about it. As I have stated before people will vote their pocketbook before just about anything else.