Aging Populations and Perverted Senators

Lets start light. Well, relatively light. As you should well know, the population of the developing world is rapidly dwindling. This is the story of the 21st century, but most don't realize it yet. Luckily, America will hold up much better than its rivals. Afraid of rising China? They are already experiencing labor shortages due to an aging population. Read this article to get a glimpse of the future and the United States' position in it.

Now on to Senator Craig. Everything he is getting is well deserved. Here is a common criticism. Like this article, the criticisms often attack Craig for supporting family values and having a 100% "anti-gay" voting record. Trust me when I say I am no defender of Senator Craig, but I am surprised that people can not recognize the possibility that someone may truly be against the very behavior they engage in. "Do as I say, not as I do." Sure this is hypocritical, but it can also be genuine.

An Inconvenient Fact

Film star Leonardo DiCaprio has a new movie coming out regarding the impending doom of climate change. It seems that Leo wants us to use less tree products.

Read this stinging rebuttal from one of the co-founders of Greenpeace. He argues that what society needs is to use and grow more trees.

DiCaprio's film is another example of a mindless reaction to climate change. He is a good actor (see Blood Diamond), but he is certainly no scientist.

Worst Crop of Candidates Ever?

Many people have complained that this field of GOP presidential hopefuls is the worst ever. I happen to disagree and believe that there are several very impressive candidates. Michael Medved agrees with me. Read his column here putting in perspective the past fields of GOP candidates with this current crop. I think you will conclude that they stack up quite nicely.

Also read this column by Michael Gerson. Democrats are trying to win religious voters this cycle, but the governors race in Louisiana proves that the haven't quite found their voice yet.

Smoking is Good for your Health?

Well, I wouldn't go that far, but I will say again and again that the hysteria against smoking tobacco is overblown and is better directed at more serious vices.

Read this story of the 100 year old woman who celebrated her birthday by smoking her 170,000th cirgaretter. Does anyone want to make the argument that she would have lived a longer life without smoking?

The Case for Staying the Course in Iraq

Last week President Bush gave a compelling speech to the VFW about the reasons to stay in Iraq. Interestingly, he used the parallells to Vietnam as reasons why we should stay.

Read Mark Steyn's article on Bush's speech and the idea the lesson of Vietnam is that we should stay in Iraq. In my opinion, very persuasive.

New from Uncle John

Elvis has been dead 30 years. That is hard to believe, even for those who actually believe he is dead. I count myself among those who hold that "Elvis has left the building" (as the PA announcer said after one of his concerts).

Our Governor is very concerned about our future. He has mailed a packet to all MO seniors explaining why we should all enroll in a long term care arrangement post haste and telling us just how to go about it. It is seldom you encounter a public servant so devoted to helping the citizens achieve a better life.

Another interpretation might be that he is planning to pull the plug on the state's obligations to the joint state - Medicare long term care support. Of course I am not nearly jaded enough to be suspecting that.

[My Daughter’s] boss is said to frequently invoke the _expression "Off like a prom dress" when he is hurriedly making an exit from a meeting or from the office. I thought I had heard most of these sorts of _expressions, but this is a new one me. It just goes to prove you are never too old to learn new tricks.

Gold was priced at 666 dollars an ounce on Friday. This is an ominous valuation. I just can't see anyone wanting to place an order at that particular price. Call me superstitious.

The Carman Trails school is now in the news. They have decided to teach the boys and the girls in separate rooms. It is said the boys learn better in a louder and less organized situation, whereas girls thrive on the quiet and orderly. So starting now, all Carman Trails graduates will be at the head of the class in Junior High. I think it may be a help to the self esteem of boys. It always seems like when the teacher asks a question in elementary school, primarily the hands that go up are girls' hands. The fellows surely suffer esteem setbacks. I would possibly take exception with the paper's characterization of this experiment as "pioneering." If I'm not mistaken, various parochial schools and certain private schools have done things this way since forever. The paper was also probably blameworthy in that they reported on a boys class studying mathematics while the girls class selected for coverage was writing essays on bad hair days.

Minnesota had a bridge collapse then China had a bigger bridge collapse. Utah had a mine collapse then China had a bigger mine collapse. If those fellows are going to keep copying like this, we could lead them a merry little chase.

The illegal alien who allegedly shot the four students in NJ apparently has a very long rap sheet and is currently on bail from a vile predator arrest. Apparently the judge was aware of the history but still reduced the existing $150K bail down to $50K. There is much alarm about this and justifiably so. Even so, someone had to post some bail to get this cat back out on the street. I'm betting he nor his kith nor kin could muster even the reduced bail money. So I'm wondering why no one is asking who paid the money that put this cat back out on the street. I think that would be illuminating.

Speaking of this NJ shooting, it seems to be consistent with a crime wave in general in NJ. A local politician says this crime wave is attributable to our President since he has diverted money from crime fighting and sent it to Iraq. Sort of sounds like the bridge and hurricane stories. Hey, Bush is being unfairly blamed here. True, he spent billions in the Middle East but this did not cause him to curb spending elsewhere. He has handily outspent any President you can name on any general spending category you can name.

When Rove announced his plans to leave W's side, candidate Edwards said, "Good riddance." Now that's class.

McDonalds mistakenly provided a cheeseburger to a customer who ordered a hamburger. This may not seem like a big deal to you (and in fact some customers might even be pleased about the mistake) but it was a big deal to this customer. McDonalds is being sued for $10,000,000. The customer has a cheese allergy.

A local school district was slated to start August 13. What is the rush?

A new tougher poison ivy variety is taking hold. Someone speculated that it has evolved as a response to the richer CO2 environment on planet Earth since fossil fuel consumption has risen. Where do they find these guys? Oh yes, this same speculator reasoned that this new poison ivy scourge was Bush's fault.

The Cardinals played the Cubs yesterday. The Cardinals had twice as many hits, three times as many home runs, one half as many errors, three less struck out batters, one fewer walked batters, and two less wild pitches. The Cards lost by two runs. Some things are hard to figure.

The new challenge is "Set me free, why don't you baby?/ Get off my life, why don't you baby?/.../ Why do you keep comin' round,/ Playing with my heart?/ Why don't you get out of my life,/ And let me make a brand new start?/ Let me get over you,/ The way you've gotten over me."

One Issue Democratic Debate Tonight

Tonight Democrats will gather to debate only on the topic of gay issues. A few points. It is startling the amount of influence this subsegment of the population has has garnered. Though they make up only 3% of the population, they have enough sway to have a debate devoted only to them. It would make more sense to have the candidate get together to debate Polish-American, or Lefthanders issues.

What do you make of this pandering? Any group as small as 3% of the population that gets a debate solely focused on their "issues" can hardly claim to be discriminated against, or at any real disadvantage in our society.

Uncle John's Musings

A week ago I was witnessing the Brickyard 400 and having a great thrill.

It's tough to be a Cardinals fan. On Thursday they left 11 men on base and lost in the 11th inning. On Friday they stranded 12 runners and lost in the 12th. These losses were bracketed by 15 to 2 and 12 to 1 drubbings. I can't decide which is worse. The team has already broken the franchise record for the most losses by 10 or more runs in a season, and we have a long way to go. It is tough to be a Cardinals fan.

How important do you have to be in order to be assassinated rather than murdered? If one puts in his two cents worth and if one is offered a penny for his thoughts, what happens to the extra cent? Why does pizza come in a square container? Why is a performer IN a movie but ON a TV show? Why is bra singular and panties plural? Perhaps some new government funded studies are in order.

Speaking of government, the area real property assessment offices have installed record high valuation increases on our homes throughout the city and county, even though it is well known to all that property values have gone up very little (if any at all) since the last assessments. Our governments, being ever responsive to hardships on the voters, have instituted a sales tax reprieve for school supplies purchased this week end in area retail stores. Maybe next year they will greatly increase our sales tax and toss us a tiny property tax rebate.

I'm still trying to get vestiges of aluminized paint off of my fingernail cuticles. If that paint adheres near as tight to the roofs as it did to me, the paint job should be good for many years.

The real "race" in the Presidential contest seems to be among the various states as they position themselves to deliver earlier and earlier primaries than they had originally scheduled. It's going to make for a very long year for citizens who are not fond of political ads. I think the primary elections should be moved toward November, not toward January. Among the candidates, I think Edwards again earned a mention. He called upon all Democrat candidates to return any campaign money received from Rupert Murdoch or his minions. This fellow owns News Corp, which owns Fox and many other enterprises. Edwards revealed that he had received a few thousand dollars from a mid level manager and that he was in the process of returning it. Edwards did not mention that he had received about $800,000 from a Murdoch company on an advance for a book deal and has no plans of returning that. Can you say "hypocrisy?"

Someone reported that, all told, there are now over 300 congressional investigations on various administration activities or inactivities on the docket. I am assuming this is not true. I have an uneasy feeling it may be. Another reporter said that we have been no safer from terrorists since 9/11/01 than we were before then. I can think of two attacks on New York, one on a battleship, two on US embassies, and one on a US occupied complex in the earlier period. I recall none since. But I'm sure the "journalist" is an impartial, unimpeachable one.

It has been unbelievably hot here (St. Louis) since our return from cool, refreshing Indiana. Next week is supposed to be hotter yet. I haven't played tennis or been on the bike for quite a while now. I'm starting to become a believer in the global warming scenario.

Former Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert has lost 85 pounds since resigning from the post. Who says he was a do nothing Speaker in a do nothing House. Looks to me like he was doing something. I wonder if Ms Pelosi will pack on 85 pounds in her stint as Speaker?

There were two serious wrecks in the Tour De France caused by two dogs that chose inopportune times to cross the road. France is an older country than the USA but apparently we have an edge on them when it comes to the concept dog leashes.

Car jackings were a problem in Indianapolis. The rate increase was sufficient to spark the formation of a task force to crack down on the problem. The rate has increased 145% since then. I think it may be time for Plan B.

[The lyric challenge] "The selfish, they're all standing in line,/ Faithing and hoping to buy themselves time./ Me, I figure, as each breath goes by,/ I only own my mind./ .../ I know I was born and I know that I'll die,/ The in between is mine."

Sinking to a New Low (Even for Him)

NT: Here is another contribution from Johann. He is pretty fired up about Star Tribune columnist Nick Coleman's recent article about the 35W bridge collapse. Read and comment.

The collapse of the 35W bridge over the Mississippi is a terrible, tragic event. Even today, as I write this, many families who have been missing their loved ones since Wednesday, have no body to bring closure to their grief. Thursday, as the dust was still settling, the news media began to assign blame for the collapse; the national and local media blaming their respective pariahs, President George W. Bush and Governor Tim Pawlenty. One of the most vitriolic columns I have read in my entire life, (especially considering the timing) was written by Nick Coleman of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. http://www.startribune.com/coleman/story/1339911.html You can go ahead and read it for yourself but the long and short of it was that had Governor Pawlenty raised the Minnesota State gas tax 5 cents a gallon the bridge never would have collapsed. Can you imagine this picture. The session ends. The State Senators and State Representatives are victorious in their efforts to raise the gas tax and they march out to the 35W bridge chanting along the way, "Now the bridge won't fall." His argument is absolute lunacy. Had we raised the tax this year or not the bridge still would have fallen. Even more than the ridiculous, illogical argument of Nick Coleman, even if he was right, it is disgusting to read this the morning after the bridge collapsed. To take advantage of people's deaths, while their families are just beginning to mourn them (some without bodies even to mourn over), for the sake of taking a political jab is the most repugnant thing I have ever witnessed by a so called "journalist". Some might say to me, if the governor were a Democrat, you would blame him for this. The honest answer is, I might. But I hope to God that I would never write an article in the state's most widely read newspaper blaming him, while at the same time families were still weeping over their dead. It might be too late, but I encourage the readers to write to the Star Tribune if this man's article made you even slightly as upset as I have been since I read it.
- Johann

NT: I couldn't agree with Johann more. Coleman's article is despicable. Sadly, this event validates Coleman's entire ideology. There are no taxes that are too high. To Coleman, everything is political. That is a sad way to live. Some things are just accidents. I am glad I have come to a point in my life where I can look at an event like this and not have my first thought be who messed this up. Surely, the investigation will show that more maintenance should have been done on the bridge. Hind sight is 20/20. Let's pardon those who made misjudgments and instead focus on mourning the dead and pondering just how fragile our lives really are. Nothing can be taken for granted. Not even a commute home. Let us live with a greatfulness for each day we are spared and be ready for when our day comes.