Are you Gay? Can you prove it?

I've been reading about Senator Larry Craig and the claims and denials regarding his sexual orientation. Does it really matter? I say let it go. We should be concerned about Senator Craig's voting record and how he has done representing the people of Idaho. His personal life has no place in this public forum and we need to accept that there are homosexuals in the world.

Being Gay is not against the law. I have read the excellent report on Senator Craig on the IdahoStatesman website. This issue has been beaten to death and investigated for years. In the end, it really does not matter. Larry Craig has been a public servant for many years and he deserves to be simply left alone. The press needs to focus their time on Paris Hilton and other important stuff.

Now Mitt Romney drops the guy like a bad habit. Won't somebody say an end to this Gay bashing and move on?

Color Blind

Today I read about Michael Vick and it made me think: When will Black People stop thinking they are victims, and why are we called racist if we don't agree with stupidity?

"ATLANTA - An NAACP leader said Michael Vick should be allowed to return to the NFL, preferably the Atlanta Falcons, after serving his sentence for his role in a dogfighting operation."

Let all this soak in a minute. The NAACP says Michael Vick should be reinstated following his guilty plea for dog fighting. There is a serious role model problem for kids today and it is the worst in the Black community. Reinstating Michael Vick following his guilty plea is an outrage, and just what Black kids do not need as a role model.

I grew up in the military and lived with Black and Hispanic families. There was no attitude or feeling that anyone was better. My family was Irish and we had our share of name calling. There is a reason why they called the truck, to pick up drunks, the "Paddy" wagon. We were "micks". Dirt poor white trash. Neither of my parents graduated high school. They went to work at 14 to keep from starving. The war came along and my Dad was drafted. He found a home in the military and made one for us. He was tough Irish guy who was afraid of nothing.

Later, after college, I was surprised by the way Black people seemed to have changed. It seems that during the 60's they developed "Victim Syndrome". After a hundred years of struggle to be equal, they accepted the crap they were told by Black Leadership and resigned themselves to being America's Victims. Every time something happened to a Black Person it was because he was black. Worse, they seemed to be unwilling or unable to speak out against the things in the Black neighborhoods that were wrong.

Today only Larry Elder and Bill Cosby will tell you the truth about Black America. National Black leadership, like the NAACP, are holding on to the victim mentality and this thinking is holding back Black America. If a white man speaks out about any of these issues, he is a racist.

Michael Vick is a talented football player and one of the stupidest people on earth. He pissed away a career on dog fighting and he should not be reinstated. If a white guy did this, I would say and feel the same way. Stupidity, it seems, is color blind.

Is it hot in here or is it me?

It does seem hot this summer. Does this mean Al Gore is right? As a kid I read all those stories about mammoths and cave men during the Ice Age. Seems like I remember the Great Lakes were formed by glaciers that melted from that same Ice Age.

The Ice Age I am talking about is the Wisconsin glaciation that occurred about 10,000 years ago. As a result, the polar Ice Caps expanded to cover much of the northern hemisphere. Scientist are convinced that there have been at least four recordable periods in which an Ice Age existed on earth. There also seems to be quite a bit speculation regarding why these occurred. It is safe to say the earth cooled and the ice expanded but nobody is clear about why the earth cooled. Does this mean they are sure about global warming but undecided about global cooling?

In my view all of these cooling and warming periods occurred long before we had SUVs. It is hard for me to accept that man's impact on earth has anything to do with documented histories of Ice Ages and cyclic warming. There is one theory that man has prevented the return of yet a fifth ice age as a result of global agriculture and burning fossil fuels. In Michael Crichton's book "State of Fear" he discusses some of these so called facts.

One such fact is that the warmest year on record was 1998. When these temperatures are discussed they are always compared to historical temperatures taken since the late 1900s. Stop and think for a minute about the guy who was keeping these records in 1885. Was he or she a scientist? Did record keeping amount to recording statistics or did they just wonder how hot it was that day. My guess it was similar to the way my dad read the thermometer on the side of our garage. Oh, it's about 90 out.

Today tracking temperature is in fact a science and it is more accurate then it was when I was a kid, not to mention the way it was in 1885. Still with all these techniques we have discovered that the real hottest year on record was 1934. Turns out people like Al Gore had this all wrong.

Ya, it has been a hot summer but nothing like it was in the 30's when people would go to sleep in the park at night to avoid the heat in their homes. Yes burning oil and coal can heat up the earth but my SUV did not cause the dust bowl and drought in the Midwest during the depression. If global warming is true, we know it has been getting warmer for the last 10,000 years, what caused the ice ages? There must be a cycle here and global cooling could be just around the corner.

Me & Grandpa, we believe

The song goes like this..."Grandma got run over by a reindeer. Walking home from our house Christmas eve. You can say there's no such thing as Santa, but as for me and grandpa we believe."

My recent comments regarding the Presidential candidates stirred two responses regarding Jesus. Nothing about Hillary. Roger and Millie had similar things to say about candidates who know jesus. These comments bring into question one of the two biggest issues in life. Why do we believe god exists? Calm down. This is a big issue and I will try to work through my point of view slowly. Yes, you can comment and I welcome your thoughts.

Unicorns, alien invaders, tooth fairies, and boogie men all share on thing. They are myths believed to exits by some persons. If a Presidential Candidate believed in one of these myths they would be laughed off the stage. Why do we agree that some made up non proven concepts are false, yet there is overwhelming belief in god? Many would say it is faith. We believe, because we believe. Simple irrefutable faith.

But, does faith make it so? I remember having a similar question as a child. Is there a Santa? I believed it was true in spite of friends who told me the concept was a hoax. I worked to prove them wrong with a Santa sighting. Try as I may, I never got to see him. Still I had faith in Santa and believed.

The question of god's existence needs to be asked. Much is riding on it. All of the terror attacks are based on the belief that god wants the terrorists to strike out against us. Roger may remember the women in Texas who drown her children because god told her to do it. When you consider it, god and his or her will, has been the foundation on many of the acts of mankind. The Incas believed the sun god demanded human sacrifice at dawn. Is it possible that all of this is wrong? There are two very good books on the subject. Michael Schermer's book "How we believe" and "The god Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. Warning: reading these books may cause you to think.

I have spent some time on this and come to my own conclusion. There is no question that the belief in god has been a driving force in mankind's development. Civilization passed on it's early science, written word, and ethics through religion, based on the belief in god. They also passed on some ugly history in which killing was done because god wanted to eliminate heretics. God and the belief in after life has eased many persons acceptance of death. Humans, I am told are the only animals who know they are going to die. Is this belief in god a psychological compensation for the knowledge that death is imminent? I think that maybe the answer.

We evaluate everything in our lives based on the physical laws of science. In the last 300 years myth and superstition have given way to empirical data and truth. Mankind has come a long way and part of the journey was a result of our beliefs. Regardless, we know there are no unicorns. No tooth fairy. This is based on our understanding of science and reality. Likewise, if we set guilt and superstition aside, we know there is no god.

God is a great myth that has helped us develop as a civilization. An emotional crutch for the less educated or sophisticated in our history. The Church believed the earth was the center of the universe. In 1616, Galileo was accused of being a heretic. Heresy was a crime for which people were sometimes sentenced to death. Galileo was cleared of charges of heresy, but was told that he should no longer publicly state his belief that Earth moved around the Sun. As science and education have improved, the god myth has become more obvious.

My opinion could be wrong. But I wonder why an all powerful god who knows everything would not reveal himself so we can put the issue to rest. As for me, I still believe in Santa. I have solid proof that he exists. He brought me a bicycle.

President 2008

I have been thinking about the upcoming Presidential election. I voted for GW twice and looking back knowing everything I know today, I still think he is a better choice then Al Gore. All that is history. What should we do about 2008? Clearly, America and the Western World needs a solid President.

I know what I don't want. Many Americans vote against the person or people they don't like as opposed to voting FOR the person they want. Sometimes the choices are such that you need to pick the lesser of two idiots. But enough about Al Gore, let us move on.

I'm concerned about security [ see SAFETY & SECURITY] but it is not an obsession. My real concern is our Economy and our ability to pay for the government we elect. My first goal is to to elect a person who will re prioritize our spending. This means cutting cost in Iraq. Those who say we need to bring the troops home, only need to look at Germany, Japan, and Korea. We still have bases in those countries after 60 years. The chance that all our troops will leave Iraq is very doubtful. Moreover, we really want troops in the middle east just in case they are needed.

Other cost here in America need to be reduced. My guess is we spend a million a day to screen airline passengers. Most of this is unnecessary. We could cut cost by moving to "profiling" passengers based on data received at time of ticket purchase. We've seen all this stuff in the movies for years, that the government can track us using Credit Card use. So don't they know who we are before we get to the airport? Why do they need to screen everyone when only 5% of the travelers are a potential threat? This change would cut cost and reduce stupidity. I am in favor of both.

Another way to cut cost and lower stupidity is to end the War on Drugs. It just is not working and it costs too much. Everyone who wants to get high is already getting high. The solution is to reduce demand through better education. If we need to spend more money it is on better education. No I do not mean give away programs to Teacher Unions. I mean run the schools like a business and pay teachers for performance. Better educated kids won't do drugs. They get high because they are bored with the idiots who teach them and the parents who don't understand them.

Beyond cost cutting, I want a secular President. All this religious nonsense in government makes my ass hurt. We have a clear understanding of the separation of church and state in America and we need a President who will stick to it. Pandering to religious groups for votes is wrong. Years ago there was a common folk tale that a Catholic could not be elected President because he or she would take direction from the Pope. That turned out to be horse hockey, but today we have all forms of Christian Groups trying to run government. I'm voting for the person who says enough to this crap.

Finally, I want a person you has the courage to tell the truth and make tough decisions. Much of this comes from personal character. You can not teach this to people who don't have it. Looking at all the candidates, I can quickly rule out the over eager religious zealots. Last thing we need in a global conflict with Islamic radicals is a devote Christian. Comparisons to the Crusades come to mind and we do not need more polarization. So no candidate who tells us about his "relationship" with jesus gets my vote.

I think experience should count for something. I don't want to elect a Trainee President. I want a person who has been in government a while and had experience in leadership and decision making positions. No Rookies. In reality I prefer old people who have been around a bit. John McCain comes to mind as a guy who had done it and seen it. I also want a person who has faced adversity. Again, McCain was a prisoner of war. That is a tough situation. I'm not voting for some "suit" or slick talking professional politician.

So let's add this up. I want a cost cutting honest secular tough person who is committed to making government work well. Beyond this I want a person who will rebuild relationships abroad. At this point McCain and Hillary are the only two candidates who come close.

Driving - Code of the Road

Recently, we took a trip to Europe. We rented a Van and drove around. As a teenager I grew up in Europe and learned to drive in Germany. It was good to return to the land of Driving.

Living in California is wonderful, except for the driving. No the traffic is not bad and the freeways are less crowded then in other big cities. Check out Paris for congestion. The problem in California, and much of America, is that Driving is taken for granted. People think they all do it well and the "other" guy is a bad driver.

There are rules of the road that we are required to know in order to get an Operators license to drive. These rules are similar in Germany and America. Yes, there are minor differences, but stay with me on this point. A license is a license, America, Canada, France etc. What is really different is the informal Code of the Road.

Here in Los Angeles even in the worst of congestion on a freeway you can turn on the right blinker and people will let you pull over. They will stop and let you cut in front of them. Many will wave and smile as they do it. Try that in New York or Boston. The horns would honk and people would swear at you. Clearly the rules for the Operators license are the same in both places but the Code is different. So what is this Code and how do we learn it?

The Code of the Road is the local style of driving developed by the drivers in any region over time. It is a result of the collective personality of the drivers. The police understand this and they accept most of it. In Germany on the Autobahn all drivers move over to the right lane to allow faster cars to pass on the left. Almost nobody drives in the far left lane, unless you are at 200 km per hour. Here in California the left lane [number one lane in Californian] is for Asian women to drive expensive German cars at 55 mph.

I have been stopped driving in excess of 100 mph. The police like to chase guys like me. But I have never seen anyone pulled over for driving too slow and obstructing the flow of traffic. I have seen miles of cars lined up behind a mini van driving in the far left lane. I have seen cars pull over into the right lane and pass as many as 15 cars in a row then pull back into the left lane. On Saturday I drove to San Francisco up the I-5. Cars riding in the left lane doing 67 miles per hour passing trucks doing 65 miles per hour. Holy shit. In some cases it took cars over 15 minutes to pass a truck. This would never happen in Germany. The Code is different there.
Read the sign "Stay to the Right except to Pass".

Safety & Security

This is one of my favorite topics and a re-occurring theme.

Those of us in America live in one of the safest places on Earth. Yes, there is crime here and people get hurt, but compared to many other places it is really safe. Regardless, we seem to have an obsession about safety. This obsession goes back over a hundred years or more. I haven't done any research on this but it seems to me that as long as America has been a country, we have been working and spending to make it safe. Like many other things, the law of diminishing returns applies to spending money for safety. If you double the money spent, you do not become twice as safe.

During much of my life, my father was in the military and involved in security services. He collected information to help the military make us safer. Much of that information with other tid bits went on to create the massive military build up that was the Cold War. As citizens we spent billions in taxes to make America safe.

The cold war is gone or at least at recess. Now we have a new enemy. Terrorist are real and they pose a threat to public safety. We are again spending billions to make us safe. And, like with the Cold War, the more we spend does not mean we are becoming safer.

We in America and Western Europe have multiple layers of protection. National defense, the military, state and local police are all being paid to make us safer. Yet, my experience tells me we are not getting our monies worth. The military does not seem to be able to win the war in Iraq. Yes, I know it is complicated, but my dad and his friends won the war against Japan is less time. The Police I see are focused on giving speeding tickets and harassing skateboarders, not catching terrorist. And the TSA. Well the TSA is little more then a make work project to employ people who are un or under employed elsewhere. The TSA are "rent a cops" who's only purpose is to make us feel safe by being inconvenienced.

I'm old, do I look like I need to take my shoes off and be sent to secondary screening? This is just plain stupid and a waste of time and money. We as a civilization need to rethink the money we are spending on Safety and Security. My estimate says we could have free national health care and free college tuition with the money wasted on these "safety" programs. This money could and should be better spent.

In the beginning.......

Over the last couple of years I have become increasing annoyed with things around me. People irritate me. The news upsets me. My opinions just do not seem to matter.

I've written several letters to the Editor of newspapers. Some of which have been published. This venting has helped me to accept many of the stupid things in the news and in my interaction with others.

I have decided to set up a Blog for Views you can use. Things I think might be helpful to others with limited experience, no personality, or who need advice. This is day one. The beginning of VIEWS YOU CAN USE.

Some simple advice to start: Don't be stupid or sensitive.

Pat