Saturday, May 10, 2003

Soiez effrayé, soiez très effrayé!!
Looks like Rummy is on the trail of the Frog turncoats who sold out their NATO partners for a mess of pâte. The evidence will come out sooner or later. And the best thing is there isn't a dang thing they can do about it. Somebody should be watching for reservations on flights from Paris to North Korea or maybe Iran, although I'm not sure either surviving member of the Axis of Evil wants to play host to the leader of the Axis of Weasels. Trial lawyers representing the families of Americans killed in Iraq should be petitioning courts everywhere to freeze French assets in anticipation of litigation.

Sunday, May 04, 2003

Shock and awe, indeed!
The seismic shift in the Middle East was so great that it apparently reached all the way to New Hampshire. As a New Hampshireman for many years - I went to prep school, college and law school there - I have to say it's a bit of a shock to realize that the next time I head up through Franconia Notch the Old Man won't be there looking over my shoulder. On the other hand, maybe it's like the Olympics in ancient times. When a resident of a Greek city-state won in the Olympics, the people of the town tore down the walls to say, we don't need them any more since we have a great champion to protect us. So George W's butt-kicking of the Taliban and then Saddam must have convinced the Almighty that his particular protection was no longer necessary for the USA. But what will replace the Old Man as New Hampshire's symbol? A mall? A tourist from Taxachusetts rendered penniless? At least we've still got "Live Free or Die".
Dirty Canadians!
So it's capitalism that pollutes the environment, eh? The Canadians in their socialist glory apparently have a little problem with pumping poisons into their - and America's - air. Say, you don't think it could be prosperity, brought on by that nasty capitalism, that allows people to clean up whatever messes they make, do you? Nah. The Russians and Chinese have always put pristine cleanliness ahead of materialist values such as production of limousines for the elites. Haven't they? The story didn't even mention the "greenhouse gases" that must be churned out by "the largest single air polluter in North America." But wait a minute. Didn't Canada sign the Kyoto Accords? And nasty old US didn't? And yet:
Murphy reports that a recent study found that while air pollution is on the decline in the U.S., it's on the rise in Canada.
I'm confused.
About time
Plans to pull US troops out of Germany seem to be real. Considering that I first went to Germany at the age of three when my father was assigned to Wiesbaden as part of the occupying force and that in a couple of months I will become an official senior citizen, this action is coming not a moment too soon. And aren't we all sad at the prospect of not being able to funnel billions of US taxpayers' dollars into the German economy any more? Maybe Poland or Bulgaria won't betray us the next time we need support in the War on Terror. It's odd. I used to see announcements like this and figure, "Sure, like that's going to happen." But ever since W came to power, I hear and I believe. It sure is good to have someone in the White House whom I can trust to do what he says he will, even if I don't always agree with the "compassionate" (ick!) side of his agenda.