All you people are crazy! (Sep 2005)
You know, I am just amazed at how seriously people take themselves. We have the atheists and the creationists and now the "intelligent designist's." Somewhere in the middle you have people like me who just wonder about the irrelevance of it all..... Don't you understand that there is absolutely no difference in all these perspectives, once you take the "proper" perspective?
"God" could be a marvelously advanced intelligence somewhere in the universe who has decided to spur on this little oasis of a planet. And given our meager perspective on the grand scheme of things, we could absolutely not tell the difference.
So what is the difference. Why do these people cling to their particular beliefs so tightly, so seriously, especially the ones where you have to kill people who don't believe in them as you do? Can't you just bask in the gentler, more sensible teachings of your religion..... like the main contingent of the human race.
They (he, she, it?) would certainly be an "intelligent designer" as well. No question about it!
Or if you are an atheist, you would posit that this "designer" wasn't really a God at all, because he (she, it?) is part and parcel of the universe!
But by normal definitions, the universe is everything..... even God would be a part of the universe by most definitions of "universe." Most religions have put God outside of the universe however. But they have, and have had, absolutely little clue what the universe is comprised of anyway. How would they know what "outside of" the universe meant? Historically the "universe" has been taken to mean the material aspects of our lives. God has derived from the "immaterial" aspects of our lives. This is Judeo-Christian-Islamic theology condensed to one sentence. The eastern religions have even more bizarre theologies.
But this division of material and "extra-material" just doesn't hold water anymore. That will probably be one of the main "contributions" of late twentieth century physics and cosmology when historians look back in a hundred years. Recent findings and theories of fundamental physics suggest that the idea of a "physical" universe just doesn't fly anymore! Quarks, strings, gravitons, whew! If you think these are pieces of "matter" you are seriously outdated! Physicists would have a very hard time telling you what matter and non-matter are these days.
The idea that God is outside of our universe comes from our (now mistaken) belief that there is a physical universe. We really don't know what the "physical" part of our universe even is anymore at the fundamental level.
So just where does God fit in these theories? Maybe he is out there in the "inflationary" universe! You laugh, but read on.
According to "inflation theory," if I understand its essence, there is even a part of our universe which is outside of the physically observable universe! This comes about because in the early stages of our universe's history, there was a "superluminal" expansion, because there is no "speed of light" limit on the expansion of the universe. The speed of light limit just applies to the speed of light! Maybe this is can take up the role of our non-material universe!
So can you tell me whether this "inflationary" part of the "universe" is part of our "universe?"
We are basically just bumping our gums together here, people. You and I have basically no clue about the grand scheme of things.
There is just a little voice inside of our heads, or maybe it is just the leftover little voice from the time when our brains were bicameral, and weren't so tightly intertwined. You people have voices talking to you! Or maybe it is Jesus or Mohammed talking to all you people via modulated tachyon beams.
The essential thing that you have to know is that you must have "faith" (I am using "faith" very generically here....) and you must be "optimistic." You really have no other choice. It is a simple "blind" choice to live, and not die. This is echoed in about a gazillion fine pieces of literature. It may even be the "grand theme" of most novels.
George Coyne, the director of the Vatican observatory (I know that sounds a little crazy, but it is true!) has a pretty enlightened view of faith and science. If you can ever catch the George Coyne Danz lecture webcast put out by the University of Washington, you should watch it. Especially the last 6 minutes where a scientist in the audience asks him how he can still believe in God. "You are not stupid if you believe in God!"
Me, I believe in God! Just don't ask me to explain what I mean by God. On my sadder days, he is an extra-terrestrial intelligence (an "intelligent designer") who thought a good deed, or joke for the day might be creating this here human race. On my brighter days, I believe in a grand scheme of things. My death will only complete the picture where it will all make sense...
You know, it just doesn't make any difference.
Would you just stop killing other people because you think you have the right answer. Maybe we wouldn't have to kill you to keep you from killing us. Let's have some perspective here, OK?
There are no answers, there are only choices...

Why we Believe
I'll bet you are really curious about this one.... It is about a bird and a dog. stay tuned!
A baby robin dropped out of a nest on our property the other day. Not quite ready for prime time. It looked healthy otherwise, so my wife carefully picked it up, put it in a bucket with some leaves and decided to adopt it. She went looking for worms for the poor creature - never saw her dig for worms before. After a day or so the bird did not look too happy, and did not appear to be eating his newly acquired delicacies.
So my wife decides to try and return the bird to its nest, hoping the robins fluttering around the yard will return and put this little bugger back to health. Now you have to understand this nest is up in a tree. Only reachable by a ladder, plus climbing a while. Guess who gets recruited to drag the 28 foot ladder out of the garage and gets to try to position it in the tree so my wife can make the perilous climb to the nest? Now you have to realize my wife is 51 years old. She thinks she is still some spring chicken, but I assure she is not. Well, yes of course she is in some sense of the word.
Before climbing in the tree to restore the poor creature, this time she is wearing latex gloves, having told me, that after considerable late nite Internet searching, she has learned that the parents may not reclaim the little bugger if they detect human hands have been involved. Maybe they suspect it has been booby trapped?? After a struggle getting the ladder into the tree, and considerable angst watching my wife climb this tree, my spring chicken of a wife manages to get it back into the nest somehow. The nest is actually out on a limb about 1 or 2 inches in diameter. great...
Well, my wife camps out watching the nest, the fluttering robins, and everything else out in the front yard. But the birds are not returning to the nest and nursing the little bugger back to health. So....... lather, rinse and repeat paragraph 2 above. Retrieve the little bugger from the nest, put it back in a bucket and try again. Get some fresh delicacies and again hope for the best.
Now comes the sad part. Sorry to spoil it for you there. We of course have two dogs. A ferocious German Shepard female, and a seemingly harmless little terrier of some type, who of course is much more ferocious than the German Shepard. The Shepard's name is Raven, and the terrier's name is Pepper. I think my wife loves these two animals, sorry pets, more than she loves me sometimes. But that is not too hard to imagine given all my faults in this particular incarnation of my life. The dogs are house dogs, they sleep in our bedroom, they fill our house up with dog hair, but they are loved more than life itself. They are loyal beyond belief, as most dogs are who get their food and drink from their human masters. I can make Pepper incredulously happy by putting on my hat and picking up the leash, as if I were going to take her for a walk, which I do quite often. I absolutely make her whole day. These dogs do not have a life beyond looking to us for favors, barking at a few passing strangers, and sucking up to us every moment of the day hoping for a treat of some kind. Going for a trip in the car is of course another most excellent treat. We cannot get out the door to even go on the trip because of the mass of dogs blocking the exit to the door, making absolutely sure that they will be the first one out the door and into the outside world.
So you get the general picture. Raven and Pepper are very special to my wife, both and each one in their own special way. They are special to me in various ways. I learn from them every day about other species of life. I often wonder if there are other species of life in this life or the next to whom we are, or will be as dogs. I often remember flying Haley (that was another older dog who belonged to my daughter, and for whom we dog sat in the past) to Denver to be with her. I often think about what Haley thought about that trip. It must have been magic to her that at the end of this incredibly difficult, frightful adventure was an absolutely heart pounding joy to be experienced. She had no clue, and there was no clue we could give to her. Do you suppose our death is something like that?? Do you see what I mean about learning from these dogs?
Another thing I learn from these dogs is how we depend on them in this day and age for sociability. I will not even consider going for a walk without a dog. Just think about it. A walk is in and of itself a pretty boring adventure, only slightly helped by the scenery I often walk in. To the dog it is a magical mystery tour, each and every time we go out, even if it is over the same exact path! I have read that when Pepper returns from her walk that Raven can do a good sniff of her and recapitulate all the adventures that Pepper has experienced just by the aromas. Would that we as humans could evoke the same joy from our sometimes boring adventure through life.
Another reason I will not walk without a dog is because women do not seem to find a man with a dog to be an object to be cautious of. Of course in this day and age, if you are a woman on a solitary walk and you meet or pass a solitary man, you have to be wary. So the Pepper makes it much easier to be sociable, and even for me to get a little socialization in. The women all remark on how cute the Pepper monster is of course, while I try to dream up some worthwhile remark of my own. If the women has a dog, which they very often do, it is much easier of course. And I often get to discourse with a very good looking women, because typically only very good looking women are out getting this exercise!
Well, we wander off course, but not much. You get the general idea of how much these dogs mean to us, each in her own special way. My wife will spend hours ticking and rubbing Pepper's tummy. She is like a personal, live pillow for her. She treasures her dearly, much as she does Raven. Raven of course is the steady companion, the one always, and I mean always to a fault, and maybe better described as "always in the way," at her master's side. Often it is under her desk when the thunder and lightening appear on the scene.
Well, my wife decides to show off this little robin that she is taking care of to her treasured companions. I guess she feels that maybe this robin will come to play a similar role in her life as the dogs, I don't know. Raven the ferocious German Shepard thinks little of the poor little bugger, just getting a sniff in of course, and continues to ignore it much as she does much of the human race (except for her master of course). The Pepper monster, upon being shown the poor little bugger of a bird, promptly attacks and shreds the little bird to pieces.
Well, I think you can see where this is going. My wife was a basket case for several days after that. Pepper was in a real dog house as well, trying to figure out what she did wrong. Raven just continued to ignore anything and everything, but did wonder a little why her master was so sad. Her husband of course, based upon previous experience, almost immediately deduced what was going on, so he tried to offer his own little consolation efforts.
How could one of the beings that you love most in life kill another thing that you love? How are you supposed to continue loving, and living? How is this supposed to make sense? What is the purpose of it all?
This can be generalized beyond measure of course, and I intend to do so. You have been warned.
For millennia before the present era, "making sense" of things was simply not dealt as a card in the deck of life. Making love, making children, making merry, making your enemies die, making it to the next day was pretty much the be all and end all of existence for most of humanity. Making sense? I don't think so.
We simply cannot fathom any purpose to this existence, so we must believe in these things as worthy substitutes.

Written Mar 2005
I want to Know!!
OK, world... Some of you are really getting on my nerves and you aregoing to have to hear me out on this.... I have had it up to myeyeballs in my ..almost.. 60 years of life with the present state ofaffairs. This includes just some of the following..... liberals whocan't bring themselves to squash bugs, let alone Islamo-fascist thugswith bombs at their doorsteps; conservative who have no usefor government at all; religious ideologues who can't see past thehorrific result of the last two thousand years of religious"righteousness" - by ALL creeds; large portions of the mass media whichseem to think the shrill voices and thugs in our midst as somehow possessingspecial knowledge; anybody who has never read a history book in their entirelife; everybody who thinks their measly little self interest trumps thecommon good; everybody else who thinks the common good trumps the rightsof the measly individual; and most of all anybody who has never been inawe of the universe, and not been reduced to tears when finallyrealizing their absolutely insignificant place in it. We'll get back tothat last point eventually.And in the last few years it now especially includes the Islamo-fascistthugs who think they must kill us because it is their duty. Fascinatingconcept there. At least the Christian wackos figure we will see our duein hell so they don't have to kill us now. They just have to put up withus in this life, before they take their rightful place in the next life.The Islamo-fascist thugs seem to think they have to kill us in thislife, which makes for a very special kind of problem for those of us who"just want to get along."It also often includes Jews because they are the inventors of thespiritual "we are right" movements. And the world has pretty much heldthem in contempt for 3000 years because they invented God and we are alljealous that it wasn't our invention, and we have been busy holdingInquisitions trying to "get back to God." I hold Jews in a special placein my heart, however, if for no other reason than that they don't seem tothink they have to kill everybody else and/or impose their religion.Did they learn something along the way? When will we!?Am I off to a good start here?You see, Rodney King had it right when he said "can't we all just getalong!" I'll give him that - few of the "righteous" on this planetwant to get along. And this was after a beating few of us wouldsurvive. Unfortunately he seems to have descended into true desperationand don't-give-a-damn, or he has faithfully adopted the mantra of muchof our underclass - I am not responsible for what I do, therefore I cando anything because it is your fault - thanks to a few generations ofliberal brainwashing.You "righteous" "we are right" ideologues of the left and the right whothink you have the answer and want to impose that answer on the rest of us aremaking life very difficult for those of us who "just want to get along."This includes the liberal socialists and all their proposals for a society which will takecare of us from cradle to grave, whether we want it or not! And the archconservatives who believe government has no role at all in our lives. Andyes this includes all those smug Christian preachers we see interviewed on allthe talk shows, and preaching their righteousness on Sunday mornings,who think there is no such thing as degrees of sexuality, that drinkingbeer is a sin, that the earth was created 4000 years ago, etc. adinfinitum and ad nauseum. Give me a break..The Islamo-fascist thugs, and their apologists are simply sickening, and arethe natural inheritors of the terrorist tradition, perfected, in the modern ageby Yassir Arafat, and permitted I must say by those modern apologists of theleft. I can still see Jacques Chirac visiting him at his dying bedside, whilesnubbing Iyad Alawi. Not that Alawi or our own neo conservatives areangels, but their Marines who fight and die give us our freedom. My "righteousness"can say that you're stupid if you do not understand that.I thank God [take your pick] for this country and the smarts, or luck,of the founding fathers who have established a resilient system. At thesame time I am driven to distraction by those on the left and the right,and the spiritual "we are right" movements who take advantage of thiscountry's special blessings. At other times and in other "cultures"they would certainly have been taken out back and shot! Ward Churchillcomes to immediate mind here. But thank God he can spout his anti-Americanvenom. My "righteousness" says you are stupid if you do not understandthis.Watching the liberals and conservatives spout their rhetoric in thepolitical arena at least saves us the situation of them taking up arms to promote theiraims, [as in many other parts of the world] and provides great, butexasperating theatre. I was amazed that we came through this electionwithout the hard left democrats in open rebellion. God bless them forthat - maybe there is hope for them yet. I wonder if the hard right will behave aswell when Hillary is elected in 2008? We can only hope. Thank God for Jeffersonand the founding fathers. We may survive even the next few years.So how do all you people on the far left, the far right and in the "weare right" spiritual movements grow up thinking like this? I want to Know!This is my "I am right" belief, and I think it trumps all yours... Thereare no single "answers" to everything. There are a million answers toeach and every question that we have. More generally, there are nosolutions, only choices. It is a completely open, unformulated andunexplored universe with all possibilities intact. That is a completelyscary proposition to radical liberals and conservatives, and especiallythose in the "we are right" spiritual movements. It is a completelyliberating proposition to those willing to accept it. We are in completecharge of our fate, for better or worse. I sure wish you wackos on theleft and right would let me get on with my self determination. I haveno designs on any of you wackos, unlike you, who seem to have designs on me.The only things set in stone are the physical laws of the Universe, andeven these seem to be changing as we speak. Fundamental physics is moreof a "faith" than it is a science these days. Even UFOs are coming intovogue with new theories of the universe! And this is very exciting, andcertainly scary. It is validating the idea that there are indeed noanswers, even on the fundamental questions of physical nature - justideas. So if the physicists don't have any answers, how can all youpeople have any? Tell me that. Where did all you people get this ideathat there are answers to the questions of existence? Let's have someperspective here, it might help!I want to know...!

A LETTER TO A very close KERRY SUPPORTER on NOVEMBER 3, 2004
I can tell you're pretty upset by everything. It is always good that you have a conscience about everything - that will take you very far. But it is difficult to be so affected by everything. You take everything so personal, which I always did as well. It is hard being a person of conscience!! Things may look dark, but they are never that dark. Just think if you were some peasant in some other country. You are terribly lucky to be American. We must all realize that, and we must all preserve it. I remember when I was your age, and we were in the midst of the Vietnam war. Believe me, things looked grim back then to us young people! Riots, demonstrations, people going to Canada. There definitely WAS a draft back then - I was drafted. I was just lucky I didn't have to got to "Nam." 50,000 kids killed in Vietnam. And many of us didn't believe in that war, I certainly didn't. And this was the Democrats that got us into all that - Johnson. Nixon was reviled as well, although his whole platform was to get us out of the war, which he eventually did. Nixon sure put a bad face on politics for a whole generation! The cold war - your generation just will never know the angst that shaped our whole generation. Your generation will experience different angst. Gay rights wasn't even on the horizon back then. Abortion rights, environmental problems. These are problems for your generation. I am quite sure you will confront them and prevail.
It is ALWAYS about compromise, Kevin. Just remember that there is a whole spectrum of people out there, with vastly varying beliefs. Nobody, absolutely nobody, [especially the Christian right, and even the leftist university professors] is in possession of the truth, and that includes you as well, you must realize. I have fought my whole life against people who think they possess the truth, on both sides of the spectrum. There IS no "truth." When people who think they have the truth have ultimate power, then you have societies like Iraq, like Nazi Germany. There always has to to be a spectrum of belief and people of conscience from both sides to reach compromise. You will be an important person of conscience to participate in that process!! I believe it. I know you hate Bush, but he is not a bad person. He has beliefs which conflict with your own. He is speaking for his constituency. Democrats do the same when they are in power. Kerry is not a bad person either. American will survive Bush. We would have survived Kerry as well. There are plenty of people of conscience around to keep him [and you] compromising. Yes, even in politics. Especially in America. Looks like Hilary in 08 to me! Pulling the country back to the left after 8 years of Bush will probably be welcome. There is your chance.... You should be all prepared for it!
Lots of love, and keep up the good work.

Written Nov 2004
I was really prepared for Kerry.....
These are strange times. A Democrat party "insurgency" that started out as antiwar and violently anti-Bush winds up being more Bush than Bush, if we are to believe all the Kerry rhetoric. Republicans look like Democrats, and Democrats look like Republicans on the fiscal scene. What are we as people supposed to make of all this?

I am quite depressed by the whole scene over here. I sense the country has not been this divided since the Vietnam war, or maybe even the civil war. I'm actually kinda surprised that we don't see the demonstrations like we did during Vietnam. Maybe we have grown up.... Or maybe it is the volunteer Army, as opposed to the draft Army. However, I get the feeling that if Bush wins, the Democrats will make it absolutely intolerable and we may yet see some demonstrations. In that respect I would suffer a Kerry presidency - I am sure we can survive him. And I feel that he will probably win.

The problem with Kerry is that you have, really, absolutely no idea where he stands. His stances on the issues of war and terrorism are in stark contradiction to his former life, and even to many recent statements. My liberal friends parrot all his most recent statements, without any retrospective at all. Don't they realize this should make them Bush supporters? I am quite stunned by all this. Have these people no memory at all?? Have they no "gratitude."

Maybe gratitude is too highly rated. No liberal will give Bush credit for his vision. Bush, with his values and clear vision, was most likely the only one who could have taken that step [invading Iraq] - certainly no Democrat, or no pure politician, would have. They would have waited forever on the UN, probably in vain. Maybe that is all Bush was capable of doing, and we need somebody else to finish it. But I feel in their gut the Democrats are jealous. Clinton is simply despondent that he is not president during these times, that he had to face Monica Lewinsky instead of Bin Laden and Saddam. They will not forgive Bush for preempting their historical right to carry out their agenda of the liberal world view. Kennedy sets the stage, Reagan and Bush get to actually carry it out.

Our only hope then is that Kerry will come to realize how important the mission that Bush stumbled into really is. He may not be able to see this until he is in office. We can hope, can't we??

My only guidance on this is Churchill, again. He was such the right instrument for the war times, but he was probably the wrong instrument for the peacetime. But we are not yet in peacetime are we...

Oh well......

Written October 2004
My Final Word for the 2004 election

For what it’s worth, and for my friends who might care about my thoughts on current history and the existing political scene, I offer the following:

President Bush and Senator Kerry have many qualities and policies about which people can disagree, and I am certainly one of them. I will not belabor your time or mine by listing the “minor” issues. This election must hinge on what you believe about the defining issue in this election.

Of course this is the war in Iraq. It is rather ironic that President Bush and Senator Kerry pretty much agree, on the surface it seems, on the necessary course of action in Iraq. Therein lies much to be concerned about. For I feel that one believes it in his heart that success in Iraq is in the long term interests of our country, even the world, and that the other is just saying it today because of political expediency.

I have been simply stunned over the course of the past year by the developments in this country following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Make no mistake about it, there was universal acceptance by all nations, the UN, many Middle East countries, the intelligence entities in these nations, and yes, even Senator Kerry, on more than one occasion [and most likely even you] of the danger of leaving Saddam Hussein unchecked indefinitely. George Bush may not be the most intelligent president we have ever had, but he could see that there was only one solution to the intransigence and the danger posed by Saddam. France and Russia, and even China, we have since learned, were feeding at the trough of the Iraq oil for food money, so they were not disposed to act. Such are the failings of the old world order……

Of course, the biggest reason for the crisis was the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), which the entire world thought Saddam possessed. As it has turned out, Saddam has outfoxed not only the entire world and its intelligence agencies, but even apparently his generals and close associates in the matter of his (WMD). So now what are we to make of the overthrow of Saddam in light of this new knowledge? Does this make it illegal? Do we go and undo this war now? Or do we just join the “George Bush is a liar” brigade [and don’t forget the rest of the world…] and wish it hadn’t happened? Well, it has happened. So what do we do now….

Of course Saddam outfoxed him self as well, because he certainly didn’t think that the US would ever invade Iraq. As history now reveals it, he was counting on getting out from under the sanctions (and he was succeeding), and then reconstituting his WMD. George Bush threw a monkey wrench into the works, by actually following through on his warnings, and the French and the radical Islamists may never be the same! But the Iraqis, and by proxy, the entire Middle East, have a real chance to come out of this smelling like a rose…… If we will only help them.

If this isn’t a case of making orchids out of onions, I don’t know what is!

I believe this because I think George Bush has seen the bigger issue, which was really underlying the immediate one of the WMD. Iraq under Saddam was a rogue, terrorist nation, and deserved what it got. Whether Saddam was intimate with Al Qaida is hard to establish, but he was certainly a soul mate. Be that as it may, Iraq is now free.

The freeing of Iraq will have radical consequences, in concert with Bush’s proclamation that “free nations do not breed terrorism.” Many feel this is naïve and simplistic, and it is certainly that, but it also happens to be true. You cannot but believe that the vast majority of the Iraqi population, as much as many may hate Americans and the West, do not want to live in despotism, and under the heel of a few thug terrorists like Zarqawi and his ilk. If we can stay the course and support Iraq’s fledgling government, the outcome can only be for the good. How can you not see that? And how can you dare to suggest that we abandon the vast majority of Iraqis who want to live in peace and freedom? It is only the tiny minority who want chaos and a return to the middle ages. And just imagine how this will reverberate through the Mideast. Maybe the Palestinians will see hope in something besides bombs. It is just a shame that the Americans have had to do this practically alone. But then we have been there before….

George Bush is the only leader in the course of the last generation who has had the courage to stir the pot, and possibly, just possibly change the course of history in the Middle East. Whether for the better or for the worse now depends on how we re-implement that pot that has been stirred. We can choose to cut and run or stay the course and finish the task at hand. Which will it be? I think this is a decision that will reverberate through generations.

This is exactly where the election of the next president will be so crucial. Because if you believe like me that Senator Kerry does not exhibit the same core beliefs that George Bush does on this issue, I feel that the endeavor in Iraq will fail, and the future of the world will be less secure. Do we have the staying power to hold on? Senator Kerry has declared that he has the same core beliefs that George Bush does on these issues, but this is extremely hard to believe, looking at all he has been over his life….

If Senator Kerry does have any core values, it seems to be those of a pacifist, with an anti-war heart, an internationalist, and most certainly a “big government solves every issue” politician. This he has demonstrated over and over during his time in the Senate, as well as his Vietnam era years. The most astounding and damning demonstration of this, and the only one you need to note, is his vote against the first Gulf War, in spite of the fact of universal support by all nations, including his beloved French. It is a truly scary proposition as to where this world would be today if John Kerry had had his way in this matter. Saddam would have been master of the Mideast, including especially Saudi Arabia. And nobody, absolutely nobody, even today, doubts Saddam’s ultimate intentions on WMD, once he had the ability. You need time to digest this fact………………. Do you really think Kerry has changed his stripes? He had 20 years to do it here….

There was a time when I also was a near pacifist, and quite anti-war and very much an internationalist. I was young and idealistic, and very hopeful for the world. I served in the Army in the Vietnam era and I watched all the antiwar protests, even protesting in a few, and I was against the war. I felt very much like John Kerry at that time. I can understand where he has come from….. but I cannot understand where he has gotten to….. I am still idealistic and hopeful for the world. But pacifists cannot confront people like Saddam and his soul mates.

Pathways to the future are often filled with missteps, but I am not so sure Vietnam was a misstep, retrospectively in the grand scheme of things. In the same vein I do not believe that Iraq has been a misstep either. The Democrats and the media are doing everything in their power to portray Iraq as a disastrous failure. It is tragic that the success of the Democrats seems to hinge on the failure of Iraq. Something is terribly wrong with this picture….. It cannot be stressed often enough that it can only be in our interests (and everybody else’s interest) that Iraq be a success. We only have to make it happen! Or would you rather that a few thug terrorists like Zarqawi win the day?

I have the same ultimate simplistic vision for the world that George Bush does. Free nations are the only ones which can evolve successfully into the future, with the least harm to themselves [their people] and their neighbors. North Korea is going to have a terrible time transitioning to this in the future, but it must, and will. One single idiotic, despotic thug such as Kim Jung Il will not prevent the future from happening. The future does not belong to despotic thugs.

This vision is very naïve, but it is the truth, and it is simple enough that most anybody in the world can resonate with it. It is in the same vein as the one that Reagan painted of the Soviet Union as evil, but it reveals an underlying truth.

Nevertheless, and unfortunately, I am busy trying to accommodate myself to the fact that we may actually elect John Kerry president. I personally feel that would be a step backward, because I do not believe he will persevere in Iraq. His election will send hope to all those anti-American interests in the world, much as his antiwar activity emboldened our enemies at the end of the Vietnam war. I sincerely hope I eat my words on this. If Kerry is elected, I am quite sure this country will survive him – it has survived worse. We are a free people, we do not terrorize and enslave other nations, in spite of the protestations of some of the ultra leftist “America is evil” crowd. We need bold leadership with bold visions - it is the only way to move forward in the current stalemate. Reagan had the right idea on who was in the right during the cold war. We need somebody with the same vision during these wars on terror.

If we do reelect George Bush, I think on balance the world will be sent the right message, and that America will stand by those evolving to Freedom. By the way, it was John F Kennedy who said, “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, ….to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” How far we have come, and how far away the Democrats have gone astray from this. George Bush is actually fulfilling JFK’s legacy in our time. Quoting JFK:

“In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility--I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it--and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.”

I think this applies to us now, at least as much as it did during the cold war.

On the other hand, if we do reelect George Bush, the country will be so divided that it may be almost ungovernable. That is a scary proposition, but one that is repeated throughout history in times of great turmoil. The greatest American president in the 19th century was Abraham Lincoln, and he was absolutely, universally, reviled at the time. The success of the civil war was in very large doubt for the first three years. Lincoln would not have survived a modern press and congress. Only in the ages after, has his wisdom in preserving the union and upholding freedom for all people, in the face of fierce opposition, been recognized for the truly astounding vision that it was at the time. Perhaps the greatest person in the 20th century was Winston Churchill, who almost singled handedly, inspired the Brits, and held off the Nazis until the Americans were finally forced to enter the war. Churchill was held in contempt until the Brits were actually forced to enter the war, and then summarily dumped after the war. His wartime capabilities, leadership, and inspiring rhetoric were unmatched however. “Never in the course of human events has so much been owed by so many to so few” – speaking of the British pilots in holding off the Nazi aerial onslaught.

Bush measures up to neither of these people by any stretch of the present imagination. I would trade him for Tony Blair or John McCain in a heartbeat. But we are stuck with him. But better him than Kerry…..

Additional Thoughts......

These are strange times. A Democrat party "insurgency" that started out as antiwar and violently anti-Bush winds up being more Bush than Bush, if we are to believe all the Kerry rhetoric. Republicans look like Democrats, and Democrats look like Republicans on the fiscal scene. What are we as people supposed to make of all this?

I am quite depressed by the whole scene over here. I sense the country has not been this divided since the Vietnam war, or maybe even the civil war.
I'm actually kinda surprised that we don't see the demonstrations like we did during Vietnam. Maybe we have grown up.... Or maybe it is the volunteer Army, as opposed to the draft Army. However, I get the feeling that if Bush wins, the Democrats will make it absolutely intolerable and we may yet see some demonstrations.

In that respect I would suffer a Kerry presidency - I am sure we can survive him. And I feel that he will probably win.
The problem with Kerry is that you have, really, absolutely no idea where he stands. His stances on the issues of war and terrorism are in stark contradiction to his former life, and even to many recent statements. My liberal friends parrot all his most recent statements, without any retrospective at all. Don't they realize this should make them Bush supporters? I am quite stunned by all this. Have these people no memory at all?? Have they no "gratitude."

Maybe gratitude is too highly rated. No liberal will give Bush credit for his vision. Bush, with his values and clear vision, was most likely the only one who could have taken that step [invading Iraq] - certainly no Democrat, or no pure politician, would have. They would have waited forever on the UN, probably in vain. Maybe that is all Bush was capable of doing, and we need somebody else to finish it. But I feel in their gut the Democrats are jealous. Clinton is simply despondent that he is not president during these times, that he had to face Monica Lewinsky instead of Bin Laden and Saddam. They will not forgive Bush for preempting their historical right to carry out their agenda of the liberal world view. Kennedy sets the stage, Reagan and Bush get to actually carry it out.

Our only hope then is that Kerry will come to realize how important the mission that Bush stumbled into really is. He may not be able to see this until he is in office. We can hope, can't we??

My only guidance on this is Churchill, again. He was such the right instrument for the war times, but he was probably the wrong instrument for the peacetime. But we are not yet in peacetime are we...

Check out my additional rants and raves.....

In spite of the Democrats (and Republicans) insistence that they could have planned this whole enterprise better, you and I know better than that. History often just happens to the Democrats and the Republicans as much as it just happens to us as individuals. Leaders set visions, and the rest just sort of ….happens. Determinism went out with Marx.

Let us grab the present situation and make the best of it, for us and our children. It is the youth which will live with the reverberations of this for generations to come. But is unfortunate that the elders have to make the tough decisions.

I do believe that the very long term interests of this country, and indeed the whole world, depend on finding some solution for the Middle East conflict, which has been with us since WWII. This conflict has pretty much spawned the present precarious state of affairs, specifically the Israeli - Palestinian impasse, and the radical Islamic view of the world that Western civilization must be eliminated. I am not sure we, as Westerners, could have done much, in retrospect, to ameliorate either cancer, because I believe fundamentally that the Islamic states are failed states. The Islamic state institutions have been co-opted by the Islamic religion and its medieval world view. They are almost incapable of evolving into the new world that they see taking place in the West, and even now in the East. They cannot look inward and find their own system at fault, so they look outward and find the rest of the world at fault. There is no mechanism for political dissent in these states other than to co-opt the existing state and its religion for the imposition of their medieval world view. This has certainly not happened in the West, or the East. As flawed as our systems may be, religion was tossed out of the makeup centuries ago.
Yes, this is even as the world may become less secure in the immediate future.

From Religious Faith to Social Optimism
I am often struck by the optimism of the very religious people that I know. Now unfortunately I believe that kind of optimism is founded on fundamentally mistaken beliefs, the belief that they are special people in God's eyes. But fundamentally these people are optimists, which is really a necessary attitude. And I really admire them for this. At times, it is very difficult for me to be an optimist. My optimism is based on curiousness and wonder. And of course the time honored reason, that there is really no other choice!
If we can just get the religion of these people out of the power structures, and the government, we would be much better off.
Of course there are degrees to all of this. I can see no problem with a "God-centered" expression in our public life. As you can see in one of my other essays, there is really no difference. You just as well call "it" God. No problem.

Levels of Faith, Layers of Consciousness, Layers of Complexity, and Dimensions of Space
Wow, what a title....
If a rock could understand that it would eventually be eroded, ground, smashed to dust, then it would become something more than a rock. If a dog could understand how it got from Atlanta, GA to Denver, CO, on an airplane, it would become something more than a dog. If a human being could understand what happens when he dies, he would become something greater than a human being.
These are all layers of consciousness, each one largely unable to communicate with the other one in a meaningful way. Each one a separate universe, although coexisting in the same physical universe, and although each is "aware" of the other, we cannot "communicate" in a language of that layer of consciousness, with the other layer. Even within each Layer of Consciousness there is an isolation. I cannot know what my wife is thinking about at any given moment.
I have often asserted that all things are "understandable," but it is just the complexity that is standing in the way. But this is a very big road block. And I have come to believe that things are understandable only within our layer of consciousness. The things in our universe that are not "understandable" with our layer of consciousness and our layer of complexity, such as ghosts, tele-kinetics, miracles, are explainable at other, higher layers of consciousness and complexity.
We can also achieve higher layers of consciousness and complexity just by evolving, and by discovering new things. Just think what people would have thought of electricity and magnetism, in earlier centuries. Today we take them for granted. In the future we will understand additional phenomena and take them for granted, whereas today they are the most mind baffling problems imaginable. I often tell my son that I am incredibly jealous of what he and his descendents will learn after I am gone. On the other hand, I may be at the next level of consciousness where it will all be obvious to me, but that doesn't make it the same.

Be Afraid, Be very afraid....
This story was told to me by one of my best friends. It is a true story. It is one of the best insights I have ever seen into the "liberal mind set," where other people think they know what is better for you, than you actually do.
My wife had been depressed for many years. We had been to see many different psychologists, psychiatrists, and had tried absolutely every medicine there was. One of the psychiatrists had mentioned a "day care" program at a local mental health facility. My wife was not in such a state that she had to be committed for constant care, but she definitely needed some kind of care. The "day care" sounded like it had possibilities. I was simply not capable of meeting all her needs, and indeed was not sure that I was not part of the problem.
We decided to visit the facility one evening to check out their programs. After a short wait, we were taken to a small room, where an "interviewer" talked to us about our problems. We gave the usual litany of problems a depressed person can list. This certainly included the feeling of suicide, which all very depressed people experience at various times, and which the interviewer managed to elicit from us. She even got my wife to admit that she had been having those feelings recently. Real amazing, huh...
Well, over the next hour or so in this interview, for one reason or another, we were not feeling very positive about the interview, the possibilities offered to us, and the attitude of the interviewer. My wife was even starting to withdraw and feel uncomfortable, which she does when she has a distinctly negative reaction to the situation, the interviewer, and the potential outcomes of continuing to do this.
We indicated to the interviewer that we didn't see much point in continuing the interview, and she could see that my wife was becoming withdrawn and upset at the progress, or lack thereof in the interview. She certainly did not want us to go, so at one point, we decided to leave of our own volition. At no time were there bad feelings exchanged, nor was there any yelling, nor was either of us visibly upset. The only "visible" indication was my wife's uncomfortable reaction to the interview.
Well, get this..... When we were down the hall on our way to the exit, we discovered that she had called ahead and had instructed the staff to lock the door on us, so that we could not leave!
Now put yourself in this situation. You have come seeking information, and have opened up very truthfully to the process. But the interviewer has concluded that she actually knows more than you do, after maybe a half hour interview. And she was ready to commit you to the hospital, and lock you up! My wife had already been in this situation in the past. She and I both knew this was not the best course of action - we had learned this painfully over the years, and we knew what was best. That is why we were making the effort to check this program out. But the interviewer thought she knew what was best for us.
This situation was one of the most harrowing, frightful, incredible exercises in self discipline that we have ever gone through. We actually had to go back into the room and convince the interviewer that my wife was not going to commit suicide that very night. In our existing state of mind, where we were quite upset at this entire process, and how we had been treated, it is a miracle that we were able to convince the interviewer that we were "OK." In other words, the burden of proof was on us.
We did manage to convince the interviewer that we were OK. We all agreed that my wife would come back on Monday next to check into the "day care" program. Needless to say, we lied about this, and we certainly never set foot in that place again, and don't ever intend to. I am surprised they only called back once to check on us. I wouldn't put it past them to send the police past our home to check on us occasionally. Well, I am exaggerating a little there. Liberals don't have quite that power yet...
In retrospect, it may have been one of the best learning experiences my wife ever had to go through. She got to see up close and personal the mindset of these people. Its effect on me was equally eye opening, for an entirely different reason.
Now I don't mean to demean the entire field of psychology and psychiatry, because there are people who actually can make a difference. They can be very tough to find however.
Be careful out there.....

George W. Bush The Ultimate Liberal?
Many people who are opposed to the death penalty would probably classify themselves as liberals or as Christians [it doesn't follow that all Christians are against the death penalty]. Now I'll bet not many liberals believe in evil, but I'll bet most Christians believe in evil. But I doubt that there are many fundamentalist Christians who are liberals. Something doesn't ...follow... here. I guess if you feel that every human life has value and is somewhere deep down inside good, then I can understand how you might be opposed to the death penalty, and how hard it is to believe that evil exists. Now don't get me wrong, all children are born into innocence - I don't think there are evil children. But after that it can get pretty dicey. If children are brought up to hate, or kill, or be evil, then that is what they will be with few exceptions!
But I don't feel that adult human beings who have somehow been brought up to hate, kill and commit evil possess ultimate value, when they perpetrate or sponsor terrorism and evil. I do feel sorry for them, because I do believe that if they had not had such evil upbringing, then they most likely would not have turned out this way. But the plain fact is that God has lost the battle for their souls. And if it is a struggle between me or them, then ....I... definitely get the nod. Do you feel that this is selfish or arrogant? Do you feel that it is somehow my fault for not providing for the correct upbringing of these children? After all, I did have somewhat of a correct upbringing [I don't murder people at least]. It is just not fair is it? Ah, the liberal mindset. They think the world should be .....fair. Well maybe sometime in the far distant future. I think it is a good idea as well.
And here comes the next consideration that just doesn't .....follow.... If this argument is followed through to its conclusion, then the liberals should be the biggest backers of intervention in those parts of the world where the systemic practice of evil persists! From this argument, George W. Bush is the world's biggest liberal there ever was, since he wants to eliminate those regimes of evil, break the cycle of hate and violence, and try to set those parts of the world on a less evil course. That was the essential message he delivered earlier this year. Liberals and Conservatives should actually converge on this issue ultimately. Amazing.
The cycle of hate and killing, and evil, and now terrorism seems to be repeating itself endlessly in the Middle East. Nobody in America, except a very few outlandish religious sects [and I include a few very well known ones in there....!] preach hate against the Muslims. But preaching hate and even violence against Westerners, especially Americans seems to be the rule in the Middle East. This has got to change someday, because it has spawned our present climate of terrorism. I do not believe that Islam is a violent religion, but I think that with the almost total absence of any kind or variant of democracy in this part of the world, the Muslim religion has been pretty much the only outlet in which to practice dissent. There are certainly violent sections of the Koran, in the same way that there are many violent sections in the Bible. Most of the the Middle Eastern Islamic-based states do not allow political dissent, so the states themselves have been co-opted, at least in public opinion, and taken on the role of dissent, and have latched onto the particularly nasty aspects of the Koran. "Jihad" is practically a state sponsored religion, if you were to listen to all the Mullahs, at least the ones that we read and hear about over here. The moderate Muslims are not allowed to speak up, because they are seen as too friendly to the enemy, and "against the Koran," and therefore "against God." The fundamental importance of being able to dissent is so vital to our well-being. Our democratic regimes do allow the dissent, and have little to do with religion, and at least have legitimacy, having been elected, if they don't always appear to be on the side of public opinion.
Now in America, we have political parties in which to practice dissent, and you can always take to the street with your anti-war or your anti-abortion signs. There is no religion involved, and it is not "against God" to dissent in our country. The Democrats are all in a quandry right now, but nobody in their right mind believes that they are un-American. They are just naive and clueless right now :-). They don't realize that George W. Bush has co-opted their ultimate aims, on the world stage! They may become extinct if George W. Bush pulls off this war in some miraculous sort of way. That would not really be for the best, would it? Conservatism would become a religion then. Uh oh. I think I better start dissenting, if just for the principle of it. But only for the principle of it!

Written Mar 2003
WHY ARE THE FRENCH SUCH WIMPS?
This is an email I sent to a friend in Paris who was wondering about the war mood over here, and the reaction to the French stance. Beware, I get pretty upset here....
You were wondering what the mood was over here. Here's my take. I was never a warmonger (I was in the Army during Vietnam), but the stakes sure seem clear to me. Sitting here watching the news about France and Germany - I am sure they think this is for the best, but doesn't look that way here (except for the peaceniks of course [I just love those human shields over there - Saddam must also]). Pretty disgusted, so here goes..
Seems to me like Bush is bending completely over backwards to let the UN handle this. He may have been, and even still seems threatening, but how else do you deal with tyrants? Has he hurt the feelings of the French and Germans by treating Saddam like that? Do they think Saddam has some redeeming value? Do they think they are doing this for the good of the Iraqi people? Do they think Saddam and his terrorist friends are at heart reasonable people? Are they ready to play Saddam's games for the next decade? Do they think he has good intentions for all his WMD? Do they really believe he doesn't have them? Powell has certainly come around. He was the biggest peacenik there was just 4 months ago. France, especially, should understand the problems of accommodating tyrants. Britain sure did. Hitler would probably still be in France if it weren't for Britain and the US. Saddam must be pretty happy about his French allies these days. Seems to me like France, and now Germany, have now insured that Saddam will survive this, and that Saddam and his terrorist ilk and allies will not touch them. Sounds like a good deal for France and Germany, and a bad deal for the Iraqi people and the rest of the world. Yes, even the Middle East. It means France and Germany have struck a deal with the devil, and the terrorists now have the OK to continue their terrorist march, but not against France and Germany of course...... Sounds like it is all about oil for France!
It is too bad this business is associated with Islam. Bin Laden accomplished that, and the moderate Islams kept their mouths shut. I think they will regret that a generation or two from now. The Christians and the Catholics sure regret any acquiescence they gave Hitler. So now the Moslems think the US is against them. These are truly dark days. Saddam (and Bin Laden as well) are about to accomplish his (their) wildest dreams. Now he can get on with his (their) business as usual, with the acquiescence blessing of the French and Germans. What do you suppose that business is? I am sorry to see Russia there also. Looks like the US and its allies are going to have to go it alone, much like the Brits did early in WWII. The British people and Churchill were the heroes of the 20th century, and pulled the world out of the depths of nazism [I just noticed that microsoft Word wants me to capitalize nazi – sorry] and holocaust, with ours, and Russia's help. It is hard to fathom what our parents went through and how dark those days must have felt (those that thought long and hard about it). I just hope we're up to it again. If you don't understand history, you are doomed to repeat it. Saddam is just another tyrannical repeat. He will go, eventually... do you choose to be on the right side or the wrong side? Doesn't seem like the choices get any clearer than this. Shame on the French, and the Germans. And it looks like the Russians as well. They are just prolonging the demise of a despot, and they may insure a lot more terrorism. Sounds like they are acting out of fear of terrorism. I am certainly going to wear my flag with pride when I'm over there.
I feel like a Brit in 1940. The nazi thugs at my doorstep. Their planes bombing my capital into bits, my allies on the continent completely in chains and being systematically exterminated, my overseas allies crumbling at the thought of having to defend their freedoms, my spitfires and their pilots the only thing keeping the thugs away. I am not sure Bush is another Churchill, but they may turn him into one yet! I guess it is going to have to take more terrorist atrocities to goad them into action. Of course it won't be against THEM! Double shame on them if they stay out of it even then.
The macabre side of me just hopes he (Saddam) lobs a bomb into Israel. Kill a few million Israelis with some toxic stuff. I think he would actually do it at the right time. He has no second thoughts about it. And the radical Moslems would probably cheer. Saddam's place in history would be secure. But the Israelis would put an end to him, and a lot of Iraqis unfortunately. And the US would get to say I told you so, and shame on you..

It's Mother's Day. It's been a while. I spent a week in France with my wife - more on that later. I have been catching up at work. But I want to propose a little toast to my mother. I believe it is from her that I got my irrepressible curiousity. She always wanted to know how things worked, but always accepted the fact that she would probably never understand some of it. She is almost 88 years old. Until very recently, she was able to use a computer to retrieve email, go surfing and find things on the web about her medicines and various other things. Mom, I am real proud of you for that. You were always the one who showed some intellectual prowess. You have read a million books in your lifetime, I hope you don't give that up. You have seen the depression, Pearl Harbor, WWII, Korea, Kennedy/King assassinations, Vietnam, Gulf War I and now Gulf War II. You have seen it all.
You have never said much to me, but you have always been there for me, and you have loved me. I guess I turned out more or less OK. That is saying quite a bit in this day and age.
I would love to hear some stories from you sometime about your childhood and about your father. He was a minister of course, so he must have had some leanings about understanding it all. He must have come to a different conclusion back then. I have always wondered why I was never baptized. You must have had some falling out with your father back in those days I guess. It wasn't until I wanted to marry a catholic girl that I found out about this. Of course back in those days (1973) if you wanted a catholic marriage, you had to be baptized. So I dutifully trudged over to the Methodist church, in which I had never before set foot, with two witnesses, and got myself baptized. The minister thot it interesting, but he acted as if it were a common occurrence. And he seemed to have a smile on his face. And of course I went to the little weekly meetings with the catholic priest where I learned all sorts of interesting stuff about sex and marriage, this from a priest, who supposedly had not the slightest experience with any of it. I predict that Catholics will sanction marriage among the priests when Pope John Paul passes on and they get a new pope. I'll bet they even sanction women priests! Hell, that church is going to die out unless they do something. But of course they are being revitalized by all the third world countries coming into the catholic fold, and completely changing the character of that church. History is fascinating.
I would love to learn more about your father. Of course, there wasn't too much you could do if you were a bookish type in the old days, except to go into the ministry. The Jewish culture is the prime example of that. That culture reveres its bookish types. I would love to know his story.
You were always very good at words and numbers. You were an accountant, bookkeeper at several companies, although I believe you never had formal training in this. This was all in the time when bookkeeping was done by hand of course. Your vast reading enhanced your word skills. You are proficient in cross word puzzles to this day. I can't hold a candle to you. I hope you don't give this up.
So I owe whatever curiousity about the world I have, along with my number and word skills all to you. I probably owe my skepticism to you as well, but that is not quite so obvious. You always professed a belief in the church and its teaching, though you never tried to convince me, or hold me hostage to its beliefs. I am eternally grateful to you for this. I believe it is how I have come to be a universal person, and not steeped and smothered in one particular religious tradition. I have chosen to rear my children similarly. My youngest child seems to have followed in our footsteps. Although he does not profess skills in numbers, he demonstrates obvious skills in words and skeptical inquiry. ...Just hope he doesn't go to university school and get swallowed in all their liberal hogwash. Story for another day.
[Just this morning I tuned in and saw some of the Danz lecture at Univ Washington, where some "scholar" was trying to tell these students in the audience that America was not justified in dropping the Atom bomb on Hiroshima. OK, OK, America is evil. It dropped the bomb. It probably saved more Japanese lives [not to mention American] by doing that than by invading the island. I will never hear that from him however, just how evil America was in doing that. Oh well, story for another day. And it has only been about 60 years for God's sake.
I pray for you (figure of speech you understand) to keep up your fortitude and your curiousity until the very end. I know it must be very difficult. You have had some life altering events in the past 6 months. You are coming to the end of your life. But please try to avoid bitterness. There is just as much beautiful in the world as there is horrendous. Try to remember the beauty, and rmember that your children love you and remember you and look up to you. They are coming to the later stages of their very own lives, so they can genuflect as well.
Here's to you, Mom!!