SUMMER ARRIVES

For awhile we speculated that summer has again passed us by. But today and yesterday temperatures have reached 90 degrees or better. Be that as it may, my decision to forgo speculation about political issues seem to be working. It saddens me that when our country faces serious deficiencies in almost every direction. Lets see:

• roads, bridges, dams, levies, schools all need modernizing
• we continue to funnel resources (money, lives, reputation) into Iraq and Afghanistan
• terrorists can still construct nuclear bombs
• our water supplies and systems are outdated and subject to failure
• wealth continues to accumulate for the 3 or 4 percent of our population
• drive by shootings in Oakland and Richmond continue at record levels.

I can continue to list things that need correction with hardly any solutions coming to mind.

DEBT LIMIT

Time is quickly passing and we will reach the point where the "full faith and credit" promised by all government securities will no longer be true. After 70 years of faith in the US structure, I have lost it. Now is the time to signal to anyone who wants your support in the next election to let them know that they won't have it unless they are willing to compromise to work out a bill. The "tea party fanatics" who believe they are doing the will of their pricipals will see the damage when the stock market falls to the lowest point since the 30's.

Presidential Politics

I was saddened when I listened to President Obama at an unscheduled press conference discussing the noise being generated by some of the media concerning his birth certificate. Despite proof to the contrary nearly half of the Republicans bought into the lie that he was not born in the United States. The fact that large numbers of Americans accepted the lie proves that Goebels was correct when he said that if you repeat a lie often enough it will be accepted as the truth by a growing number of people. In my opinion this reflects a serious racial bias against a black man being president.I fear for our country.

OUT OF AFGHAN WAR

After the response of some Afghan folks to the burning of the Quran by some nut in Florida resulting in the death of 7 UN people and the parade with anti-American signs, I urge the President to remove all American from the country. Declare victory and leave.

Report to Representatives.

From time to time I like to write down my hopes for actions by our politicians in the hope that they will read my blog for insipration on how to vote. As of today, my desires for my government are:
1. Return to the draft for military service. A volunteer army leeds to separation of voter and taxpayer. If there were a draft young people would be interested in world affairs.
2. Pull all American military out of Iraq and Afganistan. If we haven't won after all this time, we are not likley to ever win.
3. Explain to me and others why we have large numbers of troops in Germany, Japan and dozens of other countries.
4. Establish a national health plan, single payer type. Medicare works very well thank you.
5. Order that all government owned vehicle run on natural gas.
6. Fix the potholes in all our roads and streets.
7. Reduce the speed limit in Interstates to 55 mph. Enforce the speed limit. This would serve two priorities: improve milage of automobiles, put monies in the treasuries of cities from speeding fines.

Barry Bonds Trial

Today begins the jury selection for the trial of Barry Bonds. I have real difficulty in the decisions to try Bonds. The US Attorney says its necessary to prove that one can't lie to a Grand Jury and not be punished. Bonds has been punished by the public. With the serious budget shortages facing the government it seems to me that they must have more serious cases on which to spend their time and resources. I'm left with the conclusion that the US Attorney is seeking his own publicity. If they don't get a conviction I assume the Attorney General will remove this US Attorney!!

North Dakota Leads

I always wanted to get down into these silos. Next trip home I'll do it.

Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile Site State Historical Society of North Dakota: "The new Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site actually consists of two sites telling the story of the Cold War years in North Dakota. They are the Oscar-Zero Missile Alert Facility and the November-33 Launch Facility. They are the last remnants of the 321st Missile Wing, a cluster of intercontinental ballistic missile launch sites that were spread over a 6,500-square-mile area around the Grand Forks Air Force Base. The Oscar Zero Launch Control Center and the November-33 Missile Facilty played an integral part in the Cold War in North Dakota and the world. This site is the last launch control center intact with the top-side of November 33 missile facility left intact."

Norwegian Wisdom

The Oslo newspaper is worth reading from time to time.

'The worst US president'A Norwegian professor who's considered one of the country's leading experts on US politics has ranked George W Bush as the worst US president in history. The best: Abraham Lincoln.
Professor Ole O Moen, who has followed American politics most of his career, has just written a book about all the US presidents. Aftenposten's weekly magazine A-magasinet asked Moen to choose who he thinks are the five best presidents and the five worst.
Two members of the Republican party landed as both the worst and the best presidents. Bush, in Moen's opinion, is the worst.
"His administration stands for a dangerous blend of arrogance and ignorance," Moen told A-magasinet, claiming that Bush has lacked an ability to listen to and cooperate with other heads of state, and with the US Congress.
Moen cited the invasion of Iraq, the resulting chaos that has erupted in the country and the intelligence reports that Bush's basis for the invasion (alleged weapons of mass destruction) didn't exist. Bush also defied international opinion on a host of other issues, from
the Kyoto agreement to rules for an international court, and his tax measures have widened the gap between rich and poor.
A federal budget surplus inherited from the Clinton administration has turned into a huge deficit and now the US is widely believed to be heading into a recession. Bush's approval ratings are currently at a low point in the US, but Bush himself has indicated that he doesn't care about his legacy.
Moen's choice for the "next-worst" US president is James Buchanan, a Democrat, whose term ran from 1857-1861 and who is often called the father of the American Civil War. Buchanan is followed by
Warren G Harding, a Republican who was president in the early 1920s and whose isolationist policies destabilized the world economy and helped fuel Germany's desire for military revenge.
Moen chose Calvin Coolidge, president from 1923-27) who continued an isolationist strategy, as the fourth-worst president,
and Andrew Johnson (1865-1869) as the fifth worst, because he allowed defeated southern states into the union without insisting that they reform themselves.
The Norwegian professor's favorite president is Abraham Lincoln,
also a Republican, who insisted on a government "of the people, by the people and for the people," and who rose from a poor background to save a nation that had descended into civil war.
Franklin D Roosevelt is Moen's choice as second-best president, for bringing the US out of the Depression, launching social reforms and leading the nation to victory in World War II. George Washington, the country's first president, was ranked third-best, Thomas
Jefferson fourth and Woodrow Wilson fifth.

Aftenposten's reporterLars KlugeAftenposten English Web
DeskNina Berglund