Longevity: The US, politicians are proud to point out, is the wealthiest most powerful country in the world, the last super power standing. So how come we rank 27th in the world in life expectancy? The New York Times points out many "factors are at play in life expectancy, but it is notable that all but three of the 26 countries preceding the United States have more equal income distributions. These income inequalities indicate broader social inequalities." Thus we discover that the recent Bush barnstorming tour to promote the destruction of social security quickly dropped its arguments about the short shrift African Americans were receiving due to decreased life expectancy among citizens whose skin pigmentation has doomed them to second class citizenship within the greater society.

In the thirty-year period from 1970-2000, the average American worker's salery increased by a total of 10 percent in dollars adjusted for inflation. Meanwhile the average CEO's pay increased by more than 300 percent; these geniuses now make in excess of one thousand times as much as their employees.

Freedom of the Press: A New York judge has ruled in favor of reporters Judith Miller and Philip Shenon stating, "The government has failed to demonstrate theat the balance of competing interests weighs in its favor."

Questions have arisen about whether any laws have been broken in the Plame case. The government will not verify that she was an undercover agent. In the words of the New York Times, "[T]he bizarre level of secrecy that still prevents the reporters being threatened with jail from seeing the nine-page blanked-out portion of last week's decision evaluating the evidence," hides from everyone information pertinent to the case. Who are they covering up for? Was the President's name mentioned? Rumsfield? Tricky Dick Chaney? Nine pages! The Brown Shirts are at it again.

Fear and Loathing in cyberspace: The New York Times reports that Gary Brolsma is going through a rough time as a result of his near instant international fame following the broadcasting of his Web video "Dancer of the Numa Numa."

The Times writers are puzzled about what all the fuss is. Why is everyone watching Gary's performance? Come on guys—Gary is giving us a better performance than just about anything seen on Saturday Night Live since John Belushi. I wouldn't waste ten seconds watching American Idol, but I can't stop watching Gary. This young man brings an authenticity to his good fun performance that is rare in the finest of entertainers. I don't know what he was thinking when he did this—but God bless him!

The Times reports that Gary is down in the dumps, feeling humiliated perhaps by all the attention he's gotten. Gary, you've got nothing to be ashamed of. The world owes you a huge debt. The next time you go to work, dance across the parking lot and into the building. The world is smiling WITH you, not laughing at you.

Today the United States is 8 TRILLION DOLLARS in debt. Every twenty months, the US goes 1 Trillion Dollars deeper in debt. This increasing debt, due in part to the weak dollar, is a direct result of INTENTIONAL policies of the current administration, who believe that weaking the dollar will somehow restore the balance of trade. There is no historical precedent for this theory, and currently, the policy seems to be in permanent free fall.

Where liberals go wrong: About a dozen years ago, the hot topic was Deadbeat Dads, divorced fathers who failed to pay their child support. The image of the divorced father, whether he had custody of his children or not, fell on ultra hard times. All divorced men were made to feel like selfish children who had cheated their sybs out of their lunch money. Amost half of all divorced fathers, it was argued, either failed to pay child support or a portion of their child support. (A footnote included women who fell into the same category.)

Consequently, liberals and conservative governments set about attempting to rectifying the situation by actively persuing deadbeat dads and enacting laws that would prohibit this sort of bad behavior. In today's New York Times Leslie Kaufman reports in an article, "When Child Support Is Due, Even the Poor Find Little Mercy," some of the consequences of liberal laws gone wild, to coin a phrase.

Kaufman reports that about a decade ago the federal government said fathers owed something like 31 billion dollars in back support; as of 2003 (last year for data) some 96 billion dollars was owed. According to government figures, 70 percent of this money is owed by men who earn less than 10,000 dollars per year, meaning they can't afford to pay rent for themselves, much less child support. Only around 4 percent of the money is owed by men earning over 40,000 dollars per year. (The government can attach their wages.)

Obviously, laws that were enacted to help children by providing divorced mothers who have custody of their children have failed to do so, and it seems that judges and lawmakers in the various states have any intention to alter the situation.

One begins to understand that the laws enacted in these particular cases have nothing whatsoever to do with helping children and everything to do with feeling self-righteous. It seems conservatives aren't the only ones capable of being sanctimonious. But you already knew that, didn't you.

Speaking of conservatives: When David Brooks, one of the few truly intelligent apologists for the Republicans, starts to complain about the administration and congress, you know something is truly awry.

It seems that fiscal conservatives (sic) like Judd Gregg and Lindsey Graham are actually proposing legislation that George Bush campaigned on in 2000. So what's Bush's response? He has promissed to veto any bills sent to him that include proposals he made in his first campaign.

This has Brooks wondering if we "Have … entered another a world, where up is down and rationality is irrational?"

Where have you been, Brooks? We've been living in this Orwellian world now for four years, and you are just now realizing it?

PBS is in danger of disappearing from the airways—or at least transforming into something that its fans will have difficulty in recognizing. The conservative onslaught is demanding that it yield its format to fit the whimsical taste of the masses. PBS programers are being restricted from showing episodes of a children's program because they might realize that two women who have set up house as a married couple might actually succeed as a couple where so many heterosexuals fail. Evidently, conservatives are truly afraid of the truth. Is this news?

The purpose of PBS, as far as I am concerned, is to show us/tells us things we ought to know and see whether we like knowing and seeing them or not. And we, through our tax dollars, ought to pay for that to happen.

It is interesting to hear conservatives—of all people—to argue on behalf of democracy. Traditionally conservatives have been opposed to demaocracy. Conservatives do not trust the mob, they believe only the enlighted few—the elite—should be in power to make choices for the rest of us. We have, in fact, trusted our conservative brothers and sisters to warn us against the demogogues who amass the mob against liberty. So it is indeed amazing to see conservatives themselves becoming the demogogues who are amassing the general populace to rise up against anything that might be disturbing to the status quo.

We need a voice in the wildnerness. Don't let Congress destroy one of the few outlets of intelligent public discourse disappear into the sea of misinformation and bread and circuses of media meant to misguide the masses. Write your congressman. Contact Elected Officials.

A Little History: At the end of World War II, the allies were so aghast at the destruction brought to the world by the imperialist forces in Japan and Germany that they decided to turn these countries into western style democracies. This was not a revolutionary idea, both countries were so inclined before the war and had been moving in that direction.

The danger, the western countries saw, was in the fact that both countries had developed such strong military forces. Thes two countries must be restricted from having strong military forces.

In addition to the obvious benefits that would result from Japan and Germany not having strong military forces, they would also benefit from not having to finance such organizations. This would allow their respective economies to grow strong at a rapid rate. All, or almost all, of their GNPs could be directed to develop the economy itself.

However, it would be necessary to provide the two countries with military protection, especially in light of the "Soviet Threat." Thus the US became the military for both Japan and Germany.

In order to finance this grand stratedgy, as time went on, it become necessary for the US to borrow money. So it went to the German banks and the Japanese banks and barrowed money from them in order to pay for the military that was in turn serving to protect them.

As the cat said, things become curiouser and curioser.

If you want to see American democracy in action, tune in C-SPAN, where the Republican controlled congress is falling all over itself congratulating the Rupublican controlled White House on the fine job it is doing. This is called "checks and balances." The Congress enacts laws and charges the Executive Office with enforcing those laws. Congress then acts as an oversite body. Or Congress is the kings' body of courtiers, busily flattering their master in hopes of currying favor. Who are these folks representing? You?

How many more Jeff Gannons does the White House have in its employ?

How to Succeed in Gov't without Even Trying: Join the Republican Party; run successfully for Congress; leave Congress and become a lobbyist. Peter Overby of NPR reports,

[A] crowd of Republicans is spinning through Washington's "revolving door," leaving government positions to work as lobbyists. There is no similar surge of new jobs for Democratic lobbyists

Lobbying is, of course, where the money is. Government jobs barely pay the bills, especially in hyper inflated D.C. And then there is the enormous expense of running a re-election campaign. But lobbying regularly pays six and seven figure saleries, depending on the "expertise" a lobbyist brings to the job. ("Expertise" in Washington is defined as "has influence over" also known as "access to.")

We should all keep in mind that Republicans, for the first time since Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover (can you say, "Great Deperession?"), control the White House and Congress in a dominant fashion. They are working hard to control the courts—they already own the Supreme Court—as well. The match with the Twenties and Thirties is particularly precipitous.

Note the budget with its huge deficit and its corresponding cuts to services that benefit the average citizen. While the government puts each one of us and our children and grandchildren into deeper and deeper debt, the benefits we receive from government are being flushed away.

You get what you pay for.

The NHL Has Been Canceled: The folks at ESPN must be suffering right now. It's February and sports are in the doldrums. March Madness is still a month away—number one Illinois isn't even playing another ranked team until the tourney starts. There are no super stars in boxing at the moment—does anyone even know who the current heavyweight champ is? Spring training won't get underway for a few more weeks, regardless of who reports early—and all the big trades and signings have been completed. Pro basketball is at the midpoint with only the utterly rediculous all star nonsense to look forward to. Is anybody actually entertained by watching professional all star games in any of the pro sports?

My teenage son is astounded by the fact that all of those hockey players can go a year withut earning any money. "They must really be rich," he says. Not to mention the owners who can pay all of those salaries just for the sake of a hobby.

A.I.D.S.: While all the news focuses on a new strain of the deadly disease that has cropped up in the U.S., it is interesting to note that, while the death rate from A.I.D.S. has fallen over the past ten years here in the U.S., the rate of new infections has not changed with c. 40,000 new cases a year being reported. Treatment may have improved, but prevention has not.

The Arts: David Mamet, in a paean to the late Arthur Miller, has beautifully stated the case for high art—

We are freed, at the end of these two dramas [Death of a Salesman and The Crucible], not because the playwright has arrived at a solution, but because he has reconciled us to the notion that there is no solution—that it is the human lot to try and fail, and that no one is immune from self-deception. We have, through following the course of the drama, laid aside, for two hours, the delusion that we are powerful and wise, and we leave the theater better for the rest.

Bad drama reinforces our prejudices. It informs us of what we knew when we came into the theater—the infirm have rights, homosexuals are people, too, it's difficult to die. It appeals to our sense of self-worth, and, as such, is but old-fashioned melodrama come again in modern clothes (the villain here not black-mustachioed, but opposed to women, gays, racial harmony, etc.).

The good drama survives because it appeals not to the fashion of the moment, but to the problems both universal and eternal, as they are insoluble.

To find beauty in the sad, hope in the midst of loss, and dignity in failure is great poetic art.

This is so finely stated and worthy of our attention that it needs repeating, often.

Dateline Saudi Arabia: Holding its first ever national elections—municipal council seats—the Saudis banned all women from voting or running for office. Their rational: not enough voting booths. Seems the Saudis have been studying how to run elections in Ohio.

Meantime, Condi Rice is in Europe, preaching high ideals about bringing democracy to women in the Middle-East. Evidently Saudi Arabia has been relocated. Evidently, Rice also told the French people that Iran is a "totalitarian state."

to·tal·i·tar·i·an adj. 1. Of, relating to, being, or imposing a form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life, the individual is subordinated to the state, and opposing political and cultural expression is suppressed: “A totalitarian regime crushes all autonomous institutions in its drive to seize the human soul” (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.).

au·thor·i·tar·i·an adj. 1. Characterized by or favoring absolute obedience to authority, as against individual freedom: an authoritarian regime. 2. Of, relating to, or expecting unquestioning obedience.

They look something alike, but totalitarian is usually reserved for such places as Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. Calling a country "totalitarian" in public speech usually signifies extremely hostile intentions. At least this is how the French are interpreting Rice's remarks.

Baseball: The Chicago Cubs seem bent on a money saving scheme that defies baseball logic. Now they've traded off a young relief pitcher who has the potential to be one of the best in the game. Kyle Farnsworth had an up and down season last year, blowing a couple of key games, but he has the makings to become one of the best relievers in baseball. So who did the Cubs get for him? Roberto Novoa and two minor leaguers. This sounds like more Sammy Sosa type deals. Lets dump players no matter what.

First the Cubs let Alou and Clement go without making any effort to resign them, then they pay Baltimore to take Sammy, now The Farns has gone. A little more than a decade ago a young pitcher named Greg Maddox, who had just won his first Cy Young, refused to re-sign with the Cubs because, as he said, the organization just doesn't care whether it wins or loses. Could it be that the Trib organization has told Cub management, "You've had your fun the past two years, now we're going back to low payrolls and lovable lose-ingness." Let's face it, the Cubs will always make money, even if they play like the Mets. (Wait a minute, the Mets have managed to win a couple of World Series since '45!)

Chicago Cubs fans may be more ill mannered than St. Louis fans, but they still deserve to have the Cubs get to the World Series at least once every fifty or sixty years. Come on guys, you define overdue. Don't kill all our dreams, corporate America.

Iraq: VP Dick Chaney said on "Fox News Sunday" that "We have a great deal of confidence in where they're [Iraq] headed. I don't think, at this stage, that there's anything like justification for hand-wringing or concern on the part of Americans that somehow they're going to produce a result we won't like." Presumably he meant that there would be no Shiite theocracy in Iraq, but this is the same pol who traveled the country swearing up and down that sooner or later we'd find WMDAs in Iraq. (Uh, Mr. Veep, we've stopped bothering to even look for them.)

My son wants to know if "Fox News" is as much an oxymoron as "Conservative Revolution."

ox·y·mo·ron n., pl. ox·y·mo·ra or ox·y·mo·rons. A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist. [Greek oxumoron, from neuter of oxumoros, pointedly foolish.]

What's that old saying about a fool and his money?

Sports: Now that the Super Bowl is over we're one step closer to the real reason for living – baseball. The last big hurdle: March Madness. Go Illini! Evidently the U of I's number one ranking and undefeated record have brought about Stewart Mandel's ire. In his column, Inside College Basketball, appearing in SI he bemoans the demise of the Big Ten. "Aside from Illini," he states in his lead, "Big Ten doesn't have much to offer." It must be difficult to find something useful to say on an off day.

Iraq: A lead story in this morning's New York Times tells us that "Leading Shiite Clerics [are] Pushing Islamic Constitution in Iraq." Is this news? Why not lead with "Leading Clerics in US Are Pushing Inshrinement of [their interpretation of] Biblical Law into US Constitution"? The NYTimes story focuses on two aspect of Koranic law: the sale and consumption of alcohol and restrictions on women. Reading the story seems to equate the two. One wonders if the author has spent too much time thinking about today's Super Bowl, with its beer advertisers and the TV cameras obsession with showing us close ups of nearly nude cheerleaders. Here in America we know how to put human rights into perspective.

Believe it or not: Bush is actually going to support reducing so called "farm subsidies" that have done so much to destroy family farms in America and keep overseas producers in abject poverty. The agribusiness corps that suck down millions of tax payer dollars and supported his re-election after he refused to support a reduction in the tax dollar give away to the very rich last year are going to be crying ouch!

Home Schooled: Florida has a new poster family for the home schooling movement: Hey, Jeb! Stop trying to sound self-righteous. This happened on your watch!

The Great Lie: While the administration intimidates PBS — that TV network that we trust to tell and show us what we don't want to hear and see — it has been busily buying "reporters" to advocate its policies. Guess they need to do that since even Republicans don't get why Bush is so wedded to his social security destruction policy.

Half Truths: America was founded by people seeking religious freedom — the freedom they sought was the right to force people to believe and act the way they wanted them to; they certainly didn't want anyone else to be free. What about the settlers in Virginia? They just came to get rich.

Social Security: Bush is on the road trying to sell his debacle of the Social Security System, with the simple argument, "trust me." Let's see, how many WMDAs did he promise us were in Iraq?

Coming out of the grand old practice of pure salesmanship, Mr. Bush has no regard for logic or evidence. His beliefs rely on good feelings generated by catch phrases, like "ownership." Well, that sounds good, doesn't it? But what does it really mean? Isn't it kind of like "I'll run the government like a business?" Wait a minute! Government isn't a business. Businesses fail, at a steady rate. Most never succeed past the first five years. Is that what we want from government?

An Idea: If personal accounts are such a fine idea, how about this: Let's establish a half of a percent tax in addition to social security, on payrolls that will be devoted to the new personal accounts, along with an equivalent amount to be paid in by employers. This one percent tax would then be placed into personal savings/investment accounts. Pundits have long argued that Americans don't save enough money. This would force us to save. The tax could be limited to workers under a specific age, say 40 and under. This way Social Security would be left alone, but we could test the individual benefits package.

Naturally, the problem with this idea is that the "no new tax" party would have to sponser a tax and their agenda of destroying Social Security itself would fail. Keep in mind that employers pay in a matching sum for employees. It's this tax that the Republicans are actually devoted to ending. True, that's not currently part of the plan being placed before the American citizens, but it is the ultimate goal of the party.