Tom Faranda's Folly

The Washington Post on Karl Rove

Is Karl Rove - the great Bush political operative - the Devil Incarnate or a Genius? (Maybe both!)

Here's a very interesting Washingon Post article.  Midterm Vote May Define Rove's Legacy - washingtonpost.com

"Karl is an absolute figure of fascination," said Walter Isaacson, president of the Aspen Institute, which hosted Rove at its annual "Ideas Festival" this summer. "What stuns people who don't know him is how personally charming he is, especially people who consider him the devil or a strange genius."

Isaacson said Rove not only answered questions for close to 90 minutes before a packed auditorium but also bantered for hours afterward with the high-powered attendees from the worlds of policy, politics and big business. For 40 minutes, he said, Rove engaged in the fine points of stem cell research with Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr. "It always astonishes me that he knows more details about policy than anyone else -- that's the source of his strength," said Isaacson, who has also dealt with Rove extensively on issues of Louisiana reconstruction.

Latest Read: Successful Intelligence

I finished this book about a month ago, but haven't had time to write it up.

Quite a few years ago - at least ten - I read another book by Yale psychologist Robert Sternberg on intelligence, entitled "The Triarchic Mind". It was excellent, as he criticized standard IQ testing and put forth his own broader definition of intelligence, which he defined as "mental self-management."

So I was looking forward to this follow-up book, "Successful Intelligence." Unfortunately it was not near as good as his first book.

The book is too long - it's almost as if his publisher told him to flesh it out with discussion of the defects of intelligence tests and personal anecdotes from his own life and that of his children. There are too many of these analyses and anecdotes. He could have cut the book by at least a third. And at times the book is more of a self-help manual - focus on goals, be persistent, identify problems. As one of the reviewers on Amazon said, perhaps he should have titled the book "Successful Abilities."

Certainly his theory that there are three components of intelligence - the analytic, the creative, and the practical makes lots of sense. And too much emphasis may be put on the analytic element, because it is most easily tested in so-called intelligence tests. Sternberg makes a good case for that, showing that there is not much correlation between the ability to score highly on these types of tests, and ultimate success in business and professional areas (some correlation, but it's pretty underwhelming).

All in all, if you are interested in a good book on intelligence, I recommend Sternberg's first book "The Triarchic Mind" and give this one a miss.

Global Warming Update

I have several friends who are mightily concerned about global warming and environmental degradation.

My own opinion is that we really don't know the cause of the mild rise in temperatures in the last few decades - they are most likely part of a natural cycle. And the envronment in the U.S. hasn't been as clean as it is today in decades (not true of course of certain other countries trying to industrialize - like China and India). Michael Crichton gave a really excellent talk three years ago asserting that in scientific circles it was politically incorrect to question the causes of global warming - if you strayed from the acceptable theory that it was caused by industrialization you were ostracized.

Here's his talk:Aliens Cause Global Warming  An odd name - read it to see why he gave it that title.

So here's the latest hysteria from the Great Britain - where they seem to really have gone around the bend - on the issue:

Almost too late to stop Global Warming Independent Online Edition > Environment

The possibility of avoiding a global catastrophe is "already almost out of reach", Sir Nicholas Stern's long-awaited report on climate change will warn today. One terrifying prospect is that changes in weather patterns could drive down the output of the world's economies by an amount equivalent to up to £6 trillion a year by 2050, almost the entire output of the EU.

With world temperatures on course to rise by two to three degrees in 50 years, rainfall could be catastrophically reduced in some of the world's poorest countries, while others grapple with floods from melting glaciers. The result could be the largest migration of refugees in history.

These problems will be "difficult or impossible to reverse" unless the world acts quickly, Sir Nicholas will warn, in a 700-page report that is expected to transform world attitudes to climate change. It adds: "Our actions over the coming few decades could create risks of major disruption to economic and social activity, later in this century and in the next, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the economic depression of the first half of the 20th century."

Here's more from the Financial Times (UK): The UK government is signing up Al Gore as an advisor

FT.com / World - Brown to back more emissions trading

And, in an effort to push climate change up the international agenda, the chancellor will appoint Al Gore, former US vice-president and an environmental campaigner, as an adviser on green issues.

Lastly, the government is looking to impose "stealth" taxes to pay for all the green prgrams in Britain:Secret green tax blitz planned for cars, air travel and consumer goods | the Daily Mail

The proposals, leaked to The Mail on Sunday, show that the Government is considering introducing a raft of hard-hitting 'eco-taxes' that will have a devastating effect on the cost of living.

Families with big cars could end up paying more than £1,000 a year extra in tax. And nearly every household in Britain will be hit in the pocket.

Most controversial of all, the documents reveal the Government is planning to grab billions of pounds of extra revenue from motorists - without telling them. It is considering introducing a special mechanism so that whenever oil prices go down, the Government would get the cash in extra fuel tax - not the motorist.

Weekend joke

Off Donald Luskin's website:

A man walks into the street and manages to get a taxi just going by. He gets into the taxi, and the cabbie says, "Perfect timing. You're just like Frank."

Passenger: "Who?"

Cabbie: "Frank Feldman. He's a guy who did everything right - all the time. Like my coming along when you needed a cab, things happened like that to Frank Feldman every single time."

Passenger: "There are always a few clouds over everybody."

Cabbie: "Not Frank Feldman. He was a terrific athlete. He could have won the Grand-Slam at tennis. He could golf with the pros. He sang like an opera baritone and danced like a Broadway star and you should have heard him play the piano. He was an amazing guy."

Passenger: "Sounds like he was something really special."

Cabbie: "There's more... He had a memory like a computer. Could remember everybody's birthday. He knew all about wine, which foods to order and which fork to eat them with. He could fix anything. Not like me. I change a fuse, and the whole street blacks out. But Frank Feldman, he could do everything right."

Passenger. "Wow, some guy then."

Cabbie: "He always knew the quickest way to go in traffic and avoid traffic jams. Not like me, I always seem to get stuck in them. But Frank, he never made a mistake."

Passenger. "Mmm, there's not many like him around."

Cabbie: "And, he really knew how to treat a woman and make her feel good. He would never answer her back even if she was in the wrong; and his clothing was always immaculate, shoes highly polished too - he was the perfect man! He never made a mistake. No one could ever measure up to Frank Feldman."

Passenger: "An amazing fellow. How did you meet him?"

Cabbie: "Well, I never actually met Frank."

Passenger: "Then how do you know so much about him?"

Cabbie: "I married his goddamn widow."

The Wall Street Journal opines on the possible agenda of a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives

The Journal had an interesting and level-headed editorial this morning on what the likely agenda will be if the Democrats do gain control of the House. The editorial points out that the Party has not really laid out any plans, quoting one Dem leader saying "why take the focus off the Republicans"?

One of the potential proposals is so-called "Medicare for All" which would open up participation in Medicare to everyone (financing it with additional payroll taxes of 1.7% on employees and 7% tax on employers). This was originally proposed in the late 80's, early 90's by Bush I as a way of covering people without insurance, but never went anywhere in the Democrat controlled Congress. A good idea then, now possibly co-opted by the Dems. I fully expect that at some point in the next few years they will suddenly come up with "People Power Social Security" (or some such name) in which the Party of Roosevelt updates social security to allow people to hold personal accounts with ownership rights. A terrible idea (according to today's Democrats) under Bush will suddenly start to make sense when they're in power.

I guess that's politics.

Here's the article with a small excerpt on taxes: The Non-Contract with America OpinionJournal - Hot Topic

The Bush tax cuts expire in 2010, and any chance that they'll be made permanent will vanish with a Democratic Congress. The question is whether Democrats will try to raise taxes even sooner. Most Democrats voted against the Bush tax cuts, but this week Ms. Pelosi said on CNBC's "Kudlow & Co." that "Democrats like tax cuts. We support middle-class tax cuts."

The same isn't true, however, for the "investor" tax cuts of 2003 that coincided with the acceleration of the current expansion. Ms. Pelosi says reversing these tax cuts "at the high end" would be "an earlier resort." This would raise the top income and dividend tax rate back to 39.6% from 35%, and the capital-gains rate back to 20% from 15%, substantially raising the cost of new investment in the United States. Economist John Rutledge estimates that raising the dividend rate alone would reduce the value of the S&P 500 stocks by between 5% and 8.5%, roughly a $500 to $700 billion decline in the wealth of the 52% of American households that own stock.

A quick visit with the Hardys - friends from the UK

My friend Tom Hardy contacted me a few weeks ago. He and his wife Mabvuto were going to pass through New York - staying at the Newark airport Sheraton for one night - so I arranged to meet up with them for a couple of hours Friday evening.

Tom and his wife Judy were good friends of ours, going way back to my two years in Jamaica from 1977 to 1979. Tom was teaching in the same school I was teaching in (and played rugby with me in the Mandeville rugby club) , and Judy was a resident physician in the Mandeville public hospital. Judy was Brigid's maid of honor when we got married (June 23, 1979) and Tom "gave the bride away." We stayed in touch after that, with occasional visits.

Judy died tragically in 1998, and a few years ago Tom met Mabvuto (African Princess) on one of his frequent visits to Africa (the publishing company he works for does a great deal of work there - textbooks mostly). They got married about four years ago.

Anyway, I met up with them Friday, and we caught up on our sons (Tom also has two, in their early 20's) and I attempted to explain to them the fine points of baseball.

Here are a couple of pictures:

Tim provides halftime entertainment at Ossining High School football game

Or rather, his team, and the other Ossining Little League football teams did tonight. At halftime (Ossining HS was burying Lakeland - score was 22-0) the four teams had exhibitions, running about 20 plays. Unfortunately the lighting wasn't very good, but here's big Tim about to flatten an orange-shirted opponent with a block.

Tim didn't have much to say after we left the field and were headed home. Finally he said "I'm going to start lifting weights".

Health update

I had my long-awaited appointment with Dr. Zelenetz this afternoon. I expected a clean report and I got one - but only sort of...

First, my CAT scan from a few days ago revealed no evidence of lymphoma. It also showed that I had no respiratory problems that might be causing my mild but chronic cough. Dr. Zelenetz suggested that I go back on protonix (an acid reflux medication) for two weeks, since it's possible acid reflux is causing the cough. So I'm going to do that.

The real problem continues to be my low white blood cell count. Today it was 1.4, and the key sub-component they look at was only .6. Because the sub-component ("Gr" on the CBC; it has a name I can neither spell or pronounce) was below 1.0, he decided to do a bone marrow biopsy today. I also was given a shot of Neulasta, the white blood cell booster.

This is the fourth one I've had, and it doesn't bother me (they stick a needle into your iliac crest, aspirate out some marrow, and then chip off a tiny piece of bone; sounds a lot worse then it feels) but I've been told by various Dr's and nurses that it does freak some people out. Of course, "bone marrow biopsy" doesn't have a great ring to it.

So it was done and some of the test results will be in on Monday; I will talk to Zelenetz on Tuesday. however other results won't come in for about three weeks.

There are several possibilities for why my WBC count hasn't come back up. The one he seemed to feel was most likely is simply that when I had my stem cell transplant it didn't take, or "graft" very well. If that turns out to be the case, I have 8 or 9 million stem cells frozen away in a Sloan Kettering fridge, and they can simply give me another transplant and see what happens.

This sounds like a big deal, but it's really not; you can read about my original transplant here:

Tom Faranda's Folly: Transplant went well

I'm sure it's not something that would require admission to Sloan and there's no chemotherapy involved. It's also possible this isn't the cause - Dr. Zelenetz gave me some other possibilities which are too boring to even repeat here! I have another appointment with him in four weeks.

So a little disappointing, but not really a big deal. And I didn't mention - I gained four pounds in the last month! That is bad. Too much eating. But - I feel fine.

"In politics as in other jobs, there is a price to pay for poor performance"

So sums up Pete DuPont, former Republican Governor of Delaware (and one of the heirs to the DuPont fortune) in a good op ed in the Wall Street Journal. He's referring to the Republican Congress. The title is Bleak House and the sub-title is Republicans deserve to lose, but what happens if Democrats win?

OpinionJournal - Outside the Box

After going over the pending Democratic agenda (scary!) DuPont has this to say about the Republicans:

Most Americans have not yet thought much about this agenda, or the leaders who will set it. But they are tired of the Republican congressional performance. The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows 16% of Americans approve of congressional performance while 75% disapprove.

No wonder: Republicans gave line-item veto power to the Democratic president in the 1990s, but refused to give it to the current Republican president. They haven't made the Bush tax cuts permanent. They wouldn't bring individual ownership of Social Security retirement accounts to a vote. They haven't done anything on health care. And they have raised federal spending by $750 billion since 2001 and for fiscal 2006 approved 10,000 earmarks costing $29 billion. Conservative principles seem to have faded away, and ethical principles have weakened--names like DeLay, Ney, and Foley make the point.

It is possible President Bush and Karl Rove can stem the anti-Republican political tide. But more likely on Nov. 7 American voters will send the Congress a strong disapproval message by voting out the current Republican majority. In politics as in other jobs, there is a price to pay for poor performance.

Darfur update

Several articles.

The NY Times had a sad assessment this morning. This article will only be available online for free for the next week. Grim New Turn May Harden Darfur Conflict - New York Times.

For the first time in more than two years, rebels fighting the government for more autonomy are making brazen, direct and successful attacks on soldiers, and are declaring that all previous cease-fires are no longer in effect.

The latest peace agreement, signed in May and heavily backed by the United States but approved by only one rebel faction and the Sudanese government, is in disarray.

The government vows to crush the rebellion, and as its military struggles to fend off attacks, it will likely turn again to Arab militias called janjaweed to wage its counterinsurgency campaign, analysts say.

A visit to the site of the newest fighting, the first by a journalist, revealed a hardening conflict that is increasingly taking place along porous borders among some of the least stable countries in Africa, threatening to ignite a wide conflagration in the heart of the continent.

The Darfur rebels are flush with weapons taken from the Sudanese military in raids and bought through allies in Chad and Eritrea. They say that because Sudan has blocked a United Nations force from entering Darfur to protect the 2.5 million people forced from their homes there and in eastern Chad, they have a duty to stop attacks on non-Arab tribes.

“The international community will not do it,” said Gen. Khatir Toor Khala, a rebel field commander based on the border. “So it is for us to protect the innocent civilians of Darfur.”

The Sudan is throwing out the UN representative.Sudan Expels U.N. Envoy Over Report of Losses in Darfur - washingtonpost.com

Sudan, Oct. 22 -- The Sudanese government on Sunday ordered the chief U.N. envoy out of the country after he wrote that Sudan's army had suffered major losses in recent fighting in Darfur.

The order against the envoy, Jan Pronk, is likely to complicate international efforts to halt the killings, rapes and other atrocities in the strife-torn region of western Sudan.

Crisis in Darfur

In a statement distributed by the official Sudan News Agency, the country's Foreign Ministry accused Pronk of demonstrating "enmity to the Sudanese government and the armed forces" and of involvement in unspecified activities "that are incompatible with his mission."

And there was an interesting op ed column in the Washington Post (written by Sebastian Mallaby) on the inability of the U.S. to get anything done internationally, whether it's Iraq or elsewhere. He mentions Darfur in passing.A Nadir of U.S. Power - washingtonpost.com

... traditional diplomacy is faring no better. In North Korea and Iran, the United States has tried every diplomatic trick to prevent nuclear proliferation, making common cause with Western Europe, Russia, China and Japan, and wielding both sticks and carrots. The result is failure: North Korea has tested a nuke and Iran still presses on with its enrichment program.

A few years ago, the collapse of Russia's currency triggered a furious debate in Washington over who lost Russia. Now Russia's pro-Western voices are being snuffed out, and Americans are so inured to the limits of their power that they don't even pose that question. A crusading journalist has been killed, and on Thursday Vladimir Putin silenced Human Rights, Amnesty International and more than 90 other foreign organizations. Everyone accepts that there's not much the West can do about this...

Three long years ago, the Bush administration described the killing in Darfur as genocide. You might think that an impoverished African state that can't control its own territory would be a pushover. But the Bush administration has tried sanctions, peace talks and United Nations resolutions. Sudan's tin-pot dictator thumbs his nose at Uncle Sam and dispatches more death squads.

UPDATE of Update: I don't know who Sebastian Mallaby, the writer of the third link above, is, but this guy seems to know him and doesn't think too much of his opinions. Hugh Hewitt

The Faranda weekend wanderings

We had an interesting weekend, going out with friends last night, and visiting JFK and Stepinac high schools today, as we try and size up Joe's options for school next year.

Saturday night was Frodo's in Pleasantville with our friends, Mike and Karen Riner, Paul and Doreen Novotny and Dennis and Denise Cannon. Frodo's was discovered by Doreen, and they all know her. At least well enough to give us a couple of free apppetizers and a bottle of wine.

These dinners usually start with drinks at the Novotny house (conveniently located ten minutes from Frodo's) and frequently end with dessert back at their house. And yesterday was no different.

Here are a few pictures:

Mike chatting up Brigid -

Doreen and Paul - it only looks like Doreen has punched Paul in the nose, and he's trying to straighten it out!

The dazed man is me - the sharp lady is Karen

Here's Denise, followed by Brigid and Dennis and then Dennis and moi

We'd squeezed into our Mountaineer for the drive back and forth to Frodo's from Paul and Doreen's - here's a cool shot of three chickies in the third row

While Denise (who looks like she's about 28!!) was between Paul and Mike

It was a late night, with champagne, cocktails, wine and after dinner drinks, so we got off to a uhhh, slow start today. I went to Mass with Joe at 10:45  (Brigid and Tim had gone Saturday evening with my mother) and then we all beetled off to JFK high school in Somers.

For some reason, all the local Catholic high schools were holding their "Open House"  from one to four today. So after going to JFK we then hustled down to White Plains to see Stepinac (I'm a Stepinac graduate; class of '69. That's where I first met Mike and Paul. My brother Phil attended JFK, where he was a big-time wrestler, graduating in the mid 80's. ) I didn't think of bringing my camera; it would have been nice to take one or two pictures of each school.

The JFK Open House was more informal - you walked around from class to class, talking to teachers, etc - while Stepinac was more structured. Stepinac showed a short film in the auditorium, had two seniors speak, and then had student-guided walks around the building with brief presentations by teachers.

JFK is coed, while Stepinac is all boys. I think Stepinac may have a bit more to offer academically, and have more clubs and extracurricular activities. Everyone at Stepinac kept saying they were an "Educational Community" with the emphasis on both words. JFK is just within the 15 mile limit so we qualify for free and convenient busing there, while Joe would have to take public busing to Stepinac. Some of the Stepinac students mentioned that students attend from as far away as Mahopac and Brewster.

I asked Joe how he felt after seeing the two schools, and he seemed to lean towards JFK.

We will see.

Brigid and Trinity

This is from Wednesday - as the guinea pig gets a treat (carrot) from Brigid. Trinity has a different personality from Vindabel, our prior guinea pig. While all guinea pigs are flighty and shy, she is much more adventurous then Vindabel was. If you put Vindabel on the floor, she wouldn't move. Trinity would take off on an adventure, we're sure of that.

The one thing they share - they are both extremely cute. Or rather Vindabel, who has gone to G.P. heaven, was extremely cute. to see Vindabel, go here -Tom Faranda's Folly: Sad news in farandaville as guinea pig leaves us

From my humor coordinator Ellen Mullin - Three reasons to be satisfied with your job

These from Ellen:

Great picture from the Hubble telescope

This is pretty cool...

Yahoo! News caption: This Hubble image of the Antennae galaxies is the sharpest yet of this merging pair of galaxies. As the two galaxies smash together, billions of stars are born, mostly in groups and clusters of stars. The brightest and most compact of these are called super star clusters. (NASA, ESA/Hubble, and B. Whitmore - Space Telescope Science Institute/Handout/Reuters)

Here's a 3 minute video about the Hubble - you just have to listen to a brief commercial first. Hubble Overture - Short Film

CAT scan today

Got to Sloan Kettering on York Ave. a little late, and then found out the scan was scheduled at the Third Ave and 64th St. satellite building, and not at the 67 St. main building.

I had trouble actually finding the office (it's between 2nd and 3rd Ave. and takes up the whole basement of an apartment building), but I was in and out very quickly. For the first time they didn't use contrast by IV, just the stuff you take orally. (I guess that's a good sign!?)

Will have the results next Wednesday, when I see the lymphoma guru, Dr. Zelenetz.

An interesting debate on Irish radio

Amy Welborn is a Catholic author with a popular weblog. She has linked to an interesting debate on Irish radio about ten days ago, between the evolutionary biologist and virulent atheist Richard Dawkins, and Catholic journalist David Quinn.

open book: Debating Dawkins

Dawkins is about the most well known propagandist for atheism and against religion on the "current scene". His most recent book is "The God Delusion." It's easy to hear the debate, which lasts about 18 minutes. Just follow the directions on the open book posting.

David Quinn yesterday posted on Welborn's weblog in the comments section. Here it is:

David Quinn here with a comment of his own. First of all, thanks to everyone for the words of support. The atheist websites have been very quick to pick up on the interview and post it. On Richard Dawkins' own site they are slaughtering me as you'd expect, mainly for being so rude to their man and for posing questions they refuse to answer, eg, where does matter come from?
What's interesting though, is the invective on the atheist websites, whereas here, even those who don't like Dawkins, are not insulting towards him.
What's also interesting is how often atheists in their message-boards can't seem to rise above childish abuse of religion.
Finally, I think John Farrell's atheists' 'two-step' is brilliant . It's exactly what they do, with depressing regularity.

Posted by: David Quinn at Oct 18, 2006 4:50:37 PM

Here's the "atheist two-step", commented on by Quinn, and left by another commenter

1) "Science is working on it"

2) "I'm not interested in it."

Health update - CAT scan tomorrow

I will have my first scan since December tomorrow, in anticipation of my appointment next week with the lymphoma guru, Dr. Zelenetz.

This is a routine follow-up and I anticipate a negative scan. My appointment with Zelenetz is next Werdnesday, the 25th. It will be intersting to see if my blood counts are any higher - I haven't had neulasta (the white blood cell booster) in over a month. hopefully my bone marrow will be on the reboind (finally).

We will see.

The Pope on Judas Iscariot

Pope Benedict has been giving a series of Wednesday afternoon talks over the last few months about each of the 12 Apostles. 

ZENIT has a very fascinating discussion of his final talk today, about Judas Iscariot.

Here is a link to the actual talk ZENIT News Agency--The World Seen from Rome and here is the commentary from ZENIT:

Pope: Judas' Betrayal Sheds Light on God's Mercy
Dedicates Address to Apostles Judas and Matthias

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 18, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Through Judas Iscariot's betrayal of Christ, we learn that Jesus respects human freedom and waits for a sinner's repentance, says Benedict XVI.

The Holy Father said this today addressing some 30,000 who had gathered in St. Peter's Square for the general audience.

Benedict XVI dedicated his catechesis to the figure of Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Christ, and Matthias, the apostle who replaced Judas as one of the Twelve Apostles.

The Pope said that to understand the life of Judas means to understand decisive aspects of the mystery of man's relationship with God.

Even after Judas' death, said the Holy Father, it is not possible to pass a definitive judgment on him: Although "he departed afterward to hang himself, it is not for us to judge his gesture, putting ourselves in God's place, who is infinitely merciful and just."

.

Enlightened policies in France fuel mini baby boom

It's only a mini-boom, but still pretty cool. Good article.

As Europe Grows Grayer, France Devises a Baby Boom - washingtonpost.com

When Staub delivered twins last December -- her third and fourth children -- the nation not only increased their tax deductions and child allowances, the government-owned French train system offered 40 percent discounts off tickets for the parents and the children until they reach their 18th birthdays.

"The government favors families a lot," said Staub, 35, a project manager for a French cellphone company. "They understand that families are the future. It's great for us."

While falling birthrates threaten to undermine economies and social stability across much of an aging Europe, French fertility rates are increasing. France now has the second-highest fertility rate in Europe -- 1.94 children born per woman, exceeded slightly by Ireland's rate of 1.99. The U.S. fertility rate is 2.01 children.

The past weekend football and camping with Tim

The past weekend was very, very busy. See the last post for the Harry Chapin Memorial Run story on Sunday. Joe spent Saturday doing his paintball thing with a dozen other boys in the woods near one of his classmates houses. I spent most of Saturday and into Sunday with Tim.  First at his football game Saturday morning and then at the Thunderbird games, with lots of cub scouts and their families on Croton Point.

Unfortunately Tim's team lost (again), but he played very well. For the first time in four games, he was against players who were not as big as him - it seems like he's always lined up against the other team's biggest guys - and he really was clobbering them.

Tim is pushing around #'s 74 and 21 in these pictures.

Then we were off to the Thunderbird games. We overnighted with our scout pack. Very cold Saturday night, but we had a good tent and good sleeping bags.

Here are two pictures of one of the campfires - without flash and then with flash

This is Patti Mead, Tim's Den mother (She's terrific!!) showing the boys how to cook an egg by putting it in a sandwich bag and then dropping it into boiling water for about four minutes. Tim did his beautifully - no shell in the bag - and cooked it perfectly. Then he didn't like it!

Tim and some of his mates Sunday morning. Lots of tents up on Croton Point. He's wearing my old short down jacket.

Here are a couple of pictures on Croton Point, about a quarter mile down the hill from where we were camping. Anyone from Croton will know exactly where these were taken.

We carried our stuff back to the car Sunday morning. Here's the Webelo himself.

Sunday's Harry Chapin run

My town, Croton on Hudson, holds the Harry Chapin Memorial Run against Hunger every year around this time. It's held in Croton possibly because his record agent lived here.Welcome to

Harry Chapin Harry Chapin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia was an entertainer and singer ("Cat's in the the Cradle," "Taxi") from Long Island who was involved in raising money to combat hunger worldwide. He died in a car accident in 1981.

We have a local man, Sam Colombo (Sammy) who was disabled in an accident some years ago. Despite this, he takes part in the one mile "Fun Run" and raises lots of money - $8,160 this time around. He also dedicates his run each time to someone in the Croton community, and this year it was to Dave Entwistle, who died of cancer in 1993, at the age of 39.

I had gotten to know Dave in the 18 months before his death, as we were participating in a men's Retreat group. Despite being a lawyer, he was a great guy, with a dry, slightly sarcastic sense of humor. He handled his illness with grace and wit. A good example for all of us.

Dave's wife Marilyn organized a group to run this year, wearing a Dave Entwistle Memorial t-shirt, which I underwrote through my DBA, Thomas G. Faranda & Associates. The shirt was designed by Tara and Caitlin, Dave and Marilyn's daughters. Besides the Fun Run, there's a more serious 10K. I have mixed the pictures together from the two runs.

Here are some pictures from the day, starting with Sammy

Here's Marilyn and her daughters, Tara and Caitlin. the shirt has a quote from Steve Prefontaine, "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." The back has a picture/outline of Dave.

The fellow wrapped in the blanket is Paul Dinter, Marilyn's husband, along with other supporters for the day.

Here's the back of the shirt

For LOTS more pictures hit the continue link right here:

A promising study about a new brain injury therapy

This involves electrical stimulation to areas of the brain of a person in a semiconscious state. So far it has only been tried on one patient.

Technique May Help Revive Head-Injury Victims - washingtonpost.com

Although the findings are promising, the researchers stressed that they needed to be confirmed by studying additional patients.

"We need to do this in more subjects," said Nicholas D. Schiff of Cornell, one of the researchers. "The next step is to go forward with the current trial and do another case. We need to see where this goes."

Bernat called the results "fascinating" and "provocative," but he cautioned that more work was needed to see whether the approach would help others.

"When you present one case in which something seems to be beneficial, it always raises the question of whether this is typical or unusual," he said. "When you have only one case you don't know. But this certainly is encouraging."

Will good looks determine the composition of the Congress?

Compare this post and article with the prior one just below - about the Navy SEAL who sacrificed himself.

Democratic Faces That Could Launch Thousands of Votes - washingtonpost.com

The gist of the above article is that the composition and control of the Congress could be determined by which party fields the best-looking candidates.

Surreal.

A tiny portion of the population is carrying the burden for the rest of us - while we vote for the most photogenic candidates.

We have been corrupted by our own materialism.

Navy SEAL sacrifices life to save comrades

Navy SEAL credited with saving comrades - baltimoresun.com

A Navy SEAL sacrificed his life to save his comrades by throwing himself on top of a grenade Iraqi insurgents tossed into their sniper hideout, fellow members of the elite force said.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor had been near the only door to the rooftop structure Sept. 29 when the grenade hit him in the chest and bounced to the floor, said four SEALs who spoke to the Associated Press this week on condition of anonymity because their work requires their identities to remain secret.

"He never took his eye off the grenade, his only movement was down toward it," said a 28-year-old lieutenant who sustained shrapnel wounds to both legs that day. "He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs' lives, and we owe him."

Monsoor, a 25-year-old gunner, was killed in the explosion in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. He was only the second SEAL to die in Iraq since the war began.

Two SEALs next to Monsoor were injured; another who was 10 to 15 feet from the blast was unhurt. The four had been working with Iraqi soldiers providing sniper security while U.S. and Iraqi forces conducted missions in the area.

Darfur update

Not good. All three of the following were in the Washington Post today. As a bonus, at the end is a predictable NY Times editorial, blaming Bush.

Darfur sanctions needed after diplomacy fails: report - washingtonpost.com

Diplomacy over Darfur has failed and the international community must now consider sanctions against Sudan to pressure it into accepting U.N. peacekeepers, an influential thinktank said on Thursday.

"Patient diplomacy and trust in Khartoum's good faith has been a patent failure," the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a report published on Thursday.

"The international community has little choice but to pursue an action plan based primarily on economic, legal and more limited military measures."

Darfur Refugees Live in Fear of Militias - washingtonpost.com

U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland this week warned that the Janjaweed were becoming even more dangerous because of new equipment they were apparently receiving from the Sudanese government.

The militias "are more brutal than ever," Egeland told reporters in Geneva. "The nightmare we are seeing in Darfur is continuing."

And then there's this Washington Post editorial, about the U.N.'s new human Rights Council. Would you want your life to hang in the balance, dependent on the U.N.?

Reform Run Amok - washingtonpost.com

When the Human Rights Council was approved by the General Assembly in March, we were among the skeptics who doubted that it would be much of a change, mainly because the membership rules still allowed for the election of human rights violators. As it turned out, we were wrong: The council, which completed its second formal session last week in Geneva, has turned out to be far worse than its predecessor -- not just a "shadow" but a travesty that the United Nations can ill afford. ...

Western human rights groups sought to focus the council's attention on Darfur, where genocide is occurring, and on Uzbekistan, where a dictator refuses to allow the investigation of a massacre by his security forces. Their efforts have been in vain. Instead, the council has treated itself to report after report on the alleged crimes of the Jewish state; in all, there were six official "rapporteurs" on that subject in the latest session alone. One, Jean Ziegler, is supposed to report on "the right to food." But he, too, delivered a diatribe on Israeli "crimes" in Lebanon.

The Age of Impunity - New York Times

President Bush has squandered so much of America’s moral authority — not to mention our military resources — that efforts to shame or bully the right behavior from adversaries (and allies) sound hollow.

Sixth anniversary of the bombing of USS Cole

I certainly didn't read anything about this being the anniversary of the Cole bombing, with the death of 17 sailors. I wonder why it wasn't more widely mentioned in the press (think about it)?

Michelle Malkin has a nice posting about it on her weblog.

Michelle Malkin: Remember the Cole: Six years

Catching up on my reading after my road trip, I was disturbed at how little mention the anniversary received today.

Review of Woodward's new book by ABC News national security correspondent

The only Bob Woodward book I ever read was "All the President's Men" (the book that launched his career, and which was co-wtirren by Carl Bernstein. It helped to bring down Nixon). I certainly don't plan on reading the current book generating all the buzz, "State of Denial".

ABC correspondent Jonathan Karl wasn't too impressed. Too many novelistic impressions, not enough journalism.

OpinionJournal - Leisure & Arts

What does the author's faux-realism add up to this time around? His two previous books on the administration--"Bush at War" (2002) and "Plan of Attack" (2004)--were criticized for lavishing too much praise on President Bush and his national security team, who were portrayed, for the most part, as steadfast, competent leaders in the face of an implacable enemy. No more. Now Mr. Woodward portrays the president and his team as incompetent, out of touch and dysfunctional. The conventional wisdom has shifted dramatically in the past couple of years and Mr. Woodward with it.

A baseball story about Bill and Sam

Ellen Mullin again gets the credit (blame) for this one:

Two ninety-year-old men, Bill and Sam, have been friends all their lives.  It seems that Sam is dying, and bILL comes to visit him every day.

"Sam," says Bill, "You know how we have both loved  baseball all our lives, and how we played minor league ball together for so  many years. Sam, you  have to do me one favor. When you get to Heaven, and I know you will go to Heaven, somehow you've got to let me know if there's baseball in Heaven"

Sam looks up at Bill from his death bed, and says,  "Joe, you've been my best friend many years. This favor, if it is at all possible, I'll do for you."

And shortly after that, Sam passes on. It is midnight a couple of nights  later. Bill is sound asleep when he is awakened by a blinding flash of white light and a voice calls out to him, "Bill....  Bill...."

"Who is it?" says Bill sitting up suddenly. "Who is  it?"

"Bill, it's me, Sam."

"Come on. You're not Sam. Sam just died."

"I'm telling you," insists the voice. "It's me,  Sam!"

"Sam? Is that you? Where are you?"

"I'm in heaven," says Sam, "and I've got to tell you, I've got really good news and just a little bad news."

"So, tell me the good news first," says Bill.

"The good news," says Sam "is that there is baseball in heaven. And all our old buddies who've gone before us are there. Better yet, we're all young men  again. And it's always spring time and it never rains or snows. But best of all, we can play baseball all we want, and we never get tired!"

"Really?" says Bill, "That is fantastic, wonderful beyond my wildest dreams! But, what's the bad news?"

"You're pitching next Tuesday."

Joe Faranda paintball adventures

If someone told me 25 years ago that boys, teenage boys and adults of both sexes would be out in the woods shooting each other with paint-filled bullets, and that ESPN would create and market the world paintball championship with teams from all over the world competing behind giant blow up pillows, I'd have laughed my head off.

In fact, Brigid's niece June, who recently visited us from Australia (you can see her here Tom Faranda's Folly: Brigid's Australian family wing pays us a visit), took part in a corporate paintball competition down under, designed to develop teamwork, camraderie, etc.  And she came away with several welts from being shot by her fellow employees.

Little did I know... To paraphrase the real estate investor "If only I'd put some money into that industry, I'd be a rich man today."

My 13 year old Joe is developing an obsessive-compulsive disorder over the "sport". In fact he just bought himself a "ghillie suit" kit. This is a form of "camo" (that's camouflage for the uninitiated) developed a long time ago by Scottish game wardens. When he gets done making it - he and Brigid are working on it now - he'll be a very passable imitation of one of J.R. Tolkien's Ents.

This past Monday Joe and Tim went to a Paintball Birthday Party with 12 other boys - mostly 8th graders - over in Middletown. Brigid was there for the day (she didn't participate) and said they all had a great day.

Here are some of the 70+ photos:

This is Shane McNulty - who took a few shots to the face. That's why helmets and masks are required. The paintballs are travelling at about 280 ft. per second (FPS) and can do some real damage if you are hit in the eye... The picture was taken through the safety netting which is up to protect spectators.

There were 11 different fields, or courses, with stuff strewn around...

Action recorded by Brigid from behind the netting.

A grueling day at the paintball wars.

Are companies that back Democratic Party candidates better companies to invest in?

YES ... according to this article. But be sure to read to the end of this posting before you mail in a check.

Democrats score bigger returns new data shows | Reuters.com

According to research released on Tuesday, so-called "blue" companies that fund Democrats and also meet certain ethical requirements topped both the broader stock market and "red" companies that favor Republicans in the last five years.

This means a company's political leanings could forecast performance as much as more traditional indicators such as price to earnings ratios, executives at New York-based money manager Blue Investment Management fund.

The "Blue Large Cap Index," which includes digital music device and personal computer maker Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and coffee shop chain Starbucks Corp. (SBUX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) outperformed the market by 13.1 percent and "red" companies by 15.6 percent annually over the past five years, the researchers said.

"There is a myth in America that Republicans are both better for business and at business and I disagree on both counts," Daniel de Faro Adamson, co-founder and CEO of Blue Investment Management, told Reuters.

"Just as Democrats in the White House have a longer-run view on economic success, our data show that Democrats in the boardroom who use progressive leadership techniques are better able to create long-term shareholder value," he said.

Next week the firm, created on a car trip last summer, will launch the first ever mutual funds to focus on Democratic values, putting the firm's research to a live test.

Anyone who bases their investments decisions on who companies make political donations to (and "also meet certain ethical requirements") needs a serious reality check. HINT: Think data fishing. I'm glad the two funds seed money of one million dollars is coming from the founders pockets.

On the other hand I have some Democratic firends who will probably think this is a grand idea. "Let the buyer beware..."

"I pity the fool." The Return of Mr. T!?

Mr. T, with his own reality / motivational TV show. A quick and amusing read.

'I Pity the Fool': Mr. T's Gas Guzzler - washingtonpost.com

Mr. T likens himself to an anti-Dr. Phil, eschewing touchy-feely banter and instead inspiring people in his inimitable style. And that apparently means throwing out words that prominently contain the sound of the letter "T": He tells us in the opening-credit sequence that the show is all about "accountabili-T," "activi-T" and "positive mentali-T."

Reality shows can serve as career comebacks for some forgotten celebrities (paging Danny Bonaduce), but Mr. T has never really exited the pop culture periphery since playing Clubber Lang in 1982's "Rocky III."

Joe Torre to return as Yankee manager

As speculation is ended by George Steinbrenner that Torre would be fired:New York Yankees : News : New York Yankees News

"I just got off the phone with George Steinbrenner, and he told me I'll be the manager next year," Torre said. "I'm very excited about it. This has been the best job of my life."

Several reports had indicated that Torre would take the fall after the Yankees' second consecutive first-round exit from the postseason, which occurred Saturday when New York lost to Detroit in the American League Division Series.

But Steinbrenner decided to retain the manager after spending two days holed up in a Manhattan hotel, listening to many of his trusted baseball lieutenants. Shortly before Torre's press conference, Steinbrenner called Brian Cashman to tell him his decision, and the general manager handed the phone to Torre, who was then informed of his fate.

"I spoke to Joe Torre today and I told him, 'You're back for the year,'" Steinbrenner said in a statement released by his publicist, Howard Rubenstein. "'I expect a great deal from you and the entire team. I have high expectations and I want to see enthusiasm, a fighting spirit and a team that works together. The responsibility is yours, Joe, and all of the Yankees.'

"Yes, I am deeply disappointed about our loss this year; we have to do better. And I deeply want a championship. It's about time."

"I think Joe Torre is the right man for this team next year; I certainly voiced that and discussed that with him over the phone," Cashman said. "You want to have a manager that has the support and belief from above -- and you can't get any higher than the Boss. It wouldn't work otherwise."

Thomas Sowell on "frivolous politics"

Here is an interesting column by Thomas Sowell. Don't know who Thomas Sowell is? Go here:  Thomas Sowell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here's his column:Frivolous Politics  RealClearPolitics - Articles - Print Article

Even when serious issues are addressed, they can be addressed either seriously or frivolously. If you are content to see life and death issues of war and peace addressed with catch phrases like "chicken hawk" or to see a coalition of nations around the world fighting terrorism referred to as "unilateral" U.S. action because France does not go along, then you are content with frivolity.

You may deserve whatever you get if you vote frivolously in this year's election. But surely the next generation, which has no vote, deserves better.

Washington Times on mini-boom in bigger families

I think this is a pretty hopeful article. The idea that if you have more then two children (alright, three at the most) you're polluting the world, is no longer "in."

I am from a family of four; Brigid is from a family of four; my brother Phil is expecting #4. Too bad Brigid and I only have two.

Bigger families gain in popularity - Nation/Politics - insider.washingtontimes.com

NEW YORK -- Laura Bennett isn't bound by convention. Professionally, at 42, she's pursuing a midcareer switch into big-time fashion design. At home, she's a mother of five -- with No. 6 due next month.
    "It was nothing that we planned ahead of time," Mrs. Bennett says. "It's more that we were enjoying all the kids. We have a happy home. Why not have as many children as we can?"
    It's barely a blip on the nation's demographic radar -- 11 percent of U.S. births in 2004 were to women who already had three children, up from 10 percent in 1995. But there seems to be a growing openness to having more than two children, in some case more than four.
    The reasons are diverse -- from religious to, as Mrs. Bennett reasons, "Why not?"

Social security benefits and your spouse

Here's something of interest to anyone who's married - since eventually all us married people become either (1) divorced or (2) a widow or widower (unless we die first!). The column is written in a bit of a funny style but has very useful info on social security benefits.

Parting Gift From a Dead Ex - washingtonpost.com

An edited excerpt; if you are interested be sure to read the whole thing:

When you are get ready to draw Social Security, you have a choice: to draw benefits based on your own earnings, or to draw 50 percent of benefits based your ex's earnings. That's assuming you are currently unmarried and old enough yourself to be eligible for full benefits.

But once your ex dies, you may choose between benefits based on your own eligibility or 100 percent based on your ex's earnings. ...

I had never heard of this provision until I attended a recent conference on retirement security.

I read my annual mailing from the SSA more attentively than I once did, but I didn't remember any reference to this potential benefit. It's there, but not in a way that jumps out. On the back page of the four-page statement, under "Survivors," it simply notes that "If you are divorced, your ex-spouse could be eligible for widow's or widower's benefit on your record when you die."

Yanks down the rathole

Ugh.

It wasn't pretty. Shut out for 20 innings, spread over 3 games. The Tiger pitching came up aces at the right time. So much for the Tiger manager Jim Leyland saying the Yankee lineup was "Murderer's row, and then Cano." It's a cliche, but true, pitching wins short series.

MLB Playoffs- Playoff Pulse - AOL Sports

Alex Rodriquez 1 for 14. He has a no trade clause in his contract, but don't doubt that the Yanks may try to cut a deal for him, for a top pitcher.

Will Joe Torre be back?

To cap it off, my home computer, which had been acting a bit funny the last few days (turning itself off and then on), just turned itself off. Period. When it rains...

Latest read: "Truth in Religion"

Mortimer Adler, the American philosopher and former Chairman of the board of editors for the Encyclopedia Britannica, was a very prolific writer and teacher. He died in 2001, at the age of 98, and was active until the very end of his life. He wrote this particular book when he was 88. As the Wikipedia encyclopedia says "Adler long strove to bring philosophy to the masses" Mortimer Adler - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In this short (160 pages) book Adler investigates what it says in the title: Truth in Religion. The sub-title is "the plurality of religions and the unity of truth". Adler brings some elemental logic to the discussion. For example: while it is possible that no religion may contain the truth, it is a contradiction to hold that all religions contain the truth. This is because of the conflicting and contradictory views that different religions hold regarding God, the cosmos, and human nature, as well as about how human beings should conduct their lives.

Is religion a matter of taste, or a matter of truth? Adler makes the point that in matters of taste -I'm wearing a yellow shirt today, but maybe I look better in blue - there is no disputing (another way of saying it is "There's no accounting for taste"), but in questions of truth, we have to have recourse to the effort to reach agreement about what is true and false.

Adler offers very cogent critiques of Joseph Campbell (The Power of Myth) and theologian Hans Kung (Theology for the Third Millenium: an Ecumenical View). He's not impressed with the positions of either of them.

As he does in all of his books, Adler is very careful to lay out his arguments, and he offers many interesting insights. For example, on the issue of world peace, he makes the point that you can only have world peace if you have some sort of world government. BUT a prerequisite for world government is that a world cultural community come into existence, and with it a universal religion adopted worldwide. He points out that if religion is merely a matter of taste and not truth, this can never come about.

So, a good, short book, and a worthwhile read. To see how Adler ultimately came to a personal conclusion about the truth of religion (and he was in his nineties!), go to the wikipedia article linked above.

ADDENDUM: I don't want to give the impression that Adler was intolerant. Quite the contrary - he believed in dialogue to find truth. And he felt that most all the major religions shared what he called "prescriptive truth" or moral values.

Explanation of my previous post on the stock market

In answer to a question left by my friend Karen Mahakian, I posted an explanation. Go here to the comments section if you are interested:

Tom Faranda's Folly: A little stock market commentary

50 books that have influenced Evangelical Christians

The leading Evangelical magazine Christianity Today, published a list of the 50 books they feel have most shaped Evangelical thought. It's pretty interesting:

The top 50 books that have shaped evangelicals - Christianity Today Magazine

People and movements can be defined by the books they read and remember.

The time it takes to read and digest a book requires us to engage someone else's ideas with more seriousness than almost any other activity. So it is with some trepidation that we present this list.

These are books that have shaped evangelicalism as we see it today—not an evangelicalism we wish and hope for. Books that have been published since World War II—not every book in the history of Christianity. Books that over the last 50 years have altered the way American evangelicals pray, gather, talk, and reach out—not books that merely entertained.We asked dozens of evangelical leaders for their suggestions, and they sent in their nominations. Then we vigorously debated as a staff as we ranked the 50 books. (We're still debating.)

Tough story about a tough woman

The Washington Post this morning has a news feature article about Patricia Dunn, the former CEO of Hewlett Packard, who is facing serious charges in California for spying on reporters and HP board members.

She has a very interesting life story. Dunn seems to have faced adversity - including four seperate bouts of cancer - throughout her life.

A Lifelong Fighter's Toughest Round - washingtonpost.com

This week, the 53-year-old former HP chairman faced another major blow: She found out she has a recurrence of advanced ovarian cancer the day before the California attorney general charged her and four others with fraud and conspiracy in the corporate leak probe.

Circumstances required Dunn to be self-reliant from an early age, her friends and business associates said, and her diligence and willingness to learn delivered her from poverty to the top echelons of business. That same tenacity and conviction may have provoked the ire of her enemies on the HP board, who say her strong sense of mission -- plug the leak -- led her down an unethical path.

NYT on "Why some age better"

The NY Times featured a very interesting article "Old But not Frail" and short online video entitled "Frail or Hearty". They can be found in the health and science section.

Old but Not Frail: A Matter of Heart and Head - New York Times

New York Times Video

It's the lead video today, and will probably be available online for a week. You may have to register with the NYT, but it's free and easy to do. The article will only be available for free online for a week, but you can leave a comment or email me for an archived copy of the article.

Spinach e coli outbreak takes life of celebrity

This from Theresa Bonopartis -

A little stock market commentary

The Dow Jones Industrial average hit an all-time high yesterday, and then gained 123 points (about 1%) today. The close today was 11,850.61. Nice of course...

HOWEVER

The DJIA is ony 30 stocks. The much broader S & P 500 closed at 1350.22 today. This is about 15 % below it's all-time high of 1553.87. The S & P is much more indicative of broad stock market moves then the Dow; the S & P contains over 70% of the total market capitalization of the U.S. stock market. So it still has a lot of ground to make up.

And of course the NASDAQ is still WAY below it's all-time high of 5,132.52 (set way back on March 10, 2000), closing today at 2,290.95. The NASDAQ's got a long way to go before it's recovered from the bursting of the technology bubble at the beginning of the decade.

The cup is only half full, but at least the trend is in the right direction. Also, the stock market usually goes up in the third year of the presidential election cycle (and that's coming up); the average third year gain is about 20%.

Is rugby football too rough?

Here's an article from The New Zealand Herald about a concern in the world-wide rugby community - the seriousness and high number of injuries among professional players. The players are bigger, faster, and stronger, with high velocity collisions in tackle and ball-winning situations (and only very light pads for the shoulders). It's fantastic to watch, but taking a high toll on players.

Is rugby becoming a brutal game? - 03 Oct 2006 - Sport

More than 2,000 injuries were recorded by Premiership clubs over the two seasons between 2002 and 2004; or, to put it another way, 92 injuries per team per campaign.

At the same time, there were 263 injuries affecting players on England business - the Test side, the second-stringA side, the Under-21s and the seven-a-side team - causing a total of 5,161 days of absence.

On average, one in four players from each club was under treatment, or undergoing rehabilitation, every day of every week during the course of the study; indeed, each player spent 19 per cent of the calendar year injured.

Meanwhile, a player on international duty was shown to have a 29 per cent chance of picking up a knock sufficiently serious to incapacitate him for a fortnight.

Brigid's Australian family wing pays us a visit

Brigid's brother Neville, his wife Geri, and their daughter June just finished a lovely five day/four night visit with us. They'd flown in Thursday from England, where they were visiting other relatives, including Brigid's two sisters and left Monday afternoon. They'll have a couple of nights in LA and then fly to Brisbane, completing an around the world trip. Pretty cool.

Neville is a ship's pilot (recently retired), who took ships up the river to the port of Brisbane. While they were here they managed to:

Get into Manhattan twice for visits to art galleries, including the Met and the Frick.

See Tim play football Saturday morning (he put two kids on the other team out of the game with tackles! YIKES.) and then go tailgating and see the Army v. Rice football game (bad day for the Army - they could have used Tim). We finished Saturday at Lexington Square Cafe for dinner, along with the Riners, my brother Jim and Judy Anderson.

Sunday Brigid took Neville up a bit north for some rural sightseeing, while Geri and June went back to Manhattan.

And Monday a quiet day going up Bear Mountain and down to Sleepy Hollow to see a Matisse.

And here they are, leaving for JFK at 4 o'clock Monday.

Here's some of the stuff that went on while they were here:

Thursday, on arriving from London, Joe introduces Geri to the smallest member of the family.

Here is Nev and Geri, watching Tim at his football game. This is the first Amarican football game they'd ever seen.

Tim is the biggest guy in blue in the three point stance, about to ruin #34's day.

Here he is after the game, not too happy about losing 13-21.

After Tim's game I headed up to West Point with Nev, Geri and June for some tailgating and to see the Army-Rice game. A bit of a step up from the 8-9 year old league, Ossining v. Dobbs Ferry. The Riely family (Ed and Pat) were kind enough to give us the tickets.

The seats were excellent - 50 yardline in the upper deck.

The pregame stuff was neat.

Army got off to a dream start, taking the opening kick-off straight down the field for a touchdown, but then the wheels came off, and the halftime score was 31-14 to Rice. It finished at 41-14.

The Aussies were amused by the whole thing -

At halftime I took June for a tour around Michie Stadium. She was impresed with some of the Cadet physiques.

Very impressed.

And she liked the Army mascot mules. Don't know who the little girl is.

Despite her youthful appearance, June is married (Andrew) and has two teenage children (Prudence and Mark). They are all back in Australia, although the three of them had a skiing holiday in New Zealand while June was in England. Neville and Geri have another daughter, Samantha, who is also married and has two children.

Last on the Saturday agenda, was dinner at the Lexington Square Cafe in Mt. Kisco. After an aperitif at our house, we headed over.  Besides Brigid and I, and the three Aussies, my brother Jim, Mike and Karen Riner, and our friend Judy Anderson (husband Bob out of town on business) joined us.

Some Lexington Cafe shots:

Neville and Karen.

Neville and Judy - note Judy's martini. None of that white wine nonsense.

Mike and Judy

June and Jim.

Brigid and Geri.

Tom and Karen, as we complete the dinner circle.

As you can tell from the pictures, the cocktails were working their magic.

Here are a couple of cute pictures from our kitchen Monday, as we awaited the car service to pick up the intrepid travelers -

Lastly, Brigid waves goodbye. And shortly thereafter I was faced (as I always am when Brigid's family members are leaving, or if she is leaving them) with Weeping Wife Syndrome. Australia is the other side of the world and we don't know when we'll meet up again.

Good editorial in the Wall Street Journal on Republican congressional policy failures

The title of this editorial is The GOP Record: The Roots of Republican Failure in Congress.

OpinionJournal - Featured Article

Social Security reform was never going to be easy, and Mr. Bush's war-driven decline in job approval meant he couldn't move any Democrats. But that still doesn't excuse such prominent Republicans as Tom Davis (Virginia) and Roy Blunt (Missouri) for resisting their President's reform effort behind the scenes. So frightened were they that they never even brought the subject up for a vote.

Perhaps the most puzzling abdication was the GOP failure to do anything at all on health care. The window for saving private health care from government encroachment is closing, and both business and workers are feeling the pinch from rising costs. Yet Republicans failed to make health-care savings accounts more attractive, failed to let business associations offer their own health plans, and failed even to bring to a vote Arizona Congressman John Shadegg's bill to avoid costly state mandates by letting health insurance be marketed across state boundaries. The biggest winner here is Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2008 Presidential campaign.

Republicans have many explanations for their paltry record, some of them even accurate. The troubles in Iraq sapped Mr. Bush's support, dividing Republicans while uniting Democrats who saw a chance to regain power this fall. Hurricane Katrina blew away whatever hope there was of spending restraint and changed the national conversation from GOP priorities. And Tom DeLay's ethical troubles, and eventual ouster as Majority Leader, created a leadership vacuum.

Yet none of this excuses the more fundamental problem, which is that too many Republicans now believe their purpose in Washington is keeping power for its own sake. The reform impulse that won the House in 1994 has given way to incumbent protection. This is the root of the earmarking epidemic, which now mars every spending bill and has become a vast new opportunity for Member corruption. This is also part of what corrupted felons Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney, Jack Abramoff, Tony Rudy and Michael Scanlon. Power for its own sake also explains the House GOP's decision to join Senate Democrats in killing serious reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, despite $16 billion in accounting mistakes or fraud. The Members are in bed with the housing subsidy lobby.