Sunday Business Briefs

Given the recent near or impending economic meltdown...

The Origin of the Specie. Didn't get the chance to highlight this interesting take on the situation, circa the 27th. It contains a dollop of reassurance that something had to be done, as well as a few clues to the derivation of the crisis. Also, if you get the chance, be sure to watch FoxNews' documentary, "Saving the Economy." Worth watching if only for the professor's clear and cogent exploration of the genesis of the problem, not to mention an edifying explanation of the alphabet soup of debt instruments. Did you know that there have been six mortgage blow ups since the Civil War? I didn't.

The Wheel of Fortune. Also from the Wall Street Journal comes "The Intelligent Investor" with an upbeat and serendipitous view of the markets. Wall Street may be dead, but only as we know it. His advice: don't bail. I personally advocate no position, as to my mind at least the casinos comp you drinks.

The Nature of the Beast. On Townhall, Ken Connor introduces the moral dimension when he categorizes the current situation as an outgrowth of moral relativism. I'm not sure I have the same rosy view of possibilities going forward. To my mind, Wall Street types will always be greedy, money-grubbing characters, subject only to the fear of God. However, he is correct in the deleterious influence of the new morality on our society: the lack of absolutes has led to an arbitrary Chinese menu of prejudices and preferences, most of them self-serving.

The Tipping Point. This one by Frank Silverstein, I include as a public service because it is timely. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, I have seen the phenomenon up close. The true measure of a businessman or businesswoman is knowing when to cut your losses.

Survival of the Glibbest. And how about finishing up with an inspirational list? From Fortune comes a top ten list of remarkable coups in the annals of salesmanship.

Literary Interlude: History Repeats Itself

What could be more natural than an excerpt from one of my favorite novellas: Heart of Darkness? Given the prose here, it has always boggled my imagination that Conrad, a Polish Seaman, learned English as an adult.

"Instead of going up, I turned and descended to the left. My idea was to let that chain-gang get out of sight before I climbed the hill. You know I am not particularly tender; I've had to strike and to fend off. I've had to resist and to attack sometimes--that's only one way of resisting-- without counting the exact cost, according to the demands of such sort of life as I had blundered into. I've seen the devil of violence, and the devil of greed, and the devil of hot desire; but, by all the stars! these were strong, lusty, red-eyed devils, that swayed and drove men--men, I tell you. But as I stood on this hillside, I foresaw that in the blinding sunshine of that land I would become acquainted with a flabby, pretending, weak-eyed devil of a rapacious and pitiless folly. How insidious he could be, too, I was only to find out several months later and a thousand miles farther. For a moment I stood appalled, as though by a warning. Finally I descended the hill, obliquely, towards the trees I had seen.

"I avoided a vast artificial hole somebody had been digging on the slope, the purpose of which I found it impossible to divine. It wasn't a quarry or a sandpit, anyhow. It was just a hole. It might have been connected with the philanthropic desire of giving the criminals something to do. I don't know. Then I nearly fell into a very narrow ravine, almost no more than a scar in the hillside. I discovered that a lot of imported drainage-pipes for the settlement had been tumbled in there. There wasn't one that was not broken. It was a wanton smash-up. At last I got under the trees. My purpose was to stroll into the shade for a moment; but no sooner within than it seemed to me I had stepped into a gloomy circle of some Inferno. The rapids were near, and an uninterrupted, uniform, headlong, rushing noise filled the mournful stillness of the grove, where not a breath stirred, not a leaf moved, with a mysterious sound--as though the tearing pace of the launched earth had suddenly become audible.

"Black shapes crouched, lay, sat between the trees, leaning against the trunks, clinging to the earth, half coming out, half effaced within the dim light, in all the attitudes of pain, abandonment, and despair. Another mine on the cliff went off, followed by a slight shudder of the soil under my feet. The work was going on. The work! And this was the place where some of the helpers had withdrawn to die.

"They were dying slowly--it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now,-- nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom. Brought from all the recesses of the coast in all the legality of time contracts, lost in uncongenial surroundings, fed on unfamiliar food, they sickened, became inefficient, and were then allowed to crawl away and rest. These moribund shapes were free as air--and nearly as thin. I began to distinguish the gleam of eyes under the trees. Then, glancing down, I saw a face near my hand. The black bones reclined at full length with one shoulder against the tree, and slowly the eyelids rose and the sunken eyes looked up at me, enormous and vacant, a kind of blind, white flicker in the depths of the orbs, which died out slowly. The man seemed young--almost a boy--but you know with them it's hard to tell. I found nothing else to do but to offer him one of my good Swede's ship's biscuits I had in my pocket. The fingers closed slowly on it and held--there was no other movement and no other glance. He had tied a bit of white worsted round his neck--Why? Where did he get it? Was it a badge--an ornament--a charm--a propitiatory act? Was there any idea at all connected with it? It looked startling round his black neck, this bit of white thread from beyond the seas.

"Near the same tree two more bundles of acute angles sat with their legs drawn up. One, with his chin propped on his knees, stared at nothing, in an intolerable and appalling manner: his brother phantom rested its forehead, as if overcome with a great weariness; and all about others were scattered in every pose of contorted collapse, as in some picture of a massacre or a pestilence. While I stood horror-struck, one of these creatures rose to his hands and knees, and went off on all-fours towards the river to drink. He lapped out of his hand, then sat up in the sunlight, crossing his shins in front of him, and after a time let his woolly head fall on his breastbone.

Bejing Raises Leopold's Ghost

I interrupt the election to bring you an article that caught my jaundiced eye. I am familiar with the Chinese presence in Cuba, not one I consider particularly helpful to the cause of Cuban freedom. I had not, however, heard of their involvement in Sub-Saharan Africa. Reading it immediately brought to mind a very good book, King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild, which details Belgium's involvement in the Congo. It is eminently readable for a work of nonfiction.

It is a variation of the phenomenon Hitchens (Peter, not Christopher) describes that I fear for Cuba. As he researches the story, his life is in peril because the Africans in abject misery fear that if light is brought on the situation, the Chinese will leave, and they will be even worse off. And who's to blame them? Here is the crux:

These poor, hopeless, angry people exist by grubbing for scraps of cobalt and copper ore in the filth and dust of abandoned copper mines in Congo, sinking perilous 80ft shafts by hand, washing their finds in cholera-infected streams full of human filth, then pushing enormous two-hundredweight loads uphill on ancient bicycles to the nearby town of Likasi where middlemen buy them to sell on, mainly to Chinese businessmen hungry for these vital metals.

To see them, as they plod miserably past, is to be reminded of pictures of unemployed miners in Thirties Britain, stumbling home in the drizzle with sacks of coal scraps gleaned from spoil heaps.
Except that here the unsparing heat makes the labour five times as hard, and the conditions of work and life are worse by far than any known in England since the 18th Century.

Many perish as their primitive mines collapse on them, or are horribly injured without hope of medical treatment. Many are little more than children. On a good day they may earn $3, which just supports a meagre existence in diseased, malarial slums.

We had been earlier to this awful pit, which looked like a penal colony in an ancient slave empire.
Defeated, bowed figures toiled endlessly in dozens of hand-dug pits. Their faces, when visible, were blank and without hope.

We had been turned away by a fat, corrupt policeman who pretended our papers weren't in order, but who was really taking instructions from a dead-eyed, one-eared gangmaster who sat next to him.

By the time we returned with more official permits, the gangmasters had readied the ambush.
The diggers feared - and their evil, sinister bosses had worked hard on that fear - that if people like me publicised their filthy way of life, then the mine might be closed and the $3 a day might be taken away.

I can give you no better explanation in miniature of the wicked thing that I believe is now happening in Africa.

Of course, as we are often reassured, conditions in Cuba are much better than in darkest Africa. But then, they always have been. Anyway, read the article. The analysis is incisive; the judgement; mordant.

Updated Meanderings: A Moment in Time and Nature

In the midst of political and economic high drama, it is well to commune with natural world. For instance, walking along the portico of my favorite bookstore this morning, I caught a glimpse of a dried leaf out of the corner of my eye. My brain began to process the sight when it announced an anomaly. How did the leaf get in that position halfway up a faux masonry column? Automatically, I turned and took a closer look. It was a moth, but not just any moth. It was a mega moth, confident in its camouflage and wisely ignoring me. A little down the way, I caught sight of one of our local wasps tending its nest above of my head. In the grass alongside the building industrious fire ants were busily constructing a mound.

Marveling at all this fauna in the unlikely location of a strip mall, I was reminded of the first time I stood by the Gulf of Mexico. Used to the beaches of the Caribbean islands, the East Coast of Florida, I was surprised that the waters of our local beaches are not generally the azure as those of the aforementioned locales, although they can be at times depending on their mood. They generally have a green tint. Over the years, I've come to see the color as symbolic of the fecundity of the natural setting.

We share the sugary sands of our beaches with countless birds, whole phalanxes of avian life. There are sand pipers and plovers, an odd ibis or two. There are diving birds and birds like pelicans and very sneaky white herons who challenge you for your bait as you fish. Our waters teem with the tiniest of bait fish. Go out a few yards, and you can catch mangrove snappers, grouper, snook. Incredible. Of course, if you're going in the water, it pays to practice the stingray shuffle. Although they are beautiful when you see them gliding in a school as I did off an abandoned trestle in Boca Grande, hidden in the sand under your feet, they are awesome in another way.

Inland, the ubiquitous lizards are kind of like mice up North, except that you ignore them, until they show up dessicated in the washing machine, etc. Then there is the dread Palmetto bug. Despite having grown up in South Brooklyn, inured to committing mass cockroach homicide, I cannot bring myself to stomp one. It's the splat factor. The same one that came into play, when we found the mother of all spiders, at least three inches long, in the living room. The hubster, as befits the man of the house, defended his castle with a shoe he had carelessly tossed by the sofa, only to unleash a sci fi channel horror as hundreds of spider babies fled in all directions from their mother's crushed body. Memo, use an inverted cup and slip a piece of paper under it.

I've learned to love nature here in all of its manifestations. Here in my part of Florida, we live much closer to Mama Nature, not only her beaches, but her skies, her weather and her minions. I love the blazing cardinal and screeching jays, the owl somewhere in the backyard, and the gorgeous birdsong outside my window, even at 2 AM. I know not to approach piles of brush directly or inverted planters. Snakes, you know. I've even learned not to get too freaked when the black racer that lives here visits the lanai, probably gaining access the same way the jays I occasionally have to liberate do and in search of the same prey- the seemingly endless supply of dead beetles that have given their all straining toward the light, as we all do.

Update: And today in the same spot, I came across the remains of a beautiful little bird, a yellow warbler of some sort, I think. I looked up at the plate glass window and read its demise in the smear. The last time I came across one of these little fellows, he had become hopelessly enamored of his reflection in the shed window. Sad.

The Vice Presidential Debate: Parting Shot

I wonder if we will be subjected to a clip of Senator Biden's multiple errors of fact ad infinitum in the media tomorrow, including- Oh, my gosh!- one about the Constitution.

Media Malice

Charlie Gibson's behavior in his interview with Palin was reprehensible, but Katie Couric was an absolute bitch, and that's a word I don't use lightly in this blog. Just where does this woman get off? First she wants Palin to quote McCain's regulatory history. Of course, she couldn't have done the same to Biden had she dared, because his running mate doesn't exactly have one. Then she wants Palin to come up with specific Supreme Court cases with which she disagreed. What'd she expect? Oh, yeah, I disagreed with Plessy vs. Ferguson but agreed with Brown vs. the Board of Education. My "Journalism Degree" required that I study Supreme Court cases. And the attitude. It really deserved a George HW Bush/Dan Rather moment. What was the campaign thinking? Why didn't they start her on Hannity and Colmes?

I have not been particularly impressed with Palin's performance. But the elitist left may well overplay their hand. While they're running around sniggering at the rube, they risk alienating moderate people. Check out Frank Luntz's bit on O'Reilly where he tracked the response of independents to The View. The people expect fairness.

And now tomorrow, the debate is going to be moderated by a woman who has written a book about Obama as a breakthrough candidate to be released on inauguration day? I don't think I have ever been so disgusted at the media. The fix is in and has been since day one.

I have come to the conclusion that in the future, historians will present journalism in this era very much like they now teach of "yellow journalism" in the lead up to the Spanish American War. How's that for a little history?

Do You See What I See?

The Election: My Cassandra Moment

There is something terribly scary in the air. Obama's latest campaigning reeks of confidence and condescion toward his opponent, perhaps because he feels his ship coming in as this article indicates. Over at Newsweek, Fineman is taking a victory lap for the candidate before the election.

I was listening to Obama yesterday. The list of those who were to receive government help was seemingly endless. I kept asking myself, "but who is going to pay for it? The top two percent?" I am no fan of Wall Street or the elites, but I had to ask myself whether those who study, struggle and/or even steal their way to the top should have to support those who, many by dint of their own choices- not going to school, addictions, inability to defer gratification- linger at the bottom. Better yet, even those in the middle will now function as their economic foster children. There is some thing categorically wrong with this picture. But believe it or not, that's not what made my hair stand on edge.

It was this link, I received courtesy of George. Mr. Obama's associations with some pretty dark characters has long perturbed me. His prime early influences included a Marxist poet. His pastor for 20 years chants "God damn America." His associates include an indicted businessman who just happened to be involved in Mr. Obama's purchase of a humble million dollar home, and two unrepentant terrorists. (I would advise any Cuban American to take a look at the pictures around the internet at the approach to the guy's office.) Still, I said to myself, "maybe the guy is the only virgin in the cathouse," which while it strained credulity, kept me from full panic mode.

But then I found "Obama Camp" and went into melt down. Why, I had to ask myself. Well, the name Saul Alinsky has been bandied about in terms of Obama's time as a "community organizer." Well, as I understand it, one of Alinsky's principles was that you had to use stealth. Here's a bit from an article (read it) in The Spectator about his views:

Alinsky was a ‘transformational Marxist’ in the mould of Antonio Gramsci, who promoted the strategy of a ‘long march through the institutions’ by capturing the culture and turning it inside out as the most effective means of overturning western society. In similar vein, Alinsky condemned the New Left for alienating the general public by its demonstrations and outlandish appearance. The revolution had to be carried out through stealth and deception. Its proponents had to cultivate an image of centrism and pragmatism. A master of infiltration, Alinsky wooed Chicago mobsters and Wall Street financiers alike. And successive Democratic politicians fell under his spell.

What, I had to ask myself, was it about Camp Obama that caused me such panic? Try this excerpt:

During these training sessions, people like you will be taking their support for Barack to the next level by learning the organizing principles that this campaign and our movement for change are built on.

Camp Obama attendees will receive real world organizing experience that will have a direct impact on this election. Graduates of Camp Obama will go on to become Deputy Field Organizers who will lead this campaign to victory in crucial battleground states around the country.

"Support to the next level." Is this a cult? Is it like Scientologists where you only get their true identity doled out in soupçons as you prove your dedication to the religion? Most damning of all is "Deputy Field Organizers," which smacks of the paramilitary organization. Why? When does politicking cross the line into propaganda? Are we electing a politician? A Savior? A Very Big Unknown?

Those of us who have lived or have lived to see the terrible price paid for the cult of personality have no choice but to fear this candidacy, not because of race, but because of reach. Obama might just be your run of the mill Liberal, and he seems like such a nice guy, albeit a tad arrogant and patronizing. But I for one can't contemplate giving him the keys to the kingdom. I hope my fears are unfounded. I really do. But to me, the sound of approaching hoofs is more likely horses than zebras. Be afraid, people. Be terribly afraid. The best we can hope for is that the man is a shameless opportunist.

A Sunday Sense of Place

On the Brink. Thankfully, a deal has been brokered in Washington. It looks like it worked out. Supposedly the "affordable housing"/ACORN component is not included; there are provisions to protect the taxpayers "investment" and somehow limit the compensation of failed CEO's. The government will be insuring the banks somehow against the mortgages, Republican demand. Don't know the details, and we know who resides there. But all in all, it looks like cooler heads prevailed. Rumor has it, it was Pelosi. (See, I'm fair.)

Back the Way We Came. In this, Victor Davis Hanson reminds us that Frankenstein was the name of the inventor, not the creature, as he seeks to assign blame for this mess. Hint: "We have met the enemy, and he is us." Read it. It seems an opportune moment for some self-examination.

Up the Road A Spell. Now we turn to the upcoming Vice Presidential Debate. I'm not particularly optimistic about Palin's performance. It is fortunate it's against Biden, who I like by the way. But unlike the oh-so-syrupy condescending author of this column in the New York Times, I think it's because she's been ham stringed by not causing McCain grief. She's trying too hard to toe the company line. My advice to her: Screw it. Be who you are. Nobody expects you to be a foreign policy whiz. As to the writer, to paraphrase a country song, "Take your cheap sympathy and shove it." Cleanse your palate. Take a look at this

In the Rear. Here's an oldie but goodie about the common man. "Ten angry beer drinkers" are looking to stop the planned InBev purchase of Budweiser. They've filed suit in Federal Court alleging anti-trust. Not a hothouse chance in hell, but ya gotta love 'em. And don't forget to read the best explanation of the Castro stratagem- using the suffering of his people to advance his agenda- to be found in the Wall Street Journal here. Is it a strategy or a tactic?

Not So Comic Relief

First off the bat, CANF is complaining that the US Government is curbing Cuba aid, at least according to this article. Actually, the government is not curbing the aid as much as to whom it can go. Their point: if the aid is targeted at a family member, it is a "remittance." If it is "humanitarian," it cannot be sent to a specific individual. Petty as it seems, it does address the problem of the hurricane victims who have no one in the US.

Then despite the disastrous effects of the recent hurricanes, the Cuban Capos expect tourism to rise 13% next year. Sure, if you count the relief workers, or maybe they intend to run Pompeii type tours. Article in Spanish at the Miami Herald here.

My favorite, though, is the announcement that North Korea and Cuba have signed protocols to "exchange goods." Since the "People's Republic" has an even worse (if possible) economy than Cuba, it would be laughable to contemplate what "goods" they intend to exchange, except the North Koreans do have one technology that once interested the Commission in Havana?

Finally, if you're in the Palm Springs area, you might want to go see Peter Moruzzi who signing his book about, you guessed it, precastro Cuba. I haven't seen it yet, but either way, it should be interesting. The title is Havana Before Castro: When Cuba Was a Tropical Playground, or as my dad would say, "cuando Cuba reía." A few details here and a bit about the book here, including the comment from "Three guys from Miami." Note the difference between the Library Journal review, which makes it seem a companion book to Havana Nocturne (sign of the cross), as does the website here. The comment, however, is more in keeping with what I've been reading. Anybody out there read it? I'm still in the middle of the Bacardi opus.

Tap Dancing on the Edge of Financial Oblivion

I haven't been posting as of late, because the economic and political tension is so enervating. But what I'm hearing about the negotiations in Congress is the last straw. Despite my aversion to the intrusion of the government into business, I support the bailout, although I would dearly like that Wall St bigwigs not only get no parachutes but have to return bonuses earned while they were leading their enterprises into perdition. Don't look like that's going to happen.

What I do know is that time is of the essence. If they dally too long, whatever they ultimately pass will be too little, too late and we will head for the next great depression. That is what I fear. And need I remind you those Americans were tough. One can only imagine the present generation. So what are our elected representatives doing? Well, yesterday I was angry at the conservative Republicans who were balking and making noises about the government insuring, making it easier for private equity, etc, palliatives that not only will not work but will allow the snowball to keep rolling.

Then I read politicians are actually putting pork on this bill. Rumor had it that Biden put money in for Dover Air Force Base. And now I hear that the Democrats are using this emergency bill as the occasion for demanding that union reps sit on the boards which decide executive compensation. And the one that really got my goat- that a portion-the figure mentioned was 20%- of taxpayer monies recovered go to ACORN. You know that Democrat leaning, voter registration, maybe irregularities, Obama associations ACORN. Not a penny. Start a whole new flippin' government bureaucracy but don't give any more taxpayer money to a partisan player. That is taxation without representation, perhaps because there are 9 Democrats closeted with 2 Republicans.

It is disgusting. It is beyond disgusting. It is vile to use an emergency to advance your agenda, to endanger further the economic well-being of this country in order to push your partisan views. If ever a situation demanded only the minimum necessary to staunch the bleeding, it is this one. But they just can't help themselves. Perhaps it is time that we help them out the door.

Mom's Cuban Proverbs and More Revisited

Mom's Proverbs:


Eramos pocos y pario la mula.
(There weren't enough of us already, and the mule gave birth.)

Casamiento y mortaja del cielo baja.
(Marriage and mortality fall from heaven.)

Comen harina y erutan pollo.
(They eat grits and burp chicken.)

Sarna con gana no pica y si pica no mortifica.
(A rash when desired doesn't itch: and if itches doesn't mortify.)

Hasta la ciruela pasa.
(Even the prune passes. Works on a double pun, because pasa also means dried fruit.)

Si la cosa no tiene remedio porque te preocupas, y si tiene remedio porque te preocupas?
(If the situation cannot be remedied why do you worry; and if it can, why do you worry?)

No llores como mujer lo que no supiste defender como hombre.
(Don't cry like a woman what you didn't know how to defend like a man.)

En el reino de los ciegos, el tuerto es rey.
(In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.)

Mono vestido de seda, mono sigue.
(A monkey dressed in silk is still a monkey.)

Ningun mono se ve su rabo.
(No monkey sees his own tail.)

No hay mal que dure cien años, ni cuerpo que lo resista.
(There is no ill that lasts a hundred years, nor body that will survive.)

No hay mal que por bien no viene.
(There is no ill that doesn't result in good.)

Un (deleted) hala mas que una yunta de buey.
(A part of the female anatomy has more pull than a team of oxen.)


Dios le da barba al que no tiene quijada.
(God gives beards to the chinless.)

Algunos nacen bajo una estrella; otrs estrellado
(Some are born under a star; others smacked by the stars.)

Dad's Proverbs:

Mejor cabeza de raton que culo de leon.
(It's better to be the mouse's head than the lion's ass.)

Cuando estas montado en el burro tiene que seguir para alante.
(When you're on the donkey, you have to ride it.)

Perro que ladra no muerde.
(A barking dog doesn't bite.)

Contributions from Readers:

El diablo sabe más por ser viejo que por diablo.
(The devil knows more because of being old than from being the devil.)
                                                                                               from Michelle Velez

Bicho malo nunca muere.
(Bad people live forever.)
                                        from an anonymous contributor


Jose Reyes has a bunch of Cubanisms at Cubanology here. If you have more out there, leave them in the comments. They don't have to be Cuban. My next proverb post will be a tad more catholic.

Meanderings: Can't Get Enough

The sounds of the Love Unlimited Orchestra issuing from the multiple speakers in the midlife crisis sports car bring me back to a nineteen seventy something Chevy Monte Carlo with my pal, Rosemarie P, whose dancing as we sing along results in a pattern of rhythmic and sudden braking, a frenzied automotive palsy. God knows what the pedestrians think. The bunny pink lip gloss stands out against Roe's tanned skin, and her skinny tube top threatens to expose the only part of her that's not underdeveloped.

It brings me back, as I wait for the husky tones of Barry White. But, no, this is an instrumental. Sounds like Muzak. No matter. Sarasota's Lite FM... I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but I've gotten in the habit of listening to the station. See, it's like this. The country station gets all staticky if I put the rear defrost on, and given the conditions in the environs of my house in the AM-malarial swamp- well, I've had to move on. No matter about Barry, though. They play him every morning, not just any song but "Can't Get Enough of Your Lovin'." The words have all come back. There was a time... there was a time I knew the words to most of his songs and not because I bought his albums.

It was nineteen seventy something, and I was in St. Maarten with my best bud and her family. It was a sleepy little place in those days, at least on the Dutch side. Young and adventurous, we sought other young people in vain. The one disco on the island at the time had three locals in it, all of whom worked there. So we had to resign ourselves to vacationing in a honeymooners' paradise. Actually, though, it did turn out to be a lot of fun, except when I almost drowned in six feet of water while scuba diving. Doubtless because of all of the cigarette smoke I had been exposed to I ran out of air. I gestured to Elton, our dive guide, and he lent me his spare regulator so I could buddy breathe. I purged the thing and took a big gulp of...water! Directly above me, so close, was the sky, full of wonderful life giving air, and I was going to die, drown right here. How embarrassing. I obviously survived via the expedient of holding my breath, but that was the beginning and end of my diving career. After all, that was after I had trouble getting down to the bottom. My whole body strained downward, except for my ample orange and white striped Cuban posterior, which I have on good authority bobbed up and down in the waves. I won't even go into putting fire coral down the side of my bikini.

Anyway, I promised Barry White, and Barry White we shall have. The island was really trying. It had a radio station which was housed in a little shack on a hilltop over the shore. We could see it from our hotel. The single radio station had one single eight track. Yup, Barry White. We listened to Barry White incessantly for eight days and seven nights. Maybe, it sounds like torture, and it kinda felt like it at the time, but, heck, now it sounds pretty damn good.

A Senator's Story and a Father's Dream

As I finish Senator Mel Martinez's biography, A Sense of Belonging, tears cloud my eyes. It is the epilogue that has done it. Having grown up feeling like a second class citizen, I know all about "a sense of belonging." For much of the book, I have envied his magical childhood in Cuba, a place where he belonged. Then I have thanked my lucky stars that I grew up in the US, as I read the very lonely and scary predicament he found himself in as a Pedro Pan. But all along, I have known that at least for Martinez, the story has a happy ending. It is when I get to the epilogue that it hits me full in the face. No matter how well we assimilate, how successful, or "American," we never forget. And as those first generations disappear, his words are my words are the words of countless others:

Though he is gone, I have continued to dream my father's dream as well. It's a dream shared by millions of Cubans. I dream that someday I will walk with my family beside me, and with my dad's spirit to guide me, in a free Cuba where the people live under a just government and are free to worship as they choose and to live as they desire. America made a great dream come true for me and for my family, and I trust God will make the enduring dream of a free Cuba, which I still share with my father, come true as well.

A USAID Press Release: Without Comment

From USAID Administrator, Henrietta H. Fore: Humanitarian Assistance to CubaSaturday September 20, 11:03 pm ET

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Cuba has suffered great damage from multiple hurricanes since the end of August. In response, the U.S. government has offered -- on four separate occasions -- to provide the Cuban people with up to $5 million in emergency humanitarian assistance to those in dire need. Some of this assistance will soon arrive through relief and humanitarian organizations on the ground. More is needed to help the Cuban people in the aftermath of these disasters.

Yesterday, the U.S. government made a fourth unconditional offer of aid: to provide relief supplies composed of family emergency shelters and household kits directly to Cuban relief services. Some of these kits include roofing materials and lumber for residential repair which will assist up to 48,000 Cuban people affected by the hurricanes.

Our offers of direct assistance are unprecedented. The American people want to help the people of Cuba. We want them to have critical assistance now. Moving humanitarian assistance to those who desperately need it should be everyone's top priority. The American people stand ready to help.

Note: This hurricane season has also devastated the neighboring island of
Haiti. The U.S. government has mobilized nearly $30 million for
food, shelter, water, and relief commodities (hygiene kits, water
jugs, plastic sheeting, mosquito nets, and cooking materials) for
the people of Haiti. Just last week, to facilitate the movement
and distribution of emergency relief supplies, the U.S. government
pledged $2 million for emergency repair to key bridges and roads.

FACT SHEET

U.S. Offers New Direct Humanitarian Aid to Cuban Government; Humanitarian
Organizations Set to Move U.S. Aid to Cuba

The U.S. Government has made a fourth offer of critical humanitarian assistance to the people of Cuba in the aftermath of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. In response to Cuba's humanitarian needs USAID is moving forward to provide up to $5 million in emergency relief to Cuban hurricane victims through international relief agencies and non-governmental organizations.
In summary, the U.S. government has officially offered assistance to Cuba on four separate occasions:

September 3, 2008: The U.S. government issued a disaster declaration (on
Hurricane Gustav) and provided $100,000 in cash
relief assistance to humanitarian organizations on
the ground.

The U.S. government also offered to provide a
humanitarian assessment team to assist in producing
rapid emergency assessments of health, sanitation,
water, shelter and food.

September 12, 2008: The U.S. government provided an additional $100,000
(on Hurricane Ike) in cash assistance to relief
organizations on the ground, and affirmed our
intention to channel assistance through international
organizations. The U.S. government reiterated its
offer to provide a humanitarian assessment team.

September 13, 2008: The U.S. government announced up to $5 million in a
relief package that included an unconditional offer
of humanitarian assistance to benefit 135,000 Cuban
hurricane victims. Despite the Cuban Government's
rejection of this offer, international relief
agencies and non-governmental organizations will
receive U.S. government funding for emergency relief
assistance.

September 19, 2008: The U.S. government offered to unconditionally
provide additional relief supplies directly to Cuba
relief services at a value of approximately $6.3
million. These supplies are composed of family
emergency shelters and household kits which will
assist up to 48,000 Cubans affected by the
hurricanes.

The U.S. government will continue to monitor the situation in Cuba. For more information about USAID and its programs go to www.usaid.gov .

The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for nearly 50 years.

Public Information: 202-712-4810

www.usaid.gov
(Boldface mine)

Obligatory Boomer Bashing Quote

What the Greatest Generation handed down to us -- the richest, most powerful, most self-sufficient republic in history, with the highest standard of living any nation had ever achieved -- the baby boomers, oblivious and self-indulgent to the end, have frittered away.

-from the Buchanan piece cited below. Got to love the "frittered."

Sunday Tenets

The Third Law of Motion. Patrick Buchanan weighs in on the whole financial mess with an obituary of sorts over at HumanEvents. Lest you get too down, over at TownHall, Larry Kudlow has a piece reminding us of the resilience of this country. Neither one of these commentators is one I tend to subscribe to, since I consider Buchanan something of a racist and Kudlow too much of a Pollyanna. Still, both are true. And as a final public service, read how the New York Times advises safeguarding your money.

The Law of Opposites. Since politics is never too far away these days... I have been pleasantly surprised to find among the pages of Newsweek, the work of a reporter by the name of Andrew Romano. Read his column about the low blows being landed in which he avoids glib answers and actually tries to get at fact. Amazing. Watch this young man.

Murphy's Law. And in other news, the destruction of the world is going to have to wait a while longer. The infamous collider in Geneva has been damaged and will be out for at least two months. Mechanical failure.

Law of Averages. Because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there. Residents of Blackstone, VA are having a hard time convincing wild life experts that there are cougars roaming in their midst. Biggest problem, nary a one has been caught on the motion-sensitive cameras that "dot" forests in the East. Article here.

Religious Law. And in the ongoing jihad against tobacco.... Here's an interesting examination of smoking in Muslim cultures under the guise of the difficulties faced by tokers during the Holy Month of Ramadan. Enlightening

Let's Talk About the "Dignity" of Cuba: A Vituperation

In his latest, the blogger in chief, aka fidel castro, ostensibly clings to the tattered dignity of Cuba by rejecting US aid, while pressing for a lifting, even if temporary (watch that camel!), of the embargo and the cash only terms of sales. He insists on the party line, which he may or may not have originated, that Cuba can not accept "charity" from a country which maintains an embargo against it. Cuba will, however, "purchase" what it needs. This posturing would be laughable if it were not so tragic, if 11 million human beings were not being held hostage to one man's vanity and a ruling cadre's obsession with power.

Memo to the uninitiated: Cuba does not pay its bills. If they could not pay in better times- better relative to, say, Haiti or Somalia- when they were still living off of the the century of development they misappropriated, how in the world will they be able to pay after having squandered those, the disaster magnified to unimaginable proportions by two hurricanes? As pointed out on Babalu, it would seem it is infinitely more honorable to steal than to accept humanitarian aid for a humanitarian crisis.

The "dignity" of Cuba would seem to be something trotted out arbitrarily. Apparently, it does not bother the regime when it goes hat in hat, begging, to countries around the world; when, infantile, it suckled on the Russian and now clings to the Venezuelan teat; when it turns its citizen-slaves into a cash crop like cattle or rice? What dignity, when he and his dim-witted cohorts have trashed one of the once premier economies of the region; when they have turned the Pearl of the Antilles into the Great Mendicant of the Caribbean? And the once yearly pilgrimage to the UN, sniveling about the embargo. What, is the UN really going to dictate to a sovereign nation with whom it can and cannot trade?

If they really cared about the dignity of Cuba, they would care about the indignities they have visited upon the Cuban people. They would free them to utilize their God-given talents. They would get out of the way and allow them the help they need to realize the most basic of living conditions, so that the people can recuperate not only from the hurricanes, but also from the half century maelstrom that has enveloped the nation. Dignity, my a__!

Economic Primer: Part II

At a time when large numbers of voters are apparently turning to the Dems because of the financial mess, it is ever the more imperative that voters educate themselves to what went wrong. It is a truism that an educated public is essential to democracy. Sadly, many of our mainstream media organs have turned into political propaganda arms of the parties. So it is terribly reassuring to run into Time's cover story this week. The story by Andy Serwer and Allan Sloan is a definite must read, containing the best explanations I have come across, particularly of the nearly incomprehensible credit default swaps.

As a matter of interest and a behind the scenes peek at what took place before the collapse of Lehman, you might want to take a gander at "How the Masters of the Universe ran amok and cost us the earth" at The Scotsman, a most interesting entry. Aw, I confess I really like the allusion, both to the cartoon and Bonfire of the Vanities.

So what is being done? In addition to the essential takeover of Fannie, Freddie, the infusion of capital into the system, President Bush yesterday announced a number of other steps. Read the text of his remarks here. My favorite section:

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued new rules temporarily suspending the practice of short selling on the stocks of financial institutions. This is intended to prevent investors from intentionally driving down particular stocks for their own personal gain.
The SEC is also requiring certain investors to disclose their short selling and has launched rigorous enforcement actions to detect fraud and manipulation in the market. Anyone engaging in illegal financial transactions will be caught and persecuted.

Also of particular interest is the government's insuring money market accounts. In theory, money market accounts are not insured, although in some cases it is less clear cut. One money market fund already lowered the share redemption value from 1 dollar to 90 cents. Keep an eye on this one.

Now according to this article, the bailout could cost half a trillion dollars. I've seen estimates as high as a trillion. Which brings me to the reason voters need to know what is going on. The present Democrat proposals encompass increased taxes and increased government spending. Raising taxes in a time of economic difficulty would seem disastrous. As to increased spending, with the tab the taxpayers are going to pick up, it would seem more prudent to cut back government spending in all but the necessary. The government like any private individual is going to have to tighten its belt. Is it possible that Obama would react to present conditions by putting his greatest society package on hold? Possible. But what does he do about all those who voted for that agenda? ???

It's in the News, Che

I once knew an Argentinian whose every other word seemed to be "che," the expression not the murderer, which is incidentally how the murderer acquired the epithet. Reminds me of a cute story, cute at least to me. I was in Miami Beach during the height of the South American buying frenzy in the '80's, when this poor Argentian gentleman was abandoned by his family which was supervising the loading of their manifold packages, this being Miami. Unfortunately they left him in charge of the near life-sized inflated Shamu, the killer whale. My last glimpses of said gentleman had him sitting astride the beast, frantically rocking, as if it were a bucking Bronc, in a seemingly futile effort to deflate the beast while the crammed taxi awaited him, all the time lamenting "pero, che, quien se le occure comprar este bicho?"

That's it for the lighter note, unless you count Humberto Fontova's acerbic take on Benicio del Toro and the Soderbergh movie. Read his article on WorldNet Daily here. I can take consolation in this article from Spain I came across via Penultimos Dias which touching the movie asks whether it is not time to deconstruct the myth? After all if the Che had had his way, "today all of South America would be a pathetic Cuba." Article in Spanish here.

A Political Pulse?

It's come to my attention that PBS, doubtless counting on the particular bent of their habitues, is conducting a poll as to the fitness of Sarah Palin for the office of VP. When I first received an email making the rounds, the number of 70% nay. Since then the situation has reversed. I am not telling you what you should think. I leave that to the other side. But if you should happen to support Ms. Palin, and even if you don't, you can vote here.

In other election news, I ran into a woman with a McCain/Palin shirt today and almost had a fit of the vapors. The impact of this run-in was furthered when there were a handful of McCain supporters with signs at a busy local intersection. We, of course, beeped, setting off a crescendo of car horns. It was marvelous.

H/T fermi

McCain's Take on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Circa 2005

I heard this yesterday and found it on Babalu today. Since the remarks are from 2005, it was pretty prescient of McCain who professes that economics is not his strong suit. By the way, go to Cigar Mike's post here to find the top recipients of the mortgage giants' money. (Boldface mine.)

The OFHEO report also states that Fannie Mae used its political power to lobby Congress in an effort to interfere with the regulator's examination of the company's accounting problems. This report comes some weeks after Freddie Mac paid a record $3.8 million fine in a settlement with the Federal Election Commission and restated lobbying disclosure reports from 2004 to 2005. These are entities that have demonstrated over and over again that they are deeply in need of reform.

For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--known as Government-sponsored entities or GSEs--and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEO's report this week does nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary. OFHEO's report solidifies my view that the GSEs need to be reformed without delay.

I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.

How'd We Get Here?

Like those who touch Rumi's elephant in a dark house, it seems a whole mess of people are running around pontificating on the basis of a surreptitious feel of one portion of the pachyderm's anatomy. It's Bush's, no, Clinton's fault. It's a failure of regulators. It's those greedy Wall Street types. It's us.

Your erstwhile correspondent, knowing that these situations are invariably complex, has been investigating. I have no pretensions to great knowledge. This much is evident to any one who takes the time to read about the current situation. It would seem to implicate a whole host of characters. In 1999 President Clinton signed the repeal of the Glass Segall Act of 1933 which had previously separated banks from brokerages and left a regulatory open window, so to speak. In the race to get in on the scads of money from the Real Estate bubble, the instrument of choice was the bundled mortgages. The bundles contained all sorts of mortgages and were not easily quantifiable, obvious in hindsight. Mortgages were given to people who most obviously could not afford them. People got way in over their heads, taking on mortgages they could not afford, figuring they would hit a payday before their interest only ended. The present government coming off of the tech bust did nothing to staunch the flow. Let the good times roll. Alas, it had to end. The banks got hit; the mortgage companies got clobbered.

That would be bad enough, but the situation was further exacerbated by those bundled mortgages, now debt instruments, MBS's. Here it gets really complicated. There's them who bought them, and then there's them who insured them. Suffice to say, there were two problems. One, those mortgage bundles were essentially a pig in a poke. Second, things were so good that many a financial giant got a bit carried away in leveraging. In other words, they invested way more than even whatever they value they placed on the debt instruments.

Here's where the fear part of the fear and greed equation come in. As it became obvious that there were problems with the mortgages, their imputed worth plummeted, leaving the giants in the lurch, as in they didn't have the resources to meet their increased obligations. It's even more complicated still, but my point is that this is one failure that has many fathers. And before the Dems get all holier than thou, they, too, have been complicit. Take a look at the top five recipients of the largess of Fannie/Freddie. One's initials are B.O., pardon the double pun.

Now what is really scary is that the vultures are circling. Remember oil speculators? Now we have the shorts. Here's greed. We now have rampant rumor mongering, driving down the price of a company's stock and lining the pockets of those who have shorted it. At the same time, the declining share price forces the company to come up with yet more money to cover the difference. So in essence, a viable if not robust company can be trashed. They are systematically working their way through the weak and weakened. Lehman, done. Merrill Lynch made a deal with Bank of America. AIG had to be rescued by the Government. Now they're after Morgan Stanley. Washington Mutual is auctioning itself off, and Goldman is probably next. They're even after GE.

I go through this exercise because to use the current financial crisis as a Rorschach blot for a particular political point of view does the country a disservice and solves nothing. And because too often the news these days gives us slogans instead of facts.

*

Once When We Were Young and Foolish

Here's an interesting video of Dick Morris explaining how he became a Republican. What was interesting was how closely it paralleled my own experience. Yes, I not only once (once was enough) voted for Jimmy Carter, I actually voted for George McGovern. I also migrated to the Republican camp as I explained earlier here.

Every day, it seems, despite the liberal mind set that only illiterate louts differ, more and more celebrities are coming out of the political closet or seeing the light. One convert, David Zucker, to a more conservative point of view- I don't think he's a Republican- will premiere his new movie An American Carol on Oct. 3. Be there or be square. Go here, if you want to join the movement behind the movie and become an American Caroler.

Book Shorts

Both Stephanie Barron and Elizabeth Peters have new books out in which they bid adieu, at least temporarily, to their much loved heroines. After nine novels, Barron dispenses with her Jane Austen character, a foregone conclusion after- for obvious historical reasons- she killed off Jane's love interest, Lord Harold Trowbridge. Still, I miss Jane. Murder mysteries set in the court of Queen Victoria seem to be all the thing these days. See Anne Perry's latest. Barron's A Flaw in the Blood begins with a secret summons from Victoria as Albert lays dying. This time, however, the reception Barron's Patrick Fitzgerald receives is quite chilly and the midnight meeting almost gets him killed. So begins a race against death to unravel the mystery. I won't give it away, because it is surprising. Of interest is the appearance in the novel, although not literally because he's dead at the time of the events, of actual historical personage John Snow. Think cholera epidemic and last year's The Ghost Map.

Elizabeth Peters departs from the Amelia Peabody series to return to earlier heroine Vicky Bliss. I cannot tell you the paroxysms of delight I experienced when a discovered there was to be a new Vicky Bliss. The adventures of Ms. Bliss, coupled with the antics of Herr Doktor Schmidt, her romance novel writing boss at the Berlin Museum, as well as the regular appearances of bad boy John Smythe, make for entertaining reading. Alas, as Peters explains the question of time- Bliss hasn't aged in near a decade but time has marched on- in the foreword to The Laughter of Dead Kings, I find she cites "the horror in Iraq." If I wanted political commentary, I would not pick up a murder mystery. Is Ms. Peters only writing the book for those who oppose the Iraq war, or does she presume that anyone literate would be against it? As a consequence, I don't know if it was the annoyance which stayed with me or the new domesticity of Vicky and beau, but the novel did not warm up until the end. There were some nifty surprises, but I'd recommend the earlier ones.

Finally, the devastation left by Hurricane Ike is bad enough, but the storm reminded me of Erik Larsson's excellent book, Isaac's Storm, which details the 1900 hurricane which hit Galveston and killed over five thousand people. Cuba figures in that one, too. In the days before radar, a fatal decision was made to ignore the reports of a hurricane coming from the weather service in Cuba. If you like nonfiction and haven't read it, pick up a copy. It's worth it.

Today's Quote

Bottom line, if Barack and Biden get in office you’re going to need a case of lipstick because you’re going to be kissing a lot of gelatinous big government backside like never before.

-from the Doug Giles piece cited below.

Sunday Stories: Of Cosmetics and the Cosmos

Where to start? An embarrassment of riches this week.

Beyond the Atom. In an exciting development, scientist Lyn Evans, dubbed "Evans the Atom," may destroy the planet if he has not done so already. I'm only half kidding. Seeking to understand the beginnings of the universe, he and other scientists in what is billed as the world's biggest experiment began firing up a 17 mile collider near Geneva. Some scientists fear that the experiment could create black holes in the Earth. If nothing else, the "nerds in nightshirts" are having a lot of fun, witness the "Physics Rap" that has become an internet sensation. Cute Daily Mail article here with link to rap. Updated info from LA Times here, and Hawking's doubts that they will find the "God Particle" here.

About that Crack'd Mirror. Bush may have looked into his soul, but Putin looked to his sway. He maintains that Bush, while a nice guy, is not in charge: as he phrases it is "the court that makes the King." Read it at the Times, the Brit one.

A La Main left. Speaking of the arcane, Elizabeth Spiers in Fortune magazine does as good a job explaining the mortgage mess as I've seen. Basically if you bundle mortgages, you could be and were buying a pig in a poke. All these high falutin' things that are so removed from the source scare me. Remember those professors with the hedge fund that went bust?

Of Shiny Promises. Bruce Bialosky continues the pig metaphor in this article on TownHall in which he delves into the misleading Obama claim that he will cut taxes on the middle class. Seems 40% of Americans don't pay income taxes at all, but instead receive money from the government. The rationale is that they pay social security taxes. Obama would increase these payments and drop another 15% from the tax rolls. I'd like to know if its possible to get more back than you paid in. As Doug Giles writes in this, you can put lipstick on a socialist.... It smacks of income redistribution to me.

On the Gender Front. "Xena" Palin as this piece dubs her is apparently causing much disarray in the enemy camp. Seriously, Sarah Baxter in the Times, the Brit one, writes a pretty incisive and somewhat entertaining analysis of Palin's effect on the campaign at the moment. And as I suggested in an earlier post, Palin's candidacy and the response has led to a new examination of the gender question. Read Allison Linn's article on MSNBC here

Literary Interlude: On His Blindness

On His Blindness

When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one Talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest He returning chide,
"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts. Who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed,
And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait."
-John Milton

Meanderings: Stick a Fork

The phone rings a few nights ago. It is the little one, who is now not quite so little. In fact, she is calling from a gala in Washington, DC. She is there, having flown in from LA, because she has won a scholarship for film school from a very worthy Hispanic arts group. She is thrilled, overwhelmed by some of the heavy hitters she has spoken with.... I am thrilled for her. The kid deserves it.

...Years ago before I was truly old enough to understand, let alone appreciate, the thought, I was reading the Times Sunday Magazine. Yeah, I've been known to read it once or twice. Anyway, there was an essay in which the writer maintained that there came a time in the life of every man when he realized that he would never ever play short stop for a major league team. I'm taking liberties with the precise wording, as I am depending on memory here. "Oh, kinda silly," I thought. Still it stayed with me.

Then for years as I rejected the rat race, hesitated to put myself out there, relegated my needs to those of others, pooh-pooed my dreams, wondered what my dreams were, I always had a sense that there would be time. There would be time, once I knew. But then, the once seemingly endless stretch of that commodity yawning before me evaporated, almost at once.

It was then I began to understand. There comes a time when you know. You know that certain achievements are now beyond your physical abilities, when you realize that you no longer have the time to reach others. I thought I had made peace with that notion. But speaking on that phone that evening, drowning in the illness and dysfunction which surrounds me, rattling around the house by myself, grateful for the lonely intimacy of peace, I thought, "I'm done. My life is over." And so it is.

Actually, my story is done; the rest is denouement. The story is about her and the millions of others just coming into their own in a world of infinite possibility. This is not necessarily bad, as there is a great deal of relief there. I don't have to worry about achieving. I don't have to worry about romance. It's about being now. I can get joy from the rays streaming through the curtains as I write this. Tomorrow I will cultivate the garden and glory in the sunshine even as the sweat running into my eyes starts to sting. I will live in the moment, a luxury not afforded the younger.

And as I hung up the phone that night, I had to acknowledge that I never took the big chances. I never had that kind of confidence. I never mortgaged my future to a dream. But then that's not quite true. By following the precepts I was taught, maintaining the primacy of family above all, I was risking all. I just didn't know it. But now I do.

In Which I Defend President Bush, Definitely!

The incomparable and sometimes indefensible Anne Coulter hits it out of the ballpark in her column today. Those of us who work in liberal land have learned that discretion is the better part of valor when it comes to our sitting President, as the feeblest of defenses often leads to one's interlocutor forcibly removing handfuls of hair from his or her own pate while gesticulating wildly and frothing at the mouth. Don't believe me? It even has a name: Bush Derangement Syndrome.

My reticence has nothing to do, then, with my feelings toward W. Simply put, he has been a most misunderestimated leader. Yes, he has disappointed. But he has, nonetheless, kept us safe. As I am fond of thinking, every jihadi who died in Iraq is one less on the streets of San Francisco. But that's a simplistic way of characterizing an entire administration.

But back to Anne Coulter who in her incisive way zeroes in on the laudable in the very epithet so often used to put down the President:

George Bush is Gary Cooper in the classic western "High Noon." The sheriff is about to leave office when a marauding gang is coming to town. He could leave, but he waits to face the killers as all his friends and all the townspeople, who supported him during his years of keeping them safe, slowly abandon him. In the end, he walks alone to meet the killers, because someone has to.

That's Bush. Name one other person in Washington who would be willing to stand alone if he had to, because someone had to.

OK, there is one, but she's not in Washington yet. Appropriately, at the end of "High Noon," Cooper is surrounded by the last two highwaymen when, suddenly, his wife (Grace Kelly) appears out of nowhere and blows away one of the killers! The aging sheriff is saved by a beautiful, gun-toting woman.

I am old enough to remember the contempt heaped upon Reagan while he was in office. The verdict of history is often not the same one pronounced by contemporaries.

The entire column here.

In Which I Defend Obama, Maybe...

C'mon folks, is there one among you who hasn't put the proverbial hoof in mouth? I think it is entirely conceivable that Mr. Barack Obama was not consciously picturing Gov. Palin when he made the now infamous "lipstick" remark. First is the question of derivation, that is to say that the economy and the market have been in the headlines as of late, which may very well have influenced his choice of figurative language. "Putting lipstick on a pig" is a time honored way of describing talking up a dud stock. See, the economy, stock market, lipstick, pig. Trust me, I know a bit about loose association.

There is another way to view this flap and that is to picture Mr. Obama as a Machiavellian strategist. You see, Mr. Obama there; he's got himself some right "plausible deniability." It is undoubtedly suspicious that the two images he used relate to females in an unfavorable way. This way, he gets to say "Oops, I didn't mean that." Now just for the fun of it, let's assume that he had no conscious purpose in using the lipstick and fish analogies. Could it be that subconsciously Gov. Palin weighs so heavily and unfavorably in his mind that those were the images that came spontaneously to his previously golden tongue?

In any case, he could check with his running mate as to how difficult it can be to remove said extremity from one's esophagus. Remember "clean and articulate"? There's no hope for it, he's gonna have to take the blow back. That's the way of all politics. But this time, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Co-incidence?

Today, Anastasio Blanco broached an idea that seems to have been percolating in a few minds, including mine. What if these hurricanes signal the beginning of the end for the Havana Commission? It is an idea that you tend to beat back in your mind. First and foremost, there is the suffering occurring in Cuba this very minute. Second, nothing seems to kill off the malignancy that has been eating away at the island for a half century.

Still, I'll leave you with these quirky factoids:
1. The hurricane is named Ike. Eisenhower? A stretch, I know.
2. Ike entered the Bay of Nipe, the same place where the Virgin appeared to the three storm-tossed fishermen. (Incidentally also the setting for much of Telex from Cuba.)
3. The first hurricane hit the tobacco growing region; this one, their mining concerns. Two of the regime's major sources of foreign currency.
4. The Santeria Priests this year- although maintaining fidel's inviolability- did make noises about nature. I figured they had gotten politically correct and took it to mean global warming.
(Twilight zone music.)

Seriously, I suspect that our relationship with the island nation will change based on the humanitarian crisis. Whether for good or for ill, I who have not one iota of ESP cannot predict.

Just How Far Have Women Come?

(I was originally going to post this one in the round up, but it demanded a bit more.)

Much has been said and written about Sarah Palin and her role as a mother, including the duties incumbent upon her as such. There has been a near universal volte face pulled by political parties, feminists, and media types. It would be easy to accuse Democrats & Co of hypocrisy, which is true, and leave it at that, but that would not be complete.

Some of Ms. Palin's chief critics are working mothers themselves. Here we witness hypocrisy of different stripe. Working women are reacting out of their own experience. They know the challenges and omissions of working outside the home. And most of them don't have a male at home to pick up the slack. There is a suspicion, at least, that someone is getting short changed. The idea that anyone would be vice president- just how much does one do- while raising five children sends shivers down the spine. But it is a case of "Do as I say and not as I do."

Many women are not in high-powered careers nor are they working to put food on the table, at least they wouldn't be if they didn't have the SUV and nifty car, both of recent vintage, in the driveway of the McMansion. And what ever happened to Formica? Why does everyone need to have granite countertops? Question them and you will find that they believe they have to work, yet they but help support the household in the style to which they feel entitled. At the same time, they are exhausted. They fear that on some level their children are deprived. I know it sounds harsh, but I've been there.

Frankly, it is up to Gov. Palin and her family to make these calls. I would not presume to judge her choices. I do know that perhaps it is time to rethink some of the feminist tenets we have held dear for so long. Let me be clear. Some women have no choice. Others are called to achieve something. I do not advocate a return to the "bad old days." I remember them. But the reactions to the Palin situation would seem to indicate that perhaps it is time to begin a new discussion.

Sunday Stories: The Political Edition

An embarassment of riches this week.

Northern Exposure. In a piece that's reminscent of the affectionate treatment hitherto reserved for the Obamameister, Nathan Thornburgh in Time gives us a slice of Palin life in Wasilla, AK. A good local color piece.

Pinky and the Brain. To be honest, I've never thought of McCain in terms of his intelligence; his character has always been to the fore. Perhaps I've been the victim of the media bias discussed here at Bloggers for McCain. Caroline B Glick in this Townhall column voices what I have come to suspect, namely that I have underestimated the man. Shrewd cookie, that old Ol' Mac. Tomorrow, he takes over the world.

Cold Case. At the National Review Online, Bill Whittle says it for me and for many others when he professes himself proud of the GOP. McCain's sincerity, his love of country, willingness to accept responsibility, and optimistic vision of America made me proud. Read it here. (Got this one from Babalu)

Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Here's a pretty cogent explanation of the Fannie/Freddie morass from John Schoen on MSNBC. Either way, it ain't gonna be pretty. I refer to my earlier post on the state of our economy. Also in terms of explanations, there's an interesting discussion of which two Americas here.

Cheaters. Don't blame them. Genetics made them do it. Swedish researchers have found that a goodly portion of men share the same cheating with other philandering rodents. Other scientists are not so sure. Read it here.

Murder, She Wrote. A Swedish magazine inadvertently confused two herbs in their recipe, making the result potentially life threatening. The story here, followed by an exploration of more toxic seasonings.

Things Cuban in Nature

Storm Stories. Even as Cuba attempts to come to terms with the hurricane damage they have already sustained, Hurricane Ike seems intent on bearing down on the already stricken country. Not surprisingly, the Cuban government has politely refused an the American offer to send an assessment team. They have, however, just as politely accepted an American offer of one hundred thousand dollars, a number that given the devastation seems woefully inadequate, near insulting. For some video of just that devastation, link provided by The Real Cuba, click here.

Aid is a ticklish proposition in that in order to make sure it reaches the victims it is necessary to circumvent the government. The regime has suggested that it is best to lift limits on remittances and visits to family. Read right front paw of the same camel that managed to infiltrate its head years ago after a hurricane where humanitarian aid led to our becoming one of Cuba's major suppliers and a growing chorus of "lift the embargo." But now as then the immediate disaster would seem to trump the chronic one.

Dissidents have also sent the President an open letter asking him to lift the same restrictions for at least two months. Members of the Agenda for Transition, noting the regime's hesitancy in dealing with the US government, asked that non governmental agencies be allowed to send help as well. Personally, I would love to see the marines land, as they did in Myanmar, bearing huge rice sacks with USA stamped all over them. But then, that's me.

Speaking of dissidents, it seems Cuban economist, dissident, and one time political prisoner, Oscar Espinosa Chepe is not only rooting for Obama but has also been reading the Times. The leaning toward Obama was to be expected- Chepe is one who favors engagement- but I was floored when I read Joe Garcia's talking points coming from Cuba. These include the Cuban demographic in Miami is changing, as younger generations- not as hate-filled as the old intransigents- take their place. You know the drill. The story in Spanish here, courtesy of Penultimos Dias.

Also at Penultimos Dias is a link to a magazine story about Naty Revuelta, Castro I's former lover and mother of his daughter Alina Fernandez. Terribly sad, alone and still deluded at 82, she relives the past in this story. Herejias Y Caprinhas has the whole thing posted. It's in Spanish. Just click on the pages for the text. For the whole back story in English read Wendy Gimbel's Havana Dreams: The Story of a Cuban family. You can also read my impressions of said book here.

Literary Interlude: from Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

The populist overtones this campaign have taken remind me of one of my favorite poems. It's pretty long, so I've only taken an excerpt. Read the whole thing here, particularly the next few stanzas. There is so much more. From his vantage point, the speaker looks about him at the graves where the humbler folk are buried, no church crypts for them.

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree’s shade,
   Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering
     heap,
Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,                     15
   The rude Forefathers of the hamlet sleep.
The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn,
   The swallow twittering from the straw-built
     shed,
The cock’s shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,
   No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.          20
For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn,
   Or busy housewife ply her evening care:
No children run to lisp their sire’s return,
   Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share.
                                                           25
Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,
   Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke;
How jocund did they drive their team afield!
   How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy
    stroke!
Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,
   Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;                 30
Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
   The short and simple annals of the poor.
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
   And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour.                          35
   The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
Nor you, ye Proud, impute to These the fault,
   If Memory o’er their Tomb no Trophies raise,
Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted
      vault
   The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.           40
Can storied urn or animated bust
   Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
Can Honor’s voice provoke the silent dust,
   Or Flattery sooth the dull cold ear of Death?

Thomas Gray

About the Economy...

The release of the unemployment figures today and the soaring foreclosure rates have drawn attention to the state of the economy. Although the bread lines some political oratory would seem to paint have yet to materialize, our economy is not particularly robust, and it looks like things are probably going to worsen before they get better.

Here is what no politician is going to say. "We are suffering from a national hangover after a Real Estate bender, one fueled by our profligate habits. The greed and excesses of lenders and individuals have brought this on us. Now although there are ways to stimulate the economy and stave off utter disaster, there is no magic remedy government can administer. The economy will work itself out eventually, but in the interim people will suffer, families will suffer. That is the way of economies."

Instead Obama is going to tax us out of an economic slowdown and McCain is going to tax cut us out of it. Of the two, the tax cut would seem to be the more stimulative. One of the perks of getting older* is living through things, so that you realize that the best government can do is make a recession shallower and possibly shorter.

* That is to say that I have no particular expertise in this matter, but having grown up in a small business, I've had a certain exposure to the ups and downs of the American economy.