To Gift Or Not To Gift.

Getting away from politics for a day, I've been wondering about something that came to my attention the other day. Here's the question, if I give you a gift, can I assume that when the time comes that you no longer have need of or use for that gift, I have the right to reclaim it? It seems to me that if I do, then it really wasn't a gift, but rather a loan. If that's true, then why do those who want gifts back still insist on calling them gifts. And act as though they had gifted someone. Now if it's a loan, perhaps there should be some sort of loan contract signed and, depending on the value, should also be notarized. Let's say, for the sake of argument I give you a toaster oven as a Christmas gift, then I think ownership should pass to the recipient, you. Otherwise, I should ask for a signature on a promissory note that states possession must revert to the givor, me,  upon any decision not to use it any more or to get rid of it, by the givee, you. This way, the givee clearly understands that this is a loan and that there are certain understood principals that must be followed. Like proper maintenance, periodical cleaning using an approved method, regular inspection by the givor and perhaps, again depending on the gift's value, proper insurance coverage. In other words, if I give you a set of earrings that are imitation silver, although not of great value, they never-the-less must be properly cared for and my investment must be protected, if they are to be on loan. Now you may feel this is not a proper discussion to have on an open blog, but let me tell you that several presidential contenders have already weighed in on the subject, and I want to resolve the problem before it becomes a political a football. I believe the seriousness of this business and the widespread practice of loan-gifting needs to be addressed. I await your recommendation as to the naming of this practice and expect you will be in complete agreement and accord with me. If, on the other hand you disagree, I will expect your legal brief on my desktop no later that the third Friday of November, 2011.

This Is The City I Love.

I don't usually write about local things, but I thought you might get a laugh about the city of Scranton, Pa. Pennsylvania has had a program for "distressed cities" that affords them some special opportunities that were designed to help them get back on their feet again. Scranton has held this designation for decades and decades. all through the prosperous years of the nineties. In fact It's hard for me to remember a time when it wasn't designated as distressed. Now being distressed during times of plenty is somewhat humorous, but during a deep recession with extended high unemployment it shouldn't be so funny. That is unless you're talking about Scranton. See, they have a mayor and a chair of city council who seem to hate  each other with a passion. Now you might say that that probably makes it difficult for them to work together. Not so. They just simply ignore anything the other does or proposes. So last year when the mayor proposed tax increases and some layoffs for this years budget, the council under this chairperson, instead, gave out substantial tax cuts with no layoffs and stated that the mayor could not unilaterally lay off anyone without councils permission. Which it presumably would not give. So part way into the year, the city was about to run out of money and the mayor laid off some firemen and police officers and maintenance workers. The story goes on and on. Now the mayor wanted to stop some retirement payment obligations, but the state Supreme Court had said he cannot do it. This sort of stuff has been going on  here for about as long as either this mayor and this chairperson have been in office. You could sell tickets if you could get the two to appear together, but you can't get them together, even for a council meeting where the chair demanded the mayor attend. He didn't. Th reason I write about this comedy is that it's so much like Washington, that you'd think both were written by the same playwright. Except they aren't plays off Broadway. Both are actually hurting peoples lives and don't seem to care. Whether it's a city council chairperson or a Senate minority leader, they both seem to hate the mayor/president enough to harm the whole city/country. Isn't it time to stop? Both?

Hey, That Foreigner Could be The Guy That Gives You A job. Or Not.

Did you know that some legislators in Washington have begun to temper their anti-immigration rhetoric? It seems that they're beginning to hear from constituents that being against immigration is hurting businesses and job creation. In a time of very high unemployment, being against businesses and job creation isn't all that great of a position to be in. Here's the  thing, being "down" on immigrants, legal or illegal, hurts many businesses, but mostly agriculture. That means rural, that means areas that had been "down" on illegals. But since laws are being passed and local law enforcement has bared down of illegals, folks are finding out that it's not such a good idea after all. Okay, but how does job creation come from immigration? Well, in Thomas L Freidman's new book "That Used To Be Us", he points out that science and math standouts are the folks that come up with the most new patents and begin the most new startup companies, all of which hire, guess what, employees. So you ask, what does that have to do with immigration? Well something like 70% to 80% of the top graduates in math and science from American colleges and universities are foreign students. But it can take up to ten years for them to get a visa to get back into America. So, many are just staying home where they start those new companies and compete with us instead of coming here and hiring Americans. I'd call that bad policy, wouldn't you? Another thing Freidman mentions in his book is the idea that people think that if their kids are better educated in their school district then the next door district, they'll be able to get better jobs. But Freidman says, it's not the school next door they must compete with, it's the school in China or India or Singapore or Denmark or all the other industrialized countries in the world. That's because we compete with these nations for jobs. Jobs go where the best educated workers live. We'd better start getting our act together, because we're way behind much of the rest of the world. And those countries we're ahead of, have cheap labor that we can't compere with either. We sort of sit between just average education and very high tech job requirements. Where do you think we sit? On the outside looking in? Could be.

What Makes A Corporation A Person?

I just read the other day, or maybe it was yesterday, that there is a bill in some state house up for consideration that classifies a fertilized egg as a human person. Now before you jump all over me, let me say that this entry is not about whether or not this makes sense. And by the way it is referring to human eggs, so you can go ahead and have your chicken eggs over easy in the morning. Personally I like mine poached, on toast. No, rather, it got me to thinking about corporations.  Ya see, human persons start out as fertilized eggs. So I was wondering, how do corporations start out? I mean if they are people too, then how do they start out? Do they face the same dangers of not being conceived if birth control measures are used? And once born, do they breast feed or are they bottle fed? These are the kinds of questions that keep me up at night. Like, if human children have pediatricians, do corporation people have oaktreeicians? Where do you take a sick corporation? And at what age do corporations start school? Are they even required to attend public school? Does all of this sound silly? Well just how do you think it sounds calling corporations, people? If you have a house warming party, would it be improper to not invite your next door neighbor, Walmart? And what about your daughter's wedding? If DuPont is attending, I'm not. And when Jiffy-Lube moves in on the other side, there goes the neighborhood. That's the problem with the Supreme Court. They always leave more questions unanswered than they answer. Wouldn't it be nice if they just once gave us an answer that made sense and actually settled the matter once and for all. But no, they have to beat around the bush, presumably waiting to hear how the party in favor wants it settled. Supreme Court Justices are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate as you all know. Maybe they should be appointed by the corporate people and confirmed by the tree it took to give birth to that corporation. That's because ,after all, they're just a piece of paper, people.

What's All This Class Warfare About, Anyway?

Ya know why there's so much distrust and anger in America today? Well the Congressional Budget Office just completed a study showing that the top 1% have increased their income by about 275% adjusted for inflation, but the bottom 20%  income grew by only 18%, over the last 30 years.  Also, the top 20% now make more than the bottom 80% combined. But that's not what really has folks so upset. Here's the thing. The folks at the top, the top 20%, the ones who prefer to be known as the Job Creators, are the people who decide how much money the folks at the bottom, the 80%, will be paid. If the bottom 80% don't like it and they ask for more, the top 20% can just say no. If the bottom 80 demands more, the top 20 can just ship the jobs overseas, happily so. The thing about that is that the top 20 then make even more and the bottom 80 make even less. But even that isn't what's the problem. The problem is that if you don't have any say in what you make and the top 20 are willing to take unfair advantage of that fact, and they do, you tend to get mad as hell. But what's even worse then that, is the fact that the government has pretty much made all that income disparity possible. In fact the government is the entity that caused it to happen, intentionally. It must have been intentional. They changed the rules so nothing else could happen. How did they do it and why? Well the how is because they changed the percentage the top 1% and 20% pay in taxes. They now pay a lower tax percentage then they did thirty years ago. And a lower tax percentage means lower taxes which means you keep more money. The Why is a little more conjecture. My guess is that politicians get more campaign donations from the top 1% and 20%, in fact that's a proven fact. When you're a professional politician, campaign donations are necessary to stay in office. STAYING IN OFFICE IS THE REASON FOR BEING A PROFESSIONAL POLITICIAN. Therefore you have to do the bidding of the ones who provide your "bread and butter", so to speak. It ain't rocket science. Although the pros would like you to think it is.

Ahhh Yes. I Smell The NRA Again.

Well good ole NRA is at it again. Yep, never let it be said that the NRA would pass up any opportunity to make things more dangerous for Americans. Now it's a bill before the House of Representatives that wants to make it possible for anyone with a permit from any state to carry it in any other state, any time. For instance a New Yorker, who must pass a rigorous set of requirements designed to eliminate all but the most trustworthy before obtaining a permit to carry a concealed firearm, would then be allowed to carry that concealed firearm in a state like Tennessee or Montana where, presumably, you must be able to prove you are actually alive to obtain the permit. Well that doesn't sound so bad. The problem is that the folks from those states and similar states could then carry in New York, or Massachusetts. Let me ask you this, If you need to carry a concealed firearm for protection, why would you want to go to places like New York or Massachusetts in the first place? Why not stay at home and hide under the blankets? The next thing they'll want, is to be able to carry them on commercial airplane flights. You think I'm kidding? They won the right to carry in national parks and bars. What do you think is the next step in the natural progression of self protection? It's air transportation where actually using that gun could imperil the lives of everyone on board, that's what. Then it's probably a law that would require everyone over the age of 10 to carry a concealed firearm. Oh yeah? Well let's see what's up the NRA's sleeve in the years to come. It's not likely to be in the best interests of the American citizen, that's for sure. As I've said before, the NRA was formed to work on behalf of sportsmen and foster opportunities for the sportsman to participate in the peaceful enjoyment of using and owning sporting firearms. So why are they so interested in non-sportsman issues?  I wonder, again if it has anything to do with the huge financial donations from gun manufacturers and the gun manufacturer's desires to sell as many different firearms as possible? You betcha.

Just Who Should We Blame For Falling Behind?

There are some things I just don't understand. Some questions I have. Like for instance, why don't we provide returning soldiers from active duty with the training and skills they'll need in order to get a decent job? Hey, for that matter, why don't we provide that kind of training in skill sets for everyone who's out of work? To match those industries looking for workers. And how about this? Why don't colleges and universities and even trade schools do the same? Why is it that colleges, universities, trade schools and even high schools keep cranking out students that simply aren't ready for the next step in their lives? If a graduating senior in high school is going to college, why aren't they ready for college work? But how about if they plan on entering the workforce right out of high school? What has public school provided them with so they can actually land a job other than flipping burgers? I keep reading how we've fallen behind the rest of the world in education. How in the world could this have happened? I mean, how hard is it to keep a step ahead of the rest of the world? We held a substantial lead for decades. What changed? Who's at fault? Now, I really don't want to know who's at fault, unless the same fools are still in charge. What I want to know is who hasn't been keeping their collective eyes on the ball? And only if they're still in charge of that. Some say it's the immigration policies that has kept out immigrants we really need. Some say it's industry that hasn't kept education informed or worked with education. Some will say anything to shift the blame away from themselves. What I want to know is when is somebody going to do something about it. Our elected officials don't seem to have the faintest idea how to solve the problem. Hey, they don't seem to even be able to ask the right questions of the right people. But if not them, then who? Whom shall we trust to get the job done. What does the "job" entail? I think it's time for education, government and industry to sit down and figure this thing out. Once and for all. At least for the near term. But then lots of folks don't want the federal government involved in local issues of education. Well let me tell you, local issues haven't been attended to locally so it's time to bring in the big horses. Some say it's not industries responsibility. But industry is the first to suffer and the first to complain about the lack of skills. It's time for industry to get involved. And don't let education off the hook either. Education should be looking for ways to better prepare these young people to perform in the workplace, not just waiting for somebody to tell them it's time to change. And then anguishing over it. Everybody is anguishing over this problem, but nobody is fixing the problem. Yet. And then there's the parents. There's far too many parents who just don't really pay much attention to their children's education. As long as the kids maintain a certain grade average, they're satisfied. It may be buggy whips, but as long as there's an "A" in it, then it's okay. Does this sound like a harsh assessment of the situation? I meant it to be.

What Is It About High Tea and Occupation?

Every article I've read tells me the same story. The Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street both agree on about 80% of everything. Now the fact is that only the rank and file members of both groups agree. The leadership of the Tea Party, the Republicans and the Religious right, and those who would become the leadership of the Occupy movement, the Democrats and the Unions,  believe that there is little or no agreement. Does that sound familiar to you? Republicans and Democrats, and by that I mean our esteemed leadership, can't agree on anything. So, what is it that the regular members of both movements agree on so much? That things are screwed up, that's what. The only difference is that the Tea folks think it's the government that's to blame while the Occupy group are convinced its Wall Street and bankers that are at fault. Ya know which side is right? The Tea Party is right. The Occupy Wall Street is right. But how can both be right? It's simple when you think about it. Wall Street owns the government. Both Republicans and Democrats get their financing for campaigns and various outings and perks from the folks on Wall Street and at the Banks. And politicians never bite the hand that feeds them. There are other big donors too, but they fall into the main category too. Oh politicians give a brief  'tip of the hat" to the electorate during elections, but that tip is but the tip of that iceberg. Mainly they bow and grovel to the folks that own them. It's interesting to understand why they're owned by such folks. See, the thing is that what they crave most is to remain in power. That power that comes with being a part of the Congress of the United States of America. or being the president to a lesser degree, is like nothing else on earth. But it takes loads of money. The reason the presidency is a lesser degree is that it's limited to two terms, while you can stay in congress forever if you have the money to get reelected. Once you've served as president, that's it. If you're in Congress, you make the laws or break the laws, or change the laws, or you would if you could all agree, which you can't, but you can still make loads of money and open broad opportunities should you ever get defeated and want a high paying job as a lobbyist or public speaker. That and the work week is short and the work season is shorter.

Make A Difference Day Is Today.

Well today is "Make A Difference Day", presumably in someone Else's life. Well okay, here's my idea of making a difference in your life, and mine too. Lets agree that I'm right and you've been wrong all along. Now there, doesn't that make you feel better? It sure makes me feel better. Suppose we were to have said you were right and I was wrong? I'm not suggesting that's true, you understand, but suppose we did? Then the truth came out and it turned out that I was right all along and you were wrong. Wouldn't that make you feel terrible? It would me. So lets just stick with my plan. Now I thing you should tell me you're sorry for all the times you disagreed with me. That would make me feel even better. It might even make you feel better even if it bugs you to admit it. I have to tell you that being right has always been a great joy for me. Like the fact that the Iraq war was a monumental blunder on our part, from the beginning. Even now when President Obama has stated that all U.S. military will be out by the end of the year. Still many ultra conservatives and all GOP presidential contenders think we should stay longer. Why, the Iraqis have stated that if any stay, they will not guarantee that the troops will be protected from prosecution for any charge they may wish to place against them. That pretty much says "Yankee Go Home" to me. It's time to bring them home from a war we never should have gotten into in the first place. But you won't hear that from the far right. It's time for them to Make A Difference, today. Admit I was right all along. And be happy for the thousands of American troops that will be out of harms way. At least for now. At least until they have to go to Afghanistan which was the right war but has become the unwinable war. And you need to agree with me on that too.

What Foxhole Do You Belong To?

Lets hear it for our Senate. If you think that having fewer, lower paid firefighters in your city will make you safer, boy does the Senate have a plan for you. If you think having fewer and lower paid teachers in your district will make for a better education for your children or grandchildren please raise your hand. The Senate just blocked a bill to fund the additional firefighters and teachers, because it would have meant a tax on people making $1 million or more a year. Why? Because they are the job creators. One thing I don't understand though. The tax wouldn't be levied on total income, but only after paying all employees and all business expenses. In other words the tax would be only on the "NET" income. So the tax really wouldn't affect their ability to hire more people, only their take home pay. Do you suppose that the Senate and the House of Representatives, for that matter, don't realize this? I find it hard to believe that these folks couldn't figure that out. My guess is, it has more to do with politics than with doing what's right for the people of this country. Ya know, I love this country. And there are a lot of reasons why I do. But the political parties aren't two of those reasons. They aren't even one of those reasons. That's why I think the time has come to abolish political parties. I suppose there was a time when it made sense to have political parties. The problem, is career politicians have turned them into mortal enemies of each other. Each election cycle turns into a war in which neither side will allow the other to do anything good for the people. They'll lie or cheat, whatever it takes to win. Now America has quite enough enemies, thank you very much. What America doesn't need is two more. And I contend that political parties are enemies of America because their fighting causes we citizens to suffer. We're collateral damage. These party leaders aren't citizen legislators the way our Founding Fathers intended. Our Founding Fathers were citizen legislators. They served long enough to get the job done and then they went home and back to work. That's why we need term limits, not professional, career politicians.

Anyone Who Isn't Native American Need Not Apply. Go Apache.

Hey, have you heard the one about Alabama's new anti-immigration laws? The harshest in the country? Well here's the way it goes. A foreign company wants to open a factory in America to make cars. Alabamans find out and try to lure the company to their state with reduced taxes and exceptional lands and so on. The company says to the Alabamans, Aren't you the folks that don't like outsiders? We're not going there. Yep. The law is backfiring on them. Farmers are trying to figure out how to get their crops harvested because locals won't do it because the work is too hard. Businesses are closing for lack of workers or because owners are fleeing the state. Property owners are trying to keep their lawns and gardens from going the way of the wild. It's even hurting Alabama's tourist industry. As if things weren't bad enough in Alabama, this law is making them out to be the meanest hatemongers in the country. So what's the plus side? Well, a lot of "undesirables" are leaving town. Which means there are more homes empty and available. Just what's needed in a down market, right? This well thought out policy should be tried in one more state and then be outlawed. But it should be done sooner than later. What's the thinking or lack of thinking behind these types of laws? The fear is that these undocumented workers are taking jobs away from Americans. But the thing is, there just aren't many Americans willing to do the physically hard work under harsh conditions for low pay that these jobs represent. Are there some doing more skilled work? Sure, and those jobs pay more. But how come the Americans didn't apply for those jobs? I have my own opinion on that subject. The folks that complain the most are the folks that would sit on the couch in front of the TV and expect companies to come knocking at their doors. Life doesn't work that way anymore.    

Ahhh Congress. Ya loves ta Hate Em

Have ya noticed how many small, population wise, states are moving their caucus and primary dates up? Iowa just moved theirs up to Jan. 3. If they keep going, somebody will hold theirs the day after the general election, for the next election. It's no wonder Iowa wants to be first. After all it's quite an important state. election wise.What do they have, five or six electoral votes? Maybe the idea is to get them all out of the way before the big states, population wise, get into voting. What if the whole country all voted or caucused on the same day, just like the general election? Wouldn't that be better? Not so, say the small states. See, they wouldn't get all the attention the get now. So they wouldn't like a same day solution. It's like eliminating all political parties and have the two top contenders have a runoff in the general elections. What chance do you think there would be of having that pass the congress? Uh huh. Just about as much chance as we'd have of getting term limits through congress. So if congress is the reason we can't get important and needed bills through the congress, do you suppose the problem is with congress? Or maybe it's with the parties and the individual members of congress? Or maybe it has to do with somebody who came up with an idea to get all the members of one party to sign a pledge that basically says NO TAXES, even if it destroys the country. Now I don't like taxes any more than you do, but if push came to shove and we needed taxes for, oh say, better education, I think I'd be willing to spare a little bit more. Anyway the problem is still with congress. Well actually the two parties. And the individual members of congress.

Ranting about this and that.

When I was a child, I kept being told that candy and other sweets were bad for my teeth. Well now I'm grown up. As much as I'm ever going to be. Now I'm told sweets are bad for my diabetes. When I was young I didn't want to loose my teeth, but I wouldn't mind loosing my diabetes now. Who would have thought that something that tastes so good would be so bad. But then again most things that are really exciting aren't good for you and most things that are boring are particularly good for you. It all comes down to sugar. Now the corn growers are telling us that whether it's cane sugar or corn syrup, corn sugar, sugar is sugar. As if that makes corn syrup good for you. Here's a flash for ya. Whether it's cane sugar or corn syrup, sugar is not very good for you. At the risk of sounding like a preacher, why is it necessary to have corn syrup in so many packaged food products? How about putting less in our packaged products. How about putting less salt in everything that doesn't have sugar and even some that have both. Because I'm told that salt is bad for my heart. I'm telling you, I like the taste of sugar and salt. If they're going to be bad for my health, how come we use them so much and how come we enjoy them so much? Why not make them healthy in large volumns? I'm just asking. Or failing that, how about making what's good for us, really tasty? Like chocolate frosting. There are loads of other things that are bad for you too. Red meat isn't too good for your heart, smoking, well okay on that one, but how come deep fried foods of any kind are bad for ya? Why aren't deep fried carrots or brocolli or chicken or potatoes good for ya? I like deep fried. I'll even promise to use extra virgin olive oil if only it'll be good for me. It really does seem that there is someone, somewhere who has decided to prove that there is nothing good for ya. Don't sleep on you side, don't sleep on your stomach, don't sleep on your back and never sleep behind the wheel. I fell asleep driving once. Nothing bad happened. It was in Alaska and mine was the only vehicle on the road. Does that prove anything? No. So then, why is the water I drink, bad, and the air I breathe, bad and the fuel I burn in my car, bad? I guess it's just the way things are. Too bad.

Life Or Death. A Little Help Please.

Did you know that the oil and gas companies are still getting subsidies in the form of tax relief? Now, think about it. If the price of gasoline goes up, the subsidies go up. How's that for a double whammy. So the next time you stop to fill up, just remember, you're helping to pad those record breaking profits the oil companies seem to keep producing. Of course the coal industry keeps getting help from Uncle Sam too. Like land grants. But here's the real rub. Just one bad investment of a clean technology company and everyone is getting down on the entire industry. How come? Why do we seem to want that industry to fail, but want industries that truly are harmful to us, to show record profits and still subsidize them? Who said the oil industry needs financial help? What? Are they so poor they can't afford a cup of coffee with their morning barrel of oil? Don't get me wrong, I don't want the oil industry to go belly up. At least not until we develop a clean alternative. Then it would be a fairly good idea if the oil industry sort of faded into the background. Just a small niche industry, a closet industry. Just enough to handle our lubrication needs. The way things are now, we seem to be lubricating their wallets. To the point of over lubrication. Here's a novel idea. How about we start helping to come up with an alternative to oil a whole lot and stop helping the oil industry, which doesn't need the help, based on it profits, a whole lot? Less for oil and more for alternatives. Give me life or give me death. Doesn't seem like it should be a hard choice.

Cozy Is Nice.

Now here's a deal for ya. You know about the proposed tar sands oil pipeline from Canada to the Texas gulf coast refineries, right? Well part of the approval process required the State Department to do an environmental study. So they asked the pipeline builders to hire a company to do the study. Okay, the pipeline company hired another company that does a lot of business with them, to do the study. Guess what? To no one's surprise, the study found there would be no problem with building and operating the pipeline. Now, that might be true. But then again it might not be true. See the company that did the study still wants to do a lot of business with the pipeline company. Now how would you guess they might wind their way into the good graces of the pipeline company? See the study doesn't guarantee there will be no problems, it just says that in the opinion of the study's author, there should be no problem. Of course, if there were to be a problem, the author would have no responsibility. And if the study turned out to be positive, well then. On the other hand if the study turned out to say it was bad, how soon do you think they'd get more business from that pipeline company? Now. The State Department says it doesn't have the money to pay for such studies and so like other departments it outsources the work and has the pipeline company pay for it. Well, that's not too bad. Where it gets a little too cozy is when they have the pipeline company choose the study author. So following this example, I could apply for a permit to dump radioactive trash in my brother-in-laws back yard. And if I hired my sister to write the environmental study (she doesn't like him either) it wouldn't surprise anyone if it came back positive. So could I go ahead and do it? Well, I suppose my brother-in-law would object. But who likes him anyway?

Time To Settle The Illegal Alien Problem.

Here's something for you to think about. Monarch butterflies and a substantial number of song birds, as well as many other birds and butterflies migrate each Autumn and Spring. To and from our southern neighbors including Mexico and the rest of Central American and even South America. My question to all of this information is whether or not these living organisms should be considered illegal aliens? Let's look at the facts in this case. First they live part of each year in a foreign country. This automatically makes them suspect. Secondly they are not human. This makes them the same as any other alien. Now to be fair, most procreate in this country. But that doesn't mean they don't come here for the express purpose of obtaining native born resident status for the purpose of citizenship and for our over burdened medical opportunities for their offspring. Ya see? And here's the worst part. Our government does nothing to discourage this obvious attempt to overwhelm our national and stater and local governmental entitlements. I personally have seen butterflies and songbirds on public school property. Friends, you and I pay for these schools and these interlopers are using them without any responsibility of payment. They don't pay taxes. They don't pay tuition. They just show up with the expectation of being served and fed. It's time to put our feet down and squash this invasion. We must nip it in the bud before it becomes an epidemic of major proportions. The preceding is a public announcement by the Tea Party and may or may not represent the opinions of the management of this blog.

Come On Guys. Kiss And Make Up.

Don't ya just have to wonder about Israel these days? I mean they've always been pretty much independent minded. The do just about as they please. Heck, even America doesn't do that. In fact America is a poster child for not doing just as it pleases. We try hard to tell everyone else how to act, but we don't do too well in that department ourselves. But Israel has always done exactly and only what it thinks is best for Israel, no matter what. Folks have always admired that about Israel, if only in secret. But things have been changing fairly quickly this year. The Arab Spring, deteriorating friendships with Egypt and Turkey, and a newly returned determination to develop the West Bank, to the dismay of the entire world. It seems to me that they're really trying to pick a fight. Israel has soundly defeated every single opponent that has ever tried to stand up against them except for the last big go around. That time, against the Hamas in Lebanon where they nearly got beat. Oh they sort of won, but just by the skin of their teeth. The mistake they made there was not to go big, quick. They know it, their Arab neighbors know it. Maybe they feel they need a second shot at the championship. Whatever. The time is past when they will be able to push everyone around and America can smooth out the playing field. Because America is loosing it's influence in the region. Our petro dollars aren't quite as important in the region as in years past. There are other players eager to spend big bucks for oil and our money could easily be overlooked if they don't like the way we comb our hair. So here's my advise. Stop fooling around, sit down and hammer out a plan to give the West Bank and that other piece of sand, statehood in exchange for recognition. Everyone knows that's what's got to happen. Arabs and Jews and everyone else. Why not just admit it and do it.