A Return to the Focus on Commentary

A Notice To My Insightful Readers

Beginning Monday, we will be returning to the original mission of the blog by popular demand.  

The Summer of Love - France 2008

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But I think this one is worth many more. This is my son, Brian and his  bride Gaelle after their marriage last summer in France. Oldest grandson Jacob is enthusiastically providing the special effects. 

Brian and Gaelle are expecting their first child in late April and I am looking forward to meeting my new granddaughter then.

Tomorrow, I'll share photos of son Michael and his wife Karen along with their sons: Jacob, Matt and Sam. If you don't already know, I consider myself the most fortunate Dad and grandfather ever! 

New Adventure Yes, Business Venture No!

An unidentified  and well-placed source (I protect my sources) called last night to say how much he enjoyed reading the postings. He rightly cautioned me about not taking my foray into the blogoshepere too seriously regarding expectations of commercial success. So let me just be clear.

 

This is not a business venture, rather an adventure. It's an opportunity to stay in regular contact with family, friends and colleagues as well as to keep current my personal (first person) writing chops.  Free self expression, separate from the professional world of writing advertising copy, corporate annual reports, broadcast scripts, or marketing plans.  

I will only continue to do this as long as it is fun for readers and myself. I was going to add "or until I have nothing to say'" but we all know how unlikely that is!

 

A Local Lesson to be Learned

As you may know, I work and write from my home office in Edmonds, Washington. Many days we have beautiful views of the Puget Sound and the snow capped Olympic mountains. But this year, the snow came right down to us and left behind two feet of winter white.

You are looking at a recent photo taken from my office window. Now picture the entire city of Seattle looking like this, particularly the freeways and streets, as we entered the new year.  Fortunately, the schools were closed, but commerce and public transportation were brought to a near stand still. Many of those who braved these unplowed roads were left stranded or engaged in slow motion ice crashes.

After it was over, area body shops reported a banner business bonanza with work backlogs of up to six months. When asked to rate Seattle's response to the event, Mayor Greg Nichols gave himself a "B" grade.  The laughter could be heard all the way to City Hall. 

Now the City Council is holding hearings on what went wrong.  To this observer the answer was clear: a shortage of snow plows combined with a reluctance to use salt on the roads. Because of this, a great opportunity to get people out of their cars and into public conveyance was squandered.     

Middle Eastern Food for Thought

The Arab-Israeli conflicts have been with us since 1948 when Israel first became a recognized nation.  Long before that, the conflicts can be traced back to the pre-Islam era of David and Goliath.  This epoch spanning feud makes the Hatfields and McCoys seem like a love-fest.

Both the ancient kingdom of the Israelites and the modern state of Israel took their respective opportunities to make the desert bloom and create societies where science and the arts flourished.

In our time, Israel has made peace with many of its former enemies.  Yet some continue to deny Israel's very right to existence.  Hezbollah lobs in terrorist rockets from the north and then re-arms itself after Israel withdraws from its incursion to stop the terror.  And Hamas now does the same from Gaza with rockets and fuel hidden among the civilian population.

The United States faces a similar situation in Afghanistan.  We send in troops to stabilize the region and isolate the terrorists but in doing so, we create more terrorists for the Taliban to recruit.  In effect, Kabul has become an island surrounded by these terrorists.

Sound familiar?

The big difference is that we share our real geographical borders with allies and Israel does not. We must allow them to defend themselves or we undermine their chances of survival.  If Israel yields to terrorism, the entire middle east will be lost to Islamic extremists and we will live in a much more dangerous world than we do presently.

If this gives you indigestion, I share the feeling.  But a stomachache is preferable to the alternatives.  Food for thought.

Starting the New Year

As the first work day of the year dawns, I have decided to share my observations on current events with an emphasis on their philosophical context. In other words, this site will be devoted to editorial commentary in the hope of prompting political and social discourse with opinionated people who enjoy gourmet food for thought.

On the menu for Monday: Middle Eastern Leftover Politics (and why they cause such global indigestion).