Random Thoughts

I am beginning to be more and more convinced that the epicenter of international problems is and will be Pakistan. They built nuclear weapons because they perceived a threat from India----and it does not appear that India is a threat as much as it will come from terrorists.

Much of the world crisis that is perceived comes from radical Islam. This is better stated as Fundamentalist Islam. It is even better said as Fundamentalism. Fundamentalism, no matter what its form or what religion it espouses, is dangerous. It is a literal declaration of rules----rules that are right under all circumstances. It is not about faith, it is about certainty. People who claim certainty about the ways of God are, whether they are willing to admit it or not, claiming equality with God. They are intrinsically dangerous to the hearts and minds of people.

The interesting thing about the ‘persecuted’ Miss California is that I don’t even know who won Miss USA. She has a right to say what she thinks and believes and whether I agree or disagree with her is of no consequence. Persecution is being fed to the lions, burned at the stake, or imprisoned. Persecution is not coming in second place.

John Demjanjuk was deported from Cleveland back to Germany. He was a suspected Nazi guard at a death camp and is at least perceived as a war criminal. There is a part of me that feels badly that an 89 year old man, now sick, is being deported for this. But then I recently watched a portion of Schindler’s List again and the crimes of the Nazis can never be forgotten or overlooked...

Jon and Kate Gosselin of “Jon and Kate Plus Eight,” a television program about their lives with eight small children, are both accused of having affairs. Jon was seen out with a young woman with whom he says is merely a friend, and Kate is suspected of having an affair with a bodyguard. I am not much of a reality show watcher but I have found their show to be rather fascinating. Jon and Kate legitimately and honestly struggle with being the parents of eight small children and very much struggle with each other. I hope that the affairs are merely rumors. I really do. I also think that despite the fact that they have been well payed for being on exhibit (by their choice) to the whole world, they might want to consider their future as a television family. At some point, privacy, and a dignified privacy, is priceless.

All the predictions are that the New York Giants won’t make the playoffs this year. Last year it was predicted that they wouldn’t make the playoffs. The previous year all the ‘experts’ said that they would be, at best, 6-10. They went 10-6 and are well remembered for giving the Patriots the number ‘1' after ‘18' instead of ‘0' after ‘19.’

Allow me to smile for a moment and bask in the memories of this.

Okay, I’m back. Maybe they won’t make the playoffs but I’m always amazed that no one ever comes them a chance or the time of day as a good time.

Speaking of football, my daughter and I were wondering of Jessica Simpson forced John Madden into retirement because Madden always spoke so lovingly about Tony Romo. He would speak of Romo so often that we were convinced he was madly in love with Romo. I’m thinking that Jessica put a stop to this and Madden, heart-broken, chose to retire...

There will be a major plague of bugs this summer. Microsoft is planning to release a new version of Windows that I am sure will have more bugs than we can possibly imagine. My laptop (which I am not on at the moment) has Vista and it is not really bad, but does remind me of the ‘good old days’ of Windows when programs did crash on a fairly regular basis.

All the controversy that is coming out concerning the movie, “Angels and Demons” reminds me of the controversies surround “The DaVinci Code.” Both were Dan Brown novels and both were FICTION.

I have been watching Nancy Pelosi. The Bush Administration demonstrated, over the years, an incredible ease with lying even about big things. I might be naive, but I have a difficult time believing that the CIA would have been as completely dishonest to Speaker Pelosi as she is suggesting. She is the Speaker of the House and they would be held accountable to Congress for actions and for money. In short, her story, at least to me, does not make sense. It looks like she tried to make political hay on torture and she’s been caught. The old line that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely is, sadly, ringing true.