The View From the Outback© 2000 Richard C. Rhodes
A great deal of what we read in newspapers, magazines, and books, and what we see in the movies and on TV is written and produced in New York City or Los Angeles. Much of the "political wisdom" comes from the PR machines of the White House, the Congress, and from the Washington media corps. In short, one might conclude that all knowledge, wisdom, and wit are confined to those who inhabit New York City, Washington DC, or Hollywood. I am now a senior citizen, in my 7th decade. My experience was gained in many cities in the U.S. and in about 30 foreign countries. That experience has included the U.S. Marines, law school, the ATF, the CIA, Fortune 500 executive, writer, public speaker, educator, editor, and publisher - for openers. Some insights come from talking with ham-radio operators in every major country and such idyllic places as the Cook Islands. For over 20 years, I have written articles off and on for various magazines and newspapers. I've had an enormous number of letters published in major national publications. The Outback is the rural area in Northeast Texas where I have lived for the past 15 years. Since most visits to my pages come from searches, I am no longer trying to keep on a regular schedule for updating the Outback. Click on a Topic to go directly to that topic. Oct. 21, 2005, 4:32 p.m. CDT: Dear President Bush - You have only about 15 days to withdraw the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. She is getting worse reviews than a Jason Alexander sitcom. How stubborn can you be? Ask any kid in the 8th grade and they will tell you that Ms. Miers stands little chance of being confirmed. It would be a miracle if her Senate hearing testimony could somehow overcome the nearly universal adverse reaction she is getting on the Hill, in the media, and from just plain folks who cannot understand why you nominated her in the first place. Pull the plug now and save further embarrassment to you and your administration - and to our country in the eyes of the world. (e-mailed to White House at 4:48 p.m.) The U.S. Congress passed a bill shielding the gun industry from capricious lawsuits. Gun makers and dealers still would be subject to product liability, negligence or breach of contract suits. But, as expected, there is a huge outcry from the anti-gun crowd that this legislation is unprecedented in protecting an industry, yatta, yatta, yatta. The fact is that we have 20,000 plus gun laws, but the anti-gun group is never happy. There has been no support for new gun legislation in the Congress in recent years. They let the "feel-good" and ridiculously-flawed "assault weapon ban" expire. The facts are that the anti-gun people have been trying to use lawsuits and decisions by liberal judges to do what they have not been able to do via legislation. Unprecedented protection for an industry? Hardly. For example, the House passed a bill that protects fast-food outlets and other servers of food from being sued for most obesity or weight-gain-related claims against the food industry. (Senate must still vote on it.) It might be called the "Getting fat from eating is your problem and a personal decision" bill. Suing a gun maker because a gun is used inappropriately or suing a fast-food outlet because you got fat eating their food are equally ridiculous. Now, we wait to see which "activist" judges will try to overturn the laws. The judge thing is really where the battlefield is, as President Bush attempts to appoint judges who will interpret the law, not substitute their judgement for that of the various legislatures. So watch the BigMac and gun cases to see which judges and courts actually stick to their role of "interpreting the law." On Oct. 20, 2005, Pfizer Inc. reported a 52 percent drop in third-quarter profit. There is some good news for stockholders. Sales for the cholesterol-lowering Lipitor rose 6 percent to $2.9 billion for the quarter. That is $2.9 billion of sales in three months! For one pill! Look forward to more hyperbolic press releases, and more studies at a frenzied pace to "prove" that Lipitor is good for "just about anything that ails you." When the medical community finally faces facts and agrees with those at www.thincs.org that cholesterol has nothing to do with heart disease, better sell you Pfizer stock quickly - while getting out is still a viable option. Dick Morris, political gadfly and disgraced former Clinton advisor, has written a book called "Condi vs. Hillary." He makes an assumption that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2008 and that only Condi Rice, Secretary of State, could beat her. What a waste of a tree. Given the distrust and outright hatred in many quarters for Hillary, I would not bet $1 on her becoming the nominee - not if anybody reads several books about her and studies her Socialist and Communist ties in the past. Even taking into account her phony Senate makeover as a moderate. Apparently, Mr. Morris forgot to talk to Condi Rice. She said on "Meet the Press," that she was not interested in running for "anything." "How many different ways do I have to say no?" I would not buy a used car from Dick Morris, let alone read this stupid book, which is based on two assumptions that do not hold up at all. If Hillary does get the nomination, there are probably several Republicans who could beat her. She has too much baggage to suggest that she is a "born-again moderate." Fortunately, Hillary's past is extensively and exquisitely documented. Do you remember why we had a 55 m.p.h. speed limit a few years ago? We had an energy crisis. A speed of 55 m.p.h. was estimated to use 17% less fuel per mile than a speed of 75 m.p.h. And harmful emissions would be lower at 55. In 1974 Congress imposed a nationwide 55 m.p.h. speed limit by threatening to withhold highway funds from states that did not adopt this limit. Not only does the government abuse the commerce clause to intrude upon our lives and state sovereignty, and abuse the taxing power to invent new government powers - but they use extortion when all else fails - as was the case in the 55 m.p.h. mandate. I try not to exceed 60 m.p.h. these days. I notice that at 55-60 my tachometer shows a substantially lower rpm than at 70. And I watch the tach when I start up from a stop. A very gradual increase in speed will keep the rpms much lower than the way we normally drive. I drive a lot fewer miles each week. As we have cut back on our driving - and possibly drive more slowly - ye olde Supply and Demand is taking effect. There are no long gas lines in the Outback, and gas prices are coming down. Traffic is much lighter on my county highway. The "let's drive into town for a Coke or a DQ" days are on hold for now. New census data indicates that white people are in a minority in Texas, with 50.2 percent being persons of color. Hispanics make up 35 percent of the population in Texas, but that is only the ones that the census could document! Now, whites in Texas can start taking advantage of some the minority-victimization boondoggles. Affirmative action for college admissions could be a start. On JEOPARDY!, during Back to School Week, the young contestants were asked about their career goals. One young lady, about 11 or 12, said that she wanted to be a Supreme Court justice. But, she said, if that didn't work out, she would settle for being "a trophy wife." With a little more life experience, she might have added a third option, "Trophy wife of a Supreme Court justice." The State of Texas is now offering vehicle license plates that can have either the phrase "God Bless America," or "God Bless Texas." The A.C.L.U., and other misguided groups, better jump on this and sue - before this "God" stuff gets out of hand. Why must such a simple and utterly unambiguous phrase as - "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" - be so badly misinterpreted? As Sen. John Cornyn, a former Justice on the Texas Supreme Court, points out in his article in the WSJ about Harriet Miers: "Last year, the court permitted a public display of the Ten Commandments in Texas, but not in Kentucky. It took nine justices on the court 10 different opinions to explain why this was so." Jon Stewart, of "The Daily Show," a Jew, made an interesting observation. Speaking of the devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and hypothetically addressing his remarks to God, Jon said, "What part of 'God Bless America' do you not understand?" During his confirmation hearing, Chief Justice Roberts was asked about an earlier memo he had written suggesting a 15-year term limit for federal (Sup. Ct.?) judges. He smiled and said that he no longer supported that view. The Constitution says that federal judges shall hold their offices during "good behavior." So, unless they are impeached and convicted, it is a lifetime job. Justice Stevens is 85 years old, Sandra Day O'Connor is 75, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 72. They may all still have all their mental faculties, but they must be largely out of touch with modern society and modern technology, for example. Maybe the President could sidestep the Constitution by making a nominee sign a "prenup," in which they agree to serve only 15 years and make it public. Let the public put pressure on the justices if they don't leave after 15 years. I read that there are very few people over 70 on the Internet. Sad and silly. I got started with the Internet at its inception and fight it and my computer every day. That is about all that challenges my brain - other than "Wheel of Fortune" and "JEOPARDY!." Geezers, computers are cheap now. Buy one and you will discover a world you could not imagine existed. Of course, if you are reading this, you probably have a computer or are at the library. Spread the word. I once gave a one-week class on computers to a senior-citizen group. People as old as 80+ went out and bought computers and thanked me for the push. I try to ignore celebrity "news." But, as I browse the Web each day, I have to pass by a lot of headlines. I am confused about which one is Katie Holmes and which one is Kate Moss. One is a drug addict and the other is knocked up out of wedlock, but I am not sure which is which. When I see something about (Ariel) Sharon, I think it is about Sharon Stone. I get Ashlee Simpson and Jessica Simpson confused. As I understand it, they both claim to be singers, although one sounds like a screech owl and the other only moves her lips. Headline; "U2 Hijacks Conan" Has Conan been spirited away in a spy plane? Was it a typo, and meant to say "Conan Hijacks a U2"? And Conan who? It's not like "Conan" is Cher or Regis, who have a virtual copyright on their names. It's all so confusing for those of us who are not hip to the current culture - and don't want to be. It's just a lot of screen clutter, getting in the way of the real news. (Actually, I know of Bono and his good work as a humanitarian. But I did not know he was with U2 and have never heard them play. When you say "Bono" to an old person, they are more likely to think of Sonny Bono of Sonny & Cher. Sonny later became a U.S. Congressman and was killed while skiing when he hit a tree. Tell a young person that Cher's ex-husband Sonny was a Congressman and they would likely say "you're kiddin' me." If you told them that Sonny Bono's wife at the time of his death ran for his Congressional seat in the U.S. House, and that Mary Bono is now in her 5th term, you might say, "Now you're making stuff up." Ask the "Jaywalk Allstars" (on Leno) who Sonny Bono is and they would say "That U2 guy." There is a huge generation gap. I was just trying to make a point about celebrity news drivel.) (Update Saturday, Oct. 22, 2005: I find this a little hard to believe, but .... On Sat., Oct. 22, during Weekend Update on NBC's Saturday Night Live (SNL), the following news parody was presented: "U 2 lead singer Bono met with President Bush in the White House on Wednesday and urged the president to help the world's poor. While the president urged Bono to get back with Cher." Are we to believe that SNL thought of the Bono/Cher (Sonny Bono/Cher) thing on their own after it was posted here a week or two previous? What an incredible coincidence.) Well, it was not an obscure tax-law case that greeted Chief Justice Roberts on his first day on the bench, but an Oregon law allowing doctor-assisted suicide. What guidance will the justices get from the Constitution on this issue? Zero. My guess is that the court will hold that the Oregon law is unconstitutional on a 5-4 decision. A lot will possibly depend on whether the opinion is rendered while Justice O'Connor is still on the court. Why is this kind of nonsense even in the judicial system? Ever since the various TV networks started running constant screen crawls, I have refused to watch those programs. I sent letters of protest to the presidents of CNN, FOX, etc. I have never met a person who likes the screen crawls. During Katrina I watched CNN and FOX, but on my digital TV I can move the picture down and cut off the crawl. Normally, I am too lazy to shift the picture, so I shun CNN, FOX, MSNBC, et al. Finally, Kansas State professors Lori Bergen and Tom Grimes have done a study of comprehension and retention on those channels that run a crawl. They proved what those of us with stressed eyeballs and brains already knew. In short, the damn things drive you nuts! They said in part: For this we needed a study? Down with Screen Crawls. Workers unite. Comes the Revolution. Or, get a digital TV (HDTV) where you can cut off the crawl. But then, the Chimps who run the networks will never know that you hate the crawl. Let them know. Then buy the HDTV with the moveable picture, since the Chimps are not likely to change. If CNN stopped crawls, would others follow? Maybe. You know the saying - Monkey see, Monkey do. No offense to real Chimps intended. Recently, I renewed both my EZ-Antivirus program (www.my-etrust.com) and my Zone Alarm Pro 6 firewall (www.zonelabs.com). Each renewal was $19.95 for a year (Norton Anti-virus renewal is now $29.99!). EZ-Antivirus continues to provide automated daily updates of about 220KB a day and works flawlessly. Zone Alarm Pro 6 has some new features, like spyware protection with auto-scanning and a more robust firewall. To recap: I now have no Symantec/Norton products on any of my computers - and feel so liberated. I also bought Acronis True Image 8. Among its many backup features, I make a complete "disk image" of my C: drive (which includes the XP Home files) and send it to an external USB 2.0 hard drive. The external 120 GB hard drive has two partitions, one that is plenty large enough to hold the "C drive image," and another partition that I use to back up my data files, most of which are on a different partition from my XP operating system. If you recently upgraded your Cingular cell phone and signed a new contract, you probably were told you had to accept a "text messaging" package for about $5 a month. You can cancel that package after 30 days, which I did. I have never sent a text message and don't intend to - unless there is a flood or tornado. Text messages take up less bandwidth than voice and are helpful when circuits are overloaded like in times of disasters. You can always send or receive a text message on a per-message charge if the need arises. Also, if your phone rings only about 3 times and then brings up voice mail while you are still fumbling to answer the phone, you can have the voice-mail delay extended to about 20-25 seconds. That can be done via the software that controls your account. No need to take the phone in for an adjustment. WARNING!This paragraph contains medical information about a common bodily function that might offend some people. Move on, if you think you might be offended. Black stools can indicate that there is a serious problem. A black stool usually means that if there is internal bleeding, the blood is coming from the upper part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This includes the esophagus, stomach, or first part of the small intestine. Stomach ulcers caused by ibuprofen, naproxen, or aspirin are common causes of upper GI bleeding. Gastritis is the inflammation of the stomach lining and can be caused by overindulging in alcohol or food, eating spicy foods, smoking, infection with bacteria or prolonged use of NSAIDs. Posssible Cancer has to be considered. Now the good news. Consuming black licorice, lead, iron pills, bismuth medicines like Pepto-Bismol, or blueberries can also cause black stools. If you have ingested black licorice, lead (try not to eat lead), iron pills, blueberries, or Pepto-Bismol or its generic equivalent, the black stools may go away a few days after your intake of those things. If the black stools remain after several days, you should see a doctor to begin testing to determine the cause of the problem. In a recent case I became aware of, the problem seemed to be caused by several healthy gulps of Pepto-Bismol within 24 hours. In a few days, the "normal" stool color came back. What Are People Searching For? I subscribe to a service that posts the search someone made that brought them to my page. Some of the searches are insightful into our culture and some foreign cultures. I have decided to post some snippets here in the Outback from time to time. One of the reasons I am doing this is because I get so many hits from people searching for things that at no time in the past three years or so have I written on the subject on my Web page or in the Outback column. They just type in a bunch of words, with no use of advanced search techniques, and much of the time they come up with things that have nothing to do with their search. This is one way Google and others can brag about how many searches they do. Probably 75% of them are not specific enough to produce a desired result. They get hits on the "Outback" high in the rankings partly because it is linked to many pages worldwide and that is one of the ways responses are ranked. Here is a classic example. I adore Soledad O'Brien and have written about her several times. But, I had no idea who Miles O'Brien was, as I don't watch morning TV. I kept getting search hits asking "are Soledad (Solidad) and Miles O'Brien married?" Finally, I did a search on ("Soledad O'Brien" husband). I quickly discovered that Soledad is married to investment banker Brad Raymond and they have four kids, whom I named in an update to www.home.earthlink.net/~rickhgtx/outbac91.html (where I had talked about Soledad). This is not rocket science, just common sense. Pretend you are a computer database. What kinds of things would you return if you were asked a seemingly disjointed and complex question? I know, there are sites that say you can ask questions. Good luck. "Coenzyme Q10 and Statins" Hundreds of hits on this. Top search for hits. I have written extensively on both subjects. "What kind of plastic surgery did Andrea Mitchell (NBC) have?" I dunno, but it sure is a good job. She looks 40 years younger. Maybe she could refer her husband, Alan Greenspan, to the same surgeon. Perhaps that's too big a medical challenge. "Problems with Symantec Redirector Update (or failed)." Literally dozens of these. Do what I did. Dump Symantec/Norton."Anita Ekberg Nude." Dozens of hits from all over the world. All I said was that I saw her nude when we lived in adjoining apartments in Rome. Wish I had a picture to share with you. "Scrotum goosebumps." A scary movie? A cold shower? "Can Metamucil cause blindness in cats?" You tell me what this query is all about! Are there a lot of constipated cats? "Getting a flu shot in the butt." It depends on what the nurse looks like, I guess. Or how sad looking your butt is. Lovieanne "Lovie" Jung (Olympic Softball team): searches on "ethnicity," "asian," "korean," "descent," philippine," and "nude." "Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live on NBC) race (ethnicity)." I covered that in one of my "partly black articles." Maya's mother is black, her dad is Jewish. Both are well known in the music biz (www.home.earthlink.net/~rickhgtx/outbac89.html). "Andrew Firestone Nude" "Andrew Firestone Butt." Don't know. He was on the "Bachelor" and I wrote that he was a spoiled rich brat. I don't know anything about his butt, other than that he needs a swift kick in it. "Paula Zahn's legs" Terrific, as I recall, but I don't watch channels with screen crawls. Great legs or not. "Nude Paula Zahn" "Soledad O'Brien Nude" "Nude Pictures of Tiger Wood's Wife" "Andrea Mitchell Nude" Most of the "celebrity nude photos" in searches lead you to a paid site with a few teasers of partial nudity of alleged celebrities. (Do you own Photoshop? Then view celebrity nudes as suspect from the start.) I ran a search on "Soledad O'Brien Nude" and the number one hit was a fee-based celebrity nude site, but Soledad was nowhere in sight or on the list of updates. Pam Anderson's nude top half was there, but she is like Windows XP wallpaper - that is, everywhere. Who in the world could be looking for a nude photo of Andrea Mitchell? Get a life - even a fantasy one. The day I see a search for "Nude Barbara Walters," I will know we have reached the nadir as a society. Now, you see - there will be hits on this paragraph for people who think there are nude pics of all the people I mentioned. It is a circular search - that mostly ends with nada. "Andrew Lessman" Dozens of hits. Sells vitamins and supplements on Home Shopping Network. What's the fascination with him? Some think he is great, some think he is a crook. "Letterman Paul Shaffer Gay?" I used to think that Paul was gay - until he started talking about his wife and kids. Still, he is a little too "delicate" for my tastes. "Chuck Schumer 9mm" A classic case of people not using advanced search techniques in Google, etc. In one Outback, I mentioned Sen. Schumer in one paragraph and 9mm in another completely disassociated paragraph about guns. If I were Schumer, I would want to know who posted that query. I see many queries about how to make some semi-automatic weapon fully automatic. I hope that Homeland Security and/or the FBI are flagging this kind of query. I have never posted any instructions on how to do "full-auto" conversions of any gun. I see queries about how to obtain fake U.S. documents. Again, I hope that Homeland Security, the CIA and FBI have a way to screen search engines for this kind of query. (It is wishful thinking that Homeland Security or the FBI knows much about any suspicious activity on the Internet. In 2003, only 12 of the 1,442 state and federal wiretap orders were issued for computer communications [NYT Oct. 23,2005]. Pathetic. Criminals, terrorist and spies enjoy your clandestine use of the Internet. You are getting a free ride, compliments of the U.S. government and the tempest in a teapot from civil-rights activists about invasions of privacy.) Fascinating truth. If you type "The View From the Outback" in Google or most any search engine, only one hit is at the top of the list, my Outback column. I guess nobody in the Australian Outback is writing a column. I had a soldier in Iraq send me and e-mail saying that they hoped to get to the Outback some day, thinking I was in the Australian Outback, when in fact I am only 90 miles from the shopping malls in the N. Dallas area. But for me, a big city boy, this is the Outback. Judging the Justices and Those Who Judge ThemBeing a political and TV masochist, I watched about 95 percent of the hearings for now Chief Justice John G. Roberts. If it had been a prizefight, they would have declared a TKO in the first round for Roberts. There is not a single senator on the Judiciary Committee who has the quick mind, legal acumen, and in-depth knowledge of the Constitution as does Roberts. And there are some really smart people on the Committee, many of whom had been prosecutors and at least one a State Sup. Ct. Justice. Judge Roberts seemed to relish the questioning, as if to say to himself "go ahead, try and match wits with me you mostly pompous bags of wind - with all your staff notes and special-interest briefings before you." Judge Roberts had no notes, no files, and nobody ever leaned over to whisper a suggestion to him. It was an awesome display of legal knowledge, verbal skills, and intellect. In general, Chairman Arlen Specter ran a fair hearing with a mostly gentlemanly attitude by the Senators. The Chair did interrupt Sen. Kennedy several times to say, "Senator, let him finish his answer." Kennedy was rude and abusive toward Judge Roberts. As was Senator Biden at times. The three biggest blowhards are Kennedy, Schumer, and Biden. No judicial candidate is going to say what his or her views are on abortion, civil rights, affirmative action, gun control, and on and on. I used to like Joe Biden, but his performance at these hearings has turned me against him. You would think that the entire future of the country rests on one thing, "Will you vote to overturn Roe v. Wade?" Of course, no candidate can even voice an opinion on his or her view on abortion. So, it is all posturing by the senators in an attempt to make it appear that the judicial candidate is "not forthcoming." What a crock that is. How stupid do they think we are? For all the whining by the Democrats about Judge Roberts not being forthcoming in his views, I thought he went too far at times. He said clearly that he believed in "a right of privacy" and discussed from whence that right flowed in the Constitution. By inference, that would mean that he might be in favor of a "woman's right to chose," privacy with regards to contraception, and whatever else the court-invented ethereal "right of privacy" encompasses. I thought Judge Roberts was very forthcoming about the "commerce clause," which has been used and abused by the Congress to control our lives from Washington for decades. His answers left me with the feeling that he would not be of a mind to unduly restrict the right of Congress to pass laws using the commerce clause as a basis. The Democrats kept bringing up the Lopez case, as if it were a wrongheaded decision that was a harbinger of the Sup. Ct. reversing more commerce-clause cases and giving more power to the States (where the Constitution says most powers reside). In the Outback for Feb. 19, 2005, I discussed the Lopez case in depth. The Congress declared "Federal Gun Free Zones" around schools, even though most states already had such a law. The Sup. Ct. overturned the law. The government argued that guns in school zones might affect the national economy (thus invoking the commerce clause). That rationale was simply stupid and the worst stretch of the commerce clause I could remember. The Court majority said: "The Government admits, under its 'costs of crime' reasoning, that Congress could regulate not only all violent crime, but all activities that might lead to violent crime, regardless of how tenuously they relate to interstate commerce.... Thus, if we were to accept the Government's arguments, we are hard pressed to posit any activity by an individual that Congress is without the power to regulate." Read my Outback for Feb. 19 and the Supreme Court's entire opinion and you will see how ludicrous it is for the Democrats to think that their cherished right to intrude into our lives via the commerce clause is in serious jeopardy. The Court was simply saying, use your heads when you draft legislation and don't try to pull Rabbits out of a hat - when in fact there is no Rabbit in the hat in the first place. Judge Roberts said that he would tend to be deferential to the Congress when it passed a law. In other words, he would not substitute his judgement for that of the Congress. Only apply the law. At one point, in talking about a right for a State to sue the Feds under a specific law, Judge Roberts said, and I paraphrase, "All you have to do is say what you mean. If you want the right to sue to be part of the law, put in that sentence. Then there will be no question to be decided." In other words, it is not the role of the Sup. Ct. to try to guess what you intended. Try to say what you mean in clear and unambiguous language. That was his shot at Congress for drafting really poorly written statutes - which is the rule rather than the exception. And the same for Administrative rulings. As an aside, when I was in law school, our legislative-drafting professor used to open a huge state statute book and riffle it, sticking his finger in at random. He then would assign us to "rewrite that particular law," since he never found one that made total sense. My law to massage was "The Reorganization of Banks After Bankruptcy." I think it was about 15 pages long. My research partner and I pared the statute to about 4 pages of plain and simple English and got an A+. And that area of law had to be my least favorite to read let alone revise. When in business, I used to write quite a few contracts myself with clients, in plain words and short sentences. I remember one guy asking me, "Is this contract legal?" He missed the wherefors and hereunders, I guess. Let's see, the "Party of the First Part" is actually Me. The "Party of the Second Part" is actually You. A contract between two people. Is that too confusing? Watching Judge Roberts was like watching a Mongoose knock off Cobra after Cobra. They spit their venom and he devoured them, one by one, piece by piece. The Judiciary Committee vote of 13-5 was sad to see. As Sen. Hatch said, "If you can't vote for this nominee, then there is nobody you could vote for." The 78-22 Senate vote was also a disappointment. The Senate has in the past confirmed some controversial judges by nearly unanimous vote. Here is the list of the 22 Democratic Senators who voted against confirming Judge Roberts: Akaka, Hawaii - Bayh, Ind. - Biden, Del. - Boxer, Calif. - Cantwell, Wash. - Clinton, N.Y. - Corzine, N.J. Dayton, Minn. - Durbin, Ill. - Feinstein, Calif. - Harkin, Iowa - Inouye, Hawaii - Kennedy, Mass. - Kerry, Mass. Lautenberg, N.J. - Mikulski, Md. - Obama, Ill. - Reed, R.I. - Reid, Nev. - Sarbanes, Md. - Schumer, N.Y. - Stabenow, Mich. Ms. Harriet Ellan MiersI don't have any specific memories of Ms. Miers when she was on the Dallas City Council, although she is said to be a "uniter, not a divider." I also have no specific recollection of her tenure as head of the Texas Lottery or any of the positions she held in the Texas State Bar Association. So, I have no goat in this fight. First. To the asinine Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, et al., who make jokes about Harriet Miers having no experience or qualifications to be a judge and compare her to departed FEMA head Michael Brown: 41 of the 109 who served as justices of the Supreme Court had no prior judicial experience when they were nominated, including recently deceased Chief Justice William Rehnquist! So, find some other indignity to heap upon Ms. Miers, perhaps suggest that she is a Lesbian because she has never been married (that one is already making the rounds), or whatever. Many of the Senators who were asked their opinion by the President about nominating Sup. Ct. justices said that they would prefer to see someone who had NOT been a judge. Somebody with a keen legal mind but with real-world experience. Writing in the Wall Street Journal for Oct. 5, 2005, Sen. John Cornyn gives his reasons why he supports Ms. Harriet Miers for the Court. Sen. Cornyn was among other things, a Justice on the Supreme Court of Texas, and is very familiar with the work of Ms. Miers. He writes in part: Furthermore, Harriet Miers's background as a legal practitioner is an asset, not a detriment. She has spent her career representing real people in courtrooms across America. This is precisely the type of experience that the Supreme Court needs. The court is full of justices who served as academics and court of appeals judges before they were nominated to the bench. What the court is missing is someone who understands the consequences of its decisions on the American people. This experience gap is a real one. With the exception of the newly confirmed chief justice, John Roberts, no justice on the court has been an advocate in a court of law in the past 25 years, and Chief Justice Roberts was involved only at the appellate level. Harriet Miers, by contrast, has a long and successful career as a lawyer representing corporate and individual clients in a variety of state and federal courts. I am confident that this background provides her with an understanding of the burdens of modern litigation, a recognition of the problems with frivolous lawsuits and an appreciation for tort reform. Last year, the court permitted a public display of the Ten Commandments in Texas, but not in Kentucky. It took nine justices on the court 10 different opinions to explain why this was so. The court is dangerously out of touch with America. Ms. Miers will help bring it back down to earth. If you don't think journalists and newspapers slant the news, read today's (Oct. 05, 2005) articles about Ms. Miers in the Washington Post and the much more fair and balanced article in the Christian Science Monitor, or the one in the Dallas Morning News. Or read more outlets if you have time. Very interesting. My sense is that Harriet Miers is in for a bumpy ride to confirmation. Her association with religious institutions who do not believe in abortion and who think homosexuality is a sin will open her up for endless questions, most of which she cannot answer as they would be a preview of how she might vote on a specific case. This is just one of many areas where she will be assaulted, possibly even from factions on the right and left. As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburgh told the Committee, she was not giving any hints or clues as to how she might vote. And this from a woman who had been legal counsel to the A.C.L.U.! Mums the word, Harriet. I meant no pun about the deodorant, although you better pack an extra one in your purse, because you will be sweating bullets in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. They will be grasping at straws since you have such a small written footprint in your legal career. And the dumb asses will once again ask for your papers regarding advice you gave the President while in the White House. When are they going to figure out that those type of documents are off limits for any judicial candidate, Democrat or Republican? They got about 80,000 pages on Judge Roberts and still bitched. What a clueless bunch of morons. And I'll be watching. I want to see how the Democratic blowhards treat a lady, especially when she bats her eyelids and says, "Senator, I don't think I should answer that question as it is one which is likely to come before the court in the future." Except for the blowhards giving speeches in the guise of questions, the hearings should take about five hours. And if one of the Senators says, "I guess my question is....," I dare you to say, "Senator, if you have to guess what your question is, maybe you ought to give the matter some more thought." Somebody, someday, needs to make that response. I am so sick of "I guess my question is." I am sure you will be tired of it, too, about day two. I will have one advantage you will not have. When the pain of the hearings gets too much to bear, I can crack open a bottle of wine. FEMA ex-Director Brown "On Trial" in the HouseThe treatment of former FEMA head Michael Brown at a Congressional hearing was shameful. Brown may be a dufus and completely inept, but the Congresspersons lost their dignity in the process of questioning Brown. They not only insulted his handling of FEMA during Katrina, which was certainly fair, but Cong. Chris Shays (R) said that if Rudy Giuliani had been in charge things would have been different. Brown strenuously objected to the personal attack, as I would have done. Brown endured several other uncalled-for vicious personal attacks. I began to feel sorry for him, even dufus that he is. But, Mr. Brown calmly put some of the FEMA federal response to disaster in its proper context. FEMA has no authority to take over state functions in a disaster, but is chartered to co-ordinate relief. FEMA cannot order an evacuation. FEMA cannot order National Guard into service, that must come from the state Governor. City and state governments have the primary responsibility in a disaster. FEMA was folded into Homeland Security and its budget was cut. Many think FEMA needs to be taken out of HS and report directly to the President, as it did in the past. I'm with them. They sure as hell need to cut down on the paperwork and approval chain needed to get things done. As some Congressman lamented in one of the hearings, "Why can't the government be as efficient as UPS, Fed-Ex or Wal-Mart? Not a chance - ever, ever, ever. One primary reason - Civil Service, which protects incompetence with a vengeance. They have contract disputes over what color to paint the lunchroom! I served in the Marines, the ATF, and the CIA. I have seen the government's act up close. Of the three, only the ATF was Civil Service, and I left there because a secretary could throw an ashtray at the Agent in Charge with no sanctions, and senior agents could sit home and watch TV while I sat on the street in Philly surveilling the mob at 3 a.m., but the senior man would sign the report as though he had been there - and get promoted to a higher grade. You think making sausage is ugly? The city of New Orleans and the State had a disaster plan in place. In fact, there had been a massive federally coordinated disaster drill aimed at dealing with a monster hurricane. The chief at the National Hurricane Center (www.nhc.noaa.gov) made the extraordinary step of personally calling Mayor Nagin of New Orleans, Gov. Blanco, and other governors in the region warning much in advance that Katrina was a Cat 5 Hurricane and if it came ashore as a Cat 5, there would be massive devastation and loss of life. Yet, no evacuation of New Orleans was ordered until it was almost too late. And the vaunted plan to bus the poor and infirmed out of the city never materialized. You saw the school buses under water, for example. Look at the Houston city government reaction to Rita. "Evacuate!" But they never had a plan for staggering the evacuation, for grading the areas who most needed to evacuate, and no plans for extra fuel along the jammed highways. FEMA could not order an evacuation of Houston, or prescribe how it was to be carried out. FEMA's response to Katrina was pathetic, but if the evacuation plan had been properly carried out, there would have been no masses of huddled humanity at the Super Dome and the Convention Center who needed food, water, medical care, and security. Yes, once the Gulf Coast was hit by Katrina, FEMA's paper-shuffling brought forth some horrendous mistakes and slow responses. Mobile trailers that were ready to be moved in for housing sat while FEMA picked their collective noses and did not release the trailers in a timely manner. We have all heard of the tons of ice, was it $100 million?, that got shuffled from place to place, never to be delivered to any of the devastated areas. There are literally hundreds of examples of mismanagement and late response from FEMA to Katrina, especially in Mississippi, because New Orleans was suddenly the main focus. Even NBC Evening News belatedly reported live this week from some of the devastated areas in Mississipi. NBC got a lot of phone calls and e-mails complaining that their plight had been ignored by both FEMA and the media. Correct on both counts. Mr. Michael Brown made another good point. Individuals have personal responsibilities in the face of an oncoming disaster. One, be prepared with extra food, water, batteries, a battery-operated radio, etc. Two, when someone in local government tells you to evacuate and you decide that you would rather sit on a rooftop for a week, if you had a way leave, you have shown your own lack of personal responsibility. Instead of waving flags on rooftops and then bitching and moaning to the media about how FEMA abandoned you, you might better have held up a sign saying "I chose to stay. Just leave me here on the roof until you get to all the ones who tried to get out and no way to do it." The "be prepared" message reminded me of the only disabling storm I have ever been in the middle of in recent years, and it was nothing very grave for most of us. A few years ago, we had an ice storm that took out the electric power in most of the county for 7-10 days. My house is all electric. But, I had a deep-discharge (a big "marine battery") 12-volt battery charged up, also a couple of smaller 12-volt tractor batteries charged up, AC inverters to convert the 12 volts to 110 AC, a battery-operated radio, a battery operated ham radio, a battery operated MP3 player, a 5-inch TV set, a battery-operated laptop computer that could also be run from one of the 12-volt storage batteries, at least five flashlights, gallons of drinking water, a fluorescent 12-volt camping lantern, and a pile of wood on the patio. And lots of canned beans, peanut butter, and Tuna fish on hand. So, I pulled a recliner in front of the fireplace, tossed on some logs, grabbed a couple of blankets, listened to music, read at night by the 12-volt lantern light, and watched TV. I took the frozen food out of the freezer and put it in a chest on the patio (it was a cold winter for NE Texas) as my last-chance food, but the roads cleared up enough to go to town for more food. I am willing to bet there was not one in a hundred people who were as prepared as I was for losing electricity for an extended period. I gave some thought to spending about $700 for a gasoline generator, but decided that if things ever were that bad (extended outage), I probably would run out of gas in less than a day. Remember, gas stations cannot pump gas when there is no electricity at the pump. FEMA was not the only one with mixed reviews. The TV media gets mixed marks for their coverage of Katrina and Rita. Some of it was superb, like standing on a bridge in New Orleans for all the world, including FEMA, to see the devastation in New Orleans. But the coverage of the mayhem at the Super Dome was mostly based on rumor. And even in far N.E. Texas, we kept being told by TV and radio that we might get severe weather from Rita. On a routine visit to the grocery in Paris, TX, hundreds of miles from the Gulf, I was told that every person who checked out that day had bottled water! Gas stations ran out of gas because people were topping off their tanks and filling gas cans in case they had to evacuate (or the price of gas went to $5 -$6, which was also another hot rumor being circulated by a local gas station, among others). At my house, we got about 3 inches of badly-needed rain over about a two-day period. And no high winds. So much for "the sky is falling." I did discover that my big marine battery no longer holds a charge. I will buy a new one soon. Winter is coming, and a potential ice storm may once again visit us. And just what is it that those idiot TV reporters are trying to prove when they stand out in a hurricane until they get blown off their feet? Get inside, point the camera out the window. We'll get the message. I hate to say this, but I hope one of those pea-brains who stands on the water's edge in the middle of a hurricane gets washed out to sea. Maybe then they collectively would understand how moronic their conduct is. Hour after hour there was a team on one of the cable channels on top of a parking garage, with their gear stashed in a pretty secure stairwell. But they insisted in standing out in the rain and wind. Oooh, look, the car is rocking from the wind. To prove what? Point the camera out of the stairwell and turn up the audio. Buy a used armored personnel carrier and put a remote camera in it. There was a great shot after the storm of a reporter standing in knee-deep water going yatta, yatta, about the flooding. A long shot showed his camera crew on dry land only yards away. This is journalism? We have added another bit of lore to the George Bush legend, which will be chiseled in stone somewhere: "Brownie, you're doin' a heck of a job." And if you think Kerry and Edwards would have done a better job with FEMA, Katrina, Rita, et al., probably not. The U.S. Government is not like a big lumbering ship, slow to turn, as it is often portrayed. It is a giant Glacier that takes decades to move a short distance. Only a cataclysmic event, such as 9/11 or Katrina can budge it, and then only a few feet. Maybe Geena Davis ("Commander in Chief") could do a better job. She couldn't do much worse. I'd vote for Geena rather than Hillary if the choice were presented. Our Country is Being Run by Old GeezersOur country to a large degree is being run by very old people, many of whom have questionable mental acuity at this point in their lives, and are largely out of touch with modern society and technology. The Congressional hearings on the future of Digital TV and HDTV are embarrassing, for example. Most of the Senators relate better to the old RCA set where you had to get up and turn the channel selector knob - and you only received four stations. And they weren't even sure then how electrons got changed into pictures. Their eyes glaze over when a witness talks about an analog to digital conversion box that will be required to allow old TV sets to function, once we go all digital (in 2009 - maybe, maybe not). Both in the House and the Senate, young staffers are constantly whispering in the ear of members of committees and passing them notes, and no doubt prepare many, if not nearly all, of their "opening remarks," (aka speeches). Sen. Robert Byrd is 87 - and bless his heart - he stands on the Senate floor shaking and rambling on about the "Imperial Presidency," and reading from staff notes that are in a huge type font, and wants to run for another term! Simply ridiculous. His biggest contribution has been the Pork he has brought home to W. Virginia - more than Hormel has brought to Spam. He won his last election in 2000 with 78 percent of the vote. Repeat after me, "We are 78% grateful for the Pork, in one of the poorest states in the country." Probably only a few voted for him because of his earlier membership in the Ku Klux Klan. In the early 1940's, when Byrd was approximately 24 years old, he joined the Ku Klux Klan, following in his father's footsteps. He recruited 150 of his friends and associates to form a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Oh, well, we all make dumb mistakes when we are in our 20s. Some are dumber than others. I joined the Marines at 19, which seems like a much nobler choice than joining the Klan. Strom Thurmond was a disgrace to the Senate in his later years, just because of his age. They kept him going to preserve a Republican majority - almost like he was on life-support. At times, when he was presiding in the Senate or in a committee hearing, he looked like a zombie and sounded like his words were coming from a recording - at a very slow speed. Sen. Kennedy and many, many others, are old geezers who need to put their egos aside and retire to a quiet bar somewhere to reflect on past glories. Justice John Paul Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court is 85. A lifetime appointment is nice, but that does not mean you have to stay on the job until you die, as did Justice Rehnquist. Chief Justice Roberts is 50. Some commentators and Senators have said that he might be on the court for four decades. Let's hope not. I wish him a long life, but perhaps he has the good sense to retire at about 70 - 75 tops. His place in history will be assured by the time he has served 20-25 years on the Court. Americans Have a Drop in Heart Attacks & CholesterolThe headlines read, in various forms: "Drop In Heart Attacks, Cholesterol." The subtle implication is that the use of statins has lowered cholesterol and the lowering of cholesterol has lowered the number of heart attacks. There is much more to the story. Deaths from cardiovascular disease have been declining for many years, in large part due to a decline in smoking. Change in diet and exercise have been factors. Better control of blood pressure has been a factor. Statin manufacturers have bombarded us with press releases, ads on TV, and study after study showing how taking a statin can reduce your cholesterol and risk for heart attack and stroke. They want to take all the credit for the decline in heart-related deaths. Yet, about 40-50% of people who have a heart attack have normal cholesterol readings. Annual deaths from heart disease in the United States dropped from nearly 800,000 in the late 1980s to about 650,000 in 2002. Dr. James Cleeman, a co-author of the government study of cholesterol levels, said falling cholesterol levels may have contributed to that decline. Still, cardiovascular disease remains the nation's No. 1 killer. There are over 100 independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Dr. Steven Nissen, a Cleveland Clinic cardiologist who was not involved in the recent study is quoted as saying: "Statins are great but if you put statins in the water supply, cardiovascular disease would still be the leading cause of death in America." Some of the reduction in cholesterol is due to a reduced consumption of saturated fats. Many in the medical community point to the importance of having a high HDL (the good cholesterol) and drugs are now aimed at specifically raising HDL. There are many who argue persuasively that cholesterol is not a cause of cardiovascular disease and that statins are curing a problem (high-cholesterol) that does not need curing. (See, among other sources: www.thincs.org, the insightful book by Alice and Fred Ottoboni "The Modern Nutritional Diseases," and of course Dr. Uffe Ravnskov's book "The Cholesterol Myths") The fact is that the causal relationships of the more than 100 risk factors for cardiovascular disease are not tracked or understood very well. Lori Mosca, director of preventive cardiology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York is quoted as saying, "We don't have a good surveillance system. It is really hard for us to correlate the improvement in risk factors with what is actually going on with heart disease in the country." What stood out for me in the study was the indication that cholesterol was lowered significantly in "older Americans." There is considerable evidence that this is a bad result, not a good result. Here are some comments on the subject from several different Outback columns: Oct. 1, 2005: At about the same time as we are being told of yet another wonder for statins, which once were touted only for lowering cholesterol, we find evidence there may be associations between low cholesterol and suicide, stroke, depression, and even violence. At the annual meeting of the American Neurological Association, Dr. Xuemei Huwang described a possible link between low cholesterol and an increased risk for Parkinson's disease. In the study, compared to men with LDL cholesterol levels higher than 135, those with levels between 91 and 135 were 6 times more likely to have Parkinson's, and those LDL levels below 91 were 4 time more likely. Huang cautioned that doctors needed to balance the benefits and risks of medication used in achieving 'optimal' cholesterol levels." This is now one of several studies that show the benefits of higher cholesterol readings, especially in the elderly. So, Gramps, enjoy your Pecan pie, as I did for lunch. More and more, you are on the winning side of the cholesterol debate. June 9, 2005: In an article published in the May 24 issue of "Neurology," a study indicates that high cholesterol levels in later life appear to be associated with a reduced risk of dementia. (Neurology:2005;64:1689-1695) On April 9, 2005, I noted a study that showed that "Low cholesterol in the elderly increases mortality rate." Geezers take note. If you are prescribed a statin, maybe the best place for the prescription is in the round file. Later, if your doctor takes a blood test and says that your cholesterol is still high, he may write a prescription for a higher statin dose. Again, the round file. Eventually, you may have to change doctors when he catches on to your scam - or you could present him or her will all the research that led to your decision to not take a statin. Or, you will die from some other cause, totally unrelated to high cholesterol or cardiovascular disease - and not related to any side effect of statins. April 9, 2005: Low cholesterol in the elderly increases mortality rate. In an article in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 2005; 53 (2): 219-226, written by Nicole Schupf, Rosann Costa, Jose Luchsinger, Ming-Xin Tang, Joseph H. Lee and Richard Mayeux the conclusion is: "Those in the lowest quartile of total cholesterol, non-HDL-C, and LDL-C were approximately twice as likely to die as those in the highest quartile, after adjustment for age, sex, ethnic group, and level of education." Inclusion of treatment with lipid-lowering drugs in the model attenuated but did not abolish the associations between low plasma lipid levels and risk of death. Studies have also found that lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels are a stronger predictor of mortality than total cholesterol in the elderly. In other words, having a high HDL cholesterol level is more protective than attempting to lower the total cholesterol level. (My earlier comments that I once had a total cholesterol of 150 and purposely raised it, and was not alone in this pursuit, seem vindicated by the above research. You might also read Dr. Ravnskov's article on the benefits of high cholesterol at www.thincs.org.) Return to the List of TopicsCOPYRIGHT 2000 Richard C. Rhodes You are welcome to quote sections from this page - or the whole page, as long as the source URL is included. Of course, I would be flattered if anyone linked to this page. It is very hard to be the writer, editor, fact checker, copy editor, and publisher of anything. So, I beg your forgiveness for the many mistakes that creep in. Suggested Reading From Past Columns Click Here for Suggested Reading List Archive of Back Issues Media List of Addresses and e-mails Postal Service State Abbreviations, etc. Postal Service Abbreviations - Richard C. 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