The View From the Outback

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. Every other Saturday I will attempt to post a new set of musings from the Outback - with dated updates as appropriate.

Sunday, May 1, 2005 - and following

Click on a Topic to go directly to that topic.

• Thoughts While Staring at the Ceiling Fan
• Sen. Wyden - Quit Whining About the Patriot Act
• New York Times on Repeal of Assault-Weapon Ban
• Medical Study Reports Have Many Flaws
• Air Defense of D.C. is Pathetic
• Let Texas Take the Lead on National ID Cards

Thoughts While Staring at the Ceiling Fan

May 31, 2005: I feel so sorry for President Bush. One of the main contributors to his reputation of not being very bright is his mangling of the English language. Mispronouncing words is one thing. But, speaking to reporters at the White House on May 31, 2005, he mentioned the Amnesty International report about our detention facilities in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He noted that some of the captives there had been trained in some instances to "disassemble." He added, "that means not tell the truth." Not exactly, Sir. To disassemble means to take something apart, like a car engine. The word you were seeking but could not seem to find in your elocution quiver was "dissemble," which can mean to put on a false appearance, or to conceal facts or intentions. Even then, it would possibly be a stretch to call dissembling lying - more like obfuscating the facts. Close enough for government work. But, "disassemble" is not even close enough for government work.

May 31, 2005: Paris Hilton is engaged. If I were a mainstream journalist, I would never let my name be associated with reporting the following quote: "I'm so in love and grateful to have found such an honest and loyal person. I feel like we were meant to be, and I'm happy to have found someone to spend the rest of my life with." Does that mean she plans on dying within 18 months to three years?

May 26, 2005: If you watched the final episode of "Desperate Housewives," you know that the disturbed young man Zach is waiting to kill Mike, Susan's boyfriend, when he returns to the house. Mike, of course, has his own gun. I see either a problem with reality or a plausible way out for the writers. The revolver that Zach is waving around at Susan does not appear to have any cartridges in it. Normally, you can see into the chambers of a revolver from the business end and can see all but the one directly under the hammer. Zach's gun does not show the noses of any bullets in the visible chambers. Certainly not any normal-sized rounds. If there is a cartridge out of view in the chamber just under the hammer, it will move out of the way to the right or left, depending on the gun's maker, as the trigger is pulled, and no shot will be fired. Even if that one cartridge is there, it would take several pulls of the trigger in order to get it to rotate around and fire. Oversight or planned? My bet is planned. Zach pulls the trigger and Mike either shoots him (good riddance) or jumps him - or Susan hits Zach with one of the heavy objects she had been eyeballing when Zach confronted her with the gun. Susan might also stab Zach if his gun misfires, joining the ever-growing throng of people on "Housewives" who have killed someone. Don't forget that George, the pharmacist, is also a murderer by reason of substituting a prescription for Rex - ultimately leading to his heart attack and death.

May 25, 2005: On the $2 million shootout on JEOPARDY!, Ken Jennings looked like he was in a coma for three days. On the last day he missed a question about what instrument Jean-Pierre Rampal played. Jennings' answer: "Piano." Inconceivable! Can you think of any other flute player than Rampal? Perhaps James Galway? That is like asking what instrument did Segovia play, or Vladimir Horowitz, or Yo-Yo Ma? In the past several weeks, I was surprised at how many questions I got right that the "all-time-champions" missed - and I know nothing about nothing in all those books of Greek history, ancient European history, and obscure rivers and bodies of water! Much of what I know I learned working a lot of different jobs, traveling around the world, and knowing about practical stuff you stumble over if you live long enough. On balance, the tournament of champions was not very scintillating. The guy who won, Brad Rutter, now replaces Ken Jennings as the highest-winning person on a game/quiz show in history. And just when the new Ken Jennings board game was intoning in a TV ad "biggest all-time money winner." Back to the studio for a little audio editing.

Ken Jennings also missed the following question: "Something's fishy with the addition of this fatty acid found in fish oil that's linked to low cholesterol and LDL cholesterol." I think Jennings said: "Trans acid." Brad Rutter gave the right answer (afer I had already voiced it), "Omega-3." With fish oil-capsules and Omega-3 in fish mentioned every day in some heart-related context on the Internet and in the print media and in press releases, it is again inconceivable that Ken Jennings did not know the answer to this question. There were others he should have known. My admiration, and earlier suggestion that he leave his brain to science, has been tempered by his lackluster showing in the 3-show final. He acted like he was in a hurry to get to a birthday party - or was double parked. He did come in second and received $500,000, so he did not completely disgrace himself. But, Brad Rutter is a more energetic, self-assured, and a more engaging person than Ken Jennings. Jennings will have to fight to keep his reputation and mystique alive.

May 25, 2005: The never-ending miracle of the statin drugs continues like a tsunami. The New England Journal of Medicine published an article that showed taking a statin could reduce the risk of colon cancer by 47 percent. I want to see that study and all its supporting documents - not just a throwaway headline on the Internet "Heart Drug Reduces Colon Cancer Risk." Statins used to be called "cholesterol-lowering drugs." Now, they call them "Heart Drugs." Do you see the insidious brainwashing that is taking place? I actually heard a doctor on a network news interview suggest that statins might be a "wonder drug." Enjoy your vacation in Bali, doctor. Two studies of this type, taken together, examined the histories of less than 4,000 people and found a reduction in colon cancer of from 47 to 51 percent. Were these genuine controlled blind tests, or were they just statistical analyses (number crunching) whose results could have been accounted for by a dozen other reasons in the diet, by heredity, and so on? The research team estimated that 4,814 people would have to take a statin to prevent ONE case of colon cancer. No mention of how many of those 4,814 might end up with debilitating side effects, including congestive heart failure. There is good news! So many people are now taking statins that it will be hard to find a "real test cohort" where some of the participants will be given a statin and some a placebo - and where there is a specific end-point being studied. We have had enough of "mining for gold" among medical records attempting to show a connection between taking a statin and the prevention of some disease or condition. We may be gullible, but we are not stupid.

May 19, 2005: Two U.S. senators sat side by side at a witness table during a hearing on consumer credit. One said that the average American family has $7300 in credit-card debt. A few minutes later, the other said the amount of family credit-card debt was $10-12,000. Maybe they should have compared notes before they testified. They noted that if you pay only the minimum amount required each month on a credit card (2-4% of the balance), it can take up to 40 years plus to pay off a modest balance, as you are basically paying only part of the interest due each month. These two want a law that will force the credit-card companies to better disclose the payoff scenario. Is there anybody who needs that? Can't they see that each month they are losing ground, not gaining ground? They are hoping for Aunt Minnie to die and will them a hundred grand. The Congress ought to consider requiring credit-card companies to raise the "minimum payment" to a level that would at least pay off the interest accumulated that month and some of the principal. My current credit-card debt is $38.51, due to high gas prices.

Suppose that you paid the minimum payment of 2% per month on a $3,000 debt - at 18% interest. Two percent of $3,000 is $60. That might seem like a reasonable payment. But if you kept paying only the minimum each month, at the end of the loan payoff in 50+ years, you would have paid $8,557+ in interest! Even if you paid 5% per-month, you would pay $1286 in interest and it would still take you 50 years to retire the debt! Try never buying anything on a credit card that you cannot pay off within three months. Or if you are really smart, pay cash. To sober up, or maybe better yet, get drunk before you look at the facts, you can find many places on the Web to help you, such as: www.webwinder.com/wwhtmbin/java_cci.html or www.csgnetwork.com/creditcardmincalc.html or search on "credit card minimum payment."

Speaking of cash, you would think that a check would be the same as cash. I tried to buy an HDTV set at a major retailer by paying by check. I was attempting to get a lower price from the retailer for paying "cash" and saving him the credit-card- processing fees. He said that there was so many problems with bad checks that they used a service that charges them as much to clear a check as the charge would be for a credit-card transaction. He said that he would prefer I use a credit card. So, if you try the old "look at how much you will save in credit-card fees" gambit, you better have a pocket full of hundreds. Then, they will mark the bills with their "counterfeit pen," check serial numbers, and generally treat you like a criminal. What a sad state of affairs.

May 19, 2005: Volvo Cars of North America has selected a female president/CEO. Does this mean that we can expect to see a car aimed at the female market called the Volva? It would have more rounded lines than the conventional Volvo. The interiors would come in a variety of flesh tones. The seats would change to several positions, including full horizontal - a throwback to the days when people slept in their cars to avoid paying for cheap motels. The manual-transmission model would have a small shift lever which would be concealed in the console until time to start winding up the engine to a fever pitch. The exterior trim would be in black, red, blonde, auburn, and gray - with a bikini-wax option. The burglar alarm would sound a message: "There's wine in the glovebox. Make yourself comfortable until I get back." The engine would be a hybrid gasoline/electric. The prototype electric motor has considerable vibration, although some of the test drivers said they found that to be rather pleasurable. Volvo could pitch the car to cash-strapped school districts as "One car you can use for both Driver's Ed and Sex Education." (Anybody who has read my work knows how much I love and respect women, so don't be writing me about how sexist this piece is. It is probably one of the most clever things I have ever written. Don't spoil it - and my fun - by taking it seriously.)

May 19, 2004: In this Outback, under the piece about Sen. Wyden whining about the Patriot act, I noted that far too much is discussed in open Congressional hearings that can give help to criminals and terrorists. The Senate Intelligence Committee is scheduled to hold a "closed session" to hear testimony on classified information that would bear on the renewal of, or additions to, the Patriot Act. The A.C.L.U. is protesting the use of a closed session. What the hell is wrong with these morons? For the tiny amount of good they do, they mostly act like they are agents of a foreign power. Perhaps they should be forced to register as agents of Iraq, Syria, and N. Korea, et al. They constantly undermine the interests of the United States.

Ladies, have you ever wondered how fashion runway models get that slinky look with their undulating hips? They cross one foot over the other when they walk. This causes an unnatural rotation of the hips and the undulating effect. You too can walk like a model. But be prepared for hip replacements by the time you are 40.

In which city in Europe is it against the law to drive a car or ride a bicycle? Answer at the end of this Outback####.

May 14, 2005: The STATIN CURE OF THE WEEK! I live from day to day hoping to see yet another claim for the efficacy of statins (Lipitor, Zocor, Pravachol - for lowering cholesterol). Why? Because it is getting ridiculous. Before long, people will figure out that no ONE DRUG can possibly have this many beneficial effects. This week's prevention is Breast Cancer. In a study of 40,000 female veterans, the users of statins were 51% less likely to develop Breast Cancer. That is a statistic, not a cause-and-effect relationship from a clinical trial. Maybe the non-cancer ladies ate less fat and more veggies - or one of dozens of other explanations as to why they did not develop Cancer. The doctors said they were not ready to recommend statins for those who do not have high cholesterol - because statins are "not entirely safe." What an understatement. In addition to the risk of muscle damage from statins (among the many side effects), they also may raise the risk of Cancer in the elderly. So follow this. Statins prevent Breast Cancer, but may raise the risk of Cancer in the elderly. Even to the layman, that does not make a lot of sense. I predict that eventually, many, if not most of the claims for statins will be ameliorated or disproven, except that they lower cholesterol. And there is a substantial group of medical and biochemical experts who do not think cholesterol is a factor in cardiovascular disease.(See www.thincs.org and www.statinalert.org)

Afghanistan now produces 90 percent of the world's opium. Many regional warlords and opponents of the Taliban are now top officials in the Karzai government. Corruption is rampant. One senior police official in Kabul said: "Whatever number of police cars there are in Kabul, I can tell you that more than 50 percent of them are carrying drugs inside from one place to another." It still puzzles me that since we "own" Afghanistan that we cannot stamp out the poppy growing. Well, we used to own it, when we sent our boys to die there to free them from the Taliban. Now, we see protests against Americans based on some hearsay from Gitmo in Cuba about a desecration of the Koran - or whatever it is that has these fools running in the streets and burning American flags. We have quit selling American flags overseas. Most of them end up being burned.

Firefox Browser 1.0.4 is avaialable for free download at www.mozilla.org

In talking about the HD DVD versus Blu Ray DVD competition, I mentioned several competing standards in the past which caused angst and often duplicate spending by consumers. There is also the XM and Sirius satellite radio incompatibility. Competition is supposed to benefit the consumer. But did we need two incompatible satellite radio standards? The Federal Communications Commission required the companies to develop a receiver years ago that would receive both formats, but engineers ran into technical roadblocks. The best guess is that such a composite receiver won't hit the shelves until next year at the earliest. In the meantime, we see the ridiculous situation where GM is installing radios with one format, and Ford from the competitor.

You don't have to go to the Amazon, or wherever, like Cameron Diaz and her twit friends do to observe the miracle of life and renewal. Just so they can get their mugs on TV or in the newspapers. On my patio, about 20 feet from my recliner, is a bird's nest that I can see from my chair. A couple of days ago, three chicks were hatched. I watched the mother almost constantly foraging for food and coming back to the nest to feed the chicks. It is a full-time job. During one long span, the mother came back with food about every two minutes! When you think about how little time human parents normally spend nurturing their kids, it makes you appreciate the grand scheme of nature and the cycle of life even more.

On my main Web page (Fascinating Odyssey) is a tribute to my friend, the now-deceased Under Secy of State for Admin, Idar Rimestad. A Sate Department employee read the piece, in which I declined an offer to switch from CIA to State because I did not have a very high opinion of most of the diplomatic and consular folks. The current employee, who is posted at one of our overseas embassies, said in part: "Hard charging at State is heading to the parking lot at 1500 (3 p.m.) Friday afternoon. Your story nails it pretty good." If anyone in the State Department, or others who deal with them, would like to send me an e-mail (noted on main Web page) documenting the good, bad, and evil at State, I will assure you anonymity and cloaking of your remarks so that they cannot be attributed to you. If you want to use your name, that would be even better. If you would prefer to go into even deeper background, e-mail me and I will provide you with a PO Box where you can send anonymous comments.

In an earlier Outback, I complained about the cheap plastic construction of my Chinese-made Nikon COOLPIX 4800 digital camera and how it was an insult to the venerable Japanese name of Nikon. This week, a local business that takes catalog photos of its products asked for a camera suggestion. I had them buy a Nikon COOLPIX 7900. The 7900 is a 7 Megapixel camera (8 x 10s with good resoultion) with an aluminum body and considerably smaller than the cheap plastic 4800. My guess is that my grandkids are going to inherit my recently-purchased 4MP Nikon COOLPIX 4800 and I will be the owner of a new NIKON 7MP COOLPIX 7900. It will be a long time before the average user needs a better camera than the 7900. And at $450 + an SD card (256MB SD provides 71 pics at the highest resolution).

Google has announced that they will soon be providing a Web Accelerator, which caches often-visited sites and compresses surfed pages to load onto your PC faster. Data download and streaming media would not be helped. Incredibly, they are aiming this technology at broadband users and say that dialup customers may not see much difference. What is their perverted thinking? Broadband users are not the ones who need help with surfing speeds. Fortunately, there are Slipstream (the one I use) and Propel that can be used as add-on Web Accelerators for a normal dialup ISP.

Fletcher Davis (1864-1941) of Athens (TX) invented the hamburger and took his invention to the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. Along with the hamburger, Davis served fried potatoes. Davis told a New York Tribune reporter he had learned to cook the potatoes from a friend who lived in Paris, Texas. The following is an excerpt from Tolbert’s book. “Clint Murchison Jr. quoted his grandfather as saying: “Apparently the 1904 reporter thought Old Dave said Paris, France, in referring to the way the potatoes were cooked. For the New York Tribune story on the hamburger, he said the sandwich was served with French fried potatoes.” Paris, Texas also has the only Eifel tower replica in the world topped by a red cowboy hat.

P.E.T.A. - take this in your rotten feral pig heart! On April 27, 2005, the Dallas Morning News ran an article about the hordes of feral (wild) pigs infesting the state of Texas. They are destroying crops, wrecking ecosystems by wallowing in streambeds, and can be found in 230 of the state's 254 counties. Feral hogs can grow to be 400 pounds and have razor sharp tusks with which they uproot sweet potatoes, peanuts, corn, and other crops - up to dozens of acres destroyed in one night. They also kill goats, sheep, and small livestock. There is a feral-hog hunting season and even some areas with bounties. But the hogs breed like crazy, and Texans seem to be losing the battle. One of the favorite sayings of the assault-weapon-ban crowd (and in essence then all large-caliber semiautomatic rifles) is "You don't need an AK-47 to hunt." Well, Canton cattle rancher Don Metch, speaking of how to control the feral pigs said: "Bring an AK-47, because that's what you'll need." Now it's official. You DO need an AK-47 to hunt! Oh, I just presumed that P.E.T.A. would object to killing feral hogs. Let's turn a bunch of P.E.T.A. folks loose in a herd of mean feral hogs - armed with a box of doggie treats. That ought to be fun to watch.

Sen. Wyden - Quit Whining About the Patriot Act

In the past, if I were able to obtain state, local, and federal immunity from arrest and prosecution, I would dearly loved to have beaten Sen. Charles Schumer and Sen. Patrick Leahy senseless for their obnoxious and obstructionist behavior in the Senate. Although two of my law-school classmates became U.S. Senators, I obviously did not have the temperament for it. Now, I have a new focus of my vituperation, Sen. Ron Wyden. Time after time I see him in Senate hearings whining about all manner of things, some of no major import. He literally whines in that annoying voice of his and berates witnesses beyond any reasonable limit.

In his latest assault, Sen. Wyden harassed FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III (a really decent and honorable man) at a hearing on the renewal of The Patriot Act. Also present were Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales and CIA Director Goss. For some time, Sen. Wyden has been beating up on the FBI about "supposed" searches of library records under Sec. 215 of the Patriot Act. The FBI released statistics that showed that not in a single instance did it use Sec. 215 to obtain library or bookstore records, medical records, or gun sale records. This does not satisfy the whining Sen. Wyden.

Sometime in the past, FBI Director Mueller made an offhand comment about getting some voluntary cooperation on occasion from librarians in pointing the FBI to suspicious activities in libraries. Sen. Wyden will not let this die. In am extremely confrontational manner, Sen. Wyden wanted to know exactly how many times the FBI had obtained this informal cooperation with a librarian. The Director said that he did not know, but that he would check. Since many casual reports do not always make it into indexed computer files at the FBI, and since the FBI computer files are known to be pretty much a shambles, the answer to Sen. Wyden's nitpicking query can probably not be known with any precision.

What really bothers me is that Sen. Wyden somehow sees a sinister threat to American's liberties if an occasional librarian sees something out of the ordinary that may affect national security and calls the FBI to chat about it. What else would you expect from a patriotic American? If one of the patrons in my library is surfing terrorist sites, bomb-making sites, using e-mail to send and receive messages with national-security implications, or reading or checking out books that relate to potential terrorist or anarchist activities, I would hope that the librarian would call somebody in authority and have a chat.

Shortly after Sen. Wyden went on his "library records" tirade against Director Mueller, it was disclosed that two of the Sept. 11 hijackers used a public-access computer at a New Jersey college library to buy tickets for the airplane they took over and crashed into the Pentagon. If the whole truth were known, terrorists all of stripes have used, and continue to use, public access computers in colleges and libraries to further their objectives. Imagine, for one example, how many Yahoo, Google, and Hotmail e-mail accounts are held in alias by terrorists. All these accounts are available anonymously from any public-access computer. I shudder to think of the number of outstanding terrorist accounts - and terrorist-related chat rooms that are visited on public-access computers.

My association with libraries goes back a long way. During law school, I worked part time as a research librarian. Over the years, I spent countless hours in a variety of public libraries. In more recent years, I set up and maintained the public-access computers in a local library.

Here is my position. The use of a library is a privilege, not a right. A library ought to be able to establish whatever ground rules it chooses. For example, if I were in charge of all libraries, there would be a sign at the computers that says:

"The use of this computer is a public-service and not an individual right. By signing the log-in sheet you agree that you understand that all uses of this computer may be monitored, including the searches you make on the Internet, the Web sites you visit, and the content of the e-mails that you send and receive. We apologize for any inconvenience, but feel constrained to take these steps in view of the perilous times in which we live and known computer abuses by those who would harm our country. We can no longer bury our head in the sand and pretend that somehow libraries and their computers are used only for benign educational and recreational purposes."

Each computer would have software that tracks key-strokes, captures the content of Google and other searches, takes "snapshots" of e-mail - and so on. A rotating three-person panel of patrons would review the logs and point out any irregularities to the head librarian. After each search summary, the non-germane (non-criminal, non-security related) material in the logs would be deleted.

Each time I witness one of these intelligence or Patriot Act hearings, I cringe at the depth of the Senator's and Representative's questions, which often get to the heart of "sources and methods" of intelligence. CIA Director Porter Goss, the former head of the House Intelligence Committee, finally raised the question in open session. He suggested that the Senators and panelists needed to be wary of some of the areas into which they delved so deeply. He said flat out that terrorists watch these hearings and can learn a lot about what we are doing - and what we are not doing - to keep on their trail. In fact, I have seen very little in open session that did not border on giving away too much information. Open government is one thing, but making complete asses of ourselves by giving an intelligence and law-enforcement primer to our enemies is yet another.

Sen. Ron Wyden - quit whining. And if you insist on continuing to whine about every little possible imagined invasion of privacy, please do it in closed session. Stop giving aid and comfort to our enemies by telling them our game plan on TV.

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New York Times on Repeal of Assault-Weapon Ban

For more than 20 years, I have been writing about the folly of the Assault-Weapon ban. It had too many loopholes and did practically nothing to reduce violent gun crime.

Imagine my shock when the New York Times, a bastion of gun-control advocacy, ran a long article on April 24, 2005 in which they basically said that the assault-weapon ban had been useless! Some snippets: "Gun crime has plummeted since the early 1990's. But a study for the National Institute of Justice said that it could not 'clearly credit the ban with any of the nation's recent drop in gun violence. '" "It (the expiration of the ban) has not caused any noticeable increase in gun crime in the past seven months...."

"Assault weapons account(ed) for a small fraction of gun crimes: about 2 percent, according to most studies, and no more than 8 percent (editor: 8% is stretching the facts to an extreme). But they have been used in many high-profile shooting sprees. The snipers in the 2002 Washington-area shootings, for instance, used semiautomatic assault rifles that were copycat versions of banned carbines." (Read that as: "A couple of high-profile shootings can cause legislators to act irrationally and ban certain types of guns.")

"The Fraternal Order of Police has not made a new federal ban a legislative priority, either. Mr. Pasco, the organization's director, said he could not recall a single inquiry from the field about the reauthorization of the ban - and 'we have 330,000 members who are very vocal. '" "What's more, law enforcement officials say that military-style weapons, which were never used in many gun crimes but did enjoy some vogue in the years before the ban took effect, seem to have gone out of style in criminal circles. 'Back in the early 90's, criminals wanted those Rambo-type weapons they could brandish,' said Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police. 'Today they are much happier with a 9-millimeter handgun they can stick in their belt.' "

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Medical Study Reports Have Many Flaws

The Internet health and medical news sites (and print and TV sources of news) are littered with reports of "studies" that prove one thing or another. One problem is that many of the studies involve from about 12-50 people and are over a short term, and quite often, if not usually, sponsored by the drug company or whomever was trying to make their point.

A recent study of 46 people, with funding and drugs provided by the statin Lipitor, concluded that 80mg of Lipitor a day "may have a positive effect on the progressive deterioration of cognitive function and behavior." The headlilne read: "Anti-cholesterol drug may ward off Alzheimer's." One problem is that a study not long ago came to the opposite conclusion. Also, higher does of Lipitor expose the user to a greater risk of unwanted and potentially serious side effects. We should take little note of studies that involve only a very small number of participants, regardless of who pays for the study. But, the news media has to fill up all those pages and hours of TV and now endless lines of space on the Internet news sites. So, we hear about 46 people in a "study."

Writing in the Wall Street Journal for May 10, 2005, Anna Wilde Mathews, wrote a marvelous piece entitled "Worrisome Ailment in Medicine: Misleading Journal Articles." She put some facts and numbers to what most of us who follow medical reporting already knew, i.e., much of medical journal article reporting leaves out key findings - often negative ones - and often tend to publish only those study results that buttress the forgone conclusion desired by those who sponsor the study. The studies often change horses in midstream. That is, they start out trying to prove one point and drift off into other conclusions and observations. Ms. Mathews points out that a JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Assoc.) study found that 62% of the trials had at least one primary outcome that was changed, added, or omitted.

In 2000, JAMA published an article about Celebrex in which it was claimed to minimize stomach damage compared to older drugs. But, the report used only data for six months, when they had data for 12 months which showed that Celebrex was not materially better than its rivals. In 2001, JAMA found that side effects were adequately reported in only 39% of the 200 articles surveyed. In the past Outbacks, I have devoted two long articles to the travesty of what amounted to a coverup of the potential lethal side effects of Amiodarone (Codarone).

Sometime back in the Outback, I wrote passionately about how ill-advised it would be to sell the statin MEVACOR over the counter, without a prescription. In the WSJ article, we find: "Merck and partner Johnson & Johnson set up 14 mock drugstores and solicited customers through advertising. The store shelves were lined with products including over-the-counter Mevacor. A label on the drug instructed potential users that they should take it only if they met several conditions, such as having moderately high cholesterol and at least one risk factor for heart disease. The idea was to simulate the real-life circumstances under which the pills would be sold.

An article summarizing the results of the experiment in the November 2004 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology said about two-thirds of the people who decided to try the drug met the conditions or came close. The authors, who worked for Merck and J&J, said the study's full results made a 'compelling case' that Mevacor was suitable to be sold over-the-counter. In reviewing the case, the FDA highlighted another figure, one that never appeared in the article: Just 10% of the people who took the drug fully met the label's conditions. The others included in the two-thirds figure met many of the conditions but not all. After hearing a presentation by agency officials, an FDA advisory committee in January voted to reject the drug companies' request."

JAMA and other top medical journals are now frequently asking authors for their original study designs and sometimes have the data analyzed. There is, as you recall, a movement to publish more and more original research on the Internet for all of us to read. We know that far too many article about drug trials and outcomes are written by doctors who are paid an honoraria by the pharmaceutical firms. We know that doctors who do "peer review" of articles often see only a few-page summary of a study that involved thousands of people and took years to conclude. We know that data is often selectively presented - and there are purposeful and selective omissions. We know that sometimes pharma companies will pay a medical ghost writer to write a report on a study for submission to a major periodical. Not only is the public being deceived but so are doctors who in their busy day have time only to read a few articles in major medical periodicals.

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Air Defense of D.C. is Pathetic

On May 11, 2005, a Cessna 150 two-seater aircraft entered restricted airspace in D.C. and came within 3 miles of the Capitol and White House before being intercepted and turned back. The first alert came when the very slow-flying aircraft was about 21 miles from D.C. The restricted airspace is a circle with a radius of 15 3/4 miles from the Washington Monument. It is on all current FAA charts and Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), which all pilots, commercial and private, are responsible for knowing.

Two F-16s from Andrews Air Force Base fired four warning flares and the Cessna was escorted to an airfield, where the pilot and passenger were detained.

Here is the shocking part. The plane was first identified to be on a course for the Restricted Airspace at 11:28 a.m., and at 11:47 a.m., 19 minutes later, a Black Hawk helicopter and a Cessna Citation (from the U.S. Customs and Border Inspection) were dispatched from Reagan National Airport. Published reports so far do not indicate if either aircraft was armed, but it is highly unlikely that the Cessna Citation jet was armed. AT 12:04 p.m., the Capitol was evacuted. At 12:06 p.m. (38 minutes after the Cessna 150 aircraft was detected on its course to D.C.), the Citation jet made radio contact with the Cessna 150. The F-16s also arrived and fired four warning flares. The Cessna 150 turned away and was escorted to a landing strip out of the immediate area.

The Cessna 150 cruises at about 117 m.p.h. at 75% power. A Porche convertible with a couple of Stinger missiles could run a Cessna 150 down and drop it from the sky, even if the Cessna had a head start. Homeland security, does this give you any ideas? And you could drive the Porche home at night to be "at the ready." Well, there is the D.C. traffic to contend with.

Brit Hume, of FOXNEWS, asked a Colonel involved in air defense: "What if it had been a Learjet or a Gulfstream streaking toward the White House?" He was trying to ask how long it would take to intercept a very fast jet approaching or already in the restricted airspace. Partly for security reasons, the answers were vague and not very responsive. Brit seemed frustrated, as well he should. He works in D.C.!

It is hard to comprehend that not much appears to have been done to ensure timely intercepts of potentially hostile targets flying in and around the D.C., the Pentagon, and the CIA like a sitting duck out there at Langley, Virginia. Surely there are anti-aircraft missiles at the White House, the Capitol, the Pentagon, and the CIA HQ. But only on occasions of high alert do we see such weapons moved into place. To not be permanently in place at the most sensitive targets, and to not have armed Black Hawks, with Sidewinders, et al., situated at the White House, the Capitol, the Pentagon, and the CIA HQ is simply asking for a disaster.

Unless there is a lot more going on behind the scenes than we know, trouble with a capital T is in the offing. To take 38 minutes from the time it was spotted to launch a Black Hawk and Cessna Citation from Reagan National Airport and F-16s from Andrews to finally intercept the Cessna 150 only three miles from the White House - is not a confidence builder.

Shortly after 9/11, I wrote in the Outback that General Aviation airports were an easy target for terrorists. They are either lightly guarded or unguarded. Many are repositories for Learjets, Gulfstreams, Cessna Citations, etc. These aircraft can penetrate our apparently nearly-useless aircraft warning and shoot-down perimeters at very high speeds with heavy loads of explosives, biological weapons, or dirty bombs. I used to be one of the managers one such General Aviation facility in Texas - and a private pilot.

I know enough to be worried that a General Aviation aircraft will, or will most likely be, one of the next vehicles for a terrorist attack. I am going to meander out to a large General Aviation facilty not too far from here and have a look around, maybe take some pictures, and ask some questions.

Unless I read the tail number wrong, the Cessna 150 (serial number 15071326) is registered to: VINTAGE AREO CLUB, 311 AIRPORT DR, SMOKETOWN, LANCASTER COUNTY, PA 17576. As of this writing, there appears to have been no violation of criminal law in the intrusion into restricted airspace, and the pilot's FAA license has not been suspended or revoked. If you live in that area, you might want to pass out some free FAA charts at the Aero Club with the restricted airspace circled and donate a handheld compass - just in case the ones in the airplanes don't work. A GPS would also be helpful. Look for some changes in the FAA regs and possibly changes in the law regarding intrusions, intentional or accidental, into restricted airspace.

I bet you will see attack helicopters stationed at the Pentagon, CIA HQ, and other places before long. It takes too long to scramble an interceptor jet when a hostile aircraft or vehicle is only a mile or two away. They might be housed in shelters that look like something innocuous.

There ought to be an attack helicopter stationed at the White House. Oh, put a carnival tent over it and say that the area is for garden teas, if that makes you feel less "like a police state." And what is it with the U.S. Marine who greets the president when he alights from the helicopter at the White House? He doesn't appear to be carrying any weapon. Maybe he has a pistol in his pocket. Is the idea that a gun might sag his white belt and make him look untidy? We will see more ground-to-ground and surface-to-air missiles deployed around the country, again perhaps hidden in a "normal" structure." (end of Sept. 20, 2001 excerpt)

(From the Outback for Feb. 8, 2003)

A recent TV report showed Black Hawk helicopters patrolling the skies over Washington, D.C., and I thought that finally they had done what I insisted need be done as far back as the Outback for Sept. 20, 2001. But no, the unarmed choppers belong to the U.S. Customs Service. Excuse me! Customs? The spokesman said they pull alongside an aircraft straying into restricted airspace (like near the Capitol or White House) and try to get them on the radio and turn them away. If not, they can call on fighter jets from Andrews Air Force Base. The no-fly zone is a 30-mile circle around the Washington Monument.

It takes about eight (8) minutes from the time of an alert to launch one of the unarmed Black Hawks. It takes about 15 minutes to launch a jet from Andrews. If a terrorist is flying a jet (commercial or private) at about 500 m.p.h. and penetrates the 30-mile "no-fly-zone," it seems to me that there is not enough time to intercept, identify, and attempt to establish radio contact - and if the aircraft continues on course - to scramble jets from Andrews Air Force Base. You do the math.

Let Texas Take the Lead on National ID Cards

Contained within the pending military spending bill is the "Real ID Act." Many argue that it will cause more problems than it will solve and perhaps invite, rather than deter, identity theft, and perhaps open up a new avenue of invasion of privacy. It seems certain to become law unless the President vetoes the military spending bill. You can see the version passed by the House and passed to the Senate, HR 418, on various web sites.

I leave to you the reading of the copious amount written for and against this Real ID Act. Recently, I had to renew my Concealed Handgun License (CHL) in Texas. It got me to thinking, once again, about all the millions of illegal aliens running around in the United States, many with fake Social Security cards, birth certificates, and driver's licenses. One hardly has to buy a fake driver's license, as they are so easily available in so many states.

The Real ID Act would compel states to design their driver's licenses by 2008 to comply with federal antiterrorist standards. Federal employees would reject licenses or identity cards that don't comply, which could curb Americans' access to everything from airplanes to national parks and some courthouses.

At a minimum: applicants will have to prove that they are American citizens or legal residents. The prescribed format for the new driver's license would contain the name, birth date, sex, ID number, a digital photograph, address, and a "common machine-readable technology" that Homeland Security will decide on. The card must also sport "physical security features designed to prevent tampering, counterfeiting, or duplication of the document for fraudulent purposes." Homeland Security can add additional requirements, such as a fingerprint or retinal scan.

This is where Texas comes in. Texas should become the clearinghouse for background checks and approval of the "enhanced driver's licenses." Why? Because Texas has shown that it knows how to issue secure documents, i.e., a Concealed Handgun License. Since it is not really practical for Texas to do the work for every state, each state should send representatives to Austin to study the Texas Concealed Handgun License requirements and procedures. Let me give you some specifics.

The Concealed Handgun License in Texas is administered by the Department of Public Safety (DPS). Similar organizations in other states are called State Police or Highway Patrol. In order to qualify for a CHL in Texas, you must not have been convicted of a felony, been convicted in the past five years or have pending charges for Class A or B misdemeanors under the Penal Code. You cannot be a fugitive from justice or chemically dependent. Oddly, somebody was able to add that you cannot be delinquent on a student loan, child support, or any tax owed to the Comptroller of Texas, or taxes owed to any subdivision of the state. I know one DPS employee who cannot qualify for a CHL because he has not paid off his student loan! They take no prisoners down there in Austin. Also, you cannot be under a restraining order against a spouse. You must be 21 years of age.

So, what does all this have to do with issuing a driver's license? It goes to the point that states are capable of carefully screening people for any kind of permit or document - if they get off their asses and on the job.

The applicant must submit a certified copy of a birth certificate or other proof of birth. You have to submit two color passport-sized photographs. On the back of one you and the police officer who takes your fingerprints must sign. You submit two sets of fingerprints, one for the FBI and one for DPS to check against state records. With my initial CHL, my fingerprints were bounced as not readable. I went to a larger police department and got some acceptable prints. With the initial application, a copy is sent to a DPS office near your residence for them to investigate - possibly including a personal interview. If you move, you have 30 days to send in for a revised CHL with your current address.

With my recent renewal, after several weeks (they have 45 days to process the forms) I got a notice that ALL of my affidavits were defective because the Notary Seal did not contain the date of expiration, but was hand-written below the seal by the Notary. I found another notary who had the prescribed Notary stamp, and submitted the four new affidavits. That started the 45-day clock running again, I guess. From the time I applied for the renewal until I got my updated CHL in the mail it was close to three months. I bitched and moaned to myself, as my old CHL had expired - and in good faith I took my pistol out of my truck - and of course did not carry it. But, upon reflection, I was pleased that the people at DPS were so vigilant. Even though the FBI had my fingerprints from the Marines and when I applied as a U.S. Treasury agent, and the set with the original CHL application, and another set from my last CHL update four years previous - and the FBI has yet another set from when I became a staff agent at CIA. And I have never even been charged with a misdemeanor, let alone convicted of anything. In Austin, they go by the book, whoever you are.

Turn these guys at DPS loose on the illegal alien registration under the Real ID Act and the problem would go away.

Not that it has anything to do with alien registration, but with the CHL renewal, you also have to attend a refresher course in the CHL law, self defense law, etc., which for me was taught by a senior police official in a nearby town - and fire a course of 50 rounds on the range, some of it rapid fire. Just one more check that DPS insists on for those who have the right to carry a concealed weapon in Texas.

Before you are too quick to criticize the pending Real ID Act, ponder whether any inconvenience to you will be outweighed by starting to get a handle on the 10 million or more illegal aliens who wander, often anonymously, around our country. Some of them may be packing something more lethal than a .38 Special - or have it stashed in the rental-storage bin next to yours. Have a nice day.

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#### Venice, Italy. I have been there, and I am not sure I would have given the correct answer - had I not seen a show on the history of Venice on HDTV on the Equator HD channel. This is one of the VOOM channels that DishNetwork put up after they made the deal to buy the satellite providing the VOOM programming.

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