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. Since most visits to my pages come from searches, I am no longer trying to keep on a regular schedule for updating the Outback.

Saturday, July 9, 2005 - and following

Click on a Topic to go directly to that topic.

• Thoughts While Staring at the Ceiling Fan
• "The Secret Man," by Bob Woodward
• Shaquille O'Neal
• You Have Problems, We Have Fixes - Samsung
• Big Brother 6

Thoughts While Staring at the Ceiling Fan

July 29, 2005: Although I have my share of "senior moments," my speech patterns remain crisp, cogent and without crutches such as "you know," and "I tell you what." I am still able to absorb a huge amount of legal or medical information and distill it into bit-size chunks that a layman can understand. I can remember conversations verbatim from 30-40 years ago. So, I have not been concerned that I was quite yet senile or had the Big A. Until yesterday. In a Dollar General store, my bill came to $5.42. I was talking to the clerk about an out-of-stock item and fumbling for the 42 cents in a pile of change in my hand. The elusive 42 cents kept shifting among the pile of coins. Finally, I said, "I can't talk and count at the same time. Hang on." The clerk said, in a solicitous way, not a mocking way, "That is a quarter, a dime, a nickel and two pennies." I was stunned, but of course he knew nothing about me other than I was obviously a senior citizen. I will no longer try to talk and count out change at the same time. In fact, I said to the clerk, "I think from now on I will just give out bills and let the clerk or the register do the math for the change."

July 28, 2005: Matt Drudge is reporting that journalist Helen Thomas said: "The day Dick Cheney is going to run for president, I'll kill myself," she told the HILL. "All we need is one more liar." If true, that is a pretty hollow threat. Ms. Thomas, age 85 next month, is living on borrowed time. She can make all kinds of threats to kill herself, but the job is in the hands of another entity. Plus, Helen knows that Dick Cheney will not run for Prez. All bombast on her part. I am considerably younger than Ms. Thomas. But, if Hillary Clinton even runs for President, I am not sure I can stand listening to her lies and deceits for all those many months leading up to the election. Quite seriously, I think it might drive me mad, and I could well end up killing myself in despair. If by some miracle she became President, I have no doubt that might push me over the edge. If Hillary wins, the casket business will pick up briskly, and I say that in all seriousness. Her current campaign to make herself into a moderate and one who loves the military, et al., is a cruel joke on the American people. Read books about her and Bill, study her past. Read about her life-long friends and associates. Also note the occasional slip when Ms. Conciliatory compares George Bush to the guy on the cover of Mad Magazine - and her true colors show. That is, a mean, deceitful, vindictive, bitch. This Hillary "remake" is one of the biggest con jobs in political history.

July 23, 2005: On July 14th, I posted some comments about how some in England wanted to ban long pointed knives. And that maybe the terrorist attacks would cause the government to rethink its policy of basically disarming the civilian population years ago. How shortsighted of me. I forgot that most policemen in England do not carry guns. Of more than 30,000 officers in London, around 2,000 are authorized to carry weapons. Now, a man has been shot and killed by a policeman under very questionable circumstances. People will be calling for disarming the few police who are allowed to carry guns. What a crazy place to live. Can you imagine cops in New York, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, or LA patrolling with only a night stick and a can of pepper spray? The terrorists win at nearly every stage of the game. They bomb a city and people are calling for guns to be taken away from police.

July 22, 2005: Judge John G. Roberts seems to be making friends on the Hill in his quest to become a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. In a poll, 59% of Americans think he should be confirmed. But 64% said he should publicly explain his views on abortion before the Senate acts. This shows you how uninformed the American public is. Judge Roberts cannot and will not give his views on abortion. And it is none of your business, nor is it any business of the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. By the cannons of judicial ethics, he cannot comment on how he might decide a case that would come before him. Thus, he cannot comment on his views about abortion. Nor what he thinks about gun control, or gay marriage, or where the 10 Commandments can or cannot be displayed - and on and on. Here is a flash. Judges often vote differently from how their personal views have been perceived, much to the dismay of some former presidents. Judge Roberts has already stated that Roe v. Wade is the law of the land. And he is a fellow who has in the past shown a respect for established precedent. Who knows? The next justice appointed might be a woman who would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. Judges may be thankful to the president who appointed them, but they owe them nothing, but to follow the law as best they can.

Some Democratic moron on the Senate Judiciary Committee will ask Judge Roberts: "Do you think Roe v. Wade was properly decided?" Or a similar "Red Herring" question. Sen. Chuck Schumer has already given Judge Roberts a list of 70 questions to think about. Seventy! Judge Roberts argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court. He ought to be able to take Schumer's 70 questions and make chopped liver out of them to present to the obnoxious Schumer on a silver plate during the hearings. I detest these contentious and vicious nominating hearings. But, I can't wait to see the brilliant judge, and former clerk for the now Chief Justice, parry many of the ridiculous and improper questions that will be asked of him. Schumer and Kennedy think they are some kind of Senate gods. Well, guys, Judge Roberts is no mere mortal. Watch the ball bounce off a tree, hit a rock, and drop into the cup.

July 22, 2005: The International Olympic Committee has declared that there will be no women's softball events in the 2012 Olympics! Many of us set our recorders to record every softball game played during the last Olympics. Drop female softball and keep Badminton? Or whatever. For years, the mantra was to get more participation by females in the Olympics. The softball games drew big crowds, had big TV audiences, and were thrilling to watch. The only excuse the IOC might give is that the American team dominated for so long, that it is no longer "a competitive event." Well, pea-brains take a look at the latest championship round in Oklahoma City. The U.S. lost to Canada in an early round and lost the final to Japan, with the vaunted Cat Osterman and Jennie Finch pitching for TEAM USA. Women's softball will be reinstated, or some of the IOC members may find themselves dangling from 10th-floor balconies with pen in hand - perhaps a little more eager to sign up women's softball for 2012. To get a Mule's attention, you have to hit him with a 2 x 4.

July 22, 2005: Jason Alexander must have a great agent. His two TV shows got cancelled (I predicted that the first one would bomb, and the last one went weeks longer than I thought it would), KFC fired him, and he is generally a balding, pudgy guy with an irritating voice. What is his comedic talent? The rest of the cast of "Seinfeld" carried him. Now, he is in a commercial with the legendary Lee Iacocca for Chrysler. I wonder if Lee had a right of refusal? If so, he should have exercised that right. He demeans himself by appearing with Alexander.

July 22, 2005: A Dallas developer is tearing down some really old and shabby apartments in an affluent part of the North Dallas corridor to build luxury condos. The condos will rent for about $3000 a month. What if the adjoining tenant is a classical pianist who likes to practice at 3 a.m.? For $3000 a month, you can buy a really nice house in Dallas, and have money left over to pay someone to do your yard work. And get a tax deduction, build equity, and .... This once again proves my premise that there are way too many people with more money than sense.

July 22, 2005: I had intended to write a review of the book "China, Inc.," by Ted C. Fishman. By the time I finished the book, I had about 20 pages of notes. No way could I write a reasonably short review. What Mr. Fishman tells you affects you now as a consumer and will profoundly affect you and your children in the future. Just a few examples. The Chinese largely ignore "intellectual property rights," that is, trademark, copyright, and patents. Thus, the cheap "knock-offs" of name-brand merchandise is rampant. Apparel workers in the U.S. make $9.56 and hour. In China they earn 66-88 cents an hour. Remember Sam Walton's (Wal-Mart) slogan "Buy American." What a joke. Read about how much Wal-Mart merchandise is now made in China - and all the machinations that entails. Wal-Mart virtually forcing suppliers to relocate facilities to China, or be dropped. Disgusting, to say the least.

Chinese companies make deals with foreign manufacturers to open plants in China, but China demands concessions, like the rights to use the technology from those companies. An American car is shown at a Chinese auto show, and nearby is a nearly exact copy at a much lower price. But, it is not all knock-offs and cheap clothing and cheap electronics. China graduates many times more engineers than the United States. There are 186 MBA programs in China. Biotech firms operate without opposition from animal-rights groups, religious groups, or ethical standards boards. China has more people who speak English as a second language than America has native English Speakers! So, we see very sophisticated high tech gear being produced in China at prices virtually no country can compete with. Read "China, Inc."! You will be stunned, shocked, and a little sick in the stomach when you think about what all this means to the future of American manufacturing and even high-tech jobs. And to the world economy. You don't have to have an MBA to understand this book. Simple facts are presented in simple English. (True to form, when the new Harry Potter book was released, it showed up verbatim and for free on the Chinese Internet.)

July 22, 2005: The U.S. has a new sheriff on the "theft of intellectual property" beat. His title is "Coordinator of International Intellectual Property Enforcement." His name is Christian Israel. It is estimated that 70% of pirated CDs, VCR tape, DVDs, and copyrighted printed material arriving in the U.S. come from China. Surprise! (see above) China has recently pledged to work on reducing the piracy of American movies, music, and computer software. That's good news. China's idea of a crack-down is probably to reduce piracy to 60%. The Chinese are wonderful people. Their government sucks and is literally sucking the lifeblood out of our economy.

July 22, 2005: The media seems largely bent on undermining the support for the war in Iraq by showing, over and over, the car bombings and other assaults by the insurgents. In Congressional hearings, senior generals voice their dismay about the coverage of the war. And how the troops just can't understand why the American public is not told the positive side of the story. The Congressional witnesses point to the substantial progress of the governing bodies, the writing of a constitution, and improvements to infrastructure and the rebuilding of schools and medical facilities. In his testimony, one senior general said, pretty much in disgust at the media coverage, "Most (many?) of the areas in Iraq are safer than any American city! There's a thought you don't see or hear expressed in the media. The general said that part of the problem is that the media is largely concentrated in Baghdad and does not see the overall picture in Iraq.

July 18, 2005: The battle over whether to allow for cell phone use on airliners is heating up. Some business people say it would help them be more productive. There seems to be a majority who think it is a bad idea to be captive for several hours in a seat next to someone yammering on their cell phone. If cell phones are allowed, they ought to have non-cell phone seating, just like we had non-smoking seating. Then, the cell-phone users could annoy each other. Someone suggested that only "text messaging" be allowed. Ok, but in the regulations, make sure that you require the button-press tones to be turned off. I sat in the dentist's office while a young girl tapped and tapped, and beeped and beeped, on her cell phone. I asked her, like I was interested, what game she was playing. She said she was text messaging. Since her father was sitting next to her, I did not suggest to her that there was a menu item where she could turn off the keypad beeps. Good grief, you are looking at the text. Why in the hell do you also need to hear a "beep" each time you press a key? All public text-messagers and other who talk on cell phones in confined public spaces take note. Read the manual. Those phones are small enough to fit into one or more body orifices, if you insist on ignoring other people's right not to be annoyed. It's in the Constitution somewhere. I'll get back to you.

July 18, 2005: I seldom got to see the lovely Anna Kournikova play tennis, since she was unusually eliminated in the early rounds of tournaments. I am happy to report that she is alive and well and playing World Team Tennis. She and her partner won the mixed-doubles match that I watched. Anna made some great shots that helped seal the victory - in overtime (they use different rules). During an interview, she was smiling and joking, somewhat self-deprecating, and more beautiful than ever. Maybe she can get back some of the commercials that she lost to fellow Russian Sharapova. I think it was on ESPN2. You can check out the players and the TV sked at: www.wtt.com. Kournikova plays for the Sacramento Capitals.

July 18, 2005: The results of the "Outback Mini-poll" are in. The question was: Is Tom Cruise crazy and should he be institutionalized for the protection of society from his irrational behavior?" The consensus was Yes and Yes. Mr. Cruise, if you are offended, you might consider suing for defamation, or whatever. Be advised, however, that the defendants will want you to be examined by their expert witness, a psychiatrist. Oh, that's right, you don't believe in psychiatry. Bad news for you. The courts do allow psychiatrists to testify as expert witnesses. In that case, your best bet might be to plead the 5th Amendment privelege against self incrimination.

July 15, 2005: The major news outlets have adequately documented the childish political wrangling and name calling that took place yesterday on the Senate floor over an amendment that would strip the security clearance from anyone who divulges the name of a covert CIA operative, or has divulged such a name. Some Republican senators said the use of "has" made this an "expo facto" (after-the-fact) law, which is prohibited by the Constitution. The amendment was described on the Senate floor as the "Get Karl Rove amendment." Sen. Frist countered with an amendment that would strip the security clearance for senators who discussed FBI reports on the Senate floor. This was aimed at two senior Democratic senators, minority Leader Harry M. Reid and Sen. Dick Durbin. The tone was disgraceful, as pointed out by several senators. In the heat of the debate Sen. Reid, the minority leader, said: "I don't read the editorials in The Wall Street Journal." What was that supposed to prove, other than that he has a closed mind? All in all, a shameful day, best exemplified by Sen. Susan Collins who said: "This is exactly why the American public holds Congress is such low esteem." No writing of her words can convey her complete sense of disgust and dismay that the Senate had sidetracked the $32 billion Homeland Security bill to engage in the most unprofessional, useless, and uncivil debate I can recall witnessing in the Senate for a long time. When the playground fight was over, both amendments were defeated.

July 14, 2005: The U.S. Senate passed the $32 billion Homeland Security spending bill 96-1. What is the problem with Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who voted NO? Did he forget to take his medications today? I can't wait to hear his lame explanation. And where were the three senators who did not vote? Did they have a really good reason to be absent during one of the biggest votes of the year?

July 14, 2005: Doctors in England voiced concern about the number of long kitchen knives that are being used in assaults and murders. There was talk of banning the sale of long pointed knives. Long ago, the U.K. took away most private guns, much to the consternation of many of my ham-radio friends there. Guns and knives are not the big problem, as the British learned with the horrendous suicide bombings. One can only speculate if the banning of most guns in private hands will be given a second look by the Home Office. Although it is not likely that a citizen would stop many bombers by shooting them, there may come a time when terrorists there use guns to kill groups of people on the streets or in a cafe. It would give many British citizens a little better sense of security to get back their guns. Just as those of us in states in the U.S., where concealed-carry laws exist, do feel a little more secure. But once a government has taken away your guns, as the British did, it seems to be a one-way street.

July 14, 2005: Since a recent update to the Windows Update program in Windows XP Home, I had been unable to access the Windows update site. After much Web searching, I found a discussion about Web Accelerators being the problem in many cases. I right-clicked on Slipstream, my accelerator, and clicked on Exit. The next time I tried Windows Update, I got in normally. The problem may have to do with the fact that Slipstream (and other accelerators) set a proxy address in IE6. This apparently is not compatible with the new version of Windows Update. (Slipstream e-mail support told me to right-click on the Slipstream tray icon, go to Settings/Features/Proxy Exclusion, click on "Specify a proxy exclusion list," and type in: *update.microsoft.com in the open box. Close Slipstream and open it again. It worked! I can now access Windows Update.)

July 14, 2005: The animation program Flash is becoming so intrusive that I was starting to avoid pages that use it heavily for flashing ads and ads that move around on the screen. Finally, at Newsfactor.com, I had enough. A Flash animation built itself into a huge ad which obscured the entire middle of the page for several seconds. There are several ways to turn off Flash, such as running a command in the RUN box. I did not have good results with that series of "disable" "enable" Flash commands. So, I will let you search for them ("disable Flash") if you use IE6. There are paid programs that will block Flash in several browsers, such as IE6. If you use late editions of Firefox or Netscape, you might look at the free Flashblock (www.mozdev.org), which is a Mozilla "extension." Although you can download and install Flashblock from within Firefox under Tools/Extensions, a later version is available at mozdev.org (V. 1.3.2). Plus, they warn that you should not try to update Flashblock through the Extensions/Update within Firefox (read the instructions online). Flashblock works very well on the pages where I have tested it. The Flash ad is a blank space with an "f" in it. If you want to see the Flash animation, such as perhaps a tutorial, you click on the "f" and can then click on the PLAY icon. Pretty slick. Enjoy. To Yahoo and all others who are relying so heavily on Flash animated ads, you have gone beyond the threshold of pain for most users, and your barrage of Flash will turn out to be counterproductive.

Texas is wasting no time to attempt to right the wrong the U.S. Supreme Court did in its recent eminent domain case, where it said it was okay to take property by eminent domain from private owners for private use. The Texas legislature will be in special session, to address some unfinished business. Several Texas legislators have already filed bills that would restrain the authority to take private property for private use. Eminent domain has in the past only been justified in cases of taking of private property, with just compensation, for public use. A somewhat ironic use of that concept was depicted on TV the other night. The U.S. Government took several hundred acres near Hearne, Texas, (300 acres from one individual family) by eminent domain - to build a prisoner of war camp for German POWs captured in WWII. There were several POW camps built in Texas. (See: Kelo el al v. City of New London)

Another New Test for Heart Disease. In the ever-challenging quest to discover what causes cardiovascular disease, we have seen many theories and tests discussed in recent years. In an editorial that accompanied the article** about the new test for a fat in the bloodstream called "oxidized phospholipids," which is a component of LDL cholesterol, Prof. Judith Berliner, professor of medicine at UCLA said: "Most of the studies in the past have revolved around cholesterol," but other factors also must be involved because cholesterol levels are normal in many heart-attack victims." We now have at least half-a-dozen blood tests that some doctors run to help them discover or predict heart disease. In fact, nobody knows exactly what causes blockages that starve the heart for blood, leading to angina or possibly a heart attack. Yet, we are constantly told that we should take a statin or this drug or that drug to "protect against heart disease." It is the shotgun approach. Spray enough buckshot at the heart-disease target and you might get lucky and actually get a hit. Just hope that none of the buckshot ricochets - causing side effects that may be worse than the hoped-for cure. (**New England Journal of Medicine, July 6, 2005)

"The Secret Man," by Bob Woodward

I read this book from cover to cover, bypassing dinner and getting up only twice to go to the bathroom. Not that it is such a great book. But, I kept hoping that some real answers to the Deep Throat riddle would be given. With great anticipation, I read, highlighted, made margin notes, and plunged on. I, like many, was disappointed. If you slog through this, you won't have to read the book. If you read nothing else, read the few paragraphs which starts with: " But, here is perhaps the single most important word in the entire book - "or." These paragraphs have to do with the signals Woodard and Felt would use to set up a meeting.

Bob Woodward failed to answer the questions most of us have. What was Mark Felt's motivation in cooperating with Woodward? How did Felt know when the flag in the flower pot was moved by Woodward to the front of the balcony of his sixth floor apartment at 17th and P, N.W.? How did DT manage to circle page 20 of the The New York Times destined for Woodward's apartment - and draw a clock face that would indicate the time of a desired clandestine meeting? Were there others at the FBI, or elsewhere in the executive branch working with Mr. Felt in compiling information to feed to Woodward.

Were there others at the FBI in on the "plot," who helped monitor the flowerpot on the balcony and insert the notices on page 20 of the The New York Times? How did Felt know about the 18 1/2 minutes erasure on one of Nixon's tapes, before it was made public? We get no answers. Mr. Woodward says he has no answers to those, and many other, questions.

I fault Bob Woodward for not keeping in touch with Mark Felt after he moved away from the Washington area. If he had, we and he might know the answers to questions that now may never be answered. Woodward waited until Felt was an old man (about 86) before he finally contacted him. By then, Mark Felt was apparently suffering from senile dementia and could not remember much of anything about the past. That is, unless Mr. Felt was playing a very clever game with Woodward, which I doubt. Woodward attempts to justify his lack of contact with Mark Felt over nearly two decades as part of "keeping his identity secret."

Based on phone on personal interviews from January 4, 2000 and forward, it appeared that Felt could not remember the Watergate affair, did not remember meeting with Bob in the garage, did not remember that he was convicted of authorizing break-ins by FBI agents in connection with the Weather Underground, or that President Reagan pardoned him for that crime and conviction. In short, W. Mark Felt had no clear memory of the specifics of much of anything in his past.

Why did Woodward wait so long to contact Felt? There is a lot of angst about how Felt hung up on him without speaking when Bob called to discuss his and Carl Bernstein's then newly-published book, "All the President's Men." One excuse after another, as why it took nearly 20 years to once again reach out to Felt.

One might postulate that Woodward waited until Felt was about 86 in the hope that Felt would not remember anything and thus would be in no position challenge anything Woodward would say about him, or challenge the memory of any recollection of Woodward of "how things were between them." Yes, Woodward had agreed to keep the secret of Deep Throat until he died, but the handwriting was on the wall. Too many people had either correctly guessed DT's identity or actually knew it. And Bob was at some point working on a book (now called "The Secret Man") to be published after Felt's death.

After chatting with Felt on the phone and going to visit him in California as Felt's daughter's home - and taking Felt to lunch by himself - it was clear to Woodward that Felt could never challenge Woodward's claims or assumptions, whether he be dead or alive. The only chance was if Felt had kept a diary of sorts or had squirrelled away reports or notes that might relate to his association with Woodward.

I am no way suggesting that Bob Woodward had ulterior motives in not seeking out Mark Felt for almost 20 years after their last contact. I said, "one could postulate." As far as I know, Bob Woodward is an honorable man. (Although there are lingering questions about his supposed deathbed interview with director Casey at CIA, with several people insisting that Woodward was never even allowed into Casey's hospital room.) At one point, Woodward called himself cowardly for not contacting Felt until he got so old as to have virtually no memory of past events. Given all the unanswered questions, it certainly was a profound lack of judgement for him to ignore Mark Felt for nearly 20 years.

Woodward knew, at least as early as 1997 that Felt was living with his daughter Joan in Santa Rosa, California (p. 157). In 1999, Woodward made some "halfhearted stabs" to get in touch with Felt. He even muses that "the historical record was due some answers." But Mr. Woodward, who could uncover a plot by the White House, could not "get in touch" with his old friend, Mark Felt. Apparently Mark Felt was still in the D.C./Virginia area until 1990! Simply pathetic. At least after he learned that Mark was in California, he could have called daughter Joan to see if Mark was up to talking with him or meeting with him. When the meeting finally came about, they seemed to get along famously. Granted, Felt could not seem to remember even crucial things from his past. But, as daughter Joan said to Bob, "he always remembers you."

Finally, in January of 2000 Woodward got in touch with Felt by phone in Santa Rosa. Even then, Felt was unable to remember significant events from his past or from our national history around the time of Watergate. In February 2000, Woodward showed up unannounced at Felt's house. They went to lunch alone, where someone recognized Woodward from a book tour or TV appearance.

Later, in the privacy of Felt's bedroom in the converted garage, Woodward made a valiant effort to get Felt to remember events of the past. Watergate, the underground garage, being Deep Throat, etc. It was a wash. About 15 years too late, perhaps. Joan said that Mark's doctor said that he had dementia, but not Alzheimer's disease. Whatever. His memory of the past was like a blank canvas in front of a master artist. The artist could paint upon that canvas whatever he or she cared to.

Now that the Deep Throat secret is out, Felt (and family?) are working on deals for a book and a movie, or so it is claimed. What could Mark Felt possibly write a book about if he can't remember Watergate, can't even remember being pardoned by President Reagan, can't remember why he and Woodward are friends, and on an on? My hope is that Felt has notes, maybe recordings, and other documentation of his meetings, phone calls, et al., with Woodward - and others - and documentation about what was going on inside the FBI at the time of Watergate. And that once his book is published, we can finally learn the answers to some of the questions that Woodward has been unable to answer.

I have commented on this before in the Outback, but if Mark Felt was acting alone in the effort to feed information to Woodward, I still do not accept the two stories about how Woodward and Felt were to arrange meetings. First, the flower pot on the sixth-floor balcony at Woodward's apartment. How could the number two man at the FBI check every day to see if the flower pot was on the balcony? He was an administrator, not a field agent, and had little reason to be out of the office and wandering around up north around Dupont Circle.

What logic is there that of the two, a cub reporter at the Post, or a top man at the FBI, would be the one to "go out of his way" to check a meeting signal each day. I would be more logical that Woodward would have been asked to leave a "signal" in a public place closer to the FBI building. In fact, Woodward says that Felt missed several "flower-pot signal" meetings (p. 67).

But, here is perhaps the single most important word in the entire book - "or." On page 63, while at Felt's home in Virginia, Woodward is discussing with Mark Felt about meeting face to face - where no one could observer them. (That certainly ruled out Woodward coming again to visit Felt at home in Virginia.) Felt wanted no more phone contact.

Woodward writes:

"If you keep the drapes in your apartment closed, open them and that would signal me, he said." Felt said that he could check each day OR have them checked, and if they were open, they could meet that night at a predesignated place. Woodward said he liked to let the light in at times. "We needed another signal, he (Felt) said, indicating that he could check my apartment regularly. He never explained how he could do this." Woodward then proposed the flower-pot signal.

In "All the President's Men," Woodward wrote: "Deep Throat could check each day; if the drapes were open, the two would meet that night." Woodward suggested that he would use the flower pot with the red flag as a signal for a meeting. "During the day, Deep Throat would check to see if the pot had been moved," he wrote.

The two renditions of how the "flower-pot/flag" signal came into being are essentially the same. Except! In "The Secret Man," Woodward says that in talking about the possible use of the drapes for a signal, Woodward wrote: He (Felt) could check each day OR have them checked, ..." "Or have them checked." If Felt said "or," it means that others were working with him and knew that he and Woodward had some kind of clandestine relationship. Signals on a balcony could mean nothing else but a clandestine relationship.

Again, I return to the business of Felt saying (p. 65) that if he wanted to schedule a meeting, page 20 on Woodward's The New York Times would be circled and there would be the hands of a clock showing the time of the desired meeting in the underground garage in Rosslyn. The Times were stacked up in the lobby of Woodward's apartment. In "President's Men," there was no mention of the papers being marked for individual apartments. In "The Secret Man," ( p. 65) Woodward says that the apartment numbers of the papers left in the lobby were "clearly marked on the outside of each paper in marker pen." In neither book, or in other reading, do I recall the signal in the Times ever being used to arrange a meeting

On the face of it, there is no way that the number two man in the FBI was going to be seen going into Woodward's apartment building and possibly be observed putting marks in the Times destined for Apt. 617. No way! Would the delivery man mark each paper for a particular apartment. I question that.

I delivered a lot of newpapers to multi-story apartments as a kid, and I could not imagine taking the time to write the apartment number on each paper on my entire route. Time is money, and precious little money at that in the newspaper-slinging business. And, in the hustle to pick up a paper and be on their way, tenants would no doubt occasionally pick up the wrong paper. A Times newspaper was a Times newspaper to most people.

So taken together, the statement of Felt that he would check the drapes OR have them checked, and the nonsense that Felt was going to mark a Times in the lobby of Woodward's apartment, are a pretty clear indication that there were more people involved. It makes sense, since a lot of people in the Bureau were upset that Nixon was trying to politicize the FBI. Hoover would not allow it.

When Hoover died, instead of promoting Mark Felt, the obvious choice, Nixon sent over L. Patrick Gray, a loyal man who would bring raw FBI files to the White House and even destroy files that had been found in the safe of E. Howard Hunt when Hunt worked for the White House. If I had been an FBI agent, I would have been meeting in dark garages, too. The garage might have been half full if the agents did not take care to establish different meeting places.

If there were more than just Mark Felt and Woodward involved, who is protecting whom? Is Felt protecting one or more of his old FBI associates, or is Woodward protecting yet another (more) of his inside FBI sources - or White House sources? Let us hope that Mark Felt kept detailed notes, as any good FBI man would do, and when he writes his book, we will get some "real" answers - instead of the hand-wringing angst of Bob Woodward - who never learned much about Felt's motives or the enigma of the flower-pot and circles on page 20 of the NY Times.

Partly because I had recently read again "All the President's Men," many paragraphs from that book jumped off the page in "The Secret Man." Some of it was exact cut and paste, I am sure, but you can't be accused of plagiarizing yourself. And there was a good bit from Mark Felt's Book "The FBI Pyramid." No real complaint from me, as both helped fill in the gaps in the story line. Especially since Woodward seems to have one of the very few copies of Felt's book ever sold. Felt's old book will no doubt go into reprint soon - and I'll be on the list.

One thing that immediately struck me was how often Bob Woodward seemed unsure of events for which he had not taken notes as a reporter. Speaking of his own life, he used "I believe," "I think," and he said "I don't know exactly how" Harry Rosenfeld the Metro Editor for the Post had agreed to see him about a job. His long-term memory of events in his own life seem fuzzy at times. He was hired for a short tryout at the Post, failed miserably, and was shipped off to a weekly paper in Montgomery County.

He did finally get hired by the Post and had been on the police beat only a very short time when the Watergate burglary broke. Talk about leading a charmed life. Based on his Watergate reporting and his steadfast refusal to even hint about the identity of Deep Throat his career flourished. He began to have people in various administrations spilling their guts, often about highly-classified material. One thing they could count on. Bob Woodward would not reveal them as a source unless and until they wanted to be revealed.

I mentioned this in an earlier Outback, but it is worth repeating. About all we ever hear is how "cautious" Woodward and Felt were. All this stuff with the flower-pot and the underground garage. I think there were only about six meetings in the garage. At times, Woodward called Felt at the FBI, at times at home, even drove up unannounced at Felt's home in Virginia. There were pretext calls to Felt at the FBI, where Woodward would say nothing and Felt would call back to a predesignated phone booth. There were many other phone contacts, some of which Woodward was scolded for by Felt. Go by the rules.

Once Felt called Woodward at the Post and asked for another extension where they could talk. Woodward gave Felt the extension of a phone in a different department of the newsroom and Felt called him at that number at the Post. There was at least one face to face meeting (p. 94) at a bar in Prince George's County. On page 49, Woodward says: "In the following days I called Felt several times." A month after he retired from the FBI, Woodward and Felt talked again on the phone (p. 107). Mind you, Nixon and Halderman had already discussed (as the Nixon tape proves) that they thought Felt was the leak at the FBI to the Post.

Among other lapses, Woodward had notes he transcribed from conversations with Mark Felt and scribbled "MF" in the margin, because he often referred to Mark as "My Friend." Not for long, if you keep putting his initials on your notes. Woodward was questioned about the initials by one of his colleagues who had heard some scuttlebutt about the memos with "MF." Was that Mark Felt? Woodward lied, as he had to.

On page 69, speaking of the day the Watergate burglars were indicted, Woodward says: "I broke the rules about telephone contact with Felt and called him." On page 70, Woodward says: "I again broke the no-telephone rule, calling Felt at home on a Sunday afternoon." Felt spoke with Bob, but Felt was really annoyed with Woodward and Bob writes "This will be our last conversation, he said angrily." But, Felt suggested that if Woodward absolutely needed to see him, to call and not say anything or ask for someone else, and Felt would recognize his voice and the garage meeting would be understood. Make up your mind, MF.

There are two points about the phone calls. One, they were never consistent as to a pretext message, either to meet in the garage, or call a payphone, etc. This would be normal tradecraft. Certainly not calling and chatting about operations on a phone that might well be tapped. Remember, at least 17 of Nixon's enemies had been phone tapped, and some were journalists. And if I worked for Hoover, you would think that I knew he was ruthless and would phone-tap his own mother if it suited his ends.

Two, so much has been made about the underground garage. It seems so "made for a movie," which it was, and became the identifying signature of the relationship between Felt and Woodward. In fact, it was only a small part of the overall exchanges of information. But, when you get a hot horse, ride it until it drops dead. Just like the NY Times with page 20 circled. Really sexy, if it ever happened. I will amend this last sentence if I can find one instance in his writing where Woodward says he actually went to a garage meeting based on a circled page 20 in the Times.

On page 87 is a statement that is seemingly insignificant, but goes to credibility. Bob Woodward was in the garage waiting for Felt around 2:30 a.m. and when Felt did not show up, his imagination began to run wild. At around 4 a.m., he said "I was terrified. I ran out and raced home." Raced home? He was in Virginia, several miles from his home, presumably in street clothes. Are we to believe that a lone man running from Rosslyn and across a bridge and on through D.C. at least two miles to his apartment would not have caused at least one policeman to stop him and inquire about his "early morning run"? In addition, there is no indication that with the workload at the Post, Bob had any time to be a gym rat or to jog. I doubt that he could have "run" from the garage to his apartment. I assume he wishes he had not written that sentence. As I recall, it was also in the "President's Men." Maybe he meant to say that he raced a few blocks, hailed a cab and told the cab driver to "hurry."

In my main Web-page piece about my "visit" to the vacated Watergate DNC offices after the break in, I mentioned that I had information about an attorney who had connections with the White House who came to the jail when the five Watergate burglars were arrested. The burglars had not called an attorney, but this fellow just showed up. This probably ties in with the call I made to Woodward and Bernstein in which I said that I had been reliably informed that an attorney with White House connections had gone to the jail after the arrests. My notes are in deep archive in a box somewhere in my junk, so I cannot confirm that it was the lawyer named by Woodward in the book.

One persistent myth is put to rest. Woodward said that Felt never told him "Follow the money." That was inserted in the script by somebody working on the movie.

While Bob and Carl were working on "All the President's Men," Bob called Felt, who had retired from the FBI and asked Felt if they could use his real name in the book. Felt exploded. Absolutely not. This was no doubt one of turning points when Bob and Felt began to drift apart. When the book was published, Bob called Felt to ask him what he thought of the book. When Felt heard Bob's voice, he hung up!

Here is another set of unanswered questions because Woodward never had the courage to follow up. Was Felt primarily upset because Woodward was going to make a lot of money from a book that revolved in large part around Felt's contribution? Was he pissed when he discovered, for the first time, that he had been dubbed "Deep Throat"? Was he upset that he was portrayed in the book at all, even guardedly? And still miffed that Woodward would even suggest that they break their confidentiality agreement. Probably all of the above. Woodward will never know. He waited too long to make another contact.

Carl Bernstein, who never met Mark Felt when he was Deep Throat, added one chapter at the end of "The Secret Man." The last paragraph, which was the Post statement about the revelation sums it up:

"W. Mark Felt was Deep Throat and helped us immeasurably in our Watergate coverage. However, as the record shows, many other sources and officials assisted us and other reporters for the hundreds of stories written in "The Washington Post."

After careful reading of "All the President's Men," "The Secret Man," and scores of articles and much of the testimony of the Watergate hearings, I lean toward the view that the outcome might have been the same without the contributions of Deep Throat. He was, after all, largely steering the discussion with Woodward, in general directions. In time, the whole story might have come out without him.

Nobody can deny that inside the Post, with Woodward and Bernstein, Ben Bradlee and others, the fact that they had a "highly-placed source in the executive branch" helped them to have the courage to print some, probably many, stories that otherwise they would not have done. Deep Throat was their "Ace in the hole," their "Go-to guy" when they needed reassurance that they were on the right track. Many of the stories we now know were not always on the most solid of ground. Most were, but certainly not all were.

The nagging question is: How can a man who apparently cannot remember that he was involved in Watergate, does not remember being pardoned by Reagan, and on and on, be "competent" to allow his story to be told - as it was first in "Vanity Fair"? I have no real answer, unless he has documents or tapes or something to back up his family's assertions. And how can he write a book? Even answer questions to a ghost writer? ("My Life in the Shadows," by Mark Felt as told to Bob Woodward. What a team they would make.)

Joan was quoted in The Press Democrat as saying that her dad, W. Mark Felt, was "lucid" and feels reassured that he made the right decision. Further, "His health is frail, yes, but he's very present and cogent and capable of making decisions," she said. No offense, Joan, but if Woodward's description of conversations with Felt in recent years is accurate, Mark Felt does not even know that he is Deep Throat or exactly what was his true connection with Bob Woodward. There is very strong evidence that Mark Felt is not competent to make any decisions as large as revealing his identity as Deep Throat or to write a book - or draft a will, and so on.

Daughter Joan, speaking recently, referred to Mark falling and breaking his hip and having a "second" stroke. We saw him come to the door on a walker. Great smile, though. They say that he has had periods of lucidity, that for example, he told his girl friend some years ago that he was Deep Throat. Fine, but that will be a very short book. And then what happened, Mark? I hope Felt and family make a ton of money to help pay for college for the kids, or whatever is needed. Maybe it will come from the movie rights.

I am a little dubious of the family motives in releasing the "bombshell." Especially given Felt's apparent dementia and inability to remember his past or past history. Joan's son Mark is in law school and will pile up about $100,000 in debt. And there are two other kids. Joan admits that a need for money was one of the factors in going public about Dad.

The Press Democrat, June 5, 2005, reported that: In 1990, at age 77, the former FBI man severed the last of his Washington ties and moved to Santa Rosa. He rented an apartment for a time, and in 1992 purchased a split-level, five-bedroom home on Redford Place for about $200,000. The lower part of the split-level was remodeled into an apartment for him, with a bedroom-living room, kitchenette and bathroom.

Woodward says that Mark lives in a converted garage, with a narrow bed, a TV and not a lot else. If in fact, he paid for the house, as Joan admits, and he ends up in the converted garage, that raises some issues for me. Unless, he prefers it, so that he is further away from the din of the kid's music and MTV blasting on the TV screen. I can relate. I could never live in a bedroom in my son's house, as long as the grandkids were still home. Put me in the tool shed, or I'll buy a camper for the back yard.

I think what Mark Felt did was heroic. Had I seen my beloved FBI being corrupted and politicized by Nixon and the CIA being used to interfere in an FBI investigation, and so forth, I would have been singing like a bird to the Post or whoever would print the stuff. What chance was there that the truth could be brouht out through normal court channels, given the way Nixon was using every federal agency he could to cover his tracks? Mark Felt was just a little less-than-upfront with specifics for my taste, and it bugged Woodward, who called his relationship a "tug-of-war."

Bop Woodward has been interviewed many times since Felt "came out" and "The Secret Man" was published. One thing I picked up on. At each successive interview, Woodward seems more and more willing to agree that Mark Felt probably had help with the flower-pot signal and other things, like the marking on page 20 of the Times, and so on. Woodward probably has mentally given in to the pressure of pundits and people like me who questioned that the number 2 man in the FBI had time to wander around in D.C. looking for a flower-pot signal or circle page 20 in a newspaper. A nice touch for books and a movie, but not very logical. And maybe it is also a foreshadowing that as others die who were involved in feeding Woodard and Bernstein info on Watergate, et al., Woodward will tell us more about his sources. Stay well, Bob. Those of us who lived through that period would like to know, "The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," about what you knew and from whom the information came.

Watergate Trivia: During the NBC "Dateline" program where Tom Brokaw interviewed Woodward about "The Secret Man," there were some interesting video clips. One was at the Watergate hearings. A young panel member asked Alexander Butterfield if he had any knowledge of a secret taping system in the White House (Oval Office). Alexander P. Butterfield had been a Deputy Assistant to the President and an aide to H.R. Halderman. Butterfield said that he was aware of such a taping system. The man who asked the question was the Chief Minority Counsel to the Watergate hearings - Fred Thompson. Mr. Thompson later became a U.S. Senator and has done some movie and TV acting. Fred is now involved with helping President Bush screen candidates for the U.S. Supreme Court. See what you miss if you don't have a Digital Video Recorder. Back up, pause. Yup, that was Fred, when he had lots of hair.

In the spirit of full disclosure: I said above "Had I seen my beloved FBI being corrupted..." I went to law school with the sole idea of becoming an FBI agent. But, an agent with 20-years in the "Hoover FBI" talked me out of it and told me to hire on with Treasury, so I became an ATF agent. Later, I switched to the CIA. Not sour grapes, but I never held the Hoover FBI in very high regard - and I had some rare insights. There are a 100 reasons that are beyond the scope of this paragraph. So, while I was no great admirer of the "Hoover FBI," I do understand the loyalty that many agents in those days felt to the Bureau, including Mark Felt. Thus, I understand why Felt, and surely others, took chances to get the truth out about Nixon. Their "beloved FBI" was under attack and being politicized. Had I to do it over again today, I would probably sign up to work for the current FBI director. Director Robert S. Mueller III seems like the straightest shooter possibly ever to head the FBI - and with a proper sense of mission.

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Shaquille O'Neal

Watching 7 foot 1 inch and 7 foot 6 inch guys stuff a basketball down through a hoop is not entertaining for me. I grew up and played basketball in an era of reasonably-normal sized players and when the game was one of skill and grace. Now, it is largely a shoving contest by over-sized people. Some NBA players might be called freaks of nature because of their size. I have to be careful about calling people freaks, as one of my sons is 6 ft. 7 in. and loves to play and watch basketball. Because most of TV shows were reruns, I decided to watch some of the NBA playoffs and concentrate particularly on Shaq. I had seen him many times before with the Lakers and playing with Kobe. I often would tune in the last 5 or 6 minutes of a game, because as I tell my son "that is when the real game finally begins."

At 7 ft. 1 in., and 325 pounds, Shaq backs over people like a Hummer over a tricycle and seldom gets called for an offensive foul. I watched him put his left hand and forearm on the lower body of opposing players, push them out of the way and then either stuff the ball or perform a layup. At 7 ft. 1 in., either of those shots ought to be about 100%. He has what I call a "little baby hook shot," that he shoots from about 4 or 5 feet from the basket. Again, that shot ought to be a high percentage shot, and he does make a lot of them. But, that's about the extent of his offensive game. He seldom takes an outside shot. He has made only one 3-point shot in his pro career, in 1996!

Shaq does rate number one in field-goal percentage. I would hope so, since he is usually within a foot or two of the basket when he shoots, unless he shoots his "baby hook," which is 2-3 feet further away. Shaq seldom sets up any other player for a shot (an "assist"). He does not get many rebounds - an average of about 8 defensive rebounds a game. He ranks 15th in the NBA in defensive rebounds. He does not block as many shots as you think he might with his height and bulk. In the 2004-05 season, his high was 7 blocked shots in one game. His free-throw shooting is a joke, currently around .435 percent. And they call him the most dominant player in the game. If you say so.

You would think that Shaq would be so embarrassed about his free-throw shooting that he would forbid reporters to ask him about it. But, his standard answer is that "I make them when they count." He means that he tends to make a higher percentage toward the end of a game, especially in a close game. I have a flash for Shaq. If you had not missed so many free throws early in the game, the game would not be so close. In the 2005 playoffs, Tim Duncan, 6 ft. 11 in., of the San Antonio Spurs, made .717 % of his free throws. Yao Ming, 7 ft. 6 in., of the Houston Rockets, made .727 % of his free throws. Mike James of the Rockets made .958 % of his free throws in the playoffs.

Here are some comparisons Shaq would probably prefer not be made. Let's take a look at some of the ladies in the WNBA. In the 2005 season, Brooke Wyckoff of the Connecticut Suns, shot .640 % for 3-point attempts. Several other ladies shot above .400 % for their 3-point shots. Granted, their 3-point arc is a little shorter, but they are not 7-1 and 325. Free throws is where it really gets embarrassing for Shaq. The top female free-throw shooter was Sue Bird, of the Seattle Storm. She made .964 % of her free throws. Sue Bird is 5 ft. 8 in., and weighs 150 pounds. Of the top 20 free-throw shooters in the league, the lowest percentage was .848 %! I see women shooting and making hook shots from around the foul-line range. Michelle Snow, of the Houston Comets, 6 ft. 4 in., made .575 % of her field goals, versus .601 % for Shaq. I am sure Shaq never watches the WNBA, or he would sink into a deep depression.

One of the reasons that I am so unimpressed with Shaq is that at a little over 5 ft. 10 in., I have always been a deadly shooter, from long range, running hooks from foul-line distance, and free throws. Until I had my heart surgery in my late 60's, I spent hours at the gym doing my "shoot around." First, 10 from 3-point range, 10 running hook shots from foul-line range, and finally 10 free throws. On the shots from the field, I was consistently in the 70 % range. With free throws, I often sank 10 for 10.

At the Aerobics Center in Dallas (before I moved to the Outback), people used to come up to me and ask what pro team I had played for. In truth, I had quit organized basketball after the 8th grade - partly because I was not that good a dribbler or ball handler - and partly because I was involved in several other sports. Tony Dorsett, of the Cowboys, one of many Cowboys who hung out at Aerobics Center, once came up to me and said, "Man, you can shoot some hoops." I'm not saying this to boost my ego, but to point out how pathetic it is that a 5 ft. 10 in. guy in his 50's and into his late 60's could make shots - and with a high percentage - that would put Shaq to shame.

It was also at the Aerobics Center that I played my last "pick-up" basketball game. Jean Fugett, a tight end with the Dallas Cowboys - and a good friend, and Otto Stowe, a wide receiver with the Cowboys, and I took on three of the regular hoop players at the gym. It was about 3/4 court, because we had baskets at each side of the court, in addition to the full-court baskets. Partly inspired by the company I was in, I let it all hang out. I knew I did well, as of course did the "pros," and we soundly defeated the other 3-man team. (Just to check on my memory, I ran some stats on the Web. Jean Fugett and Otto Stowe played for the Cowboys at the same time, although Otto was only with them one season. Jean was eventually traded to the Redskins.)

A friend of mine, with whom I often did "shoot arounds," had been watching from the balcony. He said that I sunk everything I threw up, from 20-foot jumpers to running hooks from the corner! "Really," I said. "Better than I usually shoot?" "Even better," he said. "Well, I guess I will go out on top. That is my last basketball game." And it was - and that was about 30 years ago. I continued to do my "shoot arounds," but always turned down chances for a game. Kind of like the fastest gun in the West. I was living on my reputation from the last game - and my solo shooting exhibitions - and that was the way it was going to stay. When I moved to the Outback, I joined a gym in Paris, Texas, where I continued to shoot by myself for an hour or so several days a week. But I never accepted an invitation to play in a game. I had a memory that I wanted to protect.

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You Have Problems, We Have Fixes - Samsung

There is good news and bad news. The bad news is that both one of my sons and I bought the same HDTV DLP set from Samsung, the HLP-4663W, at the same Best Buy Store. I bought the extended warranty and my son did not. I got the extended warranty because of my remoteness to any service center and was told how it would "take care of me" in case of trouble, that the Best Buy warranty "took over" from the Samsung warranty. Both of our sets developed the same problem within months of purchase.

I bought my Samsung HDTV DLP set first. After about three months, it would not come on. The diagnostic lights on front displayed the classic 3-blinking lights, which meant the projection bulb was shot. It is normally good for several years with normal viewing habits. Reading on forums, I discovered that the problem was quite common and that the real culprit was apparently a ballast that fired the bulb.

I called the sales manager at Best Buy, who had sold me the set and the extended warranty. He told me to call the Best Buy 800 number. They referred me to two dealers within 20-50 miles of my house here in the sticks. The first dealer hung up on me when I told him I had not purchased the set from him. The second dealer did not return my phone call. So much for Best Buy's help.

The Samsung warranty was one year, and I had my set only a few months. So, I called Samsung and explained the problem and my layman's diagnosis about the ballast. Without hesitation, the lady said they had some problems in that area and were providing a kit that contained both the ballast and a new bulb. I told her that a friend of mine in the nearby town was an experienced TV man and she faxed him a "one-time" authorization to do the repairs. She sent my man the parts overnight! The repair took 15 minutes and only required the opening of a small door at the back of the Samsung HLP-4663W. That was several months ago, and the set has worked flawlessly since. We will see what happens if I have a problem beyond the Samsung one-year warranty and have to deal with Best Buy on my extended warranty. No, I am not driving 100 miles with the set in the back of my pickup. That was not our deal. "In home" repair was our deal.

My son bought his Samsung HLP-4663W months after I did, but in July of 2005, his set would not come on and he got the 3-blinking lights. The bulb or ballast was shot. He called Samsung, described the problem, and noted that there had been many reports of bad ballasts and/or lamps. The lady gave my son the phone number of a local repair representative (my son lives in the Dallas suburbs). He called the fellow and made an appointment. The guy called prior to the appointment to make sure somebody was home and showed up at the appointed time. The repairman concluded that my son's set had greater problems than the bulb or ballast and replaced the "entire light engine," (or was it, "the entire DLP engine"?) which he had with him. Some of the guys on the forums know what the "entire light engine" or the "entire DLP engine" is, but all I know is that my son said it contained the bulb and ballast and many other parts. In total, the replacement part was bigger than a toaster.

Less than an hour after the repairman left, the lady from Samsung called to see if the man had made the appointment and if the repairs were made satisfactorily. My son called me back to tell me about this second phone call, very impressed with the level of support he got from Samsung. For those of you who do not keep up on foreign electronics, Samsung is a S. Korean company. Their quality is very high. They just had several production runs of HDTV sets with some flaky parts. But they did everything they could to make it right for my son and me. I would buy another Samsung HDTV, even though there were problems. Do you think the other manufacturers don't have problems? And what kind of support do they give you? I dunno.

For the record. In addition to my Samsung HDTV set, I own three Samsung LCD computer monitors, a Samsung laser-jet printer with automatic duplexing (ML2150). The TV set is the only one of these I have ever had a problem with. I am in the market for a new cell phone. I lean toward Samsung or possibly LG (both from S. Korea). If I open up the back of a propective purchase and it says "Made in China," which some of the "name brands" are, I will put it quickly back on the counter.

The consensus on extended warranties for TV sets is that they are not worth it. Electronic items usually fail within the normal warranty period, especially if it is one year. I complained to Best Buy about paying to purchase an extended warranty that started at the time of purchase, even though there was a full warranty from the manufacturer. They have no real answer. Some doubletalk how their warranty was better. How could it be better than the response we got from Samsung? I noted that with my Chevy Silverado, I went into the dealer just miles before my original warranty expired and purchased an extended warranty for another 3 years.

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Big Brother 6

I watched parts of two episodes of "Big Brother 6," to confirm my suspicion. That is, BB6 is probably the most confused and meaningless reality show ever. One prediction. I would be surprised if Janelle is voted out in the early rounds. Why? Because if she is, most of the men watching the show will tune out after she is gone. It's too bad that she smokes cigarettes.

The host, Julie Chen, is close to inept and seems uncomfortable in the role. On the show on July 21, 2005, she was conducting the Head of Household challenge, which was pure unimaginative drivel. When the question was asked of the contestants about what would bother them the most, Julie Chen blew it. The choices were contestants not doing their own dishes or not doing their laundry. The panel chose dirty dishes. Julie said that they had chosen dirty laundry and moved on as if nothing was wrong. She had a 50/50 chance and she saw the colored slides used as votes. But, she got it wrong. Geeez, Julie. Isn't this riveting drama? Dirty dishes or laundry?

If my politically-correct instincts are on target, and this is CBS - the winner will possibly one of the following: The black kid, Beau, who is gay, the Cuban girl, Ivette, who is a lesbian, or Kaysar, who is Arabic. Janelle will stick around for a while because she is the only female with any sex appeal - IMHO.

The "teams" and the "surprises" add nothing to the drama; the teams are actually confusing. Everybody is playing with a secret partner, but everyone in the house has figured out who the teams are. There seems to be no plan, no cohesiveness to the show. The challenges are sophomoric, and the Head of Household challenges could better be written by an eight grader. Much of the conversation is hushed, and not all the time are there subtites to help us. I finally turned on CC. Maybe just as well that you don't hear the inane comments of those in the house. The house guests seem to be constantly confused about the dynamics of relationships, and they are not alone. There are no Rhodes' Scholars in the group.

The show has one aspect that likens it to American Idol. They drag the thing on and on to fill an hour. They even did a retrospective of the contestants in BB5 to kill some time. Once again, I am thankful for my DVR so that I can watch the "critical five minutes" of the show to see how Janelle is doing. And then only because it is summer - would I waste even five minutes on this piece of trash.

I knew nothing about Julie Chen, partly because I do not watch the morning TV shows. She is on the CBS early morning show and host of BB6. She is married to Les Moonves, the Big Man at CBS, and 20 years her senior. After her plastic surgery on her nose and eyes (according to reports and some before and after photos), she is stunningly beautiful. But, I favor dark-skinned women, so I am prejudiced. Whatever her future at CBS, she will always have to live with the question of how much Les Moonves influenced her rise. I wonder if they had any words when she came home after taping the BB6 where she got the result of the question on the Head of Household challenge wrong? Geeez, Julie. This is not brain surgery.

Dear friends. If you are a regular viewer of Big Brother 6, and you are a man, you either have the hots for Julie Chen or Janellele, or you are desperate for something to do. If you are a woman, there are some cute guys, one less since Michael left. If you are gay or lesbian, you can root for your guy or gal, Beau or Ivette. If you are Arabic, you can root for Kaysar, who seems like one of the nicest of the group. Of the three, I would lean toward Kaysar, for several obvious reaons. Other than that, maybe you ought to rent a movie or watch a PPV on cable or satellite. How in the world did we get all the way to Big Brother 6? It does not speak well for the intelligence of the viewing public or the programming "geniuses" at CBS.

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