America and the IMF: Dereliction of duty | The Economist

America and the IMF: Dereliction of duty | The Economist



This story is an example of what Americans have come to detest. It doesn't matter that it probably is the best course for the US, realistically, but that is not the point.

The point is that when the Americans lead, they get hammered for doing whatever they do. And now, when their representatives fail to go along with the program and avoid putting the US in the lead, they get hammered. It is the "damned if  you do and damned if you don't" paradigm that has just got most Americans throwing their hands up in disgust and saying "to hell with the rest of you. We have carried much of the world (at least the part that was known as the Free World) for 70 years and all we seemed to have gotten is kicks in the shins and spat on. Well, try it without us for a while."

There are those of us Americans who realize that attitude really is not the making of good policy, but the sentiment is understandable.

However, it is our perpetual "guns and butter" approach to domestic and international relations and policies has pretty much spent ourselves into a deep pit financially, while those who have benefited from the Pax Americana Era, pretty much skated by without having to add too much to the kitty.

Add to the mix that we have a president who seems to be ignorant of what a foreign policy is, as well as living in some ivory tower world of academe that cannot seem to connect with the real world and that there a) are evil and bad people out there and b) they don't really respond well to Occidental reasoning and rhetoric that is the basic foundation of what passes for liberal/progressive thought these days.

So, what you see is various and sundry wannabees scrambling around to see if in all the smoke and chaos of what passes for world affairs these days if they can expand their sphere of dominance whether it is by hook or crook.

All I can say is that all you out there outside the US of A are in for a heck of ride for at least the next three years because not much is going to change inside those borders.

Does the Big Bang breakthrough offer proof of God?

Does the Big Bang breakthrough offer proof of God? – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs





This article sums up pretty much my view on the existence of a God, the Bible, and religion.



I have had my own personal revelations during my life, that have reinforced my views. What they were and when they happened are not important. What is important is the understanding that God is there ... and all we see is his/hers/its (you choose because I am not going to argue about gender) handiwork and it really is incredible. To deny this beauty and the way it seamlessly goes together seems to me rather obtuse.



The rest, as they used to say, is about as useless are arguing how many angels can fit on the head of pin.

My take on the Ukraine situation

Nato warns that Russia is risking Europe's peace and security - Telegraph



My take on the Ukrainian crisis (subject to being overtaken by events after 2 March 2014) is that there will be no general war, Russia will gain de facto control of the Crimea and east of the Dnieper River. It will basically be Czechoslovakia  in 1938, but without Baldwin proclaiming peace in our time.



First, despite what the progressives and those believers in the idea that man has evolved so much in the 21st Century that rationality, diplomacy and negotiations can resolve all conflicts and that leaders today's major powers will not use military force to achieve their geopolitical aspirations, the world really isn't like that ... and that 19th century vision of power politics that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry thinks isn't flying really does happen to be the way of humankind. Sorry, Mr. Heinz, but people really haven't changed their spots.



Now, having said that:



President Obama has pretty much said that whatever happens in the Ukraine is not of any concern of the US. The Europeans maybe; the Russians probably; and the Ukrainians definitely. Despite all the bluster that Putin and the Russians are violating X number of international laws, Y number of international agreement and basically being pigs about the situation, Obama really has no stomach to do much more than sputter and Putin knows that.



Secondly, the Europeans - whether through the EU or NATO - aren't about to do anything other than bluster either. Why? Because they don't have the power to do much, at least not militarily, and Russia does have its hand on the value to the natural gas that fuels much of Europe's energy needs.



Third, the UN ain't gonna do squat. The Security Council is absolutely powerless because anything it tries to do will be blocked by the Russians with their veto power.



Fourth, even if Obama got beyond just blustering, what could the US do to help defend or prevent the dismemberment of the Ukraine? Zip, zero, zilch. Hell, the progressives have been so busy for the last five or six years eviscerating US military capabilities (the peace dividend from ending the Iraq debacle and the soon-to-be Afghan debacle to fund Obamacare) that the US has no forces in any position to take on the Russians, short of a nuclear attack and nobody thinks the Ukraine is worth having nukes hitting US cities (not even Washington, D.C., or Detroit and maybe Chicago which probably would come out better in that case). With no conventional options on the table, the assurances we, the Brits and others gave the Ukraine that their territorial integrity as defined at the fall of the Soviet Empire would be honored if it gave up its Soviet nuclear weapons, basically are worthless.



So, there will be a media feeding frenzy for the next few days/weeks/months and then the Ukraine effectively will be dismembered with a portion - like happened in near by Georgia six years ago - basically being ceded back to the Russian Empire.



And people think the Americans think in imperial terms. Give me a break.

Personal notes and a miracle (of sorts)

For those who knew: Thank you for your kind thoughts.

For those who didn’t know: I still felt your kind thoughts.

Last week (of February 2014) was a bit of an adventure for me, involving a trip to the hospital emergency room, that morphed into a little more than a three-day hospital stay.

For those who don’t know me, I have suffered from a chronic heart condition for many years, which has included the implantation of a number of arterial stents in my coronary arteries, a rather unsuccessful attempt at coronary artery bypass graphs and chronic angina (chest pain and discomfort). It was the confluence of those conditions that compelled me to retire eight years ago.

Anyway, the last few weeks the level of my chest discomfort had increasec to the level which, at the advice of my brother (the surgeon) and my cardiologist's  physician assistant,led me to pay the visit to the emergency room at the area’s trauma care and teaching hospital, which led to yet another heart catherization (of which I have had quite enough, thank you) followed by a second catherization to install two or three (I really have not been able to keep that straight) stents (which brings me to at least 10 now) in my poor battered ticker.

The good parts of the story are a) I survived it all; b) I was able to have both my daughters visit (which is special) and c) I got rather good news, for which no one really has much an explanation.

The good news, for those who have followed my condition, is that one of those three occluded arterial bypass graphs has for some unknown reason and methodology reopened and essentially is clear now. I find this remarkable, as you see, as cardiologists in two major cardio-research hospitals had told me that it was closed and there wasn’t much that could be done about it.

The cardiologists working on me had said the new blockages in my heart (well at least one) offered them a considerable challenge since it one of them was at the junction of two arteries that already had one stent. Exactly how they solved the problem of putting a stent in this Y junction, I am not sure (even though I was essentially awake for most of the process and counting holes in the acoustical  tile in the ceiling and listening to the humorous chatter among the operation room staff).

However, I am home once again. Relatively pain-free (back to my normal level of angina discomfort that has been my companion for the last 14 years).

For those who may have said prayers for me: I thank you.

For those who say prayers for me now: I thank you.

For those who believe in these sort of things, know that I am thankful for the apparent miracle that has occurred in my body and am extremely grateful for the divine power that allowed it to happen to me.

You know, I really do think there is a God and God does have a purpose for us and takes an active role in our lives (if we let “him”). We just have to keep the faith and keep on truckin’ as the old saying goes.