Recent News Articles and Observations

Here are some news items and reports over the last week that caught my attention and some brief reactions to them. The big news stories of the last week were Tropical Storm Fay and its devastating destruction across much of Florida; the continued Russian military incursion into the nation of Georgia and the likely result of a Russian presence in the small Caucusus Mountains state longterm in the face of a powerless reaction from the US and other democracies across the globe; and the sudden sharp decline in oil prices in the last six weeks with prices nearing $ 110 per barrel which is down about 25 % from its peak of over $147 in early July.


A. Andrew Bacevich on American Policy, Recent History, and the Future
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Bacevich is an esteemed policy expert, retired US Army officer, academician and educator, and author of several books, the latest being The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism. His comments are quite thought provoking and indeed a strong warning about what our future holds.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08152008/transcript1.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-bacevich24-2008aug24,0,3736853.story
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B. The Summer of 2008 Winds Down
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The great simmering dissatisfaction enrapting most, if not all, conscious and awake Americans is superbly capsulized in this essay in the Boston Globe by James Carroll. Some of us did accomplish and enjoy some fun and accomplishments on a personal level in many places, but it was not nearly enough by any measure and was certainly offset by the deep troubling circumstances we see our nation in on so many levels. Summer 2008 will be remembered by many as being unpleasant for the most part, incomplete in many ways, and one filled with angst, disgust, and sadness towards the numerous negative larger forces now underway.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/18/11048/

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C. World Affairs Take a Sharp Turn for the Worse for United States
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The last several weeks have seen a number of noteworthy foreign policy setbacks to say the least for the United States and its interests. The many years of misguided Bush junta policy and overall incompetence are showing up in a number of places. Add in the Olympics where China put on a spectacular problem free workmanship demonstration of Authoritarian Capitalism, and the news internationally has been grim for the US. The only solace is the continued sharp decline in the number of deaths of American troops in Iraq and the early discussions that seem to set a timetable for an overall withdrawal of American forces from Iraq finally after many wasted years, lives, and money.
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http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/23/11103/
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D. Greenland Glacier Nears Collapse
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Another week, another story about a massive body of ice largely unchanged for tens of thousands of years experiencing a rapid change with a resulting collapse soon. This time its on the north coast of Greenland. The melt that is undergoing across Greenland is troubling as this kind of land based ice melt that will contribute to a rise in sea level. Most longterm observers feel the melt is occurring at a frightening pace. Add this on top of reports that indicate it is likely the Arctic Ocean's icecap will set a record for being the smallest recorded in history when the melting season peaks in mid - September.
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http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1834956,00.html?xid=feed-rss-netzero
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E. Primary Results in Colorado and Wyoming
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The last two weeks saw the conducting of primaries in both Colorado and Wyoming. First up was the Centennial State. There were a couple of surprises as Jerod Polis used his vast wealth to basically buy the nomination and an all but assured election of the 2nd Congressional seat which is based in Boulder being vacated by Mark Udall who is running for the US Senate. Polis defeated the far better choice, former state legislator Joan Fitz-Gerald, by a margin larger than expected. In the other Colorado congressional primary elections, the name recognition, military record, and political experience carried Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman in the 6th Congressional District as the successor to Tom Tancredo, and the citizens of El Paso County made a tremendously poor choice to retain Doug Lamborn as their congressman in the 5th district rather than selecting Jeff Crank or Bentley Rayburn. Crank would have beaten Lamborn if Rayburn had opted not to run. Thus, tt appears Colorado will have Democrat representation in Congress for the '09-10 session in Districts 1, 2, 3, and 7 with GOP representatives in Districts 5 and 6. District 4 looks to be a tossup at this point in the contest between irksome incumbent Marilyn Musgrave and challenger Betsy Markey for the seat that represents northern and eastern Colorado.
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In the Wyoming primary that was held this last week, dogmatic former Cheyenne legislator Cynthia Lummis was chosen on the GOP side to vie for the state's sole congressional seat in a contest to succeed the retiring and ineffective Barbara Cubin against Jackson Democrat Gary Trauner. Nick Carter from Casper was selected by Democrats to face Casper appointee John Barrasso for one US Senate seat being contested. For the other US Senate seat, newcomer Democrat Chris Rothfuss, a chemistry professor at the Universityof Wyoming in Laramie, is running against the incumbent and unaccomplished Mike Enzi of Gillette whose two terms in the Senate have been marked without any noteworthy results for Wyoming citizens. The Wyoming US House seat very well could go Democratic, but it is likely both Senate seats will stay in GOP hands.
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The now ongoing negative advertising on television and radio is already to the point where its revolting, silly, and disrespectful to any citizen who has even a morsel of a brain.
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