Encouraging and discouraging

Can you believe it? There was actually some encouraging news today. Hillary said we needed lower tuition for Colleges and Universities and we also need to reform the student loan programs. Hooray! As tuition has increased in recent years far ahead of inflation we desperately need some improvement.

I am also encouraged by a report that Israel is apparently at least saying they will give up more of the West Bank settlements in the interest of being able to form a Palestinian state. I'll believe it when I see it, but it is the most encouraging sign I've seen in the Israeli/Palestinian problem for years. Interesting that the Israeli/Palestinian issue is the most important single problem facing the Middle East and yet none of our Presidential candidates even mentions it.

Discouraging news comes from General Benjamin Mixon who reports that he doesn't have enough troops to control his part of northern Iraq. I believe it is quite unusual for a General to publicly announce that he needs more troops. Perhaps this was done to embarrass the Bush/Cheney administration as they are running out of troops to sacrifice for oil. I like to hope this might be the case but of course I don't know.

At the very moment that General Mixon is asking for more troops in Iraq Dick the Slimy is threatening the Iranians with all kinds of warnings and whatever. The Iranians are certainly smart enough to recognize empty threats when they see them. With too few troops to control Iraq it seems unlikely we are in any position to attack Iran. I don't know if Cheney is just totally divorced from reality or if he has some motive that ordinary people can't understand.

I finally saw the movie "Bobby" tonight. I thought the last 10 or 15 minutes was very good. The bulk of it struck me as rather soap-operaish. But, then, I'm not much for movies anyway. My father thought movies were for children. I think he was right. It's all just make believe.