Much has been made of Sarah Palin banning books in the local library and sex education in the schools. If she seriously thought bans might make a difference in her social crusade, as my dad (whose 96) says, she's "a day late and a dollar short."

The fact is libraries aren't what they used to be. Once they were the fountainhead of knowledge; now, they are a place to socialize, especially for children. If a child wants information, he or she goggles it.

The same goes for keeping sex education out of schools. What can schools or churches do to combat the influence of the Internet? Take laptops from their children? Lock out certain Internet sites? Good luck with that.

By the way, I'm what my daughters call an "intertuber." Intertuber: someone who prowls the internet on a laptop while also watching television. As Internet life becomes the norm, how much impact could banning books or sex education possibly have? From this point of view, Sara Palin seems as hopelessly out-of-date as her hair do.

The Thursday night interview with Sarah Palin included a brief discussion of the Republics of Georgia. She made the point that Georgia should be in NATO. That way, the next time Russia crosses the border, we will join the fight. I was stunned, but then I realized that for people Palin's age or less, fear of nuclear war belongs with fear of monsters under the bed. Being from Alaska, she should know that a wounded bear is among the most dangerous animals on Earth. If that wounded bear has nuclear teeth, civilization itself is at risk.

Paul Ehrlich's arguments are based on a false premise. He uses the metaphor of Spaceship Earth when the more accurate metaphor is New Rome. And just as the Italian peninsula could not hope to support Imperial Rome, Earth cannot support New Rome. For Imperial Rome, the answer lay in the resources of the Mediterranean. As for New Rome, it cannot survive without the resources of our solar system.

Ciao for now,

Len

It isn't the duty of the two candidates for President to take the lead on the Congressional Bailout. It's the President's. George W needs to address the American people and explain in detail what the problem on Wall Street means to Main Street. If it takes an hour or three, he should insist on that time be given to him while he delivers a concise power point explanation of what will happen if Congress shirks its responsibilities. If he put in a tenth the energy he used in persuading American to follow him to war in Iraq, maybe this crisis would already be in the past tense.

Ciao for now,

Len

I think your article is about half right. The problem is that this planet is less a place of nation states than it is an enormous uber metropolis of competing neighborhoods. I doubt of even one world leader would dare speak the truth, but the fact remains that a calamity anywhere in the world reverberates like a great quake, leaving casualties in the most unlikely places. When the event is as seismic as the Great Recession of 2008 (called by some the Great Reset), there is no longer anywhere on this planet where the pain can be avoided. Equally unavoidable is the correction: international rules to prevent another Great Recession (or Reset). And, where is all this leading? An increasingly unified uber metropolis.

Simple. Women aren't so desperate to get laid.

Sometimes, passionate people are their own worst enemies. They are so consumed by the righteousness of their cause that they don't care to hear what the other side is saying, especially if it seems to make sense. The grid they speak of is a smart grid that keeps a much closer watch on who's using power and when. Further, it allows people with solar power units on the roofs of their houses to sell their power. Even better, it will enable the US to sell power elsewhere. Imagine. The US selling energy rather than buying it. Finally, a power grid hastens the day when fusion power (the power of the sun) comes on line.

Will there be some dislocation. Of course. There always is. Yet, it will be manageable and those disadvantaged will be adequately compensated. Just like government is sometimes the solution and not the problem, technology is sometimes the solution and not the adversary.

To a great extent, the problem is the Terracentrism that shapes present Human thought. We never imagined that any worlds existed beyond our own. Consequently, God became a provincial deity. The same can be said for the doubters and the deniers. From Isaac Newton to Einstein to many in the early 21 Century, we are all there ever was and ever will be. If there is myth involved, it begins with this flawed concept.

How do we approach the truth of God and the origin of life? We begin by watching and waiting as the current search for life and civilizations nears the moment of truth. Is there life elsewhere? Are there civilizations elsewhere? Do these other civilizations believe in God? How do their explanations for the origin of life differ from our own? Have their explanations been transmitted to us in the past. In other words, have we been guided in our thoughts (some would say diddled) by these others?

What are my thoughts on God, Creation and the Origin of Life. Call me a pilgrim. I don't know what the answer is, because I suspect the answers to the three mighty questions are incomplete.