how do they explain that 24 nuclear explosions in the US could knock out the country? Hell, it was calculated in the devastating film "Threads" that it would take 20 one-megaton Soviet bomb blasts to knock out the UK. Since the US arsenal doesn't have bombs in it that big any more (we use 300 kiloton bombs--about 18 Hiroshimas worth of TNT) and terrorists would be lucky to build a bomb that was as bad as the one that knocked out Hiroshima, I don't get how this size strike could possible hurtle our society back to the stone age.

how the dollar can be falling like a stone (the pound was up to 2 bucks and the Euro is at an all time high), gasoline prices (and therefore tranportation costs) are soaring, and yet inflation is at levels below those of the 1970s, interest rates are moderate (despite massive government borrowing), and the DOW up in the air? No economic model, Left or Right, seems to explain this crazy economic behavior. I just can't understand what's keeping this economy from total meltdown.

Anyone who believes in Capitalism (as I know you do) knows that almost NOBODY is judged on the content of their character--they are judged on how much money they can make for you. When Bonds and McGuire (along with Sosa) had the turnstiles swirling, all was right with the world. When the steroid issue threatened to turn the audience off, then it became a big problem. Black people very likely reject criticism of a guy like Bonds because guys like you are endlessly waiting around to wag your fingers at blacks and tell them who to follow, which of them you approve of, and why they are bad and disfunctional. You don't want to listen to Jesse Jackson complain about racism? Fine. How about contributing to the well-being of the nation and keep your disengenuous mouth shut about the issue, too?

Reality is what it is. Perceptions, however, can be varried and even be (gasp!) wrong. White people don't want to believe that racism is still alive and well. It is. Black people want to blame the (white) messenger for bad news about black people like Bonds or OJ. Tough. Don't blame conflicting realities for what are simply irrational and/or self-serving motives on the part of whites and blacks in this country. Instead of throwing up our hands about "differing realities" we have to rub people's noses in reality. That means hard-hitting reporting with no punches pulled and fact-finding over repeating (or flattering) people's opinions. Telling the truth (that Bonds is a cheater and an egomanic AND that many white people root against him out of racial spite--they are not mutually exclusive) is our only way out of this mess.

I, too, am a bit perplexed by th cuases of the war. Military historians like myself are supposed to be able to explain these things with either a dose of facts or, if all else fails, a dollop of theory. My best guess is that it was overdetermined by 1) the need to reap more satisfying revenge on the Moslem world than the Afghanistan adventure, 2) Bush and his Cabinet's desire to "finish the job" daddy supposedly "bungled", 3) the demented idea of some Jewish neocons that they were somehow doing Israel a favor, and 4) the desire to "set an example", not of a democratic state in the heart of the Middle East, but of America's determination and ability to kill those who would oppose our will (including the innocent bystanders). Americans believe two very interesting and contradictory things--that we should and will never give into intimidation, but if we use intimidation against others it is a great way to make them dance to our tune. Since only American have true patriotism and moral fibre, using intimidation against us will only earn our righteous wrath. But other peoples are cowardly and fickle, so if we push them around, it will show them who's boss and work like a charm. We tried this crap in the run-up to Pearl Harbor, sure that the Japanese would cave. We tried this in Korea and Vietnam. We're trying it now in Iraq, where we think that stopping and frisking men and women on the streets at gunpoint will make them appreciate their "sovereignty" and their "liberators." Think Fallujah, which was also intended to "send a message." To paraphrase Napoleon, it is with such infantile macho posturing that Empires are led.

That line from The Great Gatsby has come back to me time and again during the last few years. A Philosopher friend of mine once looked quizzically at me and asked how the Administration can ignore global climate change, as it will certainly effect them and their children. My response was that they all believe that they can safely retreat to their Montana/Wyoming/Texas "ranches" and hide behind barbed wire and Blackwater mercenaries and ride out the disastre in comfort. He couldn't believe me. He should.