Exit Plan? Let's be careful about this

In the '70's we were deceived by the communists into believing that we could not win a war against communism in Southeast Asia, and we bailed out of Vietnam. Among the many horrible results of the quick and violent coming to power of the communists was the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge--The Kampuchean Communist Party. Between 1975 and 1979 the communists killed over 1 million people. They were not killed due to U.S. military action: they were killed, mostly in secret, by the Kampuchean Communist Party.

Now we have people with great political and demogogic influence demanding that we leave Iraq, but they are not thinking through the consequences of leaving before a democratic govenrment is in place. There are no good options to democracy. Imagine the consequences to Japan if after we defeated Japan we did not occupy the country and enforce democratic reform. Whatever your view of the reasons for going to war in Iraq, technically the formal war is over and we are there to enforce the development of democracy by keeping the murderers who want to excercise absolute political power from having their way.

If you want to hate Bush and his decisions, you are free to do so, but before you demand an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, tell me how you plan to create democracy after we are gone.

Make your life better

I'm an older guy: 51 years old, a Berkeley graduate, so still sort of a hippie from a now lost generation. When in high school I was an advocate for environmental protection. I went on to get a degree in soil science, a true ecology major. But over the years I have been kind of worn out by silly environmental activists who don't think through their positions. So I don't want to be thought of as an environmentalist, but as a conservationist. God has given us only so much, and we are required to conserve.

This week in central California where I live, gas is topping $3.00 per gallon. That's about $0.80 per liter, so it still isn't absurdly expensive, but being that California has historically been an oil producer and home to many refineries, it is much more than most of us are used to.

Anyway, still being a conservationist, I can't see a reason to burn gas just to go a few miles a day to work. So I looked at my old bike, and thought perhaps I could commute by bicycle. I live in a community with very many steep hills, and my old bike is not right for commuting, so I went out and bought a new bike for the purpose. Now for two weeks I've been riding to and from work, a total of 10 miles a day, with the last mile a tough hill climb. My legs are killing me, but I am getting a workout everyday without paying gym fees.

In the mornings I usually ride past a husky motorcycle cop with his radar gun. On almost every day after I wave hello to him he immediately pulls out to chase down some poor soul who was speeding.

I have to ride by an Andy Gump portable potty and a field spread with manure. I also ride by strawberry fields, and houses cooking breakfast in the morning and dinner in the evenings. I couldn't enjoy the aromas of the outdoors when I as driving in my car.

I can see children playing in the yards and on the streets. I see neighbors working in their yards, and hear the birds. I also see all the flattened road kill and the cigarette butts and garbage littering the streets.

I see other bicyclists, most of whom wear those tight fitting clown costumes that bicyclists like to wear. My bike, shown above, is your standard black bike with a luggage rack, headlight and a little bell, and I wear my business attire (very geeky--I look like a Morman missionary except for the aloha shirt I wear on Fridays). So I don't look like the other bicycle riders, and in fact I think I have only seen one other guy commuting on his bicycle.

But I am saving gas, improving my health, and enjoying the ride. My legs are always sore, because I keep timing my ride home and trying to improve on it, but, hey, I'm a guy and most guys have a testosterone problem that makes us this way.

Such are the little pleasures of riding to work. So get a bike and make you life better.