The events in the past few days show no promise of cooler heads prevailing. It is more a massacre than a civil war. Throughout my life (and yours) Israel has been something of a popular cause, an urbanized myth rooted in the Bible and Torah...Of the mere 4% of our national budget, Egypt and Israel receive over 80% if the foreign aid monies. We built the machine that is about to make war on the Arab world. I do not see any "light at the end of the tunnel" or political solution from the international community or even a modicum or reasonableness on either side. This is worse than it ever has been because, excepting Arafat, none of the principles are historical. So many are gone and replaced with characters that are unknown. Without privy to the personalities involved, one fears their possible personal ambition. What ego wants to be remembered through an ability to affect history unfold? Not being involved religiously, I have seldom taken sides in matters about this part of the planet. Historically, both aspects have seemed equally intransigent. I have had some interests there but only in the abstractions of events and persons in my life. But, Israel is in The Club, a nuclear-capable nation. So is Pakistan. Blood is being shed in increasing quantities. Far more Palestinian than Israeli; bringing the specter of a contiguous Arab nation offering aid to the soon-to-be declared new nation. All very legal internationally. All have reasons that are very self-righteous and self-justified. All are just a long truck ride from each other. Bringing up GWB and Al Gore. GW is clowning his way into the Oval Office and may make it. I have seen this country elect Richard Nixon, who, at the time, couldn’t be elected Congressman in his home district. And, following that fiasco, elect Ronald Regan twice. Wasn’t it wonderful to have the United States of America run by Nancy’s fortuneteller…while Ronny ran up a couple trillion in debt. Wasn’t it fun to force the Soviet Union into bankruptcy? Made a lot of fast friends there. But that is another story. America votes its billfold. As unfathomable as it is, the real question, besides what the standing President’s penile activity means to you, is whether a few bucks in the short term is worth bankruptcy in the long. Remember this is all about money that is SUPPOSED to be realized from future prosperity. This fortune telling is from the single federal bureaucracy that is never right; the Office of the Budget. So the actuality is about the probability of profitability being weighted against the uncertainty of many inter-connected (but widely diverse elements). Of these, any one could cause a shift in market confidence. The real choice is between the “here and now” and “planning for the future.” I expect the former will prevail but think the latter the more ethical decision. Consider this: who votes? Seniors, women, gays, some men and women with a sense of social responsibility and a few protestors. Seniors may see the national debt as somebody else’s problem. Women see it as only 60% of their problem, as they only make 60% what a man makes for the same work. And the evil Republicans want to take away their freedom to choose. Gays are largely silent, but mostly Republican captains of fag industries. The remaining men and women are equally divided into groupings called minorities: farmers and their families, union members and their families, racial minority organization members or detractors, and the lot. It is a lot. But, so contrived that it is possible to win the votes of the most people and not win the office. This is due to a gerrymandered system called the Electoral College. This makes some states very critical and others not very. This year, the tea-leaf-readers (pollsters, spin-doctors, and pundits) say that the Electoral College vote is still undecided. It is about even with about ten or so states holding balance to the success or failure of the respective campaigns. Nevada is one of the undecided. Nevada is, and has been for decades, a Republican stronghold. In the past few years, folks from California have been moving, like me, into the cities of Reno and Las Vegas. The balance of power is said to have tipped to the Democratic side. But a Republican jerk was elected governor over a semi-viable Democrat.