Alaska to Argentina

Now this is a bike ride.
A long distance bike ride (e.g., across America) would be awesome to accomplish. Unfortunately, it’s no small feat to (1) establish support for such a ride, and then (2) actually do it. So I probably won’t be attempting one anytime soon. Alas.

Frist Flop

Oh my:

In a break with President Bush, the Senate Republican leader, Bill Frist, has decided to support a bill to expand federal financing for embryonic stem cell research, a move that could push it closer to passage and force a confrontation with the White House, which is threatening to veto the measure.

I’m not sure whether this is simply an instance of Mr. Frist acknowledging the writing on the political wall, or what. But props to him for apparently moving in the right direction on an issue.

What’s Happening?

One might think the answer to this could be found during the 10 p.m. TV news channel broadcasts. I conducted a survey during the first 15 minutes and here’s what I found:
MSNBC: missing white girl
CNNHN: missing white girl
FNC: missing white girl
CNN and its rebel program directors covered the purportedly at-large London terrorists. I’m not sure why it devoted the first 15 minutes to a London story (it might be a different case if suspects were running around in Philadelphia), but at least it gets points for covering news.
With all due respect to missing white girl, by my count her disappearance affects only the people who knew her before she was lost. Meanwhile, a trade deal which could have a direct impact on the lives of millions of American workers goes largely unnoticed on TV news.
Granted, a trade deal isn’t nearly as sexy as a story as a missing “graduate,” but you’d think a few producers might use some editorial discretion in determining what is most newsworthy.
You’d think wrong.
Speaking of CAFTA, isn’t this a curious story?

“Safe for Democracy”

I was listening to Michael Savage last night. [If you listen long enough, he occasionally offers a nugget of interest buried amongst the angry screeds.] Dr. Savage observed that some of what we hear regarding Iraq today sounds similar to what President Woodrow Wilson said regarding World War I.
Here’s part of what President Wilson said before Congress on April 2, 1917, in making the case for war:

The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them.

Obviously the parallels are crude, but you do hear a bit of an echo in the marketing campaigns for both wars.
The millions who died in World War I created a world safe for democracy which lasted less than 20 years. Let’s hope today’s sacrifice isn’t so short lived.