I'm getting mad too!

This November election, most Americans are mad against something; I wasn't until this early morning, but at 6 am I became incensed too! I was reminded that the Bush administration had changed our daylight saving time to contradict my alarm clock display that had been programmed, long, long ago, to automatically show the twice annual change of time until the cows come home or till the end of times, whichever comes first.

Now it says 5 am when it should say 6 and for a full week, I'll have to wrack my brains each time I call someone in Europe to figure out what time it's already over there or watch my favorite French show on satellite TV, not to mention re-setting my bedroom clock again next week as it won't automatically know that time. Out of almost 400 million American, I must be the only one with programed time devices because I'm not hearing any one else complain. At any rate, I continue to believe that this business of time change is really stupid and should be eradicated from the face of the earth. Happy Halloween!

Tariq Aziz's turn

If you follow the news, you probably heard that Tariq Aziz, Iraq's foreign minister and later deputy prime minister, was sentenced to death earlier this week by an Iraqi court for crimes against members of rival Shiite political parties. It's not that I'm a fan of Mr. Aziz, but I continue to believe that the death penalty is barbarian and shouldn't be part a country's toolbox that pretend to start anew like Iraq does. I don't think either that, in terms of Iraqis' deaths, he bears nearly as much responsibility than do, for instance Messrs. Bush and Cheney.

It is interesting to note that Tariq Aziz was born from a Chaldean Christian family, and that just weeks before the American-led invasion in 2003, he had an audience with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. Since Aziz was sentenced to be hung, I was glad to hear that the Catholic Church had taken position against his execution on the grounds that the Holy See was against the death penalty and that such an act of clemency would "foster reconciliation and the reconstruction of peace and justice in Iraq after great suffering" according to its spokesman, Frederico Lombardi.

The Vatican wasn't alone as it was joined in its cries for clemency by the United Nations, the European Union, Amnesty International and even Russia. The United States, which motto is “in God we trust” and where most folks believe in the sanctity of life has said nothing...

What must change

Very few Americans are pleased with our current political system. For lack of a better word, it's broken. Only a few of its elements need to be changed in order to get it back on track and make it work for the good of the nation and for turning our fortunes around. Here's my prescription:

1. Get money out of the electoral process; campaign should be government financed.
2. Change terms: Congress and presidential terms are too short; bring them to five year with a two term limit. Senate can stay at six, but also make it a two term limit.
3. Encourage other parties (Green, Tea Party, you name it,) to break the two-party monopoly
4. Get God out of politics and government
5. Get our elected officials to work together and stop bickering.

These changes are drastic, imply tinkering with our “sacred” constitution; they're also simple and would work. This is correct, I'm a dreamer.

Obama and me

There's no question that President Obama has been getting an unfair rap thanks to the Republican malevolent propaganda machine, but there's also a undeniable reality that genuine kindness, impressive education, hard work and a remarkable intelligence aren't always able to trump basic good common sense, strong gut feelings, mean assertiveness and experience. These latter pieces have been woefully missing in our leader and it now shows.

From the get go, I've a been a staunch supporter of Barack Obama and still remains, but I now realize that, he too, had his failings and wasn't able to read or anticipate all the pitfalls that were thrown in his way. I sincerely hope the results of this mid-term election aren't as bad as the media make them and also that Mr. Obama will be able to hang on for a second term. By that time, he will have learned an awful lot and be finally well rounded for the good of the United States that, at this moment, will still be in dire need for all the good leadership it can get.

Check under your car before you go...

I never used to do it, but I will from now on. I just heard this morning that when Yasir Afifi, who lives in California, took his car in for an oil change, his mechanic found an unusual wire hanging from below. It was part of a black rectangular device attached to his car by a magnet. After posting photos of the gizmo online, where it was identified as a GPS tracking device, the young man received a visit from some FBI agents asking for their equipment. It's not that I don't like to be spied on, it's just that I don't think dragging extra stuff under under a car is smart, besides, I know it's bad for gas mileage.

If that had happened to me, I probably would have been subpoenaed by the FIB for excessive visits to the Home Depot or suspicious and overly frequent patronage of our nearby ski resorts. They wouldn't have been able to track my religious attendance though, as we don't have a mosque in Park City, yet. I deal with enough electronics and wires in my life without having any extra dragging underneath my car, so that what I'll do,  is just check everyday, that way I can always remove skunks, cats and other road kill that could be hanging in there...

The sinking American Dream

Like anything else on the planet, our concept of the “American Dream” is an evolving moving target. It certainly isn't the same as it used to be more than 30 years ago went I came to this country. Right after World War II, the United States was the only world player with hardly any competition. Today, we are just a big participant among many, lean and hungry players. Growing global competition, corrupt politicians, poor governance, waste and overall complacency have killed most of the lifeblood that lived inside that dream.

While most Americans are scratching their head about ways to “create” jobs the old fashion way, I think it's now time to rethink our entire economic and political approach from scratch and bring forth profound reforms in the ways we are being governed, our politicians get elected and how long they stay on. We also need to re-invent the way we conduct international trade and - without being protectionists – incorporate simple balance in each of our bilateral trade agreements. How fast can these reforms begin to be implemented will decide if America is likely to keep on sinking or begin emerging again in a much more complex and highly competitive new world...

The effortless approach...

Before the snow had blanketed Park City overnight, we spent our weekend indoors, under an incredible downpour, so we watched more TV than usual and on Sunday, we had a chance to follow the first ski races of the season in Austria as well as some figure ice skating in Japan. What struck me, while I was observing some of the athletes, was their seemingly lack of efforts in executing the high-performance moves they were supposed to deliver during these competitions.

That's when it downed on me that in sports, and particularly in skiing, we focus far too much on achieving the best technical gesture, in attaining the flawless form, while in fact we should be much more focused on attaining effortlessness. We should first think that we're light, nimble and float on snow, and this would surely lead us to accomplish everything the in the most natural manner possible. Paying too much attention to the perfect gesture and the ideal body placement stiffens the athlete and often goes against the natural way we're built. Going with the least amount of effort and a greater dose of softness lets our bodies speak their true language and look naturally beautiful. That's right, form follows function!