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Great Things & A Not-So-Great PresidentThursday, Dec. 07, 2006 2:58 PMHere's an interesting idea: blogging about good news, rather than daily grouse-fests. Despite costs that would sorely affect the region, archaeologists are considering the options for rebuilding the giant buddhas destroyed by the Taliban in March, 2001. It will be a difficult task. Although the United Nations declared the location a World Heritage site, the damage didn't stop with the Taliban. Looters and souvenir-filching tourists have also degraded the site. The statues were roughly-hewn out of the rock and covered with a mud plaster mixed with straw and horsehair for the fine detail. The statues have been carbon-dated to 507 (smaller) and 554 (larger). Another, though far more recent, historical monument is also getting taken care of. The USS Intrepid, one of four remaining Essex-class aircraft carriers, was successfully moved from its moorings and towed to New Jersey, where she will undergo repairs throughout 2007. The move was originally scheduled in November, but delayed after Intrepid was towed about ten feet before lodging in accumulated silt and mud beneath her. Over 39,000 tons of crud had to be dredged to make her way clear. The Intrepid was refitted as a general aviation museum; she is a sister ship of the USS Hornet, which is moored in Alameda, California. (The other two carriers are the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi, TX; and the USS Yorktown in Charleston, South Carolina.) Dear Santa: Could you please leave me some responsible adults in the White House? I know it's a lot to ask, but I think I've been pretty good this year, and it's something that we can all share and enjoy. If it were only so. Instead, we have a president who is still harping on the withdrawal = failure concept. Let's consider the example of a child who disassembles something of modest importance that belongs to a parent or other family member. It goes without saying that, if they don't put it back together, they'll be in serious trouble. But we need to remember exactly who took it apart in the first place. Now that we've found junior sitting on the living room floor with the television in pieces, Uncle James and Uncle Lee have recommended we just buy another television. We've voided the warranty, and it's just a big mess. But Little George insists that he's going to fix the television and make it better than before. Even though we've been through this with the blender, and the microwave, and the computer. At some point, there has to be oversight and responsibility. Real, actual responsibility, not photo-op admissions of same followed by presidential petulance and intransigence.
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