IRAN SITUATION

The situation in Iran is interesting as Iran is presently the most provocative nation in the region. It is positioned to cause more trouble for its neighbors than any other nation. Internal unrest might decrease Iran's ability to cause mischief. Watch for possible increase in demonstrations in following weeks when demonstrators might convene to mourn the people killed. Many more people have died than is presently reported.

While I agree with President Obama on very little, I think his comments have been appropriate. This present generation is not inclined to regard the United States as the "Great Satan". They are too young to know much about previous Iranian gripes with the U.S.. Most of the young people and many of the women, who are good Muslims, do not agree with the regime's approach to Islam. The U.S. needs to distance itself from any substantited claim that the U.S. provoked this. No way they could have counted those paper ballots in a few hours. Not long ago with less than half the population required 3 months to conduct an Iranian election.

Father's Day

Fathers are second only to Mothers in leading Families, the foundation of society and Civilization. Fathers can be as important as Mothers, but they have a greater tendency to abscond and neglect their roles of rearing children.

Yes, REAR. One of my several fantastic teachers said, "One REARS children and RAISES chickens." In the same vein I detest the phrase "grow the economy". I heard that first from Bill Clinton, but, much to my regret, it entered the mainstream lexicon. An Arab, who was helping me learn Arabic disliked the way I said something, but I cited the grammatical rule to justify my construction. He said, "Yes, but it doesn't taste right." "Grow the economy" neither tastes nor sounds right.

Fathers have the opportunity and obligation to play a major role in rearing children, albeit in different ways. The first obligation is to be a good person. Every father does not have outstanding skills, knowledge or guidance ability to convey. They can, however, be there and refrain from being a bad influence. There is, no doubt, statistical evidence of the percentage of people in jails who had no father or an insufficient father in their lives. The really good men I know are also good fathers. They cannot imagine not being so. They invariably have great children who become solid citizens.