Iran has released 59 Iraqi soldiers who have been held since the Iran-Iraq war. The soldiers report torture and starvation. No word of condemnation yet from the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. Since Iran is one of the few really oppressive regimes not on the Commission, they might say something. But, probably not. With Sudan on the Commission, how could you complain? You can see why they were voted on: they practice slavery, dislocation, genocide, religious oppression, all the really good ones. The U.N. is a scary place. Like Iran.

Do you know what the head of the commission is called? The "High Commissioner"! Did you ever notice that the U.N. often sounds like a really cheesy club of neighborhood children making up grandiose names for themselves and their club? He couldn't just be called the chairman or commissioner? It reminds me of "Happy Days" on t.v. where the head of Mr. C's lodge was the Grand Poobah.

The hypocrisy of at least some Hollywood liberals has become embarrassingly public. It seems while Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon were complaining that fallout from their comments was infringing their free speech, Sarandon had worked for the cancellation of Dr. Laura Schlessinger's show because she did not like her conservative stance on certain issues. Ironic, huh?

Draft Hillary? There is talk today that the Democratic field is so weak there will be a movement to draft Senator Clinton. That would certainly create a fight of epic proportions in the general election. However, my guess is that Clinton will wait four more years. There are no big name Republicans on the scene to take over for Bush and she would have an easier time. The good thing would be that she could bring back all the stuff she, her husband, and staff took from the White House on the way out. The bad thing is, she would probably lose all kinds of records only to have them turn up later without explanation.

David Heddle has a great post on the purpose of Biblical prophecy at www.helives.blogspot.com. It resonated with me since I am teaching Isaiah.

There is good news today. India and Pakistan restored full diplomatic relations. They are scheduling talks. The French are said to be upset that no one asked them about it first.

Also, Michael Newdow's daughter is still saying the pledge, complete with "under God" despite dad's litigation and the 9th Circuit's ruling. The 8 year old is said to be "sad" at the court's ruling. (Isn't this the court that upheld a damages verdict for a burglar who got stuck in a house after breaking into it? So, the victim\homeowner has to pay his burglar because he didn't have his garage fixed to allow burglars to get out.) The 8 year old promises to be the first of many who will practice civil disobedience, as she promises to whisper "under God" even if the Supreme Court rules for her father. You just know that every high school football game in Texas will sport folks reciting the pledge despite the ruling.

Ted Kaczynski's cabin is available if you need a hide away. It was hauled off to storage and was scheduled to be destroyed. SafeStore has had it since 1998. The cabin won a last minute reprieve, however, and will not face execution this month. Beau Friedlander, a publisher, thinks it should go into the Smithsonian. Here's my suggestion: send it to Iraq to replace their looted items and help their fledgling tourist industry.

Cox News Service reports that Mahoud Abbas a\k\a Abu Mazen, the new Palestinian Prime Minister, advocates peace with Israel and a cessation to suicide bombing. Maybe common sense will prevail. The fact is, peaceful pursuit of Palestine's aims will put much greater pressure on Israel to accomodate. The article had an interesting mistake. It said Israel was created by the 1948 war. It was, of course, (re-)created by the United Nations.

The lack of ethics and honesty continues to be big news. American Airlines nearly lost its deal with its unions when its bonuses to executives came to light. The CEO had to resign and credibility of managment is damaged. This raises several questions. First, as a practical matter, why would you want to give bonuses to the people responsible for managing the company into near bankruptcy? This, obviously, was not a decision of the stockholders or employees, but an example of managment profiting at the expense of the company they are supposed to benefit. This is a company that paid $200 million to get its name on a sports arena in Dallas, made a $2 billion stock buy back, bought TWA on the verge of bankruptcy, payhing $742 million in cash and assuming $2 billion in debt. Talk about a spending spree. Bad stewardship is one way to describe it. Second, why do people believe they can keep something big secret? It never works. For example, did management not read the paper and see all of Enron's dirty secrets exposed? No one ever keeps a big secret long. No large group ever keeps a secret. Period. Third, didn't any of these people see that it would look bad to accept a big raise or bonus why laying off thousands of workers. Even if you had no ethical restraints, common sense should tell you this is a bad idea. Fourth, the lack of honesty is appalling. Here is my first idea: fire all the managers that tried to profit in this situation and lay off fewer flight attendants.

Then we move on to the 10 Wall Street firms and 2 stock analysts having to pay $1.4 billion to reach a settlement after directing clients to invest in companies they new were declining. It reminds you of the old joke: what does it take to make a small fortune in the stock market? A large fortune. But, again, the problem is greed and the lack of ethics and honesty.

This brings to mind the battle between the ACLU and the 10 Commandments. The ACLU, of course, want to strip the Commandments from any and all public venues. I suggest that not only do they need to be posted there, but that they need to be posted in businesses. Forget the religious implications if you want, we need to return to standards of honesty. Our business culture is becoming one of lying, cheating, and stealing. And it has a bad effect, not only on the moral fiber of the culture, but on the economy as well. People loose their money, often their savings or their retirement funds to dishonest business people. People loose their jobs. Your tax dollars are spent to help alleviate the problems. It costs you money when people in business are dishonest. Face it, God knew what he was doing.