about the "most powerful leader" in the wwuurld

with apologies to Clarkson, May and the Hamster, but recently the Slo-Man has been gorging on a steady diet of Top Gear, topped off with James May's 20th Century and James May's Big Ideas.

The Slo-Man's LifeLongBestFriend (LLBF) reported rumblings about Barack Obama and his (already) failed promises. The LLBF saw distress in the social media and on the talk shows and it made him thoughtful about the end of the lune de miel.

When the people vote for "change" and most people say they do, do they really want change? Do they believe the leaders they voted for will be willing and able to fulfil their promises? Well before the election results the Slo-Man recalls reading an article about the promises Obama would / would not be able to keep if he came to power. And the LLBF (who has a soft corner for BBC comedies and word play) murmured "Yes, Prime Minister". That biting satire from Jay and Lynn brought into focus how the head of state typically flies by the seat of his pants, blown this way and that by the exigencies of each political reality.

Now the Slo-Man notes that polls reported that about 90% folks in America supported the war in Afghanistan in 2001. Current support is much lower, ( to use an understatement ) and the Slo-Man wonders, what did these people think would happen? Sending a family member to war, is what people voted to do.

Almost 9 years on, there is still shock when "roadside bombs" kill soldiers. That is a modern war-zone. Maybe some felt that an underdeveloped country would be easy to control by a well-equipped army. Lessons from Indo-China? To reduce loss, how about increasing the use of unmanned drones ? But there are folks who object to unmanned drones.

It seems to the Slo-Man that there are always folks who object. Some will object to the fan-dance and some will object to the fan, but object they will. So what is the leader of the Free World ( now there's a point to ponder in a later entry) to do?

What is the answer, pull all soldiers back home, leave the tribal countries be, give up on finding those Weapons of Mass Destruction and that great, bearded benefactor of the defence contracting companies ?

Alas, poor Barack! He's done what any great leader would do, taken the HealthCare debate off-camera, despite pleas to put it on C-Span as he promised. It's not easy being a political leader with the eyes of the world daring you to blink. There are so many who are strident in their one-sided, I-could-do-better, un-informed-and-proud-of-it vituperation and just one elected leader.

The Slo-Man signs off secure in the knowledge that he has no answers and will never be a politician and the LLBF nods in agreement. He's left shaking his head sadly. His sympathies go out to the families who are actively involved and those whose lives are forever changed.

about H1N1

and conspiracy theorists especially after getting an email the other day. The presentation highlighted the lack of lethality of H1N1 relative to other diseases that will wipe out mankind. A conspiracy theory was raised largely due to Rumsfeld's 1997-2001 chairmanship of a Tamiflu manufacturer.

Leaving the nature of such viral (the Slo-Man apologises) emails for another time, the Slo-Man is left with a sense of unease.

Are the folks in power really in power? Do they really have control over the situation? Is this a reversal of the 80's when AIDS was largely ignored by them? Are they over-reacting in compensation?

The Slo-Man is always interested in conspiracy theories, he believes Area 51 may conceivably have unexplained and secret alien spacecraft. However, he did see a show about 9/11 recently and was stunned to see a collection of young men in their late 20s or early 30s with a collection of MacPro's cutting and analysing video footage frame by frame to prove their point.

And it left him wondering - who the heck pays them to spend their time doing this? Who funded the computer equipment? Now there's a conspiracy theory for you.

Go forth and wonder......

where do streets get their names?

He can see no Deer on Deer Run or any vista on Vista Drive. And when is it a Street as opposed to a Drive or an Avenue?

And why do streets change their names on opposing sides of the cross street?

What manner of person serves on such a committee? Is there competition to serve on such committees? Are there people clamouring for the privilege?

Don't you get the Slo-Man wrong; he only wanna know....

Why it's been so long

and can think of many reasons. A lot has happened in the past few months, most of it harrowing or upsetting.

Now, however, the Slo-Man is determined to spend more time with his computer and blog. For the Slo-Man loves to write ( and read, but that's another blog.... ).

When did June become so fraught?

June 2007 and now June 2008 has been fraught with health issues. It used to be a month to look forward to - the advent of summer, the grass the Slo-Man has been trying to grow (have tried everything but Rogaine), days out playing golf or the other game.....