What Caught My Eye Today

Foreign Policy - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held out the prospect of improved relations with the remaining two members of President Bush's "axis of evil," Iran and North Korea, as long as they meet international demands over their nuclear programs. Rice said the Bush administration in its remaining year would welcome fundamental changes in its dealings with the two countries, as well as with Syria, and as an example pointed to warming ties with Libya, which renounced weapons of mass destruction in 2003. "The United States doesn't have permanent enemies, we're too great a country for that," she said. Is it just me, or is it difficult to read this without laughing? Forget for a moment that there are plenty of actions and words (mostly by President Bush) that contradict Rice's statements. The kicker for me was the 'we're too great a country for that' line that she made. See, it's stuff like this, where our nation's leaders hold us up on some pedestal over the rest of the world, that makes the rest of the world get pissed off at us. I'm not saying we're not great, but truly great countries don't have to constantly remind the rest of the world that they are great. All I'm saying is that actions speak louder than words.

Texas - Texas is about to make it more expensive to watch a little bump and grind. In what some have dubbed the "pole tax," the Lone Star State will require its 150 or so strip clubs to collect a $5-per-customer levy, with most of the proceeds going to help rape victims. The tax goes into effect on New Year's Day. The strip clubs are suing to block the tax saying nude dancing is protected by the First Amendment and the state can't selectively tax it, even if it is conduct some may find offensive. State officials estimate the tax will raise more than $40 million a year, based on liquor sales figures. If accurate, the estimate suggests at least 8 million people a year go to Texas strip clubs to get a lap dance or watch women pole-dance in a G-string. 8 million? No way. They must have miscounted. Surely, its higher than that. But wait, there's more... Most places will probably raise drink prices and cover charges, or start charging a cover if they don't do so already. Strip clubs occupy a mythic place in Texas lore as a spot where young women can work their way through college and small-town girls with dreams of Hollywood stardom get their start on the lowest rung of show biz. And finally... Utah enacted a 10 percent tax on topless clubs in 2004. That same year, the Texas Legislature considered a $5-per-head fee, with the money going toward schools. But lawmakers didn't like the link between strip clubs and kids — the idea was mocked as "Tassels for Tots" — and the proposal died. Isn't it horrible how God-fearing Christians, as these choirboys must be, are being singled out for unfair taxation simply for patronizing well-meaning establishments, like the local nudie bar? Funny how no one got all bent out of shape every time a new cigarette tax was passed. Frankly, the real injustice isn't the $5 tax...heck, no. It's the $10 they charge you for a freaking soft drink at these joints! Talk about your highway robbery.

War Veterans - J. Russell Coffey, the oldest known surviving U.S. veteran of World War I, has died. The retired teacher, one of only three U.S. veterans from the "war to end all wars," was 109. Coffey never saw combat because he was still in basic training when the war ended. The two remaining U.S. veterans are Frank Buckles, 106, of Charles Town, W.Va.; and Harry Richard Landis, 108, of Sun City Center, Fla., according to the Veterans Affairs Department. Among the other World War I veterans who died this year were Emiliano Mercado del Toro, 115, who ranked as world's oldest person for the last weeks of his life, and Charlotte Winters, 109, the last known American female veteran of the war. I don't remember where I heard this, but I think its some of the best advice I've ever heard...If veterans of war were in charge of deciding when to go to war, there would be a lot less wars. I cannot fathom the horrors that men and women in the field of combat are faced with everyday, and I thank my lucky stars everyday for that good fortune.

Pop Culture - You all may want to be sitting down for this one... Sacha Baron Cohen announced that he's retiring Borat, the clueless Kazakh journalist, as well as his alter ego, aspiring rapper Ali G. "It is like saying goodbye to a loved one. It is hard, and the problem with success, although it's fantastic, is that every new person who sees the Borat movie is one less person I `get' with Borat again, so it's a kind of self-defeating form, really." Baron Cohen brought Borat Sagdiyev — an anti-Semitic buffoon in search of Pamela Anderson — to the masses last year with his smash comedy, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." So much for hopes of a sequel. On the other hand, I have to give it up to Baron Cohen for doing the right thing and not compromising his artistic integrity in favor of commercial gain. I'm pretty sure, given the same choice, I would have taken the money. Artistic integrity never ranked that high on my priority list anyway.

Christmas Spirit - There is something about this time of the year that gives me reason to believe that there is still some hope for the human race. Read on and see for yourselves...

Susan Dahl had spent four months homeless in Colorado and just been on a harrowing 10-hour bus trip through sleet and snow. Hungry and broke, all she wanted to do was get back to family in Minnesota. That's when a tall man in a red coat and red hat sat next to her at the downtown bus station, talked to her quietly and then slipped her $100 on that recent December afternoon. The man was doing the work of Larry Stewart, Kansas City's original Secret Santa who anonymously wandered city streets doling out $100 bills to anyone who looked like they needed it. Stewart died of cancer at age 58 earlier this year, but his legacy lives on. During about a quarter century, Stewart quietly gave out more than $1.3 million to people in laundromats, diners, bus stations, shelters and thrift stores, saying it was his way of giving back at Christmas for all the wealth and generosity he had received in his lifetime. For years, Stewart did not want his name known or want thanks or applause, but last December he acknowledged who he was and used his last few months while battling cancer to press his message of kindness toward others. He even trained some friends in the ways of Secret Santa. This Christmas, a friend who told Stewart in the hospital that he would carry on for him is out on the streets, handing out $100 bills, each one stamped with "Larry Stewart, Secret Santa." Between Kansas City and several other cities this Christmas, the new Secret Santa will give away $75,000 of his own money, mostly in $100 bills. The new Secret Santa has also started a Web site (click here), and is trying to recruit other Secret Santas across the country. Merry Christmas, Larry. And thanks for showing us what Christmas spirit is all about. You know, if we are capable of this sort of thing at Christmas, you could say that it might be possible to perform similar gestures of kindness the other 364 days of the year. I know, I know. Crazy talk. I'm just saying.