Neff Zone Column -- April 12, 2008

Print Edition: April 12, 2008

You pump, they ski

Outta the Zone…When you your fill up your gas tank do you ever wonder where the money you’re spending will eventually go? I have at least a partial answer. The world’s longest indoor artificial ski slope is going to be built in Abu Dhabi. The alpine-themed ski complex will be two kilometers long, 200 meters wide, and will have ski lifts and five slopes. The projected cost is a paltry $1.5 billion.

Need I observe that the average temperature in Abu Dhabi ranges between a low of 80 degrees and a high of 120 degrees? So, once built, the ski complex will be a massive energy hog because keeping ski slopes covered with snow in the desert is no easy task. Think about this (rich Abu Dhabians shussing down ski hills in July) as the gasoline flows into your gas tank and the money flows out of your pocket.

*Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the war in Iraq goes on. This week the best evaluation the man running the war, General Petraeus, could offer is that progress in Iraq is "fragile and reversible," a fairly discouraging assessment for a conflict that's now in its sixth year and sucking up $11 billion a month.

About the situation, the Detroit Free Press said in an editorial: "If the endgame here is truly a more secure America, think how much more secure the country would be if half its Iraq investment were being spent on domestic law enforcement, better borders and more thorough cargo container inspections. And if the purpose here is to squash the evil of terrorism, the focus should be more on Afghanistan, whence came the 9/11 plot."

According to some senators, here is what we could do with the money we’re spending in Iraq for ONE day: Put 8,900 police officers on our streets, provide health care for 329,200 children, hire 10,700 border patrol agents, give college grants to 163,000 students, and help 260,000 Americans keep their homes with foreclosure prevention counseling.

A USA today editorial concludes: "Even though no one disputes that the Iraqis will have to finish the war, there is no regular, detailed assessment of progress in handing off responsibility to them, unit by unit in the military and in other ways in managing the country. Congress should consider demanding one. That is the only way to know how soon troops can come home without endangering America, or whether they should be pulled out because the mission cannot be salvaged."

I would add this simple proviso. If we (the citizens of the U.S.) are in favor of continuing the war in Iraq, then we must immediately demand a war tax. In short, if we support the war we must pay for it; not a future generation – us, now. To do anything else is hypocritical.

*You know, sometimes life is just not fair, a lesson recently learned by a California high school student. According to an article in the Monterey Herald, Amanda Rouse, 15, a student at Marina High School in Seaside, Calif., felt ill on the bus on the way to school. She asked another bus driver for a ride back toward home. But as the driver rounded a turn, the bus hit a bump and the driver fell off the seat and down the stairs. The bus was out of control and Rouse jumped up and pulled the parking brake just as the bus rammed into two parked cars. None of the 40 or so elementary school students on the bus was injured; the driver was taken to a hospital. You would think Amanda would have been recognized as a hero. Not so fast, burning rubber breath.

Rouse was punished! She had to serve a day of Saturday detention. Why punish a hero? The school’s zero tolerance procedure requires that an ill student must call in sick, but Rouse hadn't. Oh, by the way, because zero tolerance only applies to students, the driver wasn’t fired for causing the accident by failing to wear her seat belt. What justice.

*Speaking of justice, sometimes you just have to shake your head at some of the silly lawsuits being filed these days. A case in point was noted by the Schenectady Daily Gazette (New York) recently. It seems that Nathaniel King, a Saratoga Springs, N.Y., firefighter, was required to certify as a paramedic as a job requirement, but the sight of needles makes him woozy. When he tried to give an injection during training, he fainted. He did this more than once, falling to the floor, striking parts of his body on furniture, and knocking people down. King even tried hypnosis to overcome the problem, but it didn't work. Unable to complete training, he was fired. The result? King is suing the fire department demanding reinstatement and back pay.

The good news is that no one reading this column lives in Saratoga Springs, so hopefully if you need attention by one of our local paramedics they won’t pass out if they have to give you some medication.

Jim Neff is a local columnist. Comment to neffzone@gmail.com. Read Neff zone columns online at www.neffzone.com/cadillacnews.