Bill Clinton for Ambassador to the World!

As I think our nearly two-year long Presidential election campaign is ridiculous, I have been avoiding most of the news reports of the candidates in both parties so far. Maybe this winter I'll start paying attention and decide on a candidate to favor with my vote.

However, one bit of news caught my eye the other day. Hillary Clinton has announced that, if elected, she will appoint her husband Bill as her ambassador to the world. No one can object to such an appontment as nepotism, given his qualifications. I can think of no one better equipped to repair the horrifying damage that the Bush Administration has wreaked on the US' reputation and relationships with other nations. Besides being a President with an effective foreign policy, Bill was very popular with the leaders and peoples of other countries and was trusted as an honest broker in long-lasting difficult disputes, such as Ulster and the Middle East.

In fact, I think the other Democratic candidates should go Hillary one better and promise to make Bill Sec'y of State. Heading up State would put him in the best possible position to heal our relationships with other countries, put our foreign affairs in extremely capable hands, and leave the new President free to address our most pressing domestic problems, which are legion due to the incompetence and malfeasance of Geo W Bush.

First Ducklings of the Season

I looked out my dining-room window yesterday and was delighted to see the first clutch of ducklings to visit my yard this year. [Click pic to enlarge.] What was especially intriguing is that the Mama Mallard watching over her five little ones was accompanied by a drake who shared scout duty with her. Ordinarily, mother ducks don't like even other ducks to get near their little ones, so it was a first for me to see a pair taking care of the ducklings. Clutches usually lose most of their ducklings to predators as the season goes along, Maybe these five will all live to adulthood with the help of two guardians.