101

The title refers to my 101st post in the current log. How apt then, that I was going to be linking to this David Brooks piece in today's NYT, which could be subtitled Middle East Peace 101 (one o one):

Today, Gaza is spiraling into the abyss, cut off from Israeli markets and abandoned by the Arab world. When Gaza sinks, the West Bank will surely follow, and if Palestine turns into Somalia, Israel will not survive untouched.
...
(U)nilateral disengagement is no option because the Israelis will never do it well. Driven by normal self-interest and by the bitterness of war, Israelis will grab too much land, and impose too much pain. A nation of philosopher-kings could impose a just unilateral solution, but no such nation exists. Unilateral action is bound to be unjust and thus unstable.

The sad fact is that no matter how long and futile the chess game sometimes appeared, someday it will have to start up once again.

Hopefully sooner, rather than later.

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Yesterday brought only a dusting of snow here, our first of the year, but a road trip took us north west to Wisconsin's Coulee region. A few more inches of snow, a few degrees colder as the altitude increased, more than a few visions of natural beauty. It was a relaxing ride. Have I mentioned my love for trees, all trees?

This afternoon, I'm heading over to the college football stadium to watch the state's division 5 football final. The local school colors are also red and black, and this is a solid and growing community whose team will be a class act -- win or lose. Two years ago, they also played here in the finals and won. Teamwork, teamwork, respect, teamwork. Their attitude permeated throughout the community, and perhaps only if you've lived in smaller places can you appreciate what winning brings. (Remember Larry McMurtry's, The Last Picture Show? That's a good example of the opposite losing effect on the community in that book.)

Two years ago, I was living in a student neighborhood close to the stadium, where I had heard the roars of sold-out crowds on Saturday afternoons when the Badgers scored. I kid you not, and maybe it was the wind direction or barometric pressure affecting the sound travel, but the state high school games were louder in their enthusiasms, no doubt with less than half the crowd size.

Both teams have undefeated seasons prior to meeting this evening, not for lack of strong competition either, and surely we're in for a good game. Go red and black, but more importantly, remember still character counts.