Monday Newsbreak: 8/18

--The Russian occupation of parts of Georgia has continued, with a delay between the cease-fire agreement signed by the two nations and the cessation of open conflict and withdrawal by Russian forces according to that agreement. Now Germany, which had blocked Georgia’s last application to NATO membership, is expressing interest in this beleaguered little country gaining admission to NATO as German Prime Minister Angela Merkel paid a visit to Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital. For whatever legitimate reasons the Russians may have had with its initial forceful response in this conflict to Georgian armed aggression against South Ossetia, its subsequent conduct and arrogant rejection of international criticism is going to severely backfire in terms of other countries willing to engage in mutually constructive relations with them. And it already has emboldened those critics who are resurrecting the old Reagan accusation of the former USSR (of which Russia was the dominant republic) as an “Evil Empire" in order to deepen suspicion of Russia's current intentions.

--Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama met for a discussion with evangelical Christian pastor Rick Warren at his California church. The questions were whatever Mr. Warren chose to ask and primarily concerned the issues of the candidates’ religious faiths, their character, and their opinions on certain hot-button issues like abortion, gay marriage (under the guise of how marriage should be defined), and the U.S. Supreme Court. Since both McCain and Obama expressed a Christian evangelical faith, they seemed comfortable accepting this forum (although McCain continually would change the discussion topic to get his “talking points” in). But what if a Catholic or Jew were one of the candidates? Rick Warren may seem like a pretty nice guy, but his religious beliefs are exclusive in nature, excluding adherents of other belief systems from acceptance by his (and his followers’) conception of God. Most Americans were shut out of this discussion with our next president, including Catholics, Jews, liberal denominations, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, Hindus, other faiths, the nonreligious, agnostics, and atheists. Implicit in Warren’s presentation was the sense on his part that he and his religious circle have a corner on ethics and character. Now what I would like to see is a forum between the candidates run by leading scientists and educators. And how about one run by legal scholars as well? Or even postal workers?! Judging by the track record of religious leaders as I have seen it, just about any profession picked at random could speak with as much personal authority on the topics of ethics and character.

--At this writing, Fay is still just a tropical storm, but is expected to cut across western Cuba and enter the Gulf of Mexico, where it is expected to strengthen to possible hurricane status. Who knows where it will end up?

--The Beijing Summer Olympics have been pretty interesting so far. I could write about the winners, but one thing I noticed was the enormous range of reactions that athletes had when they lost. Some threw down their equipment in anger, some cried, some perfunctorily congratulated the winner with frowning handshakes, and then there was Dara Torres. Torres is an Olympic veteran swimmer who, at 41, is probably through with her Olympics “career” after this one is over. She participated in three events, including individual and team relay races, all three finishing in second place to the Gold Medal winner. She always displayed the most gracious sportsmanship toward others although she obviously must have been very distraught at not winning.

As a side note, I sometimes have a little difficulty rooting for the Chinese when I see how much pressure their country is putting on them to win the Gold “for China”. This hyper-nationalism really aggrieves me. Ironically, even in the midst of the concurrent, very regrettable Russo-Georgian conflict, it is encouraging to watch the Russian athletes competing. Although their performances are naturally a big deal in Russia (as ours are in the U.S.), I don’t sense that they are “under the gun” as propaganda puppets for the Motherland (as was the case during the Soviet years).