Rest In Peace Harry Boggs

He was truly a pillar of the Mineral County community and will be missed.

In Obama's World, A Compact Costs More Than a Bentley

A Bentley, one of the finest luxury cars in the world, starts at $200,000

A Chevrolet Cruz, one of the newest offerings from Gummint Motors, a compact filled with glitches and issues, costs, including all the subsidies, $250,000

Bad Sports

Remember the movie Hoosiers? It was based upon the magical season of a small Indiana high school who played their way into winning a state basketball title. Through parts of the season, the coach only had six usable players. At one point, he refused to put a player back on the floor and finished the game with four.

The Poca Dots, known throughout the country for creative naming, just ended their girls' basketball season before it began. They started the season with nine girls. After injuries and defections, they ended up with six. Since the WVSSAC mandates that teams have ten players, the Putnam County Board of Education ended their season.

Why? The six remaining players wanted to compete. The coaches still wanted to coach. They could have made magic on the banks of the Kanawha. Instead, a bunch of old folks decided, for no particular reason, that a basketball team could not consist of six determined young women.

Shame on you, government. Why did you ruin their season?

Risk Theory

Once upon a time, a nation with great land power and an ever-expanding industrial base sought to broaden its horizons. Having a massive army with which to confront, or to protect itself against regional adversaries was not good enough, even though it had historically defeated powerful nations.

Unsatisfied with dominance in its region on land, it decided to put its efforts into developing its sea power as well.

This did not go unnoticed. A wealthy island nation nearby looked with concern as the land power started to construct ships that equaled others in its class in more historically established navies.

The land power targeted the most powerful navy of its time. Its leaders came up with the "risk theory." They figured that they could never build a navy as large, or larger than their assumed enemy. However, they could become large enough that a sea battle would be too costly for the rival. They would then have to appease the demands of the land power.

I am talking about Germany's push for world power a hundred years ago, but could just as easily be talking about China today. In the 1870s and 80s, Germans did not love the British, but trusted that fair policy and a massive fleet were enough to protect their interests. By 1900, Germany wanted to be the arbiter of sea power along with Britain. Germany made its interests know, they wanted colonies and other trappings of world power.

What does China want? Regional supremacy. Their plans also seem to resemble the growing will to power expressed by Japan in the 1930s. Oil, and other resources are part of their long term plans.

China famously plays the long game and it must feel that the time is ripe to move. Japan suffers from economic problems. The United States has a clear leadership gap. Europe seems determined to dive off a cliff to save the ill-fated Euro. And China has no fear of Russia.

They face containment on land. Vietnam, India, South Korea, and Russia block traditional avenues of influence expansion. All, including the Philippines and Japan, fear, or have good reason to fear, an awakening of Chinese ambitions.

Trouble is brewing. We must not await China's plans to become mature before figuring out if they are dangerous, and sending a stern message.