Randy, I defer to your football expertise, but I do want to opine that I thought the American defense was pathetic, including Bocanegra and Bornstein. We were slow and uncoordinated and we deserved to lose. Sigh.... Will we ever learn to play football and compete with the usual suspects, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, etc? For that matter, will the WC ever be more than a continuing scrimmage between the eternal big boys with rotating championships, while all other countries play mere supporting, sacrificial roles? In that context, am I the only spectator who thinks the whole thing is boring and predictable, with only slight variations in the championship from Cup to Cup?

On the other hand, the Bush government didn't have a hand in blowing up a synagogue in a neighboring country.. I wonder what Argentina makes of this visit...

Randy, I confess I don't know how the elimination system works; how is it that Europe gets to have so many countries in these groupings?

... I don't think Chavez is quite to the stage of disrepute and desperation that the Argentine military were in '82 - but he's getting there. The Colombians are playing it right, playing it cool, for the moment, as they should. The tricky part is Chavez's unpredictability and volatility (although he's not as volatile as Correa is) and that's problematic...

Totally agree with you, especially the very last point. The same phrase came to mind the other day while I was reading some oppo arguments to health sector reform in our country. The fact that tens of millions of Americans have no health insurance whatsoever, and that tens of thousands of Americans die each year due to lack of insurance, seems to matter not one whit to Republicans and their mean-spirited, nasty allies at Fox, amongst the teabaggers, etc. These folks are quite ok in spending billions upon billions for war or fat cat bailouts, but when it comes to maintaining the health of Americans, they're suddenly frantic about deficits and socialism (or nazism, depending on which befuddled wingnut you're listening to). I like to think that the majority of Americans are still decent, kind, community-spirited people who care about their fellow-countrymen - and I think that's why we elected a good man like the President. I can only hope that that same decency comes to the fore in November 2010 so that we can reduce Republican representation in Congress to the level it deserves: in the cellar...

,,,We're going through 4-5 blackouts/day, by neighborhood, throughout the Sierra here in Ecuador for the same reason, over-reliance on hydro systems, plus failure by the government to plan/act on s setting up thermo and other supplemental power systems. Correa's energy minister has hustled off to Peru and Colombia to buy power off the grid from them (we already do quite a bit of this with Colombia already) and Correa's doing rush purchase of thermo plants from Cuba, which relies mostly on these plants for its energy needs. I don't about Brazil, but Correa and cia are taking a real political beating here over this, because it's clear (now) that the government saw these problems coming and did not adequately prepare for them; even worse, they gave the general public little or no heads up as to the situation. The first most of us knew that there was an energy crisis was when the lights went out; this does not set well with folks as you might imagine... Finally, Randy, on separate note, in case you haven't seen it, there's another article on violence in Rio, this time over at latamthought.org. saludos

Randy, I disagree with you. The real winner in Honduras was, and has been, the Honduran Constitution, which prohibits any/any moves on the part of the Executive to succeed himself/herself. Another winner(s) are all/all the other branches of the Honduran government which adhered to that Constitution and held Zelaya in place as a one time President. Another winner is the pueblo Hondurenio, which no longer runs the risk of having Zelaya as a long term President. I agree with you that President Obama's team achieved something in knocking heads and getting the negotiators to sign the Guaymuras Accord. Clumsy, half-baked, and late, but it's something. The true loser in this are Zelaya and his backers. Whether the Honduran Congress actually lets Zelaya come back or not, and under what circumstances, remains to be seen, but it's crystal clear that he's not going to be holding any Constitutional Assemblies, ever, much less succeed himself. I don't have any doubt that there will be more street violence in the days to come, but equally, Zelaya's days are numbered - literally. And that's good for Honduras, as I've said. More in another comment, later...

Randy, With all due respect, I see most of the NYT article as being of the sow's ear variety, not the silk purse. I just got through reading Jon Anderson's article on the favelas and the gangs in the New Yorker magazine, and I don't think it's the sort of thing that the Rio Chamber of Commerce or the Rio Olympics Committee will be distributing any time soon. No sooner do I put that down, then this police 'copter gets shot down. I guess this isn't a wake up call because this sort of thing is to be expected? I gotta tell ya, I'm wondering how the favela lords see the Games award, what they see in it for themselves, and what they're planning to do about the Games, and particularly international visitors come 2016...

Excellent article and spot on commentary from both a technical and political perspective. Many of the the readers' comments are just as insightful; I'm putting this on my Facebook site...

Jamie, Hope you're right that Obama will make it happen and that whatever we get will take hold with the aging demographic center, as you call it (like that phrase, btw). Still, given the millions who have no coverage at all now (including one of my own brothers), I really, really am hoping that we'll get at least some semblance of the public option this time around, not within the next decade...

The thing to do, it seems to me, is to go after Congressmen/Senators who oppose the reforms. By "going after", I mean pressure them to vote yes on the reforms now, and if they don't, then take a long term, we're not giving up on the health reform attitude, and work to throw health reform opponents out of Congress. I don't think we should lose this time around in terms of the reform. At the same time, I don't think we should take a one time, all or nothing, and never again attitude. Decir, if necessary, we should lay long term seige against the insurance companies and their allies...

I still remember my mom listening to Les Paul and Mary Ford doing "How High the Moon" on the radio when I was a kid. What a pair....

Good post, Reg. Informative, too (at least for me). Obama's doing the right thing in pushing the health reforms. We need to break the grip of the insurance companies on our health system such that everyone has the opportunity for decent health care in our country. I don't think this is a mutally exclusive, either-or proposition between the private and public sectors as some would have us believe. We need to see some sort of mixed system that can and will help everyone when and where they need that help...

Hi, I'm back. Greg's mistaken. The Honduran military of today is not that of the 70's when the military really did pull some coups (two of them against other military guys, btw) and run the country themselves. I know you all refuse to believe it, but the reality is that the military did not/not throw out Zelaya on their own, and they are not/not the abriter in the current situation. In this context, and though it sounds odd, Randy can take solace that he's wrong... In fact, there is a civilian governance and command structure in place and it's functioning, and the military communique that Greg mentions was intended to signal their support for the interim government; it was not a signal of dissension within the government... Hope this comment gets through....

Randy, Is it ok to differ with you? I'd written two long comments disagreeing with you and Ian in earlier postings, but they appear to have been filtered out, so before saying anything else here, I wanted to get your ok to do so. tks, T

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I missed the U.S. - Spain game entirely, but I'll definitely be on the lookout for the U.S. - Brazil game...

U.S.:2, Spain:0....!!! That's football for you!!

Just came across this, congratulations to you both a very handsome couple! - And you're right, Randy, she's a babe and you're a lucky guy. Les deseo muchos annos mas, si dios quiere. take care, T