The Fourth of July. Stirs so much. A time of heroes and brave men. God's touch in bringing together such an amalgamation of events.

My favorite of all of those spectacular Americans is still George Washington. He saved The United States so many ways. Wikipedia says “His devotion to republicanism and civic virtue made him an exemplary figure among easrly American politicians” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington). The main four times he saved our world to me were:

Winning the Revolution. Just plain old American stick-to-itism and morality. In the face of so many setbacks, he believed and persevered. Who would have thunk it.

After Yorktown and before the Treaty of Paris, the Newburgh Conspiracy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newburgh_conspiracy) in which a group of Continental Army officers planned to march to Philadelphia to force Congress to give them the back pay they were due, threatened to turn into a military coup. Washington emotionally explained to them that they would destroy all they had fought for.

At the end of the Revolution, Washington bade his officers farewell and just went back to Mount Vernon and Martha. George III was astonished that Washington did not capitalize on his victory and popularity and make himself something like President-for life or Emperor as so many conquerors did.

And then, after his two terms as President, he once again knew just what to do. He again went back to Mount Vernon and Martha. He was still the most popular American leader and he could so easily have gone on for more terms and established a dynasty but he knew it was wrong.

And so many more ways he set the standards that preserved our United States. Thank you, George, for all you sacrificed and for all you gave us. And than God for giving him to us.

The June issue of Scientific American has another fascinating article. The one in particular I am referring to is “A Simpler Origin for Life” by Robert Shapiro (http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&colID=1&articleID=779849FA-E7F2-99DF-3FF8ED5B4D8764FE).

The identification of what is “alive” has been a hot topic for decades now. I remember a situation some time ago in which lawyers got involved in it. A man due to inherit a considerable amount of money at a certain age. He suffered an event in which he was brain-dead and to be kept alive by a machine. This was, of course, shortly before that birthday. And the courts had to decide whether he got the money. They said he was still alive. And then there is the abortion issue.

Scientifically, the definition of “life” usually has dealt with the ability to reproduce. A bacteria is definitely alive. But is a virus? It has DNA and can reproduce. How about RNA?

The Scientific American article looks into a simpler definition, concentrating on the metabolism and energy. It defines life in some terms I like. There has to be, in order: 1. Entropy – one of my favorites and too much of a topic for a few sentences (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy). Well worth looking into, the crux of all of our problems. 2. Redox – (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redox) using electron rearrangement, Lewis acid-base reactions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_acid) , to provide the energy for reaction rates and for the entropy trading. 3. Mechanism – an intermediary molecule, enzyme, that guides the energy into accomplishing something. 4. Network – the ability to adapt the mechanism to a changing environment. 5. Reproduction – overflowing the container and continuing the reactions.

So it still comes down to reproduction.

No matter how you define it, it is a miracle. The top of God's universe.

Today is an important anniversary. As Jimmy Durante would say, a “What a coinkydink!” (coincidence).

First of all, it is my seventyfirst birthday. The picture is Archduke Ferdinand, not me. I am much older and have a better moustach.

Thanks to Encyclopedia Britannica's reminders on Yahoo's homepage, it is also the day when Archduke Francis Ferdinand was assasinated in 1914 and when the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919. The beginning of The War to End All Wars and the beginning of World War II.

Archduke Ferdinand's assasination was one of the ultimate terrorist acts. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria. There are nine Archduke Ferdinand's in wikipedia). A stupid terrorism act by a stupid Bosnian kid in a stupid bunch of Bosnian separatists. Add in a bunch of stupid politicians and diplomats still living in the 19th Century and you get 20 million dead or missing and four empires gone. Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it. Is it possible that in the 21st Century, a stupid terrorist in a stupid fanatic group could be used by a bunch of stupid politicians and diplomats to precipitate a war that would cause the death of thousands and wipe out nations?

The end of that war at the Treaty of Versailles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Treaty_of_Versailles) was once again a throwback to the 1800's, the Franco-Prussian War. At least there was some effort to look at reasonable effects by President Wilson and Colonel House in the League of Nations. But politicians, isolationist and conservative Republican Senators Lodge and Borah, cut it off at the knees. Once again, those who do not study history are doomed.

We all have our pet peeves. One of mine is people who are late. It may come from my childhood, my genes, definitely from the Naval Academy and the Navy. The Navy put up with absolutely no tardiness or excuses. We were expected to plan time for unforseen circumstances. An extra amount “just in case”. If we showed up late, we would better be missing both legs and have our head in our arms. Traffic, flight cancellations, death in the family were not listened to. Left the Navy over forty years ago but I still leave time for unexpected circumstances and look for contingency plans

In our ordinary society there are, of course, acceptable reasons for being late to an agreed meeting, meal, entertainment, etc. Reasonable extenuating circumstances. In the vast majority of the situations where I have run against folks being late, however, the reasons have been trivial and definitely not even close to acceptable. Especially hours and hours late!

Being late makes several statements about the person doing it. The first being a lack of organization and the capacity to navigate ordinary life. Taking a shower, dealing with children and significant others, fixing lunch, etc. Scheduling the day. Not a compliment.

The most significant statement, however, regards what the person thinks about those who are kept waiting. It says they are not worthy of consideration, low in the priority ladder, A plain old rudeness, an insult, a put-down. Fill your hands with iron, you sons-a-bitches.

And then, it violates a contract. Not the same lying, cheating, and stealing as marital cheating or the Enron stupidity, but an agreement is an agreement. You learn valuable lessons about the person when they break a contract and you know they will do it again.

We just returned from a trip to see some of our children and grandchildren. Almost a grand tour of Virginia. Many hundreds of miles, up towards a thousand. The exact amount is not available because the odometer stuck at 222,451 a year and a half ago. The Grand Marquis is 14 years old, has an airconditioner problem that will take $800 to fix, uses a little oil. But after all that time and about 250K, that's pretty good. Thanks Ford Motor Company for another good car.

There was an article on the news about Ford surpassing the other companies in something or other last month. I knew it all along.

When I graduated and we married in 1958, I bought a tan 1948 Mercury. Ran like a top. When our first son was born a year later, we decided we needed a better car (should have kept that '48 Merc) and bought a red Morris Minor. A great little car. Small and underpowered (38 hp) but so simple to work on so reliable. We enjoyed that car for ten years. Another I should have kept.

Our next car was a light blue Ford Gran Torino wagon. A sports car in a station wagon body. That 350 Cleveland could make is stand on end. Got our family of now five children through everything that a family wagon is supposed to do. Including a bunch of trips to Florida to see my retired parents and the boys learning to drive. Our neighbor said they have never seen a car go up and down the driveway as much as the Gran Torino did. Almost ten years on that one, too. Should have kept it, too.

Then five years with a Volvo. Five years too long.

Back to Ford for a black Grand Marquis Colony Park wagon. I could put a 4X8 piece of plywood lying down in the back of that tank. We moved to West Texas with it and it brought us back and forth to Virginia a bunch of times to see children and grandchildren. Three days and well over thirty hours of actual driving each way. It survived our youngest daughter's learning to drive. She had an accident with a Chevy. Totalled the Chevy but only dislocated a piece of trim on the wagon. Once again, almost ten years with it. Should have kept it, too.

And now our white 1993 Grand Marquis LS. $20K. 20 miles a gallon. It is one of those cars that Ford Motor Company should use for its ads. At 200K, the transmission started to hesitate so we needed to make a decision. And we fixed the transmission and are keeping the old girl until it really is the end. Here we are at close to 250K and she still gets us around to see all of the children and grandchildren. It looks like we are keeping this one.