We are engaged in open-ended, ill-defined wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. These were promulgated not through multilateral means but through unilateral action. Certainly the United States, like any other sovereign nation, should reserve the right to unilateral action in a military sphere as well as other arenas. However, in this case, I think our actions have done and continue to do great damage to the potential for authentic multilateral collective actions in the Middle East and elsewhere.

The fight against terrorism is a necessary evil, but as I argued immediately following the 9/11 attacks, this struggle is improperly defined as a "war." Like our supply-side counter-drug efforts, these efforts represent a continuing struggle which will likely know no end.

Our military forces must be engaged in well-defined deployments with tangible, achievable goals. President Bush and his advisors have, in the name of defending the United States against global terrorist threats since 9/11:

• expended billions of dollars, as well as the priceless lives of now over 1000 of our soldiers
• done possibly irreperable damage to our multilateral efforts abroad
• engendered further enimity among Moslems worldwide
• overextended our both active and reserve armed forces in deployments that are not sustainable over the long term with our current force structure
• continued to hold many prisoners in voliation of Geneva conventions and their universal human rights in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, without due process
• embarrassed the United States and tarnished the image of not only our country but specifically our armed forces through the prison torture debacles of earlier this year.

This is an incomplete list. I am a strong supporter of our armed forces and the need for our nation to stand ready to and fight when needed when our vital national interests are at stake.

There was not a legitimate link between Iraq and the 9/11 attacks or Al Queda which could justify the invasion and occupation of Iraq, however. While I do think it is very reasonable to believe that at some point, Iraq did possess WMD, the fact is that the Bush administration decided VERY early on following 9/11 that the US was going to war in Iraq as well as Afghanistan regardless of the facts or the evidence.

Where was the voice of General Colin Powell amidst these decisions? Didn't hear from him. Where is his voice now? We are embroiled in a quagmire in the Middle East that has many parallels to our military deployments in Southeast Asia in the 1960s and 1970s.

Is the United States dependent on foreign oil now, in late 2004? Yes. Have we lost basing rights within Saudi Arabia, and do we need new friends who will allow us to establish permanent bases for military operations in the area? Yes. Is Iraq the best place to do this? President Bush and his advisors seem to think so.

We need a change, and I don't think my vote for Bush in November would send this message. A vote for Kerry will.

Here in Texas in educational circles, the term "The Texas Miracle" is mostly unheard of, or if it has been heard of, it sounds like a bad joke.

Do teachers need to have high expectations for the achievement of all their students? Absolutely. Are there many schools and teachers in our state and nation in need of reform? Most certainly.

But is a battery of high-stakes multiple choices tests the way to bring about authentic and needed educational reform to America's classrooms? No it is not. Neither are mandated writing tests. Every year our teachers and students seem to get better taking these examinations, but the basic question should be: are the students becoming better prepared for success in the real world?

We have some very basic problems in education in our country. Some of the most glaring include:

• Teacher retention: We recruit and certify plenty of teachers each year, but the problem is so many of them leave the profession after a short career of less than 5 years on average. Why? A lot has to do with money, too many demands, and not enough support. But our national dialog isn't focused on this basic issue.
• Faith in Standards: Somewhere down the line, someone seemed to get the bright idea that educational standards could save education in America and bring about needed reform. We are now absolutely swimming in standards from every front. Are high academic standards generally a good idea? Yes. But can standards and their enforcement bring about needed educational reform? I don't think so.
• Lack of Trust: Taxpayers, voters, and legislators in America today seem to universally not trust teachers. They also seem to generally not understand the educational process, but I will address that next. When it comes to trust, teachers seem to have lost it with the public. Accountability testing and the standards movement seem to be two tangible evidences of this lack of trust in educators. The American public tells American teachers: "We don't trust you to know your job or do your job, that is why we are creating all these new standards and forcing everyone to take all these tests." What is the result? It is not good educational outcomes. At a basic level we are teaching more and more kids to hate school, and many teachers to dislike (and leave) the teaching profession. Again, our national dialog about education is missing this issue.
• Lost in the 2nd Wave: The industrial revolution was termed "the 2nd wave" by futurist Alvin Toffler. We live in the 3rd Wave economy and society today in the early 21st century, yet our educational paradigms are seemingly lost in the 2nd Wave world. It is time to catch up. The world needs graduates who are flexible problem solvers, effective communicators, and savvy information and opinion synthesizers. Why are we trying to prepare students for a black and white world with multiple choice exams that only have one correct answer, when everyone and his dog knows that is not the "real world?"

The No Child Left Behind legislation misses the boat with all the issues above, I think. As an educator myself and the parent of three, I have a strong vested interest in US public education. We cannot and must not give up on the cause of positively reforming education for America's youth.

Again, we need a change, and a vote for President Bush won't send this needed message in November.

I am so disgusted not only with our recent Presidents, but also with our elected Congressional representatives (who we must remember according to Civics 101 hold the actual purse strings of the federal government), that I hardly know where to begin this tirade.

Individuals should not spend more than they bring in each month. Neither should businesses, and neither should the government. Yes, there are times for indebtedness, but it is incumbant upon every individual as well as business to pay off those debts as soon as possible and return to a solvent condition.

Our federal government has refused to balance its books like any citizen is expected to do for many years. Why have the Republican governments done this just as the Democratic governments have? Why does there seem to be no one on the moral high ground when it comes to this issue?

We must balance the federal budget and pay off our federal debt. We must at least start working to lower the debt so the total dollar amount is going down instead of up. As American voters we must demand this. President Bush has not exercised the leadership we desperately need in this area.

Energy policy could really be an area of discussion all to itself, but in the interest of time I will insert a few short paragraphs here. We MUST aggressively pursue energy policies which result in our complete independence from fossil fuels, in contrast to our present dependence.

Technology in the medical field continues to bring new advances almost every day that just boggle the mind. We can do successful open heart surgeries, but for some reason we cannot come up with a sustainable fuel source for America's transportation needs that doesn't require petroleum?

Come on America! This is ridiculous! How many other people out there are sick and tired of paying for gas every month? We have many of the brightest minds in the world at our universities and research centers, and we should much more energetically fund their efforts to create viable hydrogen fuel cells or other renewable energy sources. More than any other invention or discovery I can think of, a viable hydrogen fuel cell would turn a large segment of current foreign policy and economics on its head.

Will this come to pass? In time yes, I think it will. But with an oil-wealthy President sitting in the White House, do you think this is going to happen anytime soon? Not likely.

John Kerry has emphasized in his campaign the need for America to focus our energy policy on renewable energy sources. Do you think this would have import for our foreign policy discussions regarding Iraq and other parts of the Middle East. You can bet your bottom dollar.

I want to vote for a Presidential candidate who seems most likely to balance our budget, start paying off our federal debt, and invest more federal dollars in alternative energy sources rather than further entrenching us in oil dependency and everything that goes with it.

A vote for George Bush in November won't cut the mustard in this column either.