Mikhail Gorbachev has had one certifiably commendable revelation - somewhere in the mid-'80s when he probably bapped himself on the head and said something akin to, "Hey, Lenin may have been wrong. This communist thing may not work after all." Now he has another: a nature preserve along the full length of the Iron Curtain, from Finland to the Adriatic. During the 40 years the Soviets kept it free of people, the border between Western Europe and the Soviet bloc grew chock-a-block with flora and fauna. Gorbachev now thinks it ought to be kept that way in perpetuity, adding, "Ecology isn't something we can leave only to politicians."
Heck, why not extend the idea to the area near the Fence the Israelis are building? Two problems: (1) it's desert, where little grows; (2) it's a war zone, so any planting likely would go untended. But then, perhaps joint Israeli-Palestinian tending of such a nature preserve would be a step along the tattered Road Map to peace.
The Naval Academy has a new superintendent, Vice Admiral Rodney Rempt. His goal in steering the Academy away from recent difficulties, including a rank-pulling "contretemps" that led to his predecessor's resignation? In his words: "to help midshipmen develop very high ethical character." Good onya, Admiral. And perhaps character-building is why despite disappointing judicial rulings finding meal prayers violative of the Constitution (including the VMI ruling by 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, in whose jurisdiction the Naval Academy lies), the Naval Academy is retaining its midday meal prayer - making it the only service academy to do so. Amen.
And speaking of getting the right perspective on things, tough-guy Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County (Phoenix), Ariz., has allowed 2,000 prisoners at a barbed-wire-surrounded tent encampment at the county jail to strip down to their government-issued pink boxer shorts because of the heat (138 degrees inside some of the tents). Some of the inmates term the tents and pink boxers "inhumane." Sheriff Arpaio, who created the tent city and long ago started making the prisoners wear pink, is unsympathetic. Recently he told the inmates: "It's 120 degrees in Iraq and the soldiers are living in tents and they didn't commit any crimes, so shut your mouths."