The indictment last week of Sudan’s president on charges of genocide in Darfur and the arrest this week of Bosnian Serb war criminal Radovan Karadzic represent a new frontier for international jurisprudence. While previous leaders have been indicted in office this is the first for the ICC.

What is most disturbing about the indictment of the Sudanese president is the same tired litany of complaints we’re hearing from the chattering classes about the indictment exposing peacekeepers in Sudan to danger or increasing the chances of violence in Darfur. Newsflash! There is no peace to keep in Darfur, the peacekeepers are already under attack and genocide rages unimpeded. The indictment makes no difference in creating instability in Darfur and it’s sad that the exact same arguments are being trotted out now that were trotted out while genocide swamped Bosnia and Rwanda in the 1990s. These arguments represent a cowardice and failure of imagination to confront the problem in a real and meaningful matter.

It’s also extremely disheartening but entirely unsurprising to see African and Arab nations rally behind the president of Sudan. If there’s one cause that will unite certain African and Arab leaders it’s not stopping the Sudanese campaign that have brought death of hundreds of thousands of people in Darfur but rather keeping from justice their fellow kleptocrat who is the architect of that campaign of mass murder.

This trip, while worthwhile and enriching, was extremely exhausting. Imagine 16-hour days running up and down hills and then multiply that by 9, add in heat and hard beds and you’ve got an idea of my “vacation.” I’m now jet-lagged so I woke up at 5:00 AM and uploaded pics to Facebook while updating my iPhone. Below is a pic I took in Siena.

I leave tomorrow for Tuscany for two weeks. My boyfriend will be joining me in Rome mid-month for a romantic weekend - keep well in my absence.

The Golden Gate Bridge District has received an estimate on the cost of their latest attempt to foist a costly and unnecessary “suicide barrier” on residents of San Francisco and Marin counties - and guess what? It’s twice as expensive as previously estimated!!

ERECTING a suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge could cost as much as $50 million, according to an environmental assessment released Monday by the Golden Gate Bridge District. “The cost is astronomical,” said Marin Supervisor Hal Brown, a member of the bridge district’s Board of Directors. “I’m all for some type of barrier, but where we get that kind of money I have no idea. Maybe through grants.”

Yes the cost is “astronomical” and with the Golden Gate Bridge District facing yet another budget deficit I wonder exactly where they’re gonna come up with the cash to build this thing. It already costs $5 to cross the bridge, maybe they can double that fare so crazies won’t be able to toss themselves over the side anymore.

Of course they could just go ahead and not build it - I’m all for that idea. I really cannot understand why it is the responsibility of taxpayers in Marin and San Francisco counties to pay to prevent people from killing themselves. Yet again we’re reminded of the creep of the nanny state in this country - everyone must be protected not only against everyone and everything which could even remotely cause harm but also from themselves, no matter the cost or the inconvenience.

Today I’m interviewing the Orthodox Metropolitan for my thesis then starting to pack for Tuscany as I leave Wednesday morning - I’m none too excited about this trip. I’d rather work on and submit my thesis before the due date of August 9th rather than have to come back and spend a lot of time writing.

The Good Doc and I have taken a villa in Sonoma where we will be spending the holiday weekend lounging by the pool (and I’ll be working on my thesis as well). Have a great holiday!!

Sunday the Good Doc and I went to see “Wanted” and then had dinner with friends in Burlingame. Burlingame is the place old homos go to die so we were checking it out as we advance in age. Anyway - I digress.

We were eating and enjoying our dinner when I noticed a June-December couple sitting over my friend’s shoulder. The woman was crying as her silver-haired companion spoke to her. Actually it was more like sobbing, her tears creating streaks in her well-applied makeup. Finally she got up somewhat hesitantly and began to leave.

As she passed me I could see that she was wearing jeweled ballet slippers and for some reason those tiny slippers made me achingly, terribly sad for her. I imagined her getting ready for dinner, wondering why they were going out on a Sunday when they normally never do. “He must have a surprise for me” she thought as she applied her makeup and styled her hair, dabbing perfume on her neck and carefully applying her lipstick while noting the almost invisible lines radiating from the corners of her mouth. Normally this would terrify her - the appearance of age -  but this relationship gave her a new sense of confidence. “What should I wear?” she wondered and the thought gave her pleasure, she liked making herself beautiful for her older paramour and suddenly she realized how much she cared for him.

Her friends couldn’t understand why she was with him but no one knew how he made her feel inside - like she could fly.  She’s had so many boyfriends but she’s over 30 now and what once came so easily to her - men and their advances - no longer held the same comfort they once did. She loved the solidity of their relationship and the feeling of safety it gave her. She didn’t care that no one seemed to understand. She did - and that’s all that matters.

So she chose the jeweled ballet flats. They were perfect for a Sunday dinner in Burlingame with her older boyfriend who had something to tell her - something she longed to hear.  He would admire her jeweled ballets flats - he always admired her appearance, always said something to make her feel special, to make her feel beautiful. She didn’t know that just hours later she would be sitting and sobbing, her tears coursing through her makeup while a table of men watched her in silence.

Being a western boy I’ve grown up with forest fires all my life. In Colorado, where I’m from, a fire almost burned down our ranch the year I was born and totally decimated the forested mountain in whose shadow our home lay. I haven’t written much about the spate of forest fires we’re having in NorCal recently but the air quality is now so bad, the visibility so poor that I can’t see more than 2 miles - that I had to say something.

Fires in California are dangerous because such large portions of the coast are heavily populated that when one occurs it almost always causes property loss and death.  In addition the introduction of non-native, highly-flammable species like the Australian Eucalyptus mean that forests which once burned slowly and evenly are now more like tinderboxes spiked with firecrackers designed to explode and spread burning embers farther and faster than those fighting the fires can keep up with.

Who can forget the Oakland Hills fire of 1991?

The Oakland Firestorm of 1991 was a large urban fire that occurred on the hillsides of northern Oakland, California and southeastern Berkeley on Sunday October 20, 1991, almost exactly two years after the Loma Prieta earthquake. The fire has also been called the Oakland hills firestorm, the East Bay Hills Fire, and the Tunnel Fire (because of its origin above the west portal of the Caldecott Tunnel) in Oakland. The fire ultimately killed 25 people and injured 150 others. The 1,520 acres (6.2 km²) destroyed included 2,843 single-family dwellings and 437 apartment and condominium units. The economic loss has been estimated at $1.5 billion. At the fire’s peak it would destroy one home every 11 seconds.

This is what we deal with in California on a regular basis. We live in the San Francisco hills facing Oakland and thankfully the winds blow in from the ocean and head east, which is why the Oakland/Berkeley hills are always in such danger and we’re not. Still there are those days, mainly in September and October when the air is thick and hot and still and I look at the stand of eucalyptus across the road and know that all it would take is one spark from some careless person to burn down our entire neighborhood - just one cigarette…

I’m finally finished with my paper on the Etruscans. I say finally not because it was boring or anything but it’s a particularly dry subject involving research through medical journals on genetic markers - not my cup of tea. At least it’s through though. Now I can turn my attention to the final piece of my graduation puzzle - my thesis.