On the Home Front Archive

On the last Friday of every month Jen performs at one of the local Middle Eastern restuarants, a place called El Morocco in nearby Pleasant Hill. When we were dating I would always go watch her and it was fun to sit back and see her entertain the crowd of diners.

She is particulary good with kids, all of whom assume, and not incorrectly, that she is a princess. She gets them up to dance, teaches them some of her moves and they all have a great time.

The food is great at El Morocco and I usually chomp down on this speciality called Bastilla while Jennifer spins away. Bastilla features layers of chicken, eggs and crushed almonds encased in phyllo pastry, all topped with cinnamon and powdered sugar. Washed down with a Casablanca, it's irresistable. Unfortunately on this night, I waited for Jennifer to finish dancing so that we could eat together, but it was a slow night in the restaurant and by the time she finished the manager, eager to get the hell out of there, shut down the kitchen.

I've moved and I have new contact info. Here goes:

Andrew Hecht
PO BOX 241
Avon, CO 81620

(nine seven zero) 949-5140

My new home in West Vail is a small bedroom with two twin beds, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers and night stand in the lovely three bedroom condo of Roy White from Zimbabwe by way of South Africa and his lovely wife Lilla Asmund who is half Icelandic (she likes to say "Viking") and half Native American. Roy has his own painting business and Lilla works for the new Ritz-Carlton over in Beaver Creek, about 5 miles back west down the valley.

The condo is about 4-5 miles from Lionshead Vail where I'm working. I could drive in about 5 minutes or less but parking is expensive, so I take the bus. Vail, so I am told, has the most extensive system of free buses anywhere in the country. Not surprising, really, when you consider that 73 dollar a day lift tickets buy a hell of a lot of public services.

The bus stop is about a 3 minute walk down the road. There are two buses, West Vail Red and West Vail Green that make reverse 30 minute loops around the area so it never takes too long for one to show up nor to go the three or four stops up the road to where I can cross the pedestrian bridge over I70 into Lionshead.

I'm still getting settled, but I'm very comfortable and happy to be here. Roy and Lilla seem to have taken to the kittens. They even moved their bird cage from the main room upstairs into their bedroom to avoid an iminent Slyvester-Tweety moment between Fil and their cockateil.

I just arrived back in Sedona after spending the weekend with one of my oldest friends Peter, his wife Lili and their 3 week old baby, Amelia. I haven't seen the Townshends in more than a year since they moved down south from San Jose. As always, it's great to see old friends, especially after such a long hiatus.

Pete now lives in Rancho Santa Fe in a beautiful Spanish style home. Rancho Santa Fe, in case you're not familiar with the town, is in the hills north of San Diego and is one of the most exlcusive zip codes in the country. According to a survey on Forbes.com, the median home price in RSF is a mere $1,700,000. Interestingly enough, one of my old zip codes, 94010, is right above Rancho Santa Fe on the list. I managed to hold down a tiny stuido apartment for 800 bucks while I was working at Electronic Arts in Silicon Valley.

The township has tons of restrictive codes and guidelines, including no neon and no chain stores. So there's no Starbucks in the quaint two street downtown, but there are exclusive restaurants, cafes and shops.

The little strip is also one of the best places in the world to go car shopping. Not because of the dealers, there are none. But because the residents like to show off their brand new shiny vehicles. We saw a Mercedes-Benz Maybach, one of very few in the world, with a sticker price north of $350,000. Sounds insane to pay that price for any car when you can buy a house almost anywhere in the country with the money. Then again that sum wouldn't buy you a garage in Rancho Santa Fe.

The list is here is you want to check it out.

...why I hate coming to Los Angeles. It's not the smog, which I'm used. It's not the people, which I can avoid. It's the traffic and the way people drive like mindless morons that drives me insane. Not once, not twice, but three times driving through the little town of Rialto west of San Bernadino, stalled cars on the shoulder caused traffic to back up for miles. There was no accident. There was no blood. No fire engines, cops or ambulances. Just stalled cars. Yet people feel compelled to slow down, crane their necks and get a better view. Personally, I think this should be a capital offense with sentences to be carried out on the spot. Anybody who willfully creates more traffic, especially in a major urban center known for congestion problems needs to be drawn and quartered.

Then there's those people who drive the speed limit in the passing lane. Where did I put my gun again?

Sedona is a small, sleepy town but it does have it's far share of western conveniences including KFC, Burger King, Starbucks and, of course, McDonalds. But the McDonalds in town is different than every other McDonalds I have seen in the world, and I've seen a fair few from Samoa to Somalia.

Who ever heard of the "Turqouise Arches"? Shit, is nothing sacred in this world?

We're about to experience a harmonic convergence of sorts here at the Sedona household.

Not five minutes ago a FedEx trucked pulled up to my house to deliver the loan check, which is a minor miracle considering how difficult it was to deal with Captial One and their medieval sense of communication.

About and hour ago, Tom, my used car dealer, showed up with the car. Of course, it's too much to ask for the check to arrive before the car, but you can't have everything. Tom is grabbing a sandwich but should on his way back here any time now.

When he comes, we're going to zip up to Flagstaff, sign the papers and I'll be on my merry way.

It's almost enough to make me swear off atheism and dedicate the rest of life to the service of the lord, but not quite.

Incidentally, the car is a 2000 Subaru Outback (with heated seats). It's light green with beige interior, soon to shredded, no doubt, by my affectionate but mischievous kitties.

I just rode down to Arizona Water where the nice customer service rep by the name of Pat not only added me to the account without any ID but also faxed the the new bill with my name and address on it to Capital One Financial (a toll free number).

My lungs were burning as I made my way up the hill in the chilly afternoon back to the house, but I could take it because this whole fiasco was behind me. Or so I thought.

When I got home and checked my email, there was one from Capital One:

Dear Andrew Hecht,

Thank you for submitting your fax. However, we are unable to use the
documents sent for verification for the following reason(s):

We are not able to accept a print screen as verification. We would
need to view an actual bill as received in the mail.

In order to verify your physical address, we would need for you to fax
an itemized mortgage statement, gas, water, electric, cable, or
landline phone bill. Please note that the bill must be within 30 days from
today's date and that it verifies the service or property location you
have listed on your application.

With the ways things have been going this morning, it's hard for me to say, I couldn't believe it. I called them. I told them I would not be able to provide them with an actual mailed bill until the next cycle. They came back and said that if I just had Arizona Water fax them a letter on their letterhead stating that I had indeed been added to the account, then that would suffice.

I called Pat back and told her what the deal was. She said no problem, she would handle it. Now I just have to wait for Capital One to get back to me. I'm expecting them to tell me that it won't suffice, at which point I'm heading on a plane to Wilmington, DE or wherever the fuck the are and I'm going to personally strangle the CEO. Maybe that will grant him some simulacrum of how I'm feeling at the moment, though I doubt it.

Dear Andrew Hecht,

Your vehicle loan application has been approved!

Based on the type of loan and terms you selected, your interest rate
will be 4.99%.

We can mail your Capital One Auto Finance Blank Check® Loan Package to
you as soon as we have reviewed your loan terms and confirmed your
mailing address. Please contact us at your convenience during our business
hours at (800) 689-1789.

My faith in the system is restored. Sort of. I applied for this loan on Sunday through Lendingtree. It actually works. Lenders fought over me and Capital One was victorious. Now here's the rub. I need to verify my address to get my Capital One Auto Finance Blank Check® Loan Package. They need a paystub or a utility bill or a credit card statement or a bank statement, none of which I have with this current address. Is this for real?

I'm trying to buy a car, which, when you don't have car to begin with and you live in a tiny town with no cars for sale, can be a really pain. For many reasons I've decided I want a Subaru Outback. I've wanted one for a long time. When I bought my last car, a Saab 9-3, I really wanted the Subaru, but the deal on the Saab was too good to pass up.

Yesterday I test drove 2 Outbacks. The first was a '99 in a place somewhere north of Phoenix. It had 60,000 miles and was in decent shape. There were a few nicks and scratches here and there, but nothing major. It drove like a dream. They are asking 11175 and I wouldnt have to pay sales tax because the deal would take place on eBay. I'd be all over it, except the color. It's red.

The other Outback was a 2000. It was green. And it was offered by Bob Elliot Ford in Flagstaff. Yesterday afternoon I test drove it in the snow, which was disconcerting buy fun. The car is immaculate. It has 53K miles. The price tag is 13,898 including sales tax, which is a great deal. That's almost 2 grand below what they think is wholesale, but when they ran the numbers, they didn't include the fact that it had an in-dash CD player and heated seats. I'm leaning towards this car in a big way.

My FICO score is 797, so getting financing shouldn't be a problem, even though I don't have a job at the moment. They quoted me interest rate of a little more than 5 percent but are going to work on getting it down in the high 4s which would be excellent.

I'd feel so much more comfortable buying this car from an established dealer than the other one from some guy with a business on eBay. Either way, despite the problems with Equifax, I should have wheels by the end of the week at the latest.

I'm on hold with Equifax right this very minute. I'm being forced to call them because my current address (Sedona, AZ) doesn't match the address on my credit report (Oakland, CA) and it's holding up my car loan application. It took me a half hour to find a number I could call to talk to a human, and then it wasn't someone in customer service, it was someone in sales. They are trying to be helpful, I suppose, but they are telling me that I have to mail in any change of address with an accompanying drivers license or utility bill reflecting the change. Of course, I have neither of these. Then I calmly explained to them that they are holding me hostage by the process at which point I was put on hold.

I just rode the bike into town to pick up a dozen bagels (I got a dozen so I don't have to go back for a few days) and it's so damn cold my face felt like it was going to fall off.

If you take a look at the Yahoo! Weather page for Sedona, you'll see some curious things (at least at 12:11 pm, mountain time). One is that the actual temperture, 25 degrees F, is below the "low" of 27 degrees. Maybe someone out there can explain that phenomenon to me. I don't get it. The other interesting thing to note is under the "More Current Conditions" where it says "Feels Like 10 degrees". That's chilly.

It was raining a little last night and some more this morning, but I did see some snow patches on the ground on the way to New York Bagels and Donuts. And there were a couple of cars covered in white stuff, but they might have come down from Flagstaff. Hopefully there will be some snow today. There are enough ominous looking clouds around to make me think it's very likely.

The mercury has been dropping near freezing for most of the last two weeks so it was only a matter of time before the snow started to fall and yesterday we got snow flurries all morning. The snow was wet and there wasn't enough to stick, but it was beautiful to see it fall. I can't wait for the red mountains of Sedona to be blanketed in white snow. Should make for some great photographs. I also want to see how the cats react to it. Should be comical. I have this image of Mak chasing snow flakes across the lawn.

I've been on hold with first Microsoft and now Dell trying to resolve what would seem to be a simple problem with this home network and that is how to synchronize Outlook Express so that my mom can use it on both of her computers.

I can't figure out how to do it. The guys at her ISP didn't know. The people who sell the networking hardware didn't know. Microsoft probably knows but wants to charge you for the pleasure of releasing that information. Dell has got me on hold waiting for the third time for someone who probably either won't know the answer or won't be able to tell me for some arcane reason. Before there was music, but now there's just this sterile female voice saying, "please wait" at periodic intervals. It's creeping me out.

I wasn't on hold once for the year I was in Samoa and it was a great, I mean fantastic treat. I hardly made any phone calls. I didn't even get a phone in my place until the end of June and then most of the calls I made were to my ISP. How long can a person stay on hold before the desire to rip the cord out of the wall and smash something with the phone overcomes my patience and my need to get at important and valuable information?

One of these pics is from Disneyland and one is from Sedona. Can you guess which one?

I missed the Halloween parade in the Village, mostly because I didn't know about it until I came home at 4:30am to find an email from a friend asking me if I went. Then when I asked my host about it, he said, oh, right, that would have been cool, I went there last year, or something like that.

I was in Village the night before with my cousin who has lived in the same building for 25 years and gave me a great tour of the neighbrhood after stuffing me full of Jewish soul food (matzah ball soup, extra lean corned beef on rye and Dr. Brown's cream soda) at the Second Avenue Deli.

I did see plenty of NYC freaks around the 42nd street area and on the subway. My favorite costume was this guy who had a plain cardboard box hanging around his torso. On the box, was written "From: God To: Women". Clever, yet somehow, very, very ironic. I wonder if he got any play.

Halloween in the city is much different than the ones I grew up with in LA. There are no houses here in Manhatten, so kids go around to apartments and shops to trick or treat. It's very odd. In the building I'm staying in, a 20 story block on the upper west side, tenants could sign up with the conceirge to request trick or treaters. I think it's kind of sad. I remember as a kid going to neighboorhoods where every house was decorated with pumpkins and ghosts and spiders and witches and there were tons of other kids around.

When we got home, the conceirge still had some candy left over. I ate some chocolate taffy and a couple little packs of Bottle Caps. Remember Bottle Caps?

I overheard this snippet of conversation when I was wandering around the World Trade Center site the other evening. You really have to admire the deft subtlety with which New Yorkers wield this fine language of ours.

I arrived in New York City tonight for the first time since 1986.

I took the infamous Chinatown bus which, for a paltry 17.50, will take you from Chinatown in DC to the one in NY, with a few stops in between. It's a great deal because the tolls alone to get to the city will run you about 13 or 14 bucks. It's 6 bucks alone to go under the Lincoln Tunnel.

The bus dropped me off on the corner of 42nd Street and Broadway which is insane place to start a venture into the city, especially on a Saturday night when ziillions of tourists are zipping around Times Square. As I walking to get to a subway station, I was thinking what would happen if you took a Samoan out of a tiny village in kua and dropped him in the middle of Times Square. He'd probably have a coronary.

I found my subway (the C train) and made my way uptown to where my old friend Josh has been living for the last two years. The subway is astonishing clean. Much more so than I remember from my days of visiting the city as a child, when much of city was a complete dump. And the people are so well dressed with only the ocassional homeless person wandering through the car asking for money.

I finally did something today I've tried to do every time I've been to DC, get up to the top of the Washington Monument. You need tickets to get inside. But the tickets are free, which is great. (Then again, almost everything in DC is free.) The problem is that you can only get tickets the day of, and they go quick because, well, it's popular. And for a good reason.

The view from the top is insane. It's over 500 feet up and you can see the entire district and deep into the neighboring states of Virginia and Maryland. Sadly, for security reasons, I suppose, the little windows that you can look out of from the top are locked shut (and not very clean). It doesn't make for very good photography. Still the landscape is tremendous.

This is a picture of my twin brother Brian who took the day off today to hang with me. Don't tell anyone.

I went to the National Zoo this afternoon with the plan to see and photograph the giant pandas. But they didn't want to cooperate. They both were sleeping inside instead of frolicking in their enclosures like they are supposed to do when someone like me comes all the way up to zoo with the intention to see them frolicking in their enclosures. Oh, well. Next time.

So the best I could do was take a self-portrait of me with the statue of the panda out in the courtyard in front of the gift shop.

Here's a surefire way to give a Peace Corps volunteer a case of reverse culture shock. Remove a volunteer from his country, say, after a year or so at his site, and then drop him in the middle of any food court in the USA, like the one next to my brother's office on K Street in downtown DC.

In this food court you can get Chinese, Mexican, Cuban, Italian, Cajun, Philly Cheese Steaks, Sandwiches, Burgers & Dogs or Greek food. There are also two cafe/bakeries and a Starbucks's. I'm probably even missing something. I went with Cajun (Bourbon Chicken).

Choice in cusine is an almost overwhleming luxury. There are more restaurants within a 15 minute walk of my brother's house in Du Pont Circle than there are in the entire country of Samoa, probably ten times as many. Maybe more. Who knows. The only problem is, it's all so damn expensive.

Today I had lunch at Fuddrucker's. After eating what passes for a hamburger in Samoa (all apologies to the Steakhouse in Apia), eating the 2/3 lb Southwestern burger at Fuddrucker's was mind blowing. And it's not even the best burger in the country. I can't wait to get back to California to sink my teeth into Fatburger and In 'N Out. My arteries are hardening at the mere thought.

God bless America: a place for whackos

Today was the first day in DC that my brother had to go to work and I didn't have anything to do. (yesterday was Columbus Day). So I let Brian take his time getting to work by offering to walk his dog, Maria.

Maria is a mix of Welsh Corgie and Aussie Shepherd. It's hard to believe she was in a shelter. She's so adorable. But that's where my brother found her. He adopted Maria from the Washington Animal Rescue League.

Now, Maria is something of a babe magnet. In fact, she has this incredible ability to make almost anyone who sees her smile. She's got these yoda-like ears that are so expressive and moves around with an incredible amount of infectious energy.

My feet are killing me.

Part of the problem is that I've been walking all over the place in DC. But the real problem is that I've been wearing shoes every day for the last week after not wearing wearing them for all but 4 days in the last year while living in Samoa.

At the end of April, I rode my bike 180 kilometers around the island of Savai'i and, at the end of March, I wore shoes for the final two legs of a very short trathlon. Other than that, I wore sandals, flip-flops or went barefoot all the time, every day.

So now all the callouses I had built up over the past 30+ years of my life are gone and the tender skin in their place can't take even the most minor pounding and rubbing leaving me with blisters and bleeding abrasions.

I'm so pathetic. (Don't even get me started on socks)

I don't remeber this being such a problem when I left for Samoa in October of last year, but now you can't walk down the street (at least in DC) without seeing (and hearing) someone having a cell phone conversation with one of those ear pieces so it looks like they're talking to themselves.

Hopefully this behavior has reached a critical mass, but if it hasn't, I can imagine that this city is going to look like it's full of perambulating mental patients (or even more so than it already does). What an odd place to come back to.

It was a beautiful day in the DC area. My brother Brian, his girlfriend J.J. and I went with a few of their friends to hike to a waterfall in the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. We probably were about 2 weeks early to see the full effect of the fall foliage change, but it was pretty amazing to see, nonetheless.

I was in the park before about 1 year and a half ago and hiked a small chunk of the Appalachian Trail. I'm fairly certain I never want to hike the entire trail, but I would like to walk a good part of it, maybe up in Maine during the fall. I'm sure it would be spectacular.

When I was in Samoa I read Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, one of the funniest travel books I've ever read. If you ever want to read something about "The Trail", read this book. You won't regret it.

My hotel, the Virginian Suites in Arlington, is right across the road from the Iwo Jima memorial. Sometimes Washington seems just one big memorial to war and death. Inside the Peace Corps office, one of the first things you'll see, if you take the time to look around instead of zipping right through, is a carved granite plaque of all the Peace Corps volunteers who have died during their service. Compared the number of volunteers who haved served, the percentage is rather small. It's not any more dangerouss being a PCV than it is driving on the highway in the USA. I looked for and found the names of Zachary Merrill, who died in Mali earlier this year, and Nancy Coutu, who's journal I recently read

I've had this strange sense since I arrived in DC that I'm wading through molasses as I move around. I just feel so slow. I move slowly. I think slowly. I do everthing with a ridiculous amount of deliberation.

It's a function of a couple of things, I think. Jet lag, lack of sleep and the fact that everyone around here moves with such speed and purpose, so by comparison, I feel like a slug.

When you live in Samoa, a place where few people move with either speed or purpose (not that there's anything wrong with that), it's easy to fall in with the easy pace of life there. It's so relaxing. I'll miss it.

My sister Marni and her long time boyfriend Paris are going to tie the knot in November and I couldn't be more thrilled for both of them. They're a great couple and this has been long, long overdue. I wish them the best of luck.

One of the best things about this event is that I get to go home to see the ceremony. It will be really nice to spend some time with all my family members (especially Marn) and my few friends in the Bay Area. I never thought I want to go home durng my Peace Corps stint. My traveling heart is telling me I'd rather spend the time in Vanuatu or Micronesia, but I'd never forgive myself if I missed the first wedding among my siblings. This just can't be missed.

See you all in November!

Locals and Peace Corps volunteer alike are struggling with the new American polisy that requires Samoans seeking visas to the U.S. to visit the embassy in Auckand, New Zealand or Suva, Fiji for paperwork, instead of completeing the application here in Samoa.

Apparently the reason for the change in policy is security following 9/11. I fully understand considering what a threat Samoans represent to integrity of the continental United States.

Several PCVs with Samoan significant others have had to deal with this new policy that's going to make it all but impossible to bring their boyfriends/girlfriends or husbands/wives home with them.

It's not easy to follow the American political scene from the middle of the Pacific. So I come to rely on the web and gathering bits and pieces of information wherever it can be had (thanks, Ursula), which is almost no place other than the web. That's how I came across to the SelectSmart.com 2004 Presidential Candidate Selector.

Selectsmart.com sez: "the candidates' positions have been determined first by the candidate's actions, then their public votes, followed by their public statements, and whenever possible, special interest group rankings of the candidate have been factored in."

Ok.

Accornding to this online "survey", my political beliefs are most closely aligned with Dennis Kucinich, some Congressman from Ohio. That is, if you're inclined to take the results of polls like seriously, which I'm not. That I'm 82% aligned with Reverend Al Sharpton is almost as frightening as the fact that Democrats ate not likely to put up much of challenge to our current administration. Not that I like the Dems all that much.

Here are my results:

1.	Kucinich, Cong. Dennis, OH - Democrat   (100%)
2.	Edwards, Senator John, NC - Democrat   (94%)
3.	Dean, Gov. Howard, VT - Democrat   (86%)
4.	Kerry, Senator John, MA - Democrat   (85%)
5.	Gephardt, Cong. Dick, MO - Democrat   (84%)
6.	Sharpton, Reverend Al - Democrat   (82%)
7.	Graham, Senator Bob, FL - Democrat   (79%)
8.	Moseley-Braun, Former Senator Carol IL - Democrat   (75%)
9.	Lieberman Senator Joe CT - Democrat   (73%)
10.	Libertarian Candidate   (49%)
11.	Bush, George W. - US President   (11%)
12.	Phillips, Howard - Constitution   (8%)
13.	LaRouche, Lyndon H. Jr. - Democrat   (-7%)

It's amazing. The feds finally caught up with Eric Robert Rudolph, the so-called Olympic bomber. When I was living in Atlanta, just after the Olympics, and Richard Jewel was still the suspect everyone was talking about, Rudolph was bombnig abortion clinics and gay bars.

The guy in affront to every decent person in the world. Hopefully he'll spend the rest of his miserable life in federal ass-pounding prision somewhere where the weather in miserable, maybe upstate New York or North Dakota. Bon Voyage, Eric.

Here's the story from MSNBC:

Olympic Bombing Suspect Captured
Eric Robert Rudolph, on the lam for years after being charged in deadly bombings at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and elsewhere in the South, was arrested at gunpoint early Saturday as he foraged for food in a trash bin in North Carolina. “The most notorious American fugitive on the FBI’s most wanted list has been captured and will face American justice,” Attorney General John Ashcroft said.

RUDOLPH, 36, WAS captured after a young rookie cop in western North Carolina spotted a man digging in trash behind a grocery story in the small town of Murphy about 3:30 a.m., said FBI Special Agent Chris Swecker at an afternoon press conference. After first giving police a false name, he revealed his true identity, which was confirmed through fingerprints, investigators said.

If want to see a slice of Samoan life, look no further than MTV.
Surf Girls, now showing on MTV every Monday 10:30pm eastern features hot surf babes (wouldn't want to see that?) traveling the South Pacific (that's where I am) in search of the perfect wave.

I saw some of the these wandering around the streets in Apia when they made their forays in town to decompress. I have to tell, it's quite shocking to see Americans models running amok in Samoa after you've been here for half a year.

Sadly, MTV has yet to arrive on the shores of this Pacific paradise. Check out the show and let me know how it is.

Here's the blurb from the website:

"Who needs the boys of summer when you’ve got the Surf Girls of MTV? Fourteen babes with boards trek across the globe to compete for a highly-coveted wildcard into the World Championship Tour of surfing and a spot in a pro contest. Find out who will catch a wave to surfing glory in Surf Girls, where the sun is almost as hot as the ladies."

Former NFL standout wide receiver (and congressman from Oklahoma, incidentally) joined my brother's law firm in DC yesterday. No one is fooled here. Mr. Largent is obviously a ringer brought on for an inter-law firm football game. Next week, they are going to kick the living shit out of Kenneth Starr's firm, Kirkland & Ellis.

here's the story from their website.

Former Congressman Steve Largent Joins Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP

April 22, 2003 - Washington, DC - Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP is pleased to announce that former Congressman (R-Oklahoma) and Seattle Seahawks receiver, Steve Largent, has joined the firm as a consultant. Mr. Largent will work closely with the Government Affairs practice to assist clients with matters related to the legislative and executive branches of government.

Mr. Largent joins the firm after serving four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives where he represented Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District from 1994-2002. As a member of Congress, Mr. Largent served on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce where he was Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality and a member of the Subcommittees on Telecommunications and the Internet, Oversight and Investigations and Environment and Hazardous Materials. Mr. Largent also served on the Budget and Science Committees.

While in Congress, Mr. Largent, an advocate of Congressional fiscal restraint, worked on several notable legislative efforts including major IRS code and state tax reform, deregulation of the electricity and telecommunications industries, repeal of the Glass-Stegall Act, protection of community banks, incentives for the oil and gas industries, protection of children from online pornography, defense of the institution of marriage and child and family advocacy issues.

"Steve’s impressive work as a respected Congressman on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Telecommunications Subcommittee is highly valued," commented Managing Partner Richard E. Wiley. "His Congressional experience will make him a great asset to our clients."

Jim Slattery , former Congressman (D-Kansas), now a partner with Wiley Rein & Fielding said, "Steve’s outstanding reputation for honesty and integrity in all his dealings will serve him well in the next chapter of his life. I am excited about working with Steve to provide bipartisan counsel to clients who have matters pending before the Congress and executive branch agencies."

In addition to his consulting work with Wiley Rein & Fielding, Mr. Largent is a frequent motivational speaker and is actively involved in a number of community service organizations including the Wheelchair Foundation, which distributes wheelchairs to physically impaired people in under-developed countries.

Prior to his political career, Mr. Largent had a stellar 14-year career as a wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks, setting numerous receiving records and selected for seven Pro Bowl games. During his football career, he was recognized for his strong commitment to community service, and was awarded the "NFL Man of the Year" in 1988. Mr. Largent was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame in 1995.

He has received many community commitment awards including "Ten Outstanding Young Americans" by the Jaycees, "Golden Plate Award" by the American Academy of Achievement and the first recipient of the "Bart Starr Award" by Athletes in Action. Mr. Largent sits on the board of numerous businesses and foundations such as The University of Tulsa, The Tulsa Salvation Army and the Wheelchair Foundation.

Following his NFL career and prior to his Congressional career, Mr. Largent owned a successful marketing and advertising firm where he developed strategies for numerous Fortune 500 companies. Mr. Largent is a graduate of the University of Tulsa with a B.S. in Biology.

Founded in 1983, Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP is a national law firm with over 225 attorneys practicing in more than two dozen specialties of law. The firm serves a diverse clientele of domestic and international corporations, associations and individuals. For more information, please contact Richard E. Wiley at 202.719.7010, Donna Corini at 202.719.4917.

The toppling of Saddam

by Oliver Poole in Baghdad and David Blair in Ruweished
from The Spectator

The tyrannical rule of Saddam Hussein was brought to an end by the American-led coalition yesterday amid wild scenes of jubilation in Baghdad from many of his own people.

Thousands of ecstatic Iraqis gave US forces a tumultuous welcome in the capital before turning on the symbols of the regime that had lasted for 24 years, tearing down statues and pictures of the old dictator, pelting them with rocks and smashing them to pieces.

Baghdadis chanted the praises of President George W Bush, while others took the opportunity to loot government buildings and shops. Many were openly thankful for their new-found freedom, standing in groups waving and shouting "America" and "Kill Saddam" as the US vehicles rolled past.

One tank was surrounded by a group of well-wishers, their hands outstretched to shake the hands of their liberators.

"It is a great feeling. I have never felt this way before," said Ayass Mohammed, a 20-year-old student. "It was only two hours ago when suddenly I feel freedom, when I saw the American tanks and heard that the regime had run. All my life all I know is Saddam. Now we are free."

The American forces struck out from their enclave on the west bank of the Tigris, which runs through the centre of Baghdad, and met only sporadic and ineffectual resistance as they secured the city's centre. It was a triumphant climax to their 21-day campaign after their dash through the desert and up the Euphrates valley from Kuwait to the Iraqi capital.

The British and Americans responded cautiously, warning that more fighting lay ahead. But Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, said Saddam had been dumped among history's "failed, brutal dictators" alongside Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and Nicolae Ceausescu.

The scenes in Baghdad were "breathtaking", he said. "Watching them, one cannot help but think of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Iron Curtain."

Mr Rumsfeld added that Washington had evidence that Syria, Iraq's western neighbour, might be helping supporters of Saddam's collapsed government flee the country.

Tony Blair's official spokesman said the whole of No 10 was "delighted" at the scenes in the Iraqi capital. The Prime Minister believed they demonstrated the burden Saddam had imposed on his people and their joy at the oppression being lifted.

But the spokesman added: "I think it is premature when there are still parts of the country that the coalition does not yet control and when the situation on the ground in Baghdad remains as fluid as it is."

Saddam's elite forces charged with the defence of his capital, including the Special Republican Guard and the Fedayeen, appeared to have largely melted away, although some of his loyal forces were still firing at American soldiers in Baghdad last night.

Government officials were nowhere to be seen, and journalists found themselves abandoned by their information ministry minders.

Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammed Al-Douri, was last night the only senior official from Saddam's regime to show his face and admit defeat. "The game is over," he said, getting into a car outside his residence in New York. "We hope the peace will prevail. That's all."

The fate of Saddam and his family remains unknown. Sgt Grant Zaidz, 20, from the US third infantry division, said: "I never expected to see myself in Baghdad. We did not face any resistance whatsoever today. We just strolled in."

By the afternoon, US tanks had reached al-Fardus Square in the centre of Baghdad, beside the Palestine Hotel. They received an ecstatic welcome from Iraqis.

After mobbing the American soldiers, a group of men turned on the statue of Saddam that stood on a marble plinth in the centre of the square. Hoisting themselves on to the statue's feet, they set about it with hammers and stones.

Then they tied a rope to its neck and tried to pull it down. But they failed to topple the edifice and American soldiers placed a chain around its neck and attached it to a tank recovery vehicle.

Cheers rose as the armoured vehicle's engine revved. Slowly the statue was torn down from its cement pedestal. At first, Saddam's likeness lurched horizontally, leaving his outstretched right arm pointing at the ground. Then it crashed to the ground and, within seconds, Iraqis swarmed all over it.

Tearful men pounded the face with shoes and slippers - a grave insult in the Arab world. Others battered its face with sledgehammers.

"I'm 49, but I never lived a single day. Only now will I start living," said Yussuf Abed Kazim, a local imam. "Saddam Hussein is a murderer and a criminal."

With the statue lying prostrate on the ground, US Marines and Iraqis shook hands and hugged one another. Some people handed flowers to the soldiers. Others knelt in silent prayer.

However, not all Baghdadis were happy at the Americans' arrival. Some stood with arms crossed, their faces grim. "How would you feel if there were foreign tanks outside your home?" asked Ahmed Kadra, 50. Two friends shook their head in agreement.

"The young people they don't know life, they just think it is a revolution and we can dance and be excited. They do not have a relation to the land, our country. That is what we die for, that is all that matters." He stamped his foot on the pavement. "The land that is ours and others are trying to take from us."

Brig Gen Vincent Brooks, at US Central Command in Qatar, said: "The capital city is now one of those areas that has been added to the list of where the regime does not have control."

US commanders are now turning their attention to Saddam's home town of Tikrit, 100 miles north-west of the capital.

In Baghdad, Saddam's regime went out with a whimper. If there is to be a last stand, Tikrit is the most likely setting.

My mom and I depart for the Omni Hotel in downtown LA for the start of staging. Time to say goodbye to my beloved Saab. The car has been so good to me over the last three years. It did exactly what I wanted. It never once didn't start when I wanted it to. This is a distinct difference from every other car I've had the sad privilege to own in my life. The Saab also made me feel safe and looked damn good.

Unfornately, I didn't have time to sell it. It sucks because I really needed the money I could have made from a thrid party. But that's not such a bad thing since my brother is going to buy it, but at a huge discount. We just need to find a way to ship it D.C. He can just take over my payments which are miniscule, especially for Brian on his first year lawyer's salary, despite his complaints to the contrary.