Hail the Egyptian Protestors

They did it, those brave Egyptians who started and continued a revolution to remove the corrupt Egyptian president Mubarak.

No one knows what the future will bring for that country where most of its people live in poverty. But anything that pushed out the thief Mubarak (he and his family have taken at least $25 billion to their London house) is good for Egypt.

Now we await other citizens of countries where the leaders are corrupt and are stealing all of its resources to do the same. Think about it, United States. Doesn't that describe this country too?

Porking Out on Energy Subsidies

It's long past time to strip away all energy subsidies and preferences from the budget and the federal tax code. Let renewable energy and energy-efficient technology compete on a level playing field with the fossil fuels industry. The only way to ensure that level playing field is to completely halt the corporate subsidies.

Republicans are no better than Democrats. Bills passed by a Republican-controlled House and a Democrat-controlled Senate are awash in corporate subsidies, tax breaks, and regulatory preferences.

If a technology is economically competitive, no public subsidies are necessary. Conversely, if there's no demand for a technology, no amount of subsidies will make it so. Let's free energy markets instead of rigging them like a crooked boxing match.

The Real Heroes

When Americans are asked to name people they most respect and admire, they typically choose from the political, entertainment and sports worlds. Contemporary favorites might include Hillary, Barack or Sarah -- Oprah, Angelina or Justin -- Lebron, Tiger or Peyton. You won't find a single altruistic thought from one of those familiar names.

A list of people I currently admire includes a few who, unlike those named above, perform courageous deeds for others, sometimes at great risk to themselves: Greenpeace and animal-rights activists; Tunisian and Egyptian demonstrators revolting against oppressive dictatorships; Julian Assange of WikiLeaks and his sources like Pvt. Bradley Manning; and members of groups like Code Pink and Veterans for Peace who fight hard to bring an end to what has become endless foreign wars.

As time passes, there will be other names to add to my list, ordinary people doing ordinary and extraordinary things for others.