Want to really know what's going on in Baghdad?

Check out the blog by Salam Pax (obviously a pseudonym), a surreptitious blogger from within the city.

For other blog perspectives on the war, check out MSNBC's list of blogs. It seems pretty balanced.

I agree with this comment posted on the BBCforum on the war in Iraq:

"May God forgive America for the crimes of its demented rulers."--Dr. Zeljko Cipris, United States

I keep hearing in the news how peace proponents could not possibly understand the complexities of this situation. I point you to the resignation letter of John Brady Kiesling, who was a senior US diplomat with twenty years' service. I think it should be safe to say that Mr Kiesling has a better understanding than most.

I have to admit, I did feel the president set a somber tone last night in his speech, and the start of the war as a very targeted attack rather than some form of blitzkrieg was a little hopeful. But I think that was just due to opportunity. The war in all its fury will bloom soon, I'm sure.

I hope this time they really do "take out" Saddam Hussein. I always felt that the Gulf War should have done so, although I realise the objective at the time was to push Iraq back from Kuwait. And certainly, we helped build up Saddam Hussein, so it's only right that we help "take him down". But I still believe that we should have the rest of the world behind us before we go violating someone else's sovereignty. This cowboy justice thing has a big potential for destablising the world peace effort and sets some very disturbing precedents. I know it's sneakier, but I always rather thought that taking down dictators was one of the things the CIA has traditionally been there for. Maybe that's just as arrogant, but it means a lot less casualties, too, and less innocent blood.

Only time will tell how things will go. But I know one thing--I'm going to look very hard at the votes for and against this war when election time comes, and I really hope we can get another leader in the White House in 2004.

On a lighter note...

Why Stick People Became Extinct

Warning: People with low tolerance for sexual humour (stick genitalia and sexual situations) or on workstations where bosses may not appreciate such may want to skip this one. No actual sticks were harmed in the making of this website, I believe. But it's absolutely hilarious.

Written last night at the bus stop on my Visor...

I watched the news tonight with a sick feeling in my stomach. I do not agree with this war that our president and his supporters seem so hell-bent on. But I also realise that it is inevitable. I thought so from the moment Bush was declared the winner in the election-long before the attacks of September 11th. I only hope that it may be accomplished without the loss of innocent lives. I rather think that is a faint hope--so the people of the Middle East and our soldiers and those of our allies are very much in my thoughts and prayers tonight.

As much as I am against this war (for I do not believe it is a just one, or one that must be fought to avert an imminent threat to my country), I don't agree with those who would protest by disrupting daily life. After all, that seems to be more a tactic that terrorists would approve. I guess I'm more of the candlelight vigil-type peacenik than the sign-waving type. Or maybe the pick-up-the-pieces-do-what-you-can-in-the-aftermath sort. And as a child of the Vietnam Era, I can't support verbal or other attacks on our soldiers, even though we have an all-volunteer military these days. After all, many of them joined up to see if they could get money for school or otherwise better life for themselves and their families. Most gung-ho idiots I've ever known who really wanted to go to war were singularly unsuited for military life and were drummed out or never accepted in the first place.

I did not agree with the Gulf War, but at least in that case Iraq had invaded a neighbouring country; and I was frustrated that to have started everything in motion they didn't "finish" it by removing Hussein. I felt that we (and by we, I mean the UN, rather than the US alone) should have intervened in Bosnia long before we did). I am not a pacifist. I would cheer the Iraqis if they rose up against Saddam Hussein. But I'm not sure the US has a right to go barrelling into another country virtually unilaterally. I mean, how would we feel if someone did that to us? I'm sure we'd cry foul. I hate to see the US government play up world unity and the UN when it suits its purpose, but then pretend that it doesn't have to play by anyone else's rules. And I certainly don't think it's honourable to do so.

So for now, the world waits. I'm still not convinced that it will be quick like the supposed authorities say. Certainly if Iraq uses any type of weapon it wasn't supposed to have a lot of other countries will join in. I can see where the war of worlds and dares and all the buildup can go far before the first bullet is fired. If the intent is to occupy Baghdad, though, it may be another matter. Big countries with lots of power often run afoul of things when they think they can go traipsing into that area (think of Russia in Afghanistan as the most recent example). We have the might, but they have the turf.

I just don't know where this will lead. I'm almost numb with the possibilities--and I'm not even directly affected. I think our world needs a bit of luck and perhaps divine intervention to make it through this new century, though.

Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you like talking on the phone? Why or why not?
Not particularly. I generally sound like an idiot without a script.

2. Who is the last person you talked to on the phone?
A woman who had offered me a job interview. I was cancelling our appointment. (More on that later).

About how many telephones do you have at home?
One. Why bother with more?

Have you encountered anyone who has really bad phone manners? What happened?
Oh, yes. I did telephone survey research for the university for several years. Most people were okay, if sometimes evasive. The worst were people who swore or were generally abusive but never actually said 'no'. They got the earliest/latest/dinner hour callbacks. :)

5. Would you rather pick up the phone and call someone or write them an e-mail or a letter? Why or why not?
It depends on the person. Generally I prefer to e-mail because I express myself better in writing, I can send it easily without procrastinating, and I get to keep a copy. Sometimes, though, I need to hear another voice on the other line. For example, I invariably call my mom when I'm sick because it somehow makes it better. If I'm feeling trapped in the house (say, like during the ice storm), I call people. Otherwise I try to keep things short. Basically, with a couple of exceptions, if I call just to "chat" I'm feeling lonely and maybe anxious. Which is another reason I try not to call too much. Besides, I tend to call people when they're in the middle of having sex. :)

Sometimes the way someone lives outweighs the tragedy of death

A Scottish woman, Bridget Riedl-Laing, on an adventure from Canada down through South America has drowned in Peru. She saved all three of her children before being swept away. She and her Austrian husband kept an online diary of their trip. (Some of the entries are in English, some in German. There are wonderful pictures. Oh, and the most recent dates should read '2003'.)

I have to admire the spirit of taking such a remarkable trip. So far they seemed to have had a pretty wonderful adventure, aside from her breaking her arm in the van door back in December. Most people would never actually follow such a dream. I'm sure there are some who would pooh-pooh taking small children on such a long trip, but I think it was a wonderful opportunity. Unfortunately, now it will be marred by a mother's death.

My heart goes out to the family.

Sometimes news CAN be good :)

Teen Elizabeth Smart is back home with her family nearly nine months after being taken from her bedroom.

And lo, if you want an answer, ask a librarian...

Our solo librarian list was discussing British terminology (namely the difference between 'roundabouts' and 'traffic gyratory systems') so I chimed in finally with my question on green goddesses. (At some point I mentioned on this blog that I had found a reference to "red engines and green goddesses". Well, this article does a very nice job of explaining what a green goddess is, and how it compares to the modern fire engine. Nice to know that my normally Angloscient brain was failing me partly because not only have I not lived in Britain, they're mostly before my time as well. Enjoy!

A different type of "Quiz Monday"

Check out these. The first is, of course, tongue-in-cheek, an opinion page column. The second is a quiz posted by Community for Peace. I don't know much about this group (and yes, everyone has an agenda) but it's thought-provoking. Finally, here's a good general-don't-you-think-we-should-know-more-about-the-country-we're-talking-about-blowing-to-smithereens quiz as a chaser. Maybe our leaders need to read these.

So, what did I actually do this weekend?

Well, I did do laundry. And rather than playing Scrabble Zabet, her Hubby, and I went out to Krishna's (an Indian restaurant, obviously) and then sat around and talked most of the evening, which was nice. I'd never been to Krishna's, and it was very yummy. I brought home plenty of food for lunch tomorrow. I especially liked the naan I got with nuts, raisins, and coconut stuffed inside.

Saturday was BEAUTIFUL. Breezy, warm (60s!), and sunny--very spring-like. I flung all the windows open. Later, I went visiting some other friends. Then I went to pay a bill and realised that I did not have my ATM card with me. Turns out it wound up in Zabet's dryer and had gone through two cycles. They brought it over today. Fortunately, it still works, which is amazing, especially given the fact that I seem to demagnetise the things all the time.

Today we didn't have the game after all. I didn't clean the bathroom (but then, it's basically okay--just a few toothpaste spatters), but I did some dusting and a load of dishes. It started out very cloudy and was much colder, but at least the sun did come out. The cats kept trying to pile up in the sunbeams and at one point the sun hit a line of little mirrors I have on a suncatcher and Spock went wild (he plays with flashlights, too). Then they all piled on me while I took a nap on the couch, since the sun had settled about where I was sleeping.

I went over to Walgreen's tonight (after using the prodigal bank card) and got some peanut butter and Diet Pepsi. I couldn't resist getting a kite that looks like a monarch butterfly. I am SO ready for spring. Tomorrow's still supposed to be cold, but then Tuesday it goes back into the 50s (yea!)

I'm reading Patricia Cornwell's Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper--Case Closed, in which she asserts and presents a rather impressive amount of evidence that Jack the Ripper was an English artist named Walter Richard Sickert. I must admit, I was not convinced when I watched a news programme devoted to it some time ago. But in print, the evidence is quite convincing. Cornwell believes that Sickert was a sociopath who had issues due to a series of medical procedures to fix a fistula of the penis which quite probably mutilated him and left him incapable of errection.

I have to admit, one of the reasons it's an uncomfortable read for me is that in terms of psychology Sickert reminds me very much of someone I was with a long time ago. Oh, I'm not saying he's up there with a Jack the Ripper, but I've often wondered if he really has any form of conscience or real emotions--most everything he did or said was a matter of manipulation. He could be very charming, but...well, so could Ted Bundy. And I was extremely naive and wanted someone to love me, so I let myself fall into the trap, whereas a person more self-esteem would have dismissed him as a childish coward. I know some things about his childhood that I'm sure most others have no idea about. As a child he met two of the three "warning signs" of a future serial killer--enuresis (bedwetting) and mutilation of animals (he once confessed cutting off the genitalia of a dead dog to me)--as far as I know, he never set fires. Certainly with the amount of cruising that he did, often out all night, one sort of wonders, in retrospect. But I don't know anything for sure. I can't imagine him being violent with a stranger, anyway. His modus operandi was always a form of emotional abuse and manipulation. I'm no expert in psychology, but I can read the DSM-IV. I really have come to think he was a borderline too (not a good combination given my own diagnosis), and maybe narcissistic. I can only hope that in the years since I left he's gotten some help--but I'm glad it's not my problem anymore.

Anyway, the Cornwell book is quite good. If you have any interest in the subject, I highly recommend it.