Fahrenheit 9-11 opened the other day (notice I didn’t link to it - on purpose).
While advertised as a documentary, I’ve seen it called in many quarters more of an oped-entary since it is less based in fact and more the opinion of it’s autuer.
I liked Bowling for Columbine and also really liked Roger and Me but, Michael Moore is a man of double standards, the ones he applies to himself and another set for himself (truthfully, I wouldn’t mind seeing someone point their lens Moore’s way and see how he fares under the scrutiny).
Which brings me to my true topic: Americans believe we went to war in Iraq in spring of 2003.
Unfortunately, the truth is we’ve been at war for over ten years. Ever since the first Gulf War, Americans have been involved in one way or another in military action in Iraq.
Americans have been flying patrols, launching cruise missiles and basically making the people of Iraq pay for our mistakes since the first Gulf War.
During his first term, Clinton had been challenged by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on a number of occasions. In June 1993, following an abortive Iraqi attempt to assassinate former U.S. President George Bush during a visit to Kuwait, the U.S. bombed an intelligence center in Baghdad. In October 1994, Saddam Hussein moved his army toward Kuwait and the U.S. responded by airlifting military forces to Kuwait and warning Iraq not to invade, a threat that achieved its purpose. The U.S. was less successful in August 1996, however, when Iraqi troops, in cooperation with the KDP (the Masud Barzani faction of the Kurdish opposition), attacked the rival PUK faction of Jallal Talabani which had been aided by Iran, and drove it from Irbil, thus severely damaging U.S. efforts to force a united opposition against the Iraqi regime. The U.S. responded by expanding its “no-fly” zone in southern Iraq to the 33rd parallel, and by bombarding Iraqi air defense installations. France, which had hitherto cooperated with the U.S. in maintaining the “no-fly” zone, did not cooperate in the newly extended part of the zone. Furthermore, the Arab world viewed the limited U.S. cruise missile attacks as worse than useless, stirring up Arab popular anger while not threatening the bases of Saddam Hussein’s power.
How can this be? Where was everyone when all this was going on? Were we asleep? I seem to remember these events, does anyone else?
The “No-Fly Zone War” pitted the air and naval forces of the United States and the United Kingdom (also referred to as “Great Britain”), against the air defenses of Iraq. This conflict proved to be largely ignored by the media and the public in both the U.S. and in the U.K., though it impacted the military and the citizens of Iraq on an almost weekly basis, especially since the intense “Desert Fox” bombing campaign of 1998.
Mmmmmm... I’m trying to remember who our president was?
Let me see... mmmmmm.
You see, the point I’m trying to make is for all the demonstrations in this country prior to the actual invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, no one seemed to want to cotton to what our country had been doing for the last ten years. We probably should have done more to support the Shia and Kurdish uprising after the first Gulf War but, GW’s father (and the pundits at the time) were too afraid of the destabilizing effect it would have had on the region.
Now, I’ve been making my way though the Woodword book and I don’t like the administration’s linkage (or lack thereof) to Al Qeada as a justification for the invasion but, I do think in some ways it might not have been such a bad thing to do what we did.
Don’t necessarily take my word for it though, I came across this blog (via Salam Pax’s blog) by an Iraqi doctor which speaks far more eloquently to the situation than I can.
...These are the same people that continue to pour in from the borders of our ‘friendly neighbours’ to wage their 7th century Jihad on Iraqi soil, they are the same people that pack vehicles with tons of explosives to relieve thousands of Iraqis of their existence, they are -I believe- the same people who continue to assassinate hundreds of Iraqi professionals and ‘collaborators,’ they are the same people that run the Taliban style Emirate of Fallujah, they are the same people who the Arab media insists are heroic ‘resistance fighters.’ Yet all we hear after such grisly scenes is... (croak)... (croak)... a maddening silence, and then a few obligatory half hearted ‘This is not the real Islam, you know,’ ‘Noooo, it’s really a religion of peace, you don’t understand.’ However, I don’t think people are buying these lines any more.
What the media fails to realise, is that the logic of these groups can actually be turned against them. They claim they are here to drive the foreigners who have been killing Iraqis out of Iraq. Ironically, those Mujahideen are also foreigners who have been slaughtering thousands of Iraqis over the last year. I’m not sure we are going to see any of them beheaded on tv though.
Jun 24, 2004
Jun 23, 2004
Jun 22, 2004
So, I’m one of many undecided voters for the upcoming presidential election...
I can boast (thankfully) I don’t suffer from the ignominy of having voted for our current chief executive but simultaneously, I don’t buy into the vitriolic statements of many of his opponents:
Too often, I find the people screaming the loudest at GW’s shortcomings are the very same people who turned a blind eye to the indiscretions and failures of our previous president (and many they were indeed).
I’d like to make a decision based more on arguments made in a calm, well-reasoned fashion. One of the things I think the opposition could take our current president to task on is the hypocrisy of the following:
Dear Vince:
While the president of the United States is never completely on vacation, most commanders-in-chief manage to enjoy a respite from the daily grind during their stay the White House. George W. Bush seems to have taken this to the extreme early in his tenure as president. A humorous, fake resume for Bush suggests that he set the record for most days on vacation by any president in U.S. history — a bit of an exaggeration, but still cause for some teasing.
As opposed to:
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says about 20,000 U.S. troops will stay in Iraq three months longer than had been expected. The Pentagon says the soldiers — a quarter of whom serve in National Guard and military reserve units — are needed to cope with renewed fighting in Iraq. The troops had been told they would return home this month, part of a Pentagon promise that Iraq duty would be for 12 months only. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports.
Seems to me if a president is going to send troops into harms’ way and then extend their time of service in a war zone, the least he could do is forego his own vacation while they’re over there. Show some kind of acknowledgment and reciprocity for their (the troops) sacrifice.
I can boast (thankfully) I don’t suffer from the ignominy of having voted for our current chief executive but simultaneously, I don’t buy into the vitriolic statements of many of his opponents:
Too often, I find the people screaming the loudest at GW’s shortcomings are the very same people who turned a blind eye to the indiscretions and failures of our previous president (and many they were indeed).
I’d like to make a decision based more on arguments made in a calm, well-reasoned fashion. One of the things I think the opposition could take our current president to task on is the hypocrisy of the following:
Dear Vince:
While the president of the United States is never completely on vacation, most commanders-in-chief manage to enjoy a respite from the daily grind during their stay the White House. George W. Bush seems to have taken this to the extreme early in his tenure as president. A humorous, fake resume for Bush suggests that he set the record for most days on vacation by any president in U.S. history — a bit of an exaggeration, but still cause for some teasing.
As opposed to:
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says about 20,000 U.S. troops will stay in Iraq three months longer than had been expected. The Pentagon says the soldiers — a quarter of whom serve in National Guard and military reserve units — are needed to cope with renewed fighting in Iraq. The troops had been told they would return home this month, part of a Pentagon promise that Iraq duty would be for 12 months only. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports.
Seems to me if a president is going to send troops into harms’ way and then extend their time of service in a war zone, the least he could do is forego his own vacation while they’re over there. Show some kind of acknowledgment and reciprocity for their (the troops) sacrifice.
Jun 20, 2004
File under chickens coming home to roost.
The dozen militants who were arrested elsewhere during the sweeps in Riyadh included Rakan Saikhan, one of the Saudi government’s 26 most wanted terrorist suspects and an alleged conspirator in the attack on the Cole, a Saudi security source said. The Interior Ministry said police also confiscated large caches of weapons, including three rocket grenade launchers, computers and $30,000 in cash.
“Over the course of the last year, Saudi Arabia has taken a number of really important steps,” Snow said. “I am convinced they’re deeply committed and sincere about this effort.”
He said the Saudis are cooperating with U.S. experts “to make sure Saudi Arabia is not a source of terrorist money, that Saudi Arabia takes all the steps they can to close off those flows.”
Snow’s comments appeared to be somewhat at odds with those of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who praised Saudi Arabia for cracking down on Muslim militants but said the kingdom can do more to stop the flow of charitable money to terror groups.
“I do think that even greater pressure can be put on Saudi and Saudi officials to go after the financing mechanisms, the support of charities both there and around the world that may be funding some terrorist activity,” Frist, R-Tenn., said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Excuse me if I fail to shed tears or leap in elation over this sudden change of heart on the part of the Saudis.
The Saudis have been good over the last decade at playing both sides against the middle - presenting a face of moderation to the west and at the same time funding Wahabbism, turning a blind eye to the fundamentalist movement within their own borders and vilifying the west to their own people.
Our own hands are not free of blood when it comes to the formation of groups like Al-Qeada (referred to during the Reagan administration as the heroic freedom fighters in Afghanistan) but, before we wring our hands over the abuses of prisoners in an Iraqi prison let’s take a look at the governments and societies in the region who are only to happy to take money for oil simultaneously blaming the people giving them money for the problems in their own societies they fail to address. Also of note is the due process exercised on the part of the Saudi authorities (no messy trials here). Wonder if that will get up the moral indignation of the Arab world on the next broadcast of Al Jazerra?
Saudi Arabia told al Qaeda militants on Sunday it would not allow them to destabilize the kingdom and warned they would share the fate of their slain leader unless they repented.
Undeterred by the death of Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, the leader of al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, the group vowed renewed “holy war” in the country.
The dozen militants who were arrested elsewhere during the sweeps in Riyadh included Rakan Saikhan, one of the Saudi government’s 26 most wanted terrorist suspects and an alleged conspirator in the attack on the Cole, a Saudi security source said. The Interior Ministry said police also confiscated large caches of weapons, including three rocket grenade launchers, computers and $30,000 in cash.
“Over the course of the last year, Saudi Arabia has taken a number of really important steps,” Snow said. “I am convinced they’re deeply committed and sincere about this effort.”
He said the Saudis are cooperating with U.S. experts “to make sure Saudi Arabia is not a source of terrorist money, that Saudi Arabia takes all the steps they can to close off those flows.”
Snow’s comments appeared to be somewhat at odds with those of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who praised Saudi Arabia for cracking down on Muslim militants but said the kingdom can do more to stop the flow of charitable money to terror groups.
“I do think that even greater pressure can be put on Saudi and Saudi officials to go after the financing mechanisms, the support of charities both there and around the world that may be funding some terrorist activity,” Frist, R-Tenn., said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Excuse me if I fail to shed tears or leap in elation over this sudden change of heart on the part of the Saudis.
The Saudis have been good over the last decade at playing both sides against the middle - presenting a face of moderation to the west and at the same time funding Wahabbism, turning a blind eye to the fundamentalist movement within their own borders and vilifying the west to their own people.
Our own hands are not free of blood when it comes to the formation of groups like Al-Qeada (referred to during the Reagan administration as the heroic freedom fighters in Afghanistan) but, before we wring our hands over the abuses of prisoners in an Iraqi prison let’s take a look at the governments and societies in the region who are only to happy to take money for oil simultaneously blaming the people giving them money for the problems in their own societies they fail to address. Also of note is the due process exercised on the part of the Saudi authorities (no messy trials here). Wonder if that will get up the moral indignation of the Arab world on the next broadcast of Al Jazerra?
Saudi Arabia told al Qaeda militants on Sunday it would not allow them to destabilize the kingdom and warned they would share the fate of their slain leader unless they repented.
Undeterred by the death of Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, the leader of al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, the group vowed renewed “holy war” in the country.
Jun 19, 2004
So there’s this strange dichotomy going on:
On the one hand, I do the whole blog thing because it’s something to get the ’ole muscles exercised in the hopes one day, I‘ll be able to write something a little meatier (the blog being the training - laps if you will - before the marathon - a book if possible).
It’s not something so much produced for an audience, as much as a means to an end.
There’s also the guilty catholic aspect which views any ostentatious or prideful display as vulgar and shameful (man, that whole Catholic thing can take a lot of the fun out of life, I tell you).
Yet, I find myself surprised when I do hear someone actually reads this thing!
Surprised and pleased both for I can’t possibly imagine anything I produce being entertaining or interesting. Too many years of being beaten into the ground growing up I imagine - I know other people have gone through it but it’s one of those learned behaviors it takes years of therapy (and many dollars to break) and I’m a cheapskate so I’ll just have to suffer through it.
Anyway, I think I may have an audience of about a half dozen or so and to the select few I thank you for your kind indulgence. And of course, I do get a charge finding out people do read.
On the one hand, I do the whole blog thing because it’s something to get the ’ole muscles exercised in the hopes one day, I‘ll be able to write something a little meatier (the blog being the training - laps if you will - before the marathon - a book if possible).
It’s not something so much produced for an audience, as much as a means to an end.
There’s also the guilty catholic aspect which views any ostentatious or prideful display as vulgar and shameful (man, that whole Catholic thing can take a lot of the fun out of life, I tell you).
Yet, I find myself surprised when I do hear someone actually reads this thing!
Surprised and pleased both for I can’t possibly imagine anything I produce being entertaining or interesting. Too many years of being beaten into the ground growing up I imagine - I know other people have gone through it but it’s one of those learned behaviors it takes years of therapy (and many dollars to break) and I’m a cheapskate so I’ll just have to suffer through it.
Anyway, I think I may have an audience of about a half dozen or so and to the select few I thank you for your kind indulgence. And of course, I do get a charge finding out people do read.
Jun 18, 2004
I usually have the TV on while I’m working. It just provides background clutter to offset the ringing in the ears. When commercials come on I normally zone out on them not paying them any heed.
Men who experience an erection for more than four hours should seek immediate medical attention.
Yet, when I hear a line like the one above, I can’t help but think about all the rather humorous implications such a statement elicits.
It’s shouldn’t be surprising in a society where boob jobs are given as graduation gifts, men want equal time for their own drugs.
I just can’t help but think though if something like the statement above happened you’d be able to break cinder blocks or something.
(If you click on the link and check out the website, dig the smiling happy couple...)
Men who experience an erection for more than four hours should seek immediate medical attention.
Yet, when I hear a line like the one above, I can’t help but think about all the rather humorous implications such a statement elicits.
It’s shouldn’t be surprising in a society where boob jobs are given as graduation gifts, men want equal time for their own drugs.
I just can’t help but think though if something like the statement above happened you’d be able to break cinder blocks or something.
(If you click on the link and check out the website, dig the smiling happy couple...)
Jun 16, 2004
Courtesy of the Lying in the Gutters column on Comic Book Resources dotcom
Jun 11, 2004
Just another quick note while I have the presence of mind:
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar.
Reagan was a President, not an emperor (even though the media would have you think otherwise with the wall to wall coverage of his passing). When his death was announced late Saturday afternoon, the commentators pointedly remarked on two events during his term in office.
First, was the assassination attempt on the President’s life by John Hinckly.
Second, was his handling of the air traffic controllers strike by firing most of the air traffic controllers.
One gave us the Brady Bill, an attempt by the federal government to put the genie back in the bottle where handguns were concerned and the other put back the cause of labor in this country to a point where it had been at the turn of the century and managed to erase most of the gains made by the organized labor movement.
So, there was good and bad. There were a lot of scandals during the Reagan years (which people are forgetting) but, it is true Reagan was a force that changed the world.
In the end, he was just a man. Flawed and as human as any of us.
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar.
Reagan was a President, not an emperor (even though the media would have you think otherwise with the wall to wall coverage of his passing). When his death was announced late Saturday afternoon, the commentators pointedly remarked on two events during his term in office.
First, was the assassination attempt on the President’s life by John Hinckly.
Second, was his handling of the air traffic controllers strike by firing most of the air traffic controllers.
One gave us the Brady Bill, an attempt by the federal government to put the genie back in the bottle where handguns were concerned and the other put back the cause of labor in this country to a point where it had been at the turn of the century and managed to erase most of the gains made by the organized labor movement.
So, there was good and bad. There were a lot of scandals during the Reagan years (which people are forgetting) but, it is true Reagan was a force that changed the world.
In the end, he was just a man. Flawed and as human as any of us.
No news is good news.
I’ve been offline for four days. Sunday afternoon I broke down the old machine and shortly afterward found I couldn’t get the laptop to log on for some reason.
The upshot was I was offline from Sunday afternoon through this past afternoon.
Truth be told, it was probably one of the best things I could do. This week was eventful in what got done. I never get as much done as I would like but, a lot more got done without me wasting hours surfing aimlessly.
I think if I can cut this and TV viewing life will be much, much better - just another move forward into a productive phase (I hope).
So, if you send an email and don’t get an immediate response, don’t be upset or shocked.
Also, when I finally did log on again there were 64 emails. Out of the 64, 37 were spam or just a shade under 58%. Obviously, I have to do something about that.
I’ve been offline for four days. Sunday afternoon I broke down the old machine and shortly afterward found I couldn’t get the laptop to log on for some reason.
The upshot was I was offline from Sunday afternoon through this past afternoon.
Truth be told, it was probably one of the best things I could do. This week was eventful in what got done. I never get as much done as I would like but, a lot more got done without me wasting hours surfing aimlessly.
I think if I can cut this and TV viewing life will be much, much better - just another move forward into a productive phase (I hope).
So, if you send an email and don’t get an immediate response, don’t be upset or shocked.
Also, when I finally did log on again there were 64 emails. Out of the 64, 37 were spam or just a shade under 58%. Obviously, I have to do something about that.
Jun 3, 2004
File this under one of those things most people don't know about:
Pepsi Picnic Area
Every Wednesday home game, the first 1,000 fans to arrive at Shea with an empty Pepsi can or bottle will be admitted to the Pepsi Picnic Area for free.
So, on those nice summer evenings when you have a day off and are looking for something cheap to do you can actually get in to see the Mets for free if you get out there early enough (or close enough to free if you bring along a can of Pepsi).
Pepsi Picnic Area
Every Wednesday home game, the first 1,000 fans to arrive at Shea with an empty Pepsi can or bottle will be admitted to the Pepsi Picnic Area for free.
So, on those nice summer evenings when you have a day off and are looking for something cheap to do you can actually get in to see the Mets for free if you get out there early enough (or close enough to free if you bring along a can of Pepsi).
Jun 2, 2004
In the parallel blog universe there but for the grace of an underscore go I:
Where you will go if you type http://writingwrong.blogspot.com forgetting the underscore in http://writing_wrong.blogspot.com/
Where you will go if you type http://writingwrong.blogspot.com forgetting the underscore in http://writing_wrong.blogspot.com/
I haven’t posted any overtly political snippets lately (at least not in my mind although undoubtedly someone will point out something to me).
Anyway, blog sensei had posted how her preference would be to vote on issues instead of voting on personalities as we now do: I wish we had a political system that let us vote on the issues, not on one person who is supposed to embody everything we believe in, from our taste in music to our position on alternative energy or universal health care.
The more I thought about it, the more I found myself in agreement.
Then, I was thinking about the upcoming political conventions, are these things really necessary anymore? Aren’t they just an excuse to spend money which could be put to much better use for all of this country’s citizens?
Political nominating conventions had more relevance in a day and age where there were only a few television channels and people traveled mostly by train.
Today though, we have four or five cable news channels, C-Span 1 and 2, a couple of public TV channels and the old standby broadcast news outlets. This plus newspapers, national news magazine, the internet and of course a slew of radio stations.
The primary process has undergone a radical change over the last decade, by the time the convention rolls around the candidates for the two major parties have been decided? Is there some surprise in who is going to be nominated at this point - I think not. So, why have these big conventions? I mean at one time their purpose was to get a party’s message out and at this point in time, if you’re a person who is going to make the investment of time and watch the conventions, chances are more than likely you’re pretty well-informed to begin with and have been following the campaign for the last 12 months.
Anyway, blog sensei had posted how her preference would be to vote on issues instead of voting on personalities as we now do: I wish we had a political system that let us vote on the issues, not on one person who is supposed to embody everything we believe in, from our taste in music to our position on alternative energy or universal health care.
The more I thought about it, the more I found myself in agreement.
Then, I was thinking about the upcoming political conventions, are these things really necessary anymore? Aren’t they just an excuse to spend money which could be put to much better use for all of this country’s citizens?
Political nominating conventions had more relevance in a day and age where there were only a few television channels and people traveled mostly by train.
Today though, we have four or five cable news channels, C-Span 1 and 2, a couple of public TV channels and the old standby broadcast news outlets. This plus newspapers, national news magazine, the internet and of course a slew of radio stations.
The primary process has undergone a radical change over the last decade, by the time the convention rolls around the candidates for the two major parties have been decided? Is there some surprise in who is going to be nominated at this point - I think not. So, why have these big conventions? I mean at one time their purpose was to get a party’s message out and at this point in time, if you’re a person who is going to make the investment of time and watch the conventions, chances are more than likely you’re pretty well-informed to begin with and have been following the campaign for the last 12 months.
May 31, 2004
The banker and father of one takes a sip of his beer and stares at my breasts.
“I bet you get amorous when you're drunk. I'd like to see that.”
Yesterday’s Post had a disturbing article. The writer placed an ad up on Craig’s List posing as a married woman seeking a married man to have an affair with.
The article probably confirmed a lot of women’s poor opinion of my gender. Hell, I can’t say I didn’t find it sleazy myself.
While I could understand the motivation (of the men), it just struck me as very sad.
There is this great ‘gender divide’ in how men and women come at relationships. I’m not excusing cheating, but some people are put together one way and some people are put together another.
Among my friends I’ve known serial cheaters and I’ve also known loyally devoted husbands.
Coming off my own seven year hitch, I always felt it was more of a bother than anything else. The other thing I thought was, if you do it (cheat) it tells you a lot about your relationship (and probably how you shouldn’t be in it).
There are always going to be moments when any man (or woman) is tempted, it’s easier to cheat, the tough thing is sticking it out with someone and making things work. Then again, it took me a bit of time to arrive at that wisdom.
“I bet you get amorous when you're drunk. I'd like to see that.”
Yesterday’s Post had a disturbing article. The writer placed an ad up on Craig’s List posing as a married woman seeking a married man to have an affair with.
The article probably confirmed a lot of women’s poor opinion of my gender. Hell, I can’t say I didn’t find it sleazy myself.
While I could understand the motivation (of the men), it just struck me as very sad.
There is this great ‘gender divide’ in how men and women come at relationships. I’m not excusing cheating, but some people are put together one way and some people are put together another.
Among my friends I’ve known serial cheaters and I’ve also known loyally devoted husbands.
Coming off my own seven year hitch, I always felt it was more of a bother than anything else. The other thing I thought was, if you do it (cheat) it tells you a lot about your relationship (and probably how you shouldn’t be in it).
There are always going to be moments when any man (or woman) is tempted, it’s easier to cheat, the tough thing is sticking it out with someone and making things work. Then again, it took me a bit of time to arrive at that wisdom.
May 28, 2004
Days rocket past so rapidly. I haven't been paying attention to the news because of the headlines in my own life. I am happy that the Mets finally made it to the .500 mark and still manage to catch a game every now and again.
In the meantime, I have been doing all those things I manage to put off. I make a list a couple of days out and see how many things I can cross off of it.
I’m not always as successful as I would like but it seems I get much more accomplished than I would have it things weren’t written down.
In the meantime, I have been doing all those things I manage to put off. I make a list a couple of days out and see how many things I can cross off of it.
I’m not always as successful as I would like but it seems I get much more accomplished than I would have it things weren’t written down.
May 26, 2004
Wahhhhh, wahhhh, wahhhhh - this is me crying and being depressed, just not pretty.
So, today (and over the last several days) I found myself in confronted by a situation to really get upset about. I know I had my moments too.
Fortunately, I think I am getting a little bit wiser as I get older (not much, just a modicum mind you).
Rather than indulge myself in the obsession over something bad and spiraling into a good, deep depression - I stopped.
Usually there’s this period when I’m angry or depressed about something (fill in the blank with the negative emotion). It doesn’t do a lot of good feeling crappy, it just colors the day making it that much harder to get through it.
Now today, I tried something different, I stopped and thought how feeling that way doesn’t do me a whole lot of good. I still feel a little crappy but, when I come out the other side (from whatever crappy emotion it is), I feel a lot better when I start moving into a productive direction again.
So, I was thinking, maybe I might just want to skip over the crappy, obsessive, depressed part and get to the better spot and believe me when I say that’s a great deal of progress for me indeed..
So, today (and over the last several days) I found myself in confronted by a situation to really get upset about. I know I had my moments too.
Fortunately, I think I am getting a little bit wiser as I get older (not much, just a modicum mind you).
Rather than indulge myself in the obsession over something bad and spiraling into a good, deep depression - I stopped.
Usually there’s this period when I’m angry or depressed about something (fill in the blank with the negative emotion). It doesn’t do a lot of good feeling crappy, it just colors the day making it that much harder to get through it.
Now today, I tried something different, I stopped and thought how feeling that way doesn’t do me a whole lot of good. I still feel a little crappy but, when I come out the other side (from whatever crappy emotion it is), I feel a lot better when I start moving into a productive direction again.
So, I was thinking, maybe I might just want to skip over the crappy, obsessive, depressed part and get to the better spot and believe me when I say that’s a great deal of progress for me indeed..
May 21, 2004
As much as the whole Iraq thing gets painted in a negative light, I think some of the most interesting comments on it can be found on Salaam Pax‘s blog which got a lot of press leading up to the war.
Surprising how it isn’t getting as much notice now?
Moderates who want Americans around long enough to establish a stable, democratic government tend to get drowned out by the more extreme views on either side of the spectrum.
In a perfect world, things would be easy enough as asking someone to join in the spirit of partnership but then the world is a far from perfect place.
So, I find myself in agreement - I don’t cotton to a lot of the posturing that lead up to the war but, the genie is out of the bottle now and foreign policy works best when it isn’t built around public opinion polls.
Anyway, all that doesn’t matter now. Saddam is gone, thanks to you. Was it worth it? Be assured it was. We all know that it got to a point where we would have never been rid of Saddam without foreign intervention; I just wish it would have been a bit better planned. Does this mean that I will be wearing a (I [heart] Bush) t-shirt? NO, because I don’t believe there is any altruism in politics and the way he sees the world scares me.
What I do really and sincerely hope for is that the day you and other soldiers and US civilians here don’t have to stay behind those high concrete walls isn’t too far away; and that you feel safe walking in the streets without those hard and heavy flak jackets, so that we can sit and talk about these things in a Karrada Street tea shop.
There are many challenges Iraqis have to face now, so please stick around a bit longer and try helping us get thru them. One of the more serious challenges is the fact that Iraq has become a sort of an open playground for many political and religious factions who are using Iraq as a fighting ground. So there you have it [Mr. Somewhere-in-the-north-of-Iraq], and by the way you never told me whether you had a blog or not.
Surprising how it isn’t getting as much notice now?
Moderates who want Americans around long enough to establish a stable, democratic government tend to get drowned out by the more extreme views on either side of the spectrum.
In a perfect world, things would be easy enough as asking someone to join in the spirit of partnership but then the world is a far from perfect place.
So, I find myself in agreement - I don’t cotton to a lot of the posturing that lead up to the war but, the genie is out of the bottle now and foreign policy works best when it isn’t built around public opinion polls.
Anyway, all that doesn’t matter now. Saddam is gone, thanks to you. Was it worth it? Be assured it was. We all know that it got to a point where we would have never been rid of Saddam without foreign intervention; I just wish it would have been a bit better planned. Does this mean that I will be wearing a (I [heart] Bush) t-shirt? NO, because I don’t believe there is any altruism in politics and the way he sees the world scares me.
What I do really and sincerely hope for is that the day you and other soldiers and US civilians here don’t have to stay behind those high concrete walls isn’t too far away; and that you feel safe walking in the streets without those hard and heavy flak jackets, so that we can sit and talk about these things in a Karrada Street tea shop.
There are many challenges Iraqis have to face now, so please stick around a bit longer and try helping us get thru them. One of the more serious challenges is the fact that Iraq has become a sort of an open playground for many political and religious factions who are using Iraq as a fighting ground. So there you have it [Mr. Somewhere-in-the-north-of-Iraq], and by the way you never told me whether you had a blog or not.
May 15, 2004
I was flipping channels last night and came across some Elliott Gould movie - it was odd since I thought I knew most of his movies (child of the 70s). He was behind the wheel of some sabotaged car, it was a really badly done sequence.
It was then I realized I was watching Capricorn One. Notable for being one of the few dramatic roles OJ Simpson has played besides murder defendant - it also has the distinction of being one of being so horribly bad it managed to put me to sleep when I went to see it during it’s original run.
I remember going to see it with my friend Don before he left for California - we had gone to a drive-in (when they still had those - Drive-ins were great in that you could actually get smashed watching a movie - a big thing when you’re a teenager but, the thought of which gives me shivers to think of now).
It was also during the showing of Capricorn One I was alerted to the fact that I sleep drive (and also talk in my sleep), which managed to freak my friend out no small amount as he thought I was awake and watching the film.
Capricorn One ranks right up there on my list with other such classics as My Dinner with André and Daredevil. Two other films which I managed a good nap during..
It was then I realized I was watching Capricorn One. Notable for being one of the few dramatic roles OJ Simpson has played besides murder defendant - it also has the distinction of being one of being so horribly bad it managed to put me to sleep when I went to see it during it’s original run.
I remember going to see it with my friend Don before he left for California - we had gone to a drive-in (when they still had those - Drive-ins were great in that you could actually get smashed watching a movie - a big thing when you’re a teenager but, the thought of which gives me shivers to think of now).
It was also during the showing of Capricorn One I was alerted to the fact that I sleep drive (and also talk in my sleep), which managed to freak my friend out no small amount as he thought I was awake and watching the film.
Capricorn One ranks right up there on my list with other such classics as My Dinner with André and Daredevil. Two other films which I managed a good nap during..
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