Saturday, August 12, 2006

Now what?

The Iraqi government has decided to shut down a splinter group of Kurds in northern Iraq? Now, does the US get involved in that? Or do we simply supply troops in the southern areas to free up the Iraqi forces to move against these Kurds? Stay tuned.

If you're a fan of James Taylor

You might--you will--enjoy this fella; and if you do--you will--you might check out his website, which you can link to from the YouTube site.

Friday, August 11, 2006

Sometimes I wonder...

Am I so far ahead of the reality curve that when I read observations like this--that bin Laden and Bush have a symbiotic relationship--I react with a "well, duh" and am amazed that it's not apparent to lefty pundits, even if it's not apparent to the great unwashed. I've blogged about this regularly, for months, and only now does it get expression in a major post? Maybe it's just that the author, Parry, pieced together a bunch of incidents whereas my observations arose as the facts did, one obvious episode at a time.

Point is: These two despots need each other, feed each other. Even the Israelis' incursion into Lebanon, our "proxy war," could not have started without sanction from Washington, and (except for the excesses of the Israelis, perhaps) benefits Bush and, of course, bin Laden and terrorists everywhere. But you see?: Even by stirring up the Middle East as Bush has, he benefits. True, his approval numbers are in decline, but he doesn't care. All he wants to do is to help his party carry the midterm elections so he can avoid Congressional investigations/impeachment hearings and serve out his final two years in peace.

Looks like he's gonna get his wish, I might add. Bin Laden will see to it.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Compassionate conservatives?

Have they lost their minds?

"Congress appears ready to slash funding for the research and treatment of brain injuries caused by bomb blasts, an injury that military scientists describe as a signature wound of the Iraq war."

What a crock

Here's our military's response to al-Maliki's expression of outrage over the attack in Sadr city. Disgustly transparent bullshit. (I know, I know. Mixed metaphor or something.)

Monday, August 07, 2006

Whaddya know!

An insightful piece about Iraq's present situation (in particular, the unspoken standoff and conundrum facing al-Sadr and the US) written by an MSM writer, a longtime reporter for AP. I actually learned something about Iraq today, besides body counts and press releases.

Morgue humor or grim reality?

How to tell a Shiite corpse from a Sunni corpse.

"Some of the bodies are impossible to identify," Dr Falih Hassan said at the morgue. "But we can tell the victim's religion: if they have been beheaded they are Shia, if they have been killed by an electric drill or hammer blows to the face they are Sunni."

For the fighters roaming Baghdad, the logic is simple. Hassan Alami, 25, a Shiite from Sadr City, said the holes drilled in the Sunni heads were to "destroy their stupid minds". The Sunnis are said to behead their victims because this was how Muhammad dealt with apostates.

The source of these quotes, and more of the appalling article, are here, but the link that's supplied doesn't work.

Am I alone in this?

I've been following the MSM reports on the Israel/Lebanon horror, and reading the blogs and Internet news sources too, and I've not yet seen this observation: That the US policy, announced by Condi Rice, to turn to the UN for solution (a process that will mean debate and delay), is the height of cynicism; that in view of Bush/Cheney's disdain for that body when it gets in their way, their intention to depend on it now is simply a way to pass the buck and pass the time while allowing Israel to accomplish its (and the U.S.'s) military aims in the region, namely, to kill as many anti-Israeli-occupation Arabs as possible.

I'll let you know if I find some similar expression in the media, but it's possible it's so obvious that it goes unsaid.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Caprice

How else to explain the death at age 51 of leukemia of this amazing physical specimen? Or the survival of Lance Armstrong of testicular cancer, and his winning of multiple Tours de France thereafter. There's no evident meaning or rules for all of this, and if not evident, then the belief that there's meaning or rules is either (a) dependent on faith of some kind, or (b)false.

No wonder religion's so popular. It's hard to live a life that acknowledges that there are no rules or meanings. Damn hard. But to leap to faith?

I guess you gotta be there, but never having had such faith I don't know what that feels like. Is it pleasant? Is it soothing? Doesn't it ever feel silly?