See the identity card to the left? It used to belong to fifteen-year-old Abeer Qasim Hamza- an Iraqi girl who lived in Mahmoudiya. Every day, she had to pass through a checkpoint, manned by American troops. She was always scared of them- she told her mother about how these strange american soldiers were making inappropriate advances towards her. (more...)

In the latest example of how the invasion of Iraq has been such a boon to this country, the Southern Poverty Law Center has recently issued a report citing a sharp rise in the number of white supremacists being admitted into the armed forces of the united states. Seems the U.S. Military has been so hard up for bodies to shove into Iraq, that they've been willing to overlook some rather ominous previous affiliations of their recruits, including membership in the National Alliance and the Aryan Nations. (more...)

Yesterday sucked. I didn't get anything done- I was just too burnt out. I figured it was time to just go out, and see a movie. I do this less and less frequently, as the years wear by, and movie ticket prices spiral into insane realms (ten bucks for an hour and a half of spurious entertainment? That's just nuts.) However, I just needed to get out of the apartment, and experience something different.
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The chat event passed with all of about six folks showing up. You didn't miss anything...

Now, the mess in Israel/Lebanon- for once, I'm not gonna blame this one on Bush. The Israeli/Palestinian/Muslim conflict has long since become a self-perpetuating mass multi-generational exercise in victims becoming perpetrators, on all sides. (more...)

Seriously- This could be solved, tomorrow, if Idiot Boy would call for a cease-fire, send Rice to Jerusalem, and instruct Bolton to lend US support to a UN peacekeeping force- but it ain't gonna happen.

The worst elements of the extreme right in this country are jumping for joy, everytime a bomb falls, and as the days pass, my initial confidence that things will "work out in the end" is faltering. Just seven days into the conflict, Lebanon's infrastructure has all but been destroyed, the death toll on both sides is rising precipitously, and Israel is saying that this is just the beginning. (more...)

The machinations of global crony capitalism aside, a lot of folks have been making a lot of hay about Idiot Boy's use of the word "shit" in close conversation with his poodle, Tony Blair. Quite frankly- it didn't bother me all that much. I'll admit to using that word in casual conversation at least fifty times an hour (and at least twice, whenever I review a really horrible film like "A Scanner Darkly"- see below) (more...)