In August?!? Oh, PUHLEAZ!!

While I was out on Friday doing my retail therapy, I went into Macy's to check out the fiestaware (yes, again, I know I have a problem, but I did not buy any). Blissfully riding the escalator up to the third-floor home department, a strange shape just off the top step was coming into view. Dark green. Another step closer. Triangle shaped. Another step closer. Twinkling lights. Oh no! I was at the top and stepping off into Christmasland.

It was the last day of August. And I was surrounded by Christmasness. Trees and whatnot. I quickly turned the corner and headed in the opposite direction to the dishes to look at Evergreen Fiesta. (Wait! Evergreen??? Is there a Christmas conspiracy? Hmmm.)

Christmas in July is one thing. Christmas in August is just wrong, wrong, wrong.

Yep, I'm a party pooper.

Construct Destruction

Ever have something happen to you that you really couldn't explain? So then you create your own reason for why it happened? And then believe that reason for 25 years only to have it dispelled over coffee with a girlfriend?

Well that happened to me this past weekend.

I was out to lunch/coffee/chatter time with girlfriend when we were talking about her work. She has recently completed a certification program in gifted and talented education. She is a very bright woman, but she was telling me how she got labeled in primary education as a "dumb kid". Needless to say, she is not dumb by any stretch of the imagination. So I told her about how I got into GATE when I was in 5th grade.

You see, I was sick (with who knows what - probably starting my period for the first time, but that is another post) while we were doing state standardized testing. Instead of something like 3 days of testing, I took 1 day. I knew that they drew the GATE students based on these test scores, so when I was called to participate, I figured there had to be a mistake. I mean really, how can you pick a student to be in GATE after 1 day of a 3-day test??? That just had to be a mistake.

So I proceeding through the rest of my education, believing that the reason I got labeled as a "GATE" student was based on a mistake and I was going to have to work harder than everyone else to hide that mistake. (Wow, I just realized right now that this is what I did. I guess AWTM is right about this therapeutic stuff, huh?) I took advanced classes throughout middle school and high school believing in this mistake. I did well in school, don't get me wrong (and I am trying not to brag here - so please don't take this as bragging), but it never seemed like I was smart enough. Of course, that was all in my head. I realize that now.

Fast forward to the present day ...

So I tell my girlfriend this and she looks at me kind of dumbfounded.

I was like, "what?"

GF: Um, I hate to break it to you, but that was no mistake.

BW: What do you mean? Of course, it was.

GF: No, it means that you must have done phenomenally well on that one day of testing if that was the primary basis of the decision.

BW: (brow furrowed, lips pursed) Hmmm. But I have been telling myself that it was a mistake for the last 25 years.

GF: Sorry to break it to you, but you were wrong.

And there you go. I had this whole little construct created to explain that part of my life. Now it is gone. Hmmm. Is it really possible that maybe, just maybe I have been "smart" this whole time?

Anyone else ever have that kind of experience, where a personal myth was crumbled lickety-split???

Searching for Hope on Public Radio

Sunday evening, after I dried the tears that welled up as I drove past a Memorial Day display of small crosses on a small patch of grass outside a local American Legion chapter, This American Life came on the radio. Usually full of odd, but fascinating gripping stories, it started off just that way. Except this Sunday it was about the Army and The Center for Lessons Learned. Ira Glass, the host of the show, said he couldn't help but feel hopeful after talking with the folks at the Center for Lessons Learned. He called the center "the US Army at its best." They decided to do a show based on this hope because "we wanted to feel a little hopeful for a change."

Shortly after I heard these words, I arrived at my destination and had to leave my car. But I too was hopeful. Hopeful that I would be able to get home and download and listen to the entire show. Then I too would be hopeful about the situation in Iraq.

Act I: Oops! We forgot to listen to the guy who said that we need to think about the occupation of Iraq after major combat operations were concluded. Hmmm. Lesson learned.

Act II: What's going on with the civilians? What are they thinking? Hyperfocus by the "liberals" on laying blame for us getting there. "Conservatives" calling for an alternative solution to the current predicament. I hear the same thing EVERYDAY. Hmmm. Not helping me be hopeful.

Act III: Withdrawal? What withdrawal? What will that mean? Will it be better or worse if we withdrawal? Thomas Ricks speaks from Baghdad. I don't think he actually answered any of these questions. Hopeful? Only becuause the guys who were in charge on the ground a couple of years ago are no longer in Iraq. Unfortunately, they are in Washington now. Does that inspire hope in you?

Hopeful? Any of it? Well, sometimes I really stretch to find the good news. They did the same here to find hope.

And BTW, the download is free for 1 week.

Another Democrat Supporting Victory in Iraq

From The Opinion Journal, The Left's Iraq Muddle: Yes, it is central to the fight against Islamic radicalism. By Bob Kerrey

. . .

American liberals need to face these truths: The demand for self-government was and remains strong in Iraq despite all our mistakes and the violent efforts of al Qaeda, Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias to disrupt it. Al Qaeda in particular has targeted for abduction and murder those who are essential to a functioning democracy: school teachers, aid workers, private contractors working to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure, police officers and anyone who cooperates with the Iraqi government. Much of Iraq's middle class has fled the country in fear.

With these facts on the scales, what does your conscience tell you to do? If the answer is nothing, that it is not our responsibility or that this is all about oil, then no wonder today we Democrats are not trusted with the reins of power. American lawmakers who are watching public opinion tell them to move away from Iraq as quickly as possible should remember this: Concessions will not work with either al Qaeda or other foreign fighters who will not rest until they have killed or driven into exile the last remaining Iraqi who favors democracy. . . .

Testing the 5-second Rule

No surprises here. The longer the food stays on a bacteria-infested surface, the more bacteria winds up on the food.

Now any 10-year-old could have told you that.

Scott Menchin - NYT

Personal Liberation

OK. It is time to tell you all that I am a social liberal in the sense of do your own thing. Here's a very ballsy, very public display of someone following his/her own truth. I admirable such acts of bravery.

Five American National Interests in Iraq

From the National Review, an essay by Joseph Morrison Skelly discussing 5 of the American national interests in Iraq and the Middle East.

(1) Renewal of Iraqi society. Quoting George Weigel, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center:

[T]he duty to build a secure peace in the aftermath of war is intuitively grasped by morally serious people.

(2) Revitalization of the Iraqi state.

[H]undreds of thousands of Iraqis — elected representatives in parliament, officials in government ministries, soldiers in the army, men, and women in the domestic security forces — have taken up the challenge to construct a new Iraqi state, one that will, over time, establish a just public order . . .

(3) Transform Iraq into an ally in the war on terrorism.

In a speech at the Naval Academy in 2005 [President Bush] said, “Advancing the cause of freedom and democracy in the Middle East begins with ensuring the success of a free Iraq…By strengthening Iraqi democracy, we will gain a partner in the cause of peace and moderation in the Muslim world, and an ally in the worldwide struggle against the terrorists.”

(4) Long-term viability of the forces of moderate Islam.

One of the primary roles of the United States and the West, [Middle Eastern scholar Daniel Pipes] believes, is to support moderate Muslims, those who embrace “a modern Islamic message, [and an] anti-Islamist message.”

(5) Commitment of the United States to complete the mission in Iraq must be unwavering — and must be seen to be unwavering by our friends and by our enemies.

Writing in Foreign Affairs in January, Lew Kuan Yew, the former prime minister of Singapore, warned that “If the United States leaves Iraq prematurely, jihadists everywhere will be emboldened to take the battle to Washington and its friends and allies. Having defeated the Russians in Afghanistan and the United States in Iraq, they will believe that they can change the world.”

Plus - national honor. Quoting James Bowman's Honor: A History:

Honor is ultimately about being true to your word, and if American words — of which there has never been any shortage — are not backed up by deeds that bespeak American seriousness, and American willingness to sacrifice as well as to preach, then Uncle Sam becomes merely ridiculous on the world stage and the safety of the nation he symbolizes is itself put in danger.

Why We Need to Stay

From the Washington Post, a must read article by SEN Lieberman about the our One Choice in Iraq.

. . . Al-Qaeda, after all, isn't carrying out mass murder against civilians in the streets of Baghdad because it wants a more equitable distribution of oil revenue. Its aim in Iraq isn't to get a seat at the political table; it wants to blow up the table -- along with everyone seated at it. . . .

Al Qaeda. Remember them? And a cool September morning back in 2001? Same bad guys. And after they have their way in Iraq, where do you think they'll go next? Oh wait, they are already in north Africa. Spain, perhaps? I do recall it being especially lovely this time of year.

Congress's Break Up with Our Troops

Break ups are never pretty. To watch a relationship dying for lack of trying by one party is particularly painful. When one party decides the relationship is over, and the relationship is no longer worth fighting for, there is usually not much to salvage. But that does not mean that what was once strong and beautiful cannot be resurrected with time, patience, and understanding.

This is not about me and my husband. Even though we are separated by 6000+ miles, we have grown closer during this deployment. Unfortunately, he tells me that he is hearing from some of his fellow soldiers that their wives/girlfriends are providing ultimatums: "Be home by a certain date, or I am leaving you."

Such an ultimatum on its face is difficult for me to comprehend. An individual soldier has no (zero, zilch, nada) control over when he (or she) will be able to be home. (Or are these wives/girlfriends secretly wishing that their loved ones get injured to come home early? Equally incomprehensible.)

But that got me thinking.

Congress and Our Servicemembers. The majority party in Congress, like the discouraged wife, wants its troops home now. I get that. But what SEN Harry Reid and his ilk are telling the troops is that the relationship is over unless you come home by a certain date. We will cut you off unless you are home soon. We will leave you. An ultimatum.

For some of our troops, not only are they getting ultimatums from their loved ones, they hearing them from Congress too. The majority party in Congress is creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of low morale.

So SEN Reid, thanks for the "Dear John" letter you personally addressed to my husband and his soldiers, claiming it to be from the American people. Talk about demoralizing.

Good News from Iraq: 25 Apr 2007

The Weekly Fishwrap is up over at Blackfive. Check it out . . .

. . . lest you think I am ranting and conducting psy ops according to one John Beard who posted a comment over at Badgers Forward. But I like to think that my readers are able to think for themselves and factor in how the good news plays in with the bad news we hear.

That's just me. Thinking.

Think the war funding hold-up in DC doesn't matter?

Think that all the partisan politics doesn't affect what is going on on the ground in Iraq right now? Does training the Iraqi security forces to be independent matter?

How about this, from The Fourth Rail:

It is highly unusual for U.S. generals to weigh in on disputes between the executive and legislative branches. The cut in funding for the training programming has caused U.S. generals to mention the situation no less than four times since the delay in the FY07 Supplemental Budget became a critical issue. "At the current moment, because of this lack of funding, MNSTC-I is unable to continue at the pace they were in the developmental process of the Iraqi security forces," Major General William Caldwell said in a recent press briefing. "It is starting to have some impact today, and will only have more of an impact over time."

. . .

Unlike what some would claim, training for the Iraqi Security Forces could only be higher if the FY07 supplemental budget submitted in February was not delayed for political reasons. The proponents of this delay claim that they want to bring the troops home sooner but, the delay in standing up their replacements (the Iraqi Security Forces) caused by Congress' actions has had the opposite effect of delaying the eventual reductions and the withdrawal of U.S. forces.

So the controlling party in Congress not only does not care about us winning in Iraq, they don't even care about Iraq being able to take care of itself. Nice.

Sorry, folks. I am in an odd mood today.

Insensitive Civilians

On Friday, several co-workers and I were walking back to our work area from the cafeteria. We were discussing cancer. New guy in our office mentioned that one of his former co-workers died from breast cancer. So the mouth in my department (I'll just call her Bea for short) piped up that her husband had a co-worker who died from pancreatic cancer. The way Bea was carrying on you would have to agree that these deaths were oh so horrible. I thought I might add my 2 cents.

BW: "I won't even tell you what 3 of my husband's co-workers died from."

Bea: (Dismissively) "Yeah, but that was in the line of duty."

So I guess those 3 deaths don't count and I really had nothing to add to the conversation. Heaven forbid there was a work accident and 3 of her husband's co-workers died on the job.

Glad she cleared that up for me.

Arrrggggggg!

What scares a Butterfly Wife?

This. Iran Exonerates Six Who Killed in Islam's Name. Here is an excerpt from the New York Times article.

. . . According to the Supreme Court’s earlier decision, the killers, who are members of the Basiji Force, volunteer vigilantes favored by the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, considered their victims morally corrupt and, according to Islamic teachings and Iran’s Islamic penal code, their blood could therefore be shed.

The last victims, for example, were a young couple engaged to be married who the killers claimed were walking together in public.

... Iran’s Islamic penal code, which is a parallel system to its civic code, says murder charges can be dropped if the accused can prove the killing was carried out because the victim was morally corrupt.

This is true even if the killer identified the victim mistakenly as corrupt. In that case, the law requires “blood money” to be paid to the family. Every year in Iran, a senior cleric determines the amount of blood money required in such cases. This year it is $40,000 if the victim is a Muslim man, and half that for a Muslim woman or a non-Muslim.

First, it is OK to kill a man and a woman for walking down a street together? Granted, there is probably more to the story, but even if they were having sex in the middle of the street with donkeys, is death an equitable remedy?

Second, you gotta love the equity in the monetary value of a life. Not all humans are created equal. And somehow, I doubt there are many non-Muslims remaining in Iran at this time.

Sanjaya is OFF!!

Cuz we all know that this is the most important thing going on . . . Sanjaya Malakar has been voted off the American Idol island.

Don't let this story get lost: UPDATED

I want to start by saying that I am profoundly saddened by yesterday's shootings at Virginia Tech. It was all over the radio this morning as I drove teary-eyed to work. It is deeply tragic and on one level or another affects us all.

That said, I think an even more disturbing scenario is beginning to appear in Iraq with Muktada al-Sadr pulling 6 cabinet minister "to make way for new ministers without sectarian agendas" according to a New York Times article. Sadr's move is "motivated by Iraqi nationalism." Hmmm.

The man obviously has a huge influence over the Iraqi government. But if he were truly motivated by "nationalism", why didn't he just tell these ministers to vote with the same sense of nationalism? Instead, he is pulling out for his own (sectarian) purposes, none of which involve some altruistic sense of nationalism, a term he may bandy about to sway an American public intoxicated by the notion that the Iraqi culture values nationalism as highly as we do.

Don't be fooled. This man is loyal to himself and his religion.

UPDATE:
Read an Iraqi's view on this move by Sadr.

"Nothing Positive Comes From Iraq"

That seems to be a direct quote (translated) from the Pope in his Easter message of hope. Well, he has obviously not been reading my blog.

Good thing no one is listening to him. Oh wait, lots of people listen to him. He must be right.

Perhaps a good question for the Pontiff would be: How is such a negative a "message of hope"? Hmmm. I'm confusing myself here. Time for afternoon caffeine.