Al Qaeda

I've been thinking about the war in Iraq, if in fact it is a war rather than a hostile occupation, and the oft-cited argument that we are fighting it over there so we don't have to fight it here--that is, 'here' in the U.S. and not in my (junior) suite. It sounds a good reasoning at first blush, especially if one has some potent meds onboard.

The reasoning requires one to believe that the enemies of the most powerful nation on Earth--I think we can still make that claim--will submissively engage our very capable fighting forces over there hitting our formidable and lethal war machine head-on simply because we've deployed in Iraq. In other words, it supposes that Al Qaeda reasons in the following fashion: The most deadly killing force on the planet has been sent to Iraq, let's take it on against all odds rather than to continue clandestine operations against a largely unprotected citizenship on U.S. soil.

It is good for our interests that Al Qaeda mindlessly attacks us at the point of our greatest strength. It is comforting to note that our enemies can be lured into attacking us at distant points merely because our armed forces are there. In the old days, enemies would prefer to attack where our forces were absent. Different times, different lies.

Paul Newman

I remember watching Paul walk around with a can of Coors in his hand at Riverside Raceway during the filming of "Winning" thinking what a cool guy he was. Nothing has changed.

Shaky Leg Syndrome Conquered!

From all observable indications, it can be said that the phenomenon of Shaky Leg Syndrome has been defeated and eliminated from the concerns of modern medical science. Along with the banishment of the restless, nervous twitching of the lower extremity comes the good news that the upper extremity has also ceased to twitch, react or show any discernable signs of agitation.

The most pertinent validation of this conclusion is the absence of a popular response to the discovery that the Department of Homeland Security now has the power to seize laptops and other electronic devices from travelers to the U.S.--including U.S. citizens--and they do not even need grounds to suspect wrongdoing. This is a tremendous medical advance as anyone who lived through the protest years related to Civil Rights and the war in Viet Nam can attest.

Though big pharma might take credit for this, much can be credited, I think, to the fact that truth has become a vestigial appendage to modern living. The only truth we've been told about Iraq is that we are there. That McCain and Obama content themselves to argue about whether or not the Surge was successful demonstrates their intent to limit and frame the debate around immaterial issues (Did that bandage on the finger successfully limit the blood flowing from the dying body?) and leave the truth to the imagination.

A cute article in today's New York Times attempted a serious discussion about the Nuremberg trials and the concentration camp at Gitmo failing to see that the point of Nuremberg was to uncover (to a degree) the truth while that of Gitmo is to contain it.

If Terry Southern were writing this script--and who can say that he isn't?--George Bush and his crack team of anti-Constitutionalists would end up in Gitmo for war crimes struggling in vain to get their statements on the record.

Rest in peace HST.

Earthquake warning

This morning, I received the following email forwarded to me by a friend in Los Angeles:

Hello to all of you.

PLEASE I ask you all to get ready for a LARGE quake on the west coast.

I was almost blown away by this one that is coming so I know it will be BIG OVER 7.......

TELL ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN!

Get water and supplies ready!!! TELL your friends.
I have a high accuracy rate. I felt the last one in Calf but was on the road and could not tell you.

I see a spot that is a little north east of Los Angeles.

THIS could be off but I tell you it is coming to the coast area from Mexico to Oregon.

BE PREPARED! I will send light.

Miriam

As you might expect, I took exception to the idiosyncratic punctuation and the arbitrary use of capital letters used by the writer to convey her hysteria and elevate her desperation to contagious levels.

Although I admire her concern, I've always had the view that it is easier to riot and loot after the fact of a natural disaster than to prepare and stock up on supplies and food stuffs that may have seemed appetizing at the time of purchase but fail to tempt the palate when push comes to shove.

In any event, I feel secure and well braced for any come-what-may here in my (junior) suite and wish the same for everyone regardless of the preparations they may deem necessary.