Democratic leaders strongly criticized President Bush’s handling of foreign affairs the other day. It’s a little fucking late, you worthless idiots!
Last fall, in a calculated strategy to win votes in the fall elections, Democrats were falling over themselves to support Bush’s plans to go to war. They got stomped by the Republicans, who should have sent thank you cards to Democratic strategists.
And now, days before the bombing begins, congressional Democrats think some tough talk is going to change anything? They’re just going to piss off swing voters who are more likely to fall for the whole “rally round the President” crap. And they’re sending yet another message to all but the most fanatic of Democratic supporters that the party is in shambles, unable to provide leadership when America is desperately in need of some.
Already — following President Bush’s speech yesterday — Democrats have backed off, saying they now need to give their support to their Commander-in-Chief. Wow. They gave us 24 hours of tough talk seven months late. Worthless.
Get ready for a second Bush administration.
America Attacks
I got up this morning and read the news online while drinking my coffee. Was immediately depressed and disheartened that President Bush — after his daring and very brave overseas (well, actually, he didn’t quite make it to Europe) trip to meet with the only two countries he already has on his side — has all but declared that he will invade Iraq this week.
All day, I couldn’t stop thinking of all the things wrong with the situation the world is now facing. After the terrorist attacks in New York in 2001, I’d say most people had an inkling that the world was going to become a much more dangerous and unstable place. How sad it is that the country most responsible for leading us all down that path has been the United States of America. Now we find ourselves teetering on the precipice, and George Bush is getting ready to shove us all over the edge.
Americans seem to be “rallying around the President,” as the irrepressible Cokie Roberts explained today on National Public Radio, citing a Gallup poll showing that Americans now support going to war with Iraq by a margin of 2-1. I’m not even going to bother checking on the veracity of those comments, since most of the rest of America won’t either — so does it really matter if they accurately show the mood of the country? Cokie also explained that the same poll shows Americans now hate the French.
By the way, does anyone know anything about New Zealand’s immigration policy?
At some point today, I flashed back to the beginning of the first Gulf War. I was staying at my dad’s place in Anchorage, on holiday break from college, glued to CNN, of course. I remember being anxious about the conflict in the days before the war started, and in awe of being able to see so much live on television. But I wasn’t anywhere near as deeply pessimistic as I am now.
Although I’m not optimistic, I truly hope America hasn’t really fucked things up. I hope that people and nations who until recently looked to America as a reasonably fair and rational nation will one day soon feel that way again. I hope I’m wrong in my expectations of the consequences of this war, and that somehow, someway, the people prosecuting this conflict will manage to pull a rabbit out of the hat and do right.
Another War Blog
Back to Iraq is a blog written by Christopher Allbritton, who wants to cover Northern Iraq as an independent journalist. He’s raising money to fund his endeavor. (Wired has a story.)
Here’s Allbritton’s introduction:
I’m Christopher Allbritton, former AP and New York Daily News reporter. This summer I went stumbling around Iraqi Kurdistan, the northern part of Iraq outside Saddam’s direct control, looking for stories. (Some might call it “looking for trouble.”) Well, now I want to go back in time for the war. So I’m asking your help in supporting independent journalism.
He’s going to have to hurry to get to Iraq “in time for the war.”
Chopsticks Or A Fork?
I got confused tonight about the appropriate utensil(s) for eating salad. (I haven’t really been eating western-style salads over here in Japan, so this hasn’t come up before.) I automatically grabbed some chopsticks, but after a few bites I thought to myself, “This just isn’t right, is it?” So I got a fork, which I’ve always used to eat salad. But it didn’t feel quite right either. I went back to the chopsticks, but now I have no idea which feels more natural in this situation.
Matsumoto Party
Went to Matsumoto last night for a party at a small bar near the station. DJs, dancing and drinking. Caught the 8:40pm local train from Nagano with Rachel. Angelique came north from Shio Jiri, and we met up with Dean in Matsumoto.
Matsumoto Party photos here.
A Mystery Virus
I know or have heard about at least a half dozen people who are canceling overseas travel plans because of concern over the likely US/UK invasion of Iraq.
I’ve been planning to spend a few weeks traveling in China in early June. I’m not so worried about a war affecting those plans.
However, a dangerous virus which seems to have originated in Asia kind of freaks me out.
Warning over killer virus
itv.com
The mystery virus, which causes pneumonia, first struck China’s southern Guangdong province in November when five people died.
“This syndrome, SARS, is now a worldwide health threat,” WHO director-general Gro Harlem Brundtland said in a statement.
UPDATE: Just visited Joi Ito’s site and saw he’d posted on this, as well. One of his links was to this New York Times article on the virus.
War Blogs
CNN Correspondent Kevin Sites has started a blog, posting from what will likely soon be a war zone.
. . . . .
Where Is Raed? appears to be a blog written by an Iraqi from Baghdad. There’s not much information on the writer (which is probably smart, considering his views on Iraq’s current regime), but it’s a fascinating read of life in the crosshairs.
An excerpt:
A BBC reporter walking thru the Mutanabi Friday book market (again) ends his report with: “It looks like Iraqis are putting on an air of normality.”
Look, what are you supposed to do then? Run around in the streets wailing? War is at the door eeeeeeeeeeeee! Besides, this “normality” doesn’t go very deep. Almost everything is more expensive than it was a couple of months ago, people are digging wells in their gardens, on the radio yesterday after playing a million songs from the time of the war with Iran (these are like cartoon theme songs for people my age, we know them all by heart) they read out instructions on how to make a trench and prepare for war, that is after president saddam advised Iraqis to make these trenches in their gardens.
. . . . .
UPDATE: A note to those of you arriving here via a Google search for “war blogs” — for a more complete list of war-related links, visit the main page of mikemedia.
Smoking Girls
This image was on a flyer at the local Japan Railways ticket office. It looks like it’s advertising a gallery exhibit sponsored by JR. Here’s the website. The exhibit is the one called “Kokuren Shonen (UN Boy).”
Look Elsewhere For Good Snowboarding Pics
I recently wrote about how Google gives blogs high ranking in search results.
Currently, about 40-50 visitors a day are reaching my site via search results for “snowboarding pics.” They’re landing on this page, which is ranked second on Google for the above search phrase.
As much as I appreciate new readers, I feel a bit like they’re getting a raw deal when they come to my site looking for snowboarding photos. Anyone who is doing a Google search is probably looking for more of these kinds of photo, rather than the tame offerings I currently have posted.
I’d say this points to a problem with the way Google is currently providing results. My snowboarding pics entry doesn’t deserve to be ranked so high.
Switch To A Better World
Making the rounds these days is a recommendation to dump AAA and switch to A Better World for your roadside assistance insurance.
A Better World promises:
We are the only roadside assistance and travel club that strives to balance your transportation needs with your desire to protect the environment. We advocate on behalf of the consumer and the environment by donating an amount equal to 1% of annual revenues toward environmental clean-up efforts and by providing unique eco-friendly travel alternatives.