Random Musings

Muntadhar al-Zeidi threw a shoe (perhaps two shoes) at President Bush while he was on a surprise visit to Iraq.  I have to say that the throwing was well-deserved, though I don’t approve of anyone doing something that might hurt the President (or any other official).Iraqi anger at Bush is understandable, since he is instrumental in destroying the country and murdering hundreds of thousands of its people.

Al-Zeidi is now in jail awaiting trial for insulting a foreign dignitary or some such charge.  He faces up to two years in prison if he is convicted and given the full sentence.

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In a New York Times article, a Wal-Mart employee was reportedly trampled to death by crowds who broke down the doors and surged in for their Christmas shopping.

Merry Christmas.

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Seventeen years after the first Gulf War, doctors have decided that Gulf War Syndrome exists, and have blamed it on toxic chemicals, according to an article in US News & World Report.  This is good news for those who have been afflicted, some 175,000 people according to the article.  It comes, unfortunately, too late to help many of these.

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After 232 years of history, the United States has finally elected a Black president.  I was surprised by this.  I had honestly believed that we weren’t ready for such a huge step.  Oh, it’s long overdue, but I didn’t think that Americans were willing to consider it.  Fortunately, my cynicism was misplaced.

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Today is Blog Action Day, this year’s theme being Poverty. What that means is that participating bloggers all post something about poverty.  The goal is to raise public awareness concerning this problem in the hopes that by doing so we will be able to put an end to it.  This is a daunting task.

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He who fights monsters might take care, lest he thereby become a monster - Freidrich Nietzsche

Back when I was a kid, the United States stood for freedom, democracy, and fair play.  We had plenty of faults.  We were just beginning to consider civil rights for minorities and women.  We hadn’t yet figured out that everyone should have the same chance to live a good life.  But we were working on it, and for the most part we were trying to reach our ideals.  Alas, we’ve lost our “moral compass”.

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Most people have received e-mails that purport to be from some minor official in a war-torn or corrupt region, talking about a forgotten fortune that is about to be taken over by the State if no one claims it.  Sometimes the original owner has died, leaving no heirs.  Sometimes it was a corrupt general who was either killed or imprisoned for his misdeeds.  Whatever the story, these millions of dollars are sitting in an account, waiting to be claimed.  The minor official can’t claim it, because he’s working for the bank or government; but you could claim it.  All you have to do is send your banking information, and they’ll deposit the money into your account.  For your troubles, you’ll get a generous portion, usually amounting to several million dollars.  How could you pass up such a tempting offer?

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It seems that my doubts about the FBI’s case against Dr. Ivins are being expressed by many others.  In a Newsweek report by Michael Isikoff, further errors and omissions in the FBI’s case are noted.  While learning that a governmental agency has been lying again is no great surprise, seeing published reports about it in mainstream media is a surprise.  I guess people are figuring they have little to fear now from the lame duck administration.

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Following the atrocity of 9/11, someone mailed letters containing anthrax spores to several locations. Five people died from anthrax, and a dozen more were sickened. The FBI has been working on trying to track down the killer ever since. Now they think they’ve found him.

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Last week I saw a Critical Mass rally ride past. Critical Mass is a somewhat unstructured bunch of cyclists who “mass” together and ride their bikes at a specific time each month.

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