The gloom of winter is definitely upon us…but is it officially “winter’? It’s not high on my list of important dates to remember and so someone will have to tell me when winter arrives.
The cat is feeling better these days; she was quite ready to play early this morning, racing up and down the hallway and then lying in wait for me, ready to pounce and grab my leg when I pass her hiding place. A dangerous move when I’m carrying coffee.
Notice that I call her “the cat” now and not the name we gave her, Boo. Does anyone have a cat that responds to a name? Ours certainly doesn’t, so why bother? I suppose if we had more than one cat it would make sense to give them individual names as “the cat” doesn’t work well for multiples of the beast. So guests, grandchildren and the veterinarian can call her Boo if they wish; I’m sticking with “the cat.”
Mid term elections are a lot of fun, but afterwards, there was a feeling that, somehow, we didn’t get what we really wanted. (And deserved!) On the morning of November 8th, there was no “poof!” and a cloud of smoke rolling away to reveal a new president. We’re still stuck with the old one for another two years. That’s a long time!
A thought I had the other day; our own civil war officially ended in 1865. That’s 141 years ago and the reasons that precipitated that war still have the power to divide us as a nation. I certainly saw that when I traveled in the south.
So why do we expect the people of Iraq to come together in less than 5 years? They have no real history as a nation; Iraq was formed by the mandate of a foreign power (Great Britain), not by popular opinion.
And then I read this story from London; Tony Blair is being interviewed and makes a less than guarded comment…
"…so far been pretty much of a disaster".
"It has," Blair said, before adding quickly: "But you see what I say to people is why is it difficult in Iraq? It's not difficult because of some accident in planning.
"It's difficult because there's a deliberate strategy -- Al-Qaeda with Sunni insurgents on one hand, Iranian-backed elements with Shia militias on the other -- to create a situation in which the will of the majority for peace is displaced by the will of the minority for war."
If you are told in advance of this war that these things are possible and yet you make no plans for them, what do you call that? Funny, that sure sounds like some accident in planning. Or a disaster.
I have a feeling that Tony has already made his last trip to Texas for some barbecue at the presidential ranch.
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