starting civil wars

Today's New York Times reports that Bush was so determined to go to war in Iraq in early 2003 that he even proposed sparking a confrontation by painting "a United States surveillance plane in the colors of the United Nations in hopes of drawing fire, or assassinating Mr. Hussein."
Not a big surprise: anybody paying even moderate attention to diplomatic signals being sent publicly from early 2002 could see that the US Administration was doing everything it could to discredit the possibility that UN inspections could work (and in so doing, made it less likely that Iraq would cooperate in the first place). But that's over and done with now. Now, with the major ethnic groups fighting one another more and more brutally, it's clear that the war we did go into was - hmm, how do I put this? - not very well thought out. We're now on the brink of civil war.

So what do we do? I think a lot of anti-war people in the US have it wrong when they want to pull the troops out immediately - we may not like having our troops occupying Iraq but seen internationally, it would be completely irresponsible of us to pull out now, leaving a huge mess we helped to create.

In the long-term, we have to ask ourself what we want our government to care about most in the Middle East: 1) democracy as each country's voters decide it, 2) our special brand of secular (at least, non-islamistic) liberal democracy or 3) secure oil reserves. Even when I was living in France (and you know most of the French think) I have always doubted very much that our government really put #3 ahead of #1 or #2, no matter how misguided and arrogant their policies are. But more and more I'm convinced that the old boys club of oilmen that have enormous influence in the current Administration just can't ever get it out of their system. I've been convinced Bush is a disaster for a long time, and a dangerous one, but now we've got to start doing something about it - the next election is only 2 years away.

She's growing fast!

Wow, being a parent is incredible. I feel like I have received such a wonderful gift, being able to watch a sweet, joyful little person live and learn and grow. Katie is sitting up by herself now, getting frustrated when her plan for a toy doesn't work (though we can't always tell what it is she wants to do...). I do feel too, like being a parent is a very real reminder about God's parent-love for us - only so many more times more understanding and all-encompassing than I can imagine extending to another person, even Katie. And I guess I am even more dependent on Him than she is on me... even when I don't see it myself.

Some pictures of the little one:


"Gotta show Mommy how this writing thing's done... babybloggers unite!"


Sweet Katie!


"Berkeley, here I come!"


Another new development - drinking from a sippy cup by herself!(Unless she's tired - then she needs some help from Mommy or Daddy!)


"My parents have totally fallen for me, and I know it!"

a change...

It is so wonderful to see the seasons beginning to change... finally. The last snow is melting now, and though we've still got freezing weather at night, the days are beginning to warm (slowly!) up. Even more promising, the days are quickly getting longer, sun now comes through our living room window for 15 minutes each afternoon, and trees and flowers are beginning to bud!

I've also just changed the name and description of my blog... I suppose most as a challenge to myself. When I started it, I tried several names but couldn't for the life of me come up with a good name. I may very well change it again later, but this reflects a little better the fact that I can't seem to stop mixing discussion of politics with my everyday ramblings, and to challenge myself to give my political diatribes a more constructive direction!

Hope that spring is coming where you are too - it feels like hope and warmth, two things we could use a little more of in general.

singing the wrong song!

"The sun is shining, the grass is green...." Actually, the sun is shining today, but the grass isn't green, not yet, more a shade of gray, due to lack of light this winter... hmm. But the point is, these are the first words in the very unseasonal song I have in my head: "White Christmas!" Why am I humming a Christmas song in the middle of March? Not just humming it, in fact, but singing it out loud to Katie while doing things like getting dressed, washing dishes, etc. Well, I've always loved Christmas music - like to start playing it in early November, if I can get away with it. But now it's almost spring (or should be), and I need to get myself together... what are some summer tunes I can hum instead - any thoughts out there? I'm thinking that Carlos Santana song (you know, the one they play a million times on the radio every summer - "give me your heart, make it real, or let's forget about it"?) would be a start...

Katie and I will go babyswimming today - she loves it! She's a little fish as soon as she gets in the water, kicking and splashing. The mommy thinks it's a bit of work doing all that changing, washing, and so forth, but we get a nice walk out of it, and we both do enjoy it a lot.

Well, that was a bit of nothing I've just written, but some days that's the way it goes.

still winter, and getting tired of the stale debate!

Yes, that's right, it's March 9 tomorrow (Katie's six-month birthday!), and we are looking at least another week of winter weather!! Still white on the ground (well, as white as it can be in the city), around freezing during the day and down to -5 to -10 C at night! Wow, am I looking forward to some spring and summer weather.

Meanwhile, Denmark is trying to catch it's breath from this whole fiasco with the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that were published in Jyllands-Posten (the country's biggest newspaper) last fall. (If you haven't been following the crisis, basically it revolves around the decision by some newspaper editors (either dumb, naive or looking to pick a fight) to publish some drawings of Mohammed that depict him as a terrorist, etc., etc. After the prime minister refused to meet with 11 (11!!) ambassadors from Muslim countries in October, and some Danish Muslims spread the word about the insulting drawings among leaders in the Middle East, the Danish flag is being burned all around the Muslim world, embassies have been attacked and burned, and it is now even more dangerous to be a Dane in many places around the world than to be an American!

And, to top it all, the far-right Danish People's Party (anti-Muslim fascists in nice suits and, in the case of their leader, pink lipstick) is picking up a larger % of support in the polls than they've ever seen before! Before long, the ruling party (Venstre, center-right) may be able to form a government with the Danish People's Party alone - an even scarier prospect for the country than what we've had so far....

On another note, a few pictures of the little one...