Saturday, March 29, 2008
Rockets Overhead, Sprinting For The Bunker....Again
Here's a report from an American soldier in Baghdad.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
War
Friday update: US Army provides air support for Iraqi Army by dropping bombs on Mahdi Army neighborhoods. Otherwise, soldiers stationed in the green zone retreat to reinforced bunkers to avoid a now daily round of rockets and mortar fire. People fill the streets protesting the Maliki government and US occupation. Can't you see the light at the end of the tunnel now? At least the people on TV are informing Americans about what it all means. "This is a live shot of smoke rising from what remains of the Iraqi V.P.'s office located inside the fortified Green Zone. Proof the surge is working? Or, more evidence that Iran loves 'em some Al Qaida?"
Maliki extends deadline 10 days and offers money for the turning in of weapons. Look for an immediate cease-fire and political reconciliation in the coming days. Unless, of course, something unforeseen happens, like the flattening of Basra and a widespread escalation in violence.
Thursday afternoon update, courtesy of ClammyC: The short of it is that things are going from bad to worse quickly, and that many of the negative consequences to bad decisions that many people predicted are beginning to unfold.
Wednesday morning update: Maliki is giving Sadr's Mahdi Army three days to turn in weapons. Sadr is telling his militia, as well as Shia in general, to shut down the country through collective civil disobedience. Of course, he is controlling the violent uprising from behind the scenes. The Mahdi Army is not going to turn over its weapons at the end of the week (just as Maliki will not meet any of Sadr's demands), and the Iraqi army / police force and the U.S. military are going to engage the Mahdi Army in full battle. The reduced violence is at its end. The Sunni Awakening groups are growing restless at the same time.
Bush's War: Part II airs tonight. Much of Part I has been in previous documentaries, but some new whoppers are added, and the whole thing taken together is a bit of a jolt. I only wanted to put my head through the wall about nine times.
The Battle of Baghdad: Scroll down if you want to bypass the intro, which is also good. Schwartz provides a must-read summary and analysis of how the war has evolved inside of Baghdad for the past three years.
The Great Unraveling: DDay provides a scary guess about what's next. If you don't know anything about the Sunni "Awakening" groups, those are the ones we eventually agreed to stop killing and then armed so they would start securing their neighborhoods against jihadists / Al Qaida in Iraq. If you watch the PBS documentary and read the Schwartz piece, this last link will seem tame in its predictions. The next few days will be important. Maliki and Sadr are pressing each other.
Maliki extends deadline 10 days and offers money for the turning in of weapons. Look for an immediate cease-fire and political reconciliation in the coming days. Unless, of course, something unforeseen happens, like the flattening of Basra and a widespread escalation in violence.
Thursday afternoon update, courtesy of ClammyC: The short of it is that things are going from bad to worse quickly, and that many of the negative consequences to bad decisions that many people predicted are beginning to unfold.
Wednesday morning update: Maliki is giving Sadr's Mahdi Army three days to turn in weapons. Sadr is telling his militia, as well as Shia in general, to shut down the country through collective civil disobedience. Of course, he is controlling the violent uprising from behind the scenes. The Mahdi Army is not going to turn over its weapons at the end of the week (just as Maliki will not meet any of Sadr's demands), and the Iraqi army / police force and the U.S. military are going to engage the Mahdi Army in full battle. The reduced violence is at its end. The Sunni Awakening groups are growing restless at the same time.
Bush's War: Part II airs tonight. Much of Part I has been in previous documentaries, but some new whoppers are added, and the whole thing taken together is a bit of a jolt. I only wanted to put my head through the wall about nine times.
The Battle of Baghdad: Scroll down if you want to bypass the intro, which is also good. Schwartz provides a must-read summary and analysis of how the war has evolved inside of Baghdad for the past three years.
The Great Unraveling: DDay provides a scary guess about what's next. If you don't know anything about the Sunni "Awakening" groups, those are the ones we eventually agreed to stop killing and then armed so they would start securing their neighborhoods against jihadists / Al Qaida in Iraq. If you watch the PBS documentary and read the Schwartz piece, this last link will seem tame in its predictions. The next few days will be important. Maliki and Sadr are pressing each other.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Apologies to Jameson, but . . .
He did it! Well, he peed, at least. We are quite proud. More pics of Easter posted in the March 2008 photo album at the side.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Jameson Fingerpaints
Flowers? No. Rainbow? Not at all. Jameson has produced some nice work here. I am glad he is expressing an interest in fishing. I call this piece "Landing a Blue Marlin" (though Desiree, get this, calls it "Blue & Green Duck").
Easter Festivities
Here is Jameson's first slide of the day. Don't ask me why, but photobucket won't upload the clip of the egg hunt. It's currently in the YouTube sidebar though, along with another clip of Jameson on this slide that should show up soon. It was his favorite, as you can probably tell.
This slide is much steeper than it looks here. It's close to vertical.
Jumping on the trampoline.
The last slide of day. Dez had to go inside and push him up to the top.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Kos at DailyKos
Kos (Markos Moulitsas Zuniga) the creator and owner of the Democratic website, Daily Kos, has a post up responding to a "strike" at the site by Clinton supporters angry about the pro-Obama tilt there. Mostly, readers at the site are bored and frustrated with the "candidate" posts in general, and wish more posts were "rec'd" that discussed issues like the economy, FISA, Iraq, health care, local elections, etc.. I always look for posts on the economy by "bonddad" and "jerome a paris," and FISA posts by "mcjoan."
Most responses to the "strike" have been to mock it, and the whole thing has been pretty goofy, but Kos's response gets at some of the reasons Clinton has not been popular there.
Most responses to the "strike" have been to mock it, and the whole thing has been pretty goofy, but Kos's response gets at some of the reasons Clinton has not been popular there.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
No Immunity, No Warrentless Wiretaps
Kudos to House Democrats for defending the fourth amendment. They did not fall for the lie-based scare tactics of the Republicans. If the Senate can hold it together, they'll send Bush a bill he'll veto. That is the best possible outcome. It appears that some of the previous Senate caving may have been a premeditated setup for today's result, but I find that a bit difficult to believe. Oh yea: I suppose Clinton and Obama will have their chances to sound off on this vital issue again, as they are both Senators.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Garden Blogging VIII
At long last, the garden is finished. At least, the beds are complete. Merry Christmas Dez. My thanks to Tellepsen Landscaping, and Marc, for the original plan and the many answers to endless questions. Also thanks to Jen and Dad for pitching in on muscle work, and to Birgitta and Tommy for babysitting from time to time so I could work on it. It has been a fun project, and we will enjoy the rewards of it for a long time. I hope to put in other elements of the original design at some point in the near future, but first I need to catch up on grading and the rest of the yard work.
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