Well, time to post my four or five cents' worth on the Iraqi War. Bush will rue the day he undertook this mistaken crusade. It's not that Bush and his neocon cronies are necessarily wrong in attempting to disarm Iraq and do away with a horrible regime. There is a time for both pacifism and war, and now that the troops have been committed, there is only a single choice: ultimate victory. Nevertheless, this war shouldn't have begun at all, at least not now. The neocons planned this war long before Bush was elected; they never bought into the conclusion of the first gulf war. That conclusion was a mess-up of the Elder Bush admin. First, they didn't destroy the Republican Guard when they had the chance. Second, and most reprehensible, they encouraged the Iraqis--Kurds and Shiites--to rise up against Saddam, only to abandon them to the slaughter. Too much manipulation, too much Machiavellianism, has haunted the Republicans. Thus, Gulf War II is to erase the foul memory of their mistakes.It's amazing that these generals and politicians whine about how the Iraqis violate the "rules of war." Has any country ever obeyed those rules completely? Doubtful. And when one's country is invaded, right or wrong, it's arguable that all strategies are appropriate to the combatant defenders. Jesse Ventura made this point in an interview earlier this week. Yes, the Saddam regime is evil, ugly and uncivilized. But would they be engaging in these tactics if US and UK troops weren't overrunning Iraq? Last week, a billion dollars' worth of cruise missiles were unleashed on that miserable country. Was there no other better use of that billion dollars? But, thanks to the war, we can forget about problems in the economy. We can forget that, perhaps, that one billion dollars added to NASA's budget might have prevented the Columbia disaster. The Bush team nickles-and-dimes the domestic agenda, while coddling their rich cronies. Some cracks have begun to show in the regime, in the resignation of Richard Perle (chief architect of the Iraq debacle) over his "feeding at the trough" of both Global Crossing and the Pentagon.We stand at a crossroads in world history. The US has undertaken the lonely course of an imperial civilization. Weilding ultimate power, and smashing your enemies, is satisfying in a reptilian-brain sort of way. But once that role is assumed, there will always be someone, somewhere, who will try to knock the great nation off its pedestal. When thousands of US troops are killed and wounded in the eventual Battle of Baghdad, someone will be called accountable. It reminds me of the first real death-blow to the Roman Empire: the Battle of Adrianople in AD 375. "Pride goeth before a fall." The consequences of these ill thought out actions will reverberate for years.

I couldn't help but notice this article on CNN today, under rubric: "Operation enables Reeve to breathe without respirator": The lead-in to this, from CNN's main page, purports to tell us how Reeve will be "freed from a respirator." What the heck is a respirator? The press continues to use a term that went out with the Iron Lung. It's a VENTILATOR, stupid!! I've been using the machines for 20 years, and they are great. Sure, it takes some adjustment to get used to, but ventilators can be seen as liberating devices, not enslaving ones. The newest models, by Pulmonetic Systems , are the size of a laptop computer and are very user-friendly and portable. I can't wait to take one on a trip! Why is it that people who use glasses, and can't leave home to go buy Budweiser at the 7/11 down the block without climbing into their 4,000 lb SUV (which needs extra wide seats to hold their waddling fat asses), look down their noses at people who use ventilators? Ever since Cro Magnon man first lumbered out of a cave, grabbed a stick and whacked an unwilling female over the head with it to take her as a bride, Homo Sapiens has been Homo Technicalis, Tool Man. We make use of everything in the material world for our benefit, but then suddenly some want to distinguish between the privileged and the "outré." Work to get BETTER! Work to get yourself off that damn machine, boy! Breathing is a rudimentary but ultimate necessity of living; how we breathe is nobody else's affair.

A few notes on my current life:The first three months after leaving BGS, I spent working the phones nearly every day. It's a nightmare to navigate the bureaucracies. Nobody can give you a straight answer, and most state and county employees don't even care if they give you the right information or not. The first thing I had to do was secure food/shelter and insurance. After a lot of research I found I could qualify for the SDI (State Disability) Insurance program. Then next month I will start receiving a monthly stipend from Social Security. My next biggest challenge was insurance--keep COBRA at the whopping charge of $359 a month? Or rely on Medi-Cal? With Medi-Cal's cutbacks, the latter was a risky probability, and the former would bankrupt me of my severance pay in short order. Again, research, research, research... after talking to 10 people over the course of November, December and January I discovered a state program called HIPP (Health Insurance Premium Payment). I just finished doing the paperwork for that, and now the State of California is paying my COBRA premiums. So, another few months I can survive the cruel, cruel world. All this and a roommate, and I'm fairly well set till the SDI runs out at the end of November 2003.Taking advantage of the generously provided time-off, courtesy of Brian Potter, Glenn Castan and the late, not-lamented Carl Glaser, I've started taking classes in things that interest me. This month, it's screenplay writing. Next month, nonfiction book writing and Arabic. After that, probably some technical stuff--tech writing/web editing/JAVA, and things that might lead me to something new and exciting. Or at least, not old and boring. It's kind of like being dumped by one's spouse of 12 years: one can either mope around home in one's jammies, or dress up and hit the singles bars looking for something better! I choose the latter--but in my own way. Things look hopeful, but as always there may be some disaster lurking right around the corner. Or, some stupendous success. Only time, and God, will reveal the truth.