Fiasco @ MindSay 
1. We "stay the course". All evidence points to the fact that the situation in Iraq is deteriorating. Obviously a negative trend like the one we have seen indicates that current policy is not effective. So...
2. We send more troops. The potential problem with this solution is that it may exacerbate the situation. Currently, 90% of the Iraqi population want us gone, 80% think we are making the situation worse, and 60% believe it is acceptable to kill Americans. Will a larger American presence encourage the insurgency and jihadist elements in Iraq to cooperate more? With less infighting would there be more threat to American troops? Would escalating the number of troops simply result in more casualties, similar to the escalation in Vietnam? What about regional conflicts? Would Iran see an increase in American troops as a pretense to covertly prepare for invasion? Might they follow the (shameful) U.S. doctrine of preemptive strike? What about Syria or Hezbollah? Might they join in? Instead, perhaps those countries and organizations would simply increase their indirect support for insurgents, seeing an opportunity to weaken U.S. strength? Would the committment of more U.S. troops to this conflict embolden North Korea? How many deaths of American soldiers can we bear for a cause whose foundations are shaky at best, non-existent at worst.
3. We withdraw our troops. Although Iraq had no connections with jihadists before the war (One of Bin Laden's primary complaints with the U.S. was that American troops drove Iraqi troops out of Kuwait when he had asked his Saudi government to let him and his mujahideen soldiers do it. He hated the secular government of Saddam Hussein, and thought the use of infidels to fight them instead of his holy warriors was a disgrace to Islam) it has definitely become an active recruiting place for terror organizations. The Iraqi government is anything but stable. If we withdraw troops now, will Iraq become a haven for terror groups? Will sectarian strife result in perpetual civil war? Will a situation arise that causes other nations, such as Iran or Syria to step in? Will their influence in any new Iraqi state increase? Will Iraq over time return to totalitarianism, making our modest achievements empty? Would leaving such a mess cause more harm to our credibility on the international stage?
I don't have answers to many of these questions, and it makes it very difficult to take a decisive stand on what our solution should be. I'm not sure who could answer any of these questions or the many other important ones that I haven't listed. I hope there is someone qualified out there to provide at least some insight. My fear is that people, even those at the highest levels of decision making, are failing to even ask questions. I am afraid they are blindly following either a preconceived agenda or towing a party line. You may say, surely they are more thoughtful when so much is at stake. Don't bet on it. Take Representative Terry Everett. According to Jeff Stein, the national security editor at Congressional Quarterly, Everett- the seven-term Alabama Republican who is vice chairman of the House intelligence subcommittee on technical and tactical intelligence- when asked what the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite is, responded, "I honestly don't know. I think its a difference in their religions or families or something." U.S. Representative. Vice-Chairman of an intelligence sub-committee. Three and a half years into a war in Iraq, he still hasn't bothered to find out the difference between the two major sectarian groups. Or consider this:
Representative Jo Ann Davis, a Virginia Republican who heads a House intelligence subcommittee charged with overseeing the C.I.A.'s performance in recruiting Islamic spies and analyzing information, was similarly dumbfounded when asked if she knew the difference between Sunnis and Shiites.
But hey, look at their role-model. Bush had to have someone come in and explain the difference to him just before the invasion. After the first round of explanation, it was rumored that he was astonished and said, "I thought the Iraqis were muslim.""Do I?" she asked. A look of concentration came over her face. "You know, I should." She took a stab at it: "It's a difference in their fundamental religious beliefs. The Sunni are more radical than the Shia. Or vice versa. But I think it's the Sunnis who're more radical than the Shia."
Did she know which branch Al Qaeda's leaders follow?
"Al Qaeda is the one that's most radical, so I think they're Sunni," she replied. "I may be wrong, but I think that's right."
We know a lack of critical thinking and a personal priority of ideology over evidence helped get us into this mess. I don't fear terrorists. I fear incompetence. And with the same boobs in charge, I have little faith that more of the same will get us out.
The Southern Fried Skeptic.
Wow, it seems like I haven't written in a zillion years! I have so much to talk about it makes my fingers tired to think about it. Let's see...
1. Jared has strep throat. He has been pretty sick & missed school on Friday and will miss tomorrow too. He's been getting fevers and then he gets choked and vomits & it's just too much fun. I just love freaking strep throat. I can't wait to see who is next....ugh...
2. Will FINALLY pooped in the potty all by himself today! He's been pretty much pee trained to the potty since December/January. He knew he was supposed to poop in there too, but he refused. No matter how hard we tried to bribe him he wouldn't do it. But today he did it! We had a big dance and clappin party and let him pick whatever he wanted as a treat. He wanted a piece of cheese and a diet pepsi. Ok, whatever. I'm distraught to inform you that about two hours later he told me he had to poop, I put him on the potty, he said he didn't have to and then went outside and pooped in his pants. Oh well....small steps.
3. Jared's other frog disappeared today. I turned the light on in the aquarium and he was just gone. We took the whole thing apart, including the filter, and he just vaporized. We will probably find a dried up frog carcass later. He was only 1/2 inch long so it is nearly impossible to find him if he hopped out above the filter. Little sucker.
4. Had the day from hell yesterday. I told my friend about a GMC Jimmy that my brother was selling and we went up there to get it yesterday. My brother lives 1 1/2 hours north of me so it was quite a haul. Long story short...the thing started having some problems 15 mins after we left with it. My friend had a nervous breakdown, cried, vomited, shook, just the whole thing. My brother was willing to help her get it down here and pay to fix whatever was wrong...but she wasn't pleased. Thing is that when we got it back to him, it was fine. We hypothesize that there was some water in the gasoline she had just put in it because now it runs like a singer sewing machine. Go figure. But it made for a long day and an awkward position for me. I was soooo happy to get home! They are happy with the thing now and she is sorry for freaking out on my brother. Ugh!
5. Only like a week and we will be going to San Diego! We are really excited and looking forward to the trip. We have been reading up on the area and how, exactly, one goes about going to Tijuana. I read a whole article on how to haggle with a Tijuana shopkeeper, what to do and not to do, and all about the bull fights. I don't think I want to go to a bullfight. That sounds really grody....they really kill the bull! Neh....I'll pass. Apparently you just get to the border and then walk on in like it's an amusement park. Getting back is another matter and can take a few hours. I don't know if we will go or not. I'm a bit chicken.
7. As for me? I'm doing fine. The past few days have been pretty decent (with exception of the fiasco yesterday). I spent the day with my neighbor earlier in the week and it didn't bother me as badly to see her being pregnant. Got an email today from friends of the family and they had a baby last week. They had included some pictures of him and that didn't bother me either. And I'm happy to report that the nice young woman from church who has suffered from infertility for years found out she was pregnant today! I was ecstatic for her. She has been such a source of comfort for me, despite her own problems. How could I not be happy?! So it's getting easier and that is good. It's just a process that one has to go through.
Well it's about time for bed. Jared is still up and watching TV (he had a huge nap this afternoon) and he needs to go too. Hope you all have a great evening!
Safeway Disaster of the Week:
I work as a checker at Safeway, and I seem to significantly injure myself or groceries at least once a week. So here's this week's fiasco.
My shift was almost over, and I couldn't wait to get home. While I was checking a large order, a large block of ice in a plastic bag came up on the conveyer belt. I thought it was interesting, since I had never seen a block of ice at our store before. But it had a barcode on it, so I grasped the bagged block of ice to scan it.
My hand felt like it caught fire.
I dropped the block of ice onto the counter, and I felt like I had a serious burn on my hand. "Oh," said my customer, "that's DRY ICE."
I couldn't move my fingers, and tears welled up in my eyes. If anyone's been "burned" aka frozen by nitrogen before, you know what it feels like. I have a scar on my stomach from a previous incident.
Unfortunately, I was no where near the end of the order, so I sucked it up and kept checking, chocking back tears.
The skin on my fingers still feels like it's dead, five hours later.
I had a sucky supper.. first I decided to make mac/cheese and it was the kind with the sauce in the pack.. creamy shells and I ground up some beef and the cheese came out in weird clumps and wouldnt mix..finally it was semi mixed and i tasted it, yuk......Took another taste hoping it really wasnt that bad
Nope..still sucky so I gave it to the dogs..they ate it all and I proceed to boil elbows now and I had left a little bit of ground beef in the fry pan, so warmed up sauce while they were boiling, drained.. mixed... sprinkled cheese, popped 2 pcs texas toast garlic in the toaster oven... took a bite, and was like...bleh.. while it tasted ok, it was like.. BLEH.. so i go get my garlic toast out, its only been in there 4 minutes supposed to be 7 min.... they are nicely rounded out in black crust now .............. I think I should just go get in my car and drive to DQ for a HUGE fudge sundae...