Lol I saw that on CNN too! Brilliance I say brilliance!

Two minutes you say to write all that? I like the greeting card future part! LOL Blessings Always, Leslie Irene :)

Yes, it's kind of like saying "we didn't mean what we said last time but this time we really do!" or ye olde "trust me!" Flyers AND bombs together...how quaint. The friendly fire incidents are alarming and doesn't it seem that it's always the Americans who shoot their allies? I never hear of Brits (or Canadians) bombing Americans.

haha oh no, it was 2 minutes of staring at a blank screen before I gave up and then ended up writing that after!

do you like how Jimmy Kimmel is totally talking to Mike Tyson with the voice inflection usually reserved for a three year old...where it starts kinda soft then rises up at the end? like ..you aren't going to hit meEE AREE YOUUUU? did you lIIKKE Mr. ROOOGERRS? <br>too funny.

Oh man totally, I was thinking that as I watched it. It's so painful, so so painful. I thought the week with Don King co-hosting was bad, but at least he seemed somewhat lucid.

"'I won't sleep with other people again,' etc. . . ." Gee, I could sure use a card like that.

i'd have liked to have seen that brochure. hehe

andrew: Everyone has an opinion...the cool thing is that we can express it without fear of being thrown in prison!!!! I am against the war in Iraq, but I want the Iraqi people to have the same rights of expression we have, especially the women! Anyway, isn't it the Chinese who have a saying/curse "May you live in interesting times." Is it spring in Canada yet? Is it spring in the world yet? Your diary entry really made my day. Thanks!!!!!!!1

2 minutes sitting at your computer trying to think of something to write, and nothing came to mind? Sure is a whole lot of "nothing" that you wrote there.

Deanna, if you want the women of Iraq to have the same freedom as us, then you how can you say you're against the war in Iraq? Do you even have a real opinion, or did you adopt what you think is the "right" opinion? What you said is a cop-out. You either support Bush or you don't. You either want something to be done about the oppressed women and the entire horribly mistreated population of Iraq, or you'd rather nothing was done. Sure, many civilians will die, and so will many of the coalition forces. The price needs to be paid for the Iraqi people to enjoy what we enjoy every day - freedom. Anyone who goes out and protests the war, whatever their logic, are being somewhat hypocritical. The only reason you HAVE the right to say what you think about it is BECAUSE of war. It's a shit in the grave of all those who died for us. That's just my opinion, and I have the right to it - because my grandfathers, many great uncles, and many brave people fought for me to.

Dude. I hate this is turning into a debate entry. But yeah, like seeing an "Michael Moore is an idiot!" banner is going to make me change my mind. Woo! Hey it worked for cereal and toy cartoons in saturday morning now, didn't it? But Deanna - have you ever talked to an Iraqi? Known someone who's been their doind aid work or simply to find out more about them? Because I do know a couple of Iraqi immigrant families and people who've been there first hand. I'm likely to take their opinion on the war first. Everyone wants to see crazy ol' Saddam gone, and everyone wants to give Iraqi's a freer life, but why did we wait so long? Why did we impose the sanctions doing sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much more harm than good? It's all fishy. It's HOW this war is going about that is sketchy, not just the concepts we hope to achieve. Yeah, bomb a country so we can liberate them. So says the all knowing Onion, "Dead Iraqi Would Have Loved Democracy" Out of my way! Anyone know where I can get a Freedom Maid costume? yuk yuk yuk

i swear i did not type my name as jill. i am let's say, "kathy" i do not know what happened.

Why wait for military flyer-fighters to go into the greeting-card business? With cards like "I will not sleep with other people again", you could do pretty well at Hallmark yourself ;)

Dude, Andrew, I want to apologize for getting my underoos in a bunch and only fueling debate. I still don't know why it put my name as the previous person (Jill) even though I was responding to her. Weird. But yeah, when I see comments or political stuff I get this need to respond and not restrain myself from trying to explain. I just forget that, um, I'm doing it in some dude's diary! Yeah, so sorry and stuff. Yo dude, I'm turning into Randy from American Idol, dawg. I will shut up now. I'm loony from working on a research paper.

same here, can't help myself when it comes to debate about the war. Kathy, your opinion is your opinion, that's fine (just don't steal my name again lol) as for the why now and the "fishy" and "sketchy" aspects - who cares? the fact that saddam has been ruling that country in the most brutal way possible for 23 years is reason enough for me to have this war. who cares why it took so long if it's getting done now? I do know some Iraqi immigrants, as a matter of fact, I'm from Canada, we're super multicultural, white people are practically the minority around my area. They're just glad to see that a brutal dictator is getting his just dessert.

You know what else was brutal? Apartheide in South Africa...good thing the US was their with their 3-million $ grenades to blast the country into peace and fairness. Oh wait, that didn't happen. And yet, the tables there seem to have turned. I'm sure every Iraqi citizen has just been longing for the Almighty United States to rush in with their tanks and bombs to save the day. Wouldn't anyone want to spend their day fearing for their lives and hanging out in bomb shelters? I mean this war, which the average Iraqi citizens had no choice in whatsoever is being fought for their own freedom. Please excuse the sarcasm in this post. Like some others here, this is a topic which invokes strong emotions in me. Basically what I want to say here is: WAR IS NOT THE ONLY SOLUTION.

Yeah, just answering eanna's question from before - ie, the "is it spring anywherein the world?" question. (Yeah, I know it was asked ages ago, but I don't feel qualified to write a comment about anything else here...well, I could, I'd just come out looking like a real idiot, but you get that) Anywhoo, I'd just like to say that it is now officially autumn here (Australia etc) and it's pretty shit 'cos it gets really humid after it rains (and it's evil 'cos my hair does the fuzzball thing) But it's pretty mad when it's actually raining (there's that funky rain smell for one thing) I just don't agree with war as a general thing, and I hate to say this, but what right do we (ie the countries involved/sending troops in) have to go nto a country and interfere with it's political structure? And yes, I know saddam's a shit, but can't you just hire an ANONYMOUS assassin and whack the guy instead of tramping in there, as subtle as a falling piano (or bomb...sorry, but it has to be said) and killing other people, innocent people who have nothing to do with the whole situation, when it's really just the shits in charge that are the problem. Same thing could be said of how the U.S. went in to Afghanistan after 9-11 (although they did have a point) Anyway, that's all I have to say for now

well, it's illegal to assisinate a country's leader. not that the us didn't try, but when it failed, it made a big point about how it was going to go through a liberate the iraqis. granted, that current method is also illegal, but who's counting?

I think they'd LOVE to assassinate him, but life is not a spy movie, it's not that easy. Imagine it in reverse, imagine a foreign country trying to assassinate GWB covertly, imagine how hard that'd be to do, well it's just as hard to get to highly protected leaders anywhere, like saddam.

erm. what Felicity said. I'm really getting exhaused trying to organize my beliefs on this issue into neat, structured little sentances, so I decided to borrow the words of others. (They're probably more eloquent than anything I can muster up) Yes. A dlander confesses she can't write. heh. Anywho, I leave you with my new favorite quote: "Loyalty to the government only when it deserves it." - Mark Twain

ok. andrew?

Hey, Felicity? If you don't think war is a solution, then why don't you give me one that hasn't been tried in the past TWELVE YEARS to create peace with Iraq. Come on, let me hear it, b/c I'd really love to know what you've come up with that the united states government hasn't yet...

mel? what?

I agree with Jodi...we've tried other things, THEY HAVEN'T WORKED! we gave peace a chance 12 years ago after the gulf war, and for the past 12 years saddam has ducked and hidden, lied and manipulated, murdered and tortured, and basically gave people reason to believe that he was the devil's gay lover. He's been playing games for 12 years, been being a rotten bastard for the 23 years with his regime, and it's time somebody with some guts did something to change that. Peaceniks worldwide say that it could've been done another way, how, with the UN's help? never, because the UN is and has been exposed as being ineffective. I wish my country's leader was any bit as ballsy as Bush (he may not be on the frontline but he made a decision involving a lot of risk). He's actually BEING a LEADER. I respect that.

furthermore, you'll thank him when you still enjoy freedom in 40 years, and listen to your grandchildren spout off their opinions on goverment without getting shot.

Jodi: I recommend massive humanitarian aid campaigns. The military budget is pretty large, maybe they could hold a bake sale or send little kids trick-or-treating the Pentagon and send some money to help feed, clothe, house and educate those in third world countries. Now, this wouldn't have the immediate effect of getting rid of Saddam Hussein, but it would improve people's lives. Saddam Hussein will die someday, and with the educated and well fed populace, maybe they could start their own revolution. Hey, like we did! You know how grateful we are to France for all the ... well. Ok, nevermind.

Uhh, the USA did send humanitarian aid to iraq for 10 years, that is well documented. Equally undisputed: none of it got to the people thanks to the government taking it all. Would your argument in 1936 have been "hitler will die one day"?

And I'd also like to comment on whether or not I'll be grateful in 40 years, when I'm still enjoying my freedom. I don't believe that my freedom is at risk from any force outside the government. We have a lot of military power -- not a bad thing unless we use it recklessly. The chances of any terrorist organization or of any members of the "Axis of Evil" being able to seriously threaten us are slim to none. I consider that the only viable way for my freedoms to be in denigrated is for them to be removed by the government in the name of "homeland security." This talk about the threat of weapons of mass destruction is nonsense -- it sometimes amazes me how people can talk about September 11th as the proof that there's a threat and then mention turn right around and talk about the necessity of removing all WMDs from the hands of those who don't like us. The only significant "attack on America" was accomplished with box cutters. So what are we to do now, ban steak knives, guns, knitting needles, scissors? (every tool is a weapon if you hold it right) When Saddam Hussein is dead, I will feel no safer, and considerably less innocent. If I'm ever a grandmother, I will sit my grandchildren down and tell them ever to be wary of the kind of rabid nationalism that I have seen displayed in support of this war. (not, allow me to note, specifically by any of you)

Well Emma, I'm glad that you, personally, are enjoying such freedom. How nice that you protest the war in Iraq because you don't want innocent people to suffer. No need to take out Saddam, you're right, he will die someday. And then his sons will carry on with his sick and criminal regime. The people of Iraq will always suffer, but that's okay because there's no direct threat to us, we're safe in North America. As long as WE'RE not causing the suffering, who cares? Double-standards. That's all the peace promoters have been able to offer me. Jon, thank you for stating the point so well - saddam IS comparable to hitler, and should be dealt with.

Also Jon, I enjoyed your comment about how life is not a spy movie....do people honestly believe nobody ever THOUGHT of assassinating Saddam? I also wanted to say that I actually thought Emma's first post was a bloody JOKE! bake sales and trick or treating are supposed to save Iraq's people? wait, that IS a joke. Have you seen Saddam's many palaces? He doesn't let anything through to his people. Starving, oppressed people are easier to control!!!

we may not be able to avoid "box cutter" tragedies, but why leave weapons that can kill thousands of people at once in the wrong hands? just because it's possible for any tool to become a weapon if it's held right, doesn't mean we should just give up, throw our hands up in the air and say "oh well, they could kill us with tweezers if they don't have the nukes, might as well let them keep their toys!" that's just crazy!

(we sent a little. I said MASSIVE. I believe some portion of it did reach the people -- a marvel of trickle down economics.) as to your tossing around of the whole "Saddam is Hitler for the Middle East" : that's a lot of nonsense. Germany had much more military power, particularly in comparison to the US. Furthermore, Hitler was clearly on the war path. The US and Britain in no way started WW2 -- we attacked because he invaded Poland and was going for more. When Saddam Hussein has invaded Turkey and seems to have no intention of stopping there, then we have a just war. So far as historical parallels, Hitler is as similar to President Bush as Hussein, in that Hitler used fear of terrorism to gain popularity (before he had been viewed as someone not smart enough to run a country -- someone who saw the world in black and white terms and wasn't capable enough with language to impress). I don't think that there is another Hitler in the world -- in part because to succeed with that evil on that large a scale, it's best to change tactics so the good men don't get suspicious and do something. On to the next point: my supposed lack of concern for the people of Iraq. I'm guessing on this point the issue is that fact that I don't trust the US government much farther than I can throw them. They do all kinds of silly stuff - propping Saddam Hussein is one of the more revelant - and I dislike it very much when they take military action anywhere, particularly when they do it without the full support of the international community, which in general I trust a few inches farther than I can lob them. I don't take it on anything like faith that they will not harm the Iraqi people if it suits their purposes. Given that: my original post was intended to encourage people to think about not just slapping flag decals on their cars (or going to protest marches) and writing letters, but to actually give whatever money or other support that they can for those who are not only not FREE, but are not FED. I don't pretend to any great virtue on this score, but at least I can write comments about it. (and for those watching at home, yes that was a rather poor joke, legitimately at my expense. or not)

The "start-up cost" for war with Iraq is approximately 75 billion dollars. That is more than the budget of my country, Canada, for an entire year. Perhaps one active, non-violent way of weakening Saddam's brutal dictatorship while simultaneously improving the Iraqi citizens' lives would be to invest this money in food, medicine and supplies. People in Iraq are dying from preventable causes because due to the sanctions we imposed on them, the required medicines for their illnesses cannot be imported. Supplies are just one suggestion. With 75 billion dollars, you can do a lot.

y'all make me laugh.

"Normal" is a word for people who are afraid to be alive. I plan to run PEACE banners ASAP!

Iraq doesn't have an airforce... heh, that's why no planes have flew since the beginning of the war. Wink Wink. :)

i like you. and i am very drunk right now. ok??? hey andrew!!! i gotta tell you something when i talk to yuo next

wait! you cancome over for dinner if you like. ok i sttop now... is that you in my bed asleep? shh dont tell mum ok??

one last thing. jalepenons hurt when rubbed into your eye :(.

you know what i'm saying. andrew???!?!

Jalapenos DO hurt when you rub them in your eyes! lol

I'm trying colloidal silver to cure my sinusitis and bronchitis. Gonna pick some up at the health food store today! YAY FOR SELF MEDICATING!

All I have to say for now is what in the he** are those fools in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco thinking? Ok, I understand free speech. Yay, I'm for that as well. But, for goodness sake, if you want peace, be peaceful. Have a nice candlelight vigil or something. Not a freakin' show or riot! okie. That's Tam's wise advice of the day. I'm done.

Not to distract from the *fascinating* war obsession, but I'm finding the Spring discussion more interesting. So it's *autumn* in the southern hemisphere, huh? There's an interesting idea. Meanwhile, here in Arizona, Spring is nearly over--it only lasts for two or three weeks, and then it's five or six months of summer. Neat, huh?

La La La La. I think everyone in here needs a breather. Go outside, walk around, and take a deep breath. The battle belongs to the Lord. Dude, my CD is skipping. Ok, thats all. La La La.

did anybody see Ripley's last night? the Silver Lady? yikes! I missed it, and by some freaky coincidence, decided to try colloidal silver today! but now that I've bought it, I'm scared to use it! the tiny flakes of silver get into your skin after prolonged use, and make your skin look dead and grey! I didn't plan on using it for a "prolonged" period of time, but why risk it at all? scary stuff!

and yes, even I have tired of the war talk, but still don't find the spring talk all that *fascinating*.

so i will will just vent how i dropped all my chocolate covered peanuts on the kitchen floor. i dropped them! all of them! this makes me sad.

This war/covered peanuts/Jimmy Kimmel business is about enough to make me want to rub some jalapenos in my eyes.

Gee, I agree with both Jill AND Kathy. I would only be afraid if I were absolutely certain I had the final, right opinion on Iraq. Spring starts in your heart.

Andrew, Please don't boot me off your list for being a fomenter of dissension.

Andrew, if you can't think of what to write for an entry, do a survey. Those are funny.

last night i dropped a whole jar of sliced black spanish olives on the floor.

holy hell, this comments thread is the funniest thing i've read in a while. i'm in nz and its autumn here too. yep. just to add to the season discussion.

I saw that flyer thingie too! pretty cool eh? Risky, but what else could they do huh? I like it.

The United States sent humanitarian aid to Iraq for 10 years? Sanctions aren't humanitarian aid. When we give money that is supposed to help people in need but the government hoards it, uses it to do bad things, and we continue this for more than a decade - isn't that called funding terrorism? It sure as hell isn't "humanitarian aid" when we KNOW the money is going in the wrong places. FYI go read this: <a href="http://thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1035780462384">http://thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1035780462384</a> If Iraq really does have weapons of mass destruction, don't you think Saddam would have deployed them by now? What's he waiting for? Baghdad is being bombed to bits and pieces. What else is there? Before the war started, there was no proof. Up until this very second, no biological or chemical weapons have been found. Not a single one. Nada. None. I'm really sorry to post this here Andrew, but I just can't let people make false claims. FYI on that link - at least it partly relates to you. Apparently in a 2002 poll, 38 percent of Americans said Canada should be annexed. HEH! Not all Americans are ignorant and self-serving. Some of us realize there are civilizations beyond. =) Ciao.

maybe.

I'm kinda tired of the war talk as well, but I have to throw in my two cents. I don't have all the answers; this is true. I DO know that people are dying in Iraq either way, whether we attack or not. These people are being terrorized by Saddam Hussein. I'd like to see the man die, not the people. And now, I'll hush. (I promise- no more war talk) Spring is here in West Virginia, and everything is blooming. Quite warm and beautiful! BTW, has anyone else noticed a decline in honeybees? My Spanish professor held class outside the other day, but unfortunately there were about six bumblebees who wanted to claim our patch of land!

I think "we won't put sanctions on the supplies necessary to desalinate water, killing half a million of your starving children" would have also had a nice ring to it. Another contender might be "we won't abandon our nation-building promises and bury news of your country on the third page of the living section once we get the oil infastructure rebuilt like we did in Afghanistan."

Are you single?

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