A man walks into the dentist's office and after the dentist examines him, he says, "that tooth has to come out. I'm going to give you a shot of Novocain and I'll be back in a few minutes."

The man grabs the doc's arm, "no way. I hate needles I'm not having any shot!" So the dentist says, "okay, we'll have to go with the gas."

The man replies, "absolutely not. It makes me very sick for a couple of days. I'm not having gas."

So the dentist steps out and comes back with a glass of water, "here," he says. "Take this pill."

The man asks "What is it?"

The doc replies, "Viagra." The man looks surprised, "will that kill the pain?" he asks.

"No," replies the dentist, "but it will give you something to hang on to while I pull your tooth!"

Just thought I would share this. It means a lot to me.

Some jokes that can't be posted in chat, copied from a posting in another venue:

Have you ever spoken and wished that you could immediately take the words back....or that you could crawl into a hole? Here are the testimonials of a few people who did. ...

I walked into a hair salon with my husband and three kids in tow and asked loudly, "How much do you charge for a shampoo and a blow job?" I turned around and walked back out and never went back. My husband didn't say a word he knew better.

I was at the golf store comparing different kinds of golf balls. I was unhappy with the women's type I had been using. After browsing for several minutes, I was approached by one of the good-looking gentlemen who works at the store. He asked if he could help me. Without thinking, I looked at him and said, "I think I like playing with men's balls."

My sister and I were at the mall and passed by a store that sold a variety of candy and nuts. As we were looking at the display case, the boy behind the counter asked if we needed any help. I replied, "No, I'm just looking at your nuts." My sister started to laugh hysterically, the boy grinned, and I turned beet-red and walked away. To this day, my sister has never let me forget.

For anyone interested, this is a non-partisan site that checks and reports their findings on the claims made by politicians. SpinSanity

Jay said:

Hate leads to a life of NOTHING... A life....A life that would never amount to anything. I can't think of anything else that is not religious in nature....and I am not OCHGOT's favorite person right now so I don't want to risk her sending the Calvary out to NJ with 1 million billion [THWACK!]o'matic machines....That would be painful. So if you want you can email me and we can discuss...


My experience with religion is that they all *preach* love but very few practice it. "Love Thy Neighbor.... unless he's a homosexual, a pro-choice liberal or one of those godless heathen (insert non-Christian faith here) scum."

I may just start my own religion - one without any commandments except for the Golden Rule.

Favorite Blog...
Honorable Mention

OK, it's been a while. I'm still trying to balance my life, but I thought I'd take a moment to pass along some good reading.

well in a vain attempt to say something interesting and witty.....



nope can't be arsed ;)

I remember the first time I rode my first bike.
I felt really odd without the seatbelt ;)



>>He didn't write it here; he wrote it in the forum. Since my reply was political in nature, I put it here. Clear now? :-)
Ah everything becomes clear. ;)

RE: riding without a 'lid' ...
I don't even like to ride my bicycle without a 'brain bucket. Started using one to set a good example for my daughter, but now I feel naked without it.

He didn't write it here; he wrote it in the forum. Since my reply was political in nature, I put it here. Clear now? :-)

to be honest I don't have a problem with certain people not wearing helmets, I think of it as evolution in action. ;)


I been knocked off a few times and my lid has been pretty destroyed both times.

I don't like the idea of wearing anything but a full face lid. (Aria Quatum F is my current one)


Marcus

currently has a Honda VTR1000F going to be buying a Suzuki TL1000s next weekend I think.
proper V-Twins ;)

ps where did Lance write that, I can't see it in the blogger?

Lance R. wrote:
What I don't understand is why they pass seatbelt laws but don't make you wear a helmet riding a motorcycle. Go figger.

But the same people who oppose helmet laws on grounds of 'personal freedom' oppose legalizing marijuana because (irony alert!!) "it causes brain damage, you know."

Doug,

Not as heavy or loud but more political.

I think play more music is probably the best album
You Suck (very funny and about sexual polictics, well almost )

but business of punishment has some really good tracks as well
Butyric Acid a pro choice track
Dog & Pony Show about the music industry.

http://www.consolidatedmusic.org/

Marcus

No, I haven't heard of them. I'll check 'em out. Are they anything like Rage Against the Machine?


Yeah, I hope so too.... I'd really like to have my life back. :(

Doug

Doug,

You heard any Consolidated?

Very anti fascism of any kind not just American (new or old).


hope you sort your problems out.

Marcus

Ben.

Restrained. urm well the one in the forum got edited many times before I posted it. And the one in here, I had calmed down a bit ;)
But he does seem to type without thinking at times.


So you don't want to know about Eddie and Lillith getting together then? ;)


you having fun?

Marcus

Marcus Cooper said:
> Has no one posted anything in here since the 13th?

Hard to believe, isn't it? I've decided that the Good Fight against the New American Fascism will have to get along without me for a while; I've got bigger problems right now.
So I'm stepping off the soapbox. Enjoy!

Has no one posted anything in here since the 13th?

Doesn't look like it, does it? Ah well.

Urm well I was planning posting how much I hate people who post spoilers about Buffy and Angel in NCCI without giving me some sort of warning etc.

Ah, well, if it were something I watched I'd probably not be as restrained as you were... *grin* So anybody posting Frasier spoilers gets growled at. Nyah.

Has no one posted anything in here since the 13th?


Urm well I was planning posting how much I hate people who post spoilers about Buffy and Angel in NCCI without giving me some sort of warning etc.

But just going to block anything else that Jay posts now.

I'm being very good and not calling him a tosser, f*ckwit or anything else that spring to mind.

Good thing he caught me on a good day.

In case anyone thinks I'm being harsh or even silly to get worked up over TV show. I did ask him nicely the last time he did this. And yes you are quite correct about the silly.

Only an hour until home time and getting back on my bike (hurray)

Marcus

Molly Ivins: Yes, Virginia, the idea of a lying government is serious
- - quote - -
But the weirdest media reaction of all is to the ongoing non-appearance of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. More and more stories quoting ever-unnamed administration officials appear saying that the administration would be "amazed if we found weapons-grade plutonium or uranium" and that finding large volumes of chemical or biological material is "unlikely."

Look, if there are no WMDs in Iraq, it means either our government lied us to us in order to get us into an unnecessary war or the government itself was disastrously misinformed by an incompetent intelligence apparatus. In either case, it's a terribly serious situation.
- -unquote- -

>> my work pays for my insurance and my insurance pays
>> for most of everything else...

> Good luck if you're out of work at all, then.
>> however, I note that you *are* paying thru the nose
>> if you have a 40% tax rate + national health

>... which also pays for schools, universities, transport,
> offices for MPs (uhm...), well quite. So your argument is
> that we pay 1% more tax at the highest rate, yet don't
> have to worry about insurance? *grin*

> But seriously, I wish people would cut the NHS some
> slack. Just because Mr. Francis has had some problems,
> doesn't mean the rest of us are treated at all badly.
> Their treatment of my eye, and my father's illness, and
> anything else we've had to have dealt with has never
> been anything but exemplary.

Forgive my countrymen, Ben. They've been brainwashed into believing that the US healthcare system is the best in the world (like everything else about Our Fair Nation), and are impervious to any and all facts that suggest otherwise.

Appearing in Uniform is Not Unusual for Dynamic Leaders

I gotta post this in its entirety. It's too good for an excerpt. It came from Buzzflash.
George W. Bush has a simple public relations plan.

First, box up all the lies, the disdain for working Americans, and the sneering contempt for anything or anyone who is not utterly white, utterly straight, and utterly Christian. Speak of freedom abroad while you strip it away at home. Rule your country by executive fiat rather than the consent of the governed.

Second, appeal to people's most base prejudices and fears. Tell them that the threat from unseen enemies is imminent, and permanent.

Third, fabricate a war and send America's finest young men and women to do what you would not do -- fight for your country.

Fourth, alter the tax code to elevate those at your economic level and step on the neck of those who pay the nation's bills.

Take all of this -- the unending lie, the attitude of a bully taunting little kids while his rich daddy stands behind him, and the gun you'll put to the head of anyone who crosses you.

Then wrap it all in the American flag.

Wear that flag on your lapel. Make sure it's waving close by whenever you stand at another microphone and lie straight faced to a room full of people who believe they can trust you.

Always make sure that the flag is the message. Don't give people time to think about the nation you're leading to chaos and economic collapse.

Don't let people know that while you speak longingly of God, you espouse repressive religious bigotry and seek freedom of religious expression for the Christian right and them alone.

Don't give people the chance to think. Keep them busy with symbols and religious bromides and non-stop incessant blather about how God loves us above all other nations.

Continue to talk of patriotism and sacrifice (not your sacrifice, of course, but theirs) long enough and pretty soon people may even believe that the loss of their job was a patriotic act.

The greatest threat to George W. Bush is not the soft and spineless Democratic Party. It's a populace that may one day decide to wake up. It's a populace that one morning may look at his juvenile sneer, the flag on his lapel, and their own empty economic future, and utter the one word that brings them back to their senses.

"Bullshit!"

Bill Chickering
White Bear Lake, MN

You mean like what they did to George H.W. Bush's father, Prescott Bush?

I liked Roosevelt's and Truman's ideas on what to do with WW2 war-profiteers. Firstly, they considered it treasonous, secondly, they taxed them at 90%.

In 2004, Vote Your Pocketbook!
This chart shows the budget deficit/surplus since 1989. This one shows the unemployment rate over the same period.
Still think Republican Presidents are good for the economy?
Then I've got something to sell you.

Here's a new twist: US Officials Say Canada Cares Too Much About Freedom
- - quote - -
The State Department report on global terrorism for 2002 suggests that while Canada has been helpful in the fight against terrorism, it doesn't spend enough on policing and places too much emphasis on civil liberties.

Gee, imagine living in a country that values the privacy rights of its citizens....

It's no wonder Bechtel was awarded the Iraq reconstruction contract - it has lots of experience in the region.

Marcus:
Surprised - no. Outraged - yes.
I've gone past the point of being surprised by anything this administration does. What surprises (and terrifies) me is that they seem to be getting away with destroying everything that made America great.

Well is anyone surprised that the British and US government have lied about this?

I'm not.


On a more light hearted note a friend of mine (Pete Dumont) shows me his copy the Gastromonic (urm french book about food)
The entries for the Uk and US are very funny, ie a small village in France gets tens to a hundred pages in it, whereas Uk and US get a paragraph. ;)


Marcus

All's Well That Ends Well ???
Turns out the Bush administration made some strategic exaggerations in its campaign to build support for war on Iraq. So we got rid of Saddam Hussein. Does that make it okay that our government lied to us about the justification for war?
Paul Krugman of the New York Times has more on this subject.
- - quote - -
Does it matter that we were misled into war? Some people say that it doesn't: we won, and the Iraqi people have been freed. But we ought to ask some hard questions — not just about Iraq, but about ourselves.

First, why is our compassion so selective? In 2001 the World Health Organization — the same organization we now count on to protect us from SARS — called for a program to fight infectious diseases in poor countries, arguing that it would save the lives of millions of people every year. The U.S. share of the expenses would have been about $10 billion per year — a small fraction of what we will spend on war and occupation. Yet the Bush administration contemptuously dismissed the proposal.

Or consider one of America's first major postwar acts of diplomacy: blocking a plan to send U.N. peacekeepers to Ivory Coast (a former French colony) to enforce a truce in a vicious civil war. The U.S. complains that it will cost too much. And that must be true — we wouldn't let innocent people die just to spite the French, would we?

So it seems that our deep concern for the Iraqi people doesn't extend to suffering people elsewhere. I guess it's just a matter of emphasis. A cynic might point out, however, that saving lives peacefully doesn't offer any occasion to stage a victory parade.

Meanwhile, aren't the leaders of a democratic nation supposed to tell their citizens the truth?
- -unquote- -

hiya doug.

well being a Dead Kennedys fan for a while did help me to get to it. ;)

have fun

Marcus

Those Classy Bush Administration Officials
Reported on Salon.com:
[talking about the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner] "...No one, it seems, was in much of a clowning mood. Take the exchange we heard about between comedian/smartass Al Franken and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz:

Franken: "Clinton's military did pretty well in Iraq, huh?"

Wolfowitz: "Fuck you."

Great quote from RackJite's Conservatively Incorrect
"There are two kinds of conservatives; those who don't got it and blame liberals and minorities for it, and those who got it and care only about keeping it that way." - Rack Jite

The Dixie Chicks are fighting back!
They may have taken heart from the fact that their new CD is still #1 on the country music charts, despite a Clear Channel-orchestrated boycott that's being supported by mouth-breathers nationwide. I wonder how many of them bought a Dixie Chicks CD specifically to smash it.

Welcome aboard, Marcus! I like that link. Have to add it to my Great Big List 'o' Political Bookmarks.

To firmly post my feeling to the wall (and test this)

http://www.alternativetentacles.com/

ah damn it's raining.

Just to refresh everyone's memory, here's a profile of our illustrious Attorney General, courtesy of 'The Daily Rotten'.
- - quote - -
With all these powers, you would think that Ashcroft would have a long list of convictions to brag about, but no such luck. Americans have yet to see a single conviction in a U.S. court for any crime directly related to the Sept. 11 attack. They nailed one guy for selling false ID's to the hijackers, but he pleaded guilty. Crazy shoe bomber Richard Reid pleaded guilty.

Ashcroft has yet to even convict "20th hijacker" and raving lunatic Zacarias Moussaoui, who is representing himself. Moussaoui's court filings, handwritten on legal paper, tend to run along such lines as "Ashcroft must be sent to Alexandria jail so I can torture him. After all torture is now part of the American way of life," complaints about his lack of Internet access and requests to travel abroad in search of evidence which will exonerate him.

Moussaoui's trial has been indefinitely postponed because the defendent called witnesses who are currently being held incommunicado and without charge by the federal government, which doesn't want to cough them up.

John Ashcroft may be one hell of a singer, but he's been legally outmanuevered by a madman with virtually no knowledge of the U.S. justice system -- even as Ashcroft is angling to ask for an incease in his already unprecedented power to subvert due process and constitutional protections. What's wrong with this picture?
- -unquote- -

YESS!!! Re-Elect Bill Clinton!
It appears that someone in Congress feels that the 22nd Amendment (which prevents anyone from serving more than two terms as President) is an idea whose time has passed.
I suspect their thinking is that they've had so much success with the current 'Puppet POTUS', they're probably planning to install Ronald Reagan as permanent figurehead President.

Looks like the head of the BBC doesn't think much of US war reporting.
- - quote - -
Mr Dyke revealed there had been a huge increase in demand for BBC news in the US since September 11, saying this reflected "concerns about the US broadcasting news media".

"Many US networks wrapped themselves in the American flag and swapped impartiality for patriotism. What's becoming clear is that those networks may have misjudged some of their audience.

"Far from wanting a narrow, pro-American agenda, there is a real appetite in the US for the BBC's balanced, objective approach."
- -unquote- -

Great Letter in the Boston Globe: 'Seven Questions for Americans'
- - quote - -
6. How much truth would you need to know about cluster bombs, depleted uranium, and war profiteers to become outraged against this planned series of invasions?
a. I'm not listening, pass the Prozac.
b. Stop saying that, it hurts too much.
c. What is truth?
7. What most closely matched your definition of fairness?
a. Anything that benefits me or my country is fair.
b. Different rules for superpowers.
c. People over profit, everyone has the right to be healthy and alive.
- -unquote- -

Why do I get the impression that most people would answer (a) to question 7?

It's official: the GOP has no shame.
The Republican national convention in 2004 is expected to take place in September - far later in the year than ever before. The obvious reason for this is to piggyback on events commemorating the September 11th terrorist attacks.

Just when you think the right can't get any more slimy and conniving, they find a new low.

Bob Herbert of the NY Times agrees with what I've been saying about the spoils of war.

- - excerpt - -
When the George Bushes and the George Shultzes were banging the drums for war with Iraq, we didn't hear one word from them about the benefits that would be accruing to corporate behemoths like Bechtel. And we didn't pay much attention to the grotesque conflict of interest engaged in by corporate titans and their government cronies who were pushing young American men and women into the flames of a war that ultimately would pour billions of dollars into a very select group of corporate coffers.
- -unquote- -

Thoughts on postwar Iraq: Do we want to be liked or respected?
- - quote - -
We can install a pro-America government in Iraq, as we did in Iran for many years, but it won't be a popular one. Or we can install a popular one, but it will almost certainly be hostile to American interests. Remember, even Turkey, which has been a key American ally for half a century, opposed American action in Iraq by about 90%-10%.
- -unquote- -

And now, for a completely nonpolitical post!
You gotta feel sorry for this guy...

Try the Belief-o-Matic
Just answer a few questions to see how your religion suits you.

"How Free Are We?" - take this quiz from the ACLU.

Here's another article about Bush supporters & cronies who are in line to profit from rebuilding Iraq.

Well, the two biggest are Halliburton and The Carlyle Group, but here's a more comprehensive list.
And I don't think I said that they are "making money on the death of soldiers" - at least not in the sense that they profit directly from a soldier's death. It's my opinion that our soldiers gave their lives so that these companies could profit. Feel free to disbelieve - I'm sure it's easier to sleep nights if you can convince yourself that Dick & Dubya had Our Best Interests at heart when they decided to invade Iraq - way back BEFORE 9/11/01.

=========================

Doug, Give me an idea of what kinds of companies and products make money on the death of soldiers and citizens in time of war (besides gun companies).

=========================

A Modest Proposal: Corporate Profits for the Troops
- - quote - -
Ordinary citizens suspecting economic motives behind the Iraq war are told that the time has passed for debate, and it's now incumbent upon all patriots to fall in line behind the President and "support the troops!" But what about corporate citizens poised to profit from the sacrifices of our troops? Shouldn't it also be incumbent on them to support the troops?

I humbly propose the "Corporate Patriot Act," which would require all corporations financially benefiting directly or indirectly from the Iraq war to donate all profits to the families of the brave American troops who've made the supreme sacrifice, those troops injured or disabled as a result of the war, and lastly, the American taxpayers who've financed the war from our national treasury.

- -unquote- -

This sure sounds good to me! Why should corporations profit from the deaths of Iraqi civilians and US/UK soldiers?
They should be HAPPY to donate those profits to a charitable cause.

"Hummers" are Patriotic!
This NYTimes article tells how the war in Iraq has fueled (pun intended!) sales of the Hummer at home.

More food for thought...
...

Boondocks Cartoon

A WARMONGER EXPLAINS WAR TO A PEACENIK

- - - excerpt - - -
PeaceNik: So what are you saying? Why are we invading Iraq?

WarMonger: As I said, because there is a chance that they have weapons of mass destruction that threaten us and our allies.

PN: But the inspectors have not been able to find any such weapons.

WM: Iraq is obviously hiding them.

PN: You know this? How?

WM: Because we know they had the weapons ten years ago, and they are still unaccounted for.

PN: The weapons we sold them, you mean?

WM: Precisely.

PN: But I thought those biological and chemical weapons would degrade to an unusable state over ten years.

WM: But there is a chance that some have not degraded.

PN: So as long as there is even a small chance that such weapons exist, we must invade?

WM: Exactly.

PN: But North Korea actually has large amounts of usable chemical, biological, AND nuclear weapons, AND long range missiles that can reach the west coast AND it has expelled nuclear weapons inspectors, AND threatened to turn America into a sea of fire.

WM: That's a diplomatic issue.
- - - much more - - -

Double standard, Part II
Rush Limbaugh said yesterday:
"The people on the left hold a seething, deep seated hatred for Bush. This hatred has clouded their reasoning and altered their ability to think rationally and make responsible decisions."
IF that's true, how 'clouded' must Lardball's reasoning be after eight years of seething, deep seated hatred for Bill and Hillary Clinton? After all, Bill hasn't been President for two years and the reich, er, right wing still brings him up at every opportunity. It's pathological.

Tax cuts do NOT 'stimulate the economy'!
The GOP mantra is that tax cuts are good for the economy because businesses will invest their tax savings into growth.
If that's so, why does this chart show that business investment was *way* down during the Reagan-Bush I years? Any thoughts?

Personally, I think the best way to 'stimulate the economy' would be a sizeable tax cut for the middle class - because they'll spend their windfall instead of investing it in a Cayman Islands tax-shelter. We could pay for it by jacking up the tax rate for the richest 1% - you know, the ones that got most of the benefit of the last tax cut.

on edit... fairness requires that I change that statement to read "Tax cuts have not been shown to stimulate the economy.
:-)

Here's a somewhat similar story from a New Zealand news source: an Australian pilot refused to bomb targets that he were assigned to strike because he couldn't be sure that they were valid military targets.
- - quote - -
...the crew chose not to complete the mission because they could not positively identify the target," Defence Force spokesman Brigadier Mike Hannan said.

"The crew's decision reflects the ADF's strong commitment to the laws of armed conflict and its support of the Government's targeting policy, right down to the lowest levels."

The rules under which Australians are fighting in Iraq are governed by Australian and international law, the 1949 Geneva Convention, and additional 1977 protocols that the US has not signed.

A range of weapons in the American arsenal - such as landmines and cluster bombs - are banned by Australia, and Canberra has emphasised that its forces will refuse to attack civilian targets, including key bridges, dams and other vital infrastructure of the kind bombed by the US in the 1991 Gulf War.
- -unquote- -

I forgot that the US is one of the few nations that continues to use landmines.

I heard an interesting bit on the news. Two UK soldiers, from the Parachute Regiment, of all units, are being sent home to possibly face court martial for refusing to obey orders. They were concerned about killing civilians and inflicting unnecessary suffering and pain on noncombatants and having to follow unlawful orders. Although I would not recommend insubordination or mutiny as a course of action for any military personnel, one wonders about the horrors being inflicted if two members of the toughest and most aggressive unit in the UK Army feel strongly enough that they could face charges of insubordination, mutiny, treason, cowardice in the face of the enemy, or worse. Another thing to note, the Parachute Regiment was the unit involved in the Bloody Sunday incident in Northern Ireland thirty years ago, and the case was reopened for investigation.

Iraq War Quiz
Sample question:
3. The Bush administration has accused Saddam Hussein of lying regarding his weapons of mass destruction. Which of the following might be considered less than truthful?

a. Constant claims by the Bush administration that there was documentary evidence linking Iraq to attempted uranium purchases in Niger, despite the fact that the documents were forgeries and CIA analysts doubted their authenticity.

b. A British intelligence report on Iraq's security services that was in fact plagiarized, with selected modifications, from a student article.

c. The frequent citation of the incriminating testimony of Iraqi defector Hussein Kamel, while suppressing that part of the testimony in which Kamel stated that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction had been destroyed following the 1991 Gulf War.

d. All of the above.

Tragedy at Nasiriya
- - quote - -
Some 15 vehicles, including a minivan and a couple of trucks, blocked the road. They were riddled with bullet holes. Some had caught fire and turned into piles of black twisted metal. Others were still burning.

Amid the wreckage I counted 12 dead civilians, lying in the road or in nearby ditches. All had been trying to leave this southern town overnight, probably for fear of being killed by US helicopter attacks and heavy artillery.

Their mistake had been to flee over a bridge that is crucial to the coalition's supply lines and to run into a group of shell-shocked young American marines with orders to shoot anything that moved.

... A father, baby girl and boy lay in a shallow grave. On the bridge itself a dead Iraqi civilian lay next to the carcass of a donkey.

As I walked away, Lieutenant Matt Martin, whose third child, Isabella, was born while he was on board ship en route to the Gulf, appeared beside me.

"Did you see all that?" he asked, his eyes filled with tears. "Did you see that little baby girl? I carried her body and buried it as best I could but I had no time. It really gets to me to see children being killed like this, but we had no choice."

Martin's distress was in contrast to the bitter satisfaction of some of his fellow marines as they surveyed the scene. "The Iraqis are sick people and we are the chemotherapy," said Corporal Ryan Dupre. "I am starting to hate this country. Wait till I get hold of a friggin' Iraqi. No, I won't get hold of one. I'll just kill him."

- -unquote- -

Doug,

Yep, that pretty much sums it up, doesn't it? No wonder we are all in trouble.

Click.

That is pretty sad, especially considering that the US military effort in Iraqi Kurdestan actually seemed to be working well, up until this. It seemed to be the only area where a credible resistance to the Baathist regime was happening successfully. The US presence was limited to SOCOM operators (5th & 7th SFG(Abn) and OD-Delta) and things were going well, just like in Afghanistan, until the conventional forces came in and killed a lot of the good will built up by the Special Forces. Oh well, the "legs" never did trust the SpecWar types, even though Gen. Hugh Shelton was JCS Chmn for a while.

We're Losing the War for Hearts & Minds
This is a sad commentary. Even Saddam Hussein's bitterest enemies, the Kurds, don't like us.
- - quote - -
But after the bombing started, the worm turned. We were counting on struggling masses yearning to breathe free, but video of the bombs hitting Baghdad, the video of crying children, the reports of dead civilians...these have been played over and over, sometimes with sentimental Enya-like music, and it's just been too much for the people here. They are Kurds and their identity is linked to their Kurdish culture, but, apparently, their religious identity is stronger than this. Our attack on Iraq is being seen as an attack on their Muslim brothers and sisters. It has become a religious war, and Saddam Hussein is now being called a hero, even among the Kurds. In fact, the war has given the Kurds and the Turks a common ground, perhaps the first time they've ever agreed on anything.
- -unquote- -