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2003-06-17 - 2:42 a.m.

Thanks to all who wished me a great weekend. Your warm wishes were well received and yes, it was an awesome weekend, despite having to work. I managed to stay away from politics for most of those three days and I must say, it felt good to get away from the rat-race for a bit. I did catch the headline of the local paper on Sunday: More American Soldiers Perish in Iraq. Further down the paper, the caption read: Iraq War Cost Less Than Expected. I cannot help but wonder if the parents of the dead soldiers think their children's lives was worth this war and if the Iraqis, still mourning the loss of their dead families, think the cost was "less than expected." You cannot put a price on death and loss. However, when you have men and women in charge of world politics who think with their purse-strings before their hearts, what can you really expect?

I was reading an article on CBS News online where former counterterrorism aide, Rand Beers, resigned just before the Iraq war because he believed that this war would distract from the War on Terrorism. He also said that the Department of Homeland Defense isn't getting the funding it needs to protect the USA. Beers has signed on with the John Kerry team for the Democratic Nomination. Having served under four presidents, I am sure the political world is watching Beers pretty closely. If he has signed on with Kerry, it may mean Kerry has a better chance than any of the other Democratic candidates to win the nomination.

There is an amazing story circulating around the net at the moment. A woman from San Francisco named Marla Ruzicka has formed a nonprofit organization called CIVIC (Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict) and at the moment she is in Iraq doing a door to door count of those who have died in the Iraq War. "Somewhere between 5,000 to 10,000 people died in this conflict," Ruzicka said. You can read more about her story here.

Only Love Prevails is an online campaign to shift world opinion from "good and evil" to a perception of love. You can join their experiment by clicking the link above which gives all the details.

Remember those trailers found in Iraq that both Bush and Blair have claimed to be mobile biological labs? Turns out they are just what the Iraqis claimed them to be: for the production of hydrogen to fill artillery balloons. According to this article from The Observer, this finding could prove to be quite embarassing for Blair, which may also reflect on Bush as well.

Now I am worried. The protesting by students in Iran is gaining momentum and meanwhile, Bush praised the protestors yesterday while fishing with his dad in Maine. This has ticked-off those in charge in Iran: ��The Americans ignore the presence of millions of people to welcome the supreme leader and President, but they call the protests of a few individuals the voice of the people,�� Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said in a statement. But that isn't the worse of it yet. Now the Iranians are refusing to allow tougher nuclear inspections. This situation is getting closer and closer to an all-out bloody conflict by the day.

A top Republican, Senator Richard Lugar, is claiming that US troops may be needed to help get rid of the group Hamas in order for peace to come between the Palestinians and Israel. How thin do they think they can spread our troops around the Middle East? What I found a bit odd is this commentary by Rich Lowry from the conservative TownHall.com. Lowry states, Fresh from opposing a war against Saddam Hussein as too risky and far removed from the U.S. national interest, dovish, diplomacy-at-all-costs liberals are about to cause a U.S. war against the Palestinian terror group Hamas. They just don't know it yet. I have to admit, I am a bit puzzled by Mr. Lowry's comment. First, it is a Republican calling for this possible intervention of US troops. Second, even if Senator Lugar is a more liberal-leaning Republican, he is still a conservative, so where does the "liberals" come into play here? ANd finally, Mr. Lowry's commentary makes it sound like liberal peaceniks want war. Anyway, read the two articles above and draw your own conclusions.



Voice Your Opinion Early

Dear friends,

I'm writing to ask you to take part in MoveOn.org's presidential primary. Too often, the real choices in presidential nomination processes are made long before the real primaries. Pundits, pollsters and big donors shouldn't be the only voices that count at this early and important stage of the process.

MoveOn's primary will give at least 1.4 million people the opportunity to make their voices heard. You can be one of them by registering to vote in the MoveOn Primary here:

http://www.moveon.org/pac/reg/

Thank you.

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~Did You Miss These?~

Just a Reminder - Tuesday, Nov. 04, 2003
Ravyne Is Moving - Friday, Oct. 17, 2003
The Mission - Sunday, Oct. 12, 2003
Siege Heil - Thursday, Oct. 09, 2003
Litany Of Lies - Wednesday, Oct. 08, 2003
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