Axis of Weasel

So the radio reports on the drive in to work today that 63% of the public (according to the NYTimes, and you can believe _that_ if you like) want President Bush to hold off on attacking Iraq.  "If the inspectors haven't found a 'smoking gun' then we shouldn't go to war."

Newsflash, people.  The inspectors found chemical warheads--and I'm sure they wish they hadn't.  The UN inspectors see it as their job to prevent war, not to actually find evidence of bio/chem/nuclear weapons.  They've been carefully looking in places that nobody in his right mind would actually hide such things if he knew inspectors were a-comin'.  Saddam doesn't want them to find anything, and they don't want to find anything either.  So he pretends to open his doors, they pretend to look, nothing is found, and it's a win/win situation for Iraq and Europe.

Fortunately, we have an administration which has been refusing to play that game.  The preparations for war, including both UN and Congressional action to support it, are nearly in place.  We don't need (or want) additional UN approval (or permission), so France and Germany can huff and puff all they like about vetoing any additional resolutions.  It's meaningless noise.  Though it sure demonstrates how much these "allies" support is worth when it gets down to brass tacks.

I'd rather not attack Iraq either.  People are going to die as a result.  But the only thing that got inspectors back into Iraq was the threat of a crazed President Bush going off on a unilateral jihad--and even that still hasn't compelled Iraq to come clean.  They're still playing games.  Europe--the Axis of Weasel--wants to continue giving him one "last chance" after another, which is breathtakingly stupid and plays into his hands.  Eventually there has to be a last chance, and then there have to be consequences.

Friday Five

I saw these on Wenchita's webpage and decided I'd answer them.

What is the one thing you don't like about your body?
That it's a little heavier than I'd like--which isn't really a failing of my body so much as a failure to be more careful about how much (and what) I feed it.

What are two things you love about your body?
I have lots of thick, curly hair.  It's more gray than brown nowadays, but it's all still there--having a lot of gray hair (and going gray early) runs in my family on both my mother and my father's side.  We all turn gray, but we all have a full head of hair.
That I'm basically very healthy and always have been.  Aside from occasional colds and sinus problems I have never had a serious illness.

What are three things you want to change about your home?
I want to recaulk the shower/tub area and fix the soft spot in the floor caused by the leaks there.
I want to have enough bookcases to hold all of our books--single-stacked, not shelved two or three layers deep.  I'm not sure we have enough wallspace for that.
I want to change the entire house.  We love our lot (location, location, location as they say), but the house is old and small and if we had the money we'd move into an apartment for a year while we had the existing house demolished and replaced.

What are four books you want to read this year?
The new Anita Blake novel by Laurell K. Hamilton.
The new Merry Gentry novel by Laurell K. Hamilton.
A new novel by Larry Niven that's as good as his early stuff.  Not gonna happen.
A novel to be named later.

What are five promises you have kept to yourself?
Learning to play the piano well enough to play "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin (accomplished in high school, though I haven't touched a piano in years now).
Working up the nerve to audition for the school musical by singing The Star Spangled Banner a capella (high school again).
Taking banjo lessons.
Wrote 1000 words a day for a year.
Kept looking til I found the woman I wanted to marry--didn't catch her til I was 40, mind you, but we've been married a month shy of 4 years now!

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