BrainStream: More reflections to come...however

More reflections to come...however this says it all for the moment. (A look into the past.)

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BrainStream: I can't believe it's been

I can't believe it's been over a year since the fateful 9-11 attacks. In catching glimpses of the destruction while trying to avoid it by surfing through channels to catching sound bytes on various radio stations, it still seems as horrific and vivid as ever. I did stay glued to the PBS special "Stranded Yanks" which gave a beautiful, touching and heartfelt presentation of how our neighbors to the north, Canada, reached out to help thousands of stranded travellers on Sept. 11th.

I've been toying with various ideas of how to mourn (I'm not sure "celebrate" is the right word) this unbelievable occurance of events. I've avoided going to any ceremonies or events - I've been having issues with my empathy recently and the group-based emotions at these gatherings would send me into a downward-spiral. I did participate in the national "Moment of Silence" and caught the full performance of "Mozart's Requiem" online at someone's NPR station.

Last year, I participated in a candlelight vigil on the 13th and did my own ritual to help those who passed on in the destruction, cross over to the Summerlands. I may do something similar this weekend but for now, I've made a small but vocal point at The Leaky Cauldron. Friends have posted as well - Melissa, John, and even Josh-Elyn-Jay at 9-11justice.org. This is an event that won't ever disappear from the minds of Americans - like Pearl Harbor.

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BrainStream: Now that I've taken the

Now that I've taken the time to be sentimental - it's time to vent. Is anyone else sick-to-death that Bush continues to push military action into Iraq when a majority of the country either doesn't care or really doesn't want him to? When Nelson Mandela says something - then it's time to take a second look at things. The Onion hit the nail on the head this morning - Bush is like an annoying, nagging child.

Though my friends at 9-11justice.org has a quote that makes a VERY valid point. Surprisingly, this bit of logic comes from Cheney -

"I am familiar with the arguments against taking action in the case of Saddam Hussein. Some concede that Saddam is evil, power hungry and a menace, but that until he crosses the threshold of actually possessing nuclear weapons, we should rule out any preemptive action. That logic seems to me to be deeply flawed. By the time he possesses them, it will be too late."

— Vice President Dick Cheney

However in all honesty, I don't think we should have to go back into Iraq with several thousand US troops reminicint of the LAST time when we really should be concentrating on intelligence assets. Recruit more people who speak Arabic or train them. Make better use of sattelight technology, and simple HUMINT not to mention monitoring the hell out of all communications throughout the country. Why do we need to send so many Americans over to give this asshole an ass-kicking? He doesn't deserve the attention OR the validation that such public resource allocation gives him. All it does is serve his sociopathic, egomaniacal personality.

I see several motivations behind this -

1. W has had over 10 years of listening to Dad moan about "not kicking Saddam out when he had the chance". However he also realizes the surge in his father's popularity during the Gulf War - why does it seem that we have a new terrorism alert every time W's approval percentage is down? (I will conceded that Clinton did the same "Wag the Dog" type activity during the Lewinsky scandal)
2. Think of it - Cheney and Bush, our nation's top two leaders, are Oil Magnates sitting deep in the pockets of varying fossil fuel companies. Can you imagine if we kicked out Saddam and installed a leader in the US's pocket? Look at the amount of oil we gain control of! No more "power crisis" and no more having to worry about supporting these so called environmental fuel cell efforts. One phrase can sum up the Bush/Cheney reason for going into Iraq despite the fact that we have no support from a single Middle East country - It's the oil, stupid!

I hope Bush will cease his calls to attack Iraq and will concentrate his energies on bolstering and improving our intelligence services as well as funding and encouraging their recruitment attempts and getting industry to produce better espionage tools - I think the risk of pissing off the entire Middle East severely outweighs the National benefit to ousting Saddam.

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