Month: March 2003

On the redecorating front, last Friday I ordered a light fixture for my dining room – I can’t wait for it to get here! Here’s a “before” picture of my laundry room:

I think you can see why I’m happy to get it redone. Here’s what the room looks like today:

The news has been far too distressing and depressing lately, so I’m on a bit of a news strike – turning my thoughts selfishly to my own personal environment rather than the world. Work is getting done on the remodeling of my laundry room. Even half done and still ripped up, it looks better than it did to begin with, so I’m feeling good about that. (I still don’t understand why some bits of the drywall haven’t been smoothed out, but I’m trying to have faith in the workers and not but in.)

My dutch irises bloomed – perhaps pictures will be forthcoming. I’m not expecting a lot in the way of iris blooms this year since we had a late freeze, but I do see a few bloom stalks on the plants. Fingers are crossed.

Well, work has started on the repairs on my laundry room! I’ve picked out black and white tile for the floor and “Jamaican Sea” for the walls. If nothing else, it should be bright.

Since when did “troop” come to mean one soldier? I thought a troop was a group of soldiers and “trooper” was one soldier. Merriam-Webster OnLine agrees with me. I keep hearing news reports of “6 troops” killed in the war and think it means 6 troops of soldiers have died, not 6 soldiers. Of course, either way it’s tragic.

This is odd and amusing.

Protesters Across the Nation Try to ‘Stop Business as Usual’. And in my own town, Protesters block Congress Avenue – the police declared it an unlawful assembly and around 50 people were arrested. Tear gas was used to disperse the crowd. Here are some pictures.

The Washington Post editorial department has been writing editorials that are supportive of President Bush’s Iraq policy…until today. They still support the idea of war with Iraq, but they are now saying:

… with more diplomatic suppleness, more flexibility on timing and less arrogant tactics and rhetoric, the administration might have won the backing of long-standing friends such as Turkey, Mexico and Chile. In effect, Mr. Bush and some of his top aides, most notably Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, have managed to convince much of the world that French President Jacques Chirac is right and that America’s unrivaled power is a danger that somehow must be checked — ideally by the votes of other nations on the Security Council.

Watching my TV right now, I think all hope of a sensible time-line is thrown out the window. “Tomorrow is the moment of truth.” Not that they really gave us any clear idea of what the heck was meant by that statement. I mean, goodness forbid this administration gives us a clear statement rather than a vauge sound-byte.

And, just to show you how unimportant the US TV networks seem to find this whole thing, NBC didn’t even cary the full press-conference. They stopped coverage to show an oh-so-important area football game. (Other networks might have done the same thing, that just happens to be the one I noticed as I was flipping the channels. ABC showed the full press conference.)

I know it’s hard not to play “what if,” but I think it’s just awful that all the news coverage of the Elizabeth Smart return seems to be blaming the child for not escaping or fighting against her attackers. She’s a little girl! She was scared and confused – just stop it. I hope like hell she’s being protected from the press coverage.

Wow, I guess the legislature has nothing better to do – freedom fries? Are you sure someone from The Onion didn’t hack CNN?

Not that they should be worried about anything else.

In the name of defending life, the White House offers a policy that would bring more disease and death. This absurdity is exceeded only by the moral blindness that lies behind it.

Nope, this isn’t an issue that needs addressing…gotta worry about the nationality of fries and toast.

As always, love The Onion: “Bush Offers Taxpayers Another $300 If We Go To War.