little bits of me: 09/01/2004

funny, funny, not funny.

posted by jmd ¶ Monday, September 20, 2004 0 comments

This Is Bush's Vietnam

This is a good read.
posted by jmd ¶ Friday, September 17, 2004 0 comments

Riverbend is back

and in fine form. The break seems to have served her well.
posted by jmd ¶ Friday, September 17, 2004 0 comments

Do they have it right this time?

There was a time not too long ago when Colin Powell, sitting before the UN Security Council, with George Tenet, former head of the CIA, sitting just behind him to add credence to his words, offered to the world images similar to these as evidence of Iraqi possession of WMD's. It was a chilling presentation.

About one year before Powell made his argument before the United Nations that it was imperative that Iraq be taken to task for this violation of UN resolutions, a National Intelligence Estimate was prepared for the White House, outlining in bold terms the danger that Iraq posed to the United States. The first NEI on Iraq to have been prepared since then was recently released to the White House and it draws a pessimistic view of the future for Iraq.

What should the world believe?

Colin Powell, on almost every point that he presented that day in the fall of 2003, was dead wrong. The satellite images he presented were explainable and for the most part relatively innocuous. Additionally, the National Intelligence Estimate of 2002 turned out also to be way off the mark and was missing important caveats. Probabilities were offered as certainties and although it wasn't necessarily wrong, it also wasn't necessarily right.

Which leads me to wonder if the situation in Iraq is really as bad as it appears in the latest estimates, and considering the US has 140,000 boots on the ground to gather intel it probably is as bad, if not worse, and is Iran as big a danger to the region as the latest intelligence purports it to be or are the images shown merely a mistaken identity of the latest Iranian distribution centre for Wal-Mart?

I wish I had an answer.
posted by jmd ¶ Thursday, September 16, 2004 0 comments

the patch - 100 days

It has been 100 days since I first put on a patch and in that period I have smoked a grand total of 3 cigarettes. This alone deserves a bottle of scotch in celebration (not at one sitting of course). It is ironic that in celebrating the so far successful elimination of one vice I would consider treating myself with another vice, but hey, life would be boring without at least a few guilty pleasures.

I wish that I could say that I have quit smoking, but I can't. It is still too early. The temptation to smoke is strong, with some days more challenging than others. I describe it to others as a little like chinese water torture: the desire is ever present, lurking just beneath the surface, and at times painful as hell to resist. But, I have so far resisted and the belief in a future as a non-smoker lasting longer than the future as a smoker keeps me honest.

A friend recently started the patch. She managed four days before the stress pushed her back to smoking. I think she felt guilty about her 'failure', a guilt that I can understand, but I know that it takes any number of false starts before the final push through to the end. She'll get it when she is ready. I said it in an earlier entry that it's all a state of mind.

As for me, I still have to be vigilant. I returned to school today for the first time in more than half a year. After my first class my first instinct was to cut outside for a smoke. My second instinct was to supress my first instinct and head for the car. Nothing beats the urge like a little exercise (the car was parked many blocks away.)

Tomorrow, like today, will be a little better. And the next day a little better still.

posted by jmd ¶ Wednesday, September 08, 2004 0 comments

the patch - 100 days

It has been 100 days since I first put on a patch and in that period I have smoked a grand total of 3 cigarettes. This alone deserves a bottle of scotch in celebration (not at one sitting of course). It is ironic that in celebrating the so far successful elimination of one vice I would consider treating myself with another vice, but hey, life would be boring without at least a few guilty pleasures.

I wish that I could say that I have quit smoking, but I can't. It is still too early. The temptation to smoke is strong, with some days more challenging than others. I describe it to others as a little like chinese water torture: the desire is ever present, lurking just beneath the surface, and at times painful as hell to resist. But, I have so far resisted and the belief in a future as a non-smoker lasting longer than the future as a smoker keeps me honest.

A friend recently started the patch. She managed four days before the stress pushed her back to smoking. I think she felt guilty about her 'failure', a guilt that I can understand, but I know that it takes any number of false starts before the final push through to the end. She'll get it when she is ready. I said it in an earlier entry that it's all a state of mind.

As for me, I still have to be vigilant. I returned to school today for the first time in more than half a year. After my first class my first instinct was to cut outside for a smoke. My second instinct was to supress my first instinct and head for the car. Nothing beats the urge like a little exercise (the car was parked many blocks away.)

Tomorrow, like today, will be a little better. And the next day a little better still.

posted by jmd ¶ Tuesday, September 07, 2004 0 comments

So what exactly is the big deal?

No pun intended.

It is telling that over the course of eight months the only person in East Vancouver who has had an issue with the Da Kine cafe selling marijuana is Eileen Mosca, head of Grandview-Woodlands Community Policing Centre. Even she, apparently, didn't feel strongly enough about the issue to contact the police to make a formal complaint, which I find even more striking considering the Grandview-Woodlands Community Policing Centre is funded in part by the VPD. She says,

"We have a lot of people going in there smoking getting high and then
wandering up and down the drive. And I don't see why the city sanctions it."

To this I would reply, "we have a lot of people going into their homes, smoking, getting high and then wandering up and down the drive." As far as the city sanctioning it, I think Ms. Mosca needs to wake up to the same reality that a majority of the public, likely including some members of city council, has already woken up to: prohibition doesn't work and maybe it is better that people buy from a reliable source (let's face it the owners of Da Kine have a business to run) than from a stranger on the street.

Mosca also wonders what drug message the shop is sending to the 1,200 students at nearby Britannia High School.

My understanding is that Da Kine was selling marijuana only to those 19 years of age or older which is the same benchmark set for purchasing alcohol and one year higher than for purchasing tobacco products, both of which have a far greater negative impact on health and safety than marijuana and both are freely available on the same street within blocks of Da Kine. So what is that message?

posted by jmd ¶ Thursday, September 02, 2004 0 comments

I am surprised that Juan Cole hasn't had anything to say about this.
posted by jmd ¶ Wednesday, September 01, 2004 0 comments