Iraq War Begins

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It begins. As air raid sirens, anti-aircraft fire, and missile explosions flood the skies and streets of Baghdad, may the good Lord protect the innocent civilians of Iraq in this time of war and terror.

I was a bit startled to find myself agreeing with Willis and Kottke tonight. There are deep-seated issues at stake here which are far bigger than simple pro-liberation/anti-war sloganeering. Studying both sides of the problem has only made me more cynical about the whole political millieu we live in. I cannot in good conscience march in support of either side, and filtering through the haze of biases and straw men only muddles my opinion more.

I would so like to formulate a decent stand on this important issue, but sitting here in the lab, sleepy, overworked, and info-overloaded with the sudden flood of war news overlapping with my work on WhyBlog.org, the war seems like nothing but a media-induced distraction, separate from my immediate circumstances. And if wars are fought in that manner while we, the people they are fought for, are utterly dissociated from the causes in question, then something is crucially and seriously wrong.

More later.

Watching Dwight Watson

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The morning after Dwight Watson drove his tractor into the Constitution Gardens pond. This spot at the police lines was the closest I could get, and was where the rest of the press were gathered. The tractor is barely visible as a smudge of green and yellow below the street sign at center left.

Photo taken with an Aiptek Mini Pencam 1.3MP SD.

DC Tractor Guy

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If Tractor Guy is still there tomorrow morning, I’m going to pass by the Mall on my way to work, get as close to the police lines as I can, and take pictures.

Update: I went and took photos from the far-off police line in front of the Dept of the Interior, then left for the office. 20 minutes later, Tractor Guy surrendered.

Update: Watching John Deere. The tractor and the pond are about 200 yards beyond the police lines, obscured by police vans and foliage, but if you zoom in and hunt around for a bit of green, you’ll see it. Not that you need to bother. He’s already old news.

A New Pneumonia

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You can imagine that I’m watching news on this outbreak of resistant pneumonia very closely, as at least one case has been reported in the Philippines: home to me, my family, friends, and loved ones. Prayers that this acute illness can be contained and stopped. I do want to go home to visit some day soon.

BBC Q&A

News from Inq7

Pinoyexchange thread

Related articles on Google News

Doctor’s 1st-person account from HK, via BoingBoing

DenBeste on flu strain’s Chinese origins

Suspected SARS case turns out negative (Thanks Row!)

In all things, faith and trust. Lord’s will be done.

Enterprise and “Happy” Vulcans

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I’m not sure if the stories on Enterprise are improving, or if the series is just growing on me, but I just watched “Singularity,” and I must say, it was quite enjoyable. Character interaction was thoughtful and engaging, stories are now developing with some believable evolution, and the plot, though not quite Shakespeare, works quite well for a Star Trek series.

One significant script problem: when Archer first asks T’Pol if she would read the preface he is to write for his father’s biography, she responds, “I’d be happy to.”

No, no, no, no, NO. Vulcans are beings of logic, not emotion, and no self-respecting Vulcan would ever say that she would be “happy” to do anything, even as a turn of phrase. While I enjoy Enterprise a lot, I think these writers really need to work on their continuity with the older series; the cold, logical, peaceful character of the Vulcans has been mangled beyond recognition in later incarnations of Star Trek. Tsk, tsk, What would Surak say?

Adobo for PETA

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In honor of Yourish’s International Eat an Animal for PETA Day, I spent the afternoon cooking up a pot of chicken adobo.

While buying the chicken earlier this week, I quite forgot that we don’t have a decent butcher knife at home, and it was more difficult than I expected to dismember half a chicken with my bare hands, so I let it marinate in soy sauce and vinegar overnight so it would be much softer the next day. Very cathartic, tearing up all that flesh and skin and bone. Anyway, I used a bit too much vinegar and ginger and too little soy sauce, so that the boiling sauce stung the nostrils a bit, but a little brown sugar helped bring down the acidity. Quite good with rice and chutney.

Next project: find some bagoong.

The First Year

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Thursday was an anniversary of sorts for me; it was one year ago, on March 13th, that I made the jump from Manila, with little more than the clothes on my back, two bags in my hands, and a prayer in my heart. Today, I have school and work and a room in picturesque Little Italy in Baltimore, with wonderful friends and blessings aplenty. It is more than I ever dared hope for since I first landed in DC National that cold, gray, rainy morning.

A good year, and the Lord has dealt with me abundantly. To Him I am grateful.

The Lord is gracious and righteous;

our God is full of compassion.

The Lord protects the simplehearted;

when I was in great need, he saved me.

Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you. (Psalm 116)