March 2003 Archives

White man's burden?

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The "White Man" is no longer white, but the frustration is the same:

Take up the White Man's burden,
And reap his old reward--
The blame of those ye better
The hate of those ye guard--
The cry of hosts ye humour
(Ah, slowly!) toward the light:--
"Why brought ye us from bondage,
Our loved Egyptian night?

Every war is Vietnam

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"In the dreams of the anti-American left, every war is Vietnam. That conflict was their greatest--indeed, their only--triumph of the 20th century. A divided America lost its will to fight, and the people of South Vietnam lost their chance at freedom." [James Taranto]

Funny Photo

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Dan has posted a funny photo on his site.

I was a naive fool

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I was a naive fool to be a human shield for Saddam

...I was shocked when I first met a pro-war Iraqi in Baghdad - a taxi driver taking me back to my hotel late at night. I explained that I was American and said, as we shields always did, "Bush bad, war bad, Iraq good". He looked at me with an expression of incredulity.


As he realised I was serious, he slowed down and started to speak in broken English about the evils of Saddam's regime. Until then I had only heard the President spoken of with respect, but now this guy was telling me how all of Iraq's oil money went into Saddam's pocket and that if you opposed him politically he would kill your whole family.


It scared the hell out of me. First I was thinking that maybe it was the secret police trying to trick me but later I got the impression that he wanted me to help him escape. I felt so bad. I told him: "Listen, I am just a schmuck from the United States, I am not with the UN, I'm not with the CIA - I just can't help you..."
Read the full article.

Shocked Back to Reality

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Shocked Back to Reality

A group of American anti-war demonstrators who came to Iraq with Japanese human shield volunteers made it across the border today with 14 hours of uncensored video, all shot without Iraqi government minders present. Kenneth Joseph, a young American pastor with the Assyrian Church of the East, told UPI the trip "had shocked me back to reality." Some of the Iraqis he interviewed on camera "told me they would commit suicide if American bombing didn't start. They were willing to see their homes demolished to gain their freedom from Saddam's bloody tyranny. They convinced me that Saddam was a monster the likes of which the world had not seen since Stalin and Hitler. He and his sons are sick sadists. Their tales of slow torture and killing made me ill, such as people put in a huge shredder for plastic products, feet first so they could hear their screams as bodies got chewed up from foot to head."

The price of defiance

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"This is the price of defiance - of trying to run away," he said, his eyes beseeching. He held up a torn gas mask that had no air canister. "We have one. We draw straws for it. We know if the British and American soldiers leave as they did before, and Saddam survives, he will gas the town." To make sure we understood, he drew his finger swiftly across his throat
. [Telegraph]

Bush v. Hollywood

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This is amusing.

The consequences of a war

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OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today

"The 'Great Satan' has invaded Iraq but students at Tehran University seem pleased at the prospect," the Guardian reports from Iran's capital:


"It will be a good thing to have American troops in Iraq. Perhaps that will bring change to Iran," said Namin, a lanky engineering student strolling to class.
"Maybe that will put more pressure on the regime here." Unlike fellow Muslims in the Middle East or their predecessors 23 years ago who seized the United States embassy, students today are not seething with anger against America and are unmoved by the government's daily references to "the enemy" in Washington.
"I think only about the consequences of a war. If the war has good consequences, let it be," said another student, Mohammad. "We're not protesting like European students. We don't have a democratic government like they do. We're not acting like them because we're not in European shoes."

Google the war on terrorism

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My I suggest following the war news via Google News: "Search and browse 4,500 news sources updated continuously."

'Are you nuts?' trail race

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Yesterday Ray and I took the kids to Point Defiance park where I ran in a 10K trail race. I've run there before, it's a beautiful park with miles of narrow trails, many of them along bluffs overlooking the Puget Sound. I have not run over three miles since the Chicago Marathon last Fall and I was hurting. It reminded me why so many non-runners hate running; it's a totally different experience when you're not in shape. Anyhoo, my winter running vacation is over, time to come out of hibernation.

Sent Home

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Guess what---The computers were not moved yet, so they sent us home with instructions to show up Monday at 6 AM.

Dunn's birthday ski trip

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Dunn's birthday ski trip didn't quite go as planned. We drove out to the mountain to find it raining--after waiting an hour for it to stop we cut bait and came home. The boys settled for lunch at Burger King and their first (my third) screening of The Two Towers, which they enjoyed very much. Ray and I had only recently let them watch the Fellowship on DVD. We had been holding out with the thought that we would read it to them first, but we eventually caved.

My Dad has added a weblog to his website, by all accounts at my Mom's request.

Dunn's birthday plans

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Tomorrow is Dunn's birthday, I'm taking Dunn, Zach and one of Dunn's friend's skiing. Should be good as there have been five feet of snow in the last week!

It's good to be home

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It's good to be home. After a couple of good nights sleep I am more or less back to normal--back at Madigan with a reasonable work schedule.

Zach & Dunn hit the slopes

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This season I have been teaching Dunn and Zach how to ski.  It's gone much better than I had planned--originally I had thought I might take them once or twice just to get them used the concept.  They caught on so well and enjoyed it so much that we have already been five times, and I've enjoyed teaching them a lot more than I thought I would.  Our hangout is Crystal Mountain, WA. These pictures were taken Feb 2003.

Sad Story

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And now for a sad story---- We (Neva/Audrey/Katie/Me) were all set to have a nice 3-day weekend in Belgium, when I was told that I had to work Saturday in support of the war effort. You see, in order to make room for the casualties of the proposed Iraq war, the administrative pukes are being moved to temporary buildings that are being setup next to the hospital. Admin pukes, as you know, are automation heavy, so I will be pleased to spend the day hooking up computers. On that same note, Neva got kicked out of her office so they could rip out the rug and put in a non-porous floor covering so the room could be used for patient at a moment’s notice.

Undaunted, the others took off for the Black Forrest/Bavaria this morning, and Neva just called to report that they are in Lindau having a great time. I would provide more details, but thinking about it tends to make me sick, so you will have to use your imaginations.

Dial-up woes

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I have not yet posted the skiing pictures I was hoping to--I've had trouble connecting with the laptop from the hotel I'm staying. I'm now at the library and will see what I can do.

Tomorrow is my last shift at Harborview this rotation. I have to say that I'm a wee bit warn out and ready to move on. Next I've two months at Madigan Army Medical Center, then ICU at Madigan then Anesthesia at the University of Washington. Should be nice relaxing four months, really.

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This page is an archive of entries from March 2003 listed from newest to oldest.

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