Lost Causes

Good Morning. A couple of new items today.

• There is, after all, another war going on, the original war, the one “on terror,” the one that was supposed to end terrorism and states that support it. That Afghanistan is getting little attention anymore is the fruit of two poisoned trees: the situation there is intractable. And it is not about to be resolved, neither by a splurge of surges nor by imports of cash, no matter the tonnage. Canadians are catching on. NATO isn't. See "Remember Afghanistan?"
  

• And it's not as if Iraq has it better. It wasn’t 48 hours ago that the Bush junta was chatting up its lockdown of Baghdad as a result of the ongoing “surge” of Iraqi and American forces through the capital. It was the latest of dozens of so-called lockdowns over the years. None of which have done more than fuel the insurgency. See "Now what?"
  

• "From the Diary of an Iraqi Librarian."

Much more in the Daily Journal. Thanks for reading Candide's Notebooks. Spread the word.pt

Severed Heads and Sensibility

Good morning. Too many new items to count...

• In Book Eight of Marcus Aurelius’s “Meditations,” we come across this line: “Have you ever seen a hand or a foot cut off, or a head sliced off, lying anywhere apart from the rest of the body?” The question has more relevance today than we're willing to admit. So does Aurelius's answer. Pierre's essay explores both. See "Severed Heads and Sensibility."
  

• Target Iran: The Bush junta is going after Iran with the same guile and mix of propaganda and fabulism as it did going after Iraq. Yet again, the media are swallowing the farce whole. See "Iranian Gulf of Tonkin"
  

• On the US-Mexico border, there are vigilantes, and there are murderers. And there are both. See "Vigilantes and Murderers."
  

• Fox News decides to do business porn.
  

• Fear of lesbians begins early, often and cruelly. A tale from the trenches. See "Fifth-Grade Homophobia."
  

As always, more in the Daily Journal. Thanks for reading.pt