Though Jen says all this snow will melt the day before Christmas, just to be contrary.
We had guests almost three nights in a row, and since Mom, Dad and Jen were all gone those afternoons, it fell to me to make all the preparations. I have been busy keeping the house in order and making nicer than usual meals. When cooking for just our family, I know I just have to make a lot of one main dish, and the boys don't care if there are fancy balanced attractive side dishes or not. Tomorrow Josh comes home; it looks like I won't get much actual vacation time this Christmas week after all! But I did get my blanket pinned together.
Now, about torture.
I strongly believe that our protective forces need some strong physical and mental means to coax information from known enemies that have fallen into our hands. There certainly are forms of torture that are more horrible than others- I looked up the word "torture" in Webster's 1828 Dictionary, and it said there that the word was mainly used when speaking of the "rack, wheel, boot, and thumbkin". So while I think those acts as terrible, I would say that I do not currently condemn those forms of torture that are less damaging to the body, but are still painful enough to gain information from people we know to have dangerous communications. I haven't done a great deal of research on this topic, and I doubt I will be able to over the holidays. I'm not sure I want to! It's a sad thing to think about.
I don't think that the interrogator would never be able to know whether or not the terrorist is telling the truth.
I do not believe that the soldiers at Guantanamo regularly torture people, as the news media suggests, and I do not believe what happened in Abu Graib is an indication of wide-spread, random cruelty by Americans. That wasn't even torturing for information by real interrogators. I doubt even that waterboarding or other forms of torture are regularly or frequently used by American forces anywhere.
I think it's understandable why all of America is not told what terrorists are being questioned, and where, when, what for, etc, and what information that they give up. Some measure of secrecy is needed when dealing with terrorists, it seems.
So there is my current opinion of torture.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
I am stressed
We are having guests for dinner... I am stressed.
I will respond to the "torturous" comments as soon as possible. It is an interesting issue: We need to get information from the bad guys, but at the same time we can't be like our enemies and be needlessly cruel.
Ahhh!
I have to go check the bread; I will return...
I will respond to the "torturous" comments as soon as possible. It is an interesting issue: We need to get information from the bad guys, but at the same time we can't be like our enemies and be needlessly cruel.
Ahhh!
I have to go check the bread; I will return...
Monday, December 10, 2007
Laundry, baking, and domestic bliss
Rich Galen of Mullings.com puts things so well:
"Last week the Bush Administration released a portion of a document known as the National Intelligence Estimate - NIE. Note, it contains the word "Estimate."
It is not titled "National Intelligence Certainty."
The NIE which is currently in the news had to do with the astonishing revelation that, as the NY Times reported, CIA "analysts found that Iran had suspended its covert nuclear weapons program back in 2003." The new estimate says - "with high confidence" - that Iran stopped working on nuclear weapons in the fall of 2003. It states "with moderate confidence" that the program has not been rebooted over the past four years. It suggests "the program probably was halted primarily in response to international pressure."
Huzzahs all around. This is good news for the White House because the Iranians have bent to its will.
It's good for our European allies because they don't have to do what they hate most: Vote for sanctions in the UN (in spite of the fact that many of them immediately ignore those sanctions).
It is good for China and Russia who are two of Iran's major trading partners.
And it's REALLY good for Iran because Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, can now claim to be a full partner in world affairs.
Sounds almost too good to be true, doesn't it?
Let's look at the other side.
Iran is still a major sponsor of death and disruption in Iraq and in Lebanon. And if Ahmadinejad has backed away from his stated goal of destroying Israel, I was absent that day.
Further, not everyone actually believes the NIE.
For example, the Brits are way, WAY skeptical. The UK Telegraph begins its coverage of that skepticism thus:
British spy chiefs have grave doubts that Iran has mothballed its nuclear weapons programme, as a US intelligence report claimed last week, and believe the CIA has been hoodwinked by Teheran.
One of ways the US intelligence services determined that Iran had ceased its nuclear weapons program was by intercepting phone messages.
British analysts believed that Iranian nuclear staff, knowing their phones were tapped, deliberately gave misinformation. They say things on the phone because they know we are up on the phones.
Like everyone else, I hope the Iranians have indeed stopped trying to build a nuclear weapon. But as the former Israeli deputy minister of defense told the Telegraph recently:
"No one can rule out with high confidence that somewhere in Iran, 70 times the size of Israel, there is one lab working on the weapons programme.""
How can anyone rest easy about Mahmoud I'm-a-nut-job? I'm so tired of the big news media! Sigh. About the title- I guess it explains itself. I am doing laundry today, and Caleb's really happy because we are having lasagne for dinner. I am so glad to be home. I guess this feeling hasn't worn off since my trip to NC. I went to Lincoln for 2 1/2 days this past week to do some work there, and I was wishing I didn't have to be away for so long! I'm not an isolationist, I just love my home and family. Plus, when I'm away for a few days the laundry really piles up.
"Last week the Bush Administration released a portion of a document known as the National Intelligence Estimate - NIE. Note, it contains the word "Estimate."
It is not titled "National Intelligence Certainty."
The NIE which is currently in the news had to do with the astonishing revelation that, as the NY Times reported, CIA "analysts found that Iran had suspended its covert nuclear weapons program back in 2003." The new estimate says - "with high confidence" - that Iran stopped working on nuclear weapons in the fall of 2003. It states "with moderate confidence" that the program has not been rebooted over the past four years. It suggests "the program probably was halted primarily in response to international pressure."
Huzzahs all around. This is good news for the White House because the Iranians have bent to its will.
It's good for our European allies because they don't have to do what they hate most: Vote for sanctions in the UN (in spite of the fact that many of them immediately ignore those sanctions).
It is good for China and Russia who are two of Iran's major trading partners.
And it's REALLY good for Iran because Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, can now claim to be a full partner in world affairs.
Sounds almost too good to be true, doesn't it?
Let's look at the other side.
Iran is still a major sponsor of death and disruption in Iraq and in Lebanon. And if Ahmadinejad has backed away from his stated goal of destroying Israel, I was absent that day.
Further, not everyone actually believes the NIE.
For example, the Brits are way, WAY skeptical. The UK Telegraph begins its coverage of that skepticism thus:
British spy chiefs have grave doubts that Iran has mothballed its nuclear weapons programme, as a US intelligence report claimed last week, and believe the CIA has been hoodwinked by Teheran.
One of ways the US intelligence services determined that Iran had ceased its nuclear weapons program was by intercepting phone messages.
British analysts believed that Iranian nuclear staff, knowing their phones were tapped, deliberately gave misinformation. They say things on the phone because they know we are up on the phones.
Like everyone else, I hope the Iranians have indeed stopped trying to build a nuclear weapon. But as the former Israeli deputy minister of defense told the Telegraph recently:
"No one can rule out with high confidence that somewhere in Iran, 70 times the size of Israel, there is one lab working on the weapons programme.""
How can anyone rest easy about Mahmoud I'm-a-nut-job? I'm so tired of the big news media! Sigh. About the title- I guess it explains itself. I am doing laundry today, and Caleb's really happy because we are having lasagne for dinner. I am so glad to be home. I guess this feeling hasn't worn off since my trip to NC. I went to Lincoln for 2 1/2 days this past week to do some work there, and I was wishing I didn't have to be away for so long! I'm not an isolationist, I just love my home and family. Plus, when I'm away for a few days the laundry really piles up.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Sad Day
Nebraska made National news yesterday:
'OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Less than an hour before he killed eight people and himself in a mall shooting spree, a troubled teenage gunman called the woman who had taken him in to tell her about a suicide note — but she said Thursday she never thought he would hurt anyone but himself.
Debora Maruca-Kovac told CBS's "The Early Show" she found the note after Robert A. Hawkins, 19, called to thank her and her family for their help, to express his love, and to tell her he had left the note behind.
"He had said how much he loved his family and all his friends and how he was sorry he was a burden to everybody and his whole life he was a piece of (expletive) and now he'll be famous," she said, describing the note.
Hawkins carried out his shooting spree from the third floor of the Westroads Mall, the bullets from his rifle cutting through the sound of Christmas music as he terrorized shoppers and employees.
Hawkins moved from his family's home about a year ago. Maruca-Kovac and her husband, whose sons were friends with Hawkins, welcomed him into their home and tried to help him.
Records in Sarpy and Washington counties showed Hawkins had a felony drug conviction and several misdemeanor cases filed against him, including an arrest 11 days before the shooting for having alcohol as a minor. He was due in court in two weeks.
Maruca-Kovac said Hawkins had recently broken up with a girlfriend and was fired from McDonald's. She told the World-Herald that Hawkins said he had been fired after being accused of stealing $17 from his till at the restaurant.
In the note, which was turned over to authorities, Hawkins wrote that he was "sorry for everything" and would not be a burden on his family anymore. More ominously, he wrote, "Now I'll be famous."
Maruca-Kovac went to her job as a nurse at the Nebraska Medical Center, where victims of the shooting soon began to arrive.
The first 911 call came in at 1:42 p.m., and the shooting was already over when police arrived six minutes later, authorities said.
"We sent every available officer in the city of Omaha," Sgt. Teresa Negron said.
Hawkins opened fire in a Von Maur store, part of a Midwestern chain. The World-Herald reported that the gunman had a military-style haircut and a black backpack, and wore a camouflage vest.
Mickey Vickory, who worked in the store's third-floor service department, said she heard shots and went with coworkers and customers into a back closet, emerging about a half-hour later when police shouted to come out with their hands up. As police led them to another part of the mall for safety, they saw the victims.
"We saw the bodies and we saw the blood," she said.
Keith Fidler, another Von Maur employee, said he heard a burst of five to six shots followed by 15 to 20 more rounds. Fidler said he huddled in the corner of the men's clothing department with about a dozen other employees until police yelled to get out of the store.
Witness Shawn Vidlak said the shots sounded like a nail gun. At first he thought it was noise from construction work at the mall.
"People started screaming about gunshots," Vidlak said. "I grabbed my wife and kids. We got out of there as fast as we could."
President Bush was in Omaha on Wednesday for a fundraiser, but left about an hour before the shooting."
Flags will be flown at half-staff all over NE until this coming Sunday. I heard the news for the first time when I was on my way to Lincoln yeasterday. We all know that there is evil in the world, but it is such a suprise to have it happen in a place that we know, and have visited, and that we always thought was perfectly safe. I am proud of the Omaha Police Department's quick response; while I don't know much about Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey, I know that Dave Heineman is a honorable man and a good Governor and I am sure he will be a good leader throughout the aftermath. Listening to the press conference on TV right now, the word is that there were nine killed, and that is including Hawkins, and there are five people still in the hospital. I dislike the news media making Hawkins look like a victim in this happening.
'OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Less than an hour before he killed eight people and himself in a mall shooting spree, a troubled teenage gunman called the woman who had taken him in to tell her about a suicide note — but she said Thursday she never thought he would hurt anyone but himself.
Debora Maruca-Kovac told CBS's "The Early Show" she found the note after Robert A. Hawkins, 19, called to thank her and her family for their help, to express his love, and to tell her he had left the note behind.
"He had said how much he loved his family and all his friends and how he was sorry he was a burden to everybody and his whole life he was a piece of (expletive) and now he'll be famous," she said, describing the note.
Hawkins carried out his shooting spree from the third floor of the Westroads Mall, the bullets from his rifle cutting through the sound of Christmas music as he terrorized shoppers and employees.
Hawkins moved from his family's home about a year ago. Maruca-Kovac and her husband, whose sons were friends with Hawkins, welcomed him into their home and tried to help him.
Records in Sarpy and Washington counties showed Hawkins had a felony drug conviction and several misdemeanor cases filed against him, including an arrest 11 days before the shooting for having alcohol as a minor. He was due in court in two weeks.
Maruca-Kovac said Hawkins had recently broken up with a girlfriend and was fired from McDonald's. She told the World-Herald that Hawkins said he had been fired after being accused of stealing $17 from his till at the restaurant.
In the note, which was turned over to authorities, Hawkins wrote that he was "sorry for everything" and would not be a burden on his family anymore. More ominously, he wrote, "Now I'll be famous."
Maruca-Kovac went to her job as a nurse at the Nebraska Medical Center, where victims of the shooting soon began to arrive.
The first 911 call came in at 1:42 p.m., and the shooting was already over when police arrived six minutes later, authorities said.
"We sent every available officer in the city of Omaha," Sgt. Teresa Negron said.
Hawkins opened fire in a Von Maur store, part of a Midwestern chain. The World-Herald reported that the gunman had a military-style haircut and a black backpack, and wore a camouflage vest.
Mickey Vickory, who worked in the store's third-floor service department, said she heard shots and went with coworkers and customers into a back closet, emerging about a half-hour later when police shouted to come out with their hands up. As police led them to another part of the mall for safety, they saw the victims.
"We saw the bodies and we saw the blood," she said.
Keith Fidler, another Von Maur employee, said he heard a burst of five to six shots followed by 15 to 20 more rounds. Fidler said he huddled in the corner of the men's clothing department with about a dozen other employees until police yelled to get out of the store.
Witness Shawn Vidlak said the shots sounded like a nail gun. At first he thought it was noise from construction work at the mall.
"People started screaming about gunshots," Vidlak said. "I grabbed my wife and kids. We got out of there as fast as we could."
President Bush was in Omaha on Wednesday for a fundraiser, but left about an hour before the shooting."
Flags will be flown at half-staff all over NE until this coming Sunday. I heard the news for the first time when I was on my way to Lincoln yeasterday. We all know that there is evil in the world, but it is such a suprise to have it happen in a place that we know, and have visited, and that we always thought was perfectly safe. I am proud of the Omaha Police Department's quick response; while I don't know much about Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey, I know that Dave Heineman is a honorable man and a good Governor and I am sure he will be a good leader throughout the aftermath. Listening to the press conference on TV right now, the word is that there were nine killed, and that is including Hawkins, and there are five people still in the hospital. I dislike the news media making Hawkins look like a victim in this happening.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
I forgot to mention, our computer was completely wiped clean because of the power outage. We lost almost everything on it. I have heard there are ways to revive lost material, though, so I am not too worried. I didn't have much on that computer anyway- but it made me think about how I should back-up the documents and photos I do have.
It's Cold
With the great privilege of having access to high speed internet here at work,
comes
great suffering because we don't run the heater so as to save gas money.
We've had a busy weekend! On Friday we three girls went to the Nutcracker ballet in Omaha. It was good; there were some new effects and costumes. Of course Jen is a better ballerina than any of those dancers! We also went to the Durham Western Heritage museum's Ethnic festival. Durham is always a fun place to go, and they have great Christmas festivals- beautiful decorations, good music, entertainment, and food. Jen got her picture taken with a man in a kilt.
Saturday morning we woke up to a thick coat of ice outside. We were fine with that until we lost our electricity. We were without power for more than twenty-four hours. It made for a long day! It's amazing the things you can't do without electricity. It was too dark to read much; I couldn't bake; there was no computer, no light, no music, no running water, etc. We got on eachother's nerves a little bit since we were all mostly in the same three rooms with little to do. All of us are so glad we have a wood stove for heat- we kept nice and warm, at least. The drive to Church was a bit tense, but we did get there alright, even though the roads weren't cleared yet. After Church we all went to listen to Handal's "Messiah" at the Holland Performing arts Center. It got a little long for the little boys, but we all enjoyed it. There's a lot wrong with America, but being able to listen to people singing the praise of God in a public place is wonderful to hear, and very reassuring.
Sunday was also my birthday. Eeek.
By the time we got home on Sunday, the power was back on. I spent Monday doing all the things I was supposed to do on Saturday, and today I'm at work, and book club and Legion Auxiliary meetings are today.
comes
great suffering because we don't run the heater so as to save gas money.
We've had a busy weekend! On Friday we three girls went to the Nutcracker ballet in Omaha. It was good; there were some new effects and costumes. Of course Jen is a better ballerina than any of those dancers! We also went to the Durham Western Heritage museum's Ethnic festival. Durham is always a fun place to go, and they have great Christmas festivals- beautiful decorations, good music, entertainment, and food. Jen got her picture taken with a man in a kilt.
Saturday morning we woke up to a thick coat of ice outside. We were fine with that until we lost our electricity. We were without power for more than twenty-four hours. It made for a long day! It's amazing the things you can't do without electricity. It was too dark to read much; I couldn't bake; there was no computer, no light, no music, no running water, etc. We got on eachother's nerves a little bit since we were all mostly in the same three rooms with little to do. All of us are so glad we have a wood stove for heat- we kept nice and warm, at least. The drive to Church was a bit tense, but we did get there alright, even though the roads weren't cleared yet. After Church we all went to listen to Handal's "Messiah" at the Holland Performing arts Center. It got a little long for the little boys, but we all enjoyed it. There's a lot wrong with America, but being able to listen to people singing the praise of God in a public place is wonderful to hear, and very reassuring.
Sunday was also my birthday. Eeek.
By the time we got home on Sunday, the power was back on. I spent Monday doing all the things I was supposed to do on Saturday, and today I'm at work, and book club and Legion Auxiliary meetings are today.
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