Qana, Lebanon

Qana, July 30th 2006
Angry. Tearful. Dumbfounded.

Children... children... children
Dusty round little lifeless arms, soft curls and shut eyes.
Being carried out of bombed homes by surviving relatives and neighbours.
Shaking tiny dead corpses in front of foreign press cameras... raging with anger,
"Are these the terrorists you were looking for Misters Bush and Olmert?"

Isareli armed forces:
We warned them to leave yesterday.
We thought there were Hezbollah weapons in there.
Oops...

An insider's viewpoint...
a Lebanese artist counting bombs and drawing about it:
Mazen Kerbaj's drawings

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Lebanon. Bombing the peace keepers out of the way.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY MARIE OKABE DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Thursday, July 27, 2006

Asked about Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's question on why the United Nations had operated its outpost in Khiam even amid the fighting, the Spokeswoman noted that UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been present in the area since 1978, on a UN Security Council mandate.

She noted that the military observers at Khiam were posed in a well-marked and established outpost. Also, the United Nations had received repeated assurances that they would not be attacked, and repeated calls were made by UNIFIL, by officials in New York and by the Secretary-General to Israeli officials concerning the safety of UNIFIL personnel.

Ultimately, she said, the United Nations had guarantees that the outpost would not come under fire.

Asked about the Secretary-General's reaction to the failure, so far, by the Security Council to adopt a Presidential Statement on the death of the observers at Khiam, the Spokeswoman said that he was disappointed that the Council was not able to pronounce itself on an important statement on the death of the four observers.

Asked whether the Secretary-General would retract his Tuesday statement about the "apparently deliberate" targeting of the outpost, given an e-mail that allegedly counters the United Nations' understanding of the events, the Spokeswoman responded, "No."

UN patrol base in El- Khiam, East of South Lebanon, which received a direct areal bomb hit from IDF where four UN Observers lost their life.
Southern Lebanon, 27 July 2006. UN Photo

Nothing sane to add... It seems now that all hell is officially loose once the peace keepers start getting bombed and... ignored.

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Imagine if we only had to worry about browser wars

Internet Explorer 7 has not yet officially been released... but if you go to www.ie7.com you're in for a surprise.

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Consumer trends and tender tooshies

An aunt and uncle from my husband's side, who have lived most of their lives in Germany and now in their golden years have settled back in their village (near Soufli, Evros) visited us this week. We got a chance to catch up on family news, village tidings and international politics. At one point we even discussed how conveniently low-priced the German supermarket chains are (Lidl, Plus) and have come to the rescue of the ailing Greek household budget.

The Aunt, not missing a skip from village gossip, commented how the other women in the village refuse to buy products from these chains because they consider them inferior to popular, high-priced brand names. She sardonically quoted a middle-aged neighbour who thought the toilet paper from these supermarkets is "too harsh".

I managed to keep a straight face at this scuttlebutt, until my husband -who grew up in the village and remembers (quite well) that running water and sewers were added a mere 30 some years ago - remarked: "They used to wipe their butts with corn husks out in the fields and they find Lidl toilet paper harsh?"

I doubled over with laughter.

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Headlines in 2035*

Castro finally dies at age 112; Cuban cigars can now be imported legally but President Chelsea Clinton has banned all smoking.

Spotted Owl plague threatens Western North America crops & livestock.

Last remaining Fundamentalist Muslim dies in the American Territory of the Middle East (formerly known as Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon)

Afghanistan still closed off; physicists estimate it will take at least ten more years before radioactivity decreases to safe levels.

George Z. Bush says he will run for President in 2036.

35 year study: diet and exercise is the key to weight loss.

Nursing home event... Bill Clinton denies allegations of affair with candy striper.

Texas executes last remaining citizen.

Upcoming NFL draft likely to focus on use of mutants.

Baby conceived naturally.....scientists stumped.

Authentic year 2000 "chad" sells at Sotheby's for $4.6 million.

Ozone created by electric cars now killing thousands in Los Angeles.

Average height of NBA players now nine foot seven inches.

Microsoft announces it has perfected its newest version of Windows so it crashes BEFORE installation is completed.

New California law requires that all nail clippers, screwdrivers, and baseball bats be registered by January 2036.

*credits: e-mail attached joke
that arrived in my mailbox from a friend

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Losing and regaining consciousness with a smile

Sunday morning. Back on my blogging saddle and chugging down water like there's no tomorrow. Apparently a lot of water is an order from my doctor and he makes it sound like a task... little does he know that I can drink up to 3 litres a day (not counting other fluids) without any trouble.

Thank you all for your kind words. The operation itself was indeed easy and very short (about 30 minutes) but the best part was the anesthesia. Oh, how I love the anesthesia. I had a nice smiling nurse wheel me down to the operating rooms and chatted with me. He congratulated me on how calm I was. The last words I remember hearing before I dozed off: "look at her... she's smiling". And an hour and half later, as my consciousness was trying to re-enter the surface of reality I heard him say "I don't believe it... she's waking up with a smile".

I was either seeing one heck of a dream or anaesthesia just makes me giddier than usual. Either way, best nap ever.

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Water fairies dancing in my head

My gallbladder and I will be getting an official divorce today. While I'm waiting for Husband and Daughter#1 to get ready to accompany me to the clinic, I thought I'd blog about it to keep my mind off water. I mustn't drink anything before the operation so I have to put cool, refreshing water out of my mind.

Why is it that I keep picturing Niagara Falls and tall cool glaciers in the Arctic?

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Lebanon

It just makes me want to tear my skin off with anger when anyone attempts to "rationalize" war. I am deeply ashamed that we, supposedly the most intelligent beings on this planet, employ boolsheet excuses such as sects, religions and forefathers' lands to kill. Cynically aware of the underlying economic interests motivating this gigantic political gameboard, how convenient for the US if Syria and Iran get involved. The US will finally get international endorsement to officially invade and occupy yet another country(-ies?), this time under the pretext of averting a war. They've already used the "searching for nukes" excuse on Iraq. Aaaaaand, if "entirely by chance" the US can control Persian oil deposits at the same time, well -what the hell!- an occupying force's job is never done!

Blood ain't oil. It can't keep the money cycle up and running.
Blood is expendable. Oil isn't.


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shit happens.

It could happen in minuscule mouse droppings or in hefty piles of elephant poo. Depends on how your luck is faring. I would like to make it known that today was a munificent bundle of grizzly bear excrement for me.

Grizzly bear doo-doo, exhibit A: I requested from my workplace's web host to switch operating system and activate a database and they accidentally switched on virtual e-mail activation; which has caused e-mail upheaval and 50 e-mail accounts acting as basketballs, bouncing back and forth between our mail server and our web host's servers. I was assured that DNS redirection will resolve itself in a couple of days.

Yes, shit happens. Try explaining that, however, to 49 angry e-mail users (the 50th is me and I'm very understanding).

Grizzly bear doo-doo, exhibit B: I left work with a pounding headache. Walked a couple blocks to reach my car and tried to unlock the door. Someone had violated my little Matiz. No lock. I went over to the passenger's side. Same thing. Both car locks had been pushed in and fallen in the car door. Nothing had been stolen from within the car. They had opened the glove compartment but hadn't taken the small change I keep there for toll booths. Someone wanted to vent some rage and took it out on my poor, defenceless car locks.

Yes, shit happens. Had to stop at the supermarket on my way home and kept my fingers crossed that no one would steal it from the parking lot. No one did, by the way.

Grizzly bear doo-doo, exhibit C: Finally got home. Mother-in-law met me at door, flustered and upset. Our basement had flooded. Some drain had been leaking apparently for a couple of days unbeknownst to the upper floor residents (in-laws live on the ground floor, we live on the first floor). Went to change my clothes and started scooping water in buckets. Husband was conveniently at work. Daughter#1 was at the Rockwave Festival and Daughter#2 was at summer camp. Where are a couple of extra hands when you need them?

Yes, shit happens. Leak was contained, water removed, mission accomplished.

I hope there's a quota limit to how much "shit can happen" in one day... I'm pooped.

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Unraveling the missing sock and fishy fish mysteries

If scientists can unravel all sorts of mysteries, why - oh why - can't they give us a logical explanation to where all the missing socks in the world have gone to? Do laundry machines lure them away only to be kept hostage by drains and pipes? If they manage to escape, are they then swirled away into the oceans and lakes? Why don't fishermen complain about catching socks in their nets? Do fish gobble them up, mistaking them for sleeping prey in the survival chain? Do we then eat the fish that have digested our socks? Is that why some fish taste funny?

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And they say you shouldn't believe in horoscopes...

According to today's horoscope I'm a natural born writer (and I didn't need to bribe them), and I will write something down that will help me remember this day for a long time. (Oh, the pressure of blogging!)


I posted my horoscope for posterity.. will that do?
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I feel a rant coming on...

I don't care how hot it gets or whatever fashion excuse some people employ. There's no need to sport sleeveless tops if your upper arms are flabby. If you're not seriously making an effort to tone those limbs then please ensure your garments provide cloth covering for your upper arms. I'm as roly-poly, unfit as the next Joe and I see no reason to force my chubby, aesthetically displeasing, upper arms on my fellow people. "Know thyself", was engraved in the Oracle of Delphi. "And don't wear clothes that want us to put a fork through our eyes", will be added in magic marker by Flubberwinkle.
I'm done ranting.
Some things should never see the light of day.
Flabby upper arms are one of those.
Now I'm done.

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Daughter#2 turned 12

Sunday was Daughter#2's 12th birthday. I just got done with one teenager and now I'm bracing myself for round number 2. This one's witnessed her sister's teen years and has picked up a few pointers along the way. Something tells me she might turn out to be a handful and bit more rebellious. Either I'll be keeping you posted Internet or I'll be heavily sedated.

It feels really strange that everywhere we go, anyone who sees us together, tells us how much we look alike. Daughter#1 looks more like her Dad, whereas Daughter#2 is undeniably my spitting image. I don't know if this is a good thing; but we have wide smiles and eyes that squint when we laugh. Because of this we were both called "China girls" in school. Daughter#2 has mentally recorded and reproduced any funny face I come up with, although her Dad is always asking her to be more serious and stop horsing around. (Then I go and make a horse sound in the background and Dad throws his papers in the air in a desperate act of surrender).

This year, instead of the annual birthday party we decided to organize something smaller. This turned out be a lot more fun than a bunch of noisy kids running around, wreaking havoc, asking if the birthday cake comes in other flavours, and why we have so many drawers in the bathroom, and is the neighbour's dog supposed to be sleeping with its legs in the air. I took the Birthday Girl, her bestest friend in the whole wide world and her sister ("I'm just tagging along to keep you company Mom", my foot) to the amusement park. We had fun and they even managed to talk me into driving a bumper car; where I got pretty banged up because other people's kids thought I was teasing them when I waved them away, "please don't crash into me".

Got sunburnt, drank slurpies (frozen juice), went on rides, saw a silly movie, Birthday Girl won herself a teddy bear, ate out. Came home exhausted yet suprisingly refreshed. The girls were pleased and my little Birthday Girl thanked me for "the best birthday ever". Wait until she discovers alcohol.

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