Monday, again.

Another busy day at work. Surprise, surprise.

Spent some time reading opinion pieces from many different sources about the coverage of what is going on Iraq these days. The mess in Fallujah will have an impact we can only imagine at this point. It was an awesome display of the power of the U.S. military and its modern machinery to annihilate an entire city. What little news trickles out is terrifying -- piles of rubble, the entire infrastructure destroyed, rotting corpses everywhere. As a show of terrible manmade force, it is unbeaten in the modern age. Those who dream up new and better ways to destroy the world are understandably proud of this impressive display of their ruthless efficiency. Phrases such as "We won" and "Victory" have been spoken by U.S. military personnel on the ground in Iraq.

Yeah, well we won Vietnam if the measure of winning is who can create the most destruction. I do believe the U.S. has now won the World Series/Stanley Cup/World Soccer Championship of destruction. So how do we go from that to being a force for democracy in the Middle East? Guess we'll have to work on that pesky problem, eh? Yes, Virginia, that is sarcasm.

It is so odd to learn about this kind of destruction on the same day we learn about the after-effects of a 9.0 earthquake in the Indian Ocean. The quake and its accompanying tsunamis have racked up over 21,000 estimated deaths so far and created mass destruction across huge tracts of land. It will be days or weeks before the full effect will be known.

With all the opportunities that living on this planet can provide us in clean-up efforts, why would we choose to add to the mess by going to war against each other? I do understand that imperialism has to be defeated. But it is such a distraction from the real work of creating progress for our planet and its inhabitants.

Today's political work was limited to catching up on news from Iraq and putting out a press release for an inter-faith memorial service tomorrow to remember the children who have died through war this year. We won't attend the service, but we'll help by alerting the local press-titutes of the activity.

News Alert

A Candlelight Service for The Children of Iraq And Other Child Victims of War

Tuesday, December 28, 2004, 6:30 pm
St. Joan of Arc Church
4537 - 3rd Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN

A coalition of Twin Cities area churches and other faith-based groups will hold a candlelight service for the children of Iraq.

The service will be held on Tuesday, December 28 starting at 6:30PM at St. Joan of Arc Church, 4537 3rd Ave. South in Minneapolis.

The event is sponsored by the Twin Cities Peace Campaign.

A statement issued by organizers says in part, "In this service, we will commemorate the children who have been and continue to be victimized by war. By keeping alive in our hearts the memory of these innocent children, we hope to renew and re-energize our resolve to change the conditions that caused their suffering and death, and to recommit ourselves to speaking out publicly against war, injustice and the "politics of fear."

For more information 612- XXX-XXXX.

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A couple of links:

Via metafilter, a metal sculptor who does marvelous things with armor for your pets!

Via presurfer, a wonderful animation illustrating the rock-paper-scissors odyssey.