Real no irony liberation [Updated!]

Again, mollpeartree surfs the web for news so I don't have to. Today, she has a link to the fascinating story of a visit to Iraq by a team of young exiles sowing the seeds of democracy. The stories of them founding debating societies and newsletters among college students make me misty-eyed. How you can be cynical in the face of bright young men and women discovering the meaning of "freedom" for the first time ever? And one of the exiles states how I feel about the current "End the Occupation" movement, but with all the moral authority that I can't give it:

She adds: "I find it absolutely incredible that the anti-war people are now calling for the coalition to leave straight away. Nobody in Iraq wants that. The opinion polls show it's just 13 per cent. Don't they care about the Iraqi people and what they want at all? This isn't a game. This isn't about poking a stick at George Bush. This is our lives."

[Addendum]
Currently, what I'm most worried about in Iraq is the typical American foreign policy response to grassroots democracy that--by some inexplicable miscalculation--doesn't result in a pliable client state with closely-alligned interests. This would only convince the rest of the Arab world that we don't really mean it when we say the d-word and, in the end, are no better than the local tyrants in Syria, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, or anywhere else in the Arab world. I'm worried that "Islamic fundamentalism" (lumping together everything from al-Qaeda to the AK party in Turkey) will become the new Communism, to be resisted at all costs regardless of what this does to civil society or future prospects, rather than allowed to run its course and burn itself out (cf. Iran). Sorry, Mr Bremer, but the first post-Saddam Iraqi government is going to have a large Shiite component. It will be anti-Israel and ambivalent toward America and monkeying around to make it less so will only piss everyone off in the end and cause them to remember us as conquerors rather than liberators. Suck it up, and we could eventually have a staunch, stable ally whose existence will once and for all put the lie to the assertion that the Arabs must not be allowed out from the firm hands of despots.

Incubus

( I dreamt I was in bed... )

Assorted short entries

(The title represents a conscious attempt to avoid the overuse of "random" in connexion with LJ omnibus entries. The following selection is arbitrary, varied, disparate--perhaps a little whimsical or haphazard--but, since each and every thought or experience I have isn't equally likely to end up in this journal (despite what y'all may think) or in proximity to any other thought or experience, it is not "random". So there.

1. On the el last night, I saw a very mainstream-looking young black man carrying a bass case sit down next to a guy with a bright blue Mohawk. After a while, they started chatting. When they exited together, I overheard Mr Mohawk saying "Zen isn't like that. Right now, I'm reading a book by [horribly mangled Tibetan name]..."
2. Haven't seen my hunky neighbour since I killed a kitten over him. Perhaps he was just staying with friends a few days? Am v. sad.
3. Picked up a menu from Như Hoa last night, since I'm curious to see what Laotian dishes they offer. Can someone explain to me why more than a third include seafood when Laos the only Southeast Asian country that is completely landlocked?
4. In their online edition, Consumer Reports has the pithy warning: "If you think shopping for a car is an ordeal, try shopping for a mattress." Too true! Looks like I may be sleeping on the futon for a while longer.
5. I have a living room! It still begs for the finishing touches, but it doesn't look bad as it is and it can actually accommodate visitors. So call me up and invite yourself over sometime.
6. Laughter can be a potent form of aggression and I think it's disingenuous to pretend otherwise.
7. The Chicago International Film Festival is coming up! This time, I'm going to make a concerted effort to see more than one or two films, even if perusing the selection hasn't exactly set my heart afire yet.

That's more than enough for now. Gawd, I wish I could just go home, but, when I do, I'll have to paint some more, so part of me wants to just hide out somewhere. How long before I have weekend where I don't have to lift a screwdriver, paintbrush, or mop and don't have to go out and buy a damn thing?