Monday Morning

I thought I had overcome five o'clock mornings. However, on this autumnal morning I am reminded of the significance of the turning of the seasons for me. It bends my biorhythms. I like having an early jump on the day, but I prefer late mornings. With early mornings, I feel the need for a morning nap. I hate this tired, heavy-headed feeling in the morning. After a night's sleep, I ought to be feeling fairly refreshed.

Cutting the Grass, Israeli Style

Maureen Dowd seems to have gotten into the spirit of our return to more of a war footing in Iraq, urging Obama to be even more remorseless, and likening America to Israel.

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The president should just drop the flowery talk and cut to the chase. Americans get it. Let’s not pretend we’re fighting for any democratic principles here.

America failed spectacularly in creating its democratic model kitchen with Iraq. So now we have to go back periodically and cut the grass, as they say in Israel, to keep our virulent foes in check.

-- Maureen Dowd at The New York Times

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I actually find this a little shocking coming from her. I thought she was always more peacenik than hawk. I detect no irony.

Hong Kong

We now have mass democratic protests in Hong Kong. "By midnight there was little sign of the mass protest ending. Thousands of protesters, despite police use of pepper spray, batons and tear gas, occupied the main roads outside the government headquarters complex in Admiralty. Many joined in after hearing of the confrontation from the media, and a smaller blockade began late last night in Causeway Bay, while hundreds occupied a section of Nathan Road in Mong Kok."

But we are talking about China, and it is probably good to retain a strong sense of cold realism: "Occupy co-organiser Dr Chan Kin-man urged the protesters to retreat. 'It is a matter of life and death … Retreating does not mean giving up … Occupy Central has succeeded as long as the spirit of democracy never dies.'"

So long as you let the Chinese government keep absolute power, they are happy to let you have all the hope you want.

[Source: News/LJ]

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