Last updated 6-28-2022
So long, and thanks for all the fish...
Damn, first Joey Ramone, now Douglas Adams. Tell me Yakov Smirnoff is still alive... The Hitchhiker's five-book trilogy is still the funniest series I've ever read, and I'm stubbornly proud to say that I own the LPs, the radio series cassettes, and the videotape, too; I even had the text game for my Commodore. Heh-heh... Say hello to the Great Zarquon for me, Douglas...
The Israelis and Palestinians seem to be spiralling downward. It's sad that they can't just stop. The region may not have the ability or the desire for full-scale war anymore, but there is still far too much violence, far too much fear, and far too many lives being taken. Macedonia is perilously near the brink, too, although the rest of the world seems much more concerned with nipping that in the bud. Europe, and the United States, won't tolerate yet another Balkan war. At a Macedonian friend's request, I searched for the pictures of the soldiers and police killed by the Albanian rebels a month ago; they were very disturbing, and I'm kinda sorry I let her see them, because she was obviously even more upset by them than I was... :\ Hard to believe that people can treat other people like this in our 'civilized' age.
Speaking of the Balkans, the Serbs seem to be cautiously edging their way towards handing Milosevic over to the UN. Kostunica is a smart man, and he knows that, in order for Yugoslavia to go forward, this issue must be addressed to the satisfaction of the world body. If Slobo has to be tried and broken at home first, fine; but justice must be done.
Chechnya isn't going away, Mr. Putin. I started writing about the war there in November of '99, and the Russians still don't control the situation. What is it with this world lately? Instead of a big war or two, like Korea or Vietnam, it seems that we're faced with a dozen 'little' ones: the Palestinian intifadeh, Chechnya, Macedonia, the Philippines, Kashmir, the Congo... But it's still horrible, and people are still being killed. Calling it an 'action' or 'strife' doesn't make it any nicer.
The Taliban continues to earn nothing but disgust. Hindus forced to wear identifying badges? It is alleged that this is for the Hindus' own protection, so they aren't forced to pray in mosques or wear beards. But the fact that there's a Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in Afghanistan (I kid you not) from which the Hindus need protection is chilling. It's frustrating that no amount of condemnation (even from their Muslim brothers), no amount of sanctions, seem to faze these radical fundamentalists.
Enough with the negative stuff. I'm starting to depress myself. :} Kudos to Senator Jeffords, whose defection from the Republican Party should tell Dubya just where he can put his so-called 'mandate...' Heh-heh-heh! ...I've gotten in touch with an old grammar-school era friend, John Masker, and we got together and did some catching up last weekend, which was cool. Man, how time flies... Never did hear from that waitress at Lalo, though. lol Oh, well. Seems I've been selected "...as a possible contestant for the May 2001 Sexiest Geek Alive online contest." Heh-heh. I'm not at all sure that I'm either sexy or a geek, but... we'll just have to see how that turns out. What kind of groupies does the winner get? lol - A
Last updated 6-28-2022
