Lunch and Fallujah

Called Aline to see if she was available for lunch, but she was going in early to the library.  We made a date for brunch tomorrow.  Called Leslie to ask the same and yes, she was.  Picked her up at noon and went to SeaOaks, where we had a leisurely meal (split pea soup and turkey sandwich) and good talk.  Les is one of the few people with whom I can talk intelligently about pacifism.  Hers stems from her religion (Mennonite), mine simply from reason and compassion, I guess.
WIDER:  It's amazing how people look at me as if I have two heads when I suggest that maybe we shouldn't be so worshipful of the military and give such blind allegiance to the political whores and media hacks who have helped bring such misery to so many.
Oh, speaking of two heads, I saw pictures of deformed Iraqi babies yesterday and understand that some have indeed, been born with two heads.  There are also much higher rates of still births there, as well as cancer and other illnesses, more than would have occurred without the war.  These are the results of the depleted uranium we've dumped on Fallujah, in particular.  At the museum in Vietnam, I saw similar pictures of deformed children, now adults if they lived that long.  For them, it was the Agent Orange thing.  And so we stride through the world on our god-given mission, bringing democracy to all, even if they're backward enough not to appreciate it.  But hey, the horror is worth it, isn't it, for such a glorious cause?