More Iraq

It just keeps getting worse for those poor fuckers. The UN released a report basically saying that the country is a shithole governed by a despotic regime propped up by a foreign power. And of course, the Iraqi government denied it, since they aren't going to admit they're despotic and also incompetent. In reading through the report, I noticed a couple of interesting sections.

On page 3 (the summary), the report states that they were not given access to death statistics from the Ministry of Health. The excuse given was that "UNAMI used the mortality figures in an inappropriate fashion" i.e. reporting them.

Nearly two million people have been forced to flee their homes and become refugees elsewhere in Iraq, and another two million are refugees outside Iraq.

"UNAMI continued to receive reports of possible collusion between armed militia and Iraqi Special Forces in raids and security operations, as well as reports of the failure of these forces to intervene to prevent kidnapping and murder and other crimes."

"UNAMI was also investigating an incident in the village of al-Zarka in the governorate of Najaf on 28 January, in which over 260 people were reportedly killed. Armed clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and followers of a Shi’a group calling itself the Soldiers of Heaven (Jund al-Sama’), followed by aerial bombardment by MNF forces which were called in to provide air support. Several hundred people said to be followers of the Soldiers of Heaven were also rounded up and detained. Their fate and current whereabouts remained unknown [bold mine]." This is just a single example of incidents that happen all the time. You never hear about it, however, since it is after all the Americans who are doing the killing, and we don't kill any innocent people, right?

Another interesting point is that the Kurds, who have been held up by the US media as exemplary "Iraqis," are actually extremely thuggish, at least the government. Journalists are routinely arrested, minorities are harassed and detained, and a general air of secret-police-ism exists.

The most sobering facts, however, come from the "Humanitarian situation" section. Four million people are at severe risk of starvation, and acute malnutrition rose from 4.4% to 9% from 2003 to 2005. It has assumably gotten worse since then. Keep in mind that during the UN sanctions regime (which ended with the invasion in 2003), over 600,000 children died as a result of malnutrition, and the situation has become almost twice as bad since then. Only 32% of Iraqis have access to safe drinking water, 60% are unemployed, and nearly a third of Iraq's doctors have left the country because of the situation.

The situation is downright criminal, but of course we will never have any accounting of those responsible for the mess. Everyone will get away, and in 30 years we will look back on Iraq (as we do with Vietnam today) and ask how the Iraqis could be so cruel as to injure our country as they did.

VT Media Coverage

Ok folks. Yes, it's sad that 30+ college students got gunned down this week, and dozens more were wounded. Yes, it can happen anywhere and there isn't much that anyone can do to protect against it. But let's not forget that this (and worse) happens daily in Iraq, and just because they're brown and the VT kids were rich and white doesn't make it any less important. So get a grip and go back to reporting the news instead of covering 80 different memorial services.

Stay What You Are

I've listened to this CD four times in the past two days, and I've come to remember why it was listed at my second favorite CD in one of my rankings. It is really an amazing CD, and I haven't listened to Saves The Day with any regularity since...2005, according to iTunes. "Firefly" alone makes the CD.

I listened to In Reverie as well, but it isn't as good as I used to think it was, and certainly nowhere near Stay What You Are; it's kinda grating now.

So yay for sophomore year music.

Vegan Week

It took me a bit to do this writeup. And I'm gonna make it quick, because there isn't much to say.

I ended it on Thursday, two days ahead of schedule. I did this because I hadn't eaten protein in nearly a week, and was worried about my body beginning to eat itself. It was somewhat disappointing, since even just some peanuts would've done the trick and allowed me to continue, but there weren't any peanuts anywhere to be seen in the dining hall (not even peanut butter) and I didn't have the opportunity to go to the co-op to get a can or such. So I called it early for health reasons. But I was confident that I could've gone the full week, and that was idea, after all.

So what did I eat? I wasn't being an anal vegan; I probably ate some animal products unknowingly, but the idea was nothing obviously animalian. At one point I was told that the bread I was eating my lettuce, tomato, and pickle sandwich on had eggs in it. It didn't stop me. Monday we went out to dinner, and there was only one item on the menu I was able to eat. It was good though - angel-hair pasta (no cheese please!). On Wednesday, they had a "baseball-themed" menu at North, which was basically cheese and meat galore. And all week the vegan menu entries they usually have at the dining hall were no where in site. I chose the worst week to do it, it seems.

Oh, and I tried soy milk in my cereal one morning (I usually just ate it dry). It tasted like munching on tulips. Blech.

In conclusion, while I think veganism lacks much justification over vegetarianism, it certainly is a lot harder. And I was only doing for a week, and not even that fully. Hats off to vegans.