the things I don’t know about Iraq

Okay, I don’t have time to post a comprehensive entry on the subject I posted. But, reading several NYT articles has revealed to me that I’m even more ignorant than I thought I was.

It started when I was surprised to discover that Al Qaeda was a Sunni group. My reaction was something along the lines of “But Sadaam/the Baathists are Sunni, and they hate Al Qaeda, right? How does that make sense?” Then there was the “what is the _real_ difference between Sunnis and Shias? Yes, yes, different areas of Iraq, some more oil rich than others. Prevalence in population and dominance in politics, blah, blah, blah. But those are characteristics of the groups’ circumstances in Iraq. They aren’t the features that distinguish one from the other. Sunnis live in Shi’a areas and vice versa. I really don’t know the difference between the two groups in a more fundamental sense.

Then another article made the observation that neither the Iraqi identity nor the Sunni/Shi’a identity is (generally speaking) the most important grouping in Iraqis’ lives. Their families/clans are more important. And it fits what I know better than the Sunni/Shi’a distinctions as the primary allegiance. It also makes unity a much more complicated (impossible?) goal. It also puts so many things into context. Without knowing jack or shit about the most important factor in so many of their lives, the folks at home are shooting blind in their understanding of the situation. And every blind shot will undoubtedly hit some target, the question is, how big. There were people who welcomed our troops as liberators and I bet several of them still feel the same way. But that’s not to say the represent the majority, or even a significant minority of the people there. So the “greeted as liberators” thing did have a tiny kernel of truth, along with a giant, steaming heap of exaggerating bullshit.

Not that I think the soldier killers represent a majority of the population. If they did, I bet the situation would be quite different, and there’d be alot more dead bodies.

I’ve completely lost track of my point here. Oh yeah, I don’t know shit about the important parts of the situation. But neither do most of the people vehemently opining on the topic. That was my point. How constructive. Chaos is usually a very ugly beast.

untrained auto-Psychoanalysis

So, years ago, I was diagnosed with Adjustment Disorder with Anxious and Depressive Features. Right around the time I oh-so-conveniently left town, my shrink was starting to think that it might be more serious than that. Hearing that phrase, I paniced a little inside (see “Anxious” above). I haven’t seen a shrink since. I don’t have the least belief that I’d end up medicated or committed, but I should probably be talking with some trained person about my neuroses anyway, for my own optimum happiness or whatever. I just haven’t. In CA without insurance, I got out of the talking-with-a-shrink habit. And, though it might have helped me in my grad school stresses, I just chose not to. And now I’ve chosen the less benefit-ful insurance option. I _can_ cope with my own problems. I _might_ cope better with assistance. But it’s gotta be a quality shrink. I can talk for hours to someone who doesn’t call me on my shit and get nowhere.

But, back to my point. Adjustment disorder with Anxious and Depressive Features. Some thoughts on all that

Harry Potter and New Jersey

New Jersey is the most ass backwards state I’ve ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Their public transportation system is the worst I’ve ever encountered in such an urban area. They don’t seem to have people manning the phones capable of finding their ass with two hands and a map. Plus, they’re not merely terrified that I’ll use my water to blow up a plane (I’ll fuse it with the power of my mind, I guess), they are terrified that an empty plastic bottle is a danger.

Okay, now that I have that out of my system.

Over the course of the past week, I’ve read the first 3 harry potter books. They’re good. Lighter and quicker reads than I expected. I’m also somewhat disappointed with the unidimensional characters (though in the 3rd book, they start showing signs of growth and change). But she does suspense well. Unfortunately, on the flight back, I left the book in the seatback pocket on the airplane. I’m going to have to buy a replacement for (sorry!) I also accidentally swiped Dan’s umbrella. I reminded myself to take it out a couple times, but never actually did.

*sigh*. And I have to get up tres early for work tomorrow. So perhaps it’s a good thing that I’m extremely tired.

g’night!

A really good day

After getting in to Newark last night (don’t get me started on the stupidity around the cabs, buses and njtransit.com), I made it straight to Dan’s place. Settled in pretty quickly, had a pleasant evening.

Today, Dan had to leave early for a conference which took him most of the day. I slept in, and fooled around online for a bit. In the afternoon, I went to the city, and met up with . We chatted for like an hour and half, while checking around the bus center for the elusive open information desk, and heading to chelsea piers for the open floor gymnastics night.

I had barely set foot outside the lockerroom on the way to the gymnastics room when I saw Bobby Diep, who I knew from the open floor gymnastics I did at UC Berkeley. I did a bit of practicing with my handstands, trying to work my way up to handsprings. David suggested I talk with Randy, one of the coaches. A small group of us assembled. I got to feel like I was top of the class, as we did handspring warmups. And after the handsprings, we moved to the trampoline to practice back tucks with the belt. There I was the bottom of the class. Randy started teasing me that I was fucking up my landings just to give his hands ropeburn. David joined us to practice his double back tucks, and got the same playful ribbing from Randy. Afterwards it was on to back handsprings. Which is probably my favorite thing that I can do, gymnastically speaking.

Dan was going to join us, but sadly, when he finally got to the gym from the conference he realized he only had the (dress) clothes on his back. We didn’t see him, and he turned around to head home. I was meanwhile practicing handsprings after warming up. Half way through I stepped out to call him, and persuaded him to come back and watch.

Afterwards, Bobby, Dan, David, and me went out to dinner. (Neng-li, another former berkeley person walked with us to the subway, then went home). We went to Zen Palate (one of my favorite vegetarian restaurants). Dinner was faboo, and we lingered afterwards. Bobby lived nearby, but David saw us off to our bus. And now I’m back in Jersey. I was a good day. Meeting rocked and it’s been great seeing Dan again. Like so many places, I want to come back… =)

Irks

Shipping irk:

Hello internet companies. I am ordering shit from you. This implies I have income, which suggests I have a job. One might suspect that I don’t want to take a day off to sit at home and wait for the package. One would suspect correctly. And yet your best advice is “ship it to a friend or relative that lives nearby.”? Figure out a real solution to the problem and get back to me.

Language irk:

The phrase “ethnic cleansing” offends me deeply. Partially because it’s bureaucratic weasel language for “genocide”. “Genocide” sounds bad, because it is. There’s nothing wrong with “ethnic”, and some might argue “cleansing” is a good word. Genocide doesn’t deserve pretty language to cover up for it. Let alone pretty language that validates the underlying viewpoint of those who practice it. When someone uses the phrase “ethnic cleansing”, correct them, and tell them to say what they mean.