A friend sent me a link to a rather disturbing article about current social trends in France and some possible impetus behind their recent America-bashing. I don’t know how much of this is true, but it’s interesting to hear another voice out of France in any case.

Finally I’ve fixed my e-mail link on the left. So if you got one of those ridiculous bounce-back messages earlier, and you can’t stand the fact that I didn’t read your insults, feel free to try again. You’ll need to remove the “foo” from the address if you want it to work, though.

My sentiments exactly.

So how about today’s “good morning” wakeup call! Eleya was up early because she was teaching this morning, and she woke me from the most peaceful sleep I’d had in weeks. Much to our chagrin and the delight of the carpet cleaning company arriving this afternoon, our dog had a severe attack of explosive diarrhea while we slumbered, blissfully unaware of the intestinal warfare taking place mere feet away. Rise and shine!

Regardless of your position on the war, our troops are enduring grueling conditions to perform the tasks they are assigned. Have you considered giving them some much needed relief supplies of their own through Operation USO Cares? It’s easier taking a “bath in dirt” every day if you know that someone back home is thinking about you.

What is with all the Monday-morning quarterbacking six days into an armed conflict? Do we now demand military victories occur on a timetable equivalent to American Idol? Are we suffering this much from PlayStation2 and MTV-induced attention span deficit? Like all other citizens of willing nations, I am deeply saddened by the loss of any of our brave soldiers in Iraq, be they Americans, Brits or Australians. But these people are professional combatants. They know the risks they shoulder in being a part of an armed force, and the casualties we have suffered thus far are extremely low, and a stunning example of the effectiveness and preparedness of our military men and women. To suggest that these casualties are in any way a good argument for a change in strategy is both incredibly premature and also a huge slap in the face to our dedicated soldiers.

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p>To those who are letting their own short-sightedness blind them to the realities of a tremendously successful campaign that has lasted only six days at this point, I say: SUCK IT UP. Do not dishonor our soldiers as they are fighting for your safety and security. They deserve far better. As Secretary of State Colin Powell has said, “This is not a videogame. This is a war.”

We had a wonderful party for Evie’s 2nd birthday on Saturday. All her aunts, uncles and cousins came. Eleya had put together a whole “Lilo & Stitch” affair, with party favors, a theme cake, lots of balloons… we even had Elvis music! Evie had a great time and got some really nice gifts from everyone. Of course we always make sure she says “Thank you”! Pictures will be forthcoming.

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p>Speaking of Elvis, I just got Elvis Costello’s next-to-most-recent release, “When I Was Cruel.” Fantastic return to “loud” rock from the crown prince of rock poetry; highly recommended.

A new picture of Evie is in the links section on the left. (Hit “Reload” in your browser to make sure you have it updated.) What guy couldn’t be happy with such a cutie-pie for a rugrat?

Finally got around to offloading some old media from my Sony TRV-17 in Linux. So easy, I could hardly believe it was Linux. Thanks Red Hat! So now you can see a very short MPEG movie (471 KB) of Evie at her great-grandparents’ farm in Waverly, Tennessee, just before this past Thanksgiving.

Surreal, bizarre juxtaposition for the day: The beginning of Gulf War II and Evie’s second birthday. I hope she will grow up in a world without the threat of brutal dictators like Saddam Hussein.