I went to bed last night. Nothing shocking or surprising was said, anyway. Of course they won't turn him over. Taliban rulers have put 20,000 to 25,000 fighters just across the border from the Khyber Pass into Pakistan, so they're readying themselves. A Tajikistani military source said the Taliban has closed off its air space, placed air defenses on alert in readiness for a strike and has taken steps to hide bin Laden. What a shock. Taliban officials and their families have been fleeing Kabul, so they know it's coming.

Whatever. I've got stuff to do today, so I don't have the time to start another rant. Bush said we're supposed to "return to our lives" today and go on, so I guess that means I should actually clean my house, cook something and wash some clothes, LOL. I'm just going to add this - someone new is starting to piss me off, now. It's Sharon. I'm leaving it at that. Maybe he'll be back in my good graces by the time I feel like griping about him.

Leighton was sicker again this morning. I almost kept her home. Poor Emmaline is all stopped up, too. She's sprawled out on the couch watching Blue's Clues. I almost had her weaned, but I'm afraid this will put an end to all that. Oh, well. If it makes her feel better then I guess it's okay. And I haven't forgotten about our surprise. I would have written about it by now, but I figured I'd wait a few days.

One last thing I have to include before I go. Could you even imagine that we have such idiots in our country? I'm going to copy and paste instead of doing a link:

Falwell's Shocking Words Denounced
As a guest on Pat Robertson's "700 Club" television show on Thursday, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, a Baptist minister, said that supporters of abortion rights, gays, lesbians, and liberal civil rights bear some of the responsibility for the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. He said, "God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve." Later in the discussion, Falwell said, "The ACLU's got to take a lot of blame for this...I point the finger in their face and say, 'You helped this happen.'" Robertson agreed with Falwell. Christian groups and churches are denouncing these words of blame and hate. "I call on Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Flip Benham, and other religious extremists to put aside their self-righteous hatred and vengeance and pray with us," said the Rev. Carlton W. Veazey, president, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. "They have gone too far!" The Right Reverend Jane Holmes Dixon, Episcopal Bishop of Washington and the officiant of the national prayer service on Friday, said, "There is much that we do not yet know about how this violence was wrought, but this horror absolutely did not come from God." Bishop Dixon noted that to blame the attack on God's will flies in the face of Christian theology. At this time of national mourning, she said "it is beyond shameful to seek to divide us by alleging that some of us are culpable because we hold beliefs different from those of Robertson and Falwell." --

I wonder how "deserving" he'd think we were if his wife or children would have been in those buildings or on those planes?

posted by Leighton, Emmaline, & Me 9:28 AM link

Just when I thought it was safe to go to bed - just heard CNN announce that there will be a live press conference with the Pakistani Foreign Minister at 12:30 am CST to possibly discuss the results of their meeting with the Taliban. I may be back.

posted by Leighton, Emmaline, & Me 12:18 AM link

Sunday, September 16, 2001

We're still around. Like everybody else in the world, I guess, I've been glued to the TV all week. I've only been online a few times, and it was usually just for something really quick. Some good news, I'm finally feeling better. Some (more) bad news, I gave it to Leighton and Emmaline. Leighton is just about over it, but Emmaline is just getting it.

Well, what can I write that hasn't already been said a thousand times? A week ago I would have never believed I'd go 5 whole days without writing and/or griping about something Condit related. Now I have a whole new topic to rant about to everyone. Since I'm tired, it's late, and I don't want to turn this into the "ranting and raving bin Laden journal" for the next, oh, 2 years - this is my current, personal rant (too bad you don't live with me so you could hear it all the time ;>) -

We need to kill his ass. Correction - we needed to kill his ass awhile back; we should have taken out Hussein in the Gulf War; we did neither; and now it's time to do both. That pretty much sums it up.

This can't be a "drop-a-few-bombs" war; we've got to send in our Special Forces and ground troops to make sure he's taken out. Granted, it's all going to happen in Afghanistan, and the Russians tried for a decade or so to go in (and got their butts whooped), but this is something that we can do. It's more than a little ironic that our military and CIA were funneling money, weapons, and training to the Freedom Fighters in Afghanistan to help their defense against Russia, and Mr. Osama bin Whacko was one of those fighters. So did we create our own monster? Probably not, he's whacked any way you look at it.

And if I hear one more veiled threat from the Taliban about what they will do to "whoever" (us, Pakistan, Iran, Muslims, Arabs, Syria, Egypt, take your pick), I'm going to puke. We need to wipe them off the face of the earth. They're just as guilty as bin Laden. I mean, who the hell do they think they are? Do they honestly think they stand a chance against us with their hand-held rocket launchers and left over crap from their war with Russia? Please.

Right now I'm interested in how Pakistan is going to act. Musharraf has promised full military support and they say they're with us. I know they're going tomorrow (or I guess it's right now, over there) to deliver the ultimatum to the Taliban, but no way is the Taliban going to turn bin Laden over - not in 3 days or 3 years. He's a freaking hero there. I don't trust Pakistan. They're one of only a couple of countries who even recognize the Taliban and maintain open relations with them. They've always given us a hard time, even though they act like they're surprised we would doubt them. We'll see. Russia has said we can use their air/land space for military access, so we don't have to have Pakistan to enter the country, but if they act like asses in all this, I say we group them right in with the Taliban.

Iran has already sealed their borders (and they dang well better do anything we tell them), but we need as many Arab allies as we can possibly rally. If we go in alone, or without backing from other middle eastern countries, bin Whacko will undoubtedly try and spin this into an "America verses the entire Islamic nation" war, which it is not. He's already trying to do that now. And I'm not sure exactly how Sadam plays into all this, but you can believe he's in this somehow. Ramadan has already said the attack was from "American dissidents and not Arabs or Muslims". Yeah, right. Look at why bin Laden hates us so much - he was pissed about Saudi Arabia's cooperation with the US during the Gulf War. Hussein and bin Laden supposedly don't see eye to eye about all things and he's not into the whole "Holy War" thing like bin Laden, but I still say he's in the mix one way or another, even though Powell and Cheney have both said there is no evidence. A hundred bucks says we hear from him by the time this is all through, which is not a good thought since he brings the whole nuclear/biological warfare issue to the table with him. He's been a thorn in our side for years, not to mention that he's probably THE biggest criminal/terrorist in the Middle East, so he's gotta go as well. We've gotta clean house if we don't wanna have to keep fooling with this mess.

Any way you spin it, it's probably gonna be bad for awhile. Or maybe a long while. It's sad to think that even more Americans are going to die during this war, but it's inevitable. I also feel for the people of Afghanistan who don't support or believe in bin Laden and the Taliban. Many of them will be killed in all this, too. But it's got to be done. It's just hard when you're dealing with a bunch of idiots who don't care if they die and actually think it's an honor and that they are going to be instantly transported to some paradise. Not to mention the fact that they are not representative of any state/nation. BL is a Saudi exile, but he's trained troops and set up his Al-Qaida in more than 50 countries, so what do you do? You start with who's harboring him first, but then who knows after that.

I just got through hearing BL's statement again ("I'm innocent and I've been living here in Afghanistan being a good boy cause they won't let me do stuff like that anymore, so it couldn't possibly be me"). I can't wait till HE'S in "paradise".

I'm not even gonna start on W. He's got enough to worry about, so I'll leave him alone. I read the funniest quote about him tonight. I don't feel like going back and finding it now, but I'll put it up later.

Okay, I could rant on for pages, but I'm calling it quits for now. More later.

posted by Leighton, Emmaline, & Me 11:14 PM link

Tuesday, September 11, 2001

Blogger sucked yesterday, as usual. That last post didn't get published until today because it wouldn't let me.

I feel like crappola. Big time crappola. I've been tanked up on Sudafed all day, but my eyes are still watering, my nose is running, and I'm sneezing all the time (you like the visual on that?).

I've got all kinds of good stuff and surprises going on. Maybe I'll get things situated in the next few days and I can blab about them. I was going to try and get Emmaline's birthday pics up today, but I haven't felt like it. Maybe tomorrow (yeah, right).

I don't even feel like writing right now, so here's some interesting links/stories for the day:

Hank the Angry Dwarf from the Howard Stern show died Tuesday. I can't believe it (even thought he couldn't have had much of a liver left). I was still shocked, nonetheless.

This guy is gonna cut his feet off, live on the internet. No joke. At first I thought he was just another looney bird, but after I read everything it kinda made sense. Or maybe that just means I'm a looney bird.

Wanna know the truth about hell? You can find the actual location, too.

I saved the best one for last. *sigh*

posted by Leighton, Emmaline, & Me 1:25 AM link

Sunday, September 09, 2001

I'm sick. Yuck. Double yuck. Someone in this family has given me a head cold. And I can't decide who. At some point during the last 2 weeks Phillip, Leighton, and Emmaline have all acted like they were coming down with something, but never did. We chalked it up to allergies, but I don't have allergies. Someone has gotten me sick.

I did manage to get the other 2 pages up, but now I don't feel like doing anything else. Man, I hope Phillip cooks dinner tonight. As a matter of fact, I need to hit him up about that right now.

Yea! He's making chicken and steak fajitas, which is good since I have a bunch of fresh vegetables that need to be cooked before they spoil.

I had a bunch of stuff I was gonna write about, but I honestly don't feel like it. I'm gonna take more Sudafed and Advil and maybe I'll feel better later tonight.

Hasta.

posted by Leighton, Emmaline, & Me 6:20 PM link