Informed Comment on Iraq Situation

Juan Cole's blog entry by William R. Polk seems to be a fairly good assessment of the current Iraq situation. He presents brief comparisons between Iraq and several other insurgencies (Algeria, Vietnam, Basque, Ireland ... ) and then offers three courses of action that may be taken from this point onward in Iraq. He quite obviously favors the third option, a backing out by US forces both military and political, but to me this plan seems a little underspecified. Where I agree that the other two options ("staying the course" and "nation building") are rather irresponsible and dangerous, there must be a better way to remove ourselves than simply declaring the insurgents to be the victors. It would be nice if it worked, but I'm not entirely convinced that it would. For one thing, the Iraqi military being trained by US troops is already full of sympathizers with the insurgent groups. How could we prevent a coup from deciding who ends up in power? How could we prevent civil war between the Kurds, Suni, and Shia? Where can we offer incentive or broker a deal if the people are so divided? In our country, people respect the workings of democracy, and most will bite their tongues if they don't get their way in a fair vote. I am worried that minority religeous and militant groups who are used to getting their way will not lay down readily due to a majority of their traditional enemy's vote.

Progress Quest

Are you a closet RPG geek? Have you been wanting to run that ancient dragon hunting campaign starting at first level with inferior stats but can't find the time? Do you get annoyed by online RPGs and nethack because your character gets killed off before third level? Do you feel like you get too attached to your characters? Do you spend too much time worrying about which way to turn at the crossroads or which path to follow in your rank advancement?

Then Progress Quest is for you!

Deceptive Labeling in Fruit Juice

I ran across this fruity juice in our company vending machine. Having been trying to watch the quality of things I consume lately I thought the juice would probably be a nice change from the usual diet died caffiene cans I've been drinking and stacking on top of the workstation at my desk.

Ignorantly satisfied with the sweet nectar draining down my gullet I had no idea that I had been sucked in to a rather nefarious marketing ploy.

The front of the label states quite plainly that this drink is "Made with REAL Fruit Juice". Perhaps the capitalization of "Fruit Juice" should have been my first clue, as it sounds like something Microsoft would trademark (Money, Office, Window, etc.). Next were the juxtiposed supposed contents, or rather flavor, of the liquid: "Peach Papaya". Below is an enticing image of sliced peaches and papayas dancing in splashes of the liquid which is probably intended to be the drink in question. All of these indications seem to suggest that this drink is a wholesome mixture peach and papaya juices, probably watered down and sugared up to meet the demented tastes of American children.

As one shifts the bottle around towards the ingredients list, one notices the markings indicating a five percent juice content. This is the first disappointment, but not particularly unexpected. Given that the juice is probably from concentrate and then watered down, 5% seems reasonable, if slightly disappointing. But then you get to the ingredients list: Water (okay, water is a good start, most drinks are mostly water), High Fructose Corn Syrup (right, "sugar", or something close to it. I don't like HFCS very much for various reasons, but maybe I'll post about that later), Filtered Pear Juice From Concentrate (what??!? What's PEAR doing in my PEACH PAPAYA drink? well maybe it's just a filler) .... and then into the various preservatives, colorings, and a reference to "Natural Flavors".

So what's the deal? Are these "Natural Flavors" they write of hiding my peach and papaya juices?

If that wasn't bad enough, this drink has twice the amount of sugar, at 28 grams, as at least one candy bar I am looking at (14 grams). Or so you would think. Then you notice that it's 28 grams per serving, and the bottle contains "2.5 servings". Maybe it's time to switch back to good ol' diet coke... or maybe Jolt.

eek!

In the interest of political commentary...

This commentary on John Kerry seems to be the most sane analysis of some of his shortcomings that I have seen. I suppose it appeals mostly to the post-adolescent male audience, but even so, I think the author makes some good points, points out some interesting facts, and facilitates a more independant outlook on the information available.

Macho Picachu

My brother and I spent some time in peru. Well, really it was me, my brother Michael, and Michael's friends Gerald, Wanda, and Sue.

Okay, so Gerald was more Sue's husband than Michael's friend, and at times the relationship was a little less than amicable, but for the most part we all got along okay.

The angles of machu picchu really amazed me. How was this city built? How were the terraces laid against the sheer cliffs and how did they discover this place at all? Who architected the elegant drainage system and paths of fountains which channel through bores in giant carved stone? Was this city really buildt in a single lifetime as historical events suggest? Was it really the Inca that did this in less than one hundred years of reign?

The Inca are perhaps the most tragic of civilizations. They built an empire in a few years that covered as much land as the Romans did at their height, without writing, without steel, without even the wheel to their aid. They built monuments comperable to those in Egypt, Rome, and Greece, many of which are deserving of being called "Wonders". And then they were forgotten. A hundred years after Machu Picchu was built it was already forgotten by the native peoples.
When, five hundred years later, the spaniards came in conquest, noone was even able to imagine that this beautiful place existed a few miles north of the capital city. Monuments designed and buildt to last thousands of years only lasted dozens.

War

Potrero Spring War is an event which I consider one of my Old Stomping Grounds. In past years this event has been a lot of fun, an excuse to go get drunk, a way to relieve stress through violence and flirtations and all around removal from the standards of society, and most of all, a common ground on which to bring many of my friends together.

As the fighting style that I am privy to seems to have died away in a puff of politics, War has become more of a social event for me than anything else. It is a good excuse to take a day off work, truck on down to San Diego, and see all the people that made leaving SD harder than it should have been. Two days at war is enough for me nowadays, and so I plan on going for two days, going to some parties, talking to what people I can find there, and then take a day or two to find the people that won't be at War.

Then there is one other event I must take care of on this trip. My grandmother passed away over a year ago, and having lived in the Cochella valley for most of her adult life, she wished to have her ashes spread during a desert bloom. I don't know whether there will be a bloom come memorial day, but most of my grandmother's descendants will be in the area, which makes this as good a time as any. If there is not a bloom, then perhaps the ashes will help to fertilize the next one, in which case I suppose my grandmother's wishes will have been met in spirit, if not to the letter.

Testing, 3d,2p,1s...

Really I haven't read this article yet, so maybe I'll say something about it later, but it sounds like it would make a good article, so it's probably worth reading. I've know lots of people who would take this one to heart, as it involves computer graphics and real applications... I think.