Well, after finally getting to sleep at 3am, I’m up bright and early, waiting for the guy who replasters walls to show up. My walls are/were wet, so first they tore all the plaster off down to the brick, stuck some stuff onto and into the bricks, and now it’s time to get re-plastered!
Maybe this was part of the explanation of my lung problems?
Well, I’ve had marathon working sessions the last week. Yesterday I worked from 9am to 10:30pm with a 15 minute lunch break. I’ve just about finished the first draft of a paper I was supposed to give to my professor yesterday evening. But it’s 22 pages and only the last 4 or so need some polishing up, so I hope it’s no problem. My paper is describing the country differences in the samples collected for the European Challenge for Healthy Aging (ECHA).
So, Bush has increased his lead in polls asking “who do you think would better protect us from terrorism?” He’s now at over 56%. HUH? Are 56% of Americans completely misinformed or just plain dumb? I don’t get it. He’s pissed off his allies in Europe, world polls show low opinion of him, he pulled too many troops prematurely out of Afghanistan, and he invaded Iraq in order to rid Saddam Hussein of nonexistant WMD.
How does that increase terrorism, you ask? According to polls shown here in Europe, a majority of Moslems feel that Bush is not targeting terrorists, but Islam. This pisses off Islamic fundamentalists, who decide to strike back. By invading Iraq with no post-war plan, Bush has left a country full of unemployed, angry, young men with sporadically functioning utilities – a perfect recruiting ground for terrorist groups. Osama bin Laden is still free. While his active leadership of Al Quaeda is probably severely diminished, his freedom provides a figure-head to rally terrorists about.
But Bush has done so much to protect us at home, you say. Foreign visitors must now have their photographs taken and give fingerprints. My rebuttal, if a terrorist is determined to get in, there are large sections of the borders with Mexico and Canada that are not patrolled. This measure is just a hassle for legitimate visitors and has reduced business trips and holiday travel to the US. And are the photographs and fingerprints instantly put through a database? No. Therefore, unless a terrorist is well known enough that immigration officials know his/her face, they won’t be recognized as a terrorist until after they’ve entered the country and disappeared into the population.
Anyways, I sent my absentee ballot for Kerry on Tuesday. This is the first time I’ve ever voted Democrat. I know there’s no chance of Virginia going to Kerry, but at least my vote will be added to the popular vote tally.
