Complaints:

If I see one more picture of a chubby-cheeked Iraqi child kissing a U.S. soldier, I'll start projectile vomiting.

If I have to grade one more response paper that begins "This book sucks," I'm going to break out a bottle of Elmer's Glue.

If I have to hear one more person quote Savage Nation when defending overseas political strategy, I'll shoot myself in the face.

And if I have to go one more ride without a car CD player, I'll most likely commit hari kari. That's right--I finally cashed in the lousy $250 or so and bought myself a new car stereo. Funny--the stereo is worth more than the car with me in it. But at least now I can blare The Cult on my ten-minute ride to work in the mornings (afternoons take a bit longer).

Testing on Wednesday and Thursday, which means I only have to teach one class. Awesome. Hopefully I'll use the time to catch up on grading and planning, but most likely they'll find something better for me to do. Like wax the floors. They could use it, after all.

War is what upsets the public in wartime, not pop song lyrics , from The Scotsman, via Matt. Good take.

Finished Why Do People Hate America, and I only wish I had a photographic memory. I'll have to look it over for the key points. I won't say the whole thing was gold, but it was up there, especially about the cowboy attitude Americans tend to project into world affairs.

Speaking of the war...

Tribune critic Steve Johnson reminds us (in today's article) that just because the television broadcasts images of Hussein toppling over does not mean the war is won (it ain't exactly the Berlin wall, after all--there are plenty other statues to be torn down). Of course I'm jubilant that the Iraqi dictator is off and running, most likely in northern Iraq. Who wouldn't be? Just because you're anti-war doesn't mean you don't like to see a torturer and murderer of innocents get his come-uppance (if in fact he's gotten it--it's a little too early to tell).

But there are repercussions that are going to follow. Various intelligence sources have already commented that this war has been a prime breeding ground for further Al Queda recruitment of more terrorists, and since terrorism against the U.S. is what gets your average Joe Average jumping up in his seat, we could be in for some trouble there. Besides, despite American media portraying a grinning, victory-saluting Iraqi population hailing our troops, there is still instability. The BBC reports further fighting and looting in Baghdad, not twenty-four hours of the American occupation.

Although even Rumsfeld is cautioning us that it's not over, the television and front-page pictures are saying otherwise. Keep your ear to the ground.

Who says the war isn't under control?

"You just fucking killed a family because you didn't fire a warning shot soon enough!"

"Our soldiers on the ground have an absolute right to defend themselves," General Peter Pace, vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said. Presumably against entire families, too.