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02/11/2003 Archived Entry: "Count Down to Valentine's"

On the Political Front:

NATO was thrown into disarray yesterday after France, Germany, and Belgium refused to fulfil their treaty obligations to Turkey, a fellow member, in the event of war against Iraq. Rumsfeld declares, "it won't delay the war."

Meanwhile, the US is evacuating all non-essential personnel and diplomats' families from Israel. (Similar steps were taken before the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq.) Yet, as the US's diplomatic presence in the world contracts, its accusations increase. Yesterday, it expressed "grave concern" over Iran's "nuclear ambitions." The US wants Iran to "sign a tough inspection protocol." Deja vu, anyone? As Robert Higgs comments in an article for the Independent Institute, Bush's "strategy amounts to an enormously presumptuous agenda for domination of the entire world."

Bush's strategy also shifts. Remember the demand that Saddam co-operate fully with UN Inspectors in order to prevent war? The United States has now "brushed aside as irrelevant new pledges by Iraq to cooperate with UN weapons inspectors," including Iraqi acceptance of U-2 surveillance flights. Remember how Iraq could prevent invasion and domination if Saddam left? Now national security adviser Condoleezza Rice says "even if the Iraqi leader made a last minute decision to abandon Baghdad to save Iraq from war, the 'US has to remain committed' to creating a country that maintains its territorial integrity, destroys its weapons of mass destruction and ends the repression of its own people".

On the domestic front...protest New York City's outrageous refusal to allow freedom of assembly and freedom of speech to antiwar sympathetizers.

On the Personal/Movement Front:

What are you doing for Valentine's Day? Our plans...We intend to knock off work in the late afternoon and make a movie-night of it, selecting our fare from a batch of DVDs we bought yesterday for that purpose. (I vote for slipping in "Signs" between two romantic comedies, one of which I hope is "Serendipity.") Brad couldn't decide which of two "house specials" he preferred so I will be making up two Valentine meals. Lunch: pasta with marinara sauce and garlic sausage, all homemade. Supper: chicken livers with "dirty" rice, a cajun favorite. Then an assortment of five cheeses during our viewing pleasure. I *love* to cook.

The contract for the transfer of ifeminists.com appears to be in rough draft form, awaiting review and signatures. The site is being slowly reconstructed thanks solely to Brad's tireless and brilliant efforts. Check out the editorials that will be posted later today on the site's front page -- that's the feature being added this week. Next week, we hope to have the daily newsfeeds back where they belong...front and center.

Best to all,
mac