| Disorder | Rating |
| Paranoid: | Low |
| Schizoid: | Low |
| Schizotypal: | Moderate |
| Antisocial: | Low |
| Borderline: | Low |
| Histrionic: | Moderate |
| Narcissistic: | Moderate |
| Avoidant: | Low |
| Dependent: | Low |
| Obsessive-Compulsive: | Low |
— Click Here To Take The Test — |
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I’m sane, the little voice in my computer tells me so!
A further political observation…
After reading a bit more of the rumor mill about the purported joint American/British strikes on Iraq in the past few days, two thoughts come to mind.
First, these rumors are fairly believable. The scale of the strikes is something which reads like an escalation of the usual defense of the no-fly zones, which has always included hitting anti-aircraft targets, only this time the targetting was chosen as prep for an invasion. Estimate probability that there has been some escalation as about 98%; multiple reliable sources (inc. CNN) say that. Probability that the attacks were as extensive as rumor had it (100 planes and so on) is maybe 70%.
Second, if these rumors are true, it seems to be militarily well-thought-out. (Surprisingly…) The target list seems to have been not just AA but missile bases and air bases which have planes capable of deploying bio and chemical weapons, all in western Iraq. Because of the fairly short range of their Scuds, this could seriously hamper their ability to fire on Jordanian, Israeli and Turkish targets — the things which Hussein could use as threats most effectively to hold off Americans — as well as being pretty much just the right cover both for special forces troops and for air support. Furthermore, the timing — relative to forcing Hussein to put his resources into war preparation and not giving him time to actually do so — is right as well. Since the timing is also so right with respect to the upcoming elections, I’m really suspicious that this was planned very carefully for this exact effect, but that’s another issue entirely.
Very interesting…
OK, enough random political analysis for now.
Clarifying yesterday’s post…
For those of you who missed it, yesterday I posted that there was an unconfirmed report of an American attack on Iraq, then changed it to a “nevermind, spurious info.” Here are the details of what happened/is going on:
There is a persistent rumor going around the middle east that on September 6, a large joint US/British strike force of about 100 warplanes struck large numbers of radar installations and antiaircraft defense stations in the western portion of Iraq, in the area of the Jordanian border, as a prelude to a ground invasion.
Ah, nevermind.
Update to news story: Apparently the rumors of a large-scale attack were false, or at least exaggerated. Certain so-called respectable papers in the Israeli media tend to react in far too large a type to a routine assault; apparently it involved only 12 aircraft and 25 bombs, and was within the range of the ordinary low-level fighting in the area which has been going on for the past decade.
Continue about your business, nothing to see here.
News for the day
Another news story — in particular the second of the two, which brings up the questions:
- What sort of idiot would participate in that?
- What sort of fetish makes people wish to watch that?
- And do I really want to know the answers to either of these questions?
Hopefully these three questions have piqued your interest sufficiently. I’m going to go run and hide now.
A good morning
I just got back from morning services for Rosh Hashanah at a very small, Orthodox synagogue in Boulder. There was something very good about this group; they weren’t obsessed with ritual forms like far too many of the Orthodox seem to be, but rather seemed to be people who just wanted to be together both for the liturgy and for discussing the ideas behind it. Prayer was mixed with discussion, and a great deal of singing and dancing. (Random language thought, not from today but relevant: The Hebrew word for ‘to rejoice’ is literally more or less ‘to be filled with song.’ The word for ‘rich’ is ‘joyful.’ Says something about the underlying ideas there)
Anyway, it was really all the things that a religious occasion ought to be — people there out of will and happiness, rather than out of some abstract obligation, and participating actively rather than just reciting from memory. Definitely a good morning.
And now, to get some sleep… 🙂
Your random news item for the day
First item on this page, sorta kinda work-safe… I can only hope that the woman in question is making this up, and working on the assumption that in Britain, it would sound normal.
OK, I really hope that she’s making this up.
News line of the day
“We’re still looking for either a naked man with huge eyes or an emu,” the spokesman added.
Well, I’ve been saying the same for years…
(The full story, here)
Yonatan Zunger’s Blog 