This makes me nervous

I don't know if you heard amongst the headlines yesterday about the news in Zimbabwe. It got a brief paragraph mention on the News Hour and was referenced in the top of the hour report on NPR. But yesterday, Robert Mugabe swore in Morgan Tsvangirai (pronounced CHANG-er-eye) as Prime Minister with Mugabe still in power as president.

I just don't see how this can end well. Mugabe has proved himself over the course of 30 years to be a power-mad lunatic. And suddenly now things are going to be all right? I think the U.S. State Department is right to take a "wait and see" approach before lifting any sanctions. I mean, there's hope and then there's foolishness. Personally, I think I'm sticking to prayer right now. The NY Times article ends with this:

After the swearing-in ceremony, a veteran ZANU-PF official who belongs to the party’s politburo said of Mr. Tsvangirai, speaking on the understanding that he would not be quoted by name: “He will not last. I swear to you. We just want to buy time.”

Yeaaah. PM Tsvangirai had best be watching his back. I don't like this one little bit.

Even better quote of the day

“His color looked off — he looked pale and cold,” Mr. Steinberg said somberly.

From an article headlined (and I am not making this up), "Pedestrian Is Struck, Then Dragged 17 Miles." Must be read to be believed.

Quote of the day

Wednesday, which in retrospect John Putnam Thatcher was to date as the beginning of The Troubles, provided convincing demonstration of John Maynard Keynes's celebrated dictum about the power of ideas. It was unfortunate, in the light of subsequent events, that so many of those ideas were wrong.

From the absolutely delightful Emma Lathen mystery (as all of them are) "Death Shall Overcome," whose hero (if you don't know him), John Putnam Thatcher, is a Senior Vice President of the Sloan Guaranty Trust. Oh, I love him.

This quotation also seems germane to the current economic/political wrangle which I am watching with absolutely no comprehension whatsoever.

Update I must add another quote:

The targets of Richard Simpson's crusade were the most powerful stockbrokers, the most influential bankers, the most important lawyers in the world. Daily they made decisions that shaped the destinies of men and nations. Naturally, they disliked feeling helpless in the grip of forces bigger than they were. Wall Street was enraged--and surprised--to discover that there were bigger forces. And so, voices were raised with more heat than had been evoked since the nation went off the Gold Standard, and men in expensive tailoring raged with unwonted vigor.

Westminster Kennel Club results

Although I thought the Giant Schnauzer showed her little heart out and I would have given her the top prize, I have to give credit to the judge for naming a 10-year-old dog named Stump Best in Show. I would like to add that it was a pleasure to have Mary Carillo's wit, vivacity and humor as part of the color team. I think her intelligence allowed David Frei to shine as well. One of my favorite moments was when Mary parsed the announcer's description of one dog as "rambunctious" (or something like that). "Rambunctious...what does that mean exactly?" said Mary. "It means, 'hide your shoes'," said David.

Westminster comes at a wonderful time in the sporting year, too: after the Super Bowl and before March Madness. I mean, the dogs look the same year after year, but it's still so much fun to watch because you really never know who's going to take home the prize.

In sporting news...

...remember that the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show will be on TV tonight and tomorrow. Keeper says you'd better go Cattle Dog '09.

Vague thoughts on vengeance

Last week in one of my NY Times obituary updates that I receive in my daily email, I noted the following brief item:

Names of the Dead
The Department of Defense has identified 4,231 American service members who have died since the start of the Iraq war. It confirmed the death of the following American this week:

FERNANDEZ, Darrell L., 25, Specialist, Army; Truth or Consequences, N.M.; Fourth Infantry Division.

It made me wonder how many people had been killed in the original 9/11 attacks. Answers vary slightly, but the total number, including firefighters and foreign nationals working at the WTC, but minus the highjackers, is around 2,976 or 2,977. Something like that. So that whole avenging American lives lost? That worked well, then. And that doesn't include the 647 US casualties in Afghanistan or any other coalition forces (317 in Iraq, 422 in Afghanistan--all figures from icasualties.org), nor the servicemen and women who committed suicide after they returned home. "Truth or Consequences" indeed.

I'm sure the argument is that the sacrifice these troops are making is to keep more Americans safe in the long run. I just don't buy it. If you look at the numbers, they don't add up.

In other news this weekend, the Diocese of Fort Worth held a special convention to elect a provisional bishop since their former bishop, Jack Iker, has decamped for South America (in spirit if not in reality). It's been extremely traumatic for them, as you can imagine. I was very touched by a report from a blogger who attended and described the effect of the arrival of the Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schorri.

As the procession entered the church, a woman turned and saw Katharine and burst into tears. Katharine stopped, put her hands on her shoulders and said, ‘Everything’s going to be all right.”

The Presiding Bishop's sermon was on dealing with rage. Among other things, she said that "Anger and rage and violence and retribution will not heal the hurt. The only thing that will is love." Which is rather standard, I know, but I also think it's true. And it makes me wonder how much we are still wounded from 9/11 because we reacted in violence and retribution. And how we can work on moving forward with love.

Blossom Dearie

I hope you all know Blossom Dearie, chanteuse extraordinaire, who died yesterday at the age of 82. She had this teeny-tiny voice, so sweet and so appropriate for someone with her name. That was her real name, incidentally, and some idiot promoter tried to convince her to take a stage name. But with a name like Blossom Dearie, what kind of stage name could take its place? She didn't need to be hip. She was just good at what she did.