Didn't get the plum job I applied for. This just isn't the moment to escape, I suppose. Or maybe it's satisfaction on delay. Is it worse to love what you do while working for idiots, or hate what you do and working for same?

So at work, we argue about the war. One woman, whose brother was in Desert Storm and who now suffers from the various respiratory and neural ailments that many of our soldiers returned home with, totally supports it, and bristles at any talk about protests. And I just cannot understand it; don't we want to prevent another generation of our armed forces from the chance of a lifetime in pain? I think the war itself is misguided; I would support it if the information coming from our government wasn't so suspect. More people would support this if they were properly informed and the information at hand felt true and demanded action. You can't go into a battle simply on rhetoric; that's schoolyard stuff. And then, how much of our real outrage is based on things that happened prior to the previous engagement with Iraq? Why didn't we finish the job then? So now sonny-boy goes to clean up the mess his father left behind, even while the nation limps along with so many issues to be dealt with on our home soil. So now we're in it, and I hope it's quick, and as few innocents as possible get caught in the crossfire. But even more, perhaps it is time we shift the focus of our protests; use them to remind the president of the issues here, of staggering jobless rates, and deficits, and underfunded schools, and lack of health care for people who need it, and the daily assault on our environment that makes any weapons Saddam has look meek in comparison. Go fight your splendid little war, shrub, but don't forget that nobody elected you for your vast knowledge of foreign policy and awareness of how the world works.

The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, "This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover." Your house is not in order, Mr. Bush. Your land is turning to dust, your children are starved for learning, your basic freedoms are being turned into a historical footnote. You who claim to be born again are a blasphemer and a traitor to the spirit of your religion. You are the diametrical opposite of Moses; you will not part the waters before leading your people into the sea, instead you will lead us all into a briney death. Your self-righteousness blinds you; truth stands no chance against your clouded vision. Close your eyes and hear the anguish of the people in this country, whose greatest desire is to live in a free land, a land of potential and resources that allow it to be great; you would quash these things in pursuit of an agenda that is every moment depriving you of your soul. Put your house in order, sir, while it still stands; mend what you have broken, while you still can.

Just trying to shake off the tyranny of a so-called holiday. What can be positive about a day of celebration that depends so much on exclusion? Named after a Saint no less? Christmas has been homegenized to the point that almost anyone can take part. St. Patrick's day is probably lousy for recovering alcoholics, I'd guess. Valentine's day taunts the single folk, most of whom cannot understand why nobody wants to be with them in the first place. I try to be indifferent, but apparently...that's not working, is it?