Today is house day. In a few short hours I'll have the keys in my hand.
Last night I barely slept. I felt like a kid the night before Christmas.

Former U.S. Detainee in Iraq Recalls Torment - New York Times

“While we were detained, we wrote a letter to the camp commandant stating that the same democratic ideals we are trying to instill in the fledgling democratic country of Iraq, from simple due process to the Magna Carta, we are absolutely, positively refusing to follow ourselves.”
That is one of my many complaints about the 'war on terror' and the 'war in Iraq'. The US has gone through a variety of justifications for the war in Iraq, (WMD's, Terror, Saddam, Democratic Dominoes, etc.) yet each has rung hollow. One of the most hollow has been their desire to implant democracy into the middle east. Perhaps if they were more 'democratic' about doing that they'd have more success. For more of the article...

[update-afterthought] It's unfortunate that a story like this doesn't see the light of day in the media. It seems today that they (the main stream media - MSM) are more concerned with whether a 20-year old girl from Kentucky who won some beauty padgeant was out drinking, than about simple things like human rights (of American citizens), and possible illegal weapons trading by American companies in Iraq. If you live in America, this is one of the reasons I pity you.

I've had some relatively vivid dreams the past few nights. They've been very realistic, as if I was watching a movie in my mind.
Last night, I was travelling through South America. I was Dave Boulder, secret agent. That's who my passport identified me as. Well, not the secret agent part. It's funny; I remember making the name up on the spot, when checking into a hotel, and then when I handed the beautiful woman behind the counter my passport, with sly leading smile, that's exactly what the passport said. Secret agents are good with the ladies.

Prayer Request

This has to be one of the cutest kids on the planet. Amazingly, we're related - he's the son of my second-cousin, Sigrid, who lives in Holland. He was born this past summer. He's a happy little guy, who's all smiles. He was born with some health issues though, so if you're the praying kind, send up a couple of words to God for him. His name is Daniel.

With recent developments in this great country of ours, permitting the bastardizing of words, I'm seriously contemplating changing the name of this digital realm from 'Fungineer' to 'The nation of Fungineer'. There will be no real change to the look, function, role or content of this blog. However, it will finally be given status to separate it from the rest of the blogosphere. I apologize for any confusion and/or hard feelings.

A tale of two Steve's

Warren Kinsella muses on the new Liberal leader and his chances of defeating the other Steve in national politics.