So the writing-goal, of course, returned absolutely nothing. I guess this has to be the first post since last week. Perhaps I'm just lazy. At any rate, it appears that I will soon have gainful employment, so there will be far less whining in that concern.

Now what to write of? I've been considering many things. There is, as always, the fiction for NaNoWriMo in November, but that's still quite embryonic; I could easily begin ranting on the subject of virtually anything political, but this would only get me angry. Then again, I don't believe that anyone actually reads this blog (particularly considering that I have not yet told anyone of it).

Okay, Phil's take on world events lately:

Israel: for a country with easily the best economy and military in the region, Israel has been a very stupid nation lately. Okay, given that the Palestinian issue will not be solved in my great-grandchildren's lifetime, there are many things which could have been done to avoid the current war with Lebanon. They were going in the right direction in 2000 when Israeli troops pulled out of the country, and the situation became even better in 2003(?) when the Lebanese government finially showed Syria the door. Why Israel did not act then is utterly baffling. Three years ago, they could have very well approached Beirut with a proposition to help the Lebanese rout out Hezbollah, which neither government particularly liked. God knows Israel has the firepower, and with the aid and consent of the Lebanese government, this could have been a magnificient step in the right direction. Whenever a coalition with Israel is formed (the "hyphenate partnerships" as I call them), one sees in the headlines "U.S.-Israel," and no one else. To have the "Israel-Lebanon" partnership would be wonderful for the region as a whole. Six months ago, Lebanon was to be held-up as the poster-child of the New Middle East; indeed the nations in the immediate area of Israel happen to be some of the more stable in the region, such as Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey.
With a strong partnership of "Israel-Lebanon," this could lead to regional stabilization. Jordanian-Israeli partnership, Turkish-Israeli, and hell, we could see Egypt and Israel work together to build something for the first time since Ramses II. What then? Let us extrapolate this alternate reality for say, 15 years. Suddenly, places like Gaza and Palestine do not have the "Arab" on one side and "Jew" on the other, but neighbors. A cooperative regional community of nations. I think that the key factor in this relationship is Israel's self-definition. It seems that since 1947, Israel has viewed itself as a Western nation in the Middle East; this regional cooperation would be utterly dependent upon Israel viewing itself as a Mideast nation with Western ties. Salaam. Shalom.

What else? well, there's the issue with Castro-- that's pretty popular down in Miami. So what happens if he does die (omg, an 80-year old cigar-chomping man has health problems), bananas are cheaper, you can legally smoke Cuban cigars. You know that Washington will drop the damn embargo as soon as Fidel's gone. Not too much else with that-- I'm no expert on Caribbean politics, so I've got no clue of what will really happen.
Then again, the primary reason why I had wanted to go to Havanna was that my government told me not to.

How else is the worled falling apart? Well, the big story with the Big Dig has subsided. I'm disappointed; I had hoped that I would see the end of this two-decade endeavor while I'm living in the Boston area.

Do I get into my theories on captialism vs socialism, or get the mail?

I'm getting the mail