So as of the third of January, 2007, my sister Sheri is headed back to the New Mexico Women's Correctional Facility for at least a year. This is in response to her inability to meet the terms of her parole which in turn was a result of her ongoing association with drugs, mostly methamphetimines. Sheri has long had a drug habit, and as a consequence, has basically lost her ability to live as a free, productive person in our society. There are a lot of reasons why she lives life as a cork-in-the-river unable to change the course of her life, but the bottom line is she is once again a guest of the State. What the hell. I'm tearing myself up trying to figure out what to do with all the crap that Beth cleaned out of her apartment over a year ago when she got evicted. I'm tearing myself up waiting for the day to come a year from now when she gets out of prison and NOTHING HAS CHANGED! She will still have no survival skills, she will have no place to stay, and she will expect me to provide for her. Damn. There is no end to the suffering of the human condition in this world, and with more than 6 billion of us crawling across the face of mother earth, there must be a lot of sorrow emanating into space.

Work has been slow, but nonetheless I am getting kind of excited about looking for new work and trying to take my career in a new direction. Maybe, just maybe, I can actually dig out a niche in PB for water and wastewater work. Stay tuned. There may also be a chance for Todd, Tim and me to spend some time on the road (SF and Portland) in order to bring some work back to ABQ. We'll see.

Finally, it looks like our loser-in-chief is going ahead with his plan to escalate the US's involvement in Iraq by sending in an additional 20,000 troops. I can't believe my ears when I hear my fellow countrymen repeating the neo-con drivel that this escalation will allow us to "win" in Iraq. What does "win" mean? Do they really think that the US is going to bully the Iraqi people into burying their secular resentments between the Shias and the Sunnis? Do the Bush supporters really believe that our continued involvement in Iraq will somehow make us safer here? Do any of them actually believe that all of Al Qaeda worldwide is focusing their efforts in Iraq which will keep them from a repeat of the terrorist attacks of 9/11? Get real people. The guy that masterminded the 9/11 attacks is still unaccounted for. Don't the Bush supporters realize that us fighting Al Qaeda insurgents in Iraq keep us occupied while the remainder of Al Qaeda is free to operate elsewhere? How does that make us safer?

I do believe that the people that back Bush are totally incapable of addressing any of the nuances that may lead them to question the wisdom of our 42 president. Blind, stupid obedience is all they understand and somehow that approach to life in the US seems like patriotism to them. Fortunately, if the polls are to believed, only about 17% of the country agrees with the fool in the white house. There is some hope.

Finally, as my friend Ruan says, there is a special place in hell (?) for pundits like Rush and Slant Head Hannity. So to that end, here is a Tom Tomorrow cartoon from the holidays last year dedicated to holiday punditry. A little late, but fun nonetheless.

Peace.