This crazy weather year

If you wish to see real craziness, please take a look at what is happening up here in "The Great White North" (that's Canada, for those of you not familiar with the expression). There is a cold wind setting over this country that has nothing to do with an "Arctic low" and everything to do with political correctness gone mad. I am sure that many of you are aware of the campaign to silence Mark Steyn and Canada's oldest weekly, Maclean's, but another publication, The Western Standard, is presently under attack because it printed the infamous cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The Western Standard actually went bankrupt in its attempt to protect itself from the same quasi-judicial "Human Rights Commissions" that have their sights set on Mr. Steyn. If you wish to see these Human Rights Commissions in action (and the erosion of the freedom of expression in a Western democracy), please visit Ezra Levant's (publisher of The Western Standard) site: ezralevant.com -- he has posted the video of his interrogation with commentary. It is truly chilling to behold. Rod, if you get a chance to view these video excerpts (I know you're a busy man), I would love to read your commentary on what is happening up here. Most of our media has refused to cover it. Cold winds are truly blowing here in Canada: please get the word out. We need all the help we can get! (Sorry I posted this here but I've never this before)

Just letting you know the direct link nor the link to your comment section is working on the Whithering Conservatism post

I would support a larger gas tax to encourage economy, so that we can become less dependent on foreign oil. Let's double the Texas state gas tax and kill all of the toll roads.

Yesterday while taking down an old barn up in southern Oklahoma I told my wife that I'm glad we don't have very many days like that most winters.

We'd be covered with people.

For you in the other parts of the world not covered by north Texas it was a spectacular day. We were in short sleeves pulling boards put in place probably in the thirties or earlier.

Getting back to the topic of this post...

I've hesitated to post this, but what the heck. When I saw the reports on snow in Baghdad, I started crying. Literally. In my own screwy, soft-hearted way, I saw it as a sign of hope and renewal for this country which has gone through so much. I couldn't help thinking that maybe God was giving them some kind of sign that better things are to come.

I know, crazy, crazy, but it's how I felt and still feel.

We had ourselves a little snowball fight on the front "lawn" (really it's dirt and pavement and gravel, but ya know.) We posed and took pictures for our mothers. It snowed off and on all day up here in Kirkuk. There was still snow on a our miniature mountain range to the north as of this morning.

DeeAnn, you ARE being kind of sappy. But now really is a moment of hope in Iraq. The Concerned Local Citizens are turning against Al Qaeda. And optimist would call this victory.

A cynic would point out that they are only doing it for the paycheck, and that when the money stops, they will go back to their old ways.

A pragmatist, such as myself, would point out that violence is down, and this offers a brief window of opportunity before an inevitable drawdown in US forces for Iraq to settle some political differences and create a sustainable government - be it terribly democratic or not.

The chance to iron out a workable solution is as brief-lived as a snow fall in Mesapotamia. May it be that this all works out for the good, in spite of all of our selfish bids for power, American, Shiite, Sunni, and Kurdish alike.