I am sitting at the laptop at the Stage Coach Motel in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Kevin and I are in the midst of our Memorial long weekend road trip. So far = Roswell, UFO museum, fab mexican food, and the dusk bat viewing at Carlsbad caverns.

My connection is a little wobbly. So I am not going to do anything too wild. So look out for my posts on the above and more...

Ahh its so good to be back blogging.

Blogging has been non existent lately. We lost our beloved Fur Person, Felix to kidney failure. It's quite amazing how a little furry creature has such a large presence in one's life. I keep seeing him everywhere, and it is a shock to realise that he is no longer with us.

I have also been studying for a work orientated exam.

Blogging will resume after May 20th.

I'll be honest. I have very little patience with the current trend of hand wringing that goes on, of obsessive self analysis about "why they hate us so much". I guess its a cultural thing. I am not American. I don't understand it. - Just do your thing and don't worry about it. This is not a popularity contest. Its about looking after one's (read: Country's) self interest. That's what everyone else does. That's what USA does too.

My favorite historian has his own take on the issue. Check it out here.

My take on "Anti Americanism" is that it's always been there, and it will always be there. The events of 9/11 have just driven home the point: (well actually several points)

1. That people hate the USA,

2. That people secretly hope to see the USA fail/ be humiliated in some way,

3. That the USA is vulnerable to attack, and will continue to be vulnerable to attack.

But here's the thing that I think many forget: Life is good here. It is a hell of a lot better than in many many parts of the world. When immigrants both legal and illegal stop clamoring to come here- then we can start getting worried.

Neo Neocon has the next instalment posted. Here is a quote from the piece that I found particularly relevant:

Lessons learned from Vietnam: all that is necessary to win a war against the US is to turn domestic public opinion against it, even if you are militarily outclassed, even if you are defeated in every battle. It's a lesson that was not lost on our current opponents. In a sense, our recent task in Iraq has been to reverse that perception, to finally learn the lesson of what happened so long ago and far away.

Vietnam and Iraq are very different countries, and these are very different wars, but there is one thing that is a constant--the paramount importance of the battle for public opinion in the United States.

It's Sunday night, I have caught up with the latest reruns of Battlestar Galactica and I have watched my weekly dose of Desparate Housewives when Kevin calls me from the study. A Miracle! The long thought extinct Ivory Billed Woodpecker has been rediscovered in Arkansas. Amazing.

Check out the Nature Conservancy site here.