You want to know about me?

The following is an adaptation from a Web site which defines people by their astrological sign. Though I put very little stock in astrology on the norm, I found this to be a surprisingly apt description of me:

Leo is a semitic word, derived from the Hebrew labi. Leo is known as the "royal sign," symbolic of exuberance and leadership, and individuals who fall within its jurisdiction place courage and honesty above all else.

I have been described as having a radiant warmth and a personality that touches the hearts of others. This has been known to open many doors in my life. I welcome assignments of both authority and responsibility, but others often fail to fulfill the my expectations and thus, my life is often rife with disappointment. Though I maintain a cool, calm exterior on the norm, I am prone to a fiery temperament, so those who have suffered the wrath of my anger and disappointment are generally well aware.

People say I am a likable individual, being frank, open, honest and endearing, but above all, I believe it is my determination and dedication to idealism that makes me an entertaining acquaintance.

With all of that said, I do have a tendency to drown in egocentricity on occasion. And though I try my hardest to convince myself otherwise, I lack both the desire and the capacity for spiritual development. Still, I have a deep interest in the spirituality in the physical sense and am intrigued by the appeal it has for others.

I'm a natural extrovert which makes me impulsive, buoyant, communicative and sociable. I crave excitement... all of the time. This is a positive and a negative; while it keeps life interesting, it does get me in trouble - often. I'm a night owl as well, so that is a troublesome combination.

I am constantly challenged by two guiding principles: to create and to find joy in living.

Essentially, I deal in fun, games, gambling in ever sense of the word, writing, playing, acting and the use or misuse of creative energy. I constantly battle an innate desire to play ... all the time. Where there is fun to be had, I am there, whether the work is done or not. If I can't leave the work behind, I make it fun or I get extremely frustrated. Coupling that with my enthusiasm, creativity, motivation, frequent love affairs (both legal and illicit) and I guess you can say that I am pretty childlike. I live with a sense of excitement and a craving for pleasure.

Considering my desire for pleasure and my creative sense, you would think that I would find pleasure in my writing. But to be honest, I see very little of myself in what I personally create, whether it's a smile from a friend or an article. In fact, I am never really satisfied with what I create. But this constant criticism of my creations drives me continuously to better myself and to pursue perfection.

Positive Traits: generous, honest, warm-hearted, magnanimous, broad-minded, expansive, loving, proud, enthusiastic and creative with a flair for showmanship and drama

Negative Traits: pompous, patronising, bossy, interferring, dogmatic, intolerant, bullying, conceited, snobbish and power-thirsty

Likes: speculative ventures, lavish living, rich food, children, pageantry and grandeur

Dislikes: doing anything safely, day-to-day living, small-minded people, penny-pinching and mean spiritedness

This is the stuff armed conflict is made of

In the American Civil War, it was John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry.
In World War I, it was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.
In Vietnam it was the bombing of the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy.

Where there is conflict, there is alway a build up of aggressive rhetoric and then a seemingly miniscule event that triggers war. This week, when five Iranian boats rushed toward three US Navy ships in the Homuz Canal, the markets shook because this is the way wars begin.

I have to say I am proud of the United States today that they stood down, didn't fire on the boats and have talked down this conflict over the course of the past 47 hours. But seeing oil prices jump up to $97 a barrel in panic speaks volumes to me. The money holders in this country are prepared for an armed conflict with Iran. The people need to be prepared as well. And if we go to war with Iran, we are going to war with the entire Middle East. This could almost be considered the modern day Cuban Missle crisis.

Thank God the American people are too preoccupied with trying to predict who the next president will be to notice. And perhaps, for once, we should be grateful for the troop surge in Iraq, because our military is equally preoccupied.

A micro-insurgency grows in Iraq prisons

More than 30,000 Iraqi's have been detained over the last year by American military personnel, and many are still awaiting release. The Christian Science Monitor recently released an article including a statement from General Doug Stone which expressed fears that the majority of detainees, who are primarily motivated by money not by a desire to incite violence, may be reeducated by more radical detainees who are actually in bed with the insurgency.

At the moment, there are three primary detention facilities in Iraq: The famed Abu Ghraib, Camp Bucca near Basra and Camp Cropper in Baghdad. All of these facilities have become overpopulated in recent months since US-led forces ramped up their efforts since the troop surge in January of 2007 and implemented the Baghdad Security Plan.

General Petraeus and the Pentagon hold that the release of even the most moderate detainees needs to be a slow process to secure a tight net and guard against the accidental release of violent insurgents. But many are calling for an immediate release of suspected nonviolent prisoners to ease the overburdened prison system in Iraq and warn that unjust detention will have a severe backlash effect if the US-led forces aren't careful.

"If you roll up 150 guys in a village and you don't have probable cause you've just created 150 terrorists," Marine Commandant General James Conway said after he visited Bucca in November.

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