The news is reporting that there are now 150,000 US troops surrounding Iraq. Wow, that seems like a lot of personnel. I was really grateful that someone in church a couple of weeks ago said a prayer for the troops. No matter what your opinion is about Bush and the upcoming war in Iraq, we should never forget to pray for the men and women who defend our country. They make it possible for the people back home to have the freedoms we do.

Sometimes at church, people forget to pray for the troops, and instead pray that we don't go to war. I mean, it's fine to pray that we don't have a war, but it kind of upsets me when we don't pray for our troops. It's probably not San Francisco politically correct, to pray for the people who defend our country, but I don't care. I just hope that if we do go to war, that the anti-war people don't treat the soldiers badly if and when they come home. I've read that the soldiers were treated very badly by the anti-war protestors, when they returned home from the Vietnam war. I hope history doesn't repeat itself again.

The soldiers are just doing their job, just doing what they feel is right, just exercising their right to defend the country, just as the anti-war peope are exercising their right to protest a war that they they feel is not justified.

I heard an interview with the editor of the Economist a few days ago. He endorsed the war. Thomas Friedman, the NY Times critic whom I totally respect for his knowledge of world affairs, endorsed the war. Ronn Owens said it right some time this week. Who do you trust more? Saddam Hussein or George W. Bush? Not that I voted for Bush or would reeelect him, but I definitely trust him more than Saddam Hussein.

As for the French and the Germans. I say follow the money trail. Iraq is France's and Germany's biggest trading partner. The US only gets 6% of its oil from Iraq. France and Germany are just trying to protect their supply chain and their revenue source. How bad karma of them! I think we will go to war, whether France, Germany, Belgium, Russia, China, the UN Security Counsel, and the anti-war protestors like it or not.

Some congressional representatives have even called for a boycott of French goods, and for the US to pull its troops out of Germany. I think we should do all of these things, but we need to also take it one step further, and cut off any American aid to any country who goes against us on this issue. Ungrateful countries! They bite the hand that feeds them. I hate that! Then if the US stays out of some country's affairs, like on the Israeli/Palestinian issue, these same countries whine and tell us we aren't doing enough for world peace. Make up your mind people! Mon dieu!

Ted Koppel just said something funny (not a direct quote), "it hardly seems like unseemly haste that we're going to war with Iraq, since we've been trying to disarm Iraq for 12 years and have failed miserably in the attempt." I totally agree!

I picked up a bottle of Bollinger champagne to take to the Valentine's Day party I'm attending tomorrow. Bolly's, how ABFAB! I normally buy Veuve Clicquot, a brand I've been drinking since 1991, but I was so curious about Bolly's.

While at Booze R Us (Beverages and More - it's like a toy store for adults), I also checked out the price of Cristal champagne which I keep hearing mentioned in the lyrics of popular songs. Wow, it's really expensive! On sale, Cristal will set you back $150, normally it's $200. I've had Dom Perignon; it's a very smooth bubbly which costs about $90. No Cristal for me this year, or any year unless my finances take a 1000% jump or someone else buys it.

I'm not a big straight champagne drinker. I rather drink champagne mixed drinks like mimosas or poinsettias (cranberry juice and champagne), or champagne cocktails even. The only liquors I really like straight are ice cold russian vodka, single malt scotch whiskeys, sherry, madeira, port, and good Kentucky bourbons.

Life is such a small world. I was listening to the radio news, and they were reporting on the verdict for the woman who ran over her hubbymeister three times with the Benz. A voice comes on, and I'm like "I know that voice." Then the radio announcer says it's Robert Pugsley, a professor at Southwestern University. Mr. Pugsley is a good friend of a very good friend of mine. My friend keeps telling me that Bob gets interviewed on the radio all the time when the media is looking for lawyer opinions, but I'd never heard him before.

Bob did the commentary for the OJ trial on a radio station here, and made a ton of money. He took the both of us out to dinner once, and jokingly said "OJ was paying our meal". It was so cool to finally hear him on the radio. He doesn't sound at all what he looks like, by the way.

I can't help and I know it's evil, but whenever I hear the story of the Texas woman who ran over her cheating husband with the Benz, it makes me smile. I'm like, the guy totally deserved it. The woman came home and found the husband in bed with his mistress. I mean, how tacky can you get. If you can afford a Mercedes Benz, you can afford to take your ho to a hotel.

That's what I don't get. If a guy must cheat, why does he make it so easy to get caught? I mean if a guy feels compelled to cheat, he should at least be discreet about it and not get caught, and certainly not get caught by his wife in their bed. The guy totally deserved being run over, and three times for the following reasons; 1) for cheating and breaking the marriage vows 2) for cheating in the bed he sleeps in with his wife and 3) for being stupid enough to get caught.

I finished God Talk by Brad Gooch, and while I enjoyed most of the chapters I wish he would have come up with a concluding chapter on what he discovered on how modern American worships.

The most interesting chapters for me were the first three chapters, probably because I had read, heard of, or knew of people who were practicing those religions. Chapter 1 was on The Urantia Book, Chapter 2 was on Hinduism in America, and Chapter 3 was on The Trappist Abbeys, Thomas Merton and on Catholicism. Gooch writes that the many monks at Gethsamini became disillusioned with their vocation after Vatican II, which made the Catholic church more modern. "Vatican II stripped down the wall that people were hiding behind ... now you can no longer hide behind the poetry of Catholicsism to sustain your vocation", commented a monk to Gooch.

One interesteing thing about the Trappists abbeys is that they sell products. The Gethsamani Abbey for monks Gethsamani Abbey sells fruitcake, fudge and cheese, and Our Lady of Mississippi Abbey for nuns sell candy. I am seriously thinking of buying their products to support them. They lead such a fascinating life of contemplation, work and ritual. You can vacation at the Abbeys for retreats, which I've always wanted to do. There is something so interesting about the contemplative life.