Colin Powell sez "You're a loser!"... But What Does the Lovely Dr. Rice Say?
I received the registration forms for the 2005 Foreign Service Written Examination in today's mail. Odd, that, since I haven't gotten around to requesting them yet. I can only assume it is standard precedure to send the materials to all failed applicants from the previous exam. Well, I hope I fare better on this year's exam. The exam is April 23 and the results won't be known until late July; so, you have plenty of time to shudder at the thought of me being an official representative of the United States of America.

B.A.P.F. Lives
Since I don't count October's Flogging Molly propaganda debacle as a show, before last night I hadn't been to a rock show in which I was not performing since, jumpin' Jehosephat, June! That's so sad. Fortunately, these things happen in bunches. So, in addition to last night's tsunami relief benefit show at The Local, on Wednesday I am going to see Mu330 in Detroit. After that, I intend to see Mustard Plug twice, at The Local near the end of February and at the Blind Pig in early April. All are invited to attend; it's not the case of "the more the merrier" as it used to be, now it's more that I hate having to go to shows by myself. Still, I'm willing to pay that price for the unrivaled joy of a good ska show. "Rok! Rok! Rok!"

The commentary on ABC and NPR about Sunday's election in Iraq has been very disheartening. I hate to say it, but it seems as if many in the media do not view liberty and democracy as inherent goods.