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"The stream of Time, irresistible, ever moving, carries off and bears away all things that come to birth and plunges them into utter darkness, both deeds of no account and deeds which are mighty and worthy of commemoration. . .Nevertheless, the science of History is a great bulwark against the stream of Time; in a way it checks this irresistible flood, it holds in a tight grasp whatever it can seize floating on the surface and will not allow it to slip away into the depths of Oblivion. "
- Anna Comnena (1083-1153), The Alexiad
"I have taken all knowledge to be my province."
- Francis Bacon, 1592
A couple people, perhaps reminded of this blog's existence because of recent Papal remarks, mailed me with a howdy and wanting to know how things were going and saying they missed the site.
I'm doing fine, and though we're not supposed to talk about when we come and go, people can figure out when 4th ID will be leaving from here.
Alas, I didn't blog at all out here, really. I'd like to get back to it but usually by the time a post "sparks" the moment has passed - including this latest tempest-in-a-teapot over what the Pope said.
Most of what I would say has, by the time a post forms in my head, been said and better by someone else. I would say that my general outlook on all this stuff (the theatrical hypocrisies of various "Islamic community spokesmen" over everything from Danish Cartoons to Papal speeches) is that we need to stop worrying about "offending Islamic sensibilities" and get them to worry about offending ours.
The Pope shouldn't have apologized. I read one article quoting an Imam criticizing the Pope for bringing it up because "Catholics had started the Crusades and invaded Constantinople too". Sure, the Catholic Church has a lot to answer for, but the Imam's statement was an example of those theatrical hypocrisies: The Crusades weren't, contrary to what many people are miseducated to believe, an example of unprovoked Western Imperial-Colonialist aggression, but a response to Islamic invasion, and I don't see Moslems prepared to apologize for their own conquests of Eastern Roman territory, or capture of Constantinople.
But back to my lack of blogging: My position over here hasn't given me much special insight into how well or badly things may be going, so I haven't done any "The View from Baghdad" posts. The downside of having a safe job here is that I don't really have any greater "feel" for things than I had back in the 'States.
So I left the Milblogging-from-Iraq to those who are better able to give people an informed view, rather than trying to pretend whatever hearsay and grapevine stuff I learned formed some sort of special, boots-on-ground insight.
Then also was working some very long hours for a good part of the time, and simply didn't have the energy to post anyway when I had access to a computer that didn't block my site. :P
Eventually I do hope to get back to blogging regularly...but it will almost certainly be once I'm back Stateside.
Update: Don't say we're violent and intollerant, or we'll burn down your churches> and you'll be on the receiving end of more terrorist attacks!
