Perpetual Thursday (PT) is a log of Patrick J. Simmons' thoughts, ideas, opinions, commentary, doings, and so so forth. In short, rambling, ranting, nonsense, and bunk.
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First off, happy new year!
Now for the juicy bits...
I've mentioned once or twice before that the removal of Saddam Hussein in Iraq was NOT really a 'good thing.' Not because Saddam was a great guy - he wasn't at all - but because he was better than many other options, such as the state we've managed to get Iraq in now. Saddam allowed Christians to practice their faith in Iraq, something not all Middle Eastern leaders allow them to do.
From the California Catholic Daily:
"Kamal Alsawaf, 52, a native of Mosul, Iraq, has lived in El Cajon since 1979. Although he is no fan of Saddam Hussein, Alsawaf says that Christians had a much easier life under Saddam’s regime and that of his predecessor, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr. 'Under the Ba’th party, we weren’t truly free, because like the rest of the country, we knew we were being watched, but Christians had the freedom to practice their religion,' said Alsawaf. 'We’d mind our own business and nobody bothered us.'...
...Hussein’s fall ended any tolerance for Christians. Barka says that first they would be told that they had to shut down their businesses. 'Now their houses are threatened and told they have to move. You will find a letter at your door that says, "Leave your house and move from this area."'"
Now for some light hearted enjoyment - a book review: I've just finished reading Just One More Thing by Peter Falk. If you don't know who Peter Falk is, then you probably haven't seen Columbo. If you haven't seen Columbo (even if you do know who Peter Falk is), then you are deprived, because it is the best detective television show ever. Just One More Thing is a fantastic read, and is written in an unusual style - chapters are short, normally between one and four pages, and are composed of short little stories from Peter Falk's life, generally in no particular order. This makes for great before-bed reading, when you're too tired to read more than a few pages anyway. Its also perfect to read on 15-minute breaks at work. The stories themselves are side-splittingly funny, and I couldn't help buy laugh out loud at quite a few of them. Peter Falk's life is a blast to read about, not only in its humor, but in the immensely bizarre situations he has gotten in (how many times have you built railroads in Yugoslavia?). Peter Falk's style of writing perfectly fits the stories he tells (which can be expected, really, since they are his stories), and wraps it up as an amazing book. Definitely worth picking up, even if you don't know who Peter Falk is.
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