be grateful for small mercies
Saddam Hussein's Republic of Fear left the new Iraqi government a royally messed up society and culture. And yet, as Fareed Zakaria writes

In Iraq, the one truly pleasant surprise so far is that there has been little religious and ethnic bloodshed. Many of the experts who counseled against an invasion predicted that after Saddam's fall, the Sunnis, Shias and Kurds would tear each other apart. Nothing like this has happened. The problems—of resistance, nationalism and anti-Americanism—have been quite different. But the balance is fragile. If the United States and the Iraqi government play a sectarian strategy, things could unravel.

In many of its colonies the British would often favor a single group as a quick means of gaining stability. Almost always the results were ruinous -- a trail of civil war and bloodshed. If Allawi and the United States make the same mistake, there will be 140,000 American troops in the middle of it all.

Carlin Romano writes about the concept of "sovereignty."

Now even billionaires have their own blog.

Lorrie Moore is the editor for the upcoming Best American Short Stories 2004.

(via Cup of Chicha)

How about this for a memorable title for a memoir: Another Bullshit Night in Suck City. Talk about your negative outlook.

I went to Marjane Satrapi's book reading tonight and the bookstore was packed. Definitely see her if you get a chance. Here are the remaining dates. She has perfect comic timing in her delivery and kept a straight face after some of her best lines which made her unbelievably charming. She talked a bit and then fielded a number of questions which, per usual, were mostly dumb ass questions combined with mini-monologues. Satrapi was so enthusiastic, though, that it was infectious. She was pissed about Bush's inclusion of Iran in the "Axis of Evil" even though her books are searing indictments of the religious stupidities that have been running amok in Iran since 1979. She bemoaned the stereotyping of Arabs and Iranians. Satrapi said she couldn't believe how Cheney said that if Kerry was elected we'd risk another attack and how journalists didn't make more of it. I was actually contemplating voting for Bush because of the war on Islamic Fascism even though most of his policies are reactionary and his gang wants to turn back the clock to the 19th Century. Now I hope the electorate tells Cheney to piss off and elects Kerry just to spite him. Asked about other graphic novelists, she said she liked the ones always mentioned: Art Spiegleman, Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes, and Joe Sacco. I did what I haven't done in a long while and got a book signed. She seemed very willing to chat with people, so I asked her about her experience of being the interpreter for Shirin Ebadi, when Ebadi came to Europe to accept the Noble Peace Prize last year. Without thinking, I added Ebadi seemed tough. Satrapi said yes she's tough but added Ebadi's "very soft too." Satrapi is a member of some human rights organization which was how she got the gig, she told me. I was impressed with how Satrapi is such an internationalist. In response to a question from the audience about living in France she said it was if she were a guy and Iran was her mother and France her wife. Your mother can be crazy, etc., but you'll still love her while your wife you love, but can divorce, etc. And she made the point, very obvious yet very true, about how pictures are universal and no matter your nationality everyone gets sad about the same things. Different peoples have different senses of humor, just like some jokes resonate more in the city versus the country and vice versa, but some kinds of humor conveyed by pictures everyone gets regardless of where you live on the globe.