Dragons, Dragons, Dragons

Dragons are everywhere these days in my life. Dragons in The Hobbit, dragons in The Faerie Queene, and now Netsnake (also known as Netscape) has been dubbed the the online dragon (it does eat a lot of posts and probably sits on some jewels). In real life my dragons are metaphorical, or in the shape of large six-legged creatures.

I am now in charge of killing the bugs in my house. I do not like this task, as I have an irrational fear of creepy-crawlies, but I have harnessed my fear and turned it into wrath. Whenever a bug dares to invade the household, I am summoned. I come with my weapon of choice, a broom, chosen for both is strength and flexibility, plus it allows me to keep a certain distance from my prey. In an emergency, I grab the broom from the fireplace set, whose heft makes up for its shorter length. I stealthily approach my prey, raise my weapon, and then in my best imitation of the charge of the Rohirrim, yell "die! die! die!" with each deadly blow. Then, I use my conveniently chosen weapon to sweep up the carcass into the dustpan and carry it at arm's length to the trash can. The children find this all quite entertaining and have taken to imitating me.

How to Recognize a Combatant

I've got another letter published in the Charlotte Observer, this one on events in Iraq.
You can view it online for 7 days from today at www.charlottte.com, then click on
Opinion/letters, then Observer Forum/Letters to the Editor. They may require you to
register.

Here I will reproduce the text of the letter to which I am responding, followed by my letter
as published, then my original letter unpublished.

(The first letter, published Dec. 2, 2004)
Iraq's spiral of chaos grows with barbaric acts
The writer is chairman, Islamic Political Party of America.

As a Muslim, I condemn the cold-blooded murders of aid worker Margaret Hassan and of the
injured, unarmed Iraqi inside a Fallujah masjid. Both victims met their deaths by actions
that could be described as barbaric and cowardly.

When sovereign nations are attacked with no regard for international law or innocent
civilians, when prisoners are abused, and when a Marine commits murder inside of a house of
worship, we are left in a spiral of chaos.

Jibril Hough
Charlotte

(MY response published Dec. 6, 2004)
Marine had cause to be suspicious

In response to "Iraq's spiral of chaos grows with barbaric acts" (Dec. 2 Forum):Jibril Hough
hooks us with the murder of aid worker Margaret Hassan, but lest we think he is truly
concerned about the beheadings and murder of noncombatants, finishes with a Marine who
"commits murder inside a house of worship." What exactly are they worshipping in there, the
Kalashnikov and the hand grenade? It can't be Islam, because that's a religion of peace,
right?

Mary J. Jordan Vaccarella
Hickory

(My original letter, unedited)
Thank you for continuing to print the propaganda of Jibril Hough and Islamic Political Party
of America. You do the public a service by reminding us what the Muslim-American community
really thinks. Mr. Hough hooks us with murder of aid worker Margaret Hassan, but lest we
think he is truly concerned about the beheadings and murder of non-combatants, finishes with
a Marine who “commits murder inside a house of worship”. What exactly are they worshipping
in there, the Kalashnikov and the hand grenade? It can’t be Islam, because that’s a
religion of peace, right?