The Exorcist in 30 seconds, re-enacted by bunnies.

Well, the Spanish conservatives got spanked. There was already huge opposition to the Iraq war (supported by the government) among the populaton, and it looks like the carnage of the train bombings just pushed it all over the edge. So it's dangerous to support the United States, and Spain will pull its few troops from Iraq and Poland is worried.

So, if people back down, did the terrorists win? (Again, since they've already convinced America to self-immolate.) There is an overwhelming pull to think of this all in terms of opposites and absolutes; our Western intolerance for ambiguity leaves us desiring mutual exclusion in our outcomes. One Polish minister expressed his fear that if Poland changes its mind about its alliance with the US, it will show weakness, and observers will equate such a change with a weakening of the stand against terrorism. All these things are tied together in today's rhetoric.

O-Sensei said, Masakatsu agatsu: "True victory is victory over oneself". We seem to be losing badly.

But smell the air! It's almost summer here. Life isn't a goal you head towards. It's here, in the choice you make right now.