THANKS VERY MUCH to everyone who wrote in about small businesses. I should have made it clearer that I'm not planning to start one of my own--it was a bleg about something I was thinking of writing, which now looks like it probably won't happen. HOWEVER, your emails were not in vain! I've learned a lot and hope to incorporate some of the things you all said in a differently-conceived article in the future. (Don't worry, I'll email you to get your permission if I intend to quote you.) Sorry I haven't replied personally--I'll be doing that some time this week.

"When I think of all the grey memorials erected in London to equestrian generals, the heroes of old colonial wars, and to frock-coated politicians who are even more deeply forgotten, I can find no reason to mock the modest stone that commemorates Jones on the far side of the international road which he failed to cross in a country far from home, though I am not to this day absolutely sure of where, geographically speaking, Jones's home lay."
--Graham Greene, The Comedians

IRAQIS BLOGGING ROUNDUP: You've almost certainly seen all these sites already, but what the hey. BuzzMachine on what it will take to get an Iraqi blog revolution (not the guns kind) off the ground; Salam Pax's first column for the Guardian; more Pax in fierce and very, very justified response to the stupider strains of criticism/paranoid speculation he's received. All are must-reads.

Take me out to the blogwatch,
Take me out to the show,
Buy me some peanuts and crackerjack,
I don't care if I never come back...

The Rat has several worthwhile items today. Check her out.

Judith Weiss said she'd post her notes from a talk by Azar Nafisi. But then she didn't! What do I gotta do, stand on my head over here?

If I could change my template, I'd fix the link to Volokh.com and add Jeff Jarvis's BuzzMachine. But Blogger's wiggin', so no template fun for me.

"There is a temptation to make angels objects of fascination, because we humans persistently desire to have contact with the supernatural without having to deal with God and all His bothersome ethical requirements."
--Frederica Mathewes-Green, The Open Door: Entering the Sanctuary of Icons and Prayer

sorry folks--back for reals tomorrow (Tuesday) with much blogaciousness--stuff has intervened, everything from work to the beautiful weather to thinking the family cat had vanished, but all is sorted out now and once I've gotten some shut-eye I will be here on the blog as before.

HAVE YOU STARTED A SMALL BUSINESS? Do you want to talk about it, and brainstorm ways to make the process easier? I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd email me at eve_tushnet@yahoo.com. Thanks!

COMING ATTRACTIONS: Sorry for the light blogging. Work and stuff got in the way (boo, hiss!). Tomorrow, I hope to post on: resolving the "confirmation wars" (judicial confirmations)--why it won't happen any time soon, and why Lawrence Solum is a bit less than half right; questions about assurance of salvation; tentative, possible answers to the Hayekian anti-war argument a.k.a. "If the government can pre-emptively strike in Iraq, why can't it provide universal health care?"; and "The Matrix: Reloaded," Foucault, and how radical feminism destroys language. Fun stuff! It's also possible that I will blog about the sacrament of confession, but don't count on it.

YET MORE INTERESTING MATRIXBLOGGING FROM THE OLIGARCH. This movie is much more interesting to think about than to watch...! Spoilers aplenty, be forewarned.

"There it is, the unicorn thought, feeling the first spidery touch of sorrow on the inside of her skin. That is how it will be to travel with a mortal, all the time. 'No,' she replied. 'I cannot turn you into something you are not, no more than the witch could. I cannot turn you into a true magician.'

"'I didn't think so,' Schmendrick said. 'It's all right. Don't worry about it.'

"'I'm not worrying about it,' the unicorn said."
--The Last Unicorn

"THE SAND GOES PIT-PAT IN THE GLASS": Your Spenserian stanza for Poetry Wednesday. I have twenty minutes to finish this before Thursday rolls around! It was initially inspired by the reports of looting at the Iraqi National Museum and the Library, but its point is, I think, broader.

Each year the sea chews further up the beach;
The tide that never ebbs, the years that seize,
Draw things unreachable more out of reach:
The way the Romans really said their V's,
The songs the Vikings sang on Viking seas--
Our ignorance is sea-deep, old, and vast.
We live conditioned; therefore, on our knees.
Learn from the past detachment from the past.
Time is regret; eternity alone will last.

"UNBREAKABLE": Just saw this the other night. Good movie, not great-with-a-capital-G, but very fast-paced and engaging. I expect Maggie Gallagher would appreciate the statement about the lengths we're willing to go to in order to find our role, our place in the world. I was really glad I rented this.

IN THE FLESH: "There's something very weird about a Christian simultaneously believing that his Lord fasted for 40 days in the wilderness and believing that self-mortification is a weird and alien thing imposed on Catholics by the Evil Church Hierarchy[TM]. Any stigma to beat a dogma, I guess." Excellent comments-box discussion, as well. I need to read Mark Shea more often, I think.

THE CONGO. Amygdala blogs on the atrocities there. Very much worth your time.

VOLOKH VS. THE HARM PRINCIPLE, in re sex, and other stuff. A long way of giving the conventional wisdom; but might be very useful for people enamored of the h. p. For my part, I believe that the harm principle is harmful, thus it should be banned, or at least its use should be strictly regulated. Do it for the children.

VAST "MATRIX RELOADED" POST FROM THE OLD OLIGARCH, with excellent discussion of the nature of freedom and will. I remain super-unsold on this movie but the post is definitely worth a read.

ISRAELI ARABS TOUR AUSCHWITZ. Via Amy Welborn.

"The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone."
--Peter Beagle, The Last Unicorn

MAN IS WOLF TO MAN: Horror shows in Saddam's Iraq, and in Uzbekistan. Don't read the first link, especially, if you are not sure you can handle graphic description of evil. As far as policy goes, I make zero claim to understand the reasons behind or possible justifications for US aid and friendly relations with the Uzbek dictator. It may, though I'm skeptical right now, be a necessary alliance (a la Stalin in WWII) and one in which we're doing what we can to pressure the regime. It may not. At any rate, the link above is a starting point.

MOVIE MISTAKES now includes movie trivia. Some neat stuff in there.