| this is what's happened in the past week: 4/25 - Burke testifies that iraqi police and security force training has been a complete failure. * The United States has given up on training Iraqi troops. "Military planners have abandoned the idea that standing up Iraqi troops will enable American soldiers to start coming home soon and now believe that U.S. troops will have to defeat the insurgents and secure control of troubled provinces. Training Iraqi troops, which had been the cornerstone of the Bush administration's Iraq policy since 2005, has dropped in priority, officials in Baghdad and Washington said." (McClatchy, 4/19/07) 4/26 - despite veto threats from the white house, white house passes bill to approve $124 billion that would requre troops to begin withdrawing from iraq by oct. 1. 4/26 - to divide the Shiite east and Sunni west because of the worsening divisions in Baghdad, US solders began erecting a 5-km barrier, 3.5 meter high wall around Adhamiya to create these "gated communities." |
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| losing my voice, and i have to teach on monday. |
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| traveling around, courtesy of my client, the sun's out, the agonizingly-long hibernation in kc is over - March 22-24 - Palo Alto/SF April 12-14 - NYC April 19-21 - D.C. for ICC April 25-28 - Penn State for AASC Awards and Dat Phan May - Miami |
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| theta installs 
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| the most memorable adventure. hours before the train's departure, i was asked if i wanted to spend the weekend in paris. it is mind boggling to think that on a whim, i could be in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. with my big bro Elom, and stockbroker Drew on vacation from nyc, two Alpha Phi Alphas, an SOPi, all Penn State Alumni, joined together to begin the journey of a lifetime. 600 plus pictures later, we finally dragged our tired but completely content selves back to london. a fuller narration is in the my newsletter - part 4.
  tube, then train
  paris arrival
  no dictionary and no map
  lost, so we had a bite to eat
 
  so begins our day
 
 
 
 
 
  
trocadero & arc de triomphe
 
 
 
  dog paparazzi
  narcissists
  feeding elom
  musee du louvre
  winged victory of samothrace
  greek, etruscan, and roman antiquities
 
  aphrodite
  mona lisa up ahead
  river seine
 
  notre dame
  inside the church
  
  escargot
  tired looks
  champs-elysees
  eiffel tower by night
  eurostar back to london
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