Eye spy

Back to my world.

Nothing gets your attention quite like a worried-sounding doctor saying, "Get in here tomorrow." Yikes!

A day of lightning-like flashes along the periphery of my right eye, along with unfamiliar floaters, prompted that reaction from my optometrist. When I gave my recent history--the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad flu that held me prisoner for two weeks last month--he was doubly concerned that violent coughing may have actually caused damage to my retina. His examination did not produce anything to explain those phenomena--which is both good news, because it means no nasty retinal tears were obvious; and not so good, because we still don't know why the flashes and floaters are occurring. I'm at the self-monitoring stage now, wherein I have to keep a log for some days of how the symptoms are progressing/subsiding/persisting.

(And wow! There goes that new amoeba-shaped floater again!)

Someone who finally learned that the many vital uses for eyes does not include two nights a week of American Idol just does not need this.

Where is Abdul Rahman?

As of writing, no one who knows is telling.

Worst case, my dire predictions came to pass.

Best case, some kind country offered asylum. Not the US, though. Nuh-uh. Wouldn't be prudent to tick off those "allies", now would it?

Abdul Rahman, martyr-to-be

The goings-on in my little life seem quite shallow right now.

The story of the Afghani Christian being tried for the "unspeakable crime" of converting from Islam is taking a new turn. It appears that political pressure from the West, combined with bad publicity, is having an effect on the outcome of this story.

But don't get all warm and fuzzy just yet.

I predict that the Afghani court will find Rahman unfit to stand trial on mental grounds, then release him. That clears away the fallout of responsibility from the tyrant captors and political appeasers, and looks to be a solution everyone can live with. Everyone, that is, except Abdul Rahman.

Go back and read Michelle Malkin's excellent updated commentary. Better yet, read the full report from the Chicago Tribune to get a perspective on this case. Rahman will not be released to safety. He will most likely find a crazed mob awaiting him, ready to stone and beat him to death before ripping his remains apart.

After that, look for government spokesmen of Afghanistan to throw up their hands and say, "Well, we tried." Thus they get to have their cake and eat it too, with chocolate buttercream frosting--the foreign aid can continue to flow and they need fear no recurring effects from their "allies". The mullahs can appease their infuriated followers with a soothing, "Allah had justice; the infidel has met his fate." The White House and State Department will protest that they did their best, how much more were they expected to intervene in the affairs of a sovereign state? The rest of the planet will tut-tut for a few days until the Next Big Story hits.

After that, watch for a general bloodbath to ensue, as emboldened and ever-more-desperate Islamicists across the world rise up to follow suit. These will receive lesser attention from the media, as journalists shrug them off with, "Well, what did they expect? Didn't they see what happened in Afghanistan?"

Fighting for his life--and ours

Afghani citizen Abdul Rahman is on trial for his life right now. He is being held in a cell where he is neither allowed any visitors, nor has an attorney to represent his case. Note the prison official saying that they will “cut him into little pieces”. The judge in the so-called trial already has stated that Rahman deserves death--check out the "evidence"--and seems more than happy to oblige.

Is Abdul Rahman a child molester? Did he attack and burn mosques? Did he gun down old ladies in the open air market, or plant bombs at the Kabul airport? Perhaps he passed military secrets to the CIA, or consorted with maniacal activists to bring down the recently-installed government.

None of these. Abdul Rahman's seemingly unforgivable crime is that he has embraced Christianity and rejected Islam. His family has disowned and repudiated him. He is considered a mental and moral degenerate, a dangerous criminal traitor of the worst order--a "microbe", as the prosecutor in the case puts it--something to be exterminated and eradicated from the face of the planet.

One would surmise that President Bush, an avowed Christian, would jump to Abdul Rahman's defense. After all, Americans are paying dearly--both in taxes and irreplaceable lives--for two wars which were supposed to bring about a safer world and democracy in the Middle East. However, the at the White House press conference this morning, not one word was forthcoming from either the president or any member of the media about this disturbing situation.

The silence from the White House and State Department is not only deafening, it is damning. If Abdul Rahman is executed for his faith, we will have helped bring about the beginning of a worldwide bloodbath against Christians and other "infidels". Of course, Christians are being martyred all over the world every day, so what makes this a watershed case? Simply because the United States has invested so much to bring about a "democracy" which would deprive this man and others like him of the most basic of human rights--life and conscience. And guess what? Islamicists aren't even trying to hide their intentions anymore.


Why won't Afghanistan just deport Abdul Rahman? Why must Islam demand his death?

Read through this and then see if you have any questions remaining.

I just called both the White House and the State Department to express my outrage about the Rahman case, and am following up with hard copy letters and email to State and the Embassy of Afghanistan. I urge you to do the same.


White House comment line: 202-456-1111


U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
202-647-4000

Ambassador Said T. Jawad
Embassy of Afghanistan
2341 Wyoming Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
info@embassyofafghanistan.org

To me, to me

Last night I dreamed I discovered a grandson I didn't know I had. His name was Christian. I saw him, cuddled him, was allowed by his other grandmother, who was raising him, to take him home for a while. I was telling him stories about his father, who died three years ago last Thursday.

Of course it was all a dream. There is no Christian, no living legacy of my son; but every day I see Jeremy and remember how he lived with such passion and vision. And every day I'm closer to being where he is, although it's obvious it's taking me a lot longer to get ready.

So happy birthday to me. This year, I'm not spending it as I did in 2003, on my way to bury my child. There are mundane tasks to accomplish, places to go, things to do. Not much will be birthday-ish, but that's fine with me.

I miss my son.