Baghdad Burning

[kliljedahl]

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

2006...

Here we are in the first days of 2006. What does the ‘6’ symbolize? How about- 6 hours of no electricity for every one hour of electricity? Or… 6 hours of waiting in line for gasoline that is three times as expensive as it was in 2005? Or an average of six explosions per day near our area alone?

The beginning of the new year isn’t a promising one. Prices seem to have shot up on everything from fuels like kerosene and cooking gas, to tomatoes. A typical conversation with Abu Ammar our local fruit/vegetable vendor goes something like this:

R: “Oh nice lemons today Abu Ammar… give us a kilo.”

Abu A: “They are Syrian. You should see the tomatoes- if you think these are nice, take a look at those.”

R: “Hmmm… they do look good. Two kilos of those. How much will that be?”

Abu A: “That will be 3600 dinars.”

R (feigning shock and awe): “3600 dinars! What? That is almost double what we paid a week ago… why?”

Abu A (feigning sorrow and regret): “Habibti… you know what my supplier has to go through to bring me these vegetables? The cost of gasoline has gone up! I swear on the life of my mother that I’m only profiting 50 dinars per kilo…”

R: “Your mother is dead, isn’t she?”

Abu A: “Yes yes- but you know how valuable the dear woman was to me- may Allah have mercy on her- and on us all! The dogs in the government are going to kill us with these prices…”

R (sighing heavily): “You voted for the dogs last year Abu Ammar…”

Abu A: “Shhh… don’t call them dogs- it’s not proper. Anyway, it’s not their fault- the Americans are making them do it… my Allah curse them and their children…”

R (with eyes rolling) and Abu A (in unison): “… and their children’s children.”

A few days ago, the cousin took me to buy a pack of recordable CDs. The price had gone up a whole dollar, which may seem a pittance to the average American or European, but it must be remembered that many Iraqis make as little as $100 a month and complete families are expected to survive on that.




Keith’s Barbeque Central

[stop the bleeding]

1. here is my take on the #6 for us in America

6 is for: 6 years of lies, deciet, killing ect.
6 is for: 6 years since Gore won
6 is for: After 6 years of darkness Democracy in America may start to see some light.
6 is for: the amount of negative GOP stories right now, 1.Plamegate, 2.Spygate, 3.CIA secret prisons, 4.Abramoff, 5.Katrina, 6.Iraq War

[daleanime]

2. It would be nice...

if that were only fiction.
And thanks for the Barbecue! Everything taste better with sauce! Let's start with about 50 gallons on W.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. Thanks K!

I'd forgotten to check on River this week.

:hi:

[kliljedahl]

4. I like to post a link to it occasionally

I love the site for finding out what's really going on.



Keith’s Barbeque Central

[kliljedahl]

5. Kick

Keith’s Barbeque Central

[kliljedahl]

7. Kick for morning

Keith’s Barbeque Central

[MrMonk]

6. When do you think we'll meet this woman?

It's a rhetorical question.

Apparently, she's never posted a bio.