Leave Me Alone, I'm Crampin'

That's what my college boyfriend said that men would say if they had cramps, and yes, today's post is brought to you by my lower abdomninal region. I awoke at six this morning with those rare and unforgettable, knee-buckling, all-absorbing menstrual cramps. I went to the web for answers as to "why now?" and learned from one Dr. Susan Lark, who writes books on women's health that alcohol and sodium can cause cramping. I guess those two glasses of wine accompanied by nachos and french fries and followed by fistfuls of chocolate, the latter of course being PMS related, were all more costly than I realized.
I am now thanking science for ibuprofen.
But...enough about that. I remain ever hopeful, despite all previous experience, that the American people are going to become outraged by the misdeeds of this administration. Another chance for the moment of revelation has arrived: today, I read that eight prisoners are suing Donald Rumsfeld. Here is the story from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Here is an article posted on Truthout. A while back, my librarian friend alerted me to an an excellent analysis of torture by Alfred McCoy, who also wrote The Politics of Heroin. You can listen to an interview with him
here. What do you think, will Americans rise en masse over these actions, or will opposing torture be interepreted as a sign of "disloyalty" and "not supporting the troops/president/flag" ? For more on supporting the troops, see this article in The Onion under the title, "I support the Occupation of Iraq, but I don't support our troops." Once again, while writing satire, The Onion has managed to speak truth to power, pointing out in the article, "Yes, occupying Iraq does require troops, but they are there for one reason and one reason only: to carry out the orders of the U.S. Defense Department. As far as their overall importance goes, they are no more worthy of our consideration than a box of nails. Ribbons and banners in ostensible "support" of the troops miss the whole point of the invasion, which is to gain a strategic hold over that volatile and lucrative geopolitical region. Brilliant.