A numbered post, because my brain needs some sort of structure

1.
lynkemma, I got your package of chocolates! Both my roommate and I squeed muchly over it! Thank you!!!!! (Brought to you by the (legitimate) overusage of the exclamation mark)

2.
Benefits are love. I found out today that a) I'll be able to get bereavement pay from Starbucks while I'm away next week, and b) with the new year, I now have 88 hours of paid personal/vacation time off from my Internet job. Yayness.

3.
So, Bush's speech last night. I didn't actually watch him, since I was asleep by then. But what he said didn't surprise me. I read the transcript afterwards and pretty much started skimming after the first few paragraphs. Nothing new, still the same blah, blah... really, nothing new.

What I found interesting was this article by Paul Rogers written in response to Bush's speech. Boldly contradicting Bush's (rather unsupported, imo) supposition, Rogers claims that "the decision to increase the number of United States troops in Iraq is a gift to al-Qaida." It's analyzing America's "new" tactic to the Iraq war from a different angle, and is rather interesting.

( More on Rogers' article... )