Sunday, September 1, 2013

10:13 AM On the news, Obama is seeking Congressional support for air attacks on Syria. According to one news article, France may support us on it, but Britain has voted against it. We may be almost alone in involvement in the Syrian affairs. I just dread our being in another conflict on top of our unavoidable problem in Afghanistan, though I think it is horrible that they have used chemical warfare. Russia is siding with Syria and so is Iran, so there could be a broader war. It seems to me that World War III is more likely than not to start in the Middle East where there are so many countries that are unstable, and with the Islamic parties active in most of those countries, as likely as not they will be sworn enemies of the US, so it's difficult to pick the right group of insurgents to try to support. Russia seems to be in the mix oftentimes too, and they rarely side with the US. We baby boomers have known little true peace. I am more than a little tired of it. We never have the money to concentrate on our domestic issues and interests. It seems that those things I care about, such as public education and health care for the masses, are always being sidelined for our wars as far as budgetary allotment goes. I'm feeling anxious about our taking unilateral action against Syria. It should be the UN that does it, but they aren't moving on it. I'll be watching the news extra closely for awhile. Maybe I'll even go the White House, Congress and Senate web sites and write an email to them. That would be a good project for today.

I need to do laundry, towels and sheets and should straighten up my apartment. It is getting cluttered and needs to be dusted. I have been having sinus and nasal allergies a lot lately. It feels like there is something in my throat and I keep coughing. Since I have moved into this apartment I have been keeping it fairly well, because it is so small I just don't have room here for lots of stuff, and have luckily quit buying things that take up space. But there is too much house dust now, which is probably causing my allergies because there isn't too much pollen yet, although I think the ragweed season starts in August and will only get worse for a couple of months. I had to take two Benadryl and two Sudafeds this morning, and the symptoms have subsided somewhat.

I'll read awhile for now. I'm about two thirds finished with my novel and I want to find out what is going to happen. The hostages have already been freed, but the Chinese police are after our hero. 4:31 Knox the hero got to the American Embassy, and since he was under diplomatic immunity, he was not arrested, and the Chinese official who had called for the kidnapping was taken into custody. Knox said goodbye to his Chinese partner Grace, and flew to the US to get his brother out of hot water with the business. I wonder if this character is in any of Pearson's other books. This character, while exciting and often in fights to get his way, wasn't too brutal. He was a likeable man. I'll try to get another novel by Pearson.

I read straight through my usual lunch hour today. I simply forgot to eat. I wasn't hungry. It won't hurt me this time, but “forgetting to eat” is one of the things that Alzheimer's patients are known to do. I'll be careful not to do it again. I'm waiting until 6:00 now, rather than eating off schedule.

I'll read my book about dogs now. I failed to do my laundry, but it's too late in the day now. I'll do it tomorrow. I just found a reference to dogs laughing in this book. This is a newly documented sound that dogs make, according to an animal behaviorist Patricia Simonet who has been doing research on it. The sound will quiet barking dogs, the Net article said, and has been used in at least one kennel (they played the sound over a loud speaker in the kennel and it caused all the dogs to quit barking.). It is a “breathy exhalation” that sounds somewhat like panting, and is used along with the “play bow” to initiate play. When I think about it, I have heard dogs doing that when they want to greet me. Fascinating!