As promised, a teeny bit of video of my neighbors/roommates. This was taken after I had succeeded in getting the top of the window open, but she was still confused as to how to get out. Meanwhile, Dad was tending to the chick, who must've hatched sometime after the 17th, as that day I took a picture of the egg.

Some random thoughts about peace, war, and protests.

• People who are, or were, for peace shouldn't feel compelled to explain that they now want the war to be short, and the troops to come home safely; I think that's implicit in wanting peace - no one should get killed, right? Peace is not some codeword for "I'm really rooting for the other side." When you have peace, no one gets killed. (I know that's terribly simplistic.)
• Peace / Anti-War demonstrations are needed now more than ever. This is not a game, where us peaceniks lost and should just go away. Voicing our desires for peace is still important, as the manner and duration of this war may well be influenced while the American government is aware that the world is watching intently. Also, some of us have to live in this world after this war is over, and for us Americans concerned about the damage our government has done to international relations, rising anti-Americanism, etc., it's important that we make sure we are vocal about not supporting the direction this government has taken us.
• I have mixed feelings about the pro-war/ troop-supporting demonstrations. Perhaps, like happens in much of news coverage, the extremes get more attention, but placards saying "support your troops and shut up', etc. are rather offensive, and indeed shows me that those folks just don't get it. Troops coming home safe - you bet; troops coming home quickly - of course; how can you disagree with that? (or as the kids today say: "well, DUH!") But what do they come home to? Certainly, after putting their lives on the line, they deserve to come back to a fully functioning democracy, with a healthy (supportive) attitude towards our Constitution and its Bill of Rights. This includes free speech, doesn't it?