Author Michael Bond

We now live in a land where "Freedom Fries" and "Freedom Toast" are popping up. We have hundreds of persona non-gratis living in cages in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. We may have the victory in Iraq, if you want to call it that, but the war seems to be far from over.

Terry Waite was a lecture not to be forgotten. He was dynamic and engaging. He was a man who, despite his world-renowned reputation, came across as humble. For someone who has gone through so much, he was the kind of man who seemed as if he would do it all over because he was genuine and as he said one should have, "no regrets.

As far as I'm concerned I'm pretty damn tired of all this talk of "war." Let's be reasonable here. If we want to take out Iraq we need to do it old school Mike Tyson style-knockout in 44 seconds. How do we get this done? Simply put, the big boy-the "H" bomb.

North Korea and Iraq are currently the military hotspots filling the newsprint these days. It seems as if there is a clock slowly ticking down to war in Iraq. Recent estimates cite that around 250,000 U.S. troops will be stationed in the Persian Gulf by mid-February.

Finals have begun and it would seem like a good time to look at the old university calendar, so readily available on campus pipeline. (Which, I have often thought is really just a bunch of Atari Computers and some monkeys.) Now, the calendar holds many treasures for these next two weeks.

Joe Berardino won't be sending me a Christmas card this year. After such grillings as Business Week gave him in the past, it was no wonder he had a healthy distaste for the media.

After having just come back from the dining hall I couldn't help but have a sour taste in my mouth. The pickles found in what was labeled "lasagna" ruined what little flavor was in the soggy thing to begin with. I also can't help but think of the joke Woody Allen quotes in the film "Annie Hall" from two old women commiserating at a Catskills, NY lodge, "Gee the food is awful," one says.

Before a rather meek Senate passed President Bush's resolution, his mantra with respect to invading Iraq was, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..." But, now that the Legislative branch has given him what he wants it has become, "I know I can! I know I can!" Spineless Democrats, appeasing Republicans and an apathetic country have justified the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive attacks.

Recently there has been much talk of the Levee going "dry." The thought of our sole on-campus watering hole morphing into some other form doesn't seem to be much of an issue to most students on campus.

The war against petty crime roars on with security seeming far more interested in illegally parked cars than stolen laptops. We have all seen the posters alerting us of a Fairfield crime spree. It would seem natural to turn to campus security to work on this problem. Unfortunately they seem far too busy checking for illegally parked cars as a recent incident involving a friend of mine indicates.