Month: May 2004

Categories
writings

In the Polly Magoo

What color is your insanity?

Mine is blue. The blue of Alice’s eyes. Somewhere between the deep crisp blue of the clearest day, and the cold blue of midwinter ice.

I fell in love with those eyes one evening in a small bar called the Polly Magoo on Boulevard Saint Germain in Paris.

At the time I lived in London, studying near the City. I was in Paris to visit my best friend, Scott, who studying at the Sorbonne. We sat in the smoky, poorly lit bar drinking a beer. Talking about nothing in particular, waiting for Alice. Scott thought we would get along so he wanted us to met. Alice was another overseas student at the Sorbonne.

We had been in the Polly Magoo about a half hour when she arrived. Scott sat with his back to the door so I caught sight of Alice first. She walked in and I knew who she must be immediately. Dressed in blue jeans and tee shirt with a University of Virginia emblem ironed on. As she crossed the room, all I could see was those blue eyes.

“Bonjour,” Alice smiled as she walked up to Scott and I.

Categories
ranting

prisoner abuse and the ICC

What to do about the abuse? Bush says it was “terrible” and “here will be a full investigation.” But who should carry out the investigation and who should punish the guilty? If America carries out American justice then those who already see America as the aggressors and the “evil empire” will accuse America of show trials, victors justice, etc, etc, etc. The Iraqis won’t be happy, the rest of the world will not be happy. So what to do? Can’t really hold the Americans to Iraqi justice—they don’t have a valid system yet, and you can’t use the old system. I do have a suggestion—why else would I be writing this entry? The ICC [ icc-cpi.int ]. The International Criminal Court. I don’t know exactly what falls under their jurisdiction but I don’t see any other judicial body that could carry out an investigation, trials and hand down sentences to the guilty. And while some people will never be satisfied but not only would a great many people outside the Middle East be happier if the investigation was done by the ICC but it would give legitimacy to the ICC and heal some of the wounds opened when the US refused to put it’s soldiers under the jurisdiction of the ICC when it was founded. Anyway, it’s for people who are smarter than me to figure out.