Iraq, Terrorism & Excess Sodium

Seems like every second article one reads is either about terrorism, and or the war in Iraq. So in the finest traditions of "me-tooism" I'll just kick in my two cents worth.

I was reading an editorial in the Times recently. I found it particularly insightful (yes I know this is a rare phenomenon). Finally somebody had stated the bloody obvious. That is, that terrorist organisations on the whole will always be able to strike soft targets in big cities like London despite military interventions by the West in Iraq.

This is the case because the operations in Iraq do not damage/disrupt in a material way the ability of violent radicals to engage in terrorist activity. This should be obvious in so much as it doesn't take millions of dollars, or a mass army to construct home-made bombs or improvised explosive devices. So all the effort and cost spent in invading & occupying Iraq doesn't in the end stop your local radical from going to the hardware & fertilizer shop and preparing his own local Jihad. Indeed it would seem the most important element in this dangerous mix is the human one, the existence of individuals filled with enough anger, hatred and delusion that they would be prepared to kill themselves and others.

Not only has the campaign in Iraq failed to make the West safer it appears to have boosted the terrorist effort. A recent report from Chatham House (Gregory & Wilkinson July 2005) states
"There is no doubt that the situation over Iraq has imposed particular difficulties for the UK, and for the wider coalition against terrorism. It gave a boost to the Al-Qaeda network's propaganda, recruitment and fundraising, caused a major split in the coalition, provided an ideal targeting and training area for Al-Qaeda linked terrorists, and deflected resouces and assistancethat could have been deployed to assist the Karzai government and to bring Bin Laden to Justice."

To say that the Iraq campaign was a mistake for the coalition is to acknowledge these realities no more or less. It is not as politicians such as messrs Bush, Blair and Howard would have us believe a declaration of surrender or appeasement. It simply means that the effort against the terrorist threat needs to be directed in more productive as opposed to counter-productive ways. Like a good prize fighter the coalition needs to pick its shots instead of swinging wildly and leaving itself vulnerable to a counter attack.

Now about Sodium ... In today's health conscious society, the obsession is with fat. So there are all manner of reduced fat items in supermarkets, low fat drinks and even fast food chains market low or reduced fat products. But there is something missing here, and it is low sodium products. High sodium diets are linked to such conditions as high blood pressure (increases chance of stroke) and stomach cancer, yet this danger barely registers on the radar compared to the fat obsession. Heck at least with a high fat diet you can at least burn it off by exercising more, but what are you going to do about excess sodium intake?

This whole sodium issue is vexing, if like me you are a heavy consumer of convenience products i.e. packaged, prepared, processed meals which are universally high in sodium. Show me true low sodium ham, fish fingers, processed pasta and noodle soup and I'll show you the promised land.

Of Cat Piss Shampoo and Other Annoyances

I've been sleeping odd hours of late which in itself isn't necessarily a bad thing but what I do find particularly annoying is feeling tired even after sleeping for a while. It's like the normal restorative process of sleep has suddenly been transformed into an energy draining exercise. That's just not normal.

I opened up this new bottle of shampoo. It smells like cat's urine. Seriously it does. Supposedly it contains sugar cane, apricot extract and citric acid amongst other ingredients. I'm suprised nobody at the laboratory didn't happen to notice the pungent aroma. Maybe they're all cat people and the scent has just become so normal to them.

Dear oh dear I've just ended two paragraph sentences with the word normal in them. Surely this is not normal.