| by Baghdad born architect Zaha Hadid. |
As we come upon Monday's remembrance of 9/11, I want to share at least some
of my recent trip to New York City. By the way, we will not be calling it an
“anniversary” around here. That's just too bouncy an adjective for
what happened five years ago Monday.
One thing I will be doing is going through the latest Senate Intel Report,
which I'm doing right now (found here and here). It's good to remember the lies told to us all, including
the Congress, while we await Dick Cheney's “Meet the Press” appearance
tomorrow. Everyone should prepare to flood MTP with emails if Mr. Russert backs
off of his obligations to press the veep for answers. However, given Russert's
usual genuflection, I'm not counting on much.
During our trip the week before Labor Day, my husband and I had the distinct
pleasure in going to the Guggenheim Museum. I'm by way of being a museum rat. One of the things I enjoy is painting,
when time permits. The banner at the top of this blog is a small snap of a huge expressionist flag that hangs in our foyer. (My favorite trips abroad have been tracing Van Gogh and Michelangelo's lives.) Besides seeing Jackson Pollock on this trip, we were treated to an
exhibition of Zaha Hadid, a native of Baghdad who escaped to London where she
runs a renowned architectural firm. She will be creating the pool for the 2012 Olympics. The graphic above shows furniture that was part of the Guggenheim exhibit, which was stunning. My husband was especially blown away by
her work. I was too, but my goal while visiting the Guggenheim was drinking
in Jackson Pollock, an artist I emulate in my own paintings (without the critical
acclaim, of course), though my work is strictly political in nature. Shocking, I know.
Anyway, the graphics on this post are compliments of Ms. Hadid's brilliant
creativity, juxtaposed against the horror of what is now playing out in her
city of birth. I can't imagine the loss of this woman's brilliance had she stayed
in Iraq. It's indeed amazing to ponder.
Baghdad's morgue almost tripled its count for violent deaths in Iraq's capital
during August from 550 to 1,536, authorities said Thursday, appearing to erase
most of what U.S. generals and Iraqi leaders had touted as evidence of progress
in a major security operation to restore order in the capital.Separately, the Health Ministry confirmed Thursday that it planned to construct
two new branch morgues in Baghdad and add doctors and refrigerator units to
raise capacity to as many as 250 corpses a day.The morgue expansion plans and the final body count for August show the dramatic
surge in violence in Baghdad since U.S.-led foreign troops entered Iraq in
2003. Baghdad's morgue chiefly handles unidentified gunshot victims, now predominantly
shot execution-style and often found with hands bound and showing signs of
torture.
Thank the gods that Zaha Hadid escaped the country she no doubt still loves, but would have killed her if she'd stayed.
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