I got a text message from a number I don't recognize (971-388-9933) this morning. Here's what it said:

2/2. ECONOMY! DO YOU THINK THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE ABLE TO TAKE YOUR PEROPERTY (sic) REPLY "YES', "NO" OR "STOP".

I called the number back, and got a message saying that the Cricket customer I had dialed is unavailable either because the phone is off or has moved out of the coverage area. Message 20 PDX.

I can't reach a live person at Cricket, either locally or at their 800 number.

I suppose somebody bought a phone to send a bunch of text messages, probably to a numeric series of phone numbers, and then ditched it.

Pathetic?

At the Oregon Summit last weekend I was struck by how our Congresspeople, candidates and other speechifiers kept referring to the "war" in Iraq. In 1994 when Dick Cheney talked about how invading Iraq would be a bad idea (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BEsZMvrq-I), he used the words "invasion" and "occupation." Since he and his buddies decided it was a good idea, they've called it a war.

My question is, why are so many of us who think this invasion and subsequent occupation was a bad idea using the word "war" when we talk about it?