Saddam is not surrendering nor leaving Iraq.  He is either the dumbest dictator in history or has a joker or two up his sleeves.  Saddam lost big last time and now he gets another try.  If Hitler had another chance, would he make the same stupid mistakes?  Is Saddam that stupid?  While the odds are stacked against him, he now knows what American forces can do.  So he will fight this war much differently.

I think he will refuse to fight in the open, choosing to fight in the cities instead.  Tanks and Iraqi infantries will be hidden away in buildings near civilian houses to ambush American tanks and infantries.  With engines off, its difficult to locate them from the air and each attack will cause large civilian deaths.  Also, American tanks will be vulnerable in the cities without infantry support.  So American infantries will have to clear Bagdad building by building.

A quick victory is possible only if all of Saddam's forces take a nice drive out to the desert and into a certain slaughter.  Since Saddam is not stupid nor suicidal, we'll have prolonged war lasting several months with American deaths in thousands and American wounded in tens of thousands.  I wish otherwise, but this is what I am expecting at this point.

I came up with a possibly a new way to detect intrusion today.  Its one of those simple ideas that can be implemented right away at marginal cost.  I'll likely file a patent so I am currently searching the web to see if there is anything similar out there.  Patent filing is a really painful process, so due diligence now can save me from a lot of agony later.  Don't worry, this is not going to be as idiotic as the One-Click patent.  <g>

My family had Blue Cross for a long time.  About 10 years ago, I had Aetna provided through a friend of mine who allow me to take advantage of a good plan at a good price.  When he decided to move on to other things, I switched to Blue Cross.  When I joined Arcot fulltime three years ago, I was again under Blue Cross.  After leaving Arcot last June, I was still under Blue Cross via COBRA.

In December, I applied for Blue Cross again because COBRA was about to end.  I heard nothing for over three months.  About 8 days ago, I received a letter saying my son and I were accepted, but my wife was not.  Their reason was that my wife's blood pressure went over 140/100 for two weeks last October.  At the end of October, her blood pressure came right back down to normal when the situation that caused her stress went away.  Of course, they didn't even mentioned that.  They said she had to show proof of her having normal blood pressure for six months.

Tonight, I faxed them a letter asking them to cancel our policies.  I am not going back to Blue Cross again.  Business is business, but their way of doing business is unacceptable to me.  We were loyal Blue Cross customers and now we are not.  If you know of a good health insurance plan, please let me know.  I never go to the hospitals except for regular dental works and occasional racoon bites, but my wife and son need regular care.  Consulting can be great, but health insurance headaches can sometimes make me wish I was an employee again.

Looks like Dave finally got to East Coast.  I was worried couple of days ago.  Dave's plan to mimick what Charles Kuralt did in his On the Road series was ambitious.  Next time, get a nice little house you can drive like Bruce Tognazzini did.  I wouldn't mind living on the road in an RV like that if I could somehow get a broadband connection.

Its Iraq War Eve and I can't wait to see the bombs fall in Iraq.  Just or not, we are going to have this war and I hate waiting for anything, not even war.  I think Bush mishandled Iraq situation, but I am going to be supportive of American troops in harms way.  Sure, I'll try to vote Bush out of White House in the next election, but thats then and war is now.  I guess its like going to a bar with some friends and getting involved in a fight one of your friend started.  Once fists start flying, you gotta back up your friend even if you are in the wrong.