Upcoming events in the area this week

The picture of occupation:

An Iraqi family sits in the courtyard of their farm as US soldiers search the premises for weapons in Mullah Eid village just south of Baquba. A suicide car bomb has exploded at a police checkpoint in Iraq's volatile Diyala province, killing at least 15 people, including seven policemen, a security official has said. (AFP/File/Patrick Baz)

The Iraqi parliament is going to vote soon on the Status of Forces Agreement. A lot of (not well informed) Americans think this will mean that the US occupation will end in 2011. Meanwhile, many Iraqis are protesting this SOFA deal, because they think it means the occupation will continue until who-knows-when. And the Iraqis are correct.

And meanwhile, there are several events in the area this week, including a talk on Peace in the Middle East on Monday and a talk on Forgiveness on Thursday. Then, this weekend, the protest to close the School of the Americas will be held in Columbus, GA. I plan on going to that, for the first time. It should be interesting. I was going to camp out, but the weather is due to get down into the 20's at night down there in Georgia..... burr......

Anyway, a listing of local events can be found here.

Have a peaceful week.