_The Sand Pebbles_ As a Recurring Absence

Glossy magazines, unlike underground comix, continue to thrive. And so, lacking a venue that carries the latest Crumb cartoons, I find myself at Safeway surveying the magazines. And lacking anything else new and noteworthy, I find myself eyeing the military titles. Are there more than before? Or is this just another of the countless areas I can't keep track of?
    One grabs my eye

Choose sides! Choose sides! (Iraq 2003)

Another oldie-essay, written in 2003 about the time the U.S. military was reaching Baghdad. The Globe and Mail Book section at the time had a regular feature called "Three for Thought" wherein freelance writers would recommend three books on a subject. Margaret Atwood had already done a war-related piece, but I found it a bit tepid, and her three books academic and uninspiring, so I set myself the task of cobbling together something a bit more galvanic. Something to commemorate great war-literature. Something to get my moribund writing career restarted.

The following was what I (typically) wasted too much time composing. I mailed in and waited. Nada. Not even a "sorry but it doesn't meet our needs" letter. Well, what the hell. One for the alumni of Hard Knocks College. But it may still have some residual relevance as an Iran conflict looms, so here it is:

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(Once again, gotta find the lamentable thing. Hey, I'm beyond embarrassment...)