Russia

Russia is beside itself with fury over the atrocity that happened in a town called Beslan this last week. There have been funerals on TV all week. There have been protests calling for revenge. The international community debates one way or the other. People cry that another evil piled on top of this one will do the whole of the world no good. The Russian government says it will preemptively strike at terrorists when and where it pleases. Putin has promised not to resort to nuclear weapons. There is a video floating around that was taken inside the school during the conflict. Russian Television has been playing bits, but I've heard the contents of the video are far too harsh for general consumption. I've heard there are some photos taken via phones floating around too. The victims were held at gun point, denied food water and toilet facilities. They were shot when they tried to escape a burning school, and blown up for doing what they were told to do. Some reported rapes, beatings. All in all, hell. Besides all that, it was the first day of school. Can you imagine those surviving children having to complete their education? The parents will have to send their children to school again sometime. The resignations are already poring in. I wish people would blame the terrorists and not the officials who are most likely doing their best with the sources they have. Most government agencies I know of are only given the minimum to do their job under normal circumstances. Extraordinary stuff like this just is not covered. The Russian government has also offered a ten million dollar (U. S.) reward for terrorist convictions. It interests me that they offer it in U. S. currency. I understand the Ruble is a bit shaky. Preemptive attacks require three things. The problem must be present, imminent and you must have no other way to deal with the problem. The trouble is, who is to enforce international law? The powerful

Highlights
At my day job we have these things called highlights. What is a highlight? You sit there and tell the powers that be what you did all month to give them a reason to keep you around. I've gone though some of the other people's highlight documents to get an idea what was being looked for. Well, it is an interesting mix of bullet points and diagrams. I bet some people spend more time on the highlights than the work. I have to pick up. I was just throwing some text in this thing and moving to the next task on my list. I know now it is making a list somewhere that matters. I intend to give it a bit more thought from now on. I will also make sure to mention nearly everything that I do including off-topic help desk stuff that I normally blow off. Hey, it is work stuff, it goes in the highlights.
I get the feeling this is a document I want to pay attention to. Others may use this document to determine pieces of my future I want a say in. Last month's entry was not put "in" because it was late. Funny, I don't remember being told the due date, except "the end of the month".