After receiving a surprising amount of email from folks wondering when I'd finally get off my arse and finish it, the OWA 2K/2K3 Front-end SSL Proxy with Apache 2.0 HOWTO is finally "published." You can find it at

• http://3cx.org/item/46

I've a few more things I'd like to add or clean up, but overall it's ready for public consumption.

UPDATE (Thu Jul 21 22:55:34 JST 2005): I updated the HOWTO to include a small hack that works around an issue with mod_proxy and the presence of one or more percent symbols (%) in the proxied URL. To those who were waiting for this, I'm sorry for the delay. Life got in the way.

Wretchard has posted an excellent blurb on what is going down in Iraq. I wish I could get some of my friends and associates to actually read and comprehend this. So many of them read something like this and completely discount it -- blinded by their burning hatred for President Bush. In the last paragraph, Wretchard identifies the crux of the issue with regards to the MSM, the Left, and the wholely uncaring Starbucks caffe latte enema crowd in America.

Iraq has become the recruiting focus of a generation of Islamists and Leftists while the United States public has won itself enough temporary safety to forget the dangers of September 11. The enemy's hunger -- almost desperation for victory -- stands in symbolic contrast to the desire among many Americans to close Gitmo. The war in Iraq has bought American homeland security in the most unexpected of ways. The enemy has learned to refrain from awakening the US giant, the better to defeat him in his sleep.