I will create a wall. On it will be all that is and will be until we rewrite the present and future. My failures, your failures, our fathers'...will all be open to scrutiny.
You may never again rely on what you know. From now on, it will all be a reality check that does not include your understanding.
My forefather was abandoned in his age and this led on and on again. I cannot accept and I cannot deny. Reality and her ancestors are hungry and we cannot deny them.
But to know yourself, as they say, is to know thine own enemy. Inside it looks like outside and we all can attest to the fact that we wish no more of that.
So pent-up and post-modern I will carry on into the vast fathomless reaches of the soul. Knowing that not knowing is the end. Crushing and fading beyond the sight of the mortal, this truth will remain and remind.
When forever comes crashing, I will hear nothing. I will be a void in the vast universe, knowing only that I was for a brief moment, matter, organized and self-aware, devoid of desire until then.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Friday, June 06, 2008
No child left behind...?
I had to post this someplace, as it is just too good. I've had my freshmen (that's 9 years of previous educational experience before arriving on my doorstep) for the entire year. We've developed a "Freshman Academy" at the high school to really focus on essential skill development, maturity, responsibility, and scholarship. For our part we've used dozens of innovative instructional techniques, in-class reading and writing enrichments, extra help sessions, leniency for missing/late assignments, group conferences, hundreds of phone calls and letters to guardians, meetings, conferences, workshops...You name it, we've been trying it.
Well at the end of the year are finals...I choose 5 open-ended creative thinking questions for the students to answer in several paragraphs. The students have their choice of any 2 of the prompts. Expecting the worst, usually doesn't leave you disappointed when the worst arrives...right?
Here are some of the results of "Freshman Academy" excellence. I've included all the grammatical/syntax errors.
Prompt #1
You have been hired as a biologist to study a rare species of bird that lives in the Amazon rain forest. Not much is known about the ecology of this bird. Provide details about how you would study this bird in order to determine how it is connected with other animals and plants in its ecosystem. Please use proper terms to describe what interactions and roles you would try to study and what types of information you would hope to discover about this bird.
Great answer #1
"To find out how it connects to other birds? there physical enviroment is soil, water, climate, and ect....Many birds could be found in a pine forests is hawks, warblers, and sparrows. Bids know where there kinds are in forest the connect by peaking at eachother. Sometimes they are different peakng sounds fur danger. When birds lay eggs they are not to be touched at all. Birds are really careful on eggs because if there touched they are miss treated or are killed by there own parents. Birds also are not really found in winter they travel until they get to there right Climate if the winds blowing there way they go opposite of it. You would need to discover what they eat and how they are around climates."
Great answer #2
"I would study this bird very slow and carefully. I would take DNA and run some tests. Also use old animal trees to see where it ends. Then, i would take the bird and see where it would fit. Next, i would determine what year it had arised. Finally, i would write down my hypothesis, cause i figured out what i needed to know when it emerged, its DNA, its relation to other animals, and its cause of being rare."
Great answer #3
"To see how a bird that lives in the Amazon Forest i would take the bird and try to find the similarites of body structures with other animals or plants i would check to see whhat body figures are the same I would hope to discover that the Amazon bird would be realitive to humans more than animals."
Prompt #2
You have discovered and new fossil in the shale cliffs of Wyoming. Detail how you would study the fossil to determine its origins. Point to how you would look for evidence in the fossil, modern animals, the mountains where you found the fossil, or other known fossils to prove its origins. Include the methods you might use to determine the age of the fossil.
Great answer #1
"How I would study the fossil is look at all these fossil books to find the Fossil. Then the place I would fin the fossil is where no one has ever been at untill a couple days ago. The place where I found the fossil is at a lake in Wyoming. I known it is a fish that lives in that lake. I bet the fossil was about 2.5 million years old & it has been at that lake for about .5 million years; so it must of got moved to a different lake."
Great answer #2
"hello, I am going to tell you how to find thhe origins of this fossil. One way you can determine how old the fossil is. is by looking at how old the fossil is. To do this, you should compare the fossil with another one to determine how old it is."
Great answer #3
"you can look if the bird has simular features like the beak or the wings. or compare the two enviorments like the plants or animals that the bird eats. The bones of the birds like the head. The simular features of this bird may lead to finding ancestors of this animals which could tell us how it migrated from where ever it was to Wyoming."
Great answer #4
"How I would stued the fossil is by compering it to then fossils. I would comper the bones. I would see what lived there were we found it."
Ahh...I love it.
Good stuff. Psychologist say that a child's capacity for learning develops by the age of six. That means that by the time they are 15 years old and sitting at a table in my classroom, they've been building on their capacity for all nine of the previous years in classrooms and schools just like mine. Makes me wonder just what mom and dad did for those first six years? Because, I sure as hell know what all the schools and professional educators have been doing. Better yet, what the hell are mommy and daddy doing now with these kids between the hours of 3 pm and 8 am the next day?
Clearly I'm failing at my task.
Well at the end of the year are finals...I choose 5 open-ended creative thinking questions for the students to answer in several paragraphs. The students have their choice of any 2 of the prompts. Expecting the worst, usually doesn't leave you disappointed when the worst arrives...right?
Here are some of the results of "Freshman Academy" excellence. I've included all the grammatical/syntax errors.
Prompt #1
You have been hired as a biologist to study a rare species of bird that lives in the Amazon rain forest. Not much is known about the ecology of this bird. Provide details about how you would study this bird in order to determine how it is connected with other animals and plants in its ecosystem. Please use proper terms to describe what interactions and roles you would try to study and what types of information you would hope to discover about this bird.
Great answer #1
"To find out how it connects to other birds? there physical enviroment is soil, water, climate, and ect....Many birds could be found in a pine forests is hawks, warblers, and sparrows. Bids know where there kinds are in forest the connect by peaking at eachother. Sometimes they are different peakng sounds fur danger. When birds lay eggs they are not to be touched at all. Birds are really careful on eggs because if there touched they are miss treated or are killed by there own parents. Birds also are not really found in winter they travel until they get to there right Climate if the winds blowing there way they go opposite of it. You would need to discover what they eat and how they are around climates."
Great answer #2
"I would study this bird very slow and carefully. I would take DNA and run some tests. Also use old animal trees to see where it ends. Then, i would take the bird and see where it would fit. Next, i would determine what year it had arised. Finally, i would write down my hypothesis, cause i figured out what i needed to know when it emerged, its DNA, its relation to other animals, and its cause of being rare."
Great answer #3
"To see how a bird that lives in the Amazon Forest i would take the bird and try to find the similarites of body structures with other animals or plants i would check to see whhat body figures are the same I would hope to discover that the Amazon bird would be realitive to humans more than animals."
Prompt #2
You have discovered and new fossil in the shale cliffs of Wyoming. Detail how you would study the fossil to determine its origins. Point to how you would look for evidence in the fossil, modern animals, the mountains where you found the fossil, or other known fossils to prove its origins. Include the methods you might use to determine the age of the fossil.
Great answer #1
"How I would study the fossil is look at all these fossil books to find the Fossil. Then the place I would fin the fossil is where no one has ever been at untill a couple days ago. The place where I found the fossil is at a lake in Wyoming. I known it is a fish that lives in that lake. I bet the fossil was about 2.5 million years old & it has been at that lake for about .5 million years; so it must of got moved to a different lake."
Great answer #2
"hello, I am going to tell you how to find thhe origins of this fossil. One way you can determine how old the fossil is. is by looking at how old the fossil is. To do this, you should compare the fossil with another one to determine how old it is."
Great answer #3
"you can look if the bird has simular features like the beak or the wings. or compare the two enviorments like the plants or animals that the bird eats. The bones of the birds like the head. The simular features of this bird may lead to finding ancestors of this animals which could tell us how it migrated from where ever it was to Wyoming."
Great answer #4
"How I would stued the fossil is by compering it to then fossils. I would comper the bones. I would see what lived there were we found it."
Ahh...I love it.
Good stuff. Psychologist say that a child's capacity for learning develops by the age of six. That means that by the time they are 15 years old and sitting at a table in my classroom, they've been building on their capacity for all nine of the previous years in classrooms and schools just like mine. Makes me wonder just what mom and dad did for those first six years? Because, I sure as hell know what all the schools and professional educators have been doing. Better yet, what the hell are mommy and daddy doing now with these kids between the hours of 3 pm and 8 am the next day?
Clearly I'm failing at my task.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
When is it...
I forget how often I look at the world and cannot comprehend the beauty and pain I feel.
Everywhere. The grating, possesive movements of those who strive, desire, struggle, thwart, and stagnate against the backdrop of self and other...of world, mother, father, child, lover, enemy, friend, disease, hunger, sate, peril, safety, warmth, comfort, thirst, striving...a world of every pain and dream that humanity has to offer.
In all the ages of life...these dreams are shared and unspoken amongst humanity. The yearning, the knowledge, the resolve, the despair of our species. What is it in the grand scheme? Is it misplaced? Does a benevolent, yet removed, god smile down in curious wonder at the spectacle. Does that god breathe in and sigh at our realizations and question their own wisdom and comprehension of creation?
When we express this mystery...when we accept that we are not infinity...we are not the end of existence...when we see the beauty of that creation, yet accept its fleeting fragility...
is that salvation?
is that god?
with that, i am grateful for all of it. the pain. the suffering. the joy. the mystery. the shared paths. the realization of it all.
joyful participation in the suffering of life
Everywhere. The grating, possesive movements of those who strive, desire, struggle, thwart, and stagnate against the backdrop of self and other...of world, mother, father, child, lover, enemy, friend, disease, hunger, sate, peril, safety, warmth, comfort, thirst, striving...a world of every pain and dream that humanity has to offer.
In all the ages of life...these dreams are shared and unspoken amongst humanity. The yearning, the knowledge, the resolve, the despair of our species. What is it in the grand scheme? Is it misplaced? Does a benevolent, yet removed, god smile down in curious wonder at the spectacle. Does that god breathe in and sigh at our realizations and question their own wisdom and comprehension of creation?
When we express this mystery...when we accept that we are not infinity...we are not the end of existence...when we see the beauty of that creation, yet accept its fleeting fragility...
is that salvation?
is that god?
with that, i am grateful for all of it. the pain. the suffering. the joy. the mystery. the shared paths. the realization of it all.
joyful participation in the suffering of life
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
when i die
when i die...
I suppose you should post it in the paper...give everyone the once over. Long-lost girlfriends; people who forgot about me; grade school teachers; colleagues; relatives; ecstasy dealers...whomever.
First, I don't want to be buried...I've always feared being buried alive. Cremation...yeah, that works. My ashes belong in the rock (Sinissippi) river; in Black Hawk park; in the north cascades; or in Cades Cove in Smokey Mtn. National Park.
No headstone. Maybe near a remarkable tree.
We'll need several kegs and bottles. Rent a hall someplace. Don't care. No crap beer...Guinness, Goose Island, Rogue, etc...
No tears...or some, who cares. I'll want Al, Sarah, Rob, Devin, Chad, Dad, etc... to choose some music. Metal, Irish, Baroque, old school hip hop, electronica, folk, blues...
Most of all, I'll need some bands to play a few songs. My life insurance isn't much, but I would like Hope and Suicide to play, they can play H+S songs and bloodlet...(CPAI-75)...Anthrofuge could play some of their songs, and some Uphold songs.
I want people to drink, listen, have fun...
I want people to think about changing their lives.
I want people to think about overthrowing the government..rearranging their ideals...starting community farms...assisting in neighborhood coops...walking to work.
Last of all...cooper should be taken care of, walked off the leash every day, chase deer, dig in the soil...He should be fed chickens.
Peace.
I suppose you should post it in the paper...give everyone the once over. Long-lost girlfriends; people who forgot about me; grade school teachers; colleagues; relatives; ecstasy dealers...whomever.
First, I don't want to be buried...I've always feared being buried alive. Cremation...yeah, that works. My ashes belong in the rock (Sinissippi) river; in Black Hawk park; in the north cascades; or in Cades Cove in Smokey Mtn. National Park.
No headstone. Maybe near a remarkable tree.
We'll need several kegs and bottles. Rent a hall someplace. Don't care. No crap beer...Guinness, Goose Island, Rogue, etc...
No tears...or some, who cares. I'll want Al, Sarah, Rob, Devin, Chad, Dad, etc... to choose some music. Metal, Irish, Baroque, old school hip hop, electronica, folk, blues...
Most of all, I'll need some bands to play a few songs. My life insurance isn't much, but I would like Hope and Suicide to play, they can play H+S songs and bloodlet...(CPAI-75)...Anthrofuge could play some of their songs, and some Uphold songs.
I want people to drink, listen, have fun...
I want people to think about changing their lives.
I want people to think about overthrowing the government..rearranging their ideals...starting community farms...assisting in neighborhood coops...walking to work.
Last of all...cooper should be taken care of, walked off the leash every day, chase deer, dig in the soil...He should be fed chickens.
Peace.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Why can't I
"Go, repress your prudent side
It's beautiful but plastic
Go, reveal darker sides
Killing is never too drastic
Go, turn to the assassin
Go, make an appointment with the assassin..."
~Junip
It seems like everyone fits into some sort of mold...Every second of every day...trudging through the same steps, traipsing into a mold. Predescribed.
A trance.
2 a.m. is like 2 p.m....as I stare at the same things as everyday. Waiting for happiness to fall from the sky...how pointless.
Like the only meaning is in conflict.
Like humans were ever meant to be happy.
Like we come with the program that enables us to defeat ourselves.
Just when the smallest measure of success peaks, our spirit rebels and the body arcs away from the hand that offers sympathy.
We are never happy...never satisfied; always moving into nothing.
It's beautiful but plastic
Go, reveal darker sides
Killing is never too drastic
Go, turn to the assassin
Go, make an appointment with the assassin..."
~Junip
It seems like everyone fits into some sort of mold...Every second of every day...trudging through the same steps, traipsing into a mold. Predescribed.
A trance.
2 a.m. is like 2 p.m....as I stare at the same things as everyday. Waiting for happiness to fall from the sky...how pointless.
Like the only meaning is in conflict.
Like humans were ever meant to be happy.
Like we come with the program that enables us to defeat ourselves.
Just when the smallest measure of success peaks, our spirit rebels and the body arcs away from the hand that offers sympathy.
We are never happy...never satisfied; always moving into nothing.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Ghosts
I don't know how to describe what happened to me this evening...but I will try.
Cooper (the wolfdog, if'n you've read me before) and I often go out to Black Hawk Park, to wander the 200+ acres of upland mesic forests, in which I've spent most of my outdoor days during my youth.
Tonight, as we strayed off-trail, and he paralleled a ridge, I saw two ghosts. They were about 12-14 inches at the shoulder and they were 80 feet to my right. Fluffly gray fur, pointy ears, a black saddle on the hackles. They looked very unlike most canids I was used to seeing.
Cooper was on the scent of something about 200 feet to my left. The two gray doglike animals stopped and watched me. They were traveling together, one about 8 feet in front of the other. Cooper kept ahead of all of us.
When Cooper finally turned and ran back towards me, he saw them. But before this, they had glimpsed him running away from them...at this, they perked up. Their ears were up, their tails out, their smiles apparent. They trotted 20 feet towards him, as he ran away...obviously chasing him. They were not territorial; they were not aggressive...they were interested. It almost seemed as if they wanted to greet him...they seemed lonely...searching...maybe for a parent? Alpha?
Instantly, I was struck by the puppy-nature of these two canids. I thought "coyotes?" Then I thought that this was pretty early for two coyote pups (at about 1/2 size of adult) to be wandering on their own. Plus, their ears were shorter and their fur was a bit shorter than coyote. Two thoughts passed briefly: wolf pups...domestics?...Yet they definitely didn't trot along like domestics...plus, what breed? And, wolf pups? We'd had a few run ins with wolves in northern Illinois in the past 3 years.
As Cooper turned to check on my status, as he always does on walks, he spied the two small animals. He bolted towards them, hackles and tail raised. I panicked...Cooper had caught wild animals before...and it always ended in scars and death...My mind raced to rabbits, raccoons, possums, and groundhogs...all of which seemed fiercer than these two inquisitive animals. "95 lb wolfdog meets baby coyotes in park" seemed an adequate headline.
When the impending doom descended upon them, they ran. However, not very fast. It was like they weren't sure if Cooper was serious. He was.
Good thing these animals were small and agile...and maybe a bit naive. All I could think of was having to dispatch some poor pup after the wolfdog had given it a good shaking or two.
However, the furthest from us was the one being chased. It ran over hill and dale, through undergrowth, under logs, and deadfalls, over thorn and shrub. Cooper chased it for about a quarter mile, about 5 feet from its tail. Neither made a sound. The second little gray animal, chased about 5 feet behind Cooper. It was one of the most comical things I've ever seen. Back and forth, with a stupid human following about 200 feet back.
Finally they hit a ridge, and outdistance Cooper through some thick brush.
I didn't see them again.
Tomorrow, I will go out at dusk with a pack, camera, flashlight, a flask, and water. I will leave the last part of my deer carcass in the woods. I will wait for them.
I will wait for the last and latest bit of wild to bless my little city.
I might even weep a bit at the loss of wild.
Cooper (the wolfdog, if'n you've read me before) and I often go out to Black Hawk Park, to wander the 200+ acres of upland mesic forests, in which I've spent most of my outdoor days during my youth.
Tonight, as we strayed off-trail, and he paralleled a ridge, I saw two ghosts. They were about 12-14 inches at the shoulder and they were 80 feet to my right. Fluffly gray fur, pointy ears, a black saddle on the hackles. They looked very unlike most canids I was used to seeing.
Cooper was on the scent of something about 200 feet to my left. The two gray doglike animals stopped and watched me. They were traveling together, one about 8 feet in front of the other. Cooper kept ahead of all of us.
When Cooper finally turned and ran back towards me, he saw them. But before this, they had glimpsed him running away from them...at this, they perked up. Their ears were up, their tails out, their smiles apparent. They trotted 20 feet towards him, as he ran away...obviously chasing him. They were not territorial; they were not aggressive...they were interested. It almost seemed as if they wanted to greet him...they seemed lonely...searching...maybe for a parent? Alpha?
Instantly, I was struck by the puppy-nature of these two canids. I thought "coyotes?" Then I thought that this was pretty early for two coyote pups (at about 1/2 size of adult) to be wandering on their own. Plus, their ears were shorter and their fur was a bit shorter than coyote. Two thoughts passed briefly: wolf pups...domestics?...Yet they definitely didn't trot along like domestics...plus, what breed? And, wolf pups? We'd had a few run ins with wolves in northern Illinois in the past 3 years.
As Cooper turned to check on my status, as he always does on walks, he spied the two small animals. He bolted towards them, hackles and tail raised. I panicked...Cooper had caught wild animals before...and it always ended in scars and death...My mind raced to rabbits, raccoons, possums, and groundhogs...all of which seemed fiercer than these two inquisitive animals. "95 lb wolfdog meets baby coyotes in park" seemed an adequate headline.
When the impending doom descended upon them, they ran. However, not very fast. It was like they weren't sure if Cooper was serious. He was.
Good thing these animals were small and agile...and maybe a bit naive. All I could think of was having to dispatch some poor pup after the wolfdog had given it a good shaking or two.
However, the furthest from us was the one being chased. It ran over hill and dale, through undergrowth, under logs, and deadfalls, over thorn and shrub. Cooper chased it for about a quarter mile, about 5 feet from its tail. Neither made a sound. The second little gray animal, chased about 5 feet behind Cooper. It was one of the most comical things I've ever seen. Back and forth, with a stupid human following about 200 feet back.
Finally they hit a ridge, and outdistance Cooper through some thick brush.
I didn't see them again.
Tomorrow, I will go out at dusk with a pack, camera, flashlight, a flask, and water. I will leave the last part of my deer carcass in the woods. I will wait for them.
I will wait for the last and latest bit of wild to bless my little city.
I might even weep a bit at the loss of wild.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
from whence came hatred
I love to post negative rants and raves. I would love to try to put a positive spin on everything, look for the silver lining...but, it is just too hard. I will leave that to people with more time on their hands.
On the day that the war was being voted on in congress approximately 5 years ago, I hung my head. After 9/11 with the atrocities of that day still fresh in their minds and the rhetoric of our newest dictator in their hearts, Americans were quick to jump into the fray and kick some ass. With lies as weapons, little did they know that years down the road we would still be fighting what was no longer a war against perceived terror, but a riotous occupation in the midst of sectarian struggle for power. The little-thinking, yet all knowing public, fed a steady diet of mass media slowly began to regret its 2003 fervor for the war in Iraq.
I was in high school during the first gulf war, and at that time was called to the principal's office along with a few others for constantly wearing a black arm band in protest. Nothing came of it, as our illustrious 'pal was staring into the eyes of 3 of the top 10 students in the junior class, who were also heavily involved in the performing arts, club presidents, and teacher's kids. He just wanted to express to us that what we were doing was pretty unpopular.
As I fast-forward to 2008 and reflect back on my moods at the start of our Middle East incursions, I realize more than ever why I am against this act of war. Besides the lies and cloudy motivations...besides the obvious posturing and positioning for the last of the world's oil to bolster a stagnant economy and pad the pockets of the military/industrial elite...besides the bravado...besides the obvious Judaeo-Christian belief of ownership and control of the Middle East...there is the reality of the horror and inhumanity of war. What it does to the collective psyche...what it does to the humanity of those involved and those who bear witness.
Without linking or specific mention...the media (internet mainly) are latching onto stories of soldiers who during the course of this war have been irrevocably damaged both physically and psychologically. Soldiers who engage in rape, torture, animal cruelty, wanton unprovoked violence. These men and women have lost a part of their humanity that renders them rational, sane, and feeling. Why is it that the government refuses or delays the treatment of mental illness in soldier who have just come from a war zone? Why is it that benefits for soldiers are denied ans questioned by those who used these soldiers as cheap cannon-fodder? Why is it that the great military hospitals that should care for those who "protect our freedom" are plagued by incompetence and shortcuts?
What about the lives of the innocent bystanders and citizens of this ordeal. Well over 100,000 non-combatant Iraqis killed in 5 years...more than 2,000,000 displaced Iraqi refugees. Children with no parents. Children emotionally and physically scarred in unimaginable ways. Women without husband and entire families to help support them in their traditionally patriarchal society. The sick and elderly left to die from want and neglect as the infrastructure of Iraq is destroyed around them and governments are bled dry of money by thievery...explicit or veiled.
The horror of war damages all of humanity, our collective spirit. It produces in us a thirst for rage. It promote, not compassion, but revulsion for the differences that make the human race so dynamically beautiful. I remember this after a friend of mine returned for the 2nd time from the war and with a nervous air said "...it's great. Where else would they give me a weapon and pay me to violate essentially every human right and get away with it."
I speak from experience...not personal...but through the testimony of friends and family. I have seen family and friends deployed and come back to tell their stories. I've known others who have not come back. My grandfather fought in WWII, was wounded, and came home to father 4 children and tell his tale. He felt that he was fighting a for a noble cause against the impending doom embodied by the Nazis of Germany. He was willing to give his life for what he called "love of family, life, and liberty..."
I compare this to the ignobility of what our generation's war has become. A souless, pointless grab at the last ditches of a dying way of life under the auspices of fighting for the freedom of Americans. A war against terror. A president who the day after the greatest violent loss of life on American soil, implores his subjects to go out and shop. I remembered this as we approached the 76th anniversary of the FDR's inauguration speech in 1932 when he proclaimed that the "only thing we have to fear is fear itself." There was man of the people, a true non-partisan who fought tooth and nail for freedom and the betterment of the spirit of America. The spirit of reverence for all...for equality...for the common person...for the common value of all life.
On the day that the war was being voted on in congress approximately 5 years ago, I hung my head. After 9/11 with the atrocities of that day still fresh in their minds and the rhetoric of our newest dictator in their hearts, Americans were quick to jump into the fray and kick some ass. With lies as weapons, little did they know that years down the road we would still be fighting what was no longer a war against perceived terror, but a riotous occupation in the midst of sectarian struggle for power. The little-thinking, yet all knowing public, fed a steady diet of mass media slowly began to regret its 2003 fervor for the war in Iraq.
I was in high school during the first gulf war, and at that time was called to the principal's office along with a few others for constantly wearing a black arm band in protest. Nothing came of it, as our illustrious 'pal was staring into the eyes of 3 of the top 10 students in the junior class, who were also heavily involved in the performing arts, club presidents, and teacher's kids. He just wanted to express to us that what we were doing was pretty unpopular.
As I fast-forward to 2008 and reflect back on my moods at the start of our Middle East incursions, I realize more than ever why I am against this act of war. Besides the lies and cloudy motivations...besides the obvious posturing and positioning for the last of the world's oil to bolster a stagnant economy and pad the pockets of the military/industrial elite...besides the bravado...besides the obvious Judaeo-Christian belief of ownership and control of the Middle East...there is the reality of the horror and inhumanity of war. What it does to the collective psyche...what it does to the humanity of those involved and those who bear witness.
Without linking or specific mention...the media (internet mainly) are latching onto stories of soldiers who during the course of this war have been irrevocably damaged both physically and psychologically. Soldiers who engage in rape, torture, animal cruelty, wanton unprovoked violence. These men and women have lost a part of their humanity that renders them rational, sane, and feeling. Why is it that the government refuses or delays the treatment of mental illness in soldier who have just come from a war zone? Why is it that benefits for soldiers are denied ans questioned by those who used these soldiers as cheap cannon-fodder? Why is it that the great military hospitals that should care for those who "protect our freedom" are plagued by incompetence and shortcuts?
What about the lives of the innocent bystanders and citizens of this ordeal. Well over 100,000 non-combatant Iraqis killed in 5 years...more than 2,000,000 displaced Iraqi refugees. Children with no parents. Children emotionally and physically scarred in unimaginable ways. Women without husband and entire families to help support them in their traditionally patriarchal society. The sick and elderly left to die from want and neglect as the infrastructure of Iraq is destroyed around them and governments are bled dry of money by thievery...explicit or veiled.
The horror of war damages all of humanity, our collective spirit. It produces in us a thirst for rage. It promote, not compassion, but revulsion for the differences that make the human race so dynamically beautiful. I remember this after a friend of mine returned for the 2nd time from the war and with a nervous air said "...it's great. Where else would they give me a weapon and pay me to violate essentially every human right and get away with it."
I speak from experience...not personal...but through the testimony of friends and family. I have seen family and friends deployed and come back to tell their stories. I've known others who have not come back. My grandfather fought in WWII, was wounded, and came home to father 4 children and tell his tale. He felt that he was fighting a for a noble cause against the impending doom embodied by the Nazis of Germany. He was willing to give his life for what he called "love of family, life, and liberty..."
I compare this to the ignobility of what our generation's war has become. A souless, pointless grab at the last ditches of a dying way of life under the auspices of fighting for the freedom of Americans. A war against terror. A president who the day after the greatest violent loss of life on American soil, implores his subjects to go out and shop. I remembered this as we approached the 76th anniversary of the FDR's inauguration speech in 1932 when he proclaimed that the "only thing we have to fear is fear itself." There was man of the people, a true non-partisan who fought tooth and nail for freedom and the betterment of the spirit of America. The spirit of reverence for all...for equality...for the common person...for the common value of all life.
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