The Runcible Blog

It's a sad day. Mr. Rogers died. You won't find any snarky remarks from me. Fred Rogers was a really nice guy who was determined to educate children. I used to watch Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, and I turned out alright, right? RIGHT?

Syndicated columnist Anne Coulter can be somewhat attractive sometimes:

The appeal, however, is spoiled by the fact that she's a crazy Right-wing loud-mouth. I guess you can't have everything.

Natsuki Ikezawa, a Japanese novelist and poet recently took a trip to Iraq and wrote a wonderful book called On a Small Bridge in Iraq. It's available for download free of charge at that link and is well worth the time to look through (it's only about 35 pages -- with pictures too!). It provides a perspective that westerners rarely see: the lives of the Iraqi people which we are preparing to destroy. I won't comment any more about whether it is a balanced portrayal, but there are some comments on the Ebook which criticize the author's position. Read it and judge for yourself.

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I came across this amazingly accurate simulation of the coming war. Make sure you play through the whole thing. It gets better and better.

That's a witty title, huh?

Lately I've been hearing the "support the troops" mantra coming from different directions, and I'm sure we'll be hearing more of it in the weeks ahead. Most recently, Bob Novak (I think that's his name) from "Crossfire" asked, in an effort to divert opposition, an anti-war representative if he "supports the troops". It's a dastardly thing to say. Although I never felt comfortable with the phrase, the deviousness of it came to my attention while reading part of a Noam Chomsky book the other day. He argues (rightly so, I think) that "support the troops" is a meaningless phrase intended on drumming up support for a policy which is likely hard to agree with. The implication is that if you don't somehow support the military, you're an anti-American who wishes death to those brave soldiers. Supporting the troops is not really an issue -- the issue is the policy. But you can't agree with the policy and agree with what the soldiers are ordered to do.

Here's where I might be criticized. See, I don't "support the troops" because I know that we have an all-volunteer military, and I just don't buy the idea that those in the military are simply following orders. If someone in the Army was strongly against this war, he could lay down his weapon and refuse to fight. Of course, he'd probably go to jail as a result, but if his will is strong enough, he'd do it. You don't join the military if you don't "support" murder. Why is that hard to understand? With the possible exception of medics, even if your finger is not directly on the trigger, you are helping to kill other people -- many of them innocent. Someone could make the case that the military helps save American lives, but that places a higher value on American lives than innocent foreign lives. And that argument leads down a slippery slope.

So, let me say that I hope no American soldier dies in this inevitable war. But with no hesitation do I say that I hope no American soldier kills an innocent Iraqi. Oh, and what about the Iraqi military? Unlike our military, the Iraqis are conscripted to serve. If anyone is simply following orders, they are. And since they live in a dictatorship, the punishment for desertion is likely much worse than jail.

Isn't it weird that the United States (supposedly a peaceful nation) has 1.5 million people volunteering to be trained as killing machines? You could say that I'm being negative, or you could try to downplay the "killing machines" part, but it's true that soldiers are trained in such a way as to minimize any hesitation to kill the "enemy". It's unfortunate that so many people actually want to be involved with that behavior.

Anyway, my unrealistic and maybe controversial hope is for our troops to stay in the barracks and refuse to fight (and be thrown in jail) -- refuse to kill innocent people in the crossfire in this unjust, immoral war. As much as I disagree with the military, I don't hope that they die. I would hope that we could solve problems without jumping to war before "giving peace a chance." And I'm not cynical enough to say that it is impossible. Although I think that this country has a lot of problems (particularly in the government), I believe they can be solved. I guess that's the difference between being idealistic and cynical.

No really. It is. It has a gas leak that seems to be getting worse. The amount of gas it's lost in just 30 miles would've taken me more than 100 just a couple weeks ago. Maybe I should have it fixed. Today, I drove over a couple of two foot high blocks of ice because I thought they were snow that would crumble under the car. Instead, the ice blocks crumpled the front metal thing underneath the bumper. ouch! It didn't sound pretty either. But I bent it back into shape (sort of) with a hammer. I'm going to run this car into the ground. It has about 184,000 miles on it now. Here's hoping it reaches 300,000!

After a few months of longish hair, I got tired of that useless stuff. Here's the new do:

Compared to the old do:

And here is a bowl of my hair:

I'll keep the webcam trained on this hair bowl just in case anything moves and because it's better than having it point at me all the time.

I've been thinking about how our minds change regarding certain issues. Well, the issue I'm thinking about is war. Unfortunately, this issue of a war with Iraq (let's not forget that it's a war with Iraq and not only Saddam. If the U.S. wanted to get rid of Saddam, I'm sure they could easily) is turning out to be one of the most important issues in foreign policy in my life thus far. There are lots of reasons that I won't get into, but it's not the point anyway. Since the Bush administration is going to move ahead with war no matter what anyone says, the media's continued insistence on calling it a "potential war" is bordering on ridiculous. But I wanted to say something about changing minds. I was thinking about how, when I was a little younger, I was a big supporter of the military, and G.I. Joe was my Real American Hero. I watched the first Gulf War on CNN at the age of 7 or 8 and then re-enacted the cool bombings and action with my toys. I had pro-Desert Storm shits and wore a yellow ribbon. Even as a teenager, I had all sorts of military paraphernalia and clothing (I still wear combat pants and shorts and jackets simply because they are comfortable and durable). I can't remember specific events, but I'm sure my typical response to foreign affairs during my early teens was "why don't we just bomb them?" But something changed. It wasn't profound, I don't think. I guess I just grew up a little. Sometime during high school, I stopped buying into the glamorization of war and violence. I don't know when it was, and it probably wasn't sudden. But the point is that people change. Even though I went to Catholic schools for 13 years, I've been able to break away from those influences without any problem (though I was ridiculed in 6th grade by my nun teacher and the rest of the class because I believed in evolution...). I suspect most people don't bother to evaluate their beliefs and tend to stick with whatever they were taught at a young age. I won't attempt to explain why that is. It seems to me there are many many grown adults who still hold on to that childish, reflexive "let's bomb them" world view, and I hope there could be some way to change that thought process. Well I think I know one way to change that thought process, but it'll only work if people want to change. So, as long as people continue to succumb to fear of the demon of the day, this self-defeating attitude will remain. Maybe I'll say more later when I remember where I was going with that thought...

I got 3rd place in laser tag tonight. Boo-Ya! It was like a scene straight out of "I Wanna Rock With You" minus the glittery jumpsuit.

I think I have time now to write about something I noticed throughout the southern states of our country.

"Christian" radio

It didn't take much listening for me to become worried about the state of our country. Assuming people actually listen to and follow these preachers, I'm now not surprised by much of the intolerance and ignorance we have today. I'm not sure where to start....

The thing I noticed first was the preachers' anger. It's confusing how those who would claim to be religious could speak with such anger towards their fellow man in the name of their god. Flipping through the many Christian radio stations, I noticed the themes of blame, guilt, fear, and unworthiness. Everywhere you go, the preachers are saying, "You are a sinner! You don't deserve god's love! You don't deserve anything! Repent or face his wrath!" One preacher said that god created the universe because he felt like it and created the world's population in order to worship him. That seems arrogant to me, but I guess I'm not worthy of understanding anything.

These people are strictly fundamentalist when reading the bible, yet somewhere along the line they have forgotten the message of loving your neighbor and turning the other cheek, etc.

Another powerful theme you can hear is ignorance. For instance, one reverend spoke of teaching creationism in schools as a legitimate theory. I thought that argument was long past, but apparently there are still many who cannot accept evolution. Teaching creationism in science class would be as silly as teaching basketball in English class. While creationism versus evolution can easily be debated with facts, the intolerance and ignorance that fundamentalists show towards other cultures and religions worries me more. It worries me that these radio (and TV) stations are making listeners afraid of the unknown. They warn listeners of the "dangers" of "cults" and generally don't seem to have even a cursory understanding of any culture or religion other than Southern Baptist. This attitude becomes dangerous when faithful followers rely solely on what their preacher says rather than learning things for themselves. There is no room for freedom in the "religions" they profess. Their world view is absolutely correct, and anyone who disagrees should either be converted or persecuted/shunned, or worse.

Also notably absent in the religious ravings is any concept of helping others. Maybe I just happened to be listening to particularly angry and selfish preachers, but I don't remember ever hearing any of them talk about loving one another. Isn't that odd? Essentially, followers are told to "live for god" above all else. Some say that materialism is great while others say materialism is evil, but they all exhort us to "live for god". But if you think about it, if your god is omniscient and all-powerful, why would he need anyone to praise him constantly? He wouldn't. And throwing all your energy at an invisible deity is a distraction from actually doing something good for other people. So, while you drive your gas-guzzling Hummer to work at the bomb factory, you can feel reassured that there's a place for you in heaven as long as you follow the Ten Commandments (sometimes) and give money to your reverend.

There are a few things I've been meaning to write or finish writing (including travel tales) that I haven't gotten around to yet. I'll do that soon.

Tomorrow I'll return to the ranks of the employed as a "consultant" at the Eagle Tribune doing perl programming and junk like that. It seems challenging, to say the least. This job could lead to other things, too. Although it seems like they would want someone to become familiar with the system and be a full time employee, I can't see myself hammering on computers at a job for more than a year or two. I want to help promote peace in the world and generally do some good in the long term, not solve computer puzzles for years on end. But, I'll take one step at a time.

4,283 miles later, I'm home.

I'm leaving for New Orleans today. I hope the car makes it, but just in case it doesn't, I don't want to hype this trip too much. More information (including the cornucopia of food I'm bringing) is at the travel blog.

I was awoken early yesterday morning to the news that someone was murdered down the street from my home. The murder was Lawrence's first of 2003 and certainly the first one on my street that I can remember. This neighborhood typically is quiet with only few car thefts or break-ins. But violence and crime have been spreading outward from downtown Lawrence for many years. It's a shame.

I returned to sleep only to awake to the news of more death. The loss of the space shuttle Columbia and its crew of seven is a national tragedy. I was only three years old when the Challenger exploded during its launch, but I know that the event gripped the nation and was serious enough for people to remember exactly where they were when they heard of the disaster. Even now, people can recall what they were doing on that fateful day in 1986, yet I feel that Columbia's destruction is somehow less important to many today. Flipping through the channels to find more information, I noticed at least one major network showing Saturday morning cartoons even as the other networks were playing and replaying the footage of the shuttle crumbling through the Texas sky.

Perhaps the American public has become desensitized to reports of terrible events since September 11, 2001. Maybe the only way to attract our attention is with bigger and more visible displays of large-scale destruction than the ones we've already seen. I certainly hope that is not the case, but indications show that we as a people are developing a narrower view of the world -- a self-centered view that turns a blind eye toward global crises and even prefers not to examine domestic problems that affect two hundred million of our own neighbors.

I was thinking last night in bed about how horrible the astronauts' death must have been. Knowing that there is no escape from impending incineration and being trapped in a metal shell traveling 12,000 miles per hour toward earth must be absolutely frightening. Although the astronauts thoroughly understand the risks of space flight, I don't think many people are prepared to face such a demise.