While I don't necessarily agree that the anti-war movement is a bunch of whiners, I like what this guy has to say. Personally, I have felt that since before 9/11 even, George Shrub has been leading us down a Reagan like road to disaster of epic proportions.
I actually spent 9/11/2001 in a hotel room in Barcelona watching the events unfold in the city where I live thousands of miles away. My emotions were extreme. Horror at what was unfolding. Disbelief as that little text bar at the bottom of CNN claimed the towers had collapsed, but all the current footage was of then still standing. Fear for my friends. Jealousy that here was one of those moments that would define New York for years to come and I was on vacation, missing it, anger that my honeymoon, MY HONEMOON, was being destroyed right before my eyes… and guilt for the thousands who were probably lying dead right then and there in New York. A pretty heavy trip to lay on anyone.
The myriad of people’s responses was understandable, even if I didn’t agree with many of them. The underlying sensation that many many people were dead was a sobering sensation that caused many people to take a new look at the world around them. New Yorkers were nice to each other on the street. A sense of one’s belonging to a community of human beings was strong. But the raging anger was seething just under the surface, and very soon we would be killing more people in Afghanistan than were killed in the US on 9/11. The basic axiom that American lives are inherently more valuable than lives elsewhere in the world was displayed once again for all the world to see.
This led to moral dilemmas for myself. Killing is killing… if we do it, if they do it. What right does one person have to take another’s life? And then to claim some moral superiority, some justifiable explanation for why what you are doing is right offends me to the bone. Which lead to a new dilemma. The country was blinded with patriotism (and still is) and any voice that spoke out was inherently un-American, a traitor. So I kept a low profile, kept my mouth closed when I normally would have spoken up, and cried to myself at the atrocities that we carried out in the name of another atrocity.
As the 1-year anniversary approaches, I am again reminded of all that was awful about that day, and all that is awful that our country has perpetrated since. On NPR this morning, families of victims complained that every time they have to watch the planes crash into the towers, they are witnessing the murder of their loved ones… over and over again. I think most Americans have already reached a state where this thought can be easily brushed off. It isn’t about death anymore. It’s media fodder. But I still get that hitch in my guts when I see those images, and I will never forget the inhumanity that was perpetrated by humans on their fellow humans in this past year.
Some plans for lower Manhattan, some cool, some ugly, some ridiculouys. But they all show a sense of planning and thought that seemed distinctly lacking from the city's plans. I don't know if I like all or any of them, but at least they seem thought out. So we need new towers? I don't really think so. But I like the idea of rethinking downtown Manhattan, and that transportation concourse seems super cool.
Mmmm... Googlecooking! That's where you google a list of the ingredients in your fridge and see what recepies come up. A damn good idea, thanks to Megnut!
I willfully have written nothing over the summer. Too much has been going on in the real world to mess with the matrix here in computer land. Moving... New Home... New Dog... That's right. The new dog didn't even make it onto these fine pages yet. Partly because I feel like most people's blogs that just talk about what people do on a daily basis are boring. By the same token they often only write a few lines. That was what was so great about Dooce.com. Her blog was interesting, but not really just a description of her days. And I'm not so sure I just want a list of links, although it is fun to share cool web finds. The problem is, I get all these web finds from other blogs, and since I'm not sure anyone reads mine, why bother?
There has been a lot of talk lately about the legitimacy of blogs. People, like Megnut have written books about them... more and more celebrities have them, the press praises and rejects them... Anyway, now I am just rambling which I didn't mean to do... that's what I don't want this blog to be, rambling. So to make up, here's some cool shit...
