Posted by matt
Fri, 08 Jul 2005 17:51:07 GMT
I'm sitting here listening to Buck 65, Riverbed part 4. It's an oddly hypnotic song that goes along with a blog entry from one of the Gnome developers.
Our might does not make right. Our present and historical invovlement in the mideast is conveniently unknown or forgotten. Effects and causes are disjoint. The West Wing's Toby Ziegler might be right - maybe they will like us when we win. But maybe they'll like us if we simply stop doing everything within our power to fuck with their lives. There's a good New Testament quote to the effect of "they will know you are a Christian through your actions and good deeds." Let's spread freedom through our good example instead of our tanks.
Maybe we need a more Buddhist, kung-fu style approach to the War on Terror. I don't understand how we can win a War on Terror, when our enemies are ourselves. They could be our friends, our neighbours, or they could be people a million miles away. Terrorists are our enemies, but how can you tell a terrorist? They don't wear uniforms, they're not all one colour,creed, or race. They could be our friends, our neighbours, or they could be people a million miles away. There's now way we can tell them apart, there's no way we can fight the terrorists without fighting ourselves as well. As soon as you declare a War on Terrorists, you're declaring a war on the whole population. So what to do? We can't lock everyone up who looks at us funny, try as we might, maybe the only way to end the War on Terror is to follow the teachings of the Buddha.
"Everyone fears punishment," he says, "everyone fears death, just as you do. Therefore do not kill or cause to kill. Everyone fears punishment; everyone loves life, as you do. Therefore do not kill or cause to kill." He also said, "Hatred cannot put an end to hatred; love alone can. This is an unalterable law."
Or Jesus, as he said in the Sermon on the Mount:
"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; and if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to him who begs from you, and do not refuse him who would borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew, Chapter 5, verses 35 - 44
Posted in politics
Posted by matt
Fri, 27 May 2005 17:58:37 GMT
Why was this not shown all over CNN? Hell, why was it shoved in some back page of the fucking NY Times?
I'm from Canada. We had 4 soldiers mistreat a Somali boy in custody, who was caught breaking into a Canadian Army base. Because of the mistreatment of one Somali boy, our entire Airborne platoon was disbanded, and never recreated. It was front-page news for months, and it left a permanent and deep scar on the Canadian military. But apparently, American soldiers can torture whoever they like, whenever they like without repercussion or at worst, a possible slap on the wrist.
The entire article is below.
Read more...
Posted in politics
Posted by matt
Fri, 25 Feb 2005 17:51:35 GMT
"What good is fresh air if you have a lot of unemployed people breathing it?"
-- Robert Stec, president and CEO of Lexington Home Brands
To which I respond:
"What good is money when you have a lot of CEO's spending it?"
Posted in politics
Posted by matt
Thu, 24 Feb 2005 19:49:08 GMT
You know, at some point between Wells, Nevada, and Elko, Nevada (see below for HST's apt description of this part of the world), on the I80 there's an unnumbered exit onto some two-bit tarmac road that leads two tiny towns that don't even merit the term "one-horse" These two towns are called Deeth, and Starr.
So when you're really tired, driving down the I80 in the middle of the night after driving for 48 hours without breaks, and you come across a freeway sign that says "Deeth Starr 1/2 mi.", you really think you've gone to a galaxy far, far away.
This is a fitting tribute to HST. I suggest everyone read it.
He has the best description of Northern Nevada that I ever heard.
So what? I thought. I know this road -- a straight lonely run across
nowhere, with not many dots on the map except ghost towns and truck
stops with names like Beowawe and Lovelock and Deeth and
Winnemucca....
Jesus! Who made this map? Only a lunatic could have come up with a
list of places like this: Imlay, Valmy, Golconda, Nixon, Midas,
Metropolis, Jiggs, Judasville -- all of them empty, with no gas
stations, withering away in the desert like a string of old Pony
Express stations. The Federal Government owns ninety percent of this
land, and most of it is useless for anything except weapons testing
and poison-gas experiments.
Posted in funny, politics
Posted by matt
Fri, 07 Jan 2005 21:32:59 GMT
Read this editorial in the Daily Nebraskan, then this article in the Lincoln Journal Star.
Nothing defines irony better than this.
btw, Lincoln, NE is a nice oasis in the desert that is the midwest.
Posted in funny, politics
Posted by matt
Thu, 06 Jan 2005 19:39:03 GMT
Mr. Klein is the president of CNN.
" Mr. Klein specifically cited the criticism that the comedian Jon Stewart
leveled at "Crossfire" when he was a guest on the program during the
presidential campaign. Mr. Stewart said that ranting partisan political
shows on cable were "hurting America."
Mr. Klein said last night, "I agree wholeheartedly with Jon Stewart's
overall premise." He said he believed that especially after the terror
attacks on 9/11, viewers are interested in information, not opinion."
Posted in funny, politics
Posted by matt
Mon, 20 Dec 2004 16:29:59 GMT
This is from one of my favourite columns from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Canada goes to hell Don't worry. They're just jealous.
Posted in funny, politics
Posted by matt
Thu, 21 Oct 2004 14:18:33 GMT
One phrase, referring to George bush, really jumped out at me from this article
In four short years he has turned our country from a prosperous nation at peace into a desperately indebted nation at war
Posted in politics
Posted by matt
Wed, 06 Oct 2004 17:43:14 GMT
This is a wicked
column from the SF Chron
So then, the vicious hurricanes can't possibly be God's wrath, because Florida is Jeb Bush Country and everyone knows all Bushes are blessed WASP Mafioso with first-class seats on the glory train to salvation, and therefore the storms can only be explained by that other barely tolerable thing the Bible set really hates trying to comprehend: science.
[...]
But wait. That can't be right. It can't be science because the storms can't be in any way related to climate change or global warming, because as Bush policy has shown, nature is a merely a huge, exploitable sandbox for the rich and global warming is a big fat liberal myth and the Kyoto Treaty is a pathetic joke despite all those reams of international, world-class scientific evidence to the contrary. So, you know, screw science.
Posted in funny, politics
