Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Wow… It's as if the US is doing everything it can to guarantee war in the Middle East escalates as far as possible (more, more, more, and tons more). I just don't get it. Well, I do, I suppose, war is big business and makes big money, but I totally don't understand why the citizens permit it to continue.
I guess I understand that too… People just don't want to take a stand, so they make wishy-washy centrist votes, passing power back between Republicans and Democrats that all basically do the same things internationally. For whatever reason, people aren't willing to vote in the people who'd make it stop, be it Kucinich types on the left or Libertarian types on the right (thereby making America monstrously wealthy and powerful, instead of watching it spiral down into death)…
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Good news… An experience update has been posted. I say good news because it means my continuing transition to wireless and portable office is going well. Thank you to the review team and the writers of course — I couldn't have done it without you.
I should note that I haven't flipped the switch yet on my SMTP relay to allow this particular connection, so while you will get your password if you wrote an experience, the “first” email (ie. thank you) may be delayed — these include the coupons for those who wrote featured experiences.
Anyway, this update was posted from a broadband wireless connection that's battery powered and faster than most DSL connections. It's pretty cool. So the update was done and uploaded while sitting on the beach of an island, looking out at the ocean…
I asked for a mai tai, and they brought me a pina colada, and I said no salt, NO salt on the margarita, but it had salt on it, big grains of salt, floating in the glass…!
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
This from the Iraqi police, who the US has been “accidentally” killing lately, putting local anger at occupying forces through the roof:
"We shouted at them that we were police, but they killed us anyway because they hate us. They hate us because we don't co-operate with them.
I am full of hatred for the Americans and I am ready to kill them. All Fallujah people are Mujahidin and they care only about killing Americans. We don't care about their powerful weapons, because we know that if we die we will become martyrs.
I am proud of [the guerrillas who kill Americans], because those people are taking revenge on the Americans. They will continue with more and more attacks in the future."
Painted on the walls of Fallujah is the slogan, “US Army will pay blood for oil”; to this, Paul Bremer replied (my paraphrase), “I don't know why they're still upset about this. We said we were sorry.”
Other than that today is the vote (more, more) on Bush's new “usable nukes” (more)… Useable nukes? The whole point of nuclear weapons is that they are not useable — in theory (emphasis on “theory”) they avert war by escalating war to a level where everyone loses. Building “smaller” nukes just guarantees nuclear war. Not a good thing!
Monday, September 15, 2003
I've written extensively here about how US troops are getting screwed over by the government… Mostly just kids in way over their head, and a bunch of pissed-off reservists… Anyway, did you know that when they're injured in combat, they have to pay for all their own meals while in military hospital (more)? I've also mentioned here how the troops don't have enough gear and the military has run out of money… well, because of that, they're forcing troops to either purchase their own equipment from home, or go without, putting their lives at increased risk (more). Strange world.
PS. Wanna buy a van?
Monday, September 15, 2003
You know, at my core I'm just a quiet guy that likes looking at trees and mountains, hanging out with his friends, and making sure everyone feels alright… But you take that away, and you're left with an empty shell of a psycho sitting in some dive in Saigon eventually blowing his brains out in a game of Russian Roulette for pay. The scary thing is folks that it's one tiny decision that guides you to either being happy in the wild, or lying in a pool of your own blood… and the decision won't even mean anything at the time (and it'll probably even seem like a good idea), so try and play the game well I guess.
Some day you'll find yourself looking up at the stars, all in the wrong places, and you'll wonder if some cosmic joker whacked your soul with a sledgehammer and sent you careening into the universe next door. Don't ask me what this entry means. I'm a poet and a painter, occasionally masquerading as a programmer… As far as I'm concerned it's all just music. What it means is up to the listener.
I took these pictures this evening:
Other than that I've decided to stop eating for a while. Not fasting or anything. It's just that when I'm travelling, I can't eat a regular diet and I have to or I get really sick and it's catching up to me. So I'm just going to quit for now and start again when I have the time to do it right I suppose.
