demonstrators beware(and die stande des dinges)
As I have previously stated our authorities do not love us. Now, an update.
http://www.physorg.com/news5382.html
As you can read, they are developing a non-lethal weapon designed for crowd-control(read: non-endorsed demos). However, if you´re wearing metal(surely, nobody does that anymore...(ever put metal in a microwave oven? Now imagine wearing that metal as it´s being mircowaved)) or glasses or contact-lenses(which would focus a wave such as a micro one) -it may not be as non-lethal. No doubt they´ll deploy anyway, perhaps first in iraq or other third-world locations where news is far easier to control. Lest you forget, out authorities have previously killed demonstrators, sometimes with plain bullets, other times with "non-lethal"(hah!) dum-dum bullets.
If you have been following the news lately you will have noticed the situation in London. And as one londoner interviewed on CNN said yesterday "the war has come home". Indeed it has. I suppose we all felt safe sending our troops to a far away land on the other side of the world, well, we weren´t well receieved there; and now they´re sending their troops to our cities. Obviuosly, their troops do not come in tanks wearing easily recognisable uniforms, the bombs they detonate are nevertheless as lethal as those we detonate on their turf.
In arguments I´ve had people I´ve spoken to have made comments to the effect that
"They are fighting dirty, we are fighting clean."
Allow me to disagree. Why?
Well, the US chose to not count the number of civilian deaths they inflicted in iraq, no wonder.
In war and love everything is allowed as the proverb goes.
And in the history of wars the civilian population have always been considered legitimate targets, and in fact far outnumber the amount of dead soldiers.
Why the civilian population should be excluded in this war is really beyond me.
Ofcourse, I am not pro-war. Or pro-killing. This does not make me blind to the simple facts. We´re fighting a war. And people die in wars.
The reasons for this war... well, my mind boggles just thinking about it, but it´s been brewing for decades, and the US invasion(liberation my ass) of iraq was clearly the drop that made glass more than full. Then again, 911 was the drop that made the USs glass more than full. I remember ground zero as I saw it this spring, it fills me whole range of emotions which are difficult to put in words(none of them being joy). I remember walking around in Brooklyn passing a closed fire-station, it carried a plaque stating that all the fire-men died on 911. That too was emotionally difficult to deal with.
But 911 was not the beginning, nor the attack on the USS Cole. Al quaida was not the beginning of this war. And osama bin laden is not the hitler of this age.
The historian in me keeps telling me that this war began centuries ago, with slavery and the atrocities commited in africa; with the crusades in the middle east a thousand years ago; with the israelis enslaved in ancient egypt.
Looking for a singular cause in modern history leaves me with nothing. Nothing at all, except pointers back in time, which points further back in time, and further, and futher, all the way down to the beginning of recorded history.
And I wonder if any amount of dead people will be enough for either side.
"So, mr. Einstein -how do you think the third world war will be fought?"
Well, I feel like I´m looking at it, and mr. Einsteins famous response?
"I don´t know, but the fourth will be fought with rocks and boulders."
Indeed. Can there ever be peace, will we, like in "1984", simply have to accept that "war is peace". That it is never-ending, that we can never love each other.
On the other side, I have spent a half my life in large cities, with diverse cultures living peacefully(well, almost; there´s always the gang-wars) side by side. And I have met and understood, and been understood, by people from all over the world. Black people from africa, yellow people from asia, pink people from europe, brown people from the middle-east, south america and north america. All sizes, all colours, all professions. I´ve worked with them and partied with them. I have accepted their culutral idiosyncrasies as they have accepted mine. Large cities are cultural melting pots, blending everything with everything, everyone with everyone.
And as the vicious circle of revenge takes us on an ever downward spiral I will soon be left with no choice but to choose. Side that is. And who will I fight and die for? Or will I stretch out my arms and say like Bogart in Casablanca;
"Go ahead and shoot." and then I´ll take a step closer and say;
"Here, let me make it easier for you."
"...and as the refugee trail grew long and winded."
But perhaps it will never come to that for me. Perhaps on the bus tomorrow I´ll be blown to smithereens.
b
http://www.physorg.com/news5382.html
As you can read, they are developing a non-lethal weapon designed for crowd-control(read: non-endorsed demos). However, if you´re wearing metal(surely, nobody does that anymore...(ever put metal in a microwave oven? Now imagine wearing that metal as it´s being mircowaved)) or glasses or contact-lenses(which would focus a wave such as a micro one) -it may not be as non-lethal. No doubt they´ll deploy anyway, perhaps first in iraq or other third-world locations where news is far easier to control. Lest you forget, out authorities have previously killed demonstrators, sometimes with plain bullets, other times with "non-lethal"(hah!) dum-dum bullets.
If you have been following the news lately you will have noticed the situation in London. And as one londoner interviewed on CNN said yesterday "the war has come home". Indeed it has. I suppose we all felt safe sending our troops to a far away land on the other side of the world, well, we weren´t well receieved there; and now they´re sending their troops to our cities. Obviuosly, their troops do not come in tanks wearing easily recognisable uniforms, the bombs they detonate are nevertheless as lethal as those we detonate on their turf.
In arguments I´ve had people I´ve spoken to have made comments to the effect that
"They are fighting dirty, we are fighting clean."
Allow me to disagree. Why?
Well, the US chose to not count the number of civilian deaths they inflicted in iraq, no wonder.
In war and love everything is allowed as the proverb goes.
And in the history of wars the civilian population have always been considered legitimate targets, and in fact far outnumber the amount of dead soldiers.
Why the civilian population should be excluded in this war is really beyond me.
Ofcourse, I am not pro-war. Or pro-killing. This does not make me blind to the simple facts. We´re fighting a war. And people die in wars.
The reasons for this war... well, my mind boggles just thinking about it, but it´s been brewing for decades, and the US invasion(liberation my ass) of iraq was clearly the drop that made glass more than full. Then again, 911 was the drop that made the USs glass more than full. I remember ground zero as I saw it this spring, it fills me whole range of emotions which are difficult to put in words(none of them being joy). I remember walking around in Brooklyn passing a closed fire-station, it carried a plaque stating that all the fire-men died on 911. That too was emotionally difficult to deal with.
But 911 was not the beginning, nor the attack on the USS Cole. Al quaida was not the beginning of this war. And osama bin laden is not the hitler of this age.
The historian in me keeps telling me that this war began centuries ago, with slavery and the atrocities commited in africa; with the crusades in the middle east a thousand years ago; with the israelis enslaved in ancient egypt.
Looking for a singular cause in modern history leaves me with nothing. Nothing at all, except pointers back in time, which points further back in time, and further, and futher, all the way down to the beginning of recorded history.
And I wonder if any amount of dead people will be enough for either side.
"So, mr. Einstein -how do you think the third world war will be fought?"
Well, I feel like I´m looking at it, and mr. Einsteins famous response?
"I don´t know, but the fourth will be fought with rocks and boulders."
Indeed. Can there ever be peace, will we, like in "1984", simply have to accept that "war is peace". That it is never-ending, that we can never love each other.
On the other side, I have spent a half my life in large cities, with diverse cultures living peacefully(well, almost; there´s always the gang-wars) side by side. And I have met and understood, and been understood, by people from all over the world. Black people from africa, yellow people from asia, pink people from europe, brown people from the middle-east, south america and north america. All sizes, all colours, all professions. I´ve worked with them and partied with them. I have accepted their culutral idiosyncrasies as they have accepted mine. Large cities are cultural melting pots, blending everything with everything, everyone with everyone.
And as the vicious circle of revenge takes us on an ever downward spiral I will soon be left with no choice but to choose. Side that is. And who will I fight and die for? Or will I stretch out my arms and say like Bogart in Casablanca;
"Go ahead and shoot." and then I´ll take a step closer and say;
"Here, let me make it easier for you."
"...and as the refugee trail grew long and winded."
But perhaps it will never come to that for me. Perhaps on the bus tomorrow I´ll be blown to smithereens.
b
posted by bangskij at 12:53
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