Montreal. Friday. Day off.
It seems the United States and Britain are willing to let the United Nations play a “secondary roll” in post war Iraq because they’re the ones flipping the bill for the war itself. Not that they wouldn’t have even if the UN had backed the invasion. The more you look at the actions of the United States and her allies the more you begin to understand why they did not want to wait for the UN. It allows them to administer post war Iraq in any way they see fit. To be honest, I believe that was their motivation all along. And because of this new world order who knows who will be next. Reports that Saddam Hussein is hiding in Syria may be enough to justify an invasion of that nation. It seems these days burning a likeness of the Energizer Bunny is enough to prompt an invasion of just about anywhere.
You also have to wonder if the military plan was constructed to produce enough American casualties to galvanize the public’s support for action. US commanders are openly stating that the invasion force was under strength and those extra divisions asked for were denied them. Donald Rumsfeld has even gone so far as to contradict such commanders and say that their estimations were completely inaccurate. But it makes warped sense when you take a minute. If the invasion of Iraq is under strength and it takes a little longer and there are more casualties, it makes this troublesome Arab enemy seem more up to the task than they actually are. Baghdad will be a street fight that will see the deaths of countless civilians. In America those civilians will be portrayed as fanatical fighters that refused to “peacefully” give themselves over to the warm embrace of the United States. It’s like the creation of some dummy corporation in the Cayman Islands. And it makes you wonder what the new face of the world will look like when it’s all said and done.
Last night I was at a restaurant here in Montreal and was asked to sign a plate for a collection of them that they have. Many of the plates are decorative and it’s obvious that others had taken a lot of time working on them. All I could come up with was the following in small black letters…
“The world is at war and I’m eating dinner.”
I awoke this morning with a weight in my heart. I wasn’t hungry.
I hope that today finds you safe and full of attempts of smiles. And if it does then let some of that light within you escape into the world so that it might push back the darkness. Surely there must be enough of us left to change one more night into morning.
My best to you all.
Matthew.
Matt's Journal
"How can we justify spending so much on destruction and so little on life?" Matthew Good
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
The innocence of our generation hangs by a thread. On the streets of Baghdad it will be diminished and eventually taken from us. Our lives lived under the illusion that we are a just people and noble people will be stripped from us. This adventure will be the last of our great Disney adventures. And our children will be left to study our faces and come to understand that we were hapless pawns in a sham of supposed righteousness. Our embarrassment and shame will become that plain to see.
How do you take a city? The history of conventional warfare teaches us that a massive aerial bombardment usually precedes a ground offensive supported by artillery and armor. But the severity and thoroughness of that aerial bombardment is key. After the destruction of the city’s infrastructure, its civics, and communications, must come the diminishment of its morale. And to accomplish this it must be attacked with a ferocity that does not attempt to distinguish between military personnel and non-military personnel. It must be wholly consumed by a terror from the sky in an attempt to break its back and reduce those within it into nothing more than shocked shapes wandering its ruins in confusion. Dresden, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Berlin, Hiroshima, Nagasaki. That is how you take a city. You wipe it off the face of the earth and then enter it somberly observing the realities of what mankind is capable of. Those that you don’t kill have nothing left within them to resist. That is how you take a city. You do not take it. You erase it. And unless you do, unless that it your motive, you run the risk of turning everyone in it left alive into a highly motivated and vile tempered combatant.
Warfare is not something that subscribes to the stomachs of apathetic first worlders that sit at home and watch its progress as if it were a hot new reality series. It is ugly and desperate and unforgiving. There is no such thing as an “easy” war. War is not that simply put. War is something that appears to be a complicated matter but is, in the end, a very simple thing. It is the annihilation of the opposition. Not the hopes that they might change their minds given enough time. It is their doom that is sought, nothing less. Anything that does not subscribe to that definition is not war. It is a crusade led by monsters that wish to lull you to sleep before they devour you whole.
Like several examples over the last decade, this war has been advertised and sold to the general public like dish soap. With September 11th to help galvanize the rage of an uneducated American majority, it is easy to justify attacking Iraq because Arab = terrorist. The President Of The United States can publicly state that it has nothing to do with ethnicity or religion however many times that it pleases him. Most people equate Arab with terrorist, there’s no two ways about it. It has become a very dangerous stereotype that has come to confuse the issue long enough to allow the most powerful nation on earth to justify attacking a country that has had no ties found to link it to the events of September 11th. But there are other reasons, such as human rights issues. The Kurds were gassed by Saddam Hussein in 1988, for example, an act of genocide for which he should be tried in an international court of law. Not an American court of law, mind you. But even the human rights angle is thin. Because where were the Americans and their love of giving the gift of freedom when East Timor was in the grips of genocide? Or for that matter atrocities in nations such as Cambodia, Chile, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tibet, and on and on. So one can safely say that human rights violations have very little to do with anything. If that were the case then Mr. Rumsfeld wouldn’t have been exchanging pleasantries with Saddam Hussein in the 80’s when it was in America’s best interest to befriend him. He would have been there delivering him his walking papers. But Empires do not act for the good of the people because the good of the people means the dissolution of empires.
So we find ourselves at the gates of Baghdad. Thousands of young men with nervous trigger fingers stand poised to attack, all of them wondering if that van speeding towards their position filled with women and children is laden with explosives and bent on their destruction. How will it play out in the streets do you suppose? How do you differentiate between a woman or young boy that is simply in the way and one that is carrying grenades in a bag towards your unit? You would have thought Vietnam had taught the US military a thing or two. Because they do not intend to take Baghdad the way the dictates of true warfare demand. That would be rather unpleasant for everyone watching at home. They will try and do it with kit gloves and try and convince everyone that it is something other than what it is. And we will probably hear very little of the truth of it. Because when it comes to such calamities it is always best to keep Greg and Laura in Pittsburgh in the dark as long as possible.
Perhaps the people of Baghdad will simply surrender and an American general will become their new benevolent master. Perhaps not a shot will be fired and the innocence of our generation will be spared the trauma. Perhaps we will be able to look away and convince ourselves that this has nothing to do with a new world order or oil or how the future will be shaped. Maybe we’ll be content enough to believe that it was all in the name of freedom and democracy and what we superior beings term as “right”. Maybe there will come a time when all that is Arabic will be forgotten, replaced by an Americanized version of it that walks and talks and thinks as it has been taught to. Perhaps that is the new world reality and this is merely the opening round.
We could banter back and forth about what we believe and what we perceive to be the truth. But in the end the real losers in all of this will be us no matter who comes out on top. Because we allowed it to happen and thus began a new era of intimidation and conquest. We will look back and come to the horrible realization that we were duped into thinking it all for the better. And, of course, by then it will be too late to do anything about it. And then we will be the Iraqis.
How do you take a city? The history of conventional warfare teaches us that a massive aerial bombardment usually precedes a ground offensive supported by artillery and armor. But the severity and thoroughness of that aerial bombardment is key. After the destruction of the city’s infrastructure, its civics, and communications, must come the diminishment of its morale. And to accomplish this it must be attacked with a ferocity that does not attempt to distinguish between military personnel and non-military personnel. It must be wholly consumed by a terror from the sky in an attempt to break its back and reduce those within it into nothing more than shocked shapes wandering its ruins in confusion. Dresden, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Berlin, Hiroshima, Nagasaki. That is how you take a city. You wipe it off the face of the earth and then enter it somberly observing the realities of what mankind is capable of. Those that you don’t kill have nothing left within them to resist. That is how you take a city. You do not take it. You erase it. And unless you do, unless that it your motive, you run the risk of turning everyone in it left alive into a highly motivated and vile tempered combatant.
Warfare is not something that subscribes to the stomachs of apathetic first worlders that sit at home and watch its progress as if it were a hot new reality series. It is ugly and desperate and unforgiving. There is no such thing as an “easy” war. War is not that simply put. War is something that appears to be a complicated matter but is, in the end, a very simple thing. It is the annihilation of the opposition. Not the hopes that they might change their minds given enough time. It is their doom that is sought, nothing less. Anything that does not subscribe to that definition is not war. It is a crusade led by monsters that wish to lull you to sleep before they devour you whole.
Like several examples over the last decade, this war has been advertised and sold to the general public like dish soap. With September 11th to help galvanize the rage of an uneducated American majority, it is easy to justify attacking Iraq because Arab = terrorist. The President Of The United States can publicly state that it has nothing to do with ethnicity or religion however many times that it pleases him. Most people equate Arab with terrorist, there’s no two ways about it. It has become a very dangerous stereotype that has come to confuse the issue long enough to allow the most powerful nation on earth to justify attacking a country that has had no ties found to link it to the events of September 11th. But there are other reasons, such as human rights issues. The Kurds were gassed by Saddam Hussein in 1988, for example, an act of genocide for which he should be tried in an international court of law. Not an American court of law, mind you. But even the human rights angle is thin. Because where were the Americans and their love of giving the gift of freedom when East Timor was in the grips of genocide? Or for that matter atrocities in nations such as Cambodia, Chile, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tibet, and on and on. So one can safely say that human rights violations have very little to do with anything. If that were the case then Mr. Rumsfeld wouldn’t have been exchanging pleasantries with Saddam Hussein in the 80’s when it was in America’s best interest to befriend him. He would have been there delivering him his walking papers. But Empires do not act for the good of the people because the good of the people means the dissolution of empires.
So we find ourselves at the gates of Baghdad. Thousands of young men with nervous trigger fingers stand poised to attack, all of them wondering if that van speeding towards their position filled with women and children is laden with explosives and bent on their destruction. How will it play out in the streets do you suppose? How do you differentiate between a woman or young boy that is simply in the way and one that is carrying grenades in a bag towards your unit? You would have thought Vietnam had taught the US military a thing or two. Because they do not intend to take Baghdad the way the dictates of true warfare demand. That would be rather unpleasant for everyone watching at home. They will try and do it with kit gloves and try and convince everyone that it is something other than what it is. And we will probably hear very little of the truth of it. Because when it comes to such calamities it is always best to keep Greg and Laura in Pittsburgh in the dark as long as possible.
Perhaps the people of Baghdad will simply surrender and an American general will become their new benevolent master. Perhaps not a shot will be fired and the innocence of our generation will be spared the trauma. Perhaps we will be able to look away and convince ourselves that this has nothing to do with a new world order or oil or how the future will be shaped. Maybe we’ll be content enough to believe that it was all in the name of freedom and democracy and what we superior beings term as “right”. Maybe there will come a time when all that is Arabic will be forgotten, replaced by an Americanized version of it that walks and talks and thinks as it has been taught to. Perhaps that is the new world reality and this is merely the opening round.
We could banter back and forth about what we believe and what we perceive to be the truth. But in the end the real losers in all of this will be us no matter who comes out on top. Because we allowed it to happen and thus began a new era of intimidation and conquest. We will look back and come to the horrible realization that we were duped into thinking it all for the better. And, of course, by then it will be too late to do anything about it. And then we will be the Iraqis.
"How can we justify spending so much on destruction and so little on life?" Matthew Good
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
Will the means justify the end? And when will that be my fellow Romans?
To the victor go the spoils. A phrase to remember in this particular situation and one that should be reflected upon as a primary motivation. There are no slaves in chains behind the Emperor, no exotic beasts and cups overflowing with jewels to show us good Romans what glories were captured and brought back for us to marvel at. We live in no such simple a time. This, we are told, was and is a war about freedom and justice. And those terms are not so simply defined anymore. In truth, they never were.
Baghdad has fallen and the remnants of Iraq’s infrastructure have fled to higher ground fearing capture or death. Knowing that they will be condemned in the new Iraq most of them obviously have little choice but to find somewhere to make a last stand or discover a route out of Iraq and into a life of hiding.
In the streets of Baghdad and Basra the looting has begun. Widespread anarchy looms on the horizon while tank columns roll and goggled troops march through the frenzied crowds doing nothing. They hadn’t planned for it so there’s nothing to be done. The money that Mr. Bush asked for to aid in the rebuilding of Iraq is waiting patiently on the sidelines. How long it will be benched is anyone’s guess.
Iraq is free they say. Saddam Hussein’s reign of terror is at an end. In a perfect world he would stand trial for crimes against humanity. The chances of that actually happening are probably rather slim. I would think the United States would rather see him dead or would make sure that he never gets the opportunity to testify on his own behalf. What he could divulge might be a little hard for Johnny and Janie Apple Seed to stomach. Never the less, the tyrant is gone. And those that were against the illegal invasion of Iraq are left in a hard spot. They now have to deal with an American government that can gloat and use this success to further their claims in the Middle East. According to the recent bravado of Donald Rumsfeld, that’s seems to be what they intend to do. Perhaps that was the plan all along.
Mention of Syria has grown over these past few days. The equipment is there, the men are there, and we the people are all safely asleep in our beds. This is not the end. This is the beginning. The morning is far distant in my mind as I stumble towards the fridge not wanting to turn the lights on and blind myself.
The tyrant is gone. He has been replaced by Rome. And so it will be written in history that it was for the better.
To the victor go the spoils. A phrase to remember in this particular situation and one that should be reflected upon as a primary motivation. There are no slaves in chains behind the Emperor, no exotic beasts and cups overflowing with jewels to show us good Romans what glories were captured and brought back for us to marvel at. We live in no such simple a time. This, we are told, was and is a war about freedom and justice. And those terms are not so simply defined anymore. In truth, they never were.
Baghdad has fallen and the remnants of Iraq’s infrastructure have fled to higher ground fearing capture or death. Knowing that they will be condemned in the new Iraq most of them obviously have little choice but to find somewhere to make a last stand or discover a route out of Iraq and into a life of hiding.
In the streets of Baghdad and Basra the looting has begun. Widespread anarchy looms on the horizon while tank columns roll and goggled troops march through the frenzied crowds doing nothing. They hadn’t planned for it so there’s nothing to be done. The money that Mr. Bush asked for to aid in the rebuilding of Iraq is waiting patiently on the sidelines. How long it will be benched is anyone’s guess.
Iraq is free they say. Saddam Hussein’s reign of terror is at an end. In a perfect world he would stand trial for crimes against humanity. The chances of that actually happening are probably rather slim. I would think the United States would rather see him dead or would make sure that he never gets the opportunity to testify on his own behalf. What he could divulge might be a little hard for Johnny and Janie Apple Seed to stomach. Never the less, the tyrant is gone. And those that were against the illegal invasion of Iraq are left in a hard spot. They now have to deal with an American government that can gloat and use this success to further their claims in the Middle East. According to the recent bravado of Donald Rumsfeld, that’s seems to be what they intend to do. Perhaps that was the plan all along.
Mention of Syria has grown over these past few days. The equipment is there, the men are there, and we the people are all safely asleep in our beds. This is not the end. This is the beginning. The morning is far distant in my mind as I stumble towards the fridge not wanting to turn the lights on and blind myself.
The tyrant is gone. He has been replaced by Rome. And so it will be written in history that it was for the better.
"How can we justify spending so much on destruction and so little on life?" Matthew Good
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
heh...
Whenever death may surprise us,
let it be welcome
if our battle cry has reached even one receptive ear
and another hand reaches out to take up our arms.
Nobody's gonna miss me, no tears will fall, no ones gonna weap, when i hit that road.
my boots are broken my brain is sore, fer keepin' up with thier little world, i got a heavy load.
gonna leave 'em all just like before, i'm big city bound, your always 17 in your hometown
let it be welcome
if our battle cry has reached even one receptive ear
and another hand reaches out to take up our arms.
Nobody's gonna miss me, no tears will fall, no ones gonna weap, when i hit that road.
my boots are broken my brain is sore, fer keepin' up with thier little world, i got a heavy load.
gonna leave 'em all just like before, i'm big city bound, your always 17 in your hometown
even if you don't agree with him you have to respect his presentaion of oppion, intelligence and unique way with words, the man has strong beliefs and follows no one, and with the appology (well as close as you'll ever get out of matt) about his olp comments people can stop automatically hating him because he didn't like olp. I think with the new music buisness he's relized that olp actually wern't that bad after all, not compared to current artists (nickelback, Theory of a dead man, Avril)
"How can we justify spending so much on destruction and so little on life?" Matthew Good
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
i love his journal entries, they are well thought out, reasearched, and above all informative.
i might not agree with the opinion in them but i enjoy them very much.
i might not agree with the opinion in them but i enjoy them very much.
Whenever death may surprise us,
let it be welcome
if our battle cry has reached even one receptive ear
and another hand reaches out to take up our arms.
Nobody's gonna miss me, no tears will fall, no ones gonna weap, when i hit that road.
my boots are broken my brain is sore, fer keepin' up with thier little world, i got a heavy load.
gonna leave 'em all just like before, i'm big city bound, your always 17 in your hometown
let it be welcome
if our battle cry has reached even one receptive ear
and another hand reaches out to take up our arms.
Nobody's gonna miss me, no tears will fall, no ones gonna weap, when i hit that road.
my boots are broken my brain is sore, fer keepin' up with thier little world, i got a heavy load.
gonna leave 'em all just like before, i'm big city bound, your always 17 in your hometown
in my books.-
steph_paul
- Posts: 34
- Joined: 3/16/2003, 3:06 pm
- Location: Oakville On
"The world is at war and I’m eating dinner." - matt good
it's so true....
it's so true....
- i've just been hanging on way too long-
*your frustrated by the cracks in the pavement.. and every mothers back.. once again.. the carnival closed down..*
***should have said something but i've said it enough by the way my words were fading, rather waste some time with you***
~ i'll bury you i'll break your heart~
*your frustrated by the cracks in the pavement.. and every mothers back.. once again.. the carnival closed down..*
***should have said something but i've said it enough by the way my words were fading, rather waste some time with you***
~ i'll bury you i'll break your heart~
"How can we justify spending so much on destruction and so little on life?" Matthew Good
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
Does the world seem a less intelligent place these days? Does it strike you as having slowly descended into a comfortable ignorance these past years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, seconds? Is it a sign of the times or simply the revelation that we have always been this stupid and are just now waking up to the reality of just how stupid that can be?
Every time Donald Rumsfeld opens his mouth I feel like I loose brain cells. I have come to the conclusion that lie detectors within a ten mile radius of that man must be spontaneously combusting, leaving their operators perplexed as to why. There is no artful way to describe the absurd logic of the United States government. There seems to also be no way of stopping them or deterring their new course. They have become the playground bully that has the rest of the kids at school so terrified that they don’t sleep at night. And they call it exemplary freedom. What does that tell you?
The new McCarthyism is upon us. The blacklist is in the works and people such as myself will be called in front bullshit tribunals to defend our right to live by the very principles that our nations were founded upon but have somehow been thrust aside because they’re inconvenient. Idiots are at the helm of our ship, soulless men that seek greatness in the opposite direction of its true location and once they realize it decide to claim that wherever they’ve found is better.
I am tired of you comfortable clowns and your eagerness to let all of this wash over you because it’s easier than saying or doing something about it. I am tired of this lame mentality of soft violence that we’ve come to embrace in our arts and culture, elevating it to the highest of cools. If you want blood then let’s run through the streets like maniacs and bathe in it and have a taste. I am tired of this lame bravado of invincibility. If you’re willing to back something that you can’t control, then you had better be prepared to find yourself with no other option than to kill for it or be done away with yourself when it becomes too powerful to stop.
And how do such things come to pass? By saying that they could never, and that you would never allow it to get that far. That’s precisely how.
Every time Donald Rumsfeld opens his mouth I feel like I loose brain cells. I have come to the conclusion that lie detectors within a ten mile radius of that man must be spontaneously combusting, leaving their operators perplexed as to why. There is no artful way to describe the absurd logic of the United States government. There seems to also be no way of stopping them or deterring their new course. They have become the playground bully that has the rest of the kids at school so terrified that they don’t sleep at night. And they call it exemplary freedom. What does that tell you?
The new McCarthyism is upon us. The blacklist is in the works and people such as myself will be called in front bullshit tribunals to defend our right to live by the very principles that our nations were founded upon but have somehow been thrust aside because they’re inconvenient. Idiots are at the helm of our ship, soulless men that seek greatness in the opposite direction of its true location and once they realize it decide to claim that wherever they’ve found is better.
I am tired of you comfortable clowns and your eagerness to let all of this wash over you because it’s easier than saying or doing something about it. I am tired of this lame mentality of soft violence that we’ve come to embrace in our arts and culture, elevating it to the highest of cools. If you want blood then let’s run through the streets like maniacs and bathe in it and have a taste. I am tired of this lame bravado of invincibility. If you’re willing to back something that you can’t control, then you had better be prepared to find yourself with no other option than to kill for it or be done away with yourself when it becomes too powerful to stop.
And how do such things come to pass? By saying that they could never, and that you would never allow it to get that far. That’s precisely how.
"How can we justify spending so much on destruction and so little on life?" Matthew Good
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
Genius, all genius 
Racial stereotyping is subtly becoming the new weapon of choice.
Abu Abbas was captured recently in Iraq. A member of the Palestinian Liberation Front responsible for the hijacking of the Achille Lauro in 1985, Abbas has openly denounced the attacks on September 11th, among others. But the United States government will use his capture to try and form a link between the Iraqi state and groups that can be sold to the American public as “terrorist threats”. To your average American it matters little which organization has done what and which are affiliated. To most they are simply lumped into a single category. And that category has become “Arab Terrorist”. It’s no different than saying that all white men are probable terrorists because of Oklahoma City. The same logic applies. That’s not to say that the actions of terrorists are justifiable, quite the contrary, there are ways to achieve the change sought without resorting to violence at all. The point is that any example that can be served up to the general public to justify what’s going on in the Middle East will be used, no matter how vague its real connection to past events might be.
I made the mistake of wandering onto the Metro and adding my two cents to a debate about whether the war in Iraq is a good thing or not, one that I will not make again. Despite arguments to the contrary, it’s amazing how people regurgitate mainstream information. How they try and find new and interesting ways to spin narrow-minded views without calling into question what has brought all of this on. How they do their best to reinvent it so that it seems as plausible and black and white as can be. Racial stereotyping has become commonplace. In the United States right now a healthy segment of the population actually believes that Iraq had something to do with September 11th. In the United States right now many believe that the people of Afghanistan are free and that things are looking up in that country. Most obviously aren’t aware that the Taliban is not completely gone and that there is militant opposition to the current government in Kabul. Out of sight, out of mind as they say. Or at least off of television anyway.
Yet when it comes to even the slightest hint of American stereotyping by others Americans get extremely angry. Why is this? Perhaps it’s because they feel they are just and right and still believe that theirs is a nation that represents the pinnacle of freedom and all that it implies. Perhaps they simply don’t want to believe that their own government isn’t doing all of this purely for the noblest of reasons. Perhaps that is far worse a thought than all else. Perhaps we should stereotype Americans more often than we do. Members of our government run about like little girls worried that we’ve upset them while Americans call us traitors and cowards and so forth. Why not use it against them? Let’s call them arrogant to the point of nausea, ignorant of other peoples- nations- cultures, entirely self absorbed, self righteous, boisterous, and tacky to the furthest possible extreme, and the most militarily minded people in the world who are the only first world nation to still have the death penalty. Their love of guns and violence in general is unmatched by any other culture in the world. And yet…
Now, why do we seldom bother with such observations? Because we have manners and such pettiness is usually beneath us. We’ve no need for it. The majority of Canadians not only can name the capital of the United States but have a pretty good idea where it’s located. Ask your average yank what the capital of Canada is and the answers you’re likely to hear will stupefy.
It’s been officially announced that President Bush will not visit Canada as planned. There has been talk of rescheduling in the fall but most feel that he will wait until our current Prime Minister is out of office. Colin Powell said of the cancellation that the White House was still disappointed in the initial Canadian response to the war in Iraq.
Good.
People south of the border need to do their best to resist the sleeping pills that they’ve been slipped. None of this is as cut and dry as NBC or CNN makes it out to be. Once you come to the conclusion that your own government has a checkered past when it comes to foreign affairs then you must assume that not all of the information being presented to you is entirely accurate. And if you do choose to go to sleep and all of this gets out of hand you can only blame yourself for not at least voicing your opposition to it or the ill treatment of those that do want to exercise their rights and voice their opposition. Going along to get along is not something that works in a democracy. It is counter to its very principles. Perhaps that is why they seem to be failing these days.
Oil pipelines into Syria have been shut off. Guess who’s next. It’s just a matter of time until the laundry list of their “evil deeds” is released to the world. Can’t wait to read it.
Racial stereotyping is subtly becoming the new weapon of choice.
Abu Abbas was captured recently in Iraq. A member of the Palestinian Liberation Front responsible for the hijacking of the Achille Lauro in 1985, Abbas has openly denounced the attacks on September 11th, among others. But the United States government will use his capture to try and form a link between the Iraqi state and groups that can be sold to the American public as “terrorist threats”. To your average American it matters little which organization has done what and which are affiliated. To most they are simply lumped into a single category. And that category has become “Arab Terrorist”. It’s no different than saying that all white men are probable terrorists because of Oklahoma City. The same logic applies. That’s not to say that the actions of terrorists are justifiable, quite the contrary, there are ways to achieve the change sought without resorting to violence at all. The point is that any example that can be served up to the general public to justify what’s going on in the Middle East will be used, no matter how vague its real connection to past events might be.
I made the mistake of wandering onto the Metro and adding my two cents to a debate about whether the war in Iraq is a good thing or not, one that I will not make again. Despite arguments to the contrary, it’s amazing how people regurgitate mainstream information. How they try and find new and interesting ways to spin narrow-minded views without calling into question what has brought all of this on. How they do their best to reinvent it so that it seems as plausible and black and white as can be. Racial stereotyping has become commonplace. In the United States right now a healthy segment of the population actually believes that Iraq had something to do with September 11th. In the United States right now many believe that the people of Afghanistan are free and that things are looking up in that country. Most obviously aren’t aware that the Taliban is not completely gone and that there is militant opposition to the current government in Kabul. Out of sight, out of mind as they say. Or at least off of television anyway.
Yet when it comes to even the slightest hint of American stereotyping by others Americans get extremely angry. Why is this? Perhaps it’s because they feel they are just and right and still believe that theirs is a nation that represents the pinnacle of freedom and all that it implies. Perhaps they simply don’t want to believe that their own government isn’t doing all of this purely for the noblest of reasons. Perhaps that is far worse a thought than all else. Perhaps we should stereotype Americans more often than we do. Members of our government run about like little girls worried that we’ve upset them while Americans call us traitors and cowards and so forth. Why not use it against them? Let’s call them arrogant to the point of nausea, ignorant of other peoples- nations- cultures, entirely self absorbed, self righteous, boisterous, and tacky to the furthest possible extreme, and the most militarily minded people in the world who are the only first world nation to still have the death penalty. Their love of guns and violence in general is unmatched by any other culture in the world. And yet…
Now, why do we seldom bother with such observations? Because we have manners and such pettiness is usually beneath us. We’ve no need for it. The majority of Canadians not only can name the capital of the United States but have a pretty good idea where it’s located. Ask your average yank what the capital of Canada is and the answers you’re likely to hear will stupefy.
It’s been officially announced that President Bush will not visit Canada as planned. There has been talk of rescheduling in the fall but most feel that he will wait until our current Prime Minister is out of office. Colin Powell said of the cancellation that the White House was still disappointed in the initial Canadian response to the war in Iraq.
Good.
People south of the border need to do their best to resist the sleeping pills that they’ve been slipped. None of this is as cut and dry as NBC or CNN makes it out to be. Once you come to the conclusion that your own government has a checkered past when it comes to foreign affairs then you must assume that not all of the information being presented to you is entirely accurate. And if you do choose to go to sleep and all of this gets out of hand you can only blame yourself for not at least voicing your opposition to it or the ill treatment of those that do want to exercise their rights and voice their opposition. Going along to get along is not something that works in a democracy. It is counter to its very principles. Perhaps that is why they seem to be failing these days.
Oil pipelines into Syria have been shut off. Guess who’s next. It’s just a matter of time until the laundry list of their “evil deeds” is released to the world. Can’t wait to read it.
"How can we justify spending so much on destruction and so little on life?" Matthew Good
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
send your replies to matt then........
"How can we justify spending so much on destruction and so little on life?" Matthew Good
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
Minds that don’t move are easy targets.
In my last entry I jested about how easily and quickly Americans get upset when they are stereotyped. Since yesterday I have received countless e-mails from Americans declaring their disgust for my stereotyping of them. It would seem they missed the point of the entry while at the same time validating it.
Think before you speak, my father’s favorite. Not all Americans can be lumped together obviously into a single, unified stereotype. Not all Arabs are terrorists or undereducated, religious fundamentalists. Different cultures view life differently. These are differences to celebrate. And I mean that not in the sense that it’s wonderful to have a Chinatown in your city with really good restaurants, a culture assimilated into your own that’s looked upon and quaint when it suits you. Rather that the world is diverse and an interesting place and what makes it the wonder that it is, is difference.
The problem with difference is that it can be taken advantage of by those who consider themselves to be superior. And as long as difference exists there will always be those that consider themselves to be superior. The truth of the matter is that an intelligent and enlightened society would realize that such differences are precious and would not take advantage of others because of their situations. Not all nations are wealthy. Not all cultures are based upon the ethics of monetary success. And to imply that all of them should be is simply ignorant and, furthermore, dangerous.
Nature reminds us who is really in charge. And it is not us. I was thinking yesterday on the flight home that it’s ironic that during this time of strife that something such as SARS would rear its head. It’s an obvious coincidence but ironic nonetheless. It reminds us that no matter how great we think we might be, nature and all its manufactures can do away with us at the drop of a hat. There is no guesswork at all involved. By some series of microscopic matchmaking we as a species could very well find ourselves extinct. Further to that, our desire to race headlong into a future of manipulating our environments may even be reducing our natural ability to resist even the simplest of naturally occurring biological tests. There may yet come a time when a simple flu will kill hundreds of thousands because we have become so sanitized. And yet insects in one simple generation can adapt to pesticides.
To everything there are layers. And if there is one thing that people dislike these days it’s complication. The situation in Iraq is a prime example of this. The easiest possible reasons and excuses and answers are embraced and it all becomes very cut and dry. Minds that don’t move make easy targets. True.
Stereotyping nationalities is passé. For my next amazing feat I will attempt to stereotype an entire species. And though that might seem like a monumental task, it’s merely a flick of the wrist.
Predictable.
In my last entry I jested about how easily and quickly Americans get upset when they are stereotyped. Since yesterday I have received countless e-mails from Americans declaring their disgust for my stereotyping of them. It would seem they missed the point of the entry while at the same time validating it.
Think before you speak, my father’s favorite. Not all Americans can be lumped together obviously into a single, unified stereotype. Not all Arabs are terrorists or undereducated, religious fundamentalists. Different cultures view life differently. These are differences to celebrate. And I mean that not in the sense that it’s wonderful to have a Chinatown in your city with really good restaurants, a culture assimilated into your own that’s looked upon and quaint when it suits you. Rather that the world is diverse and an interesting place and what makes it the wonder that it is, is difference.
The problem with difference is that it can be taken advantage of by those who consider themselves to be superior. And as long as difference exists there will always be those that consider themselves to be superior. The truth of the matter is that an intelligent and enlightened society would realize that such differences are precious and would not take advantage of others because of their situations. Not all nations are wealthy. Not all cultures are based upon the ethics of monetary success. And to imply that all of them should be is simply ignorant and, furthermore, dangerous.
Nature reminds us who is really in charge. And it is not us. I was thinking yesterday on the flight home that it’s ironic that during this time of strife that something such as SARS would rear its head. It’s an obvious coincidence but ironic nonetheless. It reminds us that no matter how great we think we might be, nature and all its manufactures can do away with us at the drop of a hat. There is no guesswork at all involved. By some series of microscopic matchmaking we as a species could very well find ourselves extinct. Further to that, our desire to race headlong into a future of manipulating our environments may even be reducing our natural ability to resist even the simplest of naturally occurring biological tests. There may yet come a time when a simple flu will kill hundreds of thousands because we have become so sanitized. And yet insects in one simple generation can adapt to pesticides.
To everything there are layers. And if there is one thing that people dislike these days it’s complication. The situation in Iraq is a prime example of this. The easiest possible reasons and excuses and answers are embraced and it all becomes very cut and dry. Minds that don’t move make easy targets. True.
Stereotyping nationalities is passé. For my next amazing feat I will attempt to stereotype an entire species. And though that might seem like a monumental task, it’s merely a flick of the wrist.
Predictable.
"How can we justify spending so much on destruction and so little on life?" Matthew Good
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
CBC-LONDON - Washington falsified evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq to justify invading the country, the United Nation's chief weapons inspector has suggested. Hans Blix made the comments in an interview with BBC Radio. Parts of the interview were released hours before Blix was to address the UN Security Council. He is hoping to convince member states to allow his team of weapons inspectors to return to Iraq. The inspectors left Iraq shortly before the U.S. military attack started. Blix said weapons inspectors had "no great difficulty" proving documents that passed U.S. and U.K. intelligence were fake. "Who falsifies this?" asked Blix. He also accused Washington of undermining the efforts of the weapons inspectors in order to gain support for the war. U.S. Republican Congressman Peter King flatly dismissed Blix's allegations and accused him of manipulating evidence. American troops have found no hard evidence of chemical and biological weapons in Iraq. There have been reports from Iraqi scientists that ingredients for the weapons do exist and have been buried.
So what do you think it’ll be? Personally, I’m going with heart failure.
So what do you think it’ll be? Personally, I’m going with heart failure.
"How can we justify spending so much on destruction and so little on life?" Matthew Good
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month