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Monday's Mupdate
First off, National Atlas is a fun site. You can create all sorts of interesting maps about the United States.
Second, today was on the rough side, albeit largely successful. I got some sort of sinus headache and allergy action going on. I came home, promptly took a 50 minute power nap, while my cats snuggled up to me, then was able to be up and running.
Third, while playing City of Heroes, it's really fun to walk up to the other female in your party who looks like she's undead and ask, "Say, Pink Raven, do you ever have that not-so-fresh feeling"?
Fourth, as many of you commented, today is the fifth anniversary of 9/11. Is it just me, or is everyone reacting even more strongly this year because there's so much more hype about it in the media? What exactly is crucial about 5 years? I just don't recall there being so much coverage in blogging communities and on the television.
Not that 9/11 isn't something serious to ponder. No, not at all. I was listening to some memorial services on the radio, and started to cry. In fact, if I dwell too much on it, I get sore moistening eyes. I'm not a crying type of person, you see, so instead my head feels like it's going to explode.
So, five years later, and nothing has been rebuilt in the gap the left by the attacks. Al Qaeda is hobbled, but bin Laden is still out and about, with his host of medical problems, to boot. And ABC is trying to rewrite history a tad.
Five years later, I feel no safer than I did on 9/12. I certainly experience more inconvenience, as I can't carry a simple pocket knife on a plane. I can't lock my checked luggage anymore. On occasion, I get felt up by TSA staff. This of course, is the stuff I can readily see. I cannot comment about whether my phone conversations have been erroneously monitored while on the hunt for some gruesome terrorist. So far the biggest terrorist threat that has been avoided has been outside our country.
We've further torn apart two countries. Iraq and Afghanistan. News about Iraq continues to be less than ideal. Does anyone else find it amusing that Coca- Cola, which once contained cocaine, is (re)building a Coke plant in Opiumville? But seriously, that's good news. Afghanistans need some other job opportunities to compete agains those working in the opium trade, because Afghanistan's Opium crop is thriving. Opium just might end up cheaper than gas.
But back to 9/11. It was traumatic, dramatic, and memorable. It was frightening. 2973 people were killed. Meanwhile, the body count in our War on Terror is over 60,000. We still haven't taken the main mastermind to task on this issue. Rather, we've rendered thousands of civilians who weren't related to 9/11 homeless, poor, and likely living in a perpetual state of anxiety. It's still good to be the king, my friends. We have this "war on terror". War strikes me as a form of terror. We might as well call it "Terror on Terror".
I can't say what the world would be like for sure if we hadn't invaded Iraq. But I do feel we would have been better off. When left unchecked, violence begets violence. That's not to say I don't advocate a little bit of the old ultraviolent from time to time. However, I prefer it to be aimed at the right people. I don't think our leaders did the right thing with Iraq, and we certainly didn't finish the job with Afghanistan. And now there's Iran and Korea. And well, Pakistan and India are still a little tense, too.
What am I trying to say? I suppose it's this: while 9/11 was deeply tragic, I do not want to see us dwell on this moment so much so that we forget that we as a nation aren't exactly angels in the overall scheme of things. We've certainly dealt out a fair share of damage to Afghanistan and Iraq. The resentment build-up that led to 9/11 was as a result of come of our foreign policy choices in the past.
Yes, we should honor the brave men and women of New York who did their best to save lives while the twin towers fell. Yes, we should remember our loved ones and friends who perished during the attack. But do not forget that 9/11 was not an isolated, random event. It is part of a larger problem that recent wars have not resolved or mitigated.
Second, today was on the rough side, albeit largely successful. I got some sort of sinus headache and allergy action going on. I came home, promptly took a 50 minute power nap, while my cats snuggled up to me, then was able to be up and running.
Third, while playing City of Heroes, it's really fun to walk up to the other female in your party who looks like she's undead and ask, "Say, Pink Raven, do you ever have that not-so-fresh feeling"?
Fourth, as many of you commented, today is the fifth anniversary of 9/11. Is it just me, or is everyone reacting even more strongly this year because there's so much more hype about it in the media? What exactly is crucial about 5 years? I just don't recall there being so much coverage in blogging communities and on the television.
Not that 9/11 isn't something serious to ponder. No, not at all. I was listening to some memorial services on the radio, and started to cry. In fact, if I dwell too much on it, I get sore moistening eyes. I'm not a crying type of person, you see, so instead my head feels like it's going to explode.
So, five years later, and nothing has been rebuilt in the gap the left by the attacks. Al Qaeda is hobbled, but bin Laden is still out and about, with his host of medical problems, to boot. And ABC is trying to rewrite history a tad.
Five years later, I feel no safer than I did on 9/12. I certainly experience more inconvenience, as I can't carry a simple pocket knife on a plane. I can't lock my checked luggage anymore. On occasion, I get felt up by TSA staff. This of course, is the stuff I can readily see. I cannot comment about whether my phone conversations have been erroneously monitored while on the hunt for some gruesome terrorist. So far the biggest terrorist threat that has been avoided has been outside our country.
We've further torn apart two countries. Iraq and Afghanistan. News about Iraq continues to be less than ideal. Does anyone else find it amusing that Coca- Cola, which once contained cocaine, is (re)building a Coke plant in Opiumville? But seriously, that's good news. Afghanistans need some other job opportunities to compete agains those working in the opium trade, because Afghanistan's Opium crop is thriving. Opium just might end up cheaper than gas.
But back to 9/11. It was traumatic, dramatic, and memorable. It was frightening. 2973 people were killed. Meanwhile, the body count in our War on Terror is over 60,000. We still haven't taken the main mastermind to task on this issue. Rather, we've rendered thousands of civilians who weren't related to 9/11 homeless, poor, and likely living in a perpetual state of anxiety. It's still good to be the king, my friends. We have this "war on terror". War strikes me as a form of terror. We might as well call it "Terror on Terror".
I can't say what the world would be like for sure if we hadn't invaded Iraq. But I do feel we would have been better off. When left unchecked, violence begets violence. That's not to say I don't advocate a little bit of the old ultraviolent from time to time. However, I prefer it to be aimed at the right people. I don't think our leaders did the right thing with Iraq, and we certainly didn't finish the job with Afghanistan. And now there's Iran and Korea. And well, Pakistan and India are still a little tense, too.
What am I trying to say? I suppose it's this: while 9/11 was deeply tragic, I do not want to see us dwell on this moment so much so that we forget that we as a nation aren't exactly angels in the overall scheme of things. We've certainly dealt out a fair share of damage to Afghanistan and Iraq. The resentment build-up that led to 9/11 was as a result of come of our foreign policy choices in the past.
Yes, we should honor the brave men and women of New York who did their best to save lives while the twin towers fell. Yes, we should remember our loved ones and friends who perished during the attack. But do not forget that 9/11 was not an isolated, random event. It is part of a larger problem that recent wars have not resolved or mitigated.