Still learning

I'm still learning who I am. Conventional wisdom tells me that should have ended long ago. A bit more introspection makes me appreciate the fact it didn't. I have my principles and foundations, but I like the flexibility to adjust. Some things that made sense at 20 seem illogical at 40 some still work for me. I think the key is determining what works for you and getting rid of the rest.

Another reason to bring our troops home...

A friend posted this video on his blog today. Based on the number of views (546K), we may have been the last two to have seen it. I'm 40 years old, was in the USAF for six years, and am neither innocent nor naive, but this video is the most disturbing thing I've ever seen.

The other reason I refer to in the title of this post is to save our country. Do you believe that these kids (20-somethings) will come home better than they left? Do you believe we will be a better society with them? Did you notice the section of the video where the children are chasing the vehicle that the person doing the filming continually referred to the person doing the taunting as "sir"? That means he was, most likely, a commissioned officer in the US military. Is this the leadership we're providing for our kids?

Ignoring the overtly politicized messaging of the video and realizing that there are also great things going on in the country does NOT mean we do not have a duty to do the right thing. Bring them home ASAP; if not for the people of Iraq then for ourselves.

You never know unless you try...anything

Over the past couple of days, it has become very apparent to me that some people, perhaps more than a few, live their lives scared. What a hollow existence that must be? A life spent scared seems worse than no life whatsoever. I told my wife this week that I will never live that way. If that costs me quantity for (my version of) quality, then so be it.

One thing I learned (not sure from whom) and try to pass on to every human I interact with is to "own your feelings and your decisions". Our decisions put us where we are. No one can make me feel or do anything I don't decide to do. They can physically injure or kill me for my actions, but they can NOT make me do anything. If it costs me my life, that too is my decision.

In the end we're all just worm food and living life with that perspective gives us incredible freedom. This is, obviously, not a "slash and burn" license but an incredibly liberating perspective. Don't be scared of freedom.

It's not about me (or you)

It's about us. We are all in this together; starving children in Africa, uber-wealthy Americans, club kids in Europe, all of us. It's about changing the us/them mentality. When we are "we", there is no them.

My new friend, Soren, recently posted an entry about Invisible Children. What an incredible organization. I love their intro, "If the Greatest Generation sacrificed for war, what will our generation be known as if we sacrifice for peace?" After reading the site and watching a couple of their trailers, I was moved to act and I hope you are too.

Another great site is Modest Needs. They are doing great things to help society by bridging the gap for a lot of "the working poor". Thank you. Thank you.

is ignorance bliss?

introspection and thoughtful consideration can be painful. it can lead to breaking whole-life traditions. it can lead to changing interpersonal relationship, but ultimately it will lead to freedom. once you own the decision and the consequences, it can be liberating. exploration needs to be personal and internalized. my method may be different than yours. it can be scary.

believing what you are "supposed" to believe or what you've heard your entire life is easy. the bible and "christianity" (however you might define it) are too tidy for me. when i raise the real questions i get trite responses like, "heaven, you got to believe it to see it" and "thats why it's called faith", that are no longer acceptable. what repercussions will i face? how will they change my thinking? how will my decisions impact those who depend on me?

watered down

a twitter conversation this morning got me thinking. the twit comment was " When most people get a hunch, they call it a hunch. Christians call it 'God'. Great wildcard there". when people write off intuition to "god", i beleive they are watering down both.

the perspective of calling it "god" gives humanity no credit. we are simply passive in this process and have no input. this discounting is probably what makes it easier to not think for oneself, accept what is given and "conventional wisdom".

it also weakens "god" because a hunch can be wrong. how could "god" be wrong? omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient yet not sure on a hunch? if god exists, i doubt that he/she would miss something that simple.

Unfathomable

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/07/mukasey.waterboarding/index.html

this story in unbelievable. this is the us of a. don't we hold ourselves to a higher standard? we want to be the world's policeman (if you have oil), but believe torture is acceptable? and we sit back and wonder why we're hated. little nuggets like this one are exactly why. bastards.

morning rant

I received a "pass-along" email from a good friend this morning supposedly written by an angry NJ mother regarding the war in Iraq and feel obligated to post the email and my response here.

Letter from one "Angry Woman"

I don't know who wrote it but they should have signed it. Some powerful words. This woman should run for president.

Written by a housewife from New Jersey and sounds like it! This is one ticked off lady.

"Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we?[Gerald Parrish] How does one fight a “war on terrorism”? That term was crated by an administration attempting to get funding for an invasion of a sovereign nation which had NOTHING to do with the attacks of 9/11. Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001? [Gerald Parrish] No, ma’am, it was started by George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld. Why bring religion into it? If they had been Catholics, would we bomb the Vatican?

Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania?

Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they? [Gerald Parrish] Yes, and while tragic, we’ve now lost over 3000 more in Iraq.

And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was "desecrated" when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet?...Well, I don't. I don't care at all. [Gerald Parrish] And that is because you only care about your perspective and your (very narrow) point of view. This isn’t what America was built on.

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia. [Gerald Parrish] Do you now want to become Saudi Arabia, a country that doesn’t have religious freedom?

I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat. [Gerald Parrish] Inflammatory and off point.

I'll care when the cowardly so-called "insurgents" in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques. [Gerald Parrish] Inflammatory and off point.

I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs. [Gerald Parrish] Nirvana is a Hindu constructs, not Islamic, but why would we know that in America? It’s just another of those “foreigner” religions, right?

I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights. [Gerald Parrish] Not sure where she’s going here.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care. [Gerald Parrish] Of course you don’t because its not happening to you. People being abused because of their race, religion, sex, or physical location is a problem for all of us.

When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college-hazing incident, rest assured: I don't care. [Gerald Parrish] So she believes they’re all guilty? If so, then why haven’t they been accused of anything? No, she doesn’t care because it’s not “her people”.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank: I don't care. [Gerald Parrish] Let’s assume he IS a terrorist, should he then be summarily executed because he didn’t follow an instruction? Terrorist and freedom fighter is just a matter of perspective.

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed "special" food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being "mishandled," you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts: I don't care. [Gerald Parrish] So if I were able to accuse her of being a xenophobic reactionary racist and could have her detained, would it be Ok for me to “mishandle” her Bible?

And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled "Koran" and other times "Quran." Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and-you guessed it-I don't care !! [Gerald Parrish] Wow. I’m not even going to address this “point”.

[Gerald Parrish]

The rest is just blathering non-sequitirs which have no counterpoint.

My purpose isn’t to change your mind; it’s to expand your perspective. We are all on this rock together. We are all the sum of our experiences. We can all work to make this a better place than we found it.

What's on your iPod?

The new year finds me listening to:
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The Strokes
Placebo
Aqualung
Arctic Monkeys
We Are Scientists

and I'm listening to all of them on Pandora (the greatest thing to happen to music since the iPod)