on Zachary

is it weird that i do not blog about myself? i've never really wanted to. i really started blogging to share my opinions with everyone and no-one, all at the same time. my own experiences seem trivial compared to geopolitical crises, and my paeans against power gave me more pleasure than any rant on how ZACH is, what ZACH's up to. really. ok. so. went to work, hung out for 8 hrs, changed a few light bulbs, monitored stuff, whatever. i go home to my wiener dog(who is the shiznit), talked with him for a minute, i hang out with my girlfriend, we make plans, yadda yadda, its great, right? ok. i guess i COULD write about personal experience, and i will more. I still want to get paid to opine, so ill act like a think tank if i want to, even if my schpiels suck. fuck you. i need to go now. my strenuous job awaits.

who killed a cop?

so my friend of about 10 years, whom i had lost contact with, turns up in the newspaper for killing a game warden. two hours of chase ended with a cemetery shootout outside a town with barely a name. he was shot once upon getting out of his truck, returned fire with an AK-47, emptying the 30-round clip. the cops then dropped him with another one in the chest. now he's in jail, soon to be on death row. he had time to think about his course of action when he stopped, and he CHOSE to get out of the truck armed. for what? why? there probably isnt a solid answer. movies? drugs? video games? nope. he wanted to go out like this. he's probably pissed that he didnt get more of them, angry that he's not dead too. anger. i think that sums it up. too much anger without knowing the source.

corrosion, hope

For months now, i have put my study of the world and its interactions on standby, with maintenance only.(papers, couple of other pubs.) At first i thought i just needed a break from bombs, bluster, and banality, but now i think it stemmed from a temporary loss of faith in the power of information or the access to it. Along with too much smoke and not enough fresh air, combined with that ever-changing interest/involvement curve-(natural variation or man-made..ha!). I lost faith in the maxim "the course of history is self-correcting, stability will return". The means of resolution is what i truly fear. Stability will come, but how? and at what cost? the election gave brief glimmers of sun, but the clouds soon covered up. Time is (one of)THE critical elements in our new century. The pace of change, the way people interact, the sheer number of events packed into every hour; all these things are churning rapidly but with the slow burn in congress and a White house more preoccupied with prosecuting a war and defending its staffers, where are the ideas? what crap may come forth this year? how bout another surge? anyone? A fundamental change must take place in our generation which alters how our way of life interacts with the ecosystem. Energy, the environment, education, "the defense department's" existence, and a host of other policy issues, which i will detail in a later post, are all IMMEDIATE concerns. Humanity cannot wait. All that aside, i am quickly being brought out of my self-imposed, smoke-filled doldrums into a newer, clearer air. I have renewed my subscription to Z, and the new republic, and am delving back in. Reasons? several. one thing i do have to say besides all that drivel is-BARACK for president.

sure.fine.whatever.

so sure, more troops. what an original idea! This must be it. What we've been missing. I cannot believe I did not see it sooner!! Clarity!! Sure, we've spent half a trillion dollars on 4 years of war, 3000 americans died, and countless iraqis are now dead, displaced, or disgruntled. 20K more troops? Genius!

Why does security always have to come before stability? Are there not other factors which bring about stasis? Could "crushing the opponents of liberty" spawn more converts against occupation? Why is "clear and hold" preferable? Will people not resent the "hold" part, or for that matter the "clear" to begin with as well? Can violence REALLY solve issues? Does revulsion of occupation fuel violence? Why is anyone unemployed in Iraq? Why cant security forces protect infrastructure under construction? Why are foreigners being brought in by american companies to build infrastructure? Why does Baghdad still have open sewers and intermittent trash collection? If we can build a subdivision in 1 year with a couple hundred workers, how about 8 million+- men (not including women) of working age? WHY HAS THAT COUNTRY NOT BEEN REBUILT? 4 YEARS!! I do not want to hear "there was no security". We have found ways to rebuild and maintain the oil infrastructure-why not the water, power, sewer, or transportation sectors? Who wrote that fucked up list of priorities? (hrumph, cheney, hrumph) In forfeiting the first year by shuffling feet and rewriting traffic laws, the Bush administration engendered the situation at hand. WHO pays for the ineptitude of our occupation? The iraqi people are paying now, but who pays later?