Tag: war

Another War in the Name of God

smackyjackjack2 Comments

Let’s say

That I belonged to a social club that met each week.

Let’s say

That the people in the club believed that it was founded by a guy named, I don’t know, Chuck.

Let’s say

Chuck was a homophobic, misogynistic, genocidal old man who lived in a cloud and had the power to make everything happen.

Lastly, let’s say

That because I belonged to this club, I inherited a hatred of all other social clubs in the area.

Okay, now of course no one would ever join this club. It’s ridiculous. However, if this was your religion, you’d be perfectly fine with it.

The Old Testament, for instance, a book held believed to be true by both Christians and Jews, is one of the most outrageous pieces of literature in Western Culture.

For most of it, God is killing people. He wipes out everyone but Noah and his family in one part, destroys two cities and its inhabitants in another, forces Lot to offer his own daughters to be raped, etc.

However, when the O.T. is lacking in violence, it makes up for it in sheer whimsicality and stupidity. This is the same with all religious texts. There really is no room for a reasonable person to believe in some of the “facts” of Juedo-Christain beliefs (I’m not leaving other religions like Islam out on purpose, its just that these strike a little closer to home).

Religous “Facts”:

1.   Sadly (spoiler alert), Noah of the O.T. died at the young age of 950. The good die young.

2.   Although also in the New Testament, it is possible (and actually turned out quite well) to be swallowed by a giant fish, live in there for a while, and be spat back out.

3.   The universe was created by…well God. There isn’t much else to say about that because books like the O.T. say about that much in regard to the beginning of time (cough-COP OUT-cough).

However, taking what some would call “cheap shots” like this at religion isn’t fair because these things aren’t meant to be taken literally. They’re simply meant to be ignored and the good bits should be cherry picked out when needed.

Read More »

War

frog31 Comment

fr

Why is it when men disagree?

They can’t do it peacefully.

When we were young in times of stone.

Laws of war were not yet known.

Iron and steel were the laws of the land.

Victory was decided by the strength of your hand.

Hulking warriors grew obsolete.

Gunpowder guaranteed their defeat.

With armies possessing cannon and rifle.

Only luck made certain a warriors survival.

The advents of weapons did not end there.

Soldiers soon found another reason to beware.

Automatic guns would shred a mans flesh.

Iron armor was not battle dress.

On top of that there were chemical attacks.

Leaving men to die and grovel like filthy rats

The worse of the weapons had not come.

A weapon that would cause life to be undone.

The advent of a weapon that contains so much power.

Would be humanity’s dying hour.

The US and its difficulties leaving Afganistan.

frog31 Comment

https://i0.wp.com/www.justicewithpeace.org/files/u1/ObamaHope.jpg

As many of us know, President Obama has made strides to end the unpopular war in Afghanistan. The US military wishes to transition Afghanistan from a US defended country into an Afghan defended country. The US military’s plan to pull out of Afghanistan by 2014 has reached several snags.

For one there is concern that the former Taliban regime will return as US forces prepare to leave the country. This issue in recent weeks has become a more prevalent problem. On August 12th, 2012 a man disguised as an Afghan police officer opened fired on afghan policemen and US Marines. It is believed that this man was affiliated with the Taliban.

This prompted General John Allen to issue an order that all US soldiers must carry loaded weapons on military bases in Afghanistan. These recent events have only served to weaken US-Afghanistan relations.

https://i0.wp.com/afghanappealfund.org.uk/images/afghanchildren1.JPG

The Wicked War is Over!

frog3Leave a comment

The war in Iraq, often called the “War on Terrorism,” has taken its toll on Americans. From stringent TSA security protocol to the loss of love ones, millions of Americans have been affected by this war. A point of contention for many people is the fact that U.S. forces are still present in Iraq.

In matter of fact, one of Obama’s promises during the 2008 election was that he would remove all U.S. forces from Iraq. (This promise has still not been kept.) Obama has withdrawn MOST of the US forces from Iraq but 11000 still remain. The Obama administration has stated that all US forces must withdraw from Iraq by 31 December 2011.

This removal is happening right now with US forces passing the responsibility of Iraq onto the Iraqi Army and police force. These efforts are being hampered by the further instability of the region.(Nuclear Weapons in Iran for example) It will be very interesting to see if this removal is completed by December 31st.

Currently the U.S. is on track to ship all soldiers out of Iraq. Most of the soldiers leaving Iraq will pass into Kuwait, turn in their equipment and begin the long flight home. After the deadline only 150 troops will remain in Iraq.

Whether you support the War in Iraq or not, we are all glad to have our troops home.

Adios Iraq

therightliberalLeave a comment

This past week, President Obama announced that all troops will be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2011, just months away.

What fantastic news! It was not our place to go in to Iraq for oil in the first place and we are finally getting out of there.

Hopefully our role as the World Police is fading. Unfortunately the fact that it is fading has more to do with our financial situation than our realization that our invasions of other countries is unethical.

So for a celebration and a little fun, let’s look back at some of our idiotic invasions.

Chile: A CIA led coup to overthrow the government of Chile in 1973. We went in because we did not agree with Marxism, which when you think about it is a really stupid reason. It shouldn’t matter what we think of another countries government, it should matter what the people think about it.

Cambodia: Really the whole invasion of Southern Asia but Cambodia was the most ridiculous in my mind. We had no right to be there and yet our bombings and war tactics lead to the deaths of over 2 million people. Not soldiers, not corrupt leaders, just people.

Lebanon: Our military actions against the Shi’a “rebels” was just ridiculous. They were not killing their own people and they were not going after other countries. And even if there were some questions regarding their positions on social issues, what authority was given to us to go in and invade?

Saudi Arabia/Iraq: 1990 saw some of the most obvious forms of the World Police. We took sides in the Kuwait and Iraq conflict. We killed over 200,000 people in Iraq (yes that is people again, not just soldiers and leaders, people) because we felt Kuwait needed some protection. This spelled a huge turning point in the US’s foreign policy in the Middle East, it all went down hill from there.

There are many that I did not include, many other very important instances of the US overstepping their authority. Now spells the end of another chapter of these, frankly stupid, invasions.

I hope that we have learned, that we realize that all these invasions do is cause death and debt. But history tells me there is no point in having hope, that our need to dictate the “proper” forms of government and social treatment outweighs our common sense.

So just try, try to realize the lack of progress each one of these invasions spells. Let’s learn something.

THIS IS WAR!

yrreskrapLeave a comment

02-10-2011;War has been declared in the Upper wings of the girls dorm in Ojai Valley School. All girl dormers, take note.

I am currently engaged in a war. A video war that is.

Last night, my friend Madisen Demery and her roommate Joanna Degroof pulled my roommate and I out of our room after study hall into their room. They opened their laptops to show us a video of them dancing to Hannah Montana‘s Party in the U.S.A (click to watch the actual music video). My roommate and I were not impressed. However, they were smiling, enjoying themselves. What they didn’t know was that they had informally declared war with their amateur video.

My roommate and I split from the two girls, and two crews had formed. A music video battle had begun. We ran into the rooms, dressed up as ridiculously as we could with huge necklaces, matching white hats, and nerd glasses, and danced to the song, I believe in Miracles by Hot Chocolate (click on link to watch the video).

We tore apart our dresser and found matching white tee’s (cuz we are so G dawg) and wrote on them. At this moment, I believe that we will win. We will make the best music videos and win this war.

Watch out Maddie and Joanna.

In this day.

theycallmedameLeave a comment

For, although in this day and age
in which life and death are questioned,
life and death still go on.
For even the smallest breath
and the most insignificant death,
will steal your marching son.

Every moment, of everyday,
As you wait hopelessly by the door
He marches, unblinking.
And his tears have all come and gone,
They drained them, smiling, it was done.
Empty thoughts worth thinking.

A thousand miles away
Or a single step out of line
All eyes shoot down.
They are trapped in a single frame
The camera and the gun are the same
Death is a clown.

Screeching tires stumble sideways
The car flips, once twice, three times.
The water fails to drain.
A struggled breath lingers
Shivering hands and fingers
Is he in love or in pain?

A sudden blow to the head
No stars, only music plays
A swollen, shifted skull.
Invisible drums, out of time
Twisted tongues, out of line
A hospital life, worn dull.

With a march,
A crash,
A hit,
Even if death cuts in,
Life waits for its next dance.