Nuptially Speaking

Rich and Cat are now Mr and Mrs Ellis. Yay!

It was intimate, it was so much fun and it was very very beautiful. Right about now, I wish I could write poetry that will make you cry, cos then I'd be able to deliver in words the full experience of witnessing those two crazy kids getting married.
No lack of "media coverage" there, so the Pulitzer Prize winning pictures should be up in no time. Brian, Chris, Fred, Nick, Ryan, Tara, me and the extended family were up in photographic arms to capture the finger clicking goodness. I just embarassed myself with that sentance, didn't I?

Anyway. It's off to Hawaii for Rich and Cat. People should get hitched more often so we can all do this again.

Pictures in the next installment.

I Really Ought to be Scared

Ever had such a crazy dilemma that you just had to blog about it?

So, those God damn terrorists are at it again, or so I hear. The LA Times tells me that, "Federal Official Raise Aviation Threat Level Nationwide." Check out the pictures too. Link to article Herds of people in clogged up airports. Doesn't it make you feel like we're all in this together…

Timely coincidence. Fred and I will be traveling for Rich and Cat's wedding. Here's the dilemma. Should I be happy that airport security will be working extra hard to fuss over me to keep me "safe?" Or should I be pissed that airport security will be working extra hard to fuss over me to keep me "safe?" It's a tough one.

When Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says, "Travelers would be wise to pack as lightly as possible for their carry-on and to minimize clutter so that we can make the process go more quickly," I'm like... great advise pal!

In fact, I took it upon myself to build on that great advise. It's a simpler plan. Go nude. Terrorism is a serious threat therefore we can't take any chances. I don't see why people who have nothing to hide would have any problems complying. I mean, security will be able to screen people with an increased efficiency of up to 95% and travelers will go through security 90% quicker. Everyone wins. Also, a certain other official did say, "We will do whatever it takes to keep people safe... If it's an inconvenience we're going to have to deal with it." Nudity over terrorism, any day. I can deal.

Ok, that was me being stupid. But honestly, if those scary-as-hell terrorists really want to terrorize large groups of civilians, and/or damage strategic infrastructure, would they make it a point to clear security? You'd think DHS would be equally concerned about large numbers of people congregating in clogged up airports carrying tons of misc supposedly potentially deadly liquid explosives and detonating devices. What about evacuation or coping stratagies. Don't hear much about that.

And what's this obsession with civilian aviation related terrorism tactics anyway?

I probably just jinxed it for myself... they're gonna take me away at the airport and give me the preferred passenger treatment. See, proof that it's more like stupefying civilians with fear than deterring terrorists.

We are mankind

As a person of the relatively democratic, free side of the equation, what do I know about the whole middle east situation? As much as the next guy, which, probably means somewhere between a little and not much.

(Maybe it's irresponsible, but I'm just lumping them all up so that it's easier on my tiny brain and cos it's one vaild way of looking at it in our globalized times. Anyway you're a discriminating reader.)

What the hell is going on? Where do the lines connect? Who cares, right? Well I do, cos it's just not right.

I mean, we all know shit happens, but what's so bad about what that people have to stick it to the other guy with such horrors that no sane, thinking person would inflict on any fellow human being.

Call me a Nietzsche quoting monkey. "He who fights monsters should look into it that he himself does not become a monster. When you gaze long into the Abyss, the Abyss also gazes into you."

One just can't watch such extraordinary violence and injustice, albeit at a safe distance, and not think about it. Not me at least. Can't just switch and go on watching America's Next Top Model and live in conveniently stupifying pop culture bliss without trying to make sense of the real world.

I realize that it's a complicated issue so I decided to educate myself. Here's where I started.





google video link

And that's just one source of information. I'm still learning.

The more I read about our contemporary issues and History, the more I tend to think that humans will always behave like humans.

It's very disturbing. It makes me feel smaller than a pawn. I can't stop war. I can't stop the innocent from hurting. I can't stop idiots from bombing the life out of our already ecologically fragile planet. I can't make politicians swallow their pride and just do what's best for the world's people.

But as an international community, we can put pressure on people in charge and demand accountability for the decisions made on behalf of the people in this world. After all, aren't we the very people who, at the slightest provocation, tout the merits of democracy so that people of the world may enjoy freedoms such as the freedom to express our outrage at the travesty that is war.

Or is this freedom only reserved for the fufilment of our individual vanities and economic gains?