Now swirling counter-clockwise 2004-05-11T23:47:51Z User 345 https://newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v345/ OrgSpace NewsLog

I'm not even going to provide one single link to a story on the subject. Unless you live in a cave on an isolated island with no connection to anyone, you know about today's news regarding the beheading of an American civilian in retaliation for our humiliation of imprisoned enemy combatants. ...

At some point someone decided that while you could still throw a rock at your enemy's head, you could only do so if he had a rock as well. You know how rules work. Once you pass the first one, it's all over. The rules begin to fly. So now, in our modern time, we have rules for nearly every situation in which a person may find themselves once combat begins. That is...situations we've already encountered and know about. Iraq is showing us we still aren't prepared for every possible threat, neither the military nor the U.S. So far in our history, every major conflict we've been a part of has been more technologically advanced than the last one. Sometimes in only minor ways, often in major areas like weapons, protection and training.
So now we have the most technologically advanced military on the planet...pitted against 16th century religious fanatics. If we want to look to history, one close analogy is the British in Africa during the Zulu Wars. But in our situation, the dichotomy is even greater. "Look, we can see in the dark" we boast. "We'll just kill you during the day, then", they reply. "You must play by the rules" we insist. "We don't accept your rules, nor do we grant you the right to make up the rules. We've got our own."
And that's the rub. In all things, your view of reality is only valid toward the world outside yourself if the world out there accepts your version of things. Wars are fought because at least two large groups of people don't agree on some vital (we would hope) matter of international concern. Allies are made of those who view reality most like we do. Enemies are those with whom we share few if any beliefs. War is also a period of national desperation. "We'll do anything to win" should be many a nation's motto. Not ours, however. We've got rules.
So how does one "team" with rules play against another "team" playing with other rules. Both sets of rules are laughable to the other side. But their rules allow them to do things that our rules don't...over-react and kill people in 16th century ways. Granted, these are people who still stone people to death. They're not living in our century in many ways. How do we tame these kinds of humans? All our modern technology isn't going to help us, not if we continue playing by our rules.
Meanwhile, at home, the public is beginning to ask some hard questions. And that's good. War is the greatest threat to world stability there is, greater than natural disasters. If one side decides that the ultimate weapon is the best solution, they could render the entire planet uninhabitable by any living thing. At every moment during a war someone ought to be questioning the need for it. War should never last very long...not with the weapons available these days. Brutal, savage acts like the one today make many people want to know, "can we win this conflict quickly, before we have to resort to the horrible weapons, and if not, what do we have to do to win?". This military isn't the same one I served in. And the mood of the public is shifting. There is no time to make this an issue to be decided after the next election, or in any other way make it a political chess piece. Humans are being killed in methods similar to those we went to Iraq to prevent. And now we're the victims.
Regardless of your political position, you should be provided an acceptable accounting of what this conflict is costing us, and whether or not we can win, following the course we've established. Then you can make an informed decision. The military needs to get it's training and chain of command problems fixed yesterday. And the politicians need to quit talking and make the hard decisions based on our expressed desires.]]> https://newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v345/__show_article/_a000345-000002.htm 2004-05-11T23:47:51Z 2004-05-11T23:50:09Z

As reported by Leo Laporte in The Laporte Report and nearly every blogger on the internet, it would seem G4 has put a hundred or more California residents into the unemployment line. Great. Thanks, G4. Like it wasn't hard enough before this to find a decent job in this over-priced state.

I never saw a complete episode of Tech TV. I only get basic cable. As someone who already spends too much time at my computer, I don't need more than that. Expanded cable would be a waste, or major distraction, neither of which is good. However, I do, in a sense, work for Chris Pirillo Lockergnome forums, so I hear a lot of the gossip about the show anyway. Like out of 285 employees, only about 80 will be needed in L.A. However, and I have no inside knowledge regarding this, I found it interesting that Chris was brought back to the show a couple of weeks ago for a guest appearance...or was it an audition? Tech TV moves to L.A., Chris lives near L.A. Coincidence? You decide. Meanwhile, I may have better conversation in the unemployment line over the next few weeks. If you'd like to send your comments to G4: G4 Media, LLC 12312 West Olympic Blvd. West Los Angeles, CA 90064 Phone: (310) 979-5000 Fax: (310) 979-5100 ]]> https://newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v345/__show_article/_a000345-000001.htm 2004-05-07T19:08:14Z 2004-05-07T19:15:50Z