My Spidey sense tells me somthings not right.

Excerpt From Amazing Spiderman (v2) #36
The WTC issue
Written by J. Michael Straczynski

...What do we tell the children?
Do we tell them the evil is a foreign face?

No. The evil is the thought behind the face, and it can look just like yours.

Do we tell them evil is tangible, with defined borders and names and geometries
and destinies?

No. They will have nightmares enough.

Perhaps we tell them that we are sorry.
Sorry that we were not able to deliver unto them the world we wished them to
have.
That our eagerness to shout is not the equal of our willingness to listen.

That the burdens of distant people are the responsibility of all men and women
of conscience, or their burdens will one day become our tragedy.

Or perhaps we simply tell them that we love them, and that we will protect
them. That we would give our lives for theirs and do it gladly, so great is
the burden of our love.

In a universe of Gameboys and VCRs, it is, perhaps, an insubstantial gift. But
it is the only one that will wash away the tears and knit the wounds and make
the world a sane place to live in.....

.....A world which will not require apologies to children, but also a world whose
roads are not paved with the husks of their inalienable rights.



What do we tell the children now? It seems that we are telling them evil has a foreign face, that they must kill in order to spread 'freedom' and 'democracy'. Look what our leaders have done in the aftermath of that fateful day and look hard into how they used the American people and manipulated that spirit to their own ends. Our nation is to blame as well for great bloodshed of innocents: mothers, children, fathers, who had nothing to do with our tragedy, who's only desire is to live a free and peaceful life. Our leaders have taken these dreams and turned them into a railroad train to destruction and many of the citizens of this nation go along so willingly into that fray, into that insanity as if it is from god himself that they be ordained the only ones free, that we must kill all who oppose our idea of freedom while wealthy individuals line their pockets with money paid for in blood, disease, hunger, poverty, and the large scale destrucion of our very planet. While those very same lead their own lambs to the slaughter. Souless, greedy, insane, they are not heroes but rather the villains and we would do well to remember that.

In this universe of videogames: here's a short bit from the U.S. Army video game faq to parents:

Q: Why are you doing the game?
A: it is part of the Army's communications strategy

The Army's game is an entertaining way for young adults to explore the Army and its adventures and opportunities as a virtual Soldier. As such, it is part of the Army's communications strategy designed to leverage the power of the Internet as a portal through which young adults can get a first hand look at what it is like to be a Soldier. The game introduces players to different Army schools, Army training, and life in the Army. Given the popularity of computer games and the ability of the Internet to deliver great content, a game was the perfect venue for highlighting different aspects of the Army. Firms such as Toyota have used games for this educational purpose with considerable success.


Q: Is this a recruiting tool?
A: it provides young adults and their influencers with virtual insights about the Army

The game is designed to provide young adults and their influencers with virtual insights into entry level Soldier training, training in units and Army operations so as to provide insights into what the Army is like. As in the past, the Army's success in attracting high-potential young adults is essential to building the world's premier land force. With the passage of time, elimination of the draft and reductions in the size of the Army have resulted in a marked decrease in the number of Americans who have served in the Army and from whom young adults can gain vicarious insights into the challenges and rewards of Soldiering and national service. Therefore, the game is designed to substitute virtual experiences for vicarious insights. It does this in an engaging format that takes advantage of young adults' broad use of the Internet for research and communication and their interest in games for entertainment and exploration.


Q: Should children 13+ be exposed to what the Army does?
A: young adults can see how our training builds and prepares Soldiers to serve in units in defense of freedom.

In elementary school kids learn about the actions of the Continental Army that won our freedoms under George Washington and the Army's role in ending Hitler's oppression. Today they need to know that the Army is engaged around the world to defeat terrorist forces bent on the destruction of America and our freedoms. The game provides a virtual means to explore a variety of Soldier experiences in basic training, advanced training, and training missions in real world Army units, so that young adults can see how our training builds and prepares Soldiers to serve in units in defense of freedom.


"Freedom, liberty, democracy, death' repeat after me 'Freedom, liberty, democracy, death' the chant goes on.

Blowin Smoke

A bong I did,

No I did not,

I wish I did,

But I'm out of pot.

Our Undivided Attention

The speed of the Earths rotation is approximately 25,000 miles per 24hrs. This is the simple answer and doesn't go into tangents and real details but it serves my simple mind (* and would only lead good folk much brighter than I to long explanations as to why I'm an idiot). Imagine we are all on a carousel. Each individuals exact perception will be different at any given moment. The horse rider will see one blur while the one on the jack ass will see differently yet we all know that once we get off we can stand around and look at the carousel for what it is. At that moment of recollection we relegate a commonality of experience and combine our various views into one nice round ball of aquiescence (*hey language is a living thing). Yes, the spinning was nice and slow and peaceful, yes the blurs of carnival lights were a trip, yes the wooden horse hurt posterior as it bounced up and down, but those horses are pretty and we all loved going in a circle of stimuli. It has a great homely feel to it because we've been taught that from day one. Now, what about the freak cave child who doesn't know what the hell that thing is? Maybe that child will just get on for the hell of it out of a sincere and deep focus towards adventure. They get off and state " that was dumb" They then proceed to tell this group of noble carnival adventurers that the entire idea is one of stupidity because real horses could take us much farther than in some silly circle. The group turns and decides this is an abnormality, thus below recognition. Not only do they ignore this poor cavechilds observation but decide to deride it publicly. They promote the idea that going in a circle on the merry go round is our only real option for any sort of excitement. Anyone in their right mind absolutely knows that is the height we can reach, point blank, nuff said, deal with it. The cavechild doesn't even recognize these blase' limitiations and continues to commit the faux pah doo doo on their ideals. He says " hey , here's a real horse, we just went a gallopping over the countryside and you won't believe what we saw", ok maybe he grunts but with deep communication and a true desire to appeal to their sense of escape. He's trying to simply share something wonderful. "Look, we don't have to go in a circle", that's all, but it's percieved as a grave threat. The group decides this must not be. No-one can surpass our experience here, and it becomes a hidden agenda, unbeknownst even to them. They commit themselves to the destruction of this myth of free roaming equestrians out of a sense of loyalty to to the common ideal, the sanctimony of group conscience (whatever that may be). They hunt him down and kill him and his stupid live horse. Though they feel a sort of sadness at the whole event they eventually convince each other it was in the best interests of the group. Now they can sleep at night knowing there's always the thrill of going in circles on wooden jackasses. welcome to my world.