Armistice Day

I do have a bit of a obsession with World War One. It is quite the morbid obsession to have. I just find it fascinating. It's hard to wrap my head around it and I like that. It was such a stupid and unnecessary war, but it is one of the most significant wars that mankind has ever fought.

In every history class that I took in K-12, which covered World War One, the war was largely glazed over. It was more about the Americans showing up and the War ended shortly after. I mean Trench Warfare and such was mentioned, but never really delved into. Nor were the true causes of the War. I mean Archduke Ferdinand's assassination gets a lot of credit for starting the war, but really it only slightly hastened it's arrival. Germany and France were going to go to war and that would draw in Russia, and England and the French side and Austria on the German side.

In turn of the Century Europe, massive military buildups were undertaken by every European power. Germany was only thirty years old and had pissed a bunch of people off to gain its independence. The German's felt disrespected by the older Monarchies and was itching for a fight. In the European military academies, the idea of the offensive was deep and pervasive.

What was lost in all of this was that the military technology had improved greatly since the last war in Europe in 1870. While it really made its debut in the Russo-Japanese War, no one would really know the power of machine guns, artillery, aircraft, tanks, etc until August of 1914.

Shortly after the war began the ideas that were coming out the military academies were proving to be very wrong. Still Generals on both sides held onto the idea of the offensive war. The orders were sent out and thousands and thousands of young men were killed needlessly. In response to the amazing power of the new technology was to dig and hold defensive positions, which Machine Guns made easy.

World War One basically turned into a fight for holes in the ground in Belgium. There would be great battles and thousands of men would die just to trade trenches. It quickly became a war of attrition and that was the real help of the Americans. When the U.S. joined the Entente, it provided the French, and English another bank account and armory to wear down the Germans. Also the American soldiers brought the biggest pandemic of the modern era to Europe. That's a big thing the Americans did.

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the War stopped. They kept fighting right to that very point. Prideful Generals didn't hold back in the last days and thousands and thousands of more men were killed for no good reason.

A peace treaty was signed, that basically even more fucked a bankrupt Germany. There is a lot that can be said about the Treaty of Versailles. I think all of it can be summed up like this. The Treaty of Versailles ensured that there would be another war. There's a lot in that, but it all comes down to that.

World War One's effect on World War Two in the European theater is perhaps the most significant effect on the war. World War One was a bloody war of position. In opposition, World War Two was a bloody war of movement. In WWII the Germans, while on the aggressive, moved fast. When the allies were on the offensive, they kept moving. Neither side every really dug in with a few exceptions.

One thing that we can say about World War One, is that at least it didn't really involve civilians. It did, but relative to the total warfare of WWII it was very small.

In World War Two, the armies didn't even bother with trying to prevent civilian casualties. It's strange to me that while the sides of right and wrong are so clear in WWII, but the military tactics were just as wrong as the axis. Whereas in World War One, which side was right is very muddled, but the military tactics were actually largely right.

So, on this day that was originally to remember the end of the what was to be final war of mankind, we should remember the lessons of that war. I think the most important lesson we can take is that war is stupid and mankind should just stop it. There should be no need for faulty offensive or defensive military doctrines. Mankind should be able to look at the incredible loss of life in World War One for no good reason and realize that we should never, ever do that again.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael

9/11 and Patriotism

I'll start this off with a 'Where were you when?'

I was 12 years old and in the seventh grade when the attacks occurred on September 11, 2001. The school year was still very new; I think it was the 3rd week. It was a very nice late summer day in Columbus, Ohio and in New York City as we would all find out. It was a normal school day. It was art class, when the principal announced that there had been attacks on the World Trade Center and Washington D.C. Nobody really knew what the hell was going and we were a bunch of twelve year olds, so there was a lot of chatter. The following period was Science class with Mr. Tucker. He was the only teacher that day who didn't try to pretend nothing had happened. He wanted to show us what was on TV, but found out that wasn't allowed. He showed us the picture on the front page of MSNBC.com. It was two burning sky scrappers. I mean it was fucking crazy. These people crashed planes into buildings!?!?!

As I said the rest of the day was teachers trying to go on with their lesson plans as if this really fucking big event hadn't just happened. At lunch, by best friend at the time, Tyler, and I speculated about the attacks even though as students we were kept pretty ignorant of the facts on that day.

I got home and watched the TV. It didn't matter what station. You couldn't avoid it. I didn't really want to; at least initially. I wanted to know what happened and who had done it. I was home in time to see WTC 7 fall. The TV was filled with images of planes crashing into the south tower and the buildings collapsing. Then they finally got video of the plane crashing into the North Tower.

There were a lot of rumors that day. There were rumors of fires on Capitol Hill. Rumors of other hijacked planes. There was a rumor that Air Force One had crashed in Dayton. There were rumors of Air Strikes in Afghanistan that night. There were rumors of gas becoming super expensive.

I stayed home from school the next day. It wasn't because I was scared. I wanted to keep watching the news. I wanted to learn more about what had happened or if something else was going to happen. Looking back, that was a kind of morbid thing to do.

The estimates of the dead were astronomical in the days following the attacks. They started at upwards of twenty thousand, but slowly started dwindling down. Eventually, it was figured out that lots of people had managed to escape the World Trade Center and the death toll would be much less than feared.

There was a tremendous sense of National unity in the aftermath of the attacks. People lined up to give blood for the potential survivors of the attacks. Unfortunately, virtually no survivors were pulled out the rubble. It was still a wonderful sentiment and there was a feeling that all citizens in the United States were in this together.

Disappointingly, this sentiment did go overboard. Dissent quickly become 'unpatriotic' and the President briefly was allowed to be a de facto king. Questioning the President became like joining the Islamic Extremists who attacked us. Very soon after the attacks, the PATRIOT Act had been passed with very little debate and even less dissent. The act was a tremendous expansion of Executive power and cut deeply into our civil liberties. Trading Safety for liberty can quickly lead to tyranny.

Also, with the nation still reeling from the attacks, the President led the country into a foolish war with Iraq with virtually no questions asked. The media was afraid to ask any question, even if they knew there were giant holes in the administration's case for war, because at the time any questioning of the President was 'unpatriotic.' So, a blindly patriotic nation was led into an offensive war without any real reason other than that's what the President wants.

It took major loss of blood and treasure in Iraq to break the Patriotic fervor following the attacks of September 11, 2001. The President was still able to win reelection though. Even after clearly lying the country into a war, he was reelected in 2004 to the tune of 9/11.

Patriotism is a dangerous idea, because while it can be harmless pride, it can also lead to horrible outcomes. Belief that the state is right and is always right no matter what is what patriotic fervor can produce. Basically, I feel Patriotism to it's extreme extent is Fascism.

I also feel the need to make a distinction. I'm not a Patriot, but to a certain extent I am a Nationalist. It may sound like splitting hairs, but I think the distinction between Patriotism and Nationalism is very significant.

I think Nationalism is a love or pride in one's country. Not in the government, but the people and places. I love the ideals of the United States. I love the culture in the United States*. I don't think the United States is superior to any other country, I just really appreciate the way the United States is*.

That is not to say Nationalism isn't a dangerous idea as well. To it's extreme extent, it is as dangerous as Patriotism. It can lead to feelings of superiority or one's land or one's culture or one's blood.

In the Aftermath of 9/11, both Nationalism and Patriotism were evident in the national feeling. An example of Nationalism was the giving of blood in the immediate aftermath of the attack. An example of Patriotism was the passage of the PATRIOT Act with virtually no dissent.

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I think I kind of got on my soap box there for a bit. Sorry if it was like that and I hope I made some sense.

Anyway this post was inspired by Liane's tweet this afternoon.

My elbow seriously hurts now.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael

*For the most part

Not Hot. Pretty, but I Won't Say Either

Hello all. Get ready for a pretentious attack. The second part hopefully won't be so pretentious. This is also totally deep into the shallowness.

I try to never use the term 'hot' when I'm describing a girl. I try to stick with 'pretty'. All of theses words come with weird and difficult to describe baggage. I mean it seems that 'hot' and 'pretty' should mean the same thing and in reality I guess they kind of do. It's just they are totally different somehow. At least to me. I'll try to describe, but this may become convoluted and confusing.

'Hot' means a girl is really attractive, but also seems(at least to me) to convey that it's fake. Loads of make up and breast implants are 'hot'. Five inch high heels are 'hot'. 'Hot' implies artificial perfection. 'Hot' also creates a sense of the unobtainable. It's like that's her and I'm me and that's it. That's how it will always be.

Example: Porn Stars

'Pretty' means that the girl is attractive, but it's different than 'hot'. It's more real, whatever that means. It's not clothes, it's not make up. It just is. 'Pretty' doesn't necessarily mean obtainable, but it's just that a 'pretty' girl doesn't seem so different. While a 'hot' girl may seem almost like another species, a 'pretty' girl is another person.

Example: The girl you have a crush on

I hope some of that made sense. It's probably nonsense. Hair-splitting bullshit. I may be just loading words that don't need it.

Ok, on the topic of using labels to describe attractiveness.

I seriously have a major issue with telling a girl I think she's pretty or looks nice or whatever. Whether I actually believe it or not, it just always feels like it would be received as cheesy, pandering bullshit. I'm not talking about times when it's totally inappropriate. Douchebags will tell girls they're looking hot when it isn't called for. I'm talking about times when saying you look nice would be appropriate(i.e. a girl saying she looks bad when she really looks good.) I still won't say it.

It's probably mostly my shy/awkward nature. It's also my liberal guilt. I think it's kinda chauvinistic to tell a girl she's pretty.

Anyway a few drinks gets me over that.

I was thinking of doing pictures with this post, but decided it was shallow enough.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael

Prop 8- What's next?

Yesterday, Proposition 8 was overturned by Judge Vaughn Walker of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. While this isn't insignificant, it is certainly not going to be the final step in this process. It is the first ruling in what will likely be at least three decisions on this issue.

The decision will be appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. It is probably the most Liberal of the Circuit Courts and will likely agree with the ruling of the lower court. There is always the potential that the case could be sent back to the lower court if the Court of Appeals feels something is unclear or some other issue arises. It doesn't really matter what this court's decision is, because the next step will be an Appeal to the United States Supreme Court.

Under the assumption that Elena Kagan will turn out to be a liberal Justice, the Supreme Court will be a 5-4 decision on the issue. There are four Liberal Justices, Sotomayor, Breyer, Kagan, and Ginsberg, who will likely support the overturn of Prop 8 and have sympathetic view of an Equal Protection Case. There are four justices that are conservatives, Alito, Scalia, Roberts, and Thomas, who will likely support overturning the rulings of the lower courts.

The swing vote will be Justice Anthony Kennedy. He has shown some support of Homosexual rights in siding with the majority and writing the opinion in the case of Lawerence v. Texas, which ruled a sodomy ban unconstitutional, and sided with the Majority in Romer v. Evans, ruling that preventing discrimination claims by homosexuals in Colorado was unconstitutional. He's not entirely gay-friendly though as he has voted to uphold bans of homosexuals by private organization such as the Boy Scouts. It is generally hard for me to trust a Justice who was in the Majority of Bush v. Gore, but I think Kennedy would likely side with the Liberals to overturn Prop 8. That would set new precedent that would lead to all state bans on gay marriage being overturned.

Another important step would be the repeal of the Defensive of Marriage Act. This act is ridiculously unconstitutional. Basically this act makes it so states do not have to recognize the gay marriages performed in other states. So, a couple could get married in a state like Iowa, but as soon as they cross the state line they would no longer be legally married. This is an absolute violation of the Full Faith and Credit clause and the principles of federalism. I really don't understand how this law hasn't been overturned yet, but I know the people who passed it in 1996 knew it would overturned. I think it was just something that legislators at the time wanted to pass, so they could score political points by going back to their districts and braging about sticking it to the fagots and then bitch about the judges when it was over turned.

Back on the point. If the ban in California is overturned by the United State's Supreme Court, but DOMA still stands, it would create a country where each state had to allow gay marriage in their own states, but didn't have to recognize any gay marriages performed outside of their own state.

-Michael

The K.E.N. Campaign

I am definitely a big supporter of the K.E.N. Campaign. If you don't know what it is, The K.E.N. Campaign is anti cyber-bullying and about "Keeping Everything Nice" in gaming. Here's the video for the campaign:




There is a false bravado that is created by the anonymity of the internet. Being a bully online isn't brave at all; it's cowardly. It's easy to be a troll, a bastard, or just plain mean on the internet. No one will ever know who you actually are and the people receiving your abuse are probably far away from you. Assholes are all over the web and the K.E.N. campaign is about isolating them.

In real life, I find that it is very rare to run into someone who isn't kind. Assholes may stick out in our thoughts and memories, but in reality the vast majority of people are friendly. In gaming, it is much the same way. Perhaps the proportion of assholes is greater due to the anonymity that exists, but the majority of gamers are nice and just trying to have fun. The assholes are the ones who stick out, but they are definitely the minority by a significant margin. If we make it clear that being an asshole is unacceptable and leave them isolated, it will be possible to defeat them.

It's not about fighting back; it's about being the better person. If you run into an asshole or a clan of assholes, fighting back will only encourage them. Just mute them, and if you feel comfortable, announce that you are doing so. If they are picking on someone else, just be a friend to that person. Simple as that. You've made it clear that cyber-bullying isn't going to be allowed to be effective while you're around. If all else fails, just choose not to game with that person or those people who are being assholes and leave the lobby.

Here is something that I feel is a misconception about the K.E.N. Campaign. The campaign is not about making the online community a place where one has to be super friendly all the time and everybody gets a trophy even if their a shit player. You're allowed to get upset, to still be competitive, but it just should never lead to bullying. Ultimately the goal should be to have fun while gaming, not boost your ego on the back of someone who is at the end of your mic.

Thanks for reading and Keep Everything Nice.

-Michael


Link of interest: http://www.nixiepixel.com/protect-anonymity/

Nixie Pixel does an excellent job discussing the issues raised by anonymity on the internet and why it is a necessity even with the problems it helps to create.