THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE (ARE LEGION)

While above earth in the International Space Station, Commander Scott Kelly, brother-in-law of Gabrielle Giffords, the U.S. Congresswoman shot in the head at point blank range January 8th 2011 in Arizona by Jared Loughner, who killed six people and left Giffords in critical condition before being apprehended, said:

• "As I look out the window, I see a very beautiful planet that seems very inviting and peaceful...Unfortunately, it is not. We are better than this. We must do better."

While I'm sure the above was stated in shock and with a heavy heart, I feel strongly that the average human being is better than this. Is compassionate by nature and always will be. And while selfish souls will rob others of their lives, I refuse to accept that this minority taints the whole.

To quote another summation of humanity, this time from a fictional space traveler, an alien come to earth played by Jeff Bridges in the 1984 film "Starman":

• Starman: Shall I tell you what I find beautiful about you? You are at your very best when things are worst.

I couldn't agree more. I believe there is a balance to all things. There will always be what I call "selfish forces". Some call it evil. I define evil as selfishness. Taking more than you need. What does not belong to you. Including the lives of others. I define good as compassion. Giving more than you need to. What belongs to you. Including your life.

I believe there is an eternal balance between the two. One will never win out over the other. But that balance is skewed. Tilting ever towards the better angels of our nature.


"Congress on Your Corner". A pleasant meet and greet outside a supermarket in Tuscon Arizona attended by those waiting in line to meet Representative Giffords to say hello. The last thing any of them could expect was a man to pull out a Glock pistol with an extended clip and start pumping bullets into bodies.

Yet moments after the shooting started and people fell, starting with Giffords shot through the cranium from a distance of four feet, these people, these shocked, unprepared people, shot into action to stop him and help save lives:

• "After the gunman ran out of ammunition in the first magazine, he stopped to reload, but dropped the loaded magazine from his pocket to the sidewalk, from where bystander Patricia Maisch grabbed it.^[23] 

• A bystander clubbed the back of the assailant's head with a folding chair in the process injuring his elbow and representing the 20th injury.^[24] 

• The gunman was then tackled to the ground by 74-year-old retired colonel Bill Badger,^[25] who himself had been shot, and was further subdued by Maisch and bystanders Roger Sulzgeber and Joseph Zamudio.^[26] 

• The first call from the scene to emergency services was received at 10:11 am.^[1] While waiting for help to arrive, Giffords' intern Daniel Hernández Jr. applied pressure to the gunshot wound on her forehead, and made sure she did not choke on her blood. Hernández was credited with saving Giffords' life.^[27][28][29] 

• David and Nancy Bowman, a married doctor and nurse who were shopping in the store, immediately set up triage and attended to nine-year-old Christina-Taylor Green.^[30]" (more)

Federal Judge John Roll, 63, who had stopped by to see his long time friend Mrs. Giffords, was one of those killed:

• "When Giffords went down, Roll threw himself on top of one of Gifford's employees, Ronald Barber, to protect him. In doing so, Judge Roll was fatally shot. 

• "But he did not die immediately. According to Father O'Mara, Bishop Kicanas said that as someone present came to minister to his wounds, Roll reportedly said, 

• "I'm dying. Help those other people." (more)

While murderer Jared Loughner had days, weeks, months to prepare his crime, acquire a pistol, ammunition, the nerve to follow through, the staff and attendees, average people, had mere seconds to react. And despite the chaos, confusion and violence, they combined to stop Loughner from killing and wounding more,  to risk and sacrifice their lives in order to save anothers. 

I am astounded and inspired. Though shocking. Though sad. Take note. Take heart.

Know that while the selfish forces of our race will continue to strike the unsuspecting, there is a greater force at work. Always. Ready at a moments notice to help. To serve. To give. They are far greater in number. They are the compassionate. They are never far.

AND THEY ARE LEGION.

Intern Daniel Hernandez

• Eight hours after the shooting, Hernandez (who helped save Gifford's life) stood with Giffords' friends and staff and told them what had happened. The tall, strong 20-year-old said, 

• "Of course you're afraid, you just kind of have to do what you can."

• "You just have to be calm and collected," he said. "You do no good to anyone if you have a breakdown. . . . It was probably not the best idea to run toward the gunshots, but people needed help."

MJW

THE FACE OF BATTLE

U.S. Marines in Afghanistan - February 13th, 2010

While no film or documentary can truly capture the experience of modern combat and military service, I highly recommend the following two documentaries: RESTREPO follows American servicemen in Afghanistan in 2008. ANDERSON'S PLATOON follows American servicemen in Vietnam in 1967.

I do not share them as pro or anti war efforts. Simply as a window into a very real world we civilians will never truly understand. What I found most interesting was the same looks of concern. Of fear. Of determination. Of laughter. Of tears or smiles reading letters from home. Identical though 40 years apart. These documentaries are perhaps a window into the experiences of young men at war not just from these two conflicts, but from any period in human history.

RESTREPO

http://restrepothemovie.com/video/

"The war in Afghanistan has become highly politicized, but soldiers rarely take part in that discussion. Our intention was to capture the experience of combat, boredom and fear through the eyes of the soldiers themselves. Their lives were our lives: we did not sit down with their families, we did not interview Afghans, we did not explore geopolitical debates. Soldiers are living and fighting and dying at remote outposts in Afghanistan in conditions that few Americans back home can imagine. Their experiences are important to understand, regardless of one's political beliefs. Beliefs are a way to avoid looking at reality. This is reality."  - Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger (directors)

(available on DVD and Blueray, Netflix "Instant Play" & Rental)


THE ANDERSON PLATOON

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lpcuNX2JWQ

1968 Academy Awards® Best Documentary Feature 

1967  (54 minutes)

Filmmaker Pierre Schoendoerffer, a veteran of the French Indochina War, joined a platoon of American soldiers in 1966 for six weeks of search-and-destroy operations in Vietnam. This Oscar-winning documentary provides a rare outsider's behind-the-scenes view of the soldiers -- recording their lives, deaths, hopes and fears -- and observes how American culture influences their attitudes and behaviors in the midst of jungle warfare.

(available on Netflix "Instant Play", and sections on YouTube)

MJW

GOING OFF IS GOING ON

My alarm clock went off the other day, and I realized how funny it is that I say it "went off" which means it "went on".

So when an alarm goes off, it goes on.

MJW

A "MIDGE" BY ANY OTHER NAME...

"What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet"

Romeo and Juliet Act II. Scene II
by William Shakespeare

I was struck one day in the high school where I work, that the two secretaries in the main office were named Midge and Dottie. I thought, wow. How PERFECT is that? If I was writing a screenplay with a scene in a high school office, I would name the secretaries Midge and Dottie. Both middle aged women who run the place with motherly smiles and an iron fist.

And I thought, I wonder if going through life with these names, given at birth or acquired as nicknames (Midge = Madge = Margaret) (Dottie = Dorothy), affected their lives somehow? Was Midge destined to be a secretary instead of stripper?

("Donna". I rest my case...)

A good friend of mine has been on a few dates with a stripper named Brandy. And yes, that's her real name. She showed him her driver's license. She joked that her parents doomed her to be a stripper by choosing it.

My old land lord in college was named Dirk. Meanwhile there's a student in my high school named Wilbur. (He goes by Willie. See? Even he doesn't want to be called Wilbur) How varied are the lives of Dirk and Wilbur? If they met in a bar would Wilbur be secretly jealous of Dirk? Would Dirk immediately think, "poor bastard"?

Lets experiment. I Google-Imaged "Dirk". This was the first image on the page:

The Scottish Dirk.

A sleek looking dagger. A weapon of war/utility/survival. The rest of the page was an assortment of large, blond, viking looking men battling it out in various sports. 

I Google-Imaged "Wilbur". Here was the first image, no joke:

(he could use a dirk! i kid...)

This was the second:

Referencing the lead character "Wilbur" in the popular book Charlotte's Web. The rest of the page was an assortment of pigs & people named Wilbur. Could there really be a difference in the lives of the two men by name alone?

And then there's me. "Mark". I feel its plain. Simple. Short. I don't dislike it. (no worries mom and dad)

In trooth its related to Mars, the God of War. Sounds interesting, no? But what if I was Maximilian? Rupert? Rocco? Mortimer, Donovan or Spike? How would I have been perceived differently by the humans around me?

I'll never know, I spoze. But it makes me wonder.

Who would you be if you weren't you? 

MJW

FUEL GAUGE GAUGING INTELLIGENCE?

Using my mother's car lately, I noticed her gas gauge looks like this:

Note the use of marks for quarter tanks between full ("F"), half full (I'm a gas tank half full, not half empty kind of guy), and empty ("E").





 

Then, borrowing my father's car for an errand, I noticed his gas gauge looked like this. (right)

Note the LACK of marks for quarter tanks.

So I was wondering, what does this say about the car manufacturer? What are they saying about us as the owner of the vehicle?

Is the manufacturer of my mother's car (Toyota) implying that she's too stoopid to gauge quarter tanks on her own, so they put marks there for her?

And the manufacturer of my father's car (Honda) is implying his superior intelligence in that he can figure out quarter tanks on his own based on the needles position between Full and Empty?

(Discuss).

HELPFUL TIP - GAUGING YOUR GAUGE: When borrowing a car and you pull in for fuel not knowing what side the tank is on, often there is a tiny arrow on the fuel gauge indicating left or right. (see top photo) Hopefully this will save you some fuel having to flip the car around.

MJW

Publish Post

A MATTER OF LIFE AND DISCO

Heading from the parking lot into a nightclub a while back, my friend and I saw an ambulance parked out front with all its lights flashing. No siren, no emergency that we could see, but I couldn't help but notice the fine line between an emergency vehicle designed to save lives, and a disco dance party.

Observe...

Potential Death (click for video, "back" to return to blog)

Potential Disco (click for video, "back" to return to blog)

Swapping high-pitched sirens for high-tech techno, ambulances are mobile discotheques.

MJW

PEP BOYS LOGO = FASCISM

Nice try Pep Boys Auto-parts company. You almost had me fooled but I've smoked you out. Your seemingly innocent logo featuring characters of the three (supposed) founding owners, "Manny", "Moe" and "Jack"...

...Is really a thinly veiled resurrection of the triumvirate of World War II fascists leaders; Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo (left),  Nazi Germany's Adolph Hitler (center), and Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini (right).

With a few simple modifications, this "Axle of Evil" is exposed. 

Manny - Hair = TOJO

Moe + Mustache Trim & Hair Swoop = HITLER

Jack - Hair = MUSSOLINI

It's not the first time they've been portrayed in cartoon form together. Check out this anti-fascist cartoon from 1942, with the original characters in the same order left to right. (ps - these are real)

Or this one. (note character on the left is Japanese Emperor Hirohito, but it still works)

"Pep Boys does everything for less" all right. Like putting pep in your goose-step, then subduing you and your vehicle to the iron will of fascism.

I may not understand what they're up to exactly, but it can't be good. You've been warned, America. What you do (or don't) from this point is up to you.

Just remember...

 MJW