Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

what I said on the other site:

"I might take a little crap for this, but whatever. I do pay my quiet respects, but I refuse to honor WAR in any way, shape or form. I obviously was not born a 'natural warrior,' but I'd like to think that even if I had been (if such a thing exists), I'd feel the same way. Some of our greatest warriors, such as Hemingway, essentially expressed similar thoughts in their later lives. To endlessly celebrate and worship the "honor" of war is foolish; I don't care how many centuries we've been at it. Earth's population has more than doubled since about 1968-69. In my opinion the species will need to devote a hell of a lot more of its collective energy and treasure toward saving itself (and its home) going forward, "avoiding general system failure," than wasting its energy on constant, ruinous self-destruction."

You know, I get the feeling that sometimes I really piss off the folks over there. Sometimes. Can't help that. No, this is not a groundbreaking, genius sort of insight, and perhaps some would find it a bit "disrespectful." I disagree. Furthermore, I don't care if it's seen that way. People see what they want to see sometimes. Happy Memorial Day.

My favorite patriotic song for Memorial Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGlpxviu ... r_embedded


Not to worry anymore, nobody celebrates Memorial Day anymore.
Except maybe for surfermike, I think he has a cookout on Memorial Day and enjoys a couple beers and still being alive.

I like to to check out the adds for Memorial Day sales.

Listened to Memorial Day show interviews with soldiers in Iraq. When soldier was asked to name a song that sums up their mission in Iraq. He said "Send in The Clowns"

I drove around town hoping to see some flags at half mast. I don't know why I like to see flags at half mast. Not for some fucking dirty old man politician who did peacefully in his bed. But at half mast for the deaths every day, little deaths of people you never heard of, nobody important just another dead soldier, or civilian.

Not to worry about Memorial Day.
Just sign a loyalty oath and don't worry about it.


My flag count for today
Eight flags I saw on my flag inspection tour. Only one flying half mast today. At the VFW.

Trying not to think about it.
Traditionally, we'd visit our loved ones in the cemetery today, and bring flowers, spend some time. Since I'm too far away to go visit...but I can't get there and it could be a melancholy day.

By the way, that cemetery is the only one that holds my family, and last time I was there I was mad, they have no more room in the cemetery, no more room and no room for me.

I really think most of the human race just doesn't "get" what it is up against now. We have some serious issues to work on. Now.

The military impulse is so tempting and ingrained in our traditions (no, I won't call it genetics). And yes, I wish we could have one big, nice clean mission and sweep all the bad guys off the stage once and for all. There's a lot of needless injustice and oppression in the world; no one can deny that. But the world's an awfully big place and it will always be filled with injustice to some degree. To think that it can be solved by endless military force, especially of an essentially unilateral nature (and even mercenary in the eyes of many) pushed by one nation, is folly. I respect the courage and motivations of most of our servicemen and women, but I've lost nearly all respect for the judgment and real motivations of our politicians since Vietnam in particular, although such sketchiness goes back centuries no doubt. At some point doesn't the onus shift a little more onto 'we-the-people' to recognize these things and not buy so much into a blind sort of honor connected to it all?

Just a side note:

It amazes me how many of the architects of our current wars were too busy getting draft deferments during the Vietnam War.

Very good point. The chickenhawks.

I don't know. Maybe I'm a little off base here. Still though, when you read things like Henry Rollins' account of his USO tour (posted here last November) where some of the troops told Rollins they were actually protecting a pipeline right of way more than anything else, it makes you wonder. Like I said then, perhaps some people are ok with this; fighting for these sort of interests amounts to "fighting to preserve our freedom." I really don't buy it though. Maybe I've said enough for now.

I've narrowed it all down to a misguided instinct in the male species to penetrate --- anything.
And women, no matter how far we say we've come in our liberation, still looking the other way while the destruction continues, supposedly feigning feeling safe?

Bullets that penetrate to death any opposing positions, or imagined threats.
Drill baby drill. (penetrate mother earth til her soul is sucked dry).
"Viagra talks" with doctors, so physical penetration can continue until the very end.....Would life really be over if you couldn't "penetrate" anymore?
Base stupidity.
Failure to evolve spiritually.
Imbalance.
A mindset that remains frozen at about age 16.

To our Veteran's I am grateful and beholding.
Re the war mindset? I ask you to look very closely at my middle finger.
Look closely at what BP and all it's penetrating has caused.
Grow the fuck up warmongers. You are obsolete.
Happy "i'd rather not remember day".

HP

I said too much too
So what the hell
It is a job. A volunteer army. It is a paycheck and security for your family. Probably most thought about doing something for their country. But mostly I think it is just a government job.

What a way to make a living.

War is such a large part of our ecconomy we are addicted to it.

Always liked this book been a long time since I read it.

REPORT FROM IRON MOUNTAIN ON THE POSSIBILITY
AND DESIRABILITY OF PEACE

WITH INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL BY
LEONARD C. LEWIN

"A BOOK THAT SHOOK THE WHITE HOUSE."
--US. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT


Report from Iron Mountain unveils a hitherto top-secret report of
a government commission that was requested to explore the
consequences of lasting peace on American society. The shocking
results of the study, as revealed in this report, led the government
to conceal the existence of the commission--they had found that,
among other things, peace may never be possible; that even if it
were, it would probably be un-desirable, that "defending the
national interest" is not the real purpose of war; that war is
necessary; that war deaths should be planned and budgeted.
REPORT FROM IRON MOUNTAIN tells the story of how the
project was formed, how it operated, What happened to it. It
includes the complete verbatim text of the commission's hitherto
classified report.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Report ... n_Mountain

stilltrucking wrote:War is such a large part of our ecconomy we are addicted to it.

Another very good point. And unacceptable state of affairs.

Nice post, Hest. Yes. Please closely inspect my middle finger! Ha.


I suppose no one can deny that wars have been fought in more "genuine self-defense" at times in history. But for each such occurence you can probably find a hundred cases or more of needless warmongering. And when your economy becomes largely based on war (excuse me, I mean "defense"), well, you're basically fucked to some degree.

Yes but you said not genetic.

What is instinctive if not genetic.

Happy "i'd rather not remember day".

Hard to forget

My basic position has always been that human violence may be (possibly) instinctual and/or genetic (to widely varying degrees), but WAR is much more a product of cultural conditioning; much more arranged (by various power structures and interests often unrelated in any real sense to the participants themselves). And yes, these holidays do play at least a small part (maybe not so small) in the fostering recognition of war as an indelible part of our culture. Something like that.

As instinctual as apple pie

SPECIES ETHIC
Our animal nature, our biological nature is to live in relation to other people. The natural enviornment of humans is primaily culture, not the "natural world," narrowly defined as other species, climate, etc. The sudden and startling growth of The human brain around one million years ago was not in response to saber-tooth tigers, retreating glaciers, nor the intellectual challenge of getting nutmeat out of is shell, but in response to the emergence of culture itself. The brain mechanisms of self-defense, of predation, of territoriality, of sexual and family group affiliation, and of defending offspring have not been supplanted by culture, but raher speak through it in ways that we poorly understand. Culture is not illusory, movie-theater projection of bodily "drives' or "instincts." nor is the body a metaphor; wholly constructed by culture. Culture is as biologically real for humans as the body. Unless in a coma, we are always both culture bearers and bodies at ever moment.

Achilles In Vietnam

I see your point about the holidays like Memorial Day and Veterans Day, but I remind my self that these holidays were associated with specific events in history. Not a one size fits all generic holiday.

Today SooZen, Nathan and I went to the Ft Bliss National Cemetery. This is the 3rd year we've done this to pay our respect to Soo's dad who was a Pearl Harbor survivor, my own father who spent over 30 years in the Army and was assigned to Japan after the war. We also paid a visit to SooZen's uncle's grave site, his service was also during WWII. We didn't forget a friend of ours who died in '05, a Viet Nam vet who spent 20 yrs in the Army.

The entrance:



The cemetery was crowded with people attending, people of all races who had loved ones who had served in one branch or another of the military. I had asked one of the employees there how many flags were placed at the graves and she said there were 22,000 flags place at each tombstone Sunday, the day before the occasion.

A shot of a small part of this very large National Cemetery looking west-northwest:



This is a plaque that I came across that I had not seen before... the poem The Bivouac of the Dead by Theodore O'Hara:



It's a cleansing experience to attend something like this yearly Memorial Day occasion, seeing the patriotism of so many people, the small, personal U.S. flags at the tombstones, the roads throughout the cemetery lined with larger versions of our flag, and of course the beautiful day today was.

We saw several bikers scattered here and there throughout the grounds, dressed in biker gear, flying their own colors who were veterans themselves who either came to pay respect to their family members who had passed or even to pay respect to close friends (as we did). There is a powerful bond with so many people when it comes to honoring those who have served the country. It is akin to serving/defending one's own family from harm. Sure, there are those who lost their lives without personal injury from war.. many have once served the country and the country offers burial at a National Cemetery in return for their service, regardless of time spent. I wonder how many countries offer that to their citizens who have served their country? I would hope all countries honored their citizens for their service.

A beautiful Harley, whose rider we saw not far from the grave of our friend, parked street side, shining in the morning sunshine. The rider, dressed in black, was kneeling at a grave site with his forehead bowed down to the tombstone in a very serious repose for quite some time. Touching

I went out for a ride on Memorial Day just to see what I could see. Took my camera to take pictures of all the flags at half mast in honor of the sacred trust we place in the military. But much to my chagrin it was business as usual except for the flag at the VFW.
I want my Armistice Day back Cecil. The holiday on November 11th. In honor of my father's war. I don't like those generic one size fits all holidays.

Each god dam war should have its own Memorial Day. Maybe when we have 365 Memorial days each year we will find a better way.

Memorial year where we can't forget war, killing and destruction. You may have a point, JT.