What is so special about life?

     It's been about two weeks since the 'Boston bombings' and most American politicians have already given the 'Our-Thoughts-and-Prayers' speech(s).

     What most Americans don't realize is that the events of April 15, 2013, are a fraction of what millions of people across the third world experience every day.  The country of Syria is undergoing a civil war in which the government is using chemical weapons on its own people.  There are children across central Africa being forcefully scripted into amatuer armies to fight for a make-shift group of 'freedom fighters' who have probably commited the same level of atrocities as the government they're fighting against.  India is facing a horrid rape problem among its populace and many of those rapists don't even face justice because victim-blaming is rampant.  China has uncovered a new strain of avian flu that has killed 24 people already.  Etc, etc, etc.  What happened in Boston this month is not the worst thing that happened on this planet.

     Humanity is a cluster-fuck of rich people who don't give a shit and poor people who have to experience near-constant suffering.  This is why when people tell me to see the bright side of life, I don't know what fuck they're talking about.  Humanity is made up of a bunch of low-life assholes that don't do anything except fuck each other over.  Life on this planet is wasted on humanity and anyone would have to be a raging masochist to enjoy a day on it.  Humanity is a festering pile of shit.

    If it were up to me, I would have never been born.

Tradegy in Boston, Massachusetts. Where does America go from here?

     Today, in the midst of the Boston Marathon, an annual 26-mile race with 23,000 participant runners from around the world, the people of Boston found themselves amid a crisis situation as the marathon neared its close.  As the lead runners crossed the finish line on Boylston Street (at approximately 3:00 pm), two explosions (each within seconds of each other) sent the public into a frenzy.  Spectators and runners alike began to panic and scatter as the Boston Police Department snapped to attention.  Eyewitnesses later described the immediate damage, some of which was graphic imagery of bloody limbs torn off bodies.  Police reports later catalogue the event as an "apparent criminal act with the possibility of it being a terrorist attack."

      There was a third explosion some blocks away at JFK Library with no casualties; however, that was later proved to be unrelated to previous two explosions.  The cause of the third explosion was circuitry error within the building.

      Online media immediately exploded with descriptive tweets, digital photos of the scene, and even some mobile videos of the event as it was still playing out.  The New York Post, NBC News, and Fox News all published early articles of the disaster with slight speculation as to a possible suspect of the apparent bombing.  The three early articles speculated of a 20-year-old, Saudi Arabian national who apparently being guarded by authorities at a Boston hospital; the man had suffered injuries from the explosions.  Later reports revealed that a federal law enforcer was questioning that 20-year-old Saudi Arabian, but the Boston PD continued to reiterate over the coming hours that their law enforcement agency had no one in custody and made no arrests.  Throughout the chaotic hours there were reports of two more explosive devices discovered in the area, one of which was disarmed by a SWAT team and the other was detonated by police on a controlled manner.  

      There are now 3 confirmed deaths from the event with injuries numbering over a hundred.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Boston PD have since revealed that both law enforcment agencies took part in questioning the 20-year-old Saudi Arabian (who has not yet been charged with any crime) as well as several other individuals.

SOURCE: The Boston Globe, The New York Times, CNN, etc.

     This event is obviously tragic but, whether you like it or not, there is a political issue here.  The immediate aftermath of a crisis event is the prime time for fear mongering and finger-pointing.  I understand this because Americans wwnt through a similar time in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  The bombings today were much smaller than the 9/11 attacks but the issue remains.  We do not want to lose our collective head over who is to blame.  It is important to grieve but we also can't let this event be utilized by certain profiteers with a malicious agenda.

     "Those who sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither." - Benjamin Franklin

     I have already seen various conspiracy theorists ranting about how America needs this, that, or whatever.  Fear mongering and blaming a particular group of people is not the answer.  I believe America must grieve appropriately but in peaceful reflection, rather than anger and hatred.  We need to accept that we will never be completely safe and always be looking toward the future.  We should absolutely pursue whoever is responsible for this tradegy and stand with the city of Boston as it grieves for its devastated citizens, but we also need not become entangled in a web of senseless vengeance. America was once a symbol of intregrity and virtue and I think it's possible to climb to that mountain again.  America can move past tradegy but, to do so, we can't hang on to the past.  

As US military engagements appear to be winding down in Afghanistan, tensions are rising in the Pacific.

     As more Afghani military combatants take over US involvment in the conflict against the Taliban, the United States is beginning to increase its military presense in the eastern Pacific Ocean.  This includes basing 2,500 Marines in Australia and joint naval excercises with Japan.  In response to the recent threats of aggression by North Korea's new leader, Kim Jong-Un, the US has also stationed a land-based missile-defense system in Guam (a US territory) and is working with the South Koreans on possible retailliation tactics if the North Koreans were initiate a military conflict.
   
     "As a Pacific nation, the United States will play larger and long-term role in shaping the region and its future." - President Barack Obama to the Australian Parliament, November 2011.
   
     US involvment in the Pacific region has been essential part of its foreign policy since World War 2 and the are currently has 320,000 troops stationed throughout the Pacific.  However, an increase military excercises with countries like Australia and Japan is essentially a message to China saying that the US has plans for its backyard.
     China is somewhat suspicious of the American intentions in the intentions in the Pacific.  A spokeswoman for China delivered a statement at their embassy in Washington D.C.  She said, "We hope the US can respect the interests and concerns of other parties in the region, including China."

     "Our policy is not to contain China, it's to continue to strengthen our defense relationships with our allies and partners in the Asia-Pacific." - Pentagon Press Secretary George Little

     Beijing, China's capital, protested their exclusion from RIMPAC 2012, an internation maritime excercise.  The US has promised their invitation to the next RIMPAC in 2014.

SOURCE: The New York Times  


      Over the last 10 years, China has grown to the world's largest exporter and the number 2 economy in the world, just behind the US.  It seems that with China's rise on the global economic playing field, US dominance feels threatened.

SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal


     Are we seeing the beginnings of a new cold war?

Subjectivity (VIDEO).

The Marketplace of Revolution (VIDEO)

The Marketplace of Revolution

     This semester, I'm taking a class called Founding Peoples, it's about the American Revolution from the perspective of the commoners instead of the same old stories of the old white heroes (George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, etc.) that most of us are familiar with.  Throughout the class period, we have two books to read: The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence by T.H. Breen and The Unknown American Revolution: The Unruly Birth of Democracy and the Struggle to Create America by Gary Nash.

     I'm enjoying The Marketplace of Revolution very much because I'm relating much of it to today's consumer politics.  There are mamy people today who use the marketplace for political purposes and specific gains and this is nothing new.  Americans of two hundred years ago, when fermenting dissent against the British crown, would uses their power as consumers to throttle the British economy on their side of the Atlantic.  Amongst talk of revolution, no revolutionary was using British-imported products; Americans wanted to break their dependence from Great Britian.  On the eve of war, the revolutionaries would distinguish themsleve through their homemade products - utilizing British imports was considered an act of subservience.  

     Today, Americans are doing the same thing but against a different enemy: the banks; moving your money from big, corporate bank to a small, locally-owned bank is a political act and it's a powerful tool among consumers.  It's called economic freedom and it gives every consumer the power to affect policy through the market.  The difference today from two hundred years ago is the proliferation of information through media.  

Happy-fucking-New Year!

     It is now the year 2013.  As expected, we unfortunately survived the alleged 'end of the world'.  Now, we have another psuedo-crisis on our hands: the fiscal cliff.  I'm an unemployed college student at the moment so, technically, the cliff does not apply to me.  If it did, I probably still wouldn't care.  The reality is (for you stupid right-wingers) that taxes are necessary.  The US government needs to raise taxes on the wealthy to generate revenue so it fund the public services that we enjoy and maybe create some new ones.  I would gladly pay a slightly higher tax rate if it meant that I get government-sponsored healthcare.  

     Whatever...

     The world should have ended.