Disneyland Closes At 35

Rules of Engagement

I am not certain what constitutes the rules of engagement for our military personnel in Afghanistan. I heard a report from a usually good source yesterday that the rules of engagement do not allow our soldiers, marines, airmen or sailors to engage a Mosque, religious shrine or anything of the like under any circumstances.

I tend to believe this report as I know the same rule was followed in Iraq in places like Karbala. The enemy was engaging our troops and we knew the location from which the fire was coming; still, we could not engage.

I heard a further report, which if true, is genuine cause for alarm and disgust. Twelve of our military personnel at a remote Afghan outpost were killed, two by Taliban posing as Afghan police officers and eight by a force of more that one hundred Taliban who emerged from a mosque at the bottom of the hill just forward of our soldier's outpost. I'm told that we knew all too well that the mosque harbored a number of Taliban as well as their arms and ammunition; still, we did not act on that intelligence to remove the threat which killed our soldiers. Why?

American forces have the means to inflict complete devastation on the Taliban, on their strongholds and on their supporters. The mosque and the Taliban within could have been destroyed by a cruise missile launched from a thousand miles away. The options that could have been employed to kill these murderous individuals are myriad. What good are the finest weapons in the world if they cannot be used. Our troops are still slugging it out with rifles, machine guns and grenades. Why?

The President sent a highly decorated General to Afghanistan to revive and renew our mission. Now, the President hardly ever even speaks with the General and ignores his petition for more troops and more sensible rules of engagement. Why?

Perhaps we should not remain in Afghanistan. Why not just cut bait and run? Why not simply ignore promises made, like we did in Vietnam, and come home. Our government has got promise breaking down to a science. In this way we could once again ensure that the service of our military, and their deaths, were all for nothing. Prepare to hold your nose once more.

Above and Beyond the Call

In my role as a college professor I sometimes have students in my classes with disabilities. These disabilities have been documented and certain leeway or latitude is provided subject to the recommendation of the Disability Services department of the college, i.e., a student might be allowed to have additional time to complete a project or test, or they might be provided the opportunity to take the test in isolation from others so as not to be disturbed by sights or sounds.

I have such a student in my class this semester. I cannot define the student's disability, even anonymously; still, suffice it to say that the student is very bright, while at the same time having disabilities that should and do recieve special attention.

The student has not been able to be in class for quite some time. A note taker was assigned by the Disability Services department. She is a young lady from a foreign land, a land that obviously takes responsibility seriously. She has appeared in all the classes that the student missed and she has taken copious notes.

Today was exam day. I noticed that the student with disabilities was not in class. I did not notice that the note taker was in class. She was in class, she took the exam, she signed the student with disabilities name to the test, and came up to hand turn in the exam.

I of course told her that she could not take the test in the name of another student. She seemed surprised and disappointed that she could not finish her work. She had studied hard for the test and had wanted to do well for the student who could not be in class for the test.

Things must truly be different in the land that she calls home.

Keep Passing the Open Windows

The title of this post comes from a novel I once read. I cannot remember the name of the author or the name of the novel. I know that he wrote several novels, one of them Cider House Rules, so I could easily look him up, but I'm not in the mood. Suffice it to say that I was taken with his work.

One of the primary characters in this novel was a dead dog. His name was Sorrow. He was, of course subsequent to his death, stuffed by a Taxidermist and continued to exist, albeit in an altered state, with his family. He somehow ended up in the lake or the ocean or some body of water and was not recovered.   

Sorrow Floats.

He did, and it does. Sorrow is ineffable, more than sadness, more than grief. Sorrow is irremedial and usually attends actions and choices made that can never be amended or forgiven. Thus, at least in the referenced novel, thoughts about suicide are constant in the minds of several of the family members. They have learned to keep passing the open windows. To stop in front of an open window is to risk actualizing their thoughts of self-termination.

I'm not thinking about suicide. I am thinking of Sorrow. I am thinking that one should keep passing the mirrors. I may remove all the mirrors from my home. They are a reminder of a life gone by, a body gone by, a life too far right of middle age.

I have recently heard a good deal about assisted living centers. No, I've not as yet been packed up by my concerned children and admitted to such a facility. I spoke to someone who has been placed in assisted living. She said it felt like being left at the veterinarian while the family was on vacation, never to return, except for the odd visit to tell you how nice you're prison had turned out to be. I urged her to bust out of the place and told her I would be there to assist her in her escape.

She replied, "Keep passing the open windows." I replied, "Sorrow floats."

What's Over the Next Hill?

I suppose it too dramatic and maudlin to say that I sense great changes taking place in this country. I don't know any other way to say it.

That feeling has left me anxious and expectant, not so much for me, but for my children, grandchildren and others. I hope that what is coming is good, even great, that our country can rise above itself to solve the problems of health care, racism, social injustice, bigotry, selfishness and all the myriad human frailties that have plagued mankind from the beginning.

There are many things that are of concern to me in the 6th decade of my life. I, as much as anyone, want the sick to be cared for, whether they have money or not. I'm just not sure how that is to be accomplished.

I want all American troops to come home to their families and loved ones; still, I want America to stop breaking its promises. I witnessed the results of promise breaking during the aftermath of Vietnam, and I am ashamed that we broke our promise and left our allies to suffer and die. I feel that my service in South Vietnam, and that of my friends and comrades, some of whom died in the process, was severely diminished by the actions of our government.

I want to believe that people can, of their own accord, choose to do good, choose to help those less fortunate than themselves, choose to be fair-minded and just, without government having to do it for them. I just don't know how many people will make those kind of choices, rather than choices that always seem to be in their own self-interest. I do not claim to be exempt from or unaffected by this moral dilemma. I usually act in what I believe is self-interest. I need to be less selfish.

I sincerely doubt that government will make better choices than individuals.Our Congress seems to lack the ability to make any decisions. Even if they did I doubt they would stick by them past the next election, at which time some other course of action might serve the individual members of their body in some politically better manner.

I want to believe that Post-Modernism is flawed in its viewpoint. I do not want to believe that there are no absoulutes in terms of truth, or justice, or right, or wrong. I do not want to believe that every statement is no more than part of a metanarrative, a story and nothing more; still, it does seem that everything is just a story. Sean Hannity has his and Michael Moore his. One is no more absolutely true than the other. Both are simply narratives told for the purpose of persuasion.

Athens, during the time of Socrates and Plato, was filled with traveling teachers who were paid to teach students how to argue for any position. These Sophists were unconcerned with truth. They were only concerned with persuasion. One might ask, What does ancient Athens have to do with Washington, D.C.?

Perhaps everything.