So I was driving yesterday and saw the following bumper sticker “Home of the Free, Because of the Brave” and it got me thinking. Now let me just say outright that I admire all men and women in the service. They do a fantastic job and are indeed some of the bravest people. Nothing in this post is meant to be knock against them at all. I have nothing but respect for them. That having been said…
Do people really believe that we are free because of the recent wars we’ve fought? Do we really have some major threat of invasion that is being held off? True, terrorism is a major threat, but I’m not afraid that Al-Qaeda is going to take over our country. And if anyone did in fact invade the US (Tag-team from Canada and Mexico perhaps?), I tend to believe that the rest of the world (or at least parts of Europe) would come to our aid. True they may hate us and think of us as oafs, but I’d like to think that they are close enough to allies that they’d come to our aid.
So I started thinking about our freedoms and which wars actually had an impact on that. By my calculations we’re 4-1-2 in wars. We were victorious in the American Revolution, WWI, WWII, and the Gulf War, lost Vietnam (yes they soldiers fought bravely, but anyone who considers that war a win, or even a tie, is delusional), and I’ll give us ties in the Korean War (split country, split decision) and the Civil War (you can’t actually win or lose when fighting yourself). And for those of you wondering where the current war in Iraq falls, it doesn’t. When you bring your nation’s army (coalition of the willing? Ha!) into another nation to overthrow the leaders of the second nation, that’s an invasion, not a war.
So, there’s no debating that the American Revolution gave us our freedoms, and if we had lost WWI or WWII our way of life would be considerably different from what it is now, but what about the others? I’ll grant the Civil War as playing a large role in our freedoms too (especial those of the black population), but not much changed form the Gulf War or Korea. And after losing in Vietnam (oh no, here comes big bad communism to overtake the world!), we were still perfectly free to go about our ways.
So basically the last war that really had a major impact on defending our freedoms would have to be WWII. That’s not to say that what our soldiers did in the other wars, and even in the times of peace, weren’t important, it’s just that to constantly say that our soldiers are “protecting our freedoms” is an outdated notion. It’s sort of like TV personalities telling you not to “touch that dial”. It’s just lost its meaning.
In Other News…
Are Jeans Formal, or Are Heels Informal? I’ve seen it more and more, women in heels and jeans. Why would you do that? To me it’s like tucking your t-shirt into your jeans. If it’s casual enough that you can wear jeans I think you can skip the heels (or leave the shirt untucked). I always hear that heels are uncomfortable, so why wear them when you don’t have to?
What’s the Point Then? In another female fashion trend that I can’t understand, I was sitting on East Ave. (people watching), and noticed a woman walk by with those tiny, tight little shorts with big, bold letters on the ass. As she walked by some guy he turned and looked (stared) at her ass, and she gave him a dirty look. Now, I think men should be a little more considerate, or subtle, about checking out women, but when you have gigantic letters plastered across your ass what do you expect? It’s going to draw attention. That’s why they’re there. If you didn’t want to draw attention to your ass then you shouldn’t be wearing shorts that say “SEXY” in white block letters across the backside. It’s almost like those shirts that say “My Face Is Up Here” in big letters with an arrow pointing up. Yes, it’s humorous, but also is sort of self defeating for any woman actually trying to get a man to not look at her chest. Let’s face it ladies, men are simple creatures, and we’re easily distracted by big shiny things.
What Happened to the Guy on Second? I was watching Sports Center this morning and they were showing highlights of a baseball game (I know, first sign I should have changed the channel). The bases were loaded, and so-and-so hits what was described as a “bases clearing double”. Does anyone else see a problem with that? I’ll give you a second to consider it…. If the man at the plate hit a double, that would mean he was currently on second base. If he was on second base then there was still someone on base. If there was still someone on base, then the bases had not been cleared. Hence, you can’t hit a bases clearing double. The only way to really clear the bases is to hit a homerun (or hit into a double play or some such thing).
Those Are Loverboy Songs Er. I was at work watching Regis (not by choice, it was all that was on), and they mentioned how they were going to have Loverboy on. Not only was I shocked to hear that they were still together (or back together?), but I also found out that they have a new album! How is this at all possible? I mean, to quote ATHF, Loverboy has always sucked.
Toyota I Have an Idea For You… I was driving behind a Toyota Highlander when the most fantastic cross marketing gimmick crossed my mind. Toyota should sponsor a demolition derby. The catch: only Highlanders would be allowed in. The tag-line: There Can Be Only One!
My God is More Like Anthony Edwards. So I saw some guy parked down on East Ave. with a “God is My Pilot, I’m Just the Co-pilot” bumper sticker. It’s a nice sentiment, but yet again people seem to have gotten it wrong. Do you really want him to be your pilot? Cause I know he doesn’t want to be. That’s why he gave us something called free will. If God is really your pilot then he’s in control of everything and you’re just along for the ride. That’s a sad existence. God should be more of a navigator. He directs you where you should go, but you have to actually make all the choices and fly yourself there.
A Childhood Paradise. There is an ice-cream stand on the way back from Brockport named Choo Choo. And to complete the childhood boy trifecta they also have a T-rex mascot. Add a transformer and/or some legos in there somehow and I would have insisted on going there every day when I was a kid.
It's Going Down, And Going Nowhere. As I flip through the radio stations I am constantly blasted by Young Joc's new song "It's Going Down". It's not a terrible song (at least not by pop radio standards), but it still bugs me. I'm not sure if it's the melody, the beat, or his rapping, but I'm always waiting for the song to go somewhere, like it's a lead-in for something, but it never does. It might work really well in some sort of mashup or mix, but on it's own it just feels like such an incomplete song. It almost reminds me of Ben Folds' 4/10ths of a song.
Unnatural Environment. I was glancing through an Ithacan vegetarian pamphlet and I ran across an article encouraging people to turn their pets into vegetarians too. Their main argument is that "your pampered pets live in the unnatural environment of your home...so your animals are far removed from their 'natural' environment" therefore you can feed them unnatural things. Now can't you just make the same argument for feeding your pet anything then? And my favorite part is that they encourage you to make your cat veggie, despite the fact that they even say "cats are true carnivores who require taurine...which is found in animal tissues." Ok, you can make the argument that humans don't need to eat meat, but trying to force a carnivore into giving up meat? That's just cruel. As much as I like vegetarians and vegans, some of them just go way over the edge. Go ahead and encourage humans and such to give up meat, but leave the carnivores alone. Thousands of years of evolution have made them that way. And until they evolve more on their own, leave them that way.
Veg Note #2 If meat is so unimportant to a human diet why do vegetarians keep trying to make foods that look, smell, and taste like meat products? Sure if you're baking a cake or something and you need an egg-like substitute, I can see that. But if you're going to give up meat eating veg burgers and soy dogs and such just seems like cheating. I know I almost felt like I was cheating in my vegetarian month when I ate such things. It's just that it seems like a half-assed effort to trick yourself. Still, if I were to ever go veg again I'd probably still eat such things (just more proof that I don't see myself fully cut out for the veggie lifestyle).
More Proof I’m Insane. Last night I had a dream that I was involved in the formation of a new sports league that had penguins that raced downhill on snowboards. The problem with the league was that all the penguins were getting sunburns from the bright lights used to light up the night races (apparently the penguins can’t race during the day, plus you need those primetime ratings). Oh, and one of them accidentally got his hands on a snowmobile and almost took out my log cabin’s porch. Luckily the damage was only minimal and the structure was salvageable.
So I'm off to Boston for the weekend, but I do have an interesting story for when I do return. Let me just say that it involves a Tom Petty concert, a cooler of beer, and some interesting people. Enjoy your weekends!