09/11/11

"Today, we are all Americans." - A lady in France ten years ago (translated)

"United we stand, divided we fall." - Abraham Lincoln, I think?

"Nobody wins a war." - My friend in elementary school

"A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon." - Napoleon Bonaparte

"Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." - Yoda

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." - Albert Einstein

"Love is the flower you've got to let grow." - John Lennon

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Sorry about all the quotes; I was in a bit of a quoting mood. So ten years ago I was in first grade and the World Trade Center was bombed. I remember coming home and seeing the news, but I don't think I fully grasped what had happened at the time. Today I mentally weep for humanity, for as much as it is expanding, it is also eating itself up. While we might be the most intelligent race in terms of technological advancement, we seem to have the worst judgment. While there are certain types of fauna which take the lives of their own kind, we ought to know better. We knowingly torture, kill, lie, steal, rape, cheat, and so on. If there is a God, [He] must have lost control of us, or perhaps it is [His] plan to have us end the world. Perhaps the Big Crunch will be our mortician or janitor, to sweep away a barren world.

Osama Bin Laden, the man responsible for the bombings, was recently assassinated by our troops. I do not agree with what the man did. I don't miss him. And yet, does killing a killer reduce the number of corpses? Very unpatriotic. George Washington must be spitting from heaven. It's like if a child gets into trouble for fighting and the parent hits him to teach him violence is wrong. Or saying "Do not swear, dammit!" [see "Bad Words" - a recent post of mine]. This makes us no better than anyone else. If a police officer shoots a criminal who draws a gun first, that's one thing. But putting the criminal away and executing him or her? Murder is murder, no matter what clothes it wears.

This is one of many reasons I won't join the military. I am willing to defend who I love, but I don't go looking for trouble. It finds me. (And yes, I just quoted Harry Potter.) And to quote Ringo Starr:

Peace and love!!!!

- Lewis

Fame Famine on Friday

Since it's Friday, I couldn't escape people singing Rebecca Black's horrendous song "Friday" at school, which brings up an interesting point: Is it worth being well-known if nobody likes you? Apparently Mark David Chapman thought so; in murdering the beloved John Lennon, he sought to inherit John's fame. He gained infamy. Personally, I'd rather stay unknown than be frowned on by the universe.

It seems that some are so starved for a little attention, they'll draw it in a negative fashion. To them, negative attention is better than no attention. I disagree.

In other news, I may start noveling again soon. I have an outline for Creative Writing, and I plan to use it soon. Just need to edit this short story.... I'm apparently going to California this summer instead of uber-expensive Europe, which will be nice. Never been that far west before. Right now I'm considering fiction editing as a career. It looks good so far, but the screenwriting thing, according to Alex Sokoloff's blog, requires one to live in  Los Angeles. It might be a good town, but I don't know if I want to move there. Who knows? Only time will tell. I've been watching Doctor Who a bit more lately, and recently heard from a friend that the old seasons can be found at my local mall. Yes!! I'll have to look into that.

Time to wrap up now.

Cheers,

Lewis