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Posted on September 20th, 2007 by Darvish.
Categories: History & Politics.
“Just when I think I’m out, they pull me back in”…You knew I wasn’t gonna let this go with just a comment on Myk’s entry!
The fact is that Bush, Cheney and their gang of misfits have been gunning for Iran (read as World’s largest concentration of gas reserves after Russia and oil reserves after Saudi Arabia) since day one. And what really bites is that our biggest ally in the Muslim world, Saudi Arabia, is in fact the biggest state sponsor of Muslim extremist terrorism, producing such great hits as Osama and the Sunshine band (9/11 anyone?), the Taliban Five, and the Sunni Iraqi Insurgents and the News. But we already have a sweet deal for their oil, so who cares.
So, yeah, the current Iranian regime has a bunch of hard liners with tough talk and anti-western/Israel rhetoric, but if you think about it (and you don’t even have to think real hard), they are actually the most moderate of all of the Muslim states, more so than even our biggest ally there. And if we had a President with even a single progressive, forward thinking bone in his body, we’d have figured out a way to make an ally out of Iran by now and gut out the real extremists and state sponsors of terrorism. And would probably be getting a much better deal on oil than over $80 a barrel.
But some ole habits die hard, and I’m afraid Bush’s good ole boy network has a pretty nasty habit of shooting themselves (and the rest of us) in the foot.
Posted on March 28th, 2007 by Darvish.
Categories: History & Politics.
Reading the entry by Myk on the lessons learned from the movie 300, I was reminded that I wanted to write my own commentary on the movie here and so rather than reply to his, here is my version.
While I’d be the first person to stand up for the underdog overachiever, neither the movie 300 nor the whole crap story that a hard-up Greek historian dreamt up inspire the least bit of admiration in me. Let me first make it clear that I am a firm believer in the survival of the fittest and not naïve to the fact that the victor always writes history. In this case, the Greek were eventually the fittest and crushed the Persian conquest to become the victor and thus have every right to present history in any which way they damn well please. However, in a time when mass media seems to progressively become more tainted with bias, when tensions between the West and the near East are at an all time high, and when ignorance in our country soars to never before seen heights starting at the top, I expected more from the self-proclaimed Indie types in Hollywood - more than a complete fabrication of history in which the Persians are demonized, more than using this fabrication to fuel the fires of the ignorant, and certainly more than creating fictional heroes and demons when so many real ones are around us.
You see, while some consider it foolish to believe the Herodotus tale that 300 Spartans would actually decide to go to battle against millions of Persians knowing fully well that they wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell in even putting a dent in the Persians’ progress, I actually believe that this sort of human spirit is possible when it comes to matters of patriotism and passion for your country and countrymen. I witnessed it firsthand when in 1980 a well equipped Iraqi army, much better organized than the flakes fighting the recent US invasion, attacked a completely disorganized and unaware Iran which was still putting itself back together after a bloody revolution. The Persians in the small border cities then where, much like Herodotus’ Spartans, well outnumbered (perhaps not as ridiculously exaggerated) and had little or no weapons or trained soldiers given the country was in chaos. And yet there were stories of teenage boys strapping grenades to their bodies and jumping under Iraqi tanks to slow their progress because they knew if the Iraqis made it to their village, their mothers and sisters would be raped and killed, and because they had been taught from the day they were born that a land weltered with their blood is far more admirable than a land surrendered to the enemy. A movie about that, glorified in all of that artistic cinematic beauty, would well serve the cause of inciting bravery and heroism and fighting our epidemic ignorance all at once. But then again, I’m not naïve enough to think these self-porclaimed Indie types are actually Indies.
Posted on March 14th, 2007 by Darvish.
Categories: Science & Technology.
In a diversion from my usual exploration of the human psyche, I’ve decided to occasionally comment on a subject of an entirely different nature: the world of high tech. This is, after all, where I’ve spent a great deal of my life dating back to my youth. Digital media, in particular, is a field that has always fascinated me primarily because there have been many complex challenges in creating the digital food chain that we all know and love today - from creation, to delivery, to presentation. Challenges that have taken many a valiant geek (if I may dare consider myself one) over the better part of the last century to overcome, and many more of which we have yet to conquer. That said, I want to bring your attention to a rather simple innovation that I’ve grown to love immensely as of late: internet radio.
As we transition into a wireless world where internet access is more and more ubiquitous, and as internet access on cell phones gets a boost in bandwidth (this is how fat the invisible pipe in the sky is that brings you the voices in your head) and becomes more affordable, gaining access to internet radio opens a world of listening entertainment never before experienced. Forget your old FM radio, your new XM radio and even your iPod. You will not only have access to thousands (literally) of radio stations, but you can access your music on a much larger than what Apple can squeeze into your pocket storage device at home. But with that ultimate, not-so-distant future slightly out of reach for most people, there’s still one easy way to get your internet radio to go. Record using a great free tool I found recently, and synch it with your favorite portable music player (or flash storage device). The free tool I’m talking about is Screamer Radio and you can find it at http://www.screamer-radio.com/. And as an avid supporter of “freeware,” I must say this is the first time EVER that I’ve found a free tool that meets EVERY expectation I would have for this application. So get on there, get the tool (feel free to donate a little dough for this brilliant piece of technology), and learn to love internet radio.
Posted on February 18th, 2007 by Darvish.
Categories: Philosophy & Spirituality.
I’m no saint, I admit. I do, however, in those moments when I am so inclined by some miraculous revelation, attempt to contemplate the essence of virtue. What I’ve found most arduous in this pursuit is that while anyone can offer a simplistic definition, there is fundamentally no definitive argument that cannot be reversed if looked at through a different perspective, primarily because any definition offered is driven by social rule whether it is rooted in theocracy or democracy. And the fact remains that while it is easy to argue that each society survives on the sanctity of its moral laws, these laws may not and often do not transcend the overwhelming desires and basic needs of individuals and societies paired against each other. Consider the definition offered by the American Heritage dictionary:
“1a. Moral excellence and righteousness; goodness. b. An example or kind of moral excellence: the virtue of patience. 2. Chastity, especially in a woman. 3. A particularly efficacious, good, or beneficial quality; advantage: a plan with the virtue of being practical. 4. Effective force or power: believed in the virtue of prayer. 5. virtues Christianity The fifth of the nine orders of angels in medieval angelology. 6. Obsolete Manly courage; valor”
The first obvious realization is that a traditional definition is full of double standards, where different genders (or races, religions, or cultures, etc.) may substantially disagree on basic elements of virtue. The second is that much of what is commonly considered virtue has been adopted by all organized religions in various forms and indoctrinated through the generations as such, and finally that a third axis, time, is also a variable in the whole ambiguity of this paradigm.
But if things like chastity and not killing others and proliferating democracy are elements of virtue, is it then lack of virtue if a woman sells her body to feed her starved children whom would otherwise be destined for certain death? does killing a man to let a thousand live make killing right? Is it morally just for one nation to rape, pillage and for all intensive purposes destroy another sovereign nation in order to “liberate” and “bring democracy” (we all know what it’s really about )?
Moral judgment is fraught with these ambiguities, and if you were hoping I would offer some Swiss Army knife definition that would suddenly help you soar to never before experienced levels of enlightenment…well, I hate to disappoint, but I would have to be truly intoxicated for that. My simple aspiration here is to resolve that it is an absolutely critical responsibility of each of us to question the meaning and relevance of virtue in everything we do, not simply as it applies to our own interests but more so as it pertains to those around us. And in the process, one must dare to defy the traditional guidelines of any society, explore the matter from all perspectives, and know that in the end, the virtuousness of a decision lies only in one’s ability to live with the consequences. Now, only if I could live with the consequences of writing this…
Posted on February 3rd, 2007 by Darvish.
Categories: Philosophy & Spirituality.
“If you truly wish to test a man’s character, give him power,” said Abe Lincoln. I know, a bit unassertive to start with a quote, but once again, I urge you to indulge me as there is some method to this madness. Note that he did not say “power corrupts” or “it’s lonely at the top” or some other ghastly cowardice more likely to come from a frustrated under-achiever.
The fact is that to hold power has as much to do with exercising power as it does with how it was achieved. Consider for a moment the average comic book superhero; the character and motives usually deeply rooted in some intense life experience (be it worldly or some cosmic cataclysm), it is the exercise to overcome this turbulence that defines the ultimate desire to do good. The villain, in many cases much the same way, has been faced with a life changing challenge at some point and yet, by great contrast, has evolved into an evil hell-bent on making everyone (notably every citizen of Gotham) pay for his or her misfortune.
So if it is the trials and tribulations of life that form one’s character and ultimately result in one’s aptitude for exercising power for good or for bad, one cannot help but wonder why those who eventually reach positions of power, having gone through similar hardships in life, choose glaringly different paths when it comes to bestowing righteousness versus evil. Which then leads to wondering whether there is such a thing as basic goodness, and if so, is it doled out in different quantities, and do some simply not get any during whatever process it is that you believe creates humanity.
Allow me to conjecture…No. We are not all created equal (that’s obvious given I’m writing this bit of insightful brilliance, albeit intoxicated sounding, and a certain President who shall remain nameless couldn’t form a sentence were he dangling from a stick of bamboo high above an active volcano and about to become a human sacrifice and all he had to say was “please let me go” – but I digress). Basic goodness, however, I propose exists in every single one of us. And though some of us may experience and overcome similarly daunting challenges in life, the fundamental goodness borne in us from day one does not become greater or lesser. Our character, however, is greatly shaped by exactly how we choose to overcome each challenge and how we fare in doing so. The integrity, then, becomes a vehicle with which the character is driven, be it good or evil (largely dependant on your definition of each which is a topic for another chapter).
So, to test a man’s character, you need not give him power…powerful characters need no charity. My advice: try to take their power away and see how they fare.
Posted on January 25th, 2007 by Darvish.
Categories: Philosophy & Spirituality.
It is said that those with little to lose are the ones to watch. So having the utmost respect for the moments in my life when I had little to lose, it is with some reservation that I broach this topic, and for that reason, I ask for your patience as I write this very first rambling here. I do have a point. I promise…
We are delicate beings…I know, not a very macho thing to say, but hell, one need look no further than one’s thin skin: so susceptible to a tiny thorn on the stem of a rose. So it is understandable, then, that we hold on to material possessions and spend a lifetime in pursuit of a cash pile so enormous that ultimately no matter what the delicacy, we have a defense. The skin, physical health, physical aesthetics, mental health, sexual health, the ego - wherever the insecurity lies, one can readily offer a sum positive cash solution and find solace in that ultimate of cures…yes, the Ben Franklin, the mula, the green…And yet I argue that, subconsciously, every one of us longs for that most illusive of all desires: content!
It’s just that the definition of content gets warped in a society where, increasingly, happiness is measured by how big things are: your house, your engine, your breasts or your penis (sometimes both!), etc. If this were a simpler society, say that of ancient Rome or Persia, and we had what we have today, we’d be living phatter and richer than kings. You wouldn’t need a 500 horsepower exotic car or a Gulfstream jet or a girlfriend with a skinny ass and double Ds. Your 120 horse beater would kill any 6 or 8 horse chariot and economy class tix would be the envy of every Emperor in 500BC, not to mention a voluptuous 150 lb, titless, 5’2” Venus figure on a girlfriend! And therein lies my point: give it all up…live off the land…be content. You’re still better off than most and there’s always someone who’s got it worst than you do…As for me, content is still a ways off. So here’s wishing I’ve convinced you!
