Continuing

Today's Topics:

• The Internet
• 9/11

Well, I'm back like I promised.  Yay!  Well, I'll just pick up where I left off.


So I was in a bookstore and picked up a novel by the name of Is the Internet Changing the Way You Think?: The Net's Impact on Our Minds and Future by John Brockman.  I found it fascinating.  As the title implies, it is about how the internet is changing the world we live in. 

The book pulls in many, many different writers, from all walks of life, from scientists to reporters.   All in all, it's a great book, and worth a read.  Unfortunately, it cost the hefty Australian price of $30.  Now it's a thick book, and probably well worth the money, but at the moment I don't have $30 that I'm willing to part with for a book.

Plus, the same thing is $10 on Amazon.  Of course, I prefer the cover here better, but whatever.


So today is 9/11.  Later hours of it here, Down Under, but just beginning back in the States.  I'm not exactly sure what to say.  Normally I give these blog posts quite a bit of thought before even beginning to write them.  Like all the things you just read about the book, I had pretty much planned word for word yesterday. 

But this, well, this has sort of taken me by surprise.  I'm not normally on par with the current date, so I only found out this morning that it was 9/11 after someone mentioned it.  I had actually been thinking about it recently, but I thought it was a few days from now. 

The topic of 9/11 is a bit touchy...Some strive to remember while some wish to continue, letting it rest well in the past. 

I think the answer is to do both.  As the war in the Middle East becomes less and less popular, both for the people living there and for the people watching it from afar, it's important to remember why we are fighting.  Some may say it's to avenge those who died that day, but I don't.  I say it's to make sure it doesn't happen again.  Not to anyone.  The day was bad enough...if it were to happen twice, imagine what it would do. 

Unfortunately, I think that 9/11 had to happen.  It would probably happen eventually.  Maybe it wouldn't be as bad, maybe it would be even worse, but I think a major terrorist attack would strike somewhere in the world at one point in time, if it hadn't on 9/11.  So now we're cautious.  Now we're a bit more prepared for the next time terrorists rear their ugly heads.  Now we are ready. 

Which brings me to another topic I actually had planned a bit...the war...War has changed a lot.  We went from the horrors of WW II and Vietnam, and slowly moved through a few conflicts I know little about.  Now we're in a different kind of warfare.

For one thing, in the wars of old, you probably had a good idea when you were going down.  You would look out on the battlefield, hear the the command to charge issued, know that this was probably it, and might say some prayers.  But now, one minute you're there, and then one minute you're gone because of a bomb.  Whether this is a good thing or not depends on how you look at it and who you are.

Also, the line between enemy and ally was much clearer, I believe.  Keep in mind I'm not as much of an expert as I like to think.  Anyway, we could go and say, "Alright, this country right here is our enemy!"  But now, despite having a name for Al Qaeda, we're fighting more of an idea, than anything.

The idea that certain ideals are the only ideals making you worthy of living.  And no matter what we do, it's impossible to extinguish an idea.  But, both fortunately and unfortunately, that's not the only thing we have to worry about.

We also need to make sure that the local governments can take more control, so that we don't have to extinguish the idea.  We just need to make sure it's in check.  Sadly that's all we can do, which I think is somewhat new to warfare.  Not something you see very often in history. 

We're fighting in someone else's country, but we're not fighting them.  We're helping them.  And not just because we're allies, but because the whole world is at risk because of the happenings within the country, and the governments own failure to...well, work, it seems. 

And really we'll never be able to get the 'We win you lose' we had in other wars.  Unfortunately, all we can really get is "That's good enough, let's pull out." 

The war-torn countries of the Middle East are extremely dangerous, and not from the battles themselves, but the things that have started them.  The bombs. 

A huge reason everyone is there is because of this danger.  They're there to stabilize the government to make sure that they work, and the country is once again safe.  Which isn't something we've ever really seen before.  Like I said, war has changed.  The game has changed.  We have to change.  I think 9/11 was just the horrible transition needed to get us to push for this change. 

Getting back to the original point, remembering VS forgetting, I think we need to remember.  For now.  To push through the horrors the Middle-East holds for both local citizens and foreign soldiers.  After that, though, I think it's best to let it go.  Remember, for sure, but that's it.  Accept that it's in the past, it's over, and we just need to get on with our lives without it nagging at us.  A moment of respect should be about all we need. 

I'm not exactly sure what I'm saying here.  Maybe it makes more sense if you happened to read the discussion 'Theramore Will be Destroye don 9/11" on the World of Warcraft forums.  Some predicted a major attack on one of the virtual cities would happen today.   
 
Important note: Not any sort suicide bombing or kamikaze, just an attack that damaged the place badly.  Also I believed the event in question happened about a week ago. 

One quote I remembered one person saying, and many people copying after, "It was years ago.  Can we have the day back?" 

I think once the war over, this is what should happen.  I'm not saying to be senseless, as in have goofy comedies about the event.  We just need to move on, and not care too much about things like the event above.

Well I'm ranting about things I probably don't know enough to rant about, and it's quite a long one.  I'll just leave it here tonight.