Cameras are everywhere these days. On streetlamps, in offices, even at people’s front doors. Too bad there was no camera pointing at President Bush the minute he heard that Iraq was allowing the return of weapons inspectors “without condition.”

It sounds cynical to say that Bush would have been upset at the war being averted for now, but the statements from the Whitehouse seem to confirm that avoiding war is the last thing Bush wanted to do.

Deputy Whitehouse spokesman Scott McLellan says, “This is a tactical step by Iraq in hopes of avoiding strong U.N. Security Council action. As such, it is a tactic that will fail.

So, what we see is the Whitehouse, and presumably Bush, positioning itself to continue the push for the war in Iraq. With Bush’s main crutch and reason for war gone, what tactic will he use next? I assume that the oppression of the Kurds or some slight against the presumably upcoming inspections will be his reason.

Someway or another, he seems deadset on attacking Iraq. I truly would like to know what his real rational is. What is real motivation must be. It doesn’t seem to be greed, because how would he profit financially? It must be that he wants something to carry him to reelection. If we are in the midst of rebuilding the Iraqi society and putting in place a new government, Bush could argue that he should be reelected so that the work can continue with fewer bumps in the road.

That may also tie into his wanting to leave a legacy; to be remembered for something. He’s already got the WTC attacks to play on in his historical repertoire, so if he could add a succesful takedown of a “dictator” and a succesful war, his legacy might be complete.

Maybe we can’t fault him on that front. It seems to be a human condition to try and leave a mark. We all try to let our feelings be known. We want to ensure that our thoughts and experience are heard and impact the events around us. It’s a kind of cosmic graffiti that take part in every day. Maybe then, Bush is just a human suffering from a bad case of hubris and not a warmongering idiot. I haven’t cast my vote yet.

I worked a great deal this weekend. My brain is mush and my body aches. Now the weather is going to start changing and I’ll be sleepy all the time as the sun slides to lower hemispheres. But, none of that is as bad as being this guy:

I’ll have my day though. All that work paid off in the meeting today, as the client was happy. That means Boss Lady is happy, which means I am happy.

That happens often in life. We suffer through things that seem useless or ridiculous at the time. We complain, moan, and bitch. But on the other side of all that belly-aching, we come out learning something new about someone, something, or even ourselves.

It’s the message from the cosmos that as we choose paths, we create paths, and destroy paths. Something tells us deep down in our reptilian brain that everything has a reason. Everything has a purpose. Even formatting web forms at 2 in the morning will lead me to nirvana.

I hear whatcha saying, and the little soldier is ready for some playin.

I go to the BBC news page this morning and what do I see?
Two hypocritical articles staring back at me.

The first one spoke of Bush’s doubts for peace in Iraq.
The second has Bush warning Russia to quit messing with the rest of the Soviet bloc.

So I see the writing on the wall.
We can do as we please, when they’re on their knees.

If someone else should be the bully, and strike a neighbor.
We whine and complain, even though we lose favor.

This sad attempt at poetry serves merely to point out that nearly every day our foreign policy runs head-on into itself. We admonish the Palestinians for fighting for their homeland, yet we expect the soveriegn state of Iraq to roll over on our very whim.

As I posted in our forums a few days ago, America is founded on a contradiction. Indeed, many of our daily lives are contradictions. We drive Turbo Diesel Volvos with “Save the Rainforest” stickers. We buy glossy magazines that tell us how to communicate better, when their 400-page length gives time to only read. We accept, every day, that the poor among us did it to themselves and that the rich among us can’t possibly deserve it.

I have been there as well. It is a part of our culture, and we learn it very young. Remember all the talks about good sportsmanship just before the team yells “Let’s kill them!” Too often, I find myself without much personal sense of the big picture. I don’t feel how the world around me affects me on a daily basis. I seem to view events as individual circumstance and not a continuous flow of existence.

Maybe this is Bush’s problem. Perhaps, he is just not circumspect enough to reason out how idiotic he makes our country seem. Even the headline of that first article has a lot to say, “Bush ‘doubts’ Iraq will avert war.” Of course he doubts it. He knows that he is going to find a reason to blow the place up regardless of what Iraq does.

And all the while, he will be decrying Arafat’s name and cautioning Sharon to be “diplomatic.”

I got yo peace right here, Jackoff.

The sadness of this day fell across me like a pall this morning. Certainly the memories of those who died on this day presses down on the shoulders of all Americans, but for me, the sadness comes from a loss of hope. The disintegration of humanity’s ability to reach above itself and transcend the chains of this mortal coil is quickly evident to anyone who takes a look at downtown Manhattan.

In several thousands of years of civilization, humanity’s only great feat has been to devise better ways to kill one another. For a long time, we have placated ourselves with the supposed honor of war. We have bolstered or doubts with stories of heroism and selflessness in the face of certain death. But now, not even honor exists. Senseless death has taken its place.

Today reminds me of heroes, and it shows me that many of us learned nothing from them. We honor their memories with words and ceremony, but we continue to live our lives in direct contradiction to the lesson they could have taught us. We have not learned to be selfless, but to be vengeful. We have not learned to turn the other cheek, but to take an eye for an eye. We have not learned cooperation and understanding, but oppression and control.

Unfortunately, we’re not the only ones wearing blinders. Those who did this to us. Those who have calloused us and stoked our rage. Those who would do this again fight against the very thing that could set them free. We should remember them on this day as well. We should look at them as the example of what we could become.

For they are us, and we them. We are all humans. The potential for great good and astounding evil lives within each one of us. It’s this possibility, this duality that makes life worth living. To know that there is greatness being acheived every day and that some of that greatness might trickle down on your shoulders is why we all get up in the morning.

It is the dreams of our youth that still roil in the backs of our minds. It’s the stargazing child within us, the innocent, curious being that gives our existence meaning. The quest, the journey, the adventure. These are the things this day should teach us. These are the things that let us know that there is still hope left. There is still a chance for humanity to rise above the petty hatreds of our sullied condition. That chance for hope comes from one place. It just has many different names.

The Blue Man Group sent me this email:

We would like you to experience “Exhibit 13″ which was created as a way of expressing personal feelings about the impact of September 11. Members of Blue Man Group collaborated to design and produce all the elements of this piece. The film can be found at exhibit13.

The New York Times on September 6 featured an article about television programming around the September 11 anniversary. The article appears on the cover of the Entertainment section. It begins:

“In tribute to the victims of the 9/11 attacks, Blue Man Group has created an eloquent video. The usually explosive performance artists do not appear in it; there are no blue-painted heads in sight. Instead, pieces of white paper drift down in front of a pure black background as percussive music plays. All these papers were found in Brooklyn, where they floated across the river from the World Trade Center, and as they gently tumble from the top to the bottom of the screen some become legible: a sheet with scorched edges, filled with Japanese calligraphy; a letter that begins “Dear Recruiter,” a cover sheet that says “Exhibit 13.”

“At other times a cascade of falling papers suggests birds or snowflakes or bodies. The video is everything the gargantuan television coverage coming in the next days is not: it is poetic, imagistic and simple; it draws viewers in, inviting us to reflect rather than telling us what to think; it is three and a half minutes long.”

I suggest you take a look at this video.

CNN is offering a video feed of today’s events. So, for those of you who are working, chained to a computer, you too can watch the events of the day. On CNN’s home page they offer a “Live Video Feed.”

But you have to pay for it. Way to go CNN. Make money off the tragedy!

Everyone else, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, and others are offering their feeds on the internet for free. But not CNN.

Cash in on 2,500 lives, fuckers.

Tomorrow is the anniversary and what am I thinking?

CNN has a story called, Entertainment, a year later. Nothing like a bunch of ego-driven famous people talking about how hard it was for them. I’ve seen their stories for two weeks no on Access Hollywood. It must be tough to watch something like the NYC attacks from 3,000 miles away, in a mansion staffed with pool boys. How about, “My Ass, a year later - still working for shit for pay because I had to move on already.”

We are in the midst of a complete 9-11 overexposure. What’s worse is all the stories that are bound to covered next week about if 9-11 was overexposed. I agree with Cosbysweater’s comment. The media outlets discussing how much coverage is appropriate tomorrow is implying they actually stopped covering it at some point. They have been talking about the 1 year anniversary for months already.

I still remember with extreme clarity that day, when I first found out, and when I realized what impact it was going to have. Taranis and I messaged back and forth furiously that morning. I still remember the gasps in the conference room as we all watched the events.

Now I get to watch it 48 more times tomorrow from every camera angle. The media says they will be discrete, but all that means discrete but not so much so that they loose in the ratings. They’ll show it all again. Once was enough.

And, yes, the firefighters were heros. But the real heros among them are the ones that aren’t letting the media manipulate them on TV in the form of interviews for the sake of ratings.

I just wanted to let everyone know that the ads you currently see on the site probably won’t be there forever. We want to keep them, but we need to find a nice place to put them. In addition, we have pledged long ago never to have “ads” on this site. Well, clearly we have broken that pledge.

Except there’s a difference here. We make no money from these ads whatsoever. They are simply textad exchanges so that we might get some more readers and have more discussions on the site. Again, we make no money off this site and we never have. To be honest, we never will. We simply want to try to get more people participating so that the site is more engaging for everyone.

I also want to let everyone know that we can’t control the content of the ads. There is a distinct possibility that the sites these ads link to are not very much like our content-wise. If anyone sees anything objecitonable, please let us know so that we can let the ad exchange admins know.

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