My Heart Breaks
Documenting the Return of U.S. War Dead
It was insanely difficult to look at these photos. Makes me glad I thank those in uniform every chance I get, because I don’t think we can thank them enough. I’m also glad more attention is being paid to their families, because we can’t thank them enough, either.
Wreck of the Day
“‘One looks at the outcome.’ Si guarda al fine. Machiavelli’s statement here may seem to suggest he is saying that the end or outcome justifies whatever meas the prince might use to achieve it – in other words, that a good end makes even the most wicked means morally acceptable. But what he is really saying is that people will judge a prince’s means to be good as long as he succeeds and the outcome is beneficial to them. Machiavelli admits, both here and in his works generally, that morality may be a good thing, but it is not what drives people’s behavior in the real world. What he is not saying, however, is also important, for by not declaring that the end justifies the means for the prince, he is not offering the prince a convenient way out of the moral dilemma he faces, which results from the fact that if he wants to gain and keep political power, he has to do despicable things that cannot really be justified morally by the end he pursues….
“Machiavelli imagines a world always at war. Since he sees human beings as being driven by insatiable appetites…and since the means to satisfy those appetites are finite and thus insufficient, conflict and competition are inevitable at every level, from individuals through towns and cities up to nations and empires. Such a world will never know real stability, and its history will be unpredictable, moving forward not as steady progress, but by the irrational leaps and bounds produced by appetite and conflict.”
~From An Introduction to The Prince and Other Writings, translated by Wayne A. Rebhorn.
Hatred is an irrational thing. Hatred is easy to cultivate, even easier to propagate, and simple to prolong. It causes people to believe, to act, and to educate others according to a premise that depends heavily upon subjective experiences and long-lasting prejudices. It breeds distrust and allows grudges to fester and boil under the surface until tragedy erupts. Hatred, above all, garners more hatred. Hatred is contagious.
Love is also irrational. Love is difficult to cultivate, challenging to propagate, and almost never lasts beyond a generation. It causes people to believe, to act, and to educate others according to a premise that depends heavily upon subjective experiences and long-lasting prejudices. It blinds us to faults and allows imperfections to persist until consequences of ineptitude overwhelm. Love, above all, is what we all strive for, but rarely find.
I had my very long rant the other night about Israel’s current actions in Gaza, wore myself out, and came to no good conclusions. I’m frustrated, ashamed, angry, and heartbroken. For the past week, I’ve been blaming my inability to sleep regular hours on my return from two weeks in California, but I know that the two hour difference doesn’t have that kind of impact on my biological clock. Instead, I’m coming to terms with the fact that the Israel/Gaza conflict is keeping me awake at night, and making me wish I didn’t have to get up in the morning. No, I don’t have family or close friends in Israel, although I do know a few people who are living in relative safety. No, I’m not Jewish. But my conscience is being torn in two and the split is palpable.
Half of myself cries for the people of Gaza who wanted to believe in a future with improved infrastructure for their children, a better quality of life, and the possibility of a peaceful Palestinian State. For the people who didn’t vote for a Hamas government but had no collective voice with which to speak out and act. For the people who would have left if they had somewhere to go and the means to get there. For the people who call Gaza home.
The other half supports Israel, rarely seen on the offense, who just wants to be left alone.
Underneath It All
I have been skincare-crazy ever since my mom let me indulge in an entire skin care regiment at a high-end department store for my 20th birthday. After a few years of cleansing and protecting my skin on a regular basis, I now swear by three key elements: a cleanser, sunscreen, and a moisturizer. We only get one body – we should do all we can to take care of as soon as we realize we’re in charge of how it changes throughout our lifetime: caring for it internally by eating right and exercising regularly, and caring for it externally by protecting our skin. Then I came across this the other day and it got me really thinking:
Protection is key. We watch for good posture, stretch, and exercise to keep our muscles and other key parts in shape, taking extra care to watch for our heart and joints. As long as it’s daytime, regardless of what the weather is like outside, we need to be wearing sunscreen that protects against UVA and UVB rays – and not just on our faces, but all over. This guards against excessive damage and, more importantly, serves as our main defense against skin cancer. And as long as you have skin, a moisturizer is important – your skin is waterproof, which means water doesn’t leave your body willy-nilly. This also means that water in the atmosphere doesn’t enter your body willy-nilly, either. Our bodies are losing moisture constantly – drinking water helps the skin you can’t see. But the skin you can see is what’s on the front lines of battle with the environment every day and it needs the most help – a moisturizer does that for you.
Although we don’t have any major longitudinal studies to demonstrate how effective these preventative measures are yet, we can act as our own studies. Ladies (and gentlemen, I’m addressing you as well), we are the first generation to both appreciate a good tan and benefit from the knowledge of how important skin protection is. My mom loved slathering on the cocoa butter and soaking up the rays in the ’70s. Now she says she’d trade her glorious 20- and 30-something tan for healthier skin any day. She’s not just talking about the signs of aging – aging is natural – but there’s the fear that there may be damage below the surface that we have no way of fighting: the beginnings of skin cancer. In today’s world, we can have our beloved bronze and not have to sacrifice or risk our health to get it. The teens and 20-somethings who jump on the skincare bandwagon now will be the 50-70 year olds later who can boast a reduced risk of skin cancer, minimal fine lines, limited age spots, and improved collagen compared to the generation before them – and all naturally through prevention.
Two weeks ago, I launched a Mary Kay business, mostly so that I could use MK’s phenomenal skin care line at half price. I figured since I was going to be using their unbelievably fantastic products anyway, I might as well save a bundle of money while I’m at it. Investing in my skin today is probably one of the things I’ll appreciate most when I’m 65…75…85…
What have you done for your skin lately?
Present Preoccuation With Pachyderms
Lots of elephant exposure recently:
Florida delegates at the Republican National Convention this past week;
Xiguang, the Asian elephant who successfully completed a detox program to address his heroin addiction;
…and the numerous references to families of children with Autism who have made their stories known to the presidential candidates.
In the first example, it’s fitting that many topics and names were not mentioned by speakers at the RNC, all considered unapproachable from a political PR standpoint: Dick Cheney, the economy, President George W. Bush, torture, etc. References to specific individuals, events, and issues were either ignored completely or quickly passed over. So many elephants in the room at that convention. Of course, I mean the hats.
Second, the elephant Xiguang illustrates how skewed our perceptions are about the impact of drugs on our everyday lives. If a pachyderm has reason to visit the Promises Treatment Center for Animals for a heroin addiction, we need to re-examine our priorities. Illegal traders fed the elephant bananas laced with the drug in order to capture and control it. Drugs are everywhere – all kinds being grown, produced, processed, traded, and used by all kinds of people in all kinds places. Drugs are never going to go away. People are never going to stop producing or using drugs. As long as there are legitimate businesses dependent upon the discovery and sales of “good drugs”, we’ll have to recocognize that other efforts to make a living with “bad drugs” will persist. “Good” and “bad” are relative and contextual: a recent experiment investigating an entire class of new drugs designed to treat immune system disorders have been found to provide excellent painkiller capacities. Someone somewhere, if this ever gets on the market (or even if it doesn’t), will make good on that discovery. Not to mention all the current prescription and over-the-counter medications that are consumed for off-label purposes.
Please tell me how we’re supposed to be “winning” the “war on drugs” if drugs are a necessary commodity in the “war against terror” (or, as it’s been recently re-named, “war against extremists”), as both government military personnel as well as rebel fighting groups in almost every combat setting depend upon drugs to stay awake, go to sleep, or remain alert during missions. In this case, the war isn’t on drugs, drugs make fighting other wars possible. Although we rarely think about it this way, it’s going to be thanks to some military-strength No-Doze come the day when troops capture Bin Laden or anyone else worth chasing after. The amount of energy and the number of hours they spend awake and alert require much more than RedBull…
Lastly, I have had more discussions related to the topic of Autism than I care to count, so here I’ll keep it brief: it happens.
