Fail, and Fail again

Happiness #14 : Speculation
Today I had a very nice chat with someone very important to me, and it was really nice to speculate about things.  Nothing serious, really.  Just think about things that were and that could be... That was definitely the highlight of my day today.

On the other hand of speculation, I've got a few very sinister speculations of the global kind.  Today, just a few hours ago in fact, it was announced that Osama bin Laden is finally dead.  It was reported that he was killed by a special force of U.S. military, ordered by the president based on information from counter terrorism intelligence obtained by the U.S. and Pakistan.  President Obama made a really touching speech but I must say, I have my doubts.  Gut instinct tells me that it was not the U.S. that actually killed bin Laden, or it was not the U.S. that found the evidence to track down where he was hiding.  The killing of bin Laden comes at an extremely convenient time when the president must make great strides to justify his re-election, and a critical time to send a message to the American citizens that anti-governmental sentiments are wrong because see! it truly is good for something: all those hundreds of thousands of dollars lives were not spent in vain.  It is also a critical time to send a message to all of those thinking to oppose American power, i.e. Gaddafi for one, to consider what happens to those who challenge America, even if the punishment comes late.

My harsh judgement is this: It is embarrassing to see the American people, especially college students who very apparently have very little idea about what is actually going on, cheering in front of the White House and celebrating as if it were the end of the war.  Because it is not.  And really, where is the sense of decorum, because seriously, the world is watching.  In fact, while I think that America deserves a conclusion to the horror that was Osama bin Laden and his cruel and violent plots, I do not think it is a cause for celebration. What has changed?  Is Al Qaeda now just going to disappear?  Is there suddenly clarity about what is going on?  Will our men finally come home because there is no pretense of needing to be in a hostile country in order to "search for and sniff out" this man?  No, nothing has changed.  Al Qaeda is still there and now, mourning somebody who to them, was a hero.  Al Qaeda is most likely even more justified, in their minds, to strike back because America has murdered a man who was extremely successful, and the exemplar of a true and noble jihadist for a holy cause.  Will there be a counter-attack- a backlash?  Our troops should not even be in Afghanistan still in order for an immediate backlash to be possible.  If anything at all, the death of Osama bin Laden is a cause for closure and relief for the families of his victims, and a solemn moment of introspection for what the future holds in the lives of the American people- one that comes a little too late.

Finally, I believe it is a grave insult and injustice for the president to have included in his speech, calls for sentimentality bringing up imagery of "families who suffer the pain of seeing the empty seat at the dinner table" and the "3000 senseless deaths" that occurred at the hands of bin Laden.  For, not only does the number 3000 not include the men who were killed in order to avenge those deaths (by order of Bush and later the current president himself), but it does not include the thousands upon thousands of deaths suffered by the Afghani civilians and Iraqi civilians at the hands of the U.S. in order to get to this celebratory? monumental? Historic? sobering day.  How many families, in those other countries, who do not have white faces or speak English, must suffer the pain of empty seats at their dinner tables?  Or is that a pain only American families can feel?  What is the true number of senseless deaths, military and civilian alike, which we were told was necessary to bring this one man down? And how much of those were caused by the call for "liberty and justice" as prescribed by the U.S.?  How much of the total money, time, and emotional trauma caused by the September 11 attacks were appropriated not by Al Qaeda, but by the U.S.?  Why are our troops still abroad perpetuating the terror? These celebratory young people should attempt to answer these questions and reflect on the actual implications of the words "Osama bin Laden is Dead," before waving around the American flag in the faces of those who were stomped on, beat, and killed by men wearing that same flag.  Because in another country, to another family, the U.S. is a country of terror and America is a word to fear.

** update: (May 2) **
Apparently I'm not the only one thinking that the American government is slipping up on their deception execution. I read a brief article from another skeptic who has similar thoughts:

"No doubt President Obama is in desperate need of a victory. He committed the fool’s error of restarting the war in Afghanistan, and now after a decade of fighting the US faces stalemate, if not defeat. The wars of the Bush/Obama regimes have bankrupted the US, leaving huge deficits and a declining dollar in their wake. And re-election time is approaching." - Paul Craig Roberts

Now that the curtains have been dropped on the ten-year production of "Osama bin Laden: America's enemy #1" it's looking like the final Act is only a spectacular staging of the U.S. government's "unlimited belief in the gullibility" of its citizens. And if the scenes in Times Square and WTC were any indications, the score says: government = 1, dumb citizens = 0. Fail, and fail again indeed.

Challenge #3 : Abrasive failure
My challenge today was extremely difficult for one with colorful language such as myself.  For it was this:
Do not use abrasive language for today's entire 24 hours
-Even one word would mean the failure of the challenge
-No place or situation serves as immunity
-Difficulty level: 2/5 (but in actuality it is more like 9/5)

So this morning, I had to work at 8 am with some very colorfully languaged individuals like myself.  I lasted all of one hour and fifty minutes.  Approximately 9:50 am was my first slip and until then, I had successfully refrained from usage by consciously choosing my words, however in a moment of incredulity a little one slipped out and BOOM! challenge OVER. FAIL. DONE. K.O. yup....

and that's the way the cookie crumbles.  Another day, I shall be challenged again, and then I will prevail.  However today, total failure.  I am ashamed.  However to my credit, the conscientious language censor stayed with me and I swore about one tenth of my average.  Woot woot?  Well, not quite.