Ghosts of the Past

It's been said that books are soon going to be a thing of the past. Well, at least the paper copies anyway. Being a book purist I hope that is not the case. Not too long ago I ran into someone who, being more into the electronic medium, I was pleased to learn had actually returned to the paper and ink variety. He had come to realize that there was something special about the presence of a book, it's feel, it's look, it's aroma. And they do look so good on a bookshelf.

I have been reading The Swerve, which is a book about a book hunter. What is so special about this man is what he found and what he helped put in motion with his discovery. His name was Poggio and he lived in the 1400's. What he discovered was a collection of ideas that had been lost. Ideas that helped move us forward into the modern world.

As I watch what is happening in the world today I realize how easily people can be misled into turning off the creative ability of the human mind. It is a tragedy in the making. Because the opportunity to learn by the free exchange of ideas is what keeps us progressing. To stifle that is to stagnate.

“Men suffer the worst of evils for the sake of the most alien desires and they neglect the most necessary appetites as if they were the most alien to nature. It is impossible to live pleasurably without living prudently and honourably and justly, and also without living courageously and temperately and magnanimously, and without making friends, and without being philanthropic.” Philodermus

It was these ideas that helped bring about the Renaissance.

The Good the Bad and the Ugly

 

We have now apparently received a response from ISIL/ISIS/IS, or whatever they are calling themselves today, to President Obama’s declaration of war.  Yes, really, that is what it was.  They have released a video saying, in effect, bring it on.  Unfortunately, or fortunately, as the case may be, it has been removed from YouTube. 

However, you can read all about it here.

They are in effect saying that any US troops that dare to show up to the fight will be killed.  President Obama has already stated that he has no intention of sending US ground forces, although General Dempsey, Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has left open the possibility of his recommending them.  I have never liked the President’s making flat declarative statements that leave no room for adjustments.  But being the politician that he is I know he is aware he is speaking for the consumption of an American audience and must take into account their feelings.  The General being the military man he is understands that nothing is certain in war.  They will eventually have to come to an agreement if they are to succeed in this fight.

If it wasn't a situation with very serious ramifications for the region I would have to say it reminds me a great deal of this:

But it is first and foremost a fight for those on the ground in the region, and we have found that the Kurd's have been a very important ally:  

Kurdish & ISIL firefight

Whether or not US ground forces, beyond advisers, are necessary at this time is questionable.  It will ultimately, as I have said so many times in the past, be up to those in the region to determine what kind of world they want to live in.  However, if that world is one that threatens the safety of those outside it then they will find resistance. 

  

Bad Boys

Third Rock from the Sun

Tonight President Obama is going to speak about our plans to counter and stop the advance of ISIL.  I am having serious feelings of déjà vu, that strange feeling of been there, done that.  Of course that was a different President and a different acronym.  So my guess is that the strategy will be different, more or less.  We will see.  I will have an update once I have heard him speak. 

Why should other countries get involved in what appears to be a regional problem in the Middle East?  Maybe it is simply that we are all flying around on this piece of rock together and there is no way to avoid involvement in other areas of the world?  We can talk about the morality of our intervention or lack thereof, but at the end of the day it might simply be that we have little choice in the matter.  It does affect us.  Call it  The Butterfly Effect.

What can a war weary world do?    While people may be ambivalent on this matter there is a lot that can be done.  But it will take a concerted effort by more than just a few people, because this is a problem that has many causes, some that have been festering for decades, if not centuries, and others that are more recent.   

For those in the region facing up to whatever internal issues they have and dealing with them honestly is the only long term solution.  Why is it that when there is a revolution in the Middle East it seems to inevitably slide into a secular dictatorship or a theocracy?   Why are people attracted to an entity like ISIL?  These are questions they need to ask and answer.   Always blaming outside forces is merely a crutch to avoid having to look critically at the problem.  And the solution may require real change, not just white washing.

For those outside the region where ISIL has been successfully recruiting, including my own state of Minnesota, we need to find a way to reach out to those who are disaffected or unduly influenced by the illusion of constructive rebellion they seem to see in ISIL.  The United States in particular has always been a nation of immigrants and has provided a path to a better life for many.  We need to make sure that that still holds true.  We need to give our own children a better foundation of values to build their lives upon.  No, we can’t always stop those who are suffering from poor mental health from resorting to violence.  But we can help those who are struggling to find a solution.

These are things anyone can do, in their own way. It is our world and we need to decide what kind we want to live in. 

Third Rock from the Sun

Man in the Mirror

Update:

The President has just finished outlining his strategy for fighting ISIL.  It is basically as follows:

1.  We will continue airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq, not just to protect our forces or infrastructure, but also in conjunction with Iraqi forces offensive actions.  (I believe we have already seen some of this)

2.  We will take action against ISIL anywhere they operate.  This includes Syria.

3.  We will increase support for forces fighting on the ground.  He plans to send 475 more advisers to Iraq.  There will be no combat forces sent.

4.  We will help stand up Iraqi National Guard units in Sunni areas of Iraq.  (Hmm...that sounds a bit like the Awakening forces of the past.)

5.  We will increase aid to Syrian opposition members fighting in Syria.  (I presume he means the FSA.)

6.  We will attempt to prevent ISIL attacks elsewhere.

7.  We will continue with humanitarian aid to civilians displaced by the actions of ISIL.

September – A Month of Losses

I've always enjoyed watching the passage of the seasons. September is a deceitful month. It still feels like summer, but things they are a-changing. Here in Ireland "still feels like summer" might well mean the rain hasn't stopped since mid-June. But even then there is always the hope that September will fulfill the promise of early summer and not leave us entirely bereft. As it happens, this year's September is the continuation of a warm, if not always sunny, summer.

Nevertheless, September is a month of savage losses. Here in upper mid latitudes, two hours are wiped from the account of daylight between the first and last of the month, the most of any month. Because of that quirk of the earth's orbital motion known mysteriously as the "equation of time", considerably more than half of the daylight losses are reflected in earlier sunsets as the analemma heads westward. (The word equation is used in an archaic sense – it doesn't refer to a mathematical formula, but to the equalisation of the solar day lengths into mean solar days. We could have a whole other post on the equation of time and the analemma, but I digress).

Here, the time of sunset goes from well after 8pm, to shortly after 7pm. And October will not only trim most of another hour, but heralds the end of Summer Time so that, in all, the clock time of sunset is rewound by a full three hours in the space of sixty days.

In northern hemisphere September, we switch from lookingly gloatingly at neighbours to the south, who haven't enjoyed our long summer days, to eyeing them enviously, as the passage of the autumnal equinox means that our days are now shorter than theirs. Of course, we also look at our neighbours to the north and thank our lucky celestial objects that we don't have to endure their winter. And here on this mild and damp Atlantic rock, embedded in the gulf stream, we're grateful we don't have to endure the winters of many southerly neighbours either.

September can be a bit schizophrenic about which season it occupies. Those who go by the astronomical seasons will be certain that most of September is part of summer, until the autumnal equinox late in the month. Meteorologists may go by common northern hemisphere agricultural seasons, which places September as the first month of autumn, at least in continental climates. Local customs play a role. In the US, the summer vacation season is traditionally reckoned from Memorial Day to Labor Day (which fell early on September 1st this year).

Here in Ireland there can be no doubt about the traditional season. In the local Gaelic, September's name is Meán Fómhair, meaning Mid Autumn. We are caught firmly between summer and winter. It's six weeks since Reek Sunday, when we climbed to the top of Croagh Patrick in our thinly disguised Christian replacement of Lúnasa, the harvest festival of the god, Lugh. That marked our passage into Autumn. And it is barely seven weeks to Samhain, when the souls of the dead will be abroad once more, and Winter will be upon us. Appeasing the spirits has always been a national pastime here, where the sea and the winds may be kind or cruel in what they toss our way in autumn.

Steven Sotloff may have been killed at the same time as James Foley, according to some U.S. defense and intelligence officials. It seems the Islamic State had no interest in negotiating his release in return for stopping airstrikes. The feeling appears to be mutual -- two thirds of the U.S. public support airstrikes against IS according to polls taken after Foley's murder. The latest atrocity seems unlikely to lessen that.