WATCH THIS PREVIEW (below). phil donahue and ellen spiro teamed up to co-direct the documentary, body of war about one young iraq war veteran's story, from his initial enlistment after 9/11/01 to fight the terrorists in afghanistan, to his paralyzing injury in iraq five days after he got there, to his decision to speak up and out against this unjust and immoral war since his recovery (which is ongoing) after he got home.
thomas young's story is unique and startling, but it's also demonstrably inclusive -- he has a younger brother who's currently doing his third tour right now, and he's a third generation army veteran. his family is split in their attitude toward the war, yet they manage like we all do: loving each other and supporting each others' opinions and experiences. (i learned a lot more about this movie by watching this bill moyers interview with donahue and spiro; it's long but engrossing and highly valuable to see).
body of war
P.S.! eddie vedder composed original music for the documentary and thomas even worked on a cool compilation CD of songs that include some of vedder's (as well as many others) to raise money for Iraq Veterans Against the War. [i just bought the CD, mostly for the beautiful vedder songs ... i'll let you know -- also includes ben harper, bad religion, RATM, bright eyes, and kimya dawson, among others]
if you'd like to know of a peace vigil near you, or even a war protest you can take part in, try this website first: American Friends Service Committee's wage peace calendar (quakers rock, btw). i just (very conveniently) emailed a woman nearby about an upcoming event, and [cough!] mentioned something about organizing one in clemson ...
WHY AREN'T YOU ANGRY ABOUT THIS WAR? WHY DON'T YOU MIND IT? (i can't explain why for the last few weeks it has been CONSUMING me. i think and think about it and cry and get upset and get angry and cry and maybe there's something else going on) BUT DAMNIT! over 4,000 soldiers dead, over 29,000 wounded and OVER 89,000 (the very conservative estimate -- some put it at over 1,000,000) IRAQI CIVILIANS KILLED.
HOW CAN WE SIT STILL ANY LONGER? HOW CAN WE? HOW?
i don't know. i don't know why it took this long for me to FEEL IT.
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"What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured." -- kurt vonnegut, jr.
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About Me
- sylvia
- i started this blog when i was depressed about turning 30. then i turned 30 and guess what? it was totally fine. not depressing at all. (look at me! i'm as shocked as anyone). i'm not blogging anymore ... but maybe someday i'll be back.
new blogger disclaimer:
i started this whole blogging thing in october 2007 basically to feed my ego and make my personal musings very public. [well, and i was getting so lazy with email, you know? that, and a little bored online to be honest. i can only read the gossip at the superficial and the news at cnn so many times a day. oh, i have other bookmarks ... and some minor compulsions.]
there is absolutely no reason for me to have a blog. my life is pretty dull. lately i'm very despondent about turning 30 and having accomplished ... erm, nothing. i suppose i will use this space to try and be funny and grateful and more loving. i have a lot to be thankful for in my life, i know this in theory. i also have a very specific list of shit i meant to have done by now. so, it's a constant battle to remember what's most important.
someday i will explain "carpe lucis," promise. i have a lot to get to first.
there is absolutely no reason for me to have a blog. my life is pretty dull. lately i'm very despondent about turning 30 and having accomplished ... erm, nothing. i suppose i will use this space to try and be funny and grateful and more loving. i have a lot to be thankful for in my life, i know this in theory. i also have a very specific list of shit i meant to have done by now. so, it's a constant battle to remember what's most important.
someday i will explain "carpe lucis," promise. i have a lot to get to first.
3 comments:
sorry, but we're in it to win it for now...even obama won't agree to a hard withdrawl date/timeframe (i've seen 2009 thrown around, but we'll see about that one).
"win it"??? win what? that doesn't even make sense. it never did, just like it didn't in vietnam. it's a goddamn morass is what it is. there's no winning anything. just more iraqis starving and getting shot or blown up, americans getting injured and killed ... iraqis taking up arms against americans ...
there's no winning to be done here. no. only more death and loss.
but since we did so much fucking damage there it doesn't make sense to just pull everything, every single american serviceperson out at once. we need to get as much infrastructure built as we can, get supply chains functioning, and make sure civilians have access to utilities, water, food, and so on. jesus, that's THE LEAST we should do. and then we should get on our knees and beg these people for our forgiveness.
as my friend dave pointed out: Would Saddamn have managed to kill 1.2 million of his own people in the last five years? NO FUCKING WAY. only the U.S. could help be responsible for such an incredible waste of human life.
VOTE MCCAIN IN '08 AND YOU CAN DOUBLE THIS NUMBER IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
You made me look up peace rallies near me and I found some in Gainesville! Thanks, my friend.
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