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| March 14, 2007 Red Alert by Soren Wuerth, insurgent49 The Writing On the Wall
Five words next to a urinal in the middle school sent shockwaves through our seaside community here last week. They’r will be a shooting
A date followed, March 7, that led parents to pull kids from school, loosed a tangle of rumors, and had school officials groping for solutions. A day later, more threats appeared on the wall of an elementary school. The reactions were characteristic of those following the September 11th attack: bitter remonstrations of revenge, anxiety over preparedness, and misplaced blame. A local Internet forum published a stream of angry letters from parents. “I have heard several people today saying ‘it’s all been blown out of proportion!’ And that may be true. But when it comes to your child’s safety - can you ever go too far? Missing one day of school won't hurt my daughter - but one day AT school just might,” a parent wrote. Outside the computer lab on the following day, I watched a police officer proudly display his taser gun. His spin on the merits of the weapon could not override the effect of two videos: a UCLA student tasered in November for not disclosing a library ID, and a woman stopped for a minor traffic violation. Inside the lab, meanwhile, a student enthusiastically showed me a video game he had found online. “You can drive anything, tanks, helicopters, fighter jets. In this game you can be anyone and you fight other people online.” On his screen, a U.S. tank rolled through a desert city, crushing cars, and firing its cannon into surrounding buildings. “What about the insurgents?” I asked. “What do you mean?” He looked up, baffled. “You kill them.” “Why would you want to do that?” He stared at me as if the answer was obvious. “... For nine-eleven. We’re going to them back! America, yeah, Number One! Nobody messes with America and gets away with it!” I told him I didn’t understand. “Who messed with America?” “Iraq.” I suggested he pick up an honest history book and send the game to the computer’s trash bin. America’s addiction to violence is palpable in the sick scenes of torture promoted by Fox, in shows such as “24,” whose “hero” routinely uses torture in his “patriotic” pursuits. “On TV,” says Human Rights First, “torture almost always works.” Threats on the bathroom wall, taser guns, army killing-spree video games, Afghanistan, Iraq... when will we get it? On Saturday, citizens across the country will help make clear the connection between societal and political violence. Peace rallies and marches will commemorate the attack on the desperate countries of Afghanistan and Iraq by what Martin Luther King, Jr. called “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government.” Get out and hit the streets, Saturday and Monday, for peace! ------ On a separate note, two of my greatest heroes passed on recently. Marty Stange, a hard-workin’, John Wayne-admirin’, analytical man, called it quits five years after doctors gave him six months to live. He probably still wore half moons of black tar beneath his fingernails when he lay in his hospital bed, watching television, and giving his take. And Molly Ivins will be desperately missed. Her columns, for others and myself, were often the only voice of sanity in the never-quite-getting-the-point Anchorage Daily News. “Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.” -- Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act II, Sc. II
Soren Wuerth is perhaps Alaska's best known community activist, and is the winner of the Alaska Press Club's 2006 'Best Columnist' award. He resides in an undisclosed location in rural Alaska and can be reached at soren@insurgent49.com. 'Red Alert' appears on insurgent49.com every Wednesday. |
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March 7, 2007 February 28, 2007 February 21, 2007 February 14, 2007 February 7, 2007 January 31, 2007 January 24, 2007 January 17, 2007 January 10, 2007 January 3, 2007 December 27, 2006 December 20, 2006 December 13, 2006 December 6, 2006 November 29, 2006 November 21, 2006 November 10, 2006 November 3, 2006 October 27, 2006 October 20, 2006 October 13, 2006 October 6, 2006 September 29, 2006 September 22, 2006 September 15, 2006 September 8, 2006 September 1, 2006 August 25, 2006 August 18, 2006 August 11, 2006 August 4, 2006 July 28, 2006 July 21, 2006 July 14, 2006 June 30, 2006 June 23, 2006 June 16, 2006 June 9, 2006 June 2, 2006 May 26, 2006 May 12, 2006 May 5, 2006 April 28, 2006 April 21, 2006 April 14, 2006 April 7, 2006 March 31, 2006 March 24, 2006 March 17, 2006 March 3, 2006 February 24, 2006 February 17, 2006 February 10, 2006 February 3, 2006 January 27, 2006 January 20, 2006 January 13, 2006 January 6, 2006 December 30, 2005 December 23, 2005 December 16, 2005 December 10, 2005 December 2, 2005 November 25, 2005 November 18, 2005 November 11, 2005 November 4, 2005 October 28, 2005 October 21, 2005 October 14, 2005 October 7, 2005 September 30, 2005 September 23, 2005 September 16, 2005 September 9, 2005 September 2, 2005 August 26, 2005 August 19, 2005 August 12, 2005 August 5, 2005 July 29, 2005 July 22, 2005 July 15, 2005 July 8, 2005 July 1, 2005 June 24, 2005 June 17, 2005 June 10, 2005 June 3, 2005 May 27, 2005 May 20, 2005 May 13, 2005 May 6, 2005 April 29, 2005 April 21, 2005 |
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