Boing Boing: T-shirt origami

God, I love the ‘Net. I will fold all of my T-shirts this way from now on.

Mark Divine is an acquaintance of mine who is currently serving in Iraq. He and his business partner Jerry Singleton, a former Navy fighter pilot, are the only people I’ve met who ever made me regret not joining the military. They live and breathe honor and dignity, and make me realize what I lost out on by not choosing that path.

Mark keeps the excellent NavySeals.com and somehow finds time to contribute to it on top of all his other duties. The following is an excerpt from his article of May 7, 2004, in which he reminds us that the overwhelming majority of our fighting forces are men and women of honor – warriors in the best sense of that word.

Navy SEALs.com – “General” Malaise

Warriors display an ethic that requires them to hold themselves to a higher standard than the average person. They actively practice the art of discipline—which is from the same root word as “disciple.” They are disciples of the art and science of improving themselves daily—in mind, body and soul. They actively practice Honor. Honor is a way of life for Marines and SOF warriors. Not just a word, honor was displayed in action by Pat Tillman refusing to profit or gain personal glory from his decision to join the Army Rangers—even as a shocked media stumbled over themselves to interview him and offer book contracts. Honor is displayed daily in the selfless manner that Marines, SEALs or Green Berets accept responsibility for their screw-ups. No one is perfect, and fallibility is an accepted part of the human condition. Warriors understand this, and though they strive for a state of perfection, they do not expect that their actions will always be perfect. It is the intent that is important. Honor, discipline, integrity, courage, compassion—these are the calling cards of the warrior.

This brings me to an unpleasant topic. As I tout the traits of the warriors, and am proud to include myself in that breed that is increasingly rare to find in our society, I must point out that not all military members in Iraq, or the US Military, are warriors. The most glaring disparity is with our US Army conventional and National Guard forces. Those who read this from the Army who hail from units that have bucked the inertia in the system and have risen above the malaise—I applaud you. It must be a gargantuan task to shine in a broken, low-morale and malaise-ridden system.

I hold out as my glaring example the one-star general in charge at Abu Ghraib prison. Brigadier General Janis Karpinski was wholly and completely responsible for every action in that prison—whether she knew about it or not. The fact that she claims she knew nothing is only more proof that she was completely incompetent and that the place was out of control. Her actions, or lack thereof, have placed the entire 1 1/5 year efforts of two hundred thousand soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines (and coalition partners) at risk of being rendered meaningless. The enormous personal effort by the soldiers and civilian volunteers to win the hearts and minds of ordinary Iraqis has been dashed by a single incident of amazing cruelty and insensitivity to the mission of the United States in Iraq. Of course those that perpetrated the actual acts are trailer trash to the extreme. They do not represent the American Soldier, Sailor, Airman and Marine. They are anathema to the warrior.

In the absence of reminders, I tend to think of the armed forces as one large lump of people, all with about the same function and duties. But of course, the different branches of service do have different traditions and expectations. It is even more poignant to me, then, to know that the atrocities in Abu Ghraib prison will have repercussions not just on the few who have been arrested, but on men like Mark, who serve under an infinitely higher standard.

I’m ashamed of the US for having perpetrated these crimes – we’re all stained with the sin of it – and I’m ashamed of our commanders who, by refusing to shoulder responsibility or blame, have left the true and honorable warriors to bear the brunt of the dishonor.

Never have I seen an administration so willing to talk about courage and leadership, but so vastly incapable of understanding the sacrifice those words imply. Mark and his fellow warriors deserve better.

By way of Slashdot, we hear that the Official Movie Website of the Hithchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is now open for business. It’s been three years since Douglas Adams’ untimely death, and it just somehow seems right and proper that this movie is being made by filmmakers who seem to truly appreciate the man and his story.

Can’t wait!

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy—The Official Movie Website

Did he really say this? In an article at CNET News, Jack Valenti argued against the Digital Media Consumers’ Rights Act:

Congress mulls revisions to DMCA | CNET News.com

“And the 1000th copy of a DVD, Mr. Chairman, is as pure and pristine as the original. You strip away all the protective clothing of that DVD and leave it naked and alone.”

Ooooh, Jack, stop it. You’re making me horny!

It’s time for a new look. Well, why not?

The Poor Man – once again! – nails it. In this post we learn the meaning of the word “accountability,” a word Dubya might want to read up on next time he starts getting all cowboy about what a great leader he is…

The Poor Man: Lindsey Graham, Shut The Hell Up

As usual, the Poor Man is on top of it. This sampling of response to Abu Ghraib will give you some idea of the mess we’re in. The Poor Man: Hearts and Minds

I thought this was particularly on the mark:

[Bush:] “Their treatment (the prisoners) does not reflect the nature of the American people.”

Yes George, it does not reflect upon the American people, I greatly believe in that statement. This kind of action, really reflects upon you, and your bankrupt ideology, it reflects upon the crazy freaks that follow you. It has nothing to do with decent Americans, who find such actions repulsive.

I wouldn’t go so far as that author did in comparing Bush to Hitler, but I understand the feeling.

From Reason Online, we learn that syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker has found the root cause of atrocities at Abu Ghraib. Get this: it’s all thanks to the geniuses behind There’s Something About Mary. Hit & Run: Revealed: The Root Cause of Abu Ghraib!

The images from Abu Ghraib, now irreversibly tattooed on the Arab brain, were every frat-house cliche magnified. The human pyramid, males mooning, masturbation, bags over heads. What we saw, at least in part, was “The Farrelly Brothers Do Baghdad.”

How else to explain the giddy photographs of young soldiers mugging for cameras and giving the thumbs-up sign beside humiliated prisoners, naked and masturbating?

How else, indeed! Here’s the response I left to the full article at the Woonsocket Call

It would be easy for me to misplace my outrage at this scandal in Iraq onto Ms. Parker’s colossally simple-minded article, yet I find myself appalled at the suggestion that somehow two movie makers could be in any way contributors to these atrocities. Ms. Parker shows a complete lack of understanding of the chain of command or of accountability. Would Ms. Parker stand by her story if she read this headline in the Guardian today: UK forces taught torture methods? According to that article, special forces soldiers are taught the brutal humiliation techniques we’ve seen in these prison pictures. That, it seems, is where our boys and girls picked them up. That our soldiers felt confident enough to use these techniques themselves speaks to either incompetent supervision or outright tolerance – if not encouragement – of the methods in question.

This article is an embarrassment. The responsible parties for this torture are the soldiers themselves and the authorities in the chain of command who trained soldiers in these techniques and encouraged their use. Try as you might to wish the responsibility elsewhere, it just won’t stick. Reasonable people understand the difference between watching abuse onscreen and inflicting it in real life. Reasonable people also understand that the torture that took place at Abu Ghraib was all part of the same package and cannot be compartmentalized into “naked torture” and “other torture.” Ms. Parker should be embarrassed at minimizing and manipulating this atrocity to suit her personal cultural agenda, as should any news organization who reprints it.

Timothy Burke on the Sitch in Iraq: Archive Entry From Brad DeLong’s Webjournal

Critical Mass: Boalt jumps the speechless shark

Short version: A guest lecturer at a Boalt law class was role-playing the part of a difficult client and made a comment – in the role of that difficult client – that his company didn’t use “inferior Mexican immigrant labor.” In the response, the Boalt administration jerks both knees faster than you can say “wetback” to make sure this kind of racist role-playing never happens again.

Jesus.

To paraphrase George Carlin, It ain’t racist speech you have to be worried about; it’s the racist asshole who’s saying it you should be concerned with. Likewise, insensitive, racist remarks coming from a sensitive non-racist are no cause for alarm.

I mean, this is where we send young men and women to be educated, fer Chrissake.