December 08, 2004

• One of my favorite sites. Send her some stuff. She's a peach of a gal.
• That's nice, Argh. A wonderful package he will be receiving!
• Sorry, no.
• It's a great idea. Please give us a little more notice next time?
• Bought a microphone a few years back. Never figured out how to use it. Perhaps you want to include typed messages for those who are too idiotic to be able to do anything else?
• Just to clarify, the post isn't about Argh's brother. It's about Alicia's brother, Alicia being the operator of the site that Argh linked to. Cool project. No microphone here, but I hope she gets lots of good messages to send.
• Yep
• Sorry, no. And damn. I feel all snarky... and it makes me uncomfortable to feel this way amidst monkeys... but... this post just seems inappropriate. I feel as if I just opened my door to find someone asking me if I want to bring Jesus into my life.
• You've got to be fucking kidding me.
• Nope. Although I almost made that exact same comment.
• Happy Holidays
• Can you explain why you feel that way, idest?
• Have you heard the good news about Amway?
• Name That Itch, I probably did not articulate it well the first time. I guess I'm uncomfortable with it in several ways. First, it seems to me that asking people to support someone taking part in something many regard to be a war crime is disingenuous at best and outright provocative at worst. This sort of thing is akin to knocking on doors in the sense that it puts people on the spot about something they may not be comfortable with. Second, and perhaps less important, the request seems to me to be out of the scope of MonkeyFilter. It isn
• Here, have a Chick Tract. (do you have the new Avon catalogue?)
• Argh, I'm not out to fight with you. Did you want to respond to my points?
• Not really. If you had taken the time to read her site you would have noticed it is called "Audible Frequency". She posts found sounds from the midwest. It's not a huge site with a million hits but it is one I enjoy. I'd be surpised if her traffic tops 500 visits a week. I've never met her nor do I ever expect to. She was operating on a limited time frame. I figured it would be nice if she got more sounds to send to her brother and I posted it on the one place I thought people might be able to respond on such short notice in volume. As far as the politics of it all, I could give a flying fuck. Look back at some of my posts around election time and you'll see I'm one of the most anti-war liberal tards here. It's just a kind gesture for a small site I like. I'll only post things I find on BoingBoing for now on. (not)
• the request seems to me to be out of the scope of MonkeyFilter I can see where maybe this isn’t exactly the ideal MoFi post, but I can overlook that because of the spirit in which it was posted (hold on, wait 'til you read below). Yes, it is asking for a favor, but it’s not that different than someone asking a question, much like a Curious George. Maybe that would have been a better angle to take? asking people to support someone taking part in something many regard to be a war crime Much like this guy’s sister, I don’t support this war either. I severely despise it. All of it. Everything about it. However, I DO want the troops to return safely (which, for me, goes hand-in-hand with not supporting the war) and I DO feel for those who have family over there. Quite simply, I don’t see sending a care package as a sign of support for the war. To me, it’s saying, “Hey, we wish you weren’t in Iraq and we wish you weren’t putting you life on the line and we wish you’d come home safely.” It’s a CARE package. It shows someone cares. That’s it. Jeez, between this thread, the stealth marketing thread, the Canadian/American thread, and The Incredibles thread, I’m going to need a couple of drinks tonight. =)
• I think people are seriously out of line here. Please know that your brother has my best wishes and prayers.
• Well, here's my problem with it: I don't know who will be listening to the message, nor do I know what they've done. Have they followed orders to shoot civilians? Have they been involved, knowingly or unknowingly, in a war crime? God forbid, have they committed an atrocity? Yes, I want the troops to come home. But the war is illegal, and immoral, and sending a message of support to the slaves who carry out the orders of the war pigs would be an hypocrisy, for me, without knowing the individual personally. It seems that even Argh doesn't really know what his brother has done, really, because he says in the first post that his brother can't tell him. Now, be clear: I want your brother to come back unhurt, but he's already been hurt, whether he gets physically injured or no. He will have been dehumanised and psychologically damaged by his experiences, and that is for life. I know you already understand this, & I know that you already feel rage against those responsible. I obviously can't know what that's like, not having a brother in the forces, but I know what it was like for my Grandfather, who served in the Pacific in WW2, who never got over his experiences; they crippled him for life, mentally. Anti-War people have hard choices to make, too. That includes having to cut off feelings for the instruments of war crime, whether they be guilty or no. To do otherwise is to weaken our position. As for the worthiness of this post for Monkeyfilter, I think it's fine.
• I think you're harsh, even though I vigorously oppose this war (and its spawn). However, I am a product of the underclass which has provided so much of the human capital for these operations. Therefore, I am bound to support those who are caught up in the horrors, and give comfort to their families.
• I know awful things have happened. I know bad things will still happen. I try to divorce my feelings from the current situation to the individuals who are suspended in time, who are where they are now, with no choice. Having said that, I hear chewing tobacco is like currency there!
• Maybe we should send that instead.
• J. Doe, are you being serious?
• To do otherwise is to weaken our position. And this position is how strong exactly? There were millions protesting on the streets before the war began, and Bush dismissed them all as 'focus groups'. If the people opposed to the Iraq war had any power at all, Rumsfeld would be undergoing trials for war crimes. That he is still free to gleefully lecture to people who complain should tell you that the anti-war people are fully impotent. The anti-war position is essentially irrelevant. Suck it up and get in line.
• LOL! Yes sah, mista republican, sah! /salutes Just because the fuckin morons in the Yoo-Ess follow the leader with zero thought, doesn't mean the rest of the world does. Outside the US, the anti-war sentiment leads the way. Sorry bout dat, fuyu.
• Sad then that the rest of the world refuses to do anything about the war in Iraq. What are they afraid of? Offending the Republicans? Why don't they impose sanctions on the US, for a start?
• Refuse to do anything about it? Like what? It was America's fuckup. The rest of the world (those that joined in the first place) pulled out of the 'coalition of the willing' (apart from Blair & Howard - although the latter refuses to commit more Aussie troops) forcing Chimpy to go on bended knee to the UN for help. And they told him to take a funny run, as I recall. Too bad. You broke it, you fix it, I think is the adage. Sanctions on the US? LOL! No, I think there are better ideas in the offing. Like switching to trading in Euros.
• Yes, that's right. The rest of the 'anti-war' world shouldn't support the war in any way. They should make life hell for America without flexing a single military muscle. Switching to Euros is barely enough. We need sanctions, travel embargoes, UN weapons inspectors, etc. Treat us like the insane dictatorship we have become, for the love of God!
• You're on your own.
• I can't imagine that he'd want a CD full of strangers saying "Hey, thumbs, don't die". Coming from friends and family would be different maybe, but hearing a bunch of strangers doing it would just piss me off.
• When I saw 'Audible Love' in the sidebar, I thought this was going to be about the potential embarassments and irritations of over-vocal sex partners.
• I go along with fuyugare, boycott, boycott, sanction, sanction, switch to Euros, stop buying U.S. bonds, whatever it takes to financially hurt the U.S. so badly that it never thinks about stealing elections or dishonestly manipulating government or corporations or banks, etc. to their own ends ever again. I hate to say it, but the U.S. needs a trip to the woodshed bad. It's become the neighborhood spoiled brat and bully. I don't know about you, but when bullies or brats came to school, they were not treated well. They usually had their asses kicked at some point, and when that happened, everyone else turned away, leaving them friendless.
• And as far as recording a sound file for a soldier over in Iraq, as others have said: No. I don't think it would be appropriate coming from strangers, strangers would be free to record whatever they wanted, which in the case of many would be criticising a stranger in Iraq who may or may not have anything to do with war crimes, or may or may not support Bush's war. I do support the troops, but not in the way they are being used today: As slave labor to subvert freedom and democracy rather than deliver and protect it.
• Whatever you think about the cause or pursuance of the war, it is not important. This was a simple request to help one person. Argh - thanks for trying.
• Cynnbad, no I wasn't serious. I rarely ever am.
• I hate to say it, but the U.S. needs a trip to the woodshed bad. I certainly agree but don't think it will ever happen. The US doesn't give a rat's ass what other countries thinks of its politics and policies. Dubya's going to find a way to do whatever the hell he wants regardless of the lack of participation from other countries. Look at his advice after 9/11 - go out and spend more money! Buy things you don't even need right now but might at some point need later. Boost the economy! That will show those foreigners how we feel about their attitude toward us! WTF??
• Argh, I will admit that my first post was not well-articulated and I apologize for offending you. My discomfort with your post still stands, however. jb, whatever you think about the morality of 'helping one person' I made the simple observation that who that one person is and what that one person does makes a difference to whether or not I wish to 'help' them.
• You sick heartless fucks. Argh, thanks for the link
• I hate this so-called war. And I despise BushCo. Sorry that ANYONE'S relatives are there. Best wishes to all, and my hope that they can do the ethical thing.
• Japan levies sanctions against the US. Finally! (The premise, though, is fairly trivial.) Germany and France, this is your cue.
• audible frequency's Alicia passed away earlier this summer. [via]

  The last entry [I Rock in Iraq followup] was part of an audio care package that Frantz created for her brother Dale, who was serving in Iraq. She is survived by seven younger siblings and her mother - CT

• Thanks for the update. I hope that Argh's brother and Alicia's brother are both still with us, and do not have scars, either physical or mental, from their time in Iraq. When the guys come home I really hope that they do not get the treatment that the Vietnam vets did when they returned. Regardless of the lack of virtues of each war, don't take it out on the man and woman in the uniform, please.
• Argh's post was taken verbatim from her site so it doesn't seem to refer to his brother if he has one. I too hope that our brothers and sisters in Iraq will be treated well.
• from her site err, that'd be argh on the left.
• Huh? Oh. Maybe you are correcting me about Argh not being a "her"? The her in that sentence is Alicia, the young woman behind audible frequency - the site that contained the text in Argh's initial post.
• The post was about Alicias brother not mine. It was unclear because I fucked up the post by not including the quotation marks. More about Alicia here. She will be missed.
• Ah, sorry. Bad reading day.
• Also, (re: Argh's last link), fuck it, that is terrible terrible news, the worst kind.
• When the guys come home I really hope that they do not get the treatment that the Vietnam vets did when they returned. They've already been totally screwed by our Commander in Thief.