Apocalypso, verses 1 and 2
In the August 24 issue of Rolling Stone magazine are two articles that, if read back-to-back, may just convince you that the human race (or at least what was euphemistically called 'Western civilization') has at last jumped the shark.
[Note: These articles don't appear on Rolling Stone's Web site, so you'll have to buy the magazine off the newsstand or bum it off someone with a subscription].
The first is an interview with a tired and aging but still pithy Kurt Vonnegut. The article is called "Vonnegut's Apocalypse" and its Vonnegut proclaiming that the earth is too far gone, and the culprit is not Ice-9, but our addiction to petroleum and all the baggage that goes with that.
"I'm Jeremiah, and I'm not talking about God being mad at us...." begins the prophet, pictured with a lit Pall Mall unfiltered in hand.
The second article is "The Unending Torture of Omar Khadr" by Jeff Tietz. Khadr was unlucky enough to be picked up on one of the many roundups in Afghanistan, and his torture began even before he arrived at Guatanamo Bay, his home for the past 4 years. Khadr was also just 15. The article details the torture and repeatedly states that even if he were let out today, he would most likely never recover.
Toward the end of the article, it talks about the recent hunger strike. Guards forced tubes up the strikers' noses to make them eat. Most of these guys were of no use to our government from the time they were rounded up, and if they ever did know anything about Al Qaeda, their minds are so damaged that whatever they might reveal would be suspect at best. But we won't even allow them the respite of death itself.
Is blood of Omar Khadr is on all our hands, as Americans? If Jesus comes today, are we all goats?
[Note: These articles don't appear on Rolling Stone's Web site, so you'll have to buy the magazine off the newsstand or bum it off someone with a subscription].
The first is an interview with a tired and aging but still pithy Kurt Vonnegut. The article is called "Vonnegut's Apocalypse" and its Vonnegut proclaiming that the earth is too far gone, and the culprit is not Ice-9, but our addiction to petroleum and all the baggage that goes with that.
"I'm Jeremiah, and I'm not talking about God being mad at us...." begins the prophet, pictured with a lit Pall Mall unfiltered in hand.
The second article is "The Unending Torture of Omar Khadr" by Jeff Tietz. Khadr was unlucky enough to be picked up on one of the many roundups in Afghanistan, and his torture began even before he arrived at Guatanamo Bay, his home for the past 4 years. Khadr was also just 15. The article details the torture and repeatedly states that even if he were let out today, he would most likely never recover.
Toward the end of the article, it talks about the recent hunger strike. Guards forced tubes up the strikers' noses to make them eat. Most of these guys were of no use to our government from the time they were rounded up, and if they ever did know anything about Al Qaeda, their minds are so damaged that whatever they might reveal would be suspect at best. But we won't even allow them the respite of death itself.
Is blood of Omar Khadr is on all our hands, as Americans? If Jesus comes today, are we all goats?
posted by Rebecca Bowman Woods @ 8:54 PM
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