Haunting Images

Before I get to the details of my post for the day I wanted to comment on the political happenings in the world as it is stuff that I keep reading about but few major news organizations are now covering.

The "Arab Spring" of 2011 has provided many images that are haunting and hard to view.  In the last 6 months I think I have probably watched dozens of videos on YouTube showing the outcomes of battles between protesters and government forces in several countries.  The latest video I watched was from Syria in which government forces are shown placing weapons on the bodies of slain protesters.  The video is extremely graphic and there are numerous pictures of the dead protestors in detail..  If you care to watch it you can find it at this address:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYKUZFL5qVA&skipcontrinter=1

Though there is outrage and disgust at all that is happening, I really wonder if anything is really going to change as a result of the "Arab Spring".  I feel that much of what is happening today is like what happened in the 1848 (i.e. Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution) in which the revolutionary forces gained ascendancy and then within a short period time the forces of monarchies had retaken the initiative.  (My father was a history professor so that kind of stuff was talked about at my house all the time.)  So in that case I think that there is much blood being spilled for absolutely nothing.  To think that many of these nations are ready for democracy or self-determination is an absolute joke.  There is no tradition of democracy or even free speech.  (Look at Egypt - they have been ruled by authoritarian leaders since the Pharaohs.)  And the fact that that our government is supporting many of these revolutionary forces is the worst thing.  Like we did in 1991 when we encouraged the Iraqi people to revolt, we are leading thousands if not tens of thousands to slaughter.  Additionally - I think in the cases where the revolutionary forces have won or are winning (like Egypt) the end result will be very detrimental to the goals and objectives of our country. 

Oh well - enough on that subject.  I don't know the people who's have been killed by government forces in those pictures and videos so I can't mourn their deaths personally but I do feel for their families and the people that they loved.  Hopefully my ideas and opinions about what is happening in the Middle East are wrong and their deaths will matter in securing the freedom of their people.

My actual point in writing tonight's blog post was about haunting pictures I found from my own life.  I think at this point I have dealt with all the pictures that I have discovered over the years from when Patty was alive.  It was always hard to find a picture I hadn't seen of her and think back to that time.  Today's haunting images were found on a memory stick that was lying around in my office and I just hadn't noticed it for a long time.  I had used the memory stick in my camera for New Years Eve of this year.  I found a ton of pictures of Shelly on that memory stick and it brought back a lot of good memories but a lot of horrible thoughts of why things ended the way they did.  We had such a great time then and we did so much work to rebuild all the ties that were lost in the pain of September of 2010.  But then it all died again...  And I am still so lost and uncertain of all that happened and why.  In some ways I love looking at the pictures as they bring back lots and lots of good memories but in other ways they just rip the soul out of me.  In the end run, I guess it just is what it is and there is nothing I can do about it so I have to live with it.

Thanks and peace to all! ~J.

FYSRD!!