Fat Pigs are We

This past week, a great deal of attention has been given to the story of Jamison Stone, an Alabama boy who killed a wild pig of about 1000lbs.

When I first read this story, it was in a thread of conversation debating whether the odd picture of the rather fat boy standing over the pig with his finger on the trigger of a pistol was genuine. Yesterday morning I heard an interview with the taxidermist who verified the hog's size. Like the rest of us, the reporter didn't quite know what to ask. How big was it? Is the pig going to be mounted in the boy's room? What did they do with the meat? Of course, in the visual effects world, we take all sorts of visual cues as indications of whether an image is credible. In our scrutiny, however, we missed something larger.

This morning I read postings on a site that empathized with the pig. They ranged from buddhist philosophies, to environmentalists to simply people who don't believe in killing. I was fascinated by the responses:

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"I am writing to voice my concern over the killing of this unusual animal. I am most concerned that an 11 year old believes that killing something so unique is "an accomplishment"."

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What the fuck is your fucking problem you fat ass bitch. You fucking killed a fucking innocent little pig. Does it make your fat ass feel good to kill such an innocent creature. Wow congratufuckinglations you fat ass ......(it keeps on going in that vein).

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I have to congratulate you because I didn't think it was possible for an 11 yr old as large as yourself to chase a pig for three hours in hilly terrain. Well done, fat boy! For real though. Killing an animal about half your size does not make you a hero, or a model american, or anything else anybody might say you are.


...there are hundreds of posts.

I realized that I relate to the people who are outraged much more than I related to the hunter. More importantly, though, I realized that I didn't relate at all to myself, or at least the myself who used to be the person who read the story and didn't really care one way or the other.

More and more, we are becoming a people who are willing to speak up when something is wrong, probably because there is so much in the world that is wrong today and we are coming to the limits of what we can take.

What can we not take?

We cannot take cigarette smoke or tobacco companies peddling their cancer sticks to us at every turn.

We cannot take corrupt politicians who feed the citizens they represent to a war machine that benefits their cronies.

We cannot take neglect perpetrated by the companies who control the food supply in this country and are systematically trying to exterminate the small farmer.

We cannot take indiscriminate rape of our forests, pollution of our atmosphere, a defunct health care system, taxation that weighs more heavily on those who cannot afford it than on those who can, support of foreign dictators, lies intended to placate us with regard to our involvement in the middle east conflict, supreme court decisions that put a statute of limitations on injury to workers, the twisted monster that is celebrity, genocide, or the destruction of democracy by those who say they are doing it to protect us.

We cannot take the NRA or not so little boys with guns or people who glorify thoughtless action any longer.

In fact, we are not the bloated pig. We are the fat little boy with the gun, who was taught to kill before he was taught to cherish life. The Unique Animal that lumbered along suffering a three hour death at the hands of an insignificant parasite who did this to please his daddy and get his picture taken...well that's America, my friends. That's America.

...for the children

For six-plus years now, we've been subjected to the kind of flag-waving Patriotism that makes most sane people ill...the same kind of ill you get when you hear someone who is not serious speak about serious issues. You wince. It is painful to hear someone embarrass themselves, especially in public. Before the "war", and I use that term loosely, the podium stompers used phrases like 'save the children' and 'family values.' Only ow, the soldiers are the children and apparently their feelings will be hurt if they get even the mildest inkling that we're involved in a conflagration that is literally destroying the very country they are trying to protect.

This from and article written by ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer:
-Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said he opposes any measure that cuts off money for the war.
"We don't want to send the message to the troops" that Congress does not support them, said Levin, D-Mich. "We're going to support those troops."

Now if the troops feel like they're not supported, what are they going to do? Well, they're mercenaries...they're there getting paid, and paid quite well. In fact, if I clocked the kind of OT these people get, I would be quite happy to take some time off and get my head together for a couple of years. They'll get breaks on educational expenses. They'll be immediately approved for car, home, and small business loans. They get to buy at wholesale. If there's no more money there, they will go home. It's not like they like being there. It's not like they don't have better things to do with their lives. And they're certainly not going to have their feelings hurt. Basic training is in place to enable you to turn your feelings off for extended periods of time so you can do things like killing and maiming without asking ethical questions like 'why are we here?', 'what am I doing firing at a set of coordinates where I cannot see if there are people on the ground?', and 'shouldn't I treat other human beings like human beings?'

Saying that we don't want the troops to feel like they are not supported is a political ploy to make it look like we actually have a conscience about perpetuating the horrible atrocity that is our involvement in the middle east. We've overdrawn our checkbook, devalued our currency, wasted thousands of lives, killed a lot of innocent bystanders, become ingrained in a conflict with no forseeable end against an enemy we cannot see, nor identify.

The argument for ithe 'war' is that we have not had an attack on American soil since 9/11/2001. Well, let's think about that. Say you're a terrorist or a group of terrorists. You're well funded in a country where it costs pennies a day to live. Silence, stealth, small numbers and time are all on your side. Are you really going to march in the front door of the mansion with the dobermans while the searchlights and video cameras are on? No, you're going to be patient, plan, and play possum for a while. Every once in a while, you'll stir up the pot to fuck with authority. Send out one of the neighbor kids with a bottle rocket and tell him to light it in the side yard. Laugh at how uptight your uptown neighbors are when they jump.

The way I see it (and I am no security expert), water is going to find the cracks in the dam. We might try to fill all the holes, but if there is one method available, someone wishing to cause harm will certainly find it.

It is a much better policy to be secure by having no enemies. How do you get to a place of having no enemies? Well, you start by laying down your weapons. Then you start acting like a friend. And finally, you accept help from your friends so they can feel like they are valid contributors to the friendship, as well. It's not that hard, but it requires a little maturity and real leadership by men who are wise, peaceful, and humanists.

So spare me the lipservice about how we are doing this for the children. The children hold guns and have been brainwashed into using them. It's Lord of the Flies over there and someone needs to step onto the island and remind everyone that this is not how you behave in the real world.