It is a time of freedom and fear, of Gaia and of borders, of many paths and the widening of a universal toll road, emptying country and swelling cities, of the public bought into privacy and the privacy of the public sold into invisible data banks and knowing algorithms. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection.

These are the times when maps fade and direction is lost. Forwards is backwards now, so we glance sideways at the strange lands through which we are all passing, knowing for certain only that our destination has disappeared. We are unready to meet these times, but we proceed nonetheless, adapting as we wander, reshaping the Earth with every tread.

Behind us we have left the old times, the standard times, the high times. Welcome to the irregular times.


A Non-Hostile Criticism of Military-Speak
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
 
Here's the latest in the military's assault upon the English language:

Today, the military informed us that a soldier in Iraq died two days ago of "non-hostile gunshot wounds". They gave no further details.

What the hell is a "non-hostile gunshot wound"?

Is that what happens when an Iraqi shoots an American soldier, but says, "Pardon me" first?

Is that what happens when a soldier gets shot and killed by a complete stranger who later assures us that it was nothing personal?

Or is it when some teenager who isn't even old enough to drink is given high-powered assault weaponry, is shipped off to a foreign country where there's an ongoing guerilla war, the temperatures are consistently above 120 degrees and he doesn't have enough rations to eat, and he accidentally shoots his buddy in the back?

Pardon me, military spokespeople, but is there such a thing as a friendly gunshot wound?

How can the military not release further details? According to ABC news, 117 Americans have died of "non-hostile gunshot wounds" since the war began. I think we all deserve a few more details about how such a thing is possible.

Posted by J. Clifford Cook at 4:23 PM. # (permalink)




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