Religious Freedom

I am very much in favor of religious freedom, as well as freedom in general.  But we must determine where to draw the line.  There needs to be some limits to nearly everything in life, healthy boundaries.  How much religious freedom is too much, and who should determine that?  I think most of us would agree that child sacrifice crosses the line, but then again, abortion exists.  But for the sake of argument, let's assume that there was a religious sect that sacrificed all their male infant children in fire, as part of their religious beliefs.  I think we can agree that it would be acceptable for the US government to outlaw that practice, but making something illegal doesn't prevent it from happening.  So what should our response be when it does happen.  If the perpetrator doesn't deny the crime, and has no remorse for their actions, what should be done with them?

No fine or other basic penalty will prevent them from continuing that practice.  We could lock them up forever, which would stop them from continuing to kill infants, but what purpose does it serve for them to be alive in jail?  If we release them in the future, they would openly return to their previous ways.  Killing them seems harsh in our zero consequences culture, but logically seems fitting, based on their crime.  But that would amount to genocide if all strict followers of the religion were found and convicted.  And we have been taught to assume that is bad, but what are the alternatives?  (Endless conflict, violence, and suffering)

We have a similar situation with the rise of radical supporters of the Islamic State.  Their openly confessed religious beliefs are that God wants them to kill all infidels who do not join their cause.  This is different than Al-Qaeda, because in that case the challenge was identifying those who supported them in secret.  Once they were identified, we didn't hesitate to lock them up or kill them.  But now we have many people who are openly aspiring to follow that violent path, like the American recently apprehended in Turkey.  What should be done with people like that?  They haven't necessarily committed a crime yet, but they openly hope to take part in all sorts of brutal activity.  How should we respond to situations like that?

Should he make it a capital offense to advocate or promote killing Americans (also known as terrorism)?  If someone's anti-American beliefs are so strong that they won't recant them under threat of death, should we just kill them?  Faith is not an inherently good thing, apart from truth.  God condemned faith in false gods in the Old Testament.  Strong faith in ideas or principles that are false is dangerous.  But how should we respond to the misplaced faith of others, especially if it is too strong to be broken?  We can’t prove that we are right and they are wrong.  But shouldn't the right to self-defense over-ride the right to the free expression of religion?

The Rise of ISIS in the Modern World

The monumental rise of ISIS really confuses me.  How does a group that openly slaughters any who they don’t approve of, get so many supporters and followers?  How is it that no one has stood up to them militarily after months of open threats and demonstrations of cruelty and brutality?  They have picked fights with the US, Russia, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Lebanon, and so many other nations and people groups.

 

Being so opposed to the world community at large, where do they get their support from?  How are there so many people out there capable of supporting what ISIS stands for?  And do those people have a right to live?  How far should the freedom to believe what one wants extend?  Is there a limit to the types of beliefs that we should respect?  I do wonder how much of what I hear about ISIS is actually true.  There are constantly stories circulating about them executing hundreds of soldiers who had surrendered.  Now I am not a soldier, so it may not be my place to say this, but after the first week, it was well known that they were doing this.  Anyone who surrenders to ISIS at this point deserves what they get.  Failure is clearly not an option, and you need to defeat them or die trying.

 

US involvement will be very interesting to observe, due to the political issues surrounding the Middle East.  US leaders have to choose between what is clearly “right” (protecting thousands of innocent lives) with what is “popular” (no further US casualties in the Middle East).  And if they do the “right” thing, who are the right people to do it with?  It is pretty ironic to see the US aligned with Iran and Syria, in this conflict.  Those are the people we usually blame the existence of these kinds of terrorists groups on.  Can they exist without support from rogue states?

Based on the politics of American involvement in Iraq, this also leads to the question of whether elected leaders are supposed to do what their constituents desire, or what they believe is right.  And at what cost to themselves? (In their next election)  Getting re-elected should never be the primary goal of any politician.  But those who are facing term limits, like our re-elected president, don't have that to worry about.  Their only concern in that regard seems to be the legacy they leave behind, which can be both good and bad.  Public perception is not necessarily linked to reality, so decisions made now could be condemned of vindicated far in the future.

 

But it seems pretty obvious that something needs to be done, and it is pretty stunning to me, that it has taken so long for us to respond to what is happening.  And while international cooperation will help in solving the problem, I will admit that is a bit scary to me, centralizing too much power and control.  The principle of the separation of powers can be applied to different countries as easily as it can be applied to different branches of government, to keep things in check.  We just have to figure out where we believe those lines should be drawn, and fight to maintain them.

Diplomatic Solutions to Overt Aggression

Before I even get into examining ISIS, I totally overlooked another major issue in my last post, the conflict in Ukraine.  My first note about that is: has no one in the media read Tom Clancy's last book, Command Authority?  He predicted the initial conflict with a startling level of detail, as is his pattern.  How does that get no mention anywhere?


But our response has been pretty weak.  There are all sorts of commentators debating about whether we have a responsibility to get involved, since Ukraine is not technically a member of NATO.  There was very little press about The Budapest Memorandums, where both Russia and the US guaranteed to respect the borders of Ukraine, and never threaten them with force or economic coercion, in return for Ukraine giving up its stockpile of USSR's nuclear weapons. 


If our goal is to limit the proliferation of nuclear weapons, we have to honor our commitments, and support those who give up their nuclear weapons or development programs.  No country will ever agree to give up their nuclear weapons after what has happened in Ukraine over the last six months.  Not only did Russia invade Crimea, and not Ukraine itself, but the US has done nothing to stop them.  I am not saying we should go launch ICBMs at Moscow tomorrow, but if we are unwilling to use nuclear weapons first in any circumstance, why have them?  Some would argue that it is the threat of retaliation that prevents a foreign nuclear attack.  But under that logic, we would stand by idle while a nuclear armed foe takes over the whole world, as long as they only use their conventional forces.  Not only have we not threatened to use our nukes to defend Ukraine from foreign invasion, but we haven't even threatened to use our own conventional forces to defend them either.  And they even killed American citizens with the downing of Malaysian Flight 17, which is an act of war that traditionally would have been legitimate grounds for a military response.


But similar to the endless situation in Israel, since we don't "recognize" the rebels, we can't declare war on them.  What does "recognize" even really mean?  Not acknowledging something, doesn't affect whether it exists.  (See atheists on God)  There is a similar problem in a much more extreme context in Syria and Iraq, but that is for my next post.  In the mean time, whether or not the US recognizes them, there are a bunch of Russian soldiers in Eastern Ukraine.  And despite Putin's claims otherwise, they are taking control of the area, whether we like it or not.


Not only have we not taken any action to stop them, but we haven't even accused Russia of the invasion that they are publicly denying is taking place.  So if we don't "recognize" it, and they deny it, does that mean it is not "really" happening?  And people aren't "really" being killed.  Our method of diplomacy, where in we don't even talk about the problems, is the worst possible approach.  And where does the UN fit into all of this?  Aren't they supposed to mediate these disputes, and can Russia's veto on the Security Council be used to prevent any response from them?  If so, what is the point of that organization?  Once again, victory is the only way to diffuse the numerous developing hotspots around the globe.

Things in the News

It is time to take a break from my long series of autobiographical posts.  A lot has happened in the last six months, and there are many topics to examine.

 

Robin Williams’ suicide has sparked a very interesting debate about the role of mental illness in our lives.  It has given tangible shape to a debate that has been going on for a long time.  Are people responsible for their actions?  Some claim that his suicide “happened to him” as a result of his chronic depression, while others focus on the fact that each step, including the last one, is a conscious choice.  And people are responsible for the choices that they make?

Taking responsibility for one’s self and their actions is fundamental to having a free society, so it should be clear where my perspective falls.  If people are no longer responsible for the results of their own decisions, they are no longer free.  Among other reasons, this is why you can’t have socialized healthcare in a free country.  It automatically ceases to be free.  Once government controls your health, what else do they need to control you?  If they control you, where is the freedom?

 

In another government control related story, the Ferguson issue seems to be winding down, but got a lot of press over the last few weeks.  The lasting effects I am most interested in, are the impact that it has on the over arming of our police forces.  I have been concerned for a while about the fact that Homeland Security has been providing all sorts of high-end military weapons and armored vehicles to police forces across the country.  Hopefully the outrage over the recent misuse of that equipment will be strong enough to cause a review and change in those policies.  "When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."

 

It is fortunate that the conflict in Gaza seems to be calming down as well.  There was no clear winner, although all sides walk away unhappy, but claiming a limited victory.  The inhabitants of Gaza were killed by the thousands, while it cost Israel many resources and weapons, and the sense of security among its citizens.  Hamas lost hundreds of soldiers, but doesn't value human life, so that is openly of no consequence with them.  "We know this: without victory, there can be no peace."  Well since the world will not allow victory, there will be no peace there.  The only reason the fighting stopped was because of outside international pressure.  Neither side wanted to stop fighting, but at great cost to civilian life.  There is a reason for this.  "Israel uses its weapons to protect its people, while Hamas uses it people to protect its weapons."  It should be clear who is responsible for civilian deaths in Gaza, and also who benefits from them.

 

So that is not a pretty picture of what has been going on in the world over the last few months, and I haven’t even touched on the biggest issue, ISIS.

Christmas Break

I was only back in LA a few days before I was headed home for Christmas.  Being gone the last few weeks, I didn't do much Christmas shopping until I got home the day before Christmas Eve.  Not a good time for avoiding crowds and traffic.  Christmas went better than Thanksgiving, and we all did get together and have a big meal at the house.  We played a lot of board games, which had become a pretty solid family holiday tradition at that point.  That fact also provided a lot of good options for Christmas presents as well.

I had an interesting talk with my Mom one night that week, and she asked me a lot of questions about whether there were any girls that I was interested in or dating.  That was the first time I mentioned anything about P to her at all, downplaying it as usual, but answering her questions without lying about it.  Fortunately she didn't seem to retain much of that information for long.

I setup to visit a few friends, and do things like that while I was back.  The night before I was to have lunch with Sunshine, I got an unexpected call from Rockstar, asking for a ride home from the train station.  We had dinner on the way back, and had another pretty good talk.  Right before I dropped him off, I mentioned my plans for the next day, and was about to share that I was going to try to encourage her to see things his way (which I agreed with), when I was faced with an unexpected emotional explosion.  That must have just released something within him that had been bottled up over the last few months, and I was the unlucky recipient who he had the faintest excuse to make a target of.  Once I drove away, we didn't talk again for many years.  Ironically that talk the next day was cancelled for other reasons, and never happened until long after it was a moot point.  Although our relationship eventually resumed in a different form, it has definitely not been the same as it was before that conversation took place.  And we have never directly discussed that event either, although I have made reserved efforts to try.  I understand that people who have been deeply hurt have a tendency to lash out at those around them, but that doesn't excuse it when it happens, nor preclude the possibility of an apology.

The camp staff reunion had been an annual affair for many years, a three day retreat shortly after New Years.  That year was the first time one wasn't planned in a long time, so I setup a reunion BBQ instead at my parent’s house instead.  About thirty people showed up, including the executive and program directors for the camp.  We had lots of good food, and played some card games afterwards.  Once the meal was mostly over, P showed up with another friend.  I had invited her to many events in the past, but that was the first time she had taken me up on the offer.  It also allowed her see where I grew up, and meet my parents, who were never out at camp.  I heard her introduce herself to my mom by name, which got my attention after our recent talk.  But my mom obviously didn't make the connection at all, otherwise her next line certainly would have been “Oh, it’s nice to meet you, Mike has told me so much about you.”  (Regardless of the fact that that wasn't really true, it’s just how she talks.)  It had happened before, in other situations where I was far less concerned about how my perspective was perceived, and it was still really awkward later.  Instead things went smoothly, and we all hung out as a group playing Apples-to-Apples.  A pretty good party all around, and then it was back to work in LA, to edit the footage we had just finished shooting in the South.

Finishing My Tour of the South

The mission the next evening was for a team of Marines to drop in from the air, cross a mile of forest, and capture an insurgent leader and get him back to the ship for interrogation.  My mission was to meet their V-22 at the LZ, and get a drive of footage from our crew member who was supposed to be onboard, shooting the extraction team in flight.  And I was supposed to give them some extra cards and batteries we had bought, since they were coming up short on the ship.

 

As I heard it overhead I was racing to try to get the truck to the right part of the clearing in the woods, and then hopped out to run the rest of the way, since they were usually only on the ground for a couple of minutes.  As I got closer all you could see was dust.  I hoped that the blades were fully upright or I was going to lose me head.  Finally I could make out the back of the aircraft, which was open, with a tail gunner standing on the ramp.  I could just see his NVGs reflecting at me as he made some emphatic hand motions to direct me, but I couldn’t figure out what he was trying to get me to do.  After a couple seconds I decided to interpret it as a wave off, and withdrew a ways back, which seemed to be accurate, since they took off a few seconds later.  I was a bit frustrated to have missed the hand off when Mike Svitak appeared out of the darkness.  He had offloaded with the Marines and was sticking with that team for the duration of the mission.  We opened our pelican cases, exchanged the items in question, and then separated into the darkness.  I drove the mile to the insurgent compound, but I didn’t get there soon enough, so the MPs stopped me at edge, and I waited as the mission took place, watching the Marines infiltrate in the darkness, and leave a half hour later with their captive in tow.  It was a faster paced scenario, so I didn’t get any other media from the crew until it was over.  But once I was back at the hotel, I had plenty of data from the second ship to keep me busy.

 

For the mission the next night, I was assigned to be a camera assistant, and help one of the main operators with lenses and batteries.  I don’t remember the full mission profile, since I was only involved with a narrow part of it, but we spent a while in the top of a building waiting, and ended up talking with one of the marine guards for a while.  It was a short enough mission that I didn’t need to start backing up data until it was nearly over.

 

Our last mission was back at Camp Lejeune, so we took a charter bus back to our original hotel in North Carolina.  That mission was a night vehicle raid.  They would land a convoy of humvees on the hovercrafts, and then proceed overland to a village a few miles inland.  When the crew arrived at the village, I ended up helping the electrical department setup power to imitation street lights to improve our camera shots.  The “buildings” were mostly old shipping containers, which I had to climb on to get the power cables run.  The actual mission wasn’t very interesting, and I hardly saw the vehicles.  The Marines drove to the edge of town, dismounted and interacted with some of the local extras, and did their thing and left.  I guess half the action was getting off and on the hovercrafts at the beach, but I didn’t get to see that.  When the mission was over I backed up the last set of data, and was happy to be headed home after two weeks of travel.  We flew back to LA the next day.  I don’t remember how I got my new cold weather wardrobe home, probably as “padding” in the equipment cases.

A Night on the Beach

We headed to Virginia Beach the next day, and I was reassigned to drive a pickup truck with the audio team.  I knew them from filming the movie together, and we were friends, so that was a much lower stress vehicle to be in.  Plus I usually just followed car in front of me, which was easier.  It was the off season and very cold, but we were staying in a high rise hotel right on the water, with rooms overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.  Our next shoot was at Fort Point, overlooking the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.  This would be a full amphibious landing, with hovercraft and armored vehicles from the ship.  The landing was at night, and really cold.  I started with a camera unit on the beach, waiting for the first footage, to return to the vehicles to process it.  The USS Ashland was anchored a mile or two off shore, and we could hear what was coming long before we could see it.  The first units to hit the beach were AAVs, which drove out of the water, and appeared around us in the darkness.  They offloaded their passengers, who secured the beachhead, and moved inland.

None of these exercises were designed to be actual combat missions; they were just various unusual situations that could arise.  This one was planned to be a two part mission with the initial landing group discovering a cache of WMDs a few miles inland, and then the mission would shift to guarding and securing those items until a team could be brought in to deal with them properly.  The problem was that the initial landing team didn’t actually identify the WMDs, even though they made it to the correct building.  So the MPs that were overseeing the exercise had to help them out a little, which wasn’t as dramatic for our shooting purposes.

The challenge for us was that the mission took place across the wide swath of coast and several miles inland, over 36 hours.  The initial landing and discovery was finished by the morning, and we headed back to the hotel during the day, where I was able to collect media from the twelve camera operators who had been distributed throughout the exercise.  The next evening we went back to film the arrival of the WMD experts, which may have been the most anticlimactic moment in the history of the world.  The marines had been guarding that area for 36 hours by the time they left, after 12 hours preparing for the mission on the ship.  They would trade off who was on watch, but sleeping in the back of their armored vehicles can’t be that restful.  I spent most of that night logging footage in an SUV, trying to stay warm in the extreme cold.

We had the next day off, to catch up on sleep, and in my case catch up on footage logging as well.  We had gotten a drive of footage from the team on the Ashland, when one of them came ashore on an AAV, so I had a lot more to sort through.  We were halfway done with the project, so I was able to ship a drive full of data back to the office, which lowers the overall stress level once it arrives safely.  Our next two missions were in Fort Jackson, South Carolina.  So the production had chartered a flight to get the crew down there.  It was a pretty small plane, so I had a seat that was a window AND an aisle seat.  We landed and were given a new set of vehicles.  I got another truck, and we loaded up the sound gear, and headed off to get another set of base passes.