The Next Challenge

Wayne Gretzky a.k.a. "The Great One"

Knockout!

Danica Patrick, the first woman to win the pole position for the Daytona 500

Freedom

[On why he didn't tell Sam that he was one of the POWs that the failed mission in Vietnam was meant to rescue]:


Al:  What the hell...I get repatriated in five years.

Sam:  You could've been free.

Al:  I was free.  Up here...I was always free.


- Quantum Leap

Lie To Me

 "The truth is written on all our faces."


- Dr. Cal Lightman, Lie To Me

Meditations

"Every moment think steadily as a Roman and as a man to do what you have in hand with perfect and simple dignity, and kindliness, and freedom, and justice; and to give yourself relief from all other thoughts."


- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

No Woman's Land

Why Women Should Not be in Combat

On January 24, 2013, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta reversed a long-standing policy prohibiting women from serving in combat units in the U.S. military.  Despite what is likely to be a firestorm of criticism for writing this post in opposition to that policy, including the likely wrath of most women who read this, I believe that the need for a frank discussion about the realities of women in combat is necessary to bring about a greater understanding of the subject and to hopefully avert the dire consequences of the policy's implementation.  Additionally, I must confess that the reasons for writing this are also highly personal and grounded in a desire for understanding by the society at large for the decision shows that this country does not truly understand what combat is like because if it did, it would not have made the decision to put women on the front lines.

Combat does not require exceptional physical prowess, knowledge, or creativity

Despite the endless banter of the talking heads, the reason women have no place on the battlefield is not because of physical differences, for combat is not really about having a certain kind of physique.  If that were the case, then, the military would simply go to the nearest Gold's Gym to find its Special Forces operators.  Nor is it about special intelligence, or knowledge, or technical expertise.  Commentators have given the example of the 6'4", 220 lbs. Marine who has been wounded and needs to be carried to a MEDEVAC and pointing to the fact that most women would not be able to accomplish that task.  But the truth is that neither could most infantrymen because a modern soldier in full battle-rattle can easily weigh close to 300 lbs. - far more than the average 19-year-old infantryman can carry.

Nor does combat require some exceptional ability to analyze complex problems (as is required in law, science, engineering, etc) - because most of the time very little is actually known about the enemy and his exact location, size, or capabilities. Commanders, therefore, make the best choices they can given very scarce information.  Lastly, combat is also not about being hard-working, creative, or diligent (as many jobs require) because things oftentimes happen very quickly on the modern battlefield and are over in a matter of minutes.

Combat requires single-minded, unadulterated focus on destroying the enemy - something the female psyche lacks

What effectiveness in combat truly hinges on is the degree to which an individual is able to abandon all other thoughts in favor of singular focus on killing the enemy.  The soldier must become, as Col. Kurtz describes in Apocalypse Now, "Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure."  All other thoughts dissolve - thoughts of family, of current issues in one's life, even of self-preservation - receding from the soldier's consciousness until the only thing that exists is the blind, overwhelming desire to kill another human being.

Blowing bubbles and blowing the target away

Fortunately, I believe, this is a primordial instinct that women do not have.  While it is, of course, true that women can kill, they generally do so to protect a loved one and not out of a taste for blood.  Combat requires something different than what women generally possess because the killing in combat is for the most part not undertaken to protect loved ones but rather out of a sense of enjoyment of the violence.

Apparently not too hellish (note the smile)

As a side note, the situation itself triggers primordial instincts which is why all any government needs to do is just get the soldier onto the battlefield.  At that point, politics, justifications, and missions go out the window and the desire to survive and kill takes over.  Ultimately, the soldier does what he has been sent there to do.

The point is that what effectiveness in combat requires is something completely different from what is conventionally understood.  No one could say it better than Kurtz:

"You have to have men who are moral...and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling...without passions...without judgment...without judgment!"

"Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure."

Assuming that the reader has a basic understanding of the psychology of combat, I will now lay out the various reasons why women should not be involved in it.

Reasons for Not Allowing Women to be in Combat

 I.  Allowing women to serve in combat units will destroy unit cohesion

We all know that adding a female to a group of males changes the entire social dynamic.  Suddenly, what was before a group of boys playing off each other's masculinity has become a competition for the attention of the female: 

A criminal, a jock, a basket case, a princess, and a nerd

 As a result of this automatic shift, women cannot participate in the camaraderie that exists between men:

A pack of wolves

Conversely, men cannot really integrate fully into a group of women (which is why no man will ever truly understand Steel Magnolias or The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants).

 II.  Allowing women to serve in combat units will reduce operational effectiveness

American men are raised from birth to protect women.  If a unit were in contact, the men would not be able to focus on their job but rather instinctively move to protect the women in the unit.  Were that to happen at a collective level, the unit would be rendered combat ineffective.

Additionally, for the same cultural reasons, combat commanders are likely to not select certain subordinate units for assignments because of the presence of women in those units, especially if those assignments are high-risk.  It must be noted that those decisions may even happen subconsciously.

III.  The presence of women in combat is not a civil rights issue like gay rights or racial equality

Tempting as it is to make the comparison, the issue before us contains no parallels to either the civil rights movement or any other movement for equality.  At issue in those movements is the fundamental absurdity of depriving certain groups of basic rights based on factors that have no relation to anything.  In the present case, however, the distinction is based on genuine differences and not on something absurd and false such as the belief that women are intellectually inferior or that black people are less capable than whites.  In this case, the difference is based on actual differences in psychology.   

Additionally, soldiering is not a "job" in the sense that lawyering, or practicing medicine, or working on cars constitute "jobs."  Soldiering is essentially cold-blooded killing and has nothing to do with an ability to process or analyze information, comprehend difficult concepts, or manage many tasks at once.  For that reason, successful integration of women into pilot jobs and even space shuttle command positions does not translate into any indication of success in combat.

IV.  Women who participate in direct combat will not be able to lead normal lives as women afterwards

Combat changes people.  It changes the way they see themselves and it changes their understanding of human nature.  Never again can a soldier deny his own Inner Beast, nor the fact that even kind, moral people have the propensity for savage cruelty.  Women who see that first-hand in themselves and in the men around them will never be able to have a healthy relationship with a man again because they will know what most women do not want to know: that despite the nice clothes and polished exterior, their partner has a savage, primordial beast at the core.

Even men who have undergone this process have difficulty coming to terms with what they've witnessed in themselves.  T.S. Eliot's poem The Hollow Men beautifully captures the predicament of

"...

Those who have crossed,

With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom

Remember us--if at all--not as lost

Violent souls, but only

As the hollow men

The stuffed men
..."

Kurtz reads The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot

  
V.  Men who are in combat alongside women will be less effective

Men who finds themselves in combat alongside women will not allow themselves to be entirely possessed by the Beast for fear that the women (whose approval they constantly seek) will think lesser of them should they see them devolve into savages.  This is the same reason, I believe, that most veterans do not talk about their experience in war with their families.  Their concern is not due to some fear of rousing up some traumatic, unspeakable experience but rather that they abhor the idea that their families will see them as killers and not as moral, decent people.  This is also why, I suspect, many soldiers are grateful that their families are far away "back home" because it frees them up to be fully present in the violence of the moment while telling themselves that, "What happens in the jungle, stays in the jungle."

 VI.  Conclusions drawn from the fact that women have been deployed to combat zones over the past decade are erroneous

Proponents of the idea of putting women in combat like to point to data about the presence of women in combat since 9/11.  What they fail to understand, however, is that these women were generally only peripherally involved in ground combat and, if they were, it was almost always as an augmentee to a combat unit and, therefore, only in a supporting role as public affairs officers, transportation soldiers, quartermasters, civil affairs specialists, or even as explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians.

In those positions, even if the unit were to come into contact, the responsibility for defending against the attack would fall to the combat soldiers that were providing the security for the escort.  As such, accurate data about the ability of women to actually fight (and not just be there) is entirely lacking.  In fact, if the Jessica Lynch saga is any indication of what the reality would be like, it does not bode well.

Proponents will also point to the fact that women have been attack helicopter pilots in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and point to their exemplary service in that capacity.  There is no doubt that this is true.  What they fail to realize, however, is that reality of close-quarters ground combat is far different from flying above the battlefield - it is much more up-close and personal and requires a savagery and a ferocity that, if anything, is counter-productive in the air.

VII.  Ultimately, the differences between men and women are rooted in the psyche and not in culture

The differences that exist between the genders are not rooted in cultural or social conditioning.  They predate both culture and society by probably a million years.  Accordingly, the idea that with different cultural conditioning women will possess the same primordial killing instincts that men possess is mistaken.  That basic, fundamental difference -- the propensity for savage, cold-blooded killing -- is the primary reason that combat is the domain of men.

Possible Reasons for Such a Misguided Decision

I think there are essentially two reasons why this decision came about and will likely not be reversed:

I.  The proliferation of movies, video games, and news reporting about war has led people to mistakenly believe that they understand what combat is like

Footage of combat can be found everywhere these days.  Even YouTube has videos shot with helmet cams by soldiers in firefights.  And while the general public may now know what combat looks and sounds like, it still has no understanding of what it feels like and what the state of mind is like of the individuals involved in it.  This gap has created a false sense of understanding about the reality of war and led people to believe that they are fit to make drastic decisions regarding how it is executed.

Even police, federal agents, and other civil servants may not understand the psychological transformation that takes place in war because their roles are fundamentally different.  Police restore order and protect citizens.  Soldiers destroy an enemy.  The difference in psychology is great, despite the fact that at first glance they seem similar because they both involve uniforms and weapons.  Unfortunately, however, only few people understand the experience of single-minded focus on killing and destruction and describing what that experience is like is similar to trying to describe what a steak tastes like to a lifelong vegetarian.  As Kurtz says: "It is impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means."

 II.  Those who are concerned about the policy are unwilling to speak out against it

There is, I suspect, a general unwillingness on the part of many veterans to speak out against the policy for fear of seeming to be opposed to equal rights for women.  Additionally, they may be concerned about trying to engage in a discussion about it and not being able to articulate what combat is like to those who have not experienced it.  Lastly, it may be that many of them are concerned about being seen as a killer (something not admired in our society) if they speak their mind.

Conclusion

Actual implementation of this policy is likely to have immediate, visible, and disastrous consequences for the combat effectiveness of the U.S. military.  I suspect that the first co-ed unit in contact will unravel and disintegrate in the face of a determined foe.  It may sound overly simplistic, but as an old infantry officer once told me years ago: "You need to have dogs at the gates that you can unleash on your enemies when you need to."  That kind of business requires a savagery that is, for better or worse, resident in the male psyche alone.

SGT Rex awaits the green light

----------
Additional Note (added on February 3, 2013)

Astute readers have brought to my attention that in my efforts to highlight what I believe is the most critical and least discussed component of an effective combat soldier, I have, unfortunately, understated the fact that combat does truly require a certain degree of physical fitness, the ability to make good decisions under pressure, and the good ol' sixth sense.

Some of these qualities - most specifically physical fitness - can be trained, as the Army and Marines do with all their infantrymen.  Good judgment under pressure may be less train-able and a sixth sense even more so.  Nevertheless, a good infantryman must possess all of these qualities.  If he lacks the critical component of savagery, however, I suspect he will, in the end, not really be an effective soldier.

Changes

”自分が変わったら、世界は変わる。”

"When you change, the world changes."


- Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist Priest

Attachment

"Attachment leads to jealousy.  The shadow of greed, that is."


- Master Yoda

Merry Solstice

Tree with lights symbolizing the end of darkness and the return of light to the Earth

Lincoln

"The ballot is stronger than the bullet."


- Abraham Lincoln 

Solaris

Solaris (1972 film)

 "I only wanted to create a vision of a human encounter with something that certainly exists, in a mighty manner perhaps, but cannot be reduced to human concepts, ideas or images."


- Stanislaw Lem, author of Solaris, discussing the extraordinary physical and psychological "alienness" of the planet Solaris

Karma

"Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future."

- Sonmi-451, Cloud Atlas

Every day I'm Star Hustlin'

Greetings, greetings, fellow star-gazers!

Some people hustle pool. Some people hustle cars. But have you ever heard about the man who hustles stars?

Meet Jack Horkheimer, Star Hustler, former director of the Planetarium in Miami and host of the public television show Jack Horkheimer: Star Hustler for 36 seasons.

He had a unique way of educating audiences watching in the wee hours of the night about the constellations that could be seen in the night sky, comets that would be traveling past our planet in the coming days, and everything else going on in the Heavens - all the while reminding viewers of our place in the vast expanse that is the Universe.

For those of us who remember watching his marvelous little show on PBS he will be missed.

And remember, as Jack always said, "Keep looking up!"

Bronco Bama Holds On!

Now git 'er dun!

We Are Not Alone

"Houston, this is Discovery.  We still have the alien spacecraft under observance."


- Intercepted radio transmission from Discovery pilot Colonel John Blaha to Houston Control during a space flight in March 1989

Riding my bicycle

Here comes the bride

No Barriers

Gen. Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier again today, this time in an F-15, instead of in the X-1, as he did for the first time on this date in 1947.  He is 89 years old.

This publication would like to salute this legendary pilot and American hero and say on behalf of all young Americans:

Well done, Sir!

"My mule don't like people laughin'"

Caballero:  Listen, stranger, did you get the idea?  We don't like to see bad boys like you in town.  Go get your mule.  You let him get away from you?


Manco:  Well, see, that's what I wanna talk to you about.  He's feelin' real bad.


Caballero:  Huh?

Manco:  My mule.  You see, he got all riled up when you went a fired those shots at his feet.

Caballero:  Hey, you makin' some kinda joke?

Manco:  No, see, I understand you men were just playin' around.  But the mule, he just doesn't get it.  'Course if you were to all apologize...

[The caballeros laugh]

Manco:  I don't think it's nice, you laughin'.  See my mule don't like people laughin'.  Gets the crazy idea you're laughin' at him.  Now, if you apologize, like I know you're going to, I might convince him that you really didn't mean it.


- A Fistful of Dollars

Risky Business

 "Sometimes you gotta say, 'What the @#$%'"


- Joel, Risky Business

"Dyin' aint much of a livin', boy"

Bounty Hunter:  I'm looking for Josey Wales

Josey Wales:  That'd be me.

Bounty Hunter:  You're wanted, Wales.

Josey Wales:  I reckon I'm right popular.   You a bounty hunter?

Bounty Hunter:  Man's gotta do something for a livin' these days.

Josey Wales: Dying ain't much of a livin', boy.  You know, this isn't necessary.  You can just ride on.

...

Bounty Hunter:  I had to come back.

Josey Wales:  I know.


- The Outlaw Josey Wales

Vanishing Point

"This radio station was named Kowalski, in honour of the last American hero to whom speed means freedom of the soul. The question is not when's he gonna stop, but who is gonna stop him." 


- Super Soul, Vanishing Point

Anticipation

"Some say I have a 'sixth sense' . . . Baloney. I've just learned to guess what's going to happen next. its anticipation. It's not God-given, its Wally-given. He used to stand on the blue line and say to me, 'Watch, this is how everybody else does it.' Then he'd shoot a puck along the boards and into the corner and then go chasing after it. Then he'd come back and say, 'Now, this is how the smart player does it.' He'd shoot it into the corner again, only this time he cut across to the other side and picked it up over there. Who says anticipation can't be taught?"


- Wayne Gretzky a.k.a. "The Great One"

What, me worry?

Breaking Bad, yo

"Yeah, Mr. White!  Yeah, science!"


- Pinkman, Breaking Bad

Law: Texas Style

"You may be big, but you wanna see how bad you are?  C'mon!"

Click here to watch how depositions are taken in Texas. 

Triumph of the Will

“The receptivity of the masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous. In consequence of these facts, all effective propaganda must be limited to a very few points and must harp on these in slogans until the last member of the public understands what you want him to understand by your slogan.”  

- Hitler

"Apache 3-6 out"

Players

  

 "You're all players, Sonny...getting high off the action."



- Miami Vice

The Kurgan Lives!

"Father!  Forgive me.  I am a worm..." - The Kurgan, circa 1986

"Don't...ever...speak to me...again.  Do you understand?  Good..." - The Kurgan, circa 2012

A Modern Masterpiece

Ferrari 308 quattrovalvole

The Fall of Crockett

Hackman:  I sure as hell know the same way you couldn't let an innocent man be executed that you can't shoot an unarmed man.



Crockett:  Wrong.


- Miami Vice

"Did you see the sunrise this morning?"

Ivan:  You are still schoolboy, Thomas, using schoolboy tricks.

Magnum:  No tricks.

...

Ivan:  If you are going to shoot me, do it now....You won't...You can't...I know you, Thomas.  I had you for three months at Duc Wei.  I know you better than your mother.  Your sense of honor and fair play.  You could shoot me, if I was armed and coming after you.  But like this...Thomas...never.  Goodbye, Thomas.  Dasvidanya.

Magnum:  Ivan, did you see the sunrise this morning?

Ivan:  Yes, why?


- Magnum, p.i.


Click here to watch the scene.

Going for the Gold

The Dark Night Rises

The horrific incident in Colorado last week brought the sick state of our society to the forefront of our national attention.

Over the past few decades, higher human values of compassion and selflessness have been replaced by the Gods of greed, narcissism, and violence.  Investment banks ruin the lives of millions of people as they rake in record profits and then pass on huge losses to those same people.  Defense contractors lobby for wars that destroy countless lives.  The healthcare industry fights tooth and nail to prevent legislation that will provide medical care to millions and the oil and coal companies destroy the environment in their insatiable desire for even more money.  And in a testament to how much we've fallen from grace, a psychopathic corporate raider has the support of about 50% of the electorate and may become the next president. 

Except for unusual cases such as major scandals or catastrophic accidents, it is difficult to see the degree to which greed and selfishness have come to dominate because their expression is usually subtle and in the form of business decisions made in board rooms.

But the latest manifestation of that narcissism, selfishness, and lack of empathy, however, came in the form of a young man dressed in black and wearing a gas mask opening fire on a crowd in a theatre, killing and wounding scores.  Upon careful inspection, it will become clear that the same motivations and thought-processes that drove James Holmes to commit mass murder are in actuality not very different from what is driving many of the key players in our society today.  As such, the tragic incident in Aurora, Colorado last Thursday is but merely a symptom of a much larger illness.

The Psychology of the Mass Shooter

The following was taken from a blog post entitled 'The Common Motive of a Mass Shooter Attacker: Immortality"on the Washington Post's website:


Dr. Michael Welner, a forensic psychiatrist who is chairman of The Forensic Panel, a practice in New York City, has worked on mass-shooting cases for many years and shared some general thoughts about these kinds of incidents:


“Mass shooting cases have the common motive of an attacker seeking immortality. Each of the attackers have different degrees of paranoia and resentment of the broader community. Some are so paranoid that they’re psychotic. Others are paranoid in a generally resentful way but have no significant psychiatric illness. But you have to hate everyone in order to kill anyone. The threshold that the mass shooter crosses is one in which he decides that his righteous indignation and entitlement to destroy is more important than the life of any random person that he might kill.” 

“This is why mass shooting are invariably, invariably carried out by people who have had high self esteem. They are people who had high expectations of themselves. It’s not at all surprising to hear about these crimes in people who either valued their own intelligence or their own career prospects at one time.” 

“They’re people who are unfailingly unable to form satisfying sexual attachments and their masculinity essentially gets replaced with their fascination for destruction.”

“The overwhelming majority of folks who do this are male because of how, in our culture, masculine identity is so closely tied to the capacity to destroy.”


The motivation underlying the killer's behavior is a desire for immortality -- a fundamentally narcissistic goal that he is selfishly willing to achieve at the expense of other people's lives.

Greed is Good: The Psychology of the Capitalist

The same can be said for the Uber-capitalist.  He is willing to ravage everything is his path for the sake of power and wealth, hoping that in some way, he may attain the immortality of the Gods.  In his case, however, he does not open fire in a crowded theatre; he lobbies legislatures so that environmental regulations that prevented him from drilling and destroying a natural habitat are repealed, he finds ways to sabotage and avoid laws that make it illegal for him to gamble with other people's retirement money and capitalizes off the profits or leaves them holding the bag if he bets wrong, and he deviously spreads lies about critical legislation that would actually make millions of people healthier and save them billions of dollars -- all because they will cut into his bottom line.

A killer in a $5,000 suit

The behavior of the mass shooter and the Uber-capitalist are different in form but not in fundamental nature.  Both are driven by greed and narcissism and unconcerned about the effects of their actions on others.  In the past few decades those values have not been held in check by greater values of co-operation and the fundamental value of all life.
  
Not all power-hungry, selfish people are in a position to run an investment bank or an oil company.  Some are only able to buy a few guns from the local Walmart and kill their neighbors in a movie theatre.  But in a society that has glorified the pursuit of power and self-promotion they've got to make a name for themselves somehow.

So why should we be surprised when they do?

Over the Top

"What's the matter, Dillon?  CIA got you pushing too many pencils?"

Bushido

Gretzky:  Hello, Marty.

Castillo: It's been a long time.

Gretzky:  Are you the same man I used to know, Marty?

Castillo:  We change.

Gretzky:  Not you.


- Miami Vice

The Ultimate Question

Algren:  What do you want from me?

Katsumoto:  What do you want for yourself?


- The Last Samurai

Views of Taisekiji - Small Bench

Small bench near the Demon Gate, Taiseki-ji Temple, Japan

Contact

"The universe was made on purpose, the circle said.  In whatever galaxy you happen to find yourself, you take the circumference of a circle, divide it by its diameter, measure closely enough and uncover a miracle -- another circle drawn kilometers downstream of the decimal point.  There would be richer messages farther in.  It doesn't matter what you look like, or what you're made of, or where you come from.  As long as you live in this universe, and have a modest talent for mathematics, sooner or later you'll find it.  It's already here.  It's inside everything.  You don't have to leave your planet to find it.  In the fabric of space and in the nature of matter, as in a great work of art, there is, written small, the artist's signature.  Standing over humans, gods, and demons, subsuming Caretakers and Tunnel builders, there is an intelligence that antedates the universe."

- Carl Sagan, Contact