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Friday, Mar 07, 2008 - 17:59 SGT
Posted By: Gilbert

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A Dog's Life (Final Seconds)

"Yeah... grades are important... but in sixty years you won't care about what you got for GE1101E."
- Worldly-wise physical geography professor offering some perspective, and a possible warning


My computer has taken to requiring a lie-down before booting up these days, something like what I have been feeling (though with a couple of projects/midterms/deadlines over, things are looking up). Finally troubleshot the problem - the internal power connection between the power box and the motherboard was loose.


Any last woofs? (Source)
Ed: <Wenhoo> WHAT HAPPEN / WHY LIDAT

What better way to draw attention to the US occupation of Iraq, than to have a Marine happily flinging a cute black-and-white puppy off a cliff (see video)? Predictably the soldier involved got all but lynched online (just visit any site discussing this which allows comments), with the Marine Corps understandably unhappy about being tainted with the "puppy-killer" tag.

The alleged culprit, David Motari, explained his actions thus: "...What, you expect me to carry a stray sick dog from patrol 10+ miles back to camp with me. Did you know that we're not supposed to have dogs? Did you know that there isn't medicine available for animals out there? So what the f**k do you want me to do with it. It was going to die a slow and horrible death. Sorry you guys saw that, but it wasn't supposed to ever been shown. Usually what happens is we shoot them. I was being 'creative' that day and decided to throw the dog instead. If i could take it back, I would. Either way, I did the dog a favor. Sorry if you can't understand that..." (screenshot)

If that's a true account, scratch the "already dead puppy" (though it would probably still be in bad taste) and "faked-up vid" (I had my initial doubts, especially with the sound) hypotheses. However, while Motari's supposed deed may not be acceptable, let us put it into some context with a few questions:

  1. If there were a (possibly unwritten) practice for the troops to shoot strays (perhaps to prevent the spread of disease etc), and the video were of a soldier shooting a puppy (under implicit orders), what would be the response?
  2. If soldiers had been shown throwing many (live but presumably critically ill) puppies off a cliff but with a sombre expression, what would be the response?
  3. If soldiers had been shown butchering live puppies for food, perhaps as their rations had been expended, what would be the response?
  4. If soldiers had been shown butchering live livestock (e.g. cows, sheep, pigs) for food, perhaps as their rations had been expended, what would be the response?
  5. If soldiers had been shown butchering live animals on whatever official military order, what would be the response?
  6. If soldiers had been shown incinerating live livestock (e.g. cows, sheep, pigs) to prevent the spread of disease (such as chickens and bird flu), what would be the response?
  7. If a common person is shown the factory farming conditions from which their meat comes, in which vast numbers of animals are confined in cramped conditions and finally slaughtered mechanistically, which could be avoided by freely choosing vegetarianism, what would be the response? (by the way, I am far from being vegetarian - I have probably indirectly slain a thousand chickens)
In my opinion, the flak he has received seems slightly out of proportion. His main crime was probably to be stupid enough to get himself filmed doing it and then having the video leaked (cue Edison Chen). Interestingly, I can't recall the last time human civillian casualties in Iraq drew so much interest, despite the death toll threatening to top one million, or about 500 daily, presumably at least a tiny fraction (but still large in absolute terms) able to be attributed to occupational forces.

Baby accidentally caught in car blast? Ho-hum. Family unwittingly becomes collateral damage in "smart" bomb meant for insurgents? Nothing new. Iraqi kid suffering from psychological trauma? Wouldn't get a column anywhere. Marine kills cute puppy?


Bad News, Motari - *Everybody* likes puppies!

It's true, it has boiled over to his family already, with their address, contact details etc being spread. And what exactly do they have to do with it? Welcome to mob mentality land. Then again, everyone can be a hero on the Internet, that's part of the beauty of the thing.

Clichéd (as pointed out by tpk) joke that naturally popped into my mind...

President Bush was briefing a crowd on the progress in Iraq so far. "Casualties are reported at about 500000 Iraqis (conservative estimate), and a puppy." he said.

A few people in the crowd immediately asked, "Why the puppy?"

Bush grinned and turned back to Cheney. "See? I knew no one cared about the Iraqis!"

 ...

Trivia - animal-tossing was a popular sport "especially as an activity for mixed couples" in some European courts just a few centuries ago.

Gary Gygax has also failed his saving throw, with the co-creator of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons having ascended to one of the Outer Planes (wonder about his alignment). Many may not have heard of him, but his influence on whole genres of computer games, and by extension the wider world, can hardly be understated.

Rich Burlew's tribute in The Order of the Stick is probably the most apropos:

"Wherever he is, I hope he rolls good stats on his next incarnation."


(Source)



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