Light back to dark

I had planned to fill today’s entry with light and mostly pointless jabber about stuff like how my Segway miniPro arrives today, our discovery of a cool show called Mr Robot or how I decided to solo the end raid of Wrath of the Lich King last night.  Instead I woke up this morning (without an alarm between 4-5AM) to news that there has been another terrorist mass casualty event in France.  This tragedy deviated from the normal gun and explosive tactics most used by suicidal maniacs.  Instead this man drove a large truck at a high rate of speed right into the middle of a large crowd gathered for a Bastille Day celebration.

The casualty count is somewhere in the mid-80s with many of them being children.  It is yet another horrible event in the long stream of horrible events that seem to be a regular occurrence in the world nowadays.  With these tragedies happening so often it gets hard to discern between them.  Regardless of the corresponding death toll with each event the rhetoric is typically very similar with leaders vowing to “defeat” terrorist groups which is a crock of shit.

When politicians say they are going wipe out terrorism they are appealing to simple thinking people.  It is impossible to wipe out a group that blends in among the populace and that views blowing themselves up as badge of honor that has rewards in the afterlife.  You can’t defeat extremism because they are willing to go beyond the boundaries civilized society exists under.

Of course as is the case far too often, religious beliefs are at the rotten core of this endless conflict.  There is no foreseeable resolution.  Religion has been the cause of conflict throughout human history and to think it’s changing anytime soon is naive.   I have no answers, no light at the end of the tunnel although I am sure the executives of military mega-conglomerates have a little spring in their step everyday they wake up to news like this.  Anything that helps to propagate fear and panic is good for business.  My personal plan of action is to just keep moving forward and hope human beings don’t totally eradicate themselves before the century is over.

Have a nice weekend hunting Pokemon.