Thoughts from the night before

Six years ago tomorrow my alarm clock, set to NPR news, delivered me into a waking nightmare.

Sometimes I am still convinced it must be a bad dream - its hard to believe we squandered the outpouring of world support, mired ourselves in a pointless war when we should have given the Middle East a taste of freedom through education, through helping build infratsructure, through immersing them in education instead of bombs.
I wrote an article entitled “Thoughts About Insurgent Warfare” three years ago - that’s halfway between then and now. It could have been written today. Except the casualty numbers would be higher.

General Petraeus’s comments seem odd coming basically on the anniversary of the long war.

It has been a long war.

I expect Bush will tell us we need to keep the death going another year or more. That will be part of his September 11th speech.

I’m going to two events tomorrow. One is in the morning at City Hall to formally remember the heroic firefighters and policemen who died. They are still heroes, and still senselessly dead. And then I’m going to an anti-war protest in the evening in Marina Park.

Maybe I’ll see some of you at one or the other event. We’re up to 3,761 or so dead and 27,000 or so wounded Americans. I’ve seen estimated Iraqi body counts from in the 70 thousands to seven hundred thousand. Funny how we don’t count the whole cost.

No Responses so far

    There are no comments for this post.

Leave a comment

Books

Reading the Wind by Brenda Cooper

Reading the Wind cover image

Audio promo:

"Brenda Cooper's newest novel is a feast of character and concept. She depicts the devastation of war on microcosmic and macrocosmic levels, and even more so, the driving motives of young men and women caught in deadly conflict. Cooper is a master explorer of the interaction of society and individuals. She probes the psychology of her genetically enhanced characters with both rare depth and fidelity to scientific plausibility. Moral conundrums drive the plot in this unforgettable narrative. Don't miss this compelling work by a major new talent." - Mary A. Turzillo, An Old-Fashioned Martian Girl.

"Brenda Cooper tells a tale of a powerful brother and sister in a fight for their lives, offering insights along the way into the nature of courage and the hunger for community that burns in every human being. This is a lively book, full of colorful images and a memorable cast of human and animal characters, a worthy successor to The Silver Ship and the Sea." - Louise Marley

Available in July, 2008, from Tor Books.

The Silver Ship and the Sea by Brenda Cooper

Silver Ship and the Sea cover image

Audio promo:

"The first solo novel by Larry Niven's Building Harlequin's Moon (2005) coauthor portrays the thoroughly convincing human colonial society on Fremont, a dangerous planet rife with vicious predators, frequent earthquakes, and falling meteors....Distinctive characterizations, well-limned interrelationships, and the vividly realized Fremont contribute to an exciting coming-of-age story with a strong message about the evils of prejudice." - Sally Estes, Copyright American Library Association.

Mass Market Paperback, July 2008.
Included by Booklist as a "Best Adult Book for Young Adults."

Building Harlequin's Moon by Brenda Cooper and Larry Niven

Building Harlequin's Moon cover image

"Fans of both hard and softer, psychological SF will welcome veteran Niven and newcome Cooper's well-written tale of a 60,000 year layover in space, in which physical challenges of world building are matched by the social challenges of collaboration among disparate groups." - Publisher's Weekly

About

I am a writer, public speaker, and a futurist. I'm interested in how new technologies might change us and our world, particularly for the better, and in global warming. Learn more.

Speaking

I can be booked for keynote speeches on the future. I'm a generalist, with wide interests, and tailor my talks to the topics audiences are most curious about. Talking about the future is one of the most important conversations we can have. I can also talk about writing and publishing books and stories. Learn more.

Latest updates via Twitter

    Most Recent Posts

    RSS Feed.

    Categories

    /