Memorial Day thoughts...

A photo from Arlington West in Santa Barbara, as supported by the Veterans for Peace.

There are times I really wonder if this war is a part of our national consciousness, or whether it is merely an inconvenience - like a writer's strike, a recession, or an election. To be frank, I am not a fan of the military - but as the son of a Vietnam veteran and the best-friend of someone who served in Bosnia, I try to view these sorts of issues in ways other than black and white.

The fact is that I am a humanist before I am a nationalist. While there won't be tributes like Arlington West for the tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians who perished, I can't help but think about the 4081 casualties of our U.S. troops and wonder why they had to die without being cynical about the answer.

That's what I'll be thinking about today. That, and the price of gas...

And as an aside, today marks the 100th Anniversary of the first major oil find in the Middle East - because life is just too frickin' strange sometimes.