Veterans for Peace Executive Director Michael McPhearson comment on Gwyneth Paltrow's poor comparison

Gwyneth Paltrow blasted for comparing mean Internet comments to war


Michael McPhearson, executive director of the organization Veterans for Peace, gave a more measured response.

"Ms. Paltrow like most people has never been to war or had her life in real danger so she does not know what it is like to face war," he told Yahoo. "But she does know what it is like to be afraid and to feel belittled. These are the emotions I'm sure she feels when being attacked on the internet … Because Ms. Paltrow has not been in war and she has not faced war conditions like soldiers and victims of war, she has nothing to compare her personal dehumanizing experience to other than what she imagines war to be like. Her frame of reference is extremely skewed."

McPhearson continued: "As a combat veteran and father of a son who served a tour in Iraq, I am not upset with Ms. Paltrow. I am more concerned with the flurry of attention she receives for what is really a foolish and uneducated comment, but harmless; while there is little real debate about our nation’s wars and our need to find a different way to solve conflicts so that we can stop forcing our children and children around the world to face war. Every soldier and victim of war is someone’s child. No, Ms. Paltrow has no idea what she is talking about and she unknowingly belittles the experience of service members and the victims of war. However, no one should have to face the horrors of war; yet, far too any people do, including innocent people who have done nothing wrong and have little if anything to say about why they are caught in the crossfire of U.S. war. Let’s have a flurry of controversy and debate about that"

The volume of a pizza

The volume of a pizza of radius z and height a is pi*z*z*a.

YesAllWomen

I suppose i've been doing a little bit of reading on the #YesAllWomen hashtag like a lot of people and after a while some of the things i read sounded strangely familiar. I realize this might sound condescending or patronizing since i am a male but i think i know, at least a little bit, about what women have been and are going through.

It's because a lot of the behavior modification that women do matched what i remember from Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection training given to deployed military.

Some of the recommended behaviors were things like changing clothes to dress more conservatively, to never travel alone especially at night, always being aware of your surroundings, never let your possessions leave your sight, etc., are pretty much an exact match.

There is one major difference in the AT/FP recommendations. It is to disregard any preconceived notions of who could be a threat. Any man, woman, or child could be carrying a weapon (conventional firearm, bomb, knife, etc.).

In case you're curious the "JS Guide 5260" or "CJCS Guide 5260" is Public Domain and should be easy to find.

To Mr. Tal Fortgang

I don't consider myself a blogger or whatever but since Mr. Tal Fortgang's essay has shown up on my feed multiple times, i felt a bit compelled to write an open letter.



Mr. Tal Fortgang,


I have to say first i agree that "Check your privilege." is a trite phrase and should not be used to try to stifle discussion or debate.


I also absolutely agree that you should feel no personal responsibility for slavery, lynchings, internment camps, etc. and that you should not be expected to apologize for any of those things.


I most definitely agree that people should not judge other people solely on physical appearance and that it is the content of their character that matters most.


I will also agree that a good work ethic and self-discipline are key to success.


There are some things that i would like some clarification on since i think there are some privileges you may not have been aware of having.


Have you ever had the privilege of not being asked to "Go back to wherever you came from?" or questioned about whether you're a "real American"?


I also would be curious if you have the privilege of not being illegally detained and frisked on suspicion of shoplifting if you  happened to decide to not buy anything from a store:

http://nypost.com/2013/02/17/forest-whitaker-claims-he-was-falsely-accused-of-shoplifting-frisked-at-manhattan-deli/


I honestly don't know if you wear a yarmulke or if you've ever appeared in court, but if you do, i'm fairly certain the judge wouldn't tell you to remove "that rag" off your head like what happened to Mr. Jageet Singh, a Sikh in Mississippi:

http://www.businessinsider.com/judge-ejects-sikh-jageet-singh-from-court-for-his-turban-2013-9


I also hope that in the event that if you ever have a medical alert device and it inadvertently triggers in your own home, you also have the privilege of not being being hit with beanbags, tasered, then shot and killed by police officers like Mr. Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr. :

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/09/marine-new-york-police-kenneth-chamberlain

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/03/justice/new-york-chamberlain-death/

I hope i didn't come off as being too sarcastic in my past few statements but i sincerely want to emphasize that although the days of lynching parties and other such deplorable things are thankfully over, there is still progress to be made in the realm of human dignity and human rights.  I think that perhaps the first step is free and open communication and discussion and rational discourse with a bit of empathy and compassion.