Hiking Liminal Spaces

This is a post where I want to tread carefully.  I won't be including links in it because anyone who wishes to fact check this can easily do so with a quick Google search.  I'm commenting on the three American "hikers" who have been detained in Iran since last August.

The three are all graduates of UC Beserkly (which offers some background about them) who were living in Damascus.  Their ages, at the time of their arrest, are 27, 31, and 27.  These are not kids.  Or, at least, are of an age and claimed experience level to know what they were doing.  They made a trek across Syria (through Turkey?) into northern Iraq (Kurdistan) and, depending on what point of the chronology you examine, were either doing humanitarian work in Kurdistan and "accidently" strayed near the border of Iran ...OR... were intentionally hiking a trail along the "unmarked" border of Iraq and Iran.  Either way, one doesn't stray clsoe to the border of Iran without knowing you're near a country who is a bit touchy about intruders and, especially, Americans.  Perhaps being educated in Beserkly, they were not aware of the tenuous and bitter history between the governements of the US and Iran.

As anyone who may converse with me for any period of time might figure out, Iran is a country/culture near and dear to me.  I am somewhat well-versed in both the history of Persia as well as the 20th Century political timeline of Iran.  Almost lived them as a kid when my dad was offered a position over there with a contractor.  But being endeared to their culture doesn not make me unmindful of the state of current politics.  And being a avid and experienced hiker, I would not go wandering near the border of Iran without deliberately doing so or, at least, knowing I was near such a unmarked space.  I walk all edges, but, as the person who named me as doing so said, I'm always just this side of right.  I love peeking into that abyss, but the entire point of doing so is to come back from the edge to tell the tale of what I saw.  (lapse into a Southern accent:)  It don't matter that I seen what I saw

If these three were intelligent and experienced, they didn't either.  If they accidentally crossed that border I ask, why didn't they have a compass and a map?  With a small guess, being they were Beserklites living in Damascus, perhaps they could have afforded an iPhone with a GPS application?  If I had the money and was intending on wandering such realms, I would consider it.

I guess my opinion of the situation is that of... Morons.  I'm a shade sorry that you're being detained in a foreign land, but then again, you were asking for trouble.  In my opinion, you knew what you were doing and wanted the thrill of bordering (or even entering) Iran's territory.  And you got caught.  Sucks now, don't it?

I tell myself this on the eve of my own travels to a non un-volatile land where, in Kosovo, there are small warnings about how to legally and safely cross the border (Serbia doesn't acknowledge Kosovo's independence so the borders of the region are not considered by Serbia to be international borders.  There's a geographical process to passing through Kosovo, and I have done my research on it and will do so as planned.  However, I fully acknowledge the local government's right to turn me back upon my attempting exit.  At no time do I expect to accidentally cross a border without knowing I'm doing so...nor will I put myself in a position to do so unwittingly).

Again, it's sad to be imprisioned, sadder still for the parents of those kids.  But put yourself in a position where you become pawns of a government that doesn't like the country of your residence, and that's what happens when you put yourself in such a position through arrogence or ignorance.

Their being there indicates that one or the other (or some variation thereof) was in play with them last August when they were detained by the Iranian government.

Also... who goes recreational hiking in the deserts of Iraq in August?



· • ·

One of his smaller soap box rants...

 Of the several articles I read about this recent event, I'm struck immediately how the angle of viewpoint throughout the piece seems to focus on the economic disruption and not the direct societal impact that is shown to be possible in this.

But also, there's a few things in particular that I pondered more than a moment on:

 A federal official said it was not considered it a terrorist threat.

So it's the ideology and not the act that determines a terrorist threat?

Gabrielle Zecha and Taj Heniser, visiting from Seattle, had tickets to see “Next to Normal” at the Booth Theater on 45th Street but could not get into the 8 p.m. show because the area was blocked off. But they made the best of the spectacle. “It’s a whole different kind of show,” Ms. Heniser said, adding, “It’s almost the equivalent of a $150 show.”

For it to be worth the $150, there would, of course, have to be at least one dead body.

Onlookers crowded against the metal barricades encircling the area, taking pictures with cellphones and video cameras, although only a swarm of flashing fire trucks and police cars was visible.

If this were my story—I deal in fiction—I'd have the bad guy put a couple of other bombs at some distance from the first (which would, of course, be lamely designed so as to appear to be the work of a deranged lone wolf and not an organized criminal conspiracy) that would be more insidious, and messy.

But that's just the way I'd write it if it were a fictional story.


· • ·

Forbidden Boolean String

According to this article in the LA Times, the internet makes it easier to become a terrorist. Easier than what? I ask, but deduce from the open-ended question they mean easier than without. The logic in that is shoddy, but we'll ignore such a discrepancy in order to have the discussion move past the poor rhetoric it displays.

Another objective flaw in the article is its attention solely to Islamic radicals.

From charismatic clerics who spout hate online, to thousands of extremist websites, chat rooms and social networking pages that raise money and spread radical propaganda, the Internet has become a crucial front in the ever-shifting war on terrorism.

to

[F]iery Internet imans who use English to preach jihad and, in some cases, to help funnel recruits to Al Qaeda and other radical causes.

I've encountered plenty of radical hate-mongering from far more than Islamic voices. I think the easy way to rationally discuss this sort of thing is by just killing everyone who's viewpoint is different than . . . hmmm, that doesn't work because then . . . we'd all have to . . . end up shooting . . . each other.

Okay, to rationally discuss this topic, instead of pointing fingers at just one religious sect of wingnuts, how about point our fingers at all spectrum of wingnuts.

Hmmmm, that really doesn't work either, sing who defines who the wingnuts are?

"Decent society" I guess. Although I've seen damn little proof such a place exists.

And so I tried something. I used Google to help my terrorist indoctrination. But alas! Google failed me. I shan't be able to join my hoped for radical group since, apparently, they don't exist:

· • ·

Talkin Shop: Writing Superstitions

It's funny what sort of story ideas capture my imagination and what sort drive me to the page immediately.

In the midst of something like the latter. No story idea, just those characters/place/event. Playing reporter and following them around. Gets deep and twisted and complicated and so-very-human so quickly, doesn't it?

Going back to an old adage/superstition. Don't talk about the contents of the story until the first draft is done. A couple got away from me by talking about them.

But those are occupational hazards. • y a w n •

Now if you wanna talk shop . . . you know how to reach me.


· • ·

"You can't keep lettin' it get you down."

~•~

This may not be the greatest musical/art project in the history of this universe—and, quite possibly, any other—but it is certainly on the shortlist for the position.


· • ·