Red2Alpha says,
I hate the fucking internet. This opinion has been brewing inside my dome for years but recent events have finally forced it to the surface. Way back in the old time days of 1995 I first became aware of this internet thing. At the time I was still in the 82nd ABN Div and living in the barracks on Ardennes. No one had a connection to the net. I only became aware of it once I got out. I had driven one of my HS friends to Chico State and he took me to the computer lab and showed me how to use Yahoo to look things up. Now, growing up I had a Commodore 64 which I used to play really crappy games on. There was
one computer in my grammar school which we used to draw pictures on with LOGO, in between playing that educational game Oregon Trail. There ends my computer education until the Chico State computer lab. In that lab I, and at a loss of just what to look up, I typed in
Robotech ( yes, I am a geek). Hundreds of Robotech related sites popped up, mecha specs, character info, and pictures. I was amazed. Wow! nearly anything I was interested in was on the net for my enjoyment. A whole new world opened for me.

Now the net is everywhere and you can find anything on it. Including video and pictures from the war. It seems the one modern technology that Haji has mastered is the internet. You can watch video of American Soldiers getting blown up by IEDs, killed by snipers, civilians getting their heads cut off all in the comfort of your home. I try to avoid that kind of stuff, it saddens me and makes me very, very angry. A few weeks ago I made the mistake of looking up sniper videos from Iraq. I had consumed a few to many adult beverages and… Well, lets just say it was a mistake. Since returning from Iraq I have been aware that there was video of my friend Arnold Duplantier II being shot by the sniper motherfucker that killed him. My buddy Doc had seen it and told me that I shouldn’t watch it and for over a year I resisted, until that night. And I found it. I watched my friend die on my laptop followed immediately by the footage of my squad leader being shot in the neck by the very same sniper. In the video is the HUMMVEE that I was on, I was gunning that day. You can watch Doc interacting with SSG Cooper then step away, out of picture, before Cooper is hit.
I vomited that night, it brought back all the feelings of that day, punched me right in the face with all those repressed emotions. I called Doc after and told him that I was glad he was alive.
Then, today, driving home from work I hear that the Iranians have video of them taking the British crew that they now hold hostage. And you can see it on the fucking net. Just like you can watch my friend die, along with other American Soldiers and Marines, just like you can watch Nick Berg, Daniel Pearl, and that poor Korean dude get their heads cut off by those sub-human bastards we are fighting.
Enough.
I don’t want to see this shit anymore. It hurts to much. Now, I can hear you saying,”Well, R2A, if you don’t like it, don’t look it up and don’t watch it. Stupid.” And your right. I was wrong, I shouldn’t have gone looking for it and I sure has hell shouldn’t have watched. But I did. You can’t control the internet and, you know, I really don’t want to control the net. Once you do that we are no better than North Korea or Iran. But it doesn’t stop me from hating it and hating the content that is available on it and from knowing that some sick bastard is getting off on watching people die on it.
I need a drink…