The XM1063: Funny Wars Indeed?

One day, I mused to myself and said: Why can’t wars be funny, at least for a while? I mean, we can stop killing ourselves, just like in World War I when they had those Christmas breaks, right? The answer lies in this frightening bomb called the XM1063, otherwise known as the “back gas bomb”. Yeah, you weren’t mistaken guys, this is a gas bomb. The XM1063 is a device that send projectile that eventually breakdown into small sub munitions that spread over an area of roughly a hectare. These small projectiles are like mini bombs that upon detonation, releases lots of malodorants here and there, in other words, chemicals that smell real bad just like the things that we release in the toilet; or if our family and friends aren’t that lucky, in public places and gatherings. The idea behind this is to target enemies scattered over large areas and to demoralize or distract them by the awful smell; it is already known to most that the military establishment also uses tear gas or pepper spray. But if the use of such bad smells becomes an ideal option, the war videos are likely to get funnier; and finally, we’ll get our laughs since the First World War.

The Lady in Red

What we see here is a fully-equipped riot police officer spraying pepper gas on a seemingly graceful young woman in a red dress. Is it just that?

No it isn’t. But no one in those days will know that this picture, which was taken by a Turkish correspondent for Reuters, would be the main symbol of the Gezi Park incident. This is the most ultimate example of the monstrous police brutality that has been imposed on the protesters during the first day of the incident.

The truth is pepper gas, although made from black pepper, is 1000 times stronger than the real thing, and people have known to die from it. She is really lucky that she lived to show the incident after eating 10000 peppers in the face!

On the other hand, I believe that the lady in red is a beautiful woman with a career ahead of her, but I guess is that her life will change after that crazy incident. It is not unusual for people who are just ordinary to have a makeover of their lives after being pushed into the spotlight of popular culture.

And not to forget the rest of the people in the picture; I think you have only to see into their eyes to enjoy and catch that moment to truth.

Keep Calm and Carry On

The “Keep Calm and Carry On” meme actually started as a real-life motivational poster created by the British in the face of increasing German attacks during the Second World War. After it has been discovered in a box by Stuart Manley. He and his wife produced copies and merchandise which were frequently sold out; soon, it has been copied by other companies, and today, it is an international brand, as well as a meme…hey, we all saw those “Keep Calm” posters, right?

I really like the meme because it is great for motivating people…especially the “Keep Calm” part; I think it is just really something that gives a positive image to people when they need it. However, Manley’s wife said that she did not like it to become a trivial thing; but the reality is, it has become a part of people’s lives that there is no more single owner of the meme anymore.

I think we need something more than this.

Especially for us Turks, who are just raging at anything and everything and everybody; and for whom school is just basically a truckload of useless things. After all, can’t we keep calm and talk it up sensibly?

Yeah. The warrior culture. Yeah.

Gezi Park Incident

The incident, I believe is not just about an ordinary urban development incident, which all of us have known more or less by now; it was not just about that Istanbul municipal attempt to make that shopping mall or museum or whatever that was; I believe it is the result of the frustrations of many people, especially the youth, here in Turkey. I believe that the current government can get this under control; however, they must learn to be me more responsive to people’s wants and desires; after all, a large part of the population supported them because they believed that they can bring change to this country. It would be a shame for the Prime Minister to be toppled out of power just due to some things which he has done wrong. For the record, this has been the largest public disturbance that Turkey has experience since a very, very long time, if we don’t count all those bombings and terrorist attacks in the East.

On the other hand, I feel very angry at the police for using such excessive force when it is not exactly needed. Believe me, this is when everything just ran out of control, and I guess the solution for this event is that the security officers, as well as their superiors and their administrative counterparts, which includes the police chief of Istanbul and the city governor, should resign and then impeached for their actions. Administrative cases must be also done for the officers on the ground who abused their power.

I guess that’s all I could say.

Being at Metu

I have to admit that I’m not a lazy student. I just want to enjoy life as it is; that is why I go with the much-publicized love of my life to different places such as Nevşehir and Bursa. I must say that it is nice to spend time with my friends, whether it be playing billiards, basketball, or even the PES game in our dorm room. And of course, though I don’t like really feel like studying, I try to do my work as much as possible. Then again, I tend to do it at the last minute...

Well, if I like the subject and the teacher, then that’s a very good thing for me. If I like only one of them, then that’s good enough for me. But if I don’t like any of them, then in this case I fail really hard. I know what I’m talking about: I keep on taking back subjects from the lower classes…

Well, I don’t have exactly any idea on where I want to go after I graduate, but I’m hoping to have a good life. After all, when I get my METU diploma, I can go and teach or get a job anywhere I want right?

I hope that’s not just a half-baked myth created by some charlatan. Or I might just end up in Cincin.

Why Çorum?

Çorum is the center of the old Hittite civilization, which is one of the first organized civilizations in the world, as well as the main actor of the Iron Age, considered to be the leap from stones to the modern world that we know today. In addition, its people are friendly and warm; despite the fact that they have a very funny and horrible-sounding accent. In fact, this is the main reason for the two expressions that exist in Turkish popular culture: “Even people from Çorum don’t do this”; said when someone does a really bad thing, and the “Devil’s Triangle”, which is a pun for America’s Bermuda Triangle; it is supposed to be composed of Yozgat, Çankırı, and of course, Çorum…and that crazy people live in these three provinces of Turkey.

Aside from that though, the province, which 3 hours from Ankara by bus and 6-8 hours from Istanbul using the same transportation mode, is a place where one can see the beauty of nature. Furthermore, one should not forget the world-famous Çorum chickpeas, which come in many sizes and colors. Finally, one should go to İskilip and taste their famous beef dish, which will leave you totally amazed and blow your mind forever with its carefully prepared taste!

Home Away from Home

This is METU Dormitory #2 in winter. Yeah, I have to admit that it was just ripped off from somewhere down the road, but I felt that this picture tells everything. This place is not a home away from home because of its bed or because of the room; it is because of the people living around me.

I like this place because it gives me a lot of memories; both good and bad, in other words, I spent some of my most meaningful times in my university life inside these grounds. For privacy and ethical reasons, I could not show you pictures of me and Recep in the same room goofing around; but the fact that we throw jokes at each other would be more than enough I guess to express my feelings about this place.

The only bad thing that this dormitory has is the canteen...Its aesthetics are so bad that many people prefer to go study and eat somewhere else; and speaking of food, the staff always offers almost the same menu every single day. This is why I tend to try to buy and do my own food in the kitchen with an electric gas range along with my roommate. Yet, we still end up buying a good part of what we eat from the canteen, so I hope that they improve it.

I guess that’s all for the “home away from home” part. I think you don’t have any question, because almost all of us are staying in dormitory, right?

PES: I love it a lot!!!

You are right, guys. You’ve just seen that extraordinary picture that appears not just in 99.99% of cafes here in Turkey, but as well as in people’s laptops all over this country. It is supposed to beat FIFA by a large margin, but somehow, this game never makes it into large electronic sports competitions such as the World Cyber Games, Dreamhack, among others.

I love it when I beat Recep and Carlo in PES. I love it when I see them release all those emotions. And I especially love it when those superb goals come in hand whenever I beat them.

PES is not just a game; it is not even an addiction, nor it is even a passion...It is the thing that makes living in dormitory my while, aside from my personal life. It is amazing when I try new teams, play the El Clasico, or just pick a joke team and beat someone else with it.

My favorite teams in PES are Manchester City (called Man Blue) and Real Madrid; this is because they can do instant counterattacks, which Earl especially hates, though I have to admit that I could not beat him over the last couple of days thanks to this immensely crazy tactics.

But then it’s not about the winning and the losing, right? It’s about the game...

That’s why I love PES: It is the beautiful game.

THE ITALIAN JOB

It is an interesting article because it talked about one of the traits of Italian culture that seems to be extremely quirky at the same time: Men and women stay in their parents’ houses even if they gain a job or have a lot in life!

The article was written by Greg Burke, and in the article, it is explained that staying in the family until one gets married is common sense; this is to show to the outside world that the family is strong and that there is nothing wrong with the family. There are three primary reasons for this weird phenomenon: economics, schooling, and change.

I wonder: why do Italian men and women tend to stay at home? From the article, I guess it’s due to a combination of strong cultural ties and…choices: They simply want to do it! Now, that is where the weird things come in.

To be honest, it is really hard for me to understand the topic, but it is also extremely interesting at the same time, simply because it is completely different from the things that we know in life! I have mixed feeling about the author’s opinion: To be honest, either choice would be extremely fine for me; though I’d like to run my own life like a real man, and earn using my own blood, sweat, and tears. After all, I’m responsible for my life after my parents are gone…

I guess the only solution for this would be to make the people integrate a new culture of independence that is away from their family; it is hard to eradicate values, especially Italian family values (I’d bet almost all of us have watched “The Godfather”). Because, otherwise, we may just realize one day that we’ve ran of choices on how to run our lives, and by that time, it may be difficult for them to integrate independently into society.

Home Sweet Home

The reason why I chose this article is because it discusses one of the most interesting dilemmas in society today, which is that of children, or to be more precise, young adults, who are unable to cope with the outside world. It slowly becomes an increasingly common phenomenon, especially in the United States and in other European countries, thanks to various socio-economic reasons.

The article was written by Barbara Cornell in a newspaper, and the article basically mentions pieces of numerous stories to exemplify this growing phenomenon, and the newspaper article cites such reasons as “a rising marriage age”, “high divorce rate”, and a “decline in remarriage rate” as the main reasons why young people, who are supposed to be budding professionals, come back home with a sense of defeat, hopelessness, and cynicism towards the world as a whole.

I wonder why people can’t create their own lives outside school nowadays. Is it due to a personal matter? Or is it due to the problems of an increasingly outdated educational system as a whole?

The answer may lie in the development path that many children have nowadays: Most people almost get everything by their teens, causing them to think that there’s nothing more to explore and discover in the future, which in turn, causes a reduced motivation for them to direct their lives.

In addition, the people themselves are also to blame for this phenomenon: Just as the Chinese proverb that says, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”; most people nowadays do not know the meaning of this verb, and as for those who do, either they are really awfully rich, or they are working hard to save themselves from the economic crisis that plagues America as a whole today.

My solution is that people should be educated in parenting…and that people should learn more about the world; to be more specific, let them earn the principle that “working hard is the only way to survive”. For these children…or young adults don’t just remain in the home; they also give headaches to their parents who are supposedly enjoying the fruits of their hard work in their old age!

Papa: A discussion

I have chosen this article, which is entitled, Papa: A Philosopher, because it touched upon such sensitive topics such as racism, segregation in society, and the fear of accepting one’s roots. The thing that is interesting about the article is that although it has been published many years ago, the story, the values, and the issues that it contains are still valid in our time. In addition, the difficulties of being different and the realizations of trying to run away from reality are explained really well in the text.

The story was written by Leo Buscaglia, an Italian-American author, and in this story, he relates a story from his childhood days in which his people are called wops and dagos; he relates his painful experiences, where someone teased and bullied him for being an Italian; then afterwards, he thinks about disconnecting from his Italian roots, and finally, the climax of the story is that when he comes to his father, who told him to step up and accept the realities that surrounded him.

The main lesson that his father taught him was that “intolerance and discrimination are nothing but a refuge for weakness and incompetence”, and that one can only “expect understanding and acceptance” from “the strong”. Thus the story ends; and there certain things that need to be discussed, of course.

Why do people borrow strength from other people’s weaknesses? That is because they are afraid that those “other” people will eventually “subdue” them and make them into slaves. Actually, I believe that they are already slaves: They are enslaved to their own selves, unable to think or to change their position, simply because they have lost the option of being “human”.

On the other hand, I wonder why people want to dishonor their roots (and I’m really disgusted at why the writer thinks this way in the first place). I believe it is a result of seemingly endless social, emotional, and psychological pressures that have been imposed on him. If we notice, the first part of the story is nothing but a series of negative events; so it is understandable if he actually thinks about doing that awful thing.

The alternative solution to this problem would be for people to change themselves, and on a much simpler level, make them feel that they will be able to gain something of value if they try to change. After all, the father mentioned about people being “ignorant” of their values; that is why they are afraid of them.