Qué más, Hamas?

I'm a semi-informed non-expert. With that out of the way:

Why wage a military campaign if you know you can't win?

I wonder if Hamas' goal is to provoke Israel into killing as many civilians as possible. Perhaps they're hoping to generate so much anti-Israeli sentiment that Israel is forced, through international pressure, to capitulate.

If this were the case, Hamas would want civilian casualties. I'm sure some feel their cause is one worth dying for, but I wonder if that's how the average Palestinian feels.

I say this because Hamas must know that the rockets are primarily symbolic. Rockets, apparently, are the best way to make a statement. They draw attention to the human rights violations occurring in Gaza.

Does Hamas realize that there is no other possible Israeli response than the military action Israel has been taking?

I assume that's always been understood. Hamas can't possibly believe that the rockets will force Israel to do anything they demand. Not directly, at least.

So why keep at it?

Across America

I drove from Philly to Denver recently.

Near as I can tell, the whole country's just a bunch of pitstops, strung together like beads on a necklace, and each bead is made of a Dairy Queen, Qudoba, Taco Bell, and Subway, all mashed next to each other in one glorious culmination of The American Dream.

Rejected "Let Her Go" Lyrics

You know that song, Let Her Go, by Passenger? That super self-pittying but crazily catchy tune about some guy not knowing what he's got 'till it's gone?

The formula is pretty simple. Here's a sample:

Well you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you’re missin' home
Only know you love her when you let her go

I figure he probably threw out a bunch of starting lines before he found the feel he was going for. I tried to imagine what those lines might have been.

Here they are:

Only miss the speed when you're goin' slow

Only miss the dust when you clean the floor

Only miss your lungs when you start to smoke

Only want to garden when you have no hoe

Only want to snack on a dorito

Only feeling sane when there's no loco

Enya's one good song's Orinoco Flow

Only miss the frogs when all that's left are toads

Only hate your party when nobody shows

Only miss your hair when you trim your fro

Only miss the birds if you're a scarecrow

Only miss the earth when the sun explodes

Anxiety and Control

Anxiety feels like being stuck in the current, riverbanks to either side. You're clinging to a Boulder. The torrent rushes around you. Don't let go. If you do, you'll be swept off to who-knows-where. 

How did you get in the river? If only you could remember. This was where you woke, arms wrapped tightly around the rock, and before that, all other emotions are a distant memory. You know where you have to go. You can see where you need to be: the river banks. Safety. Calm water. It's all right there, ten feet away. Frustratingly close. 

You know how to swim, you know you can make it. You can get there. This body, this mind, has done it before. But somehow you can't begin. The stronger the current, the more tightly you cling. 

This is wrong. 

A tickle in the mind; it's the faint recollection of acceptance, of peace.

Stop fighting the current. Let go. You must let go. Swim with it to serenity. It's the only way to keep from being overwhelmed. This is your life; it is yours to live, but not to control.