ignorance and skepticism

today is the independence day. so what?

here or back in indonesia, i've never really had what everyone else would call "nationalism." it's not that i don't appreciate all the people who died in war defending this country, i appreciate them and thank them with all my heart, really i do. but the thing is, just like valentine's day, the actual reason behind the commemoration is no longer what it used to be.

valentine's day was a day to remember st. valentine. a kind-hearted man who devoted his life taking care of little children who lost their parents in his little church. until one day he was killed and all the little kids were massacred. since then, the 14th of february is a commemoration to the massacre, and to the unconditional and unending love he had for the kids. nowadays, the commemoration is still for love, but no one knows about the massacre. they just know that on the 14th of february, one has to show love to their loved one. when asked "why?" most will answer with "because it's valentine," without knowing what valentine means or the history behind it. how is that commemorating then? worst of all, valentine's day is being used by companies to sell stuff and promoting the idea that the more expensive the gift you buy for you girlfriend or wife, the more love you're showing.

stupid capitalism.

same thing with independence day. i'll wager a donut, more than half of the people in the US don't really celebrate the fourth of july for the birth of the country. they either celebrate it because "it's the fourth of july" or because it's a day off from work. let me know if i'm wrong, but what is the point of this whole fireworks crap they have every 4th of july? i don't see any way fireworks will remind people what george washington did to help americans win their independence. did george shoot out fireworks when he got rid of the last british troop from american soil? enlighten me if he did, because the only story i know about good old george was when he chopped down that stupid cherry tree.

then capitalism comes into play once again. selling fireworks, flags, weird red white and blue stuff to stick on your cars. i wonder if people who have a flag up, or people with some red white and blue crap on their cars, are actually grateful in their hearts, for what george and his fellow soldiers have done for us? are these people really think about what independence day really means when they chug down the first beer can or chew the first steak slice? or are they just celebrating because independence day gives them a reason to "have fun?"

now, i'm sure there are people who DO celebrate the independence day for what it truly is, but these people are so rare they could extinct like the dodo birds. this country has lost the meaning of independence day and replace it with traditions. fireworks every 4th of july. family gatherings every 4th of july. picnic trip to the mountains or the beaches every 4th of july. do these people even think about what independence means when they're at these events? america is not the only country i claim to have replaced the meaning of independence with tradition; even indonesia has too. every 17th of august, we would have flag salute, and games. games, games, games. jello-eating contest. needle-hanging-from-your-back-waist-into-a-bottle contest. other contest which names i can't translate to english. apparently independence day now means games to these people. and barbecue and fireworks to the americans.

i am an ignorant person. and i have no sense of nationalism.

went to church today, and instead of leaving feeling peace like i always do, i left feeling pissed. they almost sound the same, if you pronounce it. if you go to an indonesian church and hear those people singing "peace on earth" with their hardcore indonesian accent, i'll wager a donut you'll hear "piss on earth." well, for some reason they replaced the usual homily with a ten-minute presentation of a slideshow titled "a tribute to america." i was sitting in the back row and i thought to myself: did i go to the independence day mass, instead of the usual sunday mass? i walked outside, grabbed a bulletin, and skimmed through it, finding an announcement that said that independence day mass will be monday. then why the hell did they have to show the slideshow today? if i want to see pictures of our troops in afghanistan, i can go online and look for them myself. i do NOT go to church for that slideshow. and to make it worse, it has nothing to do with independence, it's about the war in iraq. holy crap, what has this world become?

after three minute of pictures moving across the screen and some bad music in the background, i decided that it would be better for me to stay in the bathroom at least until this crap is over. i figured god would hate it if i get angry during a mass.

look me in the eye and tell me it's not true, if you dare. the true meaning behind event commemorations in the united states have changed. christmas is all about gift-giving now; you always see little kids cussing at santa or their parents if they don't get the toy they want. independence day is all about barbecues, fireworks, and people shooting guns to make noise; and these people who think shooting guns upward won't hurt anyone need to take some physics 101 class: the muzzle velocity of the bullet will decrease due to gravitational acceleration until the bullet reaches a point where it has no velocity at all. but then gravity still acts on the bullet so the bullet will go down from that height, accelerated, until it eventually hits something and kill it, if that something is a human being. don't believe me? let's calculate:

muzzle velocity of average handguns is about 300 m/s, roughly speaking. convert that to miles, you get approximately 0.2 miles/sec. with that much velocity, a bullet shot upward will go about 15 meters high before losing all of its velocity. that's approximately 50 feet for those metrically disadvantaged. the bullet then undergoes freefall motion under the influence of gravity only and will arrive at the point where it first shot up at the same velocity, 300 m/s or 0.2 miles/sec. basically the initial velocity it's been shot with. if this were to be what actually happens in the real world, say that bullet arrives back at your head, it'll be like shooting the gun aimed at your head from point blank. but luckily enough, there's wind drag that reduces that velocity. not by much, however. if the bullet hits you on a vital point, even after all the wind drag, it's still more likely than not that a direct hit will kill you for good. so people, STOP SHOOTING GUNS UPWARD. why not try shooting DOWNWARD for once? you just want the noise, don't you? it's not like the bullet's gonna explode like fireworks.

studying physics is great; it allows me to laugh out loud when i see people doing stupid things and don't even realize it. like william hung. or that one movie with hillary swank: "the core." a bad movie, but at least physics people get to have a good laugh out of it.