Infection

I feel like I have an infection, but its in my brain.

“Where the fuck am I? What the fuck is going on?” The questions eat through several layers of meaning as I walk into another appropriated palace in ruins.  Another one of Saddam’s tributes to himself, a glass and marble mirrored erection protruding out of a barren landscape, now used to plan and execute the dismantling of all his tyrannical works.  Sadly the new occupants are just as oppressed as the people of this country used to be, except they are subjugated spiritually and like every slave to his master express only joy and thanksgiving for their serfdom.  They scurry about like robotic rats running through a marble maze.  High arches, fountains, extravagant chandeliers, mirrored chambers.  All of it the height of wealth and at the same instant totally adulterated by poor construction and substandard materials.  The luxuriance is mystifying and sickening simultaneously.  Here I am in another one of Saddam’s lost palaces, another US military HQ squatting on conquered land, another set of rules and secrets that can make or break a man over the most insignificant transgression.  US Government workers wear smiling masks over bitter braindead corpses, the subjugated local slaves lurch through the place listlessly.  The slaves glare at me from the reflection of the brass they are polishing or the marble they are forced to shine.  They grow fearful when they see me looking back into their reflected eyes, not because I am menacing, but because I can see through their smiling subservient disguise and that is the greatest threat of all.  Cameras everywhere.  Their quiet servos hum as they turn to stare at me.  Motion detectors blink their red eyes at me as I walk down the hallways.  Even the air fresheners are oppressive.  They are stashed around every corner, in every nook and cranny, in every space small enough to fit one.  Ghetto haji ‘fresh scent’, they smell like rose perfume death, and they are set up on timers.  Every 5 minutes they give a small spray of ‘freshness’.  You hear them, the little “psst”, like a dark mysterious stranger who preys on your guilt, calling you closer, into the shadows, into the hiding places, opening his coat to offer drugs or stolen watches or that one forbidden thing that you can’t resist. You can’t escape these little devices, they are everywhere, and especially at night.  When the rooms are empty and the hallways quiet except for the concert of insidious whispers, humming servos, and blinking red eyes, all conspiring against you.  They haunt my footsteps as they echo down the passages of this marble prison.

Paranoia slowly creeps over me. There is no hiding place except inside yourself, this is probably the stimulus that turned all these people into flesh-robots.  I start to play along, walking aimlessly to the chow hall.  I mindlessly grab a tray and wander from station to station filling the different compartments of my plastic plate with various scoops of greasy smelling slop.  I slump down at a table and pretend to be deep in thought, a man walks by in a military uniform, he sees me sitting alone and is drawn to join me.  I have a lot of superficial conversations about tattoos and hating arabs with the rednecks in places like this.  I am horrified at the thought of a conversation with this guy, the false platitudes, the feigned interest, the utter bullshit.  Depending on my mood my interactions can vary from complete aloof disinterest to actively engaging in exploring the depths of the other persons interests and activities with bullshit enthusiasm simply as a form of mockery.  I truly am an asshole.  I let out an unmoving sigh of relief when the man continues on past me.  I stare there, poking at my food, watching myself slowly die while taking note of the condiments set atop the table.  Here we are in a war, here we are in a place where I’ve seen American troops living in the dirt and eating MRE’s every day out of necessity and yet upon these tables lies an obtuse collection of little bottles, one for every occasion each more insulting than the last.

Hunts Ketchup
French’s Sweet & Tangy Honey Mustard
French’s Classic Yellow Mustard “America’s Favorite”
A1 Steak Sauce – Roasted Garlic
A1 Steak Sauce – Bold & Spicy
Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce “for that instant richness in meat dishes”
Americana Hot Sauce (haji brand)
Kikkoman Naturally Brewed Soy Sauce
Heinz Chili Sauce
American Garden Natural Pepper Sauce (haji brand)
Heinz Cocktail Sauce
Salt
Pepper
Sugar
Maple Syrup
Honey

The meals come 3 times a day here.  All you can eat.  You could eat yourself to death if you so desired and by the looks of it some people are trying.  Rich and flavorful dishes, this is the slave cooks’ passive aggression.  All local hires producing cheap second-rate imitations of western dishes.  While his own people starve in the streets he plunders the conquerors’ good health and sanity by stuffing enough food and comfort into their faces to destroy themselves.  Not cutting their throats but buttering their bread until their hearts explode.  We’re doing it to ourselves with our greed and vanity until we, like rats who have stripped a small island of everything edible, consume ourselves in gluttonous self-extinction.

The struggle is so insidious.  Even though we let them inflate our bloated sense of self worth until we explode, we are actually winning.  You can’t serve the food without tasting it or at least smelling it. So maybe that is what this is all really about.  Not simply conflicting politics or conflicting moralities, but a battle between whole ideologies, whole ways of life, the simplified essences of 2 civilizations at odds with each other in the struggle to determine mastery.  We’re not simply trying to kill terrorists or pacify an insurgency, not merely seeking out and halting the production of WMD’s or other such shit, we are trying to sell a billion pairs of blue jeans and put the new Brittney Spears song in every ear on planet earth.  Spreading our culture and ideology like a virus, like a plague.

I read about shit like this back in my World History classes at ‘SC.  Ideas are like living things, like aggressive organisms who’s nature is to survive and spread.  The less prolific, the less aggressive ideas die out and are subsumed by the more virulent ones.  I have heard that Islam was originally a religion of peace and acceptance but that because it was spawned so much later than Christianity (500 years) that Mohammed was having a tough time getting it to catch on.  At this point he changed his perspective to be more aggressive, adversarial to Christianity and other outside ideas, and this is when the thing started to spread.

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Caulerpa Taxifolia

Due to its fast-growing, hardy nature and attractive appearance, C. taxifolia is used as a decorative saltwater aquarium plant. The variety of this species cultured for use in aquaria, known as the “aquarium strain,” tolerates colder water and grows more rapidly than the native strain. The native strain is not known to be invasive, and is genetically distinct from the aquarium strain. The aquarium strain of C. taxifolia has the ability to form a dense carpet on any surface including rock, sand, and mud. It is capable of extremely rapid growth; up to one half inch per day (1 cm/day).  C. taxifolia can grow in shallow coastal lagoons as well as in deeper ocean waters, possibly to depths of greater than 150 feet (nearly 50 meters).  Plant and animal diversity and abundance are reduced where C. taxifolia has invaded. The aquarium strain of C. taxifolia has been documented to displace native vegetation, particularly seagrass beds, and become the dominant plant life.

Genetic evidence indicates that the most likely source of infestations in areas where C. taxifolia is not native is through release from aquariums. Once introduced, C. taxifolia spreads by fragmentation, and even a small, broken-off fragment can form a new plant. Distances between colonies can be great due to transport on boat anchors and fishing gear. C. taxifolia does not float, has never been observed to grow on boat hulls, and is unlikely to be transported in ballast water. Sexual reproduction has not been observed in the aquarium strain of C. taxifolia.  The aquarium strain of C. taxifolia was first found in the Mediterranean Sea off Monaco, adjacent to the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, around 1984. Since then, C. taxifolia has spread along the Mediterranean coast and dramatically altered and displaced native plant and animal communities. Early eradication was not attempted in the Mediterranean, and the infestation is now considered beyond control. As of 2001, it was estimated that C. taxifolia had infested over 30,000 acres of seafloor in Spain, France, Italy, Croatia and Tunisia. C. taxifolia infestations have negatively impacted tourism, commercial and recreational fishing, and recreational activities such as SCUBA diving.  The invasive aquarium strain of C. taxifolia has been reported in South Australia and New South Wales and is invading in a pattern similar to the Mediterranean infestation. Efforts are being made to control its spread.  C. taxifolia was first identified in June 2000 in Agua Hedionda Lagoon, a coastal marine lagoon located in Carlsbad in San Diego County. Its growth pattern was similar to that observed in the Mediterranean Sea, having spread to many areas and displaced the native seagrass. In July 2000, another infestation of C. taxifolia was reported in a portion of Huntington Harbor in Orange County. Test results indicate that the C. taxifolia in both Huntington Harbor and Agua Hedionda is genetically identical to the aquarium strain. Releases from aquaria, either directly into the water body, or indirectly through a storm drain, are the most likely sources of both southern California infestations of C. taxifolia.

Due to the Mediterranean strain’shigh growth rate, toxicity to predators and longevity, C. taxifolia has proven to be very successful in many non-native habitats. In areas of massive invasion, this alga’s spread is associated primarily with human factors. Natural dispersion occurs near the central invasion zone, but more widespread dissemination by humans is facilitated by transport in the anchoring systems of pleasure boats and by fishing nets.  C. taxifolia has a number of characteristics that make it a successful invader. An extensive rhizoid system aids in nutrient acquisition from sediments in nutrient-poor waters. Also, although it also reproduces a-sexually, settlement takes place primarily by fragmentation increasing the rate of dispersion. And part of this species success as an invader in non-native habitats is the lack of natural predators. Predation by herbivorous fish and invertebrates is an important controlling factor in the ecology of this alga. C. taxifolia grows unchecked in environments with no natural predators, such as the Mediterranean Sea. One possible form of control is the introduction of a natural predator into the invaded environment. However, introducing additional species can add more problems to an already stressed ecosystem. There is a major decrease in all marine species and a decline in fish biomass in areas where C. taxifolia has become a serious problem.

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