One Nation Under Bluetooth

If we had more limbs and ears, we could take multitasking to a new level and take advantage of everything that the world of technology has to offer. With the latest technology in hands-free headsets for cellular phones, one of our iPod earbuds will have to move aside so our Bluetooth wireless headsets can take over.

Now that the geeky, antiquated, wired, hands-free headsets have given way to the sleek and stylish Bluetooth headsets, talking to yourself has officially become normal. Until Bluetooth headsets become the standard method of cell phone conversations, many people will have some adjusting to do the next time someone is seen arguing with themselves.

As a frequent Bluetooth wearer, I often get awkward stares as I stroll through the aisles of Publix or Target talking on the phone. Passersby often start answering my questions thinking that I am talking to them. Then, they notice that shiny silvery gadget in my ear and laugh at their confusion. It has been a slight adjustment to regulating my cell phone to my pocket, but as I find typing a paper or cooking dinner without having to wedge my phone between ear and shoulder or bother with the annoying earpiece wire, the benefits of Bluetooth technology have never been so rewarding.

Many users keep their comfortable ear pieces in throughout the day. Why waste time putting it on your ear every time a call comes through? Bluetooth headsets, freeing our hands from the constraints of cell phones, now invade activities where cell phone use was often physically impossible. The increase of Bluetooth headsets into the UM gym surprises me. A place to release stress, listen to music, and ignore the world for a few hours, the gym becomes an ideal time to talk on the phone while in an extreme set of bicep curls or an intense treadmill run.

It is not bothersome that someone is on the phone next to me kvetching about their relationship woes, but it saddens me to think that we have become so busy and attached to our cell phones that not even during rigorous exercise can we ignore our phone calls. In many hectic college lives, it is not often during the day that we have time to ourselves.

I am not one to judge when a call is important or where a call should be received, but for now, Bluetooth technology creates more ease than disruption. The verdict is still out on how safe extended cell phone use is for the brain when the phone is kept by the ear. Now, perhaps, we have a way in which we can prevent the possible harmful waves that may cause brain damage.

Just when it was thought that cell phones would never come unglued to ears, Bluetooth headsets made the glue even stronger. What about the dangers of driving while talking on your cell phone? If Bluetooth headsets came free with a purchase of a new car, then perhaps more people would keep their eyes on the road or will they?

This Article Published in "The Hurricane"

And the War Burns On

The search for weapons of mass destruction has ended on the home front. The latest US recruit, Willy Peter, appeared in Iraq using chemical weapons against the Iraqi insurgency. This is Willy Peter’s second tour of duty. He made his first appearance in November 2004 during the battle of Fallujah in what the US called the “shake and bake” missions to force out insurgent positions.

Willy Peter, the military nickname of white phosphorus, has again become the latest military tactic in the US’s attempt to bring democracy to Iraq. White phosphorus is a chemical weapon similar to napalm, except the 800-1,000 °C burns of white phosphorus penetrate through to the bone.

Two reports revealed the Pentagon regarded the use of white phosphorus as “an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants.”* A March 2005 magazine article in Field Artillery and reports from embedded US journalists conflicted with the Pentagon’s original message of “we don’t use napalm or chemical weapons.”*

In a war that was never meant to last years and was to liberate persecuted people, the line between oppressors and oppressed is blurred. Using chemical force to drive the enemies “out of their holes*” is a tactic that should be unfamiliar to most Americans.

As our country attempts to establish who can and cannot have weapons of mass destruction, the Pentagon claims the use of white phosphorus as an illumination tactic should in no capacity categorize this compound as a chemical weapon. The use of white phosphorus as an incendiary weapon skirts the boundaries of the Geneva Convention on Biological and Chemical Weapons of 1980. The US has yet to sign this agreement that bans using incendiary weapons in civilian regions.*

Clearly our country, with its great wisdom, has decided to become not only the weapons inspector but weapons enforcer. And as the weapons czar, the US has the power to use any weapon it deems necessary to complete a military mission, despite such weapons outlawed by countries of potential terrorist capabilities.

With a global agreement in place to reduce the stockpiling of weaponry and withhold the use of chemical and biological weapons in civilian areas, the US should not rise above international law. If white phosphorus is not considered a chemical weapon, despite phosphorus as one of the most volatile periodic elements, the US again enters the rhetorical war as the self-proclaimed weapons czar who decides what is correct and not correct.

The Iraq War has been a battle of rhetoric since the first bombs destroyed Iraqi homes. The public must understand the chemistry and the barbaric effects of this pyrophoric substance so that considering white phosphorus a non chemical weapon is meaningless.

The reports of torture, clandestine prisons, and now the questionable use of white phosphorus should make everyone wonder about the mission our country has undertaken. The most powerful and technologically sophisticated country in the world uses warfare tactics that were only thought capable by the enemy? What country sets these examples for a burgeoning democracy?

The trenches have grown so deep that the current government seems to now turn to any means necessary to dig itself out. A country of such wealth and privilege should have the ingenuity and wisdom to save itself while saving the lives of others, for power is useful if one knows how to use it and not abuse it.

*Quotes and facts provided by “Chemical Weapons: Willy Peter” by Danny Mayer for the January 2006 issue of Z Magazine.

This Article Published in "The Hurricane"