Until recently I never completely understood memorial day. It should be a solemn day to remember those who gave their lives for our country, and yet we celebrate it by having big memorial day sales and having barbeques. A while ago I was talking to a friend of mine named Noah who has spent a considerable amount of time in Israel, where memorial day is a much different experience from the one here. I lamented the state of memorial day here, and he responded by reminding me that in some other countries (such as Israel) memorial day is much more solemn only because the pain is much more real. He said that he was sure that most Israelies would gladly embrace the day when memorial day could be celebrated with trips to the beach and stock car races, rather than a tearful moment of silence. Perhaps the real lesson of memorial day lies not in its existence, but in its evolution.

Since memorial day has gone from a solemn day of contemplation to a day of revelry, I think it appropriate that this post does to. To wit, I bring you one of the best war stories my grandfather has ever told me.

My grandfather was born in Germany in 1916. Several of his older brothers were WWI veterans. By his late teenage years he had already managed to see the writing on the wall, and realized that Germany was not the place for a young Jew. However, when he was summoned by the Reich for draft duty, he did as ordered. He went through a physical examination, and upon completion was having his paperwork reviewed by an officer when an SS soldier asked the dreaded question – “Are you a Jew?” When he responded in the affirmative, he was informed that his services to the country were not needed. He was told to go outside where the German flag was flying, and swear allegiance to the flag, the country, and the fuhrer. He was allowed to leave the country, but if Germany went to war against a country he was in, he had 3 days to report for duty. The way he tells it he was good to his word – when the invasion of Normany occured, he was there as a member of the United States army.

Alright, I just signed the offer letter, which means it’s finally official so I can blog about it and people can stop harassing me every 8 hours to ask me if I’ve heard anything new on the job front.

Starting on July 6*, 2006 I will be a senior consultant in the Technology Risk/Service practice for protiviti in their Philadelphia ofice. Rebecca and our stuff will probably be moving up June 23, although I have to work through June 30. (I’ll be sleeping on an air mattress and eating on paper for that last week).

Protiviti looks like they’re a lot of fun, and I’ll get to be working with some good people doing good work. They’re in downtown Philly, about a 10 minute commute from our new apartment on the subway, and 3 blocks from Mama’s vegetarian. It’s also my first job in the private sector, which means my salary is taking a nice jump.

*Yes, I know July 6 is a Thursday, which is why I think it may be a typo, but I know it’ll be some time in July.

I had a minor crisis of belief last week. I’ve always been opposed to the death penalty. Whenever trying to decide whether or not to entrust the government with such a huge responsibility, the burden of proof must be on the side that wants to grant that power to prove its necessity. In this case, death penalty proponents have failed (IMHO) to advance convincing arguments as to why the DP is actually necessary.

The deterrence argument has been shown to be fallacious. In September of 2000 the NY Times did a study where they compared crime rates in states with and without the death penalty. On the front page was a graph comparing murder rates over time in states with and without the DP. Although I cannot find it online anywhere (although similar graphs and stats can be found here and here), the image was forever burned into my brain. The murder rates were essentially parallel, with rises and falls at the same points in time. The only difference was that the murder rate was consistently a few percentage points lower in states without the death penalty. In other words, external factors (whatever made the murder rate go up and down), had a much greater effect than the DP (which if anything, seemed to increase crime). The other implicit argument for the DP is that the DP is easier than life in prison, because you don’t have to continually deal with a criminal. This argument too falls flat as every study that’s been done has shown the DP to cost more in legal fees than a lifetime of jail. The last argument I’ve heard, although frequently dressed up in other language, essentially boils down to vengeance against those who commit heinous crimes. I’ve seen studies done on the families of victims and almost without exception they do not find closure in the death of their loved one’s killer. I’d also like to think that as a society we’ve moved beyond the need for vengeance and are focusing on rehabilitation instead, but that’s just a pipe dream.

This brings us to last week when Zacarias Moussaoui was sentenced. They announced on CNN that he had gotten life in prison, and I suddenly felt a pang of regret. Although outwardly I had been indeterminate in my feelings, I suddenly realised that I had been secretly hoping he would get the electric chair, and I don’t know why that is. Maybe it’s because although I don’t like the DP in principle, I can accept it for specific individuals. Maybe it’s because I believe that we need to send a message to terrorists that we can draw blood too, we are just more judicious in when and how we do it. Maybe it’s because I view Moussaoui as the embodiment of everything I hate about the Islamic-terror apparatus that I despise so much. Maybe it’s because I wanted revenge, and was willing to settle for a token lowlife because I knew that the real culprit is (unfortunately) not going to see his day in court any time soon, and his henchmen are already gone.

Anyone who has ever been near me at a special event knows I like to take pictures. I ever took pictures at my own wedding. I’ve contributed a lot of what I figured might be useful pictures to the wiki media commons, a repository of copyright free media. For some strange reason, one of my pictures was selected to be today’s “picture of the day”. That means that if you go to the wiki commons the picture you’ll see on the front page of the MDA motorcycle is one of mine. The ironic thing is that when I think of good pictures I’ve taken, that doesn’t even make the top 10, so why that one was selected is beyond me.