There are things that naturally don’t go together,
such as flowers and snow.
And there are man-made things that don’t go together,
such as neckties and radiator fans.
The latter category of man-made things presents a wide array of challenges, including a need for knowledge in technical situations, the unreliability of old habits in novel circumstances, experimental errors, complex lapses in judgment, and the everyday use of common sense.
Shell-shocked Iraq veterans housed next to firing range in US
By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 3:31PM BST 03/06/2008
A group of American soldiers sent home from Iraq suffering stress are complaining after they were given housing next to a firing range.
Two dozen soldiers diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) believe the constant gunfire from the range located beside their transitional housing on the US army base, Fort Benning is aggravating their condition.
The wounded curl up and cringe or suffer anxiety attacks as the daily cascade of noise generated by assault rifles, pistols and machine guns echoes through their living area.
Sergeant Jonathan Strickland, a soldier at the base, told the Washington Post that the sounds have increased flashbacks and other memories of his last horrific tour of duty in Iraq.
"You hear a lot of shots, it puts you in a defensive mode," he said. "My heart starts racing and I get all excited and irritable. (It) puts me back in that mind frame that I am actually there."
Another soldier, who insisted on anonymity as he popped pills in front of the newspaper reporter, said he had recurrent "daymares" since arriving at Fort Benning. But the pain is compounded by the round-the-clock schedules on the ranges.
"I have a hard time sleeping at night when they do night firing," Keith said. "For a moment I think something bad is going to happen, then I try to sit back and realise that it is a firing range."
Things to add to list of things that don’t go together: Soldiers suffering from PTSD and housing next to 24/7 firing ranges. Because the Bush administration lacks everyday common sense, they and the rest of us constantly feel as if we were living on a Sidman avoidance schedule, simply existing for the sole purpose of reducing shock density.