Representative From California

sigh

2006-10-22T13:39:00.000-07:00

I just found out that there was no way I can vote absentee from here--despite the fact that I carry a CA driver's license, have a CA voter's registration, etc, I can't have the ballot shipped here. At the same time, because I have the above, I can't register to vote in Alabama. This is quite annoying. I therefore reserve my right to complain about the people who are elected, because I would have voted if it were humanly possible.

!(@&#*$^)!@*#!(@
(do not attempt to count the characters, no particular curse was intended)

Apropos, I have a little message for any of you out there who are either failing in your responsibility to vote or failing to educate yourselves properly prior to doing so (although given the people who read this blog, I have very, very little to fear on that score). It takes the form of a few song lyrics I scribbled down this morning. So...here they are.

can't you see all the talking heads
sapping your will, feeding your dread
listen to 90-second policies
and then give up your liberty
'cause we're free agents
dispossessed of all our faculties
free Americans
we gave our minds away to shiny screens...

and to the Ritalin democracy
sound bites control our destiny
consumption rules morality
what's happened to our minds?
our votes are plotted by the media
two figureheads, one agenda
and where's our agency, our will to be?
why don't we start to read?

take the time for a little news research
plug in, click for a Google search
is that too high a price to pay?
can't you pull that off by Election Day?
but your attention flags once more
(free music! iPods! video!)
and you give your mind away to shiny screens...

and to the Ritalin democracy
sound bites control our destiny
consumption rules morality
what's happened to our minds?
our votes are plotted by the media
two figureheads, one agenda
and where's our agency, our will to be?
why don't we start to read?

attention deficit strikes first
forget the thoughts that you'd rehearsed
is no-one there to speak for us?
can't someone save our brains from rust?
I guess we'll have to find our own way
no help from authority
'cause our thoughts don't serve their goals, they serve ourselves
so we'll find our own way
find our own way
find our own way
find our own way
FIND OUR OWN WAY!

here's to the Ritalin democracy
sound bites control our destiny
consumption rules morality
FOX and the networks drug our minds
votes plotted by the media
simplistic thoughts the agenda
they say this land is for the free
isn't it time to start to think?

Random quiz

2006-09-27T17:49:00.000-07:00

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4.

"Arthur stood up, feeling as if he were in a dream." (Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What can you touch?

The things on my desk.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?

Colbert Report last night.

4. Without looking, guess what time it is. -

2145 CST

5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?

2144 CST

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?

Bad Religion, American Jesus--playing through my computer speakers. Not much of anything else.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?

Today at about 1345 hours--I was going to my English lit class.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?

A friend's xanga site.

9. What are you wearing?

Black t-shirt and black exercise shorts.

10. Did you dream last night?

Not that I can remember.

11. When did you last laugh?

About two minutes ago.

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?

Nothing; dorm rooms tend to be kind of barren...

13. Seen anything weird lately?

Alabamian rednecks?

15. What is the last film you saw?

For the first time? Fearless. Last film I watched? Matrix.

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?

Guns. Lots of guns. Actually, I'd have to wait a couple years to buy them myself. The next morning, I would send a fairly large sum to a couple different humanitarian organizations, buy a ticket to DC, buy a couple sweet airsoft guns, and invest/save the rest, in that order.

17. Tell me something about you that I don't know.

Not on a public site, sorry. :-p

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?

I'm really not sure. I'd like humanitarian organizations to be a lot better funded. I'd like someone I could stand in charge of the world. I don't know if there's one thing.

19. Do you like to dance?

I'd like to learn.

20. George W Bush:

Is a decent person who's trying to do a hard job, picked some of the worst possible advisers to help with it, and has generally-and unfortunately-done more harm than good as President.

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?

There's someone else involved who gets a say in that.

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?

See above.

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?

Sure, any specific places you want me to consider?

24. What do you want God to say to you when you reach the pearly gate?

"Well done, good and faithful servant." I could never ask for anything more.

25. Four or Five people who must also do this quiz in THEIR journal:

Nope.

A respectful farewell...

2006-09-26T22:16:00.000-07:00

...to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. I've been long impressed by Blair's stands on principle, his articulate and flat-out brilliant political speaking, and his status as a generally likable politician, even as I disagree with many of his social and domestic stands. If the next PM is anywhere close to a leader of Blair's stature, the United Kingdom will be blessed indeed.

back again...

2006-09-11T15:14:00.000-07:00

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends

It's been five years.

You all know what I mean. Five years ago this morning, we all woke up to a shock. For me, it was the biggest shock of my life up until then. It's still one of the biggest, most unpleasant awakenings I've ever received. They blew a building up. Actually, they blew up two and took a pretty good bite out of another. Two buildings blown to hell and gone, and a scar on consciousness that will never really go away. Two thousand, seven hundred and forty-nine people dead.

This isn't a time to announce my newfound party-line Republicanism, or a further departure from the political beliefs I grew up in, or anything silly like that. None of that actually happened recently, anyway. It's not a time to make harsh political commentaries about people I disagree with in the government, as many of them as there are. That will happen again tomorrow, if I decide that anyone cares or that it matters what my opinion is anyway. Tonight, I reflect on what happened then, how it changed me, and what it all means, if anything. This rambling post isn't just about terrorism either. It's about the death of innocence, and how the rocks we once stood on while looking out on a calm, blue sea seem to always erode into slippery cliffs as lightning flashes from above, gale-force winds doing what they can to send us down to the crashing waves beneath.

Five years ago, I woke up on a normal morning, feeling no particular fears of anyone or anything. I looked forward to a normal day, ending in a meeting preparing for the upcoming short-term trip to Costa Rica--we would be leaving the following Saturday, and I was more than a little excited. Life was easy--I was a freshman in high school, I had recovered from a two-year immersion in conspiracy theories and other far-right-wing stupidity, and I had faith that the people leading my country (and of course, me) would guide it wisely and truly, and that when I finally fulfilled my dream of graduating from the United States Naval Academy and flying fighter planes, I would be secure in the knowledge that nobody could stop me, not even the Chinese or Russians.

This morning, I woke up on a normal morning, feeling no particular fears of anyone. I was a bit tired, as I seem always to be now, but of course any night person feels similar sensations when she or he wakes up. I don't look forward to normal days anymore; "normal" means that I'm busy going to classes that may or may not be enjoyable, working a job that doesn't really do anything for me besides paying minimum wage, and looking forward to the possibility of some contact with one or more of the people I care for, most often in the plastic, electronic form of "fellowship." I began to lose my faith in governments long ago; today, I know that I have abandoned the last personal allegiance to this government, that I left the ROTC program in favor of hopes and goals made solely by me, and that I am far happier because of it. And really, I'm thankful that I'm alive; I'm thankful that I can eat, sleep, and study in peace; I'm thankful for the people God has given me and for the hope that He gives for the future.

But even as I'm thankful for what I have, I think of all the ones who don't have those things. The people who died that morning, five years ago, aren't the only ones; there are thousands of children who die every day from easily curable diseases. And even as I throw away faith in empty causes and allegiance to governments I owe nothing, I can't help but think of the people out there, strangers on a road, and I wish to help them. I also think of the people who would fly planes into skyscrapers. They are evil, plain and simple, and they will, eventually, be defeated.

Innocence dies. Good never will.

well, I'm back...

2006-07-02T22:47:00.000-07:00

(Note: most of the song lyrics quoted are, obviously, not mine; they’re from Phantom Planet, Green Day, Bad Religion, and Thrice.

we've been on the run
driving in the sun
looking out for Number One
California, here we come, right back where we started from

home,
we're coming home again

(Part I: Back Home)

It's almost midnight here, and I need to get up before 0600 next morning. Sounds like freaking college to me. Well, forget that. For starters, I'm here in California! Sure, it's not for very long, since I'm headed to Ukraine a week from tomorrow and won't be back for two weeks, but still...it's home. The trip was long, but at least I'm still alive after two weeks in a van with my family. On the good side, the trip allowed for some really...productive...conversations with some different people (mostly family members, but yeah). I got to see some friends and relatives and meet some new people. Long drives, too, tend to give me time to think to myself, as long as I can drown out the always-loud voices of my siblings.

my pessimistic lines
the superstitious lives
and the modern age's lies won't absolve you
and the professorial truth
and the dear, clairvoyant youth
and, of course, the nightly news will deceive you (watch out!)

(Part II: The Music)

I bought another Bad Religion CD while on the trip. Suffer really reminded me of why I listen to Bad Religion in the first place--aside from often-insightful social commentary, they make me ask questions about my faith and general worldview. That sends me back to my Bible and to whatever place near the campsite that I've chosen to haunt that night, there to think about what I believe and whether I got something wrong along the way. I spent a lot of time thinking about questions asked by Graffin and Mr. Brett on Suffer, but in the end the album (as before) strengthened my faith and reinforced my moderation on political issues. Also, a couple of the songs were particularly helpful as I tried to resolve some issues in my mind:

tell me, what will it take to make you happy?
indeed, is it out of your reach?...
if you want just the best
turn to yourself for the rest
and forget about the ones who "have it all"

Interesting words about contentment from the guys who will “believe in God when 1+1=5.” It’s strange to me about how people can be so right in some areas and so wrong in the most important ones—it’s rather sad, too.

how can you be sleeping?
waves like weapons crash
o’er us, cry for mercy
and hold fast hope

(Part III: The Music, Local Version)

I have a habit of writing song lyrics while listening to sermons. I’m not sure whether this is a good or bad thing, I simply know that I do it. Most of the time, I don’t come up with anything useful and end up throwing the lyrics out promptly afterwards. Today, though, I came up with another song that Cameron and I will have to play around with a bit…feel free to post flames and suggestions. It was kind of inspired by a few conversations I had on vacation; that’s about all I’m willing to say in a public forum.

economic paranoia
found in your workplace today
you get a job and try to keep it
they don’t need you in their way
work ever harder for promotion
keep your head locked in the game
you’re in the land of competition
(wake up early every day)

lost in silicon dreams
when will you see
that alarms and red eyes
will net you nothing?
cog in the machine
(spirit-killing routine)
you’re earning dollars in streams
but are they worth your soul?

live for the party on the weekend
get wasted every time you can
you’re young and 50 is forever
forget the future, you’re the man
your fun’s your god (easy belief!)
you look to it when you feel weak
but it won’t save you as your clock keeps ticking down…

lost in silicon dreams
when will you see
that alarms and red eyes
will net you nothing?
cog in the machine
(spirit-killing routine)
you’re earning dollars in streams
but are they worth your soul?

Yeah, I’d better go to bed. ;-)

Four more years! Four more years!

2006-04-28T04:42:00.000-07:00

Of Darth Vader's Presidency. This is one of the best political parodies I've ever seen. Darth Vader appears in the No-Spin Zone, counseling continued resolution in the war against the Rebellion. The Empire has finally liberated the freedom-loving people of Alderaan...

Double post

2006-04-24T05:25:00.001-07:00

And I have nothing to say. So I'm just going to leave it here. ;-)

Programmers? Code monkeys?

2006-04-24T05:25:00.000-07:00

I know you're out there. ;-)

This song is perfect for you guys *cough*Jeremy*cough*Matt*cough*.

For my RPG-playing friends (and those who know the terms, even though they don't play)

2006-04-22T23:36:00.000-07:00

Click here

"The Real Man
The tough macho type who walks up to the attacking dragon and orders
it to leave before he gets hurt.

The Real Roleplayer
The intelligent cunning guy who tricks the constable into letting you
all out of prison.

The Loonie
The guy who will do anything for a cheap laugh, including casting a
fireball at ground zero.

The Munchkin
Need we say more?"

And we all know who The Munchkin is. Seriously, just read the link. It will become obvious. O=)

He sees reason!

2006-04-17T20:41:00.000-07:00

The Greenpeace co-founder, that is. In a well-reasoned and thorough article, Patrick Moore endorses a switch to nuclear energy as the primary source of electricity in developed countries. I'm rather surprised, but definitely in a good way.

Of course, the debater in me couldn't help but notice this awesome impact card:

"The multi-agency U.N. Chernobyl Forum reported last year that 56 deaths could be directly attributed to the accident...Tragic as those deaths were, they pale in comparison to the more than 5,000 coal-mining deaths that occur worldwide every year. No one has died of a radiation-related accident in the history of the U.S. civilian nuclear reactor program."

Then again, that's more of a turn. The big impact is the global-warming advantage. To all my debater friends: you're welcome. ;-)

Book to look forward to...

2006-03-30T05:20:00.000-08:00

"Greg Graffin is frontman, singer and songwriter for the punk band Bad Religion. He also happens to have a Ph.D. in zoology and wrote his dissertation on evolution, atheism and naturalism. Preston Jones is a history professor at a Christian college and a fan of Bad Religion's music. One day, on a whim, Preston sent Greg an appreciative e-mail. That was the start of an extraordinary correspondence.

For several months, Preston and Greg sent e-mails back and forth on big topics like God, religion, knowledge, evil, evolution, biology, destiny and the nature of reality. Preston believes in God; Greg sees insufficient evidence for God's existence. Over the course of their friendly debate, they tackle such cosmic questions as: Is religion rational or irrational? Does morality require belief in God? Do people only believe in God because they are genetically predisposed toward religion? How do we make sense of suffering in the world? Is this universe all there is? And what does it all matter?

In this engaging book, Preston and Greg's actual e-mail correspondence is reproduced, along with bonus materials that provide additional background and context. Each makes his case for why he thinks his worldview is more compelling and explanatory. While they find some places to agree, neither one convinces the other. They can't both be right. So which worldview is more plausible? You decide."

This is most definitely a book to wait for. I haven't come across any of Professor Jones's work, but I can say definitely that Bad Religion has forced me to think more than any other band except maybe Thrice. Besides, their music is great (look up The Streets of America, 21st Century Digital Boy, or Los Angeles is Burning...heck, just go to their myspace if you haven't heard any of their stuff before). This ought to be a fascinating dialogue...

Random stuff...

2006-03-28T14:26:00.000-08:00

First off, before I start complaining, etc., shout-outs to some former NCFCAers and their performance at NPDA Nationals. Joy Pavelski and Jason Carr broke to quads, and Danielle Jorgenson and her partner debated in trips. Steve Mar and Caleb Winn, with their respective partners, reached doubles. That's...awesome. Congrats to all of them, even the vast majority of them who don't even know this blog exists. ;-)

Unfortunately, I should note now that I'm quite sick, despite making the tradeoff of 6 hours of sleep > a couple extra hours of playing Oblivion (the 6 hours last night was after getting back from kung fu and intending to get up for PT). With my head splitting and feeling very congested, though, I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, it's hard to do anything productive. On the other hand, the sight of a Dremora warrior trying to split my head with a massive warhammer doesn't make me feel any better, and in fact just makes my head hurt that much more. So, I think I'm just going to read something. Feel free to call, anyone who has my cell number. If you don't, then (assuming I actually know you ;-)) email me and I'll try to give it to you. It may take a while, though. =)

2006-03-05T12:34:00.000-08:00

Supreme Court Gets Free Box Of Shoes After Mentioning Nike In Ruling

September 17, 2003

WASHINGTON, DC—The nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court were treated to a free crate of athletic shoes Monday, following an offhand mention of Nike during a ruling in the case of McBrayer & Company v. The City Of Detroit. "All I did was say that the claims made by the defendant were similar to those made by Nike when defending labor conditions in its Asian footwear factories," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said. "Next thing you know, we get this big box of red Air Zoom Spiridons in the mail. Inside the box was a form letter from Nike's publicist. Sweet!" The Supreme Court will begin its new session Oct. 6, with Case 03-130: Sony High-Definition Widescreen Televisions v. Fossil Sterling Silver Multifunction Watches v. Bombay Sapphire Gin.

New av

2006-03-01T15:26:00.000-08:00

Upper right-hand corner. ;-)

evil grin

2006-02-26T21:15:00.000-08:00

"Some slimy-dude monster scared the crap out of Church! Haha!"
"He didn't scare the crap out of him. He scared the soul out of him."
"Oh, it's Church. What's the difference?"

--RvB

More awesomeness from Jon Stewart...

2006-02-26T17:16:00.000-08:00

...here.

Go to the "Enemies With Benefits" link.

2006-02-25T09:58:00.000-08:00

2006-02-24T05:19:00.000-08:00

Skillet, Collide

we have fallen
we have fallen again tonight
where do we go from here
when they're tearing down our lives?
when all they want is
when all they want is
for us to live in fear
how long can we hold on?
can we hold on?
hold on...

there's something deep inside
that keeps my faith alive
when all you can do
is hide from the fear
that's deep inside of you
something, something, something
something, something, something
to hold me close when I don't know
there's something deep inside
that keeps my faith alive

we are healing
but it's killing us inside
can we take a chance?
when faith and fear collide
we can make it
step out and take it
we can't live feeling so numb
how long can we hold on?
can we hold on?
hold on...

there's something deep inside
that keeps my faith alive
when all you can do
is hide from the fear
that's deep inside of you
something, something, something
something, something, something
to hold me close when I don't know
there's something deep inside
that keeps my faith alive

there's something deep inside
that keeps my faith alive
when all you can do
is hide from the fear
that's deep inside of you
something, something, something
something, something, something
to hold me close when I don't know
there's something deep inside
that keeps my faith alive

Awesome piece from The Onion

2006-02-23T21:10:00.000-08:00

White House Had Prior Knowledge Of Cheney Threat

Aug. 2005 Briefing Warned, 'Cheney Determined To Shoot Old Man In Face'

February 20, 2006 | Issue 42•08

WASHINGTON, DC—Government documents declassified today reveal that President Bush was briefed last summer of "a substantial risk" that Vice President Dick Cheney would shoot an elderly male in the face sometime in the next several months.

In a Presidential Daily Briefing given to Bush in August 2005, the CIA warned that the vice president was a potent threat to the senior population at large, and in particular "possessed the capabilities and intentions to spray a senior citizen with projectiles fired from a shotgun or other weapon." A second brief identified the population at risk as those "between 70 and 80 years of age," and warned that the vice president posed the greatest threat to "seniors in close proximity to the vice president when he is armed."

The brief, which urged the White House to take "the most thorough possible precautions to disable this threat to the faces, necks, and chests of the nation's elderly," was issued a full six months before the events of Feb. 11.

The emergence of the document is causing many to question whether Bush and his staff adequately understood or appreciated the the risk posed by Cheney.

"To learn that the president's own people advised him in advance of the strong likelihood that Cheney might spray a helpless geriatric victim with bird shot, and still he did nothing, brings to light very serious concerns about this administration's Cheney-containment policies," said Victor Steinberg, director of the Froman Institute, a D.C.-based organization that monitors vice-presidential violence.

Further investigation revealed that reports of potential Cheney violence have surfaced since the early '90s, but were given higher priority in the Clinton Administration. In January 2001, outgoing Clinton Administration officials made specific warnings to Colin Powell, emphasizing the vice-presidential threat.

In a statement released Monday, White House press secretary Scott McClellan pointed to the number of times that random Cheney attacks have been prevented or stopped by the administration.

"The president routinely deals with any number of reports concerning the vice president's assaults on our nation's elderly, such as ear-biting, clubbing, or in one case, the hurtling of a photocopier," McClellan said. "In each case, the president has seen that appropriate steps are taken, whether that means close monitoring of the vice president, adjustments in his medication, or the removal of heavy equipment from his offices, to ensure the safety of those around him."

"We assure you that protecting senior citizens from vice-presidential shotgun blasts was, is, and will remain the highest priority of this administration," he added

Interesting article

2006-02-15T10:35:00.000-08:00

James Q. Wilson, professor of public policy at Pepperdine, on political polarization in America.

Still, there's one problem in the intro to his article:

"In this view, yesterday's split over Bill Clinton has given way to today's even more acrimonious split between Americans who detest George Bush and Americans who detest John Kerry, and similar divisions will persist as long as angry liberals and angry conservatives continue to confront each other across the political abyss."

So, I have one question: how exactly does Mr. Wilson split me? ;-)

2006-02-14T21:54:00.000-08:00

That said, I'd rather, well, not do either one. I think I'd even rather hunt with you, kj. Or ride in the back of Jason Bourne and Marie Kreutz's Mini-Cooper.

From the other side of the political spectrum, Jon Stewart's treatment of the whole thing is ABSOLUTELY FREAKING HILARIOUS.

"Jon, tonight the vice-president is standing by his decision to shoot Harry Whittington. Now, according to the best intelligence available, there were quail hidden in the brush. Everyone believed at the time that there were quail hidden in the brush. And while the quail turned out to be a 78-year-old man, even knowing that today, Mr. Cheney insists that he would have shot Mr. Whittington in the face. Jon, tonight he believes the world is a better place for his spreading buckshot through the entire region of Mr. Whittington's face...to not have shot his friend in the face would have sent a message to the quail that America is weak."

2006-02-14T19:51:00.000-08:00

"Maybe it runs on radiation, and it's poisoning him."
"Or, maybe it runs on solar power!"
"Why would solar power make him sick?"
"Is he a Republican?"

"If we let one Blue guy in, we might have to let the next one in, and the next one, and then there goes the neighborhood!"
"Yeah, pretty soon we'll have to let in women, and who wants them?"
"Yeah, then we'd be talking about interior decorating and reality TV shows all day. No thanks."

"Andy, I am not letting you blow up the base."
"Come on! Just a little explosion...five, ten megatons tops! All your scary germs will be gone! Everything but the cockroaches! Germ-free cockroaches."
"But then Tucker will be dead too."
"See? The perfect plan."

-Red vs. Blue

Yes, kj, they are chauvinist pigs. Funny chauvinist pigs, though. :-p

Oh. my. goodness.

2006-02-06T21:45:00.000-08:00

This is quite possibly the most viciously brilliant political rhetoric I've seen since I read Cicero's Second Philippic Against Antony last semester. Sen. McCain's sarcasm drips sulfuric acid. Seriously.

"I’m embarrassed to admit that after all these years in politics I failed to interpret your previous assurances as typical rhetorical gloss routinely used in politics to make self-interested partisan posturing appear more noble. Again, sorry for the confusion, but please be assured I won’t make the same mistake again."

Ouch.

Wouldn't a McCain vs. Obama presidential debate be amusing?

(especially amusing because Obama is, unlike the Hillary/Kennedy/Pelosi crowd, actually someone who I could marginally put up with as a commander-in-chief; thus, my stake in the debate would be less than normal)

McCain in '08. Policy and awesome rhetoric.

Interesting development re: Mohammed cartoons

2006-02-01T10:27:00.000-08:00

Well, I certainly hadn't anticipated this. While Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper which initially published the caricatures of Mohammed, is taking increasing fire from Muslim groups, French and German newspapers took up the cause.

"The front page of the daily France Soir carried the headline "Yes, We Have the Right to Caricature God" along with a cartoon of Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim and Christian gods floating on a cloud. Inside, the paper reran the drawings.

"The appearance of the 12 drawings in the Danish press provoked emotions in the Muslim world because the representation of Allah and his prophet is forbidden. But because no religious dogma can impose itself on a democratic and secular society, France Soir is publishing the incriminating caricatures," the paper said...

..."Those who have won are dictatorships in the Middle East, in Saudi Arabia, where they cut criminals' hands and give women no rights," [Jyllands Posten editor Carsten] Juste told The Associated Press. "The dark dictatorships have won.""

This is really interesting. In the international-relations context, it's interesting because Europeans have been very hesitant to criticize Muslim radicals in the past--indeed, there's been tacit support of Palestinians against Israel for quite some time. Of course, one also has to remember France's support of the Saddam Hussein regime.

Now, though, there seems to be something of a change in this pattern. France and Germany have suddenly transformed from doves to hawks in response to Iran's nuclear program, and that tension may be spilling over into rhetoric and cartoons with regards to Islam in general. There is also the largely-dormant tension between huge (and mostly radical) Islamic immigrant populations and secular European governments.

So, is this kind of sentiment representative of future European policies? It would kind of be nice, that's for sure. If European governments wake up and figure out that peaceful coexistence with radical Islam isn't possible, then at worst the US government has an "enemy of my enemy" situation going. Best-case, our old European allies decide that cooperating with us isn't such a bad idea after all. Many armies make light work, even if one of them is French. ;-)

Score!

2006-01-30T08:12:00.000-08:00

From an editorial in the campus newspaper discussing the Alito nomination and Kerry's filibuster attempt:

"Sen. Kerry, if you have a problem with Alito (and you very well might), just remember: If you want liberal justices on the court, you should try winning an election or two."

*nods solemnly* Listen to the man.

(I should note, though, that while I entirely agree with the slam on Thomas, the inclusion of Scalia is a bit annoying. Scalia is a brilliant jurist, Thomas is a puppet for The (Conservative Republican) Man. Enough said.)

Okay, so I suppose I should actually post something substantive about stuff going on here.

I'm taking 18 hours this semester, which means that inevitably I would find myself a lame class. In this case, that class is math. There's nothing particularly bad about the class--I've covered precalculus algebra in high school, and the material is fairly well-presented in the book. On the other hand, the instructor is driving me up the wall. He's a nice enough guy, and seems to know how to do the actual math, but the class period consists of him reading monotonously from the book. I'm sorry, but if you're going to take an hour to present what I could assimilate (in the comfort of my room) in half that time, it's really not fair to take attendance and make that part of the grade. It's one thing if attendance is actually relevant to the course, but all of my homework is submitted electronically (from the relative comfort of said room, with the exception of actual tests).

However, my other classes are actually quite cool. They include the second half of western civ, which has already led to some rather interesting arguments in class, a physical geography course, lots of ROTC stuff, and an excellent international relations class. Also, there's a three-hour honors course referred to as the "Moral Forum." It basically involves debating a specific resolution, as well as listening to lectures on the topic. The debate format is way short, and the resolution isn't phrased well for a "moral" debate (hint: if the resolution includes a proposition of policy, pretending this is LD is not a good idea :-p). Still, it's debate, and it lets me hang out with some people from the policy team. Hopefully, this equals leverage to set up a parli team next academic year--or at least to join the policy team, if I can't do anything else.

On the ROTC side, stuff is going rather nicely. I was promoted again (cadet PFC) the first full week of school, and followed that up the next week with my first solid performance on the PT test (including a 14:30 two-mile, which is my best yet). I still don't like PT, but I guess I'm slowly getting better at it.

Also, I'm supposed to test for my novice sash in Shen Lung this evening. The test is fairly extensive, but then again, my study was fairly extensive too. I'm definitely looking forward to the test.

Unfortunately, I have a math test in about forty minutes. Catch everyone later.

P.S. Jeremy, my blood pressure is fine. Thus says my doctor. ;-)

"If you are not with us, go ahead and keep asking for foreign aid anyway"

2006-01-30T05:41:00.000-08:00

From Reuters:

"Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader in Gaza, urged foreign donors to continue to send money to the Palestinian Finance Ministry. Last year, the EU gave the Palestinian Authority 500 million euros ($615 million), funds vital for its survival.

"We confirm to you this income will be used to pay the salaries of (government) employees and fund daily running costs and infrastructure. You can confirm this through a mechanism that can be agreed upon," Haniyeh said.

"We call on you to understand the priorities of our Palestinian people at this stage and continue the spiritual and financial support in order to push the region toward stability rather than pressure and tension," he told reporters.

But asked about disarming, Haniyeh said the EU had to understand "Palestinian reality" and not press demands that "increase the suffering of our people who are looking for freedom, right of (refugee) return and independence".

"The Americans and the European Union are dreaming if they think they can force us to change our positions," Mohammed Nazzal, a Damascus-based Hamas leader, said on Al Arabiya television."

Okay, this is absolutely freaking brilliant. These guys come to power, figure out the fact (obvious to everyone else) that NOBODY LIKES THEM, and then ask for money? Better yet, they ask for money while maintaining that they still have the right to kill Jews whenever they want? What a deal! Can I get another just like that?

Forget the Brooklyn Bridge, I'd rather have the Golden Gate. How about it?

Now, while we're on the subject of Islamic governments, we have more news from Denmark:

"Twelve cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), published in Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten daily last September and reprinted in a Norwegian magazine earlier this month, sparked uproar in the Muslim world where images of the Prophet (PBUH) are considered blasphemous.

Muslim wrath has spread rapidly in the Middle East with Gulf retailers pulling Danish products off their shelves and protestors gathering outside Danish embassies. Syria and Bahrain were the latest Arab countries to join the chorus."

Now, I looked over these cartoons. Now, some of them were a bit insulting and, well, provocative (I'm applying a simple test: how would I feel if someone copy-pasted Jesus in Mohammed's place?). Some of them were just flat-out funny: for instance, the one with Mohammed frantically waving his hands at the gates of heaven, saying to a line of still-smoking suicide bombers "Stop! Stop! We ran out of virgins!" At any rate, it's kind of funny that secular European countries are finally getting bitten in the backside by their exercise of "free" speech. The line from (the book) Jarhead comes to mind: "There is no such thing as free speech, Marine! Everything has consequences!"

Of course, I'm not against free speech. I'm actually quite emphatically for it, and I don't think the Danish government should back down an inch. They're referring the whole thing to the WTO, where I honestly hope the Saudis et. al. get slapped down in a big way.

Also, the most amusing part of all is the level of sensitivity demonstrated by these countries. I mean, "drive the Jews back into the sea!" is state-supported freedom of expression, while cartoons making fun of Mohammed are worthy of sanctions?!? Great, just great. Note to our Saudi, Kuwaiti, Egyptian, and Libyan "friends:" IF ALL OF YOUR TERRORIST "BROTHERS" WOULD GO HOME, PEOPLE WOULDN'T MAKE JOKES LIKE THESE.

Yeah, I'm a little bit fed up. It comes from PT, I think. I'd go beat up on an upright bag, but I spent too much time reading the news. :-p

2006-01-23T20:55:00.000-08:00

42 You have kung-fu skills.

Yes, actually, although they're not all that impressive yet. ;-)

Test borrowed from Taryn's blog:

You scored as Neo, the "One". Neo is the computer hacker-turned-Messiah of the Matrix. He leads a small group of human rebels against the technology that controls them. Neo doubts his ability to lead but doesn't want to disappoint his friends. His goal is for a world where all men know the Truth and are free from the bonds of the Matrix.

Neo, the "One"

79%

The Terminator

67%

William Wallace

63%

Lara Croft

54%

Maximus

54%

El Zorro

54%

Batman, the Dark Knight

50%

The Amazing Spider-Man

42%

Indiana Jones

33%

James Bond, Agent 007

33%

Captain Jack Sparrow

29%

Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0
created with QuizFarm.com

Would've liked a higher score for Maximus, but oh well. :-p

New link for everyone to check out

2006-01-20T08:29:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I don't post very often. Sorry. Things are kind of busy lately.

Anyway, here's a link for everyone. It's an excellent semi-parody of Star Wars, narrated by Qui-Gon Jinn. It would probably still be amusing even for those who don't actually like Star Wars (*coughkjcough*). So, click here.

Haha, fooled you. Click here. :-p

Robertson strikes again

2006-01-06T13:50:00.000-08:00

""Sharon was personally a very likable person, and I am sad to see him in this condition, but I think we need to look at the Bible and the Book of Joel. The prophet Joel makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who 'divide my land,' " Robertson said.

Sharon was "dividing God's land, and I would say: Woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the E.U. [European Union], the United Nations or the United States of America," the 75-year-old Baptist minister said."

(Washington Post, "White House Denounces Robertson's Remarks on Sharon," January 6, 2006)

I'm entirely fed up with Robertson's attempt to be God's voice. Prime Minister Sharon has gone to greater lengths to work for peace than virtually any previous Israeli prime minister, to the point of potential political doom. For him to disregard his efforts and imply that they invite divine judgment is not only typical of his style, it shows colossal ignorance. Moreover, it shows complete disrespect for the innocent people who Sharon is making every effort to save. I don't give a rip about his theology; these comments are inappropriate in every way even if he were right.

This is just one more nail in Robertson's political coffin. He is consistently sliding toward complete political irrelevance, and one can only hope that he reaches that point quickly.

God bless Prime Minister Sharon; may he survive his condition and recover to continue the work he has been doing. More importantly, may he somehow be brought to faith in Christ, regardless of whether he survives.

2006-01-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

I Am A: Lawful Good Half-Elf Ranger Paladin Alignment: Lawful Good characters are the epitome of all that is just and good. They believe in order and governments that work for the benefit of all, and generally do not mind doing direct work to further their beliefs. Race: Half-Elves are a cross between a human and an elf. They are smaller, like their elven ancestors, but have a much shorter lifespan. They are sometimes looked down upon as half-breeds, but this is rare. They have both the curious drive of humans and the patience of elves. Primary Class: Rangers are the defenders of nature and the elements. They are in tune with the Earth, and work to keep it safe and healthy. Secondary Class: Paladins are the Holy Warriors. They have been chosen by a God/dess to be their representative on Earth, and must follow the code of that deity, or risk severe penalties. They tend towards being righteous, but not generally to excess. Deity: Mielikki is the Neutral Good goddess of the forest and autumn. She is also known as the Lady of the Forest, and is the Patron of Rangers. Her followers are devoted to nature, and believe in the positive and outreaching elements of it. They use light armor, and a variety of weapons suitable for hunting, which they are quite skilled at. Mielikki's symbol is a unicorn head. Find out What D&D Character Are You?, courtesy of NeppyMan (e-mail)

Check this out...

2005-12-30T20:47:00.000-08:00

LAN parties involve a strange random factor. You see, it's normally done at Matt and Jeremy's house--and their father, one Jeff Turpin, has an extremely interesting sense of humor. This sense of humor also extended to taking a very interesting picture of yours truly. So, check it out, now posted as my blog avatar.

2005-12-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it
the way you look sometimes
like a trampled flag on a city street, oh yeah
and I don't want it
the things your offering me
symbolised barcode quick ID, oh yeah

Cause I'm a 21st century digital boy
I don't know how to live but I got a lot of toys
my daddy's a lazy middle class intellectual
my mommy's on valium, so ineffectual
ain't life a mystery yeah?

I can't explain it
the things your saying to me
its going yayayayayayaya oh yeah

Cause I'm a 21st century digital boy
I don't know how to read but I got alot of toys
my daddy's a lazy middle class intellectual
my mommy's on valium, so ineffectual
ain't life a mystery yeah?

Tried to tell you about no control
but now I really don't know
and then you told me how bad you had to suffer
is that really all you had to offer?

Cause I'm a 21 century digital boy
I don't know how to live but I got alot of toys
my daddy's a lazy middle class intellectual
my mommy's on valium, so ineffectual

cat's foot, iron claw
neuro-surgeons scream for more
innocents raped with napalm fire
everything I want I really need

21st century digital boy
21st century digital boy
21st century digital boy
21st century digital boy

Ain't life a mystery, yeah?

snap!

2005-12-16T07:59:00.000-08:00

From Red vs. Blue:

"What about me? What's my reward?"
"You get to live, but no guarantees."
"That's not a reward for me, that's a reward for all of the fine ladies in the galaxy."
"I'm a woman, and somehow I don't feel much luckier."
"I said fine ladies."

Soundtrack of my life...

2005-12-14T16:22:00.000-08:00

Well, first I have to again point out that Red vs. Blue rocks. Also, check out Rachel Blum's "Diary of a Student at Patrick Henry College." It's absolutely brilliant. On to the soundtrack. If you've never heard the song before, you can ask me about it. I'll tell you to go get Rhapsody. Fair enough? ;-)

Opening credits: Image of the Invisible—Thrice
Waking up: Soulfire—12 Stones
Average day: Running Out of Days—3 Doors Down
First date: Extraordinary Girl—Green Day
Falling in love: I might get back to you later on that one…
Love scene: No clue…
Fight scene: Back Up—12 Stones
Breaking up: Time of Your Life—Green Day
Getting back together: No comment.
Secret love: Okay, this is getting ridiculous.
Life's okay: (Oh, much better) More than Fine—Switchfoot
Mental breakdown: Mediocre Minds—Bad Religion
Driving: Pressing On—Relient K
Learning a lesson: Artist in the Ambulance—Thrice
Deep thought: Worlds Apart—Jars of Clay
Flashback: Photograph—Nickelback
Partying: Bounce—Thousand Foot Krutch
Happy dance: Beautiful Day—U2
Regretting: Collide—Skillet
Long night alone: Whisper—Evanescence
Death scene: Breakfast—Newsboys
Closing credits: Who Am I—Casting Crowns

Blarg-blarg

2005-12-05T06:02:00.000-08:00

I just passed the PT test, for the first time ever. Run time: 15:03. Finally...

This is just funny.

2005-11-30T08:29:00.000-08:00

Nobody will ever be able to accuse me of being a Hugo Chavez fan, but this is kind of amusing and impressive at the same time. I mean, selling oil to poor Americans for cheap? While Exxon posts record profits? Wow.

If Chavez is trying to prove that the US oil machine is messed up, he's doing a heck of a job.

Good news from DC...we hope

2005-11-27T07:39:00.000-08:00

Some extremely promising new legislation from moderate Democratic senators (and impressively, from a number of Republican cosponsors). I'm particularly impressed by the new bill requiring the US government to develop an action plan to reduce oil consumption by 2.5 mbpd within ten years--now we just have to follow the plan.

Hoping that the bills will pass go and that the Bush Administration will actually do something about it...

The problem with American politics, or at least one of them.

2005-11-24T14:57:00.000-08:00

Aside from fairly-widespread political corruption (it's not just Hillary and Bill, it's also Tom DeLay and quite possibly Scooter Libby and Karl Rove), the number-one problem with American politics is a natural offshoot of the "Ritalin democracy": politicians and political analysts tend to create a huge divide between the far-left and the far-right, pretending that there is no viable middle ground. As a result, two worthy goals are set in complete opposition to one another and treated as competing interests, while they could actually coexist viably.

A really good example of this comes from a Hugh Hewitt column in the most recent (19 Nov) issue of WORLD Magazine (well, the most recent one I've seen). The key part of the column is this series of false dichotomies, with my responses in italics:

"Here are some of the fundamental and perhaps unbridgeable differences:

Is national security the No. 1 priority and is the threat from Islamist radicalism real and close, or does our military action create more terrorists?"

Or maybe, one should recognize that while the threat of radical Islam is real and should be countered, doing so in the way that the Bush Administration is pursuing is counterproductive. Maybe we should be protecting national security with a different strategy. The current one has succeeded to some degree, but that doesn't mean that improvement is out of reach. We can protect national security in a way that respects human rights, just not with Bush and Rumsfeld running the show.

Should we explore for oil where we think it might be, drill for oil where we know it is, and build refineries for the oil we have, or should we accept shortages and $4 a gallon gas as the price of our environmental policies?

Mr. Hewitt, you might consider the possibility of alternative fuels. You might recognize the fact that oil prices are not driven by the laws of supply and demand; if we truly had such a high demand and such a low supply to justify these prices, then the oil companies would have to go to such great efforts to secure the dwindling supply in quantity for a record U.S. consumption of oil that they wouldn't be posting such high profits. Instead, Exxon-Mobil posted a 75% increase in profits over the last quarter. That tells me that the oil companies are getting away with a ridiculous pricing system. Finally, you might note the fact that the oil supply will get extremely tight soon: oil is a finite resource, and we are draining our reserves at a fantastic rate. So, oil really isn't all that viable of a resource. Maybe we should be looking for an option that could bring gas prices down to the $2/gallon range...or less. Of course, that would hurt your president's popularity with the energy companies who own him.

You take the position that environmental quality and a strong economy are somehow mutually exclusive. This is not the case. We can have both, but not while right-wing Republican or far-left Democrat politicians hold power.

Do nominees to the Supreme Court have to swear they will be indifferent to the rights of the unborn in order to secure confirmation, or can a superbly qualified nominee who doesn't make that commitment be confirmed?

Hmmm. Well, looks like the question's already been answered. Or is Chief Justice Roberts not sufficiently right-wing for you?

Is marriage intended exclusively for one man and one woman?

Why should the state be involved in marriage at all? It's between two people and God, not two people and the government.

The ridiculous part about all this is that really, I'd probably end up on the right-center part of the "traditional" political spectrum. Unfortunately, the political process has been hijacked by the most extreme members of the media and political parties.

"The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters."
-Dwight D. Eisenhower

Sadly, American politics are in the gutters. Without a radical change in who holds power in this country, I'm afraid that they will remain so for the indefinite future. The increasingly shrill voices of demagogues like Michael Moore, Ted Kennedy, Harry Reid, or almost every member of the Republican leadership (and pretty much all the Democrats) serve only as a serious discouragement.

So, I'm not giving thanks for my government today. I'm not happy with it at all, as a matter of fact.

On the other hand, I can give thanks for the love of my family, who I'm now home with, the fun of pick-up football games such as the one I played in this morning, and most of all the loving care of God. At some point this afternoon, there'll also be all the good food to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving, but don't let the warm fuzziness cover up the problems outside. There are billions who don't have our blessings, and there are those who are doing everything they can to undermine the freedoms we've been blessed with, either intentionally or through the inexorable law of unintended consequences. Remember the bad, as you give thanks for the good.

A blow to the oil economy, if we can capitalize on it....

2005-11-15T05:26:00.000-08:00

A UA research professor has discovered a means of building hard plastics out of cellulose instead of oil. He received an EPA award for the discovery in June; now the process is being bought by a German multinational chemical company. If the process works as well in practice as it's worked in experimentation, it would significantly reduce the cost of cellulose plastic as compared to previous cellulose processes...and would actually compare favorably with petroleum-based plastic as oil prices continue to climb.

The important thing about all this is that plastics are usually identified as an unavoidable need for oil in the United States. With this new discovery, it becomes even more apparent that the American need for oil could be drastically reduced in the near future. Of course, this will not happen without a significant change in the US government; the Bush Administration's record on energy and environmental policy is nothing short of horrible. This discovery does, however, provide some reassurance that the private sector will be ready to step in whenever the US gets a president willing to make changes for the public good, instead of a president whose energy policy was written by Enron and Halliburton reps.

And for my conservative friends: That last was not hyperbole. Ken Lay, former Enron CEO, actually chaired the committee that wrote the Bush National Energy policy in 2001. This is the policy that Bush has been working from ever since. So don't flip out at my liberal stretching of facts; if I cast aspersions on the president you can be sure I have my facts straight. ;-)

McCain/Rice '08. Or Rice/McCain. I really don't care which.

Good grief...

2005-11-14T05:55:00.000-08:00

The freaking cowboy president and his yes-men in Congress are going to destroy any credibility the US has left. This is ridiculous.

Actually, it's beyond ridiculous. It's a national disgrace. The all-out disregard for the rule of law, for basic human rights, and for the principles that protect the innocent from just such governments as this is an active threat to the rights of American citizens--see the Padilla verdict.

Where are the protests? Where are the worldwide condemnations of the Bush Administration? Unfortunately, they aren't there: the rest of the world has pretty much run out of breath. Worse yet, the most damning thing is that most of the United States just doesn't care.

The Bush Administration is more systematically undermining human rights than any previous American presidential administration. This is wrong.

So maybe the whole "creative writing" thing actually did some good

2005-11-11T08:42:00.000-08:00

In class today, Joseph (English prof, cool guy) made us all write poems about being at the ocean. Shockingly, I actually liked the end product I turned out. So, naturally, I decided to post it here. Tell me if you like it, tell me if you think it's terrible, and you can even tell me if you're one of the rare moderates. ;-)

Wind in my hair, a cliff beneath my feet
The sea before me, both before and below
A sense of majesty, of far horizon
Unbounded but by boundary of the mind

Waves pound the shore, the trident of the gods
The grim Poseidon shouting in the mist and spray
As voice of myth, the ocean’s cry is heard
Yet in my mind, the cry is never feared

Alone, yet not alone, but only absent
From presence of my closest human friends
There is another, One Whose will attends
To smallest need, and in His grace I stand

Sun on my back, warmth flowing through my flesh
Cold wind comes with the tide, burns in my eyes
Sensation welcomed, reminder of my life
As cold and warmth in conflict, so am I

Life all around, but yet the death seems near
Of creatures in my sight, within my ken
The waves have battered, and the dead tern floats
But I turn away, and take my leave—alone

(italic word changed, because I like it better that way)

In other news:

I ran a mile again today. Colonel Reilly wouldn't let me do any more today, but he says I can run Monday. Thank God. PT test is a week from Monday, so I need all the running I can do. Practice and stuff, you know.

The entirety of Bravo Company (about 35 people) was down to 12 present this morning for PT. We're not sure what caused this, although it was possible to donate food to the food drive in exchanging for getting out of PT. Either the food drive will be getting massive donations, or a whole bunch of sophs will be writing memos to Captain Kruse.

The rednecks and trailer people have all moved onto the campus already for the LSU game. That, or the game just already attracted as many people as we usually get camping out the whole weekend. Either way, their presence in their nice warm trailers right next to where we were doing PT in 38 degrees offended us. It offended us greatly. The solution was simple: Normally, the shouted cadence isn't really all that loud; there's something of a loss of enthusiasm and esprit de corps when a unit is up at 0530. This time, though, we were loud. I'm talking "Arco Arena at tip-off during Western Conference finals" loud, as far as how loud we were yelling. No record on what the aforementioned rednecks and trailer people thought.

I'm trying to figure out something. It seems that I don't listen to most really good bands until a few albums after they start. I just heard Image of the Invisible a few days ago, and I hadn't heard anything else by Thrice before that. I didn't know anything about Green Day until the advent of American Idiot. I listened to Jars of Clay's incredible self-titled album straight through for the first time after their fifth full album was already out. Same goes for the Newsboys. Ditto for Creed, except I still haven't listened to any of their albums straight through and they only had three. Off the top of my head, I can think of exactly three "favorite" bands whose first major release found play time fairly close to when it was released: Evanescence, Kutless, and 12 Stones. What's going on here?

Awesome song...

2005-11-10T20:18:00.000-08:00

Thrice, Image of the Invisible

We're more than carbon and chemicals
We are the image of the invisible
Free will is ours and we can't let go
We are the image of the invisible
We can't allow this, the quiet cull
We are the image of the invisible
So we sing out this, our canticle
We are the image of the invisible

[Chorus:]
We all were lost and we are found
No one can stop us or slow us down
We are the named and we are known
We know that we'll never walk alone

We're more than static and dial tone
We are the image of the invisible
We're emblematic of the unknown
We are the image of the invisible
So raise the banner, bend back your bows
We are the image of the invisible
Remove the cancer, take back your souls
We are the image of the invisible

We all were lost and we are found
No one can stop us or slow us down
We are the named and we are known
We know that we'll never walk alone

Though all the world may hate us, we are named
The shadow overtake us, we are known

We're more than carbon and chemicals
Free will is ours and we can't let go
We are the image of the invisible
We're more than carbon and chemicals
We are the image of the invisible
Free will is ours and we can't let go
We are the image of the invisible
We can't allow this, the quiet cull
We are the image of the invisible
So we sing out this, our canticle
We are the image of the invisible

WE WERE ALL LOST AND WE ARE FOUND
NO ONE CAN STOP US OR SLOW US DOWN
WE ARE THE NAMED AND WE ARE KNOWN
WE KNOW THAT WE'LL NEVER WALK ALONE

Raise up the banner, bend back your bows
Remove the cancer, take back your souls

Okay, so I got sucked into it...

2005-11-09T19:06:00.000-08:00

These are in no particular order. Worlds Apart is definitely my favorite song, but everything else was posted under the influence of tiredness and order was basically random or "as it came to me."

Five songs that I love:
1. Worlds Apart--Jars of Clay
2. Blessed Be Your Name--Newsboys, Tree63, originally by Matt Redman
3. Boulevard of Broken Dreams--Green Day
4. When I'm Gone--3 Doors Down
5. Bring Me to Life--Evanescence

Five details about me:
1. I like to wear black. Frequently.
2. I can currently do about 60 pushups, straight, without suffering muscle failure. Working on increasing that number, of course.
3. Unless I get an off day or am sick, I get up at 0500 hours every weekday.
4. While I'm "technically" right-side dominant, I can switch between right and left eyes and hands without a problem.
5. A certain friend of mine frequently addresses me as "Idiot."

Five things I did yesterday:
1. 100 pushups and situps.
2. Found the first of the six (?) stones in Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon. That quest sucks.
3. Found out that I had aced my last astronomy lab. Fun stuff.
4. Ran a mile, for the first time since my knees started acting up.
5. Watched the video of NPTE finals, 2005. Yes, I'm a geek. So sue me.

Five things that make me happy:
1. Good music.
2. Days off of PT.
3. Being able to read my Bible and actually enjoy doing it (believe me, that is NOT an everyday occurrence).
4. Good debate rounds--watching, listening, or judging.
5. If and when the Kings start winning.

Five things that impress me:
1. Intelligent and well-constructed and reasoned arguments. Not limited to debate rounds.
2. Loyalty.
3. Responsibility. If people want to do different stuff in their free time (:cough: at least half of the ROTC battalion), that's fine as long as they're responsible for their actions and don't hurt people.
4. Anyone who can break things with their fists, other body parts, or wooden implements. The larger the broken thing, the more impressive.
5. People who make good music.

Five things that make me unhappy:
1. Missing family and friends.
2. Stupid or otherwise crooked politicians and authority figures.
3. My own shortcomings.
4. People I know and love having troubles.
5. Getting smoked in PT.

APPROX. 10 YEARS AGO I WAS..........

Eight years old. If you want more detail, consult my parents.

APPROX. 5 YEARS AGO I WAS.........

Deeply into stupid conspiracy theories and hoping against hope that Bush would win the election. The way things change...

APPROX. 1 YEAR AGO I WAS.............

Working madly on debate stuff, I'm sure. I think we were running the "close ANWR" aff at the time. Also crossing my fingers and hoping that paper-pushing screwups re: the National Merit competition would get smoothed out.

5 SNACKS I ENJOY........
1. Cheetos/cheese puffs/whatever they're called now. I don't get them very often, though.
2. The granola bars my mom sends me. <3
3. Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Once a week, at the very most. Oh well...
4. Nature's Valley energy bars. They're the best commercial bars I've found.
5. Good tortilla chips.

5 SONGS I KNOW ALL THE WORDS TO......(oh puh-lease, just five?!?)
1. Any of the five I posted at the top.
2. The Star-Spangled Banner...at least the two verses that they had in the church hymnal.
3. About half of the Jars of Clay songs I've ever heard.
4. Ditto for the Newsboys, except probably more like three-quarters.
5. Pretty much anything I can play on guitar. :-p

5 THINGS I WOULD DO WITH 100 MILLION DOALLARS........
1. Give about $75 million to church and different charities and missions organizations I could find.
2. Buy a car. A nice car, with high mileage. Probably a hybrid-drive Honda Accord.
3. Pay my parents back for what they pay for my college.
4. Buy a small helicopter and/or light airplane, and get licensed for both.
5. "Guns. Lots of guns." Specifically, a hunting rifle, .357 magnum pistol for hunting, a Glock for self-defense, and anything else I could get my hands on legally (hmmm, AR-15?). Edged and blunt weapons, too...padded and fighting nunchaku, various knives, a sword to put up on my wall (hmmm...katana or bastard sword?), padded and real bowstaves, a nice compound bow (and actually learn to use it, but same goes for the 'chucks, sword, and bowstaves). Also, camo and other outdoor gear.

(Note: There would probably be a significant surplus left. That goes in the bank, on the off chance that I'll have a family to support and useful things to do at some point.)

5 PLACES I WOULD RUN AWAY TO........
1. Trinity Alps, California
2. Quepos, Costa Rica
3. The UK, particularly Scotland, just to see what it's like.
4. Israel, for the same reason.
5. High Island, TX...but I'd want to bring my dad for that one, so maybe it's not really "running away."

5 THINGS I WOULD NEVER WEAR.......
1. Pink swim trunks.
2. A cap with a propeller on top.
3. A dunce cap of any kind.
4. Pointed ears (sorry, LotR freaks :-p).
5. A Marine Corps uniform. (Okay, that's a joke. You can all laugh now. ;-))

5 FAVORITE TV SHOWS.......
1. Stargate SG-1
2. Anything where the Kings play. Especially here.
3. Over There.
4. Battlestar Galactica (the new version).
5. Ultimate Fighting Championship. Not incredibly realistic, but still interesting.

5 BAD HABITS.......
1. Getting unnecessarily irritated with people.
2. The borderline side of my twisted sense of humor.
3. Significant lack of social life.
4. Sleeping in too late whenever I get the chance.
5. Banging my head on things when I get frustrated. I'm kind of surprised I haven't given myself a concussion yet.

5 FICTIONAL CHARACTERS I WOULD DATE.......(caveat: I have never dated anyone, and I am not planning on starting anytime soon. Still...)
1. Jaina Solo (Star Wars: New Jedi Order books...as long as she didn't start throwing Force lightning in my general direction)
2. Aribeth de Tylmarande (Neverwinter Nights, if any of you didn't know that already)
3. I actually can't think of any others right now...

5 People I Tag To Do this.......
Heh. Five? That's a lot...

Eric
Matt
Jeremy
Josh
Can't think of anyone else, at the moment...

Check it out:

2005-11-08T20:04:00.000-08:00

I ran into this guy a while ago on HSD. I just came across the link to his myspace music page; it's really not bad. His voice isn't really great, in my opinion, but then I listen mostly to "harder" styles of music. At any rate, the guitar is excellent--some of the best I've ever heard. It doesn't rise to the level of a master like Phil Keaggy, but for a 16 (or so) year old it's awesome.

Very interesting article...everyone should read

2005-11-08T10:53:00.000-08:00

No, seriously. This article is worth your time. It's worth reading, and then spending time thinking about its implications and the author's policy suggestions. I'm not 100% sure that I'm on-board with the concept of preemptive war as being legit (as the author suggests it sometimes is), but the author's analysis is extremely strong. Also as a caveat, one must recognize that some of the author's rhetoric goes a little overboard--"hearts and minds" is an absolutely crucial concept, and discounting it as he does is strategically unwise. Also, "moral leadership" is very important--the author would appear to recognize this, given his wish to carefully regulate state powers in counter-terrorism, but he mocks the concept at the top of the editorial. However, the actual reasoning and strategy (once he gets beyond flat editorializing) is very impressive.

"Going forward, my recommendations for the Bush Doctrine would be to try to rejuvenate the pre-emption doctrine while lowering expectations for democratic transformation. In particular, I would recommend:

1. Build on the concept of a "coalition of the willing" by creating a formal alliance against the irreconcilable wing of Islam. Members of the alliance will be consulted on strategy and will enjoy the prestige that comes with active participation in the long war. If some countries prefer tacit support or neutrality to membership in the alliance, then so be it. A new war calls for a new alliance, which is not necessarily the same as the alliance that was left over from the Cold War.

2. We need a new institutional mechanism for determining when pre-emption is justified. The ex post effort to delegitimize the invasion of Iraq is terribly corrosive. At this point, it does not matter whether the problem is that Bush lied or that Democrats are airbrushing history. Either way, we are signaling to the rest of the world that we might never again muster the political will to engage in pre-emptive military action.

In the future, there may be a compelling need to use force against another country. If so, then we need a process that allows us to do so. I am thinking of some sort of independent, bipartisan intelligence review commission, whose job is to evaluate rogue nations on an ongoing basis and to advise Congress and the President when to go to war. There may even be a role on this commission for other countries in our alliance.

3. Finally, we need powerful internal audits of our key agencies, both for effectiveness and for conformity to Constitutional protections of individual rights. For example, Gingrich writes,

"The office of the DNI [Director of National Intelligence] could have an advisory board, functioning as a corporate board of directors, which would meet at least monthly to represent the President, the Congress and the American people, provide a review function and sound and practical guidance. These directors could include individuals with a national reputation as successful managers in government or the private sector. They might include a former mayor or state governor, a corporate CEO, or someone who has effectively run a governmental program in an area outside of intelligence."

I have thought along similar lines. A few months ago, I wrote, "What needs to be watched most closely? Our airports? Our rail systems? Our government buildings? Our borders? Radical Muslims? I think that the top security priority should be to set up a system to monitor the Department of Homeland Security. I am not kidding.""

His first recommendation is seriously brilliant. While author Arnold Kling recognizes that sometimes true "international" action is impossible, it is undisputable that a formal coalition--with an actual voice in decisionmaking--would work wonders for American international credibility. Furthermore, it would spread out the cost of making war. While conservatives largely don't realize this, the war in Iraq is slowly bleeding the military white, because we don't have the resources to complete our reorganization and acquire new equipment while carrying on a major war in the Middle East. If a future war is necessary, it would be really nice to have significant deployments outside the ABC Coalition (the informal alliance of Australia, Britain/the UK, and Canada with the US). And sorry, but "You forgot Poland" is not a viable response.

I have mixed feelings about his second. While I'm not entirely sure that preemptive war is a viable strategy, the idea of clearly establishing standards under which it is legitimate is certainly the best possible means of allowing preemptive war. Such a system would avoid future accusations of arbitrariness or personal agenda (::cough:: Halliburton, the assassination attempt on Bush the First, etc). As such, the system is almost certainly an improvement over the current system.

The third suggestion is absolutely correct. Those of you who have been subjected to my dissertations on Guantanamo Bay and the Bush Administration's human rights record as a whole will know that I've been advocating checks on state power for some time. While the DHS may be helpful in counterterrorism efforts, it's crucial to ensure that we do not sacrifice crucial processes and checks in exchange for a temporary increase in security.

Read the whole article. It's worth it.

This one's great...

2005-11-03T19:37:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of Taryn...

2005-11-03T19:13:00.000-08:00

ANWR

2005-11-03T18:12:00.000-08:00

The Senate just approved drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Besides showing that the Bush Administration and most Republicans are still bent on pursuing a bankrupt energy policy, this move also shows us that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist apparently can't do math.

"“The oil in the ANWR is critical to our economic and national security,” Frist said, who added that drilling in the refuge will create “hundreds of thousands of jobs” and that new technologies would safeguard the fragile Arctic environment from the impacts of oil development.

”Some critics complain that drilling in ANWR will hurt the environment,” Frist said. “This simply isn’t true.”

Drilling supporters note the provision only opens 2,000 acres of the refuge’s 1.5-million acre coastal plain – an area Frist said is “the equivalent to a postage stamp on a tennis court.”"

Besides the fact that the 2,000 acre figure is a pretty significant distortion, Sen. Frist's math is waaaay wrong here. According to Wikipedia,

"Tennis is played on a rectangular flat surface, usually of grass, clay, or concrete. The court is 78 feet (23.77 m) long, and its width is 27 feet (8.23 m) for singles matches and 36 feet (10.97 m) for doubles matches."

To give Sen. Frist the best possible scenario, we'll assume he's using the smaller width.

(78ft * 12in/1ft) * (27ft * 12in/1ft) = 303,264 sq. in.

Assuming a postage stamp is approximately 1 square inch (it's actually a little smaller), the tennis court is 303,264 times as large in areal size.

On the other hand, the 1002 section of ANWR is 2,000 acres--1/750th of the 1.5 million acre area of the whole refuge.

This means that Sen. Frist is off by a factor of over four hundred. Might want to rethink your analogy, Senator.

So, I was checking out some links...

2005-11-01T14:50:00.000-08:00

...and found that my brother has now created a blog. However, it is extremely troubling that he has misnamed said blog. The url specifies a Half-Orcish Offender. This is unacceptable. As anyone who knows him is fully aware, a half-orc has WIS and INT scores that are anomalously high for Josh. He's an Orcish Offender. Period.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, you probably don't want to know. ;-)

Picture speaks for itself...

2005-11-01T06:05:00.000-08:00

I'm in shock

2005-10-31T14:46:00.000-08:00

I just downloaded and played the demo for Call of Duty 2. The first game was brilliant--easily the best WWII shooter ever made, and one of the best FPS games period. The sequel is...something else entirely.

Let's start with the graphics. They're mind-blowing. And then some. The demo begins with me in a Brit jeep, in North Africa...and then everything breaks loose. A Spitfire spins overhead in flames, smashing into the sand and sending dust everywhere...then bursting into a spectacular explosion. A Stuka dive bomber puts a bomb right on top of the tank in front of me, and that goes up too. The dust modeling, flames, everything looks pretty much photo-realistic.

Oh, then there's the machine-gun fire. As pretty much everyone reading this knows, I don't like Rambo games. The whole "charge in the face of machine-gun fire" thing doesn't do it for me. The Germans in this game know how to keep you pinned down and looking for cover. "Suppress and flank" isn't an option...poking your head out to shoot gets it blown off really fast, so the only thing to do is find another place to attack from.

It doesn't stop there, though. Another method is tossing smoke grenades--yep, they have them now, and the smoke is beautifully modeled. Of course, smokes work both ways...but if you're savvy, there are these things called "muzzle flashes" that sometimes get through the smoke. Oops. I guess Jerry didn't pick up on that one, mate.

Since the demo is a British mission, I didn't get to see anything of the American weapons. The exception is the Thompson SMG, which was used by the Brits in the early war (and later, in some cases). Of course, I switched to the MP40 early on. Old biases die hard. Also featured are the Lee-Enfield and the K-98. One will notice that there is now a strict two-gun limit. If you want a Luger as a souvenir, you have to drop one of your long guns...not a particularly good trade. Personally, I think this is a poor decision, in that if I was grabbing a Luger as a souvenir, it would go in my pack, not to come out until my next chance to ship it home. Still, minor issues like that are easy to pass over.

The full game came out on the 25th. If you like FPS games, buy it. That's an order, soldier.

Edit: Upon playing the demo again, the plane crashing in the beginning is a Stuka. My bad.

Hmmm...

2005-10-31T08:55:00.000-08:00

Bush's new SCOTUS nominee: A conservative white male.

Samuel Alito's biggest decision will most likely turn out to be his decision in Casey, upholding Pennsylvania's restrictions on abortion (the decision was overturned by the Supreme Court, with Justice O'Connor proving to be the key swing vote). This is going to garner a lot of unfavorable attention in Alito's Senate hearings, but the Democrats don't really have the votes to stop this nomination.

I'm hearing Alito described as similar to Scalia or Roberts judicially, with Scalia's brains but a heck of a lot more friendliness. That's pretty impressive. It's too bad that we didn't get a Clement, Owens or Brown nomination (I wanted to see a qualified female nomination, can you guess?), but I guess Alito is going to be satisfactory.

In other news:

I ran a mile and a half today. That is good news, since it's the first I've been allowed to run for about a week and a half.

The various ailments of the past couple weeks are pretty much gone. Considering that about 48 hours of my weekend were spent in Greyhound stations and buses, that's a pleasant surprise.

MY ARMS FREAKING HURT. (150 pushups today, in sets of 100 and 50. That's a new record.)

As most of you know, the aforementioned Greyhound trip was taking me down to Tampa and back, where I judged some rounds at the local NCFCA tournament. I was impressed with the quality of debate that I saw, which is definitely a good thing. It was a fun time (in Tampa, that is) and a welcome break from life in my dorm. Greyhound has some serious planning issues, though. Waiting three hours for them to get their act together and find a driver is just ridiculous.

Musical parody idea: "I Just Wanna Nuke (Dear Leader Kim's Song)" Of course, it would parody Good Charlotte's I Just Wanna Live. Hmmm. Might actually get around to that one sometime.

I need help

2005-10-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

Yeah, you heard it right. For whatever reason, my head is splitting and I have an off-and-on cold that was off most of last week and on last night and today. This kind of thing makes PT rather difficult. So, I would definitely appreciate your prayers.

I am really starting to miss my electric guitar. The acoustic just isn't cutting it at this point. That's probably because after actually owning an electric, the acoustic doesn't quite work for anything beyond Jars of Clay, two or three Good Charlotte songs, a couple Green Day songs and about half the Foothill Mostly-but-not-Exclusively-For-Youth Band's repertoire. (Yes, Corey, that was an unsubtle dig. I'm no good at finding good names, but I'm moderately skilled at finding bad names as a parody. :-p)

FCFs: Good news. It is now 38 days until the release of ES IV: Oblivion.

Bad news. I'm getting fairly good at Raven Shield and BF2 (well, at least the demo version). I'm okay at CS: Source, and I'm working on HL2. Instead of being slowed down, it's entirely possible that I will return from the first semester a significantly more formidable enemy. Bow in fear. ;-)

http://www.zod2008.com/

Back from the FTX

2005-10-08T20:46:00.000-07:00

FTX = Field Training eXercise. In the Army as a whole, it means you take a bunch of Soldiers, put them out in the woods, and give them various hands-on exercises out in the field. Specific to Crimson Tide Battalion, it means everyone spends a weekend out in the woods together in October. Some of you knew I was out there, maybe some of you didn't. At any rate, it went quite well.

Some interesting comments:

"Watch where you dive. A couple cadets already french-kissed trees today."
-C/LT Stanley, instructing us on the Individual Movement Technique (IMT) course.

"If you fall out because you didn't drink water, I will stick you with the IV needle. Remember, I don't have any trouble sticking needles in you, I just have trouble finding a vein. You're the one that'll hurt, not me."
-C/CSM Quizon, warning us to hydrate regularly

"You know, people, he [C/CSM Quizon] stuck a guy 6 times a couple weeks ago before he found a vein. He's not kidding."
-CPT Kruse

"Yeah, they told me that I couldn't wear contacts in the field too. You know what? I'm still wearing them. When they come up with a 100%-effective corrective surgery, I'll stop."
-CPT Brock, to me

"In one night, I learned more about four guys than I ever wanted to know. Those idiots on the fire watch unknowingly told me more about their lives, girlfriends, why they came to ROTC, why they're at Alabama, and more about their sex lives than I could possibly have ever asked. Why the [expletive] would you tell all that stuff to another guy just because you got randomly stuck on watch with him? It's not like you'd tell him anywhere else."
-CDT Paul Mandrell (my squad leader)

"Cadets, attention! Right face! If you need to take a woodline break, you can fall out that way. ::points:: Not to single you out or anything, Mr. Campbell."
-LTC Reilly

"Look, if you guys had told us this was a tactical situation, we would've [expletive] wiped out the whole [expletive] Alpha Company! I was wondering what those idiots were doing in the ditch with their white faces painted!"
-CDT Swinford, after the juniors ambushed us and conducted EPW (Enemy Prisoner of War) searches on our "dead" bodies. We were not given fake rifles, while the Alphas were.

"Never volunteer for anything. Never be first, never be last. Here, let me take that for you."
-CDT Mandrell

"Do as we say, not as we do."
-C/CPT Madison

Heh heh

2005-10-04T18:36:00.000-07:00

In recent news:

I'm honestly not sure what the heck the President is thinking with the Miers nomination. As far as I can see, she's utterly unqualified to serve on the Supreme Court. For a parody that pretty much sums up my feelings on the issue, click here.

She hasn't even tried a case at the federal level, as far as I know. She has no judging experience and no federal trial experience. This is the SCOTUS equivalent of Michael Brown. Thankfully, as long as she just does whatever Roberts and Scalia say, things ought to turn out okay.

In other news:

5-day-a-week PT is rather tiring.

I now have a very annoying blister on my toe, and I'm running 4 miles (I think) tomorrow morning. Thankfully, Thursday is the pool day...

Finally, a quotable for all of you NWN people, from one of the kung fu guys:

"God is my DM. Have you made your saving throw?"

We totally need that on a T-shirt...

Quotables...

2005-09-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

(Just as a note, we did sports PT this morning. Ultimate Frisbee. We should've played soccer, but the other works fine too.)

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKK!!!!"
-Cadet Captain Eren Reilly, on seeing a frisbee about eighteen inches away...flying towards her head. It was about 0600, and nobody could see the frisbee.

"Benson! Less talkee-talkee, more sit-up-situp!"
-Captain John-Franklin Leopold, silencing the cadet XO.

"We're doing a PCI Wednesday morning. Does anyone not know what that is?"
::hands go up::
"It's a pre-combat inventory. No, we're not going to combat, we're just going out to the woods to shoot things."
-CPT Leopold

"And about that Mexican joke! Only 4s are allowed to make that joke from now on! You GOT THAT?!?"
"I don't think anyone was listening, Troy."
-Cadet Command-Sergeant Major Troy Quizon and Cadet Major Yolanda Benson

"AAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!"
-C/CSM Quizon, after scoring in the Ultimate Frisbee game

"Sir, on my command, the squad will attack on the objective...there."
-C/CPT Reilly, gesturing towards the Air Force cadets forming up outside the ROTC building

"So, the first thing you do to the enemy is check to see if he's dead or alive. You do this by kicking a sensitive spot on the enemy's body. Dowdy, you're going to be the prisoner."
-Captain Gary Brock, teaching enemy POW searches

"Bill O'Reilly is like the drunk uncle at a family reunion..."
-unnamed member of my English class

Finally...

2005-09-29T13:34:00.000-07:00

At (very) long last, I've drawn all the equipment I need for field exercises. I still need a Class-A uniform, but that's not nearly as important as actually being able to sleep, eat, and drink when I'm out in the woods. Thank God.

In other news, we did land navigation yesterday out in the yards. My fire team navigated to within six meters of our terminal point, and the maps we had are only good for the nearest ten meters. In other words, it was pretty close. ;-)

My family sent me a box full of home-made granola bars. They're very good. In fact, I'm hoping that I can exert enough self-control to make them last at least a couple weeks. I'll get back to you on that one. Maybe.

On Chief Justice Roberts' swearing-in: About freakin' time. My best wishes to him as he takes on a genuinely difficult task. May he be ruled by no member of the US government or people, and make wise decisions in his time on the bench.

A newly-released Pentagon memo...

2005-09-21T12:15:00.000-07:00

PT Standards: Army versus Air Force

FROM: Koch Heckler, independent contractor

TO: United States Army and Air Force. To be issued to all personnel.

RE: PT standards

In the interests of greater inter-service understanding and cooperation, I wish to describe the differing physical standards in the Air Force and Army. This description should enable members of both services to understand the challenging nature of each service’s physical training. I feel that this should improve relations between these two important branches of the Armed Forces.

TIMED RUNS

It is very important to maintain the capability of rapid transit across terrain. Such a capability ensures that the United States armed forces can outrun even the French. This is important because there is always the possibility of having to pursue a retreating French force. After all, the then-War Department had a contingency plan for taking over the UK in the 1920s. Anything’s possible.

The Army:

Runs are primarily done while wearing full combat uniforms. These uniforms include full clothing, LBEs (suspender straps carrying ammunition, canteens, and large lead weights), and rucksacks. These rucksacks officially weigh 35 pounds. We are not willing to discuss the rumors of sand being poured inside hollow aluminum frames at this time. All soldiers are expected to carry their personal weapons. ROTC cadets and recruits should be issued fake weapons to carry. After all, a metal-and-rubber fake M-16 can always be thrown at a mugger, bear, or other annoying creature.

The distance of runs is variable. One should note that a “mile,” when referred to by an instructor or officer, can sometimes vary in length. However, a mile is a mile is a mile. Enough said. At any rate, regardless of the length of each mile, the distance is two miles and the time cutoff is eight minutes. High motivation is a key part of the running process. This motivation can be increased by the sergeant running just behind you—if you don’t keep ahead of him, he’ll look over his shoulder and you’ll see his face. Some studies suggest that a sergeant’s face can turn recruits to stone.

For extra credit on runs: Soldiers should substitute eighteen foot long medieval pikes for firearms. This shows dedication to tradition and significant physical fortitude. It is considered poor form to stab one’s sergeant in the back. It is considered extremely poor form to let the tip of the pike drag on the ground. This shows insufficient motivation and lack of physical endurance.

NOTE: A useful technique for improving morale is to yell “Hoo-ah!” at random intervals. One should note that when an officer passes, one should yell “Hoo-ah, SIR!” Anything less is unacceptable. Soldiers must be highly motivated at all times, in all weather, and over all terrain.

The Air Force:

Airmen must be able to ride bicycles at high speed. The distance for a bicycle test is two miles, and the time cutoff is twenty-five minutes, including the ten-minute break at the one-mile mark to run into Starbucks. After all, you never know when one will have to punch out of an airplane and ride a bike out of enemy territory.

It is important to build endurance while riding a bicycle. Therefore, all cadets are expected to carry a 50-pound sack of potatoes on their backs during bicycle tests.

Extra credit: Cadets wishing for extra credit during bicycle tests should consider putting a few potatoes in their sacks.

HILL TRAINING

The Army:

Soldiers are expected to train on hills. An excellent method of training is to go to the nearest parking garage and begin running up and down spiral staircases. A total altitude gain of approximately 500 feet in a 20-minute exercise is considered minimal. Of course, given the ethos of high motivation, at least half again that much is expected of all soldiers. Pikes should be replaced with large sandbags for this exercise.

This exercise involves a minimum of effort; indeed, it is considered the easiest of Army exercises. Really. We wouldn’t lie to you. What’s that, soldier? What’s that about the run distances? Shut up and drop for twenty, soldier. It’s for your own good. Really.

The Air Force:

Just use the frickin’ elevator. An airman must be very skilled in the art of pushing buttons. What do you think pilots do all day?

UPPER BODY STRENGTH

The Army:

The Army primarily uses two exercises to increase upper-body strength.

First, we have the push-up. To properly execute the push-up, make your body perfectly straight, touching the ground only with your toes and the palms of your hands. Your arms should be straight. Your first motion is to bend your arms until the upper arms are parallel with the ground. Your chest should touch the ground at this point. Second, straighten your arms while keeping the rest of your body perfectly straight. In executing the second motion, it is better to ask the sergeant nicely to remove his foot from your back than to turn and cuss him out, since turning disrupts your focus on the exercise.

Extra credit: Don’t ask the sergeant to remove his foot; complete the motion as specified.

Second, the Army utilizes the overhead clap as a standardized way of increasing shoulder strength. Simply hold your arms out to your sides, parallel to the ground, palms up, then clap your hands while keeping your arms straight.

Extra credit: Borrow a couple potatoes from an Air Force friend and hold them in your hands during the motion. Alternatively, use a loaded M-16 magazine.

The Air Force:

The Air Force also uses the pushup, but the exercise is performed a little differently. A cadet keeps his or her body perfectly straight while lying on his or her back in the middle of a football field. The arms should be extended upward. To perform the pushup, one lowers one’s arms until the backs of the arms touch the grass, then extends one’s arms back out.

Extra credit: Get your potatoes back and hold them in your hands while performing the motion.

The Air Force does not utilize the overhead clap.

I hope that this memorandum proves informative. I expect that members of both services will recognize that their comrades in the other branch have challenging physical duties, and that this realization would increase the respect that the services have for one another.

UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA CAMPUS, 10 SEPT 05

2005-09-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

An unexpected fire alarm triggered the complete evacuation of Paty Hall this afternoon. Three fire trucks responded, taking an inordinately long amount of time to reach the scene (I'm sorry, but seven point five minutes is just completely unacceptable. Period.); the trucks were accompanied by two UAPD squad cars. The assorted firefighters and police officers proceeded to enter the building and locate the source of the smoke--apparently, a trash can was set on fire. The can in question was hidden in a student's closet, apparently in hopes of concealing it from the responding units.

While the responsible individual is unknown at the time of this writing, the author feels that it would be a very good idea to deport said student from the University of Alabama campus and to the nearest local jail. The author further feels that said student should then be moved to a US naval vessel offshore, where he should be strapped down to a chair and forced to listen to a parakeet singing "The Song That Never Ends" while the poles of a 9-volt battery are pressed against his tongue every 30 seconds for approximately a week. While this might be considered "cruel and unusual punishment" under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, a recent 4th Circuit Court decision (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509100027sep10,1,5918883.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed) makes clear that American citizens suspected of terrorism can be held and their constitutional rights suspended. This brilliant example of legal jurisprudence and strict originalist interpretation of the Constitution can be traced to likely Bush Supreme Court nominee Michael Luttig, who the author feels should therefore be tarred, feathered, and deported to Havana. At any rate, the idiot responsible for the fire in the trash can clearly could have potentially caused possible terror or fear for some as-yet-unknown resident of Paty Hall. If not actual "terrorism," this act should clearly be classified as a "fear crime" and should be subject to substantially greater-than-normal legal penalties. As an absolute minimum, the student responsible obviously hates freedom and should be granted no Constitutional rights.

Disclaimer: The first paragraph is entirely accurate in all detail, as known to the author at the time of writing. The second paragraph is composed almost entirely of sarcasm and satire, but the facts referred to are accurate. Thank you very much, and have a nice day.

Also for the FCFs:

2005-09-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

An update: Same map, same bots, 53 kills, 2 deaths. Yeah, baby. ;-)

For the Foothill Computer Freaks:

2005-09-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

Played a 10-minute Counterstrike: Source game, populated by 20 maxed-out bots and myself. Final results: 33 kills, 1 death. Pwnd!

(And no n00b-stick...I stuck with the SOCOM, FAMAS, and finally the AUG, thanks very much)

For everyone else:

Let's see here. I got up nice and late (0900), since my first class was at 1100. This is especially important, since my astronomy lab is open until 2200 tonight. Astronomy class improved somewhat today (in case you hadn't heard, my professor tends to be relatively dry and lecture-oriented, which makes it hard for me to pay attention). That is a good thing--I didn't have to fight to stay awake this time.

History was a great class. It appears that history will continue to be my favorite class through college (excepting military science, which is hardly even a class for me). Ancient Greece is going to be the focus of attention for some time, which will keep stuff interesting. Heck, I may end up reading some material that I haven't actually run into before...fun times.

Also for the FCFs: I am making progress towards beating the Morrowind main quest. Playing with a lvl41 Breton fighter/mage character, NO CHEATING WHATEVER. The "mage" is a little questionable, since the extent of his magical capabilities is basically "I throw fireballs. You die." But yeah...it's not like mage characters are worth anything in that game anyway. I'm considering going vampire immediately after the main quest, since strength, agility, intelligence, and endurance are all at 100. Actually, strength and endurance are at 125 each, because I played around with the corprus infection and let it "worsen" for 25 days before getting it cured and restoring all my other attributes. Woohoo. Speed doesn't matter, 'cause I've got everyone's favorite pair of boots. Then again, I might raise it to 100 before going vampire just so I could wear better boots in most situations. "Most" means "excluding any situations in which I find it more useful to outrun my companion than to outrun the creature chasing me." Not that there are that many such situations, since I'm pretty much completely invincible now. I accidentally wore an Indoril gauntlet in front of an Ordinator and ended up wiping out about 25 of them in Vivec before retreating to Balmora (I'd forgotten to carry Restore Health potions). I then downloaded a mod to let me make amends with Ordinators, simply because I was tired of killing Ordinators at the moment. When I feel like wiping out racist, fanatical religious police again, I'll probably go back to Vivec and wave my favorite piece of medium armor around in the face of the first Ordinator I can find. Then again, I'll probably do it after I go vampire, which means the Indoril armor won't be necessary. That's good, since I prefer light or heavy armor most of the time. ;-)

Okay, so I'm a geek pining for Oblivion out. Sue me.

Bwaha!

2005-08-31T07:49:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling rather pleased with myself. This morning, for the first time, I completed all of the exercises in the final PT workout. ;-)

More later, after I finish some reading for English.

And another update...

2005-08-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

"The University of Alabama will re-open for normal hours on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005 and classes will resume as normally scheduled. Staff members should report at their regularly scheduled time on Wednesday unless they have been notified otherwise by their supervisor."

--from the UA website. I kind of expected it, after looking out my window and seeing a huge oak tree waving around insanely.

Rumor has it that there's at least one tree down on University Boulevard (hereinafter to be referred to as the Boulevard of Broken Trees). I wouldn't know if the rumor is correct, since I haven't been down there for several days, but yeah.

High winds, no rain at the moment. Nothing appears to be even flooded, at least in this area. Then again, my dorm is on high[er] ground than most areas here.

Cable TV is out, so you know exactly as much as I do about New Orleans and Mississippi if you check Google News.

Katrina update

2005-08-29T07:41:00.000-07:00

They're closing the university down as of 1200 today. They're going to try to keep dining services up, but limited menus are possible. I'm going to go down and check on what the PT schedule is, and whether they're going to mobilize ROTC people to go make themselves useful after the storm's gone. Hopefully, I'll be back soon.

Katrina news, post 1

2005-08-29T07:02:00.000-07:00

New Orleans is in trouble. Pray for them; they're 6 feet below sea level and the pumps for keeping water out of the city are beginning to fail already. It's honestly hard to believe this is happening--this is the US for goodness sake, someone comparing New Orleans to Bangladesh is a shock.

In Tuscaloosa, things are already beginning to get interesting. I'd guestimate the wind at around 20 mph now and rising. Rumor has it that classes may get cancelled here tomorrow, or possibly for longer. The University is hosting a bunch of, well, refugees from Louisiana, but I haven't seen anyone yet. There's a shelter somewhere on campus, but I don't know where it is.

Captain Leopold is on record that come hell or high water, we're going to be doing PT Wednesday morning. If it starts getting really bad, we're just going to stage a tactical withdrawal into the Rec Center. How lovely. So far, the worst we got was a 15-or-so mph wind in our faces at the end of the run. As we all know, that's nothing. Hoo-ah. ;-)

New from FOX, someone's reporting a levee break in New Orleans. These people need prayer. seriously.

So many lives are on the breeze
Even the stars are ill at ease
And Louisiana's drowning

I'm back, locked and loaded

2005-08-26T09:11:00.000-07:00

My ROTC teammates and instructors rock. Enough said.

The new computer is quite impressive. It runs CS: Source with no problem, even when I start jacking up the number of bots (and yes, I jack them up...10 on 10 is a quiet day in the park). I haven't had time to really get into Half-Life 2, primarily because it takes more than a minutes-long stretch of leisure time to play. It's got a 15-inch screen, which certainly isn't bad. The high resolution is very nice, and the fact that it runs cooler and weighs less than my old laptop is most welcome.

I realize that nobody's heard about PT yet. Short summary: Pain. Longer description: Wednesday was nasty. A 3-mile run is nothing to sneer at, especially since I've never run over long distances (no, Matt, double-timing down a mountain does NOT count, sorry). The exercise left me intensely sore over pretty much all of my body. It's not so bad now, though...PT this morning wasn't all that nasty and I'm actually not sore at all. Hopefully, I can continue to do well and not die...most authorities consider that a good thing.

Oops, time to punch out...Geography 105 in 23. Later, all.

Random stuff

2005-08-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

Kyndra, and anyone else who isn't on blogspot: You can comment on this page; I've enabled "anonymous" posts. Just sign your names, or something, so I know who you are.

The ROTC people set up a rock wall yesterday at the Bama Blast event. I'd estimate height at around 30 feet...they didn't make it easy on people, either. The footholds and handholds were not designed to be convenient in any way. I made it up, once. Tried again, but it was dark then and I couldn't see where I was going. I guess I'm not going to be doing the whole Guns of Navarone thing anytime soon. Small loss.

The 24-Hour Diner at the ground floor of my dorm isn't bad at all. I checked it out last night, and for fast food it's quite good. I still prefer the Fresh Food Company, but they're closed at night...

I get my computer this afternoon. No more getting kicked out of the computer lab for me.

On the flip side, PT starts at 0530 tomorrow morning. No late-night gaming tonight.

Yesterday, I learned from LTC Reilly (the ROTC commander here) that they had a national-level CEDA debater in their program not so long ago...maybe I can do debate next year after all. Aljadsalsdfaslekjraoihe;ansd;flaksdnf. Extend ASPEC and pull across the dropped voters, feel free to fill out your ballot now.

I dropped in semis in the online debate tournament. That's okay, the final round was easily the best T debate I've ever seen, and one of the best debate rounds period. Congrats to Abram and Patrick, neither of whom will ever read this (most likely).

I'm out of here. Peace to all, even ::ahem:: outspoken ::cough:: siblings.

Brief rant

2005-08-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

The state of television here is gosh-awful. Soap operas and lame movies predominate to the exclusion of any good movies out there. Sports isn't too interesting when the only stuff on most of the time is the Little League World Series and interminable golf tournaments. Of course, there's CNN and FOX News, but those are desperation channels second only to cooking shows. It wouldn't be so bad if a) I had classes going on or b) a computer, but my only access is the computer lab. Daaaang.

When James Bond is the best TV has to offer, there's something very wrong. It doesn't seem I missed so much by never watching the tube for the first 18 years of my life (excepting good sports games and the occasional Star Trek or interesting movie or History Channel production).

Eric: I watched Hitch with the college group last night. Yes, it's funny. No, it's not anywhere close to the peak of recent comedy...Men in Black was way better, for one example.

Currently reading: Plato's Last Days of Socrates (It's part of Western Civ I, aka History 105).

Currently listening: Seether/Amy Lee, Broken.

Currently watching: My computer screen, what else?

-Chris

Moved in... (continued)

2005-08-21T19:05:00.000-07:00

I'm here again, and early enough that there's no way I'll get kicked out before finishing this post (excluding possibilities such as the Rapture or this building burning down, neither of which I can control). So, where did I leave off anyway? Right, Baton Rouge.

The next day (Thursday, for those of you who have trouble counting or are on their tenth cup of coffee right now), we proceeded to Abbeville, the home of my mom's Aunt Betty. She's a wonderful elderly lady. Sadly, she's also a devout Christian Scientist. Pray for her, too...my mom has tried to talk to her any number of time, but she's not very open to the gospel. Also sadly, she's rather prejudiced still...I guess growing up in the South in the twenties would have had that effect on almost everyone, but it was still a little bit of an unpleasant shock. I also made the mistake of entering into a political discussion when she started talking about immigration--she tends to make my most reactionary friends look leftist, which is quite a feat. Fortunately, she tends to express the above unpleasant positions in a relatively quiet and "genteel" way, which is a saving grace for right-center college kids from California (I managed to hold my tongue most of the time, and that's due almost entirely to said saving grace). The visit was almost entirely enjoyable, and I'm grateful for that.

On Friday, we left for Tuscaloosa. Since we left at about 1400, it would've made sense for us to get to Tuscaloosa at around 2100--counting a fairly lengthy dinner break. No such luck. Going through Lafayette, LA (a little north of Abbeville), we hit some kind of sharp object on the road, and the right-front tire was well and truly screwed (pun intended). It started raining heavily as soon as we pulled over, and it continued to rain while we changed the tire and went to the nearest service station to get a new right-front tire (the spare was one of those narrow things that's not good for very far). The rest of the trip went fine...watch the same DVDs over again (the van we rented has a DVD player in back), talk to people on the phone (Kyndra--have you eliminated that enemy agent, or are you going to be fired? your choice ;-) ), sleep. It was just a little later...2330 or so, which isn't a big deal for charter members of the United Federation of night Owls (UFnO, founded in Berkeley in 1973).

Saturday was mostly a blur. We moved my stuff in at about 0900, then went to Wal-Mart to get everything I hadn't brought (INTENTIONALLY, mind you, I got EVERYTHING I intended to bring, and did you know that I'm the president of freakin' Antarctica?). Lunch at the Fresh Food Company (the northern cafeteria on campus, generally good food), and then I relaxed, slept (sort of) and chilled out in my room. Off to the computer lab, except that the lobby of Paty Hall (my dorm) was absolutely overrun with sorority members. Not sure what was going on in the lobby of my (all-male) dorm, but it was evasion time. Not having a rope precluded a window exit or anything cool like that, but there are other ways to get out of the dorm. "Tank, we need an exit." Heck yeah. I was out of there...don't think anyone even noticed me. I should put in for the next CIA "Splinter Cell"...or maybe preppy girls just ignore me.

Of course, you know the rest of that story. I got kicked out of the computer lab when they closed, and that was the end of that. Woohoo.

Today was good. We (my parents and I) all went to church, and yes, I'm definitely staying at First Baptist. It's a cool place, despite the ::ahem:: music in the main sanctuary. Looks like I can definitely plug in (no pun intended, I didn't bring my electric guitar but probably will after Thanksgiving break or whenever) to the college worship team, although they want to wait a few weeks to get to know me first. Not a bad idea, considering that this is a larger church...can't expect to know everyone like we did at Foothill.

So, we went on to lunch. It was good...not going to bore people with the menu. We returned to Wal-Mart for the, uh, seventh (I think, give or take one trip) time this trip. Fun times, of course. Battlefield 2 looks way too fun to buy just yet...I'll wait until after I get Oblivion, I think. That way, it's during winter break and I have time to frag the FCF/LAN people. You know it's coming, Matt. "The end times are nigh!!! Like the arrogant of Netheril, we shall be blown to dust!!!" [/random NWN: Original Campaign reference]

Next stop, the ROTC orientation. The instructor for the freshman MIL SCI students is an Army Captain named Jeff Leopold. He served in both Iraq and Afghanistan with the 101st Airborne. He seems like a good guy...if nothing else, he definitely knows what he's doing.

On to a long conversation with my parents...I don't feel the need to share what they have to tell me, except that I could never have asked for a better mom and dad. I'm incredibly grateful to have had them taking care of me for the first eighteen years or so...now it's my turn.

Time to get moving. I'll catch you guys later.

Over and out.

Moved in, ready to roll

2005-08-20T18:13:00.000-07:00

The vacation part of this trip went very nicely. The flight out from California was simple and uneventful, and yes, that's a very good thing. No lost luggage, no headaches during landing, and no flying around Dallas for two hours waiting for a thunderstorm going away. Of course, maybe that's because our connection was in Phoenix, wouldn't you think? At any rate, we got to Birmingham (gosh, I hate smog like that...it's worse than LA, at least when I've been there)without incident, and immediately vacated the city premises in the direction of our hotel in Meridian, Mississippi. (:pauses to count s's and p's: ) This two-point-five hour drive was completed by about 0230 hours Tuesday morning, and was solely for the purpose of being able to get up later the next morning for the drive to Baton Rouge. This was a laudable goal, since two of the three people in the car were night people and the one morning person wasn't driving.

The next morning (rather, later that morning), we moved on to Baton Rouge, LA to see my mom's Uncle Bill and Aunt Marge. There really isn't a whole lot to say...Uncle Bill's a nice guy, but he's not saved, and he's definitely not getting any younger. He's taking care of his wife pretty much full-time, 'cause she has Alzheimer's and is almost completely nonresponsive. Pray for them--I don't know how much longer they've got, but I can't imagine that it's all that long.

I'll finish the rest of this tomorrow--computer lab is closing, and I have to go.

Hey there

2005-08-14T22:26:00.000-07:00

Anybody out there? Well, there probably will be at some point. Anyway, this is the generic "hello" post. I'm Chris, variously referred to as "idiot" (by certain friends from church), "theory hack" (by certain debaters), and a number of other not-particularly-complimentary descriptions. Right now is "the dawning of the rest of [my] life," but I don't really know how that is going to play out just yet. In some way, I want said life to serve my Lord Jesus--but the specifics are still way up in the air. I'm currently getting set to attend the University of Alabama, majoring tentatively in criminal justice. I spent the vast majority of the last 18 years of my life in my home state of California, the land of fruits, nuts, and the Governator (as well as really good debaters, some of whom happen to have been in my debate club at one time or another). I play the guitar and a (very) little piano, speak a little Spanish and lots of American English, and enjoy playing a number of computer games, basketball, and soccer. I'm a debate freak, but the jury's still out on whether that hobby is going to continue through college.

This is my college blog, where you can keep track of my periodic rants and sarcasm. Also, you can see anything of my life or polite writings that I choose to post here, as well as "interesting" or amusing pictures or comics. Next, this blog serves as a platform for periodic complaints and kudos regarding various debate organizations. Finally, you can find religious and/or philosophical musings (in the end, they're really the same thing) when I have them. They probably won't be deep, but I'm working on that. Really.

As a note, I chose the screen name for a couple reasons. Most of you will catch the obvious Green Day reference, if you don't, that's okay 'cause you probably don't want to anyways. "Interesting" political music aside, I'm going to college in a rather "different" state. I'm not ashamed in the slightest of being a weird kid from California, and the blog's name is sort of an homage to my beloved home state (as screwed up as it sometimes is).

Enjoy your stay. ;-)

In Christ,

Chris

Representative From California

*sigh*

Random quiz

A respectful farewell...

back again...

well, I'm back...

Four more years! Four more years!

Double post

Programmers? Code monkeys?

For my RPG-playing friends (and those who know the terms, even though they don't play)

He sees reason!

Book to look forward to...

Random stuff...

Supreme Court Gets Free Box Of Shoes After Mentioning Nike In Ruling

New av

*evil grin*

More awesomeness from Jon Stewart...

Awesome piece from The Onion

White House Had Prior Knowledge Of Cheney Threat

Aug. 2005 Briefing Warned, 'Cheney Determined To Shoot Old Man In Face'

Interesting article

Oh. my. goodness.

Interesting development re: Mohammed cartoons

Score!

"If you are not with us, go ahead and keep asking for foreign aid anyway"

New link for everyone to check out

Robertson strikes again

Check *this* out...

snap!

Soundtrack of my life...

Blarg-blarg

This is just funny.

Good news from DC...we hope

The problem with American politics, or at least one of them.

A blow to the oil economy, if we can capitalize on it....

Good grief...

So maybe the whole "creative writing" thing actually did some good

Awesome song...

Okay, so I got sucked into it...

Check it out:

Very interesting article...everyone should read

This one's great...

Courtesy of Taryn...

ANWR

So, I was checking out some links...

Picture speaks for itself...

I'm in shock

Hmmm...

I need help

Back from the FTX

Heh heh

Quotables...

Finally...

A newly-released Pentagon memo...

UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA CAMPUS, 10 SEPT 05

Also for the FCFs:

For the Foothill Computer Freaks:

Bwaha!

And another update...

Katrina update

Katrina news, post 1

I'm back, locked and loaded

Random stuff

Brief rant

Moved in... (continued)

Moved in, ready to roll

Hey there

sigh

evil grin

Check this out...