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Incendia Consiliorum
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| | Subject: | "Thank God" that this is now in the national spotlight... | | Time: | 09:38 am |
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| http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/us/25academies.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
In my own limited experience with the Academies, I saw this - and it worried me. (For those unaware, I was heavily recruited by West Point, very interested in USAFA, and 3/4 of the way through the lengthy Academy application process before I decided that they were not for me.) Of course, not having actually gone, it didn't affect me a great deal. One of my good HS friends that ended up going to USAFA was very Christian, so I'm sure he felt at home. And I have to wonder, had I gone, would I have had the courage to speak up about it? Hold my head high while the rest of the cadets (one of my best friends included) bowed theirs in prayer?
At this point in my life, with my experiences in a "normal" university and as an adult, the answer is a resounding yes. But as an 18- to 22- year old? At an institution designed (and designed well, I must concede) to impose certain pattens of thinking? I'm not so sure.
Anyway, I'm glad that some cadets had the courage to step forward, and also pleased to see the story get some national attention. It'll be rough, but now the dominos are in place for some much-needed Academy reform.
And I say this not as a man of no religion. I was raised as a Christian, and respect people's (educated) beliefs. (If you can't argue for your beliefs intelligently and/or haven't examined your own beliefs, no, I don't respect them.) And for all their evils, religions have also done plenty of good for humanity. But at the Academies especially, perhaps more than anyplace else in the nation, there must exist a certain separation between Church and State, as well as a healthy respect for differing religious views - I mean, these are the guys that are running wars and all. Religious tolerance is mandatory. To say nothing of religious understanding - like realizing that Islam is not monolithic, for instance.
Anyway, back to work. - AM | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment   |
| | Subject: | Realization | | Time: | 04:18 pm |
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| This comes a bit late, but, here's a proof:
If you doubt the administration, the terrorists win.
If you doubt the administration, you are a terrorist.
Therefore, by the associative property, if you doubt the administration, you win.
Huh. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| Taken from an entry from August of 2006
"When the going gets tough... the tough take the law into their own hands."
Such is the tagline for the cinematic masterpiece entitled Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, a film that singlehandedly inspires my current listening to Van Halen and the creation of a new icon just to celebrate its greatness.
Starring none other than Mickey Rourke as Harley and Don Johnson (KU alum! - a.k.a Sonny Crockett) as Marlboro, this saga is set in the grim future of 1996 where L.A. (and the U.S. as a whole) suffers from the effects of excessive pollution, the depletion of the ozone layer, and gas prices of $4.00/gallon. Yet enter Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, epic heroes that continue to ride their motorcycles across the country as rebel outlaws to crusade for their own ideals of patriotism and justice atop their steel steeds. And who they ride against? None other than Tom Sizemore as the evil bank executive, and his uniform trenchcoat-clad thugs led by Daniel Baldwin - villains to be vilified for their disrespect of the hard rock bar that our heroes term "home", and feared not only for their indiscriminate use of automatic weapons, but for their apparent immunity to L.A. heat whilst wearing the aforementioned trenchcoats.
But worry not, for our intrepid heroes are not alone in their quest, as they run into their old flames and friends throughout their travels - people like Virginia Slim and Jack Daniels. Yet the most poignant character is one that never graces the screen - the Marlboro Man's father. A man whose wisdom is exceeded only by his son's adherence to and spreading of his tenets:
"My old man told me, before he left this shitty world, never chase buses or women, you'll always be left behind."
Yet in the course of this adventure, Harley and Marlboro seem to discover their own wisdom: always make a pool shot with a cigarette in your mouth, steal a man's bike if he steals your woman, and "it's better to be dead and cool than alive and uncool."
So remember that. And see this movie.
I reiterate two years later - see it.
Anyway, a couple musings. One, when I saw this 2 years ago, it was still science fiction. *sigh* Luckily, I only get gas once a month or so.
Secondly, looking back, I was much more prolific back there. And interesting. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Online! | | Time: | 10:25 am |
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| So, on today, my 4th day at the new job...
I HAVE A COMPUTER THAT I CAN LOG ON TO!
So, this means I can actually, like, do stuff. Rather than read all day. As enjoyable as Jared Diamond's "The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal" may be, I didn't come to work to read 100+ pages per day and go home.
Anyway, I'm online now, and you'll likely see an increase in my presence on teh interwebs, when I have moments between important work things. | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Hey, look at that! It's Obama! | | Time: | 12:47 am |
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| ...with the nomination! That he won, like, ages ago - though he was facing an opponent that was hoping he like, had 10 more Jeremiah Wrights as janitor, high school guidance counselor, lawyer, or whatever else. Seriously, she had admitted to part of her strategy being waiting for some ridiculous thing to make Obama unelectable to come leaping out of Tokyo Bay.
Anyway, I'm very pleased that he is the nominee. In addition to being an historic nominee, he's also a very good one, and I very firmly believe that he is what this nation needs. For reasons, see previous posts and/or Barack Obama.
Now, the question is: who to pick as VP? A few months ago, I'd have gone with Clinton. Now? I'd fear for my life if I was Obama with Clinton as VP. Seriously, she wanted to be in the Oval Office way too much. I believe it was Worf quoting some Revered Klingon that said, "Great leaders do not seek power. They have it thrust upon them." Now, obviously, that doesn't quite work in our political system, but I still think it demonstrates an important point or two. (One being that power hungry leaders are all too often ungreat.)
So, if it was my choice: John Edwards. He's charismatic, agreeable, and I think at once meshes well with Obama's ticket while complementing it. Gives it some good old-fashioned white male cred, and from a Southerner to boot. (I hate to admit it, but yeah - Bill Richardson, as cool as he is, cannot fill out the ticket - the U.S. isn't quite ready for a black man running for President with an hispanic as running mate.)
So, more waiting. I think I'm going to ignore the talking heads for a bit longer, as they haven't said much of value in a couple months. Other than Stewart/Colbert, of course.
Until then - AM | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Current Music: | "A View to a Kill" - Duran Duran | | Subject: | Music! | | Time: | 04:04 pm |
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| (So, I still have to get a music icon... but I'm not sure where to start... but wait! Colbert! Singing or dancing! He does that, sometimes! And it's awesome!)
Ahem. Anyway, so, most of you likely realize my favorite bands. NIN, VAST, Tool, Deftones, APC, etc.
(We're going to see NIN in Cleveland in August!)
But what you may not know, is that I have this soft spot for '80s pop... that carries over into a little early '90s stuff. Anyway, shortly before I left, ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) chernobylred had given me the 1000 best songs of the 80s according to Billboard. 100 per year! For one reason or another, moving, housework, computer construction, I hadn't gotten it into my library until this last weekend. So, now that I have, I've increased my library size by like, 1000 songs or 5 GB or 2.5 days! And it's awesome! So thank you!
We danced all around while spring cleaning... and on and on. I think I've only been through a quarter of the awesomeness so far.
Until then - AM
P.S. Bonus trivia points to whoever can name what Bond movie this song was featured in.
< / end overuse of awesome > | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Paid account! | | Time: | 01:04 pm |
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| | Yeah, so I finally renewed my paid account. Sole reason? My icons. I miss them. (And they're all self-made!) | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Updates | | Time: | 12:44 pm |
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| Hey all. Ironically, I'm pretty bad about updating/reading LJ when I don't have a job. I think I'm busier now that I'm unemployed between job searching and running almost every day (yay!) and straightening up the house and all.
What's up?
Went to the Nebs in Austin. They were alright, but all the enjoyment came from nonofficial things - seeing friends that live 1k miles away (or more), eating Mexican and BBQ, heat. Unfortunately, planned trips to see the Texas Capital and UT fell through.
Nine Inch Nails has posted their most recent album FOR FREE on their site: www.nin.com Check it out.
Also saw Iron Man recently. It was awesome. Iron Man has always been one of my favorite heroes, since I played the arcade game "Captain America and the Avengers" in the early '90s. I liked Iron Man because he looked cool and had an awesome name.
However, as I checked out the character in preparation for the movie, there are other reasons to like him: interesting character, flawed, but also "real" a la Batman. Self-made and plausible, if not likely. But his story has also been very political. He's (relatively, it gets convoluted) up-front about his identity, he's blatantly capitalistic, and also very political. Not only was he defending capitalism and democracy from the Soviet-built Titanium Man or the Mandarin, but he also served as Secretary of Defense.
And, in good news for other Iron Man fans, both new and old, the movie seems to be the first in a trilogy, to be followed in '10 and '11. And Robert Downey, Jr. was awesome in the role. I had read a Times article comparing the character of Tony Stark and the actor, and yeah - quite a few parallels. He nailed the role.
Other than that? Job search continues. Wish me luck, and to yourselves in your endeavors.
Until then - AM | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | The Spicy Sweet Pennsylvania Primary! | | Time: | 09:44 am |
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| ...or perhaps bittersweet.
I voted for Obama - I'm sure it's no secret. And while polls have been predicting a Clinton victory from the outset, I was still a bit disappointed to hear that she won. Now, we have to drag this through at least another two weeks.
Indiana, North Carolina - eyes are on you. Do us proud. (Especially Indiana, not to play favorites or anything, but NC is likely a matter of "how much?" for Obama.)
You know, on my commute to work, I got to thinking:
At the start of this primary season, I was in favor of Obama, but Clinton was a close second, rationale being that I just liked Obama a bit more as diplomat, orator, etc. The number one thing that polarized me against Hillary? Her campaign. How messed up is that? (Not to mention some inconsistencies in her record, her past affiliation with Wal-Mart - she served on their board for 6 years previous to Bill's run for President - and her blatant politicizing of everything under the sun.)
However, come general election, if she has the Democratic nomination, I suppose she'll still get my vote. It'd be yet another case where I'd prefer to vote for Nader, but it's not like that ship is sailing anywhere.
Moving on... to the Republican side of things.
I don't get McCain. At all. 4 years ago, good guy. He had a well-deserved reputation as a maverick within the Republican party, the most liberal record on the right side of the aisle, and a history of bipartisan cooperation. One of Bush's harshest critics.
And yet he's jogged to the right in the past couple years, now sprinting there after receiving the nomination. I think it's telling that the Republican primary selected its leftmost (serious) candidate, as this is an election that will likely be decided by the now left-leaning middle.
The only thing I can think of is that McCain's rush to the right is to fight against voter apathy, yet he's losing a lot of the middle in the process. To say nothing of the fact that I'm not sure that anyone who votes for him can be sure of what they're voting for.
*sigh*
And finally, in other news: happy Administrative Professionals Day! ...and my last day of work here as an "administrative professional," ironically.
Until then - AM | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Music News! | | Time: | 08:32 am |
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| Hey all,
Thought I'd update some of you on music, if you share my tastes.
Nine Inch Nails recently released "Ghosts" - 36 instrumental tracks, meant to be image-evocative. In addition, Trent Reznor has encouraged his fans to make videos to accompany the tracks, with the best being selected to be a part of a film festival to culminate a collaboration between artists and fans. Increasingly, Reznor has started to push for freedom of information and intellectual property, themes hinted at in "Year Zero" (which was also sold at a price lower than most CDs) and now in the release of "Ghosts".
At www.nin.com, the first 9 tracks of Ghosts are available for free, or all 36 for $5. As for my review? There's nothing groundbreaking, but if you enjoy NIN's instrumental work, it's definitely worth the 2 hours of ambient music. Of course, you could always try out the first 9, and if you like, get more. The tracks are fairly representative of the whole.
In addition, (and this may not be NEW, per se), VAST and Jon Crosby (the man behind VAST) have released some new music since I last checked. VAST has released a new CD, April, while Jon Crosby has separately released 3 CDs, Generica (Volumes I-III), all of which are available to download at www.sonicfreight.com, for $5 and $4, respectively.
As to my reviews: April is excellent. It's a more acoustic VAST than in previous work, but still quite VASTy. As to Generica, it's very good for what it is: a great singer with an acoustic guitar. I don't quite think it's worth 30 tracks... (maybe 10), but if you enjoy Jon Crosby and a guitar, it's worth at least the first.
I must confess, though, that I did not buy Generica II, which is a live CD, as I usually try to avoid live CDs.
Until then - AM | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Back at Work, misc. ranting | | Time: | 10:36 am |
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| So, I'm back at work. Some stuff:
1. I had a really interesting dream last night. And remembered it, because I woke up in the middle of the night (that's really the only way I remember dreams)... but then I went back to sleep and lost it. Darn.
2. My paid-LJ account expired. At first I was like, "eh." But then I've come to realize that the new management doesn't allow you to keep more than your 6 icons through an account expiration (and that was really the only paid thing I used). That's pretty lame. Damned new management.
3. My flight back here on Sunday was delayed by two or more hours. So I didn't get to sleep until, like, 1 or 2am Monday morning. So I called in sick to work, and spent the last two days recovering. I come back to find some weirdness, a bit of work piled up - but I've pretty much finished it all. And I've been here less than 3 hours. Now I just have to comb through archives for 4 specific emails that might have been received anywhere between 6 and 18 months ago. Whoo!
4. On Sunday, 'ere my parents took me to the airport, they took me to the Big XII Tournament - the Championship Game! Between KU and the University of Texas. KU won, in a really hard-fought game... and now it's tournament time. I think I can forgive the team at this point and be a fan again... if I still loathe the individuals involved in almost burning down a building and/or seriously injuring someone, and those who dismissed my legitimate concerns and retaliated to the point that I would have been fired from the department I had loyally served for almost 5 years... had I not been leaving in less than a week anyway. @#$%ers.
Until then - AM | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Wii! | | Time: | 01:46 pm |
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| Hey all,
So I finally got around to hooking up my Wii to the internet with the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl - and I figured I should hook up with all my friends with Wiis as Wii friends! So, yeah, drop me a line and we'll virtually hang out! ...or beat the snot out of each other.
Until then - AM
P.S. If you don't know about Super Smash Bros., it's only the best fighting game series of all time. There's just something amazing about a fight between like, Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Link (from Zelda), and Samus (from Metroid). The only thing that would make it even better is if the Prince of Persia somehow made his way on there. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| "The Feb. 13 hearing generally divided along party lines, with Democrats giving Clemens a rougher time, and Republicans reserving their toughest questions for McNamee."
- New York Times, today, on Roger Clemens' hearing before Congress.
Roger Clemens, as you may well know, was a 7-time Cy Young award-winning professional baseball player and pitcher.
McNamee is his personal trainer who has testified that he has injected Clemens with Human Growth Hormone many times. This testimony is supported by Andy Pettite, long time teammate of Clemens'.
Which begs the question: Why in the world would this issue be divided along party lines? | | comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | America (the post) | | Time: | 04:17 pm |
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| Hey all,
(I'm going to get blatantly political for a moment.)
So, I just watched last night's debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama at the University of Texas. And I have to say, go Obama!
At the beginning of the primary season, my attitude was "Clinton and Obama are the most electable, have very similar policy issues, and also would make important - and needed - history in simply being nominated and/or elected. But I like Obama more, so I'll root for him a bit more."
Yes, Clinton has more "experience." Yet, in light of Obama's long string of victories, do the American people care a whole lot? Well, no. That's really the big thing Clinton has going for her, and it isn't much. I think this does point to an inherent distrust of the government... more on that later.
Obama has something very important that not only captures votes, but also helps in effective diplomacy and lawmaking: Charisma. He has it in spades, and is one of the most impressive public speakers I've seen in a long time. One only has to look at a debate question where he agrees with Clinton but has to respond after she does. Look at what he does - he's able to throw the issue under a new light, and just... wow. Go Obama.
You know all those times in the last few years where you've heard Bush speak and you say to yourself: "wow, he's stupid." Exact opposite reaction here. Obama is intelligent and eloquent. And genuine - you can just feel it... and see it in his record.
And finally, what is with Republicans hating their own frontrunner? I think it's an important point in itself that the Republican constituency has chosen McCain, but the Republican leadership still piles on vituperation. Hey, Republicans - be members of a Republic and represent your people. In the end, I suppose I'm glad he's going to win the Republican nomination. In my opinion, he's the best guy on that side of the aisle, and as a good friend has pointed out - "sometimes the out-of-touch neocon who won the nomination actually goes on to win the Presidency." (i.e., Bush) He's a vast improvement over the current state-of-affairs, and has a history of working across party lines. He may be a maverick to his party, but that's a good thing.
Especially since it seems that even Republican voters are tired of the current regime. Unfortunately (maybe fortunately), it seems the American people have become disillusioned with government since Nixon. Conspiracy theories abound, and people just don't trust politicians.
But perhaps no administration has proved that view more true than the current one. Look at all the resignations (or scandals) and the issues involved.
Karl Rove.
Alberto Gonzales.
Donald Rumsfeld.
These, and others, have demonstrated a complete lack of proper judgment, or morality, or the confidence of the American people. And so it's time for change.
And I think I was going to make a larger, more coherent point - but I must run to catch the bus home from work. I may add later. But there you go. Feel free to sound off.
Until then - AM | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| A quote from:
EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT ATTORNEY GENERAL ALBERTO GONZALES NO LONGER HOLDS THE CONFIDENCE OF THE SENATE AND OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE--MOTION TO PROCEED -- (Senate - June 11, 2007)
"...It has been 120 years since a no-confidence vote has been had on any Cabinet member. That is something they do in Europe. It is not something we do in the United States."
Unfortunately, that sort of argument seemed to carry the day, even while those that supported the vote of no-confidence had an extremely extensive list of how Gonzales is well, fairly evil or incredibly stupid or suffering from acute Alzheimer's...
Occam's razor says evil.
And what is up with right-wing Europe-bashing? I mean, "Freedom Fries" were kind of funny, and I might make the occasional joke that "I don't speak Freedom." (It's usually good for a laugh in a politically-savvy group.) But that was on the cafeteria menu, while this is on the Senate floor.
Pathetic. At least in Europe this doesn't fly as legitimate political argument. Maybe I should move there.
Until then - AM | | comments: Leave a comment |
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Incendia Consiliorum
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