Talk about fiddling while Rome burns. Do the people of this world have nothing better to think about than what Britney Spears is doing? We're at war, the Democrats just gained control of Congress, and I'm still seeing stories on the news about Britney running around NYC without panties. I don't blame this entirely on the media. I blame it mostly on our celebrity worshipping culture that thinks these things are really important.
How many women are barhopping around NYC right now (or anywhere in America for that matter) without panties? How many of them are white trash going through divorces and custody disputes? I'm pretty sure it's not just Britney. I'm equally sure that if the opportunity presented itself, they'd be just as happy to strike a pose for some passing photographer if it would get them their 15 minutes of fame. People have done crazier things. Just watch American Idol. It's just that Britney makes CDs and a lot of money.
The media cares because there's a demand for this kind of banal information. Publicity is publicity even if it's stupid publicity. Maybe if we cared less about what celebrities are doing, saying, and eating for breakfast, aging pop divas wouldn't feel the need to travel to the other side of the planet to snatch little kids away from loving parents behind a ridiculous facade of noblesse oblige just to bolster their floundering images.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Friday, November 03, 2006
Did He Mean It?
Unless you've been living in a cave over the last week, you've heard John Kerry's remark about the US military, telling a group of California college students that if they didn't study and get good grades they would end up "stuck in Iraq". He attempted to recover (much too late) and tell the world that it was a "botched joke".
Nobody got it. It went over like the proverbial turd in the punchbowl. Not even the stone-faced audience of California students were laughing over this one.
The question of the hour has been, "Did he mean it?" The short answer is yes. I don't believe that he would have publicly insulted the most trusted institution in America had he known (and I can't believe he didn't) that it would create the maelstrom and media feeding frenzy that it has. It wasn't a calculated remark. It was an off-the-cuff remark that betrayed exactly what he thinks of the military and average Americans in general. The mask slipped and John Kerry showed his true colours to the world. Deep down inside, it's exactly what he meant.
Kerry's attitude is not uncommon among his cohorts, though most wouldn't be so vocal about it. The military is a fine institution, we support our troops, blah blah blah--as long as my kid's not the one going to the sandbox. It's fine for some bubba from one of those box-shaped states way out west. It's not like they're going to make it to the Ivy League or anything.
Kerry and his ilk see the military as a haven for the benighted and uneducated. America's unfortunate bastion of backwoods stupidity and ignorance. It's a contemptuous, elitist view.
And the military gave their answer. In a photo that has gone over cyberspace as fast as Kerry's remark, Minnesota National Guard members in Iraq are pictured holding a banner that states, "Halp us Jon Carry-We R Stuck Hear N Irak".
Air Force Public Affairs Officer, Capt J. Elaine Hunnicutt, told the press, "the soldiers' intent in taking this photo was meant as a humorous response to the current debate in the media and the command recognizes it as such."
In plain-talkin' English, "It's just a joke Sen. Kerry."
As military members, we're not allowed to show public contempt for elected officials. The military is officially non-partisan, as it should be. While many in the military lean toward traditionally conservative values, there are plenty of Democrats and others with more liberal points of view. There are varying views on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. One doesn't have to be a Republican to take umbrage at Kerry's comment. The Guard members' banner betrays most military members' (and average Americans') view on politicians like John Kerry as much as Kerry's scornful remarks reveal about his feelings toward us. The fact that the banner has command stamp of approval shows the widening disconnect between Kerry, Dean, Pelosi, et al. and the US military.
Liberals love to talk about how they support the troops and how they're the party that looks out for the "little man". I think the concept of "looking out for the little man" is patronizing. No man (or woman) is little when they have integrity, when they stand up for what's right, and when they're willing to travel to a foreign shore and sacrifice their lives for the sake of a stranger. John Kerry is a traitor who publicly slandered his fellow veterans with false accusations and he continues to make baleful comments about the troops serving in Iraq. John Kerry is a living illustration of "the little man".
Nobody got it. It went over like the proverbial turd in the punchbowl. Not even the stone-faced audience of California students were laughing over this one.
The question of the hour has been, "Did he mean it?" The short answer is yes. I don't believe that he would have publicly insulted the most trusted institution in America had he known (and I can't believe he didn't) that it would create the maelstrom and media feeding frenzy that it has. It wasn't a calculated remark. It was an off-the-cuff remark that betrayed exactly what he thinks of the military and average Americans in general. The mask slipped and John Kerry showed his true colours to the world. Deep down inside, it's exactly what he meant.
Kerry's attitude is not uncommon among his cohorts, though most wouldn't be so vocal about it. The military is a fine institution, we support our troops, blah blah blah--as long as my kid's not the one going to the sandbox. It's fine for some bubba from one of those box-shaped states way out west. It's not like they're going to make it to the Ivy League or anything.
Kerry and his ilk see the military as a haven for the benighted and uneducated. America's unfortunate bastion of backwoods stupidity and ignorance. It's a contemptuous, elitist view.
And the military gave their answer. In a photo that has gone over cyberspace as fast as Kerry's remark, Minnesota National Guard members in Iraq are pictured holding a banner that states, "Halp us Jon Carry-We R Stuck Hear N Irak".
Air Force Public Affairs Officer, Capt J. Elaine Hunnicutt, told the press, "the soldiers' intent in taking this photo was meant as a humorous response to the current debate in the media and the command recognizes it as such."
In plain-talkin' English, "It's just a joke Sen. Kerry."
As military members, we're not allowed to show public contempt for elected officials. The military is officially non-partisan, as it should be. While many in the military lean toward traditionally conservative values, there are plenty of Democrats and others with more liberal points of view. There are varying views on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. One doesn't have to be a Republican to take umbrage at Kerry's comment. The Guard members' banner betrays most military members' (and average Americans') view on politicians like John Kerry as much as Kerry's scornful remarks reveal about his feelings toward us. The fact that the banner has command stamp of approval shows the widening disconnect between Kerry, Dean, Pelosi, et al. and the US military.
Liberals love to talk about how they support the troops and how they're the party that looks out for the "little man". I think the concept of "looking out for the little man" is patronizing. No man (or woman) is little when they have integrity, when they stand up for what's right, and when they're willing to travel to a foreign shore and sacrifice their lives for the sake of a stranger. John Kerry is a traitor who publicly slandered his fellow veterans with false accusations and he continues to make baleful comments about the troops serving in Iraq. John Kerry is a living illustration of "the little man".
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Catch a Fire and The Dixie Clucks
I went to see the movie Catch a Fire today. Catch a Fire was written by Shawn Slovo, daughter of Joe Slovo and Ruth First. Slovo and First were big movers and shakers in fighting South Africa's racist Apartheid government. They were also top brass in the South Africa Communist Party. The movie is about the life of Patrick Chamusso, a man who becomes an insurgent in the African National Congress (ANC) after being falsely accused and tortured for a crime he didn't commit.
I'm not going to go on at end's length about the movie itself. Suffice to say Catch a Fire is beautifully made. Noyce is good at showing the humanity of all his characters. Even the bad guys aren't just two-dimensional stereotypes.
I've railed on against Communism before and I'll continue to do so. Communism has killed millions of people since the beginning of the 20th century. However, people living under a government where they are systematically denied the right to be recognized as human beings and afforded basic dignities aren't the same as pampered Hollywood liberals who seem to have an affinity for all things Communist (more on this momentarily).
When the people who claim to be Christians and lovers of justice and democracy, are using their faith to justify racist policies, it's understandable that people might look to another worldview. Even the term "kaffir", the South African, equivalant to the "N-word", means heathen or infidel.
One can see why Communism might be a more appealing option. I heartily disagree with Joe Slovo's and Ruth First's worldview and I don't believe that being head of the SACP makes them heroes. They've earned their place in the history books because they stood against a corrupt system at great risk to their personal safety and comfort. They were forced to leave South Africa and First was eventually assassinated by a mail bomb. It's also worth noting that later in life, Slovo questioned how well socialism really worked and criticized the excesses of Stalinism.
Now, back to Hollywood liberals. In a great twist of irony, the preview right before the movie began was for the upcoming documentary Shut Up and Sing. Apparantly Natalie Maines and the rest of the Dixie Clucks are finally screwing their courage to the sticking place and
coming out with the true story of their persecution at the hands of the idiot American public and President Bush. We all know by now how this debacle came to be. At a concert in London, they emphatically reassured their audience that they were ashamed that President Bush was from their home state of Texas. We all know how Texas is filled with peace-loving liberals just like them.
The documentary is about how terribly they’ve suffered for their courage and how the public was censoring them. They shamelessly pandered to a foreign audience on foreign soil. They knew they had a sympathetic crowd. That doesn’t take courage. That’s the antithesis of courage. If they really wanted to be bold, they would have said it in San Antonio or Houston. They haven’t been censored either. Censorship would constitute whisking them off in the dead of night and having government minders at every subsequent concert. They have a right to free speech. They’ve been prolific in their use of it. They don’t have a right a demand an adoring audience who will kiss their cute, little blonde asses while the Chicks insult their most cherished values. The radio stations and former fans that refuse to play their music are exercising their right to spend their hard-earned dollars as they choose. That’s the beauty of a free-market economy, something the Dixie Chicks are beneficiaries of, even as they deride the people and system that allowed them to pursue their dreams and reap the monetary benefits that come along with their fame.
For Natalie Maines to carry on about how persecuted she’s been minimizes the real suffering of people like Patrick Chamusso who spent year after agonizing year on Robben Island, Saddam Hussein’s prisons, the Gulags in the former Soviet Union, or the people who perished in Cambodia’s Killing Fields.
Next to Alexander Soltsynhitsen and others like him, Miss Maines is a spoiled little brat who’s screaming, holding her breath, and stamping her feet when her demands aren’t instantly met. This upcoming documentary will allow the Dixie Chicks to continue publicly wallowing in their own self-pity. Spend your money on Catch a Fire, don’t waste it on Shut Up and Sing.
I'm not going to go on at end's length about the movie itself. Suffice to say Catch a Fire is beautifully made. Noyce is good at showing the humanity of all his characters. Even the bad guys aren't just two-dimensional stereotypes.
I've railed on against Communism before and I'll continue to do so. Communism has killed millions of people since the beginning of the 20th century. However, people living under a government where they are systematically denied the right to be recognized as human beings and afforded basic dignities aren't the same as pampered Hollywood liberals who seem to have an affinity for all things Communist (more on this momentarily).
When the people who claim to be Christians and lovers of justice and democracy, are using their faith to justify racist policies, it's understandable that people might look to another worldview. Even the term "kaffir", the South African, equivalant to the "N-word", means heathen or infidel.
One can see why Communism might be a more appealing option. I heartily disagree with Joe Slovo's and Ruth First's worldview and I don't believe that being head of the SACP makes them heroes. They've earned their place in the history books because they stood against a corrupt system at great risk to their personal safety and comfort. They were forced to leave South Africa and First was eventually assassinated by a mail bomb. It's also worth noting that later in life, Slovo questioned how well socialism really worked and criticized the excesses of Stalinism.
Now, back to Hollywood liberals. In a great twist of irony, the preview right before the movie began was for the upcoming documentary Shut Up and Sing. Apparantly Natalie Maines and the rest of the Dixie Clucks are finally screwing their courage to the sticking place and
coming out with the true story of their persecution at the hands of the idiot American public and President Bush. We all know by now how this debacle came to be. At a concert in London, they emphatically reassured their audience that they were ashamed that President Bush was from their home state of Texas. We all know how Texas is filled with peace-loving liberals just like them.
The documentary is about how terribly they’ve suffered for their courage and how the public was censoring them. They shamelessly pandered to a foreign audience on foreign soil. They knew they had a sympathetic crowd. That doesn’t take courage. That’s the antithesis of courage. If they really wanted to be bold, they would have said it in San Antonio or Houston. They haven’t been censored either. Censorship would constitute whisking them off in the dead of night and having government minders at every subsequent concert. They have a right to free speech. They’ve been prolific in their use of it. They don’t have a right a demand an adoring audience who will kiss their cute, little blonde asses while the Chicks insult their most cherished values. The radio stations and former fans that refuse to play their music are exercising their right to spend their hard-earned dollars as they choose. That’s the beauty of a free-market economy, something the Dixie Chicks are beneficiaries of, even as they deride the people and system that allowed them to pursue their dreams and reap the monetary benefits that come along with their fame.
For Natalie Maines to carry on about how persecuted she’s been minimizes the real suffering of people like Patrick Chamusso who spent year after agonizing year on Robben Island, Saddam Hussein’s prisons, the Gulags in the former Soviet Union, or the people who perished in Cambodia’s Killing Fields.
Next to Alexander Soltsynhitsen and others like him, Miss Maines is a spoiled little brat who’s screaming, holding her breath, and stamping her feet when her demands aren’t instantly met. This upcoming documentary will allow the Dixie Chicks to continue publicly wallowing in their own self-pity. Spend your money on Catch a Fire, don’t waste it on Shut Up and Sing.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Wax On, Wax Off!
I'm still in South America being deployed, but I'm making the most of it. There's an outstanding spa downtown and while it's not Sundance or Tucson, it's pretty darn nice--and more importantly, they don't charge Sundance prices. Needless to say, they've had my patronage on a pretty regular basis.
So I went in today for a specific procedure. While I won't go into all the details, I will say it's the sort of thing a woman does if she wants to wear a swimsuit and not look like someone named Olga who just stepped off the last Aeroflot jet from Moscow.
Since I'm planning to go to the beach this week and wear the swimsuit, I subjected myself to this. Here's how it played out...
Me: Es mi tiempo primero (explaining that I've never done this before).
Waxer: Esta bien.
Me: EEEEEE! AAAAAH! Holy crap! Dios mio! Caramba! Oh god! Is this gonna be a Brazilian?!
Waxer: No mas!
Me: Thank God!
It only took 15 minutes, but it seemed like an eternity. The coworker who came with me got a good laugh. She was across the hall getting a facial. The Brazilian comment put her over the top. The lady giving her the facial almost lost it. Even if she didn't know English, the word "Brazilian" sounds pretty much the same in Spanish. I'm sure she took my meaning.
I was mortified at my wussy behaviour and I later asked the wax lady in my broken Spanish/Portuguese if otras pessoas screamed as much as I did. I felt reassured when she said todos. They all scream. That probably explains why waxing rooms at beauty salons in the US are always secluded from everything else.
So I went in today for a specific procedure. While I won't go into all the details, I will say it's the sort of thing a woman does if she wants to wear a swimsuit and not look like someone named Olga who just stepped off the last Aeroflot jet from Moscow.
Since I'm planning to go to the beach this week and wear the swimsuit, I subjected myself to this. Here's how it played out...
Me: Es mi tiempo primero (explaining that I've never done this before).
Waxer: Esta bien.
Me: EEEEEE! AAAAAH! Holy crap! Dios mio! Caramba! Oh god! Is this gonna be a Brazilian?!
Waxer: No mas!
Me: Thank God!
It only took 15 minutes, but it seemed like an eternity. The coworker who came with me got a good laugh. She was across the hall getting a facial. The Brazilian comment put her over the top. The lady giving her the facial almost lost it. Even if she didn't know English, the word "Brazilian" sounds pretty much the same in Spanish. I'm sure she took my meaning.
I was mortified at my wussy behaviour and I later asked the wax lady in my broken Spanish/Portuguese if otras pessoas screamed as much as I did. I felt reassured when she said todos. They all scream. That probably explains why waxing rooms at beauty salons in the US are always secluded from everything else.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
No Necessito Chicles
I seem to be a magnet for street urchins and local Chiclet sales representitives. The other day, the most adorable little girl with nothing on but a filthy Winnie the Pooh tank top and a pair of underwear (either that or very short shorts) and caked in dirt came racing down the sidewalk after me saying something too fast for me to catch. I asked her where her mother was and she pointed up the street. I was mightily impressed when, during a break in the conversation, she managed to get an index finger up each nostril simultaneously and pick like she was a county fair contestant in a Booger-Picking competition. If there had been such a competition, she would've won hands down (pun intended). I'm just really glad she wasn't selling any Chiclets.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Worship the Dear Leader
I don't know who took this picture, but it obviously wasn't me. I just found it on Yahoo images.
It seems like there should be a fiery furnace involved here somewhere. I thought this sort of thing went out with Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednigo (did I spell that right-- probably not). It seems silly to most of the free world to bow in front of a statue of a dead guy, but North Korea isn't the free world. I guess it doesn't seem silly to them, since they've been cut off from reality since about forever.
First Day of Freedom
Yay! Yesterday I finally was able to escape from my daily routine of going to the gym, eating, and watching Miami Vice and get off base. I went to the local mall. Back home, I wouldn't go to the mall just to kill time, but I'm not at home. I'm far, far away eating very bland food at the chow hall.
The local cab company came and picked up myself and my cohort. I was a little unsettled at the lack of usable seatbelts, but real fear didn't start setting in until we really got out on the road at which point the driver was continuously beeping, dodging, and weaving all the way to the mall. Kind of made me wish I'd brought a blindfold--or at least a change of underwear.
Everything at the mall cost like sin. I went to a couple of beauty shops asking for shampoo with sunscreen (in Spanish) and they kept handing me shampoo for frizzy/unruly hair. Not what I asked for, but I took it home and used it and now my hair is behaving a lot better. I don't look like The Flying Nun anymore.
The local cab company came and picked up myself and my cohort. I was a little unsettled at the lack of usable seatbelts, but real fear didn't start setting in until we really got out on the road at which point the driver was continuously beeping, dodging, and weaving all the way to the mall. Kind of made me wish I'd brought a blindfold--or at least a change of underwear.
Everything at the mall cost like sin. I went to a couple of beauty shops asking for shampoo with sunscreen (in Spanish) and they kept handing me shampoo for frizzy/unruly hair. Not what I asked for, but I took it home and used it and now my hair is behaving a lot better. I don't look like The Flying Nun anymore.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Air Force Core Values
Integrity first.
Service before self.
Excellence in all we do.
Every person in the USAF knows what the AF Core Values are. However, knowing what they are and applying them to their daily lives are two different things.
I blogged earlier about the OTS roommate who was, well--truly awful. I also had a commander who had the attitude that rules and AFIs were for suckers and that people who followed them were uptight. The man also cheated on his fitness test and when sexual harrassment allegations were brought against a squadron member, he "fixed" the problem by moving the offender to another squadron. And this was from a squadron commander.
So why is senior leadership so floored when cadets are busted for sexual assault, drunken stupidity, or cheating on tests? When I was in tech school at Goodfellow, every time we had a commander's call, the CC would be beside himself because of Something Else That Happened.
The problem is that you're bringing cadets, OTs, and basic trainees from a world that tells them the end justifies the means. If concepts of right and wrong are all in the eye of the beholder, then the Core Values are nothing but a 2 hour lesson to kill time during training. Leadership can't expect that a few hours during ROTC or basic training will make up for 18 plus years of moral relativity, especially when airmen and lieutenants see the same behavior coming from their squadron commander.
I started thinking about this more last week after I met my new boss. I didn't have my M-9 card to deploy with because I wasn't told I needed it until the day before I left. Mobility was running around with their hair on fire trying to find a way to get around it. The boss asked later that day what Mobility was doing about the M-9 issue and asked me, "They're not doing anything wrong are they?"
He said they better not be doing anything illegal or immoral to get it done. I know I looked at him kind of weird because I didn't assume that they would. But maybe we'd all be better off if more people asked that question. By the way, I did get a waiver (all above board).
The jury's still out on the new boss--I haven't made up my mind yet. Maybe he's a good guy or maybe he just another patch-wearing, zipper-suited jerk that doesn't give a flying crap about the BDU wearers. Time will tell. But the fact that he took the time to think about whether something was right or wrong puts him well ahead of a lot of people.
Service before self.
Excellence in all we do.
Every person in the USAF knows what the AF Core Values are. However, knowing what they are and applying them to their daily lives are two different things.
I blogged earlier about the OTS roommate who was, well--truly awful. I also had a commander who had the attitude that rules and AFIs were for suckers and that people who followed them were uptight. The man also cheated on his fitness test and when sexual harrassment allegations were brought against a squadron member, he "fixed" the problem by moving the offender to another squadron. And this was from a squadron commander.
So why is senior leadership so floored when cadets are busted for sexual assault, drunken stupidity, or cheating on tests? When I was in tech school at Goodfellow, every time we had a commander's call, the CC would be beside himself because of Something Else That Happened.
The problem is that you're bringing cadets, OTs, and basic trainees from a world that tells them the end justifies the means. If concepts of right and wrong are all in the eye of the beholder, then the Core Values are nothing but a 2 hour lesson to kill time during training. Leadership can't expect that a few hours during ROTC or basic training will make up for 18 plus years of moral relativity, especially when airmen and lieutenants see the same behavior coming from their squadron commander.
I started thinking about this more last week after I met my new boss. I didn't have my M-9 card to deploy with because I wasn't told I needed it until the day before I left. Mobility was running around with their hair on fire trying to find a way to get around it. The boss asked later that day what Mobility was doing about the M-9 issue and asked me, "They're not doing anything wrong are they?"
He said they better not be doing anything illegal or immoral to get it done. I know I looked at him kind of weird because I didn't assume that they would. But maybe we'd all be better off if more people asked that question. By the way, I did get a waiver (all above board).
The jury's still out on the new boss--I haven't made up my mind yet. Maybe he's a good guy or maybe he just another patch-wearing, zipper-suited jerk that doesn't give a flying crap about the BDU wearers. Time will tell. But the fact that he took the time to think about whether something was right or wrong puts him well ahead of a lot of people.
Another Day in Paradise
Happy Fourth of July everybody! I'm on day 5 of my deployment--only some 55 odd more to go. They're breaking up the monotony with a BBQ.
I'm currently taking malaria pills and they're making me feel like crap. I asked about the other version of pills and was told by the flight doc that they can be worse due to the fact that they have hallucenogenic properties.
Right now I'm working with an airman who spends every second at work and every second of his free time padding his resume for the next 40 years. In the last year I've worked with him, he's openly stated how he expects to get BTZ and how all the stuff he's doing is fodder for his BTZ package. He's also constantly working on stuff to fill up quarterly awards and star performer packages. I finally told him to put a lid on it because he was overplaying his hand and it was obnoxious.
I don't have a problem with people who are true go-getters, but I wonder how much he'd be motivated to do if he thought he wasn't going to get something out of it.
The guy is very smart and knowledgable when it comes to retaining information. However, his assessments aren't always on target, offering constructive criticism sends him into a tailspin, and he tends to be condescending to people he perceives as less knowledgable than he.
The thing is, I'd rather have an airman that doesn't have a crapload of knowledge stored in his head, but doesn't treat other people like dirt and doesn't brief like he thinks his audience is stupid. I guess I'm a little biased though. In my OTS flight, we had a glut of prior enlisted individuals. Two in particular had a combined 20 years of experience between them and they didn't mind letting us non-priors know what a bunch of idiots they thought we were. One of them was my roommate--the Sluggo to my Mr. Bill. She was extremely good at telling the instructors what they wanted to hear. She would spout off the Core Values in class like she looked at them on a sticky note on her bathroom mirror everyday to make sure she memorized them. She also lied, backstabbed, sweet-talked FTOs in one breath and badmouthed them in the next, and was banging guys like a screen door in a hurricane (incidentally, she was married). And what do you suppose became of her? Well, she got Distinguished Graduate (DG) of course. Now she's attending AF Weapons School at Nellis, where she can hone her character flaws in a supportive and nurturing environment. I'd like to make it to the top as much as anybody, but I don't want to be the kind of O-6 that people avoid like the plague. Maybe it is lonely at the top, but I imagine it's a helluva lot lonelier if you treated people like crap to get there.
I'm currently taking malaria pills and they're making me feel like crap. I asked about the other version of pills and was told by the flight doc that they can be worse due to the fact that they have hallucenogenic properties.
Right now I'm working with an airman who spends every second at work and every second of his free time padding his resume for the next 40 years. In the last year I've worked with him, he's openly stated how he expects to get BTZ and how all the stuff he's doing is fodder for his BTZ package. He's also constantly working on stuff to fill up quarterly awards and star performer packages. I finally told him to put a lid on it because he was overplaying his hand and it was obnoxious.
I don't have a problem with people who are true go-getters, but I wonder how much he'd be motivated to do if he thought he wasn't going to get something out of it.
The guy is very smart and knowledgable when it comes to retaining information. However, his assessments aren't always on target, offering constructive criticism sends him into a tailspin, and he tends to be condescending to people he perceives as less knowledgable than he.
The thing is, I'd rather have an airman that doesn't have a crapload of knowledge stored in his head, but doesn't treat other people like dirt and doesn't brief like he thinks his audience is stupid. I guess I'm a little biased though. In my OTS flight, we had a glut of prior enlisted individuals. Two in particular had a combined 20 years of experience between them and they didn't mind letting us non-priors know what a bunch of idiots they thought we were. One of them was my roommate--the Sluggo to my Mr. Bill. She was extremely good at telling the instructors what they wanted to hear. She would spout off the Core Values in class like she looked at them on a sticky note on her bathroom mirror everyday to make sure she memorized them. She also lied, backstabbed, sweet-talked FTOs in one breath and badmouthed them in the next, and was banging guys like a screen door in a hurricane (incidentally, she was married). And what do you suppose became of her? Well, she got Distinguished Graduate (DG) of course. Now she's attending AF Weapons School at Nellis, where she can hone her character flaws in a supportive and nurturing environment. I'd like to make it to the top as much as anybody, but I don't want to be the kind of O-6 that people avoid like the plague. Maybe it is lonely at the top, but I imagine it's a helluva lot lonelier if you treated people like crap to get there.
Monday, July 03, 2006
Deployment
For the first time in my four years in the Air Force, I finally get to deploy--and I'm bored as hell. Fortunately for me, I'm not in the desert, I'm at the beach. Unfortunately, it practically takes an executive order to get off base. We arrived at our location last Thursday night at 7pm. About a second later, the plane broke in addition to the other already broken jet, so...now I'm just sitting on my butt waiting for something to happen. My day goes something like this...
Wake up
Shower
Eat
Show up at work to find out we're not doing anything
Check e-mail
Go back and change into civvies
Go work out and play basketball
Shower again
Eat again
Watch Miami Vice Seasons 1 and 2
Eat yet again
Watch more Miami Vice
Go to bed
Wow! Sounds exciting, doesn't it? And I couldn't wait to leave in order to avoid the Unit Compliance Inspection (UCI).
Wake up
Shower
Eat
Show up at work to find out we're not doing anything
Check e-mail
Go back and change into civvies
Go work out and play basketball
Shower again
Eat again
Watch Miami Vice Seasons 1 and 2
Eat yet again
Watch more Miami Vice
Go to bed
Wow! Sounds exciting, doesn't it? And I couldn't wait to leave in order to avoid the Unit Compliance Inspection (UCI).
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Who's Your Mommy?!
STOP THE PRESSES! DROP EVERYTHING! And for God's sake, call the Department of Child Welfare. Britney Spears was caught on camera when she almost TRIPPED while HOLDING HER BABY.
Truely an unprecented act in the world of motherhood, since we all know good mothers never have accidents like this.
Okay, the girl's a ding-dong who doesn't know how to use a car seat and rode with the baby on her lap. She's an dumb bunny in other respects anyway, but come on. It must've been a slow news day to capture this moment on film.
Michael Jackson invited little boys over for sleepovers, veiled his children in public, dangled his baby by the ankles from a balcony and is now hiding out in Dubai where I'm sure he has as much public acceptance as a social nudist at a Pentecostal church picnic. We all know how welcoming Muslims are to white women who used to be black men and whose proclivities run towards underage boys.
Maybe Britney should crossover and do gangsta rap, announce that she's a lesbian and go butch. Then she might be able to stand on the Brooklyn Bridge and swing the baby around by the neck with impunity.
Truely an unprecented act in the world of motherhood, since we all know good mothers never have accidents like this.
Okay, the girl's a ding-dong who doesn't know how to use a car seat and rode with the baby on her lap. She's an dumb bunny in other respects anyway, but come on. It must've been a slow news day to capture this moment on film.
Michael Jackson invited little boys over for sleepovers, veiled his children in public, dangled his baby by the ankles from a balcony and is now hiding out in Dubai where I'm sure he has as much public acceptance as a social nudist at a Pentecostal church picnic. We all know how welcoming Muslims are to white women who used to be black men and whose proclivities run towards underage boys.
Maybe Britney should crossover and do gangsta rap, announce that she's a lesbian and go butch. Then she might be able to stand on the Brooklyn Bridge and swing the baby around by the neck with impunity.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Communism--The Essence of Ingratitude
I was in my friendly, neighbourhood Borders bookstore last night picking through the World music section, when I ran across a bizarre CD. It was a CD of communist anthems. Now, I spend my days scrutinizing what communists round the world are up to and the more I learn, the less I understand the Left's enchantment with communism.
This is a philosophy that has killed more people long before Hitler ever came onto the scene and continues to kill people today. Movies about the terror of the McCarthy era are legion (Good Night and Good Luck) and the message seems to be that the fear of communism is more evil than Stalin himself. Nobody on Earth has suffered like Hollywood stars. The only movie I can think of off the top of my head highlighting the terror communism has actually visited upon the world is The Killing Fields.
What's freakish is the number of celebrities who are speaking their undying admiration for communist leaders and countries. Harry Belafonte embraces Hugo Chavez and calls Bush the world's biggest terrorist. Alec Baldwin loudly announced that he would move to Cuba if Bush were elected. It's six years later and we're all still waiting, Mr. Baldwin. Promises, promises. He also said that Henry Hyde should be stoned and his wife and children killed. Dictators have always been big on generational sin and retribution.
A few premises about communism and it's logical conclusion...
1. There is no god. God is a creation of man and the qualities attributed to God are really qualities of humanity. The logical conclusion; we're all gods unto ourselves and every decision we make is inherently good and right. And of course being gods, our every desire should be satisfied. Hence, the Ceaucescus and Kim Jong Il. Nicolai and Elena managed to wallow in obscene amounts of wealth and the Chonger still does so. They lived the Marxist version of the American Dream, the Worker's Paradise--their subjects did all the work while they lived in paradise. For the Ceaucescus, paradise ended abruptly on Christmas Day.
2. Materialism; nothing exists other than what we can see with our own eyes. There's no heaven or hell and our ideas are nothing more than our own creation. There are no transcendent truths. Marx believed that people's ideologies prevented them from clearly seeing the material conditions of their lives. This is why a book like What's the Matter with Kansas can be written and the writer is genuinely incredulous that people will continue to support a principle when it fails to contribute to their overall quality of life. Quality in this sense is being rich and having stuff.
3. Because our personal belief systems are what keep Midwestern yokels like myself from seeing our material conditions and knowing what's good for us, we need elephantine government programs, eminent domain, and politicians like Nancy Pelosi telling us we don't have the sense of a radish to know how to take care of our own money.
There's a basic idea believed by many that the more you get, the more you want and the less satisfied you are. Maybe this explains why the wealthiest and most famous people in America are so dissatisfied with the current state of affairs and so enchanted by Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. In spite of the fact that these movie stars are reaping the fruits of capitalism, they're still not satisfied. By their words and actions, they spit on the graves of those who spilled their blood so they can maintain the right to perpetuate their own extravagant lifestyles. Communism is the essence of ingratitude. When you divide the world into the haves vs. the have-nots, the have-nots will never have enough no matter how much they get. So, maybe it's not such a mystery why Hollywood liberals are so charmed by communism after all.
And what would happen if these people realized their wildest dreams? What if Bush were impeached and imprisoned, the press became impenatrable to any conservative influence, pastors that preached against homosexuality were dragged into court and punished, and the state decided what was best for your children? Of course once you're in power, you must hang onto it at all costs. Silencing dissenters is key--just ask The Chonger how important this is.
Alec Baldwin could be named head of the secret police--he's obviously well-suited for the job.
This is a philosophy that has killed more people long before Hitler ever came onto the scene and continues to kill people today. Movies about the terror of the McCarthy era are legion (Good Night and Good Luck) and the message seems to be that the fear of communism is more evil than Stalin himself. Nobody on Earth has suffered like Hollywood stars. The only movie I can think of off the top of my head highlighting the terror communism has actually visited upon the world is The Killing Fields.
What's freakish is the number of celebrities who are speaking their undying admiration for communist leaders and countries. Harry Belafonte embraces Hugo Chavez and calls Bush the world's biggest terrorist. Alec Baldwin loudly announced that he would move to Cuba if Bush were elected. It's six years later and we're all still waiting, Mr. Baldwin. Promises, promises. He also said that Henry Hyde should be stoned and his wife and children killed. Dictators have always been big on generational sin and retribution.
A few premises about communism and it's logical conclusion...
1. There is no god. God is a creation of man and the qualities attributed to God are really qualities of humanity. The logical conclusion; we're all gods unto ourselves and every decision we make is inherently good and right. And of course being gods, our every desire should be satisfied. Hence, the Ceaucescus and Kim Jong Il. Nicolai and Elena managed to wallow in obscene amounts of wealth and the Chonger still does so. They lived the Marxist version of the American Dream, the Worker's Paradise--their subjects did all the work while they lived in paradise. For the Ceaucescus, paradise ended abruptly on Christmas Day.
2. Materialism; nothing exists other than what we can see with our own eyes. There's no heaven or hell and our ideas are nothing more than our own creation. There are no transcendent truths. Marx believed that people's ideologies prevented them from clearly seeing the material conditions of their lives. This is why a book like What's the Matter with Kansas can be written and the writer is genuinely incredulous that people will continue to support a principle when it fails to contribute to their overall quality of life. Quality in this sense is being rich and having stuff.
3. Because our personal belief systems are what keep Midwestern yokels like myself from seeing our material conditions and knowing what's good for us, we need elephantine government programs, eminent domain, and politicians like Nancy Pelosi telling us we don't have the sense of a radish to know how to take care of our own money.
There's a basic idea believed by many that the more you get, the more you want and the less satisfied you are. Maybe this explains why the wealthiest and most famous people in America are so dissatisfied with the current state of affairs and so enchanted by Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. In spite of the fact that these movie stars are reaping the fruits of capitalism, they're still not satisfied. By their words and actions, they spit on the graves of those who spilled their blood so they can maintain the right to perpetuate their own extravagant lifestyles. Communism is the essence of ingratitude. When you divide the world into the haves vs. the have-nots, the have-nots will never have enough no matter how much they get. So, maybe it's not such a mystery why Hollywood liberals are so charmed by communism after all.
And what would happen if these people realized their wildest dreams? What if Bush were impeached and imprisoned, the press became impenatrable to any conservative influence, pastors that preached against homosexuality were dragged into court and punished, and the state decided what was best for your children? Of course once you're in power, you must hang onto it at all costs. Silencing dissenters is key--just ask The Chonger how important this is.
Alec Baldwin could be named head of the secret police--he's obviously well-suited for the job.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Friday, April 14, 2006
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
The New Macro Lens
If there was a Most Uncooperative Subject award in photograpy, Oskar would be in a league of his own. I must've taken at 10 pictures to get this one. He lays around like a slug until I pull the camera out. Then he suddenly wants to climb in my lap or rub against my legs.
My co-workers thought this picture looked like the cat from Pet Semetary. Oskar would have been offended by that--he's a nice cat.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Great Salt Plains State Park
This was a rather disappointing state park. First of all, it was nigh impossible to find. Then when I got there, I couldn't actually drive through the park--I had to drive around it and it wasn't a short drive, let me tell you. I did get a few pictures though.
I used a graduated fluo mauve filter, a four point star filter, and a diffuser on this one. The mauve filter really brought out the star effect--unfortunately, it did the same thing for sun reflections.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Just a Passing Thought...
After sitting in front of Fox News day in and day out at work, I've had about all I can take of the NSA's so-called "wiretapping", the Alito hearings, etc. going on ad nauseum. Watching all of this makes me wonder one thing. How can somebody who drove his car off a bridge into a river (while allegedly intoxicated) and left a woman to die in said vehicle, do so much sanctimonius lecturing as Ted Kennedy does? If I were Teddy, I'd be careful about nitpicking over somebody else's past. In fact, I'd probably avoid ever running for public office. Obviously, it hasn't deterred him and for some mystifying reason, the people of Massachusetts keep voting for him.
I've never believed in the Kennedy Curse, unless unprincipled, reckless, and foolhardy behaviour is somehow genetic.
I've never believed in the Kennedy Curse, unless unprincipled, reckless, and foolhardy behaviour is somehow genetic.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Executive Order 12333
Dear God! Head for the hills everybody! Uncle Sam is listening in on our phone conversations.
The NSA probably knows all about those 900 numbers you've been calling every Saturday night. They've probably been listening in on the phone calls you made to your therapist and now they know all your dirty little secrets. They know all the details of Uncle Ira's prostate surgery and they may have even written down the recipe to your grandmother's blueberry crumble. Because of this wretched Patriot Act, ordinary citizens will have to start living in fear. If you ever sent money to NARAL or showed up at a College Democrats meeting 30 years ago in order to impress a girl, you can start expecting a midnight knock on your front door any time now. Or maybe it will happen in the form of a dramatic, Gestapo-style take-down in broad daylight on a bustling city street. You just better be looking over your shoulder.
Call Earth.
If the government was going through phone books and randomly picking out Arabic-sounding last names to tap the phone lines of, that would be illegal. If the NSA were wiretapping US persons based on the websites they frequented and political or religious organizations they belonged to, that would be illegal.
Executive Order 12333 was enacted in 1981 precisely because of abuses like this that took place during the Vietnam era. EO 12333 details exactly what intelligence activities can be conducted and how. It also details the protections afforded to US persons. They define US persons in four ways.
1. A US citizen
2. An alien known by the DoD intelligence component considered to be a permanant resident alien
3. An unincorporated association substantially composed of US citizens or permanant resident aliens
4. A corporation incorporation incorporated in the US, unless it is directed and controlled by a foreign government
It does NOT afford these considerations to foreign terrorists who are regularly communicating with individuals inside the US, nor to individuals in the US conducting illegal activities. The NSA hasn't committed any violation of law here. The Patriot Act does not override this. However, the individual who leaked this information and the New York Times who received and published this information are most certainly guilty. The term generally applied to this sort of behavior is sedition. This is simply a desperate election-year attempt to whip up a non-existent abuse of power and make it look like an inevitable conclusion of the Patriot Act.
One wonders what liberals consider treasonous anymore. The rights most liberals seem to be concerned about--the right to kill unborn children, the right to marry a dolphin, the right to pull down their pants in museums and call it art, the right to not be offended by somebody else's public religious observance--are at best ridiculous and at worst horribly twisted. Most don't seem to realize that if Nancy Pelosi and John Kerry have their way in the War on Terror, we'll all be saying "Allah Akbar" and pointing towards Mecca five times a day in short order. Even our most basic rights won't exist anymore and the absurd "rights" that most of them demand and take for granted are usually punishable by death in countries where Islamo-facism is the law of the land.
The NSA probably knows all about those 900 numbers you've been calling every Saturday night. They've probably been listening in on the phone calls you made to your therapist and now they know all your dirty little secrets. They know all the details of Uncle Ira's prostate surgery and they may have even written down the recipe to your grandmother's blueberry crumble. Because of this wretched Patriot Act, ordinary citizens will have to start living in fear. If you ever sent money to NARAL or showed up at a College Democrats meeting 30 years ago in order to impress a girl, you can start expecting a midnight knock on your front door any time now. Or maybe it will happen in the form of a dramatic, Gestapo-style take-down in broad daylight on a bustling city street. You just better be looking over your shoulder.
Call Earth.
If the government was going through phone books and randomly picking out Arabic-sounding last names to tap the phone lines of, that would be illegal. If the NSA were wiretapping US persons based on the websites they frequented and political or religious organizations they belonged to, that would be illegal.
Executive Order 12333 was enacted in 1981 precisely because of abuses like this that took place during the Vietnam era. EO 12333 details exactly what intelligence activities can be conducted and how. It also details the protections afforded to US persons. They define US persons in four ways.
1. A US citizen
2. An alien known by the DoD intelligence component considered to be a permanant resident alien
3. An unincorporated association substantially composed of US citizens or permanant resident aliens
4. A corporation incorporation incorporated in the US, unless it is directed and controlled by a foreign government
It does NOT afford these considerations to foreign terrorists who are regularly communicating with individuals inside the US, nor to individuals in the US conducting illegal activities. The NSA hasn't committed any violation of law here. The Patriot Act does not override this. However, the individual who leaked this information and the New York Times who received and published this information are most certainly guilty. The term generally applied to this sort of behavior is sedition. This is simply a desperate election-year attempt to whip up a non-existent abuse of power and make it look like an inevitable conclusion of the Patriot Act.
One wonders what liberals consider treasonous anymore. The rights most liberals seem to be concerned about--the right to kill unborn children, the right to marry a dolphin, the right to pull down their pants in museums and call it art, the right to not be offended by somebody else's public religious observance--are at best ridiculous and at worst horribly twisted. Most don't seem to realize that if Nancy Pelosi and John Kerry have their way in the War on Terror, we'll all be saying "Allah Akbar" and pointing towards Mecca five times a day in short order. Even our most basic rights won't exist anymore and the absurd "rights" that most of them demand and take for granted are usually punishable by death in countries where Islamo-facism is the law of the land.
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