Challenging Atheism

While watching this video, I felt the sudden urge to take notes on everything this woman said in order to challenge my professors. The first urge was quickly quelled by a second urge to not kill my GPA and actually graduate in two years.

Honor the Fallen: Air Force

Tech. Sgt. Adam K. Ginett, 29, of Knightdale, NC, was assigned to the 31st Civil Engineering Squadron, Aviano Air Base, Italy. Ginett "was all about helping others. . . . When he came home between duties, he enjoyed restoring vintage cars, drawing, painting and even dabbled in pottery. Still . . . his mission was helping and serving others more than anything else" (The Daily Record)


Senior Airman Bradley R. Smith, 24, of Troy, Ill., was assigned to the 10th Air Support Operations Squadron, Fort Riley, Kan. Smith was described as "a kind-hearted, high-spirited person and a true gentleman" (BND.com)

*All information, unless otherwise cited, can be found at MilitaryCity.com's Honor the Fallen.

Honor the Fallen: Navy

Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Xin Qi, 25, of Cordova, Tenn., was assigned to the Fourth Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Marine Expeditionary Brigade -- Afghanistan.
Corpsman.com for more information.

*All information, unless otherwise cited, can be found at MilitaryCity.com's Honor the Fallen.

Honor the Fallen: Army

SPC Brushaun X. Anderson, 20, of Columbus, Ga., was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, NY. Anderson joined the Army in October 2007.


Sgt. Joshua A. Lengstorf, 24, of Yoncalla, Ore., was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carlson, Colo. Lengstorf is remembered "as a young man who was smart and fun-loving with a gung-ho attitude toward life" (OregonLive.com)


PVT John P. Dion, 19, of Shattuck, Okla., was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carlson, Colo. Dion's girlfriend described him "as the kind of person who always found a silver lining, and saw the good in others" (KRDO.com)


SPC Brian R. Bowman, 24, of Crawfordsville, Ind., was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carlson, Colo.


SPC David A. Croft, Jr., 22, of Plant City, Fla., was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.


PFC Michael R. Jarrett, 20, of North Platte, Neb., was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, Illesheim, Germany.

*All information, unless otherwise cited, can be found at MilitaryCity.com's Honor the Fallen.

And I Thought . . .

. . . 4th grade health class was bad. . . .

Afghan Men Struggle With Sexual Identity, Study Finds
I was going to post excerpts from this article, but I found it in its entirety rather interesting. And by interesting, I mean that I cannot fully wrap my mind around this concept.

Less Than 2 1/2 Years to Go.

I'm taking Media History under the same professor who, last year, docked points from my presentation on military advertising because I failed to address her claim that people have become leery of enlisting since 9/11. An acquaintance who happens to be an Army recruiter debunked that statement (he provided me with most of the material I used in my presentation), but my grade remained unchanged.
This semester seems as though it will be equally interesting. On the first day of class, she tore into the failures of Vietnam, and according to our syllabus, our topics of discussion will include the following: "Abolition," "Exposing Joe McCarthy," "Is This What You Mean By Color TV?," "The Black and the Beautiful," "Restrictive Portrayals of Asians in the Media," "Consumerism and the Construction of Black Female Identity," "Lesbian Chic," "Lots of Friends at the YMCA," "Popular Culture and Queer Representation," "Vietnam War," "Watergate," "Rush Limbaugh," "9/11," and "What We Really Miss About the 1950s." Do you know what I really miss about the 1950s? Women as homemakers, rearing kids and making sandwiches for their husbands. We're also going to watch "Hairspray" and "Pleasantville." And if nap time could be worked in there somewhere, that would be lovely.
This morning, we managed to talk about Glenn Beck for a rather lengthy amount of time, though none of it was really positive (on the other hand, the discourse never became completely became uncivilized, either). We also watched a segment of the Thomas Paine video that is currently on YouTube and was featured on Fox News, and my professor mentioned that Beck had written a book titled Common Sense. I almost volunteered to bring in my copy for her to read.
And we talked about the Tea Party movement, at which point my professor asked if I'd attended a tea party, because she thought she remembered me mentioning something about that. So I explained that yes, I'd attended a small tea party locally, and I'd also gone to the one in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 12, and I'd also met Glenn Beck when I attended his show last Spring. And then, since I thought I might as well shovel the dirt on top of myself since I'd clearly just dug my grave, I told her that there were quite a few liberals and Democrats at D.C. on 9/12, and the media lied about the number of people actually in attendance, and Glenn Beck is really a nice person.
I decided to add the video we watched today. We stopped around 1:37. 1:00 - 1:27 is my favorite.



[EDIT]
Aside from Media History, I am also studying Human Diseases (like ebola and anthrax, which make any class exciting), Contemporary Middle East (Iranian Revolution to today) and Psychology. Are my courses interesting? Yes. Are they applicable? I don't foresee myself needing to know how to create trypticase soy agar after this semester. On the other hand, one of my best friends attends a Christian college (and it's not just a nominal one, either). She's taking a course titled "Christian Home" this semester, which, according to the college's course catalog (yes, I admit I researched it), "explores the biblical views of dating, engagement, marriage, parenting, and other family life issues. Special attention is given to the development of an effective family ministry within the local church which addresses contemporary family life problems." I don't even know how to file taxes properly. But then again, neither does Sec'y Geithner.

Devil Doc and Xavier Brightside will be deploying to the Middle East in the near future, and my prayers are with them, as well as Alex, who went to Haiti on the USS Comfort.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Where Is My Acadamey Award?

I used to work at a Boy Scout camp as a firearms instructor. I must have done something right because I was requested to work there the entire summer. Throughout the week long trainning process that qualifiedus as camp staff; they told a story about a man that was an Eagle scout, which to those who don't know is a very big deal. Promotions in the military and so on. This man felt guilty twenty plus years later because he felt that he didn't truly earn a merit badge, but rather that it was pretty much given to him. So he hasseled the national office and had them remove his name from the official Eagle scout roster. The moral of the story at that time was make sure that if you sign it off that it was actually done. But, today's lesson is a little different.
Granted it is old news that Saddam Hu........ Oops! That middle name thing kind've throws me off. The "messiah" was given the Nobel Peace Prize...... What!? How? Why? What has he done? Ah! Talking must qualify a man for what was once highly reveared and now they give it away, not for action, but making empty promises. Here is another thought; if a police officer arrests a man with a bounty, since he is doing his job he cannot lawfully accept the bounty. When Saddam was found nobody in the military got the reward because they were doing their job. I'll let that sink in.
But then again, you must be a liberal to get the Nobel peace prize. In doing research for this I looked at other winners. I stopped at 1993 because I was starting to get sick to my stomach. Al Gore, Jimmy Carter. What more do I need to say? Arafat leader of the PLO a known terrorist group got it. Then you have people that actually earned it like Dr. King. I will tell you right now that if I would refuse the award on principle. Why should I associate myself with the likes of Al Gore. what has he done? Invented the internet. Responsible for the Styx albulm Kilroy Was Here, wait that was his wife.
So in keeping up with the times I'm going to throw out some names for this year. Theodore John Kaczynski hasn't killed anybody reccently while in prison. My dog promotes peace because if you shadow box he barks and gets scared. If none of these sound rdiculous you must be a nominator.
The left continues to be glorified for nonexistant accoumptlishment and whenever we do something a liberal some how ruins it. Now that I'm mad I think I'll take some asprin and go for a run.

Nine

Nine Big Stories the Mainstream Media Missed in 2009

Leftist Attack!?

By a strange stroke of luck it seems that my laptop was damaged, probably by a liberal hit squad trying to silence me, but fear not friends, they can't stop the music. Since I have not been able to access the internet I have used this time to further my knowledge and get material for future posts. I hope to be back online in January. In the mean time I am formulating a future campaign, of course it is years off but if I can start a word of mouth campaign and not take any tax money like the rest of those greedy buggers, then I have stuck to my morals. So, pay attention, if you hear of a campaign for Mr. Smith goes to Washington, then you have found me. So keep your head up and your chin tucked, and help fight liberal (or as comrade Hillary prefers "progressive") stupidity.

Hajji

The Department of Veterans Affairs has published a list detailing the vocabulary of Operation Iraqi Freedom -- a list that contains such entries as "death blossom," a term originating in the 1984 science-fiction film "The Last Starfighter." It is used by servicemen to describe fire sprayed indiscriminately in all directions. The list also includes the terms "Mortaritaville" and "Bombaconda," both referring to LSA Anaconda, a base near Balad, Iraq, that is frequently the target of mortar attacks.
"Soldiers use these terms because they try to make the best they can of their situation and give things kind of a humorous angle," said Lt. Col. Charles Kohler of the Maryland National Guard.
The term "Mortaritaville," a reference to the Jimmy Buffett song "Margaritaville," is only one of many terms soldiers use to take the edge off an environment that is potentially frightening and often beyond their control, said Indiana University linguist Michael Adams.
"It's making a really terrifying experience manageable by attempting to make it familiar," Adams said. . . .
"It's language for them made by them to consolidate their social relationships," he said. "In war, people's survival depends on (these relationships)."
Military slang is versatile and can refer to anything in a soldier's environment - equipment, locations, or people.
Maj. Liam Kingdon, who works for the Reserve Officers' Training Corps at the University of Maryland in College Park, said he has heard fellow service members referred to as "fobbits." The word is a contraction of Forward Operating Base (FOB) and "hobbit," a creature from The Lord of the Rings known for its sedentary habits.
"It's basically a soldier, sailor or airman who never leaves the base," Kingdon said. "You've got people there who leave the base all the time to go on patrol, and you've got people who literally just stay on the base."
"[Slang terms are] part of my everyday language now," said Matt Robbins, who lives in College Park and is a senior at the University of Maryland.
In 2008, Robbins deployed to Tikrit, Iraq, as a communications specialist, and said his stay there has made him acutely aware of differences in cultural customs.
"In Iraq, you don't show the bottom of your foot to people; it's considered impolite," Robbins said. "I still don't do that."
He also recalls the fact that soldiers referred to Iraqis as "hajis" -- an Arabic term describing a person who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca.
But in this particular case, Robbins said, the use struck him as derogatory, so "I don't use that anymore."
The term "haji" has various derivatives, such as the designation "haji shop" for a cart or booth run by natives, where DVDs, soda and other small items are sold.
Slang terms referring to features of a base are also common. . . .
Other terms link life in the military to items or concepts familiar from other environments -- often, the environment is home, or a favorite movie. For example, improvised vehicle armor made from scrap metal is also known as "hillbilly armor" and a truck with large amounts of add-on armor may be designated a "Frankenstein." . . .
The fascination with military-speak has also led to expressions of artistic creativity. Earlier this year, alternative rock band Cracker released a song called "Yalla Yalla" -- Arabic for "let's go" -- built around military slang, including such terms as "Bombaconda" and "haji."
At least some of these terms are likely to make it into everyday language, Adams said. When that will happen is unclear because "those serving have to bring the terms home and influence the use of those who haven't served."
But maybe the day when "couch potatoes" become "fobbits" is not so far off.

My primary reason for posting this excerpt was because I found the article interesting. My secondary reason was my frustration while reading the part about the term "haji."
First of all, the term is hajji, according to both Arabic and the AP Stylebook. Omitting a "j" changes the pronunciation of the word.
Second of all, although American military personnel tend to use the term derogatively, hajji is an honorable title, used to refer to Muslims who have completed the hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca (one of the five pillars of Islam). Although the hajj should be completed by all Muslims, not all Muslims to whom military personnel refer have done so. Therefore, the term is a misnomer.

7 Things You Need to Know About the Afghan War

According to a biography on Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal in a local newspaper, McChrystal was head of Spec Ops in Iraq and holds two masters degrees -- the first is in national security and strategic studies; the second is in international relations.


7 Things You Need to Know About the Afghan War
This slideshow includes information Fox News deems important regarding Afghanistan's political system, history, demographics, etc.


A veteran of three wars who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor is now facing an unlikely enemy — his neighbors.
Col. Van T. Barfoot, 90, has raised the Stars and Stripes every day at sunrise and lowered them every day at sunset since he served in the U.S. Army. But on Tuesday he received a letter from the law firm that represents his homeowners' association, ordering him to remove the flagpole from his Richmond, Va. yard by 5 p.m. on Friday or face "legal action." . . .
The [homeowners'] association at Sussex Square community told Barfoot that the freestanding, 21-foot flagpole that he put up in September violates the neighborhood's aesthetic guidelines. . . .
"There's never been a day in my life or a place I've lived in my life that you couldn't fly the American flag," Barfoot said in an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch. . . .
The statement reminded the public that many American flags hang from homes in the Sussex Square community, and that the board members object only to Barfoot's freestanding flagpole.
But Barfoot says he has always flown the flag from a height: "Where I've been, fighting wars ... military installations, parades, everything else, the flag is vertical. And I've done it that way since I was in the Army," Barfoot told the paper.
Barfoot is one of the country's last living World War II veterans who received the Medal of Honor. He also served in the Korean War and the Vietnam War and earned a Purple Heart. In WWII, Barfoot showed his mettle in Carano, Italy, where he single-handedly destroyed a set of German machine gun nests, killed eight enemy soldiers, took 17 prisoners and stared down a tank before destroying it and killing its crew — all in a single day. Exhausted by his herculean efforts, he still managed to move two of his wounded men 1,700 yards to safety.
"Sgt. Barfoot's extraordinary heroism, demonstration of magnificent valor, and aggressive determination in the face of pointblank fire are a perpetual inspiration to his fellow soldiers," reads the official citation for his Medal of Honor.

Withdrawal in 2011?

In Obama's Foreign Policy today, we discussed the fact that Switzerland has placed a ban on the building of more minarets. Don't ask me what that has to do with Obama's foreign policy. However, did spend some time talking about the 30,000 troops Obama plans to send to Afghanistan. My professor thinks General McChrystal is one of the least qualified men Obama should take advice from regarding the war, because has no experience in the area. Experts on the region, those who speak the native languages and know the history of the area, are better suited to make a decision about the war (which, by the way, is just like Vietnam -- it's an issue of not whether we'll lose the war, but under whose administration). I know I would definitely take the advice of a desk jockey with book smarts over that of a man with his boots on the ground. That's clearly the logical choice.

On another note of the same level of happiness, the semester ends in sixteen days and I have a rather large amount of work and studying to do between now and the start of finals on the 15th. Therefore, I will once again be intermittently posting, at least until the 18th, when finals end and I return home for six weeks.

Wright Rails Again

Today while listening to the radio, I happened to hear some of the statements that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright made about our country. I have never heard a Christian pastor talk the way that man does. At the risk of being politically incorrect, I am going to try to be very delicate because I feel nothing but true pity for this man. He seems to have missed the whole concept of this country and on the shoulders this generation now stands. It is hard for me to believe the words I heard come out of his mouth, and it is also hard for me to believe that President Obama never heard the messages he preached after being in his congregation for 20 years. If this had been a conservative saying these things, our state-controlled media would have been screaming. If Mr. Wright does not love this country (this country has made him millions!) and hates capitalism the way he does, I think he should move to some third-world country where maybe he thinks they will tolerate his hateful speech. It seems to me he does not appreciate the rights he has or the blood that was shed for his rights.

Hiatus

First of all, I apologize for my lack of activity on L2 (with the exception of the past few days).

Second of all, I will be on hiatus throughout the month of November, so posts will be few and far between. I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month, an event during which participants are encouraged to write 50,000 words in the span of 30 days (that equals about 200 pages of text). I've been preparing for the past few weeks and am planning to reach the 50,000 word mark. However, in light of the fact that I have college and outside organizations, as well as friends and family to contend with, I'm devoting every spare moment to writing.