Please read my thoughts on the following situation. I am so frustrated and so pissed with how things are going in this country, that I just don't know what to think anymore.
Newsletter thing is going on the backburner because I have no internet in Chicago and have enough stuff to deal with right now (plus lack of patience with it). Nobody has shown any interest and I'm losing interest with it as well.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Monday, July 03, 2006
Newsletter anyone?
So my girlfriend gave me this brilliant idea to start... a newsletter! Uhhh, so I wouldn't really call it a newsletter, I don't really know what to call it. Its kind of goofy, but I thought I'd give it a try. So I present to you the grand opening... or first edition, or whatever you call it for newspaper thingies. =)
Netminder Gazette
I need contributions! If anybody wants to contribute, and I mean anything, please send it my way! This is a peasly little thing right now, just a one pager. But I want other people to contribute and to get a wide variety of opinionis and articles. Thanks!
Netminder Gazette
I need contributions! If anybody wants to contribute, and I mean anything, please send it my way! This is a peasly little thing right now, just a one pager. But I want other people to contribute and to get a wide variety of opinionis and articles. Thanks!
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
The future of the Military-Industrial Complex
So I’ve been reading this book and its given me some new insight or thoughts as to the role of the U.S. Military and what I think it should be. Since I cannot link it, I will write it here. It may seem a bit fragmented since I’m trying to collect bits and pieces of it from throughout the book.
***
The following are comments by the character Senator Kenneth Yamakoa, Presidential Candidate and Decorated Vietnam War Veteran (volunteer). He is a third generation Japanese-American running on the Democratic ticket.
“War, I believe, is an extreme measure to which we must resort when the American people and their land face foreign invasion. It is an instance where the fundamental human right to survive is at stake. It is where we as a nation commit murder because the only other alternative is to see Americans murdered. Therefore, I believe Vietnam was not a “war”, but an act of barbarism committed by a selfish nation with no respect for human dignity. I believe it requires a good deal of courage to admit this fact and that to admit it is the only true coin by which we can ever repay those remembered here, who died for our country…
…What were the men who survived Vietnam, the commanders who watched their soldiers die, what sort of message were they supposed to give the mothers of the dead? He died with honor for his country, but it was the Vietcong assholes who blew him away, so you see ma’am, it wasn’t my fault…? What am I supposed to tell them? That you didn’t want to die for nothing, for such a worthless war? Is that it?
…As a politician, I intend to attack the idea that patriotism is measured by the size of the defense contract. In other words, I want to dismantle the military-industrial complex. And do you know what I really want? Soldiers whose confidence and pride rests not on fighting a war, but who are confident and proud that they don’t have to.
…Now as you know, my own brother died in Vietnam, as many of you know. I understand the grief of the families of those killed in action and I share it. It is not my intention to disparage the honor of veterans. My campaign has a long-term strategy for U.S. Defense. First, over the next eight years, I will order that all U.S. bases abroad be shut down. Second, and parallel to this order, unless the lives of American citizens and the territory of the United States is itself under threat, it will be the policy of my administration to forego any future U.S. military action.
You would be perfectly correct when you say that the world has become increasingly violent in the aftermath of the cold war. It’s also true that our leadership in world affairs remains of vital importance. In the ten years since the fall of the Soviet Union, the U.S. has become the sole superpower with unsurpassed military strength. But to what purpose? What are we trying to accomplish using the taxes, resources, and sometimes even the lives of the American people? Has our intervention overseas been welcomed or appreciated even if it is in the name of “human rights” or “the war on drugs”?
What we send our servicemen to do is so uncertain that we even give these operations names like “just cause” and “restore peace” as if to reassure ourselves by reading the label. Under my administration, it will be over—our role as the “world’s policeman”, just like the cold war, has ended.
As a soldier in Vietnam, I fought in the battlefields of the cold war and I saw the operation of the machine. War produced good profits back home; while in the jungle in those fields of fire, it produced the greatest sorrow imaginable. What I couldn’t understand then, when I was nineteen, what I can’t understand today, as a grown man, is why it was patriotic to love that hideous machine impersonating my country. I say to the country I love, let us instead commit ourselves to a role in the peace and security of the world that has true meaning for the American dream.
It has been a dream deferred. It was a future Americans fought for, yet we have been denied the just fruits of our victory. I refer not to the cold war, but to another. There has been in recent years a renewed appreciation of the generation of Americans that fought in the Second World War. We often think of it as “the good war”, the last one fought for clean and clear motives, the last one where America defended itself against an attack on its own soil.
In those days of terrible sacrifice, Americans took responsibility, laying plans to ensure that what these soldiers and sailors fought for would be preserved and held in trust. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his Secretary of State Cordell Hull spoke in 1942 of an “international agency which can, by force if necessary, keep the peace among nations.” Just as we rediscover the heroism of the “greatest generation”, we should remember that their fight was under those principles.
In April of 1945, with victory at hand, our allies came to America to sign the U.N. charter in San Francisco. The headquarters of the United Nations was placed here in New York City. To stand in the D.C., the city of the nation which had dreamed of it, to protect a just and lasting peace, one built on the principles of freedom, or our American Dreams; they were stranded by the tides of circumstance, by the rivalry of the cold war. But that war is over, and so it is time we take responsibility for the peace we promised the world and ourselves nearly sixty years ago.
My administration will work to make the United Nations what our ideals meant it to be, a true collective security organization for a world of freedom, that transcends any need for military nationalism, including our own. What is the use of our strength without the courage to face the unseen? What is the worth of our world power if we do not use it to make a better future? I believe the spirit of this nation lives or dies by such ideals. It is time to see if America is alive or dead.
Kawaguchi, Kaiji. Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President.
Viz Communications Inc., San Francisco, CA. November 2001
***
The following are comments by the character Senator Kenneth Yamakoa, Presidential Candidate and Decorated Vietnam War Veteran (volunteer). He is a third generation Japanese-American running on the Democratic ticket.
“War, I believe, is an extreme measure to which we must resort when the American people and their land face foreign invasion. It is an instance where the fundamental human right to survive is at stake. It is where we as a nation commit murder because the only other alternative is to see Americans murdered. Therefore, I believe Vietnam was not a “war”, but an act of barbarism committed by a selfish nation with no respect for human dignity. I believe it requires a good deal of courage to admit this fact and that to admit it is the only true coin by which we can ever repay those remembered here, who died for our country…
…What were the men who survived Vietnam, the commanders who watched their soldiers die, what sort of message were they supposed to give the mothers of the dead? He died with honor for his country, but it was the Vietcong assholes who blew him away, so you see ma’am, it wasn’t my fault…? What am I supposed to tell them? That you didn’t want to die for nothing, for such a worthless war? Is that it?
…As a politician, I intend to attack the idea that patriotism is measured by the size of the defense contract. In other words, I want to dismantle the military-industrial complex. And do you know what I really want? Soldiers whose confidence and pride rests not on fighting a war, but who are confident and proud that they don’t have to.
…Now as you know, my own brother died in Vietnam, as many of you know. I understand the grief of the families of those killed in action and I share it. It is not my intention to disparage the honor of veterans. My campaign has a long-term strategy for U.S. Defense. First, over the next eight years, I will order that all U.S. bases abroad be shut down. Second, and parallel to this order, unless the lives of American citizens and the territory of the United States is itself under threat, it will be the policy of my administration to forego any future U.S. military action.
You would be perfectly correct when you say that the world has become increasingly violent in the aftermath of the cold war. It’s also true that our leadership in world affairs remains of vital importance. In the ten years since the fall of the Soviet Union, the U.S. has become the sole superpower with unsurpassed military strength. But to what purpose? What are we trying to accomplish using the taxes, resources, and sometimes even the lives of the American people? Has our intervention overseas been welcomed or appreciated even if it is in the name of “human rights” or “the war on drugs”?
What we send our servicemen to do is so uncertain that we even give these operations names like “just cause” and “restore peace” as if to reassure ourselves by reading the label. Under my administration, it will be over—our role as the “world’s policeman”, just like the cold war, has ended.
As a soldier in Vietnam, I fought in the battlefields of the cold war and I saw the operation of the machine. War produced good profits back home; while in the jungle in those fields of fire, it produced the greatest sorrow imaginable. What I couldn’t understand then, when I was nineteen, what I can’t understand today, as a grown man, is why it was patriotic to love that hideous machine impersonating my country. I say to the country I love, let us instead commit ourselves to a role in the peace and security of the world that has true meaning for the American dream.
It has been a dream deferred. It was a future Americans fought for, yet we have been denied the just fruits of our victory. I refer not to the cold war, but to another. There has been in recent years a renewed appreciation of the generation of Americans that fought in the Second World War. We often think of it as “the good war”, the last one fought for clean and clear motives, the last one where America defended itself against an attack on its own soil.
In those days of terrible sacrifice, Americans took responsibility, laying plans to ensure that what these soldiers and sailors fought for would be preserved and held in trust. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his Secretary of State Cordell Hull spoke in 1942 of an “international agency which can, by force if necessary, keep the peace among nations.” Just as we rediscover the heroism of the “greatest generation”, we should remember that their fight was under those principles.
In April of 1945, with victory at hand, our allies came to America to sign the U.N. charter in San Francisco. The headquarters of the United Nations was placed here in New York City. To stand in the D.C., the city of the nation which had dreamed of it, to protect a just and lasting peace, one built on the principles of freedom, or our American Dreams; they were stranded by the tides of circumstance, by the rivalry of the cold war. But that war is over, and so it is time we take responsibility for the peace we promised the world and ourselves nearly sixty years ago.
My administration will work to make the United Nations what our ideals meant it to be, a true collective security organization for a world of freedom, that transcends any need for military nationalism, including our own. What is the use of our strength without the courage to face the unseen? What is the worth of our world power if we do not use it to make a better future? I believe the spirit of this nation lives or dies by such ideals. It is time to see if America is alive or dead.
Kawaguchi, Kaiji. Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President.
Viz Communications Inc., San Francisco, CA. November 2001
Thursday, May 25, 2006
When Osama Bin Laden Died
When Osama Bin Laden died, he was met at the pearly gates by George Washington, who slapped him across the face and yelled, "How dare you try and destroy the nation I helped concieve!"
Patrick Henry approached, punched him in the nose and shouted, "You wanted to end our liberties but you failed!"
James Madison followed, kicked him the groin and said, "This is why I allowed our government to provide for the common defense."
Thomas Jefferson was next, beat Osama with a long cane and snarled, "It was evil men like you who inspired me to write the Declaration of Independence."
The beatings and thrashings continued as George Mason, James Madison, and nearly 66 other early Americans unleashed their anger on the terrorist leader.
As Osama lay bleeding and in pain, an angel appeared. Bin Laden wept and said, "This is not what you promised me."
The angel replied, "I told you there would be 72 Virginians waiting for you in heaven. What did you think I said?"
Patrick Henry approached, punched him in the nose and shouted, "You wanted to end our liberties but you failed!"
James Madison followed, kicked him the groin and said, "This is why I allowed our government to provide for the common defense."
Thomas Jefferson was next, beat Osama with a long cane and snarled, "It was evil men like you who inspired me to write the Declaration of Independence."
The beatings and thrashings continued as George Mason, James Madison, and nearly 66 other early Americans unleashed their anger on the terrorist leader.
As Osama lay bleeding and in pain, an angel appeared. Bin Laden wept and said, "This is not what you promised me."
The angel replied, "I told you there would be 72 Virginians waiting for you in heaven. What did you think I said?"
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I guess this is how I feel sometimes. Funny picture to me though =P Trying to be such a badass never felt so strange.Been job hunting lately, its hard to find a job for four to six weeks before I make my move up to Chicago (which can't be soon enough). Its also weird seeing my roomies all leaving. Jon left, Chris practically left, so now its just Mike and I. Plus I've had this place alone for the last couple of days which was nice and quiet.
Oh, if any of you haven't, check out the HBO series Carnivale. Its one of the best shows I've seen in a long time. Set in the thirties depression dust bowl era (what a jumble of words), its a great series.
What else? Nothing is coming to mind right now. I guess I'm in one of those blog funks, not really updating it as often as I should.
Peace
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Long time gone
Well, its been a long time since I've updated this. I don't know, sometimes I go on these funks where I just don't feel like sharing anything with anybody, not that I have much of an audience on the blog. It's probably no good, but I'm due for a nice long update anyways with some pics as well. Where should I start? I will just go backwards.
So last night I got to spend the night with Kristin (spelled it right this time) which was nice. More on that in a bit. The Ice Dogs had our final game of the season last night, it was the final game and we ended up playing probably our best game of the season against an excellent goalie. We got a goal in the first thirty seconds and never looked back to a 6-0 win. A lot of our friends were there in the stands to give us support too which was great, the confidence boost is a real plus. Also my first shutout on the ice with these guys so I felt good afterwards, will admit I was thinking about it today. KK was there as well as Jess and Alice, so it was a good time. Before the game we all had burgeres and wieners (hyuk hyuk hyuk) at Kevin's. What a great season, couldn't have come together better any better.
Last week I went up to Chicago to look at apartments. Thursday morning/afternoon I took the bus up to the city and went to see two apartments. The next day I saw three before taking the greyhound back to Urbana at night. It was along day hopping on different trains and busses all over the city, but what an adventure! I was so nervous the night before thinking, "What the hell am I doing, I've never been up there and now I'm going alone AND using mass transit, I'm going to get lost and get stuck, blah blah blah" and then it was amazing. The city is great, very alive, but also very big and hectic. I'm anxious about moving there. Also met the City Year people and they were really great and gave me a lot of confidence about what I'll be doing next year. I doubted myself at first, wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing but now I'm starting to feel a lot better about it. The more I think about it, I think I'm doing the right thing and helping people out in a way that I can.
On to other things.... so around beginning of April I made friends with Kristin at the rink. I will say that after my relationship with Rachel ended I wasn't really actively looking for anybody. I wasn't too happy with things and was trying to figure out my life, get a job, settle down a little bit. I got that, and then just thought that I probably shouldn't start dating anybody because it would just suck for both of us with both me moving to Chicago soon and the semester ending soon.
So yea, that went down the drain =P Not really sure how it happened, but it was very fast (to me it seemed pretty fast). I like it, I think she does too, and its going to suck when we go our separate ways. We'll try and see eachother as often as we can. I just wish I had met her sooner, but then I don't know if I would have been ready to see anybody else with my life where it was. Things are so much better now than they were a few months ago and I think I feel very comfortable with the two of us.
So much going through my head right now, and I don't know what to write down.
So last night I got to spend the night with Kristin (spelled it right this time) which was nice. More on that in a bit. The Ice Dogs had our final game of the season last night, it was the final game and we ended up playing probably our best game of the season against an excellent goalie. We got a goal in the first thirty seconds and never looked back to a 6-0 win. A lot of our friends were there in the stands to give us support too which was great, the confidence boost is a real plus. Also my first shutout on the ice with these guys so I felt good afterwards, will admit I was thinking about it today. KK was there as well as Jess and Alice, so it was a good time. Before the game we all had burgeres and wieners (hyuk hyuk hyuk) at Kevin's. What a great season, couldn't have come together better any better.
Last week I went up to Chicago to look at apartments. Thursday morning/afternoon I took the bus up to the city and went to see two apartments. The next day I saw three before taking the greyhound back to Urbana at night. It was along day hopping on different trains and busses all over the city, but what an adventure! I was so nervous the night before thinking, "What the hell am I doing, I've never been up there and now I'm going alone AND using mass transit, I'm going to get lost and get stuck, blah blah blah" and then it was amazing. The city is great, very alive, but also very big and hectic. I'm anxious about moving there. Also met the City Year people and they were really great and gave me a lot of confidence about what I'll be doing next year. I doubted myself at first, wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing but now I'm starting to feel a lot better about it. The more I think about it, I think I'm doing the right thing and helping people out in a way that I can.
On to other things.... so around beginning of April I made friends with Kristin at the rink. I will say that after my relationship with Rachel ended I wasn't really actively looking for anybody. I wasn't too happy with things and was trying to figure out my life, get a job, settle down a little bit. I got that, and then just thought that I probably shouldn't start dating anybody because it would just suck for both of us with both me moving to Chicago soon and the semester ending soon.So yea, that went down the drain =P Not really sure how it happened, but it was very fast (to me it seemed pretty fast). I like it, I think she does too, and its going to suck when we go our separate ways. We'll try and see eachother as often as we can. I just wish I had met her sooner, but then I don't know if I would have been ready to see anybody else with my life where it was. Things are so much better now than they were a few months ago and I think I feel very comfortable with the two of us.
So much going through my head right now, and I don't know what to write down.
Friday, April 14, 2006
NASA Can't Fool Me
Yes folks, the moon landings were faked. Don't believe me? Just click the link. You will be convinced for sure this time.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Cadbury Cake!
Ok, so I know I haven't updated my blog in a long time. A few bits of news, I will be going to Chicago next thursday to check out apartments, spent a lot of time this week apartment "hunting" (with a Dick Cheney stamped and approved shotgun) online. Its tough to find something within my budget.
Wait, did I say multiple bits of news? Hmmm, I did something for the first time the other night. You know you're getting old ;-) when you no longer get a girl's phone number, but rather her facebook name (and AIM name).
So why the picture that I included you ask? Because it is from a hysterical website =) Check it out
http://shmivejournal.livejournal.com/125746.html
Enjoy, I certainly did =)
Peace out y'all
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Final update
Sorry about the lateness of the update. I worked a lot the last two days and have been busy doing stuff that needs to be done. Sunday was a pretty wild day, some of what happened that day...
- There were 68 tornado reports for that day
- 20 tornados were reported in Central Illinois, including one near assembly hall
- The death toll is at 26, with most of them in western Tennessee, which got smacked really hard.
Here's some photos from the National Weather Service
The damage pictures are too intense to choose just one. The photo of the water tower just shows the awesome strength of nature. Click the link above to get a full glimpse of just what these storms did to these communities, it was pretty bad.
As for where I was that day, I was out with Dave intending to spot the storms, but things got out of hand really quickly. We left Urbana right around when the warm front had passed, and we could feel how muggy the air was and how the wind had shifted direction from before. Our plan was to drive out Decatur, meet Andrew and Mike and meet the storms there. By the way, driving out to Decatur you get to smell the wonderful smell of the ADM plant. As Dave put it, he thought it smelled like buiscits and gravy, while I imagined it being the smell of a single piece of chicken in a deep frier for eight hours straight. Anyways, as we approach Decatur the clouds ahead of us (we're heading west, storms are heading north east aligned NW to SE) were getting darker and more intense.
We pull off interstate 72 and go north to get out of town when we hear a noise. I remember exactly what I said to Dave after he asks, "Do you hear that?" ... "Is somebody blaring their horn at us?"... at which point he rolls down his window and we hear the tornado sirens screaming at the top of their lungs. We look west and there is a huge mass of black cloud with very visible rotation bearing down on Decatur, and we're stuck at a red light. Meanwhile, on the spotter network and weather radio, reports are coming through of a large and dangerous tornado tracking in to right around where we were. Thinking about it now, we should have just said "Fuck it, we're finding shelter", but we decided to jet east as fast as we could. Dave's got the steering wheel, using his cell phone, and monitoring the radios. I'm navigating the country roads and looking at the sky while steering away from any rotating clouds.
We're speeding as fast as we can east, tornado warnings are popping up north and south of us, at our location, the radios are full of chatter. Its pouring like crazy, we definitely got caught in an inflow jet a couple of times which had us worried. At this point we talked to Roger on the phone and told him it was probably a good idea to shut down the ice rink (which was good considering how hard the storms hit Chambana).
We turned north on a country road in Piatt county to continue our trek back to safety and there was a huge tree that had fallen and blocked the road. Dave tried to off road it around the tree but the car wouldn't make it, so we had to back track. As we're finding another route out of there, we run into a smaller tree that had fallen and blocked our route, but this one we were able to get around. By this point the storms had overtaken us, so we got back on the highway and raced back to Champaign.
On our way back we were hearing reports of a tornado near Sadorus, near Homer, and near Southwest Champaign. Sadorus and Champaign lost power right around when each tornado was reported, so we were worried. Another tornado was spotted in Urbana (later confirmed) but did no damage. Parts of the city lost power for up to 13 hours, so it was a pretty bad mess. As we drove back into the city, there was damage ranging from downed power lines, trees, signs, and construction. At one point even, a spotter reported that a massive bolt of lightning (that we had also seen) struck and ignited a tree. Great, just another thing to add to the mess...
Finally, after the worst of it passes, we get back to Dave's house to find that the tree in their front yard fallen on his dad's truck and totally wrecked it. Reports were coming in of more storms developing west of Springfield, but they were just isolated storms and not severe.
What a night, I was pretty scared when we were stuck in Decatur as the sirens went off. Jetting out of there with the lightning and storms all around us was pretty frightening as well. Made me feel very insignificant seeing nature in all its fury around us like that. Usually we have some semblance of control when we are out there, with the ability to position ourselves well and navigate how we want to. But this just happened so fast, the storms overtook us so quickly, and we had no control; we were nature's bitch. I'm not usually afraid of storms, but this was totally different.
I'm glad that nobody got seriously hurt with these storms in the Central Illinois area, however it was a nightmare in Tennessee. Everybody was talking about it the next morning, people were pretty scared in the Chambana area as well.
Good times..... damn....
- There were 68 tornado reports for that day
- 20 tornados were reported in Central Illinois, including one near assembly hall
- The death toll is at 26, with most of them in western Tennessee, which got smacked really hard.
Here's some photos from the National Weather Service
The damage pictures are too intense to choose just one. The photo of the water tower just shows the awesome strength of nature. Click the link above to get a full glimpse of just what these storms did to these communities, it was pretty bad.
As for where I was that day, I was out with Dave intending to spot the storms, but things got out of hand really quickly. We left Urbana right around when the warm front had passed, and we could feel how muggy the air was and how the wind had shifted direction from before. Our plan was to drive out Decatur, meet Andrew and Mike and meet the storms there. By the way, driving out to Decatur you get to smell the wonderful smell of the ADM plant. As Dave put it, he thought it smelled like buiscits and gravy, while I imagined it being the smell of a single piece of chicken in a deep frier for eight hours straight. Anyways, as we approach Decatur the clouds ahead of us (we're heading west, storms are heading north east aligned NW to SE) were getting darker and more intense.
We pull off interstate 72 and go north to get out of town when we hear a noise. I remember exactly what I said to Dave after he asks, "Do you hear that?" ... "Is somebody blaring their horn at us?"... at which point he rolls down his window and we hear the tornado sirens screaming at the top of their lungs. We look west and there is a huge mass of black cloud with very visible rotation bearing down on Decatur, and we're stuck at a red light. Meanwhile, on the spotter network and weather radio, reports are coming through of a large and dangerous tornado tracking in to right around where we were. Thinking about it now, we should have just said "Fuck it, we're finding shelter", but we decided to jet east as fast as we could. Dave's got the steering wheel, using his cell phone, and monitoring the radios. I'm navigating the country roads and looking at the sky while steering away from any rotating clouds.
We're speeding as fast as we can east, tornado warnings are popping up north and south of us, at our location, the radios are full of chatter. Its pouring like crazy, we definitely got caught in an inflow jet a couple of times which had us worried. At this point we talked to Roger on the phone and told him it was probably a good idea to shut down the ice rink (which was good considering how hard the storms hit Chambana).
We turned north on a country road in Piatt county to continue our trek back to safety and there was a huge tree that had fallen and blocked the road. Dave tried to off road it around the tree but the car wouldn't make it, so we had to back track. As we're finding another route out of there, we run into a smaller tree that had fallen and blocked our route, but this one we were able to get around. By this point the storms had overtaken us, so we got back on the highway and raced back to Champaign.
On our way back we were hearing reports of a tornado near Sadorus, near Homer, and near Southwest Champaign. Sadorus and Champaign lost power right around when each tornado was reported, so we were worried. Another tornado was spotted in Urbana (later confirmed) but did no damage. Parts of the city lost power for up to 13 hours, so it was a pretty bad mess. As we drove back into the city, there was damage ranging from downed power lines, trees, signs, and construction. At one point even, a spotter reported that a massive bolt of lightning (that we had also seen) struck and ignited a tree. Great, just another thing to add to the mess...
Finally, after the worst of it passes, we get back to Dave's house to find that the tree in their front yard fallen on his dad's truck and totally wrecked it. Reports were coming in of more storms developing west of Springfield, but they were just isolated storms and not severe.
What a night, I was pretty scared when we were stuck in Decatur as the sirens went off. Jetting out of there with the lightning and storms all around us was pretty frightening as well. Made me feel very insignificant seeing nature in all its fury around us like that. Usually we have some semblance of control when we are out there, with the ability to position ourselves well and navigate how we want to. But this just happened so fast, the storms overtook us so quickly, and we had no control; we were nature's bitch. I'm not usually afraid of storms, but this was totally different.
I'm glad that nobody got seriously hurt with these storms in the Central Illinois area, however it was a nightmare in Tennessee. Everybody was talking about it the next morning, people were pretty scared in the Chambana area as well.
Good times..... damn....
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Nasty, nasty weather
Really nasty weather outbreak across the midwest today and overnight. Four dead confirmed so far across Missouri, Illinois, and Tennessee, which is getting hit really hard right now. Dave and I were out tonight and had a rough time. I'll post more about it tomorrow.
[update] Associated Press reports at least eight dead in Tennessee alone.
[update II] Death toll is up to fourteen, mostly in Tennessee =(
[update] Associated Press reports at least eight dead in Tennessee alone.
[update II] Death toll is up to fourteen, mostly in Tennessee =(
Friday, March 31, 2006
Perfect Day
Ok, so I realize the picture on the left may seem a little strange, and you may wonder how this equates to a perfect day, but I'll explain.This morning I set my alarm for 10:30, I didn't want to get up too late. I call Dave to see if we were going to play hockey, but due to the condition of his skates, that wasn't going to happen. Instead, he, Andrew, and I went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast where I had biscuits and gravy. Dave on the other hand had three eggs, a thick steak, biscuits and gravy, fried apples, hash browns, and grits. He downed it all, that man is a monster in a sprites body.
From there, I left my rent check with Jon and then went to the humane society of Champaign county. It was a beautiful day outside and I suggested we go walk some dogs, they shouldn't be stuck in cages indoors. The sky was beautiful and clear with puffy white clouds everywhere, and the dogs had a blast being taken outside. I took a collie breed named Lila around the ground for half an hour or so, she was super excited to go outside. Ten minutes after I let her back in, amazingly somebody showed up and adopted her. So she had a great afternoon as well. I love dogs, I miss my dog Tula at home.
From there we drove all around the country side east and southeast of Urbana to enjoy the scenery and get some photography in. During the afternoon a BEAUTIFUL set of storms developed on the Indiana/Illinois border and we found a perfect field to park our cars (Andrew was with us) to watch them just explode in the sky about 10-20 miles away. I found out later in the night that those storms dropped a LOT of hail (64 reports on the SPC page). Dave and Drew probably got some excellent photographs. It was perfectly relaxing, just standing outside on a fence near a cornfield at the base of a nice hill, and looking at the sky with unlimited visibility all around us and massive, towering, billowy storms ahead of us. They were mushrooming up into the sky at an incredibly fast rate; the cloud formations were quite a sight
to see.From there we drove a short distance to Kickapoo State park. After getting some good photographs of the Vermillion river, we stopped to watch about a dozen or so great looking white tailed deer. Of course, Drew decided to chase them down on foot, which was also quite hysterical. We saw a whole lot of great wildlife today including wild turkey, ducks, geese, deer, hawk, and some songbirds.
To finish off the day we went to Sidney to stay at Andrew's place and hang out, play video games, use his drum set, just chill out. His dad made homemade pizza for us (apparently its what he does after he's gone drinking). The first picture is me getting my face licked clean by Matty. Dave happened to take an incriminating looking photograph of me with the dog. She is a very energetic dog, but I thought she was cool.
Otherwise, it was a great day. Go to hang out with my good friends, be outdoors in beautiful weather, see some great scenery and wildlife, eat good food, overall had a good time. Tomorrow and Sunday I have to work but I need the money anyways, so it's A'OK.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
A post on another person's blog made me think pretty hard about some stuff. I hope you know who you are if you read this.
I was thinking, why am I doing what I do? At this point in my life, why am I doing what I am? Why should I be doing what I want to do? For myself, or for other people? My parents would have me think that there's two reasons I would do anything with my life right now; to make money, and to make them happy/proud. No way, I am going to do what makes me happy in my life. I want to do something that has a purpose, that achieves something, and if it comes at the expense of money, fine. I hold nothing against people who want to make a lot of money first, its not what I want to do, even if its my parents wishes.
Sure the job I have now is only a step, that's what I need now. Why should I follow a set plan, do what my parents want me to do if it won't make me happy? Graduate high school, get my undergrad degree, go to grad school, get a high paying job, get married, have kids, etc. etc. I just try as hard as I can to do well, be happy, and achieve something that I find fulfilling. Wouldn't it be nice if they appreciated that much?
I was stuck in a rut that last semester of school. Change is good, change is so important. Spontenaity is great, doing the unexpected and feeling good about it is important. Trying hard, even failing at stuff, it feels ... well.. alright if I know that I put everything I had into it. Lastly, doing something with a purpose that I find fulfilling is pretty important to me.
I was thinking, why am I doing what I do? At this point in my life, why am I doing what I am? Why should I be doing what I want to do? For myself, or for other people? My parents would have me think that there's two reasons I would do anything with my life right now; to make money, and to make them happy/proud. No way, I am going to do what makes me happy in my life. I want to do something that has a purpose, that achieves something, and if it comes at the expense of money, fine. I hold nothing against people who want to make a lot of money first, its not what I want to do, even if its my parents wishes.
Sure the job I have now is only a step, that's what I need now. Why should I follow a set plan, do what my parents want me to do if it won't make me happy? Graduate high school, get my undergrad degree, go to grad school, get a high paying job, get married, have kids, etc. etc. I just try as hard as I can to do well, be happy, and achieve something that I find fulfilling. Wouldn't it be nice if they appreciated that much?
I was stuck in a rut that last semester of school. Change is good, change is so important. Spontenaity is great, doing the unexpected and feeling good about it is important. Trying hard, even failing at stuff, it feels ... well.. alright if I know that I put everything I had into it. Lastly, doing something with a purpose that I find fulfilling is pretty important to me.
Monday, March 20, 2006
President's Role
Two quotes from the President's speech today in Cleveland (I think) as broadcast on CNN.
***
"But also understand my most important job - the most important job of any president today, and, uh, I predict down the road, is to protect America. And so, uh, I told the American people that we would find the terrorists and bring them to justice and that we need to defeat them overseas so that we didn't need to face them at home."
"I take a practical view of doing the job you want me to do, which is how do we defeat an enemy that still wants to hurt us, and how do we deal with threats before they fully materialize, what do we do to protect us from harm? That's my job, and that job came home on September 11 for me loud and clear. I think about my job of protecting you every day, every single day of the presidency. I'm concerned about the safety of the American people."
***
Two things come to mind when I first see this. First of all, what IS the role of the President of the United States? Is it solely "to protect this country"? The Presidential Oath as written in the Constitution claims:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."
There is a great irony in what the President is doing to protect this country and its people from the so claimed vast threat of terrorism. In claiming that it is his job as president, he has repeatedly trampled on our rights as written in the Constitution. A perfect example of this is the warantless wiretapping program. Or how about the various questionable portions of the Patriot Act? This should be disturbing to Americans regardless of political party; a President who abuses his power, openly admits and defends his actions, and then tramples on our constitutional rights based on this "justification". I think our founding fathers are turning over in their graves.
The second thought that comes to mind is the rule through fear. Our President constantly defends his actions through the fear of terrorism. "Its ok for me to do what I'm doing, because if I don't, the terrorists will get us." And because of this fear that's been instilled into us, we've accepted and let slide the numerous violations of our rights by this government. What's worse is that those that dare speak out against this, like Russ Feingold and his censure resoluation, are called not only unpatriotic but "borderline treasonous" by their colleagues. What have we come to that those who dare question the powerful are called traitors?
Two quotes come to mind from the famous Edward R. Murrow, who was as great a patriot as we have seen in this century.
"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men— not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular....We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home."
and...
"If we confuse dissent with disloyalty— if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox— if we deny the essence of racial equality then hundreds of millions in Asia and Africa who are shopping about for a new allegiance will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth and our present privileged status. Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the ... confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought."
Considering these were from the fifties and during the time where fear of communism ruled, its amazing how relevant they are today.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Redemption
Well I was offered a position at City Year. I'm pretty sure I would like this job and will accept the offer. Its a bit of redemption from the last two months. Lets recap shall we...
- Parents throw a shitstorm because I graduated
- My girlfriend of 18 months dumps me over the phone and doesn't talk to me again
- I get a concussion at work and embarass myself infront of the enitre crowd
- I lose my best friend of many years
I can't begin to describe the relief I felt when I heard this yesterday. I just wanted to shove this in my parents face and tell them, "Look you cocksuckers, I can do something, I can do this and I'm not going to fuck it up."
Next step, find a place to live and start moving my life to Chicago.
- Parents throw a shitstorm because I graduated
- My girlfriend of 18 months dumps me over the phone and doesn't talk to me again
- I get a concussion at work and embarass myself infront of the enitre crowd
- I lose my best friend of many years
I can't begin to describe the relief I felt when I heard this yesterday. I just wanted to shove this in my parents face and tell them, "Look you cocksuckers, I can do something, I can do this and I'm not going to fuck it up."
Next step, find a place to live and start moving my life to Chicago.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Great Concert
I went to a really great concert tonight at the Krannert center, it was my first time in the Great Hall. All I have to say is that the acoustics are AMAZING.
The program
Commando March (1943) - Samuel Barber
Tulsa (1957) - Don Gillis
Epinicion (1975) - John Paulson
The Hounds of Spring (1980) - Alfred Reed
Performed by UI Concert Band I
Day of the Dragon - Peter Graham
Hymns of Praise - Goff Richards
Performed by UI British Brass Band
Tunbridge Fair (1950) - Walter Piston
Dionysiaques, Op. 62 (1913) - Florent Schmitt
My two favorite songs had to be Tulsa and Dionysiaques. Not often do songs to this to me, but at one point in each song I could feel it in my body. Does that make sense? I could almost feel it resonating through my body, starting at the top of my back and working its way down to my feet. Sort of like an electric impulse. I'm not on drugs or anything, the songs were just that good. Plus I love live orchestral type music.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Frederick the Owl
This is Frederick. Last night he decided to make his temporary home in our rafters. He was there for about six hours (I think). A beautiful bird, the picture doesn't do it justice. I've never seen an owl like this in the city, only out in the woods or while camping. It is a screech owl, cousin to the barn owl. Eats small rodents and insects. That look on its face though, is very piercing.
He's back tonight and perching up there once again, my guess it that he's staying up there to stay warm. With all the apartments there's plenty of heat in the building.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Props to Jon
I saw this in his away message and I really liked it...
***
"What is it you said to the kid? The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very rough, mean place. And no matter how tough you think you are, it'll always bring you to your knees and keep you there permanently....if you let it. You or nobody, ain't never gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. If you know what you're worth, go out and get what you're worth, but you gotta be willin' to take the hit."
***
Those couldn't be truer words
***
"What is it you said to the kid? The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very rough, mean place. And no matter how tough you think you are, it'll always bring you to your knees and keep you there permanently....if you let it. You or nobody, ain't never gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. If you know what you're worth, go out and get what you're worth, but you gotta be willin' to take the hit."
***
Those couldn't be truer words
Sorry Blog!
So yea, I kind of neglected my blog for a bit. I guess life's just been sort of ordinary the last week, lots of work at the rink, tutoring on occasion, working out every day, cooked some food, and thought about life. Despite the ice storm today, I'm looking forward to the possibility of some thunderstorms next week as well as temperatures in the sixties. Ben called me today and we talked for an hour, its been almost a year since I last talked to him.
Uhhhh, so yea. I'll post more when I have deeper thoughts. Honestly, none too much lately. I'd really like to know whether or not I got this City Year job, starting to get antsy about it.
Uhhhh, so yea. I'll post more when I have deeper thoughts. Honestly, none too much lately. I'd really like to know whether or not I got this City Year job, starting to get antsy about it.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Wow
This was just too good to pass up, it was from a conversation I had with a friend of mine. He's at West Point, just for some context...
hoit341: man...i keep passing out here on my computer
TBar220: what you do tonight?
hoit341: i hate sleep....i hate that that could keep me from accomplishing things....
Wow.....
hoit341: man...i keep passing out here on my computer
TBar220: what you do tonight?
hoit341: i hate sleep....i hate that that could keep me from accomplishing things....
Wow.....
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Mmmmmmm, chili
I made a delicious white bean, chicken, jalapeno chili tonight and had cornbread on the side. With an ice cold beer (well, a malt, but I wished it was a beer) it was a perfect dinner.
I've been so busy the last couple of days. Worked all day friday, saturday, and sunday. Worked yesterday and had a good time at Emily's bday party. I hope the boxes and walls went well, we worked pretty hard on it, they did a LOT.
I wonder, was what I did to Rachel so bad? I also wonder, she brought it up. Is it fair to have brought it up, then say I won't like it, and then ask to keep it from me? Is that honest? Is that fair? How can you do something like that in a relationship? I don't think I would stand that from my friends. I need people to be straight forward with me. Maybe it wasn't fair what I did to her, but I am thinking more and more that if there was a better "nicer" way to do it, I would have made her tell me. Simply because she brought it up, even if subconciously she wanted to tell me and that was how it came up in the first place.
I don't like how it happened, I don't like how it ended. I only wish she were comfortable telling me this, and if we'd sat down and talked about this perhaps it wouldn't have ended so painfully. I wish our relationship, after 18 months, would have gotten to the point where we wouldn't need to hold secrets from eachother. Where we could be open with eachother about stuff no matter how uncomfortable we are with it.
Gawd, its all so stupid. I miss talking to her, just the jolly "candor" (can't think of a better word, that's why I'm not a writer) that we used to have. The easy going conversation and teasing and joking around. Now its an IM if I'm lucky and an email if I'm super lucky. Oh well...
I've been so busy the last couple of days. Worked all day friday, saturday, and sunday. Worked yesterday and had a good time at Emily's bday party. I hope the boxes and walls went well, we worked pretty hard on it, they did a LOT.
I wonder, was what I did to Rachel so bad? I also wonder, she brought it up. Is it fair to have brought it up, then say I won't like it, and then ask to keep it from me? Is that honest? Is that fair? How can you do something like that in a relationship? I don't think I would stand that from my friends. I need people to be straight forward with me. Maybe it wasn't fair what I did to her, but I am thinking more and more that if there was a better "nicer" way to do it, I would have made her tell me. Simply because she brought it up, even if subconciously she wanted to tell me and that was how it came up in the first place.
I don't like how it happened, I don't like how it ended. I only wish she were comfortable telling me this, and if we'd sat down and talked about this perhaps it wouldn't have ended so painfully. I wish our relationship, after 18 months, would have gotten to the point where we wouldn't need to hold secrets from eachother. Where we could be open with eachother about stuff no matter how uncomfortable we are with it.
Gawd, its all so stupid. I miss talking to her, just the jolly "candor" (can't think of a better word, that's why I'm not a writer) that we used to have. The easy going conversation and teasing and joking around. Now its an IM if I'm lucky and an email if I'm super lucky. Oh well...
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