Fighting Against Terrorism

I've had a lot of free time recently (even with school starting back up) and have found myself reading a couple different books about the Special Forces of America and about how and why they were created. I'll be honest, I originally picked up the books to read the stories from the actual teams and one book, 'Inside Delta Force' is exactly that. Written by Eric Haney, he was one of the original operatives in Delta Force and the training they received is astounding. And I'll have to admit I had my little boy moment saying, 'That's sooo cool'.

The next book I started to read was written by Tom Clancy and a retired Brigadier General Carl Stiner. I know what some of you may think, oh it's a Clancy book, that's what I thought as well, I was expecting stories from the actual operatives, but what I didn't know was that Clancy also writes non-fiction about the military. And that's where Stiner comes. Stiner and Clancy lay down an outline and history of Special Forces and unconventional warfare. Clancy then go on to explain just how difficult it is to combat terrorism.

One thing I found interesting in both books was that to fight terrorism requires a degree of cut-throatedness(not a word I know, so sue me). What I found interesting was you have these scumbagish, unscrupulous men as terrorists willing to do whatever necessary to accomplish there goals. And oppositely, the men we have combating that, are the most honorable men, that sometimes have to do worse than their counter-parts to effectively combat them.

Now with all this talk and divide going on with Iraq and whatever our reasons for being there are, we cannot forget that it was terrorist actions that spurred us to actions. How do we effectively combat someone who is willing more willing to die than work out a compromise or a dialogue for peace.

This isn't the first time that terrorism has been encountered, it happened during Roman times as well. The Romans had a strong(too strong) response to any terrorist act against a Roman citizen. For instance if a Roman Citizen was killed, Roman soldiers would grab 10 foreigners at random and kill them. The life of a Roman was worth 10 non-Romans. This worked as a strong deterrent, because the ruled populous understood that the Romans would follow through on this policy with no remorse. And it's one thing to lay down your life for a cause, but that of your wife, husband, mother, daughter, father, and son? Like I stated, this was brutal, but it worked.

So what am I saying? I have no clue, just some thoughts I put together on my drive home from work.

Wow

Just wow...

Introspection

It's been a week since my last post (not really much of a post, but it was something) and I figured I should give my viewing populace an update on things. I'll be honest, this week has been anything but good, but I'm blessed with awesome friends, and even though they're two thousand miles away, they can still lift up my spirits.

Right now I've just finished my 2nd week of school and so far so good. (Still need to get a jump start on my history class) I'm rocking it in algebra and I'm liking the whole online homework and testing aspect of it. The program, while super picky about the answers it will accept as correct, is also good at helping you solve the problems as well. It's pretty well thought out. I'm hoping to walk out with an A. My business comp sci class has me bored to tears already. I was praying we would work with Java Script, but no, HTML coding is what we will be spending the majority of our time on. HTML is a static, non-dynamic programming language that is almost dead. Oh well, I'll just razzle and dazzle with my 1EE7 h4xxorz skillzorz. Other classes are meh, but good.

Work was interesting this week, started some laptop training on Friday and that was pretty entertaining. My trainer and co-trainees are a fun bunch and we bs'd for most of it. I really like Edward Jones as a company. They know how to instill loyalty into their employees and not by buying them off with pay. They treat their employees with respect, its a novel approach. Next week is more training.

I think one thing that's really got me down this week is just the realization that I really don't have much going on in the way of a social life. I go to work, school, swim, and kick it at home. And I'm really fine with that, but sometimes I just wish for more, but I'm not someone who makes friends just to have them. I dunno, I think just being this far away from my comfort zone gets to me everyonce in awhile. I'll just bury my head into the grindstone.

Yeah, it's an alright post. Debating whether this one will get posted or saved.

Bad Day

Not really trying to get all depressing and melodramatic, its just been a long, bad day. Figured I'd let my man Johnny say it for me.

Un pensamiento y quizas mas

Si oyes en la noche la voz

De la soledad y el rumor

Que ha llegado el tiempo

De ser dos... Aquí estoy!!!

Ten mi mano, apriétala bien.

Ten mi hombro, apóyate en él,

Y adonde nos lleve el viaje iré

Contigo iré

Y en tu descanso seré el reposo

Y en tu camino seré el andar

Y al sol mandé avisar a la brisa

Que hagan saber nuestro caminar

No es más rico el que tiene más

Si no el que menos sabe necesitar

Y si tu tienes a alguien

Junto a ti... rico serás.

Una mirada bastará

Una palabra servirá

Para poner mi corazón en pie¡¡¡Aquí está!!!.

Y en tu descanso seré el reposo

Y en tu camino seré el andar

Y al sol mandé avisar a la brisa

Que hagan saber nuestro caminar.

Para k todos saben, esto no es el mio, pero de Jose Andrea. Es una poema/cancion k me gusta un monton.

Random Photos

Me and Ally when we lived in Japan. Our landlord/adopted Japanese Grandma got us these outfits. We were the cutest gaijin to hit Japan. And about the only ones too.
My first open water dive to get PADI certified. The coolest feeling is to be under all that water and know that you have another 30 minutes of oxygen to explore a foreign world.
Halloween at the Mason Lodge '04. I went as the great John McEnroe and John just sported a singlet and got chewed out by Prez for it. Good times. Searching through Gmail for this buried treasure was pretty fun.

Greggory Baggins

How we all looked up to thee, err, down, Greg Bass. Just a little FYI on the back story of Greg. When I worked at Midway testing video games, I was pulled mid-project with two other cohorts to start working on a new game. Greg was placed as our interim Team Lead. Greg is of short stature, but not a dwarf or little person, he's 5 foot, just short. Nico, one of my compatriots, is awesome with photoshop and for Greg's Bday we made this and placed it on his desk. We all laughed, Greg cussed, we laughed some more. All had fun. But that is the legend of the man, Greggory Baggins.

First Day of Classes

Today was my first day of classes for the Winter Semester of 2008. Couldn't have begun soon enough! I've been so bored over winter break that I'm more than eager to get going. This semester all of my teachers speak with an accent, not dissing accents or anything, it's just going to be interesting.

My Comp Sci (not really computer science, a business requirement for computer knowledge, but it's the closest thing I got) class should be fun this semester, we have the option to focus on MS Excel and Access, HTML, or Java Script. My vote is for JavaScript. Of all the things we could learn in that class Java is the only one I'm least knowledgeable in. HTML while fine and dandy is old and dead, and not dynamic in any sense of the terms. But we are dealing with non-computer savvy peeps. Vamos a ver!

Now my Algebra class I can honestly say I'm going to enjoy like no other. A lot of it is online and deals with using software to take and submit quizzes. The teacher is mid 50's middle eastern woman who is hilarious without trying. So far she delivers a good lecture and is very quick and concise with materials, but then again it could be that I already know this beginning material. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm aiming for higher than a 3.0 this semester, I'd be happy with a 3.5 or above.

Now my Introduction to Arts of Asia course... this will be cake taker. Good news is there is no mid-term or final and the tests are multiple choice. But here's the kicker, we have a test every two weeks and from what I understand, in the period of 3 months we will have covered over 12,000 years of art history from India, China, and Japan. I'm looking forward to getting to see and hear some interpretations of the art. But she announced that she is a tough teacher, but fair as well. Give me two weeks and I'll report back.

All in all good impressions so far. My online history class is nice as well, I have until February 15th to finish section 1. Which is not that far off now that I think about it. Well that's the good news.

Punk Rawk

Had an interesting conversation today where someone tried to vilify Punk Rock and called it nothing more than noise pollution. Now I'm used to defending my music and don't take much stock in the opinions of others, allowing them to have theirs while I have mine. Refreshingly this person had an open mind and was receptive to what I had to share about why I like Punk.

While some bands can be crude and go out of there way to shock fans and critics a like, most bands develop lyrics and songs designed to empower or add insights to life, instead of the generic and politically safe lyrics of popular radio. And of course we talked about how raw the music can be for some people, but I retorted that its the melody and beauty inside of the songs that makes its music. When Jimi Hendrix first played everyone thought his style of music was just noise pollution. But then as they listened they learned to understand and appreciate the music buried in the frenetic wailing of Jimi. (Yeah I'm proud of that "frenetic" part, go me)

Another reason I learned to appreciate Punk was for the social commentary provided by bands such as Strike Anywhere, Anti Flag, and Dead Kennedys to name a few. All these bands have geniuses, some with Ivy League educations, pointing out the failings of society or government.

Not too mention it gets the blood going before surfing or skating.

Opportunity

I was digging around in my computer seeing what I had. Kind of like digging around in your storage boxes and being nostalgic for things of old. In my first 4 months on my mission in Spain I was having trouble and getting grouchy. One of my friends gave me this poem he was translating into spanish. I used to read that poem every other day and by the time I got home that paper was ragged and torn. I typed it up and archived and just ran across it and thought I'd share it and maybe let someone else use it for inspiration.

This I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:--
There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;
And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged
A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords
Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince's banner
Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.
A craven hung along the battle's edge,
And thought, "Had I a sword of keener steel--
That blue blade that the king's son bears, -- but this
Blunt thing--!" he snapped and flung it from his hand,
And lowering crept away and left the field.
Then came the king's son, wounded, sore bestead,
And weaponless, and saw the broken sword,
Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,
And ran and snatched it, and with battle shout
Lifted afresh he hewed his enemy down,
And saved a great cause that heroic day.

-Edward Roland Sill

First Post

First post and I'm not sure what I want to say right now. Right now I'm just having fun getting this setup and customized. Yeah I'm such a geek, setting things up and doing the research to make them run more efficiently makes me happy. So yeah, I'm having more fun hopping around the 'net looking things up.

On another note, school starts next week and I'm more than excited to have more to do. Winter recess was nice, but just not a whole lot going to grasp my attention. Dropped some money on books and it wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. I have one of my classes online and the professor was awesome enough post our materials online. The class is actually looking like it might be enjoyable as well.

As for the dried and crusty surfer, I still have some pictures of my glory days.

It was one of those cold winter days out at the Rock by the outlet at tower 2. Cold and shivery like, but my 4/3 kept me warm. Not as toasty as I would've liked. Great shot out of a mushy day.

Fun pic Seth was able to get before the segment closed out on me.