I’m going full time again! My half-sister was able to pull a few strings and get me in to the Homeland Security Dept. She used to be a communications tech with the Coast Guard, and since they became part of the dept, she’s got a little bit of pull. That I was in the service and retain clearance didn’t hurt. So, I’ll be a GS10 in the telecommunications operations divison. There’s a drive to step up our civil monitoring activities to support our domestic security initiatives, so they’re grabbing up quite a few people. Dunno how I feel about that, but whatever. As you guys prob know, most of the international links have been monitored for, well, forever. It’s only recently that there’s been broad authority to do this domestically, a provision of the Patriot Act. I’ve never used the equipment to monitor GSM or CDMA/TDMA cell networks, but I’ll be going to school in Virginia next month. Back into the fold for me!

Hmm, I have been having the same thoughts Brandon, regarding going elsewhere. I find myself ashamed to be an American especially in groups of grad students where I am the only one, and am often out-numbered by students from the middle east. You shouldn’t have to explain why your country is full of ignorant buffoons. My favorite news of the day: Cheney’s old company not only specializes in oil-industry equipment, their main field is in rebuilding infrastructure of countries. Oh, how convenient.

Most enraging thing in general I saw today: on the CNN.com website there’s a link called “day in photos” or something of the sort. It’s all separated into convenient categories: one is “warfare”, one is “damage” etc so you can look at all the nice planes and weapons without having to see the “dead people”. Then all the captions on the pictures of the wrecked buildings and wounded people in Iraq have the word “reportedly” in them. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Like: “An Iraqi woman stands among ruins of a section of Baghdad that was reportedly hit during airstrikes.” with a picture of a woman in a totally ruined building. Oh, maybe she blew up her own house…you can’t be SURE that the U.S. bombed it. Maybe they BUILT it that way, the new “open air” style of house. Fucking morons. Makes me sick.

Unfortunately, I must focus on the thesis this week above everything else. Sunday all the writing has to be finished…and then all printed with references by Friday next week. Hopefully by then things won’t be much much worse for our misguided country.

Page count: 130.

For the first time in my life, I mentioned, even as a joke, that I would live outside the US. Toronto specifically. I have never been so incensed about something that has been undertaken by our leadership. I do not trust what is put forth by our government; I check against what is convenient for the party argument at every turn. I have “served my country”, and figure myself no less a patriot then those doing the job now as I would were it still mine to do. But I so truly relish that involvement is my choice, and that I do not have to participate or sacrifice the only thing that is mine for this bullshit. I was laughing today that less then four years ago I had a conversation with my middle brother about the reality of joining the service (as opposed to the lines of the recruiters) in which I pointed out that you may find yourself in world of shit without acquiescence or recourse; he’s now at UC Davis. For as little as I agree with the state of affairs, I would ensure that I go before I see a brother of mine be sacrificed for this. I hope that none of you are burdened with concern for your loved ones, and hope that none of us pay what is a likely and continued price for our audacity.

This is of course from EM3 Parker, USN. Funny how life plays out.

It just got hit with all kinds of ordinance. Amazing. Technology is even worse now in it’s ability to neuter reality. I’m watching it live on M’s dad’s home theater system, and I swear it sounds just like scene’s from movies, and you don’t even get the nice hollywood touch of people being injured. Crazy stuff. Interesting though.

Ol’ Rummy pointed out that references to this attack on Baghdad to those of WW2 (I heard somebody mention Dresden) were off base. He went overboard in mentioning the care and humanity of our targeting, but I suppose he can’t suggest that if you’re a war reporter you should at least know something about the details of the history of it…

Also, I thought that they we’re misquoting the munitions used, especially on the first night. The 2000lb bombs that they say were dropped were Paveway LGB’s, and they are not the famed “bunker busters” as they said (they, Paveways’, were known before for their use in ruining air fields by penatrating the runway to some degree before exploding). Thw ‘Bunker Buster’ is a 4000lb special purpose weapon that was initially fashioned from spent 8in artillery tubes. I went about confirming what I already knew just a sec ago… I find it amazing that the people trusted to inform the uninformed are allowed not to know with certainty themselves.

This in a round about way ties into what Mark already knows about the media… Here’s something I came across (cut and paste)…

NBC’s Saturday Night Live (SNL) [recently] opened with a skit making fun
of the stupidity of questions posed by reporters at Pentagon briefings.
The skit featured a parody of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld….
With C-SPAN graphics on screen, the fake reporters posed these
questions:

“If only the real Rumsfeld was that tough.”

Yeah, i’m not sure if isuru is monitoring this site. I do know that he’s got a connection at home.

This STP thing is kind of a huge goal right now. My brother and i will be trying to do it in one day. That’s at least 14hrs in the saddle baby!! I’ll be sure to make a donation to the sperm bank before heading off…haha. Fortunately, unlike bball, cycling endurance actually increases as you get older..you can actual get peak performance when you’re 30+. since the guys who i ride with are 35+ and usually kick my ass, i think its true!

is there an easier way to update this blog? i keep on having to enter my own html.

-colin

In a weird twist of fate, I was unable to learn anything about the “war” last night on TV since every channel (or at least the 4 that I get with my crappy TV next to my computer where I was diligently playing a game) was covering the protests downtown. They lasted from 5pm or so to 2:15am this morning, effectively halting traffic on Burnside, and at times halting traffic through-out downtown *including* I-5!

The local anchorpeople, at least on channel 2 where I eventually ended up, all seemed really pissed at the protestors and flaberghasted that they would take to the streets to show their support for the anti-war movement. I suspect the anchors just wanted to go home rather than cover the protests; how dare they make me work overtime!?! One reporter who they went to once in a while was cool about it and kept saying that these protestors for the most part were peaceful and exercising their right to free speech and that he’d stay out there as long as they were out there, but the anchors kept dismissing what he was saying and kept talking about tha audacity of the protestors and how their demonstration was killing their argument.

Is it just me or is the general media completely naive, never really going further than superficial observations? No, don’t answer that; I know the answer.

The one good thing: a McDonald’s had its windows smashed by one guy while others were saying “no! we want this to be peaceful!” It’s good on so many levels. It shows that only a few minority were just there to cause trouble and that the majority were peaceful citizens trying to accomplish a goal. It also fulfills secret fantasies of many Americans to destroy McDonald’s property. 🙂

Sup Schrag. I had confusion about that STP thing myself. Evidently, some people that haven’t heard of cars, buses, or trains get together and ride a bike from Seattle to Portland. Young Colin, when you get older you’ll figure the differnce between ‘can’ and ‘should.’ Heck, I’m only 27 and have glory days of athletic ability, and I can tell you that they’re better then actually breaking a sweat. Good luck though, and that will be an accomplishment. I am of course playing around.

As for that blog from Iraq, I came upon that the other day too (a ‘slater’ myself). That guy is referenced all over the web. Imagine if WE said something of substance eh? To spring from obscurity, capture the attention of the world… Heh!

Schrag, keeping current with the affair is the concern, not really the medium used. The cable news orgs have 24 hours to cover, and it is hard to stick with them as they rehash every change in wind direction. That one is aware and keeps abreast of developments, even if they are neither a champion of the cause, or particularly drawn to the mechanics of such affairs, should not be considered such a high bar.

The web is full of interesting assertions of facts (have to say that as we know they’re not all facts, at least not all of ours) and opionons. Impossible to keep up with them all.

I agree with you as to what makes us ‘great,’ and I too fear that it may be slipping. The rest of the world will only value our ‘values’ when we remember to do so ourselves.

Hi all. Colin what is this you’re training for? Sounds like you are in better shape than I am…hehe…but we all knew that already. Anyway, it’s good to hear from you. How is OHSU? I can’t decide if George hitchhiking is really out of character or in character for him. Is Isuru monitoring the blog? What’s up Isuru?? Where you at?

Brandon, I was thinking about what you were saying about the American public and war. I completely agree with the huge double standards about “American soldiers” versus “everyone else”. I think the first quote that Mark posted is hilarious, have already sent it on to a lot of people. It’s a very good summary of what I feel but can’t verbalize. It all goes back to the same double standard I guess. I must say, though, that I am steering clear of war coverage. I had the tube on for a few short intervals today when I ate, took a break from writing, etc, but I think watching the war coverage on there is really bad for you, like UV rays or radon. So I guess I “distract” myself with the sports things you mentioned, and try to keep in touch with the war on the web, which is marginally better in my view for getting a real picture, if you choose where you go.

I think the sites that Kate found are very powerful, in fact I had to stop myself from reading too much. I felt my resolve to do my work fading and right now I need to be a little selfish so I can just finish this damn thesis… it seems so irrelevant at time that I have to ignore world events to stay motivated.

I was talking to a bunch of grad students, all not American, at lunch today and kind of came upon a thought, and that is that this country would be a lot better off if people realized the reason why we are where we are…the reason, to my view, is that all the best and brightest, most creative and hard-working people come here from wherever they were in disproportionate numbers. Now, the reason they come here is because of the freedoms we have and the quality of life…(fun stat: of my 250 thesis references, how many papers were authored by people with traditional “american names”: less than 50…how many were written by people WORKING IN AMERICA and for american companies/universities? about 160 or so…)so I think it’s a chicken or egg thing…which came first? the talented people? or the freedom/quality of life? that’s for another day. but anyway, the whole point is that america is only america if the world looks up to us. and i fear that may be in trouble for the first time in our lives.

peace and love, ben.

Hey guys, here’s a quick update. i saw gwu last during march madness at reed. my team (house husband’s) lost by a point to gwu’s reed team. anyway, he had hitched hiked from the ski cabin down to play. crazy huh? he said he was going to email about details, phone no., etc, but has failed to do so. i’m kinda worried since i haven’t heard from him in about 2 weeks. i might call ann casey to get the number. the last i talked to isuru was about 2 weeks and he just seemed incredibly busy. he was trying to come by portland but couldn’t quite afford it yet. anyway, i have his number if any of you are interested. as for my STP training…i met a guy a few weeks ago on a ride and now i ride with him and his group. we do about 40+ miles on saturday mornings and they all seem really nice. a few of them race so i can learn cool tips from them. although descending at 55mph just requires nerves and i don’t really have that right now. i ride about 100+ miles a week so i think i’m doing well. okay, i gotta get back to work. take it easy. -colin

Nice post Mark.

The war is of course on, and it’s possible to see everything in downtown Baghdad. Kinda freaky to imagine what it is to have to change your route to work or the store because you’d be passinig a likely target. I suppose that the advancements in weapons tech are good in that we no longer raze entire cities, but it almost makes for an almost surreal situation where the war is just down the street at the intertsection of x and y. I feel for the Iraq troops on the front lines, and feel for a population that must be terrified out of their minds.

In ’94 after we launched into Iraq (cruise missles to support somethign or other), almost the entirety of out battle group could be seen on the same horizon, an event that never happens as we’re normaly spead over tens of miles. We fired off at like 4 or 5 am, and the next day, as we were realatively huddled, was an odd one. We obviously took a defensive type posture, and then just waited. Reality was for us that our battle group could readily handle anything, so, it’s not waiting with concrete fear for your life. But waiting for action of that nature is odd. I cannot imagine what it is to know that it is without a doubt comming, you wont see it, and if your in the wrong place, you will simply die.

It is an unfortunate day.

A final thought. Two nations are at war, one is being bombed and the lives of it’s citizens are disrupted to the point that things effectively cease. The other has the oscars, tournaments, and reunions of the batchelor to watch and doesn’t care to me mired in the details of the war they are involved with. I might have an unusual degree of intrest in these kinds of things, but I can’t say if I find it discouraging to the point of offense that we are so fucking nonchalant about this. When we loose people here we get whipped into an irrational frenzy, and when we get what we want, and are actually involved in the taking of lives, we can’t be bothered to pay attention. Fucking pathetic.

Another observation: We strike Iraq, immediately there’s a report that 600 US troops are huning Al Qeida in southern Afghanistan, then Bush makes his speech and mentions in passing that this might not go as fast as some have figured (though I thought they were the only ones assuring anything…), and now we have a senior Al Qeida operative that *may* be involved in a huge plot against us here and *may* already be in the US. Does this strike anyone else as fishy? First go to war in a ‘resolute’ fashion, then say “oh, well we’re doing great on that other issue too,” then remind everone ‘why’ we’re doing this by mentioning somthing of no timely value or substance? My god…