IE v. Firefox

For reasons beyond me viewing this blog works better in Firefox than Internet Explorer. So I would encourage you all to download Firefox if you haven't already. There is a Firefox button on the side for your clicking convenience.

NEW LOOK FOR VOLBOY

I hope you all missed me. Whew what a crazy semester! In the mean time I've managed to redo the look for VOLBOY and create a great looking banner on top. This picture comes from our time in ASP Flea near Al Asad, Iraq and is the inspiration for the banner. We are hoisting up our colors and paying tribute to our homestate. More posts will come but make sure to check out some of the Volunteer links. Feedback on the new look would be greatly appreciated.

flood aid

Good speech from the "dark lord" Karl Rove. Warning: Liberals will not enjoy this.

Remember to take the MIT Weblog Survey fellow bloggers.

Saddam has gone from feared dictator to token celebrity status. It's like he's a famous reality tv star now. Man! What I wouldn't have given to have a family size bag of doritos (his favorite snack) while I was on a convoy.

I loved Batman Begins! The first 45 minutes are edited a little choppy but thats Nolan's way of doing things I guess. Once you're caught up on the back story and we get into the creation of the Batman it gets so freakin awesome! I loved how everything he used had a purpose and a believable history. Like the batmoblie was a bridging vehicle designed for use by the military but never contracted out. Or that his bat ears hide sensitive microphones to pick up conversations. The hallucination scenes are trippy and actually somewhat scary . I loved the scene where the scarecrow was trippin and thought the batman was like this dark demon straight from the pits of hell with pools of drool coming from his fangs. And somehow Gary Oldman made a cheap pair of glasses and a really fake mustache turn into a Gordon character we can care about. The whole good cop amongst the corrupt worked really well. And finally I loved Gordon's point about escalation at the end. How he questions whether a crime fighter in a bat suit will not really solve Gotham's problems, but only add to them by creating even more sinister bad guys. And then the foreshadowing of the joker....can't wait till the next one! I really like Nolan's vision of Gotham city and the Batman. Hopefully he won't screw up, like putting nipples on the batsuit, but things seem well off in his hands

You spill ketchup on your bosses slacks. He then e-mails you and explains the dry cleaning fee was 4 pounds.....and your reply e-mail gets forwarded all over the country and makes it to cnn.com.

Great article about the relationship between Lucas and Spielberg. Money quote:

And so Lucas has been drawn back to Star Wars with an air of glum fatalism, while Spielberg puts on ever more ambidextrous displays of reach and range. Lucas may well win the box-office battle this summer, but Spielberg looks like he's won the war.

I guess they can both live in harmony together knowing that each have their little pet projects that aren't all that good. Lucas has his Star Wars prequals and Spielberg has his Jurassic Park triology.

God bless you Billy Graham.

Duke University has released the results of their ipod giveaway program. At the beginning of the Academic year they gave an ipod to every freshmen with the intention of professors using them in their courses of instruction. In the end Duke will not hand out ipods to every freshman next year but only those in courses that require ipods. The report can be found here at the University's website and seen in PDF format here.

Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, has taken to the Senate floor recently and chastied the treatment of prisoners in Gitmo. In doing so he compared American service men and women to Nazis. Way to go dick.

DNC chairman Howard Dean rips into the Republican Party by calling it largely made up of "white Christians". Hard to believe since Dean is a white christian and the chairman of the RNC is Jewish.

Here is an insightful article about a rare breed of politician. These are elected representatives that serve in the United States Military Reserve. Sadly no one in the Senate is currently serving in the Reserves and there is only one active reservist in the House. All that do serve come from state legislatures.

URGENT: If I advised you on 6.7.2005 I need your schedule. Please e-mail it to me after you are done registering. I cannot file your permanent folder until you do so. Thanks guys.

Links and tips for incomming students

Academic Advising Suggestions and Links.

Here are some Helpful Links :

Student Success Center
Circle Park Online
Student Involvement
University Homepage
Arts and Sciences Homepage
College of Business Homepage
College of Education Homepage
College of Nursing Homepage
College of Engineering Homepage
Career Services
Center for Leadership Development (See Ignite program)

Helpful Tips and reminders:
-Remeber your schedule is a working schedule and can be changed around all summer via CPO.
-Design your fall schedule to help you succeed. You need a 2.75 GPA to keep your Hope Scholarship!
-Don't forget the Drop a class policy we went over!
-Follow the rules, Fill in the blanks!
-Hold on to your Curriculum Guide and Handbook for the duration of your college career.
-Classes begin August 24th!
-If you have any questions or comments you can e-mail me or you can post a comment or question by following the "comment" link below.

Good Luck.

There's no end in sight of the quagmire we've gotten ourselves into. Only it's not in Iraq, it's in Europe, sixty years afterD-Day and our attempt at nation building has gone horribly wrong.

Going after Tom Delay might end up biting some Congressmen in the ass. Especially a certain Congressman from my home state, Harold Ford, Jr. Money quote:

From 1998 to 2003, he took 61 privately funded trips. During that period, he failed to file a single travel-disclosure form with the House clerk, as required by the chamber's ethics rules.

Of course having your uncle arrested for taking bribes doesn't help too much either. VOLuntarilyConserative has a good roundup.

In an earlier post I talked about Amnesty International's decree about our detention facilities as the leading cause of others commiting torture, but the real money quote was when Amnesty called Gitmo the 'gulag of our time'. Now the President of AI is saying he's not sure if it's a gulag or not. Brilliant.

More coverage here and here.

This sounds familiar. A women who apparently fled from her family has been found seven years later. It was originally thought she was kidnapped. Instead she was fleeing from her mother after having an argument with her over her grades at Texas A & M. Hmmmmm. Should she be treated the same as the runaway bride?

Update

Here is another article going into detail about the Tennessee Waltz undercover sting that I blogged about earlier. What was most damning is the fact that Senator Ford took $50,000 and was caught on tape.

Ford is accused of taking a series of payoffs totaling $55,000 between August and April. The FBI made video or audio recordings of all but one of those exchanges of cash, Jackson said. On another recording they catch him saying "send me a little money."

Ouch.

Check out the Wired Campus Blog about the evolution of education technology. Pay particular interest to the' space creators' entry about the first ever computer video game invented. IThe computer to run it only cost about $120,000 and you could shoot at asteroids or rather really, really big pixels. Fun for the whole family.

Opposing viewpoints on the situation with the EU constitution crisis. This article by associated press reporter Ann Gearan suggest the crisis if it worsens will have a negative impact on the Bush Administration becuase of their conserted efforts to mend fences after the Iraq War. Not having a unified Europe will make it much more difficult to squeeze those cooperative juices together.

The European Union seems to be in disarray just at the time the administration is willing to work with the EU.

However John O'Sullivan writes that a Europe in dissary wouldn't be such a bad thing at all, but rather an opportunity for the US to come in and mediate a deal. Amusingly called Plan B.

In reality there is always a Plan B, even if the politicians avoid considering it until Plan A has collapsed. Under this particular Plan B, the United States would rescue Turkey and the EU from their joint crises while also advancing U.S. interests in transatlantic integration.

Read both.

Job Description
Wanted: Someone with good people skills that enjoys swanky dinners, NBA basketball games, gambling in Mississippi, and spending weekends in Miami. All expenses paid, no out of pocket money.

Sound too good to be true? Well it's not. It's exactly what undercover FBI agents did to nab Rep. Ford who works for my homestate. Those criminals don't make Volboy very happy buts its nice to see some FBI agents doing their job.... aptly named the Tennessee Waltz. White Collar Crime Prof Blog has more.

'Deep Throat' is revealed!!

Our favorite folks across the Atlantic are wondering why their violent crime rate is increasing dramaticly. Britain has some of the most restrictive gun control and self defense laws in the world. Now that the gun control lobby has gotten their way with no effect on violent crime the next logical solution would be what? Knives! Yes and not your typical 'that's not a knife, this is a knife!" Crocodile Dundee bowie! Nooooo. Kitchen knives are the culprit now. Neal Boortz is all over this one.

Mustang Marine cleared of wrongdoing

A Mustang Marine is one who was enlisted first and then becomes an officer, hence the mix breed Mustang. Lt. Pantano who seeked a commission in the Marines in response to the 9/11 attacks has been cleared of any wrong doing in his Article 32 (grand jury) hearing. Why was someone who was defending his men charged in the first place? This sadly is why,

“Down at the unit level, there was never a question about Ilario’s conduct and whether or not he did the right thing,” Charles Gittins, Pantano’s civilian lawyer, said. “It was up in the higher echelons. The people removed from combat situations needed to put more trust in their officers rather than assuming they’re guilty.”

I'm not surprised. Though the Marines do one of the best jobs of training their men and women to handle a great deal of responsibility it is difficult to work with the higher ups when they can't see the battlefield from your point of view. That's why they give you the benefit of the doubt but here they chose not to and had a public relations fiasco.

I can laud the President for sticking to his guns in the debate over stem cell research. I can not deny how beneficial it would for my family memebers to have access to the medical benefits stem cells would have. Senator Arlen Spector spoke out today on the need for more government funding in stem cell research and the House and Senate both debate stem cell research bills. This is one issue I'm going to have to disagree with President. I would hate to see him veto any such bill.

Once again Amensty International decries our abuses of enemy prisoners of war in a loud statement but this time they take it one step further and blame the US for the rest of the worlds abuse of prisoners and torture tactics. The President of Amensty had this to say,

When the most powerful country in the world thumbs its nose at the rule of law and human rights, it grants a licence to others to commit abuse with impunity.

I don't buy it. Meanwhile there are some good outcomes to the war on terror like this here.

Let's hope this is true.

Update: He might have fled the country after suffering a gun shot wound to the lung.

Update II: Now the Iraqi government acknowledges that Zarq is injured. I hope it was from a 5.56 mm shot from a Lance Corporals M-16 A2. And I hope he's in a lot of pain. He's earned it.

Good riddance. See 'Jacko's Future".

I don't know whether I should laugh or feel pity about this. Please don't try and make your own lightsabers and then fight each other. It will just lead to an emergency room visit.

Update: Okay this I can laugh at.

I saw Star Wars this weekend and my review in ten words or less is this: Stiff acting, great effects, Darth Vader rules! Unfortunatly, I didn't see any of these people. But the female Boba Fett would've been nice.

Update: Here are some more photos of people living the Star Wars dream. A good rendition of Princess Leia can be found if you look closely.

Recruiting

The Army's recruting problems don' t stop with not having enough potential pooles. A one day moratorium was issed by the Army Recruiting Commander in response to some reported recruiting abuses. The following story is an inside look at the Army's recruiting woes in my hometown. This statement must have some impact in recruting.

The Tennessee Army National Guard, which has deployed every major unit in the state since Sept. 11, 2001, also has been affected.

I'm hoping thigs turn for the better but as the economy grows the recruiters have a more difficult time selling their occupation as a unique career. But then again one could always join up here.

The Army's recruting problems don' t stop with not having enough troops. A one day moratorium was issed by the Army Recruiting Commander in response to some reported recruiting abuses. The following story is an inside look at the Army's recruiting woes in my hometown. This statement must have some impact in recruting.

The Tennessee Army National Guard, which has deployed every major unit in the state since Sept. 11, 2001, also has been affected.

I'm hoping thigs turn for the better but as the economy grows the recruiters have a more difficult time selling their occupation as a unique career. But then again one could always join up here.

After reading this column by Fouad Ajami I'm tempted to say that our perspective here in the states is so unabashadly skewed towards failure that this is a much needed breath of fresh air.

The doors have been thrown wide open, and the truth of that world laid bare. Grant Mr. Bush his due: The revolutionary message he brought forth was the simple belief that there was no Arab and Muslim "exceptionalism" to the appeal of liberty. For a people mired in historical pessimism, the message of this outsider was a powerful antidote to the culture of tyranny.

Read the whole thing.

Tales of a nasty reservist

Fall Semester 1998

I was nineteen and entering a new chapter in my life. College, with all of its wild idealism was actually having an affect on me. I hated it. So far I knew very few people. My friends had gone off to college elsewhere or were still in high school and the only person I knew well enough to call an acquaintance was my dorm mate Scott. We lived in a dorm room comparative in size to a horse stall though ours was kind enough to have laminate flooring instead of dirt. It reminded me of a hospital wing with its abundant fluorescent lighting and freshly cleaned floors reeking of too much bleach.
Scott was a second year student who came from a small family and an even smaller town. He was tall with a lanky frame and had a buzzed hair cut very reminiscent of a Rockwell painting. Scott was not your typical student though. On top of his schoolwork and undergrad commitments he was also a Marine, and a fresh from boot camp. The following summer he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve and returned to school after he graduated from boot camp. He was very new to the Corps but he was also very dedicated. I thought very little of this since I had zero interest in the military. Don’t get me wrong I didn’t dislike the military. This is the kid that grew up playing with G.I. Joe and watching Desert Storm play out on television like it was some kind of kick ass video game. I happened to think very highly of the military and especially of the Marines. So much so that I knew it wasn’t for me. For one thing I was incredibly out of shape. After finishing football in high school I didn’t have to worry about being in peak physical condition so I ate till my heart’s content. Voila! I’m fat. I was even more certain that the Marines were so tough and so crazy in the head that their was no way I could ever survive training and, God help me, fight in battle. I assured myself that this was not the path I wanted to go down.

Revenge of the Frist

MoveOn has posted their latest ad. It portrays Senator Frist as an up and coming Emperor hell- bent on putting 'right wing judges' in the judiciary. Hmmmm...

See the insanity (and poor sepcial effects) by clicking here.

Not a very good likeness of him really. He needs more...more...well this might work.


Update: Jim Geraghty has a good question, poor special effects put aside, is this what MoveOn embers wants to spend their money on?

It has been a good while since I've blogged. I'm starting now.

USA Today's DeWayne Wickham is his editorial column yesterday entitled "A 15 month enlisment? Better check the fine print" is a wonderful example of the ignorance of journalist's knowledge about the military. He states,

Everyone who enters the all-volunteer military incurs a total service obligation of eight years, a portion of which is spent on active duty. For the remainder of this time, the enlistee can be called back into uniform at the government's discretion under a program called "stop-loss."

This is untrue. Upon completion of an individual's first active or reserve duty enlistment contract (any where from 15 months-6 years) enlistee is then transferred to the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) to complete the eight years. They are only required to update their home address and contact information with their corresponding command. It requires no active duty service. The military does have the authority to place the enlistee back onto active duty from the IRR if deemed necessary. The 'stop loss' directive does not bring someone back into the active duty ranks like the IRR, but rather keeps them from leaving the active or reserve component. It keeps personnel in valuable specialties such as linguistics and intelligence from leaving before suitable replacements can be recruited and trained.

The difference might be insignificant to most but to us in the military it means a good deal. This would make Mr. Wickham's opinion piece much more compelling were he to include this distinction between 'stop loss' and the IRR.

..and this was on a colder day. 

yummy turkey!