Duckie Murder

Yes...
My dog likes Duckies.
He went and got the Duckie out of my suitcase.
We found the body this morning.
My Duckie is no longer with us.

Family

The military truly is one gigantic family.
I was at the gym this morning,
The same one my parents workout at,
And this lady comes up to me and gives me a Christmas present.
I’ve seen her maybe once before in my life.
(At the gym last Spring Break)
Apparently,
She has a son that joined the military the same day I did.
He’s in Iraq right now.
So,
Even though I’ve seen her only once before,
She still thought of bringing me something.
I thought that was really cool.

Princes & Frogs

I found this on my computer.
My sis put it there.
Good stuff.
Princes & Frogs

Merry Christmas Y'all

Hope y'all had as good a time as I did.
I got a blanket and pajamas.
And books.
Books are abad idea to get me,
Becasue I don't even read the ones I pay for.
I haven't got enough time.

And I finally found out what the dog was trying to get at.
It's a Rubber Duckie.
An AF Blue Rubber Ducky.

Rockin Around The Christmas Tree

Holiday Greetings

For My Democrat Friends:
"Please accept with no obligation,
Implied or implicit,
Our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible,
Low-stress,
Non-addictive,
Gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday,
Practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice,
Or secular practices of your choice,
With respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others,
Or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
We also wish youa fiscally successful,
Personally fulfilling,
And medically uncomplicated recognition of the generally accepted calendar year 2007,
But not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures
Whose contributions to society have helped make America great.
Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country
Nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere.
And without regard to the race,
Creed,
Color,
Age,
Physical ability,
Religious faith,
Or sexual preference of thewishes.
By accepting these greetings you are accepting these terms.
This greetingis subject to clarification or withdrawal.
It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting.
It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself or himself or others,
And is void where prohibited by law
And is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.
This wish is warranted to perform as expected
Within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year
Or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting,
Whichever comes first,
And warranty is limited to replacement of this wish
Or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher."

For My Republican Friends:
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Hiding Spot

Apparently…
The kids hid something for me in the cabinet.
They moved it because the dog kept trying to get it.
But the dog smells the residue of whatever it was.
So he destroyed the cabinet trying to get it.
I doubt it’s food because they It wasn’t in the fridge.
So needless to say.
If the dog likes it that much…
I’m more than a little concerned.

Academy Ball

Last night was the North Texas Uniformed Service Academy Ball.
Good times.
The food was good,
And the decorations were nice.
The speaker was good too.
They had a live band this time,
Which was nice.
Last year they just had a DJ.
And they had dancing contests too.
I won first place in the Swing contest with a girl I had just met that night.
The prize was two two-way tickets to anywhere in the continental US.
That was really cool.
I wonder if they’ll be doing that again next year.

The Weather, In CO

Well...
All that snow we were supposed to get?
Never happened.
Not a single flake.

So...
My flight left as scheduled,
At 0630 this morning.
I slept the whole way.
Didn’t wake up until the pilot put the brakes on.

This afternoon I was shopping,
And I saw on the news,
Every airport in CO is closed.
They got 2 feet of snow between when I left and about 2 this afternoon.

German

Current Score

Dean: 0 Earth: 6

English

Shakspeare is dead.
But then again,
So are puppets.
They seem alive enough.

Current Score

Dean: 0 Earth: 5

Coffe Shop

I'm sitting in the Cadet Coffe Shop,
Cafinating my body for my next final this afternoon.
Trina, the lady that runs the shop,
Has a CD playing.
It has alot of older songs on it.
Alot of them are songs I swing to.
So I'll pipe up every now and then saying,
"That's a good song"
"I like that one"
All with in the first couple of notes.
I think she thinks it's weird that a cadet knows all these old songs.

Weather = Snow: Not Cool

So...
There is a massive snow storm headed towards this area.
It's gonna park here for about three days

This means there's a good chance of delays,
Or cancelations,
At the airport.

They had better not cancel my flight.
Cadets have a tendency to get violent when people mess with their breaks.

If it comes down to it,
I will shovel the entire runway,
Then fly the jet myself.

Math

Woo hoo.
That was fun.
After comparing this final to Physics,
I think something is backwards.
All of Physics was cruching numbers,
While all of math was solveing real world problems.
Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Current Score

Dean: 0 Earth: 4

The UnFunny Truth

Sent to me by a freind.
Link

The Earth CAN Be Moved

It appears I've finally found my arch-nemisis.
One who beleives that the earth cannot be moved,
and he has a website about it.

According to him...
"The Earth is not rotating...nor is it going around the sun."

Now...
THos of you who have read my "research" paper on physics,
KNOW that the Earth can indeed be moved.
I have no idea what is wrong with this guy...

Physics

That went ALOT better than I expected.

Current Score

Dean: 0 Earth: 3

Law

So...
I definitely just rewrote the Constitution and every other important document.
But I think they were pretty close to the original.

Current Score

Dean: 0 Earth: 2

Behavioral Science

It's that time again.
Time to put up the old finals scoreboard.
Yeah, I know I need to update the picture.

Current Score

Dean: 0 Earth: 1

Fabric and Courage

This was written by a classmate of mine

Joseph R. Tomczak, Class of 2009

United States Air Force Academy

If you like this Essay,

Pleasr vote for Essay 1 at

WantsCheck

A flag is usually made from tightly woven, high-quality cotton. Its corners are carefully double stitched to prevent fraying. It has brass rings on the corners and dark, bold colors stained into the fabric. It’s the kind of flag you put out in front of your house on Memorial Day. But not this flag. This flag is made of one-hundred percent nylon because it is easier to pack. This flag was probably stitched together somewhere in a warehouse in the middle of Tennessee by a sowing machine operator paid slightly higher than the minimum wage. Then it was packaged and shipped to a USO in Germany where flags were being given out to deploying Marines and that’s how it ended up in the back of a humvee on a street corner in southern Iraq.

So when a captain crawled into the back of the abandoned vehicle to retrieve medical supplies for his Marines he also grabbed the tightly folded flag as bullets ricocheted off the humvee’s armor. He ran back to his wounded comrades taking cover across the street while other Marines were repelling the ambush with the sound of hundreds of brass casings hitting the ground. Later the captain will recall that he didn’t even feel the bullet wound in his leg as he called in an air strike against the enemy sniper position just a few blocks away. All he remembered was the sound of the fighter pilot’s voice over the radio as she confirmed the target and put a laser guided bomb through the sniper’s window.

Having fought their way through the last remaining enemy holdout in the small port city, the Marines took down the old Iraqi flag which bore the words “God is great” inscribed from Saddam’s own handwriting. It was promptly replaced it with that nylon American flag atop one of the tallest buildings. The creases in the material were still visible as it flew in the breeze that day and the colors of the flag flew in stark contrast with the brown buildings and dust covered streets. Later, the media-conscience commanders would decide that the flag had to come down, and the Marines would take it down – but they would never forget the sacrifice and the courage it took to raise it.

It is clear why there is such opposition to the desecration of the American flag. Millions of Americans have worn the uniform of the United States and served under the flag. We have shed countless tears and beads of sweat under the flag; many have bled under it – thousands have died under it. For America’s uniformed men and women, and the veterans who came before us, the flag embodies more than just the ideals of freedom and human liberty that most citizens love and cherish… the flag is a part of who we have become. For us, the flag represents a higher cause and purpose than one’s self. For soldiers like us, the flag is the sum of all of our experiences – both the pride and the pain, both the service and the sacrifice, both the courage and the cost. As college professor Michael Geisler describes it, the flag is a “metaphor to die for.”1 More appropriately still, the flag is a metaphor worth dying for.

Furthermore, we as military members have pledged to defend the United States against “all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Some see those who would desecrate the flag as domestic enemies who threaten the rights of others when they propagate anti-American sentiment so publicly. It is true that when military members and their families see the flag disgraced by citizens of their own country, it has a weakening affect on the morale and sense of purpose that every soldier carries into combat. It is true when a citizen burns the flag, he or she is disgracing the sacrifice and contributions of millions of Americans to the cause of freedom around the world.

Desecration of the flag is a senseless act, born out of ignorance and perceived injustice. The action itself accomplishes very little, with much more attention placed on the act of desecration than on the political message an individual is attempting to convey to the public. When a citizen burns the flag, they also incinerate their legitimacy, their credibility, and their perceived moral high-ground.

I have never witnessed an American flag set on fire, and I hope I never will. But if I were to imagine for a moment what it would feel like, I imagine it would be like standing in New Jersey on the bank of the Hudson River on a warm late-summer morning. It would feel like standing on that bank and watching Lower Manhattan engulfed in smoke and flames, and waiting for tugboats to bring the first wave of casualties across the river… a feeling of violation, of vulnerability, of helplessness.

Yet despite all of this, we must protect a citizen’s right to burn the flag. The reason for this originates from the very fundamental principle the American military stands for, the protection of the freedom the United States provides. We cannot allow ourselves to become complacent with the concept of limiting the rights of others, regardless of how shameful and contemptible that right may be. Our task, and ultimately our calling, is to defend the Constitution of the United States, which protects the rights of all citizens as long as their actions do not infringe on the rights of others. As members of the military we must remember that we are fighting not only for those citizens who hold our same political views – we serve every citizen and protect their rights to express themselves however they wish, even if it means the degradation of the very symbol we hold dear.

So, an American flag is made from tightly woven fabric, double stitched seams, and the hopes and dreams of millions of free people across the globe. Despite the shame of flag burning, as citizens who wear the uniform we must be prepared to defend the right of expression and degradation of our symbol of freedom… We may not agree with everything that our citizens do, but we must be prepared to fight and even die to defend their right to do it.

We cannot allow for the limitation of the rights of the American people. We cannot join the ranks of those countries that jail or punish their citizens for speaking out against the government. Dissent, whether it is verbal, written, or demonstrated must be protected. It is fundamental to our society as a beacon and example for free expression and human liberty. It is the essential difference between America and her enemies who have no regard for such principles. It is what separates us… from them.

You're thoughts?