21 Sep 07

Tonight I will be in Moberly attending the opening of the mobile Vietnam Memorial display at the VFW. I may also be staying in Moberly Saturday night, after I’ve moved in the furniture that Kevin and Rachelle have brought down for me from Kansas City.

I have enjoyed the various projects of Seth Green for some time; I thought he had the coolest character on Buffy, he’s been in several enjoyable movies, and his recent animated adventures on TCN have been absolutely hilarious. Unfortunately, the non-stop liberal politics displayed in Robot Chicken Season 2 and The Family Guy Season 5, I will no longer be watching these shows.
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Update, 0735: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, will be visiting the United States on Sunday. This has been well-publicized because of his request to lay a wreathe at ground zero, and because of his college speaking engagment. What is news to me, however, is that the New York Times will apparently be taking him out for lunch at the Four Seasons…
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Update, 1301: A panel on Fox News decided that, if Columbia College is going to host Ahmadinejad on the premise that it does not constitute an endorsement of his ideas and that we should be willing to engage other ideas, then they should still be allowing ROTC on their campus. In fact, they should invite the British hostages taken by Iran several months ago to show up and engage Ahmadinejad’s ideas personally.

What I’m up to

Well, the ATA may be the single worst investment I’ve ever made. Not only is it not providing me any opportunity to actually train in martial arts skills, but it is so horrible that I’m finding it difficult to get motivated to actually show up. It is, essentially, an over-priced aerobic dance class.

I attended my first Church service in about ten years on Sunday. It was at Unity Christian Chuch, here in Jefferson City. Unity is a “New Thought” movement founded by Missouri metaphysician Charles Fillmore in the early 20th century. I find it enjoyable to be able attend service with people who might be interested in Rosicrucianism and such, although for the most part I feel like an Orthodox Christian who must choose between a Baptist congregation or no service at all.

One of the most jarring elements for me, as a Gnostic, is the lack of ritual. I can understand why things like baptism and communion were let go, given the background that New Thought emerged from: baptism had degenerated into sprinkling “magic water” on babies to keep them safe from “the devil,” and communion was just grape juice and saltines that interrupted the service. For me, though, having a deeper understanding of where these ritual elements originated, I would have liked to seem them continued (and perhaps improved).

Third Course

Well, it looks like I have a new course to study! I have been working my way through two courses, while I’m waiting for OCS and college, later.
The first is “Zola’s Introduction to Hebrew,” the best introductory Hebrew text I could find. This course is offered through “Hebrew for Christians.”
The second is AWAI’s “Accellerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting.” My progress on this course has been haphazard, and I’m not entirely convinced that it will be a viable second career–but I am going to stick with it.
The newest, and most important–course is http://www.investools.com’s “Stocks” course. I attended a three-hour introductory seminar yesterday. I CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS SEMINAR HIGHLY ENOUGH. I will be setting up a paper-trading account through http://www.thinkorswim.com, taking advantage of the nine free months of sevice I got for attending the seminar. This is good stuff; everybody should at least attend the free seminar (and no, I don’t get referrals).

Redacted

I am officially boycotting Brian de Palma–not that I was a big fan of his before. Other people might consider doing the same thing. Mr. de Palma is in the process of releasing his new movie, “Redacted,” crafted specifically to hurt the U. S. war on terror. It consists of several stories of military members serving in Iraq raping Iraqi women and indiscriminately killing civilians.
I really am getting tired of this Hollywood crap. Thank God for Frank Miller! Whatever happened to the days when all the actors and directors were military veterans?

Investools

I won’t be in tomorrow; I’ll be attending an Investools seminar in Columbia. Although I won’t be able to make immediate use of the knowledge thus gained, I hope to begin investing in the market by May of next year.
Sunday I will be attending church services at the Unity Christian Church in Jefferson City. I hope that this will turn into my first regular attendence since I joined the USMC back in 1996. Between tae kwon do, freemasonry and the Guard, my schedule is getting quite full!

Petraeus and Congress

I’ve been watching General Petraeus report to Congress on Fox News. The anti-victory congressmen seem to keep harping on the lack of political progress as compared to military progress. My question is, why don’t the politicians leave the military planning to the generals, and take care of the political arena themselves? Perhaps some visits to Iraq to help show the way?

Patriot Day

Today is Patriot Day, officially designated a holiday back in 2001 by Congress and the President. It is a day to remember the 3,000 who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks of 9/11; to remember the people who fought back; to remember why we are fighting for freedom and democracy in the middle east. I find it appropriate that not only is today a new moon, but there was a partial solar eclipse this morning–today is a remembrance of darkness, and a signal for transition.

Fly your flags at half-mast today. Have a moment of silence before dinner. Say a prayer for our troops in the desert.

As I write this, General David Petraeus is preparing to give his testimony before congress regarding the troop surge in Iraq. There are many in the Democratic Party, such as Harry “Give ‘Em Surrender” Reid, who are heavily invested in America’s defeat. Along with 527 organizations like MoveOn.org, they are not only denying progress in Iraq, they are accusing General Petraeus of treason. This would be highly ironic, given their support for self-admitted war criminal John Kerry, if it were not so repulsively spiteful and willfully ignorant.

If you can find the time, I urge you to write your congressmen regarding your displeasure at this utterly baseless and honorless villification.
For Missourians, you can reach Senator McCaskill at:
http://mccaskill.senate.gov/contact.cfm
And Senator Bond at:
http://bond.senate.gov/contact/contactme.cfm

Lodge

I attended Lodge last night, for the first time since I started my new job in March. If you aren’t aware, this would be Acacia Lodge #602, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons. I served as an officer in two first-degree initiations; it is really impressive to take part in the ceremonies as an officiant, remembering the sense of disorientation and wonder experienced as a participant.

Of course, I’d just gone on a four mile run that afternoon, and my legs were shaking like I was about to fall the whole time…

On Victim Disarmament

Today, someone in a nearby office got into a victim disarmament argument with some civilian secretaries. It was regarding a shooting in a McDonald’s in northern Columbia (MO) over the weekend. One of the secretaries apparently voiced the opinion that it was a good thing that the victim hadn’t been armed, as this would have resulted in a “bloodbath.”
I would argue that, especially given that the shooter and victim knew each other, it would have prevented the shooting altogether. Here is the definitive question you must ask on this subject:

Would you rather live in society in which the law discourages criminals from attacking in the first place, or discourages victims from defending themselves?