A blog about a girl who speaks her mind and talks about whatever she wants. So its a blog about everything, and absolutely nothing, all at the same time. . .
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Name: Kami
Alias: Risawn
Location: Washington State, United States
An avid Snowboarder, rabid NRA supporter, Starving Artist, Military Junkie, anti-fru-fru Glorified Private that basically posts incoherant ramblings and things better left unsaid.
So, over the weekend Kosovo decided to declare independence from Serbia.
Some people might have just glanced over this news as if it was nothing worth noting, considering we've been in Kosovo since 1999 and everyone is just bored with it.
But Kosovo suddenly becoming its own country is pretty big news, especially considering what it could mean for the Balkans, as Serbia doesn't want to release its hold on Kosovo yet and Russia has been very vocally opposed to Kosovo declaring independence without official UN support.
I guess they have a point, as they don't want people to get ideas that they can just break off from a larger nation and create their own country, but I don't think this could happen very often. The only reason Kosovo can declare independence is because NATO forces are there to keep the peace. But unless they can come up with some agreement with Serbia to allow them to remain their own soveriegn nation, NATO is going to be there for a long time, because as soon as we pull out, Serbia is just going to go right back in and take what they think is theirs.
I've said this for some time, there really is no peaceful resolution to Kosovo. Good thing the Kosovar Albanians love Americans. Although it would be kind of interesting to be there right now.
In other news that's taking up , is the whole Marines in Berkeley, CA. This gives you an inkling on the whole Looney Left, to kick out an officer recruiting station from their hippy town. Apparently one nutjob was quoted as saying something along the lines of the marines being close to the high school, and how they didn't feel that the high school located blocks away was safe.
Actually, from what I understand, the recruiting station is located near the university, because it's target is college graduates, seeing as its an Officer Recruiting station.
Man, if I wanted to become an officer in the Marine Corps, I would personally drive myself down to Berkeley just so I could be recruited from their office.
The Marines appear to be professionals in this whole debacle, stating it's business as Usual.
Code Pink, on the other hand, are proving more and more to be crazy and idiotic lunatics that apparently think defacing government property is not a crime when they do it, so long as the city has their back.
Well, Senator Jim DeMint has proposed taking the earmarked pork set aside for Berkeley so they can have their organic school catering federally funded by proposing the Semper Fi Act of 2008, which I honestly think should go through, even if it doesn't end up going to the Marines, I would just like to see money like this not being wasted on stupid crap.
I think that's one thing I liked about McCain is his anti-pork stance.
Berkeley California could fall off the face of the planet and I doubt many people will miss it.
What is with people who think that the right of Free Speech is the right to be free of consequences of what they say? I don't get it.
There's been a lot going on in the world right now, some of which I'm not entirely sure I know much about.
Well, first there is the whole Anonymous war with the Church of Scientology, which they call Chanology, which is actually pretty fascinating as I never really understood what Scientology was all about. I have a couple of friends who are following this whole chanology thing and have been keeping me updated on the whole spiel, pretty interesting how an unorganized group with no obvious head has decided to take down an organization. I'm not a big fan of Scientology but the more I learn about it, the less I like the organization.
This video is about three weeks old, but its still pretty weird.
Not saying I'm a part of Anonymous or anything, I've got other things in my life, but I think I'm more on the side of Anonymous when you figure out some of the crap the CoS has done.
Fascinating stuff, oil's not getting any cheaper by any means. Irony is that alternative fuels tend to need, yes, crude oil.
I've always wanted to get some property in the country and make it self sufficient. You know, have a garden, solar power, maybe some horses and goats, so that when we go back a hundred years because we have no power, I will be alright. How much are solar panels anyway, and how effective are they?
Wow, there really are journalists out there who want to cover something other then Paris Hilton. I haven't laughed this hard at a news program for some time.
I found this article to be rather interesting in regards to the update on Kosovo and Bush's stance on it. It doesn't surprise me that Albania greeted Bush with great enthusiasm, as Albanians love Americans, (There is a street named after Bill Clinton in Kosovo, and his image is plastered on a sky scraper in Pristina) and I wonder if he stopped by Camp Bondsteel and said hi to the troops (I'm sure they would appreciate the support as most people forget we are even still in Kosovo) but I found his stance interesting. Bush is taking a Pro Albanian stance on the issue that is Kosovo and declaring independence. To tell you the honest truth, that seems to be the best thing for the war torn international protectorate. Though the Albanian majority and Serbian minority need to learn to get along and live with each other.
I don't know how successful such arrangement will be, but it would be nice to see some resolution to this ongoing conflict.
Ok, I don't know why, but I've been drawn to celebrity gossip lately.
This might be related to the fact that I'm the official magazine person at my work now. See, I'm responsible for the magazine section at work now so I stay pretty current with the gossip rags. Whether it be Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, or Paris Hilton.
Not being one for gossiping much on my blog, or at least I try not to, I couldn't help but jump on this one. See, you have this filthy rich brat, who is famous for being famous. What's more, I look at this chick and wonder about what could possibly be going on in her head.
When I heard about her originally going to jail, I thought it was a fair punishment, due to the fact that she had been caught driving with a suspended license TWICE. Its not as if she has a roommate. When I heard that she was released early from jail yesterday, I like the rest of the US, was appalled by the fact that this appeared to be a severe breakdown of the judicial system.
When I heard that it was due to a medical condition, I found this even more appalling. Ok, so how many inmates do you think are in jail (or prison for that matter) that have a medical condition? I don't know what the deal is with Paris Hilton, but if its psychological I bet its due to her being pampered her entire life and having everything handed to her on a silver platter. Whatever the case, there is no reason why she can't be treated for her 'condition' by the system. And furthermore, if it is psychological, doing a major PSYCH! on her by telling her "guess what, you can go home for the rest of your sentance. Just kidding!" is probably not helping matters.
Actually, in that regard, I kind of feel sorry for her. That probably wasn't her fault, but rather the fault of the idiot sherrif who decided to go ahead and send her home when she discovered she couldn't take life in a jail cell. It would have been a lot less cruel just to leave her in the jail cell and make her 'suck it up' rather then to tell her that she could go home and then turn around and send her back 24 hours later.
But the fact that she thought she could talk to the judge via conferance call? Ok, now she's showing her colors again. The fact that they picked her escorted her in the back of a police car in handcuffs is priceless. The look on her face is priceless too.
Why don't you actually LEARN SOMETHING from this!
Maybe some of the other celebs can learn something from this as well.
So, show of hands, who here has gotten an email about May 15th, telling you that we are going to crack down by telling those big bad oil companies that we aren't going to buy their gas for one full day. Yeah, that'll show them.
There is another email making the rounds stating that if we can boycott the two biggest middle eastern oil suppliers, Exxon and Mobil, they will be forced to lower their gas and everyone else will follow suit.
You know what I plan to do? On May 15th, I'm going to go find an Exxon or Mobil station and get some gas. I bet the lines won't be that bad and it will make for a quick fill up.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm frustrated with the skyrocketing gas prices as much as the next person, and any fiscally minded person oughta be. But there is a better way to try to combat rising gas prices then to skip a day to buy gas or to bypass one specific station completely.
If you continue to do your errands and use your car the same as you always do, it doesn't matter if you skip Tuesday, you still used the gas and you still need to fill that tank up, whether it be on Monday, Wednesday or Thursday. In other words, you're still consuming the same amount of gas! Maybe people should clue in that this shouldn't be a day where everyone just waits to fill their gas tanks. Instead, maybe the consensus should be that to solve the problem, you simply need to bring the demand for gas down.
Boy, what a concept.
If everyone participated in an event where instead of DRIVING their cars to wherever they needed to go, they found alternate modes of getting to their destinations. For instance, carpooling, public transit, WALKING, Bicycling, or a bunch of other items that cause us to use less fuel. Really, the way to crack down on rising gas prices is to stop using so much of it.
Onto the other popular idea making the rounds. The boycott of Exxon/Mobil (or whatever other gas companies). The problem with this one is the unique industry that is the oil industry. Exxon and Mobil don't buy their gas from one specific place. They will buy it from wherever they need it, and in turn sell it where the demand is. If they aren't selling their gas, and everyone instead hits the Shell station across the street, well, guess what? The demand for gas at Shell will go up, they will run out of gas, and they will turn around and buy it from the Exxon that people are boycotting, which in turn, will raise prices even more. Brilliant strategy.
Furthermore (and correct me if I'm wrong) but most gas stations are franchised out, so when you boycott an Exxon station, you are hurting the family that owns that specific gas station. The head honchos over at corporate might feel a little dent, but hey, they'll turn around and sell their gas wherever they have a buyer. But who will get hurt is the owner of that station, which will lose their revenue.
Virginia Tech suffered a tragedy this week. Total dead has reached 33. I even remember hearing something about it on the news before the second shooting.
Whatever the case, I thought I would say something in regards to this. Not so much about the shooting itself, or why the kid did it (or maybe I am), but rather I thought I would talk about the coverage of it.
Before I get started, I think it is awful what happened to these people and my condolences go to their friends and families. That said, this will likely be talked about on the news for at least a couple of weeks, in lot's and lot's of detail, I'm sure of it.
Anybody wonder why school shootings seem to be happening more and more? I'll give you my hypothesis. If you look at the scenerio behind these kids who shoot up their schools, they tend to fit the same basic profile. And if a kid is suicidal, why not go out with a real bang? Literally? It's a way to immortalize yourself, if you are the cause of some major tragedy, the whole nation will be talking about nothing but you for weeks.
That was exactly what this kid was thinking. I mean, he mailed a tape to a news station explaining himself, he was suicidal and he didn't want to go quietly. He wanted to be remembered. Immortalized in a way.
I've noticed when any major tragedy happens, the media runs it into the ground, and if you think about it, with these kinds of tragedies, that's exactly what the perpetrator wants us to do. Just dwell on every little detail of it, which makes them that much more famous, even if it is posthumous.
I would suggest, in the future, that if another shooting were to occur, sure, spend the day talking about it. Pay respects toward the dead, give the public the information they NEED to know, and then move on, recapping on certain events as they unfold. But don't spend the next month discussing it. That's exactly what encourages these kids to do something like this. Becuase they know it will get a lot of attention. If we don't give it as much attention, detailing every single detail out, I'm thinking it might help deter some of these mental cases from considering doing something like this.
But that is just a hypothesis.
Again, my thoughts and prayers go to the friends and families of the victims. But there is still other news out there. Like, what is Sanjaya doing now that he finally got the boot off American Idol? We haven't heard enough information about him!
Earlier this year, I had a premonition that something big was going to happen this summer. It was one reason why I felt that maybe Yellowstone wasn't such a great idea after all. But it was just this dread hanging over me, I didn't want to sound like some paranoid psycho so I really didn't say a whole lot at the time.
However, on top of all the latest stuff going on in the world, well, I've been watching Glenn Beck, which is apparently another source of disillusionment *well, he is pretty frickin' funny!* But there is a point to be held in regards to all this info about terrorists planning to hijack airplanes to the US from Britain (in case you have been in a cave or working in Yellowstone, at which time I was getting little to no news about issues going on in the world). This is just a little speck in the whole picture, there is something bigger out there.
If you look at this from a religious standpoint, is this really the end of the world? Are we approaching World War III? Will I ever get the chance to see Australia? Is this revelations come to pass?
Also, Fettacini and Nemo died. That brings the Gold Fish Count down to Four. I wonder if I could make this into some kind of doomsday prediction?
Either that, or I should listen to more REM.
In the meantime, unless its a presidential election year, my blog doesn't hold a lot in regards to current issues unless I'm right in the middle of it.
An Ironic thing happened while we were in Pasco Washington. My dad and I were in the car at the emergency room and listening to Rush Limbaugh. The subject today was the current issue with Bush and his Immigration policy and the stink its currently causing in Washington. Now, I'll admit, I'm not exactly sure how I stand on this issue, especially concerning illegal immigration as I'm sort of confused on how Bush is standing on it. I'm not sure I entirely agree with him for one. If people want to come to America to work and make a better life for themselves, I'm all for that. As long as they aren't looking for a free hand out of course, and they go about the right way of gaining citizenship.
Anyway, low and behold, in the middle of the conversation on Rush, about 300 kids marched by, waving Mexican flags, honking their horns, holding signs in spanish and basically protesting HR-4437. I'm listening to this on the Radio, I'm watching it pass by, and I'm hearing all sorts of points of views on the topic and it occurred to me that I really didn't know anything about this.
Hearing about it, and seeing it occur right before my eyes, I decided to get my trusty camera out and document it. As I soon discovered that this was occuring all over the nation.
I noticed these were all high school kids. Before I took pictures, I made sure it was ok to take their picture. These kids didn't seem to mind, they were all over it, glad to pose and show off their mexican spirit.
So I did my research on this Immigration Reform Bill HR 4437.
From all appearances, it appears to be a Bill cracking down on Illegal Immigration. Now, this to me sounds like a good thing, as I've lived in California and have witnessed first hand how illegal immigrants come into our country and take advantage of the system without giving anything back in return. I do have a lot of respect for immigrants who come here who are hard workers looking for a way to support their families and live the American dream.
But what baffled me is that this propisition seems to crack down on illegal immigrants, so as to toughen our borders and protect our country. Immigration is a good thing, as long as its done properly.
That being said, I couldn't help but think 'what's with the mexican flags?' These kids are trying to encourage immigration, the point of immigration is to leave one country and enter another. If they are so bent on displaying Mexican pride, why don't they go back to Mexico? Why are they waving a Mexican Flag in their protest to being able to live and get the benefits of being in America? You are in America now. Embrace the fact that you want to be American and you are demonstrating your rights to gain citizenship in America, or whatever your demonstrating. If you are so proud of being Mexican, waving your Mexican flag, you need to make a decision on which country you want to call home.
It seems to be a bit of an oxymoron. Of course, their excuse seems to be that America took this land away from them to begin with, so we're occupying their land.
In regards to that, for some reason, a quote from Buffy the Vampire Slayer seems to say it best, said by none other then Spike.
"You won, alright? You came, you killed them, you took their land. That's what conquering nations do. That's what Ceaser did, and he's not going around saying 'I came, I conquered, I felt really bad about it.' "The history of the world is not people making friends. You had better weapons, and you massacred them, end of story" -Episode 4.8 Pangs
Granted, he was discussing Indians in that episode, and being a Vampire, his language is a bit blunt but it kind of says the same thing. Honestly, who has rights to any place based on what happened a century ago anymore? Laws change, boundaries change, and right now, a bunch of Illegal Immigrants want to claim that we are taking advantage of their homeland (though most Hispanics also have Spanish Origins, and you want to hear something about conquering nations taking over lands). I'm sorry, it doesn't cut with me. The USA is not the United States of Mexico. This is America now, Mexico lost, America gained a bunch of land. Deal with it.
I did see one Mexican, standing on a corner, waving an American flag and wearing a Navy Uniform. Right on, Dude. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of him.
I wanted to get a better idea of other opinions, so I did a search on what the blogs are saying about the subject, preferably from a well rounded view point.
I appear to be behind on the issue, as its been in discussion for a few days now. Where've I been?
So, cut in dry, what are my viewpoints on immigration and this whole issue? America is made up of Immigrants. I have no problem with Immigration, done Legally! You are on American Soil. If you are so proud of Mexico, go back to Mexico. I don't want anybody in America that wishes this country were still a part of another. Don't dwell on the past and think of what is supposed to be right.
Do people honestly believe that California would be a better place if it was still under Mexico anyway? Though honestly, its getting to a point where I would soon as say Mexico can have it back.
I think I'm kind of into the whole blogging thing again. . . though this rant seems a bit incoherant on my part.
Ok, even in Kosovo, I can follow the news. One of the stories I've been following is the whole Coal Miners issue in West Virginia and how ate up that story has gotten and how sorry I feel for those people who were given positive news and rejoiced at learning of the fate of their loved ones and that they were still alive and then they learn the heartbreaking truth that their loved ones are in fact dead.
The story had me astounded when I learned what had happened.
But what get's my gall is that somehow, this is all Bush's fault.(I probably shouldn't add to this dude's thunder. He looks to be acquiring enough attention as it is.)
Yes, Bush needs to take responsibility for every little disaster that happens within the US. The fact of the matter is, the government is a huge beurocratic organization that has a lot of responsibility over the what happens in every little nook and cranny that goes on in the country. That's why we have State Governments and City Governments and different branches of Government responsible for different aspects of what goes on in every little world. Each one of these organizations wants a piece of the pie and wants a little attention. One person cannot take responsibility of every little thing that goes wrong in the country. You have to take a look at each situation independently, look at the facts, and try to correct them from there, from within the organization. And when the government gets so huge, it becomes this bloated monster and sometimes its hard to control all of these little organizations, even at the level of the president, especially when there is so much to oversee. Because some of these organizations are not directly under his jurisdiction.
Sure, maybe Bush should have looked more into safety issues within the mines, but I feel he may have had other pressing matters to attend to. The thing is, tragedies like this is what generally tend to alert people of the problem, and then they go about to correct it.
Hindsight is 20/20, its always easiest to blame the highest level of government and leave it at that. That gets people nowhere. We can't always foresee a disaster before it happens, sometimes it takes a tragedy such as this to get things accomplished. To blame Bush on something like this is rediculous.
When you start playing the blame game, in my opinion, you go to the lowest levels and start working your way up. When you find the person that is most responsible with the greatest opportunity to actually fix the problem (and to boot, most likely the subject matter expert of the issue at hand), then you go to that person to get things accomplished. Blaming Bush is not going to fix anything. He's a busy man with a lot on his plate and everyone wanting his attention. Its easy to blame the head of the beast. But by automatically blaming him for everything that goes wrong just means you're looking for a scape goat.
I think that's another title for President in this country. Official Scape Goat for everything that goes wrong.
So, I've mentioned a few times that I've been out of the loop on current events, don't really know what's going on back in the states half the time, and really am not feeling the effects of cost of living or what not back home, as I don't pay insurance or gas or any other living expenses while in Kosovo.
However, I do find myself subject to the news and every so often you hear something about an opinion poll on politics or what not, and I hear things about how much the government hates black people on account of Katrina, and in fact when I was in Europe, I ran into some New Orleans refugees who were telling me that it wasn't as bad as the news made it out to be. In fact, their neighborhoods had survived just fine.
So when i'm getting substandard reports and hearing all of these statistics about approval ratings or what not, I just sigh and shake my head. I guess I'll feel the brunt of the force when I get back home.
But what's really funny about it all is how it all seems to come back to Bush. Everything is Bush's fault, as if the government is responsible for every aspect of our lives and can control the weather. I laugh at this.
So, with Bush's approval ratings at an all time low, do I have any regrets at giving him my vote? Of course not. For one, though perhaps Bush will not be remembered as one of our greatest presidents and has in fact made some mistakes in his presidency, I will never know if the alternative would have done better in the same circumstances, he very well could have done even worse. Could he have done better? Perhaps, but the thing is we will never know.
Though I wish Bush would have responded sooner to the Cindy Sheehan crowd with something along the lines of this. I was getting a bit dissapointed in him for not standing up and taking the heat sooner.
Because frankly I was getting sick of the 'Bush Lied' mantra myself, with all the high power libs jumping on the bandwagon and pointing fingers at everyone else other then themselves and not taking responsibility for the fact that they did in fact vote to go to war. That was their decision. If they are looking at it as being 'misled', suggesting that they didn't wouldn't have made the vote if they had known, then they have no business being under public office, as we're paying them the big bucks to make those tough choices. If they are just going to go under the policy of Hindsight, then I can't trust them to make an honest judgement if they have no foresight.
Besides, if you want somebody to blame, you'll have to blame the American people for electing these officials. And if you think you have to blame somebody about voting for Bush, you can blame me, as I still have no regrets over my choice. I don't believe Kerry would have done a better job.
So, there's the finished Boar hog. I guess I could go back and make adjustments to it in Photoshop, as I did it in colored pencil and the colored pencil didn't scan very well. So I already tweaked it in photoshop, but I think there are a few more adjustments to be made, and if I stare at it for to long, everyhting that is wrong with it will pop out at me.
Gah! I hate being my own worse art critic.
Since the boarhog was the most popular, I did it. Next up, a simple image of the 'cute' pig as well. Look for that in the not to distant future.
Meanwhile, my foot is cluing in the rest of my body that its time to go to sleep. As for some reason I've lost all feeling in it.
In fact, it has even gone so far as to remove any item that refers to pigs out of the workplace (specifically banks), including icons such as Piglet off of Winnie the Pooh in an attempt to be more sensitive.
Ok, do I need to state the obvious? This is rediculous. For one, becuase the pig is a creature, not like a symbol or something like a swastika. If I like pigs and I like to decorate using pigs, are they saying I can't because somebody might not like pigs due to religious reasons? Is this retarded? Yes.
When we dumb down our culture to try to be accepting of other people so as not to offend them, we only lose our culture in the process.
Hey, so you don't eat pork. You know what? A pig is a living and breathing animal that exists in the world. Just because one group of people thanks they are a dirty animal doesn't mean that they should be written off the planet. But hey, why don't we slaughter all pigs just so we don't accidentally offend somebody. But wait, won't that offend PETA whackos? Oh, that's right, you can't please everybody.
Which is good advice, eh? You can't please everybody. Something everybody should remember.
Meanwhile, Murray (who I've been watching a lot lately) posed this picture on his blog, in an attempt to offend who ever might be offended by this image.
The image has become so popular in regards to this PC overkill that people have been asking about stickers and T-shirts. With one problem.
Disney owns the rights to the oppressed Piglet. So Murray recruited me to draw a pig in a crusader outfit, trying to get a bit of the point across ya know.
So, well, I came up with some various designs, thinking cute was the way to go because it made the whole thing kind of laughable, becuase the whole thing WAS laughable.
Unfortunately, I'm not really a graphic designer so I don't know how well these will transfer to a T-shirt. So anyway, here are a few images, (still somewhat of a rough draft, not the finished image) anybody got any preferences of which one works the best?
1)
This was one of the first ideas, just simple you know.
2)
This is kind of a pig in my style, cartoonish, that is. Not quite, but to give you an idea. The finished product would actually have shading and what not in it.
3)
Another uber simplified piggy, similar to the first, but, erm, simpler in some respects. You get the idea, right? I'm not sure if I like this one in its entirety. Just parts of it. Maybe the head of number one with the body of this one. Yeah. Something like that.
4)
Uncolored, but the mean Boarhog look. Boarhogs are a type of pig, and I suppose they would be counted as a banned item. Since they are the true badasses of pigdom, I thought I would try something with them.
Now the problem with make a Pig a Crusader is will you get a reverse effect from what you're trying to accomplish. As in calling the Crusaders pigs, or what not.
I don't know, Thoughts? Suggestions? Comments? Does it work? Does it not? Which one should I go off of?
Note: I wrote this blog post a few days ago on September 10th, but I didn't have time to actually read through it so it was worded properly enough to make me comfortable to post it. I just recieved the moment to actually sit down and proofread it and make it acceptable to me to post.
The thing about blogs, is you got these old posts that can resurface now and again. Also, its always good fun to look through the old comments that people have put, or new ones that you forget to read. I don't go back and read old postings to often because to me they're practically ancient history.
So I get an email from a guy who is anonymous, calling himself No Namer and asking me to read his comment. His english isn't the greatest, but I'll give him the pass because he's obviously foreign. I haven't had a 'troll' in the sense come by and hound me on my turf in a while, but I will leave the comment because unlike some websites, I believe in the right to free speech, just as I believe that the Sorry Everybody Folks had every right to say whatever they wanted to in regards to the election, just as I have every right to disagree with them. And when they post their pictures online they are setting themselves up for fodder from people who disagree with them, just like I set myself up for Fodder with my posting with the people that disagree with me.
Anyway, his comment really didn't have anything to do with the blog I had posted, but rather it had more to do with him painting all American Soldiers as being War Criminals. Maybe that's a broad generalization from reading the comment, but its the first thing I note when I see it.
"did you ever be in house where AK 47 painted blood on walls? did you ever look in eyes of dying human? did you ever go in afganistan without weapons? do you talk to does people on pictures?have you ever talk to bunch of people in one place that not agree with you without guns?did you ever cryed and tears fall on M16? did you ever saw burned human and you dont know is that man or woman?did you ever talk to woman that american weapon kill her son and hosband?were you ever shot and youre enemy help you survive? did you ever talked to man who wanna kill himself? did you ever talked to woman who was raped by american ranger ?have you ever talked to muslim who have no gun?
"i dont think so."
Obviously this guy has a score to settle with someone, or maybe he saw a few things, I don't know, he didn't exactly say if he had experienced these things or not.
Have I experienced them? A couple, yes. In fact, many times I have found myself surrounded by people who disagree with me and my political beliefs. You know what we do? We agree to disagree, as I have quite a few friends who are radically different from myself in this area. You know what? They are still my friends. I think that is the only thing he really posted that applied to the post he commented about.
And FYI, I know a few muslims that are really good people, I knew one in high school that did shape a lot of my thinking on the Muslim world as he was a genuinely good person that had a deep conviction in his faith. Knowing him made me realize that not all Muslims can be painted with the broad stroke of Radical Islam. Unfortunately, there are the ones that give the rest a bad name. And it is most unfortunate that I haven't had the opportunity to talk to him since 911.
Its interesting to me that the Insergents currently making a mess out of Iraq today are doing more harm to their own people then they are doing to the American Soldier trying to restore order to their world. I think that says a lot about the insergents, doesn't it? Which is one of the reasons why I do not mind going to Iraq and serving there.
So, have I experienced all of the things that No Namer mentioned in his post. No, and I hope I don't have too.
So, where is he going with this? According to his email, I get the hint he's Bosnian but I can't be sure on that. I don't know if he realizes that I am currently serving in Kosovo which is predominantly Muslim (and the Albanians love America)
This is my website. I often speak very frankly on it. You can agree with me or you can disagree with me, that is your right, you can even tell me so, which is why I have comments available. I will not censor anything that is put on here in reply to what I say.
I am somewhat befuddled however, by the email that brought this comment to my attention that admits to being so Sorry for me.
Well, everyone else is talking about it. . . however I don't have a lot to say as I'm not keeping up with the disaster very well from where I am and am getting most of my news second or third hand. Anyway, because of my lack of knowledge on the subject, I won't go into details on whats occuring in New Orleans right now, except for the fact that its getting Bad. We've even had a few people here in Kosovo affected by the Hurricane, as a lot of soldiers in Task Force Med Falcon live in the South.
Anyway, I thought it would be important for me to list a bunch of places to donate to help this crisis, as we all know that the international community will likely leave us hanging high and dry despite the fact that Americans donated Billions to the Tsunami Relief effort.
If you want to find out more about what's going on in New Orleans, I recommend surfing the Blogosphere for information, they are keeping pretty up to date with what's happening, and are doing a far better job then I ever could.
Also, as petty as my words are coming at this time, please keep the people of New Orleans in your prayers as they try to reconnect with their families and survive this difficult time. We can all attest that disasters seem to be one of the few things that bring Americans together as one, which is unfortunate, and this is a prime opportunity to put all our differences aside and reunite and show our strength as a nation is best illustrated in how we handle times of difficulty.
I just hope that I'm not proven wrong in this as the situation appears to be intensifying.
UPDATE - I added a blogbar up above on my post to give everyone a friendly reminder to please donate if you can afford too. If you want to put one up on your website, you can find instructions here at bRight and Early.
Apparantly Protest Warrior is getting in on the action with the "You Don't Speak For Me, Cindy" tour, as a counter protest to Cindy Sheehan, leaving from San Francisco today and caravaning to Crawford Texas.
Dang, right now I wish I were in the states. I would so get in on that. This whole story has made the news here in Kosovo and I've wanted to comment on it yet have refrained due to my active duty military status. Being a member of Protest Warrior, I only got the opportunity to go on one excercise with them within my chapter. But ever since I heard about this, I wanted to do something with it. Unfortunately, I'm not in a state to do anything. Maybe when I get back to the states I can if a similar issue arrises.
I'm at a state where I would volunteer to go to Iraq just to know what its like to be there, for the experience and also being able to back up my viewpoint. You know, the "Been there, done that, got the T-shirt" business? But I know it wouldn't make mom to happy if I did that. Moms are moms, and I guess from that angle I can sympathisize with Cindy Sheehan. But Kosovo, well, Kosovo just isn't the same.
If I hadn't volunteered to come on this deployment to Kosovo, there is a good chance I'd be in Iraq this summer, though that doesn't mean anything because there was a good chance I would go to Iraq three or four times over the last couple of years before I finally got sick of it and volunteered for the first assignment that would take me out of limbo, which happened to be Kosovo. I had even volunteered to go to Afghanistan in December of 2001 but that fell through within a week.
I guess maybe somebody above is watching out for me, but I support the mission we are trying to accomplish in Iraq, and it pains me to see that there are so many people in the states who want the insurgents to win, as if America is the bad guys for wanting to put a little calm and reason within an area of the globe that hasn't seen it for so long. And their rationale doesn't always make a whole lot of sense. Besides, these insurgents are at a point where they are doing more harm to their own people then to the US soldiers who are trying to stabalize the region.
Anyway, I guess one way to show support for my fellow soldiers and their mission would be in a sense to counter protest those that think we should pull out. And showing my support for the war in Iraq wouldn't be considered political, considering I am a member of the military, is it?
Update NOTE - Since current events have made Kosovo a hot topic again, this post is gaining a lot of attention. So here is my disclaimer.
I was stationed in Kosovo in 2005 at Camp Bondsteel in South Eastern Kosovo. I dealt with the Serbian and Albanian populations of Kosovo while I was stationed there, and we were not allowed to ask them about their opinions on the events of Kosovo. I never wanted to take sides, and the US Forces there were to treat the matter with neutrality and not take sides.
This is merely my opinion on a matter from my observances back in 2005. I am not a journalist, you are reading a blog that is filled with my opinions. I personally see that both sides have a stake in Kosovo, and there was never a peaceful resolution unless the Serbians and Albanians could come to some sort of agreement. Unfortunately, Milosavich's ethnic genocide of Albanians during the 1990's is what brought Americans into the matter and Kosovo to it's present state.
Again, these are just my opinions. I personally am neither for the Albanians nor the Serbians, I think both sides have an argument to be made, which is why the situation in Kosovo is as volatile as it is.
If you have a problem with my opinions, please feel free to post your thoughts in my comments, I will not delete them and I will eventually read them.
~Risawn, February 2008
"Down here at the bottom of the world they don't tell us anything. Got any news on this?" - Murray
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) — At least three blasts rocked the center of Kosovo’s capital on Saturday, and one targeted the U.N. mission headquarters.
An Associated Press reporter saw at least three U.N. vehicles set ablaze in the parking lot of the U.N. mission headquarters in Pristina.
There were no immediate reports of any injuries after at least three near-simultaneous blasts, said Hua Jiang, chief U.N. spokeswoman.
The second blast happened near the building of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the OSCE, which is some 100 meters (100 yards) down the road from the U.N. compound.
The third blast went off near the Kosovo government building which also houses the province’s parliament and damaged it slightly, said Jiang. She did not say what caused the blasts.
Police sealed off the areas after the explosions.
You wanna know something that's funny? In a strange sort of unfunny way?
This was the first time I heard about it.
The basics of Kosovo, it's split up into four sections, MultiNational Brigade (MNB) Northeast is run by the French, Center was in control of the British but recently transferred to the Finnish, West was controlled by the Italians but merged with Southwest and is controlled by the Germans. East is controlled by the Americans.
Pristina, which is where the UN Headquarters are located, is located in KFOR MNB-Center. We go up there from time to time, because KFOR Main is located there.
This isn't the first time the UN Headquarters have been bombed. The UN is dawdling with what they want to do with Kosovo, as whether or not Kosovo gets transferred back to Serbia (which will cause the Ethnic Albanians to riot and go to war against Serbia), given Independence (which will cause Serbia to get upset as they don't want to lose Kosovo which is a huge part of their culture and history) or just left a protectorate of the UN for a few more years until everyone decides to get along (which will cause both groups to get impatient, and probably cause the Albanians to Riot).
I predict, and this is just my opinion and has nothing to do which side I'm for or against, as America has tried to portray themselves as a Neutral Force between the Serbians and the Albanians of Kosovo (Serbia itself has recently been declared neither an Ally nor an Enemy, but rather a 'competitor') where our task is to keep the peace until the fate of this land is decided. But I predict that Kosovo will eventually get its independence. Ethnic Albanians are 90% of the population of Kosovo. And Serbia wants to join the EU so they need to play Nice.
And the Albanians here love Americans. I think it is the one predominantly Muslim region in the world that really loves the Americans. They have a freakin' shrine to Bill Clinton, I kid you not. He is their hero. . .
It was predicted that there would be some tension about this time here in Kosovo due to people getting impatient with the UN. KFOR has a mission slightly different then the UN's, our job is to keep the peace, pure and simple, while the UN decides what to do.
The people of this country are bombing the UN headquarters (which is thankfully fairly far away from the US Base Camp) because they are growing impatient with the UN. We haven't had very many problems with the people of Kosovo, other then they drive like maniacs. That's where most of the danger in this region is, on the road.
I went more into detail in those whole issue with my milblog, Foxholes and Dogtags, on the tension between the two groups. Fortunately, besides perhaps the Organized Crime problem, we haven't felt much conflict with the people here. They are just getting impatient and want their independence, and mostly they want the UN to make up their mind. They were supposed to have talks in June, those got delayed until October. The whole thing is a mess.
Whatever the case, this isn't going to be an easy fight, one way or the other. It just takes a lot of patience from both sides, and a freakin' lot of understanding and coming to terms between two groups of people who have for centuries hated each other and hold 600 year old grudges.
But otherwise, the Americans have just been chilling. . . guess I won't count on that trip to Pristina this week though.
Soo. . . I was talking on the phone with my family a few days back and my brother made an observation that I don't update my blog as much anymore. That updates are becoming fewer and fewer.
Well, I tried to update yesterday and the Blogger Server couldn't be found. So I didn't. But I assessed my situation and wondered out loud to myself, "why is it that I don't post as often to my blog anymore?"
So I thought about this and what had often influenced my blog before and realized that, well, here I've been talking a lot about what's going on in my life here in Kosovo, and how I write, with my frank and honest depictions (including at times a certain lack of tact) that I would more then once get called into the Commander's Office and told to watch what I say.
And, well, right now, Kosovo hasn't proven to be particularly exciting. Especially this last week or so, we went and inspected some places yesterday, whoop-de-freakin-do. That, and if I inspect some place and something is wrong, I can't really talk about what's wrong with the place. Inspections are one of my more visible job functions, but it basically boils down to me going around and inspecting various places to make sure they meet the sanitation standards of Army Regulation 40-5.
Needless to say, the job lacks glamour and drama. I'm not dissing it by any means, because it is an important job, but its just not something I wish to talk about on my blog.
I mean, how exciting can you make "today I inspected the Northtown Gym. It was clean, no grub or dirt I could find. Then I moved up to the Thai Massage place and surprised them with my early showing. Inspection went well. I did have some questions on the disenfectant."
I think I would put myself to sleep. Anyway, job done, next up is a power point presentation on heat injuries and preventing them, because the army has a love affair with Powerpoint.
Anyway, so my life is not filled with drama, I'm not shooting at anybody, my job, though important, lacks the luster to talk about on a daily basis, so that means what's going on in the rest of the world?
Yeah, every so often, I would write my take on current events in the rest of the world. The thing is, I've got three sources of news here. Military Newspapers (which consist of the Army Times and Stars and Stripes), The Television (brought to me by the Armed Forces Network and they're chosen news stations), and the internet.
I read the Military newspapers mostly for news on the military, because that's its primary focus. AFN I tend to avoid and only watch during meals, because from what I can tell they seem to be talking about the same thing over and over again, and the internet, well, my internet is still limited. I check my email, look at a few pages, and then get to work.
And quite frankly, nothing in current events seems to strike my interest that much. Sure, there's the Michael Jackson trial, but that is getting more exposure then it needs already. There's the Terry Schiavo case, which I had mixed feelings on and quite frankly, felt that it was blown out of proportion as well by BOTH sides. And thankfully, the Pope died to take the news off of that mess. Which brought us to the Pope. I'm not Catholic, so I don't have that effecting me as it is so many other people. But come on people, he was old, he led a very rich and full life, and he's now some place better. So as you can see, my interests are rather mum on the issue. He was a good man, a very visible leader, and he died like millions of people do every day. I hold no sympathies, because of the fact that he died of natural causes after leading a very long and rewarding life. Now I'm getting plagued with the question "who will the new pope be?" as that is all the news has a desire to talk about. Well, either that or reverting back to the Jackson case.
Um, yeah, ok. But, well, who will be the new pope has little effect on me, however. I just find it ironic how people want the catholic church to pick somebody who goes against catholic teachings in an attempt to modernize the church. But they *gasp* picked a conservative! How could they?
Well, there, now THAT'S something I could talk about. The leftist take on religion and the 'modernization' of. Oooh. . . I'm rubbing my hands together in anticipation.
I guess that leaves the last thing I can talk about. My thoughts on issues. Whether current or not, just my rambling thoughts on political issues.
Well, I guess I could talk about extracurricular activities. Yeah, that's another source of posting pleasure. And of course, there's my unwritten motto 'alienating the world, one person at a time'.
I'll just say I'm working on the posting issue so that there is actually something to read when you come to my blog.
But not in the sense that I normally post, because I don't want to tread on toes, considering I am now a member of the Active Military and should not be getting to political.
Damn, those Iraqis really seem to be hating us Americans, aren't they?
In other news, which I'm sure is making its rounds around the Blogosphere just as the above is (though I retrieved it from other sources, my blog rounds haven't been the same since I deployed *deep sigh*), the status of Germany and its Unemployment laws really make you wonder. I can see that there was good intentions behind this, but it has certainly paved a road to hell. There has to be some moral high ground that should take presidence. I shouldn't be forced to take a job that goes against my religious beliefs for instance. Fortunately, nothing like this is going on in the US (right now) and I am comfortably employed.
I guess that means I shouldn't be moving to Germany any time soon and go through unemployment.
Ok, one thing that Kerry is pushing that I don't agree with is universal healthcare, and I'll tell you why.
Many chronic illnesses that people suffer in our day and age are caused by acts of their own doing. Some people participate in lifestyles and acts that are proven damaging to ones health. For some reason, they think that because they have the freedoms to act in these manners, they demand the right to be treated for them when they get ill.
You know how much money we blow on healthcare for people who take part in dangerous acts that caused an illness that requires medical treatment? The key word here is preventable illness, see. We spend a lot of money on these people. And the thought of that really does infuriate me. Grr. . .
I do agree on Healthcare for people with genetic illness, an illness aquired through no fault of their own, and children.
You would be surprised by how much money we could save if we spent money on prevention instead of treatment. Prevention is much cheaper then treatment, but it is often less popular because to educate people about dangerous acts makes people think that the government is impeding on their freedoms. Hey, here's and idea for you. We'll educate you on the damaging nature of what you are doing and what the risks are if you participate on these acts, you go ahead and choose to do them or not, and if you get caught with a massive doctors bill due to something you did, you need to be aware that you were warned before hand and now you get to pay the costs. Sucks to be you. Deal with it.
Maybe I'm just heartless or cruel, but that just bugs me.
And the Albanians here love Americans. I think it is the one predominantly Muslim region in the world that really loves the Americans. They have a freakin' shrine to Bill Clinton, I kid you not. He is their hero. . .
So, I've mentioned a few times that I've been out of the loop on current events, don't really know what's going on back in the states half the time, and really am not feeling the effects of cost of living or what not back home, as I don't pay insurance or gas or any other living expenses while in Kosovo.
