naughtatnull

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Vietnam massacre soldier 'sorry'

Vietnam massacre soldier 'sorry'

We are haunted by our past. Today the US is actively involved in both Afghanistan and Iraq and yet the echo's from our past are hard to silence. Vietnam was the first conflict that the US lost and My Lai had become the turning point for public opinion of the US in South East Asia.

Someone somewhere issued the order to wipe out a village in cold blood. Only God will know who truly issued the order but Lt William Calley is the one who was punished. I don't doubt his sincerity when he stated that he feels remorse and is sorry. What i question is how did this happen?

Wikipedia

We will never know what truly happened there. A shrinking number of people can come close to even comprehending the circumstances surrounding My Lai. The facts are that in 2009 Mr Calley apologized, proclaimed his remorse for past deeds, and still maintains that he was following orders. Despite serving his time and the intervention of Nixon, Mr Calley has forever been branded by history as the culprit in this. To this day he insists he was following orders but does not deny that he took part in this action.

Was this in fact murder or an atrocity within a war? What were the surrounding circumstances that this happened in? Will history ever judge this person fairly in context of actions versus in the vacuum of today? What worries me the most is that I know there will be similar incidents that will come to light in the coming years from Afghanistan and Iraq. Will the accused be as fortunate? How will history judge them versus Mr Calley?

No, the last of the ghosts of Vietnam have not been heard from, nor have we scratched the surface on todays conflicts.

Has he paid his price? Has Mr Calley suffered enough with the life long memory of what happened that day even though his formal punishment was minor in comparison? Is it reasonable to assume that his long time insistence that he was following orders should imply that his superiors let him take the fall so that they could further their careers?

May we never grow deaf to the echo's of our past.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Beginner’s Guide: Is that a real anti-malware product?

http://sunbeltblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/beginners-guide-is-that-real-anti.html

This link to SunBelt is to an article i found potentially useful. They always do a good job and are extremely informative. I'm posting this because i've recently seen a couple people i know personally who have fallen for this, and education is always important. May they be the last...

Friday, June 5, 2009

Deadly clashes in Peru's Amazon

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8086595.stm

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

garden status

tomatoes (10 total):
2 lemon boys
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/30940/
green zebra
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53465/
mr stripey
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/57866/
big zac
early girl
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54789/
box car willie
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/60426/
beefmaster
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/57262/
pink
jet star
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/30970/

3 kahlarabi
carrots
mixed lettuce
3 tomatillos
red onion

peppers (18 total):
red
yellow
3 types of asian/thai 'hot' that have no tag
long red slim (cayenne)
2 purple beauty
anaheim
jalapeno
jalapa
hot banana
spanish spice
serrano
hungarian yellow wax
valencia orange
salsa

I regret to report that my basil is already dieing from some kind of bug. I lost my basil to the same "bug" last year in the same area and thus will not attempt basil there again in the future. In the meantime i'm looking to acquire a planter box to grow fresh basil in for this season.

As of today, tomatoes are coming along slowly, some peppers already have flowers on them, lettuce and carrot leaveshave pooked through, and finally have peas poking through.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

happy memorial day

...Yes i actually had someone say this to me this past weekend...

Memorial day in the US is allegedly about remembering both veterans and those who have left the Earth before us. Somewhere along the line, it's original intention has taken a back seat to the overwhelming majority of people who view it as a 3 day weekend to either vacation or to party. How hard is it to take a few minutes out of your 3 day weekend to remember it's focus? Seriously.

I worked all weekend. I am directly responsible for a lot of burgers and a lot of steaks being sold to those that were going to celebrate their extended weekend away from work. Since i had to work on the holiday (monday) i asked for (and got) a shorter day. Everyone at work seemed to pause and hesitate when i told them i wanted to leave by 1pm so that i could have time to join friends to go to visit the grave of one of our friends. This bothered me.

Everywhere i turn lately i see people that are more concerned with their own lives than those around them. Why is it that it's such a novelty that someone is going to visit a grave on MEMORIAL day? I know that people are trying to be polite but where do they get off saying something like "happy memorial day" to those around them. What, is this Christmas?

I'm not saying that people should go to the parades or wave flags etc on occasions like this. All i'm asking is that they spend a couple minutes remembering what the actual name of the holiday is and put forth half an effort to keep that in mind as they enjoy an extended weekend.

It truly is bull shit to have to deal with slack jawed knuckle heads who are bragging about the size of their grill (penis anyone?) and how good their food will be this weekend when all they can concern themselves with is 'relaxing' and 'getting away' and not taking a few minutes to even acknowledge the underlying reason for their 3 day weekend. Yet another person sighs in frustration because of the extra work that has piled up and emails that must be responded to in order for the world to continue rotating. Yet another person has their BlackBerry out and gets annoyed because some event dared to interrupt their self entitled extended weekend.

I don't know about you but the thought of grilling up these burgers while breaking in my brand new grill is the core reason why this 3 day weekend exists!!!

Excuse me, someone needs me help them pick out some steaks to help them impress their guests for their cook out...

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

WTF?!?!

http://www.sophos.com/klingon-anti-virus/

W o w.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

I am God.

Q: How do I blow off steam after dealing with finding out the car needs brakes, i hate my job, lack of $, people being stupid, family bickering, and a splitting headache?

A: Play god. Seriously. Go out in the yard, dig some holes in the garden, spread my seed (lettuce, carrots, onions) into the ground and then water generously. I am their god. I am the giver of life. I am the bringer of nourishment (water) and protector of their lives (damn those bunnies). I chose who will exist and where. All else is irrelevant. My domain is growing and my followers have been fruitful and multiplied. This pleases me.

Once i put things in perspective like this, the world seems just a little bit better...

Monday, April 20, 2009

Sarah Connor Chronicles - CANCELED

To those at both Fox and Warner Brothers, a hearty FUCK YOU from the bottom of my heart. Thanks for selling out fans of a sci fi show once again. Thank you for jerking it around and cutting it loose after abusing it like a $3 whore. Thank you for restoring my faith in the idea that the networks care nothing about fans. Thank you for not being clever enough to capitalize on a growing fan base on the eve of an anticipated theatrical release of a sequel to the series.

http://www.fmqinc.com/terminator-cancelled/

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/04/terminator_the_sarah_connor_ch_4.html

I'm going back to downloading all of my tv shows rather than watching the broadcast versions.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Why I Deserve New Toys

The other day I had a conversation with a girl I work with at my part time job (grunt work). This being grunt work should rightfully imply that those around me aren't all that educated or even well to do financially. I always like comparing it to Mos Eisley . :) This conversation really bothered me and I think it will continue to bother me for a long time.

The girl in question is HS drop out and an unwed/uninsured mother in her early 20's that is partially supported by the father who does similar grunt work. The child is appx 5-6 years old and is being raised in a very unpleasant neighborhood. Race is intentionally being withheld because it's a non-factor. She brings her Nintendo DS to work regularly in addition to her iPod. They have a Wii and a PS3 at home and I'm unsure about the TV situation for those consoles. She can't/won't work overtime because the additional money will change how much government assistance she receives. Yes, she found the loop holes and is using them to her advantage.

I'd not seen her in 6 months so the conversation consisted of her showing me her new iPhone that she now has. Apparently they have matching iPhones in addition to matching iPods.

What bothers me the most is the amount of technology that they have despite lack of income. There's a child growing up in this environment. These people are partially funding their technology habits with government money. Rather than working hard to get ahead and earning their toys, they're using loop holes to cover their daily expenses while spending what money they have on pop culture technology.

Is it fair that those that earn less than I do and pride themselves in working as little as possible have nicer things than I do? Is it fair that tax payers are helping support them and others like them? The only thing they've learned from our “system” is that it discourages them from working more to get ahead. Pride? Whats that? Why would you need pride when you've got your electronic devices that everyone covets without putting forth the effort to earn them?

Something is seriously wrong here. They genuinely believe that they are entitled to stuff like this because they work hard raising their kid AND they have jobs. Congratulations! You bothered to attempt to do your parental duties while bothering to get out of bed and go to work a couple days a week. Wow. You're such a trooper. We should build statues in your honor because of how noble you are. You clearly deserve your desert for your dinner even though you didn't eat your vegetables or do your homework. You're entitled to the best that society has to offer solely because you made an effort within the confines of your situation. That's OK though. You deserve it all.

This is one of many people I work with. This is actually a very typical scenario for those that work there. These jobs will be gone in < 5 years and everyone knows that. Yet they keep self medicating with material possessions like this. No one seems to care that this is happening. Everyone that I work with has the attitude of “they beat the system and so more power to them”. I guess this is should be chalked up as my jealousy fueled rant. I've done my share. I've worked hard for years and have next to nothing to show for it. I feel as though I deserve all of those toys more than others do. Why? Because I'm special and I get out of bed every day. I pay my bills on time and sacrifice personal comforts so that I can continue to pay. This must be jealousy. Someone has something that I covet and therefore I'm bitter because I want what they have.

To the Right wing conservatives out there: I'll make sure to pass on a hearty “Thank you” to these people for your ammunition against social programs.