There's been something bugging me lately. . . and its been building up for a while. . . but I could never pinpoint why. . . and my inner compass is further confused by all the spin coming out of the news media. . .

The world is screwed. I don't know how else to say it. Between corporatists who's only concern is the almighty dollar to the spineless politicians who can't even stand up for their own children, the world is screwed.

Maybe its just me. Maybe I'm crazy. But I've always thought moderation is enough. Not too little, not too much. . . but just right. I am not advocating living in poverty, but I am disgusted at the extent people will go for that extra dollar. Honor and sense of justice have been traded in for the fastest cars and the biggest gold chain. All the while, the richer get richer, and the poorer get poorer. The world is screwed.

Take religion for example. As controversial as this topic can be, it really is stupid as well. I am perfectly fine (and sound of mind) to decide what is best of me. What gives you the right to condemn what I like to do? What gives you the right to force your beliefs down my throat? Prayers in school? Anti-abortion? Evolution vs Creationism/Intelligent Design? Bullcrap. All of it. I like to choose how I live my life without infringing on others, and I certainly do not need other people to dictate how I live my life. Why must I sit through a prayer session in school when I could be doing something more productive? Private homes are exempt from this because I'm their guest, and its natural that I respect their customs. Why do people insist on telling women what they can do with their bodies, and reference from text that was obviously written by humans thousands of years ago? Whether those ancient ones transcribed text from a greater diety is debatable, and I'm not one to take things merely at face value. The Evolution vs Creationism debate I will leave to the scientists. . . although I will point out that all the facts are there. . . the truth is in the eye of the beholder.

But enough about religion. . . each to their own I say. They are free to choose what they believe in, and they are free to practice what they believe on themselves. But they are not free to impress their beliefs forcefully onto me.

Drivers on the road. I face this everyday during traffic. . . and while I can say that not 100% of the drivers are stupid, there are some clearly stupid ones that needs to be barred from reproduction. Anyone who has gone to traffic school or driver's education should know that the left lane is reserved for faster traffic (hell. . . its even a test question). If traffic is passing you on the right, MOVE ASIDE!!! Far too often I see idiots driving ten below the limit, forcing everyone to try and pass through the right, in and of itself is a dangerous manuever because of the potential of a forward vehicle slowing down suddenly to make a right turn. No wonder my insurance premiums are astronomical (and don't even get me started on what a racket the insurance industry is). Then there are the ones who do get in the accident, and decide to leave their vehicles in the lanes, blocking up traffic for miles. Police officers should receive orders to shoot on sight unless the offender has a very good reason (aged grannies unable to move their humongous Cadillacs should be approached with caution. . . and asked to state their excuse from 10 feet away. . . seriously. . . why do older people enjoy driving humongous vehicles that they can barely see out of?). . . Oh, and people attempting to multi-task. . . unless you are naturally capable of multi-tasking, or have received intensive training, DON'T ATTEMPT IT. That specifically means if you can't talk on the phone and drive on the same time, DON'T. If you can't play video games on your Palm Pilot and watch the road at the same time, DON'T. And if you are capable of watching a movie while driving safely, my props to you. But I'd rather enjoy a movie in a comfortable couch with full surround sound instead of hunched over a steering wheel. Harsh? Maybe. . . but that should get the point across that just because you are stupid, does not give you the right to screw everyone else over. Alright, let's ask the question in a different way. . . why am I being screwed in traffic, wasting gas, time, and sanity, because you are too stupid to drive?

Gun control. Fun topic. Those for the gun bans claim safety. Those in the NRA claim safety too. So where's the difference? And I won't even try and delve into the conspiracy theories. . . I'll just state simple facts. Guns are not toys. They never were meant to be. Guns can be entertaining, but by no means are they toys (they may be informally referred to as such among mature adults, but said mature adults also realize they are speaking in jest). Unfortunately, not every person alive is intelligent enough to own a lethal weapon. They are either a) irresponsible, b) ignorant, c) ill-tempered, or d) all of the above. Gun vendors should get together and devise a test to see if any potential gun owner falls into any of these categories. That should eradicate 99% of firearm accidents, and it isn't discriminating based on race, sex, or any other irrelevant factors. But intelligence and common sense should be a basic requirement to gun ownership. If you aren't responsible, wise, or patient, you probably shouldn't own a gun. In fact, you probably shouldn't be driving a vehicle either. But unfortunately, laws that are currently in place restricts the rest of us unnecessarily. And that means that fairly soon, because some gangster in the hood was able to illegally obtain a gun and rob me of my belongings, I'll unable to defend myself or my family because gun purchases are illegalized (although I will fight him to the death with my katana, and in confined quarters, this should prove to be an interesting fight. . .). Which begets the question. . . why am I being penalized for the stupid people out there? I'm sure I missed a couple of points in my arguement. . . but I'll refine this and post it in the Stuff section later. Right now I'm just brain dumping. . . too many things on my mind and I need the extra space for important things. . . like how to bring my wife home. . .

Global warming. I've heard arguments from both sides. Each are steadfast in their beliefs. Which is fine and all. . . but one side is wrong, and the other side is overzealous, and both of them are affecting the way I live. Let's face it, global warming is happening. Polar ice caps are melting. Sea levels are rising (along with more destructive megastorms lazily cruising over the surface of the earth, completely oblivious to the path of devastation it leaves behind). The world will end soon. But that's no reason for us to hurry it along. Oil companies don't care because they're still making money, although they throw out a few token projects to protect the environment as a Public Relations face saver. But the protected forests and helpless seals will be ruthlessly brushed aside when its deemed that more money need to be made. On the other hand, the EPA needs to learn when to make exceptions. Sure, major industries need to control their exhausts and prevent lethal amounts of pollutants from making its way into circulation. But that's doesn't mean Joe Blow farmer can't till his land so that he can plant something all because of one confused salamander wandered onto his land. Refer back to my statement of moderation. But back to the more immediate problem. All these gas guzzling vehicles (I'm willing to admit Bismark is one. . . although I'm trying to ride Shadow Phoenix more often now) are killing us, both physically and financially. With the world population ever increasing, energy demands are rising higher than ever. But technology is also getting better and better. So where are the alternative energy sources? Nuclear fission is okay until the radioactive goop comes back out, but what about fusion? Solar? Wind? Tidal? Geothermal? Hydrogen? Why are governments blithely ignoring the future while only counting the money they're getting now from their corporate supporters? Are they so narrow minded that they're not able to see that their children and grandchildren are going to be screwed fifty years from now? Oh wait. . . that's right. . . they'll all be filthy rich, so it won't affect any of them. Meanwhile, the rest of us are going to be screwed. Wonderful. Maybe I should run for office too and save my children and grandchildren. But I digress. Solar energy is very viable, despite contrary belief. If every house mounted a solar panel that covered 5-10% of their electrical needs. . . guess what? That's a reduction of 5-10% of EVERYONE's energy needs. Those figures increase accordingly if people installed more solar panels on their roofs or if technology made solar panels more efficient. Its not rocket science; its basic math. What are they teaching in schools if people can't even do basic math? But don't worry, I am not professing that solar energy will solve all our problems. I will profess that solar energy is PART OF THE SOLUTION. Solar energy, along with nuclear fusion and hydrogen generators, are probably going to be the easiest and most efficient energy solution we can develope. It also probably means we can't have 200+MPH super fast rice cars or gargantuan uber-SUVs. . . but guess what, I'm sure if you have the money, you can pay extra for a specially tricked out motor that will do that for you, without using gasoline. This is assuming, of course, that you pass the intelligence test on your driver's exam.

Now to spend a few more days cleaning up stuff at work. . . and then off to Albany to visit Yanyan. . . this should be fun, since its been a month since we've seen each other. . .

With the abrupt termination of the client project I was assigned to, I was in a gloomy mood at work. The fact that Bill got hit by some of the flak only made things worse. So instead I decided to concentrate on trying to fix an annoying Exchange issue that's been plaguing us for several weeks now.

Lunchtime came around, and since there were several things that we wanted from Fry's, I decided to head out for lunch and meet with some of the troopers from Whiskey Company. Unfortunately, I headed out too late, so didn't get to Rudy's until they were already done eating and were ready to head back to work. Lunch by myself was definitely no fun. . .

Fry's was Fry's. Got what I needed to get. Left before temptation got the better of me on thousand of other items that're on my wishlist. . . :p

Got back to work later than I had expected, but at least Jon was back in, although his daughter is still sick. The finance controller managed to track me down and we discussed some of the security issues involving access to financial records, before we were pleasantly interrupted to gather at the main conference room for the monthly birthday celebration. Ironically, all the birthday celebrants were field consultants, and none of them were in the office.

Expecting cake, we got crackers and deli meat instead. Food was food, so we can't really complaint. Although we did give the organizer a hard time about it. Then Ed gathered everyone's attention, and begun a surprise knifing ceremony.

At CT, we have the tradition of rewarding members who have performed exemplary service and have gone out of their way to get things done. There's a story regarding the knife in question, but I'll leave it for Ed to do the telling; he's got it down to an art form. Basically, the fact that I went through hell and high water for my first project got Ed's attention, and I suppose everything I've done up to this point haven't gone completely unnoticed. So I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was the recipient of the CT knife award. Much congratualtions followed, and it definitely brightened my day to be recognized like that.

Disc two of the package will have footage from the second reception, as well as a photo gallery of all the pictures taken on both dates. That will probably take me longer to do, only because there's hundreds of photos to go through. . . :P

Meanwhile, I'm still nursing Rasengan back to health. It looks like the bulk of the problems was not due to the internal gears as I had feared. HammerHead and Agrovale from Whiskey Company have been very helpful in guiding me through the care and feed of a Colt M4, so I'm giving credit where credit is due. . .

It was decided that the Seburo MN-23 would be unsuitable for this type of engagement, so I managed to borrow a Colt M733 Tactical Carbine for the op. The style of the M733 is definitely different from the bullpup-style MN-23, but a rifle is a rifle is a rifle. . . and as long as it shoots striaght, I can't complain.

The op started with a fast dash for our contigent to move into position. Unfortunately, due to the amount of gear I was carrying and the relative temperture, I was quickly smacked down by attrition, and was then medevac-ed to a field hospital where I treated and then released. Remember kids, heat exhaustion is not fun. Hydration is very very very important when on field manuevers and wearing a fully loaded tactical vest in 100+ degree temperture.

So after I get back on my feet, I find out that due to the constraints in place for the op (only six radios per team), unit cohesion went out the window within the first ninety minutes. So I hooked up with the nearest unit and continued fighting from then on. This quickly deterriorated to numerous small squads doing the best they could without radio contact.

In the end, due to several of our units calling quits early as well as numerous injuries, our team lost by a wide margin. Nonetheless, overall it was a great training exercise. . . especially the tidbit about hydration. In the end though, everyone had fun, which is probably what counts the most.

At least. . . that was the idea. I later found out that I in fact would be doing the evaluation, on top of setting everything up. Setting everything up was fun and great learning experience. . . but the evaluation quickly went from bad to worse.

Client wants results by Monday. I have two out of four sections done, but am lacking hardware to do one, and the fourth one has me completely stumped as to why it won't work. This being the weekend, chances are there will be no one for me to tap for ideas. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place. . .

Going to go soak a bit in the hot tub. . . clear my mind. . . then join the troops for a mass live-fire training exercise all day tomorrow in an attempt to re-introduce some physical activity in my life. . . then probably head back to the office on Sunday to see if I can salvage this gig. . .

The tour through the western US was rushed (as expected). . . we left Camelot Command at 15:45 and arrived at LAX around 17:00. After a brief night's rest, we started the 72-hour tour which took us through California, Nevada, and Arizona. The main points of interest was the (original) London Bridge, Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas (where we proceeded to donate $55 to the casinos).

By Friday we were back near LAX, ready to log in a good night's sleep before flying back to Camelot Command to finish Op:Uni. . . when Yanyan had this great idea to take the stairs to our rooms instead of the elevators. Since we had just came out of her parents' room, which happened to be one floor above ours, I figured it would be a good idea. Except this particular hotel didn't condone the usage of stairs as a way to save energy, apparently. Because as soon as we stepped into the stairwell, it became readily apparent that all the doors leading back into the hotel were locked. My first thought was to go back to the first floor and exit there. Except there was a nice big sign saying "open only in emergency because fire alarm will be on". . . or something to that effect. Which puts us in a very peculiar position. . . being stuck in the fire escape of a hotel a week after our wedding. Needless to say I wasn't a happy camper. A quick call to the hotel's management prompted them to send a rescue team to let us back into the hotel. The team was also the ones who helpfully informed us that there are no usable stairs in the hotel. I'm not sure who was the bright one who thought that up. . . but they should be dragged out and shot multiple times for the pain and suffering I had to go through. And I'm actually letting them off light. . . I must be getting soft. . . this marriage thing. . . *sigh*. . .

After our flight back to Camelot Command, we promptly get ready for the conclusion of Op:Uni. The second reception near Camelot Command was just as noisy as the first reception. We greeted all the family friends as well as distant relatives. It was at this point that I decided that a particular grudge I was holding against a relative should be quietly dropped. Enough is enough, and I'm not one to cross the line unnecessarily. All in all, the evening was both entertaining and delightful.

And so here we are now back at Outpost Command V. . . where there's tons of cleanup I still have to do. Yanyan and parents will be leaving tomorrow for Albany, leaving me. . . alone. But at least I have tons of stuff to do. . . it should keep my mind off of the my-wife-is-not-with-me thoughts. . . I think. . .

And it was a very good thing that we did. Their defenses were indeed formidable, placing four lines of defense in front of us. The time I spent preparing, they were improving their defenses as well. In fact, it seemed that some of the emplacements were quite new. . . which indicated that the casualties would have been horrendous had we not mounted the sudden advance.

Like all previous battles, this was a long, drawn out affair. The remanants of the five other divisions also assisted in the defense, proving a very tough adversary. In the end, we managed to punch through their centerline before they were able to encircle completely on the flanks. Very fortunate indeed. . .