Because who wouldn’t want to read my paper?

I doubt anyone will read it, but since I uploaded my solution from the MCM, I figured why not?

This is my paper for American Politics.  Enjoy.

Election Legitimacy in the United States and Iran

Michael

Quick post

I’m flying back to New York this afternoon for Cadet Field Training, so I won’t be online for about a month.

Before I go, I wanted to post a link about helping out the Iranian Twitter members who are trying to communicate.

http://heavenp2.somee.com/helpiraniantwitters.pdf

Also, you can set up proxies for them to use: http://blog.austinheap.com/2009/06/15/how-to-setup-a-proxy-for-iran-citizens-for-windows/

Please help if you can.

Michael

I am ashamed

I haven’t blogged in quite a while now.

Things have been busy here, but mostly I just didn’t have anything important to say.  I’m still here at the academy, currently in “summer school” for gymnastics, which I failed this semester.  It’s going a lot better.  I’ve already got almost as many points as I had at the end of my first attempt at the class.

Some fairly important stuff in the news today.

First, Iran sent 6 warships into international waters.  Lovely.   I’m thinking that we should probably do something about Iran, but that’s just me.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,521730,00.html

Next, North Korea tested more missiles.  I’m loving all these crazy dictators we have running around with substantial amounts of weaponry…and quite possibly nuclear ones.  I don’t see how the US and the UN giving them a slap on the wrist and saying, “bad” is going to solve the issue.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,521730,00.html

And my final note (not that there isn’t a lot of other craziness going on right now) is that the California Supreme Court, which I actually once had the opportunity to witness in session, has ruled that the Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage in the state is constitutional and will remain.  As much as this follows my own personal beliefs, I’m fairly concerned about the backlash that will come out of this.  If you read back in some of my blogs, you’ll see the response, specifically against the LDS (Mormon) church while all this was going down initially.  I doubt we’ve seen the last of this.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/26/california-high-court-rule-gay-marriage/?test=latestnews

On the personal front, once I finish my class here on 5 June, I’ll head home until the 17th.  Then I’ve got Cadet Field Training in the fabulous Camp Bucker (A.K.A. Bucknam, Buckraq, Buckghanistan, Buckmalia, etc.) for 4 weeks.  Then I’ll finish out the summer with Advanced Medical Training here in the <sarcasm> ever beautiful </sarcasm> West Point.

That’s enough out of me for today.  You stay classy…all three of you reading this.

Michael

Only one battle remains

Upon of the fields of Thayer Hall, the outcome of my war will be decided.  Tomorrow is the Psychology Term End Exam.

So far, I’m beating the Dean to a bloody pulp, 5 wins to 0.  All that remains is this final test of my ability to BS my way through plebe year classes.  It’s a tough one.  I am going to tell you all a secret: I’m actually studying for it.  I don’t want this whole thing to ruin my reputation, but the class is a lot of stuff, so it is going to require some work on my part.  However, have no fear, I just spent a couple hours playing F.E.A.R. instead (yes, pun absolutely intended).  If you don’t know what F.E.A.R. is, I’ll tell you.  It is perhaps the scariest game ever conceived by man.  I won’t play it late at night because it will scare the crap out of me.

I read an article about the Miss California press conference, and I’m glad that she gets to keep her crown.  That whole situation was ridiculous.  I’ve blogged about the subject of gay marriage a couple times, in regard to Proposition 8 in California and the aftermath, specifically the attacks on the Mormon church.  I think Donald Trump said it best, there was no way Carrie could give a “right” answer to that question.

Continuing on the gay rights thread here, I was reading an article about a West Point grad who was a founding member of Knights Out, an organization for homosexual West Point alumni.  Well, when this officer who was still serving in the National Guard came out publicly, the Army sent him his separation papers.  He wrote a letter to congress, as I recall, pleading that he not be fired, etc.  The comments online on said article were generally about the fact that President Obama had said he was going to get rid of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and how he was a liar because he hasn’t done it, blah blah blah.  And now for my response.

What the hell is wrong with a good portion of mankind?  I don’t know about the rest of America, but I am a lot more concerned with your flailing economy and Al Qaeda about to take Pakistan’s nuclear weapons than I am about ending a policy that has been working for 15 years so that people feel better about themselves.  Honestly, I don’t care if they end Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.  However, I think that President Obama is realizing the same thing that President Clinton saw when he made the policy in the first place.  There are homophobes in the Army.  Just like there are people in the rest of the country who strictly will not accept homosexuals, there are people like that in the Army.  In a normal community, it’s not a huge problem.  In a combat environment however, that kind of thing can be lethal.  To just say, “Alright, openly gay people can be in the military now,” could cause a catastrophe.  I think it’s shocking that people are so worried about what directly affects them that they can’t see the bigger picture and realize what is really going on.

Okay, that’s enough rambling for one day.

Michael

3 AM on Saturday at the Point

What else is there to do but write a blog?  We have SAMI (Saturnday Morning Inspection) today.  Essentially, our rooms must be so spotless that not even a speck of dust can be found.  Callahan (my roommate) and I have been cleaning all day and are finally wrapping it up.  Our room looks really good, so I’m not too worried.

We also have an in-ranks uniform inspection, so we shined our shoes as well.  I occasionally use edge dressing on mine for inspections, and Callahan uses a simpler “edge dressing” type substance with a foam applicator for easy use and reduced accidents.  Anyone who has used real edge dressing knows that it stains really easily and when you are putting it on, the bottle sits there open.

Well, tonight, Callahan decided he wanted to use REAL edge dressing for his shoes.  Within 30 seconds, I hear “uh oh” come from the sink.  I didn’t really think anything until I heard “there is edge dressing all over the sink.”  I at first thought he was joking, but when I looked I saw that he had spilled some in the sink.  I quickly turned the water on and scrubbed it.  Luckily we got it all off right away.  He is now definitely not allowed to use the “big boy” edge dressing ever though.  I figure it isn’t allowed here for a reason, but I’m going to use it anyway.

I had a few other thoughts today, one of which involves Presidential/Congressional approval ratings.  I was on foxnews.com today reading an article and saw the polls on the side of the page.  Here is what I saw:

President Obama Job Approval

RCP Average: +30.0%	Details
Approve	60.8%
Disapprove	30.8%

Congressional Job Approval

RCP Average: -17.5%	Details
Approve	36.5%
Disapprove	54.0%

This was kind of funny to me.  Congress has been controlled by the Democratic party for a few years now, so, we are apparently displeased with them.  So, what do we do?  Elect a Democrat as President!  Yeah!

I also tried to moonwalk earlier and ran into a closet door and stepped on our metal dust pan.  I’m tired.

Michael

Time for an update I suppose

Well, it’s been a while.  Things have been busy, but I guess not busy enough to warrant my absence from my pondering.

My current political thoughts are on the stimulus package.  I was in the city this weekend and saw that Congress had approved it and then later saw that President Obama did as well.  Today I saw another 75 billion is being proposed for the housing market to help people keep their mortgages.  I’m not really sure how I feel about all this.  Actually, yeah, I do.  I don’t really think this is going to fix things.  Throwing money at us is not going to be the big answer.

Another political issue is just the California budget in general.  State tax refunds are being held until further notice, which is awesome of course.  The Republicans booted the minority leader and that will not make the passing of a budget any faster.   California is notorious for their budget passing issues, at one point inciting the Governator to say “Now is not the time for political girly-men.”  I’m not incredibly optimistic about the situation.

Anyway, other than the world falling apart as always, things drone on here at the Academy.  Less than a week until my birthday and I have absolutely no plans.  Another birthday that will probably be spent in my room…other than classes.

That’s all I’ve got for now.  Plenty of other things on my mind, but nothing I really want to delve into at the moment.

Michael

Activists Target Mormons for Gay-Marriage Ban’s Success in California

Here is a link to the article: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,459544,00.html

So, here is my take on things.

• Opponents of the now passed Proposition 8 Gay-Marriage Ban in California claim that the hierarchy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is directly responsible for the passing of the the ban.
• The Church made NO donations with church funds to the Yes on 8 campaign.
• Members of the Church made donations and helped with the campaign, but not under requirement from Church officials.
• Proposition 8 aligned with our religious beliefs, so of course, many members would support it.
• Many other groups supported the ban, obviously, since it passed.
• 70% of African-American voters and more than half of Latino voters voted yes.
• As of 1 OCT 2007, there were just over 750,000 LDS members in the state of California, compared to the 36.5+ MILLION residents of California.
• Response by activists has been ridiculous, with defacement of church property and even hate crimes through the burning of our sacred scripture.

So, those are just a few points that make this whole thing drive me nuts.  I find it incredibly difficult to even consider their point of view when they attack us so vehemently and in such obscene ways.  I’m sorry, but I just can’t handle that.

Michael