guy fawkes

remember, remember
the fifth of november
the gunpowder treason and plot
i know of no reason
why the gunpowder treason
should ever be forgot

today marks the 405th anniversary of what is popularly known as the gunpowder treason plot; a failed attempt to assassinate the king of england along with most of the british parliament. the authorities discovered guy fawkes guarding a bunch of gunpowder barrels that would have leveled the parliament building. the day (or night) has been celebrated in briton and it's colonies ever since; generally with fireworks and burning effigies of unpopular figures (traditionally guy fawkes). it's popularity has been waning in recent years, but i suspect it might re-emerge as things become more tumultuous.

it's proximity to election day (in the united states) makes me still more inclined to believe the holiday's due for a comeback. perhaps in a couple years we'll be burning effigies of the monetary terrorists in office.

a few days ago, the american people sent a clear, small government message to capital hill. and what was the response? the federal reserve announced they'd buy another $600 billion of government bonds. this is exactly the opposite of small government: it enables the federal government to go further into debt, and it tosses another dose of inflation at us. but i guess the fed wouldn't care as they're not elected. the only thing keeping the fed in existence is the public's ignorance (hello government controlled schools).

it is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, i believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.
-henry ford

it's going to take a lot of education about government and monetary policy, and vigilance at the polls to redeem the country. the depression is upon us already; what we do today merely determines the degree. all the while, our government continues to run as quickly as possible in the wrong direction.

will the neophytes be able to make a difference in time? i certainly hope so. time is quickly running out. if this clock expires, there will certainly be blood in the streets.

election day

well, the poll seems to not be getting very far. perhaps people's RSS feeds won't update unless i post something else? if that's what's holding things up, this should help. and if you haven't read my previous post (that was initially blank), go ahead and try that.

so today is mid-term election day. i expect turn-out will be larger this year than in previous mid-term years. my address is still listed as the one i was at before the whole deployment thing started so my polling center was in downtown indy. it was quite a bit emptier than 2 years ago during the 'big' election. i'm going to guess that has something to do with indianapolis being a primarily democratic zone. it was also rather telling that someone handed me a list of democrat candidates on my way in. i guess they think people are too brain dead to read what party the candidate is a part of? it's written directly under their name....

well, they'll be disappointed as i voted libertarian wherever there was one on the ballot. i realize this might cause some annoy some of my readers as well, but such is life. indiana's a primarily republican state, and i feel the republican candidates stand a pretty good chance of getting elected regardless of my puny vote. as such, it's far better spent raising awareness for the libertarian party. i realize there are some republicans and democrats that are more libertarian than their party, but none of those types were on my ballot so....

regardless of your political leanings, i would like to encourage anyone that's reading this to please go vote. i'm relatively certain my readers are educated enough to have a valid opinion so go make it heard.

the revolution continues today. let's hope it gets resolved before things get bloody.

the tree of liberty needs to be watered from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
- thomas jefferson

they will not force us
they will stop degrading us
they will not control us
we will be victorious
- muse the uprising

home

for those of you that noticed the blank post, that was my attempt to post something via my new droidx (one of verizon's android phones). it didn't work out so well.

anyway, i'm home, and have a lot of free time ahead of me. i was thinking about running around and visiting all the nice people that sent me care packages...or anyone else i haven't seen in a while. i'm leaning toward hitting up jon in budapest in early december, but it looks like all of november is more or less free (absent the very beginning when i'll be voting).

my car's in the shop right now getting all fixed up so if you'd like me to come visit you, just shoot me an email: porcupous at yahoo.

there's also the matter of this blog's future i'd like to ask for some feedback on. i'm still of the mind that the vast majority of people live boring lives, and blogs are an attempt to get people to notice them when they'd be much better off if they just went out and found some friends. it's this attitude that kept me from having a blog for a long time. when i deployed though, it proved much easier to blog than email 50 people individually.

but now i'm back; back to the boring life of one of the 300 millionish people in america. this makes it hard for me to justify keeping this. however, someone did mention that they would like me to keep posting. so...i'm going to leave it up to my readers. pick your favorite option on the poll. this is a simple, majority wins thing. since there aren't many people that read this, it won't take much to make this poll go either way.

anyway, get to voting...and emailing me if you want me to drop by.

the end

my journey home will begin soon. as such, i probably won't be checking this as it's rather difficult while in transit. the hotline number for flight information is 1-800-237-2850 extension 4019. they probably won't have any information there for a few more days as getting us back is rather logistically complicated.

they claim there will be a 'welcome home' ceremony on stout field immediately following our plane landing. i think they're a little nuts as i'm sure i'll be too tired then to want to see anyone. if people want to show up, that's fine; just don't be surprised if my responses are little more than grunts of acknowledgment.

anyway, i've gotta go. laterz

short

well, the time for us to go home is getting really close. everyone's busy packing. i'll be mailing a trunk home as i seem to have accumulated a few more things than i came here with. as for the timeline, all i can say at this point is we'll be back sometime in the last half of this month (october, in case anyone's lost track). the state's going to set up a toll free number to dial for up-to-date information about our arrival. i'd give it out, but i left the number in the office. i'll be sure to post it before we leave salerno.

i apologize for not giving more timely updates. things have been rather busy with packing, and training the new guys. when i post anything else in here before we take off, it'll be something quick and concise as i probably won't have much time.

well, i've got some work to get back to. i'll catch you guys later.

11 September

nine years...on the ninth anniversary of the reason i'm here, it's impossible to forget what day it is. my feelings are mixed when it comes to this subject. i think it's tragic how it took something like this to make america wake up to the threat of terrorism. the signs were there before, but most of us just went about oblivious to the whole thing. they weren't blowing things up in the continental united states so we were safe right? but then...it's amazing how one day changed everything.

we're not at the point many of our friends are. israel's been dealing with this sort of thing for millennia; whether they had their own country or not. i'm glad we're not at there, but sometimes i wonder if people would wake up more if we were.

so now we have soldiers running all over the world seeking out terrorists. while i'm glad we're giving them a distraction to keep them busy, i can't help but wonder if it's the right strategy in the long run. america won't be able to maintain things as they are for long. we've been living beyond our means for decades, and the bill collector's knocking on our door. the united states currently accounts for 51% of all the world's military spending. while we may have been able to afford that at one point, my line of work is now one of the many things dragging our government (and everyone else) further into the abyss. will we have made enough of a difference by the time we go home to make things safer? or will we have merely succeeded in galvanizing the ones that hate us?

the bureaucracy will never understand this though. rather than being our savior, the government is now an albatross around the country's neck. some of the most feared words in the english language are "we're from the government, and we're here to help". i know if anyone ever said that to me, i'd be scared.

there is still some hope left though. a few states are resurrecting the concept of nullification; or even succession. millions of citizens are awaking, and demanding their rights back.

will we be as safe with a smaller government? i think we can be. one thing is for certain though, we'll discover the answer to that question shortly. the government will be forced to shrink as the economic situation deteriorates. it's time to start preparing; big brother's days are numbered.

updates

it's been while since i've posted anything substantial. things have been busy for several reasons, and i'll go into a few of them.

the combatives class i was taking is long since over and my ribs are almost back to normal. they still hurt more than they should if someone hits me, but at least i'm not doubling over in pain any more. i enjoyed the class so much, that i volunteered to be an assistant instructor for the next class they gave. it doesn't hurt nearly as bad if you're not one of the students, and it gave me a chance to get some extra practice in. it looks like there will be 1 more class before we leave, and i'm looking forward to helping out with that one as well. it's amazing how much finding something fun to do can make this place more bearable.

in a few short weeks the advanced party for our replacements will be here. the unit's been busily preparing for their arrival. it's gotten to the point where every last person is thinking about when we'll be able to leave.

unfortunately, may have taken the negative influences of the unit as a sign that the army's not for them. it saddens me to see young disgruntled soldiers; especially when i know it's because of one bad unit. at least i've managed to convince my former soldiers (from when i was a platoon sergeant) that this unit is not like most.

and finally, i've learned the second of six of my grandparents passed away on friday. death has never been the same since my mom died when i was eleven. that hit me so hard, and i spent years recovering from it. months being angry at god, and years being depressed and trying to control my emotions. since then, the death of someone who's time has come and was anticipated holds no pain.

when i saw my grandmother in june, i knew she wasn't long for this world. i was pleasantly surprised she held out for a couple more months. i hope that extra time has better prepared everyone else for her passing. she was a effervescent woman who's passion for life bought her loved ones at least an extra year with her. may she rest in peace, and await the day the rest of us will join her.

when we all get to heaven
what a day of rejoicing that will be
when we all see jesus
we'll sing and shout the victory