Monster Thoughts

 I see a trend with American figureheads in the media today. They seemed to have lost their BALLS! Yes, I said it - BALLS. Seems like after every heated exchange of words that get caught on film leads to a public apology. I start to really notice this opinion when Urban Meyer was filmed correcting an out of line reporter about one of his players as any good coach would do. Listen, I strongly feel that if you know you are clearly in the right well then stand by what you said. America's youngsters don't need to see anymore of this "I take it back" attitude especially when they see the right example in the first place. This was going to be the end of this post but after just how short it was going to turn out I stumbled upon the Army Times newspaper the other night and saw an article, "Wrong way to tell" in the April 19th issue stating the General Mixon who is the commander of the Pacific for the Army went about the wrong way of voicing an opinion. When did we get to the point where our leaders could no longer voice their concern for a policy involving their career field. Especially when it is coming from a 3 star general for Pete's sake. I get why no one cares what I think since I'm a lowly PFC put when a General speaks up about an issue that should be sending off some warning signals when he is reprimanded by the Secretary of the Army. I love the quote that the Army Secretary used to justify the reprimand. "He recognizes (General Mixon) it was inappropriate for him to become an advocate and try to shape the opinion of the force rather than to reach out and ascertain the opinion of the force." McHugh said. For all you civilians out there let me sum up what that really means plain English. "You will agree with what we are telling you to agree with because we said so, and we don't give a rat's ass about your opinion no matter how much sense it may or may not make." Look all I'm saying is you wouldn't have seen the likes of Ronald Reagan, John Wayne, Lou Gehrig or Bob Hope taking back what they believed was the right answer to an issue.

If you have recently developed a hankering for a night out at the movies I beg you to forget about all the markee posters unless you happen to be gazing upon James Cameron's latest film debut. Even if you are not a fan of science fiction I would still highly recommend watching this flick, more importantly I should mention to view the 3D version. Sure it's marked up about four bucks and those glasses they give you make you look like Harry Potter. But it will be the only time you will be able experience Avatar this way again. I know there are skeptics that remember the old days of cheesy 3D movies but Cameron has certainly remided flaws of past attempts by filmakers. During an AOTS episode interview he stated he had his own 3D cameras developed specifically for Avatar. There is something in this film for everyone I promise you. No matter what kind of movie genre you're into Avatar has thrown a bit into its mix. I don't want to give anything away but if had to relate it to anything you might want to look back to a certain struggle of American history. That is all I'm going to give away. Trust me even if you haven't seen any of Cameron's other great films do not let this one pass you by in theaters.

  Watch out illegals, the machines have come back with a vengence and they aren't after John Connor this time. This time they want YOUR JOBS!!! Thats right, MIT students and other mechanical developers have created newer, more advanced farming robots that seemingly take the 'hard' out of hard labor. From smart gardeners that uses sensors to tell it to harvest ripe product to carts with laser range finders as guides and automated pruners equipped with 3D cameras that tell where to cut. The one thing that all these machines have in common is that its about half the cost to operate these machines as opposed to regular manual labor. There are countless other machines in the works that will give farmers endless applications to further cut cost and improve productivity as the field of robitics continues to sky rocket as each year passes. The idea of robot workers also appeals to farmers since the number of migrant workers varies from year to year causing much of the harvestable crop to rot. While illegal immigrants are most times the usual solution to the migrant problem they are now becoming a serious legal liability.The good thing about these new machines is that it won't take jobs away from the public since someone has to be able to maintain these robots. Tony Stentz of Carnegie Mellon University's National Robitics Engineering Center believes we will see farming robots out in the fields in the next five years. I'm personally looking foward to seeing the robot they make to deal with those pesky killer tomatoes.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20090905p2a00m0na010000c.html

It appears the Japanese Yakuza has now intiated a written examination affecting entry of new members. What won't the Japanese think of these days? I knew the Japanese had a great business sense, but this just takes it to a new level. The Japanese government imposed a new law that allowed the higher ups in the organization to be sued concering the things its members 'may or may not have done'. Talk about covering your ass. Can you imagine if American gangs starting enforcing the same type test due to a similar law we passed. Who needs gun control when 90 percent of the applicants cannot become members simply on the grounds of not being able to read. Organized crime would come to a complete halt. Somebody in Congress needs to get on this pronto. I beg you to read the article just on the grounds of having a good laugh, make sure to check out the question and answer section. But what I really would love to see is people who fail the test, what happens to them? Come back next year? Do they get a study guide? Or better yet, gangster exam tutoring. I can see this turning into a required reading for all organized crime syndicates. May the Japanese populace continue to entertain us for years to come.

I should have written this half a month ago but having to come back to a place like Iraq after just sampling America for a mere 15 days will drain the energy out of your body. Before I went of mid-tour leave I was so pumped about returning to my hometown and seeing all my friends and family again. Everything was mostly like it was when I left it. Except the situation was much different, everybody that I knew had graduated from college, gotten married and had kids or were pursuing new goals altogether. Some people had changed because of new challenges they have had to cope with recently, others were the same ol' kids I grew up with back in the day. You might be wondering what the hell I did on leave after having to read facebook status after facebook status exclaiming how soon it would be until I touched down in America. Well, I arrived in Birmingham on a Sunday morning and took a $70 dollar cab ride from the airport to my crib in Chelsea because I did not want to have to wait for someone to come pick me up. I arrived at my house with no one there since they were at church. But to my dismay the key was not left out in its usual spot so I had to break in to my own house. I called my brother and suprised my parents as they turned onto Hwy 47 next to the Winn Dixie undoubtly snapping my father's neck when he turned to see me standing beside my car wondering how I got the keys to it since they were locked inside the house. Sortly after my brother's friend showed up to join us in the parking lot while we pondered whether or not to mess with this crack hoe standing on the corner of the plaza. But sadly, she got a ride with someone before we had the chance to formulate just how we were going to have our fun. After relaxing for a bit back home I had some obligations to go see some good friends that kept up communications with me while I was out of country. I'd like to thank all my friends and family right now for keeping me entertained during my stay whether it be by bowling, kayaking, bar hopping, skeet shooting, karaoke,movies, getting bounced for being a racist (Centerview Bar sucks!!), tattooing, dining or just plain chillin'. Both Birmingham and Tuscaloosa were great places to visit and re-live some great memories while reconnecting with those that mean the a lot to me. For those of you that I did not get to see I will be back in December so I hope to see you then. Thanks guys I appreciate you so much for the great time you showed me during my stay.

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? This phrase constantly running throught my mind as I sit, stand, walk, eat, and sleep through the hours waiting for flight times and dates on my journey back to the states after 8+ months of trudging the farmlands of Iraq. This is coming from a guy who has developed an extraordinary amount of patience since being in theater which also begs the question of just how low was it before I came here. Not to mention how the mere notion of a delayed flight makes me want to punch babies (with great patience also comes great rage). Going through my head as well are all the things I want to experience once I make it to my final destination back in good 'ol Chelsea, Alabama. Just hoping I will be able to get to all of them and still feel relaxed enough to have made my vacation worthwhile. I hope to be able to hang out with all those friends that have kept me going through this deployment with their e-mail messages and phone conversations. Know that all those little things help out those soldiers that over here far away from home away from friends and family. Even if you are against the "war" in Iraq (the same as most of military men and women) it is nice to know that people realize its not our individual choice to be over here either. So while I continue to metaphorically bite my nails in anticipation I thank everyone for keeping in touch with me during my time away from our beloved country.

http://www.lemondrop.com/2009/07/08/woman-marries-her-dog-seriously/

For the longest time gay marriage was the biggest threat to the Republican Party but alas a new enemy has emerged out of the depths of 'NTJAN' ('Naw, That Just Ain't Natural'). A 29 year old women in Ghana named Emily Mabou married her dog. Now joining the ranks of the weird and socially awkward are the crazy dog ladies, I'm sure that the Cat Lady(http://beaut.ie/images/wild1.jpg) will not appreciate the new addition to the neighborhood. Emily, after running the gauntlet of 'cheaters' and 'skirt chasers' says she has found the man who reminds her most of her father. I am willing to bet the father in law and his new son hit it off lovely after they both pooped on the living room floor. When Mrs.Mabou was asked about children she replied that she would most likely adopt, yeah...uh okay lady have fun getting through the adoption agency with your credentials. One more thing, who the hell is this priest that married these two together? I really hope the guy is not of the Catholic faith since those guys really do not need to add to their already spotty reputations. The part that really gets me laughing about this whole ordeal is when I read that the priest was telling everyone not to mock this disturbed women for marrying a canine. Sure padre...I'll get right on that. FREAKS!!!