Dilligas.com HomeNovember 13, 2005 - Same old, same old... So yet again, it's been a couple weeks. What else is new, right? So let's recap the last couple weeks, as has become standard:
I've worked, I've slept, and I've played video games. I went out briefly to a couple bar-type-places with people to watch football and/or just hang out. More often than not, I left early.
And yes, that's pretty much it. While work is constantly getting better - I keep doing more and more interesting stuff, and I'm constantly figuring things out more completely - it doesn't make for a very exciting newspost. And sadly, this is going to pretty much be the inevitable pattern for ... well, ever, I suppose.
So maybe I'll have to change this into a more 'traditional' blog-like site. That would involve more frequent posting (that was a joke, see), and small, isolated entries about random things -- racquetball, photography, scuba, video games, and the like. Since I live but to serve (that was another joke), you should let me know what you think by leaving me a comment or two.
The only noteworthy site news is that I fixed a small irregularity in the POTD that you probably didn't notice. Huzzah.
November 28, 2005 - The transformation begins I finally spent some time this (long) weekend and did some work on this site of mine, besides the obligatory hey-it's-been-two-weeks-so-let's-update-now. You may notice at the bottom of all the newsposts now, there are some more links. These represent categories that my news posts can fall into. Things like site updates, work, school, et cetera are encompassed in these categories, and if you click on a category name, you'll see all the entries filed under that same category. At some point these will be searchable, and I'll make them easier to get to from my archives page, but work with me for now. This is all you get to start with.
Okay, so why did I add this? Well, besides being able to see at a glance whether or not you might care about a certain entry, it nicely lays the framework for my upcoming "transition to a real blog". This way, I can keep rants and raves, video game reviews, and general updates separate, and perhaps even attract a different group of readers to each. Because let's face it, very few people are interested in the mundanities of my life, so having a way to flag my posts as largely uninteresting will be useful. Plus, since many of my posts, especially the old ones, don't fall nicely into one category, I've made it so each post can have as many as necessary. Some even have four, five, or more. Oh, and I spent probably five hours or so this weekend going through all of my old postings and categorizing them. Hooray.
So then, away from site news and into the other interesting business. First, Kelsey came back again for a day, and brought her cousin with her! Even though it was a Wednesday night, this occasion still resulted in lots of enchiladas and margaritas, as well as a trip to the local darts-and-pool bar. Good times. Then for the holiday weekend, Brad's parents took in myself and Schneekloth for Thanksgiving dinner, which was awesome of them. We enjoyed a very nice long day filled with food, drink, and general merriment, including my first experience with a deep-fried turkey. Much better than I was expecting, I must say. The rest of the four-day weekend has been spent alternating between bouts of productivity (my apartment is the cleanest it's been since I moved in) and laziness (I racked up about ten hours of video games Friday), so it's been pretty good. A trip to the dog park rounds things out nicely, although it's starting to get awfully cold to be out there for a couple hours in the mornings. I've had to scrape my car off a couple times now, and this is not a good sign of things to come. Welcome to winter, I suppose.
And to touch briefly on work, things are going pretty well there also. We have our "code complete" deadline, when everything we're doing has to be submitted, next Friday, so there may be a bit of a crunch leading up to that. Fortunately, our team is doing relatively isolated work, which means that we don't have to deal with a whole bunch of other groups, making our job much simpler and more predictable. We should be in pretty good shape for this deadline. As for what happens after the deadline, I'm not exactly sure. But I continue my slow assimilation into corporate culture, doing new and ever more complicated things as I go. It's nice to be doing some things that were originally scheduled for other people to do; it makes me feel more like it's "real work" and not "hey, this will be easy, let's give it to Jason". That sounds bad, so let me clarify: While having easy ramp-up work was a godsend for me, and a wonderful consideration given to me by my lead, there's always that nagging little sense that it's somehow second-rate stuff. I know it's not, and that it will all be included in our product, but it's a mental thing.
That's about it. Hopefully this week I should start doing some focused postings; I've had a few ideas for a while now. Of course, the track record will show that "sometime this week" usually turns into "maybe by January", but we can all pretend otherwise for now. I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend and a happy Thanksgiving!
November 30, 2005 - Official blog entry number one: Iraq After three days of thinking about it, it's time to do it. And I plan to start this 'blog' of mine with a too-often-discussed topic: Politics.
It's no secret; anyone who even vaguely knows me can tell you that I hate Bush. And it's not just because I perceive him as a shortsighted moron, or because he can't form a complete sentence without help, or because he can't chew a pretzel or stand on a podium. Oh, no, those are all easy things to take a shot at the man for, but they're all fairly trivial too. Okay, so he's got a 'down-home' way of speaking and isn't always letter-perfect when the cameras are on. Well, you know what, I'm not perfect either, and I frankly don't care about those minor things. The main reason I can't stand the man is his stance on certain issues.
Of course, the obvious choice (and, incidentally, the one that a majority of Americans agree on now -- see recent Gallup polls) is this "war" in Iraq. But of course, since Congress never officially declared war, it's just a conflict. And since our "mission was accomplished" over a year ago (remember that big banner on the warship?), I'm not sure what that makes this. But of course, what's done is done, and there's no way to change it. Sure, we can launch investigations into the intelligence we had and whether it was 'selectively interpreted', which should be done, but that doesn't change the here and now.
So what is the here and now? We have well over 150,000 troops in Iraq. And recently, Bush and his administration have repeatedly rebuffed people who have called for either a troop withdrawal, or a hard timetable for one. "Stay the course" has been the endlessly repeated slogan, along with other various patriotic-sounding buzzphrases. I'm reminded of the joke where two ships are on a collision course in the night; they both relay messages demanding the other move, and finally one says, "I'm a lighthouse. Your call."
Yes, Mr. Bush, let's stay the course. What course have we laid thus far? Let's see, we invaded a sovereign nation. We deposed an elected leader. We destroyed millions if not billions of dollars worth of fragile infrastructure, much of which has yet to be repaired. We killed at least 27,000 Iraqi civilians (source), and over 2,000 of our own soldiers. We failed to find anything related to the reason we got into this whole conflict in the first place -- "Weapons of mass destruction". Remember that phrase? Yeah, I don't either, since we've heard nothing about them recently. Oh, we also started a "global war on terror".
Let me focus on that last one a little bit. In my opinion, we need more Wars on Concepts. Remember the good old days of Wars on Drugs and Wars on Poverty? Those worked, right? There are no more drugs or poor people, right? So then when we achieve "complete and total victory" in the War on Terror, there'll be no more terror, right? Of course, this assumes we have a definition of victory in this conflict, which we don't yet. Anyhow, I think a few good Wars on Concepts could work very well. Let's reinstate a draft and use it to fight a War on Hunger. Maybe we could join forces with the RIAA and fight a War on Piracy. Or, I kind of like the idea of a War on War, myself, but that might be beyond our means for a little while yet.
But, in all seriousness, you are wrong, Mr. Bush. Almost every single thing you have said about this conflict has been wrong. We're stabilizing the region -- and we're on the verge of starting a civil war. We're spreading democracy -- and our hatchling government can't draft a constitution. We're ending terrorism -- as more and more attacks happen every day, claiming more lives. We're protecting civilians -- as they either leave to join the attackers, or die because they don't.
Face it. Every single piece of evidence points to one thing: They. Want. Us. Out. There are demonstrations in the streets, fights in the political arenas, roadside attacks every single day. The citizens of Iraq don't want our system of government, they don't want our way of life, and they don't want us there. The so-called "insurgents" would be called "patriots" if they were on our side instead. These people are not evil; they have homes and families like anyone else does. Their means may be primitive and irrational, but all they want is us to leave. They're protecting their land and their livelihood in the only way they can. You can hardly fault the ideals of someone who protects what is his own, be that property, family, or a way of living. They don't hate us because of who we are. They don't hate freedom. They hate us because we are in their country, trespassing in their territory, interfering in their way of life.
This whole thing is a lost cause, Mr. Bush. Any good you did was done in the first week of the "war", when Saddam was removed. So, the right thing is to leave. Now. Call 1-800-WE-BOMB-U, talk to your generals, and bring everyone home. No 'peacekeeping squads', no 'security forces'. Clean everyone out, and leave. Now, who will the "insurgents" attack? When the targets leave, the attacks will stop. Very simple. The average Iraqi probably wants a peaceful, normal life as much as the average American does, and will probably be exceedingly grateful to get back to it. Let the people deal with any leftovers -- social justice is a very powerful force in the Arab world.
That's not to say "abandon the Iraqi people". They should ultimately be responsible for their own welfare, but being in the superior position that we are, we should help them if we are asked. So, completely leave, right now. Let the interim government know that we will return and help rebuild infrastructure, and educate workers if we're asked. And when we are inevitably asked, we go. We return, and for a fair price in a fair timeframe, we help them rebuild. The catch is that the Iraqis are responsible for the security of the workers; we send no security forces at all. All of our workers go unarmed and unescorted. And when people attack our civilian workers -- and they will -- we leave again. We leave and we stay out until the situation is secure again, at which point we go back and resume working.
In this way, the Iraqis are truly responsible for their own welfare. If they can't secure our workers and educators, then they don't get the benefits that we bring them. Keep in mind these are not Bush "benefits"; rather, these are real benefits like reliable electric and water service. If they as a nation decide they don't want our help, then great, we go our separate ways, with no more harm done.
There you have it. Our troops come home, so we're happy. The Iraqis get their country back, so they're happy. And there's some real potential for growth and improvement for the Iraqis, but the course they take is entirely up to them.
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