Pablo Paredes is a sailor in the U.S. Navy. He refused to board a ship to the Persian Gulf, and was sentenced to three months of hard labor and demoted to "seaman recruit, the lowest rank in the Navy." Apparently he was protesting the war in Iraq and called it "illegal and immoral."
Now, unless Congress passed a major act while I was sleeping and all the media ignored it, we still don't have a draft. That measn this Paredes signed up on his own. My question is: If he was against the war in Iraq, why was he in the navy in the first place? Isn't that the whole point of being in the armed forces---to go serve your country?
I'm not saying it's wrong to believe a war is wrong. If we declared war on Mongolia because we wanted them to pay us for no reason, I would say that was wrong. But if I was in the army voluntarily, I would just leave voluntarily.
The war in Iraq has been going on for over two years. If Paredes believed it was wrong, why was he still in the navy? Then he gets demoted and looks bad because he believes it's "illegal and immoral" to get rid of a dictator who won't let us come in to see if he's hiding nuclear weapons.
I just don't understand...
Edmond the Hun
Friday, May 13, 2005
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Sports: Unselfish Team Player Wins MVP
Another Worthy Role Model
I rarely talk about sports celebrities to applaud their numbers or accomplishments. If you're a fan of such-and-such a sport, you already know that so-and-so broke such-and-such a record; and if you're not a fan, then you don't care. When I talk about sports celebrities, it's to either commend or condemn something less numerical, such as their behavior.
After being traded to the Phoenix Suns, Steve Nash won the MVP award for the 2004-2005 NBA season, which is currently in the second round of the playoffs. But he's not the Most Valuable Player because he hogs the ball and scores all the points. In fact, he's quite the opposite of, say, Shaquille O'Neal, who came in second. His average points per game wasn't all that impressive, but he had a great amount of assists. He's a team player. And it paid off, too. The Suns went from winning a sad 29 games last season to a league-best 62.
Nash invited his whole team up to the podium to accept the MVP trophy. He said, "I really just want to share this with my teammates. This has been an incredible year for me and for our team..." (and other subsequent, unselfish phrases) Nothing like the Eagle's wide receiver Freddie Mitchell, who thanked his hands for being so great and dissed the Patriots secondary the week before they beat him in the Super Bowl (Mitchell, incidentally, has been released, according to SportsCenter). Nope. Nash seems to be a nice celebrity.
In football season, we have Peyton Manning, who broke the NFL touchdown pass record and said he didn't really care about the record and was more concerned with getting them into the playoffs. (see " Sports: Manning (Humbly) Breaks Record," Dec. 27, 2004) And now we have a worthy role model for basketball season: Steve Nash.
Steve, thanks for proving that professional sports isn't all about money and fame. And good luck in the playoffs, especially if you happen to face Duncan and Ginobili and the San Antonio Spurs.
Edmond the Hun
I rarely talk about sports celebrities to applaud their numbers or accomplishments. If you're a fan of such-and-such a sport, you already know that so-and-so broke such-and-such a record; and if you're not a fan, then you don't care. When I talk about sports celebrities, it's to either commend or condemn something less numerical, such as their behavior.
After being traded to the Phoenix Suns, Steve Nash won the MVP award for the 2004-2005 NBA season, which is currently in the second round of the playoffs. But he's not the Most Valuable Player because he hogs the ball and scores all the points. In fact, he's quite the opposite of, say, Shaquille O'Neal, who came in second. His average points per game wasn't all that impressive, but he had a great amount of assists. He's a team player. And it paid off, too. The Suns went from winning a sad 29 games last season to a league-best 62.
Nash invited his whole team up to the podium to accept the MVP trophy. He said, "I really just want to share this with my teammates. This has been an incredible year for me and for our team..." (and other subsequent, unselfish phrases) Nothing like the Eagle's wide receiver Freddie Mitchell, who thanked his hands for being so great and dissed the Patriots secondary the week before they beat him in the Super Bowl (Mitchell, incidentally, has been released, according to SportsCenter). Nope. Nash seems to be a nice celebrity.
In football season, we have Peyton Manning, who broke the NFL touchdown pass record and said he didn't really care about the record and was more concerned with getting them into the playoffs. (see " Sports: Manning (Humbly) Breaks Record," Dec. 27, 2004) And now we have a worthy role model for basketball season: Steve Nash.
Steve, thanks for proving that professional sports isn't all about money and fame. And good luck in the playoffs, especially if you happen to face Duncan and Ginobili and the San Antonio Spurs.
Edmond the Hun
Sports: World Track Records
Wow... who would have thought a hun who bills himself as an editorialist on politics and current events would post two simultaneous posts about sports? Well, anyway, this is just to provide a link for all interested parties (i.e. Sanguine ;) who would like to know what the world track and field records are:
www.iaaf.org appears to be the official international athletics organization, and these records are guaranteed to be up-to-date. Also of interest may be www.sporting-heroes.net, which has a history of most records as they have been broken though the years, although it seems less official and I can't guarantee its accuracy or if it's up-to-date.
(Note: These links don't show every event and number in one nice list. They have links to each event, which has its own page, containing several varieties of the record)
Enjoy!
Edmond the Hun
Monday, May 09, 2005
Happy Day After Mother's Day
Well, now that track is over, perhaps I'll have more free time to frequently update this thing for all two of my adoring fans. Our school got second at the track meet, as always, losing to Blue Ridge. We don't have a high enough black population, for one thing. But don't get me started. I equaled my best triple jump (to the same half inch), but Ben ends up with the school record with two additional inches at 35 feet, 3 and a half inches. No hard feelings. The record was broken four times during the season, and there's always next year. I'm already working out in preparation.
However, I'm planning to get a job in the very near future, which would deplete my free time once again. But with the free time that I have, I want to focus more on writing. I have two well-developed science fiction short story plots, one of which is more than halfway written. That will help get my name out there. My dream, tho, is to write bestselling novels whose underlying themes will influence millions of people for the better. Take Harriet's Uncle Tom's Cabin, for instance. Fiction. It inflamed people about slavery. Similarly, people can't get it through their heads that abortion is murder. What if there was a novel written that was symbolic of that, but it would make it more obvious to all the dense people out there.
But that just popped into my head today. Far more developed (and with a couple chapters written) is a fantasy novel (complete with battles and bad guys) with some subtle themes of trust and hope and other nice things. Or the science fiction trilogy involving a special metal that enables hyperspeed, that I'm trying to work in some of my philosophies about life. But I haven't even started writing that yet. Or some vague idea about a secret group called "The Adamant" that has something to do with absolute truth. Ah, it'd be so much simpler to just write a story for its own sake, without carrying some noble purpose. Just good guys defeating bad guys, you know? But I just can't bring myself to waste time and effort on such simplicity... Oh, the pains of being a part-time wanna-be author...
Edmond the Hun
P.S. I messed a lot with the sidebar; let me know what you don't like.
However, I'm planning to get a job in the very near future, which would deplete my free time once again. But with the free time that I have, I want to focus more on writing. I have two well-developed science fiction short story plots, one of which is more than halfway written. That will help get my name out there. My dream, tho, is to write bestselling novels whose underlying themes will influence millions of people for the better. Take Harriet's Uncle Tom's Cabin, for instance. Fiction. It inflamed people about slavery. Similarly, people can't get it through their heads that abortion is murder. What if there was a novel written that was symbolic of that, but it would make it more obvious to all the dense people out there.
But that just popped into my head today. Far more developed (and with a couple chapters written) is a fantasy novel (complete with battles and bad guys) with some subtle themes of trust and hope and other nice things. Or the science fiction trilogy involving a special metal that enables hyperspeed, that I'm trying to work in some of my philosophies about life. But I haven't even started writing that yet. Or some vague idea about a secret group called "The Adamant" that has something to do with absolute truth. Ah, it'd be so much simpler to just write a story for its own sake, without carrying some noble purpose. Just good guys defeating bad guys, you know? But I just can't bring myself to waste time and effort on such simplicity... Oh, the pains of being a part-time wanna-be author...
Edmond the Hun
P.S. I messed a lot with the sidebar; let me know what you don't like.
Junior Suspended For Talking To Mom
And The Decay of Moral Absolutes
Kevin Francois, 17, a junior at Spencer High School in Columbus, was eating lunch at school last Wednesday when his cell phone rang. It was his mother, who is serving in Iraq. He hadn't talked to her in a month. He went outside the building to get a better reception. A teacher saw him and told him to end the call. He says he told her he was talking to his mom in Iraq. She said he didn't say that until later. At any rate, he refused to hang up and got sent to the office and got suspended "for three days for cursing and for being defiant."
This incident has provoked national outcry, and the school has received hundreds of calls and e-mails complaining about the suspension. I don't get it. He wouldn't obey the teacher, and he cussed at her---even he doesn't seem to be denying that part of it. So what gives? Are all these complaints out of sympathy for the kid? I feel sorry for him, too. His dad died when he was five, and his mom's away at Iraq. But I don't care what was going on---it's never right to disobey the rules and be defiant and cuss at a teacher.
People who disagree with this suspension are saying, It was OK for him to disobey the teacher because he was talking to his mom in Iraq. Are they saying that it's OK to disobey your authority if you have a good reason for it? That you don't always have to obey the rules? That there are no absolutes? Maybe I'm carrying this too far. But that's what the logic of these people's emotional argument seems to be saying.
A 13-year-old girl in Florida, after some apparent controversy, had an abortion last week. Now I don't know any of the details of this case, and I'm sure it's very, very sad. But whether the murder was in the best interests of the girl or not---the abortion was still a murder! A living, breathing, heart-beating, innocent person was killed. There are many people, including President Bush, who believe that abortion is OK under some circumstances.
It's not always wrong to disobey teachers. It's not always wrong to kill babies. What's next? What else isn't always wrong? I don't like where this is heading...
Edmond the Hun
Kevin Francois, 17, a junior at Spencer High School in Columbus, was eating lunch at school last Wednesday when his cell phone rang. It was his mother, who is serving in Iraq. He hadn't talked to her in a month. He went outside the building to get a better reception. A teacher saw him and told him to end the call. He says he told her he was talking to his mom in Iraq. She said he didn't say that until later. At any rate, he refused to hang up and got sent to the office and got suspended "for three days for cursing and for being defiant."
This incident has provoked national outcry, and the school has received hundreds of calls and e-mails complaining about the suspension. I don't get it. He wouldn't obey the teacher, and he cussed at her---even he doesn't seem to be denying that part of it. So what gives? Are all these complaints out of sympathy for the kid? I feel sorry for him, too. His dad died when he was five, and his mom's away at Iraq. But I don't care what was going on---it's never right to disobey the rules and be defiant and cuss at a teacher.
People who disagree with this suspension are saying, It was OK for him to disobey the teacher because he was talking to his mom in Iraq. Are they saying that it's OK to disobey your authority if you have a good reason for it? That you don't always have to obey the rules? That there are no absolutes? Maybe I'm carrying this too far. But that's what the logic of these people's emotional argument seems to be saying.
A 13-year-old girl in Florida, after some apparent controversy, had an abortion last week. Now I don't know any of the details of this case, and I'm sure it's very, very sad. But whether the murder was in the best interests of the girl or not---the abortion was still a murder! A living, breathing, heart-beating, innocent person was killed. There are many people, including President Bush, who believe that abortion is OK under some circumstances.
It's not always wrong to disobey teachers. It's not always wrong to kill babies. What's next? What else isn't always wrong? I don't like where this is heading...
Edmond the Hun
Music News: Switchfoot's New Recording
Here's some interesting news for any fans of Switchfoot: They have finished the recording for their new album, and it wil be entitled Nothing Is Sound, which is a classic elegant, confusing title from the band that brought us "The Beautiful Letdown," "Learning to Breathe," "New Way To Be Human," and "Legend of Chin." Anyway, they think it's their best album yet, and it is rumored to be "edgier" or "darker," vague adjectives that are nice and well, vague. They're still working on finishing touches and a tentative release date is August 2nd.
I'm most curious about what their lyrics will be like, especially in light of their recent mainstream success. The Beautiful Letdown already was the least "blatantly Christian" record to date, only directly mentioning God once, although it was flooded with lots of indirect and subtler references, including nice moral themes of hope and encouragement, and there was certainly nothing anti-Christian or immoral about it. So, will this new release continue with the subtle pattern of Beautiful Letdown, or will they have appeared to reject Christianese lyrics altogether? Blatant? Subtle? Non-existent? They're trying to be a light in the world, and they know non-Christians will certainly buy this next album. They don't have to blast "Jesus loves me" in every line, but many "Christian" bands go mainstream to the point where you can't tell they're Christian, and then I wonder if they're really being much of a light. It's a delicate balance, but Switchfoot has proven worthy so far. What will happen on Nothing Is Sound? We'll have to wait and... hear.
Edmond the Hun
I'm most curious about what their lyrics will be like, especially in light of their recent mainstream success. The Beautiful Letdown already was the least "blatantly Christian" record to date, only directly mentioning God once, although it was flooded with lots of indirect and subtler references, including nice moral themes of hope and encouragement, and there was certainly nothing anti-Christian or immoral about it. So, will this new release continue with the subtle pattern of Beautiful Letdown, or will they have appeared to reject Christianese lyrics altogether? Blatant? Subtle? Non-existent? They're trying to be a light in the world, and they know non-Christians will certainly buy this next album. They don't have to blast "Jesus loves me" in every line, but many "Christian" bands go mainstream to the point where you can't tell they're Christian, and then I wonder if they're really being much of a light. It's a delicate balance, but Switchfoot has proven worthy so far. What will happen on Nothing Is Sound? We'll have to wait and... hear.
Edmond the Hun
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Hello Sunday
OK, so it took me 'til the next meet but I did finally break the school triple jump record again. It's only at 35' 1", which is still comparatively sad, but it's two feet longer than last year's record, and I should be able to place at state and actually contribute to the team. Fun stuff!
So... what's up with the news lately? It's too late now to blog about the lady and the Wendy's chili, and what's there to say, anyway? The lady was obviously looking for a lawsuit, and, hmm, where the Zeus did the finger come from? Although I did hear that Wendy's sales are down, which makes me indignant. Like, who gave that lady the authority to mess with Wendy's sales? I feel like going to Wendy's and buying some chili.
Actually, this event may have been good free advertising for Wendy's. Before this incident, I didn't even know they served chili.
Edmond the Hun
So... what's up with the news lately? It's too late now to blog about the lady and the Wendy's chili, and what's there to say, anyway? The lady was obviously looking for a lawsuit, and, hmm, where the Zeus did the finger come from? Although I did hear that Wendy's sales are down, which makes me indignant. Like, who gave that lady the authority to mess with Wendy's sales? I feel like going to Wendy's and buying some chili.
Actually, this event may have been good free advertising for Wendy's. Before this incident, I didn't even know they served chili.
Edmond the Hun
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