Kony, Globalization, International Women's Day, and My Intermittent Blogging Schedule

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If you enjoy this post, or any of the previous, than please go to this website to continue reading.  It's a new layout, but I'm going to try to continue the majority of writing here!  I'll update this blog from time to time, to hopefully redirect any readers here to the new website! :) Thanks for all the views here at blogger.com!

It is difficult to keep up with the world and my personal life sometimes.  Sorry for the über-long title.  I am running back and forth between the Housing and Finance Offices on post because this week I moved into my apartment!  I posted some pics on Flickr of this new place. More on that later... now, about these pics below.  This is a picture I took while visiting Cape Verde in 2009, an archipelago off the west coast of Africa.  It's a small country with relatively low rates of violence, a problem with drought, and was originally uninhabited.  It is one of Africa's most stable democratic governments (source: CIA World Factbook).

The media frenzy surrounding Kony in Uganda and the fierce reactions I've read from both fervent supporters and disdainful skeptics, have got me thinking about the rights and wrongs surrounding the issue.  It is true that some parts of the viral video are a little misleading... read this article Joseph Kony is not in Uganda by Michael Wilkerson if you aren't tracking yet.

In spite of the misinformation, part of me is inherently opposed to dismissing the international crimes of one individual because they don't directly influence my life.  Still, I agree with a lot of what Michael Wilkerson wrote; namely that there is no clear solution and simply getting media attention is not the answer (and is a bit suspect if it's directly related to a fundraising effort. I'm vaguely reminded of The Twelve Chairs, where Ostap Bender is smoothing appealing for everybody to give money for a "good cause." p.s. if you haven't seen the Mel Brooks film... do it!)

There are a lot of injustices in the world, and globalization almost suggests that the more a country can guarantee it won't meddle outside of its borders, the less likely the international community is to do anything about it.  Eddie Izzard has a great skit about "mass-murdering f***heads" that covers this phenomena.  The atrocities committed by the warlord Kony, are worse than anything NATO Soldiers have done as individuals (because their countries' governments always pursue some sort of disciplinary action even if it's not totally satisfactory to the international community) in recent international conflicts, yet they are so ubiquitous in times of civil war in Africa, they rarely make the headlines.  I think this doesn't excuse Soldiers of war crimes ever, but it is nice to know our Soldiers presumably follow the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC).  Meanwhile, 'warlordism' is a serious problem that developed countries tend to look at with sympathetic eyes without stirring so much as a hand in many a case (and truthfully we can't devote resources to hunt down every single warlord).  Rape as a weapon of war, has been used openly in places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Liberia at an alarming level.  It has spurred U.N. Security Council Resolutions, international conferences, and is a serious issue of justice let alone international law.

Amid all this outcry over Kony and the sad reality of warlordism and the suffering of women and all victims of warmongering, I would like to remind the international community in the global effort for peace it has been proven that women are a key factor, too often an overlooked one.

Which brings me to my next point:  Happy International Women's Day 2012!  I know I sorta missed in my time zone for the post anyway, but it's still going on in my native USA.  It's a great day and I'm sorry I didn't make more room in my schedule to prepare a product this year.  I checked out the book, A Few Good Women at the library and told the librarian Happy International Women's day, to which she replied surprised and chuckling, "Why yes, I suppose so! [smile]  Same to you!"

SO, about my intermittent blogging schedule.  I am currently in the process of moving into my apartment.  I also won't have time to install high-speed internet there before I deploy to Afghanistan... and would have to cancel the plan right after it was set up... so I am just using a stick internet... which doesn't even work that well at my apartment.  I have plenty of ideas I want to blog about, but I have to set up my computer at a McDonalds or the Community Activity Center on post, so it's a little hassle to write.  Then during the deployment my blogs will be more intermittent, but I'll keep up to date as much as possible within reason with operational security (OPSEC).

Up All Night: Decisions Decisions

What have I been doing these last two weeks?  Well I stayed in Boston through Thursday May 26th, and went to New York City to meet up with a friend for a drink.  We ended up having wine and cheese on the balcony of her new place and we talked politics, it was nice.  I've still got to read Obama's Wars  on her recommendation.  I learned that Mexican novelas were really popular in Russia back in the day... and it reminded me of this guy who is sorta teaching me some Russian lately, I could pronounce some but cannot for the life of me spell it and I've not really made any effort to learn that alphabet.  At any rate, I spent that night at a fancy hotel because all my plans were falling through and after being denied a place to stay in the city by one friend who has been a total flake lately... I was too proud to ask anyone else, and felt so sad that I hadn't left for Europe yet and could read about one of my friends and his sleek, cool statuses about the countries he's been in.  I had to block his statuses from my facebook wall because it's just pissing me off.  I really shouldn't be so worked up, I'll be living in Germany next year!  Anyway... moving past May 26th lol

On Friday, May 27th and through Sunday I was around West Point to pick up my car and take care of some stuff.  I ended up having a... well... a date actually, which actually brings a smile to my face.  A guy took me to a golf course and taught me how to swing - no easy feat, since I am particularly difficult to teach when I'm self-conscious and I can think of no situation where I would be more self-conscious than on a golf course with a cute guy who expects me to smoothly learn how to swing and not only swing, but correctly and accurately.  You have no idea how nervous I was when he handed me one of his golf clubs.  I felt like everything could go horribly wrong, that I would somehow damage one of his nice golf clubs (which he'd bragged about) or hit him with it, or worse, get hit because I was standing in the wrong place.  Yet... his calm and patience and encouragement and actually good instruction... was perfect and I can say that beyond not being a disaster... I can actually swing and hit a golf ball with semi-decent accuracy and I've only practiced... on four separate occasions.  Yes, so besides that I finally got to go sun-bathing out by Flirty Walk, a funny thing to consider since I'm no longer a Cadet, and I saw the following movies in theater:  Priest, and The Hangover 2.  After a nice weekend there, I drove up to Albany to meet an old friend who is doing his CTLT-time at Fort Drum, which he says isn't so bad.  I'm not convinced and won't go there unless I'm under orders.  Then I realized I'd left my West Point ring with the guy who was teaching me golf and I had to go back to West Point again, but first I was determined to do a small road trip.  So I chose to drive to Vermont from Albany since it was a State I'd never been to.

Vermont ended up being fun.  I was driving late at night on a two-lane highway there... it was creepy and I was glad to have a full tank of gas as I drove Atticus through the insect-ridden curvy roads.  I hit so many bugs... I also saw a live raccoon shuffle across the road, and didn't have to run him over.  The roads were fun, and creepy enough that it was easy for me to stay awake.  In Vermont, it turned out Lake Champlain was overflowing and the highway my GPS planned to take was washed out, so I had to take the car ferry.  I took pictures, it was another adventure.  In Vermont, I got tail-gated and passed dangerously quite a few times.  My favorite was a tiny silver Honda (not sure the model) with a spoiler who flew by me annoyed I guess by my keeping to the speed limit and then 10 minutes later I saw him pulled over by a cop with the lights flashing.  It made me chuckle.

I took some pictures of Lake Champlain... but there wasn't much to do.  I had an early lunch in a tavern and asked about the area, it was the best beer-battered shrimp I've ever had actually.  So I drove back to West Point area to pick up my ring and hang out some more.  Ended up getting to ride along as my friend played 9 holes of golf one day and due to the popularity of the West Point Golf Course we ended up playing with some other folks who were all different and interesting.  He played 9 holes one day and 18 a different day but these are the people we met.  The first was a man and his son who were from Bohn... they were Germans and novice golfers, and the son, Martin went to Bucknell.  The father, Klaus, was very nice although he apparently didn't have good golf etiquette (I wouldn't know, but my golfing friend informed me in hushed and annoyed tones in between holes.  It amused me when he said, 'Four-year-olds stand behind the hole.' I had to remind him that I would probably be guilty of the same without someone as knowledgeable as him with me, a nice compliment snuck in with essentially a hush up).

On Thursday, I was back in the city to see a friend who I may meet up with in Paris, and we had a picnic in Battery Park and afterward I learned a little Italian and we shot some hoops, since you couldn't really say we played a game of basketball.

Finally, I booked tickets online to see X-Men: First Class the most amazing movie of my life.  Nothing will ever top it, and I swear I will learn everything I possibly can about that movie.  I loved it, and wore my vintage style X-Men shirt to it even though it's worn out and I usually wear it for pajamas.  I went with the same friend who taught me to golf, because I was pretty sure he'd be the only one who could appreciate it with me at the time the movie was coming out.  My X-Men knowledge really came out.  I think the thing I really loved about the movie was how it was set against real historical events.  That's how X-Men was truly supposed to be.  It's not X-Men in a vacuum, it's the X-Universe... it was so satisfying.  It was also better than Bryan Singer's perspective in X-Men and X2 because it wasn't so serious, it had the snarky quips and smooth yet almost corny lines that the comics deliver.  The fight scenes were satisfyingly long and the movie flowed like a comic with scenes taking up moments much like a comic where the rich imagery pulls you into one moment and when you get to another moment you feel like it was actually simultaneously occurring elsewhere in the fight.  I absolutely loved the choice who played Erik, or Magneto, because that's my favorite character and he was appropriately athletic and deep and wonderful.  haha Anyway... my only criticisms would be with the death of Sebastian Shaw... in fact the whole portrayal that he was the scientist who brought about Magneto... the line that Magneto delivered when he killed Shaw, didn't sit well with me, and the outfit Magneto had at the end.... ehhh.... it wasn't quite as I'd imagined it would be... I think the red that like Iron Man has would have been better.... but other than those tiny details.... LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!

Then I made my way to Boston.  Yesterday, Saturday was the Craft Beer Festival.  It was a fun event and my first beer fest.  I was happy it was an American Breweries fest although I was partial to the german-style beers.  Still planning the Euro-trip and much more confident now that it's gonna happen.  Now just have to get some sleep.

Phoenix

A lot of realizations this first day of May... (of course this entry is after midnight).  I am glad to hear the news that Osama bin Laden has been 'neutralized'.  I am content at the moment to just be happy about it.  There was an excited still in the air earlier today before any announcements were made... given this is a military post (besides the historical Military Academy) I wonder if somehow the news travelled faster than the public announcements would have us believe.  At any rate, we cadets found out the same way as any citizen... in my particular case I was in the library when I heard a stir and someone shouted down the stairs,

"It's on CNN!  Osama is dead!  We got him!"

I tried google search but it wasn't there yet, I had to open CNN news live.  It was a good feeling.  I know there's a lot of aftermath, controversy, politicizing, etc. but right now... just gonna be happy we took out an important face to terrorism.  All other issues can afford to wait a couple days after that sort of news.  It's a good morale boost for America who has been looking just as beat up as the rest of the world in the face of economic issues, security problems, political bickering, and military entanglement.  I was glad to see some wholesome patriotism tonight.