There is something about army and Cursing. This thing not only exists in the SAF I think, but in most armies around the world. What convinced me of that fact is the movie "Jarhead" If I had a dollar for every "f" word uttered in the movie I would be a very rich man.
"Jarhead" was a good movie, not fantastic, just good. I liked the part where Jake talks about the man and his rifle. It goes something like this.
"A man gets his rifle and learns how to use it. And whatever he does after that, buy a house, love a woman, drive a car, he will still not forget the feeling of the rifle in his hands."
Although it is an American movie, I find that it portrays the NSF mentality very well. There is this scene near the end of the movie whereby Jake tells Troy, "it's funny, you would do anything to stay in and I would do anything to get out." That quote is especially true in my case because I would do anything to get out but I know of army regulars who would do anything to get into where I am today.
The movie also portrays the aftermath of service in the army, whereby the army drops you off at the exact spot in your civilian life at which you joined it and leaves you wondering whether you are a better man for all the shit you have been through or worse. Still you try to pick up the pieces but it is never the same, you find yourself in crisis, caught in between a clash of the military and civilian worlds.
But back to the cursing, I know one army friend who has the ability to spout curses two minutes long insulting all your ancestors three generations upwards. I once asked him why he has to curse so much, he answered and I quote, "what the f**k! With all the f**king things happening around me I think I earned the right to f**king curse!" I took a look at everything happening around me at that moment, I think he has a point.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Valentine's Day
This will officially be my twenty second Valentine's day being single, for some it will be a painful event because they do not have anybody to spend it with. For me, I have an excuse. I am doing COS duty in camp. Ha. Anyway this is for you singles out there, hope this will make you feel better.
Nobody's Heart
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers
Nobody's heart belongs to me,
heigh-ho, who cares?
Nobody writes his songs to me,no one belongs to me.
That's the least of my cares.
I may sad at times,and disinclined to play,
but it's not bad at times,
to go your own sweet way.
Nobody's arms belongs to me,
no arms feel strong to me.
I admire the moon, as a moon, just a moon
Nobody's heart belongs to me today.
This song is a jazz classic that in a sense promotes singlehood but it also presents a glimmer of hope that one day the singer might find the one he/she will be together with. Enjoy.
By the way, Valentine's day came about because of a defiant priest called (you guessed it) Valentine, who continued to marry loving couples even though the Pope banned marriages because people were getting married and not joining the army. He was executed(How romantic). A very long time later he was bestowed sainthood and 14 February became the day of his feast.
Nobody's Heart
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers
Nobody's heart belongs to me,
heigh-ho, who cares?
Nobody writes his songs to me,no one belongs to me.
That's the least of my cares.
I may sad at times,and disinclined to play,
but it's not bad at times,
to go your own sweet way.
Nobody's arms belongs to me,
no arms feel strong to me.
I admire the moon, as a moon, just a moon
Nobody's heart belongs to me today.
This song is a jazz classic that in a sense promotes singlehood but it also presents a glimmer of hope that one day the singer might find the one he/she will be together with. Enjoy.
By the way, Valentine's day came about because of a defiant priest called (you guessed it) Valentine, who continued to marry loving couples even though the Pope banned marriages because people were getting married and not joining the army. He was executed(How romantic). A very long time later he was bestowed sainthood and 14 February became the day of his feast.
Picture This
The thing making the news recently is the offensive pictures/cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published by a certain Danish newspaper and the Muslim reaction thereafter. But the matter I would like to address is not so much the publishing of the pictures itself but the Muslim reaction to it.
There is no doubt that the pictures are offensive in every sense of the word. It is insensitive and has absolutely no tact and the continued publication of it by other newspapers in the name of freedom of press is the most moronic thing to do. The unfortunate culprits responsible have long since apologized. Unfortunate because I don’t think they even knew that drawing pictures of the Prophet Mohammed is considered heresy. At best they were guilty of insensitivity and ignorance but I guess when it rains it pours.
But on the other side of the coin, I think the some of the Muslim reaction to it was overdone, childish and immature. When the pictures came out, they could have just complained, bring the matter to light and demand an apology, the retraction of the pictures and asked the other newspapers not to publish it again. But instead they turned to angry mobs, flag burning and calling people infidels. That is dangerous because they are now using the same language as the terrorist they are trying so hard to distance themselves from.
Islam is without a doubt one of the world's great religions, but I think it is far past its golden age and this fiasco just proves it. Gone are the days of the Moors whereby Jew, Christian and Muslim can befriend each other and talk about religion without starting World War 3. The Moors were in fact a beacon of peace, solace and prosperity in a Europe that was otherwise chaotic and bogged down by war after war during the dark ages. That was the golden age of Islam where there was mutual understanding between the religions.
So I think that is the keyword here, mutual understanding. What some Muslims fail to realize is that freedom of press to some is a religion and when the Muslims leaders tried to suppress the pictures in their not so subtle way, the newspapers saw this as a threat to their freedom and try to defend their keep by the continued publication of those cartoons. In order for this thing not to happen again, I believe that the Muslim world must reach out and develop a certain and viable understanding of the world outside and how it works. Then and only then, can they be understood in return. And it is in this system of mutual understanding that such events can be prevented. In order get yourself understood, you must first understand others.
There is no doubt that the pictures are offensive in every sense of the word. It is insensitive and has absolutely no tact and the continued publication of it by other newspapers in the name of freedom of press is the most moronic thing to do. The unfortunate culprits responsible have long since apologized. Unfortunate because I don’t think they even knew that drawing pictures of the Prophet Mohammed is considered heresy. At best they were guilty of insensitivity and ignorance but I guess when it rains it pours.
But on the other side of the coin, I think the some of the Muslim reaction to it was overdone, childish and immature. When the pictures came out, they could have just complained, bring the matter to light and demand an apology, the retraction of the pictures and asked the other newspapers not to publish it again. But instead they turned to angry mobs, flag burning and calling people infidels. That is dangerous because they are now using the same language as the terrorist they are trying so hard to distance themselves from.
Islam is without a doubt one of the world's great religions, but I think it is far past its golden age and this fiasco just proves it. Gone are the days of the Moors whereby Jew, Christian and Muslim can befriend each other and talk about religion without starting World War 3. The Moors were in fact a beacon of peace, solace and prosperity in a Europe that was otherwise chaotic and bogged down by war after war during the dark ages. That was the golden age of Islam where there was mutual understanding between the religions.
So I think that is the keyword here, mutual understanding. What some Muslims fail to realize is that freedom of press to some is a religion and when the Muslims leaders tried to suppress the pictures in their not so subtle way, the newspapers saw this as a threat to their freedom and try to defend their keep by the continued publication of those cartoons. In order for this thing not to happen again, I believe that the Muslim world must reach out and develop a certain and viable understanding of the world outside and how it works. Then and only then, can they be understood in return. And it is in this system of mutual understanding that such events can be prevented. In order get yourself understood, you must first understand others.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Falcon
I intended to do this post yesterday, but I feared that I might dose off while doing it. At the start of this week I never thought I would be alive to update up blog today because of a little exercise called Falcon 2. It started on monday where we moved to our FOB (forward operatng base) to plan the first mission. After accomplishing our first mission, we went back to home base on wednesday and immediately plan for the second one, moving out on thursday and coming back on friday after accomplishing the second mission.
There were alot of surprises while we were doing the mission, although not altogether unexpected. We had to deal with hostile "civilians" on our way to the objective, enemy reinforcements and destorying targets of opportunity that we did not plan for but were important none the less. All in all, they really planned this very realistically.
This was the most shag exercise I have been involved in to date, which is prep for the ATEC we are having on Thailand next month. Climbing up and down knolls, carrying the weight, going through terrain that no sane person would ever walk on, not being able to see the outstretched hand in front of you even with the new gen 3 NSEAs (night vision) that we were given and to top it all off, dealing with a riot and a monk carrying a bomb.
But this week I really learn to dig deep into God's strength because I really had none left, I am afraid to close my eyes because I know and I will immediately dose off if I do. That was how shag I was. Some of my peers were even sleepwalking. So I thank God for providing me with his strength for without it even the day to day things I do in camp might seem too tough and daunting.
There were alot of surprises while we were doing the mission, although not altogether unexpected. We had to deal with hostile "civilians" on our way to the objective, enemy reinforcements and destorying targets of opportunity that we did not plan for but were important none the less. All in all, they really planned this very realistically.
This was the most shag exercise I have been involved in to date, which is prep for the ATEC we are having on Thailand next month. Climbing up and down knolls, carrying the weight, going through terrain that no sane person would ever walk on, not being able to see the outstretched hand in front of you even with the new gen 3 NSEAs (night vision) that we were given and to top it all off, dealing with a riot and a monk carrying a bomb.
But this week I really learn to dig deep into God's strength because I really had none left, I am afraid to close my eyes because I know and I will immediately dose off if I do. That was how shag I was. Some of my peers were even sleepwalking. So I thank God for providing me with his strength for without it even the day to day things I do in camp might seem too tough and daunting.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Competing with satisfaction
Yesterday, I was talking to an army friend of mine who backslided last year trying to convince him to return to going to church. Sadly, he was a victim of one of those statistics oriented churches who care not for the souls that are saved and only care about the numbers that join their ranks. He was sick of being pressured by growth targets and called it quits some time last year.
A bunch of my Christian commando friends have been praying for him and talking to him making a huge effort to convince him that not all churches are like that. But when I was talking to him yesterday I noticed I hit a huge brick wall, its called "satisfaction". He said that he was satisfied with the way things are now. So how do you convince someone who is so contented with life that he needs God? Because from his perspective of life he does not need anything, everything he needs he already has and God is just excess baggage and that is exactly the problem.
Smith Wigglesworth said, "do not be satisfied with a life that is not wholly swallowed up in God." What this implies is that satisfaction is a choice and not some holy grail you need to find. So perhaps my friend is setting his sights a bit low when it comes to being contented. Therefore I encourage everybody to aim high and find a life filled with satisfaction and contentment through our Lord Jesus Christ, worldly satisfaction is an illusion that will be shattered when Christ comes again.
And as for my friend, I hope you will join me in praying for him. I don't think I should give up just yet.
A bunch of my Christian commando friends have been praying for him and talking to him making a huge effort to convince him that not all churches are like that. But when I was talking to him yesterday I noticed I hit a huge brick wall, its called "satisfaction". He said that he was satisfied with the way things are now. So how do you convince someone who is so contented with life that he needs God? Because from his perspective of life he does not need anything, everything he needs he already has and God is just excess baggage and that is exactly the problem.
Smith Wigglesworth said, "do not be satisfied with a life that is not wholly swallowed up in God." What this implies is that satisfaction is a choice and not some holy grail you need to find. So perhaps my friend is setting his sights a bit low when it comes to being contented. Therefore I encourage everybody to aim high and find a life filled with satisfaction and contentment through our Lord Jesus Christ, worldly satisfaction is an illusion that will be shattered when Christ comes again.
And as for my friend, I hope you will join me in praying for him. I don't think I should give up just yet.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Exercise Greyhound
Finally got my pictures sorted out. The pictures below are from a LRRP exercise called greyhound. I don't think the ISA will come looking for me if I post a few harmless pictures. Enjoy!
LRRP Team 3
Go! Go! Go! Secure the LS!
Life is full of Surprises...
Chilling out in the hide
Combat Ration! Yummy! Note where all our weapons are. Definitely not a mark of a soldier. Ha ha ha!
What! 7 more days to go! Morale very low.
The view from our Observation Post.
Endure! 4KM more only!
Its over! Its finally over!
I can't believe we are going back there again for ATEC stage 2. Though I enjoyed my time there, it is the kind of place you wish to only go once. But perhapes there will be some new experiences to be had. We shall see.
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