Two Wars is Enough

     With American troops still fighting in and dieing Afghanistan and no end in sight for our war in Iraq, I feel that putting more American troops into another battle overseas would be a terrible idea. I understand that whats going on in Libya is not humane and something needs to be done about it, but I feel the United States should let other nations intervene this time. The way that President Obama is talking about the need to get Muammar Gaddafi out of power reminds me all to much about what was being said about Saddam Hussein before the second Gulf War, in which we are still fighting.
     If we were to put troops in Libya I can foresee the exact same thing happening their that is currently happening in Iraq. American soldiers would end up getting stuck in a country that only wanted us their for one reason, to remove their ruler. Not to mention the fact that it would cost more American soldiers their lives. In addition, it would cost the United States Government more money. I feel that we are already investing a great deal of money in Iraq, when we have enough economic problems going on right here in the United States. I hope for the sake of this country that President Obama and Congress come to their senses and pull the American forces out of Libya before we end up with another Iraq on our hands.   

Romance/Sci-Fi Story

            It was Marie and Wayne’s wedding anniversary, so they decided to go and spend a romantic weekend at the beach. Their first day there was going great; the weather was perfect. So they spent most of the day lying out on the beach soaking up the sun while going in and out of the ocean. They were both tired from sitting in the sun all day, so they decided to go back to the hotel and rest a while before going out for dinner.

            Upon returning to their room, Marie and Wayne got carried away by the romantic setting in the hotel and beach and made love. The passionate love-making made both of them even more exhausted, so they easily dosed off to sleep. They were both so exhausted that they over slept and missed their dinner reservations. Then Marie thought it would be romantic for the two of them to take a picnic to the beach to watch the sunset.

            While Marie was getting ready for their beach dinner, Wayne went and picked up their food and a couple of bottles of wine from a local store. Once he returned, they went down to the beach for their picnic. They found a secluded spot on the beach, with a great view of the setting sun. They ate their dinner and drank the first bottle of wine, as they watched the sun set over the ocean. After the sun set, the temperature began to cool. Wayne put a blanket they brought along around their shoulders and they started on the second bottle of wine.

            Before they knew it, there was a light in the sky that was moving quickly in their direction. They watched as the object got closer and closer, and bigger and bigger! It was not long before a large circular object was hurling towards the beach, it seemed right towards them. The next thing they knew, there was a loud crash and the large object had crashed into the beach about 100 yards from where they were sitting.

            In fright, Marie quickly gathered all of their things so they could leave. Wayne, however, wanted to go and check out what landed on the beach. He talked Marie into going to check it out with him. When the two of them arrived at the site, they were not sure if it was some type of unidentified flying object or if it was some type of government plane. The circular plane was about the size of a Volkswagen beetle. As the two of them were inspecting the object, something on the side of the plane began to open up and out of the opening stepped a shadowy being.

            The shadowy figure began speaking directly to Wayne. “Wayne, you are the only living being that help the people of my planet. I need you to come back with me.”

            Wayne was curious, so he asked, “What is it that I can do to help your people?”

            The shadowy figure moved forward and showed herself. She was an attractive creature with a curvy figure; teal colored skin and long, flowing, and purple hair. She looked directly in Wayne’s eyes and said, “Why, you are the only remaining male human who survived after my people’s experiment on human’s in the late 1980s. Now, we need you to breed with other Czirxians for our kind to survive.”

            Well, Wayne thought this particular Czirxian was sexy, and forgot about Marie standing behind him on the beach. So, he got on the aircraft with her, leaving Marie behind, to go and procreate with the sexy Czirxians. As the flying object took off, Marie stood there in awe as she watched her husband fly away into the unknowns with a mysterious, unidentified creature.

Buddhism Blog Assignment #1

            This video clip I found at YouTube.com is a spoof of a Buddhist practitioner talking about meditation. In this clip, the lady talks about a pill called Narcophrenokenosisallogos, which will provide one with instant meditation. It will empty all of the thoughts from one’s mind so they can achieve instant enlightenment. This exemplifies the stereotype that people of Western civilization think a pill can cure or fix anything.

            This stereotype is definitely a negative and has lead to many problems in our society. Many people think that they can do whatever they want now and use pills to fix whatever issues accompany these choices as a result of their decisions. For example, if you decide to eat fast food every day, there is a pill that will help you lose weight. Or, if you need to stay up all night and study for an exam, you can just take a pill that will make you not be tired anymore. Not only do most of these pills not do what they claim to, like the pill in the video, but some do more harm to our bodies than good.

            In the video, Narcophrenokenosisallogos has side effects that include internal bleeding, cancer, AIDS, and/or explosive diarrhea; and that’s just to name a few of them. Yes, this is a fictional pill, but the real pills that people are taking to treat one disease or ailment sometimes come with multiple side effects. Sometimes these side effects can be worse than what they are actually taking the pill to treat. As for how this relates to Brad Warner and “Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped In Chocolate”, when he found Buddhism, he was actually looking for answers in his life related to the fact that he could die a horrible early death due to Huntington’s disease (page 4).

            Early on in the book Warner makes reference to many other forms of Buddhism and he says, “Ain’t no such thing as instant enlightenment” (page 13). Yet this pill Narcophrenokenosisallogos claims that by taking it one can achieve instant enlightenment. All you have to do is take one of their pills every 15 minutes to clear your mind. Warner also says, “No miracle drug. No miracle process. Nothing. Imagining you could get enlightenment quickly would be like imagining you could do 15 minutes of sit-ups and get a bod like one of the chicks from America’s Top Model” (page 28). We have learned that one cannot reach liberation in this manner; it’s a process that that can take life times to achieve.

            Warner also makes reference to a Buddhism movement in America that brought back an idea of taking psychedelic drugs. They claimed that taking a dose of the drug could achieve what Buddhists spent years trying to achieve (page 26). This is once again another example of how Western Culture believes that drugs (i.e. a pill) can help a person cure or achieve anything. Warner disagrees with these movements and even says, “Buddhism in America sounded like a complete catastrophe” (pg. 26). Warner is by no means your stereotypical Zen Buddhist and he is a firm believer that all of those instant or rapid approaches to enlightenment are nothing more than a rip off. 

NFL Labor Talks

     Talks between the National Football League (NFL) owners and players are still going trying to reach an agreement, so there will not be a strike next season. As the previous labor agreement came to an end the two sides were able to come to an agreement on one thing, that was to extend the previous agreement by 24 hours. Lets get real though if they were unable to come to an agreement over the past few months what makes them think that 24 hours is going to help? I don't think that it is going to help, but what do I know I'm just a football fan. I'm one of the people that will actually be affected by an NFL strike. Not the millionaire or billionaire owner's of the teams or the players that make millions of dollars each year.
     The fans are the people who make the billion dollar business of the NFL possible and without us, the players would not have jobs and the owners would not be making billions of dollars every year. The major issue for both the players and the owners is money, whether they want to admit it or not. The players want a bigger slice of the pie and the owners don't want to share any of the money that they are racking in. Yes their are a few other issues, but everything stems back to the money.
     For us die hard sports fans if you think back to a few years ago when Major League Baseball (MLB) decided they would strike due to similar reasons. They lost many fans and at the same time the league and players lost money. It would be smart for both sides to come to an agreement so they can avoid the same mistake that MLB made, it took years for them to get their fan base back and they are still trying to fully recover from that mistake. Only time will tell if the owners and the players will wise up and come to an agreement or if they are willing to chance losing all that money next year.

"Duty, Honor, Country"

     This may not be the best speech ever given, but this is definitely a good speech. I choose this speech because I figured that most of the class would choose the most popular famous speeches and I wanted to be different. 

     This speech was given by General Douglas MacArthur as he is accepting the Thayer Award at West Point University. This award is given every year an outstanding citizen whose service and accomplishments in the national interest exhibit the Academy's motto, "Duty, Honor, Country." General MacArthur goes on to say "Duty, Honor, Country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn." He goes on to talk about how duty and honor molds the soldiers, makes then strong and proud, and gives them the courage they need in the face of danger. This speech would be a motivational speech to anyone who is serving or has served in the military. He also talks about the struggles and dangers of being a soldier and I believe the purpose of this is to let public know that young men are risking their lives to give us the Freedom and liberties that many of us Americans take for granted. This speech both motives and informs, this is why I feel its a good speech.