Here is a draft I found of something I wrote back in 2007. ................... I'm going to take this moment to sort of speak aloud. Which is really what blogs are for, am I right? A medium of one-sided discussion. I talk, and you listen. Only three or so people ever comment on my blog, so it really is like a one-way conversation. Google Analytics tells me I average about 11.5 (or so?) unique visitors a day, and about half of those are regular readers, and half are people that randomly get to my blog from a Google search or something. On a weekly basis, I end up having about 50 unique visitors. At any rate, the point is that I get to talk, and say stupid things, and you read, smirking to yourself while drinking your coffee. So, what's this post going to be about, Chris? This post is going to be about how awesome I am. Wait, wait - no I'm being serious. I really am awesome. But there will be some humility in this post also, because the second part of thi...
One of my favorite books is being released as a blockbuster movie - The Gates of Thermopylae . The movie will be called 300 - the supposed number of Spartans who held the narrow pass of Mt. Thermopylae for a number of days knowing they would eventually be smashed and killed to the last man, giving the Greek civilization a time to amass an organized defence from the well nigh million-strong marching force of Persians seething into the region. It's said that the events at Thermopolae were a hinge on which human history itself turned on for a day. Greek thought, very much a part of our foundation as Westerners - rationalism and belief that man is a logical being and can recognize the Truth through correct use of his noodle - survived the attempted murder by superstitious barbarism. You can read up on the Battle of Thermopylae here . It's probably one of the most inspiring stories I know. Told the Persian archers numbered so many that their arrows would blot out the sun, a so...
Here's a drafted post from 2006, published now, for scrutiny: ................. What would you do if they reinstated the draft next week? Hypothetically speaking, of course. I think the standard draft proposal is 18-26 year old males get entered into the lottery. And even if the draft were reinstated, being a graduate student, I'd almost certainly be exempt. That being said, I'd definitely go if asked. Anywhere, desert, jungle or plains. I can't think of a better way to serve your country if she needs you than to obey being asked to fight for her. Likewise, there's nothing more cowardly than to enjoy the unbelievable benefits that we as a country, or even a culture, enjoy, and not be willing to protect it with personal mortal wounds. Putting aside the whole anthropomorphic argument (the idea that we are driven today by unnecessary wants that our technology can offer that weren't available centuries or even epochs long-ago in human history, and peo...
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