Living here in San Diego is offering me the opportunity to learn Spanish. Not in any kind of “formal” way. It’s not like going to school for it. Or anything.
But you can’t escape learning new phrases like, “Cuidad! Piso mojado,” and “Lavesa sus manos - esta la ley!”
That’s about it, though. For now.
But it’s a start.
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Ben Stein, courtesy of occasional reader Jason, adds his own words about Oscars speeches:
Now for a few humble thoughts about the Oscars.
I did not see every second of it, but my wife did, and she joins me in noting that there was not one word of tribute, not one breath, to our fighting men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan or to their families or their widows or orphans. There were pitifully dishonest calls for peace — as if the people we are fighting were interested in any peace for us but the peace of the grave. But not one word for the hundreds of thousands who have served and are serving, not one prayer or moment of silence for the dead and maimed.
Short, acerbic and on point. There’s more, if you like it.
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You know, it may surprise you, but I’ve heard about that Navy quarterback. I’ve also heard about the male midshipman who’s on his way out the door for conduct unbecoming, while his paramours receive stern warnings about being bad girls, go back to class.
And it may further surprise you that I feel disinclined to comment upon any of this, and that I’m equally disinclined to try to defend it. The Navy is a human institution, subject to all the errors that humankind is heir to.
But the service continues, as it must, with an important job to do in defense of the nation’s interests. Critics will always be waiting on the sidelines to keep us steaming between the buoys.
They have their job, and we have ours.
But the Navy has been good to me and mine, and if you come here hoping to see me trash the institution that has been my entire adult life, I think you’ll be disappointed.
It’s not that I’m unaware of our blemishes and imperfections. It’s that I refuse to let them define us.
We are so very much more than that.
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You know, I’ve never gone to Blockbuster on a Friday night, undoubtedly the busiest night of the week, with a pizza cooling in the car and children at home eyeing their siblings hungrily, that there hasn’t been, in two of the three open registers, people who just don’t understand the process:
“Start over - I give you money, and I get to walk out with the DVD. But after two days, I have to return it? That seems so unfair! But tell me more.”
Or:
“Someone else must have used my card! I swear I never rented that movie. And if I had, I’d have turned it back in. I swear!“
None of these conversations will take any less than 20 minutes to consummate. Meaning that all the rest of us are consigned to waiting for the one actually moving register while these people - in 2006! - try to piece it all together.
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What, you were expecting Shakespeare?
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The military continues to be the most admired institution in America, according to the latest Harris Poll.
A total of 47 percent of Americans said they have a “great deal” of confidence in the military. Some 38 percent of Americans said they had “only some” confidence and 14 percent said they had “hardly any” confidence in the military.
The military was followed in the poll by small business - a new category in 2005 - with 45 percent of Americans saying they had a great deal of confidence; colleges and universities, 38 percent; the Supreme Court, 33 percent; and Medicine, 31 percent.
At the bottom of the survey, released March 2, were law firms at 10 percent, Congress at 10 percent, organized labor at 12 percent, major companies at 13 percent and the press at 14 percent.
Anchoring the middle was organized religion at 30 percent, the White House at 25 percent, public schools at 22, the courts and justice system at 21, and television news at 19.
You know what? We admire you right back.
Just thought you should know.
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You know, there’s a lot of bad news out of the middle east. But some good news too. Like this article out of the WaPo a couple of days ago:
Tribal chiefs in Iraq’s western Anbar province and in an area near the northern city of Kirkuk, two regions teeming with insurgents, are vowing to strike back at al-Qaeda in Iraq, a Sunni Arab-led group that is waging war against Sunni tribal leaders who are cooperating with the Iraqi government and the U.S. military. Anbar tribes have formed a militia that has killed 20 insurgents from al-Qaeda in Iraq, leaders said.
Separately, more than 300 tribal chiefs, politicians, clerics, security officials and other community leaders met last week in Hawijah, about 35 miles southwest of Kirkuk, and “declared war” on al-Qaeda in Iraq.
I like this bit the best:
“We are a group of the Anbar people who want to get rid of Zarqawi . . . because this is the only way to make the Americans withdraw from Ramadi or Iraq in general,” said Ahmed Abu Ilaf, 30, a welder and member of the new Anbar militia from Ramadi, about 60 miles west of the capital.
The Sunnis in Ramadi realize that the only way to end the occupation is by defeating the insurgency so that the elected government can rule in peace and security.
I call that an epiphany.
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Saw something else interesting in an AAR last week - a couple of bad guys had managed to do themselves a disservice while trying to make mayhem. Cost them their lives. Happens a fair bit, although you don’t often hear about it.
But the interesting thing to me was the fact that the US Army guy writing the report called them “takfiris.”
“Takfir” is the Arabic word for “infidel.” A takfiri is one who runs around calling people infidels who vote in elections, or hope for stability, or somehow fail to support the insurgency adequately. It’s a dismissive insult, to call someone a takfiri.
It’s not a western word, and it’s not a western concept. The guy writing that report had to hear it from Iraqi Army types he’s been working with. Closely. And now he’s integrating it into his own argot. It has meaning for him.
The boys have been there for their third pump, and now they’re going native. They’re understanding who they’re working with, and who they’re fighting against.
I call that an epiphany.
There’s been a lot of talk about how Iraq is at a tipping point. But tipping points tip both ways, which is something to remember.
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It’s late, and it’s been a slice of life kind of week. I’ll let you go for now, hoping you each of you have a wonderful weekend.
Adios.
18 responses so far ↓
1 Zane // Mar 11, 2006 at 5:56 am
CAPT,
Regret to inform that “takfiri” does not mean “infidel,” but it is a very powerful word in the Islamic lexicon. “Kufr” aka “kaffir” is infidel, specifically, one who is in rebellion against the obvious truth of the revelation of Allah. A key variation is “mushrikoon,” also transliterated into Roman letters in a dozen different ways. A mushrikun is a polytheist, not just of the Hindu variety, but also of the Christian (Father/Son/Holy Ghost/Mother Mary variety), and Jewish (too long to explain here).
Takfir is the act of declaring a Muslim to be not a true muslim, so you’re essentially right on that point. However, sharia has historically been remarkably flexible in keeping heretics within the fold. The authority to declare someone a heretic or blasphemer is sharply circumscribed, by law at least. Never stopped the random mob from swift justice, of course, an Islamic specialty, but in theory an ordinary muslim can’t declare another muslim to be a blasphemer and enforce punishment.
The takfiri grew out of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and in the second half of this century have defended a concept of Tawhid (oneness) and jihad that rendered any element of Islam not clearly articulated in the Koran, Sirat or Ahadith as belonging to the time and actions of Mohd. and the Four Righteous Caliphs, as being jahiliyah, or from the pre-Mohammedan time of darkness. As all muslims are compelled to resist jahiliyah, so they, the takfiri, are compelled to deal justly (kill) those who espouse any muslim doctrine not compliant with their own doctrine. That’s a nutshell version of it.
Are the takfiri dangerous to us? No, not any more than any other muslim. Over the past year CENTCOM has struggled to “frame” the IO fight, to give names to our enemies that encourage our muslim allies to fight them too. I have repeatedly been the turd in the punch bowl over there, warning that we cannot frame the fight within Islam. In the end, the source of our “struggle,” that is, jihad with Islam is Islam itself, and until our national leadership come to grips with that fact, we are going to keep chasing the fireflies of “takfiri” and “irhabi” and whatever other term can be dredged up.
Spend $25 bucks on The Reliance of the Traveler. Then read it slowly and carefully, with something wrapped around your head to hold your jaw in place. I’ll send you a copy of Sirat Rasul Allah, the hagiography of Muhammad, if you wish, by email, one can’t understand Islam without it as well. Think of it this way–the Koran is rougly 25% completely incomprehensible, so the Ahadith, stories of the prophet’s actions and sayings, emerged to clarify what the right path for muslims should be, but they contradict each other, too, and so the Sirat, which attempts to align all of these disparate sources into a single narrative a muslim can understand, emerged about two centuries after the prophet’s death. Reliance of the Traveler is a law manual, makes it easier after a fashion to understand what sharia entails universally.
Sorry to ramble, I’ll be glad to clarify anything not made clear here.
V/r,
Zane
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Bucky Katt
// Mar 11, 2006 at 7:09 am
Lex…Blockbuster? NetFlix dude, Netflix. Save all the gasoline, the waiting in line, and fighting the crowd to get the DVD you want.
BTW- don’t know if you have gotten the set, but rent or procure the A&E Sereis DVD boxset of “Horatio Hornblower”. Loved it when it was on A&E, absolutely better with no commercials.
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Maggie
// Mar 11, 2006 at 7:37 am
Picking up the pizza and then stopping at Blockbuster? You are not applying sound operational art. After analysis of your course of action, the commander’s estimate of the situation dictates that hot food be the last stop before returning home.
Please submit lessons learned.
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Kris, in New England
// Mar 11, 2006 at 9:01 am
I’m with Bucky Katt - NetFlix babe. I’ve got enough movies in my queue to get me to next year! No lines, no waiting, no disappointment.
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RPL
// Mar 11, 2006 at 12:51 pm
Lex:
Regarding language, it’s rather like the old British army, where they would accumulate words from the various languages of the places that they were posted, and it became part of their argot. I know a few Vietnam vets who still use the word “beaucoup” instead of “many, a lot, etc.” It adds a flavor to their language, and it’s something that the rest of us marvel at.
I live here in NYC, and for a long time I learned Spanish by reading the ads in the subway system. I have also learned some really neat curse words, while I was at it.
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Babs
// Mar 11, 2006 at 5:56 pm
I know you didn’t want to weigh in on the trouble at the boat school but… me thinks there is a witch hunt underway. It is absolutely rediculous that a Lt. that made an apology to a female Midn for course language is now under courts martial for same (rejecting the option of a public trial in a foyee of one of the buildings, as I understand it). Does USNA even recognize that these kinds of absurdities weaken their respect for the female gender and place the male inhabitants of same under duress?
Does ANYONE at USNA recognize that men and women of the ages 18-22 are the most sexually active of any group of the human species? Kicking the rowing guy out of the academy for engaging in sex in a hotel room in Norfolk while not punishing any of the female Midn engaged in the same activity only serves to widen the anomosity between the genders.
I know Midn of the male and female gender. By far, they are some of the most talented people God has put on this earth. Both genders find this type of witch hunt as a disservice as they, to a man/woman are there to educate themselves and serve their country, not be some kind of lab rat that female senators and scared Sups want to put under the magnifying glass.
Okay, I am biased. With one phone call, my son’s future could be ruined. How I wish he had chosen to kick beer cans out of his way in his trail to his bed rather than devoting 4 years to the boat school. How I hate Senator McKluskie (or whaterver her name is); her flacid commentary on HOW THINGS SHOULD BE DONE, REALITY BE DAMNED!How I think the Sup is selling the academy down the river with the constant stream of sacrificial lambs. HEY, you stupid politicians, we are talking about a group, in rarified air I will admit, that have the hormones pumping big time. Any mother out there that wants to tell me that their 20 year old son is a monk… bring it on.
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lex
// Mar 11, 2006 at 8:12 pm
Babs,
I scarcely know where to start: Your son is about to graduate from one of the country’s most prestigious and demanding institutions of higher learning. He will do so without burdening either himself or your family with 20 years worth of debt, to the tune of nearly $200k (before interest is applied) that such an education would have cost him anywhere else. Once graduated, he will become an officer in the world’s finest Navy, offered respect free of charge that he would spend years acquiring elsewhere. He will have honest, even noble work to do. He will have a part in making the world a better place. He will have an opportunity to achieve based on his merits alone, not upon the merits of his father or his family. The only thing that will hold him back will be the dedication he brings to his work, and the content of his character. A character well forged in one of the country’s most demanding crucibles.
He may spend seven years in his country’s service paying off that education, but it is hardly a penance - they will be the most exciting days of his life, and he will look back upon them fondly for the rest of his days. And at every step along the way, he will be on a path that he has chosen for himself, no doubt with your concurrence.
We can be a stern service, but we are not a grim one. The rules are well understood, and if it’s true that you rate what you get away with, it’s equally true that you don’t rate what you don’t get away with. Your son will be able to explain this to you.
USNA is not “hook-up” U., and the country expects a very great deal more from it’s future leadership than may be found at junior colleges and state schools.
An ounce of perspective would be welcome.
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Brian
// Mar 12, 2006 at 4:43 am
Being a former Naval Officer (but not a boat-schooler) I tread lightly on the idea of adding to what Lex has said about the USNA flap…but one of the things that is being taught at USNA is discipline in many forms - including self.
It is this self-discipline that will allow these mids to later on do some very hard things - launch with a full load of bombs on a very hard mission; stay in a fight even when the ammo is running very low and things look very bad; order subordinates into a space to secure a valve that’s flooding the ship when that order will almost certainly bring about the death of the subordinates - but will also save the ship.
These are probably overly-dramatic examples, but my point is that this kind of self-discipline is not expected of civilians and it is not demanded of students in civilian universities. At USNA it is demanded because it is a big part of the job the students are being prepared for.
What should be happening is that the current rules be applied to all very equally, but the standards should not be lowered. They’ve been serving us pretty well for about 200 years.
9 Counter Revolutionary // Mar 12, 2006 at 7:11 am
Lex, feels like a Mr. Rogers night in your neighborhood.
Twaddle
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lex
// Mar 12, 2006 at 7:20 am
Hopefully in the future when you take the time to write something here, you will take a moment or two longer and make it also worth reading.
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Flatlander-
// Mar 12, 2006 at 10:59 am
One of the things that puzzled me many years ago as a young Naval Officer was just how mixed the quality of the boat schoolers in the fleet was. I assumed based on the quality of the selection process and education that this group got that their subsequent performance at sea would be more consistently high.
I was impressed by many outstanding officers and leaders than came out of the Academy, but there were also a surprisingly sizeable minority who just didn’t cut it.
My conclusion is that to a large extent there is no substitute for the crucible of experience, and that we are still not very good at predicting leadership qualities. I also think that in a good many cases, it is very difficult for an 18 year old to decide what they really want to do with their life. In some cases very motivated 18 year-olds may discover themselves four years hence as disinterested Ensigns.
I do think it is good that the standards at a place like the Academy are quite higher than the prevailing standards of normal college life but I am surprised as an outside observer that there is not a rather clearer set of behavioral standards than there seems to be.
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Subsunk
// Mar 12, 2006 at 11:55 am
“But the Navy has been good to me and mine, and if you come here hoping to see me trash the institution that has been my entire adult life, I think you?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ll be disappointed.”
I didn’t spend 20+ years serving the institution of the United States Navy to become a party to the efforts to tear Her down. After screaming, suffering, scrimping and saving for so long to make the US Navy the finest in the world, I would have to ask myself why I would ever think to utter one word of disparagement upon Her. That would be like cursing your wife after she gave birth to your first born.
I thank the Navy for giving me the knowledge, the skills, and the discipline to press on through fire, flooding, pestilence, and conduct detrimental to waking up in the morning while a civilian. She taught me much about Life. And I’ll never forget nor fulminate over her.
And I’d call that an epiphany.
Press on, CAPT Lex.
Subsunk
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CPT J
// Mar 12, 2006 at 2:28 pm
Babs,
For 200 years we have expected our naval leaders to cultivate “the nicest sense of personal honor”. Call it choosing the harder right over the easier wrong, but it is all about the inner and outer demands of integrity.
Your son freely chose a difficult but extremely rewarding career, one like no other. Upon graduation, he will assume responsibilities that most civilian middle-aged people can hardly fathom, let alone his own age peers in other colleges.
Being an officer, both commissioned and non-commissioned, is about personal example. So that you truly merit the “special trust and confidence” that others repose in the office in which you are about to enter.
There is no civilian equivalent to this special trust. It’s not just a job, or a role that lapses when you take off the uniform. It is a burden of self-reflection and self-correction that continues for the rest of one’s life.
Stop worrying about phone calls. The PC circus will be what it is. Your son and all the other mids need only look to their own honor first.
And yes, we DO ask high-speed, talented young people in the prime of life to put service before self and willingly abide by a higher code of personal conduct. Because that’s the deal. To whom much is given, much is expected.
Most will accept this code and serve with honor, courage and committment. These values have nothing to do with gender. They are about the person inside.
The few that do not may get away with it for awhile,….but not forever:
http://www.usafa90.com/flinn.html
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Dan
// Mar 13, 2006 at 12:55 pm
Thanks for the Ben Stein link.
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Dan
// Mar 13, 2006 at 1:10 pm
And after reading all the comments, I just think that everyone should be aware, as President Bush says, there is a difference between defeatism and open criticism. I don’t believe in defeatism of the Academy nor the Navy, but open, real, constructive criticism I feel is necessary for any type of organization or firm to maintain its absolute best form. Calling things “stupid” and not offering any solutions does not solve any problems; rather it just angers your opponents. There are times when the Navy and the Academy should be criticised and there are times when it shouldn’t; keep in mind what CAPT Lex said, it is a human organization and is subject to the failures of humans given the size of our Navy.
I’m not sure where I was going with that, but the above comments were interesting. As one who is soon to enter the Academy, I do wonder every once in a while if something seemingly so innocent happened, would my carreer be ruined? It is something to keep in mind, but I do not distrust females at all, in the end, if I wasn’t doing something wrong or putting myself in a position where I have to say “O man, I hope LT XXX never finds out about this…” then I don’t feel I’ll run into problems.
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BillT
// Mar 13, 2006 at 8:33 pm
Dobra dan, ong Lex, and xin loi about the Tomcat going di-di mau. Veliko apartment space for the F-18s, though…
U redu, I wouldn’t agonize over the flap at bay ca beaucoup much, because it appears these things are cyclical, much as it grates to say it. In the mid-90s, it was the USMA and honor code violations, in the late-90s into the start of this century, it was the Colorado Cockpit Campus and sexual harassment, this year it’s the Naval Academy’s double standardizing and han la, chac la, it’ll be the USMA’s turn next time around.
The majority of the cadets are honorable and will likely remain so, and the services will continue to survive…
And bon chance avec the Espanglais. Just think of your downtown sojourns as malo deployments…
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lex
// Mar 13, 2006 at 8:59 pm
You tickle me, Bill. And I mean that in the most hetero possible way
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BillT
// Mar 15, 2006 at 9:01 am
*grin*
Hvala and molim, Lex.
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