I have been trying to reflect on some of my flaws lately. Kind of an excercise in introspection. Here is what I came up with:

First off, I am kind of a defensive person. I think it stems from me being as smart as I am and my confidence in my own logic. If someone questions me logic or intentions, even trivially, I immediately switch to a defensive posture. I am trying to be more cognizant of this and avoiding it if I can as it can sometimes come across as combative or looking for a fight. Not something I need.

Another thing I've noticed is that I have a tendency to project myself onto those I care about. I have a very enthusiastic aproach to life and sometimes find that the things I am enthusiastic about aren't always mirrored in my companions. As a great example, I had for a while been looking at handguns for my wife. Now, she may want a handgun for herself, but I can't really ever remember her saying that she wanted one. Is this just me projecting my hobby onto my wife? This aspect of my personality many times has positive aspects, too, but that is not the subject of this blog.

And, finally, I can come across as haughty or arrogant to those that don't know me. I think most of that comes from me typically being very good at what I do, but I have to keep in mind that there is always some one better.

Those are the three big ones I've come across...

Constitution vs the Commander in Chief

The topic was brought up in casual discussion a few days back and quickly became heated. In my normal level headed way, I redirected the topic to avoid hard feelings. But as this is my blog, I'll express my opinion here.

The vow of every service member contains verbiage to obey the orders of the President and all officers appointed over them. It also contains very eloquent words stating the service member will defend the country/constitution against "all enemies foreign and domestic". What if these two vows ever came into direct conflict? Our pay and benefits come from the government and in many ways, by proxy, the President. But what if that president were to follow a political plan contrary to the good of the country? Is the responsibility of a service member to the country and constitution or to the President?

I, personally, feel that my first obligation is to my nation and it's highest laws. If I ever felt that the president has become a threat to my country or was subverting the constitution, I would be compelled to oppose him on any front I could, to include violence if it was neccessary.

I would like to make sure that anyone that may stumble across my blog is clear on one thing. Despite some peoples opinions of our President as being the enemy, I do not feel that way. I disagree President Obama on many things, but I have yet to see any action that could be defined as a threat to my country or what it stands for. Most of my differences with the President are idealogical. I believe in states rights and small federal government, Mr. Obama is more for large central government. Granted this is just an example, but the point is there.

Feel free to leave feedback if you have stumbled over here...

Homosexuality in the military...

This seems to be a pretty controversial topic these days, especially with the political history of our Commander in Chief. I have had a few people ask me how I felt about this matter. I have decided to publish my personal opinion here. That said, my opinion does not reflect the opinion of any else in the military nor does it represent any recommended policy.

To get started, I will explain my views on homosexuality. I have no real issue with homosexuals and their rights movement. Do I think that they should be allowed to marry? Yes, our supreme courts have held that the concept of separate but equal is never equal and saying that they can be joined in a "civil union" is the same thing as marriage, but just with a different name is wrong. Am I against letting homosexual couples adopt? Absolutely not. Some people argue that homosexual parents will raise homosexual children. That is complete insanity. By that logic, how do heterosexual parents raise homosexual children? To stay honest, I have to disclose that I am very uncomfortable with the idea of a gay male couple. I don't hold it against them personally, but it is a gut reaction for me. I will note, that I have no such discomfort at the idea of lesbian couples, it's even a turn on. That double standard tells me a lot about how I view homosexuality as a whole. I don't think my discomfort comes from them being gay, but from my lack of attraction to my own sex and my desire to not be approached by members of my own sex. I have found in my limited interactions with gay men, that once they know you are straight, they are just like most other guys. Most of the stereotypes just haven't held up to my personal examination of the issue at large.

Now, on the the issue of gays and lesbians in the military. To be clear, I will refer to homosexual men as gay and homosexual women as lesbian. I recognize that the classification of gay applies to both, but some of my examples will require the distinction to be clear. If I am referring to both, I will index that with G/L. This prevents me from having to type homosexual too often, and avoids me publishing the shortened version of the word that has come to be something of an insult.

Do I believe that homosexuals should be allowed in the military? Yes. Yes, I do. I believe that every American regardless of Race, Gender, Sex, Religion, Sex, or Sexuality should be allowed to defend their rights and the rights of those they love. The US military preaches about how diversity makes us stronger, and I believe that. Everyone has something to contribute, and I think they should be allowed to do so.

Several very large issues come up when one starts to consider allowing G/L to openly serve. I will try to address a few of them here. How do we handle billeting/berthing, restrooms/shower facilities, and other traditionally sexually separate facilities. This I think is the easiest one to fix but my solution is very controversial. Simple Co-ed facilities the whole way through. Stop segregating the sexes. It's simple really. Consider the following examples:

***Segregation continues without change - A gay is roomed up with a straight guy. The straight guy is uncomfortable with the situation and lashes out. He feels discriminated against because a person who may or may not be sexually attracted to him is allowed to share a room with him, but straight people will never be billeted with anyone they may be attracted to. In an effort to prevent discrimination to a minority, we discriminate against the majority.

***Segregation is adjusted to sexual tastes - Now gay men are billeted with women and lesbians are billeted with men. Now we run into a two fold issue. The straight personnel may be attracted to the G/L and some dishonest persons may lie to be billeted with opposite sex. This will create all kinds of problems and really solves nothing.

***Segregation is no longer policy - Billeting is assigned based solely on alphabetical or serial methods. Is it possible G/L may be billeted with straight people that they are attracted to? Yep. It's also possible that straight people may be billeted with someone they may be attracted to and G/L may end up with other G/L that they are attracted to. Under this method, everyone has equal opportunity to be uncomfortable. Sounds tongue in cheek, but it really comes down to accepting that military personnel are adults. We volunteered to serve and recognized that there may be sacrifices. There will be growing pains involved with a method this extreme. Discipline for sexual crimes and voyeurism will have to be extremely harsh to express the seriousness of these crimes. What about people having sex in the barracks or berthing? You would be a fool if you thought it didn't happen with our current system.

In summary, I think it's possible to have a strong, unified military that doesn't discriminate against G/L's. But we first have to look at the way we treat the military as a whole. When we are treated like children, many times people act like children. Why do people sneak into the opposite sex's barracks? Because it's dangerous. There is risk and risk is sexy. If we take out the risk factor and it becomes an everyday normalcy, much of the drama will sort itself out. Who knows? Maybe someday our military can be like in Starship Troopers. Where men and women shower together and there isn't any ogling. Where everyone is viewed as a part of the team and not as a piece of meat. We can only hope...especially the showering part. I'm just kidding.

Feel free to post comments if you disagree, but keep them respectful. Anything else will result in a deleted comment.

A Birthday

So it's my birthday today.

I'm turning 23. Not a very exciting birthday...especially when celebrated in Iraq. I ate some Ice Cream.

On a more serious note, I am finding that I can't wait to get home so that I can start having the time and freedom to advance my goals. My list of goals is becoming more concrete. I will publish the list eventually...

I think it will go something like this:

*Learn all skills necessary to make and maintain my chosen weapons
*Gain my degree. I think the degree part is less vital to my overall goal than the things I will learn in the process of getting the degree.
*Develop my Self-defense skills and combat mindset by training in modern and classical systems as well as studying war, combat, and awareness.
*Become truly fit. Functionally fit.
*Reduce my impact on the environment around me.
*Achieve my materialistic goals as they become reasonably available.
*Teach. As much as I can to whoever wants to learn.

Well, that list actually turned out pretty good. I think I'll roll with that for now. If I have time and internet access, I'll try to break each of them down in depth. I would also like to set checkpoints and end state goals. Something to let me know when I have reached an acceptable level of proficiency.

Thanks for reading...

An Introduction

I felt that the best way to kick this off would be with and introduction of who I am, where I am coming from, and where I want to go. So, how about we start from the top...

My name is David. Simple enough, right? Not Dave, Davey, or Davarino. Just David.

I am in the U.S. Navy and work with computers and radios. I didn't select the job field I did because I liked it, I chose it because I knew it would lead to a well paid career. It seems that the things I would like to do aren't conducive to making a living until you are very good at them (we'll get to that later). I have, up to this point in my life, sort of drifted along collecting as much information as I could without really setting goals and steering myself to the type of life I want. Don't get me wrong, I have made sure I didn't drift into troubled waters, but I haven't taken solid control of my life. I am hoping to change that.

I am a husband and a father. I think becoming a father has made me really consider my future much more critically. My son means the world to me, as a child should to his parents, and I want to provide more for him than I had. I grew up pretty poor as the oldest of 2 boys to a single mother. My mom worked very hard to make sure we had what we needed, but there were several times when she just couldn't. We often didn't have the things we "wanted", but that made me appreciate the things I did and do have that much more.

I have too many hobbies and interests. I think that is part of my problem. I have allowed myself to be pulled along by my whims instead of making solid plans as to what I wanted to do and be. I like knives and swords, martial arts, guns, cars, cooking, hiking and outdoors, hunting, green technology, music, history, politics, philosophy, and medieval life. Quite a list, huh?

I have decided that I want to devote myself to being a warrior scholar. I want to make knives/swords, learn gun-smithing, study self-defense/martial arts and live a healthy, fit lifestyle. I want to own a house on a bit of land, have a pick-up truck, a motorcycle and a workshop. I want to live as green as I can. I want to hunt and plant a garden to provide as much food as possible for my family. I want to finish my degree in philosophy with a focus on ethics. In short, I want a quite, craftsman's life.

Now, I need to set goals and start pursuing them.