The Common Sense of a DAT

What happened to good ol' fashioned common sense? Is it not fashionable to have common sense these days? I mean, none of the fuckwits in hollywood ever use any common sense, so it must be trendy to walk around all day like a complete ninny. Partake in my example, shall we?

This time of year, it's starting to get dark fairly early. I think over here it's completely dark right around 2030 hours (That's 8:30 PM if you're not good at math). When I come out of my nightly shift change brief, it's completely dark and vehicles have to drive on the roads with their lights on.....or so I thought.

Common sense tells you to drive even a small car with headlights on in the dark so you don't get into an accident or run over someone. Well that common sense must not extend to tankers. Last night I came out of my meeting and walked out into the street to hear the enourmous, 12 ton M1A2 Abrams tank rolling right at me. I didn't know it was coming because it wasn't using any lights. Oh wait, the rear lights were on....sorry.

Is it me? I mean, a tank rolling down a dark road with no lights on? A road that is very busy all day with other vehicles and soldiers no less. If we were to perform Preventive Maintenance, Checks and Services (PMCS) on our vechicles and we found the headlights; not both, but one headlight, not to be working then that vehicle would be considered deadlined and wouldn't be allowed to leave the motorpool.

This tank must have had both headlights blown out in some grand firefight. Oh wait! I know! They were testing out their new night vision goggles. That's great. Let's do that on the busiest road of the FOB.

Now I know why they call 'em DATs (Dumb Ass Tankers).

And The Rocket's Red Glare, The Bombs Bursting In....Front Of Me?

If you didn't know already, it's the holy month of Ramadan for the world's most "peaceful" religion. What does that mean to the troops here and yours truly? It means it's time to take cover. The way Ramadan works (I don't know if I'm spelling that right....and I don't really fucking care either) is Haji fasts all day long and then basically prays at night and commences to wage Jihad on us Infidels; which by the way has lost its luster because these fucktards over here will wage Jihad on the fruit farmer if they don't get a good deal on figs at the market.

Anyways, back to Ramadan. You see, they seem to think that if you Jihad against the infidels during Ramadan and sacrifice your life to attack us, then your virgin count doubles when you get to heaven. Call me picky, but I don't know if I would want 140 virgins when I get to heaven. But hey, to each his own.

So the other night I get done talking to Joy and start heading up to Battalion for the nightly shift change brief. It's peculiarly dark that night and I figured it was because no one was playing basketball on the basketball courts. About halfway to Battalion, right after I pass the chow hall, there's this small, square building made of stone and plaster with sandbags all in the windows. I think some contractors work out of there. Anyways, As I'm about to pass that building, off in the distance to the North, I hear "thump, thump, thump." Next thing I know, I hear a screeching noice over head and a second later a huge thud and an explosion about 300 meters to the south of me. This is followed by a couple more screeching noises and explosions off in the distance. It wasn't the initial screeching noise that made me hit the ground next to that small building; you really don't have time to react to the first one. What shook me was the explosion it made. I actually saw it hit and explode into fire and sparks that rose about 50 feet in the air. As I lay on the ground hearing the other rounds impact on and off the FOB, I decide to make a run for a bunker about 75 feet away from me, next to the softball field.

When the all clear was sounded, I commenced to make my way to Battalion to the shift change brief. Nobody was hurt in that attack, but it was all too real for this Beta Male. I had to ask the question, "How can someone claim to worship in a "peaceful" religion and then commit those kinds of attacks?" The answer? Well, I don't have the answer to that. Ignorance comes to mind though.

My dislike....or hatred....for the Muslim world stems not from ignorance, but from actual and factual accounts that it is a fucked up religion in a fucked up region in the world. I won't get too much into the theological aspect of Muslims, but there's a reason why 90% of the world's muslim nations are third world countries.

So, I've had my share of bombs and stuff this week. I haven't told Joy yet so when she reads this, I'll probably hear from her about it. I didn't want her to worry about it though.

I need to go home. 9 days.

Beta Revolution v2.0

There seems to be something inside me that tells me to write about stuff. It doesn't matter what the subject is or even if it's important to anyone else out there reading it. I go throughout my days and notice activities of human nature or see events in the news that conjure ideas in my head. These ideas usually have the intent of mocking whatever caused it, but that's besides the point. I have to write about it.

Having a blog is pretty much the only creative outlet that I have; especially while I'm over here deployed to Iraq. I've done this before and I have to say that my first blog was quite successful and I had so much fun developing and writing in that. Well it seems it's come full circle because before I developed that blog, I wrote on Blogger.com. Then I decided to shed the shackles of restrictive creativity and start development on my own blog using MovableType. I wanted to do something like that again, but now that I'm older and wiser and now that I have my lovely wife Joy to talk some sense into me, I decided not to purchase a domain and hosting plan. It's smiple really; it's just something I don't need to spend money on right now. So I opted to go with the free service that is the next best thing to sole developmental ownership. The creativity could still be there because I do have control over my code, which is nice.

So you might be wondering what the whole "Beta Revolution" is. Well, you see there are two types of males in the world. There's the Alpha male and then there's the Beta Male. We all know about the Alpha males; how they are the successful, athletic, rich, girl-getting type of guys we hated in high school. The Beta males are always behind the scenes waiting for their chance for glory. Well, believe it or not, I am a Beta Male and I've decided it's time for a Revolution. It's time this Beta male wasn't scared of the big bad world anymore because the forces that are behind me are many times greater than what I could ever possibly come up against. I have the force of fierce, undying love in my corner. Don't act like you know what I'm talking about because to my knowledge, only 11 people in the history of the world have ever experienced the love that my wife and I have for each other. This Beta Male hit the gold mine of love when I met her.

I'm also not going to be nice to people that I don't think deserve it anymore. People like illegal immigrants, Muslims, Democrats and Liberals in general. If you're new to this blog and you don't know me let me tell you a little about myself. I am Conservative, born and bred. I love guns, big cars that go really fast and drink gasoline like water. I love football, beer, meat, loud music and good friends. I love the idea of having personal property and rights without the Imperialistic Governemnt invading on those of which I hold dear. I am a soldier and I believe in my heart that it is a noble and just profession and has been for centuries. I don't believe in lying, cheating, stealing, or doing anything for the bennefit of ones ownself that infringes on the rights or property of others. I believe that if you are not a legal citizen of this great country, then you do not have a right to healthcare, a right to a job or a voice in any election.

I will not be nice to people in my blog who disrespect the things I hold true. You have been warned. Oh, and my SIGO once said, "Profanity is the un-educated mind struggeling to express itself." You know what I say to that?

Fuck that.