May26
I’m at ISDC, but it’s not blogger friendly. No tables or power for laptops, poor bandwidth. I didn’t even bother to bring my laptop today because the utility/hassle ratio is too low. I’m posting this from my phone.
And tomorrow I’ll be flying back to CA. But hey, it’s a holiday weekend. Why are you reading this blog anyway? Go out and do something fun, and remember those who sacrificed to make it possible, on Monday.
I’m reading because it is not yet time to hit the lake and the weather is crappy. Also, slightly addicted to the internet. But when I’m shins deep in empty beer cans on a rocking boat, I will fondly remember my grandfather’s brother who died in the the coral sea and how so many of my friends rose to meet the great challenge of our generation serving multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
To all the current and former service members who might read this, thanks for doing what some of us are unwilling or unable to do, have a great weekend.
Just another weekend here in Canada – we had our long weekend May 21 (Queen Victoria’s birthday), & don’t celebrate a Memorial Day, just Remembrance Day on Nov. 11. Perhaps we should, our servicemen are under-appreciated. Thank you to all of those who served and those who still do.
A bit surprising that any major conference these days would fail to have adequate Internet support. Anyway, have fun and stick another fork in Griffin if you get a chance.
We appreciate the sacrifices made by your men and women.
In the USA, the rule is this:
Memorial Day = dead soldiers
Veteran’s Day = live soldiers
In the U.S., November 11 is celebrated as Veterans’ Day, to honor all those who have served. It used to be known as Armistice Day to mark the end of World War I.
Our Memorial Day dates back to the U.S. Civil War. It was originally called Decoration Day, and was marked by decorating the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers.
That’s one reason why I no longer carry a laptop. iPad + 4G are better for staying connected in the “undeveloped world.”
But since NSS never got back to me about my speaking request, I’m not there…
Let’s all celebrate human sacrifice.
Very punny. Then there’s the irony of animal sacrifice (BBQ) as a method of celebration.
I don’t think this could rightly be called sacrifice. BBQ’d animal in my belly has greater value to me than a living animal not in my belly (in this context).
That is killing. Delicious killing. Or “up-converting biological resources to a more valuable state” if you are undercover and hiding from the vegan police.
Calling it “sacrifice” really grates on me as well, although I understand Rand enough through his other writings to know that his sentiment wasn’t really focused on the specific meaning of the word. Demanding 100% exactness of language at all times would make me 6sigma outlier bore.
Sadly though sacrifice is the right word to use, today. Aside from the (thankfully few, should have been less) that lost their lives in the early actions in Afghanistan and Iraq to conduct justice for the infringment of the rights of Americans, a virtuous goal that many were willing risk their lives to fight for, the larger number of military members who have died in the past 12 years can rightly be called human sacrifice. They’ve died to create something of little to no worth to themselves or their countrymen. A couple of corrupt pseudo-theocracies that have precious little more respect for individual rights than their predecessor states did are not worth the lives of a single American, especially not the kind of American that decides that liberty is a virtue worth fighting for and puts their life at risk to defend it. If we as a nation are going to ask men and women to risk, invest and possibly spend their lives to defend their freedom and deliver justice, we owe it to those that sign up to only employ them for that purpose. To do otherwise is perpetrate the vilest bait-and-switch.
Treating military members as Subjects fit for sacrificing in a marketing campaign to advertise the bloodstained beneficence of our egotistical politicians is evil. The culturally insidious use of the word ‘sacrifice’ highlights either the moral perspective of those politicians who would deign to use up heroic individuals for their own purposes, or the ignorance, inexactness, and herd mentality of those that accept by default the first group’s premises without thought.
After all, the first group said “sacrifice” in a reverent tone, that must mean it is good.
Well, over here we have a public holiday for no specific declared reason at the end of May. However, this particular year it’s been moved to the beginning of June and there is an extra one on June 5th. The extra one is not to commemorate anyone’s death, but to celebrate someone’s life; that person being Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who this year will have served her country for sixty years.
Actually, more than sixty years; while still a teenager, the then Princess Elizabeth served her country in wartime by driving ambulances.
I wonder what she thinks when she meets the current empty suit in the White House, at state functions?