Ten years until the moonwalk?

I am currently reading The World is Flat. It is a book which talks about globalism in the marketplace and how it effects everyone from America to developing countries to the companies comprising the market. He puts forth an interesting idea--what if the president made a call for finding alternative enery in ten years much like JFK did in calling for the nation to put a man on the moon in ten years. This is not just for the environment, or to become energy independent from the world. But when I think about Al Qaeda's attacks on the free world and the reasons for these being rooted in resentment towards a Western presence in their region, how great would it be to turn these terrorists into desperate appealers for international aid as the oil revenue from their $100 barrels dried up. I doubt they would be crying for us to stay out of their country then. And JFK's call didn't just result in a moonwalk, it spurred a generation of aspiring scientests and researchers who went on to propel the country into its status as the leader in many fields. This call and subsequent focus on research and development of new technologies and resources could once again boost America to the forefront.

Mr. Friedman also discusses the growing deficit or the shrinking lead in certain Science and Technology fields across America at a time when we need it more than ever. To make matters worse, science funding was being cut drastically at the time of publication. Of all the pork that is passed, all the money we come up with for defense and the current military operations, the millions spent on social programs or any other department of government, cutting funding for the future(isn't that what scientific research is all about?) doesn't sit right with me. Surely we can devote some funds to figure out a way to end reliance on such a volatile region for such an essential resource.

An area that has always seemed to me imperative to improve at any given opportunity is education. Education of the next generation of scientists in America can't simply be fixed by throwing money into the school system, this would probably result in the purchase of a newer version of a textbook, a low fat snack vending machine, and of course increased salaries. I think a huge obstacle is figuring out how to go about raising children to aspire to become scientists; but a quote I love from the book that might be helpful is in China Bill Gates is the Brittany Spears, in America Brittany Spears is the Brittany Spears.

The book has served as an eye opener for me in the sense that growing up in America we assume our place as the world leader, whether economically, politically, militarily, or what have you. This feeling of entitlement is now colliding sharply with the plain truth that we will not be able to dominate in most areas and in some we can't even compete. We either need to work harder in this flatter world or ready ourselves for a bit of a shock when our standards of living start to fall.

Our very own Alamo

The platoon has picked up sticks and resettled into our own joint service site--this one is a little closer to Baghdad and doubles as an Iraqi Police(IP) station. The IP's keep things interesting during the day, whether its knocking on our office door to ask for water or a pistol permit at ALL hours of the day or bringing in the rowdy "he keeps on throwing bottles at my sheep" crowd for a few hours of cool down in the slammer. It is pretty exciting to be out on our own without the demeaning stare of the higher brass glaring down at us. I guess it still does, but only from cameras far, far away. And the best part is, the mission is still getting done, without higher being around to yell about cleanliness of the food serving area or the proper way to wear a uniform, the food serving area is neat and uniforms are still being worn. We get a lot of 'walk-in' traffic throughout the day, local leaders stumping for a project to improve their area, random tips about IED's everywhere, and of course people stopping by to see if we are willing to give them 'chocolata' but its not too bad. Because at least they are coming in to us and not just spinning out of control in a hopeless situation which some people back home seem to think. Of course the potential for this sudden and violent spin is there and might just be on standby, but for the time being the area is safe and I am happy to say most of my time each day is spent discussing which water pipes to fix or schools to send desks to rather than who in the world shot at us the other day. Yes the responsibility has increased greatly from being one of four platoons at a JSS to the only one that is taking care of the patrolling, guarding, maintaining, and every other aspect that goes into running a combat outpost but I think we have adapted well and our enjoying the increased load, mainly because it is up to us how we handle it.

We have changed bosses in a way, I have gone from one troop to another in the Cavalry Squadron we are attached to. It is actually the same troop I worked for a year when I first arrived at Hawaii so I know everybody, which made the transition much smoother. I am definitely thrilled to still be working for the Cavalry as opposed to being stuck on one of the larger FOBs or Camps which smack of garrison life back home complete with paperwork by the truckloads and random taskings to complete some detail to fit somebody's taste.

The new area is still a mix of Shia and Sunni but they have been living together for as several generations so that is nothing new for them. They have done a great job of standing up their own security checkpoints for their villages and the men who run these seem to be honest and hard working.

So that is the quick update on what I am actually doing out in this neck of the woods.