So...President Bush will be speaking tonight (oh, joy).  Many expect that he will be sending more troops into Iraq.  Of course, the Dem leadership is screaming about this.  "The American People don't want this.  They want us to pull out!"  (That's what she said...der).

 

Anyway...here's how I look at things.  Pardon me if this is stolen somewhat from a fairly recent Pentagon presentation:

 

We have three options.  1)  Increase the troops for a short period of time, like a year and a half, in an effort to crush the insurgency and train the Iraqis to take over their own bloody country.  2)  "Stay the course" with the same number of troops, continue to rotate them in and out, focus more on training and get out after about 5+ years.  Or 3) Start phasing our troops out now.

 

Okay...my usual disclaimer when I talk about Iraq...this is a stupid war.  We shouldn't have gone in in the first place.  Great that Saddam is dead, but it didn't need to be us that went in there and screwed the country up more just to get him.  But...now that we are there (and have screwed the country up), we gotta finish what we started.  We can't just abandon them the way they are now.

 

So, back to the point of this post. 

In my over average sized brain (Top 90th percentile, I'll have you know...if only it weren't for my stupid ADD), I see absolutely no way that Option #2 can work.  Simply stated, it hasn't worked so far.  Stop doing something that doesn't work.

 

So, that leaves 1 or 3.  I can understand the arguments behind both.  As much as I want to bring the troops home, and as much as I absolutly don't want to see my ass mobilized, Option #1 looks to be the best.  Why?  Because we started this thing.  We have caused this insurgency.  We brought the terrorists to Iraq.  We can't just say, "Ooops...sorry...See ya!"  We need to finish what we started.

 

The only way we can possibly pull out of this in a positive way is if we hit Iraq Hard.  Pull some troops out of Europe (unless, of course, Germany looks like they're gonna attack France, again.)  Moblize the guard to take over in the US while we send the active duty folks back out.  Kick the crap out of those SOBs that are causing all the problems.  Then...when things have calmed down...then, turn it over to the Iraqis.  Pull the vast majority of our people back with much more success than we would now.

 

Now...that's just my opinion.  I completely sympathize with the people that want Option #3.  I will not begrudge anyone for wanting to get our men and women home.  Unless they're a politician. 

 

Look...you people in Congress...if you have an opinion, stick to it.  You can't say, "Don't send more troops, but don't pull out of Iraq."  I am hearing this all over the place.  The other option is keep doing what we're doing...which is not working and which is what got us here in the first place.  If you don't like what is being suggested today, COME UP WITH SOMETHING BETTER!  That's why we (well...not me) elected you idiots.  I am so sick of still being in Iraq watching more soldiers come home dead, hearing about more and more Iraqi civilians dying in explosions, but hearing Democrats suggest absolutely NO good alternative to the plan.

 

Johnny Mac (my new nickname for John McCain) and Joe Liberman are the only ones going out on a limb to offer a solution.  The President is listening.  The Democrats are saying it's a bad idea...but, not offering anything else. 

 

Here's my idea.  Everyone, go hide in your posh little offices and don't come out until you can think of something better.  I'm tired of listening to you. 

 

McCain/Lieberman - 2008

So...I recruit for Bungie, right.  Therefore, any e-mail that is sent to the Bungie jobs e-mail, goes to my inbox. 

Starting Friday, I started receiving a bajillion (it's a number) e-mails a day with the subject line "Halo 3 Tester." 

Huh-whah?  What the heck is this and why are all these people clogging my mail?  Well, I didn't read the Weekly Update until Monday (http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?cid=9384).  Seems Bungie is looking for people to be onsite to test Halo 3.  This is NOT the same thing as the Multiplayer Beta tester program starting soon.  This is actually for employment.  

For the record, in case you're wondering why I didn't know this was open: A) I don't recruit contractors.  B) I don't recruit testers, I recruit SDETs.  Difference is...SDETs gotta know code.

So, literally, every day, I am getting at least 200 e-mails.  Mostly from teenagers geeking out over the possibility (of which there isn't one if you're under 18) of testing Halo 3. 

It's insanity.  I am a self proclaimed video game geek...but some of these clowns are even worse.  Dang..get a life, people.

And, for those interested.  This is a contract opportunity (which means it's temporary).  Bungie will more than likely want you to be onsite with them in Kirkland, WA.  You should probably have some real world testing experience, other than just having played Halo.  Oh...and, you have a butt load of competition.

So...anyone that has seen my MySpace account knows that my wife and I are trying to sell our house. (BTW, if you're also on MySpace and you want to see my account, just ping me...I'll send you the link). 

 

Why the heck do real estate agents, and many loan officers, find it necessary to put their picture everywhere?  I have had this question for a long time.  But, now that I walk out of my house every morning to see a Big Face posted on the For Sale sign in my front yard, I have to bring the question up, globally.  Or, at least to the 6 people who occationally look at my site.

 

So, why?  Anyone out there a real estat agent?  What if a person is really ugly?  Is it possible a picture could hurt business?  Wouldn't I rather have a good looking agent over an ugly one?  Have you ever seen the ones that look like they came out of Glamour Shots? 

 

I assume it's supposed to be a trust thing.  The agent needs to look trust worthy, or something.  But, what if they're balding?  I can't trust a bald agent.  (kidding of course.)

 

Normally, when I see pictures of the business people on business signes (for car dealerships, some banks, even bail bonds) I just assume the person likes to see themself or themselves on a big billboard.  But, in real estate, it seems like a requirement or something. 

 

That's really all I can think of on the topic.  Maybe I'll start putting my picture on my business cards.  I would probably frighten candidates.   

Happy New Year, everybody!

 

I was able to take some much needed time off for the holidays.  Joined my family in Michigan to celebrate my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary.  In case you need some help with the math...that's 6 plus zero.  60.  Da-yam.  That's more than twice as long as I have been alive.  I've been married for almost 5 years now, and sometimes it feels like 60.  Just imagine what 60 years feels like.

 

Anyway, I have been able to watch some very enjoyable movies during this time.  Let's start with one that I promised to watch in an earlier blog:

 

Apocalypto:  Mel Gibson's newest directoral extraviganza.  Of the blockbusters that Mel has directed (Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, and Apocalypto), I think this is the 3rd best.  Now, before you get all like, "Huh-whah?"...Braveheart and The Passion are a couple of my favorite movies, ever.  I liked Apocalypto...just not as much.  And, honestly, I can probably attribute a bit of the dislike to the hype.  You know how you get all excited for a movie and you expect it to be soooo much, then it just isn't what you expected.  I think that's the case, here.

 

Anyway, visually, again, this movie was stunning.  Mel captured the beauty of the rain forrest brilliantly.  I think that's what this movie is really about.  The animalistic, wild, "unblemeshed" beauty of an Earth long ago.  The village of the hero (Jaguar Paw) destroyed by the "civilized" Mayans.  In the name of their gods, they come collecting humans for sacrifice.  (A side note...this movie was not, in my opinion, as gory as they hyped it to be.  I thought The Passion was much more graphic)  Through a series of events not shy of miraculous, Jaguar Paw escapes and leads the bad guys through a chase through the woods that rivals many old school car chases.  Great visuals, so-so story, and almost perfect acting from a cast of nobodies.  Plus...lots of boobies.  Even though they are tasteful and stuff.

 

Little Miss Sunshine:  Cost me $10 bucks in a hotel room in one of Chelsea, Michigan's 2 hotels.  But, I absolutely loved this movie.  Funny, heartwarming, acted beautifully by Toni Collette (who I think is brilliant), Steve Correll (who I think is funny as anyone, even in this somewhat dramatic role) and Greg Kennear (who I like one day and hate the next), I think this is one of the best movies of the year.  A disfuntional family takes a road trip in a beat up VW bus to take little Olive (played by newcomer and future Dakota Fanning, Abigail Breslin), to a kiddie beauty contest in California.  Full of one liners from the Dad's motivational program about winners and losers ("Luck is the name losers give to their own failings"), I was cracking up quite a bit.  There's not much that I can really go into, simply because I don't want to give away any funny parts.  But, this movie is well worth the watch.   

 

Pursuit of Happiness:  Another movie that I really enjoyed.  I saw this with my family at the theatre.  Not a movie I would typically go to the theatre for, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  I was really feeling bad for Will Smith's character.  It really seemed like nothing could go right for the dude.  But, the end made it all worth it.  I even shed a tear or two.  It was a little slow in a few places, and if I didn't know something good was gonna happen at the end, I probably wouldn't have made it through the whole movie.  But...the end was was great.  The look in Will's eyes made it all worth it to me.  It made me feel like the American Dream is still alive. 

 

The end.  See Apocalypto in the theatre if you can...unless you have a killer HDTV.  The others will be just as good as renters.