In Washington DC for the weekend as the representative of Chapter 44 of AUSCS. The conference/training should start in a couple of hours and I suppose my roommate will show up sometime soon also. My command granted my special liberty request too, so this isn't going to cost me anything in the way of leave. And AUSCS is reimbursing the hotel cost and payed for the flight up here. I feel like I'm scamming someone!! I'm excited to be a part of this and think I'm going to learn a little bit more about how the government actually works this weekend.

As an added bonus Marc Prickett still lives here in DC so I was able to hang out with him a little yesterday and probably will again later this weekend.

Happy Veterans Day!

I'm now the treasurer for Chapter 44 of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State located in New Bern, NC. That's great, I feel like I'm getting started on something I'll probably be involved with until I die. Joining this organization and also the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers is just a start. When I get to Boise (which still seems like where I'm going once I get out) I'll join any similar organizations there, or create them.

I've already checked the Boise State University clubs and there is no Secular Student Alliance Chapter so if they don't have one by the time I get there (granted that's more than a year from now), I'll do my best to get one started.

All this activist thought really started back when I was in Iraq and found out that people with influence were trying to lie to students in school, and keep evolution from being taught. I see that as an example in microcosm of much that is wrong with our country/society today. We have stopped being a positive example for the rest of the world. Our best measures of intelligence for public schools show us lagging in the international community in math and science (which are basically the only things that can be effectively tested at a global level). Now there are many different idea's about how to "fix" the broken school system, Time magazine listed some in the same issue that it gave the No Child Left Behind Act a C- grade in, but I think that a damn good starting point would be to simply STOP LYING TO CHILDREN!!!!!

Our kids are not allowed to learn because they might end up smart enough to realize how stupid their parents are!

Fucking shameful.

My knee got all jacked up during a basketball game my senior year in high school. I underwent surgery to repair my ACL, MCL, and meniscus. Four staples were left in my knee attaching the replacement ligaments from my hamstring to my knee. I was under the impression that these staples were to be removed at a later date. Well, seven years later, I'm finally having them removed.

In other news, Gesi actually did make me get rid of the dog. And then I went and got us another cat. I think that makes me a pussy, or at least a pushover. But at least I'm still a married pushover.

The vacation: Daytona was great, Orlando was crowded, and the Bahama's were ghetto. Next time, I'd rather stay at home, or at least spend money on stuff that's fun but nearby.