Hillsdale Look at the Presidency of George W. Bush

One thing about Hillsdale College that I always thought was interesting, was that the school has wisely avoided taking an official stance on many matters of party politics. Of course, saying that seems to ignore the stance of nearly all of the school's officials during their fund-raising dinners. Here though, is a look at the former President's time in office from a professor at the college. One of the best things about this article was that it is ripped apart from both right and left wingers in the comments section. I think that Mikatollah made one of the most eloquent comments from the left side, and I think that Bob Meyer (farther down the thread) had some pretty good stuff from the right side.

Overall, the original article isn't the most clear piece of writing. The author clearly discusses some of the features of the George W. Bush presidency that were unsavory, but he discusses these failures with the same amount of reserve as he does the issues where he considered President Bush to be successful. Just an opinion article, but I guess I was expecting a firm position to emerge.

Good Guys Come Out On Top: And Rescue My Sanity

So after writing this post, where I was quite fed up with humanity and beginning to question my own sanity, it was good to see that the most widely respected military figure in the nation feels the same way that I do.

Now, if I could just figure out how to get my hands on one of those removal tool kits.

2 Beer

I had my first two beers since August 29, 2009.

They were delicious.

Book List Up 16

World War Z-Max Brooks

Mother Night- Kurt Vonnegut

Starship Troopers- Robert Heinlen

Zuckerman Unbound- Philip Roth

The Satanic Verses- Salman Rushdie

Too Far To Go- John Updike

Empire Of Illusion: The end of literacy and the triumph of spectacle- Christopher Hedges

In The Beginning Was The Command Line- Neal Stephenson

Breakfast Of Champions- Kurt Vonnegut

Blue Like Jazz- Donald Miller

Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon- Chuck Palahniuk

Owning Culture- Kembrew McLeod

I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell- Tucker Max

Right Turns- Michael Medved

The Good Soldiers- David Finkel

This is the story of the 2-16 Infantry Battalion, from Fort Riley Kansas, during their 2007-2008 deployment to Iraq. This story grabbed my interest, not because it is one of the most recent books written about the Iraq experience, but because 2-16IN is in the 4th Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division, like my own Battalion, 2-32 Field Artillery. So not only are many of the situations that they encounter similar to ones that I have experienced, but several of the characters are individuals that I know or am familiar with.

Written from the point of view of an embedded reporter with the Battalion, it follows many different perspectives from within the unit, focusing primarily the daily interactions and missions of the Battalion Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Kauzlarich, during the period which has come to be known as the “Surge” in Iraq. The book inter-cuts the daily actions of the unit with political discourse by President Bush at the time. The purpose of this is one of the greatest mysteries of the book. At times, the Presidential voice seems to be used like a punch line, a complete misdiagnosis played over visual evidence that the words are false, like the types used on The Daily Show. At other times though, the words seem to be the internal voice of the Battalion Commander of the 2-16 Rangers. Maybe they were, or at least, the words of many other Battalion Commanders in the same position as Lieutenant Colonel Kauzlarich, writing optimistic reports which had lines ripped out of context in order to provide content for the regular speeches given by the president.

Despite the status of the book as non-fiction, mysteries abound:

-Why did Kauzlarich send out patrols when his Battalion was set to leave in only 3 days?
-Did he really believe the things he said in the book?
-Why does most of the Battalion leadership seem to be completely out of touch?

The answer to these questions is an issue that I personally struggle with in my own life as a young officer in the Army. One of the few heroes that the book does promote, definitely seems to be the Battalion Executive Officer Major Cummings. I actually know Major Cummings as Lieutenant Colonel Cummings. He was the Brigade Executive Officer when I arrived at 4th Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division in Fort Riley, Kansas. He ends up being the hero, by simply being realistic about his expectations and assessments of the situation. When an opportunity arose to make a difficult decision, he stepped up and made it. In doing so, he stands in stark opposition to his boss, as a person who seemed to be more than willing in every situation to force a decision to be made while always being tirelessly optimistic, to the point at which he must either be naïve or lying. Neither choice is one that is good to contemplate.

While the book did a great job of exploring military culture at the time of the surge, it unfortunately, failed to create a narrative of how the surge actually worked. The current theory that is used to describe the situation, claims that the surge was primarily a factor in the Sunni areas of Baghdad, quelling the sectarian violence and allowing the fledgling Sons of Iraq to get off the ground and begin to be accountable for the security situation in their areas. As a part of this, the efforts of the 2-16 Rangers would attempt to be included, as certainly, their nearly constant patrolling and ability to execute major elements of COIN doctrine had beneficial results for individuals who aligned themselves with the Government of Iraq. Do these successes provide enough weight to balance the scales in the eyes of a nation to make up for the obvious mistakes? This question is the essential one that is present in every page of this text.

Why I am emigrating from Chrome

Despite what it says here and here, I have been a Google Chrome user for almost two months now, when out of the blue, the Chrome began to get progressively worse with it's tendency to crash whenever more than one tab was open, until the browser became unusable. I attempted to trouble shoot the problem, beginning with this advice, which yielded no change in the results, but did delete all of my browsing preferences. At this point, I had already spent at least 4 days trying to deal with the issue, and about half an hour trying to fix the problem. While I know that I could continue to troubleshoot and eventually find the answer, it just isn't worth it to me. Firefox while missing some of the nice features of Chrome (the "go to" button on the toolbar and the new tab page with favorites are great), it never crashes. Most of the time, I'm not really trying to learn about computers, I'm just just trying to read my email while I load my facebook page.

Media Figures as Political Philosophy Leaders

You will notice that I didn't say Political Leaders.

At several points I have criticized the inclination of the politically conservative to anoint their prominent media figures as the political leaders of the party. It's not fair to anyone and it doesn't work. Media figures communicate the message that they believe will make them the most money. Most daytime talk radio figures are conservative, reflecting the tastes of that constituency. The same people go home and reflect these same tastes when they go home and turn on the television, whether it be watching Fox News, 24, or CSI Miami.

It is also unfair to anoint or look up to these individuals as political leaders because the only responsibility that they hold is to their listeners (and the FCC, slightly). Real politicians in office not only have to serve their constituency, but they are supposed to be doing what is best for every American that they represent.

All of this being said,,, did anyone else think that Jon Stewart was outstanding as a spokesperson for the left on the O'Reilly Factor? He made me proud to be a liberal by presenting cogent, forceful, and direct arguments to every question that was posed to him. Not only this, but his ability to communicate these answers in short, succinct ways, avoiding overlong pauses before answering made him seem like the consummate professional.

While I still wouldn't want him to be the head of the Democratic Party in the United States, I do see him, as playing the role of the head of the political philosophy department. This role, when played as it is meant to be played, avoids the supreme elation and pitfalls by staying out of bed with the actual candidates. Stewart has recently come under a bit of interrogation regarding his willingness to make fun of and criticize the President. What is lost here, is that this is part of his job. The media figures, on both sides of the political aisle, need to play this part. This is one of the great duties/functions of media in a free society, to criticize regardless of political affiliation.

In providing the political philosophy for the party, they shape it, not by driving policy, but by providing immediate parameters for every facet of the policy and people doing the governing.

So is Mr. Stewart simply performing to the crew, preaching to his choir, or am I really on to something here?

Right Here, Right Now.

So, after reading this post on Slate, and reading the original Watchmen graphic novel, I felt like I had to address this issue.

The very real fear-mongering is hurting this nation. It is causing Americans to turn their backs on what was formerly a conservative opinion, and turning toward something which doesn't conserve anything but itself, which (most importantly, for this blog) doesn't work.

I am now convinced that this endless cycle of giving up, pushing back, and attempting to thwart the American Way from being used against those who would perpetrate acts of terror against us only perpetrates the types of behavior that we want to end immediately.

Our collective unwillingness to face this fact has created the worst kind of ambivalence, lashing out in terror against one another and the fearful lack of faith in our own way.

Book List Up To 15

World War Z-Max Brooks

Mother Night- Kurt Vonnegut

Starship Troopers- Robert Heinlen

Zuckerman Unbound- Philip Roth

The Satanic Verses- Salman Rushdie

Too Far To Go- John Updike

Empire Of Illusion: The end of literacy and the triumph of spectacle- Christopher Hedges

In The Beginning Was The Command Line- Neal Stephenson

Breakfast Of Champions- Kurt Vonnegut

Blue Like Jazz- Donald Miller

Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon- Chuck Palahniuk

Owning Culture- Kembrew McLeod

I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell- Tucker Max

Right Turns- Michael Medved

This book is really hard for me to talk about.

I'm something of a sucker for books of conversion. I love hearing about stories of individuals changing their minds, knowing that this process is rarely purely logical, and usually is accompanied by a dramatic life incident which brings things into focus. Conversion stories where this does not happen are actually my favorite, instead

On one hand, I completely understand the devotion to the religious life that Michael Medved has found in his Jewish Faith. Unfortunately, he ties a lot of other significant and momentous changes of mind to this gradual change of persuasion to orthodoxy, and in this book attempts to portray these movements as having their precedent in his life.

I don't want to go by the contentions one by one, but suffice it to say that I have a lot of respect for this man. There was plenty I disliked, and many things that I found appeal ling about the book. I would even go as far as to say that it changed my mind about one particular issue, the use and effectiveness of policing. Despite that, I still can't res

I'll be honest. I feel the pull of this type of thinking on a daily basis. These are ideas that have a strong intellectual basis, yet they are palatable to even my father. Michael Medved, like Mark Halperin, is a person from a background not completely different than my own. The time I am now spending in the military has given me the kinds of experiences that fit into the kind of frameworks that they find appealing. It's that appealing nature of the ideas, despite their obvious negative implications and counterbalances, that makes me exceedingly cautious regarding my own thoughts.

So maybe I am reading myself into their story, a story that I would like to read.

Oveheard On The Street

So, while on patrol with the Human Terrain Team (HTT) conducting pre-election diagnostics, definitely heard at least 8 people in the Salah Ha Din Province of Iraq say that they would definitely vote for Saddam Hussein if he was still alive.

I guess that this shouldn't really be surprising, since this Saddam's hometown, but it is still surprising to hear people say things like that while US presence is standing right next to them with weapons. Somewhat ironic with the level of free speech being a little better than it used to be, but still pining for the old times.

Book List Up To 14

Just because I hadn't posted one of these in a while didn't mean I stopped reading.

World War Z-Max Brooks

Mother Night- Kurt Vonnegut

Starship Troopers- Robert Heinlen

Zuckerman Unbound- Philip Roth

The Satanic Verses- Salman Rushdie

Too Far To Go- John Updike

Empire Of Illusion: The end of literacy and the triumph of spectacle- Christopher Hedges

In The Beginning Was The Command Line- Neal Stephenson

Breakfast Of Champions- Kurt Vonnegut

Blue Like Jazz- Donald Miller

Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon- Chuck Palahniuk

Owning Culture- Kembrew McLeod

I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell- Tucker Max

I had heard so much about this book and it didn't disappoint. Saying that tells you way more about me than I wanted to let on.

Description of Arguments in California Gay Marriage Case

This is from Slate, and a good breakdown of the arguments being used - along with assessments of their effectiveness in the case.

Bulldog 5

No longer callsign Bulldog 26.

I am now the Executive Officer (XO) of Bravo Battery.

Instead of leading patrols, I will now be in charge of managing the property book, all administrative issue, headquarters platoon leader, and 2nd in command of the Battery.

From FM 3-21-12

EXECUTIVE OFFICER
1-15. The executive officer (XO) is second in command. His primary role is to assist the commander in
mission planning and accomplishment. He assumes command of the company as required and ensures that
tactical reports from the platoons are forwarded to the battalion tactical operations center. The XO locates
where he can maintain communications with the company commander and the battalion. His
responsibilities include:
• Planning and supervising, before the battle along with the first sergeant, the company's
sustainment operations and is responsible for the company command post. He ensures that
precombat inspections are complete. He plans and coordinates logistical support with agencies
outside the company while the first sergeant does the same internally. He prepares or aids in
preparing paragraph 4 of the company operation order (OPORD). He may also help the company
commander plan the mission.
• Performing duties as the unit maintenance officer.
• Coordinating with higher, adjacent, and supporting units. He may aid in control of critical events
of the battle such as a passage of lines, bridging a gap, or breaching an obstacle; or, he may
assume control of a platoon attached to the company during movement.
• Performing as landing zone or pickup zone control officer. This may include straggler control,
casualty evacuation, resupply operations, or air-ground liaison.
• Leading a quartering party. The quartering party is an element consisting of representatives of
various company elements. Their purpose is to precede the company and reconnoiter, secure, and
mark an assembly area.
• Leading a detachment. A detachment consists of a group of personnel assigned other tactical tasks
such as shaping or sustaining force leader in a company raid or attack or control of the company
machine guns.
• Leading the reserve, leading the detachment left in contact during a withdrawal, controlling
attachments to the company, or serving as movement control officer.

Posted Up At JBB

I probably won't be able to write for the next few days because I will be at Joint Base Balad for a class that is needed to educate Unit Movement Officers on many of the different aspects of moving equipment back to the United States, as opposed to sending it to Iraq.

Jesus Rifles?

I was surprised to see that the ACOG on my rifle was part of this controversy.

I had to admit that I was beginning to be terrified, though, after hearing the initial Moral Majority charge to the defense of Trijicon's practice of embedding Bible verse references in very small letters on the sides of the ACOG sights on military rifles.

First, it's just a flagrant violation of the principle of the separation of church and state. This charge was actually answered by a CENTCOM officer, a major, by saying that the practice was really not that much different than the practice of putting the term "In God We Trust" on American currency.

To that,, I can only reply that it is completely different. The phrase, "In God We Trust" while certainly not representing the views of the many Atheists in the United States, does represent a more general feeling regarding the moral rightness of the nation and the consensus feelings regarding the supposed Deism of the majority of the founders of our nation. What it does not do is represent a position that is held to a single religion - like the Trijicon sights:

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
John 8:12

Second, the practice of putting references to the Christian Bible work to incite violence against United States Military Personnel and individuals in the Foreign Service based on the somewhat common belief in the United States as modern day Crusaders in Muslim lands. While this contention may seem somewhat ridiculous, consider the riots in Denmark over cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammed, the increase in violence based on rumors of the defacing of the Koran in Guantanamo Bay Prison, and the incidents which occurred as a result of a bullet being fired into the Koran. These kinds of incidents incited by perceived Crusader type behavior is the last thing that those of us on the front lines need.

To be certain, the terrifying thing, upon the initial release of this story, was how many people I have personal contact with, were either in favor of the references on the weapons, or simply didn't care enough to have a feeling in either direction. Consider this random sampling of internet comments on the subject as proof of the a familiar consensus at the time.

Needless to say, my spirits were raised immensely when I read this story, and found out that the biggest superstar in military strategy and politics in our day was on my side of this issue.

I don't know why it had to come to this,,,one of the most important military commanders in the nation, having to publicly stand up for the ideals that this nation was founded upon. The issue has been resolved by Trijicon being forced to remove the references from further ACOGs manufactured and they will also have to provide a tool for removing the references from current sights (probably just a file).

The President's Communication Style

This is just a simple communication piece from Slate that discusses the Obama style and how this style may be hurting his appeal at a time when people feel angry about the current state of things.

I loved the paragraph about ambivalence about acceptance, as I feel this way about many things in my own life.

Maybe we all do.

On the other hand, this critique of the President's inability to continue one of the most masterful communication efforts in some time, seems to point to a possible compromise of many of the values discussed in the 1st article listed here.

Rant About Economic Policy

Pragmatism: Right Wing conservative financial policies, like far left wing ideas, they just don't work unless they take place within a vacuum.

Differing Views on the Gilbert Arenas Story

Multiple takes on the Gilbert Arenas Story

1. This guy is an idiot

2. Come on!!! The gun wasn't even loaded!!!!

3. Whoah, there Mr. Stern, you are the commissioner, not the commissar

Is This Democracy?

This issue is going to be the most important issue to follow in the next 6 weeks as the Iraqi Election Draws Nearer.

At this time no one is certain which lists will be kept off of the ballot, but my contacts in the nearly homogenous Sunni population of this area have already been talking of jumping ship from their current party to begin new parties, thus avoiding the Baghdad crackdown. In theory this will work in the short term, but I'm certain that the Shia dominated lists will certainly find a new tactic for keeping their political (military?) enemies out of office after the election as well.

Sammie

Yesterday, my dog Sammie died. She had been my dog since my family got her in the fall of 1997. Obviously, she was old, and it was her time. She was a great dog and I am very sorry that I wasn't able to be there. She will be greatly missed, especially since she was a great companion for my wife while I have been away.

Culture As Argument

I really like how the last paragraph of this article described the conflict between the West and Radical Islam as an argument, posing the question of whether our arguments are evoked as frequently or as persuasively as they should be.

In the age where Glenn Beck is one of the prominent figures in this debate, it does make one wonder if our opponents are really getting the right picture.

Some Others That I Like To Go To

Here are a few other sites that I like to check out when I have the chance.

Curator: I had a blog piece of mine published here. A decent read most of the time.

Vice: Nothing is sacred here. Not only are the Do's and Dont's something to live by, they also contain the funniest comment threads on the web. The music player is a pretty decent listen as well.

Sad Bear: The very best music reviews.

Words From Our Attorney General

I think we are strongest when we adhere to what has always made this country great, adhering to the rule of law, following our moral precepts, and we are weakest when we have failed to do that.

Future Dangerousness

Is Future Dangerousness the test that our nation would like to apply to keeping individuals behind bars? I think that in some cases, I think that there might be a an argument in favor of this practice. These examples are few are far between.

This seems to be another case of the judicial branch of our nation's government, continuing the "pre-emptive" policies of former President George W. Bush.

An Evening of Web Surfing

An evening of web surfing yielded all this.

ISSUU: awesome for publishing

Sleevelessness:another great one for good looking web designs plus photography, art, and music picks

Dove Nested Towers: A Boston Writer

Destination-Out: This one is worth it for the book reviews and some great stuff about contemporary jazz.

The Awl: Yes, another culture magazine, not unlike some of my other reads

The Usual Suspects

This will end up being something of a link dump, but I thought that it would be nice to let you know about all of the stuff that lets me know. This is a partial list of the regular sites that I visit.

Slate: The must have for news. More than just the text of a CNN broadcast, it also contains a lot of fun pieces. The best film reviewer of our time, Dana Stevens also writes for this site.

Foreign Policy: The title says it all.

The Root: Another of the web magazines that are directly related to Slate, but this has many good articles on race issues.

Tablet: A very intellectual look at normal Jewish life from a conservative religious perspective.

Jewcy: The same thing as Tablet, but written from a more position that contains more liberal theology and less kosher.

Heeb: A satirical magazine for Jewish people that really only ethnically identify themselves as Jews.

Patrol: Post-Evangelical look at the world by Christians who are attempting to make a new way between the fire and brimstone protestantism of their home-schooled youth and the anything goes Methodism and Prebyterianism that their parents warned them about.

ESPN: What guy would be complete without a place to look up the scores?

Huskers: This site has actually fallen behind recently, due to its inability to create a decent headline tracker and because it isn't updated quickly enough, but it is still the best place to find out news about the Huskers and listen to the game. A must have if you are living in a region that doesn't include the Big 12 or during baseball season.

Greed at the Heart of Failure

The nations rewarding of large contracts to supply the military has rewarded insiders in government at the expense of victory on the ground.

America's greatest weapon is the power that our dollar and vast level of consumption still wield.

We aren't doing enough to enable the economy in Afghanistan and we have never done enough in Iraq. It's going to take more than a few micro-grants and building a few schools to fix that.

By this last statement, I simply mean to say that America's best rebuilding efforts, Germany and Japan after WWII, were not primarily based on eliminating the insurgencies which DID exist in these countries. We were able to become victorious in these countries do to our ability to make these insurgencies less than viable. Within these countries, after an initial period of vengeful mistakes, the US produced the Marshall Plan, and was able to begin to cater to the internal industries. Once the economy had been somewhat stabilized, the US could then contract for most of their foodstuffs from the local populace at fair prices. Most of the food that US soldiers ate, came from the nation being rebuilt. All of the facilities that US soldiers lived in were purchased and maintained by local nationals. All of the projects that were undertaken were chosen by the rebuilding governments and then vetoed or accepted by a US council.

Today in Iraq, all of the food that we eat is contracted from other powers in the middle east (not Iraq) through KBR contracts given to the lowest bidder and prepared by third world nationals hired by KBR. 90% of the facilities we live in are built by KBR. 99% of the maintenance on these facilities is conducted by KBR. In the case of projects, we do exactly the opposite of what we did at that time, we nominate the projects through the Sheiks, and then allow the local governments to vetoe or accept the project. The result, is that the local economy remains in shambles and the oil contracts, a great source of jobs at all levels, are handed out to foreign companies who will continue to utilize the same philosophy as KBR and the United States government regarding their facilities and consumpiton- maximize profits at all costs. The result is that government contracts have made a lot of people very wealthy, at the expense of the nation we are supposed to be rebuilding.

I honestly believe that if those in this American efforts had focused first, on rebuilding and securing the oil industry, the most important quality of the area, that the rest of the public services would have fallen into line. Water and power are a result of oil money here, and without that oil money being evenly distributed throughout the area, American projects to provide one service or another, will only reward individual groups to the detriment of others, fostering even more sectarian feelings. Not only that, but without the human infrastructure to support these projects, they will not be sustainable.

Running this country well should have been the first order of business. Making the oil economy sustainable and profitable would have been a more limited and achievable (efficient) goal in the short term and would have lead directly to the rebuilding of other basic services. Focusing on allowing Iraqis to provide for our outstanding consumption would have pumped more money directly into the economy into the sectors of labor for agriculture and shipping (things that don't require education). They also would have fostered better relations with the neighboring nations as those states would have been the ones to sell the products to Iraqis, who would then deliver it to us. Not the most cost effective way, but better for naturally creating sustainable business.

So, I guess we can't beat them because we chose the wrong strategy for doing so. We didn't really understand our enemy or our strengths.

Free Speech Protected

Growing up among conservatives, on cannot miss the major message that the liberal media and judicial system would love to strip away your right to criticize them with one hand and your right to worship god with the other. This latest legal precedent would seem to go against that. Doing so relies on a definition of freedom that seems to say: It's your choice to make the right decision.

Obviously, the converse of that is that it will be more difficult to prosecute bullies who use these tactics, and people who are doing wrong things. Since we will not be able to systematically make an easy judgment of them, we will have to rely on concensus of the public (which changes) to determine where we, as a society, will draw the line on this issue.

Great Historical Perspective on American Foreign Policy

This link is to a great story which breaks down the current historical sources of the main schools of American though on foreign policy.

AAR of 2009 Nebraska Season

This was an article I wrote for Bleacher Report



The After Action Review (AAR) is a staple of the military life, and since I've spent the entire 2009 season watching the Huskers from a cafeteria on Patrol Base Woodcock in Iraq, I fee like the best way to make sense of the ups and downs of this season will be to review it in AAR fashion.

What were we trying to accomplish?

Despite what may have been said in the media by the extremely optimistic Pelini before the season, the Huskers couldn't have realistically expected to compete for a national championship. A realistic high-end goal would have been to win the division and possibly take the conference championship game as well. The low-end goal should have simply been to take the North Division crown. One of the goals of the Nebraska program for several years now, that is extremely difficult to quantify, has been the Callahan-coined command to "Restore the Order." This vaguely defined term could refer to the Osborne era as a whole, when the team was a regular conference contender, a reasonable goal. In some cases though, this idea of restoring the order refers to a very exact period of time which took place between 1992 to 2001, when the Huskers challenged for the national title almost every year.

This conflict between realistic expectations and fantasy increasingly drives the team and fan base.

3 Sustains

1. Top 10 defense

Obviously, Ndamukong Suh and the defensive line put loads of pressure on the quarterback, but it was Phillip Dillard's resurgence at linebacker, coupled with a ball-hawking secondary that forcibly separated opposing offenses from the football.

2. Special Teams

With the exception of the last kickoff of the Big 12 Championship Game, Nebraska's special teams units were outstanding. More than Alex Henery's punting and kicking, which were undeniably great, the kickoff and punt coverage teams were especially outstanding. Notable achievements of the special teams units were their success against some standout opponents: no big plays by the Virginia Tech special teams, where the Big Red ripped off some decent returns holding Kansas State standout Brandon Banks inside his own 20-yard line on several kickoff returns and allowing no big plays in the return game for dangerous return man Jordan Shipley of Texas.

3. Coach Bo Pelini's Composure

Last season, it was the coach's blowups which were at the heart of several key losses. The coach that loses his cool and goes for the throat of the players or coaches that made a mistake focuses on a part of the game that is over, and throws off the decision-making process for the difficult decisions that have to be made on a regular basis. To my knowledge, this only happened one time this year, in the week of practice before the Iowa State game, where Coach Pelini attempted to make the Huskers pay in sweat for every mistake made during the previous loss to Texas Tech. The result, was the sloppiest game in Nebraska history by the offense.

Alternate: consistency in the running game

Improves

1. Offensive Predictability

For a significant stretch of the season, the lack of imagination on offense was almost as bad as the Frank Solich era, where every 3rd down and less than 10 would elicit the cries of "Option, short side" from every fan in the stadium, knowing the coach's clear preference on that down and distance. If we all knew that, you knew that the opposing coaches did as well. This year, the read option, the 7 yard out, and the counter trap probably accounted for about 90% of Nebraska play calls during games in October and November.

2. Offensive Lack of Confidence

Obviously, #1 applies greatly here, but I have never seen an offense that was so pitiful for such a long time. Obviously, anyone who watched the Holiday Bowl can now realize, this offense had some potential. I don't know if it was Roy Helu's injuries, Zac Lee's unnatural desire to check down to the short option, or Cody Green's effect success with his obvious physical talents, but the offensive line play in conference games was terrible, and completely eroded what was already a fragile balance at the quarterback position. It all starts up front, and when that works, Offensive Coordinator Shawn Watson was able to get the ball to the middle of the field, which collapses the defense, allowing athletes to make plays down the field and beat the defenders in the race to the edge.

3. Home preparation

I don't know why this happened, especially in the year that the Huskers had their 300th consecutive sellout, but two of the games that the Huskers should have won were both played at home. I don't know if it is the pressure, but some of the better performances of the season came on the road this year:

the first three quarters against Virginia Tech

The 4th quarter against Missouri

the rebound win against Baylor

Alternate: anything else having to do with the offense

Conclusion

My personal feelings going into the season, was that this may be a year where the team wins fewer games than last year, but plays much better in every game. Obviously, replacing a quarterback is one of the most difficult things to do in football, and these types of difficulties were definitely present this season. However, the team was able to push through them and actually win more games that last, taking the North Division title as well. The primary difference was the defense. When the defense plays at the level that the Blackshirts were playing this season, then every game is winnable. After a season that ended in the manner that this one did, it is going to be very difficult not to get carried away in the hype for the next season.

Legal Opinions

I intend to take the LSAT in June, with the intention of applying to law schools by the end of the year. Hopefully, I will be attending law school in 2011.

With that in mind, I have been posting some thoughts that I have had on recent legal issues in the news, mostly articles from Slate.

Here is the latest on that front:

This article brings up the the interesting discussion of the selection process that has been used to allow certain terror suspects to be brought to trial in the United States while others have been made to wait.

Within the article I find major contentions

1. Terror cases are difficult to try because they will necessarily bring the allegations of torture to the forefront since all evidence and testimony resulting from torture sessions will not be admitted.

2. Any hearings regarding torture claims from Guantanomo Detainees has been blocked by lower courts.

3. The Khalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM) case is now going to be the first and only forum in which to all of these issues must be discussed.

4. President Obama is attempting to move on without looking back on the issues of torture, while also increasing the power of the judicial system by allowing them to try this case.

My thoughts on this issue all veer toward the political. This article was written a few weeks ago, and by looking at it from a position a little more removed, I can't help but feel that Obama's political strength would be much more secure if he had begun his presidency with, what Sean Hannity is reported in the article describes as, "to put our CIA on trial? To put you on trial? To put President Bush on trial". Doing so would have forced Democratic Party leadership to identify where their loyalties were placed. Doing so would have provided an immediate demarcation from the policies and practices of the former president. It wouldn't have been the high road, but it certainly would have functioned to solidify his power and support structure before attempting to undergo sweeping change in healthcare reform.

Happy New Year!!!

Last evening, the New Year came in with the blast of a 500lbs of controlled detonation. It rattled the doors and quieted most of the celebratory rifle fire in the area. I was smoking a cigar and wishing everyone a glorious 2010 that is, hopefully, much better than 2009.

New Year's Resolution

Last year, I resolved to do a better job at maintaining communication with people. In practical terms, it meant that I would begin to reply to every email that was sent to me by known associates and go out of my way to be the person to contact others to stay in touch more often. This ended up being a great strategy and served me well in building and re-building relationships that have gone a long way in sustaining me thus far during my time in Iraq.

For this year, I'm thinking of scaling back.

This year is going to require different skills of me, notably patience, as I wait for my time in the army to end, while maintaining productivity and continuing to build the skills that I will need after my time in the military.

For this reason, I think that my resolution this year will be to attempt to stop cracking my knuckles. I'm very good at it, which it makes it harder to stop, but I should stop because I don't think that it is good for me. Besides, people may find it annoying. I know that there are lots of small things that I find terribly ingratiating, like whistling and saying "Huh?!?". It's probably just a good thing to stop.

This way, I will be more motivated to take on a bigger task in 2011, which I can already foresee as being The Year Of Jay (TYOJ), since productivity and success will rely almost entirely on my own ability to self-start and apply myself with consistency.

Posted Up At The JCC

Right now I am having to spend a few days away from COB Speicher at the Mahmood Palace (Birthday Palace) of Saddam in Tikrit. I'll probably watch the Husker's Bowl Game away from my Nebraska flag and ring in the New Year here as well.


The Front, where Saddam used to march his army for parades (This isn't us in the photo)


This is the back of the palace. It doesn't seem this picturesque in real life because of the aroma of the rest of the city.



The inside still looks like this, in fact, it's right behind me as I write this, and the only thing that has changed is that there are two more chairs. The same couch is still sitting there.