Introduction, Part II
Let's do this in the form of a hypothetical interview.
Q: OK, what's with this Roman stuff. Decurion, Castrorum, blahblah. You even quote T. R. Fehrenbach who is one of the most Roman-obsessed military historians. Ever.
A: I believe in "Western Civilization." It used to be called Christendom. I like that term. Christendom is what happens when you mix in Greek philosophy, Roman law and practical approach to life, and the revealed Word of God. One of the most underappreciated elements of Christendom is the contribution of the Romans. Without the Romans, you got nothing. Romans created the world wherein it was possible for the 12 and the 70 to go out and end up converting the entire civilized world. Without Rome you have no technology, no applied sciences. Without Rome, you get all sorts of Barbarians crushing the light out of Christendom before it has a chance to get on its feet. And finally, without Rome, we'd all be speaking Arabic, be missing our foreskins, and never experience bacon or a good whiskey.
Q: What is up with the move to blogger.com?
A: Websense is behind it all. Some genius at Websense decided Livejournal is a "dating and personal ad" service. The US Armed Forces use Websense indiscriminately and those services are off-limits to United States Soldiers deployed to Iraq. The logic behind that escapes me. It's one of those Army decisions made by someone with no knowledge of what is really going on out there. Milblogging is possibly one of the most potent weapons in the US Army's arsenal to get truth to the American people. It is powerful because it is uncontrolled. It is an authentic medium, unspun. And as such it has credibility in a way that press releases might not in some quarters. I hope that the damn fool behind this decision changes his mind at some stage. But I don't hold out much hope.
Q: So, what is in the future for that Livejournal account.
A: It's probably dead and gone until I return to the United States. I am scheduled to depart Iraq NLT 19 January. My DEROS to return to the US is April '07.
Q: TLAs. . . They suck, don't they.
A: Unfortunately, I am a poor writer. I write more or less as I speak. And I don't really speak civilian anymore. I also can barely spell. My blog will likely contain TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) because it will not occur to me that anyone doesn't know what they mean. DEROS is Date of Estimated Return from OverSeas.
Q: So, how has your day been?
A: It wasn't too bad, until I discovered some verdammt moron has lost a set of AN/PVS-7Bs. These are night vision goggles, and are what is called "sensitive items". This is why I havn't called my beloved wife, because I am waiting for that tāmāde hùndàn of a platoon sergeant to try to track them down. It beats tearing apart my arms room without a good reason, since I know for a fact the zāogāo isn't there.
Q: Chinese swear words?
A: OK, so I like Firefly. Sue me.
Q: OK, what's with this Roman stuff. Decurion, Castrorum, blahblah. You even quote T. R. Fehrenbach who is one of the most Roman-obsessed military historians. Ever.
A: I believe in "Western Civilization." It used to be called Christendom. I like that term. Christendom is what happens when you mix in Greek philosophy, Roman law and practical approach to life, and the revealed Word of God. One of the most underappreciated elements of Christendom is the contribution of the Romans. Without the Romans, you got nothing. Romans created the world wherein it was possible for the 12 and the 70 to go out and end up converting the entire civilized world. Without Rome you have no technology, no applied sciences. Without Rome, you get all sorts of Barbarians crushing the light out of Christendom before it has a chance to get on its feet. And finally, without Rome, we'd all be speaking Arabic, be missing our foreskins, and never experience bacon or a good whiskey.
Q: What is up with the move to blogger.com?
A: Websense is behind it all. Some genius at Websense decided Livejournal is a "dating and personal ad" service. The US Armed Forces use Websense indiscriminately and those services are off-limits to United States Soldiers deployed to Iraq. The logic behind that escapes me. It's one of those Army decisions made by someone with no knowledge of what is really going on out there. Milblogging is possibly one of the most potent weapons in the US Army's arsenal to get truth to the American people. It is powerful because it is uncontrolled. It is an authentic medium, unspun. And as such it has credibility in a way that press releases might not in some quarters. I hope that the damn fool behind this decision changes his mind at some stage. But I don't hold out much hope.
Q: So, what is in the future for that Livejournal account.
A: It's probably dead and gone until I return to the United States. I am scheduled to depart Iraq NLT 19 January. My DEROS to return to the US is April '07.
Q: TLAs. . . They suck, don't they.
A: Unfortunately, I am a poor writer. I write more or less as I speak. And I don't really speak civilian anymore. I also can barely spell. My blog will likely contain TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) because it will not occur to me that anyone doesn't know what they mean. DEROS is Date of Estimated Return from OverSeas.
Q: So, how has your day been?
A: It wasn't too bad, until I discovered some verdammt moron has lost a set of AN/PVS-7Bs. These are night vision goggles, and are what is called "sensitive items". This is why I havn't called my beloved wife, because I am waiting for that tāmāde hùndàn of a platoon sergeant to try to track them down. It beats tearing apart my arms room without a good reason, since I know for a fact the zāogāo isn't there.
Q: Chinese swear words?
A: OK, so I like Firefly. Sue me.
posted by Just A Decurion at 5/10/2006 07:30:00 PM
1 Comments:
Many years ago I read a quotation that now I cannot find. I don't think I invented it:
"To Christ we owe compassion. To the Greeks and Romans everything else."
Or, as Monty Python famously put it:
"All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?"
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