DukeEgr93's Xanga

Duke Remembers

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:04:44 GMT

I was privileged today to attend a ceremony at which Secretary of Veterans' Affairs Shinseki, Duke President Brodhead, and others paid tribute to the men and women of Duke who have given their lives in service to their country. It was a stunning day in many ways. Here is a link to the first of what I imagine will be several news reports of the occasion: http://news.duke.edu/2009/10/memorial.html

Never Forget

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:53:40 GMT

(Image from: http://www.candleandribbon.org/index.html)

Then Again...

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:57:29 GMT

there are some things that I perhaps am happier posting on a passive site - this one - than an active one with its "forced" newsfeed. For instance, political things. Like how much Rachel Maddow rocks. Hat tip: Mike F.:

Paradigm Shift

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:06:58 GMT

Sorry it's been so quiet here, but I've kinda discovered that Facebook might be where I end up going for random self-published things. True, I can't format stuff exactly how I want it there, but it's just a more active community and, with notes and the Share features, mighty dynamic... Decisions decisions...

D-Day 2009

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:13:02 GMT

From Sir Winston Churchill's speech to the House of Commons, June 6th, 1944:

I have also to announce to the House that during the night and the early hours of this morning the first of the series of landings in force upon the European Continent has taken place. In this case the liberating assault fell upon the coast of France. An immense armada of upwards of 4,000 ships, together with several thousand smaller craft, crossed the Channel. Massed airborne landings have been successfully effected behind the enemy lines, and landings on the beaches are proceeding at various points at the present time. The fire of the shore batteries has been largely quelled. The obstacles that were constructed in the sea have not proved so difficult as was apprehended. The Anglo-American Allies are sustained by about 11,000 firstline aircraft, which can be drawn upon as may be needed for the purposes of the battle. I cannot, of course, commit myself to any particular details. Reports are coming in in rapid succession. So far the Commanders who are engaged report that everything is proceeding according to plan. And what a plan! This vast operation is undoubtedly the most complicated and difficult that has ever taken place. It involves tides, wind, waves, visibility, both from the air and the sea standpoint, and the combined employment of land, air and sea forces in the highest degree of intimacy and in contact with conditions which could not and cannot be fully foreseen.

There are already hopes that actual tactical surprise has been attained, and we hope to furnish the enemy with a succession of surprises during the course of the fighting. The battle that has now begun will grow constantly in scale and in intensity for many weeks to come, and I shall not attempt to speculate upon its course. This I may say, however. Complete unity prevails throughout the Allied Armies. There is a brotherhood in arms between us and our friends of the United States. There is complete confidence in the supreme commander, General Eisenhower, and his lieutenants, and also in the commander of the Expeditionary Force, General Montgomery. The ardour and spirit of the troops, as I saw myself, embarking in these last few days was splendid to witness.

Memorial Day 2009

Mon, 25 May 2009 15:43:55 GMT

Perform, then, this one act of remembrance before this Day passes - Remember there is an army of defense and advance that never dies and never surrenders, but is increasingly recruited from the eternal sources of the American spirit and from the generations of American youth.

--W.J. Cameron

Excerpts from Presidential Remarks on Memorial Day

Sat, 23 May 2009 20:19:29 GMT

President Obama, 2009:
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"That is what Memorial Day is all about. It is about doing all we can to repay the debt we owe to those men and women who have answered our nation’s call by fighting under its flag. It is about recognizing that we, as a people, did not get here by accident or good fortune alone. It’s about remembering the hard winter of 1776, when our fragile American experiment seemed doomed to fail; and the early battles of 1861 when a union victory was anything but certain; and the summer of 1944, when the fate of a world rested on a perilous landing unlike any ever attempted.

"It’s about remembering each and every one of those moments when our survival as a nation came down not simply to the wisdom of our leaders or the resilience of our people, but to the courage and valor of our fighting men and women. For it is only by remembering these moments that we can truly appreciate a simple lesson of American life – that what makes all we are and all we aspire to be possible are the sacrifices of an unbroken line of Americans that stretches back to our nation’s founding.

"That is the meaning of this holiday. That is a truth at the heart of our history. And that is a lesson I hope all Americans will carry with them this Memorial Day weekend and beyond."
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President Bush, 2003:
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"On Memorial Day, Americans place flags on military graves, walk past a wall of black granite in Washington, D.C., and many families think of a face and voice they miss so much. Today, we honor the men and women who have worn the nation's uniform and were last seen on duty. From the battles of Iraq and Afghanistan, to the conflicts in Korea and Vietnam, to the trials of World War, to the struggles that made us a nation, today we recall that liberty is always the achievement of courage.

"And today we remember all who have died, all who are still missing and all who mourn. And on this day, especially, our nation is grateful to the brave and fallen defenders of freedom. In every generation of Americans we have found courage equal to the tasks of our country. The farms and small towns and city streets of this land have always produced free citizens who assume the discipline and duty of military life. And time after time, they have proven that the moral force of democracy is mightier than the will and cunning of any tyrant."
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President Clinton, 1999:
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"On the eve of a new millennium, we can see clearly how closely the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform in the 20th century are linked to the yearning for freedom that gave birth to our nation over 200 years ago, a yearning based on the then radical premise that we are all inherently equal, fully able to govern ourselves and endowed with a God-given right to liberty.

"That is our history, a history that beckons us especially on this Memorial Day, and especially here at Arlington. The most powerful evidence we now have that our country has accepted consistently the old adage that much is expected from those to whom much is given. From Concord to Corregadar, from Korea to Caisson, from Kuwait to Kosovo, our entire history is written in this ground. "
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President Bush (41), 1990:
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"Nearly half a century ago, President Franklin Roosevelt issued a gentle admonition to the American people when he observed that "Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them." It is too soon for us to forget those Americans who were killed during Operation Just Cause in Panama and during recent communist attacks in the Philippines; their loss is a fresh and powerful reminder that peace and freedom are precious blessings and that preserving these blessings requires eternal vigilance and unfailing moral resolve.

"Yet today we also remember those Americans who made their final stand for freedom in more remote times and places -- durign the dark days of world war, in the extreme climes of Korea and Vietnam, in Beirut, Grenada, and in the Persian Gulf. Each time we recall the courage and patriotism of these individuals, each time we rededicate ourselves to the ideals they are fervently cherished and defended, we help to ensure that they did not die in vain. "
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Idol Thoughts ep. lim (t->0) 1/t

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:56:53 GMT

First - no part of Idol tonight or, really, any other night holds a candle to Susan Boyle.

Be that as it may, I generally judge Idol by whose work I want to listen to / sing (badly) to in the car. And for me this season - it's either Kris Allen or Allison Iraheta. And tonight, Kris' take on "Falling Slowly" - the one fellow Duke grad Kara called "obscure," which I suppose is true despite having won an Oscar - wins.

Blinders Still On

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:19:00 GMT

The two-year anniversary of Attorney General Cooper's declaration that the students wrongfully indicted by disbarred former DA Michael Nifong were, indeed, innocent was on Saturday. On Monday, The Chronicle had a few articles about the case - an interview with Professor KC Johnson, some quotes from various students, and a piece called "Unkempt and abandoned, lax house still stands."

It is the latter that proved yet again that the blinders are still on about this case. Specifically, a quote from a woman who lives in the neighborhood:

"It's an interesting place to live," said the woman, who requested anonymity because the topic is still "taboo." "I do a lot of work with sexual assault victims, so it's kind of an interesting symbolic place. Sometimes you look at it and you just see it as this awful site of gender and racial violence."

Although it can be painful to look upon the property, the woman said she does not think the house should go. She and several other neighbors expressed fear that if the home were torn down, valuable discussions about Duke-Durham relations and women's place in the community would be lost in the rubble.

Valuable discussions. About Duke-Durham relations and women's place in the community.

Here's the thing - I remember some committees coming together to have some "valuable discussions" - a committee at Duke to look at its judicial system, a committee for Durham to look at its responses in the case. And as I recall, when it looked like those "valuable discussions" might lead any kind of negative consequences for or impressions about the institutions that created them, the committees disappeared. For the University, I can understand not wanting to put students blindly in the path of a deposition - but are there not others in the university community who could have examined this critical structure? For the City, it's pretty clear at this point that the City Council has virtually no interest in taking on anything remotely challenging, instead choosing to help guarantee their re-election by striking out at the easy targets - transient college students - rather than looking at ways to, say, curb violence against those college students.
Real violence.

"Sometimes you look at it and you just see it as this awful site of gender and racial violence."

Interesting. When I pass by I see a dumpy house whose crumbing edifice and unkempt yard remind me of the ethical rot, as yet not fully examined, that had to have taken place for the DA's office and law enforcement and the judicial system to have pursued the case the way they did.

Perhaps that's just me.

Dancing With The Profs

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:21:30 GMT

If Dancing With The Stars decides that the "Wozniak Experiment" of dancing with those of us in the geek/nerd genus works, and they then create an extension program for instructors and professors, I'm all for it. And should that happen, these are the songs to which I want to dance - for the Tango - The Assassin's Tango:

And yes, I realize that would mean being compared with the performance of the Argentine Tango that Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke just received a 30 on, but I would not care. And then if I get voted back, for the Foxtrot - Inama Nushif: