The journey continues...

Brian Bilbrey November 20, 2011

What happens at UC Davis

is what happened at Kent State, and many other places. Democracy and peace and plenty is a momentary aberration: blind cruelty and painful existence is the normal human condition, and I think this experiment is almost over. Our republic's evolution into a police state is progressing, inch by inch. The beatings will stop when everything is safe. I wonder who it's safe for? In much less important news, I finished up the week's project for class and turned it in. Marcia returned from a weekend-long quilting retreat, and we watched the final Potter film tonight. I enjoyed it. * *…

Brian Bilbrey November 13, 2011

Another week spins by

Whoa! Really? Mid-November? Where are the years going? This week the 'A' for my Social Gerontology course landed at the Academic Records Office at UMUC (I made that name up, but it sounds good). Of course, the class wasn't about whole societies getting older, civilizations dying, etc. Mostly it was an overview of the field of research into anything nontechnical on the subject of aging. You could, I guess, call it Gerontology for non-science majors. As usual, I learned some stuff anyway. The biggest thing I learned, though, was this: To do well in school (as I didn't do the…

Brian Bilbrey November 11, 2011

Thank You!

It's Veteran's Day here in the US. While I didn't serve(*), I have nothing but boundless gratitude to and pride in our warriors! My thanks to those that serve now, that served in the past, and my moment of silence goes out to those who have fallen while in service to our country. . . . Thank you! [*] - I was a couple of hundred spots shy of getting into the Air Force Academy following high school, and college, rather than service, was the encouraged thing to do at my school. Things would have likely been different if there'd…

Brian Bilbrey November 6, 2011

Some Fallen Warriors Are Mothers

Really, there's nothing that should make the loss of any one of our young men or women any different from one another. This week DoD reported about Cabrera, Newman, Darrough, Eugenio, Gailey, Butcher, Cullers, and Vincent - all of these people gave their lives for our country. Each loss is deeply felt. But please, why are we sending young mothers into war zones? Nineteen year old PFC Sarina Butcher had a three year old daughter. Yeah, we have to follow our laws, and women fought for equal rights, including the right to die for their country in battle. The law…

Brian Bilbrey November 5, 2011

One Nation Under A Groove

Thanks, Funkadelic, for brightening up my afternoon! * * * Busy week (huge surprise there, eh?) - four days working at the office, including a day of racking new gear and helping to get the electrics run properly for the new gear. Friday was an appointment in the morning, followed by writing and coding for school. I'd been working on the final paper for the Social Gerontology class for a couple of weeks, and yesterday I finished it and submitted it. In the evening, I worked on the Java project that's due on Sunday evening (or, confusingly, Monday, but I'll…