Who’s that annoying lil bitch? It’s Iran Man!

November 22, 2009 by munky · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Crime, Politics, War 
A reminder of the recent revolts against the current regime - Photo: AFP/GETTY

A reminder of the recent revolts against the current regime - Photo: AFP/GETTY

My favorite country in the whole wide world, Iran, is back at it, AGAIN! Favorite being the relative term, given that I if I were given control of the little red button, Iran would become the deepest geological pit on the planet. Yes, they are always at it, but of course, they made front page CNN.com again. It’s not enough that they are refining nuclear material for “peaceful energy purposes.” Peaceful energy being another relative term, since their 3/4 of a year supply incidicates that their idea of peaceful energy is harnessing a nuclear bomb to eliminate Israel off the map. Nor is it enough that Ahmadinejad and his cronies (including the “Supreme” Leader Khamenie, a position which sounds more like a member of Star War’s galactic empire than the ruler of a fundamental Islamic republic) rigged the recent election, and brought so much hell against the people that it suppressed their views. Never fear, that’s a pot that will probably boil over sooner than later. Its not enough to consider the treatment of the people who were arrested during those protests, including a journalist who was tortured and forced to give an old confession, and who was only recently released on a large sum of bail. He had a great quote too, “I knew I was in trouble, because the people who were in charge of my life were idiots.” Great stuff.

But nope, they done gone and done something else again. Now they are conducting military exercises, designed to protect their “peaceful energy” deposits. Read: Iran wants to try and make sure neither the Israelis nor the Westerners are able to destroy their weapons grade stash. According to CNN,

Iran’s regular military and its elite Revolutionary Guards were to participate in the exercise against aerial attacks, especially against Iran’s nuclear plants, according to Press TV.

The Iranians are also still up to their “honest truth” campaign. Iran has stated,” it intends to produce nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes, including civilian electricity and medical research.” Scouts honor dude, these Iranians would never lie to us. I think we should believe them. That’s why they only have 3/4 of a year’s worth of material, capability to enrich to weapon’s grade, and that used nuclear reactor fuel makes a good base stock for weapon’s grade enrichment, according to my sources.

The sooner we realize that we’ve just let a bunch of fundamentalists have control over a country, control over its military, and now has access to some of the most dangerous weapons material in existence, the sooner we can figure out a plan of action. They have absolutely no track record of truly caring for its citizenry. Iran has never demonstrated its interested in doing medical research and the like. Modern science slaps their form of Islam right in the face. They have presented their agenda, we know it clearly. They refuse to accept that Israel is even in existence. They have denied that the holocaust has even occurred. They refuse to embrace the rights of their citizenry, evident by the rigged election and the mistreatment and murder of many of its own people. They have continually accepted and embraced the evils of the world that keeps us at war.

We need to wake up and smell the bacon. Iran does not get solved by diplomacy. A crook will not relinquish his power because we ask him too. If Bernie Madoff had been caught before the recession, and the authorities asked him nicely to stop, do you think he would’ve? No! The only way to handle a crook is to take him down, whether by force or by pulling the rug right out from under him. The world and so many Persians know the truth about this regime, but knowing and doing are two completely different things. Are we just going to sit on the sidelines and wait until Ahmadinejad brings about WW3/Armageddon/etc., or are we going to stop him before he has a chance to make Adolf Hitler look like a sweet Annie Orphan?

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Like taking candy from a baby

November 9, 2009 by munky · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Education 

Ok, maybe not that easy.

So what in the hell am I talking about? Anyone who is, has, or will be pursuing engineering at UNC Charlotte will have to go through ENGR 1201. Part of the project is creating a simply supported beam capable of holding a specific load within specified deflections. For the proportionally lightest beam with the least deflection wins the extra credit.

I’m a competition nut. Tell me it’s a competition and it is on. So today we had our beam testing. Our weight was low (110 grams, roughly .29 lbs) and deflection was good (0.135 inches under a 300 lbs load). Our ratio was 2.045, smoking everyone out of the water. The closest beam (that didn’t fail) was at a 1.600.

So yea, I’m stoked, and no, I don’t care that you don’t care. Its nice to win, even if it was a simple beam.

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The joys of being a non traditional student

November 9, 2009 by munky · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Education 

Ok, so it’s not that joyful. Ok, maybe a psychology major might enjoy it, I’m just saying. As you can see, its been months since I’ve posted. Why? Because my “relatively light” 13 credit hours towards my dual bachelor’s of science in mechanical engineering and physics are a real drag on my time. What little time I do have is spent with the family or working on the house. That’s my life.

So it may not be all sweet roses and candy, but is it worth it? Absolutely! I’m challenging myself to be better all around and to be able to do something I enjoy for a living. Is it for everyone? Probably not.

Coming in as a non-traditional student has its advantages and disadvantages. Most non-traditionals are there because they want to be there. Something about growing up gives a new perspective to time and money, and it seems most non-trads have decided it is worth the time and money to come back to school, so they give it their all.  We’re not here because mommy and daddy or the school counselor said we had to go. We’re most here because either we never went the first time and have personally lived through the difficulties of not having that paper, or because we’ve decided to change career directions.

It’s easier because we know we want to be here, and we are willing to give it our all. But on the same note, it is also more difficult. We have mortgages or rent payments to make, car payments, credit cards, the works. We’re more like the typical college student’s parents than the student his or herself. A lot of us also have spouses and children. Our time gets eaten up between the school/family balance, and I haven’t even included what a job puts into the equation as well.

We are also further away from the high school education that in theory prepared us for college. I find it humurous that when I first started going back, I was in a high school algebra 2 equivalent development class. I’m in calculus 3 now, working towards degree requirements plus an additional minor in math. All of that math and chemistry and biology, well, most of us never needed much of it in the real world, so it all went to the wayside.

We’re also more willing to participate in more leadership positions within the student organizations we join. Sometimes we are too limited by work to be involved, but if we are not, then we stretch our valuable time even more.

So basically, for all of those 18,19, 20, 21 year old students who are in college or will soon be in college, make sure you give plenty of respect to those older students in your class. They have worked harder than you go get to this point, and they also have the wisdom and experience that only comes from age.

Was there a point to this? Maybe, maybe not. But I pay the bills for this domain, so if I want to vent, then I’ll vent =)

Off to go test my beam for the required freshman engineering class I’m in. Thank god for next semester when I’ll be a bonefide sophomore soon to be junior.

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