Abstract
This is a succinct recount of Napoleon Bonaparte as a general and tactician. Was he a good general or tactician? Or was he just lucky? Find out for yourself with the research I've done for my midterm.
On Napoleon
Throughout Napoleon Bonaparte's career as a general, he has won a considerable amount of battles. To illustrate his skills as a general, Napoleon, was able to defeat the combined efforts of the Piedmontese and Austrian armies in about a year (G Parker 2009: 197). Furthermore, in 1798 Napoleon even was successful in destroying a “large Mameluke army at the battle of the Pyramids”. In fact, if the British did not intervene and destroy Napoleon’s fleet, it would have been possible for Napoleon to have successfully taken over Egypt (G Parker 2009: 197). However, with this in mind, what factors allowed Napoleon to achieve his success? And furthermore, what factors led Napoleon’s downfall?
Napoleonic Changes
According to Geoffrey Parker, one of the reasons why Napoleon was able to win so many battles was because “he inherited the legacy of the revolutionary army, including a dedicated soldiery” (G Parker 2009: 197). It can be seen that because he had a army that is spirited by a revolution, they are more willing to fight harder as compared to the enemy army. Not only this, but the shared experience of the revolution, seems to have created a sense of pride that the soldiers can reflect upon. And with this shared experience, it creates more loyalty between the soldiers. Further more Parker goes on and mentions “an officer corps based on talent, generals proven in battle, and a flexible tactical system superior to those of France’s enemies (G Parker 2009: 197). The officer corp based on talent is different from past methods of officer recruiting. In the past, only Lords and Nobles were allowed to become officers. Because of this change, it can be seen as creating a army more loyal to its leaders. As for Napoleon's more flexible tactical system, it is based on the use of “battalions in column and line...French cavalry...(and) artillery” (G Parker 2009: 198). Because of this more flexible tactical system, it essentially forced enemy armies to either “fight or retreat” (M Seehan 2010: 46).
Another defining feature to Napoleon’s army is the sheer size of his forces. Because of the Jordan law of 1798, there was a “universal conscription that required all young men to register” (G Parker 2009: 198). Because of this, Napoleon’s army was incredible in size. In fact, when Napoleon invaded Russia, he set out with six hundred thousand troops (M Seehan 2010: 46). However, because of the large size of Napoleon’s troops, he had to find a new way to organize them. Napoleon’s idea to reorganize them came through the creation of “army corps”. These army corps were fifty thousand men small armies comprised of “infantry, artillery, and cavalry units (M Seehan 2010: 46). Through these army corps, it allowed Napoleon to keep his large army while having the flexibility of a smaller army. With this in mind, because of the combination of the large size of troops, and the tactical flexibility of Napoleon’s army, both can be seen as reasons why Napoleon was able to dominate the battlefield for such a long period of time.
Beginning of the End
With all of the tactical changes Napoleon has introduced, why was Napoleon able to be defeated in Russia? Essentially what caused the downfall of Napoleon? The main reason why Napoleon was defeated in Russia was due to the size of Napoleon’s army. With such a large size, how will he be able to supply his men? One method of supplying an army is through “supply depots” in which the armies would carry their supplies with them (M Seehan 2010: 46). However, because the army had to carry their supplies it would make them less flexible and much slower. Because of this, instead of the use of supply depots, Napoleon resorted to the method of “(foraging) ruthlessly in the territories through which it marched.” (M Seehan 2010: 47). But how did the “foraging” method lead to Napoleon’s downfall in Russia? It is simple, when Napoleon invaded Russia, it was winter and Napoleon came unprepared for Russia’s winter weather. Not only this but the Russian’s also burned down Moscow to possibly prevent Napoleon from gaining any tactical advantage (G Parker 2009: 205). So with this in mind, due to Napoleon’s foraging supply method, he was not able to adequately supply his troops and essentially forced Napoleon to retreat. Not only this, however, Napoleon’s foraging efforts has created unintended consequences that would furthermore lead to Napoleon’s downfall in Russia. One of them is fact that foraging off of enemy territory can be seen as to make more enemies then allies. In fact, according to Michael Seehan “(guerrilla warfare) against the French (came) from the peasants who had suffered at their hands.” (M Seehan 2010: 47). Because of this, it could be seen as a hindrance to Napoleon’s army in succeeding in Russia. Another unintended consequence from using foraging is that it makes your war an “offensive war” (M Seehan 2010: 47). As best illustrated by Jonathan Riley “in strategic terms, he was a failure principally because he never succeeded in transforming a defeated enemy into a willing ally.” (J Riley 2007). With this in mind, if Napoleon had stuck to the “supply depot” method of supplying his troops, there would have been a better chance of Napoleon creating allies that would help him in future battles.
Conclusion
In recapitulation, Napoleon had a myriad of tactical changes to his advantage. The large amount of troops and the flexibility of his tactics allowed Napoleon to dominate all the way until he reached Russia. However, due to his ineffective “foraging” supply method, Napoleon’s downfall was inevitable from the beginning.
Bibliography
Parker, G (2009) Cambridge Illustrated History Warfare. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press pp. 197, 198, & 205
Riley, J. (2007). How Good Was Napoleon?. History Today, 57(7), 37-39.
Seehan, M & Baylis, J (eds.)(2010) “The Evolution of Modern Warfare” Strategy in the Contemporary World. NY: Oxford University Press pp. 46 & 47
Monday, November 14, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
08/22/10
Today was a pretty long and eventful day sorta. I first woke up at around 5:35 to get ready to go jogging. I first drank some tea and ate a banana and used the bathroom. Cause it sucks to need to use the bath room and get hungry while running. Then I started my run at 5:55AM. My run was the run that goes to Waikele from Waipahu using the shortcut near jack in the box again. This time I went all the way to this weird park through this somewhat hidden pathway. The pathway reminded me of Yigo Fire Station. It was basically a rubble pathway that led to this public park with a playground in Waikele. There i looked around and did some pull ups. I then turned back and headed home. This run actually took a very long time. I got home around 7:30AM? So it was a long run. I then did some more exercises like bi-cep curls, situps, and squats. After this I took a bath and tried to take a quick nap. After this I got a txt from a seller of this textbook I was looking for. I was supposed to go to the DMV today to exchange my license but this txt got me to go to HPU instead. So around 10:15AM I started walking to the bus station near Times Supermarket. When I got there I stood next to this African American girl. She went on the (A) course and then I went to the (E) course. Nothing really special happened on the bus ride. It was uncomfortable since I sat on the back of the bus with the high chairs and my feet didn't really touch the ground. There were three very pretty girls on the bus. One was another African American girl with a very nice afro that wasn't messy but actually organized. The other was your stereotypical girl who shops at Forever 21 and the last one was a tourist looking Asian girl with yellow crocs!!! When I finally got to HPU I txted the seller named Cheuk for her location. Since I was waiting I decided to go to Long's Drug store for some sewing thread. I wanted the thread so I can try the eyebrow threading that I see at the mall all the time. When I was looking around I ran into Mac man!!! It was cool dawg!!! He was looking for his school supplies so I helped him a bit before he had to go on his bus to his campus!!!! After this, I decided to kill some more time at Ross since it was next to Long's. Ross over there near HPU has a weird design. Upstairs is mainly womens clothing and perfumes. The basement floor is where the Mens and Childrens stuff are, I guess there is some sort of political meaning around this D:!!! Anyways, I didn't get anything cause there was nothing of interest. I went back to Long's to find the sewing thread again. I asked one of the workers where it was and they pointed it out right away, and I also asked for some soap too. Too bad they didn't have Basis soap which was what I was looking for ;~; I found the sewing thread though! It was around $2 something. I got it and then left to the HPU computer center. I went there so I can see what book I was looking for at the HPU bookstore. Its an interesting computer center actually. I asked one of the workers on how to use the computers and then they showed me how, nice guy too, he also said that you have to pay to print stuff out which is always balls. Anyways I check what books I needed and headed to the HPU book store. Over there one of the workers helped me find the book I was looking for which was "Faces of Battle" by Keegan. They found a used copy but it had stickers all over it and then I said "How much more stickers can you put on this?" and "hey look, its a sticker book" all in jest of course. And then they changed it was a less stickery book and all was well. It was $12 and then I left when I bought it. I tried to remove the one sticker that was on it and then failed miserably. Oh and at this point Cheuk txted me that she was in LCC. At first I thought it was some sort of computer center at HPU called Lower Computer Center or something? But then I asked if it was Leeward Community College and she said yup. At this point I was about to rage.
However, I then tried to make it a positive and decided to venture to LCC. The time at that point was like 12:30Pm. I went to the Honda Bus Stop and took bus number 42. Nothing really interesting happened on the bus. It was not that filled to which was surprising, I took it all the way to LCC. It took forever since there was an infinite amount of bus stops. I got to LCC bus stop around 1:45PM? Even here I still had to walk some bits. I asked a girl sitting down where was LCC and she gave me directions on how to walk there. Apparently I had to play some frogger before I got to LCC. It was a fun walk and then all of a sudden I got a txt from Rosebel Belong!! I then tried to call her to tell her that I was near her campus. Oh but before this I asked some random girl where was UH West Oahu and her name was Michiko. When I got to UH West Oahu I couldn't contact Rosebel so I ended up loitering there and running into the Fillipino American club which consisted of three members!!! They tried to recruit me but I told them that wasn't a student...yet :D!!! It was Meagan, Rommel, and Jayla. I then walked towards LCC and asked some kids where the library was since thats where Cheuk was. I then get a call from Rosebel and actually got to meet up with her at LCC LOLOLOL! It was cool, I talked to her about her class and she got a Root Beer from the vending machine. Then she waited for her friend, her friends name is Victoria. She was a nice girl too, at that point we had to part ways and we said our good byes. I then went into the LCC library which had the most compact first floor of a library. It was so compact that the UH West Oahu library was in there too! When I went to the UH library the librarian asked me if I was a student, jokingly I said I was a LCC student and she was like "cool story bro". Then I looked around there four small aisles of out dated books. Sort of made me appreciate UOG's library. I went to the upstairs part and tried to communicate with Cheuk. She called me and told me she was downstairs. The library upstairs was pretty depressing actually since it was very barren and sad looking. It reminded me of East Germany if East Germany had a library that would be it. It even had this sad motivational poster that said "Happiness". I then went to look for Cheuk since she worked there. One of the librarians asked me who I was looking for and they have never heard of a Cheuk. It was sad, I thought I was fooled by this point. I then went outside and Cheuk called me and said she was in the ID room place. I then looked inside for it and I told her I had a green shirt on and she waved me in. It was the way side door of the library. She was the girl in charge of the ID picture taking. And I was stunned because she was actually very pretty and AZN :D!!!! I wanted to ask her when she was free but she was super busy with the ID picture stuff. She said that if I needed help I could email her though; which was pretty cool. I then left LCC to look around. I looked for the cafeteria so I walk around. LCC reminded me more of a high school instead of a college. I would go as far as to say that it looked like Sea Side High school in Marina California. Well, I went inside the cafeteria and it had only two eateries. One was subway and the other was the school's cafe. It was pricey, one entree for like $5.25 and two for $7.00!! WHAT A RIP!!! And subway wasn't any better. Then I decided to just go home to eat. The walk back to the bus wasn't too interesting. I then got to the bus stop and waited with a fairly big crowd for the bus. When the (A) bus came in I went on and went to Waipahu. It was interesting cause when I got to Waipahu Highschool bus stop freaken there was ROY, Darrell, Chantell, and AJ!!!!!!!! What were the freaken chances?!?!?!?! It was hilarious since it was seriously a once in a life time situation :D!!!! We then got to the Waipahu Bus Station and walked to Shiros. On the way there, I got to talk to Corina on the phone for a little while :D! Then at Shiro's Chantell asked me to buy her a 7 up D: oh well, that's what happens man. At this point we separated our ways and I walked home!
When I got home I took a nap since I was tired as heck. I then woke up at 6PM to get ready for practice. I got all my hymns ready and left to bible study at around 6:55PM! I sat next to Mark and Micheal man!!! It was pretty cool, the bible lesson felt pretty long too actually. Then after I ran into Daniel Man and Edge too :D!!! It was cool beans! We talked for a while before I had to get my hymn book and run to choir practice!!!! When I got inside it was a pretty normal practice. There was this stupid part where they asked me if I was good with the numbering and I was like "???" cause I wasn't sure what they were talking about. And then it clicked when I said yes ;D! Oh well, after practice I ran into Daniel and Denzel man! It was cool, Edge and Kat then came out too as well which was freaken awesome too!!! After Denzel left and some others too, Me, Daniel, and Edge went to my house! It was cool, later on Kat joined in on the fun too :D! We were just talking stories in my room and that was freaken awesome!!!! At this point of night it was already 10PM? Then we all had to seperate our ways ;~; When everyone left I went inside to eat palabok and then get ready to sleep. Now it's 1:08AM the next day and its time to go to sleep!!!!
However, I then tried to make it a positive and decided to venture to LCC. The time at that point was like 12:30Pm. I went to the Honda Bus Stop and took bus number 42. Nothing really interesting happened on the bus. It was not that filled to which was surprising, I took it all the way to LCC. It took forever since there was an infinite amount of bus stops. I got to LCC bus stop around 1:45PM? Even here I still had to walk some bits. I asked a girl sitting down where was LCC and she gave me directions on how to walk there. Apparently I had to play some frogger before I got to LCC. It was a fun walk and then all of a sudden I got a txt from Rosebel Belong!! I then tried to call her to tell her that I was near her campus. Oh but before this I asked some random girl where was UH West Oahu and her name was Michiko. When I got to UH West Oahu I couldn't contact Rosebel so I ended up loitering there and running into the Fillipino American club which consisted of three members!!! They tried to recruit me but I told them that wasn't a student...yet :D!!! It was Meagan, Rommel, and Jayla. I then walked towards LCC and asked some kids where the library was since thats where Cheuk was. I then get a call from Rosebel and actually got to meet up with her at LCC LOLOLOL! It was cool, I talked to her about her class and she got a Root Beer from the vending machine. Then she waited for her friend, her friends name is Victoria. She was a nice girl too, at that point we had to part ways and we said our good byes. I then went into the LCC library which had the most compact first floor of a library. It was so compact that the UH West Oahu library was in there too! When I went to the UH library the librarian asked me if I was a student, jokingly I said I was a LCC student and she was like "cool story bro". Then I looked around there four small aisles of out dated books. Sort of made me appreciate UOG's library. I went to the upstairs part and tried to communicate with Cheuk. She called me and told me she was downstairs. The library upstairs was pretty depressing actually since it was very barren and sad looking. It reminded me of East Germany if East Germany had a library that would be it. It even had this sad motivational poster that said "Happiness". I then went to look for Cheuk since she worked there. One of the librarians asked me who I was looking for and they have never heard of a Cheuk. It was sad, I thought I was fooled by this point. I then went outside and Cheuk called me and said she was in the ID room place. I then looked inside for it and I told her I had a green shirt on and she waved me in. It was the way side door of the library. She was the girl in charge of the ID picture taking. And I was stunned because she was actually very pretty and AZN :D!!!! I wanted to ask her when she was free but she was super busy with the ID picture stuff. She said that if I needed help I could email her though; which was pretty cool. I then left LCC to look around. I looked for the cafeteria so I walk around. LCC reminded me more of a high school instead of a college. I would go as far as to say that it looked like Sea Side High school in Marina California. Well, I went inside the cafeteria and it had only two eateries. One was subway and the other was the school's cafe. It was pricey, one entree for like $5.25 and two for $7.00!! WHAT A RIP!!! And subway wasn't any better. Then I decided to just go home to eat. The walk back to the bus wasn't too interesting. I then got to the bus stop and waited with a fairly big crowd for the bus. When the (A) bus came in I went on and went to Waipahu. It was interesting cause when I got to Waipahu Highschool bus stop freaken there was ROY, Darrell, Chantell, and AJ!!!!!!!! What were the freaken chances?!?!?!?! It was hilarious since it was seriously a once in a life time situation :D!!!! We then got to the Waipahu Bus Station and walked to Shiros. On the way there, I got to talk to Corina on the phone for a little while :D! Then at Shiro's Chantell asked me to buy her a 7 up D: oh well, that's what happens man. At this point we separated our ways and I walked home!
When I got home I took a nap since I was tired as heck. I then woke up at 6PM to get ready for practice. I got all my hymns ready and left to bible study at around 6:55PM! I sat next to Mark and Micheal man!!! It was pretty cool, the bible lesson felt pretty long too actually. Then after I ran into Daniel Man and Edge too :D!!! It was cool beans! We talked for a while before I had to get my hymn book and run to choir practice!!!! When I got inside it was a pretty normal practice. There was this stupid part where they asked me if I was good with the numbering and I was like "???" cause I wasn't sure what they were talking about. And then it clicked when I said yes ;D! Oh well, after practice I ran into Daniel and Denzel man! It was cool, Edge and Kat then came out too as well which was freaken awesome too!!! After Denzel left and some others too, Me, Daniel, and Edge went to my house! It was cool, later on Kat joined in on the fun too :D! We were just talking stories in my room and that was freaken awesome!!!! At this point of night it was already 10PM? Then we all had to seperate our ways ;~; When everyone left I went inside to eat palabok and then get ready to sleep. Now it's 1:08AM the next day and its time to go to sleep!!!!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
08/15/11
Today is a Monday and a long Monday indeed. Today I woke up at around 5:30AM to go jogging. Before I went jogging I went to use the bathroom. Today is the earliest so far that I woke up to go running actually. It was pretty dark but I set out on my run as usual. I ran outside of the fence and took a left today. I ran all the way down to the Jack in the Box and took another left there and took the shortcut from Waipahu to Waikele. I'm not sure how long it is actually, but I am hoping its a mile there and a mile back. Its a really nice route actually, you go through about two small parks and a couple of very nice neighborhoods! When I get to Waikele, I stop at the shopping center and make my way back. I try to make it longer by finding other places to stop by but hey, that's what happens man. Nothing really of interest happened during my run. I just wished there were girls my age jogging the same path instead of old people walking along the side walk. When i got back home I tried to do a set of suicides but that was a failure. Then I lifted a 25 lbs barbel for three sets of fifteen curls. Then I did some push ups with a perfect push up. For some reason, it doesn't feel like these exercises work for me though D: Afterward I opened the gate all the way and then I took a shower. The time now is around 7:40AM? My mom cooked spam and eggs today so I ate a lot of that :D! Afterwards I used the internet and then later on we went to Walmart. At Walmart we bought some Pancakes and sausage at McDonalds first and then we shopped around. We just got some random grocers such as Fuze and Vitamin water. I also got some Arid Deoderant non-scented of course :D! Then afterwards we went to Sam's club. Sam's club is super megalobig and it amazes me on how awesome it is!!! I got two churros from the cafeteria they have and we got some other random grocers such as cherries and strawberries and water :D! Afterwards we then went to Popeyes CHICKEN!!!!!!!!!! ALRIGHT!!! We got it to go too! It was like a eight piece chicken meal with two large Mash potatos and one large Red Beans FREAKEN SWEAT!!!!!! When we got home, it took a while to put the grocers into the house cause we live on the second floor D:!!! After that we ate the chickens, beans, and mash tators. I went on the internet for a bit and then took a 30 minute nap.
When I woke up it was around 2:45, I changed because I was going to get a ride with one of the Brothers named bro. "L". He's a pretty cool guy and he got to the house at exactly 3:00PM! We then went to Auntie Yolie's house to pick her up and her family. We then went to sister Emi Delacruz's residence to do the interview with sister Willidean Mekepa. The interview, on it's own went very well! Afterwards we headed towards Ala Moana Beach park. It was interesting because Willidean is handicap so I had to help with putting her on the wheelchair and in the van. It was a new experience but it was cool too. When we finished it was already around 7:45PM! We raced back to Waipahu so I can go to choir practice. Man, this whole time I needed to use the bathroom too. So when I got home it was already 8:10PM so I rushed and seriously turbo turded and turbo changed and ran to practice :D! when I got in I was immediately questioned why I was late but oh well. Then after practice I ran into Edgelyn and her Sister Kathleen Oliverio. Really nice girls, I got to talk to them for a little while before everyone had to go home. When I got home I ate some left overs and then i got ready to sleep. And now its 12:13AM and I'm gonna kick in.
When I woke up it was around 2:45, I changed because I was going to get a ride with one of the Brothers named bro. "L". He's a pretty cool guy and he got to the house at exactly 3:00PM! We then went to Auntie Yolie's house to pick her up and her family. We then went to sister Emi Delacruz's residence to do the interview with sister Willidean Mekepa. The interview, on it's own went very well! Afterwards we headed towards Ala Moana Beach park. It was interesting because Willidean is handicap so I had to help with putting her on the wheelchair and in the van. It was a new experience but it was cool too. When we finished it was already around 7:45PM! We raced back to Waipahu so I can go to choir practice. Man, this whole time I needed to use the bathroom too. So when I got home it was already 8:10PM so I rushed and seriously turbo turded and turbo changed and ran to practice :D! when I got in I was immediately questioned why I was late but oh well. Then after practice I ran into Edgelyn and her Sister Kathleen Oliverio. Really nice girls, I got to talk to them for a little while before everyone had to go home. When I got home I ate some left overs and then i got ready to sleep. And now its 12:13AM and I'm gonna kick in.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
06/12/11
Today was a pretty long Sunday again. I woke up at around 7:10 AM to take a shower and get ready for church. I got to eat some breakfast today also which was cool. My breakfast was Vienna sausage (three of them?), egg (one), and bread (one). It was pretty filling, I also had like a little box of fruit juice which was cool too. Then after that I got even more ready for church, today I wore a pink long sleeve shirt and pants with a brown belt. I got my suit ready for later also! By now it was around 7:55AM, so I left my house for church. I got there and then changed into my toga to sing for choir again. The whole worship service was the same as always. Unfortunately, I was tired and got a bit sleepy at some parts. At the end of the worship service I then changed into the suit and got ready for the children's worship service. I set up the church mostly by myself by setting up the chairs, hymns, and getting the podium there. It was a hassle but you gotta do what you gotta do. The teacher for the CWS was Bro. Jason from Apra Heights and the lesson was about how Jesus does a miracle and helps a blind man see again. Interesting story, I remember that I saw a movie about it and it had hilarious dialogue. In the movie the blind man thought that Jesus was going to eat his eyes when he put the mud on. So that was pretty cool to hear the lesson on it. After the CWS I talked to Mark about random stuff after and that was pretty freaken awesome! We mostly talked about Fallout 3 and random JRPGs too. We then talked about the birthday party that was about to happen and talked about if we were going and stuff. After this it was already around 11:50AM and then we separated ways and I went home to change. I changed into an express polo and then quickly changed into a ralph lauren polo right after for some reason. I mean the express polo was cool but, why wear express when you can wear ralph lauren? Anyways, because of my indecisiveness it was around 12:20PM already and then I turbo drove to Sheraton! Sheraton is where the birthday party of Bro. Jelson's daughter who was now one years old. I parked in one of the furthest parking spaces there which is in the bottom of a flight of stairs. I like it cause it always has parking, low traffic, far from a lot of people, and a good exercise to the Sheraton. When I went inside Sheraton I went the long way around to the party when I could have just turned left. Anyways, I went to the main outside area and walked around the infinity pool to the party place. When I got there I got to see some people from Apra Heights again which was cool!!!1! I then got to see Von and his family and Jenisa and her family which was cool. I then got to sit with people from Apra Heights like Denzel, Larry, Ashley, Maria, and Samantha!!! It was pretty cool! Then I got to eat there too!!! The buffet was small by the time I got there of course. I got red rice, lasagna, chicken katsu, and pork ribs. I really liked the pork ribs but the lasagna tasted sweet and wired (yup wired not weird). After I ate, Mark and Von stopped by too which was freaken cool!!!! We then walked around a bit with the acoustic guitar!!!! I got to play "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3" by Coheed and Cambria in the acoustic guitar!!! I didn't play it in it's entirety but a sort of abridged form. Midway in my journey of playing the song Denzel needed the guitar to play on stage which was cool! I then got some dessert which was cool, it was consisted for coffee cakes, cheese cakes, flan, and some gelatinous white thingy. We went back to the seats and then there was some musical chairs. First was musical chairs for the kids and then next was musical chairs for the teens. Oh goodness, I was actually playing in the teens one which was interesting. I got passed the first few rounds but alas the odds were stacked against me again. After that it was the adults playing it. That was when Denzel and Carlo got to play some live music for it which was interesting actually. It was very stop start and interesting. After that is when we split! Von, Larry, Jenisa, Mark, and I decided to check out the basketball game up in Yigo which was fine with me since it was near my house. Von, Mark, and Jenisa was in one car and Larry and I was in the other. The basket ball game was at a school called FB Leon Guerrero which was actually the first time I went there. Me and Larry got there first. When we got there I saw people from harmon and yigo there like Riz, Harold, Rico, JJ, and Jerome!!! And Apra Heights people too!!! Later on, Mark, Jenisa, and Von showed up. A weird thing that happened there is that I noticed a new tea called "Peace Tea" which was interesting. I guess peace can now be provided in a sort of cooled beverage form. Most people said they don't like it but I thought it was aight. I mean it was only a $1 and now on Guam Arizona tea is not even a $1 anymore and even some places in the U.S. it is not a $1 anymore. Darn inflation and obamacenomics!!! But after that, Von, Mark, and Jenisa wanted to go to my house to lift weights and what not. When we got to my house we first went inside and played with the "Iron Gym" which is a pull up bar that you can put on your door frame which is useful. After that we went outside to play with the bench press equipment. At first I had them start at 50 lbs which is pretty good actually since they can do it. Even Jenisa did it too which was cool! Next they stepped it up to 60 lbs which was surprising even to me that even Jenisa did that too. I wonder if I should tell her. After this we went inside and jammed on the guitars which was pretty cool!!! It's not normal that we got to dual guitar in one room but it was awesome! After this we got Hungary and we went to Pizza Hut up in Dededo. Over there we ordered three drinks, Big Dipper Pizza (half double cheese and half pepperoni), and cinnamon sticks. It totaled 29.99 or something like that. The drinks I got were 7 Dew (7 up + Mountain Dew) and then later 7 Dew Punch (7 Dew + Fruit Punch). I liked the former over the later. We actually got to eat all the cinnamon sticks and most of the Big Dipper. Afterwards, we got the pizza to go and then went to AmeriCAN grocerry. It was pretty fun going inside, we looked around at random stuff and then we got some Mellon cakes and Ice Cream. It was pretty cool, then we went back to my place. Over there we just surfed the internet while listening to random crucial 12" records!!! It was pretty awesome long night with Von, Jenisa, and Mark again!!! After they left, I cleaned up a bit and threw away the trash and now I'm writing this. Starting time of writing this was at 11:55PM and now it's 12:37AM.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Two Day Marathon 03/02-03/03
For the past two days I quite literally had next to no sleep. Now I will try to remember in text format what happened during these 48 hours.
03/02
I think I started this marathon at 9:00AM after my last five hour sleep. I got ready for school and well yeah, you know. Took a shower and stuff like that?! On the drive to school it was pretty normal, at this time it should be around 9:40AM. I got to school at about 9:50AM and went straight to my slave labour at the school of nursing again. My shift was from 10AM-12Am, nothing really cool happened, I think I just filed a lot of peoples failed papers again and ran to the post-office and stuff like that. After work study I ate my lunch which was hot dawgs I think?! And then I practiced my recorder for the test in my Music FUNdaMETALs class, so that was pretty classy. In class that day it was pretty AIGHT!!! We studied a bunch of Music theory that I don't remember any more and I did pretty good on the test too! So that was pretty neat. After that I went to the UOG field house to work out! I ran into Jan and Gian over there so that was pretty cool! By now it should be around 5:00PM so I started heading home. When I got home I took a shower, ate some pizza I think and then got my things ready for chior practice at church. Since I still had time, right now should be around 6:30PM so I took a nap for like 30 mins so by 7:15PM I left for practice. Practice was pretty long actually. I didn't get home till like 9:30PM?! I don't remember. When I got home I ate I forgot and drank some Low Carb MONSTER ENERGY DRINK! GET IN OR GET OUT!!!!!1! but yeah, then I started on my research project for PS-404 which is about the strategic capabilities on Guam. I'll possibly end up posting it here if I get the chance in the future.
03/03
The then current time should be around 1AM and I got side tracked by a Sun Tzu "Art of War" documentary on youtube. I found it very useful in understanding classical methods in strategy and overall it was very interesting. By the time I finished it it was like 2AM?! And then I realized I only had one page down so far. So I grinded all the way till 5AM and I got about 2 1/2 pages so then I decided to take a brake and watch some Angry Video Game Nerd vids. Freaken funny stuff. So then at 5:30AM I got back in action and by 6:45AM I just got a little over 3 pages. I seriously thought the paper was due this day which was why I was killing myself over this. I then took a shower and got my things all ready for school. Time update is now 7:15AM. I left the house and headed to UOG!!1! Or actually, I went to the Mobil near UOG first, I got 7 gallons worth of regular, a orange rockstar, and a newspaper. Then I headed to UOG!1! The first thing I did was head to class but I ran into Jenna at the 2nd floor of the HSS and then Jonathan came in too. The current time was 8:05AM yeah we were early alright. I then headed to Weinburgs class which was interesting to say the least today. We were discussing about the 40 pg. opinion on the separation of powers on Guam. I thought it was interesting but I thought we were supposed to be studying the U.S Constitution not territorial BS mumbojumbogalumbokakadookiebullcrap. Oh well, everyone was on Facebook discussing their discontent against Weinburg which was quite hilarious since I was trippin on Rockstar. After class I found out from Des that the paper for 404 was not due till next week! SWEEEEET! I thought I was gonna have to shoot myself. Next I headed to Stoil to triple dawg check on the test. So I did, when I got there actually, Weinburg was there too. I think what was going on was, Weinburg actually realizes how ineffective his teaching style is for a 400 lvl course so he went to Stoil to see how it's done. And yeah, when I was there Stoil explained the differences between 100/200/300/400 lvl courses were and Weinburg was like "uh-oh" I was actually kinda feeling sad for the guy at that point cause I remember Stoil saying something like "Weinburg, you better stay and listen to the differences between the upper and lower division classes, in upper division, you are supposed to lecture less and have the students do more of the talking..." But enough of that, when Weinburg left I asked Stoil to proofread my rough draft and said that it was aight, one good argument and one not so strong one, which was ok I guess. He then actually gave me one of his old papers to copy up which was pretty neat cause it was in a Japanese journal and his journal entry was the only one in English LOLOLOL! Oh well, After this I ran into Laurie I believe so I followed her for a bit and then I headed down and ran into Rachel in the 2nd floor of the HSS. Current time was 9:55AM. At this time I actually left and went to Mobil again!!1! Over there i got a jumbo hotdog, dr. pepper, diet pepsi, and dorritos. I went here so I can do more of my home work due today D: I got to get most of my notes down and then at like 11:30AM I started small dosing offs of like 5 mins intervals. It was odd but it got me rested?/? Then at 11:55AM I got up and went back to UOG. At UOG I went to the library to make copies of Stoil's paper! I did and then I ran into John too! So that was pretty cool! Current time 12:20PM and I still had to do 20pgs worth of reading. I got only about 10pgs read and then I went to class late at around 12:35PM? Today in class PS-302 it was pretty cool, or actually it sorta felt like a rehash yet more detailed, weird huh? After this I headed to my slave center...again!!!1! Today surprisingly literally nothing of interest happened at the Nursing building. I was there from 2-5PM. Oh wait, during work study I actually got to do a LOT of reading! I FREAKEN READ SUN TZU'S ART OF WAR!!1! oh well, after work study I ate some curry and changed into church clothes. After this I went to my PS-404 class or actually the poli-sci lib and ran into Jonathan Padios, Austin Duenas, and Vincent Villaruel!!1! That was lots of fun! Then later I ran into Christiana Ramirez and Desori Bermudes!!1! and then Michael J. Stoil and Arun Swamy too!! it was like the elite Political Science folk in one place! I felt that class was very productive in PS-404 and went way better than it did last Monday. I had to leave class early at 6:40PM to go to church. I got to church at 7PM and made it in time for choir. By now you can actually realize how insanely tired I am. During one of the prayers I literally fell asleep for a second or something. I felt it, and I'm being serious, it's hard to explain but it's serious, dead serious. Oh and CHEERFUL CATUNAO WAS THERE AT YIGO TOO!!! I wished stay afterward though. She looked very beautiful in that dress. After church it was around 9:40PM?! Then I went to Mobil yet again!!1! this time to get two Ritz sodas (Fruit Punch/Lime) and also to get air for my tires. By the time I finally got home it was like 10:05PM!!1! I ate some chicken and hot dawgs while watching King of the Hill. After that I retired to my room and played the electric guitar. I was trying to play the Number Twelve but ended up play Fall of Troy and Lamb of God again. Oh well, after that I watched the 100th episode of the Angry Video Game Nerd and boy was it amazing!!!1! And now I am writing this blog and getting wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy tired. It is now 12:51AM and I am going to finally retire.
03/02
I think I started this marathon at 9:00AM after my last five hour sleep. I got ready for school and well yeah, you know. Took a shower and stuff like that?! On the drive to school it was pretty normal, at this time it should be around 9:40AM. I got to school at about 9:50AM and went straight to my slave labour at the school of nursing again. My shift was from 10AM-12Am, nothing really cool happened, I think I just filed a lot of peoples failed papers again and ran to the post-office and stuff like that. After work study I ate my lunch which was hot dawgs I think?! And then I practiced my recorder for the test in my Music FUNdaMETALs class, so that was pretty classy. In class that day it was pretty AIGHT!!! We studied a bunch of Music theory that I don't remember any more and I did pretty good on the test too! So that was pretty neat. After that I went to the UOG field house to work out! I ran into Jan and Gian over there so that was pretty cool! By now it should be around 5:00PM so I started heading home. When I got home I took a shower, ate some pizza I think and then got my things ready for chior practice at church. Since I still had time, right now should be around 6:30PM so I took a nap for like 30 mins so by 7:15PM I left for practice. Practice was pretty long actually. I didn't get home till like 9:30PM?! I don't remember. When I got home I ate I forgot and drank some Low Carb MONSTER ENERGY DRINK! GET IN OR GET OUT!!!!!1! but yeah, then I started on my research project for PS-404 which is about the strategic capabilities on Guam. I'll possibly end up posting it here if I get the chance in the future.
03/03
The then current time should be around 1AM and I got side tracked by a Sun Tzu "Art of War" documentary on youtube. I found it very useful in understanding classical methods in strategy and overall it was very interesting. By the time I finished it it was like 2AM?! And then I realized I only had one page down so far. So I grinded all the way till 5AM and I got about 2 1/2 pages so then I decided to take a brake and watch some Angry Video Game Nerd vids. Freaken funny stuff. So then at 5:30AM I got back in action and by 6:45AM I just got a little over 3 pages. I seriously thought the paper was due this day which was why I was killing myself over this. I then took a shower and got my things all ready for school. Time update is now 7:15AM. I left the house and headed to UOG!!1! Or actually, I went to the Mobil near UOG first, I got 7 gallons worth of regular, a orange rockstar, and a newspaper. Then I headed to UOG!1! The first thing I did was head to class but I ran into Jenna at the 2nd floor of the HSS and then Jonathan came in too. The current time was 8:05AM yeah we were early alright. I then headed to Weinburgs class which was interesting to say the least today. We were discussing about the 40 pg. opinion on the separation of powers on Guam. I thought it was interesting but I thought we were supposed to be studying the U.S Constitution not territorial BS mumbojumbogalumbokakadookiebullcrap. Oh well, everyone was on Facebook discussing their discontent against Weinburg which was quite hilarious since I was trippin on Rockstar. After class I found out from Des that the paper for 404 was not due till next week! SWEEEEET! I thought I was gonna have to shoot myself. Next I headed to Stoil to triple dawg check on the test. So I did, when I got there actually, Weinburg was there too. I think what was going on was, Weinburg actually realizes how ineffective his teaching style is for a 400 lvl course so he went to Stoil to see how it's done. And yeah, when I was there Stoil explained the differences between 100/200/300/400 lvl courses were and Weinburg was like "uh-oh" I was actually kinda feeling sad for the guy at that point cause I remember Stoil saying something like "Weinburg, you better stay and listen to the differences between the upper and lower division classes, in upper division, you are supposed to lecture less and have the students do more of the talking..." But enough of that, when Weinburg left I asked Stoil to proofread my rough draft and said that it was aight, one good argument and one not so strong one, which was ok I guess. He then actually gave me one of his old papers to copy up which was pretty neat cause it was in a Japanese journal and his journal entry was the only one in English LOLOLOL! Oh well, After this I ran into Laurie I believe so I followed her for a bit and then I headed down and ran into Rachel in the 2nd floor of the HSS. Current time was 9:55AM. At this time I actually left and went to Mobil again!!1! Over there i got a jumbo hotdog, dr. pepper, diet pepsi, and dorritos. I went here so I can do more of my home work due today D: I got to get most of my notes down and then at like 11:30AM I started small dosing offs of like 5 mins intervals. It was odd but it got me rested?/? Then at 11:55AM I got up and went back to UOG. At UOG I went to the library to make copies of Stoil's paper! I did and then I ran into John too! So that was pretty cool! Current time 12:20PM and I still had to do 20pgs worth of reading. I got only about 10pgs read and then I went to class late at around 12:35PM? Today in class PS-302 it was pretty cool, or actually it sorta felt like a rehash yet more detailed, weird huh? After this I headed to my slave center...again!!!1! Today surprisingly literally nothing of interest happened at the Nursing building. I was there from 2-5PM. Oh wait, during work study I actually got to do a LOT of reading! I FREAKEN READ SUN TZU'S ART OF WAR!!1! oh well, after work study I ate some curry and changed into church clothes. After this I went to my PS-404 class or actually the poli-sci lib and ran into Jonathan Padios, Austin Duenas, and Vincent Villaruel!!1! That was lots of fun! Then later I ran into Christiana Ramirez and Desori Bermudes!!1! and then Michael J. Stoil and Arun Swamy too!! it was like the elite Political Science folk in one place! I felt that class was very productive in PS-404 and went way better than it did last Monday. I had to leave class early at 6:40PM to go to church. I got to church at 7PM and made it in time for choir. By now you can actually realize how insanely tired I am. During one of the prayers I literally fell asleep for a second or something. I felt it, and I'm being serious, it's hard to explain but it's serious, dead serious. Oh and CHEERFUL CATUNAO WAS THERE AT YIGO TOO!!! I wished stay afterward though. She looked very beautiful in that dress. After church it was around 9:40PM?! Then I went to Mobil yet again!!1! this time to get two Ritz sodas (Fruit Punch/Lime) and also to get air for my tires. By the time I finally got home it was like 10:05PM!!1! I ate some chicken and hot dawgs while watching King of the Hill. After that I retired to my room and played the electric guitar. I was trying to play the Number Twelve but ended up play Fall of Troy and Lamb of God again. Oh well, after that I watched the 100th episode of the Angry Video Game Nerd and boy was it amazing!!!1! And now I am writing this blog and getting wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy tired. It is now 12:51AM and I am going to finally retire.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Critique on School Segregation
My stand on School Segregation in modern day USA. Also my opener for a debate on the same subject.
The 14th amendment states “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” To make sense of what has been said we must first define relevant terms to this debate, and the two key terms that need to be defined are “liberty” and “equal protection of the laws”. Liberty as defined by the 1793 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizens states that “Liberty is the power which man has to do everything which does not harm the rights of others.” “Equal protection of the laws” can also be translated as stated in the same 1793 constitution “Equality consists in the fact that the law is the same for all, whether it protects or punishes”. With that being said, segregations in schools are unconstitutional.
According to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals “Classifications of citizens solely on the basis of race are by their very nature odious to a free people whose institutions are founded upon the doctrine of equality and that the use of race threatens to stigmatize individuals by reason of their membership in a racial group and to incite racial hostility.” Furthermore, according to empirical studies done by the National Education Association stated that “closing the door on racial diversity in the schools, we open the door to further racial prejudice and discrimination by perpetuating the racial isolation that breeds such prejudice and discrimination” and thus racial segregation in schools creates hostile situations between races.
According to social scientists, that has concluded that schools with racial diversity have students with better creative problem solving because of the interactions of all the students. And thus if you segregate schools, you will be taking away important cognitive skills that children learn at a young age.
Another detriment made by segregations in schools is also one of the more profound problems that should be taken a serious look at before considering re-implementing segregation laws. For a democracy to truly work and society to be kept in order; the people in that society have to work together. In Fiji, the island is racially segregated between the local Fijians and the foreign Indians. Because of this, the politics also reflect this segregation, parties in Fiji are based on race, this heavily threatens democracy, because political parties are supposed to represent policies and ideologies, not race, so when one party in Fiji wins, it means that one race has won over the other (Margaret Palmer). With that being said, According to studies done by the NEA “Adults who went to racially diverse schools are more likely to live in desegregated neighborhoods, have children who attend desegregated schools, and have close friends of the other race than do adults who went to segregated schools”. So, according to empirical evidence, segregating schools, will keep races from interacting from each other; thus segregating schools is a threat to democracy.
The 14th amendment states “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” To make sense of what has been said we must first define relevant terms to this debate, and the two key terms that need to be defined are “liberty” and “equal protection of the laws”. Liberty as defined by the 1793 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizens states that “Liberty is the power which man has to do everything which does not harm the rights of others.” “Equal protection of the laws” can also be translated as stated in the same 1793 constitution “Equality consists in the fact that the law is the same for all, whether it protects or punishes”. With that being said, segregations in schools are unconstitutional.
According to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals “Classifications of citizens solely on the basis of race are by their very nature odious to a free people whose institutions are founded upon the doctrine of equality and that the use of race threatens to stigmatize individuals by reason of their membership in a racial group and to incite racial hostility.” Furthermore, according to empirical studies done by the National Education Association stated that “closing the door on racial diversity in the schools, we open the door to further racial prejudice and discrimination by perpetuating the racial isolation that breeds such prejudice and discrimination” and thus racial segregation in schools creates hostile situations between races.
According to social scientists, that has concluded that schools with racial diversity have students with better creative problem solving because of the interactions of all the students. And thus if you segregate schools, you will be taking away important cognitive skills that children learn at a young age.
Another detriment made by segregations in schools is also one of the more profound problems that should be taken a serious look at before considering re-implementing segregation laws. For a democracy to truly work and society to be kept in order; the people in that society have to work together. In Fiji, the island is racially segregated between the local Fijians and the foreign Indians. Because of this, the politics also reflect this segregation, parties in Fiji are based on race, this heavily threatens democracy, because political parties are supposed to represent policies and ideologies, not race, so when one party in Fiji wins, it means that one race has won over the other (Margaret Palmer). With that being said, According to studies done by the NEA “Adults who went to racially diverse schools are more likely to live in desegregated neighborhoods, have children who attend desegregated schools, and have close friends of the other race than do adults who went to segregated schools”. So, according to empirical evidence, segregating schools, will keep races from interacting from each other; thus segregating schools is a threat to democracy.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Alice in Wonderland or was it NORTH KOREA?: Soundoff!
Plot: A girl falls down a hole and nothing makes sense. Then again, I'm pretty sure everyone already has an idea on the plot.
Soundoff Review: Every time a movie is remade or the idea is remade, I ask myself, is it really necessary? What makes it better or any different from the original? To me re-doing a movie is a very hard feat to do, you can either do it disastrously, exactly replicate it, or do it better even.
Let's make an analogy, let's pretend that movies are like a painting and when someone makes a new movie they use a new canvas and start from scratch. What Tim Burton does is get the original Mona Lisa and traces over it in a subway and paints it in his studio doing drugs, most likely heroine, and reading the Communist Manifesto.
My main complaint of Tim Burton's cover is that it was extremely predictable and not colorful enough, and even had Political implications in it.
We know what's gonna happen next, then why are we watching it if your not going to change it?
You have a whole slew of characters to work with and they are extremely colorful, how come they didn't come off as colorful or awesome as I thought they would?
Another thing, the political implications were quite blatant.
You can tell Tim Burton has a very western political thought, come on, a small person who in the end conquered great things. Sounds extremely western to me. We can also look at Alice as a lone Caucasian going to North Korea accidentally and everyone in North Korea (Red Kingdom) wanting to kill her save for a few rebels (Mad Hater and comp) who help her.
Also one more thing, this is a blatant attack towards feminism. According to Tim Burton, the Red Kingdom and White Kingdom is exactly what would happened if females had dictator unitarian monarchical powers. One queen is kind and the other is extremely violent which shows the bi-polar nature of women which Tim Burton exploits throughout the movie to create two rival nations against each other based on female ideology, in this case feminism.
Conclusion: The movie went by way too fast and felt rushed at lots of points. Tim Burton had an extremely good cast to work with, however, he decided not to, which created a cover that didn't feel like the director of the amazing "Big Fish". Alice in Underland (North Korea) is average 2.5/5
Soundoff Review: Every time a movie is remade or the idea is remade, I ask myself, is it really necessary? What makes it better or any different from the original? To me re-doing a movie is a very hard feat to do, you can either do it disastrously, exactly replicate it, or do it better even.
Let's make an analogy, let's pretend that movies are like a painting and when someone makes a new movie they use a new canvas and start from scratch. What Tim Burton does is get the original Mona Lisa and traces over it in a subway and paints it in his studio doing drugs, most likely heroine, and reading the Communist Manifesto.
My main complaint of Tim Burton's cover is that it was extremely predictable and not colorful enough, and even had Political implications in it.
We know what's gonna happen next, then why are we watching it if your not going to change it?
You have a whole slew of characters to work with and they are extremely colorful, how come they didn't come off as colorful or awesome as I thought they would?
Another thing, the political implications were quite blatant.
You can tell Tim Burton has a very western political thought, come on, a small person who in the end conquered great things. Sounds extremely western to me. We can also look at Alice as a lone Caucasian going to North Korea accidentally and everyone in North Korea (Red Kingdom) wanting to kill her save for a few rebels (Mad Hater and comp) who help her.
Also one more thing, this is a blatant attack towards feminism. According to Tim Burton, the Red Kingdom and White Kingdom is exactly what would happened if females had dictator unitarian monarchical powers. One queen is kind and the other is extremely violent which shows the bi-polar nature of women which Tim Burton exploits throughout the movie to create two rival nations against each other based on female ideology, in this case feminism.
Conclusion: The movie went by way too fast and felt rushed at lots of points. Tim Burton had an extremely good cast to work with, however, he decided not to, which created a cover that didn't feel like the director of the amazing "Big Fish". Alice in Underland (North Korea) is average 2.5/5
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