We all need a little happiness during the season!

It isn't Hitler, it's Charlie Chaplin!  I love this video and it definitely fits in with this blog.  Check it out!

A new article on National Security and the Situation in Syria!

Hey everyone, I just finished an article on Why Syria is different and how this affects the United State's response to the unrest there over on praemon.org.  Here's the official URL:

http://praemon.org/2011/12/08/why-is-syria-different/

Sorry I haven't been posting much, it's finals week right now and I'm getting married in two weeks so things are bit crazy for me but when are they not?  Anyway, I hope you read the article and if you have any comments you can leave them here or write a response article on the website!

Motivation

     So, I am sitting here in a class that I don't want to be in writing a list of stuff I don't want to do thinking about work that isn't going to get done.... I think almost every college student in the United States is at the same place I am right now.  Two weeks left.  Two weeks from now this semester will be over and for better or for worse my grades will be set (let's be serious, after this semester it is definitely gonna be for worse).  At the same time, I don't want to work, I don't want to be productive, I simply want to sleep... too bad you can't major in REM sleep eh?  Let's be serious, with the amount of stuff I am involved in, I would probably fail sleeping class too!  Happy last two weeks everyone!

Regret...

Do you ever hear those people who say that I live life with no regrets?  Does anyone ever actually believe them?  I mean seriously, can anyone ever live without regrets?  I feel like if you truly live without regret, in reality you are probably just so high that you don't remember the things that you should regret... or you just don't realize what you should regret because you aren't intelligent enough.  I know this seems like a rant, but I suppose my point is that we sometimes have such a focus on the now that we don't look at the long term.  I think this happens at all points in our life, in High School we often can't see beyond graduation.  In college, all we can focus on is the hard class we are currently failing or the next date.

  For me, I regret that I can't do more here at campus and I can't do better in my classes.  I am definitely one of those people that is focusing on the class I am not doing well in, this time Arabic.  I have to remember that college is not about one class, and life isn't about one experience but a conglomeration.  When I am on my deathbed I won't be judged by how well I did in intermediate Arabic, but by the tenor and focus of my life.  It isn't easy, it isn't supposed to be.  But my life should focused on improving the lives of those around me and making the world a better place.  I suppose this all sounds a little idealistic, but really... who isn't idealistic in college right?

Lessons Learned

With the Arab Spring happening this year seemingly from nowhere many people have asked where it came from and what was the inspiration?  How do strongmen who have ruled for decades suddenly lose their countries in a matter of days (Tunisia), weeks (Egypt) or months (Libya and probably Yemen).  Other people have asked what the inspiration is for these uprisings and have compared the Libyian Revolution to the Iraqi Wars to understand what went right and what went wrong.  I believe my next article for Praemon.org will be on this subject but just so you have something to wet your appetite I will include a link to an interesting article below:

American Diplomat Apologizes to Iraqi Shiites

I hope you read this article and think about how the United States can effectively help other people's realize their dreams of democracy rather than be mired in occupation like we have in Iraq and Afghanistan for the past decade.  Happy reading!

Pop Culture & Gossip

Is it sad that I would rather watch a show made up of fictional star trek aliens then one dictating the gossip and personal drama of some random family?  I don't really understand reality TV shows where all we do is watch other people that we have decided are famous and by virtue of us calling them famous we should be interested in their dysfunctional lives.  Honestly, if I am going to spend the little amount of time that I have in front of the TV I am going to watch something awesome, if it is a reality TV show it's going to be one about people who are famous for a reason, i.e. craftsmen, laborers, or people that have awesome jobs.  Maybe this rant is wrongly placed but seriously, I don't care about the Kardashian's lives.... except that I am sad they are so crazy!  Anyone agree with me?

New Website on National Security

So as of yesterday, I am officially a contributing author to praemon.org. Praemon is a student organization/website at Brigham Young University that is devoted to having students write about national security and foreign issues. I'm really excited about this and hope that all of you will take a look at the website and check out my articles once in awhile! Hope you enjoyed your halloween and are ready for a rocking november!

http://praemon.org/

My New Job

My new job is as a programmer for the BYU Independent Study Arabic 102 course.  Apparently, I'm supposed to know some programming in order to do this job... go figure!  Anyway, today is my first day on the job and I think I already made the job a thousand times easier by creating what is found below.  They told me they were having a lot of trouble making one-off flashcard games and deploying them on the website so I recommend we use Quizlet found below.  I use Quizlet to study all the time and think it will be a great addition, and time saving to boot!  So, do you wanna learn some arabic?  Check out the drill below and you can learn some basics (There will be sound bits included soon for your listening pleasure).

Choose a Study ModeScatterLearnFlashcards

Study these flash cards | Study arabic flash cards

College Sleep Habits

You know what I love? I love the fact that professors and college administrators constantly tell college students that we need to get over 8 hours of sleep a night in order to be healthy and then slam us with projects and homework that will of course make us sleep much less than that. One of my favorite things in the world is spending all night doing homework, wake up early the next morning, and doing it all over again!

Seriously though, sometimes I don't know how my bodies keeps going. I think I've just learned that my body answers to me instead of the other way around. That, however, will probably cause me to get sick sometime soon because there's only so long you can function without sleep, good food, or adequate relaxation time.

On a side note, CAPTAIN AMERICA ROCKED!!! Seriously, if you haven't seen it you should. It was definitely one of the better superhero movies.

A'ed Istiklal!

This is a video I made for a competition at my university. It's only two minutes long but it describes one of the coolest experiences I had while studying abroad this summer in Jordan. I hope you enjoy it!

Let's Start From the Very Beginning

  Those who know me have probably told me at least one time to stop being facetious and grow-up a little.  In honor of that, I've decided that I will make a blog talking about lots of different things including my research, school work, rants, projects, and current thoughts.  I will probably use this blog as a sounding board for the crazy ideas that constantly enter my head and as such I can not say that this will necessarily be extremely cohesive.  Sometimes you just need to put your two cents out there and get it off your chest right?  I suppose the first thing I should do is write a little about me (but not too much since we are in the time of online stalking), so you can know who's writing.

  I'm currently a Junior at Brigham Young University in Utah.  Utah?  What?  Does that mean you're a Mormon?  Heck yes it does, and on this site I expect to talk a lot about how my religious, political, and personal beliefs connect.  Since we're on the subject of Mormon, I'm not your typical one in any sense of the word.  I love my faith, but I do not believe my faith mandates that I vote republican, support certain people, or think a certain way.  I strongly believe that diversity is one of the most amazing and beautiful things in the world and feel that if we lose diversity we lose part of what makes us human.  This sort of leads into the next thing I would like to say.... I hate ignorance.

  The problem with hating ignorance is often I am ignorant myself, so can I hate myself?  No, but I can admit that I don't know everything (which seems to be an increasingly difficult thing to do in a world where I can know the answer to anything by pulling out my iPhone and typing the phrase into google with a question mark after it) and seek to learn from others.  I suppose that's why I love learning, and I love having my mind blown away.  The reason I travel, the reason I speak with people, the reason I read books and research papers is because there is so much truth in the world and truth brings beauty into our lives.  I believe that as we collect the bits and pieces of truth scattered around the world, we slowly create a better and clearer picture of God (or if you want to call him Allah, or Brahman, or Supreme Being).

  If you aren't running and screaming for the hills by now, maybe we can have some interesting discussions.  I will make one final disclaimer, I firmly believe that opinions and beliefs are supposed to change and mold as we receive new information and refine our thinking processes.  I think that expecting someone to instantly form an opinion on every subject and have that opinion be intelligent is ridiculous.  Most of the stuff I write on this blog will be me asking questions and wondering about things that I have likely not made my mind up on.  I'm luckily at that period of my life where I already know I knew everything as a teenager, and once I'm a middle-aged, job-holding, tax-paying American I'll know everything again but this time with a little more wisdom under my belt.  Right now, I'm young, idealistic and being completely ruined by the liberal education in our country that teaches me to hope in a better future and think I can actually make a difference.  Hopefully, as I write here and put some of my thoughts out there in cyber-space we can all learn a little more about the world, see the beauty in diversity and get rid of some of the ignorance...