Reflections

The Other Churchill of WWII

kent14 — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:37:15 +0000

How many awe-inspiring people can have the last name Churchill? Apparently, at least two. We all know about Winston Churchill who led the UK during WWII, but the other Churchill fought WWII a slightly different way. Jack Churchill fought, not with eloquent speeches or even a rifle, but with a claymore and longbow. That’s right, in WWII, where aerial combat played a major part in batttles, Jack Churchill was running around wielding a giant sword and 6 foot bow. Not only did he charge into battle with (literally) medieval weaponry, he also brought along his bagpipes for kicks. So while the Germans at Vågsøy, Norway were preparing to shoot the landing Brits, Churchill leaps first out of the boat, bagpipes blowing, and lobs a grenade right at the Germans. After the war’s conclusion, he expressed discontent that there was no more enemies to ran at with a claymore, so he took up surfing and parachuting. Who needs a renaissance man when you have Jack Churchill?

http://www.absurdintellectual.com/2009/09/22/mad-jack-churchill-archer-of-ww2/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Churchill

http://www.amazingben.com/arf0143.html

Key Difficulty

kent14 — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 03:35:20 +0000

This is the key difficulty which I have been facing, apathy. I need to care enough to care. I have been trying to implement these principles in my life but have not been active enough to overcome my laziness. Thank you John Stonestreet for inspiring me with your wisdom. These principles and more are what I aspire to live by.

Is my home more welcoming for having me live there?

Are my friends better people for having me as their friend?

Is my country better for having me as a citizen?

Are my sisters more godly as a result of me and my example?

Is the room better for me having been there?

Are the people around me encouraged for my being there?

Is God more accessible for everyone for my actions?

Are my classes better for having me in them?

Is my school a better school for having me as a student?

Is the world a better place for having me live here?

I try to ask these questions as much as possible changing the basic question depending on the situation. You wouldn’t believe how life-changing it has been and how hard it can be sometimes.

My Summer at Summit

kent14 — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 06:47:31 +0000

First I’d like to start off with my favorite thing of my past summer, attending Summit. It was absolutely awesome; the people, the program, the content, everything except for the mile-long walks across campus! Actually, even the walks were made enjoyable by the wonderful people.The people at Summit were unlike any I had previously met. The counselors had the perfect balance between authority and fun; they were able to keep things under control while still having a great time with the students. The speakers were all incredibly intelligent. Not only intelligent though, but willing to make sure we understood what they were saying and wanting us to learn as much as possible. Their example at summit is what I think teachers should aspire to. The students were the best part of all! I had never met so many people my age with that kind of connection of interests. I met my fair share of Ron Paul supporters, Christians, and Philosophers. However, there are three students of which I was particularly impressed; Jason, Kathleen, and Hannah.

Jason is the kind of guy who knows everything… and knows why it matters. He goes beyond the pedastal of knowledge to the tower of wisdom. He might not always be right, but he knows why he believes what he believes.

Kathleen is an apparent rarity in the world today, an acutely intelligent teenage girl. I valued the short time I was able to spend talking with her was illuminating. I got a totally different perspective on relationships. She explained how girls want more than just surface benefits like looks, that they want something deep inside a guy’s way of feeling.

Hannah was my seatmate for the two weeks we spent at summit, so I was glad to have someone with such a great sense of humor. Her refreshing joy spilled over to the people around her but at the same time, she was serious about what she believed.

I would like to say thank you to the many other people who made my experience at Summit so great!

“Why don’t you have a girlfriend?”

kent14 — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 06:37:58 +0000

If there is one question I get more than any thing else it is some variation of this: “Why don’t you have a girlfriend?” Most people share the idea that if you still don’t have a girlfriend at 17, there is something seriously wrong and the speculation is often unflattering. “Why not? Are you gay? You’re retarded? Can’t you get one?” You get the idea. Well I get pretty tired of hearing this over and over and it almost enough just to go out and get a girlfriend just for a good answer. Almost. Even if I could find the perfect person, the negatives far outweigh the positives.

A major negative is the amount of resources it takes to keep that kind of relationship strong. This may sound callous but it’s true, having a girlfriend takes A LOT of time and money. In order to have any sort of relationship you must devote time, but once it comes to having a girlfriend it becomes exponential. As far as money goes, well, gifts alone could empty a teen guy’s wallet FAST. There’s the New Year, Valentines Day, her birthday, your anniversary, Christmas, and those are just the mandatory ones! That’s not even counting gifts just because or dates!

Another negative is an observation I’ve made: most of my friends’ number one problem is with their girlfriend/boyfriend. Relationships seem to be the number one problem among people but romantic relationships in particular. All sorts of things can happen, and when you become that involved with something so volatile as a romantic relationship, anything that goes wrong is that much more painful. Not worth it!

The last negative is that I’m simply not ready for the whole reason of dating: marriage. I am 17 and not ready for marriage. Having a job and being able to drive does not qualify someone to enter into one of the most important decisions in their life. Certainly, these are needed, but you need a lot more.

So even if I found the perfect girl, guess what? Still not going to date her! The negatives still outweigh the positives even without counting in any sort of imperfection on her part. Since no girl is perfect, makes the situation even worse.

So am I ever going to get married? Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know whether I’ll eventually get married but I know I won’t until these negatives are overtaken by positives. And yet I still see people making the wrong decision every day to enter into a romantic relationship laden with more negative than positive. I warn them, only to have them reject my advice because I don’t have any “experience” in these matters. Then they come crying back unable to understand what went so wrong. Don’t be these people, willingly take a stand and make the concious choice to “put on the garment” of love by choice when you are ready. Love is a controllable choice even it may be a hard one. Make the right choice!

Russia invades Georgia!

kent14 — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:55:43 +0000

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/08/georgia.ossetia/

Does anybody else think the US needs a different approach? Seriously, the might of Russia bears down on Georgia and all the US can do is threaten to sever diplomatic relations with Russia while trowing a token force into Georgia. Disregarding whether it is right for the US to be militarily active in Georgia, The US needs to find its posistion. Either the US needs to save Georgia from Russia, or it needs to step away from the conflict. What we have now is The US wanting to save Georgia by warding off Russia but not being able to enforce it. This situation works beautifully in a schoolyard analogy.

Lets say the US is a 8 year old boy named John, Russia is a 7 year old boy named Mike, and Georgia is a 4 year old boy named George. These boys are all friends with eachother except for some resentment between Mike and George. So here we have Mike picking on George on the playground. It comes to blows and Mike, being 3 years older and stronger, is winning.

George cries, “John help!”

John tells Mike, “Stop! Don’t beat up George, he’s only four!” Mike just brushes this off. John gets more and more upset as Mike continues beating up George while George throws a couple of weak punches. John then shouts, “If you don’t stop, I’m not gonna be your friend anymore!”

So we have Russia overpowering Georgia with the US standing by and saying, “I’m not gonna be your friend anymore!” This is decidedly childish on the part of both Russia and the US. Now I don’t know whether Russia is invading Georgia because of the animosity or oil, even a combination of both, but The US is not acting very maturely.

An Analysis and Application of Twilight (up to page 147)

kent14 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:18:05 +0000

I just started reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer and have read up to page 147. Minor spoilers ahead! This is an analysis of both why Bella falls in love with Edward and why Jessica has trouble with Mike. I have also provided a detailed real-life application for personal use.

Why Bella falls in love with Edward:

She sees moving to Forks as a continuation of boredom rather than a new experience. She tires of the boring, but the unknown excites her, especially at her adventurous age. Edward stands out from the boredom by being different and mysterious. Bella at first views Edward as a break in the monotony of life. She pushes away her would-be suitors, Eric and Mike, because of their forwardness and blatant desire. Eric was being too open with Becca in an irritating under-confidant way. Mike was being over-helpful, compared to, ”an eager puppy”. Edward on the other hand revels in a sort of odd secrecy; disappearing to unknown location for days at a time. This provokes Bella’s curiosity; Edward indirectly causes Bella to want to learn more about him. Jessica’s comment that Edward doesn’t date piques Bella’s interest as well. I would even go so far as to say that this pseudo-challenge plants a subconscious desire in Bella’s mind, a desire to prove her friend wrong and herself exceptional. Bella becomes internally motivated by her curiosity at first, but then develops into an energizing need to know more about him. At this point, Edward strategically opens up more to keep Bella’s fascination. She can’t help but need to be with him, to learn more about him, to fall in love with him.

Why Jessica has trouble with Mike:

First of all, Mike sees Jessica as a kind of consolation prize after Bella turns him down. With this kind of mindset, his respect and care for Jessica is lacking. The somewhat ironic part is that the same thing causing Bella to refuse Mike, too much openness, is causing Mike to push Jessica away. Jessica complicates this by sharing more of herself, an effort to tighten her hold on Mike. This being the very reason why Mike pushed Jessica away in the first place, it does not help their relationship.

What you can apply from these two situations:

When pursuing a relationship, you should not think of it as pursuing a relationship. Think of it as reciprocal situation; wait for the desired effect of your actions. Ease up on the throttle, great things take time. Some of you might be worried that you will go unnoticed if you don’t be as aggressive. (see “The Missing Piece Meets the Big O” by Shel Silverstein for a simplistic example) If you act like Eric, this may be true for you. However, it is better to go unnoticed than to be an annoyance in this situation. Let me repeat this, it is better to go unnoticed than to be an annoyance.

Note that withdrawing from complete openness does not mean the other extreme of complete withdrawal. Like Edward, whether boy or girl, you must be strategic in the balance of these traits. Do not be so open as to drive the other away, but do not be so withdrawn as to deny the other any access. Have a little openness to catch attention and show potential to be far deeper than at first glance. Once you can clearly detect curiosity on the other part, open up a little more to really engage interest. It should be noted at this point that any major negatives in your character should be known to the other unless you want to fulfill the saying, “Love is blind.” I would not recommend a relationship based on deception; having someone blind to your faults is only temporary as evidenced by current divorce rates. Above all else remember, take time to think! Do not rush into relationships that you want to be meaningful. Many mistakes can be prevented by taking time to think through situations

Busy me…

kent14 — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:17:41 +0000

Well, I have had a very eventful summer so far and I’d like to recap some of the major events. First, I participated in a district 4-H presentation competition. (http://www.4-h.org/) Then, I spent two weeks at Summit Ministries Worldview Conference, (http://www.summit.org/) which quite possibly may be the best camp/conference ever. Then I had a family weekend camping trip before going another two weeks at Patrick Henry College Debate Camp. (http://www.phc.edu/) Afterwards, we picked up Yamato; our foreign exchange student from Japan through the LABO/4-H program. I thought I was going to then continue on to the NC state 4-H presentation competition but that did not turn out to be the case. Now, my martial arts promotion approaches. All of this before August!

I will soon be writing detailed summarys for each event this summer so check back later!

Hello bloggers.

kent14 — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:18:27 +0000

Finally got around to making a blog, lets see if I am actually disciplined enough to keep something current. :p