WHOA!!! Two weeks already?

Hello Family and Friends! Dang, I can't believe it's already been two weeks since my last post! It's been really busy over here and at the same time there's not much really going on. Because of my bad memory I'm consulting my journal entries from the past two weeks to see what is worth talking about.

Of course we can talk about the Middle East and the protests in Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Iran, but as I can tell from past experiences most people do not care too much about the political, social,and economic asperations of oppressed people everywhere. That's fine. I suppose if you really cared you would watch the news about it like I do and do some extra research on the subject, but whatever, it's all good. Essentially, the point I would like to make can be quoted from my journal:

The main point of all these protests is that the age of the previous generation is falling away. The children of this generation do not want “Security” in exchange for their basic human rights and liberties. They want freedom, god-given human rights (as stated in D&C 134). We can see how giving up freedoms for security is a bad idea. There will always be bad things that happen, regardless of freedom or an iron fisted society. But even though democracies are slower than authoritarian systems, it is rare that a democracy will choose actions that are completely contrary to the benefit and welfare of the citizens. It’s not a perfect system, and we all make fun of the “corruption” (not saying there isn’t, but it’s pretty good compared to other countries), but it hasn’t led us morally astray yet. We also see that once protest gain strength, it is not prudent to try and force them away and disperse them, but that violence only fuels the flames. Like one famous Egyptian line says, “We are no longer afraid”. Machiavelli said that fear was the most important thing a ruler could have to rule effectively. But when the people see the larger goal, see the brighter light, there is no force of violence or fear short of absolute internal destruction that will prevent that fearless people from achieving what they want. Freedom’s ring never ceases, and in this new generation, if the middle eastern rulers want any hope of maintaining power in any sense of the word, then making concessions now before protests start or giving them what they want now will help those rulers more in the future than thinking they can muscle their way out of this.

Alright, so lets see what else we have here to talk about..... hmmmmm...... Well I had a super great spiritual experience on Sunday that I'm afraid I can't really talk about. But needless to say, it was wanted and needed and did not dissapoint!

I had some tests the past few weeks in Bio 100, BOM, Mission Prep, P.S. 170 and P.S. 202. I've done pretty well in all of them and there's a good possiblity that I may get a 4.0 this semester. I don't have any classes that I feel like I'm "B" material but I am hoping that it stays that way for the rest of the semester. We'll see how my latest round of tests went (especially my first of 3 in Mission Prep) and then I'll update ya and let you know.

In Air Force I completed my PFA last thurday by getting a 94.5. That's a 4.5 increase since last semester (in which I beat my semester goal for this year) but I am trying to raise it up 1.5-2 points so I can reach the Detachment goal of 96. I got 100 on the pushups (65 in a minute I think) and I got like a 95ish on the situps (51 in a minute (a 100 is 57)) and I ran my mile and a half in 10:59. A 100 on the run is less than 9:12, which is a 10 mph pace. If I can reduce my time by even a minute I'll be in the 96-97 range, so I'm going to do some more treadmill running this next month or two so I can run at a 8-10 mph pace.

The other cool thing we did was go and shoot on Saturday. We went up to the Provo Gun Club by Squaw Peak and shot for an hour and a half. I enjoyed it but it ended up being very cold. It was probably close to zero when you factored in the 15 mph wind blowing toward us. I shot 4 different guns: a M-14, M-16, AK-74 (not the 47, but the new and improved version of the 47), and the Beretta 92 (aka M9) Handgun. The pictures below are in the order above and the ammo is shown (7.62x51mm, 5.56x45mm, 5.49x39mm, and 9x19mm) It was alot of fun and while I'm not the best shot, I had fun shooting and blame some of my inaccuracy with the hand gun to the cold and the wind. But it was fun nevertheless! (The picture of me is me with the M-16).

Other than that I am pretty much doing ok. I'm tired, as usual, but I have a three day weekend to sleep in till 9 or so and take some naps. I hope everything is going well with you guys and I'll be home before you know it! Love you all!