Day 6 and Counting...

I woke up this morning and, as I do every morning, hurry over to my computer to see if I have a response from the guy that is supposed to grant me an internship. And, as I do everymorning, I walk away disappointed.

It has now been 6 days since my teacher sent an "electronic introduction" to the two of us. I wrote him the very next day, and have not heard a peep from him in return. My teacher says to give him time, that he is slow in responding to emails, and that he likes to carefully think things over. In the meantime, my life is in limbo waiting for him to come to a decision.

I also want to send my thoughts and prayers out to Elizabeth and her family who are going through some very difficult trials right now. Really puts things in perspective... here I am all worried about a job and random relationship issues, when real trouble is hitting one of my friends. God be with you, Elizabeth.

On the national front, it seems the Marines are having trouble finding new recruits... there's plenty of speculation that the draft may be reinstated (see Derf's blog as an example). What folks fail to realize is that a military draft can be a far more equitable way to get upper and middle class families to share in the burden of military service than our current "all volunteer" army. I don't want to ramble on about something that people already know about, but if anyone reading this wants me to elaborate on why a voluneer army is inequitable, just post a reply and I'll go into it.

Of course, its easy for me to say that now, when I am too old and decrepit to get drafted. I think the fear of the draft stems alot from the uncertainity of it all, combined with the horrible images put in our heads from the Vietnam anti-war protests/progaganda. I know I used to have nightmares about getting drafted (when I was a kid). My preferred solution is to have something like Israel has... where everyone serves two or three years between high school and college. That way there's less discrimination torwards the poor and the uncertainity of the draft is removed.... everyone goes, its just part of being a citizen. Oddly enough, even though the repercussions would be the same (young people forced to go into the military), removing that lottery element somehow makes it more appealing and acceptable to me. I'm curious what everyone else thinks... please comment on if you have the same reaction.

Finally, I could go on for pages about this, but I'll limit it to just a single sentence... I think our national patriotic respect for the military and those who serve in the military is moving towards glorification; and that is bothersome, it reminds me alot of ancient Rome.

Thupt.

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