Future Tense...The Beginnings

We have been able to reconstruct more information from the blog "Future Tense". What is significant here, was information found about the author, and what appears to be his next entry. It should be noted the "About Me" information was typically found as a separate entry/area of any given blog, and not within what would be considered the body of same. We may also be posting entries out of sequence depending on our ability to reconstruct them. This is why we will include the date of each post whenever possible.

[editors: The Virtual World Encyclopedia 2105 edition]

About Me

Name: Nick (Nicholas) Zachary Wilson

Location Somewhere in Maryland

Occupation Student

Interests Football, Baseball, High School Wrestling, Computers, Science Fiction, OTR(thanks Great Granddad!), Eighty-Eight string guitars, Girls, Guns, US History.

Bio Yes, my first name is Nicholas...but I answer to Nick. My middle name is in honor of my great grandfather, who is responsible for my (growing) interest in US History-especially the US Constitution. Great Grandfather was a history professor after he came back from World War II. And believe it or not he is still alive and kicking at the age of 85.

My dad is an officer in the Navy...so I guess that makes me a Navy brat ™ . We live in southern Maryland, while dad is out on deployment. So yes, the war is very important and personal to me.

Mom is pretty cool....she is a writer, and has a regular column in the local paper....but really wants to write the "Great American Novel". I have no brothers or sisters.....and kind of like it that way. When ever we transfer to another command, I always get my own room...and seem to make friends easily enough...so there is always someone to bum around with.

I have no real steady girlfriend....they take up too much time and effort and MONEY. Though I guess my best friend just happens to be a girl. Her name is Cathy, and we met years ago at dads second duty station (she's a Navy Brat ™ too). We have kept in touch via e-mail and letters over the years, and when dad got orders out here, she found out her dad was going to be stationed on the same base. Cath is a computer geek (she says goddess), where I just want to get on and play games or use various programs...she is into all the nuts and bolts, especially when it comes to software.

I am on the Varsity Wrestling squad. It's a pain to make weight sometimes, but I like the workouts....and it is a great way to blow off steam. The High School out here is ok. Most of the local kids get along with us Navy types even more so since the war "got real" (as the liberals always seem to say....like it wasn't before??).

When I have the time I like to read science fiction. Grandpa Ed (dad's dad), got me started on Ray Bradbury, and the Heinlein "juveniles". I guess the bug bit hard 'cause I have been reading all the Heinlein books I can find, along with Asimov, Clark, Weber (Honor Harrington rocks!), and Turtledove. Lately I have started on WEB Griffith's Army and Marine Corps series....it seems dad, grandpa, and great granddad all swear by them. And now I am hooked too.

My politics are (as great granddad would say) a work in progress....which is one of the reasons I am starting this blog. To try and get my thoughts straight. Sometimes getting things on "paper" helps clarify things. For right now you could say i believe in the Constitution as it was written...and the more I read about it (especially from the Federalist Papers) the more I believe this to be true. Guess great granddad IS right after all.

This is all I have for my "bio" right now. There will probably be more in future blog entries.

March 8

I have been "talking" with my dad via e-mail. He is currently on board the re-commissioned USS Missouri, stationed on or about the Persian Gulf region. He is in charge of a UAV detachment assigned to the ship. What exactly they do/observe is to the best of my knowledge, classified. As the President says, there's a war on....like were not fully aware of this just before last Christmas.

(Actually, many Americans did not act as if they were...at least before December 21st, what many are calling "Black Thursday", the day Minnesota was nuked.)

Dad says to "go ahead and blog", but remember I am putting myself on the line , and there are still a number of people out there who will want to make negative comments, argue, or generally make an ass of themselves, in my home on the net.

I say screw em! If they don't like what I am saying they can piss off. I am not writing so much for them, as I am for myself...and for trying to put down on here what is going on in my life, my (local) world, and my country, as I see it.
Comments have been left open, and I welcome those who wish to intelligently discuss or add to the conversation.

Anyhow, that's the way it is gonna be here. If I think you are making a fool of yourself in MY COMMENTS, you will be deleted, try it a second time, you will be banned. As dad would say...."That is all. Now turn to and carry out the Plan of the Day!"

Watch This Spot

Due to family commitments, and the odd hours of the job, posting may be limited to the weekends. But I don't intend to stop. And as I am able, the "Future Tense" story line will be continued, so stay tuned.

Future Tense...A Blog Story

The following is from a blog, a web log, of an American male, during what has come to be called the fourth world war (WWIV). The third, now generally considered to be the unofficial, world wide battle between nation states considered "Communist", and those who were not.

As more can be reconstructed it will be presented here, as it is understood to be a faithful representation of what life was like during this period of time in America.

[the editors: "The World Virtual Encyclopedia" 2105 edition]

March 4, 2007

Although I have been blogging for sometime...it has been mostly rants and raves...and the usual bs. So this is going to be more focused, and if I piss off a few people, then that's just the way it has to be I guess.

As you may have read in the "about me" link, Dad went back in the Navy almost before he was recalled. He e-mails whenever he gets a free minute, or the chance to do so. Mom works in town and also helps at the local American Legion with fund drives and support the troops efforts. I am still in school but expect to enlist when I am able....still not sure of which branch....but leaning towards the Marines.

From here on out, this is my journal about the War. The net has been busier then ever since it started. And I thought it would be a good way for me to collect my thoughts and highlight some of the events which were important to me (and perhaps to you as well).

March 6, 2007

"Archie" moved with what outwardly appeared as a relaxed pace through the crowd at the Mall of America. His short hair, clean shaven face, along with the appropriate clothes, marked him as "a typical college age middle class hip-hop looking kid" to shoppers and more importantly, to mall security. Even with oversized backpack and what should pass as a lap top travel case, as long as he kept his leisurely pace, should allow him to reach his goal, the men's room directly across from "Helzberg Diamonds", on the first floor of the mall.

Archie was his nick name, his real first name was Akmed. His college "friends" and fellow classmates, the damned infidels, kept adding an "r" where none existed. They pronounced it Ark-med. This, over more then a few drinking sprees, (It was most important he fit in, he was lectured again and again, by his mentors.) morphed into Arkie. Then someone decided Arkie must be short for Archie. He played along...if the fools wanted to think him easy going...and wanting to seemingly become "more Americanized" or even a bit of a fool, so much the better.

Akmed kept the charade up....along with always being seen with the over sized backpack and what appeared to be obligatory lap top case. He was majoring in computer science at the University (on a student visa) so the lap top was easy enough to justify. The oversized backpack was seen as just another idiosyncratic geek trade mark and accepted as such.

Akmed Abdul Mohammed made a quick scan of the restroom, and headed to the end stall closest to the wall. There was a large grill covering a vent, conveniently at almost floor level, on the wall. He entered, placed his backpack directly in front of him, and sat down on the toilet. Even in this position he was able to unscrew the cover on the vent, insuring he was alone, opened and entered the area just inside the opening.

The backpack was heavy....about the same size and weight as the one already inside the shaft he dropped off the day before. He knew no one would look....no one cared what one kid carried into the bathroom...as long as he wasn't scruffy looking, rude, or what the American idiots thought a "terrorist" looked like....he stood every chance of success.

His established routine, attitude, and time, as his mentors had assured him, paid off.

Akmed was a bomber. Oh not your typical uneducated zealot recruited almost daily to see their life spent in a burst of blood, guts, and shrapnel, in some meeting place of westerners in Arab lands. He was different. Akmed, with a degree in physics, trained in skills needed to assemble electronic devices of all sort, was not going to see his life on this earth cut short. But he would, Allah willing, see death come to the heartland of America. And in this largest of all Malls, the Mall of America, see hundreds perhaps thousands, die as the end result of his combining the contents of his two backpacks and the interface in his laptop case. No Akmed was not just a bomber...he was positively nuclear.

It took something less then an hour to get all the equipment in place and the timer set, then exit the washroom after securing the grate on the wall. The only thing left to do was make a very special "one time only" call on a cell phone given him for just this purpose. He dialed, left a message, then hung up, discarding the phone in route back to his apartment. Akmed smiled, the message short but clear enough for his bosses to understand; "Boom".

[reprinted from "The Atomic Bomber- A Study of Akemd "Archie" Abdul Mohammed" Harcourt Press. 2007]

The Navy's CNO Has A Vision

In a recent issue of Proceedings the monthly magazine from the Naval Institute, Admiral Mike Mullen, the Navy's current CNO (Chief of Naval Operations, and for those unfamiliar with the military and the Navy in particular, he is *our* equivalent to a CEO in the civilian world.) pens an interesting article on his vision for the 21st century Navy.

To the Admirals credit, he recognizes the need for a strong, flexible, multi- platformed Navy. The demands of "today's world" will call on the maritime services to not only project power, but, as with his example of the Navy's response to the tsunami which devastated so much of the Indian Ocean coastal communities, be a key player in providing humanitarian aid/relief as well.

They will be expected to understand and foster cooperation in cultures far different from our own. They will be ambassadors, educators, health care providers, mentors, and friends to a diverse cross-section of the global community. They must, therefore, be equipped with the tools and skills to meet these challenges and to develop as leaders.

Despite the pc speak sprinkled throughout the above statement. This is really nothing new. From at least the early 70's (and, I am quite sure, well before that) upon entering a foreign port Sailors were constantly reminded they were "America's cultural ambassadors". For many of the people we would meet, we would be their first real contact with "An American". And most took that to heart. Fact is, Sailors were as curious about the country they were visiting as the foreign nationals were about us.

In short, you take the buzz words and pc speak out.....and most of this article could have been written 20 to 30 years ago. It is really nothing new. This, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. (Boring perhaps, but not bad.) It is, after all, a puff piece viewed primarily by those who are either presently in, have since separated/retired from the Navy, or interested parties in other agencies both governmental and civilian.

Bread and Circuses

The war, supreme court nominations, immigration, government spending/deficit, you bring up any of these topics (and other hot button issues) and you will get the same replies from the political hacks/pundits/"elected officials/leaders" inside the DC beltway.

In the few months this bit of fluff on the net was *off the air* so to speak, it seems nothing has really changed. Indeed, if anything each side has become more entrenched in their respective talking points / positions, then ever before. While the folks who genuinely seek make positive changes in what the government is allowed to do as a national entity, or to the population at large, grow increasingly frustrated. They see the Democrats as leaning more and more towards unabashed statist/socialist/we damn well know what is best for you (and the world)....just drink the kool-aide damnit! And the Republicans as caring only for keeping their seats....giving lip service to their original platform of small government...protecting the constitutional guarantees of the people...and seeing the unfettered HONEST expansion of capitalism/business.

In other words the Dems are morally bankrupt. The GOP is fast becoming fiscally corrupt...in bed with the almighty dollar....vice the vapid bimbo occupying the Dems berthing. They appear to be all of the same character (or lack there of) much like the lady referenced in the old George Bernard Shaw line..."Madam, we have already established what you are...we are now just dickering on price."

So, realistically, who should we expect to see in the oval office come '08? And in this off election year, who can we do our best to support as various seats come up for grabs.

What can or should "We The People ™ " do to turn around the bread and circuses presented on a daily three ringed basis, from inside the beltway, via the pimps in their mass media outfits?

Frankly I am at a loss. The simple answer would be go to the third party...but there isn't one in this country viable enough to pose any real threat to the "big two". The Libertarian Party is based on castles in the air. There is no other political entity on either side of the political spectrum, which would pose a viable threat. Are we doomed to becoming a nation of small splinter groups who with arms twisted behind their backs, form collations in order to get their agenda's passed?

I am open to suggestions. But the current way of doing business has to change.

Out Of The Ashes

Depending on how things go in the next week or so....there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel...we shall see if it is, in fact, the *end* of said tunnel...or the light of an oncoming train. If it ain't a choo-choo, expect to see posting resuming at the Harbor.