Here we are at the end of yet another year. So much has happened this year not only in my life but around the world. My freshman year has begun and I am starting a new semester in less than two weeks. I now have a truck. I have eagle and am about to have my ceremony. I graduated valedictorian from my senior high school class. Many other things have happened.

 

Have I found my purpose in life? I am not exactly sure precisely what my purpose is. I know the general, but not the specific. I have not found enough opposition to what I am currently doing to think it is wrong. We will see how it goes.

 

I raise a toast, now, to all the friends I have gained this year, to those who have helped me and challenged me, and to those who have helped mold me into who I am today. Thank you all.

 

New Years resolutions? I have a few. I will try and reach out to people more this year. I will be more studious.

 

Well, time to light a sparkler. Enjoy the rest of your break as I will and am. Have a good New Year.

 

-Walden S.

It has been quite a long time since I have posted a blog that I have written. Much has happened. I am going into college on the 3^rd of September, I have earned the rank of Eagle Scout, I have been trained on how to teach violin, and I am sure other important things which I cannot remember at this point in time.

     Things have changed in the world around me as well. There has been a troop surge in Iraq, the approval rating of Congress has dropped to 3%, and the race for the seat of President has begun again.

     Enough about recent happenings. I am not a famous person for sharing my feelings. I am quite an unemotional person, however, I often type about what I think, truths I have realized, and often discuss controversial topics.

     I face college and my future is not much farther ahead of me. I do not know a lot of what I want of life. I know I want to find happiness, but I believe I have found it, and continually find and lose it. I know that I want to go into the field of science and that I want to find a good career with a nice income included. I will stay in the Word as I already do.

Recently I watched some home videos of me as a 2 and 3 year old. Looking at my brothers, friends and me when we were younger made me smile, and at times laugh. Looking back I thank God every night I remember for all of the relatives and friends who have affected me and molded me into what I am today. I thank Him for all the circumstances that have strengthened me and those which have made me wiser.

I sometimes wonder what I would be like if anything in my past was changed. If I had not grown up in a conservative, Christian, and middle income family, I would likely not be able to see the world from the many viewpoints I see it in. If I only had friends with parents who were extremely strict, I would not learn from my friends’ mistakes with people of the opposite sex. If I had parents who watched me every second of every minute of every hour of every day, I would not learn from any mistakes I made. If my parents had not gotten me involved with the Boy Scouts of America and music I would not have survival or first aid knowledge or the large amount of creativity I have.

I also wonder at what the future holds. Who I am going to marry, or if I have already met her. I wonder about the future of our country and about future war. I wonder about the triumphal second coming of Christ our Savior.

Finally, I would like to say that I feel that I have lived a fulfilled life so far. Though I would love to get married I would not be driven to suicide if I did not get married. I would not care if I died tomorrow. I would only regret that I did not share the Gospel with every single person I saw in my life.

 

What this blog was supposed to make my audience feel, I don’t remember. I guess this is one of the first times I have used a blog for what it usually is used for-an online journal.

 

I hope you enjoyed this.

 

-Walden S.

Surge Is Working; Defeatists Don’t Care

By the day, evidence is growing that the U.S. “surge” in Iraq, declared a failure even before it had begun, is in fact working. The U.S. military, as usual, is performing courageously on the field of battle, dislodging Al Qaeda and its allies from strongholds, reducing their sanctuaries and doing it all with minimal civilian casualties. As U.S. forces kill and capture the thugs, more and more Iraqis are willing to throw in with us. In Anbar province, U.S. forces have closed a deal with Sunni and Shiite tribal leaders resulting in joint military operations against Al Qaeda.

Al Qaeda has other problems too. Its bloodthirsty, barbaric tactics are causing a backlash even among some of its own members. In one neighborhood in South Baghdad, locals are switching sides to support us after Al Qaeda thugs started cutting off people’s faces with piano wire. Even an Al Qaeda cell leader crossed over and has provided the U.S. with vital intelligence information. When asked why he had abandoned Al Qaeda, he replied, “Because I’m sick of it and I hate them, and I am done.” (By the way, you’re not likely to read such reports in any of the domestic media. I learned of this report from the London Times.)

But here in Washington, powerful people, sadly, have a stake in our defeat in Iraq. Senator Harry Reid has repeatedly announced that we have already lost. Seventy liberal members of the House of Representatives, along with Republican Ron Paul of Texas, have written to President Bush warning him that they will not vote for more funding for our troops unless all of them are “redeployed” out of Iraq before Bush leaves office. General Petraeus is supposed to bring his report to Congress in the next few months, but no mater what he says, the surrender contingent in Congress has already made up its mind.


Clinton vs. The Pentagon

In late May, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sent a letter to the Pentagon requesting to see the Defense Department’s plans for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq should Congress succeed in cutting off funding or otherwise forcing America’s retreat. Last Monday, she received a response from Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman. Here is an excerpt of his letter to Senator Clinton:

“Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon, and Somalia. Such talk understandably unnerves the very same Iraqi allies we are asking to assume enormous personal risks in order to achieve compromises on national reconciliation, amending the Iraqi constitution, and other contentious issues. …

“I assure you, however, that as with other plans, we are always evaluating and planning for possible contingencies. As you know, it is long-standing departmental policy that operational plans, including contingency plans, are not released outside of the department.”

A spokesman for Senator Clinton responded by calling Edelman’s letter “outrageous and dangerous.” Friday, Senators Clinton and John Kerry (D-MA) held a press conference to announce that they would introduce legislation demanding the Pentagon draft “a plan to redeploy American troops” in Iraq and brief Congress on that plan.


Abortion Relapse

In the aftermath of last year’s elections, the new Democrat-controlled Congress told us they would not make abortion a priority during its time in power. Countless news stories and quotes from prominent liberal congressmen lent credibility to the idea that in the new Congress, bipartisanship and compromise would rule the day. Unfortunately, after only a few months in power, congressional liberals have taken aim on a long-standing policy that bars international family planning services from performing or promoting abortions if they receive federal funds. President Bush has pledged to veto the legislation, but, as I explain in my most recent Human Events column, the Left’s abortion relapse should concern pro-lifers as they look ahead to 2008.