It is me Troy. I am posting from the future. The year 2012!

It is me Troy.  I am posting from the future.  The last post that past Troy had written was in 2008.  I am posting from the year 2012.  Many things have changed and yet many things haven't.   Past Troy did find a nice job working as an optician.  It wasn't exactly what he wanted, but it has been sufficient.  He did become a recluse and lived in his brother's basement for many years. His post-college years were hard for him.  He lost self-esteem, friends, relationships, hope, dreams, money, religion, and almost gave up completely.

Yet, in the year 2012, I do have hope for a brighter future where I will find a new career and also to move into a new place. I currently interested in finding Frame or Lab rep positions.  I am hoping to get an interview for a Lab rep position for Walman optical for the Utah/Idaho area. (I didn't get the job) If I get this job, I could be making pretty sweet money. Dating will become important to me and there will be some girls that I would like to ask out.  I have gotten a crush on a coworker, I am pretty sure she knows it too. (She had a boyfriend. Then she got engaged, bought a house, and got married in a month's time) Since she is new to the job, I have a lot that I need to know about he.  When it comes to dating, shyness is an issue. also scheduling.  I have taken up working on my brother's fix and flip house which can take up a lot of time on the weekends.  I should be moving into the fix and flip house this weekend.(Found out that there was a move in delay. We needed to finish certain parts of the house before we can get a certificate of occupancy. So still working on it.)

In order to discover the outcome of those dates and the potential career or even if I really do end up moving into the fix and flip house, we will need to ask 2015 Troy. I am sure he knows. (Troy of 3 months later knows)

Well, it is late and I am sure that Future-waking-up-in-the-morning Troy won't be happy when his alarm goes off.

Bloggercizing!

I need to write here more often.

Ditch Digging

I get house projects to do while I am living here in my brother's basement. (I do get paid, but I still need to do them if I plan on continuing to live here) My last big assignment was to paint the fence, that took about 10 hours and I was hoping to know Karate afterwards. Sadly I was disappointed. I don't feel any quicker with my blocking than I did before. If only Pat Morita was here shouting at me while doing it, perhaps I would make sense of it all. Oh, I digress. So now my current house projects are digging a larger window well and painting the garage door. The window well project has been going on for almost a month now without any major progress. We had to remove the metal corrugated wall and then begin removing dirt on all sides then lift them up onto the deck and dump the dirt into a pile in the yard. This has been a MAJOR task. I swear I have moved about 2 tons of dirt with shovels and buckets; over my head or pulling them up a rope (no pulley system). My back aches and I tire easily being in a crouching position only using a shovel the length of my arm and a blade as big as my hand. I wonder how people ever were able to dig graves 6 feet deep, construct trenches in times of war, how prisoners escaped by digging tunnels, or how people use to dig pit latrines in the old days. My whole reason for digging this well is to be able to make part of the basement into a basement with an adequate escape route with a latter and all that. The window itself remains open day and night. This could be an excellent point of entry. To add to the hassle, Todd's kids love to crawl into the dirt and track mud all over my 'bedroom'. My cat, Faye, also thinks the dirt is fun and will walk over me while I sleep in my bed. I find paw prints on my shirts.
I just hope that all this dirt digging and lugging will be completed soon. I think I have just about had it.

Strange Changes

Ok... So where did I leave off. I was at BYU-Idaho and I was in school trying to finish out that Communications degree. Fast forward your VCR tapes and push Pause so I can give you a recap of what you missed out on. I did graduate from college with a degree. My parents drove all they way from Virginia to Idaho to see my graduate and then we celebrated. My brother Todd also drove out from Fort Collins, Colorado with his family to go to Yellowstone. The parents and I joined Todd and crew for a few days in Yellowstone. It was good to get to be with family again. Memories were made, sights were seen, and time just slipped by gracefully.
Now, since I jumped out of the puddle that was Rexburg, Idaho and into the big world of careers, professionals, job experience, and me. I needed a place to land where I wouldn't drown. So Todd offered up his basement in Colorado where I could look for jobs, work on my resume, and enjoy life without rent. So a month has gone by, I haven't gotten a real job. Bill collectors are foaming at the mouth, waiting excitedly for me to get my first paycheck so they can take a bite at it. I have made a few friends here in Colorado and then I made some friends outside of it too. It tough when you even know if you belong where you are currently residing.
The job hunt has been disappointing. I think I have thrown my resume out to 20 different job openings. I only had one interview and only a few contact emails saying "Nice try. We have someone more qualified." What do I do? Is my resume not so pristine? Is my online portfolio trashy? (Yes...) Does college not count as practical experience? So now I see that my net worth is not what those college professors said it was. And I feel like they didn't prepare me for these kind of disappointments. Did I even graduate in the right field? Communications? And now I seen this commercial from Best Buy commercial (couldn't find the video) where they talk about a family sending their son off to college where he wanted to major in communications and I quote, "But they worried." What? Is communications a field that your family will worry about your future? I thought that was Art, Music, Drama, or English majors. Well I guess I didn't get the memo, my family didn't tell me they worried that communications could be a hard field to get into? Why didnt' I do something more useful? Why am I not Dr. Troy Richmond? I couldn't pass chemistry....
So should I go back to school? Grad school would help for sure, right? Or am I fooled
Anyway, I am going back to work in the in the job field I do have experience in and no schooling. That is in Sale/Retail/Creation/Repair of glasses. I do have almost 5 years experience in optical know-how. It will be another week before I can start. It will be another 3 weeks before I get a new paycheck.
Day after day, I sit in a cold, wet, dark, basement of despairs; sending out resumes, sleeping, playing videogames, and listening to life above. I hardly come out to see the light of day. Still, I hope for better times. I want to be self sufficient. I want feel accomplished. I want to get out of debt.
Life is on hold till I can find a job or find a woman that want to be my sugar-momma. (any takers?) Guess I am gonna wait it out. If nothing improves, I will be turn into a monster in the basement. I would never see the light of day, I would grow pale and my eyes would adapt to the darkness. My family that hates me would throw apples and old food at me through a little hole. I would be detested and hated. Eventually I would like to tell him that the monster is me, Troy, but they wouldn't understand or care much either. Kafka could write a story on me.

Many hours for Bangladesh

I think I just spent about 12 hours straight working on my paper, "The Bloody Origin of Bangladesh" It's now 9:20am. Sweet! I am not even tired, but I might just pass out suddenly.

Because you want to be enlightened, feel free to read and critique. I think I got a little sloppy once I started revising it. It was really good about 5 hours ago when I didn't have to prove citation. Then I started editing out parts and hopefully it all still makes sense. In no way is it perfect. I am just glad to be finished.

enjoy.

The Bloody Independence of Bangladesh
Troy Richmond
Asian History – Professor Eric Walz

The call for independence can unite people with separate ideas and customs. Similar to the secession of India and the organization of Pakistan, the liberation of Bangladesh is yet another example of people of different religious sects, ethnicity, castes, and political statuses that look past their cultural diversity to accomplish a common objective of equality and freedom from the domineering power of West Pakistan.

The story of Bangladesh begins with a complex origin filled with betrayal, suffering, and death. After the British withdrew control of India in 1947, there was an Islamic movement to separate India from the new all-Muslim nation of Pakistan. During this time, many Muslims traveled to the new country of Pakistan while many Sikhs and Hindus left Pakistan, crossed the border, and relocated to India. East Bengal, which was mostly Muslim, joined this movement and accepted being part of the formation of Pakistan in 1948. [1] Pakistan included the area of East Bengal and was divided between its East and West provinces, over 1,200 miles apart spanning across Indian Territory. What was once East Bengal became East Pakistan; and almost instantly problems between the two provinces began to arise. [2] The governmental control of Pakistan was held in the West, but most of the Pakistani population was located in the East. Even though the two areas are Islamic, there are many factors that begin to divide them as a nation. [3] West Pakistan began to exploit East Pakistan in their jute trading, economics, politics, and development.[4] Conflicts would quickly rise and the East Pakistan Bengalis begin to see a call for equality. Soon after the creation of Pakistan one Bengali assembly representative recognized the differences between the wings and said, “A felling is growing among the Eastern Pakistanis that Eastern Pakistan is being neglected and treated merely as a ‘Colony’ of West Pakistan.” [5] Under West Pakistan oppression, the Bengalis will once again feel the need to be liberated from exterior rule.

One of the first decisions of the new Pakistani government was to establish a national language. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Governor-General of Pakistan, declared that the lingua franca, the national language, of Pakistan would be the Islamic language of Urdu. The people of East Pakistan opposed this decision based on the fact that most of the population spoke Bengali rather than Urdu. In East Bengal, only 1% of the nation spoke Urdu, with 98% spoke Bengali.[6] If the Bengali were forced to change their language, it would cause chaos and reorganization of education, trade, politics, and military and civil functions. In 1952, as an act of resistance, people of East Pakistan protested in and began the Bengali Language Movement. On February 12th, 1952 thousands of Bengali students, led by Mujibur Rahman, marched in the city of Dacca and gathered in opposition to Jinnah’s declaration of the national language. The police arrived and opened fire on the crowd, 24 students were killed, 400 others injured. [7] February 12th was henceforth remembered as the Language Movement Day and from this catastrophe a strong sense of unity was built among the Bengali. The Bengali Language Movement spurred on civil disobedience in the form of marches.

The non-Muslim League parties that opposed the political holding of West Pakistan’s Muslim League, joined with the Awami Muslim League (later known as the Awami League) became known as the United Front.[8] From the combined support of the United Front and the Awami League, the United Front gained political power and won 223 seats, 142 of which controlled by the Awami League, held the majority in the Pakistani National Assembly. With the Awami League in control the majority, they would then have control enough to decide the fate of East Pakistan. In 1956, with the tide of turned, Fazlul Haq, Bengali representative and the new Chief Minister, declared that Bengali would be one of Pakistan’s national language. Fazlul also announced plans for the independence of Bengal.[9] After the success of the United Front, the Pakistani central government abolished the United Front and arrested 659 members and Fazlul Haq was forced refute his claim for independence and state that his purpose was not to separate the provinces of Pakistan. [10]

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, an East Pakistani statesman, was elected as the Awami party president in 1966. Soon after he joined office, he proposed the Six-Point Demands. These demands suggested that West Pakistan was not treating East Pakistan with fairness and Rahman pointed out several areas of concern. [11] The list of demands asked for fairness in the following: 1. Political representation. 2. Defense and foreign affairs. 3. Currency and economics. 4. Taxation 5. Trade and exchange. 6. An independent East Pakistani paramilitary force. [12]

These demands were rejected by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his Pakistan People’s Party, and ultimately the rest of West Pakistan. Sheikh Rahman still gained support on his Six-Point Demands and was voted to become the Prime Minister of East Pakistan. Because the central government was in opposition to the Awami League, Bhutto and the President of Pakistan, Yahya Khan, refused to allow Rahman to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan. [13] After the rejection, Rahman called for all Muslims in East Pakistan go on strike in protest. Similar to Ghandi, Sheikh Mugibur Rahman promoted the use of non-violent protest to advance the status of the Bengali, but the oppressive Pakistani government was not exactly as civilized as the British ruling power of India and President Khan forced martial law on East Pakistan and violence ensued. [14] Again the Bengalis people and the Awami League unified their efforts to resists the repressive power of the Pakistani government.

Talks between Sheikh Rahman, Bhutto, and, President Khan failed. Then,West Pakistan, needing to control the outbreaks of resistance in East Pakistan devised a military plan to curb Bengali nationalism, regain control over major cities, and to take out military and political opposition. In March, 1971 the Pakistan military began Operation Gestapo (or Searchlight) and began invading cities in East Pakistan. On March 25, 1971, President Khan ordered his troops into full military action. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman went into hiding but was eventually captured and taken to West Pakistan and held prisoner by Bhutto under the threat of death. [15]

West Pakistan continued to try to suppress the rising Bengali revolution, but its effect became all out civil war. To aid in the military campaign the West Pakistani government invited Islamic extremist groups such as the Razakars. The Razakars were Pakistani Muslim loyalists within the borders of Bangladesh that contested the liberation. [16] These extremist groups as well as the Pakistani military took advantage of the right to warfare and began killing many innocents and raping women, committing serious war-crimes and one of the most devastating genocides in recent history. It was the Hindus living in Bangladesh that had suffered the most by the hands of the Islamic extremists.[17] This was probably due to the continuing violence and longstanding religious conflicts between Hindus and Muslims. Whatever the reason, the Pakistan military and Islamic extremists were ruthless in their crusade.

With the Bangladesh Liberation War in full swing, Bangladeshi freedom fighters, called the Mukti Bahini, used guerrilla tactics to defend their cities and the Bengali people. The Mukti Bahini were Bangladesh men from every status, employ, and ethinicity. What they held in common was the desire for freedom and they were willing to give their life for it. They were not initially organized, but India had provided arms and training in an effort to aid them in their cause. Their combined strength proved successful against the better equipped Pakistani. There was a unity among the Mukti Bahini and even joining the ranks of Indian soldiers that allowed them to overcome the hardships of war and the defeat their enemy. Eventually the Pakistani military began to fail. [18] Pakistan was forced to surrender Dhaka, on December 16th, 1971. Despite Pakistan losing the war, Bangladesh had suffered major casualties: military and civilian. National Geographic reported that the genocide resulted in deaths numbering up to three million. [20]

After India had defeated Pakistan and Bangladesh was liberated. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was released from Bhutto’s prison and returned to Bangladesh to become the first President of Bangladesh. [21] His governing party was not accustomed to ruling a nation; instead they were patriots and oppositionists. After a few years as President of Bangladesh, Mujibur Rahman, was assassinated. [22]

From the example of Bangladesh, it is clear that gaining independence and forming a new nation does not happen without unity. Similar to the independence of India, the people of Bangladesh overcame the complexities of their diversity and demonstrated their dissatisfaction with the tyranny of West Pakistan. The moment peaceful movements failed to gain equality and support; the charge from Sheikh Mujibar Rahman to seek liberation and a collaborative military effort against West Pakistan began. The Hindus, the Muslims, the Sikhs, and others; all culturally different, yet all still Bengali, fought and died together with a purpose of freedom from Western Pakistan. With the aid of India the battle was won, but the Bengali had ultimately earned their sovereignty through the strength of unity in spite of their cultural diversity.



N:
1 Subrata Roy Chowdhury, The Genesis of Bangladesh: A study in International Legal Norms and Permissive Conscience, (New York: Asian Publishing House, 1972), 1.
2 Chowdhury, 1.
3 Chowdhury, 1.
4 Chowdhury, 9-15.
5 Chowdhury, 24.
6 Chowdhury, 7.
7 Chowdhury, 24, 43.
8 Chowdhury, 25.
9 Chowdhury, 26.
10 Chowdhury, 26-27.
11 Chowdhury, 43.
12 Craig Baxter, Syedur Rahman, Historical Dictionary of Bangladesh: Third Edition, Jon Woronoff, ed., (Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2003), 182. and Chowdhury, 50.
13 Chowdhury, 60-61.
14 Chowdhury, 61-62. and Baxter, Rahman, 19.
15 Chowdhury, 121. and Baxter, Rahman, 19.
16 Baxter, Rahman, 173.
17 Chowdhury, 111-113.
18 Chowdhury, 153-154. and Baxter, Rahman, 19.
19 Baxter, Rahman, 19.
20 Baxter, Rahman, 19.
21 Baxter, Rahman, 20.
22 Baxter, Rahman, 20.

B:
Baxter, Craig and Rahman, Syedur, Historical Dictionary of Bangladesh,
Jon Woronoff, ed., 3rd ed., Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2003.

Chowdhury, Subrata R., The Genesis of Bangladesh: A study in International Legal Norms and Permissive Conscience, New York: Asian Publishing House, 1972.

Wasn't that fun? Did you learn something?

Quick thought

Why does the future always have a lower case 'i' as a prefix?

Is the future always in first person? Seems pretty self-centered to me...






...then again, Nintendo's future is all about a collective; "wii"



i

Time Crisis

Ever watch 24? I never do, but I understand the premise. Like Jack it is crunch time, only he is fighting terrorists and I am here at college. My terror is real though. Real quick info: It was suppose to be my last somewhere, but along the way I was suppose to complete 3 more credits. I am now one class away from wearing black robes and a hat with a silly tassel I would through into the air. So... I guess that whole boring graduation thing will have to wait till later. Yes, I digress, college suddenly became really tough with essays, exams, projects, and more projects. I digress some more, like 24, my life has a digital clock reminding me how much time I have left. Tick Tick Tick... I am suppose to figure out the mind-blowing problems and complete impossible tasks within 24 hours. Oh but wait, I need to mention in all that school hoopla, I also need to attend a wedding reception, attend a mandatory performance of Mozart's three hour opera, The Magic Flute, And to top everything off I need to pack up and move out by of my flat by Monday. Monday also happens to be the day I am suppose to finish and post a website AND I have turn in a paper on the Independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan. And here I am now, not packing, not editing XHTML/CSS files, and not researching how the Mukti Bahini liberation fighters used guerrilla tactics against the Razakar Islamic extremist groups and the tyrannical military of W. Pakistan in 1971.



Doesn't seem like a good time to plead for an extension? Maybe reset the ticking 24 clock? On the website? I could maybe, hopefully, probably hold back the date. On the Bangladesh paper? Not a chance. It is actually the third chapter of a group paper that explains the liberation of India from British rule, the creation of Pakistan from India, and then my part about Bangladesh. My research paper comrades will have their parts done and will be ready to turn them in on time. Imagine the embarrassment if I didn't get my part completed. Sad faces, I am sure.

You know what? I am pretty positive everything will work out just fine. While the clock is counting down, Jack Bower might get hurt, his daughter might get kidnapped, and he might kill someone he trusted, but in the end he saves the people he was hired to protect, right? I never watched more than an episode, but isn't that what a true hero does in the name of America? Well, Jack Bower, if you are out there, you have 24 hours to do my paper, finish a website, and move my crap. If you can do that, I will happily call you my hero. Time's a ticking...