User:SpartHawg948

About Me
My name is William, I am 26, and I am a Staff Sergeant (SSgt) in the US Air Force Reserve. I live in Santa Clara, California, and I LOVE Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2!!! I aim to do whatever I can to improve this site, as I feel it's a great resource. Also, I am an admin, so if anyone has any questions or needs help with anything, please just let me know!

Also, not to put too fine a point on it, but I have no patience whatsoever with crybabies, whiners, speculators, and boors. If you are going to be rude to someone else, plant purely speculative info, or insult others but then start crying when someone calls you on it, you WILL be hearing from me.

Now that the seriousness is taken care of, it's my goal to make this the most informative site possible, while also keeping it a nice, friendly environment for users. Any assistance in furthering that goal is, of course, greatly appreciated, and I try to acknowledge people for their efforts as much as possible. So I hope you all enjoy the site, and hopefully you'll be hearing from me (for something good, of course!)

Words to live by

 * "Let him who desires peace prepare for war"- Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus (more commonly known as Vegetius) from De Re Militari
 * "An armed society is a polite society"- Robert A. Heinlein
 * "The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent vice of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries"- Winston Churchill
 * "Communism is the death of the soul. It is the organization of total conformity- in short, of tyranny- and is committed to making tyranny universal."- Adlai Stevenson
 * "The best laws cannot make a constitution work in spite of morals; morals can turn the worst laws to advantage."- Alexis de Tocqueville
 * "The world is not going to be saved by legislation."- William Howard Taft
 * "A man has to live with himself, and he should see to it that he always has good company."- Charles Evans Hughes

Featured Quote
This section will just be for quotes I like that aren't necessarily as concise and pithy as the ones featured above. They don't even necessarily have to be relevant to anything, I may just choose quotes from sources I like (such as George S. Patton, who provides the first of these) or works I like (such as the Anabasis by Xenophon). Good times!


 * "Communism is the opiate of the intellectuals [with] no cure except as a guillotine might be called a cure for dandruff." -- Clare Boothe Luce, IMHO one of the most remarkable women in American history. Among many other accomplishments over the course of her long and storied life, she was a war correspondent in WWII, visiting both Europe and the Pacific, served as a writer and editor for several notable magazines including Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Life, served two terms as a Republican Congresswoman from Connecticut, and served as Ambassador to Italy. She was also the first woman to be awarded the prestigious Sylvanus Thayer Award by the United States Military Academy at West Point, and she also was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Featured Bio
This time I'm going to profile Benjamin Franklin! Well, sort of...

For this bio, we'll take a look at Benjamin Franklin Butler, a prominent Civil War general and politician.

Butler was born in 1818, the son of Captain John Butler, who had served at the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. Butler attended Waterville College (today known as Colby College), graduating in 1838. He soon thereafter was admitted to the Massachusetts bar, and began his career as a lawyer, a field in which he would excel throughout his life. In 1842, he married an actress by the name of Sarah Hildreth. Butler later entered into politics, starting out as a Democrat, and securing election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1853, and the Massachusetts State Senate in 1859. Butler served as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions from 1848-1860 (four in total). At the 1860 Convention, Butler was notable for having supported Jefferson Davis for the presidential nomination, voting for him on 52 of the 57 ballots, in most cases being the only delegate to do so. Ultimately, Stephen A. Douglas, a candidate opposed, received the nomination. As such, during the ensuing campaign, Butler supported "Southern Democratic" candidate John C. Breckenridge, who ultimately finished second in the election. (Stephen Douglas, the mainstream Democratic candidate, finished fourth in the election, behind the victor, Republican Abraham Lincoln, as well as behind Southern Democrat Breckenridge, and Constitutional Union candidate John Bell.)

Simultaneous with his law and political careers, Butler had been serving in the Massachusetts Militia, being first commissioned as a Third Lieutenant in 1839. He rose fairly quickly through the ranks (his promotions tending to coincide with advancements in his political career), and by 1855 was a Brigadier General in the militia. As these promotions were largely political in nature, Butler received little real military experience.

Shortly after the outbreak of the American Civil War, rioting broke out in Baltimore. John Andrew, the Governor of Massachusetts, dispatched a militia force, commanded by Butler, to Maryland to re-establish communications with Washington, D.C., which had been cut off by the riot. Butler and the 8th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment arrived in Annapolis the next day, and Butler's expert negotiation skills allowed his force to disembark soon thereafter, permitting them to repair the railways surrounding Baltimore, which had been damaged in the riots. Soon thereafter, Butler occupied Baltimore, an action that, while effective in quelling the rioting, had been unauthorized, and caused regular Army General Winfield Scott to relieve him of command. His actions (and likely his political prominence) did, however, impress President Lincoln, who appointed Butler a Major General of U.S. Volunteers (the highest rank in the Volunteer Army). As Butler was the third officer listed on Lincoln's first list of appointees to the rank of Major General, U.S.V., this made Butler the third-highest ranking General of Volunteers of the war.

Upon his promotion, Butler was placed in command of Fort Monroe, in Virginia, as well as of the Union Army's Department of Virginia. Butler's tenure here is largely lackluster, with the only major battle fought under his command being the Battle of Big Bethel, in which one of Butler's subordinates suffered a defeat at the hands of a smaller Confederate force. The most notable feature of Butler's command of Fort Monroe was his innovative approach to slavery. Butler was petitioned by angry slaveowners who demanded the return of fugitive slaves who had fled to areas controlled by Butler's forces. Butler refused, and justified his refusal upon the innovative grounds that, as slaves could easily be used as laborers to construct fortifications and to carry out other military-oriented activities, legally they were contraband of war, and he was under no obligation to return them. This decision, using a legal loophole to circumvent the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 (which was still in effect), drew much attention, and resulted in the United States Congress mandating that all Union commanders refuse to return escaped slaves.

Later that same year, Butler was placed in command of an expeditionary force which seized Forts Hatteras and Clark from Confederate forces. In May of 1862, Butler commanded the Union Army forces which occupied New Orleans following the capture of the city by the Navy. Butler administered the city firmly, with the result that it was much more orderly than many other major Confederate cities occupied by the Union. One of Butler's actions as commander of the occupying force was to order the execution of one William Mumford, who was convicted of treason after tearing the Union flag down from the U.S. Mint building. In a rather ironic response, Confederate President Jefferson Davis (whom Butler had wholeheartedly supported in his bid for U.S. President) ordered that Butler be executed on the spot should he be captured by Confederate forces.

Butler remained in command of Union forces in New Orleans until November of 1863, at which time he was placed in command of the Army of the James, tasked with driving towards Petersburg and Richmond, and with distracting Robert E. Lee to assist General Ulysses S. Grant's forces in their own drive toward the Confederate capital. Butler's push inland quickly bogged down, reulting in what is now known as the Bermuda Hundred Campaign. Eventually, Butler was able to press on and assist Grant in the Siege of Petersburg. During the siege, and in an unusual display of exemplary military leadership, Butler led his forces to victory over forces commanded by Robert E. Lee and Richard Ewell, two much more talented commanders, at the Battle of Chaffin's Farm. The well-entrenched Confederate forces had repelled several earlier attempts by other Union commanders to turn their left flank. Realizing that the Confederates had grown accustomed to this tactic and that their forces had grown complacent elsewhere, Butler launched a series of coordinated surprise attacks upon the center and right of the Confederate positions. The attack was a smashing success. Unfortunately, soon thereafter Butler bungled an attack on Fort Fisher, which was subsequently captured by another general, and was relieved of field command by President Lincoln, ending his military career.

After the war, Butler returned to politics. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, as a Republican this time, from 1867-1875, and again from 1877-1879. He was noted as one of the leaders of the Radical Republican, and was a noted champion of civil rights, authoring the Civil Rights Act of 1871, intended to protect blacks in the South from the Ku Klux Klan, and in conjunction with Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, he proposed the Civil Rights Act of 1875, a far-reaching act that unfortunately was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1883, though many of its provisions ended up being passed into law during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Butler ran for Governor of Massachusetts several times: in 1878 unsuccessfully as an Independent, in 1879 when he was the Democratic and Greenback nominee (again unsuccessfully), and in 1882 as a Democrat, this time successfully. Butler served as Governor from 183-1884. In 1884, he stepped down to run for President as the candidate of the Greenback and Anti-Monopoly parties. Butler came in an extremely distant third, garnering 175,096 votes (1.7% of the popular vote) and carrying no states. Butler then returned to practicing law, where his skill and legal brilliance allowed him to earn upwards of $100,000 a year, a tremendous sum in those days. Butler died in 1893 at the age of 74, and was buried in a private cemetery belonging to his wife's family. He left behind a legacy as a gifted lawyer, a high-ranking military officer who, though ill-suited for field command, was an able administrator and an effective occupation officer, and a politician dedicated to the advancement of civil rights, displaying an incredibly far-sighted vision on the matter.

Tongue-in cheek thought of the, ah, who am I kidding? I'm not gonna change this daily...

 * EVERYONE BE SURE TO GO TO THE Forum:Keeping the Monaco Skin PAGE AND SIGN THE PETITION! IF YOU DON'T, I HATE YOU!!! (Ok, not really, but seriously, just sign it already!) SpartHawg948 09:17, September 29, 2010 (UTC)
 * Yay! It's October! Now, my roommate and I are both excited about this, but for very different reasons. She's excited because of Halloween, and has a countdown going for that. I, on the other hand, am psyched because in 17 days, Fallout: New Vegas releases, and in 24 days, Fable III releases! Yay! (See also - Fallout: New Vegas at The Vault, and Fable III at the Fable Wiki) So exciting! :) SpartHawg948 22:42, October 2, 2010 (UTC)
 * Kinda bored atm, so let's post this... Starting this week I will (pursuant to an assignment in my Environmental Health and Justice class) be doing some work with a local non-profit, the SPCWC (Stevens & Permanente Creeks Watershed Council). They sound like a pretty cool group, and I'm really looking forward to working with them, especially doing fieldwork. Should be fun! :) SpartHawg948 21:22, October 4, 2010 (UTC)
 * Oh yeah! Hockey season starts up tomorrow!!! And you know what that means! (Well, you actually probably don't, so I'll tell you!) The draft for my fantasy hockey league was tonight! And, even though I couldn't attend in person (stupid American History class!), and had to rely on a computer and a pre-made list to do it for me, I made out pretty well! I got my picks for First, Second, and Third rounds (an awesome L/RW and two killer goalies), and overall, out of the 17 guys on my team, twelve were ones I wanted, and the five that were assigned to me when my list ran out at Round 13 are all pretty good too. Looks like it should be a pretty good season for The Ralph Wiggums! (That's right, you heard me. My team is The Ralph Wiggums.) SpartHawg948 06:38, October 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * This just in... in a recent interview (I believe it actually took place today), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) was asked to name (in his opinion) a "Greatest Living American". What was Reid's response? Either Ted Kennedy or Robert Byrd, both of whom were, like Reid, Democratic Senators. What's odd about those answers? Well, Kennedy has been dead for over a year, and Byrd died four months ago. Yet somehow, these two deceased senators are, in Reid's mind, the "Greatest Living American"s. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. This answer really explains so much about Reid... (see it for yourself here, 0:40 in, Question #3) SpartHawg948 00:36, October 9, 2010 (UTC)
 * I must admit, I am a fan of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It's an entertaining show. But it's also frustrating as all get-out. Aside from being overly naive and preachy at times, it's clear that the concept of canon means nothing to the people who make the show. Nothing. Honestly, I can't for the life of me see why George Lucas hasn't banished them to the spice mines of Kessel already... SpartHawg948 03:49, October 9, 2010 (UTC)
 * Was just persuing YouTube, and noticed that it had recommended a video for me, the name of which caught my eye. I followed the link, and it did not disappoint. So, without further ado, I present for your viewing pleasure, Love, Mass Effect 2 Style. Enjoy! SpartHawg948 03:44, October 11, 2010 (UTC)
 * Never thought to look at this till I saw something in a Forum on another site... the Wikipedia article on Wikia has an interesting section covering the current controversy, including a relatively new bit on the new wave of bans coming down for so-called personal attacks and spam, or as a Wikia staffer calls it "threats and abuse". Honestly, from my admittedly rather libertarian standpoint, most of these cases seem to me to be nothing more than editors and admins attempting to exercise a bit of autonomy (usually by doing something as harmless as providing a link to the new location of a wiki that is leaving Wikia, or by posting a sitenotice to that effect), and then getting banned for it, but hey, what do I know, right? (Note, if Wikia staffers are reading this, please don't ban me! I swear I'm not one of those filthy secessionists!) Whatever your take on it, it's an interesting read... SpartHawg948 09:23, October 14, 2010 (UTC)
 * So, the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, has been caught red-handed engaging in electioneering. For those of you unfamiliar with this term, in most (if not all) states (including Illinois, where Mrs Obama was), it is illegal to solicit votes, display political signs, stickers, etc, discuss politics or what is on the ballot, or otherwise engage in electioneering inside of, or within 100 feet of, a polling place on Election Day. Mrs Obama, while visiting a polling place in Chicago, was stressing to the voters how important it was for them to vote to "keep her husband's agenda going". When asked for comment, a spokesman from the Illinois State Board of Elections said that it was possible that Mrs Obama may simply have been ignorant of the law, and therefor had unknowingly violated it. Mrs Obama is, by the way, a Harvard-educated lawyer, married to a Harvard-educated lawyer turned University of Chicago Law Professor who was a State and US Senator and is now President. Electioneering law should be second nature to her, and as she and her husband, being lawyers, likely no, ignorance of the law is no excuse. SpartHawg948 02:22, October 15, 2010 (UTC)
 * Sigh... another of the little wikis I love so much is leaving Wikia due to the new look. The X-Files Wiki (a decent wiki w/ 2,022 articles, though they could use quite a few more...) is shipping out, and while thusfar their sitenotice has been safe from removal, this may not be the case for long, so just in case... their new location is the Big Light Wiki. The X-Files Wiki was fortunate enough to secure a new location on a site actually affiliated with their subject matter (the Big Light Wiki being part of the Big Light Productions site, which is the the site of Frank Spotnitz, who was a writer for the series. Pretty cool... SpartHawg948 10:35, October 15, 2010 (UTC)
 * Just throwing this out there... I think Henrik Lundqvist is going to be the death of me. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!! SpartHawg948 00:27, October 16, 2010 (UTC)