Albert Einstein in "The World As I See It":

"This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of the herd nature, the military system, which I abhor. That a man can take pleasure in marching in formation to the strains of a band is enough to make me despise him. He has only been given his big brain by mistake; a backbone was all he needed. This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism by order, senseless violence, and all the pestilent nonsense that does by the name of patriotism--how I hate them! War seems to me a mean, contemptible thing: I would rather be hacked in pieces than take part in such an abominable business. And yet so high, in spite of everything, is my opinion of the human race that I believe this bogey would have disappeared long ago, had the sound sense of the nations not been systematically corrupted by commercial and political interests acting through the schools and the Press."

Al here has some very nice points.
Now, why am I quoting him in a journal entry and on a topic as grim as this? My devious info explains this pretty well.. Especially the "Finnish" and "Male" lines. On account of these two it's mandatory for me to do the military or non-military service, and since the latter is really not an option since I'm not looking forward to getting the finger in my next job interview, I have to join the army. Or I'll find myself behind bars. And the service is beginning... TOMORROW! Earlier this week I got a letter stating that I got accepted to the Helsinki University of Technology (which was nice) and so I could start my studies this fall, and things in general are also better than they have been for some time.. But I have to spend the next 6-12 months running aroud in the Finnish woodlands! Yieppee!!