3

It's not even Turkey Day yet, and I already have three days (albeit just a few runs per) on the mountain.

I will not complain about skiing on or near Thanksgiving.

The rocks make you pay attention to your line.

I'd have four days on mountiain, if only this !#$% plumber would show up.

Hooray.

The elections are over! The American People have spoken. I may not be doing cartwheels over what they have to say…

The Democrats are in charge! The economy will soon be reported as the best ever (although nothing will have changed from where it is now), Islamo-Nazi's will stop hating us, Lions will lie down with lambs, the sun will shine on sweet smelling rainbows, and ML Soccer will become the most popular professional sporting events in the land! (OK I went too far witht he last one)

Government will still be SNAFU (In the truest sense). That's the way our Founding Fathers designed it (man, I hope they knew their shit - they've had a pretty good track record)!

Will our new Democrat Overlords distinguish themselves with their leadership in the next two years? Or will we see bitter recriminations, revenge and jockeying for position for ’08?

I will wait to see. Plan for the worst and hope for the best.

I was going to blog about firing Ken Melman from the reigns of the RNC. They beat me to it.

I will now try to keep a running tally of Bush Loyalists that have been thrown under the bus:

Don Rumsfeld (Can we keep him on just to do the briefings?)
Ken Melman (Happened on your watch, buddy)

Soon to be thrown:
John Bolton (I still wish someone could show me exactly – and specifically what he’s done wrong in the past)

Next: Dick Cheney? (To be replaced by a certain Senator from AZ who REALLY wants to be President?)

Dear Democrats,

More restrictive gun control legislation is silly, and a good way to loose big in '08.
(BTW- I'd vote for Nancy Pelosi LONG before I'd vote for Hillary Clinton.)

Sincerely,

Single Issue Crazed American


Also-

I would like to state for the fact that 1) America is still (and will be for the foreseeable future) the greatest bunch of people on the face of the planet
2) to all 3rd world countries: please notice yet another in a long line of peaceful transfer of power over the next few months…

***Next Topic***
In all seriousness - Happy Birthday, Leathernecks! May the Corps continue it's proud tradion for at least another 231 years! I'll give a mighty ex-Army HUAH and a loud "Thank You" to the good ol' USMC! Go have a good party!

Loyal readers (all two of you), if you know any Marines, or relatives of, wish them a happy birthday. I had my daughter wish her teacher (whose son is a newly-minted leatherneck) a "Happy Birthay Marine Corps!", brought tears to the teacher's eyes, then to mine...

***Next Topic***
Ski season starts next week. Screw keeping a tally of the Republican Martyrdom, I shall dedicate my time to keeping a tally of my days on Mountain… That guarantees a better return…

Broken floodgates

Wow, just one post and a flood of things come to mind...

Voting - If I was in charge, I'd increase taxes for every adult American by $200.
Then I'd give a tax credit for $200.00 for proof of voter registration and voting.
Bye-bye national debt.

NASA - many kudos to NASA and Director Mike Griffin for deciding to send a mission to Hubble. My earlier post on NASA still stands, however...

The Honorable Senator John Kerry (D-MA) is a clown and an arrogant idiot. Bill Clinton may have "loathed" (his word) the American Military, but he at least had the brains not to publicize his opinion, and (for the most part) acted the part of Commander in Chief.

Certain mountain towns I know of have enough swimming pools.

The US Army should adopt the HK416 (www.hkdefense.us/corporate/media/pdf/416revised4-5-05.pdf )

While on that rant - since HK has made the SA80 (British Rifle) and the M16 (HK416) into decent weapons, anyone think that they might be able to come up with a fix to the Mini-14? I'm thinking a piston instead of direct gas, a beefier barrel (I do NOT need a Bayonet lug, btw) and a better Magazine (or an adatper that'll take NATO STANAG 20/30 rounders). I do want another Mini-14, but the accuracy of them accuracy are a bit of a liability, and if that little gas port gets fouled, overpressure in a Mini-14 is not fun (blown case, shrapnel, etc). Anyone got a line to HK?

Bad Blogger

I've been busier than the proverbial "one legged man in an ass kicking contest"

'tis tough getting the ol' mountain redoubt prepped for the oncoming winter.

Tomorrow: At the least all Americans who have the responsibility / right - should get out and vote - regardless of party - your voice needs to be heard.

that being said :

My only political commentary is from a Democrat, whose works I like a great deal:

Orson Scott Card (if you don't know who he is - read Ender's Game)

Read it here:
http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2006-10-29-1.html

Rembember if you don't vote, you are not allowed to bitch about politics, with out having yourself branded as a clown or "ass-hat".

Vote dammit!

I have been a bad Blogger

I have been a bad Blogger. I haven’t posted in weeks!

Apologies to the multitudes clamoring to hear me opine on things big and small.

I do have one person to blame – at least for the past three days of not posting: Max Brooks.

Yes, Max Brooks, son of Mel “Its good to be king” Brooks. (High Anxiety is still one of the funniest movies ever made – but I digress)

I don’t think it’s just because I’m sleep deprived (again, his fault), but I am of the mind that Max Brooks is one of the best authors on the planet. He follows the first FUNDAMENTAL rule of good fiction (science fiction or otherwise): he creates a world with it’s own rules and laws, and then peoples it and has those people live in that world realistically according to the rules and laws. Soon after posting my own little treatise on combating the legions of the undead, a friend of mine pointed me in the direction of two works.

The great: The Zombie Survival Guide

http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/zombiesurvivalguide/

and the truly excellent: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/worldwarz/

I read The Zombie Survival Guide in two days.

I read the first 200 pages of World War Z Last night. Max Brooks has the ability to create characters in a quick, limited time and they really jump off the page and you feel for them. He’s able to create emotional attachement in just a few pages. Not to mention, depictions of the Battle of Yonkers is outstanding. Huzzah!

Highly recommended for anyone who has:
1) Ever been entertained by a zombie movie
2) More importantly: ever been entertained by good, believable fiction

My hats off to you, Mr. Brooks. I hope Brad Pitt’s production company, Plan B, (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816711/) does two things:
1) gets World War Z right (by that I mean treating it seriously – it’s an allegory for a great many things in our modern world)
2) Pays you a LOT of money

Please read these books. Halloween is around the corner. They are riveting. The first is quite funny. The second is gripping, serious fiction.

But don’t blame me if you fall behind in your blogging…

What!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

If the following is true:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/26/wchina226.xml

I am going to be quite upset.

Attacking American assets (Satellites) in neutral territory (Earth Orbit).

At the least this should be considered piracy. At the most it should be considered an act of war.

Incremental attacks. If our administration is complicit in the knowledge of this, and we aren't at least threatening to blow their satellites out of the sky, might just embolden our friends to the east.

Why do we put up with these incremental attacks?

The Islamic Republic of Iran

President Ahmadinejad spent the last two paragraphs of his speech calling for the arrival of the "perfect human".

I'm not an expert in Islamic end times and prophecy, but ain't there a WHOLE lot of bad things that are supposed to happen first? My limited expierence in religion makes me think that the end times are not the happiest for people who do not believe in the "true way" - take your pick. Westerners, Americans, and all non-believers (no matter the polictical cant) automatically qualify for the e-ticket to Iblis (Arabic demon, if I'm not mistaken?).

The man is not a "nut-job". He is nothing less than a brilliant, articulate, educated and devout scholar, who is obviously determined to set the stage for the return of the 12th Imam or Mahdi (again, I refer you to the last two paragraphs of his recent address to the UN General Assembly). That simply makes him categorically dangerous to all of us in the "Western World" (that means you, atheistic communists in North Korea, Cuba and China). When he is done with us, he will come after you. Says so in the Koran.

Prove me wrong.

Citgo

I'd like all of you out there in Cyberspace to keep in mind, no matter what your opinions of President Bush, it is not at all cool for Mr. Hugo Chavez to come to the UN - in New York City and call our President names.

Hugo Chavez thinks that President Bush is the root of all evil, yet is incapable of not selling us a VAST quantity of oil on a daily basis.

I invite everyone to look into who owns Citgo Gasoline.

I, for one will not be buying ANYTHING from a Citgo Filling station, or the attached convenience store.

I'll help Sr. Chavez reduce his reliance on American dollars.

I do agree with Sr. Chavez that perhaps it is time the UN moves on from New York.

Dear Mr. President Chavez...

To the Honorable President Chavez
Caracas, Venzuela

Dear Sir:

Nice Speech.

Please cease and desist your name calling of my President, especially while speaking in New York City. Please keep in mind that if my President was truly the devil, you'd be able to watch all of your precious oil fields ablaze. The fires would be caused by stand off range land attack and anti-ship missiles that would be provided to you free of charge by the United States Navy, who would also be happy to relieve you of your Navy and Air Force. We won't even give you anything to shoot back at.

Relieved of the onerous burden of all of those petrodollars, I believe you might have a bit of a change in tune, especially when you can't pay your creditors in Russia and China. Then, a month later when your cash and oil reserves dry up, have fun trying to pay your army. You know, the guys that put you into office?

Also, sir, any stink of sulphur that you may have smelled whilst standing at the poduim of the General Assembly, can quickly be explained by two things:

Occam's Razor:
1) Do you really think that George Bush is Satan? If so, then, you must believe that your G-d or gods will protect you.
Corrollary - I doubt you are Muslim. Your friend, the Honorable President Ahmedinejad, will probably want to plant your head on a stake right after he's done with us. Remember that the next Caliphate will be global. If you don't belive me, ask him or your ol' buddy Fidel next time you see him.

-or -

2) The famous adage: "He who smelt it, dealt it." Next time don't get extra sauerkraut on that hot dog from Vinnie's hot dog stand before you give a speech to the UN.

All I know is that I will try to avoid buying gasoline from stations that get their oil from Venezuela.

Have a good trip home, sir. Don't let the door hit you in your Potentate - Dictator-a$$.

Sincerely,

The Crazed American

This whole no news thing...

... is great! Head in the sand works every time. I am not nearly as cranky as once I was. I'm also figuring, if the world goes and ends, I'llprobably be able to figure it out, pretty darn quick.

It is cutting down on the urge to blog, however.

I did hear about the whole row over the Pope's comments.
To paraphrase, "if you dare call Islam intolerant, you should expect violence."
That's brilliant!

I do have to admit, I am following the adventures of the intrepid Crew of the OV-104 Atlantis!

Wonder if those guys were members of the Ironworkers Union Locals that they had overflight of? Do union rules apply to LEO? Anyone?

I'm done with it!

No more news! I'm taking a break from the spin obsessed, party driven rat race.

I can't stand the lack of impartiality in the news, with so called "journalists" (Left and Right) parading their opinions as fact. I am truly done with spin.

Note to all politicians: If there is ever a non partisan candidate that runs for any office, and I can vote for them, I will. I can't stand Democrats (especially for they have no ideas, aside from being against anything the President is for) or the Republicans (who have ideas, but most of them are bad).

Why can no one in office think for themselves?

So for the next week, I will not go to the news sources that I previously frequented. At the end of that week (after all of the self flagellation / hero worship that 9/11x5 brings).

Somebody let me know if something really big and important happens?

Third party, anyone?

Why the sudden change of heart?

Read this:
http://www.calendarlive.com/TV/cl-wk-channel7sep07,0,6155461.story?coll=cl-tv-features

This would be political censorship of a filmed work. Not that this work portrayed itself as anything other than a dramatization based on a variety of sources. If this really happens, this is a bad portent. This means that if you don't like someone saying something about someone or something that you did, even in an artistic endeavour, then if you have money fame or power, you can apply physical pressure to have it curtailed or redacted.

If the reports are true, we are in a REAL bad place as a nation.

Of course, in this "Nation of Laws" money, fame and power can allow one to do quite a bit.

If anyone needs me, I'll be at the grocery store loading up on canned goods, for this has to be a sign of the coming Apocalypso... (Good Jimmy Buffett Song)

Or am I just Crazed?

Infrequent Posting

Toiling in the Salt Mines and taking care of the Queen Crazed American, Princess Crazed American and upkeep on the Mountain Redoubt is tough work! Not to mention there was Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe Marathon on Discovery Channel last night. I do love that show, ‘cause when I think my job at the Salt Mine sucks, I can tune into that show and say, “Hey, I don’t have to clean out septic tanks for a living!” Man, some people have nasty jobs. Hope they pay well.

Posting is irregular – apologies.

Just waiting for someone to blame the stingray induced death of a “highly enthusiastic” Australian Wildlife Wrangler on George W. Bush. I’m sure someone will try to pin it on him, wondering why the jolly, good natured Crocodile Hunter wasn’t wearing the appropriate body armor on his snorkeling trip to the reef…

Obviously the Neo-Cons at work…

Crocodile Hunter, Rest in Peace. Still amazed you lasted as long as you did, to be perfectly honest – I took bets on your Mortality in college…

-unrelated-
If anyone cares, the first “webisode” of Battlestar Galactica (Season 2.75?) is out – you can see it by just going to www.scifi.com

-unrelated-
I now have new skis. This Crazed American is quite happy.

On Zombies

Something different this day...

The Crazed American is a fan of good Zombie Movies. George Romero and Tom Savini should be put on Mt. Rushmore in my humble opinion. I am not talking about shlocky cheap ripoffs, but Zombie movies that take the subject matter semi –seriously and let decent actors put decent writing and story development to the flesh munching, stumbling and mumbling test.

Good Zombie Movie: Night of the Living Dead (original and remake – although the original takes the cup for the better film, although Tony Todd is one of the most unrecognized thespians in Hollywood)

Bad Zombie Movie: Return of the Living Dead III. While the acting wasn’t horrible (it was real close at times) it failed on many accounts, not the least of following the “accepted” rules of zombies in cinema (i.e. talking zombies, and zombies with feelings)

To be honest, that, to me is where most of these lower ranked Zombie movies fall down.

I actually like it when Zombie movies try to make it believable (ala the Resident Evils, or 28 Days Later)

As a service to the film going public The Crazed American Presents a Primer on:

The Cannibal Undead (Homo Romericus Necrosapiens)

1. Zombies are decaying lumps of rotting flesh – eventually they will decay to the point of disintegration. Due to the fact that they are animated by a method of anerobic respiration (as evidenced by #3), and since the byproducts of anerobic respiration are various types of acids (not an Alien burn through the deck plates kind of acid), decomposition would be more rapid

2. Zombies can’t drown – but they would probably float (gas produced by decomposition)

3. Zombies would starve to death without living flesh to consume. (Kudos: 28 Days Later) Otherwise why would they need to prey on the living?

4. Killing Zombies: Disruption of the Cerebral Cortex and Medulla Oblongota (brain stem) are required to defeat an Undead Minion. A head shot that didn’t produce sufficient cerebral trauma or hydrostatic liquefaction wouldn’t necessarily affect the “Living Impaired”. At the same time if you destroyed, let’s say the vision center of the undead brain, the undead would be unable to see. Also, decapitating the undead would not re-dead the creature, it would merely cause the head, with working jaws to roll about, trying to find an ankle or toe to latch onto. In addition, nerve gas would work on the undead. Heat would work on the undead. A zombie would not last long in the summer desert. If the temperature got hot enough, the proteins in the non-living brain would denature, preventing impulse transmission. Zombies would be defeated by freezing temperatures (ice crystals in the nervous system – disrupting the transmission of nerve impulses)

5. Zombies do not speak. Ever. Make them talk and they automatically become less scary. Part of the fear factor from the undead legions is that you cannot communicate with them. If they communicate with you that automatically leaves the window open to negotiation. The term “mindless legions of the undead” brings on a sense of fear and foreboding. “Chatty Zombies” is not nearly as scary.

6. Zombies cannot run. Due to the effect of death in the cererbral cortex, cerebrum and medulla, the motor skills of the minion would be diminished. That effect would be compounded over time. They might be able to sprint soon after zombification, but someone who had been dead for a week or two, even with a steady supply of healthy victims, wouldn’t have the balance to sprint off on down the road after fleeing “lifers”. (Sorry remake of Dawn of the Dead – OK for 28 Days Later – you explained your way around it since your Zombies weren’t actually dead!)

7. Zombification is caused by a virus or bacterium of some sort. Depictions of people being sprayed by infected blood (drenched in some cases) would lead to infection through inhalation or a mucus membrane, much less an open wound.

8. Carrion animals would definitely be a problem to the undead hordes. After a zombie outbreak, there would be a surge in the number of vultures and other scavengers. America might see a resurgence of hyena roaming the “fruited plains” due to escaped animals from zoos. Whether or not the carrion animals would be able to transmit the zombification agent would have to be determined.


All of this being said, there are no real rules for the cannibal undead. To state the obvious they are a work of fiction (freaky film Serpent and the Rainbow not withstanding) Romero (PBUH) invented the cannibal zombie, so to be honest he gets a pass on the zombie horde ambling through the river in Land of the Dead. Before that, zombies were just seen as mindless automatons of wizards, witch doctors and the like. If a writer can tell a story obeying the first rule of fiction (science or otherwise) “Create a world, give that world rules, then people that world and live in it according to those rules” and come up with decent dialogue that tells a gripping story, I’m game. Oh, decent direction, acting and production values are a must. Horror films with bad actors are lame. Ones with decent actors can get scary…

Also referencing running zombies – I tend to think that if you give the undead (or any monster) too many abilities or powers, it makes the film going experience less enjoyable. Audiences need to think that the protagonists might get out of a situation, otherwise the movie, to me just becomes a viewing of a depiction of watching people die. If the situation gets to a point where a horde of running, superhuman, un killable undead hell bent on devouring all of humanity is right behind our group of intrepid survivors, its done, it's over. In the immortal world of SGT Kyle Reese, they "...will not stop - until you are dead!" If the people who you have invested 90 -120 minutes of your life into don't even have the possibility of survival, as a film, you're done. Future Zombie Filmsmiths take note: Good Zombie Movies all end with at least a glimmer of hope that humanity would continue, in some state or form. Give the audience hope and let them identify with the protagonists, and you’re golden. Make it ridiculous for anyone to survive, and the film becomes tedious. Not to say you can't kill off everybody at the end, just give them hope.

Well - ain't it grand...

Excellent article by Stanley Kurtz at NRO, here

Rock me to sleep, why don't you?

Anyone got a line on a field expedient fallout shelter?

Russel L. Honore for President

Russel L. Honore for President.

Seriously.

True American. Proven administrator. Takes s#!+ from no one.

Don't believe me? Remember the term Stuck on Stupid?

That's the kind of leadership that America needs in a time like this...

Good post here.

Happy 27th of Rajab!

People have asked me why is today so significant?

http://www.islam.co.za/khanka/significance_of_rajab.htm

http://www.shiachat.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t22609.html

I'm sorry, but "Shia Chat"? Would the Imam Ali (PBUH) approve of that URL?

If I am not mistaken, those expectant of the return of the 12th Imam hold this day on the Islamic Calendar in high regard. Could it be termed the beginning of the End Times?

In related news, the Islamic Republic of Iran has responded to the toothless and useless UN Security Council. According to the AP via Drugde, the IR is ready to "begin serious negotiations"

Begin serious negotiations? Exactly what has happened up until now?!?

Hello, League of Nations? Yes, this is Denial calling...

In the immortal words of a Staff Sergeant of mine, "What we have here is a giant sh-t sandwich, and we all get to line up and take a big ol' bite."

This blog ventured a theory a while back. IT Islamic Republic is working it's enrichment plants 24 hours a day to have enough weapons grade material to refurbish it's ex-Soviet weapons and have enough to kick start a atomic waepon production line. October is a fair bet...

If anyone needs me, I have to go Google the APFT standards for a 33yr old male. Dammit, I hate running.

As more time goes by, the more and more it looks like "not a question of if, but when..."

Also, my Asian Pal, "Spengler" , has a great new column out, so please take a gander. Spengler thinks that we'll hit the IR by Halloween.

Of course that will give certain American political operatives ammuntion to use against the President, saying that a war with Iran is nothing but a politcal ploy. Hindsight is damnable. I wish the tactics in Iraq had been played a bit different. I still do not think that Invasion of Iraq was a mistake. Saddam had to go, and had go give us a place to apply pressure against Wahabs in the House of Saud and the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persia). In a perfect world, I'd send more troops to Iraq.

Especially if rumors of the Iranians Shelling Iraqi Kurdistan are correct. Anyone else thinking of Prep Fires?!?

That's all for now, out.

NASA - LEO ain't going to cut it no more...

If I were President (Part I – NASA)

Bringing to you an sporadic and unorganized series of rantings on what would happen under the benevolent Crazed American Administration.

Part I: NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Many times I ask myself, what happened to American Leadership in all things technological? First and foremost, I refer to you to the glorious NASA – under whose Administration, has seen America’s Exploration ability wane to the point of insignificance. We are a nation, founded by explorers, yet we have nothing to explore. There is a boundless frontier that’s only one hundred miles way, and all that stands between us and it is gravity and a will to do it. American priorities are just not where they need to be to see us “boldly go”. Dammit – we should “boldly go” and with a quickness!


My speech to the American People:

Disembodied voice of Announcer: Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States, the Crazed American.

My fellow Americans.

As this Administration is of the mind that without a challenging frontier, any nation, any empire is doomed to stagnation and decadence. Since my predecessors somehow let the whole world, from crazy Islamo-Nazis to goatherding peasants aquire all sorts of thermonuclear goodies, it is obvious that we can’t throw our ruck onto the back of the nearest tank and head on out a conquering. That’s too bad, because the commute wouldn’t be as bad.

Since the uncharted depths of space are, to the best of our knowledge, sparsely populated, and even then only by bacteria, and the bacteria lobby doesn’t give much money to any re-election campaigns, I say we get our sorry, monkey selves on out into the ol’ inky blackness of space.

To that end, my challenge to NASA: you have exactly one Earth Year, that’s 364.25 Earth days, to put American men and women back on the Moon. One Year to set up a polar station on the moon. Get hopping. It took America’s finest minds under ten years to do it back in the 1960’s and they did it with slide rules. I have more computational power in my cell phone than all of the aerospace industry combined did, back in the sixties. Were people back then smarter than we are today? Hells no. Time to get cracking. The immediate goal of this initial Lunar mission will be to set up and begin transmission of solar power back to Earth within one year of establishment of the new lunar base. Proceeds from this power generation will go directly into NASA’s budget. Estimates are that in the space of five to ten years solar power production and lunar mineral production could mean that NASA could turn a profit in less than ten years. This power production would also mean that there would be a lessening reliance on polluting power sources. That’s the carrot.

Now for the stick, and a mighty bad one it is indeed. NASA will not be given an additional dime of taxpayer money. NASA’s budget, while not a large fraction of the Federal Budget, is still sufficiently large to accomplish the tasks with the right management and attitude. Excuses will not be acceptable, results are expected. If the landing target date is missed, I will immediately dissolve the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, set up a new National Council of Astronautics and begin the privatization of the American Space Industry. Appropriate space access and heavy lift boosters and launch and regeneration facilities will be retained by the United States Air Force. Everything else, will be auctioned off to private sector corporations with American or Allied ownership. The ways of the past were not set in stone. The present way NASA is doing things, in my opinion, do not adequately further the national interest.

In the coming year we will welcome the partnership of our partners in previous space adventures, but like certain adventures that this country has taken in the past, allow me to say that we are going, with or without you, we are going. We’d like to have company on the trip – a share in the adventure, a share in the risk and a share in the rewards.

As Americans we will take this challenge, as we have challenges in the past, with a deadly seriousness that it deserves, but we look forward to the challenges that it represents. To my political opponents, who will undoubtedly accuse this challenge as being a waste of resources, I say to them, Take a group of poor, inner city school children and take them to the Kennedy Space center and allow them, for a minute to behold the sight of the mighty Saturn V. Then take a look at their faces. Our children are not inspired by everyday live. All children want to be Astronauts, want to explore, want to discover. Let us give them that. We won’t spend more than the previous administration did.

Employees of NASA, you had best start working like your jobs and livelihoods depended on it. You had better be ready to beg, borrow, and steal to get this mission accomplished. Your jobs and livelihood to depend on it.

This is not to say that you have been slacking off in the past, but it is time to put your culture of obsessive safety behind you. Low Earth Orbit has been the extent of Human Space Exploration for over forty years. In the immortal words of a role model of mine, “Risk is our business.” Safety is important and as Americans we do not cavalierly throw life away. I am sure we can continue our climb to the stars in a way that keeps our investments of blood and treasure secure. But the Astronaut Corps has never lacked for volunteers, and I believe strongly that even with a moderately higher risk, the line of people wanting to experience a ride on one of our Ares and Orion boosters will still be as long. If it was a priority for Presidents in the past to expend blood and treasure to achieve goals on earth, then the exploration and human colonization of our own satellite is a priority for this government. Our astronauts, as a representative of our people as a whole, are a brave lot. Ask them to give their lives, and if the cause is just, they will be ready to further the reaches of science and humanity itself. Ladies and gentlemen, we simply do this for the preservation of our race, the continuance of our people. If modern science has done nothing, it has gien us a glimpse of just how tenuous our existence on this blue green marble of a world is. If humanity is left to stagnate on our home world, even without the threats that exist from our own solar neighborhood, and without the challenges of a final frontier, we are doomed to a future of strife, draining and meaningless wars and mediocrity.

Many look to the days of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo Programs as the golden age of American Space Exploration. I have to heartily disagree. I believe the golden age of American Space Exploration is in a chapter of the history of this country that has yet to be written, yet we are the authors.


I look forward to the challenges and adventure of the years to come.

Good night.

For this, I will overlook Eyes Wide Shut

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20157470-5005961,00.html

Read the article – what a bunch of smart, stand up kind of people.

Smart, because they know that if the terrorists win, American Culture looses. If American Culture looses, then Hollywood’s Hit List will become literally a Hit list. They will be marked as purveyors of Imperialist decadence, and probably the first bunch lined up in the Soccer Stadium.

(For those of you who don’t get the Soccer Stadium reference, it’s referring to the Soccer Stadium in Kabul, Afghanistan, where the Taliban executed a vast number of folks – specifically a Woman was executed by rifle fire at point blank range for wearing lipstick.)

No matter your political bent here in America, how hard is it to understand that these people we are fighting want to spread Fundamentalist Islam (Not Westernized, liberalized, women don’t have to wear Burqas Islam) from one side of the globe to another. True, the West started the current battle back in 1096 with the First Crusade, but come on! Life is not fair. Ask a Gazelle on the Serengeti sometime if you don’t believe me. Our civilization and way of life are at stake here. Say what you want about the “evils” of America. It’s still a hell of a lot better here than EVERY OTHER PLACE ON THE G_DDamned PLANET. In the history of man, at no other time, in no other place has having too much food and too much free time ever been considered a disease. It is in America (and to some degrees other protectorates of America – talking to you Europe). Everywhere else obesity is considered to be a sign of wealth and success.

I am a son, a husband and a father of a beautiful blonde haired, blue eyed, American girl. My mother, wife and daughter will not, as long as I live, submit to Sharia Law. Few absolutes in this world of ours, but I’m saying that’s pretty much an absolute.

How can anyone who supports the rights of women, ever say a kind word for Islamists? Gang rapes, Honor Killings, Stonings – all rewards for the women of the world under a strict Sharia law.

Time to go – off to send Joe Lieberman a small portion of the Mountain Redoubt’s Remodeling Fund.

2nd Star to the right…

Back from a pilgrimage to the homeland. Apologies for the light (nonexistent posting). Spent a few days meeting up with some of the finest people on the face of the planet.

A friend of mine has a new girlfriend. She’s a damn nice lady. Smart, good with kids, friendly as hell. My daughter really likes her. My wife really likes her. The rest of the krewe of friends really like her. Here’s hoping that at the 1 year mark, he still really likes her and she him. She’s marrying material… We'll have to see if he can break his track record. Learn the lessons of your firends, there are benefits to loosing the Serial Monogamist label...

The rest of our Krewe was as truly wonderful as usual. Hanging out, grilling, drinking, it literally almost couldn’t get any better than that.

Now for something completely different…

Took the smallest Crazed American on her first pilgrimage to the all hallowed temple of greed an commercialism, and a damn fun place for “children of all ages”, Disney World.

Hats off to the current keepers of Mickey’s kingdom. While that abominable EPCOT sign still blasphemes the 20 year old futuristic vision that is SpaceShip Earth, and I personally think the Color scheme at Journey to Imagination needs to be redone, and the glass on Imagination and the Land need a little TLC, the Magic Kingdom looked great!

Have to say, visited EPCOT in 2002 and was not impressed with the overall condition of the park. It was a tad run down, and the staff wasn’t all that pleasant. For the purposes of full disclosure, I worked for “The Mouse” from 1990 – 1991. So having been a veteran of the operation, I can talk.

If it was up to me, I’d have a nice long sit down with a few futurists, corporate partners and the Imagineering staff and figure out how to update both EPCOT and TomorrowLand at the Magic Kingdom. Walt Disney was definitely a forward thinking man who wanted his parks to be a showcase of life in the future and how technology could actually make our lives better. I don’t think her really care for the “Future of Tomorrow” that the current TomorrowLand puts forward. Then, I’d shut the front half of EPCOT down (leave the World Showcase open, and redo it. There I’d really set out what the future might look like if we all don’t blow ourselves to hell first. Surely our view of the future here in the 21st century must be much more stupendous than the future imagined in the 1960’s and 1970’s?

Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow. Not Easy Promotional Corporate Office Tie-in. Finding Nemo does not necessarily mean an automatic tie in with the Living Seas. EPCOT, when it opened had a minimum of the whole character tie in. Now, it’s creeping in all over. EPCOT was not necessarily geared to the Princess Storybook and character autograph set. EPCOT used to be a destination fro me when I was younger. I’d never leave the place without a “Man, that was Cool!” feeling. Haven’t had those feelings in a while… but with the right investment and corporate partnership, things could happen. I am not saying that there shouldn’t be corporate partnerships, there should be, that’s the whole point. The original exhibit halls were all sponsored by their partnerships. Let’s face it though, AT&T set up SpaceShip Earth and that company has changed hands so many times since then, the ride really hasn’t been updated at all since it opened.

I’d start by getting a framework and new vision (dust off Walter E’s old vision statements), and then request bids from companies on updating the current exhibit halls and maybe adding a few new ones…
EPCOT and TomorrowLand at the Magic Kingdom need new life.

For the love of G-d, take down the huge dismembered hand…

Fidel Castro and the Dawn of a new Era for the Cuban people

The author of this blog is a friend of Israel. The author of this blog is a friend of the Cuban People.

Normally, I am not one to wish ill upon someone. I make an exception in the case of Fidel Castro.

Actually I hope he is released from the pain of his illness, and he can go where all good communists go when they die…

Raul, I hope you have your IL-76 warmed up on the tarmac on hot standby. I’d really hate to be in your shoes right now…

Cuba should be made into the 51st – 53rd states of our glorious Union. A free Cuba that is no longer under control of Communists or any organized crime cartel is a great hope indeed.

A free Cuba is going to be a gold mine – specifically for the long suffering Cuban people. Sure, it will cost us plenty on bringing her out of the dark doldrums of communism, but the Cuban people are an industrious lot, I have faith in them!

It's been a few days...

It’s been a few days, but…

Iran is still instigating violence in the Middle East.

The Israelis are learning the lesson that you cannot win a war by airpower alone. No offence to any Air Force types, but you have to have Infantry (and with infantry you have to have armor and especially artillery in support).

Best of luck and good hunting to IDF forces that are currently engaged.


Mr. Gibson…

Mr. Gibson, oh Mr. Mel Gibson. You are an artist, and I have thoroughly enjoyed your works. Braveheart was a master piece. We Were Soldiers was incredible. Your portrayal of Lt. Col. Harold G Moore was spot on. I ate lunch with Lt. Gen. Moore and Mr. Galloway in 1992 when they stopped at a certain US Government funded educational institution on the Hudson River on their book tour.

Passion of the Christ was an important film. Not fun to watch, but, then again, it was a film about a specifically “un-fun” event. Mr. Gibson, your use of light is probably the best around. Compliments to you and your cinematographer.

Patriot was great, Payback was great.

Road Warrior was excellent. Mad Max was excellent. The Lethal Weapon films are excellent (#4 was lacking just a tad, compared to the first two, especially). You have your own genre – the Mel Gibson Revenge Movie…

On the other hand…

How could you, the face of modern Fundamentalist Catholicism, be anti-Semitic? Was not Mr. Jesus H. Christ, in fact, a Rabbi from Judea? Was not the G-d to which Mr. Jesus H. Christ prayed (and incidentally, was descended from and ascended to) the G-d of the Torah and the Talmud?

Help me understand. If it was the booze talking, then you might want to switch brands. I will give you, who I recognize to be an artist, the “tortured artist” pass. If you are truly an anti-Semite, then you will have my pity, but much fewer of my future box-office dollars.

I, in deference to your treatment, will have to cross you off of the “list of people I want to get drunk with”. You are now on the “list of people I’d like to have a cup of coffee with.”

I for one truly hope that you get better, and soon, sir. I, for one, will give you the benefit of the doubt; you hurt no one but yourself. I am really looking forward to Apocalypto. May your treatment program see you some success.

Just a thought – how about a little atonement – making a movie about Saul, Jonathan and David against the Philistines? One with no punches pulled? That I’d throw out some scratch to see. Also, just saying, but you’d make a darn good Saul…

The Honorable Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations

I’ve got to draw issue with the esteemed Secretary General’s conclusion that the Israeli fire on a UN Observation Post (UNOP) was a “deliberate” and planned artillery and air attack. According to the Secretary General the attack lasted several hours and resulted in the deaths of four UN Personnel. (Can’t really call ‘em peacekeepers, can we?).

Many other people, journalists, commentators have spent hours talking and writing about this in recent hours.

So my two cents: If Israel wanted that outpost destroyed, they wouldn’t have taken several hours to do it. The Headlines instead of “Four UN Troops Killed”, would have been:

“UN Outpost Wiped Out in Moments by Israeli Artillery, Air Strikes”

So please, spare me the indignation – instead of accusing Israel of malfeasance (especially before an investigation is conducted – Rep. Murtha take note – take the official apology of the Prime Minister of Israel and wait to cast judgment until after an investigation is completed). If the UN was doing it’s job, none of this wouldn’t have happened anyway…

Again, I’m not calling for the disbanding of the UN. Keep it as a place for international dialogue. I just feel that all countries should contribute equally (set membership dues), and it needs to loose the apparatus. Keep the General Assembly, lose everything else.

Have fun trying to get rid of an entrenched bureaucracy, though…

On skiing...

We’ll it peaked at 92 degrees at the ol’ Mountain Redoubt yesterday. But a breeze was blowing, and it was downright pleasant in the shade with a nice glass of ice water. Also, it was nice to begin the slow burn of anticipation of ski season with a hike into one of my favorite ski resorts a few days back, in preparation for a voyage up into the mountains for two days with my brother.

Now when I say up into the mountains, I mean at no time will I be more than 8 miles away from my house. My brother, who still mysteriously lives in Florida, will be in town for a few days, and I’m going to take him on an overnighter. We’ll camp on the other side of a ridge from one of the best ski resorts in the country. Being that that ski resort is blissfully uncrowded, I will leave it nameless. Nothing gets me more wistful for ski season than hiking into the resorts when there is no snow. I could definitely do without the deer flies, but the experiencing of going up where typically people only descend is quite fun, and the quad workout of gaining 3000 vertical feet, is a real boon to hitting powder stashes in the winter!

For all of you folks out there in the flat land, there are a few important things that you should do before you come to anyplace with altitude. You need to keep hydrated. Booze, soda and coffee do not count. You must drink a prodigious amount of water. If 64 oz. of water is recommended, drink 128 oz. a day. Being hydrated will stave off some of the more unpleasant effects of altitude sickness – namely the headache. Also in the week or two before setting out on your mountain trip, be it to ski, mountain bike, snowshoe, shop, whatever, you have to increase your intake of iron. If you like red meat, you are in luck. If you are a vegetarian, have fun and chew on some roofing nails. Altitude sickness sucks. Altitude sickness with a hangover is worse. Altitude sickness with a hangover to a ski resort (lots of bright, white snow) is the worst. Especially when the avy guns go off… People who complain on a chairlift suck.

For those of you who ski, you know what I mean. On every ski trip I took before chucking normal life and moving to the Mountain Redoubt, there’d always be one member of the group who’d get Altitude sickness and put a drag on the rest of the group. They’d resist drinking more water, but then be amazed after being force fed a bottle of water, bottle and all. I know because sometimes it would be me.

My piece of advice today, when coupled with a dollar wouldn’t buy you a cup of coffee: listen to people who know.

NAU – North American Union

NAU – North American Union

Jerome Cosri – has a piece - http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=16134

Also figures into Jack McDevitt's Engines of God. Not a bad book...

One really bad idea…

Since when has this “super -nation state” thing been such a good idea? Has the European Union really been that astounding? Hell, they all don’t even still have the same currency. Their economy (ies) are still not exactly wowing the economists of the world. The French may have gotten rid of the frank, but I doubt the average Frenchman considers himself a citizen of the Mighty European Union. That was evidenced by the defeat of the supposed European constitution a while back in France and Denmark.

It is working out in Europe to an extent. Who’s to say that it would work here? If the United States became a part of a proposed North American Union, I doubt the world would change greatly, but what change did happen would not be happy change.

The modern nation state has been around for a while – and even though most nations are slouching toward socialism, the concept of Westphalian nation states has, for the most part, worked out pretty well.

I am firmly convinced that humanity will be irrevocably changed by bureaucracy. I dislike bureaucracy and all its forms. This is the true curse saddled upon the world by the Chinese. The Confucian system saw it codified for the firs time, and since then it has been perfected by a number of governments, but has truly found it’s stride in the American system. If you don’t believe me, ask anyone who has had to deal with our noble warriors of ICS the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

For example, I know someone named “Sara” who jumped through hoops that circus performers were scared of, to get into the country to get married. Took her years to get all of her paperwork squared away. During the time of filling out forms and paying fees, untold thousands of illegals crossed the border from Mexico.

She should have just went to Mexico on holiday and paid a couple of hundred dollars to Al Akbar Ahmad Ramdi -Gomez (friendly neighborhood Islamo-Nazi “Mexican” human smuggler), and skipped across the border. Easy, no muss no fuss.

Let this missive not be construed as an anti-immigrant rant. I know immigrants of all nationalities and legal status. The VAST preponderance of them come to his country in search of a better life. Doesn’t change the fact that the act of illegal immigration is still illegal. And for full disclosure, if there was a better job market in Mexico, Mexico had a terribly porous border (they currently do not) and ridiculous immigration laws, and my family was going hungry – Hasta la pasta, I’ll Western Union you with my first paycheck!

News Flash: The vast preponderance of Mexican illegals do not want US citizenship. They are proud of Mexico and their heritage as Mexicans. It is as simple as this, if you are poor in Mexico, your children may starve. If you are poor in the United States, you may not be able to top off the tank of your car with gas, as you drive your kids to soccer practice after getting burgers at Ruby Tuesday’s. (I am not belittling the poor in America - poeple do have hard lives, but no one can deny that American poor have it much better off than poor people in Somalia - we have fewer lions).

If there weren’t Islamo-Nazis in the world who wish for the destruction of the Western mode of civilization, I’d say open them borders right on up! Let the free market decide how resources get allocated. The American Dream of freedom and property will definitely light the way. It is too bad we are saddled with bureaucracy and a nanny state. Some, in power, apparently feel as though we need to create MexiAmeriCanada in order to be competitive with the non-competitive Europeans.

The same Europeans who in 10 years will all be part of a growing Islamist Caliphate, anyway…

But then again, what do I know? I’m just a paradoxically contradictory nationalistic Libertarian gun-nut.

Environmentalism

Hottest in 2000 Years?

Couple of weeks ago CNN ran a science headline saying that the Earth is the hottest it’s been in 2000 years. So it was this hot 2000 years ago?

Anyone else seeing this as a major torpedo in the side of the “Western Civilization is destroying the Earth” argument? Was it this hot 2000 years ago because:

1) the Roman greed for consumer products and coal fired power plants were releasing far too many greenhouse gasses? Not to mention the Roman Republic’s insatiable need for gas guzzling SUV’s

Or

2) Earth’s climate is cyclical and self correcting?

Is the sky falling or is Mother Nature just being a bitch (she has every right to be – she’s a bitch that I have a HEALTHY respect for)?

This is not to say that I am calling for the massacre of every creature in the forest, clear cutting of those forests and immediate paving of all land in the world to build shopping malls.

I consider myself to be a conservationist. I am for pollution controls, national parks, endangered species protections (to a point). I don’t hunt, but I am happy for people who do, because I recognize that hunting serves an important purpose (herd management). I hike in the wilderness every chance I get, and I drive two low emission vehicles that get really good gas mileage (Go Honda). I support the return to Nuclear power plants for power generation.

At the same time forests have to be managed or they will burn. Intelligently log them, or let them burn. That’s the way nature works. Deadfall has to be cleared by man or by fire.

People who threaten endangered animals should be dealt with severely. Whalers who harpoon species protected by international treaty should be introduced to the US Navy’s Harpoon Missile.

We are the dominant species on the planet. We should husband the resources that are here, ‘cause until NASA gets off it’s safety obsessed ass, and gets back into the true exploration business, it’s all we’ve got.

I’ll go off on NASA soon…

Globalization and the UN

Globalization - What is it good for?

Call me a simplistic, isolationist, rube, but why exactly is globalization being trumpeted as a good thing.

Let’s see:

Global oil market + Islamo-Nazis wishing to expand the ol' bank account = $80.00 a barrel oil and rising

American market + cheap Chinese labor and goods = staggeringly huge trade deficits

American Economic influence + Communist Governments = Communist governments taking our money + giving us goods +ignoring our "influence"

One of my dearest friends is dating someone who apparently has a degree in international finance and economics. She is being introduced to my circle of friends in just two weeks. After introductions, I plan on cornering her and getting someone to explain to me why globalization is a good idea economically.

Let it not be said that I don't have an open mind. All I ask of the Pro - Globalization crowd is all I ask of politicians - convince me that your course of action is demonstrably better than the opposing view point.


The UN - What is it good for?

Again, I will liken the United Nations to the League of Nations. If an international body wants to be respected, it has to have the ability to earn respect. In most cultures of the world, corruption, indecisiveness, lack of will power, inability to follow through, do not engender respect.

Put it simply, if you had a boss that told you to do something, changed his mind, threatened your job, and if you really screwed something up, sent a middle manager to sit across from you and monitor what you did, but wouldn't really do anything if you misbehaved, and could be paid off to look the other way as you were stealing office supplies and harassing your coworkers - would you really respect your boss or the company that you worked for?

What would the world look like if there was no UN? Since the inception of the UN has the UN really done anything of import - have they ever really stopped a war? It could be argued that the United Nations has merely allowed wars to continue, albeit in some instances a reduced level of hostility, with, for all intents and purposes - international approval. Who can forget the UN triumph that was Rwanda? Or the Korean War for that matter. It'll soon be the 60th anniversary of the commencement of that conflict and the two nations are still technically at war. True they don't actively shoot at each other on a regular basis, but the threat of a full scale war is there.

I challenge all of you readers out there - can anyone prove to me that UN "conflict mediation" is successful in truly ending conflicts that it purports to solve? Or does it merely force the conflict underground until the peacekeepers leave?

Do I call for the dissolution of the UN? No. It does provide a place where diplomats can come and speak. Do I think it needs all of the money that we and other nations send to it? No. Keep the building in New York, but make the diplomats have to pay for their parking tickets. That'll make them move with a purpose.

Even Mr. Spock disliked and had little use for Diplomats. For your viewing pleasure, may I suggest the Classic Star Trek Episode A Taste of Armageddon. Two societies decide that a "clean" war is the way to go - their societies continue humming along nicely, and computers calculate simulated attacks on major cities. If and Eminian or Vendikan city gets "hit", then the population is required to report to a disintegration chamber for execution.

Of course, CAPT Kirk, James T, UFP Starfleet and CDR Spock ignore the Prime Directive and threaten the two civilizations with real war, horrors and blood and all. Television writers in the 1960's realized that war is horrible, and the more horrible wars are the shorter they usually are and the quicker they end. For Peacekeeping to truly work, they have to be able to have simple rules of engagement: If a peacekeeper witnesses two people fighting, kill them both with maximum violence, while working on the root causes of the conflict. There are roles for NGO's (non governmental organizations) - those should be addressing root causes of conflict through infrastructure improvement and education, all while underneath the protection of scary Peacekeepers.

Peacekeepers should take on a motto of the mighty United States Marine Corps, "No greater friend, no worse enemy."

The UN should hire itself an Army of mercenaries and pay them well. Good ol' Executive Outcomes comes to mind. Give them clear rules of engagement:

Party A and Party B are fighting in Hajiland, the International Community has brokered a cease fire. Protect the NGO teams that are going into each side to rebuild the infrastructure and educating the populace on both sides. If you witness hostilities, destroy or capture the participating units with overwhelming violence. If you are engaged, destroy the engaging unit, and their support facilities again, with overwhelming violence - remove their ability to wage war. Also, if a faction begins to use threatening rhetoric, treat that rhetoric as an overtly hostile act and respond quickly and decisively.

If any of the soldiers in the Peacekeeping force are found to be misbehaving, corruption, siding with one side or another, abusing those who they are sent to protect, the individuals or units in question will be tried and, if found guilty by Courts-Martial, executed. Commanders of Peacekeeping forces will be held ultimately responsible for the actions of those units they command.

With an ROE like that, conflicts would end - with quickness! Unfortunately, people would have to be more afraid of the Peacekeepers than the opposing side. Force is the only factor in getting people to work together. Threats, especially from the UN, are merely laughed at, and then promptly ignored.

But knowing the current UN administration, the corruption would start from the outset. Kofi Annan has been the head of the UN for how long? Perhaps it's time that Mr. Annan retired? I'd really like to see a major shakeup at the UN and see Secretary Colin Powell be the new Secretary General. He'd never take the job, but if I was king of the planet and made decisions like that, I'd give him the job and the ROE above.

Political Questions

What the hell is worng with politicians?
When did America become an oligarchy?
How in the name of all that is good and just does Senator Edward Kennedy continually get reelected?
Why have Americans effectively raised the little white flag and surrendered their independence?
Why do the vast majority of us believe only what we want to hear?
Where has true, inspiring leaders in Congress and the executive branch gone?
Why don't the vast majority of Americans vote? Do they see the lack of leadership and the candidates thay have to choose from are both not very good?
Are we, as a country and as a world, really screwed?

These are the questions that bug me from day to day. Welcome to my world.


Author's note to everyone (ESPECIALLY POLITICIANS): If you complain about a problem without a suggestion for resolution, you are, in fact, whining. Either tell the American people what your ideas area and why they are better, and why they will work. Otherwise STFU.
Out.

The Next Few Weeks

The next few weeks are going to be quite interesting. Expect Israel to fully invade southern Lebanon.
I believe the Iranians (the true powers that be - the man behind the curtain) don't want to see the Israelis succeed in elinating Hezbollah.
Paridoxiaclly, the Iranians are not served by Israeli failure or capitulation either.
Iran needs time. A few months, but they need time. In a few months or weeks they will have enriched enough uranium to begin full scale production of atomic arms.
Odds are, the Iranians already have nukes. They probably bought them from one of the arsenals of the former Soviet Socialist Republics, back in the heady days after the Cold War ended. Problem is, and the only reason the Iranians haven't used one or more: they're not sure that they'd work.

The more the Iranians learn about nuclear arms, the less confident they became in their puchased stockpile of old Soviet missile warheads (or backpack nukes - depending on who you talk to). They have come to realize, and didn't take them long, because the Iranians are by no means stupid) that the weapons they had were degrading. The more they found out, the more they realized that the weapons they had were probably sold to them because they hadn't had their cores refurbished or been maintained in any way aside from having the dust blown of their storage cases before they signed the bill of sale. The arms dealers they bought them from were unscupulous, granted, but surely they realized selling weapons of mass destruction to religious fanatics who border them was probably a bad long term, life descision.

So, the Iranians realize that the weapons they have are probably not going to work as advertized. Knowing full well that if used and the weapons turned out to fizzle, they could tell the world that they were just low level dirty bombs, but the Nuclear powers would quickly figure out that the Iranians were attempting to initate a nuclear exchange and would then, especially Russia, commence pounding the absolute shit out of them, and with a quickness. Russia would act, knowing the weapon could be eventually traced back to them, and knowing that it could conveniently claim the Iranian oil fields in a post conflict world.
So the Iranians want the Israeli / Lebanese conflict to continue at a low roar for a while.

If the Lebanese Military decides to enter into the fighting on the side of Hezbollah, they'll get spanked and fast. Israel has air dominance, and their artillery is excellent. Israeli have excellent armor and a disciplined, professional infantry. Expect the Islamo-Nazis to use burned out Lebanese Army vehicles as containers for their IED's.

Watch for every time the situation begins to cool off, something on the Islamic side of things will push it back the other way. Iran needs this conflict until it can announce to the world that it can field a full production line of atomic weapons. Then they will try to hijack the world economy. Then the toothless international community will cower behind the US, wondering why we didn't act sooner to remove the threat to world peace.


Author's Note: I use the term Islamo-Nazi, due to the fact that the term Islamo-fascist doesn't carry the implied anti-semitic, genocidal bent that the modern Wahabist and Persian Nationalist movements have assumed fully. I also consider the Nazis to be what they are - a stain on humanity and the most vile force of evil that ever existed. I will not let my children play violent video games - unless the figures in the gun sight are wearing the uniform of the Waffen SS - then I will lean in and tell them, "Center of mass, my dears, center of mass!"

Getting older

Where does the time go?
I'm not as physically resilient as once upon a time...
Recently passed my birthday and the birthdays of the closest friends a man my age could have. I've known them forever, and really can't imagine life without them. This American has been feeling particularly guilty about not having seen any of them in two and a half years.

We all (almost all, you know who you are) have children, marriages and careers.
The activities we enjoyed are rather attention and time consuming, especially the hangovers.
My family and I are on the cusp of leaving my Mountain Redoubt for the flat land again to visit my old friends, let our children play together and reminisce over more than a few cold adult beverages.
Two weeks, and again I'll be in the company of friends, home no matter the time zone.
Looking forward to the hangovers, with a smile on my face and a song in my heart...

We stall for a week... Does anyone care?

We (the US of A) have announced that we will give Israel a week before we side with the International Community and call for an end to hostilities in the LTO (Lebanese Theatre of Operations). If the decision is made that we will politically side against Israel (Boeing and Lockheed are still building the F15I and F16I, and I doubt that the Israeli M109A6's will be lacking for spare parts anytime soon), why not do it now. Why not do it now, so that when the IDF stops its operations, the Islamo-Nazis can kill or kidnap more Israeli's. Please note that the Iranians will not allow a cease fire to be implemented, at least until they have completed assembly of a few thermonuclear warheads. Expect the tempo of Hizbollah's operations (rocket and missile attacks) to increase steadily over the next week.

The United Nations, will, in a week become as effective as the League of Nations. The so called International "Community" will put it's mighty foot down and immediately the Israelis and Iranian Hizbollah will drop the firing lanyards of their artillery pieces and rocket launchers. A silence will resound over the battlefield, and tentatively, soldiers and Islamic warriors will emerge from their bunkers and fire direction centers and embrace on the shell and rocket pocked landscape.

Birds will sing, and the sun will illuminate the rainbow, that the doves of peace will fly before.

My ass.

There will be a cease fire, mind you. Israel might stop firing on the condition that the Islamo-Nazis stop their launching of rockets. Both sides will agree, taking the opportunity merely to reload. Until the attacks stop and, most importantly, the Soldiers are returned, this will continue. I think most everyone in the world has forgotten about those soldiers, save the Islamists and the Israeli's. So Israel will probably just ignore the international "Community". If a friend or family member of mine had been kidnapped and was being held by someone shooting at my family, the choice of action would be obvious and simple.

The Islamo-Nazis will simply not stop until their STATED GOAL of eliminating the Jewish State has been achieved.

We should take a side already. We should stand strong with an ally who does virtually everything we ask, including letting Iraqi dictators bombard their cities, so we don't encounter political opposition to the only war we've fought for oil (Gulf War 1990-1991).

As for picking sides. I have read the commentary of exactly one honest anti-war individual. Joel Stein, writing for the LA Times, said that he didn't support the troops because he didn't support the war. One person out of all the John Kerry's and Teddy Kennedy's of the American "anti-war" movement. When I first read Mr. Stein's piece, I was incensed. But after reflection, I reread his piece and was impressed by his insight and his honesty.

This is not to say that this Crazed American is a full fledged supporter of the methods employed in the Occupation of Iraq. But I support the mission (removing a sadistic and cunning military dictator - also book ending Iran geographically and leaning on the House of Saud / Wahab), and I definitely support the troops.

This war has been going on since Pope Urban II kicked off the first Crusade in 1096. To think that "dialogue and negotiations" between proxies (Israel is a proxy of the Americans and Hizbollah is a proxy of Persian Iran) will solve this 906 year old war, is as naive as it is ridiculous.

This is far from over, if it ever ends.

Pick your World War / A Bone to Pick

Pick a World War
My favorite Chinese Curse: "May you live in interesting times."

Where to start? Civilization is falling apart, the Mandate of Heaven has been lost by all involved and uninvolved.
Are we, as one would like to say, in the blissfully ignorant days of August 1939?

No. We are not in a time analogous to the days pre World War II.

In my humble opinion, we are in June - July 1914. The war that is coming - it is coming, mind you will bear a much greater resemblance to the First World War. We see the same signs. An alliance system, rampant "isms" (in this case nationalism and religious fanaticism), and a proliferation of advanced and unadventurous weapons. All that is currently needed is an event that will spark a conflagration.

Will there be a long drawn out conflict? No. Modern technology will see that this war will be short in terms of the length of full fledged nation state combat.

Will the aftermath be long? Yes indeed. These events will echo throughout History. History is definitely proceeding, not dead as some stated at the end of the cold war.

Who will win? Depending on one critical element, that has only become apparent in the past 40 or so years - an element of politics and warfare that could not be imagined as even being called into question during the first or second World Wars -
The attention span of the American public.

That is the decisive element in modern warfare.

America is an empire, like it or not. No matter what political spectrum you ally yourself with, know that America is the most powerful Empire that the planet Earth has ever seen.
From time to time it is crucial for Empires to act Imperial. For those out there that decry Imperialism, you must know that everything that you take for granted, every luxury you have ever know was bought and paid for by one empire or another. Face it, Homo Sapiens functions in an Imperial manner and force is its most direct currency. As the top dog on this little rock we call a planet, America has no choice but to be involved when our interests are involved. Since our interests are the whole world...


Got a bone to pick: People calling for restraint from the Israelis.
Analogy and metaphor time:
A group of men come into your home, spraying gunfire, and breaking your hard earned property, then proceed to begin kidnapping your children and commence raping your wife. You have a handgun. Now - show restraint!
Fools.

Note to those of you who are not cognizant of the methods employed by a modern, professional military force. Israel is showing restraint. If Israel wasn't showing restraint, they'd be firing MLRS and 155 AP and HE into downtown Beirut (because chemical and nuclear weapons are so messy!). Civilian casualties would be measured in the tens of thousands PER DAY. Israeli tanks and APC's would be running through bombed and shelled towns and villages killing the wounded and innocent.

Vladimir Putin, sir, your call for restraint rings hollow. Would you have the Israelis show as much restraint as your forces have in Chechnya? Or Berlin in '45? I know why you said that, sir, but please...

Israel will conduct its operations according to the accepted laws of war. I have no doubt that Israel will be very thorough in it's quest to secure their land from the enemies of peace. Not to mention - just who does Israel approach to negotiate a ceasefire and secure the return of it's kidnapped soldiers?

Something tells me that Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's not taking calls from the Tel Aviv area code...

A war avoided is not a war that will not be fought.

A beginning...

Now I have arrived, kicking and screaming into the 21st Century.

This blog will be an insight into someone who believes in right and wrong and the tenant that people should be allowed to do what they want, as long as they don't hurt anyone or anything else. I will be profane, irreverent, forgetful, and "stream of consciousness" as possible.

I am not a Democrat, Republican, but I am conservative and liberal. I hate stereotypes and racism. I most of all hate ignorance. People who can vote but chose not to should keep their mouths shut.

I will comment on events of the day, history, politics, friends, and things I find interesting.

Read this or don't, I really don't care. I'm doing this to clear my own headspace issues.
If you do wish to continue reading this, welcome aboard! I'll try not to bore you.