Cruising The Med

Med·i·ter·ra·ne·an The region surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Several important ancient civilizations flourished in the region, which was dominated for millennia by Phoenicia, Carthage, Greece, Sicily, and Rome.

Update: In less than 12 hours .....I will be embarking on a trip booked 14 months ago! I will be incommunicado for two weeks...well kind of....I won't be blogging..but I will be checking email occasionally. Mostly...I'll be CHILLAXIN! Not too worry - I 'll have great stories to share, when I get back, and after two weeks of NO STARBUCKS and NO SOY CHAI TEA LATTES....my RANTABILITY FACTOR will be VERY HIGH!!



This summer, I'll be taking a 12 night Mediterranean Cruise departing from Barcelona.

I fell in love with much of Europe in my early 20's, so much so that even though I only booked a 3 month summer jaunt, I ended up staying for 3 yrs. I travelled extensively during that time,working when ever I needed to supplement my finances,and even managed to visit the Middle East for about 6 wks spending time in both Israel and Egypt.

Apart from cosmology and quantum physics, I have a passion for ancient history and comparative religion, and on this trip I'll be exploring ancient ruins, and the birthplaces of religion, as well indulging in my love for Impressionist and Renaissance Art.

From Barcelona we will be going to
Villefrance (Nice) France
Livorno (Florence) Italy
Civitavechhia (Rome) Italy
day at sea
Mykonos, Greece
Kusadasi(Ephesus) Turkey
Santorini, Greece
Athens, Greece
day at sea
Naples, Italy
day at sea
Barcelona

I' ve been to almost all of these ports of call except Kusadasi, yet each place holds SOOOO much to see and explore, that there remains so much that I haven't seen. I look forward to visiting some new places and revisiting some of my favorite haunts, this time thru slightly older and far more wiser eyes, with a wealth of knowledge I didnt have initially.

I'll be doing all the highlights in Rome: Vatican City, St Peters Basilica, The Bernini Pulpit, Michelangelo's Pieta, and in St Peter 's In Chains Catherdral which houses Michelangelo's Statue of Moses holding the Ten Commandments, and of course, The Colosseum, a masterpiece of classical architecture, and one of the most important monuments of Ancient Rome. And there's plenty of time to explore the rest of Vatican City, and wander the streets of Rome before the ship pulls out.

During my initial three yrs in Europe, most of my journey included pilgrimages to Holy Sites. Those experiences shaped my worldview, and my 'religious" worldview, they framed the way I understand and appreciate the spiritual journeys people of all faiths take, the impacted on my spiritual journey, and they added depth to my personal relationship with God.

I look forward to revisiting these sites because you never see them in the same light, twice. The energy that emanates from these ancient cities of the Bible, these places of historical and religious importance, is unlike anything I've experienced elsewhere. The land in Israel vibrates; I can see why Islam, Christianity,and Judaism all claim it as their own. I understand the spiritual pull that resonates deeply within people of each of these faiths, so much so, that each feel the land belongs to them exclusively. Jerusalem, the Wailing Wall, The Temple Mount, St Peters Basilica, the walk along the Via Condetti, these places impacted on me viscerally; both spiritually and intellectually.


I'm very excited about my time in Kusadasi: we will be exploring the Ancient ruins of Ephesus.one of the most magnificent excavations in the world! The Odeon, The Fountain of Trajan, the 5 terraces of the Apartment House, The Steam Baths of Scholastika, The Temple of Hadrian, and The Library of Celsus, adorned with columns and statues, considered to be one of the most magnificent ruins in the ancient world. We'll also visit the Grand Theatre where one of the most influential voices of Christianity preached: St Paul! We'lll leave via The Arcadian Way, where Marc Anthony and J.Lo... errr sorree Cleopatra..once rode in procession before reaching the 3rd largest library in the ancient world....The Library of Celsus!

In Florence, each building is a work of art, so I'll be enjoying a walking tour thru city admiring the ornate buildings , The Piazza, Cathedral Square, the David, with plenty of time to just wander thru shops, stop at cafes. My parents are heading off on a wine tour of Tuscany!

In Mykono's, we'll be nestled at the private beach of a resort I found, enjoying food, wine and swimming on one of the most beautiful beaches in the Med!

Santorini will be spent exploring Oia. Legend has it that the volcano eruptions that destroyed life in Ancient Santorini caused Atlantis to disappear! Both Mykonos and Santorini are scenic beauties! I explored much of Greece on my own during my three yr travels, but the islands call me back time and again.

Athens will be spent exploring on our own. I have fond memories of watching the fishing boats come in from a day at sea with their catch..and the fisherman would cook the fresh catch on a Hibachi on the pier, bring out some wine, and share their meal with me. Im looking forward to exploring Athens again, this time with my family since my Greek is rusty, but both my dad and uncle speak it fluently!

Since I've been to Nice Cannes and Monaco many times during my tenure in Hollywood, for the Cannes Film Festival, and since we have ALL spent some time in the Cote, we're still deciding what we want to do...the ship remains in port until late at nite, so I 'd like to find a great restaurant with outdoor seating where we can enjoy a great meal, wine, good conversation, and watch the sunset, beyond that exploring Cap Ferrat might be nice.

In Naples, I had planned to go to Isle of Capri again...but Im sad to hear that its gone downhill and is no longer the quietly beautiful island is once was. TOO MANY TOURISTS.....so instead my sister, bro in law and I are going to explore Sorrento Positano and Naples...the Amalfi Drive is considered to be one of the most spectacular sceneries anywhere. Pass Mt Vesuvius, and the Pompeii ruins, we'll make our way into Sorrento, where legend has it that "Sirens" atttempted to lure Ulysses onto the rocks. The town is quite pretty to explore, and then we'll contine to drive along the steep( REALLY STEEP) winding coastal road to Positano, a fishing village and home to a colony of artists and writers. It reminds me alot of Laguna Beach in So.Cali. Lots of religious and spiritual sites to visit, as well as shops and boutiques, then we'll head back to Naples to wander about before rebording the ship.

What I love about travelling with my family is that collectively we speak English, French, Italian, Greek, and Arabic ....so its a great way to connect with the locals....to speak their language combined with a knowledge of regional history...makes for interesting and enlightening conversations.

Since ancient history and comparative religion are passions of mine, as I'm exploring these ruins and spiritual centers, I find myself being transported back through time, sometimes I feel like I've lived in these places before! (Yeah... I know Im channeling Shirley MacLaine!)

I'm really excited about this trip - not just because I love to travel, and to visit places that indulge my passions and interests - but mostly because this time, I'm doing so with my family!
The trip will only last two weeks, but the memories will last forever!

What Doesn't Transmit Light, Creates It's Own Darkness

An Open Letter to Sen.Richard (Dick) Durbin:

I have waited many days before posting this letter to you only because I was experiencing such disgust, contempt, and vitriol towards your putrid misguided lies about our Military, Our Gov't and the treatment of those incarcerated at Gitmo, that I needed to calm down enough to write it without vomiting!

As the daughter of a Jewish parent, your audacious comparison of the intentional systemic genocide of Jews perpetuated by Hitler and the German gov't, to the treatment of suspected terrorists at Gitmo who are receiving meals worthy of any five star Hotel, and being handcuffed and forced to listen to "rap music" has filled me with revulsion, contempt, disgust towards you and all your supporters!

(I'm curious: How is RAP music considered a form of torture since rap music sales to AMERICANS alone generate MILLIONS of dollars in revenue - so are ALL those Americans being willingly tortured when they listen to rap music, and all those station owners of radios that broadcast rap, on equal footing with Pol Pot, Stalin, Hitler? )

Let me understand this, DICKHEAD, being handcuffed and listening to rap music is AKIN to baking human beings in ovens, labeling them with yellow stars so they can be identified for extermination, forcing them to work non stop, under the threat of death, with little food, placing them in concentration camps, for the ONLY crime of being Jewish?

The actions of Hitler, and those who committed some of the kinder atrocities I described above, are, in your opinion, the equivalent of receiving a five course meal and listening to rap music while being blindfolded and chained to a floor, for the crime of being a terrorist; Someone who systemically and without remorse kills those who do not subscribe to his theocracy, or because he / she has some kind of "gripe" against democracy, freedom, the US, Christians, Jews, secularists and non fundamentalist Islamists????

As the daughter of a Jew, I am sickened beyond words by you. As the daughter of an American, I am sickened beyond words by you, and as a decent member of humanity I am revolted by you.

As if your delusional comparison to what happened to incarcerated jews at the death camps isn't revolting enough, you also compare the benign treatment of terrorists at Gitmo to the treatment of those under two OTHER of the most murderous evil vile men of the 20th century, Pol Pot and Stalin. and you then have the AUDACITY to claim that you have been MISUNDERSTOOD by a few members of the right wing media????????????

Are you suffering from brain damage? I'm serious! Short of that, there can be NO UNDERSTANDABLE reason for you to claim you were "misunderstood" OR to have made these VILE remarks in the first place! Nor can there EVER be any SANE reason for anyone to support you, including the clearly braindead, piece of shit Maxine Waters and all those Americans, be they the fuckwits of the Hollywood unintelligentsia, or the MSM, or leftwing loons that are part of the plebs - the hoary masses- who are suffering from cognitive disconnance, and remain blinded by stupidity, wrapped in ignorance, and shrouded in arrogance.

Let me share with you HOW those nice terrorists you feel we are "treating with techniques of such horror" that include, five star meals, sensitivity to handling the Koran, and to the religious practices of Muslims, and other such HORRIFIC acts like chaining them to the floor and having them listen to rap music( I wonder how many rap artists are happy to know that you and your ilk consider the music they perform to be "torture " and deemed a form of cruel and unusual punishment") are treating INNOCENT Iraqi's in these wonderful places called "Torture Houses" !

Here is a story from the LEFT WING New York Times ( so you can't accuse me of spewing out Right wing rhetoric)

Iraqi's Found In Torture House, by Sabrina Tavernise

KARABILA, Iraq, Sunday, June 19 - Marines on an operation to eliminate insurgents that began Friday broke through the outside wall of a building in this small rural village to find a torture center equipped with electric wires, a noose, handcuffs, a 574-page jihad manual - and four beaten and shackled Iraqis.

The American military has found torture houses after invading towns heavily populated by insurgents - like Falluja, where the anti-insurgent assault last fall uncovered almost 20 such sites. But rarely have they come across victims who have lived to tell the tale.

The men said they told the marines, from Company K, Third Marines, Second Division, that they had been tortured with shocks and flogged with a strip of rubber for more than two weeks, unseen behind the windows of black glass. One of them, Ahmed Isa Fathil, 19, a former member of the new Iraqi Army, said he had been held and tortured there for 22 days. All the while, he said, his face was almost entirely taped over and his hands were cuffed.

In an interview with an embedded reporter just hours after he was freed, he said he had never seen the faces of his captors, who occasionally whispered at him, "We will kill you." He said they did not question him, and he did not know what they wanted. Nor did he ever expect to be released.

"They kill somebody every day," said Mr. Fathil, whose hands were so swollen he could not open a can of Coke offered to him by a marine. "They've killed a lot of people."

The manual recovered - a fat, well-thumbed Arabic paperback - listed itself as the 2005 First Edition of "The Principles of Jihadist Philosophy," by Abdel Rahman al-Ali. Its chapters included "How to Select the Best Hostage," and "The Legitimacy of Cutting the Infidels' Heads."

Also recovered were several fake passports, a black hood, the painkiller Percoset, handcuffs and an explosives how-to-guide. Three cars loaded with explosives were parked in a garage outside the house. The marines blew them up.

This is Mr. Fathil's account of his ordeal.

He was having a lunch of lettuce and cucumbers in the kitchen of his home in the small desert village of Rabot with his mother and brother. An Opel sedan pulled up. Two men in masks carrying machine guns got out, seized him, and, leaving his mother sobbing, put him in the trunk of their car.

The drove to the house here. They taped his face, put cotton in his ears, and began to beat him.

The only possible explanation for the seizure he could think of was his time in the new Iraqi Army. Unemployed and illiterate, Mr. Fathil signed up after the American occupation began.

But nine months ago, when continuing working meant risking the wrath of the Jihadists, he quit. In all, 10 friends from his unit have been killed, he said. So have his uncle and his uncle's son, though neither ever worked as soldiers.

The men tended to talk in whispers, he said, telling him five times a day, in low voices in his ear, to pray, and offering him sand, instead of water, to wash himself. Just once, he asked if he could see his mother, and one of them said to him, "You won't leave until you are dead."

Mr. Fathil did not know there were other hostages. He found out only after the captors left and he was able to remove the tape from his eyes.

The routine in the house was regular. Because of the windows, it was always dark inside. Mr. Fathil said he was fed once a day, and allowed to use a bathroom as necessary in the back of the house.

( I'm betting it wasnt the same kind of five star menu served at Gitmo)

When marines burst in, one of the captives was lying under a stairwell, badly beaten. At first, they thought he was dead.

The others were emaciated and battered. Mr. Fathil had fared the best. The other three were taken by medical helicopter to Balad, a base near Baghdad with a hospital.

But he still had been hurt badly. Marks from beatings criss-crossed his back, and deep pocks, apparently from electric shock burns, were gouged in his skin.

The shocks, he said, felt "like my soul is being ripped out of my body." But when he would start to scream, and his body would pull up from the shock, they would begin to beat him, he said.

Mr. Fathil has been at the Marine base south of Qaim since his release, on Saturday around noon. His mother still does not know he is alive.

(Please note how he is Being treated with dignity, receiving medical attention, being fed, being protected - which is alot more than ANY of those terrorists would do if they found our men wounded)

When she was mentioned, he bowed and lowered his head, and began to cry softly, wiping his face with the jumpsuit given him by the marines.

He asked a reporter for help to move to another town, because it was too dangerous for his family to remain in their house. He begged not to have a photograph taken, even of the scars on his back. The captors took pictures of that, he said.

His town has always been a good place, he said, but the militants have made it hell.

"These few are destroying it," he said, his face streaked with tears. "Everybody they take, they kill. It's on a daily basis pretty much."

DO YOU SEE WHAT THESE EVIL VILE TERRORISTS ARE DOING TO INNOCENT IRAQI'S, DICKhead Durbin???? Do you understand that compared to what this poor innocent man and the other two men we found, went through, the "torturous treatment those being held at Gitmo are "enduring" is like spending a day at Camp Disney!
There is no comparison!!!!

HOW DARE YOU CONDEMN THE MUNDANE ACTIONS OF THOSE AT GITMO WHEN TERRORISTS ARE TREATING CIVILIANS IN THIS EVIL TWISTED MANNER??? AND WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK THEY LEARNED THIS FROM?? NONE OTHER THAN UDAY WHO USED TO RAPE HIS WOMEN THEN FEED THEM TO HIS PET LIONS and was taught this exemplary form of behavior from " Daddy Dearest" SADDAM.

Where do you think that vile excuse for a human being, Zarquawi, get's his inspiration about how to treat those he imprisons in his Torture House, or for that matter anyone he views as an infidel , which by the way includes YOU Dick?! NOT FROM THE US GOV'T AND THE MILITARY AT GITMO!!!!!

That we haven't treated these evil infested scum of human excrement known as terrorists in a similiar manner at Gitmo or even Abu Ghraib speaks loudly to the essential difference between US and THEM! These evil life forms are what we are fighting! And sadly only SOME of them are being held at Gitmo! Perhaps some are innocent and do not deserve to be there - PERHAPS- but still compared to the treatment Mr Fathil - who only crime we KNOW WAS THAT HE JOINED THE IRAQI ARMY, YET WAS A CIVILIAN WHEN KIDNAPPED FROM HIS HOME - was subjected to, those who may not belong there, as well as those who DO, have NEVER been treated in such a vile manner by the US MILITARY AND THE US GOV'T. We may use some extreme measures to secure information that will prevent innocent Americans, and Europeans from being killed in the form of another 9/11 from these scumbags....SO FUCKING WHAT????

I think Mr Fathil would have GLADLY traded places with those at Gitmo who have had to"ENDURE" such reprehensible and vile "torture" as listening to rap music!

Let me share with you an excerpt from an email sent to Buzz Colby, whose blog I never liked
( I think this was wasted on Buzz, who was then and is now still blinded by his own celebrity), from his Battalion Commander "Knute Lombatton"

We are all threatened by this evil, and evil it is. This enemy has twisted and distorted things both sacred and profane to guide as well as justify its means and its stated end. Nothing is beyond the realm of the possible when it comes to the depths to which it will sink, the horror it is willing to commit, or the suffering it is willing to inflict. This enemy has no concept of mercy nor does it recognize combatants. Innocence is not a factor!

Beware the onslaught of false prophets who preach the one size fits all solution. Look beneath the facade of their self proclaimed patriotism, peel back the shield of their dogma, and you are likely to find a charlatan malcontent who was passed over for some accolade he feels he richly deserved or a flim-flam artist who knows a chance to make a buck when he sees it. They don't have the will to endure. The will to be free comes at a heavy price.

You do not understand the price Dick, neither does Maxine, the MSM, Sean Penn and his Hollywood band of Fuckwits, and that asshat Michael MooreON, as well as those Americans who support and applaud your bullshit. Likewise, they and you do not have the will.

GO TO HELL Dick........there's a place waiting for you next to Hitler, Pol Pot, and Stalin.

Expect Victory , Make Victory

Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. Vince Lombardi

On Wednesday, a successful Iraqi led military operation rescued Douglas Wood, an Australian hostage, held by Islamist captors.The significance of this rescue operation has been largely overlooked by the MSM and left wing pundits. Both entities remain strangely quiet!

The rescue op, which was conducted by the Iraqi military, while both the US and Australians remained in the background, represents yet ANOTHER VICTORY against the terrorists.

It's a big step for the Iraqi military as they work towards the goal of managing their own security, but it's not the only Iraqi victory; there have been many of late, despite the terrorists relentless suicide/homicides aimed at Iraqi forces.

No matter how many times the terrorists inflict their wanton mass murder on Iraqi forces, whether it be the Army or Police, individual Iraqi's continue to remain committed to the group effort of building a democratic, secure Iraq.

Creative ability and personal responsibility are strongest when the mind is free from supernatural belief and operates in an atmosphere of freedom and democracy.

The successful rescue operation of Douglas Wood, by the Iraqi military, serves as a testimonial to this truth.


* 169,000 Iraqi's are serving as soldiers, and 100,000 more will be trained by summer of 2006*

The Actor and The Mullahs

In the Sunday Boston Globe there appeared a must read insightful article called The Philosopher and The Ayatollah

Written by Wesley Yang, the article is about the French philosopher Michel Foucault,who, in 1978, "went to Iran as a novice journalist to report on the unfolding revolution. His dispatches — now fully available in translation — shed some light on the illusions of intellectuals in our own time."

Considering that Sean Penn, fuckwit turned journalist, is now in Tehran to cover the "election" for the San Francisco Chronicle, and that he and the Hollywood fuckwits he hangs out with have a propensity for supporting dictators, such as Castro, Saddam and now the Mullahs of Iran, the article seemed rather timely and relevant. Here are some excerpts:

There is a long tradition of Western intellectuals going abroad to sing the praises of revolutionaries in distant lands and finding in them the realization of their own intellectual hopes.

But the irony of Foucault's embrace of the Iranian Revolution was that the earlier intellectuals who had sung hymns to tyrants tended to share a set of beliefs in the kind of absolutes — Marxism, humanism, rationality — that Foucault had made it his life's work to overturn.

Anderson says that the debate over these 25- year-old writings has relevance when some leftists focus more energy on criticizing an administration they scorn than on speaking against a radical Islamist movement that also violates all their cherished ideals.

"It's not that radical Islamism is getting a pass from Western progressives and liberals, but it is the case that many are not being critical enough," says Anderson. When certain polemicists are spreading simplistic ideas about "Islamo-Fascism," he continues, "there's a tendency to say that this isn't so. But the fact is that while radical Islamism has many features and faces, everywhere it is antifeminist, everywhere it is authoritarian, and everywhere it is intolerant of other religions and other interpretations of Islam."

A recent article in the New York Sun talked about bombings that occurred this week in Iran, killing 8 people. The mullahs are trying to convince the world that the bombings are the work of "separatists".

A New York-based Iranian activist, Banafsheh Zand Bonazzi, said yesterday that she suspected the bombings were the work of the regime, with the goal of vilifying opposition movements and America. "The mullahs are using this to get regular Iranians to think the opposition is in favor of separatism," she said. "They are trying to vilify the regular anti-regime activists. The nature of the Iranian movement has never been about violence or terrorism or physical confrontation. This is why the activists have engaged in civil disobedience."

Banafsheh Zand Bonazzi and her husband Elio are both writers, activists and Middle East Pundits. I am privileged to call them both my friends. Banafsseh's dad is the father of Iranian cinema, and until recently, was a political prisoner in Iran.

In a soon to be published article for Front Page they posit some interesting questions and food for thought:

How come Mr. Penn did not show interest or was not approached by Global Exchange to visit Iran while the University Student massacres of 1999 was taking place and how come he wasn’t sent over when Iranian intellectuals, artists, filmmakers, journalists, etc. were being assassinated and when our women were being sold in advertised sex-slave auctions in the Persian Gulf nations?

(Apparently Global Exchange had the audacity to respond that they only organized trips to Iran for people who just observe)

Observe??!! We don’t need observers with a political agenda and hardcore chips on their shoulders against their own societies, to come into to our ravaged country to interpret the nature of our struggle! Our people get NO attention from the world media no matter how much we demonstrate our misery and what little media coverage Iran gets is riddled with the ignominious interpretations of western journalists that seriously downplay our reality to fit into their own ideological piegeonhole; the Iranian journalists who are writing for foreign press have to curb the truth so that they are not dragged of to prison… What little press Iran does get, now has to be taken over by Mr. Penn…who wants to use the backdrop of the jumble that is Iran as yet another forgettable photo op.

They continue:

Today Mr. Penn, another “novice” journalist with an agenda that’s entirely irrelevant to the reality of Iran and Iranians, is visiting Iran in a crucial moment. The last few weeks have seen an acceleration of anti-regime activities, mostly unreported by Western mainstream media.

Last week alone, prominent journalist dissident and one of the emerging leaders of the movement against the regime, Akbar Ganji, who is a political prisoner and like many other prisoners was released for a week on a medical furlough went missing; two thousand people chained themselves to the gates of his house and this went unreported by the western media. He has spent 5 years in prison for linking senior figures in the regime to the killings of journalists and intellectuals that occurred in the late 1990s.

Women’s groups lead by the beloved poetess Simin Behbahani (who is now also emerging as one of the leaders of the anti-regime movement) gathered in front of the Tehran University to protest gender apartheid and the violation of Woman and Human Rights in Iran, while denouncing the bogus National Elections that Mr. Penn is to cover for the San Francisco Chronicle.

The goal of left-wing radical groups like ANSWER and Global Exchange is to legitimize the elections in Iran as popular and fair, and to condemn the support for the anti-regime movement given by President Bush and his administration as yet another imperial attempt to expand American influence at the expense of an elected government.

Iranian bloggers and student leaders inside Iran, however, have informed us that in spite of any agenda, Mr. Penn’s presence in Iran is having the unwanted (for the actor and Global Exchange) effect of galvanizing the youth in its stance against the Mullahs. If a movie star of the caliber of Sean Penn is in Iran, the young Iranians say, this means that Iran is important, and the eyes of the world are on Tehran. This is a great chance to let the world know how despised are the ruling clerics. We can indeed expect a more frantic activity organized by the opposition movement between now and the day of the elections, even if such anti-regime endeavor won’t be reported by Mr. Penn.

As the wonderful Iranian writer, Afshin Molavi wrote in his Open Democracy blog entry on Saturday: “I wonder how Sean Penn will see things. Will he honestly portray what he sees? Or will he be blinded by his hatred of President George W. Bush to fall into the trap many a good leftist falls into: defending the Islamic Republic to take a jab at Bush. Progressives in America consistently fail to side with the forces for democracy in Iran because it might just seem too, well, Wolfowitzian or, worse, Rumsfeldian.”

In another interview, Banafsheh makes another extremely important point:

The Islamist establishment that unfortunately today governs that country is not interested in making the best possible deal with the West. It's only interest is in the destruction of the infidels and their corrupt.

I hope that Sean and his gang of terrorist supporting, dictator loving Hollywood fuckwits, the MSM elites, and all those on the LEFT, are paying attention to what the Iranian people want: FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY. Sitting down and making nicey nicey with Mullahs hellbent on destroying the infidels, which include Sean Penn and the above mentioned fuckwits, will NOT WORK. Thinking you can shake hands with terrorists and come to some kind of rational compromise speaks to the "lefts" unabashed ignorance.

Maybe the collective voices of Iranian women protesting AGAINST their subjugation by the MULLAHS, will finally break through the ignorant, myopic, cognitive dissonance that exists in the Hollywood intelligentsia, the MSM elites, and the left wing pseudo intellectual self appointed "progressives".

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION

Sgt.B, at The Gun Line, tells it like it is!

In a rant worthy of my deepest respect, he sets the record straight on exactly WHO the bad guys are. (Hint: IT AIN'T US)

America needs to gain a greater understanding of who the bad guys are. They're the ones blowing up innocents in the streets of Bagdad, and they're the ones who sit in Congress, with a skewed and malicious perception of their own importance, and a pathetic attempt to paint a bunch of murdering thugs, bound up in a "religion" that would gleefully put you, your children, your family, your pastor, your doctor, your friends under the knife, as honorable warriors of a just cause...

We didn't start this, folks.
THEY did.
We don't subscribe to a philosophy of "conversion by the word or by the sword"
THEY do.
We may cause civilian casualties, because somebody stepped in front of a tank round, or somebody passed bad intelligence, but our combat commanders don't wake up in the morning and decide to go out and blow up a group of school kids.
THEY do.
We don't kidnap non-combatants, parade them before the world, and then saw their heads off. THEY do.
We adhere to the laws of war, fielding uniformed combatants, avoiding supposed "sacred structures", and treating the indiginous population with as much respect as can be mustered in light of the security situation.
THEY don't.
We bring freedom. Freedom of action, freedom of thought, freedom of life.
THEY don't.


To all you MSM elites, Leftwing losers, candy ass democrats, the ACLU, the Hollywood fuckwits, and every other self proclaimed intelligentsia/progressive that doesnt fucking get it,
PAY CLOSE ATTENTION:

If the Global War on Terror is to succeed, there is a need for OUR INTELLIGENCE SERVICES as well as those of OTHER COUNTRIES, and for the fuckwits mentioned above, to take careful note of how the Mossad goes about its business. It can be HARSH BEYOND BELIEF to its ENEMIES.

And if you left wing morons still don't get it....let me share with you what Dusty has to say:

What really galls is what the POWs in Vietnam suffered compared to what these murdering, lying, motley bunch of intellectually stunted, malignant bags of skin in that Cuban resort are "suffering" through. A damn sight less than Cubans, by God, but that's another story...

.....what I know, what I've seen, what I've experienced, continuously reinforces my conviction that America has freed more people from tyranny than any civilization to have inhabited this planet. We've done it with our blood, sweat, tears and breathtaking, mind-boggling and wholly voluntary sacrifice. Do we make mistakes? Of course we do. But ONE bad bunch on ONE shift on ONE night in Abu Ghraib...or ACCIDENTALLY dropping a Muslim holy book on the floor...or whatever...does not a despotism make.

And in case you fuckwits STILL don't get it, Blackfive will help enlighten you:

... fifteen of the inmates at Abu Ghraib were terrorists who killed my friend Major Mat Schram. While I abhor the actions of the admin clerk, her idiot MP boyfriend, and others there, you should realize that the worst that we do is put panties on their heads (or for two week, had dogs bark at the 20th hijacker or women interrogators use their "charms"). The worst they do is remove heads of prisoners. That's no zero sum game and it's not "tit-for-tat". Far from it...

And this comment from Badbob, posted at Blackfive, on June 13th, sums it all up beautifully "

All I'm saying is that these 10th century, psycopathic Islamofacists are having a cake-walk at Gitmo. The interrogation "story" I read today-"Inside the Interrogation of Detainee 063" in Time proves my point. Most of them are living better than they ever have in their entire lives. With the exception of a few, inevitable errors made by individual guards/interrogators who were/will be held ACCOUNTABLE our treatment of these "killers" has been beyond anything required of us.

ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY RIGHT!

Happy Birthday Baby!

Mustang23 celebrated the Army's birthday by posting his favorite Army movie quotes.

Below is mine:

PVT. JUDY BENJAMIN: I DID join the Army, but I joined a DIFFERENT Army.
I joined the one with the condos and the private rooms.
("PRIVATE BENJAMIN," 1980)

Not only was that line one of the funniest, but the look on Eileen Brennan's face after Goldie delivers it was freaking HILARIOUS.......hahahahahaha!


Happy 230th! You don't like a day over 225!

HOOOOOOOOOAH!

Iraqi Oil - Just the Facts...

Hurl of the famed duo Howdy and Hurl, shares some interesting facts about whats REALLY going on with Iraq's Oil.

There is a significant lack of news/media information on this subject. To me that is somewhat surprising since getting Iraqs oil production back on line is very much related to reducing the amount of US aid and involvement. To those who think Iraqi oil is being pumped into the bank accounts of Halliburton and George Dubya, I’d like to see some concrete evidence – for once. There is plenty of evidence out there documenting the lucrative oil contracts (about $38 Billion) between Saddam’s Iraq and oil companies in China, France and Russia - much of it in payment for the substantial amount of arms they supplied Saddam…. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute - hardly a "Right-wing extremist" organization.

….But I’m sure that had nothing to do with France and Russia opposing our ’03 invasion and subsequent regime change….

Go read the entire post. The facts speak for themselves.

One can only hope this will finally quell the bullshit Blood for Oil rhetoric still spewing forth from the the Left!

May The Jerk Be With You

There are many battles being fought in Iraq. But none more challenging, or more important than the one that Mustang 23 is facing against those that would prevent him from re uniting with his beloved "BEEF JERKY".

Not such a long long time ago, in land far far away, in a strange strange world known as "The Blogosphere", our hero, Luke Stangwalker, teamed up with a group of rebels (a motley, but dedicated crew) to save his beloved "Beef Jerky" from the evil clutches of "Darth Jerknazi"

Soon young Stangwalker would meet with his spiritual master Obi-OneWiththeJerky in order to prepare for the greatest challenge of his life; a battle that would rage on indefinately and come to be known as "The Jerky Wars"

"May The Jerk Be(ef) With You" would come to be whispered in hushed voices by Stangwalkers band of rebels, known as "The Jerki", as they gathered from the far reaches of the blogosphere, to be united on Planet WhereTheHellRWeAgain?

A battle of insults, taunts, and strange pictures, was being waged......and it seemed that the Jerki would succumb to the Jerknazi.... especially after a rather bizarre pic of Luke Stangwalker was circulated throughout the Blogosphere. But all was not lost.....because.......

The Jerky Strikes Back!

.............The Adventure Continues!


It is a dark time for The Jerki and jerky lovers scattered throughout the distant lands of the strange sands....... Although many carepackages have been destroyed, a group of jerky lovers led by Luke Stangwalker have evaded the dreaded Jerknazi fleet, and established a new secret base within the blogsphere.

The evil lord Darth Jerknazi, who remains obsessed with finding young Stangwalker, Princess Huntress(oh you KNEW that was coming!!) and the Jerki rebels, is also hellbent on destroying the huge cache of Beef and Turkey Jerky hidden deep within the depths of Planet Icebox, and has now dispatched thousands of remote probes and his own motley crew into the far reaches the blogosphere in search of our brave band of heros......The Jerki!

The outnumbered yet fearless Jerki warriors, knew that no evil Jerknazi would ever stand between them and their mission... They would rescue the Jerk!

Their battle was righteous....and the Jerki would be victorious...but when doubt would creep into the somewhat strange mind of their fearless leader....he could be heard talking to himself "I can do it....I can do it....... For My ally is The Jerky...and a powerful ally it is"

Remembering what Yoda had taught him "There is no can or cannot....there is only The Jerky", Stangwalker found a reserve of inner courage right beside a box of cookies.....and he knew that only he could do what no man would dare to do: Rescue Princess Huntress from the palace of Pizza the Hutt, pick up some more cookies.....and make a remarkable comeback in......

The Return of the Jerki........

The Jerknazi Falls




MAY THE JERK BE(ef) WITH YOU!

Ms. Huffandpuffington!

Ariana Huffington was on OReilly tonite.
Gawd, she's fucking annoying!

According to Ms Huffandpuffington, "we are conducting the war on terror in a way that is threatening our security"

You know what Ariana, everytime you open your mouth, you're threatening my sanity!!

Ariana wants an exit strategy to be implemented now and feels we should make that strategy known to the world which presumably includes the terrorists!

Good idea Ariana, that way they can plan our farewell party!

Ms Huffandpuffington also thinks "we" (meaning the military) are an irritant in Iraq.

As Bill pointed out, she is right, our military is definately an irritant in Iraq...................
TO THE DAMN TERRORISTS!!!

And yet not nearly as much of an irritant as Ariana is to me!

She also thinks the "insurgency" is strong and virulent ONLY because they want the American military out of Iraq( duh!) , and that once we leave, these terrorists - these mass murderers - will stop their murderous spree, make nicey nice and become part of the democratic process in Iraq....

Me thinks she needs to stop thinking...since she is clearly incapable of thinking!

Actually she never said what will happen once we leave Iraq BECAUSE SHE HASN'T A FUCKING CLUE BECAUSE SHE IS FUCKING MYOPIC AND CLEARLY HAS NO DAMN IDEA OF WHAT SHE SPEAKS AND SIMPLY SPEAKS TO HEAR HER DAMN ANNOYING VOICE WHICH IRRITATES ME SO FOR THE LOVE OF GAWD ARIANA, SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!!

This "insurgency" is a group of TERRORISTS and MASS MURDERS who want us to leave Irag so that they can subjugate the Sunnis, all women, and create a theocracy!

I guess thats not a problem for Ariana, however, recent history has taught those of us who aren't braindead, that theocratic gov'ts breed ANGRY MEN AND WOMEN who become indoctrinated in the religion of HATE, which results in events like 9/11!

Yet it seems Ariana Huffandpuffington is incapable of grasping the obvious likely due to some synapic misfire!

Oh...one more thing..... Ariana wants to close Gitmo because she believes it is a gulag.....but wait...didnt Amshitnesty International admit they simply made that comparison to "get attention"? Ah yes.... they did!

So then, what OTHER bogus reason could Ms Huffandpuffington possibly have for closing Gitmo?

She thinks it's a " BIG embarrassment to the United States".

*LONG SIGH*

You know Ariana, when it comes to a BIG embarrassment, have you looked in the mirror lately??

High Noon For High News

Victor Davis Hansen shares his insight about the problems endemic in the MSM!

It's easy to see why people no longer feel they can rely on a CBS News or a Newsweek for information without bias. At CBS, Dan Rather persistently wished us to believe that a clearly forged memo was authentic. Michael Isikoff's reliance on a single anonymous and unreliable source about supposed desecration of the Quran made an already jaded public believe that Newsweek was too eager to deliver a one-sided story.

These recent controversies about our flagship news agencies were old news to the public. The New York Times still has not recovered from the Jayson Blair scandal, in which a young reporter wrote fictitious stories. Blair's compliant editors worried more about political correctness than the qualifications and experience of their own reporters.

The same syndrome was true earlier at The Washington Post and The Boston Globe, which were red-faced over the fabrications of reporter Janet Cooke and columnist Patricia Smith, respectively.

In other example of media bias, CNN executive Eason Jordan confessed that his network had censored coverage of a mass-murdering Saddam Hussein — and later tossed offhanded false allegations that the American military deliberately targeted journalists in Iraq.

Click here to read the entire article.

Hat Tip to Leftbasher at No Holds Barred

Currie For Congress

Lt.Currie, one of my favorite milbloggers, whose passion, intelligence and commitment to serving his country, along with his deep love for his wife, I find personally inspirational, is planning to continue serving his country after his deployment in Iraq, by running for Congress against that ******Maxine Waters. I only wish I still lived in California...a finer representative in gov't will be hard to find!

Not that he will need it but I'll be happy to lend my support.

CURRIE FOR CONGRESS..........has a nice ring to it!!!! ( And could he BE anymore photogenic - I have no doubt he will get the female vote.....Obama Barak....watch out!!)


UPDATE: Check out this exclusive interview at Euphoric Reality.
It's the first of many to come!

*sighs* After reading this, I think I'm just going to have to move back to SoCal, join the campaign team and cast my vote - not just for the best candidate -but for the best hope for a better tomorrow!

What does it take to become a legend?

So asks the promo for a new film about the Legendary Z-Boys of Dogtown, CA! But a gritty promo with a sexy soundtrack and some fine editing will not compare to the documentary directed by Stacey Peralta, a former Z-Boy! The movie has both distorted and oversimplified their story and its a diservice to the Legend that is The Z Boys! Skip the film, I have a better alternative.........

Several years ago, while attending Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, I watched the screening of a great documentary, Dogtown and the Z Boys "The Birth of Extreme", directed by Stacey Peralta, one of the Z Boys, which follows the "evolution of modern skateboarding through it's 70's heyday, its decline during the 80's, and its eventual (and highly lucrative) return in the 90's".The visual look is skate-punk aesthetic; edgy, fast, with a soundtrack that KILLS!

But Dogtown and The Z Boys is so much more than just a documentary about Skateboarding. It's a gritty, evocative, rags to riches joy ride filled with passion and some bittersweet moments, about teen age kids who shake up the old boring establishment and take the world by storm, creating what would become known as the Dogtown phenomenon.

Tony Alva, Jay Adams ('When God invented skateboarding, he said "Let there be Jay Adams".) Stacey Peralta, and 8 others, including one girl, mentored by the owners of the Zephyr board shop, Jeff Ho and Skip Engblom, transform skateboarding to an art form, a lifestyle, and a multimillion dollar industry, when they develop a radical new low-rider style, based on moves cut by their surfer heroes, and become the rockstars of the skateboarding world!

During one of the worst droughts SoCal would experience, the Z Boys turned to sneaking into backyards, draining swimming pools and riding in them, creating the first half pipe, and developing moves in the moment, that blew people away. The footage that Stacey has is awesome. I can only imagine how incredibly exciting, awesome, hell mindblowing, it must have been to witness first hand these young punks dripping with Dogtown "tude" creating these carves and cutbacks IN THE MOMENT....to quote Tony Alva, "imagining yourself doing something AS your doing it"

Craig Stecyk began documenting and packaging the Dogtown aesthetic: their look, blue shirts and Van sneakers, their moves, their lifestyle, their attitude, their fast journey from the 1975 Del Mar Nationals, where they caused a major sensation, to sponsorship deals, and the life of a rockstar. Suddenly EVERY GUY EVERYWHERE in the US wanted to be a Z Boy. Being a Z Boy wasn't jsut about skatingboard moves, it was about ATTITUDE! The Z Boys were counter culture, who changed an entire culture, and then became the culture!

While the ride was fast, furious and fun, it would soon implode on all of them, but none more so than Jay Adams. The most naturally talented of the ZBoys, blonde hair blue eyed, he exemplifies the spirit of the Z Boys, and California in the mid 70's, but sadly does not weather his success very well. He is interviewed as an adult from prison....drugs became his downfall. For Jay..it was all about the skate and not about the trappings of success...all he wanted to do was skate for the shear love of skating......but sadly the dream would fade and turn ugly.

Each of the ZBoys would move on, but their impact on the world of skateboarding is still being felt today!

The soundtrack includes: Seasons of Wither (Aerosmith), Hots On For Nowhere (Zepplin), Alladin Sane ( Bowie), Godzilla (Blue Oyster Cult), Fast Cars (Buzzcocks), Gut Feeling (Devo), and One Way Out (Allman Brothers), Sidwalking Surfing (Jan & Dean), Sneaker Pimps, Hendrix, Easy Rider, Motor City Madhouse, Generation Landslide and Children of the Revolution by T Rex.

Memorial Day Messenger

"No friendship can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever"

I spent the weekend busily engaged in assorted activities, including my quiet contemplation. On May 30, I woke up at 0500 as usual, made a hot tea and sat on the balcony to watch the sunrise, and enjoy some quiet time before heading out.

As the sun rose, the birds greeted the day in song, and my thoughts drifted to those now serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world, to those that served in Nam, and then to those that served in WW2. I randomly selected a chapter from "The Greatest Generation" to read.

They say what is personal is universal,and in reading these letters,.it struck me that they could have just as easily been written by a soldier in Nam, or a milblogger today.

I thought of friends I've made through the carepackages I've sent, the blogs I've read, and the serendipitious encounters through my travels, and on one very special Thanksgiving Day in LA, and I gave thanks to them all, for they have shown by example, that courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.

Churchill said that "courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities, because it is the quality that guarantees all others". Those that serve today lay testimony to that truth, as did those who served previously.

As I contemplated on all this, tears streaming down my face, a dove flew onto the balcony rail, and cooed gently. Not so unusual, but this time, somthing extraordinary happened!

This dove slowly made it's way off the rail, and onto the arm of the chair I sat in. As I stared at the lovely bird, it stared back at me, its gentle cooing soothing me, and then it slowly turned around and stood there, on the arm of my chair, staring at the sun rising.

There we sat, this beautiful dove and I, watching the sun rise, together!

Ten minutes went by, the dove flew away, and I heard the familiar bing of someone sending me an Instant Message, so I headed inside to chat with a friend. I chose not to blog about this at the time, because I wanted to fully understand the significance of what had just happened.

In Native American Medicine cards, the meaning of the dove includes peace, true love, simplicity, truth, innocence, harmony. It is a card of giving love for completely altruistic reasons. A dove also represents the feminine energies of peace, maternity and prophecy, dawn and dusk. In Christian mythology a dove brings an olive twig in the tale of Noah's ark, symbolising new beginnings and an end to hardship.

I can't think of a more interesting messenger on Memorial Day than a bird of peace that offers unconditional love.

I am forever grateful to ALL those who serve now, and served then; and to those few whose path I have had the privilege of crossing, whether in person, or in cyberspace, your friendship has left a beautiful mark on my heart, and I am a better person for knowing you.

To those fallen angels who have paid the ultimate price, you are gone, but NEVER forgotten.