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Showing posts from August, 2006

The Stand (not a book review)

I have been participating on my blogger friend's site on a discussion about Muslims/Islam etc. Andy wrote a piece entitled Us vs. Them that basically says, "Can't we all just get along?" I am drastically oversimplifying the post but please read it. Here is an excerpt: As long as the President continues to insist that “we” are good, and therefore everything we want and do is good, and “they” are bad and everything they want and do is bad, we will continue to have slaughter. There is no "them." There is only us. Very Age of Aquarious , don't you think? The comments on this post have stretched into something I can only dream of on this blog and Andy gets a lot of support from his loyal readers. And this disturbs me. I have already made quite a few posts concerning the made-up religion of Islam and the problems that religion has cause throughout the centuries. Here and Here to cite a few. If you read Andy's blog and the subsequent comments please forg

Carter's legacy

Right Wing Nut House has a brilliant article on former President, and current douchebag, Jimmy Carter. I remember a little of Carter's presidency as a child- 444 days of waiting, waiting in line with my mom for hours just to fill up our car, and singing the Jimmy Carter song to the tune of "My bologna has a first name..." My peanut has a first name, it's J-I-M-M-Y; My peanut has a second name ,it's C-A-R-T-E-R. I love to beat him every day, and if you ask me "Why?", I'll say: 'Cause Jimmy Carter has a way of fucking up the USA. The third line may not be right but that's how we sang it but more importantly the cadence of the parody is how a lot of people felt. RWNJ article shows that Darwinian theory doesn't always pan out.

Eyeless in Gaza

It is impossible to watch or read the news and not hear about the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. What is difficult to see/read is what is really going on over there because of the media bias. Michael J. Totten is a journalist who is in Israel right now blogging about his observations on Middle East Journal . His entries are very telling, expertly written and sprinkled with dramatic images. I chose to link to this particular entry because it involves a conversation with an Israeli. Here is the full story.

Navy Retirement

Yesterday I attended the retirement ceremony of a good friend of mine. We served together on my last boat and he was my "boss". For those of you in the Navy you will understand why I used quotations. It occurred to me, as I sat listening to the traditional nautical-themed recitations, that the U.S. Navy probably has one of the most unique retirement ceremonies in comparison to its civilian counterparts. There are no gold watches given, no lavishly decorated ballrooms or dining halls and no cookie cutter speeches. Shipmates are in uniform and civilians are in their Sunday best. Well, in Hawaii it is dressed down to 'Aloha Attire', but it is reflective of the culture the sailor has drifted in during his career. Below are some examples of the traditional speeches that are made, and although they are almost memorized by sailors who have attended many a retirement, the meaning of each speech is held close the sailor's heart and dreams of the day when a speaker will be

Old Glory

I am the flag of the United States of America. My name is Old Glory. I fly atop the world's tallest buildings. I stand watch in America's halls of justice. I fly majestically over institutions of learning. I stand guard with power in the world. Look up and see me. I stand for peace, honor, truth and justice. I stand for freedom. I am confident. I am arrogant. I am proud. When I am flown with my fellow banners, my head is a little higher, my colors a little truer. I bow to no one! I am recognized all over the world. I am worshipped I am saluted. I am loved I am revered. I am respected and I am feared. I have fought in every battle of every war for more than 200 years. I was flown at Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Shiloh and Appomattox. I was there at San Juan Hill, the trenches of France, in the Argonne Forest, Anzio, Rome and the beaches of Nor

The Watch

"Boatswain... Stand by to Pipe the Side!!" This order has been passed on naval ships from the 1500's through today. Spanish, French, English, Dutch... Yes, all navies of the world use the boatswain, sideboys and call to bring aboard or send ashore all ship's company officers, visiting officers, dignitaries and VIP's. The sideboys would haul on the ropes and raise or lower the boarding platform so officers would not have to climb the rat line (which were hanging over the side and used by the enlisted crew) when going ashore or to get aboard. This honor was extended to visiting officers, dignitaries and port officials. It was not uncommon for the Commanding Officer of the ship to order up the Jolly Boat, a crew of eight strong backs, sideboys boatswain to send an old shipmate and fellow officer to his shore retirement... home... never to sail on naval ships again. "All hands on deck!" was passed, speeches were made about great victories, battles fought upo

Submarine Verse of the Navy Hymm

Bless those who serve beneath the deep, through lonely hours their vigil keep. May peace their mission ever be, protect each one we ask of thee. Bless those at home who wait and pray, of their return by night or day.

Going Ashore

Avast ye swabs, land in sight- make haste in sail for we land tonight and in the morn at break of day, we'll man the rails and gangplank way. The Bos'ns pipe will trill and shrill- as we send a shipmate to the shore, there to remain forever more. Tonight we'll crack a keg or two, gather round and drink a toast to you. We'll lift our mugs away up high, for the many years that drifted by. Remember throughout the many years, you sailed away amidst the tears of loved ones left behind, worried and hoping they'd be fine. Of our shipmates too, my man, who followed you to many lands in time the names and faces, will be forgotten as all those places. But like the morning fog and dew, we'll endeavor to remember you, and when morning sun lifts the haze, and we sail again for many days you'll remember us as we will you, until the years leave only a few to recall the good old days, of sailing men o're the waves.

R.I. Trooper under ACLU's nose

Last month a Rhode Island State Trooper pulled over a van that had not signaled a lane change. When he asked for identification only a few could provide. The Tropper then asked for green cards and none of them could provide. Immigration was involved and it turns out all 14 people were in the country illegally. Here is what the driver of the van, who is an illegal, had to say about the stop: "We believe that our van was pulled over, at least in part, because of our ethnicity. As passengers, we also object that we were required to provide identification and asked about our immigration status, even though we had done nothing wrong. We do not think the trooper had any right to force us to go to ICE headquarters. We believe we were treated unfairly." Wow, it doesn't take long for them to figure out when to use the race card. Of course the ACLU is jumping all over this case and pointing their fingers at the cop in a defiant posture while coddling the illegals. The only thing t

Letter to Judge Koeltl

Judge Koeltl, My name is G.S. and I am a United States Navy submariner stationed in Pearl Harbor Hawaii. I am writing this letter to ask that you give Lynne Stewart the maximum penalty allowable for her offenses on September 25 of this year. Her traitorous actions are a disgrace to herself and to the sick minds that propagate her ignoble cause. I am at the twilight of a 20 year career of naval service and I have had to deal with the repercussions of military traitors who sell our secrets to foreign governments. I have had deployments extended, liberty secured and adopted new measures of security every time a traitor held his own ideologies above his countrymen’s. Lynne Stewart has done something far worse than sell military secrets. She helped the enemy plan attacks against her own countrymen. She feels no remorse and thinks that cowardly attacks against purported powers that make the United States an evil place are justifiable. "I don’t believe in anarchistic violence, but in di

Another TSA security restriction

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Mardin Amin , 29, was with his mother and two children on August 16th traveling from O'Hare to Turkey. A TSA agent pulled out an object fom Amin's bag and begin to eyball it. Here is where the story gets interesting. Amir cliams he told the TSA agent the device was a 'pump', she claims Amir said 'bomb'. I assume Amir is Turkish and probably speaks with a thick accent. 'Bomb' sort of sounds like 'pump' in the way 'close' sounds like 'blow' on a sound powered phone on a submarine. Coincidentally, we say 'shut' instead of 'close' for that very reason. TSA agents grabbed Amin and put him into custody and did not give him the time to explain that what the female TSA agent was holding was his penis pump. I guess that was his bag, baby. It would be bad enough getting caught masterbating by your mother as a sexually frustrated adolescent, but getting busted with a penis pump in line at the airport while your mother is stan

Solving Hawaii's Homeless Problem

I am compelled to write this entry because of a string of homeless conversation that has been happening over the last 4 days. I had a class Saturday, although I did not attend I had a very good reason- I was on the Big Island taking pictures of the lava flow. A groupmember emailed me the brainstorming outcome of the day and it was "Removing the homeless from Oahu beaches". I thought it to be an unchallenging and dry topic. Yesterday, I read and commented on Doug TenNapel's site on an entry where he discusses an encounter with a crazed homeless person. There were some news segments about the homeless in Hawaii because of the torrential rain we had a few weeks ago and various other issues of the homeless. Although it is crude, cruel, dispecable and heartless I have a plan to rid Hawaii of its homeless, thus relieving the social and financial burdens the homeless place on the residents and visitors of this island paradise. The US Navy has a graveyard of outdated ships just

File Under: "I couldn't have said it any better"

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Excerpt from Banagor's site. Read the whole thing here. "No, all Iran has to do is wait, as does Syria, and whatever passes for the emergence in Iraq. And then Europe will fall, someday, and the face of a new god will take it’s place within the hallowed cathedrals of liberalism. It is already happening, slowly but surely. The shields which we have put up are of no use without an offensive thrust. All the enemy has to do is slowly chip away at that shield to make it crumble in time. Europe - the West - is like an unhorsed knight, cowering on the ground, holding a shield above his face. And the Muslim world is standing over him, slamming a scimitar down on that shield, knowing that no counter-thrust will ever come, knowing that steel only has so much strength before it shatters. Europe has encased itself in an armor which will do it no good, and so have we. And when they fall, and when Israel falls, we are next. We will be the last, but it will come. Perhaps when we see Europe

Today is Admissions Day!

Today celebrates the day Hawaii was admitted into the United States on August 20, 1959. It is observed on the third Friday of the month to get that 3-day weekend in. What is disturbing, but not surprising, is the lack of any real commentary of the holiday in the local media. There were no parades advertised but thousands of people hwo work for the State had the day off. That explains why Koa’s pancakes was packed for breakfast at 9:00 a.m. I have talked ad nauseum about the Hawaiian sovereignty movement here and here and how a minority of America-haters has made government officials feel guilty about Hawaii belonging to the greatest nation on earth. In a nutshell, it’s the white man’s fault. As bigoted as that sounds, well, there is some truth in it but I have already addressed my concerns. Instead of trying to make things better for themselves these Hawaiians, who can have as little native blood in them as the equivalent amount of blood-alcohol content that would be considered legal

WESTPAC 2005 entry

AUGUST 14, 2005 1200-1800 watch - Pretty good lunch oncoming: fried chicken, mashed potatoes. For once the cooks didn't turn something from the Y. Hata food delivery truck into something not fit for human consumption. Reminds me of a box of meat when I was on the L.A. that we started to pass to the boat via the human chain gang that read, "Rejected. US Air Force". I wish I was making that up. I think that was the same stores load that two machinists were power puking off the brow just to see who could get the most distance. Anyway, the meat was conveniently, but 'accidentally', dropped over the side before reaching belowdecks, as is every box of frozen brusselsprouts. - I got up early before watch, 0700 or so, and took a shower. I haven't been sleeping oncoming lately. To keep myself occupied I stay in the time machine, a.k.a. my rack, and play Star Wars Battlefront on my PS2. I picked it up in Guam and it fits sooooo nicely in my rack. I had to commandeer an

If Men Ruled The World

OK, we already do but here are some things that would be nice perks. 1. Any fake phone number a girl gave you would automatically forward your call to her real number. 2. Nodding and looking at your watch would be deemed an acceptable response to "I love you." 3. Hallmark would make "Sorry, what was your name again?" cards. 4. When your girlfriend really needed to talk to you during the game, she'd appear in a little box in the corner of the screen during a time-out. 5. Each year, your raise would be pegged to the fortunes of the NFL team of your choice. 6. The funniest guy in the office would get to be CEO. 7. "Sorry I'm late, but I got really wasted last night" would be an acceptable excuse for tardiness. 8. At the end of the workday, a whistle would blow and you'd jump out your window and slide down the tail of a brontosaurus and right into your car like Fred Flintstone. 9. It'd be considered harmless fun to gather 30 friends, put on hor

Mad Max alive and well

Forgive my tardiness to this latest edition of idiotic Hollywood news but I just returned from a well needed vaction. My wife shows a picture of Gibson's arrest photo from a little over a week ago and begins to fill me in on the Road Warrior's latest stunt. I do find it comical that Gibson uses his bedroom eyes in his mugshot but not as hilarious as his 'sweet tits' comment to an arresting female officer. Guess blowing a .12 really does impaire one's judgement. Again, I am a Johnny-come-lately but for the benefit of both my readers please indulge me. I don't want to get into specifics because it really is old news but I do have a few thoughts on the subject. It just amazes me how the South Park boys really do get it right sometimes. They ran a parody called "Passion of the Jew" in 2004 and reran the episode in true SP tackiness after the news of Gibson's arrest was made public. Tom Cruise is relievd a Hollywood jackass has taken the spotlight

New Chief Petty Officer Selectees Announced

Congratulations on the selectees who made it into the Goat Locker. It is truly the beginning of a new phase of thier naval career. For those CPO selectee hopefuls, present company included, who did not make it the best advice anyone can give is to "keep trying". Sage advice to be sure, but what of the percentage of board eligible candidates who had their last shot at Chief go whooshing by like the air out of MBT's? I, too, fall into this statistic. First Class Petty Officers are forced to retire after 20 years. I will go over 19 in a few weeks. I now have one year to prepare myself for CIVPAC (future retiree talk for 'Civilian Pacific', yes, you can take the man out of the Navy but not the Navy out of the man) and make the transition to move to northern CA. I have taken advantage of Tuition Assistance and MGIB and plowed out degrees, hoping to catch the eye of the board but to also prepare myself for post retirement job hunts. Although it took me a while, I finall

YO! MTV Sucks!

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Can you believe MTV is 25 years old today? I was 11 when Video Killed the Radio Star was first watched by only a handful of viewers in Jersey, but when I was in high school I remember Madonna and Michael Jackson admonished parents to get MTV to appease their demanding children. I think my parents still fought off my requests so I had to go to friends' houses to see the first mini-movie with Jackson showing off the moonwalk- and anyone that was able to stand on two feet tried to imitate that dance move. The living room at Paula Hartsfield's house was packed as we watched ghouls chase Jackson's girlfriend for 14 minutes. Madonna. How many guys wished they were the object of her attention; how many girls dressed like a slut to imitate her? Like a Virgin , Material Girl , and the myriad of bilingual songs with lyrics that foretold the impending immigration problem (and not to mention the fame the sacrilegious name received outside of Sunday Mass), Madonna was one of many on a