Friday, November 2, 2012
President Photo-Op Goes AWOL as Lower Manhattan and Staten Island Descend Into Chaos
VERBATIM
Through Gothamist, via Ace and Hot Air, we get a picture of a Manhattan below 38th Street that is nearing the onset of a humanitarian disaster. Jonathan Maimon made a 5-hour, 12-mile run through some of the devastated areas and what he saw is... well, unbelievable.
1) Virtually every retailer, restaurant and grocery store south of 38th street is CLOSED. This is in an area covering 8 square miles. I only observed a handful of bodegas in Soho and the East Village, along with Ben’s Pizza on W3rd and MacDougal serving customers. Whole Foods Union Square had a sign reading “because there is no electricity, we cannot open.” There is no food, other than what you have in your refrigerator.Where's President Photo-Op and his Bomber Jacket, I mean, besides his jetting to his usual Vegas fundraisers and speechifying at campaign stops while hawking a Republican "War on Women"?
2) To that point, there are close to 400,000 people living below 38th street without power. The mayor earlier said it could be 3 days without power; some Con Ed guys I spoke with in the East Village think it could be longer. Nobody knows.
3) No working traffic lights in this region (drivers are generally being cautious and appropriately yielding to pedestrians). Apartment stairwells are pitch black. High rises have no elevator access...
5) There is no running water or flushing toilets for people living in the Jacob Riis Houses and surrounding NYCHA buildings on the Lower East Side. In my estimate, this is roughly 20,000 people. One family I spoke with is packing their bags and moving to Brooklyn until services are restored. But it did not appear that all residents were evacuating, even as their toilets did not flush.
6) I did not witness a single Red Cross Truck or FEMA Vehicle or in lower Manhattan. Recall the assistance these agencies provided after 9/11 - this is NOT HAPPENING. There are bound to be hundreds of elderly people, rich and poor, who live on the upper floors of buildings with elevators that are now disabled. IF POWER IS NOT RESTORED, THIS WILL MOVE FROM BEING AN ECONOMIC DISASTER TO A HUMANITARIAN DISASTER.
Where's Mayor Bloomturd, aside from moving giant generators into Central Park to power the NYC Marathon, hosting the Brooklyn Nets NBA game, and banning 16-oz. colas, that is?
The real "War on Women" (and children, and the elderly, and the infirm) is occurring in the Northeast, as President Training Wheels parties on, oblivious to the unfolding catastrophe as he was to the disaster in Benghazi.
Latest Benghazi Bombshells Rock Scandal
Several new details are emerging from the Benghazi scandal that are
sure to blow the entire scandal wide open. Just within the past 48
hours new revelations have come to light in the ongoing investigation.
When we visited on Oct. 26 to prepare a story for Dubai based Al Aan TV, we found not only Stevens’ personal copy of the Aug. 6 New Yorker, lying on remnants of the bed in the safe room where Stevens spent his final hours, but several ash-strewn documents beneath rubble in the looted Tactical Operations Center, one of the four main buildings of the partially destroyed compound. Some of the documents — such as an email from Stevens to his political officer in Benghazi and a flight itinerary sent to Sean Smith, a U.S. diplomat slain in the attack — are clearly marked as State Department correspondence. Others are unsigned printouts of messages to local and national Libyan authorities. The two unsigned draft letters are both dated Sept. 11 and express strong fears about the security situation at the compound on what would turn out to be a tragic day. They also indicate that Stevens and his team had officially requested additional security at the Benghazi compound for his visit — and that they apparently did not feel it was being provided.Fox News’ Catherine Herridge reported on a newly discovered cable indicating that the diplomatic post in Benghazi convened an “emergency meeting” concerned about local Al Qaeda training camps. She writes,
One letter, written on Sept. 11 and addressed to Mohamed Obeidi, the head of the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ office in Benghazi, reads: “Finally, early this morning at 0643, September 11, 2012, one of our diligent guards made a troubling report. Near our main gate, a member of the police force was seen in the upper level of a building across from our compound. It is reported that this person was photographing the inside of the U.S. special mission and furthermore that this person was part of the police unit sent to protect the mission. The police car stationed where this event occurred was number 322.”
According to a review of the cable addressed to the Office of the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Emergency Action Committee was also briefed “on the location of approximately ten Islamist militias and AQ training camps within Benghazi … these groups ran the spectrum from Islamist militias, such as the QRF Brigade and Ansar al-Sharia, to ‘Takfirist thugs.’” Each U.S. mission has a so-called Emergency Action Committee that is responsible for security measures and emergency planning.
More @ Freedom Outpost
HAUNTING MEMORIES OF BRAVE COMRADES
By J. Stryker Meyer
When I die, if the Lord gives me a moment to reflect before I breathe my
last breath, my first thoughts will be not of my loved ones, nor my
children.
I'll reflect on and thank God for Sau, Hiep, Phouc, Tuan, Hung, Son, Quang, Chau, Cau and Minh. Captains Tuong and Thinh and lieutenants Trung and Trong will follow them in my thoughts. Then, I'll think of my loving wife, our talented and unique children, and our folks.
Why the Vietnamese men before my loved ones? Without the courage, strength and fearless verve as combatants in America's secret war in Southeast Asia, I wouldn't have returned to the United States.
Today, on the 25th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, I'll pause to salute those warriors, men most Americans will never hear about, including the more than 3 million U.S. troops sent to South Vietnam during America's longest and costliest war.
There are many who do not respect or salute the Vietnamese who fought in Vietnam. That's because our country has failed to educate them about the Vietnamese, the country they sent us to and its history and customs. As Green Berets, we fought side by side with them, laughed with them and learned about their families, their dreams and hopes and fears.
The first group were members of Spike Team Idaho, a reconnaissance team that ran classified missions into Cambodia, Laos and North Vietnam under the aegis of the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Studies and Observation Group ---- SOG. Green Berets, Navy SEALs and U.S. Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance troops manned several special operation commands throughout South Vietnam.
I'll reflect on and thank God for Sau, Hiep, Phouc, Tuan, Hung, Son, Quang, Chau, Cau and Minh. Captains Tuong and Thinh and lieutenants Trung and Trong will follow them in my thoughts. Then, I'll think of my loving wife, our talented and unique children, and our folks.
Why the Vietnamese men before my loved ones? Without the courage, strength and fearless verve as combatants in America's secret war in Southeast Asia, I wouldn't have returned to the United States.
Today, on the 25th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, I'll pause to salute those warriors, men most Americans will never hear about, including the more than 3 million U.S. troops sent to South Vietnam during America's longest and costliest war.
There are many who do not respect or salute the Vietnamese who fought in Vietnam. That's because our country has failed to educate them about the Vietnamese, the country they sent us to and its history and customs. As Green Berets, we fought side by side with them, laughed with them and learned about their families, their dreams and hopes and fears.
The first group were members of Spike Team Idaho, a reconnaissance team that ran classified missions into Cambodia, Laos and North Vietnam under the aegis of the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Studies and Observation Group ---- SOG. Green Berets, Navy SEALs and U.S. Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance troops manned several special operation commands throughout South Vietnam.
I joined Spike Team Idaho in May 1968, after six members of the team
disappeared in a Laos target area. Three U.S. Green Berets and three
Vietnamese mercenaries were never heard from again and remain listed as
missing in action today. By '68, Idaho operated out of Phu Bai, 10 miles
south of Hue. In May, there were 30 recon teams there. By November,
Idaho was the only operational team left in camp. The enemy troops in
Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam were well-trained, fearless and
well-equipped.
Captains Tuong and Thinh and lieutenants Trung and Trong were helicopters pilots who flew Sikorsky H-34s in the Vietnamese 219th Helicopter Squadron for SOG. Time and again, they flew the older H-34s, which we called "KINGBEES," into landing zones where enemy soldiers tried to knock them out of the sky.
For several months in '68, the KINGBEES were the only aircraft flying SOG teams "across the fence" deep into enemy territory. In Laos, the CIA estimated there were between 30,000 and 40,000 North Vietnamese troops keeping the Ho Chi Minh Trail open, bringing supplies from the north to South Vietnam ---- and fighting SOG troops.
During my 17 months on Idaho, we always left targets under heavy fire from North Vietnamese troops. The ride home was in KINGBEES and every time we asked for one, it came, regardless of enemy fire. There are many Green Berets alive today thanks to the incredible flying skills of Vietnamese Kingbee pilots. And without the Vietnamese or Montagnard team members, there would have been more than the 161 killed in SOG operations.
Sau was the Vietnamese team leader on Spike Team Idaho. When I landed at Phu Bai, Sau had been fighting for Special Forces nearly five years. Weighing less than 100 pounds soaking wet, Sau had a remarkable sixth sense: He could smell the enemy. In the jungle he moved with complete stealth and silence, often cursing his larger American counterparts.
Hiep was the team's interpreter, who sometimes corrected U.S. troops on their English, as well as speaking Vietnamese, French and some Chinese.
Phouc, Chau, Son and Hung all signed up with Special Forces when they were 15 or 16. After hundreds of hours of intensive training, their age didn't matter as they stood tall in combat.
On Oct. 7, 1968, Spike Team Idaho, after trying to escape from North Vietnamese trackers, was attacked by NVA soldiers, who opened fire on full automatic. Sau had warned they were near. Although none of the Americans heard anything, Sau, Phuoc, Hiep and Don Wolken were on alert, with their weapons on full automatic, ready to go.
In those firefights the first seconds are crucial. The submachine guns we carried fired 20 high-velocity rounds in 1 1/2 seconds. Sau, Phouc and Hiep reloaded and drove the NVA back down the jungle-shrouded hill. We gained fire superiority, but the NVA never stopped coming at us. After a while, they were firing at us from behind stacks of dead bodies. They came at us from 2 p.m. until dusk, time and again rushing us, trying to overrun our position. We had Air Force Phantom jets, Skyraiders and helicopter gunships dropping bombs, napalm and cluster bombs and make strafing runs. That was the first time I could recall smelling burnt human flesh.
By dusk, we were low on ammo, hand grenades and rounds for our grenade launcher. Capt. Thinh flew his H-34 to a slight rise above our position, hovering in deep elephant grass ---- thick-bladed grass that grew more than 12 feet tall. Because the grass was thick and the NVA tried to close in on us again, it took us several minutes to get to the Kingbee.
When I arrived under it, I looked up at Capt. Thinh, sitting there looking as calm as a Rocky Mountain breeze in springtime, and he smiled. Finally, we were loaded and he yanked us out of there. Sau, Hiep, Phouc and I fired off our last magazine of rounds and threw our last grenade as we pulled out of the landing zone, again under heavy enemy fire.
Within a few minutes we were at 4,000 feet, returning to Phu Bai. We were safe and unharmed. The Kingbee had 48 holes from bullets and grenades in its side panels and propellers. The new American on the team quit the next day. Sau, Hiep and Phouc ate dinner before I arranged for Sau and Hiep to return to their families that night. That scene unfolded hundreds of times over the course of SOG's history.
I carry a deep, haunting guilt for having left them in South Vietnam.
(J. Stryker Meyer, a North County Times staff writer, served in the Special Forces from 1968 to 1970.)
Captains Tuong and Thinh and lieutenants Trung and Trong were helicopters pilots who flew Sikorsky H-34s in the Vietnamese 219th Helicopter Squadron for SOG. Time and again, they flew the older H-34s, which we called "KINGBEES," into landing zones where enemy soldiers tried to knock them out of the sky.
For several months in '68, the KINGBEES were the only aircraft flying SOG teams "across the fence" deep into enemy territory. In Laos, the CIA estimated there were between 30,000 and 40,000 North Vietnamese troops keeping the Ho Chi Minh Trail open, bringing supplies from the north to South Vietnam ---- and fighting SOG troops.
During my 17 months on Idaho, we always left targets under heavy fire from North Vietnamese troops. The ride home was in KINGBEES and every time we asked for one, it came, regardless of enemy fire. There are many Green Berets alive today thanks to the incredible flying skills of Vietnamese Kingbee pilots. And without the Vietnamese or Montagnard team members, there would have been more than the 161 killed in SOG operations.
Sau was the Vietnamese team leader on Spike Team Idaho. When I landed at Phu Bai, Sau had been fighting for Special Forces nearly five years. Weighing less than 100 pounds soaking wet, Sau had a remarkable sixth sense: He could smell the enemy. In the jungle he moved with complete stealth and silence, often cursing his larger American counterparts.
Hiep was the team's interpreter, who sometimes corrected U.S. troops on their English, as well as speaking Vietnamese, French and some Chinese.
Phouc, Chau, Son and Hung all signed up with Special Forces when they were 15 or 16. After hundreds of hours of intensive training, their age didn't matter as they stood tall in combat.
On Oct. 7, 1968, Spike Team Idaho, after trying to escape from North Vietnamese trackers, was attacked by NVA soldiers, who opened fire on full automatic. Sau had warned they were near. Although none of the Americans heard anything, Sau, Phuoc, Hiep and Don Wolken were on alert, with their weapons on full automatic, ready to go.
In those firefights the first seconds are crucial. The submachine guns we carried fired 20 high-velocity rounds in 1 1/2 seconds. Sau, Phouc and Hiep reloaded and drove the NVA back down the jungle-shrouded hill. We gained fire superiority, but the NVA never stopped coming at us. After a while, they were firing at us from behind stacks of dead bodies. They came at us from 2 p.m. until dusk, time and again rushing us, trying to overrun our position. We had Air Force Phantom jets, Skyraiders and helicopter gunships dropping bombs, napalm and cluster bombs and make strafing runs. That was the first time I could recall smelling burnt human flesh.
By dusk, we were low on ammo, hand grenades and rounds for our grenade launcher. Capt. Thinh flew his H-34 to a slight rise above our position, hovering in deep elephant grass ---- thick-bladed grass that grew more than 12 feet tall. Because the grass was thick and the NVA tried to close in on us again, it took us several minutes to get to the Kingbee.
When I arrived under it, I looked up at Capt. Thinh, sitting there looking as calm as a Rocky Mountain breeze in springtime, and he smiled. Finally, we were loaded and he yanked us out of there. Sau, Hiep, Phouc and I fired off our last magazine of rounds and threw our last grenade as we pulled out of the landing zone, again under heavy enemy fire.
Within a few minutes we were at 4,000 feet, returning to Phu Bai. We were safe and unharmed. The Kingbee had 48 holes from bullets and grenades in its side panels and propellers. The new American on the team quit the next day. Sau, Hiep and Phouc ate dinner before I arranged for Sau and Hiep to return to their families that night. That scene unfolded hundreds of times over the course of SOG's history.
I carry a deep, haunting guilt for having left them in South Vietnam.
(J. Stryker Meyer, a North County Times staff writer, served in the Special Forces from 1968 to 1970.)
Las Vegas Review-Journal Destroys Obama
Via Billy
In one of the most blistering denunciations of Barack Obama ever penned, the Las Vegas Review Journal published an editorial today that excoriated Obama not only for his ineptitude in the Benghazi attack, but also his duplicity afterward and the cooperation of a supine press:
The Obama administration sat by doing nothing for seven hours that night, ignoring calls to dispatch help from our bases in Italy, less than two hours away. It has spent the past seven weeks stretching the story out, engaging in misdirection and deception involving supposed indigenous outrage over an obscure anti-Muslim video, confident that with the aid of a docile press corps this infamous climax to four years of misguided foreign policy can be swept under the rug, at least until after Tuesday's election … The official explanation for why Obama administration officials watched the attack unfold for seven hours, refusing repeated requests to send the air support and relief forces that sat less than two hours away in Italy? Silence.
The RJ also charged Obama with impotence as he flew off to Las Vegas instead of dealing with the attack.
Prompt and strong action from the White House on Sept. 11 might have saved American lives, as well as America's reputation as a nation not to be messed with. Weakness and dithering and flying to Las Vegas the next day for celebrity fund-raising parties are somehow better?
The RJ pulled no punches about the Obama Administration‘s efforts to destroy our economy and accused Obama of continually flat-out lying to the American people.
In one of the most blistering denunciations of Barack Obama ever penned, the Las Vegas Review Journal published an editorial today that excoriated Obama not only for his ineptitude in the Benghazi attack, but also his duplicity afterward and the cooperation of a supine press:
The Obama administration sat by doing nothing for seven hours that night, ignoring calls to dispatch help from our bases in Italy, less than two hours away. It has spent the past seven weeks stretching the story out, engaging in misdirection and deception involving supposed indigenous outrage over an obscure anti-Muslim video, confident that with the aid of a docile press corps this infamous climax to four years of misguided foreign policy can be swept under the rug, at least until after Tuesday's election … The official explanation for why Obama administration officials watched the attack unfold for seven hours, refusing repeated requests to send the air support and relief forces that sat less than two hours away in Italy? Silence.
The RJ also charged Obama with impotence as he flew off to Las Vegas instead of dealing with the attack.
Prompt and strong action from the White House on Sept. 11 might have saved American lives, as well as America's reputation as a nation not to be messed with. Weakness and dithering and flying to Las Vegas the next day for celebrity fund-raising parties are somehow better?
The RJ pulled no punches about the Obama Administration‘s efforts to destroy our economy and accused Obama of continually flat-out lying to the American people.
More @ Breitbart
Russian circus performer beats himself to death in Acapulco jail cell, so they say
VERBATIM
I was personally acquainted with Anton. Mexican police are trying to hurry to get rid of his body cremated.
Today I learned of the tragic and very strange death of my good friend
Anton Alferov, which occurred in the city of Acapulco, Mexico.
The
scattered data, Anthony was arrested on the beach for what is an
administrative offense and with his mother was taken to the police
station.
Later, his mother was released and Anton left the station. Then, with huge bruises on the head and face, he was taken to hospital, where he later died. From the words of the police, he lost control of the camera and started banging his head against the wall and broke the toilet.
This version is a huge question.
On fragmentary information, he got into a fight with the police.
Anton was a circus performer of the highest class, this year fresh from a tour with Cirque du Soleil, the show OVO. He opened his own show in Acapulco, also conducted master classes in acrobatics and circus arts.
Were able to learn about it only because of fragmentary information in Facebook. There is little information on local Mexican sites.
Would love as much as possible to spread this information, what would it's not zamylili.
Very probably soon need to help the family. Today we learned that my mother had a huge emotional and mental breakdowns.
Very probably soon need to help the family. Today we learned that my mother had a huge emotional and mental breakdowns.
Repost welcome
===================
VERBATIM
In Acapulco, Russian acrobat Anton Alferov, who was part of the Cirque
du Soleil and who had resided in Acapulco for several years, met a
violent death which was not only absurd, but so far indecipherable.
Authorities have conducted the case in a sealed manner, to the point that not even the assigned case number of the preliminary inquiry to investigate the causes of death has been revealed. All that is known about it is from "law enforcement sources".
The story is astonishing: the athlete, about 35, was reportedly arrested by federal police in Costa Azul while trying to break in to a home. He was then they handed him over to the municipal police, who, in turn, passed him on to ministerial police. Another version says only municipal police made the arrest.
With contusions in various parts of his body, Anton should have been taken to hospital for treatment, but he decline to go, and ended up in the ministerial police jail cells. There he "went crazy" and beat himself against the wall and, like Hulk, ripped a toilet bowl from the floor and tossed it against the bars of the jail cell. By his own means, he beat himself to death.
Authorities have conducted the case in a sealed manner, to the point that not even the assigned case number of the preliminary inquiry to investigate the causes of death has been revealed. All that is known about it is from "law enforcement sources".
The story is astonishing: the athlete, about 35, was reportedly arrested by federal police in Costa Azul while trying to break in to a home. He was then they handed him over to the municipal police, who, in turn, passed him on to ministerial police. Another version says only municipal police made the arrest.
With contusions in various parts of his body, Anton should have been taken to hospital for treatment, but he decline to go, and ended up in the ministerial police jail cells. There he "went crazy" and beat himself against the wall and, like Hulk, ripped a toilet bowl from the floor and tossed it against the bars of the jail cell. By his own means, he beat himself to death.
A Surrender of Sorts
We are doomed, saith the preacher, and should accommodate ourselves to it. In times of growing governmental power, protestation at some point becomes futile. Little is served by standing in front of a charging Mongol army and shouting, “No! You should reconsider! Perhaps some other course would be advisable. Let’s parley….”
Complaint is useless. It is too late. It booteth not. We are done. The Mongols ride. America comes apart at the seams. The country turns into something altogether new, new for America.
In high school, I read Shirer, first Berlin Diary and then The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. I had little idea what I was reading. A naval base in rural Virginia is not a hotbed of historical understanding, or any understanding. I knew nothing of Weimar or the Spartacists or the Treaty of Versailles. Still, I dimly grasped that a theretofore civilized country with great rapidity turned into something horrible. It was not an evolutionary change, like the Industrial Revolution. Brahms to Goebbels in a decade.
Something alike happens in America, and one wonders—I wonder, anyway—how can this be? In little more than a decade, the Constitution has died, the economy welters in irreversible decline, we have perpetual war, all power lies in the hands of the executive, the police are supreme, and a surveillance beyond Orwell’s imaginings falls into place.
More @ Fred On Everything
We have posted the latest monthly issue of the North Carolina Crime Report by Suspected Illegal Aliens on our website; www.NCFIRE.info. This report covers crimes by suspected illegal aliens in NC for the month of October. It is 138 pages long! It can be viewed online as a pdf file here: http://ncfire.info/
The amount of monthly crimes by suspected illegal aliens in NC is staggering. These crimes are not compiled in any statewide database and that tends to make the problem look smaller than it really is. By issuing these reports, our goal is to draw attention to the size and scope of the problem in NC. This is not ALL of the crimes by suspected illegal aliens in NC and we do not report every crime, in every county, each month. There is simply not enough time to enter it all! That is the magnitude of the problem we are facing.
You can view the past 3 years worth of monthly NC crime reports on our "Crime Report Archives" page here: http://ncfire.info/
This ongoing illegal alien crime wave against NC citizens has got to stop. It is killing us: financially, emotionally and physically.
The amount of monthly crimes by suspected illegal aliens in NC is staggering. These crimes are not compiled in any statewide database and that tends to make the problem look smaller than it really is. By issuing these reports, our goal is to draw attention to the size and scope of the problem in NC. This is not ALL of the crimes by suspected illegal aliens in NC and we do not report every crime, in every county, each month. There is simply not enough time to enter it all! That is the magnitude of the problem we are facing.
You can view the past 3 years worth of monthly NC crime reports on our "Crime Report Archives" page here: http://ncfire.info/
This ongoing illegal alien crime wave against NC citizens has got to stop. It is killing us: financially, emotionally and physically.
James Johnson
President-NCFIRE
North Carolinians For
www.NCFIRE.info
www.Facebook.com/NCFIRE
NCFIRE@ncfire.info
1-888-885-0879
Post Shtf Society: Corruption as a Way of Life
I read often in discussions in survival forums that people say that people from poor countries have easier transition into chaos and collapse scenarios. I agree. One of the reasons is that they already live in some sort of shtf scenario every day.
Today I want to tell you about major aspect of what keeps broken systems going all around the world. Corruption.
When resources are few and many people want something and person who decides who gets it is short on stuff too (or just greedy and there is no one who enforces law) then you enter into world of corruption.
I think it is important part of understanding how things work in corrupted systems. This does not only help you in post shtf scenario but even when you travel or move to what I call „unorganized countries“.
I live in one so this is something like everyday school of survival, after the Balkan war my country never recovered. If both parents work full time and you still sometimes do not have enough money to feed your kids something is wrong. (Money from my course helps, thank you for everyone who signed up).
Anyway, I hope you can benefit from my experience of living in such broken system. First thing:
„I have certain rights!“
Wrong.
More @ SHTF School
Takuan Seiyo: The Last Samurai And Europe’s First Suicide
Via WRSA
Carnage
Between Roppongi and Akasaka – the two fanciest precints in Tokyo -- there lies a somnolent spot, curiously underutilized for this, among the most expensive acres of land anywhere in the world. It’s the residence of a long-dead Japanese soldier, crouching under a shroud of weeping cherry trees in the shadow of Japan’s tallest and most fabulous building, the Midtown Project.
The opulent Midtown Project has a motto: “Introducing Japan’s newest significance to the world.” But right next to it, in this austere, smallish house built in 1902 with a red-brick stable and a compact garden, Japan’s oldest significance to the world may be found.
For Tom Cruise was not the last samurai. General Maresuke Nogi was.
Born to a samurai family in 1849, at the age of twenty Nogi embarked on a military career. Being of the first generation to come of age during the Meiji Restoration, he trained according to Prussian infantry procedures. In 1871, he was commissioned as a major in the unseasoned Imperial Japanese Army, with which he would fight in 1877 in a civil war, the Satsuma Rebellion.
For his valorous service in this campaign, Nogi was promoted to colonel. Around that time, he married Shizuko, a daughter of a Satsuma samurai. In short order, Shizuko gave birth to two sons.
In 1887, Nogi went to Germany to study European military tactics.
Between Roppongi and Akasaka – the two fanciest precints in Tokyo -- there lies a somnolent spot, curiously underutilized for this, among the most expensive acres of land anywhere in the world. It’s the residence of a long-dead Japanese soldier, crouching under a shroud of weeping cherry trees in the shadow of Japan’s tallest and most fabulous building, the Midtown Project.
The opulent Midtown Project has a motto: “Introducing Japan’s newest significance to the world.” But right next to it, in this austere, smallish house built in 1902 with a red-brick stable and a compact garden, Japan’s oldest significance to the world may be found.
For Tom Cruise was not the last samurai. General Maresuke Nogi was.
Born to a samurai family in 1849, at the age of twenty Nogi embarked on a military career. Being of the first generation to come of age during the Meiji Restoration, he trained according to Prussian infantry procedures. In 1871, he was commissioned as a major in the unseasoned Imperial Japanese Army, with which he would fight in 1877 in a civil war, the Satsuma Rebellion.
For his valorous service in this campaign, Nogi was promoted to colonel. Around that time, he married Shizuko, a daughter of a Satsuma samurai. In short order, Shizuko gave birth to two sons.
In 1887, Nogi went to Germany to study European military tactics.
More @ Brussels Journal
To Avoid Strangulation, Do Not Repeat These Top 10 Myths When in the Company of Ron Paul Supporters
Via Hype And Fail
Take a deep breath...here is a list of the top 10 phrases Ron Paul supporters hear too often and have to refrain from strangling the people saying them.
10. Paul Ryan is a libertarian and a fiscal hawk.
No, no he is not. Paul Ryan advocated or voted for TARP, auto bailouts, expanding Medicare, expanding unemployment benefits, a national ID, the Patriot Act, warrantless surveillance through CISPA, indefinite detention through the MCA 2006, No Child Left Behind, and the 2008 stimulus package.
9. Ron Paul delegates hijacked state conventions and tried to hijack the RNC in Tampa to nominate Paul. If they did that, millions of primary voters will be disenfranchised.
No, no they didn't and uh...no they wouldn't have. Ron Paul delegates in no way seized control of state conventions by use of force as the word hijack suggests. We prepared, studied, organized, volunteered, sacrificed, but most importantly, we showed up. Ron Paul supporters overcame corruption, cheating, assaults and false arrests on the road to Tampa. We were elected and confirmed majorities in at least 6 delegations going into Tampa: Nevada, Iowa, Oregon, Minnesota, Alaska and the Virgin Islands. Delegations from Maine, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, and Louisiana were decredentialized through Team Romney-run committees. Last minute rule changes, teleprompters and bus drivers were used to stifle the grassroots.
The real hijacking and disenfranchising came at the hand of the Establishment, and came at the expense of the grassroots. Both the Credentials and Rules Reports were assaults on the grassroots.
8. Mitt Romney saved the Olympics.
This one grinds my gears! Mitt Romney didn't save the Olympics. He managed a 1.3 billion dollar bailout with no transparency. I guess it could have been Jon Huntsman running against Obama, but Huntsman didn't make the cut in Salt Lake City in 2002, though he did serve his purpose in 2012 as we'll see at later.
7. Ron Paul is a racist, an isolationist, and he wants to legalize heroin.
SMH...no, no, and no he doesn't. I don't have the time nor the patience to explain this! Ron Paul is not a racist, nor an isolationist, nor does he want to legalize heroin. Ron Paul doesn't want to legalize drugs! He wants each state to determine their own drug laws as the people of those states see fit.
6. Ron Paul didn't win ONE state! Move on already!
See No. 9 above. In the primaries, winning means delegate pluralities, not popular vote victories. We live in a Republic NOT a Democracy. Do you know the difference?
5. So...who are you supporting now that Ron Paul dropped out, Romney or Obama. You have to pick one, so who's it going to be? Romney is the lesser of two evils...
I prefer to say the evil of two lessers. I've already cast my ballot.
4. Ron Paul supporters didn't start the Tea Party. It was started in 2009.
http://youtu.be/6bNiDx7qTjA
Ron Paul most definitely inspired the modern-day Tea Party in 2007, and it caught fire in 2009 after mainstream Republicans jumped on the bandwagon and redirected its priorities. It is now a joke that the Tea Party endorses the likes of Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. The Tea Party was started in OPPOSITION to politicians like Gingrich and Romney, and now the leadership endorses them.
3. Ron Paul supporters are disruptive, don't follow rules, and are a cult of personality.
Ron Paul supporters are rules people, at least all the one's I know are. We've spent hours preparing, strategizing, and politicking committee members and delegations for votes and support.
Did you notice the trend? Go back and look...hijacked, racist, isolationist, favors legalizing hard drugs, disruptive, break rules, cult...
This is all the Establishment and the Money Power has against Dr. Paul and the ideas of Liberty. They can only demonize us. Because if they debate us, they lose. It is so obvious we'll be on the right side of history...if our ideas prevail. If our ideas cannot fend off those that seek to control our existence, our struggles will be erased from history books.
2. I like Ron Paul, but he's unelectable. Or, I like Ron Paul, except his foreign policy.
How many times have you heard those?! Add "unelectable" to the list directly above. This one probably stuck the most and was the most damning...and quite annoying.
How getting elected 11 times to Congress qualifies him as unelectable never made any sense to me.
Anyone that followed the delegate race from the beginning suspects the nomination was stolen from Ron Paul by the Money Power and their Establishment. It's indisputable now that Ron Paul did win Iowa, but as we witnessed, it was held back from the public whether deliberately or ineptly by the complicit and controlled media.
In New Hampshire, I have a sneaky suspicion that John Huntsman was part of Team Romney's plan to defeat Congressman Paul.
Why do I have that suspicion?
Regarding Ron Paul's foreign policy, I don't see what's so bad about:
1. If you vote for Ron Paul or third party, you're wasting your vote and helping re-elect Obama!
This is wrong on so many levels. I think I'll list my Top 10 responses to this asinine remark.
VERBATIM
Take a deep breath...here is a list of the top 10 phrases Ron Paul supporters hear too often and have to refrain from strangling the people saying them.
10. Paul Ryan is a libertarian and a fiscal hawk.
No, no he is not. Paul Ryan advocated or voted for TARP, auto bailouts, expanding Medicare, expanding unemployment benefits, a national ID, the Patriot Act, warrantless surveillance through CISPA, indefinite detention through the MCA 2006, No Child Left Behind, and the 2008 stimulus package.
9. Ron Paul delegates hijacked state conventions and tried to hijack the RNC in Tampa to nominate Paul. If they did that, millions of primary voters will be disenfranchised.
No, no they didn't and uh...no they wouldn't have. Ron Paul delegates in no way seized control of state conventions by use of force as the word hijack suggests. We prepared, studied, organized, volunteered, sacrificed, but most importantly, we showed up. Ron Paul supporters overcame corruption, cheating, assaults and false arrests on the road to Tampa. We were elected and confirmed majorities in at least 6 delegations going into Tampa: Nevada, Iowa, Oregon, Minnesota, Alaska and the Virgin Islands. Delegations from Maine, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, and Louisiana were decredentialized through Team Romney-run committees. Last minute rule changes, teleprompters and bus drivers were used to stifle the grassroots.
The real hijacking and disenfranchising came at the hand of the Establishment, and came at the expense of the grassroots. Both the Credentials and Rules Reports were assaults on the grassroots.
8. Mitt Romney saved the Olympics.
This one grinds my gears! Mitt Romney didn't save the Olympics. He managed a 1.3 billion dollar bailout with no transparency. I guess it could have been Jon Huntsman running against Obama, but Huntsman didn't make the cut in Salt Lake City in 2002, though he did serve his purpose in 2012 as we'll see at later.
7. Ron Paul is a racist, an isolationist, and he wants to legalize heroin.
SMH...no, no, and no he doesn't. I don't have the time nor the patience to explain this! Ron Paul is not a racist, nor an isolationist, nor does he want to legalize heroin. Ron Paul doesn't want to legalize drugs! He wants each state to determine their own drug laws as the people of those states see fit.
6. Ron Paul didn't win ONE state! Move on already!
See No. 9 above. In the primaries, winning means delegate pluralities, not popular vote victories. We live in a Republic NOT a Democracy. Do you know the difference?
5. So...who are you supporting now that Ron Paul dropped out, Romney or Obama. You have to pick one, so who's it going to be? Romney is the lesser of two evils...
I prefer to say the evil of two lessers. I've already cast my ballot.
4. Ron Paul supporters didn't start the Tea Party. It was started in 2009.
http://youtu.be/6bNiDx7qTjA
Ron Paul most definitely inspired the modern-day Tea Party in 2007, and it caught fire in 2009 after mainstream Republicans jumped on the bandwagon and redirected its priorities. It is now a joke that the Tea Party endorses the likes of Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. The Tea Party was started in OPPOSITION to politicians like Gingrich and Romney, and now the leadership endorses them.
3. Ron Paul supporters are disruptive, don't follow rules, and are a cult of personality.
Ron Paul supporters are rules people, at least all the one's I know are. We've spent hours preparing, strategizing, and politicking committee members and delegations for votes and support.
Did you notice the trend? Go back and look...hijacked, racist, isolationist, favors legalizing hard drugs, disruptive, break rules, cult...
This is all the Establishment and the Money Power has against Dr. Paul and the ideas of Liberty. They can only demonize us. Because if they debate us, they lose. It is so obvious we'll be on the right side of history...if our ideas prevail. If our ideas cannot fend off those that seek to control our existence, our struggles will be erased from history books.
2. I like Ron Paul, but he's unelectable. Or, I like Ron Paul, except his foreign policy.
How many times have you heard those?! Add "unelectable" to the list directly above. This one probably stuck the most and was the most damning...and quite annoying.
How getting elected 11 times to Congress qualifies him as unelectable never made any sense to me.
Anyone that followed the delegate race from the beginning suspects the nomination was stolen from Ron Paul by the Money Power and their Establishment. It's indisputable now that Ron Paul did win Iowa, but as we witnessed, it was held back from the public whether deliberately or ineptly by the complicit and controlled media.
In New Hampshire, I have a sneaky suspicion that John Huntsman was part of Team Romney's plan to defeat Congressman Paul.
Why do I have that suspicion?
- Well for starters, that's an old trick rumored to have been used by former RNC Chairmen Lee Atwater. If you haven't seen the documentary, Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story, watch it! Go to the 13:00 minute mark to the section called, 1978 Divide & Conquer. Or you can read the transcript here. You can also read a little more about that race between Campbell and Heller here.
- Then there is this connection to the Huntsman family.
- And this from 2005.
- Not sure how relevant this is.
- And then the results?!
Regarding Ron Paul's foreign policy, I don't see what's so bad about:
- bringing all our troops home
- only engaging in defensive and declared wars
- ending foreign aid when we're over 16 trillion in debt
- cutting bloated military budgets
1. If you vote for Ron Paul or third party, you're wasting your vote and helping re-elect Obama!
This is wrong on so many levels. I think I'll list my Top 10 responses to this asinine remark.
- How would I be "helping re-elect" Obama by voting for Gary Johnson or writing in Ron Paul or not voting? Please explain that logic.
- If you vote your heart and vote your conscience, you can't waste a vote.
- Does voting third party waste your vote?
- The Wasted Vote Syndrome
- I don't live in a swing state, so your argument is invalid.
- So because I prefer RC Cola, I'm helping Pepsi beat Coca-Cola?
- "Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." - Johny Quincy Adams
- I have no faith in any party and this logic only strengthens the two party system which I despise greatly.
- The Only Choice on November 6th
- Giant Douche vs. Turd Sandwich
Oakland County, Michigan Defends U.S. Constitution Against NDAA
Via ojibwa
It has been said that the key to politics is persistence. In the
fight against one of the most draconian laws in history, that
persistence has definitely paid off.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) typically funds our national defense, including the military. It has been passed by Congress and signed by the President for 48 years now.
While most previous versions have had little to no effect on America’s liberty or freedom, the 2012 NDAA destroys our Bill of Rights.
When the 2012 NDAA was being debated in the U.S. Senate, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said “Shut up! You don’t get a lawyer,” when speaking about those detained under those provisions.
Senator Graham’s statement perfectly summarizes the 2012 NDAA, which has been criticized by such a nonpartisan coalition as the Oathkeepers, ACLU, Patriot Coalition, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), and Cracked Magazine, and allows the President to order anyone, including a U.S. citizen, to be secretly arrested, never to see their family again, and be held indefinitely without due process of law (did I mention assassinated?)
Oakland County, Michigan, home to over 1.5 Million people and sitting in the heart of Southeast Michigan, has been described by groups from the Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties as one of the best run county governments in the nation.
The Oakland County Commissioners proved they have earned that reputation on Thursday.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) typically funds our national defense, including the military. It has been passed by Congress and signed by the President for 48 years now.
While most previous versions have had little to no effect on America’s liberty or freedom, the 2012 NDAA destroys our Bill of Rights.
When the 2012 NDAA was being debated in the U.S. Senate, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said “Shut up! You don’t get a lawyer,” when speaking about those detained under those provisions.
Senator Graham’s statement perfectly summarizes the 2012 NDAA, which has been criticized by such a nonpartisan coalition as the Oathkeepers, ACLU, Patriot Coalition, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), and Cracked Magazine, and allows the President to order anyone, including a U.S. citizen, to be secretly arrested, never to see their family again, and be held indefinitely without due process of law (did I mention assassinated?)
Oakland County, Michigan, home to over 1.5 Million people and sitting in the heart of Southeast Michigan, has been described by groups from the Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties as one of the best run county governments in the nation.
The Oakland County Commissioners proved they have earned that reputation on Thursday.
More @ The Intel Hub
Non-union Alabama crews turned away from Sandy recovery
Via Craig
The hurricane-ravaged east coast has been receiving north Alabama help, but crews learned they'll be doing work in Long Island, New York instead of in New Jersey.
Crews from Decatur Utilities headed up there
this week, but Derrick Moore, one of the Decatur workers, said they were
told by crews in New Jersey that they can't do any work there since
they're not union employees.
The crews that are in Roanoke, Virginia say they are just watching and waiting even though they originally received a call asking for help from Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
Understandably, Moore said they're frustrated being told "thanks, but no thanks.
Figures. We have nothing in common.*
*A meddling Yankee troubles himself with
everybody's matters but his own and repents of everybody's sins except
his own. We are a different people.
==========================
The hurricane-ravaged east coast has been receiving north Alabama help, but crews learned they'll be doing work in Long Island, New York instead of in New Jersey.
The crews that are in Roanoke, Virginia say they are just watching and waiting even though they originally received a call asking for help from Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
Understandably, Moore said they're frustrated being told "thanks, but no thanks.
More @ 48 News
Introducing: Resilient Strategies.
VERBATIM
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I've also tossed in the topical report: Water Abundance. I think you will love it.
Homeschool Halloween
Taking inventory.
Can't imagine where Dixie gets her list making from..........
Ready for the big kill.:)