so the ipod alrm ignites as always at 3:45 zulu Lil Silver time, and what a special treat this morning, the Thrasher by N. Young....i just sang along , quite surprised i still recalled 98% of the words.....definitely an interesting song.
They were hiding behind hay bales,
They were planting
in the full moon
They had given all they had
for something new
But the light of day was on them,
They could see the thrashers coming
And the water
shone like diamonds in the dew.
And I was just getting up,
hit the road before it's light
Trying to catch an hour on the sun
When I saw
those thrashers rolling by,
Looking more than two lanes wide
I was feelin'
like my day had just begun.
Where the eagle glides ascending
There's an ancient river bending
Down the timeless gorge of changes
Where sleeplessness awaits
I searched out my companions,
Who were lost in crystal canyons
When the aimless blade of science
Slashed the pearly gates.
It was then I knew I'd had enough,
Burned my credit card for fuel
Headed out to where the pavement
turns to sand
With a one-way ticket
to the land of truth
And my suitcase in my hand
How I lost my friends
I still don't understand.
They had the best selection,
They were poisoned with protection
There was nothing that they needed,
Nothing left to find
They were lost in rock formations
Or became park bench mutations
On the sidewalks
and in the stations
They were waiting, waiting.
So I got bored and left them there,
They were just deadweight to me
Better down the road
without that load
Brings back the time
when I was eight or nine
I was watchin' my mama's T.V.,
It was that great
Grand Canyon rescue episode.
Where the vulture glides descending
On an asphalt highway bending
Thru libraries and museums,
galaxies and stars
Down the windy halls of friendship
To the rose clipped by the bullwhip
The motel of lost companions
Waits with heated pool and bar.
But me I'm not stopping there,
Got my own row left to hoe
Just another line
in the field of time
When the thrasher comes,
I'll be stuck in the sun
Like the dinosaurs in shrines
But I'll know the time has come
To give what's mine.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
the Cup Drought
TORONTO (AP) — Police say more than 400 arrests have been made after black-clad demonstrators broke off from a crowd of peaceful protesters at the global economic summit in Toronto, torching four police cruisers and smashing windows.....
the obvious frustration at seeing the blackhawks end their drought , the once Mighty Maple Leafs are now the NHL franchise in the longest drought....43yrs and counting.
the obvious frustration at seeing the blackhawks end their drought , the once Mighty Maple Leafs are now the NHL franchise in the longest drought....43yrs and counting.
The Dead at Coney
quite possibly the most electric atmosphere around a venue, Surf Ave was a Magical place to be on Saturday Night.
I: China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Black-Throated Wind, Muli Guli, High Time, Loose Lucy, Throwing Stones, One More Saturday Night
II: Shakedown Street > Caution > Jack Straw, Playin in the Band > Dark Star, St. Stephen > The Eleven > Dark Star* > Lady with a Fan* > Terrapin* > At a Siding* > Terrapin Flyer*
E: Brokedown Palace
I: China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Black-Throated Wind, Muli Guli, High Time, Loose Lucy, Throwing Stones, One More Saturday Night
II: Shakedown Street > Caution > Jack Straw, Playin in the Band > Dark Star, St. Stephen > The Eleven > Dark Star* > Lady with a Fan* > Terrapin* > At a Siding* > Terrapin Flyer*
E: Brokedown Palace
Friday, June 25, 2010
George Will
this excellent column appeared in the NY Post yesterday, on the money.
Some fun for Elena
By GEORGE F. WILL
Given Elena Kagan's aversion to "vapid and hollow" con firmation hearings devoid of "legal analysis," beginning Monday she might relish answering these questions:
* It would be naughty to ask you about litigation heading for the Supreme Court concerning this: Does Congress have the right, under its power to regulate interstate commerce, to punish the inactivity of not purchasing health insurance? So, instead answer this harmless hypothetical: If Congress decides that interstate commerce is substantially affected by the costs of obesity, may Congress require obese people to purchase participation in programs such as Weight Watchers? If not, why not?
* The government having decided that Chrysler's survival is an urgent national necessity, could it decide that Cash for Clunkers is too indirect a subsidy and instead mandate that people buy Chrysler products?
* If Congress concludes that ignorance has a substantial impact on interstate commerce, can it constitutionally require students to do three hours of homework nightly? If not, why not?
* Can you name a human endeavor that Congress cannot regulate on the pretense that the endeavor affects interstate commerce? If courts reflexively defer to that congressional pretense, in what sense do we have limited government?
* In Federalist 45, James Madison said: "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite." What did the Father of the Constitution not understand about the Constitution? Are you a Madisonian? Does the doctrine of enumerated powers impose any limits on the federal government? Can you cite some things that, because of that doctrine, the federal government has no constitutional power to do?
* Is it constitutional for Arizona to devote state resources to enforcing federal immigration laws?
* Is there anything novel about the Arizona law empowering police officers to act on a "reasonable suspicion" that someone encountered in the performance of the officers' duties might be in the country illegally?
* In 1963, President John Kennedy said Congress should "make a commitment . . . to the proposition that race has no place in American life or law." Was he right?
* In 1964, Sen. Hubert Humphrey, a principal sponsor of that year's Civil Rights Act, denounced the "nightmarish propaganda" that the law would permit preferential treatment of an individual or group because of race or racial "imbalance" in employment. What happened?
* William Voegeli, contributing editor of the Claremont Review of Books, writes: "The astonishingly quick and complete transformation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, from a law requiring all citizens be treated equally to a policy requiring that they be treated unequally, is one of the most audacious bait-and-switch operations in American political history." Discuss.
* In a 2003 case affirming the constitutionality of racial preferences in law school admissions, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said: "We expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today." If you are a sitting justice in 2028, do you expect to conclude that such preferences can no longer survive constitutional scrutiny because they no longer serve a compelling public interest?
* The president is morose about the court's Citizens United decision holding that the First Amendment, which says Congress shall make "no law" abridging freedom of speech, means no laws abridging a corporation's freedom to speak, including nonprofit-advocacy corporations such as the National Rifle Association and the Sierra Club. The court called it "censorship" for government "to command where a person may get his or her information or what distrusted source he or she may not hear." Do you agree?
* You have noted that the court often considers legislative motives when deciding First Amendment cases. Should the court consider legislators' motives if, in response to Citizens United, they impose new burdens on corporate speech?
* When legislators write laws restricting the quantity, content and timing of speech about legislative campaigns, are not their motives presumptively suspect?
Just wondering.
Some fun for Elena
By GEORGE F. WILL
Given Elena Kagan's aversion to "vapid and hollow" con firmation hearings devoid of "legal analysis," beginning Monday she might relish answering these questions:
* It would be naughty to ask you about litigation heading for the Supreme Court concerning this: Does Congress have the right, under its power to regulate interstate commerce, to punish the inactivity of not purchasing health insurance? So, instead answer this harmless hypothetical: If Congress decides that interstate commerce is substantially affected by the costs of obesity, may Congress require obese people to purchase participation in programs such as Weight Watchers? If not, why not?
* The government having decided that Chrysler's survival is an urgent national necessity, could it decide that Cash for Clunkers is too indirect a subsidy and instead mandate that people buy Chrysler products?
* If Congress concludes that ignorance has a substantial impact on interstate commerce, can it constitutionally require students to do three hours of homework nightly? If not, why not?
* Can you name a human endeavor that Congress cannot regulate on the pretense that the endeavor affects interstate commerce? If courts reflexively defer to that congressional pretense, in what sense do we have limited government?
* In Federalist 45, James Madison said: "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite." What did the Father of the Constitution not understand about the Constitution? Are you a Madisonian? Does the doctrine of enumerated powers impose any limits on the federal government? Can you cite some things that, because of that doctrine, the federal government has no constitutional power to do?
* Is it constitutional for Arizona to devote state resources to enforcing federal immigration laws?
* Is there anything novel about the Arizona law empowering police officers to act on a "reasonable suspicion" that someone encountered in the performance of the officers' duties might be in the country illegally?
* In 1963, President John Kennedy said Congress should "make a commitment . . . to the proposition that race has no place in American life or law." Was he right?
* In 1964, Sen. Hubert Humphrey, a principal sponsor of that year's Civil Rights Act, denounced the "nightmarish propaganda" that the law would permit preferential treatment of an individual or group because of race or racial "imbalance" in employment. What happened?
* William Voegeli, contributing editor of the Claremont Review of Books, writes: "The astonishingly quick and complete transformation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, from a law requiring all citizens be treated equally to a policy requiring that they be treated unequally, is one of the most audacious bait-and-switch operations in American political history." Discuss.
* In a 2003 case affirming the constitutionality of racial preferences in law school admissions, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said: "We expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today." If you are a sitting justice in 2028, do you expect to conclude that such preferences can no longer survive constitutional scrutiny because they no longer serve a compelling public interest?
* The president is morose about the court's Citizens United decision holding that the First Amendment, which says Congress shall make "no law" abridging freedom of speech, means no laws abridging a corporation's freedom to speak, including nonprofit-advocacy corporations such as the National Rifle Association and the Sierra Club. The court called it "censorship" for government "to command where a person may get his or her information or what distrusted source he or she may not hear." Do you agree?
* You have noted that the court often considers legislative motives when deciding First Amendment cases. Should the court consider legislators' motives if, in response to Citizens United, they impose new burdens on corporate speech?
* When legislators write laws restricting the quantity, content and timing of speech about legislative campaigns, are not their motives presumptively suspect?
Just wondering.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Messier in Cleats
unreal, unreal, unreal.
As i celebrated in the Iron Monkey in Jersey City , just as millions of fellow Patriots were turning the early morning into bedlam in gin mills across the land, i tried to think if I had ever seen anything quite like it, were a Team i Knew was soo good, and yet was about to be eliminated, and 1 man refused to loose. Landon Donavan meet Mark Messier and game 6 of the 1994 Eastern Conf Finals. Make no mistake about it, in both cases it was TEAM effort that got the job done, but certain athletes are always the lightning rod, this team was rumbling across the pitch all day without a BOLT,until Landon Donavan was in the right place at the right time....from Jersey to LA to Texas to Alaska, this team has a unifying quality about them....in a topsy turvy crazy world cup that is 2010, anything can Happen...this team is special.
GOD BLESS the USA.
bring on the Ghonereans.....that doesn't sound right.
As i celebrated in the Iron Monkey in Jersey City , just as millions of fellow Patriots were turning the early morning into bedlam in gin mills across the land, i tried to think if I had ever seen anything quite like it, were a Team i Knew was soo good, and yet was about to be eliminated, and 1 man refused to loose. Landon Donavan meet Mark Messier and game 6 of the 1994 Eastern Conf Finals. Make no mistake about it, in both cases it was TEAM effort that got the job done, but certain athletes are always the lightning rod, this team was rumbling across the pitch all day without a BOLT,until Landon Donavan was in the right place at the right time....from Jersey to LA to Texas to Alaska, this team has a unifying quality about them....in a topsy turvy crazy world cup that is 2010, anything can Happen...this team is special.
GOD BLESS the USA.
bring on the Ghonereans.....that doesn't sound right.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
beware
good citizens of Gotham , the emperor spoonjiah wishes to follow in his hero chavez footsteps and nationalize big oil.....much wampum in ground kemosabee....in case you missed it the past 73 times i shouted.....IT's OVER
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Pelosi to taxpayers..let em eat cake
The House Speaker's district office in the new federal building in San Francisco costs a whopping $18,736 a month -- the highest rental paid by any member of the House -- or, more precisely, the highest rental paid by taxpayers on behalf of a member of the House. The rental price was reported by Roll Call on Monday.
"maybe tomorrow a bullet may find me" Marty Robbins
"maybe tomorrow a bullet may find me" Marty Robbins
Monday, June 14, 2010
Cup Day !
Flag Day
16 years ago this evening, in the wrold's most famous arena, in the heart of the city that never sleeps, The NEW Messiah delivered what so many others before him could not. The GREAT Mark Messier quenched a 54 year thirst and ensured that the Ranger faithfuls' Stanley Cup runneth over. Every member of that team immediately crossed over into "my" Hall of Fame. Nothing they ever do in the future would diminish that accomplishment. Alex, Leetchie, Graves, RICHTER !!, Mattieu Mattieu , BooooooK, Larmer, Mctavish, Noonan, Zubov, Nemchinov, Tiik, eddie O , etc etc .......forever immortalized and linked to that moment. Someday the Garden will be torn down, and as Neil Young says, time fades away, but that night will indeed last a lifetime Mr Rosen. and I for one will never fail to acknowledge its passing..........LETS GO RANGERS.....
16 years ago this evening, in the wrold's most famous arena, in the heart of the city that never sleeps, The NEW Messiah delivered what so many others before him could not. The GREAT Mark Messier quenched a 54 year thirst and ensured that the Ranger faithfuls' Stanley Cup runneth over. Every member of that team immediately crossed over into "my" Hall of Fame. Nothing they ever do in the future would diminish that accomplishment. Alex, Leetchie, Graves, RICHTER !!, Mattieu Mattieu , BooooooK, Larmer, Mctavish, Noonan, Zubov, Nemchinov, Tiik, eddie O , etc etc .......forever immortalized and linked to that moment. Someday the Garden will be torn down, and as Neil Young says, time fades away, but that night will indeed last a lifetime Mr Rosen. and I for one will never fail to acknowledge its passing..........LETS GO RANGERS.....
Saturday, June 12, 2010
not ready for facebook material
this goes out to my best friend on his wedding day, a blogspot exclusive, not fitted for the ridiculous facebook nation.....the words do not do MR. Dylan justice, you really need to hear him sing it if you have not already..
Wedding Song
I love you more than ever, more than time and more than love
I love you more than money and more than the stars above
Love you more than madness, more than waves upon the sea
Love you more than life itself, you mean that much to me
Ever since you walked right in, the circle’s been complete
I’ve said goodbye to haunted rooms and faces in the street
To the courtyard of the jester which is hidden from the sun
I love you more than ever and I haven’t yet begun
You breathed on me and made my life a richer one to live
When I was deep in poverty you taught me how to give
Dried the tears up from my dreams and pulled me from the hole
Quenched my thirst and satisfied the burning in my soul
You gave me babies one, two, three, what is more, you saved my life
Eye for eye and tooth for tooth, your love cuts like a knife
My thoughts of you don’t ever rest, they’d kill me if I lie
I’d sacrifice the world for you and watch my senses die
The tune that is yours and mine to play upon this earth
We’ll play it out the best we know, whatever it is worth
What’s lost is lost, we can’t regain what went down in the flood
But happiness to me is you and I love you more than blood
It’s never been my duty to remake the world at large
Nor is it my intention to sound a battle charge
’Cause I love you more than all of that with a love that doesn’t bend
And if there is eternity I’d love you there again
Oh, can’t you see that you were born to stand by my side
And I was born to be with you, you were born to be my bride
You’re the other half of what I am, you’re the missing piece
And I love you more than ever with that love that doesn’t cease
You turn the tide on me each day and teach my eyes to see
Just bein’ next to you is a natural thing for me
And I could never let you go, no matter what goes on
‘Cause I love you more than ever now that the past is gone
Wedding Song
I love you more than ever, more than time and more than love
I love you more than money and more than the stars above
Love you more than madness, more than waves upon the sea
Love you more than life itself, you mean that much to me
Ever since you walked right in, the circle’s been complete
I’ve said goodbye to haunted rooms and faces in the street
To the courtyard of the jester which is hidden from the sun
I love you more than ever and I haven’t yet begun
You breathed on me and made my life a richer one to live
When I was deep in poverty you taught me how to give
Dried the tears up from my dreams and pulled me from the hole
Quenched my thirst and satisfied the burning in my soul
You gave me babies one, two, three, what is more, you saved my life
Eye for eye and tooth for tooth, your love cuts like a knife
My thoughts of you don’t ever rest, they’d kill me if I lie
I’d sacrifice the world for you and watch my senses die
The tune that is yours and mine to play upon this earth
We’ll play it out the best we know, whatever it is worth
What’s lost is lost, we can’t regain what went down in the flood
But happiness to me is you and I love you more than blood
It’s never been my duty to remake the world at large
Nor is it my intention to sound a battle charge
’Cause I love you more than all of that with a love that doesn’t bend
And if there is eternity I’d love you there again
Oh, can’t you see that you were born to stand by my side
And I was born to be with you, you were born to be my bride
You’re the other half of what I am, you’re the missing piece
And I love you more than ever with that love that doesn’t cease
You turn the tide on me each day and teach my eyes to see
Just bein’ next to you is a natural thing for me
And I could never let you go, no matter what goes on
‘Cause I love you more than ever now that the past is gone
Thursday, June 10, 2010
how ya like them apples sidney
Patrick Kane scored the ULTIMATE overtime goal.......Nastrovika Chi Town party on.
can someone tell me why the effin Red Light never went on ? ?
was the goal judge stuffin his face with a cheesesteak or just some miserable flyer fan who can't fathom 6 straight EMPTY trips to the finals......i hope those 4 rounds of overpriced tickets, parking, and stale beer were worth every penny you loooooosers.
bigger story....Brian Duffy attacks sporting news HQ for jinxing his jets...film at 11:00
bigger, bigger story...my former head linesman is still standing at the bar in blondies in his philly flipflops waiting for Toront o certify the goal.
biggest story....macs wedding kickoffs with USA-ENGLAND World Cup at 2:30....should be speaking swaheeley by the time the reception starts.
can someone tell me why the effin Red Light never went on ? ?
was the goal judge stuffin his face with a cheesesteak or just some miserable flyer fan who can't fathom 6 straight EMPTY trips to the finals......i hope those 4 rounds of overpriced tickets, parking, and stale beer were worth every penny you loooooosers.
bigger story....Brian Duffy attacks sporting news HQ for jinxing his jets...film at 11:00
bigger, bigger story...my former head linesman is still standing at the bar in blondies in his philly flipflops waiting for Toront o certify the goal.
biggest story....macs wedding kickoffs with USA-ENGLAND World Cup at 2:30....should be speaking swaheeley by the time the reception starts.
Saturday, June 05, 2010
Turkey
once again Ralph is on the money, this is from the friday edition of the NY Post, echos a sentiment i touched on a few days prior.
DC's Turkish denial
By RALPH PETERS
Last Updated: 4:37 AM, June 4, 2010
Posted: 11:31 PM, June 3, 2010
AS the Irish-flagged "aid" ship Rachel Corrie heads for Gaza and Act Two of this made-in-Turkey crisis looms, Washington still can't bring itself to accept that the entire script was written in Ankara.
Fourteen months ago, President Obama made his first stop abroad in Turkey, where he told his hosts that "Turkey and the United States can build a model partnership."
Now our "partner" has stage-managed a cynical -- but brilliant -- public-relations debacle for Israel. And Washington's hiding in the wings, unwilling to face an unruly global audience.
To his credit, Vice President Joe "Look, Ma, no hands!" Biden did come out to defend Israel's right to block the flow of arms to Gaza's terrorists. But our president only called for an Israeli investigation of Israel's guilt.
Nobody's asked for a study of Turkish involvement. But if the National Security Council won't do it, I will.
In underwriting a terrorist-linked Turkish NGO's mission to Gaza, the Turks had a strategic goal and a domestic goal -- both of which they accomplished.
In the foreign-policy sphere, where the Islamists in charge in Ankara have delusions of grandeur, the mission was to position Turkey as the new champion of the Palestinians.
The Turks never took the least interest in "Palestinian suffering" in the past. They regard all Arabs as fit only to be ruled by a Turkish hand. But the Palestinian cause is not only the tool of choice to harvest applause in the Middle East; it also plays well with the Islamist base of the Justice and Development Party.
Domestically, Turkey's devout Muslim premier, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, wanted to further isolate and reorient his country's military -- which, for all its faults, has for decades defended the secular constitution that was Ataturk's great legacy.
Since taking office in 2003, Erdogan has worked relentlessly to neuter the military, casting private conversations as coup plots and trumping up charges to arrest popular generals. Faced with an upcoming Turkish-Israeli-US naval exercise, Erdogan saw an opportunity to sever the long-standing links between his military and Israel's. The timing of that "aid" flotilla was no accident.
Erdogan anticipated the clumsy Israeli response. He immediately canceled the naval exercise and forbade all further cooperation with Israel. Expect "humanitarian" maneuvers with Iranian forces in the future. (Turkish troops have already exercised with Syria's.)
The Erdogan regime did a superb job of war-gaming how the Israelis would behave. Coordinating with Hamas to crowd Gazan waters with small craft to surround the blockade runners on arrival, they forced Israel to make its move in international waters -- to avoid a spectacle and needless loss of life.
For its part, Israel didn't do its own intelligence homework and expected to board those ships and round up a few hippies. Instead, the IDF encountered young, fit, armed and trained Turkish thugs looking for a fight.
The Turks got even more of a PR bonanza than they'd hoped for. While Israel acted lethargically on the public-relations front, Turkish officials were ready with angry statements for the waiting cameras. The IDF hadn't finished taking over those vessels before "outraged" Turks were condemning them as murderers.
Meanwhile, the White House would've had plenty of intelligence warnings on what the Turks were up to. The president must have been briefed. Yet we haven't heard a whisper of criticism directed toward Turkey.
Washington clings like an abandoned lover to its fantasy that Turkey is a model of how democracy and Islam can co-exist. Well, the Islamists were glad to use ballots to come to power, but they have no intention of relinquishing office. As fundamentalist Islam casts its lengthening shadow over Anatolia, democracy's light is dimming.
The Turks know which of our buttons to press, though. When Ankara's reps head west, they wage a charm offensive; when they go east, it's a harm offensive . . . from providing diplomatic cover for Iran's nuclear program to hosting strategy sessions for Iraqi extremists.
Flustered, Washington rationalizes that, gosh, Turkey's a NATO ally and our access to Incirlik airbase in southeastern Turkey (where our personnel are prepositioned hostages) is worth no end of forbearance.
As I wrote in Tuesday's paper, we're witnessing the greatest transformation in the Middle East in at least three decades, but our nervous leaders are bearing false testimony.
On Monday, Turkey turned its back on the West. History changed. Only the closed minds in Washington have not.
DC's Turkish denial
By RALPH PETERS
Last Updated: 4:37 AM, June 4, 2010
Posted: 11:31 PM, June 3, 2010
AS the Irish-flagged "aid" ship Rachel Corrie heads for Gaza and Act Two of this made-in-Turkey crisis looms, Washington still can't bring itself to accept that the entire script was written in Ankara.
Fourteen months ago, President Obama made his first stop abroad in Turkey, where he told his hosts that "Turkey and the United States can build a model partnership."
Now our "partner" has stage-managed a cynical -- but brilliant -- public-relations debacle for Israel. And Washington's hiding in the wings, unwilling to face an unruly global audience.
To his credit, Vice President Joe "Look, Ma, no hands!" Biden did come out to defend Israel's right to block the flow of arms to Gaza's terrorists. But our president only called for an Israeli investigation of Israel's guilt.
Nobody's asked for a study of Turkish involvement. But if the National Security Council won't do it, I will.
In underwriting a terrorist-linked Turkish NGO's mission to Gaza, the Turks had a strategic goal and a domestic goal -- both of which they accomplished.
In the foreign-policy sphere, where the Islamists in charge in Ankara have delusions of grandeur, the mission was to position Turkey as the new champion of the Palestinians.
The Turks never took the least interest in "Palestinian suffering" in the past. They regard all Arabs as fit only to be ruled by a Turkish hand. But the Palestinian cause is not only the tool of choice to harvest applause in the Middle East; it also plays well with the Islamist base of the Justice and Development Party.
Domestically, Turkey's devout Muslim premier, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, wanted to further isolate and reorient his country's military -- which, for all its faults, has for decades defended the secular constitution that was Ataturk's great legacy.
Since taking office in 2003, Erdogan has worked relentlessly to neuter the military, casting private conversations as coup plots and trumping up charges to arrest popular generals. Faced with an upcoming Turkish-Israeli-US naval exercise, Erdogan saw an opportunity to sever the long-standing links between his military and Israel's. The timing of that "aid" flotilla was no accident.
Erdogan anticipated the clumsy Israeli response. He immediately canceled the naval exercise and forbade all further cooperation with Israel. Expect "humanitarian" maneuvers with Iranian forces in the future. (Turkish troops have already exercised with Syria's.)
The Erdogan regime did a superb job of war-gaming how the Israelis would behave. Coordinating with Hamas to crowd Gazan waters with small craft to surround the blockade runners on arrival, they forced Israel to make its move in international waters -- to avoid a spectacle and needless loss of life.
For its part, Israel didn't do its own intelligence homework and expected to board those ships and round up a few hippies. Instead, the IDF encountered young, fit, armed and trained Turkish thugs looking for a fight.
The Turks got even more of a PR bonanza than they'd hoped for. While Israel acted lethargically on the public-relations front, Turkish officials were ready with angry statements for the waiting cameras. The IDF hadn't finished taking over those vessels before "outraged" Turks were condemning them as murderers.
Meanwhile, the White House would've had plenty of intelligence warnings on what the Turks were up to. The president must have been briefed. Yet we haven't heard a whisper of criticism directed toward Turkey.
Washington clings like an abandoned lover to its fantasy that Turkey is a model of how democracy and Islam can co-exist. Well, the Islamists were glad to use ballots to come to power, but they have no intention of relinquishing office. As fundamentalist Islam casts its lengthening shadow over Anatolia, democracy's light is dimming.
The Turks know which of our buttons to press, though. When Ankara's reps head west, they wage a charm offensive; when they go east, it's a harm offensive . . . from providing diplomatic cover for Iran's nuclear program to hosting strategy sessions for Iraqi extremists.
Flustered, Washington rationalizes that, gosh, Turkey's a NATO ally and our access to Incirlik airbase in southeastern Turkey (where our personnel are prepositioned hostages) is worth no end of forbearance.
As I wrote in Tuesday's paper, we're witnessing the greatest transformation in the Middle East in at least three decades, but our nervous leaders are bearing false testimony.
On Monday, Turkey turned its back on the West. History changed. Only the closed minds in Washington have not.
lest we forget
as many of you now know, the kanuckleheads of new york racing, aslo know as the only bookie to go belly up, have changed the theme song for today's parade of horses from NEW YORK NEW YORK ala Francis Albert , to Jay-Z and empire state of mind......disgraceful, embarassing, yes, but not unprecedented........as you may or may not recall , the original theme song for the stakes was not NY NY but rather the SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK , not sure when it was changed, maybe late 80's or early 90's... so today when your sipping on a can of icey cold beer ( still the official drink) sing along with me to your own version of whichever song you pledge your unweilding allegiance...
Sidewalks of New York
Words and Music by Charles B. Lawlor and James W. Burke
East Side, West Side all around the town,
The tots sang "ring a rosie," London Bridge is falling down.
Boys and girls together, me and Mamie O'Rorke,
Tripped the light fantastic on The Sidewalks of New York.
That's where Johny Case and little Jimmy Crowe,
With Jakey Krause, the baker, who always had the dough;
Pretty Nellie Shannon, with a dude as light as cork,
First picked up the waltz step on The Sidewalks of New York.
East Side, West Side all around the town,
The tots sang "ring a rosie," London Bridge is falling down.
Boys and girls together, me and Mamie O'Rorke,
Tripped the light fantastic on The Sidewalks of New York
Sidewalks of New York
Words and Music by Charles B. Lawlor and James W. Burke
East Side, West Side all around the town,
The tots sang "ring a rosie," London Bridge is falling down.
Boys and girls together, me and Mamie O'Rorke,
Tripped the light fantastic on The Sidewalks of New York.
That's where Johny Case and little Jimmy Crowe,
With Jakey Krause, the baker, who always had the dough;
Pretty Nellie Shannon, with a dude as light as cork,
First picked up the waltz step on The Sidewalks of New York.
East Side, West Side all around the town,
The tots sang "ring a rosie," London Bridge is falling down.
Boys and girls together, me and Mamie O'Rorke,
Tripped the light fantastic on The Sidewalks of New York
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
something wrong with the world today
seriously...where do you start.
North Korea sinks a South Korean ship killing over 40 people.....ho-hum pass the chips and dip.
Isreal is routinely enforcing a 2 year blockade of the Gaza strip , not preventing delivery of humanitarian aid, but insisting on inspecting it, to stop cement, fertilizer and other items that can be converted into weapons....the reason is because Hammas controls Gaza and periodically launches missile attacks on Isreal...they also actively build tunnels under the Egyptian border ....so when the Isreali tanks roll into gaza to stop the shelling, they flee thru the tunnells like cockroaches ......been goin on for two years.....when Isreal stops a ship they even have offered to take the cargo and deliver it themselves...........then one Monday , across the midnight ocean comes a flotilla of good Samaritans bringing aid to the poor, poor palastinians from the isle of Cyprus off the coast of Turkey.(we'll get to turkey later). this flotilla oddly enough has a TV crew from the shining star of journalism 'al jazeera' , and in the aftermath it also turns out they had over 50 jihadists on the Isreali terror watch list........the Israeli's routinely approach the flotilla and announce they need to inspect the Cargo (been goin on for two years remember...nothing new to the equation, no surprises) the response from the ship "Go Back to Auschwitz"....provocative no ? the equivalent of someone taunting the US Military with a reference to 9/11......2nd response from the ship "Jihad, Jihad, Jihad".....a call to arms no? .....so Isreal boards the flotilla and as night vision video attests ( guess they weren't counting on Isreal also filming) the Isreali soldiers are beaten with bats , which leads to the violence that ensued.
Now comes the interesting part.....or ally , a member of NATO ( jackass Bush's fault for that one) the same ally that refused to allow our planes to use their air space at the outbreak of the gulf war ( jackass bush also forgave them for that) TURKEY , immediately calls for worldwide condemnation against Isreal, and specifically taunts the US and Barry to condemn Isreal....the same Turkey that two weeks ago after pledging to work a deal with IRAN to help enrich uranium and avoid further UN sanctions, declared that the USA had no business telling anyone they could not have Nuclear Weapons unless we destroyed our arsenal first....with friends like that, well you know the rest.........so 36 hours after the incident I sit here trying to process what happened...here's my theory.......The entire incident was orchestrated by the Govt of Turkey to provoke this exact response from Isreal and if we do not come to their immediate defense we confirm our enemies belief that we are adrift in the 21st century, an insignificant player on the world stage , and soon to be extinct....and France, Germany and even England should be asking themselves, did we hitch our wagon to the wrong star.
it's over.....say goodnight barry.....tell malia to plug her own effin hole.
North Korea sinks a South Korean ship killing over 40 people.....ho-hum pass the chips and dip.
Isreal is routinely enforcing a 2 year blockade of the Gaza strip , not preventing delivery of humanitarian aid, but insisting on inspecting it, to stop cement, fertilizer and other items that can be converted into weapons....the reason is because Hammas controls Gaza and periodically launches missile attacks on Isreal...they also actively build tunnels under the Egyptian border ....so when the Isreali tanks roll into gaza to stop the shelling, they flee thru the tunnells like cockroaches ......been goin on for two years.....when Isreal stops a ship they even have offered to take the cargo and deliver it themselves...........then one Monday , across the midnight ocean comes a flotilla of good Samaritans bringing aid to the poor, poor palastinians from the isle of Cyprus off the coast of Turkey.(we'll get to turkey later). this flotilla oddly enough has a TV crew from the shining star of journalism 'al jazeera' , and in the aftermath it also turns out they had over 50 jihadists on the Isreali terror watch list........the Israeli's routinely approach the flotilla and announce they need to inspect the Cargo (been goin on for two years remember...nothing new to the equation, no surprises) the response from the ship "Go Back to Auschwitz"....provocative no ? the equivalent of someone taunting the US Military with a reference to 9/11......2nd response from the ship "Jihad, Jihad, Jihad".....a call to arms no? .....so Isreal boards the flotilla and as night vision video attests ( guess they weren't counting on Isreal also filming) the Isreali soldiers are beaten with bats , which leads to the violence that ensued.
Now comes the interesting part.....or ally , a member of NATO ( jackass Bush's fault for that one) the same ally that refused to allow our planes to use their air space at the outbreak of the gulf war ( jackass bush also forgave them for that) TURKEY , immediately calls for worldwide condemnation against Isreal, and specifically taunts the US and Barry to condemn Isreal....the same Turkey that two weeks ago after pledging to work a deal with IRAN to help enrich uranium and avoid further UN sanctions, declared that the USA had no business telling anyone they could not have Nuclear Weapons unless we destroyed our arsenal first....with friends like that, well you know the rest.........so 36 hours after the incident I sit here trying to process what happened...here's my theory.......The entire incident was orchestrated by the Govt of Turkey to provoke this exact response from Isreal and if we do not come to their immediate defense we confirm our enemies belief that we are adrift in the 21st century, an insignificant player on the world stage , and soon to be extinct....and France, Germany and even England should be asking themselves, did we hitch our wagon to the wrong star.
it's over.....say goodnight barry.....tell malia to plug her own effin hole.
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