"The Missing Man" by Jack Vettriano
"El Hombre Que Falta" por Jack Vettriano
"Cocktails and Broken Hearts" by Jack Vettriano
"Cocteles y Corazones Quebrados" por Jack Vettriano
Uncategorized
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O.K. friends I'd like to thank you for taking the time to stop by and read this since it's been way too long since I've written here. It's been crazy for me lately . as a result now I find myself here in San Diego looking after some family affairs while my dad is in the hospital. Been here since 17 December. Will be here for at least two more weeks before I return back to NYC. Long story and it's best left for another time.
Since I've been out here I've seen enough on the Tsunami and my fellow Marines doing what they do best - at a high price. Johnny Carson died and now Ed McMahon has been bouncing around from shows dedicated to Johnny to Camp Pendleton to do a special on Marines (what's-his-face..the guy from Hardball). Ed was a Marine pilot from 1942 through 1955. Flying Corsairs. Go Ed !
Interesting times with both sides of America for and against the Iraq involvement. Then there's the election for the people and stepped up efforts by insurgents to deter voting. Now the helo crash with a full load of Marines from the same unit (out of Hawaii).
I'm not going to get into the politics of it, since quite frankly, it doesn't matter much once a bullet zings by your head. I saw tonight the special on CNN about all those service men and women and how the injured get medevac to the rear. From an Iraqi MASH unit (they call it something else now) to Germany (a big regional Air Force medical center on or close to Ramstein AFB) to Walter Reed in Maryland.
Nobody likes war.
HOWEVER, in defense of our country and freedom and our interests,we are prepared to give our enemy the best opportunity to meet God.
So, for all you liberals and extreme democrats..do me a favor. Save all the speeches and energy for those who really should be stepping in - and I mean very heavily. THE U.N. !After all, wasn't it the U.N. that let Iraq thumb their nose at them, repeatedly ?!Wasn't it Saddam who killed his own people ? A total of some insane number ranging in the hundreds of thousands - with gas !
No...stop it people. Apparently the country has spoken and voted for G.W. for a second term. Apparently the U.N. still hasn't even attempted to get their head and ass wired straight and make a concerted effort over there. I mean we're talking the rest of the world for Pete's sakes ! But no...we gotta do it.
Funny....a Tsunami hits and everybody is screaming for America to help FIRST ! No one screams for any other country for help FIRST !
Where are the Americans...indeed ! Sure we'll help. that one's a no-brainer. But if you'll permit me to say "Freely". Ask for help and we'll give it. In return however, dear world, get off your friggin asses and start being proactive on things - or we'll take matters into our own hands (unless you want some other human rights supporting country like...oh..say...North Korea or Cuba or China to help you out with those other countries in distress).
Ooops...there I went...dang it. I went and did a political rant. Fine, I earned that right (which is more than I can say for many) !
In the end...for the Marine on line....all this seems so far away...and yet they do their job and can only rely on each other. All for those people who do want to change ther lives and country (of course the press won't tell you about the many good things we do over there...never good enough for those all important ratings and that media drug called "contraversy" or "differeing opinion/perspective").
Semper Fi, my fellow MARINES. I'm here in San Diego. I see the empty streets of Oceanside and hear the stories. From Downtown San Diego all the way up the "5" right to the main gate at Camp Pendleton. I'm not a die hard when it comes to politics or religion. But I'll guess that it gets put in perspective when an I.E.D. goes off or a round zips by real close. I keep all this in perspective as I will eventualy return to my NYC and go eyeball with those liberals. I do respect their views and opinions and I humbly offer mine here. BUT....get on with it folks.
One thing we can ALL agree on is that the rest of the world can certainly do alot more ! Oh U.N. where are you ?!! What's that ? Yeah....another excuse..uh-huh...just shut up already and take action ! show that you are more than just a bunch of suits ! mobilize and really show that you "can do".
Just my humble opinion
Semper Fi !
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My last post was the day before my older brother died. since that day, 17 August, I have been busy on many levels of which I hope you'll be able to imagine. While I don't want to write more on this, I do want to move on and get back to blogging. Can't tell you how many times I came back to my page and just stared at my last post and just didn't have the energy to write. But o.k.......time to pick up and get back on the horse. My older brother would have said "o.k. enough already...move on".
'Nuff said.
I wanted to get back into blogging again by reaching down into my "Corps" and kicking some memories or experiences . Maybe even share some views on this "war". For now, I just wanted to express to you all how quiet the town of Oceanside, California was when I was out there earlier this month. For many people there, it isn't so much about the politics of the war as it is to see their loved ones or friends come home. See...for a town like that the decision is made and the majority of the local economy rides on those Marines.
Two thirds of the base is empty (so I am told) so you can only imagine what that does to the local shops. But obviously it isn't about the economy. It's about getting into harm's way. Oceanside is used to seeing MARINES rotate and have it's gaps between the rotations and sure that hurts a bit (local economy). However, its different when Marines rotate into combat...once and then twice. Now you've got some kids who turned into Marines and in short order have been exposed to the horrors of Iraq...some twice already. Those guys come back ten years older than before they left. For the two timers....they got the keen sense of what they're getting into. Like it all seems clear and they seem much more...steady ?...calm...? something like that. I wonder if you can understand this.
I don't want to get into the politics of it all but instead want to wish my fellow MARINES well and safe home.
Thanks to you all for taking the time to read this post and I hope to get back into the swing of this site soon. I gotta work on getting those rotating pictures for the profile again and some other stuff.
the stuff you dont' see in the news
Semper Fi
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O.K. I'm not buying that news that Chavez won on the referendum vote. I KNOW that this is bull-o-ney and that he rigged the voting in his favor. Now he can gloat and say that the opposition has had it's "fair" chance and ousting him. Yeah right....typical third world crap. Come on...how hard is it to fool Carter and his crew ?!! it's too easy, man. But o.k., don't come to me if in due time Venezuela turns out to be the next civil revolution in that region...why care ? Simple...it means more $$ out of our pockets for oil.
Not that we don't care about democracy in neighboring countries to begin with...it's just that I can't believe that Carter was so naive on this one. But hey..who knows what the agenda is with Venezuela..what with the oil and oil countries a mess these days. You tell me. all I know is that I hear from my Venezuelan friends how it was a scam and they pulled the blinds over Carter's eyes down there.
Things that make you go "hmm"
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"Laughter can be a cry of despair as much as tears can be an expression of joy. There are essentially two ways to deal with the predations and privations of tyrannical rule -- to surrender to its authority and become its slave or accomplice; or to fight it with the only weapons at your disposal -- contempt and ridicule sublimated into humor."
I was hanging out with some friends and we started talking about the prisoners in Guantanamo ( "Gitmo" ) and then the conversation started turning into a turkey shoot at Fidel Castro. Funny stuff . So for all you who aren't familiar with Cuba...well.. it's sad state of affairs. In the meantime, here are some funny "cliff notes" for you to get the feel of what a mess it is down there. Enjoy
By Manuel Tellecheaa
Translator of "Simple Verses" by José Martí
Published by Arte Publico Press of the University of Houston
Cuba is the birthplace of magical realism: there the truth often masquerades as a joke, and jokes often conceal the truths that cannot be spoken. There is someone in a Cuban jail right now who was convicted of a "subversive dream." While waiting on line with hundreds of others to receive that week's rations of beans or sugar (for even sugar is rationed now in what was once the World's Sugarbowl), this hopeless innocent related a dream he had the previous night about someone assassinating the maximum leader. He was reported immediately to the authorities and has never again committed the crime of dreaming in public. This is not a joke, although in a world where everything revolves around the whims, follies and phobias of one omnipotent individual, life is one endless joke for those caught in that nightmare.
The joke began on January 1, 1959 and is now the world's longest running joke. It has transformed a nation that once had the third-highest GNP in the Western Hemisphere into a pauper state. It has endeavored to turn a people once proverbially happy and carefree into a grim pessimistic tribe of automatons where individuality and initiative are punished and passivity and stagnation is the only way of life. This is the real legacy of the Cuban Revolution, and a legion of doctors setting the bones that the Secret Police break, or a legion of teachers teaching the young how not to think, cannot change that reality.
The monumentally thin-skinned Fidel Castro and his delicate brother Raul ("Big Brother" and "Little Brother") have always been targets for the humor of the Cuban people. The first newspaper that Castro suppressed upon taking power in Cuba in 1959 was not, as most believe, the Diario de la Marina (founded in 1832), the country's oldest newspaper and an inveterate enemy of Communism before and after the Revolution. No, the first newspaper that Castro ordered shut was Zig-Zag, Cuba's Mad Magazine. He next banned Cuba's most beloved comedian, Leopoldo Fernandez ("Trespatines"), because while performing on a stage with a large portrait of Fidel Castro, he had quipped pointing to Castro's picture: "And that one there, we have to hang him very high."
In the next 45 years, there would be no more jokes told in public in Cuba. (In 1965, the Cuban Scrooge also banned the celebration of Christmas in this Catholic country, a ban that stood until the pope's visit to Cuba 30 years later). But the Cuban people did not lose their sense of humor, now steeped in pathos, but took it underground. Twenty years ago, a brave and resourceful man living in Cuba, Modesto Arocha, began to compile these jokes about the Revolution and managed to smuggle his collection out of the country. Now this book, published in the U.S. and banned, of course, in Cuba, stands as a monument to the indomitable spirit of a few heroic (and funny) men like Arocha who would not let the laughter die in Cuba amid the endless din of propaganda.
Laughter can be a cry of despair as much as tears can be an expression of joy. There are essentially two ways to deal with the predations and privations of tyrannical rule -- to surrender to its authority and become its slave or accomplice; or to fight it with the only weapons at your disposal -- contempt and ridicule sublimated into humor.
Now we offer a few samples of these subversive jokes, collected in Cuba, which display the Emperor and his stooges as they are really seen by the Cuban people:
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"During a speech, Castro asks: "Is there one, only one among you, who is hungry?" A poor hapless man raises his hands. He is immediately seized by the police and forced to drink a glass of water, then another, and yet another, until he has drunk ten altogether. Then Castro asks him: "Are you still hungry?" The man replies: "No, Comandante, I am not hungry." "Well, you see," replies Fidel, "you really weren't hungry; what you were was thirsty."
In the middle of a speech Fidel is interrupted by a man who cries out: "We want the oppression of the people to end." "Arrest that man," Castro orders. "No, you can't do that," the dissident protests, "because the Socialist Constitution guarantees the right of free speech." "Yes, you are very right," replies Fidel: "Arrest instead everyone who heard him."
In another speech, Fidel tells the people: "We only have wood chips to eat." The people chant in unison: "Give us wood chips, give us wood chips!" A week later, Fidel tells them: "Now we only have stones to eat." And the people shout: "Give us stones, give us stones!" Six months later, Fidel tells the people: "Good news! A ship with humanitarian assistance (food) has just arrived in the port of Havana." And the people shout :"Give us teeth, give us teeth!"
Before the Revolution, there used to be a sign at the Havana Zoo that read: "Please Don't Feed the Animals." After Castro had been in power a couple of years, it was changed to: "Please Don't Take the Animals' Food." Eventually, however, even this was not enough. The sign now reads: "Please Don't Eat the Animals." [Truth is stranger than fiction: a man was recently sent to jail in Cuba for stealing a white swan from the Havana Zoo to feed to his starving family."]
A Marxist Cuban economist devised a plan that would enable the Cuban regime to provide Cubans with all the necessities of life. It seemed like it could solve all the country's problems, but it had one fatal flaw: It was not based on Marxist ideas. The plan was rejected on the grounds that it worked in practice, not theory.
A foreign journalist conducted a "man in the street" interview in Cuba. He asked the only man who would speak to him how life was in Cuba before the Revolution. The man replied that everyone lived on the edge of a clift. "And after the Revolution?" the reporter queried. "Well, we took a big step forward."
At an international medical conference, Cuban and U.S. doctors engaged in a discussion that turned into a game of upmanship, which the Cubans appeared to be winning. "In the U.S.," boasted the American doctors, "we can do open heart surgery in 5 hours." "Well, that's pretty good," the Cubans replied, "but in Cuba, we can do bypass surgery in under two hours." "Yes, but we can perform a kidney transplant in 7 hours," countered the Americans. "Not seven," boasted the Cubans, "it takes us just five hours to perform the transplant." "Well," replied the exasperated Americans, "can you beat our average time for a tonsillectomy --30 minutes?" "No," answered the Cubans, "you've got us there. We can't even come close to that. In Cuba it takes us 12 hours to take out the tonsils, sometimes more." "But why," asked the astonished Americans." "You see," replied the Cuban doctors, "in Cuba nobody wants to open his mouth so we have to take the tonsils out through the a*s."
A young boy Pepito asks his father, a government official, how society is organized under socialism. The father answers that it is organized just like their household: the father is the party; the mother is justice; the maid is the working class; Pepito himself is the people and his little brother is the future. The next day, the boy tells his father that he now understands what he meant: "Last night, daddy, the party was scr*w*ng the working class, while justice slept, the people was neglected, and the future was all covered in sh*t."
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Just got back from San Diego after three weeks. Got a chance to see some family and friends in and out of uniform. Also got a chance to sail a bit in Glorietta Bay (San Diego harbor) and had a nuclear submarine crawl up the backside of our sailboat..most impressive..funny too. All the while the jets were taking off from NAS North Island and veering into the open sea. You name it..the had them flying...F-18, Navy trainers as well and even some Warthogs and Intruders. There was also some motivating helo's there like the CH-53 and 47's doing some drills. This is a daily occurance there. As normal as traffic on a bridge for rush hour. I am always impressed by the military might that is seen there at San Diego. Navy SEAL's doing their training off Coronado Island (definitely wanna keep clear from them when in the harbor..they got their speed boats that run up to you and get on your case if they deem you too close for their liking...they're cool but eyeballing you just the same...must be a common occurance come summertime). Between all the flatops and frigates and cruisers there....all back from overseas (rotation of course). It was fantastic. Caught up with some friends from Camp Pendleton and we hung out a bit at the Oceanside shooting range. Did some skydiving at Brown airfield and started my classses for my P-1 basic Paragliding license. All in all a great trip but more importantly a great reminder of what being an American...a MARINE... is all about.
Drop a line if you are from the area or have been there before.
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I rememeber when Reagan was in the White House. I was in uniform back then and it certainy seemed like the rest of the world was respecting the U.S. alot more. The eighties were certainly interesting . Invasion of Grenada, Beirut and the bombing of the Marine Barracks,taking down Noriega in Panama. It was a time when the cold war was coming to an end and the wall finally did come down. Words like "the great communicator" and "Reagonomics" were common. I do miss those days and seeing the procession yesterday really hit home. I felt like I was seeing the eighties, and all that we as a nation went through, go by. He was a great friend to those in uniform and he was never afraid to flex his military might under his command. Yet he was always one who, as percieved by me, to be extremely fair and always helpful to those in need.
Oh I am sure that there are alot of things that were done while in office that weren't right (alot would start with the Iran-Contra affair). But for now, for this week, I am going to reflect on those days and those times and how the world was. How we as a nation managed to turn some things around. As for Ronald Reagan, there is no doubt that he was the one president who brought back "style", panache, spirit and to some degree "royalty" much like the Kennedy's did. He wasn't just some suit there doing the political thing. He did that but you also knew that he had alot more to him than just being the president. He liked horseback riding the great outdoors (just like Teddy Roosevelt). He enjoyed working on his ranch and was never one to hold back his thoughts on things even if they weren't popular or right. I'll miss him and I hope that some day we have someone like this again in the White House. Semper Fi, Mr. President.
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President-elect Leonel Fernandez would like big-name Dominican baseball players to increase their ties to the Dominican Republic for the benefit of the country. “We believe we can host Major League Baseball games here, as Japan and Puerto Rico have done, because we have quality ballplayers. Also, we are the second country with the most players in the Major Leagues, behind the United States,” highlighted Fernandez. One out of every 4 players in the US major or minor leagues is a Dominican. Fernandez believes the DR has the fans to back the hosting of these games in the DR, which would receive ample promotion abroad.
“We need to see the Quisqueya Ball Park improve its conditions so that the games can be held here,” said Fernandez, who felt that spring training games could be held here by 2005 and Dominican games scheduled on the MLB calendar for subsequent years.
Fernandez also thinks that the La Romana stadium could be upgraded to host MLB games and promised that his government would offer facilities to the teams to increase their participation in the country.
“Our players are ambassadors on a world level because they perform great promotional efforts for the nation,” he said.
President-elect Fernandez met with the press after conferring with visiting presidents of MLB teams John Allen of the Cincinnatti Reds, Andy MacPhail of the Chicago Cubs and Dave St Peter of the Minnesota Twin sat the Fundacion Global Democracia y Desarrollo.
Allen, MacPhail, St Peter and Richard Dozier of the Arizona Diamondbacks are currently in the country for this afternoon’s launch of the Baseball City academy at Km. 25 of the Las Americas highway, where the teams have leased space. Lou Melendez, the VP of operations of the Major League Baseball, is also expected to attend the inauguration of the baseball training camp that features six stadiums and two half plays, a gymnasium, a school and conference rooms for baseball and language classes.
source: www.dr1.com 6/3/04
Man, that would be great...have all the Dominican baseball players from the major leagues play on one team against the American baseball players. Betcha it would be a great game.
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