Rudy is the poster child for the modern GOP and the Reagan-myth machine. Mr. Sully has this comparison and Greg takes it further (comment section worth a look for all your Rudy-wear).
“A nuclear-free world has been a 60-year dream of the Left, just like socialized health-care,” - Rudy Giuliani, NRO, 2010.
“A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. And no matter how great the obstacles may seem, we must never stop our efforts to reduce the weapons of war. We must never stop at all until we see the day when nuclear arms have been banished from the face of this Earth.” - Ronald Reagan, 1984, in China.
the gift that keeps giving (i.e. like herpes, but...you know, never look a gift sore in the mouth). GWB caught wiping his hands on Bill Clintons Penis(no, arm) after shaking the hand of a black man. Damn Kanye was right! that makes twice Mr. West was spot on. think i need to make a button now. (below is the second of the "twice")
while visiting my friends in Israel we decided to try and find some burnt out Syrian tanks. we had just spent the night in the northern town of Metula. we looked on the map and saw the outpost of "Oz" around the area my friend thought she had climbed on some one drunken night in the past. we drove around and after going the wrong way (i was driving the Honda in between mines fields and turned around just before reaching the Syrian border, muddin' it in Israel) we found the entrance to the Valley of Tearsmemorial for the 77th "Oz" Regiment. the entrance is in front of the entrance to the Kibbutz Elrom (in case you ever are in the area). it was a very chilly and windy day. we parked at the memorial and there was a lady just sitting in her car the whole time and my guess is that a family member died in battle, we were there at the end of October and the battle was on 06Oct1973 (onYom Kippur, the Day of Atonement). we walked around the memorial and looked out over the Syrian border. the memorial is made of welded parts of tanks with the dead inscribed in the metal with torch.
we could see a fighting position to the left with a tank and we drove over to it. we walked around in the trenches and explored above ground for a while. the trenches were chest high and reinforced with corrugated metal and posts to hold their shape. you could see out over a vast flat plain and right in front of the bunker complex was a marked mine field. the girls were getting cold and they went back to the car. we followed them to get CB's iTouch with the flashlight app so we could go into the bunkers. the girls stayed in the car and CB and i walked back into the defences. we entered a trench and walked down the chute into the bunker. it was a basic concrete bunker you would see in WWII movies, cold concrete with a slit opening giving a good field of fire onto the plain below. this bunker was hit almost perfectly by either a small tank shell or, more probably, a RPG round. it entered the slit and skimmed the top of the slit causing a half-moon and hitting the left wall.
there was also bullet holes in the concrete on the right hand wall. i have been in combat and was lucky enough to be above ground and with a light infantry unit. i could not imagine the strength it would take to stand your ground in a cold coffin like these bunkers. knowing that at one point in the battle only 40 Israeli tanks were holding off 500 Syrian tanks (and if i remember right, there were also Iraqi tanks mixed in) it really shows how a few heroes can save a whole country. we were walking around and came across another bunker but it was too dark in it. we deduced that the slit must be caved in so we searched out another. we tried to enter the bunker in the rear, obviously a command and supply bunker since it didn't open up to the battle field. as we entered it both CB and i got the willies and decided to get the hell out fast. we both were laughing, nervously, as we left the bunker. we had both got that creepy feeling and both our arms had goose bumps. we were still laughing when we came around the command bunker and saw the girls in the car. but they looked a bit shaken and started talking before we could even sit in the car.
they were sitting in the car and were reading and talking when suddenly the door locks on the car started to go up and down. they got startled and then my girl said it was us guys screwing with them. then a little later it happened again, the locks went up and down fast a number of times and then stopped. my girl said that us guys were using the key chain to lock and unlock the doors but then they said they remembered i had left the keys with them. and sure enough, they were just sitting there on the console. just as they noticed that, we came around the corner after getting spooked ourselves. we sat in the car for a bit and i talked about what i knew about the battle (from reading The Yom Kippur War). i didn't feel scared at all and the others were not upset at all. to know what happened there, and the history it made and produced, i can see why spirits would inhabit the area. it was the one and only time in my life i really truly believe that kind of thinking. that something "other" could reach out and communicate with living persons.
engineers have recently started the long march towards invisibility. a team at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering have made a device (pictured) that can make an object invisible to microwaves. even though microwaves have a longer wavelength than light, this is a great start. they are only able to do it in a 2 dimensional form but 3D is probably not too far off. this article will lead you to the basic how's-and-what's involved.
go to spaceweather and search for today in the archive in the top right (02/08/2010) and check out some wonderful pics of the space shuttle Endeavour lifting off. it is bringing a new section of the space station so the astronauts can see in a 360 degree space. how f-in cool would that be?!? and then right below that part you can listen, by links, to massive solar flares screaming by the Earth. it sounds like being in a tent during a strong rain storm... i guess that is a pretty good analogy of us and our planet. such a great website on a daily basis.
As I Develop The Awakening Mind I Praise The Buddha As They Shine I Bow Before You As I Travel My Path To Join Your Ranks, I Make My Full Time Task For The Sake Of All Beings I Seek The Enlighted Mind That I Know I'll Reap Respect To Shantideva And All The Others Who Brought Down The Darma For Sisters And Brothers I Give Thanks For This World As A Place To Learn And For This Human Body That I'm Glad To Have Earned And My Deepest Thanks To All Sentient Beings For Without Them There Would Be No Place To Learn What I'm Seeing There's Nothing Here That's Not Been Said Before But I Put It Down Now So I'll Be Sure To Solidify My Own Views And I'll Be Glad If It Helps Anyone Else Out Too If Others Disrespect Me Or Give Me Flack I'll Stop And Think Before I React = Knowing That They're Going Through Insecure Stages I'll Take The Opportunity To Exercise Patience I'll See It As A Chance To Help The Other Person Nip It In The Bud Before It Can Worsen A Change For Me To Be Strong And Sure As I Think On The Buddhas Who Have Come Before As I Praise And Respect The Good They've Done Knowing Only Love Can Conquer In Every Situation We Need Other People In Order To Create The Circumstances For The Learning That We're Here To Generate Situations That Bring Up Our Deepest Fears So We Can Work To Release Them Until They're Cleared Therefore, It Only Makes Sense To Thank Our Enemies Despite Their Intent The Bodhisattva Path Is One Of Power And Strength A Strength From Within To Go The Length Seeing Others Are As Important As Myself I Strive For A Happiness Of Mental Wealth With The Interconnectedness That We Share As One Every Action That We Take Affects Everyone So In Deciding For What A Situation Calls There Is A Path For The Good For All I Try To Make My Every Action For That Highest Good With The Altruistic Wish To Achive Buddhahood So I Pledge Here Before Everyone Who's Listening To Try To Make My Every Action For The Good Of All Beings For The Rest Of My Lifetimes And Even Beyond I Vow To Do My Best To Do No Harm And In Times Of Doubt I Can Think On The Dharma And The Enlightened Ones Who've Graduated Samsara
went to see my first ballet and what a perfect show and perfect venue to pop my cherry. my lovely fiance used to dance as a little girl and for her birthday i got us tickets to see the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) on their winter tour at the Kennedy Centerin DC. we checked into the Renaissance M St. Hotel(a beautiful place, i used Priceline and bid $75 on a 4-star and they took it, next time i'll try a touch lower) and got dressed up just in time for our friends in DC to show up for an early dinner. we went to the Blue Duck Tavernon 24th St. and got lucky getting a table. the wait staff and host were incredible and very funny. great place to eat if you go to DC. we then said our goodbyes and jumped into a cab and got dropped off at the front of the Kennedy Center. the performance was in the Opera House, we were seated in box 4 and had a perfect view. a father and his daughter had the front row on the rail and we talked to them after the first act. they left half way through and gave us their seats for the rest of the show. ABT did Romeo and Juliet (it was nice for my first ballet to know the play). Juliet was played by Julie Kent (see above photo and video below) she was very tiny and graceful and did a great job, she had me laughing at parts and holding my breath at others. Romeo was played by Marcelo Gomes (see video below) he was unbelievable. he is a very muscular Brazilian who made a smooth dancer by himself and such a strong base for Miss Kent, she was like a feather in is arms. he was on his knees at one time, Act III, Scene 1, and had her in the air above him and was sitting back on his legs and then kneeling up again. he did this 3 times and it was flawless. the Kennedy Center is a wonderful place and the Opera House is one of the most beautiful places i've ever stepped into. a wonderful experience, but it was DC and that is what always happens in DC. great food, great friends, great show, great people, great cabbies, great city. Julie Kent
the new Jay-Z song about NYC (Empire State of Mind) has really grown on me. smooth raps by Z and that hook by Miss Keys just flow to make a really great song about the best city in the world. to sit and wonder what it must be like to have the city in the palm of my hands like Jay...damn. so i started to think about some of the other NYC songs that i have liked and i can only think of a couple. maybe if some day traffic to this site increases (why it would, i have no idea) then if you have a personal fav throw it into the comments and i'll put it front and center in some "updates". here's the Jay-Z video:
the next song i love about NYC was on Big Pun's album "Yeeeah Baby". track #5 New York Giants. i have just an ok stock Honda system in my car but this song sounds unbelieveable in it, i can only guess how mind blowing it must sound in a major system. on top of it the song is a great team song (unlike the lame ass Vikings fight song by Prince. love the Prince, but sometimes i'm not on the same page. oh, and lets not even talk about The Super Bowl Suffle). give it a try and buy it and pump it in the car, a must.
the last, but not least, is the Beastie Boys on their album "To the 5 Boroughs". it is track #12 An Open Letter to NYC. New York City, the Beasie Boys....that's all you need to know.
so there you go. no damn "new york state of mind" Sinatra bullshit. NYC and hip hop. East coast.
