Growing up in Wakkanai was a unique experience that exposed me to a culture half a world away in an extreme climate and caused me to look at the world differently. While some of you may think this is all about me, I can assure you that this is merely an attempt to share my experience in hopes that you too may look at the world differently and how global events affect you personally.
Wakkanai is a fishing port famous for King Crab as well as anything else they could dredge from the sea while having snow was on the ground from September until June and in the hills during August. Springtime saw the sun at 2:00AM during the kelp harvest as dark came at 9:00pm and winter permitted the sun to work 8 hours at best. It was a harsh climate with hardy people working to harness the bounty of the sea.
Today, its port activities are gearing for offshore oil exploration since the Kuril islands are one of the petro hot spots of today with some of the largest deposits of natural gas as yet unmapped. Both Russia and China are laying claim to the area with Japan asserting that have always maintained sovereignty over the area.
It does something to a 7 year old kid that has just seen JFK murdered and the event splashed over the TV while living under nuclear threat and focusing on it more intently because his Air Force family is flying halfway around the world to live in a land of ice and snow where the nuclear enemy could be seen on a clear day while living in an information blackout. On occasion, we were confined to our housing units because of Russian May Day protests and other events while armed guards patrolled our perimeter fence. It was quite a shock upon our return to see hippies protesting at San Francisco International while we enjoyed our first glass of fresh milk in three and a half years. Vietnam had escalated while we were overseas and America had changed from Ozzie and Harriet to a cauldron of racial and social turmoil topped with Vietnam War protest, all while we were trapped in our own little time warp. I grew up not trusting politicians because I had seen the action behind the headlines and knew it did not square with what was being fed to the general public. Hence I have always had a healthy skepticism of what is found in the press and an appreciation of the importance of seemingly insignificant information.
A prime example is the KAL 007 incident. While I was not there at the time of the downing, the function of our outpost was to monitor all electronic activity that could be picked up in the area. It had long been a practice for stripped B-58 Hustlers to skirt Russian airspace to incite a response in order to map communication and fighter response tactics for future US penetration strategies. Evidently, the Russkies had enough by the time KAL 007 wandered into their airspace and got splashed. Some bodies and debris from the wreckage did wash up on the shores of Wakkanai, hence the memorial. The lesson learned here is that the Russians knew KAL 007 was a passenger flight as they had trailed it visually for some time and shot it down with no apology because it was within their airspace. Done deal. End of story. They had also been provoked for some time prior to the event and made a cold, calculated decision to set an example to the rest of the world that they were to be feared while the rest of us talked about whether they were right or wrong.
Also, it was common practice for Russian trawlers to be present within sight of our base and occasionally capture a fishing boat and crew. Sometimes they returned the boat, sometimes not. The fate of the crews were not disclosed publicly but it was common knowledge that the Russians turned them into coal miners on Sahkalin where they slaved to their death. These stories were common while illustrating the barbaric capabilities of the Russian government.
Because of their heritage, geography, and loss of territory and status, the Russian bear has been wounded. This is why we should realize that our involvement in the Middle East is a battle not only with Islamic extremist but with Russian surrogates that cause us to expend wealth, military assets, and develop internal tensions and divisions. Russia is also why we gave most favored nation trade status to the Chinese over human rights concerns so that their meteoric economic development will cause Russia to focus more on their territorial integrity than military expansion and adventurism. This pressure will be seen in the Siberian territory that has been sparsely populated by Russians and increasingly encroached upon by the Chinese as they both vie with the Japanese to develop the oilfields of the subarctic seas . Even with economic competition for energy resources of the Middle East, increasing industrialization of China and India will drive the East to locate and develop petroleum assets causing possible military conflict and conquests of contested territory.
To some of you, I am quite sure that this scenario sounds like recent history with the perceived demise of the USSR mixed with old domino theory , but I can assure you that with a little research, you may find that the near future will prove the wisdom of our presence in Afghanistan and Iraq and what is at stake is nothing less than our survival as a country.
Now that we have been around the world to get here, this is my message. NAFTA is possibly the initial blueprint to unite Canada, Mexico, and the United States if not in one country, at least in a loose confederation to be able to withstand the changes that are occurring in the East. Therefore, we in Louisiana cannot afford to accept the so-called leadership and current government structure of our state and local entities if we are going to be able to have the flexibility and ability to ride the wave of change that is engulfing our fair state. Our current system governs roughly 4.8 million people to date. With the state level and the 64 parish and subsequent municipal subdivisions, we are supporting more government structure with tax revenues than actually accomplishing objectives. Our system of government within our state was and is becoming increasingly cumbersome and counterproductive. Bouncing down our state and local highways should remind you that the rubber is not meeting the road, especially where government performance is concerned. I feel it is time to have a bottom to top review of what is broke and what works and look to consolidate governmental entities in order to remove duplication, inefficiency, and tax load to citizens and commerce.
Does anyone see that Louisiana still has a plantation mentality? We have a wealth of natural resources that would be he envy of many other states from minerals to petroleum, timber, livestock, seafood, the ability to raise citrus and about any other crop that is useful to mankind.
So why is it that we do not focus on maximizing our resources and export value added products?
I also wonder when we will receive our first shipment of eggs from China?
20 comments:
I have heard this sermon from you before and it is still a rambling illogical disconnected rant. You love to try to justify our fundimentally immoral and unethical actions in invading Iraq by declaring that you think it was/is in our self-interest. Is that your logic. We can fuck over anybody we want as long as it promotes some U S interests? The end always justifies the means? Is that what you are teaching your kids?
And then, of course, to compound our error, our execution of the war has been fatally flawed from its inception. Do you really think we are promoting our self-interest and enhnncing our international image by getting our ass kicked?
Your motto seems to be that we will achieve glory by doing the wrong thing badly. That didn't work in the 60's and it won't work now. And it shouldn't - your life as Nanook of the North, not withstanding.
While I would love to buy the world a Coke and live in perfect harmony, the world won't let you or me get away with it. The world as we know it is changing rapidly with formerly underdeveloped countries grasping technology and building manufacturing bsses thereby turning former importers of our goods into exporters and competitors for energy reserves that we once exploited. What happens when new found wealth enables populations to move to areas that outnumber indigenous populations? The world is much more chaotic than my composition and Louisiana needs to be prepared for the future.
I would hope that our course to success/survival would have a moral and ethical component. America is not and never was a christian nation but we always strove to be a righteous nation based on certain general principles of fairness and justice. Right and wrong somehow don't figure into your vision. You and I will always disagree because we are starting from and aiming toward different places. I just felt the need to say it and can move on.
I admit to not understanding why it is a sin to promote US interests. Just so I know, that is the side we are on , isn't it? And if countries that covet our resources, interests, and territories wish to rise against us, does that mean that you and I may be looking down the barrel of an AK-47 or dodge a gas cloud together? You can choose to bend over and get the soap if you wish, but I choose to kill'em all and let God sort them out. Call me from the afterlife if you get there before I do. I'll be busy defending the Homeland.
But Spanky, Iraq is SOMEBODY ELSE'S homeland.
But Spanky, Iraq is SOMEBODY ELSE'S homeland.
If I know, or suspect that my neighbor is building a bomb and wants to kill me and my other neighbors with it, I suppose you advocate letting him detonate it before we take action? What sense does that make?
If you think your neigbor is building a bomb, there are proper steps that you can take within the framework of the law; but if decide to take the law in your own hands and invade your neighbor's house only to discover that you were entirely wrong and there is no bomb, you can not decide to stay there, kill their dog, screw his daughter and redecorate the kitchen.
Talk about rambling...we knew Saddam had a wmd program, hell, he used them on his own people in 1988. So to suspect that he had rid himself of the desire to continue the program is so naive as to be idiotic. He had them and other countries knew he had them, in fact George W. Bush's predecessors said he had them and that he presented a threat.
Do I wish we'd have waited for more unilateral support; yes, but with the oil for food program being so corrupt we weren't likely to get it any time soon.
Democrats have proposed a deadline for withdrawal...and like democrats always do, they have no plan for the chaotic aftermath that will occur when we leave. They've not cutoff funds yet due to the fact that they know they have no plans for the aftermath and they're just waiting until they can regain the White House and it will be too late for a plan then.
Yes, Law, there is a mean gunman on our campus and he is shooting people. Oh, you want me to come down now and file a complaint? OK. Oh yeah, there is a mean man in a country way over there that says he wants to see a mushroom cloud over my house, can I file a complaint on him too?
I feel safe now.
Question: how come you think you are such a good american and have zero respect or regard for the law? You try to mimic John Wayne but the Duke was always on the side of THE LAW. Your father was in the military: orders, regulations, chain of command - your wife is a lawyer - so where are you coming from? How did the concept of right and wrong totally escape you? Before you write back some knee-jerk macho bullshit, think about what I said. Think about things and the possibility that you are dead fucking wrong.
Is there anyone I can contact for you? Would you accept counseling? Do you feel you are a danger to yourself? Would you like a Coke?
My bad. Despite your history, I thought maybe you were capable of serious constructive dialogue. I leave you alone to reminisce about your cold isolated childhood. There must be somebody out there who cares.
It seems that you're not in the mood for dialogue since all you engage in is name calling and nasty rants. Good riddance.
Please come back. I was trying to be nice and that does not come easy for me. I'm so hurt.
I wouldn't expect him to return; it's what democrats do, they lob in a few shells and leave. They have no plan for long term stabilization. No plan for what happens if we pull out precipitously to deal with the chaos which will surely ensue. Not to mention what it will do to the image our premature departure will have on our allies. What do we tell them? "Oh sorry guys, we have to leave now that we've just gotten started."
I've NEVER heard any of the democrat leaders spell out a plan for after we leave and the genocide begins. Had the previous FOUR presidents taken terrorism seriously, perhaps we wouldn't be in this situation, but here we are. We entered Bosnia and Kosova because genocide was occurring and the world wanted US to do something. If we leave Iraq now, it will only begin again!
"MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!"
happy anniversary, guys
Oh good one, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. Seems everyone knows what that meant but you. Regime change had occurred and that is the significance of the sign...meaning that major combat operations against the Iraqi Army and Saddam's government had ended. Notice he didn't say we were finished with the job. The sign wasn't even his idea, but don't let facts get in the way of your Bush bashing.
Steve, you poor baby. You need to consider a high fiber diet.
Iraq War History 101:
"Bush declared an end to "major combat" in Iraq in a May 1, 2003, speech from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. However, U.S. troops have been battling an ongoing insurgency since then, and more than 3,300 Americans have died in Iraq since that address."
SLAM DUNK!!!
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