Jumblerant

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Pacific Disappointment

I've just finished watching the first in a series of shows by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg and I'm quite disappointed.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of these giants of the movie industry. I loved 'Band of Brothers' and no doubt I'll enjoy the rest of the series of 'Pacific' but right now its not doing it for me.

Oxford University Edition cover of With the Ol...

I understand that 'Pacific' is based very loosely on Eugene Sledge's book With the Old Breed At Peleliu and Okinawa. This is a masterpiece of a book which I have read, and reread often. It really brings war on the Japanese front alive in a way that few other books have been able to do.

If you want a few good books about the 2nd World War and are fed up with Stephen Ambrose's regurgitation of the same few stories under different titles then may I suggest the following;

A Writer at War - Vasily Grossman, with the Red Army 1941 - 1945

Sniper on the Eastern Front, Albrecht Wacker (The German side of battle)

The Day the War Ended - Martin Gilbert (A myriad of 2WW first hand accounts)

Cover of "A Writer at War: Vasily Grossma...

But I digress. "Pacific" doesn't follow the same format as Band of Brothers which is a bit of a shame as we don't go through training with the 'team'. We don't know their names, we don't know their ranks or place in the hierarchy of the unit. So all we get to see are a few Marines going to war.

So far I can take it or leave it. There is no doubt in my mind that I'll watch the whole series, I just don't really care right now what happens to the characters. Which, I guess, is a shame.

kthanxbai!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Doctors Without Kiddies

I live in a relatively 'interesting' part of the world. Below is a photo that was recently taken from my car as I drove to work. Not to a border crossing or to a remote location near an army base but on a main freeway between two cities.

I also get to see many cars with CD number plates, Swiss Red Cross vehicles and a multitude of UN buses and people carriers.

On some rare occasions I see 'Doctors Without Borders' vehicles and I just don't get what they do that the UN, The Red Cross and the State itself do. So I wasn't particularly surprised to read what JayG over at MArooned had to share on Thursday in his blog-post 'Idi Amin Was A Humanitarian, Too'

Remember, "It's for the Children™"...

‘Border’ struggle erupts over name

Three years ago, after decades of performing volunteer operations worldwide, George Whitelaw decided he wanted to do something that would have a broader impact.
The orthopedic surgeon from Milton started a small nonprofit organization to provide primary care to children in Central America. He called his organization Children Without Borders, because “our treatment is without borders, and our patients are without borders,’’ he said.
Seems pretty straightforward, right? Except that some didn't see it that way:

The operation was running smoothly - it had grown to have a $60,000 annual budget and three clinics in Costa Rica - until last summer, when Whitelaw received a cease-and-desist letter from a similar but vastly larger organization, Doctors Without Borders. The Geneva-based organization, which employs 27,000 people and has an annual budget of more than $800 million, said the group was infringing on its trademark and threatened legal action if Whitelaw did not change its name.

JayG ends with what I think is a very inciteful line:

I mean, I'll admit to being suspicious man by nature, but when a Google search on "Doctors Without Borders" brings up 4 out of 10 hits for donations...

Go to MArooned to read the full article:Idi Amin Was a Humanitarian, Too...Remember, "It's for the Children™"...

kthanxbai!

lol = Laugh out loud

I saw this motivational picture and really laughed out loud.

Reverse stereotype - Think about which one fo these two has done time

Thought you might giggle too.

kthanxbai!

Friday, March 5, 2010

Lucky Thirteen - a short story

I read a fair bit. Not just the contents of Google Reader but a newspaper every morning and for 30 - 60 miuntes I read a novel in bed every night.

Image by babblingdweeb via Flickr

Recently I have started reading more new authors and I can assure you that as soon as Marko Kloos' novel is out I'll be buying it.

The link to his latest short story 'Lucky Thirteen' is HERE. I found it very interesting, exciting and believable. Definitely worth a read - now.

What are you waiting for? Click here and read the story. You're reading this blog so why not click here and read Lucky Thirteen NOW?? You'll thank me for it I'm sure.

What are your thoughts on the story?

kthanxbai!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Viral videos don't really suck

So where is the internet taking us now? Much like int he late 1800s when the leaders of industry announced that everything that could be invented, has been invented, we seem to have come to some kind of impasse with the internet and technology.

Mac have introduced the iPad which many are calling simply a larger iPhone, just without half of the functionality.

Steve Jobs and his latest invention, the iPad. (ahem)

Daniel Sevitt, over at 'Eyeview's blog' discusses viral videos and their suckiness.

Go here to read the full article.

He mentions the video below which I found wonderful, and I hope you do too!

kthanxbai!

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Team Rubicon are back

When Haiti got hit with the horrid earthquake all the way back in January I spoke about Team Rubicon - here and here.

Chile has been hit by an earthquake which hit 8.8 on the Richter scale. Please note that a 5.0 earthquake is 10 times stronger than a 4.0 earthquake. According to Wikipedia today's earthquake occurs anywhere on the planet only once a year, and has the equivalent of 15.8 gigatons of TNT exploding at the same time.

Haiti's earthquake was a 7.0 so therefore Chile's earthquake has many times the amount of energy that Haiti's had. There are numerous factors that effect the final effect that the release of that energy has on a country but nevertheless, Team Rubicon are ready to roll:

Ladies and Gentlemen:

As you hopefully by now know, Chile has been rocked by a magnitude 8.7 earthquake off it's coast. This earthquake is over 1000x more powerful than the one that struck Haiti over one month ago.

Initial reports from the Chilean government are casualties hovering near 200, however, communication is down with outlying villages and towns on the coast, and that toll is expected to rise sharply in the coming days.

Team Rubicon has assembled a 6 man recon element to fly into southern Chile to assess casualties near the coast, where large aid organizations will not concentrate their efforts. We expect bottlenecks to occur in Santiago, where the airport is shut down for 24 hours, and concentrated efforts to be focused on Concepcion. This leaves a critical gap in medical attention on the coastal towns.

Team Rubicon is asking you to help us offset the cost of this mission. If you can donate $10 or $15 to our website, we can ensure that thousands of Chilean citizens on the coast will receive the care they need.

http://teamrubiconusa.org/donate/

Thank you.

Jake Wood
President, Team Rubicon

kthanxbai!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Military bumper stickers

Non-PC warning...

"Except For Ending Slavery, Fascism, Nazism and Communism, WAR has Never Solved Anything."

"Artillery Brings Dignity to What Would Otherwise Be Just A Vulgar Brawl"

"One Shot, Twelve Kills - U.S. Naval Gun Fire Support"

"Do Draft-Dodgers Have Reunions? If So, What Do They Talk About?"

"My Kid Fought In Iraq, So Your Kid Can Party In College"

"A Dead Enemy Is A Peaceful Enemy - Blessed Be The Peacemakers"

"If You Can Read This, Thank A Teacher. If You Can Read It In English,  Thank A Veteran"

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a  difference in the world. But the Marines don't have that problem."  ...Ronald Reagan

"Army Rangers - Certified Counselors to the 72 Virgins Dating Club."

"Water-boarding is out, so kill them all!"

"Interrogators can't water-board dead guys"

"Rangers - Travel Agents To Allah"

"Stop Global Whining"

"When In Doubt, Empty The Magazine"

"Army Rangers - When It Absolutely, Positively Has To Be Destroyed  Overnight"

"Death Smiles At Everyone - Rangers Smile Back"

"Marine Sniper - You can run, but you'll just die tired!"

"What Do I Feel When I Kill A Terrorist? A Little Recoil"

"Marines - Providing Enemies of America an Opportunity To Die For their Country Since 1775"

"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Anyone Who Threatens It"

"Happiness Is A Belt-Fed Weapon"

"It's God's Job to Forgive Bin Laden - It's Our Job To Arrange The  Meeting"

"Machine Gunners - Accuracy By Volume"

Borrowed indefinitely from Old NFO at Nobody Asked Me

kthanxbai!

Too Much Facebook?

I have had a few comments about my recent postings about Facebook etiquette - so now here is the mama of all Facebook warnings:

Facebook:
What Is Facebook Addiction?

kthanxbai!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Politically neutered

Just in case you were wondering how politically biased I am, here is the result of a recent test i took over at Political Spectrum.

My Political Views
I am a centrist moderate social libertarian
Right: 0.22, Libertarian: 1.32

Political Spectrum Quiz

I guess on next election day I'll just stay home.

kthanxbai!

Cheap and cheerful

The two words 'Cheap' and 'Cheerful' go together in my little head as 'will break soon' and 'wasn't worth what you paid'. Like the Lego pieces that are cheaper and don't quite fit. Or the dodgy remote controlled cars that break within 5 minutes of opening the box.

I was therefore not so surprised to hear that Ryanair had pooped all over a planeload of paying customers:

Ryanair dumps passengers on wrong island - doesn't care

A planeload of passengers on a Ryanair flight from the UK to Lanzarote (one of the Spanish Canary Islands) learned the hard way that low cost carriers carry a hidden price.
Image via Wikipedia

Instead of landing in Lanzarote, the plane landed in Fuerteventura (about 30 miles from their intended destination).

Bad weather had forced the plane to divert, but usually when a plane has to divert, a normal airline takes care of its customers.

Obviously, Ryanair isn't considered to be a normal airline, so the passengers were told to get off the plane, and after refueling, the plane took off, leaving the passengers to fend for themselves.

There were no Ryanair staff at the airport, and with no way to reach anyone from the airline, the passengers had to book hotels for themselves.

The next morning, the passengers were able to grab a ferry to their correct destination, losing a night of their vacation and any hotel nights they had booked.

A Ryanair spokesman confirmed that the flight had indeed been diverted, but was quick to point out that "if flight disruption is outside the control of the airline, no monetary compensation is due."

So there you have it - flying with Ryanair really is a gamble, and you don't even know whether you'll actually arrive at your destination. Perhaps they can make some more money by starting a "will we get to our destination" lottery on their flights.

Original article can be found HERE

What a bunch of silly flying people! I know that I won't be flying Ryaniar ever. And I hope you won't either.

kthanxbai!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

What's All The Fuss II?

After my last post 'What's All The Fuss?' went online I reconsidered my words and thought that maybe I'd gone a bit too far with my dismay at the UK's attitude to a Hamas leader's 'deletion'. It turns out that I wasn't the only chappy on the planet to be upset with the UK's attitude.

Image via Wikipedia

This article appeared in Friday's Daily Express;

WHY CAN'T THIS COUNTRY FOLLOW ISRAEL'S LEAD?

By Chris Roycroft-Davis
EXCUSE me for not sending flowers to the funeral of the terrorist the Israelis bumped off in Dubai. Unlike the bleeding hearts in the liberal media I’m not shedding any tears.

And Chris continues:

Unlike Britain, Israel doesn’t tolerate an enemy within. It doesn’t give those who hate them free housing and welfare handouts. It doesn’t let the right of free speech enable them to preach murder on its streets.
Image via Wikipedia

For the whole article visit here, here and here.

kthanxbai!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Live & learn

As the immutable Lazy Bum that I am, I try to learn from my mistakes, and from others'. Wirecutter at Knuckledragging My Life Away has shared with us a list of what his father imparted to him.

Image by papaija2008 via Flickr

As he states in his blog, his father:

is a retired Army Warrant Officer, came up through the ranks, did 3 tours in Viet Nam, the whole bit. He was raised up poor (the son of a lumberjack) the grandson of a gambler/lawman/outlaw from Arizona. Let's just say Pops is hard. And he raised me the same way.

So what can we learn from him? His language is not the most 'poetic' - you have been warned!!

Here are a few from the 20 on his list:

1) Family comes first. Period. Unless it's your mother's side of the family. Fuck those assholes.

6) Never hit a woman. While it may be permissible to shoot one on occasion, hitting one is not an option. Ever.

9) A good steak should only be turned once.

18) Respect your elders. There's a reason those fuckers are still alive, they're tougher than you.

20) The world does not owe you a living. Either work or die. I'm not supporting your ass forever.

kthanxbai!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Whats all the fuss?

So some Israeli's took out the murdering fool Mahmoud al-Mabhouh whilst vacationing in sunny Dubai. No doubt between meetings to help the elderly and infirm in gaza he was looking to buy playground equipment and exercise books for needy children. (How does that sarcasm icon look again?)

Image via Wikipedia

I have no clue why the Brits and the Irish are so wound up about the use of their passports in this operation. Its a backhanded compliment as to the ability of their citizens to travel the world as they want!!

And why is no-one moaning loudly about the murder of a known terrorist but the use of dodgy passports gets the ambassador called in?

I do appreciate what Neptunus Lex wrote and suggest you go here to read the blog entry and the comments.

After all, what’s the world coming to, when a murderous terrorist operating outside the arm of justice can get snuffed achieve martyrdom while attempting to make more mayhem?

kthanxbai!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Facebook. Just Do It

I used to live on Facebook (or FB as I call it). I find out what people I went to nursery with are doing, I find out how my old schoolmates' divorces are coming along and I see just how limp and pathetic some of my closer chums and pals can be when it comes to presenting themselves to the world on FB.

Here are some clues on how not to look like a complete and utter muppet on Facebook:

Just sayin'!!

kthanxbai!

Birds and helicopters

I like helicopters.

I like birds.

So I'm guessing that this motivational poster has a reason to be on the blog.

Any answers to the question?

kthanxbai!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Modern Evolution

Wearing my 'pedantic hat' I guess that there can be no such thing as 'modern evolution'. However, below you can see the evolution of an idea from TV ad to digitized cartoon to, cartoonified* video, to TV ad.

And then to a few new versions that are basically copies (at last count YouTube had over 400 'Boom De Ah Dah' videos posted).

I guess its more a Revolution than an Evolution

The Original TV ad

xkcd's cartoon remake

XKCD's cartoon made into a video

I Love xkcd from NoamR on Vimeo.

xkcd's cartoon video turned into a real video

Hat Tip

kthanxbai!

*copyright Jumblerant

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Scalped - by Meat in the Seat

If you are looking for an interesting blog to read, may I suggest Meat in the Seat's latest bloggage? It really made me think twice about EMS and also about the difference between the mundane and the extraordinary.

Image by simplerich via Flickr

Scalped

And who can't fail to love a blogger who has a tasty raw steak as his ID picture. Brilliant!!

kthanxbai!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Jake Wood (Team Rubicon) Interview

Hugh Hewitt talks with Team Rubicon co-creator Jake Wood about their recent mission to Haiti, and what their plans are for the future.

http://blog.teamrubiconhaiti.org/2010/02/jake-wood-interview.html

A good interview with Jake's explanation of what he and the team did down in Haiti. Well worth listening to.

kthanxbai!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Sully's Plane's Emergence

Remember Captain Sullenberger landing his plane in the Hudson River after a goose strike? Well here is the video of the raising of the plane.

Image via Wikipedia

Quite a feat of boat maneuvering, crane-work and engineering.

The time lapse photographs of the raising of Flight 1549.

Posted on Kontain.com - [Flight 1549] from David Martin on Vimeo.

kthanxbai!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Organic piffle and tosh

I lived on different farms at different stages of my life. I've milked cows, picked eggs up from the hen house and done the more unpleasant jobs around the ol' homestead too. I won't go into detail as I have just eaten, and assume that you are not too far from a meal yourself.

Image by iLoveButter via Flickr

Sufficed to say, I have seen animals, from chicks to horses, from calves to bulls, being treated in many different ways.

The only time I have ever bought organic farm produce was when I misread the label and thought it said 'orgasmic'.

I am proud that Frank W James, he of 'Corn, beans, spent brass and a deadline', agrees with me;

I've said it thousand times before and I'll say it again, the 'Organic' food movement is the greatest scam since someone invented a 'pyramid' scheme and if you think I'm full of it, then answer me this simple question: WHO HAS GONE TO PRISON ON LENGTHY SENTENCES FOR FALSE LABELING OF FOOD AS 'ORGANIC' AFTER IT WAS PROVEN IN A COURT OF LAW THAT IT WASN'T?
Image via Wikipedia

Is how he answers one critic, finishing with:

And in closing just to be clear, I believe People who believe Organic Food are, in fact, 100% 'Organic', 100% of the time, are FOOLS, COMPLETE AND UTTER FOOLS.

This guy is my hero!!

Go over to his blog and read the full tirade.

kthanxbai!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

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Saturday, February 27, 2010

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Saturday, February 20, 2010

WHY CAN'T THIS COUNTRY FOLLOW ISRAEL'S LEAD?

By Chris Roycroft-Davis

Friday, February 19, 2010

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Monday, February 8, 2010

Sunday, February 7, 2010