Far East Cynic

I think that somewhere in the White House, George Bush keeps a shrine to Lee Kwan Yew, the first Prime Minister of Singapore and now is the governmental leader who just will not go away. After  30 years in power, he supposedly turned over the reigns of power-but in reality he never did. In his dreams George Bush, I think, secretly envies him.

And despises the 26th amendment of the Constitution. Because if George W. Bush could, he would invoke the ghost of FDR, keep the war going on forever, and remain in power for as long as his body would support it. At least he talks that way-and has been talking that way in his overheated rhetoric concerning the failure to pass the Protect America act.  Just like Lee saw Singapore surrounded by threats all around, which could only be dealt with if the citizens turned over their liberties to him-like the good sheep he wanted them to be-George Bush sees an Islamic terrorist behind every tree. And because of that, every American should just walk blindly into that great good night of giving up rights under the 1st, 4th, 5th, and 8th amendments of the Bill of Rights-in the name of protecting some greater good.

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Valentines Day is over,  thank God. However in Japan there is one more artificial holiday created by merchants-White Day. March 14th, the day men are supposed to give women white chocolate.

For the rest of the world, March 14th is a special holiday. Ladies start preparing now!

[while looking at a picture of Stifler's mom]
MILF Guy #2: Dude that chick’s a MILF!

I will confess I thought about that term when I saw this video on Japan Probe:

Earlier this week, Let’s Go to School aired the “I Wore My Daughter’s Uniform Contest,” a beauty competition in which mothers of junior high and high school girls wore their daughter’s school uniforms. All of the women were in their 30’s or 40’s, and a few shocked the audience with how they could pass for actual schoolgirls!

Now look at the ages of the contestants:

Mom#1-Age 41

Mom#2 Age 41

Mom#3 Age 40

Mom#4 Age 31

Mom#5 Age 35

Mom#6 Age 46

Of course, you have to ask youself-”Who thinks up ideas like this and why?”

More than few Freudian images to work through here I think. Can you say the word-fetish? I knew you could………

Run! In the opposite direction as fast as you can!

Here is a little tidbit I came across in my surfing. Remember this picture and these words-the next time one of those briefing teams from the Bureau of Naval Personnel comes around and tries to tell you what a “good deal” Individual Augmentations (IA’s) are. (For the uninitiated this how the Department of Defense masks its manpower shortage by forcing members from other services- many of whom are not trained for the jobs they fill- to do jobs the Army would normally do.)  Shamelessly stolen from this blog, because it bears passing along.

Today marks my 8-month anniversary of being in Iraq. Being a Navy “body-fill” for an Army Staff definitely has it’s perks. People don’t know what to expect of you and they don’t understand what the hell a Navy Junior Officer is doing in Iraq in the first place. This allows my superiors to forego any “career development” or “you should think about staying in” conversations that are always excruciatingly painful. My superiors actually appreciate my bitterness and despair, as long as it doesn’t affect my responsibilities at work of course, which I haven’t messed up too badly yet. I never go out on convoys and am lucky enough to be chained to a desk. However, one of my Navy chums that has to go out frequently with the senior brass describes it as “being like Ensign Ricky just waiting to get blown to smithereens” (note picture above). This dark humor may be disturbing, and if you were looking for someone embellishing their experience to doll myself up as some sort of “hero” who loves his country, I’m sorry, but you should look elsewhere. Sure there are American heroes in Iraq, but you’re certainly not going to find any amongst my group of peers. We are mediocre at best.

To work for this guy:

Go watch the video here.

Come to think of it, this could be a good analogy for the US relationship to China………………

H/T to John at Arggh!

Which is not going to include me tonight! Happy f**king Valentines Day!

S.O. is sick today and to make matters worse-is really being a b i t c h.

Now mind you, one of the benefits of being older is realizing that its not personal. Its simply the way for her to vent her frustration-much of which is reflected frustration of that which is mine- concerning where I am at in life. Also I can tell her head really hurts. She is laying horizontal on the couch and she NEVER does that……………..

So I’ve learned to walk away, head for the fridge, drink beer, and leave her alone. Perhaps if I had learned that lesson more than a few years ago-my net worth would be substantially higher.

Maybe I should send a card: 

Click on the image to see it better!

VPS has a good perspective on the whole day:

When you say something to someone, whether it’s “Baby you’re the best fuck I’ve ever had” or “I love you” or “You’re my best friend and I’ll always be here for you”, how many times have you said it to someone else? Someone before, someone after. Out of all those times, how many times did you really mean it?

The before’s fine. Retrospect, there’s nothing you can do about that. But the someone after, that bothers me. A lot. It bothers me that it’s so easy to make all these promises that, at first sent little tingles down my spine and made my tummy feel like it was full of fluttering butterflies, can be broken and then so easily passed on to someone else

I have to agree with her. If, perchance I should somehow be able to send the S.O. packing ( an idea that is looking really good after beer number five and whine number 1292)  I would , and I mean it this time, never get involved with a woman except for mindless sex.

This would be a lot easier if: a) her smile were not so nice, b) she was not so nice a lady and so patient,  and c) if I had a million dollars in my money market account.

Since none of those things are happening any time soon-nothing to do but blog!

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 As  I said before, the situation in Okinawa is going to get out of control. Today they released the speed brake:

As anger spreads throughout Okinawa over the alleged weekend rape by a U.S. Marine of a 14-year-old girl, two municipal assemblies in the prefecture adopted a joint resolution Wednesday calling for preventive steps, an apology and compensation for the victim.

The usual suspects are out:

OSAKA — Protests in Okinawa over the arrest of a U.S. Marine for the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl continued Tuesday with demonstrations outside U.S. military bases.Okinawa police arrested 38-year-old Tyrone Hadnott, a U.S. Marine, on Monday on suspicion of raping the girl the day before. Hadnott denies the charge.Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence, a local nongovernmental organization, sent a letter of protest to the U.S. government Monday calling for an official apology and compensation for the girl, and to punish the serviceman responsible. The group also demanded all U.S. bases be closed.“Can we allow the U.S. military to interfere in the lives of Okinawans? Why are we not making a safe environment for Okinawan women a priority?” asked Suzuyo Takazato, the group’s cochair.Some antibase activists worried that once the initial anger has subsided, people will forget about the incident until another comes along.

“Okinawans bear some responsibility for the alleged rape because of their ultimate indifference to the bases. Yes, they cried and publicly protested after a 12-year-old schoolgirl was raped in Okinawa in 1995, and often say they oppose the bases,” said antibase activist Natsume Taira.

“But that was a media performance. Unless they get serious about opposing the bases, this incident will be forgotten and there will be similar incidents in the future,” he said.

I guess the 28,000 people who don’t rape anyone does not count for any thing? Or those 5000 Master Labor Contract jobs don’t mean a damn thing either? You do remember that back up on Honshu, most Japanese don’t really give a damn about Okinawa-except to keep the majority of the Americans in Japan penned up there, don’t you?

I did not think so.

Well, that’s the day for me. No stimulus package here!

Time for another beer then. To hell with romance!

The GI Bill that is. Are you listening Dr. Chu?

I’ve been watching this for 30 years. On the one hand, we say, ‘This is the new greatest generation,’ and on the other we don’t even give them the type of educational benefit that will allow them to go to a good school. It’s just not right.-Sen James Webb D-VA.

PBS ran a pretty good story today outlining how, as is so often the case with this crowd of losersof folks at DOD-what they say and what they do are too different things. As long as Dr. David S.C. Chu is in a position of prominence at DOD, this hypocrisy will continue. One thing, one message that John Mc Cain-and for that matter Barak Obama-can send loud and clear, is a message that this lip service of saying we support our troops,  while proposing legislation that screws them over will come to an end.

Sooner or later, John McCain will have to go through that annual right of passage on military issues-addressing the VFW. I have a suggestion for his speech writers:

You have heard me say here-that I was a loud and frequent critic of the Rumsfeld strategy on Iraq. Well now in Iraq, we have new leadership and a new strategy.  And it is showing results-results that will bode well for our troops and for the success of the American effort as a whole.

(Sorry-had to pause for a second while I cleared the bile from my throat. …..But I digress).

However it was not just in Iraq, where Donald Rumsfeld and his lackeys in DOD led the United States and its military in the wrong direction. In so many areas, from force structure to personnel policy, his vision-as expressed by those who held principal positions inside the Department of Defense-was fatally flawed. It can be summed up in one sentence. Do more with less-and cheat the serving Soldier, Sailor, Airman and Marine out of benefits and support that they had earned at every opportunity.

I tell you today, that in a McCain administration those days are over. We will expand our armed forces to a size that can adequately support this long term effort we have undertaken. So that the same people do not have to deploy over and over again without a break. And we will honor those who have undertaken this effort by providing for them, taking care of their families, and properly funding and protecting those benefits they were promised and given by law.  To those rotten men, such as Dr David Chu, who under the encouragement of Donald Rumsfeld actually displayed disdain for those who, in the past, served their country with honor, I have a message. For such men as Dr. Chu, come January 20, 2009, they will find a NOT WELCOME sign on all the entrances of the Pentagon.  We will no longer allow you to behave with what one proudly serving officer called “misguided parsimony”.   There is no place for you and your mean spirited thinking here. 

For Senator McCain’s speech writers-feel free to use this verbiage. I will expect consideration for a job in the White House next January though-or a cushy overseas posting. Take your pick.

Either way-just make the Pentagon shut up and pay the bill.

The Democratic candidates that is.

Or for that matter who John McCain is running against.

It is not the candidates-regardless of who wins the nomination. Nope, in either case, they have to run against the ugly baby in the room. The one you don’t mention-but whom 70% of the country hates.

With good reason.

That’s right, we are talking about George W. Bush, the man who as one commentator put it, ”whose presidency has been the most disasterous since the Civil War. There is no area of policy that this president and his supporters can point to with anything less than deep shame.” The man who made the rich richer-the rest of us poorer, and dragged the United States into a war without end-amen.

He’s the guy that Obama or Hillary should go after-especially Obama.

For one thing, its hard to attack John McCain if you are Democrat-the guy actually served in uniform. He’s a real war hero and his credentials on the national security issue are pretty much impeccable. And thanks to George Bush’s beatification of General Petreaus-to run against the war is to oppose the American Soldier. Not a good place to be.

Never mind that before Petraeus was the solution-he was a part of the problem. He was a lackey for the “Rumsfeld strategy” that Mc Cain runs down at every opportunity. After the Move-on.org debacle last fall its pretty tough to point out that Petreaus was responsible for training the Iraqi Army. And that by fiat of the General and the Secretary of Defense today-that army was once again pronounced unready to fight for their own country.

No, for the Democrats the right move is run against two people-George W. Bush, who was the author of the war, for better or worse. And Nuri-al Malaki who is the personification of the Iraqi government or lack thereof.

Because the trick is, for the Democrats, is to seperate the Soldiers in the field, from the Iraqis they are fighting on the behalf of. Accept that military progress has been made. Revel in it! And then continually ask why-if the surge was such a success- American troop numbers cannot move downward?

The answer to that question is not a good one-no matter which explanation you choose to believe. Either the Iraqis under Malaki are unworthy of the sacrifices the Americans are making on their part, which is to some degree true, or its not simply Al Qaeda we are fighting in Iraq.  Which is a plausible explanation when you consider events like this.

Either way, the challenge for the Democratic nominee is to split the Iraqis away from their American crutches, and make the election a referendum on George Bush’s crazy decision to climb hopelessly in the same bed with these poor people.

Running against the legacy of George Bush is a winning tactic. Transferring blame for the fact that the U.S. will be in Iraq for 50 years, to the Iraqis,  is also an effective way to deflect the 30% of Americans who just won’t be turned away from the dark side of the American political force.

For McCain, the problem is harder because he has become so firmly identified with the war. His victory talk only makes sense if the war can be seen as a continuing surge success.  Having to slow or stop the drawdown of forces-which not really a drawdown at all, simply an inability to continue because the Army is not big enough-punches holes in the argument that “victory is around the corner”.

Because its not-and besides, McCain cannot explain what victory is anyway.

Neither can anyone else.

And if you can successfully transfer blame for the war-the rest of the issues fall into place:

The Republicans have so damaged their own brand in the last 14 years that their own signature issues are lost to them, perhaps forever. Can you imagine a Republican candidate discussing family values with a straight face in 2008? Fiscal responsibility? A sane foreign policy? On issue after issue after issue, the GOP have blown themselves up on their own turf. They’re the political equivilent of that suicide bomber from a couple of weeks ago who died after falling down the stairs.

McCain has the same problem. The American people may not want to lose-but they don’t want to wait 50 years to win. So surge or not-the war is a drag on him. And on top of that he has another problem:

You think “Clinton fatigue” was an issue in 2000? Just wait, teenagers. And that’s the trap McCain’s in. He hates Bush as much as most right-thinking people do, but he can’t run against him without driving the lunatics to his right into fits of apoplexy. No matter what he does between now and the convention in September, John McCain has already been defined by the presidency of George W. Bush. This administration has locked any nominee into a cage of human bones and despair, and there’s no breaking out of it without antagonizing the 30% of Americans retarded enough to still approve of it.

McCain has to move the conversation away from the areas Bush is identified with. And that is going to be tough to do-it will be tougher if Obama is the nominee. Which is why he prays every night for Hillary’s success and for Obama to drop dead.

Because with Hillary-he can make the conversation about her. And not about the issues.

Which is why I want Obama to get the Democratic nomination.

So that I can have a choice in November.

And either way, by my vote, I can give the finger to George Bush.

Interesting, that this happens right after Stars and Stripes runs an article where the powers that be congratulate themselves on how the curfews have worked.

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) — A U.S. Marine based on Okinawa has been detained in connection with the reported rape of a 14-year-old Japanese girl, the island’s police force said Monday.

U.S. Marine Tyrone Luther Hadnott was accused of meeting a schoolgirl in this area in Okinawa, Japan.

Staff Sgt. Tyrone Luther Hadnott, 38, denied raping the junior high school student and told authorities he only kissed her, police told CNN.

Authorities have not charged Hadnott with the crime. Under Japanese law, a person can be held up to 10 days without charges.

It was all over tonights news on NHK. With, of course, the obligatory footage from 1995 and the dutiful Okinawan representative scolding the United States for its bases on the island.

To borrow a quote from Fred Thompson in a movie:

“This thing will get out of control……..it will get out of control and we will be lucky to all live through it”-Admiral Davenport in Hunt for Red October.

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Speaking of out of control, I also saw this sad item on the news.

Firefighters battle a fire at Namdaemun, South Korea’s ‘No. 1 national treasure’, in Seoul, South Korea, Monday. (Ahn Young-joon/The Associated Press)

If you have ever been to Seoul you have seen this landmark. Somehow I don’t think it bodes well for the New Year…………

The great thing about the Olympics this year is that it gives the free nations of the world the chance to kick some Chinese ass in front of their own people. And show the Chinese government to the world as the dictatorship that it is. You would think that nations such as Britain would understand that.

Unfortunately, the residents of Londonstan don’t seem to understand .

No wonder they sold out 4 million people in Hong Kong……………….

Russian Bear bombers on the prowl that is. Back in the day, yours truly was awakened from romancing his cruise sock to race to the alert bird, gear in hand-with the goal of getting airborne in 30 minutes of less. The Russians were coming! The Russians were coming!

Usually we got notice right about the time they left Tashkent and had time to think about when to launch to intercept them. In the Indian Ocean, we usually got examined by Il-38 Mays not Bears. They saved those for the North Atlantic or Pacific.

Sometimes though they did not-and the race was on. A Bear moved pretty fast over the ocean, usually about 420 knots, and our requirement was to intercept them no later than 200nm from the carrier battle group. That sounds easy, but sometimes it was a real effort and your window to make the correct decision could turn out to be only 30-40 minutes.

Still, it was exciting, heady stuff- “going toe to toe with the Russki’s”.

Yesterday 3 Russian TU-95 bombers briefly violated Japanese airspace and the JASDF burned a bunch of dead dinosaurs chasing them down. So too did the US Navy evidently.

A Russian air force bomber briefly violated Japanese airspace over an uninhabited island just south of Tokyo on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry said.

The three-minute flyby over Sofugan in the Izu island chain by a Tupolev 95 ended following warnings by Japanese air force fighter jets, said Foreign Ministry official Kotaro Otsuki.

The ministry immediately lodged a protest with the Russian Embassy in Tokyo and demanded an explanation, Otsuki said.

A switchboard operator at the embassy said no one was available to comment Saturday.

Japan’s navy scrambled 22 fighter jets, including F-15s, and two airborne warning and control aircraft known as AWACs, a Defense Ministry official said on condition of anonymity, citing protocol.

Here is some Japanese news footage of the event-pretty cool pix of a Bear if you ask me:

I came across this little dissertation over at the League of Disgruntled Majors . This post is dedicated to my long suffering friends on a certain aging, round bottom vessel, the only amphibious ship in Yokosuka, who are long suffering under the leadership (and I use the term loosely) of one of the Few, the proud, and regrettably-one of the incompetent.  You guys know who you are! You have my utmost admiration.

If you have ever served on a staff or done a department head tour such as I had to do-you will understand this guy’s sentiments exactly. For our civilian readers out there-try to imagine forcibly having to work for the pointy haired boss without the option to quit:

So Metatron (the angelic voice of god) tells me that I have some options…most of which suck, but there is one that stands out and looks good. A flash went through my mind, “It looks like the enemy has withdraw, sir. The valley is clear of resistance…and LOOK, there’s a clearly delineated path that leads right through those cliffs. Let’s take that one!!” So, I walked right into the ambush. With a job that has family time (half the year TDY), and a great work environment (a basement in the “historic” old PX at Fort Leavenworth, with the snakes, centipedes, spiders and mice…and 6 other members of the LDM), what more could I ask for? Prepositioning for school maybe? That was the deal. “Do two years in purgatory,” said the all knowing voice of the HRC angels, “and you can go through the gates of ILE and on to your KD assignment!” Besides the 180 days of TDY and bosses that were sent here to be “euthanized”, the community of LDM’s here kept the morale to a level just above suicide watch. Then, 1.5 years into my 2 year purgatory, I realized that branch had sent me into a kill zone. With TRADOC hemorrhaging officers like the air-defense corps getting rid of tactical flexibility, they had made a deal with the golden cherubs at HRC to keep officers for three years, and there was no grandfather clause. So, as I look at another year in the basement, with the rest of my LDM brethren, I make my pledge to embrace the watchwords and stock my bottom right hand drawer with a little bit of hooch. And in the words of Metatron himself…”Wow, that really sucks. They are throwing you guys under the bus. I would really like to help, but I will be going to the Naval War College at that time…HA HA HA, I got mine, sucker!!” Ok…maybe it didn’t go like that, but that’s the way it came across.

LDM Acollyte #137

MAJ, XXX

Chief of Something or Other in a Basment

Somewhere on Ft Leavenworth serving 2-3 for Stupidity

Even if Obama were to become President ( something I doubt)-there is already a town named after him. You can get there on JR!

I must confess I did not see the Mitt Romney dropout coming. I’m surprised Sean Hannity did not commit suicide on his show today as a result.

And of course he did it at that annual gathering of the mentally deranged “conservatives” known as CPAC-the annual ritual when the uncaring and the unfeeling come together to tell each other how great they are and how misunderstood they are by everyone else.  It is that annual time of the year when whorespeople like Michelle Malkin, Dennis Praeger, Hugh Hewitt, and the rest of talk radio’s morons come together and genuflect at the altar of Ronald Reagan.

Anything is acceptable at CPAC. – Except the truth.

They have conservative meetings in Japan too. Only over here, they are held in out of the way parks and everyone drives one of these:

They call these guys Uyoku-right wing.

In America though, even front running Presidential candidates have to go in front of this crowd of losers and grovel to them-particularly when you are John McCain and you need to keep these strident bozos in line-lest they give the election over to the Democrats. Without firing a shot.

In a perfect world, here is the speech McCain should give:

Ladies and gentlemen, it is indeed an honor for me to come before you tonight and address the real differences that exist between me and the people who purportedly speak for you and your opinions and dreams.

I suspect that deep down we are quite similar in what we want for this great country of ours. We want the best for America and we want to continue to strive to achieve that greatness. Probably the biggest difference between us is that I actually understand what makes this country great and know how to move it ahead.

And you do not. And as far as I can see, you never will understand.

So I will keep my remarks short and confine them to words I know you need to hear:

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This blog is 3 years old today.

I began this blog out of a sense of frustration responding to a huge personal disappointment in my life; created by nothing, but sheer stupidity on the part of other people……..on the part of the “big bad establishment”. My disgust with their simplistic trying to slot people into molds, set me off on the path of blogging to begin with.

That emotion is still with me-and perhaps probably contributes to my small readership-while others, far less talented, but definitely moronic more mean spirited-get the big numbers on their hit counters. Underlines the fact that the world is not fair.

As I think is true for most bloggers, it has been hard to maintain the passion over time. I am definitely aware that my recent posts lack that good clean style, with just the right amount of ideological fanaticism that I had in my earlier posts.

Which is probably the case because, even after 3 years at it, I cannot figure out which blogging “camp” I want to be in. Many of the blogs I read and most of the time like-I am absolutely horrified at the clear inability of the authors to sometimes view situations objectively-or worse-have opted to ignore real facts in order to promote their ( or someone’s) agenda. One of my big revelations is that the same thing that drove me to blogging-exists in spades within the blogging arena.

This is particularly true with blogs that write a lot about Iraq. On both sides of the fence. I remain vehemently opposed to the war in Iraq for a whole lot of reasons, however I also sadly note those who still seem to think that this is 2005 and all they have to do is tout the fact that the sky is falling. It is not-but at the same time, the sun is not coming up in that God-forsaken land anytime soon. Nevertheless it is clear that the United States is settling in for the long haul and its not going to change anytime soon-regardless who wins the election.

I acknowledge that-I just refuse to believe its in the long term interests of the United States. So among some,  I lose style points for that. At the same time-I’m not going to simply jump off the deep end of the left side of the pool. There are a lot of really good things that are being accomplished.

The questions is-at the end of the day-is it worth the cost?

I’ve also tried to emulate-without great success- some of the really cool Expat blogs. Which are not so political-but write more on the real joy that comes with being a stranger in a not so strange land. I love to read them. And write about my own experiences living in a place I like better than my own homeland. Even if circumstances force me back to the land of fat women in the near future-my heart is now solidly here. And will remain here. I just need one of their jobs so I can be guaranteed to stay here.

I’ve also tried to have fun-acknowledging that my tastes are not those of the typical purebred American boy. I like women.  I like everything about women-particularly having sex with them.  Repeatedly and with variety-there is no such thing as too much sex in my book.  To read some folks-that’s a sign of dementia. I consider it a sign of continued vitality.

However American politics-and my fascination to all things military-inevitably draw me back to those topics.  And to those loyal readers who have been following the goings on here for a while-there will be little change in this pattern for the future. So like the Friends of Bill keep saying ( as they screw up another generation of the illegally coerced)-keep coming back.

I’ll keep trying to figure out what I’m going to do when I grow up.

There will be plenty of these here:

And always plenty of discussion of these:

It’s kind of like Popeye-I am what I am!

Right Charlie Brown?

Happy Birthday to me!