Far East Cynic

Sticking to my resolve……….

Even though Sarah Palin is lying her moose hunting ass off.…………

I’d also point out for the benefit of those who love her -that I knew I was right when The Economist agrees with me:

The Palin appointment is yet more proof of the way that abortion still distorts American politics. This is as true on the left as on the right. But the Republicans seem to have gone furthest in subordinating considerations of competence and merit to pro-life purity. One of the biggest problems with the Bush administration is that it appointed so many incompetents because they were sound on Roe v Wade. Mrs. Palin’s elevation suggests that, far from breaking with Mr. Bush, Mr. McCain is repeating his mistakes.

Now mind you, my dislike is simpler-my bitchdar keeps going off when her name is mentioned. And if there is one thing I can sense well l-it’s bitches. At least now I can-in my younger days, not so much. If I had a bitchdar at 22, I’d be a lot richer now.

Today I was out with the S.O. to get stuff for palatial Skippy estates-which we move into next week. And to add insult to injury, I had to turn down a job offer in Italy that came clear out of the blue. I thought hard about it- I really did. I’m dying to get back overseas-even if it is only to Europe. At least Europe would have decent train service and bars to go to. This was a throwback to my job hunt this last spring. Wish they had brought this forth then. I can’t help but think I am making a big mistake-but for now, I will stick to my plan and to my commitments. But it is becoming clear that I’m no longer cut out for life on the wrong side of the dateline. Seeing a tiny box of an apartment in Soho just had my heart a twitter.

We watched an HGTV show together tonight-this was after I woke up from being asleep for the last 5 hours. I did not feel good when we got back. I know why-its the friction burns from feeling the chains locked down against my ankles. And then, to add insult to injury, this HGTV house hunters program shot in Hong Kong. Seeing the scenery from SoHo made me want to cry. Funny thing though -this person wanted to move back to Hong Kong Island from Lantau Island-into SoHo. She is a svelte little unit too. ( The real estate agent was not so bad either.)

So now I am truly depressed. Fortunately there is beer in the fridge. I do miss Asia!

Decided to shoot the wad though and get a satellite dish. That way the S.O. can watch Japanese TV-and I can have 250 channels+. Since its not like I get to go out anymore-I’ve got to have something to do at night. Especially in lieu of the declining stock market and the S.O.G index……………

Probably Yasuo Fukuda had me summed up when he pointed out:

“You said I sounded detached, but I am able to see myself objectively. I am different from you. (Watashi wa anata to chigau desu!)”

Speaking of Japan-They caught the monkey!

Going to go back to bed now-I really do not feel well. Unlike Sarah Palin-I don’t have 10 days to go hide-I have to be back at work on Monday.

BTW did you know that she is not the only politician with a son serving in Iraq? I’ll bet you didn’t-seems nobody wants to acknowledge Beau Biden. Why is that?

More tomorrow.

  3. That flat is awful expensive for 450,000..450 feet Yikes, thats just crazy.
    Its been a very long time since I’ve been to HK. One image that i remember is buying a calculator at a small shop and the clerk using an abacus to give me the price.
    And the live fish in tanks by the restaurant door. When you put your hand in the tank ALL the fish would congregate to the other side.

  4. 450,000 is expensive for that flat-but its primarily about the location. You cannot buy in SoHo cheaply. Personally I agreed with the lady’s choice-the loft apartment was a great layout and being on that hill in Central is something I’d love.

    If she had really wanted to save money-there were places that she could have picked that were less-but were father away from Central HK Island.

  5. Skippy,

    Here’s what I don’t get–they (the Republican establishment) rail against Obama for not having any experience, yet McCain (whose father and grandfather were both Admirals) never made flag rank, his only command was a training squadron in Florida, he never commanded a squadron, a wing or an Air Group. I’m the last one to discount his service, but for him to claim (as he has repeatedly) I’ve fought and won wars I’m ready to lead, seems a bit much.

    He dated his current wife (apparently openly) before he was divorced from his first wife; and that wasn’t his first affair apparently. He is 23 years older than the State of Alaska. He rode her daddy’s money into the Congress and then into the Senate when Barry Goldwater retired.

    With all of this, I feel more and more like the old lady in that Wendy’s commercial: “Where’s the beef?”

    Respects

    OAM

  7. OAM — a few “points of clarification” — you said “(He) never made flag rank”, implying that he failed. Not supported by the facts. According the the NY Times, in 1981, the then Secretary of the Navy told him that if he withdrew his retirement request, he would make flag on the next board. He instead chose to retire. He was at the 23 year point then, and was probably only on his second look — when many flag officers are selected. He chose to leave on his terms. By that standard, Skippy “failed” as well (grin).

    Second — “his only command was a training squadron”. It was actually the largest squadron in the Navy at that time, and the replacement training squadron for the A7 Corsair — an operational front line aircraft, which I had the pleasure of flying. During his tenure, it won its first Meritorious Unit Commendation. And you denigrate it as a “training squadron” at your own peril. Command of those squadrons usually only go to those who have held operational squadron command — the so called “bonus command”. It is considered quite prestigious among the aviation officer community to command these “training squadrons”, which you seem to consider second rate.

    Third — “he never commanded a squadron, a wing or an Air Group”. Squadron command tour usually starts around the 15-17 year point, with the selection a year or so earlier. Since McCain was commissioned in 1958, his first look for squadron command would have been in 1972. As he put it, “I was tied up at the time”. He was returned to flying status in ’74, and took command soon afterwards. Since “wings” and “air groups” are synonymous, I will point out that those commands come at the same point as command of the replacement squadrons — his VA-174 command was in lieu of Carrier Air Wing command (and given the fact he never commanded an operational A7 squadron, probably a non-starter).

    I know the noted blowhard Wesley Clark tried to go down this road, and we saw the results — banished from the Demo Convention, and probably off the Obama short list for anything north of Ambassador to Kazhakistan. You really want to call into question McCain’s familiarity with the horrors of armed conflict, and his award winning leadership of the largest squadron in the Navy?

  8. Skippy;
    You know I always like to ask questions that have absolutely NOTHING to o with the post in question.
    Did you read and write Japanese as well as speak it?
    How did you learn Japanese?
    Do you speak any other languages?

  9. One more thing.
    I know HK has a new airport now but the first time I flew in to the old airport as I was sitting in the window seat coming in for a landing, there we were a few FEET above a row of apartments/homes. Oi Vey!!!!
    One SLIGHT miscalculation and Mr and Mrs Wong would have a new house guest!!!! Good thing I know how to use chopsticks!!

  10. To mis-quote from Topgun:

    [Scott’s] explantation out to just about cover the fly by’s! I think too, you have to consider the culture of the Navy at the time-it would have made things doubly hard for McCain to have taken an air wing command at the time. Besides in retrospect-it probably cleared the way for him to marry a beer heiress………….. Things happen for a reason. VA-174 was a management challenge though.

    I speak and read Japanese reasonably well and speak German after a fashion. I’m still learning more kanji characters-I can only read about 1200. After 6 months in Germany and I could be back where I was in college. (Col Grundel would probably have taken issue with that statement). Scott knew Col Grundel I’m sure.

    Now in my opinion McCain’s got plenty of leadership experience. Its Palin who does not have “presidential” experience IMHO. And I could care less about her children, her hobbies or her so called real credentials. Her story may be a lot of people’s story
    ( although I think not so much if you look hard at the details) but its not mine.

  11. Skippy-san, “for the good of my health and blood pressure” wasn’t that last paragraph drawing you back in?

  12. Skippy — I don’t know — CAG to OLA, to wait out the flag board (nowadays, substitute EA to somebody, huh)? Probably. He met the beer princess when he was at OLA, so that scenario could have still played itself. Ich gelernt Deutsch nicht en Universitaet (ist die Citadel einer uni?), sondern in dem Volkshochschule (wie Erwachsenen bildung) en Deutschland, wenn ich dort gelebt. En uni, Ich gelernt Spanisch — mit Major DeMille. Sie erinnern ihn? Ich war erst Deutsch lernen zu gebumst werden.

  13. Did you see Bing West on CBS Sunday?
    Are you adding “The Strongest Tribe’ to your reading list?
    It adds strength to Salzmans “Conflict and Culture” ‘s conclusion about Arabs and the importance of kinship groups in Arab culture.

  16. Probably my reason for learning German was similar to your reason for learning Nihonese?

  18. One other thing I thought of-McCain was not the only POW to return to flight status after the war-and there were also plenty of MIG Killers out there-in a shrinking Navy. So to give him an air wing based soley on his POW status was not going to be an easy sell to the Navy.

    The Navy gave a squadron to a Iranian hostage as I recall in the early 80’s-and his tour was less than stellar. No correlation to McCain-but it just shows that its probably not a basis on which to use for command selection.

  19. Guy who was my basic VT (a real “training” squadron, OAM) squadron CO was also a returned POW. Complete loser — never came out of his office. Missed the “CO is the cheerleader” speech.

    I’ll bet you didn’t learn “gebumst werden” from Col Grundel.

  21. OAM,

    I’d concur with the above concerning the movement of CO’s from operational to Fleet Replacement Squadrons (FRS, read: training) and the fact that McCain did get a leg up on many of his peers without doing the fleet CO gig first. My first squadron was an FRS and our CO’s invariably departed with their bird or were blessed during their next tour. I’m an HSL guy, so our people used to run HSL-51 in Atsugi and then head over to 41, then off to the Boxer or some such thing as the Air Boss. They’d rematerialize a little later as Captain Somethingorother and run an HSLWING or go on to get a Staff infection at CVW.

    There was always the five-sided puzzle palace too. My point here is that McCain could have, but did not, choose to stay.

    Also, I miss having a fridge in the floor of the kitchen. Combini. Sushi delivery at 0200, with sake, for a solidly reasonable 4500 yen. Being able to get a pack of cigarettes out of a machine for 300 yen. Getting pony kegs of Kirin and sitting in the middle of the football field on NAF Atsugi at 0400, eating karage from 7-11 outside the gate, sitting in a small circle with people from work and talking quietly so as not to attract the attention of the local constabulary.

    Waking up on a winter morning, going to work, walking out to the flight line to pull plugs (yes, I would be an enlisted interloper here) and seeing Fuji in the distance. Wasn’t much for HK when I was there, but I’d sure as hell wouldn’t mind retirement in Ogikubo or Kichijoji. Close enough to Tokyo for my own S.O. to get a job in Tokyo and for me to commute out to Atsugi as a rep for NATEC or Nippi.

  22. Drew I can agree on all your Atsugi points. I’d rather live in Yokohama though so I can be close to Tokyo. Walking to work in the morning and seeing Fuji in the winter was a wonderful thing indeed. God I miss it now-living here in Shopping Mall USA.