Sunday Funnies

What would life have been like for the young G.W. Bush if he went to Navy OCS and not the T.A.N.G.?

I think I'll have another Paulaner tonight

A very fine Hefe-Weissbier if I don't say so myself.

Had my 100,000th visitor this AM.

Funny that my addled musings have found their way to that many people. Thanks to all, it saves money on a therapist.

Cheers and I hope you feel like you get your money's worth.......

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UPDATE: Hey!! Looks like I am not alone....and he beat me by a couple of hours it looks like. Sneaky submariners. Didn't even see the green flare.

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Turkish commandos besiege Berlin

Well that happens in a book by Burak Turna that is sweeping Turkey. Turkey is not in the best of mood towards Europe right now, so that is not shocker.

In The International Herald Tribune (NYT for fur’ners), Dan Bilefsky gives a good overview of one of the most popular authors in Turkey, and at they same time gives us a peak at how the Turkish people see themselves and their place in “Europe.” It is as good a place as any to pick on a book’s premise, and talk some about Europe and its future.

The year is 2010 and the European Union has rejected Turkey. Fascist governments have come to power in Germany, Austria and France and are inciting violence against resident Turks and Muslims. A vengeful Turkey joins forces with Russia and declares war against the EU. Turkish commandos besiege Berlin, obliterate Europe and take control of the Continent.

First of all, let’s dismiss the Turkish Tom Clancy’s timeline: 2010 is too early. Maybe 2050. Fascist no, panicked nationalists responding to a violent, unassimilated threat to their withering-in-the-bedroom culture, perhaps.

Turkey and Russia? Don’t think so. Turkey controlling a continent? Well, maybe not if Europe will find its next King John Sobiesky or Don Juan of Austria when they need them. Anyway, Turkey needs an exponentially larger logistical ability and domestic arms industry of some depth to even think about it, not to mention French/British nukes. Heck, if they wanted to, about any Western European nation and Japan could build one if they needed to – if they had the political will. But that isn’t really that important, plenty of bad war-fiction out there. Let’s get to the social/political/cultural story his book tells.

… the novel, which dominates bookstore display windows in Istanbul, has sold more than 130,000 copies in just two months and is rising on best-seller lists across the country. … the novel's popularity reflects the growing wariness of Turks about a Europe that is increasingly wary of them.

The feeling is quite mutual Johnny Turk. Wander around downtown Hamburg or Berlin some night. Europe it ain’t.

"Turks are getting fed up with the EU's constant demands - and 'The Third World War' has tapped into that," said Sinan Ulgen, a Turkish commentator. He noted that the book's pithy, cinematographic style has helped it resonate with taxi drivers, government officials and housewives alike.

Turna is no fringe figure. His first novel, "Metal Firtina" ("Metal Storm"), became the fastest-selling book in the history of Turkey when it was published in December, a time of deep Turkish ambivalence about the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

The book is a fictional account of a U.S. invasion of Turkey that provokes a Turkish agent to detonate a nuclear bomb in a park in Washington,
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He says he wrote "The Third World War" - "Üçüncü Dünya Savasi" in Turkish - to give Turks an outlet for their wounded pride about the EU's constant snubbing.

"Turks are waking up to two facts," Turna said at a café near Istanbul's bustling Taksim Square, where he was greeted like a rock star by young fans. "One is that everything told to the Turkish people by EU leaders is lies. Two, that a Muslim country will never get into an EU that doesn't want us."

Ahhh, the pride thing. The Islamic “pride” thingy. Joy.

He says he began researching "The Third World War" by brushing up on 1,000 years of European history and concluded that Europe will inevitably reject Turkey and that the Continent will descend into chaos and war.

"Europe is based on a racist nation-state structure that has created world wars for the last 900 years,"

Not in 2010, but not that far fetched if you go a few decades further down the timeline – history is full of unseen turns. Not a war I would think in the traditional way, but perhaps a civil war spreading from the significant Muslim minority that will be in Europe by 2050, being the majority in many areas. BTW, the “racist state” comment is a brave one coming from a Turk.

"Even if there are no guns, the EU's decision to turn its back on Turkey will create a cultural war between Islam and the West."

My tabouli loving friend; there already is a culture war going on.

At a recent book signing event in Izmir, an Aegean port facing Greece, he began by asking the crowd of mostly 15- to 25-year-olds how many supported Turkey's joining the EU. Not a single hand was raised.

He says this is a Turkish backlash against what he calls the "anti-Turkish mania" on the Continent.

Outside Istanbul and Ankara there is little European in body or soul in Turkey, and little love for the EU unless there is prospect to go there to make money or get a more flexible girlfriend.

Turna acknowledges that his propensity for satire and hyperbole often gets in the way of the facts.

You could say that. Read the whole thing or the excerpts from the book for details.

Just as Europeans are ignorant about the real Turkey, Turna argues, Turks are ignorant about the real EU. He blames the Turkish media and the political establishment for portraying the EU as a panacea that will help make poor, agrarian Turkey flush with cash.

"There is not a proper debate on Europe in Turkey," Turna said. "It has become taboo to criticize the EU. The Istanbul elite sell the EU, while the rural part of the country has little understanding of what joining the bloc really means."

There is a big hunk of truth in that.

"What matters for Turkey is being part of a process that has accelerated political and economic change," he said. "But the process is more important than the endgame, and no one will shed a tear if the EU doesn't let us in 10 to 15 years' time."

Since "The Third World War" came out, Turna has been working on a soon-to-be-published philosophical treatise called "Sistema."

Keep an eye on this guy.

These days, he says, he spends a lot of time playing video games. His favorite? A game called the Rise of Nations in which countries compete for global domination. "I love to pretend that I'm China and to bomb Europe into the Stone Age," he says.

Joy.

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NB: I have worked with Turkish officers, have operated out of Turkey, and spent some amount of time there. If all of Turkey was represented by her officers and the folks you meet at bars, hotels, and restaurants in Istanbul or Ankara, that would be one thing. But you scratch under the surface of the Turkish nation, you get an Ottoman. Just ask the Kurds or Armenians or Cypriots ….

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The Doc's diagnosis is spot on...

I don't argue with "The Doc," even when he comes at me with that unnaturally long "Q-tip" that wasn't designed for the ear.......

Shiver. Anyway, what does Doc have to say about the MSM and their coverage of the "staged" VTC they had with the CINC?

It makes my stomach ache to think that we are helping to preserve free speech in the US, while the media uses that freedom to try to RIP DOWN the President and our morale, as US Soldiers. They seem to be enjoying the fact that they are tearing the country apart. Worthless!

The question I was most asked while I was home on leave in June was, "So...What's REALLY going on over there?" Does that not tell you something?! Who has confidence in the media to tell the WHOLE STORY? It's like they WANT this to turn into another Vietnam. I hate to break it to them, but it's not.

Tomorrow morning, the Iraqi people will vote on their constitution. The success of our mission or the mission of the Iraqi security forces is not defined by the outcome of that vote. If the people of Iraq vote this constitution down, that only means that the FREE, DEMOCRATIC PROCESS is at work in Iraq.

I call that a "primary source." Make sure to read the whole thing.

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Hat tip Skippy's girlfriend.

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The Dutch find their footing....

Kind of. Back to my buddies the Dutch. Slow but steady progress in one of the more, ahem, progressive Western cultures in defending itself from the expansion of a retrograde misogynism. It has been a tough couple of years for the "open door - closed eyes" policy. Like one of my heroes, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, this leadership is being provided by a woman, my heart is all a-flutter for Integration Minister, Rita Verdonk.

THE Netherlands is likely to become the first country in Europe to ban the burka, under government proposals that would bring in some of the toughest curbs on Muslim clothing in the world.

I can almost hear this behind closed doors throughout NL.

Mrs Verdonk gave warning that the “time of cosy tea-drinking” with Muslim groups had passed and that natives and immigrants should have the courage to be critical of each other. She recently cancelled a meeting with Muslim leaders who refused to shake her hand because she was a woman.

Debate! In a democratic country! About rights of the individual and freedom FROM oppression! A shocker!

Mrs Verdonk admitted that a complete ban on the garment would be legally tricky because of freedom of religion legislation. However, she said that she would prohibit the garments “in specific situations” on grounds of public safety. The ban is likely to be enforced in shops, public buildings, cinemas, train and bus stations and airports, as well as on trains and buses.

Fair. A burka can hide, and has hid, quite a bit of C4 and male jihadi.

The Government cites as a precedent existing football legislation, which bans people from entering football grounds covering their faces in scarves.

Fair point. We have laws like that here.

Muslim groups insist that only a few dozen women in the Netherlands wear the burka, and that the ban is a distraction. The Muslims and Government Contact Body said: “Only a handful of Muslims actually wear burkas. Let us focus our energy on what we have in common. This is not a big problem.”

Nice comment. Only a few children are used to make kiddie-porn, why focus law enforcement on that when many more people are parked illegally.

“Women have a very strong opinion about the burka. If you ban it they won’t leave the house. It is not a good way to integrate and emancipate Muslim women. Everything Muslims do is criticised by Verdonk. She is doing it to get votes. She doesn’t care about Muslims and their problems.”

No, she cares about the rights of Dutch women, Muslim included.

You know the old comment about many Conservatives are just Liberals mugged by reality, well – when it comes to the threat to their culture from the excesses of un-assimilated immigrants (in the second most densely populated country next to Bangladesh), there is evidence of that happening with our nice, efficient Dutch friends.
How the Netherlands has become less suicidal:

Immigrants must pass an exam on Dutch language and culture before being allowed to move to the Netherlands. That does not apply to immigrants from US, Canada, Australia, Japan and other EU states.

Legal immigrants already there must take a Dutch language course at their own expense.

Immigrants guilty of any minor crime, such as shoplifting, during their first three years in the country can be deported.

People can bring in a husband or wife only once they are 24 years old, and do not depend on welfare benefits. The measures are aimed at curbing international arranged marriages.

26,000 illegal immigrants are being deported, some of whom have been in the country for ten years and have established families.

Clampdown on foreign imams working in mosques. They must show their appreciation of Dutch values.

Increase in sentences for a range of crimes, and introduction of “zero tolerance” policing to cities such as Rotterdam.

Tightening of rules on cannabis-selling coffee-shops and zero-tolerance approach to infringements. About half the coffee shops in Amsterdam have closed.

The Netherlands is still liberal in some ways, however. In 2001, the country became the first in the world to legalise gay marriages. The Netherlands still has liberal rules on euthanasia, recently extending it to severely handicapped babies and children.

Progress is always welcomed. Perfection not requited. Just progress. Oh, and if you are a college student – do yourself a favor, forget a semester in France – spend a semester in The Netherlands. You won’t regret it.

Report from the Russian Front

With Deputy Interior Minister Chekalin stating that a Presidential Directive ordering anyone putting up resistance with apeapon in Nalchik be “liquidated,” Russia continues their centuries old battle with Islamists. Once again, if you have not, read The Great Game, it will explain it all.

The BBC is really the best source for information from this front in the war. Yes, it is the same war we are fighting, just that the Russians play by different rules. Note that nowhere in the discussions of the battle in Nalchik, there are no discussions about “detention policy” or “prisoner abuse.” Russians play by very different rules.

Militants have staged mass raids on government and police buildings in a provincial capital in Russia, leaving dozens dead and many more injured.
Authorities say that 61 rebels have been killed, but 12 police and 12 civilians also died in the assault on Nalchik in Kabardino-Balkaria province.
Officials say militants are holding hostages at a police station in the city, which has been sealed off.
…
"All hell broke loose, and the impression was that there was shooting everywhere," a resident told Reuters news agency.
A school was also caught up in the running gun-battles, as black smoke billowed across the city.
President Vladimir Putin responded with an order for the city to be sealed off and for forces to shoot any armed resisters.
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"The city has been taken under firm control. Not one car, not one train, not one bus will go past without being closely checked," Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin said.
"Now our main task is to find the bandits in the city, including their wounded."

Like that little bit about the wounded? I don’t think they are trying to find out where to put field hospitals for them.

The pro-rebel Kavkaz Center website said that a detachment of the Chechen-linked Kabardino-Balkaria jamaat, called Yarmuk, had entered Nalchik.
The use of the word jamaat indicates that it is made up of radical Islamic fighters.

You think? That almost demonstrates historical cluelessness as well the next BBCism.

Political changes and a harsh crackdown on alleged Islamic militants appear to have pushed the region to the verge of instability, the BBC's regional analyst Steven Eke says.

Ooooookkkaaayyy. So if the Russians just didn’t do anything everything would be just peachy. Harumph.

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Make sure and check out the goodies at The Gates of Vienna. Better, indepth detail.

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ORE RECCE Exam

I'll even be nice to 'ya. This photo was taken in the last 5 years. This is a multiple point question.

1. What type sub is this?
2. Who builds it?
3. Where was the picture taken?
4. Whose flag does it fly under?

For a bonus, tell me why a Navy Officer should give a damn.

First person to get all 4 questions right gets one month taken off scullery duty.

As a sidebar; I have just one word to say - OVERSPRAY. Who painted that thing, Earl Scheib?