The Great old Rock n Roll (continued)

No review of r&r is complete without a little bit of the Boss. You tube has disabled the widely marketed version of this song (where he brings a young starstruck girl on stage to dance with him) but this is a little rawer, a little more real anyway. Enjoy

Murder

I don’t mean to offend Christians, especially Christian warmongers, but Jesus H. Christ! Is this the best we can do?

KABUL (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Tuesday it had found convincing evidence that 90 Afghan civilians, most of them children, were killed in air strikes by U.S.-led coalition forces in western Afghanistan last week.

“Investigations by UNAMA (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) found convincing evidence, based on the testimony of eyewitnesses, and others, that some 90 civilians were killed, including 60 children, 15 women and 15 men,” U.N. Special Envoy to Afghanistan Kai Eide said in a statement.

With the very best high tech electronic equipment, with the very best military hardware, with the very best trained military personnel, with the very latest, state of the art intelligence gathering apparatus, the very best we can do is to completely fuck up and kill a bunch of innocent children. Am I the only one who thinks that this is insanity? This has to be stopped. It has to be stopped now. Not next year or in 2010. We are killing perfectly innocent people just like you and me in an ungodly and horrific quest for economic power and energy resources.

Basically what we are saying to these women and children is, “We’re sorry, but we may have to kill you in order to achieve our agenda. But you’re just poor people in a third world nation so we don’t really care that much. We hope you understand”.

We have gone too far. And anyone who doesn’t see it is either an imbecile, a moron or a die hard Bush baby and traitor. I am disgusted with the American people for not stopping this genocide.

Trekking in Singapore - The Singapore Flyer

I finally got a chance to check out the Singapore Flyer which, at 165 meters tall (536 feet) is the tallest ferris wheel in the world. One revolution takes 30 minutes and that’s how long the ride is. The wheel goes slow and it never stops. You board while it moves through the boarding area. Normal cost is $29.50 Sing dollars and $23.50 for seniors over 60. I should have waited another 5 months.

I went as part of a city tour package that included a boat tour on the Singapore river, the Flyer ride, and lunch at a hotel afterwards. We travelled by tour bus and our first stop was the river.

This shows the boarding area along Clark Quay. It’s a clean river lined with outdoor restaurants, pubs and shops.

The boat enters the harbor and passes the Singapore mascot, The Merlion, with the 5 star Fullerton Hotel in the background.

Behind the Fullerton is the main financial district skyline.

At the mouth of the harbor is the flyer. In the foreground you can see the bleachers for the floating stage, again, the largest of its kind in the world.

Under the loading area at the base of the flyer is a beatifully landscaped waterfall and jungle area complete with Koi pond and lush tropical plants.

Also just below the Flyer they are building the pit and grandstand area for the Formula 1 track. Singapore will host its first F1 race next year.

This shot looks out over the adjacent golf course to the main shipping lane where cargo vessels wait to enter the main port for loading and unloading. Singapore and Hong Kong switch back and forth as the busiest cargo ports on the planet.

From higher up I could see the area where the race cars will enter the pits from the main racetrack. As you can see, the entrance is right after a sharp left turn. The cars will be travelling from right to left in this area.

This car was next to us and I took this shot as it reached the very top of the journey. Each car can fit 28 people but we only had about a dozen in ours.

This area under construction is where the new Integrated Resort and Casino is being built. It will include a 3000 room hotel, casinos, shops, parks and a lush garden on top from which there will be a spectacular 360 degree view. In the background is the port.

Here you can see the floating stage, currently being covered with a full sized soccer field for an upcoming event. The two round structures beyond that is the Esplanade Fina Arts theater where major concerts and shows are held.

I took this shot as we were coming back into the boarding area. On the left is a model of the resort hotel and on the right is the actual city. The scale model of the resort was only about 12 feet tall but it looks as though its the same size as the city skyscrapers in the background.

Finally, this is what it’s gonna look like once the track is completed. I can’t wait.

Oregon: Vet Suicides Skyrocket

This part of the nightmare just keeps getting worse. VCS reports that more troops from Oregon are dying of suicide than from the war itself.

In 2005, 19 Oregon soldiers were killed in combat. In that same year, 153 Oregon veterans of all ages committed suicide.

The group facing the highest risk of suicide is veterans between 18 and 24 years old. Portland VA officials told The Portland Tribune that Oregon vets made almost 900 calls to the National VA Suicide Hotline in the last year.

I just don’t understand why people cannot get it through their heads that men and women coming back from the war MUST have a sophisticated and professionally applied debriefing period to learn how to cope with what they have seen and done. Is it because we still have this John Wayne, movie vision of what war is? Is it because we back home just don’t want to have to face it ourselves or admit how badly we’ve all screwed up?

Why state governments are not stepping up to the plate on this issue is beyond me. And I’m not talking about offering counseling or mental health, I’m talking about installing a mandatory program that each and every veteran must attend, be assessed, and if necessary receive further treatment - free of charge.

Forcing these brave young men and women to go and fight this dirty war - many having to go repeatedly and some being forced to go even after their enlistment ends - is bad enough. To not give them every possible chance for a successful return to civilian life is indecent and immoral.

More old Rock n Roll

This site has a list of the 50 greatest rock n roll songs of all time. Not too many surprises there and it does jog the memory. Coming in at number 11 was this classic by the Kingsmen.

And I have to post this, not because I liked Steppenwolf so much but because I loved the movie that used it as it’s theme. Notice how the bands attire changed in the few years between the Kingsmen and Steppenwolf. Ah the sixties.

We can all learn something from this story

I’m not sure what, but it says a lot about kindness, selflessness and an instinctual drive to help others. Whole story here.

An eight-year-old dog has touched the hearts of Argentines by saving the life of an abandoned baby, placing the girl safely alongside her own new puppies.

The 14 year old mother is said to have panicked and abandoned the baby in a field, surrounded by wooden boxes and rubbish.

Then along came La China, the dog which somehow picked up the baby and carried her 50m to place him alongside her own puppies.

The dog’s owner heard the child crying and found her covered with a rag.

So the dog not only protected this helpless baby, it covered the baby up with a rag. I’m thinking about the hundreds of thousands of veterans who are homeless and are left to fend for themselves on the cold hard streets of US cities every night, but I’m not going to mention it here. It might sound trite.

Music for the Geriatric Set

Wow! The competition is heating up. Cap’n Fogg chimes in (finally) with what is advertised as the very first rock ‘n roll tune ever. Check it out. By the way, nice to see the Cap’n is ok and up and running after having to deal with Fay down in Florida.

And Marty comes back with an old but appropriate song for the troops who seem to have been forgotten far, far away. Thanks, Marty.

Iraq. Remember?

Marty on the Homefront has several posts up that are no less than necessary reading at this time. The first is a secret tape made of an army recruiter threatening a potential recruit. The second is a post - the final post - of an American soldier who used to have a blog. It is one of the best things I have ever read. It’s long. Read it.

Link to this blog. It’s a good one.

Old Foggies Challenge - Match This

I can see by the response of my colleagues to this challenge, that I’m gonna have to take the gloves off and get tough. I give you Mr. JP Richardson, The Big Bopper.

So, you wanna play ball scarecrow?

Oh sure. Some guitar players can smoke while they play, and some can even play their string behind their backs, but only the Surfaris can play a classic like Wipe Out while holding children. Top this challengers!