I just listened to a speech by Newt Gingrich where he expressed his deep concerns and fears about the Terrorist threat and how thousands of Muslims are waking each day with the express desire and hope of destroying the United States of America.
He talked about the recruitment of children and women for suicide attacks. He talked about the threat of a nuclear attack on an American city and he talked about the inside threat of American Citizens whose loyalty resides with Islamic Extremists rather than the United States Constitution.
I believe all these concerns are valid.
But do the Americans ever ask themselves why? Why there is so much hatred directed toward them from these so called Terrorists and their sympathizers?
Hello! You are occupying their countries and their areas of influence.
I wonder how the Americans would react if a foreign power occupied Florida or Alaska.
Exactly.
Don't get me wrong, my loyalties are with the West. I love my hedonistic and superficial lifestyle and I want it intact for the future.
But do the Americans ever try to see both sides of the story? Do they ever look at themselves and questions their tactics regarding their relations with the rest of the world?
Do they ever wonder why they are regarded with contempt by a large portion of the world?
The stock answer is : Because you (other nations) are jealous.
Jealous of what? Many nations are richer than the US. Many nations are "freer". Many nations are healthier. And an awful lot of nations are just plain happier.
Jealous of exactly what? Military strength? Honestly I have no idea.
The kind of rhetoric Mr. Gingrich expresses will only spread fear not only among his fellow Americans but especially among the Islamic community.
A scared person is a dangerous person.
It seems to me the US is doing everything it can to increase tension and confrontation in the Middle East.
Maybe they should try a little cooperation and understanding instead.
There is nothing in this world that gives me greater pleasure than an aggressive drive with my Mustang on a twisty, open highway on a beautiful sunny day.
I can imagine few other places in the world where the combination of curves, elevation changes and scenery combined with occasions where the highway is yours alone can be realised by a driver other than one living in the Southern Interior of B.C.
This is a first in a series of planned posts exalting the euphoria I sometimes acquire when driving these amazing roads.
The Vernon to Needles/Fauquier highway has it all and it has one major feature which makes it so endearing which I will explain later.
The trip from Vernon to the small town of Lumby is nice enough with lots of pastoral farm scenes and small hills, very green and lush and some nice curves to it. The sometimes heavy traffic can be frustrating so you just have to sit back and relax and take the sights and smells (if you have a convertible) all in, knowing that the fun has just begun.
When you get to Lumby there is a nice detour you can take, time allowing. That being the 40ish km trip north to Mable Lake. I can tell you that is a nice sweet road with awesome twisties and not well travelled. Beautiful to drive aggressively or passively.
Make sure you have adequate fuel to get to Needles and back, its about a 160 km (est) or so round trip. There are a couple of independent gas stations along the way but their reliability is questionable.
This road has it ALL. The highlight being a 15 km stretch (about 30km west of Needles) of the twistiest highway road I have ever experienced. This is a stretch of road that begs you to drive your vehicle at the edge of what you think are its boundaries. Its downhill going east for those that love hard braking and easy power-on, the optimum direction.
Just past that, still going downhill are about a half dozen 1 km+ straights in which you can easily test the top speed of your car.
Most of the rest of the highway is a collection of curves and elevation changes that you can play with as you like, a continuous toy to delight in.
Of course the bane of all highway driving is traffic. Sadly this road is frequented by a lot of logging trucks and other slower vehicles.
As with any twisty road, passing opportunities are few and far between. It's very frustrating, knowing you are wasting these precious curves crawling behind some old man in his Buick or a heavily laden truck.
But here's the thing: This road "ends" at Lower Arrow Lake where there is a ferry terminal that delivers you to the other side at Fauquier. See what I'm getting at?
Westbound traffic travels is clumps and there is about a 20 minute gap between clumps.
If your timing is lucky you can make your turn around just as the ferry is crossing towards you. This pretty much ensures you of at least 30 km of traffic free road ahead of you, the highway is YOURS!
If you arrive at Needles and traffic has just embarked and on its way toward vernon, well there is a nice rest stop there, take 10 or 20, have a coffee and enjoy viewing the Lake and the quiet (there is no town, Needles is just a ferry terminal).
Wait for the ferry to come towards you and then take off. Just knowing that the road is yours alone will put a wide grin on your mug with anticipation of a fantastic driving experience ahead.
There are hazards.
Wildlife. In my most recent trip last week I came across three occasions of deer on the road. They will come out of the woods with no warning and they are stupid.
It's unwise to be speed crazy with this in mind. No matter how good a driver you are, no matter how awesome your vehicle is, there is little defense against a deer running across the road with no warning.
At the very least your car will be destroyed at worst, you'll die.
Weather. This is a high elevation road and a nice day in Vernon or Lumby can be cold and miserable at the higher elevations, snow is possible anytime between Sept and April.
If you are driving a convertible, bring heavy clothing and gloves.
If I somehow or other acquired a Ferrari or Porsche or 'Vette, this is the first road I would travel.
Dennis Miller became a famous comedian back in the 70's as the wise cracking sarcastic "News Anchor" for Saturday Night Live.
He was a funny man then, wow have times changed.
Mr. Miller was once again on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Why Leno continues to invite this person on his show remains a mystery to me. I guess for equal time purposes, to counter all the bright, happy and funny people he usually has on.
Dennis Miller is a very sad man. This ultra conservative, far right wing neo-Nazi is a hateful, bigoted, racist, war mongering Fear Farmer who takes pleasure in spewing all sorts of spiteful vomit from the hairy blow hole that occupies the space between his closed ears.
The kind of vomit with enough acid content to burn through 3 inches of diamond coated stainless steel.
Still not only defending President Bush but actually still praising him and his stupid illegal war.
If Mr. Miller directed his kind of hate towards the African American as much as he does against the entire Arab and Islamic Community he would have been run out of his own country long ago.
He is a bigot and a racist.
Mr. Miller is a very scared man, it's so sad.
All Americans have felt and still feel the pain of 9/11.
Most have gotten over it and gone on with their lives. Most have come to realize that that Iraq had nothing to do with that event, that Iraq never had "weapons of mass destruction", that the American invasion of Iraq was an unlawful and despicable act against a sovereign nation.
Most have come to realize that the War in Iraq is President Bush's own personal war bent on revenge for daddy.
For Mr. Miller, it comes down to the "Terrorists", it's all about the Terrorists.
News flash for you Dennis, the "Terrorists" won long ago and you are the living proof. If this was 1950 your hero would have been Joe McCarthy and instead of looking under your bed every night for them Arabs, you would have been checking for Communists, "the Goddamn Reds".
Some things never change.
Most pathetically is the fact that you display your fear and hate for the whole world to see. And like me, most are thinking "this is a very sad man" and shake their heads in that realization.
Mr. Miller now makes his money feeding the fear frenzy of the trailer park crowd with his radio spot. God knows what kind of garbage he is producing for those eager yet ignorant minds.
Happily, like most conservatives, his fear overcomes any hint of intellect and its all too apparent to those that watch that show unfold.
I used to get angry at Miller's rantings, now I just get sad.
I honestly don't know who's gonna win this thing now. Last week it looked like Brian Melo had it wrapped up. I said it was his to lose.
And he very well might have. Whiter Shade of Pale was a dumb choice of song, Jake's choice I think. No one sings that song, its a plodder. And the 15 second instrumental part in the middle of the song was very awkward. Brian had a problem hitting that loud high note too.
He redeemed himself in the second song somewhat, but I dunno, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't good enough.
I think Carly had her best night ever. Her Janis Ian song, "Seventeen" had everyone on the verge of tears.
I would have preferred her sing "Society's Child", one My Top 30 All Time Songs. But anyway she did the song justice. Her second song "White Flag" was a better version than the original, which I've never liked much.
A perfect song choice for Carly: How about the Joni Mitchell tune, "Chelsea Morning"?
Anyway, Carly was awesome, it would be a shame if, as Zake said, the public didn't get it. But I think she should lay off the Doritos.
What can you say about Jaydee? He's definitely improved over the weeks and now I don't have a problem with him. Still a bit too much twang for my tastes but it wouldn't be a total disaster if he won.
It'll be sad to see any of these three go tonight.
I've written a lot of stuff that I know a lot of people have disagreed with and maybe even some people have become upset over.
Good! Very satisfying!
Now I'm going to express an opinion that I KNOW will be agreed upon by 99.9% of the population.
We all know Noise Pollution is a problem. Much of it just comes with our Society and there isn't a lot that can be done with it.
But there are three noises that are created that should be outlawed, preferable with the threat of a jail term.
1). Boom Boxes. I'm talking about those Bass fixtures that young males install somewhere in their cars.
There is absolutely no point to these other than for these man-boys to proclaim :
"I am here, and I am young and immature, and I am an asshole!"
There really isn't any other reason. Enhance the music? Give me a break. Most of these Bass explosions are so distorted they are more likely to resemble a train wreck than any type of music.
Who do these young idiotic punks think they are that they can invade the psyche of every living being within a 500 meter range with their obnoxiousness?
Outlaw them and throw offenders in jail. 2). Motorcycle After-Market Exhaust Pipes
You know the one's I'm talking about. No manufacturer ships bikes with noise polluting mufflers. They all conform to noise limits set by the Government.
Once again, young Males (for the most part) feel the need to proclaim their presence by annoying the rest of us. So they buy and install what are really straight pipes with no muffling capability.
For no good reason.
I'm all for exhaust sounds. My 5 Liter Mustang GT makes some really sweet sounds. But that sound is withing reasonable volume limits.
But the Jackhammer sounds of a large (Harley) unmuffled motorcycle engine are anything but pleasant.
They are for one purpose, to announce the fact that: "The rider of this bike is an obnoxious fucking asshole!"
That's about all it does.
3). Propane Canons
Yes rare indeed. But if you've ever lived near an orchard or a crop field that is threatened by birds, you might know of what I write.
Who do these "farmers" think they are, that they feel they can freak the rest of us out by exploding these rude machines?
I say if you can't grow your crop without using them, get another occupation. I can't believe communities allow these things to operate.
Further, I would encourage anyone that has been victimised by these things to sneak up to them in the middle of the night and sabotage them. I would.
I'm no friend of Larry Craig and I'm especially no friend of his Politics. I'm not a fan of Conservative "Family Values" Politicians that want our Society rewound about 50 years.
But I know when someone is getting screwed over and I believe this is one of those times.
Craig was arrested for "lewd conduct". Huh? What lewd conduct? His shoe touched that of another man while in the bathroom stall. Whether intentionally (by either party) or by accident how is that possibly considered lewd?
In the heterosexual world, that's called "flirting".
I agree with Craig that he was entrapped by an overzealous police officer (possibly a gay one?) that wanted to make a name for himself.
I realise Americans see the world a bit differently than us Canadians. I can't imagine any member of any Canadian Police Force wasting his time arresting people for this so-called "lewd behaviour".
They have more important things to do, like handing out speeding tickets.
Craig was railroaded and is now being screwed over.
