Today, October 28, marks the anniversary of one of the most important days in the history of the world, yet few people remember it’s significance. But the Greeks do, and they celebrate OXI day, every year.

The day was October 28, 1940. At dawn that morning (4:00am), after a party in the German embassy in Athens, Mussolini (through Emanuele Grazzi, the Italian ambassador in Greece) issued an ultimatum to Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas to surrender, or face open war with Italy.

Metaxas, a career military officer and more importantly a proud Greek, was not inclined to acquiesce to Mussolini’s demands (surprise!), thus touching off the beginning of the Greco-Italian War and a series of unbelievable events that would eventually neutralize Italy, cripple Germany, and cost 1,000,000 Greek lives.
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Wow! I’m not sure if the letter below is legitimate or fabricated. It sounds like it could be from a real Marine, and so I’m going to publish it just in case. Either way, it gives you a lot to think about…

It’s freezing here. I’m sitting on hard, cold dirt between rocks and shrubs at the base of the Hindu Kush Mountains along the Dar ‘yoi Pomir River watching a hole that leads to a tunnel that leads to a cave. Stake out, my friend, and no pizza delivery for thousands of miles.

I also glance at the area around my ass every ten to fifteen seconds to avoid another scorpion sting. I’ve actually given up battling the chiggers and sand fleas, but them scorpions give a jolt like a cattle prod. Hurts like a bastard. The antidote tastes like transmission fluid but God bless the Marine Corps for the five vials of it in my pack.

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[The average U.S. serviceman in the Vietnam War was supposedly twenty-two years old, and not nineteen as is often believed, particularly given the popularity of a pop song called 19 by Paul Hardcastle.

I came across this song the other day, and it reminded me of just how cool it is all over again, so I thought I’d share it. The song that is… not the war.
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Wow, this article got e-mailed to me and it’s so racy I just had to share it and see what kind of comments we’re going to get. This article has it all: War, bigotry, hatred, death… kind of reminds me of The Princess Bride, but without the “kissy” parts.

My favorite part of this rant:

Consider that, in all of Europe, no one under the age of 65 has picked up arms in defense of their country. That task has been borne by the United States since Hitler surrendered in 1945.

Originally published in The Brussels Journal, billed as “The voice of conservatism in Europe” (yeah, right), this article was written by Paul Belien a fairly radical thinking lawyer/PHd and journalist. Oh and he is the director of Islamist Watch, a project which combats the ideas and institutions of Islam in the United States and other Western countries. So I wouldn’t exactly call him an unbiased bystander.

The premise of the article is basically that Muslims are taking over Europe, and Europeans are too weak to do anything about it. So unless you want to die or submit you need to move the heck out! Read the rest of this entry »

Remember way back with Reagan was talking about building “Star Wars”, the missile defense system to protect the US from Soviet nuclear attack? Well, guess what. It lives.

That’s right, we can now take down missiles before they ever get near posing a threat to the continental US. So, it makes me wonder if we could deploy these against a fleet of inbound aircraft as well? I mean, does this mean that the US is now invulnerable against any sort of air attack?
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Came across this great short film about Mutually Assured Destruction. It’s not really a political commentary or anything, it’s just funny.

Be forewarned however that this one is NOT for the kiddies. Plenty of really bad language in this. Still, you’ll be laughing your A– off mates.

PS – Watch out for those nasty kangaroos!
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The Power of Nightmares, subtitled The Rise of the Politics of Fear, is a BBC documentary film series, written and produced by Adam Curtis. It has a 9.2 rating on IMDB.

There are three one-hour films (embedded below), consisting mostly of archive footage with Curtis’s narration, which were first broadcast in the United Kingdom in late 2004 and have been aired in multiple countries and shown in several film festivals, including the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.

This series is as controversial as Michael Moore’s Farenheit 9/11 or Sicko. And it will evoke strong opinions on both sides of the debate about the reality (or lack thereof) of a brewing conflict between Christianity and Islam.
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You don’t ever want to be sitting on a beach and see this heading your way… unless they are coming to rescue you!

Ok, the best thing about this game is that you can actually play multi-player against a friend – or you can go head to head with the computer. In addition, each time you win a battle you accumulate points which you can use to upgrade your tank with everything from weapons to armor.

I found this game to be so addictive that I played it for hours straight. So, if you get started you might as well write off the rest of the day because your productivity is going to be shot! (No pun intended.)
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I remember when I saw the very first Rambo movie, First Blood. Me, and every other teenage boy in America were running around trying to buy $5 Chinese versions of that awesome knife!

You know a guy is going to love a move with lines like these:

Teasle: Are you telling me that 200 of our men against your boy is a no-win situation for us?
Trautman: You send that many, don’t forget one thing.
Teasle: What?
Trautman: A good supply of body bags.

Well, after First Blood in 1982 (IMDB rating 7.1) we got First Blood Part II in 1985 (IMDB rating 5.3) then Rambo III in 1988 (IMDB rating 4.3), and now – 20 years later we’re gonna see if the old man has still got it in John Rambo aka Rambo 4!
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I was inspired by a fantastic article published by the Sietch Blog called Bending Swords Into Wind Turbines, so I decided to bring together some data to share on the opportunity costs associated with the ongoing war in Iraq.

Just to be clear, I’m not espousing any political position. I’m only interested in coming to an understanding of what alternatives we are forgoing by spending money, effort and lives in Iraq as opposed to spending them on something else. We’re talking about a whole boatload of money here, so it’s nice to know what else we could be getting for our dollar.
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