"The Child"

Me and Mary Kate at her house on Christmas.

"The Neutral Zone"

A new year is nearly here. Guess I have to come up with some resolutions for 2006. Maybe I will post at least 3-4 times a week. Maybe I won't talk about my past as much on the blog. Maybe I will lose 35 lbs., stop drinking as heavily as I do, eating all the junk food and indifferently breathing in all that second hand smoke. Maybe I will try and curb my gambling problems. Maybe I will try and be a better person, do something to help society.

Maybe I will actually SEND in my applications for Survivor and The Amazing Race for once. Maybe I will see David Gilmour play in Toronto, or finally make it to Bonnaroo.

Maybe I will start Fredonia in the fall, and get a full time job until then.

Maybe for once I will actually make some serious resolutions I actually give a damn about.

Maybe half of what I said falls into that catagory. Maybe the other half is a load of crap.
Actually, I intend to go to Fredonia, go to some concerts, gamble, drink, apply for reality tv shows and make a whole lot of money (not to mention a whole lotta love) and enjoy 2006 a whole lot better than this bastard year 2005.

2006. Year of self-betterment.

A noble spirit imbiggens the smallest person.

~Oz

"Conspiracy"

“We have nothing to declare. Except this cello!”
That’s right honky! #8 on the 007 countdown is 1987’s “The Living Daylights”. This would be the first of only two movies that would put Timothy Dalton at the helm of the franchise. It seems as I give more credit to this installment than a number of reviews I have read myself on the net. Oh well, I like it and it is my list after all. On with the show!
The film opens at a training facility for 00 agents. It is here that several unfortunate trainees meet their fate at the hands of Necros, an agent for the dreaded (and long unused villains of the Bond franchise) SMERSH.

James Bond becomes aware of these tragedies and goes after Necros. Unfortunately he is armed only with a paintball gun (now all you players “Goldeneye” know where the feature cheat comes from). He chases him out of the installation, and down a through a mountain resort area. Finally as his car goes over a cliff, 007 must make a DARING ESCAPE© landing on a boat out in the harbour.


This of course leads us into the opening credit sequence, this time performed by A-Ha, the Brit pop rock group best known for their song/video “Take on me”. The title song is actually pretty good. I of course own the “James Bond Movie Soundtrack” which does no include “D.A.D.” thankfully.

After the credits, we find our hero along with Saunders (another 00) at a orchestra concert. They are there to collect a Russian General Georgi Koskov, who wishes to defect to England. However, as they are escaping, a female sniper makes things a tad bit complicated for 007 as he refuses to kill her.

Once they have him back safely in custody at headquarters, Koskov tells of the treachery of one General Pushkin (John Rhys-Davies of LOTR and Indiana Jones fame). The Brits seem skeptical but anxious to believe Koskov at the same time. It is of course a ruse, as he is soon “captured” by Necros, who takes down several agents and proves to be a bad ass fighter in his own right. He even gets his own theme music ( a song done by the Pretenders for the movie).

Bond is relegated with the task of finding out the truth about the situation. He is sent to track down the female sniper and find out where Koskov is. He of course finds her, and discovers she is Kokovs girlfriend. Her name is Kara Milovy, played by actress Maryam d’Abo. She is being investigated by Russian authorities (oh fine, the KGB) which puts more doubts into Bonds mind that the defection might not have been legit. They have to escape from the KGB in the movies GREAT CAR CHASE SCENE ©, and then they escape in her cello case over the border


At this point, we go to General Pushkin who is at a remote location visiting arms dealer Brad Whitaker (Joe Don Baker, who would later play in Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies as good guy Jack Wade - a replacement for Felix Leiter who lost his legs in “License to Kill” - he disagreed with something that ate him). Anyways... Whitaker is supplying Koskov with a massive supply of weapons for reasons unknown and Pushkin has come to put a stop to it. Bond finds this info out via Kara and THE RIGHT CHANNELS ™. They meet up with Pushkin and realize that the only way they are going to get to the bottom of the plot is if he dies. Bond “assassinates” Pushkin at a speech he is giving.

Afterwards, Bond meets up with Felix Leiter who is played by John Terry in this installment. Turns out the CIA has been working on this case as well, but they have been dealing in the tracking down of the illegal arms Whitaker is selling. The two men team up and form Two Cool Dudes
err...I mean

that’s more like it. Well, Bond gets back from this meeting, only to get drugged by Kara who has seemingly turned coat and joined forces with Koskov. He has duped her, and she believes that Bond was lying to her about Koskov. Turns out Koshov drugs her as well, and when they come to, they are in Afghanistan. Turns out they are in the right location at the right time for the trade off of diamonds for weapons. They get thrown in jail, but thankfully enough, Osama Bin Laden...I mean Kamran Shah is there to help them out, because he knows that the British will help him in liberating Afghanistan from the Russians.


“Bond of Arabia”

In the gripping finale, Bond must battle Koskov and Necros inside a plane delivering the diamonds (not to mention opium) to Whitaker for the weapons. Of course Bond handily defeats the villains, but now he must orchestrate a daring escape from the crashing plane.

Bond then tracks down Whitaker at his remote location and of course defeats him after some tense moments.

After which it is an extravaganza full of pomp! Where everyone is invited, even the nice Shah fella, who it turns out dresses very nicely now that his terrorist operation has obtained the diamonds (and opium) that have fallen from the plane

Of course they kiss, and the movie ends. Bonds is the kind of man after all to love and leave ‘em, a pity if it grieves them...
FINIS


~Oz

"We'll Always Have Paris"

Samantha, hiding in the towel drawer.
Charlie.
Thought this was Shawn sleeping, but now I see it is Kevin pretending to sleep.
Charlie, the killer dog which protects the Osborne household. All bark, no bite.

"Skin Of Evil"

Mark "enjoying" the superbowl.
Joy. Something Yellow on her plate. The scene has a "Batman Villian Scene" look to it.
Wyatt enjoying a malt beverage.

Haji, Kristen, Shawn and some lovely looking plates of half ate food.

"Symbiosis"

Me last February at the superbowl party I had at my parents house. I have had writters block for a while now so I will just post pictures and essays and such. I will do the next James Bond review once I am out of this funk.
~Oz

"The Arsenal Of Freedom"

Today was the final day of my US History 2 class. I actually really liked this class, and it had a good deal to do with my teacher. Well, the class got into a discussion over affirmative action. We cited certain court cases that have happened in the past 30 years involving white students who did not get accepted to a college even though they were more intelligent than the minority (be it African American, Hispanic, Asian America, or Native American) student. Without going into a word for word recollection for you of how the class felt, I will sum it up real easy. The class, besides 2 or 3 others including myself, hated affirmative action. Now, let it be stated for the record that my class is made up of about 15 white females, 5 white males, and 1 (very slightly) Native American female.

Here is my own personal belief on Affirmative Action. If I were African American, I would be happy and not happy all at once. I would be disappointed that the only reason I was accepted was to fill a predetermined number of students allowed of a minority at whichever university I am attending. I would have wanted to earn my spot in society. I section from the Lord of the Rings comes to my mind, where Bilbo invites 144 Hobbits to his birthday party because that was the combined age of himself and Frodo. One gross indeed!

That being said, I am NOT African American, or Latino, or Oriental or any other minority that exists here in America. I have never felt that I was the victim of reverse discrimination in any walk of life. Of course, living in the sheltered community of Jamestown might be the reason. I posed this question to the class; how many African Americans had no right in this country for centuries? How many were enslaved, and denied basic human rights? How many had to face discrimination in every walk of life for hundreds of years? And how many Native Americans were slaughtered at the hands of us former Europeans? We killed off there food supplies, we drove them out west, and we put them on reservations. Hitler admired our treating of them for Christ sakes!

How many white males and females have been the victims of “reverse discrimination” due to affirmative action? A handful perhaps. Drops in the bucket. But we complained louder when a few of us were forced to go to Harvard rather than Yale! The Supreme Court acted quicker to make one white male happy than it did to free an entire race of people.

A couple of kids actually took this to heart, but there were a few belligerents. One girl (the one who told me I was a racist that hated freedom...go figure) told me she felt no obligations to make amends for the wrongs her ancestors committed. Luckily for her the class ended and we were sent home for winter break.

I feel sorry for her if anything over that comment. I know that if my family had some dark wrong in its past that I would feel very responsible for righting it. I know that that is just my own personal moral code and I cannot enforce it on others, but it would be comforting to know that others felt the same way.

Well, enough of that. I am done ranting for now. Catch you all later

~Oz

"Heart Of Glory"

I got DSL finally installed today and am too bust downloading songs illegally now at rates not seen before my mine eyes!
Last day of class is tomorrow, and on Monday I just have to hand in 3 take home exams and I am done...oh yeah, I am also watching "Casablanca" and "Sahara" (Bogart version) and having a pizza party for WW2 monday nite.
And Bills Broncos this weekend. I will tell you all about it later.
Sorry for boring you with those essays.
~Oz

"Coming Of Age"

fun fun fun

The Cold War lasted from the end of the Second World War until the fall of Soviet Communism in 1990. The conflict of words and propaganda was given the name “Cold War” because there was not an armed conflict between the USSR and the United States. To understand why the Cold War happened, one has to understand the events leading up to 1945.
During the First World War, Russia had to withdraw after the Bolsheviks toppled the ruling government. The aristocracy was replaced by a government founded in the beliefs of Marxism and was led by Lenin. Communism had its foothold in the world. It must be understood therefore that the Red Scare in America began in 1919, not in 1945. Hitler too abhorred the Bolsheviks, seeing the revolution as a Jewish revolt, and therefore deemed the Soviet Union to be a weak government that must be destroyed. Even through the Rapallo training, and despite the Molotov-Ribbentrop treaty, Hitler never saw the Soviets as true allies.
Great Britain was afraid of Soviet Russia as well. One of the reasons that Chamberlain allowed Germany aggression into Eastern and Southern Europe was to create a stronger buffer between England and Russia. The scary thing is that in the 1920’s, the world was ripe for a communist revolution. The great depression made things drastic more so. It is thought by capitalistic nations that the spread of communism is brought on by a poor economical system. Of course, by 1939 the world was plunged into the greatest war of all time.
During World War 2, Stalin grew angry with FDR and Churchill. He felt that they were allowing the Russian forces to take the brunt of the German aggression. He was outraged at the 2-year postponement of Operation Overlord, while the allies were toying around in the Mediterranean. Great Britain had good reason though to focus their efforts in this region. They were looking also to post-war possibilities, and if America and Great Britain had a foothold in the Balkans, and control the Mediterranean, they could stop communism from spreading from these regions. Finally, the war was over and the allies had won.
The last few steps would now be taken towards the Cold War. At the Potsdam Conference, America clued the Brits into their nuclear solution to Tojo’s regime, but left Molotov in the dark. Once we dropped the bombs, the Soviets knew what happened, and were outraged at being left out of the plans. Because no Russian aid was needed, Russia would have no part in the occupation of Japan. Next was the Yalta conference. Here, Truman Altee and Stalin split up Germany into four zones, as well as the city of Berlin, each to be occupied by one of the allied powers. France, Great Britain and the U.S. combined their sectors into one, which further outraged Stalin. He then blocked off East Berlin from the West, and would allow no allied transports into Eastern Germany where Berlin was located. Because of this the allies started the Britain airlift which lasted until 1949.
The stage was now set for a conflict of ideologies; communism and capitalism. Since the two countries to emerge strongest from the War were the U.S. and the USSR, they would be the bastions of their respected beliefs. The U.S. was afraid of the spread of communism, therefore Truman initiated the Truman Doctrine in 1947, stating that they would come to the aid of any non-communist country facing Communist aggression. Stalin declared that communism depended on acceptance of the state, and promptly did away with all free elections. The United States in an effort to avoid the financial chaos that followed in the decade of the First World War came up with the Marshall Plan. Instead of the circular flow of money between the decimated nations, the United States would simply rebuild those countries at their own expense. After all, the best defense against Communism was a strong economical government.
As was stated, the Cold War would continue for decades to come, with the fear of Nuclear Holocaust due to the buildup of ICBM’s becoming the prevalent thought amongst all peoples of the globe. The Cold War would go onto include the Race for the Control of Space itself, and Ian Flemming created the gentlemen spy who battled the evil Russian organization SMERSH. When the USSR promised to match dollar for dollar the United States in defense budget spending, they were doomed. For Reagan set forth his plans for Star Wars, and the USSR simply did not have the finances to keep up.

"Home Soil"

Here is my mini term paper I had to write for World War 2 and also give an oral presentation about.

The subject of my topic was to argue whether or not the Cross Channel invasion was postponed by the Allied Mediterranean Campaign in 1943, and also if it contributed at all to the defeat of Nazi Germany. I still argue that the Italian campaign was necessary and worthwhile.
The general feeling amongst the allies was to keep the Germans on their feet, not to give them a time to breathe and regroup. Although the Americans wanted to attempt an invasion in France first thing, Churchill argued otherwise and eventually his will won through. By 1942, the German offensive was the hardest on the Russian Front. Stalin felt that he was bearing the brunt of the casualties, and that his allies were content to let the Russians die. He was demanding for a second European front to be engaged immediately, but did not get it. Instead of a cross channel invasion, the allies would focus their efforts in the Mediterranean, first in North Africa followed up by an invasion of Italy.
The Americans had considered this option but deemed the invasion of France to be of greater value. It was British interests to take this course of action. They felt that their interests in the Middle East were in jeopardy, and they needed to secure a safe route to protect the British Empire. The oil fields in the Middle East, and also in Rumania must be denied to the Nazis. Only total control of the Mediterranean could secure Allied shipping routes in the region. Also, Churchill (wrongly) thought that Italy would quickly fall to the Allied strength.
After Operation Torch was concluded, once again the Americans and Russians pushed for a Cross Channel Invasion. The British however were fearful that the time it would take to prepare for such a staging would take to long, and would give Hitler precious time to fortify the French coastland. Once again Churchill argued to keep the pressure on the Germans, not to waste any time. The only way to achieve this would be to continue the Allied advancement in the Mediterranean. The troops were already in Tunisia, so why waste them? Furthermore, if Italy was to fall into Allied hands, then the Balkans would be in reach for a foothold to be set up. The British looked on this with strategic interests for the Post War era as much as their war time goals. If their was a strong British presence in the region, then Stalin would find it hard to impede his Communistic beliefs in the Balkans. Also, if the Allies had Italy, they would possess air bases within a closer proximity to German factories, and the oil fields in Rumania. This would stretch the Germans requirements for fighter deployment and anti-aircraft protection to the breaking point.
Churchill felt that Hitler would have two options to take if the Allies invaded Italy, and he knew rightly which one he would take. Hitler could either withdraw all troops from Italy, giving it freely to the Allies, or he could divert troops from France and from the Russian front. Obviously, Hitler chose the second option. Mussolini was obstinately foolish in fighting Hitler’s will to bring more German troops into Italy. Mussolini thought that the Italians could go at it as they were, with no additional troops needed. Hitler ignored these pleas, and put Kesselring and Rommel in charge of the war effort. He also put forth a contingency plan for a German coup should the Italians jump ship to the Allied cause.
With the invasion of Italy, Stalin finally got what he had been pushing for; breathing space. The timing of the invasion could not have come at a better time for the Russians. At the time the invasion began, the Russians were fighting the Germans at Kursk. At the time, the battle of Kursk was the single largest battle ever. Over one million troops and five thousand tanks were engaged in battle which lasted seven days. The Russians had the day when Hitler had to withdraw his troops from battle to bolster his defenses in Italy against the Allied invasion their.
One benefit of the Mediterranean campaign was the invaluable battle experience the Americans received. It was no secret that the bulk of the ground troops would be Americans, as the British did not have too large of an Army, focusing more on air and naval power. Actually, Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily would be the largest amphibious operation of World War Two, dwarfing even the Normandy invasion. It can be argued that if the troops were ready for an invasion of this scale in 1943, then why could they not have been used in a cross channel invasion then and there? I argue that it was because that even though the operation was larger, it did not mean it was a harder task. Even given the German Military status in Northern France in 1943, the Sicily Invasion seemed to be a logical move to make which did, as was stated, give invaluable training to the amphibious troops who were used in the Normandy Invasion.
The successful Invasion of Sicily resulted in Mussolini being ousted from power in Italy. He was imprisoned and later rescued by a German commando force, to be put in charge of Northern Italy in a puppet government serving Hitler. Italian King Victor Emmanuel II put Bagoglio in power of an Italy wishing to seek peace with the Allies. This proved an odd business of sorts as the Allies had declared they would only accept unconditional surrender from the belligerents, and though Italy wished to join the allies they were unsure if even an anti-nazi Italy would be accepted. Lucky for the Italians, the Allies accepted them to their cause. The Italians were true to the Allied cause at this point and it should with their sacrifice of life and resources. At the Battle of Malta, they lost the Roma with 1254 of her crew. Overall 500,000 Italians were captured as prisoners of war by the Germans, and few ever returned. In Greece, over 10,000 Italians died in attacking the Germans.
Although I have argued that the Allied Mediterranean Campaign was worthwhile, I cannot deny that it was not as effective on all fronts as Churchill would have wished it to be. The most glaring evidence of this would have to be the fact that the allies did not have secure victory until May second 1945, only five days before the Germans offered unconditional surrender. It had taken far longer to gain much less land in Italy than the invasion into France did. As has been stated previously, the Americans saw the whole campaign as a waste of time, lives, and resources and had deterred from the real objective which was the inevitable Normandy Invasion.
Also the terrain of Italy proved to be just as great an enemy as the Germans did. Rocky, mountainous muddy cold and rainy, the conditions were clearly miserable for the allies. For one thing, the terrain was much better suited for the defensive, and the Germans proved this fact brilliantly under the leadership of Rommel and Kesselring. Finally, a good number of infantry and armored divisions the Americans used in the Operation Avalanche were not present in the area even after Operation Torch. They could just have easily gone to England in preparation for Overload and no time would have been wasted.
Although my initial belief was that the Allied Mediterranean Campaign did not in itself delay the Cross Channel Invasion, I can no longer claim that. The operation did cause a delay in the invasion. I do still believe however that the operation did contribute to the overall effort to defeat Hitler as another front was opened up that Hitler must defend and commit troops to. As Hitler’s best chances of victories were through the Blitzkrieg method, a battle on numerous fronts simultaneously seemed the best way to defeat him.

"When The Bough Breaks"

First essay I wrote when I went back to school this fall. I was obviously a tad rusty

At the end of the Civil War the question was posed: What was the Union to do about the former Confederacy? The region was reeling from the effects of the War, more so than the northern states were. The Cities were devastated, numerous dead, and much of the once fertile land was now scorched. How, and should, the confederate states be permitted back into the Union. Last but certainly not least was the issue on what to do with the recently freed slaves?
Lincoln put forth the ten percent plan, which stated that at least ten percent of qualified voters in the 1860 election from each state swear an oath of loyalty to the Union. Only then would they be permitted to reform a state government, but they had to promise to outlaw slavery and give African-Americans an education. It was obvious though that Lincoln would be lenient in granting pardons to Confederates who has recently been enemies of the state.
This was not enough for some members of Congress. A group of Republicans, under the leadership of Thaddeus Stevens, became known as the “Radical Republicans”. They were outraged that even though Lincoln declared that southern states had to abolish slavery, he did not give much care to seeing that the ex-slaves were giving jobs, or any sort of reasonable living conditions for that matter. Lincolns, and Johnson’s after his untimely death, Reconstruction plans (towards the African-Americans) looked to be naught but piece-meal appeasement. It seemed that they were given slight concessions to keep them happy, after all anything is better than slavery, but their was no move to grant them greater rights for many years.
The Radicals clashed with Lincoln on whose task it would be to devise the Reconstruction Policies. Both sides felt it was their right to do so. Their plan for re-admittance was that each Ex-Confederate State must end slavery in all of its forms, protect the rights of the African-Americans, and an ultimate death to the Planter Class. Lincoln vetoed the Wade-Davis Bill of 1864 which would have the southern states controlled by a military governor (a temporary punishment). Also half of the white adult males must pledge allegiance before they would be able to draft a new state constitution.
After Lincoln was assassinated, Andrew Johnson became the president. By his own words he was no lover of the former slaves. He also felt a deep resentment towards the southern planter class. He made white southerners ask for pardons to be restored their property. Those whom were worth over $20,000 had to ask Johnson in person for a pardon. He was so quick to gloat, he granted nearly all plantation owners pardons just to see them grovel before him. The Radical Republicans were even more upset now because his plan was becoming even more lenient than Lincolns were. Johnson’s plan barely touched on issues of repealing the secession ordinances, and asked only that they ratify the 13th amendment.
The reason for these Republicans being given the moniker “radical” is becoming all the more clearer. It seemed that at the highest level of government, the thought was a lenient transition for the south to be accepted back into the open arms of the northern states. Nor did it appear that either Lincoln or Johnson cared overmuch for the overall fate of the emancipated African-Americans. This was the beacon for those who were deemed “radical” to rally around. Their power in numbers grew in Washington, and soon they would have enough members to overturn President Johnson’s decisions, like the fourteenth Amendment. This stated that anyone born in the United States was in fact a U.S. citizen, thus entitling African-Americans to every God-given right that the WASP population had. Of course the southern governments would still find ways around this to continue the oppression of the ex-slaves, but at least the radical republicans could say that they put forth an impressive effort.
By 1877 Reconstruction was dead and buried in the ground. The Radical Republicans were a thing of the past, and the Union was once again restored. Unfortunately, the lessons of the Civil War were not all learned easily. The government and other new racial groups like the KKK would torment the African-Americans for decades upon decades afterwards. So whereas the Radical Republicans did manage to gain some rights for the ex-slaves, the impotence and unwillingness of the very government which fought for its freedom from what it thought was an oppressive force stunted reconstruction in its path.
~Oz

"Too Short A Season"

this essay I wrote about four years ago. I realize now how flawed alot of it is, having not known then what I know now. I wrote this essay for Nikki's world history class I believe.

In our world’s history, the two most ruthless men were without a doubt Adolf Hitler, and Joseph Stalin. However, since Stalin was on the winning side of the Second World War, his viscous exploits were not as well documented as were Hitler's. Actually, Hitler and Stalin were similar in many aspects. Both men were guilty of atrocious war crimes, and violations of human rights. Their systems of government were similar in that they were both Totalitarian states, even if run differently, and they both had ideas for conquest.
In 1905, the Russian revolution sped Stalin’s rise to power. He served as a Communist Party organizer in Tiflis and as coeditor of the Tiflis-based Caucasian Workers Newssheet. His first years of governmental involvement were spent mainly in jail, or in exile in the bitter land of Siberia. However, he showed a remarkable ability to escape, and he slowly climbed the tiers of the governmental ladder. Documents have shown that Stalin was by no means a great physical specimen, who was greatly restless, highly emotional, very cynical, and that he obtained a most vindictive nature. However, the Communist propaganda machine gave him a great public image. He portrayed a humble air, and dressed simply, such as a Russian peasant would. He showed off father-like qualities, which helped win over the admiration of the common people. Indeed, the younger generations saw him as a role model.
When Lenin, the then current leader of Russia, began to die, he wished to hand pick his successor. The main contenders were Stalin and Leon Trotsky. Although, in the end Stalin won, he was not sure of his safety. He then started what would be a long line of executions as he has Trotsky murdered at the hands of a K.G.B. agent, while he was in Mexico. This led also to Stalin’s ordering of many other high ranking government officials, and prominent social figures being put to death. At one point he even had a vast amount of doctors executed when his personal physician told him he was ill and should take a personal vacation.

Stalin was a willful man who slowly climbed his way up the ranks. Hitler did much the same thing, with a few interesting twists. During his young adult years, he was not as outgoing or as capable of success as Stalin was. Adolf Hitler grew up with a poor record at school and left, before completing his tuition, with an ambition to become an artist. Between the ages of sixteen and nineteen, young Adolf neither worked to earn his keep, nor formally studied, but had gained an interest in politics and history. During this time he unsuccessfully applied for admission to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. In 1909, he moved to Vienna in the hope of somehow earning a living. Within a year he was living in homeless shelters and eating at charity soup kitchens. He had declined to take regular employment and took occasional menial jobs and sold some of his paintings or advertising posters whenever he could to provide sustenance.
Between December 1918 and March 1919 Hitler worked at a prisoner-of-war camp at Traunstein before returning again to Munich. Shortly after his return he witnessed a takeover bid by local Communists who seized power before being ousted by the army. After he gave evidence at an investigation into the takeover he was asked to become part of a local army organization which was responsible for persuading returning soldiers not to turn to communism or pacifism. During his training for these tasks and during his subsequent duties he was able to hone his oratory skills. As part of his duties he was also asked to spy on certain local political groups, and during a meeting of the German Workers' Party he became so incensed by one of the speeches that he delivered a fierce harangue to the speaker. The founder of the party, Anion Drexler, was so impressed by Hitler's tirade that he asked him to join their organization. Hitler, after some thought, finally agreed to join the committee and became their seventh official in September 1919.
By 1921 Adolf Hitler had virtually secured total control of the Nazi party, however this was not to the liking of all Nazis. In July of that year, whilst Hitler was away in Berlin, the discontent members of the party proposed a merger with a like-minded political party in Nuremberg in the hope that this would dilute Hitler's influence. On hearing the news of the proposed merger, Hitler rushed back to Munich to confront the party and threatened to resign. The other members were aware that Hitler was bringing in the lion's share of funds into the organization, from the collections following his speeches at meetings and from other sympathetic sources. Thus they knew they couldn't afford his resignation. Hitler then proceeded to turn the tables on the committee members and forced them to accept him as formal leader of the party with dictatorial powers.
Later, during his term in prison Hitler began dictating his thoughts and philosophies to Rudolf Hess, which became the book "Mien Kampf" (My Struggle). In the July elections, the Nazi Party won 13,745,000 votes, which gave them 230 out of the 608 seats in the Reichstag. Although the Nazis were the largest party, they were still short of a majority. Hitler, however, demanded that he be made Chancellor but was offered only the position of Vice-Chancellor in a coalition government, which he refused. Finally on January 30th, 1933 President Hindenburg decided to appoint Hitler Chancellor in a coalition government.
The penultimate step towards Adolf Hitler gaining complete control over the destiny of Germany were taken on the night of 27th February 1933 when the Reichstag was destroyed by fire. The fire was almost certainly planned by the Nazis, Goebbels and Goering in particular. A Dutch communist, Marinus van der Lubbe, was made scapegoat for the fire, but the main outcome was that Hitler was given an excuse to have all the Communist deputies of the Reichstag arrested. This allowed Hitler to obtain a decree from President Hindenburg giving the Nazi government powers to inter anyone they thought was a threat to the nation. Furthermore the Presidential decree allowed the Nazi government to suppress the free speech of its political opponents. Hitler was now in full control of Germany.
It soon came to be known that the Nazis were a deeply prejudice party. Their idea of a model citizen was a well-built man or woman of blonde hair and blue eyes, who was of pure German blood. They felt that all others had tainted the country and should be eliminated. It was at about the same time, in which both Hitler and Stalin began to execute hundreds of thousands of Jewish people, based solely on their beliefs. By the time the war had ended between the two men, millions of Jews were wiped out in the single greatest piece of genocide ever fathomed. But Hitler did not murder Jews exclusively; he also put to death homosexuals, gypsies and members of other countries, which he had invaded. Stalin on the other hand tended to execute those of higher rank in society. But no country felt the collective brunt of Stalin and Hitler, as did the Ukraine. Hitler saw the inhabitants of this region simply as he did the rest of the world: Germen Lebensraum. Staling feared that an independent Ukraine would wreck his great Soviet Empire. Over 25 million Ukrainians died at the hands of the Soviet Union alone. Stalin’s belief was that if there were nobody to cause problems, he would have no troubles.
The governmental aspects of Hitler and Stalin were also similar in that they were both totalitarian states. When Stalin came in as Lenin’s successor, he adapted the same Communist beliefs that Lenin had. As you know, Communism is a governmental system wherein all people are equal in status. The collective whole prospers or fails as such. This was not exactly however what Stalin implemented. Under his rule, the government, namely him, controlled everything. The commoners, which had supported him so greatly in his rise to power, toiled daily on his behalf, or died at his iron hands. He set up the aforementioned K.G.B., or secret police, to carry out his wishes, and spy on those who were deemed untrustworthy. Stalin’s military mind was not precisely as Hitler’s was. He did not have the obsession for world domination, but a sincere desire to see the Soviet Union thrive. One thing Russia had always lacked was a seaport for trade and commerce. Whereas over time other nations with this advantage prospered, Russia stayed destitute and dependent on the charity of others. It was because of this that Stalin focused his militaristic advances on nations that had a seaport, and also which might have better lands for crops and such.
In a most interesting turn of events, Hitler and Stalin signed a treaty, which would allow them to split up the country of Poland between them, as they had both invaded the helpless country at the same time. This truce was short lived however as Hitler soon invaded Russia in Operation Barbarosa. Even though he was warned by his top generals and aids not to do so, as it would spread his resources too thin, he went ahead with his invasion. This was perhaps Hitler’s main drawback: his desire to control everything possible, and to do so immediately. At this time, the height of the war, Hitler was fighting a war on many fronts. He already controlled the majority of Europe and had massive amounts of troops deployed to maintain the peace and to put down resistance movements. He was fighting a losing battle with England, the one European country in which no Germans set foot on. Also in North Africa his troops under General Rommel the Desert Fox, were fleeing from the advancing allied troops under General Eisenhower. His invasion of Russia could not have come at a worse time, as winter was setting in. This vast scattering of troops is what allowed the allies to have the D-Day victory over the Germans. His other downfall was his desire for “greatness”. He had his scientists devoting themselves to creating super weapons such as the V1 and V2 missile, and even had plans for a flying fortress, which never got off the ground so to speak. He was also a fanatic of biblical lore, and believed that there were supernatural powers that his armies could obtain, but obviously nothing ever came of that.
As stated earlier, Hitler was supreme dictator of Germany. He was the law, and those who opposed him would die under it. As Stalin had done in Russia, Hitler set up a secret police, known as the Gestapo. He was not very trusting of anyone around him. In the last days of the war, he confined himself to an underground bunker with his wife, Eva Braun, and ate nothing but cream puffs. His second in command, Goering, was executed when Hitler became suspicious of him for putting up the idea of surrendering. In the end he committed suicide, stopping the confusion and pain of seeing his glorious empire spiraling out of control.
With the end of the war, Hitler’s atrocities were laid bare for the world to see, and we all witnessed the terrible effect of his concentration camps. Stalin however, lucked out, as he was on the winning side. The horrible acts he had committed were not found out, or fully known until many years later. The Nazi regime in Germany was dead, and the country was split up between the Democratic West and Communist Russia. Stalin kept all the land he had acquired in the war and the countries the soviets has liberated fell under his rule. Today Hitler is known rightfully so as a horrible person, and Stalin just as another Communist leader who did some pretty bad things. But during the Second World War and in the years leading up to it, they were all too similar.

"11001001"

this one was from earlier in the semester, for the group project I had to do.

War! The Black Hand has assassinated the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. The Serbian plot has managed to drag the rest of the continent into a deadly struggle for power and territorial rights. Slowly the majority of the major powers of the globe have aligned themselves with one side or the other, plunging all people of the earth into a World War.
Declaring neutrality, the United States has opted not to join into the war, but has secretly been supplying munitions to the Allied Powers. After a German U-Boat sinks a British Passenger liner carrying American citizens (and secretly transporting weapons), President Wilson declares war on The Central Powers.
At the close of the war, the Allies come out victorious, due in no small part to the intervention of the United States. Many decisions have to be made on a global scale. The world looks to the United States for financial support, protection from further attacks by an aggressor nation, and for a return to “normalcy” after the Great War...
Woodrow Wilson believes that it is the United States duty to help out the rest of the world to the extent of their power. Due to this generosity the people of Europe see him as their savoir, but the people of America are developing a different feeling. Henry Cabot Lodge, chairman of the Senate Committee of Foreign Relations, ever-challenged Wilson’s ideas of Americas place in a “League of Nations”.
What Wilson saw as an opportunity to protect the world from wrongdoers, Lodge saw as an entanglement in European affairs. If America was to join the League, it was feared that we would ultimately lose control of our own military, and risk our own goals and needs for the Europeans.
The problem with Europe was this; France wanted the blame of the war placed harshly onto Germany. After facing the brunt of the German forces at the beginning of the war in the harsh (but failed) Schlieffen Plan, France wanted a buffer zone between them and Germany. They turned the Rhineland into a DMZ, and took back Alsace and Lorraine from Germany. Also the Danzig corridor was given to Poland, thus splitting up Germany and East Prussia. These acts taken at the Versailles Conference seemed too harsh on the German people to a lot of the world, and Wilson was willing to go along with all of them in order to form the League of Nations. Of course, the United States did not join the League of Nations, which proved to be a powerless institution, like most new government systems of the 1920’s (Weimar Republic, Taisho Democracy).
I believe that the League of Nations was a doomed notion from its conception. The Treaty of Versailles left a bad taste in a lot of mouths, and it was this that sealed he fate of Europe in the following decades. I believe that if we had joined, under the circumstances that Wilson wanted us in, that World War 2 might not have occurred when it did, but would have been just an inevitable. I think the problem would have been the same back then as it is today. If a major country that can stand on its own two feet wanted to do something that did not win support from the League, then they would have done so anyways, free from fear of retribution from the League.
To me it seems that George W. Bush has no respect for the United Nations. When they did not show their support in our special operations in Iraq, he went ahead anyways, guns blazing and declaring freedom from terrorism in the name of the Iraqi people. Because France would not lend aid to a war they saw as unjust, a vast number of Americans (the Republican Party) have turned on our allies of 80 something years. The war on terror is not something that can be won alone by America, but our leaders insistence to go it alone if necessary is dooming us to an unfavorable place amongst the nations of the world. Lodge did not see the need to join the League of Nations, a toothless lion, and now Bush sees no need to respect the United Nations wishes, questioning the effectiveness of the respectable institution.
~Oz

"Angel One"

just realized that one of the essays is missing entirely...not good at all
The Civil Rights movement and the Feminist movements of the 20th century were similar in many aspects. It seemed that one could not have succeeded without the other, despite that neither group was out to promote the other to any extent. Nonetheless, in the 20th century both groups would begin to receive rights that had hitherto been reserved for white males only.
Firstly, the African Americans were by far receiving less than women were on a whole. They had actually been granted voting rights, something that women did not have yet, which White southerners went to great lengths to deny to them. With the Grandfather clause, literacy tests and fear methods, African Americans had a hard time of it if they wished to exercise their right to vote. In the late 1950’s early 60’s, groups like CORE and SNCC rose up to fight for their rights. Also, the NAACP struck out against the Jim Crow laws which held the African Americans down for over half a century.
The first major victory came in the overturning of Plessy -vs- Ferguson, a Supreme Court case from 1896 which stated that African Americans and whites would be “separate but equal”. As separate was in essence not equal, the ruling had been fundamentally flawed. It was overturned in the ruling of Brown -vs- Board of Education of Topeka in 1954. For the first time, African Americans in the south were allowed to attend the same schools as whites.
Two leaders of the fight for African American rights were Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X. Fighting for the same cause, their methods were drastically different. King promoted peaceful demonstrations, even in the face of violence. He believed that images of white brutality would spark sympathy from Americans, and eventually their cause would win through. Malcom X stated that they would not use violence outright, but if faced with violence they would not back down from it. Through grass roots campaigns and peaceful demonstrations such as sit ins, rallies marches and the like, African Americans finally received the rights which had been denied to them for centuries.
The Feminist movement received similar victories throughout the century, starting with gaining the right to vote in 1920. The first feminist movement seemed to die off after this achievement. In the 1920’s following World War One, a majority of women seemingly wished to give up womanly ideals, and act like men. This trend was shown in the fashions of the time. During World War II this seemed to be pushed further due to the demands of the total war economy we had headed up. Women were taking jobs previously held by men, and were further distancing themselves from the stereotypical stay at home mother. After the war however this movement died out mostly as well. The American ideology turned to one of strong family values, and almost all women returned home to raise children and keep the house clean.
In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, younger women were fed up with the way they were supposed to conduct themselves. They once again started pushing for the right to work the same jobs as males did, and not be confined to the kitchen.

"Datalore"

this one was a quick bit i wrote up at work the other night when I got bored.
The overall bases I need to cover for one of my two final essays. “What were the five command decisions the United States made during World War Two?” 1. Germany First: The decision that in a war between Japan and Germany, we would attack the Germans first. This was done to convince Stalin we were his friends, and that we could be trusted. We did not want Stalin to strike a separate peace with Nazi Germany. Even though we were a naval power, and had minimal ground troops we committed ourselves to Germany first. It was believed that if Germany fell, then Italy and Japan would as well.
Problems: As stated, we had few ground troops as did Great Britain. Churchill was not interested in an immediate cross channel invasion, opting to protect the British Empire as a whole. Therefore Germany first became British Empire first. On the home front, FDR was eager to silence his critics in the republican party, so he agreed to go along with Churchill to help in election victories over the Republicans. Now Germany first was Republicans first. The place we first attacked along with out British allies was North Africa, namely Morocco and Algeria, which belonged to the Vichy French regime. Now Germany First was Vichy France/ North Africa first. After the victories there, Churchill wished for an invasion of Italy, the “soft underbelly” of Europe. America was still the junior partners in the alliance, so we complied again despite our wishes for a cross channel invasion in 1943. Germany first had no become Italy first.
2nd command decision: Mediterranean Campaign: As stated, done at the request of Churchill. Meant to protect British interests in Middle East, namely oil rich countries. Ultimately a waste of time, as Rommel would declare in 1943 when the Americans wanted to invade France, that their was no such thing as “Fortress Europe”. If the allies would have invaded in 1943 we would have had a much easier time with it.
3rd: Strategic Bombing Campaign: Brits bombed Germany during the day, and we bombed at night. Yet again a failed campaign. Don’t believe me? Believe these numbers; it took 10% of the American economy to destroy 10% of the German economy. We were bottlenecking them, but targeting all the wrong facilities.
4th: Unconditional Surrender: All this did was play into the hands of the Germans. One extremist plan was to divide Germany up into 5 pasture states. Take out all technology force them to all become farmers and listen to Bach (instead of Wagner). When Nazi propaganda chief Goebbles heard wind of the plan he informed the German people and outrage ensued. All it did was spurn them on to fight even harder.
5th: Finally, the dropping of the Atomic Bomb: We picked Hiroshima and Nagasaki for one reason. They were both cities not yet touched by the war. They might have lost sons of theirs in battle, but their had been no bombings in these cities for a very specific reason. They had been chosen for a very special demonstration of the full power of the United States. “You prefer another target, a military target? Then name the system!” This saved countless American and Japanese lives in the long run. Even after the 2nd bomb had been dropped, the Japanese military still would not agree to surrender. They threatened the emperor with his life when he attempted to. Finally one Admiral who was loyal to the emperor convinced the other to honor his decision. the accord struck with the Americans was that he would surrender, and we would allow him to stay in power until free elections would be held.
~oz

"The Big Goodbye"

The next few posts are all copies of the essays I wrote today for my US History 2 and World War 2 classes.

The goals, which America hoped to achieve through World War Two, were make the world safer for democracy and peace. This could only be obtained by an allied victory over the Axis powers. To secure victory, the American leaders came up with five command decisions to ensure an allied victory. These decisions included the strategic bombing campaign of Germany, the Mediterranean campaign, Germany first, unconditional surrender and finally the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The first decision to discuss is the Strategic Bombing Campaign of Germany. Douhet had stated that “the bomber would always get through”. It seemed that with the use of the long-range bomber, every city in Germany would now be a target for attack. Germany would have to be able to build enough fighter planes to defend each and every city, not knowing which city might be chosen for attack on any given day. However, the Germans had also been developing bombers of their own. It then became necessary for both sides to build planes to escort and protect the bombers against enemy attack. Improvements in radar made it easier to defend the cities, as now it could be predicted easier the course the bombers were on. Both military and civilian targets were chosen to attack, with the intention to hurt the economy both by destroying its military capabilities and by instilling fear in the civilian population.
At Casablanca, the U.S. and U.K. agreed on operation “point blank”. They focused on submarine construction docks, German aircraft industries, transportation, and oil plants. The Americans took the daytime to focus on precision bombing of “bottlenecks”, while the British took the nighttime to bomb “other targets”.
The destruction caused by the campaign was horrendous. In Hamburg, as well as several other cities, the bombing provoked a firestorm, which engulfed the city. Feeding off the oxygen, it created cyclone speed winds, and produced temperatures of 1500 degrees Fahrenheit. Over 30,000 were dead at Hamburg alone. The effectiveness of the campaign proved to be not as great as hoped. Instead of the bomber being able to fly at ease, bombing any target it chose it turned instead into trench warfare of sorts in the sky. The allies were picking the right targets to bomb, but not until it was almost too late. British bombers suffered a 65% casualty rate. The devotion money time and effort to the campaign delayed the cross channel invasion by almost two years. It failed to lower German morale, and the most glaring stat is that it took 9% of the American economy to destroy 9% of the German economy.
The second command decision will be Germany first. Rainbow 5 was the plan developed for a joint U.S., U.K. attack against Japan and Germany. The idea would be if both Japan and Germany declared war on us at the same time, we would focus on Germany first. We would abandon all of out defenses in the Philippines withdrawing to the Baton Peninsula and defending to the last. The rest of the pacific fleet would withdraw to Pearl Harbor where it would regroup, and prevent further Japanese aggression. Meanwhile, the rest of the navy, army and air force would join with Great Britain in taking on Germany. After all, if England fell to Germany, then they would have control of the British fleet. There would be slim chance of defeating both the German, British and Japanese fleets combined. Also, Germany was more powerful than Italy and Japan. You could defeat those two countries and Germany would still be fine, however with out Germany, they would be greatly weakened. The U.S. was very concerned with getting Russia into our concert of powers, trying to convince them it was in their best interests to do so. We felt a policy of attacking Germany first would be a good way of showing our trustworthiness. The fear was that Germany and Russia might strike a separate peace accord.
Problems with the Germany first plan were that it never happened. We first focused our forces in North Africa and then in Italy, before ever setting foot on mainland Europe. Germany first became British Empire first, as Churchill had us fighting where he thought was wise. This was in North Africa, namely Algeria and Morocco, which were controlled by Vichy France. So now Germany first had become Vichy France first. Finally we went after Italy, and Germany first had become Italy first.
This leads into the third decision, the Allied Mediterranean Campaign.
If Churchill wished to protect British interests in the Middle East, the quickest route of access to the region was through the Mediterranean. Therefore, we focused the better part of three years in the region taking North Africa and Italy. The problem was that it also delayed the cross channel invasion by two years. By the time we were prepared for D-Day, the Germans were much better prepared than they had been in ‘42 or even ‘43 for that matter. The only benefit of the campaign was the priceless experience that American troops received due to the fighting and operations.
The fourth decision was the idea of unconditional surrender. If Japan, Italy or Germany wished to give up, then they must do so utterly and completely. They would have no room for negotiation, or dictation of terms on their parts. They would disarm entirely and give up any means to arm themselves again. The leaders of the nations would be ousted and democracies would be set up in their place. Each nation would fall under the military jurisdiction of the allies. The problem with this is that all it did was cause the people of the nations to fight harder against the allies, willing to sacrifice all instead of being turned into possible “pasture” states.
The final command decision was the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. We picked Hiroshima and Nagasaki for one reason. They were both cities not yet touched by the war. They might have lost sons of theirs in battle, but their had been no bombings in these cities for a very specific reason. They had been chosen for a very special demonstration of the full power of the United States. “You prefer another target, a military target? Then name the system!” This saved countless American and Japanese lives in the long run. Even after the 2nd bomb had been dropped, the Japanese military still would not agree to surrender. They threatened the emperor with his life when he attempted to. Finally one Admiral who was loyal to the emperor convinced the other to honor his decision. The accord struck with the Americans was that he would surrender, and we would allow him to stay in power until free elections would be held.
At wars end, the United States had come out on the side of the victors. We had made the western world at least a better place safe for democracy and peace. Despite our best efforts however we alienated Stalin, and the USSR emerged from the war almost as strong as we did. This set up the 45-year stare down between the two superpowers. For the most part the five command decisions achieved the overall goals they set. The act of carrying them out however seemed to be deeply flawed in implementation.

~Oz

"Haven"

Okay, it has been a few days since I last posted, but I will try and make it up to you tonight. Lets get a rundown of the past couple of days for me. The last real post I put up was on Tuesday, so I suppose I will start there. I do not know how many of you saw the post I took down, but it was directed at Kevin and Beth. I took it down because I hoped to make amends on my behalf for a series of events that were not my fault. Well, now I have heard from everyone in our little friendship on the subject and apparently I am being vilified worse than I previously thought I had been. Today in the mall both Kevin and Beth walked by my kiosk and ignored me. They were not together, and Beth walked by three times. They both decided to look the other way as they passed by. I have been told that they believe their was a conspiracy plot against them last Saturday night to keep them out of the poker game. Whatever. That is my final comment on the subject. Final at least until one of them does something to escalate this fucked up situation.
Wednesday I do not think I did much of anything. I got my license back after 90 days of torment. Drove myself up to Mary Kate’s house first thing after I got off of work, but had to return to Jamestown so my parents could have the car at midnight. My grandmother was hospitalized, but thank God it was only a minor infection. Thursday I had my fourth Drinking and Driving Class, and now only have three more to go. I finally got snow tires put on the Intrepid, so now I can trek boldly across this frozen land we call Jamestown.
Friday, nothing. Saturday I discovered that I am excellent at beer pong. Wonder how far that will get me in life? Worked the longest shift I have had yet at Walden Books, clocking in at 8 hours 45 minutes. Felt like the longest shift ever, even though I worked longer than that numerous times at Sears and Blue Wireless.
The Bills get worse with every passing day. The Sabres, thank God, are moving in the opposite direction. 2nd new Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode aired tonight, and it was light years better than last weeks episode. It shamelessly plugged and ragged on “Boost Mobile” and “Axe Body Spray” at the same time and also provided some pretty damn funny one liners.
Well, that’s all for now. Peace out hombres!
Vendetta means...VENDETTA!!!
~Oz

"Hide and Q"

i cannot view my blog. can anyone else? if you can see this, let me know because i cannot.

"The Battle"

“How stupid is it? I can’t talk about it, I got to sing about it and my a record of my heart. How stupid is it?”-El Scorcho

Well, I do not know who viewed what was here before (besides Wyatt), but it is gone now. Thought it might do well to keep some thoughts to myself afterall. Instead, you can all have fun exploring the status of my dresser top.

you know, three years ago i would never have backed down from posting what i did.
~Oz

"Justice"

Well, it looks like Fredonia in the springtime is looking less likely than the chances of a Pink Floyd reunion tour. I have no money to pay for anything, be it gas money, rent, food, you name it. I am actually worse off now financially then when I began working for Walden Books. Even though I am going to graduate J.C.C. in December, the chances of them getting my transcripts to Fredonia in time looks to be a pretty slim chance. Any chances of finding a place to live up there by January 17th are fading. Classes I would need for my major that are offered in the springtime have prerequisites that need to be taking in the fall first off. The thing is that I do not want to procrastinate any longer in getting my degree. I am not at all supportive of taking the spring semester off. I had planned to enroll in summer semester as well, but that would be nixed as well most likely.
The first thing that would have to happen is J.C.C. getting my info to Fredonia in a timely manner. The problem is, they will not send any transfer info like transcripts and such anywhere, not until I have graduated with a 2.0 grade point average. I will do so, but not until the 20th or so of December. If that will leave me with enough time to still enroll in Fredonia that would be great.

Then I would have to find classes, which I can enroll in still. I do not know how hard or easy it will be to find classes I need which are still open.

The final two obstacles are intertwined. My financial status, and my residence. As I stated earlier, I am flat broke. So unless I can find student aid, which would provide me not only with money for school itself, but also gasoline or rent money and food money as well, I am screwed. I could live here in Jamestown, but then I would be commuting every day, and just be out of the college loop. I do not need to tell any of you either how treacherous Route 60 can be in the winter. I could live up there (if it is within my budget) which I would much rather do, but would only be able to do so with financial support on the rent and food.

I am sure my job at Walden Books is seasonal, and will therefore end shortly after the New Year is run in. I am not good at working and going to school at the same time. At most right now at J.C.C. I can fit a workweek of up to 20 hours in with my schoolwork. That would obviously be less if I were at Fredonia where the workload will inevitably be tougher.

In short form, things do not look to promising for me over these next 6 to 8 months. But I will not let it drag me down, instead opting to optimistically keep my head held high.

Wyatt thanks for the tip by the way. I never thought about this.

~Oz

"Where No One Has Gone Before"

First off, a follow up to the tattoo debates. 1.) Not that this has been asked, but I do NOT hate people with tattoos. 2.) I feel that many young women (older women as well), and a fair amount of younger men just rush out to get a tattoo because it is the trendy thing to do. For a girl it is sort of a fertility symbol, and is used as an enhancer of ones sexual agenda. The reason this happens is because tattoos are the "in" thing for what is considered sexy, both on women and men. Men rush out as well to get tattoo's put on them. Men with muscular arms half to draw further attention to the fact by getting a chain link tattoo (or the like) around their bulging biceps. Curvaceous women get tattoos so close to their ass (or if its on their stomach, their vagina THAT'S RIGHT I SAID "vagina"...what did ya want me to call it??? pussy??? cunt??? cum dumpster???) that the only way to show it off is to wear these lower than low jeans that look as if they have been spray painted on to their body. So the trend that is being set is, need to have a good looking body (both for men and women), need to get a tattoo to exemplify said body, need to wear the correct body spray that will act in accordance with the pheromones to make the opposite sex tackle you, and wear (or trying not to wear) as little clothes as possible.
So, the reason I do not like tattoos (per what I described above: you will remember I stated that I actually do no mind tattoos, I just have a problem with the way they are being used nowadays) is that they are trendy sex symbols. Pop Culture has managed to whore out one of the most personal things that one could do to ones body. Instead if taking time, sometime a few months to years to carefully decide to get a tattoo that really MEANS something, I mean really speaks to someone.... Young kids are running out and getting any old tattoo because..."ohhh butterflies!!!!" or "hey that's sexy!!!" and, "this is really boss!"

And another thing

The butterfly tattoos and the flower ones.... Those are the girls who aren't quite as comfortable and open with their own sexuality yet, so they get impulse tattoos that they hope will get attention, but also because they can be looked upon as "cute" in a holding onto youth and innocence and all that jazz way.

Be back with another post in a few...

~Oz

"Lonely Among Us"

Ups and Downs

Well, I played 3 games of poker the other night over at Travis's home. I was the 2nd player out first game, won the $50.00 bucks the second game, and was first one out the 3rd. This morning I wake up early to go to work, Mary Kate drops me off, and I get told I do not have to work today. Great, but now I am stranded at the mall for an hour.

The Bills score 21 points unanswered by the Dolphins, and then lose 24-23 to them.

Luckily the Sabres turned it all around tonight by hanging on to beat the Avalanche 6-4.

I also wrote 2 essays (both at five pages) this weekend that are both due tomorrow. And, only 3 days till I get my full driving priveledges back.

by the by, heresy...do I know you? just curious because I always like to put a name and a face to the person I am carefully explaining the ways of the world to.

You like the song "black" by pearl jam. i always found it more accurate to listen to "satans bed".

wow, two posts in one day. first in like 2, maybe 3 months for me.

and the new Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode was pretty cool, although no great one liners were giving up (at least not on 1st viewing anyway)

~Oz

"The Last Outpost"

Blofeld: The firing power inside my crater is enough to annihilate a small army. You can watch it all on TV. It's the last program you're likely to see.

James Bond: Well, if I'm gonna be forced to watch television, may I smoke?

Blofeld: Yes. Give him his cigarettes. It won't be the nicotine that kills you, Mr. Bond.

#9 in the James Bond Film Countdown...

1967's "You Only Live Twice"...starring

Sean Connery :James Bond
Akiko Wakabayashi: Aki
Mie Hama: Kissy Suzuki
Tetsuro Tamba: Tiger Tanaka
Teru Shimada: Mr. Osato
Karin Dor: Helga Brandt
Donald Pleasence: Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Bernard Lee: M
Lois Maxwell: Miss Moneypenny
Desmond Llewelyn: Q
Charles Gray: Dikko Henderson
Tsai Chin: Ling (Chinese Girl, Hong Kong)
Ronald Rich: Hans (Blofeld's Bodyguard)

After five years of playing Bond, Sean Connery had had enough. The world was shocked to hear the "You Only Live Twice" would be his last film starring as James Bond. The movie was hyped greatly with teases such as "Bond will become Japanese", "Bond will marry", "Bond will come face to face with his arch nemesis" and most of all "James Bond will die".

All of these DO happen of course in the movie, but all of them were only to advance the plot line. The world knew he couldn't die, and Roald Dahl and Ian Flemming knew as well. Therefore they killed Bond off in the first 10 minutes of the film. The other part of the opening sequence led to the opening of "Austin Powers in the Spy who Shagged me" where a UFO devours a US Spacecraft, and later a Russian spacecraft. Both sides of course start accusing the other, and only the British know that it is obivouslt the Japs, or at least someone using a hollowed out volcano lair. This of course is Blofeld, Bonds nemesis through the three of the first four films (Auric Goldfinger of course being the sole opperative working on his own). The title sequence is sang by Nancy Sinatra, and is one of the better known Bond songs. Robbie Williams took the main theme from the song and sampled it into his song "Millenium". Besides some terrible editing sequences involving a fight at the dockyards and Helga Brandt jumping out of the doomed airplane (lets not forget the volcano explosion near the end) this movie was an excellent film. It was the first plot to be rehashed later in the Bond Series (see "The Spy Who Loves Me") and was the 1st of three consecutive films to feature Blofeld as the main bad guy (to be protrayed by different actors each time), but it was Pleasances appearance that Mike Myers choose to rip off the most.

This movie is my 9th favorite because of the change it brought to the series overall. This marked the last movie to be made with Sean Connery (at the time...we all know he returned 2 films later...) and seemed to mark the end of an era. I also loved Little Nelly, and the ninja fight sequence at the end.

The End of "You Only Live Twice" review. But Alex will return with #8 in his James Bond top ten countdown.

" I think I am going to enjoy serving under you"

~Oz

"Code Of Honor"

Tatoo You

I read Wyatts site yesterday, and my eye got caught on the section about his opinion on tattoos. I will put my two cents in (well, if I have any money left over after drinking every night...) (see the next section on THAT one). A girl with a tatoo is already has one foot in the grave as far as being considered a date-worthy girl for me. I know, women everywhere are weeping at that comment, I am sure no girl with a tatoo would give a damn if I wouldnt date them for that sole reason. Well, wait I should take the comment back. I actually do not mind a tatoo on a girl that is not on the lower back. Or as long as it is not just the fucking playboy logo geez that really grinds my gears! Any butterfly, or flowers, or happy smiling girlish tatoos just no..no no NO! I have friends (girls) who have had some pretty bitch ass tatoos on them, and I did not dislike them. Well, thats that for tatoos. Probably made no sense whatsoever.

I Drink Alone...or with others...either way, I drink

I am sure the head ups of my Drinking and Driving program would not be happy with this, but damn I need a beer. And I am not just talking about right now. I mean each and every night. And I do not think that I have a problem, so I am sure they would say I DO have a problem. I just like drinking. I dont feel as if i NEED to drink, but I WANT to drink. And hell, I know when to stop. It is on a rare occasion that I get tore up. Last week at the College Inn was the only time this past month or two that I have done so. Sure I spend every penny (sans $5.00 for poker) on drinking, and while not turn down a free drink from anyone after I have gone through my own cash (or quarters and dimes and yes even nickles, but not fucking pennies...oh no I will never sink that low...). And no this is not some desperate plea for help, do not read into it too much.

Dec. 1st 2005. 24 shopping days left till Christmas.

Fuck You Won't Do What Ya Tell Me

Well, I was also reading Wyatts post on self-censorship. really spoke to me. I have been editing myself now for 2+ months now. And it is tearing at me, but I have done it to keep the peace. Five years I tried censoring myself for the 1st time on my old Ozporn Newsletter. I finally broke down and went on a rant that would go on to piss everybody off. So Wyatt, do not allow yourself to be censored, especially if the choice is up to you.

There was a post i made back in August that I did up at Blue Wireless that went on all day long. Got me in a lot of trouble. But I had fun posting it, and I was pissed off royally that I was being told to edit my work, so carefully crafted. But I did it. I became a snivveling pussy in my own eyes at that time, and now I am consumed with a self-loathing, and I just want to let that angry young man back out and yell "fuck you" to the whole wide world.

But I don't.

Nazi Germany man, Nazi Germany...

www.rowchautauqua.org

visit and support our friends in the project. I wish I was more fit so I could get in on the action myself. sound like a lot of fun.

Well, Im out of here now.

the Pub was fun last night. only 4.50 for five beers. pretty damn good if ya ask me.

Get LOST

~Oz