Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
Whenever I see protests like this, the first thought I always have is, “Don’t these people have *jobs?*”
Oh, wait. Commies. Sorry… Never mind.
– Max
Of course they have jobs. Who do you think answers the phones nowadays?
Ah libo in New Delhi, I knew those anthrax shots had some purpose.
Love how they have a ship stationed to monitor radiation levels…cause we’re so callous about things like that, what with 5,000-odd people on the ship all the time…
“Nearby, protesters shouted “Down with U.S. imperialism” and burnt effigies of the huge ship — which can carry 90 aircraft, including the F-18 “Super Hornet” — as well as the U.S. flag.”
I love this quote — like the flag is the worst part.
Fools, that’s what they are.
As an aside, only 5000 people? When Husband was on the USS Ranger, I remember the PAO packet (with the 8×10 color glossies of the CO and the XO, but no photo of my HUSBAND, thank-you-very-much) saying the full complement was 8000 — more than the whole county I was in at the time. Are the ships that different in size, or is it a faulty memory chip in the brain box?
Hundreds? In a country that has a billion or so?
Insignificant. Ahh the problems of a democracy (world’s biggest).
Yes Sim they answer the phone because they are educated and speak understandable English. And that is why those jobs aren’t outsourced by Dell to Down Under. LOL.
Casca- I’ll bet liberty would be tough in New Delhi..seeing how it’s landlocked. The immortal mercenary should know that.
Let’s give the place a chance. Personally I would have loved to go there on libs, seeing how I’d been about everywhere else in the olden days except there, the USSR and W-Pact…Plus, I love Indian food. What’s that book? The Kama Sutra? Sounds interesting. Gee, ain’t that why kids from Iowa join the Navy?
b2
…and it’s not like the media in the west never hyped a story either.
I’m w/b2, there’s a lot of action going on with India right now, much of it out of the public limelight that portends good for all down the road. Besides, rmemebr the PCI or PCP (Communist parties in Italy and Portugal) – they weren’t always so welcoming either in the 70′s and 80′s…
-SJS
P3W,
I think they meant that to be read “burnt effigies of the huge ship … as well as the U.S. flag” with those dashes taking the place of semicolons in proper English.
Oops. As Emily Litella used to say,
Never mind.
(Either I need new contacts or a new brain…)
B2 – Sim and I are not yet the same person, although we are resident in the same country. An easy mistake to make.
My point was that Chennai derives an awfully large amount of income from working for US companies. The locals are in contact with US citizens every day and enjoy an increased standard of living as a result. That’s probably what gets those commies so worked up – recruitment must be WAY down.
Oops sorry Chris! Sim too! I just saw a “shot” and I took it! Tough allies like y’all can take a joke.
No ‘fence.
b2
B2, literalism is a disease. I suggest you and SJS pack your bags tonight, before everyone discovers that India is akin to the Greek Isles. I’ll keep the homefires burning.
Chennai strikes me as one of those liberty ports where you get your shopping done, and then head back to the ship and watch TV and sleep a lot.
B2 – none taken. Just be glad those phone jobs didn’t get outsourced to Glasgow.
Casca- are you calling me a literal? Thems fightin’ words you immortal mercenary (I ain’t much into SciFi since I growed up)! Are you saying India has a “Lesbos”and a “Sapho”? My word! Learn something every day.
Dunno Skip, I heard “Bollywood” is hoppin! One must take the good with the bad when going into port. I’m sure it can’t be worse than Alexandria, Tunisia, Karachi where I’ve have been before (believe it or not I found cold beer in all 3 places)…..First thing ya know, you end up being in a USN that has women aboard to drive ya crazy, no booze and you pull up to a tar strip with hey-Joe tents in the Gulf….A sorry mess.
C.P. – yer shore right on dem-dar Scotties mumbuldipeg brogue! And those bloody pipes a wailing!
b2
You are right about Alexandria. Nothing makes you appreciate the rest of the Med like a port visit there.
Indian port visits are going to increase as the US is trying to build a “relationship” with India. Personally I question whether we can ever truly have a relationship with a country that is expanding its Navy at an alarming rate and buying first class weaponry-and stealing American jobs to boot.
But, you are right. Cold beer is cold beer.
Cold beer? Then I’m for it! Still glad I got the shots though.