tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.comments2023-07-14T05:30:34.244-07:00International VagabondHolistic Himhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07485237354960174866noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-9328561354429371492013-06-17T13:44:27.705-07:002013-06-17T13:44:27.705-07:00Hi,
My name is KC Owens, I’m a college student an...Hi,<br /><br />My name is KC Owens, I’m a college student and I love to travel! While cruising the Internet, I found your site and really enjoyed reading your posts. I have been to countries all over Europe with just my backpack and a camera. Since I am a college student and I have significant bills, it can be difficult to find ways to travel the world. However, I have done this several times, with less than ten pounds of luggage and while on a college dime!<br /><br />I was hoping that you would allow me to write a post for your site to share my tips and tricks with your readers. I put a lot of time into my traveling, it is my biggest passion and I would love to inspire others by sharing my stories, mistakes and triumphs. I look forward to hearing from you!<br /><br />Best,<br /><br />KC OwensKChttp://www.bloggingacrossthepond.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-34906763726658308872013-04-01T11:11:18.508-07:002013-04-01T11:11:18.508-07:00But of course I loved this Blog. And your writing ...But of course I loved this Blog. And your writing style is superb!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-50477799578794651382012-07-17T23:37:28.662-07:002012-07-17T23:37:28.662-07:00I just happened upon this Trent and really enjoyed...I just happened upon this Trent and really enjoyed it. I have seen that window and never knew how much contemplative, introspecitive time you spent there! I hope you have a window in your new place that can provide the same. I loved your musings about coffee, so interesting and so Trent! I love you--momAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-86407959646928437462009-06-08T08:14:44.516-07:002009-06-08T08:14:44.516-07:00preach onpreach onDereknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-32364842032788778982008-12-12T03:05:00.000-08:002008-12-12T03:05:00.000-08:00I'm not sure who's the bigger dork here... You for...I'm not sure who's the bigger dork here... You for posting this? or me for actually reading it?<BR/><BR/><BR/>Xoxo<BR/>Dar far pibkwayer lamp<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>Panda.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-22099030674922471112008-11-16T09:48:00.000-08:002008-11-16T09:48:00.000-08:00Hello, I like the blog.It is beautiful.Sorry not w...Hello, I like the blog.<BR/>It is beautiful.<BR/>Sorry not write more, but my English is bad writing. <BR/>A hug from PortugalAnastácio Soberbohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03099926625640131953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-89181758548979516362008-09-20T08:13:00.000-07:002008-09-20T08:13:00.000-07:00Hell yeah, World Town!!!Paz e amor-DerekHell yeah, World Town!!!<BR/><BR/>Paz e amor<BR/><BR/>-Derekthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07365248053527892467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-2164167260520438072008-07-20T14:41:00.000-07:002008-07-20T14:41:00.000-07:00Thanks Abi for editing, here to hear...my bad, go ...Thanks Abi for editing, here to hear...my bad, go get that interpreter certification you deserve it!Holistic Himhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07485237354960174866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-16036414189647789242008-07-15T02:51:00.000-07:002008-07-15T02:51:00.000-07:00One of the best cats!One of the best cats!Holistic Himhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07485237354960174866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-86078019156977025562008-06-21T15:27:00.000-07:002008-06-21T15:27:00.000-07:00Nice, Trent - def trying to get rid of the distrac...Nice, Trent - def trying to get rid of the distractions as well; staying positive and searching out the love in everyone. Keep seeking the truth, Trente!thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07365248053527892467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-26876088374954713502008-06-19T10:53:00.000-07:002008-06-19T10:53:00.000-07:00I guess I posted that 3 times, with different size...I guess I posted that 3 times, with different sizes, but I find it visually stimulating as you scroll down, so I will leave them up!Holistic Himhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07485237354960174866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-48884064012589063212008-04-08T14:33:00.000-07:002008-04-08T14:33:00.000-07:00Chris Lake plays Crazed by Max VangeliChris Lake plays Crazed by Max VangeliHolistic Himhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07485237354960174866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-77420665437630117632008-03-05T20:00:00.000-08:002008-03-05T20:00:00.000-08:00We ran with it by Dar Far right to God Damn Dar Fa...We ran with it by Dar Far right to God Damn Dar Far awesomeville!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-23482777352271398632008-02-27T22:46:00.000-08:002008-02-27T22:46:00.000-08:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Kazahnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09685107479787385135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-26858058363986630652008-02-25T12:00:00.000-08:002008-02-25T12:00:00.000-08:00Oh!I am enthralled about this one! :-)Oh!<BR/>I am enthralled about this one! :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-56230614080178318952008-02-23T11:36:00.000-08:002008-02-23T11:36:00.000-08:00The thought of trying to choose a winner here hurt...The thought of trying to choose a winner here hurts my aura, so the only logical choice is to shallow out and choose Bucky Done Gun simply for the fact that she looks hotter in the video.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03457377347064760777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-81578915135324998302008-02-21T14:46:00.000-08:002008-02-21T14:46:00.000-08:00Gangsta Lean... I don't know. R&B can go a little...Gangsta Lean... I don't know. R&B can go a little thug, but only if it's still about what R&B was meant for... partying and hooking up with girls... MAYBE on occasion mourning the loss of a loved one. Not your dead crip friend though. That's just creepily homoerotic. I vote for End of the Road. Any breakup song that can still get your girl into full freak mode is a classic. Put that up against a Jodeci song, and I think we have a contest!<BR/><BR/>-DerekAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-6899243525438560652008-02-14T04:52:00.000-08:002008-02-14T04:52:00.000-08:00Happy Valentines Day Love! Beautiful post. Best of...Happy Valentines Day Love! Beautiful post. Best of luck on your interview. Fingers tightly crossed on the East Coast.Mbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14660012099381197292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-82172877208237805822008-02-07T20:04:00.000-08:002008-02-07T20:04:00.000-08:00Reminds me of someone I used to be close to...ain'...Reminds me of someone I used to be close to...ain't no pologizn'Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03457377347064760777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-21978784955499671832008-01-30T05:53:00.000-08:002008-01-30T05:53:00.000-08:00Check it out: Common endorses Obama... click the v...Check it out: Common endorses Obama... click the video on he lower right:<BR/>http://www.votehope2008.org/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-87749152312917099222008-01-29T14:15:00.000-08:002008-01-29T14:15:00.000-08:00haha, yeah at least that...damn the most expensive...haha, yeah at least that...damn the most expensive school in the world...im so glad Im embracing that to the fullest extent as a bartender...but not just any bartender, I can give portuguese lessons, I make the best Caipirinha in the world, I seek out potential investors for "Awesomeville" my future island community and most definitely promote World Party 2011, starting with World Town part II on Feb 23rd. We need to create a day...I say something like June 31st, February 30th on a leap year or September 31st...Holistic Himhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07485237354960174866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-84644566647573129082008-01-26T06:44:00.000-08:002008-01-26T06:44:00.000-08:00Fuck yea- I still have a Trent Simpson towel and J...Fuck yea- I still have a Trent Simpson towel and Jesus shirt floating around my apartment - fulfilling their destinies!<BR/><BR/>Did you hear? GW is the most expensive university IN THE WORLD: http://finance.yahoo.com/loans/article/104277/The-Worlds-Most-Expensive-Universities<BR/><BR/>Cade meu dinheiro, rapaz?<BR/><BR/>We have to make a trip around the world, meu- preparing everyone for the World PartyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-33300076433416711902008-01-17T12:18:00.000-08:002008-01-17T12:18:00.000-08:00I wasnt really making this stuff up...www.aljazeer...I wasnt really making this stuff up...<BR/><BR/>www.aljazeera.com<BR/><BR/>The theatrical accounts of the incident involving Iranian boats & U.S. ships in the Strait of Hormuz is so reminiscent of what happened—and didn’t happen—in 1964 in the Gulf of Tonkin.<BR/><BR/>By Ray McGovern<BR/><BR/>When the Tonkin Gulf incident took place in early August 1964, I was a journeyman CIA analyst in what Condoleezza Rice refers to as “the bowels of the agency.”<BR/><BR/>As a current intelligence analyst responsible for Russian policy toward Southeast Asia and China, I worked very closely with those responsible for analysis of Vietnam and China.<BR/><BR/>Out of that experience I must say that, as much as one might be tempted to laugh at the bizarre theatrical accounts of the incident involving small Iranian boats and U.S. naval ships in the Strait of Hormuz, this is—as my old Russian professor used to insist—nothing to laugh.<BR/><BR/>(See U.S. video: U.S.-Iran Gulf confrontation)<BR/><BR/>(See Iranian video: Iranian version of Persian Gulf incident)<BR/><BR/>The situation is so reminiscent of what happened—and didn’t happen—from Aug. 2-4, 1964, in the Gulf of Tonkin and in Washington, it is in no way funny.<BR/><BR/>At the time, the U.S. had about 16,000 troops in South Vietnam. The war that was “justified” by the Tonkin Gulf resolution of Aug. 7, 1964, led to a buildup of 535,000 U.S. troops in the late Sixties, 58,000 of whom were killed—not to mention the estimated two million Vietnamese who lost their lives by then and in the ensuing 10 years.<BR/><BR/>Ten years. How can our president speak so glibly about 10 more years of a U.S. armed presence in Iraq? He must not remember Vietnam.<BR/><BR/>Lessons from Vietnam and Iraq<BR/>What follows is written primarily for honest intelligence analysts and managers still on “active duty.”<BR/><BR/>The issuance of the recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran was particularly welcome to those of us who had been hoping there were enough of you left who had not been thoroughly corrupted by former CIA Director George Tenet and his malleable managers.<BR/><BR/>We are not so much surprised at the integrity of Tom Fingar, who is in charge of national intelligence analysis. He showed his mettle in manfully resisting forgeries and fairy tales about Saddam Hussein’s “weapons of mass destruction.”<BR/><BR/>What is, frankly, a happy surprise is the fact that he and other non-ideologues and non-careerist professionals have been able to prevail and speak truth to power on such dicey issues as the Iranian nuclear program, the upsurge in terrorism caused by the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and the year-old NIE saying Iraq is headed for hell in a hand basket (with no hint that a “surge” could make a difference).<BR/><BR/>But those are the NIEs. They share the status of “supreme genre” of analytic product with the President’s Daily Brief and other vehicles for current intelligence, the field in which I labored, first in the analytic trenches and then as a briefer at the White House, for most of my 27-year career.<BR/><BR/>True, the NIE “Iraq’s Continuing Program for Weapons of Mass Destruction” of Oct. 1, 2002, (wrong on every major count) greased the skids for the attack on Iraq on March 19, 2003. But it is more often current intelligence that is fixed upon to get the country into war.<BR/><BR/>The Tonkin Gulf events are perhaps the best case in point. We retired professionals who worked through the Tonkin Gulf incident are hopeful that Fingar can ensure integrity in the current intelligence process as well.<BR/><BR/>Salivating for a wider war<BR/>Given the confusion last week in the Persian Gulf, you need to remember that a “known known” in the form of a non-event has already been used to sell a major war—Vietnam. It is not only in retrospect that we know that no attack occurred that night.<BR/><BR/>Those of us in intelligence, not to mention President Lyndon Johnson, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy all knew full well that the evidence of any armed attack on the evening of Aug. 4, 1964, the so-called “second” Tonkin Gulf incident, was highly dubious.<BR/><BR/>But it fit the president’s purposes, so they lent a hand to facilitate escalation of the war.<BR/><BR/>During the summer of 1964, President Johnson and the Joint Chiefs of Staff were eager to widen the war in Vietnam. They stepped up sabotage and hit-and-run attacks on the coast of North Vietnam.<BR/><BR/>Defense Secretary Robert McNamara later admitted that he and other senior leaders had concluded that the seaborne attacks “amounted to little more than pinpricks” and “were essentially worthless,” but they continued.<BR/><BR/>Concurrently, the National Security Agency was ordered to collect signals intelligence from the North Vietnamese coast on the Gulf of Tonkin, and the surprise coastal attacks were seen as a helpful way to get the North Vietnamese to turn on their coastal radars.<BR/><BR/>The destroyer USS Maddox, carrying electronic spying gear, was authorized to approach as close as eight miles from the coast and four miles from offshore islands, some of which already had been subjected to intense shelling by clandestine attack boats.<BR/><BR/>As James Bamford describes it in “Body of Secrets:”<BR/><BR/>“The twin missions of the Maddox were in a sense symbiotic. The vessel’s primary purpose was to act as a seagoing provocateur—to poke its sharp gray bow and the American flag as close to the belly of North Vietnam as possible, in effect shoving its 5-inch cannons up the nose of the Communist navy. In turn, this provocation would give the shore batteries an excuse to turn on as many coastal defense radars, fire control systems, and communications channels as possible, which could then be captured by the men...at the radar screens. The more provocation, the more signals...<BR/><BR/>“The Maddox’ mission was made even more provocative by being timed to coincide with commando raids, creating the impression that the Maddox was directing those missions and possibly even lobbing firepower in their support....<BR/><BR/>“North Vietnam also claimed at least a twelve-mile limit and viewed the Maddox as a trespassing ship deep within its territorial waters.”<BR/><BR/>(pp 295-296)<BR/><BR/>On Aug. 2, 1964, an intercepted message ordered North Vietnamese torpedo boats to attack the Maddox. The destroyer was alerted and raced out to sea beyond reach of the torpedoes, three of which were fired in vain at the destroyer’s stern.<BR/><BR/>The Maddox’s captain suggested that the rest of his mission be called off, but the Pentagon refused. And still more commando raids were launched on Aug. 3, shelling for the first time targets on the mainland, not just the offshore islands.<BR/><BR/>Early on Aug. 4, the Maddox captain cabled his superiors that the North Vietnamese believed his patrol to be directly involved with the commando raids and shelling. That evening at 7:15 (Vietnam time) the Pentagon alerted the Maddox to intercepted messages indicating that another attack by patrol boats was imminent.<BR/><BR/>What followed was panic and confusion. There was a score of reports of torpedo and other hostile attacks, but no damage and growing uncertainty as to whether any attack actually took place. McNamara was told that “freak radar echoes” were misinterpreted by “young fellows” manning the sonar, who were “apt to say any noise is a torpedo.”<BR/><BR/>This did not prevent McNamara from testifying to Congress two days later that there was “unequivocal proof” of a new attack. And based largely on that, Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf resolution bringing 10 more years of war.<BR/><BR/>Meanwhile, in the trenches<BR/>By the afternoon of Aug. 4, the CIA’s expert analyst on North Vietnam (let’s call him “Tom”) had concluded that probably no one had fired on the U.S. ships. He included a paragraph to that effect in the item he wrote for the Current Intelligence Bulletin, which would be wired to the White House and other key agencies and appear in print the next morning.<BR/><BR/>And then something unique happened. The Director of the Office of Current Intelligence, a very senior officer whom Tom had never before seen, descended into the bowels of the agency to order the paragraph deleted. He explained:<BR/><BR/>“We’re not going to tell LBJ that now. He has already decided to bomb North Vietnam. We have to keep our lines open to the White House.”<BR/><BR/>“Tom” later bemoaned—quite rightly: “What do we need open lines for, if we’re not going to use them, and use them to tell the truth?”<BR/><BR/>Two years ago, I would have been tempted to comment sarcastically, “How quaint; how obsolete.” But the good news is that the analysts writing the NIEs have now reverted to the ethos in which “Tom” and I were proud to work.<BR/><BR/>Now the analysts/reporters of current intelligence need to follow suit, and we hope Tom Fingar can hold their feet to the fire. For if they don’t measure up, the consequences are sure to be disastrous.<BR/><BR/>This should be obvious in the wake of the Tonkin Gulf reporting experience, not to mention more recent performance of senior officials before the attack on Iraq in 2003.<BR/><BR/>The late Ray S. Cline, who was the current intelligence director’s boss at the time of the Tonkin Gulf incident, said he was “very sure” that no attack took place on Aug. 4. He suggested that McNamara had shown the president unevaluated signals intelligence which referred to the (real) earlier attack on Aug. 2 rather than the non-event on the 4th.<BR/><BR/>There was no sign of remorse on Cline’s part that he didn’t step in and make sure the president was told the truth.<BR/><BR/>We in the bowels knew there was no attack; and so did the Director of Current Intelligence as well as Cline, the Deputy Director for Intelligence. But all knew, as did McNamara, that President Johnson was lusting for a pretext to strike the North and escalate the war. And, like B’rer Rabbit, they didn’t say nothin’.<BR/><BR/>Commenting on the interface of intelligence and policy on Vietnam, a senior CIA officer has written about:<BR/><BR/>“... the dilemma CIA directors and senior intelligence professionals face in cases when they know that unvarnished intelligence judgments will not be welcomed by the President, his policy managers, and his political advisers...[They] must decide whether to tell it like it is (and so risk losing their place at the President’s advisory table), or to go with the flow of existing policy by accentuating the positive (thus preserving their access and potential influence). In these episodes from the Vietnam era, we have seen that senior CIA officers more often than not tended toward the latter approach.”<BR/><BR/>“CIA and the Vietnam Policymakers: Three Episodes, 1962-1968,” Harold P. Ford<BR/><BR/>Back to Iran. This time, we all know what the president and vice president are lusting after—an excuse to attack Iran. But there is a big difference from the situation in the summer of 1964, when President Johnson had intimidated all his senior subordinates into using deceit to escalate the war.<BR/><BR/>Bamford comments on the disingenuousness of Robert McNamara when he testified in 1968 that it was “inconceivable” that senior officials, including the president, deliberately used the Tonkin Gulf events to generate congressional support for a wider Vietnam War.<BR/><BR/>In Bamford’s words, the Joint Chiefs of Staff had become “a sewer of deceit,” with Operation Northwoods and other unconscionable escapades to their credit. Then-Under Secretary of State George Ball commented, “There was a feeling that if the destroyer got into some trouble, that this would provide the provocation we needed.”<BR/><BR/>Good news: It’s different now<BR/>It is my view that the only thing that has prevented Bush and Cheney from attacking Iran so far has been the strong opposition of the uniformed military, including the Joint Chiefs.<BR/><BR/>As the misadventure in the Strait of Hormuz shows, our senior military officers need all the help they can get from intelligence officers more concerned with the truth than with “keeping lines open to the White House” and doing its bidding.<BR/><BR/>In addition, the intelligence oversight committees in Congress seem to be waking from their Rip Van Winkle-like slumber. It was Congress, after all, that ordered the controversial NIE on Iran/nuclear (and insisted it be publicized).<BR/><BR/>And the flow of substantive intelligence to Congress is much larger than it was in 1964 when, remember, there were no intelligence committees as such.<BR/><BR/>So, you inheritors of the honorable profession of current intelligence – I’m thinking of you, Rochelle, and you, Rick – don’t let them grind you down.<BR/><BR/>If you’re working in the bowels of the CIA and you find that your leaders are cooking the intelligence once again into a recipe for casus belli, think long and hard about your oath to protect the Constitution. Should that oath not transcend any secrecy promise you had to accept as a condition of employment?<BR/><BR/>By sticking your neck out, you might be able to prevent 10 years of unnecessary war.<BR/><BR/>-- Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC. He was an Army infantry/intelligence officer, then a current intelligence analyst at CIA, and is now on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).<BR/><BR/>ConsortiumNews <BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>http://www.aljazeera.com/news/newsfull.php?newid=78131Holistic Himhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07485237354960174866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-29545964401571640322008-01-15T14:18:00.000-08:002008-01-15T14:18:00.000-08:00This poem is supposed to have unique sizing and sp...This poem is supposed to have unique sizing and spacing of the letters and words throughout the whole piece...but blogspot flushes everything to the left, feel free to email me for an .rtf version to see the spacing...Holistic Himhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07485237354960174866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36139827.post-19988069759687285392007-11-30T09:44:00.000-08:002007-11-30T09:44:00.000-08:00This is definitely my favorite blog. Trent, someo...This is definitely my favorite blog. Trent, someone with your ambition and high-flying spirit can't go wrong... if nothing else, you'll be an old man with plenty of good stories to tell. PS, thanks for passing that article on to me - I'm looking into hwo to get close to Hilary's aide now.. best threesome ever.<BR/><BR/>-D<BR/><BR/>"With your feet in the air and your head on the ground.....<BR/><BR/>where is my mind?"<BR/>-MIAAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com