freedoms, healing & stories in the news
Anyone eaten repeatedly at Hawgs Seafood in Santa Cruz located at 1917 Mission? Open for lunch Friday, Sat. and Sun. and every day for dinner. How was the calamari for $12? Two other locations over the hill. They use a fat for frying supposedly more heart-friendly than olive oil. No fat even more friendly?
Go to http://www.hawgsseafood.comHawgs Seafood
About a half hour from Aptos, experience the Santa Cruz County redwood forest eco-system in a new way – moving through it in the air. Sat. for $80 a person. Less for groups.
Redwood Canopy Tours
Experience the Santa Cruz redwood forest while moving through the air? Recently in Matzalan, Mexico I saw two in a blue baloon floating in the sky over the water with a boat with a driver pulling the baloon. Nice way to experience the beach and ocean. But only the driver to control the movement of the baloon. And then I saw the baloon crash into a tree and land on top of an RV. All the boats with baloons scattered. Disappeared. A few days later the boats and baloons returned to the beach. And, tourists again climbed on board. Not me.
Safety standards in the US are more rigorous than Mexico I believe. Still, this adventure is not for people who avoid bridges at all costs or don’t like heights. It does look inviting.
They typically charge $80 for one. Wonder if they will take $100 for two? In Matzalan, Mexico you can barter how much to pay for a baloon ride. Still, I’m intrigued.
This is from the Mount Herman website:
“Are you ready for an adventure?
“Escape with us on a sojourn through one of California’s cool forest groves on Mount Hermon’s Redwood Canopy Tour. A network of cables and sky bridges give adventurers a unique opportunity, high above the forest floor, to experience the flora and fauna as never before. Mount Hermon’s Redwood Canopy Tour is an active participatory experience that takes you through this vibrant ecosystem from the perspective of a Peregrine!
“Upon arrival, you’ll be greeted by our friendly and experienced guides. Your safety is our top priority, so they will take you through a detailed equipment orientation before you’re fitted with your personal gear.
“Your adventure begins by traversing the first sky bridge and entering into a whole new world! The redwood forest masterpiece will come alive as never before as you travel across six zip lines and two sky bridges. From the observation platforms along the way you’ll enjoy amazing views as your guides point out otherwise unseen features of the redwood ecosystem unique to this region.
“For the adventurer as well as the contemplative nature lover, Mount Hermon’s Redwood Canopy Tour is perfect for families, couples and adults looking for something new or seeking a short escape from a fast-paced city life. Designed for guests who are in reasonably good health, our Canopy Eco-Tour brings to all a whole new world of discovery! Day-use Guest Tours – Currently offering a Redwood Ecology Program
“Every Saturday Morning, $80/Person
“Bring a group of eight and one goes free.”
If you go on the Canopy Tour, let us know what you think of the experience. Safe? Worth the price?
Thinking about the blue baloon that fell from the sky in Matzalan, Mexico, can one walk the paths on the grounds at Mount Herman and have a picnic there? Without paying $80 a pop?
Go to http:www.mounttherman.org/other-programs/canopy-toursMount Herman
Only 200 yards separated the pirates from the destroyer. The Captain jumped into the water and started swimming. That would be the ideal time for the Navy to protect the Captain by shooting the pirates. Why idle? Was the ship taking orders from Hilary Clinton? Does what Hilary say make sense? Listen to her laughter. Her facts are wrong. Go to Death by 1000 Paper Cuts for more discussion. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii_c3B5AasI[/youtube][youtube]http://www.freedomOK.net/wordpress [/youtube]
California Tax Revolt has lots of bumper stickers etc. Go California Tax Revolt
Pirates still hold the captain hostage 200 miles off coast of Somalia in international waters. The captain jumped overboard and swam. He was hauled back. Any ideas what our government should do? Send your message to the White House web site www.whitehouse.gov/contact/White House
Never been there? People come from all over the world – especially from India – to experience the mystery and beauty. Bring a picnic. Go Mystery Spot.
Monterey Bay Forum, Aptos, CA reprints from OPINION page of Santa Cruz Sentinel, April 9, 2009
Concerning the recent excessive increases in County govt. pay:
Tom Tehmklhl of LaSelva Beach: “County pay raises on par with AIG debacle. What happened to the concept of pay for performance?”
Bengie Canepa, Santa Cruz: “It is insane when workers are being laid off and these top-tier government employees are being compensated like this when the county projects a $25 million deficit for 2009-2010. The collapse of the real extate market and associated taxes are listed as main reasons for deficit. …salaries should decrease or freeze when taxes used to fund these positions decrease…”
Bob Willig, Felton: “The only force available is to vote the people out only to have the next batch as bad.”
Monterey Bay Forum in Aptos, CA 831 688-6002 reprints from American Thinker
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]April 09, 2009
Obama doubles down on the bow to the Saudi King
By Thomas Lifson
The White House is denying that President Obama bowed before the Saudi King, committing a major mistake. Ben Smith of Politico reports:
“It wasn’t a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he’s taller than King Abdullah,” said an Obama aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Michael Goldfarb summed up the problem for Obama succinctly in the Weekly Standard:
So who you going to believe — Barack Obama or your lying eyes?
The story is officially “in play” now that the White House has spoken, albeit from an anonymous source. American citizens are implicitly asked to view the demi-prostration and decide for themselves. The evidence simply does not support the official position of the Obama administration.
Here is a 13 second clip of the bow:
Please note the following two freeze frames, which expose the White House spokesman as a liar:
(source)
Another freeze frame, also showing that the President was not performing a two-handed handshake
(source)
So why would the White House lie, instead of just admitting that the President made a gaffe? Well, for one thing, history teaches us that bows between official representatives of nations are a rather serious matter.
We live in an age of a Clash of Civilizations (in Samuel Huntington’s words), with many in the Islamic world convinced that Western Civilization, ascendant for the last few centuries, is about to be humbled by Islam, the once and future dominant force in the world. No Caliph exists today as head of the entire Islamic world, but the number two slot is amply occupied by King Abdullah, as guardian of Mecca and Medina, Islam’s two holiest cities.
Over three hundred years ago, another world civilization accustomed to being the largest and richest on earth, faced a challenge which turned into a clash, which turned into a fall. China, the Middle Kingdom, unquestioned as the dominant nation of East Asia, came into regular contact with the Western nations. At the time, the only pattern of diplomatic relations recognized by the Son of Heaven (China’s emperor) and his court was that of tributary emissaries to the Middle Kingdom. Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and the other nations of East Asia understood and accepted that China was dominant, and when their representatives came to Beijing, they performed the required prostration acknowledging their (and their rulers’) subordinate place in the pecking order. They also brought “gifts” to the Son of Heaven, and were sent home with “gifts” from the Imperial Court, amounting to trade, disguised as nothing so crass as commerce, but rather as a sign of supplication from them and benevolence from the Emperor.
In plain English, if you wanted to be received and recognized as legitimate at the Imperial Court, you had better bow down before the Emperor in a kow tow (å©é ), prostrating oneself before the glorious ruler, and touching the head to the floor.
This was not an idle matter of protocol, and everyone knew it, especially the emissaries of European rulers who made their way to Beijing, in search of trade relations: tea, silk, porcelain, and other products of China that were of finer quality than anything available elsewhere.
One of the most famous incidents in China’s history of contact with the West occurred in 1793, when the Earl of Macartney came to Beijing as an emissary of the King of England, carried to Tientsin (the port city for Beijing) on a warship. The Chinese officials deemed the presents he brought to the Emperor from King George III as “tribute”, putting the Macartney mission in the context of traditional tribute relatons.
But when it came to the kow tow, Macartney refused. In the words of the acknowledged dean of American China historians, the late John K. Fairbank of Harvard,
[Court officials] urged Macartney to practice the performance of the kowtow. This he stoutly refused to do, and he only went down on one knee before the Chien-lung [the Emperor], as he would have done to his own sovereign. The emperor issued an edict commending King George III for his “respectful spirit of submission” but pointing out that “our celestial empire possesses all things in prolific abundance”…
Ben Smith noted a somewhat analogous response from Saudi Arabia, following the fateful bow:
Interestingly, a columnist in the Saudi-backed Arabic paper Asharq Alawsat also took the gesture as a bow and appreciated the move.
“Obama wished to demonstrate his respect and appreciation of the personality of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, who has made one of the most important calls in the modern era, namely the call for inter-faith and inter-cultural dialogue to defuse the hatred, conflict and wars,” wrote the columnist, Muhammah Diyab.
Alas for the Son of Heaven and his nation, the Opium War followed a few years after the demi-prostration of the British envoy, and it was established that China was subordinate to the cannons, guns, and warships of the Western powers, who proceeded to help themselves to China’s wealth, sending opium [over China’s feeble objections] in return for what they desired.
President Obama voluntarily bent his knee and bowed his head before the most important ruler in the Islamic world. Let us hope that it does not require a war to right this insult to American sovereignty.
Thomas Lifson is editor and publisher of American Thinker. He has taught courses on East Asia at Harvard and Columbia Universities. To see more articles go to American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com
