I spent 19 months working as a DOD contractor in the Middle Eastern country of Qatar. Being an unarmed American working for the DOD in an Arab country, I was more than a little paranoid of being kidnapped. Reading this article kind of brought the whole thing home for me again.

http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/03/20/1844071.aspx

For the most part, I was safe, as Qatar is one of those “moderate” countries trying to appear more modern to the Western world. They see the writing on the wall. Their oil and natural gas reserves are a finite resource so they’re trying to become like the Arabic French Riviera. The Emir is trying to modernize it every single day. It was however, an Arab country, the headquarters of Al Jazzeera is based there, and my job was a very sensitive one. I worked with hundreds of Arab, Assyrian, Palestinian, Egyptian, Iraqi, Kurdish, Somali and Etiopian linguists every single day. Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Agnostic, Atheist and a couple Scientologists. I travelled out into the city of Doha frequently.

I had a couple things going for me. For one thing, I look like everyone over there. I could blend into a crowd (unless I was taking some R&R guys out or going out with my co-workers). I didn’t wear a Thob, but neither did every local over there. What is astounding is how everyone looks like they sprouted from my family tree (or vice versa).

I wasn’t completely unarmed. I ALWAYS carry a nice 3” knife with a locking Tanto blade I can open with a flick of my wrist (hold the Rican jokes please). Plus, I’ve been a training martial artist for almost 37 years. Ironically, although invaluable, my training is not completely essential for survival.

My most powerful weapon was the one permanently imbedded between my ears. What I did, that I consider my best “preventive” self-defense system was to create what Tony Blauer (Blauer Tactical Systems) calls a “Mission Directive” in my head. It’s somewhat specific. Mine went something like this:

“If I am under threat of a kidnapping attempt I will fight to the death. I will become such an impossible victim that my kidnappers will be forced to kill me on the spot rather than take me to some undisclosed location and film me while decapitating me and putting the film on the internet for my children to see. I will fight them until I am dead or unconscious and when I regain consciousness I will fight again. Survival and escape are secondary. Primary is to NOT be taken.”

I repeated this like a mantra every single day. When I awoke and went to work, and every time I left the base. When I remembered I would repeat it again.

For those cringing and thinking this is an extremely paranoid way to live I’m here to tell you it is the opposite. It’s very empowering. I have several mission directives here at home. No matter where I am. What they do is prepare you to leap into action without hesitation when a violent attack begins. It removes that initial few precious seconds of hesitation where most victims find themselves either thinking or even uttering out loud “I can’t believe this is happening to me!” It’s like programming your hard drive with a mental directive to act NOW!

Even though in the above directive survival and escape were “secondary”, my death was not a foregone conclusion in my mind. I created scenarios where I killed every single one of them. I swapped them continuously; in a restaurant, on the street, in the mall, in the Suqs, at the gate, in a cab, in a car, driving, passenger etc. etc. Even at the Embassy surrounded by armed Marines. I kept them simple knowing that anything I did would be under an extraordinary amount of stress and I would be highly adrenalized. Why does that matter? Loss of fine motor skills. I always knew where the escape routes were and where anything I could use as a weapon was. You’d be amazed how little time this takes. I knew the city like the back of my hand and could drive over there like a local.

Situational/geographical awareness are important. Physical skills are also important, but you’re kind of stuck with the physical frame you have and the training you’ve allowed yourself. Not everyone’s gonna be Bruce Lee or Rambo. The mindset I’m describing however, is invaluable! It manifests itself in the way you carry yourself physically and sends subconscious messages to everyone around you, human and animal. You stop walking and acting like prey.

Does that mean that because of my mental state a potential kidnapper sized me up and decided I was “too much trouble”? My theory is the same for a lunatic islamist as it is for a potential mugger. Yes. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the picture above and others they have kidnapped and tell me what they have in common? More importantly than how they perceived me, it was me training myself for how I was going to react. There would be no pleas to my country to “Help me please!” Whether I was sized up by a criminal or a terrorist are irrelevant to me.

It’s never a wasted effort no matter where you are. Ask the family of that pastor that was shot and killed on the altar of his church a couple of Sundays ago. For those who say there was nothing he could do, that’s where you’re wrong. He had time to deflect the first bullet with his bible, therefore he had time to spring into action. It was the inaction that allowed the gunman to eventually find his mark with a bullet. This is not meant as criticism of the pastor as he reacted like the vast majority of the population will react in an incongruous sudden violent act. They simply have no mental training for it. Just so you know, I also have a mission directive in church.

In the end, I suppose the correct answer is, I’ll never know. I intend to keep it that way.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You may have many disagreements with President Bush on his policies, his decisions as president, his personal beliefs etc. You may be one of the hordes of sheep who repeat the MSM and late night comedian mantras about how the former president is just not that smart. Or the other side that he’s a megalomaniacal genius who manipulated the world. All those I can grant you. But the one thing that cannot be disputed is the man’s grace under fire.

This president has been one of the most maligned in at least my lifetime. I’ve never seen such venom spewed at one man in the course of eight years in very public forums by very prominent people. Not once have I ever heard the president publicly retaliate or respond in kind. Personally I don’t know how he does it. He may have a shouting closet in his house or he may just leave it out on the trail in one of his 100 degree plus 5 mile runs in Texas. In any case, he has shown more class than some of those who are supposedly more “sophisticated” than he (I recall John Kerry stating how he couldn’t believe he was getting beat by this “idiot”). Here’s his latest public statement about President Obama at his first public speech since leaving the White House:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090318/ap_on_re_ca/canada_bush_first_speech_20

Recently there was yet another adolescent moment with President Obama’s press secretary. This guy (Gibbs) can’t talk without sounding like the freshman that keeps getting thrown into a locker at school. He insulted the former Vice President who had answered a journalists question with his honest opinion. Clearly Cheney’s answer was critical of the present administration, but it was also directed at the issues. Gibb decided to thumb his nose at Cheney (who has more time on the commode than Gibb has in government) like a juvenile dolt. Cheney is no Bush and is known for his less than gracious responses to criticism, but President Obama’s press secretary is starting to sound like Rush Limbaugh with half the IQ. Point is, we have serious problems that need to be dealt with by serious people. They’re going to have to grow a couple more layers of skin if they expect to survive. If they’re this thin skinned at this stage of the game I can’t imagine them withstanding the criticism George Bush had to endure.

Their only solution would have to be Achmed the Dead Suicide Bomber’s response,

“Silence! I keeeel you!”

So, things are not as bad NOW as people think they are and things were not as good THEN as people thought? Does anyone but me feel like we’re playing a game of three card monte?

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/12/obama-declares-economic-crisis-bad-think/

I don’t necessarily have a problem with the President delivering an optimistic message to the country. It’s in my nature to be one of those annoyingly upbeat guys. People ask me how I’m doing and I usually say “Fabulous! Couldn’t be better if I were twins.” And the market/economy being driven by consumer confidence, I believe it is the president’s job to stay positive and deliver a positive message.

But how convenient for the president that things “aren’t as bad NOW, and weren’t as good THEN.” I’m sure if we were in the campaign season still it would be doom and gloom 24/7. Things wouldn’t be “bad”, they’d be CATASTROPHIC! And when the Consumer Index, GNP, and the market were up, it wasn’t as good as we thought.

I’ve been paying attention to Barrack Obama’s rise in politics since the buzz started about this “charismatic state senator”. The one universal thing that has bothered me since then and continues to bother me still is how I feel like I’m constantly being hustled by this guy.

Worse yet, I’ve watched him ascend to the presidency by running on a campaign of bromides and platitudes completely lacking in substance that people simply swoon over. Or get “tingles running up their legs”. I still don’t know how he got there. Scratch that, I know how he got there but it’s still staggering to me how we elected someone with no record to speak of, a highly questionable past and unresolved doubts about qualifications.

I’m not bitter. My attitude with this guy is the same as it was with Clinton. Okay, you got in, now get your arse to work. So Clinton’s first windmill was ensuring gays could serve openly in the military. Obama can’t seem to staff his administration and the stock market has plunged faster in this new administration than it has in 90 years! Not that he cares about that, since he believes the stock market ups and downs are just a thang. He’s spending my money like a drunken sailor on shore leave.

He has gone back on most of his major campaign promises. Not that I have a problem with that as I thought they were insane, but those were the things his base used as justification for his election (or coronation as it were). Unless you were black. Then you just elected him because he was black. Okay, so did some white people.

It doesn’t seem to matter what he says or does, he still gets a pass from the MSM. Not surprisingly so since they carry the lion’s share of the credit for getting him elected. They’d have to admit that they’d been bamboozled if they want to go after him.

As much as I detested everything Clinton stood for I used to admire his Teflon coating. Nothing seemed to stick to him. It seems I gave him too much credit. It wasn’t Clinton necessarily, but the generosity of the media that ascended him to bulletproof status. The reason I say this is because as soon as his wife started running against the newly anointed one, Bill couldn’t seem to get anything right. He went from Superman to Bozo the clown. He was the same guy, but now everything he said or did seemed to be a major faux pas. I even remember reading somewhere an analysis of Bill during the campaign that seemed to wonder what happened to him. It even floated the theory that his quadruple bypass had affected his judgment somehow. How convenient. Wish I could remember the reporter and the source.

In the art of the plausible, subterfuge and sleight of hand are most often the modus operandi. I get that. I have a healthy dose of skeptical cynicism. But is it too much to ask though that these people refrain from insulting my intelligence? I mean c’mon, really. I’m not that smart.

It’s been a while since I’ve done the Stupid Celebrity Quotes blog. Not because there’s a paucity of material. I’ve simply been focused on other things. In fact, I haven’t been blogging this prolifically in a while on any subject. So after clicking on one stupid quote, I stumbled on a treasure chest!

The whole fiasco of that Virginia State Senator wanting to ban Barbie produced a bountiful feast of dimwittiness! Chief among them from Khloe (with a K) Kardashian, one of those “celebrities” who is famous for nothing but being famous. Here’s her quote to the Senator.

“He can suck an egg, seriously. He's probably butt-ugly and always wanted a girlfriend that looked like Barbie but could never get one. People like that really annoy me."

Now I also agree that banning Barbie is a bit extreme and a really stupid move for a politician, but ya gotta love the vacuous bimbo with a forum.

On the same subject, from a supposed feminist and (of course) actress, of He’s Just Not That Into You,  Ginnifer (with a Gin) Goodwin:

"Barbie’s very empowering and my inner feminist is really very proud of our Barbie culture. She does have a rather tiny, unrealistic waist but she’s a doll and you know the thing about Barbie that I’ve always found very inspiring is she was fashionable and could have a fella if she wanted and sometimes she did, sometimes she didn’t and any career of her choosing. So if she was affluent it was due to her successes and especially for a doll that premiered in the 1950’s that’s pretty admirable that’s pretty incredible."

That is world class babbling right there! You can read the whole thing here:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,509097,00.html

And just so you don’t think I’m picking exclusively on the girls, this from one of my current favorite movie stars, The Rock, who believes in magic, but is also very logical. Here’s his “logic”:

"I can believe in the magic and the power of possibility but I am also pretty logical as well. A plus B most of the time equals C." Emphasis mine.

Have a fabulous weekend boys and girls!

I’ve been wondering how it’s possible under the current circumstances that anyone who voted for Obama is not riddled with buyer’s remorse. I keep hearing from these people that “he’s only been in office xx days! Give him a chance.”

A chance to do what?

Look, I didn’t run on the platform of change and hope. I didn’t run on the “getting our forces out of Iraq within xx months” and “creating xx jobs” blah blah blah. Yes, yes I know it’s all politicians rhetoric, but have you been paying attention? The economy has not leveled out man, it’s plunging like Monica on Bill! (I promise that’s the last time I use that metaphor). His solution, MASTERCARD, INTERNATIONAL! SO WORLDLY SO WELCOME….” Cha-ching, mo money, mo money.

Take the economy out of the equation and start listening to our enemies in Iran. They don’t seem to be under the Obamessiah’s spell. For those of you who thought electing someone named Barrack Hussein Obama would make the Islamo-lunatics start to like us, well, yeah, you’re morons. Don’t get me started on Russia and Venezuela.

Then there’s his administration picks. What’s the pre-requisite to be on a tax raising presidential staff? Avoid paying taxes.

We got an Attorney General calling America cowards for not having a dialogue on race? Where has this genius been? Frankly I’m getting tired of the damned race dialogue and I certainly don’t need the AG telling me how to conduct my personal life. Did he sip some of Obama’s holier-than-all-a-y’all juice?

Now I know the ultra leftist is ecstatic with Obama, no matter what he does. They love him for jess bein him. I know blacks are wearing him like a proud badge of accomplishment cause he representin. The people I’m wondering about are what many like to refer to as “centrists”. I pay attention, I read varied sources and I’m wondering where is their “whoops!” moment.

Then I came across Burt Prelusky’s column. He finally nailed it for me when he wrote:

“Frankly, I don’t know why anybody continues to hold Obama in high esteem. Maybe it’s like those women who marry charming fellows only to discover after the vows have been exchanged that he’s an abuser. In spite of the black eyes and split lips, the ladies are just too embarrassed to call the cops and have their friends and relatives discover what a dunderhead they’ve been.”

Now there’s a theory I can get behind. It’s one of those things I teach in my women’s self defense classes and seminars. Plus, there’s a relevant case in the media right now involving Rhianna and Chris Brown.

Here’s what I tell my students. If you’re in one of those relationships get out. Don’t beat yourself up for following your passion and ignoring your better instincts and the voice in your head. It’s not too late to get out of it, but you have to get out now, before he kills you.

Damn. I guess that doesn’t apply here. We got four more years.

It seems Medvedev has about as much respect for Obama as Kruschev had for Kennedy. As soon as I heard about the supposed “deal” being extended to Russia I could have almost anticipated their response. It seems Medvedev has about as much respect for Obama as Kruschev had for Kennedy. Of course Medvedev isn’t really running things is he? As soon as I heard about the supposed “deal” being extended to Russia this morning I already knew what Russia’s response would be.

Clearly Obama is no student of history. The only time we ever won anything with Russia was when we did not capitulate. Anyone heard of Ronald Reagan?

So now the Russians have seen the face of Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton and have concluded that Carter is back in office. Well done America for putting these two clowns in charge of our foreign policy. The media of course is clearly not emphasizing this gargantuan foreign policy failure. It would taint their golden boy wouldn’t it?

It is a classic strategic ploy. Find a black hat. A villain if you will.

I actually wrote about this same strategy when it was being employed in Puerto Rico. This strategy led to the closure of Naval Station Roosevelt Roads and the loss of $300,000,000 to the local economy. And for what? Not even the Puerto Ricans living on the island of Vieques can figure out how they were duped. I was given a half page editorial in the San Juan Star a few years back for my letter to the editor regarding this hoodwink. 

Here’s how it works. In order to avoid close scrutiny or to ensure the “masses” become a mob you can direct and manipulate, you have to identify a villain. Then you have to put the big black hat on him and point him out. 

In Puerto Rico, the big bad villain was the US Navy for having the audacity to train the Armed Forces with live fire exercises on the small island of Vieques. These exercises had been conducted for over 40 years and in those 40 years the only civilian casualty was a DOD security guard who decided to step outside a fortified observation tower to have a smoke. He became the symbol for the poor  downtrodden residents of the island whose economic and health situation was supposedly affected negatively by this big bad villain with the big ten gallon black hat; the US Navy. There is more to say about this situation, but the germane point is the strategy employed to get the Navy to shut down its operations which led to the base closure.  

For the past 8 years it has been somewhat easy for the Dems. Bush was the bearer of the black hat. However that currency wont buy anything anymore. For one thing, the Dems have had both houses of congress since 2006 and now have the presidency. Since Obama won the election the Dow has taken a plunge. Investor confidence being what it is, this downward spiral began last year when the president was elected. It dives even deeper every time the president speaks or does anything related to the economy.

Not that he cares. To him, the stock market indicators are like opinion polls. Wanna know why that’s about the dumbest thing he’s said? Because money talks and bull***t walks. Easy to express an opinion, but buying stocks requires someone to part with their hard earned dollar. Even an economic novice such as myself can figure that out.

So in the midst of this economic crisis what does the administration and the Dems decide to waste time on? Finding a black hat. Who would that be? Rush Limbaugh boys and girls. A private citizen. A radio talk show host. A non-elected official. Guess what else? A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN. A SELF MADE MAN. And an unabashed patriot whose love for this country is above reproach.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19596.html

Obama started pointing him out at least a month ago when he told the nation that the Republicans in Congress should stop taking their cues from Rush. We should be so lucky! Had they been taking their cues from Rush these last 8 years the Dems would not be in power.

It is about the biggest insult to our collective intelligence you can imagine. Why is it working? You tell me. I have my own theories.