Free Republic

These are the folks that produce videos and stuff for MoveOn.org, Ruckus Society, etc.

Here is a link to their list of clients.

I am sure they would not mind a little extra bandwidth.

For video editors with extra time: I have a copy of the video, please freepmail me to pass along a copy

Not photoshopped

ping

Here is an action surrounding 'Survivor China":

Wow

Remember the phrase, "I may not agree with what you are saying, but I support your right to say it."
After reading some of the postings in this thread, I would imagine that the hatred is reciprocated.
What a vicious cycle.

I sent a letter to the address provided. I doubt I will receive a response, but everyone should put a little something in his email Inbox.

llewelly@wfu.edu

Dear John Llewellyn,
Had you asked me how it was when I returned, I would have to say that I didn't experience any spitting, but then I was in civilian clothes and as a fleet sailor stationed in Iceland, I didn't look like I was in the military.

I volunteered in August 1974 to serve my country and when I reached my first training station after boot camp we were warned to wear civilian clothes and wear a hat while off the base in the US. The only time I ever violated that unwritten rule was at home in Clearwater, Florida in 1975. They spit at me, punched and tried to kick me as I passed by. They also called me a baby-killer.

As a recent graduate of Class A school at the tender age of 18, I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about and dismissed it as aberrant behavior, I also didn't violate the 'rule' again. Even when I was married in 1977. By the time I got out of the service in 1980, I had completely forgotten about the incident.

In the late 90s I was invited to participate in a training program in my home state and speak with some like-minded individuals engaged in political activities. Allow me quickly add that I am no longer engaged in any political activities. After two days of exposure to these folks, I remembered what had happened. It wasn't troubling me, I just chalked it up to their ignorance and the real blame belongs to those that lied to them.

Now maybe it would be nice to soothe the wounds that apparently were ripped open during the latest presidential campaign and gloss over what really happened last week. One candidate held his medals up high and proclaimed himself a hero in public. I respect everyone that serves and served, it took(takes) a lot of guts just to get on the plane. That being said, there are unanswered allegations of illicit behavior. Well, not really unanswered, the candidate admits that he did these things and there are copies of it on the internet. I bet all the negativity about the current president could not drive the voters to cast a ballot for a man that embodied the image of the propagandist that turned Americans against Americans. Maybe if he had apologized for painting the lot of us with such a broad vitriolic brush, some could have forgiven him. Another maybe would have been for him to release his complete military records by filling out Form 180, instead of just the portions he wanted people to see. That probably made more than a few people uneasy, proclaiming oneself a hero and yet be unwilling to provide open access to the records.

Getting back off the rant, there are people in the US that loathe the military and use their first amendment rights to express these thoughts in many mediums. I once heard on a radio show that, "the only reason they join is to kill brown people," referring to enlistees. At demonstrations, people hold signs that say "We support our troops when they shoot their officers." And how many internet websites proclaim much the same ? I just checked Google and for the terms 'US military baby-killer' and the results say there are 27,700 pages.

Now I do not care one way or the other whether these folks get a life, but to sweep this under the carpet is to gloss it over and leave the wound festering. I know in my heart that my service was honorable as is the case for the vast majority of veterans and their families.

Thank you for your time and attention,

Maybe I missed something, but has this been discussed?
I am sure it will provide hours of fun and happiness for the DUers, but the possibility exists and I think that it would be a bad thing for the USA.
That will not stop me from having my letter into my Representative's inbox on the day he is sworn into office.

In my rush to include yet another document to the vast repertoire of knowledge and research in the Freeper archives, I overlooked the all important warning, may an unclean Yak sit on my twinkies.

I did visit his home page and some of the services he offers might be intriguing, for instance:

Executive Mentoring consultations enhance your self-awareness and help you:

• define positive values
• use power to serve others
• design unique leadership style
• develop creativity and intuition
• understand your mind and emotions
• transform negative patterns and habits
• open channels of authentic self-expression
• release blocked energy for creative activity
• improve communication and relationship skills
• discover balance and equanimity within change
• resolve personal problems, confusion, and conflicts.

http://www.robrabbin.com/index.htm

Of course, maybe some people need this, but sure seems like mind-programming to me.

Since they asked for a wide audience, why not ?

Thank you for your kind words.
I posted the original story here.

I visited in February and took some pictures of the closed Splendid China and they can be seen here.

Have a great day,
kgg

BTW, there is a similar theme park just outside of Houston.

They both have Chinese exhibits, but the park in Houston is not run by a working organization of the State Council of the PRC.

I'm curious about the timing, though - if it closed at the end of 2003, why are we hearing about it four months later? Is this day marking some particular event?

As mentioned in the article, this was an all-volunteer effort. Day jobs sometimes get in the way and life takes its twists and turns.

What's going to happen to the park now? Is it just padlocked or can morbid curiosity seekers sneak in?

I have visited the park since they have closed. I have read where some people have snuck in, but I would not make that suggestion to anyone. I have some pictures of that last visit here.

have a great day,
kgg

in my humble opinion the final straw (for closing the park) was the transformation of Splendid China. Once just an element of Chinese government propaganda, it became an organizing tool for the opposition to their ignoble rule.

I guess it all is summed up by this statement.
How does one write about ten years of effort and fit it into a 700-800 word OpEd ?

kgg

What was she thinking ?

Ms. Qi Xiaoxia, identified as "the alternate representative of the Chinese delegation to the CHR session," uttered these words according to Xinhua (the mouthpiece of the government of the Peoples Republic of China):

"The development of post-war international relations shows that only when the people of a country are entirely free from the colonial rule and foreign occupation can they truly become the masters of their own country and enjoy various human rights and fundamental freedoms,"

With regards to East Turkestan, Southern Mongolia, Tibet and Manchuria, former countries under a foreign (Chinese) occupation and suffering under colonial (Chinese) rule, a Chinese government statement has never been more accurate.

The Chinese government's apparent willingness to correct their past misdeeds and end their colonial rule over their non-Chinese citizens is heart-warming and provides hope for the future stability of the entire planet. Ms. Qi is to be commended for her forthright statement, but actions speak louder than words. When the Chinese military occupation forces are withdrawn and real self-determination is rendered into fact, then the supposed concern expressed by the Chinese government spokesperson will be believed.

For freedom !

I was an eighteen year old sailor in my Cracker Jacks (right after they were allowed as a uniform again) on leave at home after A school. I did not serve in Viet Nam, but I volunteered in October 1974 at the age of 17.
I attempted to walk across a room at a local drinking establishment when much to my dismay, I was pushed, punched and even spit on by more than a few folks. I even heard 'baby-killer'. Needless to say, I exited by the closest door rather than spend the night in jail. I was only six months or so out of boot camp, so I could have hurt the majority of them, but it wasn't worth it.

More than a few years later when I attended a Ruckus training session, I saw a whole bunch of the same kind of folks.

After a lot of thought, these people really didn't have a clue as to my service record. I was just a uniform that they struck out at. I really don't blame them, just the people that lied to them and the ones who repeat it while knowing the truth.

kgg

I caught an hour long TV documentary on the investigation. The name escapes me, but I believe it has Tibet and/or Lama in the title. It was on one of the History or Discovery channels a couple of months ago. (maybe they hadn't watched the same show or they might not have claimed 'exclusivity.')

They looked at many aspects of what his life would have been like. Not sure that I would have made the same choices he did.

Please take the opportunity to read Sec. Powell's words as he said them and in context. It only takes a couple of minutes to visit the State Department website and look it up.

QUESTION: On the subject of weapons of mass destruction, Mr. Secretary, one of the other conclusions of that report was that there was no evidence of a connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida and that there was no evidence of a likelihood that he would transfer weapons to al-Qaida.

What do you think about that, looking back? And I know that, you know, hindsight is 20/20, but to think back --

SECRETARY POWELL: My presen --

QUESTION: Do you think that there were ways other than war to have handled this threat and that the -- that it was not an imminent threat to the United States?

SECRETARY POWELL: My presentation on the 5th of February when I talked to this issue made it clear that we had seen some links and connections to terrorist organizations over time, and I focused on one particular case, Zawahiri*, and I think that was a pretty solid case.

*Correction: "...and I focused on one particular case, Zarqawi,..."

There is not -- you know, I have not seen smoking-gun, concrete evidence about the connection, but I think the possibility of such connections did exist and it was prudent to consider them at the time that we did.

Were there other ways to solve this problem? I think the President gave the international community every opportunity to solve this problem another way. The international community gave the Iraqis 12 years to solve this problem any other way.

The President took the case to the international community and said: For 12 years, you have been defied. What are you going to do now? It's time for us to act.

And the President, after a reasonable period of time -- inspectors were still being thwarted, we got an incorrect, ridiculous declaration from the Iraqi Government in response to Resolution 1441 -- and after waiting a sufficient period of time, the President decided he had to act because he believed that whatever the size of the stockpile, whatever one might think about it, he believed that the region was in danger, America was in danger, and he would act and he did act.

And he acted with a large number of countries who felt likewise, and he acted under the authority that we were absolutely sure we had because we negotiated it that way in UN Resolution 1441.

Part of: Secretary Powell's Press Conference
Secretary Colin L. Powell
Washington, DC
January 8, 2004