IMG_3071_Minot, North Dakota, USA by D. Alberto on Flickr.

States that I have visited.

Washington DC, United States

IMG_3531_Virginia Snow by D. Alberto on Flickr.

_MG_2065_Las Vegas, NV by D. Alberto on Flickr.

IMG_3071_Minot, North Dakota, USA by D. Alberto on Flickr.

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not a tourist, but i had to :)

not a tourist, but i had to :)

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Viva! by i ea? s?ars on Flickr.

Shopping Mall on Flickr.A new shopping mall in Summerlin, Nevada...

sin título by selfnonself on Flickr.

Vegas Strip Bellagio to Palazzo on Flickr.

The Vegas Strip from Bellagio to Palazzo as seen from Rampart Casino in Summerlin, Nevada. June 2011.

Hey anyone who just might read this, please take a moment out of your day to just remember and give thanks to all those soldiers who defended are country, died defending our country, and are still defending our country.

Whether or not you support the war, they still are fighting for everyone here in the great USA and without them who knows where we would?

Freedom is not free…

Shopping Mall on Flickr.

A new shopping mall in Summerlin, Nevada June 2011.

Lets Talk About America

The United States of America. It’s almost her birthday, and that’s got me thinking about why we still make the effort to celebrate it.

I’ve spent more time on the internet than I’d care to admit, and over the last decade or so I’ve noticed that anytime we’re talking about the USA, as an American you tend to get a lot of digital eye rolls (and flat-out hostility) from both outside and inside the country. Honestly, I live here; don’t you think I already know we’ve got problems?

(I think most competent people, here or anywhere, will admit that we’ve made some mistakes in the past - little ones, big ones, and even mistakes of the colossal, unforgivable nature. But let’s just let that rabbit hole go for tonight.)

Let’s start with what we’ve got going on now. We Americans, collectively, often get so caught up in ourselves and our little daily bubble of “me me me” that we tend to ignore everything else out there. And, for the most part, we get away with that. Even now, here I sit, in my comfortable spare bedroom sucking enough energy to power overhead lighting, two computers, a printer, and air conditioning. I’m drinking filtered tap-water from a plastic bottle. My husband is at work, and I’m still waiting to start my new job after finishing a second college degree. Tomorrow morning, I’ll probably wake up, shower, put on new shoes, and drive in my car to the church of my choosing. Now I know this doesn’t make me rich and famous and amazing – really, even by Appalachian standards, we’re probably a bit on the poor side at the moment. But I figure that puts me in a better position than a fairly large portion of the world’s population, in some respects. I feel pretty comfortable in my assumption that right now, somewhere in the world (heck, within a two-mile radius of where I sit), there’s a kid who’s trying to go to sleep in old clothes, on a crap bed, without reliable amenities, who didn’t get to eat any dinner because they just couldn’t get it together today. And that kid is probably doing better than thousands of others out there.

And here I am, not doing a thing about it.

So I figure that’s pretty much what everyone sees when they get down on America. And you’re well within your rights to do so. And we probably need a kick in the rear every now and then to try to keep us culturally on track.

But that’s only part of the story. When we get to the 4^th of July, we don’t “celebrate” all our problems. I think it’s more like this: We celebrate the belief that we can make our own choices. We celebrate the belief - the hope - that in the United States of America we have a chance (and a willingness) to make things better.

This brings me to an explanation of some of my posts for the next few days. I’ll be doing a sort-of “tribute” to the USA. Or maybe it’s more like: I’ll be posting a personal journey of mine, as I try to work out my understanding of what it means to be an American. What’s worth fighting for in this country. The things we may have done right.

So, for the next week, let’s talk about America.

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Between Shit and Piss We Are Born - Anaal Nathrakh

Quality metal here. I love the clean vocals when the chorus kicks in, reminds me of Strapping Young Lad.

I really like the United Kingdom’s nutrition labels. It simply color codes things as healthy, moderately healthy and unhealthy. It’s simple, quick and intuitive.

Unfortunately, the US has a pretty powerful food lobby that would almost certainly block anything this simple, but there’s little doubt that we need a new way to label the nutritional value (or lack there of) in our foods.

(via GOOD)

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CIA Assassination, Regime Change, Mass Murder and Saddam

Another very good example of a CIA-organized “regime change” was a coup in 1963 that employed political assassination, mass imprisonment, torture and murder.  This was the military coup that first brought Saddam Hussein’s beloved Ba’ath Party to power in Iraq. At the time, Richard Helms was Director for Plans at the CIA. That is the top CIA position responsible for covert actions, like organizing coups.  Helms served in that capacity until 1966, when he was made Director. In the quotations collected below, the name of the leader who was assassinated is spelled variously as Qasim, Qassim and Kassem.  But, however you spell his name, when he took power in a popularly-backed coup in 1958, he certainly got recognized in Washington.  He carried out such anti-American and anti-corporatist policies as starting the process of nationalizing foreign oil companies in Iraq, withdrawing Iraq from the US-initiated right-wing Baghdad Pact (which included another military-run, US-puppet state, i.e., Pakistan) and decriminalizing the Iraqi Communist Party. Despite these actions, and more likely because of them, he was Iraq’s most popular leader.  He had to go! In 1959, there was a failed assassination attempt on Qasim. The failed assassin was none other than a young Saddam Hussein. In 1963, a CIA-organized coup did successfully assassinate Qasim and Saddam’s Ba’ath Party came to power for the first time.  Saddam returned from exile in Egypt and took up the key post as head of Iraq’s secret service. The CIA then provided the new pliant, Iraqi regime with the names of thousands of communists, and other leftist activists and organizers. Thousands of these supporters of Qasim and his policies were soon dead in a rampage of mass murder carried out by the CIA’s close friends in Iraq. Iraq is once again a target of US “regime change.” Despite that, precious little is being said by the corporate media about how the CIA aided and abetted political assassination, regime change and mass murder, all in the name of putting Saddam’s Ba’ath power into power for the first time in Iraq. One thing is for sure, the US will find it much harder to remove the Ba’ath Party from power in Iraq than they did putting them in power back in 1963.  If more people knew about this diabolical history, they just might not be so inclined to trust the US in its current efforts to execute “regime change” in Iraq. - Richard Sanders

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“Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution is pretty simple. It says, ‘Raise an army.’ It says absolutely nothing about race, colour, creed, sexual orientation. You all joined for a reason: to serve. To protect our nation, right? How dare we, then, exclude a group of people who want to do the same thing you do right now, something that is honourable and noble? Right? Get over it. We’re magnificent, we’re going to continue to be. … Let’s just move on, treat everyone with firmness, fairness, dignity, compassion and respect. Let’s be Marines.”

- Sergeant Major Michael Barrett, US Marine, on the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’

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I think I’m done with England for now…

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I never usually ask for people to reblog my things but I feel this is important and could potentially help people/save lives if it gets spread around.

I created a page which will always be perma-linked on my blog homepage.

It’s a list of helplines for America, UK and ROI. It also includes a website for International Suicide Helplines.

http://www.timeofthemoon.tumblr.com/helplines

Please do not hesitate to contact any of these numbers if you or someone you know is in danger, need of support, or just someone to talk to. Please remember that you are never a waste of these peoples’ time, they are there to help you. You are always worth it, and it is better to be safe than sorry. ?

(Also, I’m aware that there is already a similar post going around, but it only provides numbers for the USA. I felt the UK, ROI and an International alternative needed to be provided too)

Edinburgh.

Japanese lithograph, probably showing the Japanese fighting German troops during the conquest of the German colony Tsingtao, China between 13 September and 7 November 1914. - Shobido & Co., Tokyo

The Siege of Tsingtao was the attack on the German-controlled port of Tsingtao (now Qingdao) China during World War I by Imperial Japan and the United Kingdom.

Naval Operations:
17 October 1914 - 7 November 1914
Siege:
31 October 1914 – 7 November 1914

Allied victory

more on wiki

Melrose Abbey (founded 1136 A.D.), and the Eildon Hills, Melrose, The Scottish Borders

United Kingdom! LOVE ?

Royal Pavilion, Brighton.

Royal Crescent, Bath.

:)