Man that pisses me off!

I don't think I'm prone to fits of anger, but some things just set me off. Two things that immediately come to mind are:

1. Berkeley, California

They don't call it "Bezerkely" for nuthin'. Not surprisingly, the Berkeley city council gave the Code Pink asshats a parking space out in front of the Marine Corps Officer Selection Office and in essence told them to go to town in trying to drive the Marines out of town. That's the funny thing about the anti-military types; they don't really know anything about the military. If they did, they would know the Marines don't give up ground.

Actually, that little stunt isn't what pisses me off. It's to be expected, and frankly, if Code Pink wants to protest, so be it. Not as the "useful idiots" of the Berkeley city council, mind you, but I think everyone should be given equal opportunity to speak their mind. Free speech--right on, man!

No, what pisses me off is the city council's response when the state legislature grabbed 'em by the financial short hairs and told them to knock it off. For example, take this statement made by Mayor Tom Bates.

I have heard from people all over the country regarding the action taken by the Berkeley City Council regarding the Marines recruiting center.

I bet you have.

Let me be absolutely clear that this is not about the men and women who are serving our country in our armed forces. I am a retired U.S. Army Captain and I respect the choice of those who are serving our country.

Translation: it's about the men and women serving in our armed forces--we're going to make it our mission to badger the few, the proud, the Marines who work in recruiting center into leaving Berkeley.

And, really, if you're so respectful of the choice to serve our country, why are you interfering with their ability to make this choice?

However, this community strongly opposes the war in Iraq and the foreign policy of the current administration. I believed from the beginning that this was an unjust, illegal, and immoral war of choice.

Yeah, whatever. Get in line.

A year ago, the U.S. Marines established a recruiting office within a few blocks of our local high school, community college and university. Since then, community members who oppose the war in Iraq have been exercising their free speech in protesting the presence of the Marine recruiters. Pro-war protestors have also attended to exercise their free speech rights.

That's fine and dandy, but you crossed a line, as you've been painfully made aware.

On January 28th, the Berkeley City Council took action to waive the permit fee for anti-war protestors one afternoon a week. Any group, whether pro- or anti- war, can obtain such a permit. In addition, the City Council indicated its desire for the Marine recruiting station, as a visible symbol of the war, to be relocated.

Pardon my skepticism, but somehow I doubt that. And since when is a recruiting station a "visible symbol of the war?" It's a visible symbol of the Marine Corp--the Marine Corps is not "the war," and it's that kind of 'logic' that makes nutjobs think it's ok to target "symbols."

I understand that there are people across the country that may not agree with this action but it is the Berkeley City Council's responsibility to represent the will of the people of Berkeley.

If the "will of the people" was to arrest the Marine recruiters as "war criminals," as the Code Pinkers like to call them, would you do that, Mayor Tom?

I also understand that the language proposed to the Council did not adequately differentiate our respect and support for those serving in the armed forced and our opposition to the Iraq war policy. I will be working with the Council to clarify that language at our next meeting.

Translation: please don't cut off our state and federal funding.

I hope that our country will end the war in Iraq soon and bring our troops home safely. We are truly fortunate to live in a country that can tolerate and accept a range of views and opinions.

Bullshit. If you were truly tolerant of the range of views and opinions in your 'fair' city, you wouldn't have given Code Pink a blank check to harass the Marines and their neighbors. The statement in total is disingenuous and the actions of Code Pink and the Berkeley city council are a blatant example of the utter hypocrisy of The Left.

However, my annoyance has been tempered somewhat by those stepping up to the plate to defend the Marines. I was most amused by this account. My favorite excerpts:

4:00 pm- Waterboarding time! WHoohoo! The moment ive been waiting for! They begin by talking about the waterboard and spewingout the usual propaganda how over 1000000 Iraqs died from being waterboarded by US Marines from this recruiting station. As they are going down their list of facts, it gets worse and worse. the embellished facts were so numerous, I couldnt keep up. They have this guy lay down on the board, which is correctly set up. They then announce that a military vet will perform the demonstration. He takes a dishcloth and a 1 ltr soda bottle cut lengthwise and hides the bottle under the dishcloth. he then sets the bottle/dishcloth on the guys face with the inside of the water bottle forming a protective pocket over the guys face and proceeds to pour water on the dishcloth. The guy being "boarded" begins to convulse and jerk and try to sit up but gets pushed back down by his pseudo-interrorgator. All the while the "interrorgator is yelling "are you going to answer my questions?" At this point I step into the circle and yell out in my best Marine bass tones. ."YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!!!!! The vet looks up at me and goes "oh yea, how would you know?" I smiled at him and told him very loudly so everyone could hear, to "take the plastic bottle away from under the dishcloth and then do it!" This immediately draws a response from the guy laying on the board! He jumps up and yells out, "its just a safe demonstration of how it works!!!!" This obviously gets everyones attention including a few passerby's who begin to laugh uncontrollably! Apparently this wasnt the response that they was hoping for and decided that I should at this point become the focal point of their anger...

5:15 pm- I finally get to corner the veteran who performed the waterboarding demonstration. I ask him who he was with unitwise, mos, and his dates. His response was he was with 663rd Army in Panama, (see, this for the 663rd http://www.setaf.army.mil/663/history.htm) he was a radio operator, during his tours of early 1987 to late 1990 when he earned himself a silver star there in Desert Storm. So I asked him if he saw alot of action down there in Panama, to which he replied, "no, nothing happened the entire time I was down there". This immediately began to sound klaxons with my internal B.S. meter as I remember being in Panama in 1989 when we had to deal with Noriega. So I decided to press the subject a little bit farther and ask him where he learned the waterboarding technique then. He informed me that it was standard technique for SOF/Delta guys down there. So immediately I went into my "oh, so you went to JPAO (Joint Public Affairs Office) for your 922alpha certification ( Food Service Specialist and Food Service Technician MOS 92G / 922A.) then I assume, howd you like it?" His response was . ."it was hard, but I was a experienced Staff Nco". At this point I stated what JPAO/922a was and he should be ashamed of himself impersonating a military veteran.

Now on a more personal note...

2. Kitaros

This is (was) one of favorite restaurants. Because I'm lazy, I'll just do a copy & paste of my new and improved review.

So it's Valentine's Day and the place is packed, as you expect just about every restaurant to be. Unfortunately, law school recognizes neither love nor joy (nor hunger, for that matter) so I was unable to partake in the ritual that is Valentine's Day evening at a restaurant. But, I decided that I could do the next best thing and bring Kitaro's home. So, I find a spot at the bar, as is my custom, and fill out my sushi order only to be told they won't do carry-out because they're "too busy." Excuse me?! I could sit there at the bar, sip a Sapporro and have them serve me sushi rolls to the tune of $30, plus the cost of the beer and tip, but they won't serve me those same sushi rolls in a to-go container? I'm still paying $30 for sushi. I'm still buying a beer and paying a tip. The only difference is that I clear my spot at the bar a whole lot faster, making room for another paying customer who would otherwise leave because the place is packed. The junior associate deputy probationary bartender was very nice in light of my incredulity and asked the real bartender if this was, in fact, the policy. She even went so far as to wander off to find a manager, but such efforts are pointless. Any manager who comes up with such a ridiculously illogical policy in the first place isn't going to change it in the face of an annoyed regular, who will no longer be a regular. As the saying goes, "you can't fix stupid."

Ahh... I feel much better.