Swift Terror

I love Hammer films. I recently found a DVD of Satanic Rites of Dracula, under the title of 'Vampire Brides of Dracula'. It was at a Meijer grocery store of all places for $4.99. Of course, the menus and extras were crap, but what the heck, same movie, uncut. Hopefully, they will continue to release more in the future, like Frankenstein & the Monster from Hell.

Mikey has a section in his uplifting new book where he tells people who are not wealthy that they have no chance to succeed and better themselves in America. He says they will always be struggling to pay the cable bill, etc. Of course you know who/what group he blames for his delusions. Way to look out for the common man, the little guy, Mikey. Nice going.

The movie is based on a popular series of fiction books, which have the Napoleonic Wars as their historical backdrop. The details and characters are ficticious. I just can't take Crowe seriously after South Park did a parody of him, but I'll give the movie a chance anyway.

If you’ll bear with me, I’d like to offer my own salute to our military tradition on this day (a little late) by looking back to a largely forgotten war and the incredible acts of bravery and sacrifice that it produced. Forgive me if this does not technically belong in CE, but I think it does tie in to events of today. Beginning in 1801, the United States sent its fledgling Navy (including the schooner 'Enterprise') to fight a war that has many similarities to the current war against Islamic terrorists. In a nutshell, we were going to war to stop piracy and slave trade in the Barbary States (Tripoli, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco). These Muslim pirates had been capturing American vessels and holding the crews for ransom, as well as using and selling them into slavery. As a side note, the author Miguel de Cervantes (Don Quixote) was held for ransom for several years. The Europeans had been paying ransom and appeasing these states with gifts for centuries. Of course, this policy ensured that Europe would continue to suffer degradations. The U.S. Congress and President Jefferson decided enough was enough and pursued military action, breaking with the unsuccessful European model. Many of you may have heard the name Stephen Decatur. He was a Lieutenant at this time and of course he went on to become a legend of the U.S. Navy. Statues of him grace the grounds at Annapolis. In 1803, he was assigned to retake a captured Navy ship, the 'Philadelphia'. The crew had been taken for ransom and it was determined that the ship had to be recaptured, or destroyed at all costs in order to prevent it from being used against our fleet (it had 40 guns mounted). It was anchored close to shore in the harbor, within range of the Bashaw’s castle and other shore batteries. Three Tripolitan cruisers and nineteen gunboats lay between the Philadelphia and shore. Decatur set out on the 'Intrepid', a Ketch that had been taken by Decatur in a previous battle, and was followed closely by the 'Siren'. They were both to simultaneously engage in the assault. Upon approaching the harbor, Decatur ordered the Siren to lay back due to uncertain weather conditions. The Sicilian pilot, chosen to his post because of his familiarity of the harbor, shouted out to the pirates occupying the Philadelphia that he had lost his anchors in a gale and desired to come alongside until anchors could be obtained from shore. Presently, the pirates noticed the Siren coming up behind. The artful Sicilian lied that this was the 'Transfer', a British ship which had been purchased to serve Tripoli. During this discussion, Decatur and his men shoved off in one of the Intrepid’s boats and came up to her forechains (this took place after dusk). They boarded and met the enemy, slaying approximately 25 men, the remaining pirates escaping to shore. During this time, the shore batteries were alerted and commenced firing. Seeing that there was insufficient wind to save the ship, Decatur set fire to the Philadelphia and fled back to the Intrepid, out of range of the shore cannons. They watched as the Philadelphia burned, illuminating the night sky as if it were daylight. Soon the fire reached the magazine and the ship blew apart. No less a figure than Admiral Lord Nelson proclaimed it “the most bold and daring act of the age.” A name you have no doubt never heard of is that of Richard Somers, master commandant. He was to undertake a bold and daring act of his own. It was decided that a fire-ship, loaded to the brim with 150 barrels of powder, 100 fixed shells, and hundreds of pounds of iron, was to be run in among enemy shipping and a fuse lit. The men would escape in row boats. The ship to be sacrificed was the Intrepid. Somers and his men set out at night, and made their way among their target. A man aboard the nearby 'Nautilus', watching the events with a spyglass, saw a man with a lantern moving across the deck of the Intrepid. They had been discovered and were soon to be boarded. There was no time to light the fuse, it would take too long to burn and the pirates were sure to put it out before it reached the powder. The lantern was seen passing over the midship hatch where it dropped out of sight. Then a hellish flame burst up, followed by a massive explosion. Somers had destroyed the fire-ship, sacrificing he and his men, lest the Intrepid be used later to take American lives. You may say, hey, what about our own slave trade at this time? I can’t defend that and of course that was a dark side to our past. But that shouldn’t prevent one from remembering and honoring our military of the time, in this case, the Navy (how could lose that game to Notre Dame??). It mirrors current events by how this administration is taking the same attitude as that of Jefferson's--FORCE. Where Europe then (France, Germany, Russia, UN today) wanted to avoid war and appease, we kicked ass. Oh yeah, we did win the war. Soon after our defeat of the Barbary States, and with the help of England a few years after our victory, the piracy ceased, never to return as it had existed previously. Hopefully, the same outcome awaits us this century.

Absolutely--I'd rather have seen that than the current "Master & Commander" with Russell Crowe. But I guess the British have the market cornered on the whole sea epic thing. Another event that would be a great movie is the exploits of John Paul Jones during the Revolutionary War. There is a current bio of him out that I understand is good. Great, I'll be sure to get that one. I did not run across it as I was checking out books at the library.

Salute accepted and greatly appreciated. Yes indeed, not very many people know this. Hell, most people can't even name the Sec. of State.

I've got a noisy neighbor and an unused turkey carver that I would like to break in before Thankgiving...can I get this jury on retainer?

Any and all "Miller Lite" commercials--the one with the guy shaking his head while watching his neighbor attempt to backup a boat he is towing into his driveway is great. And the one with the blue collar guy supiciously eyeing a Corona with a lime in it, while the narrator talks about the only reason to eat a fruit while drinking beer was to fend off scurvy. They also had a commercial several years ago (only saw it 1 time) which featured a guy dressed as a giant squirrel and he was doing crazy shit. Don't remember details, but I remember it was damn funny. Never saw it again, I think they pulled the commercial quickly because it was so bizarre.

yeah, maybe he was related, they would seem to have plenty in common, what a piece of work that guy was.

From IMDB: Could Blaine end up being the next Darwin Award winner? Will the video of this end up in a Faces of Death compilation? I certainly hope so...

We had a nut here in Southern Ohio running for Congress who claimed the airliners were flown into the buildings by remote control by Jews in our own government, no lie. He even ran radio ads saying as much. No surprise--he lost. I think what he meant by that statement was that the terrorists resent our association with Israel, they hate both nations, etc. I don't think it was anything more than that.

I heard someone criticizing Bush and he suggested--with a straight face--that Bush was able to complete his Yale degree and his MBA (from Harvard?) only with help from Skull and Bones...I guess they have a secret ante-room on that island of theirs where every conceivable test and term paper are hidden.

Is that the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati?--I live close to that fine institution. Perhaps I could convince one of the scholars there to get on this board and...ah, never mind. Thanks for the link, Powerplay.

If that is true, then a devoted Jew or Christian who kills someone in self-defense or by pure accident is committing sin. The Christian will end up in Hell if he/she dies before they can ask for forgiveness/confess. "Thou shall not Accidentally Kill"? That doesn't compute.

I found two organizations, both claiming to be "The" official Templar governing body. One, SMOTJ, has no ties to the Masons. The other, the "The Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States of America " is indeed affiliated with the Masons. Neither web site has Reese's name anywhere (the SMOTJ site has not been updating since 2001!). Looks as if the Templars have fallen on hard times if they can't update their site. Still waiting for the email reply... (not holding breath)

I heard on a radio show originating in Philly that DNC chair Terry McAuliffe, Bill Clinton, and Al Gore all visited Philly in the past weeks. They were there to basically rip on Bush and Ashcroft, in other words, saying to blacks "Ashcroft is gonna get you, you better vote for Street." "Ashcroft and his cronies are trying to oppress Street and the black community, come on now, let's send a message about 2004 Pres. election."

Back to this James R. Reese fellow--has anyone attempted to find out if there is such a thing as a "Grand Prior of the U.S."? I've tried searching and came up with nothing other than the Pakistan Christian Post article. I did find a reputable web site on the Templars and sent off an email to them. I'm sure they would love to interview this guy. I know there are Masons who claim an ancient tie to the Templars, but I've never heard of a Mason actually claiming to be a Templar, let alone a "Grand Prior."

The Popes of that time were really nothing more than secular warlords--religion was the last thing on their mind. Foremost in their mind was wealth, power and land. Yes, the Crusaders wanted to take back the Holy Land and they believed Muslims to be Infidels. They commited monsterous acts of inhumanity. At the same time, the Muslims believed the Christians to be Infidels and they too commited atrocities. And, as opposed to the Popes, the Muslim leaders were not secular and betraying their religion, they were following it. So there you are, both sides are not innocent. Too bad high schools and universities only present one side--bad, intolerant Christians against the noble Muslims. That was my experience in college.

Well, it is official--CBS will not air 'The Reagans'. Honchos at Viacom have decided to run it on Showtime. Viacom also says this will allow them to show it as the writers intended, whatever that means. Sounds like some of the controversial elements will remain. Jeez, just as I wrote this, I saw the above post. Oh brother, CBS says this decision has nothing to do with the controversy, only that they are unhappy with the finished film themselves? So we're supposed to believe they would have done the same thing had no one complained? That's funny.

According to articles I have read, this prisoner was roughed up and then tied up. Then the Col., knowing that this guy knew about an imminent attack, pulled out his weapon and fired, away from the guy, demanding to know more about the threat. The guy refused, so the Col. fired a round into a barrel closer to the prisoner's head. At this point the guy said to himself, "Fuck this, this guy means business" and spilled the beans. This information prevented the attack. I guess we'll see a version of this story on an upcoming 'JAG' episode, question is, how will they portray the incident? It is CBS, maybe they can get the 'Reagan' team of writers to tackle this one. This guy should be given a commendation. The pencil neck wonks in the Pentagon just can't seem to handle real war anymore, or tolerate real warriors.

The "thou shall not kill" commandmant is the English translation, which is a very long time removed from the original. It is actually the idea of "Thou shall not commit Murder." A devoted Jew or Christian is perfectly within his rights--and not commiting sin--to use lethal force to defend himself/herself if attacked by someone wishing to kill them, or in time of war. Hey, why not film the encounter, perhaps Tarentino or Peter Jackson, it could be a Showtime special. This guy should have called out any Al-Qaida, he knows damn well Osama himself will be a no-go.

Thank god, I hope it gets off the ground.

Day of the Dead...I particularly like the one bozo who, hopelessly surrounded by zombies, starts laughing hysterically--hey, if it's inevitable you might as well enjoy it. Capt. Rhodes, as zombies are dragging away the lower half of his body: "Choke on it!" I hear Romero has a 4th 'Dead' film in development. That would absolutely kill.

Well, this was inevitable, there is now a website up: www.killstevebartman.com Check out the apparel, nice to see somebody's making money. Steveo should take up the offer and spend the 3 free months in Florida.... and never return.

This Bartman guy should contact whatever that company/product is that does the TV commercials where someone gets in a very embarrassing situation and the tag line is "Wanna Get Away?" I'm sure there are a lot more endorsements to be had. He might as well try to capitalize on the whole mess, make some cash.