Merry FESTIVUS, or Happy Festivus, err FESTIVUS!!

Dear Readers,

The editors, writers, and producers of Mike's Vacation (the guy that found the laptop),

Are faithful enjoyers of the "seinfeld" comedy series. One episode describes the homemade Christmas holiday of "festivus".

It seems one of the characters George Castanza has a rather colorful and creative father who invented the holiday of "festivus" to be an every mans Christmas holiday .

Watch the following links, and enjoy "A FESTIVUS FOR THE REST OF US!!"

Folks, while these might not be the most traditional video clips to watch on Christmas, we here/me here at Mike's Vacation believe that if you are actually looking at this blog on Christmas, you are ready for FESTIVUS!!!!!! LOL LOL. :) :)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=I-wm9N0KiAs&feature=related

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HQFLqMyo0fo

Mike Miller aka
Mike Castanza,
aka
Mike Pekar,
aka, ho ho ho. :) :)

Indiana,
2007

Remember the micro moments with your loved ones, these micro moments are so easy to rush through, undersell, and forget. However they are indeed, exactly what life is all about. When it is all said and done, all of our money, and time, and health are really just vehicles to help us live innumerable micro moments of technicolor high quality, and vibrance, and hopefully to remember and cherish the same.

Winter Festival Christmas and Christian Christmas

Dear Readers,

As most of you are aware, I have been on a long and pleasurable conversion to Judaism.

You are also likely aware that I have traditionally, and hopefully will , always enjoy Christmas. These ideas might seem to conflict with one another until I define just exactly what I mean by "enjoy Christmas."

Firstly, let me STATE EMPHATICALLY that I have ABSOLUTELY NEVER had any personal belief in the religion of Christianity. When I was very young, I didn't "have faith" or otherwise recognize its validity as the surprme monotheistic religion.

As an adult, not only do I not believe in it as a religion, I don't like it as a religion. I don't begrudge my Christian friends their right to believe in what ever religion they please, to include Christianity, but it just simply isn't for me.

As an American, I find the Christmas season to be a powerful and colorful holiday. I have been able to identify two distinct, and yet sometimes intertwined holidays celebrated here in America during our "Christmas season".

The first and foremost is what I call "Winter Festival Christmas." The second is "Christian Christmas."

Christian Christmas is fairly obvious to identify, it involves conscious and considered religious devotion to the birthday of the Christian messiah Jesus. The celebration of Christian Christmas might have some or many trappings of Winter Festival Christmas as decorations, but it is essentially a religious celebration of the birth of the Christian messiah.

Winter Festival Christmas is all of the color and pageantry of the American Christmas season to include, SANTA CLAUS, lights, presents, egg nog, many Christmas Carols, the Christmas tree, and among other things ,the wonderful feeling of happiness and good will towards men that seems to readily come forth during this holiday. This is the Christmas I love and heartily celebrate!!

I truly love Winter Festival Christmas!! It is a beautiful, fun, and American holiday. It is true that other countries celebrate some form of Winter Festival Christmas in addition to Christian Christmas, however Americans have made this particular holiday into a super duper experience unrivaled by any other holiday globally. I am speaking of Winter Festival Christmas when I say "super duper".

Most countries have their religious holidays, and I am not comparing one religion to another in this article. I am merely trying to make distinct for the reader just exactly what kind of Christmas I enjoy.

If you have any doubts over whether or not Winter Festival Christmas is a real or worthy holiday, please see the below video links...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vPaGQEskSKM

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XSH9ryRzHQ4

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MAY I PRESENT FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE, A "SUPER DUPER " MOVIE--- THE CHRISTMAS STORY!!!!!!!!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uZieW2F90Is
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-8GDTqsAl_U&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=UZ6HCcEIURU&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=huhh2jw5UUg&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=utM_Uk3aA9c&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3d3u5l-dqx0&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Sz4lC7XH5S0&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Mz9HkyowGb8&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5Dl2mWJjlUE&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_53Ie8jOSl8&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=L7yaV4dPD-Q&feature=related

Merry Christmas !!!!
Ho Ho Ho!!!!
Mike Miller
Indiana,
2007

THE COOLEST WHITE MAN IN THE WORLD--LOUIS PRIMA!!

Dear Readers,

Mike's Vacation has always loved the music, and culture and lore of the great Louis Prima!

His music lives on forever, and will NEVER DIE!!

Here are some cool links about the master, and as a side note, if some of you are ever interested in purchasing music by the master, I suggest buying a LaserLight CD. This was K-marts brand of music that was sold in the discount bin at the back of the store for about 1 dollar.

Laser Light as produced a cd of old Louis Prima, including some stuff that you can't find in a record store. Anyway, enjoy the following links, take yourself and a loved one out for some pasta, and let some real pinache and style flow through your veins even if it is only for a while .

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present for your viewing and listening pleasure,, LOUIS PRIMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Urw6e0aCDJc&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=G-8CLaKPEfU&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VC-4dF2UFnI
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QTO5jc71fbE&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WxBYC3gEnZs&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nnlKBBj_o_8
http://youtube.com/watch?v=G-8CLaKPEfU&feature=related

Mike Miller
Indiana,
2007

THE WAR OF BROKEN HEARTS

Most thoughtful Americans are now shaking their heads in shame and embarrassment when discussing our criminal invasion of Iraq.

Perhaps we are too busy to be organizing massive protests and starting grass roots movements to prosecute and punish our countrymen who are culpable, but we are sharing our shame with friends and loved ones freely and in agreement.

Most of us are ashamed of the rockets and missiles and bullets and bombs that have been thrown at the Iraqis, and the same that have killed and crippled our own soldiers and marines.

Many of us are worried about our international reputation today, and in the years to come.

Some people talk about terrorism being fostered and provoked instead of destroyed.

Most of us are aware of the tangible aspects of the physical and economic and political destruction that has been wrought in this criminal adventure.

What about our nations broken hearts? What about all our soldiers and marines who haven't seen their wives, haven't had the opportunity to hold and love them? What about the pain of our soldiers who have to imagine playing with their children instead of actually feeling and touching them?

What about the divorces and broken homes that will be the result of so many men away from their wives for so long?

What about the kids that will be raised in broken homes because husbands and wives have grown apart from the distance, and time and stress?

What about these same kids that won't have lived in a nuclear family model and will now be more likely to fail at their future marriages because of this same negative familial inertia they are raised in?

I won't even bother to describe the broken hearts of the Iraqi's, decorum in this article doesn't permit me to describe what life must be like in modern Iraq for a little girl without a daddy, or a woman without her husband.

Was any of this pain and misery really worth the luxury of a nation too inebreated in its intellectual sloth to not have stopped all this madness before it happened?

Are we as a nation proud of the fact that a giant percentage of us were seduced by a South Texas accent, an expensive haircut, and a glad handed smile with nothing else to offer.

Are we not tired of being political "serfs, pawns, and slaves" to whatever evil machination has hijacked our military and federal government?

When are we going to develop a national conscious that prevents war criminals from ordering our sons to sack weaker countries for nebulous causes?

When you are watching the news and see explosions, and the physical injuries of war, remember that there are other injuries to this war, wounds harder to photo and graph.

What is the real cost of a broken heart? How many of our countryman's hearts are now broken?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=AHbcGeIilss

Dear Readers, I hope that Mike's Vacation doesn't attract any readers stupid enough to think that it is OK for our soldiers and marines to be suffering in this war because it is "their duty". I hope that no reader of mine would actually mouth the words "well they signed up for the military understanding the risks". I honestly hope I have nobody that damned dumb reading my blog. In case there are some of you that hear these trite sentiments uttered, please kindly remind the offenders that our soldiers and marines volunteer for duty to serve and protect our country and are willing to give their lives if necessary, however none of them signed up to participate in a "war crime". None of them signed up to defend a patriot act "soured democracy", none of them signed up to defend a constitution amended to oxidize their rights at home to make easier their suffering in a criminal adventure. There is a social contract signed by our government with our soldiers that largely includes the idea that our military will be used for the violent protection of our land and interests. This social contract also provisos that the government will be judicious in is employment of this same violent force and will not allow our sons and brothers in uniform to suffer unnecessarily, or for a criminal and erroneous cause. Our country's "salt of the earth" sons and brothers comprise the bulk of our nations enlisted ranks. These men are raised to have a sense of right and wrong, and of fair play. For this trust to be betrayed, and for the "handshake agreement" that seals the aforementioned "social contract" to be violated is no less than an absolute outrage.

Mike Miller
Indiana,
2007

THESE RUSSIANS WILL DO ANYTHING FOR A DRINK!!

Dear Readers,

Here is an interesting piece about wreck diving in the arctic sea.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_A0pVK6v1IM&feature=user

Now that is what I call chilled vodka!!

Na Starovia!!
Mike Miller
Indiana,
2007

LAUREL AND HARDY, GENIUS IN BLACK AND WHITE

Dear Readers,

Mikes Vacation endorses the watching of Laurel and Hardy in glorious black and white.

Any comedy that was done in good taste almost a hundred years ago, and can still entetain today is pure gold!

Our country is richer for the likes of Stan and Oliver. When you have nothing to do, and it is dark, and time for bed, but you have a few minutes of energy left, share some time with the celluloid ghosts of days gone by.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=64o6s8PmnoE

http://youtube.com/watch?v=lOpP70-IyjE&feature=related

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Arajua9lxYA

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nNjPgE1muTM&feature=related

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jDVO1R-7I7Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpvxTyzOM_A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7mq-wzFovw&feature=related

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0yoPb-amgbs&feature=related

damn it boys, why did you have to up and die on us!? !? !? (:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fjQIEepbfPA&feature=related

Dear Stanley and Oliver, on behalf of our silly country, thanks for the laughs!!
Mike Miller,
Indiana,
2007

REMEMBER THE PARTISANS!!! FRENCH, BELARUSIAN, IRAQI !!

Dear Readers,

Partisan forces have played a role in most wars throughout history. Their presence was fiercely felt during WW2/The Patriotic War.

The French Partisans played an important role before , during and after D- Day . They blew up supplies and linkages, assassinated troops, and helped downed Allied airmen evade capture. Their methods were often unconventional, and when captured they were mostly tortured horribly, then executed.

The Belorussian Partisans played a larger role in destroying Nazis, as their numbers were larger, and they enjoyed a much greater natural protection from the dense virgin forests of Belarus. They also were tortured, and executed when captured.

In order to "capture" a Partisan, either French or Belorussian, the Germans used informants, collaborators, and spies. Sometimes persons merely suspected of ties to the Partisans were arrested and tortured, and mostly murdered.

Any invading force will face Partisan resistance if their invasion is against the will of the people. The level of resistance faced by an invader is proportionate to the criminality of their invasion and the degree the native peoples desire their exit.

Collaborators have historically been murdered and tortured by Partisans when discovered. This is because the collaborators themselves are ultimately responsible for the same treatment of Partisans by the primary criminal invaders.

Has anyone noticed that the History Channel has not been airing any documentaries about WW2 era French Partisans lately? You should think about this.

It is very convenient to label anyone in Iraq opposing our criminal presence there as a "terrorist", or an "insurgent". However, could their individual politics and their combat techniques not sometimes more precisely qualify them as "partisans". ?

It is correct to say that the "legitimate partisan resistance" faced by US forces in Iraq is in direct proportion to our level of legal and criminal legitimacy in the same country.

It is not correct to "imprison without trial, torture, or murder" men conducting "legitimate partisan actions " against a criminal invader (that's us) on their own home soil.

The first video is dedicated to Russian Partisans in the Patriotic War/WW2. The next link takes you to an older issue of Mikes Vacation where the Belarusian film COME AND SEE is reviewed with links so you can view it.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vcTJ_JKV3tc

(just kindly cut and past this in the address bar, I'll fix the link later)
http://mikesvacation.blogspot.com/2007/08/come-and-see.html

This video is about the French Resistance in WW2.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Wyt2OD5qfeY

Mikes Vacation dedicates the following music video to the "legitimate partisans" conducting actions against US military forces that would have been considered "legal" for the French or Belorussians to conduct against the Nazis. This video is not dedicated to terrorists, and it is not intended to celebrate the tragic loss of innocent American life as a result of this criminal invasion.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0KL_fgWgK40&feature=related

Mikes Vacation dedicates this video to the innocent American soldiers that have been maimed or killed as a result of our current criminal invasion of Iraq.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sTRBPCcJwhE

Readers please note: Mikes Vacation was recently contacted by one of our readers who didn't agree with this piece. He said that the French and Russian Partisans weren't out torturing collaborators, and cutting their heads off. He also felt that the US occupation of Iraq is a lot more legitimate than the Nazi occupation of France and Russia. He also made the point that while there was a potential for "legitimate WW2 grade partisans, and partisan actions existing in Iraq", there was much evidence that attacks on US troops were not the work of "legitimate partisans". He felt that a lot of the attacks on US troops were the work of "insurgents" who only wished to draw American blood regardless of the legality or illegality of the current US occupation.

Mikes Vacation agrees with the above readers opinion and applaudes him for correcting the imprecise nature of our current Essay. However we at Mikes Vacation must remind the reader that the US occupation of Iraq can easily and clearly be measured as a criminal invasion, and a war crime in and of itself. The United States for all of our problems and failings are no where nearly as evil as Hitlers Third Reich, in fact, we are not even the same species. However, regardless of how cushy and white bread we are compared to the Nazis, a war crime is a war crime, and a criminal invasion is just that. After the fact, we have attempted to be as gentle as possible to the general Iraqi public, however just because we aren't the Third Reich, doesn't mean the Iraqi population is any less entitled to seeing to our exit. Just because there are many insurgents in Iraq who are there only for blood sport and hatred, and can't be considered Partisans, doesn't mean we are legitimated by their presence.

Let me repeat that one more time, our presence in Iraq is not legitimized by the illegitimacy and presence of insurgents only there for mindless hatred and cruel sport.

We thank our above reader for his comments, and corrections. However Mikes Vacation still feels that a legitimate partisan presence exists in Iraq, and their operations against our troops are not only legal according to international standards, but bonna fide and reasonable considering the circumstances.

Mikes Vacation is broken hearted to feel the above facts are true and correct.

May G_d have mercy on all our souls.
Mike Miller,
Indiana,
2007

TIME FOR A FEW NEW THOUGHTS ABOUT POT

Mikes Vacation is against the use of drugs. We believe that Marijuana has a detrimental effect on our society as a whole not because it is dangerous in nature, but because it ISN'T immediately dangerous in nature.

Pot smokers don't become violent, or have heart attacks, or commit heinous crimes while high on pot. Pot doesn't produce horribly dangerous psychic conditions as do hard drugs such as PCP, Cocaine, or Methamphetamine.

However, Pot does produce an environment of laziness, and the marijuana culture has developed a very lazy and non-industrious group identity.

Pot is making America a little bit less productive, a little bit lazier, and it is wasting the youth of its users puff by puff. Therein lies the problem, it is a drug which is essentially weakening the industry and motivation of America one young person at a time.

However our young people aren't dying horribly because of it, and there are essentially no ghastly side effects save hunger and the mild to moderate obesity that go with the same.

When Americans tell their kids to be careful of Pot, warning them of its dangers, they are in effect assisting the "gateway drug process". Marijuana can be called a "gateway drug" because it is essentially the first illegal substance most people try.

Here is the big problem, for all of a child/youth's life, they are warned to stay away from drugs, "drugs are baaaad"!! Marijuana is cited along with cocaine, heroin, pcp and what have you.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BNbExvU42q4&feature=related

As Marijuana produces essentially no life or even immediate health threatening effects, the first time user ultimately extrapolates the semi-logical conclusion, that if Marijuana wasn't all that bad, then maybe the other drugs are benign as well.

Obviously the drug problem in America won't be solved by simply re-assigning Marijuana a new description, but continuing to persecute marijuana for possessing sins similar to hard drugs won't do either.

We need clever social engineering to raise our collective productivity and quality of life. Mis-labeling marijuana, and punishing its offenders according to these archaic notions of the drugs harm potential isn't going to work either.

Our country's youth need ACCURATE and HONEST information about marijuana if we as adults are going to have any credibility about the dangers of hard drugs.

Ruining the lives of pot users isn't going to get us anywhere either. Our country is in a state of "witch hunt mania". We are stupidly and earnestly looking for a "monster to burn" all the time.

We need to come to grips with the fact that there is no real freedom without risk. We can't be a "free society" and absolutely control and micro-manage the personal decisions of our cultures diaspora.

Here is a link to some interesting information about what you have just read.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/Advice/WhatIllegalDrugUseCanCostYou.aspx

If you are a pot smoker, try to take it easy on the stuff, you are only getting lazier, and broker, and fatter.

If you are not a pot smoker, remember that everyone who is a user, is someones loved one and they deserve the respect that you would have given to your own dearest if they choose a alternative path in life.

Mike Miller
Indiana,
2007

HAPPY CHANUKA !!! DECEMBER 5, 2007

Dear Readers,

Chanuka starts tommorow, December 5, 2007.

There are some very interesting links below. The first link is from the Jewish Virtual library. It gives some very basic information about Chanuka.

I am a long way from being able to teach anyone about Chanuka, however there are some very important points that should be remembered.

Chanuka is not the distant cousin of Christmas, it isn't the Jewish answer to Christmas. Here in America Chanuka has taken on sort of a Christmasy feel, because American Winter Festival Christmas and Christian Christmas are such powerfully celebrated holidays.

However, Chanuka is a celebration of a military miracle that happenned in antiquity. The Greek army was attempting to conquer and throughly Hellenize ancient Jews of the time.

There was only a small amount of olive oil left in the sacked temple to last for one night, but by divine intervention the oil lasted for 8 days.

A female Jew assasinated the leader of the Greeks, and the Jews of antiquity won this war.

This military victory to include the assasination of the Greek general is celebrated by a symbolic lighting of 8 candles to symbolize the entire victorious military campaign, and also the miraculous olive oil that lasted 8 nights instead of only 1.

So, Chanuka is a celebration of divine intervention, and of military victory AGAINST ASSIMILATION, or Hellenization of the Jews by the Greeks.

It is moderately ironic that modern American Chanuka has become celbrated in a Christmasy spirit so to speak. (for lack of a better description).

However, even though modern American Chanuka has become celebrated in a somewhat similar manner as Winter Festival Christmas, it is obviously not the free for all glutinous orgy that has become both Winter Festival Christmas and Christian Christmas.

Enjoy the links below, and may this posting find all of you enjoying the best of health, welfare and happiness.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/holiday7.html

http://howtojew.org/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MK2J-G8uGM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v3PY-vfd9Y

WAIT, HOLD THE PHONE, now you know that Mike's Vacation is not going to have a Chanuka article without the good Reb Sandler,, now you just know that wasn't going to happen!!!!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Vrd9p47MPHg&feature=related

Mike's Vacation would also like to wish a very wonderful Chanuka to the Reb Goodman and his family living in Pinsk, Belarus. His stories of life in what remains of the Settlement of the Pale can be viewed at BEINGHAD.COM
Michael Miller
Indiana,
2007

JEWISH LAW-- SUPURB DOCUMENTARY OF MANCHESTER ENGLAND'S ORTHODOX JEWISH COMMUNITY

Dear Readers/(reader) ,

Here is a wonderful series of videos obtained from (you guessed it) youtube.com.

This video series is in two parts, with each part containing 5 chapters. Among other things you will be interested to listen to Orthodox Jews speaking with British accents.

I was impressed with the sincerity the schochets conveyed both as professionals, and as animal lovers/respecters.

There is about 100 minutes of brilliant Jewish culture and societal footage here, please enjoy!

JEWISH LAW

episode 1 (1of 5)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7GyWxHN0fcs&feature=related
episode 1 (2of5)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aZVF4_TJjX8&feature=related
episode 1 (3of 5)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=oAEDDMO3MII&feature=related
episode 1 (4of5)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nOtmVpKL7Cc&feature=related
episode 1 (5 of 5)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XhuaRM90NHM&feature=related

JEWISH LAW EPISODE 2

episode 2 (1of 5)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dvquJEN7EHg&feature=related
episode 2 (2of 5)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kHcUWrS-FtM&feature=related
episode 2 (3of5)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pIKC7IjD8xU&feature=related
episode 2 (4 of 5)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vwTFgFf-opM&feature=related
episode 2 (5 of 5)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iKxlWGKRawg&feature=related

Now folks, if you have watched the following video clips, you have now brushed up on the basics of Jewish law. We all agree that Jewish law is important, and beautiful. It is the position of Mike's Vacation that a sincere study of Jewish law is complimented by many smiles, and laughs. :) :) :)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GUxDxI68xpc
G_d Bless Each and every one of you!
Mike Miller
Indiana,
2007

BELARUS AND CHERNOBYL 2

The bulk of the fall out from the Chernobyl disaster fell on Belarus. A giant percentage of the arable land was ruined by radiation.

Life goes on in Belarus, people live, die, fall in love, have children, and proably even sometimes forget about this disaster for a few minutes, hours, or days.

Life is good in Belarus. People there are cash poor, brave, honest, and kindhearted.

Life is good in spite of the problems that will be discussed in the following videos.

Celebrate and love the people of Belarus, for they are a surpreme example of what excellent mankind has to offer!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HXt0yyc4izc

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Cae1u2XQmrI

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LOt038oxJFQ

Mike Miller,
Indiana,
2007

BELARUS AND CHERNOBYL

Here is a video taken in the ghost town of Pripyat. This was the industrial city created in the Ukraine to house workers attached to the Chernobyl nuclear plant.

This was a model Soviet industrial city. It is hauntingly interesting to see the skeleton of a modern city that has been evacuated in a hurry.

Mikes Vacation has extreme sympathy for those that lost their lives and their homes during this disaster.

However, there is something more than grim sadness that can be gleaned from the following video. There is a small amount of hope, and some happiness that can be seen here.

Pripyat was a very credible attempt by the Soviet Union to build a HAPPY, FUNCTIONAL , MODERN industrial city for its citizens. This city was not designed as a "showplace". There was no propaganda value to this city. It was simply a good place to live.

The people that lived there had GOOD lives. They were obviously happy. The Chernobyl disaster occurred because of innocent human error, and a nuclear powerplant design that was inherently flawed. This was not the fault of communism.

As all of you remember we had a little problem called 3-mile island that could very easily have been a giant disaster on American soil. We have been very lucky in America.

When you look at the following video, please be reverent for the lives that were destroyed, and lost. But it is also ok to have some happy feelings for the sweetness of the same lives before they were lost.

The ending for Pripyat was sad and tragic, that isn't all of the story. People lived and loved here. They raised kids there, fell in love, had dreams and adventures. And the city that all of these lives unfolded in was engeneered to help them have good lives. The Soviets were obviously attempting to spend some of their wealth and resources towards giving some of their workers a great opportunity for health and happiness.

Please view this video with revernce, sadness, but also some respectful happiness, for obviously life was good in Pripyat before the disaster.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gpoVzAArUN0&feature=related

Michael Miller
Indiana,
2007
Dear Readers, please see the attached page for photo artistic work done by our new friend markr. His comments can be seen below also.
http://www.nikongear.com/Chernobyl/Chernobyl_1.php

IT IS A SHAME WHEN THE WORLD NEEDS TO DEFEND ITSELF AGAINST AMERICA

There was once a time when the United States was considered the "good guy". Even when we were wrong, there were elements of our foreign policy that seemed to "make sense".

There was once a counterbalance to absolute global domination, this was the Soviet Union.

There is an INVERSE RELATIONSHIP between the level of U.S. global influence, and our level of constitutional rights and freedoms today. It seems that the more power Washington has, the lower the level of our citizens rights will be.

It is the opinion of Mikes Vacation that we were never as free in America as we were in the early to mid 70's when the Soviet Union was at the peak of her power. It is almost as if the U.S. government needed the competition to remain honest to her people.

Mikes Vacation hopes for the safe return of all our service men in Iraq, we support no malice to our soldiers and marines abroad.

However, it is obvious to Mike Vacation that if we "WIN" in Iraq, then we "LOSE" here at home.

The global conscious should understand that a state of "broken democracy" exists here in America. There is no effective mechanism for the people to control the war criminals in our government and from the special interests (war profiteers) that control and support them.

It is a sad day at Mikes Vacation when the freer peoples of the world should be advised to "arm themselves" if they do not wish to become our victims. It is a terrible state of affairs when the smaller and weaker countries should be wise to purchase "Russian weapons" if they do not want to become our "next victim".

Perhaps if the people of Iraq had owned a sufficient quantity of the Pansir-1 weapons system, some of their deaths could have been avoided. The United States will not attack any country that has a potential of defending itself.

A criminal war such as what was perpetrated upon Iraq cannot survive public opinion if there are enough America losses that the "broken democracy" that exists here in America is fixed by the grieving families of our soldiers and our country as a whole demanding sensible consequences to our leaders for their crimes.

However, small losses that aren't severe enough to jolt public opinion to action are deemed just a risk of doing business for the George Bush's and the Haliburtons of the country.

So, sadly, I must state that if a country does not want to become our next victim, they should arm themselves .

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5EErUMjjA7c&feature=user

Mike Miller
Indiana,
2007

HOW ABOUT A LITTLE BIT OF LOVE, AND HOPE, AND HAPPINESS!

Dear Readers/(reader or whatever),

It is obvious that my current situation is pretty dismal. That much we can all surely agree with. However, Mikes Vacation is not about quitting, giving up, knuckling under, or whinning ALL THE TIME.

Sometimes we celebrate the LOVELY, WONDERFUL, AND THE BRILLIANT. You see, here at Mikes Vacation, we know that sometimes life sucks, but we endeavor to never forget that things can get better, we also want you the reader, to never forget this as well. :) :) :)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5PHH6erYCBQ
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Iu5OTGb7UI0&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4xBhbDgJtAE
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7fQh38yKkJI&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ErrzjGCi3gY
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4g7Q04hRIXY
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ftiIPJky_Vs
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wKkBEOOzIjk&feature=related

May all of you have a happy and wonderful evening, and wonderful lives!!
G_d Bless each and every one of you!!

Mike Miller
Indiana,
2007

DEAR READERS/(reader), THIS IS MY JOB

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-yf54p1UwQ8

http://youtube.com/watch?v=W_YnaHNcISw

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bH-TSSQg7WY

Yes, that about summarizes my job satisfaction. While I am not actually (not yet anyway) a Brittish alkie , or a librarian in a petroleum jelly factory, or in a Chinese stamping plant. The British lady, Tom Hanks, and the stamping Chinese very closely describe how I often feel.

Mike Vs The Volcano,
Indiana,
2007

Lets end with a little Charlie Chaplain. :)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=qDnDaDYZ2AQ

MY LIFE ON THE TRAIN

http://youtube.com/watch?v=d058fO_hg8U
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-hu21NmpPfE
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZehTjlO4a1U&feature=related

Yup, thats my life on the train.

lol.
M, Indy, 2007

THE OFFICIAL POSITION OF MIKES VACATION ON RELIGION AND HUMANITY

Dear Readers/(reader) ,

The following 3 links can be literally interpreted as the Mikes Vacation "manifesto" on religion, politics, and the state of the human condition.



http://youtube.com/watch?v=2Pt8Nk95Yfk


http://youtube.com/watch?v=BYRsH3hogXw


http://youtube.com/watch?v=3kBFOsHpyWQ&feature=related



Mike Miller
L'chaim!
Indianapolis,
2007

MIRIAM AND SHOSHANA

I was discussing the Miriam and Shoshanna video with my Jewish friend who attended an all girls school/yeshiva in Queens, NY.

It seems there are a few things that I have overlooked when I endorsed this video in an earlier article.

My friend explained to me that the kids who attend orthodox private schools are leading very sheltered lives and that they aren't plagued with the type of social ills that other kids currently deal with.

She also reminded me that it is against Jewish law for women to sing in groups of less than 4.

I believe this video is very funny and clever, however I think it is important to try to represent all points of view when possible, and according to my friend, this particular music video is offensive to orthodox Jews for multiple reasons.

People have rights to be creative, and to make their own statements as they see fit. And I still do think this is a clever video, and I still think it is funny.

When I was watching and analyzing this video, I felt that there was a credible statement being made that orthodox Jewish girls are undergoing the same type of social ills that the rest of society suffers from. Apparently according to my friend, this is simply not the case.

According to my friend, orthodox Jews are currently expending great efforts to protect their children from the problems that are endemic to modern teenagers.

This being the case, this video is not as socially relevant as I once believed.

When I endorsed the video, I perceived it as the story of two mischievous teenage girls who are immersed in the sleaze and filth of modern LA teenage society. I believed this video was a sweet story of two high spirited teenage girls who thumb their nose at the drugs, and petty rivalries, and the social ills they are forced to face every day at school, and on their way to and from school.

The final ending of this story is that the two sisters, who are each others best and possibly only friends, finally quit playing pirate/rap stars and go home to their decent family sabbath.

I asked myself how I would feel if I had two teenage daughters who acted and behaved the way that Miriam and Shoshana did. With the exception of locking a rival girl into the trunk of a car, and the mild profanity, I would not be ashamed to have 2 daughters that dealt with modern pressures the way these two characters did.

There lies the conflict. According to my friend, orthodox Jewish girls don't have to deal with the pressures of drugs, bulimia, or most other social ills that mainstream teenagers do.

This makes the Miriam and Shoshana video a harmless, albeit greatly exaggerated portrayal of modern teenage orthodox social condition.

As this video portrays orthodox teenage girls as having a small drug culture, and a moderate amount of social ills, I believe this video is moderately slanderous to the image of orthodox Jews.

As this video portrays its "protagonists" as orthodox Jewish girls who while high spirited, end up shunning drugs, shunning bulimia, and going home to their functional nuclear family sabbath, I feel this video flatters orthodox Jewry.

So this video is a clever and funny video, it is entertaining, however some of its entertainment value comes at the expense of breaking Jewish laws, and unfairly lampooning Orthodox teenage female Jewry.

I must somewhat decrease the level of my endorsement for this video, although I do feel it is still highly creative and funny.

I searched youtube.com for some clips of modern orthodox teens going about their lives and activities, but I didn't find any.

I wanted to post something very positive about orthodox Jewish teens that might offset the exaggerated portrayal of this cohort group by Miriam and Shoshana.

I didn't find anything to fit this description. However I did find a very positive video about the Maccabi Teen Olympic games that gives a very realistic view of young Jewish Athletes from America and the Globe. This video doesn't state their individual branch of Judaism. I believe the reader can make those judgements for himself if they are important at all.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BwITd5-qy4E

Michael Miller
Indianapolis,
2007

A friend of mine has been reading the Miriam and Shoshana articles, and she is the lady who is mentioned above. Here is what she said in a recent email:

Okay so I read the article and here is what I think. First off let me explain that women cant sing in groups of I cant remember not four I think its more like ten to be honest and secondly I'm not sure where bulimia comes in to play. Jewish women I'm sure suffer from that as religion has nothing to do with body image or wanting to be thin so bad to attract the opposite sex. What I meant by Jews not singing or participating in activities like rap songs on the web is because orthodox Jews are supposed to separate themselves as to not give the outside world reason to criticize them. We are not supposed to give the "goyim" ammunition to use us as a scapegoat. "Oh look at those Jews, they make fun of women with bulimia and they make fun of people on drugs and the language they use is atrocious. We should all hate them." Judaism is about modesty and when you sing and use profanity it is not modest. This is not my opinion of the video though this is just what I think orthodox jews are thinking about it and that's why they have voiced an opinion of disapproval.

As this is an evolving essay, I thought I might also post an interesting article from The JewishJournal.com. You can see what they had to say about Miriam and Shoshana by clicking the next link.

http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/searchview.php?id=18479

The final position of Mikes Vacation on the Miriam and Shoshana music video is that while this video has elements that border on bad taste, and aren't appropriate for children, it ultimately does more good than harm in that it make people feel good by laughing and smiling.

Most American humor draws its punchline from "taboo" elements of our society. There is usually something abraisive, abusive, or sexual behind most jokes in America. The question is whether or not these "off color" jokes are motivated by hatred, or simple ribald style poor taste.

In the case of Miriam and Shoshana, the orthodox Jews are taking their turn in being the "butt" of the Joke, but on the same hand they are not hatefully portrayed, and their collective reputations are not being so damaged that intelligent person will not understand that this video is only intended to give a few laughs, not document the actual real world condition of an entire people.

This video makes people laugh and feel good, and that is solid gold these days, we as Americans need a few laughs, and as long as no one is credibly damaged, or hurt, then why not let the Orthdox take their turns every once in a while?

The rest of America and the world is all essentially accessible and agreeable to being made fun of once in a while, so why not the Orthodox Jews?

DEAR READERS /(reader)

The thrust of my blog has turned from grinding out editorials on the subject of Belorussian politics to simply documenting my own personal life.

Every once in a while, I may elect to publish something related to world events, but basically I am tired of assailing everyone else's articles, (mostly crap that they were) and I am interested in telling my own story.

My attraction to studying Judaism was generated from an unlikely path. If you are a reader of the blog, you will see multiple references to Nazi/Communist/Socialist related topics.

I always wrote my objections to the holocaust from the point of view that the Jewish victims of the Third Reich were Soviet Citizens who happened to be Jewish.

My heart pained over the torment done to Soviets who were Jewish, rather than over Jews who lived in Eastern Europe. Maybe I was wrong to feel this way, but that is what I felt.

Maybe my essays are crap, and maybe some of them have a value, but for every one of them, I spent several/many hours of Internet surfing and reading and sub-collegiate researching.

During all of the above preparation for my Nazi/Soviet/Jewish essays I began to learn the basic tenets of the Jewish religion.

I had also worked in a Jewish health center a while back, and I have had some friends that were Jews also. But I never really had any desire to formally learn and study this religion until about 4-6 months ago.

I am a long way from being finally converted, and I probably make a lot of mistakes along the way, and there are people who are likely offended that I would desire to make this change in my life.

If I ever publish anything which is LEGITIMATELY INJURIOUS to Judaism, and I am aware of it, I would unpublish it and apologize for the same.

However, as I am entering a religion where there are many different groups who often criticize and scrutinize each other, I believe it is likely that I also will receive this same scrutiny.

There will be at any one moment between 1- millions of Jews who disapprove of what I do and say. I endeavor to listen to their complaints and adjust my actions and words if their arguments and complaints seem valid.

However I can't become ruffled and get my feelings hurt every time someone who happens to be Jewish criticizes me or my decision to convert.

Life is too short to let people splatter you with their mud. You have got to move forward and be the best man you can be and keep trying to open your heart to those decent to you and to your G_d.

As Mikes Vacation is not about censorship, those who wish to either compliment or criticize me are free to do so.

Its a little early to be promoting Hanukkah per se, but it is never too early to liven the mood up with Adam Sandler and his Hanukkah song!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5Hmr5YOewww

I wish everyone Peace.

Mike Miller
Indianapolis,
2007

THE REAL MISTAKES IN IN LOVE

A friend was reminding me of some of my poor choices in love and life that I have made in the past 20 or so years, not maliciously, but out of genuine curiosity.

I was a bit taken aback by the questions, and a little bit depressed by them, but rallied when I remembered my hard won maxim:

THE REAL MISTAKES IN LOVE THAT A MAN MAKES ARE NOT THE WOMEN HE MARRIES, BUT THE WOMEN HE DOESN'T.

MARRIAGES SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED DISPOSABLE, PEOPLE ARE NOT REPLACEABLE, HOWEVER IF A MARRIAGE DOESN'T WORK OUT IT CAN BE FIXED BY THROWING MONEY AT IT IN THE FORM OF A DIVORCE.

BUT IF YOU FAIL TO LOVE OR MARRY A WOMAN OF QUALITY, YOU CAN'T FIX THIS MISTAKE BY THROWING MONEY AT IT. YOU CAN'T TURN BACK THE CLOCK WITH CASH.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=x1X7hfx9BT0

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xlKpXFnwOSA&feature=related

http://youtube.com/watch?v=N_9QxAQLY6g&feature=related

Dear Readers, Mikes Vacation believes in love and in happy endings, however things just didn't turn out that way for our friend Emmet Ray, he finally lost Hatty for good, and when he tried to retreive her, she was happily married to another man, with a baby on the way. Emmet finally did become the greatest guitar player of all time, he finally played with real emotion, but he was never the same, and never loved again.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9E6RPkM8Hg4&feature=related

May G-d forgive you Emett, you poor stupid bastard. (:

Mike Miller
Indy,
2007

ID LIKE TO DEFINE MYSELF A LITTLE BIT

AS I AM ON THE CONVERSION ROAD, I FREQUENTLY SURF YOUTUBE FOR JEWISH CULTURE ITEMS.

WELL, I FOUND ONE.

I AM NOT SURE HOW I FOUND THIS, BUT I FOUND IT ALL RIGHT.

I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT IT IS ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS, AND MIRIAM AND SHOSHANA ARE SUPER COOL, AND ULTRA CLEVER, AND THEY ARE A CREDIT TO MODERN JEWISH HUMOR.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8RJ-2FUz7xo
PEOPLE NEED TO BE ABLE TO LAUGH AT THEMSELVES A LITTLE BIT, AND THESE GIRLS HAVE CERTAINLY DONE THAT.

G_d bless Miriam and Shoshana for their wonderful sense of humor.
I personally adore this video, but my sentiments are not shared by this gentleman, you may agree with me, or him, or neither.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=scsihtJlZo4

Here is another attacker of this video, and again, perhaps you will find his arguments compelling against the video, I do not.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OYXeF9uihvw

Like all religions, Judaism has many different points of conflict and agreement. The following two videos are not connected in any way with Miriam and Shoshana, however they represent methods of expression and conflict resolution not bonna fide by Mikes Vacation. Perhaps all the parties in the below two videos have good ideas, and maybe they all have something valid that should be listened to by the other party.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7xBu3RpwIR0


http://youtube.com/watch?v=_KxsMad9eHM

Mikes Miller
Indianapolis,
2007

MY LIFE AS A JEW

I have undertaken a life changing challenge and opportunity to convert to Judaism. I am happy with my life, and am pleased and at peace with the place my heart has gone.

I have made some nice Jewish friends, and have begun to follow weekly Pasha readings and am studying Talmud on my own. I would like to be in a Talmud study group, but so far I am not.

I haven't evolved to what kind of Jew I will be. Sometimes I think I will be Conservative, and sometimes I think I will be some kind of hybrid California Jew like Neil Diamond.

My sense of humor has improved, as I am often in many awkward and humorous positions relating to my conversion process.

Today I told the cook where I work that I would like to decline his offer of pork chops smothered in some kind of pecan glaze. He was disappointed until I explained that I was in conversion, and that while I am not living a completely Kosher life just yet, I am at least laying off the Treif animals.

Its funny,, I have yet until this moment neglected to thank even in my own mind the Rabbi who helped me in my fragile earliest days. His name is Arnold Bienstock. I talked with him several times, and when I asked him whether or not I was actually in conversion, or just in a curious stage, he told me that I was in fact, in conversion.

That was a very pivotal moment in my life and to have an actual Rabbi declare that I was in conversion somehow gave me the support that pushed me forward through a time that I could have lost energy and momentum.

I guess you are either in conversion or you are not, however there are people you meet who either hinder you or help you, and Rabbi Bienstock really gave me some energy when he declared that I was not just window shopping, but actually in the process of a conversion!

I feel good, and I am proud of the fact that I made this decision entirely of my own volition. There were no third parties pressuring, or manipulating me, or in any way altering my sense of direction.

I am at a cultural impasse regarding how to celebrate Christmas. I have had several friends tell me that as a Jew the Christmas holiday should be forever forgotten and put out of my life.

I have explained to them, that as I have never been any sort of Christian, I always have understood the holiday as a winter time yule holiday with absolutely no religious meaning to me whatsoever, so why then should I reject a perfectly good holiday just because I was converting to Judaism.

I have gotten several answers ranging from the mildly fanatical " Christmas celebrates the birthday of a man for whose death our people have been persecuted for 2 thousand years." To the more reasonable " when you convert to Judaism you promise to raise your future children as Jews, and exposing them to a full blown Christmas in your home will likely confuse them religiously about who they are."

I tend to agree with the second explanation of how Christmas should be viewed. I do plan to have children, and I will raise them as Jews, and I certainly don't want them confused. So while a little yule time cheer, and few catchy songs, and some lights and a few presents and a tree wouldn't confuse or injure me per se, at the point when I have children, I need to cut out all the Christmas propaganda, and keep a Jewish home uncomplicated religiously for the sake of the kids. This I understand.

I always felt the myth of Jesus was less credible than Santa Clause himself, and I have NEVER had any belief or emotional tie to Christianity, but I don't have a heart made of coal, so I always enjoyed our American Santa oriented winter holiday, and frankly, I really like this holiday.

So, I have cut out the Treif animals, I still look forward to Christmas, and I am eagerly studying Talmud. Life is strange and wonderful.

By the way, in my quest for many things Jewish, I ran across a most elegant version of Hava Nagila sung by Harry Belafonte! This song is decorated by someones family slides of their kids and thier wedding, and their lives are most festive! :)

Please click on the link below and enjoy!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tvDQZH2VWhc
On my private road to conversion,

Mike Miller
Indiana, 2007

THE AUSCHWITZ ALBUM

Maybe this photo album will help identify some Nazis still in hiding.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7011371.stm

But just as important as the Auschwitz players themselves, is the MACHINE THAT ENGINEERED AND CARRIED OUT THE PRECURSORS TO THE GENOCIDE.


I have said it once and I will say it again, without the PRECURSORS to the Nazi and Imperial Japanese genocides, these two countries would have simply carried out brutal and extremely heavy handed occupations.

From what I can tell it takes about 10 years of brutality training and hate mongering to produce a country , or a legion of men that are hateful and callous enough to kill en mass in a genocide mode. This is about the amount of time the Nazis and the Imperial Japanese spent grooming their soldiers and their populations to be capable of genocide.


This is what I call the "precursors to genocide."


A normal man or woman will cry and be destroyed by the mere TV image of a fictional murder. As Americans we are de-sensitized to these violent acts, and we almost need them in our media consumption menu to feel fulfilled and normal.


However, this is not a natural state of humanity. A natural human will cry at the sight of a murder, or of a violent act. This instinct has to be trained out of the human animal. To a certain extent this de-sensitization is good, we can't all go around crying at every violent thing we see, and our soldiers can't be full of tears in battle.


But the Nazis and the Imperial Japanese implemented the "precursor elements" to their individual genocides up to 15 years before the events themselves. This is why as a civilization, we need to identify THE PRECURSOR EVENTS TO A GENOCIDE for the purpose of seeing one coming down the road before it arrives.


The Auschwitz album will be telling, however, I am moderately concerned that Anti-Semitic holocaust revisionists may somehow use this as a propaganda tool citing the relaxed poses of the SS. If these relaxed and happy poses of the SS are interpreted to mean they did not witness horror every day, then this will impeach the actual historic facts of the event.

The album is interpreted to mean that these SS were so hateful and so callous that they were able to relax at the end of the day in spite of their crimes, then this will assist history to validate their individual inhumanities. Individual facts surrounding the Holocaust are dangerous to the memory of the murdered because if new facts are discovered that impeach long standing beliefs, then there is a tendency on the part of those wanting to turn away from the awful nature of the holocaust to do so.


For example, if the gas chambers in Auschwitz are not in their original condition, or if they show tampering or re-engineering, it could be hatefully argued that the volume of the murder victims is actually less than the historic maxims.


The fact is that a giant number of persons were murdered by the Japanese and Germans, and whether the publicized numbers are over or under the actual numbers by any percentage doesn't detract from the nature of the crime.


The crime wasn't that only that 4 or 6 million Jews were murdered, or that they died awfully, the crime was also that such a large amount of human destruction was wrought that it will be impossible to absolutely calculate and name the victims and their methods of death and disposal.

There is a man posting on youtube.com named DAVID COLE JEWISH TRUTH SEEKER. http://youtube.com/watch?v=2Y_zdhH6dEo

He has about 100 minutes of youtube footage where he is attempting to subvert the magnitude of the holocaust.

I have watched enough of him to understand that he is neither Jewish, nor a truth seeker. I have a feeling his movies on youtube are sponsored by a country, or entity.

His arguments while somewhat well engineered, are clearly not the arguments of a 20 something disenfranchised Jewish homosexual. Which, if he is Jewish, he is likely a queer from what I can tell.


His voice has been replaced by some kind of a robot, which leads me to believe the writers and producers of the David Cole series aren't even able to speak English fluently enough to make a film. David Cole, appears to have olive skin, and dark hair, but his facial features are not distinct enough for him to "look Jewish", if I may be so plebeian. There is nothing classically Ashkenazi or Sephardic about him that I could absolutely discern from the youtube footage.


Another words, he could have rode to Auschwitz on a camel. Or he could have died his blond hair black.


Anyway, the David Cole series is obviously sponsored by either a Nazi or Arabian/Persian anti-Semitic group.


The dialogue and production and organization are far too sophisticated to have been produced by a 20 something angry kid as the film vaguely hints Cole is.

As you know, I am good at constructing and deconstructing arguments. And the arguments made in the David Cole series are very well engineered to attack the validity of the crimes at Auschwitz in the minds of an impressionable audience.


I am only interested in understanding what entity has sponsored "David". I am also interested in understanding the techniques of very polished anti-Semitic holocaust revisionists. David Cole, or Iran, or the American Nazi party, or whoever is actually sponsoring the David Cole series, is obviously comprised of some very clever writers and debaters.


As you know, I am essentially fooled by nothing , or at least very little. But like I said, this kind of hateful revisionism is important because there are a percentage of people who don't think on a very high level, and they are susceptible to having their minds twisted. And they will warp the ideas of their children by imparting "the spirit" of David Cole's message to them, and in some small measure the victims of the third Reich will be injured just a little more in that their memories are revered just a little less.


David Cole bullshit is out there, and he/they/them are the types of people/countries/organizations that would try to misuse/abuse the new Auschwitz Nazi photos for their own benefits.

Michael Miller
Indianapolis,
2007

IRANIAN PRESIDENT SHOULD NOT VISIT GROUND ZERO

Mikes Vacation supports the decision by New York City officials to deny the Iranian President his request to lay a wreath at Ground Zero.

Mikes Vacation believes that the Iranian President had no personal culpability for the attacks on September 11, 2002, however it is my belief that the parties ultimately guilty for these attacks, would view his arrival at this site as some kind of triumph, and this wrongly perceived "triumph" would only serve to bolster their confidence and possibly inspire their strength and possibly aid future attacks against Americans.

The Iranian President has made a sincere request, and Mikes Vacation believes he would arrive at ground zero with a feeling of sorrow and solemnity in his heart for those lost on 9/11.

His request was sincere and legitimate, made for the purpose of showing respect to those who were murdered.

However, his personal security simply can not be assured by New York City officials as there are literally thousands of New Yorkers who might believe he is somehow mocking the dead, or that he had somehow played a part in the tragic deaths of their loved ones.

It is in the nature of the dead and grieving to not always think logically, and to want to take revenge on those they believe could "possibly" be somewhat responsible for their loved ones loss.

It would be reasonable and understandable for a New Yorker with a broken heart to attempt to assassinate the Iranian President at the ground zero memorial. It would not be difficult for one or even several persons to attempt to shoot the Iranian President with a hunting or sniper rifle from a nearby building. This would be easy for them to do, and difficult for the New York City officials to prevent. This same attack would become an international incident, and it would have long standing and terrible repercussions for New York City, and for Americans in general, and obviously for American Soldiers already under fire in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Iranian President has made a reasonable request that cannot be reasonably granted by the City of New York.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20942057/

Michael Miller
Indianapolis,
2007

THE IRONY OF BASHING ANTI-WAR MONGERS

Americans have forgotten a few important things about supporting wars and supporting soldiers.

Firstly, there is an important distinction between supporting a war and supporting a soldier. At the onset of our current War Crime Fiasco in Iraq, there was a lot of political sloganing about supporting soldiers under the main guise of not letting our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan face some of the "nasty anti-soldier sentiment" that faced returning soldiers from Vietnam.

This was George Bush's attempt to gain support for an invasion of Iraq by confusing Americans into thinking that by blindly supporting this current war we could somehow undo some of the negative experiences experienced by soldiers returning from Vietnam.

There was an uneasy feeling in the air in America that if you didn't somehow endorse a criminal invasion of Iraq, then you agreed to spitting on Vietnam vets and calling them "baby killers".

A giant part of America fell for this sham.

Before we look at the current war in Iraq, lets take a second look at the war and anti-war movement surrounding the Vietnam war.

Most men can agree with the standard definition of a "hero" as a man who charges a machine gun nest, or throws himself on a grenade to save his buddies. A hero could be a soldier or a Marine who shows no fear in the face of the enemy and rallies his friends in the field to extraordinary acts of courage and "saves the day". I agree with these standard images of what defines a "hero" . A hero is a man who uses unusual bravery and personal energy to cause more of his buddies to survive a war and come home to their families, often through personal sacrifice, or death. Heroes deserve medals, heroes save lives.

However, I think it is time to expand our idea of what defines a "hero of the Vietnam era." I think it is time to expand our minds on what or who actually saved lives in the Vietnam war.

As stated above, heroes come in a military form, but what about persons not in the military. Can they be considered "heroes" also? If the definition of a "hero" "a man who uses unusual bravery or personal energy to cause more of his buddies/fellow citizens to come home alive, often through personal sacrifice or death, then is a peach demonstrator of the Vietnam era a "hero" also.

A peace demonstrator, a hippie, a flower child, or whatever you call them didn't jump on any grenades, they didn't stand up against any machine gun fire. They didn't see anyone die in their arms. They bear no mental scars of witnessing a violent disaster every day. They don't wake up crying, or suddenly remember their hearts are still broken over their teenage friends that died in Vietnam.

How can a hippie, a flower child, or a peace demonstrator be mentioned on the same page as a "hero" , a real traditional hero from the Vietnam era?

The answer is that our mainstream political machine was in no hurry to bring our troops home from Vietnam. If it were up to them, we would probably still be there, still bleeding, and still dying. It was largely from INTENSE domestic political pressure did our government feel the need to pull our soldiers from Vietnam. Every day that the Vietnam war ended early SAVED LIVES!!

The Vietnam war was a difficult war to fight because our enemy used non-traditional methods of attack such as putting bombs on kids and having them run up to soldiers. Our soldiers were faced with the horrible task of sometimes firing at kids they suspected of carrying bombs. Sometimes our soldiers were correct, and sometimes they made mistakes. Our soldiers were ordered to raid villages at night, forced to fire into the darkness to kill an enemy before they could fire their weapons. Sometimes enemies were killed, sometimes Vietnamese civilians were killed. This was a dirty and heartbreaking war for our often teenage soldiers tasked to fight it. There was no clean or good way for our soldiers to survive the Vietnam war. They did exactly what the soldiers of any land would have done in their position.

Our bombers targeted enemy villages, sometimes they killed enemies, sometimes they killed innocent civilians, and sometimes both.

Returning soldiers from Vietnam were sometimes "spit upon" and sometimes called "baby killer". These same soldiers had recently come home after being in deadly jungle combat only days or weeks ago. Our country was not prepared to mend the psychological wounds of very young men who had recently been in terrible situations.

Our media and popular culture has confused a Vietnam era "peace protester" with the same kind of insensive ignorant clod who would "spit on" or yell "baby killer" at a returning veteran.

Our modern culture feels terrible about the lack of attention and the mistreatment of our Vietnam era veterans. And we should feel terrible about many aspects of their treatment.

However, modern culture has incorrectly lumped "peace protesters" and "anti-war mongers" together with the clods whose treatment of our returning Vietnam era vets have become some kind of a "hateful congealed mirage" that represents "all peace activist" and "all anti-war protesters".

This confusion on the part of modern America opened up a giant opportunity for the Bush war machine to "shame America" into not organizing an effective "anti-war machine" to resist his criminal actions in Iraq.

The idea that America shouldn't spit on or harass its returning soldiers is correct. The idea that protesting a war isn't helpful in saving soldiers lives is not correct. These are two completely different genre's of thought and action.

The irony of bashing , even subtly our countries anti - war mongers, or peace protesters is that they are partially responsible for saving the lives of our soldiers in Vietnam.

It is correct for Americans to be repulsed at the image of some drunken hippies yelling "baby killer" at a lonely Vietnam vet when he steps off the greyhound bus trying to get home to his mother. This is a sad and troubling image.

It is also correct to be similarly repulsed at the idea of some clod yelling "babykiller" at some guy in a small military parade when he returns home from "surving" in Vietnam.

However, it is Ironic and sickening that our own draft dodging President Bush should enjoy enjoy his war crime fiasco being protected by a morphed image of these jerks abusing vietnam era vets, and legitimate peace protesters of the same period.

Bush has piggybacked our country's shameful treatment of Vietnam era vets into a shield protecting his war crime.

This is Ironic because legitimate peace protesters in the Vietnam era saved lives in no small measure, and modern war protesters are saving lives in a similar fasion.

So when the Bush machine is denying the validity of an anti-war protester, he his denying life and survival to a certain number of soldiers currently in Iraq.

Michael Miller

WERE WE EVER REALLY THIS YOUNG?

DEAR READERS, WELCOME TO A RETRO PARTY HOSTED BY MIKES VACATION.
MAKE YOURSELF A FEW DRINKS, SIT BACK AND RELAX AND ENJOY A FEW COOL OLD MUSIC VIDEOS FROM THE 80'S. A TIME WHEN LIFE WAS (relatively) SIMPLE, THE MUSIC WAS GOOD, AND THE WORLD WAS FULL OF PROMISE. WE HAD OUR PROBLEMS, THE RUSSIANS IN AFGHANISTAN, THE FARM CRASH, AIDS, BUT THE WORLD WAS STILL SO YOUNG, AND WE WERE ALL STILL SO INNOCENT. SO, MAKE A DRINK, SIT BACK AND CHILL. AND REMEMBER, DON'T TRUST ANYONE UNDER 30. :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxUGR8vc8NE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgfSzuFD8rw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8re7PD5tOA&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2Hkc-ZTr9M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Wy7gRGgeA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taVW8Kv2HcQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3awgkHHtQ0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMsnqQHOwFg&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-2x1g2FyBs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qW0Edq1KqI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBdUz_IJ4VA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNT7uZf7lew
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SOJxNOP37I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHWdxNljnt0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn_x1zqLj1k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTqwaTXdPPQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVmXHHhs2FQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFyBH-z6c1w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szhJzX0UgDM&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVF5ZkG20dQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPsNE7_hKm8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPT_3PEjnsE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZYxsUDZQ4Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg_j4hkVJWY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adaYUM5wl7c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB775nB3YBI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z9bPrUark4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUod3jGQt0U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy5qHlNPKEc

p.s. code monkey is not from the 80's but it is dedicated to a friend that is.

MIKE MILLER
INDIANAPOLIS,
2007

HOW DID WE GET FROM POINT A TO POINT B

HOW DID WE EVER GET SO FAR? HOW DID WE GO FROM HAVING BEAUTIFUL BULDINGS IN NEW YORK, TO HAVING THE LARGEST TWO BURNED TO THE GROUND BY MONSTERS?

HOW DID IRAQ GO FROM BEING A SECULAR AND FUNCTIONING STATE THAT ESSENTIALLY DIDN'T LIKE US, TO A PLACE WHERE NO AMERICAN WILL SAFELY ENTER FOR DECADES?

WHO IS AT FAULT, A PUPPET, OR HIS MASTER?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXzMt2QarrM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKB4UMdwvZI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXw53yJc0Hc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R29YqCf1E3A&NR=1

MICHAEL MILLER
INDIANAPOLIS
2007

JAPANESE MOURN OVER AMERICAN ATOMIC BOMBS

IT WAS A HORRIFIC DECISION TO USE ATOMIC BOMBS ON HIROSHIMA AND NAKASAKI.

SOME PEOPLE FEEL IT WAS MILITARILY NECCESSARY TO WIN JAPANESE UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER, OTHERS FEEL IT WAS SIMPLY CRUELTY ON THE PART OF TRUMAN AND THE US WAR MACHINE.

SOME PEOPLE FEEL THAT AMERICA USED THESE WEAPONS TO SOMEHOW PREVENT THE COMMUNISTS FROM TAKING OVER JAPAN AFTER WW2. THEIR THEORY IS THAT IF CONVENTINAL METHODS WERE TO HAVE BEEN USED, THEN THIS WOULD HAVE GIVEN THE SOVIETS TIME TO TAKE PART IN A JAPANESE INVASION, AND THUS GIVE THEM ENOUGH INFLUENCE IN THE COUNTRY TO STEER IT TO SOVIET SOCIALISM.

MIKES VACATION BELIEVES DROPPING THE A-BOMBS ON JAPAN WAS THE CORRECT DECISION. THIS DECISION SAVED AMERICAN AND JAPANESE LIVES.

MIKES VACATION ALSO BELIEVES THAT LEIGONS OF JAPANESE WAR CRIMINALS WENT UNPUNISHED, BECAUSE TO DO SO WOULD HAVE POSTPONED JAPANESE RE-CONSTRUCTION SUFFICIENTLY LONG ENOUGH FOR THE SOVIETS TO GRAPPLE FOR INFLUENCE ON THE ISLAND. EMPEROR HIROHITO SHOULD HAVE BEEN PUBLICLY EXCECUTED. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN THE CORRECT DECISION. THIS WOULD ALSO HAVE REDUCED AMERICAN INFLUENCE ON THE ISLAND. IT WAS A MISTAKE TO ALLOW SO MANY JAPANESE WAR CRIMINALS TO GO UNPUNISHED FOR THE SAKE OF REGIONAL INFLUENCE.

this link features iris chang, author of "the rape of nanking"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=V8fzbUoQdio
this link is an interview with Aussie harry leslie, pow held by the japanese
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bBsryUaH-ps
this link is of the japanese mourning us atomic bombs
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20190749/

MIKE MILLER
INDIANAPOLIS,
2007

TORTURE AS DESCRIBED BY WIKIPEDIA

AMERICANS MUST BEGIN TO ORGANIZE FOR THE PURPOSE OF NOT ALLOWING OUR WAR CRIMINALS TO GO UNPUNISHED.

EXECUTING AND TORTURING POWS, PARTISANS, AND ENEMY CIVILIANS DEFIES THE SPIRIT OF AMERICAN AND GLOBAL HUMANITY.

WW2 ERA NAZI WAR CRIMINALS BELIEVED THAT BECAUSE THERE WAS NO LAW AGAINST THEIR CRIMES, THEY WERE LEGAL AND WOULD GO UNPUNISHED.

THE EUROPEAN VICTIMS OF NAZI GERMANY HAVE LITTLE TO CONSOLE THEMSELVES WITH, EXCEPT THAT PRECEDENTS WERE ESTABLISHED DURING THE NURNBERG WAR CRIMES TRIALS PROVIDING FOR WAR CRIMES TO BE FOREVER PROSECUTED AND PUNISHED.

THE NAZIS COULD NOT PASS LAWS IN GERMANY LEGALIZING WHAT THEY WOULD DO TO THEIR VICTIMS IN EUROPE. NO MAN CAN LEGALIZE A WAR CRIME OR A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY.

WASHINGTON'S LEGALIZATION OF TORTURE AND OF WAGING WAR UPON NATIONS AT PEACE, CAN NOT BE BONNA FIDE HERE OR GLOBALLY. WASHINGTON CAN NOT LEGALIZE WHAT BY NATURE CAN NEVER BE FORGIVEN, OR PARDONED.

AMERICANS NEED TO BEGIN DEVELOPING METHODS FOR THE PROSECUTION OF OUR WAR CRIMINALS, WE NEED TO PROVIDE FOR SEVERE PUNISHMENT TO THOSE WHO WILL DESTROY EVIDENCE OF THESE CRIMES OR OBSTRUCT THEIR PROSECUTION.

MIKES VACATION IS FULLY AWARE THAT MANY CITIZENS OF IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN ARE GUILTY OF WAR CRIMES AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY. THESE MEN SHOULD BE TRIED AND PUNISHED BY THE VERY SAME MACHINE THAT SHOULD BE USED AGAINST OUR OWN WAR CRIMINALS.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torture

HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN COMPUTER

THIS IS A GREAT 5 PART SERIES ON HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN COMPUTER.
Enjoy, Mike Miller

http://youtube.com/watch?v=z8KVF0EPSQQ&mode=related&search=

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xTmgSCxdZ48&mode=related&search=

http://youtube.com/watch?v=POMkeUekTfE&mode=related&search=

http://youtube.com/watch?v=43g2FPvPwNg&mode=related&search=

http://youtube.com/watch?v=I52Ys2QLq6c&mode=related&search=

READERS PLEASE FORGIVE ME

Dear Readers, There was always something that bothered me about Mr. Krol, I just couldn't put it into words, and I still can't.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/pix/amb/portraits/eur/24564.htm

http://images.google.com/images?q=reinhard+heydrich+photos&hl=en&um=1&sa=X&oi=images&ct=title

Ambassador Krol’s home state is New Jersey. He attended St. Peter’s Preparatory School in Jersey City, New Jersey

This sentence is taken from section 7 of the below document "Between 1948 and 1950 over 200 Belorussian Nazis arrived to South River, NJ with their families.

http://www.geocities.com/dudar2000/Bcc.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_A._Krol

The highest ranking Belorussian Nazi of WW2 was Radislaw Ostrowski, he was brought to America with the hopes he might assist with the overthrow of the Soviet Union. He lived to a ripe old age and is buried in New Jersey. I am very curious if there is some connection between Ostrowski, and the good Mr. Krol. I am not sure what the connection could be. Perhaps Mr. Krol knew of him, and was ashamed of his presence in America. I find it very odd that the American Ambassador to Belarus would not be aware that New Jersey was full of Belorussian Nazis or their children and grandchildren. So, if Mr. Krol was aware of this problem, why did he do nothing to see these monsters deported to Justice in Belarus?

http://encycl.opentopia.com/term/Radasłaŭ_Astroŭski

As long as we are discussing Embassy related issues, can anyone please explain to me just exactly why the U.S. embassy in Belarus is translatable into Belorussian and not RUSSIAN.

According to recent election polls, most Lukashenka supporting people in Belarus speak RUSSIAN. Lukashenka's opposition is skilled with Belorussian. So perhaps the U.S. embassy in Minsk only wants their rhetoric understandable by those that speak Belorussian. Perhaps the U.S. Embassy has posted things on its web site that are so ludicrous that if the majority of the Belorussian public were to understand their accurately translated meanings, the State Department and its "DIPLOMATIC MISSION" to Belarus would be embarrassed beyond timely repair? ! ? .
http://belarus.usembassy.gov/index.html

Dear readers, I got the following message from my long time friend and fellow Belarus advocate Adam Goodman of the BEINGHAD.COM web page and blog. Adam responded " Interesting post and there are some good links but I am not sure why you make the connection between the current ambassador and a dead Nazi collaborator.

Adam, There is no actual connection, there is a physical similarity, at least according to the photos. The Ex-Ambassador had been subverting Belarus by attacking Lukashenka. But frankly, there are the gnawing facts about all those (200) Nazi's settling in Jersey. I just have a real suspicion that American Belorussian Diaspora is corner stoned and led by either the original Belorussian Nazis that settled here, if they are still alive and viable, or their children. And I while I have no evidence of this, I feel that these same groups play a heavy lobbying/bribing role in seeing to the appointment of Ambassadors to Belarus that will serve their interest, and for that matter these same groups likely play an impactful steering role in SETTING what the mission of the state dept to Belarus actually is. You can see this same phenomenon in a more open fashion when you observe the effects that the Cuban exiles living in Florida have on current U.S. policies towards Cuba. Obviously the Belorussian Americans have some other things to consider, like potential deportation for war crimes etc. These looming threats likely keeps them from being as vocal and outrageous as the Cuban diaspora in Florida. However, the current Belorussian Diaspora probably would like to make financial claims against property and or business currently located and operating in Belarus. These claims would be fruitless unless a pro-capitalist/anti -communist leader and government were installed in Belarus. I feel that the extreme physical similarities between Krol and Reinhard Heydrich serve to promote an abstract and imaginative examination on the part of the reader of the facts of the case surrounding the real motivations of what our "diplomatic mission " actually is in Belarus. I also find the physical similarities downright creepy.

Michael Miller

Indianapolis, 2007