Gunga Din

 In a number of John Wayne western movies, he has three Sgt's who are always acting like fools. As I was flipping through channels today, I saw an old movie from 1939 called Gunga Din. There they were, three Sgt's acting like fools. 

True or False

In India they will not answer a question with the truth if a lie might serve better. Indian culture. Think about that when you are on the phone with them.

"The Lion's Den" by Philip McCutchan

This is episode four in the James Ogilvie series. In this episode, the story confronts the subject of homosexuality in the British army and the stigma attached to it. Throughout the whole book, it is the underlying story with a sad ending.
It starts of with Ogilvie getting away from crawling over dead bodies to take up teaching native recruits. Even then he still ends up at the Khyber Pass with snipers and skirmishers, outnumbered and fighting his way out. A good story with not as much blood and gore as usual. 

Soldier of the Raj (James Ogilvie, #3) - McCutchan, Philip

Another good addition to the James Ogilvie series. Rather than a book of blood and guts, it is a book of intrigue, a spy rather than a soldier. He is still a magnet for danger and becomes more involved with the woman he loves.

"Lieutenant of the Line" by Philip McCutchan

"Lieutenant of the Line" is the second in this series. A soldier's life in the 1890 British army in India is a far cry from life at home. The life of the ordinary soldier is one of hardship coupled with cruelty from superiors. The higher the rank, the more the indifference towards the lower ranks. The book is a great description of  British aristocracy playing at war. 
James Ogilvie lives by the choices he makes. With a combination of bad luck and his own willingness to misinterpret orders, he always seems to be on the edge of ending his career or life. But miracles can happen. 

"Drums Along the Khyber" by Duncan MacNeil

"Drums Along the Khyber" is the first of an historical series set in 1897. It is the story of a young Lt. sent to India on his first deployment. It goes along at a good pace, not plagued by pages of description about scenery etc. It is well written. Some may be offended by the language, but it is the attitude of the times. Five stars for me.

VISA

Got a call this morning at 6:30. It was about my VISA card. A kind gentleman from India wanted to warn me that someone was making charges to my card. So thoughtful. I wish I had his phone number so I could show him how thankful I was and call him at 6:30 AM his time.

Scams

Not all scam criminals are stupid, contrary to what some law enforcement and newscasters tell us. Take for example telephone scam artists. Some have put a lot of thought into this and over the years have become quite successful. They have a good idea who will fall into their trap, the naïve and elderly. 
I received a phone call yesterday at 6:20 AM. A woman said she was from VISA and was calling to check on two charges to my card. If I wanted to question these charges, press two. I did. A man with an Indian accent answered the phone. I was hardly surprised. Yes, he could help me. All I had to do was give him my credit card number. I laughed and hung up the phone.

Amazon promises 1 million new jobs in India amid tensions with government. Just what we need... More Indians on the phone.

People in India should never have been taught to use the phone.

The Making of a Superpower

I read some bad news the other day, I had a hard time believing. It seems the Ameicans are running out of big rocks. Yes, its hard to believe, but it appears to be true. I am referring to the big rocks, they make monuments from. They do make a lot of monuments, sort of like the Victorian era in England, when they made a lot of statues. It makes me wonder if this carving up of rocks is another sign of the end times.

Rome made lots of statues, momuments and buildings, then plop, down the drain. England, the same way, plop, down the drain. The Martin Luther King statue is the latest. I don't have anything against M.L.K. But the thing is, they bought the rock from China. I don't know about you, but to me it just doesn't seem right. I can see if they bought the rock in Africa, that would be okay.

It also appears, they have no more artists in the U.S, capable of making that sculpture. Maybe it just falls in line with the policy that they have to give all their jobs to someone else. Not only do we (them and us) send all the jobs to China (& India) we also send the factories. Remember the movie "Terminator"? The end has a hand crawling through a steel mill. Do you know where that steel mill is now? It was chopped up and taken to China. They did the same with a steel mill in Sydney and a oil refinery her in Dartmouth.

Sound like good policy? It might be a good policy for greed. After all, the upper class figure they can buy their way out of anything, so might as well grab as much as you can.

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Credit Card Maxed? So What.

The weather today is whatever forcast you pick. The picks are, cloudy, sunny, showers or stormy. They could sell lottery tickets on this.

Had to go to a funeral the other day. It happens, and the older, the more frequent. An old air force buddy died. That's the second in a month. His son was there and that was weird. Looks like his fathers twin. It was like I was talking to his father, thirty years ago.

Read this morning that Canada and India are teaming up to sell nuclear reactors. If I read it right, our part is selling the uranium with Indian technology. Now that's a scary thought. India has nuclear weapons, and do you know, that's our fault. In the 70's we sold them a reactor, and they learned how to make a bomb. This time they say, when we sell them uranium, there will be a monitoring system so they can't use it for weapons. How stupid can you be?

A third of the American news is about the woman in Florida, who has been released from jail, and another third about Murdoch. The last third is about the debt ceiling. In regard to the deby ceiling, isn't it the same as when my credit card is maxed out, and I go to the bank and ask for a new limit, so I can spend?  I don't know what all the fuss is about. Of course they are going to raise it. What it does, is worry the stock market, and when it is raised, the market can shoot up like crazy.

Lots of coverage on strollers on buses. Most cities have laws that allows only fold up strollers. But not here, too dumb. Here women go on the bus with strollers that just make it in. Then no one else gets in. So every stop on the route waits for the next bus. Duh!. City Council too busy with their own ego's to do anything.

They say shoplifting not a problem here. Maybe just smart shoplifters.

The price of ereaders going down. Saw them advertised  for $68.

Saw the other day that they are going to make colored shoes for men. To celebrate the new colors, I will buy two pair. One black and one brown.

Saw this ad yesterday Ramadans.com. Of course, I thought it was for Muslims. Actually it's Ramada Inn Nova Scotia. Don't say you wouldn't be fooled.



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It Is What It Is, and That's How It Is

You can have the sun, and still not have warm weather. 12C/54F

They are at it again. Name changing. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2011/06/23/ns-halifax-cornwallis-school-rename.html?ref=rss I wish people would get over this crap. It happened 250 years ago. Quit moaning about it. I guess its like, I win, I got the last word in. First a school , then a street, then what? I don't imagine it will be names after any white man.

If you are a white man, you are definately on the bottom of the ladder now. In Halifax, they lowered the entrance exams for fire fighters so blacks could qualify. That's what I like to hear. If my house is burning down, send the stupid people to put it out. For government, everyone else qualifies first. Then again, that's the government. They have seminars on slowness.

Let's say Canada was discovered by another race, other than white, where would we be now. Like African nations, Arab nations, or India? Our own indians hadn't even discouvered the wheel by the time the white man came. As for Asians, they copied everything from the whites.

And don't go calling me a racist. It's just is what it is. Some men lose their hair faster than others. That's just the way it is.

Along the same line, another thing that irks me is the statement, "Over qualified for the job."
I never heard of anything so stupid. "I don't want to hire you, I would rather hire a dumber person."
Or, "Instead of you, I can hire ten in India, and maybe the ten of them together will get the job done."
You would think it would be, "If I can get the best person possible, my company will do better."
In reality its, "If I can hire the cheapest person possible, I can put more money in my pocket."


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