Rambling with Rolf

I really enjoyed reading this. It's nice to hear some insight about this part of the world and its recent history instead of the usual hard line partisan propaganda. Nicely done!

Thank goodness the Cold War is still being fought... on Cape Cod. Yeah and Republicans favor fascist regimes, so neener, neener. Too funny. And I think I'll stick with the opinion of 2500 international scientists instead of Penn and Teller, though their magic act is good stuff.

--- Experts that said that if Vietnam fell, it would be perilous to our way of life. ---

If Vietnam fell without a fight it would have hurt us bad. Communism is STILL as perilous to our way of life as it was during the Vietnam era. We fought hard enough to show the communists that Capitalists do not go down without a fight... well the Democrats and the French do but they favor the commies anyway while reaping the benefits of operating within a Capitalist society.

Watch this awesome Penn and Teller expose on the enviro-frauds:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4480559399263937213&q

Ah yes, history is littered with the commentary of experts. There were experts that said smoking was not harmful. Experts that said that if Vietnam fell, it would be perilous to our way of life. Or a president that spoke before the American people listing a litany of WMD in Iraq that never appeared. Ignore human effects on the environment, not at your risk, but future generations.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/02/AR2007020200192.html

http://fieldandstream.blogs.com/conservation/2007/02/ignore_our_pres.html

Neil:

Thank you for alerting us to Jeff Jacoby's great contribution, a reality check.

http://tinyurl.com/2y2a7z

Capecodtalk.com:

You are so right, "Brainwashing" it is.
Once again, follow the money. In this scenario, the money trail extends from the pandemic of Global Warming to the pandemic beneficiaries, and back again.

Of course Coleman's correct - he doesn't just vote like an elephant, he has a memory like one ;>)

Cape Cod's Johnny Kelley was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team that attended the Berlin Games of 1936. He finished 18th in the marathon, never really in contention for a medal. A highlight of the games for Johnny was meeting the legendary Greek runner Spiridon Louis, the winner of the marathon in the first modern Olympic Games, held in Athens in 1896. Louis died a few years later.

In 1940 Johnny made the U.S. Olympic Team, but due to Hitler's invasion of Norway the games were cancelled.

In the 1948 Olympic Games in London, on a course rumored to be long, Johnny ran the marathon in 2:51:56. He finished 21st at age 40.

He was a legend of the marathon. In the seventeen years from 1934 to 1950, he finished in the top five places 15 times at Boston, consistently running in the 2:30s. He ran his last Boston Marathon in 1992 at the age of 84, his 61st start and his 58th finish.

His kind will not be seen again soon.

If Jack Coleman says he remembers it, it happened.
If every man's memory is his private literature, Coleman has the largest library in seven states!

My hat is off to you, Rolf.

I am old enough (barely) to remember that "scientists" were telling us that a mini ice age was upon us and getting worse. I remember those same voices telling us that AIDS was going to explode onto the heterosexual population. I remember SARS and I am still hearing all about the Bird Flu.

Condoms and face masks are peanuts compared to the business that is affected by a mass brainwashing of so-called Global Warming.

I only hope most people are smart enough to realize the dinks who are leading the charge are the same old characters who have been losers on everything they tried to lay their mitts on for decades now.

Great post, Rolf, I enjoyed reading it. I had the good fortune to visit Berlin with my National Guard squadron in '86 before the Wall came down and your account brought back many memories. The city was more beautiful than I expected, and more vibrant, except for East Berlin as you point out. Never did get a chance to visit the Olympic stadium; maybe next time.

Years ago I read a story about John Kelley of Dennis, who if I recall correctly was the only American runner to finish the marathon in the '36 Olympics. According to the story, Hitler waved to Kelley as he crossed the finish line. "I didn't wave to that guy," Kelley told the reporter.

Don't miss;

"Chicken Little and Global Warming"

By Jeff Jacoby, of the Boston Globe

http://tinyurl.com/2y2a7z

Wall Street Journal
Climate of Fear
Global-warming alarmists intimidate dissenting scientists into silence.

BY RICHARD LINDZEN
Wednesday, April 12, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT
“There have been repeated claims that this past year's hurricane activity was another sign of human-induced climate change. Everything from the heat wave in Paris to heavy snows in Buffalo has been blamed on people burning gasoline to fuel their cars, and coal and natural gas to heat, cool and electrify their homes.”
“Indeed, the success of climate alarmism can be counted in the increased federal spending on climate research from a few hundred million dollars pre-1990 to $1.7 billion today. It can also be seen in heightened spending on solar, wind, hydrogen, ethanol and clean coal technologies, as well as on other energy-investment decisions.”
“But there is a more sinister side to this feeding frenzy. Scientists who dissent from the alarmism have seen their grant funds disappear, their work derided, and themselves libeled as industry stooges, scientific hacks or worse. Consequently, lies about climate change gain credence even when they fly in the face of the science that supposedly is their basis.”
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110008220

Not too cynical at all, Rolf. Global Warming is big business for Big Energy and many industries.

Whatthe: Agreed, but your sound reasoning does not create the fear that spurs the demand that the industrious will respond to by supplying service/products.

Maverick: "Global warming dollars"
Well said...Fear and greed...the National Home Builder's Association is responding to the "crisis" with all kinds of products for new construction; retro-fitting older homes is also an option.

Jerry Taylor, a senior fellow focusing on energy policy and environmental protection at the Cato Institute:

"Renewable power mandates merely accentuate the inefficiency and cost premiums attached to so-called renewable power sources. If renewable power saved consumers money, created jobs, or carried any of the other economic benefits so frequently claimed by environmental activists, then government would not have to pass a law to force power companies to purchase it or consumers to buy it."

Let's conserve, not panick.

Rolf...Thanks. You understand what is going on. Keep posting the truth. The rest are just interested in global warming dollars.

Sad, very sad.

The history of the Earth has always been to warm and then cool. Historically we are at the end of an ice age so logically it will be warmer, and if history is any guide it will be followed by another ice age, but the great part is that nobody knows.

Global Warming as we know it is all about money and fear to further whatever agenda that happens to be the topic of the day. A great example of this would be the wind farm zealots.

Never build near a volcano.

Ol' Rolf sho does get around, no?

As as qualified Dentist (as well as a freelance photographer!) , I have "Dentist UK" flagged up as an automatic Google search. Mostly I get irrelevant rubbish, occasionally interesting news pertaining to my profession and even more rarely, something which is important, informative and relevant. However, this is the first time that I have been moved to contact someone regarding one of these seemingly "irrelevant" links.

Because your blog on Norway and the Blucher contained the word "dentist" it appeared in my inbox. I would just like to say what a fantastic, well written, informative article this was. Especially since it was about a part of the War about which we hear very little.

Thanks

I will certainly be looking for your other blogs from now on.

Andy Medina


www.andymedinaimages.com

If I wasn't married, I'd hop up in this guy's lap just because his name is "Rolf."

Fantastic writing, I learned a lot. Thank you so much for sharing this story.

I'm so effing glad that my Dad had the brains to haul us out of Europe before we got caught up in some French version of that nonsense.

I love history and travel so this was a great post to read. With all due respect to the author however I must say that the premise he makes about empires smacks of revisionist history to me. The British Empire used the divide and conquer strategy very well to suit their needs and in the process created immense suffering for subject people under British rule. The historical wounds left by British tactics are still with us today in places like Cyprus and Palestine. To say that the Ottoman Turkish Empire (which was derided as "The Sick Man of Europe" in the 19th century) functioned without friction until nearly the end is absolutely false. Ottoman Turkish rule was a living nightmare for the subjugated peoples of that empire (Greeks, Armenians,Serbians,Bulgarians to name a few) and these nations would have been able to free themselves from Turkish brutality much earlier in history if the British Empire had not supported the Turks for their own commercial interests. The birth of nations has been a bloody process at times but the misrule by empires set the stage for these tragedies.

Ditto on that Sammy, this guy rocks, and he's funny too.

Rolf, this is one of the easiest to read "history lessons" I've ever read.
Congratulations!

Great travel yarn, Rolf. I haven't thought of that lousy Yugoslav automobile called the YUGO in years.
The riddle around these parts back then was;

QUESTION: What is the difference between a Yugo and a Jehovah Witness?

ANSWER: You can close the door on a Jehovah Witness.