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text:
Banned Toys - Late Arrivals Part 41 :
Posted by Banned Toys at 2/08/2010
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Here are some TOYS I am sure will never be sold in toy stores, at least not in the USA, we are do damn politically correct for that !!!!
Disclaimer and Notice: This BLOG may offend some people, especially if they don't have a sense of humor.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Non-Aikido thoughts and considerations
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Dojo: Aiki Kurabu
Location: Elizabethtown, PA
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,110
Re: Non-Aikido thoughts and considerations
Mark Murray
Hi Allen,
Did you open the can of worms on purpose?
Let me start by drawing a picture using sports cars and drag racing. Imagine that we have Morihei Ueshiba's car there on the drag strip. When you open the hood, you find an amazingly powerful engine. The car itself is sleek, rounded, has no sharp edges, but is painted with some very detailed, almost 3D type paint such that the car seems to float in the air. When other people race against this car, they lose. Badly. The car looks as part of the natural world as it floats quickly down the strip. Other cars leave rubber marks, exhaust fumes, and have loud noises, but Ueshiba's car does not.
Then, along comes Modern Aikido with Kisshomaru Ueshiba as the driver and Koichi Tohei as chief mechanic. They try to build a car just like Ueshiba's except they don't understand how Morihei Ueshiba painted it, nor how it got so smooth, rounded, and sleek. They also don't understand how Morihei Ueshiba built the very powerful engine. Of course, when they asked Morihei Ueshiba, his answer was to watch and steal the secrets. They do their best, even though they can't understand what Morihei Ueshiba is telling them in his lectures. Their car looks similar and runs similar but yet is so very different. If you look closely, you can make out the flaws in the design. When the Modern Aikido car races, it mostly loses, leaves rubber marks, has exhaust fumes, and is loud. When you look at the car, it appears to look like Morihei Ueshiba's car. When you open the hood, it appears to look like Morihei Ueshiba's engine. Except Modern Aikido's car never acts, runs, or moves like Morihei Ueshiba's car.
If we look at Morihei Ueshiba's car, we find that the engine is Daito ryu aiki while the body is Omoto kyo spirituality. Modern Aikido has replicated no understanding of either. Looking at the engine, we find that if you train Modern Aikido's exercises, then you are not doing Morihei Ueshiba's exercises, although they can appear to look alike. If Morihei Ueshiba found value in the exercises to enable him to become such a great martial artist, then if Modern Aikido is doing them just like Ueshiba, where are the Modern Morihei Ueshibas? After 40-50 years, we really can sum it up in two basic answers:
1. Morihei Ueshiba was a singularly unique individual. He was a one-in-a-billion kind of guy.
2. Modern practitioners of aikido aren't doing the same kind of training that Morihei Ueshiba did.
If we take a step back in time, we know that Sokaku Takeda created Yukiyoshi Sagawa, Morihei Ueshiba, Kodo Horikawa, Takuma Hisa, and others. They could all do very similar things. Morihei Ueshiba, in his early training, created Gozo Shioda, Kenji Tomiki, Rinjiro Shirata, and a few others. They were very similar in skills, although not as good as Ueshiba. Sagawa didn't really teach the secrets until late in his life. One student of Sagawa's has stood out - Tatsuo Kimura. Kodo Horikawa taught a couple of people, most notably Seigo Okamoto who can do similar things as all the rest. So, really, reason #1 is kind of hard to accept. If we look at the fact that Sokaku Takeda told people not to teach the secret except to one or two individuals, we can see why there were only a handful of great aiki martial artists. Yukiyoshi Sagawa upheld that. Tokimune Takeda did, too. Katsuyuki Kondo reiterated what Tokimune had done.
Basically, even though it is a hard pill to swallow, reason #2 is pretty much the remaining answer. Most people were never taught the secret of aikido. Morihei Ueshiba didn't really teach it, and his students had a near impossible time of trying to figure out what he was doing.
When Kisshomaru Ueshiba and Koichi Tohei entered the scene at the end of World War II, Modern Aikido was born. Both then raised adherents to Modern Aikido, sending them out into the world dressed as Morihei Ueshiba's child. Forty years later, the child is now a man. There would have been no understanding that there was a difference between Ueshiba's aikido and Modern Aikido, except that there were a few circumstances which allowed the secret of aiki to get out into the world. Some people are now looking at the Modern Aikido Man and seeing that he doesn't move, act, or do anything at all in the same way Morihei Ueshiba did. The Modern Aikido Man is a ghostly and pale imitation that rarely stands up in the same light as Morihei Ueshiba to the tests of the martial world, let alone the tests of the intertwined martial/spiritual world.
What of Modern Aikido? Frank Doran mentions that Tohei created many energy games and practices. (1) And Patrick Augé states:
Mochizuki Minoru Sensei said that when he was studying with Ueshiba Sensei (late 1920's), robuse was the name given to the technique that later became Ikkajo, then Ikkyo after the war. The present ikkyo as taught by most Aikikai (and Aikikai related) teachers is the result of the modifications made by Tohei and Kisshomaru Sensei in order to simplify Aikido and make it available to more people.... (2)
Stan Pranin notes that Kisshomaru Ueshiba gradually changed the technical syllabus and created a flowing style technique based system. (3) Koichi Tohei was head instructor for many years and his teaching was influenced by the Tempukai. (4) Morihiro Saito also makes note of some of the things that Koichi Tohei introduced into Modern Aikido training. (5) Tohei is quoted as saying, "Everyone thinks that I learned ki from Morihei Uyeshiba. That's not true. The Master taught me aikido; he did not teach me ki. I studied and learned it myself." (6) While Tohei's reason for stating this may have come from a rough period of time, the words themselves hold value. Ueshiba rarely taught "ki" to anyone.
It doesn't take a lot of research to find that the students of post-war aikido were more influenced by Kisshomaru Ueshiba and Koichi Tohei, that the manner in which the techniques that these students practiced were more influenced by Kisshomaru and Tohei, and that the spiritual harmonious definition of Aikido was more influenced by Kisshomaru and Tohei than by Morihei Ueshiba.
What about weapons in Modern Aikido compared to what Ueshiba practiced? In an interview with Nobuyoshi Tamura, he states that Ueshiba trained with the yari along with the jo and bokken. Ueshiba had a long spear at the dojo for training that he used quite often. He also states that he never saw Ueshiba practice tanto dori. (7) It was also noted that in Daito ryu, one would study sword techniques. (8) Because Ueshiba learned Daito ryu, it was mentioned that at the "Aikijutsu Dojo" in Tokyo, Ueshiba taught sword and spear. (9) Also, it's noted that Ueshiba trained with weapons on his own, including spear. (10) Rinjiro Shirata states that Ueshiba didn't teach weapons work to his students, but did practice it on his own. (11)
Also, from one interview in Aiki News:
Editor: We have seen old movies (in which juken were used in demonstrations) but did you ever use the juken (bayonet and rifle) in practice at that time?
Kunigoshi Sensei: Yes, we did. Someone would thrust with the training weapon and we would try to deal with that kind of attack. We also worked against a spear attack. Anyway, there were just about every type of major weapon in the dojo. Even I was expected to have practiced against a cutting attack made with the bokken. Nor were we only expected to be able to avoid the attacks of the weapon-carrying person. We were also expected to be able to take the role of the attacker and wield the weapons. (12)
Shoji Nishio talks about how he had to study weapons on his own because they were not taught at hombu. (13) Kisshomaru Ueshiba also noted that his father studied and trained with the spear. (14) Nobuyoshi Tamura makes an interesting comment in that he thinks Ueshiba's jo was actually spear work. (15) All of this goes to show that Ueshiba's weapons training was not carried forward into Modern Aikido. It is a rare sight to see spear training in any Modern Aikido dojo. And if true, while Modern Aikido trains tanto dori, it was not from Morihei Ueshiba. Most sword training in Modern Aikido is from a teacher's background in some other martial system or from a teacher's own creation. The practice that is left from Morihei Ueshiba is some jo and bokken take-away. Morihiro Saito is one of the few students to have gathered a chaotic weapons training under Ueshiba and created a structured syllabus. However, it does not cover most of what Ueshiba trained with weapons.
Training under the founder at Hombu appeared to have been a few hours each day while training with other instructors (Kisshomaru and Tohei included) took up the rest of the day. We also have quite a few students stating that Morihei Ueshiba would talk a lot and no one knew what he was talking about. Add in the fact that in 1956, Morihei Ueshiba was 73 years old. He wasn't teaching all day when these students started training in Aikido.
I'm not diminishing the commitment, heart, skills, or pure dedication of these students. We can all see how much they have contributed. But, on the other side of things, we must also acknowledge that Kisshomaru Ueshiba and Koichi Tohei had more influence on them than did Morihei Ueshiba. And that influence shines through very brightly in their Aikido, even today. There is a large disconnect when talking about the Founder's Aikido and these student's aikido.
What kind of vision of aikido are the shihan and top ranked teachers supposed to take into the future? Do they truly understand Morihei Ueshiba's Aikido, or is it more likely that they understand Kisshomaru and Tohei's Aikido? Those two visions of aikido are not one and the same. They are not even close. We have Morihei Ueshiba living his vision of Aikido, backed by aiki and some spiritual/religious ideology. In Kisshomaru/Tohei's aikido, we have harmony for a post-war world audience that is not backed by the martial skills of Morihei Ueshiba nor is it backed by his spiritual/religious views. The major consolation in all of this is that in the spiritual/religious sense, Morihei Ueshiba noted one didn't have to follow his exact footsteps. Modern Aikido has diverged from Morihei Ueshiba's Aikido.
1. Aiki News Issue 010
Frank Doran: All of the energy kinds of games and practices, many of which Koichi Tohei developed are very useful tools to put someone in touch with this aliveness which is within you.
2. Yoseikan NA website:
In 1963, Kisshomaru made his first trip abroad to the U.S. and subsequently traveled on numerous occasions to North and South America, and Europe. Although his efforts to expand the Aikikai on an organizational level are well-known, it should be noted that his technical influence was also great. Kisshomaru gradually modified the technical curriculum of the Aikikai by reducing the number of techniques taught and creating a standardized nomenclature. His flowing style of technique that emphasizes KI NO NAGARE movements have also become a de facto standard in many Aikikai dojos worldwide.
4. Aikido Journal Issue 112
Seiichi Sugano: Tohei Sensei's teaching was influenced by the Tempukai, and it was easier to follow, probably because much of the Tempukai curriculum originated in yoga.
5. Aiki News Issue 088
AN: Ki no Kenkyukai (Shinshin Toitsu Aikido) practices include lectures about the workings of ki, and demonstrations of the unbendable arm and the unliftable body. Did you ever experience this kind of practice in Iwama after the war under O-Sensei?
Saito: No, I didn't. It is a teaching method which Mr. Tohei devised.
6. Black Belt 1973 Vol 11 No 11
Article by Jon Shirota about Tohei and Ki
8. Aiki News Issue 010
9. Aiki News Issue 015
10. Aiki News Issue 051
11. Aiki News Issue 062
12. Aiki News Issue 047
13. Aiki News Issue 060
Nishio Sensei: (When I was a beginner) I asked how they applied the body techniques to the ken, but no one showed me. Since there was nothing to be done about the situation, I began practicing the ken in 1955 soon after I began Aikido training. What else could I do? Nobody taught me! O-Sensei did sword techniques at lightning speed and would say, "That's how you do it," and then disappeared from the dojo. I tried in vain to understand what he was doing and the next moment he was gone.
14. Aiki News Issue 065
Kisshomaru Ueshiba: There were some major events between 1937 and 1941. First, kendo training was allowed at the Kobukan dojo for a short period. The Founder had mastered various jujutsu forms and practiced spear technique for a while, but he had not seriously gotten into swordwork (kenjutsu). Now he stared swinging the sword frequently for his own research, especially after Aikido started dealing with empty-handed techniques against weapon attacks.
15. Aiki News Issue 066
Tamura Sensei: I think that O-Sensei's jo was not what we would call jodo but rather the spear (yari).
Very well said !
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Event: Actresses Kalki Koechlin, Konkona Sen Sharma and Huma Qureshi pose as scary 'daayans' at EK THI DAAYAN press meet at Film City in Goregaon, Mumbai. Emraan Hashmi, Ekta Kapoor, Vishal Bhardwaj, Anurag Kashyap were also snapped.
Guest List: Emraan Hashmi, Kalki Koechlin, Konkona Sen Sharma, Huma Qureshi, Ekta Kapoor, Vishal Bhardwaj, Anurag Kashyap
Bollywood celeb Aamir Khan along with wife Kiran Rao were spotted at PVR.
Bollywood producers-directors Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Krishan Kumar, Ravi Bahl, Divya Khosla Kumar, Sajid Nadiadwala, Wardha Nadiadwala celebrate diwali with Bhushan Kumar
Bollywood celebs Kareena Kapoor Khan, Malaika Arora, Sonali Bendre, Nimrat Kaur among others were snapped by paparazzi.Bebo looked super cool in a casual look. She wore a white t-shirt with yoga pants...
Bollywood actress Shama Sikander celebrated Diwali festival at her residence.
Bollywood celebs Aamir Khan, Zaira Wasim, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, Anil Kapoor, Nitesh Tiwari, Aparshakti Khurrana, Bhushan Kumar, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Sachin Tendulkar, Rajkumar Hir...


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and Leadership
in the Army and Air Force
From Parameters, Winter 2005-06, pp. 76-90.
Most discussions of culture in the military services concern the relationship between military and civilian culture. Comparatively less interest has been shown in the cultural differences among the military services themselves, although there is considerable informal and anecdotal (often humorous) discussion of such differences within the services. In his 1989 book, The Masks of War, Carl Builder focused on personality differences among the services, and discussed the implications of those differences for defense policy.1 C. Kenneth Allard offered an insightful look at service culture in his thorough analysis of the past and future of jointness in our defense establishment.2 In the United States, the relatively recent separation of the Air Force from the Army, coupled with the rapid rise of the Air Force as a powerful, independent institution since World War II, offers a unique opportunity to explore the organizational cultures of these two services, and to better understand the implications of culture on leadership styles in each of the services.
Institutional and Occupational Orientations
One important dimension on which organizational cultures may be differentiated is the extent to which they are characterized by an institutional as opposed to an occupational orientation. The institutional orientation is conceptualized as rooted in a calling to serve higher ideals represented by a shared vision of an organization, rather than in individual self-interest. The individual with an occupational orientation, on the other hand, approaches his or her work as a job, to be retained or abandoned based largely (though perhaps not solely) on a calculus of self-interest. Charles Moskos warned
many years ago that the then-imminent advent of the all-volunteer force brought with it the potential for a shift from an institutional to an occupational model in the military services.3 Nearly 40 years later, many of the institutional features of military service described by Moskos, including such basic features as the compensation structure and paternalistic culture, would seem to be largely intact. Trade unions have made no inroads into the military in America (as they have elsewhere), and reliance on civilian contractors has continued, perhaps grown, with no apparent erosion of the traditional institutional character of the military services. There is, nevertheless, a growing conviction among some that military service is less likely to be conceptualized as a calling today than has been the case in the past, though Andrew Abbott argues that this trend is apparent in all professions.4
This discussion of institutional and occupational tendencies within military cultures has struck an especially resonant chord in the Air Force. James Smith, Mike Thirtle, and William Thomas each see occupationalism as contributing to centrifugal forces within the Air Force that potentially threaten cultural identity, individual commitment, unity, and cohesion by fostering identification with specialized occupation-oriented sub-groups, rather than with a shared vision of Air Force identity and values.5 This occupational orientation may be a significant factor in differentiating Air Force culture from that of the other services.
Occupations Affect More than Commitment
Another dimension of service culture influenced by occupational orientation was suggested to me recently by a senior staff officer from the military establishment of a European country with whom I was working. He was describing the challenges inherent in joint staff work. An Army officer himself, he observed that senior Air Force officers on joint staffs, who are almost exclusively pilots, seemed to him to manage and absorb information in ways that reflected their occupational training as pilots.
In dealing with complex information from different sources, evaluating and balancing conflicting information, some Air Force officers in staff assignments, he thought, tend to discount inputs not easily and readily assimilated
into a pre-existing or rapidly developing schema. In the areas of information-gathering, problem-solving, and decisionmaking, some Air Force officers appear to him to behave in the war room as (he believes) they are taught to behave in the cockpit.
While such remarks might easily be ascribed to the prejudices and stereotypes that are an all too common feature of human social interaction, and may represent only one persons view of his idiosyncratic experiences, the idea that the weapons warfighters employ, and the social and cognitive adaptations engendered by the use of those weapons, might influence leadership culture more generally, is intriguing. Information flow in the cockpit is highly sensor- and technology-dependent, highly structured and highly controllable. It is very adaptive for pilots to be very good at shutting out sources of distraction in moments of crisis. The immediate, ultimate, and unquestionable authority of the aircraft commander in the cockpit is a bedrock element of Air Force leadership culture.
The argument that my colleague was making was that professional pilots in staff assignments bring with them some of the same cognitive adaptations that are essential to them in the cockpit, and apply these habits in other leadership situations, where they are arguably less adaptive. While individual differences and variability (irrespective of service) undoubtedly account for more of the variance in performance among officers on a joint staff than those related to service of origin, there may be at least a grain of truth in my colleagues observations, a grain that is worth examining more closely.
Of course, there are not only differences among individuals within a group, but differences among groups in many organizations. Many professions composed of distinct sub-specialties are characterized by a sort of pecking-order: surgeons are the elite in the medical profession, as are troop-leading combat-arms soldiers in the Army. Even within the community of pilots, there are subcultures associated with platform (single-seat and multi-place aircraft) and mission (air combat, transport, training) that may differ substantially from one another. Our point concerns not individuals, nor sub-groups, but the organizational culture itself, however, which individuals and sub-groups may participate in and be bound by to varying degrees. A military service dominated by an occupational culture (or several such cultures) may be affected by that culture in important ways.
It is possible that the particular nature of the occupation in which military members are engaged may directly affect the way they go about the business of leadership, and that the nature of this effect may be different in the different services. This is another, less obvious aspect of service culture. The occupational profile of a service may also affect organizational forms and leadership styles indirectly, if that occupational profile is linked to other indi-
vidual traits or characteristics, such as social, educational, or cultural variables, that are themselves related to organizational behavior.
Leadership: The Roles of Officers and NCOs
An interesting point was brought home to me many years ago, when I was an Army officer teaching cadets at the US Air Force Academy (USAFA). During some good-natured banter about Armys (typically abysmal) performance on the gridiron, a cadet remarked that the difference between the Air Force and the Army was that in the Army, the officers send the enlisted soldiers out to fight, while in the Air Force, the enlisted folks stay behind and send the officers out to do the fighting. I heard this expressed in these same words often enough by independent sources to realize that it was part of the cultural equipment of the USAFA Cadet Wing at the time. Mistaken as it was, this half-serious jibe contains some ideas worth unpacking.
The roles of officers, NCOs, and enlisted members, and the relationships among them, do seem to vary across the services. In the ground forces, NCOs are considered the backbone of the service. In the 1970s, General Donn Starry made famous the term Sergeants Business, and produced a film by that name which all Army officers were required to view annually. The film expressed a fundamental, bedrock element of Army institutional culture: the vital role played by NCOs in the day-to-day running of the Army, and in the training and development of young officers. Whatever the service prejudices of USAFA cadets, the fact is that officers, NCOs, and soldiers do their warfighting together in the Armythey are interdependent in the most profound and literal sense of that term.
In the Air Force, many pilots do go off and do their fighting on their own, or at most with a few other pilots or perhaps crewmembers. Certainly they depend on vital maintenance and logistical support from ground personnel, and certainly the hardships and risks of deployed service are broadly shared, but relationships between officers and enlisted in the Air Force would
seem to be necessarily different from such relationships in the Army and Marine Corps. Crew chiefs simply dont teach pilots how to fly, but NCOs (among others) do teach young lieutenants how to be good leaders in the Army and Marine Corps. While relationships between officers and NCOs in other Air Force career fields may be more parallel to those in the Army, it is pilots who broadly dominate the leadership and mythology of the Air Force. Consequently there may be very different leadership styles among senior officers in the different services, conditioned by their different formative experiences as young officers.
There is an interesting social dimension to this difference, as well. One often hears Army officers and NCOs (even very senior ones) identify themselves as soldiers, as in saying, Shoot, Im just an old soldier. This kind of downward identification, in which virtually everyone in the Army can participate, simultaneously has the effect of publicly endorsing a vision of shared institutional values, and emphasizing the fundamental importance of everyone in the organization as a vital element of that vision.6 There is not (and perhaps cannot be) a corresponding statement in the Air Force because, as Thirtle and Thomas each point out, there is not a similarly widespread vision of shared institutional values in the Air Force.7 People in the Air Force dont say, Shoot, Im just an old airman. Pilots are an elite sub-group, distinguished in myriad ways from other members, and it is mainly pilots that are readily able to participate in a culture rooted in the mythology of aerial combat. Public Air Force rhetoric tries to capture the sense of teamwork that comes naturally in the Army by exhorting members to act like wingmen and airmen, but the reach of these metaphors is naturally limited.
Because Air Force pilots (who are all officers) are technical experts at a task to which non-pilots have nothing to contribute, pilots have very different needs (and perhaps habits) when it comes to seeking out information and advice from others, as compared to ground force officers. For the Army officer, other officers, NCOs, and soldiers are all valuable resources to be respected for the expertise and experience they bring to the officers warfighting task. Army combat units are far from democracies or college debating societies, but leadership is not usually viewed exclusively as a form of tyranny. The officer is and must be in charge, but the quality of the units performance will be determined by how effectively he or she uses the skills, experience, and leadership of his or her subordinates in building and developing the unit. This most fundamental reality of Army leadership engenders a corresponding respect for the importance of human relations in the Army.
In the Air Force, the brotherhood of pilots is necessarily somewhat separated from the experiences of others by virtue of the specialized nature of the task: pilots simply dont need advice from non-pilots on how to fly. The
myth of the solitary and heroic single-combat warrior is important to Air Force culture, and it conditions the understanding of Air Force leaders about the essential nature of leadership. Air Force NCOs are regarded and treated as the superb professionals they are, but they do not (and cannot) participate in the dominant warfighting myth in the same way that Army or Marine Corps NCOs do; their expertise, concerns, and activities overlap only partly with those of pilots and officers.
The commercial value of an aeronautical rating in the civilian world also differentiates Air Force officers from their counterparts in the ground services. Learning to fly immediately creates the potential for a career working as a commercial airline pilot, an attractive and sometimes lucrative profession. While it is difficult to discuss this fact without sounding as if it is being suggested that Air Force officers are somehow less patriotic, less loyal, or more mercenary than Army or Navy officers (this is most certainly not what is being suggested), it cannot be denied that the occupational and institutional dimensions of service culture are simply different across the three services. In this sense, there is at least the potential for pilots to view the Air Force as one of several venues that may make it possible for them to continue in the occupation of flying, while no comparable calculus can exist for infantrymen, tankers, or submariners. Moreover, the expense and importance of aviation and the aviation-related industry to our economy connect the Air Force to powerful economic and political forces in society far more directly than is the case for the other services.
Cognition and Culture
There is a psychological concept called cognitive dissonance which is perhaps relevant when we consider the development of institutional culture in military settings. Leon Festinger, a social psychologist, asked people to perform a boring and unpleasant task (place a spool on each of 48 wooden pegs in a board, rotate the spool a quarter turn, remove the spool, and then replace it). After they had finished, he then asked them to tell others about to perform the task that it was enjoyable and exciting. He paid half the people a small amount of money to tell the fib, and the other half a much larger amount. When he then asked the people who had performed this boring task to rate it using a questionnaire, he found that those who had been paid the lower amount of money rated it much more favorably than those who had been paid a large amount of money to fib about the task.8 The explanation is that humans act to reduce any disconnect between thought and deed. If we are paid a lot to fib, then we understand what happened and have no need to change our attitude to make sense of our behavior: we did it for the money. But if we are paid only a trivial amount, then a dissonance between our atti-
tudes and behavior is apparent. Why lie for a pittance? The behavior is a fact, so the only way to reduce the dissonance is to make our attitudes more consistent with the behavior.
It may be that the Army and Navy have an easier time creating an institutional culture based on superordinate values and beliefs because most Army and Navy officers do not have an extrinsic motivator to potentially explain their commitment to military service. Military service as a calling that transcends self-interest is an especially compelling explanation when behavior and self-interest may appear quite dissonant, as they may for Army or Navy service members. Military service entails sacrifice: why do we make those sacrifices? If incentives are offered to serve, either in the form of the opportunity to enter and continue a passionately loved occupation, or as bonuses and flight pay, the transcendent component of motivation to serve may be less necessary as a way of understanding and explaining ones behavior. Moreover, many Air Force members will tell you that they generally sacrifice much less in terms of creature comforts and other associated costs of military service than do grunts. In fact, many will tell you that is why they chose the Air Force. The Air Force currently justifies its use of 120-day deployments (the Marines use nine-month rotations, the Army one year) on the basis of its view of itself as the retention service: because its members are highly trained in technical specialties, the Air Force uses a shorter, more expensive deployment cycle to avoid driving them out of the service. But less sacrifice also means less dissonance to explain, and perhaps further impediments to the establishment of an overarching institutional orientation.
Service Personalities
Just as Army and Air Force cultures seem to differ with respect to the internal relationships between officers and others, the two services also have cultivated different global images of the services themselves, determined in part by the origin and roles of the services. The Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps antedate the republic itselfthe traditional services have co-evolved with the country for, quite literally, centuries. The Air Force owes its comparatively recent independent existence not to the progressive, open-minded and
welcoming spirit of the older services, but to the brute intervention of the civilian government.
Air Force leaders are constantly struggling to symbolically sustain and justify the independent service identity of the Air Force and to create and protect a unique Air Force culture comparable to those of the other services. This mainly manifests itself in the focus on technology in the Air Force, which is seen as setting the Air Force above the less-technological traditional services. There is an absolutist and anti-intellectual strain in Air Force culture (as many have observed in military culture more generally) that resonates with a view of the world as simple and clear. Confidence in the intellectual superiority of the Air Force over the other services coexists with what sometimes appears to be contempt for the rough-and-tumble of open intellectual discourse. The paradox of Air Force culture is that it can be decidedly anti-intellectuala circumstance perhaps not uncommon in authoritarian cultures such as the militarybut nevertheless convinced of its intellectual superiority. This tendency is perhaps stronger in the Air Force than in the other services.
These aspects of global Air Force culture also affect organizational forms and penetrate the thinking of the rank and file, implicitly modeling a more hierarchical, executive, personal model of decisionmaking that shapes the culture of leadership in the Air Force. The responsibility of the Air Force for controlling a component of the American strategic nuclear deterrent may also have led to broad institutional reliance on organizational models characterized by concentration and elevation of decisionmaking power in highly centralized structures.
Controversy over the centralization of command authority and tactical decisionmaking in the Army has been a prominent feature of post-World War II discussions of Army culture. David Hackworths colorful and interesting account of his experiences as an Army officer in the decades after World War II chronicle the struggles of the Army to adapt to the political, technological, and social upheaval of the postwar era.9 More recently, Donald Vandergriff, and also Don Snider and Gayle Watkins, have offered systematic analyses of the challenges confronting Army culture.10 Perhaps because the Army has existed long enough to have been repeatedly, and sometimes brutally, forced to reexamine its role in national defense, self-reflection and analysis are vital components of Army culture. General Peter Schoomaker, Army Chief of Staff, said recently, We must be prepared to question everything in endorsing innovation and culture change in the Army.11
More Technical, Less Dominative?
Morris Janowitz argued 45 years ago that as the military services became more technical, organizational patterns would shift in the direction of
more manipulative (or managerial) and less dominative (or authoritarian) relationships.12 Bengt Abrahamsson extended this hypothesis a decade later by arguing that this tendency would be greater in the Air Force than in the Army, based on the fundamentally technological orientation of the Air Force.13 Many seem to intuitively accept the truth of this proposition, embracing a perception of the Air Force as a kinder, gentler kind of military organization. The reality, however, may be more complicated than Abrahamsson thought. Perhaps the superficial gentility of the Air Force masks an underlying leadership culture that is as fundamentally authoritarian as that of the ground forces, or even more so. Perhaps the superficial gruffness of the ground forces exists in a culture which embraces human interaction in a more sophisticated way than meets the eye. While there has been some effort to study authoritarian attitudes in military settings, relatively little effort has been devoted to directly comparing the services themselves, so these perceptions must remain largely untested.14
Given that the cultural identity of the Air Force includes a vision of the Air Force as the progressive and modern service, it is perhaps paradoxical, then, that in some ways the Air Force appears to be far more insular and conservative than the older services. Officer development and education at the service academies offer an illustrative comparison. As West Point has changed its curriculum to prepare officers to cope with the manifold challenges of military service in the 21st century by better balancing technical and nontechnical subjects, the Air Force Academy has recently shifted the balance among its academic programs in favor of science and technology. As the Army has responded to the global challenges of the new century with greater openness and flexibility (at least educationally), the Air Force has narrowed its focus still more tightly on technology.15
More Technical, More Dominative?
The hypothesis that more technical military cultures (such as that of the Air Force) are likely to be less authoritarian may simply be wrong. In certain circumstances, highly technical occupations may generate a heightened risk for the development of insular and autocratic cultures, if steps are not taken to prevent the development of such cultures. In highly exclusive technical organizations, the sophisticated nature of the daily work limits opportunities for participation by people who do not share the required education or expertise, and often the experience and worldview, of technical experts. In the military, this isolation is exacerbated by the tight control over entry to elite circles and access to power that is possible for members of the expert group. Because accountability in such systems is weak, there may be systematic biases in selection for positions of authority that are difficult to assess or
control.16 Both by selection of like-minded people and by suppression of dissent through coercive application of authority, views and opinions contrary to those of the power elites are easily discounted.
Even outside the military, the nature of technical work itself can lead to habits of thought that may militate against the kind of agonizing and searching consideration of difficult and complex issues that is so vital in todays operational environment. Engineering, medicine, and intelligence work are examples of areas where some or all of these factors are especially dominant. Engineers recognize that due to the nature of their work, extraordinary measures may need to be taken to ensure that they continue to think in creative ways. NASAs tragic failures in the shuttle program have been attributed largely to management structures unable to adequately process unwelcome ideas and criticisms from employees, rather than technical mistakes. The incredible achievements of our industrial laboratories and manufacturing plants remind us, however, that whatever the potentially stultifying effects of technical work might be, they can be spectacularly overcome.
While nonmilitary organizations dominated by technical occupations may be somewhat prone to exclusivity and insularity, it is the case that the combination of modern bureaucracy and human psychological and social characteristics can produce such outcomes in all walks of life. An excellent example of the hazards of insular and exclusive organizational cultures in a nontechnical occupation is the release by CBS News of apparently forged letters about President Bushs National Guard service during the Vietnam War in the last presidential campaign. In this instance journalism, an occupation founded on the basis of objectivity, was shown to be vulnerable to these same hazards of elitism and exclusivity. It happens that in the case of CBS, the exclusivity was rooted in political, not technical, qualifications. While technical organizations may be especially susceptible to the development of exclusive organizational climates, any organization (including liberal arts colleges) can easily fall prey to the same problems. Groupthink occurs in all kinds of groups: it just occurs more readily in some groups than in others.
Social and Cultural Issues
There may also be linkages between occupational preferences and other individual characteristics relevant to leadership and service culture. Morris Rosenbergs classic study of occupations and values offered intriguing glimpses of the apparently complex web of correlations among occupational preferences, values, and attitudes.17 Abrahamsson noted, as many have, the similarities between military and religious or monastic organizational structures.18 While Rosenberg did not study the relationship between occupational choices and religiosity, it may be the case that certain occupational cat-
egories are more or less likely to attract people with strong religious views than others. If this is so, and if organizations are dominated by people in one or a few occupational categories, then the potential for differentiation from society on related variables (such as religiosity) exists.
It appears that such differentiation may be occurring in parts of our military establishment. For example, pervasive cultural issues involving perceived religious intolerance among some of the leadership, staff, faculty, and cadets recently reported at the Air Force Academy may indicate that just such a differentiation has occurred at that institution. The Air Force Academy is located in Colorado Springs, home to several large evangelical churches, and the area is a popular assignment and retirement destination for many service members. The problems uncovered at the Air Force Academy19 may be indicative of nothing more than a local cultural issue, but these problems may also suggest a more widespread and deeper trend: perhaps the demographic changes in our military over the past decades have contributed to subtle changes in the proportion or distribution of people with particular religious beliefs in the services more broadly.
John Brinsfield reports that Army soldiers self-identify as members of specific religious traditions at about the same rate (64 percent) as members of society at large (63 percent).20 It is not known, however, exactly how the military differs from society as a whole in the proportion or distribution of particular religious sub-groups. David Segal and Mady Wechsler Segal report that approximately four times as many military members (11 percent) identify themselves as other Christian than do members of the general population, (three percent) while correspondingly fewer self-identify as Protestant, Roman Catholic, or Orthodox.21 Because of inconsistencies and difficulties in collecting data on religious beliefs, it is difficult to know what to make of these differences. It is clear that on certain issues with a religious dimension, such as tolerance of differences in sexual orientation, the views of some military members diverge from those of the population as a whole.22 Are there differences in the religious views of service members and civilians, of officers and enlisted, in higher- and lower-ranking officers, in members of the different services, of
different occupational groups or organizations within the services? If such differences exist, do they matter?
These questions may be important to consider in the future. Military members identify themselves as Republicans with considerably greater frequency than do Americans as a whole.23 While it has been argued that the political identification of military members has not really changed much over the last several decades,24 the last two election cycles have raised fears that the body politic may be becoming more polarized. If so, then the demographic asymmetry between the military and society will amplify political differences between the military and at least a sizable portion of civil society. A military self-image as an island of traditional American moral and religious values in a sea of post-modern relativism25 is fraught with the potential to exacerbate, rather than mitigate, strains in civil-military relations. This particular aspect of civil-military relations is ripe for further research.
Army Culture and Fourth-Generation Warfare
Thomas Hammes argues that the dominant form of warfare over the last half-century has been so-called fourth-generation warfare.26 This form of warfare, an evolved form of insurgency, does not attempt to win by defeating the enemys military forces. Instead, via diverse networks, fourth-generation warfare directly attacks the minds of enemy decision makers to destroy the enemys political will.27
This may not be the way we want to fight, but it may be the way we have to fight, because our enemies perceive that it is the only form of warfare in which we can be confronted with some prospect of success. If this is so, then what is needed in our defense establishment is not transformation into a better, more technological, conventional (third-generation warfare) force, but transformation into a force with a very different mix of capabilities. We are only beginning to understand what the nature and extent of the changes required as part of that transformation may be, but they will be tectonic in their far-reaching effects on the status quo.
The Army will face monumental challenges to its combat-arms culture, rooted (as Carl Builder suggests) in the spectacularly successful march across Europe in 1944-1945, as it confronts the prospect of the nonlinear battlefield fundamentally changing the dominant image of warfighting that has served so long and so well. Concerns about the cultural effects of focusing on roles other than full-scale conventional combat foreshadow the strains that will challenge unity and cohesion in the Army.28
John Gordon and Jerry Sollinger suggest that Army culture needs to change by embracing a shift to a role as the supporting service.29 This shift, they believe, is conditioned by the growing reliance of national power elites
on air power as a first response in crises, and on the centrality of air power to early military successes in Iraq and elsewhere. But Hammes points out that our enemies, closely watching the unfolding events in Iraq, will be less and less likely to engage us on terms that allow us to apply such power in the future, and more likely to engage us on terms favorable to them.30 Air power was decisive in achieving the military objectives set early in the Iraq campaign, but the political objectives of our involvement in Iraq still seem a long way from being met as of autumn 2005.
Gordon and Sollinger offer no suggestions for changes in Air Force culture, but it would seem that the key role of Air Force and Navy aviation, exemplified to them by three incidents from the early stages of the Iraq war, has been less apparent as the war has continued, and may remain so as the war seems poised to continue for perhaps several more years.31 It is the Air Force that has settled into a role as the supporting service, and will probably continue in that role in Iraq indefinitely. Under these circumstances, perhaps Air Force culture is also in need of reconsideration of its Cold War mindset, as Gordon and Sollinger recommend for the Army.
It would seem that the shift to the all-volunteer force did not immediately lead to wholesale disruptions in the institutional culture of the services, nor to an obvious rise in occupational attitudes. Thirty years on, however, new pressures appear to be building that again suggest we should turn our attention to service culture and proactively manage the consequences of looming changes in our defense establishment and posture.
What are these pressures? Growing reliance on bonuses and reenlistment incentives may affect the occupational orientation of service members. While noble ideals and self-interest probably coexist in the motivational structures of all service members, the proportions may be undergoing differential change in different groups. The Armys Blue to Green initiative, which hopes to attract Air Force and Navy personnel affected by downsizing in their home services to transfer to the Army, brings into sharp focus these motivational dimensions of service culture.
These issues can become only more important in the future. As the strains on our Guard and Reserve forces continue to grow, more creative ways to make military service more attractive will be sought. For example, General James Helmly, Chief of the Army Reserve, recently warned of the potentially negative effects of paying reservists an extra $1,000 per month to accept a second mobilization assignment.32 The Army appears poised to rely more and more heavily on financial and other incentives to attract recruits. Adaptation to these changes will challenge the Armys institutional culture.
By far the greatest pressure will come from the need to adapt existing service cultures to the realities of fourth-generation warfare. Defining the heart and soul of institutions is a continual process of preserving traditional conceptions while at the same time updating, refining, and sometimes replacing them as conditions change.33 Organizations with long, storied histories and strong traditions are perhaps best equipped to withstand these periodic redefinitions. A certain comfort and security comes with the knowledge that an organization has survived great upheaval before.
The Army is already questioning everything, and is confronting the challenge of cultural change head-on. Within the Air Force, the broadly accepted institutional culture that is characteristic of the other services has arguably not yet developed, and, as a result, the Air Force may face greater institutional challenges in these times of turbulence and uncertainty. Accustomed to seeing itself as the preeminent, modern branch of the service overtaking the roles of the traditional services, the Air Force has not had to develop the kind of self-reflective and self-critical leadership culture that questions everything.
Both the Air Force and the Army face an uncomfortable future in which existing capabilities and associated cultures may require significant retooling. The Army has adapted to such changes before, and has successfully retained (or recovered) its traditional institutional culture. European military establishments, though rooted in fundamentally different cultures, already have had to adapt to many of the same pressures we now face. The Air Force has not yet had to renew itself in the far-reaching ways events now seem to demand. We may not yet be able to see the contours of the successful adaptations that lie ahead for the two services, but we can be sure that they will ultimately be rooted not only in technological wizardry, but also in a better understanding of the human and cultural dimensions of service and sacrifice in an age that promises to demand a great deal more of both.
The author is indebted to the following individuals for criticism and comment: Dr. James Barker; Dr. Anthony J. Carey; Dr. Martin Cook; Dr. Gordy Curphy (Lt. Col., USAF Ret.); Dr. Craig Foster; Colonel (Dr.) James Head, USAF; Captain Thomas J. Holland, USA; Colonel Samuel J. Hubbard, USA Ret.; Dr. Thomas Mabry (Lt. Col., USAF Ret); Dr. Matthew G. McHarg (Lt. Col., USAF Ret.); Colonel (Dr.) Gary Packard, USAF; and, Dr. David Segal. Defects remain the sole responsibility of the author.
1. Carl Builder, The Masks of War (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1989).
2. C. Kenneth Allard, Command, Control, and the Common Defense (New Haven, Conn.: Yale Univ. Press, 1990).
3. Charles Moskos, From Institution to Occupation: Trends in Military Organization, Armed Forces and Society, 4 (No. 1, 1977), 41-50.
4. Andrew Abbott, The Army and the Theory of Professions, in Don M. Snider and Gayle Watkins, The Future of the Army Profession, ed. Lloyd Matthews (Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2002).
5. James Smith, Air Force Culture and Cohesion: Building an Air and Space Force for the Twenty-First Century, Airpower Journal, 12 (Fall 1998), 40-53; Mike Thirtle, Developing Aerospace Leaders for the Twenty-First Century: A Historical Context for the DAL Concept, Aerospace Power Journal, 15 (Summer
2001), 52-57; William C. Thomas, The Cultural Identity of the United States Air Force, Air and Space Power Chronicles, 30 January 2004, http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/cc/thomas.html.
6. The Army is far from a monolithic organization, however, and it contains its own subcultures, some associated with particular military branches (such as infantry or artillery), others with a more occupational focus (physicians, lawyers).
7. Thirtle; Thomas.
8. Leon Festinger and James M. Carlsmith, Cognitive Consequences of Forced Compliance, Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 58 (1959), 203-10.
9. David Hackworth and Julie Sherman, About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989).
10. Donald Vandergriff, The Path to Victory (Novato, Calif.: Presidio Press, 2002); Snider and Watkins.
11. David A. Fastabend and Robert H. Simpson, The Imperative for a Culture of Innovation in the U.S. Army: Adapt or Die, Army Magazine, February 2004, pp. 15-21.
12. Morris Janowitz, The Professional Soldier (Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1960).
13. Bengt Abrahamsson, Military Professionalization and Political Power (Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1972).
14. D. T. Campbell and Thelma K. McCormack, Military Experience and Attitudes Toward Authority, The American Journal of Sociology, 62 (March 1957), 482-90; see also Elizabeth G. French and R. R. Ernest, The Relation between Authoritarianism and Acceptance of Military Ideology, Journal of Personality, 24 (February 1956), 181-92.
15. An example of this difference in approach is the smaller and more flexible core curriculum at West Point composed of 26 courses, with different requirements for cadets with different majors, as compared to a core for all of 32 courses at USAFA. (USMA Curriculum and Course descriptions, http://www.dean.usma.edu/sebpublic/curriccat/static/index.htm; USAFA Curriculum handbook, 2004-2005, pp. 70-71.) At West Point, all cadets are required to take two semesters of a foreign language; at USAFA, a similar requirement was recently changed to eliminate this requirement for technical majors, while requiring four semesters of a language for nontechnical majors, as a way of increasing the number of cadets enrolling in technical majors.
16. Mady Wechsler Segal and Chris Bourg, Professional Leadership and Diversity in the Army, in Snider and Watkins.
17. Morris Rosenberg, Occupations and Values (Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1957).
18. Abrahamsson.
19. The incidents at the Air Force Academy include allegations that some non-Christians have experienced disrespect and discrimination at the hands of Christian cadets and staff members. See stories in the Colorado Springs Gazette: AFA Faces Faith Bias Allegations (18 November 2004); AFA and Religion Topic of TV Show (18 February 2005); AFA Coach Says Religion is Paramount at School (26 February 2005); AFA Says its Fighting Bias Issue Head-On (6 March 2005), available at http://afa.gazette.com.
20. John W. Brinsfield, Reality Check: The Human and Spiritual Needs of Soldiers and How to Prepare Them for Combat, in Snider and Watkins.
21. David Segal and Mady Wechsler Segal, Americas Military Population, Population Bulletin, 59 (December 2004).
22. David Segal and Meyer Kestnbaum, Professional Closure in the Military Labor Market: A Critique of Pure Cohesion, in Snider and Watkins.
23. Ole Holsti, A Widening Gap between the U.S. Military and Civilian Society? Some Evidence, 1976-1996, International Security, 23 (Winter 1998/99), 5-52.
24. Joseph J. Collins, Civil-Military Relations: How Wide is the Gap? International Security, 24 (Fall 1999), 204-07.
25. James Toner, A Message to Garcia: Leading Soldiers in Moral Mayhem, in Snider and Watkins.
26. Thomas X. Hammes, 4th-Generation Warfare: Our Enemies Play to their Strengths, Armed Forces Journal, November 2004, 40-44.
27. Ibid.
28. Walter Ulmer, Joseph Collins, and T. O. Jacobs, American Military Culture in the Twenty-First Century: A Report of the CSIS International Security Program (Washington: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2000).
29. John Gordon IV and Jerry Sollinger, The Armys Dilemma, Parameters, 34 (Summer 2004), 33-45.
30. Hammes.
31. Gordon and Sollinger.
32. Tom Bowman, Army Reserve Breaking Down, General Warns; He Says Mission Failure Imminent, San Francisco Chronicle, 6 January 2005, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/01/06/MNG2VALREE1.DTL.
33. Thirtle.
Professor George R. Mastroianni has been a member of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership, US Air Force Academy, since 1997. A Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army Reserve, Dr. Mastroiannis research interests include the modeling and simulation of human performance in military systems, and applications of psychological principles to military life and culture. He is currently assigned as an Individual Mobilization Augmentee to the US Army Medical Research Detachment (Brooks City-Base), Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
Go to Winter issue Table of Contents.
Go to Cumulative Article Index.
Go to Parameters home page.
Reviewed 22 November 2005. Please send comments or corrections to email@example.com


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Thermalright HR-02 Review
Founded in 2002, Thermalright has been a part of the computing world for nearly a decade. Throughout their presence in cooling market, Thermalright has not ceased to manufacture top-of-the-line cooling products for CPUs, GPUs and RAM - since the introduction of the first generation AMD Thunderbirds. Thermalright has been known for their absolute focus on performance, straying away from flashy plastic housings and bright lighting. Today, I will be reviewing the Thermalright HR-02, which can be used passively - without any fans. The benefit for some users of being able to run a passive heatsink is the absolute lack of noise. People who prefer no noise but still wish to run high end computer parts without the hassle of water cooling may have trouble finding heatsinks that are up to the task. The Thermalright HR-02 is specifically designed to perform passively, though it does have the ability to accept one or two fans. This review will contain a complete evaluation of the Thermalright HR-02's unboxing, appearance, construction and installation, specifications and features, followed by rigorous testing.
Closer Look:
Thermalright has always been minimalistic in the packaging of their products, where their boxes lack expensive printing and graphics. The HR-02 is packaged in a plain brown cardboard box with the Thermalright logo printed on top, and the model name printed on either side. The HR-02 is protected in a large block of Styrofoam and is wrapped in a plastic bag. To the right of the block of Styrofoam is a white box that contains all of the mounting hardware, including fan clips, thermal paste, and the user's documentation sheets.
I have always appreciated Thermalright's packaging. They save money on presenting their product with something that is likely to be thrown away, and invest that money into the performance of their product. Now that the HR-02 is out of the box, I will be taking a closer look of it on the next page.


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Seven Deaths Confirmed in Arkansas
Authorities have now confirmed seven deaths in Arkansas after a severe storm
< The Flu Is Rampant
Feb 14, 2013 06:55
Category: General News
Category: General News
Disabled Ship Limping In To Mobile
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — As the Carnival Triumph is slowly towed into Mobile, Ala. today, many passengers will have a two-hour bus ride ahead of them. The cruise ship was stranded in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday after an engine-room fire cut power, creating conditions passengers have described as uncomfortable and unsanitary. Once the ship reaches Mobile, Carnival is offering to bus passengers to Galveston, Texas, Houston, or New Orleans.


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Many Gulf Coast Parks Still Buffeted by Spill
July 15, 2010 by Bob Ashley · Comments Off on Many Gulf Coast Parks Still Buffeted by Spill
Three months after the BP oil platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, some RV park and campground owners say their businesses are beginning to recover while others report summer occupancy rates off as much as 50% as the region continues to combat the perception that oil is washing up on hundreds of miles of beaches.
"We are fortunate; we've had very few cancellations," said Katy Folkertsma, manager of 60-site Pineglen RV Park about three-quarters of a mile off the Gulf in Panama City Beach, Fla. In mid-July, she said, the park was 75% occupied with the third July weekend fully booked.
"People call and ask us and I tell them the beaches are fine," said Folkertsma. "For every cancellation that I get, I get another person calling for a reservation."
On the other hand, Judy Hezik, manager Baywood Campground, a 117-site RV resort 1 1/2 miles from the beach in Gulfport, Miss., said the phone hasn't been ringing like it usually does. "Business definitely has slowed down a lot — probably 30%," she said. "People assume there's so much oil on our beaches that they don't even call."
Hezik said that while the winter season typically is busier than summertime at Baywood, "we usually get a flow of RVers, but that's not happening right now. We need the negative publicity to stop."
Kampgrounds of America Inc. (KOA) reports that its 50 company-owned and franchised campgrounds in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and Texas were down 1% through the middle of July compared to 2009. However, over the Independence Day holiday, those same facilities reported a 14% dropoff vs. the holiday weekend a year ago. "We are complaining like everybody down there that the media hasn't been very kind," said Mike Gast, vice president of communications for KOA. "People just aren't taking the chance."
Through June, by the same token, business is down 50% for the season at Perdido RV Resort in Perdido Key, Fla., an island on the Intercoastal Waterway 10 blocks from the Gulf in the Florida Panhandle.
But that began to change in July, according to owner Julian McQueen. "It seems to be settling down a little bit," McQueen said. "We've seen our numbers come back a little bit in July. I don't know why. Maybe people are taking a more reasonable look at this and whether the Gulf and the beaches having oil on them is an impactful as the media is portraying."
After attending a meeting with Kenneth Feinstein, who is in charge of distributing $20 billion in aid to Gulf Coast residents and businesses from a special, independent fund set up by BP, McQueen said he is confident that campground owners applying for relief will receive compensation. "He made it clear he's not working for BP or the (Obama) administration, but that he's working for the Gulf," McQueen said.
Indeed, Bobby Cornwell, executive director of the Florida and Alabama affiliates of the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds, said he has heard anecdotally that some campground owners already have begun receiving checks.
"I don't know the exact numbers, but there are a few parks that have received some responses and some have received payment," Cornwell said. "It's not been enough to cover losses, however."
Cornwell said occupancy is down 50% at Camping on the Gulf in Destin, Fla., one of the few Florida parks with campsites right on the beach. "The fact is," Cornwell said, "there is no oil on those beaches."
"The media talks about the beaches as if everything is covered with oil and that's not the case," said Camping on the Gulf General Manager Pat O'Neill, who reported in a news release that negative national publicity is costing the park more than $3,000 a day in lost reservations.
The campground is trying to counter that perception with daily videos on its website (www.campgulf.com) that prove that the Gulf waters and its beach are clean.
Government agencies are taking the same tack.
While acknowledging scattered problems with oil along its 32 miles of beaches, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism have set up a special website (www.thebeachfacts.com) with a daily video reporting on beach conditions that is also posted on YouTube.
"The thought behind that was to provide accurate, verified information for our guests to deal with other than the noise from the media," said Kim Chapman, the agency's public relations manager.
In Mississippi, with 62 miles of beaches stretching through three counties, the Mississippi Development Authority is using $15 million received directly from BP to buy radio and TV spots aimed at vacationers in the southeastern states. "We want people to know that our beaches are not covered with tar balls," said Jennifer Spann, the authority's public relations manager. The media perception is hurting us. Some parts of our beaches have been closed at times. But most of the beaches are open, and we are still encouraging people to come on down because there is still plenty to do."
Mark Anderson, owner of 101-site Poche Plantation RV Resort on the banks of the Mississippi River in Convent, La., says the oil spill has hurt business more than he anticipated. "We don't have any oil problems, but business is off 30% to 35%," he said. "We don't have any oil in our face, but we have oil in the minds of people coming down this way.
"The question I get a lot is 'if I can smell the oil?' I tell them 'no.' People think that if they come down here, they are going to get oil on their rigs (RVs)."
Cornwell, for his part, said the owner of Anchors Aweigh in Foley, Ala., reported that business is off by about 50% for the season. "A lot of their business is from people going deep sea fishing and they are usually full this time of year," Cornwell said. " People who live nearby are coming as usual, but most of the campers who are coming from up north are assuming the worst and don't want to take the chance. The area is having a horrible summer. Local restaurants have closed down and many of the condos are empty."
In Texas, Gulf Coast campgrounds are reporting that business hasn't been affected by the oil spill, according to Brian Schaeffer, executive director of the Texas Association of Campground Owners (TACO).
He reported that tar balls that showed up on some Texas beaches in mid-July didn't come directly from the oil spill. "The Fourth of July was fantastic," Schaeffer said. "Texas campgrounds that rely on water tourism are doing great. They seem at this point not to be concerned."
Gulf Resort Counters Inaccurate Spill Reports
June 28, 2010 by RVBusiness · Comments Off on Gulf Resort Counters Inaccurate Spill Reports
Click here to watch a video about the following resort.
For weeks, Pam Hillman heard incessant news reports about BP's oil spill and how it was devastating beaches along the Gulf Coast.
But when she arrived at Camping on the Gulf in Destin, Fla,. for her family's annual vacation last week, there was no oil to be found.
"The news in Alabama keeps saying the beaches are all covered and I come down here and I don't see any of it," Hillman said in a news release. "It's just beautiful here. There is no oil in sight."
That's a message Camping on the Gulf and other beachfront campgrounds, RV parks and resorts would like people across the country to hear. "The media talks about the beaches as if everything is covered with oil and that's not the case," said Camping on the Gulf General Manager Pat O'Neill, whose park is half empty due to consistently inaccurate reporting about extent to which the oil spill is affecting Gulf Coast beaches.
In fact, since the oil spill began there has only been one day when tar balls showed up on the beach in front of Camping on the Gulf, and those were immediately picked up by county crews, O'Neill said.
In an effort to counter misleading media reports, Camping on the Gulf posts daily video clips on its website at www.CampGulf.com, which include detailed footage of the beaches, the surf as well as interviews with RV resort guests who provide their own commentary regarding the cleanliness of the beaches, while encouraging people to come down and enjoy the Gulf Coast.
O'Neill said he had no choice but to post the daily videos because inaccurate and sensational media reports are prompting people to cancel their reservations.
"Normally, we're booked solid all summer long and have to turn people away. But right now, we're sitting at 50% occupancy," O'Neill said, adding that misleading news reports involving the effects of the oil spill are costing Camping on the Gulf more than $3,000 a day in lost reservations.
"I feel bad for all the companies that have lost business as a result of the oil spill," Hillman said, adding that her family has come to Camping on the Gulf every summer for the past 11 years.
Fortunately, O'Neill said, there are plenty of Camping on the Gulf guests who are willing to share their experiences about camping on beaches that, so far at least, have not been negatively affected by the spill.
"The beach is wonderful," said Kent Calfee, a Camping on the Gulf vacationer from Tennessee during a video interview last Thursday. "Everybody needs to come on down because it's a great time on the beach."
"The water color here is excellent," said Daniel Reyes, a Houston, Texas-area resident who was interviewed on video by Camping on the Gulf on Friday. "We've been here a little over a week and everything has been absolutely wonderful."
Camping on the Gulf has 201 RV sites and 19 park model cabins and cottages, which are available for rent. For more information about the park, visit its website.


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Got a question that has been on my mind the last few days. I keep forgetting to post about it to you guys.
Why hasn't anyone made a strip club where you could go to lift weights while watching beautiful women lift weights naked and in sexy workout outfits? They also would have beautiful women walking around with protein shakes and muscle building snacks. If you wanted , you could get a backroom private workout lesson in the mens locker room.
It would be a lifters dream club.


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01/08/2013 (10:00PM - 11:00PM) (Tuesday) : DREW AND AMY RECEIVE OVERWHELMING NEWS. ADAM AND KRISTINA HELP MAX ADJUST TO TEENAGE LIFE. MEANWHILE, VICTOR PRESENTS NEW CHALLENGES FOR JULIA AND JOEL. RAY ROMANO ('MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE') AND TINA LIFFORD GUEST STAR.
Drew (Miles Heizer) and Amy (Skyler Day) receive news that will forever change their relationship, leading Mark (Jason Ritter) to express his concerns to Sarah (Lauren Graham). Adam (Peter Krause) and Kristina (Monica Potter) are presented with new parenting dilemmas as they help Max (Max Burkholder) navigate through life as a teenager. Crosby (Dax Shepard) is growing increasingly impatient with his mother-in-law Renee (Tina Lifford) causing conflict with Jasmine (Joy Bryant). Victor (Xolo Mariduena) is confrontational towards Julia (Erika Christensen) and Joel (Sam Jaeger) causing them to question their parenting abilities.
Also starring Craig T. Nelson, Bonnie Bedelia, Tyree Brown, Mae Whitmanand Savannah Paige Rae


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Friday, August 05, 2011 - Jiri Jiskra - MASSAGE
Radek Pacan is a very cute redhead, or ginger-haired guy. That is two in successive days on casting posts. Radek looks very cute, with a nice face and a slim body. He gets a very good erection and desports his ass very well for us. I am sure he will be popular.
Jindra Stryk comes from Kadan. He is a good looking guy, though in his casting he looks rather serious. He also has a slim, smooth body and is quite well endowed, which I hope he can make stand to attention as demands require. He also has a very nice ass.
Daniel Buron is from Prague. He is a handsome guy, with quite a good body, and a very full bush. Daniel doesn't make wood, but I dont think he would have a problem in a full shoot. Certainly more than worthy on consideration.


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Enzzo wrote:Since it's hosted on Tumblr, you have to "follow" the blog for 2 weeks before you can comment
Jin wrote:The strategies seem to work out very well, thank you for making it easier for me to level my pets!
The one against Mo'ruk seems to be very luck based though, and after using the Fluxfire and Nexus Whelp and lost 9 battles in a row I decided to try to improve it and came up with a one that seems a lot more reliable!
I follow the first part of your tactics, but once the Fluxfire dies I send in a Onyxian Whelp instead, using Lift Off to avoid Lightstalker's Moth Dust, then just dpsing him down with Tail Swipe and use my Healing Flame if necessary. Then I just repeat the tactic for Needleback, using the Lift Off to avoid Headbutt and just dps and heal if necessary, and it works like a charm.
Hope it can be of any help!
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The Mistranslation of 1 Timothy 2:11-12
"Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression."--Paul, 1 Timothy 2:11-12
It cannot be stressed enough how unusual this word is, especially for Paul. Paul writes about authority quite a bit and he never uses authentein as a synonym for legitimate, godly authority. For most mentions of authority, he uses exousia. Louw and Nida's Lexicon lists 12 common ancient Greek words that are synonyms for routine or legitimate authority, exousia being the most common throughout the new testament. There are 47 words that are synonyms for legitimate "rule" or "governing." Yet Paul uses none of these words in 1 Timothy 2:11, he chooses the unusual authentein.
We do not find any evidence that authentein, in any of its forms, connotates a routine or legitimate authority until the late third to fourth centuries, far too removed from Paul's era to provide relevant meanings and contexts. And even once the word took on a less severe meaning in later centuries, THIS passage was ALWAYS been understood as Paul forbidding women to dominate a man, not simply exercise legitimate Christ-like authority. Consider these early translations:
Old Latin Version from the second - fourth century translates this verse as "I permit not a woman to teach, neither to dominate a man {neque dominari in viro}.
The Vulgate, from the second to fourth century, translates this verse as "I permit not a woman to teach, neither to domineer over a man {neque dominari in virum}.
Exegetical Fallacies in Interpreting 1 Timothy 2:11–15
This is by far the best article I've read on 1 Timothy 2:11-12. Linda Belleville, a new testament professor, put together a thorough and compelling paper on 5 exegetical fallacies concerning 1 Timothy 2:11-12 : Contextual/historical, Lexical, Grammatical, Cultural, and Doctrinal. She provides a thorough survey of the early uses of authenteo, in all its forms. This is a MUST read to gain a proper understanding of the egalitarian position.
Other notable uses of the word include:
Catherine Kroeger makes an excellent analysis of the implications of the original meaning of authentein:
"Wilshire is the first to use the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG) computer database, which contains virtually all three thousand ancient Greek authors from Homer to A.D. 600. The database showed that authentein and its cognates occurred about 330 times and over a large number of centuries almost exclusively meant "a perpetrator of a violent act, either murder or suicide."
But there is no evidence from the first century that authentein means ordinary or legitimate authority. Nothing exists until the late third and fourth centuries to suggest other meanings, and even then, the verse in question still translates authentein as "dominating men" or "domineer over men."
Paul is not allowing a woman to teach others to dominate men, to teach the domination of men, nor to dominate a man themselves, but to be peaceable (heshucias). This verse has nothing to do at all with mature, trained christian women exercising their spiritual gifts and serving the body through teaching, preaching, or leading. These were women led astray by false teaching, whom Paul is correcting in these verses and who must start at the beginning with full submission to the gospel and sound teaching.
I know someone is going to say, "Well, if Paul is forbidding dominating others as opposed to holding mere authority and it's wrong for all believers to dominate each other, why does Paul only address this to women?" Consider that HERE IN THIS LETTER, Paul is correcting the ones exhibiting specific behaviors. Consider that Paul only tells the men to lift up holy hands in prayer without anger or disputing. Now, just because he only directs the men here in this verse, does that mean women shouldn't lift up holy hands? Does it mean women are free to be angry and constantly disputing in or out of church? Of course not. But the men in the body were the ones exhibiting this behavior, so Paul only addresses them, even though it's inappropriate for all believers to behave that way. Likewise, he only addresses the women about dominating and seizing authority through false teachings, possibly sexual ones, because they were the ones doing it in this instance.


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Three plans offered for Kansas City community to take advantage of 1 GB fiber network.
Google's much anticipated announcement about how it plans to connect residents of Kansas City to its ultra-high speed fiber network has helped diffuse some speculation. In March 2011, the company publicized its intention to develop 1 GB fiber connectivity in the Kansas City area, much to the chagrin of the more than 1,100 other cities that competed for the distinction.
Company officials estimate that connection speeds enabled by the new network will be 100 times faster than what is currently available in most U.S. communities.
Google Vice President of Access Services Milo Medin explained that the area's well developed infrastructure was a factor in its selection, along with the potential to impact the region's economy and the strong support from local government officials and community institutions.
In a recent blog post, Medin explained that the time has come for this kind of ultra-fast fiber network. "Access speeds have simply not kept pace with the phenomenal increases in computing power and storage capacity that's spurred innovation over the last decade," he said.
Officials in Kansas City are also enthusiastic about the potential for this fiber network to spark economic development and innovation in a variety of sectors.
At a company announcement in Kansas City on July 26, Google representatives laid out their plans to get into the television business in Kansas City, where residents who sign on will be able to access exclusive local content, along with tens of thousands of shows available on demand.
Google will offer three different ways for residents to tap into its network. A one-time construction fee of $300 will get users 5 MB Internet access from Google. But users need an upgraded plan in order to access the full GB of fiber connectivity, which is offered for $70 per month (construction fee is waived with this plan).
For $120 per month (and a two-year contract), Kansas Citians can take advantage of what the company bills as its "full Google experience", with GB fiber connectivity, and Google TV, featuring a complete lineup of channels, a 1 terabyte storage drive, a network box, TV box and a Nexus 7 tablet to serve as a remove control.
According to today's news conference, residents interested should visit the Google fiber website and indicate interest by paying a $10 registration fee. Public officials, including Kansas City Mayors Joe Reardon (Kan.) and Sly James (Mo.), are encouraging residents to sign on during the six-week rally period, which ends Sept. 9. Neighborhoods that generate a significant groundswell of interest will get first priority from Google when it comes time to connect.
Public facilities will also benefit from the creation of these "fiberhoods." Residential communities established as fiberhoods will have their ultra fast connections extended to public buildings in the area. Schools, libraries, government buildings and public safety facilities will benefit from the network by receiving free gigabit Internet connectivity.


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Friday, January 27, 2012 - Wank Party 2012 #1 Part 2
For our first Wank Party of 2012 we brought Mirek Ceslar and Honza Copak together with three very hot newcomers, Jan Sadecky, Danek Rovny and Tomas Strasak. Continuing on from part 1 we find Jan, in turns, sucking on Honza and Mirek with Tomas sucking him and Danek, on his knees, sucking Tomas. All the cocks are nice and hard and Mirek fucks his cock into Jan's mouth, with gusto. Jan's cock is standing up, and throbbing as Tomas' mouth takes as much of it as he can. The sucking goes on, ubabated with all the guys enjoying it and Mirek also dropping his saliva into Jan's open mouth, and slapping his face with that big cock. Mirek has other plans for Jan too and lets go a stream of piss all over his chest while Tomas is sucking on Jan's dick. The scene changes with Tomas and Honza both laying on their backs, legs up, with Mirek fucking Tomas and Jan fucking Honza. Danek is standing over them watching the fucking as he wanks himself. A change around sees Honza sitting on Mirek's cock and riding it and Jan slides his dick in and out of Tomas' eager hole. Honza's cock is rock hard as he rides Mirek's dick so Danek leans over and sucks on it. Then he kisses Honza before turning his attention back to what Jan and Tomas are doing. Jan is fucking Tomas, whose mouth opens and takes Danek's hard cock for some sucking too. Jan then moves Tomas, raising his ass high in the air to he can fuck him nice and deep, while Tomas sucks on Danek again. Honza's cock needs some ass too and Danek lays on his back to take Honza's fat cock in his ass as Tomas moves so that he can suck Jan and take Mirek's cock in his ass at the same time. Mirek's cock is real deep in Tomas as, stretching his hole as he fucks him. Tomas is taking it very well and sucking on Jan's big dick too. Honza too is fucking well, giving Danek's ass a real good pounding. Time for the cumshots and the guys crowd around Danek to dump their loads. First to let loose is Mirek, who squirts his juice over Danek's face. Danek then takes the cock in his mouth to suck it dry. Honza follows, shooting his cum all over Danek's leg, with Danek dropping to his knees to drain the spent cock. Next to unload is Tomas, who shoots over Danek's chest and then presents his cock for Danek to clean it off. The last to shoot is Jan, who dumps his cum on Danek's face, before Danek takes that massive, sticky cock, into his mouth to get another taste. The guys need to clean up so they all get back into the whirlpool and splash around, bringing a really great Wank Party to a very nice end.
... more about Wank Party 2012 #1 - Part 2 further in this newsletter
Our Coming Soon Set Preview
Mirek Ceslar, camera in hand, interviewing a series of different guys. He asks them about their attitude towards doing erotic photography for money. Each guy answers, with some saying no and others saying it would be ok if the money is right. After a while he comes upon Honza Solar who agrees to do a shoot, though he does say he doesn't want to do everything. We next see Honza in the studio, sitting at the end of the bed being interviewed again. Mirek asks him to remove his shirt, but Honza declines until he is offered more money. So the shirt comes off, but when Mirek tries to touch him Honza pushes his hand away, complaining. Again he is offered more money, but is still not sure he will allow it and threatens to leave. However, he is eventually persuaded and lays down on the bed, with Mirek kneeling over him. Honza opens his jeans and Mirek instructs him to remove them. Then he lays back down and Mirek's hand begins to run over Honza's body as he films and chats to him. He lifts the band of Honza's underwear so the camera can get a glimpse of what is underneath. Honza is comfortable with this so Mirek tells him to remove the underwear. This he does, showing a very nice set of equipment to the camera, with a very full, dark bush. He then has Honza kneel on the bed so he can film him, in close-up before having him turn around to get a back view. Honza seems to be quite relaxed now and he is asked to hold the camera while Mirek removes his own shirt. Mirek takes the camera back and feels things are going well enough to have Honza start to rub Mirek's body, and remove his jeans and socks. Then Mirek tells Honza to lay back down and he kneels and takes Honza's cock in his hand. Honza then wanks himself as Mirek films him and runs his hand over Honza's legs. Soon Honza's cock is nice and hard. Mirek takes over the wanking and asks Honza to sit up and help him off with his underwear. Mirek then wanks himself and is soon hard, with Honza on his knees watching. Mirek then takes Honza's hand and place it on his cock and immediately knows he can get him to go further. He tells him to suck the cock and Honza does exactly that, his mouth closing over the cock head and sucking. Mirek lays down and Honza kneels over him to suck the cock some more. Then they both kneel and wank each others cocks. Honza has rapidly become very compliant and Mirek decides he can go further. He asks if he can have sex with him and Honza agrees. What a quick turn around in attitude he has had. Mirek wastes no time in slipping his cock into Honza's ass, doggy style, as he holds the camera to film it. He fucks nice and deep and Honza takes it very well. They move to missionary position and fuck some more. Honza seems to be enjoying it as he wanks his cock, getting it very stiff while Mirek fucks him. It is not long before Honza starts to moan as his cum builds up and shoots out of his cock, all over his chest, while Mirek's dick is buried deep in his ass. Mirek is ready to blow too and moves to the side and shoots that load all over Honza, with some landing on his face, and eyelids. He films a close up of his cum and then leave Honza alone on the bed. What a great Gonzo scene, with Honza really deflowered in the process.
The Latest Updates Trailer
Message from Bill:
Unfortunately, I don't have any more lovely 'show and tell' photos depicting the travails of Mr. Miro and friends. But the weekend is coming. Perhaps on Tuesday.
Let's see, after I wrote last time, I had a bit of a worry as the foot became a lot more painful. Then I woke up this morning to almost no pain. What a relief. I'm still on to have the stitches removed on Monday morning. Hopefully, sailing will be a lot smoother after that. But, still almost five weeks before the wires are removed. There will certainly be no ballroom dancing until after that date.
That's about all to report today. I won't be doing the vlog until after I can have a haircut and beard trimming. Don't want to frighten the children. I'll get this off to Marko, who is filling in for Kyptus today, so he can post the Newsletter.
HI EVERYBODY, Geoff here again today. Bill has already updated you, above on his recovery progress so I shall get right on with the rest of the newsletter.
Today we have some excellent updates to report. We start with the second part of Wank Party 2012 #1, a great scene. We also have Rudy Bodlak's erotic solo, Radko Stencl's erotic solo, Robert Nenadal's session stills and a lovely backstage video of Mattias Solich and Rado Zuska in a raunchy duo.
Today's castings are Tomas Skopalik, Roman Hucko and Roman Ditrich. A difficult choice but I go for Roman Hucko as my pick of the day, he has such a beautiful face.
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Today's Weather in Prague
We have launched our all new Kink only site with no solos. It's not for the feint hearted. Do take a look (if you dare):
At present, Members of CzechGuysNextDoor will be able to access the new site with their user information. If you have problems, write firstname.lastname@example.com
Latest Sets At Our NEW STR8HELL.com Website
Open Set "Anton Zemba - SPANKING"
Open Set "Marian and Tomas - DUTY BOUND"
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Direct access to CzechGuysNextDoor.com website is now through the link: archive.czechguysnextdoor.com or through "Archive Sets 2004-2011" links on the new STR8HELL website.
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Please remember that most of the videos available on BurnDVD are easily able to be downloaded with a single link, but some of the very large files, such as the newsletter DVDs have to be split into three separate links, as detailed below.
The videos with very large file sizes are now split into more than one part, using a program called HJSplit. If you wish to buy one of these larger videos to Burn to DVD, you will receive a link for file and then it is a simple process to join the downloaded files together to make the .iso file for Burning to DVD.
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Our Latest Sets at www.BurnDVD.tv
Today we have Wank Party 2012 #1 – part two and Rudy Bodlak's Erotic Solo and Marian Borovy with Tomas Strasak in a Raunchy Duo and finaly also a Nude Submission Wrestling with Honza Forst and Ondra Jeden.
The direct link to "Wank Party 2012 - No.1 Part 2"
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