Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to visit Myanmar?

FACT: 14 countries physically border the People Republic of China.

Most Americans are unaware of China's unresolved border dispute with India and how this specific issue continues to impact the balance of power in Asia. Read More...

Additionally, in the view of this blogger (shared by an army of journalists and diplomats who actively pay attention to the extremely diverse regional dynamics of Asia), two of those countries, the DPRK (North Korea) and Myanmar are PROXY states of the CCP and the PLA. Any serious discussion or analysis regarding the economic or political future of Burma begins and ends within the gates of power in Beijing.
Read More...

While Clinton's upcoming diplomatic mission to this isolated state is a positive regional development, folks need to remember that in 2000, then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright undertook a similar, unsuccessful journey to Pyongyang. With that said, unlike the DPRK, the people of Burma actually hold a wild card in the geopolitical game.

Her name is Aung San Suu Kyi.

‎"It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it."~ Aung San Suu Kyi
Letters from Burma


State Visit Update:
(December 3, 2011)
Clinton allowed to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi
Read More...

...perspective...

Image from interview on CCTV 9 (September 2008).

...reflections...

"The older I get, the smarter my father seems to get."
~ Tim Russert

As I walked along a dirt road in a small Thai rice village, I spotted this farmer chasing his little girl around the front yard. Pointing to my camera, I asked him if I could take their picture.

Looking at the girls face, she was upset that her playtime with dad was interrupted. Later, after I developed the film, I gave him a copy of the photograph. Staring at the image, he paused for a moment and then started to cried. It was the first photograph he had ever taken with his daughter. For a man who works a small plot of land to support his family, a camera and film are well beyond his financial means.

The worst prediction in history?

When asked by reporters about the newly invented telephone, President Rutherford B. Hayes said, "Who would want to use it anyways?"





The History of the Telephone (Droid Ebooks)

Inspiration for the planet Pandora in the movie Avatar

(see mountains behind Chinese girls)

Zhangjiajie, P.R.C. (March 2009).

You know you're in DEEP trouble when CNN & Faux News quotes your Twitter?

“You're excited?
You should feel my nipples!”
~ Leslie Nielsen
Airplane! DVD




How many ways can the vast army of television script writers, movie directors, radio announcers and network news reporters work the word Facebook into a program?

A Simple Conversation?

When I landed at Kabul International Airport in early July 2003, I witnessed a conversation between two NATO officers. Speaking to one another in English, a German officer & a French officer were discussing a security issue regarding the airfield. After this brief interaction was over, the French officer walked away.

The German officer (still speaking in English) then turned to a Dutch soldier and said quite clearly, "the French never listen."

OBSERVATION: There may be those who believe this blogger wrote this post because I harbor some negative feelings towards the French. Granted, political relations between our two nations have seen much better days. However, while I am an American, the story goes much deeper than it first appears.

You see, my father was born in France (now an American citizen).

Think about it...
How do fathers & sons talk to one another?
I've spent the last 40-plus years trying to figure out my dad.
Need I say more?

...perspective...

Photos taken by Peter Rimar in Kabul, Afghanistan (July 2003).

Vintage Photos from a Family Album

Thomas A. Worrall (seated right) on a business trip to Shanghai, China (Circa October 1926)

Two important world events shaped the destiny of the Rimar Family. Shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, Thomas Worrall helped smuggle Peter's grandfather and great-grandmother out of Russia. After leaving Russia, he married my great-grandmother. Later, sometime during the short period before the Nazis crossed the border into France (April 1940), he relocated the Rimar family out of Europe.

"The Hall of Supreme Harmony" 太和殿

Original photograph taken by Thomas A. Worrall

(Peter's Step- Great Grandfather)

Circa October 1926

The Forbidden City, Beijing (Peking), China

French Army

Medical Evacuation Exercise

Circa 1935

Original Vintage Photo by Eugene Rimar

(My Grandfather)

What if F.D.R. wasn't elected President? It's amazing how certain moments in history impact the destiny of the common man. In the summer of 1934, Peter's Grandfather (George Mullenix) traveled to Panther, West Virgina as a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). It was during this period that he met and eventually married a young college student named Darcus Bailey (my grandmother).

...it IS what it IS...

"Life is like an ice-cream cone, you have to lick it one day at a time." 
~ Charles M. Schulz

Operation Restore Hope
Egyptian Soldiers, Mogadishu, Somalia (January 1994).

...wanderlust...

"Writing and travel broaden your ass if not your mind and I like to write standing up."
~ Ernest Hemingway

GOP Flavor of the Month: Newt Gingrich?

Back in June, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann first captured the hearts and minds of the Christian Right. Then, Texas Governor Rick Perry rode onto the national stage only to quickly fall off his unsaddled horse. After drinking a six pack of Lone Star Beer while watching Faux News, hungry GOP voters ordered up a $9.99 pizza from Mr. Herman Cain.

Three political love affairs later (pun intended), the ANYBODY BUT MITT parade continues with former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich taking center stage. Seriously? Newt Gingrich? This blogger has two simple questions: who is answering the telephone when one of more than a dozen pollsters call? Do folks actually believe this man could get elected President?

Even the conservative sage George Will is shaking his political head,"Gingrich’s is an amazingly efficient candidacy, in that it embodies almost everything disagreeable about modern Washington. He’s the classic rental politician."
Read More...

At what point will Republican voters sober up, change the channel and take a serious look at Jon Huntsman or Buddy Roemer?

Gingrich Update:
November 27, 2011
Evidently, this blogger is completely out-of-touch with the winds of political change. The New Hampshire Union Leader, the only "Live Free or Die" state-wide newspaper, endorsed NEWT for the top of GOP ticket. NEWT?
Read More...

...Americana...

Cowboy Intersection, Gene Autry, Oklahoma (May 2010).

Pulp Fiction [Blu-ray]

Could somebody PLEASE turn on the "Nothing but Blue Skies" & "Walking on SUNSHINE" machine?

"If we are to remain a decent society we must treat one another decently." ~ Jerry DeMartin



Ice Cream: The Full Scoop (Paperback)

The Dog Days Are Over?

Whether or not this blogger agrees or disagrees with any or all of the specific issues being echoed by the #Occupy Movement itself is not important. One thing is clear, something is seriously wrong in America. What do WE AS A PEOPLE truly value as a country and as a society? Read More...


"I never knew daylight could be so violent
A revelation in the light of day
You can choose what stays and what fades away."
~ Florence + The Machine from No Light, No Light


In case you missed it...
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
~ First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Lord of the Rings:The Motion Picture Trilogy [Blu-ray]

"Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative."
~ Oscar Wilde

When was the last time somebody sat down & wrote an old fashion letter?

“Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.”
~ Bill Cosby
I Started Out As A Child (MP3 Download)








Political Quote of the Week:
"Gingrich has so much baggage his baggage has baggage." 
~ Larry Sabatao on MSNBC

Murphy's Law?

Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch it to be sure.

Sign photo taken in Socorro, New Mexico (October 2009).
Murphy's Law and Other Reasons Why Things Go Wrong (Paperback)

"Bullets and bombs win battles. Ideals married to compassion win wars." ~ Self

Duverger's Law?

I've always found it rather strange that a majority of Democrats & Republicans fail to understand the historical roots of each respective party. The Constitution DID NOT create America's two-party system. While I've witnessed firsthand the corruption & abuse of a one-party system in the People's Republic of China), today's polarized political landscape has "Republicrats" displaying more goose stepping loyalty to "THE PARTY" then "OUR COUNTRY".
Former Congressman Weiner is still wondering how men like Thomas Jefferson & Benjamin Franklin would have survived an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

Dateline: 12/22/2011
#Occupy the GOP?
"It is not called the Grand Old Party without good reason."
Read More...


Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter Hat with Hair

Our Digital Age?

"Remember that children, marriages and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get." ~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Maybe it's time for a digital UPGRADE?

Does anybody know how to load Windows 2.1x on a Commodore 64 w/ an 8-track tape external hard drive?

"What Big Knockers?"

“Politics: Poli a Latin word meaning many; and tics meaning bloodsucking creatures.” ~ Robin Williams

Photo of sign taken in Hong Kong, S.A.R. (July 2009).
Jokelopedia:The Biggest, Best, Silliest, Dumbest Joke Book Ever (Paperback)

Before you start "burning bridges" make sure you know how to swim...

“When I was born I was so surprised I didn't talk for a year and a half.”
~ Gracie Allen

Celebrating "It Only Happens Every 100 Years" Palindrome Day!

11-11-11

Venezia Shop Window, Venice, Italy (Spring 2002).

What will future historians write about this day?
Will the flooding in Bangkok and the recent earthquakes in Turkey be remembered? Will Google and Facebook still be around? Indeed, what will the world look like in another 100 years?

...Americana...

Video recorded by Peter Rimar of Demolition Derby, Hatton, North Dakota (July 4th, 2010).

Need more "BANG for the BUCK"?

Heck, this blogger needs more BANG from that jar of pennies, nickles & dimes!

It appears that the political formula for a candidate is perfecting a single ideological pitch & then repeat it over and over AND over again. It doesn't matter if it's the truth, as long as what's being said contains enough FEAR & HATE verbiage to keep the audience happy & ignorant.

The Art Of Money Getting (Paperback)