Road Games

[Elktonnick]

No one is challenging your manhood. Other than a few close friends who have accompanied me there, no one knows that I have been near the place. I just like that kind of scene on occasion.

 

IMO, Hospitals are by far more dangerous places than East Baltimore Street for tourists-- deadly infection is epidemic even in the best hospitals and incompetent care is a big problem too. The biggest danger you face in a strip club on E. Baltimore street other than an STD is a dirty bar glass. I only drink bottle beer in those places.

 

Where did those terrible things happen to you?

 

I appreciate your concern, but I'll keep going for my visits and leaving at a reasonable hour around 1 am. Most of the bad s*** that goes on happens in the early morning hours after 3 am. The tourists are safely in their hotel beds by that time.

 

My advice to tourists. Take a cab to and from E. Baltimore street. Stay on E. Baltimore street. Avoid the surrounding area. Go with a friend or two, preferably off-duty cops. Drink Bottled Beer. Avoid bar glasses.

 

El Salvador, & Kuwait. I was in Kuwait in the early eighties long before the first gulf war.

 

he 1983 Kuwait bombings were attacks on six key foreign and Kuwaiti installations on December 12, 1983, two months after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. The 90-minute coordinated attack on two embassies, the country's main airport and petro-chemical plant, was more notable for the damage it was intended to cause than what was actually destroyed. What might have been "the worst terrorist episode of the twentieth century in the Middle East," succeeding in killing only six people because of the bombs' faulty rigging.[2]

 

Overshadowing the destruction or attempted destruction of bombings, as well as the subsequent arrests, trial and convictions of the perpetrators, was a series of kidnappings, hijackings and killings staged over the next several years to pressure Kuwait to release those convicted of the bombings.

 

The perpetrators of the bombing are thought to have been Radical Shia Islamist members of the Iraqi Islamic Dawa Party working with the support and assistance of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The motivation of the bombing is suspect to have been punishment against Kuwait, America and France for their military and financial assistance to Iraq in the Iran–Iraq War.[3]

 

On December 12, 1983, a truck laden with 45 large cylinders of gas connected to plastic explosives broke through the front gates of the American Embassy in Kuwait City and rammed into the embassy's three-story administrative annex, demolishing half the structure. The shock blew out windows and doors in distant homes and shops and did an estimated $400,000 worth of damage to the high-rise Hilton Hotel across the street.

 

Only five people were killed (Two Palestinians, two Kuwaitis, and a Syrian [4]) in large part because the driver did not hit the more heavily populated chancellery building, and more importantly because only a quarter of the explosives ignited. "If everything had gone off, this place would have been a parking lot, one "prominent American diplomat" told journalist Robin Wright.[5]

 

Five other explosives were attempted within an hour. An hour later, a car parked outside the French Embassy blew up, leaving a massive 30 foot hole in the embassy security wall. None were killed and only five people were wounded.

 

The target intended to get the most powerful explosion was Kuwait's main oil refinery and water desalinization plant, the Shuaiba Petro-chemical plant. A truck with 200 gas cylinders exploded 150 metres from the No.2 refinery and only a few meters from a highly flammable heap of sulfa-based chemicals. Had that bombing been successful it would have crippled its oil production of one of the world's major oil exporters and shut down most of the water supply of the desert nation.[6]

 

Other car bombs exploded at the control tower at the Kuwait International Airport, the Electricity Control Center and the living quarters for American employees of the Raytheon Corporation, which was installing a missile system in Kuwait. An Egyptian technician was killed in the control tower bombing,[7] but none of the other bombings resulted in fatalities.

 

The bombing of the American embassy was an early instance of suicide bombing in the Middle East, along with the Hezbollah's bombings of the American Embassy and Marine barracks in Lebanon earlier that year.[8]

[edit] Responsibility

 

Islamic Jihad Organization and Islamic Dawa Party were reported at the time to be involved in the bombing.[9] Shortly after the blasts, Islamic Jihad called Kuwaiti authorities to take responsibility for the blast. This claim and was taken seriously after the callers boast that there was a "seventh bomb" was verified by the discovery of a car bomb in front of the Immigration Bureau.

 

More important than Islamic Jihad was Islamic Dawa. It was connected to the bombing when the remains of a human thumb were found and its thumbprint identified as that of Raad Murtin Ajeel, a 25-year-old Iraqi Shia member of Dawa. Ultimately 21 other defendants were put on trial (17 captured in a nationwide manhunt and four tried in absentia). After a six-week trial, six were sentenced to death (three of those were in absentia), seven to life imprisonment, seven to terms between five and fifteen years.[10] (One of those convicted was Jamal Jafaar Mohammed, currently member of Iraq's parliament and member of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's ruling coalition, and accused of acting as an Iranian agent in Iraq.[11])

[a700hitter]

El Salvador, & Kuwait. I was in Kuwait in the early eighties long before the first gulf war.

 

he 1983 Kuwait bombings were attacks on six key foreign and Kuwaiti installations on December 12, 1983, two months after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. The 90-minute coordinated attack on two embassies, the country's main airport and petro-chemical plant, was more notable for the damage it was intended to cause than what was actually destroyed. What might have been "the worst terrorist episode of the twentieth century in the Middle East," succeeding in killing only six people because of the bombs' faulty rigging.[2]

 

Overshadowing the destruction or attempted destruction of bombings, as well as the subsequent arrests, trial and convictions of the perpetrators, was a series of kidnappings, hijackings and killings staged over the next several years to pressure Kuwait to release those convicted of the bombings.

 

The perpetrators of the bombing are thought to have been Radical Shia Islamist members of the Iraqi Islamic Dawa Party working with the support and assistance of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The motivation of the bombing is suspect to have been punishment against Kuwait, America and France for their military and financial assistance to Iraq in the Iran–Iraq War.[3]

 

On December 12, 1983, a truck laden with 45 large cylinders of gas connected to plastic explosives broke through the front gates of the American Embassy in Kuwait City and rammed into the embassy's three-story administrative annex, demolishing half the structure. The shock blew out windows and doors in distant homes and shops and did an estimated $400,000 worth of damage to the high-rise Hilton Hotel across the street.

 

Only five people were killed (Two Palestinians, two Kuwaitis, and a Syrian [4]) in large part because the driver did not hit the more heavily populated chancellery building, and more importantly because only a quarter of the explosives ignited. "If everything had gone off, this place would have been a parking lot, one "prominent American diplomat" told journalist Robin Wright.[5]

 

Five other explosives were attempted within an hour. An hour later, a car parked outside the French Embassy blew up, leaving a massive 30 foot hole in the embassy security wall. None were killed and only five people were wounded.

 

The target intended to get the most powerful explosion was Kuwait's main oil refinery and water desalinization plant, the Shuaiba Petro-chemical plant. A truck with 200 gas cylinders exploded 150 metres from the No.2 refinery and only a few meters from a highly flammable heap of sulfa-based chemicals. Had that bombing been successful it would have crippled its oil production of one of the world's major oil exporters and shut down most of the water supply of the desert nation.[6]

 

Other car bombs exploded at the control tower at the Kuwait International Airport, the Electricity Control Center and the living quarters for American employees of the Raytheon Corporation, which was installing a missile system in Kuwait. An Egyptian technician was killed in the control tower bombing,[7] but none of the other bombings resulted in fatalities.

 

The bombing of the American embassy was an early instance of suicide bombing in the Middle East, along with the Hezbollah's bombings of the American Embassy and Marine barracks in Lebanon earlier that year.[8]

[edit] Responsibility

 

Islamic Jihad Organization and Islamic Dawa Party were reported at the time to be involved in the bombing.[9] Shortly after the blasts, Islamic Jihad called Kuwaiti authorities to take responsibility for the blast. This claim and was taken seriously after the callers boast that there was a "seventh bomb" was verified by the discovery of a car bomb in front of the Immigration Bureau.

 

More important than Islamic Jihad was Islamic Dawa. It was connected to the bombing when the remains of a human thumb were found and its thumbprint identified as that of Raad Murtin Ajeel, a 25-year-old Iraqi Shia member of Dawa. Ultimately 21 other defendants were put on trial (17 captured in a nationwide manhunt and four tried in absentia). After a six-week trial, six were sentenced to death (three of those were in absentia), seven to life imprisonment, seven to terms between five and fifteen years.[10] (One of those convicted was Jamal Jafaar Mohammed, currently member of Iraq's parliament and member of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's ruling coalition, and accused of acting as an Iranian agent in Iraq.[11])

Damn!! That is some scary stuff. I remember when it happened, but I don't know if we got all those details. What were you doing there? Were you serving in the military?

[Elktonnick]

Damn!! That is some scary stuff. I remember when it happened' date=' but I don't know if we got all those details. What were you doing there? Were you serving in the military?[/quote']

 

No! I am a retired American Foreign Service Officer. That story is pretty accurate. I remember when it happened like yesterday. I can still hear the explosion. It wasn't very loud. The only reason we all survived was because the chancery was a one story building with an aluminum roof and wood trusses. The force of the explosion actually went over our heads lifting the roof. Becuase the roof was light the trusses held and didn't collapse. The truck went to the wrong building. My house was over three blocks from the chancery and it blow my front door in. The Hilton Hotel accross the street from the embasasy was a thirty storey building and had all its windows front and back blown out.

 

Considering what has happened, the Kuwait bombing is hardly remembered and that's the way it should be except by those of us who were there.

[BOSOX11]

I heard at Angels stadium you can bring in your own food- any truth to that?

 

I never have, but as far as I know, you can. Security is provided by the Anaheim Police Department and all they look for is that you don't bring alcohol or glass containers into the ballpark.

[seabeachfred]

I heard at Angels stadium you can bring in your own food- any truth to that?

 

Wyo, as Pumpsie said, I live in the general area and have attended a lot of games there since my wife is a rabid Angels fan and we used to get a small packet of games until two years ago when Linda said NYET!!!!! It is a good place to take in a ballgame and don't let what our friend said deter you. Yes it WAS rat infested a few years ago only because the Angels brass was dumb enough to not sweep and hose out the stadium right after the game but waited until the morning to do so. That, indeed, was idiotic and the rats had a field day. They don't do that anymore and the place has been fumigated enough times to allow the rats to scurry up the freeway to Dodger Stadium which really is a pile of s***, owned by a ********, and run by a pack of incompetents and a bunch of moronic fans.

 

You will like Angels Stadium now. Besides, if there is a rat here or there you won't see him during the game.

[BOSOX11]

They don't do that anymore and the place has been fumigated enough times to allow the rats to scurry up the freeway to Dodger Stadium which really is a pile of s***' date=' owned by a ********, and run by a pack of incompetents and a bunch of moronic fans.[/quote']

 

Come on, Fred, don't sugarcoat it!

[mvp 78]

SBF, if you think Dodger Stadium is a pile of s***, you either are intolerant of Hispanics or have early stage dementia. That stadium is a beauty.

[BOSOX11]

Granted the stadium is beautiful, but the last time I was there in 2002 to see the three game interleague series withe the Red Sox, some of the crowd was getting pretty hardcore. Obvious gangbangers, Hispanic and Anglo, (and wanna-be's) were pretty prevalent in the field box section I was sitting in. My only saving grace was being a law enforcement officer and I was carrying my hardware concealed. My wife swore she'd never go back to Dodger Stadium again. And we haven't.

[redsoxfan3]

Since I live in Fort Myers, I will obviously go to some Red Sox Spring Training games and I am going to try to make my way up to Tampa a couple of times when the Red Sox make the trip down south.

[mvp 78]

Granted the stadium is beautiful' date=' but the last time I was there in 2002 to see the three game interleague series withe the Red Sox, some of the crowd was getting pretty hardcore. Obvious gangbangers, Hispanic and Anglo, (and wanna-be's) were pretty prevalent in the field box section I was sitting in. My only saving grace was being a law enforcement officer and I was carrying my hardware concealed. My wife swore she'd never go back to Dodger Stadium again. And we haven't.[/quote']

 

This only has a tinge of racism in it. My friend wears a Mariners cap to games at Fenway and gets s*** all the time. So much so, that people are always getting kicked out. Why anyone would care about a Mariners fan who keeps to himself is beyond me.

[Laser Show]

Chase Field, because it's about 15 mins from the house.

[boy racer]

Camden Yards is a great place to see a Sox game. While in Baltimore' date=' vist Mo's Crabhouse in Little Italy and take in the sights on East Baltimore street if you like some seedy fun and you are not a wuss.[/quote']

 

I still have yet to go to Camden. I hear it's a great ballpark to watch any game.

[BigPapiEnFuego]

My friend just got a job selling tickets for the Rays, so I may get to take a road trip to Tampa and see the Sox play the Rays in May. I have only ever been to Fenway.