Where did the name come from

[Podunkadunk]

Not really true. I have been working in Indonesia for some time and I don't think attitudes towards Americans have changed in the past 20 years. I was there in the late 80's (maybe EddieWalker checked my passport coming into the US Embassy ) and I have been there in the most religiously conservative area (Aceh) for a total of six or eight months out of the last two years. Very nice people. Some get frustrated with US policies (so do I) but in general the USA is well thought of. I recall a poll that showed sympathy for ***** Bin Laden was almost completely extinguished after the US Navy showed up in Aceh to help following the tsunami. There is no antipathy towards American people, just against some US policies (eg. Iraq).

I disagree with you saying "not really true", but at the same time, I see your point. I was there in '99, the State Department was going to cancel our trip because of some muslim uprising in Jakarta. We were going to train the Indonesian Maritime Force in our Anti-Submarine Warfare tactics. The trip was almost canxed, but fortunately it wasn't.

We had a really good time there. We stayed at the Shangi-La hotel in Surabaya. Cost was 40.00 a night Cheap huh? Especially for a 5 star hotel.

The locals thought we were rock stars. The bartender told me that the mean income annually there was $600.00. Heck, I think I had a bar tab there for that!

People were friendly, no demonstrations against us being there or anything. I loved the country and would go back in a heartbeat.

As for the anti-American sentiment, do a google search:
Indonesia + Muslim + Anti-American...or Indonesia + Anti-American

You'll be flooded with headlines. It's a huge country, and one of the largest Muslim populations in the world. Not all of them are bad, of course, but they are leary toward us...generally speaking.

 

[IslandTractor]

As for the anti-American sentiment, do a google search:
Indonesia + Muslim + Anti-American...or Indonesia + Anti-American

You'll be flooded with headlines.

Do a google search: America + Murder + Discrimination.......

But, I also get your point. Yes, there are anti Western protests (more aiimed at Australia than USA) but these are generally non violent and aimed at getting news media attention more than anything else. I have walked past these highly organized staged events without the slightest hint of antipathy towards me as an individual. There were a few horrible bombings over the past five years (3 to be precise) which in total did not kill as many people as the Murrow (?sp) Building bombing in Oklahoma. Tough to get too excited about how dangerous Indonesia is though. The US military is hyper sensitive about force protection in Muslim countries these days so I would not take too seriously the fact that a military mission was postponed or cancelled. When the US Navy came and did great work in Aceh following the tsunami, they were, for force protection reasons, never allowed to stay on the ground overnight. There were hundreds or thousands of civilians from all over the world there and even other military units from other countries on the ground, all perfectly safe but the US military these days has different rules so they all went back to the ships each night.

 

[Colin Giersberg]

Nuff said. I wanted something easy to remember.
I kinda wish I had used ALDOT, for where I work. That, by the way, is the Alabama Dept. of Transportation. Hmmmm, I wonder if I could re-up under the new one.

 

[thcri]

Because I could not use the one I wanted to?

 

[BigDamnFool]

Got my name from what appears to be a saying passed down for generations in my family. As someone who has had his fair share of stupid mistakes and doing many things on instinct rather than based on reason, I heard this phrase quite a bit in my life. For a time I thought it was just another name that my father called me. But it seems as his father used it quite a bit also. And I know it started long before that somewhere down the family tree. The name Tiny also has a little bit behind it. I'm the youngest of 5 boys in my family and at about 300 pounds, I'm also the smallest. So according to the rest of the boys in the family, I am, "Tiny". Great thread Hunterridgefarm.


Tiny

 

[Dusty]

I got the name Dusty many years ago when someone said that all the junk in my garage was full of dust. The name just stuck with me, and today, the junk an dust is still in the garage, just like that day 20+ years ago when if was first muttered. I keep thinking of cleaning it out, but then I wouldn't have anything to look forward to. Every once in a while, I dig in a corner, and find something that I haven't seen in decades, and it is like Christmas all over again. You know, your parents, or Santa would give you a whole lot of gifts and then the next day, hide some of them so you wouldn't play with them all at once. I remember getting about 20 lead soldiers one year, and the next day, I had only 5 left. Every time I left one laying around, my mom would put it away for the day that I didn't have any left, then she would surprise me with more. Dusty

 

[NewHollandDLR]

I am a John Deere Dealer...hence the name. However since I became a member my company has added a few lines.

I Rep

John Deere CCE
Kubota
New Holland Const.
Toro SWS
Takeuchi
Clark
Mitsubishi
Linde
Daewoo

and a bunch of Short Lines

 

[LBrown59]

Class of 59

 

[tallyho8]

Off my license plate. The name tallyho was taken so I used my lucky number 8 after it. Lucky because I was born on the 8th day of the 8th month at 8:00 and weighed 8 pounds. I am looking forward to my luckiest birthday next year on 08-08-08.

 

[ptfarmermd]

Mine is pretty obvious also, but here is my two pennies.

I work full-time off the farm, so I can only farm part-time. ptfarmer
I live in Maryland. md

ptfarmer + md = ptfarmermd