Author: darkpassport
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#33: Munich Security Conference
“Rechts!” barked the man sitting in the backseat with me, craning his neck to look out the rear window. Upon hearing this, our driver firmly tugged the steering wheel with a smooth confidence that could only come from highly specialized government training. The vehicle lurched into the lane to our right and the engine revved…
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#32: Ivy League Pizza
“How many world leaders do you think are just completely out of their mind?”“A pretty sizeable percent.”-President Obama answering a question from Jerry Seinfeld during an episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Royals, political leaders, and even some diplomats routinely get placed onto a pedestal making them appear larger-than-life. Indeed, members of such distinction…
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#31: San Francisco
“It is an odd thing, but every one who disappears is said to be seen at San Francisco.”-Oscar Wilde in The Picture of Dorian Gray This is a continuation of Blog #29: APEC Leaders’ Summit. Through a combination of work-related activity and downtime, my coworkers and I are fortunate enough to be able to explore…
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#30: Operation Santa Claus
U.S. government employees who are experts in economics, politics, defense, agriculture, trade, security, technology, public relations, environmental issues, and other topics are dispersed in nearly 300 locales across the globe. But diplomacy is not a unilateral concept. In fact, it doesn’t work at all without reciprocity. This is precisely why there are a few thousand…
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#29: APEC Leaders’ Summit
“San Francisco is a lot of things. It’s hippies, hipsters, vagrants, flagrants, artsy, fartsy, and more. You name it, and it probably lives here.” – The Bold Italic Magazine In 1989, the growing independence and importance of the Asia-Pacific region was brought to formal recognition by 12 countries intent on combining their successes, ideas, and…
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#28: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
The crack of a gunshot, followed by the footsteps of 50,000 people running. The noise could be heard for several blocks in each direction. It was even louder 26.2 miles away in Central Park where the New York City Marathon finish line was located on Sunday, November 5th, 2023. Fortunately, the gunshot was a starter…
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#27: UNGA 78
Note: The events described below took place prior to the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack in Israel and the ensuing actions of representatives at the United Nations Security Council meetings which have been the subject of much criticism. Nearly 200 flags stood waving in the cool September breeze coming off the East River which separates…
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#26: Receive Your Life: Pack-In
“Anytime you reach out to someone for assistance in this organization, it’s going to seem like the first time it’s ever been asked.” – Common federal government credo Two seasons had passed since I watched my belongings being hauled away in an 18-wheeler through a process known as “Pack Out”. Similar to the way the…
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#25: Black Gun
This is a follow-up to Blog #23: Red Gun, Blue Gun In the back half of the first millennium of the Common Era, Chinese alchemists seeking immortality created a dark powdery substance which they named huǒyào. Literally translated by character interpretation as “fire medicine”, huǒyào is the modern Chinese word for gunpowder. In the first…
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#24: Tunnel to Towers
September 11th, 2001. FDNY Firefighter Stephen Siller’s shift on the elite Squad 1 in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood had ended earlier that morning. He was looking forward to a day off, so much so that he was already on the way to the links to play golf with his brothers. That outing was interrupted by…
