Welcome to San Francisco.

San Francisco Shuns Retired USS Iowa
By BRIAN SKOLOFF, AP

SAN FRANCISCO (Aug. 20) - The USS Iowa joined in battles from World War II
to Korea to the Persian Gulf. It carried President Franklin Roosevelt home
from the Teheran conference of allied leaders, and four decades later,
suffered one of the nation's most deadly military accidents.

The battleship USS Iowa is towed through the Carquinez Straits near Benicia,
Calif.

Veterans groups and history buffs had hoped that tourists in San Francisco
could walk the same teak decks where sailors dodged Japanese machine-gun
fire and fired 16-inch guns that helped win battles across the South
Pacific.

Instead, it appears that the retired battleship is headed about 80 miles
inland, to Stockton, a gritty agricultural port town on the San Joaquin
River and home of California's annual asparagus festival.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a former San Francisco mayor, helped secure
$3 million to tow the Iowa from Rhode Island to the Bay Area in 2001 in
hopes of making touristy Fisherman's Wharf its new home.

But city supervisors voted 8-3 last month to oppose taking in the ship,
citing local opposition to the Iraq war and the military's stance on gays,
among other things.

"If I was going to commit any kind of money in recognition of war, then it
should be toward peace, given what our war is in Iraq right now," Supervisor
Ross Mirkarimi said.

Feinstein called it a "very petty decision."

"This isn't the San Francisco that I've known and loved and grew up in and
was born in," Feinstein said.

San Francisco's maritime museum already has one military vessel - the USS
Pampanito, an attack submarine that sank six Japanese ships during World War
II and has about 110,000 visitors a year.

Officials in Stockton couldn't be happier. They've offered a dock on the
river, a 90,000-square-foot waterfront building and a parking area, and hope
to attract at least 125,000 annual visitors.

After the Korean war, the Iowa was decommissioned and placed in reserve in a
Philadelphia shipyard for three decades. In 1988, it was recalled to duty
escorting oil supply ships safely in and out danger in the Persian Gulf. In
1989, 47 sailors were killed in an explosion that tore through a gun turret
during a training exercise.

The warship, decommissioned by the Navy in 1990, is currently anchored with
a mothballed fleet in Suisun Bay, near the mouth of the San
Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta.

San Francisco's rejection of such a storied battleship is a slap in the
nation's face, said Douglass Wilhoit, head of Stockton's Chamber of
Commerce.

"We're lucky our men and women have sacrificed their lives ... to protect
our freedom," Wilhoit said. "Wherever you stand on the war in Iraq ... you
shouldn't make a decision based on philosophy."

Rep. Richard W. Pombo, R-Calif., has sponsored legislation authorizing the
ship's permanent move to Stockton. Feinstein has countered with a bill to
open bidding to any California city.

The two versions will have to be reconciled by a House-Senate conference
committee considering the Pentagon spending bill.


08-20-05 15:26 EDT

San Fran. - 0, Stockton - 1

>If I was going to commit any kind of money in recognition of war, then it
>should be toward peace, given what our war is in Iraq right now," Supervisor
>Ross Mirkarimi said.

Someone might want to point out to Mr./Miss. Mirkarimi that the ship in
question did on more the one occasion contribute to the cause of peace.


Capt. Bill

"Capt. Bill1" <labomba182@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1124584041.609605.70430@g47g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
> San Fran. - 0, Stockton - 1
>
>>If I was going to commit any kind of money in recognition of war, then it
>>should be toward peace, given what our war is in Iraq right now,"
>>Supervisor
>>Ross Mirkarimi said.
>
> Someone might want to point out to Mr./Miss. Mirkarimi that the ship in
> question did on more the one occasion contribute to the cause of peace.
>
>
> Capt. Bill

What they need to display as an instrument of peace is the Enola Gay...

The gays would love it.

"Douglas W. "Popeye" Frederick" <Buzcutt454@aol.com> wrote in message
news:11gfhtoqefske7c@news.supernews.com...
> San Francisco Shuns Retired USS Iowa
> By BRIAN SKOLOFF, AP
>


Hey, I thought you were supposed to be in Iraq by now, contributing to the
peace. LOL Did you chicken out?

"suds" <knowthebiblebetterthantho@foad.net> wrote in message
news:Cz2Oe.2488$Q82.1018@tornado.socal.rr.com...
>
> "Douglas W. "Popeye" Frederick" <Buzcutt454@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:11gfhtoqefske7c@news.supernews.com...
>> San Francisco Shuns Retired USS Iowa
>> By BRIAN SKOLOFF, AP
>>
>
>
> Hey, I thought you were supposed to be in Iraq by now, contributing to the
> peace. LOL Did you chicken out?


Betty Crocker, heard from.

You know perfectly well the have the number, and can call when they want.

What service were you in, again?

"suds" wrote in message news:Cz2Oe.2488$Q82.1018@tornado.socal.rr.com...
> Hey, I thought you were supposed to be in Iraq by now, contributing to the
> peace. LOL Did you chicken out?

Doug's trying to *drive* there... Damn difficult, ya' know...

"Douglas W. "Popeye" Frederick" <Buzcutt454@aol.com> wrote in message
news:11ghdqemb5cc405@news.supernews.com...

SO YOU DID CHICHEN OUT ...

hmmmmm

so goes your honor.

Thus spake "Douglas W. \"Popeye\" Frederick" <Buzcutt454@aol.com> :

>San Francisco Shuns Retired USS Iowa
>By BRIAN SKOLOFF, AP
>
>SAN FRANCISCO (Aug. 20) - The USS Iowa joined in battles from World War II
>to Korea to the Persian Gulf. It carried President Franklin Roosevelt home
>from the Teheran conference of allied leaders, and four decades later,
>suffered one of the nation's most deadly military accidents.
>
>The battleship USS Iowa is towed through the Carquinez Straits near Benicia,
>Calif.
>
>Veterans groups and history buffs had hoped that tourists in San Francisco
>could walk the same teak decks where sailors dodged Japanese machine-gun
>fire and fired 16-inch guns that helped win battles across the South
>Pacific.
>
>Instead, it appears that the retired battleship is headed about 80 miles
>inland, to Stockton, a gritty agricultural port town on the San Joaquin
>River and home of California's annual asparagus festival.
>
>Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a former San Francisco mayor, helped secure
>$3 million to tow the Iowa from Rhode Island to the Bay Area in 2001 in
>hopes of making touristy Fisherman's Wharf its new home.

Wait a minute, this is the same Diane Feintein who makes Hillary look
like a Republican?
--
dillon

Pain is Nature's way of saying "that was stupid"

"suds" <knowthebiblebetterthantho@foad.net> wrote in message
news:U%cOe.2820$Q82.134@tornado.socal.rr.com...
>
> "Douglas W. "Popeye" Frederick" <Buzcutt454@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:11ghdqemb5cc405@news.supernews.com...
>
> SO YOU DID CHICHEN OUT ...
>
> hmmmmm
>
> so goes your honor.
>
>

"Dennis (Icarus)" <nojunkmail@ever.invalid> wrote in message
news:63f8d$4309ba47$18d64cf6$14584@KNOLOGY.NET...

> "suds" <punkbitchwithaskirton@foad.net> wrote in message
> news:U%cOe.2820$Q82.134@tornado.socal.rr.com...

> > so goes your honor.

> Not at all, suds.
> Of course since I'm killfiled, you'll not see this.

That hillarious.

Betty Crocker, who never has and never would serve talking to anyone about
honor.