As 2009 ends we should all re-commit ourselves to be sure we express our appreciation and support for our military personnel, to love our nation, and to do something (running your mouth doesn’t count) to make our nation better. My modest suggestion is that you log into Icaucus.org and get involved in replacing every single elected official in Washington DC; this would be a great step forward for our nation. May God bless America.
Happy New Year
December 31st, 2009Terrorists on civilian airliners
December 28th, 2009Let’s see. Virtually every (not all) people who have been involved in any way with a terrorist assault on a civilian aircraft have, to my knowledge, been male, of Arab background, Muslims, with “Muslim” names, traveling from countries with a strong Muslim presence. I think that these are facts; I don’t think that I’m biased against males, arabs, or Muslims. Just using the logic process that was part of the goal of my engineering education at West Point, I think it would be logical to say that all security people at airports should be taking a long, careful look at all arab, male, Muslims–every time they show up. Perhaps our nation, and all the world’s civilized nations, should make a public statement to the world, apologizing to the 95-99% of the world’s Muslims who are not radical, but explaining the statistics and announcing that henceforth all folks who are or could be arab, male, Muslims are going to get the “works” at all airports. I’m afraid that this is too logical to ever be done.
The terrorist on the Delta flight
December 26th, 2009On Christmas day a terrorist claiming to be linked to al Qaeda tried to blow up a Delta airliner while it was approaching to land at Detroit. He was apparently burned very badly and was subdued by a passenger. The terrorist is now in the hospital recovering from the burns caused by his aborted efforts. br /Let me make one thing clear!!! This guy is not a criminal–he’s a soldier fighting in a war against the US. He should not go to jail, have attornies appointed, and the like. He should be turned over to the military where he can be exploited for the intelligence he has and then confined as a POW; yes, he should be tried for violating the rules of war in that he was not in uniform and did target civilians. But this trial should take place in military court.
Merry Christmas
December 25th, 2009Merry Christmas to all. To celebrate this day of peace the Taliban today released a video purporting to show the only know American soldier in captivity. PFC Bowe Bergdahl was captured on 30 June; the video shows what appears to be a healthy man dressed in an American uniform and wearing sunglasses. He identifies himself and then goes into a long blast at US activities in the Mideast. It’s nice to know that he’s still alive; it’s unfortunate that he was used as a propaganda tool.
A season of giving
December 24th, 2009The invasion of Europe in WW II took place on D-Day, 6 June 1944; the amphibious assault was preceded by an airborne assault early in the morning. Included in that assault was the newly formed 82nd Airborne Division. Jumping that day was trooper Everton Bushnell. A quarter of a century later, his son, Ellsworth Bushnell, fought in Vietnam as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division. This past summer the third generation of Bushnells wore the All-American patch of the 82nd into combat as Sergeant First Class John Bushnell deployed to Iraq. This is a great family with a proud tradition of serving their nation in time of war. In this season of giving, I wonder why more families don’t have the tradition of giving their service in defense of their nation.
