Archive for the ‘Law Enforcement/Military’ Category
“Humans are more important than hardware”
On Christmas day, a Nigerian man boarded Northwest Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit with a bomb he planned to detonate over the United States, his success prevented more by luck than skill.
“Earn this. Earn it.” – Veteran’s Day
Who are the men and women we honor each year on Veterans Day? An anonymous person offered the following description – “A veteran is someone who at one point in life wrote a blank check made payable to the United States of America for an amount of ‘up to and including my life.’” What makes them write this check, make this promise, show this love of country, this loyalty to country? Could you or I write this check?
Values and common sense
Do you ever wonder about our lost values, our disappearing common sense? Where is our foundation, our cornerstone, showing us the values that are America? Our foundation is crumbling and a cornerstone is hard to find. And we have fewer anchors to look to for help understanding what we are, and what we should aspire to be.
Move to the sound of the gun
“Let’s roll.”
Response of Todd Beamer, one of the heroes of Flight 93, just before he and fellow passengers rushed the cockpit upon hearing that three other passenger planes had been used as weapons on 9/11.
Claiming racism be racist
Four police officers and two men; one black, a noted Harvard professor, and one Jewish, a famous singer –each with a recent police encounter.
Thank you Chance Phelps
Are we too complacent, not realizing the price of our freedom? I watched a movie about the cost of this freedom.
In fact, I watched the movie four times, each time with tears. The movie is a simple look at the price of our freedom, a simple reminder of what we have, a simple thank you.
Selective law enforcement
What do you do with a county sheriff who treats criminals like criminals, who enforces all the laws, not just the politically correct ones?
We ask them to kill – VETERAN’S DAY
We ask our military to do the unspeakable, the unthinkable. We ask them to kill fellow human beings. We ask of them what we are unable to ask of ourselves. Moreover, we do not want to see or know what they do. We are appalled when we see a television image of a marine killing an Iraqi who is “faking dead.” We condemn that marine. We must or else we feel we are condoning it. It doesn’t matter that he did nothing wrong. We saw it. We saw him kill that man. We are not supposed to see that happen. How dare he make it real.
Is military desertion courageous?
Jeremy Hinzman is the most recent military deserter losing his legal battle to stay in Canada. I read his story while visiting our son and daughter-in-law at Ft. Bragg in Fayetteville, NC; home of the Army Special Forces, the Green Beret. There I met men and women who have clarity of thought, a code of honor, and a love of country; values so clear I immensely admire and genuinely envy them. If you want to meet a real hero, just visit a military base. Their moral fiber is unwavering, giving me little tolerance for those who abandon their oath. With this admitted bias, I would like to discuss those who desert our country.
The power of advertising prescription medications
Traditionally, pharmaceutical advertising has focused on advertisements in medical journals and sending representatives to meet with individual physicians. During the last ten years, their advertising has increased over four-fold and they have also added direct to consumer advertising (DTCA). According to Emergency Medical Abstracts, only the United States and New Zealand allow DTCA. Is there a reason most nations do not allow pharmaceutical advertising? Are expensive commercials the right way to select a medication? Have you ever seen a television advertisement for an inexpensive medication?
Remembering Pfc. Joseph Dwyer
Our country has a large group of people who hope we never go to war. No, they are not the people disparaging our military; rather, they are our military personnel. Our military is full of reluctant warriors who understand better than anyone the travesty of war. They know the price to be paid; but, unlike the rest of us, they are willing to pay it. They know the parents who will lose sons and daughters. They know the husbands and wives who will lose spouses. They know the children who will lose fathers and mothers. They know the reality of war the rest of us watch from a safe distance.
Taps for the fallen brave – MEMORIAL DAY
Today we remember those who died in our nation’s service. Today we proudly display the American flag, a small flag in the living room window or a huge flag on a flagpole, the size is irrelevant. The flag is flown at half-staff until noon to honor the fallen brave, and then flown at full staff the remainder of the day. At 3:00 P.M. offer a moment of silence, remembering those who died for us. Memorial Day is the day we are not republicans or democrats, we are Americans, united honoring our war dead.
Even military critics enjoy free speech
Thomas Jefferson said, “My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!” Proof of his statement echoes from the Berkeley, California city council chambers. They approved sending a letter to the Marine Corp Recruiting office informing the marines they were “not welcome” in Berkeley. The council added, “If recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders.” During that council meeting they also derided the marines with statements like “trained killers” and “the president’s own gangsters.” How should we respond to this anti-military, anti-American behavior? Is it acceptable for elected officials to behave this way? Should there be consequences for their choices? In the aftermath of the Berkeley council’s statements, U.S. senators introduced legislation to rescind $2.3 million of federal transportation funds to Berkeley. Following the news of the proposed legislation, the Berkeley city council voted to not send the letter while the mayor of Berkeley, Tom Bates, said the city did not mean to offend anyone in the military. Does he expect us to believe their statements were not intentionally offensive? The city council believed they were taking a principled, difficult position. But as soon as they learned of potential consequences resulting from their actions, they quickly abandoned their position suggesting their principles are negotiable. But, they still refused to apologize to the Marines, saying they were only “clarifying their position,” and statements like “trained killers” did not warrant an apology.
Interrogation or torture?
The debate continues. What is interrogation and what is torture? Are there situations in which interrogation is inadequate, situations requiring something more? In the abstract, it seems rather easy to determine what is or is not morally acceptable, what is or is not torture. But, how easy is the decision when it’s personal; when the lives at risk are American, when our national security is in jeopardy? How far do we go to get information? What would you be willing to do to a terrorist if the information they had could prevent another 9/11? If you had a family member in the World Trade Towers and you were interrogating a terrorist before the destruction, would you still find waterboarding heinous? If summarily executing a terrorist could save the life of an American soldier would you hesitate? The urgency of these situations, according to Professor Darius Rejali of Reed College in Oregon, is “morally the only way a democratic society is able to justify torture.”
Allow our military to fight the terrorists
Albert Einstein said, “I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” He believed World War III would be nuclear annihilation returning us to the Stone Age. Is he correct? Will there even be a World War III? If there is a World War III, what type of conflict will it be? By the way, what is a world war? Merriam-Webster defines it as, “a war engaged in by all or most of the principal nations of the world”. Is World War III on the horizon? Could the instability of the Middle East be the fuse to ignite it?
The price of ‘freeing the oppressed’
How do you propose an acceptable number of dead American military personnel? How do you justify losing even one American life. Are there acceptable deaths?
Thoughts of a soldier’s father – VETERAN’S DAY
How do I write about the people willing to do what so many of us are not willing to do? How do I write about heroes? The ones “ready to pick up a rifle, ruck up and close with the enemy.”
The Ivy Leagues vs. Supreme Court
Stanford and several other Ivy League universities continue to disregard the Supreme Court ruling of March 2006, which states they must either allow ROTC and military recruiters on campus or lose federal funding.
U.S. must regain its resolve to defeat terrorism
Listening to our political leaders discuss Iraq and terrorism, I hear little discussion with real solutions.
