Live long and prosper

“When a place gets crowded enough to require ID’s and assorted licenses, social collapse is not far away, and it’s time to go elsewhere.  Unfortunately we’re running out of elsewhere’s here on Earth.  The nice thing about star travel once we get it developed is that it will make it possible to find “elsewhere”.”

There are, at best estimate, about 200 billion or so stars in our Milky Way galaxy.  Making a very conservative guess, let’s assume that only one star in 100 has a planet capable of being a human habitable world (1%, or two billion planets).   And let’s say that none of these planets harbor any sort of life, intelligent or otherwise (which I cannot bring myself to believe).  Assuming further, we’ll assume that only star systems with such planets are ever occupied by our species and adapted to our sort of life.  Thus, with star travel available to them, over the next million or so years our descendents could spread among the stars at an average rate of 2000 new stars per year, in an explosion of life than we can only imagine, thoroughly remaking the galaxy as surely as life has remolded a once barren Earth.

Logic tells me that life does exist elsewhere in our universe, so… as seen from the bridge of your approaching starship, imagine gazing down on a totally new living world and wondering how its people had shaped that world, and the world it’s people.  Imagine the variety of worlds and of the living species flourishing upon them! Water worlds, desert planets, jungle planets, mountains that reach above the sky and canyons vast enough to swallow a small moon.  Every habitat and every species ever imagined in science fiction will become real, and many more yet to spring from the imagination of explorers born half a million years from now.  Imagine the knowledge to be gained from each and every one of those planets.

And as long as we’re letting our imaginations run free, consider what happens once we’ve explored our home galaxy…  Look out into the vast distances of the cosmos, home to millions… billions… of other galaxies, each a swarm of new stars, new planets, and life unimaginable.  We have an entire fascinating universe to explore.  There’s an endless line of new places to go, new things to see, new people to meet, new adventures, and new knowledge to be gained. 

It can be argued that we have no human presence on the moon today because there has been a lack of public support, vague understanding, and little willingness to invest our hard earned dollars in space development.  Fairly or not, I lay this lack of public support squarely at the feet of NASA’s administration.  To all indications, NASA has lost the sense of adventure, the drive, and the challenge we associated with spaceflight in the 1960’s.  That very human drive to explore the unknown has been replaced in our government by nothing more than a culture of bureaucratic empire building.   Certainly competing economic interests play a role, but given the amount of money necessary to achieve those dreams of space development, the cost is actually nominal, even incidental.

Rightly so we have made hero’s of our astronauts for their pioneering of manned spaceflight.  In much the same manner we looked upon the space scientists and engineers whose labors made those flights possible.  To the American public in the 1960’s and 70’s NASA was the “fair haired boy” of the mirade of US government agencies.  We considered space flight to be the bright shining future of humanity.  Over the following years, this positive attitude began to change.

Rather than demonstrating to the public the potential of space development, what humanity as a whole could do in space, NASA insisted on resting on their laurels while a shortsighted congress cut the funding, thus making spaceflight the realm of only a very few select individuals.  This perceived “exclusivity of space” made the public feel left out, that there was no place for the common man in space exploration, that there would be no benefit for them or their children, and would in fact, would leave them at an economic disadvantage. After all, why should my hard earned tax dollars be spent on creating a bright and shining future for a very few space going “supermen”, leaving me behind in the dust and squalor of overcrowded planet?  Instead of pressing science and industry to open spaceflight to everyone, the public settled for any number of space operas of dubious scientific accuracy that did little more than pump millions of dollars into the Hollywood economy.  People never lost their fascination with spaceflight; they were just left out of the game by a mindless bureaucracy.

In the Star Trek universe, the Federation is all about ensuring that all people benefit and have a role in the forward evolution of that wondrous future.  This is a concept that we here on our pale blue marble should seriously consider for the long term good of ourselves and of our descendants.  After all, we’re running out of accessible natural resources. For the most part we’re now mining low-grade materials to feed our industrial demands, and even those materials are getting scarce. We’re running out of energy sources as well. What’s going to happen when the oil finally runs out?  The environmentalist’s object to our burning coal and oil, they won’t let us develop nuclear fission, and their alternate “green energy” programs have been a total flop so far. Yet the sun each second puts out about forty million times as much energy as we need on Earth, which leaves the possibility of building efficient space based solar power systems to solve our energy problems… until the sun burns out in a few billion years.  It would be nice if we could develop a new supply of natural resources as well… before we’re reduced to living in an updated version of the Stone Age! The moon, and the near Earth asteroids, contains a plentiful supply of just about everything we need here on Earth, and will need to live and work in space itself.  Professor John S. Lewis, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona states that an asteroid only two kilometers in diameter, and assuming typical meteorite composition, would be worth (at today’s prices) around 300,000 trillion dollars! That’s about the gross GLOBAL product for a very long time into the future!

The recently initiated engineering study “100YSS” (the 100 Year Starship), a NASA/DARPA program to study and develop the means of reaching the stars, believes, as do I, that pursuing an extraordinary tomorrow will create a better world today, if we, and our Congress critters, don’t allow it to wither on the vine. The social, cultural, political, scientific and technical communities, along with the electorate, must see human travel to the stars as not just the dream of a few wild eyed space enthusiasts, but a necessity for the very survival of the human race that we must begin work on now, while we still have the means to do so, so that all human life here on Earth…  and our children’s children into the far future… might “live long and prosper”.

I'm still here

A liberal is someone who feels he owes a great debt to his fellow man,

which he proposes to pay off with your money

Undaunted by a bunch of medical issues I’m still hanging around, writing on occasion, still mourning the loss of my wife, cluttering up the house, driving the kids crazy, snarling at business as usual politics, and hopefully irritating the daylights out of the loony left.  Like a good many other Americans, I also keep track of the news reports on what I learned in school many years ago to call “Current Events”.  (Despite the loud objections of liberal English majors about Sarah’s use of the term a few years ago).  Following the news, I’ve concluded that the sanity of the entire civilized world seems to be on rather shaky ground, with the third world not far behind! 

Russian imperialism is on the march once again in Syria and Iraq, (following the Ukraine escapade), while Mr. Putin seems to be laughing at the leaderless west and trying to restart the cold war.  China is happily making threats all over Southeast Asia.  North Korea is once again rattling her saber at South Korea and the U.S.  Moslems are happily massacring fellow Moslems and Christians throughout Europe and the mid-east, while Iran is threatening everybody in Southwest Asia with a nuclear holocaust, which, despite Mr. O’s assurances, the somewhat temperamental Israelis appear to be taking very seriously.  The troubles we face in Iraq and Afghanistan are far from being resolved, ISIS terrorism is still going strong with strikes all over the world, now with the threat of “dirty bombs” using radioactive materials swiped by the Russian underworld and sold to Islamic terrorists.  In response, Mr. Obama is cutting US military strength to its lowest level in over eighty years.  The industrialized world’s economy, led by the United States, is still in the basement and looks to be getting even worse, and now I understand, some U.S. citizens are even refusing to accept U.S. Dollars in exchange for their labor!

Things aren’t much better on the home front it would seem, we’re still loosing the long-term war on drugs, yet we’re now legalizing marijuana!  Social Security is still on the verge of bankruptcy thanks to Congress continually raiding the kitty to support assorted pork barrel projects.  The TSA is still strip-searching babies and little old ladies, overly zealous “Zero Tolerance” school discipline policies continue to victimize kids and make fools of assorted School Boards, “political correctness” now overrules Freedom of Speech, and ObamaCare remains “egg on the face” in Washington and an economic disaster to the rest of us. (One forecast claims that ObamaCare will collapse under it’s own weight within a year.)  Recent politically correct court orders are handing a couple of Muslim truck drivers a small fortune each after they were fired for refusing to deliver a load of beer on religious grounds, while Christians who refuse to provide a wedding cake (on religious grounds) for a same sex wedding can cost a Mom and Pop bakery it’s business license!  (Double standards anyone?)  Babies are still being killed (aborted) in wholesale lots in the interest of “choice”.  I’m not sure how much forestland we lost to wildfires this year (thanks mostly to the environuts and their weird “natural” ideas), but it seems like "most of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and a touch of Montana” would be fairly descriptive.  Some schools are adding Islamic prayer rooms for the convenience of Moslem students, yet a High School football coach who happens to be a Christian got fired for praying during a ball game.  Politicians and wannabe Presidential candidates are happily lambasting each other, and the media, yet again, and of course the leftist media keeps telling us how wonderful things are under Obama. 

I have learned much from that same media in recent months though.  For instance, while black lives matter, other lives don’t matter.  Street hoods are really the good guys apparently, and the cops are wanton murderers.  The economy stinks, the Middle Class is shrinking, the Average Family income is still dropping, Black youths have over a 50% unemployment rate, Hispanic youth unemployment is over 35%, and after 7 years in office none of this is Obama’s fault.

Eric Snowden and General Petraeus were pilloried in the liberal press for breaking laws about releasing and-or not securing classified documents, but Hillary Clinton of course is totally innocent of any responsibility for doing exactly the same thing.  After all, “What difference does it make?”  Apparently we’re to believe that republicans want dirty air, dirty water, oil spills, trash on the streets, polluted oceans, old people without medical treatment, illegal immigrants and our own young people without educations being paid the lowest wages possible, and starving children wandering the streets.  The republicans started every war in American history according to one liberal claim, and of course those same nasty right wing people have some sort of a “war on women” going on as well, and they don’t believe in equal rights either.  Oh Yeah, don’t forget that everything is still Bush’s fault.  On top of everything else, Mr. O gives every impression that he hates our allies, loves our sworn enemies, and is totally afraid of Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea (and probably a mouse as well)!  With that, he’s doing his best to turn us into a completely disarmed third (forth?) world country!  And… Anyone who disagrees with his agenda is automatically considered a racist… and potential terrorist.

I certainly do not understand what has happened to the country I grew up in, or to the people living here in those days, who would, at the drop of a hat, fight the devil himself to defend our Constitution, citizens, and nation.  Try this modern liberal sort of crap with my feisty old Irish grandpappy and with naught but a blackthorn shillelagh in hand he’d definitely change a lot of attitudes!  When I was growing up, we saluted the flag… proudly.  We recited the Pledge of Allegiance… proudly.  We served in the military… proudly. And we did it all in English, no matter what our “native” language was.  We respected the cops, cussed at the taxman, helped our neighbors, worked for a living, and carried on with our lives as best we could without government handouts, or being told that the uber rich owed us anything.

Welcome to the new “feel good” world order of the loony left, and an entire generation of Americans that seem to have lost their minds, their manhood, and the American dream.  A new socialist world in which morality, honesty, respect, and truth seem to have been relegated to the ranks of historical oddities. 

Is it time for a real national leader yet, or is an uninformed electorate going to stick us with yet another leftist dilettante for four more years?  

President

"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by

letting the Government take care of him;  better take

a closer look at the American Indian."----- Henry Ford

As I get deeper into my twilight years, I realize that it’s inevitable that one of these days the party will end. There will be a morning when there isn't any more tomorrow, no special occasions to celebrate with friends, no more phone calls just to shoot the breeze, and of course no more time to spend with the grandkids.  It would seem that one of the more important things to do before that morning comes, is to let your family and friends know that you care for them, in part by finding simple ways to let them know your heartfelt beliefs and the guiding principles of your life, so that they can always say, "He was my friend and I knew where he stood."  So, just in case I'm gone tomorrow morning, please know this:

I voted against LBJ, who, while perhaps a competent rural Texas politician, was totally lost in the big league of national and international politics.  While giving us the failed “War on Poverty”, and the equally disastrous Vietnam War, he felt that, like Hitler, he was oh-so much-more knowledgeable about military affairs than his Generals, and wound-up with the same result that Hitler got.

I voted against Jimmy Carter, who, while possessing a mouthful of teeth, a naval academy education, and a peanut farm, seemed totally lost in the entire world of politics, doing little more than piously bleating “Peace in our time”.  Carter gave us amnesty for Vietnam War draft evaders, an energy crises, the Chrysler bailout, and the Iran hostage crisis.  Small wonder he didn’t get reelected.

Ronald Reagan I liked, warts and all, and I did vote for him, twice.  Say what you will about the Iran-Contra affair and the upward spiraling national budget on his watch, he did engineer the economic collapse of the USSR, and the end of the Cold War.

I voted for Bush the Elder, a good man who tried hard, and who made two really major mistakes.  His boastful “No New Taxes” promise was the first, while stopping half way to Baghdad and victory in the first Iraq War was definitely a world-class screw-up.

The “Bill and Hill” dog and pony show just had to be one of the worst disasters ever to hit the American political arena, and did most certainly did not get my vote in either election!  Despite his apparently high approval rating, Bill gave us NAFTA, Travelgate, the Whitewater affair, the war in Yugoslavia, Monica Lewinski, a string of lies that has yet to end, and last but not least an impeachment circus.  President Reagan thought so highly of Presidential Honor and Prestige that he refused to wear his preferred jeans and cowboy boots to work every day, opting instead for a suit and tie, the coat of which he never removed while in the Oval Office.  Slick Willie on the other hand thought so little of that same office that he apparently had kneepads issued to White House interns!  Hillary in the meantime somehow managed to antagonize just about everybody on the White House staff and then tried to swipe half the furnishing when she moved out!

I voted for Bush the Younger, another good man who tried hard.  Unfortunately he had an incredible run of bad luck, and was completely overrun by a mad stampede of world events that he had absolutely no control over.

As to the present day; I twice voted against the individual described by one pundit as “the incompetent, lying, flip-flopping, insincere, double-talking, radical socialist, terrorist excusing, bleeding heart, narcissistic, militarily inept, scientific and economic moron currently living in the White House!”  “Nuff said about this guy.

What comes next I really don’t know, as that’s for the upcoming election to decide.  But so far I’m not real impressed with the current crop of candidates from either party.  On one side we’ve got an incompetent Vice-President running against an avowed socialist, and an old woman with delusions of grandeur.  On the other side of the aisle there are a couple on nonentities, a Doctor who really should stay with medicine, a guy that wants to start a family tradition of becoming President, and a really rich guy who thinks he can solve any problem by firing everybody in sight.  (He’s also the only one that even begins to make any sense, which is plenty scary in itself!)

For the moment the primary argument amongst these candidates centers on gun control, lack thereof.  Face it folks, most politicians don’t seem to realize that denying people the right to defend themselves only means that we can passively sit around and wait to be killed by some madman.  (Such as what happened on 9-11 when a few suicidal Arabs armed with box cutters of all things, took over some airliners and killed a few thousand defenseless Americans.)  The recent case of one nut going out and killing nine innocent (and again defenseless) people made all the headlines for days on end.  The fact that a hundred plus million American gun owners didn’t shoot anybody on that sad day wasn’t even mentioned.  Demanding more gun control laws because you think that criminals have too many guns is like having yourself castrated because you think your neighbors have too many kids!  It takes a particular type of stupid to actually believe that those same criminals will obey new gun laws, considering that they completely ignore the old laws! 

In the interest of controlling my blood pressure, I’m not even going to begin discussing our liberal politician’s current war on American values! 

What we need in this country is fewer laws, and a lot more justice.

Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.

Robert A. Heinlein

Wildfire

(Part one)

With the current extended drought, unseasonable high temperatures, a steady stream of thunderstorms, and our current fire situation, thoughts all over the west are turning to major forest fires, and the devastation of a century ago.  In the summer of 1910, a series of forest fires swept over Idaho and Montana, culminating on August 20–21 in what is known as the "Big Blowup."  Today many of us think of that fire, look at our current situation, and we wonder. 

On Saturday afternoon, August 20, 1910, all hell broke lose in the northwest.  Hurricane-force winds, unlike anything seen since, roared across the rolling Palouse of eastern Washington and into Idaho and Montana forests so dry they crackled underfoot.  In a matter of hours, fires became firestorms, and trees by the millions became exploding torches. Millions more, sucked from the ground, roots and all, became flying fireballs. It was dark by four in the afternoon, save for wind-powered fireballs that rolled from ridge top to ridge top at seventy miles an hour. They leaped canyons a half-mile wide in one fluid motion. Entire mountainsides ignited in an instant.  It was like nothing anyone had ever seen.  Reportedly, by noon on the twenty-first, the day had turned dark as far north as Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, as far south as Denver, and as far east as Watertown, New York. To the west, the sky was so filled with smoke, ships 500 miles at sea could not navigate by the stars.  There was no stopping or containing the fire; one could only hope to avoid it. Trains raced to evacuate towns just ahead of the flames. Forester Edward G. Stahl recalled that flames hundreds of feet high were "fanned by a tornadic wind so violent that the flames flattened out ahead, swooping to earth in great darting curves, truly a veritable red demon from hell." In the same instant that towns and timber alike perished, heroes were made, legends were born, and history changed forever.

Before it was over, 10,000 men were on fire lines that stretched from eastern Washington across the Idaho panhandle well into western Montana. The names of the fires they fought sounded more like the names of Civil War battlefields than anything else: Big Creek, Setzer Creek, Stevens Peak, Storm Creek, Bullion Mine, Cedar Ridge and Little North Fork. In some canyons, you could not tell where one battlefield ended and the next one began.  The fire burned three million acres and killed enough timber to fill a freight train 2,400 miles long. Eighty-six people perished, most burned beyond recognition.

Every able-bodied man available fought the rampaging flames. Most were Idaho loggers, miners from Butte, Montana, and skid row bums brought in on trains from Spokane. The pay was 25 cents an hour, plus a bedroll, sourdough pancakes, coffee and canned tomatoes. 

On October 8, 1871 the worst recorded forest fire in North American history swept through Northeastern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, destroying millions of dollars worth of property and timberland, several communities, and taking between 1,200 and 2,400 lives.  The Peshtigo Fire was a forest fire that burned in and around Peshtigo, Wisconsin. It was a firestorm that caused the most deaths by fire in United States history.  Occurring on the same day as the Great Chicago Fire, the Peshtigo Fire has been largely forgotten.  Yet on that same day the cities of Holland and Manistee, Michigan burned, and the same fate befell Port Huron at the southern end of Lake Huron as well.

On the day of the Peshtigo Fire, a cold front brought strong winds that fanned the fires, escalating them to a massive firestorm ensued.  A firestorm is sometimes called nature's nuclear explosion.  We have a wall of flame, a mile high, five miles wide, and traveling 90 to 100 miles per hour.  Hotter than a crematorium, the bodies of the dead simply melt and disappear, while even sand is turned into glass.   By the time Peshtigo was over, 1,875 square miles, or 1.2 million acres of forest had been consumed, an area approximately twice the size of Rhode Island. Some sources list 1.5 million acres having burned.  Twelve communities were destroyed.  An accurate death toll has never been determined because local records were destroyed in the fire. Between 1,200 and 2,500 people are thought to have lost their lives.

The worst natural disaster in Minnesota history, the Cloquet Fire of 1918, claimed nearly 500 lives in a single day. The fire began after sparks from local railroad tracks ignited dry brush. When the flamed abated, as many as 38 communities had been razed to the ground, 250,000 acres had been scorched, 52,000 persons had been injured or displaced and the costs mounted to nearly $75 million.

The summer of 1988 saw the largest wildfire breakout in the recorded history of Yellowstone National Park. By the time the fire subsided, despite modern firefighting technology, nearly 800,000 acres had been burned over, roughly a third of the entire park. Surprisingly no lives were lost as a direct result of the flames, even though as many as 25,000 firefighters reportedly battled the conflagration.

Could it happen again?  Most certainly…  Wildfire season is definitely here, and so far 2015 is shaping up to be another spectacular fire year, particularly in our drought suffering western states.  Unfortunately, major blazes are becoming the rule rather than the exception, and not necessarily “Only” because of the enviro’s much touted global warming.  It's a trend that comes quite naturally with our changing climate of course, a massive drought, and nearly a century of misguided environmentalism and forest planning that only grows worse every day. 

So it could be that the worst wildfires in U.S. history will be the ones that have yet to happen.  That’s scary, considering the damage that wildfires have done in the past.  Perhaps, with a little luck, proper planning, common sense, and continued effort on the fire suppression folks, this year will not be a sign of things to come.

To our firefighters holding those oh-so precarious fire-lines today, I can only say “Thank You… and be safe”.

Ebola?

Media reports on the death of a Liberian traveler in Lagos, Nigeria, and the transfer of two American medical caregivers to the US for treatment due to the Ebola virus have definitely caught the world’s attention–and for very good reason.  We live in an interconnected world, and now have to accept the fact that rapid long distance air travel has the potential to spread nearly any infectious disease, viral or bacterial, to any other country, and ultimately the entire world.  Under this scenario, one person, unknowingly infected with some really nasty disease, could embark on an international flight and expose everyone aboard with the disease.  As those people disperse, traveling to whatever destination, they would of course be exposing all their fellow passengers to that same disease.  And consider what happens at major air terminals worldwide, as those exposed travelers wander about, waiting for their interconnecting flight!  In very short order, we have a quite serious worldwide pandemic exploding on the scene!

In the case of the current Ebola threat with it’s very high (50 to 90%) fatality rate, it’s no wonder that so many people are quite concerned about these possibilities, and a potential threat to the United States.  However, according to officials at the CDC, the actual chance of it developing into a serious public health risk in the U.S. is quite small, in part due to the mechanism of it’s spread.  Ebola is not an aerosol, it’s only spread directly, human-to-human, by direct contact with body secretions such as saliva, sweat, blood, and feces.  It can be spread through a break in the skin or mucous membranes, or after touching your nose, mouth or eyes after having contact with the virus.   It is not transmitted by coughing or sneezing (droplet spread), as would be the case for someone with influenza or measles.  (If it were, half the population of West Africa would be dead by now.)  Poor and crowded living conditions in the afflicted area, along with improper sanitation, and rudimentary medical facilities seem to be a very important element in the spread of the Ebola virus. These of course, are not the conditions we generally find throughout most of the Western world, unlike parts of Africa.

However, before we congratulate ourselves on our good fortune, remember that Ebola remains a worldwide hazard because it is one of the most deadly viruses known to man, due in part to its ability to constantly undergo mutations.  Remember the seemingly endless stream of influenza strains we’re threatened with each year?  Influenza constantly mutates (because of it’s quite simple make-up), into some new threat, much as Ebola seems to be doing.  And much like so many other diseases, Ebola could readily be weaponized by large terrorist organizations or an unfriendly power.  Currently consisting of only 5 known strains, Ebola was first identified in 1976 in the Western Democratic Congo.  (Along the Ebola river for which it’s named.)  Four of these strains can be spread to humans, while the fifth resides only in primates. The fruit bat, considered a culinary delicacy in West Africa, is presently believed to be a natural reservoir and primary vector of the virus, pending further study.

Symptoms begin suddenly–often with an intense headache and fatigue, sore throat and chills–followed by vomiting, and diarrhea with onset of a hemorrhagic rash in the upper roof of the mouth and skin that appears to be blister-like.  While the virus incubates in from 2-21 days, its important to know that only those who are symptomatic–generally after 8-9 days–having fever along with diarrhea, vomiting and potentially a hemorrhagic rash can transmit the virus to others.  As a result, if someone on a plane with active symptoms–including vomiting and diarrhea –soils a restroom, another person, unaware of the threat, could theoretically touch a contaminated area, and thus acquire the virus.  That said, it’s important to know that the majority of those who have become infected with the Ebola virus have been healthcare workers in constant close contact with patients, as well as family members caring for sick family members. 

It’s also important to know that persons with Ebola may have symptoms that are nonspecific (headache, chills, and fever) making quick identification of the virus nearly impossible. It could be easily be mistaken for other illnesses including malaria, cholera or even typhoid fever. Only many days into the illness–after the onset of profuse vomiting and diarrhea–will a patient exhibit the telltale signs of Ebola with bleeding from the mouth and nose along with rectal bleeding concurrent with shock, liver and renal failure, followed by continued bleeding and cardiovascular collapse.

At this time, there is no vaccine or antiviral medication available to treat the disease. Only supportive care, with intravenous fluids, platelet and blood transfusions are available to patients.  While there have been some promising experimental treatments in animals, (monoclonal antibodies), there are no specific treatments that are currently available for humans.  With technical issues regarding the high mutability of the virus preventing researchers from being able to produce a vaccine or viable antiviral medication, other issues such as the danger of handling the live virus have prevented more intense and speedy efforts to actively pursue such research.

The FDA is also warning consumers to be aware of supplements and other products sold online that are fraudulently marketed to treat or prevent Ebola infection. We currently have no agent, drug, dietary supplement, or herbal supplement that are shown to prevent Ebola infection or shorten the course of the infection.  Nor has there been sufficient time to study the disease with an eye toward producing any effective cure or preventive.  Of course this hasn’t stopped some Internet retailers from claiming that their products can be used against Ebola.

So, unless you’ve recently been to West Africa, the only current Ebola threat to American citizens is the very small number of snake oil peddlers capitalizing on public fears. Consumers beware: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

"Lumpy"

Our third Warbird Weekend was yet another rousing success, thanks to the hard work of the event staff, the sponsors, and a lot of unsung volunteers.  As usual, I joined a number of aviation enthusiasts in wandering around the parking ramp taking pictures, talking to the pilots, and in general drooling over the aircraft on display.  Unfortunately I seem to have a problem with my camera, as nearly three quarters of my pictures are either badly light streaked or out of focus.  (I will have a new camera next year!)  On the other hand, I ran into an old friend out there, and had the time of my life!

“Lumpy” is an AT-28D “Nomad”, a pilot training plane from the 1950’s, and after retiring from US service were modified in the 1960’s to be an armed light attack aircraft for use in the counter insurgency role.  For those of you who might be a bit confused by the name “Nomad” rather than “Trojan”, the T-28 series aircraft (A, B, and C models) were named the “Trojan”, while the armed “D” model variant was named the “Nomad”.  But the –28D certainly fits the name, as it’s most definitely a wanderer!  These planes served with the French Air Force in Algeria, where, adding to the confusion, they were called the Fennec.  Many were sent to the Congo during that unpleasantness.  Some were sent to the Philippines, while many others served with the air forces of South Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia during the Vietnam War.  The US Air Force retained quite a few AT-28D’s as well, where they operated as the famed “Zorro” Air Commando truck busters along the Ho Chi Minh trail.  (“Steel Tiger” to you vets.)

“Lumpy” was assigned to the Royal Lao Air Force, which is where I got into the act.  As an Air Commando, my assignment was to “Project 404”, in support the RLAF T-28 operation as an instructor, advisor, and doing whatever else needed doing.  (You haven’t lived until you try to teach a highly technical subject when you don’t speak the student’s language!)  Anyway, “Lumpy” was among sixty some AT-28’s, while I was one of many Air Commandos in the midst of the so-called “secret war” in Laos.  To make a long story short, “Lumpy” and I both survived  the war.  I came home, and “Lumpy” soldiered on, finally being evacuated to Thailand by a Lao pilot during those horrifying final days.  From there she somehow made her way to Australia for a few years, and was finally brought home to a well-earned retirement.  Nowadays several of those Lao AT-28D’s still survive and are flying in various countries, taking their rightful place in the Warbird lineup.

 

She showed up in Grangeville for our Warbird Weekend, complete with simulated guns and bombs, and flown by her current owner, Roger Collins of Woodinville, WA, and yes, it did take a few minutes to get my feet back on the ground.  Ron Morrell of Renton WA. showed up with his T-28A, (the shiniest T-28 I’ve ever seen), which made our part of the flight line quite interesting to a lot of people.  I managed to spend most of the weekend pestering Roger, discussing the Nomad operations in Laos with him, answering questions for a good many by-standers, and in general making a nuisance of myself.  Roger is an old USAF F-4 Phantom II driver who now flies because he enjoys flying.  Thus he could readily understand my excitement,  and tolerating my somewhat excessive exuberance, let me play Crew Chief once again, and even took me for a half hour ride in the old girl.  That certainly made my day!

I’ve often seen the “Old Guys” at airshows, seemingly lost in time as they stand almost reverently touching a particular warbird.  Now, as I’m reaching my twilight years, I guess I’ve become one of them, and can now understand them a lot better.  Those old guys aren’t lost, they’re remembering the days so long ago and often far away, when they and their aircraft took part in some earth shaking events.  To those of us who flew and fought in them, those old planes aren’t just a collection of nuts, bolts, rivets and sheet metal… they are living creations, each with it’s own character and personality… and our companions through some often terrifying experiences.

I’ll see you next year old friend.

VA Scandal

The ongoing, and apparently escalating, scandal within the Department of Veterans Affairs has definitely stirred up a lot of interest within the veteran’s community, and in the national political arena as well.  Since the reports of ongoing improprieties hit the headlines (remember that I’m a Vietnam veteran, partially disabled, who is pretty well dependent on the VA for my ongoing medical care), I have been following the issue with considerable interest.  Let me state for the record that I, like the majority of veterans (reportedly 82%), am pretty well satisfied with the quality of VA medical care, although I can’t say the same about the assorted bureaucratic hoops I have to jump through on a regular basis. 

The problem arose when it was reported that the Phoenix VA hospital was cooking the books when reporting the delay time between patients requesting an appointment and actually seeing a Doctor.  Where the VA reported a 21-day average (only slightly more than the national average of 18.5 days), Phoenix often had numerous unreported delays well in excess of 100 days, and in some cases deaths as a result of those delays.  There is some reason to believe the present scheduling problem may not be as severe nationwide as is generally believed, with the worst delays, according to the VA, occurring in the Northwest, the South, and the Southwest, to some extent driven by a shortage in medical staffing.  The VA presently reports that they have 1,900 medical staff positions unfilled, including several in Phoenix.  A VA internal report also found "numerous allegations" of "daily of mismanagement, inappropriate hiring decisions, sexual harassment, and bullying behavior by mid- and senior-level managers."  The Phoenix bureaucracy however, in an effort to make themselves look good, and improve their chances for employee bonuses and raises (VA bonuses can exceed $30,000), misreported the problem and left themselves wide open for the ongoing scandal.  The VA Inspector General called for a nationwide review to determine whether similar problems were occurring at other locations, with 42 VA medical centers across the country now under investigation for possible abuse of scheduling practices. 

In 1921 the US Congress created the Veterans Bureau to administer assistance to World War I veterans. It quickly turned into a hotbed of corruption, and was abolished nine years later, to be replaced in 1930 by the Veterans Administration.  Scandals have seemed to follow the VA around ever since.  In this case, when the news hit the streets, Mr. Obama promptly informed us that he was “mad as hell”, which, with his similar comments about all the other government scandals of late, I can only conclude that he’s simply “Mad”!

The VA problems are however many faceted.  Like most government jobs, it’s a Civil Service position, which is an open invitation to kick-back and relax, take extended coffee breaks, and collect a nice fat paycheck and assorted bonuses at taxpayer expense.  There used to be a saying that Civil Service and NASA’s rockets had a couple of things in common, in that neither could be made to work, and neither could be fired!  NASA seems to have improved their position however.

The raging congressional demands for the head of VA Sec. Eric Shinseki should be no surprise to anyone.  It’s an election year after all, and both political parties, smelling blood, need someone to point their fingers at and mask their own failures.  Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado, Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken, have all called for Shinseki’s resignation, with our usual media sensationalism providing with a cheering section.  

Congress claims to be “cutting the wastage and deadwood” while playing to the crowd by slashing the budgets of the military, the VA, NASA, and assorted other departments.  They happily ignore the rather dismal shape our national infrastructure is in, our illegal immigrant problem, leaky borders, and bankrupt cities.  They ignore mental health care, failing education, and our own poor and homeless, all the while sending billions of dollars to third world petty dictators in the name of “humanitarian aid” that winds up in Swiss banks.  It’s Congress that has under-funded the VA for decades, while not least it was Congress that dramatically increased the services the VA must provide and the patients it must treat, without an increase in either funding or caregivers.  And it is Congress that ignores the fact that thanks to the miracles of modern medicine we are today able to save the lives of wounded troops who would have died on the battlefield in past wars, wounded warriors that now require extensive medical care. 

Instead of providing oversight as they’re supposed to do, members of Congress often skipped the hearings that they scheduled or requested on veterans’ affairs.  In one particularly shameful episode, a ranking member of the Veterans Affairs Committee who never served in uniform, who missed his own committee hearings and never heard the testimony in question, attacked the Veterans of Foreign Wars because the organization supported Shinseki.  If Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina expected the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, and the Paralyzed Veterans of America to apologize for not carrying out his political wishes, he made a serious tactical error, as I hope the upcoming election will demonstrate. The political trap door was sprung, and down went a man who was two-thousand miles away from the crime scene.  Mr. Obama smiled as he made a good man disappear, all the while blaming someone else. 

The only participant who emerged with dignity from it all was the victim, Eric Shinseki.   A retired general and wounded vet himself (he lost half of his foot to a land mine in Vietnam), General Shinseki served in the Army for thirty-eight years, rising to Army Chief-of-Staff.  Apparently it spoiled him for work in civilian Washington D.C.  In the Army, an officer might try to put a good face on unpleasant facts, but at least he’ll tell you the truth.  Shinseki made the mistake of trusting civilian careerists chasing bonuses the way he’d trusted subordinates in the Army.  Still, Gen. Shinseki made real progress during his tenure. The backlog of claims was reduced by nearly half and patient care was greatly expanded.  But Shinseki could not fix an entrenched spoils system and a half-century’s damage in a mere five years.  Now, a man who has dedicated his entire adult life to serving our country, leaves office under a dark cloud whipped up by politicians, from Mr. Obama, to worried Democrats running for Congress who’ve suddenly discovered disabled veterans, to equally cynical Republicans exploiting veterans for a campaign advantage.  To me, our Congress critters make the Kardashians look like paragons of virtue! 

The mob won.  Our country, and our veterans, lost once again.  And Eric Shinseki, an American hero, was sacrificed on the alter of political expediency.

JFK

JFK

Of late, television, the news media, and all else seem to be saturated with stories about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, fifty years ago.  Unlike many younger people today, I can well remember our youthful President Kennedy, and the dreams of “Camelot”.  John Kennedy was far from being the most popular President during his time in office, but his popularity seems to have grown through the years.  A “progressive” Democrat rather than what we today would consider the liberal version, he wanted to move us ahead, not the least including the areas of Civil Rights and space exploration, without stirring up a lot of hate and dissent.  Unfortunately we don’t seem to have anyone of his caliber in national politics today.

I was raised in a family that considered military service a duty that came with citizenship, and, believing our young presidents comment of “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”, joined the US Air Force not long after his election, with the idea that I might defend my homeland from the evils of communism.  Little did I know that so much of my early Air Force career would be entangled with the presidency of John F. Kennedy. 

Following basic training, I was sent to Keesler AFB Mississippi for technical training.  About the only “big deal” that happened in the year I was there was… the Cuban missile crisis.  Considering that Keesler (Biloxi MS) isn’t all that far from Havana, we young airmen promptly figured that if anybody started shooting, we’d probably be one of the first places to get blown away, which made that “defend our country” part downright serious!  When the President came on TV and announced the American response to those Soviet missiles, I think life came to a halt for all of us while we watched and tried to digest what was happening.  Seeing assorted military trains passing the base on the way to Florida got our attention well enough, along with watching a number of Navy and Air Force combat aircraft landing on our short runway for fuel on their way east, convinced us even more strongly that we were in the military service and not just part of Uncle Sam’s airline!  Also that we were a definitely a target!  Fortunately for us, the Russians didn’t like the odds, or the presidents’ determination, and backed down.

Finishing Tech School, I was reassigned to the 496^th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Hahn Air Base in West Germany, where I was when he made the well-known trip to Europe in which he delivered his famous “Ish bin ein Berliner” speech.  The 496^th had the honor of providing the fighter escort for Air Force One during his travels about Europe, and, due to a scheduling glitch, I got to repair a radio malfunction aboard his aircraft.  Somewhere in the squadron archives is a large, framed color picture, autographed by John F. Kennedy, of Air Force One and four F-102’s with a yellow and black fan painted on the tails, all flying in formation.  (Yellow/Black were our squadron colors.)  In my archives is a pack of cigarettes and a book of matches embossed with the presidential seal, that I received aboard Air Force One.

It’s said that everyone who was around at the time remembers where they were and what they were doing when President Kennedy was assassinated.  This is certainly true in my case.  Still at Hahn AB, I was in the barracks at about 8 PM, studying, when one of the guys stuck his head in the door and told us that the president had been shot.  Immediately, we turned the radio to AFN (Armed Forces Radio Network) to find out what was happening.  When it was announced that the president was dead, and somewhat in shock, we all got into uniform and reported to our duty stations.  No alert was called until nearly midnight, but we were all convinced that this was the beginning of WW III, the Russians were coming, and we were making sure we’d be ready to properly welcome them.  Fortunately for the world they decided to stay home that night.

We observed the president’s memorial service as well, holding a military parade in the squadron area, and all standing at “present arms” while an Army artillery battery fired a 21gun salute.  That salute took 21 minutes, and was fired in the midst of a blizzard, which pretty well matched our mood.  It was a cold and miserable day for all concerned…

Leaving?

When then President George Washington left office on March 4^th, 1797, he peacefully handed the reins of power to the President elect, John Adams, thereby establishing a proud American tradition of non-violent political succession that has faltered only once during over the last 215 years.  Certainly we have had threats of violence through the years, and even the occasional political riot or two, but to our credit, Americans have basically remained a peaceful people, happily voting with a ballot, not a bullet, unlike some of our rather excitable southern neighbors.  Now however, as most folks have heard, with Governor Romney surging in the polls many supporters of Mr. Obama have begun an internet firestorm of threats to riot nationwide and even to leave the U.S. should Obama be defeated.  I really don’t think this is what Mr. Obama meant when he called for more civility in politics, but with the loony left, who knows.  We have of course heard all this before, particularly from the Hollywood celebrity crowd back when President Bush the younger defeated Al Gore and later when he defeated John Kerry.  Unfortunately, none of those folks actually did leave, at least none that I’ve heard of.

It looks however, like all these calls for street violence, arson, and whatever are coming from the inner cities, which I guess is understandable.  That is where we find the vast majority of the “47%” that Mitt Romney spoke of, people who are totally dependant on government handouts, the very same people who are terrified that Romney will cut of their monthly “manna-from-heaven” welfare check, and actually make them go to work!  Interestingly enough, the vast majority of previous riots in the US have taken place in those same ghettoes of the larger cities, where the “revelers” have concentrated their efforts on killing each other, looting their neighbors property, and burning down their own neighborhood.  Then of course they… and the liberal media… lambaste the government for being to slow at delivering relief supplies, lots of sympathy, and truckloads of money.  Someone will I’m sure, object to my saying “all these calls” emanate from the big city ghettoes, but honestly folks, I haven’t seen any riots, or threats of riots, come from small town America or rural areas.  I guess suburban and rural folks are to busy working for a living to be very interested in destroying much of anything.  As to “leaving the country”, New Zealand seemed to be a popular destination, while other countries on the list include Canada, England, Scotland, Australia, Mexico, Ireland and Italy.  Even the island paradise of Cuba got a few mentions.  I’m not to sure just what the folks already living in those countries would have to say about an influx of expat American liberals suddenly descending on their shores, but I’d happily donate to a charity fund buying them all one-way tickets!

With my well known “sick sense of humor”, I do get a chuckle out of some of the responses to the question "Will the most divisive campaign in modern American history culminate in massive riots in our major cities?" (from the Drudge report I understand).  Some claim that the fireworks will be visible from space, others claim that the country is going to break out into “Riot City” no matter who wins, and others are using the term “Gun City”.  And once again comments about “Civil War” are becoming more common.  Conditions are certainly "ripe for it" others claim, with Americans being "very angry and frustrated right now."  Many say “allegations that someone stole the election could be enough to set the streets of America on fire.”  “Voter fraud” and “Election fraud” are supposed to be the trigger, and quite unfortunately we’ve already had a few instances of that occur, with scattered election machines that automatically defaulted Romney votes to Obama (the problem has since been corrected election officials are quick to claim).

Hurricane Sandy got into the act as well, by tearing up a lot of the east coast.  Considering the damages to the electrical grid, New Jersey plans to deploy military trucks (and military personnel) to storm battered communities to serve as polling places, a move quite likely to be copied by other states as well.  I guess it’s a logical move, but I bet the very idea scares the bejabbers out of a good many far right potential Romney voters.

On the conspiracy theory front, word is filtering through the internet that the government, in the form of FEMA, is planning to postpone the entire election until the east coast is back on it’s feet.  I certainly hope not, as no faster than government accomplishes anything we may not get to vote again until long after Mr. Obama has died of natural causes!  Still, it’s a possibility though, considering the vast number of Obama fans living in those affected regions, whom the Democrats are probably concerned about their chances of finding a polling place amidst the wreckage, and thus cluttering up the scene with “hanging chads”.

Current conspiracies theories have U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Charles M. Gaouette, commander of the USS John C. Stennis carrier battle group, having been recalled for “inappropriate leadership judgment”, as being part of a plot to overthrow the U.S. government if Obama should win the election.  On top of that, General Carter F. Ham, erstwhile commander of USAFRICOM, is rumored to have been “carted” away, and possibly even under arrest by the Obama Regime.  Reportedly Gen. Ham refused a “stand down” order from the White House, and attempted a rescue mission to Benghazi.  So, did Gen. Ham actually disobey orders… or was he implicated in plotting some sort of “Seven Days in May” style military coup with Adm. Gaouette?  Anything’s possible I suppose, in Mr. Obama’s somewhat paranoid White House.

The Democratic Party of Harry Truman and John Kennedy has lost its mind and its way.  It’s philosophy of social and political progress has been swallowed by the intense hatreds inherited from the radicals of the ‘60’s, and those same strains of anger, dishonesty and intolerance we saw in those days.  Its leaders don’t just want to win an election; they want to silence anyone who disagrees with them, and anyone who might disagree with them.  There have been a few things I have learned over the last few decades, with one being to look beyond the news headlines, economic figures, and reported statistics to understand what is actually going on in the world. Over the last several months we have seen no shortage of headlines attempting to paint a rosy picture of a steadily improving political and economic situation in our country since the liberal left took over.  But if we dig deeper into reality we see that this is very far from true… and after four years of Obama, that can’t be blamed on Bush! 

Is it time for a change yet? 

Politics

The 2012 campaign season is in its last gasps, thank goodness.  After all, who can stand much more of this rabid garbage?  The news reports are all about the rather vicious presidential race, even though there are a number of quite heated senatorial races going on all around the country, along with more than a few House races as well.  And, if you believe the media talking heads, this is the most important election in a generation, even though we seem to hear that description every four years or so.  Personally I think it’s probably the most crucial election in our history, deciding if we’re going to remain the US of A… or become Obama’s version of the Soviet Union.  Still, I’ll be glad to get back to Hollywierd’s insipid offerings, or better yet, a good book.  I’ve lately been reading a book entitled “The Manchurian President” written by Mr. Aaron Klein, who seems to have done considerable research into Mr. Obama’s past, and who brings up a number of interesting points.  My using that book for a reference will I’m sure, bring the loony left and the lamestream media out in droves, hissing, spitting, and baying for my blood, considering that Mr. Klein raises yet again the questions of Mr. Obama’s birth, citizenship, educational background, religion, and particularly his leftist leanings.  For my purposes I’m going to ignore all the above except for the part about Mr. Obama’s leftist leanings, and where they’re rapidly taking us. 

Mr. Klein pretty well documents that Mr. Obama has been immersed in radical left teachings since his youngest days, in most cases by far left radicals who had, even further back, absorbed the teachings of socialist writer Saul Alinsky who dates back to the 1930’s.  In some cases these people were the disciples of Alinsky.  Alinsky himself was not a communist, nor even an avowed socialist, but rather he was a dedicated leftist who focused on improving the living conditions of poor communities across North America… in itself not a bad idea.  However, many of his organizational concepts were adapted by the alienated and radicalized college students of the later 1960s, and formed a key part of their strategies for initiating the anti-government protests we saw flaring across the nation during the ‘60’s and 70’s.  In his 1946 book "Reveille for Radicals", Alinsky describes his motivation and rules of engagement, which were well understood by the social radicals of the 60’s, but were also rejected by most, who favored a communist style violent revolution within the United States during those days.  The very same radicals who were later to become Mr. Obama’s mentors.  Alinsky’s other idea, that of “working from within the system until you could gain enough power to destroy it” was also largely rejected at the time, until with the failure of the “revolution”, the “New Left” largely changed it’s methods, and is today carrying on a strategy of “boring from within” to undermine the media, academia, and of course the government.  Over the last few decades they have joined the very government they fought against as young radicals, and are deliberately bringing on a slow rot from within.  Their goal certainly has not changed, but with their hijacking of the Democratic Party in the 1970’s, their methods have evolved into mainstream politics.  These are the same America hating people, the violent bombing-rioting-arsonist radicals of the 1960’s, followers of Stalin, Mao, and Che, who nurtured Mr. Obama’s education and training as a community organizer, guided his developing political career, and whom today serve as his advisors.  Their goal, as Mr. Obama has told us innumerable times, is to “Change America”, to make the United States into whatever they want it to be, with themselves as our rulers.  An America that is not the Republic our founders envisioned, or the form of Democracy that most Americans today seem to desire.

The idea of “share the wealth” that Mr. Obama learned from his teachers is merely an updated version of the old communist ideal of “to each as to his needs”, which would I suppose be fine in theory, depending on just who is deciding what I need.  A nation of welfare “takers” certainly goes against the colonial days ideal of “No Work, No Eat”, which was explained in no uncertain terms to the “drones” among those early day colonists, an ideal that led us to becoming the most productive nation in history.  Today, with Mr. Obama’s enthusiastic guidance, we are developing an entire underclass of Americans who can share the misery of socialism, people who are undereducated, have no work ethic, no hope of improving their station in life, and who are entirely dependant on government handouts, generation after generation.  They in turn are to be ruled by a “middle-class” bureaucracy appointed by the elite, who determine what each citizen needs, and have the power to destroy any perceived upstart, merely by withholding those handouts.  And finally we have the elites at the top of the heap, the favored royalty who share the wealth, owning everything, make all the decisions, and who hand down to their under-class serfs only what they wish.  I for one have no idea how long it will take to impose this sort of rule on today’s America, but the last four years of Obama have set us well on the way.

Only a couple of hundred years ago life was rather short and brutal for the common people, a lifestyle that will plague us again under Obama’s socialism.  Whatever your status in today’s society, picture yourself living in Mr. Obama’s United Socialist States of Amerika.  You will live in a cramped and overcrowded “Welfare Island” as author Jerry Pournelle calls them, an “equal opportunity housing” ghetto where you live with a few million other “citizens”.  Your “home” is a one-room shack where you’re stuffed in with your entire family.  The government, who can evict you at any time, for any reason, owns that shack, which may or may not have an indoor toilet… or even running water.  You may or may not receive necessary medical care, depending on the whim of a government death panel.  You are of course allowed no personal property, as that would be rubbing unfair wealth in the face of other citizens not so fortunate.  Once a day everybody reports to the local soup line, where a government bureaucrat doles out your government rationed daily (basic) meal.  Your only entertainment is a steady stream of government propaganda playing on a government owned TV, or perhaps a bottle of cheap rotgut alcohol.  Your job, if you’re fortunate enough to have one, is in a government decreed position, while your minimal "paycheck fairness” wage is immediately extracted from your pocket as Income Tax.  Tax dollars saved by defunding the military would be channeled into "clean" energy stimulus programs.  Government security police, always alert for suspected disloyal thoughts or deeds will watch you day and night, while a government concentration and reeducation camp awaits any malefactors.  In fairness to all citizens, you have no chance of improving your social situation… for yourself… or for your children.  For public safety, your disarmed fellow slaves citizens have no way to fight back.  In return for this government largess… you are only expected to instantly obey your betters… and share in the misery. 

Mr. Obama must really love poor people… I think that’s why he’s been busily creating so many of them.  If he wins re-election in November, the America of a constitutionally limited government, individual rights, economic freedom, and personal liberty, will be but a vague memory.