The Watch–Conclusion

They made the port of call a few days later at Liverpool.  He was still not used to the idea of those “ports” often being miles from the coast.  Many of them were upriver from the coast like this one.  The city was industrial to its core, grimy and gray.   In spite of that it had a bustle and liveliness to it from all the activity in the dock area and the constant flow of supplies off ship and on their way to other parts of England.  He didn’t know it but most of their cargo was destined for southern England and the build up for D-Day.  This trip he drew shore patrol duty.  It was the first time he had that.  He knew it was because he was a little bigger than most and he didn’t drink.  The Navy did have some regular shore patrol seaman but the bulk of them during the war were on temporary assignment from the ships in port.

He was teamed up with a Chief Petty Officer which he really liked because he was experienced and could show him the ropes.  They would work with the local Bobbies when needed but mostly they were there to keep drunk sailors from making trouble.   While on patrol they were approached and told of a brawl taking place a couple of blocks away and they were needed because it involved Navy personnel and Army troops.  He started to jog off to the location but the Chief grabbed him by the arm and told him to slow down and walk there.  Maybe it would be over when they got there he suggested.  So they walked.  But when they arrived it was still in progress, they could hear it from several buildings away.   It was a pub naturally and when he opened the door he was met by a soldier with his mouth bleeding profusely and one of his teeth missing.  Two Bobbies arrived at the same time and he was glad to see them.  They went inside as a group and it was a scene from hell with men fighting for no apparent reason and no particular distinction among combatants.  He followed the leads of the others as they began grabbing them one by one and taking them outside where they made them sit down.  One big Army fellow told a Bobbie he was going to beat his brains out.  But the Bobbie calmly took his  baton and used it to rap the man on his hands.  The first swipe broke fingers.  But he wouldn’t stop so he hit him again on the forearm, hard.  He didn’t know if that blow broke his bones but he crumpled to the floor whimpering.  No one else made a challenge to them after that.  They were all taken to the port stockade.  He was glad to get back on board ship.  He did learn that it is not how hard you hit but how effectively you do it.  That Bobbie sure knew how to control an opponent with only that baton. 

Months later on another ship he looked at a vast armada of other ships.  There had never been any convoy like this.  There were ships as far as he could see in every direction.  The  Normandy invasion had started the endless train of supplies was still making its way across the Channel.  The main cargo they were carrying was a train engine.  He wondered why they needed that.  Surely there were trains in France.  Anyway, that was their load and it was unloaded at Cherbourg after they spent a day waiting for clearance to the dock.  Everyone was afraid of buzz bombs since they had been unleashed by the Germans recently.  They rightly feared they would be used to attack the supply lines.  But that never happened.  They only saw a few German aircraft and they were reconnaissance flights.   He didn’t know it then but his fighting was over. 

There was one more voyage in the Atlantic then to the Pacific.  But there is was backwater islands already secured.  There were many alerts and alarms about enemy aircraft and subs but none ever attacked a convoy of his.  Heat, humidity and tedium beyond description.  The War for him just frittered away.  There was no magic moment, no beat of the drums.  He was stateside when the bomb was dropped on Japan.  He had no idea what a nuclear bomb was or how it worked but he understood it was big.  More importantly he meant that he would not have to be part of the force to invade Japan.  The word and rumors about the suicide planes and losses were already flowing throughout the ranks in spite of censorship and the Navy’s best effort to restrict knowledge of the losses at Iwo and Okinawa.  They knew that thousands of sailors had been killed in those invasion and that things would be worse off the coast of Japan.  No matter where they were they would be within range of the Jap planes and subs.  Relief was not the right word.  It was a rebirth.  He would live and at least have the chance to stumble or race to success.  He could be with his beloved Jenny.   They offered him a promotion to Chief but he didn’t want to sail the seas anymore.   She met him at San Francisco and they arranged a ride home with another couple by offering gas money.  They left the Bay into the rising sun and many more to follow.  The setting sun was not going to be the cold deep but one surrounded by family.  

Every day was his gift.  Gratitude was engrained, he remembered that many never had the chance to be grateful.   He had an ordinary experience for the “Duration”.  The remarkable thing was that he always considered it ordinary to do the right, the duty required.

www.olcranky.wordpress.com

Science, Sunshine and the Climate Debate

 

I was cleaning out and sorting some old files,  records and the accumulation of “stuff” that builds up during a lifetime the other day.  I came across a news clipping from the Washington Post in 1978.  At that time I was writing a couple of novels and my wife had cut it out for me as a possible idea for a novel plot.   The story concerned observations of the Sun and sunspot activity and those effects on earth’s climate.   The report was about the 11 year cycle of the Sun for sunspot activity which has ebbed and waxed for untold millenia. 

In 1977 the sunspot activity had  been at a minimum level on the 11 year cycle and was starting its increase.  That year the surface temperature of the Sun decreased by 11 degrees which is only 1/2 of one percent change.   That small change however set off alarm bells in the scientific world of astronomy and climatology.   The belief was that if the change was as much as 2% for as little as 50 years the entire earth would become a giant snow ball as it had been millions of years ago.  Human hubris was a bit more subdued at that time than it is now.  Currently it is believed that man can have a major impact on our climate ent. 

The recent disclosure of the hacked emails from the East Anglia research center contrast so sharply with what we should expect and hope for from our scientific community.  For several centuries now the whole point of scientific research has been to explore and share openly data and consider all opinions and theories before reaching conclusions.  The research scientists have historically even challenged their own findings and sought alternatives answers to their initial beliefs.  This was the method and means used by our great scientist and scientific achievements of the last three centuries.  Ben Franklin, Joseph Priestly, Einstein, Harvey were all part of this tradition.  They believed that research should be shared and openly debated.  That was the whole point of the London Society in the 18th century.   The remarkable and accomplished physicist Richard Feynman of Manhattan Project fame and Noble fame believed affirmatively that it was the duty of the theorist and scientist to release all data and supporting hypothesis and actively invite challenge.  True science is not a consensus game.  It is not politics where the winning votes determine acceptable theory.   E=MC2 is not something that is reached by consensus. 

The sunspot activity did abate after a while and the earth did not freeze in the ’80’s.  But maybe it will resume a more vigorous spurt in the near future.  There are many, many moving parts that affect our climate.  To have some scientists take an Inquisition type approach to theory and policy based on their pet theory by demonizing dissent is dangerous and disappointing.  You would think we could trust them to be true to their scientific heritage and not be activists for any cause other than the truth.  There is a great biography about Feynman called “Genius” which I highly recommend to you.  He was too liberal for my taste but I admire truth above all ideology.  He was the one we called upon to investigate the Columbia shuttle tragedy and the cause for that failure. 

The seas will rise if for no other reason than the Great Lakes are draining.  The last Ice Age, which was only 12,000 years ago pushed the earth’s surface down thousands of feet and now that the weight of the Ice is gone the earth’s crust is rebounding and will continue to do so until the Lakes are dry.  We can’t control the tilt of the earth, the solar flares, the Sunspot activity or the currents in the oceans and the El Ninos.  Those effects and events are beyond the capacity of Man to influence.  They will change, alter  and evolve and have profound effects on our climate.   I would sure like to hear much more from the astronomers and physicists about climate change, not to mention the geologists among us.   The Sun is and will forever remain the dominant force in our climate.  When it belches the earth feel the effects like a sledgehammer.  The Moon weighs heavily on what happens and will happen here on earth.  The water vapor in our atmosphere is the greatest greenhouse gas there is by far.  They have the power to cool or heat specific regions.  Surely you have noticed how hot it can be on a sultry summer day even when there is cloud cover above. 

The environmental alarmists are proposing policies that will dramatically affect our standard of living and the very nature of our society and the freedoms or lack of freedoms we may enjoy.   Rather than allow a clique of UN panderers dominant the argument and suppress any contrary view we should have the research be an open book.  All data should be subject to scrutiny and debate.  The truth is what it is.  The data will reveal factors one way or the other.  I am especially troubled that these folks in the Green community have such a vested financial interest in only one approach.  They thrive and live on those enormous grants from governments and currently the governments want only one answer rather than  pershaps and inconvenient truth.   Before we allow a centrally controlled economy and a sever restriction on our choices and options in life let’s have some sunshine at high temperatures on the climate change debate.  The science community needs it for its own future.  Rigged research and contrived scientific results pollute the lab and tarnish their credibility.   We all need that credibility.  Otherwise we might soon have the thermostat cops knocking on our doors.  Of course they will be Federal employees and that will create or save hundreds of thousands of new jobs.   www.olcranky.wordpress.com

Nostalgia and the Season

Nostalgia is one of those words that can conjure up a lot of different emotions and interpretations.   Some would make the case that it is nothing more than a bunch of old fuddy-duddies remembering the “old days” and viewing them through rose-colored glasses.  Others believe it is a waste of energy or worse an aversion to anything new or progressive.  One thing is for sure and that is most everyone allows themselves to indulge in a bit of it from time to time even if only secretly.

Who has not reminisced about some past sporting event whether as a participant or fan.  If you played football, basketball or any other sport you have memories of particular games and your actions.  Hopefully they are the pleasant ones about making a touchdown or a crucial first down at a tense moment in the game.  Maybe it is about that cheerleader you were dating then and that special feeling when she would praise you prowess.  You can literally feel the way the ball cradled against your body as your carried in through the line, you can hear that roar from the stands, or smell the dust from the turf as you were pounded down by the opposing team.  Those memories are strong and it is amazing that they endure so long with such intensity.

Everyone can recall songs and tunes from long ago.  They evoke some of our strongest reactions.  They recall for us a different time and place where society was different.  Society does change ever generation for good or ill.  We all like to think that our youth was the best and the brightest don’t we?   Some of those old big band tunes for Glenn Miller don’t remind of my personal life so much as they remind me of my mon and dad.  Those were their songs, their time.  Those old songs remind me of waiting for dad to come home from work and mom in the kitchen preparing dinner while me and my brother were hounding her about going out to play for just a few more minutes.  She would relent usually even if it was close to dinner time.  The radio would have those great tunes playing all the while.  When dad got home he would come out on the front porch and whistle for us.  He could really whistle loud.  That was the deal, we had to stay close enough to the house to hear the whistle.  It was not an acceptable excuse to say we didn’t hear it.

Christmas Day always brings up memories of some bygone special mornings rushing to the Christmas tree.   I recall one in particular when I got a Lionel train.  I was only about 5 and we lived in a rental duplex.  Dad had only been home from a the War a couple of years and was working two jobs to make ends meet.  It was important then that the man be the sole breadwinner and mom stayed home.  It was one of those old very heavy types they made then.  It was quite exact in its detail of an old steam engine.  They had it all set up Christmas morning for me.  I bet that sucker costs ten bucks!  A real sum then.  I kept up with that old train for years even into my teens.  Then one day it was just gone.  I guess it got lost in one of our moves.  That train brings back such great memories for the joy of being a child and of my mom and dad.  I suppose what it does is remind me of the sacrifices they made for me. 

Watching the current leaders of our nation certainly reminds me of our past leaders.  It was true that most everyone liked Ike.  What was not to like?   Those were good times for the most part.  Our economy was growing and expanding and opportunity was beckoning for those willing to venture out and try their luck or skill.  He kept in check the worst ideas of the progressives of the day and he made us feel safer having him there in the White House with the Commies barking at every door around the world.  It is hard now for many to recall just how menacing those threats from the Kremlin were.  Often they were not only threats but hostile actions.  They did have an active spy network within our own government.  Hiss, the Rosenbergs and McClean, Burgess et al were real people out to do our nation and way of life harm.  Ike had defeated the Nazis and was a warrior, that was important.  Don’t believe me?  Then I would remind you that even his Democratic succesor ran as a hawk and touted the “missle gap” and was actively promoted by is party as a warrior.

Why do we have all these thoughts?  That must be pretty important to most of us.  We all go back to them over and over.  The nostalgia connects us to our cultural heritage.  Whatever our heritage might be it is important to us.  It reminds us of family because family is important to us.  No one likes being alone and the tightest bonds are those of blood.  Admit it, those day dreams of your days of yore make you feel good.  Nothing wrong with that.  Rather than fighting nostalgia or denigrating it I recommend you rejoice in it.  Savor it like some family relic that it handed down from  generation to generation.

Most vital of all is to make sure you are doing what you should to build those future nostalgic day dreams for you own children.  It is my prayer for you that your progeny will one day recall their days and years with you as the best of times, not the worst of times.

Gold is at 1200 plus.  Some one doesn’t think the current policies in DC are in the best long-term interest of our economy.  That is more than an opinion, it is a fact demonstrating by the hundreds of thousands or millions of folks investing in gold.  They are voting with their checkbooks.   www.olcranky.wordpress.com

Big Thanksgiving Blessings

There is no such thing as a little blessing.   Every blessing has merit and those we over look or take for granted are the ones with the most value to our lives and happiness.  Here are a few things that are the blessings in my life, hopefully you have your own list.   If you don’t, you need to take another look at the world and your role in it.

I love the smell of new-mown grass on a hot August day.  It reminds me of my youth and those first two-a-day workouts for fo0tball.

I am blessed every time one of my granddaughters smiles at me.   Those little ones love me without judgment.  Their love is a blessing and I am blessed they haven’t learned my faults.  Such unconditional love is staggering.

The rain is my blessing every time it makes its patter upon the earth.  We are water, the earth is water.  It is the stuff of life.  It is a sign of renewal and hope with every rain shower.

When the Sun cracks the horizon cleanly on a cold crisp winter morning, I am blessed.  That old Sol is the fountain of our life.  It is easy to understand why so many of the ancients worshipped it.  Without knowledge of the electromagnetic fields they sensed it life-giving force.  Its return each day is and was a symbol of rebirth.  We have a chance each day to have a rebirth.  Those sins and errors of the past do not have to be part of the new day.  It is our choice.  As the saying goes–”It is a new day”.

When they play the Star Spangled Banner before kick off at one of my high school games I realize the blessing of my citizenship.  The families gathered to support our youth and our future.  Because we were the home of the brave for two centuries we have our freedoms and rights.   No mean thing in a world oft in turmoil and strife.

Every birth is a blessing for parents.  It reminds us of our beginnings and the better angels of our spirit.  Children are our finest creation.  No Da Vinci or Rodin will construct an image to match the squirm of your new-born.

I was blessed to have a wife that would endure me.

I was blessed to have a wife that loved me.

What a blessing it was to have sons to teach to hunt and fish.  To show them how to track their first game and learn the rules of safety and to respect the prey.  Their eyes so wide with wonder and excitement the first time they walk at your side into the woods is a moment not to be forgotten.

I am blessed to have smelled the salt air on the coast and know that brave men in times past were daring enough to venture forth and explore and expand our horizons. 

It is beyond compare to know the blessing of helping someone less fortunate than yourself.  Maybe it is karma but I think it is more than that.  It is nice to feed the stomach but it is vital to feed the soul.  Doing a kindness is being blessed in your soul.   You won’t regret it ever, no matter the worth of the one in need.

We are blessed that we are not judged on our worthiness to others as often as we deserve and  to God, never.

I am blessed to believe God loves me.  Me.   Receiving that love without condition should spur us to be better men to our families and to our friends. 

You can find blessings walking in your neighborhood, going to work, being with family.  We sometimes look so closely at our footsteps that we forget the path we are taking.   Yes, we have to watch those steps so we don’t falter but losing your way is worse. 

Count them and rejoice in them.    www.olcranky.wordpress.com

 

Forget for the moment the merits economically or socially of the current proposals for the health care reform bill(s) wending its way through Congress, lets talk only about the administration of the new program and the agencies created by the proposed bill.  It is not for nothing that the Washington executive branch and administrative departments have been referred to often as the gang that couldn’t shoot straight.  Whenever there is any criticism of federal or government employees I notice how the Chris Mathews types also start talking about policemen and firemen and teachers and how valuable they are to our society and that we sure wouldn’t call them lazy or inefficient bureaucrats.  Wow, such a revelation.  Nope the criticism of the typical government employee has much more to do with the Post Office, the IRS, FDA, USDA, the Depts. of Commerce, Interior, Education, Labor, Social Security, Fannie, Freddie, and all those other countless agencies, boards, commissions, Congressional staffs that are the creatures of Congressional programs.  It literally would take more than these article to simply list all of them.  Think of that a moment, merely to list them.

I do hope you have noticed that the current plan is for the IRS to administer the new health care program.  It boggles the mind to think how many new employees will be added to the Federal payroll for that service.  The IRS can’t even keep up with its mail and documents that you send them.  If you have ever had any dealings with them at all you are aware of this.  They ask for something, you send it and then they ask you two months later for the same thing.  They are so incompetent that they won’t even accept responsibility for the advice given to you by their own employees.  Did you know that?  Really, if you have a question about your tax situation and go directly to the IRS for help filing out your return and follow the advice given to you by one of their agents and you get audited a year later regarding the same question the IRS is not bound by the advice given you.  They can and will take a contrary view.  If they don’t have enough confidence in their people to stick by their recommendation then why should we have any confidence in them?

If you get frustrated now trying to navigate you way through a phone menu when you “call” the IRS then just wait until you have to make a call to them regarding a medical procedure you want and are having to get their clearance so it will be paid for under your new Federally mandated health insurance policy.  How long will it take to talk to a live human being?  When you get them they no doubt will ask for more paperwork that you have already furnished and will tell you to go to the local IRS-Health  Care office to see a case officer.  Notice how they always come up with those titles rather than simply calling them what they are which would be clerks.   “Press One for English, Press Two for Portuguese, Three for Spanish…and Interpreter will be provided.”   I wonder what they are going to interpret, languages or the Health Care bill. 

This is the same outfit that can’t get the swine flu vaccine delivered on time and now they will be in charge of your emergency appendectomy.  One wonders how the phone menu works for those emergencies.   In future you will have to work things out with your insurance carrier, your doctor and the hospital and then Government, Inc.  The same folks who brought you the Katrina rescue efforts will be in charge of this program.  The people who thought it was a great idea to try KSM in Manhattan will be coming up will all the new medically approved procedures and deciding which ones to eliminate.  I already find it very frustrating trying to read and understand my health policy as it is with my private carrier.  Do you think the process will be more explicit and easier to comprehend when the language of every policy is drafted by our new Health Commissioner?  It will be a one size fits all program.  From looking at the news at night when I see any kind of street scene I do notice that we Americans sure do come in a variety of sizes.  It is going to be like the Army, everyone wears size ten shoes, if not,  then you can wait until the size 9’s arrive and good luck with that. 

A Federal bureaucrat has never met a form he didn’t love and one that he couldn’t figure out how to add a few more lines to “for clarity”.  I challenge you to order a Medicare brochure that allegedly explains how it works when you are ready to sign up and your options.  It is more like trying to read Shakespeare in ancient Greek.  The guys who manage the TARP slush fund (that is what it will be if Government, Inc. gets its way) will be running your local hospital.   The men who dreamed up the PIPP program will be managing the hundreds of billions of dollars annually that will flow through the Federal coffers.  Those folks who turn a blind eye to the fraudulent accounting for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will be handling all the nation’s health expenses and expenditures. 

Maybe they will operate it like we are doing with GM.  Since we own it and are propping it up for the unions and their votes and even paying with tax credits for people to buy their cars, maybe we can steal a page from that playbook.  Who knows, maybe someday soon they will pay you to get sick with a tax credit so long as you  will use their program; of course, that assumes they believe you really should have a job and some income.  It would be so much easier on them if we all would just cooperate and work where we are told for what they believe is “reasonable compensation”  and hand it all over to them.  They will spend it wisely no doubt for our benefit.  www.olcranky.wordpress.com

Today health care, tomorrow the entire economy.

The Watch–cont’d Part 6

A glance at his watch told him it was 09:55.  How could all that have happened it such a short period of time?   They turned the gun to the correct heading.  He could see the enemy planes but thankfully they were off on the far southern side of the convoy and not attacking but stalking again it seemed.  They were out of range for the 50’s and 20’s but the  5 inch guns could reach them.  He quickly went over the drill with the two merchant marines.  They were nervous.  They had only practiced a few times and that without enemy planes in sight.  Now it mattered and he tried to calm them down and make them repeat their duties and station.  He got the one seated correctly for the elevation control and the ammo loader and showed him how to set the fuses again.  Just as he finished the order to fire came again.  They were firing out to about maximum effective range.  It was only for the 5 inch guns in the convoy plus the weapons on the warships. 

The gun roared again.  The flash and sound scared the new men but they responded well after a moment.  The flak pattern they were putting up blossomed over the far side of the convoy a second later.  Re-load, fire again, repeating the steps again and again.  They were slower but still doing their job.   As he watched the planes got lost in the smoke and puffs from the shells and he never saw them again.  The cease fire order came.  He did see some tracers from the very edge of the convoy streaking up but that lasted only a few minutes.   They secured the gun and made ready for the next round.   But that never came.  They stood their watch at the battle station ready.  All eyes were scanning the skies and horizon.  Even those without the binoculars.   He noticed he was getting cold.  He hadn’t been cold for a while during the attack.  Now it began to seep back into his bones.   The merchant marines had on very light gear and were freezing.   He reported and they brought some extra clothing and parkas for them.    They manned their stations for another two hours and then the order to secure was given.  They cleared the gun and wrapped it and cleaned the pit and he made sure all the gear was in its place.   The PA announced it would be the regular watch duty so he would be off for a while.  His next regular watch wouldn’t be for four hours.  He desperately wanted to get off the deck and inside but he dreaded it also.   He knew they wouldn’t be doing the usual routine after a watch or  after securing from battle stations.   He headed back to his locker to remove his gear.  As he passed the foremast he recalled the men tied to one just like it on his first voyage to North Africa.  Why would he think of that now?   Two sailors had broken into the liquor locker.  The Navy didn’t allow any liquor on board but the merchant marine Captains could and did bring some for themselves and maybe the first mate.  When they were discovered as they were bound to be on a small ship the Captain ordered them chained to the foremast and on bread and water for three days.   He let them in after about a day and half as the weather turned colder.  The Navy Lieutenant on that ship did not object and affirmed the order with a drum head court-martial while they were still reeling.  Life at sea could be rough and even cruel.  But he understood that lack of discipline put them all at risk.  He didn’t feel sorry for those guys. 

The galley was quiet.  He and the Lieutenant and three others were there.  The merchant seamen had already laid out Tom on one of the tables.  He was lying on a piece of canvas the size of a sheet for a bed.  They had undressed him.  The Navy took care of its own and it was the responsibility of the Navy crew to attend to Tom and prepare him for burial.  As the acting pharmacist mate he was his duty to attend.  They brought out buckets with water and rags.  They began to clean his body.  He shivered as he touched Tom.  No one talked much.  The words were limited to “here”, “lift his arm” and only the necessary ones to get the job done.  He guessed they were like him and didn’t really know what to say.  They put on a clean uniform pants and just laid his blouse over his chest.  It was too disfigured to put it on.  When they were about done one of the men took his comb and starting parting Tom’s hair and pulling it back from his face.  He cried then.  He didn’t know why that gesture bothered him any more than everything they had already been doing.  When they finished dressing him as best the could they took the canvas and pulled it over him and sewed it together from the bottom up.  At the last moment before they closed it they added a length of anchor chain inside. 

The Lieutenant announced they would bury him within the hour before dark.   They brought in a stretcher and lifted him onto it.  Everyone left then to go dress.  They all went back to their lockers and got their dress blues out.  He had never worn them onboard any of  the ships.  They were strictly for leave onshore and formal occasions.  Later they were assembled on the quarter-deck.  The entire Naval detachment and a few of merchant seamen not on duty.  The Lieutenant read the sailor’s prayer and they committed him to the deep by lifting the plywood support under Tom’s body.  It seemed so final.  It was final.  The time for sorrow and worry was brief.  You could feel those pains but you had to carry them with you to your next duty.  The enemy sub in the area flag was still  flying and the port of call was still days away.   www.olcranky.wordpress.com

 

A New Low For High Crimes

The current administration announced with great fanfare that it will try Shiek Mohammed and his cohorts on criminal charges in Manhattan.  This is for his part in plotting the 9/11 attacks that killed 3,000 Americans in a matter of a couple of hours.  It was a military type operation and designed to inflict the maximum civilian casualty rate and cause the most harm to our economy.  It was carried out with cold bloodied and maniacal precision.    By any historical or common sense definition it was an act of war against the US.   This is not the first war our nation has fought.  It is the first time however that we have chosen to treat our enemies like common street criminals with the rights and protections afforded by our Constitution. 

I suppose we shouldn’t be too surprised once the current gang in the white house decided we were no longer fighting a “war” but engaged in some type of vigorous diplomatic strategy to win the hearts and minds of the Muslim world.  It is reminiscent of the “police action” that Truman used to refer to our battles in Korea.   You can give a duck another name, call it something different but if it quacks, flies, and has feathers it is still a duck.  We are at war.  We have an enemy.  That enemy tries to hide within populations and remote regions but their like of overt presence does not make them any less an enemy.

You don’t give an enemy during a war a trial.  You kill or capture them.  If you win the war you decide later what you will do with the prisoners.  Just as after WWII we had a decision to make regarding the hundreds of thousands of German prisoners in the US.  We decided eventually to let them return home.  Some of them did commit crimes while they were captives and they were tried by military courts.  They weren’t take to the local state or federal court for trial like an American who had committed murder or rape or arson.   They were not entitled to a trial in our courts.  If we had been fortunate enough to capture the Jap officers responsible for the Bataan Death March in 1943 would we have brought them to Los Angeles for a trial?   The question itself reveals the answer. 

The first and most obvious problem with a trial is picking a jury.  As you know only those who have no preconceived ideas or notions about an alleged crime can be on the jury panel in a criminal trial.    In New York City I would think that would be very hard to do.  How could a New Yorker not have str0ng feelings about 9/11?   Who wouldn’t already have made up their mind about the guilt of those responsible.  Yes, I know they are qualified even if they have strong feelings as long as they can examine the evidence fairly and without prior convictions of opinion but that would be next to impossible.  If you can find 12 people plus Lord knows how many alternates jurors who have really no idea about the “crime” or established feelings about how it occurred and who is responsible then can you imagine what can of people they would be?  They would be zombies who have taken the concept of “hermit” to the outer limits of society. 
They truly would be the weirdest people you can conjure up in your mind.  For 3000 good reasons every American should have strong feelings about 9/11.   We had pretty strong feelings about Stalin, Hitler and all their cronies during our wars both hot and cold with them.   These people are beyond or laws and protections.  That is why we hunt them down and fight with them.  We don’t send the FBI to Afghanistan or Iraq to capture Al-Queada suspects for good reasons. 

To argue that a trial in our courts somehow enhances respect for American values is entirely beside the point and of no relevance during a war.  This trial will last for months at a minimum, it will cost millions to prosecute and will endanger our citizens during its course.  When we fought WWII, we did so without trials for our enemies and that was a war to protect and project our values in the world.  Those boys on D-Day fought for American values.  This decision is for domestic and international politics pure and simple.  I pray that saner and more American heads will prevail at some point and call off this sideshow.   Our values are secure as long as we honor our Constitution for our citizens.  That is what all our military personnel pledge to defend, our Constitution and to fight against our enemies foreign and domestic.  They didn’t sign up to be police officers. 

Where is General Patton when we need him?  Can you just imagine old “blood and guts” taking a German captive and then shipping him to Washington for a trial for shooting American soldiers?   www.olcranky.wordpress.com

Supply Side Economics From Centuries Ago

With all the bailouts and Stimulus money floating around and the unimaginable amounts of money printed by the Fed being injected into our economy there is renewed debate about the best way to turn our economy around.  Many, especially those in the current administration, tout the idea that we need to keep pouring on the money machine or things would be worse and that only Government, Inc. can lift the economy from its depths.  Of course that is a political view as much as anything sense there are those who love big government and view it as benevolent and further they like the idea of folks being dependent upon government and placing all their faith in government.  Paul Krugman is an advocate of such an approach.   They are completely dedicated to the Keynesian model and method.   That goes well beyond merely deficit spending for a short period.  The government as the engine of growth and prosperity is their long-term goal.   Consolidating command and control of the economy into D. C. is their vision of Nirvana.

Those of this view are already talking about even more stimulus and more government programs to revive the economy.  They have floated the idea of bringing back a WPA type program.   So far all the stimulus money has done the way I see it is to prop up banks and financial institutions that should have been allowed to fail and go out of existence, create even more government jobs, facilitate the takeover of the bulk of the auto industry and make the granting and marketing of mortgages a Federal government program and all the people with mortgages the wards of the State.   Remember that more than 90% of all mortgage loans these days are made directly by the government (FHA, VA, etc) or held by the government (FHLB, Fannie and Freddie).   That can’t be a good thing.   The only growth industry these days is government.  D. C. continues to grow, literally in population and the amount of our national resources that it consumes and the stimulus money has been utilized thus far to primarily attempt to bolster payrolls of other government employees at the State level.   Now the push is on to completely control and regulate the health system, not merely insurance but the delivery of medical services.

Others prefer a so-called supply side approach to fix the current problems and as the best long- term program for expansion of our economy and the continued improvement in the standard of living for the people.  That approach basically calls for less taxation, less regulation and a tax code that offers real monetary incentives for investment into new business ventures large and small.  That was the approach that Reagan brought with him to the White House in 1980.  We had to suffer the pain a bit by squeezing out the inflation and stagflation that had gripped the country for the preceeding decade.    That same philosophy with a few ups and downs was followed by Clinton.  He mostly followed it because the Congress had enough Republicans that they wouldn’t allow tax or budget changes that would gut that supply side approach.  In fairness I believe he also thought it was a pretty good way to foster growth in the economy.  We had remarkable growth and upward mobility throughout the ’80’s and the ’90’s.  It was Clinton’s administration that repealed the Glass-Steagal Act to allow the commercial banks and investment banks to merge into one being and perform the complete gamut of financial services to the populace.  Another day we can discuss the cause of the current problems.  The biggest issue was 9/11 which is mostly forgotten by folks now.  The economist seem to particularly overlook it.  We were shut down and had to respond some way just as we did after Pearl Harbor.  Government mandates about how money could be loaned and who it was loaned to also poured poison into the economic system because so many of those mortgage transactions were not made on sound financial reasoning but to fulfill government edicts.  We reaped what Government, Inc. sowed.

Trying supply side economics is not something really all that new although to listen to some you w0uld think it had never been tried until 1980.  They may know a lot about economics but they sure haven’t studied their history. 

In the mid 5th century the Roman Empire was beginning to crumble. It had already been assailed by Attila and other barbarians and was now permenantly divided into the Eastern and Western Empires.  Things were rather bleak to say the least.  Roman power was diminished but it still had some swagger and the idea of a Roman Empire continued to command respect even if no longer deserved as before.   It was a weakened giant.   In this period one more citizen stepped forward to assume the mantel of the purple and rule as emperor over the Western empire, his name was Majorian.  He probably was the last of strong and decent emperors.  He wrote the Conscript Fathers of the Senate with his pledge to restore Rome.  They were called conscript fathers because it had been viewed for centuries in the Roman world that the nobles had a duty to fulfill toward the Empire.  They were “conscripted” to fill that duty as Senators to give back for the largesse they received as Roman citizens from the Empire.  In those days many of the subject peoples still under the rule of Rome were required to not only pay taxes for mostly local use but also had to pay an annual tribute to Rome for the use of the central government.  Upon taking power he required tax collectors to deal honestly and rooted out corruption and he also forgave the annual tribute payments to Rome from the provinces of Gaul.  The past due tribute was forgiven and the future ones put on hold.  Lo and behold,  the revenues to Rome actually increased.  The people had felt repressed and in despair over the burden imposed by these tribute payments; now they had hope for the future and felt their labors would be rewarded.  The economy thrived for those brief years under Majorian.  Alas, the decay and decadence of past regimes had eroded the foundations of Empire too far and the structure continued its decline.  There really isn’t anything new under the Sun.

“Dictators always look good until the last minutes”  T.  Masaryk   www.olcranky.wordpress.com

Value A Vet

This holiday to honor our veterans of past and present wars often passes with little notice.  It should not be so.  Many don’t even recall the original holiday and its background.  It was Armistice Day.  It was a day to celebrate the end of the Great War.  That was the moniker for WWI before there was a WWII.  That mighty and titanic struggle to beat back the Germanic thrust into France and the Low Countries.  There was a  certain numeric alliteration to the  date.  The documents were signed for the truce the day before but it would take time to communicate the order to stand down to all the men under arms on both sides so the time was picked as the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.  It was at that time that the guns fell silent on the Western Front and then throughout all areas of conflict.

The US entered the War late.  Our first troops didn’t really arrive until the spring of 1918.  There was a contingent of Marines in our forces that had been accepted reluctantly by Pershing.  The Army wanted no Marines, they wanted this to be an all Army show.   Later everyone would be glad that the Marines were there to fight in the Argonne Forest and other locales.  Our forces didn’t become fully engaged in the battles until that summer.   Until then we spent most of our time training under the supervision of the British and French armies.  They had three years of experience on us and we needed the help.  We also resented it.  We had rushed so quickly to prepare and ship our troops overseas with all the necessary logistical support that we didn’t have the time to manufacture cannon.   During WWI our army and Marines used 75’s that built by  the French. 

During the summer and early fall of 1918 the use of gas was still prevalent in the battles by both sides.  I personally knew a fellow who was a friend of our family that suffered from a gas attack during that summer.  It burned out his lungs to a great extent and he had bad health the rest of his life.  It was a close run thing.   The Russian had dropped completely out of the battle in the fall of 1917 due to the Communist Revolution and the Germans were able to transfer all those troops to the Western Front and with them they launched their last great offensive of the War in the spring of 1918.  The Germans had pretty good initial success but the British and French held with some support from us but it was not great in terms of the number of men involved.  The Germans were running out of everything by this point in the War including the enthusiasm and spirit to continue the fight.   Just as the Battle of the Bulge was the last great effort of the Germans in WWII so was this offensive and the Allies counter attacked with vigor and with the extra forces brought to bear by the AEF, the American Expeditionary Force.    From late spring of 1918 the Germans were on the retreat almost everywhere.  Other than local counter attacks they were retreating broadly.  Of course it was still in small increments. 

The battles were horrific to the end.  Our famous Sgt. York, who won the Medal of Honor got that award for action only days before the Armistice was signed.  Almost all our casualties came in those last few months of the War.  We were still planning a major assault on the German positions literally right up to the time of the Armistice.  That truce saved thousands of lives both Allied and German because that advance never happened. 

That was a grimy and seemingly endless war of attrition, dirt and injuries beyond most description.   Most of the casualties in that War came from cannon fire.  Regrettably it did turn out to be only a truce.  Yes, there was the Treaty of Versailles signed the following spring but all it did was lay the groundwork for and assure the inevitable coming of WWII. 

Those were only some of our veterans from our ages past.  That war was not glamorous and it is difficult with hindsight to discern the necessity of that war.  But they were our boys and they fought for our benefit.  Whatever the morality or politics of that war and its aftermath, a loss would have been far worse for our nation than the victory. 

All those who have served have come home victors and they deserve our praise and admiration and thanks.  Seek out a Vet today and simply tell him “Thanks” .  Most of us have never walked in those boots but we should be grateful that others trod in them for us.

“If all that Americans want is security they can go to prison.  They’ll have enough to east, a bed, and a roof over their heads.  But if an American want to preserve his dignity and his equality as a human being he must not bow his neck to any dictatorial government.”  Dwight Eisenhower.   www.olcranky.wordpress.com and see more at www.americanchronicle.com

 

 

 

 

2 Cents Worth on Life Its Ownself

When Clinton pushed for and got Congressional approval for the repeal of Glass-Steagal it allowed the distinction between commercial banks and investment banks to disappear.  Many hailed that as a great achievement.  The White House then took the position that the distinction was old hat and a product of an earlier era that no longer applied to the looming 21st century needs of the financial world or the economy of the US domestically and globally.   Those commercial banks were not allowed to make investments but performed the traditional bank function of taking deposits and loaning to individuals and companies.  The investment banks were not allowed to take deposits and advanced money for capital or for secured loans to businesses.  Yes, it was an old fashioned approach.  There was really nothing wrong with the idea of allowing the banks to take on all aspects of banking.  The problem was that Government, Inc. then pushed even harder with its regulations and the CORE type legislation and compounded the problems by allowing the Too Big To Fail doctrine to take root.  I have no problem with banks filling both roles but I do have a problem with them being bailed out if they make bad decisions. 

Less than generation ago the investment banks were all partnerships.   The partners had their own money at risk in virtually all their new deals they promoted.  Yes, they used others peoples money but they had some real skin in the game themselves.  You had to actually buy with real dollars your partnership position in those firms.  Needless to say they were more cautious when they had their own money at risk.  Contrary to the majority of the hedge funds today.  Now those banks do deals all the time by investing other people’s money and taking a commission in cash or cash and a piece of the deal for their services.  In addition they collect management and administration fees for their alleged work.  I like the old way better. 

The staffs in Washington are too darn big!   No Senator or Congressman needs more than two secretaries and three staff members.  Remember that each and every committee in the Congress also has a staff and some of them have dozens of people on the federal payroll.  That is ridiculous.  They all feel like they have to justify their position and are constantly planning their next piece of legislation.  Wouldn’t it be nice if someone running for Congress ran on a platform of repealing useless or even harmful laws.  How about eliminating the pointless agencies of government like the Depts. of Education and Labor.  Those are just starters.  We have labor laws, why the agency?  Education under the Tenth Amendment is strictly a State matter.  We could save billions and the States would have those funds to use as they see fit and tax their residents as they think best fits their local needs. 

When will the people make the government come up with the costs each year for the education and medical treatment of illegal aliens?  Not those estimates of the alleged benefits we get from their taxes they pay.  I mean what taxes?  If they are illegal they don’t have a social security number to pay taxes or if they do it is phony or even worse stolen.  I am proud of our nation and have no problem with any citizen receiving the benefits under any of our laws including those entitlements.  But I don’[t feel any obligation to pay one cent for an illegal that doesn’t even respect our laws.   Maybe 10 plus unemployment will change some more minds about the money drain they are on our economy.

Storms have influenced so many of the great events in our history.  When the Redcoats attacked Washington in the War of 1812 the greatest danger they faced and what really ran them back to Cheasepeake Bay was a huge line of thunderstorms they blew in after they burned the Capitol.   D-Day was postponed and almost ruined because of the weather.  The Spanish Armada was given a severe blow by the British in 1588 but they still had a formidable fleet after the initial encounter off the southern coast of England.  What brought them to total ruin was a great storm that drove their ships ashore on the coast of France and the Netherlands.  After that the threat was over for England.  The Spanish lost more ships in the storm than in the encounter with Drake.  Of course if helped that the English had longer range cannon than the Spanish.

Will Government, Inc. put up some new restrictions on the ownership of gold in the near future?  Don’t laugh, it has happened before in 1933 and again in 1971.  The dollar weakens and more people are turning to gold for safety.   The Indians just bought 200 metric tons of gold.  That is a huge amount.  They clearly thought carefully about that transaction.  Our mounting debt and the ever burgeoning debt is a legitimate concern for the value of the dollar in a few years.  At some point Government, Inc. will have to pay attention to the problem because others around the world are.  Using inflation to reduce our debt will only further weaken the value of the dollar and confidence in the dollar.  It won’t happen next week or even next year, but watch for it.  Invest wisely.

We all have First Amendment rights to speak our minds and express very strong opinions.  I have no problem with that.  You can’ advocate a Nazis view or even a Commie one.  But we don’t have a right to serve in the military.   Someone please explain how a guy like Hasan was allowed to remain in the military when he clearly was a Muslim extremist? 

Your home and the office building where you work in all likelihood has a lighting rod.  Such a simple device yet so valuable.  It has saved countless lives over the years.  You owe it all to Ben Franklin.  He didn’t even collect royalties.    www.olcranky.wordpress.com