This Day in History, March 16 — My Lai Massacre, 1968

The road out of My Lai littered with bodies.

On March 16, 1968, 55 years ago today, approximately 350-500 unarmed civilian men, women, children, and infants were slaughtered by U.S. Army soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, and Company B, 4th Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division (aka the “Americal Division”), in what quickly became known as the “My Lai Massacre.”

Initially reported by the US Army as a “day-long battle” against Communists, many women, and children as young as 12, were brutally gang-raped before being murdered, and their corpses mutilated. The massacre occurred in two hamlets of the Son My village in Quảng Ngãi Province, marked on U.S. Army maps as Mỹ Lai and Mỹ Khê in South Vietnam.

A woman and her child lie dead on the ground.

The crime scene and event was later called “the most shocking episode of the Vietnam War.”

A total of 26 American soldiers were charged with various criminal offenses, but only Lieutenant William Calley, Jr., a  platoon leader in C Company, was convicted of any crimes.

In a general court martial, he was found guilty of murdering 22 villagers, and sentenced to life in prison with hard labor at Fort Leavenworth, KS, the DOD’s maximum security prison, but 3 days after his conviction, POTUS Richard M. Nixon ordered him released, and commuted the sentence to 3.5 years of house arrest at Fort Benning, GA.

Though Army officials were aware of it, they had initially covered up the massacre, and had it not been for

CDA Section 230 violates Equal Protection Clause & threatens National Security

There’s been a significant amount of handwringing over remarks made by so-called “free speech” advocates who assert that anyone can say anything online “because it’s ‘free’ speech,” and ostensibly protected by the First Amendment.

I demur.

Facebook, Instagram (owned by FB), and Twitter, which are the “Big Three” online Social Media (SoMe) corporate megaliths (that is, if Twitter survives Elon Musk, if not, then TikTok may take Twitter’s place), have increasingly come under fire in the past several years — justifiably so — for turning a blind eye to bad behavior, “speech” in particular (as writing and/or video, both mediums posted on the services), thereby, in essence, becoming purveyors of lies, complicit by their inactions, in aiding and abetting actions of bad actors, consequently harming our nation — a significant portion of which continues originating in nations hostile to American national interests.

Writing in the Global Security Review, June 10, 2019, in an article entitled “Facebook, Compromised: How Russia Manipulated U.S. Voters” — the second of a four-part series — Sophia Porotsky detailed how Russia, as a malign foreign actor, sought, and continues seeking, the downfall of the United States.

“Russian Information Warfare content on social media attempts to subvert Western democracies in five ways:

1.) Undermine public confidence in democratic government;
2.) Exacerbate internal political divisions;
3.) Erode trust in government;
4.) Push the Russian agenda in foreign populations, and;
5.) Create confusion and distrust by blurring fact and fiction.

Russian propaganda on social media can be divided into four themes:

1.) Political messages intended to foster distrust in government (e.g. allegations of voter fraud, corruption);
2.) Financial propaganda (i.e. create distrust in Western financial institutions);
3.) Social issues (e.g. ethnic tensions, police brutality), and;
4.) Doomsday-style conspiracy theories.

“Information warfare content is generated and disseminated through channels that fall into three attribution categories:

1.) White (overt);
2.) Grey (less-overt), and;
3.) Black (covert) channels.

They propagate a blend of authentic, manipulated, and fake stories and they feed off of and reinforce each other.”

Among the numerous sources cited was “Russia’s Approach to Cyber Warfare,” a paper written by Michael Connell and Sarah Vogler published March 2017 by the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) — an 80-year, independent, nonprofit research and analysis organization dedicated to the safety and security of the nation that informs the decisions of Navy, Marine Corps and DOD leaders as the Department of the Navy’s federally funded research and development center — which stated that,

“Russia views cyber very differently than its western counterparts, from the way Russian theorists define cyberwarfare to how the Kremlin employs its cyber capabilities.” Part of that difference is that the Russians “conceptualize cyber operations within the broader framework of information warfare, a holistic concept that includes computer network operations, electronic warfare, psychological operations, and information operations.”

And as part of their overall operations in that realm, not only does Russia “employ cyber as a conventional force enabler,” they integrate cybercriminals, hacktivists, and other nefariously malign non-state actors into their overall operations scheme, a practice also undertaken by “China, Iran, North Korea, and other cyber adversaries.”

That information is further borne out by the writings of Professor Dr. Mark Galeotti, PhD, who in June 2022 was recently banned from travel to Russia, wrote an OpEd in the independent news journal The Moscow Times, published December 22, 2017, that, “It is hard to sustain a serious claim that NATO tanks are about to surge eastwards – though some of the Kremlin’s more fanciful propagandists do try – but the virtues of the “secret battlefield” of intelligence work is that it is precisely covert.”

Dr. Galeotti is an internationally-recognized expert in security politics, intelligence services and criminality of modern Russia, is a Senior Non-Resident Fellow of the Institute of International Relations Prague, an Associate Fellow at the Council on Geostrategy, Honorary Professor at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, Honorary Professor at University College London, and Executive Director and principal in Mayak Intelligence, a London-based consultancy specializing in, and primarily focusing upon understanding organized and transnational crime, war, politics and history in Russia. Dr. Galieotti is also a contributing member of the Network of Experts of the independent civil-society organization Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

The root cause of such problems, wrote David J. Smith in “How Russia Harnesses Cyber Warfare,” published in Defense Dossier, American Foreign Policy Council (August 2012: Issue 4), 9,” is inherently based in, and the natural outcome of,

A Sad American First: Two Years After Trump Negotiated with Terrorist Taliban

Once, a long time ago… (Isn’t that how fairy tales start out?)

Two years is almost like forever when it comes to matters politick. But it should be noted, that the overall conditions for diplomatic talks with international terrorists is a definite first in American history. Just as much as having a POTUS work against you by every boastfully callous public remark he makes. Never before has the Department of State and the Office of the President been at odds with one another.

That is, until that maladministration of Mr. I-know-more-than-the-generals-do.

And, it’s mostly true that each new administration has some degree of “learning curve” to move beyond the lingering effects of the prior administration.

And in this case, it was two years.

No one drives forward while gazing in the rear-view mirror.

That’s NOT what rear-view mirrors are for.

Rear-view mirrors enable drivers to briefly scan behind them to see if there’s anything of which they need to be aware. Is a rapidly-approaching vehicle in your lane of travel, or not? Is an emergency services vehicle needing right-of-way? In short, rear view mirrors enable drivers to be alert for changes they may need to make in response to activity behind them.

And in a very similar manner, that’s the purpose of a retrospective — to determine what was good, and what could have been better.

It’s been two years since the Biden administration began. There’ve been some hiccups, some failures, and now, there are signs of success. But it’s taken two years just to get out of the mess the previous administration made and left for the next.

So, how accurate is that remark?

Let’s look in the rear-view mirror!

In an article published November 18, 2020 in The Diplomat, freelance journalist Sohrab Azad, who covers Afghanistan, is based in Erbil, Iraq, and founder of Advocates for a Prosperous Afghanistan, an advocacy group in Washington, DC, wrote in part, that,

Meet APC9 – The United States Army’s New Submachine Gun

From time to time, military armament is “updated,” which is to say, the DOD requests new stuff to be made, and/or invented for their use. Sometimes, new armament is justified, but not always. This is not one such case.

The M-16, which was originally monikered as the AR-15, has been in use by the United States Armed Forces since the Vietnam era, and when it was “field-tested” in the heat of battle in the jungles of Vietnam, it failed miserably. It was necessary to be kept meticulously and spotlessly clean, because any debris could cause it to fail catastrophically, most often and unfortunately in the heat of battle. In stark contrast, the rugged Russian AK-47 was a weapon that was not only inexpensive to construct, but would operate even after being dropped in the mud and rice paddies of Vietnam and Cambodia. No soldier could honestly say that the American AR-15 was a weapon which they felt secure with, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was that it continuously jammed – which is why the firearm has a device called a “forward assist” which

AR-15 forward assist device

“is used to push the rifle’s bolt carrier groups closed. To actuate it, you press the button on the forward assist assembly. This moves the bolt forward and chambers a round. The intended effect is usually to force a round into the chamber if it hangs up for any reason, sort of like the old trick of hitting the slide of a semi-auto pistol with the heel of your hand in the case of a failure to feed.

“The AR-15 forward assist was added to the rifle at the behest of the Army as Eugene Stoner (and the Air Force) actually didn’t believe it was necessary on his original design that became the M16 rifle. Colt created the forward assist assembly, including a pawl (the thing you press) a plunger (which engages with the receiver to send it forward) a spring and a roll pin. To actuate it, you press the pawl, pushing the plunger forward. That engages with teeth on the bolt, pushing it forward.”

Changing battle conditions require changing armaments to meet the need. But here’s an irony: The AK-47 is the world’s most enduring, most rugged, most feared, most deadly, and most popular assault rifle. And, having been designed in 1947, it has been around 10 years longer.

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The American subsidiary of Swiss gunmaker B&T has won a multi-million-dollar contract to supply the U.S. Army with a variant of its 9mm APC9 submachine gun. For almost a year, the service has been evaluating a number of proposed weapons as part of an effort to give personal security details added firepower.

The Army quietly announced that it had awarded

The Pornographer and The Preacher

Jerry Falwell, Jr. in the Bahamas July 2019, Instagram post

If “the farmer and the cowman should be friends,” then the pornographer and the preacher should be too.

Turns out, they did become friends.

By now, if you’ve not heard the name Jerry Falwell, some might wonder what cave in Tora Bora you’ve been hiding in for the last 40 years, or so.

And, if you enjoy any late-night teevee humorists – such as Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Jimmy Fallon, Trevor Noah, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Samantha Bee, Bill Maher, etc., Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, David Letterman, and Conan O’Brien are ancient history – you should continue reading.

And if you don’t, you should STILL continue reading.

Why?

Freedom.

Because you do like it that way, don’t you?

Publisher Larry Flynt with the parody ad mocking Rev. Jerry Falwell, Sr., which initiated Falwell’s lawsuit against the magazine Hustler, and Flynt, its publisher. The case wound its way to the Supreme Court, and enjoyed a rare unanimous decision in Flynt’s favor.

First, some background:

There are now three men who’ve been named Jerry Falwell:
1.) The Reverend Jerry Falwell, Sr. (1933-2007)

2.) Jerry Falwell, Jr., (b.1962) an attorney/real estate developer who is the first born, and son of Jerry Falwell

3.) Jerry “Trey” Falwell, III (b.), the first born and son of Jerry Falwell, Jr.

It’s all your fault.

The Reverend started it all.

He started Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia.

He started the now-long-defunct religious political action group called the “Moral Majority.”

And, he started Liberty University.

He handed the keys of Liberty University to Jerry, Jr., while he handed the keys of the Thomas Road Baptist Church to son Jonathan.

The parody/satire ad in Hustler magazine that started it all. The parody is clearly marked as such at the center bottom, and is listed in the contents section as parody/satire, and states “not to be taken seriously.”

Good ol’ country boys

Like Falwell, Larry Flynt was good Southern boy, having been born in the hills and hollers of Eastern Kentucky in Lakeville, Magoffin County, while Falwell was born in Lynchburg, Virginia – about 216 miles from each other as the crow flies… or a 6+/- hours drive not-so directly East-West from each other. There’s hills and hollers throughout the area, you know. They happen to be called the Appalachians, for short. It’s hard to have a straight road in those mountainous areas.

Like Father, Not Like Son

Part of the greater underlying irony of the matter involving the Rev. Falwell, Sr., is that

Once upon a time in Atlanta…

For breakfast, I ate a Russet potato which was steamed in the pressure cooker for about 10 minutes. It was kept out of the water by placing it in a basket placed atop a trivet inside the stove-top cooker.

Most often, in any pressure cooker, the food being cooked rests in the water. However, I wanted to find out what the food would be like if it did not.

The potato had been thoroughly cleansed and rinsed in the usual manner some weeks earlier, which for me, includes a capful of common, unscented, household bleach in addition to Dawn® brand liquid dishwashing soap.

My general rule is, all fresh fruit and vegetables get that treatment because:

1.) You don’t know how many people handled it at the store having not washing their hands after toileting, and;

2.) You don’t know about the conditions in which it was grown, if e.coli or other really bad cooties might have been present, or if it “picked up” something in transit.

While recalls of vegetables tainted with e.coli or other pathological bacteria are neither rare, nor common, per se, they are ONLY on the outside of the food, never within. So, every vegetable – including green leafy ones – tubers, and fruits of all kinds – are all

“Dad… Don’t worry, I will be fine for telling the truth.”

“Dad, my sitting here today, in the US Capitol talking to our elected officials is proof that you made the right decision forty years ago to leave the Soviet Union and come here to the United States of America in search of a better life for our family. Do not worry, I will be fine for telling the truth.”

Alexander S. Vindman, LEFT, (who was born 9 minutes before his brother) with his twin brother, Yevgeny, at the Pentagon in 2016. They are both Lieutenant Colonels in the Army. Yevgeny, who goes by Eugene, also serves on POTUS Trump’s National Security Council, as an attorney handling ethics issues. (Credit Carol Kitman)

— Lt. Col Alexander Vindman (US Army), concluding opening comment 19 November 2019 in the impeachment investigation. LTC Vindman and his family emigrated to the United States from Ukraine, then part of Russia, when his father was aged 47, and he was then-aged 3-and-a-half in 1979. LTC Vindman has shed blood for our nation, having been awarded the Purple Heart for injuries sustained in an October 2004 Iraqi roadside attack. He previously served on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff from September 2015 to July 2018, and is currently assigned to the National Security Council as a foreign area officer specializing in Eurasian political-military operations, specifically including Ukraine. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Binghamton University, and his Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard.

The Army records LTC Vindman’s awards, which include:
Purple Heart, Defense Meritorious Service Medal (2^nd award),

Remember American Nurses: 100 years ago WW I’s first casualties – Edith Ayers & Helen Woods

Mrs. Edith Ayres, Illinois Training School Nurse of the Class of 1913. Mrs. Ayres was the first American female casualty of WWI, and was buried with military honors at her home in Attica, Ohio.

Among the first casualties of World War I were two Army Nurses – US Army Nurse Corps Edith Ayers, of Attica, OH, and USANC Helen Burnett Woods, of Evanston, IL who were attached to Base Hospital 12 aboard the USS Mongolia – a passenger vessel which was converted into an armored troop carrier and hospital for the Army March 1917 – en route to France, and died 20 May 1917. Also wounded was Miss Emma Matzen, of the Illinois Training School, Class of 1913.

Miss Helen Burnett Wood was a Nurse graduate of the Evanston Hospital Training School, and was one of the was the first two casualties of WW I.

At that time, military Nurses held no rank.

Woods was attached to the U.S. Army Base Hospital, No. 12, also known as the Northwestern University Base Hospital, because a majority of its personnel came out of the university. In May 1917, she received her official orders to join the Base Hospital staff on its way to New York where the staff would embark for Europe.

The two women were on the Mongolia’s deck observing various weapons firing and were struck by fragments of the 6-inch gun’s propellant caps which had ricocheted off a stanchion.

Their deaths were so shocking to the nation, especially to their respective communities, that following their accidental, and untimely deaths, a Senate hearing – “Casualties Aboard Steamship “Monogolia”” before the Committee on Naval Affairs – was conducted. {Local file, PDF: Casualties Aboard Steamship Mongolia Hearings}

Mrs. Edith Ayres was a graduate of

Prolific Hybridized Drought & Roundup Resistant Marijuana Grows Year ‘Round, Produces 20x More

From the archives…

Imagine a marijuana that will grow in summer and winter, and is resistant to Roundup©!

Already, there’s another weed in the southeast USA that’s growing in drought conditions, up to ten feet tall, which chokes out cotton and damages the mechanical harvesters if they’re run through the field in an attempt to harvest the cotton without removing the noxious weed.

Recently, in the Mexican state of Michoacan, a hybrid marijuana plant was found that will survive herbicide applications and cutting efforts, and is so prolific that it produces 20x or more than the average marijuana plant. In fact, unless it is pulled up by the root, it will continue to grow!

Remember… where there is demand, there WILL be a supply!

Mexico Troops Find Hybrid Marijuana Plant

By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press Writer
Wed Dec 20, 2006 5:35 AM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061220/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/mexico_drugs&printer=1

See also: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121901120.html

Soldiers trying to seize control of one Mexico’s top drug-producing regions found the countryside teeming with a new hybrid marijuana plant that can be cultivated year-round and cannot be killed with pesticides.

Soldiers fanned out across some of the new fields Tuesday, pulling up plants by the root and burning them, as helicopter gunships clattered overhead to give them cover from a raging drug war in the western state of Michoacan. The plants’ roots survive if they are doused with herbicide, said army Gen. Manuel Garcia.

“These plants have been genetically improved,” he told a handful of journalists allowed to accompany soldiers on a daylong raid of some 70 marijuana fields. “Before we could cut the plant and destroy it, but this plant will come back to life unless it’s taken out by the roots.”

The new plants, known as

Terrorism In The South

Reunion of Quantrill’s Raiders, circa 1924, Oak Grove, Missouri. The first official reunion occurred in 1898, more than 30 years after Quantrill’s death and the end of the Civil War. The circled figure is Jesse James. Image from the Jackson County Historical Society and the Truman Library.

The 1901 reunion of Quantrill’s Raiders in Blue Springs, MO. Note the tag in the upper LEFT corner of the image. Sim Whitsett was at this reunion and is probably in this picture. Also in the picture is Frank James (center front, named). The first picture of the Quantrill veterans (Sim Whitsett was in attendance) was taken at the 1900 reunion. The picture is of a parade of the attendees on horseback. The 1901 is the first group photo in which the faces of individuals can be (barely) distinguished.

In response to a post expressing justifiable criticism of terrorism at home and abroad, it occurred to me that terrorism itself is nothing new… not even in the United States. So, I thought to share a brief overview of it, which appears as follows.

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You forgot all about the War Between the States.

The Southern rebellion, of course, was often comprised of loosely associated rag-tag bands of incompetents and criminals, which thrived and often deserted formal association with the Confederate Army, and ransacked their way throughout the countryside.

John Singleton Mosby, image from his memoir. His note reads: “This picture is a copy of the one taken in Richmond in January 1863: The uniform is the one I wore on March 8th 1863 on the night of General Staughton’s capture. John S Mosby”

The rebels were known for such terroristic activities as

What are taxes for? Who should pay them? Should you pay more, or less?

Kroger Tools for Schools Drive sign

It infuriates me to see signs & posters like these, because THAT is what taxes are for!

And, if there aren’t enough taxes collected from the wealthy (and obviously, there aren’t), then we see “drives” and other collection points like this.

Just this evening, in conversation with my neighbor, she shared with me about how her co-worker – a young, single mother – recently confided in her, and said that she didn’t earn enough money to make ends meet – to pay the rent, keep the lights turned on, and feed her family and that she regularly has to go to a local food pantry (which itself often runs out of food because the need is so great) to augment her meager ability to purchase food – and that she, herself, didn’t have supper because she chose to feed her children, instead.

My neighbor remarked,

All You Need Is Love

I recollect, a few years ago, having gone with a dear friend to the apartment where her former husband lived.

He had died alone.

D’Angelo (not his real name) was a retired Army NCO, whom had volunteered for service. He was genuinely a “squared away” soldier, and rose to the rank of First Sergeant (E-8), which rank is politely nicknamed “Top,” because, aside from Sergeant Major which is also an E-8 position, it is the highest rank and position a NCO can obtain.

His generosity was well-known, and his humility, honesty and genuine love for his fellow man was evident throughout his life. And though he was a good man with many admirable character qualities, a congenial fellow, well liked – even loved – by many, it seemed he never could win the battle over the bottle.

What little I knew of him from others’ reports and my own limited interaction with him, he was an honorable family man. And yet,

On the Bleeding Edge of the Front Line

Uncle Dean never spoke to his blood relatives about his WWII service – even though they inquired – which was for them, perplexing, and they eventually stopped asking. However, he voluntarily spoke at length about it with me.

Perhaps it was because we shared a common bond of military service, I don’t know. They never understood why he didn’t talk about his experience. His Purple Hearts, Bronze and Silver Stars, and other medals of valor that

To What Extent is the American Economy Propped Up by Arms Sales?

What should one expect when the whole damn defense industry has been whored out to arm the krazees of the world?

In a very prophetic manner, in his Farewell Address to the nation, January 17, 1961, then-President Dwight David Eisenhower warned about the “military industrial complex,” saying:

“We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United State corporations.

“This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence-economic, political, even spiritual-is felt in every city, every state house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

“We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”

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US sells $11 BILLION worth of arms to Qatar

Published time: July 15, 2014 09:46
Edited time: July 16, 2014 12:55

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel (L) and Qatar’s Minister of State for Defense Affairs Hamad bin Ali al-Atiyah (C) arrive for a weapons sales signing ceremony at the Pentagon on July 14, 2014 in Washington, DC. (AFP Photo / Mandel Ngan)

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel (L) and Qatar’s Minister of State for Defense Affairs Hamad bin Ali al-Atiyah (C) arrive for a weapons sales signing ceremony at the Pentagon on July 14, 2014 in Washington, DC. (AFP Photo / Mandel Ngan)

Washington and Doha have signed the largest arms deal of the year, preparing to enhance Qatar’s military capabilities with $11 billion-worth of Apache assault helicopters, PAC-2 missile defense complexes and Javelin man-portable anti-tank missiles.

The deal has been signed on Monday in Pentagon by US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Qatari Defense Minister Hamad bin Ali al-Attiyah. Altogether Qatar is buying 10 batteries of Patriot missile defense systems and 500 Javelin anti-tank missiles manufactured by US defense industry giants Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, and 24 Apache helicopters made by Boeing, an anonymous US official told the AFP.

Cullman Alabama Used Car Dealer Pleads Guilty: Cheated Active Duty National Guardsman, Violated Servicemembers Civil Relief Act

Reverend Carl Ralph Nuss, Cullman, Alabama, has plead GUILTY to violating Federal Law – Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

This is how he treats our troops?

I have nothing good to say about this, save that he plead guilty.

I hope the judge gives this criminal the maximum sentence.

And you know what else is REALLY sad?

Reverend Carl R. Nuss

Carl R. Nuss is a minister of the Gospel.

Apparently – and sadly so – he doesn’t know the Gospel too well.

Hopefully, this criminal and his criminal enterprise will soon be put out of business.

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Cullman Car Dealer Pleads Guilty to Violating Legal Protections for Active-Duty Service Members

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 27, 2013

BIRMINGHAM – A Cullman used car dealer pleaded guilty today for violating federal protections for active-duty military service members by refusing to reduce the loan interest rate and repossessing the vehicle he sold to a man who was later deployed overseas with the Alabama National Guard, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Schwein Jr.

CARL RALPH NUSS, 75, entered his guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Harwell G. Davis III to the two counts of the March indictment charging him with violating

China hacks Army’s Redstone Arsenal computers in Huntsville, Alabama, steals military secrets

Among defense contractors, QinetiQ North America (QQ/) is known for spy-world connections and an eye- popping product line. Its contributions to national security include secret satellites, drones, and software used by U.S. special forces in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

Former CIA Director George Tenet was a director of the company from 2006 to 2008 and former Pentagon spy chief Stephen Cambone headed a major division. Its U.K. parent was created as a spinoff of a government weapons laboratory that inspired Q’s lab in Ian Fleming’s James Bond thrillers, a connection QinetiQ (pronounced kin-EH-tic) still touts.

QinetiQ’s espionage expertise didn’t keep Chinese cyber- spies from outwitting the company. In a three-year operation, hackers linked to China’s military infiltrated QinetiQ’s computers and compromised most if not all of the company’s research. At one point, they logged into the company’s network by taking advantage of a security flaw identified months earlier and never fixed.

“We found traces of the intruders in

Suicide, Libertarianism, and Religion -or- Why “No man is an island.”

FACT:
Las Vegas has the highest metropolitan suicide rate in the U.S.

“I’ll add that there’s one more feature here, of Las Vegas, which I think bears mentioning. And that is what I kinda’ think of as a sort of “frontier culture” mentality among residents, and I think, even among visitors.

“That Las Vegas is this sort of place of place of total license. You know… its the ‘Wild West,’ it’s an open frontier for all kinds of immorality and exploration of vice, and… the entire self-branding of Las Vegas as this place where that is not only tolerated, but actually sanctioned.

“You know, the “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” kind of mentality – produces, I think, a kind of… sort of libertarian ethos of ‘go it alone, do it yourself.’ And help seeking in this sort of framework is perhaps not accepted or valorized the way it is other parts of the country.

“These kind of cultural arguments are always very hard to make. They always sound deeply unscientific. But, in a lot ways, I think that’s exactly where a lot of the explanatory power comes from… is in this understanding the culture and values underlying people’s behavioral sense.”

– Matt Wray, sociologist, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, and co-author of a 2008 paper entitled “Leaving Las Vegas: Exposure to Las Vegas and Risk of Suicide” / excerpted from Freakonomics Radio, episode #92 “Gambling With Your Life,” released April 27, 2011

Of late, attention has been increasingly given to the suicide rate of veterans returning home from the horrors of war in the Middle East, specifically, from their numerous extended tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

While in retrospect, many acknowledge that

DoD says Climate Change is National Security Risk

Here’s an item from our “Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Climate Change“ file.

While there continues to be much frothing about the mouth from conservative and libertarian types about climate change, there remains no doubt of its existence.

Some – mostly Republican & Libertarians – continue to assert that climate change is as much a hoax as the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny or Great Pumpkin. However, to be certain, there is no doubt that change has occurred, and continues to occur. The reason(s) why, and causes of the same are subjects of valid scientific debate and research. But there is no disagreement that change has, and is occurring.

The United States Department of Defense,

UPDATED: Army Nurse Dies in Afghanistan while Off Duty

UPDATE: Monday, 07 May 2012

Army officials have not yet released the 43-year-old Nurse/Soldier’s cause of death, but confirmed Monday that he was not shot.

Spokeswoman Chris Grey said, “Although the investigation into his death is open and ongoing by Special Agents from the US Army Criminal Investigation Command, we can positively say that Captain Clark was not shot. Agents conducting the investigation, found no trauma to the body beyond minor abrasions and a possible broken nose most likely caused from Captain Clark striking his face on his desk when he collapsed. Investigators will continue to probe the death but they do not “suspect foul play.”

Beaumont Army Medical Center Public Affars Officer Clarence Davis said the cause of death has not been determined, and that “The autopsy and investigation will reveal the cause of death.”

According to CPT Clark’s brother Justin Hallenbeck, he even spent time as a volunteer firefighter.

CPT Clark was a part of A Company, Troop Command at Beaumont, and deployed to Afghanistan in March.

He was stationed in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan, which was described by Army officials as a town of about 10,000 people.

His awards include the Army Commendation Award, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Army Service Medal.

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It’s still a dangerous place in Afghanistan, as this story testifies.

Oh yes… men make great nurses, and in the Armed Services all RNs are officers.

May his family be comforted during their time of grief.

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Army officer dies during Skype chat with wife

May 6, 2012 8:23 PM

US Army CPT Bruce Kevin Clark, RN was thought to have been killed by a bullet in Afghanistan while off-duty during a Skype video conference session with his wife, who is stateside.

(AP) HOUSTON – The wife of an Army officer serving in Afghanistan witnessed her husband’s death as the two video chatted via Skype, his family said Friday.

The circumstances of Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark’s death were not immediately available. The Pentagon said it was under investigation, and his brother-in-law said he didn’t have details.

“We are entrusting the military with investigating and with finding out what happened to Capt. Clark,” Bradley Taber-Thomas told The Associated Press.

Clark, a 43-year-old Army chief nurse, grew up in Michigan and lived previously in Spencerport, N.Y., a suburb of Rochester and his wife’s hometown. He joined the Army in 2006 and was stationed in Hawaii before he was assigned to the William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso. He deployed to Afghanistan in March.

A statement from the family released by Taber-Thomas said Clark died Monday while

AL GOP Rep Mo Brooks, 5th, confesses incompetence

You’d never have imagined hearing the radical Madison county Republican cozying up to his favorite pork projects in North Alabama. But hey, any job is a good job in this economy, eh, Mo? And you sure as Hell don’t want to put folks out of work… now DO you, Mo? Seems like you’re caught between the proverbial “rock and a hard place,” old man.

Those “pork barrels” sure do look different when they belong to you, don’t they? (I think they’re called “JOBS” and they belong to those class of people you call your “constituents.”)

Let’s buy more waterproof coffee pots, HSNDDs, and HSBLDs – hard steel nail driving devices, and highly specialized bullet launching devices.

Instead, why don’t we spend some money to  improve (translation: INVEST in improving) our national infrastructure – roads, electrical power grid, waterways, schools and parks? Surely you remember GOP President, former 5 Star General Dwight David Eisenhower‘s warning about the “military industrial complex,” don’t you?

 

Congress will cut defense, Congressman Mo Brooks says, possibly programs in Huntsville

Published: Thursday, February 03, 2011, 5:30 AM     Updated: Thursday, February 03, 2011, 6:12 AM

HUNTSVILLE, AL – U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, said here Wednesday that Congress will “probably” cut defense spending next year, possibly including R&D programs based in Huntsville, but, if he gets his way, it will boost

U.S. Military Deaths: A Perspective

I am a U.S. Army veteran.

How to Desecrate Our American Flag

Use it as clothing; place it on the ground, etc. The photog is a retired US Army LTC, MD (Lieutenant Colonel, O-5). Of all people, he SHOULD know better.

http://www.Flickr.com/people/PathDoc/

Desecration is defined as
• “the act of depriving something of its sacred character—or the disrespectful or contemptuous treatment of that which is held to be sacred by a group or individual,;”
• to “treat (a sacred place or thing) with violent disrespect; violate;”
• “to profane or violate the sacredness or sanctity of something; to remove the consecration from someone or something; to deconsecrate;”
• as “an act of disrespect or impiety towards something considered sacred;”
• and to be “treated with contempt.”

Flag Desecration - writing on flag, and used as a garment

Flag Desecration - flag on ground, written upon, used as garment

The word “desecrate” is

In Memory on Memorial Day

My Great-Grandfather Michael emigrated from Ireland to the United States, and enlisted in the Union Army in Corinth, MS, 1862, and served the United States of America in the First Alabama Cavalry as a farrier. For more history on Union soldiers from the South, and the 1st Alabama Cavalry United States Volunteers, specifically, please see: http://www.1stAlabamaCavalryUSV.com

Age: 38
Birthplace: Langford, Ireland
Rank at enlistment: Private
Rank at discharge: Corporal
Company Assignment: C

12/6/1862  Enlisted, Corinth, MS
12/22/1862  Mustered In, Corinth, MS
12/17/1863 Mustered Out, Memphis, TN

My Great Grandfather, my father – a Korean War veteran of the Navy

All You Need Is Love

I recollect, a few years ago, having gone with a dear friend to the apartment where her former husband lived.

He had died alone.

D’Angelo (not his real name) was a retired Army NCO, whom had volunteered for service. He was genuinely a “squared away” soldier, and rose to the rank of First Sergeant (E-8), which rank is politely nicknamed “Top,” because, aside from Sergeant Major which is also an E-8 position, it is the highest rank and position a NCO can obtain.

His generosity was well-known, and his humility, honesty and genuine love for his fellow man was evident throughout his life. And though he was a good man with many admirable character qualities, a congenial fellow, well liked – even loved – by many, it seemed he never could win the battle over the bottle.

What little I know of him from others’ reports and my own limited interaction with him, he was an honorable family man. And yet, his family didn’t know it, and apparently had low regard for him because of his human frailty, particularly for the bottle.

When he had retired from the Army, never one to merely sit still and wait for things to happen, he became

Lazy, mediocre, “psychotic” Islamofascist

Dr. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Islamofascist psychiatric Army physician accused of murdering 13, and wounding 29 other soldiers and civilians at Fort Hood, TX recently, was described by former colleagues and professors at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and Walter Reed Army Medical Center as lazy, mediocre and “psychotic.”

The Associated Press is reporting that the source spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the incident, and wrote that Dr. Hasan “had a reputation for being a mediocre student and lazy worker.” The AP is also reporting that Dr. Hasan “as a psychiatrist in training was belligerent, defensive and argumentative in his frequent discussions of his Muslim faith.”

NPR is reporting that because of a “cumbersome and lengthy process for expelling doctors, involving hearings and potential legal battles,” Walter Reed Army officials and others “decided it would be too difficult, if not unfeasible, to put Hasan on probation and possibly expel him from the program.”

Published reports from the AP, NPR and others indicated that Army officials and others were:

• concerned of potential fratricide

• concerned of treason potential if deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan

• from Spring 2008 to Spring 2009 fellow physicians questioned whether Hasan was “psychotic” and mentally fit to be an Army psychiatrist;

and reported that Dr. Hasan was:

• described as disconnected, aloof, paranoid, belligerent and “schizoid”

• “as a psychiatrist in training was belligerent, defensive and argumentative in his frequent discussions of his Muslim faith”

• repeatedly given poor evaluations and warned about substandard work

• “behavior…  perceived as intense and combative”

Because Dr. Hasan’s actions are not presently linked to external terrorist networks, he will be tried in a Courts Martial, rather than a civilian court.

Doubtless, there will be changes to Army, governmental and civil procedures as a result of this man’s actions – as well they should.

* UPDATE * 11/15/09

At this juncture, I predict that Dr. Hasan’s defense will use the Insanity Defense – his colleagues attest to witnessing his behavior over a period of time that points to serious mental derangement – and am concerned of the possibility that he could very well be found “not guilty.” Concerning the mass murders, I think such actions were once called “Criminal Insanity.” Regardless of any trial or outcome, I sincerely doubt he’ll walk the streets as a free man again.

Veteran’s Day 2009

I’m proud to have served my nation in the uniform armed services, having done so voluntarily. I think every young American should do similarly. And, I believe our nation should provide significant benefit to those whom so choose.

Some years ago, I envisioned what I called a “234 Plan,” which would:

1. Double pay grade for two years up to pay grade E-3 for initial enlistees;
2. Require a minimum of Four Years of service;
3. Pay for four years of higher education, up to and including Ph.D., with the ability to transfer benefits to first-degree relatives;

and perhaps most importantly,

4. Provide such income as federally Tax-Free, forever.

At current pay rates, that would be slightly under $76,000 for a period of two years at pay grade E-3 – not a bad nest egg. And then, there’s the 30 days paid vacation, head-to-toe health care, incentive/bonus pay for skills, BAH (basic allowance for housing), and a host of other remunerations and fiduciary potential – all of which are added to Basic Pay, thereby increasing take-home pay. Potentially, managing money wisely, a young enlistee could emerge from a four year commitment with very nearly $125,000 in pocket, VA health benefits, GI Bill benefits, and more.

The money could be used wisely, or squandered. But the principle would forever be federally tax-free – and I think it should be at the state level, as well. It’s well known that young enlistees have high levels of “disposable” income. But WISE fiscal management could yield significant benefits to them individually, and by extension, to our nation.

Part three of the plan I envisioned – higher education – was implemented when President Obama signed the Post 9/1 G.I. Bill, providing the most comprehensive expansion and provision of educational benefits our troops have received since F.D.R.’s presidency.

I recollect a report entitled “Young Virginians: Ready, Willing, and Unable to Serve,” having read and saved it September 2, this year. It was authored and advised by an impressive cadre of Generals, Admirals, field-grade officers, and senior executive NCOs, from all branches of the service, and “supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts, and Pre-K Now, campaign of the Pew center on the States.”

Interestingly, NPR has only recently reported on it.

The problems the report addresses are from a thorough examination of Virginia, though it’s findings can be extrapolated to the United States at large.

According to the report, the three greatest problems disqualifying American youth from service to our nation include:

1.) Criminality – felony and serious misdemeanor offense;

2.) Education – failure to graduate high school, and low achievement in reading & math, 30% unable to pass the Armed Forces Qualification Test; and

3.) Health – specifically obesity, although asthma, eyesight, hearing, mental health, ADHD and additional health problems factor in, thereby disqualifying over half of all young adults.

Additional disqualifiers include single custodial parenthood, and drug or alcohol abuse.

These are all social ills.

“Mission: Readiness – Military Leaders for Kids is a bipartisan, nonprofit, national security organization of more than 80 retired generals and admirals,” whom “accept no funds from federal, state, or local governments,”  and “call on all policymakers to ensure America’s security and prosperity by supporting interventions proven to help America’s youth succeed academically, stay physically fit, and abide by the law. Pre-K Now collaborates with organizations and policy makers to lead a movement toward high-quality, voluntary pre-kindergarten for all 3- and 4-year-olds.”

In recent political history, social programs have been an “easy target” for many of the Republican stripe whom have seriously reduced or eliminated such programs’ funding, effectively or outright killing the very programs that could have done much to have prevented these anathemas.

Ironically, prison construction and maintenance is a capital expenditure. And of all the world’s nations, ours has more incarcerations per capita than any other, having exploded (doubling 2.5 times) since 1980 (though incarcerations remained relatively stable since 1920, according to the U.S. Department of Justice).

How’s that THAT for the so-called “Reagan Revolution?” It sounds more like a “Contract on America” rather than “with America,” to me.

Wonder why no more.

Governance is much more than infrastructure expenditures, and military readiness includes a strong social component.

Our Constitution calls it providing “for the common defense,” by promoting “the general welfare,” to “secure the blessings of liberty.”

Healthcare is an integral and unequivocal part of that equation… as we can now painfully, and plainly see.

I suppose it would be apropos and germane – though perhaps trite – to conclude with a line from advertising: “You can pay me now… or, pay me later.”