The Barbary Pirates, Then and Now

 

Lt Col  Howard "Mustang" Benjamin, USMC Ret'd joined me in a discussion of The Barbary Wars (the first American Middle Eastern War), and their relevance to today.

Some real heroism described here.

Bonus: an explanation of currency trading and why it belongs in your investment portfolio. :)

External link:

Your American Heritage February 13, 2021

War is a Racket

General Smedley Butler, not Mustang

A discussion with Mustang predicated by Donald J Trump's farewell speech in which he declares (as others have) that he is (was) the first president in years to preside over a term with no new wars and a reduction of troops abroad. That made me think of  USMC General Smedley Butler's work, "War Is A Racket".

We talk about that, too.

Of course, Pretender-in-Chief Xi Biden will get us back on track shortly.

 Your American Heritage, 23 January, 2012.

You can listen here>  https://anchor.fm/your-american-heritage/episodes/Your-American-Heritage-1-23-2021-epck3o

or here:

The Lawsuit Against Whitmer Explained

 On today's show, David Kallman of Kallman Legal Group and The Great Lakes Justice Center explains the case before the Michigan Supreme hoping to stop Governess Gretchen Whitmer from judicial and legislative overreach. 

In the second half is a discussion of Kenosha, Kyle Rittenhouse and a response to the imported rioters and defense of property and self.

Listen here: Your American Heritage

And the statement from his legal team.:
https://spectrumnews1.com/wi/madison/news/2020/08/29/teen-s-attorneys-claim-self-defense-in-kenosha-shootings

VERNON HILLS, ILLINOIS / August 28, 2020 / Pierce Bainbridge is honored to represent 17-year old Antioch, Illinois resident Kyle Rittenhouse, who has suddenly found himself at the center of a national firestorm and charged with murder after defending himself from a relentless, vicious and potentially deadly mob attack in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

On August 25th, 2020, Kenosha spiraled into chaos following the Jacob Blake shooting. The Kenosha Mayor and Wisconsin Governor failed to provide a basic degree of law and order to protect the citizens and community buildings in Kenosha. The city burned as mobs destroyed buildings and property, and looters stole whatever they wanted. Rioters defaced storefronts, the courthouse, and many other public and private locations across the city.

After Kyle finished his work that day as a community lifeguard in Kenosha, he wanted to help clean up some of the damage, so he and a friend went to the local public high school to remove graffiti by rioters. Later in the day, they received information about a call for help from a local business owner, whose downtown Kenosha auto dealership was largely destroyed by mob violence. The business owner needed help to protect what he had left of his life’s work, including two nearby mechanic’s shops. Kyle and a friend armed themselves with rifles due to the deadly violence gripping Kenosha and many other American cities, and headed to the business premises. The weapons were in Wisconsin and never crossed state lines.

Upon arrival, Kyle and others stood guard at the mechanic’s shop across from the auto dealership to prevent further damage or destruction. Later that night, substantially after the city’s 8:00 p.m. curfew expired without consequence, the police finally started to attempt to disperse a group of rioters. In doing so, they maneuvered a mass of individuals down the street towards the auto shops. Kyle and others on the premises were verbally threatened and taunted multiple times as the rioters passed by, but Kyle never reacted. His intent was not to incite violence, but simply to deter property damage and use his training to provide first aid to injured community members.

After the crowd passed the premises and Kyle believed the threat of further destruction had passed, he became increasingly concerned with the injured protestors and bystanders congregating at a nearby gas station with no immediate access to medical assistance or help from law enforcement. Kyle headed in that direction with a first aid kit. He sought out injured persons, rendered aid, and tried to guide people to others who could assist to the extent he could do so amid the chaos. By the final time Kyle returned to 2 the gas station and confirmed there were no more injured individuals who needed assistance, police had advanced their formation and blocked what would have been his path back to the mechanic’s shop. Kyle then complied with the police instructions not to go back there. Kyle returned to the gas station until he learned of a need to help protect the second mechanic’s shop further down the street where property destruction was imminent with no police were nearby.

As Kyle proceeded towards the second mechanic’s shop, he was accosted by multiple rioters who recognized that he had been attempting to protect a business the mob wanted to destroy. This outraged the rioters and created a mob now determined to hurt Kyle. They began chasing him down. Kyle attempted to get away, but he could not do so quickly enough. Upon the sound of a gunshot behind him, Kyle turned and was immediately faced with an attacker lunging towards him and reaching for his rifle. He reacted instantaneously and justifiably with his weapon to protect himself, firing and striking the attacker.

Kyle stopped to ensure care for the wounded attacker but faced a growing mob gesturing towards him. He realized he needed to flee for his safety and his survival. Another attacker struck Kyle from behind as he fled down the street. Kyle turned as the mob pressed in on him and he fell to the ground. One attacker kicked Kyle on the ground while he was on the ground. Yet another bashed him over the head with a skateboard. Several rioters tried to disarm Kyle. In fear for his life and concerned the crowd would either continue to shoot at him or even use his own weapon against him, Kyle had no choice but to fire multiple rounds towards his immediate attackers, striking two, including one armed attacker. The rest of the mob began to disperse upon hearing the additional gunshots.

Kyle got up and continued down the street in the direction of police with his hands in the air. He attempted to contact multiple police officers, but they were more concerned with the wounded attackers. The police did not take Kyle into custody at that time, but instead they indicated he should keep moving. He fully cooperated, both then and later that night when he turned himself in to the police in his hometown, Antioch, Illinois.

Kyle did nothing wrong. He exercised his God-given, Constitutional, common law and statutory law right to self-defense.

However, in a reactionary rush to appease the divisive, destructive forces currently roiling this country, prosecutors in Kenosha did not engage in any meaningful analysis of the facts, or any in-depth review of available video footage (some of which shows that a critical state’s witness was not even at the area where the shots were fired); this was not a serious investigation. Rather, after learning Kyle may have had conservative political viewpoints, they immediately saw him as a convenient target who they could use as a scapegoat to distract from the Jacob Blake shooting and the government’s abject failure to ensure basic law and order to citizens. Within 24-36 hours, he was charged with multiple homicide counts.

Kyle now has the best legal representation in the country. With help from Nicholas Sandmann attorney L. Lin Wood, Pierce Bainbridge and multiple top-tier criminal defense lawyers in Wisconsin immediately offered representation to Kyle.

Time is Almost Up

It's getting there....

Hi Edward Bonderenka, As you may know, our Community Guidelines describe which content we allow – and don’t allow – on YouTube. Your video It's Almost Time was flagged to us for review. Upon review, we’ve determined that it violates our guidelines and we’ve removed it from YouTube. We know that this might be disappointing, but it's important to us that YouTube is a safe place for all. If content breaks our rules, we remove it. If you think we've made a mistake, you can appeal and we'll take another look. Keep reading for more details. Video content restrictions YouTube doesn’t allow content that explicitly disputes the efficacy of the World Health Organization (WHO) or local health authorities’ recommended guidance on social distancing and self isolation that may lead people to act against that guidance. Learn more here. The video said NOTHING about WHO!

H/T Bunkerville.

Earn This

Honor the fallen.
Carry on the battle for freedom.
Oppose tyranny.
Protect the weak.

“defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

They made the ultimate sacrifice so you might enjoy your freedoms.

Earn this.

War By Other Means

I've been reading an article in the Atlantic.

Every American Should Hope Trump Prevails Against China

by Joseph W. Sullivan

Former Staff Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers

I don't remember World War Two.
I wasn't alive then.
I have seen enough newsreels, movies and read enough history to know that America knew it faced a threat.
The threat was on two fronts.
The Pacific and the Atlantic.
Japan provoked the war by attacking the U.S. at Pearl Harbor.
Did they do this because they were just a bunch of belligerent meanies spoiling for a fight?
The Japanese were a militant society that felt that they were entitled to control the Pacific Economic and Political sphere.
They wanted to control all the trade in that sphere.
This put them at odds with the United States who had a large economic presence in the Pacific and didn't want that infringed upon.
The Philippines were an American territory and in our sphere of influence, but the Japanese felt entitled to that action.
There was a conflict in trade interests between us and Japan.
They were putting pressure on us and we reciprocated.
This is simplistic but a valid summary.
Eventually, we demanded that they pull out of China, which they had invaded.
China had been one of our markets, and in the Depression of the 30's, you didn't want to lose market share.
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor at that.
That's how wars start.
Hitler (and Mussolini) only screwed up by honoring their treaties with Japan, otherwise we not have gone to war with them.

Well, as they say, history may not repeat itself, but it rhymes.
We are in a trade war with China.
That word "war" is not a light one.
China has a huge military capacity and is growing it (like Japan was) and ours is not as strong as we need it to be.
Our Navy (our military projection in the Pacific) is ill-prepared for war.
Our ships in the Pacific are becoming more prominent for colliding into other ships and making costly mistakes in critical situations.

No mistaking it, we are pushing the Chinese, hard.
Elbows out.
Just like in the 30s.
Yet should "something" happen, I doubt we'd be fighting a two front war this time.

However, as you may have noticed, China is a dictatorship.
They are under stress on their home front, but they don't have elections of the voting sort.
They can enact policy that may impact the home front, but they expect their people to suck it up and bear it. For the motherland.

In WW2, we had a national unity against the threat.
Scrap drives, rations, patriotic fervor, national resolve.

Today, we have political factions questioning the wisdom of not caving into Chinese demands.
Willing to continue the game of cashing in now, neglecting the threat on the horizon.

Should a Joe Biden replace Trump, make no mistake, it's back to placating the Chinese.
Hell, the Clintons were giving them our secrets, whether as president or Secretary of State.
Hillary's emails were (no exaggeration) being forwarded to China!

So, are the Chinese manipulating our upcoming national election by escalating the Tariff War?

Can we convince the American People of the long term threat to our nation (our economy, sovereignty, well-being) or will they cave?

Addendum:
I talked about this topic on The Drift Radio Show Saturday.

Memorial Day Exhortation

A debt to be paid.





I know it's not Veteran's Day but I also like:
(I imagine if the dead could talk they might say this)

The Plot to Take the White House Addendum

We discussed the preceding post about General Smedley Butler and The Plot to Take the White House on the radio show last Saturday. You can listen here.

The Drift Radio Show January 5, 2019

I just received an email from Mustang, whose opinion I sought on the preceding post.
The Colonel told me that he had attempted three times to post a comment and could not, so he sent the following:

The US military is an instrument of foreign policy and defense.  Butler was correct to criticize the government for using the military as a means of ensuring ideal economic environments in foreign countries, but of course he tacitly supported these policies by remaining on active duty and participating in them.  I’ve always believed that whenever an officer is no longer able to do those things that his government wants him to do, for whatever reason, he owes it to his country —and himself— to resign his commission and pursue a different vocation.  The closest Butler ever came to actual resignation was the two-year sabbatical from the Marine Corps to serve as Philadelphia’s Director of Public Safety.  He didn’t get along very well in that position, however —the mayor fired him, and Butler returned to active service with the Marine Corps.

But if we suppose that Butler might have resigned his commission (perhaps at the rank of captain or major) and returned to civilian life, what should we expect him to do?  His father was a lawyer, a judge, and a 31-year member of the US Congress.  He chaired the House Naval Affairs Committee through two administrations.  Not only did Butler’s career benefit from US foreign policy, it also benefited from having a family member overseeing the Navy Department.  By the way, Butler’s grandfather was a Republican member of the United States Senate.  So, I think Butler’s book was a result of something more than his guilt for serving as a hit man for the US government; he was angry and childish from the fact that he was court-martialed, at the direction of the President of the United States, and he had been passed over for the post of commandant.  His nose was out of joint.

Butler later ran for the US senate and was defeated.  He later supported the Marxist Norman Thomas in the election of 1936 ...

Semper Fidelis, Ed ...

As a veteran with no military experience (I was in the Air Force), I wanted an experienced military/political mind to validate my suspicions.
Butler went extreme in his politics, and his voice was used by the left as much as the bankers had sought to use it, perhaps in reaction to their overtures.

A Day That Will Live in Memory

I posted much of this before.
You may have missed it, so here it is.

The following is excerpted from a letter I transcribed for my friend Nate Weiser to a high school class that had asked him to relate his Pearl Harbor experience on Dec 7th, 1941.

Nate had a degree in education with a sports career and had worked his way through college in the depression.
His military career was somewhat unique in that he was both at Pearl and Normandy.

His commander at Pearl had given him permission to forgo mess duties as he pursued radio courses at the local college in Honolulu.
The mess sergeant saw Nate as a slacker for that. When the dishes rattled in the following story, he came out roaring at Nate for dropping them.

Nate and his two friends had been on a date the night before with some nurses.
He was stationed at Pearl in the Army Air Force and he was in radio.

My two friends and I were going to visit a friend later in the day who was in the Navy, and in Pearl Harbor for a short stay. We were in the Mess Hall around 7:50am Sunday morning. We were waiting in line for our Super Sunday Breakfast before we would go to see our friend when around 8:00am, give or take a few minutes, we heard a large noise that shook the building, and all the stacks of dishes that were on the table fell to the floor. The Mess Sergeant came out and was cussing everyone out. Right then, the second bomb fell and the table plus the food went crashing to the floor. I ran to the door and saw the Japanese Insignia on the aircraft and said to Don and Merrill, "Why are the Japanese planes here? This could be war!"
The planes were strafing all over the area. We were going to hide under the warehouse building next to the Mess Hall, but "Indian Joe", a WW1 veteran told us to get going and try to go to the Residential Area, and go in between the buildings so we wouldn't get hit. We saw the Number 1 hangar on the runway in flames. Half of it was full of ammunition (rumor had it that we were going to Wake Island in a very short time). They hit that hangar first, they knew what was in it. The planes on the ramp were tail to tail, all they did was strafe down the line and get two planes at a time. The reason they were tail to tail was so every Saturday morning the post could march in front of the commander before we had the weekend free. It was a miserable sight to see with us running for our lives. The planes flew so low that you could see some of the pilots red scarves and goggles. That sight I will never forget.
We finally got to the Residential Area and I went into one of the homes near Schofield Barracks. A sergeant lived there and had a couple of children. He told us to stay for a while and then go back to our base for instructions. It was thought that the Japanese might land and try to take the island over. The sergeant would get his company and go up into the mountains, and if the Japanese did invade, he told his wife what to do. We went back to the barracks, and each one of us got a .45 and a belt full of ammo. The second wave of planes was not as great as the first, but that evening it started to rain. The captain called us in his portable quarters and gave us a box about 8' long, 6" wide and 4 or 5" high. He told us that in case of emergency, this would be our only communications between our squadron and Honolulu, so guard it with all our might. It was a transmitter and receiver, all in one! We were to be sure to let him know where we were at all times. We decided to head toward the mountain, but not too far from the runway, near the captain, and hid in case of invasion, but where the planes would not strafe us. Little did we realize that the water off the mountain (it being a very rainy night) would fill our foxhole. We had a very uncomfortable couple of nights. We were very happy to learn after a couple of days that there would be no invasion by the Japanese. All islands were in blackout nights from here on in. By 1943 I was a Staff Sergeant and I and two other Sgts were sent back to the States to go to OCS. (Nate was to be an officer but declined. Also, his two friends died in the attack). After one and a half months, I asked to be sent back to the Air Force.
I was then assigned to Jefferson Barracks in St.. Louis. From there I was assigned to Richmond, Va with the 365th Fighter Bomber Group, 386th Squadron . I was a Tech Sgt and communication chief for P-47 Thunderbolts in the 9th Air Force. We got an all expenses paid tour of Europe.

Nate got the Bronze Star in Europe. it was an award for an idea he had for aircraft radio that allowed them to turn around and get back in the fight quicker in the event of radio failure.
His friends from the night before didn't make it through Dec 7th.

Nate passed shortly before his 99th birthday Dec 5th, 2016.
In case you don't know, I'm proud to say he was my friend.

More Syria

We spent an hour on Syria yesterday with a lot of good call-ins.

The Drift April 14, 2018
Join hosts Gary Wellings & Ed Bonderenka as they discuss the latest Syrian Attack and the raid on the President's lawyers office

Caller Alex from Plymouth is a guy I used to work with who was very liberal and is now very conservative.

He has pretty much convinced me with links he's supplied on FB that the chem attacks were fraudulent or very well could be. I'm vacillating.

https://www.facebook.com/edward.bonderenka/posts/1641656705869986

Bombing Syria

It just occurred to me.
What if we are not exacting retribution for the use of chemical weapons.
What if we are demonstrating that a reliance on Russia and her weapons systems is a foolish endeavor?

What if this was really a demonstration that our miltech is superior to Russian miltech that they've been selling to those who would oppose us?
Not a mil-industrial complex paranoia, but a strategic move, geared to Iran and
NoKo.

And we were led to believe that Trump was starting WW3.
Hardly what happened.

I saw video from Damascus that showed a lot of ordnance hitting, while Assad claims he stopped so much.
The real audience will know the truth.

Addendum:
We bombed Syria because they attacked innocent children with chemical agents.

Try bombing a Planned Parenthood "Clinic" and see what happens.

PTSD and Reboot Reovery

This might be one of the most important shows I've done.
My friend Dave Wolfe has suffered from PTSD for.. well, ever.
He told me about the Reboot Recovery program he became part of and I knew I wanted to interview Dave Ferris, the co-director of the local program.

They both agreed to do the program and here it is...

https://www.spreaker.com/user/9157644/the-drift-ptsd-reboot-recovery

RIP Billy Graham

A great man has passed.

His final years included physical and mental challenges.
All the struggles of recent years have been overcome.

He is home.

I am certain he heard the Boss say, "Well Done!"

He was a modern day prophet to the nation and it's leaders.

He not only pointed out the sinful condition of man, but the solution to that problem.

He was responsible for many lives to be turned around from hate and shame and sin.



One of those, most famously, was Louis Zamperini of Unbroken fame.

The most important facet of Louis' life was that after surviving all he did in WW2 was left out of the movie, but not the book.

He came home bitter, hateful and a drunk.

He left a Billy Graham Crusade a changed man and went on to work with Billy until his own death a few years ago.

That story has so many echoes in America.

Rest easy, sir.

Job well done.

Snow, Sumter South Carolina, 1973

It was February 8th or so.
A few of us were in my room in the barracks (Shaw AFB) drinking beer and listening to the stereo. Probably The Dark Side of the Moon or ELO.
It was snowing outside and had been.
I had driven into Sumter earlier in the evening to get a burger.
Some F4 jockey had gone off the bridge into base totalling his Vette.

The town was shutdown by a storm like we had here in Michigan today.
All things are relative.
Nothing shut down here but schools.

But, back to the base.
There came a knock on the door which was an alert that someone of rank was there.
We opened the door, and as we'd been guessing might happen, the First Sergeant was there to tell us to suit up and head to the Motor Pool.
My roommate was a mechanic at the motor pool for our squadron.
One of two.
We trudged through the snow down to the trucks.
Deuce and a Half.

They were diesel and most of the guys were from the south, so only a couple of us knew to turn on the manifold heaters before trying to start the engines.
Otherwise the Diesel would gel and not flow.
My roommate Gary had to jump start a number of trucks that night. :)

We were told to martial at the County Courthouse downtown Sumter.
We convoyed down there.
When we got there, we were given orders.

682nd Direct Air Support Squadron

I and another guy from a sister squadron (I was 682nd DASQ and he was 683rd) were told to head to Pinewood S.C. to aid in delivering food, fuel and rescuing stranded motorists. We were each issued a trustee from the local jail.
I was twenty years old and had just made Airman Second Class. I had two weeks time in grade over the other guy which made me ranking airman. And I had a convict in my truck I was supposed to deliver to a county garage to get a road grader to clear roads.
I dropped him off at Rosie's instead. At least that's where he wanted to go and who he said lived there. Who was I to argue?
The drive to Pinewood was about 20 miles. We had a map.
I drove lead.
There was some intersection that had a few homes and commercial buildings that we were going to go through.
As I was entering the intersection I noticed that the big snow drift in the middle of it had a radio antenna sticking out of it. It turned out to be a Beetle.
I swerved and went into a ditch.
My wingman and I spent over two hours getting me out of the ditch.
The winches mounted on the front of the trucks didn't work!
I later asked Gary why and he said they had disabled them to protect them from getting burned out. Thanks.
The other guy said he'd take lead after that.
As we approached Pinewood he would slow down and back up to ram through the snow that was piling up in front of his axles.
After a few times of that, the next time I saw him slowing down I hit my air horn and then I hit him. After a few times of that, we just drove bumper to bumper into town.
Twenty Wheel Drive. Seriously.

We got into town at daybreak and were met by the police chief who directed us to where the Civilian Defense shelter at the local school was set up.
The Chief started to give us directions of where we should drive and deliver.
That's when I met the mayor, a Republican.
The mayor had been recently elected by a margin given to him by a block of black voters that he had mobilized to reform the local government.
The Chief was the last holdout of the old regime, the good old boys.
Add to the mix that the CivDef center was headed up by a retired USAF Master Sergeant who was pals with the Chief.
Our instructions were to deliver hay and diesel to some local cattle farms.
The Mayor, however, let me know that there were a lot of people living in shacks and on the margin and who had no protection against a snowstorm like this.
I had a decision to make.
I made it and the retired Master Sergeant was a little upset.
He demanded to know who my commanding officer was.
I told him and he called.
"Son, your C.O. wants to talk to you." as he handed me the phone.
It's not like the colonel and I were close.
I took the phone with some trepidation.
He said, "Airman Bonderenka, martial law has been declared for the county, and you are the ranking airman in that district. Put the retired Master Sergeant back on the phone please."
Wow. But the Sarge took it well. and I took my direction from the Mayor.
We drove for hours.
At one point we came across some stranded motorists from Quebec.
We took them back to the school and the women started cooking.
I get a rush just thinking about it.
We ate well. and so did the people we brought in.
At one point we stepped outside to get in the trucks and saw an older tall thin black man high stepping through the snow towards us to buy groceries.
That man had walked a couple miles and intended to walk back.
We took him to the mayor who then realized we had missed a whole community
of people he had forgotten. So off we went. Delivering fuel oil and groceries and bringing in others to the school.

Later in the day, exhausted, we learned that the relief drivers couldn't drive in to town on the same road we had followed in the dark the night before.
Our relief would be coming in by helicopter.
My squadron had no helicopters.
I instructed a kid on a tractor with a blade to start clearing a section of the road for them to land on.
When the helicopter landed, he set down in a snowy field across from where we had cleared.
When I got aboard I asked the pilot why and he pointed to the power lines next to the clearing.
This was my first time on a chopper, but I was pretty sure they didn't all come with blue upholstered airliner seating and didn't all have the call sign "Marine One". We were on the presidents helicopter! It had been forced down at our base on the way to Key Biscayne, Florida. The Winter White House for President Nixon.

Having flown on aircraft where on takeoff you were pushed back in your seat (civilian) or away from your seat (military), I had never been in a takeoff where you got shoved down into your seat. That was different.

There was a nursing home that we could not reach by truck due to the snow, and it needed medicine.
We were going to stop there.
I woke up when we landed.
We waited for a while and nobody came. I must have dozed, because when we took off again I woke up and looked down as we were lifting off.
That's when I saw the doctor holding hands with what I assume was a nurse trudging to where we had just left.
I notified the steward (Marine) and he told the pilot and we landed again, they boarded and we took off.
We landed in a shopping center in Sumter where a pharmacist was waiting for us.
We then took off for the air base and I got out near a hanger and walked back to my barracks.
I woke up hours later and was issued another truck with my friend Darryl Gheen.
We drove back and did it again.
At one point in our travels, a small dog was trapped in the ruts ahead of us and literally could not get out of our way.
Darryl got out and brought it into the cab.
It stayed with us until we found the owner days later.
We eventually drove back to the Courthouse where we were given food and drink and debriefed, swapping stories.
One of my favorites was listening to a farmer tell us of driving down the highway and finding a Cadillac in a ditch.
He offered to pull the car out and the driver was indignant.
"I'm not having my $8,000 car pulled by a tractor!".
The farmer told him, "You're right! What was I thinking? I'm not taking the chance of damaging my $20,000 tractor."
It had a cab, heat/AC, an eight track stereo and a CB!

And that was that.
It is one of my most memorable experiences and an example of something I've said for years since.
Only service in the U.S. Military (or the Air Force) can give an opportunity for so much responsibility to a man at such a young age.
And the Service is just that. Service.

Later that summer, late August, Darryl and I were in Kresge's in town going through the record bins when someone said hello to us.
It was the Mayor of Pinewood.
He was happy to see us.
He then told us that the town was having a Labor Day celebration and he asked us to come so that he could present us an award for being town heroes.
We said we'd think about it.
We didn't go and to this day I wonder if we insulted them in our humility.

It's taken me 40+ years to write this, but with the snow outside, I've got nothing else to do, except go back out and plow the street some more.
As I was plowing it this morning on my garden tractor so I and my neighbors could get through (before going to the studio), it occurred to me: this is what conservatives do.
We don't wait for the government.

Thanks for listening.

http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/south-carolina/massive-blizzard-1973-in-sc/

A Merry Christmas to You!

A white Christmas morning!

I've got some white privilege to shovel.

Pray for our troops who are forward deployed please.
I've got a nephew in Guam. Carry on Andrew, and thanks.

I remember being away for a few Christmases.
There was the time I found out I was going to be deployed to Iran for 6 months.
I decided to fly home for Christmas before going to that hellhole.
I flew home space available, waiting in Frankfurt at Rhein-Main Air Base for over a day (many had been waiting over 48 hours!) until they scheduled a cargo plane just to clear the terminal of all of us waiting.

When I flew back to West Germany with a pre-purchased ticket, I was a little later getting to the airport than I wanted to be due to waiting on family who wanted to see me off.
Dad dropped me at the door of the airport (no TSA!) while he parked.
I entered the terminal to hear last call for my flight announced.
I ran like O.J. Simpson through the terminal, in wool uniform with a coat on, carrying my duffel bag. I don't know why I didn't use my B-4 bag, which I still use to this day.

I arrived at the gate just as they close the door on the plane.
The stewardesses looked at me, smiled and opened the door to let me in.
I went through First Class to find a seat in economy and to my horror, as we were taxying away, I saw that all the seats were taken!
In panic I asked the stewardess whether this was the correct flight.
She asked for my ticket (no one else had yet!) and pointed out that I had been bumped to First Class. Oh Yeah :)
And then I saw that the flight had been changed to an earlier time and I hadn't noticed.
Dad, my brothers and nieces and nephews wondered what had happened to me.

That wasn't the first time my dad was upset with me concerning picking me up or taking me to the airport.
I once flew home from South Carolina for Christmas on short notice and could only book a flight to Toledo, not Detroit.
Dad was to drive there to pick me up.
Except the heavy snowstorm that closed Toledo diverted our plane to Detroit!
Dad drove for hours through a blizzard to the Toledo airport only to find I was in Detroit.
Dad was a highly intelligent guy, but it still took him a couple days to calm down and understand that I couldn't book to Detroit in the first place.
My sister picked me up. 10 minute drive from her house to Detroit Metro. :)

I spent one Christmas in a hotel in Nurberg one year. What a pretty town that was. That's the one where the Nurburgring race track is (drove that!).

My team was working on a mountaintop nearby.
We bought roller skates in town and built skateboards out of crate boards.
Skateboarded down that hill into town. The locals were amazed. I don't think they had ever seen a skateboard.
I took a turn too fast and slammed into the side of a parked bus. Fun times.

 

Spent one Christmas Eve with friends in Il Duomo in Florence at Midnight Mass in an attempt to get warm. The Oil Embargo caused a lot of hotels to turn off the heat.

I was deployed to a lot of nice places, but those places were far from home and family.
For all the happy memories, I remember the feeling of wanting to be with family and loved ones.

May God comfort our troops and protect them from our enemies and from depression and loneliness and return them safely to their families and loved ones.

Merry Christmas!

Normandy

On this day in 1944, my Dad, Nate Weiser and a lot of other guys visited Europe.
With guns.
To set her free from invaders who had subjugated her.
Today, they invite invaders to subjugate them.
What a shame.

Syria

This is how I explained it to Scherie.
When someone launches one missile, not to mention 59 others, at your sovereign soil, you typically consider it an act of war.
It doesn't matter whether the aggressor intends to invade or occupy or attack again.
It is an act of war.

Now, strict Constitutionalists, this is what the document says,

Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the U.S. Constitution

The Congress shall have Power .....
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

Something may make you feel proud to be an American, thrilled to see a decisive President and justified to punish a war criminal.

But it is still wrong as defined by the U.S. Constitution.

Right?

And regarding Syria...

https://www.spreaker.com/user/gmwellings/the-drift-radio-show-april-8-2017

A Day That will Live in Infamy

I posted much of this before.

You may have missed it, so It's easy (lazy) enough to cut and paste.

The following is excerpted from a letter I transcribed for my friend Nate Weiser to a high school class that had asked him to relate his Pearl Harbor experience on Dec 7th, 1941.

Nate had a degree in education with a sports career and had worked his way through college in the depression.
His military career was somewhat unique in that he was both at Pearl and Normandy.

His commander at Pearl had given him permission to forgo mess duties as he pursued radio courses at the local college in Honolulu.
The mess sergeant saw Nate as a slacker for that. When the dishes rattled in the following story, he came out roaring at Nate for dropping them.

Nate and his two friends had been on a date the night before with some nurses.
He was stationed at Pearl in the Army Air Force and he was in radio.

My two friends and I were going to visit a friend later in the day who was in the Navy, and in Pearl Harbor for a short stay. We were in the Mess Hall around 7:50am Sunday morning. We were waiting in line for our Super Sunday Breakfast before we would go to see our friend when around 8:00am, give or take a few minutes, we heard a large noise that shook the building, and all the stacks of dishes that were on the table fell to the floor. The Mess Sergeant came out and was cussing everyone out. Right then, the second bomb fell and the table plus the food went crashing to the floor. I ran to the door and saw the Japanese Insignia on the aircraft and said to Don and Merrill, "Why are the Japanese planes here? This could be war!"
The planes were strafing all over the area. We were going to hide under the warehouse building next to the Mess Hall, but "Indian Joe", a WW1 veteran told us to get going and try to go to the Residential Area, and go in between the buildings so we wouldn't get hit. We saw the Number 1 hangar on the runway in flames. Half of it was full of ammunition (rumor had it that we were going to Wake Island in a very short time). They hit that hangar first, they knew what was in it. The planes on the ramp were tail to tail, all they did was strafe down the line and get two planes at a time. The reason they were tail to tail was so every Saturday morning the post could march in front of the commander before we had the weekend free. It was a miserable sight to see with us running for our lives. The planes flew so low that you could see some of the pilots red scarves and goggles. That sight I will never forget.
We finally got to the Residential Area and I went into one of the homes near Schofield Barracks. A sergeant lived there and had a couple of children. He told us to stay for a while and then go back to our base for instructions. It was thought that the Japanese might land and try to take the island over. The sergeant would get his company and go up into the mountains, and if the Japanese did invade, he told his wife what to do. We went back to the barracks, and each one of us got a .45 and a belt full of ammo. The second wave of planes was not as great as the first, but that evening it started to rain. The captain called us in his portable quarters and gave us a box about 8' long, 6" wide and 4 or 5" high. He told us that in case of emergency, this would be our only communications between our squadron and Honolulu, so guard it with all our might. It was a transmitter and receiver, all in one! We were to be sure to let him know where we were at all times. We decided to head toward the mountain, but not too far from the runway, near the captain, and hid in case of invasion, but where the planes would not strafe us. Little did we realize that the water off the mountain (it being a very rainy night) would fill our foxhole. We had a very uncomfortable couple of nights. We were very happy to learn after a couple of days that there would be no invasion by the Japanese. All islands were in blackout nights from here on in. By 1943 I was a Staff Sergeant and I and two other Sgts were sent back to the States to go to OCS. (Nate was to be an officer but declined. Also, his two friends died in the attack). After one and a half months, I asked to be sent back to the Air Force.
I was then assigned to Jefferson Barracks in St.. Louis. From there I was assigned to Richmond, Va with the 365th Fighter Bomber Group, 386th Squadron . I was a Tech Sgt and communication chief for P-47 Thunderbolts in the 9th Air Force. We got an all expenses paid tour of Europe.

Nate got the Bronze Star in Europe. it was an award for an idea he had for aircraft radio that allowed them to turn around and get back in the fight quicker in the event of radio failure.
His friends from the night before didn't make it through Dec 7th.

We celebrated his 99th birthday Dec 5th, 2015.
He would have been 100 a couple days ago, had he not passed last week.
In case you don't know, I'm proud to have called him my friend.

A Great Man Has Passed

I've posted almost every year, on Dec 7th, about my friend Nate.

This is a link to the last.

Nate would have been 100 this Dec 3rd and we had a party planned for him.
We had every reason to believe he'd be there.

He saw Pearl Harbor, Normandy, Bastogne and received the Bronze Star.
He married his beautiful bride Norma who he met during the war and they came to Michigan and started Weiser Iron and Metal.

Scherie went to work for him 30 years ago and introduced us.
Before I met Scherie, he took our son Scott under his wing, helping Scherie raise him.

Nate and I (and Norma) became good friends.
He was wise counsel to me. He used to joke that he had adopted me.
I told him I wouldn't contest the will.

He was a blessing to those who knew him and many more who didn't.
He served in the Rotary of Wayne, Michigan for most of his life, guiding projects that benefited many.
Norma and his family could use your prayers.
So could Scherie. This has hit her hard.

Nate and our son Scott

On This Day in History

Hmmmm, I just remembered that on this day in 1944, my Dad, my friend Nate Weiser and a few other guys went for a day at the beach and eventually saved Europe from the grip of National Socialism.

Joe (Hoosierboy.blogspot.com) also points out that it is the anniversary of Midway.