Reading and listening to Dr. King's speech this morning, the day in which we celebrate as a national holiday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, my eyes are moist with welling tears. Thank God for that inspired man. Thank God for the end of segregation and damnable racism.
Sadly, there still are prejudices and unkindness. About three weeks ago I sat with a trusted black friend of mine who told me how hurtful it was to him that a white man came up to him and said, "I've never liked your kind, but you're not so bad." My friend, nearly in tears himself, asked rhetorically, "And that was somehow supposed to be a compliment?" Fortunately, my friend had more love and diplomacy than the ignorant white fellow who either intentionally or unintentionally berated him.
May we always remember to not judge others by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination... One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.
...We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only"... No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
...Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." ...
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, ...little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith... With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."...
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
Monday, January 16, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
"Restrain the Excess of Lawmaking"
While reading Alexander Hamilton's words in The Federalist Papers this evening (no. 73), I ran across these brilliant words: "...restrain the excess of lawmaking."
In this presidential election year, my hope is that so many things can change for the better. I would like to see term limits in both the House and the Senate. I would like to see those elected officials, as well as the POTUS, fix our $15 trillion national deficit. It's well past time to not only balance the budget but to pay off debt. We need leaders who won't apologize for doing the hard thing. If we don't seriously cut wasteful spending and abolish useless and unnecessary government programs and entities (e.g. U.S. Department of Education), there will come a time, I'm afraid, when we will lose our freedoms. We will be indebted to foreign power and to those whom we owe debt to as a nation.
I fear that unless we stop the terrible, fiscally irresponsible pathway we are on that there will be cities and counties and even states within the union that will go bankrupt. Bankruptcy and bailouts cripple the people. Indebtedness makes slaves of you and me. I dare not think of what crises will occur and what systems, laws and socio-political impacts should occur if a city or county folds to the state or if a state becomes helpless and owned by the federal government. Sadly, this political and geographical bankruptcy has begun; it started just a few short weeks ago.
We need restoration of American principles--principles upon which this government and this blessed land were founded upon. Americans should have a choice of healthcare and liberty. The government must be smaller. We must go back to our roots: The Constitution. We need less making of complex laws and more responsibility. We need a strong military. We need a less complicated tax system. We need to have Americans want to keep jobs in America, not run to, say, Ireland to establish headquarters for their multi-billion dollar companies because of the low taxes in Ireland. We need to have headquarters in lands all across the United States with no government interference. We need American's who will work and we need work here in America--not Mexico, not India, not China.
We need to drastically change the welfare program from a free dole. We need to restore America or we will, by and by, lose our freedoms and liberties that Revolutionaries fought and died to establish and preserve.
We need to give; we need to help our families and our neighbors. We will have to take lessons from the Polynesian and Asian cultures by taking care of our elderly mothers and fathers. The day will soon come when hundreds of thousands of men and women will not have any retirement...or any social security funds. We need law makers and a national Executive who will not make promises they or the American people cannot keep.
We owe it to ourselves and to our posterity.
In this presidential election year, my hope is that so many things can change for the better. I would like to see term limits in both the House and the Senate. I would like to see those elected officials, as well as the POTUS, fix our $15 trillion national deficit. It's well past time to not only balance the budget but to pay off debt. We need leaders who won't apologize for doing the hard thing. If we don't seriously cut wasteful spending and abolish useless and unnecessary government programs and entities (e.g. U.S. Department of Education), there will come a time, I'm afraid, when we will lose our freedoms. We will be indebted to foreign power and to those whom we owe debt to as a nation.
I fear that unless we stop the terrible, fiscally irresponsible pathway we are on that there will be cities and counties and even states within the union that will go bankrupt. Bankruptcy and bailouts cripple the people. Indebtedness makes slaves of you and me. I dare not think of what crises will occur and what systems, laws and socio-political impacts should occur if a city or county folds to the state or if a state becomes helpless and owned by the federal government. Sadly, this political and geographical bankruptcy has begun; it started just a few short weeks ago.
We need restoration of American principles--principles upon which this government and this blessed land were founded upon. Americans should have a choice of healthcare and liberty. The government must be smaller. We must go back to our roots: The Constitution. We need less making of complex laws and more responsibility. We need a strong military. We need a less complicated tax system. We need to have Americans want to keep jobs in America, not run to, say, Ireland to establish headquarters for their multi-billion dollar companies because of the low taxes in Ireland. We need to have headquarters in lands all across the United States with no government interference. We need American's who will work and we need work here in America--not Mexico, not India, not China.
We need to drastically change the welfare program from a free dole. We need to restore America or we will, by and by, lose our freedoms and liberties that Revolutionaries fought and died to establish and preserve.
We need to give; we need to help our families and our neighbors. We will have to take lessons from the Polynesian and Asian cultures by taking care of our elderly mothers and fathers. The day will soon come when hundreds of thousands of men and women will not have any retirement...or any social security funds. We need law makers and a national Executive who will not make promises they or the American people cannot keep.
We owe it to ourselves and to our posterity.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
TACTICAL TRAINING TIPS: KEY POINTS FOR INSTRUCTORS & SHOOTERS
My latest article published with Action Target's newsletter today.
http://www.actiontarget.com/tactical-training-tips-key-points-for-instructors-shooters/
BY JEFFREY DENNING
Editor’s Note: The views in this article are the author’s own and don’t necessarily represent those of Action Target, Inc.
Action Target hosted their 20th Law Enforcement Training Camp earlier this year. While pondering some of the unfortunate recent tragedies that have struck the law enforcement community nationwide—including a higher percentage of lethal attacks against police officers as well as the accidental shooting death of a 24-year-old corrections officer—I thought I’d offer some tactical tips to law enforcement training instructors.
Now, although this piece mentions officers and may be geared towards law enforcement in general, all the points can most definitely apply to the tactical shooting community as a whole. Here’s my advice:
Repetition is the law of learning. The more students accurately perform a variety of techniques, the more comfortable they will become. Tactical training drills allow officers to develop individual skill and assist in building muscle memory.
Muscle memory is a kinesthetic phenomenon whereby specific muscular patterns and movements become ingrained. When movements are repeated over and over, eventually these movements can be performed without conscious effort.
Under such extreme stress, cognitive ability is diminished and thought process is narrowed acutely. When facing the stress of lethal confrontation, officers should not have to think about basic weapons manipulation or marksmanship fundamentals; if they have to think about these basic fundamentals under stress, their chances for losing increase.
On the other hand, regular practice and difficult, realistic, and challenging drills will increase survivability. Repetitive training, therefore, is vitally important when considering survival and life-saving tactical techniques.
As with any type of improvement, officers can never increase their ability unless they fail on occasion. No person can develop unless they try something new and push themselves to the limits. Failure or imperfection on a specific technique or drill is likely to occur. The idea is to have officers meet successes. Small improvements provide satisfaction which, in turn, buoys individual esteem and maintains interest and encourages persistence.
As a training instructor, here are some of the key points to remember during every range training opportunity or any tactical firearms training period.
1) Individuals that are considered “experts” in their chosen field are extremely good at the fundamentals. Focusing on the basics is a positive thing. On occasion, give students something fun too. No one wants to be bored at the range.
2) When training, it is important to remember the end goal: preparing for lethal confrontations. In order to maximize training, (a) the individual shooter should envision that each and every shot during the tactical evolution is, in reality, a lethal force situation; and (b) trainers should mimic real world events. For instance, in my last custom tailored Patrol Rifle Course, I had police officers wear the same Active Shooter go-bag that they carry in their squad cars. I had them reload from that pouch. The feedback was positive, mostly because the training mimicked real circumstances. In short, train as you fight. Don’t say, “In reality we’d do this but we’re not going to train like that.” That’s cheating yourself and your team of valuable training! Cheating or foregoing reality will get someone hurt or killed in the long run.
3) Give students several tools to fill up their tactical toolbox, but focus on what will work best. Remember, it’s not a good tactic if it doesn’t work well (a) on the move, (b) in low-light, or (c) under stress.
4) Start out slowly. Speed will come in time. Or, perhaps once you’ve done some drills at full speed, slow down to quarter or half speed until techniques are perfected, then speed back up.
5) Weapons handling skills can increase dramatically without ever shooting a single round. Dry and/or dummy round training periods are extremely helpful and are all too often overlooked. The nice thing about that is the price is right. With the budget crunch, remember, weapons handling skills doesn’t mean you have to shoot a lot of rounds. In fact, dummy rounds work wonders.
6) Firearms are inherently dangerous. Safety briefings and safety are occasionally thought of as the same thing; we’ve said it and we’ve heard it said a thousand times. Unfortunately, it’s under that premise when accidents happen. Don’t think it will never happen here. Creating an atmosphere where everyone’s comfortable enough to say, “Watch your muzzle” or “Get your finger off the trigger,” is essential. No egos among the instructors or the students. Remember, always keep safety first.
Use these tips for a safer, and more effective, training environment and continue to hone your skills and keep adding to your tactical toolbox.
ABOUT JEFFREY DENNING
Jeffrey Denning is a former SWAT team leader, security contractor, undercover Federal Air Marshal, and Iraqi War Vet. He is the founder of Warrior SOS and writes tactical articles for Guns.com.
Sign up for Action Target's newsletter today!
http://www.actiontarget.com/tactical-training-tips-key-points-for-instructors-shooters/
BY JEFFREY DENNING
Editor’s Note: The views in this article are the author’s own and don’t necessarily represent those of Action Target, Inc.
Action Target hosted their 20th Law Enforcement Training Camp earlier this year. While pondering some of the unfortunate recent tragedies that have struck the law enforcement community nationwide—including a higher percentage of lethal attacks against police officers as well as the accidental shooting death of a 24-year-old corrections officer—I thought I’d offer some tactical tips to law enforcement training instructors.
GBI Investigates Probation Officer's Death: MyFoxATLANTA.com
Now, although this piece mentions officers and may be geared towards law enforcement in general, all the points can most definitely apply to the tactical shooting community as a whole. Here’s my advice:
Repetition is the law of learning. The more students accurately perform a variety of techniques, the more comfortable they will become. Tactical training drills allow officers to develop individual skill and assist in building muscle memory.
Muscle memory is a kinesthetic phenomenon whereby specific muscular patterns and movements become ingrained. When movements are repeated over and over, eventually these movements can be performed without conscious effort.
Under such extreme stress, cognitive ability is diminished and thought process is narrowed acutely. When facing the stress of lethal confrontation, officers should not have to think about basic weapons manipulation or marksmanship fundamentals; if they have to think about these basic fundamentals under stress, their chances for losing increase.
On the other hand, regular practice and difficult, realistic, and challenging drills will increase survivability. Repetitive training, therefore, is vitally important when considering survival and life-saving tactical techniques.
As with any type of improvement, officers can never increase their ability unless they fail on occasion. No person can develop unless they try something new and push themselves to the limits. Failure or imperfection on a specific technique or drill is likely to occur. The idea is to have officers meet successes. Small improvements provide satisfaction which, in turn, buoys individual esteem and maintains interest and encourages persistence.
As a training instructor, here are some of the key points to remember during every range training opportunity or any tactical firearms training period.
1) Individuals that are considered “experts” in their chosen field are extremely good at the fundamentals. Focusing on the basics is a positive thing. On occasion, give students something fun too. No one wants to be bored at the range.
2) When training, it is important to remember the end goal: preparing for lethal confrontations. In order to maximize training, (a) the individual shooter should envision that each and every shot during the tactical evolution is, in reality, a lethal force situation; and (b) trainers should mimic real world events. For instance, in my last custom tailored Patrol Rifle Course, I had police officers wear the same Active Shooter go-bag that they carry in their squad cars. I had them reload from that pouch. The feedback was positive, mostly because the training mimicked real circumstances. In short, train as you fight. Don’t say, “In reality we’d do this but we’re not going to train like that.” That’s cheating yourself and your team of valuable training! Cheating or foregoing reality will get someone hurt or killed in the long run.
3) Give students several tools to fill up their tactical toolbox, but focus on what will work best. Remember, it’s not a good tactic if it doesn’t work well (a) on the move, (b) in low-light, or (c) under stress.
4) Start out slowly. Speed will come in time. Or, perhaps once you’ve done some drills at full speed, slow down to quarter or half speed until techniques are perfected, then speed back up.
5) Weapons handling skills can increase dramatically without ever shooting a single round. Dry and/or dummy round training periods are extremely helpful and are all too often overlooked. The nice thing about that is the price is right. With the budget crunch, remember, weapons handling skills doesn’t mean you have to shoot a lot of rounds. In fact, dummy rounds work wonders.
6) Firearms are inherently dangerous. Safety briefings and safety are occasionally thought of as the same thing; we’ve said it and we’ve heard it said a thousand times. Unfortunately, it’s under that premise when accidents happen. Don’t think it will never happen here. Creating an atmosphere where everyone’s comfortable enough to say, “Watch your muzzle” or “Get your finger off the trigger,” is essential. No egos among the instructors or the students. Remember, always keep safety first.
Use these tips for a safer, and more effective, training environment and continue to hone your skills and keep adding to your tactical toolbox.
ABOUT JEFFREY DENNING
Jeffrey Denning is a former SWAT team leader, security contractor, undercover Federal Air Marshal, and Iraqi War Vet. He is the founder of Warrior SOS and writes tactical articles for Guns.com.
Sign up for Action Target's newsletter today!
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Controlled Pairs, Double Taps, or 6-Shot Rhythm
This article of mine was posted on Action Target -- great guys, great products.
http://www.actiontarget.com/controlled-pairs-double-taps-or-6-shot-rhythm/
The phrase “The shot heard around the world” refers to the single gunshot that began the battle of Lexington and Concord of the American Revolutionary War. In historic times, rifles could only shoot one round at a time. As time progressed, John Moses Browning and other inspired gunsmiths drastically changed the weapons in modern gun fighting by designing firearms capable of semi- and fully-automatic shooting. Today however, most shooters and firearms trainers continue shooting only two rounds at a time.
This type of culture asks the questions: Why and how did this phenomenon occur, and secondly, why pause in the middle of a gun fight? How is it that we’ve arrived at this point? Does it matter? This two-shot-only practice has been around for decades.
We’ve programmed ourselves to let the majority of our multiple shot drills be only controlled pairs or double taps-hammers accelerated pairs. Why? Examining the history of this trend is not as important as outlining the pros and cons and what we should do to improve, right?
So here it goes.
The usual tactical axiom states, “One hit is better than ten misses.” Which means, two shots are better than one, but why not three, four, or five shots?
Many people have survived getting shot multiple times. The cliché “one shot, one kill” should be discarded from the war-fighter lexicon. This is especially the case for gun rounds, but also true with most every caliber of long gun used for close-quarters engagements.
So, how can we change our thinking and training?
Utilizing Action Target’s innovative Pepper Popper target is a great place to start. This target allows a shooter to shoot three, four, or even five shots as quickly as possible before the target falls. Adjusting the tension allows you to make the most of every shot as you train. Since most engagements are close in range, place this target within the distance Action Target recommends to ensure a realistic handgun training scenario.
For long guns training, try the new RTS Self-Healing Reactive Target . It is important to keep your shots fast, your groups tight, and have good balance with an aggressive stance as you fire three, four, or more shots at a time. Training with the RTS Self-Healing Reactive Target is a fun experience that mimics how many rounds you should take in real-world lethal encounters.
One of the most enjoyable drills for me personally is a six-shot rhythm drill with my handgun. I use paper targets on my AT Hold target stands, and attempt really tight shot groups as rapidly as I can. Usually, I practice from 5-7 yards.
When using iron sights, try to get a flash-sight picture—where the front sight isn’t in perfect alignment, but slightly bobbles around in the rear sight. If you’re close enough to the target and have a smooth trigger, you’ll hit your target. Also, when you’re doing these drills, shoot as fast as you can.
We have come a long way since the ancient wars of the past. We must remember that if we want to win—keep shooting. The briefest remedy to survive and win any gunfight is to shoot faster and more accurately than the threat(s).
Until next time, continue to hone your skills and keep adding to your tactical toolbox.
ABOUT JEFFREY DENNING
Jeffrey Denning is a former SWAT team leader, security contractor, undercover Federal Air Marshal, and Iraqi War Vet. He is the founder of Warrior SOS and writes tactical articles for Guns.com.
http://www.actiontarget.com/controlled-pairs-double-taps-or-6-shot-rhythm/
The phrase “The shot heard around the world” refers to the single gunshot that began the battle of Lexington and Concord of the American Revolutionary War. In historic times, rifles could only shoot one round at a time. As time progressed, John Moses Browning and other inspired gunsmiths drastically changed the weapons in modern gun fighting by designing firearms capable of semi- and fully-automatic shooting. Today however, most shooters and firearms trainers continue shooting only two rounds at a time.
This type of culture asks the questions: Why and how did this phenomenon occur, and secondly, why pause in the middle of a gun fight? How is it that we’ve arrived at this point? Does it matter? This two-shot-only practice has been around for decades.
We’ve programmed ourselves to let the majority of our multiple shot drills be only controlled pairs or double taps-hammers accelerated pairs. Why? Examining the history of this trend is not as important as outlining the pros and cons and what we should do to improve, right?
So here it goes.
The usual tactical axiom states, “One hit is better than ten misses.” Which means, two shots are better than one, but why not three, four, or five shots?
Many people have survived getting shot multiple times. The cliché “one shot, one kill” should be discarded from the war-fighter lexicon. This is especially the case for gun rounds, but also true with most every caliber of long gun used for close-quarters engagements.
So, how can we change our thinking and training?
Utilizing Action Target’s innovative Pepper Popper target is a great place to start. This target allows a shooter to shoot three, four, or even five shots as quickly as possible before the target falls. Adjusting the tension allows you to make the most of every shot as you train. Since most engagements are close in range, place this target within the distance Action Target recommends to ensure a realistic handgun training scenario.
For long guns training, try the new RTS Self-Healing Reactive Target . It is important to keep your shots fast, your groups tight, and have good balance with an aggressive stance as you fire three, four, or more shots at a time. Training with the RTS Self-Healing Reactive Target is a fun experience that mimics how many rounds you should take in real-world lethal encounters.
One of the most enjoyable drills for me personally is a six-shot rhythm drill with my handgun. I use paper targets on my AT Hold target stands, and attempt really tight shot groups as rapidly as I can. Usually, I practice from 5-7 yards.
When using iron sights, try to get a flash-sight picture—where the front sight isn’t in perfect alignment, but slightly bobbles around in the rear sight. If you’re close enough to the target and have a smooth trigger, you’ll hit your target. Also, when you’re doing these drills, shoot as fast as you can.
We have come a long way since the ancient wars of the past. We must remember that if we want to win—keep shooting. The briefest remedy to survive and win any gunfight is to shoot faster and more accurately than the threat(s).
Until next time, continue to hone your skills and keep adding to your tactical toolbox.
ABOUT JEFFREY DENNING
Jeffrey Denning is a former SWAT team leader, security contractor, undercover Federal Air Marshal, and Iraqi War Vet. He is the founder of Warrior SOS and writes tactical articles for Guns.com.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Just a Teacher?
Here's an old article I wrote when I blogged for the Washington Times. I stumbled across it today.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/aviation-security/2008/jul/12/just-a-teacher-going-home/
By Jeffrey Denning
It’s been just over one month since I came home from a year-long deployment to Iraq with the U.S. Army Reserves. Spending time with my wife and children is absolutely, well, celestial. But eventually work called. This time, I had to travel out of town briefly, which required a trip to the airport.
Often we, as a society at war, forget to pay tribute to the spouses and family members of those who serve our country. My wife suffered right along with me and she deserves medals, plaudits and awards for her courage and commitment to me and to America.
I wasn’t there to help her with the kids, the dog, the overflowing sewage, or the broken fridge and water heater. I wasn’t there to help with the dishes or the dirty diapers. I wasn’t there to tuck the kids into bed each night or to comfort them when their classmates said I was going to die in Iraq. I wasn’t there to comfort my wife during the three out-patient surgeries, or when she raised the children alone and took them to church by herself each week
When I left, our youngest couldn’t say ‘Daddy.’ When I returned, she could sing songs and speak in full sentences.
So, when my incredible wife called this week in a panic about my accident prone son who had gotten injured badly, I wanted to do everything I could to come home to help out. The kids need me; my wife needs me, and I need them.
In the midst of trying to get home I had one giant obstacle to overcome –– the airport.
It seems like nothing goes right at the airport when your really in a hurry to get home. After having my flight delayed and then cancelled, I was rebooked and cancelled and rebooked again. Then I was delayed and cancelled again on another air carrier. Those who’ve been there know I’m not exaggerating.
After waiting several more hours, the flight home was cancelled once again. While waiting in a meandering line full of angry passengers trying to get booked on the very last flight of the evening, one irate passenger hollered at the airline customer service rep. I thought I might write about adult temper tantrums in airports. Supermodel Naomi Campbell reportedly spit, cussed at and fought with London’s Metropolitan Police, for instance, when she got yanked off a plane by them not long ago.
While wondering what I might write about for future posts, I struck up a conversation with a woman standing in line with me. Soon, a friendly conversation began. Her name was Helen.
Well Helen told me that she needed to get on that final flight out, to take care of her mother who suffers from Alzheimer’s. Helen had an appointment early the next morning with several people, including representatives from the hospice, who she anticipated taking care of her mother. I silently thought to myself that if the last seat on the last flight of the day were between she and I, I’d let her take it. I could wait until morning to fly home, as I didn’t have a pressing appointment.
In casual conversation, I mentioned that I had just recently returned home from serving in Iraq. Helen’s expression went rapidly to somber and sincere. She offered her hand to me, and with the most sincere kindness and gratitude she thanked me enthusiastically. Tears began to build in her eyes as she told me thank you repeatedly.
Helen said that I was the first person she had ever met who had served in Iraq. Shaking my hand vigorously, thanking me lavishly, she said that I definitely needed to get home to my wife and children. With overwhelming kindness she practically shoved me into the line in front of her. I only accepted her offer after she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“What do you do?” I asked her.
“Oh, I’m just a teacher,” she stated nonchalantly.
“Just a teacher? Just?” I paused for effect. “The job you have is incredible. I can’t thank you enough,” I said passionately, putting my hand over my heart. She went on to explain that she teaches first grade. I thought of my son and daughter and their elementary school classes.
Helen and I exchanged a few more brief words then departed. Fortunately, merely by coincidence, she was able to get booked on that last flight out and I was rebooked for a morning flight.
I felt so honored that a total stranger—a teacher—would offer up her seat not to me, per se, but to a mere stranger who had served in Iraq.
Nostalgically, I recalled my elementary school teacher. One in particular I remember: Mrs. Talbot. It was in her Second Grade class where I stood with my hand over my heart, staring inquisitively at Old Glory, and the beautiful stars and red and white flowing stripes, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
I’m proud to know that there are still teachers, mothers, and passengers of all kinds flying on airplanes, who would voluntarily give before taking, and whose examples of goodness and kindness is not only contagious towards me, but to the next generation.
The safety and security of any civilized and decent society rests in the bosom of those who love and give without expecting anything in return—who want freedom and would fight to defend it, as a mother would for her child.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/aviation-security/2008/jul/12/just-a-teacher-going-home/
By Jeffrey Denning
It’s been just over one month since I came home from a year-long deployment to Iraq with the U.S. Army Reserves. Spending time with my wife and children is absolutely, well, celestial. But eventually work called. This time, I had to travel out of town briefly, which required a trip to the airport.
Often we, as a society at war, forget to pay tribute to the spouses and family members of those who serve our country. My wife suffered right along with me and she deserves medals, plaudits and awards for her courage and commitment to me and to America.
I wasn’t there to help her with the kids, the dog, the overflowing sewage, or the broken fridge and water heater. I wasn’t there to help with the dishes or the dirty diapers. I wasn’t there to tuck the kids into bed each night or to comfort them when their classmates said I was going to die in Iraq. I wasn’t there to comfort my wife during the three out-patient surgeries, or when she raised the children alone and took them to church by herself each week
When I left, our youngest couldn’t say ‘Daddy.’ When I returned, she could sing songs and speak in full sentences.
So, when my incredible wife called this week in a panic about my accident prone son who had gotten injured badly, I wanted to do everything I could to come home to help out. The kids need me; my wife needs me, and I need them.
In the midst of trying to get home I had one giant obstacle to overcome –– the airport.
It seems like nothing goes right at the airport when your really in a hurry to get home. After having my flight delayed and then cancelled, I was rebooked and cancelled and rebooked again. Then I was delayed and cancelled again on another air carrier. Those who’ve been there know I’m not exaggerating.
After waiting several more hours, the flight home was cancelled once again. While waiting in a meandering line full of angry passengers trying to get booked on the very last flight of the evening, one irate passenger hollered at the airline customer service rep. I thought I might write about adult temper tantrums in airports. Supermodel Naomi Campbell reportedly spit, cussed at and fought with London’s Metropolitan Police, for instance, when she got yanked off a plane by them not long ago.
While wondering what I might write about for future posts, I struck up a conversation with a woman standing in line with me. Soon, a friendly conversation began. Her name was Helen.
Well Helen told me that she needed to get on that final flight out, to take care of her mother who suffers from Alzheimer’s. Helen had an appointment early the next morning with several people, including representatives from the hospice, who she anticipated taking care of her mother. I silently thought to myself that if the last seat on the last flight of the day were between she and I, I’d let her take it. I could wait until morning to fly home, as I didn’t have a pressing appointment.
In casual conversation, I mentioned that I had just recently returned home from serving in Iraq. Helen’s expression went rapidly to somber and sincere. She offered her hand to me, and with the most sincere kindness and gratitude she thanked me enthusiastically. Tears began to build in her eyes as she told me thank you repeatedly.
Helen said that I was the first person she had ever met who had served in Iraq. Shaking my hand vigorously, thanking me lavishly, she said that I definitely needed to get home to my wife and children. With overwhelming kindness she practically shoved me into the line in front of her. I only accepted her offer after she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“What do you do?” I asked her.
“Oh, I’m just a teacher,” she stated nonchalantly.
“Just a teacher? Just?” I paused for effect. “The job you have is incredible. I can’t thank you enough,” I said passionately, putting my hand over my heart. She went on to explain that she teaches first grade. I thought of my son and daughter and their elementary school classes.
Helen and I exchanged a few more brief words then departed. Fortunately, merely by coincidence, she was able to get booked on that last flight out and I was rebooked for a morning flight.
I felt so honored that a total stranger—a teacher—would offer up her seat not to me, per se, but to a mere stranger who had served in Iraq.
Nostalgically, I recalled my elementary school teacher. One in particular I remember: Mrs. Talbot. It was in her Second Grade class where I stood with my hand over my heart, staring inquisitively at Old Glory, and the beautiful stars and red and white flowing stripes, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
I’m proud to know that there are still teachers, mothers, and passengers of all kinds flying on airplanes, who would voluntarily give before taking, and whose examples of goodness and kindness is not only contagious towards me, but to the next generation.
The safety and security of any civilized and decent society rests in the bosom of those who love and give without expecting anything in return—who want freedom and would fight to defend it, as a mother would for her child.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
About me
I'm the founder of a non-profit organization, a former Federal Air Marshal and Iraqi War Vet, and I'm a MORMON.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Marine Iraqi War Vet & Police Officer Goes Public, Admitting PTSD
The name Warrior SOS came about after I received a brief text message from my long time friend and warrior-buddy, J.P. Villont. He sent a note, an SOS. SOS is an international distress signal. In morse code it is: ... --- ...
S.O.S. is the clarion call for H-E-L-P!
Upon getting JP’s message, I immediately called him. I asked him if he had thought about suicide or had thought about killing himself. Many years ago, in FBI Crisis Negotiation school, I learned that asking someone if they’re thinking about suicide won’t put the idea in their mind; they won’t do it if you ask, in other words. I also learned that sometimes people do not equate suicide with killing themselves, and vice versa, so I began a habit to ask both questions if I sensed any distressing signals appertaining to such a total and complete despair.
Thankfully, with the help of J.P.’s loving and supportive wife, and caring counselors at the VA, he’s been able to get help and healing. Often signs of Post Traumatic Stress and other combat related emotional frustrations, come in the way of fits of anger. J.P. is no exception. Recognizing and admitting there’s a problem is the first step. There are many people willing and anxious to help.
As a personal note to J.P., I simply wish to say: I sure love you, brother. Keep the faith! Fight the good fight. You’re a good man.
Warrior SOS also wishes to thank retired Delta Force Commander, DALTON FURY (DaltonFury.com), for signing a copy of his NY Times’ best-selling book, Kill Bin Laden for J.P. Villont. (As a side note, any readers should definitely be sure to check out Dalton's new fictional Delta Force Novel, Black Site.
Once again, Warrior SOS applauds the great courage of J.P. and his wife Lisa for going public, and agreeing to be interviewed with Stars & Stripes, a military newspaper. By courageously going public to discuss difficult, personal heartaches and heartbreaks surrounding PTSD, hundreds - if not thousands - of military veterans and their family members will likewise find the courage to seek help; others in similar circumstances will be comforted by the fact that they are not alone.
A portion of the article/interview, follows:
JP Villont’s Story as Reported by Stars & Stripes
Story by Matthew M. Burke, Stars & Stripes, published Sept. 23, 2011
http://www.stripes.com/social-media-bridging-gap-between-troubled-vets-and-treatment-1.155937
Marine Cpl. J.P. Villont returned from Iraq a broken man.
The married father of four was angry, paranoid, hyper-vigilant, aggressive and withdrawn — telltale signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Yet, for seven years, the former Marine was reluctant to seek help.
“Obviously I had PTSD and it was undiagnosed,” Villont, 40, said recently from his Phoenix home. “It’s a huge stigma, so I didn’t want to find that out. I pretended I didn’t have it for many years.”
Then, following a couple of violent outbursts, Villont finally contacted a few veterans facilities in Arizona. He was told he would have to wait months for treatment.
With seemingly nowhere to turn, his wife, Lisa, starting posting messages on the Wounded Warrior Project’s Facebook page.
“Its been over 7 years since my husband returned home from Iraq, just last week he finally decided to seek help for what we assume will be diagnosed as PTSD,” she wrote...
Lisa Villont is convinced that [a volunteer with the Wounded Warrior Project’s] actions helped save her husband’s life.
“I can tell you, there is little doubt in my mind that if we had not encountered WWP ... I would be a widow today,” Lisa Villont said.
“He absolutely, positively, would have found a way to kill himself.”
...Finding others with similar problems was the key for J.P. Villont.
In 2003, the infantryman was attached to the 1st Tank Battalion as a machine gunner during the invasion of Iraq. His unit fought its way through Basra, all the way to Baghdad.
“We were in direct combat with the Republican Guard — their tank battalion,” the soft-spoken Villont recalled. “I was with 60 tanks so we were rocking and rolling. I saw a lot of destruction.”
In the middle of his tour, he went on leave to be with his then-pregnant wife who required an emergency surgery in a California hospital.
He rode out of Baghdad with two body bags next to him.
Villont was supposed to have 10 days of leave before heading back to war. But, word came down that his unit had accomplished their mission and that he was no longer needed in Iraq.
“That was pretty surreal,” he said. “Like the Vietnam vets, I went directly from combat back into civilian life.”
He left the Marines and returned to his job in law enforcement.
Not long after, his troubles began.
First, he assaulted a neighbor who shot bottle rockets toward his home in the middle of the night; Villont said it triggered a flashback. He was later jailed for a morning after a domestic disturbance last year. which triggered a six-month investigation. He was cleared after no charges were filed. He was then allowed back to work.
Finally, he sought help but was unsuccessful, and his wife reached out to the web community.
After reading Lisa Villont’s postings, [Jennifer] Boyce, [with the Wounded Warrior Project] referred the couple to local services and a Project Odyssey retreat with fellow vets. The retreat offered outdoor activities and the companionship of fellow combat veterans, plus counselors.
At first, Villont resisted. But after talking with other vets, he decided to give it a shot.
“I didn’t want to sit around hugging each other singing ‘Kumbaya,’” he said. “But it was me and seven other vets. We clicked immediately. It was a breath of life.”
Now, J.P. Villont exchanges texts, calls, emails and Facebook messages with the other veterans he has met.
He uses social media to monitor legislation and find other outreach organizations, and he received a scholarship from the University of Phoenix to get a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling so he can help other veterans. Villont is retiring from his job as a highway patrolman at the Arizona Department of Public Safety due to injuries from an on-duty crash in March.
Although he is not cured, J.P. Villont no longer ruins family outings because of his outbursts. He’s learned he has certain “triggers” — his wife calls it his “Spidey” senses — and needs to stop before he reacts to them, to ask why he feels threatened. Villont just got out of a 24-day inpatient PTSD clinic in Tucson and is looking forward to starting school in October, thanks to the single post his wife made a few months ago.
“It’s been a pretty amazing asset,” Villont said. “You’re able to learn about this stuff from your computer. ... Once you start opening doors there is no end to this stuff.”
S.O.S. is the clarion call for H-E-L-P!
Upon getting JP’s message, I immediately called him. I asked him if he had thought about suicide or had thought about killing himself. Many years ago, in FBI Crisis Negotiation school, I learned that asking someone if they’re thinking about suicide won’t put the idea in their mind; they won’t do it if you ask, in other words. I also learned that sometimes people do not equate suicide with killing themselves, and vice versa, so I began a habit to ask both questions if I sensed any distressing signals appertaining to such a total and complete despair.
Thankfully, with the help of J.P.’s loving and supportive wife, and caring counselors at the VA, he’s been able to get help and healing. Often signs of Post Traumatic Stress and other combat related emotional frustrations, come in the way of fits of anger. J.P. is no exception. Recognizing and admitting there’s a problem is the first step. There are many people willing and anxious to help.
As a personal note to J.P., I simply wish to say: I sure love you, brother. Keep the faith! Fight the good fight. You’re a good man.
Warrior SOS also wishes to thank retired Delta Force Commander, DALTON FURY (DaltonFury.com), for signing a copy of his NY Times’ best-selling book, Kill Bin Laden for J.P. Villont. (As a side note, any readers should definitely be sure to check out Dalton's new fictional Delta Force Novel, Black Site.
Once again, Warrior SOS applauds the great courage of J.P. and his wife Lisa for going public, and agreeing to be interviewed with Stars & Stripes, a military newspaper. By courageously going public to discuss difficult, personal heartaches and heartbreaks surrounding PTSD, hundreds - if not thousands - of military veterans and their family members will likewise find the courage to seek help; others in similar circumstances will be comforted by the fact that they are not alone.
A portion of the article/interview, follows:
JP Villont’s Story as Reported by Stars & Stripes
Story by Matthew M. Burke, Stars & Stripes, published Sept. 23, 2011
http://www.stripes.com/social-media-bridging-gap-between-troubled-vets-and-treatment-1.155937
Marine Cpl. J.P. Villont returned from Iraq a broken man.
The married father of four was angry, paranoid, hyper-vigilant, aggressive and withdrawn — telltale signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Yet, for seven years, the former Marine was reluctant to seek help.
“Obviously I had PTSD and it was undiagnosed,” Villont, 40, said recently from his Phoenix home. “It’s a huge stigma, so I didn’t want to find that out. I pretended I didn’t have it for many years.”
Then, following a couple of violent outbursts, Villont finally contacted a few veterans facilities in Arizona. He was told he would have to wait months for treatment.
With seemingly nowhere to turn, his wife, Lisa, starting posting messages on the Wounded Warrior Project’s Facebook page.
“Its been over 7 years since my husband returned home from Iraq, just last week he finally decided to seek help for what we assume will be diagnosed as PTSD,” she wrote...
Lisa Villont is convinced that [a volunteer with the Wounded Warrior Project’s] actions helped save her husband’s life.
“I can tell you, there is little doubt in my mind that if we had not encountered WWP ... I would be a widow today,” Lisa Villont said.
“He absolutely, positively, would have found a way to kill himself.”
...Finding others with similar problems was the key for J.P. Villont.
In 2003, the infantryman was attached to the 1st Tank Battalion as a machine gunner during the invasion of Iraq. His unit fought its way through Basra, all the way to Baghdad.
“We were in direct combat with the Republican Guard — their tank battalion,” the soft-spoken Villont recalled. “I was with 60 tanks so we were rocking and rolling. I saw a lot of destruction.”
In the middle of his tour, he went on leave to be with his then-pregnant wife who required an emergency surgery in a California hospital.
He rode out of Baghdad with two body bags next to him.
Villont was supposed to have 10 days of leave before heading back to war. But, word came down that his unit had accomplished their mission and that he was no longer needed in Iraq.
“That was pretty surreal,” he said. “Like the Vietnam vets, I went directly from combat back into civilian life.”
He left the Marines and returned to his job in law enforcement.
Not long after, his troubles began.
First, he assaulted a neighbor who shot bottle rockets toward his home in the middle of the night; Villont said it triggered a flashback. He was later jailed for a morning after a domestic disturbance last year. which triggered a six-month investigation. He was cleared after no charges were filed. He was then allowed back to work.
Finally, he sought help but was unsuccessful, and his wife reached out to the web community.
After reading Lisa Villont’s postings, [Jennifer] Boyce, [with the Wounded Warrior Project] referred the couple to local services and a Project Odyssey retreat with fellow vets. The retreat offered outdoor activities and the companionship of fellow combat veterans, plus counselors.
At first, Villont resisted. But after talking with other vets, he decided to give it a shot.
“I didn’t want to sit around hugging each other singing ‘Kumbaya,’” he said. “But it was me and seven other vets. We clicked immediately. It was a breath of life.”
Now, J.P. Villont exchanges texts, calls, emails and Facebook messages with the other veterans he has met.
He uses social media to monitor legislation and find other outreach organizations, and he received a scholarship from the University of Phoenix to get a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling so he can help other veterans. Villont is retiring from his job as a highway patrolman at the Arizona Department of Public Safety due to injuries from an on-duty crash in March.
Although he is not cured, J.P. Villont no longer ruins family outings because of his outbursts. He’s learned he has certain “triggers” — his wife calls it his “Spidey” senses — and needs to stop before he reacts to them, to ask why he feels threatened. Villont just got out of a 24-day inpatient PTSD clinic in Tucson and is looking forward to starting school in October, thanks to the single post his wife made a few months ago.
“It’s been a pretty amazing asset,” Villont said. “You’re able to learn about this stuff from your computer. ... Once you start opening doors there is no end to this stuff.”
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Davis Brown - The Just War Tradition...Special Issue of the Journal of Military Ethics
The Just War Tradition and the Continuing Challenges to World Public Order, A Special Issue of the Journal of Military Ethics
Launching Speech Given on the Occasion of the Tenth Anniversaries of 9/11 and of JME
Davis Brown
Davis Brown at Norwegian Defense College
Davis Brown, Ph.D. (ABD), J.D., LL.M., is the founder and director of the Just War Theory Project with the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) and the author of The Sword, the Cross, and the Eagle:The American Christian Just War Tradition.
It was a Tuesday morning; warm and clear. After an unremarkable commute I stopped by the Pentagon to run some errands, then I continued to my office a quarter mile away. I was to spend the morning editing a policy brief by the Academic Council on the United Nations System on humanitarian intervention; and I had to get ready for a phone call to the Executive Director of ACUNS. We were preparing this document to present in New York in two months time, and I was going to be at that seminar in person. I had already resolved to finally have dinner at Windows On The World (the restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center), something I had long wanted to do.
Then a plane hit the North Tower, and I and my co-workers rushed to a television to see the news coverage. At first we all thought it was a freak accident. Then the room fell silent as we watched the chilling image of a second plane hitting the South Tower, and we all knew then that this was no accident.
In the meantime, life goes on, so I made my phone call on schedule. We made some small talk about the attack (as if anything about it could be regarded as “small”), then it was back to the mundane world of word-smithing and comma placement. In the middle of the call, I was jolted by a loud whoosh of a plane flying low and fast right right above us. Two seconds later, a thud, in the distance, but the explosion was big enough to shake the building.
I quickly ended my phone call and everyone went outside. A plume of black smoke rose in the direction of the Potomac River. Then someone exclaimed, “It’s the Pentagon!” and despite our disbelief at the events that were unfolding that morning, we all knew he was right. A little while later, we watched in horror as one of the Twin Towers collapsed, then the other. By then our shock had turned into the grim realization that we were probably going to war—never a pleasant thought when you’re in the military.
Two months later, I went to New York for that seminar. It was my first time back in seven years. And it wasn’t the same New York I had once lived in. The city was eerily subdued, the mood like that of a wounded lion. The site of the World Trade Center, once a place of rough-and-tumble commerce, now sacred ground. In sum, the events of ten years ago this Sunday were life-altering to the American national psyche, and I daresay to the international psyche as well.
On September 10th, the academy (of international law, at least) was still fighting the Kosovo War, which recently had exposed the tension between what uses of force are legal, and what are moral or even legitimate. But the attention span of the academy can be short, and after 9/11 nobody wanted to talk about humanitarian intervention anymore. In a way, this was understandable, since everybody thought at the time that 9/11 would change everything.
But as it turns out, 9/11 didn’t change everything. It did not pose any significant challenges to jus ad bellum or just war theory, at least not in and of itself. What 9/11 did do, was to set into motion a chain of events that a year and a half later did challenge jus ad bellum and just war theory. I speak of the doctrine of preemption, which was articulated first as a measure to prevent further catastrophic terrorist attacks, and later invoked as a justification for invading Iraq. And not only is the United States still fighting the Iraq War, but so is the academy.
Preemption is a problem for us, not necessarily because it’s the global superpower that has invoked it, but because of the dilemma for world public order that it poses. Preemptive self-defense would legitimize an attack on another state that has no immediate plans to attack it; it may have long-term plans to do so but may lack the capability or resolve to attack in the present. To allow such an exception to article 2(4) is to open Pandora’s Box. And yet, in an environment in which we struggle to keep chemical, biological, and God forbid nuclear weapons out of the wrong hands, the consequence of not allowing a preemptive attack may be to force a state to suffer a crippling first blow. Prohibiting anticipatory self-defense thus plays into the hands of the state with the original hostile animus—the state that is the real aggressor.
Meanwhile, the problem of humanitarian intervention, which everyone stopped talking about after 9/11, has not gone away. Now, it’s clear that the drafters of the Charter envisioned a world in which aggression would be de-legitimized, hopefully out of existence. But surely the drafters did not intend to provide a shield for such well-meaning public servants as Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein. To legitimize humanitarian intervention is to invite its abuse as a cover for more nefarious motives, but vicious regimes like the ones I just mentioned cannot, must not, be allowed to remain unaccountable for their atrocities, much less remain in power.
These are the two dilemmas that continue to vex scholars and policymakers: anticipatory (or preemptive) self-defense, and humanitarian intervention. How to resolve these dilemmas has been the work of the Just War Theory Project, which is a loose network of scholars and professionals dedicated to exploring the role of military force in maintaining world public order. I and the other contributors to this Special Issue submit that the framework of the just war tradition is well suited to help us find our way out of these dilemmas.
In designing the Special Issue, we sought papers that we believed would advance our understanding of each individual just-war criterion. In the article on Proper Authority, I argue for returning to the original, state-centric understanding of the concept. For various reasons laid out in my paper, I argue against the trend of construing Proper Authority as something multilateral or judicial.
We have two articles on Just Cause, one for anticipatory self-defense and one for humanitarian intervention. Joseph Boyle takes up the anticipatory defense side, and his approach is to distinguish between defense, which he finds a permissible cause to use force, and punishment, which he does not. Henrik Friberg-Fernros takes up the humanitarian intervention side. Now the question of whether humanitarian intervention is legitimate or not has been done to death, and it seemed pointless to add yet another article on that question, when the battle lines within academia and praxis are pretty much drawn at this point. Friberg-Fernros’s article is different: Rather than trying to argue that humanitarian intervention is a just cause, Friberg-Fernros starts with the assumption that it is. His focus, then, is to discover whether humanitarian intervention is a right to act or a duty to act. In doing so, he illustrates the tension between just war theory, which is permissive, and the Responsibility to Protect, which is more or less obligatory.
We also have two articles on Right Intent. In the first one, Darrell Cole argues that Right Intent is best treated not as an inward frame of mind, but as a communal, public act that has observable manifestations. From those manifestations we can deduce the real intent of the actor. Cole then applies that approach to the Iraq War among others. In the second piece, Fernando Teson draws the distinction between intention and motive, and shows how the two are often confused, and frankly, often misused.
We tend to speak of the three just war criteria of Thomas Aquinas, but actually there is a fourth one, which is embedded in the second. Not only must the attacked state deserve to be attacked on account of some fault, but also the attacked state must deserve to be attacked on account of some fault. This is the criterion of Proportionality of Cause, and it’s probably the most difficult one to apply. In my article on Proportionality, I suggest using a tort-based approach, in which the use of force is judged as an appropriate (or inappropriate) remediation to an injury that has been caused by another state that has breached its obligations.
We also have a paper on the under-studied criterion Reasonable Prospect of Success. Frances Harbour proposes that what is to judged as “reasonable” should be the “probability” of success, and not merely the “hope” or “chance” of it. She also calls for an expanded understanding of what “success” is; she argues that there is moral value in resisting a supreme injustice, even when the unjust actor can’t be overcome. That, in her opinion, is a “success,” even if it isn’t a material one.
And finally, Walter Dorn presents his Just War Index, in which the use of force is not evaluated as either “just” or “unjust,” but rather on a sliding scale in which the use of force could be supremely just (or unjust), or moderately, or slightly. In this exercise, Dorn also illustrates the limitations of just war theory. What just war theory can’t do is to provide clear, definitive answers to the question “is this or that war just or unjust”. Why? Because at the end of the day, there is still some subjectivity to evaluating each criterion. For example, two of our contributors find the Iraq War to be largely just; I’m sure some other contributors disagree with that. One of our contributors finds the US war effort in Afghanistan to be more unjust than just. In this case, I know some others disagree. On the other hand, what just war theory can do, first, is to help us find the right questions—questions of authority, cause, intent, proportionality and so on. Second, just war theory can tell us which uses of force are comparatively more or less just than which other uses of force, and why. For example, if our contributors had to rank in order of more just to less just: Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, the US invasion of Afghanistan, and the US invasion of Iraq, I think all of them would agree on the same ranking. In sum, our contributors believe that just war theory can provide insight into judging the legitimacy of using force, in a way that the modern, restrictive form of jus ad bellum in international law cannot do, and in a way that most approaches to international relations don’t even address.
That, in a nutshell, is our Special Issue, which should be available in print in a few days. Thank you, Henrik, for your role in bringing these papers to the light of day, and for allowing me to address this august and somewhat intimidating audience.
Launching Speech Given on the Occasion of the Tenth Anniversaries of 9/11 and of JME
Davis Brown
Davis Brown at Norwegian Defense College
Davis Brown, Ph.D. (ABD), J.D., LL.M., is the founder and director of the Just War Theory Project with the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) and the author of The Sword, the Cross, and the Eagle:The American Christian Just War Tradition.
It was a Tuesday morning; warm and clear. After an unremarkable commute I stopped by the Pentagon to run some errands, then I continued to my office a quarter mile away. I was to spend the morning editing a policy brief by the Academic Council on the United Nations System on humanitarian intervention; and I had to get ready for a phone call to the Executive Director of ACUNS. We were preparing this document to present in New York in two months time, and I was going to be at that seminar in person. I had already resolved to finally have dinner at Windows On The World (the restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center), something I had long wanted to do.
Then a plane hit the North Tower, and I and my co-workers rushed to a television to see the news coverage. At first we all thought it was a freak accident. Then the room fell silent as we watched the chilling image of a second plane hitting the South Tower, and we all knew then that this was no accident.
In the meantime, life goes on, so I made my phone call on schedule. We made some small talk about the attack (as if anything about it could be regarded as “small”), then it was back to the mundane world of word-smithing and comma placement. In the middle of the call, I was jolted by a loud whoosh of a plane flying low and fast right right above us. Two seconds later, a thud, in the distance, but the explosion was big enough to shake the building.
I quickly ended my phone call and everyone went outside. A plume of black smoke rose in the direction of the Potomac River. Then someone exclaimed, “It’s the Pentagon!” and despite our disbelief at the events that were unfolding that morning, we all knew he was right. A little while later, we watched in horror as one of the Twin Towers collapsed, then the other. By then our shock had turned into the grim realization that we were probably going to war—never a pleasant thought when you’re in the military.
Two months later, I went to New York for that seminar. It was my first time back in seven years. And it wasn’t the same New York I had once lived in. The city was eerily subdued, the mood like that of a wounded lion. The site of the World Trade Center, once a place of rough-and-tumble commerce, now sacred ground. In sum, the events of ten years ago this Sunday were life-altering to the American national psyche, and I daresay to the international psyche as well.
On September 10th, the academy (of international law, at least) was still fighting the Kosovo War, which recently had exposed the tension between what uses of force are legal, and what are moral or even legitimate. But the attention span of the academy can be short, and after 9/11 nobody wanted to talk about humanitarian intervention anymore. In a way, this was understandable, since everybody thought at the time that 9/11 would change everything.
But as it turns out, 9/11 didn’t change everything. It did not pose any significant challenges to jus ad bellum or just war theory, at least not in and of itself. What 9/11 did do, was to set into motion a chain of events that a year and a half later did challenge jus ad bellum and just war theory. I speak of the doctrine of preemption, which was articulated first as a measure to prevent further catastrophic terrorist attacks, and later invoked as a justification for invading Iraq. And not only is the United States still fighting the Iraq War, but so is the academy.
Preemption is a problem for us, not necessarily because it’s the global superpower that has invoked it, but because of the dilemma for world public order that it poses. Preemptive self-defense would legitimize an attack on another state that has no immediate plans to attack it; it may have long-term plans to do so but may lack the capability or resolve to attack in the present. To allow such an exception to article 2(4) is to open Pandora’s Box. And yet, in an environment in which we struggle to keep chemical, biological, and God forbid nuclear weapons out of the wrong hands, the consequence of not allowing a preemptive attack may be to force a state to suffer a crippling first blow. Prohibiting anticipatory self-defense thus plays into the hands of the state with the original hostile animus—the state that is the real aggressor.
Meanwhile, the problem of humanitarian intervention, which everyone stopped talking about after 9/11, has not gone away. Now, it’s clear that the drafters of the Charter envisioned a world in which aggression would be de-legitimized, hopefully out of existence. But surely the drafters did not intend to provide a shield for such well-meaning public servants as Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein. To legitimize humanitarian intervention is to invite its abuse as a cover for more nefarious motives, but vicious regimes like the ones I just mentioned cannot, must not, be allowed to remain unaccountable for their atrocities, much less remain in power.
These are the two dilemmas that continue to vex scholars and policymakers: anticipatory (or preemptive) self-defense, and humanitarian intervention. How to resolve these dilemmas has been the work of the Just War Theory Project, which is a loose network of scholars and professionals dedicated to exploring the role of military force in maintaining world public order. I and the other contributors to this Special Issue submit that the framework of the just war tradition is well suited to help us find our way out of these dilemmas.
In designing the Special Issue, we sought papers that we believed would advance our understanding of each individual just-war criterion. In the article on Proper Authority, I argue for returning to the original, state-centric understanding of the concept. For various reasons laid out in my paper, I argue against the trend of construing Proper Authority as something multilateral or judicial.
We have two articles on Just Cause, one for anticipatory self-defense and one for humanitarian intervention. Joseph Boyle takes up the anticipatory defense side, and his approach is to distinguish between defense, which he finds a permissible cause to use force, and punishment, which he does not. Henrik Friberg-Fernros takes up the humanitarian intervention side. Now the question of whether humanitarian intervention is legitimate or not has been done to death, and it seemed pointless to add yet another article on that question, when the battle lines within academia and praxis are pretty much drawn at this point. Friberg-Fernros’s article is different: Rather than trying to argue that humanitarian intervention is a just cause, Friberg-Fernros starts with the assumption that it is. His focus, then, is to discover whether humanitarian intervention is a right to act or a duty to act. In doing so, he illustrates the tension between just war theory, which is permissive, and the Responsibility to Protect, which is more or less obligatory.
We also have two articles on Right Intent. In the first one, Darrell Cole argues that Right Intent is best treated not as an inward frame of mind, but as a communal, public act that has observable manifestations. From those manifestations we can deduce the real intent of the actor. Cole then applies that approach to the Iraq War among others. In the second piece, Fernando Teson draws the distinction between intention and motive, and shows how the two are often confused, and frankly, often misused.
We tend to speak of the three just war criteria of Thomas Aquinas, but actually there is a fourth one, which is embedded in the second. Not only must the attacked state deserve to be attacked on account of some fault, but also the attacked state must deserve to be attacked on account of some fault. This is the criterion of Proportionality of Cause, and it’s probably the most difficult one to apply. In my article on Proportionality, I suggest using a tort-based approach, in which the use of force is judged as an appropriate (or inappropriate) remediation to an injury that has been caused by another state that has breached its obligations.
We also have a paper on the under-studied criterion Reasonable Prospect of Success. Frances Harbour proposes that what is to judged as “reasonable” should be the “probability” of success, and not merely the “hope” or “chance” of it. She also calls for an expanded understanding of what “success” is; she argues that there is moral value in resisting a supreme injustice, even when the unjust actor can’t be overcome. That, in her opinion, is a “success,” even if it isn’t a material one.
And finally, Walter Dorn presents his Just War Index, in which the use of force is not evaluated as either “just” or “unjust,” but rather on a sliding scale in which the use of force could be supremely just (or unjust), or moderately, or slightly. In this exercise, Dorn also illustrates the limitations of just war theory. What just war theory can’t do is to provide clear, definitive answers to the question “is this or that war just or unjust”. Why? Because at the end of the day, there is still some subjectivity to evaluating each criterion. For example, two of our contributors find the Iraq War to be largely just; I’m sure some other contributors disagree with that. One of our contributors finds the US war effort in Afghanistan to be more unjust than just. In this case, I know some others disagree. On the other hand, what just war theory can do, first, is to help us find the right questions—questions of authority, cause, intent, proportionality and so on. Second, just war theory can tell us which uses of force are comparatively more or less just than which other uses of force, and why. For example, if our contributors had to rank in order of more just to less just: Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, the US invasion of Afghanistan, and the US invasion of Iraq, I think all of them would agree on the same ranking. In sum, our contributors believe that just war theory can provide insight into judging the legitimacy of using force, in a way that the modern, restrictive form of jus ad bellum in international law cannot do, and in a way that most approaches to international relations don’t even address.
That, in a nutshell, is our Special Issue, which should be available in print in a few days. Thank you, Henrik, for your role in bringing these papers to the light of day, and for allowing me to address this august and somewhat intimidating audience.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Why Shoot Center Mass?
I just started as an editorial writer for Guns.com. My first article:
Why Shoot Center Mass?
"Why are we trained to shoot center mass. Why not shoot someone in the arm or in the leg?" That was the question posed to me by my friend, Brian, while we were attending the police academy together. When I attended the Dallas Police Academy I had already served as a full-time police Special Reaction Team (SRT) team leader at a U.S. military installation. I had attended multiple civilian police and Department of Defense special operations tactical schools, including an Advanced SWAT course with the famed Los Angeles Police Department. So you can imagine my surprise when asked why we were being training to shoot center mass.
I've often wondered about this conversation when thinking of my friend. A few years following that conversation there in the police academy, he was gunned down in the line of duty—murdered.
Here's how the conversation went, as best as I can recall.
Read the full article here: http://www.guns.com/why-shoot-center-mass.html
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
I called the mother of a slain Marine today - why I did & what happened
Funeral services for my good friend and teammate, Johnny Linde - Arlington National Cemetery.
It is with some trepidation I'm posting what is essentially a very personal and private glimpse into my life today. I pray that the eyes of spiritual sensitivity be opened, and that the damning and coarse nihilist thoughts and/or comments be not allowed to anyone who sees this one blog. I do not wish to cast my pearls before swine.
As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a.k.a. the Mormon or LDS faith, I served a volunteer mission for two years prior to joining the military. I'm active in my faith. Most importantly, I try to be a good person, and a good citizen. I try to think of holy things throughout my day.
Just as we need food and water for nourishment, our souls need regular spiritual attention. If we fail to eat or exercise, our bodies will become weak and our muscles will atrophy. The same applies to our spiritual muscles.
Just as we need healthy minerals and sunshine, we need good role models to look up to, to emulate. Our children especially need good heroes. We need heroes and heroines who stand for something. I tend to look to the heroes of the Bible and the Book of Mormon--Another Testament of Jesus Christ.
Some of my heroes are America's Founding Fathers -- those who made a solemn oath to give their lives, fortunes and their sacred honor to preserve their freedoms (and ours)...Thomas Jefferson and those great men who crafted the United States Constitution.
I feel as did a modern day prophet and Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, who said this: "I am saying to you that to me the Constitution of the United States of America is just as much from my Heavenly Father as the Ten Commandments. When that is my feeling, I am not going to go very far away from the Constitution, and I am going to try to keep it where the Lord started it..." (George A. Smith [CR-4/48:182])
A very good friend of mine who served as a Marine in the early 70's often reminds me of a young Marine at boot camp with him. A very large and mean Drill Instructor walked up to this scrawny recruit and screamed in a demanding, controlling and intimidating tone, "WHO'S YOUR HERO, PRIVATE?!"
Now most people under such a circumstance would tend to revert to anything that would please such a person, even resorting to instant sycophancy (e.g. in 1970's USMC third person speak, "Sir, the Private thinks his Drill Instructor is his most admirable hero, sir.")
But that didn't happen. No, the young man with faith and courage stated resolutely that his hero was "The Lord Jesus Christ."
Upon that, the giant DI slugged him as hard as he could (they could do that and get away with it back then). The boy fell back hard on the floor, all the wind gushing out of his lungs and completely, utterly unashamed, he regained his footing.
"What did you say..." The intimidating drill sergeant demanded, adding again, "Who's your hero?"
At this point, most people would think to say something else, or even remain silent on the matter. But this courageous man, valiant in his testimony and faithful and unwavering in his stance -- even and especially amid, fierce opposition -- replied again that his hero was the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, that said -- with that story in mind -- I'm going to post something that is personal and sacred to me. I hope that even if some people mock it, that others will remember that I have a testimony that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, the First Fruits of the Resurrection. For as in Adam, all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Now, here are my words, personally recorded in my journal entry this, the sixth day of May, two thousand and eleven.
I had brisk, but wonderful, deeply touching -- spiritual -- experience today. I had the thought (I didn't feel it was an impression from the Lord at the time), to contact the mother of a young Marine who was killed in Afghanistan last October. Looking back I had the distinct feeling to ask a coworker of mine who knew her son well, to get her phone number. I didn't ask him. Usually I don't hesitate, but as I mentioned, I didn't feel this was an impression. In fact, I didn't even know why I should contact her, really, or what I'd say. Fortunately, however, I did make an inquiry about the name of this family to the aforementioned coworker. (Hopefully this preface isn't too confusing.)
When I was allotted a few moments of peace, the thought to contact this military mom came again. I called 4-1-1 information and asked for their home phone number.
I stammered a little bit on what to say, as I later learned that the boy's fiancee first answered the phone (they graduated high school in 2009 and were supposed to be married in this June after his military tour). Finally, when Ms. XXXXXX picked up the other line, I gathered my thoughts and spoke. I don't remember what I said. All I remember was I wanted to say, "I love you." Doing so to a perfect stranger could be a bit socially awkward, so I didn't say that. Regardless, she felt the love I wanted to share.
Through our conversation, I felt this fine woman was indeed my sister and God's daughter. She told me, from what sounded like through tears, that she was humbly grateful for me calling her and saying what I said. From her response, I gathered that my words comforted her. Especially today. She told me that today was her son's birthday. He would have been 20 years old. She said his fiancee-widow and her were going to go out and celebrate it.
It was at that point that the Holy Ghost confirmed to me that all the previous feelings were of a spiritual nature, and not of myself. I was overcome with gratitude, love, and the realization that God knows each of us personally, and that, by and large, He works His mighty miracles through each of us -- as well as the small miracles like having a total stranger call you up and say, in so many words, "Our Father in Heaven is aware of how you're feeling today, and He wants you to know He loves you and cares for you."
Every intense feeling of my heart -- all the pure, unspeakable joys that come from heaven alone -- sank deep into my heart. And, like the rainbow cannot shine or show its full glory without the rain, I shed a tear or two, simultaneously experiencing the beautiful array of warm and bright feelings from the sunshine in my heart.
Finally, on a somewhat different, but related note, I was able to find a beautiful quote I have known about for several years, but did not have a reference to. I think it's proper and fitting to close with then-Elder Ezra Taft Benson's beautiful expression and explanation of all those who come home after this life is over. Said he, "Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father and how familiar his face is to us." (Ezra Taft Benson, "Jesus Christ—Gifts and Expectations," Brigham Young University Speeches on 10 December 1974.)
God is indeed our Father, and that makes us brothers and sisters. To read about another very personal and powerful experience of mine I had while in Iraq, check out my profile on Mormon.org: http://mormon.org/me/2GXB/Jeffrey
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Easter Weekend, Military Warriors, Politics, and Freedom
Part of a note I wrote to some friends of mine today...
My buddy just sent me a note today. He came home from Afghanistan with the Army Special Forces. One of his teammates (John Masson) came home a few months earlier than he did after stepping on a land mine and losing both of his legs and an arm. I can't imagine his kids or my kids not being FREE.
WE MUST NOT SACRIFICE LIBERTY FOR TEMPORARY FEELINGS OF SECURITY. We must not do it.
Now, in my rambling, in between changing poopy diapers and setting the trampoline up for the kids after having it up for the winter, I could go on and on about other (things), but I won't.
May I just say this: I know God lives. One evidence of this is the wise and God-fearing men He raised up to pronounce a Declaration of Independence, to create a beloved U.S. Constitution, and establish this blessed land which we call America, for their children and ours. America's Founding Fathers were not simply men who got together at a critical and pivotal time on this continent; they were led and inspired by God to grant us freedom and liberty by law.
I've stood atop Pike's Peak in Colorado where the words for "America the beautiful" were inspired.
I've stood in the melancholy fields of Gettysburg and have wept at man's inhumanity to man.
I've walked by the dark iron gates at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and have pondered what will come of the United States.
I've walked in the garden, the beautiful garden of Gethsemane, made sacred two millennia ago. I've stood at the empty tomb and pondered the impossible. It seems right to mention such a thing today, given it's Easter weekend.
This much I know, and doubt not: Nothing is impossible with God.
We are at a great and terrible place in history. The tide of immorality wages and the land is being crushed from the inside by diabolical politicians and lovers of their own selves rather than lovers of God, to paraphrase the Apostle Paul.
We are facing a crippling debt so enormous in scale and so horrific in size that nothing seems possible to fix that ailing balloon ready to pop and turn into a second great depression. I worry for my children and for the financial interests of all Americans.
I worry about tyranny in the government as the government grows larger, seeking more control; I worry about the people's voices as well as their votes, particularly those who seek a permanent dole and who don't care about liberty, thrift or hard work.
Yet, I am optimistic in that the good and honorable men like you will help -- and have helped -- do your part in keeping America great and free.
God bless you all. I'm glad to call you my friends and brothers.
Jeffrey Denning
http://mormon.org/me/2GXB/Jeffrey
My buddy just sent me a note today. He came home from Afghanistan with the Army Special Forces. One of his teammates (John Masson) came home a few months earlier than he did after stepping on a land mine and losing both of his legs and an arm. I can't imagine his kids or my kids not being FREE.
WE MUST NOT SACRIFICE LIBERTY FOR TEMPORARY FEELINGS OF SECURITY. We must not do it.
Now, in my rambling, in between changing poopy diapers and setting the trampoline up for the kids after having it up for the winter, I could go on and on about other (things), but I won't.
May I just say this: I know God lives. One evidence of this is the wise and God-fearing men He raised up to pronounce a Declaration of Independence, to create a beloved U.S. Constitution, and establish this blessed land which we call America, for their children and ours. America's Founding Fathers were not simply men who got together at a critical and pivotal time on this continent; they were led and inspired by God to grant us freedom and liberty by law.
I've stood atop Pike's Peak in Colorado where the words for "America the beautiful" were inspired.
I've stood in the melancholy fields of Gettysburg and have wept at man's inhumanity to man.
I've walked by the dark iron gates at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and have pondered what will come of the United States.
I've walked in the garden, the beautiful garden of Gethsemane, made sacred two millennia ago. I've stood at the empty tomb and pondered the impossible. It seems right to mention such a thing today, given it's Easter weekend.
This much I know, and doubt not: Nothing is impossible with God.
We are at a great and terrible place in history. The tide of immorality wages and the land is being crushed from the inside by diabolical politicians and lovers of their own selves rather than lovers of God, to paraphrase the Apostle Paul.
We are facing a crippling debt so enormous in scale and so horrific in size that nothing seems possible to fix that ailing balloon ready to pop and turn into a second great depression. I worry for my children and for the financial interests of all Americans.
I worry about tyranny in the government as the government grows larger, seeking more control; I worry about the people's voices as well as their votes, particularly those who seek a permanent dole and who don't care about liberty, thrift or hard work.
Yet, I am optimistic in that the good and honorable men like you will help -- and have helped -- do your part in keeping America great and free.
God bless you all. I'm glad to call you my friends and brothers.
Jeffrey Denning
http://mormon.org/me/2GXB/Jeffrey
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Foreign Energy Reliance - Our Broke Government - More Taxes, Ugh.
This C-span report by Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) is an interesting approach to someone's crazy idea of an energy solution!
After reviewing House Bill 909, Roadmap for America's Energy Future, which the aforementioned Congressman, and 70 others have supported, it looks positive. I found this disturbing figure on the Bill sponsor's website:
Roughly half of the U.S. trade deficit is energy related. Preventing fossils fuel development at home has made us dependent on foreign oil for 70% of our supply.
My fellow American's we cannot afford to be dependent upon foreign commodities, especially oil. If the oil magnates and regulators decide to switch to a foreign currency, going away from the ever-declining US Dollar, prices would soar. But that's not all! Prices are going to soar anyway. They have been and they will yet go heavenward...but that, my friends, would not be heaven on earth at all. The recession seems be spiraling.
I'm an optimist by nature, and I still have hope for America's future, but a depression, or at least a quasi-depression seems to be rearing its ugly head on the horizon. This is especially true given the fact that Congress and government leaders continue to spend money we don't have. Like a balloon inflated too much, if we continue on this path the explosion will make the Hindenburg disaster look like a tea party -- and I'm not talking about being Taxed Enough Already!
Speaking of taxes...my wife and I voted yesterday in a local city election. We voted "No" to another lame tax. Why did so many people vote "Yes"? Yet another burdensome tax law passed. We're already in one of the highest tax areas in the entire country! There's even talk of the state filing for bankruptcy!
I do not believe for one minute that raising taxes will help our local or state government spend less. If anyone thinks raising taxes will help us (meaning any local, state or federal government entity) get out of debt, don't believe it. If they get our money, they'll just spend more. The writing's on the wall -- government cannot manage money. That's my money, and your money. It should be sacred and used with care. More of it should be in our pockets.
There are giant US corporations now headquartered in Ireland. Why? Because Ireland has one of the lowest tax mandates in the English-speaking world, if not the lowest. There are literally billions of dollars worth or revenue going back into that country because the taxes are LOW. Why can't Congress collectively get a clue? Why must we outsource and rely on other countries for goods and consumer products? Because it's cheaper to hire foreigners in foreign lands, that's why! Yet by lowering taxes we could create more jobs for the thousands of good and wise and honest American's out of work. We could pour money into the US treasury and, especially into the American households.
My friends and fellow countrymen, it is far past time to raise a hue and a cry. We MUST become patriots for the American cause or we will one day not have or enjoy the liberties and the freedom our citizen ancestors have for the last two centuries!
Finally, I recently purchased a great book of Ronald Reagan speeches, and I found this treasure in a speech he gave in Arizona years prior to his tenure in the Whitehouse. He said,
"Here is the main battleground! We must reduce the government's supply of money and deny it the right to borrow. ...
"If your Congressman should say we must cut costs first and then reduce taxes—don't stand for it. Remind him that no government in history has ever voluntarily reduced itself in size. Governments will always find a need for the money they get." (A Time for Choosing: The Speeches of Ronald Reagan, 1961-1982 (eds. A.M. Balitzer & G.M. Bonetto; Chicago: Regnery Gateway in cooperation with Americans for the Reagan Agenda, 1983) 35, italics original, 37-38.
P.S. For a good read on politics, terrorism and the future of American economy if we continue to rely on foreign oil, see retired CIA officer Robert Baer's Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Muslim Students Association (MSA) member in California supports terrorists - hates Jews
The following is a note from the embedded video: A Muslim Jew-hater and supporter of genocide is flushed out by David Horowitz at a speech during "Israel Apartheid Week at the University of California San Diego. Horowitz was hosted by Young Americans for Freedom. Visit the Horowitz Freedom Center Website at www.frontpagemag.com.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fSvyv0urTE&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fSvyv0urTE&feature=player_embedded
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Warrior SOS - Great interview with Vietnam Combat Photographer
http://warriorsos.blogspot.com/2011/02/vietnam-combat-photographer-8-pictures.html
Warrior SOS logo and website is forthcoming. Until then check out Warrior SOS blog.
Warrior SOS logo and website is forthcoming. Until then check out Warrior SOS blog.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Snowboarding Accident
My nephew broke his femur while snowboarding recently. He was doing a back-flip off a jump. Unfortunately a tree got in the way. The good news...it's a clean break.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Can God help our children when we've removed Him from our schools?
The poem below was taken from a brilliant and inspired House speech entitled "Prayer in America" by Congressmen Roscoe Bartlett (R-Maryland) on September 5, 2003. The Honorable Representative states,
A couple of years ago a young woman in a high school in Oklahoma wrote this poem as a new school prayer:
Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule.
For this great nation under God,
Finds mention of him very odd.
If scripture now the class recites
It violates the Bill of Rights.
Any time my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.
Our hair can be purple, orange, or green.
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene. T
he law is specific, the law is precise.
Only prayers spoken out loud are serious vice.
For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone who has no faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the State.
We are allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.
They have outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.
We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the 'unwed daddy' our Senior King.
It is inappropriate to teach right from wrong,
We are taught that such 'judgments' do not belong.
We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.
It is scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot, my soul please take.
A couple of years ago a young woman in a high school in Oklahoma wrote this poem as a new school prayer:
Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule.
For this great nation under God,
Finds mention of him very odd.
If scripture now the class recites
It violates the Bill of Rights.
Any time my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.
Our hair can be purple, orange, or green.
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene. T
he law is specific, the law is precise.
Only prayers spoken out loud are serious vice.
For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone who has no faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the State.
We are allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.
They have outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.
We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the 'unwed daddy' our Senior King.
It is inappropriate to teach right from wrong,
We are taught that such 'judgments' do not belong.
We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.
It is scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot, my soul please take.
Friday, December 24, 2010
"Happy Holidays" vs. "Merry Christmas" - Arizona has it right
http://azgovernor.gov/dms/upload/EO_2009_11.pdf
This Arizona Executive Order is good-to-go. Merry Christmas to all...especially those warriors in lands far, far away.
This Arizona Executive Order is good-to-go. Merry Christmas to all...especially those warriors in lands far, far away.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Christ-mas miracle
http://www.meridianmagazine.com/article/7018?ac=1
aerial video of fire: http://ldsliving.com/story/63120-aerial-video-of-provo-tabernacle-fire
A very recent article and pictures by Bill Freeze of the Provo (Utah) Tabernacle. The article linked above, states that no one was injured, fortunately.
With the flames higher than the roof, completely obliterating carpet, furniture, curtains, walls, floors, the roof and, in short, the entire structural underpinnings, I have no doubt this miracle of the picture of the Millennial Messiah was spared through divine means as yet another evidence of His omnipotence.
No sparrow falls to the ground unnoticed. No hair of the head is lost, but He sees. He is in charge. He allows things to happen according to His will, His time-line and His perfect knowledge to benefit and bless all humanity.
This Christmas season, I'm eternally grateful for the Babe in Bethlehem. Without Easter there could be no Christmas. He lives and watches carefully over us in good times and bad. If our faith could be made perfect, we would never doubt again. Truly all things are in His hands. And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Radically Transforming your Marriage
Brian King has an undergraduate degree from BYU in International Relations, including a semester abroad, studying Arabic in Jerusalem/Cairo. He received a Masters in Security Studies at Georgetown and began work as an analyst with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). Brian spent a year at Naval Forces Central Command and two years at the NCIS field office in Rota, Spain. Additionally, he holds a Masters degree from the National Defense Intelligence College and now works at the National Counterterrorism Center. He teaches a class at the University of Maryland on Terrorist Motivations and Behavior. Brian King is the author of The 100 Day Promise: Radically Transforming your Marriage by Living with Complete Concern for your Spouse's Happiness, available for purchase on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/100-Day-Promise-Radically-Transforming/dp/1453828699
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-100-Day-Promise/144625628915079
Warrior SOS: Congratulations on your recently published book. Tell us how it all came about.
King: After an argument with my wife (Nonnie) I came to the realization that everything we can either cause a relationship to spiral up in a positive way or spiral down. I wondered what would happen if I only did things to make our relationship spiral up for an extended period of time without her knowing. I decided to focus completely on her happiness for 100 days and write down the highlights of each day. It had an amazing impact on us. When some of our friends heard about it they were so excited. I started to realize that this was a message that could really motivate people to change the dynamic in their relationships.
Warrior SOS: The entire concept behind your experiment sounds intriguing and exciting. Is there anything in particular that happened during this period that really made a drastic difference in your relationship?
King: No, there wasn't anything specific that seemed to make the difference. It was the sum total of all the little things that seemed to put wind in her sails and created a buffer in front of the occasional inconsiderate things I said or did. As the days went on, it seemed to make it easier for Nonnie to have more of the same mindset. It was just that little extra effort that seemed to make the difference. For example, one time I was laying on the floor watching TV and she asked for a blanket that was sitting next to me. Instead of just throwing it to her, I walked over and laid it over her making her smile.
Warrior SOS: How has the reception to your book and concept behind it been? Have you had anyone disagree with the idea?
King: The reception has been really great. It makes my day when someone tells me the book gave them a boost or more hope in working on their marriage. I've had two friends question whether going full throttle like this to try to make someone happy is a good idea. I think they misunderstood it to mean that you should put up with being mistreated without complaint. While I wouldn't necessarily expect anyone to live their whole lives this way, I just wanted to take it to the extreme for a short period to see what would happen. In reality there may have to be a little more communication and compromise. The main idea is that you can only get to the place you want to go by living with greater concern for your spouse's happiness. For the military minded, I think of it as an asymmetric attack instead of the usual haggling and give-and-take of a relationship. It changes the whole dynamic.
Warrior SOS: Was it hard to stay motivated throughout the 100 days?
King: People are surprised when I say this, but No, it wasn't. Once I made the decision to do it that was it. There were a couple times when I had to really pause and think about what the right thing to do was. Had I not committed to a certain period of time I'm sure I would have just settled back into my normal routine.
Warrior SOS: Did she ever suspect what you were up to?
King: After a few weeks when I asked her what she thought of a nice note I sent her, she asked if I "was dying or something." I just laughed it off. She could tell things were different, but didn't really suspect anything like this.
Warrior SOS: How has your relationship improved--or has it?
King: We're having more fun now and when we're in a difficult situation it seems like we both realize that we have to handle it carefully. There is also a buffer zone from all positive actions that makes it much harder to get to the place where anger or frustration arises.
Warrior SOS: In a family setting, do kids play a role and, if so, what benefits do they derive?
King: Kids play a big role. Mainly the huge demands they make on each parent naturally put stress on the marriage relationship. When they see the parents happy and loving each other it shapes them into being that way. You see them helping and solving problems better. They get more excited about doing nice things for other people. It will no doubt ripple down to their kids and people they interact with throughout their lives.
Warrior SOS: What advice would you offer to warriors—those in military service, law enforcement or private security?
King: It can be hard going from a job where you are keyed up and ready for a confrontation to home where handling problems with the same direct mindset is only going to set you back. Realize that doing everything you can to make your spouse loved and happy is the only way to develop the dynamic that most people are seeking. Understanding this will change your whole approach to resolving challenges. It can also be hard after returning from a long deployment or tense day on the job to not think that it should be "me" time when you get back. Taking a few minutes to show concern for their situation will go a long way.
Warrior SOS: Is there different advice that you'd recommend to the spouses of warriors?
King: Not really, it is basically the same concept for either spouse. Perhaps I would suggest separating the bad news about scheduling or deployments from what he or she actually wants or is in control of.
Warrior SOS: Certainly there are situations that arise that can be terribly devastating to any relationship—infidelity, abuse, illegal activities or drunkenness of one or both marriage partners that compound marital problems. What's your recommendation for this?
King: While living selflessly is a key component to a healthy relationship, it may not always be enough. At a certain point, if there is no desire to change damaging behavior, whether through counseling or otherwise, you may have to end the relationship. I would recommend as you go through the process of resolving difficult problems that you keep in mind the effect your responses will have. The cumulative effect of vengeful responses, although justified, will make it hard for the relationship to rebuild, if that is what you want.
Warrior SOS: Do you have any last advice or suggestions to those who want to improve their relationship—who want to try what you've attempted but might hesitate doing so?
King: As with many things, the difference between success and failure is often very slim. Giving that little extra effort may be all that is needed to put you on a totally different track. Having a loving relationship is key to not only a happy home and peace of mind, but also to achieving the other goals you have in life. It might seem like a hassle at first, but I can promise you that the results of the new relationship will be worth the investment.
Warrior SOS: Finally, why do you think it is hard for people to think or act in such a selfless way—putting their spouse first?
King: On the surface, it seems illogical to say that you can find your own happiness by thinking of someone else first. It is human nature in some ways to look out for your own well being. Most people have a strong sense of justice and quickly go to battle-mode when they see something unfair. Although families can bring great rewards, they also require a lot of work. It totally changes the game when you stop trying to control the line of justice in a relationship. Only when you give up that battle is the other person freed from that cycle.
Warrior SOS: Thank you so very much, Brian. I truly hope your book helps many warriors and their spouses endure the challenges faced in every relationship, as well as the occasional extra burden placed on those who fight so that others may live.
Brian King, author of The 100 Day Promise: Radically Transforming your Marriage by Living with Complete Concern for your Spouse's Happiness, available for purchase now on Amazon.com.
http://www.amazon.com/100-Day-Promise-Radically-Transforming/dp/1453828699
Follow The 100 Day Promise on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-100-Day-Promise/144625628915079
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Hallelujah - Isaiah 9:6
It wouldn't be Christmas without Handel's greatest oratorio. Here's the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing the Hallelujah Chorus.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Introducing -- Warrior SOS
Over the last two weeks or so I've experienced very interesting news, to say the least. I've had friends in Iraq and Afghanistan experiencing a wide array of challenges that comes from war operations and being bereft of hearth and home. I've had police officer friends experience personal challenges from having traveled to war and war-torn areas, and my brother-in-law, an Iraqi War vet, went to the doctor for a headache: two days later they did brain surgery for a tumor.
While we fully expect, in faith, he'll be well, I've still decided to open a non-profit foundation called Warrior SOS. SOS is a distress signal. Warriors need our help, so do their family members. Join us on Facebook.
While we fully expect, in faith, he'll be well, I've still decided to open a non-profit foundation called Warrior SOS. SOS is a distress signal. Warriors need our help, so do their family members. Join us on Facebook.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Federal Court Rules: 11 Foreign Countries May Now Join Lawsuit Against Arizona
This is horrific! Our Constitution is being assailed! Raise a hue and a cry! This kind of internal attack cannot go on much longer without a complete overthrow of our entire republic!
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43199.html
By Scott Wong
October 6, 2010
In a new twist in the fight over Arizona’s immigration law, Republican Gov. Jan Brewer on Tuesday asked a federal court to disallow foreign governments from joining the U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit to overturn the law.
The move comes in response to a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling issued Monday, allowing nearly a dozen Latin American countries — Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru and Chile — to submit friend-of-the-court briefs in Justice’s challenge to SB 1070, which Brewer signed into law in April and is considered one of the nation’s toughest immigration-enforcement measures.
“As do many citizens, I find it incredibly offensive that these foreign governments are using our court system to meddle in a domestic legal dispute and to oppose the rule of law,” the Republican governor said in a statement shortly after the state’s motion was filed Tuesday evening.
“What’s even more offensive is that this effort has been supported by the U.S. Department of Justice. American sovereignty begins in the U.S. Constitution and at the border,” she added. “I am confident the 9th Circuit will do the right thing and recognize foreign interference in U.S. legal proceedings and allow the State of Arizona to respond to their brief.”
Brewer and her supporters have said the state law is necessary because the federal government has failed to protect the border and enforce immigration laws. But the Justice Department — with strong backing from President Barack Obama — sued to block the Arizona law on constitutional grounds.
Responding to the suit, a federal judge in July put some of the most contested parts of the law on hold, including a provision that requires police officers to check the immigration status of individuals they stop for other offenses if there is “reasonable suspicion” they are in the country illegally.
Brewer, who has vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court, appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit Court, which will begin hearing arguments in San Francisco on Nov. 1, one day before the midterm elections.
The Arizona law is a top political issue nationally. Cities from San Francisco and Seattle to Baltimore have joined a friend of the court brief opposing the Arizona law, while 11 states — including Texas, Florida and Nebraska — filed an amicus brief backing the law.
In July, more than 80 Republican members of Congress signed their names to an amicus brief filed by the conservative Immigration Reform Caucus. They included Sens. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, David Vitter of Louisiana and John Barrasso of Wyoming, and Reps. Lamar Smith of Texas, Steve King of Iowa and Trent Franks of Arizona.
Brewer’s motion should resonate among conservative legal scholars worried about giving foreign legal systems a voice in American jurisprudence. These concerns are a reaction to a school of legal thought arguing that American judges should look to foreign laws and courts for assistance in interpreting the U.S. Constitution, particularly in regard to basic human rights issues. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is arguably the leading spokesperson for this approach, as noted in a 2005 New Yorker profile.
The state of Arizona’s motion could also strike a chord with those on the right who are convinced that President Barack Obama (and Bill Clinton before him) want to make U.S. laws subordinate to international courts, particularly the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Under Clinton, the United States signed a treaty to join the court weeks before leaving office in January 2001, though the Senate never ratified his action. Months later, President George W. Bush pulled the United States out of the treaty, saying he worried foreign governments would try to prosecute U.S. troops for alleged war crimes.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43199.html
By Scott Wong
October 6, 2010
In a new twist in the fight over Arizona’s immigration law, Republican Gov. Jan Brewer on Tuesday asked a federal court to disallow foreign governments from joining the U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit to overturn the law.
The move comes in response to a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling issued Monday, allowing nearly a dozen Latin American countries — Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru and Chile — to submit friend-of-the-court briefs in Justice’s challenge to SB 1070, which Brewer signed into law in April and is considered one of the nation’s toughest immigration-enforcement measures.
“As do many citizens, I find it incredibly offensive that these foreign governments are using our court system to meddle in a domestic legal dispute and to oppose the rule of law,” the Republican governor said in a statement shortly after the state’s motion was filed Tuesday evening.
“What’s even more offensive is that this effort has been supported by the U.S. Department of Justice. American sovereignty begins in the U.S. Constitution and at the border,” she added. “I am confident the 9th Circuit will do the right thing and recognize foreign interference in U.S. legal proceedings and allow the State of Arizona to respond to their brief.”
Brewer and her supporters have said the state law is necessary because the federal government has failed to protect the border and enforce immigration laws. But the Justice Department — with strong backing from President Barack Obama — sued to block the Arizona law on constitutional grounds.
Responding to the suit, a federal judge in July put some of the most contested parts of the law on hold, including a provision that requires police officers to check the immigration status of individuals they stop for other offenses if there is “reasonable suspicion” they are in the country illegally.
Brewer, who has vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court, appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit Court, which will begin hearing arguments in San Francisco on Nov. 1, one day before the midterm elections.
The Arizona law is a top political issue nationally. Cities from San Francisco and Seattle to Baltimore have joined a friend of the court brief opposing the Arizona law, while 11 states — including Texas, Florida and Nebraska — filed an amicus brief backing the law.
In July, more than 80 Republican members of Congress signed their names to an amicus brief filed by the conservative Immigration Reform Caucus. They included Sens. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, David Vitter of Louisiana and John Barrasso of Wyoming, and Reps. Lamar Smith of Texas, Steve King of Iowa and Trent Franks of Arizona.
Brewer’s motion should resonate among conservative legal scholars worried about giving foreign legal systems a voice in American jurisprudence. These concerns are a reaction to a school of legal thought arguing that American judges should look to foreign laws and courts for assistance in interpreting the U.S. Constitution, particularly in regard to basic human rights issues. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is arguably the leading spokesperson for this approach, as noted in a 2005 New Yorker profile.
The state of Arizona’s motion could also strike a chord with those on the right who are convinced that President Barack Obama (and Bill Clinton before him) want to make U.S. laws subordinate to international courts, particularly the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Under Clinton, the United States signed a treaty to join the court weeks before leaving office in January 2001, though the Senate never ratified his action. Months later, President George W. Bush pulled the United States out of the treaty, saying he worried foreign governments would try to prosecute U.S. troops for alleged war crimes.
Friday, September 17, 2010
George Washington (re: our current situation)
“The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be Freemen, or Slaves.”
--George Washington
General orders—July 2, 1776 (The Writings of George Washington, ed. John C. Fitzpatrick, volume 5, p. 211; 1932)
--George Washington
General orders—July 2, 1776 (The Writings of George Washington, ed. John C. Fitzpatrick, volume 5, p. 211; 1932)
Saturday, September 11, 2010
I welcome the TEA Party Movement, hoping to shake the Ds & Rs.
I am glad to see the rise of the so-called TEA Party movement. Democrats and Republicans alike have pitted against one another in divisive ways. There is corruption on both sides of the political spectrum, and there has been for years. Elected Dems and GOP members, at both the state and federal level, have gotten arrested and have violated laws with blatant disregard, supposing, perhaps that they are above the law. The American people are fed up. I am fed up.
Political wrangling is such that it is time for shift, a change—a major change—a moral, political and spiritual revolution.
I see, and hope, that not only the dems lose the majority in the upcoming election, but that all corrupt politicians and appointed officials get blasted off seats of national influence, district representation, and policymaking. I believe the day is soon coming that a third party will begin to integrate themselves on the ballots in a powerful way. We see that happening, in part, now. We can only hope that those who do run will run on the platform—and, in truth, follow the paths—of honesty, integrity, goodness and wisdom. Our country needs a political and moral revival.
I welcome a third or even fourth party influence if it will crush those who behave in ways that our first President, George Washington, warned against during his farewell speech in 1796. He warned against two powerful, contending political parties. Here's what he said:
Let me now…warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.
This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind.—It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed, but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.
The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and, sooner or later, the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purpose of his own elevation on the ruins of public liberty.
Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not be entirely out of sight) the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.
It serves always to distract the public councils, and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another; foments occasional riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.
There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged.
Political wrangling is such that it is time for shift, a change—a major change—a moral, political and spiritual revolution.
I see, and hope, that not only the dems lose the majority in the upcoming election, but that all corrupt politicians and appointed officials get blasted off seats of national influence, district representation, and policymaking. I believe the day is soon coming that a third party will begin to integrate themselves on the ballots in a powerful way. We see that happening, in part, now. We can only hope that those who do run will run on the platform—and, in truth, follow the paths—of honesty, integrity, goodness and wisdom. Our country needs a political and moral revival.
I welcome a third or even fourth party influence if it will crush those who behave in ways that our first President, George Washington, warned against during his farewell speech in 1796. He warned against two powerful, contending political parties. Here's what he said:
Let me now…warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.
This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind.—It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed, but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.
The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and, sooner or later, the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purpose of his own elevation on the ruins of public liberty.
Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not be entirely out of sight) the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.
It serves always to distract the public councils, and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another; foments occasional riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.
There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged.
Friday, September 10, 2010
More Decisions by Federal Judges - destroy family / country
City May Not Enforce Immigration Laws
A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Hazleton, Pa., may not enforce its crackdown on illegal immigrants, dealing another blow to 4-year-old regulations that inspired similar measures around the country. The city's mayor pledged to take the case to the Supreme Court.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia said that Hazleton's Illegal Immigration Relief Act usurped the federal government's exclusive power to regulate immigration.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hkWhluTKRQkgDRIl8zJOqQQSeo-gD9I4LCCG2
Federal Judge Rules: United States Military's Ban on Homosexuals is Unconstitutional
A federal judge in Southern California on Thursday declared the U.S. military's ban on openly gay service members unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment rights of gay and lesbians.
U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips granted a request for an injunction halting the government's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gays in the military.
Phillips said the policy doesn't help military readiness and instead has a "direct and deleterious effect" on the armed services.
The lawsuit was the biggest legal test of the law in recent years and came amid promises by President Barack Obama that he will work to repeal the policy.
Government lawyers argued Phillips lacked the authority to issue a nationwide injunction and the issue should be decided by Congress.
A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Hazleton, Pa., may not enforce its crackdown on illegal immigrants, dealing another blow to 4-year-old regulations that inspired similar measures around the country. The city's mayor pledged to take the case to the Supreme Court.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia said that Hazleton's Illegal Immigration Relief Act usurped the federal government's exclusive power to regulate immigration.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hkWhluTKRQkgDRIl8zJOqQQSeo-gD9I4LCCG2
Federal Judge Rules: United States Military's Ban on Homosexuals is Unconstitutional
A federal judge in Southern California on Thursday declared the U.S. military's ban on openly gay service members unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment rights of gay and lesbians.
U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips granted a request for an injunction halting the government's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gays in the military.
Phillips said the policy doesn't help military readiness and instead has a "direct and deleterious effect" on the armed services.
The lawsuit was the biggest legal test of the law in recent years and came amid promises by President Barack Obama that he will work to repeal the policy.
Government lawyers argued Phillips lacked the authority to issue a nationwide injunction and the issue should be decided by Congress.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Corrupt Judges corrupt societies
A federal judge overturned Nebraska's ban on flag mutilation Thursday, clearing the way for Kansas church protesters to continue trampling on the U.S. flag when they protest at military funerals....
[Nebraska] Attorney General...has previously said the flag-protection law passed in 1977 is not consistent with later U.S. Supreme Court rulings that labeled flag desecration a form of protected speech.
http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=13093710
Missouri's tight restrictions on protests and picketing outside military funerals were tossed out by a federal judge...
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-08-16/justice/missouri.funeral.protests.ruling_1_military-funerals-westboro-baptist-church-fred-phelps?_s=PM:CRIME
[An openly gay] US district judge in San Francisco on Wednesday overturned California's Proposition 8, the 2008 voter-approved ban on gay marriage.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/0804/Proposition-8-federal-judge-overturns-California-gay-marriage-ban
A federal judge in Madison [Wisconsin] has ruled the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.
[The] U.S. District [Judge] reached the conclusion [after] a lawsuit... of atheists and agnostics ...[saying] that the day violates the separation of church and state.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/15/federal-judge-rules-day-prayer-unconstitutional/
Where is America headed? Judges from the Supreme Court to every level of the court system in America need to be Judges who follow the Founding Father's, who know, revere and uphold the beloved US Constitution from a moral and honorable standpoint as it was originally intended by those who erected it. The Constitution is endangered when interpretations of it are completely perverted.
I highly recommend the reading of David Barton's Original Intent.
http://www.wallbuilders.com/
[Nebraska] Attorney General...has previously said the flag-protection law passed in 1977 is not consistent with later U.S. Supreme Court rulings that labeled flag desecration a form of protected speech.
http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=13093710
Missouri's tight restrictions on protests and picketing outside military funerals were tossed out by a federal judge...
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-08-16/justice/missouri.funeral.protests.ruling_1_military-funerals-westboro-baptist-church-fred-phelps?_s=PM:CRIME
[An openly gay] US district judge in San Francisco on Wednesday overturned California's Proposition 8, the 2008 voter-approved ban on gay marriage.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/0804/Proposition-8-federal-judge-overturns-California-gay-marriage-ban
A federal judge in Madison [Wisconsin] has ruled the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.
[The] U.S. District [Judge] reached the conclusion [after] a lawsuit... of atheists and agnostics ...[saying] that the day violates the separation of church and state.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/15/federal-judge-rules-day-prayer-unconstitutional/
Where is America headed? Judges from the Supreme Court to every level of the court system in America need to be Judges who follow the Founding Father's, who know, revere and uphold the beloved US Constitution from a moral and honorable standpoint as it was originally intended by those who erected it. The Constitution is endangered when interpretations of it are completely perverted.
I highly recommend the reading of David Barton's Original Intent.
http://www.wallbuilders.com/
98-year-old Driver Kills former Navy SEAL
Unfortunately, there comes a time when we all get too old to do things safely. A former Navy SEAL (BUDS Class 199) was riding his motorcycle (with a helmet) when a 98-year-old woman pulled out in front of him. This is a complete tragedy for all parties involved. Why was this woman driving?
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_15972820#ixzz0yOJS6gkG
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_15972820#ixzz0yOJS6gkG
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Airline Probe or Dry-Run Rehearsal Today
Two men from different locations in the US, flew to Chicago and changed their flight plans to Dulles (Virginia) and on to Amsterdam to straight to Amsterdam. Inside their checked luggage were knives, box cutters, $7,000 cash, several watches and cell phones taped together. One of those electronic devices was taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle.
This is indicative of the Bojinka Plot, wherein a an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was hidden under a seat with a watch timer taped to a bottle about the size of a Pepto bottle. The Islamically-motivated terrorist got off the plane after hiding the device. The IED exploded in air and the terrorist was no where to be found since he got off that flight.
Evil men will continue to attack weak links (and all cannot be secured with perfection). Eventually another attack, and then another will happen.
My concern is that in the wake of another terror attack the masses will demand safety, but at what consequence? Instead of creating larger government bureaucracies and spending more money that we don't have, we need to pray for those in charge that they'll exercise wisdom and constraint -- that they'll preserve our freedom while preserving our safety. We, the people, must never allow our safety to take precedence over our freedom.
In sum, let's always remember the inspired words of Benjamin Franklin:
"Those who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security."
Let us return to God and know that He directs the affairs of the people and He can stop attacks or allow them to occur where intelligence or security personnel fail.
This is indicative of the Bojinka Plot, wherein a an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was hidden under a seat with a watch timer taped to a bottle about the size of a Pepto bottle. The Islamically-motivated terrorist got off the plane after hiding the device. The IED exploded in air and the terrorist was no where to be found since he got off that flight.
Evil men will continue to attack weak links (and all cannot be secured with perfection). Eventually another attack, and then another will happen.
My concern is that in the wake of another terror attack the masses will demand safety, but at what consequence? Instead of creating larger government bureaucracies and spending more money that we don't have, we need to pray for those in charge that they'll exercise wisdom and constraint -- that they'll preserve our freedom while preserving our safety. We, the people, must never allow our safety to take precedence over our freedom.
In sum, let's always remember the inspired words of Benjamin Franklin:
"Those who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security."
Let us return to God and know that He directs the affairs of the people and He can stop attacks or allow them to occur where intelligence or security personnel fail.
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