JACK'S BLOG
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AmericaSweet, charming, gracious – the image of a Southern Belle in her maturity. Racist? Absolutely. Who has she harmed? “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can hurt me.” They hurt me. Paula Deen and racists like her have been hurting all Americans for many decades. They perpetuate stereotypes that denigrate our nation and prevent our people from living in peace and harmony. The words she spoke will linger for decades to come, continuing to harm not only you and I, but also the generations that follow us. No apology can unring that bell. It will reverberate in speeches by those who profit from strife.
I am particularly offended by Ms Deen's behavior because it exposes the scars that I bear of having been raised by a racist. My father was indiscriminate in his discrimination. He hated everyone who was different. I don't believe that I heard words like “African-American” (“black” was in vogue when I was a boy), “Asian”, “Italian”, “Pole”, “Chinese”, “Japanese”, etc. All people who were different were identified by racial epithets in our household. All people except Germans. He adored all things Germanic. He self-identified as German even though all his predecessors were Slovak. He was obviously ashamed of being Slovak. Unfortunately, some vestige of my father's bigotry persists in my family and I find it difficult to be around them. Even though they have been warned that I will not tolerate hate speech, let alone hateful acts in my presence, there are slips that lead to uncomfortable confrontations. Thus, it is no surprise that my first novel dealt with racism. Racism rears its ugly head in the main plot line and we learn that it has been the guiding force in U.S. Foreign relations in the Caribbean and Latin America. Apparently, Americans of European descent have little more regard for Iberians than they have for Africans. A subplot in my novel is also an outgrowth of racism wherein my protagonists pursue romance and marriage even though faced with antimisogyny laws that forbid their union. Now, Ms Deen is sorry, very sorry indeed. She has been fired by FoodNetwork TV. More than the loss of income, she will suffer from the loss of public exposure that has driven her successful enterprises in selling books and kitchenware. Such retribution will escape the attention of those who argue that racism continues to thrive in America. They will continue to fan the fires of racial division and unrest, and all America and our progeny will continue to suffer. Will bigotry ever be put to rest? Unfortunately, no. It thrives in the dung heap of ignorance. Although we may stifle its influence in our law and our public institutions, we will never completely eradicate it from society. That is why it is not enough to simply refrain from its practice. It is not enough to shun bigots. All people of good will must speak out against bigotry and discrimination and act decisively to stop it.
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Oh Dark ThirtyBased on your total calories consumed for today, you are eating too few calories. Not only is it difficult to receive adequate nutrition at these calorie levels, but you could also be putting your body into starvation mode. Starvation mode lowers your metabolism and makes weight loss more difficult. We suggest increasing your calorie consumption to 1200 calories per day minimum. Doesn't that sound like a boxing coach advising a fighter to lean into the punch coming his way? It does to me. But that's the message that I'm receiving from the experts at MyFitnessPal. I've lost sixty pounds thus far. (That's the real purpose of this posting – so I can brag.) Forty pounds of that have come off since I started tracking my diet and exercise on MyFitnessPal.com on August 9, 2012. I've recommended this website in the past because it's the best I've ever found and it's free! I started out with Weight Watchers but their screwy system doesn't count fruits and vegetables as though they don't have any food value. However, I've hit a plateau. I've weighed in the mid-two-hundred and forties for six weeks now. It's been frustrating. So, I checked out the reports section on MyFitnessPal last night and discovered that my net calorie intake dropped about the time I stopped losing weight. Really? Really! Obviously, I have no lack of will power. It's just that, according to them, my net calories are too low. Net calories include the total food consumed less the calories burned during exercise. The dramatic peaks and valleys in this chart are explained by the fact that I try to workout on an elliptical machine four times per week and practice Hatha Yoga seven days per week. I just began the yoga in early May. Yes, I miss a day or two here and there, usually when I have grand parenting duties.
So, should I increase caloric intake? That is, eat more. Do you have any idea the danger in telling a person who has battled his weight all his life to “eat more”? Yeah, that's a recipe for disaster... Army LifeI have posted the letters from the family of Lieutenant Behenna as they fought to find justice in his case. I am sad to say that this probably will be the final posting and it is a sad ending indeed. The Supreme Court has refused to hear his case. Here are the links to the previous postings in case you missed them: Original Posting: Who is more deserving of justice than the men & women who fight to defend our freedom? Update 1: Parole hearing scheduled Update 2: Parole denied Update 3: Government dragging its feet in responding to Supreme Court Update 4: Is justice delayed justice denied in the case of Lt Behenna? Update 5: Justice plods ahead slowly: Lietenant Behenna's case in conference at the Supreme Court Update 6: What price justice? Please send Lieutenant Behenna a card or a letter now and then. Not only will it help him survive his incarceration with some semblance of humanity, but also it will help you remember that justice in America is in peril. The daily news of scandals from the halls of power are not unrelated to this case. It is just another instance of the application of justice according to political and ideological tests that pervades this Administration. The only hope for justice remaining is a Presidential Pardon. Will the current occupant of the White House grant one? As my Magic Eight Ball might say, "It is doubtful". Inasmuch as this Administration is committed to appeasement towards the terrorists, they can't be expected to act justly to those who fight them. Hopefully the next President will be wiser and act more justly. We can only pray... To all the thousands of Michael supporters,
Over the past five years all Michael truly wanted was a fair trial to show that he was defending himself when attacked by a known Al-Qa’ida member on that fateful May night in 2008. A week ago the Supreme Court announced that Michael’s case was denied certiorari. This effectively ends the possibility of a jury hearing from Dr. Herbert MacDonell, the expert witness for the Army prosecutors who told them in private during the original trial that he believed the evidence supported Michael’s version of the events. As most of you know the prosecutors sent Dr. MacDonell home rather than have him provide testimony that would have corroborated what Michael said happened in that Iraqi culvert. We will never know why the prosecutors wantonly withheld this evidence, or why the military chose to release a known terrorist whom Army Intelligence knew participated in the killing of Michael’s Soldiers (and for whom the Army had issued a kill/capture order on), or why Michael’s platoon was designated as the unit to return the very man responsible for the IED attack on Michael’s Soldier’s back to his home. Although many questions will remain unanswered, one thing that I can tell you with absolute certainty is that Michael remains in good health, good spirits, and will dutifully serve in prison until the Army tells him he can go free, whether that be next year or ten years from now. I honestly don’t know how those that betrayed Michael sleep at night, but we are comforted by the fact that Michael is at peace in knowing his actions on May 16, 2008 protected himself, his troops, and all the Iraqi citizens that may have been harmed in the future by this Al-Qa’ida terrorist. While the military justice system that denied Michael a fair trial is indeed broken, despite everything Michael’s spirit remains UNBROKEN! To quote the poem Invictus, 'his head is bloody, but unbowed.' With the decision by the Supreme Court to not review Michael’s case our legal battle has come to an end, but our fight to secure Michael’s freedom goes on. I know many of you who contacted your Congressional Delegations in the past had been told that they can’t do anything while Michael’s case works its way through the courts. Well those excuses are no longer valid and we want all those in charge - the President, The Secretary of Defense, The Secretary of the Army, the Army Clemency and Parole Board, the Congress - to finally stand up for what’s right and allow Michael to return home to his family and start a new life. These leaders and the entire country must ask the question: who is benefiting from Michael’s further incarceration? Society? The Army? Michael? Iraq? In 2009 President Bush commuted the sentences of the Border Patrol Agents Compean and Ramos due to public outcry. With your assistance we can do the same for Michael. Michael may have been denied by the Supreme Court, but he knows from your many cards and letters of support that he has not been rebuked or rejected by the American public or Soldiers/Marines who have walked in his shoes before him. Please pass this latest disappointing news to your family, friends, and neighbors so we can work together to tell the political leaders of this country that we need to bring this brave Soldier home where he belongs! Bless you for your continued support of our son! Scott & Vicki Behenna The poem INVICTUS, by William Henley Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. WritingSTORYTELLERS HAVE BEEN getting themselves in and out of tight spots ever since the first tales were narrated. Chester Gould, who originated the Dick Tracy series of comics, was a master of the craft. No cartoon character was better known for getting into situations that seemed impossible to escape. Indeed, Gould once admitted that he outdid himself on one occasion. Tracy was trapped at the bottom of a deep pit and the bad guys dropped a boulder on him that fit the diameter of the pit like a cannon ball fit a muzzle. Gould used a side story of Tracy's partner, Sam Catchem, to fill the comic's panels for more than a week while he pondered how to extricate Tracy from the pit. He almost went so far as to illustrate a pencil eraser appearing to eliminate the danger. I've gotten myself into a similar predicament. My current project, a novel entitled Behind Every Mountain, is a story that takes place during the Korean War. It's not about Korea or the war. This novel traces the coming of age of a young man who joins the Army to escape an abusive father and is thrown into a flight for his life. Yes, that's flight, not fight. As an Army Ranger, he is parachuted with a reconnaissance patrol onto the flood plain of the Yalu River separating North Korea and China. Their mission is to observe the Chinese Communist forces massing there and estimate their strength and intent. Unfortunately, they arrive just as the Chicom army is crossing the Yalu and my hero is the lone survivor. (No pun intended, but he is the lone surviving Ranger.) Cut off from the planned extraction point, he is forced to follow the Chicom army south as it drives the UN allies ahead of it while he looks for an opportunity to sneak past the enemy and rejoin any American unit. Obviously, he encounters many dangers during this adventure, but none so daunting as when he comes abreast of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. There he must cross the Taedong River. Although this is a work of fiction, I attempt to remain true to the history, geology, culture, and time of the milieu in which this story occurs. I studied Korea and its history as far back as the arrival of the first Chinese outcasts who escaped there to hide in the mountains that dominate the peninsula. These same mountains provide my hero with cover and concealment as he travels parallel to the Chicom soldiers. However, crossing the Taedong River without revealing himself is another matter. The Taedong River is more than a quarter mile wide at the point where the young Ranger must cross, as seen in this aerial photo. The dam that appears in it did not exist at the time of the Korean War. It is reasonable to assume that all bridges were heavily used by the Chicom army and well-guarded. Because the UN air force and naval aviators dominated the skies, the communists moved at night. My hero also would have moved at night when crossing dangerous areas like the river. This photo also reveals that the river above the damn is covered in ice, while below the dam it is not. I have not yet been able to ascertain whether it was ice-covered during the winter of 1950 or if the ice was thick enough to bear the weight of a man walking across. I may have to make an assumption about that for the purposes of my story. Fortunately, I have my training as an infantry officer to fall back on when making assumptions about the conduct of war. However, I know that with absolute certainty that the moon was full at the time of his attempted crossing, December 27, 1950, thus adding another layer of difficulty. It is reasonable to assume that the communists would have positioned observers along the river's edge, probably on both sides. They must have known that remnants of the American army were attempting to straggle back south after the Chicom army surprised and routed them in November of that year. I used the Moon Phase Calendar when writing Rebels on the Mountain to determine how difficult it must have been for Fidel Castro to sneak past Mexican authorities as he set out from the Tuxpam River on his fateful trip to Cuba to launch his revolution.
Obviously, my fictional Ranger ultimately will cross the Taedong River safely. But, how? That is the question. You'll just have to wait for the novel later this year to find out. |
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