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SULLY'S EDITORIAL
More random thoughts...
THOUGHTS ABOUT KILLING
Something to ponder on: I used to hunt, but no longer see pleasure in it. I won't kill anything now. The only exception to that is that I would kill in self defense, including an intruder in my house.
I don't like the killing of animals, and yet I hardly give a thought to wearing leather items or buying neatly wrapped meat in the store. Doesn't make much sense, I know.
Vegetables are living things, too. Do we really, really know that they feel no pain? Often wondered about that.
THOUGHTS ABOUT POLITICIANS
Americans keep complaining about the politicians who lie, cheat, vote for projects that benefit wealthy contributors, and who thumb their noses at voters until election time. Yet, voters will keep on and on voting for the rascal in every election.
One thing all of our senators and congressmen/women, are ignoring is the national debt. Many economists say this could be a bigger threat to our security than Osama Bin Laden.
If the government keeps borrowing and spending like crazy, very soon we'll reach a point where the debt will be so huge that we can NEVER pay it back. The government itself could collapse, leaving us open to takeover by the Chinese, to whom we owe lots and lots of money.
THOUGHTS ABOUT ISLAM
Most Muslims claim that Islam is not about terrorism and killing. And yet, why is it that the terrorists seem to be in control of Islam?
Can anyone answer this question? Exactly what does The Koran teach about dogs? Some Muslims say that Islam teaches that dogs are tools of Satan. They are evil, unclean, and to be shunned. Other Muslims say that is not true. I'd like to know what The Koran really teaches about this loyal, loving animal that has benefited mankind in so many ways.
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Sully's random thoughts...
Is the USA going out of business?
What the heck do workers do in the the U.S.? Almost nothing is made here anymore; it's all made overseas. It's hard to even find a lousy pencil made by Americans. I always assumed stuff like dog food, toothpaste, etc, was made in the US. Now I find that we and our pets are being poisoned because of corporate greed. They outsource to countries who have no love for us. If they made soup for Americans, they'd probably spit in it...or worse.
How long before we shut down completely?
Missile Defense.
Missile defense in Europe against N. Korea and Iran??? Who can blame Putin for being upset? Why doesn't he set up his own missiles and claim they're to defend against an attack by Denmark and The Netherlands?
Ya gotta love The Warren Comission.
Jack Ruby, a shady night club operator in Dallas reputed to have mafia connections killed Lee Oswald because he loved Kennedy. Believe that? The Warren Commission did. Ya know why? Cuz Jack Ruby told them so...UNDER OATH!
Nixon wasn't such a bad guy...relatively speaking.
Former President Carter stated, in effect, that George W Bush has damaged this country far worse than Richard M Nixon did. I agree. Watergate aside, Nixon wasn't a bad president--better than some others I can think of. Watergate was simply a burglary in which the Republicans were trying to steal Democrat records, while trying to prove the Dems were up to some hanky panky. Nixon lied, but haven't many other presidents?
American justice?
The guilt or innocence of the defendant matters not. What really matters is the battle between the prosecutor and the defender. Whether or not the defendant goes to jail depends on which of those two prevails. Justice?
What about the jury, you ask. Hmmm. To paraphrase Will Rogers, all I know about juries is what I read in the newspapers.
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05/27/07 Sully's Rules For Critting
The first forum I joined was one in a popular webzine. I submitted a story to the webzine which they accepted and published. After a few days passed, I had two comments about my story. The days went by, and I had no further comments. I noticed all the other stories, including a few that were published about the same time as mine, had collected lots of comments on the forum.
I thought I had a pretty good story, and was surprised and disappointed that no one was commenting on it. So a month later I sent in another story. This one was worse; it got but one comment. I felt ignored and dejected. Why didn't the readers like my stories?
And then I began to notice something about the forum. The comments were all from the same people, and they were commenting on each other's stories. So, I decided that if I wanted feedback on my stories, I would have to give some feedback myself.
The first thing I did was to acknowledge the few comments I had and thank them. Then I started commenting on other stories. Lo and behold, comments began to come in.
One of the best ways for writers to improve their craft is to give and receive feedback from other writers. Even positive comments can help, like,"I found nothing wrong with your story--I enjoyed it." That way the writer will know that she's doing it right--at least as far that particular story.
Readers who read your story only for enjoyment rarely comment. A reader will enjoy a story , put it down, and most likely forget it. But another writer will be making notes in his mind as he reads.
We have a respectable number of people who read SSS just for enjoyment, but only a couple of them ever comment. Many writers, including me, appreciate comments from readers as well as writers. Perhaps even more so, because in the final analysis, aren't we writing for the enjoyment of readers?
I came up with a list of rules for commenting:
1.) To get comments, you must give comments
2.) Always reciprocate with a comment of your own--unless, of course, the commenter doesn't have a story posted.
3.) If your commenter doesn't have a story posted, at least acknowledge her/his comment.
4.) Always try to find something positive to say--even if you don't like the story
5.) Don't get discouraged or upset if your comment isn't reciprocated or acknowledged. He/she may be sick, on vacation, or tied up in other business.
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05/03/07 US Army Tactics and Charlie Brown
The USA and the USSR emerged from WWII as the two great superpowers. The formidable war machines of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan were defeated decisively by the overwhelming forces of the two superpowers.
And yet, since WWII, both the USA and USSR have been humiliated by third rate powers such as Afghanistan and Vietnam. Those two little nations stood up to the great superpowers by fighting them with unconventional warfare. And now it looks like the USA is about to suffer another humiliating defeat at the hands of Bin Ladin's followers--who also use unconventional warfare tactics. Won't we ever learn?
We went up against the Viet Cong in Vietnam. With our overwhelming force, superior numbers, and superior weaponry, we were no match for the poorly equipped, out manned, and outgunned guerilla force.
So we suffered a humiliating defeat. But did we learn a lesson there? The answer is no, and the way we are conducting the war in Iraq bears that out.
The mindset of American generals is that overwhelming force is the only way to go. Even after our defeat in Vietnam, our military leaders tried to place the blame on political restrictions placed on the military during the conflict. Those stupid restrictions probably contributed to the defeat, but mainly we lost because we just can't fight an unconventional war.
The last successful unconventional war fought by US troops was during The Revolutionary War. Francis Marion used ambushes and hit and run tactics against The British with great success. The British gave Marion the nickname "The Swamp Fox," for his ability to strike quickly and then retreat to the swamps and disappear (sounds like The Viet Cong!)
West Point teaches our military leaders the tactics of great generals of the past. West Point would do well to also focus on unconventional warfare leaders as well, such as Mao Tse Tung, Ho Chi Minh, and our own Francis Marion. It would seem that Fidel Castro is no slouch, either, when it comes to guerilla warfare.
But we'll go on like good ol' Charlie Brown, and keep on attempting to kick that football into the next zip code.
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04/25/07 Victory in Iraq
President Bush has stated repeatedly that we will stay the course in Iraq until our mission is accomplished, which in his eyes means victory and nothing less.
So how can we tell when we've finally won the war in Iraq? I see either one of three ways that we will know we have won.
1.) When Bin Laden, or his successor, formally admits defeat and signs an unconditional surrender.
2.) When the last member of Al Queda is dead, or Al Queda is so badly defeated that they are unable to mount any kind of attack on U.S. troops.
3.) When we can turn Iraq over to the government we have set up there, confident that they can keep Al Queda under control and are able to deal with Iran.
Try as I might, I can't see either of these three events happening. (We tried a version of number three in Vietnam, and everyone knows what happened there.) In my opinion we blew our chance of victory in Iraq when we hung Saddam Hussein.
Note: After Japan was defeated in WWII, all of our allies demanded that we hang Emperor Hirohito. Gen. MacArthur refused, on the grounds that the Japanese would continue to fight a guerrilla war against us, which could go on indefinitely with tens of thousands of casualties. He wisely allowed Hirohito to live. The occupation of Japan was peaceful, in spite of the ferocity and fanaticism with which they fought us in WWII.
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04/13/07 Bush's Folly
Almost nobody remembers the reason that we invaded Iraq. But I do. It was because we suspected that Saddam had WMD hidden somewhere, and was a threat to our country. So when we invaded and found no weapons, why the heck didn't we say "mission accomplished" and bring the troops home?
That way, we could have declared victory and wouldn't be in the mess we're in today. Besides, we could have then focused all our energy on Bin Laden, the real enemy who was responsible for 911. If we'd left Saddam in control, there would be no terrorist problem in Iraq today. It's no secret that Saddam and Bin Laden have no love for each other.
So Saddam was a despot. The world is full of despots. But Saddam, rather than being a threat to our country, was actually beneficial to our cause. He not only had terrorists in fear of him, but he also kept Iran in check. There are others besides me who remember when we actually backed Saddam in his wars against Iran.
It was all so simple. 1.) Find no WMD, 2.) proclaim victory, 3.) come back home, 4.) leave Saddam in charge, and 5.) concentrate all our efforts in finding the real enemy, Bin Laden.
But we didn't do that. Why? Because Bush, Rumsfeld, and Cheney were obsessed with getting Saddam. And because of that, look at the mess we're in today.
Note: The elder President Bush invaded Iraq to free Kuwait, but he wisely stopped short of conquering and occupying Iraq and capturing Saddam. He brought the troops home. That war was considered by all to be a big victory for the U.S.
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03/08/07 Military Hospitals.
The sorry mess at Walter Reed Army Hospital is a disgrace. The way I see it, the army has been spending so much to recruit people and to keep them in once they have joined, that it is at least part of the reason--maybe the main reason--that hospitals, among other things, have been neglected.
Our leaders don't want to go to the draft for fear of going back to the chaos of draft resistance and demonstrations of the Vietnam era, so instead, they choose to go to an all-volunteer army to defend our country. To do this, they had to spend oodles and oodles of money.
They had to raise the pay of the army. A PFC with three years now gets the equivalent of $38,500.00 per year, counting base pay, housing allowance, and rations (computed by ARMY TIMES newspaper). A sergeant E-5 with five years will get $49,200.00. An E-9, the top-ranked sergeant, will get $80,000.00, and a captain will get $85,000.00. This does not count other allowances such as hazardous duty pay for people who work with explosives, paratrooper jump pay, and so on.
It also does not count free medical care for the soldiers and their families (how much would TOTAL coverage hospital insurance cost you?) Nor does it count the $40,000.00 bonus for enlisting and the same amount for reenlisting. Believe me, if I wasn't past the age I'd enlist in a heartbeat.
Now, our troops are expected to stand in harm's way and risk their all for our way of life. How much is that worth? You can't put a price on it. Each individual soldier is surely worth far more than many incompetent CEOs who get millions. But realistically it would put all of us in the poor house to pay our troops what they're worth.
The army is also spending billions to construct large concrete buildings with four-person rooms to replace the old wooden barracks (or Quonset Huts) that housed about forty troops. But the old barracks were clean , well maintained, and were comfortable enough. All the troops in those barracks knew each other and this fostered camaraderie (that's another story.)
Lots of money is also being spent on mess halls (now called "dining facilities") and other shops and office buildings that used to be of wooden construction.. All this to attract and keep volunteers.
If we have another war like WWII, and that isn't so far-fetched, we'll need at least 16,000,000 troops. Imagine paying them at the aforementioned rates, and constructing barracks to house them, dining facilities to feed them, etc. We were able to do that in WWII because the soldiers pay was fairly low. PFCs got food, housing, clothing, and about $50.00 per month for spending money.
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