"There Is No Copyright on Common Sense"
Nodebais, Belgium, Late November 1944: It was late in November, the weather was just about as miserable as it is here in Tennessee today on October 17. We were occupying an old chateau that was one grade better than the pyramidal tents we had recently vacated. I shared a room with T/Sgt. Lon Whitworth, Staff/Sgt. Michael Spero, and Staff/Sgt. Sterling Winn. We heated the room with a little round steel stove that burned soft coal and any wood we could scrounge from the nearby forest. The stovepipe exited through one of the windows. You could always tell where the GIs were billeted by the stove pipes sticking out the windows. It's a good thing the Germans didn't have the same photo intelligence capabilities we had. On this particular Saturday night we were making grilled cheese open-faced sandwiches over the heat of the coals, if you can imagine that. We were washing them down with some red wine one of our guys had liberated from we didn't ask where. As the Photo Lab needed a good sourse of water, they along with the Photo Intelligence Section were always located a distance from the main Squadron. In this case, we were about 12 miles away and Tech/Sgt. Warren Harnish, headquarters Sergeant Major, was "visiting" with us. Our repast was continually interrupted by the "put-put" of a German V-1 Buzz Bomb as it passed nearby on the way to London. Sometimes the "put-put" would stop, which meant the critter had run out of fuel and was on the way down. We would wait for it to hit, all the time hoping it wasn't going to be on the roof of the chateau. It never was, which you have discerned already or I wouldn't be typing this. I was taking a mail-order course in journalism from the University Of Indiana at the time and the following is one or my lessons with the title being:
"The Chateau"
It was an evening in late November. It was damp and it was cold. Inside the chateau it was warm but hard for one to lose that lonely feeling. There was plenty of time to think. One of those nights when you would give a month's pay for a ham on rye and a bottle of good American beer, or an American girl to talk to.
An occasional buzz bomb would go over, but by now not many of us gave them much notice, outside of a casual remark such as "There goes another one". When they first started coming over, their approaching sound was the signal for everyone to rush out and watch the anti-aircraft crews open up on them, and sometimes shoot one down.
A faint haze hung over the room and the flickering lamps threw their dull glow over a noisy group on one side of the room embroiled in a card game. Two others were battling noiselessly over a game of chess in the far corner, while still others singly or in pairs, talked about various topics of the day or scanned the latest issue of "Stars and Stripes". A quartet at the bar would break in at times with their own version of "Mairzy Doats"
Two guards coming off duty, stepped into the room, looked around, wiped rain and mist from their eyes, squinting in the dull light after coming in out of the night. Their shoes were covered with cold, sticky mud. Stepping to the bar, they quietly downed a shot of brandy in an effort to shake the chill from their body, after which they left as quietly as they came.
The room itself was large, drab, and unpretentious with a high ceiling and dark plaster walls finished off in imitation mahogany which was chipped and scarred. High French windows, blacked out with dirty cardboard and paper, lined the wall on one side. In years long past, it was undoubtedly the site of gaudy parties and banquets where fine ladies in lace dined with their noble gentlemen, or danced to light-hearted music. Rich, Napoleonic era tapestries would have lined the walls, heavy furniture and glittering chandeliers would have lent gaiety and finery.
But, tonight the room was furnished with a few unpainted wooden tables, a few woobly chairs and a bar made from boards stretched between two boxes. Light was furnished by black-globed kerosene lamps. The back bar was another box upon which rested half a dozen bottles of wine, brandy, and cognac. The heavy oak floor, once covered with expensive carpets where only the elite trod, was now covered with a thick layer of dirt and scuffed by the shuffling feet of the men now occupying the room.
Somewhere over the horizon lights shine brightly, people are happy again, but here it is cold, it is desolate, it is war.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Nomad News - Volume 2 - No. 30
"There's No Copyright On Common Sense"
'FLIP THIS HOUSE 2010": Motto for the next year. I forget who coined this but it is one I am dedicated to and I hope you will join me and the others who have adopted this. The only way we're going to make a change in Washington is to clean house: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Then, elect new representatives who will run on a policy of term limits for starters. They must sign an oath they will sponsor or co-sponsor a bill setting term limits and then abide by it or out the door. Today we have 35,000 lobbyists in D.C. with fists full of money to buy their way into our pocketbooks. Nepotism is an incurable disease that permeates the entire power structure: We have family or relatives on the payrolls with lucrative salaries, we have retired members of the House and Senate that are now lobbyists or working for lobbyists, we have two generations down that are in the web and if they are not directly attached they are working for corporations that have or are seeking government contracts. This is a power and/or influence web that includes everyone except the taxpayer. You can't penetrate it. It must be destroyed. If it's not started at the voting booth next year it will be done in the streets in the not too distant future. A sign seen at the Washington tea party said it all: "This time we came unarmed".
Don't think your vote or your message to a member of Congress doesn't count. If two kids with a hidden camera can bring down ACORN, think of what we can accomplish if we stick together and don't let up the pressure on Washington. The dismissive attitude the liberal press and the Washington establishment took on the Tea Parties will backfire on them in next year's election if we continue on the attack. As Winston Churchill said: "We will never, never, NEVER give up."
MUST READ: 1. Constitution of the United States of America
2. Declaration of Independence
3. The Fedralist Papers
The first two you are no doubt well aware of but they need to be reviewed regularly and impressed on others, especially the younger generation. No. 3 may not be familiar to some of you but it is also a "must" to understand the first two, especially No. 1.
There are 85 Federalist Papers and the main author was Alexander Hamilton; some by James Madison and a few by John Jay. When the Constitution was submitted to the 13 original states for ratification there was some fear that the people of New York, one of the most important states at that time, would not ratify it so the Federalist Papers were authored to explain how the new government would operate. My guess is, if any current high school student or graduate within the last 30 years was asked about the Federalist Papers the answer would be: "who?". That's a testament to today's government-schooled students and their lack of basic knowledge of what America is supposed to be: a representative republic.
G8 AND HIS BATTLE ACES: In some of my previous dissertations in the field of aeronautics, especially the inventions of the flying belt and the jet engine, I completely forgot about one of my earliest exploits as one of G8's Battle Aces! I was enjoying a cup of coffee with George McKeel, another former pilot and junior old guy, following a recent Sunday after-service coffee hour at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, when George, brought up G8. How could I have forgotten G8? Must be getting old, too. When not flying through the universe with Buck Rogers in pursuit of Killer Kane, I was fighting such bad guys as the Headless Monster with G8 and His Battle Aces in our World War One French Spad aircraft. Whereas Buck Rogers operated out of the newspaper comic strips, G8 was a comic book that I eagerly awaited each edition so see where the next battle would be. Copies were closely guarded and traded.
MY TITLE FOR OBAMA'S LATEST MEMOIR: The Audacity of Hubris.
Actually, I like Rush Limbaugh's rendition after the messiah's put- down in Oslo: The Ego has Landed and his later comment when the messiah was awarded the Peace Prize: "His head now fits his ears".
As I remember, on December 8, 1941 President Roosevelt declared war on Japan and Germany. On September 12, 2001 President W declared War on Terror. All the messiah has done after 8 months in office is change the words to Foreign Contingency Operations and has yet to announce a battle plan. He's "thinking about it". He dishonors the title Commander-in-Chief. The kids in uniform deserve something better. Much better. Reminds me of a comment by Mark Twain: "Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it".
I started this issue on October 4 and on Ocxtober 7 I wound up in Cumberland Medical Center when my blood pressure took a dive. I was there overnight and things seem to be normal after a minor adjustment in my medications. Doing a pretty good job of living up to my grandfather's admonition: "Live a long time without getting old". Well, at least it's an Irish saying from someone's grandfather.
Hawkeye
Hawkeye
'FLIP THIS HOUSE 2010": Motto for the next year. I forget who coined this but it is one I am dedicated to and I hope you will join me and the others who have adopted this. The only way we're going to make a change in Washington is to clean house: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Then, elect new representatives who will run on a policy of term limits for starters. They must sign an oath they will sponsor or co-sponsor a bill setting term limits and then abide by it or out the door. Today we have 35,000 lobbyists in D.C. with fists full of money to buy their way into our pocketbooks. Nepotism is an incurable disease that permeates the entire power structure: We have family or relatives on the payrolls with lucrative salaries, we have retired members of the House and Senate that are now lobbyists or working for lobbyists, we have two generations down that are in the web and if they are not directly attached they are working for corporations that have or are seeking government contracts. This is a power and/or influence web that includes everyone except the taxpayer. You can't penetrate it. It must be destroyed. If it's not started at the voting booth next year it will be done in the streets in the not too distant future. A sign seen at the Washington tea party said it all: "This time we came unarmed".
Don't think your vote or your message to a member of Congress doesn't count. If two kids with a hidden camera can bring down ACORN, think of what we can accomplish if we stick together and don't let up the pressure on Washington. The dismissive attitude the liberal press and the Washington establishment took on the Tea Parties will backfire on them in next year's election if we continue on the attack. As Winston Churchill said: "We will never, never, NEVER give up."
MUST READ: 1. Constitution of the United States of America
2. Declaration of Independence
3. The Fedralist Papers
The first two you are no doubt well aware of but they need to be reviewed regularly and impressed on others, especially the younger generation. No. 3 may not be familiar to some of you but it is also a "must" to understand the first two, especially No. 1.
There are 85 Federalist Papers and the main author was Alexander Hamilton; some by James Madison and a few by John Jay. When the Constitution was submitted to the 13 original states for ratification there was some fear that the people of New York, one of the most important states at that time, would not ratify it so the Federalist Papers were authored to explain how the new government would operate. My guess is, if any current high school student or graduate within the last 30 years was asked about the Federalist Papers the answer would be: "who?". That's a testament to today's government-schooled students and their lack of basic knowledge of what America is supposed to be: a representative republic.
G8 AND HIS BATTLE ACES: In some of my previous dissertations in the field of aeronautics, especially the inventions of the flying belt and the jet engine, I completely forgot about one of my earliest exploits as one of G8's Battle Aces! I was enjoying a cup of coffee with George McKeel, another former pilot and junior old guy, following a recent Sunday after-service coffee hour at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, when George, brought up G8. How could I have forgotten G8? Must be getting old, too. When not flying through the universe with Buck Rogers in pursuit of Killer Kane, I was fighting such bad guys as the Headless Monster with G8 and His Battle Aces in our World War One French Spad aircraft. Whereas Buck Rogers operated out of the newspaper comic strips, G8 was a comic book that I eagerly awaited each edition so see where the next battle would be. Copies were closely guarded and traded.
MY TITLE FOR OBAMA'S LATEST MEMOIR: The Audacity of Hubris.
Actually, I like Rush Limbaugh's rendition after the messiah's put- down in Oslo: The Ego has Landed and his later comment when the messiah was awarded the Peace Prize: "His head now fits his ears".
As I remember, on December 8, 1941 President Roosevelt declared war on Japan and Germany. On September 12, 2001 President W declared War on Terror. All the messiah has done after 8 months in office is change the words to Foreign Contingency Operations and has yet to announce a battle plan. He's "thinking about it". He dishonors the title Commander-in-Chief. The kids in uniform deserve something better. Much better. Reminds me of a comment by Mark Twain: "Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it".
I started this issue on October 4 and on Ocxtober 7 I wound up in Cumberland Medical Center when my blood pressure took a dive. I was there overnight and things seem to be normal after a minor adjustment in my medications. Doing a pretty good job of living up to my grandfather's admonition: "Live a long time without getting old". Well, at least it's an Irish saying from someone's grandfather.
Hawkeye
Hawkeye
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