tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81718880145130331702024-02-20T14:50:54.091-08:00William (Bill) Gritzbaugh, Author, 'A Long Day to Denver'This Blog is connected to the website for my novel 'A Long Day to Denver'.
If you came directly here from Facebook or the web, please visit my website, www.alongdaytodenver.com.
'A Long Day to Denver' is a coming-of-age story that includes romance, war, adventure and tragedy. See many reviews and buy it at 'Amazon.com'.Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01576088254875468583noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171888014513033170.post-51336526605280914802016-09-24T19:05:00.000-07:002016-09-26T10:18:30.389-07:00FREE HEALTHCARE? YOU BET. COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS GETS LOTS OF IT.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"> Healthcare
in America has been a public and political obsession for quite a few years now.
Its availability and cost rarely go unmentioned on evening newscasts. The
rising cost of ACA/ObamaCare was fodder for the recent political party debates
and will continue to be for the candidates in the general election.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>But there is and has been free diagnostic
care available to most any able-bodied citizen, and I’m letting you readers in
on it now. All you have to do is get involved with charitable organizations
that require a certification of your good health. Here’s an example:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;">Donate Blood at
the Red Cross: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;">The first thing you get is
a blood pressure reading. This is a huge indicator of overall health. Next, you
get a measure of the iron in your blood which could indicate anemia. Your pulse
is measured, since an elevated heart rate can indicate a variety of health
issues. Once your blood is taken, it is lab tested for a host of things to include
your blood type, e.g. A positive, O negative, etc., Hepatitis B and C, red
blood antibodies that can indicate pregnancy, TB, HIV, Syphilis and other
venereal diseases, antibodies that can indicate infection or the virus that
causes a form of Leukemia. The Zika virus has recently been added to the list
of infections for which donated blood is tested. If an infectious disease is
discovered in your blood, you’re contacted by letter or phone and offered a
chance to receive professional medical counseling. How’s that for free? All you
need to do is donate a pint of blood, and you can do it every two months.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;">Volunteer at a
Veterans Administration Hospital in a patient-contact capacity:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;">I’m a volunteer driver at
our local VA hospital, and my gig puts me in contact with veterans coming in
for or going home from their appointments. Drivers are provided a free annual
physical, and that physical includes blood work, blood pressure, TB, urinalysis,
hernia, physical mobility, reflexes, sight and hearing. Recently, I was offered
(and accepted) a Hepatitis B shot series and got an ‘immunity’ result
afterwards. As a vet myself, I’m hounded to get their free flu shot. Don’t want
to drive? There are several other patient-contact volunteer gigs in the
hospital facility.</span></div>
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</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;">Find a Clinical
Trial to participate in:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;">As a guy with fair, sun
damaged skin, I’ve participated in a half-dozen Clinical Trials involving
topical ointments. Trials will differ in the variables required of volunteers,
but I’ve routinely had my blood pressure checked, blood work performed,
urinalysis and even EKGs. Icing on the cake is that I’m paid for each Trial for
my mileage and time, often several hundred dollars. Since each drug is in
‘Trial’ phase, one might receive the actual drug or, rather, a placebo that has
no medicinal effect. That is, of course, how the drug company determines the
drug’s efficacy. If one does get the actual drug, then there’s a ‘treatment’
benefit as well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Our society offers free (or nearly so) health programs for
older people, e.g. Medicare, and for low income folks, e.g. Medicaid, CHIP,
etc., so it’s unrealistic to expect people in these circumstances to pursue
such avenues for care. Working, mid-career adults most often have employee
health plans. So, the people who should be exploring just these sorts of
opportunities are the students or under-employed and/or part-time ‘Millennial’
young adults who had been expected to sign up for the ACA/ObamaCare but refused
to do so. Collectively referred to as “Young Invincibles”, since they believe
their youthful vitality gives them immunity to illness, they have the time and
energy to take advantage of one or more sources of free care. Indeed, since
each option I listed is heavy on tests that look for problems rather than treating
ones that are discovered, they allow an opportunistic approach wherein a person
delays ACA participation until a problem is discovered. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>So, if you have a son or daughter of that ‘Invincible’
generation and are pulling your hair out over their cavalier attitude towards
expensive health insurance, maybe suggest they start giving <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Red Cross</b> blood donations regularly. While
such a ‘mini-physical’ every couple of months may not motivate them, ask them
to consider the benefit that their ‘Invincible’ blood will provide for adults
and children whose health is less robust. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">VA Hospitals</b> are
located in most large cities, and they maintain websites for volunteer
opportunities, for example:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.portland.va.gov/giving/index.asp"><span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: calibri;">http://www.portland.va.gov/giving/index.asp</span></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Though volunteering has rewards for any generation, it’s
older, retired folks who most often have the time and inclination to do so. However,
for Millennials, whose political focus on social welfare issues is well
documented, finding four or five hours a week to help out at a VA hospital
could be a hugely enlightening and informative experience. Each shift would,
indeed, be a free history lesson as they hear first-hand the unfathomable tales
of men and women who lived in an America the younger generation will have a hard
time believing ever existed. Receiving, for themselves, some free diagnostic
health information will seem trivial by comparison with those ‘lessons’.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Clinical Trials</b>
can be found in local media and on a government website:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span><a href="https://clincaltrials.gov/"><span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: calibri;">https://clincaltrials.gov</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The time and duration of such trials may be an impediment
for many people, but the free medical diagnostic tests and financial
reimbursements provided can more than make up for the inconvenience. Moreover,
for younger professionals in the healthcare or related industries, to
participate in the ‘business’ of medicine, to actually see and participate in
the creation of a new drug, might foster a career-directional epiphany of
immense value.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Free medical care was the focus of this posting, but we all
know that nothing is truly without cost. The organizations involved incur large
expenses for the examinations and tests provided. But as non-profit or
governmental organizations (Red Cross, VA), our society as a whole ponies up
the money. The costs of Clinical Trials conducted by for-profit drug companies
will be factored into the cost of new drugs, and those costs are borne by the
consumer. Blood donors, volunteers and Trial participants are paying with time,
inconvenience or, literally, their blood. Thus, a young citizen who receives,
as a benefit of serving his or her community, a clean bill of health, might
gain a new perspective on ‘Entitlements’, and learn the economic lesson that
something valuable that’s given away, will always be in short supply. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;">Bill Gritzbaugh</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; margin: 0px;">September 23, 2016</span></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01576088254875468583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171888014513033170.post-75450981280244322592016-09-03T12:45:00.000-07:002016-09-03T12:45:03.662-07:00DNA and the INNER CITY: A PROGRAM TO BRING FATHERS TOGETHER WITH THEIR CHILDREN
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">A recent
article in the Wall Street Journal highlighting advances in DNA analysis triggered
a memory for me of an idea (widely held) I’ve had about using DNA technology to
bring families back together. Somehow, some way, our society needs to bring
motivated men back into contact with children that they’ve voluntarily
abandoned or from which they’ve been involuntarily driven or, as important,
that they didn’t know they’d fathered. The DNA match program I envision would
include men who want to establish their biological relationship with children
they know or suspect they’ve fathered and/or who’d like to find children they
didn’t know they had. That some mothers aren’t sure of or don’t know the
fathers of their children is just a fact of life, and that fact makes a DNA
match program all the more worthwhile.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Everyone who follows the news is aware
of the gun carnage in many inner cities (425 deaths year-to-date in Chicago),
intractable poverty, low rates of employment, low graduation rates, and, in
general, a pall of despair hanging over such communities. It has been argued
that high rates of out-of-wedlock births that create thousands of boys and
girls growing up in fatherless homes plays a huge role in the aforementioned
problems. So, it is reasonable to believe that a program to reunite biological
fathers with their offspring in high crime areas (initially) might have a
positive effect on family behavioral patterns. The “Alpha-male” is a scientific fact. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Recent
statistics show 73% of black kids are born of single mothers. Whites are at
29%, Hispanics at 53% and even Native Americans are at 66%. Not all of these
kids live in dysfunctional households, but crime statistics dictate that many do.
Thus, a young woman struggles to raise her children, often on Public
Assistance, in neighborhoods populated by other women in similar circumstances,
and eventually this matriarchal sub-society becomes the multi-generational ‘normal’.
Men are hanging around to be sure. But the matriarchal sub-society keeps them
marginalized at arm’s length for perverse economic necessity. As those kids
reach adolescence, the mother/grandmother/aunt often loses control of them, and
disaster looms as the kids gravitate to gangs for a sense of belonging,
camaraderie and the gang’s own perverted role as disciplinarian.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Arguments against the choices women
make, e.g. having babies without marriage or, indeed, any substantive
relationship with the father(s), are attacked, if the mother is a minority, as politically
incorrect at best, racism at worst, thus ensuring that the trend continues. So
the cycle of poverty, violence and hopelessness moves along decade after decade
with those Americans caught up in that cycle effectively playing no productive
role in our overall society. Rarely mentioned, again due to political
correctness, is the eroding of our broader culture as the pathological
manifestations emanating from such dysfunction spreads into it.</span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Would the reintroduction of the biological father to a
child’s life be a net positive, and why would a guy want to suddenly discover
he has one or more children, possibly with one or more women? Because a lot of
the men who have fathered those children feel regret, some don’t have much going
on in their lives, don’t have much to take pride in or be proud of and,
frankly, are getting older and would like to have an opportunity to have a real
‘family’ experience before it’s too late to do so. Sadly, some of the fathers
might be incarcerated. Likewise, a father might find out a son or daughter is incarcerated.
No matter, in my view. The reestablishment of ‘blood’ presents an opportunity
for a brighter or more substantive future. Let the chips fall where they may. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Why would a child of
one of these absent fathers want him back into their life to any degree, large
or small? How about someone to look up to, someone who’s looking out for them,
normal human curiosity, filling a void, wanting a grandfather around for their
own children, wanting to fill that empty seat at the Christmas Dinner table.
The reasons one has to search out a son or daughter or father are highly
subjective. But consider the effort so many adopted children expend to find
birth parents. Who’s to say that such desire wouldn’t exist among other fatherless
children? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Some of the mothers would balk at a
father suddenly appearing for their minor children.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Others might leap at a chance to
introduce a father-figure to an unruly son or daughter. However, many potential
reunions would be between adult children and their fathers, outside the control
of a possibly resentful mother. That’s a ‘family’ dynamic that will have to
work itself out as the new relationships evolve.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Skeptics might say that only ne’re-do-well fathers would seek
matches with children in hopes of reaping financial gain from them or their
mothers. Conversely, the kids/mothers might hope to gain financially from their
emergent fathers. Both scenarios could happen, but so what? Maybe some lives
will be enriched literally as well as figuratively. But reality will set in
quickly as it always does, and the substance or lack thereof of the new
relationships will depend on the individuals involved.</span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">How does a DNA match program get going? Advertise the free
service that allows anyone to voluntarily enter a DNA database with the intent
to be cross-matched with unknown/missing family members. Set up pilot programs
in several target cities using ‘faith-based’ organization volunteers (the LDS
Church/Mormons would be my first call). Storefronts with nurses taking cotton
swab samples from the interior cheek surfaces of participants or opening and
labeling mailed-in samples is all we’re talking about.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The criminal justice system should
have no reason to impede an inmate’s participation by mail. Lab services will
be donated or discounted. DNA match results would be mailed or emailed simultaneously
to parents and children or their guardians. At that point it’s up to those individuals
to decide what to do next, but they’d be highly encouraged to move forward to a
physical get-together. Such first meetings might be worthy of a reality TV
series. Who knows? Maybe the Discovery Channel would fund the entire program
for the ‘exclusive’ production rights.</span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The database must be
separate and firewalled from the databases maintained by many state criminal
justice systems for the obvious issue of personal privacy. The Wall Street
Journal article mentioned above was in regards to solving ‘cold’ criminal
cases. The program would collapse if participants even thought that their data
would be shared. Once the intended matches are effected, the data would be
destroyed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Naïvely but hopefully, I envision, several
years hence, that many urban communities will see plummeting out-of-wedlock
births, kids staying in school to graduate, crime rates falling to historic
lows and dads saying goodbye to wives and kids at the front door as they head
off to work. That will necessitate vast improvement in local job opportunities
and, equally important, a concomitant reconsideration of the myriad social
welfare programs that made dads superfluous to being with. Good luck with that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Bill
Gritzbaugh</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">September 3,
2016</span></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01576088254875468583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171888014513033170.post-275849006034447132016-06-26T15:28:00.000-07:002016-06-27T19:41:51.481-07:00IT'S TIME TO CREATE 'THE FATHER OF MODERN NORTH KOREA'<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">On this 66<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of North Korea’s ignominious invasion of South Korea, June 25<sup>th</sup>
1950, I’m suggesting a political solution for the intractable conflict between
North Korea and the rest of the world. My solution taps into an aspect of
pan-Asian culture that is little known and less understood in the Western
World. </span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For shear
volatility, nothing, even Radical Islamic Terrorism, can compare with a lunatic
leader, Kim Jong-un, flaunting his missiles and nuclear weapons in the face of
the civilized world. Something new and different needs to be tried before an
error in his technology or judgement triggers another war on that peninsula.</span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ve never heard or read anything
about a negotiation approach being employed in dealing with Kim that, to me,
seems simple and guaranteed to be successful in at least reducing tensions in
the short run, and perhaps changing the entire course of history in that part
of the world. It starts with Air Force One landing in Pyongyang bringing a new
US President on an official visit to the world’s most unfathomable leader. The
President will be bringing along an outline for a paradigm shift in North
Korean history that requires presentation by the World’s most powerful leader
in order to force Kim to take it seriously. Once the doors to Kim’s conference
room are closed, the President stands up and says: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Mr. Chairman, we are here to offer
you an opportunity to cement your place in history. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We wish to make you the Father of Modern North
Korea. The operative word is ‘Modern’, and here’s what we propose……….”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Those who
study the history of International Communism and the nations and leaders who’ve
succumbed to that palsied ideology can agree on one commonality, and that is
the wish of each leader to be venerated, often to god-like levels. Note the
massive portrait of Mao Zedong that looms over crowds at Tiananmen Square in
Beijing with (best guess) dimensions of 50’ by 30’ and a weight of 1.5 tons. Go
back to early 20<sup>th</sup> Century Russia and one will see giant portraits
of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Lenin and Stalin paraded through Red Square on
May Day. Though Marx and Engels would have been appalled at such displays,
Lenin and Stalin reveled in such egotistical ostentation. The portraits are
paraded in Pyongyang as well, but add to that the mausoleum for Kim IL-sung and
his son Kim Jong-il which was built while their people starved.</span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Time takes a
toll on the reputations of such leaders, e.g. Stalin’s body was removed from
its place of honor in the Kremlin Wall, Lenin’s Tomb no longer has an honor
guard, and their name-sake cities have long-since been renamed. Leaders of
other Soviet-era Warsaw Pact regimes demanded demigod status and have similarly
been dumped in history’s trash bin. The President’s strategy with Kim Jung-un
is to plant the seed that the Pyongyang mausoleum will one day be Kim’s alone
and, most importantly, that his place in North Korean history will not be
fleeting.</span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The 1945
Yalta Conference of the soon-to-be-victorious Allies divided the Korean
Peninsula at the 38<sup>th</sup> Parallel, presenting the Soviets control of
the North as a reward for belatedly going to war with Japan. A puppet dictator,
Kim IL-sung, was soon installed. The South was under American protection, and we
all know the tragedy that soon followed in 1950 through 1953. Kim IL-sung
remained dictator until his death in 1994, when his son Kim Jong-il took over.
By then, it had to be obvious to the new dictator that the two Korean societies
were progressing at diametrically opposite rates. He had to be aware of the
prosperity and economic power that was flowering below the Parallel. Yet he dug
in his heels and set the stage for the North’s societal atrophy. He and his
cronies lived comfortable lives, and for the millions in his charge he cared
not at all. </span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The point
is, the negotiation strategy I envision would not have worked with either of
the first two Kims. I suspect neither was a deep thinker; indeed, both may have
been functional illiterates. They each in turn ate, drank, conspired and
murdered until their bodies and brains wore out and they died. Too harsh? We
can only look at the results of their governance and guess where their energies
were focused.</span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Kim Jong-un
may not yet be beyond reach and repair. He is young, ruthless and, by virtue of
his apparent success at consolidating power, of at least average intelligence.
One must assume he spends hours on the Web marveling at what goes on in the ‘real’
world while he floats in the cesspool of human despair and decay created by his
predecessors. But what can he do? He is a prisoner of his own dictatorship.
Weakness will get him overthrown and killed by one of his scheming generals.
However, he and those scheming generals all have a few ‘wants’ in common. First
is their own personal safety, life itself. Second is their own personal power,
the basis of their safety. But there’s something else that each wants, indeed
needs, desperately, and that’s to be revered and remembered as great men. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Kim has the
unprecedented opportunity to take his place in history in general and Korean
history in particular as the ‘Father of Modern North Korea’. In a society that
venerates its ancestors, he’d be at the pinnacle of veneration. Imagine how
that exalted status would resonate with such a young man who has always lived
in his grandfather’s and father’s collective shadows. That will not change
unless he finds a way to transcend those mythic figures, at least in the
muddled minds of his captive population. So far, he seems fixated on
establishing his bona-fides by building a nuclear capability with which to
threaten the rest of the world. Even his one ally, China, is disturbed by this activity.
To invade South Korea would generate a monumental blood bath that he knows he
won’t survive. Not much of a legacy, to be sure.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now is the
time for the American President to approach Kim and offer him, literally, the
adoration of millions of people. His enslaved citizens could immediately see
substantive improvements in their daily lives. Kim can set the stage, start the
process and begin reaping the worldly rewards as a proverbial prophet/savior
without having to be martyred beforehand. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A Consortium
of established democracies and Mideast Oil oligarchs will be his negotiating
partner after the President breaks the ice. In the first official visit, the
Consortium will offer a stunning array of financial incentives for both Kim and
his cronies. Assuming the negotiations move steadily forward, they’ll be given
periodic rewards with more to follow as progress continues.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">De-militarization
and de-nuclearization are the first and foremost negotiation items. So, first
on the agenda would be a methodical draw-down of his huge Army. After setting a
size for a standing army at parity with that of South Korea, the rest of his soldiers
would go home until they are presented with and allowed to select from a myriad
of paths for future labor. A further quid pro quo to build trust would be a withdrawal
of US troops from the South.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What would
his hundreds of thousands of former-soldiers do without their constant
preparations for war? Initially, they’ll be able to build or improve their
family homes with basic construction materials provided by the Consortium. Next,
they’ll have an entire country to rebuild to include construction and upgrade
of roads, bridges, ports, farms, an electrical grid, hospitals and clinics and,
very importantly, a cellular and wireless network. A new banking system with
the ability to finance consumer debt and home loans would need to come on line
as the population begins to enter the workforce. Motorola and Apple will be
happy to provide dirt cheap smart phones for these new consumers. Electric cars
and scooters sold by Kia and powered up on the new electrical grid will fill
the new roads, driven by the former soldiers now joy riding with their wives or
girlfriends. Immediate cross-border social and commercial intercourse with the
South would be encouraged. Women will be emancipated and educated as a national
priority since their energy and enterprise will ensure that the men remain family
focused.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Kim would
evolve into a consummate politician, traveling around his beleaguered
countryside as it begins to emerge from the Middle-ages. He’d cut ribbons for
new roads, attend harvest festivals for newly productive farms, flip the switch
on new cell systems, and on and on. He’d be welcomed with true warmth and
gratitude for the first time in his life. Hopefully he’d be ashamed of his
previous visits where his sycophants and ordinary citizens were beaten and
threatened into perfunctory shows of love and respect. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Where’s the
money come from for all this? Consortium member countries will provide grants,
loans and foreign aid in return for exclusive ‘Pay to Play’ trade access to 25
million consumers for decades to come. That’s 25 million people who have never
experienced a single quality consumer good from toilet paper to televisions. In
other words, the participating Consortium countries would sell into the one
remaining economic blank slate left in the world. The UN could be utilized to
monitor the trade agreements and make sure non-contributors are kept away from
the North Korean marketplace.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I will end
this posting now since the topic simply begs for more and more detail and
elaboration that is inappropriate in such a forum. I maintain, however, that no
representative of any nation has approached Kim Jong-un since he’s gained power
and asked him about what his legacy might be and what he would think of the
title, ‘Father of Modern North Korea’. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Bill Gritzbaugh</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">June 25, 2016</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01576088254875468583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171888014513033170.post-82787825853347689182016-05-25T21:00:00.000-07:002016-05-25T21:00:16.322-07:00AMERICA'S LOSS: PRICELESS HISTORY THAT DIES WITH THE OLD SOLDIER
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Last
Saturday was Armed Forces Day, a non-Federal holiday that generally has the
Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard opening up their various posts
and bases for visits by the general public. I’d not have known about it except
for an email reminder from the Veterans Administration. This Day is, of course,
overshadowed by next week’s Memorial Day and November’s Veterans Day.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As a veteran
and lover of history in general and American history in particular, each of
these military-oriented holidays serves as a reminder of the thousands of
stories that are held in the memories of current and former military members,
and that these stories are gone forever each time one of these guys or gals
passes away.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ve been a
volunteer driver at our local VA Hospital for several years now, and can
personally attest not only to the volume of stories that go untold, but also of
the sheer pricelessness of many of them. My morning routine is to pick up the
vets at home and take them to the hospital or one of the VA’s outpatient
clinics. Then in the afternoon, take them back home. Some we see only once, but
many are what we call ‘frequent flyers’ who we see repeatedly for trips into
clinics for chemo, psych-treatments or a variety of chronic illnesses. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Generally, I
break the ice with new riders by asking what military branch they served in, what
time-frame, then maybe, “Did you get to go anywhere fun?” Almost without fail, my
passengers, male and female, will provide me with enough general information
from which I can start a conversation, get them talking and, typically, make a
long rush-hour drive an entertaining and enlightening experience. Some have
direct and hair-raising combat experiences, others didn’t see combat or even
leave the US. But the stories can run the gamut from terrifying, to
heartbreaking, to hysterically funny, to dull as watching paint dry.
Regardless, I take pride in my ‘skill’ at bringing stories out of people who,
quite often, would not share such information with anyone else, except maybe
those who went through the experience with them. I’ve asked, “Does your wife
know about that?” Answer: “No, she already thinks I’m crazy.” Or, “Have you told
your (adult) kids about what happened to you?” Answer: “No, they don’t care
about those old stories.” </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sometimes I
encourage them to write their stories down for family or posterity. But few are
motivated to do so. However, one old gentleman told me of witnessing the World
War II episode where American and Russian troops first linked up at the Elbe
River, having thus cut Nazi Germany in half. I asked if he’d written down the
story. “Yes.” he said. “Would you like to read it?” I did and, with his
permission, I forwarded that story and some others he’d provided to the Army
Heritage Center Foundation where they are catalogued and entered into a
database.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here’s an
example of the stories I’ve heard:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A
paratrooper who got hung up outside the door of the aircraft he just jumped
from. Dangling from his static line and barely conscious, he’s unaware that the
pilot has decided to have the runway ‘foamed’ with fire retardant so, at
touchdown, the paratrooper will have a ‘lubricated’ landing. He survived being
dragged down the runway at 100 mph until the plane could brake to a stop.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">An
Army cook whose small unit was captured by North Koreans. As that cook and his
buddies were being herded together for execution, they were rescued by American
troops who had landed days before at Inchon.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">An
Air Force ‘PJ’ whose helicopter was shot down while landing to rescue a downed
pilot in North Vietnam. He was captured and put in a bamboo cage by the North
Vietnamese and used as bait to attract more American rescuers. The pilot they’d
originally come to rescue remained in hiding and in communication with another
PJ team. That team came in with guns blazing, destroyed the North Vietnamese
captors, and rescued both the downed pilot and the captured PJ. Unfortunately,
the PJ was wounded by the attacking American rescuers but survived to tell me
the story.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A
1950s Army enlistee whose entire company (180 men) was given LSD via a Kool
Aid-style beverage, then monitored for several months to see how they reacted.
He continues to suffer episodic flashbacks 50 years later.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A
Special Forces officer escorting two Air Force officers that were assessing the
repairability of an air strip near a remote Vietnam mountain camp. Since the
washed out strip was unusable for aircraft landings, it became a resupply drop
zone for pallets of rice, pumpkins and even cows and pigs that were parachuted
from cargo planes. While the three men were inspecting the air strip, an Air
Force C-7A ‘Caribou’ cargo plane began its approach to drop several pallets
stacked with 100 pound bags of rice. As the men watched, the plane raised its
nose and the pallets of rice slid out the rear of the plane. Unfortunately,
none of the parachutes that were rigged to deploy as the pallets exited the
plane did so, and thousands of pounds of rice now hurtled towards the ground
and the three transfixed Americans. Each man separately gauged the trajectory
of the pallets and his own direction of escape. With seconds to spare, the men
bolted out of the way. The pallets and rice bags exploded on impact only feet
away from the men and sent gravel, wood fragments and thousands of high velocity
rice grains in every direction. Many hit the men with enough force to draw
blood. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">OK, that
last true story was mine. But you get the point. You can’t make this stuff up,
and if it isn’t recorded, it’s lost forever. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So, for
those readers who have relatives or friends that served in the military, next
time there’s an opportunity, please ask them to tell you a story, any story
that was particularly memorable during their service. If it’s an amazing story,
ask them if they’d write it down or if you can take notes so it can be shared
someday. They’ll probably be reluctant because that’s human nature. But tell
them it’s just another chance for them to serve their country. And if you’re a
former service member, give it some thought and record your own stories. It’s
surprisingly fulfilling and even therapeutic in some cases. You never know. One
anecdote just might lead to the next Great American Novel.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Bill Gritzbaugh</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">May 24, 2016</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01576088254875468583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171888014513033170.post-79697768902555835512016-04-02T18:45:00.000-07:002016-04-05T09:36:06.490-07:00BERNIE SANDERS AND THE BIRD<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 21.3333px; line-height: 22.8267px;">FEEL THE 'BIRD'</span></div>
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A week or so
ago, Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders visited Portland, Oregon and spoke
to a large crowd of enthusiastic supporters at the ‘Moda Center’, home of the
Portland Trailblazers basketball team. As Bernie addressed his thousands of fans,
a tiny bird zoomed through the vast stadium, then dive-bombed down and landed on
some equipment near Bernie’s podium, of course drawing the Candidate’s and the
crowd’s attention. A few seconds later it flew up and perched right on the podium.
For several entertaining moments, a grinning Bernie and the bird eyeballed each
other to the delight of the crowd. Finally, the bird departed into the
cavernous stadium, and Bernie, obviously enjoying the comical distraction,
expressed that the event could be considered symbolic; indeed, that the wren or
sparrow was actually a dove in search of world peace. The crowd roared its
approval. Who knows? Maybe it was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It brought
to mind a funny experience of a few years ago at Denver International Airport.
I’d been in Denver on business and was sitting in the boarding area of my
flight home pounding on my laptop. A minor commotion had broken out at the
ticket counter that was causing laughter, squeals and people ducking and
dodging. As I watched, a tiny bird could be seen flying around the airline
staff and customers near the counter. The bird was confused, if not
panic-stricken, and seemed incapable of simply leaving the area. For some
reason, I had an odd feeling of connectedness with that bird. I cannot explain
it other than that I had an urge to intervene on the bird’s behalf. I closed my
laptop and stood up, intending to head to the counter to see what assistance I
could offer. However, the bird had found a perch well above the heads of the gathered
travelers and I assumed the episode was over. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Twenty
minutes later boarding began, and I soon took my window seat about midway down
on the right side. After, I’d guess, a third of the passengers had filed in and
found their seats, yet another commotion broke out at the front of the
aircraft. As had happened earlier at the ticket counter, people were squealing
and dodging as a bird fluttered around their heads. The same critter had stayed
in the area near the ticket counter and then actually flew down the jet way and
into the plane. After a few moments things seemed to calm down, but then a
flight attendant got on the PA system to announce that 1. our plane had an
unwelcome invader, and 2. our plane could not take off for Portland until said
invader was caught and dispensed with. Groans arose from the travelers, not in
sympathy for the bird, but because Flight Attendant ‘Ratched’ (recall the nurse
of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’) said our flight might be delayed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I fully
expected the drama to be concluded at the front of the plane quickly, but
decided to unbuckle my seat belt, stand up and stretch in the aisle. Suddenly
there were more squeals and dipping heads up front as the fugitive critter once
again took flight. However, this time it was flying right down the middle of
the aisle towards the rear of the plane. In three or four seconds, the bird
arrived at my seat row and I reached out with my right hand and snagged it into
my fist. You’d have had to be there to believe it, but I got a cheer and
ovation from the other passengers who now knew their flight would depart on
time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Being
careful not to injure the bird, I opened my fist to see how it was doing.
Obviously, the poor thing was terrified, but it was alive and squirming for its
freedom. But now, Flight Attendant ‘Ratched’ was coming down the aisle towards
me and holding open one of those flimsy airline blankets. She instructed me to
put my hand with the bird into a pouch she’d created in the fabric and deposit
the bird inside. I followed her instructions and withdrew my bird-free hand. I
said something like, “Don’t smash him.”, but she did an about-face and headed
back towards the jet way with her captive. </span><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">I hoped that
she opened the jet way door, shook the blanket and freed the bird, but I’ll
never know. Her level of irritation with the bird was probably the result of an
exhausting work day now made preposterous by something that, under less
stressful circumstances, would qualify as slap-stick comedy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But that
still leaves my aforementioned feeling of connectedness with the bird at the
beginning of its sojourn into Southwest Airlines history. In a matter of 30
minutes, a human sees (or feels) a small critter’s distress, is then separated
by several hundred feet of jet way and aircraft, and then ends up with the
critter flying into his outstretched hand. Unlike Bernie’s friend, my bird
wasn’t conveying a desire for world peace, but maybe somehow it did have the
innate ability to scan a crowd of other ‘critters’ and determine that one of
those was its best chance to escape from the terrors of DIA. Anyway, someday
I’d like to have a beer with Bernie and get his thoughts on it. If he gets
elected, I think that discussion is worthy of the Oval Office, and Flight
Attendant ‘Ratched’ ain’t invited.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Bill
Gritzbaugh<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">March 31,
2016<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01576088254875468583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171888014513033170.post-84812101888845690572016-02-21T14:52:00.000-08:002016-04-05T09:38:23.661-07:00A PLAN TO ASSIST NATIVE AMERICAN YOUTH<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">AMERICAN 'GURKHAS'?</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There have
been, lately, numerous examinations of and articles about the suicide epidemic
among Native American (NA) young people on their Reservations. The hopelessness
created by Reservation poverty and its accompanying drug and alcohol abuse are
the root cause of these deaths. Efforts to deal with the crisis have met with
limited success, and something drastic, new and different needs to be tried.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In a previous Blog post (An American ‘Foreign Legion’?), I
suggested a military-related partial remedy for urban gun deaths growing out of
the drug/gang/gun culture so prevalent in large cities. I have another
‘military’ option to suggest as a partial remedy for the NA suicide problem.
This program (let’s call it FA for ‘First Americans’), like the ‘Legion’, would
physically remove the young people at risk from the environment generating
their despair. But, unlike the color-blind ‘Legion’, this one would be purely
for Native American youth, male and female. Why? Because NAs have chosen to
retain their Reservations and resist amalgamation into greater American society
and culture. They have voluntarily chosen to maintain tribal separation and
cohesion, regardless of the social, cultural and financial costs. The ‘First
Americans’ program merely builds upon the NA’s wish to maintain unique identity.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The suggestion borrows from a time-honored program of the
British Army; that being its inclusion for over 100 years of a Regiment of
Nepalese soldiers known as ‘Gurkhas’. While the story of the Gurkhas is
fascinating, for the sake of brevity, suffice it to say that a racial and
cultural subgroup can work with great effectiveness in concert with a more
traditional organization.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So, I propose forming a modified US Army Infantry ‘Brigade’
of around 3500 members made up solely of NA men from established tribes, most
of whom reside on Reservations. Non-combat support functions would be performed
by both male and female NAs, thus giving women a place in the extended unit.
Forget how Politically Incorrect this concept is (at this writing, February
2016, ‘PC’ may be losing its grip on our society), and remember that the
foundation of such a unit is the NA’s own wish to retain separate cultural
identity. Any NA wishing to join the US military as a regular recruit would
still be able to do so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Initially, a special training facility would be established to
deal with the special needs of the first batches of recruits, e.g. to assess
deficits in physical ability, overall health and learning skills and identify
cultural stresses that require special focus in the training regimen. Over
time, however, the NAs would, as they do now, train as usual with non-NA
enlistees, at Ft. Benning, Georgia’s Infantry training facility. Upon
completion, they’d head to the ‘First Americans’ Brigade.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">‘Warrior Societies’ have been part of NA culture at least as
far back as their tribal oral traditions go. Such societies truly flourished
when the plains tribes became horse-mounted in the late 18<sup>th</sup> and
early 19<sup>th</sup> centuries. The Cheyenne had ‘Dog Soldiers’, the Sioux
their ‘Strong Hearts’, etc. and membership in such ‘fraternities’ was hugely
important to the tribe’s young men, giving them status and a pathway to tribal
leadership. Fast forward to our 21st Century crisis on Native American
reservations where a sense of ‘belonging’ is sadly lacking and nothing seems to
be on the horizon to reduce the scale of the tragedy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">NA populations are as diverse as their histories, and blending,
for instance, Sioux and Crow, Navaho and Hopi, etc. might not be good for unit
cohesion. That’s where the ‘Brigade’ structure would be utilized internally to
enhance its effectiveness and ‘esprit de corps’. The Brigade would be made up
of, say, three or four Battalions, and each Battalion would include three or
four Companies. So, depending on the available recruits from the various
tribes, the Army could build a Battalion with, for example, one Company of
Sioux, another of Crow, yet another of Arapaho, etc. Another Battalion might be
three Companies of Cherokee. The combinations are countless. But imagine these
various units competing with each other for effectiveness in the usual Army
skills of marksmanship, physical endurance tests, training exercises, etc. All
soldiers benefit from this competition, but tribal pride could add a degree of
intensity that their leaders would marvel at.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Who would be the leaders? Taking a step back, a Brigade is
typically attached to an existing Infantry Division, for instance, 10<sup>th</sup>
Mountain, 101<sup>st</sup> Airborne, etc., and a Division could include three
or more Brigades. So, initially, the ‘First Americans’ leadership would be Field
and Company-grade officers from the Division. Eventually, NA officers who’ve
graduated from West Point, Officer Candidate School, or an ROTC program from a
university would meld in. This would take time, but in five or six years from
inception, the FAs would have 100% NA leadership.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How would the Army utilize the FAs? Just the same as any
other highly trained Infantry Brigade. The only difference would be that the
members are all Native American. No special treatment, no special
considerations. Nothing complicated or tricky. How they perform as a unit
within that Army structure would be the basis for the ‘story’ and traditions
that grow from their service to their country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now, imagine an annual event where recruiters from the ‘First
Americans’ Brigade arrive on a given Reservation to interview, test, assess,
etc., local candidates to fill vacancies in the elite Army unit. Imagine that
kids, both boys and girls, have been dreaming of joining FA as long as they’ve
been aware of it, know many tribal members who have served in the unit and,
further, witness the respect the tribe bestows on those current and former
members. Consider how these kids have been preparing for this day by staying in
school, staying in shape, abstaining from alcohol and drugs, avoiding
pregnancies, volunteering in their community, all in hopes of ‘making the cut’
and winning a slot in the FA. Those coveted slots mean that the recruit has
joined a Warrior Society that will eventually become an integral part of tribal
custom and history. How could any job on a Reservation compete for prestige
with being a member of the ‘First Americans’, much less languishing without job
or other prospects?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A ‘First Americans’ Brigade suggestion is way outside-the-box,
and, to some, it might bring comparisons to segregated African-American units such
as the ‘Triple Nickles’ Parachute Infantry Battalion of the 1940s and 50s, or
even the ‘Tuskegee Airmen’ of WWII. But, those units were outgrowths of our
segregated military, and the members had no option to serve in similar
capacities outside those organizations. The FA would be an option available
only to Native Americans if they found a normal enlistment less appealing;
nothing more or less. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Somehow, America needs to break through the cloud of despair and
dysfunction that hangs over many Native American Reservations. The ‘First
Americans’ Brigade will give many NAs a way out and off those Reservations via
a new opportunity that harkens back to their storied warrior history. When
their enlistments are up, they’d return (if they wish) and infuse their
discipline, organizational skills and experience to their communities. Positive
improvements in overall Reservation life and governance are all but assured.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What’s the first step? I suggest a simple series of focus
groups of young NAs at problematic Reservations. I’ve no doubt the results
would be positive and the enthusiasm exceptional. Then it’s just a matter of
the next President calling in the Army Chief of Staff and saying, “General,
thanks for coming. I’ve got an idea I want to run by you. Have a seat. Coffee?
OK, now what would you say if……..?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Bill Gritzbaugh<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">February 20, 2016<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01576088254875468583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171888014513033170.post-79850963699809456502015-11-01T20:12:00.002-08:002016-04-05T09:39:11.489-07:00THOUGHTS ON VETERANS DAY, 2015<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Thoughts on Veterans Day, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Veterans Day
generated conflicting emotions for me for decades, no doubt due to the residual
effects of my Vietnam service. I worked many jobs, both before and after
graduating from college, and I don’t recall even one offering employees, let
alone those who were veterans, a day off. So the day just came and went for me.
Although hard to imagine now, Vietnam vets were considered pariahs by a small segment
of American society long after the war ended for the US in 1973. In time, more
successful conflicts in Grenada, Panama and the First Gulf War lifted the pall
that had hung over the image of the Vietnam veteran. ‘Welcome Home’ parades
were held in large cities, the ‘Wall’ was opened in 1982, and a lot of vets
were able to come out, open up and move forward. Still, Veterans Day seemed to
be for the World Wars I and II and Korea guys, not for us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Such
ambivalence was not uncommon among my generation of vets, and I’m pleased to
see that attitude take a 180 degree turn. Vietnam vets are getting old, and the
raw emotions of the 1960s and 70s have been soothed. The country has changed
and so has Veterans Day. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, the day
is now awash in events, parades and free meal offers that can be, well,
embarrassing; not that it stops me from heading to McCormick & Schmick’s
every year for my free entree.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Any society
that distains its military is in big trouble, and you don’t have to go back to
ancient Rome for the proof. France’s failed battles (Indochina, Algeria) to
retain its colonial empire resulted in finger-pointing at its soldiers--a contributing
factor of the right-left political rift in that society that is even more
pronounced than in the US. Soviet abuse of its military in Afghanistan was part
of a downward spiral that helped destroy the USSR. British soldiers were “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">scum</i>” to the Duke of Wellington, even as
they, under his command, defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. A society that inspired
Kipling to pen, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and it’s ‘Tommy this’
and ‘Tommy that’, and ‘chuck him out, the brute’. But it’s ‘savior of his
country’ when the guns begin to shoot.</i>”, came to its senses in time to save
itself from the Kaiser and, later, Hitler.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Most
‘civilians’ can’t fathom the emotional baggage that many vets haul around,
especially those who served ‘in harm’s way’. Those vets never quite meld
completely back into polite society, preferring to keep a discrete mental
separation between themselves and those who can’t imagine such experience.
Perhaps it’s an overt reaction, perhaps a subconscious one. But I believe the
reaction is, partly at least, a vet’s belief that society is always ready to
pounce on the soldier when the nation’s foreign endeavors go awry. No one signs
up to be a scapegoat. As a result, many vets (not to mention active duty
soldiers) prefer each other’s company, if they have a choice. Civilian/business
life categorically does not provide that choice, so vets compartmentalize and
store away that part of their lives to ‘fit in’. In some cases, vets can drive their
military experiences so far down into their subconscious that it becomes almost
a shock to have them reemerge decades later.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">My dad was
like that. Only when I returned from active duty and he felt a camaraderie with
me was I (and no one else I’m aware of) told details of his World War II
experience. Ed Gritzbaugh took part in the Normandy (D-Day) invasion and nearly
died in the crash of his 101<sup>st</sup> Airborne Division glider near St.
Mere Eglise, France in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944. One of his
recollections was of his stretcher being carried by German POWs. Another was
being strafed and bombed by German planes while lying on that same stretcher on
Utah Beach. He didn’t share those details with me until I was also a ‘vet’.
Vets talk to each other because they know what to ask, they know they’ll be
understood and they know they won’t be judged.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Both our sons
served in the Army after their respective high school graduations; Andrew, with
the 101<sup>st</sup> Airborne in the Balkans, then with the Oregon National
Guard in Kuwait, Iraq and Saudi Arabia; Jack, two tours in Iraq with the 101<sup>st</sup>.
My Army service in Vietnam allows us to enjoy a camaraderie that can be, at
times, (per my wife) far too loud and profane. She’s right, of course, but she
does not yet realize that such loud, profane interactions are a celebration
amongst peers of (literally) simple survival. It’s tantamount to shouting from
the rooftops; an act that surely would be even less acceptable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">That, to me,
is what Veterans Day is about, that vets are ‘different’ and need to wear that
‘difference’ as a badge of honor, not as a blemish to be hidden. My sons have
joined a ‘club’, of sorts, that I’ve read constitutes roughly 7% of the US
population; that percentage being those currently serving in the military (less
than 1%) plus those still living who’ve ever served (6%). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">‘Vets’ are
simply this: participants in and survivors of a collective ordeal that results
from the foreign policy decisions of our two-party political system. Only a
small percentage may have been in combat, heard shots fired or fired their own
weapon at an enemy. But, unlike their protected countrymen, each felt that
sinking feeling as they reported for conscription or signed away their freedom,
sat in a chair and winced as a vendor shaved their civilian hair into a pile on
the floor, lined up for endless inoculations, lined up for ‘chow’, dropped for
pushups for a shrieking Drill Sergeant, lived with strangers in a bunk-filled
barracks, trained endlessly, waited for orders, shipped out to god-knows-where
for god-knows-how-long, missed home and family, lost young loves to those still
in town, lived in conditions that would bring fellow citizens to tears and for
pay that would attract few resumes. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">A recent
survey found that, within the 18 to 34 ‘Millennial’ age group, only 12% admitted
to being ‘patriotic’. Yet, military service thankfully attracts enough young
men and women who don’t live within themselves, from all walks of life and all
sections of the country. In large part, this is due to the exposure of these
young people to veterans, some of whom may be family members, job bosses,
classmates at the community college or just the guy down the street who’s
reached some under-stated level of success and sports a USMC bumper sticker on
his Ford F-150.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">So to my
fellow veterans on Veterans Day, ‘Welcome Home’ and thanks for displaying, to
that tiny percentage of our youth that will follow your example of military
service, the aura of quiet dignity that you earned while in uniform. I am proud
to belong to your very exclusive ‘club’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Bill Gritzbaugh<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">November 11, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
</div>
Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01576088254875468583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171888014513033170.post-24277614236681455222015-10-13T16:24:00.003-07:002018-09-01T12:56:58.043-07:00GUN VIOLENCE IN AMERICAN CITIES, A PROPOSAL<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
</span><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">An American ‘Foreign Legion’?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Like many
cities in the US, Portland, Oregon (near my home) is suffering from a plague of
gun violence that is mainly a function of gang activity, but is also a
manifestation of personal grudges generated by ‘disrespect’ expressed in Social
Media posts, street confrontations or word-of-mouth. Arguments over virtually
anything can generate shooting incidents since (primarily) young men are
peer-pressured into taking revenge as violently as possible. Guns are, of
course, easily available.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">So far,
community efforts here and elsewhere to find a solution have been very
ineffective. Deaths in the thousands nationwide have been the result.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ve thought
about a solution that would be based on the theory that removing young men from
urban neighborhoods would have a huge impact on the problem. That sounds like a
‘duh’ idea, with no feasible legal way to accomplish such a
sweeping-of-the-streets, so to speak.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">I propose
borrowing an idea from the French, namely, their ‘Foreign Legion’ military
units. The FFL was formed in the mid-19<sup>th</sup> Century as a military
force whose main function was to protect French interests in that nation’s far
flung colonial empire. Its members were predominantly non-French citizens who
joined for money, adventure, travel and/or the potential to hide from a sordid
past. It was nevertheless a part of the French Army, but could be used more
cavalierly since the blood spilled would not, for the most part, be French.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">My version
would be 100% American (with the one exception being legal or illegal
immigrants), and would essentially be an armed ‘Peace Corps’, but on steroids.
More on that to follow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">So, how does this ‘Legion’ sweep the
streets of the dysfunctional young urban men who are shooting up our cities? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">1st, recruiting advertisements would
be directed at the young men causing the problem. Pay, benefits and adventure
would be the prime draw. But an unspoken and obvious benefit would be the
potential recruits having a chance to escape a dangerous and boring urban
existence. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">2<sup>nd</sup>, the Criminal Justice
System would be asked to assist in the following manner: If a non-violent
offender is going to be incarcerated or put on probation, that person is
offered the opportunity to join the Legion for the same term as their sentence
or probation plus the Legion’s training period plus one year. Violate that, and
it’s back to the Criminal Justice System with no credit for time away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>3<sup>rd</sup>, individuals (again,
non-violent offenders) who are currently incarcerated or on probation could be
released into the Legion to serve the balance of their sentences/probation plus
Legion training period plus one year. Violate that, and it’s back to the CJS
with no credit for time away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Why would a young man (not including
those in jail) pick the Legion instead of the regular military?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">1<sup>st</sup>. Recruits would not
need to meet the stringent enlistment requirements of, say, the US Army, e.g.
high school diploma, physical fitness, adequate test scores on entrance tests,
etc. The ‘Legion’ would accept nearly anyone, presuming they had the basic
intelligence to occupy some Legion job. Physical fitness would be important,
but being able to perform a job would be paramount.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">2<sup>nd</sup>. The Legion would not
be a ‘Combat’ unit, e.g. its function would be altruistic assistance to Third
World populations that have invited the Legion into their countries. It would
be armed, but for defense only.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">3<sup>rd</sup>. Enlistments would not
be of a set duration, say, 3 or 4 years as the traditional services require. A
recruit could stay as long as they serve effectively with their unit, or leave
whenever they want. Such early departures would have monetary consequences as a
deterrent e.g. pay accumulates in a Legionnaire’s account until his unit
returns to American soil. Quit, and some pay is forfeited. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">4<sup>th</sup>.
Obviously, incarcerated or probationized individuals would not be welcome in
the traditional military. Were they to serve honorably in the Legion, it could
serve as a ‘cleansing’ pathway into the military should they wish to go that
route at some future date.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">So, I
mentioned the Legion as the Peace Corps on steroids. Here’s a mission I see the
Legion conducting. Assume a Sub-Saharan African nation’s population is
suffering from drought. The US government offers that nation a Legion unit that
will build a desalinization plant to provide fresh water to local farmers.
“Great,” says the host nation, “but we have a guerilla group in the area and
can’t guarantee their safety.” That's where the ‘steroids’ come in. The Legion
will be an armed unit, capable of defending itself. It will take casualties. It
would not be equipped for offensive operations, but would be adequately armed
for its own defense. Regular US military units would be on-call should the
Legion come under heavier assault than their weaponry can handle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Or how about
a Central American country asking our State Department for help with a highway
between two important towns? Bandits have prevented free passage on the current
dirt road, not to mention disrupting repairs. A Legion unit is deployed to
build the highway and defend its construction workers during the project.
Possibly the Legion could maintain local freedom of movement as long as they’re
welcome in the host country. Again, it’s the ‘turn-key’ aspect of doing a job
and providing its own security that makes the Legion appropriate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Thus, the
Legion would be a construction unit (think the Navy’s ‘Seabees’) but with its
own protection. The recruits who join the Legion would be trained to operate
heavy equipment, vehicles, welders, generators, not to mention the picks and
shovels of micro labor. If they prefer, they could select the armed component
in lieu of the construction side, or alternate between as the missions allow.
Of necessity they’d need to be trained in light weapons use and care. As in
Army/Marine Infantry units, weapons training is a right-of-passage and imparts
to the individuals a huge dose of espirit de corps and self-esteem. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Where would
they be trained? Pick a community that has suffered due to the closure of a
military base. The facility need not, and should not, be new and
state-of-the-art. Think the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) model of the
1930s. Old wooden barracks and dusty streets are fine. Large lots for driving
D-8 Caterpillar tractors, road graders and dump trucks will be needed as will ranges
for rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers. Should a community be unsettled
by the proximity of young men, some of whom from the Criminal Justice world,
being trained with weapons, emphasize the Legion’s structure, raison d’etre and
invite them to tour the base. Indeed, an ideal situation would be for the
community to ‘adopt’ the camp and its trainees. Imagine young men from hostile
ghettos in large cities coming in contact with small town American warmth and
hospitality. Naïve? I don’t think so. Also emphasize that weaponry is only
employed for self-defense once the Legion is deployed on foreign soil.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">The Legion’s
status as a non-‘force-projection’ component of the US military could make it
more politically correct for host governments. After all, many nations including
the Chinese, Russians, Saudis, etc. are providing such services to
underdeveloped countries around the world, although with ulterior nationalistic
motives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">This Legion
structure would, first and foremost, be to help Americans, but would be
directed where the unit’s efforts would be most needed by those populations in
need. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">How would it
be paid for? Take money from the current Foreign Aid budget, ask host countries
to contribute, make the Legion a cause that Americans would support by specific
bond purchases. Funding ideas could fill a page.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Now, such a
unit would need leadership that would combine a traditional Drill Sergeant with
Prison Guard and Probation Officer; a very tough position to fill. However,
I’ve no doubt there would be ample, qualified applicants for all positions
given the number of Iraq and Afghan veterans in the population that are un or
under-employed. If the French could make their Legion work, we should have no
problem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">How large
would the Legion be? I’d suggest roughly 10,000 Legionnaires to be divided into
Brigades, Battalions and Companies that would be deployed based on the job at
hand. Imagine the effect on the crime and shooting stats for major cities if,
say, 10,000 late-teen to 20-something men are no longer loitering, gang-banging
and gathering without hope of jobs or, indeed, any constructive activity.
They’ve wasted their high school years, many barely literate, and haven’t the
vaguest idea how to prepare for or even apply for employment. Then one day,
they’re offered a way out via a unique American Experiment patterned on the
French Foreign Legion. Once trained, Legion members leave US soil for the
duration of their service, returning only for annual leaves, if they choose.
Otherwise, they can take their time off wherever their money (dispensed
specifically for that event) will take them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Imagine
these same young men returning to their homes at some point with such vast
experience gained then trickling back into those communities. Eventually,
there’d be a cultural shift that could transform and rejuvenate entire sub-sets
of our population. Thoughts?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01576088254875468583noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171888014513033170.post-37331880810714813632015-10-13T16:20:00.004-07:002016-04-05T09:41:58.801-07:00 ROSEBURG, START NOW TO PREVENT THE NEXT ONE<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The ‘Selective Service System’ as
Mental Health ‘Filter’?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Tragedies
like Roseburg have become all too common in the last few years. Columbine, in
1999, seems to have started a cascade of events that seem to hit the headlines
with an almost predictable regularity. The political parties use each occasion
to pressure the public to choose between ‘blame the availability of guns’ on
one side, versus ‘control the mentally ill’ on the other.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I lean
towards the ‘control the mentally ill’ side and offer the following suggestion:
Expand the Selective Service registration process to include a mental health
assessment of the 18 year olds who are legally required to register. Currently
it collects only Name, Gender, Date of birth, Social Security number and
current mailing address.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The
Selective Service System is used by the Federal Government to identify the pool
of age-appropriate males for conscription in the event of a national emergency.
Up until the early 70s, Selective Service did conscript hundreds of thousands
of young men who helped fill the ranks of the Army and even the Marines (Navy
and Air Force to a lesser degree) during WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Its continued
use, notwithstanding the lack of an actual ‘Draft’, makes it perfect as a
research process to help with the current ‘national emergency’ of mass
shootings.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">If one
Googles ‘Brain Maturity’, or some version of that, one will find many articles
and discussions about the brain’s maturation during a person’s teens and
twenties. Male and female brains both ‘mature’ during this period, with the
females reaching full maturity a few years before males. Most males who’ve
reached, say, their forties can recall making bone-headed, irrational, stupid
and self-destructive decisions and actions that they’d dearly love to reset.
Thankfully, most of these males did not physically injure other people. But in
extremely rare cases, they do. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Obviously,
females are not the ‘shooters’ in these tragedies, and I believe that a
statistically predicable glitch in male brain maturation is producing these
psychotic young men. It just makes no sense that such horrendous acts are
caused solely by a young man’s exposure to family, peers, the natural
environment, social media, etc. If such factors were to blame, we’d see far
more such events. However, a mentally dysfunctional mind creates an isolated
and paranoid man who could, over time, reach a critical mass of anger that
results in an explosion of suicidal violence. Indeed, it’s clear to me that
these acts are in fact suicides whether the final bullet comes from the
shooter’s gun or the police.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">In the USA,
all males are required to register for Selective Service (the Draft) between
ages 18 and 25. The law requires even illegal immigrants to file with the
promise that the registrant’s status won’t be shared with ICE. This
registration process could be expanded to include an on-line mental health
questionnaire that could be assessed by healthcare professionals who might
identify clearly troubled and/or dysfunctional young men. At that point they
could be summoned for detailed, in-person interviews. Should they refuse to
register at all, refuse to take the on-line assessment, refuse to show up for
further in-person assessment, or if they are assessed and deemed problematic,
they would go on a national list that restricts their purchase or possession of
firearms. Or, deferring to states-rights stalwarts, the Feds could release the
list to the States who could enforce the purchase/possession restriction. The
individuals could request reassessment on a yearly basis, e.g. an
acknowledgement that brain maturation does progress over time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">As far as I
know, there is no formalized ‘filter’ in place in the country that seeks to
identify young males who may be mentally impaired and in need of treatment, or
some basic monitoring of their welfare.</span> <span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The Selective Service registration process, already in place
as a Federal law, could now be used as that filter. Though those males who will
eventually cause havoc with a gun are a statistically tiny percentage of the
entire population, the possibility to find even one before he ‘goes off’ would
make the effort worthwhile. Thoughts?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01576088254875468583noreply@blogger.com0