Technically Speaking

I don’t post about politics much, but this post is more of a history lesson than a politically-motivated post. I received the following message as an internet forward, but before I posted it here, I checked around to see if I could verify its authenticity. The website TruthorFiction.com verifies that this account is a faithful retelling of a speech that US Navy Captain Dan Ouimette gave in 2002 and then again in 2003. Captain Oumette was, at the time, the Executive offiver of the US Naval Air Station at Pensacola Florida. He has since retired.

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19 Feb 2003

America WAKE UP!

That’s what we think we heard on the 11th of September 2001 and maybe it was, but I think it should have been “Get Out of Bed!” In fact, I think the alarm clock has been buzzing since 1979 and we have continued to hit the snooze button and roll over for a few more minutes of peaceful sleep since then.

It was a cool fall day in November 1979 in a country going through a religious and political upheaval when a group of Iranian students attacked and seized the American Embassy in Tehran. This seizure was an outright attack on American soil; it was an attack that held the world’s most powerful country hostage and paralyzed a Presidency. The attack on this sovereign US embassy set the stage for the events to follow for the next
23 years.

America was still reeling from the aftermath of the Viet Nam experience and had a serious threat from the Soviet Union when then, President Carter, had to do something. He chose to conduct a clandestine raid in the desert. The ill-fated mission ended in ruin, but stood as a symbol of America’s inability to deal with terrorism. America’s military had been decimated and downsized / right sized since the end of the Viet Nam war. A poorly trained, poorly equipped and poorly organized military was called on to execute a complex mission that was doomed from the start.

Shortly after the Tehran experience, Americans began to be kidnapped and killed throughout the Middle East. America could do little to protect her citizens living and working abroad. The attacks against US soil continued.

In April of 1983 a large vehicle packed with high explosives was driven into the US Embassy compound in Beirut. When it explodes, it kills 63 people. The alarm went off again and America hit the Snooze Button once more. Then just six short months later a large truck heavily laden down with over 2500 pounds of TNT smashed through the main gate of the US Marine Corps headquarters in Beirut. 241 US servicemen are killed. America mourns her dead and hit the Snooze Button once more. Two months later in December 1983, another truck loaded with explosives is driven into the US Embassy in Kuwait, and America continues her slumber. The following year, in September 1984, another van was driven into the gates of the US Embassy in Beirut and America slept.

Soon the terrorism spreads to Europe. In April 1985 a bomb explodes in a restaurant frequented by US soldiers in Madrid. Then in August a Volkswagen loaded with explosives is driven into the main gate of the US Air Force Base at Rhein-Main, 22 are killed and the Snooze Alarm is buzzing louder and louder as US soil is continually attacked. Fifty-nine days later a cruise ship, the Achille Lauro is hijacked and we watched as an American in a wheelchair is singled out of the passenger list and executed. The terrorists then shift their tactics to bombing civilian airliners when they bomb TWA Flight 840 in April of 1986 that killed 4 and the most tragic bombing, Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, killing 259. America wants to treat these terrorist acts as crimes; in fact we are still trying to bring these people to trial. These are acts of war…the Wake Up alarm is louder and louder. Read the rest of this entry »

I read an article on CNN.com today that talked about how NASA is remembering fallen astronauts.

This weekend is a time of sad memorials for NASA. Jan 27, 28, and Feb 1 all mark dates of NASA disasters. I didn’t realize that these disasters all happened in the same calendar week (albeit very different years, obviously.)

January 27th marks the 39th anniversary of the 1967 Apollo 1 spacecraft fire during a countdown test at the launch pad. Three astronauts were killed.

January 28th marks the 20th anniversary of the Challenger explosion during takeoff. Seven astronauts were killed.

And February 1st marks the 3rd anniversary of the Columbia breakup during re-entry. Seven astronauts were killed in this disaster.

So this week marks a series of mournful anniversaries for NASA personnel and its families. On Thursday NASA administrator Michael Griffin made the following comment addressing these tragedies:

“Space flight remains the pinnacle of human challenge, an endeavor just barely possible with today’s technology. It is an enormously difficult enterprise, made more so by the fact that we are human beings and flawed. The losses we commemorate today are a mute and terrible reminder of the sternness of the challenge, and of awful consequences of our flaws.”

My hat goes off to those whose lives have been lost in the pursuit of this goal, and to the families they left behind.

Yesterday was election day in the United States (it being, as we learned yesterday, the Tuesday after the first Monday in November), and I am glad that I went out and voted. Mind you, it was 5 minutes before the polls closed, but I made it. As you can probably guess, I voted FOR Referendum 1 in Sandy, and I’m glad to report to you that the referendum passed — but it was close.

Last night as election returns were coming in, it was a close race. Over 40% of registered voters came out to vote, which I think is unusually high, especially for a municipal election. With about half of precincts reporting, the margin was only about 100 votes on either side. The FOR side would pull ahead, and then a few minutes later, the AGAINST side would pull ahead.

Finally this morning we have the final results (which include the absentee ballots). With 10,758 (53.30%) voting FOR, and 9,427(46.70%) voting AGAINST, the referendum passes.

The community action group, Save Our Communities, that was campaigning against the zoning change has been very gracious in defeat, and I wanted to acknowledge their efforts and hard work. They campaigned hard for a cause they believed in, and did so with very little money–especially in comparison to the funding behind Friends of Quarry Bend. I respect them for working so hard for a cause they were committed to.

That said, I’m glad the referendum passed. I believe that in time we will see that the zoning change was good for Sandy residents. I’m happy that so many Sandy residents made it to the polls yesterday. I love to see democracy in action.

Today is Election Day, so get out and vote. Two things related to elections today…

Sandy Referendum

I encourage Sandy voters to see through the all the campaign sludge, and vote in favor of referendum 1. Sandy voters have to realize that if they vote down referendum 1, Wal-Mart will leave Sandy. Lowes will leave Sandy. Sandy will lose between 2 and 5 million dollars annually in tax revenue. If Sandy voters vote down referendum 1, they will be taking money from local firefighters, local police offiers, and local schools.

Chances are good that Sandy will have to raise property taxes to make up the defecit. Vote yes on referendum 1. It is good for you and it is good for your schools.

Ok. Whew. Got that out of the way.

How you know when election day is

I learned something today. I was having a hard time figuring out why we are voting today, which is the second tuesday in November. My calendar on the wall tells me that election day is supposed to be the first Tuesday, and that was my memory of it. Turns out, though, that election day in the US is not the first Tuesday. It is the Tuesday after the first Monday of November.

Since the first Monday in November was yesterday, that makes today election day, even though today is the second Tuesday.

Now you know.

In the upcoming municipal elections, residents of Sandy City will vote on referendum 1, which will be a vote to allow a zoning change to the gravel pit area of Sandy that would allow so-called “big box” retailers to build on the land.

I’m having a hard time knowing who’s who and what’s what. There has been so much mudslinging and misinformation in this campaign that I’m not sure what information is really true.

I’ll start by stating that I’m biased towards allowing a Wal-Mart on the site. I would love having a Super Wal-Mart closer to where I live. I don’t have anything against Wal-Mart in general. Just so my bias is clear!

As far as I can tell, the gravel pit area of 9400-ish South and 1100-ish East was originally zoned for a mix of residential and commercial uses. However the commercial uses were limited to things like medical offices, office complexes and the like.
Read the rest of this entry »