You Don't Fight for Your Country

One-hundred thousand, five-hundred thousand, one-million or more men of military age fleeing their country.  Are there legitimate refugees?  Yes.  They are made up of old men and women with their children.  Women will take care of their children, and they should not be the ones who do the fighting and leave their children in danger.  Of course, many women are fighting and are fighters for their family and country; but they're not the ones to carry the greatest burden.  Who are these alleged "men" storming out of their countries leaving their wives, daughters, and young children behind: They are an invading army and the leaders of their host countries are too ignorant to realize that they're being invaded.  To leave your wife behind to be raped and your children to be enslaved is not my definition of a man . . . that's my definition of a coward.
I will fight for my country and would never leave it, for I believe that I live in the best country in the world, and well worth fighting for, and you should feel the same way about your country.
(US Navy, '51-'55.  Korea and China theaters)

You Don't Attack, Attack, Attack.

Orlando, Florida:  49 killed, 52 injured.
Brussels, Belgium: 32 killed, 300 injured.
Paris, France:  128 killed, injured?
San Bernardino, California.  36 killed, injured? and
Kenya, Africa: 148 killed, 102 injured.

On this web site, on October 27, 2014 I wrote an article titled, "You Have No Means For Self Defense."
On April 6, 2015, I wrote about the slaughter at the college in Kenya where there were 800 students.  Like the 250-300 people in the bar in Orlando, they were mostly young, strong, agile young men.  Among the above venues, and those others too numerous to mention. were thousands of able-bodied men; probably many ex-military personnel.  What did they do when the killing started--nothing.  Why?
We can no longer be complacent.  It matters not where we might find ourselves; whether in a bar or in a movie theater, (Aurora, CO): in a school, (Columbine or Newtown).  Can we expect very young children to attack? but should we expect young, strong men to attack? Certainly.

We must all start to review in our minds what we would do, no, what I will do in the event if I'm caught in a similar situation like above.  At the moment you will not have time to formulate a plan, think it out, and then put it into play.  You must have it ingrained in your mind today, and then refine your plan periodically so when the situation presents itself you will act immediately.  Several years ago a professional skier broke his leg in an accident.  Having been laid up for a year, he ran the slalom course, in his mind, everyday.  His next competition, remember he hadn't skied for a whole year, he came in first.

"I can't attack the terrorist all by myself."  On 9/11 only one passenger out of the four planes said, "Let's Roll."  When one starts others will follow.  The unruly passenger on another plane was attacked by one passenger, then others seeing, also jumped on him and helped to subdue the unruly one.  Yes you can.
What if one of the 400 killed in the actions above was killed during his attempt to subdue the terrorist?
What is the 500+ wounded, some severely, thinking about their inaction today?

"But I don't have a weapon."  Yes you do.  You're in a bar drinking beer which comes in a bottle.  Have you never played baseball!  Can't you throw it at the terrorist?  Close by, break the bottle and jab it into his head from behind with the jagged glass edge.  Hit him with a chair.  Throw the chair at him.  Use your pocket knife and give him a tracheotomy.  No weapon, no problem.  Ever been in a fist fight?  MMA fighters use fists and feet; use yours.  Swift kick in the small of his back will cripple him.  Your turn to figure what you'll do based on your strengths.  Immediate, violent, vicious attack, attack, attack until you either subdue or are killed.

What benefit will this provide?  I content that it will cut down the deaths and injuries by at least 80%.  Why not try it.  What have you got to lose--you're dead anyway.

You Believe That The Holocaust Never Happened.

For our grandparents, parents, and their families..
This week in England, all mention of the Holocaust was removed from school curriculum.
It was claimed that remembering the Holocaust is offensive to the Muslim population which denies its existence...

The Second World War in Europe ended over 70 years ago.
This email aims to create a chain of memory.....
TO THE MEMORY OF..
6 million Jews,,
20 million Russians,
10 million Christians,
1,900 Catholic priests
Who were murdered, Raped, Burned, Starved to death, and humiliated...
NOW more than ever..
While Iran and others claim the Holocaust never happened....
IT IS ESSENTIAL that we do EVERYTHING so the WORLD DOES NOT FORGET..
This email must reach at least FORTY MILLION People all over the world.
Join us and take part in the CHAIN OF MEMORY.
Help us spread it throughout the world.

You Don't Check Your Lights

You can't see the outside lights on your car when you're sitting in the driver's seat.  Either get out occasionally and look or have someone else check them.  If you get out you can't press on the brake pedal to see if those lights work, so it's better to have someone else check.
The other day I noticed the left front parking light on the car in back of me was out.  When I stopped at the next stop sign, I got out to tell the driver.  Of course it was a woman and I believe she got scared as she starting backing up.  Finally, when I didn't move toward her, she stopped and rolled down her window so she could hear my screaming.  Her concern was legitimate as I could have just used that excuse to get her guard down . . . to do her bodily harm.  Knowing your lights are working properly could keep you out of danger.
A few months ago, at night, I noticed the left turn signal on the car ahead of me on the roadway.  "What is the big deal?" you might ask.  Well there were no brake lights and the car was stopped dead in the road.  Luckily seeing the turning light, I was able to stop in time.  He only engaged the turning light after he came to a complete stop; consequently, I had no advance warning.
Lights are not only to see better at night, but also very important is to BE SEEN, whether day or night.

You Haven't Learned These Yet

1. If there is two lanes going in your direction, the right lane is the travel lane and the left lane is the passing lane. Let's ponder this difficult situation to avoid all confusion. Driving from point A, the location that you started out from; to point B, the location where you want to end up is called traveling; therefore, you should drive in the 'travel lane', which is the right lane as I stated above.

But, along the way you come upon a car in the travel lane that, of course, is traveling too slow. What to do? If you wish to continue with your speed, then you go into the left lane, which is the passing lane, and pass that car. When you safely clear the car you just passed then you're going to continue traveling; so, guess what? You should get into the right lane to continue your traveling.

To sum up: If you're traveling you should be in the travel lane, and if you're passing you should be in the passing lane. On highways with three or more lanes, the extreme left lane is still the passing lane. In many states passing on the right is lawful also on three or more lanes highways.

All good rules have exceptions:

a. If you're more important than all the other drivers on the highway.

b. If you're always oblivious to the traffic around you. OR

c. If you're just plain stupid.

You Don't Leave Space Between Cars

This morning while approaching an intersection the car in front of me drove past the stop sign and was partially into the intersection.  I noticed a car on the main road wanting to make a left turn.  As usual, I leave some space between my car and the car in front of me so if he has to, he can back up a little.  Well this guy was well into the intersection and started to back up; as I wanted to give him more room, I wanted to back up also.  Well, Mr. "Let Me Get As Close As Possible" was approximately one inch from my car; so, I couldn't back up.  It was all sorted out eventually and we were on our way -- finally.  The driver in front and the one in back of me were both stupid and/or ignorant for causing a needless problem.
It's important to always leave enough space so the front car can back up to behind the stop sign: where he should have stopped originally.  If the car in front of you is half way past the stop sign/red light white line then leave one-half a car length between your car and the one in front of you.  If you're the third, fourth, etc., car in back of the second car you should leave approximately one-half a car length between your car and the one in front of you.  Probably even more important to leave that space is if an emergency occurs.  That space will allow you to drive around the car in front and escape the danger.  Situations like these don't happen very often, but they do happen.  All cars in line are bumper to bumper waiting for the light to change.  An old car in the line catches on fire and you can't escape because your car is jammed in the line.  You jump out and see your car destroyed when the fire hits his gas tank and explodes.  The car in front of you rear-ends the one in front of him.  That driver gets out and starts shooting at the car directly in front of you.  As he's in front of the car in front of you and firing towards the rear puts you in the line of fire also, but you're jammed in . . . you're trying to crawl over the center console to escape out of the passenger-side door.  But a bullet killed your wife in the passenger seat, so now you're not only trying to crawl over the center console but also a corpse.  You see traffic stopped up ahead on the highway.  You slow down and drive to within inches of the car in front of you before you stop, of course, the car following parks his car inches from yours.  You then notice an exit just up ahead that would have allowed you to leave the highway, take a side street and get home without a hassle; but, you're jammed in so you sit there for a few hours.  Always leave room so you and/or the other driver can escape a bad situation.

Shifting Lanes Destroys Your Driving Ability

You're driving in one lane, the lane shifts but you're still driving in one lane and now you've nearly lost control of your car.  Why?  What is the difference between driving in one lane and driving in one lane?  In my mind, there is none.  Driving on an Interstate today, four lanes, two in each direction, the two lanes shifted slightly to the left.  As soon as the car ahead, that was in the left lane, shifted, the driver couldn't keep his car in his lane.  He veered quickly and violently half-way into the right lane, overly corrected to the left, slightly crossed the white lines again and finally was able to settle down into his lane and continued.  What if he was in the right lane and after shifting left, again shifted to the right?  He would have crashed into the Jersey barriers.  If a car had been abreast of him in the right lane he would have sent that car crashing into the Jersey barriers.  The lanes before, during and after the shifting were exactly the same in road surface, condition, width, and weather.  If shifting lanes are a problem for you I suggest that you take your foot off of the accelerator a comfortable distance before the shift, allow the car to slow down a little, go into the shift, settle down into the lane, then accelerate back to your prior (highway) speed. 

You Leave a Child or Animal in a Closed Car

How many times and how many people have to remind you of this?  Of course this doesn't pertain to your Personal Safety but that of a child and animal. Most people think that we're only talking about heat, but what about cold?  Are you positive that nothing will happen to you to delay your return to your vehicle?  Most people think that as long as a window is open, usually slightly, that everything will be fine.  Two windows for cross ventilation is better, but is it enough?  Even with two windows open the heat in the car can build to over 100 degrees.  In the cold, what degree does it have to be and for how long before your child gets hypothermia?  What about frostbite, frostbitten skin, trench foot, among others such as eye injury.  Is your dog one that lives outside in extremely cold weather or is it a small or hairless dog?  A few months back I ran into two situations, in the same week, relating to heat, with a child and a dog.  I was able to put my hand inside the cars to check the temperature.  In one situation I opened the door a little to let out heat until the owner arrived.  Did you notify someone that you left your child or dog in the car and the time you'll get back to the car?  What if something happens to you and you can't get back - your child or dog dies.  What if you get back in good time but your baby is missing, kidnapped or your dog is dognapped?  Wouldn't your child or dog be better off with you?  Wouldn't they much rather be with you, instead of feeling abandoned?

My Condolence To Kenya; And Some Sticky Points

• The following points are my views, and only mine, regarding the killings at the university in Northern Kenya, but could also apply to any similar situation.

  There are two facts that we know, a physical fact and an emotional fact. The physical fact is that no one had a gun. The emotional/psychological fact is that generally no one will act unless someone else does first. 

  Some background: No one on the three planes that crashed into the twin towers and the Pentagon in the United States, on 9/11, did anything, did not act. Only when one person on the fourth plane knew of the exigent circumstance when told by his wife decided to do something by getting help from the other passengers and prevented more deaths. Now going back to Kenya, no one took any action. What if all 250+ victims, 148 dead and those injured had immediately and viciously attacked the four terrorists with anything they could have gotten their hands on? Doesn't Kenya have rocks, sticks, broken glass, etc. that could have been used as weapons? You constantly see on TV where fighters use their hands and feet to knock out their opponents; they don't use any weapons. I will venture a guess that if the students had, the outcome would have been far better..