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Trinity Project – The Men who changed the World

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I am currently writing a book about the Soviets spying on the United States. During my research of The Manhattan Project, in which the Soviets were spying on our development of the atomic bomb, I saw the stressful environment surrounding our scientists and President Truman. World War II was not going well for the Allies, and President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill had to take some radical steps to try to defeat the Axis powers.

Just after the beginning of World War II and extending into the early stages of the Cold War, the Soviets were focused on the United States’ project of building the atomic bomb, commonly referred to as The Manhattan Project. Although the Soviets were Allies with the United States and Great Britain during World War II, their relationship was tenuous, at best—full of distrust. As the Allies, United States and Great Britain, worked shoulder to shoulder on the Manhattan Project, they kept the other Ally, the Soviet Union, out—sort of. The Soviets snuck spies into Los Alamos to learn and steal all they could regarding the development process for the atom bomb, so they could build their own bomb.

There was at least one British scientist, Dr. Klaus Fuchs, at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories, who was convicted of spying for the Soviets. Fuchs had been a German Communist who’d fled the German Fascists for England before World War II. The British were desperate for scientists with his qualifications, so they overlooked his background once the War started. At least two other scientists, Dr. Robert Oppenheimer and Dr. Hans Bethe, were closely watched by the Soviets throughout the development project.

Prior to the United States entering World War II, some of Germany’s top scientists wished not to help the Germany Nazi Government, nor did they wish to get trapped into helping the Soviet Union. Many of these Eastern European scientists slipped out on their own, going to London or the United States. In late 1942, President Roosevelt was persuaded to start what would become The Manhattan Project. He was convinced by several scientists who came out of Europe at the end of the 1930s, including Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi. They advised him the Germans were frantically working to develop a super bomb based on atomic technology. Although Roosevelt had initially resisted, after watching the ruthlessness of the German Nazi war machine, he believed they would use the technology if they developed the bomb first, and it could easily tilt their advantage in the war.

Once Roosevelt relented, the United States went to great lengths to build secret laboratories at various locations. The most critical location was Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) in northern New Mexico. At LASL, The Manhattan Project scientists and technicians, directed by Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, investigated the theoretical problems that had to be solved before a nuclear weapon could be developed.Silhouette fedora

While the overall project was named The Manhattan Project, the experimental side at LASL referred to their test as Project TRINITY. Dr. Kenneth Bainbridge was named the director of the Project TRINITY organization, and he reported directly to Director Dr. Oppenheimer, the overall director of LASL. Major General Leslie Groves of the Army Corps of Engineers Manhattan Engineer District supervised the military side of the project.

So secretive was the research that some of the workers who came to Los Alamos were not told what their jobs would be or where they were going, but just to show up and go to work. The scientists and their families did not know what to expect at Los Alamos, and to make matters worse, when they arrived, some of the wives certainly did not find the living conditions to their liking.

As these scientists worked on this theoretical project, they were uncertain of the extent and effects of such a nuclear chain reaction, let alone the hazards of the resulting blast and radiation. Protective measures could be based only on estimates and calculations.

As the development of the bomb neared completion, scientists and engineers at the laboratory begin to wonder what would happen when the bomb was detonated. Some wondered if they would destroy the stratosphere around the blast. Some of the scientists even believed that the entire atmosphere would catch on fire burn up, and then the earth would burn up. Still others feared it would be a total dud, and nothing would happen. There was even a gambling pool at the facility regarding the results of the blast.

On July 16, 1945, the scientists and military finally detonated the device that had been given the code name The Gadget.

Military personnel passed out welder’s glasses for the scientists and military personnel to observe the atomic blast. Some of the scientists and lay on the ground, while others stood. The blast was so strong that it knocked down some of the observers over two miles away.

The TRINITY nuclear device was detonated on a hundred-foot tower with a nuclear yield equivalent to nineteen kilotons of TNT. The light from the explosion created a mushroom cloud that quick rose to over forty thousand feet. The ground beneath the blast turned into radioactive glass. The blast was so brilliant that some residents thought the sun came up twice. It was documented that a blind girl saw the flash, and she was 120 miles away. Naturally, the military had to cover up this development immediately, so they created a story explaining that a huge ammunition dump had exploded.

Reactions to the explosion were mixed: Isidor Rabi thought the equilibrium in nature had been upset, for the first time mankind  had become a threat to destroy its humanity. Robert Oppenheimer, though ecstatic about the success of the project, quoted a remembered fragment from the Bhagavad Gita. “I am become Death,” he said, “the destroyer of worlds.” Ken Bainbridge, the test director, told Oppenheimer, “Now we’re all sons of bitches.”

The world had entered the nuclear age.

On August 6th, the first uranium nuclear bomb, known as Little Boy, was dropped over Hiroshima, then three days later, the plutonium bomb, known as Fat Man, was exploded over Nagasaki. Fat Man was similar to The Gadget.

The United States had fire bombed Tokyo for more than a month, and this only caused the Japanese to become more determined. They developed a plan to defend the homeland, even if women and children had to die. The United States was preparing an invasion plan for mainland Japan, scheduled to begin in November of 1945.

Truman was desperate to end the war, so he decided to drop that bomb. Why was he desperate?

To complicate matters, the Soviets were moving into moving across China into Korea, all in accordance with agreements between Roosevelt and Stalin. However, Truman knew this was not a good development for either the United States or Japan. Truman knew he had to end the war as fast as possible.

On September 2, 1945, the Japanese Empire officially surrendered to the Allied Governments, bringing World War II to an end.

Still to this day, the United States is the only country in the world that has ever used controversial nuclear weapons. However, the use of the two nuclear bombs likely saved lives in the long run, both American and Japanese.

What do you think about this controversial event? Were we right to use nuclear bombs to prevent a worse war? Has America’s—and the world’s—response to this event been worthwhile in the end, or did we create more problems than we solved?

TWA Flight 800

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On the evening of July 17, 1996, TWA Flight 800 took off from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) bound for Paris with 230 people on board. About eleven minutes after the pilot announced, “Wheels up,” at 13,700 feet and climbing, without warning, the 747 jetliner exploded over the Atlantic Ocean, just off the shores of Rhode Island. A secondary explosion occurred when the jet fuel ignited.

Why am I bringing this up at this time? The world has had three significant “lost jet” events in the last several months. One of these jets, in Kiev, was shot down, and it reminded me of the tragedy of TWA Flight 800. So I went back and investigated.

As I state on my website, I “dare to find the real truth in history. History unlike anything you have been taught.”

Ultimately, about ninety-five percent of the Boeing 747 jet was recovered. According to the official report from the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB), it was concluded that the “probable cause” of the explosion of the center-wing fuel tank was the result of the ignition of the flammable fuel/air mixture. They could not determine the exact source of the ignition, but felt that it “most likely” was a short circuit outside of the center-wing tank. They believe the event was brought on by excessive voltage entering the wiring associated with the fuel system. However, the NTSB report stated that the center-fuel switch was off, and there was no voice evidence it had been turned on. Would excessive voltage cause a switch that was turned off to ignite? A short circuit? I can’t answer that question, but perhaps an electrical engineer could. (If so, please post your comments below. I’d love to have your opinion!)

I remember that when I first heard about the plane crash, I heard about some eyewitness accounts that this jet was shot down. I dismissed it at the time. These witnesses stated seeing a “flare-like” object rising from the ground and striking the 747 jet on its right side. The number of eyewitness stories were consistent enough that the FBI interviewed 154 individuals, including scientists and Army personnel. It is significant that these witnesses covered the TWA 800 from viewing angles of 360 degrees. At the time, The New York Times reported that a top federal official was quoted as saying their stories “were credible.” Witnesses all collectively spoke of a six-second missile burn. This is quite a coincidence, don’t you think?Silhouette fedora

The cockpit voice recorder was not audible over the last seven seconds. However, the TWA captain said, “Look at that crazy fuel flow indicator there on number four. See that?” Sometime after that, the first officer noted a visually bright event. But in the last few tenths–of-seconds, on the voice recorder there was a similar noise like that of other planes that have broken up in flight.

Technicians from the FBI even mapped these eyewitness stories to corroborate if the incident would conclude a central point of the potential ground shot. There were some on-site investigators who claimed the metal remnants of the jet was bent in and bent out. Logically speaking, if it was an internal explosion, all of the metal should be bent outward, I would think. I could be wrong.

To my knowledge, no definitive explanation was ever given for “flare-like” object rising from the ground. No fireworks, no flare. Moreover, none of the eyewitnesses were allowed to speak at the NTSB public hearing. Why? It should be noted, the NTSB does not investigate criminal activity: that side of the investigation was carried out, as always, by the FBI, in a parallel investigation.

The Army and the Navy were called in to assist with this investigation. Army personnel in Humvees took over control of the beaches on Long Island. Why? I find it interesting that both the FBI and the Navy implied that there was biological danger surrounding Flight 800 and that any pieces found on the beach should not be touched. Later, this story was retracted. Why? Was it for collection purposes? No explanation was given either way.

While it is easy to understand why the Navy was first called into assist with the investigation, it seems a little unusual that the Navy brought in their best deep-water salvage vessels and took over the salvage operation from the New York Police Department divers. Why? Why did the Navy search twenty miles on either side of the wreckage scene? It would be impossible for the 747 jet to spread debris this far—a physical impossibility, even if the 747 had remained intact and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. There were three Navy submarines and a Navy ship in the area; no big deal, since it is near New York Harbor. But why did the Navy try to deny their presence during that time?

By December 1996, the FBI Missile investigation team members were notified that two separate commercial fishermen had dredged up parts from MANDPADS in the area of the debris field; however, it is reported that they threw them back. Was this credible, or was this part of a conspiracy? Why would they have thrown these parts back?

There were so many inconsistencies with respect to the recovery and potential tampering with the 747’s black boxes that I cannot address them in a 500-word blog. I can’t decide what really happened. What do you think happened? Did the crash occur due to an equipment malfunction, or was it something else?

Audie Murphy, World War II War Hero

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Growing up, I heard that Audie Murphy was a great war hero, but I never knew his story. Now I know that Audie Murphy was the most-decorated soldier in World War II. By the end of the War, he had attained the rank of First Lieutenant in the Army and was decorated with thirty-three medals, including three Purple Hearts and one Medal of Honor.Silhouette fedora

At the beginning of the War, it was difficult for Murphy to get into the Military, and the Army, the Navy and Marines rejected him because he was too young—only 16 years old—and too small at 5’5” and 110 pounds. Murphy didn’t let that stop him. He altered his birth certificate, and eventually he was allowed to enlist in the Army, as the war had continued and more soldiers were needed. During his basic training at Camp Wolters, Texas, he passed out, and his company commander almost transferred him to cooking school. Fortunately, Murphy talked the commander out of this transfer.

Murphy was assigned to the Third Platoon, Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division in Casablanca, Morocco. In Murphy’s first combat, he participated in the invasion of Sicily, and for his brave actions, he was promoted to corporal, but unfortunately contracted malaria. Next, Murphy was part of the invasion of Italy. While participating in the Italy campaign, the Germans ambushed his night patrol. Due to Murphy’s heroic actions that night, they not only won the battle, but also took some German prisoners. For these measures, Audie Murphy received a promotion to sergeant. Murphy’s division moved forward, and next he participated in the fighting near Anzio, where he earned two Bronze Stars, one for personally destroying a German tank.

Sergeant Audie Murphy was then sent to France. In one particular incident, he witnessed the death of a close friend when a German soldier faked surrender, then killed the man. Murphy went ballistic, and all by himself, he wiped out a German machine gun perch, then grabbed a German weapon, killed a few German soldiers and forced several others to retreat. He received the Distinguished Service Cross for this valiant action.

By October of 1944, he had been promoted to second lieutenant. Later that month, Murphy was wounded in the hip while leading his platoon into battle, causing him to recover in the infirmary for ten weeks. On January 25, 1945, just after returning to his platoon as a company commander, he was impaled with shrapnel from an exploding mortar round. Despite this wound, he did not leave the battle field. The next day as he led his men into battle, they came under far-superior enemy fire. He ordered his platoon to fall back, and while they followed his orders, Murphy didn’t. Instead, he stayed in position and provided cover so that his platoon could be pulled back safely. Eventually he ran out of ammunition, but still he didn’t fall back. He mounted a burning M10 Army tank and used its .50-caliber machine gun to force the Germans to hold their position. Again, Murphy received a leg wound, but for one hour, he maintained his position until his men could regroup and counterattack with air support. Murphy’s men succeeded in removing the Germans from their position. For this gallant feat, he received the Medal of Honor on June 2, 1945.

After the war, Audie Murphy was invited to Hollywood by James Cagney. Cagney talked Murphy into playing himself in a movie based on his autobiography. Murphy went on to play in forty-five movies in twenty-five years. Next, Audie Murphy began to write country music.

Despite his bravery and patriotic deeds, he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder following the war. Audie Murphey died in a tragic plane crash near Catawba, Virginia, on May 28, 1971.

Have you ever seen any of Audie Murphy’s movies, or have you heard his country songs? Were you aware of his distinguished service before reading this post?

A True Fighting Gamecock at the University of South Carolina

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I don’t personally know Kyle Carpenter, but I imagine he did what most normal college young men did this past semester at the University of South Carolina. He probably worked hard to be the good student that he is, but I’m guessing he also played video games, watched sports on TV, discussed classes and what he might do this weekend with friends. He might even be watching our Gamecock baseball team or be thinking about next year’s football and basketball teams.

Kyle Carpenter continuously tries to pass himself off as just a regular student at the University of South Carolina. But last week, Kyle Carpenter visited the White House–not on a tour, but as an invited guest of President Barack Obama. You see, Kyle Carpenter really isn’t your average USC student. He is the retired Marine Corporal Kyle Carpenter, and he was at the White House to receive the Medal of Honor from President Obama. Kyle is the eighth living recipient and the second Marine recipient of this great honor since the start of the war against terrorism in Afghanistan.

Why did President Obama honor this twenty-four-year-old man? Kyle Carpenter’s story is anything but ordinary. On November 21, 2010, Kyle and his best friend Lance Corporal Nicholas Eufrazio stood guard on a rooftop in the Marjah District of the Helmand Province of Afghanistan, taking fire from the Taliban, when a grenade landed on the roof. What this young Marine did in the next few seconds changed the lives of both his best friend and him.

He dove toward the grenade.Silhouette fedora

His action saves his best friend’s life, and miraculously, Kyle survived the blast.

Kyle remained conscious for a few seconds after the blast, feeling his life’s blood pour out of him. According to his personal accounts, in those second that Kyle remained conscience, he asked if his best friend Nicholas Eufrazio survived, and he accepted Christ in his life so that he could go to Heaven. Plus he was upset, thinking about his family he wouldn’t see, as he was certain he was going to die there on the rooftop in Afghanistan?

In the critical minutes that passed, Carpenter went through three revivals of flat-line cardiac arrest. By the grace of God, the medics, paramedics and doctors didn’t give up on Kyle, and Kyle’s intestinal fortitude refused to give up. The next thing this heroic young man remembers is waking up at Walter Reed Army Hospital, following a coma that lasted more than five weeks.

Over the next two years, Marine Corporal William “Kyle” Carpenter underwent almost forty surgeries to repair the loss of a right eye, a blown right ear drum, a fractured nose, destroyed lower jaw and cheek bones, plus a right arm broken into more than thirty pieces. And those weren’t the worst injuries–he also had shrapnel in his brain. During two years of recovery, this native of Mississippi and resident of Gilbert, South Carolina strived to return to normal.

In a recent interview with a local TV station, he talked about going back to Afghanistan to the very rooftop where the horrific incident occurred, for nothing else but closure on that fateful moment—that moment when he did what he claims all Marines would proudly do: dive on a grenade to protect his fellow Marines.

Kyle’s recovery has been nothing short of miraculous, and he is now doing things that none of his doctors would have predicted. Kyle is even contemplating running the Marine Corp Marathon in the future.

The Twenty-fifth Anniversary of Tian’anmen Square

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Over the past couple of weeks, the Chinese government has been preparing for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Tian’anmen Square Protest by cracking down on their list of potential protestors, fearing a repeat of that fateful day.

On June 4, 1989, the World watched in horror as the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), including their tanks, turned on their very own people. The image that I have in my head is probably the same image you have in yours; the student moving in front of the PLA tank in Tian’anmen Square.

How did the world’s most populous country get into that position?

In April of 1989, an icon of the Chinese Liberals, Hu Yao-bang, passed away. Hu was a former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) who had refused to shut down a protest in January of 1987. To honor Hu’s death, students held peaceful demonstrations in Shanghai, Beijing, and several other cities.

The students who participated in this demonstration were some of the top academics in China. Although this started out as a memorial to Hu, it evolved into a protest to bring attention to the poor living conditions in China. Over the next month, this memorial service escalated to a pro-democracy protest with an estimated 100,000 students and workers participation, which culminated in Tian’anmen Square in Beijing. The participants in the demonstration were not the usual protestors, such as students and activists; instead, they included lawyers, journalists and older adult relatives of the students.

While the protest grew, the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Deng Xiao-ping held meetings with his closest advisers to discuss how to deal with the first major threat to the Communist rule that this country had experienced since the Civil War of late 1940s. Besides this conflict in the Square, there was also conflict amongst his own advisers, Premier Li Peng and CCP General Secretary Zhao Zi-yang, as to how to handle the growing protest. The protest came just after the fall of the communist movement (or more correctly labeled, the dictatorships) in Eastern Europe. Chairman Deng Xiao-ping was going to do everything in his power to make sure the harsh communist rule would continue in China. The vision of a strong, self-reliant communist society had been largely shelved by the generation that had grown up after Mao. They thought Deng was different. They thought wrong!

On May 20, the Communist government declared martial law, which in itself sounds strange for a Communist dictatorship. Chairman Deng decided to follow Li Peng’s “get tough” plan and ordered the Chinese troops into Tian’anmen Square to end the pro-democracy protest.

After the protest was put down by the military, more than 10,000 protesters were injured, and a large number of people were detained or arrested. Strangely, Chinese citizens just “disappeared.” But that was not the worst of it; more than fifty Chinese were murdered. Sure makes the term Peoples Liberation Army sound like a misnomer.

The man considered to be the leader of the movement, Liu Xiaobo, was later arrested and put in prison, where he still sits. Liu won the Nobel Peace Prize for leading this peaceful protest advocating political reform.

Although the government had quelled similar protests since the mid-1980s, the extremely violent suppression of the Tian’anmen Square protest caused widespread international condemnation of the Chinese government.

Chinese business leaders and advisers in Beijing believed that most of the countries would restart their business with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) after a brief period of complaint over the Tian’anmen Square Incident. The Chinese government’s hopes were dashed for joining international organizations, trade or otherwise. Then US imposed sanctions and the World Bank suspended China’s loans.

Although there had been significant improvement in human rights in China in the in the twenty years leading up to the Tian’anmen Square Incident, abuses had continued.Silhouette fedora

Today, China has evolved militarily and economically into a world power. They have a growing middle class and a growing economy. However, the Communist Politburo still runs the country, though they have let up their boot a little from the necks of their peoples. Still, they have real issues within their government and economy.

I believe that, if another protest ever breaks out in Tian’anmen Square, this time the army will join the protestors in the streets and overthrow the Communist leaders.

What do you think will happen the next time the students start a protest in Tian’anmen Square?

 

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis

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Monday May 19 marked the twenty-year anniversary of the passing of Jacqueline (Jackie) Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. Her death was the result of cancer. Jackie was born on July 28, 1929, in Southampton, NY. The reason I’m writing about her is two-fold; first, she is one of the most interesting people of the twentieth century; and, second, I have a novel coming out soon covering the months leading up to and the assassination of one of her husbands, President John F. Kennedy.

Jackie Kennedy Onassis was born into a very wealthy Catholic family and was raised as a very privileged child. As a young girl, she learned to speak French, while involved in horsemanship and ballet. Jackie spent her junior year in high school studying abroad in Paris. When she returned to the United States, she entered George Washington University, where she earned a degree in French Literature. After college, she landed a job at The Washington Times-Herald, which required her to take photographs of Washington residents, and then tie an interview to the pictures.

Jacqueline Bouvier met her future husband, John F. Kennedy, at a dinner party in 1952, and she married him one year later.

In 1961, with the inauguration of John F. Kennedy as 35th President of the United States, she became First Lady. To this day, many consider her to be the grandest of all of the first ladies to serve in that role. Kennedy became the youngest President and defeated the seated Vice President Richard M. Nixon. Clearly, part of her elegance was critical to President Kennedy’s election in one of the closest for President in US history.

In my novel about the period leading up to the Kennedy assassination, I rarely mention Mrs. Kennedy but her role in my novel was big part of the plot. I know this sounds like a conundrum, and, well, it is. There’s no way to be delicate: President Kennedy fooled around, and he fooled around a lot. I mean, his affairs were the stuff of legends. It is said that, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, he wanted to find someone to “relieve his stress.” Condone it or not (and I don’t), he saved the world from nuclear devastation and kept nuclear missiles from our very doorsteps. There is even the rumor (more than a rumor, but for now we’ll leave it at that),that he was going to divorce Jackie and marry one of the women he was messin’ around with, after serving out his second term in office.Silhouette fedora

Through all of this, Jacqueline Kennedy remained her dignified self. Some would say she liked the power trip and prestige, but if you study her personality, that doesn’t seem to fit. I think she felt that it was important to be dignified at all times, and dignified she was. Did she love President Kennedy? Yes, I believe so. Part of her reason for staying in the marriage was that it was the thing to do in that day and time, and divorce was not a part of her Catholic upbringing.

Five years after President Kennedy’s death, she married Aristotle Onassis, a Greek shipbuilder. At the time, there was a crazy rumor going around that she only married Onassis to hide former President Kennedy, who was alive but had no brain function. Personally, I believe she married Onassis to have some semblance of privacy.

The last image of Jackie Kennedy in my novel is her crawling out on the back of the Presidential Limousine, while bullets rained down, so she could retrieve part of the President’s brain. Her Secret Service bodyguard had to push her back into the car and cover her body with his own. Somewhere during all of this, it is said that, when the shot from the Grassy Knoll hit President Kennedy, she exclaimed “Oh, my God! I have his brains in my hand!”

Are you aware of more former rumors about President and Mrs. JFK that have since been proven to be fact? What opinions do you have of Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis?

 

 

When Words Are Like Toothpaste

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A lady at our church used to do the children’s message. About once a year, she would sit among the children and squeeze toothpaste from a tube. Once she had coaxed out as much as she could, she’d hand the empty tube to one of the little boys and ask him to put the toothpaste back in the tube. When he failed, she’d pass the bowl of toothpaste and the empty tube around to the other children as they one by one would fail to return the toothpaste to the tube. “Your words are like this toothpaste,” she’d say, holding up the bowl. “Once they are out of your mouth, they can never go back again.”

What a great lesson—a lesson that is as relevant to adults as it is to children. In fact, I know a couple of gentlemen who should have taken this lesson to heart.

I have always loved basketball at all levels—especially the National Basketball Association, commonly called the NBA. On Saturday night, Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling purportedly made some harsh racist remarks. I was stunned. For years, Elgin Baylor, an African-American, served as the Clippers’ club president. The Clippers’ current coach is Doc Rivers, another African-American. And, of the twelve-man Clippers’ roster, ten are African-American. How can that be? How can someone who lives in the sports world and who gives the appearance of being tolerant say such things? The answer is easy. He is a racist. Maybe a closet racist, but a racist, none the less.

As this story continues to develop, there may be other explanations. For example, Donald Sterling claims he had authorized his ex-girlfriend to make this recording because he feared he’d forget what he’d said. But now he says she altered the recording. However, more and more facts have immerged regarding Sterling’s racism including preventing non-whites from living in his rental apartments.Silhouette fedora

Since this story broke, I learned that Elgin Baylor had filed a lawsuit against Sterling and the team over his old contract. The same is true of several other of his former players and coaches. Sterling has chosen to fight them in court rather than honor their respective contracts.

Now Doc Rivers, one of the best coaches in the league, must coach his team, the Los Angeles Clippers, under adverse conditions brought about by the owner of the team. Coach Rivers is contemplating his future with the club. About ten years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Doc Rivers. He seemed like a gregarious gentlemen. He let some of my AAU basketball kids take pictures with him. What a day for my team! But here and now, Doc Rivers, a splendid ambassador for the game of professional basketball, is being put through unnecessary drama and negative attention.

During the Clippers game on Sunday, the team turned their uniforms inside out during warm-ups—a silent but brilliant protest of Sterling’s evil words. But clearly their heads were not in the game. Can you blame them? The new commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver, says he is investigating Sterling’s racist remarks and is expected to quickly address the situation. But I have to agree with Mike Greenberg of ESPN, who said that other than Michael Jordon and Earvin “Magic” Johnson, the owners have been silent on the racism displayed by Sterling. They have a platform and they are not taking advantage of it!

Another racist in the news is Cliven Bundy, the Nevada Rancher whose recent dispute with the federal government over grazing rights culminated in a near armed confrontation that could have become much worse. Mr. Bundy’s ridiculous statements could clearly impact public perception of his case against the United States Government. Mr. Bundy demonstrates that if you put a microphone in front of someone over and over, eventually he’ll tire of reciting the same message and his true personality will slip out.

As those kids learned, you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. If your heart is pure, then one does not have to fear words uttered in private or before a microphone, but should your heart hold hideous secrets, be aware that in today’s world of instant record that eventually your true colors will be exposed—especially the color of your soul.

Bundy Ranch – It Isn’t Over Yet

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For those of you who were like me, fixed to every single development of the standoff between the United States Bureau of Land Management (or BLM) and the Cliven Bundy Ranch, I want you to know—it is far from over. The BLM swooped in and inflicted tyranny on the Bundy Ranch and the good citizenry for a total of three days, before they finally stood down. An interesting fact emerged toward the end of the conflict: US Senator Harry Reid’s son and a former staffer are in positions of authority in Nevada, and they may have been behind acceleration of this conflict, due to pending or potential business dealings. If true, is it related to this conflict?

Let’s look at what started this confrontation. Silhouette fedora

Mr. Bundy claims that his family has operated the ranch since in late 1800s, before the establishment of the BLM, and he does not recognize the BLM’s claim, due to his family’s continued occupation of this land.

As of this date, Cliven Bundy has lost twice in federal court prior to these events, which began last Thursday. So in essence, going into last week’s confrontation, the federal government may—and I say may—have had the upper hand. According to various legal sources, all the federal government would have had to do is file a lien against the property, and let the lien process play out. It may be a conflict of interest to have the US Government rule on a dispute between a federal branch of the government and a US citizen, but I will leave that for legal minds to resolve.

However, the BLM showed up with overbearing force, including some who may not have been solely BLM personnel, which included snipers. Not only did they threaten the Bundy family, they threatened the neighbors and protestors who showed up to defend the Bundy family. The BLM even went so far as to set up an area three miles from the Bundy Ranch for “1st Amendment Rights,” one of the most bazaar things I have ever heard. They threatened people with tasers, threatened people taking pictures of the snipers and of the BLM employees squatting down behind their vehicles pointing guns at the demonstrators.

The contrast in the optics of the situation was clearly in the favor of the Bundy Ranch, the neighbors who road on horseback carrying the United States flag and the other protesters who showed up, who for the most part were well behaved.

Quickly, this confrontation between the US Government and the people escalated into a very volatile situation.  Moreover, when the BLM personnel were removing the cattle from the Bundy Ranch, some of the animals were mistreated, including the killing of two bulls. It has also been reported that some personal property of the Bundy’s was destroyed.

Mr. Bundy has admitted he is behind on paying grazing fees. Now, I am left with several unanswered questions: If fees are due, to whom do they owe the fees—the US Government, or the State of Nevada? And do they really owe anyone? If fees were paid, when was the last payment made? What are the legal steps that either side had available to them, before this incident, and why were those steps not taken? What are the new legal steps that are now available as a result of this stand-off?

Do you have answers? What questions have arisen in your mind, in light of this incident? Do you feel the US Government acted justly and appropriately in this case? Why, or why not?

Doolittle’s Raid on Tokyo

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Historical MarkerApril 18, 1942, is a very important day in the history of World War II. On this day, Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle launched his fighter-bomber group, consisting of sixteen B-25Bs in a six-hundred-mile bombing mission over Tokyo, Kobe, Nagoya and Yokohoma, Japan. The original plan called for Vice Admiral William Halsey to maneuver the US Navy fleet, so that the bombers, after dropping their bombs, could fly and join up with Chennault’s AVG Flying Tigers.

This significant event was very important to the United States, as it was the first offensive mission against Japan after their attack on Pearl Harbor. However, the attack on Japan didn’t go exactly as planned. While the US Navy aircraft carriers Enterprise and Hornet attempted to slip undetected close enough to Japan to launch the attack, they were spotted by Japanese patrol boats. These eighty brave men immediate went to their back-up plan, launching some four-hundred miles earlier than planned, changing the already-dangerous bombing run over the enemy’s country to a ditching mission, after completing their bombing run. While they were told to spare the Japanese Imperial Palace, Doolittle himself buzzed the palace in his plane. Fifteen of the sixteen planes made it to China. The remaining plane made to the Soviet Union—our great World War II ally—where its crew was interned.

Doolittle and his fighter-bomber group practiced their mission at Lake Murray, South Carolina, a recently constructed lake. They practiced on Doolittle Island, Shull Island and Dreher Island, flying out of Columbia Army Air Base, which is now the commercial airport for Columbia. Following the raid, Doolittle’s B-25s continued to train at Lake Murray for the duration of the war. Sixty-four of these men continued to fly throughout the remainder of the war.

While Doolittle’s raid did little damage to Tokyo, it gave the United States hope during a very dark time in our history and showed the Japanese that they were indeed venerable. Hirohito had grossly miscalculated that the United States would be willing to enter into peace talks after their six-month campaign throughout the Pacific. But Roosevelt and his Joint Chiefs had a different answer than the Japanese had anticipated. This surprise attack forced the Japanese to attempt to extend their defensive perimeter, which led to the Battle of Midway, ending their offensive war.Silhouette fedora

Doolittle and his crewmen held annual reunions around the country, up until last year. They often came to Columbia, SC for these reunions, the last time being April of 2009. In 1956, Hennessy Distillers presented Jimmy Doolittle with a bottle of 1896 cognac, in honor of his birthday. Three years later, the City of Tucson present them with eighty gobbles (shot glasses) commemorating the airmen, thus starting the annual reunion ritual.  Each living member would toast the mission, those who had passed and the remaining survivors. Last year, the four remaining living members celebrated with their last toast of cognac at Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach, FL. One of the survivors was too ill to make the trip.

How should we continue to honor these brave men from the greatest generation on their anniversary date this year? I recommend that a toast of cognac or our favorite adult beverage would be very appropriate, along with a moment of silence to commemorate their brave mission.

Lost Plane at Sea?

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In March, a plane took off that was eventually lost in the ocean. The plane had extra fuel, the most sophisticated navigation equipment with triple redundancy, flight plans and contingency flight plans. There were communication points established along the way. All of the communication points were made until the plane was lost, believed to have crashed in the ocean. Shortly after the plane disappeared, extensive search ensued, but to date, no debris has been found. What happened? Will we ever know?

The above paragraph was written about Amelia Earhart. Her plane went missing almost 77 years ago on her attempted around the world flight.

Today, like 77 years ago, we are missing a plane; the Malaysia Jet MH 370 has disappeared. it’s kind of an eerie circumstance, don’t you think?

The Malaysia Jet was a Boeing 777, which according to all of the talking heads, is one of the safest and easiest to fly, containing a redundancy of all technologies. It took off on time on March 8th, carrying 239 passengers and a crew of ten. Their flight plan called for them to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, which should take just under six hours.

There were several check-in points along the route, all of which were met until after passing over Thailand and crossing out into the South China Sea, when something changed. From there, the puzzle began to develop, starting with the Malaysian Government. On the first day, they couldn’t or wouldn’t even confirm what time the plan went missing.

As of this date, there are very few pieces of evidence that help us build the story of what happened. Now, almost three weeks later, the inconsistencies continue to mount, which no one can begin to explain. I think this passage of time alone almost eliminates all possibilities of hi-jacking or terrorism. (Not completely, perhaps, but most likely.) Terrorists normally want a big show, but there has been no big show, yet!

We have been told that the jet operated for seven hours after the last communication point, and the jet went off its designated track. Frankly, the exact direction the plane traveled during those seven hours is unknown. Silhouette fedora

As we delve into the mystery, let’s start in the cockpit; it would have been occupied with the pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer. Yet, researchers have focused only on the pilot, who was reported to have some personal issues. But for him to turn off two transponders, plus one below the flight deck, would likely imply he had some assistance. Did that assistance come from the other occupants of the flight deck? During the seven hour unmonitored portion of the flight, was only one deck officer involved, and were either or both of the others subdued? This doesn’t make sense. I have also heard that the pilot was suicidal. If so, are we to believe he subdued the crew, then took a joyride over the ocean for seven hours, and then flew it into the water? Hmmm?

Now, somehow they didn’t know where the jet was located, but yet they know the jet reached a flight altitude of 45,000 feet, which could have caused the pressurized cabin to fail and could have impacted the oxygen system, thus taking out the passengers, whether permanently or temporarily. Do you find it weird, as I do, that they knew the flight altitude, but not the flight path? It also has been reported that the jet eventually dropped down to 5,000 feet, in essence to fly below radar detection. Again, how can they know that, without knowing where it was? Come on.

Now let’s focus on the route the jet took. At first, it successfully passed the scheduled waypoints along the route. Then came the story that the flight plan was altered just before or shortly after take-off. How did they know that? Just after crossing over Thailand, out over the South China Sea about two hours into the flight, the jet went off in a different direction. Climbed up, then dropped down, then—presto magic!—it disappeared!

Now let’s get back to the Malaysian Government’s report. After the jet was in the air and disappeared, they reviewed the manifest of passengers, and it was discovered that two Iranians, who paid cash for their tickets, were on that flight using stolen passports. Reports came out that this is not unusual in Asia or other third-world countries, as a large number of passports aren’t checked. And by the way, they then discovered then that these passports were stolen and had been illegally used. Crack detective work!

Now, here is where the story gets even stranger. Didn’t countries have satellites that could provide information on the flight path? Haven’t we been told that the CIA has satellites that can read license plates on cars, which are clearly smaller than a jet? Then it was reported that there were no satellites covering the Indian Ocean, along one of the speculated flight paths. Hmmm, I thought there were satellites covering the entire earth. I’ll bet Al Queda loved hearing this little tidbit.

Let’s review another fact: we have been told the jet flew for seven hours after the transponders were turned off. I wondered then, how did they know that? Well, about seven days after the jet disappeared, it was reported that when these jets are constructed, Boeing places monitors on the engines that provided data as long as the jets’ engines are in operation, but the Malaysians didn’t purchase that feature when they purchased their Boeing 777s. But it took Boeing seven days to provide reporters that data? Were they all on vacation and when they came back, somebody walked into that room and said, “Hey look what I just found? Who knew?”

Let’s look back for a minute at the fact that there were 239 passengers and now seven other members of the flight crew that flew seven hours off course. What happened to them? No one attempted any phone calls during that time? Yet, four days after the jet disappeared, it was reported that the cell phones indicated they were still working. Has anybody dropped their phone in the water? Does it work? I personally know the answer; it’s a big fat no!

So by the second week following the disappearance, a number of countries were providing search equipment, including the Chinese, as China is the residence of most of the passengers. And just then, the Malaysian Government announced that there were some valuable items on the jet, including, but not limited to, a large quantity of lithium batteries. Hey, it might have been nice to know that earlier, but hey, these guys sent text messages to the families that their relatives were dead. That is very touching, don’t you think? Who said they are a third-world country?  Talk about utilizing modern technology!

By now, the speculations include alien spacecraft, black holes and the jet being hidden in a hanger in Pakistan. If I have one guess, I’ll guess that it is not in Pakistan. The US Government has satellites and so many drones in the air over that country that we almost have to have traffic controllers watching them. So the odds are you that you could never sneak a jet in there.

Finally this week, I heard that a French satellite found 122 items in the water that could be from where the jet crashed in the water. The French found it, but the US and China didn’t? Am I the only one who finds this strange?

What are your thoughts and opinions of what happened to the missing Malaysia Jet MH 370? Let’s discuss!