READING ASSIGNMENT

Today's assignment is a story that's not getting the play in the
media that it should. It involves the violation of the civil
liberites of American citizens by an out-of-control Presidential
administration. Read it and pass it on. Every American needs to
know about this.

Report implicating Clinton: Will it be hidden for good?

CHRISTMAS CONCERT

I went to the Christmas concert at my children's school last
night. It was a CHRISTMAS concert, not a generic "holiday"
or "winter" concert. The kids all sang Christmas carols. Most
of these carols were religiously themed--"We Three Kings", "Silent
Night" and such. The ACLU was nowhere to be seen. Ditto the
Americans United for the Separation of Chrurch and State. I didn't
expect to see them there. That's because my kids go to a Catholic
school. I can send them a Catholic school because I can afford it.
Many people would like to send their children to private schools,
but they can't afford to. It's too bad that so many of our political
"leaders" are too spineless to push for a voucher program.
Apparently, "freedom of choice" extends only so far.

ORGANIZED LABOR, OR ORGANIZED CRIME?

There's something about the NYC transit strike I don't get. The Transit Workers Union has called a strike. NYC is nearly gridlocked. As of this writing, the city has lost about $400 million because of the strike. The strike is illegal--as in against the law. So here's my question: Why is the Transit Workers Union still a recognized labor union? They are an organization that is engaged in a conscious effort to commit a crime. This, by definition, makes them a criminal organization. So why hasn't the National Labor Relations Board decertified them as a labor union? Unions aren't sacred. They should be held to the same standards as anyone else. Maybe, if this organization got decertified, it would send a message to other unions that their days of being above the law are over.

And while we're on the subject of the law, how about some criminal charges here? NYS Penal Law secion 195.05, Obstructing Governmental Administration in the second degree:

"A person is guilty of obstructing governmental administration when he intentionally obstructs, impairs or perverts the administration of law or other governmental function or prevents or attempts to prevent a public servant from performing an official function, by means of intimidation, physical force or interference, or by means of any independently unlawful act, or by means of interfering, whether or not physical force is involved, with radio, telephone, television or other telecommunications systems owned or operated by the state, or a county, city, town, village, fire district or emergency medical service or by means of releasing a dangerous animal under circumstances evincing the actor's intent that the animal obstruct governmental administration. Obstructing governmental administration is a class A misdemeanor."

I'd say that this strike meets the criteria spelled out in the law. And I'm sure that there were several people involved in the decision-making process when the union decided to strike. Which brings us to NYS Penal Law section 105.00, Criminal Conspiracy in the sixth degree:

"A person is guilty of conspiracy in the sixth degree when, with intent that conduct constituting a crime be performed, he agrees with one or more persons to engage in or cause the performance of such conduct. Conspiracy in the sixth degree is a class B misdemeanor."

So let's have some union leaders arrested, cuffed, and "frog marched" into central booking on live TV. Mayor Bloomburg and the respective D.A.s of the five boroughs would be heroes, the strike would end in short order, and "labor leaders" would get the message that they're not above the law.

DECEMBER 7, 1941

Sixty-four years ago today, US forces at Pearl Harbor were struck by the Japanese Navy in a surprise attack. Prior to the attack, many Americans -- most notably a group known as The Committee to Defend America First -- expressed serious opposition to our involvement in World War II. Many prominent Americans were members of the America First Committee, including aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, most America Firsters -- including Lindbergh -- got behind the President, our military, and the war effort. That's what you call a "loyal opposition." My, how times have changed.


Picture found at Sacred Cow Burgers.

CHANGES TO AIR FORCE BASIC TRAINING

This is welcome news, found at Defensewatch:

Longer, Tougher Basic Training for Air Force Recruits

by Paul Connors

The Air Force finally seems to have taken notice. After almost a decade of operations using its own Air Expeditionary Force concepts and models, the nation's junior service finally realized that it needs to train the way it will fight. As a result, the Air Force concluded that it must change its basic training and as of the time of this writing, is doing just that.

Gone are the days of learning how to fold t-shirts into six inch squares (an exercise designed to stress attention to detail). Air Force Basic Training, the shortest of all the services at just six weeks had long been viewed as a cakewalk compared to Basic Combat Training for the Army and the legendary boot camps of the Marine Corps. Training cadres in the know even admitted that Coast Guard basic training, held at that service's Training Center in Cape May, N.J. was more difficult and stressful than that experienced by incoming airmen.

Now the focus, curriculum and length of time a trainee spends at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas have all been revamped. The service's newest incoming enlisted trainees will face a basic training program that is seven weeks long, with a curriculum that emphasizes the "warrior ethos," and ground combat skills.

I've never attended AF basic training (my military career started in the Army), but as a member of the Air National Guard for the past nine years, it has become painfully obvious to me that USAF personnel are in serious need of more tactical training. In this era of asymmetric warfare and joint operations, technical proficiency in one's job is no longer enough. This isn't a huge step, but it is a step in the right direction.