Newsletter & Updates
To Iran’s leadership we are the Great Satan; Israel is the Little Satan, and they’ve always said they want to eliminate both of us. It’s very appropriate that we’re taking them out before they have a nuclear warhead, and it’s happening.
has seized control of their nation’s war decisions following Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s death from a US-Israeli airstrike last month.
Iran’s President Pezeshkian pledges de-escalation while IRGC simultaneously launches attacks on Gulf states, revealing a fractured command structure The IRGC controls over half of Iran’s GDP and is pushing for extralegal appointment of Khamenei’s son to prevent any reformist influence.
The very conflicting diplomatic messages from Iranian officials exposes deep factional rifts between hardliners and moderates amid the very active bombing campaign
Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has halted 20% of global oil transit while internal protests threaten regime stability. And remember that China is Iran’s largest purchaser of oil and China also gave Iran their best air-defense weapons—which should have taken out any attacking aircraft—and never even hurt one. The weekend airstrike that killed Ali Khamenei did more than eliminate Iran’s supreme leader. It destroyed and exposed the carefully maintained illusion of centralized control in Tehran. Within days, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi delivered an interesting and confusing diplomatic whiplash, first signaling openness to negotiations, then rejecting any ceasefire. President Pezeshkian promised to halt attacks on neighboring countries just as Iranian drones and missiles rained down on Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. These contradictions expose a troubling reality: nobody appears to be driving the ship. In my not-very-humble opinion, it won’t be long now.
Our nation has a large number of challenges and currently some very good people at the top of our government, but we have a lot to do to maintain our nation as the world’s finest country.
Our nation has a large number of challenges and some very good people at the top of our government, but we have a lot to do to maintain our nation as the world’s finest country.
This is a Link to the Home Defense Podcast:
The Smiling Ranger
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I was thinking about… a goofy day at West Point; the following day my regiment was to bus to New York City to march in a parade; that afternoon we were called to a company formation for an unknown reason. Suddenly, a bunch of busses pulled up near us, and the thousand or so cadets who were going to the parade were told to (they really, truly said this) practice loading the busses. Well, being good soldiers who had little choice in the matter, we did as we were told and, over the next half hour or so, we boarded the busses a number of times. Yes, the next day, in full parade uniform, we boarded them again, like a bunch of good little cadets, and we did it so well—after all, we had practiced. I did learn a big lesson from this: never would I tolerate doing such a stupid thing as making my troops practice loading a bus, and I never did. That practice loading busses was perhaps the stupidest thing I ever did at the Point. |
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We Americans should be very proud of our nation; despite our current challenges and differences, we live in the best and freest nation in the world. Let’s end all the name calling and appreciate each other and our nation, even if we don’t all agree on everything. When you talk with someone you have disagreements with, you can at least understand why they feel like they do; we need to understand each other. Good Americans come in many flavors.
Military History
On 1 Apr 1945, during WWII, after suffering the loss of 116 planes and damage to three aircraft carriers, 50,000 US combat troops of the 10th Army, under Lieutenant General Simon Buckner Jr., landed on the southwest coast of the Japanese island of Okinawa, 350 miles south of Kyushu, the southern main island of Japan. The general was killed three days before the battle was won—a US victory.
On 1 Apr 1983, tens of thousands of anti-nuclear demonstrators linked arms in a 14-mile human chain spanning 3 defense installations in rural England.
On 1 Apr 2011, Afghans angry over the burning of a Quran at a small Florida church stormed a UN compound in northern Afghanistan, killing 7 foreigners, including 4 Nepalese guards.
On 2 Apr 1982, several thousand troops from Argentina seized the disputed Falkland Islands, located in the south Atlantic, from Britain. Britain seized them back the following June.
On 3 Apr 2001, President Bush warned China it risked damaging relations with the US unless it quickly released the American crew of a damaged Navy spy plane. The plane had made an emergency landing in China after colliding with a Chinese fighter. On 3 Apr 2008, NATO allies meeting in Bucharest, Romania, gave President Bush strong support for a missile defense system in Europe & urged Moscow to drop its angry opposition to the program.
On 4 Apr 1818, Congress decided the flag of the US would consist of 13 red & white stripes & 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state of the Union.
On 4 Apr 1865, during the Civil War: A day after Union forces captured Richmond, Virginia, President Abraham Lincoln visited the Confederate capital.
On 5 Apr 1999, two Libyans suspected of bringing down Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 were handed over for eventual trial in the Netherlands.
On 6 Apr 1862, the Civil War Battle of Shiloh began in Pittsburg Landing, Tenn, as Confederate forces launched a surprise attack against Union troops, who were able to beat back the Confederates the next day.
On 6 Apr 1896, the first modern Olympic games formally opened in Athens, Greece.
On 6 Apr 1917, the US formally declared war against Germany and entered WWI. The war began in the summer of 1914, and Britain, France, and Russia welcomed the declaration as they needed American troops and supplies for the Allied war effort.
On 7 Apr 1776, during our Revolutionary War, Navy Captain John Barry, commander of the Lexington, made the first American naval capture of a British vessel when he took command of the British warship HMS Edward off the coast of Virginia. The capture of the Edward & its cargo turned Captain Barry into a national hero & boosted the morale of the Continental forces.
On 7 Apr 1945, during WWII, American planes intercepted a Japanese fleet that was headed for Okinawa on a suicide mission.
On 7 Apr 2003, US troops in over 100 armored vehicles rumbled through downtown Baghdad, seizing one of Saddam Hussein’s opulent palaces & toppling a 40-foot statue of the former leader. Operation Thunder Run.
On 9 Apr 1865, during our Civil War, Confederate Gen. Robert Lee surrendered his army to Union Gen. Ulysses Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. The next day he addressed his army for the last time.
On 9 Apr 2003, jubilant Iraqis celebrated the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime, beheading a toppled statue of their longtime ruler in downtown Baghdad & embracing American troops as liberators.
On 10 Apr 1942, during WWII, the day after the surrender of the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese, the 75,000 Filipino & American troops captured on the Bataan Peninsula began a forced march to a prison camp near Cabanatuan. Known as the “Bataan Death March,” the prisoners were forced to march 85 miles in 6 days, with only 1 meal of rice during the entire journey. By the end of the march, which was punctuated with atrocities committed by the Japanese guards, hundreds of Americans & many more Filipinos had died.
On 11 Apr 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated as emperor of France & was banished to the island of Elba.
On 10 Apr 1898, President McKinley asked Congress for a declaration of war against Spain; the main issue was Cuban independence; the 10-week war was fought in both the Caribbean & the Pacific.
On 10 Apr 1945, during WWII, American soldiers liberated the notorious Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald in Germany.
On 10 Apr 1951, Pres Truman relieved Gen. Douglas MacArthur of his commands in the Far East.
On 12 April 1861, the bloodiest four years in American history began when Confederate shore batteries under General Beauregard opened fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s Charleston Bay. During the next 34 hours, 50 Confederate guns and mortars launched more than 4,000 rounds at the poorly supplied fort. On April 13, US Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort. Two days later, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for 75,000 volunteer soldiers to quell the Southern “insurrection.”
On 14 April 1865, during our Civil War, John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln at a play at Ford’s Theater in Washington.
On 14 April 1918, six days after being assigned for the first time to the western-front, two American pilots from the US First Aero Squadron engaged in America’s first aerial dogfight with enemy aircraft. In a battle fought almost directly over the Allied Squadron Aerodome at Toul, France, US fliers Douglas Campbell and Alan Winslow succeeded in shooting down two German two-seaters. By the end of May, Campbell had shot down five enemy aircraft, making him the first American to qualify as a “flying ace” in WWI.
On 15 Apr 1861, 3 days after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, President Lincoln declared a state of insurrection & called out Union troops.
On 15 Apr 1912, the British luxury liner Titanic sank in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland, less than 3 hours after striking an iceberg. About 1,500 people died.
On 15 Apr 2014, speaking for the first time in over 2 weeks, President Obama & Russian President Putin showed little sign of agreement during a telephone call initiated by Putin, with Obama urging pro-Russian forces to de-escalate the situation in eastern Ukraine & Putin denying that Moscow was interfering in the region.
Humor/Puns
An old friend went bald several years ago, but he still carries an old comb with him all the time; he just can’t part with it.
I’m really surprised that people who call themselves florists know absolutely nothing about linoleum.
What do you call an apology written in dots and dashes? Re-morse code.
I finally did it. I bought a pair of shoes with memory foam insoles. No more walking into a room and forgetting why I came in.
Remember, if you lose a sock in the wash, it comes back as a Tupperware lid that doesn’t fit any of your containers.
Why do scuba divers fall backward out of the boat? Because if they fell forward they’d still be in the boat.
The furniture store salesman said this couch will seat five people without any problems. I asked, where will I find five people without any problems?
Peruvian owls always hunt in pairs. It’s because they are Inca Hoots.
An old man thought his wife was going deaf, so he came up behind her and said, “Can you hear me, sweetheart?” No reply. So, he came closer and said it again. No reply. So, he shouted in her ear, “Can you hear me now, honey?” “For the third time, yes.”
Two penguins were standing on an iceberg. One said to the other, “You look like you’re wearing a tuxedo.” The other replied, “Who says I’m not?”
Sometimes age brings wisdom. Other times it comes alone.
Carrots really are good for your eyes. Have you ever seen a rabbit with glasses?
One college student to another, “My professor talks to himself; does yours?” “Yes,” was the reply, “but he doesn’t realize it. He thinks we’re listening.”
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Quote/Verse
“I am concerned for the security of our great Nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within.”
―Douglas MacArthur
Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
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God Bless America!