To a Soldier Dying Young Whilst in Miami this week, I spent the better part of a day wandering in the City Cemetery (more on that later,) and my eye caught a flat military grave marker, probably because of the soldier’s name: George Manuel George. PFC George was with the 1st Marine Division which meant […]

In Harm’s Way In this 17th year of the war in Afghanistan, we Americans express thanks to the troops, the question is for what? Two days ago, at least 55 people were killed and 94 injured in a suicide bombing in the capital, Kabul, during an event “commemorating the birth anniversary of the prophet Muhammad,” […]

IAFF Issues Lukewarm Wildfire Statement   Harold Schaitberger, General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters, has remained silent as Trump has dismantled middle class America, especially unions and working families. Never forget that Schaitberger caused the IAFF not to endorse in the 2016 presidential election, the sure sign of a coward obsessed with […]

The End of World War One Tomorrow at 11am will mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the first world war. Historians remind us that the war was often fought with 19th-century tactics and 20th-century weapons meaning that troops were endlessly slaughtered by automatic machine gun fire or pulverized by long range artillery barrages, […]

Last night, at least 12 were killed, including a police officer, when a gunman opened fire at a California dance hall. Focus on the effect. As we (properly) obsess over the length of the war in Afghanistan, it is past time to admit that we are also in a low level simmering war right here […]

So Much for Leading From the Front A favorite piece of American history is the vision of 56-year-old, Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., hobbling Utah Beach with a cane as troops landed on D-Day. He was the oldest man in the invasion and the only general to land by sea on that day. Roosevelt was […]

Jim Lee Set to Retire Canadian Jim Lee, IAFF Chief of Staff, is set to retire in the coming months, having served in that role for the past several years. He was previously the principal assistant to the General Secretary-Treasurer and ran for that position before bowing out at the prospect of Tidal Wave Edzo. […]

Images of the deadly Schoharie, New York, crash in which twenty people were killed, show a passenger compartment intact and the vehicle upright. Seventeen of those killed were riding in that part of the vehicle. If they were not wearing seat restraints, the cause of death would likely be attributed to deceleration injuries. News reports […]

The New York Roadway Disaster Twenty people were killed this past weekend when a “stretch limo” type vehicle crossed a T-intersection, striking cars and trees. My work has me riding in all manner of commercial vehicles and I have learned they are not equal where safety is concerned. It’s crucial to be informed, to pay […]

Freedom Gets a Do The dome of the U.S. Capitol, made of iron and bolted together, was assembled during the American Civil War, a sign from Lincoln, they say, that the Union would prevail. It did. Atop the dome is the Freedom Statue, there since 1863, all 15,000 bronze pounds of her. She faces east, […]