....Or rather a Solemnly Respectful Memorial Day.
Freedom is not Free, they say. Actually, it comes at a Very High Price. I just got home from a trip 'back home' to see my Dad. He's 89 and now in the VA hospice.
You all know his WWII story, so I shall not reiterate that here.
Ever wonder how MANY of our Finest have given the Sacrifice for Our Freedoms?
...........War Dates Deaths Wounded
American Revolutionary War 1775-1783
Combat: 4,435
Other: Unknown
6,188
Indian Wars 1783-1890
Combat: 1,000 (approx.)
Other: Unknown
Unknown
The War of 1812 1812-1815
Combat: 2,260
Other: Unknown
4,505
U.S.-Mexican War 1846-1848
Combat: 1,733
Other: 11,550
Total: 13,283
4,152
U.S. Civil War 1861-1865
Union: Combat: 110,070
Other: 249,458
Confederate: Combat: 74,524
Other: 124,000
Union: 275,175
Confederate: 137,000 +
Spanish-American War 1898
Combat: 385
Other: 2,061
Total: 2,456
1,662
Philippine-American War 1899-1901
Combat: 1,108
Other: 2,108
Total: 3,216
2,779
World War I1917-1918
Combat: 53,513
Other: 63,195
Total: 116,708
204,002
World War II1941-1945
Combat: 292,131
Other: 115,185
Total: 407,316
670,846
Korean War 1950-1953
Combat: 33,651
Other:
**(in-theater): 2,830
(not-in-theater): 17,730
Total: 54,246***
103,284
Vietnam War 1964-1975
Combat: 47,369
Other: 10,799
Total: 58,168****
153,303
Gulf War1991
Combat: 148
Other: 145
Total: 293
467
Operation Enduring Freedom: Afghanistan/Pakistan October 7, 2001-- Continuing
As of May, 2011
Total: 1,514
(this number includes four CIA Officers killed in action against al-Qaeda/Taliban forces)
Total: 11,191
(based on DoD website which includes all wounded from Operation EF, including those injured in areas other than Afghanistan/Pakistan)
Operation Enduring Freedom: Philippines Oct. 7, 2001-Continuing
As of Nov. 11, 2008
Combat: 1
Non-Combat*****:14
Total: 15
00
Third Persian Gulf War "Operation Iraqi Freedom" March 19, 2003-Continuing
As of May, 2011
Total: 4,454
Total: 32,227
Libya War March 19, 2011 (U.S. and NATO Intevention began)
Total: 2 (two USAF pilots suffered minor injuries when they ejected from their F-15E Eagle)
More information at THE HISTORY GUY
Thank you and prayers for those who have and are serving, Veterans and their Families.
Enjoy your day off and your BBQ....but Never Forget.
Wollf
Monday, May 30, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
A More Serious Posting......
.......I get so much via E-mail.....this one actually hits my current, unspoken concerns.....
Here's an except from an interesting article. I wanted to give everybody something to worry about other than the claim that the world is coming to an end next week. Wollf......
"The United States is rapidly becoming the very first "post-industrial"
nation on the globe. All great economic empires eventually become fat
and lazy and squander the great wealth that their forefathers have
left them, but the pace at which America is accomplishing this is
absolutely amazing. It was America that was at the forefront of the
industrial revolution. It was America that showed the world how to
mass produce everything from automobiles to televisions to airplanes.
It was the great American manufacturing base that crushed Germany and
Japan in World War II.
But now we are witnessing the deindustrialization of America . Tens
of thousands of factories have left the United States in the past
decade alone. Millions upon millions of manufacturing jobs have been
lost in the same time period. The United States has become a nation
that consumes everything in sight and yet produces increasingly
little. Do you know what our biggest export is today? Waste paper.
Yes, trash is the number one thing that we ship out to the rest of the
world as we voraciously blow our money on whatever the rest of the
world wants to sell to us. The United States has become bloated and
spoiled and our economy is now just a shadow of what it once was.
Once upon a time America could literally out produce the rest of the
world combined. Today that is no longer true, but Americans sure do
consume more than anyone else in the world. If the
deindustrialization of America continues at this current pace, what
possible kind of a future are we going to be leaving to our children?
Any great nation throughout history has been great at making things.
So if the United States continues to allow its manufacturing base to
erode at a staggering pace how in the world can the U.S. continue to
consider itself to be a great nation? We have created the biggest
debt bubble in the history of the world in an effort to maintain a
very high standard of living, but the current state of affairs is not
anywhere close to sustainable. Every single month America goes into
more debt and every single month America gets poorer.
So what happens when the debt bubble pops? The deindustrialization of
the United States should be a top concern for every man, woman and
child in the country. But sadly, most Americans do not have any idea
what is going on around them. For people like that, take this article
and print it out and hand it to them. Perhaps what they will read
below will shock them badly enough to awaken them from their slumber.
The following are 19 facts about the deindustrialization of America
that will blow your mind....
#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since
2001. About 75 percent of those factories employed over 500 people
when they were still in operation.
#2 Dell Inc., one of America 's largest manufacturers of computers,
has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China
with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.
#3 Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S.
manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem , North Carolina in November.
Approximately 900 jobs will be lost.
#4 In 2008, 1.2 billion cell phones were sold worldwide. So how many
of them were manufactured inside the United States ? Zero.
#5 According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy
Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase
at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million
jobs this year alone.
#6 As of the end of July, the U.S. trade deficit with China had risen
18 percent compared to the same time period a year ago.
#7 The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million
manufacturing jobs since October 2000.
#8 According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008 employment at the
foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30
percent to 10.1 million. During that exact same time period, U.S.
employment at American multinational corporations declined 8 percent
to 21.1 million.
#9 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic
output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.
#10 Ford Motor Company recently announced the closure of a factory
that produces the Ford Ranger in St. Paul , Minnesota . Approximately
750 good paying middle class jobs are going to be lost because making
Ford Rangers in Minnesota does not fit in with Ford's new "global"
manufacturing strategy.
#11 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in
manufacturing. The last time less than 12 million Americans were
employed in manufacturing was in 1941.
#12 In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70 percent of
GDP. Of this 70 percent, over half is spent on services.
#13 The United States has lost a whopping 32 percent of its
manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.
#14 In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per
capita broadband Internet use. Today it ranks 15th.
#15 Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually
lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.
#16 Printed circuit boards are used in tens of thousands of different
products. Asia now produces 84 percent of them worldwide.
#17 The United States spends approximately $3.90 on Chinese goods for
every $1 that the Chinese spend on goods from the United States .
#18 One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy
will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.
#19 The U.S. Census Bureau says that 43.6 million Americans are now
living in poverty and according to them that is the highest number of
poor Americans in the 51 years that records have been kept.
So how many tens of thousands more factories do we need to lose before
we do something about it? How many millions more Americans are going
to become unemployed before we all admit that we have a very, very
serious problem on our hands?
How many more trillions of dollars are going to leave the country
before we realize that we are losing wealth at a pace that is killing
our economy?
How many once great manufacturing cities are going to become rotting
war zones like Detroit before we understand that we are committing
national economic suicide?
The deindustrialization of America is a national crisis. It needs to
be treated like one.
By the way, if...I mean IF, those dear folks that think they know when the End of Times is nigh are right...... disallow the aforementioned script.
Those of us who will arise, don't have to worry.
Those of us who don't...... well, I'm Christian, but not so good....look for me. I'll be the "Gentle Warlord"........
Wollf
Here's an except from an interesting article. I wanted to give everybody something to worry about other than the claim that the world is coming to an end next week. Wollf......
"The United States is rapidly becoming the very first "post-industrial"
nation on the globe. All great economic empires eventually become fat
and lazy and squander the great wealth that their forefathers have
left them, but the pace at which America is accomplishing this is
absolutely amazing. It was America that was at the forefront of the
industrial revolution. It was America that showed the world how to
mass produce everything from automobiles to televisions to airplanes.
It was the great American manufacturing base that crushed Germany and
Japan in World War II.
But now we are witnessing the deindustrialization of America . Tens
of thousands of factories have left the United States in the past
decade alone. Millions upon millions of manufacturing jobs have been
lost in the same time period. The United States has become a nation
that consumes everything in sight and yet produces increasingly
little. Do you know what our biggest export is today? Waste paper.
Yes, trash is the number one thing that we ship out to the rest of the
world as we voraciously blow our money on whatever the rest of the
world wants to sell to us. The United States has become bloated and
spoiled and our economy is now just a shadow of what it once was.
Once upon a time America could literally out produce the rest of the
world combined. Today that is no longer true, but Americans sure do
consume more than anyone else in the world. If the
deindustrialization of America continues at this current pace, what
possible kind of a future are we going to be leaving to our children?
Any great nation throughout history has been great at making things.
So if the United States continues to allow its manufacturing base to
erode at a staggering pace how in the world can the U.S. continue to
consider itself to be a great nation? We have created the biggest
debt bubble in the history of the world in an effort to maintain a
very high standard of living, but the current state of affairs is not
anywhere close to sustainable. Every single month America goes into
more debt and every single month America gets poorer.
So what happens when the debt bubble pops? The deindustrialization of
the United States should be a top concern for every man, woman and
child in the country. But sadly, most Americans do not have any idea
what is going on around them. For people like that, take this article
and print it out and hand it to them. Perhaps what they will read
below will shock them badly enough to awaken them from their slumber.
The following are 19 facts about the deindustrialization of America
that will blow your mind....
#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since
2001. About 75 percent of those factories employed over 500 people
when they were still in operation.
#2 Dell Inc., one of America 's largest manufacturers of computers,
has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China
with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.
#3 Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S.
manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem , North Carolina in November.
Approximately 900 jobs will be lost.
#4 In 2008, 1.2 billion cell phones were sold worldwide. So how many
of them were manufactured inside the United States ? Zero.
#5 According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy
Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase
at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million
jobs this year alone.
#6 As of the end of July, the U.S. trade deficit with China had risen
18 percent compared to the same time period a year ago.
#7 The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million
manufacturing jobs since October 2000.
#8 According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008 employment at the
foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30
percent to 10.1 million. During that exact same time period, U.S.
employment at American multinational corporations declined 8 percent
to 21.1 million.
#9 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic
output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.
#10 Ford Motor Company recently announced the closure of a factory
that produces the Ford Ranger in St. Paul , Minnesota . Approximately
750 good paying middle class jobs are going to be lost because making
Ford Rangers in Minnesota does not fit in with Ford's new "global"
manufacturing strategy.
#11 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in
manufacturing. The last time less than 12 million Americans were
employed in manufacturing was in 1941.
#12 In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70 percent of
GDP. Of this 70 percent, over half is spent on services.
#13 The United States has lost a whopping 32 percent of its
manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.
#14 In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per
capita broadband Internet use. Today it ranks 15th.
#15 Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually
lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.
#16 Printed circuit boards are used in tens of thousands of different
products. Asia now produces 84 percent of them worldwide.
#17 The United States spends approximately $3.90 on Chinese goods for
every $1 that the Chinese spend on goods from the United States .
#18 One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy
will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.
#19 The U.S. Census Bureau says that 43.6 million Americans are now
living in poverty and according to them that is the highest number of
poor Americans in the 51 years that records have been kept.
So how many tens of thousands more factories do we need to lose before
we do something about it? How many millions more Americans are going
to become unemployed before we all admit that we have a very, very
serious problem on our hands?
How many more trillions of dollars are going to leave the country
before we realize that we are losing wealth at a pace that is killing
our economy?
How many once great manufacturing cities are going to become rotting
war zones like Detroit before we understand that we are committing
national economic suicide?
The deindustrialization of America is a national crisis. It needs to
be treated like one.
By the way, if...I mean IF, those dear folks that think they know when the End of Times is nigh are right...... disallow the aforementioned script.
Those of us who will arise, don't have to worry.
Those of us who don't...... well, I'm Christian, but not so good....look for me. I'll be the "Gentle Warlord"........
Wollf
Problems with your Dogs getting along?
.....Well, we at the Lair have three doggers, Uber the 70# Chocolate Labrador, Tiberius the 8# CheeeWowwa, and of course our newest addition, Mongo...the 125# Saint.
Now, I'm pretty good at gently asserting myself as the Alpha, and I have little problem with the "Pack". Dragn is definitely Aplpha Female with them.
The problem is between the three....although mostly it's relatively harmless rough housing.
Just when I was beginning to think that one of these Boys had to go....that it was impossible for them to get along completely....well, I saw this.
Leo, Shere Khan, and Baloo live together in harmony at Noah's Ark Animal Rehabilitation Center in Georgia.
Lions and Tigers and Bears?
Oh My!
We'll make it work.
Wollf
Now, I'm pretty good at gently asserting myself as the Alpha, and I have little problem with the "Pack". Dragn is definitely Aplpha Female with them.
The problem is between the three....although mostly it's relatively harmless rough housing.
Just when I was beginning to think that one of these Boys had to go....that it was impossible for them to get along completely....well, I saw this.
Leo, Shere Khan, and Baloo live together in harmony at Noah's Ark Animal Rehabilitation Center in Georgia.
Lions and Tigers and Bears?
Oh My!
We'll make it work.
Wollf
Monday, May 16, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Mother's Day.....and thoughts......
My Mom...... never allowed me to call her 'Mother', has been in Heaven for 'bout two years.
My Dad, the Sar' Major....well, he's not doing so well. He's at about Ninety years old, and misses the absolute Love of his life.... her name is Barbara Pinkham Stevenson......
Thiers was a Love story for the ages.... I've had some sort of mote in my eye all day, and for some reason, well, my eyes seem to be leaking....
It's Mother's Day, my Mom is gone, and the Sar' Major is in the VA Hospital.....He doesn't want to be on this earth without his Bride..... and I can't fault that.
They met at a WWII street dance in Washington DC...... Remember that iconic photo of the Sailor kissing the young Lady?
Well, it started something like that, when a rather robust Marine Sergeant stepped in and claimed in no uncertain words, "EXCUSE Me, you are kissing my Wife.... Beat Feet!"
The Sailor, faced with an obviously agitated 'husband', did so.......
Then, the Woman who was to become my Mom, said to the Marine, "Why did you say that you were my Husband?"
He replied quite simply, "Well, Ma'am, I am going to marry you.."
And.....well, they did...and sixty years later.... I and my Baby Bro', Big Brother Mike and 2 sisters came into this world.....
Mom worked at the Pentagon all through the War, Dad was busy staying alive and helping the Japanese Army to meet their Maker........
The Sar' Major is horridly ill right now..... Prayers for his Peace would be highly appreciated....
Mom, I Love you, and give your photo a finger kiss every time I pass it. Dad....you know how I feel......
Love your Parents and let them know... you won't have them forever.
The Sar'Major and his Bride, in better times, when She was here.....
I gotta go now, got something in my eye.....
Wollf
My Dad, the Sar' Major....well, he's not doing so well. He's at about Ninety years old, and misses the absolute Love of his life.... her name is Barbara Pinkham Stevenson......
Thiers was a Love story for the ages.... I've had some sort of mote in my eye all day, and for some reason, well, my eyes seem to be leaking....
It's Mother's Day, my Mom is gone, and the Sar' Major is in the VA Hospital.....He doesn't want to be on this earth without his Bride..... and I can't fault that.
They met at a WWII street dance in Washington DC...... Remember that iconic photo of the Sailor kissing the young Lady?
Well, it started something like that, when a rather robust Marine Sergeant stepped in and claimed in no uncertain words, "EXCUSE Me, you are kissing my Wife.... Beat Feet!"
The Sailor, faced with an obviously agitated 'husband', did so.......
Then, the Woman who was to become my Mom, said to the Marine, "Why did you say that you were my Husband?"
He replied quite simply, "Well, Ma'am, I am going to marry you.."
And.....well, they did...and sixty years later.... I and my Baby Bro', Big Brother Mike and 2 sisters came into this world.....
Mom worked at the Pentagon all through the War, Dad was busy staying alive and helping the Japanese Army to meet their Maker........
The Sar' Major is horridly ill right now..... Prayers for his Peace would be highly appreciated....
Mom, I Love you, and give your photo a finger kiss every time I pass it. Dad....you know how I feel......
Love your Parents and let them know... you won't have them forever.
The Sar'Major and his Bride, in better times, when She was here.....
I gotta go now, got something in my eye.....
Wollf
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Just a thought........
.......So Bin Laden was buried at sea to avoid the risk of his grave becoming a shrine for his supporters, but I think we missed an opportunity.
Surely in a war where the Taliban are difficult to find, don’t you think we’d want all of his supporters to go to one place........................
.................and then kill all of them?
Surely in a war where the Taliban are difficult to find, don’t you think we’d want all of his supporters to go to one place........................
.................and then kill all of them?
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