George A. Sprecace M.D.,
J.D., F.A.C.P. and Allergy
Associates of New
London,
P.C.
www.asthma.drsprecace.com
RAPID
RESPONSE (Archives)...Daily Commentary on News of the Day
This is a new
section. It will
offer fresh,
quick reactions by myself to news and events of the day, day by day, in
this rapid-fire world of ours. Of course, as in military
campaigns,
a rapid response in one direction may occasionally have to be followed
by a "strategic withdrawal" in another direction. Charge that
to
"the fog of war", and to the necessary flexibility any mental or
military
campaign must maintain to be effective. But the mission will
always
be the same: common sense, based upon facts and "real politick",
supported
by a visceral sense of Justice and a commitment to be
pro-active.
That's all I promise.
GS
CONNECTICUT: A POSTER-STATE FOR NATION-WIDE DEMOCRATIC PARTY PROFLIGACY IN DEALING WITH THE PEOPLE'S FINANCES.
As
reported earlier in this section, I tried to address this problem in
1990 during my campaign for the State Senate...and was rewarded with
defeat at the polls by both Democrats and Republicans.
ON THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION: Let's get some facts straight here!
The United States Constitution guarantees Freedom of Religion, not Freedom from Religion.
An attack on any one Religion is an attack on all Religions.
A
counter-attack on vicious, murderous, God-less fundamentalist "Islam"
and Isis that have declared and begun their global attack on the civil
and religious world is NOT an attack on the great Religion of Islam.
The
Religion of Islam in this country will never be allowed to operate as a
Secular government for Muslims in this country as it does in Muslim
countries (ie. Sharia Law). America is "...one nation, under God..."
and under Law, American Law. Muslims have a choice in this country:
abide by American Law or leave America. To amalgamate and integrate
into American Society would also be great - for all Americans and also
for themselves. Immigrants to this country who have not integrated into
American society - while retaining their own identity and culture -
have always remained second - class citizens.
America has a
right and an obligation to identify and to defend its national borders
and its immigration policies - especially from those who have clearly
stated their intent to do us grave harm. This is an existential threat.
American courts must realize and support this situation. And
representatives of Religions, while always promoting the Golden Rule,
must avoid over-stepping their bounds, at risk of becoming irrelevant.
"CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?"
GS
SATURDAY,
January 28,
2017
RR#1
ATTENZIONE! In
recent months, several useful clinical topics - apart from the
ever-present "urban legends" - have been reliably reported and deserve
inclusion in standard medical practice, in my opinion.
1)
Regarding Proton Pump Inhibitors (eg. Nexium, Protonix, etc), the
plethora of recent warnings have been found by GI specialists to be
overblown. The most important goal is controlling GERD totally.
If medications like Ranitidine (H2 antihistamines with dual effect) and
Sucralfate work, fine. If they don't, continue the use of PPI's.
2)
Low Vitamin D has been found to be both nearly epidemic in the general
population and important in many more areas of Health than just
regarding bone health. Thus, Vitamin D levels should be obtained
on all patients (25 Hydroxy Vitamin D), and levels below 30 should be
treated aggressively with Vitamin D replacement. 3) Sleep
Deprivation is clearly an epidemic in today's society. There are many
causes, including addiction to phones and gizmos used to and through
bedtime, and the inordinate and inhuman demands of some employers to
have employees "on call" at all times. But an easily diagnosable
and treatable cause is Obstructive Sleep Apnea, also present in
epidemic form if looked for. I use a Sleep Questionnaire and a
Nocturnal O2 Saturation Test (performed at home) as screening devices.
If either or both of these and the patient's initial history are
suggestive, I order an Overnight Sleep Study, preferably performed in a
formal Sleep Lab. If that test is positive for OSA, the patient
is placed on CPAP and/or on O2 during all hours of sleep. Untreated
OSA contributes to or causes obesity, GERD, high blood pressure,
diabetes...and sudden death during sleep!
4) The following is an "oldie but a goodie": THE PROPER EVALUATION AND TREATMENT OF BRONCHIAL ASTHMA. Notwithstanding
the resistance and temerity of too many Pulmonary physicians to
acknowledge this decades-long established fact, Bronchial Asthma - and
also Chronic Bronchitis (aka "COPD") cannot be properly evaluated or
treated without an Allergy Evaluation. In fact, COPD is a waste-basket
diagnosis without that, a point at long last acknowledged by the
admission of combined COPD - Bronchial Asthma syndrome. The patient, at
least, should recognize this...and should self-refer if
necessary.
5) Mental Health in today's world is much
more than the absence of established psychiatric disease...and much
more than taking handfuls of psychotropic medications. See the
section on this web-site entitled "Physician - Patient Spirituality"
for some valuable insights.
6) Most patients these days have
3,4,or 5 different physicians. And too often, they don't talk to each
other about the patient's multiple and often intertwined conditions and
needs. Seek out a physician who adds "coordination of care" to
his or her offerings in your behalf.
7) We learned in Medical
School (for me having graduated 60 years ago) that "the three most
important attributes of a physician from the viewpoint of a patient
are: Ability, Affability, and Availability... in REVERSE ORDER." Make sure that your physician is AVAILABLE to you when you need him.
AS I WAS SAYING... Where
have the Bishops been during the last centuries when 1% of Mexicans own
99% of the land? Where was the Church when "Liberation Theology" was
condemned out of hand as "Communist".
How many Mexican Bishops live in the grinding poverty of their flock that they have acquiesced to?
TO ALL STUDENTS PREPARING FOR OR ALREADY IN COLLEGE: ...and you pay between $20,000. and $80,000. per year for this? An out-of -mind experience predicted by George Orwell.
REGARDING AMERICAN NATIONAL IMMIGRATION POLICY...AND RELIGION. Nothing that follows is at variance with my positions on this subject as posted here for years. You may look it up. 1) As President Trump has said, a nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation. 2)
The failure of our immigration laws and policies to date has been the
direct result of our failure as business people, as citizens and as
legislators to demand the enforcement of related laws already on the
books: that "great sucking sound" in reverse. As a result, the
current situation is our fault. And cries against "Amnesty" are hollow
and cynical. 3) This is a nation of immigrants. And the vast
majority of new immigrants already here are good people, family
people...religious, law-abiding, hard-working. They and their children
born here should be immediately given a track toward citizenship. By
contrast, law-breakers should be hunted down, punished and deported
ASAP. 4) A Border Wall is an ugly but necessary means of restoring
our national sovereignty, given the geography of our southern border
and the abject failure and unwillingness of our "neighbors" to take
care of their own citizens. And those nations should not be rewarded
for those actions and inactions. 5) Religion, certainly
Judeo-Christian Religion, is all about taking care of one's fellow man.
What do you expect them to say, consistent with the bedrock of their
Faith, about people in need? But theirs should not be political
statements about how a nation regains and retains its sovereignty.
Josef Stalin had that right, however vicious his observation: "How Many Divisions Does The Pope Have?"
This is how the Trump Administration and the rest of our government should proceed in healing this self-inflicted wound.
GS
RR#3
EXACTLY RIGHT, especially
regarding efforts at Trump / Putin rapprochement...and regarding his
reference to the "military - industrial complex" of the world.
2016
is the best election to investigate, given the level of controversy, of
animus, of our vanishing Southern border, and the stakes involved. For
this purpose, the pronouncements of the "foxes in the chicken coops"
are not reassuring.
The pending investigation just announced by the Trump administration will be of great value, whatever it finds or doesn't find.
I suggest they start with Chicago and the entire State of IIlinois, a bellweather for this if there ever was one.
GS
RR#4
REGARDING THE ISSUE OF "VOTER FRAUD"... 2016
is the best election to investigate, given the level of controversy, of
animus, of our vanishing Southern border, and the stakes involved. For
this purpose, the pronouncements of the "foxes in the chicken coops"
are not reassuring. The pending in
God BLESS THEM ALL. PS: Women have always been the greater of the sexes.
GS
VETERANS ARE VETERANS
May God Bless and look after all those who have served and are serving.
We see lots of pictures of wounded male veterans but women vets get wounded and maimed too.
You may need to take a second, closer look though. The first thing I saw was a bunch of beautiful smiles.
Study this picture again. Let the story it tells sink in. These women and many others, as well as their male comrades, paid this price for our freedoms.
And they did it for less than what welfare recipients and over-paid athletes who choose to "take a knee" when the National Anthem is played.
They risked these injuries (or death) FOR AMERICA! GOD BLESS ALL OF THEM!!!
MONDAY,
January 23,
2017
MY DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. For
the last eight years, and especially during the last 18 months, I have
had to keep up with the distortions, lies, threats and outrageous
actions emanating from Washington, from its wholly-owned subsidiary -
the "Main Media", and from the Articulate, Arrogant and Asinine
"Left". No Mas. Now rational adults are back in charge.
The irrational mobs will be treated here with "zealous neglect". In
fact, I suggest that Bill O'Reilly, who gives too much air time to
these idiots in his quest to be "fair and balanced", should do the
same. I will continue to critique the positions and actions of our leaders and of rational and fact-based commentators. The rest of you: grow up, if you can. You don't matter.
GS
SUNDAY,
January 22,
2017
RR#1
WHAT THE HELL...! The Physical Exam might be called "GETTING TO KNOW YOU..." Or doesn't that count anymore?
For
a number of years, I have been maintaining a section on my web site
(www.asthma.drsprecace.com) entitled THE ARCTIC. I have changed
the title to reflect its more global scope, as noted above. Today, I
provide a significant addition to the information available there -
probably the last addition for some time, in view of the unsettled
state of that subject.
However, I offer here my "bottom-line", so far.
Global Warming is Real, and will be with us for a long time.
Global Warming is the main reason for our more violent weather, at least in the Northern Hemisphere.
Human activity is a clear contributor to that change.
How
much of a contributor is a legitimate question, which should be subject
to scientific analysis and not to invective and diatribe.
Since
Global Warming is acknowledged to cause many more serious problems for
humanity than promoting benefit (like greater crop production from
higher CO2 levels), we have an obligation, personally and as societies,
to mitigate our contribution to this process as much as is consistent
with our current needs, survival and progress. We have no obligation to
threaten our needs and survival with excessive modifications in human
activity that could easily produce global disasters, unrest, famines,
floods, and War.
We do have an obligation to stay informed on
the matter - and to resist the inevitable efforts at manipulation of
this issue for personal, organizational or national gain. "No Crisis
Should Be Wasted" has no place in an issue that eventually could impact
the survival of Humanity.
It is with this position in mind that I offer my research and information:
THE ARCTIC... AND GLOBAL WARMING.
GS
RR#3
Movie Review...
"Hidden Figures"
Two parts infuriating, three parts uplifting. Altogether, a five star effort by all involved, in all categories. And the best part: it's a true story! Another reminder, which we human beings always need, of how low we can descend, and of how high we can rise. An "A"...and a multi-Oscar accomplishment.
GS
SATURDAY,
January 21,
2017
RR#1
Folks, this Ad appears in today's The Day, pA3, right in the middle of all the reportage about the Trump Presidency. We're both here to stay.
GS
RR#2
"MY BODY, MY CHOICE". WELL, NOT EXACTLY. A woman's choice...UNTIL she is pregnant. From
that moment on, from that conception until natural birth, a woman has
responsibility for two human beings, each with the basic right to
life. That's a woman's special gift: to support life from
conception - not to destroy it. That's why she must safeguard that
gift...and offer it with great care. Pope Francis has spoken clearly on this subject, not only for Catholics but for all moral human beings.
"Here
I feel it urgent to state that, if the family is the sanctuary of life,
the place where life is conceived and cared for, it is a horrendous
contradiction when it becomes a place where life is rejected and
destroyed. So great is the value of human life, and so inalienable the
right to life of an innocent child growing in the womb, that no alleged
right to one's body can justify a decision to terminate that life."
THAT IS EXACTLY THE ISSUE.
GS
THURSDAY and FRIDAY,
January 19 and 20,
2017
RR#1
WHAT A FARCE! THANK GOD THAT FORMER PRESIDENT BARRACK HUSSEIN OBAMA IS GONE.
HEREWITH, TWO GENERATIONS OF CYNICAL AND FRAUDULENT COLLEGE ADMINISTATORS AND THEIR GOVERNMENT ENABLERS. And what can be said about the students? Are they deadbeats... or are they repaying the true value of their "education" for many of them?
COULD IT BE TRUE? COULD IT BE REAL? This
sounds like my plan for Connecticut when I ran (unsuccessfully) for
State Senate from the 20th District as a Democrat in 1990...before the
State Income Tax and before Connecticut became nearly bankrupt (or
hadn't you noticed). At that time, I offered a plan to reduce the
then-26 State agencies to 18 and to reduce all remaining agency budgets
by 5%. I also declined to offer support for Weicker's State income tax
unless and until these cuts were implemented. It turns out that I was
opposed in that effort by both Republicans and by Democrats - including
those in New London whom I had already served in elected public office
(Board of Education and City Council) for 6 years. You're Welcome.
A
LITTLE EARLY TO COMPARE PRESIDENT - ELECT TRUMP WITH ONE WHO "IS WIDELY
REGARDED AS ONE OF AMERICA'S BEST PRESIDENTS". ALSO A LITTLE EARLY TO
DECLARE HIS LEGACY.
GS
What,
one wonders, would Mark Twain make of Donald Trump? Twain was not known
for political punditry, but late in his life he acquired a visceral
aversion to President Theodore Roosevelt, who was the showy egoist of
his era. Indeed, the novelist labeled the Rough Rider far and away the
worst President we have ever had and the most formidable disaster that
has befallen the country since the Civil War.
PERHAPS I SHOULD NOT BE SUGGESTING THIS PROPOSAL, SINCE I DO
NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO EVALUATE ITS FEASIBILITY.
But
why not consider including all persons currently enrolled in Obamacare
into basic Medicare coverage, with any Supplemental coverage to be
bought by them - or not? That might be at least an immediate holding
action to be followed by a more appropriate and lasting solution to be
drafted and passed including the Health Care Reforms that I have long
proposed. Please see a Summary of those Reforms, which follows.
THE STATE OF OUR HEALTH
CARE SYSTEM
By George A. Sprecace., M.D., J.D.
A Recent Interview with Adam Sprecace, PE,
On the Lee Elci Radio Show, December 13, 2016
Q&A
Note: You can also hear the
segment broadcast on December 30, 2015...
1) A BRIEF SUMMARY OF HEALTH CARE IN AMERICA?
Quality: excellent at the
top; modest on average, and decreasing.
Access: sporadic.
Cost: excessive and wasteful.
IN GREAT NEED OF EFFECTIVE REFORM.
2) WHAT HAS LIFE BEEN LIKE, WORKING IN THE TIME OF OBAMACARE?
(eg. patient workload,
reimbursement rates and dependability, electronic record-keeping, etc.)
Workload increasing; compensation decreasing; EMR’s poor for the
private practicing physician and patient, necessary for hospitals but
generating increasing cost and workload and decreasing quality as
measured by productive provider – patient interaction.
3) HOW HAS OBAMACARE AFFECTED PHYSICIANS?
Much more stress and
strain, with less physician and patient satisfaction.
Physician burn-out and declining physician health.
Pressure to practice UNETHICALLY: eg. ACO’s, BUNDLING, etc., which for
first time would force the physician’s self-interest to work at
variance with that of his or her patient, with whom he has a Fiduciary
Responsibility.
4) IS OBAMACARE GETTING BETTER OR WORSE?
Increased premiums,
reduced coverage….
Obamacare was and is a Christmas Tree of Wants, with no attention given
to needed Health Care Reforms. The Goals are reduced costs at any cost,
and increased Regulations by many who have no knowledge of what they
are doing. Example: THE 30 DAY READMSSION RULE, which
substantially penalizes hospitals for readmitting an
inpatient within 30 days of discharge…EVEN FOR AN UNRELATED READMISSION
DIAGNOSIS!
5) WHAT ABOUT THE PENALTIES FOR REFUSING TO BUY MEDICAL CARE COVERAGE
UNDER OBAMACARE?
20 million subject to
penalty. 8 million paid penalty. 12 million exempt. Thus, more subject
to penalty than were covered.
6) WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING WITH RELIGIOUS HOSPITALS THAT REFUSE
TO FOLLOW OBAMACARE MANDATES?
Endless Litigation,
including the USSC. Coercion: loss of Freedom of Religion, reduced
quality and availability due to intimidation and decisions in a System
(ie. Catholic Hospitals) that is nearly the largest in the nation.
7) WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT OBAMACARE?
Repeal and Replace, with a
two year transition period. a) increase insurance policy competition
across State lines; b) reduce and rationalize Regulations; c) make all
patients financially at stake at every encounter (HSA’a, co-pays,
defined contribution instead of defined benefit plans, etc; d) retain
coverage for pre-existing conditions while imposing penalties for
continued bad life-styles, which account for about 50% of all health
care costs; e) as “Defensive Medicine” accounts for 20-30% of health
care orders – costs, REFORM MEDICAL MALPRACTICE LAW – eg. Health Law
Courts; f) promote and enforce End Of Life Decisions – 50% of Medecare
costs occur in the last 6 months of a recipients life!;g) make
electronic medical records OPTIONAL for private physicians; h) re-think
and revise EMTALA LAW – currently a poor and wasteful use of ER’s; i)
prohibit UNETHICAL medical practice and payment programs; j) pay
physicians fairly – they are now bearing the brunt of this Christmas
Tree. ETC.
8) DO PHYSICIANS AND HOSPITALS GENERALLY AGREE WITH YOUR POSITIONS ON
OBAMACARE?
Most physicians,
yes. Hospitals are ambivalent: gaming the system where they
can; merging and selling out; trying to “go along” so as to “be at the
table” when government decisions are made – not working; acting like
trained businessmen when dealing with professionals: “win-lose” instead
of “win-win”, treating professionals like widgets…. A bad plan.
WHAT IS YOUR PROGNOSIS?
Short-Term, GUARDED. Much
damage has been done. Long-Term, FAIR, now that competents
have retaken the ASYLUM.
NB: GEORGE A. SPRECACE, M.D., J.D. has been writing and speaking on
this subject since the late 1970’s, a practicing physician for 60
years…and counting.
IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO - AND OVER 70 TO BLOVIATE.
This is the greatest failure of the failing United Nations since its
founding in the 1940's.
And they continue to offer the same thin gruel.
As we say in Italian: BASTA...and AVANTI!
ABOUT OBAMA AND RACE RELATIONS.
This
commentary, offered on the day before Martin Luther King Day, is based
closely on the Editorial in The Day (www.theday.com), Jan. 15, 2017.
Please read it closely.
1) Dr. King, if he were alive, would be disappointed.
2) The country has changed, and not for the better in this regard.
3)
In recent decades, except for pockets of stupid and/or malicious
people, non-Blacks have been prepared to act and have acted in a
color-blind manner.
4) But they have been confronted by two negative
forces: a) so-called Black "Leaders" constantly mouthing a sermon
(including from many churches of worship) of special history, special
demands and also special guilt to placed on all current non-Blacks for
the disaster of Slavery centuries ago; b) decades of Black family
destruction, rampant abuse of their women and millions of related
abortions, destruction of inner city public schools and of their
students, thanks to Black support of those benighted schools and
systems, and rampant crime perpetrated mainly by the products of those
forces - with no respect for the Law, any Law.
5) America is built on Diversity, celebrates Diversity. You want
Equality? Can you handle Equality?
If
so, the vast majority of Americans are ready to share Equality with
you. Just address the above issues as a noble people - like the rest of
us. If you want something else, something un-American called Racism,
you will reap the whirlwind. Your choice.
If
you'd like to know more about Trump's pick for Homeland Security, USMC
Gen. John Kelly, please read the speech that he gave just 4 days after
he lost his son in combat. One can hardly conceive of the enormous
grief held quietly within General Kelly as he spoke.
Even if you've read this before, read it again and then forward it to
your friends......
"The Last Six
Seconds"
On
Nov 13, 2010, Lt General John Kelly, USMC, gave a speech to the Semper
Fi Society of St. Louis, MO. This was four days after his son, Lt
Robert Kelly, USMC, was killed by an IED while on his 3rd Combat tour.
During his speech, General Kelly spoke about the dedication and valor
of our young men and women who step forward each and every day to
protect us.
During the speech, he never mentioned the loss of
his own son. He closed the speech with the moving account of the last
six seconds in the lives of two young Marines who died with rifles
blazing to protect their brother Marines.
"I will leave you with
a story about the kind of people they are, about the quality of the
steel in their backs, about the kind of dedication they bring to our
country while they serve in uniform and forever after as veterans. Two
years ago when I was the Commander of all U.S. and Iraqi forces, in
fact, the 22 ND of April 2008, two Marine infantry battalions, 1/9 "The
Walking Dead," and 2/8 were switching out in Ramadi. One battalion in
the closing days of their deployment going home very soon, the other
just starting its seven-month combat tour. Two Marines, Corporal
Jonathan Yale and Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter, 22 and 20 years old
respectively, one from each battalion, were assuming the watch together
at the entrance gate of an outpost that contained a makeshift barracks
housing 50 Marines. The same broken down ramshackle building was also
home to 100 Iraqi police, also my men and our allies in the fight
against the terrorists in Ramadi, a city until recently the most
dangerous city on earth and owned by Al Qaeda. Yale was a dirt poor
mixed-race kid from Virginia with a wife and daughter, and a mother and
sister who lived with him and whom he supported as well. He did this on
a yearly salary of less than $23,000.
Haerter, on the other
hand, was a middle class white kid from Long Island. They were from two
completely different worlds. Had they not joined the Marines they would
never have met each other, or understood that multiple America's exist
simultaneously depending on one's race, education level, economic
status, and where you might have been born. But they were Marines,
combat Marines, forged in the same crucible of Marine training, and
because of this bond they were brothers as close, or closer, than if
they were born of the same woman.
The mission orders they
received from the sergeant squad leader I am sure went something like,
"Okay you two clowns, stand this post and let no unauthorized personnel
or vehicles pass. You clear?"
I am also sure Yale and Haerter
then rolled their eyes and said in unison something like, "Yes
Sergeant," with just enough attitude that made the point without saying
the words, "No kidding, we know what we're doing." They then relieved
two other Marines on watch and took up their post at the entry control
point of Joint Security Station Nasser, in the Sophia section of
Ramadi, Al Anbar, Iraq.
A few minutes later a large blue truck
turned down the alley way - perhaps 60-70 yards in length, and sped its
way through the serpentine of concrete jersey walls. The truck stopped
just short of where the two were posted and detonated, killing them
both catastrophically. Twenty-four brick masonry houses were damaged or
destroyed. A mosque 100 yards away collapsed. The truck's engine came
to rest two hundred yards away knocking most of a house down before it
stopped. Our explosive experts reckoned the blast was made of 2,000
pounds of explosives. Two died, and because these two young infantrymen
didn't have it in their DNA to run from danger, they saved 150 of their
Iraqi and American brothers-in-arms.
When I read the situation
report about the incident a few hours after it happened I called the
regimental commander for details as something about this struck me as
different. Marines dying or being seriously wounded is commonplace in
combat. We expect Marines regardless of rank or MOS to stand their
ground and do their duty, and even die in the process, if that is what
the mission takes. But this just seemed different. The regimental
commander had just returned from the site and he agreed, but reported
that there were no American witnesses to the event - just Iraqi police.
I figured if there was any chance of finding out what actually happened
and then to decorate the two Marines to acknowledge their bravery, I'd
have to do it as a combat award that requires two eye-witnesses and we
figured the bureaucrats back in Washington would never buy Iraqi
statements. If it had any chance at all, it had to come under the
signature of a general officer.
I traveled to Ramadi the next
day and spoke individually to a half-dozen Iraqi police all of whom
told the same story. The blue truck turned down into the alley and
immediately sped up as it made its way through the serpentine. They all
said, "We knew immediately what was going on as soon as the two Marines
began firing." The Iraqi police then related that some of them also
fired, and then to a man, ran for safety just prior to the explosion.
All survived. Many were injured, some seriously. One of the Iraqis
elaborated and with tears welling up said, "They'd run like any normal
man would to save his life." "What he didn't know until then," he said,
"And what he learned that very instant, was that Marines are not
normal."
Choking past the emotion he said, "Sir, in the name of God,
no sane man would have stood there and done what they did. No sane man.
They saved us all."
What we didn't know at the time, and only
learned a couple of days later after I wrote a summary and submitted
both Yale and Haerter for posthumous Navy Crosses, was that one of our
security cameras, damaged initially in the blast, recorded some of the
suicide attack. It happened exactly as the Iraqis had described it. It
took exactly six seconds from when the truck entered the alley until it
detonated.
You can watch the last six seconds of their young
lives. Putting myself in their heads I supposed it took about a second
for the two Marines to separately come to the same conclusion about
what was going on once the truck came into their view at the far end of
the alley. Exactly no time to talk it over, or call the sergeant to ask
what they should do. Only enough time to take half an instant and think
about what the sergeant told them to do only a few minutes before, "Let
no unauthorized personnel or vehicles pass." The two Marines had about
five seconds left to live.
It took maybe another two seconds for
them to present their weapons, take aim, and open up. By this time the
truck was half-way through the barriers and gaining speed the whole
time. Here, the recording shows a number of Iraqi police, some of whom
had fired their AKs, now scattering like the normal and rational men
they were - some running right past the Marines. They had three seconds
left to live.
For about two seconds more, the recording shows
the Marines' weapons firing non-stop the truck's windshield exploding
into shards of glass as their rounds take it apart and tore in to the
body of the ( I deleted) who is trying to get past them to kill their
brothers - American and Iraqi-bedded down in the barracks totally
unaware of the fact that their lives at that moment depended entirely
on two Marines standing their ground.
If they had been aware,
they would have known they were safe because two Marines stood between
them and a crazed suicide bomber. The recording shows the truck
careening to a stop immediately in front of the two Marines. In all of
the instantaneous violence Yale and Haerter never hesitated. By all
reports and by the recording, they never stepped back. They never even
started to step aside. They never even shifted their weight. With their
feet spread shoulder width apart, they leaned into the danger, firing
as fast as they could work their weapons. They had only one second left
to live.
The truck explodes. The camera goes blank. Two young
men go to their God. Six seconds. Not enough time to think about their
families, their country, their flag, or about their lives or their
deaths, but more than enough time for two very brave young men to do
their duty into eternity. That is the kind of people who are on watch
all over the world tonight - for you.
We Marines believe that
God gave America the greatest gift he could bestow to man while he
lived on this earth - freedom. We also believe he gave us another gift
nearly as precious - our soldiers, sailors, airmen, U S Customs and
Border Patrol, Coast Guardsmen, and Marines - to safeguard that gift
and guarantee no force on this earth can ever steal it away.
It
has been my distinct honor to have been with you here today. Rest
assured our America, this experiment in democracy started over two
centuries ago, will forever remain the "land of the free and home of
the brave" so long as we never run out of tough young Americans who are
willing to look beyond their own self-interest and comfortable lives,
and go into the darkest and most dangerous places on earth to hunt
down, and kill, those who would do us harm.
God Bless America , and SEMPER FIDELIS !"
IT
WOULD BE NICE (GREAT!) TO SEE the message spread if more would pass it
on. Semper Fi, God Bless America and God Bless the United States Marine
Corps...
Often Tested, Always Faithful, Brothers Forever.
RR#2
BE AWARE: THIS UNFORTUNATE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS WILL BECOME MORE COMMON -
UNTIL RESPECT FOR THE LAW IS RESTORED.
AS DONE PERIODICALLY,
I OFFER THE FOLLOWING READING LIST AS
IMPORTANT NEWS - NOT "FAKE NEWS".
And of course, I offer my opinion on each subject.
GS.
1) On A "GLOBAL ORDER"
a) "We Are Not The World", by Greg Ip, WSJ Review, Jan. 7-8, 2017, pC1.
b) "In Search of World Order", two offerings in NY Times Book Review,
Dec. 18, 2016.
c) "Out of Order? The Future of the International System", Foreign
Affairs (foreignaffairs.com), Jan. - Feb. 2017.
Human beings have always been tribal in nature.
"Us
versus Them" is never far below the civil surface of Society.
Thus, the League of Nations failed. The United Nations is failing, as
is the European Union. It is not that we cannot
cooperate...but
ONLY when it is in our national self-interest. No nation has friends -
only INTERESTS.
2) "THE OBAMA LEGACY", Editorial, WSJ Jan. 10, 2017, Opinion, pA14.
Read it and weep...for ourselves. And welcome a new day.
3) a) "U.S., Russians Using Same Trickster Handbook", by Cal Thomas, in
The Day (theday.com), Jan. 11, 2017, Opinion, pA4.
b) "CYBERWAR", NYTimes Book Review, Jan. 8, 2017.
All
of the crocodile tears being shed over Russia's alleged hacking of us
do not help us prepare for the real WW lV coming, where MAD will result
only if one party fails to produce at least a stalemate in the Cyberwar
already engaged.
3) "NUCLEAR POWER SOUNDS THE RETREAT", by Russell Gold and Cassandra
Sweet, WSJ Jan. 10, 2017, Business and Finance, B1.
STUPIDO!
This nation has suffered since the 1960's and will continue to suffer
from this severe myopia. Nuclear power, both current and
developing, is the cleanest, cheapest and most potentially available
energy source - except for the stupidity and politics involved.
4) "THE OVER-INFLATED PRESIDENCY", by Jeffrey Rosen, WSJ Review, Dec.
17-18-2016, Review, pC1.
"CLOSE...BUT NO CIGAR".
America
has always wanted and needed a strong President, beginning with George
Washington. And it has suffered under weak or weakened
Presidents. It is the politicians, legislators, bureaucrats
and
special interests (much better represented than the People) who want
otherwise. And this scenario is playing out now again with
the
success of President-Elect Donald Trump...and of the People, this time.
And it involves "all the usual suspects": Republican, Democrat, trade
unions, Wall Street, etc.
5) "TOM SOWELL,A FEARLESS CONTRARIAN, PUTS DOWN THE PEN", by Jason L.
Riley, in WSJ Jan. 4, 2017, Opinion, pA15.
"The 86-year-old economist asked questions others didn't and wrote the
answers in plain English."
Contrast
this with the fulminations of Paul Krugman, the Linus Pauling of
Economics...he who lost his way in the thicket of Vitamin C.
AS
THE "Nattering Nabobs of Negativity", ESPECIALLY THE NYTIMES AND NBC,
CONTINUE THEIR INCESSANT DRUMBEAT FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT FOUR YEARS, the
following is what we mere Americans must focus on, monitor and work to
implement.
"...AS A VOICE
CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS"...
And as if as a further exclamation point, one of our largest and oldest
Sequoias felled by a California deluge.
DECEMBER
7, 1941. A date "that will live in infamy"...but that does
not
even live in the consciousness of thousands of our "students".
And
that story has clear relevance for America's safety today. For the
lessons that should have been learned from that experience HAVE NOT
BEEN LEARNED.
This nation is more vulnerable to direct attack
and destruction today than on Dec. 7, 1941: different, but more direct
and more deadly - and here I don't even include massive nuclear attack.
Read: "All The Gallant Men: The First Memoir by a USS Arizona
Survivor", by Donald Stratton (with Ken Gire), Harper Collins, 2016.
It is not easy. Have a towel handy. And definitely read and
study Chapter 12, "The Lessons of Pearl Harbor".
GS
SATURDAY,
January 7,
2017
RR#1
"GROUP-THINK": A GROWING CANCER IN AMERICA'S EDUCATIONAL LIFE,
now reportedly beginning in grammar school.
As
I have said and written many times, this nation is in real danger from
Totalitarianism from the Left: those victims and perpetrators of mass
hysteria, mass hypnosis...the Articulate, Arrogant and Asinine among
us. They are no longer capable of Rational Thought.
They must be identified and resisted, treated or marginalized.
Nothing less than the survival of the experiment called America is at
stake.
This nation has no greater enemy at this time and for the next
generation.
FORGET THE "BUCKET
LIST" AND THE BUCKET.
Empty it now - and keep it empty!
GS
AND THEN IT IS WINTER....
THIS
IS RIGHT ON THE NOSE. .......READ IT SLOWLY... I DON'T KNOW WHO WROTE
IT, BUT I AM GUESSING IT WAS A SENIOR!!! I FIRST STARTED READING THIS
EMAIL & WAS READING FAST UNTIL I REACHED THE THIRD SENTENCE. I
STOPPED AND STARTED OVER READING SLOWER AND THINKING ABOUT EVERY WORD.
THIS EMAIL IS VERY THOUGHT-PROVOKING. MAKES YOU STOP AND THINK.
AND THEN IT IS WINTER
You know. . . time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware
of the passing years.
It
seems just yesterday that I was young, and embarking on my new life.
Yet in a way, it seems like eons ago, and I wonder where all the years
went. I know that I lived them all. I have glimpses of how it was back
then and of all my hopes and dreams. But, here it is... the winter of
my life and it catches me by surprise...How did I get here so fast?
Where did the years go and where did my youth go?
I
remember well seeing older people through the years and thinking that
those older people were years away from me and that winter was so far
off that I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like.
But, here it is...my friends are retired and getting grey...they move
slower and I see an older person now. Some are in better and some worse
shape than me...but, I see the great change...Not like the ones that I
remember who were young and vibrant...but, like me, their age is
beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we used to see
and never thought we'd be.
Each day now, I find that just
getting a shower is a real target for the day! And taking a nap is not
a treat anymore... it's mandatory! Cause if I don't on my own
free will... I just fall asleep where I sit!
And
so...now I enter into this new season of my life unprepared for all the
aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do
things that I wish I had done but never did!
But, at
least I know, that though the winter has come, and I'm not sure how
long it will last...this I know, that when it's over on this
earth...it's NOT over. A new adventure will begin!
Yes,
I have regrets. There are things I wish I hadn't done...things I should
have done, but indeed, there are many things I'm happy to have done.
It's all in a lifetime.
So, if you're not in your
winter yet...let me remind you, that it will be here faster than you
think. So, whatever you would like to accomplish in your life please do
it quickly! Don't put things off too long!
Life goes by
quickly. So, do what you can today, as you can never be sure whether
this is your winter or not! You have no promise that you will see all
the seasons of your life...so, live for today and say all the things
that you want your loved ones to remember...and hope that they
appreciate and love you for all the things that you have done for them
in all the years past!
"Life" is a gift to you. The way you live your life is your gift to
those who come after. Make it a fantastic one.
LIVE IT WELL! ENJOY TODAY! DO SOMETHING FUN! BE HAPPY! HAVE A GREAT
DAY!
REMEMBER:....
"It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.
"LIVE HAPPY IN THIS YEAR AND EVERY YEAR!
LASTLY, CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:
TODAY IS THE OLDEST YOU'VE EVER BEEN, YET THE YOUNGEST YOU'LL EVER BE
SO - ENJOY THIS DAY WHILE IT LASTS.
~Your kids are becoming you......
~Going out is good.. Coming home is better!
~You forget names.... But it's OK because other people forgot they even
knew you!!!
~You realize you're never going to be really good at anything....
especially golf.
~The things you used to care to do, you no longer care to do, but you
really do care that you don't care to do them anymore.
~You sleep better on a lounge chair with the TV blaring than in bed.
It's called "pre-sleep".
~You miss the days when everything worked with just an "ON" and "OFF"
switch.
~You tend to use more 4 letter words ... "what?".."when?"... "what?" .
???
~Now that you can afford expensive jewelry, it's not safe to wear it
anywhere.
~You notice everything they sell in stores is "sleeveless"?!!!
~What used to be freckles are now liver spots.
~Everybody whispers.
~You have 3 sizes of clothes in your closet.... 2 of which you will
never wear.
~But Old is good in some things: Old Songs, Old movies, and best of
all, OLD FRIENDS!!
Stay well, "OLD FRIEND.
It's Not What You Gather, But What You Scatter That Tells What Kind Of
Life You Have Lived.
AS I HAVE BEEN WARNING MY COLLEAGUES AND THE LEADERSHIP AT LAWRENCE AND
MEMORIAL HOSPITAL SINCE THE EARLY 1980'S:
"Watch out, or Backus will eat your lunch."
This
began with a successful "palace revolt" by the Backus Hospital Medical
Staff against its administration which took place in the
mid-1970's. From that point on, the Backus physicians have
played
a major role in the development of that hospital. Meanwhile, a
successive array of LM CEO's, their Boards and some physician
leadership have progressively marginalized the LM Medical Staff to its
current truncated state with a "win-lose" approach endemic in the mind
-set of less-enlightened business "Suits" everywhere.
The
Public School Mafia, aka Teachers' Unions, continue to fight school
choice including charter schools and magnet schools. And their victims
of over 40 years continue to support them and their wholly owned
subsidiary - the Democratic Party.
Amazing:
Albert Einstein's definition of IDIOCY in action.
Please
see: "Sanctuary Colleges, Public School Poverty", by Chris Powell, in
The Day (www.theday.com), Sunday Jan. 1, 2017, Opinion, pB4.
This is a needed discussion vital for our "children of all
ages".
An excellent summary of the current facts and research, together with a
cautionary tale
for physicians, has just been published;
"Malpractice Liability and Medical Marijuana", by Douglas B. Marlowe,
J.D., Ph.D., in
The Health Lawyer (American Bar Association Health Law Section).
Volume 29, Number 2, December 2016, p1.
JUST AS WORLD WARS 1 AND 2 HAD THEIR TINDERBOXES, WORLD WAR 4 WILL HAVE
ITS OWN:
THE MIDDLE EAST.
That's why what happens with Israel is so important to us in America.
It is in our VITAL INTEREST.
See more on this subject:
"Obama to Israel: Drop Dead, Friend', by Cal Thomas,
in The Day (www.theday.com), Friday Dec. 30, 2016, Opinion, pA4.
GS
RR#4
AN OLD MAN AT THE WHITE HOUSE
One
sunny day in 2017, an old man approached the White House from across
Pennsylvania Avenue, where he'd been sitting on a park bench.
He
spoke to the Marine standing guard and said, "I would like to go in and
meet with President Hillary Clinton."
The Marine replied, "Sir, Mrs. Clinton is not President and doesn't
reside here."
The old man said, "Okay," and walked away.
The
following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the
same Marine, "I would like to go in and meet with President Hillary
Clinton".
The Marine again told the man, "Sir, as I said yesterday, Mrs. Clinton
is not President and doesn't reside here."
The man thanked him and again walked away.
The
third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the
very same Marine, saying "I would like to go in and meet with President
Hillary Clinton."
The Marine, understandably agitated at this point,
looked at the man and said, "Sir, this is the third day in a row you
have been here asking to speak to Mrs. Clinton. I've told you already
several times that Mrs. Clinton is not the President and doesn't reside
here. Don't you understand?"
The old man answered, "Oh, I understand you fine. I just love hearing
your answer."
The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, "See you tomorrow,
Sir."
