Category Archives: Military Matters

Two Unforgettable Recollections of Senator Dianne Feinstein

Fate played a cruel, unwanted hand in Diane Feinstein’s political rise:

On Nov. 27, 1978, at the end of her tether, Ms. Feinstein [then a member of the San Francisco city Board of Supervisors] told City Hall reporters that she intended to quit political life. Two hours later, shots exploded down the hall from her office. She ran toward the gunfire and, moments later, knelt beside a dying mayor. Mr. Moscone and Harvey Milk, the city’s first openly gay supervisor, who was shot in another office, had been killed by Dan White, a disgruntled former supervisor, who was quickly captured and eventually imprisoned.

The Board of Supervisors selected Feinstein to succeed the slain Moscone and from the mayoralty, Feinstein won a U. S. Senate seat in 1992. Continue reading Two Unforgettable Recollections of Senator Dianne Feinstein

A Long Read to Ponder: Biden in Vietnam & at the UN: Who Could Have Imagined?

An image from Vietnamese TV news, during Biden’s visit.

NOTE: Friends, this material just blows my mind.

Yes, that’s an outdated 1960s expression, but it fits here: this material is about the Vietnam War. And for me (plus, I figure, most of the remaining survivors of that era of national agony), having our minds blown was a thing.

Maybe initially it was fun, or mind-expanding. But for me, and for many, it happened too often back then, and it didn’t always mean by taking drugs. I didn’t do much of that, but had mind-blown fatigue anyway. Continue reading A Long Read to Ponder: Biden in Vietnam & at the UN: Who Could Have Imagined?

Aliens in the Mexican Congress?? Sworn Witnesses Said “Yes.” But is “Seeing” Believing??

AP News: Scientists call fraud on supposed extraterrestrials presented to Mexican Congress

Sept. 13, 2023

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Supposed aliens landed in Mexico’s Congress but there were no saucershaped UFOs hovering over the historic building or bright green invaders like those seen in Hollywood films.

The specter of little green men visited Mexico City as lawmakers heard testimony Tuesday from individuals suggesting the possibility that extraterrestrials might exist. The researchers hailed from Mexico, the United States, Japan and Brazil.

Continue reading Aliens in the Mexican Congress?? Sworn Witnesses Said “Yes.” But is “Seeing” Believing??

Gwynne Dyer: Armenia in Trouble— USA to the Rescue??

Why it’s unlikely the US will help Armenia

The Armenians are a people of great antiquity — the first Armenian kingdom was in the 8th century B.C. — but they grew up in a tough neighborhood, and they have been in retreat for a very long time.

Continue reading Gwynne Dyer: Armenia in Trouble— USA to the Rescue??

U. S. & China are new Competitors in an old, obscure, but important island dispute

A tug of war between China and America in the Indian Ocean

Saltwire: Atlantic Canada News Service — Sept. 6, 2023

The Chagos islands, with Diego Garcia, Indian Ocean

Most of the international community regards the Chagos Islands as belonging to Mauritius, from which they were detached in 1965.
Henry Srebrnik, a professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island, provided the following opinion article.

Is the sun about to set on Britain’s control of the Chagos Islands? This archipelago of around 60 islands can be found halfway between East Africa and Southeast Asia. They are over 1,500 kilometres south of India, and even further from Mauritius, from which they were detached in 1965.

The Chagos group is currently governed by London as the British Indian Ocean Territory, but most of the international community regards it as belonging to Mauritius.

Also at stake is the future of the indigenous population, the Chagossians, who were expelled from their homes in the 1960s and 1970s. For decades, Britain has blocked them from returning to their islands. For what reason? And why has this become the centre of a power struggle between the United States and China?

Unlawful occupation Continue reading U. S. & China are new Competitors in an old, obscure, but important island dispute