It was my pleasure this week to read the book “No Easy Day”, written by one of the Navy Seal’s who was on the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. There is some flap about this book in the media & government because, evidently, the author did not have the book vetted by the Department of Defense. They claim he was bound by contract to do this, others state that he was not. I don’t know, nor do I care about the government’s technicalities.
For fans of military affairs this was a good read and since it was written by a soldier who was there, I would trust that his story is more reliable than a lot of the reports we got at the time from the media. As far as revealing any “secrets”, as some of the media claim, I find that accusation rather lame. Any of the details about how the Seals operate are in line with any other public stories I have read. Anyone who has read any recently published novel on the war against terrorist will have already read about the basic tactics used by Special Forces in this decade long war.
I do find it somewhat disturbing that some “suits” in the government want to take legal action against the author, who spent 10 years laying his life on the line in very dangerous operations against our nations enemies. All the while the “suits” sit safely behind their desk and never do anything more risky than drive their car to work.
As for my opinion, our soldiers are doing the public a great favor by telling their personal stories in this long war, which is far from over. Never mind that the U.S. is suppose to be out of Afghanistan within 2 years, that will not be the end of this war with terrorists in the Moslem community. It is extremely naïve to believe that the forces behind the Moslem terrorists will just go away once we leave Iraq and Afghanistan. The clerics who are preaching jihad against the west are not going to just sit down and be quiet once we withdraw. The war will go on until a generation of Moslem leaders emerge who give up terrorism as a weapon. That will not be happening anytime soon.
Contrary to some of the critics, there is not much about politics in this book. I won’t spoil the story by revealing what small mention the author makes concerning the use some politicians attempt to make concerning the killing of Osama bin Laden, but the point of the book is to tell the story of this event from the viewpoint of a “boot” on the ground.
You won’t be disappointed if you read the book, that is if you are one who is interested in this war from a soldiers shoes.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Monday, September 3, 2012
Labor Day Mushings
Ok, it has been many months since I have made a post to this blog. I could give a whole lot of ‘excuses’, but what is the point. Yes, I have been extremely busy, but I also find that people make time for something they really want to do. I just have not had much I have cared to say.
It has not been an uneventful few months. There have been big changes in “Ernie’s World”, that is a fact. The biggest change has been in my employment situation. Since 1988 I have been self-employed as an independent Hardwood Lumber Inspector, plus, for the past 10 years I have operated a lumber drying business & some furniture building on the side.
In the process of most of my inspection jobs have been either dropped or just fell by the wayside. Which was fine by me, as long as dry lumber was moving fair. But all go things go to pot in a bad housing market economy. At least all things lumber related. Thus, in May I agreed to work mostly full time at the one lumber inspection job I had.
After 24 years of mostly setting my own schedule, this has been a “shock” to my system. Not that I really mind all that much. I realize that most people in the working class, live this way their whole lives. So 24 years of relative freedom, during the prime of life, is something that I feel fortunate to have had.
Change is about the only thing we can count on in this world. Many of us hate it, especially when it affects our habits in serious ways. The reality is that “time waits on no one”, if you want to do something, you best make your plans to start right away. Whether it is a lifelong goal, or just a small thing, you best take action to get it done, for at some point you will run out of time.
Our summer in central MN has been good. We have had more rain than many parts of the country, however we are “bone dry” at this point. The crops in our neighborhood look better than in many places across the country. Our garden did fair. Plenty of beans, tomatoes & such. Our failures were with the sweet corn and potatoes. The corn went to the masked bandits (raccoons). In one single night those varmints cleaned the crop out totally, and before it was even ready for the table. They usually come right as it is ready to eat, but this time they were a week early & despite the hot sauce that my wife put on the silk of each ear, which worked for the past couple years. I told her that these raccoons must have really like the sauce with their corn.
The potatoes was a bit of a surprise. It is the first time we have every had a potato crop to fail. Our theory is that our saved over seed must have been bad, so next year we will have to buy seed potatoes.
I promise some posts more regularly as fall come on. In a couple weeks the bow season comes in for deer & I make a habit of spending my evenings sitting in my little hunting shack. While there I enjoy writing on my small laptop, so you should hear more from me soon.
It has not been an uneventful few months. There have been big changes in “Ernie’s World”, that is a fact. The biggest change has been in my employment situation. Since 1988 I have been self-employed as an independent Hardwood Lumber Inspector, plus, for the past 10 years I have operated a lumber drying business & some furniture building on the side.
In the process of most of my inspection jobs have been either dropped or just fell by the wayside. Which was fine by me, as long as dry lumber was moving fair. But all go things go to pot in a bad housing market economy. At least all things lumber related. Thus, in May I agreed to work mostly full time at the one lumber inspection job I had.
After 24 years of mostly setting my own schedule, this has been a “shock” to my system. Not that I really mind all that much. I realize that most people in the working class, live this way their whole lives. So 24 years of relative freedom, during the prime of life, is something that I feel fortunate to have had.
Change is about the only thing we can count on in this world. Many of us hate it, especially when it affects our habits in serious ways. The reality is that “time waits on no one”, if you want to do something, you best make your plans to start right away. Whether it is a lifelong goal, or just a small thing, you best take action to get it done, for at some point you will run out of time.
Our summer in central MN has been good. We have had more rain than many parts of the country, however we are “bone dry” at this point. The crops in our neighborhood look better than in many places across the country. Our garden did fair. Plenty of beans, tomatoes & such. Our failures were with the sweet corn and potatoes. The corn went to the masked bandits (raccoons). In one single night those varmints cleaned the crop out totally, and before it was even ready for the table. They usually come right as it is ready to eat, but this time they were a week early & despite the hot sauce that my wife put on the silk of each ear, which worked for the past couple years. I told her that these raccoons must have really like the sauce with their corn.
The potatoes was a bit of a surprise. It is the first time we have every had a potato crop to fail. Our theory is that our saved over seed must have been bad, so next year we will have to buy seed potatoes.
I promise some posts more regularly as fall come on. In a couple weeks the bow season comes in for deer & I make a habit of spending my evenings sitting in my little hunting shack. While there I enjoy writing on my small laptop, so you should hear more from me soon.
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