Another War-on-Terror Blog: Memorial Day

Showing posts with label Memorial Day. Show all posts

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Memorial Day Weekend 2011

This year's Naval Academy graduation ceremony didn't have a Blue Angels flyover this year. The aerobatics squadron's commander quit recently.

That, I think, is an example of the high level of professionalism in the United States military.

Commander Dave Koss had been leading the team since November - but after flying below altitude at a recent appearance, he decided to step down from his position.

That failure to stay within limits set for the mission shouldn't have happened, obviously. What impressed me was Commander Koss accepting responsibility, and letting someone else take over.

Memorial Day Weekend, 2011

It's Memorial Day weekend. For many Americans this is the unofficial start of summer: a three-day holiday that gives folks a chance to get out to the lakes, grill burgers, or just sit on the stoop and relax.

I've grilled burgers, and plan to relax on the stoop later this afternoon. It's a beautiful, warm, sunny day here in central Minnesota.

Before I do that, though, I've got two words for everyone who serves and has served in the American armed forces. Particularly those who never came home:

Thank you.

"Memorial Day Weekend, 2010: a Long Weekend - and Something Else"
(May 29, 2010)
"U.S. Army Chief of Staff Memorial Day Message - Video"
(May 25, 2009)

In the news:

"Leader of Blue Angels Quits After Jets Flew Too Low at Recent Air Show"
FoxNews.com (May 27, 2011)

Monday, May 25, 2009

U.S. Army Chief of Staff Memorial Day Message - Video

General Casey is primarily concerned with the United States Army, naturally enough.

"Gen. Casey's Memorial Day Message"

From Army Media Player (May 14, 2009)
video 0:55

"Army Newswatch 09-11: Chief of Staff Gen. Casey takes a few moments to offer words of support and encouragement for Soldiers, Civilians, contractors and their families around the world as we look toward Memorial Day."

I'll take the general's words, and extend them to everyone connected with the American armed forces:

"...So, on this memorial Day, I'd really like to thank them for their sacrifices, and because it's their sacrifices that make this country what it is today: the greatest country on Earth."

The same video is on YouTube:

"Gen. Casey's Memorial Day Message"
soldiersmediacenter, YouTube (May 19, 2009)
video 0:55

Blogroll

Note! Although I believe that these websites and blogs are useful resources for understanding the War on Terror, I do not necessarily agree with their opinions. ¹

American Islamic Congress
American-Islamic Forum for Democracy
Americas Interests.blog an Australian's perspective (on January 29, 2009 the author announced the end of new posts, and explained his reasons for doing so. He is, however, keeping the 21 months of accumulated posts on line, because of "the role that it plays in a larger ecosystem of information" - I recommend AI as an archival resource. )
Blog 4 Human Rights: Human Rights in Georgia (the nation) News, Opinions, Videos and Photos (Why blogroll this? Georgia is about 10% Muslim, very near the Middle East: and human rights is a critical part of the War on Terror.)
CAIR Council on American-Islamic Relations
The Capitol Tribune "A Journal by a Citizen and Servant of the Republic."
The Conservative Hawk An articulate conservative blog: definitely political, opinionated, informed, and intelligent
Defenders Council of Vermont "...our mission is to educate the citizens of Vermont about the nature, reality and threat of radical Islam, deepen Vermonters' understanding of America's heritage, honor the men and women of the armed services and their families, and support the efforts of others to help our armed forces work with local populations in foreign lands."
DefenseLink Blogger's Roundtable provides source material for stories in the blogosphere concerning the Department of Defense (DoD) by bloggers and online journalists.
FactCheck.org "aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics". It's "a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania". From what I've seen, this non-partisan website must be quite annoying to all sides
Fiqh Council of North America "...a body of qualified Islamic scholars who live in the United States or Canada."
Foreign Policy Watch "Diplomatic strategy, international news, and thoughtful political analysis"
www.free-minds.org Another flavor of True Islam: one more articulate than many
Free Muslims Coalition "American Muslims and Arabs of all backgrounds who feel that religious violence and terrorism have not been fully rejected by the Muslim community in the post 9-11 era."
GlobalSecurity.org "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. We try to bring you the facts, to help you form your opinion."
Hudson Institute: Center on Islam, Democracy, and the Future of the Muslim World
IntelCenter "Our focus as a company is on studying terrorist groups and other threat actors and disseminating that information in a timely manner to those who can act on it."
Iraq the Model "New points of view about the future of Iraq."
Islam.com "...an information portal site on the internet that is pure, clean and 'worthy of its name', InshaAllah."
islamispeace.org.uk "...invites you to challenge your ideas of Islam and Muslims."
Islamic Circle of North America "... to seek the pleasure of Allah (SWT) through the struggle of Iqamat-ud-Deen (establishment of the Islamic system of life) as spelled out in the Qur'an and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)"
Islamic Republic News Agency Iran's official news agency
Islamic Society of Central Florida (ISCF) "...an organization which strives to serve the greater Central Florida community by catering to the social, religious, and educational needs of its Muslim inhabitants."
Islamic Society of North America "...playing a pivotal role in extending those bridges to include all people of faith within North America...."
(but note another view) )
Islamic World News أخبار العالم الاسلا
Michael J. Totten's Middle East Journal The War on Terror, as observed on the ground
Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center A research resource for United States Air Force Air University students, "provided as a public service by Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center and the Maxwell Support Division."
Muslamics Affad Shaikh and "A Writing Collaborative" This American Muslim Affad Shaikh, a very west-coast Muslim Los Angelano
Muslims Against Sharia An organization of Muslims, presumably dedicated "...to educate non-Muslims about the differences between moderate Muslims and Islamists..." - with a curious way of practicing Peace, Love Light, (words in their website's logo).
National Interest, and as a corollary, Primacy "These are indeed my personal pontifications on the vicissitudes of International Affairs." (Be prepared for big words, long sentences: and unexpected insights.)
PM’S World
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty "disseminating factual information and ideas"
The Straits Times (Singapore) "...strives to be an authoritative provider of news and views, with special focus on Singapore and the Asian region...."
Urban Conservative "Conservative 2.0 - A New Breed of Conservative
Why Islam? "... articles, books etc on Islam and comparative religion. ... initiated by volunteers from ICNA (Islamic Circle of North America). ..."

¹ Given a recent misunderstanding of the phrase "useful resources," a clarification: I do not limit my reading to resources which support my views, or even to those which appear to be accurate. Reading opinions contrary to what I believed has been very useful at times: sometimes verifying my previous assumptions, sometimes encouraging me to change them.

Even resources which, in my opinion, are simply inaccurate are sometimes useful: these can give valuable insights into why some people or groups believe what they do.

In short, It is my opinion that some of the resources in this blogroll are neither accurate, nor unbiased. I do, however, believe that they are useful in understanding the War on Terror, the many versions of Islam, terrorism, and related topics.

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