What's happened to my country since 9/11??

What an incredibly different world we live in today versus sixteen years ago!

Decline in Personal Freedom's.

Our reaction to the hijackers was to suddenly invent a complete new Government Department. Which I think try's their best, but just seems like a boon-doggle. 

I've had my 83 year old, Korean war vet grandfather pulled out of line because he set off the metal detector. He tried to tell the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) agent that it was, and I quote, "God damn communist shrapnel." This didn't get him off the hook. so when they searched him, they found his pipe knife and confiscated it. Really, a 83 year old man that can hardly bend over and take off his shoes is going to hijack a plane with a 2" blade. There you go, good old common sense escapes them. 

Meanwhile I was on another trip, and I was at the gate waiting for my flight, and the lady across from me proceeding to pull two 8" long metal knitting needles from her hair and started knitting away. They either missed them, or since meta knitting needles are not on the contraband list they let her keep them. Again, common sense seems to not be present.

 Never Ending War

For the life of me I cannot understand why we cannot extricate ourselves from Afghanistan. We invaded in October 2001, which means we are quickly approaching the 16th Anniversary. We have disrupted the Taliban. We have used it as a base to locate and kill Osama Bin Laden. We have tried to bring them out of the stone age, which I really don't think they want. So why are still there?

We tried to leave but the government that we helped install doesn't seem to be able to support itself or maintain democracy. We have not won their hearts and minds, so lets get our young men and women out of there, or just annex it and make it another US Territory and eradicate the vermin. I prefer removing all of folks and letting the whole thing implode.

There seems to be no establish goal that is being work towards. Which is how any issue is resolved. You decide what the solution/outcome is to be and work towards that end.

So I ask my government officials to just decide what they are truly trying to achieve in Afghanistan. They enact a plan to achieve that goal with no reservation, just 100% of the determination of the American military.

Unfortunately this won't happen because there are now too many special interest groups and businesses making a killing. So common sense will not prevail and we will probably still be in Afghanistan when the next president takes office.

We have a new Cold War.

How lucky can we be? 

The giant evil that hung over us while I was a child and then when I went in the Air Force has suddenly returned? How did that happen? Russia has an extremely rich dictator, who enjoys making our politicians look incredibly stupid..

If you can explain that to me in 50 words or less, please do! 

China is a new Economic Competitor.

Wow. They decided to become Capitalistic Communists... Who say that coming? They have 20% of the worlds population. They have been buying US government debt for who knows how long. Now they using all they oil and polluting the shit out of the environment. Luckily they are still buying our coal. God forbid we use it.

I guess I should start taking some Mandarin lessons.

So actually nothing really changed.

So looking at everything that has occurred, I would have to say that really nothing has changed that much. The names have been changed to protect the innocent, but history is just repeating itself.

I just hope we can figure all of this out without totally destroying our country and the world.

Katrina and how it changed my outlook...

We have a tropical storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico right now. Its called Harvey.. I'm hoping its a Harvey Korman rather than a Harvey Keitel.

Its brought up a lot of discussions about Katrina with the team members who are not from Louisiana or have not been in hurricanes previously. We tell them that Harvey is not going to impact us too much, not like Katrina did.

Which brings back a bunch of memories that are not bad memories, just memories that make me realize that I look at life a little differently now. I don't dread hurricanes, I just think back to my experiences and know how quickly life can change.

Katrina was bad. It killed bunches of folks, it took irreplaceable heirlooms, it took homes. That goes with the territory, all of those things contribute, but takeaway I have is life can change in a heartbeat.

Now as you read this, realize that I am not a prepper. I am just a regularly guy who get up every morning and goes to work and hopes that the status quo remains until I am old enough to retire, and our grandkids can enjoy this great country.

What I know now is that we are one natural disaster away from total anarchy.

Enjoy your electricity?

It can be taken away in a heartbeat. Our electricity at home was out for over a month. Think of all the things you use electricity for? Keep medicines cool, food cool, house cool, house warm, lights, television.

Think about that, with the help of all available energy crews from all over the country, it took them over 30 days to repair!!! Thinks about the breadth of the destruction! Without electricity, you could not get gas at the gas station. Then your mobility is severally hampered, and you can not escape somewhere with modern creature comforts. You can't get gas, you can't get food, you can't do your job, you can't make money.

So always be aware and understand what is going on in your surroundings and be prepared to remove yourself and your family from bad situations if required. Big government and private companies end up just as helpless in these grave times of need. The only help you can count on is friends and family.