Friday, February 18, 2005

The Story of Boeing Test Pilot

I don't know the accuracy of this story that I recieved in Email today but the points made are relavent nonetheless. See my comments below the story. So here it is in its entirety:

January 4, 2005

Today, during an afternoon conference that wrapped up my project of the last 18 months, one of my Euro colleagues tossed this out to no one in particular:"See, this is why George Bush is so dumb, there's a disaster in the world and he sends an Aircraft Carrier..."

After which he and many of my Euro colleagues laughed out loud and then they looked at me. I wasn't laughing, and neither was my Hindi friend sitting next to me, who has lost family in the disaster. I'm afraid I was "unprofessional", I let it loose -

"Hmmm, let's see, what would be the ideal ship to send to a disaster, now what kind of ship would we want? Something with its own inexhaustible power supply? Something that can produce 900,000 gallons of fresh water a day from sea water? Something with its own airfield? So that after producing the fresh water, it could help distribute it? Something with 4 hospitals and lots of open space for emergency supplies? Something with a global communications facility to make the coordination of disaster relief in the region easier? Well "Franz", we peasants in America call that kind of ship an "Aircraft Carrier." We have 12 of them. How many do you have? Oh that's right, NONE. Lucky for you and the rest of the world, we are the kind of people who share. Even with people we don't like. In fact, if memory serves, once upon a time we peasants spent a ton of money and lives rescuing people who we had once tried to kill and who tried to kill us. Do you know who those people were? That's right Franz, Europeans. There is a French Aircraft carrier? Where is it? Right where
it belongs! In France of course! Oh why should the French Navy dirty their uniforms helping people on the other side of the globe. How Simplesse... The day an American has to move a European out of the way to help in some part of the world it will be a great day in the world ..." The room fell silent.

My Hindi friend then said quietly to the Euros: "Can you let your hatred of George Bush end for just one minute? There are people dying! And what are your countries doing? Amazon.com has helped more than France has. You all have a role to play in the world, why can't you see that? Thank God for the US Navy, they don't have to come and help, but they are. They helped you once and you should all thank God they did. They didn't have to, and no one but them would have done so. I'm ashamed of you all..."

He left the room, shaking and in tears. The frustration of being on the other side of the globe, unable to do anything to assist and faced with people who could not set aside their asininity long enough to reach out and help was too much for him to bear.

I just shook my head and left. The Euros stood speechless. Later in the breakroom, one of the laughing Euros caught me and extended his hand in an apology. I asked him where he was from, he said "a town outside of Berlin." He is a young man, in his early 20's. I asked him if he knew of a man named Gail Halvorsen. He said no. I said "that's a shame" and walked away to find my Hindi friend.

For those of you who may not remember, Gail Halvorsen was the transport pilot responsible for the "candy drop" during the Berlin airlift. They called him the "Candy Bomber" as he dropped goodies for all the Berlin children.

Matt Archer
BOEING
Flight Operations
Transport Test Pilot


I'm not so sure this actually happened or if it's just a story someone wrote. But the point is there.

Back when Clinton was in office I saw how he was demonized by the conservatives over pretty much everything he did. Some people REALLY disliked him - not necessarily all conservatives mind you but they were often the most vocal. I believe it was this demonization more than the Whitewater case that actually led to his eventual impeachment by Congress. So why is there any question then that now when a conservative is in office he is likewise being demonized by liberals? It's simply what our society has degraded itself to it seems. I see no turning back from this. Mark my words, regardless of which party wins the next Presidential election the other side will carry on the demonization of that President as well. It almost turns my stomach to see such a proud office ridiculed in such a way.

Neither Clinton nor Bush have done ANYTHING to deserve the demonization they have received. Continued hatred of Presidents will only bring - more hatred.

UPDATE: They are researching the validity of this story on Snopes. Their research is incomplete at this point but you can check the status of their investigation by watching this page.

Friday, February 11, 2005

Gmail invites

Ok so I see that people are still visiting this site from search engines looking for Gmail invites. Well I happen to have craploads of them. So just shoot me a mail if you're lookin for one and I'll get you an invite.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Europe, Thy Name Is Cowardice - echoes in America

The 20 November, 2004 issue of Die Welt, a German periodical, contained an editorial written by Mathias Döpfner, CEO of German publishing firm Axel Springer. The article can be found here, however it is in German.

Here is a translation of that article in English:

A few days ago Henry Broder wrote in Welt am Sonntag, "Europe ? your family name is appeasement." It's a phrase you can't get out of your head because it's so terribly true.

Appeasement cost millions of Jews and non-Jews their lives as England and France, allies at the time, negotiated and hesitated too long before they noticed that Hitler had to be fought, not bound to toothless agreements.

Appeasement legitimized and stabilized Communism in the Soviet Union, then East Germany, then all the rest of Eastern Europe where for decades, inhuman, suppressive, murderous governments were glorified as the ideologically correct alternative to all other possibilities.

Appeasement crippled Europe when genocide ran rampant in Kosovo, and, even though we had absolute proof of ongoing mass-murder, we Europeans debated and debated and debated, and were still debating when finally the Americans had to come from halfway around the world, into Europe yet again, and do our work for us.

Rather than protecting democracy in the Middle East, European appeasement, camouflaged behind the fuzzy word "equidistance," now countenances suicide bombings in Israel by fundamentalist Palestinians.

Appeasement generates a mentality that allows Europe to ignore nearly 500,000 victims of Saddam's torture and murder machinery and, motivated by the self-righteousness of the peace-movement, has the gall to issue bad grades to George Bush... Even as it is uncovered that the loudest critics of the American action in Iraq made illicit billions, no, TENS of billions, in the corrupt U. N. Oil-for-Food program.

And now we are faced with a particularly grotesque form of appeasement. How is Germany reacting to the escalating violence by Islamic fundamentalists in Holland and elsewhere? By suggesting that we really should have a "Muslim Holiday" in Germany.

I wish I were joking, but I am not. A substantial fraction of our (German) Government, and if the polls are to be believed, the German people, actually believe that creating an Official State "Muslim Holiday" will somehow spare us from the wrath of the fanatical Islamists.

One cannot help but recall Britain's Neville Chamberlain waving the laughable treaty signed by Adolph Hitler, and declaring European "Peace in our time".

What else has to happen before the European public and its political leadership get it? There is a sort of crusade underway, an especially perfidious crusade consisting of systematic attacks by fanatic Muslims, focused on civilians, directed against our free, open Western societies, and intent upon Western Civilization's utter destruction.

It is a conflict that will most likely last longer than any of the great military conflicts of the last century - a conflict conducted by an enemy that cannot be tamed by "tolerance" and "accommodation" but is actually spurred on by such gestures, which have proven to be, and will always be taken by the Islamists for signs of weakness.

Only two recent American Presidents had the courage needed for anti-appeasement: Reagan and Bush.

His American critics may quibble over the details, but we Europeans know the truth. We saw it first hand: Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War, freeing half of the German people from nearly 50 years of terror and virtual slavery. And Bush, supported only by the Social Democrat Blair, acting on moral conviction, recognized the danger in the Islamic War against democracy. His place in history will have to be evaluated after a number of years have passed.

In the meantime, Europe sits back with charismatic self-confidence in the multicultural corner, instead of defending liberal society's values and being an attractive center of power on the same playing field as the true great powers, America and China.

On the contrary, we Europeans present ourselves, in contrast to those "arrogant Americans", as the World Champions of "tolerance", which even Otto Schily justifiably criticizes.

Why?

Because we're so moral? I fear it's more because we're so materialistic, so devoid of a moral compass.

For his policies, Bush risks the fall of the dollar, huge amounts of additional national debt, and a massive and persistent burden on the American economy, because unlike almost all of Europe, Bush realizes what is at stake ? literally everything.

While we criticize the "capitalistic robber barons" of America because they seem too sure of their priorities, we timidly defend our Social Welfare systems. Stay out of it! It could get expensive! We'd rather discuss reducing our 35-hour workweek or our dental coverage, or our 4 weeks of paid vacation, or listen to TV pastors preach about the need to "Reach out to terrorists, to understand and forgive".

These days, Europe reminds me of an old woman who, with shaking hands, frantically hides her last pieces of jewelry when she notices a robber breaking into a neighbor's house.

Appeasement? Europe, thy name is Cowardice.


Thanks to Snopes.com for the information on this article including the translation.

In the article, Mr. Döpfner mentions that Europeans have taken a mentality of "appeasement." A point backed by mentioning the slaughter of Jews in WWII under Hitler, the slaughter in Kosovo under Milosevic, the slaughter of Iraqis under Hussein and the brutalities committed under Communism and how Europe as a whole allowed these things to happen. And time and again it was the United States who would finally come from halfway around the world to deal with the problem. Sadly, this is not a mentality that is confined only to Europe. There are a great many Americans who subscribe to the same point-of-view. To them it was better to leave the Iraqis to themselves under Hussein's oppression and concentrate instead on our own selfish domestic issues. But that's what we've become here. We've concentrated on our own "greatness" for so long that we have filled ourselves with the notion that we deserve everything we have here and then some. It's sickening.

How is it that so many Americans believe that we should have stayed out of Iraq? How is it ok for us to stand aside and allow a regime like Saddam's continue to murder so many hundreds of thousands? Are we so selfish in our greed that we should turn a blind eye to people suffering half a world away? Are we so arrogant to believe that his regime would never support terrorist acts against the United States or its interests? That he would never obtain and use weapons of mass destruction? That he wouldn't erase the US from the face of the Earth if given the chance? Or at least do his best to accomplish such a feat?

George W. Bush has taken the unpopular stance of sending America to war to remove Saddam's regime from power and allow the Iraqis to have their country back and prevent Saddam from carrying out whatever atrocities he may have carried out if left in power. Bush has had the courage to do so in the face of extreme criticism from his own people and at a great cost to this nation because he understands what's at stake. And instead of rallying behind Bush's liberation of the Iraqi people, Americans stage massive protests and compare Bush to Hitler. Bush to Hitler? Isn't Saddam a much better comparison to Hitler? I can only assume they do this out of ignorance. Because if they really had an idea of who Hitler was - of what it was like to be a Jew in Europe when he was in power - they would be very careful who they would compare to him.

We in America are so quick to jump to the aid of others when all it takes is to pick up the phone and send some money and our good deed is done. But when the stakes are higher and the cost much greater our choice is to sit by and do nothing. When people are suffering due to an act of nature we are so quick to show our "great kindness" by sending food and supplies. For most this amounts to nothing more than writing a check or clicking a button on a website. But when people are suffering due to another human being we choose to do nothing. Cowards. Like somehow telling them to stop will be sufficient. Yes Mr. Terrorist, please stop blowing things up. Please stop killing people. Thank you.

Thank God George W. Bush doesn't take such an attitude.

Five hundred thousand people die to an act of nature and they are worthy of our aid. But five hundred thousand die to a dictator and they are not. We're ok with things like tsunami relief. But when it comes to things like Milosevic or Hussein we'd rather not bother. We don't want to do anything about such things - someone might die.

People are already dying. You're just glad it's not you.

So the Iraqis would have been better off if President Bush had never sent troops to Iraq. Under what version of reality could that possibly be true? Sounds like echoes of 1940 America to me. We know all too well now how correct that sort of attitude was then. It's no more correct now. How much better would things have been - how many fewer people would have died if we had joined World War II in 1939 or even 1940? Consider that before taking the same attitude that allowed Hitler to grow so powerful while we stood by and watched.

Mr. Döpfner calls Europeans cowards for their position on Iraq. I say that they only learned from the best just across the Atlantic.