The Cool Blue Blog

Science Fiction in the National Interest

Six months before Islamists crashed planes into the World Trade Centers, Chris Cater's group of itinerant conspiracy theorists prevented a similar attack by terrorists in episode 1 of The Lone Gunman, Carter's X-Files spin off.

Science Fiction authors have predicted, or envisioned, a number of things that have since become reality. Arthur Clark for instance envisioned communication satellites in geo-synchronous orbit back in 1945. Robert Heinlan imagined cellphones, remote-controlled robot arms, microwave ovens and water beds.

Some SciFi authors have even been included on government advisory panels.

Beginning in the 1980s, Greg Bear served on the Citizens Advisory Council on National Space Policy, chaired by Jerry Pournelle.  “Here, I learned for the first time that writers (including my father-in-law, Poul Anderson), astronauts, military officers, scientists, engineers, and government managers could get together and lay out proposals for policy, designed to be clear, concise, and practical—and to be directly presented to the President of the United States. It was an extraordinary learning experience.”

Later, Bear was asked to join another advisory group by fellow SciFi author Arlan Andrews

In the late nineties, Bear was also asked to become part of the Sigma Group, formed by Arlan Andrews and Doug Beason. “I was on a book tour in Washington D.C. when I received a message at my hotel to call the White House. It was Arlan Andrews—just prior to cleaning out his desk for the arrival of the Clinton administration—and within a few months, a select group—including my friends Gregory Benford, David Brin, Charles Sheffield, Stan Schmidt, and Vernor Vinge—met with managers, advisors, scientists, and computer designers at Sandia National Labs, to help map possible threat scenarios in the near future.”

The Sigma Group has also been has to advise Homeland Security during the Bush Administration

Looking to prevent the next terrorist attack, the Homeland Security Department is tapping into the wild imaginations of a group of self-described "deviant" thinkers: science-fiction writers.

"We spend our entire careers living in the future," says author Arlan Andrews, one of a handful of writers the government brought to Washington this month to attend a Homeland Security conference on science and technology.

Those responsible for keeping the nation safe from devastating attacks realize that in addition to border agents, police and airport screeners, they "need people to think of crazy ideas," Andrews says.

The writers make up a group called Sigma, which Andrews put together 15 years ago to advise government officials. The last time the group gathered was in the late 1990s, when members met with government scientists to discuss what a post-nuclear age might look like, says group member Greg Bear. He has written 30 sci-fi books, including the best seller Darwin's Radio.

Now, the Homeland Security Department is calling on the group to help with the government's latest top mission of combating terrorism....

Bear says the writers offer powerful imaginations that can conjure up not only possible methods of attack, but also ideas about how governments and individuals will respond and what kinds of high-tech tools could prevent attacks.

The group's motto is "Science Fiction in the National Interest." To join the group, Andrews says, you have to have at least one technical doctorate degree.

"We're well-qualified nuts," says Jerry Pournelle, co-author of the best sellers Footfall and Lucifer's Hammer and dozens of other books.

Pournelle and others say that science-fiction writers have spent their lives studying the kinds of technologies and scenarios Homeland Security officials have been tackling since the department began operating in 2003....

So are discussions between the writers. During a coffee break at the conference, Walker, Bear and Andrews started talking about the government's bomb-sniffing dogs. Within minutes, they had conjured up a doggie brain-scanning skullcap that could tell agents what kind of explosive material a dog had picked up.

The 9/11 Commission called the 2001 terrorist attacks a result of the government's "failure of imagination." For this group, Walker says, there's no such thing as an "unthinkable scenario."

Islamists are not rich with people with active imaginations: Get too imaginative and you get the sword.

Perhaps this is an edge we can exploit. If nothing else, I like their motivation

"To save civilization," Ringworld author Larry Niven says. "We do it in fiction. Why wouldn't we want to do it in fact?"

Just another cheap thug

Hugo Chavez stood in front of the UN General Assembly and called President Bush the Devil. Remember that?

He was the Left's best friend. Then Representative (now Senator) Bernie Sanders negotiated a deal with Chavez to bring cheap oil to Vermont and was praised for it by the Vermont Legislature.

That the General Assembly congratulates Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Representative Bernie Sanders for their joint effort arranging for the shipment of home heating oil to Vermont for discount sale and free distribution to needy Vermonters,

The Left defended him and Bernie

Leftist columnist Stephen Lendman defended Chavez and criticized Bush on freedom of expression.

In a post-9/11 climate, the right of free expression is under attack and endangered in the age of George Bush when dissent may be called a threat to national security, terrorism, or treason. But losing that most precious of all rights means losing our freedom that 18th century French philosopher Voltaire spoke in defense of saying "I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

So here I am wondering when Lenderman and the Left are going to condemn Chavez and recognize the difference between a cheap thug who espouses Marxism Progrssive Politics and the President of the United States who takes every single punch every news outlet throws at him without threatening or making any move whatsoever to shut down those media outlets.

You know, like Chavez is doing. (Update)

So how many Leftist Hollywood stars and politicians are willing to stand with him now?

42

Based on tips from locals living in Diyala Province, US and Iraqi Forces freed 42 hostages that had been detained in an al Qaeda "prison".

During the raid on Imam Ways, Soldiers from 5th Iraqi Army Division and 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, discovered the men, who claimed to have been held captive by al-Qaida. Some claimed to have been held as long as four months.

A joint air and ground operation, lead by the 5th IAD, was launched to locate the alleged prison camp after receiving information from a local citizen.

The individuals, who were living in a small, concrete and mud compound located approximately one half mile west of the village, were sleeping in cramped rooms on dirty blankets and pillows, according to CF present at the site.

The condition of the prisoners was something the International Red Cross would have frowned upon, had they been allowed to visit.

some ... had been hung from ceilings and tortured for months...

Some of the men suffered broken bones. Some had been captive for as long as four months. One said he was just 14 years old, Caldwell said.

One day later also in Diyala province, US forces freed another seven al Qaida prisoners discovered while conduction operations in Chibernat, a village north of Baqouba.

While clearing the neighborhood, Soldiers from Company B, 5-20 Inf. Regt., rescued seven local residents, to include an Iraqi Police captain, who were been held hostage. 
 
As the Soldiers conducted a cordon and search, they entered a house, discovering the seven hostages in a room which was locked from the outside. Approximately 100 meters from the house, the Security Forces discovered nine civilians who were killed prior to their arrival.
 
The freed hostages were taken to the Provincial Joint Coordination Center to provide a detailed account of their experience.
 
According to the victims, who were taken from Muqdadiya, Balad Ruz and Baqouba, insurgents associated with the Islamic State of Iraq were responsible for their kidnapping and the killing of the other nine citizens in the house.   
 
During an interview, the freed hostages said if the Soldiers would have arrived “an hour later,” they would have been killed by the terrorists.

Of course, the New York Times will not vent their rage at such an atrocity on their front pages.

Or anywhere else.

Spring Offensive is defensive

In arguing for support of surrender in Iraq, Senator Harry Reid said that instead of being in Iraq, America

...should be addressing the resurgence of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

Clearly the Senator is unaware of what is going on in Afghanistan

The Taliban's much-vaunted spring offensive has stalled apparently due to lack of organisation after dozens of middle-ranking commanders were killed by British troops in the past year, according to military sources.

The death last week of the key Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah at the hands of American special forces has harmed the Taliban's morale to the point that local commanders are having to tell their troops to "remain professional" despite the loss.

After suffering more than 1,000 dead in battles with the Parachute Regiment and Royal Marines in the last year, the Taliban retired to regroup and re-equip last winter.

A spring offensive was ordered by the Taliban leadership based in Quetta, Pakistan, and was meant to be launched in late March.

But a lack of mid-level commanders has meant that there has been little co-ordination to bring about the offensive.

I reported back in March that NATO forces decided to pre-empt the "Spring Offensice" by beating the bad guys to the punch. And this effort has clearly put the Taliban and al Qaeda on the defensive.

Calling it quits

Cindy Sheehan is calling it quits. Disappointed with the Democrats for not having enough support to lose the war against Islamists, she's going home

"I've been wondering why I'm killing myself and wondering why the Democrats caved in to George Bush," Sheehan told The Associated Press

In what she described as a "resignation letter," Sheehan wrote in her online diary on the Daily Kos blog: "Good-bye America ... you are not the country that I love and I finally realized no matter how much I sacrifice, I can't make you be that country unless you want it.

But she's not really saying goodbye to America.

"I'm going home for awhile to try and be normal," she said.

Surprisingly, once the Democrats took office, they were no longer so appreciative of her anti-war efforts.

"I have endured a lot of smear and hatred since Casey was killed and especially since I became the so-called "Face" of the American anti-war movement," Sheehan wrote in the diary...."However, when I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the 'left' started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used," she wrote in the diary.

It is just now occuring to her that she was a tool. Just like the claims of the Democrats to end corruption in Washington was just a way to gain power, so was embracing the anti-war crowd. And that is still the case for the Presidential hopefuls on the Democratic side: Once they have the nomination wrapped up, the message will change to be more in line with the majority of voters. Of course believing them then will be just as difficult as believing them now.

She said the most devastating conclusion she had reached "was that Casey did indeed die for nothing ... killed by his own country which is beholden to and run by a war machine that even controls what we think."

Of course, that is her opinion, not the opinion of her son or her family. In fact, her son died for a lot. Take Anbar province in Iraq for example

The Awakening movement has recruited 1,925 Iraqis for the Iraqi police and army, more than the Marines can help train. Forty- one Iraqi army troops share an austere compound with Christmas' headquarters, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment.

"When we started the City Council, people were afraid to talk to us, afraid the terrorists would kill them," said Mal Alla. Now even adults wave to joint patrols of Iraqi soldiers and Christmas' Marines...

At Baghdadi's elementary school, boys and girls sit politely at their desks; while they need more books, paper, colored pencils, electric power and air conditioning, they do have workbooks and book bags.

The ambitious plans of the Baghdadi City Council has attracted technicians such as Raad Abbood, 37, who recently fled Baghdad, where he had worked for 17 years as a health inspector, and came to Baghdadi as a volunteer to help rebuild a clean water system.

But there is little economic base here to sustain such development, which is where the United States could help.

But not if Mama Sheehan and her ilk get their way

...the deployment of Christmas' battalion will end this fall. What will happen then is anyone's guess. Much will depend on Bush's troop increase in Baghdad. The White House, under growing pressure to pull U.S. forces out of Iraq, has promised a thorough review of progress in September.

"People here have changed; people decided to stand up to fight against the terror," said Christmas. "Now that there is security, people are starting to live their lives.

But if Democrats, yielding to the Cindy Sheehan contingent of the Left get their way, and America calls it quits in Iraq, the progress made will be for naught, and then Casey and all of the Americans and Iraqis who have lost their lives in Iraq fighting for political and economic freedom will have died in vain.

You know, I just had a thought: Since Cindy no longer loves America, why doesn't she make it her mission to help the people of Baghdadi? Maybe she could protest al Qaida for a while. Or al Sadr? Or just help build things without a lot of fanfare?

Or maybe she could go to Saudi Arabia and protest the fact that women can't leave their homes without a male family member.

Oh wait. By doing anything like that she could wind up dead or in jail.

Cindy is better off going home.

Home in America.

And it would be nice to hear her say it just once.

Memorial Day on Main Street

Someone remembered this Civil War Veteran laid to rest in the gaveyard across the street from my house.

Our town hosts the big parade in Vermont for Memorial Day. We had a flyover of F-16s. As I walked arounf town I took some pictures of the waiting crowd.

 

 

 

 

During the Parade, we were reminded of why we were here

 

 

 

We hope the next generation doesn't have to make that sacrifice. But we also hope they will remember those who did

 

You can view all the pictures I took here

Sgt. Adam P. Kennedy

Army Sgt. Adam P. Kennedy

 

25, of Norfolk, Mass.; assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska; died April 8 in Diwaniyah, Iraq, of wounds suffered with his unit came in contact with enemy forces using indirect fire.

Sgt. Kennedy was an alumni or Norwich University

From the Associated Press

"We don't forget our heroes," Norwich President Richard Schneider said during Palermo's service. "Anthony was a hero."

Kennedy's father, David Kennedy, of Norfolk, Mass., said his son faced mortal danger every day he was in Iraq.

"To go and do his duty in the face of this danger took a courage I am incapable of," David Kennedy said. "Was he afraid? Hell yes, yet his honor demanded he continue his mission."

Norwich, founded in 1819, is the nation's oldest private military college. The school remembers its graduates and former students who give their lives for their country. Every name is noted somewhere in the college chapel, Schneider said.

In addition to the daytime memorials, Norwich's Corps of Cadets was due to assemble Thursday night for school-wide remembrance ritual called "Echo Taps."

...Some of the upperclassmen at Norwich remember Kennedy from when they first arrived. He helped prepare many of the young students for life as a member of Norwich's Corps of Cadets, many of whom attended Kennedy's funeral service in Massachusetts.

"Adam lives on in the hearts of those who loved him," Schneider said.

David Kennedy said his son lived with a code of honor.

"Adam had a personal code of honor that I still do not understand. He would disclose information about himself when it was clearly not in his best interest because his sense of honor required him to do so," Kennedy said. "It was this exquistite sense that enabled him to fully live up to the (Norwich) motto 'I will try.'"

From the Burlington Free Press

Norwich University President Richard Schneider said Monday that Kennedy -- in his first tour of duty in Iraq -- was a highly visible student on campus during his years at the Northfield school. A four-year, work-study student in the admissions department and a recent graduate, many upperclassmen at Norwich knew the Massachusetts native.

"Certainly the mood on campus is very sad and solemn and somber, but our students are that much more committed," Schneider said Monday. "They all knew there's a war going on and they're prepared to go if they need to go.

"These students, ever since Sept. 11, have known that they're heading into harm's way," Schneider continued. "They do so voluntarily. They are committed and they want to do what's right for the country. But this makes us more fightin' mad."

Kennedy, who graduated from Norwich with a major in computer science, called his father Thursday and said that he would be on special duty for about a month, David Kennedy said Monday. A member of the Alaska-based 4th Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Kennedy was part of a unit that provided security for an Army colonel and ensured safe passage for convoys, his father said.

"He was obviously subdued, and changed by the danger," said David Kennedy, a resident of Norfolk, Mass. In December, however, the military man committed to another six years in the Army.

We honor his service and his life on Memorial Day and always. 

 

Cpl. Christopher Degiovine

Marine Cpl. Christopher Degiovine

25, of Lone Tree, Colo.; assigned to 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died April 26 while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq.

From the Associated Press

"He's going to be tremendously missed by all of us," his father said.

Johnson, who had dinner with Degiovine and his father three weeks ago before his deployment to Iraq, said Degiovine was thrilled to be serving his country.

"He was full of life, enthusiastic. He was excited to be in the Marines," said Johnson.

...[Pam Borden, 34, who has lived next door to the Degiovines for five years] called Degiovine a "wonderful kid."

"We just knew him from across the fence, but he was always friendly, always said hello, not your typical teenager. He loved his Dad, and he was his Dad's whole life."

More from the AP

Cpl. Christopher DeGiovine joined the Marines as a way to serve his country and show his love for his family, a clergyman said Saturday at his funeral.

DeGiovine, 26, ended up giving his life for his country. He was killed by a roadside bomb April 26 in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, three weeks after he arrived in Iraq.

"Chris wanted to serve his country," said the Rev. Brian Cummings, the director of the campus ministry at St. Michael's College in Colchester. He led DeGiovine's funeral Mass in the college chapel. "He wanted to make a difference."

DeGiovine grew up in Essex Junction, graduated from Essex High School and Champlain College, but he had left Vermont. The military listed his home as Lone Tree, Colo.

He joined the Marines in December 2005, at least partly in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Cummings said.

"It was out of love that Chris joined the Corps," Cummings said. "We cannot lose sight of this hopeful vision for our world."

DeGiovine's Marine commander, Lt. Col. Michael Kuhn, said DeGiovine joined a long line of Marines who, for more than 225 years, have committed their lives to their country.

"The Corps gives its thanks to Chris by giving him immortality," said Kuhn. "As long as we are on duty, his service will not be forgotten."

From the Burlington Free Press

During the summers, he worked for the Essex Police Department on the bike patrol and became a familiar face in town.

"A lot of kids from Essex will miss him," Gustafson said. "They'll be just as shocked as I am."

DeGiovine then headed to Denver, according to his father, Ray DeGiovine. He tried unsuccessfully to get a job with the police force there and grew impatient, his father said.

"He's always been interested in the military," Ray DeGiovine said. "He decided to join the Marines. He was a little bit ticked off with what happened on 9/11."

... DeGiovine was patrolling Thursday in the assault amphibian vehicle and was in the lead vehicle of a convoy.

"What I was told was that they used an existing water main that went across the road," Ray DeGiovine said. "They disconnected the water, filled the thing with explosives.... They detonated the thing while (the vehicle) was going across this pipe that was in the road."

The explosion flipped the vehicle, killing the Marine, Ray DeGiovine said.

Christopher DeGiovine will be remembered in his hometown as an "all-around great kid."

"That sounds like a cliche, but it's not," said Joe Gonillo, who teaches English at Essex High and coached DeGiovine on an unbeaten junior varsity soccer team. "He was happy, smiling, active -- I never really saw him down."

"He had a great sense of humor; never, ever lost his temper with anybody," said his father. "He also was a top marksman in boot camp, he shot expert in boot camp.

"He was a pretty good guy."

Gustafson said he has known DeGiovine for 22 years, as a "wonderful young man."

"He got along with everybody. He was one of those eighth-graders who danced with the sixth-graders at the dance. I keep picturing him as a 3-year-old playing on the hill with my son."

Gonillo said DeGiovine worked with him in the summers at Maple Street Recreation Center and remembers him talk about possibly serving in the military one day.

"He was extremely mature for his age," Gonillo said. "He had a plan, knew what he wanted."

Ray DeGiovine said the news of his son's death came as a "terrible shock."

"He loved to play golf," DeGiovine said. "He loved to be with his little dog, Lucy."

We honor his service and his life on Memorial Day and always.

Capt. Anthony Palermo

Army Capt. Anthony Palermo

26, of Brockton, Mass.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany; died April 6 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations.

Capt. Palermo was an alumni or Norwich University

From the Associated Press

"We don't forget our heroes," Norwich President Richard Schneider said during Palermo's service. "Anthony was a hero."

Norwich, founded in 1819, is the nation's oldest private military college. The school remembers its graduates and former students who give their lives for their country. Every name is noted somewhere in the college chapel, Schneider said.

In addition to the daytime memorials, Norwich's Corps of Cadets was due to assemble Thursday night for school-wide remembrance ritual called "Echo Taps."

...Palermo, who attended Norwich from 1998-2002 but graduated elsewhere, was on his second tour in Iraq when he was killed April 6 by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. Kennedy died April 8 when his unit came under attack in Diwaniyah, Iraq.

Palermo, 26, of Brockton, Mass., was revered by the soldiers he commanded, yet he still had a lighter side, said friend Gene Enriquez, of Chicago, a Norwich senior due to graduate next month who attended school with Palermo, but left Norwich to serve in the Army, including a tour in Iraq.

"Tony was the true embodiment of a warrior," said Enriquez.

Palermo had been due to leave Iraq later in April so he could be with his wife for the birth of their first child. That child, a son named Marcus Anthony, was born April 21, Enriquez said after the first service.

From the Boston Globe

Dozens of soldiers and Marines stood at attention yesterday morning inside St. Patrick's Church in Brockton as a brigadier general wearing white gloves handed a folded American flag to the wife of Anthony Palermo Jr., a 26-year-old Army captain who was killed in Iraq last month.

The general also handed flags to the soldier's mother, father, and the uncle who helped raise Palermo. About 400 people sat in silence and watched the solemn ceremony. Marcus Anthony Palermo, born two weeks after his father's death, slept through it all, snug in a relative's arms....

A gold-colored box on a table at the front of the church contained Palermo's ashes. On both sides of the table stood large photographs of the soldier. In one, he wore his dress uniform and bore no expression. In the other, he wore camouflage fatigues and smiled broadly. About a dozen bouquets of flowers were placed on the floor around the pictures and the table.

"That picture, that says it all because the smile is pure Tony," said Robert Tripp, director of the Army JROTC program at Brockton High School, which Palermo attended. "Tony was in the program since he was a freshman. I really saw him develop into a leader. By the time he was a senior, there was no question where he was going," he said, referring to Palermo's long-held dream of entering the Army....

Palermo was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Iraq Campaign Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon.

Ortiz, who is a sergeant in the Army himself, placed the box containing his nephew's ashes into a larger wooden box, and then placed Palermo's black beret on top of the box. He then handed the box to Palermo's brother-in law Jeff Boots, also in uniform, and the two marched in unison out the front door, where two other soldiers snapped to attention and saluted under drizzly skies.

We honor his service and his life on Memorial Day and always.

Lance Cpl. Kurt E. Dechen

Marine Lance Cpl. Kurt E. Dechen

24, of Springfield, Vt.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, while attached to Regimental Combat Team 5, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died Aug. 3 of wounds sustained while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq.

From the Burlington Free Press

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kurt Dechen fulfilled his last obligation to his country Friday, coming home to a hero's funeral before being laid to rest in the shade of a maple tree, far from the dusty streets of Iraq where he died.

A Marine Corps honor squad fired 21 shots into the summer air and a bugler played taps before the American flag was removed from his coffin, precisely folded and presented to Dechen's parents, Richard and Dale Dechen, by a fellow Marine who expressed the thanks of a grateful nation.

Dechen was killed by small arms fire Aug. 3 -- his 24th birthday -- while on foot patrol in the Iraqi city of Fallujah.

Hundreds of mourners packed the First Congregational Church to pay their respects, some listening in tears as Dechen was described as a man who loved people, Corvettes and sports but embraced his obligation as a Marine to the country and the world.

"He had the demeanor of a man dedicated to a duty that he knew would take him into the heart of danger," said the Rev. William Nelson. "But those who knew him knew that beneath the very real dignity and the very real presence of this man was another man filled with fun, with warmth and friendly gestures toward all he met," Nelson said...

The hourlong service also featured the reading -- at Dechen's parents' request -- of a letter written last month by a fellow Marine who served with Dechen in Iraq.

The letter, which was read by Marine Sgt. Zachary Britt, spoke of the duty felt by Marines and other warriors who have undertaken the job of protecting their nation.

"It's a chore that can't be understood by those who don't do it. Some of you may think you do, but believe me, you never will. For any veteran can look in the eyes of another and see it. No words need be spoken," Britt said, reading the letter to a hushed congregation in the white-steepled church.

"Kurt was one of these," Nelson said later. "And we remember him this day."

But he was more than a warrior, Nelson said.

"One could not know Kurt for long without being struck, I believe, by his care for others and his thoroughness, his ability to notice people and to show that," Nelson said. "He noticed those who were great, and he never lost sight of the whole, which included lesser mortals than the great."

We honor his service and his life on Memorial Day and always.