Someone looking for the first time at American electoral politics, particularly at the race for the Republican nomination for president,** must be confused and not a little disappointed. Anticipating intellectual rigor, he gets ad hominem castigation instead.
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It is convenient to dismiss the deaths of allied troops at the hands of Taliban infiltrators by asserting that danger comes with the territory, that the profession of arms is always risky business, that losses are regrettable but inevitable.
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Not long ago, huge numbers of Iranians were in the streets in protest, and prominent Americans were hailing this as a new revolution, this time by moderates rather than by radicals.
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President Obama's speech at the Pentagon on 5 January marked the most acute public turn in American military strategy since the end of our involvement in Vietnam, and perhaps even since 1945. In multicolored resplendence and standing at attention behind t …
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Our calendar is a vestige of Roman and papal edicts, but its roots are in pagan fears and festivals, descriptions of phenomena we didn't understand.
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A very public session of what is usually a closed event ended this week: the Article 32 hearing of Private Bradley Manning, accused of---among other things---stealing classified information. It seemed very much like a typical and unrealistic TV court …
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Deja vu: --Recently, NBC News received a prestigious Murrow Award for a Nightly News segment called "The Long Way Out." In it, Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel rode with the last American combat troops to leave Iraq, in a convoy headed …
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Donald Trump is many things. He is an adroit businessman who has managed to make money less by owning much real property but instead by something far less capital-intensive, by franchising his name.
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In the period just before the creation of the unified Euro, my bank made substantial profits by capturing interest-rate differentials among European currencies, borrowing strong Duetschemark and Swiss Franc and then lending high-yielding currencies.
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Already badly frayed, the relations between the United States and Pakistan were not improved by the report that two dozen Pakistani soldiers were killed by a NATO airstrike.
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It's hard to read the grand jury's report in the Penn State case and not wince. Every page is a nauseating excursion into a world that seems so far from reality that it can't possibly exist But it does exist.
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Last week, Israel intercepted two boats from Turkey bound for Gaza, and the action came as speculation is rife about the possibility of an Israeli strike on one of Iran's nuclear facilities.
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This past week, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta toured Asia. He has had the job only about four months, and so this excursion would normally be considered an orientation, with photo opportunities, smiling politicos and speeches with lots of platitudes.
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Amid the news of the world's economic plight, the goofy start of the quadrennial election circus, the death of Qaddafi and other riveting events, we have largely forgotten Iraq.
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The announcement that the Iranian government appears to be implicated in a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States has generated a wide disparity of reaction, from insistence that Iran is imminently dangerous to incredulity that an entity as skille …
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Last week the president announced that the American-born terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki was killed in Yemen, and it is notable that people---and particularly officials---are careful to use the passive voice when they engage in controversial actions.
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Our relationship with Islamic militants has been an uncoordinated and aimless one.
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Occasionally, there are tiny bits of good news, but the overall trend of the economy continues to be down.
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As the tenth anniversary of the 9-11 attacks approached, there was the inevitable report that another al-Qaeda bomb plot had been detected. The information---that there were three conspirators, that two of them may be American citizens---was neither confirmed nor d …
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Except for validating the stunning gallantry of our troops when they are put under duress, we have little good to show for a decade of employing conventional American forces in the field against our enemies. It's true that we had the opport …
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Muammar Qaddafi is on the lam, reportedly in or somewhere near Tripoli, and whenever a deposed dictator is being chased by the people he formerly terrorized, we are overwhelmed by two emotions for which English---the richest language in the world---ironically has no cou …
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The Defense Business Board is an advisory group inside the Department of Defense, but its members are from outside the bureaucracy and are mostly successful business leaders.
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The deaths of dozens of Americans in a single combat incident in Afghanistan was a brief shock to an America that has become inured to the occasional loss of warriors in a dusty place half a world away.
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For the first time since debt ratings were created about a century ago, the creditworthiness of the United States is less than first-rate. According to Standard & Poor's, we are now rated lower than France, Australia and Canada.
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Many people may remember Admiral Dennis Blair as the Director of National Security who was fired by President Obama.
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Someone looking for the first time at American electoral politics, particularly at the race for the Republican nomination for president,** must be confused and not a little disappointed. Anticipating intellectual rigor, he gets ad hominem castigation instead.
It is convenient to dismiss the deaths of allied troops at the hands of Taliban infiltrators by asserting that danger comes with the territory, that the profession of arms is always risky business, that losses are regrettable but inevitable.
Not long ago, huge numbers of Iranians were in the streets in protest, and prominent Americans were hailing this as a new revolution, this time by moderates rather than by radicals.
President Obama's speech at the Pentagon on 5 January marked the most acute public turn in American military strategy since the end of our involvement in Vietnam, and perhaps even since 1945. In multicolored resplendence and standing at attention behind t …
Our calendar is a vestige of Roman and papal edicts, but its roots are in pagan fears and festivals, descriptions of phenomena we didn't understand.
Jack...
Thought I'd drop you a line and see if you recall our short time as friends in Fords.
We used to bus together and would watch American Bandstand; also enjoyed some trips upstate on summer trips to Frontier Town, etc.
Sorry, to see you have to suffer every year as Navy trounces Army, but I know you can handle it!! :)
Bernie
COL. JACOBS:
IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO SEE YOU ON THE AIR. YOUR EXPERTISE IS MUCH APPRECIATED.I TOO WAS IN SERVICE (USN) DURING VIETNAM AND DESPITE IT'S POLITICAL
MESSINESS, I WAS PROUD TO SERVE THE COUNTRY.I WROTE TO ANDY ROONEY AFTER READING HIS BOOK,"MY WAR", AND HIS RETURN NOTE TO ME RE: BRAVERY WAS "THE GUYS IN THE 8TH AF WERE SCARED BUT THEY KEPT AT IT BECAUSE THE GUY IN THE NEXT BUNK WAS DOING IT AS WELL". I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT.
I AM GLAD TO HAVE SHARED THIS TIME IN HISTORY WITH YOU.
BEST OF LUCK AND GOOD HEALTH,
RICK BLUMENTHAL
LOS ANGELES
Your courage is evident in your willingness to engage on Newsvine as well as in your military career. I applaud you for being one of the very few who are brave enough to wander through the Vine with bold strides. Thanks for being here.
— oldfogey
COL Jacobs:
I am writing on behalf of a wounded Navy reservist buddy of mine. He was injured in Kuwait while on deployment with OIF, but cannot draw his retirement pay until he reaches 60 - despite being retired from the Navy due to his injuries. He has a 100% disability rating from the VA, and 80% from the Navy. Bottom line, he is a proud veteran who gave his best for his country, but now needs financial assistance as he cannot do much work due to disabilities.My friend saw you on the news, and admired the work you are doing on behalf of the wounded veterans returning from Iraq. He seeks your guidance. He will make an entry to this site, separately. Meanwhile, I would appreciate learning how he can contact you directly.
Thanks ever so much, for your service, and for your sincerity. V/r, - S. Davis
Dear Colonel Jacobs:
On behalf of my family and myself, we would like to thank you for your heroic service to our great country. You are a great inspiration to the youth of our country who wish to have the privilege to serve in the armed forces of the United States. Furthermore, I have recently completed reading your latest book and must say that I was unable to put the book down. My tears were beginning to obscure the print. Colonel, as a former U.S. Marine along with seven cousins who have served in the Corps., we would all have wished we could've had the honor to have served under you, regardless of the fact that we are in different services. In your book, you mention how you had spent your early youth. This is somewhat ironic that in my early youth we were raised in the poorest section of Chicago and could not wait to join the service. As a former juvenile delinquent, high school drop out - if it had not been for the inspiration that the officers I served under, I would've not been able to complete my education and obtain a master degree. In addition, I have had the good fortune to meet a former Marine who was awarded the same medal that you were awarded, that was Major General Joe Foss. As a former enlisted man, I would have never believed that I would write a letter to a Colonel! I hope that you find the time to look over the literature I have included which explains the organization that I am involved with - "Operation legacy" I truly believe that at age 67 i would relish the opportunity to serve once again.
Colonel, may god bless both you and your family with good health and good fortune. Respectfully, Jay Adelman
Col. Jacobs,
I've been trying to get someone at nbc news to answer a question for me. Was a clip done on the death of Col. James Elms Swett? He passed on 1-18-09.
Medal Of Honor WWII. I've tried to find something and can't and maybe I missed it on the Nightly News. I don't think I need to explain to you why his story and all MOH recipients need to be told.
Dear Col. Jacobs:
I am not sure you will remember me, or my family, Nathan and Thelma Davidson. We lived on Jonquil Circle in Fords, and perhaps your first instincts as a leader came from herding us, younger school children to P.S. 14. Your sister Elissa often babysat for my brother and me, and occasionally so did you. Your parents doted on us because my brother and I were-Dave and Marsha. Barry and I were classmates. I can recall holidays at your home on Marie Road-so different because of the Greek influence. I recall your Mom's distress when you announced you were heading for the Army, but she contacted my Mom when you won the Congressional Medal of Honor and we were all very excited. We are now reading your memoir and enjoying it. It has brought back a lot of memories. My family stopped by to visit your parents several years ago when we drove up to Fords, but they were not home, so they called and I had a chance to talk to them; and again two years ago, I spoke with your Dad when my Mom died. We wish all the best for you and the family.
Marsha Davidson-Goldstein
There is a large group that is wanted this election done correctly, Oboma should show the real birth certificate, which will you will find that he will be registered as a white male, that isthe way it is done , they always use the mothers race on it,
he himself said his mother was white.
also we need to know where he was born, you see he has come this far with so many falsehoods,, we all need to know the truth...
and with all here we can not find it in our hearts to call him president until we know the truth, we are sending these letters to to all of the news medias, and our TV and radio stations..
Thank you & God Bless.
I am a disabled vet. Two years ago I had a bi-level spinal fusion at the Mpls VA. When I awoke from surgery, I had a new pain in my right leg. For ten days I tried to convince the residents that something was wrong and I was told to deal with the pain. After the ten days they were going to discharge me, I started to cry hysterically and spoke to the social worker. The residents came into my room and said, "Fine we'll do an MRI to show you nothing's wrong." After the MRI was done it was found that I had a ruptured disc at the surgery site. Four days later I was back in surgery where they only removed a part of the ruptured disc. Since then I have had to start walking with a cane for short distances and a wheelchair for long ones. I have filed a Tort claim for negligence and was denied because an independent contractor (which is paid by the VA) was there at the time of the surgeries. It is a disgrace for the VA to find a loophole to not take responsibilities for injuring the vets. I am in much more pain now than I was before surgery. I was given my pre-op by the residents, I was seen by the residents before surgery, and I was only seen by the residents in the 17 days in the hospital. What was supposed to be a 3-5 day stay ended up being 17. I did not see this "independent contractor" until my three week follow up surgery. Also at the follow up I was seen by the VA' chief of staff and the head of the department and was apologized to by them for the horrible treatment I received. They said they received many reports from my nurses on the care I was given (which have now magically disappeared.) I am sure I will be denied again by the VA for the same reason because they pass the liability on to anyone else but them. I want to change something so this can no longer happen to any other vets further injured by the VA. I will not be compensated by the VA because they have found a way to get out of it. Can anybody help me help other vets?
— ajklebs
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