Last week, Joe Biden, with the irrepressibility and impulsivity that mark the behavior of both adolescents and older people, announced his support for same-gender marriage. Barack Obama, who would have preferred to keep his views to himself for a wh …
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In one respect, the president's visit to Afghanistan was a surprise: few people knew about it, and even those who did know kept their mouths shut. But from every other angle of analysis, it was a set-piece exercise, planned long in advance and rehearsed with care. …
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Last week, General James Amos, Commandant of the Marine Corps, issued an order that makes available to women a number of occupational specialties previously open only to men. Although this is supposed to be an experiment and designed merely to inform the Comma …
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Those who have been in combat will testify to the catastrophic insults to the body that modern weapons can inflict. War is horrifying, and nothing can prepare the novice for the destruction that it can cause. Nor do we easily get used to the images of it, and they stay with us fo …
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Symbolism is important to all societies, but it seems that the more restrictive the society the more important symbolism becomes, and so it's not surprising that North Korea is awash in it. Scheduled on roughly the birthday of Kim Il-sung, the country's founder and the …
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Last week, a Marine Administrative Separation Board decided unanimously that Sergeant Gary Stein be discharged from the military service, under other than honorable circumstances, for making statements on Facebook that were critical of President Obama. Next Friday …
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Last week saw one the most fascinating Supreme Court hearings in a long time, three days of free-wheeling political theater masquerading as an appellate proceeding. As is often the case in this narrowly divided Court, the decision on the constitutionality of the Patient Prot …
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News Commentary When World War II ended, millions of Americans came home and went straight into college or work, thus spawning the biggest economic boom in American history. Now, with an accelerated withdrawal in Afghanistan likely and the certainty of about $500 billion in mili …
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At the moment, we know only that a 38-year-old US Army Staff Sergeant left his post and shot to death sixteen civilians in Afghanistan, nine of them children, and surrendered soon after the incident. Others were wounded and may not survive. The sergeant's …
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About a week ago, in a speech at Northwestern University's law school, Attorney General Eric Holder argued the merits of the president's decision to order the killing of terrorists such as Anwar al-Awlaki, an al-Qaeda regional commander hiding in Yemen. B …
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The accidental burning of Korans gave the Taliban an opportunity to inflame Afghan enmity, and it resulted in violence and death. The incident came on the heels of similar embarrassments, such as the Marine sniper team's urinating on the bodies of dead Ta …
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To Mark Twain may go the honor of being the most perceptive person in the English language.
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Direct TV is running a silly but otherwise effective TV ad campaign whose tagline is "Get rid of cable."** Each commercial features a cascade of what would otherwise be independent events, humorously suggesting that bad things happen to people who subscribe to …
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The Washington Post is in the enviable but also complicated position of being at the nexus of political activity. It relies on information from people inside the government, but it is still a newspaper, and it can't risk becoming just an irrelevant cheerleader.
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A few days ago, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta was quoted as saying that he hoped that, by the middle of next year, US forces would be through with their combat role in Afghanistan.
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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.
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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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Last week, Joe Biden, with the irrepressibility and impulsivity that mark the behavior of both adolescents and older people, announced his support for same-gender marriage. Barack Obama, who would have preferred to keep his views to himself for a wh …
In one respect, the president's visit to Afghanistan was a surprise: few people knew about it, and even those who did know kept their mouths shut. But from every other angle of analysis, it was a set-piece exercise, planned long in advance and rehearsed with care. …
Last week, General James Amos, Commandant of the Marine Corps, issued an order that makes available to women a number of occupational specialties previously open only to men. Although this is supposed to be an experiment and designed merely to inform the Comma …
Those who have been in combat will testify to the catastrophic insults to the body that modern weapons can inflict. War is horrifying, and nothing can prepare the novice for the destruction that it can cause. Nor do we easily get used to the images of it, and they stay with us fo …
Symbolism is important to all societies, but it seems that the more restrictive the society the more important symbolism becomes, and so it's not surprising that North Korea is awash in it. Scheduled on roughly the birthday of Kim Il-sung, the country's founder and the …
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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