PLN 31

I read the article “Defense Leaders, Karzai Honor Fallen Troops at Arlington” By Elaine Wilson what matters is Afghan President Hamid Karzai, flanked by America’s top defense leaders, walked among the white marble tombstones at Arlington National Cemetery, a silent tribute to U.S. service members who made the ultimate sacrifice, many while battling terrorism in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates; Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan; Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak and other officials joined Karzai on a tour of the cemetery’s Section 60. This section, also known as the “saddest acre in America,” is where many of the troops who died in support of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars are laid to rest. The Afghan president paused before one grave in particular, marking a solemn tribute to one of the U.S. service members who gave his life while serving in Afghanistan. Army Pfc. Justin Ray Davis died near Afghanistan’s Kunar province on June 25, 2006, when he came in contact with indirect fire while on patrol. He was 19 years old. Karzai touched the colored stones that rested on top of Davis’ gravestone, a common tribute to the fallen at Arlington, and adjusted a pot of yellow flowers set next to a photo of Davis in uniform affixed to the stone. He continued on, down one row and up another, exchanging words with Gates and Mullen, and pausing to read inscriptions such as the one on Davis’ gravestone: “Loving Son.” This was Karzai’s first visit to Section 60, a cemetery spokeswoman noted, although it’s not his first to the cemetery. Arlington is the burial ground for 608 of the casualties from the current wars. Of those, 468 died in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and 140 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the spokeswomen said. Many of them are buried in Section 60 alongside the fallen from older wars, including World War II, Korea and Vietnam. I think that having our once enemy and now ally come to see our fallen troops that fought against and with Afghan really shows something. Karzai remarked on the progress made in Afghanistan, from education and health to transportation and the economy. He noted that none of it would have been possible “without the sacrifices of your sons and daughters in Afghanistan, together with the Afghan people; and without your taxpayers’ money spent in Afghanistan, together with the Afghan people.” “I thank you,” he said, “and on behalf of the Afghan people, please do convey the gratitude of our people to the people of the United States of America.”

PLN 29

I read the article “2txt? Or Nt2txt?” By GARRISON KEILLOR what matters is me have a significant lack of social skills, not including dancing, getting scotch on the rocks from the bar or talking to people you know. Men are, for lack of a better word, shy to and around people they don’t know. Having social skills toward people you don’t know is crucial in almost every job today. (PLN 28, is that why less and less go/succeed in college?) Have these men succumbed to the virus(I do not mean virus in bad way I mean it has and is spreading like wildfire) of feminism of feminine domination? Texting may have been the cause of this because 75% of kid’s ages 12-17 have cell phones and send at very least 50 text messages a day. I don’t think texting is the cause or part of it because I am like that but I send at most 50 text messages per month. One possibilities could be that when kids text today they cut down word into abbreviations like: brb, lol, gtg, g2g, idk. I think that is why most kids are shy when they talk in person because they don’t know what to say and they don’t want to sound stupid and say: OMG LOL. Over a text message that would not sound stupid because they are just to lazy to type the full word.

PLN 28

I read the article “Our boys are falling behind in education” By Dottie Lamm, what matters are women are succeeding past men in academic studies. More than 60% of college graduates are women. By 2017 the ratio of female to male college graduates will be 1.5 to 1. A role reversal is occurring and women are reigning supreme power over men. The Reason for this is females brains develop much sooner than males. Female’s brains start developing in kindergarten, males brains don’t start developing until fourth or fifth grade. The development level of a 3.5 year old girl’s brain and her ability to talk compares/matches to a 5 year old boy’s brain in development stages. I think that that is natural because girls are smarter and more evolved than men and they always will be because women can create life in ways men don’t understand because they cannot comprehend it.

PLN 30

In the article “Obama: Failed Attack Underscores Need for Vigilance” By Donna Miles what matters is President Barack Obama called the failed weekend terror attack in New York’s Times Square a sobering reminder of the need to remain vigilant against terrorists committed to destroying America’s way of life. “Around the world and here at home, there are those who would attack our citizens and who would slaughter innocent men, women and children in pursuit of their murderous agenda,” Obama said. Terrorists “will stop at nothing to kill and disrupt our way of life,” the president said. Obama vowed to do what’s needed to protect the United States from terrorism. I think we need to do everything we can to stop terrorists from hurting the children and citizens of the United States. We need to do more than we are doing right now to ensure the future of the United States. “As Americans and as a nation, we will not be terrorized,” he said. “We will not cower in fear, [and] we will not be intimidated,” Obama said. “We will be vigilant, we will work together, and we will protect and defend the country we love to ensure a safe and prosperous future for our people,” the president continued. “That’s what I intend to do as the president, and that is what we will do as a nation,” Obama said.

PLN 27

In the article “Navy to Start Training Female Submariners in July” By Lisa Daniel what matters is Navy officials announced they are moving ahead with plans to integrate women onto submarines beginning in late 2011 or early 2012. The decision became public after Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates notified Congress in February of the Navy’s desire to add women to submarines. With a congressional review period complete, navy officials say they will begin taking applications with a goal of training 19 women, starting in July. It is good that the Navy has decided to put women on submarines. Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of Naval Operations, showed his enthusiasm for the change. “As a former commanding officer of a ship that had a mixed-gender crew, to me it would be foolish to not take the great talent, the great confidence and intellect of the young women who serve in our Navy today and bring that into the submarine force.”

PLN 26

I read the article “Official Details Results of Missile Review” By Jim Garamone, what matters is ballistic missiles are an increasing threat to the United States, and the Department of Defense must keep up with them. The threat to the U.S. homeland is most acute from states such as North Korea and Iran. Neither has yet acquired ICBMs that could reach the United States, but both are working to acquire and or develop long-range ballistic missile capabilities including space launched vehicles which include many of the necessary technologies. I think that if these countries acquire these weapons they would be the biggest threat the United States has ever faced before. The top priority for U.S. missile defense efforts is to defend the United States from the threat of missile attack by regional actors such as North Korea or Iran. The United States does not intend for missile defense to affect the strategic balance with Russia or China. The second priority is to defend against regional missile threats to U.S. forces while protecting allies and partners and helping to enable them to protect themselves. One part is a new phased adaptive approach for missile defense in Europe. The United States has concluded agreements with Romania and Poland to host the two planned land-based sites for missile interceptors in 2015 and 2018.

PLN 25

I read the article “Military Engineers Help Haiti Build Better Future” By Judith Snyderman, what matters is efforts to help Haiti rebuild after a devastating Jan. 12 earthquake will continue after the joint U.S. military task force there winds down at the end of May. Wink witnessed overwhelming scenes of destruction in Haiti when he arrived there Jan. 29. “The amount of rubble that is caused by this earthquake is 25 million cubic yards,” Wink said. “To put that in a picture, that’s five Louisiana Superdomes filled with rubble.” He said. An initial priority for engineers was to assess the main seaport which was heavily damaged. Analysis showed that the port’s north pier was a complete loss, but by the end of February, Seabees and Army divers had repaired the south pier well enough to allow small watercraft to relay critical humanitarian supplies from ships stationed offshore to troops at the pier, who transported them to stranded civilians. By the end of March, the south pier was fully operational, and the port is now being run entirely by Haitian authorities with no Defense Department involvement. Now engineers are focused on mitigating dangers from flash floods and landslides during the upcoming rainy season for people living in camps. I think that they should get a move on to stop the mudslides and building ditches for flood control. These people are dealing with a disaster that is almost unexplainable in U.S. terms. They are living in conditions that are foreign to us. And with a little bit of hope and a little bit of help, they just pick up and move on.