1.Last Tuesday I saw another iteration of the news reports of the recent incident where two unarmed Russian jet fighters simulated a series of air attacks against a US Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea. The difference this time was that FOX news pundit LTC (R) Ralph Peters was asked to comment on the event. Among his other remarks, Colonel Peters made the point that while the jets were unarmed this time, a possible Russian tactic might be to deliberately continue these sorts of encounters in order to get the US Navy used to them as in "Oh, it's just Ivan buzzing the ship again." Such a perception/attitude among the captain and crew of a Navy ship would, necessarily, slow down defensive reactions if, at some time in the future, an actual attack is conducted by Brother Putin's forces, or so Colonel Peters suggests.
Not to be an alarmist here, but in thinking back to the long running Arab-Israeli conflict with it's several outbreaks of all-out shooting wars, I remember a similar tactic being used by the Egyptians in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. In that case, the Egyptians ran a series of operations that looked like training exercises for their tank forces. The Egyptian armor would maneuver towards Israel but stop at the Suez Canal. So, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) got accustomed to seeing this activity and, over time, paid less and less attention to it. Then, on the day of the Arab attack, the Egyptian forces just kept going across the Canal, into the Sinai Peninsula and achieved considerable operational surprise. Granted, the attack's success was also helped by the fact that it took place on a major religious holiday and many IDF soldiers were on leave, but the fact remains that the faux attacks preceding the real one had the effect of lulling the IDF into a false sense of security and when the assault began they were, initially, rocked back on their heels and scrambling to recover. Which they did and, eventually, won the war but at the cost of a great many casualties. I don't know if the Yom Kippur experience has implications for the current situation---it may not. But I'm just sayin'.
2. I'm sure you are all aware that the Masters was played this past weekend. But you may not be aware of the 60 Minutes broadcast on the previous Sunday which was part of the run-up to the tournament. In this show, previous Masters Champion, "Bubba" Watson was interviewed and a major part of the discussion centered around three things that Watson is afraid of. These were revealed to be: A) the dark, B) having a tall building fall on him, and C) crowds. The gal doing the interview was (to use a British term) "Gob Smacked" by the revelation of these three phobias and with an absolutely incredulous expression on her face, asked her key question, which I will paraphrase as "How can a person in your position (pro golfer) deal with these fears?" I won't tell you Watson's answer here, but will, instead, give you my response. To wit:
(A) Golf is played DURING THE DAY and usually in bright sunshine----no fear of darkness applies!!!
(B) There are no skyscrapers on golf courses, so it is unlikely that one will fall on you while teeing off. And,
(C) While there are crowds at golf matches, THEY ARE BEHIND ROPES and controlled by the security guys. No one but his caddie is going to get elbow to elbow with a player, especially if he has a nine iron in his hand.
So much for Watson's fears relative to being a pro golfer, but if the interviewer had wanted to know how "Bubba" deals with his fear issues off the links, that's a whole different set of answers. I think it's fair to say that if you are an interviewer, YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHAT QUESTIONS TO ASK!!! Elsewise you will appear foolish.
3. I'm bothered by things that other people don't seem to notice.
The habit in our house is to watch ABC's World News Tonight each evening at 5:30. Today (15 April) the customary Friday human interest story which David Muir calls "Person(s) of the Week" involved the performance of a version of Shakespeare's " A Midsummer Night's Dream" put on by New York professionals and children from the town of Newtown, CT some of whom were survivors of the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary.
The object was to promote healing in the community and among the students and the effort seems to have born fruit. However, now to the part that bothered me. I was not watching the TV at the time this event was covered. Rather, I had my back turned since I was busy cooking bacon, but I was listening carefully. That is why, after hearing that the show being performed was "A Rockin' Midsummer Night's Dream", I was stopped short by what came next to my ears. It was a child reciting "The Jabberwocky", one of my favorite poems, and the young man was doing a great job of it.
The only problem is that "The Jabberwocky" was neither written by William Shakespear nor included in "A Midsummer Nights Dream". It was written by Lewis Carroll and is featured in his work, "Through the Looking Glass".
Why do people do this stuff to me?
Not to be an alarmist here, but in thinking back to the long running Arab-Israeli conflict with it's several outbreaks of all-out shooting wars, I remember a similar tactic being used by the Egyptians in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. In that case, the Egyptians ran a series of operations that looked like training exercises for their tank forces. The Egyptian armor would maneuver towards Israel but stop at the Suez Canal. So, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) got accustomed to seeing this activity and, over time, paid less and less attention to it. Then, on the day of the Arab attack, the Egyptian forces just kept going across the Canal, into the Sinai Peninsula and achieved considerable operational surprise. Granted, the attack's success was also helped by the fact that it took place on a major religious holiday and many IDF soldiers were on leave, but the fact remains that the faux attacks preceding the real one had the effect of lulling the IDF into a false sense of security and when the assault began they were, initially, rocked back on their heels and scrambling to recover. Which they did and, eventually, won the war but at the cost of a great many casualties. I don't know if the Yom Kippur experience has implications for the current situation---it may not. But I'm just sayin'.
2. I'm sure you are all aware that the Masters was played this past weekend. But you may not be aware of the 60 Minutes broadcast on the previous Sunday which was part of the run-up to the tournament. In this show, previous Masters Champion, "Bubba" Watson was interviewed and a major part of the discussion centered around three things that Watson is afraid of. These were revealed to be: A) the dark, B) having a tall building fall on him, and C) crowds. The gal doing the interview was (to use a British term) "Gob Smacked" by the revelation of these three phobias and with an absolutely incredulous expression on her face, asked her key question, which I will paraphrase as "How can a person in your position (pro golfer) deal with these fears?" I won't tell you Watson's answer here, but will, instead, give you my response. To wit:
(A) Golf is played DURING THE DAY and usually in bright sunshine----no fear of darkness applies!!!
(B) There are no skyscrapers on golf courses, so it is unlikely that one will fall on you while teeing off. And,
(C) While there are crowds at golf matches, THEY ARE BEHIND ROPES and controlled by the security guys. No one but his caddie is going to get elbow to elbow with a player, especially if he has a nine iron in his hand.
So much for Watson's fears relative to being a pro golfer, but if the interviewer had wanted to know how "Bubba" deals with his fear issues off the links, that's a whole different set of answers. I think it's fair to say that if you are an interviewer, YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHAT QUESTIONS TO ASK!!! Elsewise you will appear foolish.
3. I'm bothered by things that other people don't seem to notice.
The habit in our house is to watch ABC's World News Tonight each evening at 5:30. Today (15 April) the customary Friday human interest story which David Muir calls "Person(s) of the Week" involved the performance of a version of Shakespeare's " A Midsummer Night's Dream" put on by New York professionals and children from the town of Newtown, CT some of whom were survivors of the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary.
The object was to promote healing in the community and among the students and the effort seems to have born fruit. However, now to the part that bothered me. I was not watching the TV at the time this event was covered. Rather, I had my back turned since I was busy cooking bacon, but I was listening carefully. That is why, after hearing that the show being performed was "A Rockin' Midsummer Night's Dream", I was stopped short by what came next to my ears. It was a child reciting "The Jabberwocky", one of my favorite poems, and the young man was doing a great job of it.
The only problem is that "The Jabberwocky" was neither written by William Shakespear nor included in "A Midsummer Nights Dream". It was written by Lewis Carroll and is featured in his work, "Through the Looking Glass".
Why do people do this stuff to me?