God bless the many men and women who have given their lives in service to the United States military.
Freedom truly is not free.
We Owe our Fallen Troops a Great Deal
May 27, 2012 by
America is a wonderful country. Though I see our nation as a part of a global community, I also feel that there has never been a nation quite like the United States of America. Having majors in both history and political science in my undergraduate studies left me deeply interested in both topics. I read on average about two book each week and compare what I read to what I see when I work and vacation in other countries.
There is simply no country in the history of the world that has done so much to help bring assistance to those in other lands. Each and every time I return to the U.S. from a trip abroad, I have a deeper appreciations for the freedoms that have been paid for in sacrifice by our military personnel throughout the history of our nation.
From the soldiers who fought for our freedom, to those who fought to preserve and expand it during our horrible civil war, to those who died fighting in Europe, Africa, Italy, Asia, the Pacific and other regions during the most horrific wars of all time and to those who have fought since in Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and other places, a tremendous price has been paid for our freedoms and though we often forget to quickly, for the freedom of others around the world.
I recall a billboard that was on the highway that read “If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank the 101st Airborne”. Though a bit tongue in cheek, it is an accurate reflection of the role our military has played in making every other facet of our lives possible.
We should all feel a deep sense of pride, appreciation and sorrow for the loss of so many men and women during the long and difficult struggles over the course of American history. Though we have not always achieved our national goals when military personnel have been sent into harm’s way, the world would be a far more brutal and horrific place if it were not for the sacrifices of our military personnel.
Violence involving Firearms not Unique to American Schools and Communities
May 26, 2012 by
As an article in the Guardian pointed out this morning, violent crimes involving the use of firearms by criminals is not unique to the United States. The article described as shooting by an 18-year-old man in Finland yesterday. The man murdered one person and wounded another eight victims in a shooting spree in a southern Finnish town, according to police.
The man was taken into custody near the town of Hyvinkaa, approximately five hours according to Detective Chief Inspector Markku Tuominen.
The suspect who was reported to be a local man from Hyvinkaa. Hyvinkaa is about thirty miles from the capital, Helsinki. The article pointed out that there have also been school shootings in Finland in recent years. In 2008, a culinary student killed nine fellow students and a teacher before killing himself at a vocational school in Kauhajoki. About a year prior, an 18-year-old student murdered six students, a school nurse and the principal at a high school in Tuusula.
In another more recent incident two months ago, a non-student wounded the father of his former girlfriend in an office building before firing several shots through a classroom door at a junior high school but did not injure anyone in the school shooting incident.
These incidents along with school homicides in schools in many other countries including England, Canada, Australia, Japan, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Israel and the People’s Republic of China illustrate that school homicides are not a uniquely American phenomenon.
The means of attack may vary from one country to another due to gun control measures and societal differences. For example, a man used a military flame thrower to kill a number of children in an elementary school in Germany. School attacks in Vietnam, which has strict firearms laws, usually involve edged weapons or acid thrown on a victim’s face. In Japan, which prohibits civilian firearms ownership, attacks have traditionally involved knives and swords but multiple victim killing sprees have occurred in schools there as well. Though a student or non-student who is caught with a firearm is subject to swift execution, there have been a series deadly school shootings in the People’s Republic of China and two mass stabbing attacks at elementary schools involving more than two dozen victims each.
The per capita rate of school shootings appears to be fairly similar in Canadian and American Schools even though gun ownership and registration are much more restricted in Canadian schools than in U.S. schools. In both countries, school shootings are still relatively rare in relation to assaults with other types of weapons, particularly knives which appear to account for the majority of school weapons assaults by students globally.
Though there are numerous cultural factors and sometimes significant differences in overall risk levels, it is safe to say that there are few if any regions in the world where school violence is not a periodic factor. Having worked 45 states as well as Mexico, Central America, Canada, Europe, Asia, South Africa and the Middle East, I have yet to work in a country where school violence has not been problem.