China's Aggressive & Insidious Behavior in the Pacific

Soldiers from Charlie Company, 1st Battalion 69 Infantry Regiment , New York Army National Guard acting as an opposing force defend their positions during the final battle of Exercise Talisman Sabre at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland, Australia on July 19, 2017.U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Michael Tietjen



The US Army is conducting various training and exercises with international partners in the Indo-Pacific region.

US Army Pacific's commanding general said the land power network across the region is stronger than ever.

The increased partnership is the "greatest counterweight" to China's "aggressive, insidious" approaches, he added.


Facing challenges from China and the possibility of a future fight in the Pacific, the US Army is training closer than ever with its international allies and partners to harness the skills needed for land combat across the challenging and diverse region.

Those exercises, from biennial training in Australia to US Army Pacific's new Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center rotations in Alaska and Hawaii, and the "persistent state of partnering" with allies is "the greatest counterweight" against China's "aggressive, insidious" behavior, US Army Pacific's commanding general told Business Insider during an interview at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska.     READ MORE...

Thirteen-Metre Waves

Australian surfer Laura Enever has set a world record for riding the largest wave ever paddled into by a woman.

The 31-year-old tamed the 43.6ft (13.3m) beast in January at a break nicknamed the Himalayas in Oahu, Hawaii.

It beat the previous record - which stood for seven years - by only a foot.

Paddling-in involves entering waves unassisted. It is distinct from a tow-in, in which surfers are pulled by jet-ski so they can access bigger waves.  READ MORE...

It's Only Fitting

 GOLDEN RULE:  Do Unto Others That You Would Have Them Do Unto You

I always think of this on Sunday Mornings...  as if it is something to which I try to aspire...  but, more importantly...  I think it is something to which we, as a nation, should aspire to as well...  unfortunately, WE DO NOT NOR WILL WE EVER, I fear...  as it is just not in our nature to treat other like we want to be treated...  we either treat them worse or better but hardly ever the same...  and, when we treat them better, it is usually because of rank, position, wealth, and power OR, because we actually perceive them as BEING BETTER.

YET...  in our Declaration of Independence, we state and affirm that...   We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

HOWEVER...  we don't actually believe that all men (and women) were created equal at all and the sad fact of the matter is that we never will.  We tell ourselves that we really, really want to believe this but we cannot make ourselves change enough to follow through.

UNFORTUNATELY TOO...  not only does our US Constitution and Democratic Republic predicate their foundation and motivation to these words from our Declaration of Independence, but our very survival as a nation can only take place if this statement actually happens...

In other words:  WE MUST PRACTICE WHAT WE PREACH...

While this may seem like it is exactly what we are doing...  WE ARE NOT and NEVER WILL because these are NOT OUR WORDS but the words of our FOUNDING FATHERS...  who thought they were speaking for all of us but because of their WEALTHY STATUS they were not...

EVERYTHING IS THE UNITED STATES IS WHAT THE FEW SAYS THE MANY SHALL HAVE...

And...

this will always be the way of our DEMOCRACY and actually of all government no matter what the governing documents actually say because whether our leaders are elected or appoint themselves they always will decide what is best for us whether we try to influence them or not...

And...

this is because THIS GOLDEN RULE OF OURS is well stated but never FOLLOWED...

SO...

it is only fitting that I share my thoughts with you on this Sunday morning...  the only day of the week when we really try to be THAT WHO WE ARE NOT normally and probably will never be as it is not in our nature to think of others like we think of ourselves...

Favorite Places to Live and/or Visit

While my wife and I like East TN as the location in which we live and Myrtle Beach as the location in which we visit...  everyone else, for the most part, has their favorite locations for one reason or another which allows for the rich diversification that makes American Great... 

For example, we have visit several places in Europe, around the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, and Hawaii and none of those places suit our personalities 100% even though there were aspects of those areas that we really enjoyed as we were experiencing them...

Locations, to us, are not just locations but they consist of:

• travel time to get there
• transportation to get there
• cost of living there
• number of people there
• annual climate there
• things to do there

As we get older, even the 6 hour drive to Myrtle Beach is becoming to long of a time to take just to get someone in which we feel comfortable and know what to expect.  And, it is this knowing what to expect that clinches the deal for us...

COVID has put a damper on our travels and this fear will probably continue until next Summer even if they get a vaccine because we believe vaccines should be tested by others first in case they need to be modified due to side effects...   of course, the FDA would have taken all of that into consideration one would think.