Chamblee54

This content was published August 8, 2009. … The United States has killed Baitullah Mehsud. He was the leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. He is blamed for a lot of things, including the murder of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Mr. Mehsud held together the factions of the TTP. … Mr. Mehsud was at the home of his father in law. He had an iv in his arm, for what is reported as a kidney ailment. He was also known to be diabetic. His wife and others were killed in the raid. The missile that killed Mr. Mehsud was from an unmanned US aircraft.
The Pakistan government is playing both ends against the middle here. On the one hand they denounce the US raids on their soil, but seem certain to be cooperating with America in these actions. The Pakistan government has issues with the Taliban. This is ironic, since the Taliban was the creation of Pakistani intelligence. This was when the Soviet Union was fighting in Afghanistan. … The raid has gotten little press in the United States. A conservative website was more concerned about a report that BHO (wisely) does not want to use the phrase “war on terrorism”.
I have a few questions. How many raids have been launched in the search for Baitullah Mehsud? How many people have died in these raids? How many of those were women and children? Are these raids legal, both either American law and International law? The United States has not declared war on Pakistan. For that matter, unless I missed something, the USA has not declared war on anybody in the region. This question does not cover the morality of killing women and children from unmanned aircraft, but rather asks if it is legal. … Is killing women and children with unmanned aircraft terrorism? What are our goals in the ‘Stan country wars? … We have long ago punished Afghanistan for 911. We are stuck in Iraq. We are playing with nuclear fire in Pakistan. What do we hope to achieve from all this killing? How long will it take, and how much will it cost?
This content was published August 24, 2009. … Football is just around the corner. The teams are busy with the pre season, and soon weekends will be full of hitting and drinking. Perhaps this is a good time to wonder whether football is worth the human cost. Especially now, with a national debate raging about the future of our health care. … This is a recycled post. There is a helping of hypocrisy here, as I enjoy watching the hits. … Football injuries keep hospitals hopping during the autumn. While the games are fun to watch, the players are paying the price. Football is a contact sport. On every play, the linemen block other lineman to keep them from tackling a back.
Someone gets hit on every play. Most of these hits are “clean” and cause only bruises. Some are “dirty”, and cause injuries. Even the clean hits can hurt someone. It is estimated that 378,000 emergency room visits every year are due to football. What if an illegal drug sent 378k to the ER annually? There would be a hue and cry to kill the pushers. However, football is different. … Note The 378k figure is a very, very rough estimate. It is based on a 2019 report from the US Government. The story says there are 2.7m ER visits annually, with 14% attributed to football.
Knee injuries are especially prevalent. Thousands of knee operations are performed each year due to football injuries. With all those helmets slamming into each other, head injuries occur. “The researchers found that there is approximately one catastrophic head injury per every 150,000 athletes playing, or 7 catastrophic injuries yearly. There were 0.67 injuries per 100,000 players at the high school level and 0.21 injuries per 100,000 for college level football players.” Often, the coaches get caught up in the do or die spirit of a big game, and don’t get the player the medical attention that he needs. “Football is a very macho sport. Athletes are taught to play through pain.”
“But concussions range in severity and symptoms, so all a player may experience is a headache several hours after impact. High school players need to be educated in these symptoms and encouraged to self report.” Even cheerleading squads are reporting more injuries, due to botched stunts. … When you see the players in their youthful glory, you don’t think what they will look like after they quit playing. Many players know this, but the lure of today’s glory justifies the pain of tomorrow. The heroes of yesterday often walk with pain today.
On a more personal note, the Falcons had a winning season last year, and made the playoffs. In 44 years of NFL competition, the Falcons have never had back to back winning seasons. It does not look good for Rankin Blank this fall. … A few years ago, the Falcons had the top pick in the draft, and got Micheal Vick. Number Seven was the most exciting player in recent memory, and led the Falcons to the Conference championship. Before long, he was in prison for dogfighting. This is consistent with the history of the Falcons. … Not only is football dangerous to human knees, it is also puts man’s best friend in mortal danger. When you give millions of dollars to a young man from Bad News, Virginia, who plays for the Falcons, you should not be surprised at the results. It is Philadelphia’s problem now. … The pictures today are from The Library of Congress. The social media picture is Dick Gossett, New York AL, 1913. ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah