American Men

This week, two men have made headlines that both made unconventional differences in America. Each created a very different story, but neither ended up in the same place he began. This post will be short and sweet. Just a couple of short blurbs about a couple of men. Find their stories interesting? Do some research! Type these guys' names into a search engine and ingest as many articles as possible! Events do matter, but people define history and history in the making.

Hyman Strachman
Photo Credit: Tod Heisler

Hyman Strachman is a 92 year old World War II veteran, and a movie bootlegger. To date, "Big Hy" has pirated hundreds of thousands of popular DVDs. As the entertainment industry loses millions every year to digital pirates, Strachman is receiving praise for his work. Why? Big Hy copies DVDs for the specific purpose of sending movies to soldiers overseas. After reading on message boards that troops abroad have very little access to feature films, Strachman began copying already pirated DVDs as his way of supporting the soldiers. He isn't making any money off of his bootlegging. Since Big Hy donates all of his copies, the MPAA hasn't come own on him. In fact, a spokesman even told the New York Times "We are grateful that the entertainment we produce can bring some enjoyment to them [troops] while they are away from home."

Chuck Colson
Photo Credit: Oliver F. Atkins

Charles "Chuck" Colson was counsel to President Nixon, and spent seven months in prison for his role in the 1972 Watergate Scandal. While Colson was in prison, certain problems with his son arose. Minnesota Governor Al Quie offered to take Colson's place in prison, so that Colson could be released to tend to his son. While Quie was never placed behind bars, his efforts did result in Colson's early release. Chuck Colson decided to spend the remainder of his life serving inmates. After his release, Colson created Prison Fellowship as a Christian collaboration to prepare incarcerated inmates for release back into the community. For the past four decades, Colson has traveled to prisons around the nation to speak and to serve. He also continued to work as a radio commentator and author, all the while maintaining a presence on Capitol Hill. Earlier this week, at the age of 80, Chuck Colson passed away. 

Electoral Tie? Space Shuttle's Final Flight

This week, I am going to stay away from criminal cases. Knowledge of their status is important, but shouldn't dominate any discussion. Why? For positivity's sake. On a blog like this, it is inevitable that some things go unnoticed. Whenever possible, we should always look first to our positives, noting the negatives when the knowledge of them becomes necessary.

A milestone in America's space age took place this week. The Space Shuttle Discovery made its final flight atop one of NASA's specially fitted 747 airplanes to the Smithsonian in Chantilly, Virginia. Discovery is the first of the three retired space shuttles to arrive it its permanent home. With the retirement of the space shuttles, NASA is encouraging private businesses to take up the space race. One of the leaders, SpaceX, has been scheduled to make the first private flight to the International Space Station later this year. If all goes well, SpaceX will make 15 missions to the ISS through 2015. This will potentially end our temporary reliance on the Russian Space Agency to reach the station. In the spirit of private space travel, Virgin Galactic has also announced the building of Spaceport Abu Dhabi. The goal is to provide flight service via Low Earth Orbit between New Mexico (Spaceport America is already under construction) and Abu Dhabi. Flight time? One hour.

Space Shuttle Enterprise and Space Shuttle Discovery meet outside the Smithsonian in Chantilly, VA.
Photo Credit: Associated Press

Space Shuttles aren't the only things coming nose to nose. With the 2012 Presidential Election essentially narrowed to two candidates (apologies Mr. Gingrich), predictions seem never to be in short supply. This week however, something a bit more unusual has come up: the possibility of a tie in the electoral college. As usual, we are told this election is "the most important in our country's history." It is normal to see presidents elected by narrow margins (remember the Bush/Gore election year), but a perfect tie has only occurred once. In 1800, a tie of 73-73 resulted in Thomas Jefferson's election over Aaron Burr. Today, a tie would turn up as 269-269.

Predictions aside, what happens if the November election turns up a tie? There is, in fact, a plan. In the case of a tie, the House of Representatives will elect the President. Each state delegation is awarded one vote. The Senate will elect the Vice President. (Note: Beyond a simple tie, this plan is called into action if no candidate wins a majority of electoral votes, or 270) Granted, we give political parties no value here. In the real world of government, parties obviously determine many things. Thanks to parties, each of the two houses of the United States Congress are often "controlled" by a party. The interesting part is that each house is often controlled by a different party. Where does that leave us in the case of a tie? Potentially, this presents a scenario for a bipartisan executive branch. Or, a President and Vice President of different parties. A truly intriguing thought... I'd like to think that two men who were forced to set aside their political party in order to work together would be tremendously positive for the country. What is the likelihood of this actually happening? Such things are very difficult to predict. If you feel the urge to see exactly what it takes to create a tie, head over to http://www.270towin.com/

If you are interested in the upcoming NATO summit, or would just like to see some cool pictures of helicopters, check out the post from earlier this week.

Please forgive the somewhat late post. This is semi-weekly however!

Have a great week!
David

The military is in town

CORRECTION: It has been released that the U.S. Air Force operated the helicopters. This means that these "Black Hawk" helicopters are known as U.S. Air Force Pave Hawk helicopters.

Yes, this is an event of note. No, this will not replace the semi-weekly post (coming Thursday)

Interesting evening in Chicago! Jet Planes and helicopters and soldiers and, oh my! Please keep in mind, the purpose is not to create wild theories or make any point, political or otherwise. The purpose is to watch events unfold and ask questions. 

Now, let's break it down:

Officially: The Office of Emergency Management and Communications announced that a military training exercise will be taking place. The exercise was said to include three helicopters and military personnel. The purpose of the exercise is to prepare soldiers selected for overseas deployment to operate in urban environments. A spokeswoman for the city said this type of exercise is routine, and done often in cities around the country. She went on to say the training is not related to the upcoming NATO Summit.

What's between the lines: The exercise is stated to be for the purpose of overseas training. This implies that the exercise is only military in nature. Except for the possibility of local law enforcement being used to keep training areas clear, no personell outside of the military should be participating in the training. The announcement itself came just hours before military aircraft landed in the city.

What I observed: Three days ago (Friday, April 13) I saw two fighter jets fly low over Navy Pier, and circle for approximately twenty minutes, before leaving the downtown area completely. From a window, I watched five Blackhawk helicopters land in the parking lot of McCormick Place. After stepping outside, I saw three more Blackhawks and in the same place. Each of these three helicopters held ten men (including pilots). Two smaller, bubble cockpit helicopters took off from McCormick Place's parking lot. Each of these machines also carried a gun mounted in the door on the left side. Chicago Police cruisers and SUVs completely surrounded the parking lot being used as a landing site. Within the police perimeter, Chicago Police vans and trucks, as well as city ambulances and fire engines were among the landing helicopters. All of the helicopters landed in pairs. Between landings, the machines were shut down, and went silent. No personel exited the parking lot to the north, east, or west. 

Facts: The 2012 NATO Summit will be occurring at McCormick Place. Typically, when the American President visits Chicago, Marine One uses this same parking lot as a landing site. The McCormick Place structure reaches past each side of the south end of the parking lot. The Secret Service has been creating plans to keep the NATO Summit secure for months. After living in downtown Chicago for nearly two years, I have seen military vehicles in the city exactly three times before today. Two of these were for the annual air show, and one was the result of the filming of Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Every time (including today) that military machines have entered Chicago, it has been noted by most major news outlets.

Questions: Why was it announced that three aircraft would be used? After personally counting many more than three, I would like to know why the inaccuracy took place. On a similar note, I would like to know why Chicago fire and medical vehicles were involved with the exercise, as it was stated to be for overseas training. All military branches contain their own safety and medical personnel, so why were Chicago vehicles within the training perimeter? As far as the NATO Summit is concerned, I have a few questions. Multiple government agencies have been planning and preparing security measures for the summit for months. Naturally, much of these measures are secret. Why, only one month before the summit is the military using the summit's location for such a massive exercise? Does this not hinder the preparation process in any way? I also would like to know if personnel involved in the exercise entered McCormick Place. The helicopters did shut down, and no one left the area in any direction leading away from the building. Only two options remain. Either the soldiers and emergency workers conducted their business within the parking lot crowded with city vehicles and at least ten helicopters, or they used the summit site itself. The fighter jets from a few days ago are of interest. These planes were nowhere to be found when the helicopters moved in tonight... With the upcoming summit, I would expect certain security measures to be kept secret. I do, however, feel there is a fine line between keeping information secure, and providing false information. In this case, the city and military are ultimately responsible to us, the people. They each have their own right to use secrecy as a device of protection. I don't feel that includes the right to lie. Yes, the inaccuracies are small, like the number of helicopters. So, why? Why tweak truth? Why not simply announce that information will not be given? Maybe simple miscommunication played a role today. The "maybe" factor is endless, as it is in al situations. Whether or not excitement was related to the NATO Summit, we do know military presence will be increasing over the next month.

Feel free to check out some of the photos I snapped of this evening. On Wednesday, we will go into the rest of the week's events. 

Until then,

David

To approach the helicopter landing site, I had no choice but to put away the camera. Below are a few shots of aircraft  near McCormick Place. 

Two Blackhawks on approach to land near McCormick Place

One of the two smaller craft

The two smaller helicopters shortly after second takeoff

One of the two smaller craft landing

Two small helicopters takeoff

Two small helicopters running north along Lakeshore Drive

One of the two small craft over Navy Pier 

Blackhawk landing near McCormick Place

Blackhawk waiting out strong winds before landing

Blackhawk helicopter running along Metra tracks near Millenium Station

Blackhawk helicopter above 

Blackhawk helicopter 92 landing in McCormick Place parking lot

Blackhawk helicopter 92 landing in McCormick Place parking lot

Blackhawk helicopter 93 landing in McCormick Place parking lot

A Blackhawk helicopter landing near McCormick Place

Blackhawk helicopter 93 landing in McCormick Place parking lot

Zimmerman Charged, Santorum Drops 2012 Race

This week is shaping up to be an interesting one in America, and a fitting time to start this blog. Rick Santorum dropped out of the 2012 presidential race yesterday, Charles Manson was denied parole for the twelfth time, George Zimmerman has been charged with the murder of Trayvon Martin just hours ago, and the list goes on. It seems everything from the coverage of North Korea's looming rocket launch, to an e-book conspiracy, have seen significant developments. For better or for worse, America took a step forward today.

For e-book readers, the Justice Department made life a little easier today. After a lawsuit and quick partial settlement, most e-book prices are set to come down between 2 and 3 dollars. Not too surprisingly, Apple, along with four other publishers conspired to fix prices and eliminate competition. Someone told me today that Americans no longer care about the ethics of companies. He said that we take our business to the best product and/or the lowest bidder, no questions asked. Is this a widespread truth? Should it be?

Rick Santorum ended his presidential campaign yesterday. Since he has technically suspended the campaign, Santorum will keep control of the delegates he has won so far. While Santorum will likely be supporting Mitt Romney's campaign from now on, Newt Gingrich has "humbly" asked for the ex-hopeful's votes. It has always been the case that worst enemies become greatest supporters in elections. The 2012 election seems to have pulled out the harshest of that characteristic so far... The Santorum campaign is all but dead, and it has taken less then a day for the vultures to move in.

Likely the most controversial of topics as of late is the Trayvon Martin case. For those that are not aware of the case, the facts of what happened are still being hotly debated. What we know for sure, is that neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman, while on patrol, called 911 to report a suspicious person within his gated community. After being told by the 911 dispatcher not to pursue the person, Zimmerman left his car in pursuit on foot. Through a series of events that have not yet been confirmed, George Zimmerman ultimately shot and killed Trayvon Martin. Today, after much national outcry, Zimmerman has been charged with murder in the second degree and taken into custody. While supporters for both sides of this situation have campaigned fervently for weeks, today is just the beginning of what will surely be a very dramatic and very public display. 

What you've read here is more fact than commentary. For most, this equates to little more than boring. That's okay. The goal is to backtrack a bit, so that we can build directly from the events and people. Stick with me and we will try to make sense of it all together.

Until next week,

David

Welcome

Hi! Thanks for reading!

The purpose of this blog is, very simply, to watch the story of America unfold.

In this place, each human being is exactly as valuable as every other. Affiliation with any political party holds no value, nor does the possession, or lack, of wealth.

Here, we examine people based only on their own actions and words.

My name is David. I am studying music business in Chicago, and have no political affiliations. I am unqualified to make statements along any certain political lines, and am therefore qualified to observe reality as I see it.

Feel free to get in touch via social networks. All of my links can be found at this page: David Combs

Again, thanks for reading and welcome.

Best,
David