At a young age, Rafael Peralta immigrated* to the United States and, as soon as he had his “green card,” he joined the U.S. military—just as I did. While serving in the U.S. military, Sgt. Peralta earned his U.S. citizenship—just as I did. But here is where the similarities end.

As a person of Dutch ancestry, and one who lived in the Netherlands and its Antilles for many years, I was naturally shocked to read and hear about the tragic events in the Dutch town of Apeldoorn yesterday. As we all know now, a black Suzuki sped toward an open-topped bus carrying Queen Beatrix and several members of her family, narrowly missing the bus, and crashing into a monument—but not before killing five people and injuring more than a dozen others. Initial reports indicate that this...

Both the BBC and the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad report that a car has ploughed into a crowd of people in the Dutch city of Apeldoorn today during an official visit there by the Dutch royal family. The newspaper reports that four people were killed and 13 wounded and that it apparently was a deliberate action. According to the Handelsblad: An unidentified man in a black Suzuki Swift plowed into a crowd of onlookers in Apeldoorn, 90 kilometres southeast of Amsterdam, during a visit to the...

On his 99th day in office, President Obama received the very welcome news that Senator Specter was switching to the Democratic Party, virtually assuring the Democrats a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate—something Republicans were very quick to condemn (both the defection and the filibuster-proof majority) since they, of course, would never dream of hoping for and wishing a Republican filibuster-proof majority on the American people. Today, on his 100th day in office, President Obama got...

As has been pointed out in previous posts, the existence of and, more important, the continuation or the cancellation of the huge F-22 fighter program, have been used as pros and cons to support or oppose another hugely important defense procurement program: The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter or JSF. Opponents and proponents of each of the two programs have used respective operational capabilities, national security issues and, more recently—especially in view of our economic and budgetary crises—the...

As a Texas A&M graduate, retired military, and one who deeply appreciates and honors the sacrifices made by our brave troops in all battles, I was struck by the noble gesture made by our Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, yesterday at my Alma Mater. Mr. Gates—himself a former president of Texas A&M University—returned to the school he once led to honor 22 former students who died in military action in the past year. Gates began that most venerable Aggie tradition—the...

Texas governor, Rick Perry, has a penchant for trying to grab the headlines. This, perhaps in preparation for his upcoming run for re-election against someone who promises to be one tough rival, one tough lady—but always a lady—U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. His headlines-grabbing, anti-Washington rants, however, come at the expense of Texans and Texas, such as, recently, in terms of possibly lost financial help for Texans and in terms of national ridicule heaped unfairly upon the...

It’s 11 o’clock in the morning (PST). Do you know where your market averages are? Unlike with your children at 11 o’ clock at night, you may not want to know the answer to the question about the markets. In keeping with my “optimalistic” outlook on our economy, I will not go there today. Suffice to say, our market averages presently are “down there,” somewhere, not in a very nice place to be. However, today might be a good day to give equal time to those...

Do you sometimes sleep in on Sunday morning after a busy Saturday night, or do other commitments and pleasures, such as church or golf—not necessarily in that order—make it hard for you to catch your favorite Sunday morning talk shows? Well, not to worry, over at The Huffington Post, Jason Linkins has got you covered. In his weekly “TV SoundOff: Sunday Talking Heads,” Jason covers the waterfront, not only in terms of the number of shows and subjects he reports on, but, more...

Reporting on the summit of Latin American and Caribbean leaders in Trinidad, Little Green Footballs starts with the headline “Obama Laughs It Up With Hugo Chavez,” shows a photo of Obama shaking hands with Hugo Chavez, and concludes, “But this … is absolutely sickening.” On the other hand, UK Reuters’ Patrick Markey’s headline says “Obama, Venezuela’s Chavez shake hands at summit,” and reports: U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday greeted...

Continuing my call-me-naïve series on hope and optimism for our economy, here are the latest “optimalistic” economic and financial indicators. (For a definition of “Optimalist,” please click here.) WARNING: For professional, unfiltered economic and financial information and advice, please consult the real experts, on TMV or elsewhere. For gloom and doom about our economy, for hopes for its failure, for “evidence” of how the economy is going to hell in a hand basket, etc., please...

Continuing my call-me-naïve series on hope and optimism for our economy, here are the latest “optimalistic” economic and financial indicators. (For a definition of “Optimalist,” please click here.) Let’s call these indicators “glimmers of hope.” WARNING: For professional and reliable economic and financial information and advice—albeit probably very depressing—please consult the real experts, here or elsewhere. For rumors on how our economy is failing, going to hell in...

The dust has finally begun to settle, since Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates unveiled his “controversial” defense budget proposal a little over a week ago, In his proposed budget, Gates is shifting billions of defense dollars from strategic deterrence and future large scale war fighting programs toward systems and equipment designed to help fight and win the wars we are actually engaged in today—such as in Iraq and, more important now, in Afghanistan. Also, to fight what the Pentagon...

Predictably, Sean Hannity had nothing good to say about the President’s role in the heroic and successful rescue of Captain Richard Phillips During his show tonight, he lambasted the President for really not playing any kind of active role—that, as a law enforcement operation, all the procedures and actions were “prescribed“ and Obama had no role in them—and for “grabbing credit” away from the captain. Regrettably for Hannity, he happened to ask for a second opinion from ...

Right wing talk show hosts (cable and radio) have been garnering a lot of attention lately. Good for their ratings and their pocketbooks—granted. Their attacks on Democrats and those who represent them or run for public office on their behalf, came to a deafening, vicious crescendo during the final months of the presidential elections. More recently, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has pretty much hogged the limelight with his well-publicized hopes that the new President will fail, that...

The Washington Post just let the dog out: “The little guy is a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog given to the Obama girls as a gift by that Portuguese water dog-lovin’ senator himself, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. The girls named it Bo — and let it be noted that you learned that here first. Malia and Sasha chose the name, because their cousins have a cat named Bo and because first lady Michelle Obama’s father was nicknamed Diddley, a source said. (Get it? Bo . . . Diddley?)”...

Excerpts from “War Is a Racket”: WAR is a racket. It has always been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. . . In the World War* a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains...

The week started out on a good note for Rush Limbaugh. But from then on things went quickly to hell in a hand basket for him, and ended on a great note for America and Americans. On Monday, the market hiccupped and was down a few points But then, on Tuesday, things got even better for Rush. The Dow Jones lost over 100 points and Rush was gloating, even taking time to blame Obama’s return to the U.S. from his European tour for the market’s fall. But yesterday, what a disappointment it must...

We have read, heard and seen plenty of reactions—from the left, from the right, from the middle, and from the independents—on President Obama’s seven-day European tour, including his unexpected stop in Iraq. If interested, here is some reaction from an European source, the Netherlands’ NRC Handelsblad. In an editorial, “Obama’s seven days in Europe,” we read: The Good: On his first official trip abroad president Obama met with adoration and kisses. Not even...

Yesterday, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates unveiled the much-awaited fiscal year 2010 defense budget proposal. In his announcement, Gates emphasized that he reached his final decisions after many hours of consultations with the military and civilian leadership of his department. That he also consulted closely with the president, but received no direction or guidance from outside his department on individual program decisions. He made it clear that he plans to orient the U.S. military toward...

I have been writing about the deliberations on whether to permit media access to our returning fallen heroes when they touch American soil at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. A lot of controversy and apprehension surrounded the issue and the decision. Finally, on February 26, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced a policy consistent with what we presently have at Arlington National Cemetery which allows the family to decide whether to allow media coverage. There was still apprehension and...

I passionately want the President of the United States to succeed and our economy to recover. As I have mentioned before, in this respect I am an optimist, and I celebrate every gain by our markets, “regardless of how small or fleeting,” and I look for every sign, no matter how miniscule, that our economy is in fact improving. That is the reason I am exuberant today. Wall Street rallied for a third straight day in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was way up—closing up...

Norway is one of the “partner nations” for Lockheed Martin’s multinational Joint Strike Fighter development and production program. Last November, Norway formally announced that it had selected the F-35 Lightning II to replace its aging F-16 fleet and to fulfill Norway’s future air-combat capability requirements. Norway plans to acquire 48 F-35s, and the first F-35s would be delivered in 2016. Norway’s participation in the JSF program will also bring substantial opportunities...

The Washington Post just reported : The Obama administration decided Tuesday to join the U.N. Human Rights Council, reversing a decision by the Bush administration to shun the United Nations’ premier rights body to protest the influence of repressive states, according to U.N. diplomats and rights activists. And: The United States will participate in elections in May for one of three seats on the 47-member council, joining a slate that includes Belgium, Norway and New Zealand. New Zealand has...

Those who read my posts know by now that I have consistently opposed the invasion and occupation of Iraq—I have received a lot of grief for that—and that I passionately support our troops in harm’s way. I have been at the receiving end of a lot of skepticism for the latter. I have strongly supported better benefits, medical care, mental care, and better recognition for our heroes’ valor and sacrifices (more Medals of Honor, appropriate recognition for the real injuries that...