Sustainable Agriculture Practices For Long-Term Success

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Sustainable Agriculture Practices For Long-Term Success

(Wyoming News) Implementing sustainable practices aimed at sequestering carbon, or carbon farming, can help farmers and ranchers increase their bottom line while managing environmental impact in numerous ways, including keeping the soil covered year-round, reducing or eliminating tillage and effectively managing range and pasture lands. Carbon farming practices help farmers and ranchers reap the proven benefits of a conservation approach. That, combined with a new revenue stream available via voluntary carbon programs, offers the potential for better outcomes.

Of the Earth’s land surface, 38% is used for agriculture. Capturing carbon in the soil is an affordable and scalable way to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere while nurturing healthy, secure and sustainable food systems. Through soil carbon sequestration, farmers and ranchers can become leaders in limiting the effects of climate change while enriching the land’s livelihood.

Implementing practices that meet operational needs, and ultimately sequester carbon to generate carbon credits, allows ranchers and farmers to create additional income, lower future management costs and improve soil health, resulting in enhanced yields, cost savings and more resilient, healthy fields and pastures.

Working closely with farmers and ranchers across the United States, Agoro Carbon Alliance helps implement sustainable practices like these, which bolster natural soil fertility and can also generate carbon credits and new revenue streams.

  1. No-Till and Reduced-Till Farming: Reducing or eliminating tillage minimizes disruption to the soil and reduces carbon emissions. When soil is tilled, it releases carbon stored within the ground into the atmosphere. Moving an operation to reduced till or no-till practices not only offers benefits to soil quality but can also play a role in mitigating soil erosion, as well as reducing fuel and labor costs.
     
  2. Cover Crops: Cover crops improve soil health and help keep carbon “locked in” while preventing nutrient loss and erosion in fields. Developing an effective and profitable cover crop strategy is one way farmers partner with Agoro Carbon Alliance. Backed by a team of highly trained agronomists that collaborate with producers, their team of local agronomists work one-on-one with producers to build a cover crop strategy that best suits each unique operation and keeps soil thriving year-round.
     
  3. Interseeding: A related and valuable approach to soil protection and carbon sequestration is interseeding. This occurs when a new crop is planted as a cover or companion in a field where an existing crop has reached vegetative growth. Interseeding increases the number of plants in the soil, resulting in more roots, which promote more efficient biomass and carbon sequestration.
     
  4. Rotational Grazing and Grazing Management: Controlling livestock grazing patterns can be advantageous for animal health, as well as the soil and pasture quality. Moving animals from one pasture to another on a systematic basis provides greater control over the quality of the forage, allowing plants to deepen root systems, which enhances the soil’s biomass and supports more efficient carbon sequestration. Rotational grazing also prevents the soil from becoming excessively compacted by animal movement and allows ranchers to distribute natural manure fertilization more evenly.
     
  5. Nitrogen Management: Strategically managing how and when nitrogen fertilizer is applied can both increase crop efficiency and yield potential while reducing environmental impacts associated with nitrogen fertilizers. Judicious use of nitrogen-containing fertilizers can help optimize carbon storage, boost yield potential and improve forage.

Soil conservation practices can drive productivity and add a new revenue stream for farm and ranch operations, as well as generate carbon credits. Learn more about sustainable agriculture and carbon cropping at agorocarbonalliance.com.

 


SOURCE:
Agoro Carbon Alliance

Russia’s biggest weapon (and China’s too) is fossil fuel energy

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Russia’s biggest weapon (and China’s too) is fossil fuel energy

Written by: Don Ritter

The new Russian offensive is brewing, and it too will be financed by its energy revenues.  Russians from Putin on down are talking about a much longer war because they have the revenues to support one and they don’t have to worry about a citizen-taxpayer revolt or getting reelected.

While the U.S. and Europe have restricted their purchases and consumption of Russian energy, it is sold elsewhere. That energy sells at a discount, but Russia is still earning hundreds of billions of dollars from energy sales and thus able to continue its war for as long as Putin wants. In spite of sanctions, Russia sold over $350 worth of fossil fuels in 2022. In the meantime German keeps its fracking ban.

To achieve peace in Europe and avoid potential wars elsewhere, one would think that America and the West would be increasing their own supply of oil, gas and coal and driving down prices on the global market. Such initiative would also give fence-sitting counties like India and Brazil in the “Global South” alternative sources to substitute for Russian products.

One would also think that the West would understand that its ability to replenish weapons and ammunition being sent to Ukraine and resist aggression, anywhere, like Taiwan for example, is based on production, shipment and fueling with fossil fuels and decidedly not on wind and solar. There will never be and electric tank!

And why not drive down drive down the price that Russia receives for its energy, while providing the economic and military security derived from fossil fuels? The answer from Europe and now America has been an emphatic “no.” Apparently, addressing the computer-modeled “climate crisis” takes priority over national defense, stopping Russian aggression in Europe, and securing reliable, affordable energy to power modern industrial economies and living standards.

The alternative – simultaneously furthering the technology of renewables like wind and solar while building up fossil fuels within an “all of the above” approach – is anathema to those who believe religiously that climate change is an existential threat. Ironically, the same people are happy to substitute U.S. fossil fuels with oil from dictatorships like Venezuela, Iran and Saudi Arabia. They don’t seem concerned that wind, solar and battery supply chains run mostly through Communist China.

An “all of the above” energy strategy would make it harder for Russia to finance its war, save Ukrainian lives and mitigate their suffering. It would show that America was willing to challenge Russia’s energy dominance now and into the future.

Sadly, the very opposite is happening. The U.S. is killing energy transport pipelines, curtailing permitting of refineries and natural gas export facilities, suppressing oil and gas leasing and drilling and, worst of all, stifling longer-term investment in the industry. Driven by an all-encompassing determination to limit CO2 emissions, Europe, and now America, have declared war of fossil fuels. Meanwhile, Russia and China burn oil, gas and coal and emit greenhouse gases at levels that dwarf the West’s.

Governments in Europe and now in America have utterly failed to see that, by suppressing fossil fuels, they are ceding enormous power to countries like Russia, Iran and China – who use those very fossil fuels to strengthen their own economies and military power and threaten others.

Energy has been weaponized and the West is in full energy-disarmament mode. The West is forfeiting its ability to gain peace through strength, with energy being the all-encompassing weapon in national and alliance arsenals.

The Russian people have experienced far greater suffering when total war was being waged on their own territory and millions perished. This time, the Russian people don’t feel the brunt of the war, so the pressure to end it is limited it and Russia’s vast fossil fuel revenues are available to continue it, perhaps for years.

It is doubtful that that support for Ukraine from potentially fickle Western democracies could last that long.

National economies and nations’ militaries still run on fossil fuels. There is no substitute for fossil fuel dominance, even on a longer-term horizon. To believe and act otherwise is suicidal. It’s the real “existential threat.”

Don Ritter holds a Science Doctorate from MIT and served fourteen years on the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce and Science and Technology Committees. He was a National Academy of Sciences Fellow in the USSR, speaks fluent Russian, and was Ranking Member on the Congressional Helsinki Commission and founding Co-Chair of the Baltic States-Ukraine Caucus.

After leaving Congress he created and led the National Environmental Policy Institute. He is a founder and President & CEO Emeritus of the Afghan American Chamber of Commerce, and a Trustee of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC), where he co-chairs the Museum Capital Campaign.

Did You Know Wyoming Legislature Senator Of House, Albert Sommers Is Promoting Sexual Pedophilia Or Sexual Perversion?

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Did You Know Wyoming Legislature Senator Of House, Albert Sommers Is Promoting Sexual Pedophilia Or Sexual Perversion?

Childish Beliefs Drive Lethal Energy And Agricultural Agendas

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Childish Beliefs Drive Lethal Energy And Agricultural Agendas

Modern agricultural technologies and practices could ensure bounteous crops, and an end to malnutrition, for all humanity – if they could be spread across the globe. Instead, they are under assault – by well-meaning or ideologically driven, ill-advised or ill-intended … but certainly well-funded … organizations that demand natural gas bans, “more Earth friendly” agriculture and a return to “traditional farming lifestyles.” 

Behind much of it are Biden Administration and global activist and government campaigns to deliberately eliminate fossil fuels and modern agricultural technologies and practices – in favor of “clean, green, renewable, sustainable” alternatives. These plans and policies go well beyond callous and imperious. They go beyond eco-imperialism, eco-colonialism and eco-Apartheid. 

Biden and environmentalist policies would destroy agriculture, habitats, products and nutrition 

Written by: Paul Driessen 

Many eco-activists (and too many legislators, regulators, judges and journalists) have trouble thinking beyond slogans. They apparently believe declaring ecological emergencies, repeating clever mantras, and issuing proclamations and mandates will create a fossil-fuel-free, organic farming utopia. In their dreams. 

Since 1950, American farmers increased per-acre corn yields by an incredible 500% – and other crop yields by smaller but still amazing amounts, while using less land, water, fuel, fertilizers and pesticides. Their exports helped slash global hunger and malnutrition. Farmers in Brazil, India and other countries worldwide have likewise enjoyed record harvests in recent years. Their success has many “roots.”

Hybrid seeds combine valuable traits from different plants. Biotech seeds protect crops against insects and viruses and reduce water and pesticide demand. Nitrogen fertilizers (synthesized from natural gas) join phosphorus and potassium in supercharging soils. School and online programs offer libraries of agricultural success tools. Increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) further spurs plant growth. 

Long-lasting herbicides control weeds that would otherwise steal moisture and nutrients from crops, while enabling farmers to utilize no-till farming that avoids breaking up soils, reduces erosion, further retains soil moisture and preserves vital soil organisms. Israeli-developed drip irrigation delivers water without the evaporation characteristic of other irrigation methods. 

Modern high-tech tractors use GPS systems, sensors, cameras and other equipment to steer precise courses across fields, while constantly measuring soil composition, and injecting just the right kinds and amounts of fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides, along with seeds, to ensure optimal harvests. 

Imagine the bounteous crops for humanity if all these technologies could spread across the globe.        

Instead, this planet-saving, life-saving progress is under assault – by well-meaning or ideologically driven, ill-advised or ill-intended … but all well-funded … organizations that demand natural gas bans, “more Earth friendly” agriculture and a return to “traditional farming lifestyles.” 

Their hatred of biotech crops is intense and well-documented, but they also despise hybrid seeds. They want modern herbicides and insecticides banned, in favor of “natural” alternatives that are often toxic to bees, animals and people; may actually be synthetic (eg, neurotoxic pyrethrins); and are rarely tested for residues on produce or long-term toxicity to humans. They demand “natural” fertilizers, which often provide a tiny fraction of nutrients that modern synthetic fertilizers do. 

They want to teach only “traditional” (ie, subsistence) farming, especially in Africa. They prefer to call it “food sovereignty” – which they claim is the “right” to “culturally appropriate” food produced through “ecologically sound and sustainable methods,” in accord with AgroEcology policies. In other words, millions more people (ruling elites and their kids?) doing back-breaking stoop labor, dawn to dusk. 

Tractors? Why not horses, oxen or human labor, they ask? At least get rid of gasoline and diesel tractors and trucks, in favor of electric models. Never mind that EV tractors and combines would require several tons of battery modules, and still wouldn’t be able to do a full day’s work without hours-long recharges.

They want oil and gas locked in the ground. “We don’t need petrochemical products, especially synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.” Or tractor tires, paint, windows, GPS/computer housings, and more. 

Have these illiterati looked at their own clothing, food, homes, offices or world? Synthetic fabrics, cosmetics, cell phone and computer housings, pharmaceuticals, tapes and adhesives, protective gear, eyeglasses, car bodies, detergents, wind turbine nacelle covers and blades, medical devices, car bodies – practically everything around them and in their lives exists because of oil, gas and petrochemicals. 

But we can just use biofuels to replace feed stocks for products we really need, they proclaim. Right. 

Banishing oil, gas, petrochemicals and internal-combustion engines would certainly mean no more ethanol as a gasoline additive. That would eliminate the need to grow corn on 36,000,000 acres (equivalent to Iowa), and that land could be used for food crops or wildlife habitat. Except it won’t be. 

Organic farms have significantly lower crop yields per acre and require far more land than conventional agriculture. Worse, ending oil and gas production means tens of millions of acres would have to be planted with biofuel crops, to provide feed stocks for thousands of now-petrochemical products. 

That means vastly more tractors or human labor – and more water, fertilizers and pesticides – to cultivate and harvest sugar and oilseed crops (and algae). And then all those simple biofuel molecules would have to be transformed into much more complex hydrocarbons to provide the necessary feed stocks. That would require even more energy, from even more wind turbines and solar panels – on top of doubling or tripling our existing electricity needs, to transform the U.S. and global economies to all-electric systems, and repeatedly recharge the grid-balancing and power backup batteries those systems would require. 

Or perhaps Team Biden plans to simply import all those petrochemicals and/or products – as it seems to be planning with regard to wind turbines, solar panels, battery modules, transformers and other “green” energy equipment. America will not be able to produce any of it, because Team Biden and its allies oppose mining and drilling in the USA (even for raw materials essential for their utopian “renewable” energy transformation – and we won’t even have affordable, reliable electricity to operate factories. 

How can these “best and brightest” decision-makers and advisors be so ignorant, inept and clueless – so unable to connect even two or three dots? They’re destroying our planet, habitats and wildlife, to “Save the Earth” from a computer-modeled “climate crisis” that President Biden absurdly insists is “a greater threat than nuclear war.” 

They base critical policies that deeply affect lives and livelihoods everywhere on childish beliefs in Santa Claus and Harry Potter. They think we can banish today’s energy and agricultural resources and technologies – and amazing replacements will just be there … via some mystical, mythical process called Materials Acquisition for Government-mandated Infrastructure Change (MAGIC). 

Some of them know this cannot possibly happen, but promote the policies anyway. They seem to believe they can mandate that “common folks” will just have to live austerely, under nineteenth or early twentieth century living standards, in 700-square-foot apartments, using electricity when it’s available (not when they need it), and subsisting on bug burgers and larvae milk. 

They think Africa would be “the perfect laboratory” for testing new foods, like “crackers, muffins, meat loaves and sausages” made from lake flies. If all that fails, they’ll just impose forced rationing.  

Others would go even further. Obama science advisor John Holdren advocated “de-development of the [United States and other over-developed countries] and semi-development of the under-developed countries, to approach a decent and ecologically sustainable standard of living for all in between.”

Oceanographer Jacques Cousteau once said, “in order to stabilize world populations, we must eliminate 350,000 people per day.” Environmental Defense scientist Charles Wurster said “People are the cause of all the problems…. We need to get rid of some of them, and [banning DDT] is as good a way as any.” 

Environmental and racial justice? Campaigns, policies government actions to eradicate fossil fuels and modern agricultural practices and technologies go well beyond callous and imperious. They go well beyond eco-imperialism, eco-colonialism and eco-Apartheid. They drive eco-manslaughter on a global scale via energy, farming and climate policy. They impose systemic, systematic racism. 

These ideas, and these policy proponents, are what should be banished from government, media and academic institutions. Not the wondrous technologies that make modern life possible.  

Paul Driessen is senior policy advisor for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (www.CFACT.org) and author of books and articles on energy, climate change, environmental policy and human rights.

Rock Spring Man Reported Missing: Wyoming DCI Asking for Public’s Help In finding Harold Austin Brownlow

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Rock Spring Man Reported Missing: Wyoming DCI Asking for Public’s Help In finding Harold Austin Brownlow
27-year-old Harold Austin Brownlow a local Rock Springs resident.

DCI Requesting the public’s help in finding Rock Springs man, 27-year-old Harold Austin Brownlow. According to the Wyoming DCI, this man has been missing since November of 2023.

The following is information regarding the 27-year-old Rock Springs man who is presumed missing by DCI.

 Harold Austin Brownlow, age 27, was last seen on November 30, 2022 in Rock Springs, Wyoming. He is a White male, approximately 5’9″, 170 pounds, with brown eyes and hair. It is unknown what he was last wearing but is known to have a tattoo on his back, chest, and right calf. He may also go by Austin Brownlow. Anyone with information or contact with Harold is requested to contact the Rock Springs Police Department at (307) 352-1575 or the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation at (307) 777-7181. 

Source:  Wyoming DCI

Medical Study Confirms Health Events After COVID Vaccines Are Traced Directly Back To Vaccines and Boosters.

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Medical Study Confirms Health Events After COVID Vaccines Are Traced Directly Back To Vaccines and Boosters.
COVID mRNA Shots Circulate at Least 28 Days After Injection
ORLANDO, FL – A recent study in Denmark using a cohort of recovered hepatitis C patients found that mRNA from Pfizer and Moderna circulates in the blood for 28 days after injection.
In the study,  “SARS-CoV-2 Spike mRNA Vaccine Sequences Circulate in Blood up to 28 Days After COVID-19 Vaccination,” patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection received mRNA vaccinations according to the Danish roll-out vaccination plan. In 10 of 108 HCV patient samples, the researchers “surprisingly found fragments of COVID-19 vaccine mRNA up to 28 days postvaccination in blood from chronic HCV patients vaccinated with mRNA vaccines from both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Analysis of mRNA vaccine function has focused on the immune response and on protection of vaccinated individuals from SARS-CoV-2 induced severe COVID-19. “
According to Dr. Peter McCullough, internist, cardiologist, and epidemiologist, “vaccines should be in the body only a few days as immunity is being generated. Having foreign genetic code in the form of synthetic RNA loaded on lipid nanoparticles with PEG in the blood stream for a month is an eerie reality with the following implications: All serious health events occurring within 30 days of the shot should be considered related to the vaccine unless proven otherwise, The mRNA has a prolonged opportunity to circulate to vital organs including the heart, brain, bone marrow, adrenals, and reproductive organs where it can cause more damage, The human body must not have robust mechanisms to clear Pfizer or Moderna, so by the time the second shot is given, some still have the first shot in their system explaining greater toxicity on the second shot, Theoretical concerns over shedding should be extended far beyond 30 days (I currently recommend no kissing, sexual, or close contact for vaccinated persons for at least 90 days), Development on new mRNA vaccines (influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, zika, etc.) should be halted immediately given this discovery.”
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman said, “The evidence continues to reveal that these COVID shots are not safe. Big Pharma is making great profit while harming people with these experimental injections.
Liberty Counsel is a public Law firm and a news partner with the Wyoming News.

High Tech Crime Getting Easier For Criminals To Scam People

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High Tech Crime Getting Easier For Criminals To Scam People

Casper, Wyoming (February 24, 2023)

The Casper Police Department would like to warn our community about potentially devastating new trends in scams and frauds. Our department routinely receives reports of fraud or scams and have noticed an increasing trend that include new technology, cryptocurrency, and investment scams. 

      

Malware Scams: 

In these scams, individuals contact victims directly, or have the victims call them due to malware executed on the victim’s computer. The suspects demand money to “clean” and “secure” the computers. As a result, victims are pulling out several thousand dollars and buying cryptocurrency through the cryptocurrency “ATM’s” located in our city. The suspects are sending QR codes linked to their online “wallets”, which the victims send the cryptocurrency to. The suspects then continue to harass the victim, demanding additional funds to pay for “processing fees” or other excuses. 

If you believe your computer has been infected by a malware, or ransomware, take it to a local reputable service center, and have them clean the suspicious software off of your computer for you. Do not ever trust online “vendors” or people who contact you directly telling you they have detected an infection on your computer. 

If you are ever directed to purchase gift cards, bitcoin, or other alternate forms of payment, rather than directly paying cash or using a debit/credit card, stop. Do not do what the person is asking you to do. Once payment is initiated using money-grams, bitcoin, or gift cards, there is no way to stop the payment or recover your lost funds. 

Investment Scams: 

Another common scam is being contacted online through a social media platforms, where the victim is being asked to “invest” money into cryptocurrency. The victim sends money to the suspect, either direct by sending cash, gift cards, or purchasing cryptocurrency online and transferring it to a digital wallet. The suspect sends a photograph of the digital wallet contents,showing a large and often dramatic increase in funds, to the victim to make them believe their investment has been successful. The suspect then asks for additional money to pay for “fees”associated with transferring the money back into the victim’s account. Further, the suspects will always ask for more when money is sent. 

We ask members of our community who are legitimately interested in investing money in cryptocurrency to seek out legitimate, well known, local financial advisors who have that capability.  

In many cases, scammers typically use threats, fear, blackmail, abusive language, or other high-pressure tactics with the ultimate goal of forcing your compliance. If you feel you are being pressured into sending money to someone you do not know, stop. Take time to voice your fears to another person. If you are suspicious that the activity might be criminal, please call our department and make a report. 

Please, do not rely on your banking institution to tell you to stop a payment, or help you stop a payment once it has been initiated. Also, do not rely on your banking institution to cover any losses you may experience as a result of these types of frauds. Please take time to evaluate any suspicious circumstances you are experiencing. If it doesn’t feel right, end the contact, and tell someone you trust

Home Improvement Ideas

Wyoming News
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Home Improvement Ideas

{Wyoming News}Whether you’re thinking about a bathroom update, kitchen overhaul or any other type of home improvement project, these tips from the experts at the National Association of the Remodeling Industry and eLivingtoday.com can help you get started.

Create a Plan
Improving your home can be one of the most exciting projects to undertake. Start by setting realistic expectations, determining your goals and needs, finding inspiration and, perhaps most importantly, setting a budget.

Renovate the Bathroom
You can improve your home’s usability and increase its value with bathroom updates or a full renovation. Before you get started, think about these factors: the amount of space and storage you need, features that are important to you, sustainability concerns and accessibility considerations.

Update the Kitchen
The kitchen serves as command-central for most homes, and you can get the most enjoyment out of yours by making purposeful changes, reconsidering the physical space, re-evaluating your shopping style and choosing appliances with care.

Start a Remodel
If it’s time for a serious undertaking, a full-blown remodel may be necessary (or simply desired). Remodeling typically calls for hiring a professional contractor, a process you can go about by gathering local recommendations, asking for licensing and insurance, checking references and comparing bids.

Find more home improvement ideas and solutions at remodelingdoneright.com and eLivingtoday.com.



SOURCE:
National Association of the Remodeling Industry

1968: A Strange Time In America

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1968: A Strange Time In America

Written By: Marc Kelley

Ever since the Chinese spy balloon was allowed to sail across our country, anxiety and feelings of uneasiness have crept into the minds of many of our citizens. For many of us feelings such as these have not been felt for decades. Feelings which have been pushed to the back of our minds, having long ago been resolved, but obviously not forgotten. To say the early 1960’s was a strange time in America is an understatement. Our country was divided in a much different way than we are today, but we were divided nevertheless. Trust in the Government, or rather the lack thereof was a common topic of conversation in many circles. In still other circles patriotism abounded, American Pride was on full display and harsh words were often levied at those who would speak ill of the United States. The story which follows is true, the time was 1964. The Cold War between the Communist’s and the free world played out daily on the social media of the time,our morning newspapers and the evening news brought directly into our living rooms by our newly purchased TV’s. 
Perhaps growing up in this time is indeed the cause for the things we feel today. In 1964, home was Great Falls, Montana and our neighborhood was just outside Malmstrom Air Force Base. Everyone we knew was either in the military or worked on the base in some capacity. There were four of us who hung out together back then, and just like the kids of today who play in the front yards and in the streets of their neighborhoods, we were nearly inseparable. We were all the middle kids in our families, not old enough to be heard, yet too old to ignore what we saw play-out on a daily basis. My friends: Daniel the curious one always asking questions and searching for the answer to why things were the way they were. Brian, the athlete and teammate who played beside me in every sports team through every season of the year. And Ritchie, the daredevil always building ramps and jumping his bike, believing he was indeed the next Evil Knievel. If you were looking for one of us, you would find us all together, at least until the streetlights came on.
The four of us saw the world in the same light and believed America was the best place on earth. We never missed a single airshow at the base and all had posters of The Blue Angels, The Thunderbirds and the Golden Eagles plastered on the walls of our bedrooms. These shows were not the shows kids get to see today; but rather, an opportunity to get up close to the fighters and actually crawl around inside the bombers and allowing us to imagine we were part of the fight for America. We would often be awakened and rush outside in the middle of the night, as the F-106 interceptor’s known as the The Delta Darts routinely flew mock missions off the tarmac of Malmstrom AFB. Many a night the whole neighborhood would be awakened by the sonic boom of the jets as they broke the sound barrier overhead. To us, that sound meant we were safe. Safe… because no one in their right mind would mess with the USA.
Up until 1964, the war in Viet Nam was relatively benign in the minds of most Americans. US involvement had been limited to waging a proxy war against the Communists. We sent advisors and Special Forces to train the South Vietnamese fighters and opened the arsenal of democracy, supplying only enough weapons to the South Vietnamese Army to slowly bleed the Communist’s who backed the North Vietnamese Army. So long as Americans were not dying on foreign soil in large numbers, the military industrial complex was allowed to flourish and record profits for their stockholders. For most this reality was acceptable; however, just as it is today, the concept of never letting a good crisis go to waste was embraced by the very people who had no dog in the fight, and certainly would not send their own sons and daughters to die in the jungle, known as Vietnam.
On August 2, 1964, three North Vietnamese torpedo boats began to harass the USS Maddox as it gathered signal intelligence from the Gulf of Tonkin located in South China Sea. The Maddox responded by firing a series of warning shots over the torpedo boats. In response, the North Vietnamese launched several torpedoes and opened fire on the Maddox with machine guns. The Maddox defended herself and in the end, all three torpedo boats were damaged and six North Vietnamese sailors were killed. The only damage recorded by the Maddox was a single bullet hole from a NVA machine gun burst. On August 3, 1964, the USS Turner Joy joined the USS Maddox and continued to gather intelligence. The next day the Commander of the Maddox, Captain John Herrick misinterpreted radar signal intelligence and reported his task force was under attack by the North Vietnamese Navy. It would take our government until 1985 to declassify information on what would become known as The Gulf of Tonkin incident. The truth of the matter is, there was no North Vietnamese attack on August 4, 1964 and our intelligence community simply “misinterpreted” the information from the Maddox. However, it would be the Gulf of Tonkin Incident which would be the catalyst to take America from a proxy war into a shooting war in Vietnam.
On August 10, 1964, the hawks in Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving then President Lyndon Johnson the authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose government considered it to be under threat from any Communist aggression. Within just a few months of Congress’s action, the US began sending troops into Vietnam in large numbers. This decision would ultimately send over five-hundred-fifty thousand American Troops into Vietnam and cost more than fifty-eight thousand American lives.
One day, not long after President Johnson sent our troops into the jungle, Ritchie came running over to the house. He carried with him the photo we have all seen before…a Marine Corp Private, wearing his dress blues with an American Flag as a backdrop. The picture was of his oldest brother Joe who had just graduated boot camp at Parris Island. Joe was a good Marine, disciplined, tough, and smart and it wouldn’t take long for the Marines to send Joe to Viet Nam. I can still hear Richie reading the letters his brother sent to him…telling him not to worry, he was doing just fine in the Marine Corp he loved so much.
Ritchie lost his Brother Joe, then a Staff Sergeant in 1968, during the siege at Khe Sanh, and I lost my friend who would never again be the same. Losing a young person to the brutality of war leaves a hole in each of us. A hole which heals over time, and is replaced by a scar we will carry until the end of our days here on earth. These are the thoughts and the memories which come rushing back into our minds when we see unknown objects allowed to fly over our country. Our anxiety rises as we watch our politicians, so cavalier in their rhetoric and condescending in their tone, repeating the same ideology which got us into Vietnam. As usual, these people have no dog in the fight and are simply enriching themselves as stockholders in corporations who profit by producing the weapons of war.
I once sat in a lecture hall listening to my history professor as he explained the significance 1968 had on our country and telling us an entire course should be taught on this single year in American history. Just as the Civil Rights Movement had gained a true foothold with the passage of the Civil Rights Act and real progress was beginning to be seen, Dr. King was gunned down as he stood on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee. In response, our cities erupted into violence with looting and arson used by many as a means to express their frustration. The upcoming Presidential election became a referendum of the war in Vietnam, pitting young Americans against the older Americans, they called “The Man”. On June 4, 1968, Robert Kennedy won the Democrat Party’s nomination for President and was seen as a bright light of hope for our country. However, on June 5, 1968, RFK was assassinated by a Palestinian dissident angry over US support for Israel. 
Not all of the news coming out of 1968 was bad. On October 11, 1968 the US Apollo Space Program launched Apollo 7 and Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele, and Walter Cunningham became the first US Apollo Program Astronauts to orbit earth, moving us just one step away from achieving President John F Kennedy’s challenge to our country “to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade.” The people of our country drove a nail into the coffin of the American Independent Party led by segregationist George Wallace. With the defeat of Wallace America could be heard clearly, racism is not now and will not in the future be tolerated. America’s silent majority believed the words of another politician as he spoke out against Communism, promising to restore peace and honor to America. It would take until 1975 for President Richard Nixon to actually make good on his promise to end the war in Viet Nam and when he did everyone asked was our nations sacrifice worth the cost?
None of us would be the same when 1968 was finished with us. It is in this harsh reality where the feelings of anxiety and mistrust for politicians remain for many who lived through this turbulent time. Watching as our politicians and military leaders alike allowed a Chinese Spy balloon to drift across our most sensitive military installations, conjures images and fears from a bygone time. It is in this reality is where the motivation is found for many to speak out and identify the many similarities from 1968 which we are experiencing in 2023, and begs the question, when will we begin to see a turn from the negative news and once again begin to nurture the great American spirit which will get our nation back on the right track?

Statement By North Atlantic Council Regarding Russia’s War Aggression: Biden Inching America closer to WWIII

Soleil Teal
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Statement By North Atlantic Council Regarding Russia’s War Aggression: Biden Inching America closer to WWIII
The NATO Invitees associate themselves with this Statement.
 As we solemnly mark one year of Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, the gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic security in decades, we as Allies reaffirm our solidarity with the government and people of Ukraine in the heroic defence of their nation, their land, and our shared values.  We pay tribute to the lives lost, and we deplore the tragic human suffering and destruction, including of Ukraine’s residential areas and civilian and energy infrastructure, caused by Russia’s illegal war. 

 We are further stepping up political and practical support to Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s invasion, and will maintain our support for as long as necessary to help Ukraine prevail.  In this context, NATO will continue to coordinate closely with relevant stakeholders, including international organisations, in particular the EU, as well as like-minded countries. 

We remain resolute in supporting Ukraine’s long-term efforts to secure its free and democratic future. We reaffirm our unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.  We fully support Ukraine’s inherent right to self-defence and to choose its own security arrangements. 

 Russia bears full responsibility for this war, a blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter.  Russia’s actions disregard OSCE principles and commitments and gravely undermine international security and stability and the rules-based international order.  While we have called on Russia to engage constructively in credible negotiations with Ukraine, Russia has not shown any genuine openness to a just and lasting peace.

We remain determined to maintain coordinated international pressure on Russia.  We also condemn all those, including Belarus, who are actively facilitating Russia’s war. 

There can be no impunity for Russian war crimes and other atrocities. All those responsible must be held accountable for abuses and violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, particularly against Ukraine’s civilian population and including the deportation of children and conflict-related sexual violence.  Russia must immediately stop this war and withdraw all of its military forces from Ukraine in line with the UN General Assembly Resolution adopted on 23 February 2023 and other relevant Resolutions of the UN General Assembly.

 Russia’s war also threatens global security.  Russia’s energy blackmail, its impact on global food supplies, its malign hybrid activities, its worldwide disinformation campaign, and its irresponsible nuclear rhetoric demonstrate clearly Russia’s disregard for international norms and the welfare of billions of people around the world.

 We will continue to strive for peace, security, and stability in the whole of the Euro-Atlantic area. NATO is a defensive Alliance.  We are significantly strengthening our deterrence and defence posture, and we remain ready to defend every inch of Allied territory in line with our 360-degree approach against all threats and challenges. 

Our commitment to the Washington Treaty, including Article 5, is iron-clad. NATO is stronger and more united than ever.  We have welcomed the choice of Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO and reaffirmed our commitment to NATO’s Open Door policy. We will continue to strengthen our partnership with Ukraine as it advances its Euro-Atlantic aspirations.  We are also further strengthening our other partnerships, including by assisting those countries most exposed to Russia’s malign influence. 

 Russia’s efforts to break the resolve of the brave people of Ukraine are failing.  One year on, Ukrainians are fighting valiantly for freedom and independence.  We stand with them.
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