Bill Murray in Rock the Kasbah. PHOTO COURTESY OPEN ROAD FILMS It’s never a good sign when, while watching a movie, your mind becomes preoccupied with questions like “I wonder at what point in the production process this went wrong?” and “Didn’t they realize they were making a colossal turd?” or “Do I need to […]
Afghanistan
Posted inArts & Culture
Who was Jacob David George
Ironside Photography LLC Jacob David George Today by chance, I read about a young man who died recently. Jacob David George […]
Posted inOpinion
What we’ve paid for war
War is hell. Major General Harold Greene could certainly tell you all about that – but, sadly, he’s dead. On Aug. 5, General Green became the highest-ranking American soldier to die in our unfathomable, 13-year war in Afghanistan, joining 2,339 other service members who’ve paid the ultimate price for being sent by warmongering politicians into […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Noble, moving tribute
Taylor Kitsch, Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster and Emile Hirsch in Lone Survivor. PHOTO COURTESY UNIVERSAL PICTURES Peter Berg’s Lone Survivor contains the most revelatory opening credits sequences I’ve seen in a long time. Composed of various documentary film clips, it quickly compresses the basic training regime that potential Navy Seals undergo. Grueling and beyond reason, […]
Posted inOpinion
Watch out – the drones are coming
For nearly four years, President Obama refused to admit a foreign-policy “secret” that was widely known – that the White House, Pentagon and CIA are engaged in ethically questionable and rapidly escalating drone warfare that’s killing innocent civilians as well as enemy soldiers in Afghanistan, Yemen and elsewhere. But by nominating John Brennan, the architect […]
Posted inNews
Veterans help out at Jubilee Farm
More than 8,000 miles and three decades separate the quiet fields at Jubilee Farm west of Springfield from the violence and death of the Vietnam War. But for Richard Tapia, a Springfield veteran of the Vietnam War, there is a common element to both places: the camaraderie and trust of a fellow veteran. Tapia spent […]
Posted inNews
The longest war
The steady drumbeat of the helicopter rotors was the best sound 2nd Platoon had heard all day, coming from the southwest – the three dots quickly turned into two Apache attack helicopters escorting the medevac Black Hawk. The medevac stood off until the Apaches, with 30mm cannons blazing, made sure that any insurgents left in […]
