National
6 soldiers, one from Maine, killed in Afghanistan return to US
The quiet ceremony was punctuated only by a crying child.
The soldiers were identified by the military as Sgt. Joshua J. Kirk of South Portland, Maine; Spec. Michael P. Scusa of Villas, N.J.; Spec. Christopher T. Griffin of Kincheloe, Mich.; Pfc. Kevin C. Thomson of Reno, Nev.; Sgt. Vernon W. Martin, of Savannah, Ga.; and Spec. Stephen L. Mace of Lovettsville, Va.
First Lt. Joe Winter, a mortuary affairs base spokesman, said the six were killed in Afghanistan, but could not provide further details.
The soldiers' arrival comes after hundreds of insurgents armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades stormed two U.S. outposts in the mountainous Nuristan province Saturday. It was the deadliest assault on U.S. forces in more than a year. Officials have not yet identified the U.S. soldiers killed in those attacks.
Scusa, 22, joined the Army shortly after graduating from Lower Cape May Regional High School, said David Shuhart of Villas, N.J., who said he lived with Scusa and his mother after they moved to New Jersey from Nebraska in 2000.
Shuhart said Scusa was married and had a young son.
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I met Sgt Kirk last year
I met Sgt Kirk last year when he was part of 173rd Airborne's team tasked with showing us, 1st Infantry, around the combat area just before he went home. It was my first deployment and I was nervous, but he was confident and solid and said, "look just do this, this, and this, and you'll be ok." Of all of the 173rd guys I met he stood out as one of the few that I felt was truly interested in making sure we were ok before he left, despite the fact that his own deployment had been extended an extra 3 months. So, I was surprised and sorta happy (sorta because nobody wants a friend to be in a place like Keating) a year later to see him getting off the helicopter at Keating with his distinctive body armor. It's unusual to serve back to back tours in the Army's most dangerous fight, so I asked him if he was lucky or crazy and his response was something-like "if this is where the fighting is, then I'm in the right place." You can usually judge an NCO by the confidence his men have in him and from this I'd say that Sgt Kirk was a leader among leaders, and a man among men. I know, from just the short days that I spent with him, that when the fight came he was at the front taking care of his men and fighting the fight, and that sadly when the casualty details eventually came out that he would be among the fallen. When times go bad its men like Sgt Kirk that lead the way to fixing things, and sometimes we lose them as a result. But rest assured that when a man like him goes down it inspires a whole new generation of men just like him. My heartfelt condolences to Sgt Kirk's friends and family, and as we mourn him I hope you can find solace in the words of General George S Patton, a man who also served the US Cavalry as Sgt Kirk did, "It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived"... Sgt D. Plumley, Hartford, ME
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verified on "An impassioned, diverse dialogue on wind power"
How about reading this?
"The Wind Farm Scam" by John Etherington. You can get a copy on Amazon. Or, a library might have a copy.
The bottom line in my own words: Wind power was sold to the public on the promise that it would replace other, dirtier forms of energy. And that it would reduce global CO2 levels.But, because wind can't generate steady output it necessitates back up power. Power that must be kept running at the ready to switch over to on a seconds notice. (You can't power up a coal fired plant to produce electricity within moments.) This negates any savings of greenhouse gas emissions.
Wind can't replace coal, gas, oil or nuclear - it depends on them to guarantee supply when needed. The people who work the grid, those people at the switches, must be ready at a moments notice to switch over to conventional power supplies, which must be run constantly to be able to give us constant power. And yet they are mandated to use wind power when available, which makes for much switching, back and forth, constantly. Their job must be like air traffic control on a larger scale.
Look at it this way -- it is a hot August afternoon. Not a flicker of breeze anywhere. You settle in the couch in your air conditioned room to watch TV. But there is no TV and there is no air conditioning. Why? Because there is no wind. So, without the constant backup (remember, wind power can't be stored to be used later) we would have brownouts and blackouts just when more power is needed most.
I, along with others on both sides of this issue debated Angus King in a public hearing. Let me just say that no matter how charming the man may be, no matter how pat he has his spiel, how glib he assures the public, the man is running scared. And that is because he knows the moment people get really educated to the scam, he is toast. And he and his subsidy sucking buddies will be left in the dust. This is precisely why Gov. Baldacci et al fast-tracked the legislation that allowed this to happen. The public was left blind-sided and out of any consideration. It became fact before the facts were known.
verified on "AG files 8-count indictment against Alfred lawmaker"
When will the AG's office
When will the AG's office file charges against the Speaker and try to recover some of the money he stole. Oh, right, he's a republican too, so the AG will wait until Nutting is out of office, which hopefully will be in December.
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verified on "School choice, public funding for religious institutions headline LePage education plan"
Paying for religious
Paying for religious education should be allowed only if no public education is available. You don't have a public high school, people should be given a set voucher for any school they wish to send their children to. IF there are public schools available, tough, pay for it yourself.
As for school choice, if the state will pay for public transportation, then perhaps it could fly, otherwise you'd be pitting the haves and have nots, another republican example of class warfare.
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