The American Spectator

Please tell me that no one is surprised by this response from Barack H. Obama’s and Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Department of State.

Wonder how they’d have responded if the 10 were anything but Christians; say, Muslims?

Whatever, for a representative of the U.S. government to equate the Baptists to drug traffickers is, well, outrageous.

This abhorrent behavior of the Obama administration cannot be allowed to continue.
— C. Kenna Amos Jr.

These missionaries need our prayers. It’s a sure thing that our government is not going to step in and help anyone on a CHRISTIAN Mission.  Just remember those government officials when it’s time for you to cast your vote, and what ever you do, vote!
— Cindy

SAIL ON SAILOR
Re: Larry Thornberry’s The Wrong Gay Line:

I am an old sailor, just turning 65. I was stationed on a Troop Transport out of Norfolk, Virginia, and with hundreds of my peers aboard ship, we were in very tight quarters, considering that we also transported hundreds of Marines to various ports overseas for war games. Your article has sparked old memories. These politicians today, have no clue what it is like. It is sufficient to keep the privacy of the Gays that are serving in our armed forces, because from my old experience I will admit the following that took place many years ago. With us sailors living in rooms with hundreds of guys in Racks, not Bunks, but RACKS, which consisted of canvas bottoms stitched and hung one on top of the other at least 5 or more tall, and each of us having a two inch thick mattress. Living quarters were very close. Sorry for rambling, but I am trying to give you a picture of this compact living arrangement, and also, the fact that on occasion there were certain suspected GAY men aboard and in our same quarters. These guys were quietly given the OLD BLANKET PARTY…I hope I do not have to describe this to you, but briefly, a handful of guys threw a blanket over the person and tied them to their bunks, then proceeded to give them a very severe beating……Now lets stop and think logically and calmly about this being a NO TELL situation. Imagine what would happen if it was blatant outspoken knowledge.

I never personally participated but very early experiences in my youth gave me a totally angry and negative view of gay men and so I did not at that time report the incidents. The issue that men tightly confined together will do things in a group personality that is totally different from the individual personality goes without saying. I cannot begin to describe the many stories that were spread regarding Junior Officers that did not know what they were doing and how enlisted men treated them, considering that in the Navy, they somehow got lost at sea. There is truly little tolerance for stupidity, because our lives are on the line, whether in Iraq, Vietnam, etc. Service men must BELIEVE that the men and women they serve with can be TRUSTED. Our politicians are real morons and it just supports the belief I have that we should never have stopped the draft. Every male in America should have done some service in a branch of the Armed Forces in some branch. Maybe then they would have some knowledge and understanding of our CONSTITUION and PATRIOTISM and what it means to be an AMERICAN…. Thank you for reading this, I just wish the other 300 million Americans understood this.
— Alan P. Jonas

POWER STEERING
Re: Eric Peters’s How Smart Is Today’s Toyota Driver?:

The problem with killing the engine in a modern vehicle is that, when the engine goes, so do the brakes and steering. There is a reason they call it “power” steering and “power” brakes. General Motors vehicles have had this problem for years, try pushing a dead one sometime, Fords have had “power-assisted” brakes and steering — it is difficult but not impossible to maneuver them without the engine running. Why a small car with rack-and-pinion steering would even need power steering is beyond me, but they all seem to have it.
— J. B. Layne

NO WARP DRIVE
Re: Paul Johnson’s The Real Way to Save the Planet:

The nearest star, unfortunately not possessed of any habitable planets, is 30 light years away. Has anyone a grip on how long a bunch of humans would have to survive on a spaceship just to make that trip. Let’s not even mention that all the systems on that spaceship would have to remain functional for all that time. When was the last time your car ran for just 5 years without needing repairs? The trip will take thousands of years with any propulsion technology. And getting anywhere even close to the speed of light will take converting more than the whole mass of your ship to energy. Then at the halfway point you need as much again to slow down before you get there.

And then you get there and, oops, it’s inhabited! Oh my, what to do then?

This is reality, not Star Trek! There ain’t no Warp Drive!

This little bit of analysis is why we can’t get off this planet and I might add that it demonstrates why we cannot possibly have been visited by aliens from another star, much less another galaxy either.
— Roy W. Hogue
Newbury Park, California