The Blaisdell Blog

Theodore, “Dutch” Van Kirk died on Monday, July 28, age 93, in Stone Martin, Georgia.   Dutch was the last surviving member of the crew of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima .   Few of us are ever placed in a position to participate in history’s pivot points.   In Dutch Van Kirk, history—and the United States Air Force—chose well.             The Enola Gay, a B-29 Superfortress, dropped the 9,000 pound atomic bomb, “Little Boy” over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.    Van Kirk, the navigator, brought his pilot, Paul Tibbits and bombardier, Tom Ferebee over the target just 15 seconds behind schedule on a 6 hour flight.   Every member of that crew knew this was a desperate experiment.   The bomb might not work; if it did, their plane might be ripped apart in the blast.                At first, the crew thought the bomb was a dud.   It fell in silence past the 43 second count they had been given.   Then: a blinding flash, a shockwave, and another, and

Coyotes charge illegal aliens $4,000 to $10,000 to get to the United States .   From the beginning I have wanted to know how the impoverished citizens of these anarchistic hell holes get this kind of money.   A day’s work in Guatemala will get you exactly $1.   You don’t save $10,000 by frugal living on those wages.   Even if the money comes from a relative in the U.S. working for minimum wage, how do you save that kind of money?   The source of this money is suspect and should be investigated.   It will shock no one if most of it comes from illegal sources, just as the men killed by the cartel were also frequently employed by the cartel.   Make no mistake, I am convinced that the tens of thousands of unaccompanied children entering this country should be treated as refugees and kept here, not returned to the horrors they have risked so much to leave behind.   I think we have a wonderful opportunity here to take these youngsters, who have already shown bravery, strength and te

On October 10, 1562, the anointed and reigning queen of England , Elizabeth I, became ill.   What was first thought to be a common cold soon turned into a raging fever and debilitating sickness.   A queen, unmarried and without an heir was on the point of death.    A German, Dr. Burcot, was brought in at the request of Sir William Cecil, Elizabeth ’s trusted advisor.   The new doctor immediately diagnosed smallpox—a disease for which, even today, there is no cure.   It kills a third of all who contract it, and disfigures all.               The doctor ordered Queen Elizabeth wrapped in red flannel and placed next to a roaring fire.   He left one bare arm exposed to the naked heat.    Soon the arm and the side of Elizabeth ’s face were covered with the pustules that mark both smallpox and the victim.   Miraculously, the disease spent itself out and Elizabeth lived.             We, in the 20 th century, conquered smallpox.   We now have two generations of children who have not

As it turns out, it isn’t Nuclear Winter or Global Warming that we need to worry about.   It isn’t alligators in the sewer, monsters under the bed or even the dreaded twi-night doubleheader that should rob us of sleep.   Mother Nature appears to be warming up something brand new in her bullpen of unanticipated worldwide changes.   The world’s magnetic field is weakening at rapidly accelerating rates.   The Earth is preparing to reverse its magnetic poles.               Let’s start with the fact that all astral bodies have a magnetic field.   The sun has magnetic poles and they flip on a regular eleven year cycle.   [See my blog: The Sun is Switching Polarity published on 8-18-2013.]   Second, let’s point out that the Earth has switched this polarity many times before.   There have been no mass extinctions or calling up of demons during any of these times.   No space aliens, no zombies, not even the Dothraki have taken advantage of our weakened force shields to attack us when we

I tried to read The Hunger Games trilogy once.   The writing more than passes muster, but I couldn’t finish the books.    I could not accept its major premise.   I could not envision a society so corrupt and totalitarian that it would entertain the masses by pitting its children in televised combats to the death.   But I have started to connect some very uncomfortable dots.   Think of how we devalue children and truncate childhood.   Think of how transient adult pleasure is valued over the demands of child rearing.    The signs of possible dystopia are all around us.   Are we paying attention to them? That brings us to a very real, present time crisis, and our reaction to it.   We currently have some 54,000 unaccompanied minors—children—crowded into holding cells designed to hold drug moving scum, human traffickers and gang/cartel goons.   These kids are truly orphans of the storm, and my heart goes out to them.   How any could mother, any Christian, any American look at them

If you want to feel good about yourself, if you want to hear someone say, “You’re fine, I’m fine, all God’s children are fine.   Life is good, and all we need is love…” move on.   If, on the other hand, you are worried, frustrated, and angry or confused about education in America , you have come to the right place.   I want you (not the schools, not the unions and not the politicians) to learn how your child can beat the odds, and the bell curve, and become the kind of student that no school can ignore. Too often in this country instruction has been slowed down, watered down, and stripped bare of anything that doesn’t sound like survival skills—all with disastrous results.   Now we have the Common Core Curriculum which should be a guidepost for education and instead is being used as tool of social engineering.     The bar of academic success can (and should) be lifted if we recognize four things. 1.                The only thing our students are, “at risk” of is being undere

I love our National Anthem.   It is strong.   The words have force and it can be played with soft passages followed by magnificent crescendos.   It fits this country.   But, of course, it is well nigh impossible to sing.   [Not that I can sing anything.   I may have many good qualities but anything approaching, “the arts” falls well out of my bailiwick.]    But whether I sing it or just lip sync, The Star Spangled Banner is a great anthem. However, it is not my favorite patriotic song.   That ranking goes to America the Beautiful, written by Katherine Lee Bates in 1893. America the Beautiful O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America ! America ! God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea! Most every American knows that first verse.   They also know that Bates wrote the original poem (there have been three different versions—I’m