The German Airbus Crash - Spectacular Suicide or Act Of Terror?

Last night the news story broke about a terrible airplane crash in the French Alps.  I don't know about you, but as information filtered in through the various news channels and Internet sources, I began to strongly suspect that the crash was intentional.  This morning information gleaned overnight indicated that indeed this disaster was no accident.  While telemetry data indicated that the copilot had placed the airliner on automatic pilot with the plane in a calculated dive from 38,000 feet, the voice recorder in the cockpit recorded the pilot frantically trying to break down the secured cockpit door.  The door did its job; the captain was not able to re-enter the cockpit, and the airliner smashed into a mountainside in the French Alps.

The copilot, Andreas Lubitz, according to all available evidence, locked the pilot out of the cockpit and sealed the doom of all those on board.  The only question that remained was this: did the pilot commit a spectacular suicide, at the cost of over a hundred lives, or did the pilot murder all those innocent people and sacrifice himself in the process?  So as the hours passed today, German police searched Lubitz's home for whatever they might find that would provide some clue to the young co-pilot's state of mind, and of any intentions for suicide or something more sinister.

Almost immediately, the police found disturbing evidence at Lubitz's very front door.  A plague hung on the door contained Arabic writing and Islamic symbols.  Also, within hours of the crash, Lubitz was being hailed as a hero by Muslims on various Facebook pages.  I am not making a judgment at this point since so little is really known or proven.  But if it turns out that Lubitz was a Muslim convert and made his last act an act of a jihadist murderer, I hope that news media have the courage, and more importantly, the integrity to print the truth.  The religion of Islam, we are constantly being told, is a peaceful religion.  The news media constantly pounds us with this idea as the Islamic attacks and bombings happen one after another.  Many Islamic nations are in turmoil, while many nations around the world to which Muslims have immigrated are now in turmoil as well, largely as a result of Islamic activism and illegal activity.

I hope it turns out that Andreas Lubitz was mentally twisted, that he chose to commit a very spectacular suicide.  I also hope, though, that the news media will tell us the truth if it should be true that Lubitz converted to Islam then committed a suicide mission of mass murder to show his zeal for Allah.  We have the right to know, either way.  There are many influential people and media that will attempt to portray Islam as a religion of peace and tolerance no matter how long the acts of murder, torture, bombings, and so forth continue.  Was this airplane crash one of the latest acts of jihadism perpetrated against innocent people in the name of Islam?

End of Watch: Patrolman Curtis Arellano, El Paso Police Department - March 18, 2015

The Peace Officer's job is dangerous all the time, no matter what the circumstances.  Death and injury are always just a heartbeat away, and not always because of a criminal's actions.  The very act of wearing a badge can be deadly, as can just showing up for work.  And so can "routine" operations such as funeral escorts.  It is my sad privilege to honor and show my gratitude to Officer Curtis Arellano, El Paso Police Department, who died during one such routine operation.

Patrolman Arellano was killed when his police motorcycle collided with another vehicle at North Yarbrough Drive and Edgemere Boulevard while escorting a funeral procession through the intersection.  Another patrol officer had stopped all traffic at the intersection in advance of Officer Arellano's approach at the head of the funeral procession.  As the motorcycle patrolman drove through the intersection, and while the other officer was signaling for all traffic to remain stopped, a vehicle approached the intersection and entered it against the officer's signal.  In the collision, Officer Arellano was thrown from his motorcycle and suffered severe injuries.  Although transported immediately to a nearby hospital, Officer Arellano, a ten year veteran, succumbed to his injuries.

Rest in Peace, Officer Arellano, your watch here is over as you join your brothers and sisters in blue somewhere in a better place.  May the Good Shepherd hold and comfort your wife and young son, and your parents...as well as your fellow officers at El Paso PD.




 

Just Pull Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps

So easy to say to someone, and I have said it myself.  I have also heard it myself, from those who cared for me and meant well, but said it anyway.  If you have had people tell you this, maybe repeatedly. you are probably a sufferer with me.  If so, I hope I have never told you to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and "just deal."  No one needs to tell you or me to do that...you and I, my friends, do that every day.  Some days the bootstrap is hellishly long, some days not so bad.  But if you see me and I seem down, can you just please say I care for you, I hope you feel better soon...whatever.  Just don't tell me to pull myself up by my bootstraps.  If you see me at work, I can promise you I HAVE ALREADY PULLED MYSELF UP BY THE DAMNED BOOTSTRAPS.  If you did not see my name in the Obits in today's paper, or those "online," then I indeed pulled myself up by my bootstraps for one more day.  And yes, I DID JUST DEAL, too.

Some days are good, some are better, and some days are an eternity that changes hour by hour.  And "luckily" for me someone will sooner or later tell me, "man, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and..."   By this time I have waved and walked on.  I know he or she meant well.  One of the bad things (or good things - it changes, you see) about this thing my friends and I carry is that it does not have visible signs, other than maybe a not quite so bright smile or a not so quick greeting.  There are no crutches or wheelchairs, no walking canes with bright red tips, that let others know we are chronically ill.  Because of the lack of obvious "signs," no one knows I have this burden, and so when I am "down" or otherwise less than cheerful, someone will eventually tell me, "aww, c'mon...pick yourself up by your bootstraps, and just deal."  Yes, right on cue.

John Denver wrote a song that was both about his lost marriage and his soul's unhappiness, which I think now was depression gone untreated.  John said:

Some days are diamonds, some days are stone
Sometimes the hard times won't leave me alone

Sometimes a cold wind blows a chill in my bones
Some days are diamonds, some days are stones.

John Denver summed it up well.  There is no logic or system in it...some days are diamonds, some days are stone...and very often it is the same day.  And sometimes there is no reason for those feelings.  Blessings can be counted, happy songs can be sung, and friends can be around.  I guess in a way it can be compared to someone who suffers with asthma.  With modern treatment, that person goes through most days without any problem, because the daily dose of "meds" controls the symptoms.  Except for those times when the meds DO NOT control the symptoms.  The asthmatic is suddenly unable to get a breath of air, and I believe, for a few seconds, may feel some degree of panic.  But, the person then pulls a rescue inhaler from his pocket or her purse, breathes in the medicine, and soon normal breathing is restored.

No, I am not saying that chronic depression is as acutely life-threatening as a sudden asthma attack, please understand.  I am saying that unlike with an asthma attack, there is no "rescue inhaler" for depression.  Depression can rob the sufferer of many of life's pleasures, and can be just as "terminal" as any deadly cancer that persists no matter what measures are used to stem its growth.  I sympathize anyone who suffers from chronic depression, and I promise to work in all earnestness to never say those words, "c'mon, just pull yourself up by your bootstraps."  I can tell you that my poor fingers are quite sore from tugging on the old bootstraps so many times, and so many times more than just once a day, when the day is a stone instead of a diamond.
 

Today In US History - Abraham Lincoln's Second Inauguration

On this day in 1865, President Lincoln was inaugurated to his second term in office, thus sealing his fate, his death at the hands of John Wilkes Booth.  I have often wondered how long Mr. Lincoln would have lived had he left office after only one term.  On the other hand, from what I have read about this great and determined man, it was obvious that he would never dream of leaving the office while the War Between The States raged on.  President Lincoln, often seen by many, including many historians, as a champion of the anti-slavery movement, said that if he could preserve the Union by freeing all the slaves he would do so.  What is downplayed by many is that Lincoln, in the same sentence, said that if he could only preserve the Union by maintaining slavery as an institution, he would do so.  Ultimately, President Lincoln said he would rather die than see the Union torn apart.  In this sentiment, the President would later be joined by other great leaders, especially John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I believe that President Lincoln, like the future President Kennedy and the preacher Martin Luther King, Jr., may have had some inclination, some premonition, if you will, that his great mission would only be accomplished at the cost of his own life.  Like John Kennedy and Dr. King, President Lincoln was warned by his friends and staff that many people were angry with him because of his policies and his actions as President.  And some of his enemies were angry to the point that they would be satisfied with nothing less than his death.  But President Lincoln stayed straight in his course, followed his plan of action, and saw this nation through the most tragic and trying events of its short existence.  As the winter of 1864 turned into the spring of 1865, it was clear to all that the Confederacy was beaten and the war was all but over.  And the President, tired from the strain of four long years of war, but satisfied in the knowledge that the fighting would soon be ended, decided to go to Ford's Theatre on that fateful evening in April.  Before the play was half over, the President was slain and one of the largest manhunts in US history was organized.  John Wilkes Booth was later arrested and hanged for the President's murder.

So today in 1865, President Lincoln assumed the presidency for a second time and began his short walk into immortality.  Would there have been war in 1861 if President Lincoln had not been elected in 1860?  Would the war have been shorter, or longer, under a different president?  If the President had lived, would there have been a Reconstruction?  Would it have been as severe?  We will never know the answers to those questions, but we can appreciate the trials and the pains President Lincoln faced.  And we can be grateful that President Lincoln took the course he did...at the cost of his life, he saved this nation.  His blood fell on top of that shed by other Americans, both Union and Confederate soldiers, he and they sacrificing all to save our America.