Two days ago, I was mindlessly perusing the poor selections of DVD's strategically place by the registers in the CGES, patiently waiting to purchase an over priced turkey wrap that was delivered "fresh" that morning from the Base's WheelHouse. (I don't make it a habit to eat at the CGES or WheelHouse because of the high jacking prices. I do make exceptions when the demands of the work schedule deem it necessary to save precious minutes of the work day.) My attention was diverted while debating the cost of purchasing "Blades of Glory" for $19.98 from the CGES, or the time/gas/DVD cost of purchasing "Blades of Glory" from Target. I over heard Two kids, still suffering the remnants of puberty in the form of sporadic facial blemishes, dressed in sweat soaked physical fitness gear, stout in stature with cropped hair and a muscular physique normally found in the newly graduated, militant sculpted "boots", conversing of upcoming holiday leave, travel and the TSA lines in the Airports. The common sound bytes of this conversation were exchanged between the two, until one of them stated something along the lines of "Our Military ID should get us passed security gates / We shouldn't have to be searched because we are in the Military" IE bring back racial profiling... Blades of Glory didn't seem so interesting any more...
What events that have occurred in my 30 years of memories and how have they effected my socialism or thought process. In 1986 my entire junior high school was gathered in the auditorium as most of us experienced our first live loss of life as the First School Teacher in Space passed away in the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster. My memory renders about three years of silence broken by the Battle of the Bay Earth Quake 1989. President Bush "41" addressed the nation after the first strikes of Desert Storm in 1991 forcing me to ask my first infatuation, Michelle Scott, to accompany me to the movies and become my first girlfriend before the "Mother of All Wars" changed the United States way of life. In 1992 the vigilante residing in side me reared his head and asked dad if we could load our hand guns and riffles into the Old Chevy and head to Los Angeles to provide support to the struggling law enforcers during the LA Riots. On Nov 22 1997 I experienced the first death of a musical icon that I admired, Michael Hutchence. He was found hanging by a belt in his Sydney Hotel ruled, but still questioned, as suicide. The images of WTC Towers collapsing in 2001 out shadowed all of the examples above (no links or images needed).
Each of these events have a common thread that associates them very closely. It’s the pain that arrives with loss. In all of life's endings we search for closure, reasoning, understanding and mostly comfort. It's a process, but before the peace of closure is found, blame has been issued out on an epic scale much like the multitudes of credit card applications that flow through the US postal service on a weekly basis. In all the instances above we could blame God... But that doesn't do much for those that do not believe in an existence of a higher power or those that hold strong in God's understanding. We could blame people, but that includes you and me. We weren't responsible for any of that right? Let's narrow it down a little more... We could blame engineer's for failing bridges and shuttles. Structures weaken over time and bridge giving 32 years of service, enduring the sea spray and bay winds that would even wear down Davy Jones, is pretty good... We will never board a Space Shuttle, so that confronts us little. Maybe someone did kill Hutchence, but we rationalize by thinking "Crazy fan or rival... I don't have any of those... Well there is that guy at work" Now there is a little room for prejudice toward race or culture. Large groups of people that we have no association with are blamed. "Black people" started the riots in LA and "all the Middle Easterners" continue to fuel the wars of the world with the "Jihad" raised against western civilization.
How can people become so blind? Groups are comprised of individuals. One individual associating with another individual that has similarities in culture, race, beliefs, etc. initiates the grouping. Why can't people see that the core foundation of any group is the individual? The LA Riots were sparked by the anger and tension that was built up and released in the form of looting and arson by individuals. The individuals that participated in the riots did have something in common. They were pissed off... Then once riots broke out other individuals with out regard for common decency, respect, or the welfare of others jumped on the band wagon. It wasn't a "Black Thing"... It was an Individual thing. Individuals with these tendencies are found in all groups regardless of race or religion.
For over half a decade now, almost every “Terror Alert” that has been issued by The United States Department of Homeland Security has been accompanied by pictures of Middle Eastern men with dark skin, long frayed salt and pepper beards, and turbans on top of their heads. These pictures have been burned into our television screens and our minds as the United States actively engages terrorist cells that threaten the American way of living. Contemporary America has recently designated the term “Racial Profiling” for men and women of Middle Eastern decent. Watch the suspicions of travelers rise when person of Middle Eastern decent boards a crowded airplane. Since September 11, 2001, Middle Easterners have become the whipping culture for any terrorist attacks or activities that occur. Have the citizens of the United States forgotten that Middle Easterners are not the only terrorists that have harmed our country? American Citizens need to remain vigilant and look past racial profiling. White male Americans have been known to create or participate in terrorist activities against the United States of America.
A white American terrorist was born May 22, 1942 in Chicago Illinois. This white terrorist graduated from Harvard, continued his education, and earned a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Michigan. In May 1978 his first act of terror was executed in the form of a crude amateurish bomb that missed its mark. Over the course of the next 18 years this American terrorist would refine his tactics, sophisticate his bombs, and eventually become a murderer. On April 3, 1996 Ted Kaczynski was arrested in Colorado, the thirty eighth state of the fifty United States of America. Kaczynski’s terror attacks claimed the lives of three Americans and wounded another twenty eight. Ted Kaczynski was better known as the Unabomber.
On April 19th 1995 an Oklahoma City a federal office building becomes the grounds of the second largest terrorist attack inside of US boarders. More than 160 people died, 800 people were wounded, and over 200 buildings were damaged when a rented moving truck, packed with more than 4000 pounds of ammonium nitrate and nitro-methane, exploded while parked outside of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
Minutes after the explosion, sketches of Middle Eastern men were broadcast throughout international news, and several terrorist groups were targeted. Three white males were convicted for the Oklahoma City Bombing. The white terrorist planned the bombing was born in New York State and grew up regularly attending Catholic services. Later in his life he served the United States of America under the Department of the Army. During his Army career he attended a leadership classes, became an accomplished 25mm gunner, was seen as an ideal solider, awarded the bronze star during his tour of duty in Desert Storm, and attempted to become a Green Beret. This “All American” terrorist was Timothy McViegh.
More recently, Suleyman al-Faris was captured in Northern Afghanistan on November 25, 2001 and held in Mazar-e Sharif. On November 25, 2001 Suleyman al-Faris and hundreds of other captives started an uprising in the Mazar-e Sharif compound. That up rising claimed the first American that was killed in combat after the invasion of Afghanistan. After seven days, the Northern Alliance was able to regain control over the uprising. Suleyman al-Faris was later identified by military medical personnel as an American citizen. Suleyman al-Faris has returned home to California, now in Victorville prison, and prefers to be called Hamza Walker Lindh. 
Commonly referred to as “The American Taliban”, John Phillip Walker Lindh was born on February 9th, 1981 in Washington DC and moved to California at the age of 10. As a teenager, this white male American, converted to Islam and began his travels to the Middle East. In the spring of 2001 John Walker Lindh entered into Afghanistan where he was recruited by an Islamic militant group based in Pakistan called, “Harakat ul-Mujahideen” ("HUM"). Walker began his terrorist career training with HUM, and ended his terrorist career fighting along side the Taliban in Afghanistan. Paragraph 3 of the “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. JOHN PHILIP WALKER LINDH, a/k/a “Suleyman al-Faris,” a/k/a “Abdul Hamid,” affidavit charges Walker with the following: “ (1) engaging in a conspiracy, while outside the United States, to kill nationals of the United States outside of the United States, namely, United States nationals engaged in the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2332(b); (2) providing, attempting to provide, and conspiring to provide material support and resources to designated foreign terrorist organizations, namely, al-Qaeda and Harakat ul-Mujahideen ("HUM"), in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2339B and 2; and (3) engaging in prohibited transactions with the Taliban, in violation of Title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, Sections 545.201 and 545.204, Executive Order # 13129, Title 50, United States Code, Sections 1702 and 1705, and Title 18, United States Code, Section 2.”. John Walker Lindh, “The American Taliban”, was born a white male American, spent the majority of his life growing up in American cities, and is fluent in the English language.
White male Americans have played major roles in the history of terrorism in the United States of America. Until the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, white male American’s were responsible for the largest terrorist attack inside the United States boarders. America will remain vulnerable if the Americans remain distracted focusing all “terror alert” attention on Middle Easterners. 
As a society, Americans should be thankful that racial profiling is not practiced at security check points. A white American male terrorist would be quick to emerge if white male Americans were able to bypass random car searches or airport security screenings. The next time I have to endure a full security screening at an airport I will find comfort. Our civil servants did not let the Middle Eastern looking man freely pass through the check point to be politically correct, but they search me to protect America from the next white male American terrorist.
Thank God an ID or the race of an individual will not allow "Security Check Point Exempt" status. It stops the Kaczynski's, McVeigh's, and Lindh's from endangering other individuals.
Life can been extremely complex... I wish it was like a constant complex bold full bodied wine, always warming and cheering, but we aren't always that lucky... When your wine turns to vinegar, make an appointment with the kitchen sink to drain the decanter of its foul contents, and start the harvest process over again... The turned out wine may last a short time, but the long arduous process of the harvest can sometimes bring the best memories."
For those of you out there living in the Norfolk Area and looking to wind down the work week in a relax atmosphere, John Hoffler will be performing acoustic sets at 