Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Some random thoughts:
On COVID masks and booster shots:
What is remarkable to me about government mandating the wearing of masks and taking booster shots for the current virus is the complete lack of any sort of risk assessment for the different groups of people affected. Age differences, health differences, whether or not you’ve had the virus, the diverse groups suing government to halt the mandating; all have no impact on government decision making.
Every one of the groups listed above will have a different risk calculation to consider prior to making a decision about ANY medical condition, and should seek a doctor’s advice to aide them in this decision.
After extensive consultation with my doctor, we decided that if; you are over 70 years of age (like some of us), and you have a debilitating medical condition such as myasthenia gravis (like some of us), and you are taking a medication that suppresses your immune system (like some of us), wearing a mask and taking the booster shot is an excellent idea.
On Afghanistan unintended consequences:
The amount of abandoned military equipment left in Afghanistan when we decamped, including small arms, trucks, hum-vees, drones, armored vehicles, helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft with ammunition for the lot boggles the mind. I have listed this under “unintended consequences,”, because no sane military commander would have left this material in an operable state.
While the Taliban may not have the training and expertise to utilize the equipment to its maximum effect, they can easily sell it to the highest bidder.
The highest bidder can and will use it either as it was designed to be used or to disassemble and reverse engineer everything to their own specifications.
If you can’t take it with you, blow it in place.
Sept. 11, 2001 — 20th anniversary:
“Never forget. Never forget. Never forget.”
On Saturday, at ceremonies all across the country we heard these words over and over. The Twin Towers are gone, along with more than 3,000 people. The “Never forget” phrase is only the first part of the mantra. It’s the easiest part. The hard part comes later.
On Aug. 26, the outer perimeter of the airport at Kabul, Afghanistan, was attacked by a suicide bomber in a planned attack. In addition to more than 100 Afghan civilians, 13 American military personnel, including 11 Marines, one Navy corpsman and an Army soldier, were killed. “Never forget.”
The complete mantra is, “Never forget those that died. And never let rest those that killed them.” The hard part is the, “never let rest” piece.
On Aug. 26, 20 years from now, will we be saying “Never forget Kabul Airport?”
Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him:
