Toni and I voted at Chesterton Town Hall. Arriving around 10:15, we found approximately 20-25 people ahead of us. The line extended outside the building, and a nonpartisan candidate for school board stated that it will get longer as the day goes on. The first couple days last week were evidently a madhouse. Everyone, including kids accompanying their mothers, wore masks and obeyed social distance guidelines. One young mother took a selfie with her kid to mark the occasion. Arriving at the table to sign in and obtain the ballot, we were asked to use thin paper to write our signature with our finger on a machine and then sign the envelope with a pen. Four voting machines were in use, and a couple voters seemed to take forever. Since I was voting straight Democrat, all that remained was to vote whether or not to retain judges and vote in a handful of local races. As always, I felt good about going to the polls.
Indiana governor Whitcomb rejected automatic mail-in voting but allowed 28 days for early voting, which is a fairly recent phenomenon. I’ve only done it once, also at Chesterton Town Hall. Our normal election day place, Brummitt Elementary School, has never been crowded, but this year might be an exception.
Red state lineIn Red states such as Texas and Georgia, where the polls indicate close races, Republicans are doing everything possible to make it difficult for nonwhite voters to cast ballots, drastically reducing the number of polling places and drop-off sites. In some places voters waited over five hours. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are rushing through confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Any Coney Barrett, who has refused to recuse herself if Trump contests the election results. She would not even concede that a President cannot delay an election. Republicans are claiming without evidence that Democrats are attacking Barrett’s Catholic faith and warning that Democrats intend to “pack the court” if they gain control of the Upper House.
Congress has voted to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the World War II jungle fighting unit known as Merrill’s Marauders, nicknamed for their commander, Brigadier General Frank Merrill. In 1943 President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave permission for the army to assemble a ground force (officially the 5307th Composite Provisional Unit) charged with a secret mission involving long range penetration operations in enemy territory in Burma (now Myanmar) to cut off Japanese communications and supply lines. The ultimate goal was to capture an enemy-held airfield in the town of Myitkyina. Over a five-month period the Marauders journeyed about 800 miles on foot through heavy jungle and over rugged mountains, along the way fighting five major engagements and 30 minor ones, during which time their ranks were depleted from 3,000 to 200 men still able to fight.
This was part of a three-pronged Pacific strategy to defeat Japan. In addition to the Admiral Chester Nimitz’s’s island-hopping efforts General Douglas MacArthur’s campaign to recapture the Philippines as a location from which to invade the Japanese home island, General Joseph Stilwell (above, with Gen. Merrill, left) advocated opening an air route over the Burma “hump” to supply Chiang Kai-shek’s Chinese forces for their eventual invasion of Japan. Unfortunately, the Chinese leader had less interest in fighting the Japanese than in eradicating Chinese communists.
According to Russ Bynum of the Associated Press, Gilbert Howland (above), 97, one of the few marauders still alive recalled: “It was a hard job, but we did our best.” Sleeping on the ground, down to one K-ration per man a day, soldiers were susceptible to malnutrition and various jungle diseases, including malaria and dysentery. Corporal Howland, in charge of a machine gun unit, was wounded by artillery fire and evacuated to a hospital in India; but when Myitkyina airfield was in danger of being re-captured, he rejoined his outfit. Bynum wrote: "The airfield was thick with mosquitoes, and Howland soon came down with malaria. He remained at his post until he passed out with fever. He was evacuated on a stretcher and flown back to India, then sent home to the United States." Howland remained in the army for another 25 years, serving with combat units both in Korea and Vietnam.
I want to thank Dr Emu a very powerful spell caster who help me to bring my husband back to me, few month ago i have a serious problem with my husband, to the extend that he left the house, and he started dating another woman and he stayed with the woman, i tried all i can to bring him back, but all my effort was useless until the day my friend came to my house and i told her every thing that had happened between me and my husband, then she told me of a powerful spell caster who help her when she was in the same problem I then contact Dr Emu and told him every thing and he told me not to worry my self again that my husband will come back to me after he has cast a spell on him, i thought it was a joke, after he had finish casting the spell, he told me that he had just finish casting the spell, to my greatest surprise within 48 hours, my husband really came back begging me to forgive him, if you need his help you can contact him with via email: Emutemple@gmail.com or add him up on his whatsapp +2347012841542 is willing to help any body that need his help.
ReplyDelete