THE
VigilanceVoicev
Dec.
31—Monday—Ground
Zero
Plus
111
SUNRISE
ON
TERRORISM
by
Cliff
McKenzie
Editor,
New
York
City
Combat
Correspondent
News
There
are
dark
spots
on
the
sun.
Some
claim
they
are
related
to
our
weather
changes,
war
and
epidemics.
Sunspots
erupt
viciously,
causing
solar
storms
and
disturbances
in
our
atmosphere.
They
throw
chunks
of
molten
lava
into
space,
and
like
great
storms
at
sea
keep
the
solar
system
in
constant
imbalance.
In
1843,
Heinrich
Schwabe,
noted
regular
variations
in
the
sun’s
activity.
Rudolph
Wolf
followed
his
work,
noting
an
11-year
sunspot
cycle
while
Edward
Sabine
in
England
in
1852
found
a
similar
periodicity
in
magnetic
storms.
Even
the
brave
Galileo
risked
sun
blindness
by
looking
at
the
sun
through
a
telescope
to
answer
the
questions
of
man’s
purpose
on
earth.
I
thought
about
the
correlation
to
Terrorism
and
sunspots
as
I
took
pictures
of
the
sunrise
this
morning.
Terrorism
erupted
in
the
dawn
of
the
new
millennium—a
sunspot
of
horror
in
an
age
when
human
beings’
thirst
for
civilized
union
has
never
been
greater.
It
seemed
anachronistic
to
me
that
such
a
primitive
calendar
of
events
would
be
dictated
by
an
object
93-million
miles
away.
Superstition,
I
thought.
Astrological
bunk.
But
at
the
same
time,
I
was
reminded
what
Mao
Tse
Tung
once
said—“The
iron
guns
of
the
future
are
written
in
the
pages
of
history.”
History
shows
a
cycle
of
violent
eruptions
within
modern
civilization
that
matches
the
11-year
sunspot
cycle.
Whether
the
two
are
linked
in
fact,
is
not
for
me
to
venture
to
guess.
But
I
am
well
aware
that
history
repeats
itself—that
tyrants
come
and
go—that
the
“evil
ones”
are
not
people
per
se,
but
figureheads
of
man’s
and
woman’s
worst
qualities
personified
in
acts
of
horror
and
destruction.
To
pretend
that
the
“evil
ones”
will
be
wiped
from
the
face
of
the
earth
once
we
rid
ourselves
of
bin
Laden,
is
like
pretending
the
sun
spots
will
not
erupt
again,
or
that
great
storms
won’t
ravish
the
earth,
or
that
plagues
and
pestilence
won’t
attack.
Or
that
wars
will
stop
once
the
last
ounce
of
bin
Laden’s
blood
is
drained
from
his
body.
That
message
was
brought
home
when
I
went
to
see
the
movie
with
my
wife
yesterday
called
Black
Hawk
Down.
I
was
excited
to
see
a
war
movie
allegedly
promoting
the
heroism
and
comradeship
of
warriors
bound
to
sacrifice
themselves
for
others.
But
I
had
to
leave
the
theater.
I
felt
sick
to
my
stomach
watching
the
film.
It
was
so
full
of
propaganda,
and
demeaned
the
military
so
badly,
I
was
ashamed.
The
director
and
writers
made
the
warriors
seem
incompetent,
a
disheveled
band
of
men
who
had
little
respect
for
their
chain
of
command,
who
seemed
lost
and
confused
as
to
their
roles
as
warriors.
It
attacked
America’s
fighting
strength,
showing
the
audience
one
debacle
after
another
in
both
command
decisions
and
deployment
of
ground
tactics.
It
was
as
though
bin
Laden
himself
had
made
the
movie
as
a
propaganda
film
to
make
Americans
feel
queasy
and
disloyal
to
its
military.
On
top
of
it
all,
the
wife
of
one
of
the
alleged
heroes
of
the
movie,
is
promoting
her
husband
is
a
scumbag
child
molester.
He
has,
in
fact,
been
convicted
and
is
serving
a
20-year
sentence
for
all
his
horrible
acts.
I
was
terrorized
by
the
movie.
What
made
me
sick
was
the
idea
that
Hollywood
would
think
the
audience
would
buy
into
the
massive
assault
on
American
military
might.
The
supposed
“special
forces”
on
the
ground
were
so
inept
they
didn’t
return
fire,
or
keep
a
wall
of
fire
blazing.
They
were
cast
as
children,
untrained,
undisciplined
hooligans
who
growled
like
animals
and
acted
like
scared
rabbits
under
fire.
Sunspots.
I
thought
about
the
need
in
this
country
to
reestablish
faith
in
our
ability
to
protect
ourselves
and
others
from
Terrorism’s
clutches.
Black
Hawk
Down
erased
any
faith
one
might
have
in
the
armed
forces
to
act
as
a
unified
body.
Instead,
it
politicized
the
fact
that
over
300,000
Somalians
died
at
the
hands
of
ruthless
in-country
dictatorship; and,
showed
how
the
Untied
States
walked
away
from
that
morass
of
political
and
social
carnage,
and
turned
its
back
on
helping
the
helpless.
The
movie
soiled
the
flags
that
fly
in
remembrance
of
the
heroism
of
Nine
Eleven,
or
our
attempt
to
quash
Terrorism
by
throwing
America’s
military
power
at
the
heart
of
Terrorism.
As
we
sit
on
the
cusp
of
a
new
year,
Americans
need
to
reflect
on
their
attitudes
and
policies
to
fight
Terrorism
both
abroad
and
within
the
borders
of
this
country.
The
question
is:
Does
the
sun
shine
on
our
flag,
or
are
the
sunspots
burning
holes
in
it?
Are
we
on
the
right
track
with
a
full
military
effort
to
hunt
down,
find,
and
prosecute
Terrorism,
or,
are
we
engaged
in
a
Black
Hawk
Down
debacle?
Arguments
can
rage
from
both
camps
with
equal
passion.
Some
may
feel
that
our
thrust
to
find
and
kill
bin
Laden
is
like
trying
to
smother
a
sun
spot
in
hopes
another
might
not
flare—and
pound
their
fists
that
bin
Laden
is
only
one
of
many
more
to
come,
rendering
our
efforts
useless
as
they
proved
to
be
in
Somalia
Others
taking
the
opposite
side
of
the
coin
may
shout
that
unless
we
prove
to
the
world
we
will
not
allow
our
nation
or
its
citizens
to
be
attacked
without
retribution,
this
only
opens
the
door
to
more
Terrorism,
and
signals
to
those
who
might
seek
to
intimidate
us
that
we
do
not
have
the
resolve
or
fortitude
to
fight
back
when
attacked.
I
do
not
wish
to
take
a
position
at
either
of
the
extremes
of
this
argument.
My
position
is
that
the
solution
to
Terrorism
lies
within
the
family—the
parents,
grandparents,
uncles,
aunts,
cousins,
nephews
and
nieces.
It
is
on
the
home
front
that
Terrorism
must
be
fought.
It
is
the
solar
storms
of
“fear,”
“intimidation,”
and
“complacency,”
that
Americans
must
focus
their
attention
upon
if
we
are
to
defeat
Terrorism.
To
achieve
this
goal,
it
requires
that
each
parent,
each
citizen
in
this
nation,
become
a
Sentinel
of
Vigilance.
It
means
we
must
all
learn
to
engage
the
“third
eye,”
the
one
some
claim
is
the
pituitary
gland—a
vestige
of
an
“eye
behind
our
head”
once
used
to
see
what
is
coming
from
our
backs.
Vigilance
is
about
the
words
Semper
Vigilantes—Always
Vigilant.
That
means
we
“expect
the
unexpected.”
We
keep
an
eye
to
what
is
in
front
of
us,
and
our
“third
eye”
to
that
which
is
behind
us.
It
means
we
recognize
that
our
children
must
be
protected
from
the
“fear”
of
Terrorism—not
just
the
physical
fear
of
being
attacked
by
a
bomb
or
some
chemical,
but
also
the
“fear
of
fear
itself.”
Human
strength
comes
in
three
forms—courage,
conviction
and
action.
If
we,
as
Citizens
of
Vigilance,
believe
our
true
mission
on
earth
is
to
teach
our
children
and
loved
ones
the
courage,
conviction
and
actions
necessary
to
stand
up
for
what
is
right
in
the
face
of
wrong,
then
Terrorism
will
be
defeated.
If
Terrorism
can
not
drive
us
to
our
knees
with
fear,
or
make
us
cower
with
intimidation,
or
force
us
into
a
corner
of
complacency
where
we
throw
up
our
hands
and
stop
trying
to
battle
it,
or
support
its
defeat,
then
our
children
lose
their
rights
to
be
free
from
Terrorism’s
sunspot
cycles.
If
there
is
a
correlation
between
the
solar
eruptions
and
human
madness
of
the
bin
Laden
type,
we
can
expect
our
children
to
face
what
we
faced
on
September
11.
America
was
driven
to
the
wall
with
fear,
and
recoiled
with
strength.
We
learned
a
huge
lesson.
We
learned
to
“expect
the
unexpected.”
We
learned
that
we
“are
not
safe.”
We
learned
that
we
must
prepare
ourselves
and
our
society
for
more
assaults.
We
learned
we
must
fight
back,
not
just
with
flags
and
prayers,
but
with
daily
vigilance.
That’s
why
each
American
who
cares
about
the
future
of
his
or
her
children,
and
their
safety,
should
take
the
Pledge
of
Vigilance.
It
is
nothing
more
than
a
vow,
a
commitment,
an
endorsement
that
one
recognizes
sun
spots.
It
broadcasts
that
we
are
“armed”
and
“ready”
and
“willing”
to
fight
back.
The
great
mistake
Terrorists
make
in
attacking
a
democracy
is
thinking
that
it
is
ruled
by
government.
If,
by
weakening
the
government,
the
Terrorists
can
weaken
the
structure
of
the
society,
Terrorism
wins.
But
America
is
not
about
a
central
government.
It
is
a
composition
of
300
million
democracies.
Each
individual
is
the
government.
Each
individual
is
responsible
for
the
“defense
of
freedom.”
Whether
we
agree
or
not,
each
person
is
a
franchisee
of
the
Untied
States
of
America.
Each
of
us
owns
a
share
in
the
stock
of
our
country.
And
each
of
us
is,
by
the
duty
of
our
Constitution,
is
bound
to
the
principle
of
“revolt”
against
government
if
government
does
not
act
in
our
best
interests.
Our
forefathers
and
foremothers
built
America
on
the
“right
to
revolt.”
We
do
this
in
a
civilized
manner
through
the
election
process,
but,
we
have
an
inherent
duty
to
take
up
arms
and
remove
any
government
which
becomes
oppressive,
or
tyrannical
in
its
use
of
the
power
we
grant
it.
This
is
the
key
point
Terrorism
has
overlooked
in
its
attack
on
America.
We,
as
citizens
of
the
greatest
nation
in
the
world,
are
“freedom
fighters.”
We
have
the
Constitutional
authority
to
speak
our
minds,
to
vote
out
bad
leadership
and
vote
in
better
leadership.
We
have
the
right
to
bear
arms.
To
cross
borders.
To
live
in
autonomy
and
privilege
of
our
rights.
We
are
all
subject
to
due
process.
We
have
a
presumption
of
innocence
until
proven
guilty.
And,
most
importantly,
the
obligation
to
preserve
these
rights
for
our
children,
and
their
children.
Sunspots
should
not
affect
America.
The
solar
disruptions
of
Terrorism
should
be
met
with
Shields
of
Vigilance
by
each
citizen.
That’s
why
the
stronger
we
become
as
one
Voice,
as
one
committed
family,
the
more
we
neutralize
the
effects
of
Terrorism
upon
our
society.
