Cynthia and I completed the 15 hour conceal carry class last weekend.  Cynthia got my attention with her shooting. Using a .45 caliber Kimber automatic, she shot a 4" pattern with 24 shots at the center of the target and the bridge of the nose being the objective for the one high round.

 By: Vic Currier

I know several “decorated” heroes from different branches of service; Army Rangers, 5^th Special Forces, SOG groups, 82^nd Airborne, Navy SEALS and the like.  I’m not sure just how many I know - but it’s a bunch.  It is not very often that you are asked by a fellow Veteran to review his military record and make a comment or two.  My friend, and former Congressman Steve Pearce, a candidate for the 2010 U.S. House of Representatives, District 2, from New Mexico – asked me to do just that; in part because we were stationed at the same base in Vietnam “…back when…” and in part, because he wanted a second set of eyes to set the record straight about a subject he keeps to himself – the way most heroes do. 

Going to war was not my idea.  I drew a low draft number and entered ROTC in order to finish college.  I was not one of the anti-war types and never considered fleeing to Canada to avoid the draft or serving.  It was just not my first choice of careers when I finished college.  But I was called and I did my duty.

After graduating from UPT (Undergraduate Pilot Training) at Reese AFB, Texas, I received orders to fly C-130’s in Southeast Asia for 18 months.  Arriving in mid 1971, my orders would carry me thru the end of 1972 in the war zone. 

About March of 1971, the 774^thSquadron, the last squadron of C-130’s at Clark AB where I was stationed, received word that we would be deactivated and that our planes would be returned to the US.  All of us would receive orders to new assignments. Our war duty would be ended.  The news was greeted with a mixture of relief and sadness.  No one likes to be exposed to the hazards of war but the thought of being back in the states while the war and our mission was still going on left one a little empty. 

A Report by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation

The American Power Act proposed by Senators Kerry of Massachusetts and Lieberman of Connecticut is the latest attempt to cap American carbon emissions through new federal legislation. However, Kerry-Lieberman is unique from previous efforts by also proposing a new gas tax on the transportation sector. American families and workers will pay this new climate-related tax on the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel they use to drive and ride in their cars, trucks, tractors and planes. This report documents the cost of this proposed Kerry-Lieberman gas tax.

Past attempts at federal climate legislation have struggled with how to cut carbon emissions from the transportation sector. A cap-and-trade approach used on industrial facilities is not ideal for transportation emissions, essentially becoming a complicated indirect tax on fuels. Kerry- Lieberman takes the direct approach of assessing a fee on transportation fuels linked to their carbon content.