See the Upside

My hometown NFL team "earned" the first draft choice in the upcoming draft. The Tennessee Titans were the benchmark for futility this season in professional football. If losing fourteen of seventeen games this season is not a strong selling point for purchasing thousands of dollars worth of personal seat licenses, I do not know what is. When a team has not been competitive, it can only go up from there, unless of course, the team is just as bad going forward, or possibly even worse (Could the Titans go O-17?). You want to commit big bucks to be at the new stadium in person, don't you? 

Heed the Warnings

If your location is under a winter storm advisory, do not leave the safety of your house unless absolutely necessary. When I was in college, I did not live on campus but drove to class. We had an ice storm warning, but I had exams and was determined not to miss them. On my drive to school, at a stop light, I attempted to brake on black ice I could not see, and my four-wheel drive Jeep Wagoneer lost control and careened across five lanes and onto a median. It stopped just before I hit utility poles. I was amazingly lucky traffic was light, and my vehicle did not hit anyone. I was able to extricate the SUV from the little traffic island it landed on, arrived at campus, and found classes had been canceled due to the weather. I risked my life, health, and safety for NOTHING. Don't be as dumb as I was at eighteen. During this ice and snow, stay home! 

Even the Strong

Elite soldiers are just as vulnerable to post-traumatic stress disorder as ordinary troops, perhaps even more, with their high operational tempo and exposure to more combat than most service personnel. There needs to be ample resources allocated to these special forces types to ensure they have all the psychological support they require, and beyond routine after action reports, they should have evaluations of their mental state periodically to see if they would benefit from counseling, psychiatric treatment (where appropriate), and/or extended rest and relaxation before sending potentially damaged fighters back to the fighting. 

Trip to Egypt

Those investigating the New Orleans massacre need to look into the assailant's reported recent visit to Egypt. He may not have been directed to attack, but obviously, he was not dissuaded. It is possible that he was not inspired by interaction abroad to act against his fellow Americans during his sojourn but that must be ascertained through investigation of the attacker's travels. 

Domestic Terror Strikes

An American citizen, even a military veteran, might be persuaded by some foreign entity to stage an attack against his fellow Americans. This seems to be the case in New Orleans, where a turncoat murdered folks he did not even know, in service of world jihad. The local authorities could have made better preparation to stave off such an event, but failed to do enough to block vehicle traffic, permitting a traitor and fanatic to launch his killing spree. Not every terrorist assault can be prevented, but with proper defensive techniques, their evil attempts might be thwarted or the damage at least mitigated. 

Somehow Not Terrorism

A vehicle ramming pedestrians took place in New Orleans. At least ten are dead so far, and more than thirty injured, but  the female lead FBI investigator already declared the assault was "NOT" terrorism. As of 8:15 Central Time (just now as I compose this), she was just contradicted by her superiors who say the slaughter was actually a terrorist event. By the nature of the event, it seemed immediately obvious that it was indeed terror.