As is the case many times with my blog, I don’t actively go “out” searching for material to write about; most of the time “it” just seem to find me. It’s usually when my limited concentration is at work with something completely un-related. This is not intended to be my “Easter Message” or the pontification of faith.  The truth is, I originally planned to write about how NASA invented something called a Plasma Torch, which in the end could burn garbage from landfills, and in the process of recycling trash, produce “Syn Gas,” which could then be used to generate energy via a turbine. As it turned out, I was so tired last night, I didn’t write that blog, and on my way over to my desk to write today, “something” else came to me. Welcome back to “The crazy life of Zulu Delta……..”

I guess it’s what “they” call irony. Approximately two years ago, the United States suffered the most monetarily devastating terrorist attack in its Naval History. Is this true? Some of you may be thinking I’m writing  a complete piece of ….er, ah……..fiction. How could that be you say: The United States would have retaliated, or the story would have flooded the news, and stayed in the news, whipped up by the propaganda arm of the American Taliban; talk radio. You want the answer; The story quietly slips away because nobody wants to believe, or acknowledge that the initial single-handed, 30 second act of one moronic adult male, who happens to be a U.S citizen, destroyed one of the world’s most potent military weapons; a one billion dollar naval submarine, The USS Miami; all because he wanted to go home early from work.

Well, that’s what happened. In May 2012, Casey Fury, a worker at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine (which used to be part of New Hampshire) set a box of rags ablaze so he could go home. The fire quickly spread to the forward compartments. It took 12 hours, and hundreds of firefighters to put out the fire. The original estimate of the damage was set at $450 Million. When that cost rose to $700 million due to excessive heat damage on its systems, the Navy made the decision to decommission the vessel, and cut it up for scrap; cutting off 10 years of its life expectancy. The USS Miami was not “done in” by the Russians, Al-Qaeda, or the North Koreans. I don’t suspect the Pentagon “saw that coming.”

Meanwhile, using our time machine (oh really, you don’t think I have one?) to go back a few years ago, the U.S. Navy was getting ready to commission another submarine. Like the USS Miami, this one was to be named after a U.S. city; Corpus Christi. There were objections. “How, or why could the United States name a decisive weapon of mass destruction after Corpus Christi which is latin for Body of Christ?” some asked. Jesus Christ being the prophet, and pacifist who urged his followers to find “more peaceful ways” to coexist with each other; even their enemies. The Navy made a last-minute change, and now called the sub “The City of Corpus Christi.”

What’s disturbing is that while Fury’s actions were dangerous, ill-conceived, and destructive, they were probably too dumb/ignorant to be a conscientious  terrorist attack. Although the end results were devastating to the safety, well-being, and psyche of a ship’s crew, civilian workers, and the U. S. Navy,  Fury proceeded to do what no terrorist or “enemy” nations before him could; destroy an extremely valuable military asset of their enemy. 

I am not advocating one religion over any other, and my own personal beliefs may vary to what is written here, but according to biblical reference, Jesus Christ was a man of peace whose methods would influence so many that one of the most powerful bodies in history; the Roman Empire would ultimately be transformed forever, and his followers would come to make up the worlds largest religious denomination.

Regardless of religious affiliation, or country of origin, the next time you’re thinking; “I’m up against the most powerful entities known; what affect can one person implement to make a change in this world?”

First, decide if you want to make things better, or worse.