Today we celebrate Veterans Day, to honor the millions of Americans who put the well-being of their country before personal gain, and without whom we could not enjoy the freedoms that cannot be bought, no matter how much money we have. This is a good day to remember that the economic problems we face today seem trivial compared to the price paid to defend our ability to experience them.

• War of Independence - 217,000 served, 4,435 dead, 6,188 wounded
• War of 1812 - 286,740 served, 2,260 dead, 4,505 wounded
• Mexican-American War - 78,718 served, 1,733 killed, 4,152 wounded
• American Civil War - 3.2 million served, 215,000 killed, unknown wounded
• Spanish-American War -306,765 served, 385 killed, 1,662 wounded
• First World War - 4,734,991 served, 53,402 killed, 204,002 wounded
• Second World War - 16,112, 566 served, 291,557 killed, 671,846 wounded
• The Korean War - 5,720,000 served, 33,741 killed, 103,284 wounded
• The Vietnam War - 8,744,000 served, 47,424 killed, 153,303 wounded
• Gulf War - 2,225,000 served, 147 killed, 467 wounded
• War in Afghanistan
• War in Iraq

Add to this list the millions of Americans who served behind the lines in our nation's wars, those who fought in the undeclared wars, and those who served in times of peace, equally ready lay their lives on the line at any moment should the need arise.

Thank you, one and all.

On February 29, the loss of a $40 billion contract by Boeing Co. was reported by Peter Cohan on BloggingStocks. Since that time, debate has been quietly rumbling in various spots around the Internet regarding the placement of that contract. Initially, it was expected that Boeing Co. would receive the order but it has instead been awarded to Northrup Grumman and EADS, parent of Airbus, which detractors say puts an unacceptable amount of control and revenue of an American military contract into the hands of a European corporation.

The contact is for the building of refueling tankers which refuel fighter jets while in flight. I have found estimates which claim that the contract value could reach as high as $100 billion dollars, but $40 billion is the media reported estimate. It appears that even though corporate administration of the contract would be taken overseas, at least some of the work would still be performed in America. Additionally, we should consider that major components of these and other military aircraft already originate from foreign manufacturers.

Hard-line protectionists and the union ilk are clamoring for congressional reversal and investigation of the contract assignment, while straight line capitalists and globalists claim that business is business and that all is fair in contract negotiation. So far, I have found no indication that the matter shall be treated by our government as anything other than an ordinary manufacturing contract.

My personal opinion is that it's just a contract, and the United States Air Force has the right to purchase aircraft from whomever they deem fit to provide them in a timely and cost effective manner. Perhaps the matter could be given a cursory review by Congress just to make sure that everything is square, but basically, if there's not an overt reason to suspect some manner of undue manipulation, let's just drop it and let them build some tankers.

What say you?