The story of the two boys, Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby, kidnapped by Michael Devlin in Missouri, is in all of the news broadcasts these past few days. A couple of facts in all of it seemed to jump out at me.

The police were on the ball, following down leads. How many white pickups are there in the St. Louis area? They persisted and found the needle in the haystack.

Shawn and his parents never lost hope nor the will. He said that it was the knowledge that they were still actively searching for him despite the years that kept him going. They persisted and the outcome rewarded them. I wish I knew them better.

It made me remember a story that we were forced to learn when I was a Plebe at the Naval Academy many years ago (Class of '58). It is called “A Message to Garcia”. “The world cries out for such: he is needed, & needed badly- the man who can carry a message to Garcia.” See the whole article at: http://www.birdsnest.com/garcia.htm. Rowan persisted and did what was needed.

Hubbard's article was popular enough to spread all over the world to many types of enterprises. And it is over a hundred years old. The police and Shawn's parents must have read it, too. They persisted and did what was needed.

A recent blogging exchange (http://heidenhamer.blogstream.com) concerned our Presidents in time of war. It started the thought processes about all of them.

Of course, Washington was the first. And he was the aggressor in that war. Not that he nor the war were wrong. And it is hard to say who started it. But the British were the established government and we were in revolt.

In 1812, we were definitely attacked. Madison was obviously the good guy.

The Mexican-American War was politically not one of our better moments. It gave us lots of good real estate but President Polk was probably not the good guy in this one.

Was Lincoln the aggressor? I am a Virginian and that war around here is sometimes rightfully called the War of Northern Aggression. Not that Lincoln was wrong nor that slavery, division of our United States, and the Articles of Confederation were right, but Lincoln did invade. The Confederacy just wanted to be a peaceful country unto itself.

The War to End All Wars. We were definitely not the bad guys in that one, nor was President Wilson. But, were we attacked?

WWII. Roosevelt was definitely not a bad guy in that one. Japan attacked and Germany declared war.

North Korea did invade South Korea. There was a treaty and the UN did get us into this one. I do not think Truman (one of my very favorite presidents) was wrong here.

Vietnam was not one of our shining hours. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was a sham. None of the Presidents during that time were the good guys.

Neither Grenada (Reagan) nor Panama (Bush 41) attacked us.

First Gulf War (Bush 41) was the result of Saddam's attack on Kuwait with whom we had a treaty. He was not the bad guy in this one.

Second Gulf War (Bush 43) is the one up for debate, now. I think he is wrong but we will have to wait fifty years for the final verdict.

My Scientific American has news about Neanderthals and their relationship with us. In my wandering (wondering) mind, that brought up the question: would they go to Heaven?

I do believe in Adam and Eve. There are a couple of Adam and Eve's, in fact. The biological ones that go back to the origin of our genes, the female and male homo sapiens that all of our genes can be traced to.

The biblical one, also. I say they were the first critters to have a soul. And that means the first to have a conscious interaction with God. The first to pray? Somewhere in the millenia past, Adam came back to his cave and said to Eve, “Honey, I just discovered God and talked to him.” And then he gave his rib (heart) to her and explained his deepest thoughts and beliefs.

Were they homo sapiens? Probably. Adam and Eve would have to have the brain power to not only be aware of themselves (that is about the intellect of a human three year old) but be one step higher and aware of their place in the universe and one step higher still to be consciously aware of and able to communicate with God. A chimp may be self aware and, somewhere in the back of his chimpy brain, probably is aware, like most other animals, of God. But not consciously.

Could Adam and Eve have been Neanderthal's? Possibly but not likely. They cared for their sick and wounded. Buried their dead with tools and food for their trip to the happy hunting ground. The science publications seem to say that they did not have the ability to imagine or see esthetic concepts, however. Things like decorating themselves or painting their caves. It does not seem to me that they would make it all the way to that third step of being consiously aware of God and communicating with him.

If we go to Heaven, will there be Neanderthals there? It is difficult to picture Heaven without puppies and butterflies and robins. Neanderthals possibly in that category. But not in the category of critters like us who do have souls.

This morning's (Sunday's) talk shows, which I look forward to all week, had interviews with and discussions about several of the Presidential candidates. And each was judged on terms of being a liberal or a conservative.

As for me, I would rather just be me. I do not want to be a liberal or a conservative, neither a Republican nor a Democrat. Maybe, I do not want to be an Independent, either. When you acquire a label like that, folks expect you to fit the mold. The labelled person expects himself to fit the mold. If I say myself to be a liberal and I hear the news folks talk about a liberal candidate or platform, I would think I should agree with it. What I think or believe in comes from my brain, not whether I am part of any group. I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.

As a science teacher, it was always important to make certain that the student knew that every finding must be without bias. A scientist takes the data at its face value. Makes the conclusion fit the data, not the other way around. I want to make certain that I judge, vote, write to my Congressman, on the information I glean and not which camp I put myself into.

The “Surge”. What a fuss. And which of our lawmakers is genuine or which is pandering the party or the polls. Whom can tell?

Make no mistake, we should not have made ourselves the aggressors (see July 24th entry, "Iraq and the Good Guy"). When we went for our gun first, we changed from a white hat to a dirty black one. When we did that, God and The Right was no longer on our side and the Gods became against us. And, I think President Bush had his own personal axes to grind (as did the CIA and State) which made the morality of the war even worse.

But that was then and now is now. We are in the midst of a bad situation made worse by being on the wrong side of what's right. That does not mean that we abandon the fight. It may make it more costly in lives and treasure, but if you get into a fight, you go the distance. Senator McCain has the right idea. Let's remedy all the mistakes and incompetencies of the past years of this war and get it done right and then let the Iraqi's do themselves in (see July 19th entry, "Lebanon and Israel").