“We hold these truths to be self evident…”

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

“Our Father, who art in heaven….”

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.”

Greetings Loyal Airmen.  This week our topic is the power of words and believe us, it is a power we are intimately aware of.  Thus we thought it only fitting to begin our Flight Log with Norman Rockwell's beautiful interpretation of one of our country's fundamental rights, THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH.  The Air Chief chose this particular topic this week to underscore a reality of life, no freedom is ever safe in perpetuity, it mus be cared for daily and protected with constant vigilance.  As history has shown us time and time again, any people who take their God given liberties for granted will one day lose them.  Amen.

Tomorrow, Sat 24th Sept, we begin BANNED BOOKS WEEK.   Yes, we know its an odd sounding idea for a week of national recognition and we urge all of you to visit their website on-line at (www.bannedbooksweek.org/) to learn more about this important theme.  The Air Chief would guess most of our Loyal Airmen are unaware that to this very day, censorship is still a threat that is constantly rearing its ugly head in schools and libraries across the land.  Small minded souls attempting to curtail the freedom of speech through whatever means they can devise, all in the guise of serving the general good of the community.  Did you know books like “To Kill A Mockingbird” and certain Sherlock Holmes stories were banned in American at one time or another?  Pretty frightening when you think about, and that's all true.

               
                           Ron Fortier – Writer

The Air Chief has a personal stake in this issue, as all you Loyal Airmen know.  We love words, we love their beauty, their poetry, their ability to educate us, to move us and to make us better by firing our imaginations and making us think.  There is a power in words and one we never take lightly.  When used to spread lies, gossip and evil, words can topple governments, destroy lives.  When used to declare the truths of the heart, they can raise up souls, dispel the darkness of ignorance and prejudice and raise up human nature to a grand nobility of love and self-sacrifice.  Words.  It's how you use them.

Finally, a perfect way to close out this week's Log is to remind you all that the Air Chief will be appearing tomorrow (24th Sept) at Gryphon Games & Comics here in Fort Collins, Colorado, located at 2020 S.College Ave. Unit B (between Drake & Prospect streets) between 11 am & 2 pm.  We'll have copies of our latest title, “Ron Fortier's Tales of the Macabre”, all our Mr.Jigsaw issues and a few other surprises.  We hope to see many of our comic book pals there to help us celebrate the freedom of speech, in all its glories.

“I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Ron – Over & Out!