Seniors of Anarchy:

Times must be getting difficult for seniors in Palo Alto, California, as a man estimated to be 65 to 70 years of age successfully robbed a Wachovia bank. He made his robbery and getaway while in an electric wheelchair and was last seen heading in the direction of El Camino Real, with his legs bandaged and his right one sticking straight out. No word on the type of wheelchair, or whether or not it was supercharged.

It Ain’t All Bad News:

Thomas Mitchell, a mechanic and substitute bus driver from Clarksville, Tennessee, noticed Verna DeSpain struggling to get a wheelchair down her steps and could not stop thinking about it. He volunteered his time, spent a few months on design, recruited a few friends to help him, secured a donation of materials from Lowes, and in three hours constructed a ramp for Lydia DeSpain, a ten-year-old girl confined to a wheelchair, and now her mother Verna no longer has to struggle to get her daughter out of the house. Mitchell challenges others to do the same and says there is no greater feeling.

Founding Wisdom:

I don’t know about y’all, but this quote is looking strangely familiar:

“When all government, in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the Center of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated.” –Thomas Jefferson

Moment in Time:

7:30 AM, April 22, 2008

No Sane Man.

Two guys have just gone to work and started their shift; it isn’t a normal job, and while it doesn’t pay much, it demands much effort and dedication. They have traveled great distances, both geographically and intangibly, from different worlds to this moment in time, one in which they will forever be linked together in an incident of which an Iraqi policeman said, “…no sane man would have stood there and done what they did.”

Jordan Haerter and Jonathan Yale are two Lance Corporals in the Marines, who have just begun their watch guarding a compound in Ramadi that houses Marines, Iraqi soldiers, and policemen. A blue Mercedes truck barrels towards them, its intention obvious to anyone watching it. Everyone takes cover, but not these two, and for their actions on this day, they will eventually be awarded Navy Crosses at a ceremony in which their families must accept the medals for them.

“If that truck had made it into the compound, there would’ve been a lot more casualties. They saved everyone’s life here.” – Lance Corporal Benjamin Tupaj

Contrary to the Iraqi policeman, they were sane men, who accessed the situation, ignored the risk, and consciously made the decision to stand their ground in defense of others, there is no greater sacrifice.

The WaterCooler is an open thread, so ease on up, wet your whistle, and speak your piece.