Al Sharpton and Cuba

So where is the arrest warrant for Al Sharpton? Two police officers are dead in NYC because of his inciting hatred for the police, as demonstrated earlier by his rallies calling for dead police officers,and now the actual killing of them itself. Where is the arrest warrant? If I was still a preacher and I got up and preached against gay marriage and someone went out of the congregation and killed a gay couple because of it, I could be arrested as inciting a hate crime. What makes this any different?If I can be held accountable then why shouldn't he and others like him? So again I ask ; Where is the warrant for his arrest or any other of the mob inciters? Where is the media that should be calling him out on the carpet for this? So far I hear nothing.

So is there we are at America? Are we finally at the point where we are looking at a full blown race war because no one in either community has the courage to speak up and speak the truth? Micheal Brown was a thug who attacked a police officer and got shot and killed for it I have no sympathy for him or any of his supporters.

I do have sympathy for the family of Eric Garner. No one should die over loose smokes. Was it illegal for him to be selling them loose? Apparently it was. Was excessive force used, it seemed like it to me, but I wasn't there. A better option might have been to have him hand over the smokes and be on his way but we will never know.

In both cases race had nothing to do with it. The first one attacked the cop. If he'd been white or green the result would have still been the same. The second was the result of NY charging 15 bucks a pack and an aggressive policy of trying to stop a black market for “loosies” that they created but putting so much tax on them. Still if the man had been white and all the other conditions had been the same he also would be dead. None of this has anything to do with race. It has everything to do with a group of people wishing for nothing but chaos and anarchy and will use any excuse to see it happen. The media loves it because it sells. People like Sharpton love it because it keeps them in business. Mobs love it because it gives them an excuse to loot and burn.

Relationship with Cuba.

President Obama announced last week that we are going to normalize relations with Cuba after 50 plus years of an embargo on that country. He stated that he thought that it was foolish to continue because of events that took place before many of us were even born.

I have two issues with this.

First and foremost ,many Cubans lost their lives or were imprisoned by Castro. Thousands fled to the United States after loosing everything to the communist dictator. This I know on a personal level because my fathers family were among those that lost everything. The way I understand it was that the owned the biggest sugar cane plantations and were quite wealthy and in a moment it was all gone forever.

I was stationed in Cuba ,at Guantanamo, long before it became the familiar name that it is today and we would witness the Cuban army executing anyone who tried to resist them, especially if they tried to get across no mans land to us, and laughed about it as they were doing it.

Yes I'd love to have a nice Cuban cigar but in doing so you are rewarding thugs, which brings me to my second point.

Mr. President, you commented,essentially that we should let it go because it happened long before many of us were born. Well lets take the next logical steps as well. Lets forget about all those Nazi's who killed 13 million people, including 6 million Jews and embrace them back into society,after all it happened long before most of us were even born. Perhaps we should call for the return of the Soviet Union and embrace communist China while were at it because those mass killings and purging happened even before that!

That was probably the silliest reason I have ever heard for ending an embargo, but then you have spent most of your time in office either playing golf or hob nobbling with our enemies so I guess I really can't expect much.

Just my simple minded opinion.

Wilson, Brown And The Use of Deadly Force

In light of all that has happened ,and is continuing to happen, in Ferguson, MO, I have a wonderful idea. It's absolutely brilliant. Why don't we just get rid of all police forces across the country? Lets end local police departments as well as state police,sheriffs and US marshals and leave it to the government to protect us all via FBI,DHS,CIA and other lettered organizations? Hell lets just have the national guard patrol our streets and set up check points on street corners and just blanket everything with security cameras so we can all feel totally safe everywhere we go.

Next, just so we can keep things safe, in all black areas or minority areas we should have nothing but minority forces in place, after all I am certain that a black or Hispanic officer faced with serious bodily harm or death would show the utmost in restraint even as he or she was being pummeled to death buy a drug enhanced ,violent ,gentle giant, who just moments before had tried to hurt them and take their gun and I am sure that the same young man would respect the officer because he is of the same race or ethnic minority and would peaceably surrender to them.

As absurd, and I am sure, offensive, as my suggestion may be, it's no more absurd then the violence and mayhem that have taken place since the verdict was read. The grand jury, which had been in place, as required by the Constitution, long before this incident took place, spent months looking at the evidence and, based on that evidence, concluded that Officer Wilson acted accordingly to protect his own life. Some of you may not like it , but would you have stood by while a man, much larger than you of any color or race, who had just beat on you and attempted to take your gun, just stood by while he finished the job? I am going to guess not.

The real tragedy here isn't that Officer Wilson killed him,though that is a tragedy that it ended that way, it has instead been the media and race baiters that have caused all the problems. If this had been a story of a black officer killing a white suspect or a black on black crime it wouldn't have so much as caused a ripple but because it was a white on black incident people like Al Sharpton, with the help of all of the mainstream media, has taken what was 90 seconds of confusion and chaos and turned it into a media circus culminating in last nights riots.

I have listened for years as talking heads point out how disproportionate the ratio of blacks to whites being incarcerate and arrested is,or they suggest that blacks are more specifically targeted then whites by the police. This is such nonsense. If you are black and you commit a crime, or are suspected, you are going to be arrested. If you are white and commit a crime, or are suspected, you are going to be arrested. The only “disproportion” is that more blacks live in high crime areas than most whites but to suggest it's a simple matter of skin color is ignorant. But for the sake of argument lets say that it is true, that more blacks are targeted than whites, where is that they are targeted? In black neighborhoods where black on black crime is statistically high. Sorry, I don't buy into it being just about skin color.

I grew up as poor white trash in an area filled with French, Scott and Irish. I was arrested several times, just like Mr. Brown, because I committed or was accused of committing crimes while I was a teenager. Most of my friends had been arrested from time to time as well, and a few of them spent time in Juvenile detention as well as state and federal prisons as adults. I had to make some tough choices once I turned 18, I could either continue down that path of drugs and crime, or do something different. I chose the Marines and altered my life completely. The point is none of us were spared because of the color of our skin and all of us had to make choices, some chose to continue and wound up doing hard time,I on the other hand made the tough call a got myself out of it and I have been glad of it.

Mr. Brown had a choice as well, he could have gotten on the sidewalk when he was ordered to or he could have quietly surrendered when Wilson realized that he, Brown, fit the description of a suspect in a robbery, and attempted to arrest him. He chose instead to fight with, and eventually charge at, Wilson and it cost him his life.

Someone said that he shouldn't have been “executed” over a box of cigars. He wasn't. He was killed because he attacked a police officer. That officer used deadly force.

Here is how the use of “deadly force” is defined by the police.

"Use of deadly force" is often granted to police officers when the person or persons in question are believed to be an immediate danger to people around them. For example, an armed man flaunting a firearm in a shopping mall without regard to the safety of those around him, and refusing or being unwilling to negotiate, would warrant usage of deadly force, as a means to protect others. The use of deadly force is also authorized when a person poses a significant threat to a law enforcement officer, usually when the officer is at risk of serious bodily injury or death. In the United States this is governed by Tennessee VS Garner , (U.S. Supreme Court 1985) which said that "deadly force...may not be used unless necessary to prevent the escape and the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious bodily harm to the officer or others."

Mr. Brown had already assaulted him and tried to take his gun. He was ordered to stop and instead of surrendering he called Wilson a “pussy” and charged at him. Considering all the mentioned facts provided by the grand jury and it had been me standing in the officers place, I would have shot him too.

Have their been incidents where the police have abused their power and have committed crimes themselves? Yes. We see it in videos and occasionally in the news but for the most part police officers are dedicated hard working people who have a job that very few understand or can appreciate.

A message for ISIS

A personal message to ISIS though it could easily apply to any terrorist group out there.

I heard three comments that were made over the weekend by some of your pathetic and cowardly leaders. Yes I called you cowards because only pissant wimps hide behind women and children to show how brave they are and somehow believe that they are doing the will of God.

First your vomitus puss filled mouths suggested that you have an appointment in New York, second that are going to fly your flag at the White house and third you don't want us to attack you with drones and bombs you would rather fight us man to man.

Lets address the last thing first. If you want to go mano y mano you have to be a man. You are nothing but pathetic little wimps and truly aren't worth the bullets. Secondly you wouldn't stand a chance against our professional battle tested troops. If we sent the Marines , along with army special forces against you, with the full authorization to eliminate you from existence, you would be soon discover what the real wrath of God felt like as we would rain hell down upon you in a manner unlike anything you have ever witnessed. Seriously you want to go toe to toe with us? We are a people who make games out of killing each other in video and paint ball, among other things, what makes you even begin to think , in the pea brained mind of yours that you could go up against an army that is professionally trained and battle hardened? If you really thought you could ,you had plenty of opportunity, but instead you hid behind women and children and waited for us to leave before you came out of your cave. Personally I think you are worth nothing but a double tap to the head, I wouldn't waste my time with a knife, I would just end your miserable life quickly and humanely unlike what you have been doing to Christians and other minority religions.

Next lets talk about New York. You seem to be under the illusion that New Yorkers are a bunch of wusses and would take this lying down. You are sadly mistaken. Folks in New York will tolerate a lot and you might even get away with an attack once but after that you can rest assured that New Yorkers will hunt you down like the low life dogs that you are and toss you right out into the harbor. Sorry for the insult dogs.

Fly your flag from the White House? Just what makes you think that any of us will let you get that close? I will grant you that many of us here in the United States are very angry with our government and many of us don't particularly care for the policies but that OUR house and not yours. Do you really believe that with our military, various law enforcement agencies, militias and millions of war veterans armed with somewhere around 300 million guns, a people who invent cannons that fire frozen chickens and pumpkins are going to just sit idly by while you just waltz right in? You are out of your puny little minds.

You may, for a bit, get away with some acts of terrorism, but if you start, here in the US, make damn sure you understand that “we the people” will put an end to your miserable carcasses and gladly allow you to find out if there is indeed 70 virgins waiting on you. The people didn't start this fight with you, but we will finish it.

Solution for all border problems.

With all the talk of folks from central America crossing into the US illegally, and all the headaches that have come from that, I am surprised that no one has been brave enough to state the perfect solution to all this; open borders.

Yes, let's just do away with the pesky border down there in the south and let everyone in who wishes to come here. We can just tax all hard working Americans a bit further to provide all the necessary funding to feed and house all the millions that will come, why take care of our own poor and needy, not to mention Vets, when we have so many coming to the border and crossing it illegally. But I'd like to take it even further. I want to remove all borders. That’s Mexico's borders all the way down to the very tip of south America, if we can do it surely the dictators..err... I mean leaders of our fine southern neighbors would be willing to do the very same thing that we are..right? We should be allowed to enter into their countries and demand services and free health care, and because they are so compassionate, they would quickly rush to meet our needs wouldn't they?

Next we have to get rid of those bothersome state lines, and because we would all be a part of one very massive state, we could just eliminate all the state bureaucracies, thus saving tax payers billions of dollars which we could then funnel into programs for all those that are crossing our non existent border! But, then again , if we are going to remove our border, then we really don't need a federal government any more because it's supposed to defend our borders and if it's not, and we remove the border, we will just become a member of a massive border less country ,with everyone from Alaska and Canada down to the tip of south America. We won't need the federal government any more and thus we could do away with the taxes that are paying for all the people coming here...hmmm... that might be a problem for the original agenda. Oh I know, we can set up a quasi government in say, Honduras, that would represent all the needs of every member country,and consequently all those coming over the invisible border, we can let them tax all of us, and I am sure that they would be fair and generous in their taxation of us just like our federal government has been.

Next we have to remove county and town lines and then remove the corresponding local governments as well because, if we don't actually live in towns or a state or a country, then there is really no need for any kind of local government and we can all just fend for ourselves.

The next step would be to remove all doors from our homes because we wouldn't want to actually keep any one out. (This being a reflection of our current border policy) This would cause some discomfort in the north during the winter but we could make an exception allowing for blankets to be hung in doorways so folks still have easy access to what ever is in your house, but then again if we are trying to remove all borders perhaps we should just get rid of all our homes as well and just live in the open or perhaps a lean to. Then there is the problem of clothes as a kind of border.....

Is this silly and stupid? Yup. But so is our current lack of border policy and thousands if not millions will suffer from it.

Just my Simple Minded Opinion.

Iraq Is Lost

Iraq is lost. As an Iraq war vet I can tell you that this has been one of the hardest things to watch as the forces of ISIS tear the country apart and take cities and towns that we once fought over and paid for dearly.

There are few times that I agree with this president about anything but this is one of them. We can't spend ten more years in a country that doesn't comprehend democracy. We can't afford any more American lives wasted in an area of the world where Sunni and Shia have been butchering each other for centuries. Perhaps we shouldn't have pulled out in 2011 with out leaving any kind of contingency force there, but if they can't straighten out their religious differences in a peaceable manner, then no amount of our money, blood or troops would ever be able to fix it. Make no mistake this is a very dangerous religious war that, contrary to political beliefs, is not going to be solved by politics and troops on the ground. The people of Iraq are going to have to do it.

The argument can be made that we should have never been in there in the first place. Saddam Hussein was a dictator but he was no threat to us and if he had really ever attempted to use his chemical weapons against his own again, or any one else, we could have hit him with enough fire power to turn the whole place into one very large parking lot. He knew that, and while he may have tried to bluff a few times after the first Gulf War, he wasn't likely to commit suicide by pushing things too far especially with all our military might surrounding him.

Having said all that, and agreeing that we should have never gone there in the first place, this is going to come back and bite us, and possibly Israel, in the back side.

The first thing that no one in DC seems to get about these folks(Sunnis and Shia) is that they don't share any of our moral or political values. They aren't interested in fairness or equality, they don't care about political correctness or democracy, for them their lives are all about Islam. They live it, and breathe it. It fills all aspects of their lives and controls all, as it has for 1400 years. They are a patriarchal religious society where the men rule with an iron hand and women are treated with contempt and abuse, almost worse than animals, where any one who does not follow the Koran and Sharia is an infidel worthy of death. Even worse here is that this war is over little more than who has the right to be religious leaders in their religion and for that they are willing to massacre each other.

The second thing that no one in DC seems to understand is that they, the Jihadi's, ISIS, the kissing cousins of the Taliban and Al-Quada, want us, as in all Americans, that’s moms, dads, grandma, grandpa, right on down to our newborns, dead because we are the infidels and we don't follow Allah. They want to wipe us and Israel right off the map and they will use whatever means necessary to do so. This is not hear say, as some have tried very hard to suggest, this comes straight from the mouths of their various leaders in the middle east. Our media doesn't report what they say because it doesn't fit with the presidents agenda and his strange PC view of the world, but you can find it in the news and on web sights all over the middle east, including Israel.

So how is this going to bite us?

First; they have control of all the equipment that we left behind, weapons,tanks, missiles, ammunition, plus all the weaponry we have supplying the so called rebels in Syria, the ones that have joined this ISIS movement, as well as the weapons that the Iraqi troops have been dropping. You now have an army of radical Islamic jihadists who are well armed. We won't bomb them with conventional weapons or drones so it comes down to whether or not the Iraqi army can stop them. I don't think they have the will. Unless Iran or someone else intervenes, which could open up another can of worms, Iraq, as we have known it, will fall.

Iraq is also something like the third of fourth largest exporter of oil to us and the world. Consider, if you will, all that oil in the hands of terrorists who now have the firepower to hold on to it or destroy it. Oil prices will skyrocket, gas prices will double and triple almost overnight, everything in our economy that relies on transportation, which is literally everything, will skyrocket in price and the economic structure that we know will collapse and make 2008 look like a pleasant Sunday stroll.

Second they have the will and the determination to attack us here and bring the fight to our streets. They smell our weakness and our lack of will to fight, that’s like blood in the water to sharks. With our wide open borders, with little effort to stop the influx of so called “refugees” coming from many different countries we have the perfect setup for the Jihadists to enter into the country. Add to that the many training facilities and camps that are here in this country, that are known about by the FBI, CIA, DHS among others, that are being allowed to operate by radicals because they haven't officially done anything illegal as of yet, our military being cut and our enemies looking at us with scorn, think China and Russia, and you have just about the perfect storm that is likely going to come crashing down on us soon.

One of the leaders of ISIS told one of his captors, just before he was released from Guantanamo, “I'll see you again in New York” I'm guessing it's not going to be for pizza.

So while I agree that we shouldn't have gone in the first place and I agree that no amount of troops on the ground is going to fix what is an essentially a religious war, I do believe that we should target them with drones and missiles and blow them apart before it becomes too late and restrengthen our military, because for them they are willing to die for Allah and if that means bringing the fight to us here on our streets they will gladly do so.

We have shown them weakness; Make no mistake they will be coming.

VA is Single Payer

Some time ago I, along with others, warned about how bad an idea it was to have the federal government running the the health care system in this country. The example that I used was the VA system which is totally run and funded by the federal government. I argued at the time that based on my own experiences at the VA that this was going to be an unmitigated disaster shoved onto the backs of Americans from a government that can't keep the post office running and has a multitude of inefficient bureaucratic heavy agencies that have all but bankrupted this country.

Now, in the last few weeks, the American public has finally gotten to see, and hear, just part of the nightmare that the VA has become to those of us whose only option is to use one of those facilities.

At last count, and this number seems to grow daily, there are 26 VA hospitals being investigated for everything, including the secret “death lists.”

I personally have not seen these death lists but I can tell you, again, from my own experience, that it certainly seems like they have lists for a whole lot of things.

Here's just one small example. Eleven years ago, right after I returned from my tour in Iraq, and before being discharged I had to have a physical done. In the course of that physical it was determined that I had pieces of bone floating in my foot as well as a cracked knee cap from a rather unfortunate incident with an explosion. There were other injuries as well but for the sake of brevity, I will keep it to the two afore mentioned injuries, and the fall that came with it. As of today nothing has been done about it, even though it was acknowledged in further exams by the VA, in fact it is buried so deep in my records that I have essentially given up on it. While it hurts it's not life threatening.

So, here is my question for you; If the government can't handle the needs of disabled veterans that make up about one half of one percent of the total American population and they go out of their way to hide, and doctor , records, how in the name of Pete do you think they are going to be able to handle 330 million people?They can't, and what you are seeing, courtesy of the VA, is just a small taste of whats to come to everyone.

This my friends is what single payer looks like in the US. I can't speak to other countries medical systems but I do know that our government is too corrupt and incompetent to take on such a massive plan.

Here is another question; if we are spending 158 billion dollars a year on the VA ,which has proven itself to be a bureaucratic heavy entity and has been caught in fraud and massive spending bonuses to failing bureaucracy, this while poorly covering the ½ percent of Americans who have served, what do you think it's going to cost when you add the other 99.5 of the American population to the equation?

This is a government that can't balance a check book and we are willingly giving them 17 percent of the economy to control? These are the people who you want, the people making their revised death lists and waiting lists, to control your health care? Do you really want to wait months or years for medical treatment only to discover it's too late?

This is what the American health system is going to turn into and this is what single payer is going to become. I will agree that we have to do something to fix some of the inequity that has existed in our health care system but handing the control of it over to the government is a recipe not just for fiscal disaster but also physical disaster for all of us who value our health. The VA will prove to be just the tip of the iceberg.  

I am a bigoted,racist homophobe...

I am coming out of the closet today. Or should I say I am being forced out. It would seem that by today's standards, or lack there of, I am a bigoted, racist, homophobe. There I said it, don't we all feel more empowered now?. I wonder if there's an AA type meeting for me somewhere? Probably not, for me nothing short of shutting up, being audited by the IRS or losing the job that I don't have is going to be the only cure.

For those of you who are a bit confused please let me try to explain before you start picketing on my front lawn because I'm not really fond of pitchforks...

Back in the old days say like 6 or 7 years ago I wasn't any of the afore mentioned things. I had a multicultural bunch of friends, my brother had come out of the closet and married his partner almost 20 years ago and I was good with it. My cousin I had known was a lesbian since I was something like thirteen ,which was an incredibly long time ago, but still I didn't take issue with it because it wasn't my problem. Life was good, I didn't hate anyone, though there are certainly people I wouldn't trust with my back to them, but over all I was at peace with the world and it with me.

Something happened though. The definitions of what it is to be a racist or a homophobe seems to have changed.

Back in the dark ages, when I was much younger, and had more hair, there were people that were massively racist. These were people who had no use for anyone that was not white Anglo Saxon protestant. It had nothing to do with what they said or how they dressed or even what they believed. They hated anyone who was not white. Period. End of argument. These were people who were truly racist. If you were black you were nothing but a lazy nigger. If you were Hispanic, you were nothing but a spic or a wetback. These were the kind of people that invented the Jim Crow laws and the KKK. They were true racist.

But in today's PC world if you are critical of anything a black leader ( please note my racism is confirmed by the fact I won't call black Americans “African” as they are Americans and not African) does or says, or you disagree with their political ideology, think President Obama, Al Sharpton or Jessie Jackson, then you are called out on the carpet as being some sort of racist. If you point out the hypocrisy of the news media in reporting only white on black crimes or ignoring Islamic extremism then that makes you a racist and a bigot. So because I have done all of the above over the last few years and have angered some on the left for having the nerve to be critical, I am, by today's definition, a

racist.

That's only part one. Apparently I am homophobic as well.

I didn't used to think that I was, but I discovered that I must be because I have had the nerve to defend the rights of Christians, and others, to believe as they do, and to speak freely about it, based on the first amendment to that pesky constitution of ours. I have defended the rights of the KKK and the Black Panthers to spew out their hateful garbage and for others who disagree with them to shout out louder but apparently that’s not good enough. Apparently if you express any view that might be not PC or that does express your religious point of view concerning gay marriage you are going to be hammered and quite possibly lose your job or position because of it. Or, as in the case of the NFL, you may be forced to go into classes, if you wish to continue to play, to reeducate your mind to PC thinking. Soviet Union anyone?

So I guess that makes me homophobic. I disagree with the notion of forcing people to violate their consciences or causing them to lose their employment simply because they are following their religious beliefs instead of conforming to what they see as being wrong.

Now, for the 4 or 5 of you who might still be reading, I want you to notice something. In all that I wrote I never said that I hated any one nor was I condemning any ones way of life, yet in the PC world what I have written is just enough to label me as a bigoted, racist, homophobe. There are no actual facts to defend such a position but this is what we have come to in this nation.

If you are not for PC or you are critical of something that is PC you are against us and you will pay dearly. That’s what it all boils down to. This is just mt Simple Minded opinion.

HGTV And Tolerance

As many of you likely know HGTV canceled a television show featuring the Benham brothers, twins who have made millions restoring and fixing up houses and “flipping” them. The show was supposed to feature the both of them helping others learn how to fix up and then flip houses, but before it could even air it was canceled. Why? Because they are Christians who have openly expressed their beliefs. First they oppose abortion and they are for traditional marriage as opposed to gay marriage. Wow, now there's a shocker. Two conservative Christians who happen to believe what they have been taught all their lives, and what most Christians actually believe but are afraid to come out and say. So my question to you o gentle reader and to HGTV is this; What does their religious views have to do with teaching others how to flip houses? Not sure I see the connection.

But alas the left wing media took offense and outed them trying essentially to make them look like some kind of monsters and pressured HGTV not to air the show. So much for tolerance.

Perhaps it's a lack of understanding of what the word “tolerance” actually means. From the dictionary: “Tolerance is a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry. a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own.

interest in and concern for ideas, opinions, practices, etc., foreign to one's own; a liberal, un dogmatic viewpoint.”

Funny it doesn't say a thing about us agreeing on anything. To quote “The Princess Bride” “ you a keep using thata word, I donna think it mean what you think it do.” What we actually have here is a serious lack of tolerance for those who think or speak differently from what is considered politically correct.

My cynical side that this is little more than a publicity stunt done by HGTV to try to boost their ratings. Perhaps they noticed what happened with AE over Duck Dynasty or how well Chick Fillet did after they were outed, I don't really know but I am very hard pressed to believe that HGTV had no clue as to what they believed before they even started filming.

So some of you might be thinking so what? The brothers themselves aren't really bothered by it so why should you be? It's because it's starting to look like that the only freedom of religion that you can have is one that you have to sacrifice on the altar of political correctness in order to make it in the business world especially if you are in the service industry.

Everyone who pays attention knows about the bakers and photographers who refused to give services for gay weddings,citing their religious beliefs, and what happened to them as they were dragged into court, but I wonder how many of you know that this has happened over 600 times in the last couple of years as various groups, mostly gay and lesbians, as well as some atheists, have gone after Christians and Jews for various reasons over their faith. Tell me something my left leaning friends, why not go to someone else who will provide a service for you rather than showing them, said offending businesses, the same kind of intolerance you feel is being heaped on you? You will get a lot further in getting support for your cause if you show the kind of compassion and mercy that you felt you were denied years ago.

This is where the hypocrisy of the left comes in. Thirty years ago a gay man or woman was risking a lot by coming out of the closet. Many Christians were not very accepting and some openly suggested the AIDS was a direct act of God to kill homosexuals. Gay people were looking for tolerance and acceptance that seemed to be lacking yet over time, and it has taken time, many who were once against homosexuality, never mind gay marriage, have come to accept it. Yes there are still a large number of people, Christians and Jews, who still disagree with the “gay lifestyle” but for the most part it has become a live and let live situation. Gay marriage is already accepted in about 15(?) states and will likely gain acceptance in all the rest before to much longer, yet those very people who wanted tolerance and equality are now attacking the very people they wanted acceptance from in the first place.

Apparently you folks on the left haven't learned a thing.

At some point in time the political winds will shift against you, as it has in the past, and when it does all those people that you have hammered and made martyrs, all the lack of love and tolerance you have displayed is going to come back and bite you in the backside. It's like watching what happened in Northern Ireland between protestants and Catholics one would kill the other because the other had killed the one. It wasn't until they actually sat down and talked that things calmed down and that's the whole point of this.

If all your going to do is try to intimidate and silence Christians and Jews instead of engaging them in open , honest discussion, showing the mercy and compassion and real tolerance that you once so dearly desired ,than you will have a massive fight on your hands that you will eventually lose once the political winds change again.

What I want to see is real tolerance. Tolerance that accepts that others view the world differently and most likely always will. Tolerance that learns that the best approach is always going to be with mercy and love not threats and lawsuits or government intervention.

Iraq and Crimea.

I have, for the most part, stayed out of the debate over what to do about Russia invading Crimea. Today though, after hearing the President announce more sanctions on Russia, I felt I had to put in my two cents worth.

Today marks the 11^th anniversary of our invasion of Iraq. I bring this up because apparently this administration, along with many members of congress who allowed the Iraq war to happen, seem to have forgotten that. Over the last few days, including the speech Mr. Obama gave today, have roundly condemned Russia for invading another country essentially saying that in the 21^st century we can't resort to changing borders and having invasions for trumped up reasons. The irony of this statement is amazing.

If going into Iraq wasn't based on trumped up data, I don't know what else I can say about it. Our government was hell bent to overthrow Saddam Hussein and had been since the end of the first Gulf War, all that was needed was some sort of reason. That reason came in the form of a bogus claim of “weapons of mass destruction” primarily, “yellow cake” used for making nuclear bombs. While it was true that he had used chemical weapons in the past against some of his own people and Iran during the Iran/Iraq war, the real premise was the “yellow cake” that did not exist. Was there some chemical weapons found? Yes, but not in the amounts we were told. It was all bogus.

Now, 11 years later Russia goes into Crimea, by their request and with their approval, after our government sponsored, quietly I might add, a bloody revolution in Kiev, led by Nazi's. We interfered in the Ukraine because they were accepting Russia's offers of help rather than ours. So now instead of elected officials running the Ukraine we have Nazi's. Let me spell that out for you “ National Socialist.” You know the guys with the swastikas that hate everybody but themselves? Of course most Americans wouldn't know that because our media for the most part has ignored it. The BBC went into the Ukraine and actually interviewed the “leaders” of this coup and it turned out that most of them were extreme right wing zealots who would do Hitler proud. These are the people that our government is supporting.

Now we are threatening sanctions, Russia is threatening back, and we now have the potential of starting another world wide economic collapse or even the potential for another world war over the Ukraine’s legitimate government choosing Russia's deal over ours.

I do not want to be misunderstood, I do not agree with Russia occupying Crimea and it concerns me that perhaps they have a bigger goal in mind such as all of the Ukraine and, perhaps other nations of the former Soviet Union, but I would humbly submit to you two things despite that concern: The first being we have no right to stand up on a stage and tell Russia, or any other country for that matter, what they can and can't do, particularly in their own back yard. We lost that moral high ground a long time ago. Second, our government needs to stop sticking it nose where it doesn’t belong such as the internal affairs of a sovereign nation. We may not like what they choose to do but it's supposed to be their right to do so.

Just my Simple Minded Opinion.

Budget Cuts, The Troops and History

Apparently the powers that be have not learned from history.


When we were attacked on Dec.7^th 1941 we had a very small army. The army and the Marines had so little equipment to train with that they were using wooden guns and literally attacking saying “bang, bang” just as we did when we played as kids. There had been a steady increase of men enlisting because everyone could smell war in the air, but when we were finally attacked we were not much of a fighting force. We didn't have the equipment. The Japanese actually counted on that and calculated that if they took out most of our naval forces in the Pacific we would just cut our losses and run. They were wrong but it took us quite awhile to get all the forces that we needed ,and all the equipment which left our nation vulnerable. It would seem that we may be on the verge of repeating that mistake.


Citing an end to our current wars, and the end of the the “cold war”, the Obama administration, as recommended by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, is planning on cutting military personnel to pre WW2 levels, as well as cutting back on various weapons systems, and cutting pay and benefits for troops as a step to get the budget under some sort of control.


Let me state that I have no objections to ending these very wasteful and pointless wars we have been involved in, and I have suggested many times that one of the ways to save money would be to close out all our bases around the world and bring everyone home, but now, instead ,they are going to target the troops themselves and this is just patently wrong.


I have served with infantry and artillery as well as communications in both peace time and war. I have literally walked in the boots of the troops as they have marched across the sand in foreign countries or on forced marches while in training. I understand the hardships of both being single and being married, with kids, and trying to live off of a paycheck that tends to be a lot less than your civilian counterparts, while your job in comparison is by far more dangerous.


The problem with cutting pay is that around most bases everything from rent to food is higher priced. Land lords know what you get paid , based on your rank, and they charge you more. Grocery stores and the big chain stores know this as well. We are not even talking about utilities or other things that you might need for your families. This is why we have so many military families on food stamps; they get sucked dry by those they are sworn to defend.


On top of pay cuts, they want to have military personnel pay for some of their medical costs. How many people in the civilian world, other than police officers and firefighters, are required to put their lives on the line 24/7 at a moments notice? Not many. How many train in potentially dangerous situations because that's the only way to prepare for the real thing? Very few. My point is that I can't see how you could expect someone who is doing as they are ordered to ( remember you can't just quit the military ) and they get hurt in the line of duty or get sick to have to cough up the money to cover it. If this is their idea of a way to cut military expenses then they should have the option to quit their jobs,just like their civilian counterparts, at any time. That would make it fair.


They have also talked about cutting equipment. I could care less about some of the old obsolete equipment, but I tend to worry about what up graded personal equipment might be lost that protects the troops on the ground. When we went into Iraq, as least my unit anyhow, we didn't have all the equipment that we needed. We were using the old style flak jackets, because the ones with the armor plating that was resistant to small arms fire and small explosions was not widely available as they are today. Our Hummers had no armor at all and our only protection from landmines were sand bags under our feet. I know just how ineffective that equipment was. I had one friend who took a spear like piece of shrapnel through his chest,the only reason he lived was because they didn't remove it until he was in surgery and another one who died because the flak jacket wasn't strong enough to resist a round from and AK-47. We lost vehicles, people and equipment simply because it wasn't that good. We were not properly equipped.


Last point. What makes the powers that be think that we live in a safer world where we can let our guard down?

Russia,China, Iran and North Korea are all threats to us and our allies. Do we just cut and run and ignore our obligations and treaties because we are cutting back? Do we need another Pearl Harbor to remind us?


Cut the fat, certainly, stop all the bloated projects that are costing more than they are worth but don't try to balance the budget on the backs of troops who have given up everything for your protection and the protection of our allies.


Just my Simple Minded opinion.

Creation,Evolution, and the Bible

I have been seeing many comments about the debate that went on last night between a prominent evolutionist and a creationist. The comments have been fascinating to say the least and somewhat heated. So I just thought I'd put my two cents worth in.


Let me start by saying that I believe in God. Furthermore I believe that it is entirely likely that God, how ever you may determine God to be, created this world and quite possibly the universe as we know it. I am not however a creationist.


To be a creationist you have to believe that the world was created literally 6000 years ago. Archeological digs have found sights that are much older than that, the oldest, that I know of anyhow, being in the range of 15-17 thousand years old. Having said that I also don't buy into millions of years old either, some of that same archeology and artifacts found in strange places tells me differently.


I am also not an evolutionist. To believe that I essentially would have to believe that all this life, in all it's varieties, just accidentally popped into being for no reason and without help in perfect conditions to form a functioning universe. Granted evolutionist say that it took billions of years of adaptation and only the strongest survive but it doesn't really answer the question as to how they manged to survive and adapt, it only suggests that they did.


I think the bottom line to this debate is that your never going to be able to prove either side of the argument to anyone who doesn't want to believe your viewpoint in the first place. The second thing though is that insulting your opponent, simply because you disagree with them is a little silly and doesn't help your argument at all.


One comment I would like to address though is the basic idea that the Bible shouldn't be taken seriously or it should be gotten rid of because it impedes real science. Really?


The bible has been at the core of western civilization for hundreds of years. The bible has helped influence everything from literature to art. The words, especially the Psalms and Isaiah ,along with the words of Jesus, have influenced more music and poetry, not to mention the great paintings, then any other book in the world. It's laws have been the foundation from which the western world has drawn it's own laws. The three biggest religions in the world, which affects billions of people world wide, all draw their history and beliefs from that book. It is a book that brings hope and comfort to all.
If you don't care for it, that’s your right, but don't be insulting to those who treasure it and see it's value.



Shalom

We are Veterans not Criminals

Today I am going to share a letter with you that will not likely see the light of day any where near the president, though it's addressed to him,from a Marine that I know well. He is less of a writer than I am but he asked me if I would clean this up a bit and then post it on my blog. I will gladly do so. This Marine has spent many years of his life serving his country in both war and peace, not that we have had much peace lately, and has seen more of combat and war than he would really want to see , if given the choice, but has done his duty in an honorable and commendable manner.
His letter addresses the the idea that at a stroke of a pen, Mr. Obama , has made it easier for doctors to submit information on anyone who is even asking about mental health issues to the national criminal back ground check for the intended purpose of possibly denying them the right to own and keep fire arms.


Dear Mr. President,
I recently found out that your administration, at the stroke of a pen, is trying to make it easier for doctors to violate their privacy oaths, not to mention the privacy act of 1974, in order to be able to submit names and information on any individual who even inquires about getting some mental health help to the “National Criminal Back Ground Check” data base for the purpose of keeping guns out of the hands of “potentially dangerous” individuals.
I must commend you for showing your hand so boldly and for somehow keeping this information out of most of the press. Very well played Mr. President.
But here is where this all falls apart. By doing this you have made absolutely sure that I, and many other combat veterans, will never set foot any where near a mental health facility. Where would be the incentive to do so? Many of us are gun owners. Why would I want to risk losing my rights? I have spent most of my life as a member of the armed forces and have been in more combat situations then I care to remember, I have defended the Constitution that you have sworn to uphold and have helped keep the proverbial wolf away from the door. What exactly is my crime? Nightmares? Getting uptight in a crowd? Being startled by loud noises? Of course , Mr. President, you would not understand, because you have never served.
I don't suppose though that I should truly be surprised. Your administration has done nothing for veterans and you have allowed for DHS, amongst others ,to label all of us combat veterans as “potential terrorists” while allowing real terrorists, The Muslim Brotherhood, access to you in the White House.
When you ran for office ,the first time, many of us war veterans were really hoping that you could actually bring about some hope and change. You said you were going to end the wars and while Iraq certainly has come to an end , for now anyhow, you have kept things going in Afghanistan, even going so far as trying to keep us there longer and have opened up new fronts in other countries bringing us closer to an even larger scale war and ,as a result, have created even more combat veterans ,of whom, you despise.
My humble advice to you is simple Mr. President. First end all the wars and conflicts we are involved with, then stop with this nonsense of putting honorable men and women at risk for mental health issues, who might otherwise go for help, if it wasn't for your idea to make their personal information available in a criminal back ground check.



We are Veterans not criminals.

Mr. Governor; Lets Try Tolerance

I am not a fan of cities. This is no secret. Give me woods and wide open spaces and I become a rather happy camper, but close quarters and tall buildings? No, I think not.


One of the cities I have avoided like the plague is New York. Growing up in the 60's and 70's all the movies portrayed New York as this gritty savage place ,full of violence and gang shootings ,and homeless wino's on every street corner. Not a very pretty picture.


Today, based on what I have been told, by folks who live there ,or at least nearby, and by friends who go there frequently that it's not so true anymore. In fact I have heard enough from them to convince me that not only would I like to go see it but that the people there are actually quite friendly to strangers and are most helpful.


But now, at least according to the Governor, I wouldn't be welcome in any NY city. It would appear that I may be to conservative for the governor and by extension the state it's self.


I'm not republican but I am pro guns. I am one of those guys who cling to my God and my guns. While I believe that every American should stand up for their gun rights I also recognize the fact that there are those who don't share that view and that is also their right. I believe in God , though I wouldn't be welcome in most houses of worship because of my very different views, but I understand and recognize that not everyone does and again that’s their right. This Mr. Governor is called “tolerance.”


I am pro life, though I make some exceptions ,as in the case of rape or incest, or if the mother is in danger, but again this is my view, my position. I might try to counsel a woman to have the child and give it up for adoption but I would not force the issue. I have many friends who are pro choice and I respect their right to be so. We may disagree, Mr. Governor, but my friends and I understand “tolerance.”


I guess what throws it way off though is that I am all for gay rights or should I say equal rights. If a gay or lesbian couple are consenting adults and they wish to be married then fine so be it, but I also respect the rights of those who oppose my views. Aside from it being a matter of free speech, it's called “tolerance” Mr. Governor.


My guess is that the NY governor could learn “tolerance” from my liberal friends in Vermont.


Vermont is a very liberal democrat leaning state. Conservatives are something close to an endangered species, yet though I was a self described conservative, when I lived there, 99% of my friends were, and still are, liberal,yet we can talk about everything from religion to politics, have friendly disagreements and still have a burger and a beer together. 20 years into these friendships and we are all still friends. In fact I just back from the long weekend with them. If anything their political points of view have helped shape my own view and over the course of 20 years I have become more open minded about many things both religious and political This is what tolerance can be like Mr. Governor.


But I guess that's the crux of the problem. He finds that anyone who doesn't share his view offensive,and he doesn't want them in NY state. That's fine I simply won't spend what little money I might have there, not that that should worry him much, but what about all the conservative groups and people who have businesses in NYC, and other parts of the state, that are religious in nature or at least conservative? Not to put to fine a point on it Mr.Governor, but if they decide to leave, your state will loose substantial revenue. Is that what you really want? All over a disagreement of political opinion? That's not “tolerance” that economic suicide.


I am a believer that most good hearted people are, especially in today’s world, accepting of others points of views and positions. Really it comes down to a few disgruntled individuals and groups who seem to make the most noise and make all the rest of us look bad, so in this case I don't think that he really reflects the views of all liberals, but just as a reminder to all of us consider;Tolerance is the accepting of someones views( not that you agree with them) even when they differ from yours.


My friends and I in Vermont have learned that, how about it Mr. Governor, want to give real tolerance a try?

Fair Market Value?

There are certain terms and catch phrases in the English language that can seriously drive me mad. Take for instance the word “whatever” if used properly the word “whatever” can be a good word such as in a sentence like “whatever happened to old Bob” or something silly like that, but when used by a sarcastic teenager as in the singular “whatever” with a disdain full look at their parents or siblings I suddenly want to break some or all of the child abuse laws. Some words can have that effect.


The latest set of words that have me wanting to slam my head into a wall are “fair market value.” Three times I have heard those words used when it has involved me and my family over the last couple of years and I am just a bit on the frustrated side.


Now I understand the term. It simply is in reference to the value of, in this case homes, compared to others in your area and their relative value. I understand the words. But I don't like them and I am never going to understand how a piece of property can sell for one price one day and then the next it cost three or four times as much or, in the opposite extreme, much less.


Four years ago I first heard the term used in reference to the house that we had owned; the price that you are asking for your house is above the “ fair market value.” A few years earlier our house had been worth what we paid for it but now not only was it not worth what we paid it wasn't even close to what we owed. Many of you who have read my blog posts in the past know how that all turned out, but for you who don't ,lets just say it wasn't good ,and a large, federally bailed out bank, made out like a bandit.


The last two times I have had this term directed at me has been in the last year or so. In both instances it has been used as an excuse to raise the rent, the most recent being about 3 weeks ago.


Who exactly is it that determines this? Why is it that a small 3 bedroom duplex can be rented out for almost 20 times more than what my grandparents mortgage was for their house? How can it be that the same type of housing out west or in the south would cost less than half of what I am paying now?This is insane and it puts me and my family in a tough spot. Can we pay for it once it goes up? Technically yes, but the problem is is that costs keeps going up but my paycheck isn't keeping up.


Considering the high price of living here in New England and the ungodly high property taxes making a mortgage almost impossible, we may be forced out of this area of the country, where all our friends and family are, simply because we have the misfortune of having a limited income.


So my conclusion is that “fair market value” is not terribly fair and the value is simply subject to those who want to dig more money out of our wallets and “fair market value” is only fair if you can pay for it. Just my Simple Minded opinion.

Nuns, NSA and Guns

The Nuns, NSA and Guns
It would seem that an order of Nuns has filed a petition to not provide birth control in any form stating that to do so would be a violation of their conscience and religious beliefs. Supreme court justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a stay late Tuesday preventing the government from enforcing the so-called contraceptive mandate against the Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged. Apparently she agreed with them and gave the Obama administration until Friday to appeal her ruling , which they did, arguing that they, the Nuns, could get out of it by certifying that they don't want to provide contraceptive coverage. In that case, it would be up to a third-party administrator to decide whether to provide it. The Nuns lawyer responded with a 17 page appeal suggesting that by having them sign the paper it essentially means that they are advocating that someone else “sins” on their behalf.


But it's not just about the Nuns. The administration has called for all catholic groups to be forced into providing contraception (and in effect any religious group or organization) even though it goes against their religious beliefs.
Some of you reading this may think well that's just to bad for them but the law is the law. It may be,that it now a part of the law,but it's not morally right to force people into either violating their conscience or being seriously fined. I will also remind you that if they can force you to violate your religious beliefs, in violation of the first amendment, whats going to stop them from forcing everyone to violate their consciences? Would you be OK if the government passed a law saying that you had to cheat on your spouse, even though most in our society would disagree and all holy writings say no? What gives the federal government the right to force you or your religious group to violate your conscience? Seems to me the constitution says they don't.


In NSA related news, the Obama administration has asked for the FISA court to allow for the continuation of the NSA programs of mass collecting all of our digital data.
“The Obama administration moved on two fronts Friday to preserve the National Security Agency's controversial spy programs, appealing a major ruling against the agency while winning permission from a secretive court to continue collecting Americans' phone records.” (AP)
To start with we shouldn't have secret courts, this isn't the Soviet Union or North Korea, but the fact that the Obama administration would request that such a program continue (I know that Bush started all this but he resides in Texas now not DC and is of no importance to this discussion) tells me just how little regard that they have for the constitution and the rule of law, not that this is their only violation but it is one of the more blatant examples. This request follows the ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon in which he called the NSA program "almost-Orwellian technology" and challenged its constitutionality. In the judges words:
"I cannot imagine a more 'indiscriminate' and 'arbitrary invasion' than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying and analyzing it without prior judicial approval,Surely such a program infringes on 'that degree of privacy' that the founders enshrined in the Fourth Amendment. Indeed I have little doubt that the author of our Constitution, James Madison, who cautioned us to beware 'the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power,' would be aghast.”
I don't think I could have said it any better.
On a side note Senator Rand Paul ® of Kentucky will be filing a class action law suit against the Obama administration and the NSA for their violations of the 4^th amendment via the NSA programs. He reportedly has hundreds of thousands of people joining him in this action, Ill keep you posted as I hear more about it.



I guess this wouldn't be complete if we didn't add another back door effort to regulate gun ownership. The Obama administration on Friday proposed two new executive actions to make it easier for states to provide mental health information to the national background check system,both pertain to the ability of states to provide information about the mentally ill and those seeking mental health treatment to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
One proposal would formally give permission to states to submit "the limited information necessary to help keep guns out of potentially dangerous hands," without having to worry about the privacy provisions in a law known as HIPAA.
If I believed that this was really about keeping guns out of the hands of truly insane people I would be all for it but the wording is a bit vague. First “those seeking mental health treatment.” Why would they want information just based on someone who is seeking help? Why would you put that in a “ Criminal background check?” Does the fact that I have sought out mental health treatment for PTSD, and I am likely to again in the future, make me some sort of criminal? I can understand that perhaps those that have been institutionalized might need extra scrutiny but by doing this you are going to make a whole lot of war vets very leery about seeking mental health for PTSD if there is even the slightest chance that they could loose their guns or the ability to buy them.
The second part “out of potentially dangerous hands” is also a bit vague. It wasn't that long ago when the politically correct thought was that “every man is a potential rapist” so using that argument would suggest that all of us gun owners have potentially dangerous hands, If having a Penis makes me a potential rapist, then having a gun surely must make me a potential killer. I'm no more dangerous then anyone else who legally owns and carry a firearm but who exactly determines that, which leads to my third point.


This would be in violation of the HIPPA law, giving your doctor the right to report you with no warning to you and , from what I can tell, you will have very little recourse once your mental health issues have been sent. So I go in to see my doctor because I am depressed or having more nightmares then normal, due to PTSD related issues, and he is anti gun, all he has to do is submit my information to this data base and it could stop my ability to own or posses a firearm. No crimes committed, no laws broken, yet my name would be entered into a criminal background data base all for seeking help.


One last note, totally unrelated to the above.


Thank you to my fellow Iraq vets for securing hell. Apparently our blood and tears were not payment enough and the minions of hell crawled back out of their caves and have returned. Never forget.