Veteran Suicide

On this 244th anniversary of The Marine Corp and a day before Veterans day I'd like to take a moment of your time to discuss a very serious matter; Veteran suicides.

It has been suggested that every 85 minutes or roughly 22 times a day a veteran commits suicide. This year it hit me hard. I have had three people that I know attempt suicide with one, my dearest brother in arms, succeeding.

It is about him that I am going to speak. I will not use his name because I haven't asked his family for permission but I will simply give him a letter “J”.

He was a combat vet and I was his platoon Sgt. We met in Iraq early in the war and spent a lot of time eating some of the same sand and trying hard to avoid “lead poisoning.” We experienced much of what many before us had endured in war and as a result we became closer then family from our experiences.

He later went on to become a state trooper, worked for the IRS, and eventually joined NCIS. At the same time he married his beautiful wife and had two children, all of this while earning his masters degree.

On the surface everything looked great but the inner demons from war and some of his other experiences were eating at him.

Both his wife and children noticed that he wasn't as happy as he used to be and that the pressures of his job were really starting to tell on him. She tried to get him to go to counseling but he wouldn't go. She reached out to me to talk to him, and I did, even telling him of my own battles with PTSD and the fact that I went to counseling for it, but he still refused to go, and do you know why?

He was afraid that he would loose his badge and gun, along with his pension, if he admitted to having PTSD, and where did that thinking come from? The very government that sent him off to war and had him working horrible cases for NCIS. They have, and still do, see it as a weakness to admit that you have a problem.

In the end he did loose it all. The inner demons of hell tormented him to the point of suicide and tossed him over the edge.

He was not homeless, he wasn't on drugs, by all accounts his life was moving right along, and he was doing well, but he did suffer from PTSD, something that could have been treated, if he had been allowed to do so with out fear of losing it all.

While he was ultimately responsible for ending his own life. I don't blame him. I blame those in the government who would send us all off to hell to fight and then essentially dismiss or even mock us upon our return or a few years down the road when the symptoms start.

I blame congress for speaking about mental health issues and yet still doing nothing to address it and all the government agencies that put people in harms way and then ignores mental health issues related to it.

I even blame myself for not being able to reach him, but at least I tried, which is more then I can say about the powers that be.

I don't know what the best solution is other then to not go to war in the first place but I do have A solution. Give veterans,especially war veterans , more then just words. Many do have various addictions, many are poor and are living on the streets and many more are just able to get by on much less then a living wage, based on their injuries and illnesses as set by the VA, but most importantly they need a community that will reach out to them and help them readjust to life rather then shunning them.

PTSD is real and it effects many veterans in various ways, so instead of just a thank you, though greatly appreciated, really check on them to make sure that they are receiving all the help that they need then perhaps we can lower the number of vet suicides to zero.

The United States of Racism

For the last two and a half years or so, we have been treated to the main stream media and various politicians that have loudly pontificated about Russia, collusion and obstruction or a combo of all three. Mercifully it has gone away, rather quietly, into the void where it never should have been released from in the first place. I remember telling my wife that if HRC was to loose, which no one could conceive of in their wildest dreams, that the excuse would be Russian interference. Well I was right, that has been the excuse, but finally, after millions of wasted dollars and endless media gushing over every possible ridiculous theory of what was in the report long before it was ever put out, it has come to its predictable end. So basking in this glorious enlightenment of those that should have known better in the first place, we can get back to the business of running the country, right? Apparently wrong.

The newest bit in all this is now constantly accusing President Trump of being a “white nationalist” or a racist. The NYT and CNN (as well as others) are now taking the racist theme so far as to say that if you voted for Trump, or are planning on it again, that you are a racist and you have blood on your hands. Doesn't matter if you are black, brown, yellow or white you are evil, you are the embodiment of Hitler and Satan combined if you had the nerve to vote for Trump rather then HRC and you are the root of all that is evil.

The NYT has admitted that their goal is to show everything American, from our history and founding, to President Trump, is based on nothing but bigotry and racism, with their end goal of making sure that Trump and anyone republican or conservative never gets elected or reelected.

So how do they do this? First you distort and eliminate history. You rewrite history to follow your views and push it on to kids, if you teach them history at all,and when you do speak of the countries founding you eliminate the good that the founders did and focus on their flaws. Instead of focusing on the declaration of independence which declared that “all men are created equal”, you note instead that the writer, Thomas Jefferson, was a slave holder and therefore a racist and by default all the founders were as well. The fact that only about 3% of the southern population owned slaves is irrelevant. After that it becomes easy. You tear down statues and institutions and when people argue back you just label them as racist and destroy their lives in any way necessary. You don't need facts, you just need feelings and mental lenses that let you filter the world of a hundreds of years past through your own 21 century world view.

Ironically by trying to eliminate or alter history, with the help of media, the democratic/socialist party is actually trying to protect itself from it's own history.

No democrat voted for Lincoln, nor did they support freeing the slaves, in fact it was partially because they believed that Lincoln would free the slaves with out their consent they seceded from the union.

Only 3% of the people,rich democrats I might add, in the south, actually owned slaves,as I mentioned before, but even for most of them slavery wasn't the issue, it was the rights of the individual states to live as they so chose versus the rights of the federal government to decide how they lived their lives.

Democrats were responsible for the KKK and Jim Crow and segregation. They voted against the civil rights act, and women rights. The only things they seemed to support was for bigger government and for Planned Parenthood, who's founder was a democrat who's stated goal was to destroy the black community. This is historical fact, look it up.

The real racists are the ones that have spent the last 30 or 40 years dividing us by everything, including race, and pitting us against each other, rather then embracing the idea that “all men are created equal” and rejoicing in a country that offers unlimited opportunity for anyone who is willing to work for it.

Whats truly amazing to me though is that the very same people that are promoting “racism” in everything and the rewriting of history to promote that view are the same people who are profiting greatly by the very system that they claim is evil and racist. But I guess if screaming racism can earn them money and great profits why would they want to change it?

Falling Prey To Racism

It has been a long time since I have attempted to write anything politically speaking. I have stayed silent, for the most part, as the circus, we laughingly call “government” has shown us little more than smoke and mirrors, and have ignored the very things that they were elected to do, while trying to convince us that the bears on the unicycles and the flying monkeys ARE the things that are important.

So I have decided that I am going to go back to offering my own opinion on the things I see happening based entirely on my own experience and view point. Please don't take me wrong: I don't like either party or the way they are running things or say they are going to if they get into power. I trust the media even less.

So here we are buckle up and lets ride with the bears and fly with the monkeys.

I wasn't going to start with the concept of racism in this country but this last weekend changed some of that for me. I am not going to get into detail about the shootings either in Ohio or Texas because you can read all about it elsewhere but I will say that the one in Texas I found disturbing on a personal level.

I am half Cuban. My father was one of many Cubans who came here to the United States to escape from Castro. At that time all Cubans were admitted because it was clear that they would be killed if they returned. Having said that, by the standards of today, he would be considered an illegal or the more “PC” term of undocumented. In all candor I know little of the Cuban culture partially because of where I grew up and partially because when I was young it was not something I ever gave much thought to.

The Texas lunatic wrote many things in his manifesto ( I have not read it nor do I plan to ) but one thing he made undeniably clear, he hates Hispanics and in particular illegals. He drove 600 miles just to kill them. That kind of thing scares me.

I was at Walmart yesterday shopping with my wife, and we were by the produce section near the front doors when it really occurred to me that this is something that could have happened here, though I don't look Hispanic, not completely anyway, there were clearly others who were, entire families in fact, and I know that there are some in this state who are white supremacist, so it could have easily been here.

Before I go on I have to say that I don't believe that racism is a systemic problem in the US and is in every institution as many on the left would suggest but at the same time I would say to the right don't try and disregard the fears of those who have experienced it.

I have had several encounters with members of the KKK in the south and even here in the “liberal” north east and I have experienced the fear that has gone with it. I have also been targeted by “lending institutions” who were caught charging higher interest rates to black and Hispanic people for no other reason than they are black or Hispanic. Racism exists and though I don't believe that it exists on the level that the media would suggest, it has affected me enough to be very cautious in what I say and do.

I have never been fond of telling people my name. Most folks don't mind it much, but others have become openly hostile once they heard it. I have even gone so far as to use my middle name as my first name when being introduced so that I didn't give even a hint of my ancestry. But not everyone is a racist a lesson I have had re- learn. Case in point; I went to a gathering in memory of a dear friends mother. As my wife and I drove up to where it was being held, a double wide out on a dirt road, I noticed that there were a bunch of guys standing out front that gave all appearances of being bikers, generally speaking, my kind of people. I don't ride for several physical reason not to mention rather squirrely eyesight, but still people I would gladly hangout with. I didn't recognize any of them. As we approached I asked if we were at the right place ( we were ) but then the dreaded question came up “whats your name?” Now I am not one to lie and I assumed that somewhere in the house was my friends so I told them and waited for the commentary to fly. It didn't happen, or it did, just not the way I was expecting, in fact quite the opposite happened, first the guy who asked the question said “really? that's flipping ( not the word he used) awesome!” I was then introduced to everyone ( one of the guys outside was my friends nephew) and of course my friends were inside. It all went well.

Two things I learned that day; first I made a judgment call on race, they were white bikers who were going to eat me for lunch, I was wrong, and the second thing I realized was just how much I had been sucked in to this notion that everyone is a racist. It snuck up on me and had sucked me in and I hadn't even realized it.

This is the overall fallacy of the media and the politicians trying to divide us even in the wake of a mass murder, most people are just people, they are not racist, they are not killers of those who are different then them. The media is lying to us all and the politicians are banking on our beliefs and fears, dividing us into our factions so we focus on each other and our alleged differences rather then on what they are doing or their lack thereof.

So the bottom line is this; Until we can look past the flying monkeys and bears on unicycles and realize that the media and the politicians, ON BOTH SIDES , are stoking this racial divide, and fear, nothing will change. It's not about the guns or the manifestos, it's not about the victims of the mass killings, it's about control and fear as well as division. That's what they thrive on, that's what they will continue to push.

Give Them One And They Will Take Them All

2^nd Amendment : A well regulated militia,being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

A well regulated library, being necessary to the intelligence of a free state, the right of the people to keep and read books, shall not be infringed.

A well regulated automobile industry, being necessary for the mobility of a free state, the right of the people to keep and drive automobiles, shall not be infringed.

A well maintained farm, being necessary to help feed the people of a free state, the right of the people to keep and maintain farm equipment, shall not be infringed.

The last three statements no one would argue with. The first one however, even though it uses the same punctuation and syntax, has been. Why?

A lack of knowledge of history or perhaps even a willful ignorance.

Lets look for a moment on history.

The battle of Lexington and Concord was fought because the British marched a large force there to try and take the colonists weapons, as well as ball and powder. In other words the king, their government, wanted to disarm them.

The people who lived in the areas where troops had been forced upon them, such as Boston, were already ( at least officially) disarmed and were subject to the whim of the military of the empire. They had no free speech rights, or the press, nor the right to assemble. They didn't have the Bill of rights to protect them which would include the 2^nd amendment.

The second amendment wasn't about hunting, it was about protecting themselves from a tyrannical government.

During the 20^th century Nazi Germany, in the 1930's, under the orders of Hitler,disarmed the nation, claiming it was for the “safety of the children.” 13 million defenseless people were slaughtered in mass executions and concentration camps.

The Soviet Union and China did the same, and they slaughtered an estimated 100 million.

Vietnam, Cambodia,Turkey, all over the middle east and Africa, millions have been slaughtered by dictators because they have had no means to defend themselves.

In places like England or Italy or Norway, where they are still disarmed, you can be arrested for posting something on FB or Twitter that's not PC or approved by the government. They have no real free speech because they can't defend that right.

You say well that can't happen here, really? What makes you so naive to believe that?

Jews that I have talked to, who survived the death camps, to a person, told me that they didn't believe it could happen there, until it did.

Some have said that our fore fathers couldn't have imagined the type of weaponry available today, and your right they couldn't have, but it was never about the type of weapons, it was about your ability to defend yourself against all enemy's, including your own government, if needed. Even George Washington knew this to be true, he is quoted as saying; “ A free people ought not only be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms, and ammunition, to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.”

Even as we have this debate, the government, under the last several administrations, have been slowly and quietly undermining the Constitution in small ways, and some more obviously larger ones, all the while relying on our own ignorance of our history and the Constitution to get away with it. The only thing that has stopped them from going full bore is the fact that there are over 100 million of us that are armed, and many of them will defend the constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

One last thing. I hear the opposition suggesting all the time that it was about maintaining a militia not about individual rights.

OK lets address that for a moment; who made up the militia? The militia consisted of every able bodied man and boy, who could carry a musket. Where did their weapons come from? Themselves. There was no government hand out of weapons and ammunition, in fact their was no standing army at all. The founders were leery about have a full blown military because it could lead to a tyrannical military backed government, which was exactly what they were trying to gain liberty from.

Today we have a large military, and massive police force along with a score of intelligence agencies, all armed to the teeth. None of which is constitutional. What is to stop a sitting president, and congress as a whole,from becoming tyrannical and using all of this against us? Nothing, except the second amendment.

Time and again the left has made it clear that they would disarm us in a heart beat if they thought the could, and time and again, during every presidential campaign and the aftermaths I have read and watched as people have screamed and hollered that said president was going to become a dictator. What has stopped them? It's certainly not the rule of law or the constitution, they ignore both of those on a daily bases, no, I submit to you it is because we are armed, just as the founders believed we should be, that is the only thing holding them back.

Take away the second and we will loose them all.

Threats to Free Speech

Let me ask a question or two and I really hope that someone will respond in a way that makes sense to me. I admit to being a rather simple minded kind of guy, I like things simple and to the point and as uncomplicated as I can get. So here goes.

If I call you or send you an email and I threaten to do you harm, wouldn't that be considered enough to trigger some sort of investigation by the police?

If, not only do I threaten you, but I send a message to your employer stating that I can't guarantee your safety if you are allowed to go to work, nor could I guarantee the safety of your employers business or his property, wouldn't that be considered to be a threat worthy of investigating by the police?

What if, not only do I make the threat, but I actually follow through with it and trash your building breaking windows and setting things on fire, would that be worth the time to investigate and perhaps to arrest someone?

Or is it OK to do all these things because the person or business being threatened isn't of the right race,religion,sexual orientation or ethnic group?

Is it OK if it's a political party that differs from your own, just because they see things, politically speaking, differently than you?

Other then the email part, this is what the NAZI brown shirts did to those that opposed them, they threatened and attacked those that they either disagreed with or out right hated. They burned and destroyed the property of anyone who opposed them and millions died because they were Jews or Gypsy's or any other group that was not considered to be worthy to them. 50 million died because of them when all was done.

These very things are happening today. College campuses are being threatened because conservative speakers have been invited to give a lecture. In some places riots have broken out and damage has been done. In at least one case an entire parade has been called off, one that has been going on for almost 90 years, because some groups have threatened to do bodily harm to the republican group that was going to have a float in that parade.

Why isn't any of this being investigated?

Why isn't the left calling out these people who are doing it in their name?

Why is it that you are so afraid to hear a differing point of view, so afraid that you have to threaten violence in order to silence conservatives? Or those you disagree with.

Do you really think that conservatives or any one else who disagrees with your point of view are really Nazi's and racists or homophobe?

Is that what you think of me? I am a conservative libertarian, does that make me a Nazi?

If it does, at least in your mind, it isn't going to change mine.

When was the last time you heard of any conservative group rioting and shutting down speech they find offensive? Try never.

Years back, after a very heated debate with several people, I warned that if you don't support the right of free speech, even speech that you loathe, there would come a day when it would be gone. If this is what you hope for just remember your speech will be silenced as well because there will be no one left to defend you when yours become politically incorrect.

War And Speech

I was planning on staying out of politics. I am not sure that I can. Much is going on in the world and in our country and as much as I would like to ignore it all I find I can't. Two things have really caught my attention and, as libertarian or a non party supporting person, I have to speak my mind, even if no one out there will pay any attention.

We are a nation on the verge of changing forever. Free speech is no longer being tolerated, and we are a nation that is about to get ourselves in a much bigger war than we have been in in a long time.

First free speech. Any of you,who actually know me, will already know that I am a big fan of free speech, and the constitution as a whole. I even support the free speech rights of hate groups and those of other political or religious affiliations that I disagree with. Free speech is supposed to be just that free speech. There are many however that seem to disagree with that notion. They only seem to support that which they agree with or find non offensive as forms of legitimate speech. Worse yet this is being pushed by administrators and teachers all over the country and is being egged on by those of a more leftist political nature. It makes me sad and I fear for our country.

I want to know, and this is for you on the left, what are you afraid of? Many years back it was your side of the political spectrum that was clamoring for more free speech, Berkeley, California, has been touted over the years as being the modern birth place of free speech, what happened? Did you suddenly all become cowards with a serious lack of intestinal fortitude? This has spread now all over the country,especially on college campuses, where anyone conservative,who has been invited to speak, is greeted by screaming mobs and violence, where many times they can't speak because of said violence.

If this is your idea of free speech and exchange of ideas then you are embracing fascism, the idea of shutting down those that you disagree with, the very thing that you accuse the right of doing. But it doesn't stop there, it gets personal. I heard time and again, in particular from politicians, and left leaning partisan groups, as they have made personal attacks against those few in the media or politics who actually claim to be of a conservative bent. It's not that they are attacking their policies as they are demonizing the individual and then trying hard to hammer them into submission, something straight out the Saul Alinsky play book. Demonize your enemy and isolate them, embarrass them, humiliate them etc.

I am not any sort of politician but I have dealt with some the same kind of thing, albeit on a smaller scale, but I have dealt with it. I was debating with an individual about an Obama policy( sorry I don't remember which one) when the individual could no longer answer me back with facts, they started to insult everything about me,calling me nothing more than a “useless sperm donor” and insulting my family, simply because I would not agree with their left sided view of the issue. In this case, while I still agree the individual had the right to say what they will, what did that accomplish? It sure didn't change my point of view and it damaged a long friendship.

What surprises me though is how many people, on either sides of the political spectrum,people that I know make a living from free speech, that are being silent on the issue. Why? If only one side of a debate or only one point of view, and that being what is considered to be politically correct, is the only thought or speech allowed then you will have effectively shut down free speech and turned everyone into little more than bobble headed robots. There will be literal hell to pay for that.

The second thing is this push for war in N. Korea and possibly Syria

I have been married for 27 years and during virtually all that time, we have either been at war or in a state of readiness for war. We have been on a war footing. Now the drums are beating again but this time, there actually seems to be support for this. Both sides of the aisle as well as many in the media seem to think that this is a good idea all of a sudden. Why? Yes the North Korean dictator is weasel and ought to be wrested out of his personal chicken coop, but is he worth starting WW3? No one seems to be paying attention to the fact that N. Korea borders, China, that has troops on the border, Russia, who has just brought up troops to it's border, as well as us, the S. Koreans and Japan. That's a lot of armament,as well as potential Nuclear fire power, all concentrated in one place. Has it occurred to anyone that perhaps the Russians and the Chinese are looking for an excuse to go to war with us? Just because China SEEMS to be playing ball, with they still stay silent once the bullets start flying? What about Russia? We have been having many confrontations with them both politically and militarily in various parts of the world to include the Alaskan coast and Syria, isn't even remotely possible that they could take this opportunity to hit us somewhere else if not there? Have we become so arrogant, by we I mean our politicians, that we believe that someone won't hit us back eventually? I am not saying that NK isn't a threat, they are, but I am really hoping that someone can come up with a better idea than bombs and bullets.

The eroding of our liberties and the constant beat of war will eventually destroy us all.

War on Progressives

I am declaring war on progressives. You are NOT liberals ,you are communists, Nazi's, and anarchists. I am not speaking of a shooting war but a war of words. You are nothing more than the very things you have tried to say about Trump supporters,or anyone even vaguely on the right.

A question first: Where did this dumb idea, that if you disagree with someone's point of view, that you are some how nothing but hateful? That you are some how phobic of everything? Are you so brain dead that you can't disagree with some one with out thinking they are simply filled with hate? My wife and I have been married for 26 years and we still don't agree on everything, but that doesn't mean that there is hate, we just disagree.

Moving on.

It has been suggested in the past that some of my writing seemed mean spirited or angry even. Well you are about to get it in spades but a small bit of explanation is needed first.

Why would I suggest that today's liberals are not real liberals? It's simple really, the liberals that I have known over the years were people who believed in free speech and dissent,with out violence, who wanted less government intrusion into our lives, while caring for the poor and wretched among us out of their own pockets and hearts, not via the government. They were a people of honest intellectuals who were willing to discuss differing ideas and opinions, coming to terms with the idea that not everyone shared the same opinion, and they had great taste in music. I used to be one of those people for the most part.

Today the so called “liberal” is an insult to real liberals, in fact liberal is not the right word for them, the right word is “progressives.”

Progressives are in fact nothing more than repackaged socialists/communist. Period. In fact you are more Nazi's then all of us you tried to accuse of being just that.

You say bullshyte perhaps? When was the last time you saw a conservative group burn down buildings or start riots because they didn't like who was speaking? Try never.

This is nothing more than an attempt by well disguised Nazi's and communists to take over this country.

Go and look at history if you don't believe me. I'm sorry, I know they don't actually teach history any more so you may have to work at this a bit, but it is still true.

The Nazi's liked to burn down buildings and destroy anyone of who they considered to be a threat, groups of them would gang up on individuals and neighborhoods and burn them down because they didn't like the religion or politics of those people.

The communist revolution in Russia started with the so called intellectual elites at the universities and spread out from there.

Ironically enough,especially with those who originally embraced communism, the so called “intellectuals” who supported it, were some of the first to be executed as were millions of other dissenters.

Today this has started in grade schools, government sponsored socialism is your friend, and is now becoming evident at the college level, people who don't know history are being egged on by some intellectuals who haven't learned, or don't really care, the hard truth about history that Communism kills. Facism kills.

Most recently at Berkeley ( the modern day founders of free speech and expression, ironically enough) students have been rioting over free speech issues of a gay/Jewish/libertarian, visa holding, Brit, Named Milo Y ( not going to attempt the spelling of the last name at the moment) and why is that? Because he holds a differing view than is allowed, apparently, for a gay Jewish man to have. According to his critics, his speech is hate speech! Really? Have you actually listened to anything that he has said? I have, he is a bit flamboyant for my taste,but where is he lying? What part is considered to be hate speech? More importantly who cares if it is?

Please explain to me where in the first amendment that all speech is allowed except for that which is hateful? It's not there.

Some would say to me this is true but there are consequences for that speech, really? So in your pathetic little mind, it's OK to threaten the life of somebody because they disagree with your point of view? Your telling me that a little anarchy and destruction is OK as long as it's reserved for conservatives?

If you believe this you are pathetic and you are the problem.

But this is traditionally how revolutions began during the last century, you get to the students and dumb them down, then you convince them that free speech and religion is nothing but evil incarnate, you get them all riled up so they start rioting and you disarm the citizenry so they can't defend themselves or if they get vocal in their disagreement you shut them down in any way necessary, by all means necessary. Any of this sound remotely familiar to you?

And, while I am on such a roll, I have to commend the brave little snowflakes who can come out in mass to commit acts of violence and destruction and yet have the nerve to run away to their teddy bear infested “safe spaces” so they don't have to be offended by mean words; you are nothing but cowards and the people that egg you on are worse than cowards.

I thank God (quick run to your safe space) that I live near several military bases. I see men and women of every color and creed, every day standing at the gate ,and the front lines of defense, who may be millennial by birth but they are far from being snowflakes. It gives me small hope that not all is lost.

I have tried my best to walk a fine line between political points of view, always looking at both sides and comparing it to what the Constitution says, well I can't any more. It has become very clear to me that those on the left, the powers that be anyhow, do not support, and will not defend, the Constitution or the Bill of rights, so as such I won't ever again even tolerate your views and I will treat you as hostile just as you have treated me and my points of view.

Disregard me if you will, but make no mistake I'm not alone in my thinking, I am just saying it louder than most.