Freedom Of The Press

Tinfoil hat time.

Call me what you will, but when major news organizations such as AP and FOX have their freedom of the press messed with I get concerned. Of course many of you might simply dismiss FOX because the government doesn't see them as a “real” news organization and ,being politically correct, you'd have to go with what the government says. But if your a writer of any kind I would worry if I was you. In light of all these other things that have come out lately of what the government is doing what makes you so sure that they aren't targeting you as well? What makes you so sure that they haven't tapped in to other news organizations such as CNN or ABC? The only reason we know about these two is because they were caught.

I have been writing for years on things pertaining to the constitution and the freedom of speech being attacked ,all to no avail, and now its really coming to light as just how far they are willing to go to violate that right. I have gotten into heated battles over defending the rights of people who were not PC in what they said. I defended their rights to speak and to be seen as idiots with the simple point being that if you value the freedom of speech then you must accept the rights of those whom you disagree with to speak. If you don't who is going to defend you when what you say becomes un popular?

What continues to surprise me is the lack of concern, so it would appear anyhow, from most of the media not involved in this case, and the argument that I keep hearing that you shouldn't be worried if you have nothing to hide.

The problem with that argument is that in both these major cases their was nothing to hide. In the case of the AP they told the government what they had and they complied with waiting a bit before they published it, meanwhile, even after being cooperative, they were being investigated and their phone records seized all under the radar. What was their crime? Investigating and asking questions as journalists have done for 200 years. In the case of FOX they went so far as to accuse the head of their Washington bureau of being a “co-conspirator of possible criminal activity” as justification of searching his personal records. Again, as in the case of the AP, his only “crime” was asking for information. I also saw a brief note today that perhaps CBS has been investigated as well though I have no confirmation as of yet. I understand that the government has a responsibility to investigate things that have a serious effect on national security but neither of these cases as well as some of the whistle blowers, that they have gone after, have done anything wrong.

I have read , from other news sources, that this is already having an effect on how reporters are getting their information as insiders are a bit reluctant to give information to journalists and who can blame them? This administration has made it a point to prosecute whistle blowers and to go after reporters and their sources in clear violation of the Constitution. Who's next?

I don't care if they try to shut me down, I have about 10 readers world wide so I am no threat to them but what about you? I know that a few of you who occasionally read my blog are professional writers, people who are read by thousands world wide if not millions, aren't you even a little concerned that perhaps you are going to do some research on something and find yourself in trouble for asking the wrong person the right questions? Or that you might have sources of information that will dry up because people are afraid to share info? You might think I am being melodramatic here but these are very serious questions that you have to ask yourself. If they are willing to go after the big dogs what makes you think they won't come after you as well? More importantly though, if the government is allowed to continue this practice who is ever going to be able to keep the governments feet to the fire if not the press? Granted up until recently I haven't been sure that they have even been doing their jobs but now that they are a target it's amazing to see.

In many ways its being very hypocritical on their part. While the federal government has been passing bills or using executive orders to stop free speech, such as not being able to protest anywhere near government officials that have secret service protection or having your tax exempt status threatened or questioned if your views are not politically correct, they have remained mostly silent. Now that they are being targeted they are outraged.

So I am mot going to belabor the point but here is the first amendment emphasis is mine.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

In my humble opinion this is worse then their attempts at the 2^nd amendment because this they can do under the radar and it only becomes clear when those being investigated find out.

Just my simple minded opinion.

How To Boil A Frog

Do we have a constitution or not? Do we have the bill of rights anymore, or is it some sort of worn out useless piece of paper that would be best left on the dung hill of history? What is it going to be folks because we can't have it both ways. Either we stick to the founding documents, that our fore fathers sacrificed damn near everything for, or we need to burn it and just turn ourselves into the former Soviet Union because it would appear that this is where we are headed.

For years I have been a voice for the constitution. I have spoken up for the rights of people who I disagree with, on many levels, and I have lost friends and almost some family members for doing so.

Some people have suggested that I am crazy for believing this, that our freedoms are being taken away . They will ask questions such as what freedoms have you lost? Or why should you worry if you have nothing to hide? Remember the old story of putting a frog in boiling water? If you drop it in it will jump right out but if you put it in cold water and heat it up slowly it won't jump out and you have a boiled frog. This is whats happening to us here, its not an all out attack, its little bits here and there that we get used to and assume after awhile that its always been that way. This is how it's being done.

Take free speech; you only seem to have free speech if what you say or write agrees with whatever is politically correct. If it is not you are shot down and insulted or even silenced. Depending on the subject you can even be accused of being a racist or a homophobe for no other reason than you defended someone else s right to speak. Where does it say that you have the right to not be offended? Where does it say that speech can only be that which is un-offensive? You don't even have the right to protest near any politicians who have secret service protection, if you do you can be arrested. What part of freedom of speech is that?

Gun control, how many of you are old enough to remember when you could carry a rifle in the back of your truck on a gun rack? I remember it. I also remember when you could have them at school as long as the vehicle was locked. Now you can get arrested for drawing a picture of a gun in school. I don't remember having to go through a bunch of background checks to by a gun either. You walked into the store picked out one that you liked and that was it. It wasn't until after 911 that I remember having a back ground check done.

I won't even begin to get started with all the violations, under political correctness, and supposedly for our safety and good, of the other amendments especially the 4th-6^th.

The latest attack seems to be on the freedom of religion of those in the military. They are being told, via the pentagon, who consulted with an atheist group of all things, that being able to practice their religion, under some sort of misguided notion that those in charge are forcing people to convert to their beliefs, could get them a court martial. Even going so far as to compare sharing your faith with “rape”. This is patently absurd. I have spent a sizable portion of life in the Marines and was a platoon Sgt. for a long time. I certainly invited Marines to church and I would share my faith, at that time, with anyone who asked, but I never forced anyone, nor did I know of any other leader who did. Have there been some knuckleheads that have done this ? Yes, and they were all properly punished for doing so, but you can't take away someones right to practice their faith simply because of stupidity of a few,never mind ask those same people to defend rights that they no longer have. I had a good friend in the military who was and still is an atheist, him and I used to have some very lively debates but under this even atheists and evolutionists would have to keep quiet because there is no more proof that they are right than anyone else so by definition they would be sharing their faith if they spoke about it!

Go look at the former Soviet Union, they banned anything religious and killed or enslaved millions,especially Jews and Christians,and it almost destroyed them. Is this what you really wish for?Look at China and North Korea is this what you want? A military that lacks any sort of moral values?A government that will not accept your God given rights? Men and women of all types of faiths not being allowed to follow the moral codes that they were taught?

Funny thing is that I'm not a Christian and yet I will fight to the death to allow them their God given right to practice their religion. I am not a Muslim or a Jew or Pagan, but they should be afforded the same right, and if you have no belief whats so ever then it not my place to tell you otherwise or force you to believe as I do. I haven't and I won't. But we need to quit with the silly notion that just because you don't like something, that the rest of us have to conform to your so called standards. But then again this has been the pattern amongst the liberal elite. You don't like something or are offended by something so you try and make it illegal for those of us who don't share your particular hangup.

Don't forget the boiling frog. That's how its being done. That’s why the water is so warm.

Altered Food

This is not a theological debate, so please get past the beginning part and read on.

In the Beginning God created.....or In the beginning mother earth provided.....or in the big bang evolution gave us pretty much everything that we need to sustain life, and to keep ourselves healthy. Today however, after millenniums of success with this arrangement, along came men and women, who thought that they could do it better by altering genetic codes and replacing nature with chemicals. The results have been disastrous. To quote one of my favorite lines from Jurassic Park “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could they didn't stop to think if they should.” In the movie, the dinosaurs find a way to adapt and the doctor is found to be incredibly right. The situation is the same here the dinosaurs are coming to destroy us in the form of chemicals and genetic altering, the scientists are promoting it, and those that could stop it in the government are turning a blind eye. They are literally killing us softly, all the while claiming that they know what's best.

It's amazing to me that no one can seem to put two and two together. During the same time period that all the various diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and obesity have sky rocketed they have been genetically altering the food that we eat and there has been a marked up rise in making and the consumption of processed foods as well, which are filled with chemicals and genetically altered plants and animal products. So called science today goes out of its way to blame soda or fast food, neither of which is good for you, I agree, but they refuse to look at what has been done to alter our food as being a possible cause. Worse yet is, that instead of being honest about the problems with our food supply and the real causes for our various ailments they instead promote and push drugs on us to fix a symptom with out ever getting to the root cause.

Back in the dark ages when I got out of boot camp I weighed in at 153lb. I was 5'8 and in pretty good shape. I exercised regularly, as any good Marine would do and up until I was 25 or 30 I was in pretty good shape. Along with that my wife and I followed the recommended diet that the government said was the best way to go and all seem to go well. It was during that time though, that major Agri-Business was informed by the supreme court that they could patent food that they had genetically altered in some way. Thus paving the way for mass production of it. Monsanto was that company but it opened all sort of doors for other companies to do the same. This is also the time that I started to put on weight and started having some minor, but annoying, medical issues. Fast forward to a few years ago.

After my return from Iraq I was put on a lot of medications that literally sucked the life right out of me and I put on weight. It didn't matter how much I exercised I just kept gaining in the poundage. I thought that perhaps it was the medications so I cut myself back to almost nothing preferring to deal with life as it came instead of being medicated. But no matter what I did, no matter the diet I followed I just kept gaining weight. Then I discovered a couple of documentaries called “Food Matters” and “Food Inc”. It was mind blowing. I was utterly astonished to see and hear of how the big agriculture companies were using all sorts of growth hormones on animals making them larger faster and the conditions that they were being raised in. It was disgusting. This, however, led to more research and the discovery that most of the fruits and veggies that you buy at your local grocery stores not to mention just about everything processed was treated with various chemicals and in many cases were altered genetically as well. Needless to say we went organic but even though we cut out just about all processed food and eliminated soy and high fructose corn syrup, in any of its forms, and we went as organic as possible, it still wasn't enough to get rid of the weight or illnesses that go with the weight.

A few months ago I was informed by my doctor that I have type II diabetes. I was truly surprised. I have been eating the kind of diet recommended by the government think tanks and doctors alike and exercising like a mad man and yet the weight hasn't really been coming off and every time I had blood work done my blood sugar was elevated, as well as certain liver enzymes. To say that both my wife and I were surprised is an understatement. What have we been doing wrong? Nothing really, we just missed one.

Turns out, after more research and with the help of some friends who also are trying to live healthier, that wheat and other gluten containing products, that we have been told were good for us, are far from it. Back in the later part of the 1950's scientists and farmers were trying to figure out a way to grow more wheat per acre than they had been able to do before. They wound up with a modified grain that was shorter and because it didn't need as much nutrients from the soil they could grow more of it. Somewhere around 1980 as they were doing studies on modified foods and its effect on people they discovered that the modified wheat had a very curious property, it actually makes you hungry. Not only does it make you hungry sooner than normal but its nutritional value was almost worthless, tending to make a person more tired and run down. The other thing that they discovered, which is now known everywhere, was that the gluten that is in it makes people sick in a variety of ways to include diabetes, weight gain, heart disease,etc. But instead of warning people of this fact the scientist, who I am assuming either worked for the government or agriculture, kept it quiet. That means that just about everything that we eat as Americans, that doesn't come from organic farms, and is processed in any way is not only dangerous to us, but is also deadly.

The bottom line is that all these people, scientists, agriculture and the government, know this and they have done nothing to protect us or warn us of the dangers. Its amazing that countries all over the world are banning modified foods and their scientist are proving that this stuff is dangerous to humans and animals alike and yet here in the land of the free we are being fed a load of bull complete with harmful chemicals and side effects and the truth is being litigated away.

So my suggestion is this, first buy your produce locally at least then you know the source, buy as much as you can organic and if not organic (getting certified organic for small farms is expensive) get it at least all natural raised. Stay away from anything processed, as there is no redeeming quality in any of it and stay away from anything that is not considered to be “Ancient” grains. They are hard to find but they are by far better for you. But above all be aware of what you are putting into your body, your health depends on it.

The Bombings; Things that should be said and asked.

I am afraid for my country. More so, I am afraid for the American people. I think we are being fooled and are being treated as fools as to the things that are happening right in front of our eyes. Last week a terrible thing happened in Boston, two men with bombs killed three and wounded somewhere around 200. The official version of what happened is that two guys with backpacks and pressure cookers set off the explosions thus causing all the aforementioned death and suffering. Those two became the focus of a massive manhunt in Boston and the surrounding communities, that literally shut down the city and ended in the death of one and the capture of the other. We have been told that they were lone wolves, that they had no help, and were just kind of winging the whole thing based off information on the internet. We were also informed that their religious beliefs, Islam, had nothing to do with it, that they were unemployed and that the older brother, especially, was angry at his situation or that perhaps a concussion suffered while boxing was the real cause and that while the younger brother was essentially a good kid he was easily influenced by his brother.

I am not buying any of this.

Lets address the religious aspect first so that those of you who are going to be offended will be and we can then move on. If these two men had been white or members of the Tea Party or the Westboro Baptist Church it would have been all over the news and many in the government and the mainstream media would have been loving it. They were practically salivating in the hopes that it would be. Instead these two turn out, once again, to be Muslim extremists. Not all Muslims are extremists but these two certainly fit the category of angry young Muslim men who want to kill anyone who does not follow their sick ideology. This has been admitted to and is quite apparent based on what was found on their computers. The teachings of the radicals that they followed and based on what Russian intel told us. This is not fiction, this is fact. You may not like it but there it is.

Second; The lone wolf concept. If they were alone and acting on their own, then where did they get the money for the guns,not to mention the bomb making materials (remember they had more than just two as demonstrated when they were having it out with the police) or the car that they were driving? I understand that they were both unemployed and yet somehow the older one is able to fly to Russia and stay for 6 months. Where did the money come from? They would have needed money to get the permits needed in MA to own a gun never mind actually buying the guns. Or perhaps they obtained them illegally, as most criminals and terrorists tend to do, or maybe the oldest one's wife had something to do with providing them with the money. Perhaps it could have been a, dare I say it, an Islamic terrorist organization? Or a another FBI set up that this time went terribly wrong? As long as the official story of “lone wolves” stays in place we may never know.

Third; While it can be argued that the bomb material is easy enough to obtain and you can find directions on line as to how to build a bomb you still need to know how to properly deploy these weapons in a way that will cause the most damage and still allow you to walk away, not to mention being able to time everything just right so that nothing is detected by the bomb sniffing dogs. That takes a bit of time, practice and surveillance. There simply had to be some training involved to be able to do this successfully. I know that when I went through boot camp back in the dark ages you were taught how to handle weapons, including various explosives, but they wouldn't let you handle anything until they were satisfied that you understood all the components, how they worked, how to properly deploy them, and make them work without killing yourself. So I am supposed to believe that these guys were so smart that they were successfully able to pull this off with out any kind of outside help?

Fourth; Why was the older brother tagged by DHS and or the FBI a few years ago and yet left alone, even after the Russians warned them about him and the radical Islamist that he had been with? From what I understand they had reason then to deport him yet they let him stay.

Fifth; Why was so much force needed to capture one man, a so called lone wolf? I have seen video clips taken from houses in the search areas where the police stormed into houses and took people out at gun point screaming at them to keep their hands up like they were the ones who had done something. I understand that it is dangerous work but if you knew who you were looking for and that he was a lone wolf, as has been portrayed by the media/government, then why are you violating the rights of those who had nothing to do with it? Could it be that the government knew something more than they will admit and that perhaps these guys had some help?

Sixth; If this attack caught everyone by surprise, as we have been led to believe, why were there warnings of a bomb drill? Why were there so many men dressed identically, khakis and boots along with black jackets, carrying backpacks the same color as at least one of the ones used? Who were these people? The official response is either denial of government people being there (Just ignore the shiny black SUV's and the ear pieces) or it's been shoved into silence mode.

There are more questions that could be asked but I will stop with these.

I said earlier I don't buy the official story.

The irony here is that not too long ago Mr. Obama said military style weapons had no place on the streets of America and yet Boston had so much on its streets that it looked just like a war zone. You don't need a small army to capture one man. You had both of their pictures all over the internet; where do you think that they could go and not be found in these days, where damn near everything has a camera on it? Or is it more that they wanted to make sure that he was caught or killed as well so that he couldn't talk?

Sadly some of you are going to be offended by this piece because you reflect the current administrations view on Islamic terrorist, that they don't really exist, even as your streets are being bombed and people are being killed and maimed, even as your houses are being forcibly entered and you are being searched at gunpoint you won't believe the truth. Our enemies are here and they are likely better organized than we have been told. The government won't acknowledge it but I think I know, at least in part, why. Fear is a powerful motivator and they have been using it against us, especially since 911. Bit by bit they have used various situations to encroach on our liberties so I am guessing that this is going to cause more, or at least an excuse to attempt more.

Just My Simple Minded opinion.

We Are Patriots

This week, once again, our world was rocked by cowardly, despicable, semi human, monsters who killed and maimed innocent people with two bombs at the Boston Marathon. I had originally planned on writing about how much this reminded me of September 11 and all the emotions and feelings it brought up, having experienced that and war in Iraq. Instead I am going to write about my anger. Not anger at those worthless bastards who did this, whoever they may be, but my anger at the media who immediately jumped to conclusions or, at the very least, insinuated that they had a pretty good idea of who might do it and why.

The words I heard used over and over were “right wing extremists” with ABC and MSNBC being the worst, at least of the ones that I heard, but, you might ask ,why that would bother me so much? You have no party affiliation. Its because at least two of them tried to tie “patriots” in with “right wing extremists” and at least one, Jessica Stern on MSNBC said and I quote “far right Neo Nazi patriot movement”.The other being Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, while being interviewed by ABC, suggesting that it was those of the so called “patriot movement” being responsible and that while Patriots day isn't until the 19^th they acted sooner because Boston celebrated it on the 15^th. Then there were those , particularly CNN, that suggested that it was the work of “white tea party members.”

What the hell is the matter with you people in the news media? You want this to be some sort of home grown terrorism? Do you really love your political agenda so much that you would be happy at the mere thought that it might be someone affiliated with a group you don't like? You people are sick and the entire lot of you should be fired for sheer ignorance and stupidity and hatred for your own nation. Let me give you a real idea of just who patriots are.

I am a patriot. My father was a Cuban refugee who escaped communism. My mother of the peoples of Ireland and Scotland that has been here for generations. I was born here and I served my country in both peace time and war.

We are patriots. We are people who believe in the Constitution and the Bill Of Rights. We are people who fight against you being taxed and regulated to death and being man handled by a federal government that has clearly over stepped its bounds. We are people who believe that life liberty and the pursuit of happiness applies to all people no matter their color ,race , religion, sexual orientation or creed. We do our fighting with the power of the internet and the vote. We are not people who use bombs as a means to get any of our views across, that is what terrorists and governments do. We are instead people who will write and call our representatives and peaceably protest against those policies and laws we disagree with. We are Redsox and Yankee fans who unite under one flag though we are sports rivals. We are Bruins fans who sing the National Anthem at the top of their lungs 2 days after the attack. We are the men and women who raised the flag at the twin towers and those who rescued the dead and the injured. This is not about political differences, we are a nation of people who all believe differently on a great number of issues but when you boil it all down we are all Americans and most , if not all, are patriots. To suggest that someone who believes differently than your political ideology is somehow a terrorist is disgusting and childish.

Am I saying that there is no way that it couldn't be some Neo Nazi group or far right or left nut jobs?No. The past shows us that there are crazies on all sides of the spectrum. What I am saying is don't put those of us who consider our selves to be patriots in the same sort of category as cowardly terrorists or Nazi's because in doing so you have just demeaned 330 million Americans and it doesn't pay to piss off Americans.

Just my simple minded opinion.

Prejudice in the North East ??

As most of you know, I live in the Northeast, one of the most liberal areas of the country, where just about anything conservative or religious is frowned upon ,unless its politically correct, and the level of tolerance for just about anything, this side of California, is just about the highest in the nation but it is also an area where prejudice seems to be quite alive and well.

When I lived out in the south west, I wasn't all that surprised to find that the KKK was still in power in some places. I was never troubled by any of them mind you, but still I knew that they were there and when they spoke, politicians on the local level, listened. I started taking care of a camp after Hurricane Katrina and the camp was packed with supplies that had been meant for refugees from Katrina that were supposed to come to the camp but never did. I was told by one of my neighbors that the reason that they never came was because the local klan had intervened and had prevented it from happening because most of those that were going to be coming were black. Now, I can't prove that this was true it was simply told to me so I can only say that it's a many times removed account but still when I consider where I was and the obvious signs it's not really that surprising to me. Not saying it's a good thing just not surprising.

Here in the Northeast though, where liberal politics rule the day, I had always kind of assumed that in this day and age that there wouldn't be any to speak of. Sure, there would always be cases of individuals who were bigoted knuckleheads, but not so wide spread as I have discovered.

My wife and I have been in the process of looking for a place to rent after we were informed by our landlord that he was going to be selling the house. He has not been prejudice towards us in any way that I know of, it's just that the taxes are going up and he needs to sell. The problem has been in the search for a new place dealing with people who are obviously just a bit on the biased side.

My wife would call a place and give her first name and all would be well in the course of the conversation until it came time for the last name and /or my first name. We are talking of people who were excited in talking to my wife because they know we have a steady income and could get good references etc, but as soon as it got to my full name the conversation would end and all the warm fuzzies with it. We even looked at a few places and filled out forms only to either not hear from these people again or to be told that they were looking for other types of people. The reasons varied but none of that would come up until my family name or my first name came into play. Then it all fell apart. No one can say to you outright that they don't want you to rent from them because your Hispanic, that’s against the law, but they can use just about any other excuse that they wish. It could be coincidence but I really doubt it because it always follows the same path.

The funny part in all this, is that if you met me on the street, without knowing my name, you would likely never guess that there was any Spanish blood in me at all. Sure I am short and stocky as many Hispanic folks are and yes my eyes are sort of brown and in the summer I can get quite a tan but I tend to look more like my mothers family which were Scott and Irish and I only speak a little bit of Spanish. The point is that without even seeing me some people passed judgment and some of those who did , did so based on my name.

Now, for the record, we have found another place to live in the state that I am originally from and I am very grateful for it because of the opportunities available to my family and because it will put me closer to extended family as well but the whole process of the search was a bit of an eye opener.

Personally, I think we still have a long way to go on the issues of race, especially the stereo typing, and I realize that certainly things are much better than they were 50 years ago, but all sides of this issue, no matter the race, has to come together and start working out our differences. We are supposed to be a nation of rugged individuals who earn our place in society that should be judged on our character of heart, not pigmentation, heritage or sexual orientation. This is just My Simple minded thought.

Veterans, PTSD And The 2ND Amendment

As we near the 10^th anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, I first want to say thank you to those that were there with me during that time and those that came after. I would also like to give my condolences to all the families on either side of the war who lost loved ones or whose family members came back injured in many different ways. Semper Fi.

As most of you know there has been quite a debate over the rights of American citizens to own certain types of weapons and magazines. Personally I think its more about people control rather than real gun control but unless you control the latter you can't control the former. There has also been some debate as to the mental qualifications of those that own weapons or who should be allowed to own said weapons and magazines.

I am an Iraq veteran who suffers with PTSD and TBI, as well as a few other injuries, all related to my time in Iraq. These are the facts. Having said that, I am no threat to anyone who isn't trying to harm me or my family. Over the weekend I spent time with a bunch of my friends and family, at a private range, shooting various types and calibers of weapons, including so called assault weapons, and I didn’t so much as flinch or threaten anyone. Not only did I shoot but I discovered that I could still hit a small target from a sizable distance.

Certainly, there are those amongst us who shouldn't be allowed to own a gun. They are the people who have shown, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they are looney and, or violent and are a danger to themselves and others. If these were the only qualifying points as to who could not own a gun I might even agree but it's not. Unfortunately, we have people at both the state and federal levels, who would like to see guns removed from the hands of veterans, especially combat vets, simply because of TBI or PTSD. It's not that they have been a danger to themselves or anyone else it's simply the idea that they MAY have issues because of their time in combat.

The media would have all of us believe, via the news and entertainment industry, that because some of us are war veterans with both TBI and PTSD that somehow we are unstable and that we are likely to become violent to society or towards the government because we don't like the things that they are doing. That somehow, at the slightest bit of confrontation we are going to explode. Funny thing though its been 10 years, to the day, since the Iraq war started, and I haven't gone off or shot anyone since my return. In fact, I haven't done anything that is violent unless you count hunting and fishing. Furthermore, I detest violence so much that I won't watch any of the modern war movies. I have heard that there are some good ones out there but I have no interest, though I will watch a good scifi movie no matter the content, but that’s a different issue.

Most Veterans, especially war veterans, that I have known, despise violence and they very thought of war. It is also true that many of us own firearms but the reason for that is many fold: One, it's our right and we have defended that right. Two, we have been to war so we know that the utopian world that many seem to think is out there somewhere is not even closely related to reality. Third, it's about protecting ourselves from a tyrannical government that would attempt to take away the very rights we put our lives on the line for. The Constitution doesn't specify what type of weapons that you should have, it doesn't even say that you are required to have them, but it does say that you have the right and that it “ shall not be infringed”. If classifying and telling the American people what they can and cannot own isn't an infringement than what is?

The colonists had the equivalent fire power of the British. In many cases, what the colonists had was better because theirs were custom made, not military issue, and they were made for longer distance shooting. The local militias had cannons and stock piles of ammunition with powder. This is what the British came after, they knew if they could disarm the militia and the people then they could control the population. So when the 2^nd amendment was added it was to make sure that the American people had the fire power that they needed to defend themselves against an out of control government or some foreign power. It's not about hunting and it never has been.

Some of you may be thinking that they will never do this, that they will never take away the rights of veterans or anyone else to keep and bear arms and yet that’s exactly what is happening all across this country. Just look at the laws in NY, CO, MD, IL, CA, amongst others and now try telling me again that they are not trying to “infringe” on your rights. Veterans across the country have been receiving letters from the VA telling them that they are being considered “incompetent” because of something as simple as not being able to handle a check book and (this coming from a government that can't handle theirs), if proven as such, then they will lose their rights to own a weapon and will be in violation of the law if they don't turn those guns that they may have in. This is not hearsay, I have seen the letters, not sent to me as of yet, but to others.

You may not like guns, that’s your right. I don't like Lobster, but I don't try and regulate it away from everyone who does. Some of us may be dealing with PTSD and TBI but most of us are no danger to anyone or to ourselves. If the mark of competence for a Veteran is a check book, than perhaps everyone in DC needs to be declared incompetent and have their rights taken away from them as well. Just my simple minded opinion.