You know, I really loved my time in the Navy. I mean, I absolutely cherish the memories made over 20 years. That may not be a big surprise to many of you out there that know me. As much as I loved being in the Navy, I am glad I am retired from active duty. Sure, I'm happy with the fact there are no more duty days, deployments, inspections, GMT (General Military Training) and the myriad of other annoyances for me. Overall, though, I had a great time.
There is one thing that makes me especially happy to be out now. I hated being short-handed for a deployment because some stupid sailor did something to make him or her ineligible to deploy. I remember the extra hours worked and increased stress resulting from the loss of a sailor by way of a completely preventable condition. When I first joined the Navy, it wasn't a big deal, really. All the warships were male only and the only coed ships were the tenders, which basically were floating shipyards. Even back then, though, it was possible for a male sailor to be denied shore duty and sent to a tender because some female got pregnant...just before deployment...gee, I wonder why that happened?
Which is why I agree with and applaud Major General Tony Cucolo. I like the policy concerning females getting pregnant in a war zone. Being in the military is hard work, folks, and I would be lying if I said I enjoyed leaving my family to deploy for six to nine months. No, leaving your wife and/or kids is agonizing but you sailor up and do it because that's what you get paid to do.
Too many times I have witnessed women who get pregnant two months before deployment and become ineligible to deploy. I remember back in 1992; I was on shore duty, stationed at a SIMA (Shore Intermediate Maintenance Facility). My command was dubbed the Little Creek Maternity Ward because of the fact we had over 20 pregnant female sailors. Not every one of them was previously stationed on a ship; no, there were some who timed their pregnancies so they could go back to sea when their shore tour was up. Those women I have no problem with; they were true comrades-in-arms because they took the time to make sure they didn't negatively affect any other sailor.
In fact, ever since General Cucolo announced this policy, he has been vilified in the press and by women's rights advocates like the ever worthless Senator Barbara Boxer. Senator Boxer has never served in the military and has held the military in contempt for as long as I can remember. I vividly recall the time when she ordered Army Corps of Engineers Brigadier General Michael Walsh to call her Senator rather than Ma'am because she worked so hard to achieve that status. Maybe he SHOULD have called her Senator because she sure ain't a lady who deserves to be called Ma'am. Senator Boxer, you are a complete idiot who has absolutely no idea what impact a missing Sailor, Soldier, Marine or Airman has on their unit when it deploys without them.
Since you have no idea of that impact, I suggest you SHUT UP. This Iraq pregnancy policy is nothing more than an amplification of existing regulations. All service members are made aware of this policy when they sign their enlistment contract and raise their right hand for the oath. Males who "shoot themselves in the foot" just before a deployment are punished for their dereliction of duty; it is HIGH TIME we held female service members to the same standard. The General did not single out women, he is holding BOTH males and females responsible for their actions when it results in pregnancy and a ticket home for the female. This is NOT about infringing on "women's rights"; it is about ensuring EVERY member of that command, unit, squadron, platoon, etc. is ready and able to answer the call. In the military, the "rights" of the individual are trumped by the needs of the unit in this scenario. It is selfish and reprehensible for one to deliberately make one's self unable to deploy or remain deployed.
This is much like the idiots who tried to get out of deploying for the war by claiming "conscientious objector" status. WRONG AGAIN. Again, I will say this; WHEN one raises one's right hand and swears to defend this nation from all enemies foreign and domestic and obey the orders from the people over them, one is BOUND to obey orders and deploy. There is NO EXCUSE for any of these attempts to get out of doing one's job. If one has an active duty military ID card and is being paid for serving in the military on active duty one MUST perform their duties to the best of one's ability! Kowtowing to "women's rights" to excuse dereliction of duty, yet punishing males for dereliction of duty is discriminatory at best and criminal at worst. There should be no distinction between the two.
In short; YOU raised YOUR hand, YOU signed YOUR contract and YOU are collecting YOUR pay. Therefore YOU will deploy and perform YOUR duties. If YOU do not deploy or get YOUR tour abbreviated by YOUR actions YOU will be held responsible. Simple, ethical, legal. So, Senator and women's rights activists, I say this; if you have never served in the military, you have no idea what you are talking about and, therefore, should mind your own damned business and let the military do its job.
23 December 2009
07 December 2009
You Are SO Annoying!!
I have been irritated lately; I don’t know about you but it sure seems like people are getting more and more irritating with each passing year. It never ceases to amaze me how oblivious some people are to those around them. Maybe I am too cynical, I don’t know; tell me if you agree with me on these irritating events.
Take today; it’s Monday and, true to form, it’s raining. It boggles the mind how some drivers react to rain. It’s bad enough the bumpkins around here normally drive about 10 miles under the speed limit but, if it starts to rain…oh my, the already slow idiots slow even more! It’s already bad coming out of subdivision in the mornings; there is only one way in or out and, if that’s not enough, when you exit the subdivision you have to get on a state highway to get anywhere. Normally at 7:35 am, there is a decent line of cars waiting to get on the highway (there is always heavy traffic at this spot in the mornings); it seems as if some of these people have to have an engraved invitation before they will turn on the highway. Today it was the worst I’ve seen; it’s raining so, naturally, one of the aforementioned bumpkins refuses to turn out onto the highway. I counted the seconds between cars while numnuts was waiting; 45 seconds was the least amount of time I counted…and he STILL wouldn’t turn out! Finally, idiot boy turns out on the highway. I am running late for work, having waited close to 10 minutes for this truck to turn out. I start driving a little bit faster than normal to compensate for the time lost but there is no way I am going so fast as to lose control of my vehicle on a wet road; then I come up on a car that is going a whopping 25 mph…in a 40 mph zone…and in a “No Passing” zone to boot!
Annoying drivers aside, here is another tale for you. My wife and I have a Friday routine down here in this metropolis. Every Friday evening we go out to a restaurant and, sometimes, we do a little necessary shopping after dinner (Woo-Hoo, just another exciting Friday night in Mudville!!!). It was at the restaurant where we encountered another annoying idiot. This time it was “Ignoramus Parentus Publicita”, better known as ignorant idiot parent with small children. They are eating dinner while their toddler, couldn’t be more than maybe 3 ½ years old, is running around the restaurant…literally! This child is literally running around the dining room again and again…and the parents do NOTHING!! All I could think of right then was, “I hope to God this kid doesn’t fall down or have a waiter dump something hot on him.” In my mind was a vision of that very thing happening and the parents suing the restaurant. Folks, I don’t go to places like Chuck E Cheese, Shoney’s, or any other “family-friendly” restaurants and expect no kids to be there. I know kids are going to be at those type places, so when we do go to those type restaurants, I don’t bitch about kids. So, why is it that, whenever we are in a place that is a little more fancy we still have to put up with somebody’s whiny little heathens? As if that’s not enough, when I complain about it, I get labeled an intolerant child-hater!
So, why in the world am I griping here about these things? Well, because it’s my blog and I can write about anything I want. Seriously though, my dear readers, do these two types of people annoy you as well? What do you find irritating and annoying? What is/are your biggest pet peeve(s)? Tell me, are you too annoyed at rugrats running around public places causing mayhem? Are you too annoyed at the idiotic and negligent driver that acts as if they are the only ones on the road? Tell us all here how you feel; come on, share with us! I promise the next installment of this blog will delve a little deeper into the world of the obtuse, idiotic, rude, crude, careless morons around us.
Take today; it’s Monday and, true to form, it’s raining. It boggles the mind how some drivers react to rain. It’s bad enough the bumpkins around here normally drive about 10 miles under the speed limit but, if it starts to rain…oh my, the already slow idiots slow even more! It’s already bad coming out of subdivision in the mornings; there is only one way in or out and, if that’s not enough, when you exit the subdivision you have to get on a state highway to get anywhere. Normally at 7:35 am, there is a decent line of cars waiting to get on the highway (there is always heavy traffic at this spot in the mornings); it seems as if some of these people have to have an engraved invitation before they will turn on the highway. Today it was the worst I’ve seen; it’s raining so, naturally, one of the aforementioned bumpkins refuses to turn out onto the highway. I counted the seconds between cars while numnuts was waiting; 45 seconds was the least amount of time I counted…and he STILL wouldn’t turn out! Finally, idiot boy turns out on the highway. I am running late for work, having waited close to 10 minutes for this truck to turn out. I start driving a little bit faster than normal to compensate for the time lost but there is no way I am going so fast as to lose control of my vehicle on a wet road; then I come up on a car that is going a whopping 25 mph…in a 40 mph zone…and in a “No Passing” zone to boot!
Annoying drivers aside, here is another tale for you. My wife and I have a Friday routine down here in this metropolis. Every Friday evening we go out to a restaurant and, sometimes, we do a little necessary shopping after dinner (Woo-Hoo, just another exciting Friday night in Mudville!!!). It was at the restaurant where we encountered another annoying idiot. This time it was “Ignoramus Parentus Publicita”, better known as ignorant idiot parent with small children. They are eating dinner while their toddler, couldn’t be more than maybe 3 ½ years old, is running around the restaurant…literally! This child is literally running around the dining room again and again…and the parents do NOTHING!! All I could think of right then was, “I hope to God this kid doesn’t fall down or have a waiter dump something hot on him.” In my mind was a vision of that very thing happening and the parents suing the restaurant. Folks, I don’t go to places like Chuck E Cheese, Shoney’s, or any other “family-friendly” restaurants and expect no kids to be there. I know kids are going to be at those type places, so when we do go to those type restaurants, I don’t bitch about kids. So, why is it that, whenever we are in a place that is a little more fancy we still have to put up with somebody’s whiny little heathens? As if that’s not enough, when I complain about it, I get labeled an intolerant child-hater!
So, why in the world am I griping here about these things? Well, because it’s my blog and I can write about anything I want. Seriously though, my dear readers, do these two types of people annoy you as well? What do you find irritating and annoying? What is/are your biggest pet peeve(s)? Tell me, are you too annoyed at rugrats running around public places causing mayhem? Are you too annoyed at the idiotic and negligent driver that acts as if they are the only ones on the road? Tell us all here how you feel; come on, share with us! I promise the next installment of this blog will delve a little deeper into the world of the obtuse, idiotic, rude, crude, careless morons around us.
02 December 2009
We need to get God back in America...
AM NOT ASHAMED! Let's see how many people on FB are not ashamed to show their love for God and admit that Jesus is their Savior. We need to get God back in America. If you're not ashamed, copy and paste this in your status! I am thankful for God in my life!
I have seen this statement on the status update on some of my friends’ Facebook pages and it started me to wondering something…why do we need to “…get God back in America.”? I was born and raised Catholic and throughout my lifetime it has been preached to me that God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent (All Knowing, All Seeing and All Powerful). Is this no longer true for America? Has God abandoned the good ole USA?
I posed that question to a friend of mine who responded to me that I was missing the point; the statement was meant to remind people to keep God in their hearts. So, I asked, if that is true then why add the statement, “We need to get God back in America.”? I never got a response from my friend.
So, I am posing this question to you, my readers; if God is truly omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent, why do we need to get Him back in America? Why would one need to “get God back in America” if one simply needs to remember to keep God in one’s heart?
America is supposed to be the land of the FREE. That means each individual can either accept or reject God. It means the Hindu in America can worship Grishnu, the Muslim in America can worship Allah, the Wiccan can worship the Goddess, the Christian can worship God, the Moron…oops, sorry, I meant Mormon, can adhere to their cult leader’s teachings…OR…an individual can just not believe in God or any other deity. Evidently that is not what the original writer of that Facebook statement meant. I think that statement means the originator wants EVERYONE in America to believe in God and only God.
After all, I am sure you’ve all heard this classic Ann Coulter quote concerning Muslim countries, “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.”, or this other classic quote concerning “college liberals”, “When contemplating college liberals, you really regret once again that John Walker is not getting the death penalty. We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too. Otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors.”
You want to know something, folks? There is an organization out there that wants us all to accept one God and only one God; they want us all to live under their laws or die. You know them; we’re fighting them in Afghanistan and Iraq right now as we speak. Yes people, it is true, Al Qaida (and their close ally, the Taliban) want nothing more than to impose Sharia Law on the entire world and make EVERYONE a Muslim and kill the ones who don’t convert. Wow, that sounds to me a lot like Ms. Coulter’s ranting and, not coincidentally, the original Facebook statement at the beginning of this article.
And THAT, my friends, is exactly why I don’t trust any religion and I don’t trust anyone who publicly proclaims their religion is better than anyone else’s. To me, Christians and Muslims are a lot alike; except that modern Christians won’t kill to further their agenda…unless, of course, you are Ann Coulter.
I have seen this statement on the status update on some of my friends’ Facebook pages and it started me to wondering something…why do we need to “…get God back in America.”? I was born and raised Catholic and throughout my lifetime it has been preached to me that God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent (All Knowing, All Seeing and All Powerful). Is this no longer true for America? Has God abandoned the good ole USA?
I posed that question to a friend of mine who responded to me that I was missing the point; the statement was meant to remind people to keep God in their hearts. So, I asked, if that is true then why add the statement, “We need to get God back in America.”? I never got a response from my friend.
So, I am posing this question to you, my readers; if God is truly omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent, why do we need to get Him back in America? Why would one need to “get God back in America” if one simply needs to remember to keep God in one’s heart?
America is supposed to be the land of the FREE. That means each individual can either accept or reject God. It means the Hindu in America can worship Grishnu, the Muslim in America can worship Allah, the Wiccan can worship the Goddess, the Christian can worship God, the Moron…oops, sorry, I meant Mormon, can adhere to their cult leader’s teachings…OR…an individual can just not believe in God or any other deity. Evidently that is not what the original writer of that Facebook statement meant. I think that statement means the originator wants EVERYONE in America to believe in God and only God.
After all, I am sure you’ve all heard this classic Ann Coulter quote concerning Muslim countries, “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.”, or this other classic quote concerning “college liberals”, “When contemplating college liberals, you really regret once again that John Walker is not getting the death penalty. We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too. Otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors.”
You want to know something, folks? There is an organization out there that wants us all to accept one God and only one God; they want us all to live under their laws or die. You know them; we’re fighting them in Afghanistan and Iraq right now as we speak. Yes people, it is true, Al Qaida (and their close ally, the Taliban) want nothing more than to impose Sharia Law on the entire world and make EVERYONE a Muslim and kill the ones who don’t convert. Wow, that sounds to me a lot like Ms. Coulter’s ranting and, not coincidentally, the original Facebook statement at the beginning of this article.
And THAT, my friends, is exactly why I don’t trust any religion and I don’t trust anyone who publicly proclaims their religion is better than anyone else’s. To me, Christians and Muslims are a lot alike; except that modern Christians won’t kill to further their agenda…unless, of course, you are Ann Coulter.
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