Amazing...simply amazing. Iran holds a presidential election in which it seems there is majority support for the opposition candidate, former Prime Minister Mirhossein Mousavi, and once the voting's over, they call it for Imadingyjihad. Amidst stories of some Iranian states registering sometimes up to 50% more votes than voters, the opposition cries foul...and rightly so. Then their supreme leader and other hard-line clerics (most likely the ones who engineered the 1979 revolt and taking of American hostages...all because they said Iran was corrupted by the West) call for killing protesters! Got that, kids? KILLING PROTESTERS!!
Where are the world's supposedly peaceful muslims? Where are their loud worldwide protests? Where is the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR)? Do you wanna know who is screaming the loudest at Iran to back off and have another election? The supposedly decadent West, that's who! All these Western governments who have fought and are fighting for freedom are the ones screaming at Iran to stop bullying its citizenry...and the rest of the world's muslims are staying quiet about it and some have even denounced the USA for speaking out!
So, I ask you, look at the whole situation from an unbiased standpoint and tell me what you see. Know what I see? I see hypocrites and lunatics who are about as far away from the 7 Pillars of Islam as they can be! COME ON MUSLIMS!!! Back up the Iranian people!!!
Because your inaction is only fueling the belief that Islam is a religion of hate and war...and muslims are no better than rabid dogs.
26 June 2009
20 June 2009
What Is A Man???
Sometimes I can be just sitting on my sofa watching television when I see or hear something that provokes random thought in my mind. If you don't know what I'm talking about, that's ok, most of the time I'm not sure if I even know what I'm talking about! I know I've been particularly critical of religion lately so I am going to let those whackos alone for a while. Nope, this time I want to address certain beliefs that seem to be perpetuated through commercials and certain sitcoms.
If you have watched any television at all in the last 25 years or so, you are most likely familiar with the stereotype that men are insensitive, incompetent boobs who have to be saved on a daily basis by their rational wives. If one were to believe everything thay see and hear, one would think there isn't a man in the world who can cook, clean the gutters, change the oil in the family car, shop for groceries or do much of anything without making a huge nasty mess...and to a certain point, one may be right.
What irks me, however, is that through my daily life and interactions with other humans, I find exactly the opposite to be true...most of the time. Which begs the question; if the commercials are right and the television shows are right then why is it the vast majority of world-class executive chefs are men? What is so unmanly about being able to cook? What is so unmanly about being able to clean a house and do laundry? You know what, there is nothing unmanly about that! A good portion of my life was spent being single...my house was clean, I didn't go hungry, and I had clean laundry. Horrors, a man who can take care of himself! Whatever would the feminasties do if they knew men were actually valuable assets to society?! (This will be saved for a future conversation!)
On the other hand, if one were to read magazines such as Men's Health, one may deduce that men are moody, insecure little boys who need to read a magazine to figure out what they want out of life. Somebody at my work leaves these copies of Men's Health in our breakroom...one day I started reading one of them. Oh my, if I were to take their advice I'd probably end up in a looney bin! Do men really need to be told what and how to eat? Does any man truly believe it when a woman says she likes a sensitive man? There was an article in this issue that interviewed some super-model who stated her ideal man isn't afraid to cry in front of her and goes gaga over puppies and little kids...seriously!!!! From what I can gather from this rag is it must be geared to some kind of city guy; you know the type of guy who never gets his hands dirty, never turns a wrench, etc. Pretty much the same type of guy who watches that queer eye show. I don't know about you but I do not want a bunch of flamers telling me how I need to dress or whatever it is they do on that show. Now I am not a homophobe, but I do think that any man who will get a manicure and pedicure "just because" is somehow not really a man...maybe there's just a little too much girl there.
Girly-men, nancy-boys, metro-sexuals...all males who carry "man bags" and clip and shave various hairy areas.."they" call it "man-scaping" are not real men. There are some very simple rules for real men, such as which alcohol to drink. It is acceptable for real men to drink wine, though it HAS to be real wine and not some crap like White Zinfandel. Real men drink good beer and good liquor. Some acceptable liquors are Sailor Jerry Rum, Maker's Mark Bourbon, Glenfiddich 15 year Single Malt Scotch, and Jameson Irish Whiskey. Some acceptable beers would be Dundee Honey Brown Ale, Guinness Stout, Bass Ale, Miller Lite, Coors Light, and Miller High Life. A real man knows how to change the oil in his vehicle, knows why he keeps a pair of vice grips in the saddlebags on his bike, and instinctively knows how to grill the perfect steak. A real man doesn't need a magazine to tell him how to live and knows that whatever comes out of a supermodel's mouth is most likely bullshit. A real man knows how to answer his lady's questions like, "Do these jeans make me look fat?" A real man knows how to make an omelet and knows the current stats of his favorite teams and players.
Simple rules like those is what makes a man a man but I think the most important rule for a real man is this; a real man is a man who does not concern himself with what other people think of him, he just does what he knows is right...and he knows that sometimes the right thing is not the popular thing...know what I mean?
If you have watched any television at all in the last 25 years or so, you are most likely familiar with the stereotype that men are insensitive, incompetent boobs who have to be saved on a daily basis by their rational wives. If one were to believe everything thay see and hear, one would think there isn't a man in the world who can cook, clean the gutters, change the oil in the family car, shop for groceries or do much of anything without making a huge nasty mess...and to a certain point, one may be right.
What irks me, however, is that through my daily life and interactions with other humans, I find exactly the opposite to be true...most of the time. Which begs the question; if the commercials are right and the television shows are right then why is it the vast majority of world-class executive chefs are men? What is so unmanly about being able to cook? What is so unmanly about being able to clean a house and do laundry? You know what, there is nothing unmanly about that! A good portion of my life was spent being single...my house was clean, I didn't go hungry, and I had clean laundry. Horrors, a man who can take care of himself! Whatever would the feminasties do if they knew men were actually valuable assets to society?! (This will be saved for a future conversation!)
On the other hand, if one were to read magazines such as Men's Health, one may deduce that men are moody, insecure little boys who need to read a magazine to figure out what they want out of life. Somebody at my work leaves these copies of Men's Health in our breakroom...one day I started reading one of them. Oh my, if I were to take their advice I'd probably end up in a looney bin! Do men really need to be told what and how to eat? Does any man truly believe it when a woman says she likes a sensitive man? There was an article in this issue that interviewed some super-model who stated her ideal man isn't afraid to cry in front of her and goes gaga over puppies and little kids...seriously!!!! From what I can gather from this rag is it must be geared to some kind of city guy; you know the type of guy who never gets his hands dirty, never turns a wrench, etc. Pretty much the same type of guy who watches that queer eye show. I don't know about you but I do not want a bunch of flamers telling me how I need to dress or whatever it is they do on that show. Now I am not a homophobe, but I do think that any man who will get a manicure and pedicure "just because" is somehow not really a man...maybe there's just a little too much girl there.
Girly-men, nancy-boys, metro-sexuals...all males who carry "man bags" and clip and shave various hairy areas.."they" call it "man-scaping" are not real men. There are some very simple rules for real men, such as which alcohol to drink. It is acceptable for real men to drink wine, though it HAS to be real wine and not some crap like White Zinfandel. Real men drink good beer and good liquor. Some acceptable liquors are Sailor Jerry Rum, Maker's Mark Bourbon, Glenfiddich 15 year Single Malt Scotch, and Jameson Irish Whiskey. Some acceptable beers would be Dundee Honey Brown Ale, Guinness Stout, Bass Ale, Miller Lite, Coors Light, and Miller High Life. A real man knows how to change the oil in his vehicle, knows why he keeps a pair of vice grips in the saddlebags on his bike, and instinctively knows how to grill the perfect steak. A real man doesn't need a magazine to tell him how to live and knows that whatever comes out of a supermodel's mouth is most likely bullshit. A real man knows how to answer his lady's questions like, "Do these jeans make me look fat?" A real man knows how to make an omelet and knows the current stats of his favorite teams and players.
Simple rules like those is what makes a man a man but I think the most important rule for a real man is this; a real man is a man who does not concern himself with what other people think of him, he just does what he knows is right...and he knows that sometimes the right thing is not the popular thing...know what I mean?
12 June 2009
Friday the 12th
Ok ok, I know it's not as catchy as Friday the 13th...but we're not in a movie, or are we? Do you know what day this is, kids? This is the day all television stations in the United States switch to digital broadcasting. I thought this day would never come, do you know why? Well if you have read my older posts, you most likely read my January 9th post What Digital TV Conversion? where I ranted against extending the deadline from February 17th to June 12th. If you remember back then, the Obama Administration flip-flopped on the issue until just before the scheduled date and then finally announced they were extending the deadline to June 12th.
The announcements on NPR back then were saying the deadline was being extended because over three million (3,000,000) households were not ready for the change! Congress authorized $1.3 BILLION dollars for a coupon program to help people get their converter boxes. Despite this and the onslaught of advertising over THREE MILLION households were not ready! So Congress put even more money into the coupon program and embarked on an even more aggressive advertising campaign to get those households ready for the June 12th conversion.
So now it is June 12th and guess what? According to Nielsen Company, you know the ratings people, reported the results of a survey they conducted shows that...get this...2.8 MILLION households are STILL not ready!!!! In a survey of 928 homes, SmithGeiger LLC discovered that ONE IN EIGHT were not ready...and one person was completely unaware of he transition!!! The Commerce Department reported over 300,000 requests for coupons yesterday (Thursday)...nearly four times the daily average preceding month!!!!
Do you know what that tells me? That tells me our nation has transformed from a nation of builders, creators, innovators and inventors to a nation of lazy, half-assed, under-educated, MTV mind soaked, couch potatoes...and here we go, blazing the trail of stupidity with a crumbling public education system. Oh wait, I just thought of something else, do you know what we are in danger of becoming? Through the well-intentioned but sorely misguided, misinformed and oblivious intentions of Congress and President Obama, we are about to become the largest nation of fat-ass lazy slugs in the world...do you know how? UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE, that's how! As if the lazy welfare leaches didn't have enough incentive not to work, now the government wants to take away our healthcare tax breaks (you know, where you pay for employer-provided healthcare through your paycheck BEFORE taxes are taken out) and make us pay full price so the lazy welfare leaches can get healthcare coverage...you know, it's dangerous selling drugs in the projects yo...I needs me some free healthcare paid for by the working chumps in the US...
The announcements on NPR back then were saying the deadline was being extended because over three million (3,000,000) households were not ready for the change! Congress authorized $1.3 BILLION dollars for a coupon program to help people get their converter boxes. Despite this and the onslaught of advertising over THREE MILLION households were not ready! So Congress put even more money into the coupon program and embarked on an even more aggressive advertising campaign to get those households ready for the June 12th conversion.
So now it is June 12th and guess what? According to Nielsen Company, you know the ratings people, reported the results of a survey they conducted shows that...get this...2.8 MILLION households are STILL not ready!!!! In a survey of 928 homes, SmithGeiger LLC discovered that ONE IN EIGHT were not ready...and one person was completely unaware of he transition!!! The Commerce Department reported over 300,000 requests for coupons yesterday (Thursday)...nearly four times the daily average preceding month!!!!
Do you know what that tells me? That tells me our nation has transformed from a nation of builders, creators, innovators and inventors to a nation of lazy, half-assed, under-educated, MTV mind soaked, couch potatoes...and here we go, blazing the trail of stupidity with a crumbling public education system. Oh wait, I just thought of something else, do you know what we are in danger of becoming? Through the well-intentioned but sorely misguided, misinformed and oblivious intentions of Congress and President Obama, we are about to become the largest nation of fat-ass lazy slugs in the world...do you know how? UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE, that's how! As if the lazy welfare leaches didn't have enough incentive not to work, now the government wants to take away our healthcare tax breaks (you know, where you pay for employer-provided healthcare through your paycheck BEFORE taxes are taken out) and make us pay full price so the lazy welfare leaches can get healthcare coverage...you know, it's dangerous selling drugs in the projects yo...I needs me some free healthcare paid for by the working chumps in the US...
10 June 2009
Sunny Days....
“Sunnny days, sweepin the – clouds away…on my way to where the air is sweeeet…can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street…” Okay, how many of you can remember this song? If you do know this song, you probably grew up somewhere between 1969 and today. I remember the early 70s of my childhood, the sweet, tantalizing tune romancing my ears and turning my mind into a whirling dervish of childhood anticipation and glee. I remember singing along with Ernie and Kermit, laughing at Big Bird’s silliness and wishing I was in that neighborhood where there was never any rain and everybody got along regardless of age, race or gender. Ahhh memories…and you can re-live those memories with a release of Sesame Street “Old School” Volumes 1 and 2 on DVD. There is a dire warning on this box set, however, admonishing us to not share these episodes with our own children…HUH?
Yes boys and girls, the powers that be have determined the first seasons of Sesame Street are deemed not suitable to “…today’s pre-school child…”. Why is this, you may ask. Well it goes like this…see back in the day, kids rode bicycles without helmets and enough padding to cushion them from a 10 story fall. Cookie Monster back then gobbled up everything in sight…cookies, milk, a pipe…(remember Alistair Cookie and Monsterpiece Theater?), Big Bird must have been taking hallucinogens because he was the only one who could see Snuffleupagus and Oscar the Grouch was…well…grouchy. Remember Gordon, kids? Remember Gordon and Sally? Sally was a little girl who was lost and Gordon was a kindly man who took Sally around Sesame Street and introduced her to all the characters and then took her to his apartment to meet his wife and…gasp…have milk and cookies! Kids played in fields where 2x4’s, huge pipes and such formed a makeshift obstacle course for the kids to play on and use their imaginations.
In today’s world, parents would be up in arms against Gordon…after all, he has to be some sort of pedophile to take Sally under his wing…he must have some nefarious purpose. Cookie Monster now eats fresh fruit because cookies and, horrors, whole milk leads to obesity. It is unconscionable to make a gay couple live in the basement of a crumbling building ala Bert and Ernie (trivia fact – Jim Henson got Bert and Ernie’s names from the taxi driver and policeman in It’s a Wonderful Life). Kids must wear helmets when riding bicycles and MUST be either in a child car seat or wearing a seatbelt today…horrors, what happened to us? We didn’t use seatbelts…cars didn’t even HAVE seatbelts until the 70s. The obstacle course playground can today be confused with a construction site…you see kids today are incapable of distinguishing between the two.
On today’s Sesame Street we have the sinister, saccharine sweetness of the red idiot monster, Elmo…Elmo didn’t exist back then, much less have a stranglehold on children’s minds. Yep, in today’s world we have parents who go to extremes (extremes being an understatement) to protect their kids from EVERYTHING. Everything has a warning somewhere on it (Warning- Explicit Lyrics) (Warning – Not Suitable for Children) we have TV ratings now that tell a parent in excruciating detail what shows are proper for their kids…TV-Y TV-14, TV-MA, etc. etc. We now have the movie rating PG-13 because a simple PG is not always enough warning. Nowadays a parent can be put in jail for not making their child wear a helmet or letting them sit in the front seat without a car seat or seatbelt. Sesame Street nowadays doesn’t teach kids how to read, count, reason, get along with other kids…nope, now we have to teach them a social conscience. Why is that?
Could it be because today’s parents are so busy with their own lives they can’t take the time to teach their kids right from wrong, left from right, fantasy from reality? Or maybe today’s parents, who were completely indulged by their own parents, are indulging their kids in unprecedented ways? If you don’t think so, go see the show “My Super Sweet Sixteen” or pick up a copy of Time Magazine’s last Person of the Year issue, the cover features a mirror of sorts because the Person of the Year is, well, YOU! Never before have I seen a society so self-involved, so self-indulging, and so spoiled. COME ON, do you really think your six year old needs a cell phone? Do we really need to give a trophy to every single kid, win or lose? In the words of the snooty maitre d’ in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”…”I weep for the future…”
Yes boys and girls, the powers that be have determined the first seasons of Sesame Street are deemed not suitable to “…today’s pre-school child…”. Why is this, you may ask. Well it goes like this…see back in the day, kids rode bicycles without helmets and enough padding to cushion them from a 10 story fall. Cookie Monster back then gobbled up everything in sight…cookies, milk, a pipe…(remember Alistair Cookie and Monsterpiece Theater?), Big Bird must have been taking hallucinogens because he was the only one who could see Snuffleupagus and Oscar the Grouch was…well…grouchy. Remember Gordon, kids? Remember Gordon and Sally? Sally was a little girl who was lost and Gordon was a kindly man who took Sally around Sesame Street and introduced her to all the characters and then took her to his apartment to meet his wife and…gasp…have milk and cookies! Kids played in fields where 2x4’s, huge pipes and such formed a makeshift obstacle course for the kids to play on and use their imaginations.
In today’s world, parents would be up in arms against Gordon…after all, he has to be some sort of pedophile to take Sally under his wing…he must have some nefarious purpose. Cookie Monster now eats fresh fruit because cookies and, horrors, whole milk leads to obesity. It is unconscionable to make a gay couple live in the basement of a crumbling building ala Bert and Ernie (trivia fact – Jim Henson got Bert and Ernie’s names from the taxi driver and policeman in It’s a Wonderful Life). Kids must wear helmets when riding bicycles and MUST be either in a child car seat or wearing a seatbelt today…horrors, what happened to us? We didn’t use seatbelts…cars didn’t even HAVE seatbelts until the 70s. The obstacle course playground can today be confused with a construction site…you see kids today are incapable of distinguishing between the two.
On today’s Sesame Street we have the sinister, saccharine sweetness of the red idiot monster, Elmo…Elmo didn’t exist back then, much less have a stranglehold on children’s minds. Yep, in today’s world we have parents who go to extremes (extremes being an understatement) to protect their kids from EVERYTHING. Everything has a warning somewhere on it (Warning- Explicit Lyrics) (Warning – Not Suitable for Children) we have TV ratings now that tell a parent in excruciating detail what shows are proper for their kids…TV-Y TV-14, TV-MA, etc. etc. We now have the movie rating PG-13 because a simple PG is not always enough warning. Nowadays a parent can be put in jail for not making their child wear a helmet or letting them sit in the front seat without a car seat or seatbelt. Sesame Street nowadays doesn’t teach kids how to read, count, reason, get along with other kids…nope, now we have to teach them a social conscience. Why is that?
Could it be because today’s parents are so busy with their own lives they can’t take the time to teach their kids right from wrong, left from right, fantasy from reality? Or maybe today’s parents, who were completely indulged by their own parents, are indulging their kids in unprecedented ways? If you don’t think so, go see the show “My Super Sweet Sixteen” or pick up a copy of Time Magazine’s last Person of the Year issue, the cover features a mirror of sorts because the Person of the Year is, well, YOU! Never before have I seen a society so self-involved, so self-indulging, and so spoiled. COME ON, do you really think your six year old needs a cell phone? Do we really need to give a trophy to every single kid, win or lose? In the words of the snooty maitre d’ in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”…”I weep for the future…”
04 June 2009
Do As I Say, Not As I Do
Quick, what’s the difference between a Catholic priest and a Baptist preacher? Give up? The priest will shake your hand in the liquor store.
So goes the old joke that’s been told countless times across the country. What does it mean and how does it apply to this latest post? Well, let’s just say the Baptists rarely practice what they preach and they were put in their place this past Tuesday down here in Bible Belt Mississippi.
Tuesday was election day in these here parts for just about all the municipalities surrounding Jackson…all of them were mainly for mayor and alderman in various towns except for one, Flowood. You see, Flowood is a town here in Rankin County and Rankin County is a dry county…well, a damp county at least; one may buy beer in Rankin County but never on Sunday or election days. The result of these dry laws is the classiest restaurant in these parts is pretty much a Logan’s Roadhouse. If you just went ugh, then you may feel my pain.
Business owners and the mayor of Flowood have complained for years that our area is being held back by the dry laws; no good commercial progress will ever be made until restaurants and hotels can sell wine and liquor by the glass. Flowood finally succeeded in persuading the state legislature into letting their citizens vote on legalizing the sale of wine and liquor by the glass. The churches went into an uproar, ads were put in newspapers predicting everything from an increase in drunk driving to debauchery if the vote passed. Normally, as in years past, this measure would have failed miserably as a result; not this time. Nope this time the measure passed in an overwhelming and solid victory over the fear mongers and hypocrites.
Finally, Mississippi is entering the 21st century folks! Albeit, it is being dragged kicking and screaming but it is finally happening! People who think for themselves are finally starting to outnumber the Bible thumper preachers and the oblivious sheep that follow them. But that’s not the funny part, folks. Nope, the truly funny part has to do with the old joke I told you in the beginning of this post. Baptists for years have publicly railed against alcohol sales and consumption…and a lot of these very same Baptists can be seen on Bourbon Street in New Orleans drunk as skunks, patronizing the bars and cabarets when nobody’s watching. Which is what makes this situation even more ludicrous and pathetic; these people keep preaching how they are going to heaven and everybody else is going to hell on Judgment day because they’re soooo righteous…I got a news flash for ya, hypocrites…Jesus didn't preach "Do as I say"...did he?
So goes the old joke that’s been told countless times across the country. What does it mean and how does it apply to this latest post? Well, let’s just say the Baptists rarely practice what they preach and they were put in their place this past Tuesday down here in Bible Belt Mississippi.
Tuesday was election day in these here parts for just about all the municipalities surrounding Jackson…all of them were mainly for mayor and alderman in various towns except for one, Flowood. You see, Flowood is a town here in Rankin County and Rankin County is a dry county…well, a damp county at least; one may buy beer in Rankin County but never on Sunday or election days. The result of these dry laws is the classiest restaurant in these parts is pretty much a Logan’s Roadhouse. If you just went ugh, then you may feel my pain.
Business owners and the mayor of Flowood have complained for years that our area is being held back by the dry laws; no good commercial progress will ever be made until restaurants and hotels can sell wine and liquor by the glass. Flowood finally succeeded in persuading the state legislature into letting their citizens vote on legalizing the sale of wine and liquor by the glass. The churches went into an uproar, ads were put in newspapers predicting everything from an increase in drunk driving to debauchery if the vote passed. Normally, as in years past, this measure would have failed miserably as a result; not this time. Nope this time the measure passed in an overwhelming and solid victory over the fear mongers and hypocrites.
Finally, Mississippi is entering the 21st century folks! Albeit, it is being dragged kicking and screaming but it is finally happening! People who think for themselves are finally starting to outnumber the Bible thumper preachers and the oblivious sheep that follow them. But that’s not the funny part, folks. Nope, the truly funny part has to do with the old joke I told you in the beginning of this post. Baptists for years have publicly railed against alcohol sales and consumption…and a lot of these very same Baptists can be seen on Bourbon Street in New Orleans drunk as skunks, patronizing the bars and cabarets when nobody’s watching. Which is what makes this situation even more ludicrous and pathetic; these people keep preaching how they are going to heaven and everybody else is going to hell on Judgment day because they’re soooo righteous…I got a news flash for ya, hypocrites…Jesus didn't preach "Do as I say"...did he?
28 May 2009
Thank You For Your Service
Hi everybody! You know, I need to catch you all up on what's going on in my life right now so I will call this "BullDog's Fun Time"!
As most of you probably know, I am in the embryonic stages of building a 1975 Harley Sportster. Well, to let you in on a little secret, I have never built a Harley motor before so I have tons of questions and practically noone whom I can ask for enlightenment. Soooo, I did a lot of internet searching and I came across a forum called XL Forum. XL is the designation Harley gave their Sportster line.
Well, I went and registered for the forum and started searching the various threads in the hopes of finding some good technical advice. Lo and Behold, I found it! Well to make a long story short the forum requires you to PAY $25 a year in order to access certain threads or post pictures and I said to hell with that...but that's not I am writing this post. No, this post is to relay to you what I considered to be a fairly arrogant and rude thread in that forum.
See, every forum I go to has at least one area for military veterans and I put my service dates, ships, deployments and whatever else in that thread to share with other vets the stories only we know to be true and can sound outrageous to civilians. So, one of the threads I came across was written by a reservist, he didn't reveal which service he was in the reserve with...what he DID do was ask this question, "Am I the only one fed up with people thanking me for my service?" He talked about how he was in the reserves and whenever a stranger walked up to him and said "Thank you for your service..." he wanted to tell them "...if you're so thankful, why didn't you raise your right hand and serve?"
If you are upset at this, I don't blame you. Before I left the forum for good, I refuse to pay for the privilege of gaining information I can get for free elsewhere, I did my best to convey my feelings for his attitude. First, let me say this, whenever people find out I am a veteran, they always walk up to me and offer a handshake with a "Thank you for your service" and it does not bother me one bit. It does embarrass me somewhat, however, and this is why.
I enlisted in the US Navy in 1987 in the hopes of serving my country and getting an education unmatched by any university in the world. To be honest, the thought of not enlisting never really crossed my mind...I just assumed that was what I was supposed to do. See, my Great Great Great Grandfather was a Civil War Veteran, my Great Grandfather was a WWI Veteran, my Grandpa was a WWII Veteran and my father is a Vietnam Veteran...so I just defaulted to military service. Now, during my service I deployed to some precarious spots on this big blue orb...I am extremely lucky that I escaped with all my limbs intact and just minor aches and pains every now and then.
The point of this is, I never ever thought I deserved a hero's welcome or expressions of gratitude from complete strangers...I thought I was just doing my job. Being in the Navy was my career; fighting wars and deploying to far off places was my job. That doesn't mean I don't like it when strangers walk up and thank me but it does make me a little embarrassed. I hope you can understand my point. I know fellow veterans and my close veteran friends will understand my point. I truly hope the veteran in that forum begins to understand that point.
The American people are appreciative that we took up the mantel of military service...we should be grateful for their appreciation...I know I am.
As most of you probably know, I am in the embryonic stages of building a 1975 Harley Sportster. Well, to let you in on a little secret, I have never built a Harley motor before so I have tons of questions and practically noone whom I can ask for enlightenment. Soooo, I did a lot of internet searching and I came across a forum called XL Forum. XL is the designation Harley gave their Sportster line.
Well, I went and registered for the forum and started searching the various threads in the hopes of finding some good technical advice. Lo and Behold, I found it! Well to make a long story short the forum requires you to PAY $25 a year in order to access certain threads or post pictures and I said to hell with that...but that's not I am writing this post. No, this post is to relay to you what I considered to be a fairly arrogant and rude thread in that forum.
See, every forum I go to has at least one area for military veterans and I put my service dates, ships, deployments and whatever else in that thread to share with other vets the stories only we know to be true and can sound outrageous to civilians. So, one of the threads I came across was written by a reservist, he didn't reveal which service he was in the reserve with...what he DID do was ask this question, "Am I the only one fed up with people thanking me for my service?" He talked about how he was in the reserves and whenever a stranger walked up to him and said "Thank you for your service..." he wanted to tell them "...if you're so thankful, why didn't you raise your right hand and serve?"
If you are upset at this, I don't blame you. Before I left the forum for good, I refuse to pay for the privilege of gaining information I can get for free elsewhere, I did my best to convey my feelings for his attitude. First, let me say this, whenever people find out I am a veteran, they always walk up to me and offer a handshake with a "Thank you for your service" and it does not bother me one bit. It does embarrass me somewhat, however, and this is why.
I enlisted in the US Navy in 1987 in the hopes of serving my country and getting an education unmatched by any university in the world. To be honest, the thought of not enlisting never really crossed my mind...I just assumed that was what I was supposed to do. See, my Great Great Great Grandfather was a Civil War Veteran, my Great Grandfather was a WWI Veteran, my Grandpa was a WWII Veteran and my father is a Vietnam Veteran...so I just defaulted to military service. Now, during my service I deployed to some precarious spots on this big blue orb...I am extremely lucky that I escaped with all my limbs intact and just minor aches and pains every now and then.
The point of this is, I never ever thought I deserved a hero's welcome or expressions of gratitude from complete strangers...I thought I was just doing my job. Being in the Navy was my career; fighting wars and deploying to far off places was my job. That doesn't mean I don't like it when strangers walk up and thank me but it does make me a little embarrassed. I hope you can understand my point. I know fellow veterans and my close veteran friends will understand my point. I truly hope the veteran in that forum begins to understand that point.
The American people are appreciative that we took up the mantel of military service...we should be grateful for their appreciation...I know I am.
21 May 2009
Politics and Jayzus...
Well, we had our run-off election this past Tuesday here in the fair city of Brandon. Before I go any further, I need to fill you in on local politics. As most everybody knows, when it comes time to elect or re-elect members of a city council and/or the mayor certain things will happen and certain things MAY happen. In the case of Brandon, all six wards and the mayor's office were up for election this year.
So, the first round was the primaries...after last year's presidential circus everybody should be familiar with primaries. In our fair city, I live in Ward 6, and as such was bombarded with flyers stuck in my front door, on the flag of my mailbox and knocks on my door by canvassers and sometimes candidates. Every single one of the people running for Ward 6 Alderman was Republican...in fact the entire slate of candidates was Republican. Brandon does not have a Democratic Exective Committee so I am in a distinct minority here.
Nevertheless, I read the flyers and started to make my decision on who I was going to vote for. Out of all the names for Ward 6 hopefuls, only ONE man did not list his church membership as a qualification for elected office. That is the man I decided to vote for because I will NEVER EVER EVER EVER vote for a politican who lists their church membership or any religious connotation on their flyers/signs/websites, whatever. I will not name names but I will tell you that there was one guy who really made a clown of himself and ended up being a joke on primary day.
The primaries ended with my guy and one other guy in the runoff for the general election. Yes, Virginia, there is still a general election even when the other party is not represented...it is a small matter of ELECTION LAW. I tell you this because you are not going to believe what comes next.
After the primaries, another flurry of campaign activity resulted. My guy came to my house while he was canvassing and we had a chat about how STUPID and IDIOTIC it is to list what church you go to and what position you hold in said church and present it as a qualification to hold elected office...I told everybody I knew and anybody I came across how important it was to vote for my candidate over the other but NOT because he listed his church.
Okay, so now you're going "HUH?", allow me to explain. The other guy, on his flyer, in BIG WHITE LETTERS, had a statment saying there would be NO general election because it would be only one person so he needs you to get out and vote for him. Remember I told you that according to election law a general election will still be held regardless of party representation. THIS is why I went against him; I feel this guy is another CLOWN who doesn't understand and can't be bothered to learn election law...and, if he can't be bothered with that how in the world can I expect him to be an effective alderman? So, who do you think won the primary Tuesday?
The OTHER GUY won the primary! What pisses me off SO MUCH about that is the people who voted for him did so ONLY because he proclaimed what a great Christian he was and he goes to church! I am so disgusted with this town it's not even funny! There's like 46 churches in the area for a town of 14,000! How STUPID are you if you vote solely on the basis of CHURCH rather than real qualifications AND knowledge of the law!!? It's almost like this place is like Stepford, Connecticut except that it is everybody that is an automoton incapable of independent thought...they just do "what mah payastor sayed"...maybe they all go to this church...
So, the first round was the primaries...after last year's presidential circus everybody should be familiar with primaries. In our fair city, I live in Ward 6, and as such was bombarded with flyers stuck in my front door, on the flag of my mailbox and knocks on my door by canvassers and sometimes candidates. Every single one of the people running for Ward 6 Alderman was Republican...in fact the entire slate of candidates was Republican. Brandon does not have a Democratic Exective Committee so I am in a distinct minority here.
Nevertheless, I read the flyers and started to make my decision on who I was going to vote for. Out of all the names for Ward 6 hopefuls, only ONE man did not list his church membership as a qualification for elected office. That is the man I decided to vote for because I will NEVER EVER EVER EVER vote for a politican who lists their church membership or any religious connotation on their flyers/signs/websites, whatever. I will not name names but I will tell you that there was one guy who really made a clown of himself and ended up being a joke on primary day.
The primaries ended with my guy and one other guy in the runoff for the general election. Yes, Virginia, there is still a general election even when the other party is not represented...it is a small matter of ELECTION LAW. I tell you this because you are not going to believe what comes next.
After the primaries, another flurry of campaign activity resulted. My guy came to my house while he was canvassing and we had a chat about how STUPID and IDIOTIC it is to list what church you go to and what position you hold in said church and present it as a qualification to hold elected office...I told everybody I knew and anybody I came across how important it was to vote for my candidate over the other but NOT because he listed his church.
Okay, so now you're going "HUH?", allow me to explain. The other guy, on his flyer, in BIG WHITE LETTERS, had a statment saying there would be NO general election because it would be only one person so he needs you to get out and vote for him. Remember I told you that according to election law a general election will still be held regardless of party representation. THIS is why I went against him; I feel this guy is another CLOWN who doesn't understand and can't be bothered to learn election law...and, if he can't be bothered with that how in the world can I expect him to be an effective alderman? So, who do you think won the primary Tuesday?
The OTHER GUY won the primary! What pisses me off SO MUCH about that is the people who voted for him did so ONLY because he proclaimed what a great Christian he was and he goes to church! I am so disgusted with this town it's not even funny! There's like 46 churches in the area for a town of 14,000! How STUPID are you if you vote solely on the basis of CHURCH rather than real qualifications AND knowledge of the law!!? It's almost like this place is like Stepford, Connecticut except that it is everybody that is an automoton incapable of independent thought...they just do "what mah payastor sayed"...maybe they all go to this church...
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