Cell phones, nepitism, Veteran's Day, Political correctness.

After being in Washington for the past seven months, I have returned to Pennsylvania for another visit. This time, I will only be here until the end of January. Last year was a lot of drama and headaches from a variety of sources, but nothing was more stressful than my sailboat being beached in Hood Canal. I am still paying down that towing bill almost a year later. Fortunately, I have a very good relationship with the Vessel Assist folks.

This past year has been a rollercoaster of events. Returning to Washington in April, I made it to the boat about three weeks later. I found the boat in reasonable condition, even spent a great deal of time on it while waiting for the weather to make a change for the better so I could plan the return trip to Port Orchard. I enjoyed every moment I had with the boat. But that is for my other blog: Triton Voyages.

I lost a very good friend in the Marine Corps League Detachment 531: Sam Martin. It was a shocker in the sense that it seemed like he was a fighter and his battle with cancer was taking another upturn. I played Taps for his memorial services. He was a great guy and his is sorely missed.

Then, Bob Murphy passed away, another Marine in the detachment. His battle with cancer was also over. I played Taps for him, the second time this past summer. Then Alvie Weatherhill passed away at 95--he was a member of the VFW post I belong to. I played Taps for his service a few weeks ago. I also played Taps for our 9/11 ceremony at the Marina Park in Port Orchard as a member of the post. I've been playing Taps a LOT lately. Emotionally, life has been difficult with the loss of friends due to illness. It is a sobering reminder of our mortality. I'm only 43, but sometimes it seems that life has flown by so fast and that it just gets faster. I try not to dwell on it though. It doesn't do any good to.

I have been trying to avoid social media and only taking it in small doses. I am easily mortified by the idiots that are running for political office, particularly POTUS. This country cannot produce a worthy candidate yet? What the fuck? Hillary Clinton is a fat liar and a criminal and should be in a prison. Bernie Sanders is a vacuous gasbag full of empty promises that fall short of actual plans for solutions to our national issues. Donald Trump is someone I want to like but his big mouth and bullheadedness turns me off from wanting to support him. And Dr. Carson seems like the only guy that is worth a damn and the media is stripping him down while my liberal friends support Sanders. .  . . I just can't win. If Hillary becomes our next POTUS, I'm moving to Canada.

Seriously. well. . . . . maybe. . . .  Perhaps there will be a revolution instead. . . .

One could hope.

This country is so full of ignorant people in political office that I don't know what is going to fix it short of all out civil unrest and eventual armed revolt. The VA Medical system is still broken beyond reason, as well as the claims department of it. It is sickening to think that our country cannot pay its veteran's for the injuries and anguish they sustained for the price of freedom just so that these politicians can collect obscene paychecks and put laws into affect that take away our Bill of Rights.

Political correctness has become a cancer that is mutating our society in a diseased tumor of its former self. Bruce Jenner becomes a woman and is celebrated, while policemen are fired for doing their jobs because those who eat the government cheese are pissed off that the criminal offspring they have raised are now the dregs of society that kill for a Snickers Bar and a wad of twenties while brandishing a weapon--all bitching and blaming police "brutality" while the media soaks it up and vomits it all over the airwaves because it sells Viagra. 

Public office means nothing to people in it and they pass laws for gender neutral bathrooms in public facilities while promoting gender confusion in schools. Just because 1% of the student body that as a legitimate issue with the gender they are born with, now the rest of the population is demanding "attention" for themselves because they want to be celebrated for doing NOTHING.

This is the country the once mighty USA has become. It is disappointing. No wonder so many veterans have shot themselves--VA Benefits or not. . . .. Too many people have done crazy things and gotten away with it because they have been coddled to the point of being told "it's okay to be you, you don't have to work" and now the workforce that has been actively engaged professionally are now being inundated with millenials who think they should be paid the same with no tenure or service rendered for their payroll checks.

About 40 years ago, people quit their jobs to protest war, grew their hair long, smoked and shot a lot of drugs to liberate themselves from reality, then applied for the government cheese---and got it. Now we have a third generation that is three times worse. They expect to get something for nothing. I've seen it first hand in the workplace.

You can't tell a young woman that she has to work today because we have a deadline without her breaking down in tears and sobbing to the manager that your being mean and making her do her job and that she doesn't know what to do. That actually happened to me once when I was working in a retail job. I got pulled aside and bawled out by the assistant manager because I told this girl that I needed her in the shop and that she could not go out on the floor until the jobs were completed for the day and we were caught up. I showed no remorse and told him "like it is." I was in no way mean or out-of-line to her. That was more than six years ago and things haven't gotten any better. It would seem that it has worsened.

The millennial generation is pretty spoiled. The rod was spared on them and now the have an even more intense sense of entitlement than their parents. History is not only repeating itself but also being forgotten as much of the legislatures are dictating to teachers what and how to teach.

If people expended as much energy as they do to avoid working and living off the system, they would be over achievers in the work place. 

I wonder if there is a solution to our country's conundrum? Especially when yon see who our front-runner candidates are for the next election for POTUS. Honestly I don't see how Hillary Clinton can even get elected on her own merit after the political shortfalls and disasters she caused during her employ as Secretary of State. I'm not sure that she wouldn't win based on her husbands' success as POTUS. And now that we've had a "black" president, ignorant voters are sure to vote for her based on her sex. "Now its time for a woman to be our president." they'll say as they sign their X next to her name.

Syrian Refugees

I have been thinking a great deal on the matter of the Syrian people that want to flee their homeland to come here. I'm still of the opinion that that they should not be brought here into our country and offered safe haven. There are many NATO allies that are closer that have the resources. We don't have the resources because we still have homeless veterans on the streets and a broken VA Medical system. We are trillions of dollars in debt, our enemies already have invested interests in our nation financially, and our country's identity is lost because we continue to bend to the will of foreigners who immigrate here and refuse to learn our national language and history.

Until these issues are resolved and there are no longer homeless vets, social unrest, and the media is reporting the truth without political interests interfering, refugees need to flee into countries closer to their own home. It just makes better sense financially and politically. So would these refugees who come here be deported back to Syria if we were to eradicate ISIL? If I were a betting man, I would bet not.

Our founding fathers would not have stood for the foreign policy that our government has adopted over the past 150 years, since we came out of the Civil War. Quoting tablet of the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island does not prove definitively that bringing Syrian refugees here is the moral obligation of our nation.

Bringing in this group of people would be a wonderful thing to do if our own government were to be on top of our social issues that are the concerns of our American people. Right now, the polarized opinion of this country is NOT in favor of bringing them here.

Our county is not without sin. We have a great deal of problems with race in this country, fueled by our own President who has voiced concerns over racially charged protests. He has been cited by the media as having been on the side of the parents of sons whom have been killed by police during armed conflicts, supporting the angry people whose point of view is not in the correct priority. As soon as people get that color of skin should not dictate how entitled they are to government cheese, we have no business bringing in a mass of ethnic peoples that are already targets for social unrest. This sense of entitlement has become such a problems over the years that It is hard to determine where it all started. I have said this once before, and I will say it again. About 40 years ago, people quit their jobs, quit going to school, grew their hair long, did a lot of drugs, burned their draft cards, applied for government cheese and got it. Ever since, the sense of entitlement grew—able-bodied people that could contribute to the workforce decided that it was easier to live in mediocrity and get food stamps and supplemental socialist programs for general living expenses was better than earning it on their own.

Socialism is only good if it is morally monitored and awarded to those who actually need it. Who are these people who deserve the social programs? How about veterans who sacrificed their lives, limbs, and emotional well-being?

Moral obligation should be focused on those who are already here and have fought to preserve our security FROM people that would see us end. Syria is NOT our ally, I don't see anyone offering to open the floodgate for immigration of Iranians wanting to come here. Or Ukrainians, Somalians, Rwandans, Sudanese, Egyptians, Libyans, Serbs, etc. . . countries whom have done so, now have a great deal of crime that didn't exist, statistically, as they do currently. Sweden and Norway are excellent examples of this, after having allowed Serbs and Somali refugees openly immigrate into their borders, and now the instance of violent crime have increased so extremely, that they both regret having done so. And now they are stuck with them.

While both sides of this argument carry valid and moral points, it is best to not forget that many of these poeple have burned our flag in effegy during Syrian Government sanctioned anti American demonstrations. Most middle eastern societies live by a completely different set of values that, to Americans, are considered extremist and unethical, but to Islam is considered righteous law.

I fail to see how bringing them here and introducing them to our way of life--something that many of them find repugnant--is going to be of any benefit to them or us. I see it as yet another way that our government is volunteering the taxpayer's dollars to support another bottomless moneypit that has not benefit to our society, even if it is done in the spirit of freedom and morality.

And for you folks out there who would want to put words into the mouth of Jesus Christ, citing His teachings of "love your brother as you would love yourself" and "giving to the needy and the sick" also understand that he would not have brought them into His house and clothed them to empower them to kill His church (family) from within.

I am not a devout Christian in the sense that I will sit here and quote scripture and interpret it for you. I will not get into a debate over scripture or fundamental church values, but I will say that that the Bible teaches to use common sense when dealing with your enemies. Love them from arm's distance, but do onto others as you would have done to you.

There is no balance in bringing an entire group people that have fundamental values that unilaterally appose our own. We can't even have our own police forces enforce our laws on the street and use deadly force if needed to protect the public without that same public protesting at every opportunity. We already have civil unrest here without adding to it. 

Memorial Day 2015 Thoughts

Memorial Day is almost here. Now, more than ever, our country is turning to our living veterans and thanking them for their sacrifices and organizations are forming across the nation that honors them. The VA is being scrutinized at every turned and being forced to make good on their promises of service to the surviving veterans and their families because of years of abuse have finally caught up with them.

Memorial Day is a day of remembrance of those who made the ultimate sacrifice by paying for our life of freedom with their own. Veterans Day is for us that served and are still living. Many people come to me and say "thank you for your service" when they see me in my VFW or Marine Corps League caps--something that makes me feel good about my own service and, sometimes, even blushes me. I have felt a sentiment toward we veterans I have never felt directed at me before until the last few years. The long wars we have been fighting in the Middle East have brought a hightened awareness and appreciation for veterans of all military branches and people are really bending over backward to do as much as they can for us. Being involved in the VFW and the MCL have really helped me to deal with my own demons. I am one of the lucky ones that was able to live and move forward with life, while others were not so fortunate. So is it fare for me to revel in the dotings of those who thank me for my service on Memorial Day?

Memorial Day has mixed feelings for me because as a boy growing up in Muncy, PA, to the man I have become having been in combat situations on more than one occasion during my military career, things for me are complicated.

I listen to young men who are wanting to enter the military and they talk about "wanting to fight for my country." To them, I say quietly to myself--as this is a very sensitive world we live in where the thought of reality sinking in sends most people into a frenzy of angry and misdirected frustration and drama--that they need to be mindful of what they wish for. I was in that same boat when I was 18. I wanted to be in the front seat going into battle. But when you get there, it's not what you thought it was. It's not the thrill of a two-hour movie that you sit in and see Rambo light up the enemy in a barrage of fire and bullets. It's not the reception of flags and bands playing. It's a lot of fear and stress that you may or may not even realized you endured because while you are there--it's surreal and intangible. Everyone has a different experience. Everyone reacts differently. Time has no fluid dynamic. It changes a person fundamentally.

The effects of being underfire are felt for a lifetime. If the bullet doesn't take your life, the effect it has on you will last a lifetime. That is why we have Veteran's Day. For some veterans, those bullets that missed their bodies end up killing them years later--veterans who commit suicide. PTSD is such a common disorder that it should be a disease for which there is no cure--and for some it is fatal. It can claim a life many years down the road and for families it can be an unexepected and sudden loss of their loved-one. For those surviving families, they are continuing to be participants of a war that may even be long-since over. They are collateral casualties themselves and society is only just now beginning to really acknowledge them.

Thinking back to my deployment in Somalia, Africa, I know that I was a lucky one. I was not one of the men who was murdered and drug through the city of Mogadishu. I was actually out of the country by then, if only by a couple of weeks. I left before the uprising of rebels and insurgents that brought that situation to bare.

I was not hit by the sniper who was aiming to kill me during convoys through the city.  I was in one brief fire-fight--something that is rare for a Hospital Corpsman as I was considered to be non-combatant. But that role is fluid in the real world where the Geneva Convention can be loosely applied, especially in a anarchist place like Somalia was in 1993. But when your under fire out in the city standing guard over your hospital you set up for civilians while doing a MEDCAP, you protect yourself (first) and your patients. If you don't live to see life after the attack, who are you going to save afterward?

Or, checking my own pulse before working on a Marine who is in danger of dying on the ground in front of me. A man who is dying of heat stroke in 125 degree weather--having seizures and helpless, Marines around him freaking out about what to do. **No pressure.** Doing the medical evac by myself when there was no-one there advise me. No communications with the BAS because the comms were down for maintenance. Saving the man's life and getting him to the Army surgeons who tested him for every disease they could think of to figure out why he went down suddenly. Had I not been there, he would have surely died, according to the Army doctor who treated my patient. Instead of a "pat on the back" for my industry, that same afternoon, I had to deal with a political issue that came up with my BAS chief petty officer who screamed at me for not getting the info to him about the medevac. He was going to make me fill 1000 sandbags and other EMI for not relaying the message to him that I had a casualty--all because the battalion CO was somehow made aware that it took place and not him and was asked about it at that afternoon's department head meeting. It took the Warrant Officer at my site to remind him that comms were down and that what I did saved the Marine's life. Needless-to-say, I was brought into the BAS the next day and replaced by another corpsman. And then the hazing began for a few days before our Medical Officer stepped in and put a stop to it. I think that chief tried to kill me, because almost immediately after that, he sent me to replace the EOD corpsman who was fragged in an accident. I don't know, maybe he was thinking that I would get blown up to?

The military itself can be hazardous to mental health--just by virtue of the politics that occur in isolated circumstances.

I went to Somalia, with a rose-colored view of the world, and returned with a much different prospective. After that experience, I was not very quick to volunteer for overseas deployments in hostile places. I'm not even going to get into the USS Carl Vinson and the insanity that I was faced with in that command. Surface Navy has it's unique culture and aircraft carriers that are flagships are politically the worst. What I will say is that the only benefit I received from that command was the travel--the rest of the politics I could have lived without. Much of what I endured there was my own doing because of what I endured in Somalia--and that has taken over a year of counseling to finally get a handle on understanding over the past year. I could write a tell-all book about what went on during my time on that ship, but it wouldn't do anything to service the greater good. Sometimes it's best to let dogs lay. Especially the salty ones.

But I am thankful that I actually lived beyond that experience. So many have not. That is what Memorial Day is for. Those men and women that have not lived to have to seek counseling for their emotional wounds. Those men and women that have not had to seek medical or physical rehabilitation from the loss of a limb or mental function do to an IED exploding next to them. Memorial Day is for the legacy of those who died. They are not physically here with us as we've seen them in our memories, but instead, have a legacy that lives in all of us. Their legacy is our country, the most powerful and wealthiest of any on the planet. Despite our economy, politics, cultural adjustments, or other problems I'm not mentioning, we have what millions around the world do not have: freedom.

So, yes, it's okay to thank a veteran for their service any day of the year. Just remember, however, that Memorial Day is for the living to remember the dead. It is a day to celebrate their legacy that, as Americans of any creed or color, can enjoy today. For me, as a veteran, Memorial Day is a sacred trust. I look back on my own service and remember that it cannot be compared to those who paid the ultimate price with their lives so that I can live on and be free to chose my path in life. Though my path has diverged or continued from theirs, I am glad that I was able to cross theirs or traveled with them--even if only for a short time--on my own journey through life. Thank you for your sacrifices, comrades. I am grateful that you have given me what I have for freedom. I have faith that you watch over us all from that place beyond the vale as our watch-standers. You are now our guardian angels as you were guardians of freedom.

Vietnam Veterans Rememberance Day, March 30th, 2015.

So many of these fine men made the ultimate sacrifice, putting their lives into the hands of their fate in the true spirit of patriotism--in support of a war that was very unpopular. The men that came home with the scars of war were often patronized by the ignorance of the era and denied their valor. More than 40 years have passed. I grew up in the shadow of the aftermath of this war and much of what I experienced in the US Navy was a direct result of the policies created because of it--some good, some bad.

Wisdom recognizes were valor is due, and it does not glorify the acts of war, but the bravery of those who carry out their orders in support of our country and defines them as patriots. War is never pretty and carries with it a price that is more than any one person could bare alone. Vietnam was a costly war. It was a war that was not fought to be "won" like previous conflicts. Vietnam was the SECOND of such conflicts as Korea was also costly--but thought the wars themselves were very similar in scope and what our country's government was hoping to accomplish, the veterans of these two conflicts had polar-opposite receptions upon their return home by the public.

One thing that is consistent is that the men and women that fought in ANY of our country's conflicts do so with distinction. They should never be treated with anything less than great respect, and reverence for those who died so the rest of us could live on in the spirit of freedom.

Many wars have been fought by my fellow countryman. One of the things that I believe that our government and society at large has forgotten is that the protests of the 1960s have the same resonance as ones conducted today. Many people oppose wars we fight. Many people, foreign and domestic, target veterans and active duty military as though they are responsible for the conflicts.
History is redundant with trends. These trends often manifest themselves based on how bad the economy is, or by how many people are still looking for a free lunch through a misplaced sense of entitlement. Many people that have never served in our military or in service of other people as a public servant--police, firemen, rescue, swat, or any infrastructure job that puts them in harm's way to save the lives of other human beings--unfairly impose their ignorant opinions.

Ignorance of fact and embracing rumors and conspiracy theories that perpetuate hate and mistrust of our government breed home-grown terrorism. There is no objectivity in conspiracy theories that cannot be proven but are otherwise disseminated through social networking. Social networking has a negative side to it that carries the lies of the ignorant to the ears of the misinformed. This negative side is bolstered by the complacent and breeds apathy. Laziness is the by-product of apathy and ignorance. This is a cancer that has been eating away at the fabric of our society. It is also a terrible reality that has been instrumental in breeding our own domestic terrorists that wish to leave and join ISIS followers abroad--a concept that is not only baffling to me, but makes no tactical sense when it comes to waging a war against opposition. This is a reverse Crusades where instead of Knight Templar fighting for Christianity and it's survival in the holy land, now it's Islamic extremists wanting to convert the entire world through intimidation.

Vietnam was a war of confused ideals and misplaced priorities. Vietnam was heavily protested by Americans who were apathetic to the bigger picture that the government was trying to change--Policy of Containment (Keeping Communism from spreading globally.) And the men and women who fought in that conflict were spat upon and ignored by our own Veteran's Affairs (Agent Orange sufferers especially) driving many of them to suicide, alcoholism and substance abuse, homelessness, PTSD, and many other conditions that could have been treated more adequately and fairly through recognizing their existence.

Too many of them continue to go untreated even after 40 years. That is how deep the scars of war run.

I have personally witnessed the horror of war that impacts those who cannot fight for themselves--Operation Restore Hope, Mogadishu, Somalia. 20 years after Vietnam, we were being told that Somalia had the potential of being a repeat of the same kind of policies and conflict. Though, I cannot compare the aftermath of Vietnam with that of Somalia due to the nature of the scale of our involvement and the length of time we spent--and the politics of the era were very different as well--I can say that Somalia is a forgotten conflict. Korean War vets I have talked with over the years say the same about their war--that they have felt forgotten.

It's because of the media's involvement in covering these conflicts. Vietnam was the first major conflict that was televised in real-time into the living rooms of America. It showed us what war was in a graphic detail unprecedented. The WWII war reels played in movie theaters were different in that they were produced by the military correspondents and a pubic affair spin was put on them to motivate the public to support the war effort to bring stability back to the world.

Somalia was a blip compared to the extent of the Gulf War that was still only just winding down at the time we invaded the Horn of Africa. But so was Vietnam when it was just the French fighting the North Vietnamese in the 1950s and 60s. By the time we got involved, there was already a long-time running conflict going on. I could write a book on all the particulars and many other authors have. Volumes have been written trying to analyze why we were involved and not many definitive conclusion have been made without there being polarized arguments to the contrary. War is fueled by hate. Hate carries with it a barrage of emotional instability that philosophers have pontificated about for eons--since the dawn of human civilization.

Somalia is the number one hotbed of terrorist camps and training in Africa in 2015. That is 23 years since Operations Restore Hope and Provide Relief.

Vietnam eventually succumbed to communist rule--backed by China.

America owes obscene amounts of money to China.

What does this say about our "Policy of Containment?"

Humankind has never learned from war. ISIS is never going to learn from war. Vietnam taught us all valuable lessons that have not been learned from either. Humans are stubborn and ignorant despite our combined capacity for beauty and genius. How we deal with ISIS is as important as how we remember our veterans of any conflict. How we deal with our citizens through law enforcement wether it is through lawmakers imposing new rules that are justified or not, racial profiling (a traite that we seem to not be able to shake despite our history from the integration of our country in the 1960s and the 100 years prior to that through the Civil War), or allowing immigration to go unchecked for so long only to try to put the brakes on it after the fact. Our country is as much a mess as the rest of the world because of only one reason--we never learn from our history.

And as our government imposing Common Core upon our education system, our public libraries and school systems lose funding so the money can be earmarked for priorities that are easily corrupted and end up fleecing the public for trillions of dollars, we are only hurting the future of our world. If America falls, so does the rest of the world. If we fail, Vietnam will happen again, but only in another country.

Let's not forget about 9-11, 2001 and the WTC. That led to two more costly wars that have had similar outcomes-the rise of yet another terrorist group to take the place of the one we didn't quite completely rid ourselve of. We occupied and set up new infrastructure for self-governing in Iraq and Afghanistan, but ISIS continues to grow and seize control of territory that was once controlled and held in trust for the Iraqi and Afghan peoples by the United States and its allies.

How many of our men and women paid the ultimate price or now live with scars of war that have ruined them from having the life they had prior to going to war and serving our nation's interests? Only to have their efforts thwarted because our government has not fought a war to win since WWII?
Take time to remember our Vietnam Veterans as they deserve a day to honor their valor and sacrifice. Do it in remembrance that their sacrifice is still in the front of our recent memories and with those have have fought in conflicts since.

Then, after today, remember your veterans EVERY DAY and appreciate their sacrifice as you continue to live in the greatest country on Earth--the only place that is willing to fight for those who cannot--despite how screwed up our priorities are at the moment. It's what defines us as Americans.

And as an American who values and honors its Vietnam Veterans (and all other wars as well) exercise your right to vote and tell your government to get its priorities straight so that we may educate our future generations and empower them so they can carry on the tradition of equality for all and the protection of the right to pursue life and happiness and all corners of the world.

We need to fight the wars we declare on injustice and murder to win! That means that we need to dispense with the worry about international opinion and be less afraid to make tough decisions where civilians may come under fire. This is the reason why we lose ground after expending our resources and American lives. The blow-back we get through terrorism has been more damaging to our country's morale than it should. It is why we have so many domestic problems here.

This is not a conspiracy theory. This is an observation from a veteran who has experienced the third world first-hand. We need to prioritize our efforts, take care of our veterans who sacrifice themselves and their families who pay along with them. We can never pay them enough for what they have done and continue to do in the name of what is justice and freedom for all.

My take on stolen valor. . . .

Stolen Valor is such an epidemic these days, because so many veterans that didn't go to the Middle Eastern conflicts and were in CONUS as support feel left out of the "action." Problem is that everyone is sensitive about what is worn on the uniform, much if it for very good reason. Combat action is a hard thing for people to get because of the political aspects of various operations, and what the US Government is willing to fess up to when deploying forces to some these sensitive theaters.

I was in Somalia as a Corpsman assigned to BSSG-5's 7th ESB. My battalion supported the entire occupation supplying the fuel farm, water treatment plant, and supported many projects with our combat engineer company. I was company corpsman for the Engineer Company as well as one of the support corpsman for EOD and the fuel farm/water plant.

We were targeted by snipers (poor ones, hence why I'm thankfully alive) of the Somali warlord's insurgents on countless occasions. During the entire time we were in that country, we were promised that we would be awarded a combat action, UN medal (of some kind relevant to the operation) among other things. The UN drug its feet, and the US Government refused us the combat action--until TWENTY YEARS LATER!! They finally have awarded my unit both combat action and a UN Operations Somalia medal.

But that's not all, the US NAVY is just as bad about awarding acknowledgement where it is due. I have broken service. I was honorably discharged in 1995 and re-entered service as a Journalist (At the time we were called "JOs") and even though I had earned the FMF Service, and eventually the warfare pin when it was created (retroactively) the chain of command on my ship REFUSED to allow me to wear it!

Stolen valor comes in all forms shipmates! It comes from those who don't earn it, and also from those who deny it to those who HAVE earned it. To this day, I have never worn my complete awards, and I wouldn't squeeze into my old jumper now if I greased myself with Crisco to try, so I am especially pissed off by those who wear those awards who never earned them. Especially when i think about how those awards I did earn would have potentially changed the course of my career and fundamentally my life--by the merits those awards would provide when calculating my advancement points when I was on active duty. There were times when I missed promotion to HM3 by just a small fraction of a point. The combat action would have pushed me over the tier into the promotion. The only reason why I got out when I did the first time was because I was so frustrated with the NEC of 8404 and being passed over for advancement because I didn't brown-nose people enough, that I decided to take a break. (Somalia had a great deal to do with this as hindsight has taught me. It fundamentally changed how I viewed the world and the people in it and around me. My acceptance to blindly follow orders all but evaporated and people that took advantage of others to achieve promotions in my rate just blew my mind and fueled my already formed anger issues due to combat action--which wasn't "officially" recognized by my government policy makers.

But don't get me wrong, I'm not jaded. . . not really. I am well past it now because there is nothing that can be done about what HAS. All I can do is live my life and be the best human being I can--being a veteran is one way of doing that and it can never be taken away from me.

Eventually, the VA might catch up with me on all the right paperwork if I hound them enough about it, and perhaps I will someday receive an official letter of reward in a presentation--though I won't expect it. I had to dig up the information on my own through the US NAVY .mil website and other official government pages. I did this so I could verify what i actually rated to wear after hearsay through other veterans instigated me to look into my Mogadishu service--among other things.

I had the privilege to serve both the USMC on the ground and the US NAVY as a sailor in the surface fleet on a carrier. Despite any misgivings I may have had in a more immature past version of myself, most of my memories I've hung on to have been the good ones.

Stolen valor many times goes unrecognized due to ignorance of the facts about the individual wearing the uniform. But when we are out in public, if something stands out to the point of rediculousness, then we have a duty to point it out and correct that indiscretion.

How am I supposed to feel, Mr. Cosby?

I fear that society is growing angrier by each passing day and as the years go by, more and more of them are coming out of the woodwork to create a media circus. It's fueling itself by eating its own tail while growing a new one simultaneously. Because of this, I have been avoiding the articles about Bill Cosby.  So there are over 20 women calling him a rapist. Who'd of thought a man such as he  would have so many skeletons in his closet?

And the media circus that has ensued! The media is consistantly jumping on the bandwagon and interviewing people that don't really have a relevant opinion and the women that do have cause to be angry have not banded together and filed a class-action against him. So is he really that untouchable and famous enough to get away with it or is there just not enough to validate what is being said by his accusers?

I think that these are questions that should be answered. Mr. Cosby. Why are you keeping silent? Do you honestly think that avoiding this and hiding behind attorneys is going to keep you from losing any face? Because, frankly, I think that you have already lost your credibility. Besides, I only dwell on the things that affect me directly--personally. Does it really influence the course of my life through my decisions that you may or may not be a rapist? It might. .  . . . does a butterfly that beats its wings in the Congo cause a multitude of events leading up to a tornado taking out a trailer park in Kansas?

For those of you that don't understand that last paragraph, I'll sum it up for you: Cause and effect. Layer upon layer. Event upon event. Person to person through the media to my ear into my brain thereby affecting my emotional and logical assimilation of the Cosby Conspiracy (among many others.)

There are no statutes of limitation on rape.

CNN and other networks had, for a moment, taken the focus off of him in the nightly news because of pressing matters on terrorism, only to return to this story as of this morning with yet another accuser coming forward, and the woman that started the discussion claiming that she has been vindicated of any wrong doing and no everyone is believing her story. 30 years is a very long time. 30 years is more than enough time for people to have had changed their feelings and their minds about many things and if they have made something of themselves and become a positive force in life with those around them, then even something like this can be forgiven. I'm not saying this to be a patron-flag-waver of forgiveness. We all have our personal demons. Some of us just choose to live with our pain and try to make it work as a positive force. Depending on our daily struggles, we can lose to them once in a while, but build back up from it.

I have a difficult time believing these women's claims that he is a pervert--personally. I'll admit that his public persona has a lot to do with it, and the difficulty of accepting a huge disappointment from a man that I have had a high regard for because of where he came from and the body of his life's work in the public eye. Even his brash disregard for political correctness and his embrace of common sense approach to issues of racism and our country's government have me scratching my head about all this. It just doesn't compute for me.

I think this is one of the big reasons why everyone is struggling with this story as it unfolds. Here's a man that is well respected among his peers, contemporaries and younger generations who's pedestal has fractured and the foundation on which he has stood for decades is shaking violently. Yet, he stand stoically with a resolve that seems unwavering. He does this in the face of angry critics and a media that wants to sell ad space and airtime and make millions on his misery--that would be the American way. We tend to capitalize on misery and society makes billions of dollars on the combined misery of the few that have either fallen on hard times, and those who caused others to do likewise, and televise it for everyone to watch at their dinner tables or with a bag of microwaved popcorn in the evening. It's how our angry society relaxes--reveling in misery. It's pretty sick.

Irresponsible journalism. It's better known as yellow journalism. I'm not buying everything that I read or see in the news when it comes to celebrity life-drama. I believe there is much more beneath the surface. However, that being said, I do believe that he is guilty of something. Silence or omission of facts true or false is worse than lying. It leads to conspiracy that breeds more lies and distorts perception of reality in the face of the public opinion and when the media of the current era jumps on it and disseminates it indiscriminately, they are perpetuating it and just as bad as the liar that started it.

It's not really that complicated. It's about money.

Someone has to profit from all of this. All publicity is good. I think it has mostly to do with priorities. Priorities and money. Influence means nothing. Look at Brian Williams and the "War Story" scandal. It doesn't take more than one story to blow up a journalists career and so that can also be said for anyone that is in the public eye as a celebrity. Even royalty is not immune to sex and lies--two things that people are most interested in and make excellent scandal for the water-cooler discussions at the office. When life is boring, point a finger! And it certainly doesn't stop there, does it?

Society is just really angry. All the time. And it isn't exclusive to we Americans. It's EVERYWHERE.

People need to find faith and believe in something greater than themselves.

Mr. Cosby, if you wanted to be a good man your whole life, you would come out in the open and give us the truth in all its glory and put this to rest. You would do it as a public service. If you are in the wrong, just say so. I think that you would gain more respect in the bigger picture than by avoiding prosecution. When I say prosecution, I'm not saying in the courts of law, but more in the courts of public opinion.

The best healing is done when people are honest about what they feel, understand, think, and are willing to accept. If people keep this crap bottled up, it festers. How many philosophers is it going to take for the whole of humanity to finally get it? How many thousands of years is it going to take for humankind to have a spiritual awakening and let go of the greed that poisons our souls collectively?

Yes, Mr. Cosby. Your sex scandal will be your legacy. You should of thought about it before you allowed your self-control to fail and screw up your life and other's lives as well--if that is the truth. If you want to quench the public's anger, come out with it and get it over with. Face your accusers.

And angry society be damned. Who are we to judge until we know all the unbiased facts?

We only need fight the battles that are just. And when we do, we need to fight to win them. (ISIS)

And Priorities. . .   .We need to prioritize what is important. Keep the Cosby story out of the front page spotlight and only report the specifics--if it goes to trial. Otherwise I just don't want to know.

This is why sailing off the grid is appealing to me.

Retrospective

If you go back to "How the internet sux" December 12th, 2011's Entry on my "Brian's Wit" blog, I wrote about the vaccination issue then, and my views have not changed. I was met with this debate once before. And even then, people were foaming at the mouth about it and were grossly misinformed. I know that people become really polarized for topics that involve their children's safety and many times, social media has distorted the truth and confuses people. It makes caring parents that only want the best for their kids make decisions that are not in the best interests despite the level of awareness they think they have. 


It breeds conspiracy theories that are based on bunk. I say this because now that Facebook has been around for more then ten years, it has had a major impact on what people believe to be the truth. Now, more than ever, people are really spending more time on the computer like this because is dresses up people's ability to say what they want to someone without having to be there in person. I am sure that many people would be very different to one another if they actually had to say the same things to their "friend's" faces in person rather than duck behind a website which can be very impersonal. 
I have been accused of ranting on Facebook before, saying hateful things--when that isn't true. 

Yes, I can be blunt and honest about what I think. If I know to be true the facts about a topic and have experience in the topic, I will stand by what I have to say. If someone doesn't agree with me, I am fine with that, but don't bitch at me to change my mind with untruths. If someone wants to believe something they've read, and want to force the issue with me when I know that what they are saying is false and they are doing it in a way that draws out the anger and abuse on both sides of the debate, that is when I'm going to disengage and leave the conversation. 

If I continue to be attacked because my opinion differs, I am going defend myself ONCE, then disengage. If it brings out my anger, it's only because I am being threatened or abused in a public online forum. I reserve the right to change my mind based on facts that are presented to me in a calm and professional and educated sort of way. By my saying this online, I am sure that there are going to be people out there that want to accuse me of thinking I am better than they are and they will find serious conflict and be hurt by it. I cannot guarantee that I am not going to hurt someone's feelings once in a while because I cannot read minds and I am not presuming that I am going to know a person's innermost interpersonal skill. Most of the time, I am pretty good about picking my friends. 

Unfortunately, I have a more difficult time saying "No" to people and it causes me trouble with critical mass. I wrote extensively about my theory of critical mass in life on my "Brian's Wit" blog also. If you ever want to know where I stand with an issue, I am sure you will be able to find it on my blogs. Mom was telling me yesterday that I should host my own radio show because I have the gift for gab. We talked about some of the jobs I did when I was in the US Navy. Part of that conversation is about figuring out what i should be doing with my life as a career--something that at 42-years-old I should probably already know what that should be. The problem is that I am interested in many things and educate myself by reading a lot of non-fiction. 

I am also very opinionated and stubborn about things once I have learned and become a "subject matter expert" and tend to not change my mind unless irrefutable evidence has been presented to the contrary. I also have the ability to type extremely fast so I can pour out my thoughts into text in large volumes in a very short period of time causing most people to believe that I spend hours expounding or pontificating about topics online--which is further from the truth. 

So when i say that I am having to modify my writing style, it is mostly to do with putting into words the true essence of why I think the way i do while not losing the passion about it, but keeping emotional outbursts out of it. It is an art-form with writing. There is a poetry in news-writing that if a person can master journalism--not just by keeping spelling and grammar errors at bay--he or she can be much more sophisticated about conveying their message without it coming off like it's an agenda. Keeping embellishments out of it in an effort to keep people interested--just look at what has happened with Brian Williams. 

I know that it is impossible for me to please everyone. I just get hurt by finding out that people I have met in person--REAL LIFE--are angered by what I have to say and take such personal damage over it when I never intended for it to ever get that far. I have respect for my friend's. I guess it is a measure of my true friendship with them if they take such an offense that it jeopardizes my ability to remain in a relationship with them because they are unwilling to let go of negative feelings and "agree to disagree." Especially when the behavior they display to me is completely out of character for them--or it's a side of their personality that I've never seen before and it surprises me.  

It has me second guessing what is really important--do I compromise my views so I avoid conflict or do I lose a friendship over it? Is a friendship with another person really worth risking over a topic that shouldn't effect our ability to remain friends? This is the black curse of Facebook. How can I be earnest and honest with someone I love or care about if I feel like I have to put a governor on my writing? I'm a writer. It's the one thing that can combine all my passions and talents together. It is something that I think about doing all the time. I like to share my stories, opinions, and ideas in this way. I guess I am just going to have to accept that I am going to lose and gain friends along the way. I just hope that I can continue to maintain the long-term friendships I've had over the years.