My topic for this blog posting isn’t focused on politics or global events. It’s about Buddy.
I have a friend, Nilda, who cuts my hair. My wife, Lisa, and I have been seeing her for at least fifteen years. Over that time we have gotten to know each other very well. She knows our kids and never fails to ask about them. We’ve met her husband, Buddy, many times at her shop … he even attended our little girl’s dance recital when she was in pre-school. I think that recital was one of the last times I saw Buddy … our daughter is ten years old now, so that must have been at least five years ago.
Buddy is a veteran. He served our country in the US Air Force. He proudly served this nation and fought against Saddam Hussein in the first Gulf War, Operation Desert Shield that later became Desert Storm. Buddy would not be a veteran if he’d had his way, but as times would have it, he lost his job in the military due to a reduction in force (RIF’s they call them) that was brought on the military by the Clinton administration. I believe at the time they said we did not need a large military due to the “peace dividend” that our nation and the world was enjoying at the time. So Buddy was RIF’d out of the Air Force just as very many others were. Probably the most famous military layoff was Tim McVeigh the Oklahoma City Bomber, he was Gulf War vet too.
Buddy moved on with his life and went to work in the hotel business with Hilton Hotels. He moved up, was well liked, was good at his job and with people. I know every time we were together, he was kind and friendly. Nilda says that he was always a happy go lucky guy. Buddy isn’t so happy go lucky today. Buddy is sick. He is very sick and he is dying. Buddy has Gulf War Disease, or Gulf War Syndrome as it is more well known.
You see, Buddy’s been sick for a long time now. This disease is killing him and other Gulf War vets and they aren’t getting the help and medical attention they need from the Veteran’s Administration. Why that is, I’m not sure. Part of the problem is that the disease attacks vets differently causing them to become ill in many different ways. It causes physical problems, medical conditions, and mental disorders that are too numerous to mention. Veterans that have it are dying from chronic illness and many have committed suicide. I have not researched it, but Nilda has and, more importantly, she and Buddy are living it. They’ve seen what it has and is doing to other vets.
Buddy has gotten so sick that he is a shadow of his former himself. Nilda says that he has lost all interest in things that he used to enjoy. He has medical, mental, and physical sicknesses. His hair has thinned and he has rubbed bald spots on his head from rubbing his hands on his head due to headaches that he suffers. He has lost teeth without even knowing it. He has lost weight, his appetite, and concern about personal hygiene … this from a man that used to wear a suit to work.
Nilda tells me there are thousands and thousands of Gulf War vets that are enduring these and (even worse) troubles than Buddy has. She says that many vets go undetected with the illness because they fall off our radar. They either die without ever being diagnosed and treated, or they become dysfunctional and are unable to cope with life and have no personal support system to aid them. Many of their marriages fail. Too many of them become homeless and are left to roam cities and towns untreated. They are forgotten.
This shouldn’t happen to our veterans … that is why the Veterans Administration exist. The VA is supposed to look out for the interest of our vets. The VA is supposed to be a safety net for them, to treat them when they are ill, and help them … especially if a veteran does not have the means to do so … not out of pity, or as a welfare program, but because they are owed that help as veterans. They signed an agreement with their country … an agreement that is to be honored .
Veterans served the nation….in turn the nation must serve them. The US government should not dodge that commitment simply because it is an expensive proposition. But from what I’ve recently heard from Nilda, and from the experience I witnessed watching my father go through the VA system, it is clear to me that money dictates at the VA. Instead of using aggressive action to get vets the help they need, it seems the VA uses aggressive action to skirt and deny patients’ treatment. I’m sure the VA administrators would say something differently, but that is how I’ve seen and heard the VA operate.
Some people say that an issue never becomes personal until it becomes personal. Nilda has kept me up with Buddy’s trials and tribulations for a long time now, but she’s been able to hide the effects of Buddy’s condition from her clients. It wasn’t until recently that she’d even mentioned that he is dying. She’s always maintained her composure and has been upbeat, but knowing that she is losing Buddy to a slow death has to taken its toll on her. It has also made her angry that the US government has been so reluctant to provide Buddy, and veterans like him, the proper medical treatment they need. From what I’ve heard her say, Buddy’s experience with the VA borders on incompetence … for that there is no excuse. She told me that Buddy has never regretted his service to the country that he loves and that he would do it again. Yet he has also told her that he never expected his country to treat him this way.
I know I’ve left out a lot of details regarding Buddy’s story. I’ve done that out of respect to him. However, what he has gone through and continues to go through is happening with far too much regularity to US veterans and it must be stopped.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
EGYPT, MEXICO, AND WISCONSIN!?
No sooner after the riots, marches, protests, and demonstrations successfully disposed of Egypt’s dictator, similar movements have spread all around the region. Actually, those demonstrations were already gaining steam before Hosni Mubarak resigned. Isn’t it interesting, no actually, isn’t outrageous that the news media and political leading class supported the regime change in Egypt calling it democracy in action, but haven’t been nearly as supportive and blushingly complimentary about those actions in Iran? Never mind the lack of broad based coverage of the demonstrations happening in other Middle Eastern nations. Are those countries not demonstrating democracy in action? Shouldn’t we be pressuring the Iranians and others for regime change? Shouldn’t we be calling on them to listen to the wishes of their people? They want CHANGE, too. Shouldn’t those young peoples’ voices be HEARD? No, I guess not … after all, the president says we cannot dictate the internal affairs of sovereign nations (as was his position in 2009). That is, unless that nation happens to be an ally of the United States.
The Iranians openly supported the movement in Egypt. I find it troubling that our media, the White House, and political pundits all did too. I also find it troubling that this nation openly opposed Israel (our best ally in the region) at the United Nations. Actions like that should trouble the rest of our allies, too. Appeasement is a sign of weakness in that part of the world. But if the violence worsens and lives are lost in the Middle East the media, the President, and pundits will have more trouble and blood on their hands than they could ever have imagined.
But enough about the Middle East. This week an American was killed in Mexico again. This time two US federal law enforcement agents were chased down and ambushed on a Mexican highway. One of them was killed. Does Mexico not have an armed highway patrol that could have (and should have) come to the aid of these men? Sure they do! But they didn’t. Mexico isn’t a friend to the United States. They haven’t been our friend for decades, and we as a people should realize that. Mexico has done nothing to foster fairness, hope and equality among its most needy classes. Why should they? … their citizens have been able to simply walk across our shared border to find those things here that they lack at home. When I say that Mexico is not our friend, I mean the political and social elite. Mexicans I’ve known have for the most part been nice, decent people … but they don’t come here to become an American. They come here because Mexico became a hopeless place for them. Americans are no longer safe in Mexico, along our shared border, or in Arizona. Why is that? … because the federal government will not do its job, and because the Mexican crime machine has gotten stronger and more violent.
Hear at home we have seen Government Employee Unions protest in anger over budget cuts and spending cuts that are being proposed by the Governor of Wisconsin. Those very union workers are brining up Egypt as there rallying cry. They are not willing to negotiate on benefits and compensation while tax payers have seen the very same things asked of them. Elected Democrats fled the state so as to make voting on the legislation impossible. In effect, they are not willing to help fix the mess that they have created ... I’d call that “dereliction of duty”. They “drove the car into the ditch” and are perfectly willing to leave it there. Who’d have ever thought that the events in Egypt would be used as a ploy in derailing badly needed government spending cut backs? I’ll tell you who would have thought of it Democrats … and union bosses. OH, my bad, that would just be Democrats. At the demonstration rallies I have seen and heard, the very same types of hate speech and hateful signs that just weeks ago people were accusing the TEA Parties of. You remember that would have been on the same day that a deranged gunman shot and killed people in Arizona and nearly assassinated Congresswomen Giffords. I haven’t heard the President, or news media make an issue of it. I guess when Democrats use them, they are simply exercising their constitutionally protected right to free political speech … but if TEA Partiers do, it’s hate speech.
Well that’s it for now. Here is a recap for 2011: We had the suicide bombing of the church in Egypt, the suicide bombing in Russia, the murdering rampage in Arizona, birds and sea life have turned up dead by the thousands, and the Egyptian dictator stepped down and now protests are taking place as result of it all over the Middle East and in (of all places) Wisconsin. Oh, I keep forgetting to mention the glorious unveiling of the first Chinese stealth jet fighter … you know, the one that looks almost exactly like the one we have …. how’d that happen? They just happened to give it their first test flight while our Secretary of Defense was paying them a visit .. what a coincidence.
As I’ve been saying, 2011 will be a year we would like to forget but most likely never will.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
The Iranians openly supported the movement in Egypt. I find it troubling that our media, the White House, and political pundits all did too. I also find it troubling that this nation openly opposed Israel (our best ally in the region) at the United Nations. Actions like that should trouble the rest of our allies, too. Appeasement is a sign of weakness in that part of the world. But if the violence worsens and lives are lost in the Middle East the media, the President, and pundits will have more trouble and blood on their hands than they could ever have imagined.
But enough about the Middle East. This week an American was killed in Mexico again. This time two US federal law enforcement agents were chased down and ambushed on a Mexican highway. One of them was killed. Does Mexico not have an armed highway patrol that could have (and should have) come to the aid of these men? Sure they do! But they didn’t. Mexico isn’t a friend to the United States. They haven’t been our friend for decades, and we as a people should realize that. Mexico has done nothing to foster fairness, hope and equality among its most needy classes. Why should they? … their citizens have been able to simply walk across our shared border to find those things here that they lack at home. When I say that Mexico is not our friend, I mean the political and social elite. Mexicans I’ve known have for the most part been nice, decent people … but they don’t come here to become an American. They come here because Mexico became a hopeless place for them. Americans are no longer safe in Mexico, along our shared border, or in Arizona. Why is that? … because the federal government will not do its job, and because the Mexican crime machine has gotten stronger and more violent.
Hear at home we have seen Government Employee Unions protest in anger over budget cuts and spending cuts that are being proposed by the Governor of Wisconsin. Those very union workers are brining up Egypt as there rallying cry. They are not willing to negotiate on benefits and compensation while tax payers have seen the very same things asked of them. Elected Democrats fled the state so as to make voting on the legislation impossible. In effect, they are not willing to help fix the mess that they have created ... I’d call that “dereliction of duty”. They “drove the car into the ditch” and are perfectly willing to leave it there. Who’d have ever thought that the events in Egypt would be used as a ploy in derailing badly needed government spending cut backs? I’ll tell you who would have thought of it Democrats … and union bosses. OH, my bad, that would just be Democrats. At the demonstration rallies I have seen and heard, the very same types of hate speech and hateful signs that just weeks ago people were accusing the TEA Parties of. You remember that would have been on the same day that a deranged gunman shot and killed people in Arizona and nearly assassinated Congresswomen Giffords. I haven’t heard the President, or news media make an issue of it. I guess when Democrats use them, they are simply exercising their constitutionally protected right to free political speech … but if TEA Partiers do, it’s hate speech.
Well that’s it for now. Here is a recap for 2011: We had the suicide bombing of the church in Egypt, the suicide bombing in Russia, the murdering rampage in Arizona, birds and sea life have turned up dead by the thousands, and the Egyptian dictator stepped down and now protests are taking place as result of it all over the Middle East and in (of all places) Wisconsin. Oh, I keep forgetting to mention the glorious unveiling of the first Chinese stealth jet fighter … you know, the one that looks almost exactly like the one we have …. how’d that happen? They just happened to give it their first test flight while our Secretary of Defense was paying them a visit .. what a coincidence.
As I’ve been saying, 2011 will be a year we would like to forget but most likely never will.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Sunday, February 13, 2011
2011 WHAT WILL IT REVEAL NEXT?
Lets briefly recap events over the past six weeks of 2011. There was the suicide bombing of the church in Egypt, the suicide bombing in Russia, the murdering rampage in Arizona, birds and sea life have turned up dead by the thousands, and now the Egyptian dictator has been replaced by a military ruling body (I’m not sure how that will make things better for the people of Egypt). All of this has happened before St. Valentines Day! I’ll bet some of you have already forgotten about at least one of those things.
On Thursday, February 3rd , the results of an investigation of the home-grown terrorist attack at Fort Hood, TX was released by Senator Joe Lieberman. The report revealed that the terrorist traitor’s attack could not only have been stopped … it could have been prevented all together. Did you hear any broad based news coverage of that? Were the events in Egypt more important to you than the finding of facts that Americans could have been saved from death but were not? … I don’t think so. Americans should be rightfully outraged that a known traitor was not captured and removed from our military service and that the very same traitor was promoted even after his associations and beliefs were known. In effect, they ignored a ticking time bomb to avoid being charged with prejudice. But how can Americans be outraged of it if we don’t know about it and the news media has chosen to not cover the story with any effort? Here is a link you my care to check out. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/lieberman-fort-hood-massacre-could-have . Political correctness lives on while Americans die.
Just the day before that on February 2nd ,the president signed a nuclear arms agreement with Russia (he signed it without press coverage other than photography). Some say based off of the preamble to the of the treaty, that it places limits on the development and deployment of nuclear defense system technology. That agreement still has to be passed by both the US and Russian legislatures. The Russians are very interested at placing limits on (or I should say at reducing US defenses in) Europe. Why would that be? Others wonder why should this bill be rushed … just as so many of this President’s other poorly constructed bills had been rushed through the previous Congress. These are just two stories that the news media did not cover and report on to you. Instead they focused on Egypt … including my favorite FOX NEWS. That is why I say if you don’t listen to talk radio, you are under-informed. I’ll add that I also read articles on line from differing news agencies and talk about issues with people I meet.
I have a friend that was raised in Zimbabwe (she’s white) and lived in South Africa. She also lived in England because her parents are British. She always tells me how great our country is, yet she is surprised that racism and prejudice exist in the United States. Before you ask … yes she immigrated here legally. I tell her that prejudice and hatred exist everywhere. We often talk about world events, I like to hear her perspective since she’s been in places I’ve never been to and most likely never will. She’s seen war, bigotry, prejudice and hatred at its worse because she lived where it exists. I’ve told her it must seem boring living here after having lived in Africa. She is a born again Christian. The last time I talked to her, she expressed what it feels like to have been a part of a ruling minority race in Africa and the feeling of being a part of the majority in England. She instantly felt a part of England because she could blend in, while in Africa she could not. Yet in England she could sense that England and Europe has become almost Godless … she said she does not feel that here in the United States. Isn’t that wonderful… just when I was starting to believe that we have become a more and more Godless country I hear that we are not.
2011, what will you reveal next?
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
On Thursday, February 3rd , the results of an investigation of the home-grown terrorist attack at Fort Hood, TX was released by Senator Joe Lieberman. The report revealed that the terrorist traitor’s attack could not only have been stopped … it could have been prevented all together. Did you hear any broad based news coverage of that? Were the events in Egypt more important to you than the finding of facts that Americans could have been saved from death but were not? … I don’t think so. Americans should be rightfully outraged that a known traitor was not captured and removed from our military service and that the very same traitor was promoted even after his associations and beliefs were known. In effect, they ignored a ticking time bomb to avoid being charged with prejudice. But how can Americans be outraged of it if we don’t know about it and the news media has chosen to not cover the story with any effort? Here is a link you my care to check out. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/lieberman-fort-hood-massacre-could-have . Political correctness lives on while Americans die.
Just the day before that on February 2nd ,the president signed a nuclear arms agreement with Russia (he signed it without press coverage other than photography). Some say based off of the preamble to the of the treaty, that it places limits on the development and deployment of nuclear defense system technology. That agreement still has to be passed by both the US and Russian legislatures. The Russians are very interested at placing limits on (or I should say at reducing US defenses in) Europe. Why would that be? Others wonder why should this bill be rushed … just as so many of this President’s other poorly constructed bills had been rushed through the previous Congress. These are just two stories that the news media did not cover and report on to you. Instead they focused on Egypt … including my favorite FOX NEWS. That is why I say if you don’t listen to talk radio, you are under-informed. I’ll add that I also read articles on line from differing news agencies and talk about issues with people I meet.
I have a friend that was raised in Zimbabwe (she’s white) and lived in South Africa. She also lived in England because her parents are British. She always tells me how great our country is, yet she is surprised that racism and prejudice exist in the United States. Before you ask … yes she immigrated here legally. I tell her that prejudice and hatred exist everywhere. We often talk about world events, I like to hear her perspective since she’s been in places I’ve never been to and most likely never will. She’s seen war, bigotry, prejudice and hatred at its worse because she lived where it exists. I’ve told her it must seem boring living here after having lived in Africa. She is a born again Christian. The last time I talked to her, she expressed what it feels like to have been a part of a ruling minority race in Africa and the feeling of being a part of the majority in England. She instantly felt a part of England because she could blend in, while in Africa she could not. Yet in England she could sense that England and Europe has become almost Godless … she said she does not feel that here in the United States. Isn’t that wonderful… just when I was starting to believe that we have become a more and more Godless country I hear that we are not.
2011, what will you reveal next?
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
FEBRUARY 2011
February has come in with a bang, both figuratively and literally. The unrest in the Middle East that was started in a lesser nation of the region has engulfed Egypt. I originally thought (and still) do that home grown Islamic radicals would try something here in the US this year … I had no clue that Islamists would be hard at work reshaping the political and religious direction of the Muslim nations in the Middle East.
I understand that the people of the Middle East are hurting. Their governments have been oppressive, restrictive, and at times brutal … but I’ll have to ask you, what’s new with that? It is time they came into the modern age and by now they should have had well established democratic representative governments like ours. I never agreed with “W” when he said that a new democratic government in Iraq did not have to resemble ours … I thought he was wrong (there I said it). Our form of government has worked well and is the most successful democracy in world history … our economic system has been too. So why wouldn’t imitating our form of government in the Middle East be a good idea?
I’m not sure why the Obama White House is behind the movement in Egypt to change the government, but did nothing to foster the removal of Iran’s oppressive, antagonistic government when thousands there were demonstrating in 2009. Iran has been a threat to Middle Eastern peace while Egypt has been a stabilizing presence. Iran is an enemy, Egypt an ally … so why such a different reaction from the Obama administration?
When Egypt falls, all holds are off and the next US ally will fall … by that, I mean that I believe that Saudi Arabia will be the next target of the Islamists. If that happens then, of course, Israel will be in the crosshairs of radical Muslims and the Islamists … but before they attack Israel, will they threaten to reduce the flow of oil or will they actually cut the flow of oil off to the world? Either way, it will be an attempt to blackmail the rest of the world and isolate Israel from her allies. If that happens, a global struggle will take place … because once the nations of Europe are starved for oil and the price of it becomes out of control, they will attack the region and take the oil. They will do it regardless of what happens to Israel … and they will do it with or without the United States. Why? … because they need their oil more that we do. We have the resources to sustain ourselves, but we haven’t tapped into them.
Our own natural resources remain unused mostly due to weak political leaders that have never countered liberals and radical environmentalists. If they had, we would be well on our way to energy independence. An energy independent United States would be not only good for us, but for the rest of the world as well. I have always said that a strong United States (politically, economically, and militarily) is ultimately good for the rest of the world. Becoming energy independent does not mean that this nation would abandon our position as the world police. It will allow us to be an even greater influence for good in the world. Any American that believes otherwise has simply chosen to be unwise.
The Middle East is the epicenter of global unrest and that makes it the biggest threat to Americans since we are being targeted for Islamic hatred … if Israel were eliminated that would not change. The events in the Middle East have captured our attention and, to a certain extent, we’ve become somewhat less concerned with other global issues, dangers, and enemies that still confront us. Our debt to China is looming like a hurricane ready to make landfall. Europe is broke and violence has erupted there for the same economic reasons that has caused the rioting and demonstrations in Egypt. Islamists are taking advantage of that unrest … they aren’t letting ala Rahm Emanuel “a crisis go to waste”.
Now, after stating all of the above, there is a flip side. If Egypt can repel an Islamist take-over of the reigns of government and defeat the Islamic Brotherhood in free and open elections, then that will be a major defeat to the radicals in the country. If a more liberal (that’s right, I said liberal) government emerges that supports the same inalienable rights that our founding fathers embraced respecting the rights of religion, speech, and of the press, the entire region will take notice. An Egypt that is still at peace with Israel will be at peace with the United States.
My hope is for the latter. The nations of the region don’t have to change or alter their long held beliefs and customs, but they do need to enter the modern age and end the never ending wars that have plagued them.
WOW what a beginning of 2011!
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
I understand that the people of the Middle East are hurting. Their governments have been oppressive, restrictive, and at times brutal … but I’ll have to ask you, what’s new with that? It is time they came into the modern age and by now they should have had well established democratic representative governments like ours. I never agreed with “W” when he said that a new democratic government in Iraq did not have to resemble ours … I thought he was wrong (there I said it). Our form of government has worked well and is the most successful democracy in world history … our economic system has been too. So why wouldn’t imitating our form of government in the Middle East be a good idea?
I’m not sure why the Obama White House is behind the movement in Egypt to change the government, but did nothing to foster the removal of Iran’s oppressive, antagonistic government when thousands there were demonstrating in 2009. Iran has been a threat to Middle Eastern peace while Egypt has been a stabilizing presence. Iran is an enemy, Egypt an ally … so why such a different reaction from the Obama administration?
When Egypt falls, all holds are off and the next US ally will fall … by that, I mean that I believe that Saudi Arabia will be the next target of the Islamists. If that happens then, of course, Israel will be in the crosshairs of radical Muslims and the Islamists … but before they attack Israel, will they threaten to reduce the flow of oil or will they actually cut the flow of oil off to the world? Either way, it will be an attempt to blackmail the rest of the world and isolate Israel from her allies. If that happens, a global struggle will take place … because once the nations of Europe are starved for oil and the price of it becomes out of control, they will attack the region and take the oil. They will do it regardless of what happens to Israel … and they will do it with or without the United States. Why? … because they need their oil more that we do. We have the resources to sustain ourselves, but we haven’t tapped into them.
Our own natural resources remain unused mostly due to weak political leaders that have never countered liberals and radical environmentalists. If they had, we would be well on our way to energy independence. An energy independent United States would be not only good for us, but for the rest of the world as well. I have always said that a strong United States (politically, economically, and militarily) is ultimately good for the rest of the world. Becoming energy independent does not mean that this nation would abandon our position as the world police. It will allow us to be an even greater influence for good in the world. Any American that believes otherwise has simply chosen to be unwise.
The Middle East is the epicenter of global unrest and that makes it the biggest threat to Americans since we are being targeted for Islamic hatred … if Israel were eliminated that would not change. The events in the Middle East have captured our attention and, to a certain extent, we’ve become somewhat less concerned with other global issues, dangers, and enemies that still confront us. Our debt to China is looming like a hurricane ready to make landfall. Europe is broke and violence has erupted there for the same economic reasons that has caused the rioting and demonstrations in Egypt. Islamists are taking advantage of that unrest … they aren’t letting ala Rahm Emanuel “a crisis go to waste”.
Now, after stating all of the above, there is a flip side. If Egypt can repel an Islamist take-over of the reigns of government and defeat the Islamic Brotherhood in free and open elections, then that will be a major defeat to the radicals in the country. If a more liberal (that’s right, I said liberal) government emerges that supports the same inalienable rights that our founding fathers embraced respecting the rights of religion, speech, and of the press, the entire region will take notice. An Egypt that is still at peace with Israel will be at peace with the United States.
My hope is for the latter. The nations of the region don’t have to change or alter their long held beliefs and customs, but they do need to enter the modern age and end the never ending wars that have plagued them.
WOW what a beginning of 2011!
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
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