Wow.

Sitting around flipping channels tonight and I came across something that was hilarious.  I heard that Lou Dobbs had quit CNN tonight, so I was looking to see if they were talking about it.  They weren’t, but what I did see was Carrie Prejean fighting with Larry King.  Poor Larry King was trying to conduct an interview, but Carrie told Larry that she couldn’t comment on anything related to her “confidential mediation”.  Now, you must know that the Miss USA pagent fired Prejean for failure to hold up to her end of the contract.  Prejean says that she was fired unjustly and felt it had to do with religious discrimination.

So she sued them back.

She wanted $1 million for her troubles.

That’s when they told her that they had their hands on her solo sex tape that she made when she was a minor.  I believe that tape is about 5 years old at this time.  Now, Prejean is walking around like she’s the poster woman for the religious right.  It’s amazing how a few years will change a hoe person.

The interesting part of the whole deal is that Carrie wrote a book after the settlement netted her zero dollars.  Now, she’s going around trying to pimp the book as best she can.  Larry asked certain things about why this and why that, and this woman tells him, “you’re being inappropriate”.   Now, I didn’t think anything he asked the woman was inappropriate, but she held to her position.  So, King decides to take some calls and then this woman yanks her microphone off.  It was a sad display of whatever you want to call it.

I’m sure the fallout will be plenty about this, but I wanted to get a few chops in on this before Prejean turns it into another case of the liberal media bashing her for her religious views.  SMH.

v

Happy Veterans Day to all men and women who have come, gone, and who serve today.  Many have paid the ultimate price by sacrificing their lives in the defense of this nation.  I have many family and friends who, like myself, have given back to this nation by serving in the Armed Forces.  It was one of the greatest decisions I ever made and I would not be where I am today without having the great fortune of serving for the 8 years and coming in contact with some of the greatest people this nation has known.

Thank a veteran whenever you see one.  Not just today, but every chance you get.

And set him on fire.

We got a long way to go in this country.

Meet the new face of the domestic war on terror.

So many questions, so little time.

The United States did away with the military draft back in 1973.  Men and women have been volunteering ever since.  Not everyone who signs up ends up finishing 20 years that is required for retirement.  Some do the 4 years in and 16 years out combination.  That is a one enlistment variety.

You have a little bit of everything and everyone in the military.  Some smart, some not so smart.  Some tall, others short.  Some rail thin, and others are buying new uniforms to fit the extra girth in.

Various races and nationalities are represented.  As much as you’re not supposed to ask and equally their requirement not to tell, you have gays and lesbians serving as well.  Some military members are married and others choose to remain single.

Tolerance and understanding is something that each branch tries to get across to their members.  It is a necessary trait that each member must have in order to have a strong military.  Due to the fact that the forces are volunteers, you can’t keep certain people out.

Religion has been far ignored in terms of how the services are sizing up their people.  You have people of all faiths in the U.S. military.  People sometimes wear their feelings on their sleeves.  It is especially noticeable when it comes to politics.  Those conversations are usually always spirited and they go back and forth all the time.

We are all aware that we have been engaged in war in the heavily Islamic region of Southwest Asia.  The people over there aren’t too fond of the United States, and it would safe to say that the feelings are mutual.  Actually, we are opposed to those who oppose what we stand for.

The Fort Hood tragedy will light the fire under the coals of the debate on religion in the military.  I recall when I was stationed in Florida, the Muslims were allowed to use the same chapel that served Catholics and Protestant faiths.  Some military members took issue with that.  Many times, you fear and hate what you don’t understand.

I really felt sorry for the Muslim faith this week.  Some of them were on TV this week stating that when they heard about the Fort Hood tragedy, they were praying that the shooter wasn’t Muslim.  Unfortunately, their prayer wasn’t answered.  All I can say is that I was somewhat surprised when they mentioned who it was.

You don’t expect to have someone fire on you here at home.  All of the military’s efforts are geared towards defeating our enemies.  This tragedy will set us back a little bit when it comes to understanding Muslims.  You can expect people to get really sideways about Muslims in public.  Yes, the President asked everyone not to rush to judgment, but that is a tall order..considering our recent history and all.

Either way, it will bring the topic of religion in the military to the forefront.  It will be interesting to see where the dialogue goes.

Source

You’ve got to love kids.

Finished this weekend’s leaf roundup and came in to shower.  I noticed that my towel was missing and I requested a new one from one of my tenants.  As I stood behind the door with my hand out, it was met with a rag.  I didn’t feel the weight of a bath towel as I had requested.  I peeked my head around the door and asked, “what is this?”

“It’s a towel,” they replied.  I had to then ask for a BIG towel.

Moral of the story?  Be more pacific.

It has been said that the military is a “family”.  I can state that this is a true statement.  There is an unspoken bond that military members and their families share with fellow military families and retired service personnel.  However, with any family, there will be problems.

This has just been a strange day.  I left work right about the time the gunmen started their killing spree at Ft. Hood.  So, I was unable to get the information until a couple of hours later.

I have relatives who live in Killeen.  One is an active duty soldier stationed at the base.  He is okay.  That’s good news.  Unfortunately, there have been extensive numbers of people wounded and killed.  It is difficult to grasp the violence, but I still maintain the same state of mind that I had when I was actively serving.

Military personnel are trained for every situation that they should possibly encounter.  This situation is no different.  However, there will always be instances when something like this will occur, either here at home or abroad.  When our unit was deployed, we had to take a weapon from a fellow service personnel who had exhibited signs that he would danger himself or others.  You try to chalk it up to stress and failure to cope with the challenges at hand.  Either way, decisive action is what military personnel are trained to resort to when facing incidents like today.

In the interim, the military personnel will get a grip on everything and this all happens naturally.  The training kicks in instinctively.  Next, they will get time to reflect on the tragedy and will come together even more as a tight knit community.

I’m shaking my head at this because I shared with a coworker, also a veteran, about the fact that no matter how we regard the brave men and women who volunteer to serve, they are just a small sampling of the population.  So, if you have criminals out here in the civilian community, you will have some that manage to get into the military and still possess that criminal mentality.

We have to really get a hold around what the military personnel are facing.  The constant deployments are taking a toll on everyone and this is not the time to ignore symptoms of trouble that personnel may exhibit.  No family member should do that under any circumstance.

Source

Flipping channels and rolled past CNN as they were talking to a woman who’s husband is stationed at Ft. Hood in Texas.  The woman tells CNN reporter Wolf Blitzer that someone was caught at the Dollar General.  Wolf asked the woman, “what is the Dollar General?  Is that a building on post?”

I threw my hands up.  Don’t rich people even drive by discount stores?

People, when does it stop?

There is no safety anywhere in this nation.

Not even those who have chosen to protect and defend us against enemies, foreign and domestic, are safe from unexpected violence.

This truly has to stop.

Source

Kansas City has a reputation as a great place to live and to raise a family.  The midwest is known for good down-to-earth people and where everyone greets you with a smile.  Now, you and I know that all of that is hogwash and bologna (pronounced, balonie).

One thing that has caught my attention of late is the immediate danger that exists for white women living in the greater KC area.  This danger is second to the roulette that black men face as they walk the dark, dusty streets of Killa City.  It really isn’t important as to who is snatching up white women or who might be spraying bullets into black men, but what is startling is the number of crimes perpetrated against these two segments of our population.

Sadly, we heard of the most recent case of an area woman who came up missing on last evening.  Her body was found today and it is an all too familiar tragic end.  A life too young, cut short by senseless violence.  At some point, this madness really needs to cease.

Someone that I look up to dearly has told me on multiple occasions that my life is in more danger in Kansas City than it was when I was in Iraq.  After the initial laughter turned to denial and eventual belief that it just well may be a true statement, I can only wonder how people who live their lives on the edge feel about their own personal safety.

There will be a press conference at 3pm today to discuss this case of Carol Thomas.  It appears that police have the suspects in custody.  They need to get whatever comes to them.

Godspeed to her family.

Cops in Independence are about to push some charges onto the “relatives” of a young girl who was the object of a recent Amber Alert.  It is reported that police believe the “relatives” intentionally lied to them concerning the details surrounding the “disappearance” of the young girl pictured.

The girl “supposedly” went “missing” after dropping off a friend.  Her car (she got a car at 16?) was located in a parking lot of some retail stores near Noland Road.  You know the rest, all it took was one call and the Amber Alert went out and all of the region knew about it on TV and Radio.  Cops everywhere put down their day-olds to drive around looking for this damsel in distress.

No need to fear, St. Joe police is here.  Cops found the girl up in St. Joseph, where I’m sure she was getting chopped down by her “boyfriend”.  Right here is where I would throw some heat on this story, but I’m going to let it slide today.  I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

Should charges be pressed on “relatives” who mislead authorities and cause a false alert to be initiated?

Via