Archive for the ‘Veterans’ Category
MEMORIAL DAY
Memorial Day 2021. This is the day where Americans honor those who died fighting in America’s wars. Well, that’s the theory at least. Unfortunately the way many people are honoring our dead strikes me as the exact opposite of honor. The day has been turned into a propaganda fest in support of America’s endless wars. The US has been at war 222 out of 239 years. More than 92% of its existence. And even that’s an undercount, there really was no peace during the 19th century because of ongoing efforts by individuals and state militias to exterminate the natives. And virtually none of the wars were just wars in any way, shape, or form. That has been especially true in the post World War Two era.
And yet all over Facebook, and all over the country presumably, people are posting and talking about fallen heroes who died “defending our freedom.” This is obscene. Every war since 1945 has been about defending America’s global empire and its corporate interests. Every American who died in these wars was a life wasted in service of the empire. And the memory of those whose lives were tossed away on the altar of corporate and political greed has been turned into a celebration of death and empire.
I grieve for those lost in our wars. I will honor their loss by continuing to speak for peace. The greatest thing an American can do to honor the fallen is stop supporting further war. Stop sending our youth abroad to die and be maimed in the service of corporate greed. The US is the most powerful empire the world has ever seen, there are no threats to our freedom. Outside the US at least, certain parties are working hard to destroy our freedom from within.
But that’s tomorrow’s blog. I hope all have or had a good Memorial Day. God rest the souls of those who died in America’s uniform, grant peace to their friends and family. #getvaccienatedcovid19 #FelesRegula #dearMoonCrew
Copyright © 2021 Doug Stych. All rights reserved.
(Image: From Facebook, attribution in image, used without permission, claimed as Fair Use under US copyright law.)
GIANT SPACE LASERS FOR THE WIN
That’s right: QAnon congresswoman believed California wildfires were started by a giant space laser. And she was elected. It’s sheet like this that makes the aliens fly right by, locking their doors as they do so. Let’s just say that the story falls apart (explodes violently really) upon even modest examination. There are vastly easier and cheaper ways to start fires. The technology to start fires using lasers from orbit doesn’t exist. Something like this would flag all sorts of detectors and sensors, humans do monitor Earth and near Earth in countless ways. And there’s no coherent reason for anyone to do this. However, as I am grasping more clearly every day, the far right political beliefs have morphed into a cult. And once one is in a cult, one simply interprets reality in whatever way fits the facts. As an extreme example, the Earth is only 6,000 years old, but Satan planted fossils to trick us into believing the Earth was older! Right. OK, compared to space laser frisbees, maybe not that extreme.
In financial news, some people figured out a way to beat the casino for the rich that is the modern stock market. Good for them, though they were quickly shut down, can’t have regular people manipulating stock market prices: GameStop: Anger as trading in GameStop shares is restricted. Once upon a time companies sold stock to the public to raise money and all was good. If the company prospered, the stock went up in value, and everyone won. If the company floundered or went under, the stock became less valuable or worthless. A nice system that let companies raise money without risk, and allowed the people who gave them that money to prosper as well. Everybody shares the risks and gains. Those truly were the days when the stock market reflected the wealth of the country. Now, it would take a book to describe the giant rigged casino for the rich the stock market is. Day trading alone shows Wall Street is just a casino.
In political news, Mike Pence is homeless. Literally, unlike most of Washington’s glitterati, the Pences maintained no home away from their government provided residences the past decade or so. Homeless as in couch surfing at friend’s homes. Last I heard he still hadn’t talked to Trump since Trump sent a mob into the Capitol attempting to arrest and/or lynch him. That would put a strain on any friendship I would think. Trump has more or less denounced Pence as a traitor, so presumably he’s watching his back. I wonder what’s in store for him now, hell, he probably wonders. And whatever else one may think about the man, unlike so many other traitorous Republicans, Pence chose to stand with the Republic, not Trump’s stolen election fantasies. In some ways he was the rock that Trump’s insurrection wave broke on. Ultimately that may be the one thing he is remembered for in history. Good for him.
More Capitol Riot fallout: Second police officer dies by suicide after Capitol attack. What a horrible mess. One suicide is a horrible coincidence, two, a tragedy unfolding. These cops were attacked by what essentially was a “Blue Lives Matter” mob. In addition to the cop who died in the attack, over 50 were assaulted, one is going to lose an eye, some have brain injuries, one was
stabbed with a fence pole. Capitol Police union rebukes top brass after officers at riot sustain brain injuries, one will lose eye. No wonder so many on the right are into mass denial mode, a mob of right wing Trump supporters attacking police, couldn’t happen! Only leftists engage in political violence! Yeah, the cognitive dissonance among the right wing police that were assaulted must be pretty painful now.
Turns out veterans and active duty military made up a disproportionate percentage of the Capitol Rioters. As a veteran, this shames me. A veteran takes an oath to defend the Republic and the Constitution. Participating in this riot is pretty much the opposite of their sworn oath, fantasies about a stolen election notwithstanding. Many people weren’t surprised though, far right extremism has been an issue in the military for quite some time: Black Vets Weren’t Surprised Military Members Stormed the Capitol. Now They Want the Department of Defense to Root Out Far-Right Extremism in Its Ranks. Will the riot lead to change? Hell if I know, but the Civil War ultimately didn’t, so not holding my breath.
Lastly, just came across a great article re Gamestop etc.: Suck It, Wall Street. Highly recommended. Yeah, the rich in America are richer than they’ve ever been, and determined to get richer. I can’t see it ending well for them in the long run, but we’ll see. Maybe in 2100 Elon Musk will possess every dollar in existence, and then he’ll fix everything. It’s been a strange week for me, but I will carry on blogging for the people blocked by paywalls. Shares, comments, likes appreciated. Stay safe and warm everyone.#StaytheFHome #WearaDamnMask #FelesRegula
Copyright © 2021 Doug Stych. All rights reserved.
(Image Aftermath of the 1920 Wall Street Bombing. The bombing was never solved. Now we know why. Alien space lasers did it. Credit: Unknown, Public Domain under US copyright law.)
VETERANS DAY 2020
Veterans Day, 2020. One knows people are being hosed if there’s a day set up to honor them. Hosed, used, manipulated, whatever. America has fetishized war, the military, and veterans. Basically one or two days a year, and in other silly ways (I get veterans parking, woohoo!) America “lauds” its veterans. The other 365 days a year they send them to die in colonial wars whose only purpose is politics or corporate profits. The last war America fought to “defend our freedoms” was World War Two, and even it has caveats. Every veteran after that fought to make some president look good or promote the American Empire.
So yeah fellow veteran dudes and dudettes, your service is appreciated. With the exception of WW2 vets, a few of which may still be reading this, you got duped. I served myself, joined with high ideals, found I’d joined a deeply misogynistic muslim-hating gang whose mission was to travel around the world and murder people. I was disillusioned to say the least, though if I had it to all do over again, I would have joined the army instead of the USMC and served 20 or 30 years. Life is complicated. And I did meet some great people in the service.
Hell, I was a Nazi bigot before I joined the service. Actually living and working with people of all faiths, colors, etc., I learned “A**holes come in all colors.” We had four drill instructors in basic training. Two white, two black. First guy, black guy, can’t remember his name. He was something else, mean mofo, the only DI (drill instructor) that physically abused me, he started kicking me one day because my push ups weren’t up to his standards. No big deal though. The other privates (recruits) connected with him. He didn’t last, showed up drunk one night while off duty and got into a fistfight with a private. He got replaced, I wish him the best.
The Senior Drill Instructor, white guy, Staff Sergeant Sisk (weird what details one remembers from four decades ago,) was a good guy but ill suited to be a Drill Instructor. OK guy though. I’d have a beer with him if I ever ran across him. 3rd DI. Black fellow. Dumb, as in modest IQ black guy from rural Georgia. Vietnam Vet. Sergeant Allen. And he was a Marine to the bone, probably the most Marinest Marine I ever met. If he had your back, you were covered. One of the most impressive human beings I ever had the privilege of knowing.
Last guy, white fellow, Canadian like me. He was a sick fuck. He liked hurting the privates. IE he liked hurting people. His one trick I remember was to bend people’s fingers back to the point of excruciating pain. He was a sadist. And he got brought down. We were very much taught to overlook excesses in the name of taking one for the team. Hazing was OK, like the guy kicking me. What this guy was doing was beyond hazing. Some officers showed up one day and asked us if any of the accusations against him were true. People spoke up, and he was gone.
Bigotted as I was, it sunk in that somebody’s skin color tells one nothing about how cool they are, or aren’t. And pretty much everything in my life since has reinforced that. People are people, some good, most OK, a few a**holes. And only getting to know them will tell which is which. So I applaud the service and how it can be good for people’s personal growth all else aside. (Aside: My fantasy zombie apocalypse team is diverse as fuck.)
And that’s where my thinking sat for decades. I wasn’t wrong. There’s another layer though. Sargent Allen told us a bit about Vietnam. He’d volunteered with two friends on a buddy program, where they all went through basic training and their first post together. One of them was killed. Allen told us the story, firefight, his friend got carried away, was shouting “I can see them, I can see them!” while standing and shooting. Actually being able to see the enemy is unusual in modern warfare. His last words, since if he could see them, they could see him. Sargent Allen even showed us pics of his friend’s body or body bag.
And this is where it gets ugly. Sargent Allen said that after that, on every patrol, him and his surviving buddy made sure they killed at least one local. That’s called a war crime. It’s called murder. One of the coolest and most honorable dudes I ever met, by his own admission, was a serial killer. And he got away with it because he was fighting in a war. How the hell does one process something like that?
War is bad. That’s all I got. Stay safe everyone.#StaytheFHome #WearaDamnMask #FelesRegula
Copyright © 2020 Doug Stych. All rights reserved.
(Image: That’s me. 1978? Credit and copyright: No idea. Probably a government photographer, in which case Public Domain under US copyright law.)
HAVE A LABOR DAY WEEKEND
This was what I saw out of my front window this morning. Did it blow over? Vandals? Nope, the staff rotted. If that’s not a metaphor for contemporary America I don’t know what is. A sign of the times. I get more pessimistic about America pretty much every day now, we’ve reached the point where Americans are killing Americans in the street, and other Americans are celebrating them. Jesus wept.
And since I wrote that this morning, yeesh, stuff keeps happening. I was going to comment on the Stars and Stripes Newspaper being cancelled, but Trump has since reversed that decision. Events are moving quickly in the last few months leading to the weirdest election of my life. And now Trump has come under fire for alleged dissing veterans. At this juncture I guess it’s not entirely clear what Trump did or did not say. He certainly made light of Senator McCain’s service record, and certainly called him a loser.
Labor Day weekend. I passed out last night, it was a long hard week. Wow, even Fox News is saying Trump slurred veterans. And he doesn’t even have a swift boat to stand on. I’ll post again this evening. Stay safe everyone. #StaytheFHome #WearaDamnMask #InsanusTempora
Copyright © 2020 Doug Stych. All rights reserved.
(Image: Copyright © 2020 Doug Stych. All rights reserved.)
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