Bill O'Reilly is a disgrace. There I said it.
On tonight's show he made the statement that most of the 200,000 homeless veterans in our country are either drug addicts or have mental problems. If they need help they can go to
Veterans Affairs because that's what they're for. Tell that to the homeless Vietnams veteran who froze to death last November because there wasn't room for him at the Veterans Affairs.
I blame people like you as part of the problem Billy. I've seen your type before. People like you just can't be wrong about anything. People who have to lie to make themselves right. That's right I said lie. You, Billy, are a liar. You contine to bang the drum about John Edwards trying to make the veterans an economic issue, and while that may or may not be a factor in things, the context that I have seen has always been in relation to the treatment of our wounded soldiers. You have to know this. If you don't then you really should save the commentary for someone more qualified.
I'm not overly surprised that you didn't respond to my open letter. Your kind never does. If we don't think like you then we don't love America. We want terrorists to attack the country because we don't support waterboarding because we know it to be torture. You gladhand the troops and use them to boost your ratings and pedestrian ego by visiting the troops and bringing your camera to show what a good person you are. Your kind makes me sick.
I speak as the son of a veteran, the nephew of veterans and the student and best friend of a veteran. I speak for the people who won't call you on your lies and obvious spin job. Oh wait, that's right. You have the "no spin zone". It should read "No Spin But Mine".
One thing you can be sure of Billy. I'm not going away. I'm going to keep speaking and trying to reach the people through my own writings. I'm going to speak out against the lies that you've told about the state of our veterans until you either admit to it or go away. I will not be silent on this.
Like I said in a previous article. You're a bully, and there hasn't been the bully yet that's made me back down from what I know to be right.
As for my readers. This is an important issue for me. I hope you all keep reading.
That's all for now. May the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you, may He make His Face to shine upon you. Amen and amen. God bless our wounded warriors and may He keep our soldiers still fighting from all the dark places that may harm them.
End of line.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
An Open Letter to Bill O'Reily
To whom it may concern,
I am the proud son of a veteran, an American by birth and a southener by the grace of God, though I no longer live in the south. I've watched your show from time to time and there are many times when I've found you to be both abrasive and condescending toward anyone who dares to disagree with you. However I feel I must speak out concerning a recent remark of yours regarding the V.A.'s statistics of our homeless veterans. According to them the numbers show that there are 195,000 (male and female) on any given night (their words here) and perhaps twice that number at some point during the year. I'd like to know what socialist, secular progressive, liberal propoganist site you'd care to blame these statistics on? You had the utter temerity to make a snide "I don't think its that many" comment to your guest as well as making the rather transparent statement that you'd make sure a veteran didn't sleep under a bridge if you were told that someone saw them at such and such a place. How dare you sir?
Like I said my father was a veteran. All of my uncles are veterans. One the teachers I had in college was a veteran of the second world war, one who had helped liberate one of the concentration camps. One of my best friends in the world is serving now. In the history of this country we have NEVER treated our wounded warriors right and its time that the American people spoke out about this. It is beyond the pale that even one veteran is homeless, it is offensive beyond reason that almost 200,000 of them are tonight. It is offensive that I hear so few of the republican candidates talking about what we're going to do about our honored wouned warriors. Our people should have the very best care available. What they get is far from it and as a citizen of the United States I will not sit by and allow this to pass without speaking out. I don't have money, I don't have position or authority; but what I do have is a voice and a blog and I intend to use it.
My question to you is this. What have you done to actually serve your country? Beyond going overseas with cameras and talking about how much you do, what have you done? Have you ever given without turning it into a talking point on your show? Why not use your position to speak out about the horrendous problem of homelessness amongst out veterans? Maybe that wouldn't be good television, or maybe you think you can bully other people into doing it by name calling and dodging the real issues.
I'm not a kool-aid drinker myself, though you will likely try to spin it that way. I am a Christian, the son of a soldier, a gamer, I believe in fair play, justice and equity. I call on you to put your money where your mouth is. Put up the money to help build good low income housing for our homeless veterans. Put up the cash to help them get the mental health care that many of them desperately need. Add your voice to the people you claim to be looking out for and demand better treatment of our soldiers. Show some humility and reach across the board to people like Keith Olberman, and work together to get the word out about this. A lot could get done with the two of you speaking in one voice about this, unlikely though that outcome be.
The proud son of a veteran, and an American
John
I am the proud son of a veteran, an American by birth and a southener by the grace of God, though I no longer live in the south. I've watched your show from time to time and there are many times when I've found you to be both abrasive and condescending toward anyone who dares to disagree with you. However I feel I must speak out concerning a recent remark of yours regarding the V.A.'s statistics of our homeless veterans. According to them the numbers show that there are 195,000 (male and female) on any given night (their words here) and perhaps twice that number at some point during the year. I'd like to know what socialist, secular progressive, liberal propoganist site you'd care to blame these statistics on? You had the utter temerity to make a snide "I don't think its that many" comment to your guest as well as making the rather transparent statement that you'd make sure a veteran didn't sleep under a bridge if you were told that someone saw them at such and such a place. How dare you sir?
Like I said my father was a veteran. All of my uncles are veterans. One the teachers I had in college was a veteran of the second world war, one who had helped liberate one of the concentration camps. One of my best friends in the world is serving now. In the history of this country we have NEVER treated our wounded warriors right and its time that the American people spoke out about this. It is beyond the pale that even one veteran is homeless, it is offensive beyond reason that almost 200,000 of them are tonight. It is offensive that I hear so few of the republican candidates talking about what we're going to do about our honored wouned warriors. Our people should have the very best care available. What they get is far from it and as a citizen of the United States I will not sit by and allow this to pass without speaking out. I don't have money, I don't have position or authority; but what I do have is a voice and a blog and I intend to use it.
My question to you is this. What have you done to actually serve your country? Beyond going overseas with cameras and talking about how much you do, what have you done? Have you ever given without turning it into a talking point on your show? Why not use your position to speak out about the horrendous problem of homelessness amongst out veterans? Maybe that wouldn't be good television, or maybe you think you can bully other people into doing it by name calling and dodging the real issues.
I'm not a kool-aid drinker myself, though you will likely try to spin it that way. I am a Christian, the son of a soldier, a gamer, I believe in fair play, justice and equity. I call on you to put your money where your mouth is. Put up the money to help build good low income housing for our homeless veterans. Put up the cash to help them get the mental health care that many of them desperately need. Add your voice to the people you claim to be looking out for and demand better treatment of our soldiers. Show some humility and reach across the board to people like Keith Olberman, and work together to get the word out about this. A lot could get done with the two of you speaking in one voice about this, unlikely though that outcome be.
The proud son of a veteran, and an American
John
Monday, January 14, 2008
Communicating Hope
This election cycle we're seeing someone very rare. We're seeing a man who has the very rare ability to communicate hope. Now keep in mind that I don't agree with a lot of his political stances, but Barak Obama does have the ability to talk to people and talk about hope. There are others who try but they come off as being insincere or just pandering to the crowd that they're talking to. He talks about having real change, a change for the better; and he does have a point. Hillary Clinton may have experience as a politician but that's precisely the problem. Its just more of the same. In my lifetime I've seen Reagan, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Clinton, and Bush. We don't need a repeat performance of the Co-Presidency that was the eight years of Bill Clinton.
That's not change, its just more politics as usual.
Barak represents something new, something that people like Hillary will never really understand. He represents the people, in his own way.
We're living in a time when people need to hear the message of hope. We need to hear speaches that make us stand a little taller and be reminded that its ok to be proud to be an American.
Sometimes that's what we, as Americans, need. Yes there are many problems that I've lamented over in previous posts, and yes I'll likely not vote for Obama myself because I don't agree with a lot of his politcal stances; but I'm not sure if I'd be as upset over the situation if he won. He's bringing a message to people that they need to hear. That hope isn't dead or a passe concept. Hope is something that we have to believe in because we're Americans, and look at what we've done.
I'm glad to be alive in such a time as this. To be able to look at what's going on and bring my perspective on things is a great blessing to me. To my knowledge there were only two other men who had the gift of communication to the degree that Barak Obama does, JFK and Ronald Reagan. That's pretty impressive company as far as I'm concerned.
To those voters here in Michigan that are planning on voting in the primaries, I'd like to add my vote to others who have commented on the situation.
If you want to make your voice heard vote undecided. Write in votes, for whatever asinine reason, aren't counted. Show your party that you believe in hope and that you believe in the one delivering the message.
That's all for now. May the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you, may He make His Face to shine upon you. Amen and amen
End of line.
That's not change, its just more politics as usual.
Barak represents something new, something that people like Hillary will never really understand. He represents the people, in his own way.
We're living in a time when people need to hear the message of hope. We need to hear speaches that make us stand a little taller and be reminded that its ok to be proud to be an American.
Sometimes that's what we, as Americans, need. Yes there are many problems that I've lamented over in previous posts, and yes I'll likely not vote for Obama myself because I don't agree with a lot of his politcal stances; but I'm not sure if I'd be as upset over the situation if he won. He's bringing a message to people that they need to hear. That hope isn't dead or a passe concept. Hope is something that we have to believe in because we're Americans, and look at what we've done.
I'm glad to be alive in such a time as this. To be able to look at what's going on and bring my perspective on things is a great blessing to me. To my knowledge there were only two other men who had the gift of communication to the degree that Barak Obama does, JFK and Ronald Reagan. That's pretty impressive company as far as I'm concerned.
To those voters here in Michigan that are planning on voting in the primaries, I'd like to add my vote to others who have commented on the situation.
If you want to make your voice heard vote undecided. Write in votes, for whatever asinine reason, aren't counted. Show your party that you believe in hope and that you believe in the one delivering the message.
That's all for now. May the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you, may He make His Face to shine upon you. Amen and amen
End of line.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
On the Death of Spiderman
Yup. You read correctly. I did, in fact, title this one "On the Death of Spiderman". Why you ask? The answer is simple, because Marvel has just killed the character. Oh I don't mean that literally. Spidey is still swinging New York with the best of them. No. No I mean that, for many fans, they've killed twenty years of history. Retconned out of existence because their people decided that controversy would sell better than good stories. It speaks volumes that J.M. Stracynski wanted his name removed from the last two issues he wrote.
I haven't bought Marvel comics for years. Not since the "Spider-Clone" disaster, and every time I consider going back Marvel reminds me why I quit in the first place. They just don't get it and they never will. They've taken ever opportunity to screw job their characters and its just old. This is just the last nail in the coffin for me. If this continues I may end up not even going to the new Marvel movies. I can't bring myself to support their nonsense anymore. Which is a shame because I thought that Ironman looked like it might be pretty good.
To my fellow geeks that are, to put it bluntly, mightily pissed off at Marvel I'd like to offer my suggestions for better reading material.
Firstly: PS238, Nodwick, and Full Frontal Nerdity by Aaron Williams. The man is, in my opinion a genius. PS238 is what a superhero comic should be. Granted its about children who go to a superhero elementary school, but the heart of the stories is what's important. Nodwick is just a classic, and again an example of great story telling.
Aside from that I'd reccomend looking to other independent publishers. Track down copies of Cerberus, Poison Elves, anything really. Just take the time to look. You might be surprised what you find.
I'd also reccomend looking into manga. Yes it reads differently but in a lot of cases its better written and has far more compelling characters. Off hand I'd reccomend Rurouni Kenshin, Buso Renkin, Naruto, Revolutionary Girl Utena to name a few. Like with the independant publishers there's a massive amount of manga out there. You're likely to find at least one or two that might interest you.
And Marvel. Well Marvel Comics can kiss my geeky butt. I'm done with them.
That's all for now. May the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you, may He make His Face to shine upon you. Amen and amen.
End of line.
I haven't bought Marvel comics for years. Not since the "Spider-Clone" disaster, and every time I consider going back Marvel reminds me why I quit in the first place. They just don't get it and they never will. They've taken ever opportunity to screw job their characters and its just old. This is just the last nail in the coffin for me. If this continues I may end up not even going to the new Marvel movies. I can't bring myself to support their nonsense anymore. Which is a shame because I thought that Ironman looked like it might be pretty good.
To my fellow geeks that are, to put it bluntly, mightily pissed off at Marvel I'd like to offer my suggestions for better reading material.
Firstly: PS238, Nodwick, and Full Frontal Nerdity by Aaron Williams. The man is, in my opinion a genius. PS238 is what a superhero comic should be. Granted its about children who go to a superhero elementary school, but the heart of the stories is what's important. Nodwick is just a classic, and again an example of great story telling.
Aside from that I'd reccomend looking to other independent publishers. Track down copies of Cerberus, Poison Elves, anything really. Just take the time to look. You might be surprised what you find.
I'd also reccomend looking into manga. Yes it reads differently but in a lot of cases its better written and has far more compelling characters. Off hand I'd reccomend Rurouni Kenshin, Buso Renkin, Naruto, Revolutionary Girl Utena to name a few. Like with the independant publishers there's a massive amount of manga out there. You're likely to find at least one or two that might interest you.
And Marvel. Well Marvel Comics can kiss my geeky butt. I'm done with them.
That's all for now. May the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you, may He make His Face to shine upon you. Amen and amen.
End of line.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
The State of Things
Time to get in the trenches folks.
We're entering into a new year. One that has the added bonus of being a presidential election year. It is vitally important that someone be elected that will actually work to solve the problems that we, as a nation, face. I'll try to outline the things I believe to be the two big problems and what I believe to be the solutions, provided I can think of one. These are in no particular order.
1. Health Care. Too many people are without health insurance because they just can't afford it. This is something that should not be in the United States. There should be something in place, something better than medicaid, something that people can actually access if they need it. I'm speaking from experience here when I say that medicaid is broken. It doesn't help people who need it and the process to get it is designed to make you give up. Something needs to be done to fix it. It could be as simple as just making the application process easier but it needs to be done.
2. The War. I'll be honest, I don't think we ever should have gone into Iraq. I think there were situations that presented a greater moral imperative. However once we went in we should have let the generals fight how they needed to in order to win. We should have sent our people in with the best equipment possible and as much support as they needed. Since that's not how we started we've gotten bogged down in a mire that we're only now crawling out of. We are seeing some results, I can't blind myself to that, but if we're going to stay fight to win.
There are many, many other issues such as energy independance, enviromental issues, and protecting the citizenry from terrorist attacks. All of these issues are important and I encourage you to write the candidates and ask them the tough questions. Look for buzzword phoniness and call them on it. Investigate and determine for yourselves who you think is the best choice. Don't let anyone, be they pastor, union leader, teacher or friend tell you who to vote for. Look into things and vote your conscience and your principles.
That's all for now. May the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you, may He make His Face to shine upon you. Amen and amen.
End of line.
We're entering into a new year. One that has the added bonus of being a presidential election year. It is vitally important that someone be elected that will actually work to solve the problems that we, as a nation, face. I'll try to outline the things I believe to be the two big problems and what I believe to be the solutions, provided I can think of one. These are in no particular order.
1. Health Care. Too many people are without health insurance because they just can't afford it. This is something that should not be in the United States. There should be something in place, something better than medicaid, something that people can actually access if they need it. I'm speaking from experience here when I say that medicaid is broken. It doesn't help people who need it and the process to get it is designed to make you give up. Something needs to be done to fix it. It could be as simple as just making the application process easier but it needs to be done.
2. The War. I'll be honest, I don't think we ever should have gone into Iraq. I think there were situations that presented a greater moral imperative. However once we went in we should have let the generals fight how they needed to in order to win. We should have sent our people in with the best equipment possible and as much support as they needed. Since that's not how we started we've gotten bogged down in a mire that we're only now crawling out of. We are seeing some results, I can't blind myself to that, but if we're going to stay fight to win.
There are many, many other issues such as energy independance, enviromental issues, and protecting the citizenry from terrorist attacks. All of these issues are important and I encourage you to write the candidates and ask them the tough questions. Look for buzzword phoniness and call them on it. Investigate and determine for yourselves who you think is the best choice. Don't let anyone, be they pastor, union leader, teacher or friend tell you who to vote for. Look into things and vote your conscience and your principles.
That's all for now. May the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you, may He make His Face to shine upon you. Amen and amen.
End of line.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Cruelty
Sometimes people can be exceedingly cruel.
That's a fact of life that I learned at an early age. Sometimes though someone can go beyond the pale with it.
There hasn't been a lot of movement on another blog of mine, and I'm generally ok with that. However someone decided to comment on a post I wrote about a family tragedy. In that comment the person decided that they would ridicule my faith, using the tragedy to do so. I didn't comment on it, I deleted it.
Now there are people who are going to think that I should have left the comment there, but I disagree. Here and at my other blog I have one, ironclad rule. Disagree with me all you want, but keep it civil.
I don't particularly care if someone agrees with me or not. If you're cruel about it I will delete the comment without a second thought. If I find it goes really beyond the pale then I'll report it.
I've always found it to be odd that the people who rant the longest about the intolerance of Christians are, themselves, the most intolerant people in the world.
That's all for now. May the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you, may He make His Face to shine upon you. Amen and amen.
End of line.
That's a fact of life that I learned at an early age. Sometimes though someone can go beyond the pale with it.
There hasn't been a lot of movement on another blog of mine, and I'm generally ok with that. However someone decided to comment on a post I wrote about a family tragedy. In that comment the person decided that they would ridicule my faith, using the tragedy to do so. I didn't comment on it, I deleted it.
Now there are people who are going to think that I should have left the comment there, but I disagree. Here and at my other blog I have one, ironclad rule. Disagree with me all you want, but keep it civil.
I don't particularly care if someone agrees with me or not. If you're cruel about it I will delete the comment without a second thought. If I find it goes really beyond the pale then I'll report it.
I've always found it to be odd that the people who rant the longest about the intolerance of Christians are, themselves, the most intolerant people in the world.
That's all for now. May the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you, may He make His Face to shine upon you. Amen and amen.
End of line.
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