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POPSReal American Stories: Inspiring Reminders for 9/11
We meet people on the street as well as those who have submitted their stories, all of whom have overcome adversity and consider themselves blessed to be Americans, like the Grucci family of fireworks fame, deli guys from Philly, air guitar fans ("a celebration of silliness), a brewery master, a retired man who started an organization to put used bikes in the hands of needy kids, star immigrants from Russia, India, Cuba, vets from Viet Nam and Iraq, foster parents, as well as household names like tv personality Leeza Gibbons, CEO Jack Welch, actress Frean Drescher, and musician LL Cool J. Immigrants recall why they came to America and how grateful they are to live here. Historically significant Americans and their extraordinary Americanism shine from Real American Stories, in photos, speeches, poems, quotes and moments that are all part of the fabric of our nation. As we're reminded on this anniversary that there are still some who despise America and our way of life . . .
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POPSMillitary Vets Don't Need to be Told They're a Burden to Society For example, a worksheet on page 21 lists various scenarios and asks users to then decide whether their own life would be "not worth living." The circumstances listed include ones common among the elderly and disabled: living in a nursing home, being in a wheelchair and not being able to "shake the blues." There is a section which provocatively asks, "Have you ever heard anyone say, 'If I'm a vegetable, pull the plug'?" There also are guilt-inducing scenarios such as "I can no longer contribute to my family's well being," "I am a severe financial burden on my family" and that the vet's situation "causes severe emotional burden for my family." When the government can steer vulnerable individuals to conclude for themselves that life is not worth living, who needs a death panel? One can only imagine a soldier surviving the war in Iraq and returning without all of his limbs only to encounter a veteran's health-care system that seems intent on his surrender .
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POPSVeteran End of Life Questions: Vets Referred to Hemlock Society (Video) ...there is a check list in the middle of the document that specifically asks questions about "What makes your life worth living?”. It is a checklist that doesn’t just include needing a feeding tube or being on permanent life support, the questions are absolutely, in my opinion, insane. These questions are being asked to all Veterans receiving treatment, including 20 year olds who have been severely wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan. I have listed all of the questions below so you can see for yourself: Click on link to view survey list of questions. http://maggiesnotebook.blogspot.com/2009/08/veteran-end-of-life-questions-vets.html These questions are followed by the questions below: “If you checked "worth living, but just barely" for more than one factor, would a combination of these factors make your life "not worth living?" If so, which factors? If you checked "not worth living," does this mean that you would rather die than be kept alive?
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POPSObama signs new GI Bill for 'all who serve' This is one chunk of money I am glad to see being spent on our Vets. Hell, the bailout money for the damn banks and other wall street slugs should have goe to the Vets. I hope all those returning and those who have returned make use of this new GI Bill, it is the least that we can do for our men and women serving in the battle grounds.
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POPS"Sit! Stay! Snuggle!": An Iraq Vet Finds His Dog Tuesday 
Click through for the video. More: Tuesday is with Mr. Montalvan at all hours. Taught to recognize changes in a person's breathing, perspiration or scent that can indicate an imminent panic attack, Tuesday can keep Mr. Montalvan buffered from crowds or deliver a calming nuzzle. Other dogs, typically golden retrievers, Labradors or Labrador retriever blends, are trained to wake masters from debilitating nightmares and to help patients differentiate between hallucinations and reality by barking if a real person is nearby. "Tuesday is just extraordinarily empathetic," said Mr. Montalvan, 36 years old, a retired Army captain who received a Purple Heart for wounds he suffered in Iraq. "In bad moments, he'll lay his head on my leg, and it'll be like he's saying, 'You're OK. You're not alone.'" …At Mr. Montalvan's apartment -- decorated with his Purple Heart and Bronze Star certificates, and pictures and paintings of Tuesday -- they sleep in the same wooden sleigh bed.
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POPSMore Female Veterans Are Winding Up Homeless “Some of the first homeless vets that walked into our office were single moms,’’ said Paul Rieckhoff, executive director and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. “When people think of homeless vets, they don’t think of a Hispanic mother and her kids. The new generation of veterans is made up of far more women.’’
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POPSScouts Train to Fight Terrorists, and More
“This is about being a true-blooded American guy and girl.” This statement is reminiscent of how the Hitler Youth was bolstered into being “true-blooded Germans”. The inference is that if you are not a part of this “elite” group and are not concerned with killing what the police label as ‘terrorists’ or ‘illegal immigrants’ then you are NOT a ‘true-blooded American’. In light of the fact that DHS recently released two letters designed to put the law enforcement community on alert to 1) returning military vets as potential threats and 2) profiling millions of Americans who oppose abortion, illegal immigration, gun control, homosexuality, and expanded govt powers, as associated with neo-Nazis, skinheads and other violent and racist ‘hate groups’, this is scary stuff people. It appears DHS has an agenda to define ‘true-blooded Americans’ as anyone who is in complete lock-step with their policies. Using Explorer Scouts as a recruitment source is a heinous and despicable act.
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POPS"Top 25 Five Censored News Stories" # # 22 CARE Rejects US Food Aid # # 23 FDA Complicit in Pushing Pharmaceutical Drugs # # 24 Japan Questions 9/11 and the Global War on Terror # # 25 Bush’s Real Problem with Eliot Spitzer
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POPS War Vets and the People Who Play Them But isn’t that the joke here? For the last thirty years, Hollywood has perpetuated the myth of the troubled vet - egged on by the cacklers on the coasts, nearly all of whom have never met a war vet in their life. To them, every dude in a uniform is Timothy McVeigh. The real truth is that, nearly all military dudes are delightfully decent and even mundane - far saner than you and me - and without a doubt much more fun than Napolitano - a person, who, as Governor Rendell once pointed out, doesn’t get out much. She probably just rents “The Road to Guantanamo” repeatedly off Netflix, while thinking of new words to describe terror that won`t hurt anyone`s feelings. And that`s what gets me. Right now we have an administration that cares more about the feelings of those who want to kill us, than those who want to protect us. I mean, if Janet were around in the 1940`s, we`d probably all be speaking Austrian.
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POPSFemale Vets Struggling to Get Treatment for PTSD The veteran's service organization Swords to Plowshares says female Iraq war vets are the fastest growing population of homeless. "There numbers in terms of homelessness is growing exponentially. There are very few services for them because homeless veterans services, VA services have grown up serving a male cliental," said Swords to Plowshares Amy Fair-Weather. These vets are hoping sharing their stories through pictures and books will help make the road to recovery easier for the women currently serving in Iraq.
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POPSAdmiral says war veterans will suffer for years The government better ante up on this and insure they take care of our Vets. This prediction from the Adm is nothing different from what our Vets faced in Vietnam. In both cases there was no reason to send our troops into harms way and it sounds like again our government is not going to help those who were sent there to fight. This is another example of the absurdity of how those in top power of the government use our military and just toss aside those who have erved their country. We all need to help these folks returning home.
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POPSNavy's Distinguished Public Service Award Granted to Traitor While serving as a Representative from Pennsylvania, Murtha called Marines from 3d Battalion, 1st Marines "cold blooded killers" who "murdered innocent civilians." Before an investigation into the Haditha incident was even conducted, Murtha went on numerous television news programs and announced that the Marines "went into houses and killed women and children." He said, "There's no question in my mind about what happened here. There was no gunfire, they killed four people in a taxi … 24 people were killed." When asked specifically if he claimed that innocent civilians were intentionally executed by Marines, he said, "That's exactly what happened." Not content to slander those Marines directly involved, he went on to claim that if these Marines were not punished, "other Marines would say well I'll do the same thing."
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POPSSoldiers left to fight the war within Again history is ignored. Those in charge know what the Vietnam Vets went through and the problems that were a result of the lack of attention. It can only be deliberate neglect which is a crime. Howard and his cronies are responsible for not fixing this situation after they committed to Iraq.
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POPSJobless Rate 11.2% For Iraq And Afghanistan Veterans "It's job security (in the Army), and I try to sell that all the time," he says. "You don't have to worry about getting laid off in the Army."- Apparently there is a significant increase in re-enlisting because of the jobless issue with vets. Something not quite right about the military using these figures to get them to re-enlist.
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POPS"I FACED THE ENEMY AND LIVED!" If Salon's publication of these photos helps the military reform its culture and more effectively aid traumatized Iraq War vets before they get suicidal, this family will have done a great service. As the ultimate act of humiliation, the military promised Pvt. Adam Lieberman's mother the charge of defacing government property would go away if she painted over his suicide note ... then they charged him anyway.
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POPS200,000 war veterans homeless in US Read my previous clip on how they are truly using us (ordinary people) to run their machine.. Even to the extent of fighting their lil wars then throwing us to the wayside.. The way its always been, back to the civil war it was "hey you poor whites workin in the cotton fields -- you're not going to let the blacks take your jobs are you!!?? Plus have their freedoms!" Get out there and fight for your rights while we sit back and drink tea!! You F'g idiots!!! Nothing has changed -- meanwhile they tell us love our vets -- we love our military -- hmmmm ... grrrrrr :(
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POPS'Lethal Warriors' in Iraq, linked to string of crimes back home
The Army was quick to downplay any link between what he and the other soldiers saw in Iraq and the allegations against them. "Anybody that does crimes of that nature, it goes deeper and farther back than anything in the U.S. Army," said Lt. Col. Brian Pearl, the 2-12's commanding officer. "Nothing here has trained them to do what they are charged with." Yet there is a larger story of those who fought with the 700-soldier unit: a string of alleged robberies, domestic violence and senseless murder. Six of the veterans are behind bars, implicated in four separate shooting incidents and five slayings since August 2007. The killings stretch from Colorado to an Orange County beach town, where a veteran of the company is accused of beating his girlfriend to death. In October, a soldier who served in Iraq with another Ft. Carson unit was charged with slitting a woman's throat and leaving her to die in the foothills near Colorado Springs, prompting U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) t
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POPSLast Neo-Con Hurrah I’m voting a big end-of-era drinkup for all of Dick Cheney’s hunting buddies; Last neo-con hurrah; Open-house for anyone who was never against the Iraq War after they were for it, or before they were for it again (”I Don’t Give A Damn About The WMD” or “I Heart Bush” t-shirt mandatory for admittance. Code Pink flashing protests encouraged but please no geriatrics this time; Wild bash for war-wounded vets, chandelier-swinging encouraged; “Free Arabs” dance party, all Arabs freed by Bush invited; “Loyal” Jirga for all Afghans who hate the Taliban; Al Qaeda Look-Alike Nite … show up as your favorite jihadi or just throw on a orange jumpsuit and a bag over your head.
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POPSUFC Fight For The Troops MMA gives back! Proceeds go to build a treatment center for vets. Worthy cause, badass battles. What more do you need? GO! Watch! DoNATE!!
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POPSMudville Gazette Dawn Patrol Milblog Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette' Dawn Patrol. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo or "main". Thanks for stopping by! I have only listed milblogs I know of that are deployed, if anyone knows one I have missed please leave a link in the comment so others may visit. And while your at it thank any veterans from past and present wars for their service. Here a few milblog vets that come to mind to start you off (sorry I cannot list them all but you can leave their link in the comment section as well so others can visit them). . . . . more Milblogs: Toby Nunn's Briefing Room JP at Milblogging.com Dadmanly The Sandgram Murdoc Online T-Bone's War Journal Jumping without a Parachute Military Consciousness
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