Support The Troops Rally Coming UP!

I'm passing this on. EaglesUP West is organizing this.

There will be a SUPPORT THE TROOPS rally in Berkeley CA on March 22, 2008
Time: 9 - 5
Meet at: US Marine Officer Selection Office at 64 Shattuck Square - it’s a one way street and therefore will be on your left side.

For more info contact:
Doug Lyvere
PGR Regional Ride Captain
SgtMaj, Marine ret
www.patriotguard.org
www.eaglesup.us
west@eaglesup.us

Parking will be difficult, so if you can take the bus or the BART, you might avoid the crowds and a parking ticket.

Bring your signs, wear your t-shirts, and come with good spirit. You're there to support the troops. Expect a counter response, but as long as you all stay peaceful and law abiding, let them get arrested not you!

EaglesUP is requesting this as a "non-spend" zone, meaning if you want to buy stuff do it beforehand. I have loads of Pro-troop merchandise in my store.

Remember, none of us is pro-war. We see a need to support our military with honor and respect. We must continuously challenge the language and rhetoric coming from the Code Pink side, which has called them "killers," harking back to the 1960's. Please go to the comments section of a post I wrote about things reported in the Berkeley Daily Planet.

What We Need Is Passion

This month, we closed our Waitress Polly store. As agreed upon, it was a three month fund raiser for the NMFA, and we ended up not only raising hundreds of dollars by selling t-shirts to send kids to camp, but many others mailed their checks in directly. As stated before, none of the money ever came to us, but went directly from CafePress to the NMFA. The designs, and log in to the store are now the domain of the NMFA.

Ours is an example of a very small impact that helped cultivate an awareness of how important it is to support military kids, as frankly --when Mom or Dad serve, the whole family does as well. We did it with commitment and passion.

This past week, Stephen Colbert, talk Show host of the faux-political "The Colbert Report" has rasied $171,525.00 for the Yellow Ribbon Fund, which goes to help families travel to military hospitals to visit their injured soldiers.

As reported in The Washington Post, he did it buy selling silicone wrist bracelets that touted "Wrist Injury Awareness," a cause he came up with when he broke his wrist several months ago. His cast sold for 17k, and he talked everyone from NBC's Brian Williams to Katie Couric into wearing a Wrist Strong Bracelet.

I wanted to impart this information to you because I think over the next few years, there will be much that needs to be done for the men and women who are facing life-changing illnesses, injuries and mental health ailments. Our support for them can't waiver, or stop when someone like Colbert moves on. Rather, we need to use our creativity to find new ways to stay involved, to raise money and also to make sure our politicians don't do what they've done so often in the past --cut funding to military and also public health programs (which many might have to tap into someday).

So in order to do this, we need passion. Passion to spark the enthusiasm and commitment to do it, passion to follow through, passion to get others excited, passion to work through differences in order to reach a common good, and most of all, passion to sustain a long-term interest.

Think what you may of Stephen Colbert. He has exhibited the kind of passion that took a small incident (a broken wrist) and turned it around to involve many people and raise $171,525.00 for an organization that will help a lot of people.

So don't wait for me, and don't wait for Stephen to get the next thing going. Don't think you're going to get a slice of pie from me for posting anti-war stuff, or the other side: anti-anti-war stuff. Do something. Get involved. Reach out on a human level. Go beyond your comfort level. Don't get stuck behind your computer. Give to groups like the Yellow Ribbon Fund, the NMFA. Take some military kids whose parent is away in Iraq and see if they need help with homework.

Whether you have a fund raiser in your neighborhood, or go bigger, approach it with passion.

Merry Christmas, A Gift To Give

It has been quiet on this blog. Shortly after returning back from visiting my uncle for Thanksgiving, I got a new job. I drive about 4 hours a day, and with family obligations, my time for blogging is small.

The fund raiser is in its final month. We raised money and awareness for the people at the NMFA and their Operation Purple. People sent in money, as well as purchased things in the store. Thank you for your support.

I wanted to leave you with a note before Christmas about a gift each of us can give all year long.
It doesn't take much energy or time to give a kind word, encouragement, comfort, friendship, a word of thanks, and a smile to the children of soldiers who serve.
These kids live with the fear that something might happen to their parent. It's always in the back of their mind, and for all the resillience they show, their worries are real.

This autumn, my daughter was excited about some new girls at school. Quick to befriend newcomers, I asked her to describe them. "Their father is in Iraq," she said. She was quiet for awhile, then smiled. "And they make me laugh really hard!"

So as of late, our home is a second home to these two wonderful kids. He's a career soldier, and has served several tours in their lifetime around the world. But their parents marriage couldn't survive the absences and a myriad of other issues large and small. They divorced. Now Dad is in Iraq, and Mom is making ends meet by working in a high pressure job about 80 hours per week. She's also terribly depressed. It seems like they've moved a lot, the house is clean, but somewhat bare. Through the turmoil of their parents situations, the kids need friends --not just kids, but adults as well. The result? They love to come to our home. Even if it's after I get home from work and they just want to blow off steam for two or three hours before they go to bed. SURE, you'd better believe I'm wiped out after working all day, but no more than they are by sitting at home while their mother works, waiting...hoping.... that someone picks them up and takes them out for the day.

So while I can't provide all the solutions for the mother, I can welcome the kids into our lives. And really, it's not hard, and if there's one thing about military kids is that they are just super.

So if your son or daughter mentions that a kid at school has a parent at war, put aside any ill feelings you might have about the political situation. These are kids. Invite them to your home. Let them have a few precious hours where they aren't thinking about the difficulties at home, or worrying about their parent at war.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Blessings To You All

For the week

I'm taking off for a bit. Thanksgiving and all. I'm driving ten hours to have dinner with an uncle. He's a character --78 or 82, I can never remember, a veteran, can still tell a great joke.

I'll leave you with Bouhammer's recent posting on about his participation on a radio show on KQED.

Also, check out Writer Wordsmith at War, who scored with a gig in the New York Times.

There's also an article about the lack of mental health services for our young men and women. This is something that many of us have long known. Not only did we already have issues getting help to vets from past wars via the VA, we knew that there'd be big problems providing for the current ones in the system we have now. We must work to increase the military budget for healthcare. Read about it at Gun Toting Liberal. The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that even though a soldier might be covered under Tri-Care, many psychiatrists and psychologists don't contract with this provider.

And please, take a moment to go over to Anysoldier.com and put together a box of things to send to them. I've been doing this for about three years now, and always find that I receive so much more than I give.

Being Tried and Deservedly So

Hissyspit --who has no blog, nor email address, wrote a few posts back, accusing me of right wing propaganda because I pointed out that many members of Code Pink as well as peace activists have dredged up the language of hate. All of this has been documented in the very liberal Berkeley Daily Planet. My willingness to point this out has apparently upset a few folks on the left. But frankly, like I've said, "If you can't point out the faults of your own side, you've already lost." I found this out when I took on MoveOn. After I personally experienced their distortion of first amendment rights, I quit the Democratic party and became an independent. Most folks on the left can't understand my support for the military. I might disagree with politicians, with contractors with a lot of things, but I'd never take it out on soldiers. I have a long history of family members who've served and made careers in the military.

But as far as I'm concerned bullies aren't allowed on either side. Hence, this story.

Ex-Marine drill instructor guilty of abusing recruits

By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
1:57 PM PST, November 14, 2007

SAN DIEGO -- In the most serious case to hit the boot camp here in decades, former Marine drill instructor Sgt. Jerrod Glass was convicted by a military jury today of eight counts related to the abuse of recruits.

Jurors indicated, however, that they did not believe dozens of the allegations against him in which there was no witness besides the recruit making the allegation.

Glass, 25, who was accused of kicking, punching, slapping and ridiculing young recruits during training incidents at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego and Camp Pendleton, faces a maximum 9 ½ years in prison, as well as a possible dishonorable discharge. The same Marine jury of three officers and three senior staff noncommissioned officers will sentence him this afternoon. Both the verdict and the sentence will be reviewed by Brig. Gen. Angela Salinas, the commanding general of the recruit depot.

Glass stood ramrod straight as the sentence was read. His mother, Barbara, and father, Jerry, had tears in their eyes.

Mother and son had embraced just before the verdict was read. Immediately afterward, Glass' father, a retired sheriff's deputy from Arizona, patted his son on the shoulder.

Glass was an honor graduate of the drill instructor school. The abuses occurred during his first two months as a drill instructor.

Convictions like this one are rare. In the last three years at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, 44 drill instructors have been charged with misconduct toward recruits. Of the 44, only two prior to Glass went to court martial. Others were dealt with through an administrative process.

The jury deliberated eight hours over two days. Votes on the counts were not disclosed, but a two-thirds vote is required for a conviction.

Glass served as a Marine dog handler and had two tours in Iraq prior to becoming a drill instructor. During the trial, a dog handler who served with him testified that he followed the cardinal rule of dog handling: Never hit a dog.

Marine rules prohibit drill instructors from touching recruits except in specific situations, such as when they are showing them how to march or hold a rifle.

During the trial, even his defense attorney conceded that several incidents of abuse had occurred -- that Glass had hit a recruit over the head with a tent pole, punched a recruit in the face, hit another with a flashlight, and performed "hygiene stomps" in which he stomped on the hygiene kits of recruits.
______________

As a side note, this is the sort of story that the MSM carries on the front pages over what we've seen on Milblogging, which is a collection of blogs written by soldiers. Not to diminish the meting of justice, but it would be best to see more equal coverage in the MSM.

Obviously, Glass crossed the line with his own superiors. They're the ones who turned him in. The tragedy of this situation is that I'd guess this Marine has been struggling for a very long time with behavioral issues, cognitive and coping skills. I certainly hope he gets the psychological and even psychiatric help that he needs. I don't think he's a bad person, but I do think his impulsive streak that led to the use of both physical and verbal abuse is something that has to be addressed directly, quickly and consistently in a clinical setting.

Veteran's Day, Kansas City, MO

The language of hate is alive. I don't know who did this. I understand being impassioned, however you can be against the war, you can be against the politics, but to continue to use the language of hate and carry it to a physical level only means you are destroying yourself.

Love and respect is bigger than any damage you seek to inflict.

Something from Time Magazine
"...in the dark hours of Sunday morning by vandals who kicked down thousands of the flags and left behind a cardboard sign with a single word splattered in red spray paint: "MURDERERS."

"Anger is the force that destroys your virtuous qualities"
-The Dalai Lama in The Joy of Living and Dying in Peace

On This Veteran's Day

The Marlboro Marine is a photo essay and article written by LA Times Photojournalist Luis Sinco about the young marine that he photographed in Fallouja. As it turns out, while James Blake Miller was inadvertently made an icon for the war, he --as should be expected, was fallible and human. Suffering from PTSD, Miller has had a rough road since coming back home. It has included drinking, getting married and divorced, starting and quitting a PTSD counseling program and a suicide attempt. He even went to Washington DC to share with others his experiences with PTSD. While he was met by many congressional representatives, one experience hit him hard:

"DC was a slap in the face. I even had a congressman miss a meeting, and when I showed up at the office the assistant said he didn't have time to meet with a veteran. I didn't understand why a man with that type of job couldn't take five ten minutes out of his day to speak to someone who had fought for everything this country stands for."

I'm asking you to read and watch the article and photo essay. This is why we have to see beyond the hoopla of "Support our troops" and really demand more than chest thumping. There are issues, and I'll touch on two of them.

We need to challenge the language of groups like Code Pink, who have called soldiers "murderers." I understand passion, and I understand peace. I want both for the military. But it is inconsistent to consider yourself a messenger of peace and use violent and untruthful language. The decision of some of their followers to use it shows immaturity and that they're extremists who think nothing of humiliating and denigrating other human beings. We simply cannot tolerate the language of hate from one impassioned side against the other.

Or as the Dalai Lama has said:
"The practice of morality --guarding your three doors of body, speech, and mind from indulging in unwholesome activities --equips you with mindfulness and conscientiousness. These two factors help you avoid gross forms of negative, physical, and verbal actions, deeds that are destructive for both onself and others."

We also need to work beyond party politics and insist that our men, women and families get the very best of care after they leave the major Army and Navy medical centers and return home. There needs to be community hospitals that contract with TriWest to give them ongoing psychological and psychiatric treatment, orthopedic and neurological treatments, physical therapy and occupational training. I have asked the Chief of Surgery at a major medical center why civilian hospitals don't contract with TriWest --especially since our VA's cannot possibly handle the numbers they already have, and in many areas, there aren't any. He thought it was a great idea. I will try to meet with the CEO in the upcoming months to see if their IPA can't indeed serve more men, women & families by contracting as a TriWest provider. They already do this with programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. But this can only be done if others get as upset as I am, and look to solutions beyond what all politicians (regardless of party) just can't see, because that's not what they do.

Tomorrow we will commemorate Veteran's Day. If you want to do something beyond taking a few moments to give thanks, consider this: there are many James Blake Miller's coming back home to futures that are uncertain. Donate time, money or services to a local mental health clinic, and remember ---some of these men and women have families. The children need your attention. Volunteer at a school where there are military kids, offer to tutor, serve as a mentor showing compassion, patience and kindness. If there's a Boys & Girls club, get involved.

There are many aspects to the words "support our troops." If you have supported my fund raiser for the NMFA, I thank you. If you have not, please consider writing them a BIG FAT CHECK to send kids to camp, or stop by my store Waitress Polly where all the profits go to the NMFA.

I'd also like to send out a big hello to Josh Morgan of a new startup company called Intense Debate and let him know how very proud I am of him for all that he is doing. Vets like him should make all of us proud and grateful to have young men like him to achieve so much. Thank you for serving, Josh. I hope your trip to BlogWorld Expo was a success.

How Waitress Polly Feels

...about the turning over of shopkeeper information so quickly to mammoth powerhouse groups like MoveOn.Org

Yahoo execs defend company 's role in arrest of Chinese journalist

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From the Associated Press
11:38 AM PST, November 6, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Two top Yahoo Inc. officials today defended their company's role in the jailing of a Chinese journalist but ran into withering criticism from lawmakers who accused them of complicity with an oppressive communist regime.

"While technologically and financially you are giants, morally you are pygmies," House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos, D-Calif., said angrily after hearing from the two Yahoo executives.

He angrily urged Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang and General Counsel Michael Callahan to apologize to journalist Shi Tao's mother, who was sitting directly behind them.

Shi Tao was sent to jail for 10 years for engaging in pro-democracy efforts deemed subversive after Yahoo turned over information about his online activities requested by Chinese authorities.

Yang and Callahan turned around from the witness table and bowed from their seats to Shi's mother, Gao Qinsheng, who bowed in return and then began to weep.

Yang contended that Yahoo "has been open and forthcoming with this committee at every step of this investigative process" -- a contention Lantos and other committee members rejected.

The committee is investigating statements Callahan made at a congressional hearing early last year.

Callahan said at the time that the Sunnyvale, Calif., Internet giant had no information about the nature of the Chinese government's investigation of Shi when the company turned over information about him.

Callahan has since acknowledged that Yahoo officials had received a subpoena-like document that made reference to suspected "illegal provision of state secrets" -- a common charge against political dissidents.

Last week Callahan issued a statement saying that he learned the details of the document months after his February 2006 testimony, and that he regretted not alerting the committee to it once he knew about it.

He reiterated that regret Tuesday and contended that Yahoo employees in China had little choice but to comply with the government's demands.

"I cannot ask our local employees to resist lawful demands and put their own freedom at risk, even if, in my personal view, the local laws are overbroad," Callahan said.

Lantos rejected that argument.

"I do not believe that America's best and brightest companies should be playing integral roles in China's notorious and brutal political repression apparatus," he said.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., compared Yahoo's cooperation with the Chinese governnment to companies that cooperated with Nazi Germany during World War II.

Lawmakers demanded to know what Yahoo would do to help Shi's family and reacted with derision when neither Yang nor Callahan provided a concrete answer.

Callahan also couldn't say whether there were outstanding demands for information from the Chinese government to Yahoo, or whether Yahoo would react the same today to a demand for information from the Chinese government as it did several years ago when the authorities wanted information about Shi.

In 2005 Yahoo bought a 40 percent stake in China's biggest online commerce firm, Alibaba.com, which has taken over running Yahoo's mainland China operations. Callahan said it was up to Alibaba officials how to respond to the Chinese government's demands.

Smith dismissed that explanation as "plausible deniability."

Callahan did say that in going into future markets such as Vietnam, Yahoo would aim to find a way to avoid turning over information to the government on citizens' on-line activities.

"I would hope to have a structure in place ... that we would be able to resist those demands or have that data not be accessible," he said.

Human rights and free-speech advocates have lambasted U.S. companies including Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. for helping the Chinese government stifle the flow of ideas in exchange for greater access to the country's rapidly growing Internet market. But the convictions of Shi and another Chinese journalist Yahoo provided information about have focused the most strident criticism on Yahoo.