Independence Day is not just the day (or weekend) that Will Smith releases his new $200 million movie every year. It is the day we remember when our forefathers declared independence from England. They declared independence from tyranny. They decided they would not stand for being treated as less than human without a say. It is a day we remember those who said no to tyranny, and a day to remember those who have died to defend our freedoms. Yes there is Memorial Day and Veterans Day to remember our troops. However, on Independece Day, July the fourth, it is good to remember the Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Airmen who have fought, and those who have given their lives to preserve the freedom that was declared 232 years ago.
31 comments:
Happy 4th Nestor and crew!
Nestor -
> ... They declared independence from tyranny. ...
Religious tyranny. They didn't like that England was a church/state.
There Stan goes, rewriting history again. The pilgrims fled from England for religious freedom, the founding fathers didn't like the idea of taxation without representation and the infringement upon personal liberties, which had become oppressive. Kind of like our government telling us what kind of lightbulbs we are allowed to use.
Reck,
Happy 4th to you and yours as well. I had to work but it was the slowest night we've had in a long time. Which is good considering we are a trauma hospital. I hope you guys had a great day!
Glad to hear they took it easy on ya last nite.
We're headed to grandma's today for her nintey-second b-day bash/family reunion. She had hip surgery few days ago, but she's doin darn good.
Yall enjoy your weekend, and this rain!
What rain? Have a great time this weekend.
Reck Reviews...
...ABC Family's "The Secret Life Of An American Teenager" at TH.
Hope you had a good weekend, Nestor!
Nestor -
> There Stan goes, rewriting history again. ...
Straw man. Attack the real me, you're missing your target as-per-usual.
Sorry to hear yall didn't get the rain like we did. I need to get a new rain gauge, but if I had to guess I'd say we got over an inch ttl over the last week.
Hee hee..."rain gauge".
weather geek.
I think today we got about .01 inches of rain. But there are still some dark clouds so maybe we'll get some more.
Senator Obama - "A place that I’ve come to love, which I did not expect until this campaign, is Texas. I ended up loving Texas!"
So why exactly didn't he expect to love Texas. Maybe a built in bias..
I remember that political rat, Lanny Davis, speakin about Texas back when Al Gore was runnin for Prez. When asked about Bush's record as gov he stated," The record's not good. I mean, it's like a third world country down there."
Maybe Obama didn't see any of the: "I'm from Texas, what country are you from?" bumper stickers.
On a different note. Our family group went out to Zilker Park last night and they had a free 'Los Lonely Boys' concert. It was OK, but too many people for my liking, and I don't really know any of their songs. It was OK. I guess as good as you can get in a park. It made me question whether I really want to go to ACL fest though. We stayed for a little while, but tried to get some smoothies but that place was closed. We tried to get some gelato, but that place was closed too. We made it to Whole Foods just before they closed and got some ice cream. All in all a pretty good night.
I'd say concerts where you've never heard any a the songs before and grocery store ice cream is the perfect night :)
Lol!
Being at a concert when you're not familiar w/ the songs stinks. It's even frustrating when they play their "new stuff" you've not heard before and you sit thru it, waiting for the "good songs". (I'm usually a 'day late and a dollar short', so I've not yet heard the new stuff.) Still, it's the attempt that matters, Nes. I probly woulda poo pooed it, so good on ya.
I've taken more than one person, on different occasions, to Pat Metheny Group concerts and sat them down and told them like: "Ok, be prepared to be blown away." And they were. And they had never heard of Pat Metheny Group before.
Nest,
Have you had the time to begin the work on your book?
Speakin a which, I've finally made my way to Isaiah in the Big read.
Isaiah is awesome, and yes, I have started. It's mostly getting stuff down. Part of it is story telling and part of it is technical. I realized the story telling portion needs work, as that is not my strength with writing. I looked at the first few pages like whoa, where's the detail? Anyway, it's a work in progress. I'd like to have it done by the year's end. Sooner if possible. I have a friend who just finished a book on Revelation and it took him about 35 years. I'm hoping it doesn't take quite that long. Fortunately, what I'm writing isn't going to be that intricate.
Let me guess, Nestor. You're writing a dictionary???? ;-)
Actually, I'm hoping to get my Iraq medal bumped up to a Bronze Star. ;) If I fabricate enough, maybe even a Silver Star. Hey, if John Kerry can write his own award citation, why can't I? ;)
So how many wounds did you get compared to Kerry?
Unlike Kerry I actually got one. ;) But mine happened in Kuwait. A pretty severe burn. I wouldn't actually put that down for a purple heart though, as it was mostly due to sleep deprivation. We were washing vehicles to prep them to go back to the States, and my power washer ran out of gas. When I went to start it up, it wouldn't start. To get some leverage, I put my hand on it to get a better pull. (it had a pull cord like a lawnmower) I didn't think, "hey this has been running for 7 straight hours and it's 120 degrees outside, it might be hot." I burned my hand pretty badly. I should have used my boot for leverage instead.
Anyway, I wasn't talking about a purple heart. I was talking about a Bronze Star. They only gave out two awards over there unless it was for Valor, (or you had Stars on your shoulder) the Army Commendation Medal, and the Bronze Star. IMO, they should have had Army Achievement Medals (lower than ARCOM's), and Meritorious Service Medals (Higher than ARCOM's but lower than Bronze Stars) It would have given a better definition for what people really did over there. A number of people got ARCOM's who didn't deserve it, and there was also a number of people who got them who deserved more, but not necessarily a Bronze Star.
About Kerry, I don't really know whether he had true injuries or not, or whether he deserved any of the awards and medals he received and it doesn't really matter. His degrading of the troops has tarnished any military legacy he would have had.
Nestor -
> His (Kerry's supposed) degrading of the troops
Straw man. Attack the real Kerry, you're mising your target.
Kerry said that troops "are raiding houses, scaring women and children in the dead of night."(paraphrased) He did and still does degrade our troops. There's no straw man there.
Kerry's stating facts about the troops orders is not unfactual. Therefore, there's no straw man there.
Let me ask you a question, Nestor. If you got an order from a higher-up in the service, would you refuse to do it? Would you even question the legality of the order before you did it?
(ok, that was 2 questions. Sorry about that.)
Nestor, I understand your job. My dad couldn't get in the Army because he had a bad eye. So he hired on as with a contracter to help with the war (WWII) effort. What he did, was shipped out to the Aloucian(sp?) (between Alaska and Russia) Islands and helped to build the first (or only?) airstrip out there. What he did was he was a grease monkey. He lubed the bulldozers that built the strip.
I understand Y he didn't like the cold, and moved to Houston after the war. :-)
Stan,
If I were to get an order that was immoral, illegal or unethical now, I would not do it. I would address why I would not do it, and if detained, I'm sure by doing the right thing, I would be exonerated in the end. Back when it would have mattered, I was not a Christian, and I was more timid than I am now, so I don't know what I would have done.
In Iraq I did follow orders that I did not agree with. (though they were not illegal, immoral or unethical, they were just bad tactical decisions in my opinion) I bit my tongue (at least to the CO) and kept it to myself. I would give my arguments, but in the end followed the instructions. I did gripe a little, OK a lot to my squad leader, but I didn't really gripe to the CO. In the CO's defense, he did apologize to me later. He made a call in the heat of battle that he wished he could have taken back. In the end, everyone was OK, the equiptment was OK (well at least salvageable) and we all made it home without injury. (with the exception of a first or second degree burn at the hands of a powerwasher)
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