Thanks for the many comments. For those interested, my service was in special operations, training and commanding snipers in El Salvador, Panama, and the middle east and a few unmentionable locations. I am a survivor, having overcome alcoholism and PTSD and now work quietly, behind the scene's with organizations that provide support and service to both groups. I suppose it all boils down to a phrase I heard on TV that simply stated "courage is simple, you run toward the gun fire" .... and so it goes.
The last word I heard on CNN was 7 million copies, not including those electronic subscriptions over the net. Thanks to all for a stimulating conversation ...
Good advice there .... economic restrictions are what brought Japan to Pearl Harbor and those restrictions were not as great as what we have put upon Russia so the West needs to keep an eye on the old bear and not completely box them into a corner ... it might not play out to our benefit!
Thanks 123 but I am far from having done or know everything. I just was very lucky to have people in my early life that motivated me to go do everything I possibly could. I've fallen on my face plenty of times, but I keep getting back up. Maybe I'm too stupid to stay down? My favorite teacher, the one that taught me commercial photography told me "you'll never be able to pay me back and you shouldn't try ... all you owe me is to do the same for some young person" and I've been doing it ever since. Now they call it paying it forward; I always called it doing everything I could to help make it a better world. You'll never seen any statue's with my face, proclamations bearing my name, or anything else like that. I'm just content to know that in some small way, I made a little bit of a difference ... that's all I ever needed!
Thanks for your comments. I'm not suggesting that issues for veterans started with the VA and this administration in fact they are documented back to as the civil war when veterans had to personally go to see the Secretary of War in order to secure their benefits. In fact that is where the expression "cutting through all the red tape" came from since all the records were in boxes, bound with red tape that the Secretary and/or their staff had to cut through to get to the information.
The problem exists because consecutive administrations have found it necessary to do more and more to capture the attention of the American people, not unlike the administrations of most states and cities. Most likely our own fault because we are not satisfied with any governmental body that simply does a good job doing their job. We demand "more & better" to the point that simply conducting the people's business isn't enough.
The problem only gets fixed when they give the next Secretary the money and authority to fix it, regularly review his/her progress and set up a system of checks and balances that lean heavily upon input from the very men & women that are being served. As the old saying goes "things only get done right that the boss checks!"
Good to see the president of AOL on national television tonight withdrawing their changes to the 401K program and issuing an apology to the families of those high cost babies. Hopefully other corporate leaders in the US are paying attention!
Perspective, circumstance, time & Place are all important elements. As misguided as it may be, we occasionally lie to protect others from disappointment, pain, etc. Whether it's the proverbial "little white lie" or something more drastic, we may spin the truth to be more objective or give the desired reaction.
Truth has it's own level of drama which, sometimes causes us to lie to avoid it. There is no doubt that a person that lie's once can and probably will again and again, but it is only fair to ask ourselves the question "how did we cause or contribute to this?".
Not offering this as any kind of excuse but if you're going to deal with reality, do be sure to deal with all of it, not just that which is beneficial to your own state of being.
Your certainly not crazy. As we get older, relationships get more complicated, needs often take on a life of their own and frequently people lack the simple commitment to live up to their promises. A persons integrity is one of the few things that can't be taken away by others and you just learned an important lesson about this persons integrity or lack of.
"Meeting" people is only a very smart part of building a relationship. Sounds like you did all the right things, but it also sounds like you ran into one of those legendary "players" that just wanted to add you to a long list of conquests rather than add you as the most important element of his life. His loss, certainly not yours!
Very good points. I think the collection of correspondences between Jefferson, Adams, and Madison, most commonly known as the Jeffersonian Papers covers many of the thoughts concerning Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist positions during the writing of the constitution, but we tend to look at only the document and now at all the effort, debate, and compromise that went into it's creation .....
The H2 proess as an adative to combustion was first pioneered on a large scale by the Massy Fergison company with some of their tractors, but was never considered by the auto industry because of the relatively low cost of fuel. Now with their cross-investment's in the fuel industry, they would limit their profits by such a process.
I beg to differ on the concept that crude oil is considered self renewsing. The base material is destroyed by combustion so their is no actual renewal. About the closest we can come these days is nuclear, but to be truly self renewsing it would require coupleing with a breeder reactor so the passage from Fission to Fussion could be maintained in a constant loop. Since not yet perfected (in an unclassified version) it has yet to be fully realized. Cold fusion is a bit closer, but again, this one is also wrapped up in the classified umbrella and may not be seen by us in this lifetime. Geothermal, Hydro, and Solar are, therefore the next obvious and most probable choices, but each has their own particular requirements that limit them geographicly to most people.
Good to see an interresting topic on here other than dating "woes"!
injuneer Blog Comments (15)
Memorial Day
Thanks for the many comments. For those interested, my service was in special operations, training and commanding snipers in El Salvador, Panama, and the middle east and a few unmentionable locations. I am a survivor, having overcome alcoholism and PTSD and now work quietly, behind the scene's with organizations that provide support and service to both groups. I suppose it all boils down to a phrase I heard on TV that simply stated "courage is simple, you run toward the gun fire" .... and so it goes.