I've decided to put a video on here that Suzanne and I created today. Hope you enjoy it!

Yeah... Right

Jim Baranosky · 5 mutual friends

"There are conscientious objectors joining the military everyday where they've bold face lied that they will take orders from their superiors. This is a video of such 'veteran' objectors whose full intention was to bring discourse amongst the ranks and to propagandize their supposed new found disapproval of the war after 'serving their country'. War is war ... people are terrorized in the act of war"

 

I don't know if it's a sin to take comments written on my Facebook page, and reprint them on my blog, but I found the statement above to be included in a larger thought. This is where I write my larger thoughts. In fact; I often wonder how many people from Facebook also follow this blog, and stay quiet as to not shake up their own apple cart.

 

This quote came from a guy I knew from back in my high school days. I remember him as a quiet fellow, who worked hard on his academics, and was an average athlete. He asked me to be his Facebook friend about a year ago, and I figured "What the hell...". I had posted a video of Iraq/Afghanistan veterans who were talking about their experiences in  the Middle East. Real life soldiers who were upset and scarred by those experiences. It got me thinking...

 

It's not really about the 1% who control the majority of  wealth in our country. It's also about the other top 24% who make a lot of money, and hope to make a lot more that is at the crux of the problem. I'm not about to say Republican or Democrat... they are both to blame equally. These people have never seen a day of REAL struggle, but think they understand it. If they have seen struggle, it's so far behind them they don't remember it correctly.

 

Jim is not that far off from some other Americans. They also believe that conscientious objectors would willingly join the military. Wouldn't that make them something other than conscientious oblectors?? Maybe, agent provocateurs? You know, the kind of scum that infiltrate groups to sabotage them (uhm...uhm...). I also believe (contrary to this group of Americans) that "discourse" about what the hell you're doing is a good idea, rather than bad. Especially if you're in a war. The 24% probably see it as the oposite. Follow orders blindly with the hope it will get you somewhere. And yes, people are terrorized by the act of war, which seems to me to be the biggest reason for having them in the first place. "Shock and Awe" a people into submission. Then you can steal their resources, scott free.They seem to also believe that even though they never put on a military uniform, they have a right to poo poo soldiers who may be putting their own personal agendas at risk.

 

I'm done trying to educate the willingly ignorant 24+1 %. Go ahead; put your desire to be rich above all that is sacred and good. We'll see how that works down the road further.

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Job Responsibilities: Recruitment: Build a team of 15-50 mindless flunkies by recruiting from within the local and/or national community. Interview prospective staff, who lack the ability to ask questions or think independently, and make hiring decisions; Staff Management: Teach spin, lies, and most importantly, fundraising skills. Work with your minions in individual and group settings, with a particular eye towards keeping you in office at all costs. Cultivate a welcoming and motivating atmosphere; Canvassing: Canvass in the field as often as it takes to raise vast sums of money. Administration: Carefully track income and expenses, carefully using only one eye. Manage the budget for your office; cooking the books where possible. Process staff payroll, convincing staff they're making a living wage. Maintain falsified records for future organizing efforts.

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Thank You Billie D. Harris...

I realize that this story's been told already, but I want to share some thoughts about the content. I first saw it this morning on the Sunday morning CBS News Magazine, and once I stopped crying, decided it was important enough for me to do so.

There's a lot of heated debate going on in this country about the value of the military. Whenever it's discussed, inevitably soldiers are drawn into the conversation. Recently I asked a question regarding soldiers being paid for making films while still on "Active" status on my Facebook page. This turned into quite the argument, both for and against such a notion. I hope I can settle it here.

I believe that War Profiteers are behind the struggles we're involved in in the Mid East. I also believe that the US Government is complicit with these BILLIONAIRES in "feeding the machine" with US soldiers. For a large part, young men and women hoping to have their secondary education paid for by volunteering their necks and the necks of others. THERE IS A REASON WHY THERE ARE SO MANY SUICIDES among returning vets!

So... I refuse to be a part of lining the pockets of these billionaires by giving my approval of what the military's currently doing. It's wrong! Viet Nam was wrong! Our involvement in Cuba, El Savador, Panama, Somalia, Yemen, etc. was wrong! I believe the last time we were on the right side (slightly) of war was WWII. That was just before the Military Industrial Complex was fully established. There was some nobility in taking on the Nazis with our allies.

Now you have modern day politicians dealing with what remains of WWII. People so involved in keeping the current wars alive that the past wars mean nothing. The story below demonstrates my point succinctly...

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57448571/they-dont-forget-normandy-still-honors-american-wwii-pilots-sacrifice/?tag=exclsv

Rest In Peace Richard Luccetti

A friend of mine died recently. I know death is an important part of life, and everybody's gonna go sometime (including yours truly), I'm saddened by his death. His name was Richard Luccetti, and these are my memories of him...

Richard was a champion for children. I'm not so sure he was interested in advocating for wealthy kids as he was for low income children, but his main focus was justice for ALL children.

Richard was unafraid. he was far less interested in people's thoughts about him, than he was in doing the right thing for the people he cared about.

Richard was funny. He often mumbled when he spoke, and was prone to speaking different languages in the same sentence. That may have been so that he'd have an opportunity to repeat what he believed were important thoughts. he had many humorous stories that he liked to share with his inner circle of friends and colleagues.

Richard was smart. He seemed to know quite a bit about many topics. He had a great understanding of law and the legal system. He blew me away when I realized how well versed he was in civil rights and special education law he was.

Richard was warm. He was ALWAYS ready to lend a hand; often before he was even asked. He could be counted on to do what he said he woud do cheerfully.

Richard was my friend. Godbye dear friend.

The Story of Val

In the summer of 1987 I worked in a Hospice home with people who were dying of Aids. The requirement for living there was that they needed to have a diagnosis of 3 months or less. I would work 48 hours on and then have 48 hours off. It was a pretty difficult job, with lots of important tasks that needed to be done meticulously. The environment was kept sterile at all times.

Talk about a diverse group of people! There was a 30ish guy named Bruce (I believe) who was both bi-sexual and a junky. No one really knew how he contracted the virus. There was a 40ish woman named Pam, who got the virus from her husband, who was seeing prostitutes on a regular basis. One guy, (I can't remember his name) who only came out of his room to smoke cigarettes several times a day, and was severely depressed. And Val.

Val became my friend over the course of a few weeks. He was a black, gay man, who had spent most of his life in the South. He was older; in his 50's. He'd tell me stories of how he was treated as an "out" black man in the South. He'd served in the military in his 20's until he was caught having sex with an officer, and was given an Honorable Discharge. This really hurt him, as he was proud of his military service. Once out of the military, he decided to be out with his sexuality.

He boasted about living an extremely flamboyant lifestyle, and that wasn't hard to believe. He was warm, funny, loud, and smart. Not "book smart", but "world smart". He spoke of his adventures which eventually led him to Portland, where he discovered he was sick. He didn't know people here, and I became his only real friend in the area. He took to me quickly, and I could see the joy on his face when I would show up after my days off. 

After hearing his stories one day, I carelessly mentioned that he should write a book. He looked sadly at me, and reminded me that he wouldn't have time to write a book. That's when an idea popped into my head. I asked him if he'd like to get his stories on tape, and that I would write the book in honor of, and for him. He lit up like a Christmas tree over the idea!

That same day, I took hin to a dentist appointment to have some infected teeth pulled. Val was deathly afraid of the dentist, and only agreed to go if I went with him. On our way there I managed to keep him distracted of his fear by talking about our plan to get his adventures on tape. I would bring a tape recorder to work after my 2 days off, and interview him, as I now had a good idea what his stories were about. I sat with him in the room where the dentist pulled 2 teeth. It was a lot on his already compromised body, and by the time we left, I needed to help him back to the van.

Once we were back at the house, we got word that Bruce had left with a drug "friend", which everyone knew was a bad move. I left that day, with a sadness over Bruce's decision, but feeling good about getting to interview Val when I came back. My time off was anything but relaxing. I'd call the house every few hours to ask about Bruce and Val. The evening of my second day off, I received a call that Bruce had come back, but then died as a result of shooting heroin when he was gone. Val was doing only slightly better, due to the dental work.

The next morning I went back to the house early; ready to record whatever I could with Val. When I went inside I found that he had passed during the night. It was too late. I honestly can't remember what happened after that. I was so upset, and distraught, I  could only look at the empty beds and cry. I couldn't work there any more. After a long talk with the house manager, we agreed that it would be best for me to hang it up; which I did.