Fairfax County Comfort Women Memorial sparks Japanese protest

MoonHowler

comfort women

The new Comfort Memorial located in Fairfax near the Fairfax County Government Center has sparked a spate of protest from the Japanese Embassy.  the Embassy accuses Fairfax of trying to ignite bad feelings between Koreans and Japanese residents.  According to the Washington Post:

Anchored by butterfly-shaped benches, the new Comfort Women Memorial Peace Garden in Fairfax County honors women forced into prostitution by Japan during World War II — a chapter of the global conflict that has long fueled tensions between South Korea and Japan.
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Sen. Richard Burr incurs the wrath of vet groups

MoonHowler

Huffingtonpost.com:

Late Friday afternoon before the Memorial Day weekend, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) penned an “open letter to America’s Veterans” in which he took several veterans service groups to task for being insufficiently critical of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.

Burr accused the groups (with the exception of the American Legion) of being more invested in maintaining access to the secretary than with fixing a troubled health care system. He questioned why they haven’t called for a leadership change at the VA, and pointedly charged the groups’ leaders with not caring about the health and well-being of their members.
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Richard Martinez: a new voice demanding change

MoonHowler

Richard Martinez will not be silenced. It is very hard, as a parent, not to agree with this man. I think that is what many of us simply do not understand. After Sandy Hook, what more will it take to have some sort of gun reform and some sort of mental health reform? Just what WILL it take?

His rage, sorrow, tenacity and determination seem to be the perfect storm. I hope he is successful in capturing the ears and commitment of America. Tech wasn’t enough. Giffords wasn’t enough. Aurora wasn’t enough. Sandy Hook wasn’t enough. Just what IS enough?

Mr. Martinez’s anguish goes beyond grief.

Todd Kincannon: How nasty is nasty?

MoonHowler

kincannon

 

Quote from Colonel Morris “Moe” Davis on Facebook:

 

While the former Executive Director/General Counsel of the South Carolina Republican Party wishes that I had been killed while serving in the military, Memorial Days honor the Patriots who were.

Who is Todd Kincannon?  Kincannon is a blog/twitter troll who  is the chairman of the Simpsonville, South Carolina Election Commission. He currently resides in Simpsonville, SC.  (according to Wikipedia)   He is one of the bad boys that mainstream Republicans distance themselves from.

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A grieving father’s response

MoonHowler

Richard Martinez said:

Our family has a message for every parent out there: You don’t think it will happen to your child until it does. Why did Chris die? Chris died because of craven, irresponsible politicians and the NRA. They talk about gun rights, what about Chris’ right to live?

When will this insanity stop? When will enough people say: Stop this madness, we don’t have to live like this? Too many have died. We should say to ourselves — not one more.

We can feel Richard Martinez’s anguish.  However,  There is more to it than craven politicians and the NRA.  Is it time to put some limits on who can buy a gun?  Right now, pretty much anyone who is in the United States legally who has not been convicted of a felony can buy and own a gun.  Should there be more proof of sanity, for lack of a better word?  Should there be certification that the potential purchaser at least knows how to shoot the gun and to take proper care of it?  We do this for drivers.

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Capt. George Harris: Memorial Day 2014 Reflections

MoonHowler

flags in3

Each year, our Moonhowlings poet laureate, George Harris very kindly prepares his reflections for Memorial Day.  George entered the Navy during the Korean War at the tender age of 18.  He served in Vietnam as well.  Thank you for your service, Captain Harris, and for your reflections on this Memorial Day weekend, 2014.

MEMORIAL DAY 2014

Capt. George Harris

A few days after this Memorial Day, I will celebrate my 81st birthday.  And as I reflect back on the past eight decades, I find that our nation has been engaged in war for half of my lifetime.  In my lifetime I have seen or been involved in four wars:  World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the on-going war in Iraq and Afghanistan—a total of 40 years.

Since our beginning as a nation, our Armed Forces have been in something like 319 “Military Engagements”, including one war among ourselves.  Our Civil War resulted in the death of 625,000 Americans in a war that pitted fathers against sons and brothers against brothers.  Our second most costly war was World War II, which cost us 405,399 dead.  All these “engagements” have cost us something on the order of 275,000,000 lives lost and uncountable wounded whose lives were changed forever.  And this does not count those events where we only gave material or fiscal aid nor does it count operations by the CIA.

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Happy 26th Anniversary, Rolling Thunder!

MoonHowler

Rolling Thunder organized in 1989 to call national attention to still-missing Vietnam Vets who were MIA. From the Rolling Thunder website:

All are united in the cause to bring full accountability for the Prisoners Of War-Missing In Action (POW/MIA) of all wars, reminding the government, the media and the public by our watchwords: “We Will Not Forget.”

I plan to go hear them thunder over Memorial Bridge from the Pentagon into DC once again, until every MIA has been accounted for.

Is Mark Cuban the latest bigot?

MoonHowler

Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban has addressed what he terms his own bigotry.  Is he wrong?  Is he really a bigot?

 

Cuban has since apologized for referencing the hoodie. He apologized to the family of Trevon Martin. That was a nice gesture but I don’t think that Trevon Martin owns the hoodie. Millions of kids of all races where hoodies pulled up over their heads.

I respect Mark Cuban for addressing his own trigger points and for speaking out on what many people simply don’t feel like they can acknowledge.

VA firings? Not so fast!

MoonHowler

Washington Post editorial: (excerpt)

Mr. Obama rightly expressed his concern: “I will not stand for it. Not as commander in chief, but also not as an American. None of us should.” He promised that people would be held accountable for any wrongdoing and any deficiencies would be addressed. At the same time, the president properly cautioned that the facts still have yet to be determined; investigation by the VA into a number of facilities and a broader White House review are underway, with preliminary reports expected next week.

That the extent of wrongdoing is unclear doesn’t seem to matter much to those more interested in scoring political points. How else to explain the knee-jerk calls, mainly by Republicans in the House and Senate, for the ouster of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki or the ill-advised and punitive legislation aimed at VA workers?

Mr. Shinseki’s contributions include Army service that saw him losing part of his foot to a land mine in Vietnam and his success as secretary in reducing veteran homelessness and expanding services. But they apparently aren’t as important as the fact that his understated demeanor was derided by a late-night comedian. It’s beyond us to imagine how denying bonuses to VA employees would aid recruitment of the very professionals who might help reduce the backlogs that cause the delays in getting appointments.

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Gregg Jarrett: Ah how the mighty have fallen…..

MoonHowler

jarrett

Faux News anchor Gregg Jarrett has gotten himself in a little trouble in the fair city of Minneapolis.  It seems that there was a little alleged bar misbehavior, according the Washington Post:

 

Fox News anchor Gregg Jarrett was arrested at a bar in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport for refusing to cooperate with airport police who were called about an intoxicated man at the grill, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman Patrick Hogan told the newspaper that Jarrett was taken into custody about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Northern Lights Grill. Police said he seemed intoxicated, acted belligerent and refused to follow orders.

Jarrett, 59, was booked into Hennepin County Jail on a preliminary charge of obstructing the legal process by interfering with a peace officer, the Associated Press reported. His bond was set at $300.

According to Jarrett’s charge details, the reason for arrest was a tab charge. He posted bond and was released from custody early Thursday. His court date is June 6.

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Guns a’blazing at Chipotle

MoonHowler

Continuing…

Smart guns sound like a good idea, especially for a home where there are kids.

How on earth is a smart gun stripping anyone of their 2A rights? It doesn’t. The NRA is once again, full of it.

I would leave any establishment where assault weapons were visible.  Jon Stewart is correct.  We don’t know who the good guys are.

I assume that if there is an assault weapon present, I don’t want to be there.  Something is going down.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Patriotism over Partisanship

MoonHowler

marine barracks 2

Robert F. Kennedy posted the following piece in the Huffington Post  on May 19.  I reposted the opinion piece from his blog in its entirety because it spoke to a time that apparently is no longer with us; when patriotism was more important than partisanship.

 

My uncle, President John F. Kennedy’s Pulitzer Prize winning best-seller Profiles in Courage recounted the stories of courageous U.S. Senators — Republicans and Democrats — who chose patriotism over partisanship and sacrificed personal ambition to national welfare. The GOP’s recent efforts to gin up presidential scandals in punitive hearings, media lynchings, and weekly calls for impeachment, evince a party-wide pathology that puts partisanship over patriotism. For Republicans who believe that patriotism ends with lapel pins and cowboy costumes, it might be useful to consider some historical examples of true patriotism by a political party.

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Victory Lakes, PWCS: Tell the truth

MoonHowler

Bristow Beat:

The Prince William County Office of Planning and Boundaries has published two new attendance area recommendations that would move the Victory Lakes community into Brentsville District High School (BDHS).

The Victory Lakes Community in Bristow is currently zoned to attend Stonewall Jackson High School (SJHS) in Manassas, but the opening of the 12th high school makes room for students from that neighborhood to attend BDHS. As the proposed boundaries for the new high school moves students from the eastern portion of the BDHS attendance area out of BDHS, it makes room for Bristow students.

To alleviate some crowding at Patriot High School, the school division has already recommended that New Bristow Village along Route 28/Nokesville Road be rezoned to BDHS. The community of Victory Lakes along Sudley Manor Drive in Bristow has also expressed interest in having their students attend BDHS.

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Unapologetic Police Commissioner Calls the President of the United State the N word

Elena

Wolfeboro Police Commissioner Robert Copeland acknowledged using the slur in an email to fellow police commissioners this week.

“I believe I did use the ‘N’ word in reference to the current occupant of the Whitehouse,” Copeland said in the email. “For this, I do not apologize — he meets and exceeds my criteria for such.”

 

I thought racism didn’t exist anymore?  Isn’t that why we can roll back voting rights protections? I guess this guy didn’t get the memo.

The real story is not that Mitt Romney has publicly condemned him, any decent American would respond in like.  The real story is that maybe this country still has racism running through its veins.  Sometimes its blatant, and sometimes it’s just so ingrained we can’t see it.