INCOME EQUALITY

A couple of nights ago, NPR (National Public Radio) profiled a youngster in Washington DC who is the valedictorian of her class, Anacostia High. She is homeless. My wife went to Anacostia High.  

This youngster is an example of why "income inequity" is a crucial issue. Here's a rhetorical question. How many of us are moved/inspired by this story enough to get financially involved? I venture to say that most of the NPR audience would be more likely to help than most.  Those who have the big bucks probably wouldn't do s..t. 

My wife tells me, "wake up and smell the roses," greed is what drives the super rich, many of whom made enough money in the stock market yesterday to fund this homeless youngster through her entire college years. 

In a real sense, our philosophy is simply f..ked. F..ked being the strongest anachronism for the moral ineptitude of most  "Mericans."

"Of my father's children, I love myself the best. If the Lord provides for me, the devil take the rest." 

SCAM

"Mericans" are the most generous people on the planet, let's face it. The Sunday NYT had a story about how orphanes in Cambodia are using kids, many who have parents, to vigorously tug the heart strings of wealthy individuals. In other words, suckering the donors. 

I thought of my Army experience in Korea with orphanges. (We still have 40,000 troops in Korea). The soldiers invariably get involved with orphanages. And, not a bad thing. These orphans are not "orphans" in the strict sense but a cultural thing. Koreans don't believe in promiscuity. Oh yeah! Guess what? It exists in Korea. The female, sans husband, is hidden away; D day and then the baby, at some point is taken to some public place and abandoned, in a responsible way--very organized and never discussed. (Koreans, that I love, wrote the book on denial). The police come, get the baby, take it to a baby orphanage. "Mericans" in the military get involved. I sponsored a six year old. I would get him from the orphanage, take him to the American Camp and let him spend the day: good eats, a present. A feel good thing. I had to teach my little troop how to use an indoor bathroom. I demonstrated. He got it. 

STUPIDITY PERSONIFIED

Honest Abe is reported to have said, "I am not bound to win but I am bound to be true. I will stand with any man when he is right. Stand with him while he is right and depart from him when he goes wrong." I have been a big supporter of the President but if we are stupid about Iraq, I will have to depart from him. The very fact that he is uttering thoughts of intervening is beyond the pale. 

Intervening in Syria was a much better option. But, Iraq, a country that threw us out! Give me a break! Based on the present government, their absolute impotency; and an army that has alienated the people and deserts in the face of armed opposition, what the hell are we thinking. The Mideast is a caldron of confusion and we need to stay the f..k out of it. We have to take responsibility for many things--failure to have a "crystal ball" for one. But, allowing the NEOCONS to lead George W into the Iraq morass is almost unforgivable. Let's face it, for who they were and especially with hindsight, the Iraqis were doing fine with Saddam. 

I don't remember all the players and don't have the emotional energy to call up their mistakes. But, the first one was the General who was suppose to administer the peace. Then there was Paul Bremer. I don't want to give him the benefit of the doubt. Here is where we begin with the idea that we could screw up a two car funeral possession. Bremer was either incompetent or stupid as he singlehandedly dissolved the Iraq Army. 

What happens is what often happens is not only lack of commo but a bunch of civilians sitting around pontificating like war is some sort of f..king chess game. Colin Powell in particular should have known better. Originally, they were going to dismantle just the Republican Guard and keep the Iraqi Security Forces but in former SecDef McNamara's words, in the Fog of War, it all got f..ked up.  

We came in under an umbrella of stupidity--weapons of mass destruction being the major one. With the Army disbanded, along with the institutions of the country, there was no way of insuring the peace. Attempting to impose an American type democracy was like dropping a turd in the punch bowl. We f..k up. 

But, in our own way, we tried to rectify things and gloss over the mess we created by throwing money at it. We pumped billions of dollars into reconstruction in trying to create a democracy, even in the mist of corruption. It didn't work and then a wonderful thing happened, they threw us out. And, now, even hearing the president utter these words of possible "options." What in the f..k is he thinking? 

INCOME INEQUALITY

A couple of nights ago, NPR (National Public Radio) profiled a youngster in Washington DC who is the valedictorian of her class, Anacostia High. She is homeless. My wife went to Anacostia High.  

This youngster is an example of why "income inequity" crucial issue. Here's a rhetorical question. How many of us are moved/inspired by this story enough to get financially involved? I venture to say that most of the NPR audience would be more likely to help than most.  Those who have the big bucks probably wouldn't do s..t. 

My wife tells me, "wake up and smell the roses," greed is what drives the super rich, many of whom made enough money in the stock market yesterday to fund this homeless youngster through her entire college years. 

In a real sense, our philosophy is simply f..ked. F..ked being the strongest anachronism for the moral ineptitude of most  "Mericans."

"Of my father's children, I love myself the best. If the Lord provides for me, the devil take the rest." 

HILLARY

I just listened to an interview with Hillary Clinton about her book, "Hard Choices". None of these people ever admit they f..ked up. Every situation is told from their perspective which is more fiction than anything. What galls me is that scores of "Mericans" will buy her book and reinforce the fiction. 

POW or DESERTER

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the last known American POW, was freed after five years in captivity — an ordeal that began and ended in Afghanistan under a shroud of mystery."

The shroud of mystery becomes pretty clear once you read the exchanged emails between the soldier and his dad. In the weeks before he walked away into the shadows, he was becoming more and more disillusioned. Going AWOL in the Afghanistan environment would have to be some kind of dumb move. It is not like an experience I had in Germany with a LT who had orders for Vietnam. I had just come back and he was quizzing me. He left my office, got into his MGB and went to Sweden. Afghanistan ain't Sweden. 

There are so many issues surrounding this soldier. His email messages are crucial as examples of the type of wars we've been fighting and what role social media plays in them--crazy. Us Vietnam vets can't conceive of being in a firefight at war and it is over, "have to email home." What the heck is this! 

Unbelievable. Think about it: a lonely, disillusioned emotionally unsophisticated soldier in the wilderness of Afghanistan emailing his Dad these views of what is going on. At best the emails are a distraction and at worse, they often destroy morale or create disillusionment like that of Bergdahl. Bergdahl appears to have brought with him ideas that are wacky (at least to me) and at the same type, "Alice in Wonderland," wakes up in a new world every morning. 

I've read the Rolling Stone article. Good writing but with RS, always an angle. A Rolling Stone reporter did in General McChrystal. And, who knows about that. My Gen. Chrystal conspiracy theory is that he outsmarted the reporter. McChrystal knew that Afghanistan was a "fast train to nowhere" and this was a chance to escape. How best to do it, criticize the commander. 

In order to really get it, you have to understand the mindset of soldiers. It is a herd mentality and one that is geared, under almost any circumstance, to bitch and piss and moan as we call it, about their leaders. Look at Bergdahl's emails, putting the bad mouth on "Merica's" approach to the war. (This guy is a private, in military parlance, he is only allowed to breathe, not think).

"I am sorry for everything here," Bergdahl told his parents. "These people need help, yet what they get is the most conceited country in the world telling them that they are nothing and that they are stupid, that they have no idea how to live."

 Is this true? Probably, but, his "perception" (a person's perception is his reality but does not mean it is accurate) of what is. (Tom, you are the first one I heard this from). He then referred to what may have been a possible traumatic event: (RS) seeing an Afghan child run over by an American vehicle. "We don't even care when we hear each other talk about running their children down in the dirt streets with our armored trucks... We make fun of them in front of their faces, and laugh at them for not understanding we are insulting them."  

According to Rolling Stone, he concluded his e-mail with what, in another context, might read as a suicide note. "I am sorry for everything, the horror that is America is disgusting." Then he signed off with a final message to his mother and father. "There are a few more boxes coming to you guys...feel free to open them, and use them."

Bob Bergdahl responded to his son's final message not long after he received it. His subject line was titled: OBEY YOUR CONSCIENCE!

"Dear Bowe," he wrote. "In matters of life and death, and especially at war, it is never safe to ignore ones' conscience. Ethics demands obedience to our conscience. It is best to also have a systematic oral defense of what our conscience demands. Stand with like minded men when possible." He signed it simply "dad."

His dad is also culpable in my opinion. Knowing his son, this is not the message to give hIs son in the wiles of Afghanistan. He gave his son permission to go AWOL. (Absent Without Leave). 

We too are at fault. It is a sorry war and we have put our soldiers in impossible situations. Did the president do the right thing in getting Bergdahl home? I think so but now Bergdahl has to face the consequences of his actions. I feel sorry all the way around. There are no winners here. We could learn valuable lessons but I doubt we will. 

SLEEP

At war, sleep is always a premium. In Nam, we could go days and seemingly never sleep. You get to a point where you would almost do anything to get a little shut eye. Here's a good sleep story. It was raining and a bunch of us went into this little hut. It was probably two in the morning. The rain was coming down in sheets. I lay down on some straw along with some other guys. Just to get a few minutes would be like heaven. It seems we hadn't slept in days. Fast asleep and instinctantly I woke up. A rat was sitting on my stomach. A rat as big as a cat. If I moved, I could count on a bite and rabies. I was absolutely petrified. Finally the rat moved off. Forget sleep. If I have told war story before slap me. 

TRAGIC

The Santa Barbara thing is so tragic. In my view we are not off the hook. People should have recognized early on that he was crazy. The sexual thing, his sense of rejection, is interesting. 

He is not an attractive guy but there was somebody out there for him. Somebody like me should have grabbed him and slapped the shit out of him. There are many ways to shape him up. One article I read said, "sexually repressed;" everybody in the Muslim world is that. Here is a guy that those like myself should have been on top of it. F..k, in San Francisco, he could get laid for free, could have paid a few bucks, gotten a massage. I would have kicked his ass. I failed. This is being a little facetious but every time something happens like this, I always think there is a moment in time. Dang. 

POW

“I wouldn’t want to do it again but it was part of the experience of my life. Life is sort of an adventure. Sometimes the adventure gets out of hand”

Robert J. Flynn, shot down during the Vietnam war. He spent most of his time in solitary confinement. He retired as a Commander in the Navy. This a LTC. If he had been in the Army, he would have retired as a general. The Marines would have nominated him for Sainthood. Rightly so. What the f..k is wrong with the Navy. Plus, the damn inequity of it all. And, this isn’t to take away from these kids in the sorry ass wars of Iraq and Afghanistan who received the “Medal of Honor.” Commander Flynn should have gotten the Medal of Honor. What he got was what any military type will tell you: “I also served” medals. This p…sses me off to the max. What the f..k is wrong with those Navy weenies. I want to personally apologize to his wife and family.

Pics

EXPERIENCE

Yesterday, I am hanging out at one of  my favorite Coffee Houses (this is the literal name. It has big, great chairs, sofas), the place is mostly empty, very early. I am smiling because of a trite incident but weird. I am getting my coffee after paying and ordering an Elvis bagel (peanut butter, honey, and banana)." This female walks in the door,  off the street with her own coffee cup, puts cream in her coffee and walks out like she thinks this is some sort of community coffee house where you don't have to pay. What the hell is this? I am smiling. 

I sit in one of the big sofas so I can watch the street, busy, very comforting. This lady who honestly looks like you would think a "bag lady" (homeless) comes and sits down across from me. There is this entire place where she could have chosen. She is layered. Clothes on top of clothes. This is Frisco. (Using Frisco as I have just discovered that we were led down the primrose path by SF Chronicle, Columnist, Herb Cain. I never liked him anyway and as my Priest buddy, Ed Kristoff use to say, "he was a gossip."
Anyway, Frisco was the original name). 

I think, "What the hay," I should at least spring for coffee for the woman," although she is not asking for anything. This is an aside but relevant I think. 
If you live in a big city and confront the homeless regularly, you learn tricks: Ignore them, never stop and talk, don't engage. I usually don't pay any attention to these ideas, it is kind of the culture to me and I think, "how best to deal with it." I often fork over a buck or so, to most. I've heard all the arguments, "if you give them money, it encourages. I don't give a s..t. It is worth something maybe for the indignity of having to beg, pander? What the flying fig as my dad would say! 

Some have great scams. "Can you  spare a quarter?" Give me a break, he/she doesn't plan to stop at a quarter. If you give it to him, he knows he has potential for more. I like the guys who are selling the "Street Sheet." It is a small newspaper about homeless issues. Here's an exchange of last week. "OK, give me one of those Street Sheets." 
"Man, you are the best," as I hand him a dollar. He looks to be about 60, thin, very articulate, "Man, I can use some help. I would love a burger. I haven't eaten all day." 
"How much are we talking about?" 
"Oh five bucks." 
"What!" 
"Well, you know things are expensive. However you can help."
I laugh. He has me. "OK." 
"Man, one more dollar will get me a burger and a drink." 
What the hell, I am already into him for $5. LOL. I have been scammed and I know it. A few weeks ago at the ballpark while I am waiting for a friend, this guy kept talking to me and before I know it, he has me for $20. I love the signs. The best one I've seen lately is, "Please help? My family has been abducted by aliens." He got a buck from me for originality. 

The layered look, possibly bag lady/homeless opens up this gigantic satchel. She takes out all these artist supplies and before my eyes draws this really beautiful colored piece of art. Elvis bagel finished, I decide to risk commenting. "Beautiful drawing. Do you ever sell your art?" 
"Yes." 
How much for this piece?" 
"20." 
"I'll take it." 
"Really" 
"Yes." 
"I want to autograph." 
Here is where I think we might be dealing with something. She autographed, put her address on the back. Turned it over. Wrote her name again. Addressed, repeated the same info. I finally said, "I have to go." 
She gave up her art. I handed her $20. Then gave her a $5 for coffee. The money is insignificant, the experience was priceless.  

BASEBALL

There is a voice over in the movie, “Bull Durham,” where Susan Sarandon says something like, “Baseball is America’s game.” So true, Where else in America that we know where you can have an African American 12 year old sing the National Anthem; and, at some point, 40 thousand plus people enthusiastically join in on, “God Bless America.” It is a great time. 

Looking out on the crowd, it is the United Nations: black, white, Asian, Filipinos, Chinese, Koreans; well, you get my point. America’s game. An absolute sampling of a cross section of our great country. 

Such fun. Ballgame is kind of hard for talking, normal sorts of things, etc,—you have the game. There are acres of kids with their team jackets, their baseball gloves, ready to catch that errant baseball. 

Baseball is for kissing somebody you love, for touching, hugging: the excitement, up and down. It’s for yelling, eating, drinking, talking to strangers. It is what baseball is about. It is the “American game.” 

Go “Giants” but it could be with any American team. Maybe it is the reason that we try to preserve the integrity of the game. I don’t know, but, baseball is America’s game I do know.

Shut The F..K UP

Everybody has weighed in on "Racist Sterling." I haven't mainly because I didn't know what to say. Sterling is a f..king idiot any way you look at it. 

There are idiots and then there are idiots. The President had it right. "When you are listening to an ignorant racist, whatever, just let them keep talking." Such assholes. It is intriguing for many reasons. Yes we know he is a racist. He is blindly jeolous. He's 80 Years old and should be home looking after his grandchildren. What fries my ass constantly is the fact these sorry MFers have money. It galls the f..K out of me. I've listened to the debate. Everybody has done their thing, let's move on. 

Everybody has weighed in. Sterling is a first class racist, stripped of involvement in NBA. Who knows, he is old guy and going to "hit the road soon." How is God going to deal with this sorry f..ker. 

Part of his problem is that he is
hanging around with these young "fillys" amd eventuallu he'll pop tpo much Viagra will kill him anyway. He looks exhausted, if you get my drift. I am not a basketball fan so stripping Sterling and never forget the f..k is in a long line of racists. 

We have never dealt with race in the country and I don't think we can, really. In a country like ours, so diverse as a rule. It is just what it is. We have to see people as people. Here is another example: I've been following the Jill Abramson firing at the "NY Times." I think we might as well add gender to the area of "let's lay off." Let us white boys shut the f..k up. 

The VA

The VA does as well as it can, I believe. My experience has always been good. The San Francisco VA will rival any HMO in America, hands down. I am no spokesman for the VA or anybody for that matter. 

My initial experience wasn't great mainly because of the entrenched civilians who were the admin. Ten years later, I decided to try again and as my wife says, I just love to smell the soldiers. True, there simply is an affinity with those who have shared experiences. VA has improved. And, most of the docs (in Frisco) are from UCSF (University of Californis, San Francisco) which is the med school. A vet goes to the doc. Intern sees him. Asks a bunch of questions, tells him he thinks this. Goes out, gets his supervisor who comes in. Asks a bunch of questions. Makes diagnosis. Decides on treatment. This is top notch. Doesn't get any better. 

Is the scandal in AZ a big problem, waiting on appointments and in some cases while waiting, the Vet dies. Pretty sad and complicated and is more intricate than a TV sound bite. It wouldn't happen in San Fran, I assure you. And, shouldn't anywhere. Shinseki's fault? No. Let's give him  slack. I became a fan when Shinseki was the only general who raised questions before our stupidity in Iraq. That alone is enough to give him bigtime slack. 

TOBACCO

I usually don't forward things, leave that to Winnie Ruth. But, because this is our history, very interesting post about tobacco. When we were growing up, nobody thought about age of kids working, just if they could do it. 

I started cropping (we didn't call it picking as the article did) tobacco at age nine. I can't think of another single person in our class involved with tobacco but me. Right/wrong? What struck me about this article and video was the fact that I got sick everyday I was cropping tobacco. What I thought then as a youngster was that because I had to deal with the dew, leaves getting in my mouth, made me sick and throwing up. According to this article, it was probably nicotine poisoning. Amazing. Dang. 

Every small farmer had a small patch of tobacco. It was an allotment, set by some mysterious entity. I think it had to do with how big our farm was.

The strange thing is that usually we had five croppers. I was on the outside and as I got older, I was one of the fastest ones. I was next to what we called the "drag" row. A mule pulled a sled and the croppers laid the tobacco in the drag to go to the barn to be tied and ready for curing. Do any of you know all this. Well, interesting. 

I have always been a friend of tobacco. When I have been in situations here in California where "health nuts" have put the "bad mouth" on smoking, my usual response is that I can't ever criticize those who smoke as when I was growing up on a tobacco farm in NC, tobacco put food on the table. Most of the time, if anybody is paying any attention they give me the" nobody is home look." Anyway, here is video.  

http://npr.tumblr.com/post/85719670546/kids-under-18-cant-buy-cigarettes-in-the-

God bless and as the NASCAR guys say, God bless, "Merica."

OUR F..K UPS IN IRAQ

Election Day in Iraq. I can remember last election. It was pretty inspiring. Those "purple fingers". I  thought, "Wow, this might actually work." Bullshit. Looking at it now, I am thinking, "we could screw up a two car funeral procession." In Iraq, there is no decision that we've made that was not f..ked up. None. Doing away with the Iraqi military, the Ba'ath Party which was what little institution existed, are only two of scores of our idiocy. (Getting Saddam surely didn't give us any great sense of "mission accomplished).Then supporting Maliki. A crazy f..k up, any way you look at it. Honestly to think that Maliki would be inclusive and not be involved in major payback is stupid beyond means. 

I listened to Terry Gross interview Dexter Filkins about his article in The New Yorker. "What We Left Behind?"

I read it. Great/terrific. Like reading an "between the lines" history of our "fuck ups" in Iraq. (My words, not his). Very interesting which echoes  most of my own beliefs with one exception: Filkins bought into the absurdity of somebody, that we should have left troops in Iraq. Bullshit. What, in my view is crazy: we spent billions, maybe trillions of dollars, lost thousands of young Americans and for absolutely nothing. Young Americans who were fathers or mothers or could have been--sons, daughters, sweethearts. This is not some trivial cost of war that we are sacrificing: young lives for a government that wouldn't know democracy if it ran over them. Iraq is worst off than ever. The best thing that could possibly have happened to us is to get thrown out. Thank you Lord. Those who were the decision makers and have written books justifying their actions have to live with their stupidity. But, we don't have to accept their self serving, "Alice in Wonderland" perspective. We f..Ked up and we are going to be living with it in one way or another for a long time to come. 

DEATH

NOBODY DIES UNLESS THEY ARE FORGOTTEN

Recently someone asked me if I believed in heaven. Absolutely. Why they said with no evidence? I allowed how it all had to do with faith. Then we ventured into a discussion of death. (Very delicate as this person was in a life and death struggle) 

The sad thing about death is that it is so final in this life. No longer are you able to pick up the phone and call, send an email, Final/FINAL! Someone  comes for treatment. They come week after week and then one day they don't. They are gone as to this life. 

Sad and it is life. What happens then, at least for me, I begin to think, not so much in sadness but how can I keep this person that I cared deeply about; how can I keep their memory alive. For instance, my really good friend in the Army for years was this chaplain called Hal Alexander. I've learned a Filipino word, mahal KO. Loosely translated, I love you. I am constantly saying I love you. Often, I say mahal KO, at least to myself and think of Hal and am so grateful that I know this phrase. It serves the purpose of me remembering my friend. "Nobody dies unless they are forgotten." 

TIME TO GO

TIME TO GO

The tragic shooting of an American doctor and two other Americans in Afghanistan by an Afghan who was suppose to be protecting them is sad beyond belief. Who knows the motives of the shooter. A zealot who thinks that if he kills Americans, somehow he will gain status with God, the Taliban. Who the hell knows. The doc, a physician dedicated to helping the people of Afghanistan: training docs, women and children's health. 

I don't know him. We know only about him, I am sure that his memory will live on and some courageous person will take his place. 

I heard the statement read my his wife, incredibly inspiring and obviously trumpeting the voice of her husband. In heaven, there has to be a special place for Dr Jerry. God bless him and the work he was doing. God bless his family, all those people he loved and helped. What a loss for them! 

There is a sobering realization in the Doc's death. Do we want to continue to be present in Afghanistan. I don't think so. Dr Jerry and those who follow him are civilians and can make their own choices. However, I think it is time for the military to leave. We can't right Afghanistan. The Russians failed while being brutal. We have tried it by attempting to impose our brand of democracy. In some pockets, we may have made some progress but too many obstacles and this shooter sadly is a perfect and deadly example. There is only more to follow. Time to go. Will we? F..K No. What we know better than anything else is how to be stupid.  

BASEBALL

God is in his heavens, baseball is back and all is right with the world. There is something about baseball that is indescribable. My favorite baseball movie is "Bull Durham." Maybe partly because it calls to mind my home state. Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon fit. The movie is about the love of baseball, the strategy, the philosophy. 

Annie Savoy, Sarandon's character, spouts Walt Whitman. Whether he said it or not doesn't make any difference to me, I love it and believe it. She said, "Whitman once said, 'I see great things in baseball. It's our game, the American game. It will repair our losses and be a blessing.' "  All my favorite people in the world love baseball. Thank you Lord. Baseball is back. ⚾⚾⚾⚾⚾⚾⚾

Afghanistan and Vietnam

When Vietnam fell and war weary "Mericans"  realized that all this money, time and more importantly, lives had been for nothing, they had "hard hearts." Then came the first Vietnamese refugees. Most of us were braced for more of the same. We definitely had "hard hearts." Then we saw those little Vietnamese kids file off those buses. Our hearts melted. Now, we are experiencing the same thing. Our hearts are melting watching Afghans vote. What an incredible display of democracy. When we have 40% voting in our own country, here are these people under threat of death, determined to vote. 

I have been ambivalent about our continuing role in Afghanistan. My thought has been, "if we stayed a hundred years, we couldn't make a difference." Now, I don't know. Maybe. They deserve a chance and if we are it, we have to do it. F..K.