“Dear Wizard of Oz,
The scarecrow had no brains, tin man had no heart, lion was a coward, and the wizard was a liar.
Sincerely, you’ve summed up men quite well!”
I would say, you’ve summed ONE MAN quite well.
He has no brain, he has no heart, he is a coward and he is a liar.
Joe Biden Defends Veterans After Donald Trump’s PTSD Remarks
Vice President Joe Biden defended veterans during an impassioned speech Monday, October 3, after Donald Trump’s comments about soldiers who suffer from PTSD.
The Republican presidential nominee was addressing PTSD and suicides among those returning home from war before a veterans group in Virginia when he said those in the room were “strong” and could “handle” the horrors of war.
However, “a lot of people can’t handle it,” Trump added.
Many took his phrasing to mean soldiers who can’t handle PTSD are weak.
Biden, who said he has been “in and out” of Afghanistan and Iraq more than 29 times, said Trump was not intentionally trying to offend but that the real estate mogul “doesn’t get it,” according to The Hill.
Prince Harry explains how he got the Queen to do Invictus Games video
BBC News
~~Published on May 9, 2016~~
Prince Harry reveals to BBC News how he asked the Queen to get involved in the Invictus Games video after being challenged by the Obamas. He also told Andrew Marr about how his experiences while serving in Afghanistan – and the injuries that he witnessed fellow soldiers endure – were a “turning point” in his life.
But he played down comparisons between his charity and campaigning work and that of his late mother, Princess Diana.
He also spoke about the intrusion into his private life is “incessant”.
“Everyone has a right to privacy … Sadly, that line between public and private life is almost non-existent any
more.”
This Thanksgiving, No Place for Refugees at the American Table
Posted on Nov 18, 2015 By Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan
In the wake of the horrific attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, there has been a crushing backlash against refugees from the wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. As Americans prepare for one of the most popular national holidays, Thanksgiving, which commemorates the support and nourishment provided by the indigenous people to English refugees seeking a better life free from religious persecution, a wave of xenophobia is sweeping the country.
In the U.S. Congress, no less than six separate bills have been put forward to block any federal funding to resettle refugees from Syria or Iraq and to empower states to deny entry into their “territory.”
Imagine if all of a sudden we had 50 “statelets” creating their own border checkpoints, stopping all travelers, looking for anyone suspicious, i.e., any and all Syrians.
So far, 31 state governors have essentially demanded this.
Republican Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback issued an executive order forbidding any agency of state government from cooperating in any way with Syrian refugee support efforts. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have called for a pause in the Syrian refugee program, with the support of Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer.
(all so called Chrstians)
It has been almost 400 years since that first, fateful Thanksgiving feast in Massachusetts.
Xenophobic policies like those threatening to shut out refugees from these wars, if allowed to stand, should serve as a shameful centerpiece at every Thanksgiving table this year.
THIS IS A SHAME …. THEY SERVED, COMPLETED THEIR DUTY … THEY ARE HEROES
Who are homeless veterans?
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) states that the nation’s homeless veterans are predominantly male, with roughly 8% being female. The majority are single; live in urban areas; and suffer from mental illness, alcohol and/or substance abuse, or co-occurring disorders. About 12% of the adult homeless population are veterans.
Roughly 40% of all homeless veterans are African American or Hispanic, despite only accounting for 10.4% and 3.4% of the U.S. veteran population, respectively.
Homeless veterans are younger on average than the total veteran population. Approximately 9% are between the ages of 18 and 30, and 41% are between the ages of 31 and 50. Conversely, only 5% of all veterans are between the ages of 18 and 30, and less than 23% are between 31 and 50.
America’s homeless veterans have served in World War II, the Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, Persian Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq (OEF/OIF), and the military’s anti-drug cultivation efforts in South America. Nearly half of homeless veterans served during the Vietnam era. Two-thirds served our country for at least three years, and one-third were stationed in a war zone.
About 1.4 million other veterans, meanwhile, are considered at risk of homelessness due to poverty, lack of support networks, and dismal living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing.
ISIS: I’ve seen this many times recently. It keeps popping up in the news and the blogosphere. It wasn’t until yesterday when I saw a post by a wonderful blogger, Lotenna, that it really hit me.
The atrocities committed by this “group” need to be brought to the forefront and the public needs to know.
“Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a predominantly Sunni jihadist group, seeks to sow civil unrest in Iraq and the Levant with the aim of establishing a caliphate — a single, transnational Islamic state based on sharia. The group emerged in the ashes of the U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), and the insurgency that followed provided it with fertile ground to wage a guerrilla war against coalition forces and their domestic allies.
~~Origins~~
The insurgent group was launched by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an Arab of Jordanian descent, and flourished in the sectarian tensions that followed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Zarqawi had commanded volunteers in Herat, Afghanistan, before fleeing to northern Iraq in 2001. There he joined with Ansar al-Islam (Partisans of Islam), a militant Kurdish separatist movement, for whom he led the group’s Arab contingent.
Analysts say this group, not al-Qaeda, was the precursor to AQI.”
“Emerged in the ashes of the U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein as al-Qaeda in Iraq.”
Another excellent blogger saw the post by Lotenna mentioned above.
“Traces of the Soul”
The following is her comment:
Where are we headed in a world that tortures innocent men, women, children for no reason where are we headed in a world that exists like this?
ISIS represents something too evil to describe the devil is a sweetheart by comparison what kind of people behave with such venom in the name of their g-d bullshit!! they lie!
no holy book teaches to slaughter No higher power would condone such atrocities, what is the world waiting for? why not intervene now? I can’t believe our governments make us believe it is a local war it IS a world tragedy violation of human rights it is murder!
these are massacres what are we waiting for to protect these people children dying so young assassinated for what? tell me one good reason
ISIS had committed such treason to the human race? Praying for these losses is not enough I feel powerless useless unable to make a dent or take notice where it counts Pathetic, useless, weak, helpless.
Inside Isis: Social networking for Islamist Extremists
As ISIS continue to make territorial gains in the Middle East, they are also becoming a dynamic presence online. This report looks at one recent campaign video, designed to disseminate their radical manifesto.
“These are your passports, O Tyrants all over the world”, one anonymous jihadist declares to a baying crowd as he spears a pile of the documents with a machete. Within the organisation’s mission to establish a unitary caliphate across the region, such credentials are obsolete: mere vestiges of a by-gone age of national boundaries and rival political identities. “I swear by Allah, we will cleanse the Arabian peninsula of you, you defiled ones.” Films such as this, depicting the brutal imposition of a supposedly utopian Islamic supra-state – often by means of summary executions and banning opposing sects from public life – are a sign of the increasing sophistication of ISIS’ propaganda strategy. They depict well-armed, organised militants, and are cause for concern for Iraqi ex-pats struggling to reach relatives back home. “ISIS have forgotten the real religion, and now they are full of hate and revenge”, says Salahaddin al-Beati, who has lived in Switzerland since 1996. With voices from all sides of the conflict, this report offers a chilling insight into a markedly 21st century insurgency.
It Is What It Is 