My old goat, Anfa, died last night.
Miss you, sweetie.
Some days are just like that…
I should just go back to bed.
Colo. National Guard 3-157th Deploys
On April 17, 2009 at the Pepsi Center, Denver, CO in front of Family, Friends, Neighbors, Strangers, Military Supporters, and Military Officials, members of the 3-157th will be saying goodbye for their year deployment in Iraq. With 450 Colorado Citizen Soldiers, the State of Colorado will be sending off the largest CO National Guard Unit since WWII.
April 17th should be a proud day for every Coloradoan and American. Many of these Brave Citizen Soldiers are going for their first deployment leaving brand new families for the unknown.
After talking to a seasoned Citizen Soldier family member and a new deployment family member, the two agree on one thing… They will all need our Support! These brave men and women need to know that there is and always will be support for them where they deploy and when they are home. The National Guard in Colorado has not heard of Soldiers’ Angels. Let’s show them who we are about….Support for the Military. These Citizen Soldiers are just as much HEROES then anyone else who puts on a uniform and defends our freedoms and liberties.
Soldiers’ Angels is invited to the Farewell for these Heroes.
Date: April 17, 2009
Time: 1:30PM to 3:00pm
Where: Pepsi Center 1000 Chopper Circle, Denver CO
Dress: Civilians Dress Casual
Soldiers’ Angels: If you plan to go, Wear Angel Attire, if you have it and bring a Flag to show support. In addition, if you have Business cards bring them. Let us contact schools, Churches, and other organizations to get Thank You Cards to pass out
American Airlines – FAIL
2009 Face of America Bike Ride honors and actively includes service members who have been severely injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. World T.E.A.M. Sports (The Exceptional Athlete Matters) works with the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, The Semper Fi Foundation, Soldiers Angels Foundation and others in reaching out to and helping these severely injured service members participate in this life-changing ride. They will be riding 110 miles from Washington, DC to Gettysburg, PA on April 25th and 26th. If you would like more information regarding this project, please go to http://www.worldteamsports.org/ .
Now, on to the FAIL part. American Airlines evidently had pledged 7500$ to fly 25 service members from Texas to D.C. and back again for the ride. According to the info I have from the GettysBlog , they have reneged on the deal. So, $7500 dollars is urgently being sought to replace these moneys. If you can help in ANY amount, (even a dollar!) please donate HERE.
Here is a copy of my email to American Airlines:
“Dear sirs, I am a supporter of the Face of America Bike Ride for our Wounded Warriors and I have received information that your company has reneged on a pledge to donate $7500 worth of airfare to fly 25 disabled service members from Texas to Washington, D.C. for the bike ride on April 25-26th, 2009. This funding is vital for getting these Warriors to this event and will be very hard to replace at this late date. I hope that you will reconsider this decision. These men and women have made a very great sacrifice for our country and deserve to be honored for it. This bike ride is one way we can help them realize that they can still be a contributing member of their communities, even though their lives are drastically changed by their injuries. I urge you to reconsider funding this event. Thank you for you consideration, Leslie A. Applegate Soldiers’ Angels/Colorado CTL”
We will see if there is any response.
You can send your own email to them HERE
Maybe a little public pressure will cause them to rethink their descision.
Media Ban at Dover Partially Lifted
I opened the newspaper at work one day this week and buried in the back, read a small story “Four U.S. Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan”. Four US Soldiers. Sons. Brothers. Husbands. Fathers. Loved ones of somebody.
The reporter obviously didn’t care who these young men were, or who their families are. To him, they were just statistics, to be followed by the body count for the current year, compared to the previous year.
These young men will make their final journey home, touching American soil at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Since 1991, the arrival at Dover has been off limits to the media, with only family allowed to be present. Sec. of Defense Gates has partially rescinded the ban, saying it will be up to the individual families to decide.
Now, I want to make it clear, I am not in the Military, and the only one in my family who served was my Father, (Navy - WWII, Korea) and he did NOT die in the service. So, I can’t speak from the perspective of a family who has undergone the awful and sacred task of seeing your Soldier home.
However, I would like to ask Sec. Gates – Just what in the hell were you thinking? How would you like to try and deal with the burden of grief while the (caring and sensitive, NOT) press circles around you like a bunch of jackals, poking a microphone in your face and asking totally inane questions like “So, how does it feel to receive your husband home in a box?” How would you like it if the pictures of your son’s coffin show up on hate sites crowing about the death of another infidel?
Do you really think that if you allow the media access to Dover, that they will suddenly turn into kind caring sensitive souls who only have the best interest of the family in mind? That’s BULLSHIT and you know it.
Do you really think that pictures exploiting the death of a US Soldier, will let the “American people see the full human cost of war.” BULLSHIT again. If the media wants us to see the full human cost of war, why don’t they join the Military and try PAYING some of the cost? Oh, wait a minute, they don’t want to actually have to PAY the cost, they just want to exploit it.
As Commander in Chief, Present Obama, should have declined to allow the private grief of Military families to become a public spectacle. If anyone thinks the media won’t turn this into a circus, they are delusional.
Just remember, if you don’t stand behind our Military, feel free to stand in front of them.
Edited to add:
Here is a list of people to contact – let them know what you think. Copied from “From My Position, On The Way”
Pentagon Switchboard
703-545-6700
SCTY Defense Robert Gates:
Dr. Robert M. Gates
Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1000
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen:
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
9999 Joint Staff Pentagon
Washington, DC 20318-9999
General James E. Cartwright:
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
9999 Joint Staff Pentagon
Washington, DC 20318-9999
General George W. Casey, Jr.:
Army Chief of Staff
200 Army Pentagon
Washington, DC 20310-0200
Admiral Gary Roughead:
Chief of Naval Operations
2000 Navy Pentagon
Washington, DC 20350-2000
General Norton A. Schwartz:
Air Force Chief of Staff
1670 Air Force Pentagon
Washington, DC 20330-1670
General James T. Conway:
Commandant of the Marine Corps
Headquarters USMC
2 Navy Annex (CMC)
Washington, DC 20380-1775
Senator John Kerry:
http://kerry.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm
218 Russell Bldg.
Second Floor
Washington D.C. 20510
202-224-2742 – Phone
202-224-8525 – FaxBoston
One Bowdoin Square
Tenth Floor
Boston, MA 02114
617-565-8519 – Phone
617-248-3870 – FaxSpringfield
Springfield Federal Building
1550 Main Street
Suite 304
Springfield, MA 01101
413-785-4610 – Phone
413-736-1049 – FaxFall River
222 Milliken Place
Suite 312
Fall River, Ma 02721
508-677-0522 – Phone
508-677-0275 – Fax
Senator Frank R. Lautenberg:
http://lautenberg.senate.gov/contact/index1.cfm
Newark Office
One Gateway Center
Twenty-Third Floor
Newark, NJ 07102
Phone: 973-639-8700
Toll Free: 1-888-398-1642
Fax: 973-639-8723Camden Office
One Port Center
Suite 505, Fifth Floor
2 Riverside Drive
Camden, NJ 08101
Phone: 856-338-8922
Fax: 856-338-8936Washington, DC
Hart Senate Office Building
Suite 324
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-3224
TTY: 202-224-2087
Fax: 202-228-4054
The White House
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500Phone Numbers
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461TTY/TDD
Comments: 202-456-6213
Visitors Office: 202-456-2121
Find your Senator / Congressman
“Oh, and for good measure, give Biden something to do.”
I couldn’t find a contact page for him. I imagine snail mail to the White House in his name would be the best route.
Greedy Bastards/Your Tax Dollars at Work
“There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.”
– Robert Heinlein
Three Colorado banks that took money from the Federal TARP program, didn’t need the capital to keep operating, according to an article in the Friday, Feb, 2nd issue of the Rocky Mtn News.
The banks that took the money are Colorado Business Bank, Bankers’ Bank of the West and First Western Trust Bank.
Now it is my understanding that this money was supposed to be for banks that were in need of capital to keep operating, not as a “gimme” fund.
Here are the justifications for taking the money:
“We needed an insurance policy…” Bill Mitchell, CEO Bankers Bank of the West
“To get preferred stock from this program in an inexpensive form of capital.” Scott Wylie, CEO of First Western Trust Bank
“In this environment, more capital is always better than less….We believe this environment creates a lot of opportunities for acquisitions …” Lyne Andrich, CEO of Colorado Business Bank
Well, Sirs, here is my message to you:
It will be a cold day in Hell Hell will freeze over before I do business with any of you. Greedy Bastards.
