Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
George Santayana, The Life of Reason, Volume 1, 1905
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Many years ago we did our duty, came home, and watched as Saigon fell. Some were still there.
History seems to be repeating itself yet again.
In Iraq cities are falling not unlike they did back then. Most recent updates suggest that Baghdad is next.
Small positive thing. The folks that went into Iraq didn’t get spit at/on when they came home. The rest remains to be seen.
Two or three times a year some of us older folks get a bit tangled up in memories (or memories of memories). Late April and much of May are my primary dates.
Late April because my pop was declared KIA in Korea on April 25, 1951.
Early May because I was discharged from the Navy after spending over a year around Vietnam, on May 9, 1969.
And then there is Memorial Day. The advertisements for sales and off topic events are difficult to avoid.
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Last week, an American cultural icon ceased print publication. After 60 years, Jet Magazine announced last Wednesday that it was moving to an all-digital business model. It will cease publishing a printed edition.
I’ll be the first to admit that Jet wasn’t my “cup of tea”. But I did on occasion look at it – and when I was younger, it was fairly common.
Jet was indeed a US cultural icon. In its early days, it was instrumental in helping the Civil Rights movement get traction, publishing the photos of Emitt Till’s badly disfigured body to show how he’d been abused when he was killed. And it provided Black America with a source of news and commentary not readily found elsewhere.
Declining readership finally did Jet in. Recent years haven’t been kind to most brick/mortar/paper magazines, and Jet was no exception.
The US will survive without Jet, of course. And one can argue whether it’s a loss worth mourning or not.
But regardless of ancestry, IMO we’ve all lost something. I can’t help but feel we’ve lost a bit of Americana with Jet’s passing.
Dunno if Jarheads celebrate birthdays, but I do.
Dunno if if I’ve proposed this here before, but an exchange with Laughing_Wolf on FB prompted me to bring it up again.
My proposal is simply that OUR Congress Critters be paid exactly the same as our military. Live in barracks… eat in mess halls, etc.
Now it IS extremely unlikely that The Pampered Princes (and Princesses) on The Potomac would do this themselves.
With that baseline how would YOU suggest we (the great unwashed) approach this?
I’m thinking we might have some luck at the state level, but The Constitution has limited guidance here.
I’m looking for a pragmatic approach while we still may have a say?
Jonn let’s me post here, although I truly don’t quite know why? I am a piss-poor writer, and I generally choose subject matter that doesn’t quite fit.
Here’s the thing… It is getting harder and harder to find “The Lighter Side” of the news these days. Our own government seems hell bent on turning our rights into crimes. The expletive phonies seem to multiply. And all I want is something worth smiling about.
Here it is: Ponsdorf@gmail.com. I won’t post everything you might forward (assuming I can still post anything after this).
Just make me smile, please.
A Glock ad that keeps me from being sad.
Six years ago a bunch of vets got together in DC. Many were ‘Nam vets coming out of hiding. Captain Bailey and Colonel Riley put out a call and the response was wonderful.
A bunch of folks were threatening Our Wall, but that really wasn’t quite as important to us as seeing to it that what happened to us didn’t happen to a new generation of vets.
Look up The Gathering of Eagles if you will. I won’t bore you with my recollections of that day save three items. OWB handled security. but there are no suitable pix.
Our pal Kit sang:
And your humble Geezer handled Commo:
