My views

Before we get things started, I feel these are a little more important than any of my views:

This page is for my opinions and my opinions only. If you find this page offensive, then don't read it. If you want to know what I think and how I feel about certain subjects, then read on. If you have something to say, then sign my guestbook.

There are 5 things that mean the most to me. My God, my family (friends included), my country, my state, and my branch of service.

I will always be faithful to what means the most to me. I will gladly give my life for any of them. I did not choose to be born here. God chose that for me. I am forever grateful for that. I live in the greatest country in the world. I live in freedom. And I will defend that at ANY cost. 'nuf said!

The US Army turns 228 this year! This is a copy of the official US Army 228th birthday coin. The official site can be found at http://www.army.mil/birthday/228/.

On my way to work this morning, I caught the tell end of a news article on the radio that caused me to search for it franticly. I heard something regarding flag burning. This is a subject that will get me up on my soapbox quicker than anything else. The signature that I use for my work E-mail basically says it all.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves under the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag."

For anyone who has served under the United States Flag, this says it all and you understand it fully. What everyone else thinks is that it takes a blood-sucking lawyer with a money grubbing client to allow you to do what you wish. If you think that a lawyer allows you to speak your mind, you are wrong! The people, like myself, that swore to support and defend the constitution of the United States, and to die for it if necessary, are the true people that allow you to do what you wish. It is the soldier that allows your freedoms. It is NOT the lawyer, reporter, poet, campus organizer, etc, etc.

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will SUPPORT AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the united states and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the uniform code of military justice."

As far as I am concerned, if you as much as think of burning the US flag, you are an enemy of the United States.

"No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart."

According to this, the US Flag is a living thing. Therefore, it is my point of view that if you destroy the flag, you are committing MURDER. The last time I checked, committing murder is NOT supported by any amendment of the United States Constitution NOR is is legal in any state or local government! The US Flag can only be destroyed when it is being disposed of in a respectful manner due to the flag itself having lived out its service and is no longer serviceable.

I do not always support the views or plans of the US Government or her President. That is not my job. I job is to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. Do not get that confused. Just because I will defend this country to the last drop of my blood and the last ounce of energy in my muscles does not mean that I think everything the government does is correct. There are many things that the government and past Presidents have done that hurt the country. That is not my business to get into nor do I care to get into. Again, my only job is to support and defend the constitution. Nowhere in that oath did it say that I had to go along with the government's choices.

I am a very easy going man. The point when you start jacking with my freedoms, my flag, my country, or my family, I will become the worst monster you have ever seen and your worst nightmare! You can take that to the bank!!

After later on finding out that some of my information was incorrect, I found the entire United States code online and available. It is made available by the United States House of Representatives and can be found at http://law2.house.gov/download.htm. The flag code, in particular, is under "Title 4, Flag and Seal, Seat of Government, and the States." From there, you can either download the entire Title, in Word format, or download individual sections. Through some work, I have made available an Adobe PDF version of the flag code with bookmarks to the different sections within it. I am working on a small pamphlet version of this for a business idea that I have. Anyway, here are the links:

Here is something that is very close to my heart. In 1991 I graduated from South Garland High School in Garland, TX. When I first started going to that school, the school flag was the Southern Flag. Being that the name of the school is South Garland, the entire theme of the school was "The South". Even the Libertas proudly showed the pride in everyone as being part of the south. During my stay, it came to my attention that many people, mainly of African-American decent, believe that the Southern Flag means slavery. I have never heard more crap in my entire life. When I was s sophomore, there was an African-American girl going there that decided she had a chip on her shoulder and decided to make a difference and have it all her way. She decided to protest the school flag and say how the flag is all about slavery. Supposedly, the flag never has meant anything other than slavery. Could this possible get any dumber? Because of her protests, a committee was formed of students, of which I was a member of. Our only purpose was to document how everyone in the school felt about the issue. He heard, we documented, and we gave our opinions. I can count on one hand how many people were opposed to the flag versus the number of people in the school. Just because one person decided that she was going to raise a stink about it, the flag was changed. The school flag was no longer the Southern Flag. The flag changed to a white background with 2 crossed swords and the flag read, "South Garland High School". Shortly after I graduated, the final nail was pounded into our coffin. What was to be done with the part of the Libertas that has the Southern Flag in it? Someone that had nothing to do with the school stood across the street was was protesting it. Again, this was an African-American that was doing the protesting. Again, saying how the Southern Flag is all about slavery and has never had any other meaning than slavery. Again, how stupid is that? Well, ideas were give, votes were made, and the choice was made. The Southern Flag was no more. Nowhere in the school will you see the Southern Flag again. The flag was changed to the same crossed swords as in the new school flag.

This entire issue was my wakeup call to racism. I am NOT a racist! If you think I am because I stand behind the Southern Flag, then you need to wake up and smell the coffee. You have the same ignorance as the rest of the population that thinks the same as you.

The Southern Flag does not mean slavery! The Southern Flag is a symbol of history. It is a piece of fabric that was flown to represent a group of states during this country's bloodiest part of history, the Civil War. Did you know that the North had slaves too? Guess what... They did... I guess that means that the US flag means slavery too, huh? The Civil War was not only fought because of slavery. Slavery was a MINOR reason. Slavery is the only reason that everyone remembers because that is what is always capitalized on. So, it is understandable why someone would think this. A little common since would dictate otherwise.

Yes, many immoral and illegal acts have been, are now and will be acted on under the Southern Flag. This is going to happen and there is not anything that can be done about it. It is sad to say, there are groups of people that are just as ignorant that want nothing but to remove anyone and everyone that does not believe in a pure white race and all this is done underneath the Southern Flag. I am not a part of that. Adolph Hitler died during World War II. Unfortunately, his ideas and beliefs did not die with him. I can guarantee you this, just as many immoral and illegal acts have been acted out beneath the United States flag as under the Southern Flag. Again, I am not proud of that. I wish there was something that could be done about but, there is not.

You still say that the Southern Flag means slavery? Then what does the US flag mean? What does the Iraqi flag mean? What does the old USSR flag mean? American Indians can say that the US flag means death to their tribes as their lands were slowly invaded and taken over at the cost of their lives. Does the Iraqi flag mean terrorism? Does it mean torture? Just because a country may of may not condone an act, does not mean that their flag means that act. That is like saying that the Iraqi flag means terrorism and torture. That means that the old USSR flag means communism and death to all who opposed the KGB. All of these flags are nothing but pieces of fabric that was/is flown over a piece of land as a symbol of that government. Every government has a piece of history that it wishes it could erase. That is what makes all the flags and countries unique.

If you think that the Southern Flag means slavery, and that it should never be flown, than that means that you are afraid of your past and you want to run away from it. If my ancestors have owned slaves, I am not proud of that fact. I am also not proud of the fact that the American Indians were slaughtered for their land just to be given a few acres and called a reservation. I am part Choctaw, and I am proud of that. I am part German, and I am proud of that. As a whole, I am an American, and I am proud of that. History may not be pretty at times but, it is history. It is my history. It is your history. Being part German, I am saddened to know what Hitler had done. Being part American Indian, I am saddened to know how my people were treated when this country was growing. This is all a part of history that we all have to live with. There is nothing that can be done about it. If you don't like it, then leave!

If you do not like the Southern Flag, then leave and list somewhere else where you don't have to see it. If you do not like how this country runs itself or like her beliefs, move to another country. There are too many people out there that think they can erase the past my covering it up. Guess what, the past repeats itself! There is a saying that I heard a long time ago, "He who ignores the past is destined to repeat it." That is as true now as it was when it was first said. If you think that you are making this a better place by covering up the past and forgetting about it, you will repeat it. If you refuse to embrace the past and learn from mistakes made, the past will come up and bite you in the rear. Then if you are smart enough, you will learn from your mistakes and move on. If you are bull headed about it, you will try to cover it up and forget about it and repeat it yet again and again and again and again. See the pattern?

There are 4 flags that I will proudly stand under. The United States, The United States Army, The State of Texas, and The Southern Flag. Each flag is either a current part of my life or once was a part of my life. Each flag makes me into who I am today.

Guess what? This is also something that really ticks me off! December 7, 1941; The Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. Almost the entire US Pacific Fleet was decimated. And for what reason? The Emperor of Japan wanted the US out of World War II. He thought that if he could strike the US Pacific Fleet hard enough, the US would not be able to touch him. He almost succeeded. Instead, he woke a sleeping giant. One that not only fought a war on 2 fronts but, one that fought a war on 2 fronts and won. No other country has been able to do that.

Because of the technological advances that were made during this time period, it was felt that the only way to get the Japanese to surrender would be drop the atomic bomb on their cities. I am not particularly proud that this was done. Thousands of people died because of those 2 bombs. Both civilian and military lives were lost. The alternative was to invade with ground troops dragging the war on longer and longer and potentially taking as many lives, on both sides, as the 2 atomic bombs took. With that respect, there was almost no choice but to do something drastic to end the war and end it now. Unfortunately, nobody knew the lasting effects the bombs would take either.

That being said, I do not have a problem with issuing an official apology to the Japanese for the devastation caused from the dropping of those bombs. What I do not agree with is the fact that to the best of my knowledge, the Japanese never issues an official apology to the US for the devastation caused when they bombed Pearl Harbor.

I see this as the playground bully punches you for no reason. You punch him back. He backs down and you apologize for hitting him. It was his actions that caused you to hit him. If he had not hit you, you would not have been forced to hit him.

Yes, I said that you would have been forced into hitting the bully. If you do not fight back, then that opens you up to be hit again, and again, and again, and again, and again. He would not stop. He would continue to hit you because you let him and because he could. If he fights back, you may have to fight back even harder but, he will back down. Case in point, September 11, 2001. Everyone knows what happened on that day. If the US had not declared the "War on Terrorism" then that would open us up for constant attacks because the terrorists would know that we would not do anything about it. Granted because we are dealing with terrorists, they will strike back just because we are striking them. That is expected. This is the playground bully that fights back when you hit him back. You have to hit back harder until he finally backs down. Terrorists in themselves are nothing but bullies anyway. They will not face you up front. They are going to hide in the shadows until they know that they will win and you will be off your guard. This is why President Bush has said that we as a country need to be more vigilant and keep our eyes peeled in hopes that we can stop a future terrorist attack before it happens.

Anyway, back to Clinton. I just feel that Japan does not deserve an apology until the United States receives one from Japan. Their attack on Pearl Harbor forced the United States to come back meaner and harder to get the fighting to stop.

On a side note, any time I mention Clinton, I will never acknowledge that he was ever the President of the United States. Because of his apology to Japan and his unfaithful actions in the White House. For those two reasons and those two reasons alone, I will never acknowledge him running this country. Ruining it, yes. Running it, NO!

I just found out something pretty cool! Anyone with either military or civilian service from the dates of 2 Sep 1945 to 26 Dec 1991 are eligible for the Cold War Recognition Certificate and Cold War medal. All you have to do is prove that you have at least 1 day of service between those 2 dates and you are eligible. The medal itself looks pretty cool and it authorized for wear. From what I understand, everything was approved but the medals and certificates were never passed out. If you qualify, there is a website that you can go to that spells out what you need to do in order to have the certificate sent to you. Unfortunately, the medal is not sent, only the certificate. You have to buy the medal. Oh well... I will still order the medal... Anyway, this is the website to go to.. http://www2.powercom.net/~rokats/coldwar.html

If the link does not work, let me know. I typed the address in by hand and didn't copy/paste it. Here is what the new medal looks like. The front and back pics can be clicked on for a bigger pic. I am going to see if I can get better looking pics of the medal itself if I can.

NOTE: The medal and device are not authorized to wear. Supposedly the "powers that be" decided that there are enough medals and devices to commemorate Cold War service and there is no need to add another medal. Personally, I think there are just too many people the medal would have to be cut for so they decided not to authorize it for money reasons. At least, my explanation fits.

Ok, I guess you could call this Pet Peeve #4,398. All my life I have gone to see a movie at the theater and have enjoyed watching the previews of upcoming movies. I got over it when movies started going from 2 hours long to 90 minutes. So what if people did not want to sit down for another 30 minutes. I do not care how long the movie is. As long as I am enjoying the movie and there are slow spots where I have enough time to run to the rest room, I am happy. Now there is a new trend that I absolutely despise. The other day, my wife and I went to go see League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. When it came time for the movie to start, the normal previews that I love watching did not start. In place of them were commercials. The very same commercials that you would see watching broadcast television, are the very ones I saw before the movie. 7 commercials! After the 7 commercials, were 6 previews. After watching the commercials I did not want to see the previews. I wanted to walk out of the theater wanting my money back. I no longer wanted to see the movie. I did not pay $15 for 2 tickets just to watch some commercials. I do not like the idea of being force fed commercials. Just because I paid good money to see a movie does NOT give you the right to show me a commercial that I have no choice but to sit through. I did however watch the movie. I was so pissed off, I was not paying too close attention to the first half of the movie. So, I could not even tell you what happened in half the damn movie. If I want to watch commercials, I will turn on my TV. If I do not want to watch commercials, I will leave the TV turned off or I will watch a DVD that I have. I seriously doubt that I will ever go see another movie at the theater again if I am going to be force fed commercials.

From what I understand, there are already lawsuits that have been filed concerning this issue. If it were free to see a movie, I can understand seeing commercials before the movie. If you have to pay hard earned money for a couple of hours worth of entertainment, I do not consider watching commercials as entertainment. If I thought that was entertainment, again, I would turn on my TV. I have a Tivo and what I will do is record what I want to see and the fast-forward through the commercials so I do not have to watch them. I never watch any TV show in real-time. If I can get away without watching a commercial, I will.

Granted, there are some commercials that will air from time to time that are humorous and enjoyable to watch. Unfortunately, those are few and far between. 99.99999999% of all commercials now are so stupid, I can not tell what they are advertising or understand why they are advertising something when their method makes no since and has nothing to do with the product in the first place.

Again, no theater should have the right to show me a commercial before I watch a movie. Who in their right mind thought that they could get me to pay them to watch a movie and think that I would go along with them forcing me to watch a commercial????? I DO NOT THINK SO!!!!

I have found a website concerning one of the lawsuits. That website is www.nomovieads.com. I would suggest everyone go to this website and keep up with what is happening with the lawsuit.

Before I get too pissed off and really start yelling, I am going to stop this where it is. I should not have to watching commercials unless I want to watch them. If I pay to watch something, commercials better damn well NOT be included!

Yesterday could have been the worst day of my life but once I checked the mail and found my certificate waiting for me, I was on top of the world. I finally have something that justifies my service. It proves that my service was worth something. I scanned my certificate so I can have a copy of it at work and can leave the original at home where it will stay.

This certificate means so much to me. Despite the fact that this certificate was meant to honor the soldiers that served during the cold war, it does more than that. It not only honors the men and women that have given their blood, sweat and tears, it honors the men and women that have had an uneventful tour and thanks them for a publicly un-noticed "Job Well Done." I have not seen combat. My MOS had the potential to be a front-line job. Not a combat job but, a front-line job nonetheless. Since I had an uneventful tour, this certificate tells me, "Thank You. Even though your work will never make it to the history books, nor will it ever give you public recognition, there are more people that your work has touched than you think."

I worked on the PowerTrain systems on several of the Army's helicopters. Without me, the pilots did not fly. Without me, the choppers did not get off the ground. Without me, the propellers didn't even spin. My job was to keep the choppers in the air and keep the pilots in a job.

The other day, I saw "We Were Soldiers". This was a very good movie, in my opinion. If you have not seen the movie, let me explain a little bit. While watching the movie, I realized that the movie was in a sense my movie. The movie takes place during the beginning of the Vietnam conflict. In the movie, the Air Calvary is first born and the first unit was created. The 7th Air Calvary was sent to Vietnam to make contact with some Vietnam soldiers that were retreating to a mountain. All 300+ men of this Air Cav unit were deployed and it turned out that they were deployed right on top of a Vietnam Army Division Headquarters housing approx 3,000 men. Well, my job would not have put me on one of those choppers to fight nor would my job have put me in one of the choppers to fly. My job would have kept me at the Landing Zone where the choppers were based and keeping them flying as they come in for repairs.

I did not have a gun toting, "Kill them all, let God sort them out" kind of job. I had one that was done in the background where nobody noticed. The only notice that I would get is that someone's bird went back to them ready to fly. So, as you can see, this certificate means more to me than it just being a certificate. This justifies my job and gives me recognition for doing something nobody ever really noticed.

Ok, so I have not updated my thoughts as often as I had hoped. I have been busy finding new jobs, getting laid off, looking for other new jobs, etc, etc. I plan on updating this at least once a week depending on what is going on. God willing, that is...

Anyway... This is something that came near and dear to my heart. Today I heard about Pat Tillman. It would be rather odd if you did not know about this man by now. In case you do not know, Pat Tillman is a former safety with the Arizona Cardinals. After September 11, he started re-thinking his views. A year ago, he decided that he could not play football as long as there was a greater enemy to fight. He turned down a $3.6 million contract with the Cardinals to join the US Army. He did and later went through Ranger training. It has been reported that he has died as a result of a fire-fight in Afghanistan. His unit was attacked. 2 fellow Rangers were wounded and he was killed.

This only goes to show what I explained earlier when I explained why I enlisted. I did not want my family to be forced to speak Russian or Red Chinese. My Grandfather did his part in keeping me from being forced to speak German or Japanese. Pat Tillman was making sure that his kids do not have to be forced to abide by some terrorist's wishes. He was making sure that his kids had the freedom to do as they please when they come of age as I did in my time.

As we sleep and dream strange things happen. I do not claim to know how it all happens, I just know that strange things happen. While sleeping through the thunderstorms that have gone through my area over the past 6+ hours now, I woke up just enough to lay there listening to the thunder and watching the white flashes of lightening through my eyelids. As I did this, in my head, I heard the Pledge of Allegiance. After that, in a flash, I had re-written it with my rifle and hunting in mind. I thought this was rather funny so I got up and wrote it down. I still think it is funny so here I am at 6 in the morning writing this.

Here is both the Pledge of Allegiance, which for obvious reasons I still stand behind as well as with the phrase Under God in it, and my new hunting version.

I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

I pledge allegiance to the rifle of Enfield Mk-4 and to the power for which it holds, one deer on the ground, quartered, with venison and sausage for all.

Some time ago, I received an email from a gentleman who proceeded to rip me a new one about my intelligence, spelling, grammar, HTML abilities, etc, etc. I do not know what made this man feel like he had to attack me in such a way. I am constantly checking the spelling of what I type as well as I am constantly re-reading what I type. Granted, I do not catch everything but, I do catch about 95% of my mistakes.

This individual also proceeded to tell me about how all the broken links on my page should not be fixed because it was expose the world to more of my intelligence, or lack there of. I only found 1 dead link. To my surprise, I missed a small bit of code and had a simple HOME button going to the wrong place. All the other links check out just fine. Ok, so I just found a couple more in my Photoshop page. I never said I was perfect.

As I do not appreciate being yelled at or talked down to, I do appreciate this guy's opinion. Even though he did not give me any details as to what was misspelled or what link was broken, he felt that he needed to yell at me and insult me. So be it. I am me and he is he.

I do not feel that I owe this person anything. Nor, will I ever feel that I ever owe him anything. All I ask is that if you visit my site, let me know of any mistakes that I have made and what needs to be done to correct it. Is that so much to ask?

I learned today that one of my childhood heroes died today. He died of the same disease that took my grandmother 13 years ago come 10 June. No words can describe the pain I am feeling knowing that President Reagan died. I was in grade school when he took office.

President Nixon was in office when I was born, then there was President Carter. For as young as I was back then, I only remember very little about Jimmy Carter's Presidency. I do remember much of President Reagan's 2 terms in office.

Every president has their good times and every president has their bad times. Some more than others. There are times when President Reagan made a decision that made his career and there were times when he made a decision that hurt it.

What I honor about this man is he did not care what anyone thought. If he felt his decision was right, by God he followed through. Since I was growing up at the time, I never did follow much of his politics or any of the politics at the time. As I grew up, I noticed that we had similar viewpoints when it came to the military. I felt that the US Military needed to be prepared for anything and everything that could be thrown at it. Not only just be prepared to meet it, but overcome it as well. At the same time, I also found that I was becoming more and more patriotic towards my country. Even before I was a teenager, I was prepared to die fighting for my country if the need arose. I came to the realization that there is a price that has to be paid in blood in order to enjoy the freedoms that we have. I began to feel that it was, and still is, the responsibility of every single American to pay back this country for the freedoms we enjoy. That does not mean that everyone should join the military. For some, that may be the answer. For me, it was. For others, it may just mean volunteering to help people in need. As long as what you do helps keep the freedom we all enjoy, then you are helping to pay this country back.

When I enlisted, I was, and still am, willing to spill my blood so my neighbor can step out onto his porch and do what he pleases. Even if it means cursing what I did to allow it. I believe that President Reagan felt the same way. He knew there was a threat to this country and was going to do something about it. As we all know, he did do something about it and this country is better and grateful for it. If anyone else were in office at the time, I doubt the outcome would be the same. I doubt the Berlin wall would have fallen had it not been for his hard work defending this country. I doubt the Soviet Union would have seen the death it had seen if it were not for his hard work defending this country. Yes, the same job could have been done by other presidents. It is more likely that the job would have taken longer and would have taken more lives to accomplish.

Because of his work, one day I realized something. Growing up, I was always worried about the Russian missiles being pointed as the US and vice-versa. It was a constant fear that one day, those missiles would launch and life as I knew it would be over. I don't remember when it was but, one day I realized that this threat was no more. There was no fear of a missile launch. What I realized was how glad I felt and how free I felt. I could take a deep breath and know that I am free for one more day thanks to the efforts of one man in office trying to make a better day for the rest of us. Unfortunately, today it is not the fear of a nuclear missile slamming down on my town. It is the fear of a psycho who believes that killing me will get him into heaven. Thanks to the efforts of our current president, that fear will be taken away some day. That is for another thought. Right now, I remember a president that took this country a long way. I am remembering a president that brought this country out of a recession. I am remembering a president that felt the safety of this country was more important than anything else. I am remembering a president that made decisions based on what he believed was right and not what the media said was right. I remember, in my opinion, one of the greatest presidents this country has ever had; President Ronald Reagan.

On 14 June, the United States Army will turn 229 years old. We have come a long way and still have a long hard road ahead. The official US Army 229th Birthday page can be found at http://www.army.mil/birthday/229/.

Just as before, the US Army has commemorated a celebratory logo. Below is the logo for this year and are linked to larger pictures.

First of all, I would like to say how my plan to keep this page constantly updated obviously did not work out as planned. :-)

Anyway... What else is going to be changed to cater to gays? Being gay is NOT a disease. Being gay is NOT natural. According to The Bible, homosexuality is a sin. A sin is a sin is a sin is a sin.

Now, that being said, I will also say this. I would not willingly stand in a foxhole with someone that is gay. Not because I am homophobic, I am not. Anyone that has spent time in the military knows that you have to put your life in the guys hands that stands next to you and that guy has to put their life in your hands. I do not care what your sexual preference is but, one thing I have noticed is that if you are pushing to come out of the closet, you are more interesting in coming out of the closet than taking care of the life that I just placed in your hands.

In a foxhole, you do not have the time to worry if your "Battle Buddy" is watching out for you. You do not have the time to worry if your buddy is contemplating anything other than getting you and him out of your current situation. Quite frankly, if you are thinking about anything other than getting out of your situation alive, you wont make it out alive.

It is my opinion that this soldier should be discharged. In the military, there is no room for breaking the rules. Breaking the rules gets people killed. This is not some corporation down the block where you are trying to get your gay lover on your insurance. The military is a life or death game. If you can not put your sexual preference aside, you do not belong in the uniform.

When I signed on the dotted line, I knew exactly what I was doing. I knew exactly what the uniform stood for, what it meant to put it on and what price I may have to pay some day for wearing it. Too many people do not understand the meaning. I put my country first. Everything else came second. My family came second. My friends came second. My health came second. As long as I was doing the job I agreed to do for this country, I was doing what mattered. Anybody that puts on that uniform should do the same. If that means that you have to get off your butt and do your job, so be it. God forbid something gets done.

Like I said before, if you can not put your sexual preference aside and do the job you agreed to do in the first place, take the uniform off and get the hell out! You will only end up getting someone killed, even getting yourself killed, because you were not focusing on your job.

If this soldier wants to serve "openly", then he can serve somewhere else, just not in the military.

Let me set something straight. I am not gay. I do not have a problem with people who are. If you think that you deserve anything because you are gay, you have another thing coming. Wake up and smell the roses. I have known several people who are gay. All but one of them were decent people. I am glad that I have known these people. As long as I had known them, I treated them as I treated my best of friends. I am a better person for knowing them too. So, don't think I am "gay bashing" or whatever the hell it is called now.

If you can not focus on the job that needs to be done, I do not want anything to do with you. Regardless if in peace or war. The military does not either. If you want to be gay, great! Be gay! Be gay on your time, NOT everyone else's!

Recently I was wondering whatever came about with this useless piece of garbage. Incase you do not know the details of this sorry excuse of a human being, the title of this article is linked to a webpage with the details of the trail, etc.

For what this sorry <BEEP> mother <BEEP> son of a <BEEP> did, he should used for target practice. But then, that would be too good for this piece of work. I do not care what side you are on or who you are. You do NOT through a grenade into a tent filled with your fellow soldiers and wait with a rifle for anyone who comes out. As the article states, his excuse for doing what he did was that he was afraid that American soldiers would kill Muslims and rape Iraqi women.

Let me get this straight... This work of art decides that he is going to kill fellow American soldiers, in cold blood and premeditated, because he was afraid that Muslims would be killed and Iraqi women would be raped. Isn't the reason why they were sent there in the first place was to stop that from happening anymore? They were sent to take Saddam Hussein off the thrown and stop the raping and murdering that is done under his rule, correct? I'm sorry... I just do not buy his sorry excuse.

I know that he will get his just reward when he finally meets God. From a human standpoint, there is no punishment good enough for this treasonous <BEEP> <BEEP> <BEEP> <BEEP> <BEEP> <BEEP> <BEEP> <BEEP>!

Have you gotten the idea that despise this person? As a veteran, I would really love to get my hands on him but, I know I would be taking a number and standing in line.

Ok, you have got to be friggen kidding me! The Center for Science in the Public Interest thinks that coke cans need a warning label telling everyone that drinking soft drinks will make you fat. In their infinite wisdom, what makes them think that a teenage boy will read the label, decide that drinking that would be a bad thing and put the can down? For that matter, what makes them think that ANYONE would read the label to begin with?

I have been raised on Dr. Pepper. I love Dr. Pepper, and if it were possible, I would live off the stuff. I know that this is not possible. I know how unhealthy soft drinks are. I know that a 12 ounce can of soda has some 14 teaspoons of sugar in it. I know that drinking too much could help to make myself or anyone else fat or developed diabetes.

Yes, I am fat. Drinking Dr. Pepper is not what made me fat. I let myself get fat because I did not keep working out like I used to when I was in the Army. Eating everything in sight did not help much either. If they want to make it a law to have a warning label on soda, then they should also put a label on sunlight, red meat, fish, chicken, water, candy, air, walking, talking, breathing, etc, etc, etc. Everything will kill you or make you fat under the right conditions. Sunlight can give you skin cancer. Red meat will harden your arteries. Ingesting too much water, or too little, can kill you. Breathing can kill you because of all the pollutants in the air. In fact, why not put a label on every child's forehead when they are born that reads, "Warning: Living can kill you."

Anyone that can read, can understand a nutrition label. If someone is concerned with their nutrition, they are going to be paying attention to those labels in the first place. I used to smoke. I enjoyed smoking. I got tired of it, so I quit. I did not quit because every pack of cigarettes I smoked had a warning label saying that I could get lung cancer from smoking. I knew that was a risk. I was willing to take that risk as long as I was doing something I enjoyed. The only thing that putting a warning label on a can of soda will do is open the door for lawsuits. Having the label on a can is shows that the manufacturer is fully aware that their product is unhealthy. One would think that because the label is there, one would think that this would cover the manufacturer. This would not. Any lawyer would say that the manufacturer knew their product was unsafe, hence they have the label in it, and they are liable for any damages. This is complete and total BULL****!!! When I smoked, I knew I was risking my life. I was not going to sue the tobacco companies for giving me cancer because I chose to risk my life and lost the gamble. I risked my life, I am responsible. Not someone else. Every single person is responsible for themselves. The government is not, nor should it be, responsible for holding your hand through life. If you want to risk your life by running across a busy highway, then you are responsible for your actions. Ford is not responsible for killing you because the F150 that hit you killed you when you ran in front of it. Budweiser is not responsible because you are an alcoholic and you died from liver disease. You knew that you were risking your life by running across that highway, you knew that you were risking your life by drinking too much, too often. I am responsible for myself and you are responsible for yourself.

Nobody has the right, nor will I EVER give them the right, to tell me what I should and should not be eating because I do not know better or they think that they know better than I do. If I want to eat healthy, I will. If I want to live off of crappy McDonalds food for the rest of my life, then I will. Nobody will EVER have the right to force me to. Granted, there are a lot of stupid people out there. That still does not give anyone the right to tell me how to live my life. I will live my life how I see fit.

If living my life my way kills me, they by God I will die. At least I will die happy.

The 2004 Presidential election brought something to my attention that really infuriated me. I am not saying who said this because, everyone already knows who it is. One of the candidates claimed that he was a "War Hero." When he first claimed this, I shook my head and changed the channel in the TV. It was not until recently when I really gave it some thought and came to this conclusion...

ANYONE who is a TRUE hero, whether he/she be a war hero or domestic hero, will NEVER claim to be a hero. Do you remember all the times you have seen someone on the news being told that they are a hero because they saved some baby's life when they went back into the burning building? Do you remember how they said that they were not a hero and how they saw something that needed to be done and they did it? Do you remember all the soldiers that have been on TV telling you about how they protected their fellow soldiers and disregarded their own wellbeing? Do you remember how they even said that they are not heroes because they saw something that needed to be done and they got it done regardless of the cost? Walk up to ANY fireman that has been on the job for years and years. Ask them if they have saved anyone's life before. Then ask them if they see themselves as a hero. I will guarantee you that they will tell you that they do not see themselves as a hero. That is the hero mentality. Anyone can be a hero. It does not take courage. It does not take strength. It does not take intelligence. All it takes to be a hero is a lot of heart. If you see a house of fire and you disregard your well-being and charge in that house to see if anyone is in there, you are a hero. You have the heart to be a hero and have shown that you are one. You will never see yourself as one though.

When I used to work High-Risk security, I would go into places, alone, where the gang and drug activity was so high, the local police departments would send at least 2 officers to at a time. I have been in circumstances where my life was in danger. I did not care. I was doing a job and was going to make damn sure I did that job. I have kicked in doors of a burning apartment building looking for people before. My partner at the time, and I did pull people out of that building too. Neither one of us saw ourselves as heroes. To this day, I will never say that I am a hero. I saw a job that needed to get done, and I did it.

With this being said, ANYONE who claims to be a hero of any kind is a fake. They are boldface lying to you and are trying to get attention. The candidate who said that he was a war hero showed me his true colors. Because of that alone and how he taunted the fact that he was a war hero, there was no way in hell I was going to vote for that man. That told me that he was more interested in being the center of attention, he was not going to get the job done that needed to be done. I will NEVER trust anyone in office that has that mentality.

I received an email from a fellow Amateur Radio operator that touched my heart like nothing else ever has in my life. When I was in the Army, I did not care if I ever got recognition for what I did. I did not enlist for recognition in the first place. I felt that in order to live in this great nation, I had to pay this country back in one form or another. My enlistment was just how I was planning on doing that.

Even the job I had in the Army was not a glamorous one. I held an important job but, I could have cared less if anyone ever told me that I did a good job or thanked me for what I had done.

Every once in a while you are blindsided with something that just hits you like a ton of bricks. A simple, 3 sentence email, thanking me for serving hit me like nothing else.

On 2 Sep 1945, surrender papers were signed by the Japanese government formally ending World War II. 60 long years ago, the USS Missouri sat in the Sea of Japan as a ceremony was held on the deck of the ship where the papers were signed.

Many things have changed since then. Every year the Japanese give a formal apology to their atrocities they committed. A former president of ours even went as far as apologizing to the Japanese for bombing them in order to end the war. I do not agree with that but, that is old news and I have already ranted on about that. (See 7/07/2003 Part 2)

The USS Missouri, now a museum ship, will be holding ceremonies throughout the day including the radio room operating. The Amateur Radio club running the radio room will be operating and will even transmit the original message sent via CW. Information can be found on QRZ in this message forum.

Please remember the sacrifices our troops made in order to end WWII. While you are at it, please remember the sacrifices our troops made in order to end all past wars, conflicts, and police actions. Remember the sacrifices our troops are currently making in order to keep this country safe as well.

My heart and prayers go out to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. When a tragedy like this happens, we see the best in people by their thoughtless acts to help their fellow man. We also see the worst in people by their thoughtless acts to hurt their fellow man. As rescue helicopters are coming under fire by local gangs during rescue attempts, it really shows what we are capable of. I just pray that everyone will be taken care of soon and the effected areas are restored back to some level of normalcy.

As far as the knuckleheads that want to shoot at the rescue helicopters, I think there needs to be a rifleman on each chopper shooting back. After all, New Orleans is under Marshall Law for right now.

I just recently found out that today is "Speak Like a Pirate Day." Little did I know that this day existed. But, there are official pages about it. Along with the fun, there is a website that creates a pirate name for you. Here is my result...

My pirate name is:

Iron John Roberts

A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. Two things complete your pirate persona: style and swagger. Maybe a little too much swagger sometimes -- but who really cares? Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

November 11 was first observed as Armistice Day. On November 11, 1918 the Germans signed the Armistice ordering the end to fighting, thus ending World War I.

In 1938, Congress passed a bill that every November 11 "shall be dedicated to the cause of world peace and ...hereafter celebrated and known as Armistice Day." President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed another bill, that same year, making November 11 a legal holiday in Washington DC.

On May 24, 1954 an act of Congress changed the name of Armistice Day to Veteran's Day in remembrance of all veterans, not just a day of remembrance for the end of World War I. This meant that now both the World War I and World War II veterans were remembered. In October of 1954, President Eisenhower called upon all citizens to observe this day in remembrance of the sacrifices made by all who fought so gallantly, and through rededication to the task of promoting an enduring peace. President Eisenhower then referred to the change of name to Veteran's Day in honor of the servicemen of ALL America's wars.

I will never forget the sacrifice I made nor will I ever forget the sacrifice my fellow servicemen have made. As the saying goes, "All gave some, some gave all." All veterans are to be remembered today, regardless of what price they paid. With that being said, I myself say "Thank You" to all the veterans before me that made it possible for me and my fellow servicemen to take their place and continue to carry the torch.

It has been a while since I have added something here. I keep coming up with ideas to put here, but I end up forgetting about it when I have the chance to. The problems I have been having with my home computer has not made things any easier either. Any, here are my thoughts on the recent demonstrations concerning the Immigration Reform bill currently being discusses in congress.

Yesterday, approximately 2000 Dallas Independent School District students skipped school in the morning so they could get together and demonstrate for the rights of illegal aliens and how this reform bill is wrong. I do not have a problem with people demonstrating about current issues. What I do have a problem with is the lack of knowledge about what is being demonstrated against.

The reform bill that is being discussed would make it a felony offence to be an illegal alien as well as a felony offence to aid an illegal alien. Naturally, you would need an exception to anyone who gives humanitarian aid. I do not have a problem with this. It was recently reported that 75% of all illegal immigrants in the US came from Mexico. Personally, I could care less if 75% of all illegal immigration came from Canada. Illegally entering this country is a crime regardless how you look at it. I will admit that those that have come from Mexico are very hard workers and will do a damn good job. It is their fault, and their fault alone, that pay is so low for them. They were not forced over here. They were not forced for work.

They came over here for a chance at a decent life and to chase the "American Dream". I do not have a problem with that. I only have a problem when crimes are committed in order to obtain it. I have heard reports of people saying how they are tired of hearing illegal immigrants being called criminals. Illegal immigrants ARE criminals. If something is illegal, you would be a criminal when you break that law. Duhhhhhhhh......

Lets look at definition #1. Something illegal would be something that is against the law to do. Robbing a bank would be an illegal act. If I robbed a bank, I would be a criminal. Murdering someone would be an illegal act. If I were to murder someone, I would be a criminal. Unlawfully entering the United States is an illegal act. If you enter the country unlawfully, or illegally, you are a criminal. There is no debate about it. If you break the law, you are a criminal. Every single illegal immigrant in the country broke a law just by walking across the border. Instantly, they became criminals. The last time I checked, if you are a criminal, you are supposed to be punished.

For everyone that thinks that this is a civil rights issue, you can not have any civil rights if you are not legally here in the first place. Illegal aliens should not be allowed to participate in any government aid programs as long as they are here illegally. if you want to work here, come here legally. If you want to live here, come here legally. If you want government aid, come here legally. If you want to vote, come here legally. If you want to live without constantly looking over your shoulder, come here legally.

What is so hard about understanding this? I just do not get it. It does not matter if you came from Mexico, Canada, Germany, France, etc, etc, etc. If you enter this country under false pretences, then you are illegally here and are a criminal. Get over it! Get your papers in order and then you do not have anything to worry about.

Teachers drop the Holocaust to avoid offending Muslims

Yes, I know it has been over a year since I have updated this. I have come up with many opinions to put in here but, I kept forgetting to do it. When I read this article about teachers in the UK that are dropping any mention of the Holocaust from their history classes so they do not offend Muslim students, I had to make sure I said something about this. The article can be found at the Daily Mail.

History is history. If it offends you, sorry. In fact, I am not sorry. If the history of something offends you, then you have some serious problems. History can not be changed. Yes, it can be ignored. There is a saying, "Those who ignore the past, are doomed to repeat it." I don't know who said that but, it is very true. If you do not learn from the past and learn from your mistakes, you will find yourself in the same situation again. Yes, this does not exactly apply here. Nonetheless, it is still a very true statement.

If something in your past offends you, then do something to make sure it does not happen again. If your religion teaches that a certain part of history did not happen or your beliefs are that what happened was a good thing, then so be it. What the Nazi's did to the local Jewish population is horrendous. Religion aside, you had a group of people trying to eradicate another. The only reason this group was being killed by the millions is because of their race and religion. Seems to me that is a rather racist thing to do. These people were not even Americans that were doing this. Looks like you can be a racist and not be a white American after all. That is for another rant. :-)

I understand that some of the Muslim community denies that the Holocaust ever happened. They have the right to say this. Despite the fact that it did happen, they can deny it all they want. The only reason they want to deny it is because they want to finish the job by removing Israel from the face of the map. I wonder how different things would be if Hitler decided that the Muslims were the evil race that needed to be exterminated. Would the Muslims deny that Holocaust ever happened? I doubt it. I bet you that there would be a day of remembrance for the murdered Muslims, a memorial, the whole nine yards. This is not what happened. It was the Jews that were murdered in number. The fact that there are people in the world that think this is a good start really needs to have their head examined. Regardless of race or religion, a lot of people were murdered for a single word. That word is Jew. If that world were Muslim and it were Jews who did the killing, I doubt that teachers in the UK would be dropping the subject so they would not offend the Jewish students. This whole thing is stupid. If a student brings up their opinion on the matter when you teach about it, great. Discuss it with the class and offer a different point of view. History books are written in the point of view of the writer. If there is another opinion on what happened, then it needs to be brought out and discussed. Yes, some people would take that as their opportunity to preach their religion and spout their "anti-everything but Muslim" crap then so be it. That too needs to be discussed. I am not going to get into it here but, that is something else I have been wanting to write about.

I do have other things I want to talk about. War on Terror, "Radical Islam", political correctness, Bush hatred, etc, etc. I do want to talk about it. I just need to sit down and get going at it sometimes.

Now... This and everything here are my opinions. If you don't like one of my opinions, tough. You will get over it. Just because your opinion differs from mine does not mean that you are right and I should be shot for it. I have a right to my opinion as you have a right to yours.