Just Thought You Should Know 5/27/16

You can smell the grilled hot dogs and hamburgers.  Humid sea air calls to you as the unrelenting sun beats down on your sunscreen covered back.  The burning sensation of the exposed sand between your toes soon gives way to the cool rush of salty, frothy water that intermittently drowns out the sounds of children's laughter.  Memorial Day weekend is here and for many of us its the beginning of the most wonderful time of year.  Summer!  For the loved ones of our fallen men and women in uniform, however, the weekend is bittersweet.  It's another year without daddy, mommy, an aunt, an uncle, sibling, or a cousin.  Their weekend begins in Arlington National Cemetery or their local graveyard.  Our nation mourns with them as we have for the last 150 years.  In that spirit I paid special attention to one of our more recent fallen veterans, a cult hero who was taken from us far too soon...Chief Petty Officer Chris Kyle.
  
Chris Kyle: American Liar?

The late CPO Chris Kyle.

2 years ago, no movie was more politically divisive than the uber patriotic, some would say propaganda film, American Sniper.  If you haven't seen it yet, it's an excellent film and Bradley Cooper's performance is nothing short of superb.  It's tough to remember, however, that it was just that.  A performance.  Like Bill Cosby, we have to learn to separate the man from the character, especially when it's come to light that CPO Kyle falsified part of his military record.  It's not the first time Kyle has been caught in a lie.  His estate had to pay former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura $1.8 million after a jury decided Kyle lied about punching out his fellow SEAL in a bar.  He also didn't kill two carjackers in Texas that were trying to rob him nor did he shoot "looters" at the Superdome after Katrina. This further tarnishes the legacy of a man, that by all legitimate accounts, was already a hero.  160 confirmed enemy kills is Audie Murphy, Massachusetts 54th, Bas Reeves, and Tuskegee Airman levels of bad ass.  The locals called him "The Devil of Ramadi."  These latest revelations will undoubtedly be met with anger by his family, battle buddies, and the countless admirers he's earned through his literary works, American Sniper, American Gun, and the 2014 American Sniper film.  The worst part about this, though, isn't the lying.  It's the fact that the Navy knew and said nothing.

Kyle was warned at least once before American Sniper was published that its description of his medal count was wrong, according to one current Navy officer, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak about the case. As Kyle’s American Sniper manuscript was distributed among SEALs, one of his former commanders, who was still on active duty, advised Kyle that his claim of having two Silver Stars was false, and he should correct it before his book was published.

[...]

According to two current Navy officials, inaccurate information about Kyle’s awards is also contained in his separation document, known in the military as a DD214, which usually reflects a veteran’s official service record. Kyle’s DD214 form, which lists two Silver Stars and six Bronze Stars with Valor among his decorations, also differs from the number of Bronze Stars with Valor — five — that Kyle listed in his book.   -- Matthew Cole and Sheelagh McNeill "American Sniper" Chris Kyle Distorted His Military Record, Documents Show, 5/25/2016, TheIntercept.com

Kyle's exploits in Iraq were a great recruiting tool for the Navy.

Why Does It Matter?

To some people it doesn't.  CPO Kyle will always be a hero to the people that loved him and knew him best.  He'll always be a coward to others.  Both are right.  Why?  Because more than anything Kyle was human.  In an increasingly polarized society we seemed to have lost sight of the fact that we can be both incredibly brave and incredibly stupid from time to time.  Kyle's record, the real one, is one any SEAL would be proud of.  His efforts to help his fellow vets both in and out of theater are praiseworthy.  Unfortunately, it also cost him his life.  It doesn't change the fact that his ego may have gotten the best of him after he came  home.  The Navy, however, doesn't get a pass.  Their brass apparently didn't learn anything from watching the Army mishandle PFC Jessica Lynch's and CPL Pat Tillman's tales of bravery with lies.  Trust in your leadership is critical when your leadership may one day order you to take a life or make the ultimate sacrifice yourself.  You must believe that they always have your best interests at heart and that such an order wouldn't be given unless it was absolutely necessary.  Stories like this only serve to erode that trust.  An all volunteer military will not find quality Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, or Marines if outgoing veterans discourage their friends and family from following in their footsteps.  How motivated would you be to do your job if you "knew" your boss would stab you in the back the first chance he/she got?  (Stop rolling your eyes, you get my point.)  Doesn't matter how big the defense budget is if your boots on the ground would rather be smoking and joking than doing their jobs.



What can I do about it?

We can learn to not take everything at face value. We can keep in mind that any public persona is a carefully crafted image designed to hide the very human flaws we all have.  Kyle tried to position himself as a larger than life hero, famously saying he wished he'd "killed more" because he believed he was saving lives with every shot.  He didn't need to.  He was already perfect example of what our military is made of, ordinary Americans who, when put in extraordinary circumstances, step up and do extraordinary things.  To me, Chris Kyle, the flawed person, will always be more impactful than Chris Kyle, the American Sniper.

Also, please consider helping veterans who are still with us by donating to these organizations:

Wounded Warrior Project

https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

American Legion
http://www.legion.org/homelessveterans/outreach

Veterans of Foreign Wars
http://www.vfw.org/



Rest In Peace

Just Thought You Should Know 5/19/16

Happy Friday (or Saturday since life tends to supercede pet projects)!  I hope this week caps off a brilliant one in which you got all your goals accomplished, checked off that pesky to do list, and helped save the free world once again.   Conversely, if today is simply the last one an a grueling quagmire of shit, at least tomorrow is Saturday and reading this column will restore some faith in your fellow man.  Well, not really.

Maybe a sense of upliftment by watching others in much more dire circumstances than our first world problems.  If I'm really lucky, I've helped start unquenchable urge in those of you who are in a position to do something about it...to do so.  My goal here is to provide, comment, and illuminate situations that may slip through the cracks of our daily lives.  The kind of things we see a headline about but never click the article because its too long, we're too busy, or it's too depressing.  By breaking it down into more digestible chunks, I hope to get the important points across and leave the biased fluff behind. On that note, here we go...

The Supreme Court of the United States is MIA

SCOTUS is like a 3 legged table right now (Photo: ww2.kqed.org)

The death of Antonin Scalia has left the court effectively crippled.  With 4 liberal judges and 4 conservative leaning ones, the court is literally unable to come to a decision on some of its most important cases. The usual procedure when the court can't make a decision, is that the lower court's decision is upheld and no precedent is deemed to have been set.  In plain English, its like the Supreme Court never heard the case and the lower court's verdict stands.  One case already kicked back would have allowed non-union workers to avoid paying union dues, cutting off a major source of funding for organized labor.  A long term goal for conservatives who believe unions have become too powerful and get in the way of growing businesses.

Why does it matter?

An ineffective Supreme Court means Congress and the local courts have more power than ever since many of the cases now being heard might never make it back to the court.   Whether this is what Republicans wanted when they refused to consider Merrick Garland to replace their conservative hero, the late Antonin Scalia, is up to interpretation.  What isn't in question, is that the power structure of the United States, which is built on each branch of government having the power to check the other 2, is now severely out of balance.  More power than ever rests in the hands of a Congress that seems more concerned with party loyalty and partisan power than following the Constitution.  State rulings on labor, civil rights, and abortion have been notoriously partisan and will leave millions of people essentially stuck with whatever decision has already been made unless the plaintiffs have deep pockets.  Something most people obviously don't have.

What can I do about it?

Find your representative in the House
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
 
Find your Senator
http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/

Tell your friends to do the same and remind them who put them in "power."  Republicans have seemingly mastered the art of using their votes to take out anyone who doesn't stick to the script.  Ask Eric Cantor.   Remind these folks that the ultimate power lies with you and they can be fired just like anyone else for not doing their jobs.


The Women of ISIS are not looking for "Jihotties"

They're definitely looking for something warm, long, and hard...

  
There seems to be a myriad idiotic narratives about why young women are joining ISIS.  The most misogynistic one, and the most insulting in my opinion, is the idea that these women join the most despotic terrorist group in the world...because they're looking for dick.  Comedians use it for cheap laughs but it's honestly how investigations are run almost every time an underage western girl takes off for Syria.  As if she's infatuated with suicide bombers like they're the ISIS version of the Backstreet Boys.  It never occurs to the usually male investigators that just like young men that go to fight, they're actually true believers who are just as dangerous as their male counterparts.  In the "west", as they call it, we've been socialized to treat women as the fairer sex,  which usually means seeing their intelligence as an aberration, rather than the norm.  Usually because we assume they think like we do...which is usually about sex.  It's something ISIS counts on when using women to carry out their attacks.

"Insurgent groups in Eastern Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa have used female suicide bombers as both a shock tactic and a strategic asset for decades. Two women detonated suicide bombs on the Moscow metro in March 2010, killing 40 people. The Al-Qaeda-linked Caucasus Emirate claimed responsibility for the attack." -- Jack Moore, Newsweek.com 11/18/15.

Why does it matter?

Because underestimating someone because of a stereotype is dangerous and stupid, especially when those stereotypes are used against you again and again and again.  History is littered with women weren't frail, emotional, or weak willed.  Though these women have decided to walk down a much darker path, respecting their decision, and holding them accountable for it would make spotting potential attackers much easier instead of relying on profiles that don't work.


What can I do about it?

As Joe "the Black Eagle" Madison says, "read with a third eye and listen with a third ear." 
Strange behavior is strange behavior no matter what race, gender, or nationality someone is.  If  you see something, say something.


MASE??

A long standing mystery about the identity of the New York Knick player in Biggie's "I Got a Story to Tell" has finally been solved!

If you don't know the song I'm talking about...unsubscribe immediately.

or just watch this.....

 
One of the few stories on wax that was verified by multiple NBA players and rappers in Big's inner circle to be true. It was also one of the best kept secrets in the industry until Fat Joe finally spilled the beans this week.

Why does this matter?

If you're aren't a Biggie fan or a Knicks fan...this isn't for you anyway.  If you are, do I really need to say it?  Mase and Big are probably laughing at all of us losing our minds over something they probably squashed years ago.


What can I do about it?

Laugh!  Laugh and remember the joy both these men brought into your lives musically and on the basketball court.  RIP Mase and BIG...

...Til next week!

Just Thought You Should Know: 5/13/16

Coming up with topics isn't my strong suit.  I love to write but I have to feel strongly about a topic to put my best and most authentic self into a piece.  Honestly, those moments come too few and too far in between to operate that way and still call myself a writer.  It would be easy to just gush about popular topics but that only takes you so far before you stop being original.  People shouldn't have a hard time telling the difference between you and Polly the Political Parrot (variations of which are employed by every foxy cable news national broadcast network).  It's lazy.  I also love to spread information, not in a know-it-all sense but in a hey-we're-all-busy-but-I-thought-you-should-know-this sense.  Which, not coincidentally, is the title of my new weekly column.  "Just Thought You Should Know" will feature culturally relevant stories that are a bit off the radar...or that I think are just plain funny. Stuff that would come up over a beer with good friends or things you'd tell your relatives "back home" about life in the land of milk and honey.  Hope you find these informative and add a little color to your day!  Enjoy.

  

Barack, you did it my nigga!

Larry Wilmore pissed off a lot of people with his closing speech at the White House Correspondence Dinner last week.  While his last line got the most media attention, it wasn't the most shocking moment. Looking at you Mr. "Alleged Journalist."

U mad, Don?

Why does it matter?

It might honestly be the first time you've seen such unapologetic, usually behind-closed-doors, blackness on full display.  Especially on such a historically non-black stage.  It made a lot of people uncomfortable.  Silly people crying "reverse racism" or "black privilege", black folks who felt embarrassed by the use of a word they've probably said in private dozens of times used in front of "all those white folk," and others who think the word should just be eliminated from the lexicon.

*sigh*

Look, self determination, the basis of individualism and freedom, is the root of American identity, right?  This country (in theory) was founded on the idea that I can be what I want to be.  That includes deciding how you want to be referred to, just like a nickname given to you by family or friends.  Only the people closest to you and/or who you deem worthy are allowed to call you that name.  Same concept. It's not that hard.  The President had no issues with it, why should you?  Even Don Lemon came around...

"Nope. Not mad at all."

The Philippines' President-Elect makes Donald Trump look civilized.

"Pope, 'son of a whore,' go home.  Do not visit us again." -- President-Elect Duterte being asked about Manila's terrible traffic being made worse by the pontiff's Jan 2015 visit (Photo CNN.com) 

Rodgrio Duterte, Mayor of Davao City for 22 years, will be the next President of the Philippines. Here are some quotes from Mr. Duterte during his rise to the top (Via Asiaone.com)

On crime- "Forget the laws on human rights. If I make it to the presidential palace, I will do just what I did as mayor. You drug pushers, hold-up men and do-nothings, you better go out. Because I'd kill you," he said at his final campaign rally in Manila on Saturday, referring to his record after 22 years as mayor of Davao.
- "I'll dump all of you (criminals) into Manila Bay, and fatten all the fish there."

Duterte is pretty high on Human Rights Watch's shit list considering his "Death Squads" are rumored to be responsible for more than 1,700 deaths in Davao.  Duterte also brags about having personally delivered his brand of justice on occasion.  

On women- "They raped all of the women... There was this Australian lay minister... when they took them out... I saw her face and I thought, 'Son of a b****. what a pity... they raped her, they all lined up. I was mad she was raped but she was so beautiful. I thought, the mayor should have been first." -- Speaking at a campaign rally about a prison riot in Davao in 1989 that saw inmates take a female Australian missionary working at the prison hostage before raping and killing her.
- "I was separated from my wife. I'm not impotent. What am I supposed to do? Let this hang forever? When I take Viagra, it stands up."

Charming.

 Why does it matter?

The parallels between him our current presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee are undeniable.  Even if he doesn't think so...

On Donald Trump- "He's a bigot and I am not." -- Mr Duterte rejecting comparisons of him with the presumptive Republican nominee in the US presidential election, Mr Donald Trump.

Obviously, the Philippines are not the United States but they are a legitimate democracy (as opposed to the Russian variety) and Duterte's election proves that being a sexist, murderous, jackass isn't barrier to public office.  Sometimes its a fast track.  His popularity is no accident as the Philippine government is one of the most corrupt on the planet.  It's not hard to imagine being fed up with a government that has abused the public trust so much that the people elect an "outsider" to fix things.  Cultural differences aside, people are people.  The Democrats, and Trump haters in general should come up with a better strategy to beat him than righteous indignation.


16 Black Female West Point Cadets won't be disciplined for...doing nothing in the first place.

Black Hooahs matter.  West Point Chapter (Photo: theRoot.com)

Add "taking a group photo" to the list of things black folks can't do without being suspicious.  I honestly expected better from the Army.  I really did.  The years that I served were some of the best of my life and it was one few times I felt judged by my merits alone.  I got what I earned, no more, no less and I never felt what I was mattered more that who I was...or at least what my rank was.  Unfortunately, the current atmosphere of crazy seems to have penetrated the Army's ranks.  I suppose in hindsight, I shouldn't be surprised, since the Army has always reflected the nation it serves, but it still disappointing to see something like this having gone this far.  The photo they took was a West Point tradition but for some reason John Burk, a military blogger who I have respect for as a fellow vet and no nonsense attitude...but seems to be clueless about racism, jumped to the all too familiar conclusion that certain gestures, when done by black folks, must "mean something."  In this case, he assumed that raised fists must mean solidarity with "Black Lives Matter."  He raised enough of a fuss to warrant an "investigation" which, thankfully, the Army found was much ado about nothing.



Why does it matter?

The usual reasons.  Double standards and hypocrisy.  While soldiers are forbidden to express much individualism while serving, including political statements, this isn't the first time the Army has needed to be reminded that it is a diverse group and that diversity must be respected.  Kudos to the Army, though, for showing that it can adapt to the changing culture and recognize faux outrage when they see it.  Burk, judging by his YouTube persona, seems like a good guy, good soldier, and loyal American. However, like most "mainstream" individuals, he's blinded by what he doesn't know and arrogant enough to assume he does instead of, y'know...asking.  The military might be the last true meritocracy left and that leaves a lot of its soldiers with a false sense that this is how the real world works. Especially if you joined at a young impressionable age.  I wish John the best but I would remind him, and anyone else who thinks they "know what they're talking about", when it comes to other groups to listen first and ask questions, instead of potentially ruining the lives of 16 young women because you care more about your right to speak than their right to live.



...Til next week!