The American Legion Steps Up (Again). You Can, Too.

Your son is killed in action and vile people come to his funeral carrying signs thanking G-d for his death...  they say it is protected speech. (It may be, but AT the Marine's funeral? How deeply can you hurt someone with your speech before it's over the line?) You exercise your right to sue to get the objectionable behavior stopped. You win in one court, lose in the Appeals court and then the Supreme Court -- THE Supreme Court -- agrees to hear the case. Then the Appeals Court judge -- not waiting to see how the Supreme Court holds -- orders you to PAY THE COSTS of those who have caused you such hurt.

Well, the American Legion has come forward to advance the funds for this father AND they are planning on filing a brief with SCOTUS supporting the father -- and all parents who have had to endure those despicable "protesters". Just hate mongers in sheeps' clothing.

Go read all of this and find out how to help over at the Legion's BURN PIT.

My kudos to the American Legion!!

Ant & Grasshopper: Old Story, New Moral

based on an email from my sister Paula...

OLD VERSION

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. He has a small business that employs 10 bugs of various colors. He provides a living wage and provides as many benefits (health insurance, holidays, sick time) as his business can afford and still have money left to invest and grow his business (so that he can hire more people).

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. He thinks nothing of spending his welfare money on the newest car, the newest phone, the newest game system and is outraged that anyone could expect him to spend money on adequate housing or health insurance.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed as are his employees.

The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself! Work hard, live within your means, save for a rainy day and your future.

MODERN (Democrats) VERSION

The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. He has a small business that employs 10 bugs of various colors. He provides a living wage and provides as many benefits (health insurance, holidays, sick time) as his business can afford and still have money left to invest and grow his business (so that he can hire more people).

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. He thinks nothing of spending his welfare money on the newest car, the newest phone, the newest game system and is outraged that anyone could expect him to spend money on adequate housing or health insurance.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed as are his employees.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant and the other hard-working bugs should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.

CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food...

America is stunned by the sharp contrast.

How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'

ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome." Then Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.

President Obama condemns the ant and blames President Bush, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the grasshopper's plight. Mrs. Obama says she has never been proud of the ant's country but likes the grasshopper's country better.

Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share of the grasshopper's needs (but not his own. The ant is too "rich".)

Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and fined for laying off the green bugs he has employed because he can no longer afford the salaries, taxes and health insurance premiums for all, and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his business closes, all the bugs are unemployed, and the ant's home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar and given to the grasshopper.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintain it.

The ant disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again.

The grasshopper is found dead from over-consumption, and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the ramshackle, once prosperous and once peaceful, neighborhood.

The entire Nation collapses under the debt created by self-serving legislation bringing the rest of the free world with it.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be very careful how you vote in 2010.

Soldiers Angels is Awesome and Doesn't Need Embellishment

Soldiers Angels is awesome and doesn't need embellishment. From my friend, MaryAnn - Soldiers' Angels Germany:

A word about the UK MailOnline story

How sad that the simple truths of a story can get lost in the retelling.

It was a story of how The Many pulled together and did everything in their power to meet The Needs of The One.

A story of how we as human beings take care of one another. A story of military medicine at it's finest. [snip]

Greyhawk has the real story, and tells it much better than I can.

We fight because it's the right thing to do; because all of humanity is our tribe.

God bless all who answer that call, and God bless those who care for them.

Be sure to read it all. MaryAnn is as selfless and as caring an individual anywhere on God's Earth, and our soldiers -- especially our wounded -- and thir families have no greater an ally and friend than she.

Update: I'm not the only one who thinks so highly of MaryAnn... READ Afghan Quest

Folds of Honor Foundation: Scholarships for Families of KIA and WIA

The Folds of Honor Foundation (FHF) provides post-secondary educational scholarships for children and spouses of military service men and women killed or disabled while serving our great nation. Scholarships are to be used to subsidize the costs of tuition, school books, fees, room and board, special tools and equipment necessary for coursework, school-approved tutoring, and any other expense that the school in which the student is enrolled may deem appropriate and unmet. Scholarship funds will be paid directly to the school, and the standing policies and procedures of the school will guide the release of funds. Any unused funds will be returned to the Folds of Honor Foundation at the end of each semester. Nearly 1,000 scholarships have been granted in Folds of Honor's first three years.

Patriot Golf Day, our flagship fundraising event, is a cooperative effort with the PGA of America, USGA and is sponsored by our corporate champions American Express and Lifelock. This past Labor Day weekend, golfers across the country were asked to give an extra dollar to fund Folds of Honor scholarships. In three years, we have raised $5.3 million for deserving families.

Please visit www.foldsofhonor.org for more information on Folds of Honor.

SAVING ABEL USO TOUR TO PERSIAN GULF

UPDATED 3/4/2010

http://www.ustream.tv/savingabel

It's where Saving Abel's USO tour will livestream tonight 10ET.

SAVING ABEL MAKES LONG-ANTICIPATED JOURNEY OVERSEAS AND PERFORMS FOR TROOPS ON USO TOUR TO PERSIAN GULF

Week-Long Tour Kicks Off in Qatar and Kuwait, with USO Concert at Camp Arifjan
To Be Broadcast Online in Early March with Help from Ustream

Twitter Pitch: Follow @the_USO and @SavingAbel for updates from their rocking tour through the Persian Gulf

ARLINGTON, VA. (Feb. 24, 2010) – Rock band Saving Abel teamed up with the USO for a weeklong USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour in the Persian Gulf. Busy visiting and performing for troops in Qatar and Kuwait, Saving Abel has entertained more than 3,500 troops so far and just finished filming their USO show at Camp Arifjan. Footage from the hi-energy USO show will be broadcast in early March with help from Ustream.

• As part of their eight-day, three-country USO tour to the combat zone, Saving Abel will visit eight military bases and perform seven concerts. Known for their radio-ready sound, memorable melodies and hard-hitting tracks, the band will also sign autographs, pose for photos and spend time with soldier.

• Having entertained 1,750 troops in Kuwait, the group filmed their USO show at Camp Arifjan on February 23 and will provide viewers with an exclusive behind-the-scenes look of USO entertainment in early March. With the help from Ustream, the concert will be picked up by MySpace, Facebook and other social networking sites, and is dedicated to America’s armed forces and their families.

• Visit http://www.ustream.tv/savingabel and http://www.uso.org/ for concert updates.

• Students from St. Albert the Great School in Louisville, KY, created an assortment of cards and artwork, which Saving Abel has carried overseas and are hand delivering to troops in appreciation.

• This is Saving Abel’s first USO tour. The band has been eager to travel overseas for quite some time and have made multiple appearances on bases stateside.

• Avid supporters of the U.S. military, Saving Abel performed for troops in October ‘08 as part of MTV’s "A Night for Vets: An MTV Concert for the BRAVE."

• Known for such songs as “Addicted," 18 Days,” “Drowning (Face Down)”, Saving Abel was formed in Corinth, Mississippi in ’04.

The safety, well-being and happiness of our nation’s troops have always been close to our hearts. And what better way to show them we care, than by traveling to the Persian Gulf on a USO tour and rocking out America’s soldiers. The USO has a rich history of delivering a touch of home to our men and women in uniform, and Saving Abel is honored to be apart of that legacy. We couldn’t do what we do everyday without them, and we are forever grateful. -- Saving Abel

No matter where we go or who we are playing in front of, we always make sure people know that from our perspective it is each and every one of their responsibilities to support our troops. They do so much for us, they deserve to be recognized. We have these freedoms because of what they do. -- singer Jared Weeks

America’s armed forces do more than defend our borders and protect us from harm, they sacrifice their lives for us 365 days a year and serve our nation proudly from all around world. Through USO tours like Saving Abel, the USO is able to give back to our nation’s troops by lifting their spirits and bringing smiles to their faces. We are thrilled to be working with Saving Abel and know that those in the Persian Gulf are in for a great treat. -- Sloan Gibson, USO president and CEO